Jesse was honestly expecting something a lot more dramatic when she ran into the treasure room from Olivia's dramatic statement of 'we might have a problem'. Maybe a dragon breathing fire everywhere or something. Or maybe some sort of strange creature roaring dramatically or something.
What she was not expecting was a young woman to be huddled on the floor near the pedestal where the Ender Dragon egg had been. A quick glance at the black, curved shards on the floor gave Jesse the answer to what had happened to the egg.
The woman was deathly pale, making her black dress, black hair and the fact that she had no shoes all the more obvious. Her purple eyes seemed to actually glow in the light of the room as she tilted her head up, staring evenly at Jesse. There was a hint of fear in her eyes but it wasn't obvious; at least not to the casual observer.
Reuben looked up and waved at Jesse, smiling. "Hi Jesse!" he called, before looking down at the girl, "Jace popped in here and found her here a bit earlier..."
Jace waved to his sister, his tail wagging cheerfully, before an incredibly tense silence settled in amongst them all.
Jesse decided to break the awkward silence that was currently reigning among the many people standing around in the treasure room; or else they'd probably make the young woman even more uncomfortable than she most likely already was. "Um... hello."
She flinched back at the sight of Jesse. It probably didn't help that Jesse had six arms and was wearing her 'black widow' armor either. Or that one of her eyes glowed blood red in the dark.
All six of Jesse's arms went up in surrender. "Hey, I don't bite." Short pause. "Well, most of the time anyway."
Jesse might've been imagining it, but there seemed to be a sparkle of humor in the young woman's eyes, before it flitted back out again. But if this petrified young woman could even consider laughing at Jesse, they might actually be in business.
"Um, so..."
Jesse was rudely interrupted by Ivor, who scowled at the young woman. "What happened to the egg?" he asked sharply- not exactly yelling, but not exactly sounding terribly pleased.
The young woman flinched again, her entire body going completely tense. "The... egg?" she asked.
Jesse's eyebrow went up. This young woman, with her frail appearance, looked like she'd have a voice rather like glass bells, but instead it was soft and husky and low. It sounded like she might make a fantastic singer.
"Yeah. The Ender Dragon egg," Jesse said, trying to be helpful.
The young woman's eyes narrowed as her legs slowly relaxed and she pushed herself up to her feet, looking around at the shards of black eggshell littering the floor around her as if she'd just realized they were there. "... I think I was inside," the woman stated, rather matter-of-factly.
Aiden blinked at her. Then at Cassie, who just shrugged at him in return, looking just as bewildered as he did. Then he looked back at the young woman. "What?"
"Yeah- what?" Soren blinked at the young woman. Most reactions were similar- several consisted of stares. The Order looked as if someone had just slapped them in the face.
Said young woman looked up again, as if realizing there were other people in the room for the first time. "I think I was inside," she repeated.
Jesse felt her eyebrow slowly rising again. "Are you saying," she said, slowly, trying not to sound incredulous, "that you're the Ender Dragon?"
The young woman paused, her head slowly tilting to one side thoughtfully as she considered that. Her luminous purple eyes glowed a bit again as she hesitated, her hands slowly moving so that they clasped together.
"... yes, I think so."
Ivor's eyes narrowed at her. "Prove it."
She tilted her head again, blinking at him with a completely blank expression. Actually, it was a bit disconcerting from how blank her face was. Her eyes seemed to be the 'thing' that emoted. "... you tried to fight me," she said musingly, eyes narrowing. "The orange-haired one-" she nodded at Soren. "- held up this strange block when I tried to attack... and then... I was in darkness? I- I'm not sure," and a faint look of discomfort crossed her face.
The Order all shared a look, before Ivor tilted his head forward in a nod. "I think she's telling the truth. Besides," a tiny smirk came over his face, "I don't think there's anyone who has black hair and purple eyes who live in town."
Harper's lips twitched in an unwilling way.
"Um, do you have a name?"
Jesse glanced over her shoulder to see Em speaking. The burly girl had spoken a little bluntly, and she seemed to realize this and winced upon realizing so, rubbing her head awkwardly.
The other girl didn't seem at all offended or upset about this, though- she just nodded serenely. "Yes? My name is... Ebony? I believe that's my name?" She moved one hand to her chin, her other arm totally bare except for some scars and some scales. "I'm not sure..."
The scales reminded Jesse of something. "Oh, yes, while we're all here, I would like to ask Hadrian and Mevia something," she said briskly, clapping her hands together.
Everyone turned to look at the two Old Builders, who both blinked in surprise. Otto blinked at them, his eyes narrowing at them but saying nothing to his two old friends.
Jesse waited for a minute until all sets of eyes were fixed upon the Old Builders, before continuing, in a light, almost airy tone.
"Perhaps the two of them would like to explain why Aiden is now a snake hybrid?"
A/N: Heh. Hehe. Heh.
Hadrian and Mevia are screwed. xD
Okay but seriously I don't like this chapter for some reason. Next chapter will be much better (I think). Any opinions on this?
RQTC (Random Question of The Chapter): Would you rather be super smart but bad at socializing, or a social person but bad at school?
ChoyofBonk: (Blinks. Proceeds to go check Google. Discovers there is, in fact, such a thing as a llama hybrid.) ... you learn a new thing every day. (laughs) I know how you feel. That's how I feel whenever I read over a chapter. My reaction is basically: 'Oh this is so boring' or 'Oh this sucks... :/'
Luna96: (laughs) I'm glad!
x.X. A.L. X.x.