Chapter Four

Jay laughed as Jace hollered for Wizards. In response to his call, the apparent Wizards sent a message public to anyone with a chat-pad that seemed to unsympathetically acknowledge that "That's going to cost a lot…"

To Jay's mild delight, Lara had arrived. She landed next to Jace with another one of her nice laughs, clicking her tongue in half-hearted chiding when she looked over the ruins of Tom's base. "Poor, poor Thomas," she teased.

She glided over next to Jay, and Jay suddenly felt a bit abashed, though he wondered why. She stood a few inches shorter than him. While she was certainly intimidating still due to her status and the respect everyone seemed to have for her, it was the effect of that knowledge that made Jay feel strange. In anything, he supposed it was the same thing that made him think her laugh was favorable or that made him long to be closer to her.

He just did not know what 'it' was.

"Jay?" She said.

"Yes?" He returned, playfully batting his eyes at her. He paid no mind to the way Jace and Tom rolled their eyes as they attempted to collect and store Tom's fallen items.

"I've no problems with you messing with Thomas. I find it amusing, actually," she admitted, "but I would warn you to be wary. If you get Dianite's attention, it may not be so easy to find you again. He may just throw you in lava next time."

"Bastard got me when I was weak," he retorted. "Listen, Lara, I respect you, and by default, Mianite. Dianite, I don't."

Jay huffed. He flicked his wrist with a growl, sending Tom flying into the air. Jace shot off to catch him before he could come to any harm. Jay turned to Lara with a smile. "Now, it's just us," he joked.

Lara rolled her eyes at him. "Weak?" She echoed. "You were an idiot, that's what you were. All you had to do was fire an arrow straight at me. I was standing right there. But you did nothing. How would you ever expect me to believe you're powerful, when all you do is bark and not bite?" She laughed. "I'll bet the gods could've taken you if you'd not got them by surprise."

Jay stopped himself from responding immediately.

Why had he not shot her…? As she said, she had been lined up for a perfect shot. He had been trained all of his life to kill the gods, and if their Guardians happened to get in the way, then the Guardians were expendable. It was unnecessary to keep the Guardians alive; in fact, it was good to end them as well, to make sure no one could take the gods' place.

But…

Jay had not shot Lara. He had stopped himself. Hesitated.

Why?

"I had my… uh, reasons? You know. Strategic disadvantages and stuff," he rambled, trying to make an excuse for an action he could only describe was caused because he had simply not shot her.

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry. Shouldn't have done that…" He flicked his wrist and his bow appeared in his hands in a swaddle of black, orb-like particles. He offered it over to Lara. "It's the bow, so you can kick my ass. Though I doubt you need it."

Lara did not reach out to accept it. Jay wondered whether or not he should be pleased with it, but some part of him considered it a positive sign. Maybe Lara wanted to get to know him, too.

"I don't need it," she agreed, offering a shrug. "But I have no reason to harm you at the moment."

Jay smiled, both because he would be allowed to continue living and because it was definitely a good sign. "Good. Want to pull a prank on Jace?" He hovered in the air, holding out his hand to her. "He'll be really angry!"

Lara laughed quietly at him. "Fine," she replied, taking his hand. She kicked off of the ground and hovered at his side. "Nothing drastic, though. I'd rather not have to hear him whine for the next week."

He sighed. "Fine. Let's fill his house with water, along with a sign with a sarcastic remark about how he loves lava. Man… I've been off my game for too long. Let's do it anyway."

She offered him a small smile. "You've no clue how to prank without being harmful, do you?" She asked before adding, "the water and sign prank is expected by now. I can't possibly tell you how often Thomas and Nade have done that to him. Let's just fill his house with snow. He hates snow. It's too cold for him." She laughed. "Winter Wonderland for Jace. He'll hate us, but not enough to whine for long."

"Yeah. Or let's just keep messing with Tom afterwards. Takes out two in one," he suggested, flying towards Jace's house as he explained his plan. "I'm going to make a redstone room that will cause snow golems and blazes to fight to the death!"

"Those poor snow golems," Lara said, darting after him.

She smirked and pumped her wings, pushing easily past him. Jay waited a moment. She clearly knew her way around and to Jace's house. No doubt because she was the Guardian of the Overworld. She probably knew the entire Overworld by now.

"Keep up, Jay. Don't fall behind too much," she teased.

He smirked, melting into the shadows and darting after her, reappearing in her shadow.

"The darkness is my domain," he pointed out, keeping up with her.

Either she did not hear him, or she did not call him out on his claim over the darkness. He was grateful regardless. Being raised by Mianite, he was certain she would not react positively to him being a void-born in a sense more pure than Polaris was one.

Working with her on their prank against Jace, Jay found himself taking her distracted state for a good time to just enjoy her company. Lara did not seem so bad. Unlike Jay had been raised to believe, Mianite's Guardian was nothing like her creator. His own had said that Mianite preferred to stay out of things, and it seemed to Jay that Lara liked to be involved when she chose to be. Everything she did was done with precision that possibly bordered on the need for perfection, no doubt a trait she had picked up from needing to appease Mianite. She was nothing like his creator had told him she would be.

As soon as they finished, he pulled back to look at the sight from afar. Jace's house was successfully set up and rigged for the prank, but something was still missing.

"I have an idea," he said.

He closed his eyes, reaching into his connection with the Void, and forced the desert biome around them to change to one of snow. It would, of course, be unfortunate if the snow golems died even before they did their jobs. A blizzard drew in around them, ending only as the snow coated the entirety of Jace's home.

"Snow biome," he said, before yawning. Despite liking the night, forcing the biome to change had worn on him. "It's late. I'm gonna build myself a house and hit the hay."

Lara nodded at him. "Well, that works," she mused, turning to face him. "I wouldn't suggest you build here, in case Jace comes back. The Wizards have an old temple not far from here. You could stay there. I would offer you a place at Mianite's temple, but Mianite may not be pleased to sense you around, either."

Jay offered her a smile. "I'm going to ask them to build me a house. I'll find it. Thanks, Lara." He vanished, trusting she would find her way to her home easily enough.


In the morning, Lara rubbed at her eyes and dropped from the rafters of her home to answer a knock at the front door. Of course, the rafters of her old, tiny cabin was not the most comfortable place to sleep – especially not after being so used to sleeping in Mianite's temple – but she had feared that Mianite would somehow sense Jay had been near her. Sleeping on the bed in the cabin itself had felt strange as well, although she was unsure why.

She walked over to the door and opened it, flicking her wings in order to wake them. "If someone's not dying," she warned.

Jace growled a bit. "Lara, I know you did it," he whined, "Plus, come look what Jay had built!"

Jace pulled her along behind him to Tom's rebuilt base, where a large spaceship now hovered behind. The rockets attached to the bottom as launchers were, of course, built from TNT cannons that were aimed unmistakably at the base.

Jay laughed, flying up behind both of them and wrapping an arm around either of them. "Morning, Ladies!"

Lara grumbled. She loved morning and typically woke with the sun, but her uncomfortable sleeping position made her wings still thrum unhappily. She looked over the sight and hummed. "I prefer blue TNT cannons, but that works, too," she thought aloud.

"Lara," Jace stressed.

She shrugged. "I didn't do anything, Jace, and neither did Jay. Where's your proof?" She asked.

Jay smiled. "I did this, along with your house. Lara did nothing."

Somehow, Lara could just imagine him hiding crossed fingers, but Jace seemed to accept his words. Lara elbowed Jay in the side in return, turning her own attention to Jace. "Jay is a monster," she said, "an evil, evil monster. But remember, you wanted me to save the monster. So he's your problem, not mine. The burden is on you. Someday, Jace, you will look back and wonder if you made the right choice."

She ignored the brief look of hurt that crossed Jay's face. Surely, he had heard them talking back in the Nether? She brushed off the small feeling of guilt as Jay released both she and Jace and started towards the base.

"Hey, guys, want to come in?" He asked, as though the base was his to show off. He walked inside, leaving the door open.

Lara kept out of the base, but Jace walked forward. Lara had the distinct feeling that something was wrong with the base and that was why Jay was so nonchalant about entering. She heard a lever flick and Jace sigh out, "TNT… cannon."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, flying away as things started to explode around the base. As she watched from afar, her thoughts trailed to Sonja and Tucker. They would most likely be worried or angry over what was happening because Tom has had to have his base rebuilt so many times. Her gaze moved to the spot where Jay had 'died' the day before, noticing that the chest of items was still there. Tucker must not have grabbed his stuff before leaving. Probably due to the commotion that occurred shortly after. Yesterday's events would also undoubtedly have annoyed him.

Lara placed a sign down near the base, grabbed the items, and flew off towards Tucker and Sonja's castle.


Jace looked up from the destruction and then hung his head. "I'm going to have to help rebuild this again… Tom's going to be so pissed," he lamented before turning his attention over to Jay. "Why did you do that? Why TNT cannons? You don't get the whole 'no large destruction' thing, do you? We don't destroy things unless they're fixable within a certain amount. This – this is pure destruction!"

Jay shrugged while Jace gestured at the ruins of Tom's base. "I'm new," he joked, kicking off of the ground and flying off.

Jace was sure he was going to go pester someone else. He kicked off of the ground, making to follow him when a message from Tom came in on his chat-pad.

"I saw what he did. Mind if I get him back?"

Jace shrugged and replied, "Yeah, go for it."

He followed closely behind Jay, pausing only when he noticed the sigh Lara had left which told him to behave. "I always behave. I'm wonderful," he grumbled.

After considering how Jay seemed to try to be near Lara, Jace quickly amended his private message to Tom.

"Don't get Lara involved if you see her, Tom."

"Don't worry. I'm a good shot."

Jace frowned. "Normal bows won't hurt him."

Tom replied fast enough, and Jace wondered where Tom was. He must have been able to see Jay well enough to be so confident. "But the Godslayer will," Tom pointed out.

Jace continued to follow Jay, looking down to close out of the chat. When he looked back up, Jay was gone and Jace did not recognize where he had been led. He stopped flying after a few more moments of trying to find his way, spinning himself in a circle to look for anything familiar.

"And… I'm lost," Jace sighed. "I hate the Overworld."


Jay stopped flying when an arrow went slicing through the air, burrowing itself in the mountainside that he was just about to cross in front of. "Tom, what the hell? If I get hit with that, I'll die," he snapped, taking a guess on who would follow him and attack him.

"See how it feels to respawn in your bed," Tom demanded.

Jay sighed. "Immortals die for good if they get slain," he corrected, though his voice was lost to the wind as another arrow was loosed.

The arrow would have hit him, had it not gotten set off-track at the last possible second. Jay flew down as he noticed Polaris wrestling with Tom's arm. The little dragoness had saved him.

"Polaris!" He called over her small, angry growls, "good girl!"

He stole the bow from Tom and scooped Polaris up as well, ramming his foot between Tom's legs. "The fuck was that about, Tom?" He demanded.

Jay turned to thank whoever had luckily brought Polaris around just in time to save his life, but no one was there. Polaris chirruped up at him happily as she climbed up onto his shoulder. She nuzzled her snout against the side of his face, letting out purrs, before lying along the length of his shoulders.

Jay frowned. "How did you do it, girl? Was it Ianite?" He asked, sighing. "Let's find Jordan. He's such a worry-wart." He was sure, despite her apparent love for Jordan, that she would agree with his statement.

The Enderdragon hopped from his shoulder and trotted forward, tail waving idly and wings occasionally twitching when a breeze came by them. She flapped them once or twice, but scrambled back slightly when her feet left the ground. Her frantic movement of her wings when she managed to get into the air, even if only a bit, caused her to tumble unceremoniously back to the ground.

Jay smiled. Clearly, she wanted to fly, but it seemed that the motion scared her. He understood. Flying was amazing, but learning could be hard. "It's okay, Polly." He paused. "Wait, can I call you Polly? Nevermind. But you'll learn to fly, I promise."

He reached Jordan's house and handed Polaris over to him with a thankful remark, which earned him a laugh from the mortal. "That's where she ran off to?" Jordan asked. "She really is quick. I thought she was just chasing a chicken that was around, and then I looked up and she was gone."

Jordan smiled. "Thanks for finding her, Jay. And, uh… I'm sorry you almost died yesterday."

"Yeah, it happens," Jay said, not wanting to linger on the topic. "Catch you later. I'm going to ask a special lady to dinner on my new Love Boat."

Jordan sighed at him. "It's a ship…"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Jay replied. He really just wanted to spend time with Lara on the boat he had commandeered, specifically for the purpose of getting to know her.

"She was headed over to Tucker's," Jordan offered, "dropping off his stuff, and trying to calm him down."

Jay looked over at Jordan. "Haha, he's salty," he joked, before returning to a less-playful tone, "why do you assume her? There is Sonja. Tucker doesn't scare me."

Jordan shrugged. "Sonja agrees with Tucker. She's just not as ready to start a fight, unless you provoke her," he informed. "Besides, Lara tends to be a voice of reason."

"Whatever, dude," Jay sighed, "I'll prank you later, so don't get salty."

Before Jordan could reply, Jay took off towards what he assumed was Tucker and Sonja's house. It was impressive. A castle, probably built by the Wizards. He could see where the castle had some of the same architectural patterns as the temple Jay had spent the night sleeping in.

"Lara," he called, drawing out the sound of her name.


Lara flinched a bit as she heard Jay call her name. Admittedly, she had been hoping he would stay distracted with Jace and Tom, but it appeared that her plans were not about to be left alone. It did not help matters that Tucker seemed to be in the mood to search for a fight, or that she knew Tucker was partially reacting due to what Jay had done not only to the Mianitees, but to Mianite as well.

"Is that him?" Tucker asked.

Lara held up her hands, attempting to seem placating. She understood why Tucker was being so angry. He had all right to be. But the Purge was specifically set up to be the only time the Mianitees were allowed to cause reckless mayhem. It was all Lady Ianite could handle.

"Tucker, think this through," she advised, "we don't need any fighting. It's not the Purge, remember? You're not supposed to fight with people outside of the Purge. It will hurt Lady Ianite."

Her thoughts trailed to the energy she had used to heal Jay. Part of it had attached to Jay, connecting him to her. She barely hid the grimace that came with the thought of that connection.

"Tucker. Tucker, wait. Tucker," she called as he brushed past her.

Jay came around the corner and was met immediately with a punch to the face, which left Lara flinching. Her wings tightened against her back, trembling as Jay admitted between multiple punches that he probably deserved at least the first.

"Tucker," Lara called, "Tucker, stop! That… That's enough, Tucker!"

Her hands came up to cover her mouth and hide a yelp. With every hit Tucker landed against Jay, she felt it echo back at her two-fold.

"Tucker, please, stop, you don't understand what I did to save him," she begged.

Tucker stepped back from Jay as the void-born Guardian swayed a bit. "What did you do?" Tucker inquires.

Jay lifted a finger. "My face hurts. Nap sounds good," he mumbles. His hand fell and he collapsed, snoring lightly.

Lara hissed in a bit of pain, rolling her shoulders. Despite Jay being the one to fall and land on his wings, she felt like someone had rammed her back against a wall. It did not help her any that she had pinned her wings against her spine hard enough that the pain was only increased.

"His body is bound to mine for a while longer," she admitted, "he lacked the energy available to heal himself, so I allowed him to borrow some of mine. Until his body have the capability to full heal itself, anything done to him will affect me."

She glanced down at Jay and sighed. "If you punch him, I feel it. If something worse happens to him, then… well, you're smart enough to understand."

Tucker sighed. "That's somewhat creepy," he commented, "so, what do we do with him?"

"That's creepy?" Lara asked. "You're the one who partakes in murder sprees once a week."

She sighed at him. "I'll take him back to where I'm staying." Before Tucker could say anything, she corrected herself, "no, not the temple, don't worry. He'll be out of the way with me."

Tucker shrugged. "Whatever. Don't have too much fun, you crazy kids," he joked.

Lara shook her head and grabbed Jay, carrying him back to the cabin she had spent the last night sleeping at. She set him down on the bed, assuming he would rather wake up on a comfortable surface than wake on the cold, stone floor. When she was content that he was lying safely, she kicked off of the floor and flew back into the rafters. She sat with her back against one of the support beams of the cabin, closing her eyes to feign sleep.


Woo! That was fun. I actually edited all of these immediately after I posted up the last chapter. Ha. So, all of the chapters are written and prepared to go up. I also, while I was awake that morning, planned out the chapters for the next two in this series, although I haven't edited those yet. Those will be edited sometime over the next two weeks, I think - or later. It depends. My semester is ending next week (although 90% of my stuff is already done/will be done by Monday) so I'll hopefully have a lot more time to put to doing stuff here over the summer. That's my goal, at least. There will be another chapter next week, probably on Thursday again. I hope you guys are enjoying this. I'm really sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to this.