A/N: Thank you all for your continued support, despite how late that last chapter was. Lucky for me, I don't have anything exciting to do at the moment, and I was so excited about finally posting again that I decided to keep going.

Also, one more thing: I'm posting two chapters in the span of about 12 hours. I know I have accidentally skipped a chapter because of this before, so don't forget to go back and read chapter six if you haven't done so yet! Thanks, and enjoy!

~2 weeks later~

Jesse's POV

Lukas turns over the massive poster board that we drew our blueprints on, wrinkling his nose. "Why did we both try to draw on this sitting across from each other? Half the blueprints are upside down."

I laugh, glancing down at the large pile of materials we been gathering together in my backyard for the past two weeks. Wood, rope, glue, rocks, and a lot of snacks, of course.

Today is "breaking ground" day, although we're not actually digging anything. We were just really excited to use that term as if we were real architects.

I'm actually surprised how well Lukas and I have been getting along. He's really sweet, and him and I can relate to a lot, despite how different we seem to be from the outside. And to think I let him be my partner out of pity…and a lack of other partners, I should add.

I grab one side of the poster, squinting. I point to a picture that's upside down. "You were on the right side." He groans and flips it again.

My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket. I drop the board and check to see. "Olivia's calling me, can I take this for a sec?"

"Yeah, of course." Lukas drops the poster, muttering numbers and measurements under his breath as he reaches into the pile of wood.

I stride over to the door and press the green button, and instantly hear Olivia's voice, excited. "Are you free? I think we should go to the mall with Petra like we've been talking about."

Petra fits in with Olivia and I so perfectly, which you wouldn't expect since Olivia and Petra are literally opposites of each other. Since last week, Liv's been trying to get us to go to the mall with her. I'm always busy after school with building and Petra… who knows how she spends her free time. I don't ask.

"Like you've been talking about." I point out. "Look, I'd love to, but I told you that Lukas and I are finally starting to build."

I can practically see the disappointment on her face. "What have you two been doing for the last two weeks when you've said you were busy so often?"

"Planning."

"Planning takes two full weeks?"

"Olivia." I facepalm. "It's a two-year project. You can't just jump right in and start throwing stuff together on day two. Or even day nine."

"Okay, fine. So, I guess I've lost you to building and Lukas for two years, then? I still haven't even met your new best friend."

I sigh. "First of all, hardly my best friend, that's you." I pause, thinking. "Olivia, how about we do it next week? I'll even bring Lukas along so you can meet him."

"You're going to bring Lukas to…shopping."

"Yeah, why not? It will be like a team bonding activity."

"Okay, see you at school." She hangs up. I shake my head. Why is Olivia being so possessive of our friendship? It's not like it's going anywhere. She knew I'd have to do this project when she encouraged me to try and get a spot in Advanced Structure Building, what's changed?

Dropping my phone back into my pocket, I turn my attention back to Lukas, who is on his knees reading one of his building textbooks. I crouch down next to him, reading over his shoulder. It's a page about finishing wood into even, better-looking planks.

"They're not going to give a spot to an ugly, thrown-together project." Lukas explains. I nod in agreement.

"Soren's buildings are always beautiful." I say dreamily. Lukas's attention snaps up from the book, his eyes shining with excitement.

"You like the Order of the Stone?"

I laugh at his tone. He sounds like a fourth-grade girl who just found out that her friend also has tickets to the latest boy band's concert. "Of course, dummy. Who doesn't?"

The Order of the Stone. The biggest legends in the entire world. Gabriel the Warrior, Ellegaard the Redstone Engineer, Magnus the Rogue, and Soren the Architect. They did the impossible: they traveled to the End and slayed the dragon.

People in neighborhoods and cities always forget how dangerous the world can be outside. In populated areas, streets, houses, buildings, and highways are all well-lit, well-watched, and well-protected. But caves, forests, and everywhere relatively unpopulated in the world, it's a different story. Darkness brings out deadly creatures in large masses. From a young age, those who live in rural areas are taught to carry a sword made from wood with them at all times, just in case. Our world is linked to other dimensions, dark, evil places from where those monsters come from. If outside it is too dark, there can be a rift and a monster will appear. People can travel to these dimensions if they wish too, but nobody in their right mind would. By building a small portal, one could enter Hell itself, or as we call it, the Nether. The End can also be reached, but up until just two short years ago there was a dragon, the Ender Dragon, that reigned the dimension.

The Order of the Stone killed it, and in that act they became the most famous four fighters in the entire world. Still together doing good deeds today, they sometimes tour around and give inspiring speeches to losers like me with big dreams. Which actually reminds me of something I saw on my news feed this morning.

"Did you know that Soren is coming to do a keynote for EnderCon this summer?" I ask Lukas eagerly.

"Yes!" He replies. "I saw this morning."

"We should totally go together! And watch the building competition for inspiration."

"Done."

"Oh, and also, looks like you've got an invite to the mall next week." Lukas's smile fades into a puzzled expression. "Olivia's getting mad that I'm not hanging out with her and that she hasn't met my building partner yet. So, lucky you, you get to join us on a girls' afternoon out at the mall with her and my other friend Petra. And we'll probably eat dinner, the four of us."

"Oh." I can tell he doesn't know if I'm kidding or not. "Sounds fun…"

A/N: Okay, real sorry about the way-too-long paragraph about Minecraft lore. I had to add it, even though I didn't want to. I'm trying to make this story as realistic and non-Minecraft as absolutely possible, and as much as I'd love to exclude the dimensions and the monsters and whatnot, guess what. It's kind of important later. This story will not really have anything to do with any of that for a long, long time. No monsters, no nothing. Until of course, I finally catch up to season one of the real story, and then I don't really have a choice there. There is no season one without it, let's be honest.

Also, I have a lot of time to cover in all of this. I'm not going to tell you guys where this and season one connect (although I'm sure you have a few guesses by now) but it definitely won't be for a long while. So there will be a lot of time skipping, *fill in the blank* weeks/months later, etc. If you don't like a story structured like that, maybe this fanfic isn't for you. I'm sorry :(

All that aside (and I certainly hope I didn't lose anyone there) thank you for reading. Hopefully another chapter will be up very, very soon. I kinda owe it to those of you that patiently waited for me to update for 7 months. Love you all!