Petra tensed behind Jesse, eyes widening. "But... a Wither... that's–"

"One of the worst monsters there is," Lukas finished for the redhead, his face still paler than Jesse had ever seen it. Which wasn't saying much, because she hadn't seen much of Lukas before.

Jesse gulped, making an audible little sound as she lowered her gaze to the chest with the three skulls inside. Her glass heart was now hammering away so hard that Jesse was honestly concerned that it was going to break. "We came down here to find Petra's skull," she said, slightly shakily, staring down into the chest. "Well, we found it."

Petra frowned at the skull. "Maybe we should just– grab it, and get out of here. While we still can."

Even as she spoke, the sound of shoes clicking quietly on stone travelled across the room, and they all whipped around to face the stairs. If Jesse's heart had been hammering before, it was now going into overdrive, thudding away against her chest with the force and speed of a jackhammer. It was a wonder that it wasn't audible to everyone.

"Uh– guys?" Lukas squeaked, eyes the size of dinner plates.

There was no time to grab the Wither Skull back out; there was no time to do anything.

"Scatter!" Petra hissed, and they all immediately split up.

Reuben hit the lever to put the bookshelf back up, and Jesse raced towards a small niche in between some bookshelves. Lunging over it, she immediately huddled down, barely daring to breathe as she kept only her eyes above the shelf, pressing her shoulder into the shelf so hard that the shelf was going to leave permanent lines. For once, she was glad that she was small.

"DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE ME?!" Ivor shouted, and for a single, chilling moment, Jesse was sure that he'd spotted one of them somehow.

Until he continued, "Or... wait... surprised to see me?! No, that's no good... thought you were rid of me, didn't you?" He paused thoughtfully, before giving a satisfied hum. "That's better."

Ivor walked right past Jesse, who was frozen perfectly still as she watched him move by and praying to Notch or whatever magical entity existed to not notice her, don't notice her, don't find her friends

"Hey!"

Jesse's eyes widened, and she glanced up to see Ivor whirling around on his heel in shock at the sound of Petra's voice. What was she doing?! She'd been the one to tell them to scatter, why was she suddenly just popping out randomly!?

"Petra–?"

Seeing as there wasn't really any point to hiding now that Petra had revealed herself– for some reason that Jesse didn't get– Jesse stood up. Nearby, Lukas emerged from a chest, wincing and rubbing his head from where he must've banged it , Olivia stood up from behind a shelf and stepped over it, Axel stepped out from between a nearby bookshelf and the wall, and Reuben hopped down from a nearby potion shelf.

(Axel reached out and caught the little pig before he could suffer any damage.)

Ivor looked startled for a moment, looking between all the teenagers from where he was surrounded. "What are you doing here–?! What did you see–?!"

He cut himself off abruptly, taking a deep, calming breath, before shooting Jesse and Petra an acidic glare that was a huge deviation from the startled man just now. "You two? Did you follow me here?"

Petra stormed forward, Ivor backing away a step– before his face changed slightly. Before Jesse could identify the emotion change, Petra was up in Ivor's face and jabbing her finger into his chest. "You thought you could just screw me– us over," she corrected, so quickly that Jesse almost didn't notice it, "and just get away with it, didn't you?!"

Ivor backed away a step, but Petra paced forward, glaring at Ivor so dangerously that Jesse was getting chills up her back, and the glare wasn't even directed at her. "We're here to prove you wrong." Jesse had never see the redhead glare at anyone so angrily, and that included that one dude who'd once chucked a tomato at her.

The older man scowled at Petra and pushed her away a bit, backing away a little more– he probably didn't like people getting in his personal space. It was pretty dim in here, although significantly better than the alleyway.

Jesse vaguely noticed that his eyes weren't black, like she'd thought– they were a very dark blue.

"What are you going to do about it? I have what you want, and you have exactly what you earned." Ivor's voice was so even and calm that it was actually surprising– Jesse wasn't sure how he was staying so calm while Petra was glaring at him so furiously.

"Like hell you did!" Petra snarled, so viciously that Ivor actually flinched in surprise. "I got you a Wither Skull. Hell, I should've been asking for more than a diamond!"

"Sheesh, she's mad," Lukas mumbled, so quietly that it was almost inaudible.

Jesse narrowed her eyes and walked towards Ivor, lowering her voice and trying to make it sound as sinister and serious as she could. Which... didn't really work, knowing Jesse's personality. "We know what you're up to," she said, barely able to contain the tremor in her voice to a steady level. "Soul sand, and three Wither Skulls... you're building a Wither!"

Ivor looked a bit surprised at this– just for a moment– before his expression went back to an impassive mask. "Huh. Smarter than you look."

Petra growled and stepped in front of Jesse. "You don't get to talk to her like that," she practically snarled, protectively.

"Nobody talks to my friends like that," Axel agreed, stalking towards Ivor. Once again, Jesse had to appreciate just how tall Axel was– he fairly towered over Ivor. And between the angry expression on Axel's face, and the way Petra was glaring at Ivor as if she'd like to break his nose, that forget a broken nose, Jesse was getting a little nervous that Ivor was going to end up with a broken neck. "And I mean nobody. Now shut your mouth– or else."

Ivor let out an irritated huff. "Enough– you've wasted too much of my time already!" And with that, he turned on his heel and ducked past Lukas, who looked too startled to stop him. Hastily, the group raced after him, but he turned a corner and when they managed to skid around the corner as well, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" Petra growled, looking around with a frown.

Jesse looked around rapidly as well– before gasping in surprise and warning.

Everyone whipped around to see what she was looking at– and froze at the sight of Ivor holding a pumpkin over a T composed of iron blocks. "If you won't leave of your own volition," he sneered, "I'll happily remove you myself!"

And he slammed the pumpkin down on top of the iron T.

The T of iron blocks began to shiver together dangerously, Ivor stepping in front of the statue. With a sudden blast of smoke, the statue condensed into a huge, red-eyed iron golem. Ivor gave the group of teenagers a cold look. "Show our friends the door, will you?" and he gave them a nasty grin.

"RUN!" Jesse yelled, which she probably didn't need to do, but her voice rose into a frightened squeak at the end and she just needed something– anything to do, anything to make sure that everyone was okay.

The iron golem swung its arm, everyone ducking to avoid getting hit right in the face.

Once, Jesse had been in a village at night and an unfortunate zombie had wandered into the village. The local iron golem had lumbered towards it slowly, making Jesse wonder how effective it could really be, being that slow– and then it had swung and sent the zombie's head flying like a golf ball, the body disentegrating into a column of smoke right where it stood while the head slowly disappeared in a puff of smoke nearly fifty feet away.

She would not like her head to be turned into a golf ball as well.

With a shriek, Jesse dove out of the way of a heavy hit from the iron golem, landing on the floor.

Scrambling back to her feet, Jesse ducked under another swipe from the iron golem. Petra and Olivia were already racing up the steps, and Jesse's heart was pounding away so hard that if it went any harder it was definitely going to crack. Lukas was scrambling after them, trying to get back to his feet from where he was currently on the floor– he must've dived out of the way of a hit as well. Axel had scooped up Reuben and was already racing up the stairs–

Something clipped Jesse's back as she ran forward, and the short girl let out a yelp of pain and surprise as she fell forward, a deep, throbbing pain spreading through her back and making her aware that it was going to bruise. Twisting around, the iron golem towered over her, glaring down at her threateningly... it raised its arms above its head, preparing to bring them down on Jesse–

"Stop."

The iron golem froze mid-movement, Jesse frozen in fear with her heart pounding away so hard that it had to be breaking, it had to be cracking because it was going at the force of a jackhammer.

Ivor was still standing in his little niche where the iron golem had been before, shrouded in shadow as he regarded Jesse. He met her eyes and cocked his brow, as if daring her to question what he was doing. His expression was completely blank otherwise.

Jesse remained frozen for a moment, before slowly allowing herself to clamber to her feet, her body trembling so badly that she vaguely wondered for a moment if she was on 'vibrate'. Her head was swimming. Why was he allowing her to escape? What did he stand to gain from that?

Slowly, she backed away a step. The iron golem remained frozen in place, simply staring at her with those dead red eyes. (Dead red... that rhymed.)

Ivor inclined his head slightly, dark blue eyes glinting.

Back away another step. Jesse was maintaining eye contact with Ivor, because– okay, this sounded a little childish, but she was scared that the moment she took her eyes away from him he'd change his mind, mind still swimming and floundering and grasping for some comprehension because why was he doing this, why was the guy standing in the shadows letting the iron golem stay still so she could get out, why was he letting her go?

A few moments passed, and then Ivor's hand slowly moved.

Still making eye contact with Jesse, still staring right at the dark-haired girl, his hand slowly came to a stop... resting over his heart.

A chill shot up Jesse's back. Suddenly the room was too small, the basement that moments before had felt too big, the stairs miles away, was suddenly more cramped than a sardine tin, the air that had been damp and chilly was now burning hot, her lungs had forgotten how to breathe. She didn't know if it was a coincidence, or an observation of some sort, or a threat, or what, but she wanted out of the room.

She turned, breaking eye contact, and bolted up the steps.


Ivor watched the small girl race away up the steps, a confusing mess of conflicting emotions and thoughts swirling around in his head as he allowed his hand to drop away.

He'd seen the confusion and fear in her eyes when he'd told the golem to stop, as if he was trying to fool her and the moment she made a run for it, he'd have the iron golem attack again.

Honestly, he'd just wanted her to get out of the basement. That was the only reason he'd summoned the iron golem in the first place– he didn't want to be questioned.

He'd seen the confusion and curiosity in her eyes as she hesitantly moved towards the stairs, staring at him as if what he was doing was foreign to her. Ivor could practically see the cogs in her brain turning when he'd stopped the golem, racing away as she tried to figure out what he was doing, tried to understand what he was doing.

He'd seen the terror in his eyes when he'd put his hand over his heart, mind starting to race away so quickly that it was almost like a rabbit that was startled into fear.

At least she was gone. And at least none of them had realized.

Silently, he looked at the iron golem, still frozen with its arms raised above its head. "Make sure nobody else gets down here," he said quietly, and the iron golem made a low groaning sound as it lowered its arms again, beginning to lumber around in the area in front of the entrance.

With that, Ivor simply stepped out of the niche and walked towards the back of the room, where he kept the setup for the Wither.

One last check. One last look at it.

This is it.


Jesse shoved open the door, Lukas starting back with wide eyes as the door burst open. She could hear Gabriel the Warrior talking in the background, but she was gasping for breath and her glass heart was thudding away inside her chest and she didn't care right now, she was out of that basement.

"Jesse! Oh man, you're okay." With that said, Lukas threw his arms around the shorter girl in a tight hug.

Jesse stumbled a little at the hug but managed to keep herself upright. "I– yeah, I'm fine."

Even though Jesse had just said she was okay, Lukas kept holding her in a tight hug. It was starting to get a little awkward, and Jesse could feel her cheeks growing hot. Reuben– who was at Lukas's feet– gave an insistent squeal, but Lukas just kept holding Jesse in the hug.

Lukas released her a moment later, relief evident on his face. "Oh man, I'm so glad to see you. We got all the way up here but then we couldn't see you anywhere, so Axel figured you were in the basement...

"Axel was right," Jesse agreed, adjusting her overalls a little, "the iron golem clipped me on the back and knocked me down."

Lukas looked at Jesse admiringly. "And you got out? Even after that?"

Jesse was about to tell him about how no, she wouldn't have gotten out unless Ivor had told the iron golem to stop... but then she stopped.

If she told him that, then she'd have to tell him why she'd been racing up the stairs even after he'd let her out. And if she did that, she'd have to explain why she'd been so panicked about the hand-over-the-heart thing. And she didn't want to talk about that.

She could lie, of course, but she was a terrible liar and he probably wouldn't believe her.

So, she just shrugged and gave him a small, slightly sheepish smile.

Lukas gave Jesse another admiring look before wrapping his arms around her in another hug, this time much quicker. "Well, I'm glad you're alright. Now, let's hurry up and meet back up with the others– they went off to go find Gabriel while I came after you."

"Ah, okay." Jesse took a deep, slightly shaky breath, and gave Lukas a smile, even though her glass heart was still thudding away furiously in her chest. "Okay," she repeated.

Lukas smiled at her reassuringly, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder in an... oddly sweet gesture. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, sincerely.

The black-haired girl just gave him a slightly distracted nod, aware that her heart was fluttering away rapidly. "Uh-huh," she agreed vaguely, before shooting him a small smile. "Thanks for coming back for me, Lukas."

"Of course." He gave her a now-slightly awkward nod, left hand plunging deep into his pocket, and he started moving away into the crowd, Jesse following after him quickly as Gabriel announced that he was opening up the floor for questions.

"So, uh, you know with like Ellegaard," an attendee of the keynote called out, "and the dragon, um... what was her favorite food?"

There was a full, three heartbeats of pause at that, and Jesse could count because her heart was still thudding away pretty hard against her chest.

"Bread. Next question!"

Jesse almost giggled at that, having to clap her hand over her mouth to muffle it.

"So..." Jesse was now very aware of Axel's voice, booming over the crowd, as she and Lukas carefully moved through the crowd while trying not to shove them out of the way– Jesse was once again glad she was short– "There's, like, a guy in the basement doing weird stuff. You have to head down there and stop him."

Jesse almost facepalmed. Great, Axel. Way to get Gabriel to help. She might've done it, actually, except that she was now giggling at the awkward declaration.

"... I... see."

"Dude, I don't know how I can be any clearer!" Axel exclaimed, sounding a little annoyed that Gabriel wasn't getting it, "weird guy, doing weird stuff! Freaky, with a side of strange! Why won't you listen to me? What do you want me to do, tell you charades-style?"

Jesse stifled a giggle at that and tried not to make eye contact with Lukas– judging from the muffled sounds he was also making, if she did she was going to explode into giggles.

"I promise you," Gabriel said, looking a little alarmed at the prospect, "that's the last thing I want you to do."

Jesse's stifled giggles began to amplify.

"Four words. Six syllables. Sounds like– 'schmonster in the schmasement.'"

Olivia, Gabriel, and Petra all simultaneously face-palmed.

Jesse's giggles grew so acute that they were silent. She didn't dare look back at Lukas for fear of what his facial expression would be, since he was starting to make little silent choking sounds as well. Sorry Axel, but it's funny.

And then a voice cut through the air and the murmuring, making Jesse and Lukas immediately quit laughing. "I have a question for you."

Lukas gave Jesse a confused look– like, how did this guy get up here without us noticing?

Jesse shrugged in reply.


A/N: Okay, I lied a bit when I said there was no Lukesse. There's some Lukesse. I'm not explaining why I said there isn't any in Chapter 9 until later, though.

I'm excited~ May actually hold off on updating anything else for a while and just focus on binge-updating this. I'm still thinking about it.

Responses to reviews!

AquaK13: Hehe xD / Yeaaaahhh, that'll happen for a while xD / No, you're right. I typed that wrong. xD

LunarTheMooncake: (shrugs) Who knows?

TheAmberShadow: (shrugs) / (snorts) Very true. / Hmm... maybe. Or maybe he'll just start using Coal more to get a rise out of her. Who knows. / Hahaha, does it really! / Hmm, I wonder~ / Lied a little bit, there is some, but you'll see why I said there's none later on. / You'll find out later. / Yes, I've fixed that xD / No. / Very true xD / Well, I mean, I've got ten books of fairytales in my house alone, so that might've just been an indicator to that xD / They know how to read each other's facial expressions and gestures very well. / (shrugs)

homeworkoverload: Yeah, PAMA spoiled that word for me xD / LMAO really? / (shrugs)

NoItsBecky: One of those three is correct. / (laughs) I make my chapters "short, sweet, and to the point." (Well, actually, it's just minimally edited word vomit, so.)

CamronXTheXGamer: (shrugs) You'll find out sooner or later.

x.X. A.L. X.x