HI!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed. You guys are awesome and so sweet. Thanks. Diamond Fox xpc. Maple. Empire502st. TheAmberShadow and The Sorrowful Deity.
Responses and A MESSAGE are down below!
Lukas
Lukas knew something was wrong the minute Jesse asked to speak with him. She looked hollow and empty, she acted straight and pointy as a needle and she didn't speak to him on the way down into the library. The deeper they went into the library, the more nervous Lukas got.
Is she upset about me and Axels argument?
Jesse led him to the very back, where it was dark and messy, into the same place they last saw each other before Jesse went on her mission for Ellegaard.
Jesse turned around to help both him and Reuben through the small entrance.
Lukas was coughing, and he was trying to desperately to stop. He didn't need Jesse to worry, or asked questions. That is… if she wasn't here to chew him out for what happened with Axel.
When Lukas was in the room, Jesse's set her head against his chest, and gripped the sides of his jacket. She looked tired and defeated. He felt awful, and not because he was sick.
Lukas asked quietly if she was alright. Her response concerned him; she shook her head.
She looked up at him, her eyes sad and full of unshed tears. Jesse went to kiss her boyfriend but he stopped her.
"No," lukas croaked, turned to the side and coughed into his sleeve. He want to kiss her so bad, but he couldn't. "stop. I…. don't want to get you sick too." Jesse looked him up and down, emotionlessly.
"You look awful." She commented, looking down between their feet.
Lukas sighed, "I kn-"
"You said you'd be okay," Jesse mumbled. "An hour after I left. How long was I gone again?" Lukas hesitated.
Jesse was about to explode, and he needed to be prepared.
"... four days." He muttered. "I think." Jesse nodded, her tears welling up more.
"You promised me you'd be fine." Tears slowly began to fall from her eyes, causing Lukas' heart to crack. "You swore it wasn't a big deal. But it clearly is now." He set both hands on her shoulders in an effort to keep her calm. Though, his coughing wasn't doing him any favors.
"I know what I said. It's just influenza or something-" Jesse brought Lukas into a forceful hug and silently cried into his shoulder.
The young blond sighed and hugged her back, even though her knew this was a bad idea.
"You look awful, Lukas, awful." Jesse muttered through her choked sobs. Lukas went into comfort mode.
To be honest, this was the first time Lukas had seen Jesse break down, but it was so natural; holding her, trying to ease her. It felt… nice.
"I probably ate something bad the other day -!"
Jesse chuckled dryly.
"Clearly."
Lukas sighed exasperatedly.
"I'll be fine!" He tried to assure. Keyword… tried.
Maybe needing to push your girlfriend away to cough wasn't the best way to enforce… anything.
Jesse's eyes flashed with fearful anger. When he was done, she shook her head again.
"No, no, no. Stop right there." Jesse poked him in the chest while she went on her rant. Her face was very close to his, concerningly so. "I have had enough of this hoursecrap. You are not just a 'little sick,' you are 'do not do anything for days' sick. And at the worst possible time, too." Jesse started to pace desperately. "I have two heroes who hate each other for no reason, my boyfriend can't catch a bone with my friends and my family might be dead -"
Lukas' heart stopped.
"wha-"
"And now your sick and I can't even kiss you…" Jesse put her head in her hands, shoulders shaking, trying to keep it together but failing, and soft whimpers filling the whole room. Jesse leaned against a bookcase, then slide down to the floor.
Reuben began to whine and whimper at the sight of his owner finally losing control. The compassionate piglet walked over to his co-owner and sat in her lap. Jesse sniffled a little, then opened her arms for the piglet. Reuben oiked comfort as he licked the tears off of Jesses' face with his rough and slobbery tongue.
Jesse mumbled a thank you but she was still crying.
Lukas' heart was cracking. He had no idea what to think.
What did she mean by her family might be dead? She didn't mean… did she… was it possible?
The blond, still coughing, sat down next to the brunette, then put his arms around her shoulders to comfort her. Thank goodness she didn't shy away from him, he didn't know if he could take it if she did.
When Lukas was done coughing, he said in the nicest tone he could muster up, "Hey, Jacey."
Jesse started laughing sadly at the nickname her little sister, Jean, had for her. Notch, Lukas missed Jean and her little lisp. Her huge smile and green eyes. Lukas could only imagine would Jesse must have felt when he reminded her of her only little sister.
Lukas brought Jesse and Reuben onto his lap, even though it was most likely a bad idea and hurt his chest like Nether.
Lukas hissed through his teeth at the pain, but chose to ignore it.
Jesse laid her head against his should and continued to sniffle.
"Now," Lukas cleared his throat to get rid of an oncoming cough. "What happened with your family?"
Through blurry, hot tears and a muffled voice, Jesse explained what happened at Redstonia. The more she told, the more angry Lukas got at everyone from Redstonia. When she finally got to the part about the Witherstorm showing up, Lukas too felt like crying.
The pain he got from knowing such amazing people like Jesses' family could be in mortal danger sickened him, more than the disease quickly killing him ever could. It only made him hate Ivor more.
"What if I never see them again?" Jesse asked through her sobs. "Jace was so excited to move to Beacon Mines next year! I was looking forward to introducing him to my friends. A-and…"
Lukas felt salty tears build up behind his eyelids; it took everything in his power to not let them fall.
"Shhh, shhh," Lukas tried to say through his need to cough and slowly choking up voice. "they are all so smart, they'll be okay!" He ran his fingers through Jesse's soft brownish-black hair. He was thinking that maybe this will calm her down.
Jesse looked up at him.
"But what if-"
"No 'what ifs,'" Lukas snapped. Due to him losing the tiny bit of control he had, he was forced to lean over as far away from Jesse as he could and cough into the floor.
When he was done, he could barely breath. He was panting, sweaty and probably looked like death reincarnated.
"those won't help us now." He told her breathlessly. Jesse leaned back into his chest and started another round of tears.
"I don't know what to do." Jesse admitted.
Lukas knew Jesse was proud in the fact she could be so calm, that she always had an idea of what to do, and that she stuck to her ideas stubbornly. Her confession that she didn't know what to do, must have been really hard for her to admit.
"I know." Lukas sighed broken-heartedly. Her buried his nose in her hair, keeping down another pesky cough. "I know. I'm worried about them too."
They stopped talking for a while after that, they just held each other with Reuben in between them as tightly as possible.
"What are we gonna do?" Jesse asked after her tears were beginning to dry.
Despite everything, her question was extremely vague.
"About your family?" Lukas asked, confused.
"About everything!" Jesse growled frustratedly, tears forming again behind her eyes. Reuben whined in her arms and nuzzled his face into her neck. "About The Order! About you being sick! About us! About-" Lukas hushed her after he registered her pointless concern for him.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He assured.
Jesse jumped back, almost falling off her boyfriends lap and forcing Reuben to abandon his comfortable stop in between his loving owners.
"Like Nether you will!" Jesse snapped back.
Lukas choked on his own saliva from the shock of Jesses' behavior.
The young women's eyes turned softer at the sight of her boyfriends state.
"This isn't working." Jesse mumbled to herself.
Lukas wished sometimes Jesse was more explicit when she said things because what she said made him think that she was about to break up with him.
His heart literally stopped beating.
"I'm so scared." Jesse hiccuped, easing Lukas' worry a little. "I don't know what to do! I can't deal with-" Lukas brought Jesse back onto his lap as gently as he could.
"Shhh, Jesse," he stroked her hair kindly. Jesse sighed. "you need to relax." Jesse sighed through a shaky breath.
"What am I going to do?"
Lukas sighed sadly, a little choked up.
"I don't know." He replied honestly. "But you will figure it out, and I'll be here to support you in every decision, even though I might not be at my best right now."
Jesse curled into a ball against his chest, she was finally getting her breathing under control again.
Once again, Lukas waited for Jesse to relax. Jesse took a few deep breaths. She gripped the sides of his jacket for some stability.
"I want my family." She muttered. Lukas sighed.
"Me too." He whispered back.
"I wish we didn't have to deal with this Witherstorm."
"Me too."
"I look like a wreck."
Lukas burst out laughing.
"Me too."
Jesse looked up at him again.
"I think we need to talk."
Lukas started coughing once again.
"Yeah."
The two talked about Axel and what happened at the temple while Jesse was gone. Every once and awhile, Reuben would oik his thoughts.
Lukas explained what happened between him and Axel the best he could. He tried not to sound frustrated or angry.
"Oh, Axel," Jesse sighed. She was still sitting on his lap, and leaning against his shoulder. Thank goodness she was focused on something other than her family and not crying. "this was worst case scenario."
Lukas waved it off with a shrug.
"Don't stress too much about it, you already have enough on your shoulders."
"I'm just angry that Axel hasn't put it through his thick head yet that you're a decent guy…" Jesse moved her hair out of her face. Then whipped her face clear of crusty tear tracks. "Do you have any idea why Magnus and Ellegaard might hate each other? They were friends for such a long time…"
Lukas had to think about it.
"Not any idea I can think of. I can read from the journal to see if Gabriel mentions any fallout."
"Yeah, check that out."
"As for everything else," Lukas sighed into Jesse's hair. "we'll cross those bridges when we get there okay?"
Jesse hummed pleasantly.
"You're the best."
Lukas snorted. He brushed her hair away from her face so he could actually see her beautiful face.
"I love you." He whispered softly.
Jesse snorted, that broke into soft giggles.
"I love you, too."
Lukas bent down to give Jesse a kiss on her forehead.
"Okay," Lukas whispered. He pushed Jesse off of him gently, then stood up. He offered her his hand. "we've been down here long enough. Come on, we need to get rid of these tear tracks."
Jesse accepted his hand and let him pull her up. Jesse then bent down to pick Reuben up.
Lukas sighed, thinking about the hotheads they would have to deal with once upstairs.
The more he thought about it, the more he kept going back to the same awful idea.
It was dangerous. It was petty….
"You know…" Lukas coughed into his sleeve. "I might actually have an idea…" Like he cared.
"Of what?" Jesse asked, confused. Lukas pulled her and Reuben outta of the room.
"Come on…" he coughed.
"Of what!"
Petra
With an expressionless face, Petra watched Jesse and Lukas walk down the stairs to the library.
She knew she should be watching the others and monitor their arguing, but Petra didn't care; all she could think about was the exchanges she saw between two of her closest friends. Admittedly, they confused her at first, the way they acted was so contradictory. One minute they could be talking casually and the next they'll look ready to slap each other. It wasn't until she saw how Jesse was willing to go down to the basement that she realized why they acted so strange…
They liked each other. She knew they did; and she knew they knew the other liked them, too.
To be honest, Petra could see it. Jesse was a leader, but she was a bleeding heart and Lukas was a follower who didn't take horsecrap, but then again, he was a follower. Jesse needed someone to keep her stable when she got emotional, and Lukas needed someone to give him strength. Someone to take care of him, in a way. They both had one thing in common, though, they were great at taking care of others, but not themselves.
It was a good match.
It was such a shame.
Petra quickly switched focus to the arguing heroes and friends.
After about five minutes, she was starting to get nowhere. Now, they were just ignoring her shouts of anger to shut up.
"You're insufferable," Ellegaard shouted at Magnus. He snorted like it was funny.
"And you are a pig!" Magnus snapped.
In the time they had been arguing, Petra had learned that Magnus was naturally loud and his voice was really gravely. His normal speaking was others yelling and his whispering was others speaking. Which was weird, because when you think of it in that way, Ellegaard was the one that shouted, got petty and desperate when arguing, while Magnus was the calm, cool one.
Petra made a mental note of that.
As for Jesse and Lukas still being missing… well, she was starting to get nervous for them. They should have finished up by now.
Jesse and Lukas better get back here, or the others are going to get suspicious.
Or maybe not, sense the others were too busy gnawing each others head off to even notice Petra was there.
"Alright! Alright!" Petra wished she could get in between the two heroes, then they would give her some attention but they would just shove her away at this point. "Will you all shuddup and show a little dignanty!"
That miraculously got Magnus' and Ellegaards' attention.
"What are you insinuating?" Ellegaard sneered. "I have plenty of dignanty, enough to not work with this two-faced son-"
Magnus turned her to face him.
"Who you callin' 'two faced' you jealous donkey!" Magnus shouted unbelievably loud.
Ellegaard fazed a bit but recovered.
"'Jealous?' Ha! Of what?!"
Petra felt her stomach begin to turn with hate. She hated how they were acting, she hated that they wouldn't listen and she hated that she was already starting to feel tired again.
"You know what! You ruined-" Magnus continued on some more but his voice got lost at the uprising of Axel and Olivia's argument.
Petra turned to face her two friends.
"He should show respect to the greatest inspiration of all time!" Olivia yelled hotly. Axel crossed his large arms, and his unibrow scrunched up.
"Well she should not be calling one of her oldest friends names!" Axel argued.
Olivia threw both hands into the air.
"Magnus is doing the same thing!" Olivia.
"He has an actual reason!" Axel.
"I did you a favor!" Ellegaard.
Petras' head was being bombarded with yelling, loud voices and screaming, causing her to gain a headache. Somewhere along the line, she snapped like a twig; she simply couldn't take it anymore.
Petra turned on her heel and went down the cracked stone staircase into the middle of the library. She stomped through the musky room full of dust and torn pages and began to look in its forgotten chests, and on the ground.
While she was searching, she moved past an area that she knew led to a dead end with no chest. She didn't expect anything of importance to come from it, either. However, she heard both Lukas and Jesses' voices.
Jesse sounded choked up, like she had been crying.
"What am I going to do?" She muttered. Petra heard Lukas sigh sadly, just as choked up.
"I don't know…"
Petra wanted to stay and eavesdrop, but that would be rude and this sounded personal.
Like Petra said earlier, Jesse needed someone to ground her when upset, which Lukas seemed to be doing perfectly. (Even if he claimed to "not know.")
Petra wondered what they were talking about for a second before she continued deeper into the back rooms of the temple.
The back rooms were plain as dirt, made of stone and old bricks, with grass blocks peeking up from the floor. It only had a chest or two inside.
It was without doubt the most abandoned part of the temple, with dust still caking the floor even though Lukas (and Axel, arguably) had been there for days now.
If a slowness potion wasn't in here, Petra was going to have to make one herself. (Which required her looking up how to make one.)
The first chest was empty… enough said.
The second one was a potion chest, stocked full of stale, expired and probably weak potions that only barely worked. It was just what she needed.
A quick second of searching and she had a splash potion of slowness.
When Petra came back up to the top floor, she didn't hesitate to throw the dark grey-ish blue potion. It was a great pleasure seeing Ellegaard, Magnus, Olivia and Axel all slow down till they practically weren't moving a pixel a second.
The great thing about slowness potions that Petra always appreciated and simultaneously hated, was while their bodies were slow, their minds weren't. They knew they could barely move and it caused them to not even try speaking anymore. (Even if they desperately wanted to)
Petra waited patiently next to the group of four with her hands on her hips like an angry grandmother.
The four turned painfully, impossibly slow to the red haired girl, finally giving her some attention.
"I. Said." Petra stressed each word with more than enough bite to make even her friends fear her. "Shut. Up…" Right as planned, the slowness wore off as soon as she was done.
Olivia took off her green beanie and goggles to fix her curly black hair, a nervous habit she had. Axel messed with his gloved hands. The other two were still glaring at each other.
It was a pitiful sight, and Petra felt sorry for the rational two downstairs.
"I did not," Petra told everyone in a calm and slow but spiteful voice. The others flinched, already feeling the scolding lecture they were about to receive. Even the heroes looked uncomfortable. "almost lose my life fighting that wither monster only to see that two of the most respected members of the most respected team on the map turned out to be selfish children who went through a tough breakup -"
"We never dated!" They both said together quickly.
Petra narrowed her eyes at their outburst.
Petra meant it as an exasperation. A throwaway joke. Something that was more of a metaphor. (In a way) Yet, it somehow got a rise out of both Magnus and Ellegaard.
Petra made another note of their behavior. Maybe she will have them figured out by the end of the hour.
"I do not. Give. A. Crap!" Petra clapped with anger to the beat of her words. It was either this or strangling them. "Either stop or I'll start treating you like the five-year-olds you are acting like!"
Ellegaard put her hand on her chest; her green eyes wide.
"You can'-" The redstone engineer was cut off by the Nether trader.
"Shut up!" Petra snapped. She tried to suppress her hate for the situation she was in far down, so it wouldn't cause more problems than they already had. They didn't need their heroes dying or leaving.
When Petra felt like she had her anger under control again, she turned and said to Axel and Olivia, "And that goes for you two, too!"
They both had the decency to put their heads down and mumble apologies.
Petra scanned over the two redstone experts and rogues for any indication of a further blowout.
"Good." Petra nodded. She looked around the room they were in; walls were missing, the ceiling was caved in, some things have miraculously survived like posters of diamond swords, potions, redstone, bows and TNT, but not much else of importance. It sucked that this was probably the best place to sleep for the night. "Olivia- Axel- go over there in that corner and start clearing a way for a place to sleep tonight, please."
Petra was talking about the far corner directly opposite to wear they were standing next to the top of the stairs that led to the library; it was close to the map and had the least amount of holes in the floor.
They both protested, saying they thought the library was best, but Petra quickly dismissed their claims. (To be honest she just needed them to leave) The library was dark and connected to other unlit rooms, the place reeked of animal and the rooms were small. They couldn't fit everyone in a place that was comfortable and safe.
This was, again, the only option they knew of.
Olivia sighed, Axel growled, then they left together to clear a place to sleep for the night.
The young trader pulled her blue bandana off her red head and untied the knot. All the while, the two legends glared at each other with disgust.
"Finally." Petra muttered, relieved that those two were out of the way for the time being. (She loved them, truly, but she needed to speak to Magnus and Ellegaard alone.)
Petra took a second for herself by fixing her disastrous hair and putting it back in her bandana. For her, the piece of cloth was like putting her hair in a hat; she got most of it to stay in place, but, for the most part, a lot of loose strands circled her head. It was how she liked it, even though she knew it looked strange.
While she was tying her hair up, she kept glancing at Magnus and Ellegaard across from her.
Petra knew that for Magnus and Ellegaard, it was awkward standing there, waiting for her to say something else. She continued to not speak, however, because she wanted them to simmer in it for as long as possible.
When she was done, Petra crossed her arms.
"Now, lets get something clear," She began with a harsh whisper. The two Heroes tensed at her tone. "You two will work together. Period. End of discussion. You two will respect each other like the old friends you're supposed to be and you will help us figure out how to beat this wither monster. Understand."
The whole time, during her speech, Petra made gestures with her hands like she was talking to a small child. She also talked slow and a bit sarcastically; it was the only way to get it past their thick heads.
Magnus eyes hardened and he crossed his arms, but he did look slightly ashamed at his behavior.
Ellegaard just look insulted the whole time.
They both gave harsh looks at the trader, before they reluctantly nodded.
"I must admit," Ellegaard said with a bite in her voice towards Petra. She fixed her uneven armor while she talked. "the Witherstorm that showed up at Redstonia looked impossible to beat." Magnus hummed sarcastically.
"Ahh, couldn't think it away, could you?" Magnus replied dryly, almost subtly.
It was…odd. For Petra, who could read people like the back of her hand, first impressions were supposed to give a lot of information, but what she expected was not what she got. In fact, both Ellegaard and Magnus were the opposite of what Petra expected.
Ellegaard whirled around to face Magnus, not looking angry this time but fearful.
"You weren't there!" She huffed. She crossed her arms sadly, then looked down at the ground; her eyes never lost their passion. For a few seconds, Petra saw the hero she thought she knew; someone smart, brave and determined, even when horrified.
"It…" Ellegaard stuttered trying to find the correct words. She ran her hand through her hair. "it tore up the ground the way a hundred miners could with enchanted diamond pickaxes would. It ate anything in its vicinity. I was lucky to make it out alive… but others…" Ellegaard shuddered at the thought.
Petra looked away from Ellegaard, because she too was thinking off all the people she had lost back at Beacon Mines for the first time. While all her friends survived, others weren't so lucky.
If she had fought to save them, like she wanted, she would be dead.
Magnus eyes stayed hard, and his expression didn't waver.
"How tall was it?" He asked without any emotion. From the corner of Petras eyes she saw Magnus' hands twitch back and forth; he wanted to punch something.
"Bigger than Soren's Mountain." Ellegaard whispered with a shaky sigh. The old engineer began to gain her composer and slight elegance back.
Petra nodded slightly, then looked at Magnus for a response.
He didn't do anything, just stood there with his arms crossed, hands twitching.
"Impossible." He finally said. "You're pulling my leg." Ellegaard rolled her annoyed green eyes.
"Why would you think I'm lying." She replied angrily, putting both hands on her hips.
Petra could feel another argument coming before Magnus even opened to say, "Must I remind-"
"Uh-hemmm!" Petra coughed into her fist to warn them that she was not putting up with them again.
Magnus and Ellegaard turned at the time and they both eyed her, but this time was different. They weren't annoyed with her, or glaring at her, they looked at her with confusion and awe.
Petra got goosebumps from their stares. Now she could feel the awkwardness seep in.
They stayed like that for a few moments, until Magnus and Ellegaards' eyes suddenly went hard together and turned back to one another like Petra wasn't there anymore.
"Who cares how big it is," Ellegaard continued the conversation. "It tears up the ground like a thousand miners with enchanted diamond pickaxes! I think that should give you a good enough reason to be afraid!"
Magnus shifted the weight on from one foot to the other.
"Hmm." He grudgingly responded, though he didn't sound convinced.
Ellegaard noticed too and growled.
"Even if it's half the size I claim it to be, we'd still need a mountain of TNT to kill it." Magnus thought for a moment. He crossed his arms, looked at the floor, then nodded again; finally agreeing with Ellegaard.
"You have a point." He grumbled thoughtfully. He looked back up with a mock smile on his lips. "Problem, Ellie, you see, I don't have that kind of time and even if we had all the TNT for hills, that still wouldn't be the amount you claim we need."
Ellegaard sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose as she said, "I wish Soren were here; he might have something that could help us."
Magnus threw his head back and burst into a groan.
"I'm not listening to you brag about your and Soren's brain club," Magnus complained. He huffed, annoyed.
Out of the blue, Petra watched as Magnus' eyes grew thoughtful, and he titled his to the side.
Ellegaard sneered, "I'm not bragg-"
"Hold on - be quiet…" Magnus said quickly, then trailed off.
"Don't tell me t-"
"I said be quiet. I think I might have an idea…"
"That'd be a first…" Petra coughed once again to shut Ellegaard up once again.
She wondered if Jesse and Olivia had to put up with this back in Redstonia.
Just as Ellegaard was about to snap, and Petra was about to lose her mind, Jesse, Lukas and Reuben came back up from the library. They stopped dead next to Petra to examine the damage that had been done in their absence.
Petra expected them to have tear tracks and puffy eyes, but they both looked better than before; not a hint of what she heard downstairs. It was a bit of a shock.
Small detail, but Lukas was also caring two red-orange potions in his hands.
Ellegaard went back to debating with Magnus, who remained vague and grumpy.
"How's it going?" Jesse muttered silently to Petra, voice as elegant as ever.
Petra leaned away from Jesse, she was so disturbed.
"Better than before," she replied dryly, arms crossed again. "I'll tell you that." Jesse grumbled a few things unheard by Petra.
Jesse then looked down at Reuben and snapped her fingers to gain his attention. Once Reuben gave it, the brunette pointed towards Axel and Olivia, who at this point were talking.
"Sorry," She apologized, arms crossed as well while they both watched Magnus and Ellegaard argued silently with each other and Reuben was trotting away. "I had to ask Lukas what happened between him and Axel." Petra leaned forward to look at Lukas, who was standing next to his crush.
He nodded.
"No problem," Petra brushed off the couples lie. They would tell her in their own time. (If she doesn't mention it first, that is.) "Did'ya figure it out?"
Jesse rocked on the balls of her feet and bit her lip. It was Jesses' tell that she was lying. And by the way Lukas was eyeing her, he knew it too.
Interesting...
"Yeah." Lukas replied for Jesse.
Lukas was tougher to decipher; when you lie your whole life, lying becomes second nature. No tells.
Too bad Jesse gave it away.
So neither are going to elaborate, Petra thought. All right then.
Jesse cleared her throat, then clapped her hands together.
"Magnus, Ellegaard," Jesse interrupted their conversation by pushing the two debate savvy heroes apart.
Petra tilted her head to the side at the move. She didn't expect Jesse to do such a thing.
"Lukas has something for you two," Jesse pointed to the two potions in Lukas' hands, each serving four pixels high.
Through silent coughs, Lukas said, "Drink this."
Petra stared at the potions. She had been wondering what they were, but now she was trying to figure it out herself. However, the strangest thing was she didn't know what the dark red-orang-y potion did, but she recognized it. You could actually find them a coal a dozen in big cities. Petra has admittedly always wanted to try one.
"What the Nether is that?" Ellegaard pointed at the bottles, obviously nervous.
Lukas coughed into his fist.
"It's a potion." He answered dryly through his coughs.
Magnus burst out laughing.
"I know my potions and that is not any potion I've ever seen!" Magnus said through his laughter.
Lukas tilted his head to the side. Then proceeded to just stand there. Eventually he had to cough again.
"Surprising, sense you're a griefer." The blond commented off handedly through a few coughs.
Magnus laughter came to a halting stop. He seemed shocked, but more than that, he looked pissed. He stood up straighter.
"What does me being a griefer have anything to do with it?!" He snapped. He crossed his arms and was taking deep breaths, as if he was controlling his anger.
Sensitive to his griefer status… weird.
"Just drink it." Petra cut in before Magnus went on a rampage.
Magnus growled under his breath.
He pointed at it, and spat, "What's in it?"
Lukas held up a figure to finish coughing.
While Lukas was coughing, a slight breeze came through, giving everyone a shiver. The massive significance was that Lukas was generating more wind than the breeze.
Petra took a deep breath at the simple realization.
He is really sick.
The builder steadied his coughing long enough to talk, with only slight pauses to cough a little.
"Its a level three strength potion, level two splash potion of weakness… and level one night vision potion with two gold nuggets…. and half a cauldron of a Mundane Potion cooked…. cooked for three minutes in a charcoal furnace. Now, drink. It."
Halfway through Lukas' speech , the two heroes jaws slowly fell to the floor in shock. They both stood there, crazy eyed and pale as a ghast.
Magnus eyes turned lustful.
"You know how to mix potions." Magnus said robotically.
Lukas saw the crazed look in Magnus' eye and stepped back a little.
"Yes, and I'm not teaching anyone." Magnus didn't seem to care as the blond handed one bottle to the griefer.
Magnus drank it without hesitation and to the last drop. When he was done, he sighed. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, his eyes went dull like a dolls.
Ellegaard did not take the potion when she was offered it.
"Mixing potions and drinking them is illegal." She told Lukas warily. She was beginning to look at him differently in a, 'I'm in the room with a criminal,' way.
Lukas was not phased.
"I had bad influences in high school. Drink." He forcefully shoved the bottle into Ellegaards hands.
Ellegaard swished the liquid around, looked at how brain dead Magnus was at that moment, and took a shaky breath.
She glared at the three of them before she drank the potion. Just like Magnus, her eyes also went dull.
Lukas nodded satisfied.
"It's a Peace potion," Lukas coughed. Petra wrinkled her eyebrows at the name. She had never heard of it.
"What on the map is a Peace Potion?"
Lukas sighed a little and massaged his throat.
"A peace potion makes it practically impossible to argue with anyone. Now, they can disagree, get upset, but they can not argue with another."
Petra eyes went wide at the possibilities a simple Potion of Peace could do.
"Why doesn't everyone drink those things?"
"Negative side effects and addictive as Nether." Lukas answered instantly, and eyed her from the side. For a few seconds, Petra felt ashamed she even asked.
Jesse went around circling the old members to examine them, she snapped her fingers in front of their blank faces only to find that nothing happened.
"How addictive, again?" Jesse asked Lukas casually.
Petra didn't know if she should have been worried or confused that Jesse was so casual about this.
"It was the second leading cause of death and first leading cause of murder back when Potion mixing was legal." Lukas answered just as casually as his crush.
Petra shook her head.
She didn't want to try it anymore.
"What the Nether," Petra mumbled with a hand running through her hair.
Lukas shrugged.
"The only thing more addicting is Energy Potion, but that's a different reason I'd better not go into."
"Are they okay?"
"They're fine."
Jesse snapped her fingers in front of their eyes a second time. They didn't respond.
Both girls gave Lukas a look that made him shift his weight.
"They'll be loopy for a few minutes, but fine."
Petra looked between the two love birds.
As much as the wither monster situation sucked, she wondered if some part of this was actually good. Great, maybe. She had learned more about the people she looked up to and her own friends more than she ever had. She learned Lukas and Jesse wanted to be together. That Lukas had a dark side. She learned her heroes were (kinda) petty and a little idiotic. She learned Axel and Olivia were a little more naive than they let on.
All things she never saw and most likely would have never seen any other way.
It was fascinating how much Petra had learned, how much information she had to throw out because of these last few hours.
This mission was stripping them all bare to the real people they were, and Petra wondered what the others had learned about her. Who was she bare and vulnerable.
She wasn't as collected, thats for sure. She wasn't as big a leader as she thought she was, she was a lot more nervous then she knew she could be. She found herself following in others footsteps, and blindly following a person she never thought could ever be a leader in such high tense situations. She was backup support, truly and honestly.
Petra had to dwell on it before she could except it.
Backup, just backup.
"How do you know how to mix potions?" Jesse asked while Petra thought to herself.
"Like I said, bad influences." Lukas choked on his tongue. Jesse frowned and rolled her eyes with the unnecessarily vague answer.
Doesn't sound like you care about that tidbit.
Another soft breeze tickled everyones skin, causing everyone to shiver. The sun was finally setting, taking away its warmth and comfort for the deadly uncertainty of the night and moon.
Petra examined the horizon and the sun for any indication danger was coming.
"Anyway, Magnus," Petra said dryly. She turned back to him. "you said you had an idea on how to defeat this Wither monster?" Jesse raised a finger in the air.
"We call it 'The Witherstorm.'" Jesse told her informatively. Petra nodded.
"So I've heard. Magnus? Yoohoo," Petra stepped in front of the Rogue. "Magnus. What's your idea? How do we defeat the Wither monster?"
Petra clapped a few times, both Magnus and Ellegaard shook their heads and got out of their daze.
"Oh… ahh…" Magnus blinked multiple times, and held his head in his hand. He took a few moments to get his head back on straight. "Soren had something called the "Formidi-bomb'. He claimed that dropping it could destroy anything." Ellegaard was holding her head similar to Magnus.
"Yes," she agreed with a yawn. "but no one has ever seen it before. It might not even be real." Magnus eyes flashed twice, once with anger, then again with understanding.
Petra could only wonder if that was just Magnus, or the potion. She guessed it was the latter.
"Oh, it's real," Magnus said in a quiet, for him, monotone voice. (Definitely the potion). "Soren and I worked for years on the recipe."
Jesse jumped in her spot at the news.
"Then you know how to make it!" The young brunette exclaimed.
Magnus shook his head, arms still crossed.
"Ah, no, I don't." He said in his normal loud and gravelly voice. "Look, we had our fallout," He motioned to him and Ellie. "And then Soren went off the rails. Gabriel tried to keep us all together but he eventually grew tired of us all. Two years later I got a message from Soren saying he figured out how to make the "Formidi-bomb." That was the last time had any contact with him."
Jesse covered her mouth with her fist so she could think.
"What else did he say?" Jesse mumbled through her fist. Magnus shrugged.
"Nothing." Jesse let out a string of curse words and she began to pace.
Petra was with her, they had a lead but something always went wrong.
"Sounds like Soren. He was always a mysterious one." Ellegaard commented.
Magnus grunted.
"You got that right."
They stood around wondering how they were going to make this work. What do you do when you need a crafting recipe to an object that may, or may not, even exist.
This was a huge joke. A giant, unfunny, dangerous joke.
"Hey Petra," Petra looked up and greeted Axel, Olivia and Reuben, who had returned from there assignment.
"we finished clearing up the area over there." Olivia said, motioning with her head to the little area across the room.
"What are you guys talking about." Axel asked. Reuben oiked his version of Axel's questions.
The little piglet silently sat down in between Lukas and Jesse, with a heavier lean towards Lukas, surprisingly.
Petra paused to stare at the piglet. Was it at all possible that Reuben knew that Lukas and Jesse liked each other, and was leaning towards Lukas because he was sick?
Reuben was smart beyond a normal pig, it wasn't totally insane.
Petras thoughts were interrupted by Jesse.
"Magnus has a way to defeat the Witherstorm," Jesse answered, sounding tired. "but we need to find Soren. Did I get that right?" Magnus nodded.
"Yup."
"Fantastic."
Axel and Olivia shared a look.
They weren't tired, concerned or worried like Jesse and Lukas. They weren't calm but worried like Magnus and Ellegaard. And they weren't thoughtful and worried like Petra. They were just… confused.
"Where is he?" Olivia asked.
Magnus shrugged
"Nether if I know."
Everyone looked at Ellegaard for her answer.
She squared her shoulders, uncomfortable but not able to argue.
"I sadly haven't heard from him in years, he's very… reclusive, now."
Magnus hummed.
"Gabriel supposedly kept in contact with him..." he trailed, or more like cut himself, off. He looked up at the small group of friends that brought him and his old friend, now emeny, back together in a desperate attempt to save the world.
He looked, for lack of a better word, confused.
"What happened to Gabriel?" Magnus asked all of them, his voice was still loud and gravelly but it was also… softer, in a way. "Axel said he was the one who sent him."
Axel nodded, then looked at Petra for answers.
"Yeah, what happened to him?"
The room grew tense as the ones who knew about Gabriels fate didn't answer and their faces grew dark. The silence was deafening and overwhelming, grating against their skin.
Petra broke the silence with a sigh. She brought her hand up to her forehead.
Ellegaard, who actually looked sick, set a hand on her old friends shoulder.
"Why don't we go and talk." Ellegaard said hollowly, the potion speaking for her. Magnus shrugged Ellegaards hand off.
"Why?" He asked warily.
Magnus repeated the question when he received no answer.
Ellegaard was turning a mild green, definitely fighting the potion with everything she had.
No one seemed to care.
"You guys found us," Ellegaard blurted, sounding like she was in literal pain. "You guys can find Soren. We believe in you five, just give us a few minutes alone."
Axel shared a look with everyone but Lukas. (who was still coughing every once in a while)
Everyone, but Lukas, nodded.
"Ahhh, sure…" Axel agreed, turned on his heel, and led his friends away from the two heroes.
While they walked away, Petra filled Axel in on the news.
Axel looked upset, but the least so. Petra knew that while he admired Gabriel greatly, the warrior was Axels least favorite member in the Order. If you thought about it, it did make sense. Axel was not a fighter, he was a Griefer; AKA, a builder, a redstone expert and an explosives expertise, fighting is not in that list.
In other words, Petra couldn't judge.
The group of five sat down together. Olivia and Axel on one side, Petra in the middle and Jesse and Lukas on the other, with Reuben roaming around in front of them.
The group leaned against the crumbling grey wall and watched the heroes in front of them not too far away.
Ellegaard was hunched over, turning a sickly shade of grass green the more she talked to Magnus, and he was standing there with his arms crossed and eyes to the ground. He set his hand on her shoulder and told her something that got rid of the green on her face. From that point on, they talked a bit more normal, but sometimes they'd look pained or hurt, just to keep talking anyway.
"I can't believe it." Axel said, breaking the silence.
"They are getting along!" Olivia finished, just as shocked and thrilled. Lukas, who was curled in a ball, hummed, "Peace Potion, works wonders."
Jesse chuckled dryly.
"That sounds like a bad slogan."
Reuben and Lukas giggled softly with her. They were so comfortable around each other, how could the others not see it.
Speaking of Lukas, he was starting to look sick again; pale faced, tired and purple rimmed his eyes.
Purple? Petra titled her head. Purple…
"Are you okay, Lukas?" Petra asked. Lukas mumbled something under his breath sleepily.
"He managed to catch a glitch." Jesse answered and elbowed Lukas back awake. Reuben oiked to confirm Jesses' statement.
Axel and Olivia both groaned or growled.
"Oh great." Olivia sighed.
"Leave it to the Ocelot to get sick at the worst of times." Axel growled bitterly. Olivia and Petra elbowed him for the disrespect.
Axel cried out indignantly like he didn't deserve it.
"Hey! I'm not the one coughing up a tornado!" Axel exclaimed his point to Olivia and Petra.
"I didn't ask to get sick!" Lukas argued back as he leaned over Jesse to glare at Axel. Jesse pushed Lukas back in his seat and told Axel to back off.
Petra loved Axel like a brother, but sometimes he was an idiot. He held grudges that didn't need to be held and said things that didn't need to be said. It would make this trip so much easier if he would just stop treating Lukas like scum.
As if Reuben was reading Petra's mind, the little piglet went walking up to Axel with grunts and oils of disapproval. After he gave his oik-y verbal beatdown, that no one really understood, Reuben sat in Lukas' lap and oiked a few more times. The pig nuzzled the blonds shirt and jacket, he looked like he was trying to lift Lukas' shirt up with his nose.
Petra thought it was odd, and found it even stranger when Lukas got a panicked look in his eyes. He pushed Reuben away onto Jesses' lap with a quiet, "enough."
Petra took another good look at the three on her left.
The silence that followed was not great. It was stiff, uncomfortable and awkward.
Olivia clapped her hands together in an effort to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.
"Why don't we just turn on the tracker." The young engineer motioned to the levers in the middle of the room.
Axel sighed and began to sit up.
"Jess and I will get on that." Axel stretched a bit, then offered his hand to Jesse. "You three can go lay down here." Jesse accepted her friends hand and Axel pulled her onto her feet.
Olivia nodded.
"Sounds good." She agreed.
Petra and Lukas nodded too.
Reuben had a weird reaction to Jesse leaving; he bit her pant leg, begged her to stay, but Jesse snapped her fingers and pointed at Lukas.
Reuben forced himself to stay behind when Jesse and Axel left. e lowered his head, oiked, then (surprisingly) climbed into Petras' lap.
At first the redhead didn't know what to do and froze. Reuben was never really this with her. If anything he was kind of indifferent to her.
Petra, feeling awkward, began to stroke Reubens back.
Lukas looked hurt but didn't verbally say anything.
A few moments past and little changed. The Order members were still talking, Olivia wasn't saying anything, Lukas and Reuben were having a silent conversation that Petra didn't understand and Petra was slowly growing more and more tired.
"Ahhg, I feel awful." Petra set her arm against her forehead like it would make her feel better. Olivia hummed, her eyes closed.
"I shoulda used emerald hearts." Lukas said almost out of nowhere. He went to rub Reubens ear but the piglet scooted away.
"Why does that matter?" Olivia yawned while she took her beanie off her head.
"Energy potion last longer."
"Oh." Olivia leaned against the wall in a curled ball position, facing Petra and Lukas. "You wanted to be an alchemist, right Lukas?"
"Yeah." Lukas began coughing instantly after his response.
Petra felt Reuben shake a bit in her lap.
Petra wrote it off as Reuben being cold. The sun was almost completely under the horizon.
"You did?" Petra said, wanting to continue the conversation. I thought you wanted to be a builder.
Lukas nodded emotionlessly.
Petra snorted, "Actually, I'm not surprised. You'd make a great nerd."
Lukas rolled his eyes.
"Thanks…"
Petra smirked and went back to petting Reuben.
She knew that Lukas was smart and he obviously knew a bit about potions but there was a difference between knowing a little and wanting it as a career choice.
Olivia looked like she agreed because she said to Lukas, "For someone who says they're 'late to the game' you sure know a lot."
Petra had lost where this conversation had gone to.
"Yeah…" Lukas mumbled sarcastically. "I know a lot 'bout something that is outlawed in every part of the map."
"Well you have to know about the potions first before mixing them, right?"
Olivia's argument left Lukas speechless.
"Drop it, Olivia."
Petra was a little mad that Lukas suddenly got so angry out of nowhere. She didn't need another Axel or Ellegaard.
"Hey, don't-" she would have said more if Lukas didn't start coughing really bad.
Petra and Olivia didn't say anything as Lukas was choking on his own tongue.
He's only getting worse. Why hasn't he taken a healing or regeneration potion? It might not get rid of the virus but it will make him better.
"Hey Olivia!" Axel's voice interupted Lukas' coughing fit and Petras thoughts from halfway across the room. "We can't remember the combination! Can you help us!" Olivia cleared her throat and quickly stood.
"Be right there!" Olivia turned to her two tired looking friends. She looked down at her red vest and white shirt for something that wasn't there. She sighed disappointedly. "Get some rest you two, you both look awful."
Petra nodded and Lukas hummed.
After Olivia left, Petra didn't know what to do. She thought a little bit about the Wither Monster and a little about Lukas' sickness.
Something wasn't adding up. Lukas did not look sick at all when they were running from the monster, the opposite in fact. His health was also depleting too rapidly at once for it to be a cold or the flu. Lukas was too smart to not see health potions as a quick way to feel or get better.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Lukas pulled out a health and drank it in one sitting. He threw the potion not to far away and in a way that didn't draw any attention.
Lukas got color back in his cheeks but he still looked awful. The purple didn't go away either.
Petra wished she had an idea of what was wrong, but she didn't.
"How was your talk with Jess?" Petra asked Lukas.
Lukas hummed again. He gave no other explanation that that.
Petra knew she couldn't figure out Lukas' sickness problem, so maybe it's time to switch gears to something else...
"You know," Petra started. "I told Jesse that she should give you a chance at friendship and she seems to have taken it very quickly. You guys seem close now."
She wondered if she could get Lukas to admit to her that he had a crush on Jesse. That would make everything much easier.
"Guess'so" was lukas' less than stellar response.
Petra rolled her eyes.
"Have you guys talked before?" She wasn't expected the response she was given, at all.
"Many times, yeah." Lukas answered quickly.
Petra had to take a minute to remember what Lukas said.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Lukas mumbled. "we aren't friends but we have spoken a lot. I normally tell her sorry for my friends being jerks, she says don't worry about it and that she appreciates me stopping them when I get the chance. I also helped with her original treehouse way back when…" lukas trailed off sadly.
Petra wanted to comment on the fact that he helped with Jesse's tree house but decided against it. She needed this to be a natural confession if it is to mean anything.
"Why aren't you friends?" Lukas shrugged.
"Things changed between us."
"Like what?"
"We grew…"
"Apart?"
He didn't answer, he just left it at that. His eyes were starting to droop and his breathing was slowing down.
"You like her." Petra finally said, not as a question but as a statement, like she only just realized it.
Lukas blinked his sleepy eyes open and frowned.
"How'd you come to that conclusion."
"I saw how you treated her, how she treats you. You were comforting her down in the library after you two left."
Lukas raised an eyebrow.
"How'd you…"
"I had to grab a slowness potion to shut everyone up, I didn't hear or see much though. It was obviously personal."
Lukas didn't say anything that confirmed or denied her suspicions.
"Bottom line is," Petra sighed and stretched her arms to make it look like she didn't care. "you have a crush on her. And she on you."
Lukas eyes closed again, but he was smiling and chuckling.
"Really that obvious?"
Petra snapped her head to look at him.
Did… did she really get a confession? She didn't think it would be this easy.
"Oh, yeah," Petra went back to facing forward. She played it off cool and calm. "At least to me."
Petra wished that Lukas continued the conversation, but he didn't. He simply went on trying to sleep as if nothing happened.
"You have nothing to say?" Petra asked him.
Lukas hummed.
"Not really anything I can say with Axel and Olivia here."
Petra didn't understand, and she had to pause.
"W-...what are you hiding from me, Lukas?"
"A lot."
"Stop being vague, you know how much I hate that."
Lukas began to cough once again.
"Honestly Petra," lukas said through his coughs. "I trust you but now isn't the time. I'm tired, your tired and we have a long walk ahead of us. I'm taking a nap. G'night." Lukas turned around and got himself comfortable, but he was still coughing silently to himself.
THIS IS A BREIF/LONG MESSAGE for all the fans of this story and really any fans of fanfiction. I recently join a Discord Server called Immortals Gathering.
For anyone who doesn't know what Discord is, it's a completely free messaging website and app available on Apple and Android devices, where you get to talk with people around the world. It is absolutely amazing, and I have made a lot of friends through Discord. It is so much fun getting to talk to people you otherwise would have never come across.
Immortals Gathering is one of the servers I have joined. This is a server for fanfiction authors and their fans! If you're a fanfiction author looking to get in touch with your fans, then this is a great way to interact with them, and a great way to meet others who like the same story as you. Or, if you're just a fan looking to get in touch with your favorite author, come join! Even if you join just to make sure an idea of yours is heard, join. You will not regret it.
If you are interesting in joining. Just type in the following URL, discord. gg /Yy4mj63 (take out the spaces), and press accept invite at the bottom of your screen. If you have Discord, you will instantly be taken to the server. if you don't, thats okay! You will just be asked to put in your email and a username. Verify your email and BAM, you have a discord account and you are apart Immortals Gathering.
My personal channel where notification signal my every update is towards the bottom of the server. I'm under the category AVERAGE. :)
My channel name is the same as My Username on Fanfiction. Mikaza1498.
hope to see you guys there. ;)
Alright guys, now that is out of the way. Here is a long chapter XD.
This month has been busy with Back to school and 2 full week vacations. (So tortured amiright?) but seriously, I've been busy even if it's with not bad stuff. I couldn't right that quick and I'm sorry. Forgive me.
I'm sorry this sucks so much, and I'm sorry for the grammar and spelling. :D
Alright.
RESPONSES TO GUEST
Maple - thank you so much. You are too kind. :D
TheAmberShadow - I'm glad you like the potion mixing. I'm glad you like my Jesse XD. About her family…. maybe XD. We'll see. Having Petra have it would be too worrisome for me I decided. Thanks for your input.
Okay guys. Time for me to leave. I hope to see you guys on discord! Thank you for reading.
Bye!
-Kayla