All she has to do is wait.
It's so unbelievably simple, she almost doesn't believe it. After just one conversation, she slipped effortlessly right into the quest, the young Prime doubting her no more than he does any of his other friends.
Was she ever so gullible? She doesn't think she was.
But on the other hand, why should he doubt her? Why should any of them? Essa knows how to lie. She knows how to mask her expressions, and how to play innocent. She knows how to fake sympathy and fear and concern for others and all the other emotions that died a number of years ago.
Things are already changing. She passed herself off as a seasoned explorer, and Jasper didn't hesitate to accept her advice when she recommended one action over another. This timeline is getting further and further off from the original with every new motion from the Prime, and she's loving it.
Nothing can stop her now. She knows exactly what's going to happen, and how she's going to deal with it. Even if the rest of the Primes try to stop her, there's no way they can.
When Jasper and Axel return with Magnus, and Olivia returns with Ellegaard, they'll all head towards Soren's mountain fortress, and end up separated and trapped in the secret room in the library. She considered changing that bit when she first mapped out her plan for being in this timeline, but decided against it. Going through the grinder is probably the easiest way to get to the End.
She sits near the edge of the map room, looking out at the sunlight casting shadows along the valley. She's waiting for someone, while this timeline's Lukas is on the lower level doing repairs.
He was one of the more suspicious ones when she met the rest of the group, but it didn't matter too much, since the others were fairly suspicious of him. Then, on the trip through the Nether, Essa had helped him fend off a Wither Skeleton, which earned her his approval instantly.
She smiles slightly at the memory. So naïve, all of them.
She and Jasper had met up in EnderCon, after he'd already been cheated out of the deal by Ivor. She'd told him she'd seen Ivor heading towards the Hall, and hadn't had any further problems sticking with the group.
This version of Olivia had seemed vaguely distrusting of her at first, but Axel and Petra had accepted her quickly. Not that she needs anyone's approval outside of Jasper's, but it helps keep things smooth.
Nothing can stop her now.
She has to admit it was mildly unsettling to meet the younger versions of the friends she'd lost so many years ago. She'd forgotten how sarcastically intelligent Olivia was, and how Axel's brashness didn't completely hide his gentle side. She'd forgotten how perfectly fearless and funny Petra was, and…well, nearly everything about Lukas.
He'd died so long ago, that, before she'd come here, so much of the witty, clever, nervous blond boy had completely dissolved from her mind.
But that doesn't matter. She will have him back soon, the real him, who never should have died when he did. She will have him, and all the rest of her friends.
She will have it all.
Her eyes lift to the horizon as a hint of motion catches her attention. Just as she expected, it's Petra, hurrying towards the ruins of the temple in that stilted half-jog of someone who's been running for a long time and can't quite manage it anymore but is trying anyways.
Essa stands, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Lukas!" she calls down, turning and striding towards the stairs that lead down to the library. She jogs past the rows of bookshelves and through the long hall that, until a few hours ago, had been thoroughly booby-trapped.
The familiar boy comes hurrying towards her, abandoning the section of the wall he'd been rebuilding. "What? Did you see something?"
"Not something, someone! Petra's on her way, I just saw her!" Essa says in false excitement. His face lights up.
"I knew she'd be able to find her way here!" Without another word, he races off towards the valley, to greet the red-haired girl. Essa follows behind, taking her time.
She catches up, just as Lukas and Petra wrap each other in a tight, relieved-to-see-you hug. "You're okay! I can't believe it, you're really okay! And you're here!" Lukas exclaims when they finally pull away.
Petra laughs, though it's not an overly happy sound. "Yeah, looks like I am. But what about you? Did everyone get through the Nether safely? Oh, hey Essa!"
Essa waves cheerfully, then gives Petra a light punch on the shoulder. "Hey. I'm glad to see you back. I knew you were a tough little scrapper." she says, though Petra is hardly a 'little' anything. This version of her is only seventeen, but she's already a few inches taller than Essa, and the older woman knows she will get taller still.
"Thanks. It's such a relief to see you both, you have no idea what I've been through. Where's everyone else?" Petra asks. "Don't get me wrong, I have no complaints about the welcoming committee, but…?"
Lukas sighs. "Right, yeah. The Order's not here, obviously, but we found a map that showed where they all are. Jasper and Axel are going to Boomtown to recruit Magnus, while Essa and I wanted to wait here for you. And Olivia was supposed to stay with us, but she decided to go off and try to find Ellegaard on her own."
Petra says something in reply to this, but Essa doesn't hear it. Her mind suddenly goes silent, all her thoughts replaced by an ominously echoing voice.
Essa. This is Julia. After everything that's happened, Jess and I have decided that you were right from the beginning. As much as it pains me to say it, I think we are better off as allies. If you're still interested in letting us join your side, come to the In-Between as soon as you can.
Everything snaps back to normal. Essa blinks, her brain already spinning around what just happened.
"Essa? You alright?" Lukas asks. "You looked kinda worried there for a second."
She smiles easily. "I'm fine. Just…a little concerned about the others, I guess."
Lukas nods, accepting this without question. Essa gestures back towards the temple. "You guys head back in, I think I'm gonna see if there's any sheep or chickens around. You're probably hungry after such a long journey." she says to Petra. In actuality, Essa's inventory is well-stocked with food, but they don't need to know that.
The red-haired girl lowers her head slightly. "Yeah, I am. Thanks."
The two of them head back towards the towering building, and Essa quickly hurries out of sight and earshot. She has to make sure they don't see or hear her opening the gate.
When she's certain the coast is clear, she retrieves her diamond sword from her inventory and begins tracing the exit symbols in the air. Essa smiles slightly, though it's rather scary and grim in contrast to the bright grin she offers for show.
She already knows the other Primes are up to no good. They're not looking for an alliance. They're hoping to trick her.
She'd like to see them try.
▪ Jess's POV▪
All we had to do was wait.
Julia had said that the message went through, so Essa should stroll through the gate any moment now. I couldn't afford to assume she didn't know what we were up to, but I was hoping we'd be able to succeed nonetheless. She was outnumbered, and we had Admin powers on our side.
But…I still couldn't help but feel nervous.
The small, dim gate shimmered slightly, and I instinctively reached for my sword. I forced myself to retract my hand and leave the weapon in my inventory. On the off chance that Essa somehow believed we really were here for an alliance, I wasn't about to blow that by seeming hostile right off the bat.
"It's her." Jo said quietly. Sure enough, she'd barely closed her mouth when Essa strode confidently through the gate.
She looked somewhat different. The purple bandana she'd worn over her mouth was gone, and her hair was pulled back away from her face, fully showing her elegant features and dark-oak-brown eyes.
She stood in front of the gate, propping her hands on her hips and looking around at all of us as a slow, mischievous smile spread across her face. "Well, look at this! All of the Primes here in one spot! This is downright historical, I'd bet. Is anyone writing this down?"
Her dark eyes flicked to each of us again, before they settled predatorily on Jo. "Josephine! So good to finally meet you. You've heard quite a bit about me, hm?"
Jo made an odd wincing motion, and Essa gently touched her own chin with a long finger. "Oh, right. You prefer 'Jo', correct? I agree; it's much less feminine. Though if you ask me, 'Seph' would be just as good. Prefix nicknames are overrated if you ask me."
Then she turned her attention on Jacek. "And Jace! Tsk, haven't gotten that gauntlet off yet, eh? No worries, you'll figure it out." she told him with a flippant wave of her hand. "Congratulations on your engagement, by the way. All the people I've cared about have either ended up dying or betraying me, so I dearly hope you have better luck."
The words were said in a very strange way, tiptoeing along the edge of sarcasm without actually touching it.
"Why is she acting like this?" Julia muttered to me. I shook my head. "She's up to something. We need to be careful."
Seeming like she'd heard us, Essa whipped her head around to smile malevolently at Julia. "Julie, of course, how could I have forgotten? Still haven't bothered to take care of your own timeline, I see. Sure would be a shame if anything terrible were to happen there, while its glorious half-Admin protector was off dealing with other things."
Jacek's eyes cut to Julia, his expression filling with surprise and the beginnings of betrayal. Essa let out an elegantly malicious laugh. "Oh, so sorry, was that a secret? My mistake."
Finally, Essa looked directly at me, and a shiver darted across my shoulders. Her eyes were threateningly dark, and her smile was so sharp it probably could've sliced through flesh. "And Jess. My oh-so-righteous equivalent. I'm certainly glad you're coming over to my side; I daresay you're the only one who could honestly stop me if you tried hard enough."
Parting our little group, she sauntered past us and into the center of the ring of gates, making a dramatic gesture with her hands. "So, I'm here now. Did my ears deceive me, or did I hear something about an alliance?"
I was still a little put off by her strange behavior, but luckily Julia still had a grasp on her senses. "It wasn't your ears that deceived you." she announced, her eyes flooding with Admin red and gold.
Just like that, a substance that looked like liquid obsidian shot out of the ground and coated Essa's legs up to the knees. The texture of the stuff immediately changed, and I realized that it had, in fact, become full-fledged obsidian.
Essa looked down at her imprisoned feet, not seeming overly concerned by the fact that she now couldn't move. She reached up and brushed a lock of dark hair away from her face, commenting, "Well, that seems extreme."
I drew my sword, pointing it at her. "Here's the thing, Essa. We know what you're doing. We know why you've been messing with the timelines, and what you're trying to do with the newest one. And above all, we found out how to stop you."
She smiled. "Have you, now?"
"It's Reuben. If we kill the Reuben of your timeline and stop you from saving the him of this new timeline, that fixes everything. Removing the missing constant restores order to the timelines, and he's the missing constant."
I was afraid that Essa was about to give us another smug remark and wicked grin, but she didn't. Her face lost all emotion for a second, then gradually sank into a horrified expression. "No…what? I-I didn't…you weren't…you weren't supposed to…how?" she stammered.
"A bit of help, a lot of clues, and a big fat dose of luck." I said simply.
Jacek crossed his arms. "So here's what's going to happen, with no two ways around it. We are going to get into your timeline and fix all this, because you are going to tell us where Reuben is."
A war of emotions flickered across Essa's face, and I could tell she was thinking hard. She still seemed shocked that we'd worked out the missing constant, but that disbelief was slowly replaced by cold, hard, determination.
"Or what?" she asked stubbornly.
Julia gave her a stern look, still with those same eerie eyes. "Or this."
She made a small motion with her hand, and the obsidian crept further up Essa's legs, covering her knees and heading up her thighs. "I am not afraid to turn you into an entire obsidian statue and leave you here while we find Reuben ourselves. You know I can use my powers to do that. So, if you help us, we'll let you go back to your own timeline once we've fixed everything. If you don't, well…you already know that I'd jump at the chance to leave you here to rot."
Essa didn't say anything at first, assessing each of us with a somber expression. Despite the serious look that dominated most of her face, I could swear I still caught a hint of mirth in her eyes. What could she possibly be thinking, that allowed her amusement at a time like this?
"I just don't know." she proclaimed, dramatically laying her left hand against her cheek. "You must know what an absolutely impossible situation this puts me in. The option to go home free and clear, but having to know I've crumpled my own plans, my own dreams in the dust? It's too hard! Are you sure you're not the villains of this story?"
The rest of us didn't deign to reply, except Jo, who hesitantly said, "Well…are you sure we couldn't reach some sort of compromise?"
Essa's head snapped up to look at the younger woman, and the malevolent smirk resurfaced. Julia took one look at this and shook her head. "No. No compromises, no second chances, no shady deals. She's just playing games. This is the only way."
"The only way…" Essa echoed ominously. In response, Julia made the obsidian reach even higher, beginning to cover Essa's hips. I squinted at the dark stone covering her feet. It looked…different than it had before. The texture was less consistent, almost like it was cracking. What was happening?
Seeming not to notice the obsidian, Essa continued speaking in the same low, vaguely threatening tone. "I must say, this really is a shame. I could've offered you so much if only you'd teamed up with me. Because, the thing is, you can't actually stop me. Not like this. I may not be the largest or most powerful enemy you've fought, but I'm certainly the smartest- and that makes me the most dangerous of all. While you so-called heroes are always looking for the easiest or noblest way of doing things, you're forgetting that doesn't make them the only way."
Her sinister little smile widened into a full wicked grin. "Because you know what they say. Flectere si nequeo superos…acheronta movebo."
"What?" Jo asked in an undertone, but none of us had a chance to answer. Formidable cracks suddenly shot up the obsidian surrounding Essa's legs, and before any of us could even shout, her black prison had practically exploded, sending chips of obsidian flying at us.
I covered my face with my arms, my mind full of curse words and question marks, and when I lowered them…Essa was gone.
"What the- where the hell did she go?!" Jacek bellowed. "What just happened?!"
"I don't fucking know! That wasn't supposed to happen!" Julia exclaimed back, her eyes still Admin-red.
I heard a strange sound, almost like the sizzling flash of a gate forming, and turned. Essa had reappeared out of thin air, gripping the diamond sword that had previously been in Julia's hand. I didn't know how she'd gotten it or when, but now, the blade was held high, just inches from Jo's back.
"JO! LOOK OUT!" I screamed. The younger Prime started to turn, but it was too late.
She barely had a chance to cry out as the blade was shoved through her back.