"Can you throw up inside your body?" Jesse wondered as they climbed their way up a set of stairs.
Olivia nodded. "Uh huh. I know, because I just did. About five times."
They reached the top of the steps to see a small circle of land, multiple minecart tracks leading to and from it. Archways were looping over each other above them, and Jesse had to take a moment to appreciate it. "Wow," she breathed, "wow, wow, wow! Just look at this place!"
"All of these tracks converge at this point," Olivia nodded, looking just as awed, both eyes lighting up. Jesse had to squint a second, was Olivia's right eye getting even brighter? And was the skin getting darker? "You could probably get anywhere in the world from here!"
"There's the portal!" And there it was, looking just as nice as the one that had been destroyed. At least it was lit.
Lukas nodded. "This is what Gabriel was talking about."
"That's our way out!" Axel exclaimed, walking forward.
"It must lead back up to the surface," Olivia mused, crossing her arms.
Lukas's ears flattened, looking worried. "The surface is also where that creature is."
At this, Axel came to a sudden stop.
"Oh, holy crap, he's right," Jesse realized, putting a hand to her mouth, "we have no clue what we're walking into. It could be... really, really dangerous."
Axel bit his lip and started turning back to the portal.
"I call dibs on going first!" Jesse called out, waving her arm, and Axel glanced back at her, a grateful look in his eyes but a pout on his face. "Aw, I wanted to go first..." he whined.
"Too bad, I called dibs," Jesse joked, poking him in the ribs and making him grin a little at her. "Besides, I've got the six arms. I'll be fine."
She stepped in front of the swirling purple of the portal, and looked back at the rest of them. "Well, see you guys on the other side, I guess."
"Be careful," Olivia said, looking concerned.
"Thanks, Jesse," Axel added.
Jesse took a deep breath, turned around, and walked into the portal.
Icy hot air crept over her, as the world turned a faint shade of purple again. Around her, purple wisps swam and curled and vanished around her, until she could see something-
She stepped into a body of water, freezing water soaking into her socks. Looking around, she saw that it was still nighttime, a waterfall flooding into the body of water she was in and two other ones pouring over the edge.
"Huh. Not what I was expecting," Jesse hummed, wading into the water, as she heard another groan.
She twisted- a zombie was approaching.
Jesse let out a yelp and held out her palm instinctively. Silk fired and hit the zombie, and using all her strength, Jesse twisted and threw the zombie over the edge of the waterfall, before ripping the silk off. It fell who knew how far.
Axel stepped through the portal, blinking as he saw Jesse scraping her hand off on a rock nearby. She looked up at her burly friend. "There was a zombie," she explained, as she stepped over to some stairs leading out of the pool of water.
"Oh. Is it dead?" Axel asked.
Jesse shrugged. "I mean, I tossed it over the edge, so I don't know. It could be? Most likely it is..."
She got out of the water and shook some of it off into the grass, as Olivia and Lukas followed through, looking around at the grass and the trees around her. "Where are we?" Olivia wondered.
"In the dark. In what seems like... the middle of nowhere," Jesse decided.
"Maybe we should bed down for the night," Lukas suggested, "it's dangerous to be out when it's this dark."
"Thought we were headed for a temple," Axel responded.
Olivia shrugged. "We're looking for a giant building. It should be pretty obvious."
"Ivor said-" Lukas began, but Axel cut him off. "Ohh, 'Ivor said'. Well then maybe this is the temple. I'm being sarcastic."
Olivia frowned at the burly boy in front of her. "Axel, c'mon."
"We have to build a shelter," Jesse cut in before the two of them could start bickering.
Lukas blinked, his ears twitching. "I, thought that was what I said, but... um..."
"Let's just build a hut," Jesse said quickly. "We can just block the entrance with some dirt blocks, and... we'll be fine. It's just for tonight, anyways."
"Yeah," Axel agreed. "A treehouse'll be spider town. I hate spiders."
Jesse sent Axel a deadpan look. Axel backpedaled, realizing his mistake. "I mean, except for you, Jesse. I mean, you're not trying to suck our blood or anything like that. Don't spiders eat like that?"
Jesse rolled her eyes and put her arm in front of her face. "I vant to suck your blood," she joked, and Axel cracked a grin when he realized she was joking.
She dropped her arm and looked over at Olivia and Lukas. "This'll probably be faster, anyways."
They shrugged, and they spent about twenty minutes using dirt to build a small hut, before going inside. Jesse stacked two blocks in front of the 'entrance'. "And... there. No monsters can get in now."
After about another ten minutes, Lukas learned he could make sparks by raking his claws (yes, he had claws, and he showed them to them with a face that was basically saying 'holy crap') on some stone, and they'd built a pretty decent fire.
Jesse was just sitting next to the fire, Axel standing, and Lukas sitting in the corner a little ways from all of them.
"Oh man!"
"What?" Olivia asked Axel, who'd suddenly exclaimed.
"I'm going to tell you something," said Axel, "you have to promise not to freak out."
Jesse blinked at her burly friend. "What?"
He turned back around and held out a handful of cookies. "I have cookies."
"One for me," he handed one over to Olivia, then Jesse, "one for Olivia. One for Jesse."
"Thanks, Axel," Jesse said gratefully, raising the cookie to her mouth, but stopping when she saw Lukas looking at it. He made eye contact with her and looked away. "And one for... Reuben." And Axel set the last cookie in front of Reuben, who started nibbling it hungrily.
"Sorry, Lukas. I only have four," Axel 'apologized' to Lukas.
Jesse frowned at Axel, as Lukas shook his head, glancing away from them all, "Oh no. It's- it's okay. I'm not that hungry anyway."
His stomach growled a little, and there was a short, awkward silence.
Lukas spoke up again, awkwardly, "I'll just... grab something in the morning. Or something."
Jesse pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the male, holding out the cookie. Lukas stared at her blankly. "Take it."
Lukas's eyes widened. "Oh... no, no... Jesse, you already got me out of that basement... I-I can't do that-"
Jesse reached down, took his hand, and pushed the cookie into it gently. "I insist."
Lukas opened his mouth to say something, before stopping. He then smiled at Jesse, gratefulness shining in his eyes. "I... thanks, Jesse," he thanked the raven-haired girl.
She patted him on the head, making him squint his eyes shut, before plopping back down next to the fire.
"That was for you, Jesse," Axel said, scowling a little. "Not him."
Jesse shrugged. "I'm not that hungry anyway."
Her stomach growled as well. She rolled her eyes. "Stomach, why hast thou betrayed me," she joked, making Olivia and Lukas chuckle weakly.
Another silence as the sounds of eating took over the conversation.
Finally, Olivia looked over at Lukas, and spoke, "If you had to, which would you rather fight: A hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie sized chickens?"
A/N: Sorry! Another good stopping point. Besides, this chapter was getting kind of long.
MissyMattingly: Haha xD Glad you like this story, though.
x.X. A.L. X.x
