Jesse clambered up the side of the hill to the temple. "Okay, just a bit farther!"
Magnus scrambled up first. "Wow," and he stepped over to the edge and looked at the archway. It was comprised entirely of redstone, the archway now looking more like an honest-to-goodness tunnel, with an iron door to boot. "Someone went bonkers with the defenses, huh?"
Jesse shrugged. "Well I like it."
They all hopped down (Axel nearly flattened Magnus by accident) and went towards the entrance.
A creeper came up to them, looking directly at Magnus. Axel stepped in front and glared at it, a slight hissing escaping from his mouth. To his surprise, the creeper stopped and tilted its head at Axel curiously.
Until five arrows impaled it, killing it and making it burst into a cloud of smoke. "Who goes there?" shouted a dramatic voice.
They looked up to see Lukas on a platform with a bow. His blue-green eyes widened, and he lowered the bow. "Jesse? That you?"
"Lukas!" Jesse called back, a smile forming on her face, even as Axel hissed a bit and Magnus mumbled something about "You two didn't change, huh?"
She chose to ignore it. "Hey, we're back!"
"I'm so glad you're back!" Lukas called down, his ears actually perking up slightly when he saw her.
"And we brought Magnus!" Jesse gestured at the master of explosions next to her. Lukas's grin grew even wider. "Fantastic!"
He disappeared, only for him to open the door, his eyes actually sparkling with excitement. Sparkling, I tell you. "You guys are NEVER gonna believe you showed up while you were gone."
Jesse poked her head inside the building, and her eyes widened and a grin stretched her face out. "Petra!"
She ran over to the redhead as Petra pushed herself off the wall, throwing her arms around her friend. Petra stumbled back a step, but she was still smiling. "Hey, guys. How's it going?"
Reuben ran over as well, and ran in little circles around her, and she grinned down at him as he started rubbing his head against her leg.
"Petra, you made it!" And the two girls gasped a little as Axel enveloped them in a bone-crushing hug.
"Axel, ribs," Jesse eked out.
"Sorry," and he let go, but he was grinning.
Petra let out a low wolf-whistle and grinned at Jesse. "Nice cloak."
"Thanks," Jesse nodded, a grin still on her face. Petra nodded and said, a bit more quietly, "Back there in Gabriel's bunker... it got pretty dicey."
Jesse nodded, her big grin fading a bit. "It's such a relief to see you," she agreed, "I'm so glad you're okay."
"You pulled me out of that Witherstorm's clutches, and I ran, and ran, and ran for the temple. If you hadn't saved me... well, I owe you everything, Jesse. I'm just glad I heard Gabriel telling you where to go," Petra said, nodding seriously.
Jesse's smile fell right off her face. "D-did anyone else get away?" she asked, twisting all of her hands together anxiously, enough so that it cut off her circulation.
Petra looked down at her feet. "It's all a blur, but the Witherstorm left almost nothing behind. Everything... everyone... was just... gone," she said, so quietly that Jesse almost didn't hear it.
"It even got Gabriel," Petra finished, turning around and leading them deeper into the temple.
Jesse looked back at Magnus, whose mouth was hanging open, eyes wide. He shut his mouth and looked at the floor without even saying a word, and that wasn't like the Order of the Stone member.
As they ascended the stairs, Magnus looked around. "Wow. Been a while since I've been here- whoa."
His face contorted into a glare, his fists clenching a bit. Jesse stepped back a step in surprise and apprehension. "What. Is. She. Doing here?" he said, slowly, angrily.
Jesse turned to look over her shoulder, mouth falling open as her eyes widened.
Near the crumbling wall, a chatting Olivia and Ellegaard stood there. From the distance Jesse was at, Ellegaard had a pretty warm expression on her face. She couldn't see Olivia, whose back was to her, but from the way Olivia was using her hands animatedly, she was in a pretty good mood.
"Call this a hunch," Petra said tentatively, "but... uh... do you two not like each other?"
"Right, I, forgot to mention... Olivia went on a little expedition of her own, while you were gone," Lukas added sheepishly.
Magnus frowned at them. "And this, 'Olivia' person, came back with her?"
He turned to Jesse, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Did you know about this? Did Ellie-" He stopped, closing his eyes in frustration for a moment, before eking out, "Ellegaard. Did Ellegaard put you up to this?"
Jesse shook her head, frowning. "And this... is a problem?"
"You bet your butt it's a problem," Magnus snapped, "no way am I working with her. Not after... ugh."
Jesse arched her eyebrow, but right then Olivia spotted them. "Jesse!" she called out, her face practically lit up like a sunbeam, even as Jesse noticed the skin around her right eye had finally darkened to jet-black, and her eye was a glowing shade of violet. "Jesse! Look- I found Ellegaard!"
"One moment," Jesse said to Magnus, "I'll- I'll go and figure out what's happening."
"Good," Magnus snapped, "you do that."
"Easy now, Olivia," Ellegaard was saying to the slightly taller female- actually, Olivia was getting tall, Jesse had only just noticed- "Let's try and play it cool, hm?" She turned to Jesse, expression hardening. "So, who are you now? And why did you bring him with you?"
Jesse sighed and pulled aside the cloak. Ellegaard's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh! I see. Olivia just called you Jesse, but I didn't realize... yes, okay, I see now. Hello, Jesse. But, ah, doesn't explain my second question."
Jesse rubbed her forehead a bit with her topmost set of hands. "Yeah. We're- well, we're trying to reunite the Order of the Stone."
Olivia was practically glowing. "It was kinda crazy, actually. I went to Redstonia, and there were all these amazing engineers and inventors... it was a bit intimidating, actually. But Ellegaard's made me her protege!"
"Way to go, Liv!" Jesse cheered for her friend, "I was Queen of Boom Town. For, like, twenty seconds."
Olivia's grin looked as though it were about to split her face. "That's awesome! Great job!"
Before Jesse could say anything else, Magnus came over, his face darker than a thundercloud. "Oh, hooo-ray. It's Ellie. And here I was just starting to enjoy myself."
"Hello Magnus," Ellegaard responded primly, returning the glare, "your voice is exactly as pleasant as I remember. Which is to say, not at all."
"Ow, my feelings. That the same wit you're gonna use to save the world?"
"Why? You here to tell me how to do it better?"
"Oh, I would never dream of doing that. Unlike you," and now the two of them were practically inches from each other, so close that if Jesse had shoved Magnus they would've kissed, "I actually DO things instead of just talking about them."
"Hey!" Olivia interrupted, "that's Ellegaard you're talking to! Show her some respect!"
"Wow, you've finally found yourself a live one," Magnus sneered at Ellegaard.
"Hey!" Olivia repeated, sounding more offended his time. Magnus continued. "Your devotees are usually more on the bookish side."
Lukas blinked. "What's wrong with books? I like books. And Jesse does, too. I mean, when we were back in the lab Jesse would pet me while reading a book."
All five of the hybrids, all in earshot, suddenly shuddered, chills racing down their spine.
Lukas blinked again. "Holy crap, where did... where did that come from? I never... I don't think I remembered that before."
"Well, would you two cut it out, please? Let's focus on the bigger picture, here. We have a very hungry Witherstorm who is in the process of turning our world into its dinner," Jesse subtly tried to steer the conversation away from arguing.
"Yeah, I'll admit, that thing looked real nasty. I've seen some nasty stuff in my time," Magnus agreed.
"Too much for you, was it? Your usual brutish approach didn't cut it?"
"Hey!" And Magnus whirled back on Ellegaard, "you weren't there, alright? You didn't see how this thing tore everything up-"
"ENOUGH!"
Both of them jumped at the three simultaneous voices that interrupted the bickering, turning.
Petra's eyes were literally smoldering (although, it might've been Jesse's imagination, but it seemed less fiery than before) and she was actually starting to glow with heat, Lukas's hair was standing on end with his tail bristling and his cat-eyes in full procession, and Jesse's red eye was glowing as she hissed angrily.
"The entire world is being eaten," Petra said, her voice calm but still quivering with fury. Lukas picked up where she left off, his claws showing as his hands contorted, "and you're both here acting like little children!"
"Would you two please put aside your differences," Jesse agreed with her two friends, voice deceptively calm, "because we don't have the time for petty arguments!" The last word was the loudest, because all three of them yelled at the same time.
Magnus stepped back, looking slightly nervous. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, obviously taken aback.
"Yikes," Ellegaard agreed.
"They're right," Olivia agreed, timidly, "we don't have time to argue. We have to find some way to stop that thing."
The three friends huffed, Petra's eyes no longer flaming, Lukas's hair relaxing, and Jesse brushing her hair back in front of her left eye as they all attempted to calm down, although judging from how tense they were, it wasn't really working.
"Yes... but this place isn't nearly the stronghold it used to be," Ellegaard hummed thoughtfully, "most of our supplies are gone."
"It would take a mountain of TNT to kill that thing!" Magnus pointed out.
Ellegaard sighed a bit. "Yes, I hate to say it, but judging from the stories Olivia's told me, you have a point."
"At least they're agreeing now," Lukas sighed, relaxing. Axel patted him on the shoulder with a nod. "I know, right?"
"Are they getting along?" Olivia wondered.
Jesse shrugged. "Depends- you talking about Ellegaard and Magnus, or Lukas and Axel?"
"If only Soren were here," Ellegaard kept musing, "he might have something we could use."
"Ellie, not this again," Magnus moaned, "you know I hate it when you brag about you and Soren's little brainy club."
"I'm not bragging!" Ellegaard huffed, "I think I've got a legitimate idea here!"
Jesse looked over at Ellegaard. "What are you talking about?" she asked, curiously.
"Soren had a kind of... 'super TNT'," Ellegaard responded, "Stronger and more explosive than anything else in the world. The Formidi-Bomb."
"Yeah yeah yeah," Magnus dismissed, "I've heard all about the 'F-Bomb' before."
Jesse snorted at that.
"Yeah, Soren claimed that dropping the 'F-Bomb' could destroy anything."
Now she was giggling and trying not to. Her friends were trying to keep a straight face, but Jesse's giggles were contagious.
"A-anyway, the F-Formidi-Bomb sounds perfect!" she said quickly, trying to keep herself from dissolving into a full-blown giggling fit, "we should go get it. Like.. right now."
"Erm, there's a little problem here... we don't know where Soren is."
"That sounds like a pretty big problem to me."
"But you found us," Ellegaard said, ignoring Petra's sarcastic comment. "Do you know where he is?"
Jesse looked up at the map, and everyone followed her gaze. Ellegaard nodded. "Our map could locate him. Unless he's in the Nether. Or the End. But, it's worth a shot."
Jesse placed the amulet back in it's place, before going back over to the table and flipping a switch or two, which lit up the block, and the red and green lights appeared from the amulet right next to one another at the temple.
"Okay, there's your light... my light..."
Magnus was cut off by a white light flashing to life at the top of the map.
A/N: The chapters are getting longer and longer. The stopping points are getting farther and fewer between. Good for length, not good for updating time.
And, while this story has hit 110 reviews, I can't actually answer any of them. (sighs)
x.X. A.L. X.x.
