"Wow, so that temple we went to was built by these... old builders?" Jesse asked, passing the flint and steel down to a couple of her lower arms as she looked at her mentor curiously.

"That's my suspicion," Ivor nodded, "but it's what's INSIDE the temple that interests me even more! You see, if these builders truly existed, and if you found their temple... that means we're one step closer to finding the 'Eversource'!"

Petra chuckled and elbowed the blonde Ocelot in the shoulder. "Looks like you came back just in time, Lukas."

"The Ever... what now?" Jesse asked, arching her eyebrow.

"The Eversource!" Ivor repeated.

Lukas arched his eyebrow as well. "You... uh... gonna actually explain it any more than that?"

"The Eversource is said to be an object of incredible power possessed by the old builders," Ivor said, a bit impatiently, unlike when he usually taught Jesse, "it was some sort of treasure, or artifact, that gave them an endless supply of precious materials! Think about it, Jesse! That temple must've been its hiding place!"

"Wow... Old Builders," Petra said, reaching a hand up to touch her lip, "You learn something new every day."

Jesse nodded, looking at the flint and steel. "Okay, this flint and steel may have the 'Old Builder' enchantment... but how do you know that's where the Eversource thing is?"

Ivor looked at Jesse, seriously. "I've travelled near and far, Jesse. That temple, that flint and stell... it's the only firm proof that I've ever seen of the Old Builders."

Petra nodded, combing her fingers through her short, red hair, "That does seem like a pretty solid bet." She grinned at the other two hybrids. "Old Builders, 'Eversources', ancient mysteries... you know I'm in."

Ivor hopped up and down as Jesse and Lukas nodded agreement. "Excellent! I'll pack my adventuring things immediately!" And he bolted off.

Petra's face fell. "Wait a minute, HE'S coming?"

"Sounds like you guys have a lot to get to. I guess I'll take off?" Lukas suggested, but Petra put her arm out to block Lukas. "Nope! You're coming with. I need the biggest buffer I can have between me and Ivor."

Jesse laughed at that.


Ivor was running around, the most energetic Jesse had seen the former Order of the Stone member in years. "Adventure! Haha!"

"Lukas, I know it's daytime, but watch our backs, okay?" Petra asked Lukas, who nodded back with a grin.

Petra leaned over and whispered into Jesse's ear, softly, "I can't believe we're bringing Ivor with us. I mean, it's nice that he's excited, but he's not the first person I'd choose as 'adventuring companion'."

Jesse shrugged. "Well, we can't really argue that when it comes to all the ancient history and treasure, Ivor sure knows a LOT about it."

"Eh, true. Fair enough."

"These trees are enormous! I love it so much!"

Jesse glanced back at her two friends, who were smothering giggles as best as they could. Jesse smirked a little and turned back to the front, fighting a smile herself.

"He gets on my nerves sometimes," Petra added, once the three of them had gotten over their giggling fit.

"Remarkable!" Ivor said, putting his hands on his hips and smiling at the temple, "look at this architecture! So old! So exquisite!"

"Nice to see you smiling," Jesse said, putting a hand on her mentor's shoulder with a grin.

Ivor's eyes widened, and he turned back to the front. "I'm not smiling."

This time the three hybrids could barely contain their giggles. Jesse literally covered her face with two sets of hands, Petra pulled her bandana over her face, and Lukas covered his face with his arms to hide the fact that they were practically rolling with laughter.

"This place looks a lot different in the daytime," Jesse noted, looking around the temple. And indeed, in the light of day, the temple didn't look nearly as imposing.

"Okay, be careful what you touch. There could be traps everywhere."

"I'm sure if we didn't trigger any the last time, we're not going to trigger any this time," Jesse teased, as Ivor hopped around. "Petra! Blonde guy... Lukas! Yes, Lukas! Are you excited as I am?"

"I'm not sure that's possible," Petra teased as Jesse searched around.

"Since you're so excited," Lukas added.

"Right now, Ivor's worse than Axel when he was hyped up on sugar-"

All three hybrids suddenly shuddered, chills rushing down their spine. Ivor gave them a surprised look. "Have your memories not all come back yet?" he wondered, raising his eyebrow.

"No, not quite. They come in little flashes, every time we see something that reminds us of the lab, but it's not quite all back yet," Jesse shook her head.

"Ah, I see."

Jesse looked around the room carefully, before spotting a makeshift staircase. "Hold up... there's some sort of room up there!" she called, looking at some vines against the wall as well. "This looks promising, I'm gonna head up," she said to her friends.

Ivor nodded vigorously. "Fantastic! We'll follow right behind you!"

And Jesse found herself climbing up into a room that was hidden from the rest of the temple, pulling aside some vines. "So, you think this Eversource is up here?" she called down to Ivor.

"Hard to say, Jesse! As the story goes, the Old Builders feared its potential, so they hid it away in a place where it would never be found."

Jesse spotted a pressure plate in front of an elaborate design on the wall. Curiously, she moved forward and stepped on it. The design, gold and quartz, slid forward, before the center 'doorway' slid back, the sounds of pistons clicking sounding.

"Wow, what's this?" she mused, looking at the floor curiously.

"Some kind of... portal?" Lukas hummed, raising his eyebrow as he looked at the doorway.

A/N: And they have discovered the portal! Next time on Hybrid, watch Aiden as he steals and then Ivor nearly plummets to his doom (I'm writing the A/N from memory so I don't actually know if that happens, lol xD

Kaos Ruin: Maybe (insert Lenny face)

x.X. A.L. X.x