"We should get back up," Jesse said after a moment of silence, and Isa started, dark green eyes widening. "Getting back up. My word, you're right... we need to do that. I hadn't... even thought that far ahead yet." Jesse and Isa walked to the edge of the lake, staring at the familiar reflections for a moment.
Familiar...
Jesse looked at the green eyes of her reflection, then the green eyes of the one next to her.
Why were they so familiar?
"Your turn!" Jesse chirped from where he was sitting on the floor, his wolf ears pricked cheerfully as his tail wagged.
Jesse considered the two clasped hands he had, looking from one to the other to see if she could figure out which one had the pebble. But before she could choose, the door opened.
Both of the children looked up, a man in a purple suit standing a little behind one of the scientists. "I'll give you... hm, this one." And to both their horror, the scientist approached the little wolf hybrid, arms outstretched. "He's a good little puppy-"
"No! Leave me alone!" yelled the little wolf pup, scrabbling so that he was behind his spider hybrid sister. Jesse stood up, shielding him from sight. "Why do you need him?" she cried out, voice echoing in the chamber. "Don't come near him!"
The scientist sidestepped Jesse and lifted up the wolf hybrid, who thrashed, snarled, even tried to bite the scientist before the scientist struck him with the flat of their hand, making the little wolf hybrid whimper.
"Leave my brother alone!" Jesse yelled, racing towards them, but the scientist casually kicked out and hit Jesse in the stomach, making her double over with a gasp of pain.
The scientist reached into their pocket as they strolled towards the door, the wolf hybrid still whimpering as Jesse gasped for breath. "I'll come save you!" Jesse choked out, tears forming in her eyes as she stared at her twin, "promise!" And she did their familiar crossing of the heart and covering of the eye, their little oath, their promise. "Jesse promise!"
The wolf hybrid reached out for her, crying. "Jess!" he cried out, as the scientist withdrew a remote with a red button on it. "Hm, I've been waiting for the right opportunity to see if the memory chips work."
And his finger pressed down on the button.
Jesse felt pain mounting up in her head, and her hands reached up to claw at her head, tears pouring down her face as the pain grew more acute. "I-it hurts!" she cried out.
"Stop hurting my sister! Stop hurting her!" Jesse was screaming, and Jess was crying too, trying to stop the pain.
And then suddenly in a part of her mind the chip sparked and she stopped, collapsing to the floor with the sound of screaming ringing in her ears.
Hours later, the little girl sat up, pain throbbing through her head, her face wet.
Why was her face wet?
The little girl reached up to touch her face.
Did she have a name? She felt like she should.
Why didn't she remember it?
Jesse was rather rudely yanked out of her thoughts by a flaming zombie hitting the ground right behind her, bursting into smoke. Isa jumped a bit as she turned to look.
Jesse turned her head to look up, shoving the thoughts to the back of her head, as she looked up to see a flaming skeleton falling towards them.
Moving quickly, she grabbed Isa's arm and yanked her sideways, the skeleton slamming down where the two of them had just been, exploding into smoke as it did so. Jesse reached up to touch her chest, heart pounding in fear.
"What's going on up there?" Isa asked, fear in her voice.
"Aiden must be going crazy with those spawn eggs... monsters everywhere. This is going to be bad," Jesse said, staring up at the sky to check for any more falling monsters.
Lukas glared at his feet. "I can't believe Aiden could be so... stupid!" he huffed, glowering at his feet.
"I can't leave my subjects in whatever trouble they're in!" Isa declared, glaring up at the sky, before looking down at the raven-haired girl next to her. "Jesse, will you please help me get back to Sky City? Stop Aiden?"
"Why would I NOT help you? You're the Founder, and the people definitely need our help. I hope my friends are okay, too," Jesse said, looking back up at the sky.
Isa looked gratefully at the girl next to her. "Thank you, Jesse."
Jesse gave Isa a small smile, before spotting a small tower of dirt nearby. It looked like a makeshift beacon.
Jesse grinned slightly. "Hm, that'll work."
Lukas nodded, smiling slightly. "I see what you're getting at. Nice."
"Well, would someone care to explain it to me, please?" Isa asked, sounding fairly annoyed. Jesse chuckled a bit as she turned back to Isa. "You'd better get ready to build something huge. Maybe the biggest thing of your life. We're gonna build a tower of dirt all the way back to Sky City," and the three of them hustled to get to the tower of dirt that was already there. "Grab as much dirt as you can carry!"
And the two of them (Lukas was holding his arm, and Jesse made him hang back) mined dirt away, so much that soon Jesse's pockets were filled with dirt, her sword, dirt, and dirt. Did I mention dirt?
"Mmkay, that should do it," Jesse said, picking up one last dirt block.
Isa had her head tilted, looking at something. "Jesse, what is that?"
Jesse turned to look, to see the same elaborate shape that she'd seen back in the temple standing there, proudly- almost as if it had been there the whole time. All three of them approached it, Lukas coming down after them. "Just... wow, what are the odds?" Lukas chuckled, staring at the portal.
"Well, what is it?" Isa asked, curiously.
"It's the other half of the portal that brought me here," Jesse hummed, looking at the gold, before turning back to Isa, as Lukas nodded, "Yeah, what a relief. I mean, once you get that flint and steel back, it should just be a straight shot home, now."
Climbing back out of the hole to the tall tower of dirt, Jesse turned back to the other two. "Well guys, ya ready?"
Isa nodded, shakily. "Yes, I- I think so."
Lukas winced as he moved his arm, moving it back into place. "I, uh... think I've actually gotta sit this one out, Jesse. I'm still not 100 percent after my little 'duel' with Aiden. Not sure I'm up to towering all the way back to Sky City. I'm really sorry."
Eyes shining with concern, Jesse reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Make sure you're okay, okay? I promise to hit Aiden for you."
Lukas chuckled a little at that, and he moved to sit against a tree, moving slowly.
"There ya go," Jesse said, petting him on the head and making him close his eyes with a soft purr.
"Yes, thank you... for trying to help," Isa thanked him, "it was very noble of you."
Lukas arched his eyebrow at them with a chuckle. "What's with the 'last goodbye' tone? I'll see you guys when you get back."
Jesse nodded, reaching out and giving his hand a squeeze, before turning to Isa. "C'mon. We've got an epic climb ahead of us."
A/N: Ooh I get to kick Aiden's butt next chapter... wait never mind, chapter after that. That'll be fun.
Thanks to DemonCatLady/JazzProwl2/TheRandomFandomArtdom for drawing more fanart!
RapidSammi: Go right ahead :) And lol xD While I understand that ship, I don't specifically write for it unless someone asks, and even then not in this story.
angelwings: Lol xD
Kaos Ruin: Haha xD I was like "whoa you two are like twins or something"
Toni42: Pffff thank you (wiggles eyebrows) Gosh i feel like a Moldsmal or something now
x.X. A.L. X.x.
