"Okay," Petra huffed, stomping over, eyes glowing angrily, "respawning is the WORST."
Jesse giggled at that, and Petra crossed her arms. She was back in her old outfit, the glove covering up her Blaze Rod arm, although you could still tell she was annoyed- the snowflakes drifting from the sky melted the moment it got within six inches of her. Jesse looked at the outfit, the blue-and-black ensemble Petra had used to wear all the time.
Ah... nostalgia.
"Join the club," Jace said sagely, patting the redhead on the shoulder. Petra's scowl softened into a look of faint amusement, as a familiar voice said, sharply, "You!"
Jesse looked over to see Slab stomping through the snow, looking annoyed. "Hadrian wants you."
Petra arched her eyebrow. "Hadrian?" she wondered, Jace looking politely puzzled.
"Why does he want to see me?" Jesse asked, mildly.
Slab gave her a disgruntled look. "You made him reeeaal mad. Come on. I don't have all day." And he started stomping away.
Jesse shrugged. "Okay. If they wanna see me, let's go."
Slab turned back, blinking at the girl. "Uh... really? Well. That was unexpected." And it might've been Jesse's imagination, but he looked a bit more mild than before.
Jesse, Petra, and Jace shared a look, before Petra started after Slab- and then got shoved back, Jace quickly catching the Blaze hybrid so that she didn't land on her butt in the snow. "No- just Jesse. Hadrian doesn't allow dirty Respawns in the palace," Slab sneered.
Jesse shared a startled look with the Blaze hybrid, who said, with a slight scoff, "Okay... well... be safe, Jesse. I don't trust them."
Jace nodded and, letting go of Petra, nearly tackled his twin in a hug. "And don't annoy them!"
"I'll try not to," Jesse said drily, making the two of them grin as he let go, and then giving them a wave as she trotted after Slab in a hurry, who was already at least ten feet in front of her.
"Psst! Hey!" and Jesse turned to see the worker from yesterday, hiding behind a tree. "I need to talk to you."
"Keep up, come on!" Slab barked back to Jesse.
The worker gestured frantically. "Come here, it'll be quick!"
"Jesse! You gonna do what I say or not?"
Jesse glanced between the two, biting her lip gently, and, giving the worker a regretful look, she whispered, "I'm sorry," before turning to Slab with a sigh. "I-I'm coming." And then she jogged through the snow over to Slab, trying not to look behind her- she didn't want to see the look on the worker's face.
"Good. I appreciate you bein' considerate," Slab said, his expression more mild than before as the dark-haired spider hybrid caught up to him, "my job's on the line here, too, y'know. I hope Hadrian's in a good mood."
Jesse thought about that for a second, before saying, curiously, "Hey, Slab... do you even like this job?"
Slab thought about that as well. "Y'know, it's got its benefits. I get to beat up people... and most people are scared of me, which is cool... it's not so bad... but the Old Builders aren't so great," and he dropped his voice, as if afraid someone would hear that.
And the two of them kept walking through the snow.
Jesse stared around her.
This place was fancy.
Like, seriously- the only two other places she'd been which had been THIS fancy was the palace in Sky City, and maybe Cassie's mansion. The glowstone was surrounded by gold stained glass, there were tall windows, the walls were made of solid quartz... there was even a little bookshelf in the corner. (What? Jesse loved to read.)
"Wow," she said, slowly. "So this is how the Old Builders live."
"Totally epic, right?" Slab agreed, grinning at the huge room. "Sometimes I just like to stand here and..." he gestured vaguely.
Jesse's eyes were practically glowing as she looked around her. "Holy crap, Soren and Lukas would probably LOVE to see a place like this... it's beautiful! Amazing use of scale and angles..."
Slab grinned at her. "Right? Knew you'd be impressed. I get to hang out here whenever I want. And thanks to you actually helping us keep on schedule, we have some extra time to enjoy the place! I'll go get Hadrian."
He started walking off, before pausing. "Oh- and don't touch anything."
And then he left.
Jesse looked around her, a small smile playing on her face. "Well, he said don't touch anything... he never said I couldn't look at EVERYTHING."
She made a beeline to the bookshelf and put her hands on her knees, looking at some of the titles. "Hm, no Portal Atlas. 'A Man Forever Voyaging' by- Soren?! How in the world did Hadrian get this?" Jesse wondered, straightening back up. She'd have to ask when they got home.
Man... how was home? Had Magnus and Axel succeeded in their quest of blowing every single thing up? Hopefully not... Jesse would really like a cup of coffee when she got home.
She trotted over to the window and looked out, letting out a little whistle. "Now that's a view... hey, there's Petra and Lukas." And she waved, before remembering that they probably couldn't see her. Whoops.
Finally, she got up and walked over to a set of armor that was being illuminated. It was white, lined with gold and diamond and other things. She let out a low whistle. "Now that is some cool armor. Hey... that's that... uh, 'Tim' guy's armor... wonder what it's doing here..."
"Welcome, Jesse!" Jesse started a bit and turned to see Hadrian standing just behind her. Creepy, much... "Fantastic to have you here, just fantastic. Thanks for accepting my invitation."
Jesse shrugged. "Well... it wasn't so much as an invitation as it was an order."
Hadrian shrugged that off, leaning back to admire the armor. "Well, seems appropriate that you'd gravitate towards Tim's armor... what with everyone calling you the 'New Tim' down there."
A/N: Stopping point!
Oh we're getting sooooo close. Oh I'm so excited.
Thank you for all the birthday wishes!
Toni42: Yeah, but he's gonna wait until she's in a better mood before kicking her butt about it xD By the way, I can chat with you all now (I hope you've noticed... xD) (grins evilly) Heeheehee
NoItsBecky: Aw thanks!
NinjaCat: Thanks!
Fruzsi3624: Heeheehee xD
Slayer88: (insert Lenny face here)
Choco: Probably next chapter xD And thanks. Why you sorry?
TheRealRedGaming: Thanks!
angelwings: Well, there's always next year :) And thanks!
RapidSammi: Aw thanks :3 And the GLOMPING IS REAL
rebekahtpe: Since the definition of 'least favorite' still technically means I like the show and I don't despise it, the show- at least I could get some variety, like you said. :)
LittleAngelbun: Thank you!
x.X. A.L. X.x.
