Ooooooooohh this was HELL TO WRITE. If i thought the beginning of chapter four and the majority of ch 5 were hard to write and edit, they were nothing in comparison. The scenes in the game are just so empty sometimes despite any action happening and I have to fill in the blanks while still following the story so i can connect what ive written into it. The golem and the wither definitely gave me the most grief, just because theyre so slow/stationary and only do one or two things im just glad i dont have to write any sort of action scenes with the wither for a while. writing a room full of characters is still hard, that hasnt changed.

Anyway, a few minor things are changed around here, specifically using jesse's curiosity to fill in plot holes and changing things. so she calls gabriel sir to his face rather than just his name, ive always found it a little weird that she just sort of does that. calls this super well known celebrity warrior by his first name.

And one thing about jesse's character. I know how i write her contrasts a bit compared to chapter one tree house jesse, but people act different in different situations and i feel like jesse doesnt handle stress very well. Like she tries to stay optimistic but will get cranky after a while. So no worries to anyone thinking im changing her character in the span of one day (for her at least). She will obviously change some, but itll be over a period of time. Im extending the whole 'find the order of the stone' members quest past a week, which is what i think the duration of it was in canon probably. Theyre traveling on foot for most of the journey and it will take a bit longer than just a week or two. Plus it gives me more time to do stuff lol

Youll see some more of "people treating jesse like she needs protecting because shes 5'2" and is kinda dumb sometimes." less so from petra tho, who is still sort of on the edge of that but at the same time knows jesse isnt fragile from everything thats happened between ch 4-5. Youll see it the least from lucas, who still doesnt really know jesse and is still at a point where his character is kind of a coward. Maybe if you squint youll see some, but i didnt deliberately write any in. and the "protect small pig girl" instinct really only kicks in when theyre in a Situation™. Rationally, they know that they can trust jesse and know she wont do anything incredibly dumb in terms of risking her life or severe bodily harm, at least not on purpose, but still

Anyway, i tacked on both chapter 7 and 8 to this because the were both too short and even combined were too short for a proper chapter length of this story so this is a very long chapter. I also went back and edited chapter 5 because there we a lot of mistakes. there are probably mistakes in this because i edited in one go, so lmk if theres anything like really obvious i missed

anyway enjoy this chapter thats 12k words long because i have zero chill


The ceiling of Keystone Hall must have been over forty feet high. Designs of golems were carved into the molding, the base of the domed tower circled with polished diorite columns accentuated with smooth slabs of quartz. Massive cedar beams crossed over the arid space above in decorative grids, fat raw glowstone hanging from the wood and lighting the large area beneath, shedding light over employees readying the Hall for the Keynote event. There were hardly any doors on the ground floor, mostly arches. Decorating the central archway that stretched over the stage was a masterfully done wool and timber Ender dragon. Black and purple streamers worked their way down pillars and weaved through tall, wooden screens separating the entryway from the main room.

Their shoes squeaked across the polished flagstone floor had been shipped in years back, made with a stone of soft blue hues. They passed neatly pruned shrubs lining the both inside the entrance and out.

"Where'd he go?" Petra asked, looking around.

"There!" Jesse whispered, pointing to an unassuming side door hidden by the wooden supports of the building. The doorway was ajar, swinging lightly on its hinges. "Through that door!"

The group of six ran past tall, rectangular windows made from glass of the deepest green, reflecting redstone torches off the clean surface.

"Hold on." Lukas stopped as Jesse was squeezing herself through the heavy door, the girl batting away Axel's help. Petra grabbed her shoulder, making her pause and looked to the blond.

"What do we do once we catch him? There are a million ways to play this." He glanced at Jesse. "Considering this isn't my fight, I'll follow your lead. I just feel like we should have a game plan."

"We politely ask for what's ours." She said simply, smiling.

"Short, sweet, and to the point. Not bad."

"Just like me," Jesse said to no one in particular, Petra smacking the back of her head.

"Focus. Is everyone ready?" The redhead asked, eyes over each of them.

"Ready." Jesse said.

"All right, lead the way, Jess."

"Aw, you called me Jess—"

"Lead the way." She ground out through gritted teeth, ears pink.

Jesse grinned, ducking her head and raising her hands nonthreateningly as she pushed the substantial door open for the others, Axel grabbing and holding it open as it bumped the wooden door-stop.

The cold, damp air wrapped around her like a heavy coat of chain mail as she descended the tight staircase, squinting in the dimness from the absence of flaming torches.

She peeked her head out from the corner, peering into a semi-lit mildewy library-basement-dungeon combo. It smelled sharply of potion ingredients, giving off a cloying scent that made her eyes itch. She felt the rest of the group looking from over her shoulders, Reuben whining apprehensively from the position he'd taken over Axel's back.

"See anything?"

"He must've gone out another way." Petra let out a breath she's been holding, stepping out and looking around with her hands on her hips.

Everyone followed suit, walking down the short stairs that led to a small labyrinth of bookshelves stacked with potions of differing shapes and colors. The tall shelves had arbitrary openings in them acting as window-like formations and ledges for dusty volumes and bottled elixirs to collect.

"What is all this?" Olivia asked, blowing the dust off a tightly packed line of books and tilting her head to read the spines.

"Looks like it used to be the basement," Jesse said, stepping up next to Petra and studying the run-down room with a judging eye. "Weird place to have a hideout, but okay."

"I bet you anything I'll find my Wither skull down here."

Axel was looking this way and that with a fixed grin on his face, setting Reuben down from where he had been hanging over his shoulder. "And if we find anything else cool to steal along the way so be it, right?"

"That's not what we're here to do," Petra said in a stern voice, proceeding towards a bookshelf and looking at a dark blue, viscous potion that bubbled.

"I said we should ask politely Axel, not rob him." Jesse said, wandering through the books.

"Yeah, but if the guy's not here we can't ask. So I say, we take."

"I don't want to stoop to his level," Petra responded, swirling around a vial by its top curiously before setting it down.

"But isn't that the best plan to get back at him?"

"Let's just focus on finding the skull, not looting," Jesse said, head poking out of a gap in the bookcase to look at him.

"There's always time for looting. Nobody ever lets me have any fun."

"We let you hang out with us!" She retorted defensively.

"Living together and hanging out are two very different things."

"Axel. No, they aren't." Olivia said, sticking her head out from a shelf as well. Lukas watched them silently by the stairs, Reuben hunkering down beside him with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, the faster we find what we're looking for, the faster we can get the heck out of here," Jesse said, leveling Axel with a reproachful look before heading further into the compact labyrinth and looking over the shelved books.

Padding down the short corridor, most of the texts were about brewing and were dogeared to an offensive extent. Thin fingerprints danced over the covers and across the spines, interrupted the film of dust laying over the books in a delicate sheet. There were stacks of tomes at the top that looked like they had never been opened, much less even touched. Twisting around a turn and wandering across a tall bookshelf that stood alone, Jesse came across Petra who had buried herself in a chest.

"Oh, hello." The redhead said slowly, pulling out a golden sword that gleamed in the light of a torch above. She gave it a few imitative swings, causing an approaching Jesse to duck out of the way.

"Eh, too heavy—and too soft."

"But super flashy." Jesse commented, smiling a little at her warped reflection in the blade.

"Mm. I don't think this Ivor-guy does much fighting." She shrugged, looking to the other girl. "Hey, you still have that one stone sword, right?"

"Yeah, I had to like wave it at some guy earlier." Jesse said, Petra nodding at her to continue. "Oh, this butcher who I've literally never seen in my life was ready to seriously cut open Reuben. Like, just right there, in front of the whole Con."

"Impressive. You, I mean. Not him." She commented idly, pulling her stone sword from her back and looking at it before shrugging and tossing it to the ground with a loud clatter, sheathing the gold blade in its place.

"What, you're keeping it? But I thought it was too soft, too heavy."

"It could come in handy." She said, kicking her old weapon behind the chest. "And, it is super flashy."

"I thought you said no stealing?" Jesse crossed her arms and smiled with a raised brow.

"It's not stealing if I'm replacing it." She gestured to the sword that lay halfway behind the chest. Petra looked to Axel, who stood nearby. "Now, Axel? I would worry about. Go check on him, would you?"

"Deflecting me, I see."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She sniffed indignantly, a grin sliding over her mouth despite herself.

"Whatever you say." Jesse shook her head at her in mock disappointment and turned around.

Catching sight of Axel a few aisles away she drew closer, stopping when she made it to his side. He was staring up at a metal rack of potions hammered into the stone wall with fat spikes.

"Find anything?"

"I wanna steal that, and that," He glanced at a dotted mushroom growing out of a crack in the wall. "I just wanna touch that."

She rolled her eyes, ready to leave him to it but her eyes were snagged by the faint light of a glowing, violet potion set over a chiseled block of quartz.

"Hey, take a look at this…"

A glaze of changing colors seemed to cover the inner layer of the glass like unmoving honey. She and Axel brought their faces in close, an unnatural pink reflecting off their skin.

"You're not gonna believe me, but I swear I had a dream about this," Axel said quietly, eyes wide. "Okay potion—I know this is a big step… but I'd be honored if you'd come home with me."

"Come on Axel, leave it alone."

"I am." He said, reaching his hands out and snatching the flask.

"Uh, nope. You're literally doing the exact opposite of what I just asked you to do." She said, watching him place it carefully inside his inventory. "There's no way he won't notice his fancy potion is missing."

"Which is why a good thief always covered his tracks." He looked around, then grabbed a light purple potion that held a similar shape, placing it down gently then stepping back and holding his hands out, closing an eye as he inspected the positioning. He dropped his arms and smiled, looking to Jesse and whispering loudly, "Fixed it!"

"Oh, yeah, the perfect crime." She hissed back as he scuttled away from her with an absolute giggle.

She passed Olivia, who seemed engrossed in a bookshelf pressed tightly into the stone wall, a tower of lapis blocks reaching up the ceiling on either side. Continuing past her, she zeroed in on Lukas.

"Hey Lukas, anything so far?" She asked, closing in on the blond who was hunched down by a low, single blocked shelf.

He took out a hardback from a stack he had made next to him, holding it up with a half-grin, "You want an instruction manual on How To Build a Creepy Villain Lair Using Everyday Objects?"

"Oh, you are not serious." Jesse laughed.

"Dead." he said, offering her the faded red text with gold lettering that looked like it should contain an ancient potion recipe, not a villain for dummies book. She took the offered object, flipping the cover over with a muffled snort.

"Well, we haven't found the skull, but we did find probably the next best thing here." She handed the book back after turning through the yellowing pages, with notable chapters such as 'The benefits of the Common Household Spider Web' and 'Evil Laughter and You' and 'Make Your Neighbors Fear you.'

"This guy is a joke, like he cannot be for real."

"Well he's no slouch when it comes to enchanting, I can say that for sure. Most of this is pretty advanced stuff." Lukas admitted. "Not the best reads, though."

"Yeah, well let's just keep looking. We'll be out of here soon."

Reuben squealed for her attention, and she looked around to see him facing her next to the chiseled quartz block. She crossed the room, kneeling down in front of him. "What's up, Reuben? Find any clues?"

He made a warbling noise, sniffing over an old black and blue carpet draped over that section of the floor before pointing like an arrow towards the nearest corner.

"What is it buddy, you smell something? Something over there?" She stood and Reuben ran over to a lever in affirmation, oinking. "Oh, good work Reuben!"

He squealed softly, eyes closing in a smile and looking proud of himself.

"Uh, hey guys? I'm about to pull a mysterious lever, so heads up." Jesse called, cranking the rusty lever down, half expecting it to snap off.

"You're what—" Olivia started to ask, then jumped back when the hiss of cogs and redstone wire igniting sounded through the walls, the bookshelf in front of her sinking into the floor and revealing a tall, two-foot space Illuminated by a glowstone deck. There were three blocks of brown, swirling sand surrounding a beige block with an iron square centered in the middle, lit by nine small holes that blinked in color. A large chest took the foreground, the four blocks behind it resembling outstretched arms protecting it from intruders.

"What is that?" Jesse squinted her eyes, the swirls seemingly moving and form open-mouthed faces the longer she stared.

"Soul sand," Petra answered, moving next to her as the others gathered around. "It was everywhere in the Nether."

"What about that block in the middle?" She pointed.

"I've never seen one of these before…" Olivia strode up the short flight of stairs, holding her palm out over it. "I wonder, if I just take a closer look—do you feel that? It's… almost pulsing."

"How is it glowing like that?" Axel asked, stepping up beside Jesse, Lukas on his other side and Reuben between them.

"Maybe it's… some kind of machine?" Jesse moved in tighter between the two, looking to Olivia like she would have the answer.

"If it is, it's not like any machine I've ever seen."

"Creepy block aside, let's not forget what we're here for—find that skull." Petra said, drawing their attention back.

Olivia took that as her queue, stepping down. Jesse turned to follow. She stopped however as she eyed the untouched chest. Looking back, she shifted and crouched down on her knees, clicking the top open. Her brows lifted marginally at its contents.

"Sooo… good news, weird news." She said, "I found the skull, but…"

Petra stepped up to where she was, frowning, "What the…? Why'd I risk my neck for that skull if he's got two of them already?"

The others crowded behind them, Lukas stepping to Jesse's left to get a better view.

"He was in such a hurry to get it, too." She rubbed her hand over a skull, turning its face towards them. It shined like it had been recently polished. "There has to be something bigger happening here. Something we just don't see."

"Yeah, this has gotta be connected somehow." Jesse crossed her arms, bringing a hand to her chin. "The chest with the skulls was hidden back here with everything else—the soul sand, the weird block—that's gotta mean something."

"But what?"

"I think I know what's going on here." Lukas said, hands over the chest's edges as he pushed himself up, "Soul sand, plus three Wither skulls—that's the recipe for a Wither."

"But… a Wither. That's—"

"One of the worst monsters there is." Lukas cut her off.

"I don't get it, Petra killed one in the Nether like, literally today." Jesse looked up at him. Lukas looked to Petra in return.

She rubbed her neck. "It's not like I fought it off and killed it directly, I would've died. I had to set up at least four different gravel traps for it, and even then that was just a Wither skeleton, not a Wither-Wither." Petra admitted.

"We came down here to find the skull. Well, we found it." Jesse let her arms fall to her side, giving a half shrug.

"Maybe we should just grab it and get out of here while we still can."

"Yeah, I dunno about you guys but I'm getting the creeps."

They all froze when the door at the top of the stairwell creaked open then slammed shut.

"Uh, guys?"

"I thought he left, why is he back!?" Jesse whispered harshly.

"I don't know, just—scatter!" Petra yelled back silently, closing the chest and darting away.

Reuben flipped the switch, returning the bookshelf to its former place before running off with Jesse. She grabbed the pig and jumped over an empty opening in a shelf, hiding in a small nook, Reuben receiving a pet and a hushed "Good job."

Footsteps echoed down the stairwell. "Don't you recognize me!? Or… wait, surprised to see me? No, that's not good… Thought you were rid of me, didn't you! That's better."

He muttered lowly to himself as he crossed the room and opened a chest. Jesse saw Olivia peak higher over her hiding place, accidentally brushing a stack of precariously balanced books and knocking them to the floor.

"What was that—who's there!" Ivor shouted, looking around. He narrowed his eyes, walking hastily with deliberate steps towards the source of the noise. He stopped, observing the fallen texts and languidly approached the pile, nudging it with a boot. He glowered at the bookshelf as though he could see straight through it.

Olivia had crouched down as far as she could manage, hands over her mouth as she looked to Jesse with wide eyes. Her expression drained to one of panic as Ivor began to walk around the shelf towards her at a steady, slow pace, and Jesse acted on the pleading look in her friend's face.

"Hey!" Jesse yelled, standing. Ivor spun around at her voice.

"What are you doing here?!" He shouted, stalking over and grabbing her by the arm. His voice lowered as he squeezed tightly. "What did you see?"

"Okay, first of all? Ow. second—"

"Leave her alone." Petra emerged from her hiding place.

"Yeah, hands off, pal!" Axel left his spot from behind a chest and crossed his arms. Jesse took the moment to jerk free of him, stepping back with a glare and holding back Reuben with an outstretched foot, the pig looking ready to tear Ivor to shreds. Olivia ran to him, swooping the seething pig from the ground and holding him, rolling her eyes as he started to kick his short legs out in the direction of Ivor like he could telepathically harm him.

"You two?!"

"Four." Axel corrected.

"Did you follow me here?"

"You thought you could just screw us over and get away with it, didn't you?" Petra said, not looking away as she grabbed Lukas by his shirt and pulled him up from his hiding place, the blond looking around nervously.

"We're here to prove that wrong," Jesse said, Axel walking up to tower behind both her and Olivia.

"What are you going to do about it? I have what I want, and you have exactly what you earned." He pointed to the stairs. "Now get out before I put you out."

"We know what you're going down here." Jesse narrowed her eyes, approaching him. "Soul sand and three Wither skulls? You're building a Wither!"

Ivor looked at her in mild surprise before schooling his face. "Hm. Smarter than you look."

"Hey! Nobody talks to my friends like that!" Axel was suddenly advancing on him, Ivor stumbling back. "Now shut your mouth—or else."

"E-Enough! You've wasted too much of my time already." He backed up before taking off, the group of six quick on his tail as Petra yelled "Hey!"

Losing track of him surprisingly fast, they skidded to a halt and stood at the end of a corridor of books, searching around.

"Where'd he go?" Petra looked around angrily.

"Maybe he went back for the skulls." Jesse turned on her heel to trek back but stopped dead in her tracks. Four iron blocks arranged in a short T had been set over a level of wooden slabs—they had passed right by it without even noticing. Ivor stood behind it, holding a pumpkin and looking entirely too satisfied with himself.

"Guys…" she said, pointing.

"If you won't leave of your own violation, I'll happily remove you myself!" He placed the gourd down, the ground beneath the iron beginning to tremble as the blocks shook and clanged together in undulating motions. They slammed into each other hard in a blast of fine dust that left Jesse coughing as she futilely shielded her face.

"Show our friends to the door, will you?" She heard Ivor say over the sound of screeching metal. She opened her eyes as a golem came lumbering out of the smoke, swinging a long arm out. She ducked, grabbing Reuben and rolling out of the way as two blunt appendages crashed down over the stone ground. Reuben was shrieking as she was pulled up by Olivia, who pulled her along to the stairs with Petra and Axel despite her insistence that she was fine.

Bursting through the door, the Hall's lights were dimmed and redstone lamps lit up the columns. A single glowstone chunk over the stage was lit and shined down brightly over the polished wood.

"And now! For the first time here at EnderCon! We are very proud to present—"

"—The one! The only!"

"Gabriel!"

They snaked through the crowd, clammy hands holding onto the person in front of and behind them, forming a chain as Petra and Jesse led them to the back of the room away from the swarm of people screaming Gabriel's name.

"Please, please—thank you!" He looked the same as when Jesse had seen him earlier, black armor, with what she now realized was diamond-blue trim, dark skin and a short beard that peaked out of his helmet and stopped just before his chin, curving up and connecting over his upper lip.

"Are—you—with me?!" he yelled, raising his arms and sending the people around them into a frenzy.

Jesse turned, looking over everyone as she set Reuben down. "Everybody okay?"

She received tentative nods from all but Olivia, who was searching around.

"Um… guys?" She said, grabbing their attention over the sound of the crowd. "Where's Lukas?"

"I thought he was right behind me…!" Jesse yelled quietly, turning around and darting her eyes over the mass of people like he would walk right out and apologize for getting separated.

Axel spoke up, worry in his voice, "Well if he's not here, the only place he could be is—"

"He's still down there!" Jesse exclaimed, looking at the door across the Hall.

"Ivor's got an iron golem and all the ingredients to build a Wither down there. If he were to unleash it in this crowd of people—" Petra shook her head. "We have to act fast."

"It just so happens that the greatest warrior of all time is in the building. We should ask Gabriel for help!" Olivia reasoned, "This is the smartest way to help Lukas!"

"He's tough. I just hope he's tough enough to hold out a little longer." Petra ran a hand down her face, clearly stressed.

"We're not just leaving him down there, guys! If you want to get Gabriel, that's fine, but I'm going after Lukas. Who knows what could be going on down there?"

"Are you sure, Jesse?" Petra sounded doubtful.

"Yeah." She nodded, "The rest of you, go get Gabriel."

"We're on it," Olivia said.

"We'll find out a way to warn Gabriel and then we'll meet you back here." Petra held both of her shoulders, "And be careful."

"Always am. Be back as soon as I can." She patted Petra's hands, pulling them off her and running back to the door. Reuben went to follow but was grabbed by Axel.

"Whoa there! No you don't, that is no mission for a piggy." Axel grinned, holding onto him firmly as he tried to escape, "She'll be fine Reuben, when has Jesse ever not been?"

"Nearly every day of her life?" Olivia commented.

Jesse sneaked down the stairs, lurching back and pressed herself against the cold wall at the sight of the golem not three meters away from her. She peeked out again when she heard its heavy footsteps slowly make its way behind a long bookshelf.

Jumping the last step, she crept across the room, staying opposite of the golem. Cupping her hand to her mouth, she began to call out, voice hushed. "Lukas?"

"Can you… hear me… Even though I'm… whispering?"

"Jesse?" He whispered, poking his head out of a large chest against the furthermost wall, making her pause. "Is that you whispering super loudly?"

"Lukas!" She whispered back, rounding a shelf so he could fully see her. "Over here!"

He opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes grew wide and he slammed the top shut over him. Jesse gave the chest a puzzled look before the deep rumbling sound of a golem vibrating its chest in warning began to emanate directly behind her. She instinctively ducked down, hands covering her head just in time to miss a swing from one of its arms. She stood up, backing away towards a wall as it rounded on her.

"Hey!" Lukas creaked open the chest with a short yell, closing it quickly and giving Jesse the opportunity she needed to slide up and over a large opening in the bookshelf next to her, hitting the ground behind the dusty shelf just as the golem looked back to where she had been standing seconds earlier. Hesitantly, Jesse stood as it walked away, defaulting back into patrolling mode as she snuck a look back at the chest.

"You okay?" She asked, voice hushed.

"Uh, I've been worse. I can't say this is the best spot I've ever been in." Lukas said, "Any bright ideas?"

"Just… ruuuuun…"

"Run where?!" He hissed. "You don't think I tried that already?"

"Jeez, okay! Just sit tight, then. I'll get you out!"

"You came back just to tell me that?"

"It's part of the plan!"

"'Stay exactly where you are' is a plan?!"

"Would you please chill! I'm helping you!"

Jesse looked around, snatching a bottle of a sky-blue liquid and ducking back behind her cover. She took a breath then pushed away from the bookshelf and threw the vial at a rack of potions, glass shattering as the multi-colored liquids began mixing together, sizzling and popping. The golem swiveled, turning to the noise and lumbering over.

"Now, Lukas! Run!" She yelled.

He jumped out of the chest, breaking into a dash and passing her. She jumped back from a swinging limb, the golem having crossed the room much faster than she had expected it to. She jerked out of the way of a second swing, landing on her back and crossing her arms over her face as its long appendage hit hard against the edge of the stone wall, sending debris flying across the room. She scrambled to her feet as it raised both arms high, bringing them down and sending a thick fissure through the stone floor. She skidded around a corner and raced through an aisle, emerging near the set of stairs where Lukas stood worriedly, visibly relieved as Jesse came stumbling out.

"Okay Jesse, come on! Let's go!"

Looking behind at the iron golem clunking after them, Jesse pushed on Lukas' back to go faster as they rushed towards the stairs, clambering up the steps past the small archway. Too meager to fit the golem, it came to a stop outside, it's body rumbling like a drum.

"Thanks for coming back for me. I didn't know if anybody was going to."

"Hey," She smiled breathlessly, "No man left behind, right?"

He grinned back, "Right. Guess I owe you one."

Jesse shoved open the door, leaving the dark stairwell as she held it open for Lukas who nodded in thanks.

"Where are the others?" He looked to Jesse, who in turn looked past him towards the stage, locating Axel and the others at the front of the crowd. Gabriel was staring down at him with a withering look.

"Dude, I dunno how I can be any clearer! Weird guy! Doing weird things! In the gross basement!" Axel enunciated. "Why won't you listen to me? What do you want me to do, tell you charades style?"

"I promise you, that's the last thing I want you to do." Gabriel said in a long-suffering tone.

Lukas beckoned Jesse through the crowd, and they slid past people until reaching the front. Jesse tapped on Petra and Olivia's shoulder, giving them a smile.

"Four words; six syllables; sounds like—'schmonster in the schmasement.'"

Gabriel rubbed a hand over his face. "Next!"

"Wait, just—"

"I have a question for you." A familiar voice rang out from the throng of people.

"Excuse me sir, you'll have to wait your turn." Gabriel stated patiently.

"Just tell me first—do you really believe anyone can be great?"

"With enough hard work, yes."

Ivor forced himself through the crown, parting through the front with his long arms like the people in his way were nothing but curtains. "Was that where I went wrong! I simply didn't work hard enough?!"

"Ivor?" Gabriel squinted his eyes, the tone of his voice wavering over the line of incredulity and unequivocal outrage, "Is that truly you? How dare you interrupt like this!"

"That's the guy who attacked us in the basement!" Jesse yelled, the crowd around them murmuring.

"I wish I could say I was surprised." Gabriel shook his head at her.

"If its surprises you want, you're in for a treat." Ivor said, voice low. "Why don't you tell them the real story, Gabriel?!"

"Wait, how do you know who he is?" Jesse questioned.

"I don't know if I really ever knew him. But what I did know, I didn't like."

"The feeling is entirely mutual."

"I see time has made you bitter."

"And it's made you an even bigger fool." He growled, moving to mockingly wrap an arm over Garbiel's shoulder, gesturing out to the audience. "Now, these people were promised greatness! And I'm ready to deliver. I'm sorry this is how they had to learn the truth."

He released the other man with a shove, walking to the back of the stage, where Jesse saw a lever that had been painted white, practically blending into the wall.

"Mister Gabriel, sir—stop him!" She cried, attempting to run past Axel to the base of the stage, but was grabbed around the middle by said boy.

He flipped the thin lever, and the mystery block surrounded by soul sand rose from the ground haltingly, the sound of cranks and the smell of lit redstone emitting from below the floorboards. Two of the black skulls had been placed over the dark, swirling sand, and Ivor slowly removed the third from his inventory.

"Nothing built can last forever, Gabriel." Ivor sneered in a reproachful manner, advancing towards the quasi-Wither.

"Ivor, no!"

He placed the skull in the middle, and the air seemed to still as it was sucked towards the skull. There was a half second of deafening silence before the condensed air around it erupted, throwing anyone close backwards with an earsplitting sound wave. She was thrown back as Axel lost his grip on her, Jesse landing and hitting the back of her head hard against the cold floor. Her vision blurred and sounds around her seemed to reverberate madly through her eardrums. Someone was yanking her up, their arms hooked under hers as she was pulled to her feet and dragged back. She opened her eyes, not realizing she had shut them.

A black creature with three Wither heads on spinial necks rose up, and Jesse couldn't move as she stared, wide-eyed. A black spine undulated beneath it like a stiff tail, three prehensile ribs wrapping around the mystery block like shadow-less, black arms. Its expressionless chalky white eyes and mouths contrasting terribly against the dark bone.

"Creature, attack!" Ivor yelled

It reeled back before shooting a fireball that she quickly realized was a flaming skull at her, coming at her fast. She snapped out of it and grabbed hold of whoever was behind her trying to drag her to safety—Olivia, and snatched up Reuben next to them as she threw both herself and the other two out of the way. They landed in a heap, and Jesse looked up at the steaming crater where they had just been, her hands grabbing the edge of it so she could quickly twist off the girl beneath her. The rock surrounding it had turned ice-cold, cracking the floor around it in the abrupt drop of temperature through the hard marble, micro-fractures spreading from it like thin vines.

The last of the screaming crowd had filtered out the exit as the marble cracked loudly once, then broke apart into jagged pieces with a shudder, drawn up into the air like it had lost gravity and pulled towards the Wither. Columns where breaking off from where they stood like they were nothing but sticks, cracking apart around the skeleton-creature and fading to black, merging with its body. Chunks of the walls were being torn off as she helped Olivia to her feel, regrouping with the others

Gabriel had jumped across the gaps in the floor, holding his arm out in front of the young group as he drew a glimmering diamond sword from his back. "Everyone stay calm! This foul beast is no match for me."

"Creature!" Ivor yelled, pointing to Gabriel, "Attack!"

The man in front of them jumped, attempting to stab it with his weapon, but was merely knocked to the ground with a loud clunk of armor against marble. Jesse ran to his side, pulling at his arm, but he only looked to Ivor.

"What have you done?"

"You need to get up—!"

"No! Stay away!" He yelled, pulling free of her grasp, "It's after me, not you."

"Look at him! The Mighty Gabriel!' Ivor yelled, watching him rise faultily from the ground, refusing Jesse's help. "Looks like true greatness is out of his reach."

The sparse amount of furniture was beginning to be pulled in, the decorative Ender dragon breaking apart and shooting over their heads, dissolving along the way.

"He may not be able to defeat this creature. But I can!" Ivor hardly flinched as slabs of granite were torn from the ground around him. "Creature! Retreat!"

The now massive thing slowly looked to him, it's middle face shifting and contorting into one glowing purple eye, its bright mouth full of quartz fragments. Remnants of fractured blocks flew around it like flies as it looked down over the yelling man.

Ivor cleared his throat, "Creature! Retreat—retreat, I said! Retreat!"

"Ivor, what are you doing?!" Jesse yelled.

"Uh, no need to be alarmed, my friends." He said, despite sounding very alarmed himself. He pulled a light purple potion from his robes. "I have an elixir that will destroy this creature."

"That potion, is that—"

"Uh-oh." Axel said out of the corner of his mouth, side eyeing Jesse who was glaring at him.

Ivor grunted as he threw the bottle with all his might, hitting the mystery block dead center. The Wither only growled hoarsely from deep within it somewhere, coming in close at a frightening speed.

"What?" Ivor said, looking as dumbfounded as anyone could look in the current situation. "Impossible. It should have worked, I-I took such care—"

"The potion—Axel! You've got to throw the real potion!" Olivia shook him.

"But—findies keepies!" He said, taking out the flask and looking down at it forlornly.

"You thieves! You're ruining everything!" Ivor shouted, attempting to stalk up to them but was promptly grabbed by the collar of his robe by a furious looking Petra.

"Axel, come on!" Lukas yelled.

Jesse snatched the glowing bottle from Axel's hands when he said nothing, closing an eye for better aim and reeling her arm back, ready to throw.

"Jesse, throw it!"

"Give me a second! I've only got one shot at this!"

Jumping a few steps back, she launched the potion with everything she had. It soared through the air, directly in line with the center block before it was shut over at the last moment by the Wither.

"It's protecting itself! Without the command block exposed, the potion is… useless!" Ivor said. Jesse turned to him and he gave her a seething look. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this!"

Jesse was disinclined to bother feeling bad for him. He backed up, looking around at all the eyes on him, then turned and made a run for the exit.

Gabriel looked to him. "Ivor! You coward, come back here—Augh!"

A deep purple beam flowed from the monster's eye and washed over Gabriel's skin, dragging him off the ground like he was nothing. Olivia immediately broke into a run, grabbing him by the ankle, crying out when it began to lift her as well.

"Jesse, help!"

Said girl bound over, vaulting up and hauling Gabrial down, bringing Olivia back to her feet in the process. They worked to free the man from the force of light he was being drawn into. A final yank and he was pulled from the light, hitting the floor with a metallic clank.

"Thank you." He breathed, Jesse and Olivia pulling him to his feet. Gabriel watched as the Wither rose up towards the glass dome, ink-black tentacles that curled and twisted over one another budding from its surface. "Ivor was right about one thing—I can't defeat that, not on my own. Everyone's running away except... for all of you. Will you help me?"

He turned to face them all as he continued, not waiting for an answer, "I must get to the temple—but what needs to happen after that, I cannot do by myself."

"Of course, let's just get out of here!" Jesse responded.

"This way!"

They rushed from the hall as the glass dome collapsed in on itself, the building torn open like it had been made of nothing but splintering wood. Tentacles unfurled from the massive cavity of the open dome as the behemoth rose from the remains, revealing the two side heads mutating, both pairs of eyes closing and merging together before opening wide to reveal pure white orbs glowing a faint purple. Light gathered where pupils would be, bubbling over the milky irises before shooting out into magenta spotlights that hit the ground with a powerful kinetic force. What part of its body that wasn't a writhing outgrowth seemed to be no more than a mass of black, like someone had punched a hole through the night sky, leaving nothing but a sucking abyss.

People were running in a total panic, knocking into Jesse and shoving her shoulders as she ran down the wide stairs three at a time, bodies all around her getting snagged by the beam and lifted away. There was a sudden sense of weightlessness as she looked down, seeing the ground beneath her growing farther away. The stone she'd been standing on moments earlier shook violently and was torn from its foundations. She looked around in a panic, quickly using the momentum of blocks around her to push off debris, reaching the wide girth of stone and holding onto the edge. The tractor beam left an unpleasant, tingling feeling over her purple lit skin, making her want to let go and violently brush herself down like there were bugs covering her body.

"Guys!" She shouted as she held fast to her single anchor, but she couldn't spot anyone. A chicken sucked up with her was flapping its wings wildly, managing to exit the light and flutter to the ground unharmed.

Jesse gritted her teeth, eyes set on the other side of the stair slab in determination as she climbed her way across, grunting with the effort of trying to keep a solid grip on the edge of blunt stairs. She grabbed the ledge, yanking herself forward and out of the beam, inadvertently sending herself sailing to the ground. She managed to duck and roll onto solid terrain, cushioning herself from the initial impact, but tripped over a short set of stairs and plummeted down hard, skimming her palms and chin against the gritty cobbled brickwork. She shakily got to her feet, surveying the once warm, thriving collection of booths. People were yelling, catching like flies in the concentrated purple glow. She ran, jumping over a gathering of chickens and nearly slammed into a stall as she turned sharply.

She caught sight of Lukas in a mass of people, running. She cupped a hand over her mouth, raising the other in the air to garner his attention. "Lukas!"

He turned, skidding to a halt and charging in the opposite direction towards her. She met him halfway between the safety of two booths.

"Holy crap!" He had a hand on her shoulder as he hunched over, catching his breath, "Oh man, if I was still in that basement I… just—thanks for coming back for me Jesse. I wouldn't be here without you."

"Jesse!" She heard Petra's voice, looking over across the street at the mask stand and seeing the redhead with the others. She and Lukas made a run for it, sliding under the tarp and joining them.

The stall immediately began to rumble before anyone could even open their mouths to speak. The supports creaked and snapped, Jesse leaning over and covering Reuben from the scraps of sharp wood that shot out. Their cover was blown away like it was nothing but an umbrella on a windy beach, a beam pointing directly over all six of them.

"Wait, wait! We have to stay together!" Jesse cried as they all scattered from the purple light.

"Jesse! Help me!"

She turned, eyes widening at the sight of Petra ascending with the remnants of the booth. She struggled in the air, yelling as the ground grew farther away before a sweaty hand was over her wrist, grasping it tightly. Petra interlocked her hand over Jesse's own wrist so she wouldn't slip away from the girl, who was holding onto a splinted pole the beam hadn't been able to loosen from the ground. Jesse's eyes squeezed shut at the Wither's pulling force exerting itself onto her arm, both of her shoulders straining.

"Can't hold… on…!" The wood she held tight to was cracking under the burden of two bodies, Jesse's feet disconnected from the ground as she looked to their mainstay. "No, no-no-no-no-no-no!"

It finally snapped and they both yelled, Jesse straining her arm out for the pole that was no longer there. They looked at each other, their terrified expressions speaking for themselves as Petra looked up, closing her eyes and squeezing Jesse's wrist, who squeezed back in return.

The two were yanked to a stop so abruptly they almost lost their grips on each other. Jesse felt a vice around her ankle, looking down to the sight of Gabriel yanking them out of the light like it was nothing. With a yell, he veered their bodies to the right and out of the beam, both of them falling over the other. He helped the shaky girls up with a worried look, Axel, Olivia, and Lukas coming up behind him—Reuben inside Axels jacket, head sticking out from the collar.

"D-Do we still have everyone?" Jesse looked around, taking a mental headcount of their group and promptly sinking her hands to her knees and drooping in relief when they were all accounted for.

"We must set out for my fortress, we'll be better protected there!" Gabriel said, waving them along as he set off.

"We're running there?!" Olivia shouted over the noise.

"It's our only option! We can make it, but we must go now!" Gabriel yelled back over his shoulder.

The bottoms of their shoes slapped over stone as they ran, Ruben's body bouncing wildly from inside Axel's hoodie, face alight with fear as they passed their Creeper-dispenser being torn apart with a cacophony of cracking, splintering noises.

"Thanks for that back there." Petra caught up to Jesse's side.

"Yeah, well now we're even, right?"

"ri—INCOMING!" She gasped and abruptly shouted. The leviathan of a Wither had circled around and was shooting projectiles from it's mouths, one of them in their direct line of sight. The two of them jumped out of the way, the blast sending them to the ground on their sides. They helped the other up, nearly tripping back into the ice-cold crater in the process.

Its flaming skulls that looked almost laughably tiny in comparison to the large creature before them were destroying the streets around them, Jesse lagging behind as she avoided falling bricks and rubble scattering the ground among the craters.

The city gates were closing as they ran under them, Jesse just barely sliding underneath the thick iron bar before it dropped with a heavy boom of metal against rock.

They ran towards the forest, the woods quickly catching fire as the Wither turned its attention to it and began firing into the trees.

"Everyone! Keep going! We'll meet up on the other side!" Gabriel yelled before the blinding orange of the woods. Jesse looked at the fork in the road and swerved to the right, jumping over a smoldering log to Axel, Reuben, and Olivia who were running separate from the group. She could hear the pig squealing wildly, and followed the noise as her eyes began to blur from smoke. She had to pause and close her eyes from the already raining soot and cough wildly, sweltering within her clothes as the fire spread alarmingly fast. Unfettered flames licked sparingly at the coppice, twisting and swaying in a dance without rhythm.

The forest had been tinder-dry for weeks, every fallen piece of wood bleached and dehydrated, almost as good as scattered kerosene despite the dewey mornings. Now the wildfire's rage sent billows of black smoke into the dark sky, blocking out the stars.

The fire burned like a temper as if the leaping flames had a terrible anger toward the living world. It crackled wildly as she ran with heaving breaths, moving as swiftly as the flames were. The air smelled and tasted like bonfire while the nighttime horizon glowed orange beneath the smokey, wind-dragged plume. The trees that sheltered so many with their spreading canopy of green were looking like lifeless sticks of charcoal, no more vibrant than the old lamp-posts in the once-city.

The light of the fire illuminated the scorched ground, her only source of comfort as it helped her safely dodged roots and stones she would otherwise be tripping over on every other step. A distant part of her wondered just how far they had run on foot. Time felt like a far-away concept in the endless fiery walls. It felt like they would never leave.

They were no longer in the protected lands, but past the watchtowers and with increasingly rocky terrain. In every direction, there was only fire, and Jesse could imagine falling behind and getting lost without anyone noticing. Panic gripped her chest as she ran, grinding to a stop over the dirt as a tree fell directly in her path, bright red branches casting off all around as Jesse was losing sight of the quasi-trail she had been following. Backing up slowly, she knelt down and took a breath under the least smoky air before jolting to her feet, bracing herself as she ran towards the massive tree. Jumping up and hearing the red-hot wood hiss at her from beneath her boots she launched off the trunk, ducking and rolling through the blackened ground and jumping back into a run.

A faint voice sounded off close to her, "The temple is just up ahead! Follow me!"

She caught the faintest glimpse of Olivia between the trees and took off. Before she could reach the other girl, gargantuan tentacles were coming crashing down through the tree and Jesse cried out, watching with wide eyes the appendage in front of her languidly pulled itself back into the sky. The ground shook behind her, and she saw another, then another, until they were slamming down throughout the forest.

A flaming skull made it past the treeline and burst loudly into a crater a few meters away in front of her. Jesse jumped over the cracking hole, but another black limb struck the earth on the cusp of the crater and Jesse found herself slamming into it mid-air and scrambling for purchase on the appendage. The found she could dig her fingers into the rock-like skin, its surface surprisingly malleable like half cooled lava. She pulled her way up and over it, rolling off the other side just in time for the Wither to heavily drag it away. Standing to her feet, she could see Gabriel's temple in the distance. It appeared to be constructed mainly of stone bricks, thin stretches of blue and white glazed terracotta mimicking great banners framing a long window that bisected the building.

Catching up with Axel and Olivia as the trees cleared out, they reformed into a group as Gabriel and the others came out adjacent to them. They made it across the short stretch of field to the tall building.

"Hurry! Inside the temple!" Gabriel pushed each of them along the clay walkways, tailing them as they ran up the stairs ahead of him. He led them through the towering doors and down a second set of stairs that took them deep into the underground, the area it led to was sparse aside from two round skylights lighting the dark room an eerie gray-blue and an obsidian wall surrounded by multiplier levers. The quiet was deafening, broken only by their heavy breathing.

Reuben slid from Axel's jacket, nearly collapsing on the stone tiled floor. Jesse kneeled down and ushered him to her, smoothing a hand over his ears and overheated skin.

"The inner chamber is built entirely of obsidian. We should be untouchable in there." Gabriel said as he heaved down a large lever, the compact, smooth stone entryway opening up with the soft clicking noise of well-oiled cogs and clean redstone. As they peered inside, Olivia yelled in alarm and Jesse could see the flash of purple light from the corner of her eyes shining through the skylights.

"Go! Get in!" Gabriel shouted, following after the group of six into the domed obsidian room, a portal built in the center. The sound of glass shattering echoed through the rotunda as tentacles came surging through the other room's ceiling. Gabriel unsheathed his sword, holding an arm out as if to physically block the writhing things from them.

"Quickly! If you can get through the portal, you'll be safe!"

Petra and Axel practically launched everyone through the portal despite protests from Olivia, falling out on the other side of the room in a tangled heap.

"Uh, something's not right here." Axel wheezed from beneath the pile of bodies, Olivia and Reuben rolling off him as Petra helped Jesse and Lukas to their feet.

"That's what I was trying to say! It's not lit, we need something to light it!" Olivia yelled, annoyed as she ran her hands through her braided hair exasperatedly.

"Hold on, I can do that!" Jesse fumbled for the flint and steel in her pocket, dropping to her knees and igniting the portal into a swirling, deep purple haze with a single spark.

"Everyone! Get in—NOW!" Petra ordered as Jesse haphazardly dropped the flint and steel into her inventory. Olivia ran in first, followed by Axel who grabbed Reuben securely under his arms and jumped through, likely smashing into Olivia on the other side.

Petra had been ready to go through with Jesse and Lukas when a yell stopped them. A second, pained one followed as the ink-black appendage slammed Gabriel into the ground by his legs.

"Mr. Gabriel!" Jesse hopped from the pedestal without a thought in her head as she ran to the older man, Petra close behind. She used the spaces between his armor to grip onto him and pull. The redhead had wrapped her arms around Jesse's waist, pulling her in turn as they worked to free him.

Without so much as a warning the tentacle released him, the three of them falling back as its undulating form retreated at an unsettlingly fast speed for how large it was. Jesse pulled Gabriel up by an arm, looking over his armor—untouched except for a single dent over the chest plate.

"Make sure he's okay, then let's get out of here!" Petra was slashing her sword across the smaller second tentacle behind them that hadn't retreated with the other, not doing much damage to it.

"Thank you." He winced as he waved Jesse off him, glancing at the other girl as he spoke, "I can't stop this by myself, we need to find the others."

"Others?"

"Soren's been missing for years, but the others; you must seek them out." His voice was raspy, expression pained as he reached within his armor with a shaky hand, removing a shining, braided string from around his neck. Connected to it was a polished elysium ring the size of his palm connected by four decorative gold filigree clasps, each bridged to a golden centerpiece of lapis by garnet, quartz, uncut emerald, and turquoise. "Take this amulet, and guard it with your life."

He pooled the necklace into his other hand, holding it out for Jesse to take. When she hesitated, he took her hand and placed it in her palm with a long look, closing her fingers around it. "You can do this. You must."

"H-How am I even supposed to find Magnus and Ellegaard?" Jesse tried tentatively offering the necklace back, shaking her head. "Listen, I've never left Beacontown in my life. What am I even supposed to do besides find them?"

"The amulet will guide you." He pushed her hands away, taking it from her and placing it over her neck when it was clear she wouldn't stop attempting to give it back. "Take it through the portal, and then—"

A cracking noise that started small and grew in volume stopped him short. They looked up, Gabriel's eyes widening at the gap spreading through the obsidian above them before the volcanic glass burst open. Gabriel pushed her back as a long black limb crashing over the ground between them. Jesse reacted fast, pulling out her sword and bringing it down over the weak tip, making the tentacle convulse and slam into her midsection, throwing her towards Petra. She landed hard on her shoulder, rolling out of the way and getting up as it came down over the spot her prone body had been moments before. It slithered through the air to where Lukas stood frozen by the portal, coiling back when Petra yelled out and jumped, carving down the tough skin. Jesse shot over and shoved the thin peak of the dense tendril away using a foot with a strained grunt, Petra catching her by the arm when she fell back from the resulting inertia.

"You two, go through the portal and meet up with the others!" Petra said, looking between her and Lukas, "I'll stay here and do whatever I can."

"I'm coming with you!" Jesse caught her by the shoulder as the other girl ran to jump from the platform.

"No, you're not." Petra said firmly, lips in a thin line as she shrugged Jesse off. "The gang needs you, Jesse. Go through the portal."

Petra grabbed her by the arm when Jesse hesitated, turning to look back at a retreating Lukas who stood by the portal, looking between them and the purple haze with a conflicted look.

"If anything happens, I'll meet you guys at the temple."

Petra felt Jesse stiffen and turned to where her gaze was. A beam of light was shining down blindingly into the dark chamber from the hole in the ceiling, Gabriel shouting out as he was seized by the purple force. The girls ran to him, Petra about to leap up and grab his ankle when she was abruptly caught in a second glaring light.

"Can't—get—away from it!" Gabriel ground out, his body locking up the higher he was lifted.

Petra looked down at her. "Jesse, do something!"

Narrowing her eyes in a determined focus, Jesse re-sheathed her sword and bolted to Petra. Kicking off hard from a sharp hunk of obsidian on the ground. Lukas was practically rusted in place, Gabriel was yelling something, and Jesse could see the unfiltered panic in Petra's dark eyes. She grabbed Petra's legs and they both swung from the beam from the force of her hurdle. Their bodies thumped across the ground before slowing to a stop. The two girls breathed heavily and looked at one another.

"Thank you, Jesse." Petra helped her up, dusting her off before stopping, eyes widening like she had forgotten where they were and whirled around "Gabriel's still up there!"

"Jesse! Go!" He shouted, holding onto a razor-sharp edge of the shattered ceiling, blood beading from his hands and floating up in small red pellets.

She broke free of Petra, running to the edge of the light that had grabbed Gabriel and standing there uselessly staring up at him.

"You must go!"

A black coil slipped through the wide hole, blindly swinging over her head. She looked to Petra like she would have the answers, but the girl's mouth opened as she began to yell something. Jesse's vision suddenly blurred as a large black mass smashed into her with enough force that she thought she may throw up, hurling her body like a ragdoll into Lukas and sending them both through the portal.


Hot. It was too hot.

"Get them off each other!"

Her hearing was fuzzed over like a swarm of insects were buzzing in her ears. Jesse's pulse was pounding in her temples and she sucked in an involuntary breath as she felt herself moved to a much more comfortable surface. It felt like she was laying on cobblestone that had been under the sun all day in summer. A hand lifted her head by the neck and rested it against a cushioned surface.

"Jess? Jesse?" Cool skin pressed over her forehead, and she risked opening an eye. She regretted it immediately, shutting it with a wince. Above her was a raw deposit of glowstone, glaring down on her as though she had personally offended it.

"I think she's awake."

"Lukas is waking up!"

Lukas, Lukas—that's the last thing she remembered, Lukas' face as they slammed into each other. She pressed her scraped palms over the hot ground, attempting to sit up when large hands pushed her back. She squinted her eyes open, pointedly avoiding the high ceiling. She saw Olivia first, bent over a head of blond hair. Sweat was shining off her brow as she frantically checked over the prone body. Her lips were moving but her voice was too hushed for Jesse to pick up, even as her hearing returned to her. She tilted her head up, glancing past the bright glass and meeting Axel's face leaning over hers, worry twisting his features. Sweat stuck his hair to his skin and clumped it together, and she tried to push up an arm and swipe them away from his eyes. The appendage fell uselessly to her side, and she tried to sit up again.

"Woah there cowgirl, you're pretty bruised up. Wait until Olivia has had a look-see."

"Reuben." Jesse managed to croak out. It felt like she had swallowed flour.

"Hey, easy. Reuben's right here."

She didn't know where exactly right here was supposed to be in terms of her current position, but a tongue lapped over her cheek and a familiar whining sounding above her as a pink face came into focus. His snout snuffed over her and she laughed, regretting it instantly as she went into a fit of coughs.

"Here, 'Liv had some water in her inventory. It was from the squid vendor though, so proceed with caution." Axel said, shifting before pulling her up by her sides to lean against a leg he had propped. Lukewarm water met her lips and she took it from Axel, gulping it down. She tried to ignore the murkiness.

She sucked the last off it down, shuddering at the suspicious aftertaste. Axel grabbed the empty glass from her and tossed it off the ledge of the outcrop she realized they were precariously close to the edge of. It hit the surface of the lava with a dense plopping nose, glass enveloping in flames as it began to glow bright and melt.

The air in the red, cavernous dimension felt too hot, too heavy to breathe in. It seemed there was no in-between for Jesse today; either she was chilled to her bones or sweltering within her clothes.

"It's pretty cool, huh?" Axel said as he looked around, grabbing her attention back. "Think you can stand?"

"Probably."

"Then let's get you up."

She let Axel pull her to her feet and steady her shoulders despite her quickly receding aches. She looked around a bit wide-eyed. The terrain around them was largely composed of netherrack that formed complex platforms and niches, rivers of magma and lava-falls converging into molten oceans. Glowstone clusters arched over the ceiling in jagged patterns, and she could barely move without stepping on the mushrooms growing abundantly on the ground. Patches of levitating gravel and soul sand that looked like swirling dust which had been frozen midair marred the entrances to small grottos of clear quartz deposits.

"Why is Jesse up?" Olivia asked accusingly, helping Lukas to his feet. "I haven't looked her over yet."

"She's fine." Axel said, holding her shoulders when she began to sway from a sudden bout of dizziness. "See?"

"Anything hurt? Or feel out of place?"

"I mean, everything hurts, but nothing's broken I don't think."

"If you're sure."

She shrugged noncommittally, giving a pale looking Lukas a pat on the back.

Looking around, she ventured a few steps from the portal, hushing Reuben to calm him as he whined behind her.

"Where's Petra? Was too busy trying to get your lazy butt up." Axel questioned..

"More like on the verge of tears because you thought she was dead," Olivia snorted, moving out of the way from a swipe of Axel's hand. "But yeah, I was too busy trying to make sure Lukas wasn't for real dead, I hadn't even realized. Where is Petra?"

Lukas broke the long silence that followed, looking away as he spoke. "...We did everything we could."

"What are you saying?"

"Jesse? What is he talking about?" Olivia asked, wringing her hands as she stood next to Axel, who was giving Lukas a harsh look. "Because it doesn't sound—it doesn't sound good"

Jesse felt her heart constrict, the awe from the Nether leaving her as her mind came back to focus on the situation.

"It was... chaos." She stepped forward, drawing their attention from Lukas. "There wasn't much I could do."

"Jesse's right." Lukas stepped up next to Jesse, taking the attention off her in turn. She had half a mind to smack him for trying to be chivalrous when she was trying to help take the unwarranted blame off him.

She nudged in front of Lukas, "But Petra is still up there—"

"I got scared. Just for a second." Lukas admitted. Abruptly, he was backing up with his hands held out as Axel walked into his space, not looking happy. With a squeal, Reuben ran from the spot between Lukas' ankles he had been settled in.

"You got scared?" He glared down at him incredulously.

"It wasn't my fault—"

"You got scared and it's not your fault?" His hands had tightened into fists, and Jesse was about to intervene before Lukas needed medical attention they wouldn't be able to give him when Olivia's voice cut through the air sharply.

"Back off, Axel."

He stopped at her voice, turning then rounding on Jesse. "We've got to go back!"

"No! We just have to wait!" Olivia grabbed him by the wrist. "Think about what you're walking into."

Jesse sighed, rubbing her hands over her face and looking up at him.

"I'm sorry Axel, she's right. There's nothing you can do." She found herself under the force of his angry stare, "You'll just end up getting yourself killed."

"You don't know that! You don't know!"

"Hey—there she is!" Lukas pointed to the portal, rejoining the group with only a smidgen of hesitation.

Jesse and Axel turned, backing away from where they stood. Purple swirls grew brighter, pulsating within the confines of the obsidian.

"Come on, come on." Jesse was gripping onto Olivia like a vice as she watched, biting her lips together.

She held her breath as the portal rippled like water, then spat out Ivor, who landed hard on the ground in front of them.

"You!" Jesse hissed.

"You!" He hissed right back.

Without warning, a pitch-black tentacle forced its way through the portal, knocking them all over like dominoes as it swung blindly. She and Ivor were barely back to their feet as they stumbled out of the way from the mass as it came down with shaking force, dragging itself back and encircling the portal like a snake, bulging as it squeezed. There was half a second of quiet before the portal shattered with a force wave that sent them flying backward, the now severed appendage unfurling and falling to the ground with a resonating crash over the dark shards. Jesse didn't dare look at the severed end, already coughing into her sleeves as a smell reminiscent of burnt hair and sulfur thickly permeated the air.

They were all silent, looking at the remains of the portal with varying degrees of disbelief and disgust as the appendage twitched, skin cracking. Reuben was pulled away by Olivia when he attempted to investigate.

"You ruined everything," Ivor said lowly, standing and looking to Jesse with a seething look.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't pretend you don't know, thief!" At this he pointed a finger at Axel who stood behind her with his arms crossed. The man's dark eyes were then back on her, "You took my most valuable potion in what should have been my moment of triumph!"

"This?!" Jesse started, waving her hands around them, "Is all your fault!"

"I had a plan! And you Interfered!"

"Your plan was to set off a Wither in a theater full of people!" She yelled, shoving him back a few feet.

"A Wither I could control! That is, until you showed up!" He shouted, righting himself as he held her gaze before turning with a sneer and walking from her, hands behind his back. She couldn't help but notice they were shaking. "There's nothing left up there! Nothing but the Wither Storm!"

"Why are you wasting time arguing with this jerk? We have to go and find Petra!"

"How Axel?! How! the portal—"

"The girl, I saw her." Ivor cut in, a hint of recognition in his voice, his back continuing to face them.

"What?"

"While I was running toward the portal I passed her. She was running in the opposite direction." He shook his head, a hand coming to his beard as he looked to the group. "Such bravery. Of course, there's a fine line between bravery, and stupidity. And your friend—has crossed it!"

He was silent for a moment, looking over them before speaking slowly. "I'm saying she's stupid."

Jesse rolled her eyes, stomping forward with an accusing glare. "Our friend is in trouble—because of you! We're trapped in the Nether—because of you! You're a coward!"

"Maybe. But I survive, and that's what counts!"

"There's more to life than survival!"

"Without survival, there is no life. And you have much bigger problems to contend with." He laughed joylessly, looking in the direction of a massive cave, "Through that tunnel is a network of mine carts built by the order of the stone. It's your only way out."

"Then we should go that way." Axel said a little dumbly as Olivia rolled her eyes

"Times wasting, let's go." Lukas added, gently grabbing her arm. She yanked out of his grip, taking a step towards Ivor.

"I don't remember asking for your help."

"It's not for my sake—"

"Yeah, well, keep it to yourself."

"There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that monster. I don't think you have much of a choice."

Absolutely fuming, Jesse turned to her friends. "I don't like this, but he might be right."

"We were already in agreement with him, Jesse." Lukas said. Olivia glared at him and he backed up, lips closed tightly.

"Bravo, for embracing the truth." Ivor said from behind her.

She whipped around to him, braid swinging over her shoulder as she bristled, about to reply when a distant howling akin to a pained wail echoed across the netherrack. Reuben pressed close to her leg.

"What was that?" Axel demanded, looking to Ivor.

"I would wish you luck, but luck won't carry you through the Nether." He said, ignoring them as he searched through his robe, taking out a corked vial of a pale blue liquid and looking them over one final time. "You have my sympathies."

He threw back his head and swallowed the potion in one gulp, fading from their view like a receding fog as the empty bottle clinked to the ground and rolled to a stop at Jesse's boots.


again i edited this in one go so it (particularly the end) is probably riddled with mistakes and pacing errors so sorry about that