I honestly didnt plan on writing this far. From the beginning i had planned on ending it last chapter but here we are. You have quarantine to thank for this lol

I didnt bring reuben along for this because he doesnt really do anything from here on out so i wanted to limit how much i actually write him, i hope thats ok lol. I'll still try to keep writing him, but theres not much reuben content after the beginning of the game.

Anyway. I still hate writing the wither, nothing has changed there

REWRITE EDIT: I didn't fully rewrite this chapter, more like heavily edited it because i wasn't sure if it was bad enough to be completely rewritten. I feel like this is really low quality compared to all the other chapters. And honestly i did at one point go back to rewrite it but just couldnt get anything out of me.

also I've re edited this story to about chapter five now, so I apologize that everything after that is still a little sloppy

im embarrassed lol. i feel like ive let you guys down by not writing well enough :(


Olivia huddled close to Jesse to combat the frigid air nipping at her arms. Despite laying in the east, late fall was as merciless in Redstonia as it was back in Beacontown, only made worse by the night. The town was a tundra of chalky redstone blocks and red sandstone, the surrounding overworld covered in inventions and contraptions like trinkets lining a store's shelf.

They skirted along a massive dome, not unlike Keynote Hall. The exterior was fashioned almost entirely out of red sandstone, blue stained glass wrapped around the middle like a band. Orange clay lined the base and small arches were set at regular intervals around the building, made exclusively out of white stained glass and flanked by two impressive stone pillars.

They passed an open field filled with redstone machines of every shape and size. There were crowds of people working on constructing their apparatus', the sharp tang of redstone permeating the air. Heat lamps and mounted glowstone dotted the grassy expanse, lighting the area and giving the air a pleasant warmth. At one point, Olivia had wanted to stay glued to a heat lamp but was dragged away by Jesse, pulling her towards a quaint downtown area.

A wide variety of shops lined the brick streets: antique and art stalls, redstone jewelry, accessory shops, boutiques, souvenir kiosks and stores selling leather goods, all showcasing an array of the finest Redstonian wares. They wandered down the empty streets, peering into shop windows. When Jesse found what they were looking for, they made a B-line towards an unassuming store showcasing ceramics and clothing in the windows.

Entering the warmth, the small dustless shop was a minefield for the clumsy. Delicately handcrafted redstone figurines, glass bowls, and kiln-fired plates were left on low shelves where they could be easily knocked and broken. A cute little sign hung in the window, 'nice to look, nice to hold, but if you break it, consider it sold.' Jesse wondered if they got more sales that way than people actually choosing to make a purchase.

The cashier glanced towards them disinterestedly, not making a move to greet them as he stared out the window with a large hand on his cheek.

Olivia silently set off towards the singular rack of shirts, immediately gravitating towards the few white shirts there were as Jesse went off to find them some coats.

Meeting up at the counter, she noted Olivia had switched out her short sleeved shirt for a cream-colored pullover with a high neckline.

"Looking good," Jesse commented, handing her the brown duffle coat she'd picked out for her, shrugging on her own one size too big parka.

"Feeling good." Olivia grinned, rubbing her arms contentedly.

"Tags, please." The clerk said. Olivia handed him her shirt's tag, Jesse unpinning the tags from both coats and placing them in front of the man.

He glimpsed over the thick cards of paper, "Twelve emerald chips."

Jesse balked. She actually hadn't even considered money, all their savings were back in her pack that lay abandoned somewhere in the woods back in Beacontown. She looked to Olivia with hopeful eyes and the other girl merely rolled hers in response, digging through her inventory,

"Um, Let's see. I've got five chips and some redstone wire." She said, counting out the emerald coins in her palm. She looked to Jesse expectantly, "What about you?"

"I've got a small jar of pine resin and that's it." She hung her head a little

They looked at the man sheepishly, who stared back. After a moment, he sighed heavily.

"...Fine."

They smiled, handing over the emerald chips, redstone wire, and resin.

"Thank you!" Olivia called after him as they made their way to the store's front, pulling on her coat. She didn't receive a reply.

The small bell above the door rang as they exited the store and made their way into the chilly night.

"Okay, warm clothes? Check." Jesse said, looking to Olivia as they wandered the barren streets. "Now what?"

"I think that big field was a good place to start. You know with all those redstone engineers? Maybe they can help." Olivia buttoned up her coat.

"Sounds good to me,"

"Then let's go." Olivia took Jesse's hand in hers and dragged onwards with barely contained eagerness.

They headed out of the winding streets, backtracking around the dome to the grassy enclosure. A crowd had formed at the front of the extensive building, and they could hear a voice reverberating from music blocks fastened to the dome. They drifted through the plentiful redstone machines, sticking to the dirt path that seemed to have carved itself into the grass over time and curved around thick prickly rose bushes.

Jesse squinted her eyes, "Is that…?"

"Ellegaard!" Olivia cried, pulling Jesse along towards the cusp of a large assembly of eager looking people. The older woman was standing on a raised platform of red sandstone up on the dome, ran banners stitched with depictions of piles of redstone dust hung freely down from the outcrop, blowing in the night air.

"Builders of Redstonia! I want you to know how much I value each and every one of you. Your hard work inspires me every day!"

"Jesse, there she is…!" Olivia clamped down on their interlocked hands in excitement. Jesse had to practically pry her own hand out from the other girl's painful grip.

"I am about to enter my dome of concentration, where I will be unreachable for the foreseeable future. But I will emerge when I complete my latest and greatest creation; the command block!"

The throng of redstone engineers yelled and applauded as Jesse and Olivia twined their way through the flock of people for a better look.

"So please! continue working, continue building! And whichever person most impresses me, they shall be my protégé. Ready to help usher in a new era of innovation and creativity." The older woman smiled over the restless crowd, "Calvin, throw the switch!"

A man with a dark mustache and thick glasses emerged from the shoal of people, flipping one of many switches attached to the side of the building. A deep clunking noise sounded from inside the interior, a wall of iron blocks rising up haltingly to cover the band of windows surrounding the dome as the lights around the structure flickered and dimmed. The tall woman turned on her heel and disappeared into the dome as the crowd began to disperse slowly, chattering and laughing amongst themselves as they made their way back to their machines.

"Jesse! We need to get there before she totally locks herself in!" Olivia urged, grabbing Jesse by the hand once more and running to the curved walls of the dome.

"Will you please quit dragging me everywhere?" Jesse extracted her hand from Olivia's death grip, rubbing the appendage but nonetheless continuing after the girl.

They hopped up onto the stairs connected to the high wall of the superstructure and climbed up the thin steps two at a time. The stairs began slowly sinking into the wall one at a time from both ends, trapping them in the middle and forcing them to press against the side of the building before the steps below them completely disappeared into the sadnston wall. They slid down against the curved building, landing harshly on the ground. Jesse's teeth bit down over the tip of her tongue on impact, making her wince in pain and hold her mouth with a groan. Sticking a finger in her mouth, she withdrew it to see blood mixed with saliva on her fingertip.

"Ow," Olivia stated simply, standing up with a wince and rubbing her backside.

"Ah, crap," Jesse said, spitting blood out of her mouth and pulling herself to her feet as she looked up at the now stairless surface.

"Well now what?" Olivia raised her arms and let them flop back down against her sides.

Jesse looked around like the answer may physically present itself to her. And it did, in the form of the bespectacled man from earlier looking over the wall of switches with a discerning eye. She gestured to him with her head, signaling for Olivia to follow her as she approached him

"Excuse me, Mr… Calvin, was it?" She asked, catching the taller man's attention, "We need to speak to Ellegaard. It's urgent."

"Oh, I'm afraid that's quite impossible." He adjusted his dark overcoat as he looked down at the two, "Did you hear the speech? She's on lockdown until she completes her next great invention. But lucky for you, I'm here. How can I help you?"

"You can help us if you can save the world." Jesse pressed her lips together into a thin line, crossing her arms.

"Mmmm-no, I'm afraid not." He glanced between the two, Olivia self consciously toying with a lock of curly hair under his intense gaze, "Look, I can tell you're not from around here. Level with me. Who are you? Why do you need to see Ellegaard? We don't do tours this time of year, I must tell you, and Ellegaard isn't one for appointments."

"I'm here to reassemble the Order, all right?" Jesse cocked out a hip, "You know, the Order? Ellegaards old gang?"

"Hm. You must admit that this all sounds a little outlandish." He stroked his mustache.

"Um, no? Not really?"

"Jess, show him the amulet." Olivia nudged her.

She nodded, pulling the necklace from beneath her shirt and presenting it, the garnet glowing a brilliant red.

"Look, this is Gabriel's amulet, it's how we got here." She explained, "How we found Ellegaard in the first place."

"Oh, my. Well, that is interesting." He said, and Jesse couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not, "If you'd like I could send that to Ellegaard. Maybe that would help your mission."

"That might not be a bad idea," Olivia remarked thoughtfully.

She tucked the amulet back into her shirt protectively, "No way, Gabriel gave this amulet to me. I am not parting with it."

"Well fine then, I don't have time for this." He sniffed, "I'm afraid I have many more things to attend to than answering all of your questions. I must go."

"We weren't even asking questions—"

"Better just take this repeater as to disable the stair controls." He plucked a redstone repeater from its place on the ground, placing the mousetrap sized item into his coat's inner pockets. "We don't want any trouble makers disturbing Ellegaard."

Olivia sighed after a moment's silence, "Guess we'll need to get another repeater."

Jesse tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, shifting her weight to one leg, "Why does everyone make this difficult?"

"I don't know," Olivia said morosely.

"Okay, let's try splitting up, asking around." Jesse clasped her hands together in front of her, "By the way, how would I craft a repeater?"

"Why do you ask? There are bound to be tons of spare repeaters around here." Olivia pointed out, "I mean have you seen some of these inventions? They're incredible."

"Like you said, look at these inventions, I doubt anyone has any repeaters left. And if they do, well it never hurts to be prepared."

"All right, all right. We need three smoothstone, two redstone torches, and one baggy of redstone dust." Olivia counted off the items on her fingers.

"Okay. I'll look out for those as well as any actual repeaters." She paused a moment, grinning at her friend, "Seems this place has really blown you away, huh?"

"No kidding. This is like everything I've ever dreamed of." Olivia replied, taking a moment to look around in admiration.

"I would've thought you'd be up in people's faces, talking about inventions and stuff." Jesse snickered, prodding Olivia's side. She merely brushed her hand away.

"I want to… but I'm a little worried, to be honest. I might know redstone where we come from, but these people are the real deal, Jesse." She worried her hands together, "I mean, I don't even know how they're making some of these things!"

"Oh come on! You're just as good as them Olivia, just be confident!" Jesse slapped her shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Maybe. Thanks for the vote of confidence." She smiled at her a little.

"Of course." She grinned, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"Well, you try looking over there and I'll look over here, sound good?" Olivia asked.

"Sounds fine to me, see you soon."

"See ya, Jess!"

Jesse wandered off, Olivia heading in the opposite direction as the two set off to find a repeater—or the ingredients for one, whichever came first.

As it turned out, ingredients came first. After scouring around for thirty minutes, Jesse had found three still warm smoothstone straight out of a furnace. One nice old man later, she had her redstone dust and was returning back to Olivia, who had turned up with two redstone torches. One trip to the communal crafting table later and they had their repeater.

Placing the compact but heavy item down, they connected it to the two wires Calvin had previously disconnected.

"Okay, that's a step in the right direction." Olivia crossed her arms over her chest

Jesse made her way over to the switches, Olivia posted behind her as the lookout. She mentally marked which switches had been used by Calvin to close down the dome of concentration and which he hadn't.

She cranked a lever, "Switch is on!"

They watched the iron blocks covering the windows lower, exposing the band of stained glass to the night air.

"That doesn't seem super useful," Olivia observed.

"I'm working on it, Olivia. These aren't exactly labeled, y'know."

She pulled the lever closest to Olivia's side, watching the stairs re-emerged from the red sandstone walls.

"Okay, good, good. Getting there." Jesse mumbled to herself

She selected the last switch Calvin had used at the end of Ellegaard's speech, pulling it down. The iron blocks covering the door rose, revealing the open archway into the dome.

"Bam! Door opened!" She clapped her hands together once before setting them on her hips, grinning proudly.

"Nice one! Now let's go before we're seen!" Olivia called, already at the base of the stairs.

They hurried up the steps, going unnoticed by the field of people working diligently on their redstone creations. Passing through the archway, they walked inside.

The interior was a tangle of circuit builds on either side of them, the smell of redstone dust even more concentrated than it was outside. The domed ceiling towered above them, faintly lit by the occasional redstone torch. It was like a skull holding a brain of winding conduits, a maze bundled so tightly together Jesse wondered how it had even been built.

"This might be the most redstone… stuff I've ever seen in my life," Jesse remarked, her gaze darting around the dome.

"You can say that again," Olivia breathed in wonderment.

They ventured forth, coming to a stop at a walled labyrinth of glass tubing transporting items likely to the center of the dome.

"She's moving a lot of different ingredients around here," Olivia observed. "Man, look at all this, huh?"

Jesse turned to her, "I don't want to alarm you, but I have no idea what I'm looking at here,"

Olivia only laughed, shoving Jesse forwards. "Let's go."

They bypassed a curtain of lava, a zipper, a water elevator that left them soaked in their now heavy jackets, and numerous other redstone rigs that Olivia had to point out and explain to her.

Twisting water out of their clothes and hair, they entered a platformed room, the floor tiles made to look like the top of a crafting table. To the side were chutes of ingredients, each labeled in neat script. At the front of the room where four crafting tables stuck to sticky pistons facing a singular empty block lit up by glowstone.

Rushing between all these was Ellegaard. Olivia grabbed Jesse's shoulder and pointed excitedly as though the other girl hadn't already seen.

"This is just how I dreamt it! Entering Ellegaard's laboratory, seeing her—right there! She'll ask me to be her apprentice, and the next thing you know we'll be changing the world together!" She whispered energetically to her.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, 'Liv, but let's try to save the world first." Jesse gave her shoulder a friendly pat.

The woman was pacing back and forth, checking everything over as though something was horribly out of place but she couldn't quite pinpoint what. She had pale skin with hair that curled up on either side of her head, framing her face in a way and accentuated her long nose and puckered lips. A white shirt lay flat under a copper-colored blazer, dark maroon pants covering her incredibly long legs. Above it all was ruby red armor accented by gold trimmings.

"Inventory requests? Operational. Delivery latency? Speedy." The older woman mumbled under her breath, her black boots padding against the ground. "Still talking to myself? Yes."

When Olivia made no move to step forwards, Jesse did so instead, walking up behind Ellegaard to tap on her shoulder. Before she could even raise her hand to do so, the woman was turning around.

"Whoa! Hi! Hey! Didn't see you sneaking up on me. Guess that's the point of sneaking up on someone, though." She said, muttering the last part to herself, "Don't touch anything in here, okay? It's all supremely fragile and genius."

Olivia hesitantly stepped up next to Jesse, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Did Calvin send you? Are you my new assistants?"

"Um, Ellegaard, ma'am—" Jesse started.

"No time for specifics, I'm afraid." She cut her off, turning to Olivia, "Hey you, goggle girl."

Olivia sucked in a breath, standing up ramrod straight.

"Switch on that T-flop circuit to activate the delivery chutes. And you, non-goggle girl, grab me a blaze rod and an iron block." She finished curtly, turning back around to face the crafting tables and pistons.

"She wants me to do something for her…!" Olivia looked faint. "What if I screw it up? What if I—oh, I feel…"

"You good?"

"...Lightheaded." She dropped to the ground over Jesse's boots.

"Olivia!" Jesse cried, dropping to the floor and fanning her face in quick succession.

Ellegaard turned around at the sound of the thunk that was Olivia's body hitting the solid ground. "Wow! Now I need an assistant to help with my assistant! Think you can handle it on your own?"

Jesse didn't respond, instead leaning over to lightly smack Olivia's face. "Olivia? Olivia, can you hear me?"

Her dark eyes creaked open, looking around before landing on Jesse.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked.

"I-I don't think I've ever fainted before." She pushed herself up, arms over her knees, "That was really, really embarrassing."

"Don't worry about it. Here, just get up." Jesse pulled her to her feet.

"Everything working over—oh, hm." Ellegaard looked over them with a displeased look, "Nevermind, I'll just do it myself then."

Olivia shook her head to herself, a hand covering her face in embarrassment.

Gathering her ingredients, Ellegaard flipped a switch that pushed the four crafting tables together, the ghost of a block twisting and turning in the center with a warbling noise. Jesse's eyes lit up in recognition, realizing it was indistinguishable from the same block Ivor had used to create the Wither.

"Come on, come on, come ooon…!" Ellegaard murmured to herself, fingers crossed in front of her, "Big winner, big winner, big—!"

The crafting tables were pulled back by the pistons and the block disappeared like an extinguished flame..

"—Loser! Trail number 6,451. Another bust." She sighed, turning to them, "Now, about you two. Eh, your friend here. Does she fall over frequently? Is this gonna be a… regular occurrence? Someone's going to trip over you while carrying lava and it's gonna be… such a mess. Lava, everywhere."

Olvia sputtered, "I—no, I'm sorry. I was just so excited to—"

"And with me always pacing around, lost in my own brilliant thoughts, I could've tripped over you and conked my brain!" Ellegaard propped her hands up against her hips.

"Well, that seems a little unfair to blame Olivia. It's not her fault that she got so excited." Jesse said defensively.

"Jesse, it's fine." Olivia insisted.

"How in the world did she get this assistant position in the first place?" Ellegaard asked, more to herself than anything.

Jesse looked to Olivia hesitantly, her friend gesturing for her to say something.

"Well that's the thing, we aren't exactly your assistants," Jesse admitted.

"Oh! Phew! Kinda glad actually. What with madam faints a lot over there." Ellegaard laughed to herself a little, "So, why are you here?"

Jesse and Olivia looked to eachother in mild surprise, nonplussed that the woman before them had accepted that they'd snuck into her dome so easily.

"We're actually here to get your help. There's a giant Wither storm, and it's going to invade the entire world." Jesse explained.

"And that's just the short version," Olivia added.

"A Wither what? What are you talking about? Who… who sent you? Was it Calvin?" She asked, looking around as though they'd been sent here to play a practical joke on her. "Calvin? Calvin come out!"

"Gabriel sent me," Jesse said earnestly.

Ellegaard pinched the bridge of her nose, "Look you both seem like very pleasant people who are prone to fainting, but I simply don't have the brainpower for this. I'm in the middle of my greatest project to date; a powerful block capable of altering reality itself! I'm so close I can practically taste it."

Jesse stepped forwards, "I've seen one of those before. You called it a command block?

"W-wait, wait, how do you know what a command block is?" Ellegaard questioned, walking up to the two, "Not to seem belittling, but we're talking about some mega-ultra genius level stuff here."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, the world needs the Order! That's why we're here!" Jesse urged, fighting the compulsion to reach out and shake her in minor annoyance, "We've seen one up close before, it was Ivor's, he's done something terrible with it!"

"Sorry to bust your circuits, but the Order isn't really together anymore. We, ah, sort of disassembled." Ellegaard said delicately.

"That's why we're here," Jesse pulled the amulet from her shirt, the glowing ruby lighting up her face.

"Gabriel's amulet." Ellegaard breathed, "This… certainly changes things. Haven't seen one of these in a long time. Long time."

"He gave it to me so that I could find the order." She tucked the necklace into the front of her overalls.

"This is serious indeed. All the more reason why I need to finish my command block. I can use it to fight this Wither storm! Monster… thing, or whatever." She was pacing along the floor, "Necessity is the originator of invention, and that monster is now my necessity for inventing. Don't you understand?"

"But, a command block made the Wither storm in the first place!" Olivia protested.

"Well, that's even better then!" Ellegaard exclaimed. "You're Wither Storm problem was created by a command block, yes? That means a command block could be the perfect way of beating it!"

"And maybe—" Olivia began but was interrupted by the older woman who stepped closer to Jesse.

"Will you help me make one? It's going to work this time!" She sang, "I can feel it! Right here. In my brain. Let's go!"

They filled the next several hours or so with moving ingredients around and the flicking of switches. The air was sharp with the tang of ozone from every time they ran a test, leaving Jesse's hairs standing on end. Poor Olivia was tripping up with everything. Getting crafting items wrong, stumbling over her own two feet, pressing buttons at the wrong times. Jesse felt horrible for her. They worked tiredly into the night, Ellegaard having enough strength and enthusiasm to keep both the exhausted girls going.

It was exactly six hours and fifteen minutes into testing that it happened. The command block didn't shut down after the first few seconds, continuing to spin haltingly in place.

"Okay, okay! Excellent. Good. This is so exciting, terribly exciting!" Ellagaard clapped her hands together in front of her.

"Has it ever gotten this far before?" Olivia asked.

"No! Never!" The older woman yelled excitedly.

The dome suddenly shook, the command block shuddering in place. TheyThe three person group looked around in confusion, a few redstone touches falling from the walls and clattering against the floor.

"Is it destabilizing?" Ellegaard approached the testing area.

The side of the dome was torn off with a thunderous crack, the glass tubing surrounding them shattering. Jesse whipped around, a weight dropping into her stomach at the familiar black tentacles unfurling through the newly made hole. The appendage slithered through the opening, twisting in the air as it seemed to feel around before slamming down over the floor jarringly, fissures erupting through the floor like veins.

"Oh, no," She groaned.

"Come on!" Olivia cried as the two girls ran. Jesse looked behind them at the black feelers swarming in through the hole, noticing the distinct lack of Ellegaard. She turned on her feet, causing Olivia to halt in her tracks. Ellegaard stood frozen in place, staring up at the monster. Jesse ran to her, tugging her back and out of the way of a limb that crashed down over where the woman last stood.

"We need to go!" Jesse called, pulling her along as the appendage rose and jerked in the air, bashing against the wall like a wild animal.

Shaken out of her stupor, Ellegaard pursued them, the three rushing through the dome as the ceiling was ripped off in puzzle piece like chunks, revealing the late night sky.

"We need to go, we need to get to the portal!" Ellegaard cried, pulling them to a full stop, "I'm so sorry, so, so sorry. If I had only succeeded—"

"There will be time for this later!" Jesse yelled, urging her along, "Right now we need to get out of here!"

Exiting the dome, the town was in complete chaos. People were running in panic as redstone machines were ripped from their hinges, tearing apart at the seems as they were drawn into the mass of the Wither through its tractor beams

A pitch black tentacle rushed down the side of the dome, knocking away a section of the staircase in front of Jesse as Ellegaard and Olivia ran on without her, not noticing her absence. She yelped as she just barely stopped herself from running right off the edge and plummeting to the ground. She backed up as much as she could manage and jumped, propelling off the furthermost step with her feet and landing safely, but painfully, on her back at the other side of the staircase. Another tentacle came barging down, taking with it the rest of the steps in front of her.

"Seriously?!" She yelled up at the monstrous leviathan.

Jesse swiveled her body around, her legs hanging off the edge of the railless stairs before pushing off and letting herself fall, ducking and rolling as she hit the cool grass, her ankles protesting weakly. Olivia ran back to her, helping her up from the ground.

"Jesse! There you are!"

"It seems you were telling the truth. We need to get to the portal. Now. As soon as possible, no time to rest!" Ellegaard pushed the two of them to keep running.

People were screaming around them, scattering in different directions like flies outrunning a swatter. Redstone dust floated up like a fog, making Jesse cough as her eyes watered from the shimmering red flakes.

"Nearly there!" Ellegaard shouted, jumping over remnants of redstone mechanisms and hunks of ground that had been torn from the earth.

Jesse dodged out of the way of one of the long black arms, landing on her side with a grunt. She felt a cold, thick mass wrap around her legs and drag her up. Grabbed hold of her sword as gravity slid it out of her baldric, she began mindlessly hacking at the tentacle wrapped around her legs, another hand feeling along the grass and grabbing hold of a large, weaving root lest the tentacle pull her further away from the ground. She could tell she was doing very little damage to it but was able to free herself as its grip loosened with each swing.

She jumped to her feet, sheathing her sword after the first few tries, and spotted Olivia and Ellegaard not far ahead, Jesse bound through the throng of people after the two figures.

They crossed the carved sandstone bridge, Jesse slamming to a stop as the pieces connected the bridge to the portal was broken away by a violet beam, leaving her alone on the other side.

"Jesse!" Olivia cried.

Without much thought, she leaped off the side of the bridge, pushing her body off the edge with her legs and reaching for the other side. She barely caught it, slipping to one hand as she yelled, looking at the dark water below. The two others grabbed hold of her hand, yanking her up with their combined strength. She took one last look at the Wither Storm that seemed to stare down at her from its place high in the sky before she leaped through the swirling purple haze of the portal.

Jesse felt herself land in freezing water that reached up to her ankles, filling her boots. A shiver ran up her from her toes to her shoulders as she looked around, spotting Olivia and Ellegaard trudging their way to the shore.

Cutting through the jungle and managing to mostly avoid any mobs, they made their way to the temple as the sun rose behind them.

"Okay." Jesse exhaled tiredly, "Just a little bit further."

"Now I remember why I hate that portal so much," Ellegaard said, pushing away hair from her face.

Reaching the clearing, they came to a stop as they stood before the temple that lay no more than twenty feet ahead. It had been overhauled with a massive amount of mossy cobblestone and bricks, looking almost completely different without its gaping entrance. Ellegaard came up behind her, taking it in with a judgemental eye.

"Well, that's certainly an impressive amount of renovation. Wow."

Jesse didn't comment, too tired to, and just continued to trek onwards. They continued on their exhausted feet through the tall grass. As they approached, none of them heard the wheezing hiss of an impending Creeper that had inched out from the shadows of the jungle.

Jesse had barely even caught a glimpse of it skulking through the tall grass before it was felled by a well placed arrow that shot itself cleanly through its head, the crusty green creature curling in on itself and bursting into vapor.

"Who goes there!" She heard a voice call down. Jesse looked around before spotting Lukas shielding his eyes from the rising sun.

"Oh, Jesse? Is that you?" His face lit up in a smile.

"Lukas, did you build all of this?" She asked, looking over the fresh additions to the temple.

"Well, yeah! I-I figured I would try and fortify the place, y'know?" He yelled down.

"Nice!" She laughed.

"I'm so glad you're back!"

"And we brought Ellegaard!" Olivia chimed in.

"Fantastic! I'll let you guys in!"

They neared the low door that had been cobbled together with old planks of wood, Lukas unbolting it for them. Reuben flew out the second it was open.

"Reuben!" Jesse cried as she knelt down, squishing the pig's cheeks together. "I missed you too, buddy!"

"Quick! Come on! You guys are never going to believe who showed up while you were gone." Lukas ushered them through.

Jesse stood from her crouched position, walking through the temple's threshold as her eyes adjusted to the low light, Reuben following behind her happily. The sparsely lit room came into focus as she saw Petra leaning against the nearest wall, smiling a little as she pushed off it.

"Petra!" She yelled, running up and throwing her arms around the other girl as Reuben ran around the two excitedly. Petra caught her, embracing her right back as she chuckled.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

Jesse let go of her so Olivia could take her place, giving her a much calmer hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Petra." She said squeezing her shoulders before releasing her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty stoked about it myself." She said mildly, turning to Jesse, "I'm glad you guys are okay, too. Back there in Gabriel's bunker, it got pretty dicey."

"I don't understand, how did you escape?" Jesse asked, looking the redhead over for any obvious injuries and finding nothing but scabbed over superficial scrapes.

"You pulled me out of that Wither storm's clutches and I ran, and ran, and ran for the temple," She let out a breath, "If you hadn't saved me… well, I owe you everything, Jesse. I'm just glad I heard Gabriel telling you where to go—I'm so glad to see you."

"Did Gabriel get away too? Did you see? Is there anything left of Beacontown? Did anyone else get away?" Jesse fired off every question that made its way to the tip of her tongue, uncaring if she came off as desperate.

"Woah, slow down." Petra gave her a sound pat on the shoulder, "It's all a blur, but the Wither storm left almost nothing behind. Everything… everyone… was just gone."

The redhead turned, walking down the hall as the rest of the group followed behind.

"It even got Gabriel." She finally said.

"I wouldn't believe that anything could defeat Gabriel if I hadn't seen it for myself," Ellegaard said quietly, "This is terrible."

They followed Petra to the top floor, the sun casting long shadows across the room. Much of the glass that had been littering the floor had been cleared away, leaving clean stone in its wake.

"Boy. Can't remember the last time I saw this place." Ellegaard placed her hands on her hips, looking around pensively. Her arms dropped however when her eyes landed on something. "Would someone care to explain what he is doing here?"

Jesse followed her line of sight, seeing Axel chatting it up with a shorter balding man. He wore a green jumpsuit intersected by a thick leather belt. Brown gloves covered his hands, and four gold buttons fastened the front of his one-piece suit closed.

Petra glanced between the two, "Call this a hunch, but do… you two not like each other?"

Jesse looked to Lukas for an explanation, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, I forgot to mention. Axel went on a little…" He paused as if looking for the right word to use, "...adventure of his own while you were gone."

"And adventure? To get him?" Ellegaard scoffed. She looked at Jesse accusingly, "Did you know about this?"

"Is this… a problem?" Jesse asked slowly.

"You bet it is! I will not work with him." She crossed her arms, "Not after—Mm, well, let's not talk about it."

"Look, just wait here a second while I figure out what's going on." Jesse held her hands out in a placating manner.

"Much appreciated." She replied tartly.

Jesse disbanded from the little group and headed towards Axel. The man he was talking to glancing at her she approached, looking down at her from his wide nose and black eye mask.

"So, who are you then? And why'd you bring the queen of the nerds with you?" He spat out the word nerds.

Jesse simply looked to Axel with a raised eyebrow.

"That's Jesse, my best friend." He explained, smiling at her, "Trust me, Jesse's totally cool."

The man crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll be the judge of that. At least she can't be any less uncool than Ellie is."

"Hey, Ellegaard is cool and she's going to help stop the Wither storm," Jesse said a little defensively.

"Ellie?" He snorted, "Cool?"

He let out a bark of laughter, slapping at his knee hard. It wasn't until he realized that Jesse was only standing there, silently looking at him that he straightened up.

"Oh, wait-wait, you're serious?" He asked, "Oh wow, that's uh, that's uh… hoo, boy."

"I got tired of waiting around so I decided to go recruit Magnus myself." Axel cut in, "It was kinda a crazy adventure, but it all worked out in the end. And now, I'm the king of Boom Town!"

Magnus groaned, looking to the side like it embarrassed him.

"We've been bonding and stuff," Axel smiled. "I've had, like, the best day."

"Aw, way to go, Axel!" Jesse gave his thick arm a pat.

"Yeah, well it wasn't easy. I had to beat him in a crazy tournament, and—"

Magnus stepped in front of him, "Long story, you had to be there. Short version? Epic battle of explosions and mayhem, death-defying action shenanigans and pyrotechnics. Your friend here is kinda supreme ruler of my kingdom now, you know how it is."

Jesse felt a presence behind her, looking up to see Ellegaard standing next to her rigidly.

"Well, this is unexpected." The woman said with pursed lips.

Magnus shifted his weight to one leg, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a pointed look. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but I'm definitely sure that I don't like it."

"Yeah, show him some respect!" Axel said, jumping to his defense and moving so he stood side-by-side with Magnus.

"Oh! You're sticking up for Mangus. That's very… sweet." Ellegaard grimaced at him.

"Yeah, he's sticking up for me. It's because I'm really awesome and super cool."

She rolled her eyes, "I'll never understand your fans."

"Axel, not your fight, stay out of it." Jesse admonished lightly.

"But—"

"Your friend has a point. I can fight my own battles." Magnus said as he walked away in the same direction as Ellegaard, the two deliberately not looking at each other as Axel sulked off to Olivia.

"Hold on, where are you going? Can we please focus on the bigger picture?" Jesse called after the two adults, "We have a very hungry Wither storm in the process of turning the whole world into its dinner!"

"It was terrifying. It came out of nowhere and just destroyed… everything." Ellegaard said quietly.

"Little too scary for you, Ellie? Couldn't just think it away?" Magnus snickered sardonically.

Ellegaard glared after him, "You weren't there Magus, I'm telling you, this thing is like nothing I've ever seen."

"Why? Because It's never come inside one of your little workshops?" He jutted his bottom lip out, his voice taking on a faux saccharine tint to it.

"Would you two stop fighting!" Jesse yelled, stepping between the two and shoving them away.

"Jesse's right." Petra said from beside Lukas, "We need to find some way to stop that thing."

"Well, I don't know if you've had a chance to poke around this old dump yet, but it's preeetty much stripped bare." Magnus glanced at her. "It would likely take a mounting of TNT to kill that thing if it's as bad as you say."

"I hate to say it, but you have a point." Ellegaard rubbed her forehead.

"This is amazing," Axel whispered to Olivia, the two of them sitting on a step together and intently watching their idols.

"I know," Olivia whispered back.

Jesse looked between the two older adults, an air of sternness surrounding her, "So what are we going to do? How are we going to stop it?"

"Well let's not panic, first of all. That's a good first step." Ellegaard said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "But against such an unthinkable enemy? Even all the TNT in the world might not be enough. If only Soren were here, he might have something we could use."

"Oh, Ellie. Not this again." Magnus groaned, "You know I hate it when you brag about you and Soren's little brainy club."

"I'm not bragging, I think I could have a legitimate idea here!"

"What are you talking about?" Jesse queried.

"Soren had a kind of super TNT. Stronger and more explosive than anything else in the world." Ellegaard explained, "The formidi-bomb."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard all about the F-bomb before." Magnus waved her off.

"F-bomb?" Axel asked from his place on the stairs.

Jesse looked up towards Ellegaard, an inquisitive tone in her voice, "Do you know where it is? Can we get some?"

"Well, there's a little problem there," Ellegaard looked down at her. "We don't know where Soren is. But our map could find him. Unless he's in the Nether. Or the End. But, it's worth a shot."

"He wasn't on the map when we looked," Jesse remarked as she walked up the pedestal, unlooping the amulet from around her neck and setting it in its place. She made her way around to the levers and pulled the furthermost one, turning the tracking device on.

The green and red lights shone brightly against the rising sun, dotting the same spot on the map.

"All right, there's my light and there's your light," Magnus said, "But no others."

As soon as he spoke, the quartz on the amulet flickered, shining a small spot just north of where they lay.

"There he is!" Ellegaard pointed out, "Soren had his fortress deep inside the mountains. After the Order broke up, that must be where he went to keep doing his experiments."

Magnus scrunched up his nose, "Look, he invited me there a couple times, but it always seemed a little—"

"Weird, right?" Finished Ellegaard, "It always seemed a little weird."

"Glad we can agree on that, at any rate."

The amulet's lights blinked before the lapis lit up, presenting itself as a deep blue fleck on the map.

Lukas approached the geographic chart, "Woah,"

"It didn't do that before," Olivia stood, Axel following behind her with Reuben in his arms

"Don't tell me…" Jesse started.

"Oh, that's just Ivor," Magnus waved off.

Jesse squinted, she could just barely make out the dot crawling across the map at a sluggish pace.

"Ivor is going to Soren's," Jesse observed, looking to Ellagaard. "We need to move."

"Why?" Magnus questioned. "Ivor's a creep but he's not dangerous."

"Oh, I would say he's dangerous all right, he's the one who created the Wither storm in the first place!" She explained, voice rising a little.

"Ivor?" Elegaard asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Ivor. We were there when it happened and everything," Jesse went on.

"If that's true, then we'd better get going," Magnus said, looking between Ellegaard and Jesse.

She was about to reply when she heard Axel audibly yawn. Glancing across the room, she looked over the exhausted state of her friends with a pang of guilt.

"We should regroup first. Everyone take a breather, we'll head out in a bit." Jesse finally said, Ellegaard nodding in agreement with her after a short pause.

"Well, we're already near the mountains, so resting should be fine I guess." Magnus pulled his mask up to his forehead and rubbed his eyes tiredly, as if it had been him who had stayed up all night and not them.

Jesse went to sit with Olivia and Axel, who had gone back to their places on the steps, sinking down on the stairs and sighing drowsily. Reuben wiggled out of Axel's hold, curling up against her and letting out a face splitting yawn. Olvia let out a doleful sigh, looking in the direction of Ellegaard with her fist leaning against her cheek, elbow on her knee.

"You okay?" Jesse asked, gently poking her cheek.

"I'm all right, I guess." She moved to cross her arms, leaning back and propping one foot over the other, "I can't shake how badly I embarrassed myself back in Redstonia in front of Ellegaard of all people. I think she kinda judges me a little bit."

"It'll be okay," Jesse assured, reaching over Axel to pat her leg.

"I hope you're right."

"What about you Axel? You doing all right?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I've been hanging out with Magnus; I am doing awesome." He smiled down at her.

"Glad to hear it, buddy," She pat his leg.

"At least one of us didn't totally screw up in front of their idol," Olivia muttered.

"Oh don't be that way, 'Liv. I'm sure whatever you did was no less embarrassing than what you do every day." Axel teased.

Olivia tried to hide the quirk of her lips with a, "Shut up..."

Jesse languidly looked around the room, eyes stopping on the map before glancing down at Petra who sat against the stone. The redhead was holding her arm rigidly, looking down at her outstretched feet. She looked clammy and pale, paler than her usual skin tone, and her freckles stood out starkly against her pallid skin.

"I think I'm gonna check on Petra," Jesse said, standing up and stretching a bit, causing Reuben to whine in annoyance when he was inadvertently moved by her shifting positions.

"That's probably a good idea. She hasn't been looking too well." Axel followed her gaze to the taller girl.

"Yeah…" Olivia agreed, looking towards her with worry.

Jesse made her way over, bypassing Magnus and Ellegaard who had begun to bicker and coming to a stop in front of the other girl.

"Hi," She stated simply, smiling, "How're you feeling, Petra?"

"Fine." She responded quietly in a terse voice.

Jesse hesitated, lowering her voice, and lowering herself to her knees so they were eye level, crossing her arms over her legs, "Are you okay?"

"We can talk about it later, let's just drop this." She shut her down, looking away.

"Sure?" Jesse asked, but going ignored.

She sighed a little, catching Lukas watching them. He blanched, looking away quickly. Jesse grinned a little, standing from her crouched position to stride over to him. He peeked over his shoulder, turning fully when he saw that she was headed for him.

"Hey, Lukas. How're you holding up?"

"You know? I-I'm all right." He replied frankly, "This has all been pretty intense, but I'm all right. I do feel like if I think too much about what's been going on… well, I'll just think I'm nuts."

"Yeah. Hey, um," She stepped closer dropping her voice to a discreet whisper, "How does Petra seem to you?"

He glanced around her to peek at the other girl, eyes flickering back to Jesse before the ginger caught him, "Not great, I guess. But she has been through a lot."

"Yeah." She nodded.

"But you saved her, I mean, you did a really amazing thing, Jesse." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling down at her a little.

"Thank you, but I think Petra saved herself more than anything," Jesse kicked the toe of her boot against the ground behind her idly.

"You're right, she kinda did," He stilled his hand in its place on his neck's back, "But still."

"Still what?"

"Still—nothing. Nothing, forget about it."

"If you're sure." She said skeptically.

"I'm sure I'm sure."

"Sure."

Jesse shuffled back to Olivia and Axel, curling up as much as her body would allow on the uncomfortable stone steps. She discarded her jacket to drape over her sideways like a blanket, hunkering down for a much needed nap as she cushioned her head with her arms.

The lazy, icy wind pushed against the dangling vines, washing over her exposed face. Above the yellow wispy trail of clouds, the late autumn sunrise brought a welcoming warmth that coated her like caramel over a harvest apple. Her mind was quickly and thoughtlessly dragging her into the oblivion of sleep right then and there. As her consciousness ebbed, she could faintly hear Ellagaard still arguing with Magnus, the former somehow having enough energy despite staying up all night with her and Olivia.

Falling asleep was her only current release from the worries of the world. In her dreams, she could escape, find relief. And when she would wake up, there were a few seconds where she was oblivious to her concerns.

She would enjoy that brief respite of time before her troubles burst to the forefront of her mind.


If you actually read this chapter, im so sorry it was so bad jfhjkhj

review please? i need the encouragement to rewrite/heavily edit all these chapters