Episode 1, Chapter 10: Repeating History

They didn't have time to put their helmets back on before the water steamrolled them, sending the four of them careening out into the ocean - Sammy lost her grip on Jess, flailing as she swam to try and retrieve them.

The currents were too strong however, propelling all of them towards the surface; Jess included - thankfully. They floated between Petra and Sammy, each grabbing one of their arms and swimming upwards - gasping as their heads broke the surface. Jack popped up a second later, all of them swimming towards a small island not far from where they'd surfaced.

Jess lay on the sand, Petra and Sammy doing what they could to wake them back up - slowly, Jess' eyes fluttered open and they shook their head. A sigh of relief left Petra as Jess sat up, looking around slowly.

"We made it out…" they mumbled. Petra nodded, sitting next to Jess while they got their bearings.

"We're gonna have to get back to Beacontown soon…" Jack mumbled. "I have a bad feeling."

"Huh?" Jess and Petra looked up at him, and he started pacing.

"I just… I have a sixth sense for bad things, and it's going crazy. We have to get back."

The three of them looked at each other before slowly helping Jess to their feet, nodding at Jack.

The sun was rising as they finally saw Beacontown's gate on the horizon, the mighty door opening as the three finally returned to town. The town was bustling, distant chattering heard as Jess grinned, waving.

"Happy Founding Day, everybody!" They yelled, echoing out… to no response. They shrugged, laughing as two of the townsfolk walked up to the group; a girl wearing a striped shirt and a guy in an orange hoodie.

"Welcome back!" The guy chirped.

"We were worried you'd miss it!" The girl put a hand behind her hair with a grin, the two of them being pushed to the side by Radar darting to the front.

"You're back! Thank goodness…" He sighed in relief. "It's been a lot of work, but…"

"You're doing great, Radar." Jess smiled. "I'm sorry I forgot to make sure you were okay with it before I left, though…"

"Hahaha, it's no worry! I… honestly I didn't know if I could do it, but your friends helped me get my bearings before heading back to their people." Radar grinned, putting his hands behind his head. "Did you and Petra figure out what you needed to? Any luck figuring things out about that whole 'borrowing' thing?"

"Ah… no." Jess looked away, rolling their eyes.

"Not where we thought, anyway. We ended up searching the Sea Temple to see if we could find a clue and… well, we were partially right." Petra said with a shrug.

"We found her." Jess pointed at Sammy. "She knows a lot about the Gauntlet, apparently, and Jack might too."

"Sammy knows more." Jack said flatly.

"C'mon, we should head back to the order hall so we can figure out what to do next…" Petra looked at the others, who nodded as Radar stepped out of the way; them walking through town.

They entered the Order Hall, Sammy pulling a book from her backpack as the four of them sat beneath the giant window at the back of the hall.

"These are my notes, from when Jack had it." She said, opening the notebook. "We'd found it in Quis'xen, in the Mecharachnarch's chest cavity - he grabbed it after I knocked the thing over. Next thing we'd known, he was starting to act strange; almost… upset that 'it wasn't time yet.' Then, after a couple days… he was fine, albeit blind in that one eye. Vos called it a sickness, but… I knew better. Jack did too, I think." She put a hand on her chin. "We knew the legends; how an all-powerful being built the world, how the Dragon chooses the new gods, and what happens if that balance is upset… but we also knew the Dragon wouldn't leave a gift like that - she would leave something that would be important to future generations."

"The point…?" Jack said slowly. Sammy shook her head, sighing.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. This Admin business is fascinating, okay? The point is, he got rid of the gauntlet by angering the Admin enough to get the powers it gave him taken away. He didn't want to borrow Jack anymore, so the Gauntlet faded away. It didn't even pop off of his hand… from my perspective, it just disappeared as Jack was swimming away."

Jack nodded, seemingly confirming the story. "And I spent the rest of my time wishing I could've done more."

"So we just need to make this 'Admin' guy angry somehow?" Jess tilted their head. "That seems… incredibly dangerous."

"Well, that's the way it is." Sammy shrugged. "None- one of us has ever met him face-to-face, so we can't really go 'pretty please Mr. Admin, can you take this off of me?' because we don't know if he would or not."

"Yeah, doubt it." Jack mumbled, looking away. "Barely got out of there alive… especially 'cause I did see him face-to-face…" He shivered.

"It's okay, Jack… we're all here now." Petra said, trying to sound reassuring. "We've got you."

"But not Nurm or Vos." he mumbled. "What am I going to do now…?" his body quaked, fingers tightening around his upper arms as tears welled up in his eyes. "I… what did I do…?"

"You didn't do anything." Sammy stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't."

"Of course I couldn't! I can't do anything! I can't… I can barely pick up a sword."

"I can personally disagree with that." She knelt down, gently wrapping her arms around him. "I've seen you fight so many things - and win - I've seen how strong you are. Even… even they were impressed, every time."

"But that was… so long ago. I'm just a… a washed-up fraud now."

"Would a 'fraud' have taken us down to the Sea Temple in the hope we might've found something?" Petra looked at him. "We lost Nurm, sure, but… we found Sammy, and we got that block, and we made it back in one piece." She stood up. "You're still pretty strong, Jack - and I'm thankful you kept traveling with us after everything went wrong."

"I… I…" he shook his head, hands reaching up and gripping at his hair. "No. I can't believe any of that. Obviously I'm doing something wrong if… if the Admin found it fit to take everyone away from me."

"You're not, though. The Admin's just a dick." Sammy mumbled softly. Jack sighed, staring at the mountains behind the glass. "They'll be remembered."

Jack pulled Nurm's hat from his pocket, holding it as tears streamed down his face. "...Remembered… yeah. Hah… all the times i've stolen this thing from him… suppose it's only fitting now." He slipped the hat on, a faint smile passing through him. "...small comforts."

"Small comforts are still comforts, Jackie. C'mon." Sammy smiled sweetly as Petra held out her hand to help Jack back to his feet.

Their conversation was interrupted by a series of loud thumps outside, followed by screaming. The four looked at each other, before the door burst open - revealing a spindly man with greasy black hair.

"Jess, you're not gonna believe this!" He gasped, putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "I- We just got back - but, we just… I… A giant… The…" He took a deep breath, coughing.

"Ivor, slow down. Simple words?"

"I… the… it's impossible, but… but I heard it in the distance! We heard roaring!"

(Sarcastically) Dedicated to Aiden Evergreen. Hope that asshole is literate enough to read.

Lukas set the quill down, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he felt the cabin rustle - hearing loud thumping and an even louder roar. He stepped outside, gasping as his eyes widened.

A dragon. Obsidian scales, with white markings along its wings. The two locked eyes, the dragon's bright fuschia eyes imprinting themselves on Lukas' mind as it flew away. He shook his head, whistling as a chestnut horse barreled out from behind the cabin, himself hopping onto its back as it galloped behind the dragon.