Midnight: Showing up just in time for the end of the year, huh?

May as well, considering I may or may not be posting another chapter today.

Midnight: Wait, what?

You'll know if it happens and it'll make sense (hopefully).

Episode 8: A Journey's End?

"Wow. That is… that's a lot of stairs." In all honesty, I wanted to get Lukas' journal back later on so I could see what he wrote down here. I mean really, all we could see were the stairs.

"And all revealed by the Redstone Heart… amazing."

"Yeah not bad, right?" Harper saw that both Ivors were impressed with the engineering, I saw the massive unresolved crush both of them were harboring. Remembering my antics from the last episode though, I decided not to point it out.

For now, at least.

Zenna's Jesse grabbed the Redstone Heart again, not knowing just how much of a mistake that would be. Even with the redstone deactivated, the hole in the wall didn't close.

"After you." Harper was already starting to be suspicious.

"Okay guys. Not sure what's up there…" Oh, you know, just a few Hunger Games and Undertale references, no big deal. "But whatever it is we all need to stick together, got it?"

"Yeah. We've got your back Jesse." Keep in mind that we still hadn't even started climbing the absolute monstrosity that was the very long staircase ahead of us, because we really have issues with talking while doing stuff.

We did start our trek afterwards though.

The groups and Harper talked about more stuff while I started to zone out a little. There were a lot of things that had the potential to change here, though given everything so far, I wasn't sure if anything would.

"I'm probably the, uh, nicest Old Builder." Compared to Hadrian and Mevia, yeah, but Otto would love to have a word with you, Harper.

"Are you joking? You think you're 'nice?'"

What is Jesse's problem? He's been oddly rude the last couple of episodes.

So have you.

I've been joking, okay?

"Yeah I don't know if you remember the whole PAMA thing but…"

"Hey. I had good intentions with that, alright? Don't make me regret helping you." It went both ways, though. Harper wasn't exactly giving us many reasons to trust her, especially not with the stunt she was about to pull.

After Harper told us that the others may not be willing to give up the Atlas (they most certainly weren't), Zenna's Jesse had some… very poor choice of words.

"I'm sure we can figure something out. Make a deal with them, right?"

Zenna and I shared a secret glance, both of us knowing exactly how much a certain Old Builder loved making and breaking deals.

"Oh yeah. They love making deals." And yet she would later tell us that making a deal with them was not part of whatever plan she wasn't telling us.

After just a little more talking and Harper eavesdropping on a conversation between Lukas and Jesse, we finally reached the top of the stairs.

And we were met with a regular looking set of doors.

Harper continued to become less and less trustworthy until the Jesses finally opened the doors, promptly blinding most of us because of the light shining behind them.

"Before you go in there, I have one more piece of advice." Said advice wouldn't help very much, though.

"Don't die."

"What-?"

She then proceeded to (somewhat harshly) shove Zenna and I, since we were at the back of the group, which caused us to knock into the others, sending us all falling into the world of dangerous games.

Of course, the impact was worse than the fall itself, though it was slightly relieved by the fact that we landed on snow.

I say only slightly in my case, mainly because I landed on my injured arm. I only just barely managed to avoid screaming.

Even when I was able to get up (Noticeably later than everyone else), I could barely keep up with what was going on.

At least, until a voice I would quickly grow to despise began to talk over a speaker.

"Well what do we have here? It seems as if some new competitors have entered the match." Both Petras drew their swords.

"It's like some sort of crazy game." Jesse was right, but that definitely shouldn't have been the first thing that came to mind. Or, if I were him it wouldn't have been.

"Really? You think this is a game?"

"No, no, no, Jesse's right!" Another question would be why Lukas is the only other one who knows what Spleef is.

"Spleef!"

"Gesundheit?"

"No, it's a game! You try to knock the floor out from other people and make them fall." Which is exactly why we should stop just standing around like lost puppies.

We did end up splitting up, mainly because a few members of a couple different teams tried charging us.

Below us was a pool of lava, only blocked off by some glass, and unseen pistons ready to activate at any moment.

And they did, when Zenna's Jesse knocked a member of the green team down there.

"Argh! That was my only decent teammate!" And thus was the start of Em's journey to get rid of us. By the way, she said this in full earshot of Nell and the other guy on her team.

She decided to take this anger out on the Petras, for whatever reason. They were also trying to deal with the other member of Em's team, being surrounded by holes in the snow.

And then there were the Ivors, trying not to get impaled by flaming arrows.

And then there was me, trying not to get blown up by the gladiators and also not really being able to help either of them anyway.

As Hadrian continued talking, the Jesses were being called by the others for help. Of course, this being a Telltale game choice, they couldn't save both.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, they went to go help their Petras. The blondies went to go help the old men.

And then Nell dug up the snow from underneath the four of them.

"Ivor!"

"Lukas!" It took me a second to realize I called his name, not Petra. As though I'd forgotten that he'd be okay, just mentally scarred.

As though I was actually afraid that I'd lose him.

He barely even got a word out, someone's name that I didn't hear.

And then the pistons activated.

Everything that happened in the next few moments went by far too quickly to me.

One second Jesse stood frozen in shock, the next he was slowly advancing toward Nell, Em yelled something at him, an explosion happened, and then…

"Stop the match!"

Hadrian's voice managed to bring me back to reality, like snapping out of a trance.

Everyone stepped off the snow as the Old Builders continued talking. I paid no attention to whatever our groups were saying to Nell, still recovering from what just happened.

I did pay attention to the other Old Builders, Hadrian in particular demanding an explanation before they even left their viewing spot.

"My friends are dead. You killed them!"

"Wait, wait, wait, and that's why you're ruining our games?" Mevia asked, as though it wasn't completely reasonable for someone who had no idea what was going on.

"Yeah, come on, geez! How petty are you?" Hadrian agreed.

Mevia scoffed. "Lashing out just because your friends were eliminated."

"Kind of 'sore loser' behavior, don't you think, sport?" Oh the irony of Hadrian asking that question.

"It is part of the games."

But then, seeing that none of us were getting the point, Otto realized we really had no idea what was going on (Or, at least, they didn't).

"Your friends aren't dead."

"Wait. What? How?!"

The three explained how respawning works, our friends appeared in the respawn zone before getting pulled away. Of course, they refused to let them go.

"Well, sport, now that you've come and interrupted our games I'm sure our fans would love to know how you got here. Spill."

"I don't believe that's any of your business." I spoke up for the first time in a while. Naturally, this just made Hadrian even more frustrated. Not that I cared that much.

"Well that's cute. Almost as cute as you'll look down in the mines, slugger." His tone had changed, in an attempt to sound more threatening. I guess that meant I was now part of the problematic group in his eyes.

"Let's not get hot-headed, Hadrian." Harper finally decided to show up again, when she could've at any other point before this. "They're with me."

Because the game seemed to be forgetting that there were ten people here and not two, Harper only said that she was here for the Jesses.

They told them exactly what we came here for, but to no one's surprise, the Old Builders weren't giving up the Atlas so easily.

To prove Hadrian wrong (Having told us we didn't have anything they wanted), Zenna's Jesse pulled out the Redstone Heart. That caught their attention. But Hadrian, being Hadrian, tried to screw us over.

"Here's the way my offer works… You give me the Heart. You and your friends go back down to those portals. I never look at your insignificant face again." He never once mentioned the Atlas.

A renegotiation involved one group of us, plus Zenna and I, competing in the games. He claimed it was to avoid confusion. If we won, the Atlas would be ours.

If we lost, we'd be sent to the mines. Forever.

"Harper, wanna be a friend and show our new competitors to where they'll be staying?"

"Sure thing."

Harper was quick to leave and find Otto once she showed us where Competitor Village was.

While the leaders were working to bail our friends out of the mines, I went over to Slab, who I noticed was holding the two journals, one in each hand.

"Are you comparing those journals?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He barely looked up. "You say somethin', tiny?"

Even though he was sitting and I was standing, the fact that he seemed to be taller than Axel left me struggling to meet his eyes. "Where'd you get those books that you're reading?"

"Fished 'em out of some respawn's inventory after they…" He didn't say any more, but what he was implying was clear. "They've got tales of adventure, feelings, and other dumb stuff."

There was barely a pause before he continued. "Hey wait a minute. You're friends with that pipsqueak that knocked me outta my tower! Yeah! And these belonged to those little blonde buddies of yours! Lemme guess. You want them back?"

"If it's not too much trouble? We could even strike up a deal if you want." I figured being nice would be the easy way out, though I knew I'd probably have to fill in the others on the deal too.

"Oh we can make a deal. If you do everything I say, when I say it, and don't make me mad again… Maybe I'll consider giving you these stupid books back."

And that was the end of that.

I saw Jesse at the dojo, not looking suspicious at all as he made a crafting table out in the open, meaning our friends were almost rescued.

Low and behold, as soon as I made my way over to where everyone else was gathered around the Nether portal, they were returned.

It was honestly a little strange seeing Lukas without his armor. Not that I cared, of course, I was just glad he was okay.

That was proven with the best attempt at a hug I could give with only one useful arm.

Oh, and there was also Ivor.

"Uh, what are you wearing…?" It was hard to tell if Zenna was embarrassed or trying to hide her laughter, possibly both.

"Right?" There was no mistaking her Lukas' voice, though. He was certainly trying not to laugh.

"Shut up! My outfit breathes wonderfully!"

Dude, it's snowing and you're pale enough as it is…

"Anyway." Lukas' demeanor changed incredibly quickly. "How's it been going out here? You, uh, you don't have our stuff by any chance, do you?"

"He's worried about his diary." It may as well have been a diary, considering there were apparently 'feelings' in there.

"Working on it. Might take a bit, though." I shrugged, or, well, tried to.

We got them caught up on our situation, Harper and Otto came over to talk for a bit, and then we were finally able to go to the dorms and rest.

"I wonder what the next event will be…" Petra pondered as we made our way over.

"Hopefully nothing too deadly." The serious mood was immediately broken when Lukas started laughing. And since laughter truly is contagious, it spread to Jesse and I as well, though one of us (Jesse) was far better at hiding it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't take you seriously looking like that."

"It breathes! Wonderfully!"

Okay, so the next chapter I post will be 100% filler.

Midnight: Rare sight from you, but- wait, filler?

Yeah, a break between the games. You'll definitely need it, considering what happens next.

Midnight: What do you mean by that?

You'll just have to wait and see. Anyways, I'll see if I can have that chapter posted and written today, but for now, I'll see you all next time!

-LegendEmpress