More and more Endermen were teleporting into sight around the group as they gaped at where the bridge had been moments before, Gabriel's horse dancing aside a few steps and the other horses shying away. Jesse looked around when suddenly a pair of black legs appeared right in front of her. Slowly, her eyes raised so that she was staring at the Enderman in the face.
"Oh crap!" Dan squealed in fear. Olivia had hidden her face again.
A tractor beam fell on the one Jesse was having the staring contest with, and its head snapped upward to look at the Witherstorm, screeching angrily before it vanished. Jesse looked up, mouth falling open slightly in astonishment as the Enderman appeared on the Witherstorm, ripping off one of the tentacles and making it roar in pain.
"The Endermen!" Soren exclaimed, looking just as astonished. "They're slowing it down!"
Olivia looked at one of the nearby Endermen, and let out a little series of noises that was akin to the sounds that Endermen made. It looked over at Olivia, nodded, and then screeched as it teleported out of sight, reappearing on the Witherstorm and beginning to rip blocks off of it.
"What'd you just say to it?" Axel asked her, curiously.
Olivia shot him a glance, a faint smile coming over her face. "'Thank you'," she told him.
"What for?"
She rolled her eyes, the smile widening a bit. "No, no, that's what I told the Endermen."
"Oh."
This prompted a round of giggling from the audience.
Onscreen, Petra was gaping upwards at the chaotic flurry of tentacles and debris up in the sky. "Are we seeing Endermen attacking a Witherstorm?" she asked slowly, looking stunned.
"Endermen move blocks," Soren said slowly, staring at the Witherstorms as they thrashed around and roared in agony. "It's what they do."
Jesse shook her head a bit, quickly shaking herself out of the stunned reverie she'd fallen into. "What are we just waiting here for?" she mumbled. She darted forward and shot string from her hands. Quickly flinging herself to the other side of the chasm, her arms began to weave together rapidly. The screen sped up as Jesse weaved, even flipping upside down and adding some layers to the whole thing, before flipping onto the other side as the others turned around. Taking the single string she'd been lacing the whole thing up with, she gave it a single, good hard yank.
The whole bridge's loose cobwebs jerked together into a much more solid, flat surface.
"That was awesome!" Nell cheered.
Olivia tentatively tapped the bridge with her foot. "Will it hold everyone?" she called out to Jesse.
Jesse looked down at it, scrutinizing her handiwork. "It should serve our purposes. But just in case, run across as fast as you can."
Gabriel firmly flicked the reins of his horse, nearly falling off as it galloped over the bridge, which bounced and wobbled but held. Galvanized by this, the rest of the Order galloped past as well. Axel bolted over, Reuben still riding him, Lukas tore over the bridge, and Olivia teleported after them. The moment Lukas was clear, Jesse flung herself back down to all eights and bolted after them.
Behind them, the Witherstorm let out a frustrated roar as the Endermen kept trying to rip it apart, the whole group fleeing out of reach of the storm, before the screen went black.
Jace threw his arms into the air. "We're all alive!" he cheered loudly. The living room came to life with excited cheering, before the screen started fading back in to show a small cave up in the mountains, and the whole group making their way inside. Snow was starting to dust itself down from the sky.
"We made it," and Jesse let out an incredulous laugh, her eyes widening. "We... we actually freaking made it."
"Jesse... I'm worried about Gabriel," Petra said, walking over to Jesse. The spider hybrid turned to face her, eyes widening as she took Petra in. The Blaze hybrid's hair looked limp and dead, and her skin was a pale shade of gray.
Petra let out a sad sigh and leaned into Jace. Jace looked at her before tightening his arms around her in a hug. Instead of pulling a Petra like usual and rolling her eyes and making a sarcastic comment, she just let her head lean into the corner of his neck, staring at the screen.
"If he was inside the Witherstorm... he might have Wither Sickness, like me."
Sparklez sighed. "This just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?"
Jesse looked over at the warrior, before slowly beginning to trot towards him. "I dunno... you've ever acted the way he's been acting. And vice versa." She slowed to a stop in front of Gabriel, concern showing in her eyes as she gave him a slow, but encouraging little smile. "Hey... you alright?"
Gabriel just looked at her with this puzzled expression. "I'm... afraid I don't feel much like myself at the moment," he replied, staring at her with that bemused look.
Jesse's gaze softened, and her lips pressed together into a line. "I'm sure you don't."
Before anyone could say anything else, a voice cut through the air. "Gabriel! It really is you!"
The two of them turned in perfect unison to see Soren, Magnus and Ellegaard walking toward them. Well, more like hobbling for Ellegaard... and she was leaning heavily on Magnus, too. Ellegaard had taken off the suit jacket, which Magnus had wrapped tightly around her side, to show that the white shirt underneath was also drenched with blood. Jesse winced upon seeing that and waved Olivia over. Weaving together a rather large, but thin layer of cloth, she handed the silk over to Olivia. "Can you take Ellegaard into a corner or something and... wrap up her side?"
Olivia nodded, taking the makeshift bandage and reaching out, carefully letting Ellegaard lean her weight against Olivia. "Hey, hey, easy, Ellegaard... over here." And the two of them slowly made their way to the far corner of the cave, Axel, Lukas and Petra sitting in another corner and talking quietly.
Ellegaard let out a sad sigh and shook her head. "I hope I make it," she murmured.
Magnus was staring at the screen, but after a moment he replied, in a voice so quiet that the audience almost didn't catch it. "I hope so too."
Magnus and Soren were grinning at Gabriel in relief when Jesse came back over. "They told us you'd kicked it!" Magnus exclaimed, the grin on his face pretty obvious.
Gabriel took a step back, looking a bit frightened. "I... what... who are you people?"
"It's me, Magnus!" Magnus's grin faded when Gabriel continued staring at him in bewilderment. Gabriel stared at him for a long moment, before shaking his head in confusion and taking another step back, eyes flicking between them in fear.
Ellegaard came back over, Olivia quickly handing her off to Magnus with a worried smile before going back over to Petra to check up on her. Ellegaard's shaky smile faded when Gabriel looked between the three Order members again, still looking totally confused. "Don't... don't you recognize us?" she asked, voice filled with pain- although whether it was from her side, or Gabriel not recognizing her, no one could tell.
"It's Soren," Soren spoke softly, eyes flicking over Gabriel, who was standing a pretty good distance away, looking wary. "We've..." He paused, looking as if he wanted to say something, before finishing, so quietly that most of the audience nearly didn't catch it, "We've known each other for a very long time."
Gabriel shook his head again, before his eyes went over Soren's shoulder to see Jesse. He gently pushed past Soren to come to a stop next to Jesse, eyes wide. "You. You're the one who rescued me."
Jesse blinked at him. "Y-yeah..."
"Please, tell me- what's going on?"
Jesse paused, seeming unsure of how to put things. Gabriel continued, putting a hand to his forehead, "I- there was only... darkness. And then... I saw you. I think I... saved you. And then- and then we were... galloping?" He trailed off, one hand at his mouth as he kept trying to think. The other Order members came up behind Jesse, flanking her, staring at Gabriel with sad eyes.
"... you were in the Witherstorm for..." Jesse paused as she thought about it, before her eyes widened a bit in surprise. "... a few days. Trapped."
"A few- a few days?" Otto shook his head, making everyone look at him. "It feels almost as if it's been years."
"That was long enough to do this to me?" Gabriel asked, staring at her puzzledly with his discolored eyes.
Jesse gulped, looking as though she were forcing air down into her lungs. "Yes."
Ellegaard shook her head quietly and sadly.
Onscreen, Gabriel looked at the floor. "... it felt like an eternity. It was dark, it was foul, and I thought I was going to die," he said with some conviction.
"Well, you're not," Soren said firmly, reaching out and taking ahold of Gabriel's shoulders firmly, making the warrior look up at him in surprise. "You're going to be alright now."
Gabriel blinked at him, before Soren let out a soft sighing sound and pulled the warrior forward into a hug. Slowly, Ellegaard and Magnus moved to join the hug, the whole group slowly sinking to the floor in a pile.
Ellegaard turned away from the screen to bury her head in Magnus's shoulder. He pulled her into a hug, Gabriel leaning against the Rogue as well and shutting his eyes as Soren put his arm around Gabriel and squeezed gently.
Jesse watched them sadly. "I think they need a bit of time," she said, taking a step. "We all need a little time. Even us hybrids." She suddenly blinked, a vacant look coming over her face. "... hybrids."
"Is something wrong? What do you think, Mevia?" Hadrian asked the cyan-haired woman.
She shook her head, eyes fixed on the screen. "I have no idea, Hadrian."
Slowly, as if in a daze, Jesse made her way over to her friends.
A/N: Ah. I'm surprisingly excited to write the next two chapters. :3
RQTC: WHEN THE HECK DID I REACH 13000 VIEWS GUYS LIKE HOLY HECK
LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / Yep, pretty much.
Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I don't know what I'd do without this story either. Like lol xD
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Glad to hear it!
sailor. mikuchan: (grins)
NinaNaranja: I'm glad to hear that!
LittleAngelbun: Yep. Surprises. xD
AquaK13: If you've read the original Hybrid... you've seen a glimpse of exactly how much Cassie swears. xD
RavenBlaze4850: I ain't spoiling anything xD
Darkbeast Dend: Glad to hear you liked Hybrid so much xD
RapidSammi: (cracks up) / I'm glad to hear that!
LegoGirl794: Nice :3
Guest: I think I've addressed this, I'm going on a temporary hiatus. I don't know when I'm going to be back.
Rabbits rule: Screw you, Fluffy, I like Jess. Jess! Come back! (runs after you) / And as for the suggestion... (coughs) No spoilers...
The indecisive bird: The two books don't have anything to actually do with the mystery. It's just the titles. / (laughs) Go for it, dude.
Person: Meow. xD
DynamiteHunter6: (laughs) Glad to hear you liked it, dude.
ChloSky: Lol yep xD
x.X. A.L. X.x
