The screen switched to show the two of them cautiously creeping through the secret passageways. Petra glanced around, a frown coming over her face as a thought occurred to her. "You think we're gonna find the White Pumpkin down here?" she wondered, in a low voice. "I mean, with all these secret passageways..."
"Ooooh," and Cassie frowned at the thought of that. "Yeah, that's a good point."
Jesse glanced back at Petra, still slowly moving along the hallway as Petra turned around to make sure no one was following them (which is smart, 'cause you know- secret passageways). "Well, I hope we do... but at the same time, I hope we don't," she said slowly. Slowly, a harder edge crept into Jesse's voice when she next spoke. "But this time, if we DO find him, I will say that he's not going to just walk away with a scar on his mask."
"Ooooh, White Pumpkin, you're in trouble," Maya teased, a grin spreading over her face at the odd sight of Jesse being threatening.
Cassie casually shifted a bit, although inside her heart was thumping away like a jackhammer.
"Jesse," Sparklez said, playfully adopting a 'teacher' tone of voice, "violence is not the answer."
Dan let out a relieved sigh; it was highly unusual for Sparklez to stay this quiet for this long- he'd been wondering if there was something beyond Sparklez dying that was bothering him.
The petite girl just gave a light shrug, smiling right back at him. "Well I'm not going to sit down with the White Pumpkin and have a cup of tea with 'em, am I?"
Stampy chortled suddenly, out of the blue. "Haha, I wouldn't actually put it past you to do that."
"Brutal," Petra said slowly, giving Jesse a wolfish grin, golden eyes flashing in the darkness, "I like it."
"No, Petra," and Jace gently poked the redhead, giving her a small pout. "Bad."
Petra grinned, having a rather wicked idea to tease Jace. "Well, I like things bad~" she nearly purred into his ear, although she was definitely loud enough for everyone else to get it (as evidenced when several people turned to stare at Petra with a mix of mortification, embarrassment, and amusement).
Jace's face grew incredibly red, and he sat there for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out a good comeback, before abruptly twisting around from where he was ensnared in blankets, going up on his knees, leaning forward and-
Axel let out a loud whoop, quickly joined by Gill and Magnus. Aiden grinned and put his fingers to his mouth, giving a sharp whistle at the sight of Jace now full-out kissing Petra on the mouth.
Jesse and Lukas did little golf claps with grins all over their faces, and Reuben let out a cheerful squeal, grinning a very special piggy grin at Jace. Olivia was shaking her head in amusement, while Nell was literally squealing.
Jace sat back again, perching on his heels and giving the now-bright-red Petra a victorious smirk. He didn't say anything, but that was alright in its own way.
He didn't really have to.
Petra stared for a few moments longer, before letting out a little cough. "Uh, well- yeah. Okay. I like this good." She paused, before tacking on "And you" at the end.
Jace beamed, gave her another kiss on the cheek, and flopped back down to finish watching the episode.
The two of them turned a corner a moment later, and Petra frowned as the low but distinctive sound of moaning. Jesse's brow furrowed slightly. "Hey... do you hear...?"
"Oh no, there are zombies down here?" Isa groaned, putting her head in her hands. Benedict let out a clucking sound that honestly sounded distinctly annoyed, making Reginald glance over to see Benedict making now-rather-irritated clucking noises.
Milo winced and patted her on the back sympathetically.
Onscreen, Petra cut Jesse off, frowning. "Lots and lots of zombies? Unfortunately." She gave a couple sniffs and made a soft sound in the back of her throat, reaching up and covering her nose. "Starting to smell 'em, too."
The spider hybrid winced a bit, making a face and quickly weaving together a small handkerchief before reaching up and slapping it over Petra's face, the redhead quickly catching it before it fell on the floor. "Ugh. Ditto- gross," she muttered, wrinkling her nose a bit.
The two of them kept going, beginning to draw level with a huge wall of bars, endless darkness stretching out behind them. Jesse frowned at them, slowly edging forward to have a look inside...
And then letting out a eardrum-shattering shriek as she lunged back, a rotting hand slamming violently into the bars inches from where her face had been drawing near, banging on the bars incessantly as it tried to grab Jesse.
"Oh Notch!" Soren had a hand resting on his heart from the shock, trying (unsuccessfully) to steady his breathing. "That was- oh Notch-"
Stampy had managed to leap behind Dan and was now hiding behind the green-haired boy, hoodie over his eyes in a protective way. Harper had let out a little yelp and tightened her hold on Ivor's arm anxiously. Jace had toppled over, dragging Petra with him, while Jesse had let out a frightened squeak and scooted away from the screen for safety, Lukas's arms securely around her waist.
Onscreen, Jesse straightened back up, taking a deep breath to steady herself, while Petra simply let out a tired sigh. "Well, that explains the zombie noises."
The spider hybrid's eyes narrowed, and she stepped forward again, putting her face as close to the bars as she dared while peering through. The screen switched to show a small cage with what looked like a miniature zombie spinning around and around inside of it, fire spitting off of it. "What the heck is that supposed to be?"
Her question was answered not a full second later, as suddenly another zombie shot out of the cage and exploded into existence, smoke spitting off of it as it let out a customary zombie groan. "Oh. I guess it's some sort of zombie spawner."
"Who'd want a zombie spawner?" Gabriel muttered under his breath.
Too bad Magnus heard him. "Soren, me, Ellie, blonde guy-"
"Lukas!"
"- maybe redstone girl-"
"My name's Olivia," the dark-skinned girl spoke up with a frown on her face, but Magnus just kept plowing on.
"And Axel for sure," Magnus finished, Ellegaard shaking her head at Magnus in amusement. Some of these nicknames...
"Wait-" Petra frowned onscreen, gold eyes flashing slightly as her head snapped around to look at Jesse. "Does that mean the White Pumpkin actually made the sea of zombies outside?!"
Milo frowned at that. "It's like the Eversource... but it can only spawn one mob at a time. And it appears to be automated," he murmured, sounding somewhat interested as he regarded the screen.
"I'd imagine that's more destructive than having a chicken that can lay every type of spawn egg, in a way," Reginald mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the screen.
Onscreen, Jesse frowned at the zombies, making a bit of a face at them.
(The audience all couldn't help but chuckle at that.)
"That's... what it looks like," Jesse said slowly, lowering her makeshift handkerchief to frown at the zombies.
There was a short silence for a moment.
"Can I set them all on fire?"
Real-Jesse started laughing hysterically at the mild tone of voice Petra was using to ask about it, Lukas furiously repressing giggles that were only becoming more amplified from Jesse's comment. Jace was also starting to laugh hysterically, actually having to actively stuff his knuckles into his mouth to keep from doing it too much. The rest of the audience was also kind of starting to titter here- laughter, especially Jesse's- could be extremely contagious.
Onscreen, Jesse actually choked a little bit, reaching up to keep herself from doing anything silly. "Uh- haha, I wish. I'm not sure it's a good idea, though; we could end up getting the whole secret passage area flooded with smoke."
"Yeah, that, uh," Mevia coughed a bit, deadpanning, "that would be bad."
Onscreen, Petra winced. "Oh. Good point." With that, the two of them kept walking through the hallway, turning past another hallway... into a room that went up a rather large distance. There was a pool of water in front of where the two of them were standing, with hoppers underwater and a gold-stained-glass tunnel that towered up quite a ways.
Petra let the hand holding the handkerchief to her mouth drop to her side, gold eyes narrowing a bit at the whole system. "What is THAT?" she wondered.
Jesse squinted at it for a moment, thoughtfully... before snapping her fingers, having just recalled something. "Oh! I remember- this is like the item system thingy which Soren had in the mountain fortress."
"Oh, yes- just simpler on more levels," Soren mused, tapping his lips mildly.
Cassie shrugged a bit.
"Y'know for someone who forgot the first one-fourth of her life, you have a surprisingly good memory sometimes," the narrator spoke, nearly making Jesse jump and trip straight into the pool of water.
"This narrator is not very considerate," Slab frowned.
Petra gave the whole thing an appraising look. "Oh yeah. I guess it is. But... where does it go?"
"Hopefully," Jesse mumbled, "straight to the White Pumpkin's lair." And she let her eyes follow the stained-glass tube as it rose higher and higher up the wall... before disappearing into the wall next to a large, open tunnel mouth. And there was light pouring through it.
"I'm going to make a wild guess," Em drawled, "and say that that's the way to get in."
Onscreen, the spider hybrid ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly, narrowing her eyes at the tunnel. "So, you see that light-filled tunnel too, right?" she asked, casually.
"Huh?" the Blaze hybrid followed Jesse's gaze, and an 'oh' expression dawned on her face. "Oh yeah...! And it doesn't look like it's blocked off like all of the, um, zombie-filled ones."
"I bet two iron that if we get up there," Jesse said, already looking at a nearby wall with an appraising look, as if trying to decide if she'd be able to climb up and then jump straight to the tunnel, "we can follow it and get straight to the White Pumpkin's lair."
"I'm not taking that bet."
Real-Axel snorted at that, while Nell snickered and Aiden 'coughed', trying to hide his amusement.
Cassie's eyes just narrowed a bit.
Onscreen, Jesse snickered a bit, before hopping onto the wall and beginning her ascent. "Sometimes I wish I could fly," she told Petra in a wistful way, watching Petra just hover on past her.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, that would make things so much more conveniently," Real-Petra mumbled.
Onscreen-Petra just smirked, continuing her ascent. "Well, you've got a pretty good Spider-Jesse thing going on. Spider-Jesse, Spider-Jesse, does whatever spiders can because she's Spider-Jesse," she hummed, aimlessly.
Gill snorted loudly at that, drawing a lot of attention to him and Maya, who were actually starting to giggle a bit. Facemeat was making soft "huh, huh, huh" noises that took a few seconds to equate it to laughter, while Hadrian exchanged a smirk with Mevia.
The spider hybrid gave Petra a look, which made Petra simply shrug back with a grin. "What?"
"And you call me a dork," Jesse teased Petra, the two of them drawing level with the tunnel. Jesse quickly twisted around and launched herself at the tunnel, landing on her stomach in a neat dive onto the stone floor. Petra just floated in with no trouble at all, but her relaxed expression quickly turned into one of slight alarm as a spider approached them.
Jesse quickly put her hands up and hissed to the spider, "Uh, please don't attack us... we're just having a look around here right now. We're definitely not planning on fighting you."
The spider watched the spider hybrid for a moment, before going on its merry way.
"Well, at least they didn't have to waste time fighting it?" Lizzie said, looking a bit bewildered.
"I guess..."
"I totally call Jesse being Snow White in disguise."
Onscreen, Petra looked over at Jesse, a grin coming over her face. "I like it when you're here and we've got spiders- I really do," she told the spider hybrid, teasingly.
Jesse up with her middle arms, setting them over her heart, before jokingly wiping away a tear. "Aww, thank you, thank you. That means so much to me," she joked back.
Then Petra snorted, and the two of them started laughing.
Jesse glanced over at Real-Petra, who noticed the look Real-Jesse was sending her and gave the smaller girl a warm grin.
Jesse slowly returned it, almost shyly.
Petra watched as she turned back to the screen, before leaning over to Lukas and whispering into his ear, "My Notch, she's cute."
"This is a bit like when you jumped off the bridge that night at Endercon," the narrator spoke, absentmindedly, as Jesse and Petra slowly calmed down from the tiny laughing fit that the two of them were having.
Jesse blinked at that, her smile fading into a more thoughtful look.
This wasn't even in real-time with their world...
And already she felt like that was just so long ago.
Onscreen, the two of them continued into the tunnel, still grinning from the little joking session of banter the two of them had been having. The screen switched a second later to show that the two of them had just turned a corner and were still walking down the tunnel, reaching a spot in the corridor that pulled in an abrupt u-turn direction, as soft sounds began coming through the wall.
Soren blinked. "Oh- is that...?"
Jesse paused, slowing to a stop and frowning, before glancing over at Petra. "Hey, doesn't that almost sound like...?"
Petra cocked her head to one side, listening, before a bemused look crossed her face. "... cats?" she finished the thought.
Slowly, Jesse frowned and moved forward, steadily moving along as she turned the corner- to come face to face with the White Pumpkin.
Ivor jumped so violently that he conked foreheads with Harper, who yelped and grabbed at her forehead in pain. Lukas's arms tightened around Jesse's midriff so tightly that it forced a loud squeak out of her. Stampy dove into Dan's lap, while Aiden automatically seized Cassie and hauled her to him in a tight hug.
"OH NOTCH" Stacy proceeded to abruptly dive behind the couch in order to hide her eyes, yelling (by accident) at the same time that Jesse shrieked, lunging backwards but lashing out in a kick at the same time, slamming her feet into the White Pumpkin and catapulting herself away from the White Pumpkin, who toppled over with a loud-
Clatter?
The white pumpkin head toppled off, landing on the ground, the armor stand literally following it to the ground a few seconds later, making an annoying wooden clattering sound.
"Oh." Hadrian cleared his throat and sat back up. He totally hadn't just grabbed a cushion and hidden beneath it. Nope. No idea what you're insinuating. He totally hadn't done anything.
Onscreen, Petra shuddered a little bit. "Holy crap, was not expecting that. Good reflexes, by the way-" she cut herself off, showing that Jesse was no longer right next to her. "Jesse?"
Lukas blinked in surprise, arms inadvertently tightening around Jesse's midriff and making her squeak a bit in surprise. "Wh-? Where'd you go?"
"I don't know..."
She looked around again before glancing up, and blinking bewilderment. The screen switched to show Jesse crouching on the ceiling, hands pressed intensely to the ceiling of the tunnel.
"Uh, wow," Stampy blinked, "that's, ah, that's impressive."
"Yeah," Dan nodded in agreement, "that was pretty quick."
"How in the name of Notch," Petra asked, blinking up at the spider hybrid, "did you get up there in five seconds?"
The spider hybrid looked down at Petra. Then up at the ceiling. Then back down at Petra. "I'm going to be completely honest with you here, I have no clue."
With that, she flipped herself back down, landing neatly on her feet, continuing forward to see that there was a small raised area of dirt with lamps and a fence separating the two sides, with white pumpkins growing on either side.
"It's just some sort of... growing station," Petra murmured, looking a bit bemused.
Jesse poked one of them, a small smirk coming over her face. "Well, I guess white pumpkins do exist," she said teasingly.
Several members of the audience snorted at that joking comment.
A few moments later, footsteps suddenly started sounding. Jesse's head snapped up, and she and Petra spun to face the area they'd just come from, the footsteps growing louder and louder.
"Oh no!" Isa exclaimed, letting out a gasp and scooting closer to Milo for protection.
"The White Pumpkin must've heard us!" Jesse whispered urgently, drawing her sword.
Aiden leaned forward, anxiety forming a rather solid knot in his chest inadvertently.
Petra followed Jesse's lead, flames flickering along the blade and eyes heating up rapidly, while Jesse shifted into a fighting position.
The two of them approached... closer... closer... until their blades were poking around the corner...
"GAH!" and Stampy yelped, leaping back, tripping on his feet, and landing right on his bum with a little 'oof' sound.
"Stampy?!" Stacy exclaimed, eyes widening. "What are you doing down there?!"
"I have no idea!" Stampy announced.
Onscreen, Petra's mouth dropped open in shock. "Stampy Cat?!" she blurted.
A/N: Hahaha cliffhanger x3 Sorry, I was getting really sleepy so I decided to just post it.
Just a little over one week now :3 Expect some fanart on dA for the countdown.
RQTC: How far am I in Phantasmagoria? (What's your idea?)
LunarStarsMoons: Ah. / Hehehe xD / (smiles and nods) / (grins) Yep.
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (chuckles) Alright, thanks. / Lol xD
RapidSammi: Thanks! / Arima Lucari.
Emily The Avenger: ALL THE WAY / (laughs)
Guest: (grins) / No spoilers~
InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) / Ah, it's fine, Don't worry about it :3 / I think our time differences are a bit off. / (spits out a mouthful of water)
J.M.M: No. / Nothing.
Savannah-the-Caracal: :3 / Random Question of The Chapter.
sailor . mikuchan: (chuckles)
RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / Hehehehe xD / I don't know. I don't have tumblr so I'm just posting on dA and Twitter. / Aw thanks :3
GuestPerson13: No problem! / (grins) / I can't either~
Darkbeast Dend: None.
Toni42: (laughs) Nah, your version was pretty great too. / (laughs) / Thank you. :3
LittleAngelbun: (points at chapter) / Indeed.
Shorter review section this time, but I'm really tired. Night!
x.X. A.L. X.x
LOG 1-175
Nothing built can last forever. Every legend, no matter how great, fades with time. Each year, more and more details are lost to time and age, until all that remains are myths- half truths.
To put it simply, lies.
And yet, in all the known universe, from a small town that was devoured by a living storm to a dimension that not even the Old Builders could ever access, the legend of the New- or HYBRID - Order of the Stone endures, unabridged, as self-evident fact.
Indeed, it is only troubled lands that are in need of heroes, and we are so fortunate to have had, not so very long ago, FIVE heroes such as these.
PETRA the Blaze hybrid, whose hot temper, glowing blade, and deadly flames was often the fiery end to many a battle, even if said hot temper was the very thing that caused said battles.
OLIVIA the Enderman hybrid, an amazing redstone engineer and a creature of the elusive End, where the monstrous Ender Dragon used to dwell, since before the Hybrid Order existed.
AXEL the Creeper hybrid, whose explosive nature and destructive creativity caused damage greater than even the King of Boom Town could've imagined, and repaired damage that could've been far worse.
LUKAS the Ocelot hybrid, whose sharp claws and mind carried his team even when their situation was dire, and whose loyalty never wavered, even before he could remember the others he'd called his friends.
And JESSE, the Spider hybrid, who was always willing to lend her six hands to anyone in need, an amazing multitasker and friend, the first hybrid that the Old Builders ever created, and leader of the Hybrid Order of the Stone.
The road that these FIVE heroes, FIVE friends have followed was paved by those who came before them. The Old Builders, the Old Order of the Stone, the Bureau of Amalgamology. They've discovered so many things that may not have been possible had they not been what they were. New friends, new enemies, new allies, old friends, deaths and rebirths, memories that have been lost, then found, then fit back into place like a puzzle.
Their greatest quests have been recorded and stored, in a book that remains in the Order of the Stone's treasure room, a file on a computer in the Bureau of Amalgamology, a distant file on a former scientist's computer, in one of who is known as the 'Author's' computers, and their story will be passed down and retold and passed down again through generations, and generations, and more generations. So many enemies have been defeated, and so many more have been made a friend.
These FIVE friends have given so much to be remembered as FIVE heroes, and have definitely proved that what Gabriel the Warrior once said, not so long ago, is true.
Anyone can be a hero.
Even a hybrid.
This has been completed. The book has been closed.
Their story has ended.
LOG 2-1
Once a story has been completed, it can never be reopened.
It's over. No matter how hard you try, even the most powerful Author can do no more but add to it, write more. They can never go back and change the story, for better or worse. No matter how many times you try, how hard you attempt, how desperately you desire it to change, the story can never be reopened. You would have to break the laws of reality itself in order to change it.
Theoretically, if a story was reopened, we would have to continue it until there came a time when we could close it once again.
But you would be unable to do so.
Once a story is reopened, there is almost no way to close it again. A reopened story is trapped in a vicious loop, of closing, reopening, closing again, and reopening again- over and over. The story would go on forever, and ever, and ever, and because every story has an ending- how else would new stories be made?-With no new stories, the natural order would be corrupted, and eventually the story would wipe out the universe itself.
That is why stories cannot be reopened, and that is why you would have to change reality itself in order to reopen a story.
But that is only for most situations.
Jesse and her friends have been living happily for the past 7 years, I'm happy to say. Jesse is now the mayor of Beacon Town- her hometown- that has slowly grown and evolved as years as ticked on by.
But in these past 7 years, things have become more complicated. The Hybrid Order of the Stone's bond of friendship has begun to fade. With little time for adventures, more responsibilities, and less time for simple interactions, old friendships have begun to fade, rivalries have begun to emerge, and people are beginning to have higher and higher expectations for the spider hybrid- expectations that even the leader of the Hybrid Order may not be able to fulfill.
Well, at least until Jesse somehow manages to get her hand stuck in a creepy, cursed prismarine gauntlet... and finds a mysterious phone that is intent on helping Jesse repair the 'damage' done to Jesse's world.
We discover the downside of fame that comes with being a hero, too. For example, having a dark and ancient power know your name, an Author who needs the world's greatest hero to 'close a story', hybrids of beings that were never meant to be hybrids, and the omniscient presence that permeated her life throughout her adventures since the Witherstorm's creation becoming a much more tangible force.
A new adventure beckons, sending the spider hybrid on a journey that'll take her to the darkest depths of the world, and farther. With old friends and new allies alike, fortune hunters, frenemies, old friends, family members, an Author or two, or three, or ten, and a rather disobedient llama, Jesse will embark on this journey of tough choices, peril, mystery, and the responsibility to help an Author close a story that was never meant to be reopened.
My friends, if we are going to have any hope of closing a reopened story, if we're to have any hope in breaking this vicious loop, we are going to have to fight a myth with another myth. A story with a story.
Even more potently, the story's creator.
As this story unfolds, we're going to find out exactly how a story that was never meant to be reopened- should never have been reopened, did exactly did.
And we're going to find out exactly why this story has become a COMPOSITE.
Yes I know I didn't use composite correctly but no other words fit so shush
How's this teaser for ya guys?
