"Everyone, get in! Now!" Petra ordered sharply. Her tone brooked no room for argument.
Olivia was the first to charge through the portal. Axel hesitated only a second, before scooping Reuben up and dashing through as well. Jesse, Petra, and Lukas probably would've charged in straight in– if a scream hadn't shattered the air.
Jesse spun back around to see that a tentacle was clinging onto Gabriel's ankle, dragging him across the floor. The warrior was on his back and desperately thrashing in an attempt to free himself. "Gabriel!" Jesse shouted, turning from where she'd been about to run through the portal and racing down the steps instinctively.
A tentacle smashed through the ceiling, but Jesse ignored that– dodging the tentacle and some debris that rained through the ceiling– and seized ahold of Gabriel's hand. Behind her, the sound of a sword being drawn greeted her ears– probably Petra– but she barely had time to think about it before a hefty tug nearly jerked Jesse off of her feet.
She barely managed to dig her heels in in time, and for a few seconds, the small black-haired girl proceeded to play tug-of-war with a much larger, much stronger, much more frightening living storm with three heads, tractor beams, and tentacles.
Jesse won, Gabriel dropping back to the floor as the tentacle snaked back out violently, instead knocking over two people who'd been trying to get in.
"Thank you," Gabriel managed breathlessly, glancing over his shoulder. His shoulders dropped a bit, and his voice sounded exhausted when he spoke again. "There are so many of them... I-I can't save them all..." He slowly turned to face Jesse, eyes glinting with determination. "I can't stop this by myself. We need to find the others."
Jesse blinked rapidly at him. "The... others?"
"Soren's been missing for years," Gabriel continued, as if Jesse hadn't spoken, "but the others... you must seek them out." He pulled out an object a little larger than his hand– an amulet. In the center of the amulet was a dark blue gem ringed by gold, before they connected to four bar-like gems that connected to a larger, black ring. On the outside of the ring were a few small, gold bits. The cyan gem was glowing brightly. "Take this amulet, and guard it with your life."
Jesse looked from the amulet to Gabriel. Was he being serious? He wanted the girl with the fragile heart who would literally burn to death if she so much as brushed her hand against a fire to protect it? Heck, he wanted her to– what? Reunite the Order of the Stone?
"You can do this," Gabriel urged, after a moment. "You must!"
Jesse looked at the amulet and frowned a little. "How am I supposed to find Magnus and Ellegaard?" she asked, after a moment. It was a valid question– as far as she knew, the Order of the Stone was spread out all over the world by now.
"The amulet will guide you," Gabriel told her cryptically, pushing the item into Jesse's hands, "take it through the portal, and then–"
He was cut off by the cracking and crumbling of stone and obsidian. Jesse looked up automatically see the roof being torn open, an indigo eye flashing into view as it leered down into the room. A tentacle came hurtling through the opening, and the black-haired girl dodged backwards just in time to avoid getting smashed into a pancake.
Petra let out a scream behind her, and Jesse spun on the spot just in time to see a tentacle bat her away like a Ping-Pong ball.
Jesse whipped out her gold sword, racing forward to help her friend. The tentacle thrashed at her head, but Jesse dove to the floor and it sailed over her harmlessly. Leaping back to her feet, she whacked it with her sword, but it didn't seem to do anything.
Lukas screamed as the tentacle turned towards him– Petra jumped in front of it and slammed it away with such force that it actually opened up a small cut on the otherwise-seemingly-impenetrable tentacle, eyes flashing as she defended her friend. The tentacle retreated.
"You two," Petra shouted to Jesse and Lukas, "go through the portal and meet up with the others. I'll stay here and do whatever I can."
She moved to fight the tentacles, before stopping when she realized that neither Jesse or Lukas had moved a muscle. "Go on, Jesse, go!" the redhead urged her. "Go through that portal, now."
"I'll stay here and help too–!"
"No." Petra's gaze could've burned holes in Jesse. "The others need you, Jesse. Go. Now. If anything happens, I'll meet you guys at the temple."
Before Jesse could protest again, before Lukas could even move a muscle, before Petra could yell at them again, Gabriel let out a shout, and the entire group spun around to see the warrior caught up in a tractor beam, being dragged up towards the Witherstorm. Petra and Jesse wordlessly charged forward to help– but then another tractor beam fell on Petra, lifting the redhead off the floor and making Petra let out a shriek.
Lukas let out a gasp. Jesse spun around to face the blonde, fear making her heart beat so fast that she'd be lucky if her blood pressure wasn't permanently raised when this was all over. "Lukas!"
The blonde let out a terrified scream, his left hand shoved deep into his left pocket and throttling whatever it was that was in there, but he was just frozen there in shock and fear.
Seeing no help from that wing, Jesse whirled around and leaped up into the air, seizing ahold of Petra's leg and heaving the redhead down and backwards, out of the beam. Both girls dropped to the ground heavily, Jesse winding up on her back and Petra on her hands and knees.
"Thanks, Jesse," Petra panted, looking relieved, before her expression changed to one of horror as she realized– "Gabriel's still up there!"
Jesse's head snapped around to look up, where Gabriel was still struggling to free himself from the tractor beam, having managed to turn himself sideways and now so far up that there was no chance of Jesse grabbing ahold of him. "Jesse! Go!" he yelled at the girl.
"No!" she cried out, scrambling to her feet and racing towards Gabriel. Another tentacle smashed down and she ducked to avoid it– just in time for it to swing around again and slam into her, sending her flying up the steps towards the portal with a scream. Lukas let out a gasp and threw up his hands, as if to catch her–
Jesse slammed into him, and the two of them toppled through the portal together.
The portal spit Jesse and Lukas out, the two of them crashing to what felt like oddly soft but still firm ground. Immediately, Jesse could feel the heat surrounding her, inhaling the smell of burned items and of heat itself. She didn't dare get up as she stared at the reddish ceiling, her heart beginning to flutter so rapidly that she couldn't feel the independent beats anymore.
She was in the Nether.
She was in a literal world of fire.
"Jesse?" Lukas was now blocking her view of the ceiling, blue eyes filled with worry as he stared at her. "Are you okay?"
Reuben appeared next to him, snuffling slightly and poking Jesse's face with his nose.
Jesse couldn't say anything. It was as if the heat was wrapping a vise around her lungs, slowly squeezing tighter... tighter... she couldn't breathe.
"What happened? Where's Petra?" Axel asked, from nearby– so he's okay, Jesse thought in relief, as she slowly sat up. Lukas retreated a bit so that she wouldn't clonk her head against his while she sat up, eyes scanning the world around her. The ground beneath her looked almost... like meat. (Which was a really gross thought in itself.) There was an ocean of lava to Jesse's back, and random fires burning everywhere.
This is no place for the Steadfast Tin Soldier.
"We did everything we could," Lukas spoke, shakily– or, at least, his lips moved and formed the words, but he was shaking so hard and there were tears forming in his eyes and he looked terrified, and absolutely nothing came out.
"What are you saying?" Axel looked a little worried now.
"Jesse...?" Olivia swallowed, panic beginning to make her voice rise in pitch. "What is he talking about? Because whatever it is... it doesn't sound good."
Jesse's vocal cords finally started working again, carefully inching herself away from any immediate fire, "It was–" Her voice came out as a squeak, and she coughed a little. "It was chaos. There wasn't much I could do."
"Jesse's right," Lukas spoke, again shakily, but this time at least his voice came out.
The black-haired girl reached up and pressed her hand against her glass heart, feeling it slow down to a still-unnaturally-fast beat, but she could at least feel the independent beats again. "Petra's... Petra's still up there."
"I got scared," Lukas's voice cracked as he spoke, as he slowly looked up to face the others with shame and guilt flooding his face, "just for a second."
Axel's eyes hardened, and he glared at Lukas so heatedly it was a wonder that the Ocelot hadn't caught on fire. "You got scared?"
"I'm sorry," the blonde's left hand was throttling whatever it was that was in his left pocket, face so pale that it was nearly pure white. "Oh, Notch, I'm sorry."
"You got scared," Axel repeated, threateningly, glowering at the blonde, "and all you can say is you're sorry?"
Olivia spoke up, shooting Axel a look that Jesse couldn't quite place, although it was hard to tell– despite all the firelight and the lavalight, certain areas were still dim enough that shadows made it a bit more difficult to see. "Back off, Axel."
"We gotta go back," Axel insisted instantly, turning towards the portal.
"No!" Olivia stepped in front of the portal, blocking Axel's path. It was a sign of how much Axel cared about his friend that he didn't just push Olivia out of the way. "We just have to wait. Think about what you're walking into."
"There's nothing you can do," Jesse agreed with Olivia, still holding her glass heart and feeling it calm down even more– she'd had luck about three (hundred) times today. She might get lucky again. "You'll just end up getting yourself killed."
"You don't know that!" Axel argued, face screwing up a little as if he wanted to cry, "you don't know–"
Lukas gasped, lifting an arm and pointing at the portal behind Axel. "Hey– there she is!" he exclaimed, excitedly.
Immediately, Axel stepped aside to show that the see-through, purple curtain in the portal was rippling and swaying, indicating that someone was coming through. A watery silhouette started showing itself as they travelled through the portal.
"C'mon," Jesse mumbled, "c'mon!"
But it wasn't Petra who toppled through the portal. No, it was a man wearing olive-green robes with long, slightly unevenly-cut long black hair that landed on his hands and knees.
Everyone's grins faded to glares– except for Jesse's. Her heart, which had calmed down to a faintly normal speed again, started speeding up again, at the sight of the man who'd made a single gesture– one– and now she didn't know what he'd meant by it.
Ivor.
Ivor clambered to his feet, his expression darkening into a glare when he saw who it was. The dim shadows from the wavering firelight and the faint lava-light didn't help the expression look any more friendly. "You again?"
Before anybody could say anything, a tentacle suddenly shot through the portal with tremendous force, lashing back and forth. The entire group screamed and avoided the tentacles, Lukas stumbling and landing hard on his back as he tried to avoid it.
Ivor dodged sideways and slammed into Jesse, making the petite girl stumble, lose her balance, and fall to the ground, mere inches from the lava– which actually may have ended saving her life, because the tentacle whipped through the air where her head had been literal milliseconds after she fell– before the tentacle found the portal and wrapped around it, snaking around it like some sort of giant, evil plant.
And then it squeezed. The purple curtain flashed and flickered, the obsidian trembled, before it gave under the tremendous force, falling to pieces. The tentacle vanished along with the portal.
For a few moments, the entire group just sat or stood there gaping at where the portal had been, mere moments before. Axel had a look of pure horror on his face as he stared at where the portal had been.
Jesse was still lying on the ground, trying to catch her breath and steady her pounding heart, before she glanced over at the man who'd just saved her life for the second time that day.
But he was also the man that'd caused all of this.
"Ivor." Her voice echoed a bit in the silence.
He glanced down at her, dark blue eyes practically black in the firelight, before his gaze hardened and she suddenly found herself being heaved into the air by the front of her shirt, dragged away from the lava as he glared at her. "You ruined everything," he said, coldly enough to send chills running down her spine despite how hot and dry it was down here.
"Let her go!"
Ivor did just that, and Jesse took the opportunity and backed straight into Lukas's grip, his hand resting on her shoulder protectively. It was a nice gesture, considering how unfriendly their two friend groups were with each other.
"Don't pretend you don't know, thief," Ivor practically growled at Jesse, "you took my most valuable potion and what should've been my moment of triumph."
"This is your fault!" Jesse exclaimed back, still feeling tremors running down her back from what he'd just done.
"I had a plan," Ivor spat back, "and you interfered."
Jesse could hardly believe that she'd thought this guy had been nice before. "Your plan," she emphasized 'plan' a little sarcastically, "was to set off a Wither in a theater full of people!"
"A Wither I could control!" Ivor corrected her. "That is, until you showed up. There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that Wither Storm."
Jesse's hand migrated to her chest again, squeezing her glass heart tightly until her knuckles turned practically white. It was still beating faster than normal, and she took a deep, shaky breath in an effort to calm it down.
Ivor's eyes flickered to the motion.
Hand over heart.
Jesse slowly forced herself to let her hands drop back to her sides, breathing still shaky and unsteady as she tried to play it cool. The man's eyes flickered back up to Jesse's face, his expression... well, it was a bit dim over here, but it looked almost softer somehow.
"Why are we wasting time talking to this jerk?" Axel growled, having apparently lost his temper and his patience, "we have to go help Petra!"
Ivor's eyes widened. "The girl. I saw her."
Lukas gasped, eyes widening. "What?" he breathed.
"While I was running to the portal, I passed her," Ivor explained. "She was running in the opposite direction."
The small gang glanced at each other, relief flooding through Jesse. Petra was still alive. Even if she hadn't been running for the portal, she was okay, the last time Ivor had seen.
"Such bravery..." Ivor mused. "Of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity."
Jesse's expression hardened again, despite the fact that her heart was still insisting that she was in panic mode.
"And your friend has crossed it."
"Stop."
Ivor blinked at Jesse's comment. "What?"
The short girl gestured by flailing one arm, her face looking tight and pained and a little upset. "Stop– acting slightly nice and then slingshotting back to being– being a jerk. I don't get it, and I'm already scared enough from being in a world that's composed literally of fire, I don't–" She choked, breath catching in her throat again as the heat clogged up her throat momentarily. "I don't need–"
"Oh, shoot, sorry, Jesse," and Axel wrapped his arms around Jesse in a gentle hug. (He would've squeezed, but that usually resulted in him squashing the breath right out of a person.) "We totally forgot about that."
Judging by the way Olivia and Lukas were now exchanging slightly awkward looks, they had the same sentiment.
Ivor simply regarded Jesse for a moment, and with it being dim, she really couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Through that tunnel is a network of minecarts built by the Order of the Stone," he said at last, lifting his arm and pointing at a tunnel, "it's your only way out."
Everyone hesitated for a moment. "We should go that way," Axel agreed grudgingly, after a moment.
"Time's wasting. Let's go," Lukas nodded agreeingly with Axel's statement.
Jesse looked back at Ivor. "What about you?"
"What about me?" he replied.
"How will you get out of here?"
Ivor looked as if he was going to make a sarcastic remark, before pausing, as if catching himself, and simply shrugging. "I have my ways."
An odd sound, almost like a child making a sad sound, echoed through the air. The teenagers looked around for the source of the cry, not finding anything.
"What was that?" Axel wondered, frowning slightly.
The older man regarded the group with a blank expression for a moment, eyes flickering to Jesse. "I have a feeling that some of you won't need it... but good luck," he said at last, still looking at Jesse as he said that.
Jesse fidgeted a bit, unsure as to what he meant by that. Why had he been looking at her when he'd said that?
Ivor pulled out a potion and drank from it, swirls beginning to surround him as he drank the entire thing in a few gulps. He dropped the empty bottle to his side, beginning to glow– and then he was gone, the empty potion bottle clinking as it fell to the ground.
The little crying sound sounded again, this time from right behind them. Jesse, pretty sure she didn't want to know, slowly turned around to face the source of the sound– and letting out a gasp at the sight of a ghast, slowly opening its eyes to reveal red orbs in the place of normal eyes. It made another little sound, sounding much more annoyed now.
"Run?" Axel said, almost conversationally.
"Run," Olivia agreed, just as conversationally.
"RUN!" the entire group screamed, somehow in perfect unison– even Reuben let out a little squeal– and they all turned tail and started sprinting down the tunnel Ivor had indicated, the ghast still letting out angry cries as it began to give chase.
The entire group ran through the tunnel, the ghast occasionally letting out little angry cries to indicate how far behind them it was. In Jesse's peripheral vision, a pigman looked at her.
The entire group skidded to a stop at a little hill, where six minecarts sat on a set of tracks.
"This must be what Ivor was talking about!" Olivia exclaimed.
A cry– this time from far too close for comfort.
Jesse spun around to see the ghast drift into view behind them, spitting a fireball out of its mouth. Jesse let out a frightened squeak, Lukas seizing her by the wrist and dragging her sideways just in time to avoid the flaming ball of... whatever it was. The fireball detonated right above the minecarts, making debris sprinkle into them.
The entire group leaped down and ran towards the minecarts, Jesse vaulting into the second one, Reuben jumping into the first one, Lukas jumping into the one right behind Jesse, Olivia jumping into the one right behind that, with Axel leaping into the one at the back.
"Everyone hang on!" Jesse shouted, the minecarts slowly beginning to roll forward– before gaining speed and hurtling away, the ghast simply watching them go with a little cry.
Well, Jesse was still alive.
Though how much longer that would be the case was still a bit of a mystery.
A/N: I'm starting to think Jesse could surpass Makoto Naegi of Danganronpa as the Ultimate Lucky Student. xD
Responses to reviews!
ItzJaiden: I'm glad you like it! Updating is... updating. xD
LunarTheMooncake: pffff
Toni42: Yeah, it was fun x3 / Yay xD / Well, there are some. / He'd be super super uncomfortable, but yeah, I imagine he'd be able to head into the Nether.
TheAmberShadow: I did consider that, but I'd rather keep that for later. / (laughs) / Yep, there's the Nether, the Witherstorm's fireballs, Boom Town, another little incident later in the story, Ivor's lava house, Sky City after it's destroyed, the enchanted flint and steel, lava from the Games, FIRE from the Games, the Sunshine Institute, the Underneath, Beacontown after Romeo's, uh, renovations... and probably more that I'm forgetting. / (shrugs)
homeworkoverload: Luck, yes. / (pats) / I do like that song too. x3
So... last night, I told my crush I had a crush on him. And now we're dating. And I'm grinning even as I write this.
Love you, Toni :3
x.X. A.L. X.x
