Chapter 1: Reunions
Summary:
Moving in is a big task! Especially when your new home is floating above the city. Some extra friends are needed to help bare such a task, and a few extra crash the party!
Notes:
EDIT 7/27/21: UHM. hey gamers it's been a hot minute! I am currently trying to get back into writing the next chapter for this story and also working on finalizing some details for the ending! But it has been a HOT minute since I've been fully engaged here so it may take some time yet as I have a lot of my old notes to sort through and update as well as refamiliarizing what has happened when so far! To do this I am going through and rereading this monster of a WIP but!! I'm also updating the old chapters! No huge plot changes or anything but I've definitely improved since I began this project and wanted to fix some spelling, grammatical, pacing, and consistency problems I've had with the earlier chapters.
Regardless I'm sorry for the wait and I hope you still enjoy!!! Thank you so much for over 4k hits on this thing that's insane!!!!
EDIT 5/12/23: Hiiiiii me again <3 we are back on the revision grind bc it is no longer 2019. We have technology and more importantly we have LORE !! I have a small laundry list of things from earlier chapters I'd like to adjust and edit to ensure that the story is in its best form for later down the line <3 I feel better doing this than shoehorning smth in last minute and having it feel cheap rather than intended--that's not satisfying to read and is like an unfair rugpull, which I don't want to do. So we're putting in some extra effort to make things flow much more smoothly! Hope u guys can bear with me! 💖
Chapter Text
A whoosh of air sends dust flying off the book’s cover and into Lukas’ face. The blonde starts coughing and batting at the air as Jesse laughs mischievously. He shakes a finger at him through the dark oak bookcase as his coughing fit fades and a grin creeps across his face—damn Jesse’s infectious charm.
“You know I am volunteering to help you unpack all of this! Keep that shit up and I might make you start paying me!”
“ Wowww! Way to assume the worst!” Jesse gives a lazy grin.
Lukas rolls his eyes, “Jesse, you can’t look me in the eye, grin, suck in a huge breath and then try to play it off.” He chuckles and Jesse laughs.
“ Okay, okay, I suppose you’ve got me there.” He snickers then flips through the book in his hands as Lukas continues placing books onto the shelf. He smiles fondly at the old thing before placing it on the shelf himself. He pauses before looking back over at Lukas, “And I really do appreciate your help Lukas… I hope it doesn’t come off as if I don’t.”
Lukas just smiles, “Of course I know that Jesse. Now don’t start getting all sappy over some help with a bookshelf .” He stacks another book on with a grin. Jesse smiles before finishing up his side and picking up his box as he stands. Unpacking was never something Jesse liked doing, but at least he had some friends around him to help keep him in good spirits.
The apartment is an odd one given where it’s built, but a change of scenery is always nice. It’s certainly modern —when Jesse mentioned that he was moving in here, he had to practically fake his death to get Stella to back off on wanting to decorate. He allowed a compromise and while she didn’t get to furnish it, he did place her in charge of refurbishing his share of the place. She needed a little break from Champion City anyways, having to rebuild everything from the ground up had understandably been getting to her. Frankly, not being able to fix it before beating the powers out of Romeo in a well deserved ass-kicking is one of his recent regrets. While he didn’t agree with how Stella ran her city, it was obvious that she cared about it, and Romeo’s flippant tone when he destroyed it left a lasting scar.
Jesse blows out a breath as he looks around the large room, deciding where to go next. They basically got the little lines of bookshelves —Ivor’s suggestion— done, but he still has plenty more boxes of books and trinkets to tuck away elsewhere. Not to mention all the furniture to actually set up. He glances over at the archway midway through the apartment that leads to the second half. There’s probably going to be more space in there, if not that then upstairs. One thing he certainly loves is the fact that he has spiral staircases in this place. There’s just something about them that makes his inner child light up. With that thought he smiles and starts moving towards the staircase with a skip in his step. Lukas catches sight of him and can’t help but chuckle.
“What are you doing?”
Jesse laughs, spinning around to face him, “I’m walkin’! Yknow, general mode of travel for human beings. Perhaps you’ve tried it yourself?” He bends over a bit as he raises a brow. Lukas rolls his eyes then grins as he grabs another book and aims. Jesse’s eyes widen and he shrieks as Lukas throws the book at him. He uses the box as a shield and laughs as he runs out of Lukas’ range. Note to self: Don’t challenge an archer to a ranged battle. Lukas laughs and leaves Jesse alone once he’s out of his line of sight as he doesn’t feel like standing all the way up yet. He settles back into his routine of organizing and placing books back on the shelf. Jesse smiles as he refocuses. Now, to just —
“ WE’RE BAAAAACK!! ”
The slam of the front door nearly makes Jesse drop the box. It startles Lukas just as much as the two look back at who’s decided to show up. It’s no surprise to see the hulking figure of Axel, stack of boxes in a balancing act and with a grin on his face as he hurries in.
“Hope you two didn’t think we were just abandoning ya!” Axel snarks as he goes to set down his stack amongst a few other boxes in the corner. Hardly half way through and still more to come... The thought grinds Jesse’s patience just on its own. They’re almost done with this half of the apartment, but the other half through the archway is practically untouched. He snaps back to reality as Olivia follows up behind Axel.
“We were gonna grab some bigger things, buuuut the trek here from the treehouse is already a trip, and I don’t think any of us are ready to carry anything too heavy all the way up here just yet…”
“Amen to that!” Lukas pipes up as he throws a now empty box onto the pile. A satisfying sight. Axel slinks to the ground, leaning against all the cardboard with a hefty sigh. Olivia holds back a snicker at the sight, covering her mouth and sharing a grin with Jesse.
“ Yeah, ‘sides if we brought it all here for ya, you’d be missin’ all the fun!” The sarcasm drips from his voice and Jesse playfully rolls his eyes. He sets down his own box and begins sorting through the one Olivia brought in. They all take a minute or so to just catch their breaths. They’ve already been at this for seemingly hours and it feels like they’ve hardly made a dent. Axel watches as Jesse sifts through the box and shakes his head. “Man… Y’know I never realized how much stuff you had Jesse. That tiny treehouse packed a lot in it.”
“I gotta agree with Axel on this one Jess, I can’t believe you never told me about how many old books you had!” Lukas crouches down next to him, pulling one of the leftover books out of Jesse’s box, “They’re all fascinating! Though, not exactly what I expected you to have. No offense.”
“Nah, none taken. Honestly most of these are hand-me-downs…”
“Hand-me-downs...?”
“From older siblings or parents, Axel.” Olivia mumbles and smacks his arm softly, silently scolding him for lingering on the topic. Axel grimaces as realization dawns on him and he nods. Bad subject it seems . Jesse, seemingly, pays them no mind however save for some anxious tapping on the side of his box. If there were any sign of anxiety bubbling up within him, it’s that.
“Oh! Right, right...” A heavy silence hangs as Axel trails off. Jesse bites the inside of his cheek, feeling a few gazes pass over him, though Lukas’ seems to linger the longest. Suppose that would only make sense—any mention Jesse makes of his old home life is next to null outside of his time growing up with Olivia. Any information is new information.
“Feels like the only hand-me-downs I’ve ever gotten are problems the Old Order keep leaving us to clean up.” Lukas changes the subject with a lighthearted chuckle, removing the pressure from Jesse’s chest in a flash. There’s some sympathetic smiles and nods of agreement from the rest of the group—Olivia most pointedly.
“You could say that again. Granted though, I think we’ve gone and managed to make a lot of our own trouble—no thanks to Jesse.” She teases with a smirk and he smiles sheepishly, rubbing his neck.
“Can’t help it! I see a problem, I solve it! Easy as that.”
She snorts, “ ‘Easy’ is a very bold word.”
“Okay so maybe not what I meant.” He shrugs, garnering a few chuckles from around him. He taps on the box again as he thinks—less stressed and more nostalgic, if anything. “Y’know, despite it all I sometimes have a hard time believing that they dealt with that dragon the way they did. Just doesn’t feel real, y’know?”
“‘ Bizarre’ is about the best way I can put it.” Lukas huffs and Jesse nods.
“Yeah. And then to lie to everyone about it? All the families? People who’ve lost so much to that thing?” He mumbles, shaking his head as he glances at the others, “I mean… That’s no small thing considering…” He trails off again and the others nod.
“I can’t even begin to imagine.” Olivia says with a heavy sigh. She shakes her head, “All those people…”
Jesse nods at that, a stern look washing over him. The dragon is always a somber topic—happy to have discovered the reality of the situation, but devastated by the implications. The dragon had always been known as a powerful ancient creature. Unpredictable and extremely dangerous both in life and in death. It’s hard to nail down information about, and even harder to make comparisons for, but there are a few facts that everyone had seemingly agreed on.
Mainly, the dragon has its own pull and control over some rudimentary magic—or at least influence over souls, and its own lifetime seemed to extend the more it took in. Additionally, if the dragon killed someone, their soul would remain stuck and bound to the dragon until someone else finished the job. Purgatory of the worst kind.
There were many popular rumors about that part, namely about what the experience would be for those souls. They always ranged from it being much like a nap, to something much more grueling such as feeling the pain of their death in limbo. They’re chilling to think about, and more often than not the worst ones were the most popular, which certainly didn’t make the Order’s admission of never freeing them any easier.
Jesse sighs, “ Right? Makes me wish we could’ve done something more, almost.”
Olivia snorts at that, “You wanna fight dragons now? Okay, pray tell, what would that brilliant plan look like?”
Jesse chuckles, “I never said that. But if you insist then I’d say Axel and I still got that all figured out.” He half jokes, nodding confidently to Axel who matches the look with a smirk. Olivia raises her brows.
“You are not trying to sell off the crackpot idea you had as teenagers as a genuine plan.”
“Oh c’mon Olivia, we could totally do it!” Axel butts in, “Easy execution! I grab Jesse, I throw him, he does some sick flips or something, then BOOM! Gets the dragon by the neck with a clean cut of that axe! No sweat, no problem.”
Jesse shoots her an easy going smile as he gestures to Axel, “See? Perfect plan.”
Lukas laughs at that and Olivia just smiles as she rolls her eyes, “You two are so full of it.”
Jesse just grins and giggles at that before a quiet settles over them once more. Getting back to what they’re there for, he continues flipping through the contents of this box and absently planning where to put what. His mind lingers on the topic of the dragon however—something he’s done a million times before and will likely do a million times after.
“I’m glad the truth’s all out and we don’t have to really worry about it anymore,” He starts, “but I just can’t help but wonder what happened to the dragon and all the souls with it when they used the command block. Had Romeo been even a fraction more reasonable, I would’ve asked him. We all know how that went, though.” He grumbles and Axel hums in thought from his spot.
“Maybe they all got freed anyways…? I mean, they technically got rid of it, didn’t they?” He mumbles with a slight shrug. Lukas frowns, arms now crossed in hard thought.
“No. If that were the case then why lie? Why the secrecy? The guilt?” He sighs, “No. Ivor wouldn’t have been pushed so far to create the Witherstorm if there was no harm in what they did. Ivor’s just lucky we came along and stopped what happened with the dragon from happening again with the Witherstorm.”
“ Incredibly correct, Lukas.” Olivia adds on, “We oughta remind him of that every now and then.”
“Aw c’mon, we pick on him enough!” Jesse chuckles and Olivia shrugs.
“ I’m still gonna remind him. You don’t have to.” She smiles and before Jesse can get a word in edgewise, she changes subjects again, “I wonder how they’re all doing these days. Ellegaard’s memorial has remained kept up in Redstonia. Then I’m sure we can guess what Magnus has been up to.” She says as she glances over at Axel. He just grins.
“I hear Gabriel’s been helping with a lot of volunteer work all around. Hired-hand type stuff.” Jesse adds with a smile. It suits the man, and hopefully he’s taking advantage of all the opportunities. Humility may not be his strong suit, but he does have a kind heart.
“Soren’s the enigma.” Lukas says, “Ivor said he was gonna try finding him when he left town, but how long ago was that now…? Six months?”
“Thereabouts.” Jesse nods, “I don’t even know how he’d’ve even begun looking for that man. Soren is so far from predictable, and we kinda wrecked his base.”
“Either he’s got a billion other hideouts around or he probably found a way into the Portal Hall and skipped town altogether,” Lukas mumbles, garnering some agreeing hums from the others, “Certainly seems like his type of thing, anyways.”
“Well, if that's the case then Ivor really has his work cut out for him. One world was hard enough to find him in! Though, he did take the amulet. Hopefully that’ll spare him the headache.”
“Did it spare you any headaches?” Lukas asks with a slight chuckle and Jesse presses his mouth into a hard line as he thinks. That look alone is probably more than enough to explain it, but when he breaks into a nervous laugh, it’s another nail in the coffin. Lukas laughs and Jesse waves a hand at him.
“Okay, but to be fair! We were being actively hunted by a huge freakish monster! And Ivor, like, knows what he’s doing. He’s got this!”
“You’re right, you’re right.” Lukas concedes, holding up his hands slightly, “But now we’re just getting completely off-topic. Where’s Jack anyways? I thought he was going to help unload a few of these things?” Lukas asks. Jesse perks up and glances around, the same question echoing in his own blue eyes. Olivia snorts.
“He’s taking his sweet time; played the ‘ I’m an old man’ card as an excuse!” She shakes her head and the small group laughs. “Honestly I think he’s up to something… You know how bad at lying.”
“Yeah! He was totally suspicious. We couldn’t get ‘im to spill anything though surprisingly enough…” Axel pouts and Jesse shrugs, tossing back whatever trinket he’d been poking at and finally picking up the box.
“Whatever he’s doing, I’m sure it’ll be worth it. ‘Sides, I don’t expect us to unpack all of this stuff today.” He walks over and sets down the box next to some more shelves that border the bottom of a ceiling high window.
He stares out of the glass at the city down below. Beacontown. His home. Rebuilding after Romeo dealt his hand was certainly tough to say the least and Jesse is glad he didn’t leave everyone behind to do it themselves. Sure, Radar is capable of leading things these days, but it still would have been overwhelming for the poor kid. Plus, with him staying behind, he was able to get Lukas involved. Lukas, being a fantastic builder already, naturally took to city planning. The place is far more spacious and the community hubs are gorgeous—a stroke of genius on his end.
Not to mention how horrifically homesick he found himself. Defeating Romeo took far longer than he would’ve liked, and those few months both went by in a flash and were agonizingly long. After a second of silence and mulling over how nice everything looks these days, Jesse snorts and shakes his head.
“Remind me. How did I actually let people convince me to live up here? I’m already a clutz as it is, so one wrong step by the edge and I'm gone!” He laughs.
“Oh don’t worry, we’ll make sure to baby-proof everything for you, Jess.” Lukas grins and Jesse rolls his eyes.
“ Ha ha, hilarious.”
“All joking aside, I don’t think it’s too shabby of a place to call home. You certainly have lots of space up here.”
“Yeah I just…” Jesse hesitates, trailing off as he stares back down at Beacontown. The sky base Romeo had built during his tyrannical rule of Beacontown had been completely remodeled and ready for use. A lot of extra space for those more drawn to the skies had opened up, and while Jesse never intended to live up there himself, the people insisted. Their assurance still makes him nervous. He sighs and looks back at the group, “I— I don’t like the feeling of looking down on everything like some ruler o-or dictator.” He shakes his head and paces slowly, “I mean… I don’t know if they genuinely wanted me up here or if maybe they’re too scared to suggest otherwise these days... Don’t you think all this,” He gestures around them, “Is a little much?”
“Jesse…” Olivia starts, voice gentle but with a smile that leaves him feeling even more foolish for asking, “The people here love you, and their faith in you has been proven time and time again.” She walks over and takes him by the hands, looking up at him. “They insisted that you be up here because they trust you, and they know that you will do right by them! Honestly just…” she thinks for a minute as she finds the right words, “Just think of this as like, a bigger treehouse! Friends all around and a comfy place you’re safe with a super cool view!” She wraps an arm around his neck and makes a sweeping gesture with her hand. Jesse cracks a smile and Lukas pipes up again.
“Olivia’s right. And, hey, if you end up getting stressed out all the way up here, I've always got a spare room you can bunk in. You could probably get away with this place sorta acting as a figurehead type thing. If it makes the people feel better to have you ‘living’ up here, then sure thing. But you don’t actually have to live up here, er, you get what I’m saying...?” He shoves his hands in his pockets and offers a sympathetic smile. Jesse nods.
“Thanks Lukas, I’ll consider it.”
Olivia smirks and playfully whispers under her breath to Jesse. “Oh so you thank pretty boy over your best friend huh? Y’know you two have been awfully friendly lately...”
“Liv!” Jesse’s voice cracks with a nervous laugh as he dances out of her grip, his cheeks slightly reddening at the suggestion. Before anyone has the chance to interrogate him anymore, the doors fly open again with a chorus of slams against the walls. The group freezes and merely stares in confusion as a familiar ginger runs in, grinning from ear to ear. Jesse and the others stare, wide-eyed.
“PETRA?! What on Earth are you— GH!” Jesse’s shaken out of his initial shock as his friend runs over and sweeps the shortie into a tight hug.
“Ooooooh! I’ve missed you! I’ve missed you all so much!” Petra backs off momentarily to grin excitedly as Jesse processes everything, slowly raising his hands to her arms as he stares up at her. Same old Petra—tough as nails, high energy, and more than a head higher than him with the ability to sweep him off his feet with ease.
“How did— When did— What are you doing back so soon?”
“Soon? It’s been months since I left Jesse!” She laughs, patting his arm a little as she does. She shrugs a little with a smirk, “ ‘Sides with the weather and seasons changing it’s getting a bit more difficult to just pass the night in caves and stuff… Too muggy .” She crosses her arms and trails off. Lukas grins and walks over, hooking a lazy arm around her neck and leaning on her shoulder.
“Which is Petra-talk for, ‘I was getting bored and summers in Beacontown are way more fun anyways’!”
“Heh! Well, I’m sorry to say the biggest adventure I have planned right now is unpacking this mess.” Jesse smiles apologetically and Petra opens her mouth to argue but is instead yanked into a surprise hug by Axel, Olivia soon joining. She sighs and rolls her eyes.
“Okay, okay, hugging time has passed now guys.”
“Not when Axel or Olivia are around.” Jesse chuckles. “We’re glad to have you back.”
“You better be!” Petra grins as she’s finally let go of, “Though I couldn’t have gotten back without some help...” She grins, holds up a finger, and then hurries back out of the room. Jesse blinks, just glancing between the others who share a few laughs and nervous shrugs. Hell if any of them know. There’s the sound of a few indistinct voices before Petra comes back in, arms slung over the shoulders of Jack and Ivor, both toting grins of themselves and a few boxes in hand.
Jesse’s eyes widen and he can feel his cheeks begin to burn from his grin, “ Ivor?!”
“ Jesse!” The bearded man smiles and sets his stuff down, hurrying over and hugging the young man. Jesse laughs and enthusiastically returns it, burying his face in the older man’s shoulder. Ivor beams, “I am so glad to see you again! I hope this was a good surprise?”
“You kidding? We were just talking about you—I thought it might be years again before we were all together again! It’s great!”
“ Fantastic!!! But, I’m not quite done yet!”
“What do you—?“
“Shush shush shush!!! Listen,” he jerks Jesse aside—much to his surprise—and starts speaking in a more hushed tone, “Remember how I told you I was leaving town to go reconcile with the others? Gabe, Magnus… Soren?” He presses the word and Jesse's eyes widen in realization. Already? He was right—Ivor really did know what he was doing.
“You didn’t…”
“I did and HAVE! Look, I would have waited to surprise you with Gabe and Magnus but I know Soren left on a bad note to say the very least the last time you saw him, so…” He pauses, pursing his lips and clasping his hands as he thinks of the best way to put it. Satisfied, he claps his hands together with a smile, “Well! Best to tell you in advance so you don’t immediately try throwing him through a wall!” Ivor gives Jesse a hearty pat on the back and laughs. Jesse laughs albeit somewhat tensely now. Soren. He’s a man that was certainly off thanks to the isolation but that alone was never a problem. The problem came after. Jesse never liked two types of people: Cowards and Liars. And Soren is both. He slowly shakes his head as he tries wrapping his brain around the fact that he’s going to be speaking to that man again so suddenly.
“Okay… And why did you decide to bring them here now?”
“It’s the first time in ages you’re all in one place without the world ending. They’re all stubborn enough as is, especially Soren. If he can apologize to all of you at once, that’ll make things far easier and loose ends will finally be tied up!” He pauses and notes Jesse’s lack of enthusiasm. He sighs, “Okay, I know you are well past it, but I am unfortunately fond of Soren and if he doesn’t get this done he is just going to end up in the ground before any of his wrongdoings are corrected.” Ivor rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
“That bad huh…?”
“ You wouldn’t believe the condition Harper and I found him in.”
Jesse sighs and looks down while he thinks, hands on his hips. Ivor taps his fingers in anticipation. Honestly, the thing that irks him the most about Soren is the fact that it took him so long to show his face again. Aiden and Romeo, despite both doing awful things—some worse than Soren’s by a long shot—at least faced the repercussions of their actions almost immediately . Then again maybe they’re not great comparisons as Jesse already beat their swelling prides out of them.
Soren’s an interesting one for certain though. Lying alone would’ve been one thing, hell so would running away, but the nature in which he did those things makes it much more complicated. He can’t imagine pulling the wool down over the eyes of the world with the dragon. Then abandoning them at their time of need in the Witherstorm? Leaving them to just die? ‘ Frustrating’ isn’t even the beginning. But, despite what may be his better judgement, he truly does want to hear what that man would have to say for himself. Six years. It’s been six long years since he’s seen him, and it took Harper and Ivor dragging him out here to do it. Not even on his own volition. Jesse rubs his arms a little to try and force the goosebumps from his flush of anger back down. Eventually, he meets Ivor in the eye and manages a half-hearted shrug.
“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll talk to him.”
“ That’s fantastic, Jesse! Utterly fant—”
“ But ,” Jesse cuts him off, leaving Ivor momentarily stumbling over his words.
“— But?”
“I want to talk with him privately. Before he comes in and sees the others.” He says quietly. Ivor blinks a moment then grins and enthusiastically claps his hands together.
“ Done!” He clears his throat slightly and waves a hand towards the apartment’s door, “They’re all just outside. I can escort you to Soren then usher the rest of them back into here so you can straighten things out, if you’d like.” He says and Jesse nods. He pauses a moment then shoots Jesse a scrutinizing look, “But do try not to break him would you? He’s a pain as it is—I don’t need him moping even more. ”
Jesse huffs with a small smile at that, nodding, “Sounds like a plan. Lead the way.” He gestures Ivor forward and gives a brief nod to the others who have been watching, their suspicion growing as Ivor and Jesse begin walking.
“Woah, woah, you guys are just leaving?” Axel blurts out. Jesse tries to stop and briefly explain but Ivor grabs him by the shoulders and keeps him moving, causing Jesse to stumble over his own feet.
“I came with more company! We’re just going to greet and usher them all in! Do not worry!” He yells to the group, waving them off as they hurry out of the room.
“Right… Okay.” Axel shifts a side glance to Lukas and Olivia, who are equally unsure. Petra, still hanging off Jack, waves them off with a smile.
“Lighten up! Ivor’s just full of surprises.”
Chapter 2: Cowards and Liars
Summary:
6 years without a head or tail of Soren and he's suddenly back to apologize. Jesse can't say he's as sympathetic as he would have been when he was 20.
Notes:
EDIT 7/27/21: girl I can't believe I actually uploaded this with half the typos and crap there are 💀💀 There was a word with asterisks around it!!! what is this!!! discord??? on god
EDIT 5/12/23: poked at this with some minor grammatical problems as well as rephrased a few things! Added some descriptions here and there but nothing too huge :>
Chapter Text
Passing through the doors and re-entering the tall hallways, Jesse feels an odd weight off of his shoulders. He can handle crowds and tight spaces, but that doesn’t mean he prefers them. These halls will take some getting used to but soon enough they’ll be much more lively with people going about their daily business and adding a little healthy wear to the perfectly polished quartz walls and prismarine tile. For now though, they‘re empty and their echoing footsteps are the loudest things in the room.
Jesse eases out a sigh, though despite his efforts to mask it Ivor picks up on his stress and offers another light pat on the back. Icy blue eyes glance up to the browns he’s become accustomed to. A few years ago Ivor was the last person he’d look up to, but a lot has changed in 6 years. He himself isn’t a timid 20 year old anymore, and likewise Ivor’s bitterness has also dissipated. The old man offers a reassuring smile before reaching a hand up and messing up the youth’s hair, running ahead before Jesse can get payback.
“HEY! Unfair!!!” Jesse hurries to fix his hair as he starts chasing after his old friend, Ivor’s laughter ringing out through the halls and signaling their approach.
Ivor turns the corner, a sly grin on his face while he speedwalks towards the small group with Jesse swinging around the corner full force a few seconds after. He quickly tries to stop once he sees the familiar faces. His slick boots against the waxed tile make him slide across the floor, barely coming to a stop beside Ivor. He meets the gazes of Harper, Gabe, Magnus and of course, Soren. The tension returns full force with no one daring to break the silence as he stands there huffing to catch his breath. A few strands of his hair fall back into his face. He nervously glances up at Ivor before Harper hurries over.
“Well well well! Look at what little Jesse has grown into!!” She takes hold of his hands and holds their arms out, glancing over him and shaking her head. He smiles up at her. It’s been a while since he’s seen Harper in person. Sure he’s heard plenty from Ivor and they’d passed messages and such through him, even then the few times he did see her it was curt and merely business. She chuckles with a grin, “ Man, it’s only been a little over a year or so and you’ve already changed! You’ve become an even more intimidating little thing!”
“Don’t call him little, he has a short fuse.” Ivor jabs Jesse with his elbow, causing Jesse to roll his eyes and Harper to cackle.
“You’re pulling our legs Ivor, no way this is the same kid!” Magnus shoves his way into the group, taking Harper’s place much to her disdain. He squints, getting rather up close and personal and making Jesse have to lean back for an inch of room. “I don’t believe it!”
“Do not be ridiculous, Magnus!” Gabe bellows from behind him, clamping a hand on his shoulder and pulling him back. His eyes sparkle with pride at the sight of Jesse as he smiles. He puts out a hand and Jesse shakes it readily with a grin. Despite his ego, Jesse always liked Gabe. “ Fantastic! ” He glances back to Magnus. “If you want to continue to be ridiculous, a simple solution is to just check the scar! There’s no one that has one quite like Jesse’s. Surely you’ve noticed.” Gabe pushes a handful of Jesse’s bangs back much to his own embarrassment, revealing the scar that frames his right eye. Magnus gives a hum of thought before Ivor scowls and pushes Gabe’s hand away. Jesse doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until he lets it go. He sucks in a breath and decides to actually enter the conversation.
“If you really need me to prove that I am me, we could always have a rematch of our original TNT battle Magnus. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that. ”
“Ugh, no way I’m bringing back ol’ “ Amulet Holder”! Last time I faced that guy I was blown right out of the sky in a humiliating defeat!” Magnus holds a hand to his forehead, leaning on Gabe for support, who just rolls his eyes in turn. “My poor psyche can’t deal with that again… Tell ya what, I’ll believe ya kid, as long as ya keep the Amulet Holder outta my hair!” He winks as he points at his own bald head. Jesse laughs but nods.
“Sounds like a deal.” He offers his hand out to Magnus who not only takes it but yanks him into a tight hug. Jesse laughs as Magnus pats his head, putting on the theatrics.
“Oh Gabe! Ivor! Our little fighter is all grown up! He doesn’t need us anymore!” He fake wails and Jesse snickers as he tries slipping out of Magnus’ headlock. The guy has a stronger hold than he looks though, but looks are always deceiving with Magnus. The man laughs and gives Jesse a hell of a noogie as Jesse snorts and begins really trying to push back on his arms.
“Oh let the poor boy go , Magnus!” Harper bats the back of his head and he rolls his eyes, then dramatically sniffles.
“Ohh….. If I must….!” He swings Jesse out of his grip then grins, clapping his hands together. “Now where’s the rest of the crew!? I gotta say hi to my man, Axel!”
“Yes, I would like to see the others now.” Gabe nods at Ivor who waves his hands.
“Yes yes yes, you’re all dying to see them again! Just follow me and I’ll—“
“What about ol’ orange head?” Magnus jerks a thumb back at Soren, glancing between him and Ivor. Soren had been watching the group silently. Looking over him, Jesse could tell he had changed. The air about him was almost weak , it was rather a sorry sight.
“ Jesse,” Ivor meets his gaze and nods at him, “Will lead Soren back. No more questions.”
“But—“
“ Move Magnus.” Harper ushers him forward and Gabe follows her lead. Ivor hangs back a second and places a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. He gives a gentle squeeze and nod before turning and making his way back to the others. He glances back and meets Soren’s gaze briefly before disappearing around the corner. A silent warning.
Silence fills the hall once more and Jesse can’t help the dread that creeps into his stomach. He clenches his fists anxiously before getting the strength to suck in a breath and turn around.
Soren’s shoulders hang as he gently hugs himself. There’s no confidence in his stance, only shame. The man is short and stocky, just as he remembered. Though he doesn’t quite look as healthy as he once did. Paler, with a few more wrinkles, grey hairs, and a permanent set of bags under his steely eyes. This is not the same man he once claimed to be, and for a moment Jesse wonders if he’s even able to wield a weapon anymore. He and Jesse’s gazes meet, but he can only stand the intensity of Jesse’s stare for a few seconds before his eyes drop to the floor. Jesse sighs and opens his mouth.
“I’m glad to see you alive.” His tone is colder than he meant for it to be. Then again, he still isn’t exactly very happy with Soren. Magnus and Gabriel weren’t able to fight out of necessity, Ellegaard gave her life, and Ivor would have stayed with Jesse and the others for the entire Witherstorm fight had Soren not fled. Not to mention his parting words. He briefly wonders if the man before him would’ve shown up at their graves were they to have died like he expected. Jesse would’ve haunted him if he did. The others have at least spent the years since attempting to make up for their faults. Soren has not. He’s opted to remain a coward until Ivor and Harper stepped in.
Jesse’s tone cuts deep, and Soren visibly shrinks with them. The man lets out a sigh before raising his head as much as he can.
“You don’t have to lie Jesse—”
“Unlike you I don’t.” He’s blunt, catching Soren off guard. He blinks then manages a weak chuckle.
“You… You’ve gotten me there I suppose…”
“ Yeah.” There’s a pause and the silence momentarily returns. Jesse realizes that he’s really gonna have to be the one to push them through this. He sucks in another breath and continues. “I do mean it. Despite our differences, I’m not one to just wish death upon someone. If they have potential to do right, then I’m glad and willing to help see them through it.” He waits tensely for Soren’s reply. The bearded man nods slowly to himself, processing his words.
“That’s… That’s a big thing to do. Also a big risk to take—”
“I’ve taken it with people worse than you. It’s worked. But of course you haven’t exactly been around to know that.”
Soren stands there much like a deer in the headlights as he scrambles to get some sort of sentence out of his mouth.
“ My you are … Bold. ” He pauses and smiles gently albeit nervously, “Full of energy still! However, you’re clearly much more confident than when you—...” He trails off and bites his tongue as he walks straight into the conversation he dreaded. He sighs and stands up straighter, “Let’s get to the elephant in the room, shall we?”
Jesse simply crosses his arms and nods, gesturing for him to continue. Soren hesitates, having expected Jesse to say something. Anything, really. Oh well. He nods either way and continues.
“I… truly cannot express how sorry I am, Jesse… I cannot express the shame and guilt I’ve felt for the past 6 years over just leaving you and your friends in your time of need.” He opens his mouth to continue but finds himself stumbling over his own words. He scowls and clenches his fists, some actual volume and life returning to the sheep of a man as he does. “It’s despicable! I knew exactly the consequences of what we—er, you were facing. I knew what that thing was capable of and I-I was even on the right path for making up for the lies the Order kept up for years!” He takes a deep breath through his nose before sturdily meeting Jesse’s gaze. “But I was a coward.”
Jesse holds his stare for a few seconds before slowly beginning to nod.
“Thank you for your apology, Soren.”
Soren blinks.
“Er… Thank you…?” Not exactly the answer he was expecting. Jesse nods again.
“I’m not gonna lie and say I accept it. But that doesn’t mean I’m unappreciative that you finally want to make amends.”
“I don’t—”
“I can’t forgive you if it really took you 6 years and Ivor and Harper to drag you out of wherever the hell you’ve been hiding away to do something as simple as apologize . I can tell you’re sincere, don’t get me wrong. But you need to start stepping up a bit more if you really want my friend’s and I’s respect back.” He sighs and finally relaxes slightly, resting his hands now down on his hips. “I’m sorry for being so curt, but I’m past beating around the bush with people like you. There’s still hope for you. You just have to be brave enough to start facing the music.”
Soren stands there, taken aback and rather slack jawed. He tries to form some sort of response, some sort of acknowledgement, but with several attempts and failed stutters come and gone, he eventually just gives up and settles for nodding. He clenches his fists briefly, sighs and nods clearly.
“I understand.” He pauses for another while and steps back a bit, causing Jesse to grow a bit suspicious. “Thank you for being honest with me Jesse… As much as I dislike hearing the truth, it’s necessary to move forward.”
He eyes him uncertainly for a minute, inspecting the man head to toe before finally nodding again, “... Of course.”
“Right… Look, I know when I’m not wanted and I don’t want to ruin your reunion with everyone, so just tell Ivor I— AGHK!” Soren begins to turn and leave but Jesse—quick on his feet—easily closes the space between them and catches him by the collar. He swings Soren back around and pushes him in the direction of Jesse’s new little apartment where everyone else was.
“Not a chance! A good first step to regaining that good reputation you had is to actually spend time around others. You came here because you want to change things for the better, so, I’m not letting you be a self-loathing hermit!” Jesse’s pushes easily send Soren stumbling, but he’s at least stumbling in the right direction.
“Ivor’s bullheadedness has rubbed off on you, I see!”
“Absolutely! Don’t try to convince me that’s a bad thing either!”
Chapter 3: Too Much to Handle
Summary:
For someone who values honesty and facing your fears, Jesse has some demons of his own he's been hiding.
Notes:
EDIT 7/27/21: finally fixed up some of the pacing with this one! Initially these first three chapters were just one big google doc I did for fun and never intended to continue so I wasn't too worried about it but uhhhh 😳😳😳 here we are in 2021, 14 chapters later,
EDIT 5/12/23: look at this bozo from the previous edit. "14 chapters later" smh WATCH THIS ‼️‼️‼️36 chapters later now babey 😎 anyways that aside just more grammatical stuff BUT I was still :/ with the pacing of Jesse's like. #Breakdown✌️so I just like. rewrote that whole section 😭👍made sure the POV was properly hovering over his shoulder this time tho! I've noticed for a while now that it tends to kinda jump from person to person sometimes which is fine but I think this makes it feel cleaner :> also idk why I didn't do it this way the first time??? Bc getting into his headspace is so much more interesting than seeing it from the outside, plus it feels like less jarring at parts that I always struggled with feeling too dramatic almost? They weren't per se, but the set-up made them feel that way to me, so I'm much happier with this :>
Also realizing these edits are becoming like. patch notes. LMFAO. "Fixed an issue where the camera would spazz out and switch to another player briefly."
Chapter Text
Reintroducing Soren to the crowd was an awkward task to say the least. Axel, Lukas and Olivia were the most upset of the bunch, as they were there when Soren ran off. While Petra was there to fight too, her Withersickness left a lot of the whole Witherstorm debacle in fog. She’s upset, just less personally. Jack had heard about the shit Soren pulled, and while frustrated with it, he’s probably the most calm about it. It happened years ago and he can at least somewhat relate. Sometimes people just freeze.
It only takes an hour or so for everyone to— thankfully— fall into a peaceful lull. Everyone has found their groups to chat with and the tension has disappeared substantially. Despite some… differences, Jesse can’t help but be glad to see everyone together in one room. Especially without some looming threat that could destroy everything. It’s certainly a rare sight, but hopefully one he can get used to.
Slipping away from the main crowd, Jesse grabs another box and carries it into the next room—what will eventually be his bedroom. Right now it’s just a bunch of boxes and rolled up carpets on tile. He takes in the fun architecture of the room. High ceilings, tall windows and a spiral staircase that leads to a second story—that’s honestly more akin to a loft—with plenty of extra room. He bounces up the stairs. While there’s still the stress about moving into this place and being a whole leader and all, he can’t help the childlike excitement and wonder that wells up in his chest with the idea of getting a cool new home and room. The white quartz, dark oak borders and trim mixed with the modern art, architecture and general aesthetic of this place is surprisingly welcoming. Stella has good taste.
It’s refreshing. Perhaps this is a good change for him. A restart, a blank page, a new home to reflect his dramatically different lifestyle.
He sets the box down on his bare mattress, among many others. They hadn’t even begun with this room. He sighs as he glances around at the work they’ve yet to do.
Might as well start here.
He opens the box he brought in and begins to dig through its contents. Books, trinkets, old toys, more books. God he had a lot of those. He pauses, recognizing the cover of one from his childhood. He unburies it from the bottom of the box. It’s a simple leather back, with a strap that keeps it tightly shut—the colorful parrot feather used to write everything in it still tucked in between the pages. Jesse sits down on the ground and stares at the journal. He runs his hands nostalgically over the ebbs and cracks in the leather. Despite everything around it being different, this old book is the same as it was ages ago.
It takes a few minutes for him to build the courage to reopen the old thing. It’s been years since he’s even thought about it. Nonetheless actually acknowledge that it—and everything else —exists, whether he likes it or not. His hands shake as he grips the end of the strap. A small droplet surprises him as it falls onto the cover, darkening the leather. He sighs and curses under his breath as he wipes it off, then rubs the tears away from his eyes, sniffling before he refocuses. He berates himself but continues and finally unbuckles the strap. He slowly and carefully opens the journal to the random page the feather’s been stuffed in.
“Hohh my God…” His voice cracks as the familiar handwriting floods him with memories. He takes out the feather and closes the book momentarily. This is the thing about moving, you always dig up old memories whether you like to or not.
It’s suffocating.
He focuses on the details of the feather in his hand in an attempt to ground himself again. Within seconds he has to grip it with both hands, the shaking making it too hard to inspect otherwise. The half that had been sticking out of the book was far more beat up than the bottom. It was faded, bent, and brittle. Oppositely, the bottom half was still soft as he ran his fingers over it. The reds, yellows and blues are still as vibrant as they were when he was a child.
And there the memories are again.
Jesse curses to himself again and hastily reopens the journal to another random page, stuffing the feather back inside. He rubs his eyes and forehead, wiping more tears away. He thought he’d be better by now. It’s been years—almost two decades —since it happened and yet—
“ Jess?”
“ Lukas!” Jesse jumps, slamming the journal shut and jerking his head to look back at him, eyes wide in shock. Lukas puts his hands up, still halfway on the staircase as Jesse takes a few deep breaths. He starts laughing weakly as he bends over and groans. Lukas chuckles weakly with him and continues up the stairs and over to Jesse. Jesse looks up at him with a grin, still laughing. “ Man! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” He holds a hand over his heart as Lukas sheepishly sits down by him.
“Sorry… I just noticed you slipped away from everyone and wanted to check on you. I suppose if you’re laughing then that’s a decently good sign.” He chuckles softly, Jesse smiling and nodding along with him. Had Lukas not been an observant person, the conversation would have ended there. His chuckle dies out quicker than Jesse’s as he notices the watery glare in his eyes. Had it just been that, he might have assumed that he had just started crying from laughter or the initial shock, but the redness of his eyes otherwise betrays him. He glances down and notices the—albeit shaky—deathgrip Jesse has on the book. Jesse hadn’t even noticed he started clutching it to his chest. Eventually Jesse realizes that Lukas has stopped laughing. The atmosphere around them has changed.
His heart starts pounding as he dares to glance up at Lukas, almost regretting it. Two pairs of blue eyes meet. Lukas gently lifts Jesse’s face by the jaw to match his gaze. Jesse feels his cheeks grow hot as Lukas frowns, studying him. Normally, he’d be upset with someone trying to get into his head so intimately, but with the way his heart flutters as Lukas gently brushes his cheek…
“Talk to me, Jess…” Lukas’ voice is soft and comforting. Jesse sighs, briefly leaning into the touch before backing up and sitting up straight. Lukas lets his hand awkwardly drop back into his lap and Jesse looks to the side, trying to think of how the hell to begin explaining. He’s been caught red-handed.
But it’s all just... so much…
He lets out a sigh and tries to casually sit back, propping himself up with his left arm and throwing the journal back up into the box with his right. He tries not to linger too long on it, he certainly doesn’t want to talk about it. He gives Lukas a weak smile before giving a half hearted shrug.
“I-It’s just… Memories ‘s’all…”
Lukas raises a brow, deadpan.
“ Memories.”
“Yeah.”
“Just… vague thoughts that got you so wound up that you didn’t even hear me coming?”
“I’m an emotional person, what can I say?”
“ Jesse—“
“Lukas, I’m fine. Really!” He sighs and grabs Lukas’ hands, squeezing them tight, “I’m just… still kinda overwhelmed by all of this, y’know? Plus with all the Order members here, then all this old stuff that I’m honestly seeing again for the first time in years…” He trails off, shaking his head with a chuckle. “It’s a lot. And while I normally deal with a lot , it’s like, different, y’know?” He shrugs, giving a sideways smile up at his friend. Lukas locks eyes with Jesse and stays there for a minute, silently interrogating him before eventually giving up with a sigh.
“Alright I’m… I’m gonna trust you on that okay? But, for real Jess, if you ever need to talk .” He grips Jesse’s hands, inching in closer, “I will be here for you. No matter the fight you’re in, never think you have to go through it alone.” Lukas hesitates but gives Jesse’s hands an extra squeeze as he finishes up and Jesse nods quietly. An awkward silence settles as the two suddenly both become acutely aware of how close they are to one another, but neither daring to be the first to move and pretend it didn’t happen.
“YO JESSE! Come check this out! ” Axel’s voice booms throughout the apartment and for once Jesse can’t be more grateful for his timing. The two rip apart from each other at the initial sound of Axel’s voice, both quickly bouncing to their feet. Jesse runs over to the railing and yells back.
“Be there in a sec!”
Jesse pushes off the railing and begins walking quickly to the stairs. He and Lukas share a brief nervous glance before Jesse reaches the stairs, hopping onto the railing and sliding down while Lukas hurries down the steps. Hitting the ground with a loud thump, Jesse pauses to wait for Lukas. Once hopping off the last step, they share a smile then the two walk in stride back to the other room.
Through the doorway they’re greeted by grins. Jesse raises a brow and turns, looking at Axel, Jack, and Petra who jump aside, revealing a polished and shiny record player. The three pose around it, emphasizing the surprise. Jesse can’t help but laugh at their antics, however there’s a bit of tension in him as he smiles through gritted teeth.
“You guys… You didn’t have to do this.” He chuckles. Jack comes over and clamps a hand onto his shoulder, giving him a reassuring little shake.
“Oh come on! You’ve done plenty for us, allow us to get you a little housewarming gift! I actually got it on one of my big adventures ya know.” Jack winks at Jesse, who’s eyes widen, darting from him to the player and back to Jack. He shakes his head.
“I-I can’t take that! It’s yours you—“
“Want to give it to a friend.” Jack cuts him off with a smile, placing both hands on Jesse’s shoulders to steady him. Jesse stares up at him in shock for a few seconds before turning his gaze downwards and dragging his eyes back to the player. His eyes shine with the guilt of a child who just got something he didn’t deserve. Jack cocks a brow, noting his uneasiness. “Jesse? Is that okay?”
Jesse snaps back to look at Jack, his face heating up in embarrassment as everyone’s attention focuses on him. Thoughts flood him and he nods quickly.
“Yes! Yes , it is I— I’m sorry.” Jesse lets out an awkward laugh as he steps back a bit. He looks back at the record player, lingering for a moment before he lets out another nervous laugh. “I-I just feel bad. I don’t— haven’t— listened to any records in years! I don’t want it to just sit and collect dust…”
Jack smiles fondly, “Hey don’t worry about it Jesse, we could always—“
“Aw come on Jesse, don’t be so modest!” Axel interrupts, bringing the attention to himself. He’s sat beside the record player on the ground with another box in his lap, one Jesse recognizes. His hair stands on end at the sight of the old thing. Nothing special exactly about it, as it’s just a battered and stained old wicker box. But it’s contents...
“ Where did you—?”
“You’ve got a handful of old disks in here! Like uhhh…” He reaches in and plucks a random cover out, reading the title and squinting a bit. “‘ Cat’ …” He blinks in dumbfoundment. Jesse winces. Axel continues, “That’s an odd name. Whatever, though!” Axel shrugs and chuckles. Jesse clenches his fists at his sides, taking a deep breath in through his nose. He speaks as calmly as he can, but he’s too quiet.
“Axel. Please just put those back—“
“Is there like, a ‘Dog’ one to go with it or something? Heh! Petra, Olivia, come check these out.” He smiles at his friends, waving them over and not noticing Jesse. Neither pick up on Jesse’s discomfort and get a bit closer, Olivia crouches down herself with a smile and Petra ghosts Axel’s side.
The others have grown interested in the conversation, watching things play out from afar. Ivor absentmindedly takes a few steps forward. He and Jack share a mutual look of uncertainty. Lukas steps up again, noting the tension in Jesse’s frame. Especially with the conversation they just had.
“Hey guys, maybe we should just let Jesse—“
“Oh relax Lukas, it’s just some music! Jesse won’t mind us finding a good selection!” Axel waves him off and Lukas bites his lip as he glances at Jesse, whose eyes have narrowed. Jesse takes another breath, raising his voice to be more audible. There’s a slight tremble in it, clearer now that he’s louder.
“Axel, please, I would appreciate—“
“If I put together a sweet mixtape for you? Already on it my man!”
“No if you would just—“
“Hey man I get it, you’re stressed! Let me handle that, some tunes can always help put that edge at ease!” He makes the gesture of a small wave with his hand, smiling nonchalantly. Jesse starts stepping closer and Petra and Olivia have begun picking up on the tension surrounding him. They share a glance and let go of the covers they had been looking over, beginning to back off a bit.
“Axel, just let me—“
“Jesse, relax, I won’t break ‘em or nothin’!” He chuckles a bit, teasing him.
“Maybe if you would LET ME SPEAK and quit pawing around in my things , I COULD!” Jesse snaps, snatching the one disk right out of Axel’s hands. He slams it back in the box, making Axel jump and scoot back as Jesse throws all the records back in and slams the box shut. “I said to leave them alone. ” He hisses, voice dangerously low as he shoots a glare at Axel before picking up the box and carrying it away from him, not really having a spot to place it in mind. Just as long as he can get those things away.
Axel, Olivia, Petra and the others can only really look at each other in shock. Olivia breaks the silence.
“Woah… Jesse, hey, we didn’t—“
“ Leave it.” He frowns as he tries making his way out of the room. Lukas however has other plans. He steps in front of Jesse, blocking his path. Jesse sighs, not looking up to meet his gaze. He tries stepping around Lukas, only to find his movements mirrored by him. He tries again. He’s blocked again. Another try. Blocked again with a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. Frustration builds as he snaps up at him. “ For God’s sake Lukas! Let me pass! What’s your problem?!”
“Jesse, hey, I just feel like this is something we should talk about... ”
Jesse takes a step back, blustering,. “ It doesn’t matter. Now let me pass. ”
“Don’t you think we deserve an explanation at least? I mean,” Lukas huffs in disbelief, “We’re not mind-readers, Jesse, and this kind of anger isn’t like you.”
Jesse opens his mouth to argue but Olivia cuts him off, albeit nervously, “Lukas is right, Jesse… You can’t just blow up like that and then say it doesn’t matter. Is something wrong? What’s eating at you…?” Olivia stares at his back, brows wrinkled in concern.
“ Nothing! Nothing is eating at me—!”
“Jess, we can’t help you if we don’t even know what’s wrong .” Petra adds, unafraid to cut in as usual. Jesse clenches his jaw stubbornly, almost squirming under her gaze, “We’re all your friends here, why are you hiding things?” She speaks a little softer and leans forward.
Jesse doesn’t look back at her, hell he doesn’t lock eyes with anyone. He just keeps his gaze locked on the box in his hands as he gets some space from Lukas, backing up. His grip tightens as he’s barraged by questions and his head starts to pound. From the frying pan into the fryer.
“... Yeah man,” Axel gets his voice back finally, and gently tries pushing with the others, “and I’m not tryin’ to press my luck or anything but like… After Romeo we promised— no more secrets. ”
“This is different!” Jesse snaps, his voice cracking towards the end as he swings around to face them. For the first time they can really see the emotion flooding him as the tears begin to slip down his face. He doesn’t want to talk about this, to think about this, he just wants this done. He starts huffing as he tries getting his words out, tears and mucus making it hard as that tight lump in his throat forms. “It’s different … It’s just different, I—... ” He loses his words and just scrunches up his face and shakes his head, sniffling as he moves out of the center of everything to go set the damn thing down, suddenly feeling its weight drag him down.
Everyone watches in silence as Jesse slams the box down on a counter nearby. They wait for him to turn and say something. Do something. But he doesn’t. He stands there and leans on the box for support, rubbing his eyes and trying to get a hold on himself and finding nothing but frustration when he doesn’t.
Out of the corners of his eyes he sees movement. Everyone sharing concerned glances, staring at him disturbed and tense. Heat rushes to his cheeks just at the thought of it—he’s humiliating himself like this and yet he can’t seem to reel anything in. He hears the telltale sound of Ivor’s boots moving forward but they stop short with some other shuffling. Another set of heavy footsteps gently pad forward, and it’s Jack’s voice that cuts through the silence.
“Jesse, how are these disks different…? Can you tell us?” His voice is gentle, and Jesse figures the man deserves an award for his patience right then and there.
Jesse audibly sucks in a breath as he strains to hear Jack over his own pounding heartbeat and sniffling. Right off the bat he wants to bite back that they’re not different, that they’re not special and there’s nothing to talk about. But like that would do him any good. He hesitates, actually pausing for a beat. He has to consider it. The tension surrounding him could be cut with a knife in the meantime.
Eventually, all he can manage to do is simply sniffle and shake his head. Behind him, he hears Jack let out a sigh that almost sounds disappointed. Or perhaps unnerved is a better word? He pays it no more mind however, merely turning back inwards in an attempt to just keep his own emotions in check. Just looking at the battered old wicker sends wave after wave of grief crashing through him. His lips tremble and he buries his face in his hands, doing everything he can to hold it in.
“Alright… Let’s give him some space now, alright everybody?” Jack says, though he doesn’t exactly hear anyone move. Not that they were close to begin with. Though with that, a few held breaths are released and, although there’s some brief hesitation, people start moving around again. Hell, the dull murmur of side-conversations begin picking up. There’s a brief twang of anxiety that shoots through him, figuring they’re talking about how ridiculous he must be, but he stamps it out. They’re just trying to make things seem as casual as they can. He still feels their stares, though.
“Hey tough guy…” Jack murmurs as he slowly approaches him. He briefly shoots a glance his way, despite hearing him he’s still surprised to see him so close already. Once at his side the man crouches down, looking up to him as he speaks. It’s petty, but he can’t help but be frustrated somewhat when Jack catches his eye as he just tries to keep his gaze trained downwards.
The man offers up a small smile. Jesse merely sniffles in response, only gracing him with a glance out of the corner of his eye before dragging his gaze off to the side. Mistake, because with his head raised everyone can see his state so much more clearly. He catches Olivia’s concerned gaze and his breath catches in his throat. Frustrated, he locks his hands together tightly and drops it back down. Back into Jack’s view.
Jesse shakes his head and drops it into his hands, blacking out everything around him and just gripping his bangs tightly. His nails dig into his palms, knuckles paling at the strength of his grip.
“Hey now, don’t be drawing blood… None of that, now…” Jack murmurs, lightly tapping Jesse’s wrist. He flinches and shoots the man a glare that he immediately regrets. It must be obvious how quickly he cycles through emotions and Jack remains fixed in place, unfazed and patient. Jesse begrudgingly obliges, clasping his hands together again and just sucking in some deep breaths as he wills himself not to cry. Not to lose his composure— as if he hasn’t lost it already. He squints his eyes and fidgets as they sting and his vision blurs. He keeps his jaw clenched tight and the air hisses in and out with a shake as he desperately tries to swallow that lump in his throat. It just ends up hurting more, making his eyes blur more, making his lips tremble more. It’s a losing battle and he feels utterly pathetic because of it.
Jack blows out a soft sigh, “You’ve been holding in something big for a long time, haven’t you, Jesse…?”
Jesse shuts his eyes tight and bites down on his lip, grimacing at his words. He’d very much like to keep it that way. It won’t do anything but cause trouble to get out. It’s not like they could do anything anyways. Nothing good could come out of it. That’s what he tells himself, anything just to keep it inside. He’s got a new life now, nothing left tying him down. He just needs them to allow him to cut the cord—that’s all he needs. But as Jack presses a gentle hand to his hand, he knows that they’ll never allow him that. They know better than his desperate scrambling.
“ It’ll be okay, Jesse…” Jack says, but in his ears a different voice echoes. It breaks his fragile walls. A grief-riddled cry rips out of his throat as his shaky knees finally give out beneath him and he collapses to the ground. The voice echoes in his ears. Anger mixes with the grief, swirling in his veins as he clenches his fists and bites down hard on his lip, drawing blood in the process. There’s a few gasps around the room quickly followed by shuffling that stops abruptly and he eventually just feels Jack’s hand just hovering over him unsurely. The man is completely sitting down at his side now and Jesse feels foolish just thinking about it. He shakes his head, grimacing.
“ ‘M sorry… ‘m sorry…” is all he manages to croak out before clamping a hand over his mouth, holding himself up with the other as his whole frame shakes. The memories flash before his eyes against his will. Bittersweet sounds, sights, and smiles forcing his way back into his mind before twisting and turning into the things of his nightmares. Familiar in the worst way. Jack’s hand finally makes contact with his back, rubbing it gently and silently for a minute as he rides out the waves of the memories.
“Nothin’ to be sorry for… You don’t gotta be perfect for us… You certainly don’t gotta hold back your tears. But I understand…” Jack says and his words cut deep into his chest, giving him at least a little ground. That’s right… Jack knows. Jack really knows… Instead of the old painful memories buzzing in his mind anew, he remembers back to the Sea Temple when their places were swapped. His heartbeat slows just a little in his ears as he does. A calloused hand clamps down atop of his own in the meantime. The kind touch brings with it another flood over overwhelming emotion and he chokes out another sob.
“You know you’re safe here, right Jesse…?” He asks gently, “I mean, you’re in pretty fantastic company if I do say so myself.”
Jesse hears him but it takes another minute for the words to process in his mind through the haze. He struggles to try and reel himself in enough to even communicate again. He doesn’t need to have his full faculties to know all eyes are on him as they wait to see if he even feels safe. Does he? As he asks himself that, everything keeping him panicked flashes through his mind again and he almost wants to shake his head.
But that’s not the question he’s asked, and he’s not there anymore. He’s here, and he’s with his friends who’ve kept him safe and alive for years. Thickly swallowing, Jesse manages a nod and can practically feel the relief that washes through the room. Jack gives his hand a reassuring squeeze and he can see him nodding out of the corner of his eyes. Or rather, his blurry blob nodding.
“Do you trust us, Jess?” He asks.
Jesse nods again, sniffling loudly but just allowing the tears to freely run down his cheeks now. There’s nothing he can do to stop them at this point and he’s running out of the energy to keep trying fast.
“ One more question then…” Jack mumbles and Jesse feels him grip his hand even tighter. Meekly, he peeks up at the man through his hair. Jack nods slightly and sucks in a breath and Jesse can finally see just how deeply the worry is etched into him. Guilt wells up in him at the sight, but Jack continues anyways, “ Will you let us help you?”
Jesse hesitates. He grimaces, the idea of it making his stomach churn even further. He doesn’t want them getting mixed up in his mess. And yet… Well, he certainly knows them all well enough by now. They’re gonna want to fix this for him regardless of what he says and pushes, it’s just how they are. He meets Jack’s gaze again and, though reserved, finally graces him another nod. Jack smiles warmly and lets out an anxious laugh, the tension dissipating from him. He just keeps nodding and claps Jesse’s hand.
“ Alright!” He says, that nervous chuckle still sneaking into his words. He smiles though and sits back, opening his arms wide, “Now c’mon and bring it in. I know you’re a real hugger.”
Jesse lets out another little cry at that but takes him up with little hesitation. He darts into the man’s arms and he hears Jack grunt as he rocks back momentarily. He probably came in with a little too much force if the coughing Jack does like the wind was knocked out of him says anything, but he can’t find it in him to worry. Jack just chuckles warmly and squeezes his arms around him tight and the classic bear hugs he loves—it’s perfect right now and Jesse just tightens his grip on the back of his shirt. As he buries his face in the man’s shoulder, the warmth floods him, but just when he thinks he can’t help anymore, Jack speaks up again.
The man waves his arm, gesturing the others forward, “C’mon ya saps, this kid needs some good old fashioned TLC!”
Jesse blurts out a laugh at the sound of that between his cries. He hears some quick shuffling and quickly there’s another set of arms wrapping around him. He shifts himself up some to see who it is and meets the eyes of Lukas who smiles warmly at him.
“We’ve got you, Jesse… You dork.” He lets out a somewhat tense sigh at that but chuckles despite it and Jesse laughs again. He rolls his lips and for the first time in a bit he manages to croak something substantial out.
“I’m— I’m sorry for lying to you… A-And,” He swallows and shifts to look back at Axel, “I— I’m sorry for snapping at you. You didn’t— I didn’t…” He trails off, mumbling into his arm as his nerves swell again. With the haze in his head slowly dissipating, embarrassment rushes in to replace it. He really was acting like a total fool. Axel cuts off his stammering with a sad smile.
“Aw man… C’mon, Jesse, I can’t stay mad at you—you know that. Especially not with somethin’ makin’ you all blubbery like this…” He mumbles as he plops down by the small group forming and quickly wraps the three in a big hug. Lukas nearly yelps at the sudden grip while Jack laughs. A smile breaks on Jesse’s face and the laughing truly begins drowning out the crying. Olivia rushes in and mirrors Axel from the other side with a beaming smile—though she was probably just getting a kick out of Lukas’ less than graceful shock.
“Hey now! There’s the shortie we know!” Petra grins. Jesse snorts and shoots her a look but is quickly cut off by her reaching down and messing up his hair. He gasps and immediately shoots a hand out and snatches her bandanna, making her shriek, “ Why you little—!”
Jack’s immediate and boisterous laughter stops it from escalating further and Jesse just stares up at her with a lopsided grin as he fiddles with her bandanna. Sure he still has red eyes, tears running down his face, and probably some snot hanging out his nose, but as Petra shakes her finger at him with her hair all frizzed out at the top, it all feels normal again for a moment.
“Oh you are so in for it. I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but I’m so gonna get you back for this.”
Jesse sputters, wiping his eyes briefly with her bandanna for added measure as he widens his grin, “I’d— I’d be offended if you didn’t!” He forces out a laugh as he holds out her tear-stained bandanna for her. She rolls her eyes but snatches it back with a smirk. They laugh, the familiar light hearted atmosphere finally returning to the room.
Ivor gives Jesse a tense smile from where he stands, obviously still conflicted about something. Jesse manages a smile back, but his stomach churns at his look. He squints a little at the man, the question obviously flashing in his eyes. With that, Ivor lets out a sigh and hesitates and carefully moves over to the wicker box on the counter. He doesn’t touch it but simply drags Jesse’s attention back to it.
“I truly hate to be the villain here…” He starts, voice low, “but I still think an explanation is in order , Jesse…” He crosses his arms and waits. Petra immediately goes off.
“Ivor for real !? Now?!”
“Considering the emotional mess already occurring, I simply think it’d be easier to lay everything on the table now before someone gets the chance to put their walls back up.” He says, eyeing Jesse who just grimaces slightly. He had him there though, and he shrinks under his gaze because of it.
“ Oh for God’s sake.” Lukas huffs and Axel rolls his eyes. Jesse simply looks down as he thinks about it. After a moment, he nervously looks back to Jack. The man simply shrugs in response, however, not exactly making this decision any easier for him. Not that he should’ve expected anything less, frankly.
“I can’t control your choice. Whatever you feel comfortable with.”
He finally lets go of the man and sits back against Lukas, thinking for a few minutes while the others go back and forth with Ivor. He tunes them out easily—a skill he’s learned with time. He looks up at the wicker box on the counter blankly, lingering on it.
Eventually he comes to a decision.
He leans his head back, looking upside down at Lukas who lets out a curt chuckle as he moves Jesse’s hair out of his face.
“Lukas?” He whispers up to his friend.
“Mhm?”
“The book I had earlier... The leather one with the strap. Can you go grab it for me?”
Lukas frowns, confused. “Are you sure—“
“Please.”
He hesitates but nods, “Of course, sit tight and I’ll be back.” He pats Jesse’s arm and slips out of the pile on the ground, bouncing to his feet. Petra blinks.
“Where’s he—“
“Don’t worry about it.” Jesse sniffles through his assurance and takes a deep shaky breath, steadying himself. “ We’re doin’ this…” He pushes himself off the ground and shuffles over to the countertop. Ivor steps aside, trying not to step on anyone else in the meantime. Jesse grabs the basket once more and walks over by the record player in the middle of the room. He gestures for everyone to sit down around him, and everyone starts shuffling over to sit around him in a circle. Magnus and Gabe give Jesse some pats on the back as they make their way over to sit down. Harper hunches down next to Ivor who kneels in an outer rim of the circle. Olivia and Axel sit by the record player, Petra sitting by Olivia and Jack by Jesse.
He stares at the box in silence for a while, gripping the sides with sweaty hands.
“Deep breaths Jesse. You must always be calm before a fight, no matter the type.” Gabriel’s voice snaps him out of his trance-like stance. He nods in thanks before taking some deep breaths and opening up the box. He pulls out the first record sleeve then stares at it in silence, nostalgia washing over him so quickly he has to start batting at his eyes again.
“Shit, sorry… God this is ridiculous...” He tries laughing it off but it dies quickly. Lukas returns to his side, sitting down and placing the journal beside him. “Thank you, Lukas…” He passes the disk to Jack and nods at him, “Pass it around or something. These things haven’t seen the light of day in 16 years.” He pauses then nods, just shoving the words out before he can stop himself anymore, “My father... He loved sharing his music…” He picks up another record sleeve and stares at it for a good minute or two before passing it to Lukas.
“Your father made these?” Soren, who had quietly joined the group, is the one who pipes up this time. Jesse is caught off guard by him, he had honestly forgotten Soren was here . Talk about embarrassing…
“Yeah… My dad liked making music as a hobby. At least, it was his hobby when he wasn’t out adventuring.” He huffs a bit with a smile as he pulls out another disk. He runs his hands over the cracking cover art, taking in every little detail. Just like how he remembered them. “I… I used to listen to these all the time when I was young…”
Axel and Olivia snap to attention at that. A mix of awe and dread fill their eyes. They know how he’s avoided this topic like the plague. This is probably the most information about his childhood they’ve gotten in all their years together. At least, details that truly mattered. With the grey area of it seeming to get some clarity, they lean forward in anticipation and listen closely.
“Growing up it was just me, my dog, my uncle and my father… My uncle was in and out doing his own things. I couldn’t tell ya what. But my dad was always up to something around the house.” He smiles fondly and slips the record out of its cover, admiring it. “He always had at least one of these playing, because I was scared of silence when I was young.”
“Scared of silence?” Petra raises a brow.
“And the dark. That’s when the worst things happen you know?” He simply shrugs before passing that record to her. He looks through the box while he speaks. “My father... H-He was…” He shakes his head unable to stop the smile spreading across his face as he speaks, “ He was the best…! My hero! He always said he would have done anything for me, and frankly I always knew without a doubt that was the truth.”
Lukas tentatively picks the journal beside him back up. He looks at Jesse for permission to open it. Jesse hesitates, staring at it. Seeing how conflicted he is, Lukas opts to simply set it in Jesse’s lap.
“I won’t touch it until you’re comfortable with me doing so.”
“I just… I want to read them first…” He picks it up and turns it over in his hands. “My dad had dozens of journals that he filled up… I remember him scribbling away in them night after night.” He smiles and laughs, “From my room, when I peeked out of my door I would be able to see my father’s desk and cup of quills. As a kid, I was always able to tell if he was still awake or not depending on if that feather was in his cup or not. Eventually, of course, he caught onto my system. One time, when I tried sneaking out of my room, he surprised me and swung me up into the air. He spun around with me a few times on his shoulders and loved on me before he actually punished me for sneaking sweets after my bedtime.” He snickers and a chorus of chuckles rings out. “He never liked punishing me, but since it was just him he had to.” He shrugs.
“This is so trippy… I honestly never thought you like, had a dad!”
“ Axel!” Olivia and Petra hiss simultaneously, earning him a swift punch in the arm.
“Ow! Cool it! You didn’t let me finish! I never thought you had a dad, nonetheless one that sounds so cool, man. You said he liked adventuring on top?”
Jesse nods, “Yeah, he and my uncle used to go out all the time when they were young. But then my uncle…” He frowns, looking down and picking at his fingernails.
“Adventuring got the best of him…” Ivor finishes Jesse’s thought, and Jesse nods.
“Yeah… It wasn’t the same without him and I’m sure it definitely got to my dad but, on surface level I couldn’t tell. Too young to really pick up on that stuff, y’know?”
“How old were you when your uncle died?”
Jesse blows some hair out of his face, rubbing his forehead as he digs through the memories. This is tiring. Every part of it.
“I think… Six-ish?”
A string of sighs and curses blow through the group. Jesse nods solemnly.
“ Yeah… He was a great uncle, too. His name was Brian I think… There was somethin’ interesting about his name if I remember right. It was like, hyphenated. Couldn’t tell you his second first name though.” He shakes his head, “Just… Too young to remember everything. Especially since I just ignored it for ages… I was ten when stuff with my pop ...” He blows out a breath, trailing off as he stares off into nothing in particular.
“Jess?” Lukas prods him quietly, two silent questions rolling off of his tongue with one simple word, both of concern and curiosity. Jesse visibly recoils, shutting his eyes tight, fists tightening in sync. This was the question he hated. The one he’s avoided. The one that haunts him endlessly.
What happened to your father?
A chorus of memories play through his head in a flash. Everything he saw and heard and more importantly, all the things he didn’t. He eventually gets the strength to find a reply and sucks in a deep breath. He looks back at Lukas sadly.
“ I can’t answer that right now.” He drops his gaze and stares blankly at the floor, shaking his head. Jack leans forward and pats him on the back.
“We understand Jesse, you’ve already said enough. Thank you for—“
“That’s not—” Jesse shuts his eyes tight and sighs in a mix of frustration and resignation, “That’s not what I meant.”
There’s a pause, everyone shares confused glances. He sighs.
“I can’t say because I know about as much as you all do about my father’s disappearance.” He glances around at the faces of the small crowd, everyone instinctively leaning in, intrigued. Jesse takes a deep breath.
“ My Father disappeared mysteriously when I was a kid. Practically gone with the wind and only a few weird breadcrumbs left in his wake. Let me tell you what I know.”
Chapter 4: Father's Day
Summary:
#Throwback Thursday as Jesse introduces some fonder memories of his father and home life.
Notes:
Writing this chapter gave me cavities because it was so sweet. I love wholesome family times guys. My HEART--
EDIT 7/28/21: not a whole lot to edit here surprisingly!! This chapter is still cavity inducingly sweet and MAN,,, this family 🥺🥺
EDIT 5/25/23: some minor conversational tweaks! also just some grammatical fixes :3
Chapter Text
“Strong—… A strong… what?”
“A Stronghold, Jess.” His father chuckles as he continues making breakfast. Jesse frowns, kicking his legs as he sits at the high counter. It’s a lovely morning, sun streaming into the cozy home and dancing across the warm wood floors. A cabin in the forest, a perfect setting for an easy life.
“What’s that?” He asks, getting antsy as he wants to learn more. Knowing his son, it’s just what he expected—how could he not? He just dropped the fact that he found this super cool and rare place underground! Jesse has to know more and he has to know everything. His father however takes his sweet time as he hums to himself. He throws a few more things into the pan on the oven and Jesse lets out an exasperated sigh from where he sits, “ Daaaaaaad!”
“Hang on, son!” He holds one hand up causing Jesse to sink back in his chair and stare at the ceiling impatiently. Patience. Gotta have patience. It isn’t Jesse’s strong suit though. Eventually his father turns around to face him and Jesse perks up once more. The bearded man’s soft blue eyes shimmer with glee. “Real quick, wanna see something cool?”
This seemingly piques Jesse’s interest and easily distracts him from the previous topic and conversation. His father nods at the frying pan in his hands with a grin and Jesse stares at it curiously. He nods back, excited to see what his dad’s gonna do.
“ Alright, Let’s see if your old man can still flip these things over…” He grins and winks at Jesse, garnering a giggle from the young boy. A curious whine comes from their dog, a big white and grey husky type mix as he makes his way over to the man’s feet. He sits and stares up at him, eyeing the frying pan in his hands. His father laughs, “ No way you’re getting extra bud, I’m gonna stick this!” He waves his elbow at his old dog, which gives him an unbelieving huff. “Oh ye of little faith…” He rolls his eyes then grins again as he locks eyes with his son, “ Alright, here we go!”
He grips the frying pan with both hands, playing up the scene, making Jesse grin and giggle. He stands with his legs shoulder width apart and shakes the pan. He nods at Jesse who starts tapping the countertop for a makeshift drumroll. His father shakes the pan, grinning ear from ear before he bites his lip and flings up the food. It flips a good 2 or 3 times before he snatches it back near flawlessly. The moment it settles, he throws a fist in the air and cheers. Jesse throws up both his arms in sync and they both scream.
“WOOOOOOOO!”
“ You did it! ” Jesse squeals, nearly pulling himself onto the counter as he strains to eye the inside of the pan. His father leans it over and shows off his work with pride. He snickers as he pulls it back, casually setting it back on the stove for a few minutes. “ Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week.” He gives a slight bow and Jesse claps. He smiles warmly at his son. It’s mornings like this that he loves so deeply. Sun’s out, it’s warm and he’s home and content with his family. His son, his dog and—
Oh. Right. He masks the strained breath he sucks in as he recalls once more that their little unit is one person shorter. Ever shrinking, it seems. Four years have come and gone and yet he still expects to see his brother when looking over his shoulder. Loss is a funny thing, and one he’s never been sure how to properly deal with. It was already difficult enough when their parents were lost early—Jesse didn’t even get to meet them. But even through that, he always at least had his twin right by his side to get through it. Facing the world with someone every day for over 30 years, it’s utterly unfathomable when they’re gone in the blink of an eye. He can’t help but overcompensate still with the amounts of food he gets, the things he buys, and simply how he plans. How could he not?
“Dad...?” His son’s soft voice pulls him out of his thoughts. The little light of his life. If not for Jesse, he wouldn’t know where he’d be. He lights up again.
“I’m fine Jesse, I’m sorry if I worried you for a second there.”
“Is that strong-hole thing worrying you...? Is it dangerous?” Jesse’s voice cracks a little bit at the end. His father chuckles warmly, his deep voice soothing Jesse’s frayed nerves.
“Nah. Strongholds,” He emphasizes the pronunciation, “—have been abandoned for years, Jess. Nothing but me and the Earth down there. Maybe some treasure if I get really lucky.” He leans over the counter and grabs Jesse’s hands, shaking them and making him smile. He doesn’t like lying to his son, but he can’t have him worrying to death either. Besides, it's technically not a lie. “Even so, all I’m planning on doing down there is simply lighting the place up! Which, knowing how monsters work…” He trails off, eyeing his son who proudly continues.
“Makes things even safer!”
“Atta boy!” He reaches up and ruffles Jesse’s hair, causing him to squeal and try to shove his hand away.
“Nooooo!!! Stoooooop! I can’t see!”
“ Bah! You’re fine!” He snickers and finishes by pushing his boy’s hair out of his face. His hand lingers as he spots the scar over his son’s eye, standing out against all of his freckles. Still relatively new. His own smile falters just briefly enough for Jesse to notice. Jesse picks at his fingernails, looking down suddenly. He frowns, “Hey… Come on now, kiddo. It’s healing well y'know!”
“It looks stupid…”
“ What?” He takes an incredulous tone. “What do you mean?”
“What I said.” He shrugs, not looking up at him and his father lets out a sigh. He lets go of Jesse briefly and stands up straight. Blue eyes glance back to the food on the stove, then back at his son. His son’s priority. Always priority. He clicks off the oven real quick then hurries around the little island. Once on the other side he pulls out another stool and sits down next to his son, facing him. Jesse, knowing what’s coming, begrudgingly turns in his seat as well but doesn’t look up quite yet. His father settles and hunches down a bit, trying to meet his son’s gaze.
“Now, why do you say that Jesse...?”
Jesse shrugs again, making a noise akin to ‘I dunno’. His father huffs a bit in amusement before taking his hands.
“ Look at me, Jesse.”
He peeks up at his father, who locks eye contact and gets a little closer for emphasis. Giving his hands a squeeze, he starts.
“Scars are nothing to be ashamed of.” He pauses letting the initial thought sink in before he puffs his cheeks, thinking of how to phrase things. “I see them, if anything, as reminders that we’re human. I have ‘em, your uncle has—” Past Tense. “—had them, everyone has them Jesse, and you’re going to get more as time goes on... The memories associated with some will hurt, yes. And they will sometimes bring up those bad memories, yes. But trying to bottle that up and hide it?” He shakes his head, “All that will do is hurt yourself even more. Do you understand…?”
“Yes Dad…” He mumbles. His father nods. He smiles and uses a hand to push back Jesse’s messy curls again.
“‘Sides… I think it looks pretty cool .” He grins and a smile tugs at the corners of Jesse’s mouth. He hesitates then speaks up quietly.
“ For real?”
“Mhm! And,” He leans in, a sly look dancing across his face as he glances side to side, as if checking to make sure no one else was listening. “Don’t tell your father I said this,” He winks playfully, making Jesse light up as he knows what that phrase is always followed by, “—but when you’re older? That scar will make you look Bad. Ass.” He grins and Jesse squeals, bursting into laughter and pushing his father back.
“ YOU’RE my father, silly! Now you gotta get in trouble for cursing!”
“ Nuh-uh!”
“Yeah-huh!”
He laughs and snags Jesse from his seat and pulls him into a tight hug. Jesse goes into a laughing fit and starts flailing as he tries slipping out of his dad’s grip. His father in turn holds him tight and eventually pulls him close to give him a fat kiss on the forehead. Jesse recoils and screams as his father quickly sets him back in his seat, hops up and runs out of his son’s reach with a grin.
“EUGH! DAD! That was GROSS!” Jesse feverishly wipes at his forehead, trying to get rid of any kiss remnant left over. His father fake-pouts as he scoops out breakfast.
“Awww… You don’t love me Jess? I’m hurt.”
“You’re ridiculous Dad.” He snickers and his father grins.
“When I want to be! Now come on, it’s about time we actually eat some food.” He slides a plate across the counter to Jesse and grabs himself one. Their dog trots over, sitting down next to Jesse’s seat and looking up at him expectantly. Jesse glances down at him with a mouthful. His father watches him curiously and just as Jesse turns to ask his dad something, he holds up a finger. Jesse lets out a sigh through his nose as he rolls his eyes. He finishes chewing, swallows, then speaks, loudly.
“Dad, can I give Ziggy just a little piece?!”
His father blinks long, brows raised before he lets out a breath and laughs.
“If you promise not to blow my eardrums out, then yes.”
“COOL!”
“Volume.”
“cool…!” He whispers loudly before tossing Ziggy a piece.
~~~~~
“Have you been to strongholds before, Dad?” Jesse looks up at his father as they walk through the forest path his father helped pave. The mossy cobblestones beneath them shimmer and stand out against the green grass in the sun. It’s spring, and everything around them is dancing with life. The leaves filter the sunlight just right, making the sun almost sparkle as it cuts in and out of sight. His dad purses his lips as he slowly nods.
“Yeah a few times…”
“Only a few…?”
He smiles and chuckles a bit as he glances down at his son, “Like I said earlier Jess, they’re rare. Remnants of an old world made by people that have been lost to time.”
“Did people live down there??”
“Maybe—”
“Like mole-people?!”
His father laughs and Jesse just stares up at him, 100% serious. Mole people were a concern considering what his uncle would always tell him. And he certainly didn’t want his father involved with them! His father shifts the conversation in a more logical direction, or at least as far away as his brother’s old wives tales he could get them.
“ Or maybe those strongholds were made to protect people a long, long time ago.”
“How does that work? Aren’t there like… Monsters all over down there…?”
He shrugs, “The world works in mysterious ways, Jesse. It wasn’t always filled with monsters whenever the sun went down—there was once a time when the dark was peaceful both above and below ground. For the most part, anyways.”
“How does that work? Why’d it change?”
“That’s a good question I don’t know the true answer to... There are lots of theories as to what impacted it—a virus, magic, gods if you’d like to believe such a thing! But one thing you will come to discover as time goes on is that the land around us is just as alive as you and me. Everything has some sort of life with its own highs and lows, sentient or not. Furthermore, everything has its own unique journeys.” He smiles down at his skeptical little boy, “Just like you and me.”
“... That sounds really corny.”
“ Eh. Might as well take a shot at it. You’ll learn more about epidemiology later.”
“Epi-what-ies?”
“Exactly.” He chuckles and pats Jesse on the back. Jesse pauses walking briefly to think things over. He’s nudged forward by a snout and turns around to find Ziggy. He smiles and ruffles the old dog’s fur with a smile, his purple collar jingling. He barks and slips out of Jesse’s grip, running ahead with Jesse running after. They pass by Jesse’s father and play chase as the small group of three makes their way down the path. Jesse’s father smiles as he watches his family play. Ziggy at one point darts a bit off of the path to grab a stick. He shakes it around before running back at Jesse. Jesse laughs and spins around as he tries hopping in front of the large dog to grab his stick. He misses, but tries again.
And again.
And again until Ziggy darts off towards his father. Jesse stands there and stares, huffing and puffing as he watches the dog simply trot up and push the stick into his father’s hand.
“Aw, why'd he give it to you?”
“Simple! This old coot knows that your old man has a good throw.” He tosses the stick in his hand before hopping to a sudden stop, Ziggy hunching down and getting ready to run at the same time. His tail whips wildly back and forth as he eyes the stick. He grins as he winds up. “Alright old boy… Let’s… GO !” He hurls the stick further down the path in a well practiced throw, Ziggy immediately darting off. Jesse jumps out of his path as he grins. His father continues walking and soon catches up to Jesse.
“Dad? How much further?”
“We’ll get there soon, Jesse. The cave entrance that leads to the stronghold itself is remarkably close. Almost feels too good to be true.” He smiles brightly down at his son, who’s still a little bit unsure.
“Why are you taking me if it’s still gonna be dark in there...?”
“I’m only taking you to the entrance, Jesse.” He suddenly takes on a stern tone. “I don’t want you going in there no matter what happens, do you understand me?”
“Then why am I—”
“ Jesse.” He stops and gives his son a stern look. Jesse sighs and nods.
“I understand, Dad… But I don’t get why you’re taking me with you if I’m not even allowed in.” He pouts, obviously frustrated to be denied another adventure by his father. His dad sighs.
Now he has to come up with an answer. ‘Oh I want you to know where to look if something goes wrong!’ He can’t just say that to his ten year old. Hell, Jesse’s asking a pretty good question. Why is he taking Jesse with him? He certainly isn’t planning on traveling to the End or something. Not when Jesse still needs him. All he’s planning on doing is making the system it’s in brighter and generally safer. An in and out job. So why is he taking the extra step to show Jesse? He concludes that he didn’t really think of a reason besides gut instinct.
Brushing off the ominous fact that this was what his gut told him to do, he shrugs. “Well, since it’s not that far, I might as well just show you just how close I’ll really be. Help ease your fears. I know your Uncle probably intimidated you with all his creepy cave stories so maybe showing you that I’m within an hour’s walking distance could help you to not worry.” He smiles, brushing a hand through his son’s hair. “Plus… It’ll give you something to look forward to.” He winks and Jesse lights up.
“ Look forward to… You mean…”
“When you’re old enough, yes. I think that cave system would be a good one to have your first adventure in. Just you and me kiddo, like you’ve always talked about.”
“For real?! No joke??”
“Jesse, do I ever break a promise?” He smiles as his son becomes ecstatic. Jesse starts jumping excitedly in place, holding his head as he bounces around and cheers aimlessly. Ziggy finally returns, passing by and eyeing Jesse oddly before continuing to his father. Ziggy drops the stick in the hand of Jesse’s dad before trotting back off. The man huffs and rolls his eyes at his dog before stuffing the stick in a side pocket on his bag. Typical Ziggy.
Jesse hurries back over, taking his father’s hand gleefully. He’s still bouncing with excitement, one could almost swear his freckles were bouncing around with him. He swings his arm with his father as they walk, eventually looking back up.
“How long do I have to wait?”
“Tragically, a few more years at least Jess.”
“What!? Didn’t you start adventuring when you were younger than me?”
His father laughs, a warm sound. He shakes his head. “Not in the way you’re thinking Jess. The most your uncle and I did around your age was play with fire in the fields.”
Jesse looks up at his father with an unbelieving frown. His father clicks his tongue.
“Okay, maybe we also had stolen some of our parent’s TNT. But again that was very different from what you’re expecting Jess! The type of adventures I tell you stories about are dangerous and…” He hesitates which draws his son’s attention. He lets out a sigh then crouches down to meet him at eye level. “It’s just you and me kiddo… You don’t have the extra back-up I did as a child like my brother and extended family. And if anything ever happened to you Jesse…” He can’t help but glance away briefly and shake his head as he gives his hand a squeeze. “I-I don’t know what I’d do... Your safety is always my number one priority so that’s why I just… I want to make sure you’re truly prepared for it. Physically. Mentally. Skillfully.”
“Like practicing holding and swinging the axe right…?”
He smiles and chuckles with a nod, “That’s right. Basic skills you learn now will be an essential foundation for later in your life.” He hesitates then looks at him, “I hope none of these things are overwhelming for you, son. You know you can always tell me if you change your mind about anything, or if you get nervous.” He nods and stands back up straight.
Jesse nods back up at his father, “I know, I’m not overwhelmed dad. I just wish it would all come sooner!”
His father smiles fondly and pulls him to his leg, giving him a hug from the side.
“That’s my boy.”
~~~~~
・
・
・
“What happened once you got there Jesse?” Petra’s voice pulls the young man out of his thoughts, eyes that had fogged turned sharp once more. Though it only lasts a second.
Jesse drops his head as he digs through his memories. As rude as it sounds, the memory of actually showing up at the place was so bland that he had trouble remembering the details. There wasn’t much of importance aside from looks. The mouth of the cave was relatively normal. It was flat going in as it didn’t start declining into the Earth for several meters, and was settled in the side of a mountain. Vines and grass hung down and framed the entrance and moss stuck out of the stone as the dirt gave way. Coming back to the present, Jesse simply shrugs and sucks in a breath.
“Well. My dad introduced the place to me, ruffled my hair and then told me to stay outside a moment as he went to check inside. Couldn’t tell you what he went and did, he never told me nor did he show anything off afterwards.”
“Jesse?”
“Hm?” Jesse peeks over at Gabriel.
“Could you perhaps, describe your father a bit further? Physically, I mean. So far he sounds like an excellent man…”
“He was. Let me think… He was… Around 6 foot, maybe taller. He had intense blue eyes and dark brown hair. He was darker skinned—like me—and had a beard as well. He always wore military style boots, blue jeans and his favorite color was teal. Always wore shirts of that color.” He laughs softly, “H-He and my uncle would sometimes match outfits, when I was really young they’d use that to mess with me.”
The small group chuckles.
“How’d they manage to pull that off?” Petra snorts, teasing him, “Thought you were good at recognizing people, Jesse?”
“They were twins. That uhh…” He laughs weakly, “That probably helped.”
“Ha! Twins! Fantastic! Do continue Jesse.” Gabriel beams and Jesse gives a half-hearted smile.
“I mean... There’s not much to continue from. After he finished up, we went back home and that night was… Normal. Serene. I-I remember I…” He scrunches up his face as he recollects, his mouth hanging open and waiting for his thoughts to catch up with him. “It wasn’t a nightmare that drove me out of bed again, but rather a bad feeling in my gut.” He rubs his hand over his mouth, closing his eyes and sighing. He drops his hand in frustration. “It was there for a reason. I just wish I had somehow known! I-I coulda—”
“Jesse, stop . Just, stop… You can’t blame yourself when you were just a kid. ” Lukas interrupts but Olivia butts in as well.
“Let him vent Lukas.”
“I wasn’t saying that he shouldn’t I just… I-I don’t think that kind of negativity is the next healthy step here.” Lukas sighs and places a gentle hand on Jesse’s shoulder and Jesse drags his gaze back to Lukas. He continues, “We don’t even know what happened yet, and as you said, you don’t either. I don’t think it’s right for you to blame yourself for something you don’t even completely understand…”
“Speaking of which Jesse, was seeing him that night the last time you saw him? Did he disappear from your home?” Olivia has a tense edge to her voice, concern and terror for Jesse welling up. Jesse starts shaking his head before Olivia was even finished.
“No, no. That night was fine… A fond memory, sort of a calm before the storm almost. Just me, my dad, Ziggy, and a nice fire. I fell asleep next to him on the couch, a-and I felt safe… The house was warm. Life was nice. I cherish that…” He pauses and briefly makes eye contact with everyone in the group. He shakes his head. “But no . The last time I saw him was the next morning.”
Chapter 5: Alone
Summary:
Jesse anxiously starts the long wait for his father to return.
Notes:
THIS PROBABLY COULD BE SPLIT UP INTO LIKE. 3 CHAPTERS IN AND OF ITSELF BUT. I FEEL ITS BEST TO JUST TAKE IT IN ALL AT ONCE. :)
EDIT 7/28/21: didn't have to edit much, still one of my favorite chapters 🥺EDIT 5/25/23: Okay edited a few things this time 😳 Cleaned some things up, made some conversational and descriptive tweaks, but the content's stayed the same for the most part--it'll just be much more pleasant to read <3
Chapter Text
“Dad, do you have to go so soon?” Jesse looks up to his father as he fiddles and straightens Jesse’s shirt and denim overalls absentmindedly.
It’s mid-morning, the sun’s high in the blue sky and the air is already warm. Jesse sits on the porch steps, his father crouched down before him and their dog sitting a bit behind Jesse. Today’s the day! Jesse’s dad is off to explore that stronghold! Despite Jesse loving to hear his father’s adventuring stories, he always hates having to watch him go. His father knows Jesse has fun getting the house to himself on occasion, but once the silence sets in, he hates it. That’s one reason his father made more music. To help ease the fears of his son. Speaking of which, he pauses at Jesse’s words, giving a simple warm smile.
“I won’t be gone long kiddo! Look at this this way; the earlier I get a move on, the quicker I get there, the sooner I get started aaaand …”
“The sooner you get home...” Jesse finishes his sentence half heartedly. His father sighs and gently lifts his son’s face under his chin to look at him.
“Jesse sweetheart, you know I would never let anything separate me from you.” He pauses his words to caress his boys cheeks in his hands, calloused thumbs swiping his cheeks. He smiles at him, eyes sparkling, “Not forever. I love you too much to just leave you on your own.” He hums and raises a hand to run it through his son’s curls. Jesse hesitates a second.
“ Promise?”
His father gives pause at Jesse’s insistence, nervously rubbing his fingers together as he thinks. The man does his best job to mask his concern as he glances over his son once more. Big blue eyes stare up at him, earnestness oozing from the child. Is Jesse truly that worried? He’s gone on small mining trips like this before so the boy is certainly used to them. Though, he gives pause once more and considers the last time he went somewhere truly dangerous. That day he came home without his brother. He can tell Jesse all the reassurances in the world, but the damn intuitive boy knows well enough that he’s going somewhere a bit more intense than normal. Blowing out a sigh, it only makes sense that Jesse’s so riddled with anxiety—it’s a nightmare just waiting to happen.
Shaking off his own heaviness, his father offers him another smile as he leans back on his heels. Proudly, he draws a big bold x shape right across his heart with a borderline grin just to boot.
“Cross my heart and hope to die!”
Jesse smiles a little more at that, “Or stick a thousand needles in your eye?”
His father laughs and Jesse giggles as he pops up onto his feet, swinging his arms out wide. He nods and pulls his son into a tight hug.
“ Absolutely.”
They hang tight for a good minute, Jesse clinging to his father as best as his little arms can and his dad giving him a tight squeeze, resting his head on his son’s. They sit there like that for a solid few minutes, just soaking in the comfort and warm sunshine. Jesse always loved hugs, so his father never robs him of a good long one. Especially not before he was leaving anywhere. Eventually, Jesse grows restless in his father’s arms and that’s his sign to part. Not without giving him one more tight squeeze though. Letting go, his father blows out a small sigh as he backs up. Jesse just smiles up at him, bright as ever, and he returns it on top of ruffling his hair.
“Hang tight! And no house parties.” He points at him with a smirk, winking. Jesse grins from ear to ear and looks away innocently, hands tucked behind his back as he sways on his feet. His father chuckles. “Be safe, you know the rules.”
“Sure do!”
He nods and then reaches out to Ziggy who wanders over. He pets his old dog, scratching his back, neck and behind his ears before holding his head in his hands and smiling. Ziggy’s tail wags wildly as he sits there for a moment before finally lunging towards his owner, licking his face eagerly. Jesse bursts out laughing along with his father.
“ Alright, alright down boy! I won’t be gone forever!” He pushes the big dog back and Ziggy eventually sits back down by Jesse. His father points at Ziggy, the husky’s ears popping up as he does so. “You’re in charge, Zig.”
“WHAT!?” Jesse interrupts, hurting his dad’s and Ziggy’s ears as they briefly recoil. His dad plays it off though.
“You heard me Jess.”
“But he’s… a dog!”
Ziggy snorts and headbutts Jesse’s side. Jesse doesn’t let it take his attention away from his father as he pouts. His dad merely shrugs with a smirk.
“A dog that’s older than you.”
“Gee, thanks.” Jesse rolls his eyes as he plops back down on the porch steps. He snickers and gives Jesse a kiss on the head before he finally stands up.
He’s got a teal t-shirt, a brown belt with plenty of pouches to stash his tools and trinkets in, a simple satchel, faded blue jeans, lace-up grey boots, a jacket tied around his waist, and an iron sword and pickaxe slung lazily at his sides. Travelling light for light business. He nods once more towards his dog as he digs in one of his pockets for his watch.
“Guard Jess and the house Zig, I’m trusting you.” He gets a bark in return and smiles. “ Atta boy.” Finally finding the chain, his father swings the watch around and flips it open. In the sunlight, the gaudy gold coating momentarily blinds him as it reflects. As his thumb brushes over the side, some of the cheap gold layer flakes off to reveal the dull plating underneath. But it still works like a charm and, thankfully, he’s right on schedule. Snapping it closed with a satisfied clap, he smiles down at his son once more, “Jesse, you remember what I said right?”
“3 days at most! So I shouldn’t slack off on my chores until the last minute!”
“ Smart kid.” He begins walking backwards away from the house. “Alright… You know the drill. I love you, Jess, and I’ll see you again soon.” He jabs a finger at him, “ Be safe! I don’t like worrying about you, son.” He smiles and Jesse stands up on the porch steps where he’d been sitting to better watch him go. The front of their little cottage is pleasant. Nice smooth wood, a porch swing and vines climbing the lattices with jasmine blooming and sweetening the spring air. The mossy path at the front of their house leading off into the gentle forest and nearby lake.
“You have to tell me all about the stronghold when you get back! I want to know everything!” He calls after his father who smiles and nods.
“It’s a promise!” He waves to his son and lingers a moment as their eyes lock. Jesse gives him a big wave of his own and nervous smile, but a smile nonetheless. He returns it, warmth flooding his chest as he soaks the scene in before finally turning his back to him completely. Each step away from home is one step closer to the Stronghold. To his goal. But for the meantime, at least the walk is pleasant and inviting. Far behind him, Jesse stands at the porch with Ziggy at his side and watches his father go like always—he stays as long as it takes for his silhouette to disappear into the distance.
Jesse never liked being alone, but he’s learned how to handle it. Despite that, and despite knowing better, he always gets a pit deep in his stomach watching his father leave. He never could reason why, after all, his father always comes back home.
Always.
~~~~~
The few short days come and go in ebbs and flows. Time flies at some points but in others the seconds slowly tick by like they’re hours. The first day is always the longest. The feeling of a cavity slowly opening in one’s chest takes over Jesse once he realizes he’s alone. A common feeling for only children like him. The silence takes on a different sound, almost. Sure he has Ziggy with him but he’s a different type of company.
But, knowing better than to let that get to him, Jesse decides to get a move on and start finding things to do. The first day is filled with him and Ziggy doing a wild variety of things around their home, inside and out. Flowers are picked, fish are messed with, tree branches are swung on, floors are slid across, and papers are painted on with a mix of colorful paw prints and brush strokes.
Despite never being a dog intended for Jesse, Ziggy has become a good companion for him. A big rough and tumble dog for a rough and tumble kid. And despite his eleven years, he’s certainly never lost his puppy-like energy.
The second day is less fun. First there’s the adjustment of waking up all alone. Even the small cottage feels huge when he’s the only one wandering it. Furthermore, the weather has a dramatic change of pace, typical of the time of year. Winds pick up quickly and clouds roll in. By noon, Jesse is racing around to close all of the shutters and windows, Ziggy barking behind him. The sounds of their wind chimes cut through the strong gusts, but Jesse honestly doesn’t mind the chaos—it gives him a lot to do. Once buckled down and settled in, Jesse takes up a window seat and watches what he could of the rain and wind while bundled up in his blankets. Ziggy slings himself across his lap, content to just sit down and relax for a while.
Eventually, as night comes, it gets too hard to see anything outside. With the winds earlier, Jesse had to take down their lanterns hanging on the porch. Previous experience certainly taught him that they wouldn’t last a storm like this.
He sighs and closes the blinds of the large window. He probably shouldn’t have been sitting by it in the first place, as it’s the biggest one in the house and the one that his father hasn’t exactly made storm-proof yet. No shutters, no guards, it could definitely be a hazard. But Jesse knew he’d be fine this one time, and he was right. Hopping off the couch, he starts throwing some wood and paper into the fireplace to start a fire. One of the first things his dad taught him to do. Ziggy trails him and he smiles as the fire’s easily lit. He scoots the screen back in place and smiles at the dog triumphantly, but a sudden bang of lightning spooks that attitude out of him. Both jump and look upwards in reaction as the pounding of the rain continues. Jesse lets out a sigh, hoping his father was planning on staying below ground the whole time so as not to get caught up in this mess.
The third day isn’t much better but the rain at least eases up to a manageable downpour. The lightning and thunder had lasted throughout the night, even into the wee hours of the morning. It woke Jesse up far earlier than he would’ve naturally gotten up at. He tried going back to sleep, but his nerves were already abuzz with the idea that his father should be back sometime in the evening. That’s how it normally worked. Two days gone? He’d be back on the second day. Three? Back on the third. Four? Back on the fourth and so on and so forth. However, throughout the day as Jesse stares at the weather outside, his stomach sinks as he realizes that his father may be a bit late with returning. He may even be an extra night.
Ziggy lets out a whine from behind Jesse and breaks him out of his thoughts as the rain continues to pound against the glass. The young boy looks back at his dog with a sympathetic smile.
“Yeah, I know Zig… But if anything he’ll be back tomorrow! It’s just another night. We’ve got this...!” He reaches back and ruffles his fur, scratching behind his ears before he hops down off the couch. Best to find something to do now so he doesn’t have time to worry. A habit he’s already created for himself. Ziggy watches Jesse walk off for a second before glancing back to the front door. He holds his gaze before huffing and hurrying through the house after Jesse.
The night, as Jesse guessed, comes and goes with no sign of his father. He even stays up late just in case. Reading is a good way to pass the time and Jesse has become a speedy one, though it’s hard for him to get through a single chapter that night. Despite the reasonable explanation that his dad was probably just waiting out the storm, his stomach is still doing somersaults. What if something happened? It wasn’t that far of a walk after all, and he’s marched inside all soaked before. Would a little storm like this really stop him? He sets down his book and sighs, looking blankly around his little room for an answer hidden in the walls.
It’s small and simple, even a bit cramped, but the place he feels safest. Wooden planked walls and dark oak floors. Simple black bed with thick red blankets and two matching nightstands. Tall shelves line his back wall by his small window. The shelves are lined with a mix of books, toys, crafts and records; the common mix of things to find scattered about his room.
Ziggy, who had been lying at the foot of his bed, notices Jesse’s nervousness and crawls up closer to him. Jesse smiles and laughs a bit as he starts licking his face.
“Zig...! Nooooooo! I’m okay, silly!” He pushes his snout back and Ziggy sneezes in response before talking to him in the noisy way huskies do. Jesse snickers but doesn’t reply. He opts to just pet him for a while to try and ease up. After a few good minutes, when that doesn’t work, he leans in and hugs him. He buries his face in his dog and lays there, listening to the rain and his own breathing. Ziggy sits there awkwardly for a minute but settles down and lets the boy find comfort in him. Jesse eventually sniffs, turning his head on its side so he can actually see and speak.
“He just got caught up in the storm…” He mumbles out, voice wavering, “He’ll be back tomorrow for sure Ziggy. We shouldn’t worry...!” Jesse nods and he rambles, directing his assurance towards Ziggy but really just trying to convince himself. The dog doesn’t offer much wisdom, simply nuzzling his head against Jesse’s and licking his cheek. The boy settles back into his dog, just taking in the sounds of the rain and Ziggy’s breathing. He falls asleep soon after, his nerves simply not enough against his exhaustion.
~~~~~
Jesse mumbles his annoyance at the bright light he’s greeted with when waking up. The golden sunlight streams in, acting as if there had been no storm at all and dancing across his room. He blinks the sleep out of his eyes and rubs them as he looks at the dog strewn across his legs. He drops his head back down with a sigh and stares at the ceiling as his memory slowly comes back to him…
Then he shoots up.
He begins looking around more quickly, searching for the wall his clock is on. Behind him, above his bed. He twists and turns sporadically as he tries to get a good look at it.
Already one.
He feels his heart seize as the excitement wells in him. A grin creeps across his face before he turns back to Ziggy. The dog has hardly budged since Jesse woke up so he begins the process of wiggling his legs out from under him. Once freed, he shoves himself off his bed and lets out a yelp as he drops to the floor—legs still asleep. He huffs and pulls himself upright, wobbling on his feet but not letting that stop him from swinging around the end of his bed to dart out of his room. Ziggy perks up, the noise grabbing his attention. Seeing Jesse leave the room, he hops down off the bed after him.
“ Dad! How was the—“ Jesse starts yelling before he even gets to the main rooms. It’s an open floor plan, kitchen in front of him, living room to his right and office/study area to his left after coming out of the hall. He trails off and loses steam as no immediate change appears. Everything is untouched from where it was last night—hell, the door isn’t even unlocked. He stands there huffing, mumbling the end of his sentence under his breath. “ —Stronghold...”
Ziggy makes a noise of uncertainty behind him and Jesse glances back at him, sharing a look of worry. He frowns, turning determined. His father should be here by now. Perhaps he’s on a different part of the property? Only one way to find out.
Jesse nods at Ziggy, indicating to follow him. He walks further into the house, just getting different perspectives to see if anything has really changed or not. Is there a book out of place? No, it’s always been like that. Are his quills moved? No, blue and green ones are still in front of the smaller white ones. Any kitchen utensils moved? No, no sign of any food missing either. He frowns and calls out.
“Dad?”
He pauses to listen. Ziggy mirrors him. But there’s nothing. He heads back to the hallway, his footsteps making the wood creak below him as always. He’s not in Jesse’s room, he already knows that. That leaves his father’s room, the guest room, or the bathroom. He starts at the most logical place and leans against his father’s door, listening intently.
“Dad?” He knocks lightly and listens again. Silence. He scowls and opens the door to the bedroom. Twice as big as his own but still cramped. He wanders in, finding it still untouched from when Jesse cleaned the other day. He wanders over to the closet past his bed and yanks it open, peeking inside. Nope. Nothing hiding. He lets out an irritated sigh. “You better not be pranking me! It’s not funny!” He calls out as he slams the closet shut in frustration and makes his way out of the room.
Standing in the hallway again, he listens once more for a response. The silence dulls his small burst of anger. He clenches his fists in nervousness and takes in a steadying breath before continuing his search. He no longer bothers to knock as he searches the bathroom—empty—and guest bedroom. He lingers in the room for a minute, gaze dully washing over all of the dusty furniture not touched for years. This was the room his uncle often stayed in. At the moment, it somehow feels even more empty. He doesn’t have to call out to know there’s no one in here, so eventually he turns and leaves, shutting the door behind him.
Back in the hall he stands in silence. He takes in the familiar views of his home as his mind flies. His father would never be this late, not when he had the chance to get home. He begins pacing aimlessly in circles as his anxiety starts to spike. Maybe a cave-in was holding him up? No, his father would be able to mine past that in hardly any time at all. Maybe he was attacked? Even if he was, he would’ve found a way out. He’s been in bad situations before, hopefully this time wasn’t different. Even then, if he got swarmed, he would have just blocked off that path. So, that can’t be it.
Maybe he just got super into things and lost track of time?
… That’s plausible!
Jesse, brushing his instincts off as nerves, accepts that possibility. It makes sense after all! A stronghold is rare, like his father said, so he’s probably having the time of his life exploring it! With no clocks underground either, he could have easily lost track of time. Even with his pocketwatch, Jesse had learned a long time ago that he pretty much brought that around as decoration, despite what his dad claimed. He probably left it somewhere in his excitement, he can be pretty absent-minded after all.
Jesse sighs but is glad to have found a bit more comfort in that explanation. It’s… a bit out of character for his father, but this is a special occasion! It’s justified.
He finally stops and turns back to Ziggy, hands on his hips.
“I-I think he just got excited! He’s probably still exploring and just lost track of time! Like I would!” He forces a smile and Ziggy just stares back at him. They stay that way for a minute before Jesse deflates and rolls his eyes, jogging over to his dog then gently tugging on his collar. “It’ll be fine boy! But we should get to it! There’s probably a lot to clean up outside after all that wind…”
And that there was. Jesse grabs a quick snack then ventures outside to scope out the damage, Ziggy right on his tail.
There are a lot of leaves and small branches scattered across the grass just to begin, on top of loose white flower petals from the trees nearby. A lantern he had forgotten to take down had smashed and shattered by the base of one tree, so Jesse makes sure to keep Ziggy away from the glass. Going around the house and continuing out, Jesse makes his way towards the little gated and covered farms they had. They weren’t really farmers but the little things were good to have just in case. Jesse wasn’t huge on farmwork himself but it was a necessary thing to do.
He’s especially happy to find none of the animals hurt. He always liked pigs and they had one little piglet that loved to run around. His father said that if he did well with keeping up on his chores and other responsibilities, that he’d be able to raise one by himself! So overall, did Jesse like farming? Not really. Did he like farm animals? Absolutely.
He leaves the animals for the moment to scope out the actual crops which have probably been hit a bit harder. He grimaces at the thought, however. The walk over there is fairly short but muddy, with the ground almost being more like some marsh than a nice field. Thankfully though, the crops have been spared such a murky fate. They aren’t a complete swamp as the overhead cover helped guard them from a majority of the downpour. But some work is definitely needed… Not his ideal day but at least it’s sunny. He’ll definitely have to get his heavy and muddied boots and overalls, but that’s honestly the fun part! He’s never been opposed to playing in the mud. But that’ll happen a bit later in the day.
He continues around the other side of their home and comes full circle. Staring around him at the property once more, he puts his hands on hips and nods to himself. Time to get down and dirty.
~~~~~
He’s thankful it’s not super hot outside, the sun may be out but it’s still cool enough that he isn’t utterly dying within the first hour. He’s used to yard work as it’s something he often helps his dad with. Hell, he’s pretty proud at how good he’s gotten! He knows how to garden, weed, exactly what to do with the mess, where things are put away, and how to tackle the more annoying things like broken fences or shattered lanterns. Sure, it may not be the most impressive stuff like building a whole house or something, but it’s not too shabby for a ten year old!
Ziggy helps him as well, bringing and taking whatever tools he needs at the moment. He’s a brilliant dog and Jesse’s glad to have him here at the very least. He smiles and pets his head as he runs up and grabs hold of the hoe Jesse was done with before running it off. The plants are a lot easier to take care of than he had thought and he’s certainly grateful for it. Though, he was right about the amount of mud that he’d get covered in. His overalls are a whole new shade of brown thanks to it.
He heaves up his bucket of debris and begins walking back to the house, smiling as he passes the animal pens. Everything’s back to normal now. He drops the bucket off by the side of the house next to a few others before rounding it back to the front. All he’s got left to do is hang the last few lanterns back up. Jesse stops before climbing up the front porch steps. He already cleaned it, so he’d rather not ruin the pristine white wood by tracking his muddy boots over it. He kicks off his boots, leaving them by the steps and then hops up the stairs, wincing as a few drops of mud shake off his pants and onto it. Ziggy then barks and runs up after him, shaking off all his mud without so much as hesitating.
“ Ziggy! I just cleaned—!”
Too late. Jesse sighs as the porch and some of the walls even were splattered with mud once more. Ziggy blinks and looks around, sniffing the mud before looking at the kid innocently. Jesse rolls his eyes and sighs before opening the front door for the dog.
“ Go on, you might as well.”
And with that he races inside, Jesse following after to grab the lanterns that need rehanging. He stuffed them away in his closet, as it was the best place he could think of in the rush to get them down. After grabbing them, he heads back out.
Back on the porch he hesitates a second then sets the lanterns down. He moves to the edge of the top step and hangs onto the column, leaning out and shielding his eyes from the sunlight. The sun’s far past its peak in the sky by now and slowly starting to lower once more. The sky’s still blue and bright but in another hour or so the sunlight will start dimming once again, painting the world with its orange, pinks, and purples. He frowns, the anxiety returning, but shakes his head. He’ll be back, he already discussed this . The best Jesse can do until then is stay safe and light his way home. With that, he grabs one of the lanterns.
He hoists himself up onto the railing of the porch—-it’s the only way to get high enough to put the lantern back on its hook—and stands up tall. He wavers a bit, catching his balance, then grabs the lantern. He holds tight onto the column with one hand and leans out, reaching for the hook with the lantern with the other. Had his father been here, he probably would be scolded for taking the quick and risky route over the slow but safe one. He would’ve insisted on getting the ladder out, but Jesse is impatient. A dangerous quality to have.
~~~~~
The night passes with the lanterns lit and the house cleaned once more. Jesse and Ziggy wander and find random things to keep themselves busy but Jesse eventually falls back to reading. He camps out on the couch for the night though. Thick blanket wrapped around him, Ziggy at his side, fireplace roaring, and a book in his hands. Like the previous night, he stays up extra late in case his father comes in late. He doesn’t. Almost like routine now, Jesse worries and tires himself out once more, waking up late once again.
Day five. Waking up alone in the cottage is starting to get lonelier but less shocking. The new emotion that bunches his stomach into knots is a form of hopelessness. If he’s not here now, then he probably won’t be home today. But the worst thing now is that Jesse is left with nothing else to do. He’s already done so much around the house, there’s nothing more to straighten up, playing with his toys would just feel forced and once he’s done with his few daily chores, it’s just him, Ziggy, and his thoughts.
He runs through the daily motions. Eat, chores, clean up what he can, and he’s done within an hour. He finds himself laying on the floor of their home and just staring up at the ceiling. His brows are fixed in a furrowed state as he runs through everything in his head. 5 days. He said 3. He knew he meant 3 too. 3 at most . As the hours tick on, the likelihood of him just losing track of time gets more and more unlikely. But what is Jesse supposed to do about it? He knows next to nothing about strongholds and he’s hardly stepped in caves himself. Too dangerous. Too dark. He hated the dark. He hated the silence.
He squeezes his eyes shut and holds his mouth tight, trying to bite back a sob. He succeeds, letting out only the shaky breath and blinking the tears out of his eyes. He’s interrupted by a slobbery tongue suddenly licking his cheek. He yelps and rolls away from Ziggy, who follows after, determined to cheer Jesse up. He sits up and grunts as he tries pushing the big dog back, his crying slowly turning to laughter. He at least wasn’t alone. Never completely.
He eventually traps Ziggy in a hug, burying his face in his neck to keep him from licking it. He giggles and Ziggy squirms for a few seconds. Ziggy yowls a bit, making Jesse laugh. Both noises echo through the small house, leaving that hollow feeling aching in his chest once more. Jesse eventually lets go and holds Ziggy’s face in his hands, making eye contact. He plays with his dog’s cheeks and puffs his own, mimicking him. Ziggy snorts at the kid and Jesse just grins before finally letting go. He wipes his eyes with his sleeve, sniffling with a smile. Patting his dog’s side, he nods.
“Thank you Ziggy… You’re a great boy, I’m glad dad decided to leave you home with me.” He sniffles again and stares at the ground with a pause, “I’m really worried about him… I don’t know how much longer I can just sit here and wait. What if he needs help? H-He might even be in trouble!” He trails off, frowning. “I don’t know what all we could do though… I wish Uncle Brian were here, he’d know how to handle this…” He digs and picks at his fingernails with a frown, the tension becoming suffocating once more. The options he has are few and far between, but even then he’s feeling like he’s starting to run out of them. Ziggy makes a noise of unease. Jesse nervously peeks up at him through his bangs, “You know what I’m thinking don’t you?”
Their stare lingers, Jesse eventually breaking it with a nod. He sucks in a breath through his nose and stands up.
“We’ll… We’ll give him some more time before heading out. But if he doesn’t come back soon, I— I have to go see.”
Ziggy growls in disapproval. Bad idea. Jesse rolls his eyes.
“We don’t have to go in too deep Ziggy, it— it’ll just be showing up, checking it out, making sure everything’s okay, and then coming back if it is! Dad will understand, especially if I tell him about how long he’s been gone! Yeah… I-It’ll be fine.”
Ziggy stares at him. Jesse frowns.
“Don’t give me that look! I-I’m not being hasty I’m just…!” He looks around trying to come up with an answer, “I-I can be patient!” He said, getting impatient. Why is he even explaining himself so much? It’s just Ziggy, a dog. He crosses his arms and huffs, kicking the ground. Truth be told, if he has to suffer through another day minimum, he’s gonna go stir crazy.
“I want to go check on him. I have to make sure he’s okay.” He pushes past Ziggy and goes to grab his boots, jacket and bag from his room. Ziggy huffs and meanders over to the door, plopping himself down in front of it in the meantime. Jesse comes back out in a new outfit. Brown lace up boots, his jeans and t-shirt still, then a black long-coat pulled around him and a dull brown satchel slung over his shoulder, the top flap decorated in fun little pins and flowers he clipped to it for decoration. He moves to the kitchen and stuffs a few snacks inside, then wanders over to one of the bookshelves, looking for a book he’s been eyeing for a while.
His eyes scan the shelves, trying to pick it out amongst all the others. His eyes light up when he spots it. Second shelf from the top. He stands on his very tippy toes and plucks the book down from the shelf. Turning it over in his hands it seems to be an old beginner’s mining guide. Definitely worn from use. He opens the cover and finds a note scrawled in handwriting he doesn’t recognize in the cover.
To my adventurous sons, Steven and Hiro,
Only ten years old and yet, I can tell you boys are bound for marvelous things. But what’s a good adventure without a little bit of treasure to speak for it? The sooner you get these skills down, the more time you have for grand adventures. Be safe, and make us proud! I have the utmost faith in you two. Have each other’s backs and you will accomplish great things.
Be smart!
Papa
Jesse hums a ‘huh!’ . This was a birthday gift to his father and uncle when they were Jesse’s age. An introduction to mining, the start of all of their adventures. His uncle always talked about how their father encouraged them to be adventurous. Jesse never got the chance to meet him though, he got sick and was pretty roughly hit before Jesse was even born. Same with his grandmother. His father, despite being sad over the loss, always tried making it seem better though. At least he and his grandmother were and are together.
Jesse smiles and mumbles his own thanks to his grandfather for looking out for him in spirit. This book would be useful down the road. He pockets it then heads to the living room. He picks up the small stone axe hanging by the tools for the fireplace. This is the weapon and tool he’s become most accustomed with. He’s never really had to fight anything—save for one bad occasion—but he knew how to swing it if he had to. He hangs it on his belt loop and hurries for the front door, only to be stopped by a growl.
He looks down at Ziggy and blinks, surprised to be stopped by him. Then he frowns.
“ Move, Zig.”
The dog huffs, sitting up but not moving and simply making getting out of the door more difficult. Jesse tries moving him—which fails—going around him—which fails—and begging him—which fails.
“Fine! I’ll leave another way.” He throws up his hands in frustration before marching off towards the back door. Ziggy perks up and runs across the house, the sound of his nails tapping against the hardwood alerting Jesse as Ziggy passes him, beating him to the door. Jesse gasps then scowls, clenching his fists. He stops, and they stare at each other tensely. He’s often come into conflict with Ziggy before, in fact this situation is quite familiar. Ziggy’s being extremely pushy this time too considering how the last situation ended up.
Jesse stays determined and quickly turns on his heel, sprinting back towards the front door and getting a good distance before Ziggy can react properly. He barks after him but Jesse reaches, flings open, and races out the front door. Ziggy follows after but stops at the edge of the porch, barking at him. Jesse stops a few meters out once he realizes he’s not being followed. He looks back, holding tightly to the strap of his satchel out of general nervousness.
“Ziggy I have to! This time is different!” He hesitates, noting the fear in the old dog’s eyes as he hears him whine. Jesse closes his eyes tightly, trying not to get guilt tripped by him. He shakes his head and stands his ground. “I’m going! I-If…” He hesitates, not wanting to leave Ziggy on his own. He stands there, feeling his dog’s gaze on him for a long while before he sighs and walks back up to the porch. Ziggy’s tail wags, and he steps out of Jesse’s path, expecting him to go back inside. Instead though, he climbs back up onto the railing and swings over, plucking the lantern he hung up yesterday off of its hook. He hops back down and Ziggy makes a confused whine.
Jesse crouches down and lights the lantern, shutting it then glancing at Ziggy briefly over his shoulder. He sighs.
“I told you buddy, I’m going... But… I’d really feel a lot safer if you came with me… Y-You don’t have to but…” He trails off as he sets the pack of matches back on the railing. Sparkling blue eyes look back at Ziggy and it’s his turn to try not to get guilt tripped. But, knowing Jesse, the best Ziggy can do at this point to keep him safe is to go with him because the kid is far too stubborn to change his mind now . He lets out a noise of defeat and pushes past Jesse, down the stairs, and waits for him on the pathway.
A gasp escapes the young boy as a smile spreads across his face. Just like his dad had hoped, Ziggy was always gonna be at his side. In the midst of his nerves, a new thought graces him that leaves his heart racing his excitement. It’s like his first little adventure! The thrill of it temporarily pushes the foreboding reason for it out of his mind. He quickly slams the door to the house shut, nabs the lantern and runs off onto the pathway.
“Let’s go Zig!” He rushes past his dog who barks at him then gives chase. The pathway is enveloped in the warm orange glow of the slowly setting sun as they venture off, the sunbeams dancing across the cobblestones, Jesse’s hair, and making his blue eyes shimmer. It’s a beautiful day.
~~~~~
Jesse feels his throat tighten as the cave entrance comes into view. They slowed to a walk a while ago to save their energy, but the slower speed meant a loss of time and night time was creeping up fast. The sun is barely peeking over the horizon at this point and there’s now a cold bite to the air and a nippy breeze rattles the trees, whistling in the twilight. Jesse swallows and holds the lantern higher as they reach the entrance. With the now lacking daylight, it’s harder to make out the details inside. He leans a bit into the cave, making Ziggy nervous.
“Dad?” He calls out. His voice reverberates across the rough walls, traveling further and further into the cave until his echo is replaced by silence. He waits for a response.
None.
He takes a few cautious steps inside then tries again.
“Dad, are you there? It’s Jesse!”
His name echoes back at him and he lets out a sigh of nervous frustration. He glances back at Ziggy, “I-I think he’s just too deep inside to hear us from all the way up here.” He moves further into the cave, the distant sounds of bats sending shivers through him. His boots are surprisingly soft against the stone. The few sounds now are those of the cave, Ziggy’s nails clicking against the stone, and the flickering and whistling of the flame in the lantern. Jesse raises his light and studies the walls, finding unlit torches. He frowns and steps closer to one.
“Ziggy, go keep an eye by the entrance please. I-I won’t go very deep, but I don’t wanna get cornered in here…” He nods down at his dog who whines but does as he’s told. Jesse focuses on the torch once more, reaching up and plucking it off the wall.
Just what he thought.
The torch didn’t burn out with time, it was blown out by some sort of wind gust. He’s seen them like this dozens of times on the further parts of the property. Odd for the inside of a cave, but with the storm he supposes it’s plausible. Just odd. He sets the torch down on the ground and continues exploring. A few feet further and his father’s workbench and furnace come into view. His heart leaps as he notes an array of things scattered across the tops of both. The mess being a telltale sign of his absent minded father being here. He lets out a large sigh of relief and makes his way over with a smile. He sets the lantern down on the top of the furnace and looks over everything piled there. Random materials, papers with random scribbles—probably maps for planning—that he didn’t understand, and something even more interesting buried beneath them.
The familiar shine of vinyl catches Jesse’s eye as he unburies the disks. He stares down at them in awe. It isn’t too often that his father makes new records, so this is exciting. The note attached to the top disk—one with a simple black band in the middle to differentiate it—makes his heart leap. The handwriting is a bit fancier than how his father normally writes, in fact it’s pretty different, but he brushes it off. With the storm, his father must have hit a roadblock, so he made these disks to pass the time! He reads and rereads the words over and over in excitement. So few words but it was more communication he’d had in days with his father.
‘Exploration
- 11
- 13’
He picks up both disks—note included—and finds some large blank papers to wrap them up in. He notes the odd titles but figures that it’s just a work in progress. Once wrapped up safely, he tucks both disks into his bag. He walks past the workspace and slightly deeper into the cave, stopping at the edge of the light his lantern gives off. He cups his mouth with his hands and takes a deep breath.
“DAD I found your recoooooords!” He waits with a grin, expecting a response. He listens to his echoes run down the deepening cave before him. His smile slowly falls as the silence gets drawn out long after the echoing stops. He stands there, taking larger breaths than normal. No response. He feels his throat tighten once again as worry dances across his features. He cups his hands and calls out again, voice cracking from a newfound desperation.
“DAD!” His yell pierces the silence, but only temporarily. Once again. Nothing. He feels his breath quicken and his vision fuzzes. He runs a few steps further into the darkness. It surrounds him, engulfing him.
“ S— SAY SOMETHING! ” He begs with the harsh underground, a world he knows nothing about. He clutches the strap of his bag, listening to his voice fade completely. He bites his shaking bottom lip as he shakes his head. He just can’t hear him. He just can’t hear him. But actually processing what he sees, he notices that aside from the light of the now moon and light of his lantern, there is none. He frowns and hurries to snatch his lantern, hopping down a ledge to take a closer look.
More unlit torches. Blown out. Same as the one by the entrance. Jesse backs up, shaking his head. Impossible. Even if it was the storm that caused the entrance ones to go out, the wind wouldn’t have reached all the way in here and wouldn’t have been strong enough to blow all of them out. Jesse should be able to see light further into the cave. But there is none. His father would have re-lit all of them, there’s no way he wouldn't have. Something is wrong. Something is horribly, horribly wrong.
He gasps, holding back a yelp as an ominous noise creaks from further down the cave. Something scraping and the echoing of rocks crumbling down the stone path. Beyond it, he can finally hear the far more distant noises of scuttling rattling, and a deep foreboding hum that leaves him dizzy. Monsters. He shouldn’t be here. Jesse turns on his heel and books it back towards the entrance, but something on the ground catches his eye. He skids to a stop, huffing and puffing as he lowers the lantern to get a better look.
Footprints. His father’s footprints.
Sharp blue eyes dart back and forth throughout the cave. Nothing immediate. He has time to look. He crouches down and studies the bootprint. No doubt, it’s his dad’s. Stepping back, he notes several paths he took, some clearer than others. There’s a main trail, darker, fuller. With more mud, it was probably during or after the storm. But there’s something different with this path. The prints are farther apart, and they come from within the cave, trying to get out. Jesse’s face scrunches up.
Was he running?
Then another set of prints catch his eye. Inhuman. Larger. Paired with his father’s. Jesse’s own pace quickens as his father’s seemingly did. His mind races, he hears his heart pound in his ears. Chased. He was chased. He was in trouble. He was attacked.
And it all comes to a head near the entrance. The moonlight helps light the scene and Jesse’s surprised he didn’t even notice this as he came in. The monstrous prints had disappeared for a good 2-3 meters then suddenly appeared next to his father’s. He notes one print that looks like his father slipped— or was yanked back— and then a small array of both the monster’s prints and his father's struggle. Then they both stop there.
Jesse’s stomach sinks, but doesn’t get the chance to linger on it. The light from his lantern reflects off of something on the other side of the batch of prints. He hurries around them, not wanting to remotely touch them, and crouches down to see what was so shiny. He sets the lantern on the ground next to him. He stops himself from kneeling down as he realizes that it’s glass that’s scattered about. Something shattered. Something small. He frowns and picks up a small piece and studies it. It’s thick and curves dramatically near the edge. He sets it down and looks among the pieces for anything that might tell him what dropped.
Bingo. He spots a small black shard, but pulling it closer, he realizes it’s a clock hand. One of the clock hands to his father’s pocket watch. But where’s—?
Ziggy’s bark from behind startles Jesse, he quickly looks behind him and only sees Ziggy on alert before the whistling of an arrow jerks his attention back to the cave. He shoves himself back, falling and cutting his hands on the glass beneath him. The arrow lands right where his hands were a few seconds prior. He hisses but has no time to dwell on it as he hears the sound of a bowstring being pulled taut once more. He shoves himself up and scrambles to his feet, snatching the lantern and slipping momentarily on some of the glass pieces.
“ZIGGY RUN! GO GO GO!” He screams to his dog as he starts into a sprint. Ziggy waits a moment for Jesse to catch up before running full speed alongside him. Jesse shoves the small clock hand into his pocket, freeing up his left hand to grab his axe if he needs to.
Jesse jerks his head to look behind him, his eyes quickly widening. He hastily ducks and lets out a yelp as another arrow whizzes past his head. His heart pounds in his ears as the night strikes to life. It dulls the noises of everything else, the arrows, the wind, and the thudding of his feet slamming against the cobblestone with each step.
Ziggy barks and slams into Jesse, knocking him down and back into reality. A disgustingly large spider leaps over them, hissing as it lands a few feet behind him. The wind is knocked out of Jesse as he hits the broken old cobbles, and fearful blue eyes can only stare at the eight glowing red. Ziggy grabs a mouthful of Jesse’s shirt and jacket and yanks and pulls, ushering him to his feet once more. Jesse can hardly process everything that just happened nonetheless move. But with the shimmering moonlight against the sharp stone tip of an arrow pointing down at him from a distance, he feels the adrenaline truly set in. With the help of Ziggy, Jesse pushes himself back to his feet.
Ziggy lets go of his shirt half way up and switches to his sleeve, pulling him along and back into a run. Another arrow whizzes between them. The spider and skeleton give chase and inevitably, other monsters join the mob with the moon now high in the sky.
“ZIGGY!”
Jesse snatches his dog by the collar and yanks him to the other side of the path as a creeper blows up part of the path. Ziggy lets out a pained yelp and has to stop and recoup after being yanked so harshly. Jesse stays by him, eyes darting from mob to mob as they encroach upon the duo. The skeleton archer and spider join up to make a spider jockey. Zombies also join the mix, their rotting flesh shimmering in disgusting detail in the pale orange glow of the mixed moon and firelight. Jesse backs up what little distance he can, feeling the panic choke him as he can’t help but stare.
He’s been here before. He’s been stuck like this before. But this time his father isn’t going to swoop in and save the day. Jesse’s on his own.
The orange light from the flame in his lantern he holds high lights up the fear in his eyes as time slows down. His eye hurts just thinking about it. Then the light catches his attention. He shifts his attention from the monsters to the burning lantern in his hand, the brilliant flame kept ablaze by oil sitting in the bottom. He looks back to the monsters, noting their positions. A newfound burning determination replaces the fear in his eyes as the world comes back to speed and he winds up to throw.
“ EAT FIRE! ” He yells and slams the lantern into the ground before the monsters, which immediately lights up into a blazing orange fireball. A barrage of shrill hissing and hoarse screams from the spiders and zombies pierce the silence. Ziggy coughs and shakes off before starting to run once more, Jesse right on his tail and not daring to look back. The crackling of fire is their new pursuer, but one they can easily outrun.
Each step is an adrenaline filled blur, the run is seconds long yet lasts years. Every few seconds there’s another monster reaching out from the darkness—An arrow whizzing past their heads, the soft hissing of a creeper trying to sneak up and blow right as they pass, or the outstretched arms of zombies clawing at Jesse. It’s relentless, or at least it certainly seems that way to the young boy.
The hiss, yelp, and thud of a spider tackling Ziggy both shocks and quickly infuriates Jesse. Without stopping mid stride he pulls his axe out of his belt loop and grabs the hilt tight with both hands. Using the momentum to help, he yells as he swings and bats the spider off of Ziggy in a move more akin to swinging a baseball bat than an axe. The spider gets flung off the path and into a tree, stunning it for the moment. Ziggy, unharmed, scrambles to his feet and continues running alongside Jesse.
The light of home soon comes into view. Safety. Home. It’s so close. His grip on his axe grows tighter, palms getting sweaty. The reality of how much his body aches and longs for rest sets in as they run the final stretch. He looks back, noting the monsters’ loss of interest in them. His vision blurs as a grin of triumph dances across his face. Entering the ring of light that surrounds their home, his heart floods with happiness and a warmth seeps through his body, hands and feet tingling as they approach the front steps.
Jesse speeds up and passes Ziggy, flying up the steps and desperately grabbing the door handle, not nearly stopping himself soon enough and slamming his body into it. He stumbles and yanks, jiggles, and struggles getting the doorknob to work with him but eventually hears the click and flings the door open.
“ GO GO GO GET INSIDE!” He yells, ushering Ziggy inside before taking one last brief look at the monsters before darting in himself. He spins around and slams the door shut, dropping his axe and immediately locking up all the locks on the door he can. One lock. Two lock. Three. Four. Five. DONE!
He jumps back from the door, bloodied hands up and eyes wide as he pants. He hisses as the adrenaline seeps away and the stinging and pain quickly starts coming back full force. He scrunches up his face, staring down at his cut up hands in a dazed shock as he staggers through the house towards the bathroom. Ziggy watches him stumble on by but is too tired to immediately follow. He drops down by the warm fireplace to rest.
~~~~~
Jesse sits quietly in front of the fireplace with Ziggy, blankly staring into the flames. Bandaged hands gently comb through his grey and white fur. It’s gotten rather late now, but the moon hasn’t reached its peak yet. Everything is a panicked blur to Jesse at the moment, all he has is a deep hollow feeling in his chest. He lets out a sigh and glances over at his bag sitting at the foot of one of their armchairs. He pauses, considering it, then reaches over and picks it up carefully. He sets it down lightly in his lap before flipping it open and digging out its contents.
He pulls out the two records and frowns at the papers they’re wrapped in. He hardly remembers doing that. He rips the paper off, smiling to himself. It’s like opening a birthday or christmas present! Maybe not as colorful of paper and… I mean he already knows his gifts, but! He’s excited regardless.
Once undone, he throws the paper aside and admires the new records of his. The one that had been sitting underneath the black one, 11, had a simple yellow and white design in the center. He smiles and runs his hands over the records, feeling the grooves in their surface. Without looking at him, Jesse speaks.
“You wanna listen to some of Dad’s new music, Zig?”
His dog looks up curiously. New music? Since when? Jesse laughs at the look and stands, wandering over to their old record player. Red lined with ornate golds. His father loved it. Jesse elaborates as he sets the machine up.
“I found them on his workbench. There was even a note attached! I think they’re still works in progress or somethin’ though… At least name-wise. This one is called 13 I think…?” He mumbles and digs for the note he took too. Finding the little yellow parchment, he holds it up to the light and squints, nodding a moment later, “Yeah, 13. I don’t know what that could mean but we can always ask Dad when he gets back.” He pauses as the words leave his mouth. Ziggy notices his hesitation and lets out a small whimper. Jesse nods to himself and looks at Ziggy. “Hey, don’t… Don’t worry boy… We’ll see him again, he’ll be back…” He mumbles, clinging to what denial he can for the meantime to bury just how unnerved he feels. He forces himself to breathe and smile as he sets the disk to play, stepping back and then offering Ziggy a comforting look.
The look is immediately shattered as the disk begins playing with a daunting sting of bells. His stomach churns at the sound and he jerks his head to look at the disk in bewilderment. As more stinging and lingering instruments—if he can even call them that—join the fray, Jesse finds himself paling as goosebumps run up his arms and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. The long eerie notes set him immediately on edge and he gets the horrible feeling of being watched. As the noises of a cave begin mixing in with the echoing bells and other ambiance, Jesse snaps back to the present, becoming overwhelmed.
He shakes his head, mumbling out protests under his breath. Hastily, he stops the record short with a jarring scratching sound. He yanks it out of the old player and stares down at the record for a brief moment before his face scrunches up in a form of disgust and horror. Quietly, Ziggy lets out a growl and Jesse glances back to notice him sitting tensely with his ears perked towards the door. Jesse lets out a shaky breath and drops the record down on his bag in a daze as he moves over to the windows.
They’re too open. Too exposed. Even with the disk stopped and the silence returning to the home, the feeling of something watching them lingers. He grabs the line and yanks the warm red blinds shut. Ziggy watches tensely as Jesse rushes throughout the house, closing the blinds on all the windows he can and then double checking the locks on both of the doors. He comes back looking nervous and fearful, arms crossed tightly across his chest. Ziggy lets out a whine of concern and Jesse nods down at him.
“It’s— It’s okay! I just…” He pauses, finding something to say, “I’m not in the mood to listen to that one. I’ll— I’ll just wait until Dad’s back to listen to it.” He mumbles with a shrug, forcing out his words quickly, “B-Besides we have plenty of other good records to listen to! We still have this other one too!” He quickly picks up the all black one, 11, and shows it off to Ziggy in a futile attempt to make them feel better. Ziggy’s eyes shift from the disk to Jesse, and Jesse can just feel his uncertainty. It certainly doesn’t help placate his own, so he just presses his lips into a hard line and begins nodding. He can’t keep his gaze up though, shifting it downwards to stare at this new disk in desperation for something normal, “This one will be better… It’s… It’s gotta be..”
Sucking in a deep breath, Jesse eyes the ornate red and gold player once again. He steels himself and pushes himself to his feet once again, meandering over to it. There’s a brief moment’s hesitation as he glances between the disk and the player, but he lets it pass over him like a wave. He places the disk on the player, setting it up like the last, though his movements are a bit more restrained this time. Anything to keep the shake in his hands to a minimum. It’s just a music disk like all of the others—what is there to be scared of?
Finally, it plays. But there is no music.
He grimaces at the cave noises, readying to take this out too when a familiar sound makes him freeze in place. A huffing sound—a man’s huffing. It’s unmistakable, too. It was his father. He knows his father’s mannerisms, even without him speaking he recognizes the sound of his voice. The huffs, the deep cough, and the small hums are all things he’s heard a million times over. He knows he’s correct, too because Ziggy perks right up in recognition right alongside him. Jesse remains captivated by the record, his heart momentarily leaping out of his chest at the mere sounds. It’s the first time he’s heard his father in days, after all. The short burst of joy is enough to allow him to forget the past several days and frankly hours of anxiety and struggle, and he allows the disk to keep playing just for that sake.
He walks back over and sits down. Ziggy moves over by him and rests his head in Jesse’s lap as the sounds casually continue. His father’s flint and steel clicks. Light source. He grunts as if he’s crouching down. Same sound as always. The cover and pages of a book begin to flip. The hemming and hawing of his father continue, judging the contents of the book until something changes.
His breath hitches. A pit forms in his stomach and Jesse finds his own breath doing the same, near silently and in sync. Why’d it hitch? What does he see? his breath hitches. He freezes, and Ziggy’s attention is drawn at the familiar sound of his owner noting trouble. Jesse feels the thud of his own heart pounding like a drum as the tension of the record strikes up. A dull thudding from the record nearly matches his own heart beat. Another click immediately after the hitch of breath. Using the flame as a light source. Silence.
Seemingly endless silence.
A shocked breath and another click —lights out— before the sounds of hurried movement. His father struggles to his feet, bag shuffling and him hitting the ground running. Around him, the cave noises grow louder—something else is there. Jesse strains to take in every noise, gripping and digging his fingers into his jeans.
Jogging. Footsteps. More than one pair.
Ziggy growls.
Running—No, sprinting! He knows where he’s at. Jesse understands what’s happening.
The sound of his father’s heavy footsteps. His huffing and puffing as he sprints. Stone. He steps in some type of wet dirt? The mud. But he thought it came from outside? His father’s running faster and faster, boots slamming into the stone and echoing around him with each step. The other noises in the tape get louder and louder—closer. Jesse covers his ears and shoves himself up, staggering back towards the record player. Ziggy starts barking. His mind spins in a panicked daze as he struggles to catch his breath, feeling almost liek the walls are closing in around him—what is he hearing? This can’t be right—this can’t be real. Images flash as his mind puts together the puzzle he never wanted to solve. The stone sounds, the cave floor. The running, the muddy footprints. The monstrous noises, the other pair. The disarray by the entrance, the hustle of his father.
Jesse nearly screams for it to stop but finds the words getting stuck in his throat, choking him as the noise gets louder and louder, shaking him to his core. A roar, a struggle, and Jesse’s so close to just grabbing the record HE—
It stops.
Jesse comes to a dead halt as the record before him does the same. Only static fills the home now. A hollow feeling crawls and spindles throughout the pit of his stomach, sending icy shivers up his spine. He stands there in shock, blankly staring at the record player before him. Ziggy whines as the record finally comes to a dead stop. He tries grabbing the poor boy’s attention, but it’s useless in this zombie-like state. He blinks cold tears out of his eyes, but even them streaking down his cheeks doesn’t startle him out of his trance right away. After a long, still, minute, Jesse tentatively picks up the record and stares at it in a blank terror. There’s nothing for him to say. Nothing for him to do.
Without a word, the disks are shoved away far out of sight. The hair on the back of his neck never relaxes, and he says and thinks very little more. There’s nothing he remotely can say. For the first time in his life, the silence brings a brief solace. But it doesn’t last in the way he needs.
Sleep doesn’t come to him that night. Nor the night after. He only manages to sleep later from sheer and utter exhaustion, but that doesn’t mean it’s satisfying or free of nightmares. Far from it. And as the time continues to tick on, he remains alone in that cottage—in the only home he’s known.
Finally, Jesse accepts that he knows a few things for certain now; He’s scared. He’s alone. And he can feel the eyes of something ever trained on him. There is something watching him, and be it just fleeting shadows out of the corners of his eyes or the overactive imagination of a child, it doesn’t matter. In that sense, he’s not alone and hasn’t been since the night at the cave.
The last thing he knows down to his core?
He no longer feels safe within his own home.
Chapter 6: Finders Keepers
Summary:
Back in the PRESENT BABEYYY! Jesse begins the processes of piecing the mystery of his father's disappearance together with the help of the Order and his friends. That sounds so cheesy.
Notes:
Just remember, no detail here is unimportant! :)) Have fun
EDIT 7/31/21-8/5/21: I know I updated this not too long ago but i honestly don't remember what notes I was gonna write. I know I fixed some big time pacing issues I had and rereading it Im definitely happier with it but it's not perfect but I think it at least gets the job done :,)
EDIT 5/26/23: some more minor conversational edits and changes to improve the pacing <3 should be even smoother now. Still have some bits I'm Mh about but they're pretty minor and don't exactly have the solutions for them. If I think of them I'll be back LMFAO
Chapter Text
“God Jess…” Lukas murmurs under his breath as Jesse finishes up, staring at the ground before him. He picks numbly at the threads of the grey carpet. There’s a stiff tension that hangs heavily in the air as everyone processes. Jesse shuts his eyes tight and lets out a breath at Lukas’ soft touch on his back.
“That’s terrible… Simply terrible!” Ivor scowls and shakes his head, an intense look dancing across his features as he ponders all the details of Jesse’s story. He echoes the thoughts of the majority who emptily nod in agreement. Petra fidgets a bit where she’s sitting, catching Jesse’s attention out of the corner of his eye. She feels his gaze on her and bites her lip. Great. Now she HAS to talk.
“I just… What did you do next Jesse…?”
Jesse lets a sigh out through his nose then shrugs, eyes shut. “I tried—… I-I tried burying it all… Both literally and figuratively...” He lets out a pained chuckle, “I grabbed the disks, ran to my room and stuffed them under everything in the corner of my closet. I stayed there for 3 more days, but each day got worse than the last. I felt like I was being watched. Hunted. The… The home turned cold—unfamiliar. I… I couldn’t stand it!” He grips his hands together in a white-knuckle grip and presses them against his mouth in a desperate attempt to keep his shaking in check. Lukas leans forward and starts rubbing his back.
“Hey, hey… Easy Jess…”
“All of it was just… It was too much to handle. I couldn’t stay, I couldn’t. I was so scared, I was so scared .”
“It’s alright now Jesse, we got ya...” Axel speaks softer than usual, trying to add some comfort. Jesse sits there sniffling and shaking for a few more minutes yet the tension in his body builds. He presses his lips into a tight line as he suppresses his tears and just shakes his head.
“I’m so tired… And I—” He chokes, gaze dragging upwards as his voice cracks, “I miss him! I just wanted my dad!” He cries, devolving into a mess of tears as he drops his head. The stifled cries steadily grow in volume and intensity, “What did I do?! Why couldn’t I just keep what little of my family I had?! Why— Why were they taken from me? I-I just don’t understand…!”
“Oh, Jesse… I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry…” Olivia begins moving over towards him, words soft, “You did nothing wrong, you were just a kid…! You couldn’t have known what to do…”
“ But I just—” He gasps, eyes desperate, “What if I had tried ! What if I had left sooner! O-Or if I had just gone with him, or—!”
“That’s enough. No more ‘what ifs.’ Just c’mere, bring it in, Jesse.” She reaches him and opens her arms wide. He sucks in a deep breath to try and steady himself as he lets himself be pulled into the hug, burying his face in her red coat. Olivia sighs and pats his back, “I’m sorry we never tried harder to talk to you about this… We might’ve been able to help you sooner.”
“Mm–mm. N— No, no… It’s okay…” He mumbles, voice cracking as he does. “I-I don’t think I would’ve let you before everything else happened…”
“Yeah, well, you certainly are stubborn so I can’t say I doubt that.” Olivia huffs and Jesse laughs a little through his tears.
“So… You left, then?” Petra asks tentatively. Jesse nods from where he’s resting against Olivia’s shoulder. Petra crosses her arms and shakes her head. “That’s so messed up!” She hesitates a moment but then swallows, proceeding a bit more carefully, “I— I hope that, whatever happened, he didn’t… y’know, suffer in any form.”
“Thanks Pet… I do too, but…” He scowls, shutting his eyes tight. “Not knowing… That’s the worst part. I honestly didn’t feel safe until I started hanging out with Liv and Axel years later. I-It was scary…I just felt like I was constantly being watched. Went away eventually though as I got older. Thankfully.”
“ Yeesh. Man, I bet… I know I’ve seen you guys all trailing each other for as long as I can remember so remind me—where in this little timeline did you first run into each other?” Petra glances between the three, unsure. Olivia smiles.
“I met Jesse years ago when we were both 11. I was in town with my mother when I saw him giving his little piglet—” She pauses with a grin and nod, “— Reuben, an apple. You don’t see kids being trailed by pigs too often and curiosity got the best of me, so I approached him about it! We became fast friends from there.”
The corners of Jesse’s mouth quirk upwards slightly as he remembers back, “Yeah… Reuben was kind of the runt of the last litter—energetic though. But when I let the animals loose as I left, he didn’t end up really going anywhere and was pretty nervous. So I scooped him up and took him with Ziggy and I.” He sucks in a shaky breath, “I wound up staying with Olivia and her family from there. Heh, they just thought I was a playground friend who’d be hanging for a little while before going home—so much for that, huh?”
Olivia rolls her eyes with a smile, “My mother still doesn’t let me hear the end of it. Oh well, suppose I have an annoying little friend-brother-esque guy now!” She says with a grin as she slaps her hands on Jesse’s cheeks and squeezes them.
Jesse scoffs, voice muffled by her grip, “ L’st I checked— ‘m older.”
“Then we met Axel when we were 14 and Axel was 15.” She continues, pointedly ignoring him as Jesse rolls his eyes. “Jesse later moved out first but Axel and I weren’t far behind him. As for everything else, well,” Olivia pulls back and eases her grip, giving Jesse a warm smile. “The rest is history...!” Jesse forces a smile and she rubs his cheeks with her thumbs. She hums and pulls him back into another hug, giving him a tighter squeeze this time.
Jesse sighs, just hanging against her for a good minute longer. This is all exhausting, yet some part of him tells him that sleep won’t be coming easily to him tonight. He eventually sniffles again and some life is pushed back into his body as he sits up and moves back from her. He wipes his eyes, nodding, before clenching his fists and resting them on his knees.
“I… I hate to be that person and keep picking at old wounds Jesse.” Soren’s voice cuts through the temporary silence. Everyone looks back at the ginger, who suddenly grows more nervous with all the focus on him. Despite the newfound pressure, he takes a breath, and continues. “When you were describing the second disk, the one that seemingly depicted your father’s…” He trails off, immediately regretting his poor choice of words. He grimaces and Jesse can't help but do the same.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve Soren—” Petra bristles but Jesse holds up a hand. She frowns, but complies, switching to just crossing her arms and giving Soren a sour look while he talks.
“On that disk, you described some sort of monster noise… Is there any mob you can identify that made that noise…?”
“Why do you want to know Soren?” Axel eyes the man suspiciously, Lukas quickly nodding and doing the same. The man puts his hands on his hips, getting a bit impatient.
“Look, I just would like to know! At the moment, all Jesse knows is that his father seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth! If we can pinpoint what mob was recorded then perhaps we could put together a clearer picture of what happened. For the sake of some actual closure. ”
“Why do you suddenly care about closure?”
“Because I know how much you can get eaten up inside without it!” He jabs a thumb at himself then crosses his arms, head held high with that grating confidence—though it’s almost refreshing to see after such meekness. Axel rolls his eyes but backs off seeing as Jesse seems okay with where the conversation’s heading. Everyone’s eyes follow Axel’s gaze back to Jesse. He sits there, face scrunched up in concentration as he tries placing some sort of face with the mystery screech. He lets out a noise of frustration and shakes his head, biting his lip.
“I-I can’t... I-I don’t know. It was different—I haven’t heard those noises before, I…” He shakes his head before frowning, a newfound determination lighting his eyes up as he furrows his brows. “Maybe an Enderman…? But it doesn’t sound quite right… I’ve never heard it make the sound that I heard.”
“Which was like…?” Soren rolls a hand, ushering for him to try and continue. If it was an Enderman, then Soren might just be able to help a bit more than he initially thought. The other Order members also pick up on this and grow more interested themselves. Not the way they expected spending their day, not at all, but saying they weren’t intrigued by where this was going would be a lie.
Jesse just shakes his head in frustration. “I... I can’t even describe it! It was… just... Awful! Spine-chilling!” He knocks on the air with his fist as he thinks. He sits there, his thoughts obviously eating him from the inside out as his face contorts and shifts with each new thought. Eventually, it seems he comes to some sort of solid decision. Jack raises a brow as Jesse stands, beginning to hurriedly walk off to the second half of the apartment. He looks over at Lukas and Olivia, who shrug helplessly. They aren’t mind readers. They all sit there, antsy, but none decide to make a move.
They hear the sound of Jesse’s feet pounding up the stairs and darting around up top. There’s at least some sort of spring in his step now. He’s searching for something. Jack feels his stomach drop as he realizes what Jesse’s gone for. He quickly pushes himself up onto his feet and points to Axel.
“ Help me set up that record player. Quickly!”
Axel blinks, trying to process what he said before he nods and starts scrambling. Jack rushes over and the two of them pull it further into the room to a place where everyone can reasonably see and hear without it being muffled. Jack waves Axel off and looks over the last little details, making sure everything is in check and ready to play. When everything looks good, he holds his hands up and inches back. Just in time too.
Jesse comes back through the archway, the sounds of his heels clacking against the ground announcing his presence. He freezes briefly as he sees the record player pulled out. He meets Jack’s gaze. Jack glances at the two weathered disk sleeves in Jesse’s hands before looking back up at him with a nod. Jesse takes a deep breath, not taking his eyes off of the record player as he makes his way back over.
Jesse kneels down before the player, a small crowd quickly building around him, Soren included. Soren sits opposite of Jack with Jesse between them. Everyone watches as Jesse runs his fingers over the covers. They’re blank and plain compared to the other disks. The only writing on them are their respective names written in red ink by Jesse if the handwriting is any indicator. 13 is on top. Jesse sighs and sets that one down beside him, revealing the battered cover of 11. There’s a note taped on top, the same one he described finding on them as a child.
‘Exploration
- 11
- 13’
The simple note is almost mocking. Jesse scoffs and pulls it off, slamming it down on the side of the record player and Jack eyes it curiously. Jesse holds his breath and reaches into the cover, grabbing the familiar bumped surface of the disk. Pulling it out reveals a somewhat shocking sight. The record is cracked and broken around the edges, it looks downright unplayable. The air about Jesse reflects the group’s sudden deflation. Soren gently hits a palm to his forehead, rubbing his eyes.
“It’s… Broken , Jesse.”
“Not completely.”
“ ‘Not completely’?! Jesse, that won’t play! I-It’s just a useless set of shards at this point!”
Jesse just huffs in amusement and shakes his head, placing the record in place on the player. The group around him all share equal glances of increasing concern. Great. They broke him. What on earth were they gonna tell Radar?
But then sounds spark to life, and Jesse immediately stiffens. Just like he described, the disk starts with ominous chimes and whines from the cave, accompanied by the sound of a man hurrying through the space. Jack and Soren look incredulously at each other. The damn thing works! And boy is the damn thing haunting. Jack immediately locks arms with Jesse in an attempt to comfort him. Jesse glances at him with wide eyes and Jack just smiles in response. Silent assurance. Jesse nods back and refocuses.
Everyone is crouched around the player, listening intently. Had it not been playing, the silence is strong enough to hear a pin drop. Lukas reaches over and locks hands with Jesse’s other hand, gently squeezing it. Jesse squeezes back absentmindedly, a form of acknowledgement they’ve grown used to. It's a habit at this point. The silence aside from the record is briefly dashed by the sound of a soft chuckle from Jesse in response to the mannerisms of his father right before he begins flipping through a book. The smile on Jesse’s face is the warmest one they’ve seen all day. Pure adoration and love. It makes it so much more painful to watch it drop as his father’s breath hitches.
Soren holds a hand over his mouth, eyes closed as he immerses himself in the sounds, trying to build a mental image. The tension of the tape builds in the way Jesse’s all too familiar with. The seeming white noise begins to become more prominent as his father clicks off his lighter and begins running. Soren mumbles out a note of the raw fear in the hitch of his breath. Jesse picks up on it too. The noises of the caves, dancing and creating the haunting melody that plays in the background, yet drowned out by the sounds of his feet against the stone makes his skin crawl.
Then it’s the noise that Jesse was failing to describe. That white noise grows louder and louder, more intense with each fleeting step from his father. Jesse squeezes Lukas’ hand and Jack’s arm tight as the disk approaches its climax. All those images flash through his head—the scene he saw mixed with the terrifying movie his mind paints for him. He shakes. Petra grimaces, Olivia covers her ears. Lukas shuts his eyes and looks down, Axel can only stare in shock and the Order do the same. The mob reveals itself with that inhuman screech that haunted Jesse’s childhood, occasionally visiting him as an adult too. Jesse sucks in a sharp breath as the record cuts.
It’s over. There’s only static now.
A silent sigh moves throughout the small crowd. Jesse eases up his grip on Jack and Lukas, murmuring an apology to the latter under his breath. He didn’t mean to, but had been digging his nails into Lukas’ hand. Lukas just smiles and shakes his hand out a bit. He’d never be mad. Everyone glances at each other, then to Jesse, and eventually Soren.
“That…” He starts, leaving everyone unsure of if he was referencing the noise or the record as a whole.
Either way, he had an appropriate reaction.
Jesse looks to him, his eyes shining with a desperation for some kind of clear answer from Soren. Something to go on. Anything. A child just wanting to know the truth. Soren sighs and rubs his mouth, nodding as he refocuses on what they set out to do. They had a reason to listen to this again.
“Your initial guess was right. That was an Enderman…”
Jesse shuts his eyes and hangs his head, using his hand to support it and leaning on the record player. He covers his face and the group shares some somber looks as they let Jesse process in silence. Magnus is the one to break it in frustration.
“I don’t get it.”
Everyone shoots him a look of disapproval for cutting in. Jesse sniffles and cocks a brow at Magnus, scowl hidden by his own hand. Magnus hesitates but nods and continues, directing his attention to Soren.
“Like Jesse said earlier, I’ve never heard an Enderman make a sound like that! How can you be so sure it was one?”
“It’s a rare noise to hear, and even more rare to catch on tape!” Soren gets a brief flare of excitement and fascination, but takes a deep breath and refocuses. “Rare doesn’t mean nonexistent. It’s a noise that only happens under certain circumstances…”
“Like?” Gabe butts in.
“W-Well… If the scene Jesse described was correct, and my own research is anything to back it up, then I have reasonable evidence to believe that that was the noise it makes before a certain attack. One that isn’t as aggressive as others… That’s the noise they make before they grab whatever they’re hunting and teleport away with them…”
That grabs Jesse’s attention as he snaps up. “Just teleports?”
Soren nods. “Yes. It’s an assault, but one they usually never follow up on. Leaving their prey to whatever environment they yanked them into…”
“That’d explain the sudden halt of footprints you described around the cave’s mouth Jesse…” Ivor plucks at his beard in thought, “As well as evidence of a struggle as your father attempted fighting off that hellish creature—”
“Not hell! End. Endermen don’t step near the Nether.” Soren shakes his finger at Ivor then pauses to purse his lips. “Well, save for one biome. But regardless, had he been sent to the Nether then it’s likely he would have returned by now. It’s quite the rough dimension but far more accessible than the End dimension.
“ So he died in The End then…” Jesse murmurs, arms crossed with a new wave of anger flooding him. Surprised looks barely get a chance to last before Soren steps in again.
“W— We don’t know that! Besides Jesse, if he had been in The End, dead or alive, we would have found him. Our uh… Encounter with the Ender Dragon occurred around the same time after all, if not a little after. And you know I was in the End a lot. He couldn’t have wound up there… Maybe he’s still—”
“ No. If my father was still alive on the Overworld he would have found me.”
Olivia gently places a hand on Jesse’s arm, speaking softly, “ Jesse the world is so big…”
He jerks his arm away, “You didn’t know my father. He would have found me. It wouldn’t matter where in the world he was. He would have found his way back! He would have.”
Olivia recoils a bit and just shuts her eyes with a silent sigh. With this new development, the share uncertain looks amongst each other—some skeptical, some defensive. Those who simply believed Jesse was in denial, and those who trusted Jesse’s judgement of his father. Gabe finds himself in the latter. He taps a finger on his armored arm, making a soft clink each time. He looks at Jesse, changing the subject.
“Your father and uncle… You said they were twins, correct?”
Jesse eases up a little and nods, albeit unsurely. Gabe nods slowly, a slow smile creeping across his face.
“With the way you described them earlier, well, I think the Order had a few run-ins with them in our prime. Prior to the Dragon fight!”
“You…” Jesse chokes, leaning forward in awe at the thought of his father being remembered by someone other than himself. “ You knew my father…?”
“In passing, I must say that I… I think that we did! And, frankly, if we’re thinking of the same people then the reason you are the way that you are, makes far more sense…” Gabe chuckles heartily, then snaps to grab Magnus and Ivor’s attention. “Come on! Don’t you two remember the twins we always ran into when we were young? Oh my lord, Jesse,” He leans over, a grin sweeping across his face as he recalls the tale. “One of our earliest expeditions was down into the depths of a mineshaft! Rumor had it that there was a dungeon deep within, with chests filled with treasure upon treasure!”
“Oh dear.” Ivor snorts, hiding a grin as he remembers where this story from their youth goes. Gabe giggles with his wide grin and continues.
“Now, we had been prepping to go down there for days. Luckily, there was a small village near the mouth of the cave. When we arrived we were all decked out in armor, equipment, the like. We certainly brought attention to ourselves. The people of the town had plenty of questions too! We also caught the attention of two other travelers.” He smirks and winks to Jesse, who lights up. “A pair of adventuring twins. Word of mouth was good to them and they had a local repertoire that was incomparable! According to the stories from the locals, they ventured far and wide searching for adventure!” He pauses, trailing off a bit. He huffs with a smile, suddenly becoming less glorious and more genuine. Jesse matches it.
“Sounds like them, alright…” He mumbles and Gabe nods.
“That was one of our key differences… They adventured purely for the sake of doing it—for fun. Not once did I ever get the impression that either of them were doing it for bragging rights to make a legacy…” He huffs with another smile, “They were both great young men. But, continuing! We had the pleasure to meet the duo, and they were quite interested in our mission. We, of course, were proud to share the details. The self proclaimed older brother of the twin duo was absolutely fascinated by Ellie’s plans that she wrote up.”
“My father…” Jesse mumbles, chuckling. Gabe continues.
“While the other one spent his time learning a few of Magnus’ tricks in TNT…!”
Jesse snorts, “ Uncle Brian. Of course.”
“ Oh you have no idea yet!” Gabe snickers and Soren scoffs, rolling his eyes in amusement. “Soren talked with your father as well if I remember correctly! Though I don’t think he could tell you much…” Gabe leans forward, cupping his mouth but doing no more to hide what he said, “The Old bird has the memory of a goldfish I swear.”
“I do not!”
“Oh yeah? What did you eat for breakfast this morning Soren?”
Soren opens his mouth to defend himself, but ends up at a loss. He fumbles over his words. Multiple times. Then eventually sighs and crosses his arms. “ Just get on with your story Gabriel.”
“Now, that’s not the spirit Soren! Bring a smile onto that face!” He waits but when it doesn’t happen, Gabe simply shrugs. “I’ll get him in a second, he always laughs at the end.” He grins and nods, “So there we were, heading deep into the cavern… Your father and uncle had finished looking through our plans and went on their way, so we decided to get straight to work while we were inspired. The fight through the mineshafts was unlike no other! Cave spiders, skeletons, creepers, and zombies galore! Magnus was nearly poisoned had Ellie not lent him a helping hand!”
Magnus smiles fondly at the memory of Ellegaard.
“Hours passed as we fought through and lit up the giant maze. It took so long to find a breakthrough… And we almost gave up on it too! But then, the proper tunnel to follow to the dungeon hit us with a boom!”
“Eugh! That’s a horrible pun Gabe—”
“SHH! So there we are. Tired, hurting, armor tearing at the edges when we hear the faint boom of TNT followed by a whooping that echoed through the caves. Initially, we believed that it was Magnus, hitting the jackpot without us! But when he came up behind us, just as confused, we realized something else had happened.”
“Magnus offered up the idea of it being a ghost coming to kill us for intruding in his mineshaft.” Ivor adds with a snicker. Magnus crosses his arms as his face flushes red. Harper wheezes from behind him.
“Ghosts? Really ?”
“It was ONE. TIME .” Magnus holds up a finger.
“Now that’s a lie Magnus…”
“ Ivor you have said ENOUGH—” He points at him accusingly and Ivor laughs, leaning back a bit onto Harper who’s also in the midst of her own snickering. Gabe smiles and nods back at Jesse and his friends.
“We of course ran down that tunnel. After all, someone else could have been in trouble! We hurried through the darkened mineshafts, bats and cobwebs at every turn! Until finally we reached our final staircase and saw light from below. I was the first one to jump down into the entrance of the dungeon and what I saw at the time infuriated me to no end.” He swings an arm out wide with a smirk, “ THERE THEY WERE! The twins from earlier, digging through our chests and stuffing our treasure! They were both covered head to toe in gunpowder—all that remained of their TNT aside from the direct path they made down to the dungeon. The smug bastards were grinning ear to ear.”
“Clever bastards, they were.” Ivor hums with a smirk and Gabe nods.
“I dropped my sword from sheer shock! Not only had these boys beaten us to our own prize, but they came up with a successful plan to reach that treasure within a few hours whereas we took days. They didn’t even know about that dungeon before we told them!” He shakes his head and Soren snickers a bit at the memory. A group of fully armored young adults coming down only to face two prideful young men who wore nothing more than the clothes on their back, and were covered head to toe in gunpowder. Soren picks up the story from there.
“Ellie was SO mad… I never heard her swear before that day. But she walked up to your father, Jesse, and absolutely tore him apart. Or at least, she attempted. All he did the entire time was look down at her with a smug smile. Not ill-willed, but certainly proud. Then after all was said and done and Ellie finished chewing him out, he simply responded with two words…” Soren grins and looks over to Ivor who finishes the story.
“ Finders Keepers.”
Olivia shrieks with laughter at the thought. Someone saying that to Ellegaard’s face? Magnus breaks into laughter too, catching onto Olivia’s train of thought. He waves to get the group’s attention and speak through his laughter.
“Ellie I swear went red as an apple! She looked like she was about to rip them both limb from limb! Never in my LIFE have I seen two grown men book it like they did! They just sprinted back up that cavern like nobody’s business, laughing the whole way up as Ellie tried chasing after them! We had to hold her back!”
“H— How...!” Olivia barely manages to spit out and Jesse beams.
“My father had a photographic memory! A few good looks at Ellie’s plans and maps and he would’ve had the location pinpointed and memorized! He was always the one that made maps and did the logistics of a trip, whereas my uncle—”
“ Stole my TNT tactics!”
“That you willingly shared!” Jesse bounces back with a grin, “My uncle was a charmer but that didn’t mean he was a dunce. He could schmooze any detail out of people and then would use it for his own advantage! He was the one that turned my father’s plans into action but also made a lot of adjustments on the fly, usually for the better.” Jesse pauses and chuckles, “ Usually…” Jesse beams with pride over his family, his friends chuckling along with him. Jesse settles down, falling into a comfortable silence for the first time in hours. He nods to Gabe, “Thank you for telling that story… I… I dunno— I never thought I’d hear stories about my father and uncle from someone else… Especially ones I didn’t know!” His smile falters briefly as he clears his throat, “I’m— I’m sorry for today turning out like this, and Olivia,” He looks over at her, “I’m sorry for snapping at you like that. I should’ve—”
“It’s okay Jesse.” She cuts him off with an easygoing smile, “This is all a lot for you… I know you didn’t mean anything personal. It’s not exactly been a secret to me that you were keeping something big bottled up tight considering…” She smiles and pats his arm reassuringly, and he lets out a sigh. He nods silently to himself.
Lukas sighs, “If… If we can, I still think we should try clearing up what happened to your father Jesse. Like Soren said, some proper closure would probably be good for you… I believe that your father probably would have found a way back to you if he had survived and just been taken to another part of the overworld. If the Enderman left him alone once teleporting them away, like Soren said, escaping cave systems or whatever would have been relatively easy for an experienced miner. Which, considering how many books he owned and the fact that he was exploring a stronghold when he went missing, I don’t doubt he was.”
Jesse takes a deep breath and nods. “He was. And… unless he was killed, then the only other place the Enderman could have taken him was to the End, but we already established why that wouldn’t work… Same with the Nether.”
“So, what then?” Petra huffs, “Are we just supposed to assume that he disappeared into thin air? He had to have gone somewhere. We’re just… We’re missing something!”
“Unless he was taken to an End City.” Magnus mumbles in thought, surprisingly pensive. Jesse snaps up.
“A what?” Jesse nearly cuts Magnus off; he's so quick to respond. Soren grimaces and shares an equal look of uneasiness with the other Order members. Jesse’s heart starts pounding in his ears. He pushes for information. “Someone tell me what that is. Start talking, please! Why didn’t this come up before?”
Soren hesitates but begins to explain. “There is… More to the End Dimension than just the Dragon altar, Jesse. Once the Dragon is defeated, another portal opens up to the other distant islands of the dimension. They’re dangerous to cross, and unless you can fly , the only way to traverse them is with Ender Pearls. They’re barren and cold with groups of Endermen wandering about through the occasional forests of Chorus Fruits. But… Hidden amongst those islands are varying End Cities—supposed buildings that spiral high into the black sky. Those are the natural homes of Shulkers and varying treasures. Rumor has it that some End cities even have floating ships docked at them with some sort of rare find…”
Jesse shakes his head, “I don’t get it, why are you falling back on explaining through rumors? Aren’t you, like, the End guy?”
“We never left the Dragon Altar Jesse. You know how our Dragon ‘fight’ went. Trying to venture out to an End City was a suicide mission! We don’t…” He blows out a defeated sigh, “We can’t confirm a lot of things we’ve heard about it because we’ve simply never been there. And all the information about the End that we had stockpiled is in our old Nether base…” Soren trails off with a pained look, Magnus, Gabe, and Ivor also grimacing.
“Okay… So you just go to the Nether, grab your shit, and come back! It’s not that hard! And it’s your base! I’m surprised you left it in the Nether of all places when you could have had it all in your weird End Mansion.”
Gabe rubs his neck, “We would have...! But there were… complications…”
“ Excuse me?”
“We got… kicked out of our own base…” Magnus lets out an awkward chuckle as his words sink in. Jesse blinks, absolutely dumbfounded. Lukas buries his face in his hands and Petra grumbles. Jack and Harper share an equal look of irritation before looking to Ivor in the hopes of hearing something else. Ivor just offers a sympathetic shrug and a shake of his head. Lukas sits up again, rubbing his temples.
“What do you mean you got kicked out? Who— Who would want to kick you out of a Nether base? Nobody but looters care about the Nether and, even then, your reputation precedes you. And despite being liars, you all can still put up a decent fight. How the hell were you chased out?”
“ Generally, when an angry man appears in a flash of lightning and demands for you to leave , you don’t want to stick around and piss him off further…” Gabriel lets out a stressed sigh, his comments sparking a new fascination in everyone. Jesse looks at him utterly bizarrely. That certainly wasn’t Romeo’s MO, and if he was the problem then they wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Fred was dead and Xara had long been stripped of her powers by then, so what’s this about? The idea of another rogue God on their hands leaves Jesse feeling nothing but dread in the pit of his stomach.
“King of the Nether…” Axel murmurs, garnering confused looks from Jesse and Olivia.
“The what?”
“The King of the Nether, man! There’s this ghost story that’s been around for a while, started picking up steam when I was a kid of this guy— A lost miner! Or, like, I dunno his ghost or something… Anyways— He supposedly looks just like an average dude, except for his eyes which are a pure and glowing white! Those who saw him claimed to feel like he stole their soul by just looking at them—!”
“ That is not the story!” Petra butts in. Axel looks at her surprised. She crosses her arms, failing to hide the small smirk on her face. “He’s a god and a fighter! Always showing up just in time when people needed him and saving lives! He has ‘Hero’ in his name after all, Axel.”
“No no no , seeing him somewhere dangerous has always been a bad omen. Most who’ve seen him have claimed that their friends lost their lives ‘cuz of him! He’s a griefer, man! Have you even heard about half the stuff he’s done? He blows up homes, strips trees of their leaves, builds traps and leaves cryptic signs to fill the mind of his prey with paranoia until he can just show up ! The shock of seeing him often leads people to their own unruly deaths…! One time, I heard that he was responsible for the collapse of a whole kingdom! Let out all the mobs they’d captured and led an army siege on the castle and everything!”
“Oh, please, just like how he had some giant mansion in the middle of the forest filled with evil creepy crawlies and monsters?” Petra rolls her eyes, “You are full of it , Axel.” She says as she just shakes her head.
“Oh I’m full of it? Petra, you don’t even pronounce his name correctly.”
“ Wh—?! And how would you know?! Did you ask him?”
“I don’t have to ask him to know how ‘Hero’ is pronounced.” Axel smirks and Petra opens her mouth to argue right back only to be cut off by Soren.
“Well, whatever he is, a ghost story is far from it.” Soren huffs, “There’s a reason we don’t use the Nether as a shortcut much anymore, and that’s because he doesn’t like unwanted guests.” Soren rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “The Nether’s just… off-limits.”
“We never ran into him during our time in the Nether during the Witherstorm debacle… Nor any of the time after, even with the Nether highway project.” Olivia frowns, suspicion in her voice.
“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t watching.”
That sends a shiver down the spines of everyone in the room. Lukas rubs his arms.
“ Eugh… I already hate Endermen’s weird stares. The idea of some sadistic god just— just watching gives me the heeby-jeebies…” He blows out a heavy sigh and rubs his head, “You know… I really thought we were done with chaotic, glowing-eyed gods.”
He gets a few laughs out of that comment and Jesse nods, offering a sympathetic smile. He lets out a sigh and looks back at the still record on the player. He carefully takes the disk off, being careful not to crack or break it anymore than it already has. Jack watches him curiously then speaks up.
“How’d that thing still play Jesse…?”
“I think my father enchanted them with something... Ensuring that they’d still be able to play. It frustrated me when I first discovered it but I’m kind of glad that it ended up that way. I uh… I threw the record out of anger the last time I listened to it. That’s why it’s all cracked, so uh…” He lets out an awkward little laugh, “That’s my bad.”
“I suppose that makes sense... Can’t say I blame you for throwing it around either. I probably would have done the same. Romeo already got me pretty bad with how he disguised himself as Vos… If all I had to know about his death was a record that played his last moments… God…” He grimaces, shaking his head and biting his lip. Jesse nods silently as he stuffs the disk back in its sleeve. He leaves the note taped to the record player. Jack clamps a hand down on Jesse’s shoulder, then shifts to pat him on the back in silent comfort. Jesse gives him a tired smile. One good thing that came out of Romeo’s bullshit was having Jack as a friend.
He picks up 13 from the ground beside him and places it on top of 11 again. Despite not listening to it, he always kept the two of them together. He stares down at them intensely, mind flooding with thoughts. He was too tired to make any detailed plans at the moment, he definitely would need to sleep on things but he knew the first step he had to take—and he can’t say he was looking forward to revisiting the Nether.
Chapter 7: Maybe A-Nether Time
Summary:
Lukas and Jesse spend some downtime prepping for the trip to the Nether. Yes this is the sappy lowkey domestic chapter YA GOT ME
Notes:
I was gonna wait and post this like. Tomorrow. But I got fanart for my AU here AND NOW IM LIKE LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO DO THIS AND THANK YOU TAKE MY SAPPY CHAPTER AND I MEAN I CAN ALWAYS EDIT LATER. NO REVISIONS WE POST BLATANTLY LIKE MEN
EDIT 8/6/21: That old note is really funny in hindsight LMAO. Ended up not having to edit much here though actually! Anyways I love Jesse and Lukas but shoutout to my main man BRUCE
ik he's my own character but like. damn. lov u king 😳EDIT 5/26/23: Fixed up some grammatical/punctuation stuff as usual and added more conversationally <3 Bruce hi hiiiiii beloved
Chapter Text
As he had guessed, sleeping was near myth for the first night. Lukas had held up on his offer and let Jesse camp out in a spare room of his home. He initially protested but only for the sake of being polite—quite honestly, being 100% alone was the last thing he needed right now, and they both knew that without needing to say it. The rest of the Order made a small change of plans and decided to camp out in town for a few days longer, same went for Petra, Axel, and Olivia. Once they had all parted ways for the night, Jesse understandably became far more reserved. He would begin thinking over everything until he became overwhelmed and exhausted, but once he felt rested again he’d go back to overthinking and the cycle would continue relentlessly throughout the night.
Lukas had stayed up late editing part of his next book and just had to watch as Jesse ghosted about the home throughout the night. He had tried asking him little questions, ‘You feeling okay?’ ‘You want to talk?’ ‘Do you need anything? Water? Food?’ But all of which were met with small shakes of his head. That was alright though. Jesse at least was in company and knew that Lukas was ready to help if he needed it. Eventually, Lukas was struggling to keep himself awake and herded Jesse to the room he was staying in one last time, said goodnight, then left to go get some sleep for himself.
Jesse collapses onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling—his blue eyes stand out in the moonlight. He frowns, folding his hands over his chest. So many thoughts buzz around in his mind—just enough to keep his eyelids from getting too heavy.
An End City. His father was ripped away to an End City. And he died there. He died there alone. But that wasn’t enough.
Jesse rubs his eyes with the palms of his hands. He wanted to know more, he needed to know more. But dear lord, the trips that would require. The Nether has always been a bad time. It's sweltering, there are monsters everywhere, fire and lava are the main sources of light and one wrong step in there can plunge one to a cruel burning death. Not only that, but to get the information they need they’re going to have to break into a fortified base home to another god. And a base in the Nether means that they’re gonna be faced with some of the worst creatures their world has to offer. Blazes, Witherskeletons, and Piglins—zombies or not—are all walking deathtraps in such an enclosed place.
And those are only the predictable dangers. Who knows what this Herobrine guy has up his sleeve. He scoffs. Herobrine. What kind of name is that? Hero of the brine. As in like? Salt water? Oceans? What idiot chose that name then thought it’d be a good idea to take up base in the Nether. It’s one hell of an oxymoron. Axel told him the name as they were leaving—He said it with horror laced in his voice, meanwhile Petra said it with a tone of admiration. Either way, Jesse laughed the first time he heard it. Probably not a good thing but whatever. What’s another god as an enemy?
He lets out a jaded sigh and rubs his face. The rest of the night is filled with his mind dancing through different streams of thoughts. Worst case scenarios. Terrors. Plans. Tangents. Anything and everything under the sun. That is, until the actual sun starts peeking over the horizon. The light starts shining in through the high pair of windows in the room and Jesse groans, rolling over and burying his face in a pillow, the exhaustion finally sweeping over him and knocking him out. Lukas checks up on him mid-morning but doesn’t wake him. Any rest he needs he deserves to get.
The day is slow and surprisingly calm. Surprisingly normal. It’s mid-afternoon by the time Jesse starts stirring again. He squints at the golden sunlight sweeping into the room. His face half buried in the pillow and blankets half kicked off the bed are at least sure signs that he— miraculously— slept well. He groggily tilts his head a bit to look up at the clock on the wall. Three o’clock. He huffs and rolls his eyes. Of course. A majority of the day already wasted. He takes a deep breath and pushes himself up with a grunt, followed by a long stretch. He swings his arms back down to his sides and scoots over to the edge of the bed, standing up. He staggers forward, having to regain his balance briefly and shaking his head. He internally laughs at himself before continuing.
Reaching the door, he hesitates a second. Squinting at his own behavior, he just sucks in a breath and pushes open the door. Looking out into the home, he’s momentarily struck with an odd terror until spotting Lukas on the couch, flipping through a book as usual. He sighs probably a bit more loudly than he should have, which catches Lukas’ attention. Blue eyes snap over to Jesse in surprise before pulling into a bright smile. Jesse smiles back softly.
“Hey! Check out who’s actually alive!” He teases and Jesse chuckles quietly as he pads into the living room. He falls onto the couch next to Lukas who marks his place in his book and sets it aside before shifting to face him, resting his head against his hand as he props it up on the back of the couch. “Slept well, I take it? Seems like you really needed it…” He chuckles a bit, “You slept for a good 16 hours!”
Jesse huffs, chuckling a bit before shaking his head. “Actually I didn’t pass out until dawn… So more like 8 hours.. Maybe 9 if I’m lucky.” He shrugs, “But I was pretty deep in it so, I think I’ll survive.” He shrugs, “I made a bit of a mess of the sheets and stuff though, but I’ll worry about that. Sorry.”
Lukas just laughs, shaking his head. “Don’t apologize. My home is your home Jess, don’t stress about something like that right now.” He smiles sympathetically and Jesse nods a bit with a smile of his own. He’s glad that Lukas was the one he was staying with. Even if they have their differences at times, he always tried to be understanding and put the health of others first.
He’s forever thankful that they’re back on good terms. After escaping the terminal, Lukas wasn’t exactly thrilled to see that Jesse let Romeo live and furthermore let him go. Which, looking back now, the frustration makes sense with everything he went through. Had Romeo not whisked Jesse away to some untouched world after he got his hands on the terminal password, his reign of terror would have been done in a matter of days. Not… Not nearly four months. Lukas was the one who stepped up to the plate in Jesse’s absence, leading a full-on rebellion. He got… Shockingly infamous during his time as a rebel leader, as he was loud, destructive, and could slip away better than anyone.
He had a lot of close calls with Romeo, hell, he was chased out of their world at the height of it. When Lukas figured out Jesse was stuck in another world, he raided the Hall for the portal atlas and enchanted flint and steel. Had he not had backup, the confrontation with Romeo there could have ended very differently. And none of that is even mentioning the help they needed to confront Romeo themselves. Suffice to say, Lukas wasn’t too keen about working alongside Aiden, Maya, and Gil again—but they needed all hands on deck and Isa and Milo were insistent. They were good fighters, too, but Jesse’s newfound appreciation for it didn’t exactly do him any favors with Lukas at the end of the day.
But that was over. Things worked out, Lukas gained some new allies, they were reunited, Romeo was taken down, and while not physically punished by Jesse, he was allowed nowhere near his home or town. And knowing how many others perceived the guy, he probably wasn’t easily accepted anywhere in the overworld. But the thought didn’t exactly haunt Jesse either. He got what was coming while also getting a chance to better himself. Away from Jesse. Lukas and him fought a bit harshly over it at the time, but the aggression didn’t last. They were too happy to see each other in one piece.
Lukas clears his throat a bit as his face flushes and Jesse realizes he had been staring at him all dreamily as he thought. Jesse coughs and backs off, causing Lukas to laugh a little as Jesse tries acting casual. He crosses his arms and legs, bouncing one as his face reddens with a sheepish grin. Lukas stands and places his hands on his hips, a slight bounce in his step. Jesse knows what that means. Time to tackle the— almost finished— day! He looks up at the blonde with a brow raised as Lukas already starts moving about the home, gathering his things.
“I have to do a few errands around town. I think you should come with. Get some fresh air for a bit, maybe tell the others that you’re doing at least somewhat okay…”
Jesse leans back against the couch as Lukas speaks, resting his eyes. He hums at the idea of going outside. That was probably the responsible thing to do, yet at the same time he really didn’t wanna get out of his sweatpants. Lukas walks by and playfully flicks his forehead, startling Jesse. He laughs and speedwalks away before Jesse can get back at him. Jesse shakes a finger at him accusingly before hopping up. Alright. Clothing. He calls to Lukas who has disappeared to another part of the house.
“Give me a minute to actually get dressed and I’ll head out with you!”
~~~~~
Jesse sucks in a deep breath of the rather crisp air. It’s a nice afternoon and the town is lively as usual. He and Lukas duck down a bit as a few colorful parrots jet by. They grin at each other then continue on. Jesse slipped into some casual jeans, boots, and loose black shirt rolled lazily half way up his forearms. He was presentable enough for the day. The two had already been in and out of a few shops, one of which being Lukas’ publisher. With his next book almost complete, discussions for distribution have already begun. Lukas spent a while chatting with the man but Jesse didn’t mind and was able to just meander about the large bookstore. It’s a relaxing day, just getting to wander town as one of its inhabitants rather than the local leader.
Or mayor. Or hero. Or whatever the people saw him as. He didn’t really have an official title. Regardless, he enjoyed a day without it and people around town seemingly gave him a bit more space than usual. He hadn’t even heard from Radar. He couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for leaving him to run things so suddenly. Olivia or Axel probably stopped by his place last night and told him the situation… And knowing Radar, he probably made some sort of notice to leave him alone for a while. Jesse was certainly grateful, but still felt a tinge of guilt.
But now, with his wits about him, the wheels in Jesse’s mind start turning. He’s gonna be going to the Nether, so he needs supplies and a game plan. As he and Lukas continue walking through town, Jesse pats his pockets while partially zoning out. The abrupt motion catches Lukas attention. He raises a brow as he looks down at Jesse, who’s head barely surpasses Lukas’ shoulder.
“What are you doing…?”
“Hm?” Bright eyes look up to Lukas as he actually processes what was asked. “Oh! I was just making sure I had some emeralds and stuff on me. But, unsurprisingly, I don’t.”
“What for?”
“Well…” He sucks in a breath. Lukas isn’t gonna like hearing that Jesse’s already thinking about how to tackle the Nether, but it’s the truth so… “I’m gonna stop by the drop shop and nab a few things before going into the Nether. Y'know, so I just don’t run in blindly with nothing to fall back on.”
Lukas stops walking for a brief moment to process, and Jesse continues walking, cringing slightly as he hears Lukas speak then rush to catch up once more.
“Now hold on—”
“Lukas, you can’t change my mind about it. I’m going and—” Jesse goes to pre-emptively defend himself but is cut off.
“I wasn’t going to say that.” They both stop walking, turning to face each other as Jesse looks up in dumbfoundment.
“Wh— Wait really?”
Lukas huffs in amusement and shakes his head. “ Really. I was gonna say that you’re making it sound an awful lot like you intend on going in there alone.”
“W— Well I mean this is my problem Lukas. I don’t wanna drag you all into danger for something that doesn’t matter to you.” He laughs a bit in disbelief.
“I’m going.” Lukas states matter of factly and walks off, leaving Jesse stumbling over his words. He races after him.
“ Lukas! Don’t be ridiculous!” He drops his voice to be more of a harsh whisper and Lukas just rolls his eyes with a smile. “You know how the Nether is! A-And with this Heroin guy—”
“Herobrine?” Lukas corrects with a quirked brow. Jesse scoffs and waves a hand dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Him . We have no idea what is gonna happen or what this guy could do!”
“Exactly. All the more reason to have me tag along. And you know the others are gonna feel the same. You shouldn’t feel guilty about us wanting to help.”
“Yeah but this time is just—... I dunno... Different! There’s no world at stake here, I don’t want you all to feel obligated to go along with every little thing I do.”
“ Little?” Lukas shakes his head in disbelief. “You know, sometimes you sure are something Jess. Look,” He locks arms with Jesse which already makes the man’s head spin. Then he gets closer and Lukas’ voice grows genuine, soft. “Jesse, your world is at stake here… And as someone who cares about you, this is something that does matter to me. The others will agree. You are not in this alone, so don’t plan or act like you are.” He slides his arm down and intertwines their hands, giving it a squeeze to emphasize his words.
Jesse finds himself at a loss for words. He isn’t quite sure what to call his dynamic with the man anymore, but it’s moments like these he is convinced that the man knows exactly what he’s doing to him. Or maybe he’s just a really affectionate guy? Whatever it is, his head spins for a good minute before he can get it together. He sputters a few times, Lukas watching with a smirk, before he gives up with a sigh and just swings their arms as they walk with a grin. Lukas chuckles, and they stay that way as they continue walking.
“I have to say though…” Lukas starts, somewhat quiet, “I’m surprised you’re ready to dive right in there so soon. I mean, knowing you I was certain it’d be happening anyways, but with another god to face…? I can’t help but be curious about what’s bouncing around in that head of yours…” He mumbles and Jesse feels his face flush a little.
“I-I promise I have a good reason. Honestly I— I think we’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not so sure if this guy is really as big and powerful as he sounds.” He mumbles and Lukas frowns.
“Even after all those stories Petra and Axel were spouting? I’m not so sure about that Jess…”
“Well think of it this way then,” Jesse hums, “With the scope of everything we’ve seen, done, and learned about— especially with Romeo at the end of last summer—why do we only have rumors to go off of at best? If there was another guy out there that was just as powerful as Romeo and even more unhinged than him, then we would know. No way Romeo wouldn’t have bragged or complained about that potential competition!”
Lukas hums thoughtfully at that, slowly nodding, “I suppose that makes sense… Plus, he already put so much effort into stripping Xara and poor Fred of their powers to take it all for his own. No way he’d’ve left someone like that unchecked.”
“ Exactly!” Jesse says, enthusiastically squeezing his arm, “I don’t think it’ll be a repeat of Romeo… Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but I think that makes sense. Still, it pays to be prepared for anything.” He hums then freezes in place momentarily as something dawns on him, “Oh shoot! I nearly forgot! I-I still don’t have any money…” He laughs weakly then sighs, thinking aloud as he uselessly pats his pockets, “Maybe I can have Bruce put a few things on hold for me…”
“Bruce?” Lukas asks, brows furrowing in thought.
“Yeah! He owns the drop shop.”
“Oh! Right! I don’t think I’ve met him personally, but I believe he helped supply the Ocelots during the whole…” He hesitates, clearing his throat somewhat awkwardly, “ Romeo mess.”
“Ah,” Jesse starts, voice wavering somewhat from nerves at the topic. He shrugs them off and continues, moving the subject back to Bruce, “I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised! He’s a pretty independent guy and dude has everything in his place.”
Lukas chuckles a little at that, “ Everything , huh? I didn’t know you were such an avid patron of his!”
“Ye of little faith. And I’ve known him for a while now! Met him outside of Beacontown a few years ago actually while still back east—when I found out he was settin’ up shop in town I had to come visit!” He presses, making Lukas smile. Of course Jesse would go greet him personally, it’s simply how he is. He continues, “Fun to chat with! Just don’t tell Jack that I’m friends with him—they’ve got, like, a rivalry going on or something.” He chuckles and Lukas nods thoughtfully.
“Well, I could probably pay for a few things now.”
“What? No, Lukas, you don’t have to waste your money.”
“Not a waste if we buy stuff that keeps us alive!”
“ Hmm… Well, I’m paying you back either way when we get back.” Jesse speeds up, tugging Lukas along before he can shoot back. He changes their direction and takes them off the main road. With their arms locked and a happy bounce to their steps, they continue through the quaint yet bustling streets of Beacontown.
The colorful city bursts with life from every direction—be it human, animal, or plantlife with flowers of all colors latticing the sides of buildings. The cobblestone streets are lined with colorful booths of vendors and businesses of all sorts with homes mixed in or scattered above in townhouses. The city is easily traversable by foot with plenty of parks and squares allowing easy means to cut through large chunks of town—even the alleyways make things streamlined with small businesses working out of garages here and there. Things are ever expanding, especially with the increased trade by water—the city sits right on the border of a river delta and western sea, with waterway connections leading both south and east—good and people come from all over these days and it shows.
As the sun starts dipping lower into the sky, the strings of warm lights that line the small side streets begin to glow with their warm and colorful lights. Music and chitter chatter of random townies further breathes life into the place they call home. Jesse smiles, pride swelling in his chest as he looks around at the city he’s fostered. But celebration and dance parties in the local square could wait, right now they still have things to tend to. And with that, Jesse pulls Lukas into a cozy two story shop on the corner.
Built with spruce wood in a style reminiscent of a cornerstone saloon, the shop has an open look up to the second floor and is lined with a forest green carpet. A pleasant bell rings as they step in and the door shuts behind them. Tall windows line the walls, allowing golden sunlight to pour in without issue—lighting is hardly an issue with the sheer amount of natural light able to seep in. There’s a glass countertop in the center back of the shop connected to the back wall and door. The counters are square in shape, much like those in a jewelry shop with little push doors to slip behind them. Inside the glass counters are a plethora of colorful arrows, unfamiliar trinkets, pouches, and rare monster parts and resources. Things like blaze rods, ender pearls, and even Nether Stars glisten from under the thick glass. On the outer edge of the store—both up and downstairs—are aisles and aisles of monster supplies like gunpowder, slime, bones, leather, etc. It’s an impressive collection to say the least.
With the sound of the bell, a man peeks out of the back room curiously and then immediately lights up.
“Well look at what the cat dragged in! Jesse! What brings you and—” He studies Lukas, his questioning gaze dropping to the pair’s interlocked arms. Jesse gets a bit flustered and pulls away with a laugh. He grins and gestures to Lukas.
“ Heyyy Bruce! This is Lukas—Lukas Belle. Hit author and one of my best friends!”
The man leans on the frontmost counter in interest as Lukas approaches and offers a hand. He gives it a hearty shake and nods. The man is just under Lukas’ height by a few inches or so and has poofy black hair tied up into a messy ponytail. There seemingly wasn’t even an attempt to move the bangs out of his face and mint eyes. His beard remains the most well-trimmed thing on him. Light skinned with faint scars dusting his arms from experience, the man sports a simple green v-neck, baggy tan cargo pants and dark green steel toed combat boots. He accessorizes more simply than most with a collage of homemade bracelets and a beaded necklace and bandana tied around his neck. The bulky tan backpack he usually sports when out and about lays thrown to the side for now. Tacky, but in a way that’s suiting.
“Hmm… Belle, huh? I’ve heard the name and seen the face but not with books…”
“I also led the rebellion against Romeo in Jesse’s absence. You might be remembering my wanted posters…”
Jesse blinks in surprise at Lukas’ bluntness with the topic and Bruce just lets out a curt laugh and stands up straight. He rubs his chin thoughtfully with a wry smile as he scans the man up and down.
“ Yeah! I think that’s where I saw ya before… You’ve got your own plethora of identities now! Be careful Jesse; you take your eyes off this one and he may one-up you!”
“I dunno about that… Though considering he always says he’s gonna settle down before diving head first into something crazy? You might be onto something.” Jesse leans on the counter, looking at Lukas, “Sounds like the type of thing someone scheming to beat me at my own game would do…” He grins playfully and Lukas scoffs.
“Oh please. I think I’ll leave your title to you. I don’t exactly want some mysterious gauntlets whispering to me next.” He crosses his arms and Jesse chuckles, shaking his head.
“ Alright. Another point to Lukas then!” He drums his hands on the counter, turning to the shopkeeper before them. “Anyways! We actually came to buy stuff as well.”
“Oh?” Bruce hums in interest, “Alright, what are you all thinking about?” He crosses his arms and leans back on his heel, glancing between the two, “I’ve got enchanted books, potion ingredients, redstone, and more goodies from mobs than you can wrap your head around. I’ve got plenty of gunpowder for crafting, though given how buddy-buddy you are with those fellas from Boom Town, I don’t think you’d need me to supply such a thing for ya.” He laughs with a cockeyed grin and Jesse chuckles along with him.
“Well, we’re going on a trip to the Nether.” Jesse starts and Bruce’s eyes light up in curiosity, “Maybe a few ender pearls just in case we get in a bind…” Jesse starts then looks up to Lukas who nods and continues the list.
“Maybe some enchanting books. Namely fire resistance ones if you can.”
“Okay, okay, I dig it… I think I could help you with that! Must be eventful if you folks are thinkin’ of stocking up on this stuff, though. What’s the cool extra threat I’m missing here? Goin’ hunting for Wither Skulls? I’ve got a few on hand if you need ‘em for whatever reason.” He pauses then frowns a little, “Er— Just, don’t go creating any more Witherstorms , would ya? Prob’ly wouldn’t be a good look for me to hand those over to ya if that were the case…” He mumbles and Jesse laughs a little.
“No, no, nothing like that—No worries.”
“Oh good! So, what kinda fighting are you expecting then? If you don’t mind me askin’, anyways. I’m always happy to make suggestions to my clients—though I guess you lot are pretty experienced already.” He chuckles with a shrug.
Jesse and Lukas glance at each other, sharing an equally unsure look, which only peaks the shopkeeper’s interest further. They speak silently to each other through their mere expressions. Where do they even begin? Should they? Bruce rolls his eyes at their blatant hesitance.
“Look, I’m not gonna chase after you on this perilous trip to the Nether, y’know?” He chuckles then holds his hands up, “ But if you don’t wanna tell, no worries. I get it! Confidentiality and all that’s important.”
“Well…” Lukas trails off, looking to Jesse who eventually just shrugs and nods. They might as well, they’re probably gonna end up telling a story about it later down the line anyways. Bruce takes a swig out of his water bottle while the two share looks. Eventually, Lukas speaks again—blunt and straight to the point, “We’re going to break into the Order’s old Nether Fortress that’s been taken up by another god.”
Bruce chokes on his water.
He nearly spits then goes into a coughing fit, hammering his own chest and causing Lukas and Jesse to jump. Oh God. How do they tell everyone they killed an innocent shopkeeper? The man quickly waves off their momentary panic as he gets his voice back.
“I-I’m fine! TRULY fine! Eugh…” He coughs a little more and rubs his neck before clearing his throat, eyeing them warily, “Now, repeat that again?”
“Aw man, need your hearing checked already, old man? I guess 46 is retirement age.” Jesse jokes and Bruce just points at him and gives him a look. Jesse can’t help but recoil a bit before shrugging with a half grin, which the man easily matches with a slight chuckle before turning his attention back to Lukas. Bruce has a piercing glare, despite him using it lightheartedly. Lukas goes into explanation.
“There’s some information we uhh… Want to help the Order get back but, like I said, it’s in their old Nether Base which has become the home of the Ghost story, Herobrine.”
“Herobrine?” Bruce repeats, unsure if he heard Lukas correctly. Lukas nods.
“Herobrine.”
“Huh… Somehow missed the legends on that one. ” He rubs his beard and hums thoughtfully, either surprised or just straight up disappointed in himself.
“Well with the sheer number of different stories this guy has under his belt, I wouldn’t be surprised if you heard some but just missed the name.” Jesse says with a shrug, “But yeah, that’s the guy. White eyes, lightning powers, overall chaotic deity who shows up just to fuck with things. Supposed to be some dead miner or something, I dunno.”
“Also he can supposedly control mobs. As if the mobs in the Nether weren’t already bad enough on their own…” Lukas sighs.
Bruce nods slowly, processing everything. He stands there silent for a minute, drumming his knuckles on the glass counter before shaking his head and looking back at the two.
“I’ve never heard of him. Nor have I ever encountered him, and you know how many times I’ve been to the Nether. I mean, look around!” He gestures to his large shop. “I study and deal with monsters for a living! I know a thing or two and I’ve seen a thing or two. But some white eyed freak that controls the monsters isn’t one of ‘em.”
Lukas raises a brow and Jesse explains.
“Bruce specializes in mobs. Drops, behavior, herding—you name it and he knows it. Or so I’m told, anyways.” Jesse says, shooting a cockeyed glance Bruce’s way. The man chuckles with a smirk and shrug.
“I do my best! I figure I’m a pretty flexible man. I work both on the field and off, like here in the shop. But, hey, if you ever need an extra set of hands for any excursions, I’m happy to help!”
“Do we get a discount?” Jesse teases and Bruce snorts as he crosses his arms.
“You keep askin’ and I’m just gonna start jackin’ up the price for ya, Jesse!” He shoots back and Jesse laughs. Lukas chuckles along with a smile then nods to the man.
“Quite the niche! What’s the story there? Only other mob specialist we know is Soren and he’s uh…” Lukas pauses, pursing his lips together tightly, “Well… eccentric, to say the least. Can’t help but be curious.”
“Heh! Well now there’s a story.” Bruce smiles as he sheepishly rubs his neck, “Was on track to being a vet at one point—always picked up strays and shit as a kid so it just sorta made sense. Did pretty good work! But then I kept finding myself being more curious about why these animals were getting attacked in the first place rather than having my focus solely on patching the poor things up. Could’ve carried on with my bleedin’ heart but I’d always been antsy for adventure, so I switched things up!” He shrugs with a smile, “Certainly worked out for the best! I’ve gotten to travel and see some pretty amazing stuff—best decision I’ve made! Mobs are fascinating little things, fun to just sit and watch them bumble around sometimes, y’know?”
“Sounds like you have a fair amount of respect for them.”
“Gotta respect something to ensure you’re really equipped for a fight with it. If you don’t, you’re bound to underestimate ‘em, and that’s the last thing you’d wanna do with some of those creatures out there—trust me, I’d know.” He says with a nervous smile and shows off the various scars dotting his forearms just to start.
“Huh, interesting!” Lukas smiles, “You’ve got a lot of experience under your belt then. I can see why Jack would see you as competition.”
The man just snorts at that, “Now that is a one-sided rivalry if I’ve ever seen one!” He laughs a little but then just shrugs again, somewhat awkwardly, “I’ve been courteous and civil with the man—ain’t got no problem with him, just some business conflicts here and there since our fields often overlap. Nothin’ serious, but I dunno… Guess I just rub him the wrong way. Probably thinks I’m tryna encroach on his territory or somethin’, heh!”
Jesse smiles sympathetically, “Jack can get that way sometimes—it’s a pride thing. He’s still a good guy though, don’t let his defensiveness get to you.” With that, Jesse stands back and places his hands on his hips, “But anyways! Bruce, do you think you could help us out with anything here? Happy to pay whatever it takes—we don’t have the time or patience to go trying to scrounge all these supplies up ourselves.”
“Oh, I dunnoooo…! ” The man drawls with an exaggerated hum. He pauses and shifts his gaze upwards to the ceiling, lips pursed and tapping them with his pointer finger. Jesse huffs and just crosses his arms, waiting patiently with a small smirk. After a drawn out moment, Bruce drops the act and shoots Jesse a grin. He smacks the counter excitedly and backs up, pointing to the two of them, “I can do you one better than just some measly books and pearls!”
Jesse and Lukas share an excited grin—Always has a trick up this man’s sleeve. He hurries off into a back room and, within a minute, he rushes back out, a child-like excitement in his eyes as he carries a small wooden crate. Very basic with a few pieces of hay slipping out between the cracks. He looks between both young men with a sly grin before removing the lid. Inside, protected by the excess of hay, are 8 small compartments with each holding a potion. They all softly glow and Bruce reaches in, pulling one out to show off. He palms it, the orange-pink light from the potion highlighting his features.
“I’m sure you two already know what these are —Fire resistance . One of these bad boys will make swimming in lava a relaxing hobby. Burning doesn’t exist while these things are active as well as helping regulate your own body temperature. With all that armor, that aspect will be a lifesaver. But! That’s not all!” He stuffs the fire resistance potion back then snatches one of the lime green ones. He tosses it up casually—stressing both Jesse and Lukas out—then catching it again and showing it off. “Now, this one probably isn’t one that you had in mind, especially in the Nether but it’s always a lifesaver. Night Vision. Regular Nether Fortresses are already dark as hell, which is something I always see looters forget. But an ex-Order base? That thing is probably massive, and if some hell god is ruling it now, I’d bet most of that light is already gone or traded for piss poor candlelight.” He stuffs the potion back inside.
“I-I didn’t know you made potions! I thought you were just—”
“The mob guy? Yeah, well, had to start learning these tricks for myself once I went solo! Hey, I mean, it’s good business and I’ve got plenty of ingredients lying around here so, why not?”
“ Yeah! How much do we owe you?”
“Well, you still wanted the Ender Pearls too right?”
Jesse and Lukas nod. Bruce nods as well and squints while he thinks, shutting one eye and scrunching up his face before he just shrugs.
“Pay for the pearls, I’ll give ya the potions free!”
Lukas nearly drops his bag and Jesse’s stutter. They don’t get much out though before Bruce abandons them again to go grab a pouch of ender pearls from the back. They simply share unsure looks with each other— free? That just doesn’t feel right . Coming back and throwing it on the counter, he laughs at the looks on the pair’s faces.
“Yeah, yeah, stingy ol’ Bruce is giving you an amazing deal. Don’t go braggin’ about it otherwise I’m never gonna hear the end of it from other customers!” He rolls his eyes and chuckles, “You know how retail is. Just uhh… Call it a hero’s discount of whatever! There’s also a speed potion or two mixed in. Got a total of 8 potions there, use them wisely.”
“Bruce, c’mon man I was kidding before! You don’t gotta—”
“Nah, nah, nah! None of that now, Jesse!” He laughs, “Don’t worry about it, really . You can pay me back by giving me all the details about that new god of yours.” He says with a wink and Jesse just blows out a breath of disbelief.
“I-I… Thank you! You don’t understand how much this means to me, really. If there’s ever anything I can—”
Bruce cuts Jesse off with a wave and smiles, “Don’t feel obligated to owe me any favors—it’s on the house! Just come back in one piece, kid!”
Jesse smiles and merely nods assuredly at that, picking the box and pearls carefully off the counter while Lukas tosses a few emeralds his way. Bruce helps Jesse hoist the crate into his arms, awkwardly hovering for a moment out of worry before easing up. From there, the pair smiles and they exchange their goodbyes and good nights before finally making their way out of the cozy little shop.
Stepping outside once more, night has begun sinking in with shimmering white stars dotting the purple sky. To the west, a faint gradient of gold still clings the horizon but is fading fast. The air remains warm, however—a telltale sign of the summer creeping in. Jesse hums in slight dismay, already dreading the sweltering afternoons heading their way. But not his problem this instant! Nodding ahead, Jesse and Lukas begin the trek back towards Lukas’ house.
Around them, the nightlife now is in full swing. Different colored lanterns paint Lukas and Jesse in rainbows as they talk and laugh with each other on their way home. It’s a beautiful night and a pleasant change of pace compared to the day before. Sure, a new adventure coming barely half a year after defeating Romeo isn’t quite what Jesse had in mind, but this shouldn’t be too difficult, right? All they need is those books taken right out from under Herobrine’s nose—hopefully the deity isn’t the vengeful book-worm type and they should be alright.
At least for now though, it’s a calm and surprisingly normal night. Their plan right now is simple still, but they’ll figure out the details once in the Nether. Like usual. They’ll just drop the new goods off, let the gang know that the Nether’s their official next stop, then head back to crash for the night. Well, if they can sleep before venturing into hell, that is. He knows that his mind’s gonna end up buzzing a million miles a minute no matter what he does. But for the moment, he pushes all of those thoughts out of his mind and focuses merely on Lukas at his side. His smiles and laughter are utterly infectious as they walk and manage to warm him more than the summer air ever could.
Chapter 8: Familiar Faces P.1
Summary:
NETHER TRIP HECK YEAH! HEROBRINE HECK N O--
Notes:
IM SORRY FOR THIS TAKING A WHILE. I WANTED TO PUT IN SO MUCH CONTENT AND I WAS HITTING THE 12000 MARK SO I DECIDED TO CUT THE CHAPTER IN TWO CAUSE IM STILL NOWHERE NEAR WHERE I WANTED TO BE LSKDAJFKLSDJFKASFD
SO!!! 10K CHAPTER!!!! PART TWO WILL COME SOON AND I HOPE YALL LIKE THIS IN THE MEANTIME!!!! I HAVENT REVISED THIS AT ALL SO BARE WITH ME
Also. Describing things in general???? Can PERISH.
EDIT 8/6/21: bro I was so mad bc the Nether Update was announced not very long after I finished this whole Nether arc LMAOOOO but lucky for me editing exists and I was able to add in some bits that I was honestly itching for the first time I wrote this. It's hard describing something as awe inspiring when the only build materials in the place are like. All Red.
EDIT 5/26/23: editing this was so funny with HB being like oOoOo spooky like lmfao okay sir I know more than you. ANYWAYS did a lot of clean up this time <3 Cleared some logical fallacies, improved some descriptions, tweaked and added dialogue, and added a new fight addition <3 !! Had a lot of fun so hope it's even more fun to read in turn :3
Chapter Text
Jesse takes a deep breath, adjusting his gauntlets as he paces the room. He harshly blows some hair out of his face then rubs his neck, the small breeze created by the portal only feet away threatening to mess it up further. His blue heels clack and echo throughout the iron and stone-faced room. Ender Defender. The ol’ reliable of his armor sets. It was one of the first sets he owned, picking it before the final Witherstorm confrontation.
That was 6 years ago.
It’s an odd thing. It feels just like yesterday yet at the same time like it was a completely different life. The extent that Jesse’s grown and changed since then is striking. Physically is already a notable start. The built young man casually pacing before the portal now is near unrecognizable compared to the small skinny 20 year old he was before. Sure he had a little brawn back then, but nothing close to now. And personality wise, while he’s kept all his sweet and charming attributes, he’s certainly gained a good amount of confidence, gall, and humility. He can’t help but wonder what his father or uncle would think of him at this point. Is he even recognizable? Hell, could his 20 year old self even recognize him? His right eye twitches a bit and he reaches a hand up to rub it, then pauses, remembering the scar there. No, despite how quickly life has changed around him, he’s still himself—Still Jesse .
Furthermore, even in light of it all, the armor still fits and works like a charm! It’d help him stand out more in the Nether than Tim’s armor—his favorite set — anyways. What could he say? He looked good in white and gold.
With the renovations over the years, the Order Hall has become far more expansive of a structure than just a little treasure museum. The large hallways have room after room of storage, libraries, and places to meet—it’s become a community center of sorts. Then below the surface are entrances to mines, cart systems to travel quickly, and where Jesse is standing now in the Nether Portal’s room. It’s simple but sturdy—Iron floors, stone walls with accent lines of gold halfway up them, and sea lanterns periodically strung throughout the ceiling and bathing it in a stark white light. The room itself is rather empty and somewhat small in comparison, the stairway taking up a majority of the space. This room is currently the deepest one they had, with provisions to block it off if need be. You never know what’ll sneak through those portals.
The sounds of excited footsteps and faint voices echoing down the stairway shake him out of his thoughts. He smiles as Petra slams into the ground, seemingly jumping the last few steps with a wide grin across her face. Jesse laughs a bit and swings his arms open wide, Petra hurrying over and giving the small man a quick hug. She steps back and slogs him in the shoulder.
“You ready for a good ol’ fashioned Nether raid?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” He grins back as the others—Olivia, Lukas and Ivor—come off of the stairs and meet up with the two. Jesse can’t help a small sigh of disappointment at Axel staying behind, but they were focusing more on speed than brute force. Axel certainly wasn’t a bad sport about not going on a dangerous Nether trip, in fact he seemed more confident with staying behind and helping Radar watch over town while they were away, surprisingly enough. He trusts Axel, and if he felt he’d be more helpful by staying in town, Jesse couldn’t say no. That said, he can’t help but suspect he’s bound to return to a few more reports of sudden fireworks and firecrackers than usual at minimum . He cracks a smile at that. God , he really owes everyone for going along with him through all of this.
Olivia picks up on his slight hesitation and gives him a small smile and pat on the shoulder. Good old Olivia. Ivor claps his hands together, getting the attention of the group. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the light of excitement in his eyes leaves him excited. They all share brief smiles before Ivor begins speaking.
“Does everyone have everything? Potions?” He pauses as Olivia and Lukas double check their bags for the potions, giving a pair of thumbs up. He nods and continues, “Ender Pearls?” Jesse nods and unslings the pouch from his belt, holding it up. Ivor nods once more, “Good, good! And everyone has their armor I see… Weapons?” He takes a slight step back as he watches for everyone to pull out their weapons.
Lukas unslings his bow. Custom made from when Romeo was active, the grey, green and brown would have easily resembled the foliage at night. He plucks the string, checking if the enchantment is still active. The small purple-pink sparks that fly off assure that it is—An Infinity enchantment, the best he could have gotten. Petra of course unsheathes her glorious Ms. Butter proudly and Ivor smiles and shifts his gaze to Jesse.
He pulls the custom axe out of its loop on his belt, giving it a good toss then letting it slide out of his hand until he’s just holding the strap at the end. He starts giving it a spin, the figure of the diamond blue axe getting blurred as he speeds it up. Stopping it abruptly he just gives Ivor a smirking nod. The axe is a culmination from years of him constantly throwing axes away in battle. Literally. This one is crafted using the hilt of a trident as the main body of the axe so it can sport a loyalty enchantment. And that fun little addition has only made Jesse’s enthusiasm to chuck the thing around grow, and with a blade as sharp as it has? Getting caught in its path is bad news. It’s not super decorated or anything past that, fairly sleek and elegant with some small silver and gold accents.
Ivor nods and turns to Olivia who smiles and pulls out a red, brown, silver, and gold shield, then turns to show off the iron sword on her back. Not exactly a redstone machine, but with the place they were going, they wouldn’t have time to make anything spectacular. Best to carry light.
Jesse looks back at the portal behind him, taking in a deep breath. The rest of the group exchange small glances and nods. Olivia, the dedicated speaker, gently puts her hand on Jesse’s arm, speaking softly.
“Jesse… We all talked and—just in case—if you’re not sure you’re ready for this, you can turn back. There’s no shame in it and no shame if this is all just… Too much too soon.”
Jesse looks back to her, a bit surprised to be hearing this. He raises a brow and looks at the others, all nodding in agreement with Olivia. Seems they all talked this over before coming here, giving Jesse the option to turn back if he needed to. He pauses, considering it briefly, but then shakes his head. Without a doubt, he wants to go through with this. Olivia and the others smile and nod. Lukas slings his bow back onto his back and puts his hands on his hips.
“Well, we’re not making any progress by standing around! Jesse, would you like to do the honors?” Luks nods and gestures towards the Nether Portal. Jesse grins.
“What a gentleman!” He waves to Lukas, who laughs, then takes the lead. He looks up at the shimmering obsidian structure, it’s shimmering purple particles dancing in the air around them. His stomach twists out of sheer anticipation, but the burst of adrenaline is exciting. With a deep, steadying breath, Jesse takes a running leap right into the swirling purple portal, disappearing in a shimmering puff of magical particles. However, the silence that follows a person once they disappear into the Nether is always one that leaves a pit in the stomach. It’s ominous. Foreboding. A sneak peek of what could come. Ivor notices the slight tension and clears his throat.
“Well, let’s get in there! Can’t leave Jesse waiting for long! You all know his level of patience…” Ivor rolls his eyes then hops through the Nether portal, trying to lighten and keep the mood as casual as possible. Olivia goes through next, then Petra, and Lukas takes one last glance behind them all before running through. A habit he’s built.
On the other side, well, it’s just what one would expect from the Nether. Jesse groans, already feeling the heat seep through his armor. While he’s learned to appreciate the aesthetic of the dimension, he could never stand the practicalities. How could someone live down here, god or not? Probably another reason the Order didn’t try taking back their base themselves if he’s being brutally honest. It’s miserable. Maybe he’s just exaggerating because he hates the heat, but whatever, his point probably still stands. He looks back to the others with an already tired half grin as he gestures around them.
“Welcome back to Hell! How you guys feelin’?”
“Like I’m boiling alive! This armor is not helping…” Olivia grumbles, re-adjusting the strap of her bag and protected collar in a vain attempt to get more comfortable. Ivor quips back with a scoff.
“It’s better being a little sweaty now than dead later!”
“Inspiring, Ivor.” Lukas huffs and goes to pull out one of the fire resistance potions only to have Ivor place his hand over Lukas’ and push it back. He looks at the older man questioningly.
“Save those until we really need them. They have limited durations and we don’t know how long we’re going to be here. Best to use them sparingly.”
Lukas nods and carefully sets it back in his bag. Olivia puts her hands on her hips and turns to Ivor.
“Well, you’re the one who knows where this fortress is, Ivor. Your turn to be leader.”
He huffs, hiding a smile as he stands up straight. He walks over to the nearby line-up of minecarts, hitting the hull of one and grinning at the satisfying sound. He looks over his shoulder to the group.
“Best to grab a cart! Hypothetically, the line to our base should still be functional. There were a few entrances but the minecart system was the least perilous, though it also means a lot of stairs to get up to the main level of the fortress unfortunately...”
“ Timeout Ivor.” Petra holds her hands in a ‘T’ before rubbing her temples and pointing at him accusingly, “You said hypothetically. Considering where we are at, I’d rather not trust a hypothetical and get thrown into a sea of lava because the line was destroyed.” She crosses her arms with a frown and Lukas nods in agreement.
“I’m with Petra on this one. You said there were multiple entrances—“
“That, if my last scan of the Nether is anything to go by, are closed off.”
There’s a momentary silence before Lukas speaks up again, “Closed off?”
“Metaphorically.”
“Alright, backing up further! ” Lukas holds up his hands, causing Ivor to roll his eyes impatiently. Lukas continues, “Your last scan of the Nether? When was that Ivor?”
“ Ease up Lukas…” Jesse murmurs, resting a hand on the small of his back and surprising him. For someone in a full set of armor, Jesse can still move surprisingly quietly. His hand ghosts away as he takes a few steps towards Ivor, hands on his hips. “Let’s just lay it all on the table now. How’s it looking for us actually getting in the place?”
“ Well… Unless we decide to fight our way through the hordes of monsters loitering by each land entrance—which would be loud and immediately give out our location—the minecarts I’d say would have a very good chance of working.”
“But we’ve heard stories that this guy can teleport, confirmed by you … What good would a minecart line be for someone who can just zip to wherever he wants without breaking a sweat? He certainly doesn’t want visitors, last I heard.” Jesse can’t help but laugh a bit whereas Ivor just sucks air in through his teeth. Jesse drops and swings his arms a bit, a newfound tightness in his chest, “Right…?”
“Considering the stories I myself have heard on top of the Order’s first experience as we were uhh… Driven out, I can’t say I’m so sure.” He crosses his arms, using one hand to gesture as he speaks. “When we all hurried into the Nether from Gabriel’s portal after the Witherstorm was first unleashed, I tried approaching from one of the land entrances only to find it absolutely surrounded by monsters. I had hoped that maybe the loon had gotten bored and left so I could snag something from our old armory, but of course, no such luck. The place was built up and frankly quite a bit more impressive than when we left it. You’ll enjoy the architecture, Lukas.” He nods to the blonde who can’t help but perk up at that, “But as I was hurrying to leave, I was able to get glimpses at the old minecart line.” He stops his pace. “Back then, it was absolutely untouched. Spotless!”
“So… He chases you guys out, successfully scaring you all away from the Nether and getting the place for himself, but then doesn’t even bother getting rid of the easiest mode of entry?” Olivia huffs, “He’s either stupid, lazy, or doesn’t want to keep people out.”
“Well that seems pretty counterintuitive…” Lukas mumbles.
“Hey, maybe he’s just lonely! I don’t think Piglins carry a good conversation.” Jesse jokes with a laugh, getting a chuckle out of Lukas and a snicker out of Olivia.
Petra shrugs, “I dunno, I mean I always heard he wasn’t really a bad guy.”
“Listen!” Ivor interrupts, “Despite the jokes and whatever you have heard previously, he’s still incredibly dangerous! Do not forget that! The moment we get into that fortress we will be in a race against the clock and that man will be on our tails. While yes, he chased us out without much past some mild burns, you have to remember that we didn’t attempt to resist a man shooting lightning and appearing in flashes from every direction. Moreso, that encounter was 19 years ago! People change, and isolation most certainly contributes to that.”
“If he didn’t get rid of the minecart line for the 13 years between chasing you all out and the Witherstorm, he probably hasn’t touched them in the last 6 years either. But we could also be sitting ducks…”
“Perhaps. Yet if he didn’t want to be known about, the rumors and stories we’ve all heard would be few and far between.”
“The rumors we’ve heard are just the opposite of that. Sounds more like he enjoys the attention. If so, of course he’d keep the line intact. The more curious visitors he gets, the more notoriety he gains—like a haunted house. I mean, he is a ghost story. That said, it means no matter which way we go, he’s gonna be expecting us. But if the carts are quieter, maybe we’ll get a headstart…”
There’s a bit of silence that hangs in the air as the gang thinks over the pros and cons of each of their options. Of course they would wait until the last minute to get the plan ironed out. Typical. But better now than in the midst of danger, Jesse supposes. He rubs his neck with a sigh, looks like they're gonna be taking a gamble.
“... That makes sense with what I’ve heard, so… Let’s just get going.” Petra breaks the silence. No one really disagrees.
Everyone hops into the small line of minecarts and Jesse moves to the back of the line once they’re all settled. Getting a good stance, he leans down and heaves, pushing the line of carts forward just a step or two. Enough to get them started. With the small bit of momentum, they begin. Jesse hops in place before sprinting alongside the line as it speeds up, hopping into the first cart before he gets the chance to be left behind. There’s a string of laughter at the sight of him flinging himself into the cart, practically popping a wheelie. Jesse sits up, still catching his breath and grins back to his friends.
The ride is surprisingly relaxing. Sure, it’s a bit hotter than one would desire but there’s something about the steady rumble of the cart moving along the tracks that was almost soothing. The line is pretty familiar for the first while, though he hits the necessary track switches whenever Ivor pops up, and soon enough they find themselves drifting through a completely new section of the Nether they’d yet to see. Compared to the other tracks, this one didn’t have many extreme twists, turns nor tumbles.
The view wasn't half bad either. They’re taken into a tunnel almost immediately after turning onto the track and come out in the midst of a warped forest with its brilliant and blossoming blue vines curtaining the exit to the tunnel. The nether’s always had an odd atmosphere, both a beautiful place of awe and a terrifying one of dread at the same time. As they pass through the Warped forest, the faint sounds of endermen catch on the wind, making him shiver. From there though, the line takes its time and travels through the cramped and confusing maze of Nether caves, ravines, and small glimpses towards the more open regions of the dimension. Eventually, they pass into a much longer and completely darkened tunnel, lit only by redstone lamps in the ceiling and redstone torches strung along the sides. He’s shocked to see them all still working, to be honest—Hell, he’s shocked to see everything still in such great shape. It’s been so long since its creators were here, after all… It only leaves him wondering about what type of man this Herobrine truly is. Regardless, the line is quite a feat, and one with a lot of time and effort obviously put into it. It’s rather saddening to see how much passion went into this place only to have it hardly traveled.
Moving through the tunnel, they’ll occasionally see other tunnel openings where tracks converge and meet with this general one. There’s one for every Order member, he notes. Had he known the Nether just a little better then Jesse may have been able to guess which line belonged to who. The dynamic and ever shifting lighting as they move in and out of the lantern and torch light is beautiful, bathing everything in a warm red glow. Glancing back at the others, Jesse can’t help but smile at the obvious awe sparkling in Lukas’ eyes as he takes it all in. Soren certainly had his hand in beautifying it once Ellegaard was done with her practicalities. The mix of Netherbrick, quartz pillaring, and gold accents as they climb and arch above them to highlight each lantern is utterly gorgeous. Olivia grins from ear to ear as she no doubt spies and guesses all of the behind the scenes engineering that would get this place to work. Jesse, Petra, and Ivor just share contented smiles as they enjoy the ride.
Suddenly, the group gets jerked back as they speed up. Jesse grunts and quickly checks back on others and finds them all hurriedly readjusting and hanging on a bit tighter. Ahead of them, the end of the tunnel suddenly and very quickly comes into view. They speed up faster and faster to the opening with no easy track to see. Jesse’s heart clenches as they break out of the dark only to be harshly swung off to a sharp left. Jesse’s slammed into the side of his cart and groans as he rubs at his head a little. Behind him, Petra shakes her own head to reorient herself while the others gawk at the new environment they’ve been thrown into. Ivor merely smirks with pride.
They’ve been thrown out into a spacious zone where one could potentially see for miles if the haze and darkness weren’t so stifling. They’re suddenly hundreds of feet above the popping and sizzling magma and squeezed up against one of the near sky scraping basalt pillars and cliffs that outlines the area of this delta. Ash wafts on the breeze like black snowflakes and strengthens the smell of smoke already lingering in the air. It’s stifling in its own right and makes Jesse nervous as he looks up at the pillars of basalt surrounding them acting as their only defense against the pools of lava he knows are right behind them. Such a sudden change of pace—it’s fitting for the Nether. One look over the right side of their carts and it’s a straight shot down to the beautifully dangerous lake of fire. Olivia turns behind her, looking past Petra and calling to Ivor at the back.
“Can I ask why you guys built the line in such a precarious place?! This ledge is 5 feet wide at best! ”
“Ha! Magnus and Ellegaard agreed to it! Magnus thought it was dramatic and ‘ cool ’ and Ellegaard agreed because it’d be a challenge. You know how she was.”
“Yeah…” Olivia mumbles, glancing back over the ledge of her minecart. A few small pieces of basalt crack and break off of the wall and tumble all the way down to the lava sea below. They hit the surface hard and send a rippling splash through the thick liquid rock, flames shooting and dancing upwards from the hit before dissipating into thin air. A chill runs up Olivia’s spine as she settles for either staring straight ahead or at the wall they’re crunched up against on their left.
“ Jesse… ” The breathtaken Lukas catches his attention from the waterfalls of lava that are scattered about, no start of them in sight as they seemingly materialize out of the red haze so far above them. He turns behind him only to find Lukas wide eyed and seemingly staring out at nothing through his goggles. He raises a brow.
“What is it?”
“ Look.” He extends an arm, pointing out across the lake. Jesse squints, trying to make out what he’s pointing to in particular. There’s a peninsula of sorts at least, far below them and still a ways out across the fiery ocean. The magma pops and licks at the small black basalt cliff sides, but it’s hard to see through the haze. He frowns and shifts in his seat, keeping his gaze focused on it as they continue along the track. The closer they get, the clearer a new shape begins to take form through the dark and smoky haze. With the shape coming into view, Jesse’s eyes widen and his jaw slackens.
Jesse’s seen a Nether Fortress or two before in his life. But this isn’t a fortress anymore. This thing is some sort of castle. The original shape of the Nether Fortress can still be made out, but it’s near nonexistent with the sheer amount of changes and extravagant additions built upon it. It’s a beautifully decorated labyrinth that stretches both outwards and upwards. Fire, Glowstone, and Redstone seem to be the main sources of light, and the ornate lanterns strung about highlight each twist and turn. The complex stretches high and far into the haze of the Nether, every time you think you’ve found the edge of it, you spot another addition—a stringy tunnel or walkway or staggering tower shooting higher upwards. The roofs are steep, octagonal, and pitch black from obsidian or blackstone with a very steep slope downwards like arrowheads.
The buildings themselves feign a gothic or victorian style. Sharp angles but beautifully intricate archways and ornately carved quartz, blackstone, or red brick columns that periodically travel as high as the given building. In some of the towers, the light of the lava shines off the stained glass windows that replace the typical bars. Everything is built off a large middle tower, the tallest and certainly grandest aspect. It stands tall with quartz columns with gold etching adorning its edges and standing in stark contrast to the dark red netherbrick. Despite its awe-inspiring architecture, it closely matches the other 3 spires it’s connected to and surrounded by. About a third of the way up, the main 4 towers meet at a square courtyard and balcony. Beneath that point it’s more difficult to tell the bits and pieces of the former fortress apart. It stretches far out and overhangs some of the lava while others reach and blend with the terrain. A large walkway coming from the back right is visible, featuring its own small courtyard before blending into the rest of the complex—One of the land entrances Ivor had mentioned.
Ivor whistles, leading to four already awestruck faces to look down at him in unison. He looks back with a shrug.
“What? Soren made our base nice, certainly, but we didn’t leave it like this! It’s quite impressive! Though, considering the amount of time this man has on his hands I can’t say I’m surprised with the amount of detail and expansion! I’d keep an eye on where we step though as we make our way through there, if he’s constantly building the place up there’s no telling where holes or unfinished hallways could be.”
“I can see some of Soren’s original style in the main building. The part below that main courtyard. That was probably the original center the Order created, then this other guy built up on it. Soren always loved making big centerpieces for his builds, this one certainly wasn’t different. I wish I could have seen the original to be able to compare…”
“I can assure you Lukas, the difference is… Spectacular.” He scratches at his beard for a moment in thought, then laughs a bit under his breath before readdressing him, “Soren would positively throw a fit if he saw what became of his perfect little fortress! If we really wanted a threat against this man, I suppose we could have just brought Soren along to critique every change he has made!” He jokes and Petra snickers.
Jesse huffs, giving a lopsided grin at the thought of Soren being a part of this group. He’d complain, worry, and nag all through the cart ride here. His inevitable gasp at the stomach churning height they’re moving at though would have been hilarious.
Speaking of shock, Jesse and the others can’t help but scream as the line very suddenly drops them. Jesse grips the sides of his minecart as they’re whipped back and forth through some tight turns and another drop. They’ve picked up speed once again and Lukas grits his teeth before yelling to be heard against the newfound wind whipping past them, messing up his hair.
“Olivia if we die here, I want you to know that I am going to PERSONALLY punch Ellegaard in the afterlife for designing all of these ridiculous roller coasters! I just want one—ONE—normal minecart line in this hellscape!”
“Good luck with that Blondie!” Ivor yells up with a knowing smirk. Lukas looks back at him in annoyed confusion before they harshly drop again and a scream is ripped from his throat. Petra bursts out laughing before whooping as they go down. Olivia just sits in her cart anxiously while Jesse nervously braces himself for whatever comes next. The tracks harshly straightens out again, jolting everyone forward. Jesse slowly exhales through his mouth as he sits back, bumping Lukas’ head in the process. He glances behind him to see the blonde hunched over and head resting on the front of the cart. Jesse laughs softly and reaches back to tap his shoulder. Lukas lets out a sigh before sitting back up with a grunt, the wind whipping the hair out of his face once again. Hardly a half hour in and he already feels like a disaster. Jesse snickers and that at least helps lift his spirits, Lukas tiredly chuckling along with him.
The rest of the ride is just the straight-shot approach into the lower levels of the fortress. The heat of the now uncomfortably close lake of lava is near overbearing and already makes Jesse feel tired. He’s complained about the heat a million times before, and will continue doing so. He can deal with it, sure, but he always preferred mild or even colder weather. He loved snow and being on the ice. Hell, he’d be lying if he tried saying he wasn’t at least a little excited when Romeo made that giant ice castle as a challenge. He lets out a sigh as the carts start slowing down as they get inside the fortress.
“Hang on!” He calls back. They were slowing down, yes, but not enough to make it a clean stop. He braces as his front cart races and eventually slams against the brick half wall, jerking him forward with a grunt. He lets out an annoyed sigh and is the first to hop out, stumbling a little bit. Got out a bit too fast there. He looks down as he steadies himself, then freezes at the sight. Right now, the only thing separating him from the short fall to the popping lava below is a layer of glass he can only pray is rather thick. He jerks his gaze back to the group and holds up a hand, “Hey uh, be careful guys! I have no idea how fragile this stuff is and I’d rather not find out.”
“There are kinder ways to comment on our weight Jesse, geez.” Olivia teases and Jesse opens his mouth to protest only to be cut off by her snickering and shaking her head. “I’m kidding. We’ll be careful, but it looks pretty safe to me! I don’t think this place will be super booby trapped or anything to be quite honest. Despite all of the redstone decor, I think that’s all it is, decor! If he doesn’t get visitors that often, why go out of his way to make so many annoying traps that he himself could accidentally trip? I mean sure he could have but I dunno. I doubt it.” She hops out of her cart and onto the glass floor. She smiles as she strides over to Jesse confidently. He just shakes his head with a small smile.
Taking a step back, he looks around while the others disembark. The room is decently tall but without a lot of substance—simply a large glowstone lantern hanging down overhead. To the right of the minecart line is just a large window looking out over the lake and out to the distant terrain. Lukas stares out the window while he waits. The wall they entered through is, of course, wide open from the ceiling to the floor with just a mere half wall guarding the edge. That leaves them with two options. Two different staircases. The gang regroups and everyone looks to Ivor expectantly.
“You think you can still navigate this place?”
“Surely. If not perfectly, I will at least know the general area of things. Let’s just hope he hasn’t changed the interior as drastically as the exterior. But taking a look around here…” He gestures to their surroundings and sighs in frustration. “This mission may take longer than expected. So, we need to be ready for anything and use our potions sparingly. Jesse, what are the potions you all brought along again?”
“8 fire resistance potions, 4 speed potions and 4 night vision potions.”
“ Fantastic! That’s more than I thought... I have my own fire resistance, one of slowness and two of healing if it comes to it. You should be the first to take a fire resistance one Jesse. Now.”
“What? Why? We’re inside . Save them for someone who needs it.” He protests, pointing to the other group members. He hardly gets a chance to continue his argument though before Lukas shoves one of the orange potions into his hands. He raises a brow and looks up at Lukas who only gives him a look. ‘ Just do it,’ it says. He looks to the others for any kind of backup and Olivia just looks away while Petra shrugs.
“No offense Jesse, but despite how many years it’s been and how many Gods you fight, you are still a bit of a clutz at times. Plus we all know you hate this. Those potions will help keep you from sweating to death!” She slogs him in the arm with a grin, Jesse just rolling his eyes. He looks up at Ivor and points a finger at him.
“Fine, but if we’re a potion short later, I’m blaming you.”
Ivor lets out a curt laugh, “So be it! You others might as well grab some potions now as well, I doubt we’ll get another break for a while. I’m using Night vision, you should too Jesse.”
“Would you quit telling me what potions I should and shouldn’t—” Lukas pushes another potion up against Jesse’s chest, mildly amused now. Jesse blinks, unamused. “— Take.”
Ivor chuckles, “Someone has an attitude today!”
Jesse shrugs sheepishly as he pops the cork off the potion bottle—Petra snatching it out of the air—and downs the second one. He finishes and holds his hand out for the cork which Petra drops into his palm, closing the potion bottle as he replies.
“I’m just tense. I don’t want things going wrong or getting too out of hand. Especially not for something like this.” His face contorts into a mild one of disgust as he reaches over and tucks the bottle back in Lukas’ satchel. Petra reaches over and punches him in the arm again, a bit harder this time. He recoils, looking rather offended, “ OW?”
“That one is for being so dramatic. Jesse, we all talked about this. We already agreed to this. It doesn’t matter that the world isn’t at stake and it doesn’t matter that we’re not just running in for some treasure either. We’re helping you out here because we care about you and we know that you need this. And frankly you would probably get yourself killed doing this alone!” She rests her hands on her hips and Jesse can’t help a small smile at the classic Petra pep talk.
“ Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“She’s simply saying,” Olivia walks up and grabs Jesse by the shoulders from behind, being careful not to poke herself on his spiked shoulder pads, “—that there’s no way you’re getting rid of us that easily! Look, even if we somehow end up in a bind, we’ll get through it. We’ve done it before, we can do it again. And, don’t even worry too much about it! This guy isn't Romeo. Remember that.”
Jesse nods, smiling but not looking up at them. “Alright… Let’s just be safe out there. Stick together definitely and don’t hit any pigs.”
“ Amen to that.” Lukas says with a shudder. And so it begins.
Ivor waves them over and leads them up the left staircase. The small group’s stress begins to mount as they move upward and deeper into the fortress. Miraculously, there’s an extreme lack of monsters roaming the halls. Though they can hear them in the distance. The ominous groans of piglins makes the hair stand up on the back of Jesse’s neck. Everyone has their weapons at the ready, gripping tight and remaining light on their feet. Jesse lightly bounces on the balls of his feet whenever they pause, letting out the pent up stress and energy.
The group creeps through the long halls, their emptiness becoming increasingly unsettling. The interior of this place is elegant, beautifully decorated and it’s obvious someone lives here. The floor is outlined in quartz and primarily made of the bright blue warped wood and broken up by simple red carpets that extend down the middle of each hallway. Red with simple gold lining around the edges. The ceilings have a mild arch to them, nothing too spectacular but not just a simple box either. Columns dance up and arc periodically in a darker color than the maroon bricks. Olivia dusts her fingers across one, squinting to inspect it in the low light. She quickly hisses and jerks back as the jagged rock cuts her. Obsidian. The purples in the black rock dance thanks to the flickering flames of the redstone torches lining the walls. They bathe the place in warm light, but the haunting emptiness makes it difficult to enjoy. Someone’s put great care into this place, but they’ve left it neat and tidy without a trace and lending to its eerie nature.
Lukas blows out a measured breath as he flicks his nightvision goggles back down, creeping silently forward with his bow out and at the ready. It’s easy to tell he’s on high alert, and ever since his own experience running around in opposition to Romeo he’s an utter genius with stealth—quiet and fast. That said, he also knows a bit more about the silence these days. He scowls and ends up shaking his head.
“I don’t like this. None of this feels right…” He mumbles, breaking the near silence. Jesse nods, frowning as the flickering light from the night vision potion already indicates that first potion’s conclusion and a return of the dark haze swallowing the structure. Ivor stops and glances back at the others, looking over them all. They all share the same unnerved look he sports. Lukas continues, itching to just get what they need and run. “ Tell me you know where we’re going, Ivor.”
“I do . See those double doors up ahead? I’m fairly certain that was our base’s original center. From there it will be, hopefully, a straight shot to the library. We can talk more there, it’ll be bigger— safer .”
“ Finally…” He mumbles under his breath, gripping his bow tightly. Petra moves further up and falls into step beside Lukas, locking arms with him and surprising the blonde. He raises a brow and Petra just grins. She mouths to him.
‘Lighten up, Farm Boy’
He blows out a hushed laugh at the old nickname. Petra smiles proudly and slips her arm away, patting him on the back. Jesse looks back at the two curiously then smiles at the bit of lightheartedness brought back. He often forgets how long Petra and Lukas have known each other—since they were kids! Jesse nods a silent thanks to Petra, then bumps straight into Ivor. He blinks and looks up at the man, receiving a look of disdain for not paying attention. He sheepishly grins and takes a step back. Ivor holds up a hand to make sure they all stay quiet as he listens against the door.
The tension returns with the deafening silence. A minute of silence passes, then another. A third. Olivia and Jesse share an equally concerned look. Jesse sighs and tosses his axe to his left hand, walking forward, grabbing the door and quickly shoving it open. He strides into the open room, carefully looking all around the large clearing. Empty. Completely empty. He sighs and slings his axe back into his belt, turning on his heel to face the group and gesturing widely to the room around him with a grin.
“ Empty!”
The room is octagonal in nature with a ceiling that climbs a good two stories up and arcs into one point. A magnificent chandelier hangs down from that center peak. Gothic in style, the ornate black base is impressive in size. Golden light shines down upon them from the shimmering glowstone pieces stung throughout the chandelier. Jesse lets out a peaceful sigh at the sight. Soul torches line the walls around each door or pathway and emanate a cold glow, but it’s the light from the chandelier that’s prominent. Color-wise it’s a bleaker room—primarily black from the mix of obsidian and blackstone with quartz trim and some small gold bits mixed in. The floor here is a lovely polished blackstone that shimmers in the light, though it’s split into large sections by criss-crossing netherrack—an oddity that stands out. The room has no windows, but 5 other passages leading further through this level, further up or further down.
The loud aggravated sigh of Ivor is the first response from the group Jesse notes as the man marches over to him. He shoves a finger into Jesse’s chest, obviously angry.
“Jesse you cannot just barge into rooms around here! It is incredibly dangerous and you know that!”
Jesse rolls his eyes, “Yes but we all also knew that this room was empty regardless. If I think someplace is dangerous, then I won’t do that. But there’s nobody home, Ivor.”
“ We do not KNOW that Jesse!” Ivor rubs his temples, stressing this to the brash young man the best he can.
“You were the one who said we should be safe about this and stick together Jess…” Olivia approaches, shrugging sympathetically. Jesse put up his hands in defeat.
“Okay, okay. Let’s not make this a bigger deal than it needs to be. I mean, we’re already in and what’s done is done! I will try not to make any other stupid choices.”
“ Thank you.” Ivor sighs, rubbing his forehead.
“But for real,” Petra walks over with Lukas, who had been once again admiring the architecture. “Can we talk about this place? Because I was hearing things at first but… Now it’s just a straight up ghost town.” She frowns. “It’s really creepy. Honestly Ivor, what made you guys think building a base in the Nether was a good idea?”
“Oh please—”
“What she’s trying to say,” Lukas steps in, eyeing Petra for a moment, “—is that it’s extremely suspicious. I don’t like thinking about it but, what seriously are the odds that Herobrine just decided to leave all of this? That he’s just blissfully unaware of us being here?” Lukas looks around the small circle and a momentary silence weighs down on their shoulders. It’s not something anyone likes to think about. The idea of being toyed with the entire time like little guinea pigs. You’d think from the stories that this guy would go off at the first hint of someone else being in his home. Then again with the minecart line still perfectly in tact, maybe this guy really does like fucking with people’s heads.
Jesse sucks in a breath, ready to voice his thoughts. He’s cut off though and the words catch in his throat as a new voice booms through the large room.
“ Wanna find out? ”
Jesse’s stomach drops and the light of the chandelier blasts to a suddenly blinding degree before everything goes black with a thunderous crack and burst of wind. Someone screams, Jesse grits his teeth and screws his eyes shut with his arms raised on instinct. Forcing his eyes open once more, his heart begins hammering in his chest as an inky darkness envelops him from all sides, utterly impenetrable.
Another piercing crack—a strike of lightning within the room, shakes the fortress’ own foundations and sends white sparks shooting out. Jesse shields himself again and hears Olivia scream somewhere around him. In the brief strike of white light, he catches a glimpse of the startled faces of his group. That one strike breaks the floodgates it seems and within seconds the air around them is filled with the loud repeated claps and bangs of lightning, drowning out all other noise as the small group scrambles to stay out of the way of the supercharged bolts. He sucks in a breath to yell out something only to gasp out a yelp as a stray bolt scrapes by him, sending his hair standing on end and his limbs tingling. He shouts out a string of curses as his heart begins hammering away in his chest— they need to get out of this room.
“ Spread out! Get to cover!” He desperately cries out to his panicked group. He can’t say for certain if anyone even heard him, but his voice is scratchy from the force of it. Hopefully it’d be enough. He feels his chest tighten again as the darkness engulfs the room once more. He utterly hates the darkness, no matter how much he’s dealt with it, it just leaves his skin crawling. His head spins as he rushes forward only a few steps before being stopped dead by another lightning strike that blinds him. He screams and stumbles back, pressing his palms into his eyes and trying to catch his breath when he feels a tight grip suddenly on his arm. Jesse yells and tries shoving the being off as he fights to regain his vision. The electric buzz in the air does nothing to soothe him but finally he hears a voice over the roaring thunder that causes him to pause his efforts to claw the hand off of him.
“ —sy! Jesse, easy! It’s Lukas!”
His heart leaps into his throat and he feels his tension dissipate. “ Lukas?! I’m—! S— Sorry, I-I can hardly see!”
“ It’s alright, stay close!” Lukas responds and Jesse certainly doesn’t argue when Lukas tugs him close and swings an arm across his shoulders, careful not to prick himself on his shoulderpads. Lukas hurries them backwards and under the cover of a doorway, crouching them down for just a moment to catch their breaths. Jesse doesn’t slow down though, not for a second taking his eyes off of the room before them as he strains to spot the others in the chaotic strobe light. Ivor’s already gotten to Petra and is yelling something to her. He struggles to catch sight of Olivia though, and it makes his throat dry. With a scowl, Jesse unsheathes and grips his axe tight as he switches targets. Herobrine has to be somewhere nearby to be doing this. He scans around and above them, searching for those eerie white eyes he’s heard so much about, but he finds nothing.
“ Jesse, Ivor needs us on the other side of the room!” Lukas calls to him, raising his voice to be heard over all the chaos. Jesse blinks and returns his gaze to the other pair and spots Ivor trying to wave them over. Jesse grimaces but nods up to Lukas and tugs them forwards out of their cover once more. They race back out into the large room, Jesse’s hand gripping Lukas’ in an iron hold. They reach Ivor and Petra fast, but Petra lingers in the center of the room yet.
“Where’s Olivia?” She yells, echoing Jesse’s own concern. Despite the precarious position, he can’t help but stop to try and get a brief look around with her. Ivor is the one to spot her, catching their attention and pointing her way. Separated from the group and in a blitz as she fiddles with her bag, Olivia’s on her own and already at work to get something to help her see—A potion or light source. Lukas squeezes Jesse’s hand and nods.
“I’m gonna go grab her! Stay with Petra and Ivor!”
He gets no chance to act however as another bolt of lightning strikes before him far too close for comfort. Lukas curses and bright sparks fly, finally lighting the netherrack in the floor ablaze and quickly filling the room with dangerous orange light as the fire roars to life. Jesse’s eyes widen as he hastily shoves Lukas and Petra forward before stumbling backwards himself. Between them, a wall of blue fire roars to life, tall and proud. The ferocious winds of the flames blow his hair every which way as he shields his face from any more free flying sparks. But as the flames fully engulf all the room’s netherrack, they settle and cool to that vibrant orange color that’s oh so familiar. Well, ‘ cool’ is relative for a fire that could leave him bedridden for months at best, but he’ll take anything. The good news is that they can see again and that lightning barrage seems to have calmed, ceasing to only occasional strikes. Bad news, of course, is that they are now split up by the tall walls of billowing flames.
Jesse squints in confusion at the alarm in his friend’s faces as they seem to yell something at him. It only takes a second matched with the husky sounds of a blaze amongst the roar of the flames to realize his predicament. A quick spin on his heel, a dive, and a roll saves him from burning to a crisp both from fireball and the walls of fire built around them. He bounces to his feet, axe at the ready. It’s a horrid sight for the unaccustomed. The base shape of the skull resembles a human’s but with a thin layer of liquid gold poured over it, bright reds, oranges, yellows and whites like molten metal in a gradient from top to bottom. Flames lick upwards from all around the skull and burn randomly around the creature. The eye sockets are an empty black hole with glowing red pinpoints for pupils that shake in place, making them seem even more erratic. Smoke escapes its jaw and those empty black sockets with each noise it makes. The golden and feverish sought after rods speed up their orbit around the creature and Jesse’s eyes widen.
He leaps out of the way once more, avoiding a majority of the second set of fireballs that streak towards him. With a hearty and rather hasty swing he knocks the last one right back at the blaze, nailing and knocking it back. Through the roaring flames, he hears Lukas draw an arrow before he sees it. The crackling like firecrackers of his bow as a pink arrow forms with the pull of the drawstring gives it away. It lets out a high pitched whistle as it streaks through the air, hitting the blaze above with a brilliant flash. The creature is disoriented, now stuck between two targets. It doesn’t get a chance to choose before being hit with another arrow—then a third. A fourth . A fifth and the creature disappears in a small flash of light and puff of smoke, the rods that had been so viciously orbiting around it stalling and dropping into the flames below. Jesse meets Lukas’ gaze through the fire and nods in thanks.
Those elusive monsters they had heard but never seen begin flooding the room ranging from the towering and haunting forms of wither skeletons to the small and, frankly, quite cute magma cubes. Jesse yelps at the sudden heat on his ankle and kicks one of the little things away, cringing a bit after. They’re sweet little things! One can’t help but feel awful for kicking something akin to like… A puppy! A puppy that’s on fire. And is gnawing on your leg. With the hope of killing you.
Jesse shakes his head, cutting off that line of thought and refocusing. They need to regroup and they need to bolt. He watches Olivia charge through the flames with a yell, slamming into a Wither skeleton and knocking it away from Petra in the process—looks like she found one of those potions in her bag. The pair beat back the wither skeleton, Petra clashing blades with the overgrown monster while Olivia acts as her shield. And so much for staying on the Piglin’s good sides. Lukas breaks from shooting down blazes to turning and beating a piglin back with his bow, at one point catching and holding its golden blade back. He rams his knee into the piglin’s exposed abdomen, then bats his bow over its head as it recoils. With it knocked down he quickly turns, drawing another arrow and aiming once more for the burning beasts raining more fire down upon them.
Jesse frowns. He has to get over there. But through all this fire? It reminds him of the wall of fire Cassie tried cutting him off with way back in her world, but these flames aren’t as hot. He could just barge through but that would be bad in more ways than one. If his nightvision wore off then his fire resistance undoubtedly has as well—it would just put him out of the fight. He anxiously bounces in place on the balls of his feet as he scrambles to think of something fast, and it comes to him so fast that he’d beat himself up over it if he had time. He reaches down to his belt, frantically untying and reaching into the small pouch. He yanks out one of the small, cloudy, greenish-blue pearls. He grins, hastily tying the pouch shut and then taking aim. He hops into a small running start and chucks the pearl through the flames, aiming for the ground close by a wither skeleton getting a bit too close to his friends. A second’s air time and the pearl hits the ground with a satisfying clink, Jesse taking its place in a crouch but not losing his forward momentum. He pushes up straight, swings his axe and himself in a strong circle, plants his front foot down and rips the shimmering blue blade of his axe up through the creature. It disappears in a black smoke with a raspy screech—seems he got the finishing blow.
“ Show off!” He hears Petra rag on him from over his shoulder. He looks back at her with a wide grin. He slips his axe down, gripping the strap at the end as he starts spinning it in a consistent spin. The sound is a satisfying whooshing as the blade whips through the air. He rushes an approaching group of piglins, whistling to grab their attention— works like a charm.
His grip tight, he slices through the small group, dancing just out of reach of their own swings with practiced ease. He kicks the legs out from under one—it collapses and disappears in a puff—and elbows another in the face using the momentum of a spin and allowing the heavy top of his axe drag him around. He finally lets go of the strap, flinging his axe off and to further cut through the group of zombified piglins approaching. The whizzing of the blade is satisfying to hear and as he turns to the encroaching piglins before him, the squealing behind him is all he needs to know it was a good throw. A pigling charges with its blade held high and flesh rotting off of its skull. Jesse grimaces and meets it with a solid clock to the snout—solid with a crack. The piglin cries out and topples to the ground, its gold sword clattering to the floor beside it.
On his right, the raspy breath and clattering of a Wither Skeleton catches his attention next. He gasps and hastily dives for the gold sword on the ground, desperately swinging it around to catch the blade of the large skeleton’s claymore. A metallic clang rings out as they collide and Jesse grits his teeth as he tries pushing back against the weight of the skeleton and its blade. He’s crouched in an awkward position however right above a piglin that’s bound to shake itself out of its daze any moment now. Jesse grimaces at the thought, struggling to push the skeleton back and get himself into a better footing.
“ Hey UGLY!” Petra’s voice rings out from above him and the wither skeleton quirks its head slightly, but barely gets to turn before Petra slams the flat side of her blade into its head, sending the creature stumbling off to the side and releasing the pressure from Jesse. He lets out a breath of relief and Petra grins as she yanks him to his feet.
“Thanks for that.”
“No worries—these guys can be real assholes. Go for the knees! They’re totally wobbly the second they’re knocked off balance. I’ll take care of the remaining pigs!”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jesse says with a grin and fist-bumps her before the two split up once more. Turning back to the wither skeleton, he tosses the sword around in his hand, adjusting to the feel of it—it’s been a little while since he carried a blade around, this’ll be a good refresher. The skeleton cracks and shudders as it forces itself back to its feet, scraping its claymore across the floors with a piercing screech as it glares down at Jesse. It lifts a bony hand and snaps its jaw back into place with a crack, but Jesse just huffs with a smile and a challenging sparkle in his eyes.
The skeleton moves first, charging at him and slashing its claymore in a wide sweep. Jesse bounces back, the gust of wind from it blowing his bangs out of his face. He crouches low darts forward but gasps as the skeleton swings back quickly, not even taking a moment to regroup. He raises the gold blade, catching the claymore once more and actually getting pushed back across the floor a little at the sheer force of it, his boots squeaking against the ground as he does. He sucks in a breath and shifts his stance, shoving the blade forward and shoving the claymore away. The skeleton shuffles backwards, raising the sword high and bringing it down for a series of quicker slashes.
Jesse clenches his jaw as he matches the swings with his own, parrying the blade with resounding metal clangs and even a few sparks. It’s one hit after the other that slowly but steadily sends the skeleton stumbling backwards. A husky hiss escapes the skeleton as it swipes fast and hard at him. He rushes into the attack, slamming it back with a two handed hit that sends shockwaves through his arms. The skeleton staggers back at that though, back now pressed up against the wall of flames. A grins slips onto Jesse’s face as he raises the blade once more and jabs it at the skeleton, just daring it to try again.
But in that moment the state of the blade catches his eye—already beginning to suffer from hairline cracks typical of the gold weapons. His stomach churns at the realization and it must be obvious. The next thing he hears is the rattling of bones and heavy footfalls as the skeleton rushes forwards, blade held high directly overhead. Jesse gasps and leaps out of the way, diving into a roll as the claymore is slammed down into the blackstone and sends shattered pieces of the stone flying. Bouncing up to his feet, Jesse bolts as the skeleton rips the blade through the stone in his direction before sweeping it in an upwards slice. He feels the tip of the blade nick his pauldrons and grimaces. Okay, no more playing.
He bounces back and shoots his left hand out, palm open, and waits as he keeps the blade outstretched in the meantime. The skeleton lunges forward with a side swipe and Jesse drops to a roll beneath the blade. He pops up just behind the skeleton, right by its waist. With a deep breath and charged swing, Jesse slams the golden blade into the back of the bony black knee, finally shattering the blade in the process. The skeleton hisses as it drops to a knee, using the claymore to catch itself briefly. Jesse acts fast, using the blunt makeshift dagger to slam down onto the skeleton’s wrists and break its hold.
It staggers again and just glares up at him, jaw already unhooking to bite at him instead and hands ready to grab. That was the thing about wither skeletons—they’re nasty fighters both close and far. But, finally, that familiar sound of a blade slicing through the air returns and Jesse’s axe slams back into his open hand. With a yell and not a second wasted, Jesse slams the axe into the side of the skeleton’s skull, caving it and sending it flying off of its body. The burnt bones crumble into a pile before him as the skull it sent bouncing across the floor and finally into the fire. He hesitates a moment, unsure if it’s finished, but then the old bones dissipate into a puff of black ash at his feet.
Jesse blows out a sigh of relief and hurries over to Petra as she finishes slashing through the last of the zombie piglins. He cringes at the gross sight and smell of the rotting flesh and blood, scrunching up his nose in momentary disgust. He wipes at his nose as if that’d get rid of the smell and Petra catches sight of him. She lets out a laugh between heavy breaths and Jesse suddenly becomes aware of her staring and smiles sheepishly. Their momentary celebration is short-lived however as more distant squealing jerks their attention its way. Looking around them, more pigling, blazes, and even wither skeletons have cropped up right where the last ones dropped. He can feel his heart drop alongside his heart. Sure, they’ve fought waves of enemies before, but it was never pleasant, and these monsters certainly don’t seem like they’ll relent any time soon.
He and Petra share a look of concern and begrudging determination before raising their weapons once more. He turns to find the next monster to fight only to get a bit too close of a look at Ivor. He yelps in surprise at the man’s sudden appearance and hardly gets time to respond as he grabs him by the arm and yanks the others into a group as well.
“Wh—?! Ivor we got this!” Petra presses, still holding her sword at the ready with her back to the group.
“This man will just keep sending hordes in, we need to move!” Ivor argues then hesitates as he looks around them. He blows out a frustrated sigh, “But at this point if we want to get out of here in good time and in one piece, then I suggest that we split up!”
“Fine. I’ll go with Jesse!”
“What?” Lukas fires off his arrow and spins to look back at her.
“You heard me! Lukas you need to stay with the distraction group cause you’re the only one here with consistent range and those blazes aren’t exactly gonna run up and give Olivia a hug!” Petra laughs a bit, “You’ll get your time pretty boy—But not yet!” She grins, turning to Ivor before Lukas can retort, “Point us in the right direction!”
With a nod Ivor points to a stairwell on the opposite end of the room, dead ahead. He reaches into his bag and tosses four potions to Petra—two night visions and fire resistances respectively. She quickly downs two and offers the others to Jesse who just hesitates, still struggling to get a handle on the situation. She stuffs them into her belt for the meantime.
“ Our old library was up those stairs and down the hall! I pray it’s still there but if you need more time, we can buy that! We shall try to divert Herobrine’s attention and lead him the opposite way!”
Jesse interrupts, finally getting a word in over the quick-paced conversation and frustratingly loud flames.
“How do we find you all again? We need something planned!”
Olivia rolls her eyes, reaching over and snatching 5 ender pearls out of the pouch at Jesse’s side as she does so. She gives one to Petra then shoves one into Jesse’s hand, looking him seriously in the eye.
“Just scream! We don’t have time for anything clever and this place is too unpredictable to have a plan. Run and scream while you’re running! Now go !” She spins Jesse around and pushes him forward. He hesitates a moment, but then finally nods back at the group.
“Be safe! We’ll make this quick.”
“Do us all a favor Jess and come back in one piece.” Lukas says with a sigh as he jogs off to a different vantage point. Jesse grins and gives Lukas a thumbs up before turning to Petra. She quirks a brow at him.
“Still got a good throwing arm?”
“You bet!” The two take aim for the stairwell across the room, blocked by the wall of fire just a few feet away. They throw at the same time—the half second as they wait to be teleported feeling like a slow hour ticking on by. The pearls clink to the ground and the pair stumble forward as they arrive at the base of the stairs. The air is already cooler, or at least as cool as the Nether can get. They momentarily glance behind them at the maze of fire and their fighting friends. It’s always an odd sight standing on the sidelines. It doesn’t feel as real. They don’t linger long, looking back at the stairs before them and beginning their sprint up. The hallway at the top is a long one with other hallways breaking off periodically. All of them look the damn same, too.
“You gotta be kidding me…” Petra complains under her breath. Jesse huffs in agreement. They continue straight towards a pair of doors at the end of the hall however. Jesse slows himself to a stop as they come to the T-intersection and the doors, taking a brief look down both hallways before focusing on the door before them. He grabs the old-timey handle, jiggling and struggling with it for a moment before getting the satisfying click!
Shoving the door open, he feels his hopes get immediately dashed. The room is less of a library and more of a glorified dining room and kitchen combo. He groans and Petra scowls in annoyance.
“Why does he even have this? Do Gods have to eat?”
“Don’t know, don’t care!” He slams the door shut a bit louder than he hoped, sending a surge of anxiety through both of them. He cringes but shakes it off and looks up to Petra. “Ivor said this area is where the library used to be, let’s at least start here with the doors already in this hall, if we’re lucky, he was lazy and didn’t move it very far.” He begins walking back into the hall, going for a close door on his left.
“Jesse, what if he doesn’t have the library anymore?”
That makes Jesse stop mid-stride. There’s silence on his end as he hesitates but eventually just shakes his head. “No. It’s gotta be here. I can’t imagine living here for 20 years without keeping a few books around. It’d get too boring! They’re here. I’m sure of it.”
He continues on, grabbing the door handle and pushing open the second room’s door and peeking inside. No library. Petra sighs and steels herself a very tedious game of hide and seek. The two dart back and forth from door to door down the long hall. Why does he even have so many rooms? Who cares, actually. Right now it’s purely an annoyance. Seventh door’s the charm? No. Eighth? No. Twelfth? No again. Jesse slams the last door shut in a newfound frustration. He marches back down the hall to the double-doored room they first looked into and glances down each hall at the intersection. Which way to go now? A weight settles into his shoulders as he blows out a sigh. Petra catches up to him and picks up on what he’s thinking. She rests her hands on her hips.
“Well, we’ve got a whole ass castle to search. What’s the plan chief?”
“Start sprinting through this place and doing it the annoying way.” He crosses his arms and the two stand there, letting out sighs in unison. Jesse rubs his eyes tiredly, his guard momentarily down.
“ You know it’s not kind to snoop through a man’s home, especially uninvited. ”
The two feel a chill creep up their spines and their breaths hitch. That wasn’t a formless voice this time. They don’t even have to look back to know they have a pair of ghostly eyes drilling into them—without even looking at him, the man’s presence is utterly overbearing and the air around them suddenly feels much thicker. Colder, even. So much for distractions. Jesse and Petra work up the nerve to glance at each other and back at the man standing at the top of the stairwell down the hall. Just like the stories, two gloriously bright white eyes light up the darkness. The man stands without an ounce of fear, hands relaxed on his hips and weight shifted ever so slightly onto his left leg. Jesse notes it. That’s probably his dominant side—Left handed.
The man’s outfit is… far different than what he heard from the stories . Before venturing into the Nether, he certainly got an earful as both Petra and Axel talked their own mouths off about this urban legend. But there was always the constant of him appearing like an average, albeit tattered, man. Teal shirt, jeans, roughed up brown hair. Jesse remembers thinking about how the description reminded him of his father. Even Ivor confirmed that as what he and the Order saw when they were first attacked, but this man looks nothing like that. The only things consistent about the man before them are the brown hair— now nicely pushed back— the darker skin, like Jesse’s, and those intensely glowing eyes.
His outfit now is far more regal, and fitting of the Nether aesthetic. A loose scarlet button up shirt rolled up to his elbows with an ornate plate of armor on top. The armor gleams of various golds, bright reds in the edges, and shimmering white jewels decorating the corners of the shoulder pads. The straps holding up the armor as well as the lighter bits around his stomach and ribs are a dark red, outlined in a glowing orange reminding Jesse of the lava strewn all about the underworld. His ribcage is protected by the armor as well as the ribs of a passed wither skeleton it seems. Best to avoid hitting those—just in case. He wears a pair of fingerless gloves that match the color of the ribs, the edges laced with a simple strip of gold. Right up from those are the gold similarly bejeweled cuffs on his upper forearms. He isn’t wearing as much armor from the waist down, just black pants and matching gold and red boots. Right. Go for the knees, Jesse. He sports a small crown, if one can even call it that as it hangs loosely over his forehead. It matches the general color scheme and features a similar white jewel that hangs down. The jewel is surrounded by a thin layer of gold with small round rubies at each point except the top. Protruding from the top two sides of the jewel are two small, red, horn-like features. Right behind them, outlining the main shape of the crown are two larger ivory colored horns that curve out just a bit higher than the red ones. From there the headdress has two matching simple pieces of gold that curve up and around with similar round rubies in the center. The headdress is held on by a string of pearls, completing the piece. It certainly looks like he took the concept of ‘King of Hell’ and ran with it. The final and frankly most glaring addition is the somewhat transparent cape. Shimmering beautifully from every which way and emanating a similar ethereal glow as his eyes, it’s obvious he doesn’t want to be missed.
The man smirks in the eerie red light, a dangerous gleam in those already eerie white eyes. A shiver racks Jesse’s body, leaving his hands feeling like ice within his gauntlets.
“Jesse?” Petra harshly whispers, neither one of the two taking their eyes off of the man. His hands slide off his hips and the smile disappears from his face as he takes a threatening stride towards them. Those white eyes now spell out nothing but danger.
“ Yeah?” Jesse replies, the hairs on the back of his neck slowly standing with each step the man takes.
“New plan. Split.”
Now that snaps his attention back to Petra.
“WHAT?!” He shouts. Saying he immediately regrets the volume of his voice would be an understatement. Petra glares at him whereas Herobrine actually falters in his step for a moment. He blinks, seemingly surprised by the sudden shout. It leaves Jesse’s mouth running dry. Now it’s just awkward and the three remain stuck in a momentary staring competition. With a scowl and frustrated scoff, Herobrine rolls his eyes, opting to dart at the two instead of the saunter he had before. Petra yelps and immediately starts pushing and shoving at Jesse.
“ Split! Go! GOGOGOGOGO!” She shrieks and Jesse knows he has no chance to argue. The two split up, jumping into sprints down the opposite halls. Herobrine skids to a stop before the door, scowling as he looks down each way. The man taps his foot as he impatiently tries to decide which one to pursue. He pauses briefly though, humming in thought. This will certainly be an interesting chase, to say the least. Finally coming to a decision, he turns left, racing down the hall after Petra.
Chapter 9: Familiar Faces P.2
Summary:
Herobrine's got a lot of surprises up his nicely rolled up sleeves that Jesse's got to unfortunately find out as the man remains right on his heels.
Notes:
Two Things:
One, God am i glad that I split up these chapters.
Two, I hope you guys have ended up liking HB!!! He's a really fun character and I hope its not too wild to see him with this kind of personality!EDIT 8/6/21: Fixed the ending of this chapter basically bc I was honestly so frustrated with it forever JKFJKJKSFKJ I sat here just staring at it struggling for like 2 hours so there goes my plan of editing chapter 10 tonight
EDIT 5/27/23: HAYYYY guess what besties. It is no longer 2019 and I'm a little better at writing fighting/action scenes now <3 Brand new bit with HB bc he deserves to pop off more <3 Also fixed up some dialogue that's been :/ with me since then 💪😭 Really happy with this version tho !!!!! Hero finally getting the level of coolness he deserves 🫡
Chapter Text
Jesse swings around a second corner, sprinting through the maze-like halls. This isn’t how this was supposed to go. Not at all. But now here he is, all alone in a dangerous Nether fortress with the potential for mobs at every turn and a lightning shooting lunatic chasing after him. But Petra... God, Petra. With no sign of Herobrine on his own tail, he can only assume he went after her. His stomach churns at the mere thought. If anything happens to his friends here because of his own carelessness—
“ Glk—! ” Jesse doesn’t get to finish his own line of thought as he runs straight into something— someone? The two hit the ground hard and get thrown, rolling a bit before either comes to a dead halt. Jesse groans as he picks himself up to his knees. Rule number one before crossing an intersection, look both ways. Jesse doesn’t immediately register the cursing coming from nearby thanks to his dazed state, but once he picks up on it his face scrunches up into confusion. He’s heard that accent before. He’s heard that voice before. That tone is familiar. Ice runs up his arms and he stares slack-jawed as his suspicions are confirmed with one look over at the man he practically body slammed.
“ Romeo?!” He doesn’t even try to hide the astonishment in his voice. The red-headed man pushes himself up onto his elbow, his other arm holding his own chest. Seems he got the wind knocked out of him. Jesse only feels slightly sorry before he remembers that this is Romeo. Golden eyes glare at him before going wide in realization at who ran into him. He lets out a brief yelp in surprise before scrambling back a pace and sitting up straight.
“Jesse!? How— Why are you—?!” He looks over the disheveled, slightly charred, and grossly sweaty young man, desperately trying to hide his disgust while doing so. “This is… Certainly awkward.”
Jesse sits there flabbergasted. He never thought he’d be seeing Romeo again—Or at the very least not for a few years. His face scrunches up in confusion and irritance.
“What on Earth are you doing down here? I-In THIS place especially!”
“ Oh! Well you see, nobody likes me and—“
“Oh how shocking.” Jesse bites, rolling his eyes as he scans the area around them. Romeo glares at him for a long second until Jesse makes eye contact again. He then continues with a plastered smile.
“You of course didn’t want me on the surface, and Xara understandably needs some… Space from me. So!” He shrugs, “This realm was the only place left for me.”
Jesse pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head as his mind spins all around itself. “ Again! Why THIS place in particular? Don’t you know how dangerous the man here is?!” He asks incredulously. Romeo stares back at him, nose scrunched up in confusion as he seemingly takes a long while to process Jesse’s words. It’s as if he’s completely unaware of the threats of the Nether. After a long minute his eyes light up in understanding and he immediately lets out a long drawn out sigh while rolling his eyes. He opens his mouth to continue then gets hit with another thought and becomes defensive.
“Wait a moment— Why are you interrogating me? I should be asking you the same question!”
“Oh yeah like I’d actually tell you.” Jesse huffs and Romeo scowls. He goes to push for more information but is abruptly cut off by the not so distant crack of lightning. Both heads snap towards the sound and Jesse feels his stomach sink. That’s right, he needs to focus and they need to get out of here. Romeo mumbles under his breath.
“Hero… Eugh, that doesn’t sound good.” He quickly grabs and jerks Jesse’s arm, yanking him back and earning a good glare. It doesn’t faze him as he looks at him with a hard gaze, “Are you here to fight him or something else?”
Jesse hesitates but doesn’t necessarily sense any hostility from Romeo. Warily, he answers.
“Something else… We need information that the Order had here. It— it should still be here since they had to abandon this place empty handed once Herobrine showed up.”
Romeo blinks in mild surprise and holds up a hand.
“This place used to belong to The Order of Fools?”
“ Stone—Yes! How did you not know?”
“Stopped paying attention after Soren used that command block to get out of fighting the dragon. Talk about a let down.” He rolls his eyes briefly then sucks in a breath and gets to the point, “Look, I showed up in the Nether, ran into Herobrine, and the man’s helped me out a lot since.”
“ HELPED you?!” Jesse asks incredulously. Great. Not only did he run into Romeo, but Romeo has gone off the deep end.
“Just listen!” He snaps. Romeo looks back towards where the lightning crack came from, his jewelry jingling as he moves. He miraculously looks quite good compared to the last time Jesse saw him. Decked out in high quality clothes he wears a loose, brown, long sleeved shirt with a dark red tunic over the top of it rimmed with gold. He has fingerless gloves and cuffs similar in style to those of Herobrine. Taking an overall look, they have a very similar aesthetic going on, which—if his claims that Herobrine helped him are true—would make sense. He however kept his own personal flare with the red flame like designs that decorate the bottom half of his tunic, the high collar of his shirt and the base of the cuffs themselves. Small white jewels are placed in the center of each flame, also acting as the studs of his dangling earrings. His eyes are outlined in a bright red eyeliner with gold eyeshadow that seems to be… Mixed faintly with glowstone dust? The stuff shimmers and emanates an extremely faint glow. He has a similar reddish pink mixture faintly dusted across his cheekbones. It certainly blows some life into the man and is a look that’s frankly quite fitting for the already regal wannabe.
He looks back to Jesse, golden eyes hard in determination, “I know I still owe you Jesse, and frankly I’d prefer to not allow Hero hurt you fools. All that would do for me is give you good reason to smack me around again.”
“ Touching .”
“If all you need is a few books then the library is where you need to go.” Jesse goes to interrupt but Romeo holds up a hand before he points to one of the pathways off of the intersection they’re still sitting in. “Down this flight of stairs, take a left then at the end of the hall take a sharp right and it will be at the bottom of the spiral stairwell! There’s only two ways in and out, through the spiral stairwell by which you came and another normal hallway and staircase on the opposite end. I can buy you time. He’ll listen to me but he moves fast. I hope you know what you’re looking for in there.”
“ROMEO?” That same voice rings out, now dangerously close. Jesse can hear the sounds of his boots clicking against the hardwood as he approaches. Romeo shoves Jesse to his feet and pushes him towards the stairs. His voice is hoarse as he hisses.
“ Go! Hurry!”
With that, Jesse nods and darts down the stairs, running on the balls of his feet to try and keep himself as quiet as possible, a bit of a difficult feat in such an echo prone place. Romeo takes in a breath as he stands in front of the top of the stairwell. He hastily readjusts his hair as well as dusts off his clothes before reaching down and grabbing the book that got thrown when Jesse ran into him. He sighs and quickly fixes a few of the pages before shutting it as the white eyed perpetrator slows his pace. The man walks over, eyes hardening a bit, and places a light hand on Romeo’s arm as he notices his dishevelment.
“Are you okay? What—”
“I’m fine! Just got knocked over is all!”
“Where’d—”
“I-I think they ran off to the East Wing!” He points to his left, gently blocking the stairwell with his body. The man falls for it with a grin.
“Nothing there for them except a dead end!” He says with a skip in his step and starts running East. Romeo feels a small wave of relief wash over him as he so easily passes by the stairwell Jesse ran down. He throws the book he was holding down on one of the small tables that decorate the halls before jogging after Herobrine. Noticing Romeo trying to tag along the man slows his pace to a speedwalk. “I’m glad to finally get a bit of action around here! Just some more teens in over their heads.” He huffs.
“From the one I saw, they’re unfortunately familiar…”
“You recognized them?” He looks down at Romeo curiously. He nods, letting a sigh out through his nose.
“It’s the Order—” Romeo starts, getting immediately cut off by an annoyed groan from Herobrine.
“ Oh great! You know I thought I could go one year without some member of the Order of the Assholes bugging me!” He shakes a finger for emphasis. Romeo just rolls his eyes.
“First off it’s been 6 years according to what you told me.”
“That doesn’t sound right...” Herobrine murmurs. Romeo ignores him and continues, knowing he’s correct.
“ Secondly! It’s the New Order of the Stone this time.”
“Oh there’s a sequel now! Even better.” The man laughs then lightly pushes off from the ground, hovering in the air so he can go a bit faster. Romeo hums in agreement, causing the man to twist around in the air and face him.
“You know, I can’t say I was very fond of them either!” Romeo can’t hide his own smile, making Herobrine chuckle. He’s having way too much fun with this.
~~~~~
Jesse reaches the top of the spiral staircase and looks down. Man, that’s a massive drop. He’s easily 3-4 stories up. He’s not even gonna ask how deep this place goes. At this point he just figures this guy has way too much time on his hands. He resists the urge to just leap down there, then lights up again. He still has that pouch of ender pearls! That’ll save some time for sure. He fishes one out and aims, taking in a deep breath. Drops are especially disorienting. But he throws it down, taking a second or so to drop, and is warped to the bottom. He stumbles and hisses through his teeth as his knees scream at him. Standing up straight once more, he shakes his legs out as he approaches the bright archway, shielding his eyes a bit at the sudden bright light.
Walking into the large room he’s met with an almost homely sight. A towering library, lit up solely by glowstone chandeliers with… normal wooden floors? It’s such an out of place room with how normal it is. Polished spruce floors, oak shelves, and regular lanterns on the tables and walls. You could forget you’re in the Nether in a place like this. It’s a long room with a second and thin third story—both of which are more overlooks than actual separate floors. He hates to sound like a nerd but the place is rather breathtaking. Each wall lined with bookshelves and larger ones rolled out to break up the room. There are various tables strewn about, helping the room feel less crowded. Jesse approaches one with a stack of books on it and several wide open to random pages. Papers lay around with random notes rattled off in hasty but still lovely handwriting. He gets a vague feeling that he’s seen it before but he knows it’s not Romeo’s. Odd.
He scans over the notes and the book the man was reading through. There’s history, urban legends, monster facts and… Jesse laughs.
“Soren’s books? Again?” He figures this place at least makes some sense to find them in—this place was the Order’s afterall. He hums in thought as he considers the odd scene. Herobrine is interested in how the world works it seems. An oddly deep and scholarly subject to tackle for a guy who’s known for wanton destruction… Though, he supposes that with so much free time in the Nether he might as well try and solve the problems of the universe. It’s not like there were many other things to do.
Taking a step back, he pushes his initial curiosity aside. He’s here for a reason. He blows out a deep sigh as he looks onwards and upwards at the towers of books around him. All they need are 3 books minimum—a small volume series on The End that Soren used to treasure. They were succinct and to the point about everything one would expect from The End. But those are 3 books out of the probably thousands around him. Best to just get started and pray this guy has some sort of method to his madness—a pattern that’s reasonably easy to figure out.
Jesse starts by moseying down a nearby aisle, fingertips ghosting the spines of each book he slowly passes. Most books are older, scholarly it seems, binded with old fabrics and titles written regally. He mentally tallies the title, author, topic and color of each one as he strains to find some sort of pattern to follow. So far? Nothing. But he holds out hope, he probably just can’t tell without looking through more shelves right? There’s no way Herobrine just knows where each book is! Not with how massive this library is!
… This library he built… And obviously spends considerable time in… And has spent time in… For 19 years at most…
Jesse blows a bit of hair out of his face. Happy thoughts Jesse! Happy thoughts. Don’t get frustrated at this eccentric man’s miserable organization skills. He moves on to another aisle, finding another colorful array of books with no rhyme or reason. Drumming his fingers along each spine once again, he continues his search. Stopping, he raises a brow in interest and plucks one book off of the shelf. Faded black and gold cover with a title that’s too worn to be read. He flips it open, scanning the pages for anything related to what he needs.
“You know, you shouldn’t be reading those until you’re older.”
Jesse shrieks, flinging the book from his hands. He swings around in pure fight or flight instinct. Missing the side stepping demigod, he stumbles forward and punches the opposite bookshelf causing the entire thing to shake and some books to fall. He gets hit with a few books, each making him more irritated than the last. Herobrine covers his mouth in an attempt to keep his laughter hidden. Jesse scowls and hates being so damn close to this guy. He quickly begins backing up with Herobrine matching his strides until Jesse snatches a larger book off of the shelf and in one swift move chucks it at the Nether King’s head.
“FUCK—! Why you little—!” He growls, his headdress falling into his eyes and messing up his hair. It distracts him long enough for Jesse to grab the upper hand. Reaching the end of the aisle, Jesse grips the edge of the bookshelf and begins pulling towards him. He grits his teeth as the tall shelf creaks in protest, but the moment he feels the back legs lift off of the ground his heart leaps. He and Herobrine briefly lock eyes before Jesse gives the shelf one final yank with a grin.
He doesn’t stick around to see what happens, darting off to a better vantage point. He slips out another Ender Pearl and chucks it up to the second floor, teleporting him to the edge of one of the overlooks. He quickly clamps his hands down on the railing, holding tight to keep him from falling. Hopping the railing, he immediately ducks down on the catwalk as the massive bookshelf hits not only the ground, but another shelf with a thunderous clap. Jesse stops to gape for a moment as the shelves thud against each other and begin falling in a domino effect, slowly cringing with each one toppling over. Not exactly what he had in mind . He jolts with each crash, noting a good 5 or 6, before they settle.
Finally turning away from the sight, he gets his bearings as he makes his way over to the aisles of the second floor. There’s one half of the second floor that’s just balconies and the catwalk with bookshelves embedded in the walls, then an actual room but with plush greenish-blue carpet covering the floor instead of wood, and a large spiral staircase in the center that leads from the first floor to the third. He rushes ahead, grateful for the carpet padding the sounds of his footsteps. There’s an eerie silence while Jesse moves into the aisles of the second floor, continuing his search albeit a bit faster.
Much to his frustration, he doesn’t get much further before someone grabs and yanks him around by the collar. He begins the rip of an angry shout only to get a tan hand cupped over his mouth. He blinks in surprise as he’s greeted once again by the hard golden eyes of Romeo. Romeo hastily hushes the young man, only letting go once he was sure he wouldn’t yell. He yells at him in a whisper.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?! What were you thinking?!”
“I panicked! He’s a fucking demigod—what did you expect me to do? I had to stall him!”
“Oh so you decided that dropping a bookshelf on him would be a good way to do that?!” Right as Romeo flicks the man’s forehead, a loud yell of aggravation can be heard from downstairs. The color drains from both men as Romeo once again begins ushering Jesse away. “ Hide. ”
“What?! Where?”
“OUT OF SIGHT!” Romeo hisses, throwing up his arms in a frustrated panic. Jesse rolls his eyes and growls to himself before darting down another few aisles. He slips into a tight aisleway and crouches down against the bookshelf near the center. He takes in his surroundings. There’s another section of bookshelves across a small hall to his left, then the overlook to the lower level. To his right there’s a few tables and chairs mixed in amongst the shelves. Shelves shelves shelves. He’s so tired of thinking about these stupid book filled shelves. He hears the quick and heavy footsteps of Herobrine marching up that spiral staircase.
Romeo steps out into the middle of the room and pauses as he hears Herobrine marching up the stairs. He winces at the sight as he staggers his way to the top, stopping only once he realizes Romeo’s there. They lock eye contact and stare at each other in silence for a moment. Romeo takes a breath.
“Do I dare ask—”
“Bookshelf.” He spits out, then begins shaking a finger both at Romeo and towards the general mess downstairs, “The pipsqueak threw a goddamned bookshelf on me!” He says it almost incredulously as he shakes his head. Oddly, he seems to even perk up as the words leave his mouth. Romeo nods slowly as Herobrine walks over and nearly past him. He places a hand on his chest, stopping him briefly and turning him as the man catches his breath. He looks down at Romeo questioningly, “Did the other Order ever try doing that? I haven’t seen that one before.”
“I think you just answered your own question, Hero… Regardless, I wasn’t here with you when the first Order showed up, remember?” Romeo reaches up and brushes his brown hair back into place as he speaks, fixing up his crown next.
“ Really? You weren’t?” The white eyed man squints, seemingly straining to remember and not even acknowledging the man’s touch. Romeo nods slightly as he continues fiddling with his outfit. He opens his mouth to respond when Herobrine cuts him off again. The King steps back and brushes Romeo’s arms away absentmindedly as he looks around the second level, regaining his wits. “Have you seen anyone come up here?” White eyes bore into Romeo as he clears his throat with the sudden pressure. Jesse meanwhile tenses up as the sounds of walking begin again, keeping a sharp eye on which way he decides to come.
“No! No, honestly, I haven’t seen anyone. Well, aside from you. I couldn’t tell you where Jesse ran off to now…” He grumbles and Herobrine quirks a brow at that.
“ ‘Jesse’ ?”
“Yes, that is his name.” Romeo mumbles. There’s a pause, a stop in step. Jesse strains to listen.
“So you did see him here—you recognized him.” Herobrine says, leaving Romeo sputtering. The man huffs with a smirk, “You’re losing your touch, Romeo…! Though I’m curious as to why you’d try lying to me.” He mumbles as he begins to turn down the pathway between the aisles of shelves. Romeo feels his throat tighten as he races off after the man.
“It— It’s not a lie! But I know this group, and that little stunt is right up that annoying man’s alley.” He bites back, stopping right in front of Herobrine and getting him to falter right before reaching the aisle Jesse’s camping out in. Blue eyes shut tight as he silently lets out the breath he’d been holding and begins creeping off to his right. Romeo huffs, “That’s all it is. Unlike you, I study my enemies—where would you be without me?” He says with a wry smile, challenging the taller man. There’s a moment of silence— consideration —before the King responds and pushes past him.
“... Well, I’d likely have already found that brat by now for starters.” He says and Romeo deadpans into a pout which Herobrine ignores, “Now, kindly quit being charming for a second and help me look?” He emphasizes his words as he glares down the next aisle. Empty. He lets out a frustrated hiss at the sight. Jesse, who’s crouched barely out of sight against the opposite end of the aisle, cringes at the feeling he gets in the pit of his stomach. He knows those white eyes are intensely searching for something— anything. A book out of place or any bit of movement to confirm that Jesse is still here. Romeo clenches his fists behind his back, trailing the man once more.
“If he’s avoiding you like the plague what makes you think he’d even still be in here after all that?”
“I’ve avoided you like the plague before. Doesn’t mean I’m disinterested.” He replies nonchalantly, grabbing a small end table, lifting it, and slamming it into the ground with a loud bang. Romeo flinches and so does Jesse from his evershifting hiding spot. He keeps a tight hand clasped over his mouth, not daring to let out a peep.
“Ex cuse me?” Romeo responds quickly, Herobrine just snickers with a shrug.
Jesse sits there with his hand clasped over his mouth, and brows furrowed tight from a mix of dread and… confusion? He expected a lot from Herobrine, but this type of conversation wasn’t exactly on that list. It’s so… casual. Behind him he strains his hearing for their footsteps as they continue through the room, trying what he can to tune out the conversation. All he knows for certain is that they are far too close for comfort.
God, where is he even going? What’s his plan here? He eyes the spiral stairwell to his right. He could make a break for it… but his logical side is telling him that’d be a bad idea. His breath hitches again as he hears the wooden floor creak from nearby. He rolls around the corner and into the next aisle, slowly inching down it.
“Frankly, I don’t even think they’re here with ill will.” Romeo says as he claps his hands together in front of himself. Herobrine comes to a dead stop and looks back at him incredulously. Romeo just eyes him pointedly. With a roll of his eyes, Herobrine leans back on one leg, drags his hands to rest on his hips, and gives Romeo one hell of a look. One that Romeo knows all too well and just makes him want to groan. He frowns and crosses his arms. “Oh don’t even start—”
“First off,” He starts with one finger raised and mirroring Romeo’s same tone from earlier. “Need I remind you I just had a bookshelf dropped on me?”
“That you could have avoided by teleporting away had you been paying attention.”
“ Secondly.” He raises his voice slightly, his way of refusing to acknowledge Romeo’s point. “The kid was pawing through some books downstairs.”
“So?”
“ So, they’re looking for something. Something other than me. I don’t know if I like that…” Herobrine shakes his head as he strides down another aisleway, frowning in frustration at its emptiness. Romeo watches as he scowls and scratches his head in a mix of confusion and frustration. He can’t help the dry huff of amusement that escapes him. Herobrine just glances back at him with a quirked brow and Romeo playfully jabs him in the ribs.
“What? Miss being in the spotlight?”
“Wha— No!” He replies defensively, quickly double-taking Romeo as if he was ridiculous for suggesting it. That said, his answer certainly isn’t convincing.
“Oh really?” Romeo merely watches him with a smug smirk as the man sputters out an excuse behind him. He finds himself tuning the man out however as he and Jesse make panicked eye contact once they reach the aisle he was hiding in and desperately trying to creep out of. In a flash, Romeo grabs Herobrine by the wrist and quickly swings the two around, forcing his back to the aisle. The man stumbles and yelps mid-sentence, hanging onto Romeo for support. Once steadying himself, white eyes bore into Romeo in a mix of shock and suspicion.
“What was that?” Herobrine mumbles dryly. Romeo presses his lips into a tight line as he scrambles for some kind of meager excuse or explanation that wasn’t completely and utterly ludicrous. Herobrine’s not a foolish or naive man by any means, and he will likely see right through him. But, at the very least, he’s buying Jesse the time he needs as he begins shimmying out of the aisle, looking pale as a ghost himself.
“Things were just—! Getting a little too dry!” Romeo lies through his teeth with a bright smile and utterly praying that he didn’t interrupt Hero while he was talking about something serious. His golden eyes twitch ever so slightly which the King doesn’t miss.
“ Dry.” He repeats. Romeo nods as genuinely as he can muster. The man merely frowns and begins to turn his head and look over his shoulder. Jesse seizes up at the small motion and Romeo panics. He quickly reaches out and cups Herobrine’s cheek, dragging his gaze back to him. The man scowls at him in utter irritation now and tries pulling away only to hesitate once he notes the worry lacing the man’s eyes. He freezes, seeming to consider him for a second before finally relaxing fully, albeit not without crossing his arms at his front. He’s waiting for a damn good explanation, it seems.
“Hero, listen.” Romeo sucks in a breath as he starts, ghosting his hand away and clasping them together again at his front, “I don’t know it it’s the concussion you’ve got from that bookshelf hitting your skull, or if you’re just being cocky, but I don’t like seeing you treat this group as if they’re just a bunch of idiot teens in over their heads.”
“Why are you so worried, Romeo? Threats or not, I am more than capable of handling them.” Herobrine says with a frustrated sigh, rolling his eyes for what seems like the billionth time that day. He shakes his head quietly for a moment before slowly chuckling. He raises his hands up with a warm smile then drops them onto Romeo’s shoulders reassuringly, “I’ve done this countless times—you know that. The worst that happens is a few things get knocked over, the rumors flare up again, and I get more silly kids clambering here to see if the big bad Neter King really exists.” He brags, flaring his cape out and making Romeo sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose, simply shaking his head. His mind races to find something— anything —that’ll get him to hesitate or back off for at least a while.”
“You just said it yourself— this group isn’t looking for you! Since you’re so adamant about confronting them, then at least do me the favor of taking them seriously.”
Jesse uses this opportunity to make good headway across the room. He ducks behind a halfwall by the staircase, not able to use the stairs themself yet without being in clear view. He holds his breath tight and keeps his eyes trained on the ground before him while he eavesdrops on their continuing conversation. They certainly seem to have an interesting dynamic, and the more he listens the less threatening this guy seems to be. Is he truly a threat or is he just scaring people for kicks ? He doesn’t understand it—he sounds like he’s just doing this all for the sake of the dramatics, which they can handle, sure. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire and he’s known for far worse things than giving people a few spooks. Hell, even the Order got chased out with some pretty malicious intent.
“I’m taking them as seriously as they deserve.”
“This group is different—” Romeo desperately argues, shaking his head.
“ Please, Rom. I chased the old Order out of here—their tails between their legs—without even trying. These guys are already scared shitless, just a little further and they’ll race out of here just the same!” Herobrine shrugs and begins walking off. Romeo scowls and catches him firmly by the sleeve, yanking him around once more and sternly pointing up at him.
“They are different! Their little ringleader? Jesse? The same one that dropped that shelf on you?” He digs, jabbing a finger into the man’s chest, “ He’s the one who punched my powers right out of me, Hero!”
Herobrine sighs and just stares down at Romeo blankly. “Okay. And does he have that fancy little gauntlet on him now?”
Romeo falters. He opens his mouth but the words get caught in his throat, leaving him sputtering. Frustratingly, he clamps his mouth shut again. Blowing out a sigh, he shakes his head, “No… No I don’t think so but—”
“Then I have nothing to worry about.” He gently lifts Romeo’s chin, speaking comfortingly with a warm smile, “Nor do you have anything to worry about.”
Romeo sighs, knowing he isn’t going to be able to drag this conversation on any longer past this. He glances away and Herobrine drops his hand. He opens his mouth to attempt saying something more when the sounds of more people running into the room from downstairs jerk his attention away. Jesse feels his chest tighten as the new noise catches his attention as well.
Petra’s voice echoes up through the room, “Are they still behind us?!”
“I-I don’t think so!” Another female voice—Olivia.
“We mustn’t stay still for long though. This is the place we need to be but they’ll find us again eventually! Start looking for those books— quickly!” Ivor’s usual yell hits like a punch.
Jesse dares to peek around the corner of his hiding spot to see how Herobrine’s reacting. In the quick glance he gets, he sees the man light up in a devious glee with a grin sweeping across his face. Romeo keeps his sternly worried look and crosses his arms. The white eyed man whispers something to him then pushes off the ground again and floats over to the railing, peeking over and down at his friends. Jesse clenches his fists with a scowl.
—
Getting into the library is a breath of fresh air compared to the dark, cramped halls of the rest of the fortress. Plus, it’s mob-free! Though that doesn’t mean it hasn’t seen better days per se… Petra rubs the back of her neck as she approaches the mass of fallen shelves and scattered books, her heart sinking at the sight. With the same thought, Olivia walks up by her and picks one of the many books out of the mess, dusting it off a little before flipping through the pages. Her face is screwed into an overwhelmed look of concern as she just huffs and tosses the book aside and back into its pile. Petra sucks some air in through her teeth and looks back to Ivor.
“Hey uh… Let’s hope that those books weren’t on any of these shelves. It seems our friend doesn’t know how to clean up his own home.”
“I think this is the result of all those crashes we heard on the way here.” Olivia shakes her head, “Why would he just knock over a bunch of his own shelves…?”
“Maybe it wasn’t him.” Lukas pipes up and Petra glances back at him over her shoulder. He carefully clambers over the scattered books, bow still pulled taut and sparking, “You and Jesse were looking for this place, right Petra?”
A dawning realization washes over her and she nods, “Y-Yeah! But he of all people knows what we’re here for. Why would he go and make all our lives harder?”
“Could’ve run into trouble.” Lukas shrugs and Petra grimaces at that. She opens her mouth to argue when a new voice cuts her off and jerks the attention of the small group upwards.
“Ding ding ding!” Herobrine hums and the lights of the room flare red with a resounding snap of his fingers. Petra rips her sword off her back, meeting him with a challenging glare— Him again. At her side she sees Lukas scowl and yank the string on his bow back even further, the sparking arrow becoming unstable on the line as he takes aim.
The man’s white eyes just flash in utter amusement as he smirks from his perch on the catwalk above. In one swift move he swings himself over the railing and drops down to the first floor. He slams into the ground with a powerful and resounding thud that echoes through the room. Yet, despite it, he straightens back to full height with impressive elegance and poise. At that same moment, Lukas releases his erratic arrow. But a simple raise of his hand, a flick of his wrist, and the crackling arrow is batted aside and left simply dissipating into the air. Petra’s eyes widen and she hears Lukas sputter in disbelief at her side. He sucks in a deep breath and hums nervously.
“Don’t like that! Liv!” He swings his bow back onto his back and holds out his hand. Olivia nods, passing a spare golden sword his way. As the others gear up, Petra’s the one that steps forward, jabbing the enchanted blade of Miss Butter his way.
“Where’s Jesse?” She demands, glaring daggers into the man. Herobrine stares at her for a long, silent, minute—a casual smirk plastered on his face. Finally? He simply shrugs, entirely uncaring. Petra feels her cheeks flush and her hair prickle at his mere attitude, “That’s not an answer!”
“And you think I owe you one?” The man laughs, his voice cold and sending a shiver down her spine. She readjusts her grip on her sword, eyes flicking to Ivor who’s stuck on the other side of the room behind him. He nods to her though, unsheathing his own diamond sword and managing to catch Herobrine’s attention at that. The regal man merely glances at him out of the corner of his eye. Ivor returns the look with a piercing glare, holding his own sword at the ready. A deep chuckle emanates from within the man’s chest, sending chills down Petra’s spine to say the very least. Herobrine’s gaze snaps back to her and moreso her sword, admiring it with a smirk.
“Good choice in blades. Seems we have similar taste.” Herobrine hums, his voice bouncy. With another snap of his wrist, a few small lightning sparks flaring up before a golden sword of his own flashes into existence. He tosses it in his left hand, giving it a twirl as the blade glimmers in the light—no doubt already loaded with its own plethora of enchantments to say the very least. He dissipates his cape with another wave of his arm and shifts into a more serious stance. White eyes flick between her and Ivor—his two targets. Slowly, Petra begins shifting and Ivor matches her movements, circling the man at the center. The air grows thick as the three of them just wait to see who, if anyone, makes the first move.
Herobrine huffs, another sick grin snaking its way onto his face—he doesn’t even see them as a threat, just another game. Petra can’t say if it makes her fearful or just feel downright insulted, but she leans towards the latter as adrenaline shoots through her veins and she charges first with a ripping yell.
Herobrine moves in a flash and their blades collide with a near thunderous clanging. Electric sparks illuminate Petra’s wide eyes as she presses her blade against his. Her hands tingle and she jerks back, swinging their blades off to the side as she does. They bring them both up once more practically in sync, clashing with another echoing clatter. Petra locks her blade in with his and grits her teeth, using the opportunity to yank him around. Herobrine scoffs and begins twirling their blades, trying to build enough momentum to fling Petra’s right out of her hands. She gasps and stumbles back, ripping her blade clean out of the encounter with a grunt.
She huffs, blowing some stray bangs out of her eyes before lunging forwards once more and unleashing a flurry of strikes on the man. Herobrine blocks each fervid blow with his own blade, but gets slowly pushed backwards with each hit. Petra slams Miss Butter into his blade with the force to shatter any other blade, but gets greeted by a barrage of exploding sparks instead. She hisses and staggers back as a few hit her hands and send small shocks up her arms.
Herobrine bounces back a step as well but just launches himself forwards again the moment he regains his footing. He swings in harshly from the right, blade whistling through the air at Petra. She catches it with her own and grits her teeth at the pressure that runs up her arms from the force of the hit, skidding backwards just a tad. With another yell she raises a foot and slams her heel into the man’s ribs, forcing him back a few paces with a grunt.
She wobbles a little on her feet and blinks in confusion as a sudden numbness runs up the leg she kicked with. She scowls and slams it into the ground a few times, trying to shake it out without taking her eyes off of Herobrine. It only worsens though and she begins to panic, shifting all of her weight to her good foot and throwing off her balance. It doesn’t last long though before she’s forced down to a knee, using Miss Butter solely as a support now. Olivia hurries up to cover her in the brief break they’re given and Herobrine lets out a whistle. They pause to stare at the smug man as he simply taps the black ribs in his armor protecting his own— wither skeleton ribs. Petra growls—she’s had enough wither afflictions for one life, thank you very much.
Herobrine’s path forward is cut short as Lukas rushes in, ripping his sword up at the man. The King scoffs and catches the blade, batting it away and Lukas with it. He regains his footing fast as always and charges again before Herobrine recovers from his swing. The man huffs and, with a brief flash of light, teleports to Lukas’ side mid swing. Lukas’s eyes widen as he hits air where the man once was only to get a swift knee to the gut instead. Petra gasps as he lets out a strangled cry, his sword clattering to the floor. With that, Herobrine swiftly grabs him by the back and collar of his jacket, easily chucking him across the small space. Lukas lets out a yell as he slams into a stack of books and a downed shelf, the wood splintering beneath him.
“ Lukas!” Olivia cries out as Herobrine continues towards him.
“Not so fast!” Ivor hisses as he darts between the man and Lukas in a flash and takes a swing for himself. Herobrine scowls as the blade whizzes right before him, inches from his nose. His eyes flash and narrow at Ivor, but the man hardly pays any mind as he rips a potion out of his bag and throws it to Olivia.
Herobrine charges with the opening, aiming low on Ivor to catch him in the leg. The nimble man effortlessly dodges with a roll, snapping back upwards with his blade to catch Herobrine in the side and snap off two of those black ribs. Herobrine hisses and bounces back as the bones shatter into black dust. Ivor bounces back and huffs with a wry smile.
As Olivia snatches the glass bottle out of the air, she gasps, “ Regen!” The warm reddish-pink liquid is a sight for sore eyes to say the least and she beams. She whirls around to Petra, quickly stuffing it into Petra’s hands, “This should do away with that wither! Or at least get you operational for the meantime, anyways.”
“Whatever works!” Petra huffs with a wry smile, popping the cork and downing it in a flash.
Herobrine huffs as he trains his gaze back on Ivor, “Well aren’t you clever. Potions—no wonder you’re so spry…” He grumbles.
“And you’ve nothing more than cheap parlor tricks, it seems! Wither skeleton ribs— Feh!” Ivor scoffs, readying his blade again. Herobrine cocks a brow.
“You’re a confident one. Familiar, too—Have we met?” He hums, snapping his sword back into position as a new wave of electric static fully engulfs and supercharges the blade. He raises it high, staring down his nose at the man, “Oh wait—I remember… You’re one of the fools who ran out of here with their tails between their legs 20 years ago! Heh! Took you long enough to grow a spine… Better late than never I suppose.” He huffs, “Not that it’ll be worth anything.”
“Such a man of ego—Let us see just how hard it is you fall.” Ivor says with a smirk before racing forwards again. Herobrine matches his pace, the two meeting blades in the middle with a crackling clang. The two swordsmen begin exchanging blows high and low, each one announced by the unfettered static surging through Herobrine’s gold blade. With every motion, a line of sparks trail his sword, but Ivor doesn’t let a single blow slip by him.
Above her, Olivia gives Petra one last check before taking the brief opportunity to race from her side over to Lukas’. The man shakily pushes himself up and gets aided by Olivia as he shakes himself out of his daze. Satisfied they’re safe enough for the moment, Petra retrains her sights on Ivor and Herobrine as she pulls herself to her feet. Something’s shifted, she notes, and at first glance it’s hard to notice what exactly it is. But when she does, her stomach churns a little—it’s Herobrine’s form with the sword.
The man has shifted to a much more poised and strategic form for swordplay, practically mirroring Ivor in his grace and power. And his motions are still lax yet while Ivor’s giving it his all. It leaves a pit in Petra’s stomach as she shifts her sword away from a support and back into a weapon; he’s demonstrating a level of swordplay on par with—if not better than—Ivor on top of having powers to his advantage. Either they overpower and take him down now, or they’re all going to be left crumpled messes on the ground.
She shakes her leg out once more and readjusts her grip on her sword. Sucking in a deep breath, she steels her nerves then leans into her rush forward. With a wide side-sweep, Petra charges into the midst of their fight and slams a third blade into the fray.
—
Jesse darts out from his spot on the second he hears Herobrine slam onto the floor below. His heart pounds a million miles a minute in his ears and he frantically races to Romeo, practically slamming into him. He yanks him back and shoots him a glare only to find the man filled with distress as well. It makes Jesse’s frustration falter and simply get replaced with stress as he clutches at his hair. Panic floods them both as Jesse grips Romeo again by the arms.
“ We can’t have him IN HERE, Romeo!” He whispers, lightly shaking him. The man sneers and yanks himself out of Jesse’s grip.
“ I KNOW ! I know—let me think!”
Jesse hisses, “We don’t have time! We’ve gotta figure something out before he seriously hurts somebody!” He jabs a finger into the man’s chest, glaring up at him, “Romeo if any of my friends are hurt here then so help me—!”
“You’re a fast runner!” Romeo blurts with a clap of his hands. Jesse blinks.
“I— What?”
“If you can catch his attention and get him to give chase, then your friends and I will have time to get what you’re looking for. But… But at this point it’d require pissing him off enough for him to switch targets…” He trails off, plucking at his bottom lip anxiously as he racks his brain for a solution.
“Uhhh… If he’s mad at me, can’t he just teleport up to me and, oh I dunno, kill me on the spot?”
“He’s not like me , Jesse.” Romeo starts, and that admittedly piques his interest, “He’s a demi-god at best— His powers are limited. He may make them look effortless, but doing these little theatrics and displays takes a lot out of him. You and your group have sent him on a hunt he hasn’t been on in a long time—he’s pushing himself further than typical for the sake of his little shows.” He rolls his eyes, “He’s… keen on theatrics.”
“ Theatrics? He’s wasting his precious energy for a show?!”
“Well he typically doesn’t have reason to actually worry about the people he scares off. They’re like bugs—he could snap his fingers and it’d be over with. But he doesn’t gain any pleasure from that. Not anymore.” He shakes his head and glances over the railing once more, “He underestimates you, Jesse. And you can use that to your advantage. But— But how to get under his skin?!” He hisses with a scowl, running his hands through his red hair. His earrings jingle a little as they’re jostled and the sight sparks something in Jesse. He takes a step back, scanning the man up and down once more before his eyes land on the dagger Romeo has at his side.
And Jesse gets an idea. Oh boy, does he get an idea . A smirk snakes its way onto his face as he considers it. It’d be a lie to say it wasn’t just a hint spiteful.
“Y’know…” He starts, nabbing the other man’s attention, “He seemed pretty concerned about you.” Jesse puts a hand over his mouth to hide his grin. Romeo’s eyes narrow briefly at the smug look.
“This is not the time for teasing!”
“I was thinking we could use that to our advantage here.”
“ Excuse me? ”
—
Ivor lets out a hiss he traps behind his teeth as Herobrine slashes at him, just nicking his shoulder with the sparking blade. Petra bounces between them, batting the man back as Ivor rolls his arm and regroups. They exchange some blows, each hit heavier than before now as Herobrine takes them more seriously.
“ Petra!” Ivor calls from behind her. She glances back briefly and spies the man offering up his sword. She grimaces—she hates giving up her own blade, but at this point it’d simply be safer. She nods and as Herobrine swings downwards for a harsh slice, Petra dives for a hard left. She bounces back to her feet and chucks her gold sword to Ivor, the man doing the same with his diamond blade. She snatches it up with ease and even just the blue shimmering of the blade is enough to bolster her confidence. Herobrine scoffs at her, eyeing the new blade in her hand.
“Alright, we’ll play it your way. One-on-one, then.” He steps back and slashes his blade into the wood, cold blue flames licking to life and igniting on the old wood. Petra gasps as they roar louder and, with a twirl of his hand, surrounds them and them alone. The others yell for her and she hears a few curses on the wind, but ultimately the roar of the fires now drown them out. The heat is suffocating in their new flaming arena and Petra sucks in a breath to steady herself as she readies her blade once more. Herobrine sports no cockiness anymore, turning stoic and barely letting her breathe before rushing into a new flurry of attacks.
She yelps at the sheer speed with which he moves, swinging much more frantically in a desperate attempt to parry and block as he bounces around her with lightning speed. He uses that move she saw briefly before with Lukas, flashing in and out of view and actually managing to knock her around because of it. The first and last things she sees are the glow of his eyes burning brighter than even their new flaming backdrop. The imprint of them lingers in her vision like sunspots even when he’s gone. She swings around and lunges at him, blade whizzing through the air only for him to blink out of sight once more. A frustrated yell barely manages to escape her throat before he slams his blade into the backside of her armor and sends her crashing into the ground.
She gasps in a smoke-filled breath only to hack it immediately back out. She doesn’t get much more time to think past that though as the man leaps at her. She scrambles out of the way with a roll, the man crashing into an empty spot and slamming his fist into the floor where she once was. She stalls for a moment in confusion—a fist? His blade is fine. He doesn’t give her another chance to think about it as they lock eyes once more. He slashes his blade out at her from his crouch and she blocks it but it knocks her back further. Flames lick at her back as she’s knocked to the wall of their arena and she flings herself back to her feet. Herobrine matches the movement, just as emotionless as before. Petra clenches her jaw and takes charge, rushing him with a blunt hit to the hit using the hilt of the sword. He scowls and steps back, quickly raising his sword to bounce hers back as she swings.
He teleports away again but by now she’s caught onto his tricks. She whips around and immediately raises her blade, catching and locking his in place once again. She stays locked in this time, even as the sparks begin to intensify and sting her hands. Then her arms—the feeling rolls all the way up through her upper body. The glow of Herobrine’s white eyes glares off the sheen of the two blades, threatening to blind her. But she doesn’t budge. She stays true, merely pushing back against him with everything she has. But isolated and on her own, it’s not enough. She doesn’t have the supercharged brute strength. But even as the shocks of the electricity begin coursing further down into her legs, leaving her shaking and slowly lowering down to her knees, her pride holds her true. She merely grits her teeth and presses her whole body’s weight into the blade.
Then there’s a yell.
Herobrine’s advance falters as he—and everyone else for that matter—shift their gazes upwards at the sound of commotion upstairs. Were she feeling especially generous, she’d dare to say she heard him gasp a little. And was that a name he murmured? Regardless, something itches at the back of her mind at the sound of that voice—it’s familiar, but where from? She gets her answer in a snap as the horribly familiar red-head is thrown into the rail of the catwalk above.
Romeo growls, wiping his mouth as he staggers further back down the catwalk. He only gets a few steps down however before a real sight for sore eyes runs up and snatches him by the back of the collar,yanking him back. Petra lights up with a gleeful laugh at the sight.
“Jesse! Holy shit!”
From topside, Jesse shoots a grin down Petra’s way. That said, his stomach drops as that ghostly pair of eyes burn into him next. He watches him readjust the grip on his sword and feels his own surge of adrenaline as he quickly snaps the blade of the dagger up to Romeo’s throat.
“ Romeo!” Herobrine cries out, a shocking amount of worry lacing his voice. The sight of the blade alone makes the man utterly freeze in his tracks once more. Below him, Petra uses the opportunity to shove his blade away and scurry back out of range. The man stumbles a little at the sudden offset but immediately snaps his gaze back upwards. Jesse takes the opportunity to rub a little more salt in the wound.
“You’ve got ‘ Hero’ in your name—how about we see if it really means anything! Whaddaya say, tough guy? ” He tightens the grip on Romeo slightly, the blade delicately pressed against his throat and gleaming in the chaotic red and blue light. Romeo, of course, hams up the dramatics and keeps his gaze desperate. That said, Jesse sees the way he’s struggling to restrain the grin that dares to sweep across his face. It’s too small a detail to see from anywhere else, however. Below them, Herobrine seethes.
“ You little— When I get my hands on you—!” He yells and Jesse just chuckles— He’s actually taking the bait! Granted, laughing in the face of this probably isn’t doing him any favors considering what comes next.
“I wouldn’t be making threats in your position!” Jesse calls down, the adrenaline still keeping him tense. His arms and hands tingle out of sheer nervousness, threatening to go numb as his heart pounds in his ears. Much to his own frustration, Herobrine flings an arm out and the fires dissipate around him and Petra. Jesse quietly blows out a shaky breath. He has him. It was almost too easy. He briefly glances at each of his friends, and they all use the opportunity to regroup away from the Nether King. He scowls, but doesn’t dare move yet. Herobrine gives them cursory glances at best, but saves the worst of his looks for Jesse alone. Oh, he is going to get even.
Jesse whispers to Romeo, trying to keep himself from being too readable. “ Interrupt me, and try to get me a head start.” Romeo huffs in acknowledgement. Go time.
Jesse holds his head high, calling back down. “ You’re surrounded, you’ve sapped yourself of your powers and— HRK! ” Jesse gets cut off by Romeo swiftly knocking himself out of his hold. A solid grip on Jesse’s arm to protect his neck mixed with a heeled stomp down onto his foot, and ridiculous elbow to the gut sends him stumbling back even despite the armor. The dagger flies, Jesse staggers, and Romeo catches his own breath. Jesse holds his side for a brief moment. Geez, the guy was still not someone to mess with even without the powers.
That thought aside, he reaches down and snatches another Ender Pearl from the pouch at his side, clenching it tight in his fist. Right on cue, the madman himself uses his utterly strained powers to teleport up on the catwalk in a flash of wild lightning—and man he is pissed. Jesse bounces back a few paces and eyes the exit opposite to the one he came in through. Romeo has dropped to the ground and sits there against the railing, glaring back at Jesse. Just seeing it shoots another wave of tension through the demi-god’s body—it’s obvious. Jesse grins.
“Hey, Lightning-Rod! You like playing chase ?! FINE! Let’s PLAY!”
Herobrine charges, sword in hand. Jesse quickly winds up his throw towards the exit and Romeo subtly smirks, slightly raising his outstretched leg right before Hero can pass him. Jesse throws. Herobrine doesn’t get the chance to stop him.
“SHIT—!” The man hisses through his teeth as he gets caught and trips, slamming into the ground with a loud thud. He lets out an angry yell and slams his fist into the ground before dragging himself to his feet. He spins around up top, disoriented and trying to spot where the brat went.
“The way we came in! He used a pearl! GET HIM!” Romeo points him in the right direction and the man doesn’t even argue, snatching up Romeo’s dagger and immediately hopping the railing as he did once before. He doesn’t even pay the other four mind as he sprints out of the room hot on Jesse’s tail.
Romeo, once the thudding of Herobrine’s feet dull to silence, lets out a long sigh, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. It’s exciting to be deceiving, but he can only pray Jesse is both quick witted and light on his feet in their new game of keepaway. It’s a short lived peace however as one of those brilliantly sparking arrows sticks in the rail mere inches away from his head. He jumps to his feet with a yelp and holds up his hands.
“ Wait wait WAIT—! Lukas, let's not be hasty —!”
“CAN IT!” The blonde yells, sending another arrow whizzing past his head. Romeo yelps and jumps out of the way, heart racing once again.
“We need to go after them!” Petra shouts, already hurrying towards the exit. Romeo grips the railing.
“ No! I know you all hate me but you have to trust me on this one thing! Jesse and I planned that—he’s baiting Hero away so we can grab whatever books you need and leave. I know this ridiculous library and castle like the back of my hand! Tell me what you need and I can grab them and get you all out of here in no time flat!”
The four slowly exchange wary looks. Placing their trust in Romeo? But yet, at this point, do they have any better options…?
~~~~~
Jesse sprints through the unmarked halls, his feet carrying him aimlessly through the labyrinth. You know, he probably should have had more of a plan on where to go once he was actually being chased. Ah well, c’est la vie and—
“SSSHIT DUDE—!” He yells, eyes wide as a dagger whizzes past his head and digs into the wall. He skids and quickly changes directions at an intersection, darting right. Herobrine slides a bit into the next hallway before he can get any grip on the ground, stumbling back and down the hall after Jesse once again, his heels squealing against the polished wood floors.
Jesse huffs. So that’s it huh? He sucks in a breath and starts eyeing any sharp turn he can make. He darts left. Herobrine stalls. He takes a sharp right. Herobrine curses under his breath as Jesse gets more ground. Jesse fakes him out for the third time, sending Herobrine flying past as he darts back into a side hallway. He hears a loud crash as the man presumingly runs into a bunch of furniture. The loud, resounding ‘FUCK’ confirms it and Jesse actually snickers that time .
“ Would you CUT THAT SHIT OUT !?” Herobrine yells and Jesse can distantly hear him throwing the—likely splintered if not utterly shattered—wooden furniture to the side before shoving himself to his feet once more.
Jesse doesn’t look back and at this point is hardly thinking as he runs, a feeling he can’t say he’s felt since the Witherstorm. It certainly isn’t helping him keep his panic in check. Though, for better or for worse, the feeling of having those white eyes bore into him eventually subsides. He hasn’t been in his presence for long, but he already hates the feeling of having his eyes on him. He can’t properly explain the kind of dread that swells his chest whenever the man is in the room, but it feels like death. Maybe he’s just jaded from dealing with Romeo’s bullshit though—any glowing eyes are bad news in his book.
But did he really lose him? So easily? He looks back behind him as he turns a corner. Nothing. Not a soul in sight. Hell, he doesn’t even hear anything. Those pounding footsteps from behind are gone and an eerie silence save for his own haggard breathing has replaced them. He grows fearful for his friends, yet something still doesn’t sit right with him.
He doesn’t get the chance to dwell on it though as a newfound panic seizes him with the sight of the hallway to nowhere he’s sprinting straight for. A straight shot out and a several story fall straight into lava. He gasps and desperately tries slowing himself down as he’s engulfed in fear. Tripping over himself and fiercely clawing at the smooth brick wall beside him as he fails to stop his own momentum. He reaches the ledge with small and panicked steps, almost but not quite coming to a full halt right at the edge. He swings his arms in an attempt to fling himself backwards, getting too personal of a look at the long drop to lava before him.
It’s not enough and the world goes silent save for his own gasp as he feels himself topple over. His chest tightens, he goes numb in sheer terror. He was so careless.
Yet there’s a snag. Literally. Confusion engulfs Jesse as he feels a hand hastily grab the collar of his armor—choking him—then gets thrown far back into the hall. He hits the ground harshly, sending his head spinning. He coughs and gasps, his vision blurry and the wind knocked out of him. His haggard breath is matched by the man who saved him. And boy, in any other moment he might be awestruck by getting saved by Herobrine. But right now? Oh, it is decidedly not a good thing.
Jesse’s eyes shoot open at the realization of who’s standing over him just a few feet away, undoubtedly still pissed. This is NOT the time to be laying around pondering all of his life choices! He scrambles to his feet, balance off and nearly collapsing to the ground again. Regardless, Jesse whips his axe out and attempts to stand at the ready. It’s… a somewhat sorry sight if he’s being honest, and to Jesse’s surprise, some of Herobrine’s anger dissipates with it.
He meets that haunting pair of white eyes once again and—was that sympathy? Worry ? It’s gone in a flash as Herobrine stands before Jesse with his arms crossed. The stone-cold look on his face doesn’t give it away but his voice does as his begrudging amusement peeks through his sarcasm.
“You’re adorable.”
“ Where’s—”
Herobrine shakes his head with a chuckle, “No, no. You are in no position to be making demands right now.” He mocks and starts to laugh before Jesse makes a quick move, swinging the axe between his hands to gain some momentum then twirling the blade to the front in a snap—a snappy move he used to always watch his father pull off. He closes the space between them in one fell swoop but doesn’t follow through like his father would have. Opting rather to get up close and personal while holding the sharp and shimmering blade to the man’s neck. There’s a hint of surprise in Herobrine’s eyes before it turns into a sharp glare. Furious icy blue eyes glare back as Herobrine lets out a restrained sigh, his sword clattering to the floor as he slowly raises his hands in surrender. His voice is cold.
“ You’re a bold little pipsqueak, y’know that?”
The cool blade makes slightly more contact with his neck. There’s his answer.
Herobrine scoffs, “ What do you want? ”
“I gotta give you props—for someone who’s threats fall flat you’re pretty intimidating! I was actually scared for a while there!”
“And how would you be the jud—”
“If you wanted me out of the way for real you would have just let me fall a minute ago. Hell, I’m sure if you really wanted, you could just teleport behind me right now and kick me off the ledge! You’ve at least got that left in you, we both know it. But no. Instead you’re here feigning helplessness .” He laughs a bit as the King’s glare hardens. He goes to say something but is cut off once again. “I’m not dumb . It makes sense! Hardly any action for 19 years and suddenly we all show up and we’re not even here for you! I’d be curious too!”
“I could kill you where you stand.”
“You won’t. I— however —am quite stressed and tired! Tell me—You got any healing powers as a part of that whole demigod package? Would rather not just waste my energy.” There’s a hint of a tired grin as Jesse keeps his grip tight. A minute of silence, just the two staring back at each other. Jesse uses this opportunity to study Herobrine’s features up close. Strong jawline, cleancut beard and tousled brown hair shoved back, his crown glistens and matches his dangling earrings. A similar aesthetic to Romeo’s new schtick.
There’s an odd familiarity about this man.
Despite never meeting him until now, there’s some nagging feeling at the back of his mind that keeps telling him he’s seen him somewhere before. It’s ridiculous. Jesse’s stern face falters as the internal conflict is pushed forward. It doesn’t make sense. Jesse knows that. But despite it, that same nagging voice makes his stomach tie up in knots, going as far as telling him that this man is studying Jesse in exactly the same light. He breaks eye contact briefly and forces the conversation along, hoping to ease his frayed nerves.
“We’re just here for information… Not even from your mouth. Just some old books from your library that the Order left behind.” He looks up at him, an almost pleading look dancing across his features now, “ That’s. It. ”
The man can’t hide his confused surprise before he bursts out laughing. “Books? All this effort for some stupid books?” He cackles, making Jesse’s hair stand on end as a new anger rushes through his veins. The man huffs and shakes his head, dropping his voice low, “You’re not here for some damn books. Not with that attitude.”
Jesse bristles, snapping, “ You’re right! I’m here for the information IN those books because they’re the only ones our stupid world HAS! Look asshole , you think you’re hot shit but until just a few days ago I didn’t know who the hell you were nor do I CARE! ” He hisses, spitting venom as all his built up tension finally boils over. His shake starts getting noticeable and it’s Jesse’s turn to drop his voice. “All I want are some answers. Those ‘ stupid books’? They’re the next best chance at me actually GETTING some. Just… Fuck—Just work with me on this one damn thing, man…” Jesse shakes his head and—seeing as he now genuinely has Herobrine’s attention and interest—steps off. Backing off, he lets out a heavy sigh and lazily hangs onto his belt once more. He turns his back to Herobrine, making himself completely vulnerable to some kind of attack at this point, but he’s too tired to worry about it. It’s not gonna happen anyways.
He’s right too. Herobrine eases out a sigh through his nose, gently rubbing his neck where the blade had been pushed up against as he studies the young man at full. There’s a heavy silence that drags down the already sweltering air around them. Jesse’s head pounds even more as he shoves his bangs back and out of his face and presses his palms into his eyes out of stress.
“Guess I shoulda listened to Rom a bit more… You’ve got good fight in you, kid. Where’d uhh… Where’d you learn how to swing that axe of yours like that?” Herobrine reaches down and picks up his sword off the ground as he speaks. Jesse huffs and looks at him in a mix of amusement and disbelief.
“Oh no, please don’t try and do awkward small-talk now.”
“ Well—!” Herobrine chokes on his own words letting out a frustrated groan, “ Okay, I appreciate and applaud your tenacity and sheer lack of self-preservation— really felt that one—but frankly I’m at a loss for what you expect of me right now. Would you like to go back to berating each other to a pulp? Because frankly we still have some unfinished business.”
“ FINE, okay, I’m sorry! I learned how to swing an axe from my dad. Satisfied? ” Jesse sighs and wanders over to a wall and rests his head against the cool brick in frustration. Herobrine’s own tension dissipates a bit at the sight and he covers his mouth to hold back a weak chuckle. Jesse hears it too, but he can’t find the energy to care. He manages to hold his tongue and let him cool off a little, at least. Jesse speaks again after a minute.
“Sorry for pulling that shit back there with Romeo. We had to get you away from the others. I wasn’t gonna actually hurt him.” Jesse pauses a moment, squinting at the detail in the brick, “Well, okay, that’s a lie. I would’ve punched him again if I had to.” He pushes off the wall and crosses his arms tensely, blowing some hair out of his face as he does.
“Wait, that was planned?!”
“Uh, y—”
“ That shithead! ” He hisses, cutting the air with his sword before slapping a hand to his forehead and groaning. Jesse lets out a little ‘ heh’ before nodding.
“Yeah, that’s Romeo for you.” He shakes his head, “I don’t know what I expected, but running into him down here is something else. The Nether isn’t a place I really thought of as habitable for people long-term. You , I understand because of…” Jesse vaguely gestures to the man, “All… that. But still…”
“Well I mean… Yeesh … What’d you expect? Not like he had many other options. ‘Sides, get a good set-up and it’s more peaceful than the overworld. For some hot-shot adventurer you sure don’t seem to know much about this place. What’d you think lived down here? Vicious mole people?” The man gives a half hearted chuckle. It takes Jesse a second to process it and he huffs out a smile at the bizarre suggestion.
“ Excuse me?” He chuckles and Herobrine shrugs.
“I’m just spitballing! Honestly I was expecting a better reaction than that . You really are just an all around buzzkill.” He sighs dramatically and Jesse shakes his head with a laugh.
“Oh my bad, but maybe you need to work on some better material. My uncle used to make the same lame jo—” Jesse stops dead mid sentence. Herobrine blinks and waits a minute for him to continue but to no avail. The man awkwardly shuffles in place, tilting his head in confusion.
“Uhhh… Hey, I didn’t break you, did— OKAYYY! ” He starts only to be cut off by Jesse, suddenly snapped back to his typical animated self and with a fire in his eyes. The young man rushes up to Herobrine with his brows furrowed and eyes intense as he scrutinizes every inch of the man.
Herobrine takes an instinctive step back only for Jesse to immediately step back into his personal space. Jesse, unfazed, just grabs both sides of the man’s head and seemingly studies him. Herobrine stands there in shock and growing concern. He’s used to being studied by the people he scares off or attacks, but watching a barrage of different emotions—confusion, shock, sorrow, anger, hope? —flash in the kid’s eyes is completely unnerving and he feels his own hair stand.
Suddenly the kid sucks a sharp breath in through his teeth as he stumbles backwards, his gaze never once breaking from the man. He begins pacing back and forth, cupping a hand over his mouth, then switching to biting down on his fist, then switching back and forth as he desperately tries to figure something out. Herobrine grips his sword absentmindedly, thoroughly freaked out now.
“I— You—!” Jesse chokes on his words, his tone incredulous as he meets the gaze of Herobrine. It clicked. It all clicked with that one thing. The reason there were so many familiarities with this man. The stupid joke and warm laughter that brought him racing back.
Jesse opens his mouth, trying to spit out some kind of sentence. A question? An accusation? Herobrine has no idea what to remotely make of it… But the words the young man finally gets out of his mouth makes the white eyed King’s blood run freezing cold.
“Uncle Brian?”
Chapter 10: Questions
Summary:
Talk about weird family reunions, and Jesse's suddenly got a lot of things on his mind that only his uncle can answer.
Notes:
IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG SCHOOL WAS EW AND IT MAY BE A BIT ALL OVER THE PLACE BUT HOPEFULLY NOT !! It's become one of those "I just gotta get this one chapter done" type things and like!! I still care about it!! But it's hard being stuck on the same piece for weeks OOF
BUT ITS HERE !!! I hope you guys enjoy Herobrine still, especially now that you see him in an even more personal light!!
EDIT 8/18/21: girl help why did it take so long to edit just ONE chapter 💀💀 had to get it right,,, for Hiro my absolute beloved
EDIT 5/31/23: okay got it right FR THIS TIME 😭👍 ended up editing SO MUCH and that's on Hiro's background needing a whole facelift which I will be getting even more into in the upcoming chapter edits 💀 but ended up fixing POV issues, completely restructuring conversations, adding new ones, redoing the Courtyard bit to better fix my vision for Hiro, AND I feel like the emotional beats flow MUCH smoother now. Also ik Hiro's last line is silly but I don't have the heart to change it <3 Finally a lot happier with this one tho :>
Chapter Text
“Uncle Brian?”
Jesse’s voice hangs in the air, suffocating them. There they stand, a few feet apart with wide eyes and staring at each other like deer in the firelight. The faint whitenoise of the Nether is all that fills the silence. The vague crackling of fire, the faint popping and sizzling of lava, and the occasional creak of the fortress begin to build in volume as the two stand frozen in place. Herobrine stands with a tense hand clenched over his chest, as if he’s trying to keep his own heart from seizing up on him. Jesse’s posture sags with his exhaustion, hunching over as he takes deep breaths, his own heart racing.
The man begins to gently shake his head, but his eyes betray him.
“I— You— No... No , I don’t know what you’re on about.” He sputters in an attempt to get a grip on himself, trying to turn this situation back to the simple cat and mouse game they had been playing. “What kind of stupid play is that? You think claiming to be some family member is gonna get you out of getting your ass kicked?! HA! ” His threat is hollow as he begins pacing. The young man shakes his head incredulously.
“No, no, I know you! It’s me , Jesse— ” He starts but the man just huffs and shakes his head again, waving him off. Jesse scowls and continues pushing, “It’s me, your nephew. Would you at least look me in the eyes while I’m talking to you—?!”
“You’re talking nonsense! I won’t—... No, I don’t owe you that! And you—!” He points a finger at Jesse accusingly, shaking it as he backs up. He laughs with half a breath, “You have a lot of audacity to come in here, mess up my home, try and steal my shit, attack both me and my ally, and THEN—!” He throws his arms up in mild outrage, “You actually have the gall—the absolute NERVE—to try and play with my emotions on top?! Unbelievable!” He shakes his head and crosses his arms, pacing in a quick circle, ending with his back to Jesse. Jesse opens his mouth to retort only to get cut off once more. “Which—by the way—How dare you even attempt that kind of shit! What kind of low-life son of a—”
“Would you let me speak ?” Jesse actually raises his voice against the man, who spins around with a glare. He huffs and begins to respond in more complaints, but Jesse wins their little shouting match. “Do you, honest to god, think you’re the only one reeling right now?”
Jesse pushes his bangs out of his face with both hands, gripping them as he stares and shakes his head. His frustration quickly dissipates however and he can’t help the corners of his mouth slipping into a grin as the disbelief starts wearing off and the feelings of awe and hope flood his chest. He feels his arms tingle and begin to shake as he gets teary-eyed at the idea of it all. He brings his voice back down, taking up a simply awestruck tone.
“ Look at you! I-I thought—... we thought—… We thought you were dead !” He laughs, feeling himself losing his breath once more. He blinks the water out of his eyes. “ Look, be in denial all you want, but... I-I’m still me. A-And whether you like it or not, you’re still you!”
Herobrine watches him numbly, making him difficult to read. Could it be shock? Confusion? Probably a mix—or Jesse’s utterly lost it altogether and is just speaking nonsense. But no, no, no , this man is very familiar. Hell, he feels stupid for not even registering the voice, but he supposes it’s been so long… He blows out a breath of utter disbelief and just laughs again while the man simply stares at him.
Herobrine obviously isn’t sure what to make of the young man before him, not that Jesse could blame him much. He certainly sounds like a lunatic, but is there really any other way to spell it all out? None that Jesse can think of. Looking closer yet though, there’s an undeniable resemblance between the two of them which would only make sense with him as an uncle—a twin to his father no less.
Herobrine ends up crossing his arms tightly over his chest and blows out a sigh as he begrudgingly seems to examine Jesse in turn. He wishes there was a way he could know what exactly was going on in that head of his, but for the moment? He’s too high energy to really think too hard about it. He doesn’t pay any mind to the way the man grimaces and silently turns his back on him once more. He doesn’t pay any mind to the distance the man tried to create for himself. Too abuzz with sheer awe, Jesse just keeps talking.
“I-I mean I—!” He laughs incredulously, rubbing at his eyes, “I-I… I thought I was alone … !” His voice shakes with bittersweet wonder and something makes the man before him go utterly stiff.
The man jerks his gaze back over his shoulder and locks eyes with Jesse. There’s a brief flurry of emotions that seem to wash over him—shock, confusion, and what Jesse can only describe as guilt. Herobrine sucks in a quick breath to speak, but, after sputtering and finding nothing, just clamps his mouth shut. Despite that though, his intense gaze remains ever fixed on Jesse as if picking him into pieces to find out if he’s telling the truth. As if this is still all some elaborate ploy Jesse’s trying to get some kind of jump on him. But he doesn’t find anything. There’s nothing else but a young man with just as many questions in his eyes as he used to have.
“ You…” He starts, his voice gentler—less abrasive. Slowly, he turns his entire body to face him, heels quietly clacking against the floor as he does. His expression remains firmly mixed and difficult to read, but those piercing white eyes have softened. Stern, but some form of sympathy shining through. It makes Jesse’s chest tighten. He stands there frozen as he waits for the man to do something. To say something. To acknowledge him.
Slowly, Herobrine approaches Jesse. He may not be able to see his pupils through the glow, but Jesse can just feel the way he’s scanning him up and down. He presses his lips together tightly and swallows down his nerves as best as he can. Herobrine raises his hands as if to touch his face but hesitates a moment. Jesse doesn’t move nor flinch and so the man gently takes his face into his hands, lifting it just a little. The touch is familiar and warm as he grazes his thumbs over his cheeks—a subtle show of affection that his uncle did a million times before when he was a child. A painful lump forms in the back of his throat at the deja vu. Herobrine sighs and any stubbornness still lingering washes away, replaced by something much more peaceful but also tired. He drops his hands from Jesse’s face down to his shoulders and shakes his head, voice soft and soothing.
“ Alone…? Now what kind of crazy-talk is that, Jesse?”
Jesse chokes out something he can only assume is a mix between a laugh and a sob and a few hot tears slip down his cheeks. The man huffs out a brief smile and Jesse reaches up, clamping his hands down atop of the hands still resting on his shoulders. He probably grips them a little too tightly, but some part of him just fears what’ll happen if he lets go. He can’t have such a miracle come through only for it to slip through his fingers.
But Herobrine then hesitates for a second and seemingly tenses. Jesse feels him gently try and tug back which snaps his attention back up to him. Despite the way his inner child screams at him, Jesse relents, easing his grip enough to allow the man to pull his hands away and take a step back from him. His stomach churns and the quick beating of his racing heart echoes in his ears as he nervously waits to see what this is about. He can’t just be leaving him like this, right?
But he’s greeted with a more than welcome sight. Herobrine—his uncle— takes a breath, quirks an awkward yet loving smile, and holds both arms out just wide enough for Jesse to take the hint. Wide blue eyes shoot up to white, and the man just gives a small shrug. But no amount of being nonchalant can change the fact that this is a big deal.
A hug. Jesse gets to hug his uncle.
He sucks in a deep breath through his teeth, holding back a choked sob. The little boy within him takes Jesse by the reins as he darts right into the embrace. The man lets out a startled grunt and stumbles back a tad from the force, but he can only chuckle as he wraps his nephew in a tight hug. Jesse’s legs, numb from the adrenaline, threaten to give out from beneath him as everything finally flows freely and he can only manage to cry. His uncle’s grip on him shifts to an iron-clad one at the sound, his heart suddenly aching for the family he buried. The cries shift to gasps as he pushes to get a grip on himself, scrambling and holding tight to the back of his uncle’s armor in an attempt to stay upright on his shaky legs. He does a pretty miserable job at it and his uncles eases them to a kneel on the ground.
“Easy! Easy kid, don’t strain yourself… Come on now, easy...”
“You’re alive ! You’re alive...! You’re— Y-You…” Jesse’s own blubbering gets in the way of talking, eventually just leading to him laughing through the tears. He drops his head down onto his shoulder, soaking in the familiarity of it all as his mind runs through the foggy memories of his childhood with the man. His uncle blows out a long, heavy sigh. With it though, Jesse gets a reassuring squeeze as a warm hand brushes through his curls.
“Thought you could get rid of me that easily, huh?” He jokes a little and Jesse huffs out a laugh.
“I guess— I-I guess I should’ve known better,” Jesse unburies his face long enough to get out a somewhat clear reply. He grins a little as he continues, “—dad did always say you were as stubborn as a roach.”
The man pouts in utter offense at that, “I don’t know if that’s a compliment…”
Jesse laughs and then shrugs, “It’s whatever you make it. He’d always say he was surprised you made it as long as you did, but was happy you did.”
“Oh like he had room to talk!” He scoffs and Jesse chuckles, but it grows bitter. He can’t tell if his uncle picks up on it exactly, but he offers him a bittersweet smile before taking his face in his hands once more. After another minute of just examining him, he merely shakes his head and pulls Jesse back into a hug which he readily accepts.
They stay there like that for a long while, letting this all settle in with the quiet. For once, Jesse can understand why the Nether might be appealing. The quiet crackling of fire and distant sizzling just nearly drowned out by one’s own breathing is surprisingly soothing. It definitely helps him settle his breathing and poor, battered heart. He’s really been clocking in some emotional overtime lately. Eventually he lets go and just sits back with an awkward smile and laugh. He sniffles and wipes his face, making an exaggeratedly disgusted look before returning to the smile.
“‘M sorry I’m so gross… I’ve been a wreck these past few days. A-And this…!” He sits back and gestures over his uncle, shaking his head, “I-I never… I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. No matter how weird things get for me, this is… A whole different type of ‘ out of left field’ for me! I mean,” He huffs out a laugh and shrugs, “What do I even call you anymore? Like do I go by your stage name now? Do I have to work to earn that first-name basis again?” He jokes, making his uncle laugh a hearty laugh.
“ No, no, Brian is fine. It’s what you always knew…” His uncle shakes his head as he chuckles.
“Didn’t you have like… Another name as well though? I’m not sure I remember it right.” Jesse laughs a little and his uncle rolls his eyes to the heavens.
“ Yeah. My dad thought it’d be a good idea to give me two first names ‘cuz he wouldn’t make up his mind.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there?”
“ Ha! Yeah there was. See, originally the plan was to have your father named Brian while I still had Hiro. But, at the very last minute, the mad man decided that Steven was better suited for him. Which—by the way—I don’t get how you’d see that in a baby! We were twins! What makes a grown man look at one of his newborn kids and think ‘ You know what would be a better name for a small child than Brian? Steve .’” He throws up his hands in defeat and Jesse laughs. His uncle shrugs and continues, “My father was still a sap though, so he and mom decided to just tack Brian onto my name. Have it all hyphenated and stuff. It’s a bit of a pain but I suppose it’s nice to have a casual name and formal name… ‘Hiro’ is more reserved for family or people close to me.” He rubs his neck and Jesse slowly nods.
“Hiro and Brian... Hiro-Brian. Herobrine! You know, that’s probably not the best name to pick if you were trying to stay hidden. Had dad actually heard that name, he would’ve probably known in an instant.” Jesse laughs and his uncle grins a lazy half grin as he sits back, rather relaxed now.
“Eh. I didn’t exactly get the chance to really rebrand. Sort of a slurred out mishap when I first got back—barely had anything else to go off of than the haze of my names at the time and the old-timer I was with uhhh…” He hesitates, pursing his lips, “Well… Suffice to say, his hearing isn’t what it used to be. I barely had the mind to argue at the time so, hell, Herobrine it was! Long story, but by the time I’d gotten a head back on my shoulders and out of the daze of it all… Well… ”
“The rumors of a big bad guy goin’ by ‘ Herobrine’ were far too gone to be changed.” Jesse finishes his thought, leaving Herobrine to just shrug a bit sadly.
“Eeyup. And it is what it is—I certainly caused enough trouble to warrant it. So I’ve been spending more time down here in recent months.” He huffs, a slightly sad smile gracing his features, “I’ve certainly dodged a few bullets considering what’s been happening topside! Though, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it…” He laments and Jesse hums in understanding. The man sucks in a breath and perks up, “But it’s not too bad, y’know? I’ve had a fun time just scaring kids off! Probably doesn’t sound like something a ‘ good person’ does but, eh.”
He tries brushing off the topic but Jesse can tell the life he was shoved into isn’t exactly what he wanted. But now’s not the time to dig into those heart-wrenching details, no matter how curious it makes him. Not so soon. Instead, Jesse jumps back to their initial conversation. He opens his mouth but hesitates, catching his uncle’s attention.
“Could— Could I uh…” He laughs a bit nervously, feeling rather foolish asking, “Can I refer to you as ‘ Hiro’ now…?”
His uncle blinks, staring at him for a moment. Then he huffs out a laugh, “I don’t know— can you? You up for such a challenge?”
“Eugh, forget I asked.” Jesse rolls his eyes with a grin, making his uncle laugh. After a second he smirks and quirks a brow before patting Jesse’s cheek in a jokingly condescending fashion
“Too many names and you poor little thing might just explode!”
“ Pfft! Stop!” He snorts and playfully bats his hand away before fixing his hair.
“But, yes, I think I’ll allow a first name basis for you. Don’t piss me off though! I’ll revoke it if you do!”
“Alright, that sounds like a deal I can work with, Uncle Hiro. ” Jesse looks back up, smiling with that classic determination still ablaze in his eyes. He gets a similar smile in return before his uncle hops to his feet. Herobrine— Hiro —offers a hand out to Jesse. He smiles and takes it with a clap and his uncle easily hoists Jesse back up. He just blows out another sigh as Jesse pops up to his shoulder, overwhelmed. Jesse looks at him curiously, him just shaking his head in return.
“You—... I just—...” He stumbles over his own words in a struggle to voice his thoughts. “You were so— Should be so…” He puts his hand near the ground, signifying the height of Jesse when he was young. “A-And now you’re so…” He shifts his gaze back to Jesse and his face contorts in lighthearted confusion. Jesse just shuts his eyes and chuckles with a nostalgic smile.
“You think I’m bad? No offense, but have you looked in a mirror?” He pushes out a weak laugh. His uncle huffs in amusement, glancing down at himself then dropping his hands down to his sides once more.
“Well, I was gonna play nice and not mention your serious lack of a growth spurt, Shortie, but now it’s only fair.”
“Oh low blow !”
“Any higher and it would’ve gone over your head!” He grins but quickly drops it as Jesse hurries over to sock him in the arm. “ OW!”
“ STOP.”
“What? Got a short fuse?” The man spits out as he pulls back, a nervous grin spread across his face while Jesse just rolls his eyes and winds up for another shot. The man catches his hand, and just laughs lightly. Jesse can’t help the small smile that forms as he giggles at the small game.
“You gotta stop with the height jokes, or I’ll cut you down a few pegs.” Jesse giggles and his uncle’s eyes widen briefly before he snickers.
“Hey! Bad puns are my thing!”
“Well you’re gonna have plenty of competition now.” Jesse laughs a little, but his nervousness shines through. They both take a step back to breathe again, the initial adrenaline rush of it all slowly wearing off. Jesse awkwardly shrugs, dropping his hands to his sides as he and his uncle share their anxious energy. Herobrine eventually steps away and runs his hands through his hair.
There’s… A lot to take in. They can joke all they want—just like they used to years ago—but all of that doesn’t undo the weight bearing down on their shoulders. There’s so much to say—so much to do. He slowly blows out a breath through his mouth as he brings himself and all of this back to the present. Jesse does the same, mind utterly spinning as he tries reasoning with it all. What was happening? What came up to this? The main room. The blazes. The hallways. The library. Romeo. Their chase.
Miraculously on the same track, Herobrine gasps and looks back at Jesse as realization hits him.
“Oh my god I nearly killed you! I threw a dagger at your head oh my god!” He blurts, cupping his hands to his mouth as everything leading up to now is painted in a new light. Alright, the freaking out is blatant once again. Jesse blinks and takes a step back at the sudden change in his uncle’s energy. Herobrine shakes his head and begins pacing once more, but stops mid step and shakes a finger at him, “But then again ! I cannot BELIEVE your affinity for holding sharp weapons to people’s throats ! Young man, you could’ve killed someone!”
“I— Excuse me?” Jesse blinks but he doesn’t get a chance to say much else before something else seems to dawn on the man.
“ Wait, what the hell are you even doing down here to begin with Jesse?!” Herobrine reaches up and grips his hair, eyes wide and the panic leaving him talking at a million miles a minute, “My god does your father know?! This palace is a deathtrap for boys like you! You’re gonna give the poor man a heart attack by coming down here!”
“Wh—?! I am more than capable of handling something like the Nether, uncle.” He spits out quickly, his uncle’s sudden panic oozing off of him and raising his own hackles. It sets him on edge as he himself scrambles to piece everything together and clear up the dizzy haze still in his mind from... All of this .
“That doesn’t mean you should just go off gallivanting for danger!”
This emotional rollercoaster Jesse’s been on hits another low as those questions and accusations wind him like punches to the gut. He blinks, mouth hanging open as he attempts to even begin forming his thoughts.
Then something dawns on him.
Maybe it’s the heat of this dimension. Maybe it’s the sheer ridiculousness of what this day has turned into for him. Hell, maybe it’s just the overarching stress of far worse things he’s endured in the past year doubling down on top of this new little investigation, but… Whatever it is—all of it stacked on top of getting those accusations thrown towards him? Like he’s the irresponsible one? Jesse shuts his eyes tight and clenches his jaw as a newfound frustration washes over him, building quickly to say the very least. When his eyes snap open again, they’re sharp and defensive and drill holes into his uncle.
“ I’m ‘gallivanting’?” He starts, a dangerous edge to his voice that stops his uncle’s pacing dead in his tracks. The man frowns, looking at him in utter confusion.
“ What’re you—?”
“What do you think I’m talking about?! Why are you scolding me for this little Nether trip when you’ve been off doing—! Doing what, exactly?” He huffs, “Making a haunted house? Fostering some kinda ghost story for yourself? Causing petty chaos as a supercharged griefer?” His voice cracks in disbelief as he gains speed, jabbing a finger towards his uncle, “We thought you died ! Do you know how much my father ached and hurt to have his brother ripped away from him? We spent years mourning you only for me to now find out that you just ran off and abandoned us! And now you have the gall to lecture me ?!”
“That’s not what happened! It’s different, Jesse.” Herobrine argues and Jesse just scoffs at that, “I— I’ve wished I could tell you both what happened but I just—...” He clenches his fists in frustration at himself. Jesse curtly cuts him off.
“You were a coward?”
“I didn’t want either of you to get hurt.” He drops his arms and just shakes his head, desperately praying that Jesse will understand. But his eyes merely narrow.
“Wh—?! Hurt by what?! I can assure you, your absence hurt us more than anything else would’ve!”
“You don’t— You don’t understand what the pain of such a loss is like. Your father’s already dealt with enough heartache from me and I’m well aware of the weight my new name carries—I have no right to drag that back into his or your lives on top of the grief I’ve already provided.” He sighs and Jesse’s hair stands on end with that bold claim but Herobrine cuts him off once more, “I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s only been a few years so I’m sure it’s just— the wound is still fresh.”
Jesse sputters in disbelief at that, “ ‘A few years’ ?! you can’t be serious!”
His uncle stiffens at that, briefly looking disturbed before returning to that stoic default. Jesse’s own eyes just narrow at that. He’s expecting a response and his uncle, despite his own confusion, slowly tries sputtering something out.
“I—... I-I mean it’s suitable , right? How old are you now, anyways? Thirteen? No that can’t be right… ” He murmurs to himself, rubbing his mouth thoughtfully and leaving Jesse to just blink in utter dumbfoundment. It’s a bizarre enough question that it stuns him into losing some steam. Frankly, he can’t say whether he should be plain confused or offended. Somehow it’s still a mix of both. Regardless, his uncle’s distress only seems to grow as he inspects Jesse from head-to-toe and only finds more questions than answers in the process. In his blank state, Jesse just ends up blurting something out.
“Twenty-six.”
“ What…?”
“I am twenty-six years old.” Jesse repeats, pressing into the words albeit a bit more slowly this time, “Another few months here and I’ll be twenty-seven.”
“ You’re lying.” Herobrine blurts, but his voice cracks—shaking, almost. Something in those words stabs his uncle like a knife and it makes Jesse nervous. The man swallows, vehemently shaking his head, “That’s not right. I— I took care to ensure I didn’t lose track of so much time. It’s impossible.”
“I’m not lying…” Jesse cautiously holds up his hands as he speaks and watches his uncle’s shoulders sink and his face fall in dread. As gently as he can manage, he continues, “It’s… It’s legitimately been 20 years since you disappeared. I was six. Simple math from there.”
“I…” Herobrine loses steam, deflating in dumbfoundment and what seems to be a hint of embarrassment as his cheeks flush. He just stares on, a hollowness sinking into his gaze. Jesse sucks in a breath and continues once more.
“According to what Ivor—a member of the old Order—told me, you’ve been down here for at least 19 years…” He huffs and shrugs a little, “Coming and going? Maybe , but you took this place in a storm 19 years ago.”
“That… No, that can’t be right…” The man argues meekly. Jesse just shrugs in frustration, unsure of what else to even say.
“It’s the truth. I’ve spent most of my life thinking you were dead. And no, the time didn’t make it any easier for us.”
“I—...” Herobrine opens his mouth and tries saying something, struggling to find the words, “Jesse, I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I know you’re angry and especially if— if this is true , and you have every right to be.” He clasps his hands together tightly and shakes his head, desperately trying to get his argument in, “But please don’t ever think that I would just abandon you all.”
“But you did. You could have come back.” Jesse chokes, getting frustrated at how his eyes begin to sting again. He shakes his head, “It doesn’t matter how much time you think has or hasn’t passed—you could’ve come back and we would’ve helped you. But you didn’t.” Jesse blows out a heavy sigh and rubs at his eyes as he takes a step back. His arms drop back to his sides with a clap before he sweeps one out and around them at their surroundings. Their reality.
“ Jesse —”
“And here we are.”
Herobrine grimaces, raising his hands slightly in an attempt to seemingly settle him. Jesse’s stomach ties itself in knots in a mix of guilt and resentment. He just glares at his uncle through narrowed eyes, jaw clenched tight. What next? What’s he going to come up with next, huh?
“There were reasons I couldn’t Jesse.” He gently presses and it’s frustrating but Jesse forces himself to stay quiet. He’s more understanding these days. More patient—or at least he’s damn well trying it be. His mind slows down a little bit as he reminds himself how disoriented his uncle seems to be in terms of time. Plus there’s the new powers, and they surely got to Romeo. But, for the most part, his uncle certainly still has his wits about him and he’s certainly not going to take excuses.
“They better be good.”
“How satisfying they are isn’t up to me anymore, but they’re what I have to explain myself.” He swallows and sucks in a nervous breath, “Look, I’d just… I’d rather explain this to the both of you in one room. There’s so much I want to tell you and your father.” He says and the words dig at Jesse in the perfectly wrong way. Oh, well isn’t that a sweet sentiment? Only one teensy-tiny little problem with that though. Jesse scoffs, letting his emotions get the better of him as he runs his mouth.
“Well I have a lot of shit I’d like to tell my father too but too fucking bad!” He snaps, startling his uncle. His face scrunches up in what he can only assess is a mix of hurt and confusion. That’s all it takes to sap the wind from his sails and leave his face burning in shame. What is he, a temperamental teenager? He’s had far too many high stress experiences in the last year and this certainly isn’t helping whether he wants to admit it or not. He grimaces and bites his lip, dropping his gaze to the floor as he just clenches his fists at his sides.
“You… what…?” Herobrine mumbles, a horrified mysticism lacing his voice. Jesse’s face burns even hotter at the question—way to break the news, genius. Frustrated, Jesse finds a spot on the ground by the wall and sits there. He feels even more foolish doing it, but it’s a small comfort.It doesn’t help that he can acutely feel the eerie weight of his uncle’s gaze on him. He sucks in very deep—albeit somewhat shaky—breath before crossing his arms insecurely.
“I-I’m… I’m sorry for snapping like that. That wasn’t right, no matter how sore a subject or how stupidly frustrated I feel…” He sighs and begins plucking at his gauntlets nervously, “It’s— It’s been an interesting week so far to say the least. Probably should’ve given myself more time to actually process it all before just diving headfirst into this.”
Slowly his uncle begins to nod, “I see…” He murmurs and cautiously makes his way over to a suspicious Jesse. Despite the skeptical look he receives, the man grunts and sits down right beside him, “That’s alright—I certainly understand a thing or two about that…”
“... You do?”
Herobrine snorts at that, “Trust me, out of the two of us here you are not the mess.”
Jesse huffs a little, “Okay… But the more we get caught up the more you’re gonna wonder about that.”
“Then I suppose this family will just have to deal with two handfuls, eh?” Herobrine says with a smirk and lighthearted nudge in the arm and Jesse actually laughs a little at that. Slowly, he begins to nod.
“Power in numbers, right?” He says with a tired smile and his uncle’s brightens just a tad at that.
They fall into silence once more after that though. Jesse’s gaze returns to the ground before them and the smooth blue wood paneling that stops short of the large hole in the wall. A warm breeze rushes in through the area, blowing his hair about and tickling his face—irritating him. At his side he hears Herobrine grunt and the man just harshly blows some hair out of his face. It’s a small thing, but a comforting detail—he’s still him. Underneath it all.
“... I uh… I know there’s still a lot left to talk about but…” Jesse starts quietly and immediately gets his uncle's attention in the process. He just shrugs a little, “I get it, at least on some level… The time thing, I mean…”
“Oh?”
“Yeah… I think that if I were in your place I would’ve lost track of the time, too. No sun or moon to count the hours, clocks not working, everything here is kind of like stand-still. Not as bad as The End at least, but still.” Jesse huffs, “And that’s not even mentioning what those powers do to your perception—I know that they really messed with Romeo’s head.”
He pauses a moment there, his mind drifting back to the End dimension with a grimace. He shuts his eyes tight as he pushes the image of his father having to suffer through that eerie silence out of his mind. He comes back to the moment to find his uncle’s own discomfort—whether it be in reference to the dimension or the powers he can’t say, but he takes note of it.
“I appreciate that.” Herobrine says with a slight nod and Jesse awkwardly returns it. His uncle shifts and blows a sigh out through his nose, “It sounds like we both have a lot to explain.”
Jesse nods, “ Yes. A-And I’d like to keep talking with you about it.” He pauses, eyes flicking around them briefly, “But um… Can we… Talk about this somewhere else…? Maybe somewhere a little less death defying?” He half jokes, looking sheepishly up at his uncle. Herobrine blinks, completely confused for a brief moment before it hits him. He glances back over his own shoulder at the abrupt edge and lava down below then sucks some air in through his teeth.
“ Yeah. Definitely. Let’s…” He steps up and gently ghosts a hand over Jesse’s back. “Let’s go see if we can regroup with your—”
“ No!” Jesse blurts out, startling his uncle once more. He just looks down at him in worry and Jesse reddens a bit, but just shakes his head adamantly, “N-No… I’d—… I want to just talk with you first. There’s a lot to go over and I’d rather just do it in your presence instead of having everyone else’s eyes on me again. I-I trust them but…” He mumbles, desperately trying to explain himself. Eventually he sucks in a breath and nods, “I want to talk with you alone first. Further talk I mean… Less snappy and... Bad ...” He rubs his neck with a weak laugh then glances up at him, “Is that okay…?”
“ Of course!” His uncle responds perhaps a bit too readily. Jesse gets his turn of being startled. They really are quite a pair of disasters. He takes a breath, settling his own nerves. “Of course. Here, I know a nicer place. Have you been through the main courtyard yet?”
Herobrine offers out a hand again as he asks and Jesse pushes out a curt laugh as he’s pulled to his feet. He shakes his head. “Ah, uhh, no. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with both fighting and running from you.”
“Oh yeah.” His uncle responds in a disappointed monotone, making Jesse chuckle albeit still a bit tensely. The two stand there in a stifling silence. Herobrine sucks in a breath and eventually taps Jesse’s arm with a slight nod. “Here, this way. We’d best be on our way.”
“Right, yeah…” Jesse nods and the duo begin walking down the long brick halls. The tension doesn’t dissipate however and Jesse generally keeps his own gaze towards the ground. This is so weird. This is so weird! He picks at and fiddles with his gauntlets out of sheer nervousness, knowing that if he glances over he’s gonna accidentally meet his uncle in the eye. He easily feels his gaze on him. Contrary to Jesse, Herobrine simply can’t help but keep sneaking glances over at his nephew. He’s awestruck. Just awestruck!
He deflates a bit however when Jesse catches him staring. He clears his throat and crosses his arms as he looks away awkwardly—being humorously over the top in covering it up. Jesse laughs quietly under his breath. His uncle smiles a tad but the light hearted moment doesn’t last, and suddenly the air around them is stifling once more. Jesse feels like it’ll kill him if they have to walk all the way to the courtyard in this heavy silence. But as he works up the nerve to break the silence, his uncle once again beats him to the punch.
“Where did you get such armor?”
“Huh?”
Herobrine flicks one of the spikes on Jesse’s pauldrons with a smile, “I’ve never seen armor of this caliber! Well, outside of my own anyways—not to brag.” He brags. Jesse snorts and smiles fondly as he thinks about it.
“Ivor made it. He made a whole line of armor sets for the Order to use back in the day but, due to some— Well a long story, they never really saw much use. When the Witherstorm happened though my friends and I got to take our pick.” Jesse grins and spreads his arms wide to show off his current set, “This one he called ‘ Ender Defender’! It’s probably my favorite out of his original bunch. Though, I’ve picked up a few more since then.”
“It’s impressive! I remember the Witherstorm vaguely outside of some stuff Romeo has mentioned… Went topside once in the midst of it and just saw…” He trails off and shakes his head in disbelief, “ Unfathomable destruction. The armor is a good choice. Though… What were you doing out in the middle of it of all places?”
“Oh! Well uhhh… We were kinda… The ones who defeated it?” He mumbles and Herobrine briefly stops dead in his tracks. Jesse doesn’t notice it at first but then just laughs awkwardly with a shrug as he does. Herobrine shakes his head and jogs back up to his side and clamps his hand down on Jesse’s shoulder, completely bewildered.
“You what?!”
“ Heh, yeah—It’s how the others and I really came together. We were literally inside the concert hall of Endercon trying to stop Ivor before he could summon it. We were too late, unfortunately, but we ended up getting roped into uhh… Fixing it all up! Gabriel entrusted the task of reuniting the Order to me and we did… But they ended up not exactly being up to the task—save for Ivor. We didn’t really feel like we were either but someone had to step up and take charge, so…” He shrugs, offering a sheepish smile as his uncle merely blinks, jaw slightly slack.
“... That answers my next question I suppose, holy shit.” Herobrine mumbles and Jesse bursts out laughing at that. His uncle certainly does not seem as tickled by it as Jesse is but that’s fine. The man crosses his arms, but a slight smirk flickers on his face, “So that’s how you and your little ragtag team there came together. And it certainly made a hell of a leader out of you!”
“Heh! Well, I wouldn’t say that. I’ve still got my work cut out for me. De facto leader at best, I’d say.”
“Humble. Too humble. You can brag to me about how cool you are, Jesse—I won’t mind.” Herobrine snorts and nudges him, making Jesse laugh again, “Seriously though. Certainly wouldn’t have expected my dorky little nephew to end up in such a position.”
“Trust me, I didn’t either.” He smiles in astonishment, just shaking his head, “I honestly can’t even fathom it myself half the time. Definitely didn’t even when it was happening. I get pats on the back for handling it so well but I’m pretty sure the Witherstorm was just me panicking in some form the whole time.” He laughs.
“Sure, sure, but you got it done didn’t you? You reunited the Order, stepped up, built your own team and kept them together and then lived to tell the tale! Whatever you want to call it, I’m inclined to say you must’ve done it well.”
“Heh! Thanks. I don’t think the gravity of it all really sank in until I put on this armor set for the first time—it’s what I wore while fighting that thing. But I just… Man, I remember seeing my reflection and being blown away. Like— Me? The local dork that walked around town in spurs and with my buddy Reuben—a little runt of a pig—trailing me? I couldn’t connect the dots! And then soon enough we were racing off back into the fray…”
“Heh! I can’t say I see much difference.” Herobrine smirks as he reaches out and messes up his hair, making Jesse yelp, “Same thick and messy hair that took forever to brush, even more freckles than I remember, and those bright blue eyes your dad always cooed over. A new scar over one, sure, but I’m sure you’ve got plenty of those scattered about by now.” He says with a voice oozing pride and Jesse grins.
“A whole collection with stories for each one!”
Herobrine just shakes his head with a grin at that, “Mind boggling… I never thought this would be your kind of thing, especially knowing your father.” He laughs a bit, “He always talked about the day you two would go on your first trip together! How excited he was! But despite his ambition, I’m sure he ended up coddling you just a bit , right?” He glances down at his nephew for an answer with a quirked brow. Jesse hesitates but nods.
“Yeah he uhh… He was definitely protective.” Jesse chooses his words carefully, purposefully vague. Herobrine squints just a little at that but, thankfully, decides not to press him on it. Instead, he just steers the conversation back towards Jesse, much to his own relief. He gently bumps Jesse’s shoulder.
“I gotta say… You’ve got some good moves and reflexes, brat.” He says with a warm smile. Jesse smiles rather nervously.
“Thank you! And uhh… Sorry for pulling a bookshelf down on you. And generally ruining your library…” He scratches at his cheek a little, “I uhhh… Heh. I panicked.”
His uncle laughs and shakes his head, “I think I can forgive you. I was impressed with the ingenuity! Say, am I allowed to brag about you to all of my fellow old people friends yet?” He says with a teasing grin and gets another chuckle out of the young man. Jesse waves him off.
“If you have any that haven’t already heard of me, be my guest!”
“ Oooh popular now, huh? I suppose I can allow it. Just don’t get a swollen ego on me now.”
“What? Don’t like the competition? OW!” Jesse quickly rubs the back of his head where his uncle flicked him. He glares up at the man who just snickers and picks up his pace. Jesse smiles to himself and quickly hurries after him. There’s something warming about the little exchange that he can’t help but feel good about.
The rest of the walk is surprisingly short but filled with peaceful and small conversation. Nothing too deep as the two get a feel for sensitive subjects. They turn down one final hall and white eyes gleam with pride at the sight of the two large doors at the end of it. He grins and claps his hands together, hurrying ahead. The man glances back to Jesse once or twice to catch his expression. His uncle’s excitement is infectious and Jesse smiles as he approaches.
These doors are differently built than some of the at least relatively simple pairs he’s seen thus far. Tall and curving at the top, they’re a deep chocolate color with ornate patterns seemingly hand carved into the wood. Jesse squints and steps up, running his fingers over one of the patterns—a bushel of roses weaving their way up from the middle of the door all the way to the top. The flowerheads themselves are big and beautiful, but the thorns in contrast are nothing to laugh at. Running his hand down over the trademark pains of the plant, he wouldn’t be surprised if you could actually be pricked by the carving. There’s even small slivers of gold whittled into the wood, giving the images volume and almost the illusion of the roses sitting in the sun.
His uncle clears his throat and Jesse blinks. He pulls his hand back and smiles sheepishly up at the man. His uncle cocks a brow. Jesse shrugs.
“I-I just really like all of the details of this place! I’m sure Lukas is geeking out over every little detail internally, especially in that library.”
“Lukas is…?” His uncle trails off questioningly.
“The blonde one! Tall. Charming. Bow and arrow. Green goggles.”
“ Charming?” His uncle murmurs curiously. Jesse either doesn’t hear or blatantly ignores him.
“Did you make these doors?” He points to the pair and looks up at him, impressed. Herobrine rubs his neck and laughs nervously, seemingly embarrassed of all things.
“I mean… Yeah, sure did! Though I didn’t expect you to be impressed by some ol’ doors when there’s…” He trails off and vaguely glances around them. Jesse laughs a bit. Well, when putting it that way. He sways on his feet, swinging his arms with a shrug.
“I’ve just gotten used to looking for details! They’re beautiful. And this whole place is just… Spectacular! I can definitely appreciate it more when I’m not being chased.”
“Well, hold your breath until we’re actually outside again Pipsqueak!”
“Now you’re just doing that to mess with me.”
“ We’ve got a quick learner!” Herobrine snickers and grabs hold of the door handles, unlatching and swinging the doors open and revealing the vast courtyard. Jesse’s gotta hand it to him, his uncle had a way of making hell quite beautiful.
The pathways are filled with blackstone bricks—some gilded—and lined with polished quartz. It’s a stark contrast, but one that’s soothing to see. Additionally there is, of course, plenty of dark and crimson netherbricks making up the fencing along the edges. But all that is just a backdrop to the real features of the courtyard—the plantlife and sheer color. Nylium of both the blue and red variety is fitted in alternating little sections with plenty of their respective grasses, little shrooms, and then of course the taller tree-like shrooms. Jesse beams at the sight of their glowing lights which cast the area in a soothing glow. The bizarre shroom trees are a graceful spectacle as always with their red and blue warts hanging down in curtains almost like wisterias. Additionally, crimson and warped vines hang down and squiggle upwards, both flowering with their own alien-like flowers. The ones on the crimson vines always reminded him of fire lilies.
Further back within mirroring planter boxes—flowerbeds?—made of that crimson wood are thick layers of soulsand with netherwarts growing impressively well. Jesse leans over over, examining the bizarre fungi he’s become so familiar with over the years and smiles—Ivor is going to be overjoyed to see this kind of stash. Reaching out into the soulsand, a chill runs up his spine. Certainly the real deal and the only cold thing this dimension seems to have. Though, that’s likely more due to the little resident inhabiting the brown sand. As he pours his handful back into the planter, a wispy blue spirit shoots upwards before fading into the heat’s haze. Jesse smiles at that.
Stepping back, and turning his gaze outwards towards the balcony, he finally takes in what is easily the most impressive feat of the courtyard. Lying in the center of the yard before the balcony is one last raised bed—this one made out of that beautifully stripped blue wood—and it’s far more massive than the others. The reason? It is housing a massive tree. But not just any tree, oh no, not one of the Nether variety. Quickly approaching the massive thing, Jesse’s utterly startled to find not only real dirt but grass lining the inside of it. Sure, it’s a bit dry but it is miraculously still alive. He takes a strand in between his fingers and rubs it, the little thing astonishingly rubbery still. It’s well taken care of.
But there’s still more because speckled throughout the little grassy inlet are flowers of all kinds and blooming proudly. Simple ones like cornflowers, daisies, lilacs and alliums are scattered, and then there are some more rare and bizarre ones scattered. Things like blue orchids, droopy lilies of the valley, and hell even torchflowers call the place home. Where his uncle managed to get some of these is far beyond him, but while keeping these alive is certainly a feat, it’s incomparable to what towers above them all.
Gently floating down from the branches overhead, a soft pink petal makes itself a home on the chainmail of Jesse’s armor. He beams, taking a step back to take in the whole view of the towering cherry tree. Bright pink blossoms cover the mature tree’s branches, creating a canopy that completely obscures the typical sights of the Nether. All around him, both in the raised bed and out onto the bricks, are more of those bright pink petals. As for the tree itself? The trunk is thick, deep in color, and certainly healthy. Small lanterns emanating warm yellow light are strung up to its branches, illuminating the area. He can hardly begin to wrap his head around it. Leaning into the raised bed once more, he scoops up one of the fallen cherry blossoms into the palm of his hand. Despite the scorching heat, the little thing manages to be as full and bright as ever. An enchanted smile graces his features as he keeps the little blossom in hand. This little plot feels like a small snapshot of home, and it’s utterly serene.
His uncle comes up behind him, ghosting his hand over Jesse’s shoulder as not to startle him with the silent approach. Jesse looks at him with questioning awe, unable to even sputter a word out. His uncle laughs a bit sheepishly and shrugs.
“I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. Needed a hobby to fill the space between it all. I was already popping back and forth between here and the overworld enough that I figured I oughta find something to make those trips productive. Probably got some bizarre rumors circulating ‘cuz of it though…” He mumbles thoughtfully and Jesse just snorts, shaking his head.
“I just—! This is crazy! A-And it’s so nicely fit into this area. What was even filling this space beforehand?”
“Even I don’t quite have an answer to that! It was some bizarre looking stature just in the center of this sorta netherbrick plaza. It was neat, sure, but god it felt dystopian. I’m not gonna wake up and look out at some jagged pieces of metal hastily welded together when I know I could do somethin’ else. Maybe I just didn’t get it ‘cuz I’m not some artist. I dunno.” He rolls his eyes and Jesse laughs.
“How’d you pull it off? I-I just can’t fathom it.”
“Oh that’s the easy part!” Herobrine says, flicking his hand dismissively, “I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve that’ve come through. That little farm your dad wanted for so long would’ve been nothin’ without my expertise.” He grins a little at that and Jesse snorts, a bittersweet smile gracing his features.
“Well, this certainly livens the place up more than some old metal statue.”
“ I’ll say. Sure, it had the potential to maybe creep the occasional person out, but they’d see it once. I’d have to see it each and every day.” He huffs and shakes his head, “Personally? I don’t want to look at something so bleak every day of however long my life is now.” He shrugs and sits down on the wooden outcropping of the raised bed.
The comment drags Jesse back to the present, his heart sinking as he remembers the conversation they need to have. He slowly sits down across from him. He thinks a moment then tucks a leg beneath him and clasps his hands in his lap. His uncle blows out a sigh through his nose then looks up at the tree they’ve sat down by.
“We used to have an old wisteria out by the house—when your father and I were kids I mean… I remember spending dozens of days just goofing off in the summer sun with him underneath it.” He smiles a bit, “We’d fantasize about all sorts of crazy plans and adventures we were gonna have. We even sorted them! There were the adventures we wanted to take our friends on and the ones where it’d be just us two… There ended up being a lot more for just us than we thought!” He laughs, “Only a few kids our age were interested in risking their lives for some broken chainmail at best…” He grins and Jesse quietly chuckles, a somber look in his eyes. He doesn’t meet his uncle’s gaze and looks down to his hands. Herobrine stiffens a bit in turn as he eyes him. Gently placing the little blossom back in the raised bed, Jesse urges the conversation along.
“We need to talk… .” Jesse mumbles and looks up at Herobrine, eyes pained but stern. His uncle holds his gaze, not letting his features slip and give away the uneasiness he feels. He takes a breath but nods.
“I know I have a lot to explain and make up for. Trust me I’ve… I’ve dwelled on it more than once.” He sighs, clasping his hands together tightly. Jesse opens his mouth to say something but Herobrine holds up a hand, “Wait, just—... Hear me out on this first?”
Jesse shuts his mouth and firmly studies the man before him. He doesn’t want him to waste any extra breath or pain on something that ends up being completely shot from… The nature of things, but at the same time…
“Okay. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.” Herobrine nods in thanks and continues, tone much more somber now compared to just mere minutes ago, “I just wanted to say that— That there’s multiple reasons I didn’t feel able to come back. More complicated ones I’ll get to in a bit but most of all was just…” He hesitates, a deep frown setting lines in his face, “I know your father well. If I came back and he saw me like this…?” He waves over himself and gives a sluggish half shrug.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what he’d say…”
“Exactly. He’s a damn stubborn man, Jesse. Knowing him, he would’ve made up some stupid excuse about it being his fault and would’ve tried working himself to the bone to fix it.” He sighs and shakes his head in frustration at the whole situation. Jesse squints a little in confusion at that. His fault? How? Before he can ask though Hiro continues with a punch to the gut, “I… You were still so young, I didn’t want to accidentally take him away from you…”
“I… I see.” Jesse manages to mutter out before he drags his gaze back to the ground. Anywhere but his uncle’s eyes. He sucks in a far shakier breath than intended, clasping his own hands tight as he does, “I guess I didn’t phrase it best earlier. We… We need to talk about dad.”
Herobrine eyes him worriedly at that—Jesse can just feel it. His brows scrunch up in concern at the hollow look his nephew bears as he stares intensely at the space between them. He leans a bit forward in questioning but doesn’t have to say anything for Jesse to catch on.
“You won’t be able to talk to him.” Jesse cuts to the chase, hastily spitting it out as he raises his gaze once more. His uncle blinks, processing first being cut off and second being cut off by that. Jesse tenses up at the sight but does his best to settle his nerves in spite of it. He sighs and shakes his head slowly, voice softer, “Dad’s… Dad’s gone, Hiro… He’s been gone for years now. I’m sorry…” He trails off in a mumble, shaking his head and crossing his arms.
There’s a long beat of silence as that stoic look washes over his uncle. Jesse’s throat runs dry and for once it’s not the suffocating heat of the dimension doing it. He blankly repeats Jesse’s words.
“ Gone. Gone as in away from home? Away from you?” Herobrine nods at Jesse for any kind of confirmation, scrambling for any alternative. Jesse solemnly shakes his head, quickly shutting him down.
“Gone as in dead.” He says it with more force than he anticipated, making himself wince. Feeling those words slide off of his tongue… He already feels his stomach start up with the acrobatics routine. He sighs and slouches, some of the tension in him dissipating. He hadn’t realized how tightly his hands were clasped until letting go and feeling that odd rush of sensation returning.
His uncle meanwhile sits back, mouth slightly agape as his words settle in. He had his suspicions of course but… It’s still different to hear them confirmed. He has nothing to say, not that it’d matter. He’s so far from being able to form anything even somewhat coherent. Gone. No, not just gone, dead. No returning. No take backs. No way to ever truly apologize. Nothing to patch up if there’s no one to patch things up with. He squints, his own eyes burning a bit now.
Jesse catches on to his uncle’s internal struggle. He figures at this point saying anything more would either just rub salt in the wound or wrap him up into a tighter sense of denial. So instead, Jesse cautiously scoots a bit closer and kindly draws his uncle into another hug. The man shudders but doesn’t necessarily cry, just sits there in shock. Jesse tries keeping a hold on himself for his uncle’s sake. Herobrine hesitates a moment but then tightens the grip on his nephew as the realization dawns on him. It’s just them now. Just these two troublemakers. It takes a long moment for him to gather himself enough to ask one of the questions he fears the answer to.
“How… How long ago did…?”
“I was ten.”
Hearing this, his uncle pulls back in shock. He figured it may not have been incredibly recent but that long ago? Guilt begins welling up in those white eyes once more as he leans forward, cupping Jesse’s face in his hands. He looks at Jesse, worried but stern.
“ Ten…?” He repeats, praying that his ears may have fooled him. Jesse shrugs with a half hearted smile and nods.
“Double-digits...! Yeah…”
“And now you’re…”
“Twenty-six.”
“Shit…” Herobrine’s hands slowly fall away from Jesse’s face but he’s unable to break his gaze. How does he respond? Is there anything he even could do to remotely begin to apologize? How do you fill a 16 year void? His shock is quickly replaced with regret as his face scrunches up in guilt. He speaks gently, his voice barely more than a loud whisper—a volume rare for the man.
“ Jesse… I am so, so, sorry… H-Had I known—Had I checked—… I would’ve been there for you, or at least I would’ve actually tried. ” He goes to continue but Jesse can hear the words getting caught in his throat. Eventually he just shakes his head in defeat.
Jesse isn’t quite sure how best to respond or reassure him, so instead just opts for a comforting hand on his shoulder. Herobrine lets out a pathetic chuckle at the gesture and shakes his head. He rubs his eyes with the palms of his hands then looks up again.
“How did he…?”
Jesse hesitates briefly then lets out an awkward and slightly frustrated sigh before shaking his head.
“If I knew then I’d tell you. But um… No, I don’t know. That’s part of the reason I’m here.” He sits back, “We’re trying to figure the whole thing out. It’s kind of a mystery at the moment.”
He squints, “ Mystery?”
“Yeah...” Jesse nods then sucks in a breath and sits up straight as he starts explaining. “I never found his body, nor did anyone else. Only signs of a struggle and him seemingly vanishing into thin air right by the mouth of the cave.”
“ Vanishing?”
“Mhm! There were only a few things left behind like some records he made—creepy as hell by the way, but important clues—all the blown out torches, the footsteps from when he was running, and a few remnants of his pocketwatch. The actual watch was missing—he might have grabbed it at the last second—but I found one of the little clock hands and all the glass that protected it.” He pauses for a moment, clenching his fists slightly as he thinks, “I-I’m sure there was probably more left behind but I didn’t go very deep into the cave… Too scared and I already ran into enough trouble.”
“What was he doing away from home in the first place? That doesn’t seem like him.”
“It was. After you disappeared, well… He still had to visit mineshafts and stuff to keep our tools and supplies up. As I got older he took more little mining trips. It— It wasn’t that bad! I-I mean yeah it got a little lonely and a bit foreboding whenever he was late given what happened…” he trails off as he glances at his uncle who in turn grimaces. Jesse continues with a shrug, “It was just… It was supposed to be just another one of those things… I had Ziggy with me, I knew how to care for myself so it was fine...!”
“Until he didn’t come home.”
Jesse remains silent, barely managing a nod.
“How late was he?”
“He said he’d be home on the third day. When he wasn't home by the fifth I went searching for myself.” Jesse begins picking at his gauntlets again. New nervous habit? Probably. Lukas would probably start scolding him for it. Herobrine rubs his brow, slowly shaking his head. Steven, Steven, Steven. He’s not angry, just frustrated. Then he pauses, brows scrunching up.
“Wait. Why did he think a mining trip would take 3 days? I mean, I get one or two if he was going to stockpile a bunch of supplies but you two weren’t in need of diamonds, gold, or even redstone, hardly.” He squints as Jesse hesitates and rubs his neck. “ Jesse, what did my idiot brother get himself into…”
“Um… Okay, so it’s not as bad as it sounds!”
“That is not reassuring.”
“ Right.” Jesse sucks in a breath and nods with a half hearted shrug, “He wasn’t necessarily there to mine but rather to just light the place up. It was a big cave system he found with a lot of potential and—“
“Jesse, I know my brother, so what was in that cave?” Herobrine pushes, making Jesse sigh. He doesn’t like the insinuation that his father went looking for trouble.
“... A stronghold.” He mumbles, his uncle’s eyes instinctively narrowing and the man tensing up. Same as when Jesse mentioned the End prior. Jesse continues. “He found a stronghold. Wasn’t even too far from home—about an hour’s walk. But— But all he was doing there was lighting the place up for safety’s sake, I know it!” He urges and meets his uncle’s scrutinizing gaze with desperate eyes, “He promised. He wasn’t looking for trouble… He— He wouldn’t have taken that risk! All he left with was a pickaxe, simple sword, and then his bag of stuff and a jacket. Casual job. In and out.”
“Except he never made it out…” Herobrine rubs his beard, a newfound frustration washing over him as he scowls. It’s a mean look and leaves Jesse feeling nervous. Herobrine hisses and pushes himself to his feet once more as he begins to pace.
“Uncle Hiro—?”
“ What the hell was he thinking?” He holds his head in his hands briefly as he begins ranting, “God he knows how dangerous those things are! The last time he was in one of those damn things he—! We hardly—!” He shakes his head vehemently, “Idiot! He should have never tried going back! That stubborn eye-for-an-eye bastard!” He kicks the ground, some glittery gold dust from the golden bricks flying. Herobrine stands there, huffing in silence with his hands on his hips. Jesse blinks, unsettled and unsure of where this outburst came from.
“Uncle Hiro…?”
“It’s my fault Jesse.” He swings around, dropping his hands to his sides and taking his nephew aback.
“ Wh—... What do you—?”
“I-If I had just … !” He gets to pacing again, “If I had just come back and told him— showed him—that I was alive! Then… God, then he wouldn’t have even been seeking out those stupid death traps!”
“How is my dad finding a stronghold your fault?”
“Because it’s just how your father was!” He spins around on his heel to face his nephew. At the look of Jesse’s utter dumbfoundment he just rolls his eyes and clenches his hands in frustration. He runs a hand through his hair, dropping his other to hit against his side. “Your father and I always differed when it came to handling loss of any kind. I-I could always just deal with it, make peace with it, but not your father. No. He always needed gratification and he would hold grudges Jesse…”
Jesse’s face scrunches up in confusion. He’s never heard nor thought of his father to be the type—only through the eyes of a boy who adored him. It’s a thought that disturbs him and makes him feel sick on some level. Herobrine seems to note this and holds his hands up, switching tones to try and ease up.
“Your father was a good man, Jesse. I… Please don’t get me wrong. But he had some undesirable traits just like the rest of us, and like the rest of us, those traits got exasperated when under distress …” He finds his way back over and sits again, some hair falling into his face.
“Okay…” Jesse blinks, “Now what does that have to do with you?”
“I…” His uncle hesitates, trying to speak but losing his words. He eventually just sighs and shakes his head, “Look… It means whether I came back or not your father was going to seek out something dangerous to substitute as a solution… To make up for this.” He waves a hand over himself. “He would always beat himself up over something going wrong. He was the planner after all. So, when things didn’t work out—even if it was my fault—he would push himself to the bone to fix it…”
“He thought you were gone… So he wanted to settle the score. Make up for what he felt was his own failure...”
“It was 100% my fault too. I was brash, cocky, stupid—! My actions nearly got the both of us killed back then Jesse… And maybe—… Maybe if I had just come back I could’ve helped stop him. Convince him against going out and doing something brash.” He rubs his forehead. “I don’t think he was intending on leaving you so soon, but the idiot shouldn’t have even been exploring that stronghold while you still needed him. He was supposed to be the smart one for God’s sake… But Classic Steve—always too curious for his own good.” He huffs derisively, “Of course that’d be the thing that killed him in the end. Of course …” He rambles, trailing off and leaving Jesse feeling hollow.
“I’m still missing something. How does the stronghold fall into this?”
“You… You’re joking right?” Herobrine looks at him incredulously. He laughs weakly and Jesse just stares at him in blank confusion. Herobrine frowns as if trying to piece something together and it certainly leaves Jesse feeling self-conscious.
“No, dad never talked about strongholds before the one he found.” Jesse begins getting anxious himself, what is he overlooking? Herobrine is seemingly winded, blowing out a breath and shaking his head. He furrows his brows.
“You weren’t wrong for thinking I died , Jesse.”
That grabs Jesse’s attention and the young man leans forward with a rekindled curiosity. His uncle huffs a bit in amusement, a smile pulling at the edges of his lips. He scratches the back of his head and shrugs, laughing awkwardly as Jesse blinks, mouth slightly agape.
“ Yeah … I know that’s a weird thing to think about. Your uncle got reanimated! Featuring less rotting flesh and more freaky powers…!” He loses his high spirit quickly though, getting a saddened look in his eyes as he asks, “What did your father even tell you about my death?”
Jesse just shakes his head, “That there was an accident and you wouldn’t be coming back… But nothing else. I think it hurt too much to talk about and didn’t want to scare me with the details.”
“Right, you were still young… Sorry, sorry I just… No, that definitely explains it.” Herobrine mumbles, tossing aside a small rock he’d plucked out of the dirt and grass idly. “I didn’t die in an accident. It was my own stupidity that got me killed.” He glances up at Jesse, who can’t help but lean forward in morbid curiosity. Herobrine presses his hands into his legs, not liking to think about it. “We were exploring a stronghold Jesse… And… And I barged right through the portal.”
“You died in the End…” Jesse’s voice is soft, his eyes wide at the prospect. He immediately looks down, his mind suddenly ablaze. How ironic for the End to be the resting place for both of these twins. Talk about weird coincidences. His uncle frowns at Jesse’s silence, misinterpreting it and ending up rambling.
”God I just… I just wish now that I wasn’t the one with the second chance at life. I mean it’s not like I’ve done anything useful with my time here anyways.” Herobrine grumbles, glancing around him in disgust with himself it seems.
Jesse leans down to catch uncle’s gaze again, concern welling up in his eyes. “Uncle Hiro, what happened to you and dad?”
Herobrine sighs, smiling sadly but keeping his typical snarky attitude about him. “Well… Simply putting it, our plans were ruined by my very serious case of ‘ dumb bitch disease’.”
Chapter 11: "The End"
Summary:
Flashback time to Hiro and Steve's last adventure together
Notes:
I am sorry
I am so so sorry
Nearly,,,, 15,000 words,,,,, for one chapter,,,, and it's THIS,,,,,
I am so sorry but have fun and remember that this is a retelling and happened in the past. This has been a PSAEDIT 8/18/21: didnt have to edit much. I am in. such immense pain oh my god. shoutout to this chapter bro im so sorry 💀
EDIT 6/8/23: Actually edited a fair bit this time! 😭👍Added some new small bits of conversations and updated their armor styles a bit <3 shoutout to the 1.20 trailer 🫵 also fixed a few POV jumping issues towards the beginning, however I honestly ended up leaving some more during the ending bits. They don't detract as much in the midst of all the chaos mefinks, my opinion of that may change later but for now, yuh <3. ALSO STILL OW. STILL VERY MUCH OW WITH THIS ONE. THESE POOR BROTHERS 😭
Chapter Text
“We’re lost.”
“We are not lost!” Steve argues, pulling his nose out of their map just long enough to face his brother. Identical blue eyes roll before Hiro smirks, sword slung lazily over his shoulders.
“Alright then poindexter, where are we exactly?”
“... Don’t worry about it!” Steve shrugs with a sly grin and folds up the map, brushing shoulders with his brother as he passes by. Hiro clicks his tongue, spinning on his heel to follow after his brother.
“You see, this is why I’m worried .”
“Oh relax. Keep up that attitude and you’ll be just as bad as Jesse...!” He jokes back to his brother but Hiro catches the tension that slips through his words. He picks up his pace with a skip in his step, slinging an arm around his twin with a reassuring grin.
“Hey the kid’s fine. Alex’s the best person we coulda grabbed to keep an eye on the little snot-nose!” He kids and his brother snorts in amusement, “She can handle lookin’ after him for another day. Sides, she’s got a little sister right? Brash lil girl? They’ll tire out in no time! Easy job!”
“I suppose you have a point.”
“I do! Which is why you,” Hiro hurries ahead and spins around, walking backwards to keep eye contact with his brother, “—just need to chill. It’s a good ol’ fashioned adventure like when we were kids! Enjoy it! Get back to your roots a bit!” He grins and hangs back to jab Steve in the side. His brother laughs and nods.
“Alright, alright, I’ll try not to worry. Though frankly at this point I’m pretty sure looking after Jesse is easier than looking after you.” He grins and Hiro pauses in his stride to squint at him.
“Okay well now you’re just being mean.” The man mumbles before continuing on in the cave, his brother’s warm laughter echoing throughout the cramped tunnel system.
Despite the time that’s passed since the last time these two got to run amok in a cave, stepping back inside has them falling back into pace like returning home after a long day. The musty smell, chilly yet humid air, and general blinding darkness are all just the same as they remembered. Such things would leave most men turning up their noses and hiking up the other way, but never these two. Both pairs of eyes sparkle with awe and anticipation with each turn, bend, and step.
The cave system they’ve found themselves in today is expansive and spindly with a new crossroads every few meters. The tunnels vary greatly in size and material, the walls always shifting between pure smooth stone that arches high above their heads and rugged tight spaces with everchanging veins of minerals and rock. That’s not even mentioning the actual ore—the end goal for a majority of those who do find themselves braving such treacherous trenches. But they pass it by with only mere glances as the exposed pieces shimmer in the torchlight alongside the armor the pair totes as they creep deeper and deeper.
Behind him, Steve’s brother lets out a sound that’s something akin to a scoff. Brow raised, he glances back at Hiro and catches him glaring—though, frankly it’s more of a pout—at his armor. On the surface it’d seem odd considering his brother’s own set. Hiro’s adorned with a twinkling blue diamond helmet and chestpiece, and then his iron leggings are trimmed with more of the material—remainder of what he’d managed to get his hands on at the time. It certainly announces his presence.
Then there’s his own armor. On a glance it may not seem like much—it’s certainly not showstopping like Hiro’s set. An iron helmet and chest piece with some black leggings and boots, both neatly trimmed with some additional iron and the helmet trimmed with that same black. It’d be easy to gloss over him if you didn’t know any better, but for those who do? Oh, it’s worth the double-take. And Hiro certainly knows. He stops walking suddenly and just stares back at him with a smug smirk and hand on his hip.
“ Jealous?”
“ Wh—?!” Hiro’s eyes widen as he’s caught staring and immediately shifts his gaze away and scoffs, “ No! I just—! Just—...!” He trails off, losing some steam. Steve chuckles and earns a glare for it.
“Anyone tell you just how magnificent a liar you are?”
“Okay, fuck you.” Hiro grumbles and shoves him forward a little, making Steve laugh again. His brother doesn’t let up on his pout though, “I just don’t understand where you went and got netherite from! Of all things!”
“Oh well that’s the simple part!” Steve hums and shows off his sleek black boots in the torchlight, “What do you think I was doing while you were off breaking sword after sword in some vain attempt at getting a wither skull?”
Hiro balks, “ That’s what you were off doing?! And you didn’t tell me?!”
Steve snorts at that, “You say that like you wouldn’t have gotten bored within minutes, Hiro.”
“ Tch. Do not play the patient saint— That’s why you hauled all that TNT with us, isn’t it? And you call me reckless!” Hiro huffs with a shrug as he pushes past him. Steve actually feels his face heat up in embarrassment at that. He didn’t expect Hiro to see through him that easily. Frankly he just hopes Jesse’s not quite as intuitive yet. He hurries ahead once more, the pair still poking and prodding at each other wherever they can as they fall back into step.
Steve’s always found himself as the more responsible of the two, but he’d be utterly lying if he didn’t feel that instinctive pull towards places such as where they’re heading. Exploring is in his blood just as much as it’s in Hiro’s, and the rush of adrenaline at the precipice of a new adventure still captivates him. Perhaps this excursion is starting to overstay its welcome—he has a son to return to now, after all—but one more day with his brother wouldn’t kill them. Besides, Hiro’s just as—if not more —elated to be here. It’s always been this way, and perhaps they enabled each other here and there, but as long as Hiro was at his back Steve just couldn’t find room to worry. He never even had to ask if Hiro felt the same—they’re a team. Together through thick and thin.
That said, he can’t help but worry at the back of his mind. Adventuring is in their blood. In their father’s blood. It only felt natural. Just how much will his son want to follow in his footsteps? Finally, Steve understands just the type of worry he and Hiro put the poor man through. The mere thought of Jesse one day rushing into places like these leaves his palms sweaty. With that thought in mind, he readjusts the torch in his hand and grounds himself once more.
—
“Duck.” Steve says casually as he dips his head.
“Huh?” Hiro looks ahead at him in confusion as he keeps walking, soon yelping and beginning to frantically swipe at his face. “ EW! PEUGH! Gross!”
Steve momentarily stops and looks back as his brother fights with the cobweb now stuck on him. He laughs gently only to receive a piercing glare from Hiro. Throwing the last bit of web off of his face and head, Hiro shudders and dusts the rest off of his armor. Steve waves the torch in his hand.
“I mean, I warned you.”
“Yeah well maybe I would’ve caught it if you actually said ‘cobweb’ instead.”
“Maybe. Buuuut I’m pretty sure you would’ve still had your head in the clouds no matter what I said.” He snickers and his brother lets out a strained laugh then shrugs.
“I mean, yeah, okay, but do you blame me? I love this system! It’s so vast! And with tons of stuff packed in! We ought to just come down here for a mining excursion someday.”
“You say that about every cave system.” His brother smiles fondly, Hiro grinning back and leaning on his brother’s shoulders.
“Yeah, but this time I mean it! I just think they’re neat!”
“Just wait until we actually get where we’re going! You, my mischievous little brother, are gonna be bouncing off the walls!” The torchlight dances across his face, the dramatic orange lighting highlighting his own mischievous grin. Hiro stares at him blankly.
“Steve, we're the same age.”
“Not by a few minutes! It counts!” He laughs and turns around, excitedly picking up his pace. They‘re both like big children, Steve especially when he has something good. He just can’t keep his excitement in check no matter how hard he tries. Hiro knows what kinda sign that is too—the sign of something damn good dead ahead. With a grin, Hiro hurries on to catch up with his brother once more.
Jogging up behind him, Hiro spies his brother peeking through a thin crevice in the wall—just big enough to get through. He quickly taps twice on Steve’s shoulder to let him know he was there, what he always does. His brother grins up at him, pulling his torch out of the crevice and shoving it into Hiro’s hands. He readjusts the strap on his satchel, fixing it so he can squeeze through easier. As he starts shuffling through, he nods to his brother excitedly. ‘This way!’
Hiro tosses the torch between his two hands, deciding which grip he likes better and eventually settling for his left. He grins and quickly hurries in after his brother. The small crack in the wall is a lot longer than he anticipated, taking a good minute or two to push through. Hiro unconsciously holds his breath as he shuffles through, carefully weaving his body through the jagged rocks. In the distance, light emanates from the exit. It’s a familiar warm glow that makes his stomach flip in anticipation. He hurries out of the claustrophobic little crevice, exhaling loudly and probably a little more dramatically than he needs to as he gets into the open.
However, he’s immediately caught by his brother’s hand pressing back on his chest. He blinks, surprised to feel the support. His gaze flicks quickly to his left at the familiar face in confusion. His brother meets his gaze with an infectious grin, but that doesn’t answer the questions spinning in Hiro’s mind. Thinking about it now though, Steve did disappear from the tunnel for a few minutes. As the realization strikes him, Steve uses his free hand to guide Hiro’s gaze over the edge of what he now realizes is a rather thin ledge they’re perched upon.
It only takes that little glance to make his stomach churn in an exciting mix of anticipation and fear. A ravine. A tall one, too. But he can make out the dramatic detail clearly as the reddish-orange glow of popping lava sitting at the bottom bathes everything around them. Obsidian glimmers along the ravine floor with small streaks of lava cracking it here and there, but the shimmering water billowing down from a crack in the sleek stone walls gives them the solid footing they’ll need. Turning his gaze upward, the ceiling of the ravine is practically impossible to see even at their height. Bathed in a familiar darkness, it’s beautiful. Granted, in its own ominous and dreadful way. Regardless though, it’s entrancing to the twins.
The squeaking of a bat makes a warm chuckle bubble up in his chest as the silly little thing starts flitting around aimlessly, likely stirred by their shuffling and noise. A few others join it soon after and Hiro just watches as they dart off deeper into the ravine before finally turning a bend out of sight. Done with sight-seeing for the moment, Hiro looks back to his brother who simply nods. He passes him his torch back and with that, Steve nods and turns around to take the lead once more. He waves the torch in small leftward circles, a signal to creep that way and stick close to the wall. Hiro immediately pulls back and mirrors his brother’s movement, ghosting his hand over the stone wall as they shuffle along.
Hiro glances downward again, making sure they could at least get through relatively safely. Spying a few monsters hanging back in the darkness he smirks in amusement, stifling a chuckle. Steve looks back at him questioningly and his brother just nods downwards to the monsters.
“I think we know someone who’d like a closer look at those beasties.”
His brother laughs heartily and grins, “Oh, of course! And only to get killed in the process!”
The two laugh warmly, the sound echoing off the walls of the large ravine. This is nice. He’s enjoyed getting to be out like this with Steve again—the classic duo! Sure, they’ve had plenty of times being complete and utter thorns in each other’s sides and throwing each other into the first, but they always come back around for each other when it matters most. There’s always someone to fall back on and talk to.
A sudden jolt and rumbling throws Hiro violently out of his thoughts.
“What the—?!”
“It’s a tremor! Get back against the wall!” He hears his brother yell over the sudden thunderous rumble and cracking that echoes through the system.
Hiro feels himself shoved back up against the wall and he quickly reaches out to hold his brother the same way. This isn’t the first time they’ve run into quakes while underground, but that doesn’t make it any less nerve wracking. Hiro sucks in his breath as a large chunk of rock falls from above, narrowly missing the pair by a foot as it crashes into the ground below and shatters. Hiro winces at the mixture of hissing and bones cracking coming from below. Well… At least the thing took care of their monster problem for them.
After a few seconds the tremor stops and the calm silence fills the cavern once more. The pair let out a sigh of relief in sync, sharing shaky grins before turning and moving on. A few loose rocks bounce down yet as the cavern settles, but the earth seems to have settled. He just hopes it’ll stay that way—anything else would be a real problem.
Reaching the end of their ledge, Steve crouches and waves the torch down a bit to see if there’s an easy way down. He scowls as he thinks quietly and Hiro takes the opportunity to peer over his shoulder. Knowing Steve, he’s probably making this far more complicated than it has to be. And with what he sees? He’s doing just that. He taps his shoulder twice then points.
“Let’s just use these rocks as makeshift stairs down, we shouldn’t lollygag if this place is gonna be frisky with us.”
“And getting back up?”
“It’ll be just like rockclimbing! Come on! Where’s your sense of adventure?” Hiro grins and squeezes past him, easily hopping down to the first “stair.” He hears his brother gasp a bit then looks up to his tired face with a laugh. Steve holds a hand over his heart and grins sheepishly.
“You can’t just do things like that!”
“Ah come on! I gotta keep you on your toes somehow Mr. Family-Man!” Hiro shrugs and continues hopping down to the bottom of the ravine. Steve rolls his eyes and follows after. Dropping to the bottom level with him, Steve squints, taking in their surroundings.
“Well?”
“Gimme a second here…” He shoves the torch into Hiro’s hands then begins digging through his bag.
“Hey, no offense? But you’re really bad at reading cave maps so I don’t think that’s gonna help us here.”
Steve continues sifting through his bag as he speaks, “One. Fuck you. Two, I’ve got something better than a map!” He beams, snatching the small sphere out of his bag and tossing it playfully. Hiro blinks then squints at it, raising the torch up to examine what on Earth his brother has up his sleeve.
On its own, it has a soft ethereal glow. The outer layer looks like glass, seemingly pretty thick too. With the way his brother grips it, it’s not incredibly light either. The outer rim of it is a dark turquoise, shifting to a faded lime green in the center. There’s small speckles of gold and violet throughout, but the most blood-chilling aspect of it is the intense slit pupil staring right back at Hiro. He moves his head a bit each way, only to have the eye follow him, never breaking its gaze. He looks up to Steve in a mix of awe and dread. His brother just grins, eyes practically sparkling.
“Check it!” He winks and steps back a bit, gripping the eye tightly. He sucks in a breath and winds up before flinging it high into the darkness straight above them at the top of the ravine. Hiro watches suspiciously, not really knowing what to expect aside from it just falling and shattering. Then it stalls in the sky. He notes his brother’s fascination and excitement in watching it and Hiro briefly questions what they’ve just gotten into as his stomach tightens.
Far above them, the eye slowly begins rotating in place, spinning faster and faster. He doesn’t know what to make of it. Purple sparks suddenly shoot out of it though, like it’s reacting to something, but rather than dropping back down to them the eye zips through the ravine like a bee. It moves startlingly fast, making Hiro stumble back a pace. But, upon reaching another cave mouth, it freezes and skyrockets back upwards. For a brief moment the ravine is filled with a nearly blinding purple light and particles raining down. Hiro shields his eyes slightly, but remains enamoured by the bizarre temporary beacon. But as soon as it comes, it goes. Stalling completely, the little orb reverts back to normal and simply drops to the ground in the darkness ahead. Sure enough, they even hear the sound of the glass surface bouncing on the distant stone.
Hiro stands there, mouth agape as his brother pumps a fist in the air in excitement.
“ Isn’t that incredible?!” Steve beams and reaches out to snatch Hiro by the hand, “Come on! We gotta go this way!” He tugs on his flabbergasted brother who just stalls in place, his hand slipping out of Steve’s as the man darts ahead. The sound of his boots splashing through a small stream of water ahead snaps Hiro out of his daze. He shakes his head and stumbles into action, not wanting to lose his brother.
“ Steve. Steven. What was that. What the hell are we doing.”
“Oh come on! Where’s your sense of adventure?” Steve snickers, hopping across a patch of lava with practiced ease. Hiro groans at his brother’s hypocritical nature but decides not to argue too much. At least he’s having fun again, that’s all he really wanted to see. This is the side of his brother that he always looked up to—the wide-eyed and curious explorer, willing to do anything to find the next big and new treasure with the skills and perseverance to pull it off. He laughs a bit to himself. God have mercy if Jesse ends up anything like his father.
Scooping up the eye, Steve blows the dust off of it and stuffs it back into his bag. Hiro catches up to him, head still reeling from what the hell he just saw. Despite it, the first thing Steve does is take the torch back from him—utterly clueless. Whatever they’re getting into, he’s damn excited about it if the way he marches ahead into the next cave tells Hiro anything. He just huffs out a bit of a laugh and shakes his head, a cockeyed smile slipping across his face as he follows after him.
—
The cave is far darker than the others, the sounds of lava and water quickly giving way to the silence of the cave before them. The lower they venture into the earth, the more the cave’s natural ambiance seems to weigh on them. Hell, even the sounds of their footsteps feel as loud as explosions comparatively. But despite that, it isn’t until he hears the unsheathing of Hiro’s sword that he remembers they’re actually going through dangerous territory.
He stalls in his steps briefly, causing Hiro to bump into him with a quiet ‘ oof.’ His brother eyes him warily and Steve just shoves out a sheepish laugh and shrug. That seems good enough for Hiro, leaving the man rolling his eyes but smiling all the while. It also seems to break the floodgates of conversation.
“So, tell me, what was that thing? I haven’t seen them before.”
“An Eye of Ender! I read about them in one of the old books we found in the taiga mineshaft a few years back.”
“Eye of Ender…” Hiro mumbles suspiciously, “Like… Endermen ?”
“ Uhhh… ”
“Steve, you know I hate those things!”
“Now hang on!” Steve argues, a hand held out to his brother who glares at him in turn, “Look, I know it sounds bad but we’re not going into some weird Endermen nest, I promise! Eyes of Ender just lead to strongholds! Man-made and straightforward.”
“ Strongholds?” Hiro scoffs, “I thought those were just myths?”
“Rare, yes, but far from myths!” Steve glances back at Hiro with a smile. Noting his brother’s hesitance he hangs back and slings an arm around his shoulders. “ Look , these things are basically just glorified mineshafts with the flair of jungle temples mixed in. It’s not like a trip to the Nether . And besides! If that book is anything to go by, there’s bound to be a lot of good loot! We just have to watch our step and leave a trail of breadcrumbs so we don’t get lost. Easy!”
“Hm…” Hiro eyes him suspiciously for a long minute. Okay, maybe saying it out loud didn’t make it sound as reassuring as he meant it to, but an adventure’s an adventure right? Besides, they’ve got each other. Steve gives his brother a comforting squeeze on that note and Hiro seems to end up on the same page, slowly nodding as a smile snakes its way back onto his face, “I suppose you make a compelling argument… But I have one condition.”
“Oh?”
“I get first dibs on any loot we find! I get to pick out what I keep, you can survive with the leftovers!” He smirks and Steve chuckles, nodding.
“I think I can agree to those terms.”
The walk through the new cave is rather smooth sailing. A few zombie groans can be heard from above them and occasionally a few footsteps make the pair freeze in their tracks, but they breeze through with no confrontations at all. A lovely change of pace! A nice calm before the storm of sorts. The cave eventually opens into a decently large cavern. Steve lets out a sigh, releasing the tension in his shoulders as he holds the torch high to look around. Then, on the wall opposite of him, he spots it.
Nestled naturally in the rock of the cave lies a wall of old and rather mossy stone bricks with a dusty iron door sitting nicely in the center. Steve has a grin that sweeps from ear to ear as his brother whistles from behind him. Hurrying over to the wall, Steve pulls out some quick supplies to hang the torch up. Now with both hands at his disposal and some consistent light he begins inspecting the door. Hiro does the same, taking in different details that he knows his brother would overlook.
“How old is this thing...? I mean, the stone looks like it dates back centuries but the door is still kinda new…? Maybe put together in the last century…? That or just preserved super well.”
“Can’t say.” Steve stands tall again, resting his hands on his hips. “But we’re gonna have to break it to get in. There’s nothing rigged to open it from this side at least.”
“Oooo! I got this!” Hiro grins, spinning his sword in his hand, the blue blade shimmering in the torchlight. Steve nods and takes a few steps back to let his brother work his magic. He grabs the small grating at eye level and shakes it to get an idea of how strong this thing is. It clangs and moves a bit but seems more jammed than anything. Clicking his tongue he grips the grating again and holds his breath as he begins to pull. It doesn’t come easy but through the ear piercing screeching of metal against stone, a small gap between the door and wall finally opens and Hiro quickly shoves the blade of his sword in the gap and lets go.
He blows out a breath and grins before gripping his sword and pushing, using it like a crowbar to get the door open. It squeals and groans in protest, some dirt and small rocks getting shook loose under the strain. But Hiro doesn’t give up. He grits his teeth and sucks in a sharp breath before putting even more of his weight into it. It doesn’t last much longer from there. With a loud screech and sudden bang of the door flying open and slamming into the opposite wall, the way is opened! Steve claps, making his brother laugh and bow overdramatically. Steve hurries over, lighter in hand, and both peer in through the doorway, giddy in anticipation.
“ Sweet! Let’s go!”
“Ah ah ah!” Steve catches Hiro by the collar, the latter shooting his brother a pouty look. Steve doesn’t even budge, quirking a brow. “Remember the last time you tried barging into some ancient temple and how that worked out?”
“Uh. Yeah. We got a lot of cool shit.”
“Before that part.”
“I got… Scratched?”
“Odd way of saying you nearly got your leg chopped off. Suppose I’ll buy it though!” Steve lets go with a smirk and pushes past his brother, being slow and meticulous about where he steps. Hiro rolls his eyes and crosses his arms as he rests against the doorframe.
“Like you’ve never done the same thing.”
“Those were different situations!”
“Oh different my ass!” He playfully spits as he walks up to his brother’s side. Snatching the lighter from his brother’s hand he spins around and lights one of the unlit torches on the wall, not giving his brother a chance to protest. Steve shoots him an unamused look which only makes Hiro snicker as he tosses the lighter back. He plucks the torch off of the moss covered wall, waving it ahead of him as he scans the ground and walls. He hums with a smile, eventually stopping with a bounce and spinning around on his heel to look at his brother.
“No offense Steve, but I think this place is a bit too old to have any clever traps like what you’re lookin’ for.” He stomps his foot against the stone a few times, the clacking of his heel echoing through the halls. He stops and shrugs with a grin, “Nothin’!”
“Alright,” Steve raises his voice slightly but there’s no anger behind it. He chuckles softly as he raises his hands and shakes his head, “You win this time, but if you feel the tug of a tripwire or hear any stones shifting, we run.”
“ Nah I’d just sit and let it happen! OW—!” Hiro recoils from his brother’s playful punch in the shoulder. Steve laughs, taking the torch from his brother’s hand and taking the lead once more.
Saying the stronghold is large would have been an understatement. The thing is massive and not only that but an absolute maze. At least for their standards. With a piece of chalk from within his bag, Steve even starts making tally marks on one column each time they pass it. That said, the treasure is rather… Well, lacking. They find some chests here and there, sure, but less than anticipated. It’s like someone’s already managed to come through and snag all of the best bits. That said, the historical aspect and odd architecture of it all is treasure enough. It’s an odd sort of serene—like walking through a ghost town long abandoned. Pieces of civilization and people like them remain, but only in tattered remnants.
The wide array of different rooms and structures is both confusing and breathtaking. Hell, even the staircases are all different! There are bizarre open bridges arching high over other hallways, starways, and rooms that make it feel like some sort of abstract painting. Then that’s not even mentioning what sheer time and age has done to the place. So many walls and ceilings have collapsed that many of the old rooms have weaved into each other. Despite this though, the stronghold was built with the intent of having a comfortable amount of headroom, and that it does. The ceilings have a high arch to them with supporting columns almost gothic in nature. Thankfully, most of the main halls have remained intact, at least for the most part. Hell, in one center room lay a large and miraculously functional fountain.
Hiro, the more daring—or rather impulsive —of the two, cups his hands and dares to drink the old water. Steve grimaces as he watches, waiting for the inevitable hurling to begin only to be pleasantly surprised! Spectacularly, Hiro ends up beaming and claiming it’s some of the freshest water he’d ever drank. For better or for worse, the damn man manages to get Steve to try it for himself and, thankfully, it’s not some well played prank. The water is smooth and icy—the perfect boost.
They light up old unused torches as they carry on, the place slowly becoming more and more familiar the deeper they go. Every darkened turn holds the potential for something new and exciting. Hell, Hiro has to pry him away from the library by the ear to make sure they actually move on before the next century. It’s such an odd place. He can’t imagine for the life of him what living in such a chaotic place must’ve been like. A chill runs up his spine—what state was the overworld even in to warrant such a drastic reaction? It almost feels like the place is purposefully made to be confusing… A means to keep pursuers like he and his brother confused. But perhaps that’s just a trait of this stronghold. After all, there are others out there. He can only imagine what they all must’ve been like in their prime.
But of course, their exploration doesn’t come without its own problems. After all, there’s a reason strongholds are so often used in stories to scare children. Not that they took it so seriously.
“FORE!” Hiro’s yell echoes through the hall as he whacks a skeleton’s head off of its body, holding it still with his boot.
“ SHIT!” Steve ducks just in time for the head to pass over him and smash into the wall behind him, instantly bursting to shards and dust. Hiro raises his hands in victory before spinning and stabbing his sword in the gut of an approaching zombie.
Just their luck, of course. All it took was them turning their backs for just a minute to decide what path to take next, and all hell breaks loose. Another small but concerning tremor shook the system and crumbled a few sets of walls around them. In one fell swoop, a few explored paths were closed up and untouched ones opened wide—and idle mobs were more than happy to seize the opportunity and block their exit.
Steve stabs his sword sturdily between the bricks, using it as support so he can double the force of his swing and kick. A creeper and zombie fly across the intersecting halls at the impact only to get caught by Hiro’s swift blade. The ticking green creature gets smoothly defused and the zombie crumbles without its upper half.
Steve rips his sword out of the wall, the metallic scraping satisfying to the ear as moss flies off with it. He sprints across the open space, jumping into position and slashing wide at a small group of zombies approaching his brother from behind. Hiro taps his brother’s back twice with his elbow and Steve throws his sword between hands to his left. Hiro in response swings around, sword in his right, and locking arms with his left. The two work as one unit and easily cut down the zombies. Letting go, Hiro spins on his heel to head back towards their exit but freezes in his tracks at the sight of more monsters.
“ Shit… Tell me there are more ways in and out of this thing!”
“Only one way to find out!” Steve tugs on his brother’s arm and the pair begin sprinting through the dark halls the opposite direction. They run into and practically have to throw themselves off the walls at each turn to keep up their momentum. Reaching another intersection Steve only has a split second to decide which hall is the least packed with zombies, but he doesn’t get the chance to decide before he feels Hiro yanking him left into another hall filled to the brim with jail cells.
Groans and hisses ring in their ears and Hiro yelps at the sudden burst of hands trying to shove past the iron bars. They violently shake, dust beginning to fall from above as the old steel falters beneath their strength. Hiro drops into a slide to avoid the mass of hands, Steve mirroring him just behind. Hiro bounces to his feet in one swift move, swinging around to pull his brother up and keep running. A loud clang from far behind them is a friendly indication that the way they came is definitely a no-go. The zombies turning the bend from which they just came solidifies that. Hiro huffs and blue eyes flick up to their copy.
“ That’s swell!”
Steve lets out a curt “HA!” in agreement before his face quickly drops into one of serious curiosity. He immediately stops and backs up to another stairway in the wall. Hiro skids to a halt and watches his brother in confusion. What the hell is he doing? Running back to his side, he isn’t even able to get a word out before his brother points down the stairway. Hiro’s brief annoyance subsides and his childlike curiosity takes over once more.
Light.
Warm light.
The pair look at each other before the whistling of an arrow and chorus of zombie groans snap them back to reality. No time to stare, time to move! Steve darts down the stairs, Hiro right in tow. It’s a long stairway, like, excessively long. Hiro grimaces and smacks the side of his head at the sensation of his ears popping under his helmet. They’re close to bedrock for sure. At the bottom of the several flights of stairs lay a new type of hallway. Thick glass at each corner and edge encases flowing lava. At the end of the hall the wall that stands proud is one like none they’ve seen. With intricately carved stone decorating it symmetrically from a crack down the middle, it’s something that fills the twins with a serious sense of dread. A dead end. Both heads immediately dart behind them before snapping back to their surroundings. The walls left and right to them are also symmetrical, with 3 levers sitting atop more specially carved stone.
Hiro grabs his own head, beginning to get rather nervous. He’s dealt with it before but he never liked being cornered by a swarm of monsters. Steve’s mind spins as he realizes his brother’s nerves. He needs to get them out of here. He got them into this mess, now it’s his responsibility to get them out. Running to the odd wall at the end of the hall he hastily runs his hands over the stone, eyes darting every which way to see what the purpose is. Crouching down he dusts off the ground by the middle seam and takes notice of something grand. Gasping quietly he quickly yanks off his helmet and shoves his messy brown locks aside, pressing his ear up to the seam, or rather, crack. Shutting his eyes tight he focuses and prays to hear what he believes is there and gets the fantastic answer of the soft whistling of air breezing through the miniscule crack. With a bright grin he jumps to his feet, stumbling in the process, and runs back to his brother.
“DOOR!” Through his frantic panting Steve grips his brother’s arms, catching his gaze. Hiro blinks in utter confusion at his brother’s words. Steve rolls his eyes and catches his breath, waving a hand as he struggles to form the words. He points at the back ‘wall.’ “ Door! It’s a door! There’s air coming through and scratch marks in the stone at its base meaning it works too! Hurry! These levers gotta have something to do with it!” He slaps his brother's arms and the pair split to opposite sides.
Noticing some odd bumps in the stone above the levers, Hiro reaches up and dusts them off, uncovering some kind of old runes.
“Steve! Above the levers there’s some old writing! It might be the way to open the door correctly!”
“Got ya!” Steve mirrors his brother's movements and uncovers the lines of runes. After a brief minute of inspecting them he lights up, “ Yes! Okay I-I got these! They’re the same thing the writing about the Eyes were in!”
“Will they help us?” Hiro bites, the tension becoming clear in his voice.
“Yes, just give me a minute to read!” Steve snaps back before gluing his eyes to the lines of text before him. He can only make out some of it and skims over the beginning as it’s just useless historical blabber. His eyes dart from text to levers as he gets the information he needs, mumbling quietly to himself as Hiro stands at his side, jumping anxiously in place.
“ Steve?!”
“Okay I got it! Just listen to what I say and be quick! We have to do this simultaneously so you cannot get a trigger finger here do you understand me?” Steve looks back over his shoulder at his brother who nods seriously back. Steve sucks in a deep breath, the scuttling, hissing and groaning from the stairs getting louder. “I’m going to count down before we pull each lever alright? First one is the one closest to the door. My left, your right.” Both brothers grab their levers in sync, “ 3. 2. 1. Now!”
They pull, a loud rumbling by the doors starts within seconds and finishes with a satisfying thud. Steve and Hiro momentarily look back at each other with childlike glee in their eyes. Steve nods, bouncing back to the middle.
“Good! Okay next one. My right, your left. Closest to the stairs!” They grab, Hiro anxiously readjusting his grip on the old thing as his brother counts down. “3. 2. 1. Now!” Another tug, another satisfying rumble and thud. One more and they both easily know what’s next. Grabbing the middle levers and meeting each other’s gazes, Steve doesn’t even have to count down. They grin, Steve nods, and they yank down the last of the three levers in sync.
That settles it. A louder rumbling is heard and is now accompanied by the high pitched squeal of stone being dragged against stone as the two doors slowly pull apart to reveal a whole new room. The two don’t even care about what they’re running into, all they know is that it’s further away from that hoard. Sprinting ahead, Hiro darts between the thin opening, Steve picking up his discarded helmet and then following right behind him. Not even a few steps in, the two feel the small tug of string at their feet, momentarily tripping them up. The doors stutter and halt, sitting halfway open for a moment before they begin slowly closing back up. Steve quickly glances around the room in response and thankfully spies another lever off to the side.
As the two slowly back up, Steve feels and hears the sickening crunch of something beneath his feet. He grimaces, and freezes up with Hiro following suit. Steve lets out a long restrained sigh, not even opening his eyes.
“Hiro.”
“Yes Steve?”
“Did I just step on what I think I just stepped on?”
“Fairly certain.”
“Fantastic…” Steve sighs, slowly turning around to face the scuttering and hissing forms of Silverfish nibbling at their boots. He shudders before kicking one back, “ I am never stepping foot in a stronghold again.”
Hiro laughs weakly and shakes his head, “Honestly, I’ll take silverfish over creepers, zombies and skeletons any day— OW!” He yells as one finds its way up and bites him between the armor at his knee. He smacks it off of him. “Alright, time to be exterminators I guess!”
After a few minutes of getting the damn things to shoo and scurry off, the pair are finally left in relaxed silence once more. Finally taking the chance to look around the room they’ve run into, they find some very odd sights that fill them with dread. It’s a subtle dread however, one that’s often and easily pushed aside by their fascination and bewilderment of the unknown. The room is about the same height as the hallway before and keeps the lava motif as well. A glass layer sits on all sides just before meeting with the ceiling, the lava behind it filling the room with a comforting orange glow. Below that layer are the same stone bricks they’ve grown used to seeing, then iron bars that seemingly lead to nowhere but darkness and more stone down to the floor. At each corner of the room there are stone bricks stacked as a more aesthetic choice. Luckily enough however they seemingly double for decent counters or places to sit. But all of that is nothing compared to what lay in the middle of the room.
Sitting dead center above a pit of bubbling lava is some sort of structure like they’ve never seen. Slowly climbing the stone stairs that lead up, the twins are met with a marvelous sight. In a neat square lies 12 identical pieces. You can’t even call them stones. Their bulk is made of a glimmering tan stone neither twin has seen before. Above that, and beautifully carved in, is a gilded pattern of something akin to jade that outlines the top of each piece. There are hints of gold, purple, and obsidian mixed in that twinkle in the warm light from the lava. It’s a familiar palette for quickly obvious reasons. Smack dab in the center of a majority of these parts are more Eyes of Ender, but something’s different. The pupils in each of these eyes aren’t the intense, ever-watching black of the eye Steve had stowed away in his bag, but rather a luminescent purple—nearly white—and they all stare blankly upwards towards the ceiling.
Hiro gets a chill down his spine and backs off which snaps his brother from his own little mesmerization. Steve sputters and quickly backs off and down the stairs to be by his brother. He blinks in absolute dumbfoundment and for a minute, neither have anything to say. Steve shakes his head and walks off to one corner of the room and throws off his bag to rummage through it. With furrowed brows he pulls out the aforementioned book and quickly begins flipping and reading through its pages for any mention of what this is. Perhaps he missed something?
“ What… What is all of this?” Hiro voices the question on both of their minds, looking to his brother for an answer. Steve just shakes his head, blowing out a sigh through his nose and Hiro blinks in disbelief. “You don’t know ? I thought you knew all about what to expect from this place?”
“I-I thought I did too, Hiro. I-I’ve read this book cover-to-cover nearly a dozen times! Not once is a room like this even remotely mentioned! Nonetheless whatever the hell that is!” Steve scowls, blowing through pages in his book in frustration, praying there’s something between the lines.
He finds nothing.
Steve snaps the book shut and slams it down on the stone counter in frustration. The loud slam catches the jumpy Hiro off-guard and makes him, well, jump. Steve scratches the back of his head before pulling out a few of the books he was able to pluck from the library. He blows the dust off of them and begins flicking through the pages. Hiro sighs as his brother ventures into his own little brainiac zone and leaves Hiro to just stand and wait.
Standing and waiting is not his strong suit. Climbing the stairs again, he inspects the weird structure again. He notes the eyes in particular, trying to spot a pattern. He frowns but then cocks his head a bit in morbid curiosity. The pattern he found isn’t so much of a pattern per se, but rather the fact that there are only 3 eyes missing in random pieces. One spot to his left that’s missing one seems to have glass shards around it. The eye must’ve broken yet there isn’t a brick out of place in this room, so it couldn’t have been falling debris. Odd. Do they burst? Is there a time limit for how long they can stay sitting here? His question is quickly answered however as a sharp whistling cuts through the air and an eye to his right begins shaking in its spot. Hiro quickly raises his arms as the eye bursts, one neighboring it following suit. Glass is shot out but luckily either misses the twins or bounces easily off of their armor.
“What was that?!” Steve spins around to his brother who’s crouched on the stairs. Hiro huffs, dropping his arms into his lap.
“ Those damn eyes are just blowing up! I think they’ve been sitting here too long.”
“Now why on Earth would they do that?”
“I dunno! Magic? You made yours with blaze powder and stuff right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“That’s like, magic stuff! Either way it’s both terrifying and honestly kinda cool…” Hiro turns his gaze back to the structure, his brother rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
“Here, before you start leaning in to look at the pretty colors of the lava.” Steve says sarcastically before tossing a glass bottle his brother’s way. Hiro frowns but catches it and warily inspects the orangey-pink liquid. He quirks a brow back to his brother who continues. “ Fire resistance. Drink it.”
“I’m not just gonna fall in!”
“And how many times have I heard that before?” Steve quips. Hiro holds his gaze for a long steady time before sighing, groaning, and downing the potion. He halfheartedly tosses the bottle back to Steve who just chuckles at Hiro’s antics. “You’re such a drama king. I just want you to be safe Hiro.”
“Aww, I didn’t know you cared!” Hiro teases and Steve laughs and only shakes his head in amusement. Hiro grins but then sighs as silence falls between them once again. Looking back over his shoulder at the eyes and lack thereof, his brows furrow. He bites his lip and bounces his leg as he ponders what this all is and what to do next. Eventually he speaks up again.
“Hey Steve?”
“Hm?”
“How many Eyes did you make and like, bring with you?”
“I made five from leftover powder and pearls. Why?”
“Do we need them to find our way out of here?”
Steve blinks, not really processing the words on his book’s page anymore. He pauses to think his brother’s questions over and grows quickly wary of his intentions.
“Not necessarily… Why ?”
“Well I just…” Hiro knows his brother isn’t going to like his next idea. He bites his lip, shrugs, and goes forth nonetheless, “That’s enough to fill in these holes and I mean if you can’t find anything about this in those books then we might as well see what happens!”
Steve responds just as he expected.
“No. No. No. We are not doing that!”
“ Aw c’mon!”
“NO. You know I hate diving in blind!
“What are you so scared of? This isn’t a redstone trap or machine that’ll suddenly spring and kill us both. You know that, you’re smarter than that.”
“And so are you.” Steve finally turns to face his brother, eyes stern and set. “We both know that is a portal. There’s nothing else it could be. But we have no idea what could be lurking on the other side, Hiro! I’m not risking our lives for it!”
“ Opening it isn’t going to kill us! It could give us more information!” Hiro argues his point, gesturing back to the portal outline behind him. Steve rolls his eyes, slowly shaking his head.
“ How Hiro?”
“We don’t know what type of portal it is but maybe it’s not that different after all! C’mere! Just look, I know you saw it. Each piece has some obsidian in it. What if it’s just some kind of glorified nether portal?”
“It’s made out of stone we’ve never seen before, Hiro! The obsidian is miniscule in comparison!”
“Well okay fine but it at least looks a lot nicer than a Nether portal. While the eyes are a bit weird it’s really elegant and pretty. If so much effort was put into making it then maybe it leads to somewhere better. Somewhere nicer than the Nether. W-What if it leads to like that old Sky Dimension Auntie used to tell us about!”
“The Aether is an old wives tale, Hiro—”
“And so were strongholds before today!” Hiro desperately argues his point and while he may not be the expert, he can tell that he’s at least starting to crack his brother’s shell a bit. He’s made some logical points. But something still feels off. Steve shakes his head with a grimace.
“You know how ridiculous that sounds! Hiro, what if this leads somewhere else? Somewhere worse? Like— Like those rumors of big portals in old cities underground? This could be that! O-Or, hell, look at what we’re putting in it!” Steve sighs and plucks an Eye out of his bag, “Eyes of Ender! You know what people say!”
“Oh, and I’m talking old wives tales?” Hiro scoffs with a roll of his eyes, “Steven, an End dimension I can maybe accept. But a soul-sucking dragon? C’mon dude, where the hell does that even line up?”
“Where there’s smoke there’s fire, Hiro! There’s too many horror stories for them to have come out of nowhere! And frankly I’d rather not be stuck feeling the pain of whatever death awaits us in there until that thing is slain!”
“If it hasn't been already.” Hiro argues.
“You’re a fool to think that’d happen and we wouldn’t have heard something about it—about all of this. But no, we’re diving in blind.” Steve hisses and can tell his words are finally starting to get somewhere. Despite it though, Hiro continues.
“I just wanna see what the portal itself looks like. We’re talking hypotheticals about a dimension on the other side of a portal we aren’t even certain it links to. Maybe the description will give you a headstart in one of those books.” He shrugs, dropping his hands and letting his words settle in.
Steve doesn’t meet his brother’s gaze as he thinks, and it certainly takes him a long time to do so. They’re left with a gamble either way. They can open the doors to the crowd of mobs likely just idling out there now, or they can make an attempt with this portal. Knowing a general idea of mob behavior, they’re not gonna be climbing up that hellish staircase any time soon—it’s just not worth the extra effort. They could try sprinting past them and getting that head start, but if they get injured in any way it’d majorly affect their chances. They’re still too far underground.
Then there’s the portal. And whatever dimension sits beyond it. He can play the idyllic and ignorant optimist and say it leads to the Nether, Aether, or something similar, but that’d be a disservice to his brother. They need to know what they’re diving into. And, potentially, Hiro could be right. The dragon may be entirely fictional. A story that’s merely that—a story. They could land in a dusty old section of the End Dimension. But that still wouldn’t be ideal. They don’t know anything about the place, hell, he still has trouble believing it’s real even staring at this portal before him. But one thing’s for certain—Hiro hates Endermen. Not only that, but Endermen are exceedingly dangerous. Even without the dragon, it’d be worse to end up there than to just take their chances in the Stronghold, he decides. He won’t risk his brother’s life like that.
But…
He’s also curious. The academic in him craves a little more knowledge, and when will they get a chance like this again? The chance to activate a portal like this? To study one? Likely not again for years, if not decades, and would he even dare to by then? With Jesse waiting for him? Hell, Jesse’s home waiting for him now. They have to be smart. Perhaps they could open the doors and find a way to lure a majority of the mobs into the portal? Kill two birds with one stone. That’s a plan he can work with. Just needs some further confirmation and tweaking…
Eventually, Steve sighs and turns around, grabbing the rest of the Eyes and tossing two to Hiro.
“We put them in, but no portal travel.”
“Aye Aye Captain.” Hiro lazily salutes with the eyes still in hand before standing and carefully making his way across the portal outline to the two spots the eyes previously burst in. Leaning down, he goes to put one of the eyes in when he feels the thing gravitate towards its spot. He furrows his brows in interest. A few purple particles and sparks fly as he plays a game of keep away. It’s like a magnet almost. Taking a chance, he lets go and the eye falls perfectly into place, rolling its pupil upwards and turning that weird light purple with a small flare. Hiro hums in interest before moving to the next one, Steve mirroring him on the other side.
The last eye that needs to be placed is back by the stairs and in the center piece. The two hurry off the nerve wracking ledges and back to the safety of the stairs. Steve bites his lip as he turns the eye over and over in his hands, staring intently down at the last slot. Hiro waits beside him, eyes darting between his brother and the last empty piece in the portal. This is it. He can only hope that the portal’s activation itself doesn’t bring them any harm.
Steve glances at Hiro who nods then nods himself and crouches down, stomach churning in anticipation. Holding the eye out over the slot, he notes that this one is oddly stronger than the others. More forceful. He grimaces. It feels like something’s practically clawing at him. Despite it, he holds it up longer out of curiosity. Like the old saying goes however, curiosity killed the cat.
A white-hot burning pain sears up his right forearm in an instant. Steve yelps, dropping the Eye into place and recoiling. Hiro quickly moves to check on him but both’s attention are drawn to the sudden flashes of purple in each eye and a bold wave of purple particles that’s blown out with a harsh gush of wind. It shoves the twins back a bit, catching them off balance. The beautiful portal swirls and sparks to life, the matter of it looking like it was plucked right out of the night sky. It’s utterly gorgeous, with stars twinkling throughout its surface and colorful nebulas dancing in the background.
“ Wow… That’s…” Hiro laughs a bit and smiles wide, in absolute awe. Steve nods in agreement.
“ It’s beautiful… I’ve never seen anything like it…”
“Look at how it moves too!” Hiro points into the inky mass, “It’s almost like liquid of some kind...”
“Stunning.”
“Yeah…” Hiro sits back which allows Steve to relax at least a little. It’s short lived though as he hisses again in pain, gripping the wrist of his right hand. It catches Hiro’s attention and suddenly the two snap back to reality. “Oh yikes! What hit you? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Give me a second…” Steve trails off, fumbling as he tries to get his gauntlet and glove off. Somehow, whatever it was, got him beneath the armor. With his hand revealed, 3 large oozing cuts frame the outer edges of his hand. Two below the pinky, one above the thumb. Hiro’s eyes widen as he inspects his brother’s injuries. Steve’s hand shakes as he does so, the burning pain almost blinding.
“What the hell…?”
“That’s not a good sign…” Steve grits through his teeth, his brother sighing.
“N— No it’s not that they’re bad per se but rather…” Hiro shakes his head, dumbfounded. “These look a lot like the claw marks Endermen can leave behind…”
“Endermen?”
“ Yeah, talk about weird…” Hiro trails off. Steve nods to himself quietly. They hadn’t seen an Endermen the entire day, and nothing physically shot out and grabbed him. Hiro would certainly have remembered seeing the hand and claws of an Enderman shooting out of that black hole. Standing back up, Steve moves back over to his books. Hiro frowns and speaks up again,
“Hey smart-alec, you should wrap up that hand before you start flipping through those books again! I mean if you want a bunch of blood splatters making it harder to read I can’t stop you but…” He trails off with a shrug.
Steve hesitates momentarily, seemingly realizing what he was actually doing. He doesn’t respond but the sigh of annoyance makes Hiro chuckle. He sets down his book and begins sorting through his bag for some basic wrap. Hiro sits back on the steps as he waits and stares at the giant door they came through. The room goes fairly quiet once more, but in a more serene way. Perhaps this is a calm before the storm? Whatever they decide to do next, he’s certain it’ll be a rush. Looking back to the tall stone door they came through, he squints as if it would allow him a peek on the other side. The monsters had probably become passive, but the moment they step back out they’ll be near overwhelmed once again. They could probably make it, but it’d certainly be annoying and not without some bites or cuts.
He sighs, leaning back and staring instead at the ceiling and allowing the faint sounds of the room flood his ears. There, of course, is the popping and sizzling of lava and the occasional squeak and hiss of silverfish in the walls. Those are what he expected to hear, then the new and foreign sounds. There’s the faint and comforting noise of his brother wrestling with his bandages mixed with the sounds of pages hastily flipping, then the new whooshing from the portal. It’s a fascinating thing to hear, not the ominous hissing like a Nether portal would make but something almost musical. It was relaxing.
“This… This is good!” The voice of his brother pulls Hiro out of his thoughts and he realizes how long he must have been zoning out. He sits up and stares over at his brother, expecting a solution of some kind. Steve takes a breath and continues as he flips through one of his books. “Maybe the portal wasn’t mentioned by name but by description? I’m sure there’s something in this stronghold that knows where exactly it’ll take us… If they built a whole Stronghold around it, perhaps it’s pop out somewhere else manmade within the dimension? Like people attempt in the Nether?”
“So… You’ve got nothing yet?”
“Well… No… Not yet. But I-I’m sure there’s something here! Why would they just gloss over something like this?! It doesn’t make sense.” Steve rubs his mouth in thought and Hiro rolls his eyes before letting out a sigh. He’s beginning to get tired of being cooped up in here.
“Did those runes on the walls out in the hall say anything? It seemed like a really big chunk of text just for some lever instructions.”
Steve smacks a palm to his forehead, catching Hiro by surprise. He speaks in a blank monotone.
“ It probably did. I’m so dumb. Oh my God.”
Hiro bursts out laughing and earns a tired glare from his brother. Steve grumbles, throwing his book down and rubbing his face. Hiro continues to have a hoot as his brother begins moving around the portal room. Intense blue eyes scan each stone, bump, and crack in hopes of there being any more runes within the room. He doesn’t find any the first lap around. Nor the second. Nor the third, forth, or fifth. He stops back in front of the door, clenching his fists and kicking the ground in frustration. Hiro shakes his head and snaps to catch his brother’s attention. With Steve’s eyes on him he jerks a thumb behind him to the portal.
“Okay listen. We can’t coddle ourselves with information forever. Sometimes you just gotta take a leap of faith! … Through a cool portal.”
“ Hiro!”
“Oh come on!” Hiro sits up now, his impatience mixing with his brash and adventurous nature. “Don’t try and tell me you’re not curious! Look. Even if it’s not the Aether per se, it could still be something!”
“ No! We’re not exploring some mystery dimension right now! Especially not one likely loaded with Endermen!”
“Oh, so you think we’ll have better luck being cornered down here by a small cities’ worth of mobs? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about the implications of all the zombies we’ve seen! And, yeah, they’re bumbling buffoons at best—but that’s on their own. A group like that cornering us? With skeletons and creepers ready to blow on top?” Hiro huffs, “Look, Steve, I know we’ve got some great armor here, but it’s not gonna mean much once the long-dead residents of this place rips it all off.”
“Hiro, the Endermen. You hate them! If we open the doors we can just lure—”
“Steve, I may hate those things but they’re at least passive until provoked. I think I know how to avoid looking at an Enderman. And knowing how dimensions work from the Nether? Well, there’s bound to be another way out somewhere in there.” He hops down the stairs and over to his brother, gripping his arms and giving him a reassuring smile. “And, as always, if we don’t like what we see we can just hop back through the portal and run through those slowpokes.” He jokes, glancing back at the shut door.
“That doesn’t matter! ” Steve snaps back and Hiro rolls his eyes to the heavens, no longer looking his brother in the eye. He wanders away as Steve continues scolding him, “I don’t have a good feeling about this, Hiro! And I can’t just make decisions on a whim anymore! It’s no longer just about me! I have to think about what’s best for everyone— for Jesse. I can’t just disappear for however long I want because we found something ‘cool.’ ”
“You have a bad feeling because you got scratched.”
“ By an invisible Enderman! I have a damn good reason to be nervous about a portal that we found hanging casually over a pit of lava!”
“And what do you suggest we do then? I’m sorry but I don’t want to sit here and twiddle my thumbs for hours on end while you search for information that isn’t even there! Need I remind you that this place is seemingly prone to tremors? If we don’t make a decision to run or take a chance with this portal, then we are going to be crushed.”
“ I would rather dig my way back up to the surface from the rubble of this place than leap through that portal.” Steve’s tone is stubborn; he’s made up his mind. He starts cleaning up the little countertop and putting everything back into his bag. Hiro shakes his head in disbelief, hopping up the stairs while Steve’s back is turned.
“You’re so dramatic Steve! Always going to the worst case scenario!”
“It’s because I care, idiot.” He ties his bag shut and glances back at Hiro as he speaks. He quickly double-takes however which makes Hiro laugh. Steve frowns up at him. “Hiro?! What did I just say?! Get down—!”
“Leap of faith, man!” Hiro snickers with a grin. He salutes his brother with a wink and yells in excitement as he jumps backwards into the portal. The moment his head goes under his voice becomes muted and quickly disappears.
Steve’s breath hitches and he takes a step forward in pure reaction. He freezes, frowning and waiting for his brother’s head to pop back through with that shit eating grin as always. He crosses his arms and calls out.
“ Hiro! Asshole, don’t do that shit to me! This really isn’t the time to scare me for laughs!” He calls out, sure he can hear him on the other side or at least know what he’s thinking. He always does. A silent minute passes. He begins growing unnerved. He calls out again. “ Hiro! Get back here would you?”
Silence.
The usually quiet popping of lava blares in his ears as he strains to hear something, anything that would signal his brother coming back. An irregularity in the portal noises, his stupid laugh, something! But he’s left in silence with an awful feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.
Something’s wrong. He would be back by now. He wouldn’t just leave him.
Steve sucks in a breath through his teeth and hisses before quickly grabbing his bag. He slings it over his head, shaking the hair out of his face. Where was his helmet? Blue eyes dart around for it. No time. He curses under his breath and pulls out his sword, immediately regretting it as his hand stings in pain. He grimaces, hesitates, but decides on switching it to his left hand. He could still fight with it certainly, but it isn’t his dominant hand. Stupid bastard! Jumping through like that and getting into trouble! But it’s just the type of thing his brother would do, and he isn’t just going to turn his back on him.
Light on his feet, he sprints up the steps and leaps into the dark portal, quickly being engulfed by the black sky.
In a snap, everything goes silent. It’s a strange sensation… The inky mass surrounds him as if he had leaped into water, but it’s thicker. Smoother. Too much so. He can’t see anything yet it’s like he could see everything. He can’t process it. All he knows is that it starts getting hard to breathe and the panic begins setting in. Yet before he can start throwing a fit, there’s a flash and he’s suddenly thrown out and finds himself stumbling forward. His feet kick up a tan and shimmering dust from the stone beneath him. He squints as he gets his bearings. This stone beneath him is the same stone the portal was made out of, and around him it’s dark. He moves his gaze up a tad and an iron and diamond-laced boot comes into view. Bingo!
“Hiro! You fucker why didn’t you—?!” He begins to yell, his voice echoing.
“ SHH! Shut it! Shut up! Keep your head down and be QUIET !” Hiro hisses back at him, his voice strained with panic and alarm.
Steve blinks and, against his brother’s word, dares lift his head to take in their surroundings. Above them is an expansive black sky, littered in stars, galaxies and nebulas akin to what looking into the portal itself looked like. But his blood runs cold as he moves his gaze back down to take a look at the place they stand. It’s simple but like nothing he’s ever seen. Mountainous obsidian pillars shoot up from the ground, towering high in the sky. At the peaks of each is some kind of odd glowing object, settled on a perch of… Bedrock? That shouldn’t be there… No. They don’t seem inherently harmful. Yet, a few are encased in iron cages. Why? He frowns, his curiosity briefly getting the better of him and brushing his fear aside for the moment. Then something moves in his peripherals. Instinctively he follows it only to be met with a horrible sight; dozens of Endermen casually moving about the rocks and land before them. He gasps and his eyes widen but his gaze is quickly pushed back down by a hand on the back of his head.
“I said head down !” Hiro scolds his brother harshly, having moved closer and linking arms. Steve opens his mouth to apologize then stops. Why should he be apologizing right now?! He scowls and snaps up at his brother.
“ What were you thinking?! I told you I had a bad feeling about this place!”
“Steve, I love you, but can we please save the ‘I told you so’ chat until after we get out of here?”
Steve rolls his eyes and just hisses under his breath. He feels his blood boiling in anger but his idiot brother has a point. Safety first. If they don’t die here, then Steve can personally kill him back in the stronghold. He sneaks a glance behind them, stifling a gasp at the spindley pair of black legs that towers behind them. He steels himself and peeks past, spotting the portal past the creature. It’s weird, it’s encased in bedrock yet again but in the shape of a fountain. He supposes it makes sense when thinking about how hopping through the portal actually felt.
He’s pulled out of his thoughts as another pair of those sickening legs makes its way into the picture. Steve feels a chill run down his spine and the back of his throat burns. Something about this makes him feel ill, so horribly ill. Hiro must catch onto his brother’s state and switches from locking arms to slinging his arm over his shoulders. It’s embarrassing. His brother, the one who fears Endermen like nothing else, is going out of his way to take care of him. Steve internally berates himself, sensing the way his brother is shaking. Hiro’s head darts left and right, his panic evident. He hisses.
“Why the hell are they grouping up?! We didn’t piss them off! There’s no reason for them to be getting this up close and personal!”
“I don’t know… But I don’t want to stick around to find out.”
“Good call.” Hiro huffs and makes sure his grip is tight. Steve sucks in a breath and gets a hold of himself, standing straighter, as they begin shuffling back towards the portal. It’d thrown them both a ways out. It's always been hard weaving through an Enderman’s path, but trying to slip by now? It’s utterly terrifying. Both men shuffle along, breath held and shaking with each step. One wrong bump and they would be in for hell like no other.
With no warning, the portal flashes again, shooting out purple sparks and a shockwave that knocks the brothers back. They can only scream in reaction as it sends them flying and eventually rolling through the dusty ground. A chorus of Endermen shrieks and hisses ring in the pair's ears as they teleport.
“Shit!”
“So much for quiet and easy!”
“What’s it doing?!” Hiro gasps, pushing himself to his knees as he tries catching sight of the portal. It’s volatile now, the murky black matter spinning at a speed that drags any detail it previously had into a black blur. It’s like a whirlpool, gently whipping up the dust around it. Steve doesn’t know why he knows, or how he could, but regardless he’s certain. His voice shakes in panic as wide blue eyes dart over to his brother.
“It’s closing !”
Watching his brother’s face pale is sickening. He’s never seen that fear in his eyes before. Steve is sure he doesn’t look much better. His hands are like ice yet at the same time his palms sweat like it’s nothing. His right hand stings and he grimaces, shifting his weight to his left hand. Wait, where’s his sword? He pushes himself to his knees and looks behind him, spotting the blue blade. He dives for it, snatching the blade and grasping it tight. He begins to tug it back when a large clawed foot slams down on it. His breath hitches as blue eyes dart up in recognition. It’s already aggravated, and looking up was a mistake.
“AUGH!” A large clawed hand bats the man across the head, knocking him back toward his brother. His sword at least slipped out from beneath the monster and Steve kept his grip tight. The Enderman screeches in its distorted voice and Steve grits his teeth as he shoves himself to his feet and locks eyes with the beast. It freezes, beginning to shake as always and Steve steels himself by steadying his breathing. With his sword ready, he sucks in a breath and shuts his eyes, dropping his head to the ground as well. Immediately the sound of the beast teleporting fills his ears.
Behind him.
He spins on his heel and swings his blade up, catching and slicing the monster across the chest with ease. It screeches and teleports away again.
On his right.
He turns again, stabbing the air to his right and catching the enderman once again. He feels his heart rate settle into at least a consistent rate. He knows what he’s doing. Teleports again, he calls it and swings again. A fourth time. A fifth! He spins around one final time and jabs his sword through the monster’s chest, its tough hide cracking and breaking with a sickening sound. Steve grimaces at the noise but holds strong. It jerks and spazzes for a second before a purple light originates from around his sword and spreads out in a pattern almost like a spiderweb. Within seconds it’s too bright to look at and the Enderman bursts into a puff of purple smoke and dust.
Blue eyes dart around the desolate expanse, probably enraging several Endermen in the process but it’s a yell that alerts him. Hiro’s slammed to the ground by a clawed hand, two Endermen closing in on him. His helmet’s long been knocked off and his chestplate was loosened by that hit in the side. Steve curses under his breath and starts running at the two endermen without thinking. In one swift move he slams into them both, causing them to screech and stumble back. Wasting no time he grabs his brother’s hand and pulls him to his feet. The two begin running, grace and care about the Endermen being thrown out the window.
Bobbing and weaving through the mob of Endermen proves to be a challenge. Clawed hands, bony knees and snapping jaws all catch the pair by surprise. They’ve been thrown into the ground so many times they’ve lost count. One snapping jaw catches Steve in the exposed skin right below the neck. His shrill shriek rings in Hiro’s ears who races over to bat the thing off of his brother, hands shaking in his gauntlets. This is a fight for survival now, and their time is running out.
Yet no matter how close they get to the portal, the feeling of dread doesn’t leave. Something else isn’t quite right. There’s the feeling of another set of eyes on their backs—eyes that don’t belong to any of the endermen surrounding them. It makes itself finally known as the Endermen, despite still hissing messes, back away from the two. They freeze momentarily in confusion until a loud whooshing of air from the distance behind them is followed by a visceral cracking. Blue eyes search their surroundings in confusion, both setting their sights on the dreaded creature in the sky at the same time.
With another cracking flap of its wings, the black dragon unhinges its jaw and unleashes a roar that leaves pebbles of tan stone shaking beneath their boots. The twins merely gape until the dragon sets its glowing purple eyes on them, narrowing. With its teeth suddenly bared, the dragon moves with horrifying speed in a nosedive towards the twins. Hiro’s the first to act.
“ MOVE!” He screams, flinging his brother across the clearing before diving out of the way himself. Hiro lifts his hands off of his head to catch the dragon flapping its wings and soaring high into the sky once more. He squints as one of the odd crystals creates some kind of link with the beast. An almost ethereal light drags along the dragon’s surface until it’s seemingly out of range. What is that for?
“IS THAT A FUCKING DRAGON?!” Steve’s less than graceful yell jerks his brother back to the moment. Hiro nods and doesn’t waste time hopping to his feet and starting to run over to him. Steve quickly holds out a hand, “ DON’T! GET BACK IT’S COMING—!”
He’s cut off by another ground shaking roar and Hiro skids to a stop, eyes locking with the glowing purple slits of the dragon. The beast’s nostrils flare as it sucks in a breath and Hiro’s eyes become near pinpoints as he leaps back out of the way once more. The place he once stood is barraged in a mix of pinkish purple flames and some kind of odd lingering smoke. The loud flapping of the dragon’s wings stirs up the dust and only fans the flames as it flies high once again.
Hiro coughs and furiously blinks his eyes, tears quickly forming as he tries getting the dust out of them. Steve scrambles to his feet and can only stare helplessly at the fire now separating him from his brother. He cups his hand around his mouth and calls to him.
“ Are you okay!?”
“UH… I mean I can’t see but I’ll be fine in a sec—”
“HIRO WATCH YOUR BACK!” Steve’s throat begins hurting from the screaming and Hiro quickly rolls to dodge the clawed hands that sweep over where he once stood. Blinking the water out of his eyes, he staggers and hastily draws his sword. He spots the two Endermen that slowly begin approaching, switching nervously between the two targets. His breathing grows ragged and Steve can easily see the fear in his eyes.
He curses to himself, does he have any more fire resistance potions in his bag? He digs through it to only find glass shards and a gross, somewhat slimy mess. He squints, partially sticking out his tongue in disgust as he shakes off his hand. Okay. Old fashioned way then.
He quickly jogs back a few meters, eyes narrowing on the wide line of fire and weird smog. He could just run around, but that would take too long. They’re already fucked up, he might as well. With a small hop, he digs his feet into the sandy stone and begins one hell of a sprint. With the extra strength the adrenaline lends him, he pushes off his feet at the last second, leaping over the hazard and dropping to the ground in a roll. Jerking to his feet and yanking his sword out of its sheath he quickly darts over and catches an Enderman in the back—quickly moving from one beast to the next in a fury-filled streak. Hiro spots him quickly, shooting him a dumbfounded look. ‘ Did you just leap over that shit?!’ it says. Steve’s brief laugh, grin, and pride-filled nod can only make Hiro laugh and shake his head. His brother’s insane but God if he wasn’t proud.
Steve staggers back and in the few second break he gets to cough, that odd pink smoke billows out of his mouth. Okay, so maybe he didn’t get out of the scott-free. He frowns, not feeling his coughing fit let up but rather get more intense. His lungs send shockwaves of pain through him and he’s caught off-guard when another Enderman runs into him and knocks him backwards. He stumbles, but doesn’t fall easily. His gaze shifts around, spotting the portal again in the midst of the endermen. He has a plan, but as he stabs his sword into the ground for support in his coughing fit, fear creates a cold trickle of sweat down the back of his neck.
Hiro’s eyes widen as Steve nearly doubles into his sword. Bad sign. Really bad sign. His attention is ripped in four separate directions however as the portal not far behind Steve flares again, a light purple light shooting out as it speeds up once more. Then from above and behind him, he hears that dragon flap its wings once more before it roars.
And just like that, the world slows down for him. He looks past the angry Endermen before him to his brother, still coughing, hacking, and bleeding out. The angry sounds of each monster around them becomes white noise, suddenly his own breathing, his brother’s coughing, the dragon’s wings and the sound of his brother’s sword clattering to the ground pierce his ears. His own heartbeat bangs in his ears, but noticeably slows down, steadies. That portal is on its last legs and he has a choice to make in these vital few seconds. Two Options here.
Busting through these Endermen, if he does it right, would be easy. They’re split up just enough with the dragon’s approach that with a few ducks and dodges in the right place at the right time, he could make it through with ease. He could get to the portal in the nick of time before it closes. He wants to run. He wants to run, run, run and never look back. His gaze drags back to his brother once more, and he hears himself blow out a calm sigh before his mind even thinks. He’s come to a decision. It wasn’t even a competition.
The fear and panic drains from his face and he furrows his eyes in a calm, controlled determination. Then in a snap, the chaos around him returns in real time, but he’s prepared now. Ducking in perfect time to avoid the Enderman claw going for his head, he weaves between the two monsters like second nature. As he starts his sprint, an Enderman on his right races at him. He drops to a slide then flings to his feet once more with ease, running straight into a triage of Endermen that were lined up to take down his brother. Steve’s eyes widen at Hiro’s sudden jump to the offensive. Still rather dizzy and fogged up from the dragon’s breath, he can only squint in confusion.
Not wasting any time or momentum, Hiro grabs his brother by the collar which makes him yelp in alarm. Spinning him around, time slows down again and grows quiet, this time for both of them. Steve’s eyes are wide in confusion and fear, hands ghosting upward to try and grab his brother’s wrists. The look on Hiro’s face softens into something Steve’s never seen before, and it takes him a moment too long to recognize it to properly respond. Hiro’s blue eyes soften and he simply offers a sad smile. His voice is soft but genuine.
“ Forgive me.”
Steve has no chance to respond, the world speeding up again and going so fast it’s a blur. Letting go of his collar after saying that, Hiro’s brows quickly furrow and he grits his teeth. Ducking low, his brother harshly rams himself into Steve, knocking him back with a force he never expected his brother to have. The last flash he sees of his brother is him standing over the portal with a torn look, tears stinging the edges of his eyes. Behind him, a mob of clawed hands reach for him, with the dragon in the sky making another dive towards his brother.
Then darkness. Darkness and silence.
It lasts forever yet no time at all. He feels like something is choking him. Is it the portal? No, there's something on his face. Tears? Why is he crying? What just happened? A dull pain stabs him in his chest, thudding rhythmically. Why is he hurting?
The first sensation he feels clearly is the pain of his back hitting stone. He cries out, dropping to the brick floor and groaning as he writhes in pain. He feels blood trickle from his neck as he pants, catching his breath. Where is he? He hits the ground with his hands. Stone. Stone bricks. No dust.
Blue eyes shoot open. He sits up with a gasp, looking up and seeing the stairs to the portal. His heart sinks.
“Hiro… HIRO !” He scrambles to his feet, every muscle, joint and bone screaming for him to stop but he doesn’t listen. Without thinking, he sprints back up the stairs but screeches to a halt at the sudden popping and banging that echoes through the chamber. “ NO! ” He screams and shields his face as glass and eye shards shoot throughout the room, the unstable portal blowing itself apart before disappearing. Steve gasps for air, slowly backing down the steps and shaking his head in denial. No. No no no it can’t close, this can’t be happening. He needs to get back. He needs—
He lets out another yell as the ground beneath him starts shaking once more, but this one’s stronger. No, this will pass he has time, he can still—
He gasps as a large chunk of stone drops from the ceiling above, crashing into the portal frame before bouncing into the lava. He can’t stay here. He has to run. Instincts taking over, Steve darts over to the lever he found earlier, yanking it probably a bit too forcefully. He stands close to the wall, the shaking ground and collapsing room around him making his heart pound out of his chest. He grimaces, shutting his eyes tight as a pile of bricks falls around him. He moves along the wall to the opening door. Open just enough, Steve’s heart leaps as he slips through. The race is on as he stumbles through the hall his brother and him were just joking in not too long ago, ghosts of them both flashing as he runs by.
The monsters are starting to scatter with the tremor, but even then they still fixate on him. But he’s not willing to take a damn chance anymore. He plays dirty. Slamming his body into zombies and skeletons, he forces a path through for himself in the midst of the falling rock. Perhaps it’s callous the way he even uses them as shields against one another, but he’s desperate. Reaching the staircase, he flings what monsters attempt shambling up alongside him back down the steps, slowing the rest down just a smidge. The rest of them he weaves through with relative ease, simply shifting to running as best as his beaten and battered legs can carry him.
He needs to get out of here, he can’t die here.
Reaching the top of the staircase feels like an utter miracle, but he hardly takes a second to consider it. Instead, he immediately darts left and sprints down the long dark hall. Dust billows out through the structure as the tremors continue, threatening to knock him off balance with every desperate stride, but he manages to stay true. Collapsing rocks and bricks rain down the whole way, forcing him to frantically fling himself around in a zigzag and drop to rolls in some places. But he keeps going. He keeps his momentum moving at all costs.
Flying around the bend, he reaches the destroyed jail cells with the old iron bars still scattered across the floor. Without a thought he leaps over them to keep from tripping. He lands hard though, staggering briefly and dropping to his knees. With a loud hiss, he pushes himself off the ground once more and back to swinging through the mossy halls as his heartbeat drums incessantly in his ears and the dank air whips against him.
Entering the central plaza, his stomach twists into knots as the daunting scale of it all beginning to crash down envelops him. Large chunks of rock crackle far above him as they break off of the tall ceilings of the cavern this portion of the stronghold sits in. They hurtle towards the ground in what almost feels like slow motion. In the brief moments he can swear he sees a hint of daylight peeking down through the tall cavern. But he’s too deep below ground for that, isn’t he? When the boulders finally meet the ground, it rips him out of whatever light he may be seeing. It’s not his time. They slam into the stone ground with an ear splitting boom that flings bits of rock everywhere. The rumbling and impact shakes Steve to his core and he flings his arms up to protect himself, being yanked back into the moment.
Glancing up, he barely manages a gasp as he spots a boulder the size of a carriage barreling down towards him. He desperately dives to his right and into a harsh roll as it slams into the ground behind him, debris from the impact rocketing every direction. He just sucks in a sharp breath and shoves himself back to his feet—he needs to get out of here.
The run through the plaza feels far longer than the ambling walk they did on their way in. He knows it’s the adrenaline and stress, but that does little to soothe his nerves as he leaps over debris and rock in his little marathon. But he makes it. Reaching the opposite end of the plaza is an utter relief, but it doesn’t slow him for a second. He grapes teh column of the archway out and bolts up the stairwell, swift and paying no mind to the way his body utterly screams at him. Up, up, up, and out if he has anything to say about it.
He passes the smaller cells his brother made fun of when they first approached, his heart aching as the ghost of him laughing rings in his ears. The tears in his eyes blur his vision without him even processing the thought. He passes by the library in a flash, not even registering it’s there. Past that is another one of those little fountains still bubbling with that crystal clear water. It’s an almost mocking sign of security. His blood boils at the mere thought of it. As he rushes by he can only slam the water with his hand and let out an incoherent yell of anger and pain.
Reaching his final corner, he blows past a hissing creeper, backhanding it to the side and leaving an old wall to be blown up in his stead. All that’s left is the old iron door dead ahead. He doesn’t slow down, actually willing his body to move even faster. Sucking in a deep breath he braces himself and barrels shoulder-first into it, completely throwing the tough old thing off of its hinges with a squeal. He stumbles a little into the cave but gets his footing relatively quickly.
Getting out of that old maze? That was the easy part, because that old deathtrap at least still had decent supports. These old caves have none of that and could collapse on top of him at any second. Another rumble moves through the system, throwing dust and little debris down on top of him. With that as his signal, he grits his teeth and digs his boots into the loose and crumbling rock of the cave upwards.
He gets a little ways upwards before the shaking reaches a new intensity. It throws him into the narrow walls and he curses under his breath, clutching to them to keep himself upright. Two loud booms echo before the deafening clattering of stone and rock comes from behind him. Looking back through the darkness he watches as the cavern before the stronghold collapses in on itself. Blue eyes widen and he gasps once more as a plume of dust and dirt starts making its way upward. He quickly darts forward, kicking up the loose rocks behind him in an attempt to outrun the worst of the plume behind him. It quickly engulfs the man and he begins coughing once more.
Dust barrels into the ravine, mixing with the mud and lava already being tossed around. Steve runs out of the plume, coughing and hacking up a storm but not letting it slow him. He gasps, hastily leaping over newly splayed lava. He’s less than graceful and his heel slams down into the fiery magma. His shrill scream hardly pierces the booming noise of the earthquake. He stumbles forward, cursing to hell and back as he kicks his foot through the nearby stream. He hisses, standing in the cool rushing water just for a moment of reprieve as he catches his breath. Strangled sobs escape him, only coughs, remaining purple smoke, and mucus coming out. He gasps in breaths, finding it harder and harder to breathe with each passing minute. He leans down, grabs a handful of the icy water and throws it on his face. With a few splashes and no satisfaction, he hisses and just ducks his head into the waterfall for a minute. Stepping out he gasps, but has a refreshed sense of alertness.
Shaking his head he huffs and starts forward, limping a bit at first with his burned foot but gritting his teeth and ignoring the searing pain. He runs towards their makeshift stairs from earlier but—surprise, surprise—they’ve crumbled to nothing. He wipes some blood that had begun dripping from his mouth and narrows his eyes, spotting his first hand and foothold.
‘It’ll be just like rockclimbing!’
His brother’s words echo in his ears as he hoists himself up, steeling himself. He forces his breathing to be steady as he reaches up for the next ledge to grab. He moves at a good pace, trying not to think too hard about the rocks collapsing around him. He grimaces, ducks his head, and grips tight as a few fumble down the side of the ravine and bounce off him and his armor.
The cliffside he’s so desperately grasping to then begins to shake. He feels his heart seize as he quickly looks to his right for something to grab— there! He gasps and doesn’t even hesitate before leaping upwards, grabbing the thin outcropping and yelping as his battered body slams against the stone. He dangles high above the ravine floor, watching the collapsing rock below him with wide eyes. The orange glow from the expanding lava shines off of his dirtied black and silver armor, the dramatic shadows dancing over his tired features.
Shifting his gaze upwards, he has a climb to finish. He takes a few breaths to steel himself then sucks in a large one and heaves himself upwards. Reaching a good enough point, with his elbows bent near completely he grits his teeth and reaches his shaky right hand up to grab at the thin ledge above. Snatching it he lets out a cry of relief. He hangs there, the ravine floor now broken up with lava popping from near every corner. The tremors have calmed ever so slightly for the moment, and he prays they’ll stay at this dull thudding just long enough for him to get back through that crack and into the cave that led out of here.
He swings his other hand up, letting out a sigh of relief at the bulk of the weight finally being taken off of his injured hand. No doubt that it’s been ripped open to bleed even more. He could feel the warm liquid soaking his bandages. He grunts as he pulls himself up onto the ledge, using the little outcropping he lept to as a boost for his feet. With both feet on semi solid ground again he gasps. Every part of him is shaking, screaming, begging for some kind of release.
But not yet.
He grunts and slams his boot back into the ground, pushing upwards and onwards as he quickly sashays along the ledge and back to the crevice he and his brother snuck through earlier. Ducking into the tight space, hope floods his chest as he leaves the ravine behind. He’s in the home stretch now. Once out of here, all he has to do is run up and out of this god damned cave.
“Shit!” He growls as the earthquake strikes up again. To his left he watches a large chunk of rock plummet into the lava filled ravine below, making a splash. The whistling of the lava burning away the mineral filled rock pierces his ears. He scrunches his face up in pain and shuffles on through the claustrophobic pass. Getting out of that tiny crack, Steve immediately begins to bolt faster and faster in sheer desperation to make it out of this alive. The air shoves his stray wet hair out of his face as he stumbles up the crumbling rocks and caves. Darting by torches, the gust of wind he makes blows out their flame in a snap.
He rams into walls, trips over veins of ore and the small spaces of exposed skin gets cut as he stumbles onwards. Grabbing outcroppings in the walls he shoves himself forward with grunts and cries of pain. He’s grown reckless, desperate even, to just make it out of here. Resorting to pure instinct and reaction. He can’t say how many bends he’s made, how many times he’s fallen and gotten back up, how many ledges he’s hoisted himself up—it’s too much of a blur with too many things he can’t even fathom paying attention to. All he knows is that he’s moving forwards and he’s moving up.
But when he turns his final corner and his eyes burn from the bright blue light of day dead ahead? Oh, he’s never going to forget the waves of sheer euphoria that he could’ve easily just collapsed from right then and there.
Scrambling up the groups of andesite and stone, he barrels upwards to freedom. The rocks crumble in small bits beneath him but don’t deter him in the slightest. Every bleeding scratch, cut, and laceration is forgotten. Every ache and pain dulls. It’s a numbness that’s carried him to victory many times before and does so once again.
Crossing the threshold, he gasps in the fresh afternoon air as the bright sunshine blinds him. He swings around to look behind him as he stumbles further away from the cave mouth. His legs shake and finally give out, dropping him to the soft green grass beneath him. Still he keeps himself scrambling back and watching with wide eyes as that rickety old cave’s entrance completely collapses in on itself. The earth still quakes around him, but he’s become so numb to it that he doesn’t realize it’s finally stopped until the only sounds he registers are his own ragged breathing, and the chirping of birds in the trees nearby. Though, while the ground may have stopped shaking, the tremors racking his own body have not.
He made it.
He’s alive.
No thoughts pass his mind for several long drawn out minutes. He merely sits there catching his breath as the adrenaline rush slowly crashes and the pain returns to his body. But his initial thought isn’t a somber one. As he sits there in awe, his initial reaction is to push out a shaky laugh. They did it! They actually did it! They got out! They—!
Steve whips around in excitement, ready to share his joy in the way he has a million times before. But reality sets in as he finds himself completely alone. That smile burned into his face finally drops along with his heart.
He did it.
He made it out.
Hiro is gone. And in a flash, the memories come flooding back to him. The Stronghold. That dimension. The Endermen. The Dragon. Shaky hands raise and clutch his head. His little brother. His joyous little brother …
And just whose fault is it, hm?
Steve suddenly feels his stomach lurch and keels over, gasping desperately for air. The urge to hurl burns him from the inside out and he feels so rotten. His heart sears in his chest and he just screams out a cry. He can’t even describe how he feels—it’s like he’s just about to shrivel up and die. Oh, but that’s not his fate, no, that’s his brother’s. His family, his baby brother he always swore to protect. The one he led here, the one he enabled, the one he failed. If he had only just left well enough alone. Just look at what his ignorant curiosity has cost him.
Just what is he going to tell the others? Tell his son?
Gasping, he clenches his chest over his heart, feeling a sudden burning. He grits his teeth, strangling a cry as he leans forward in the grass. Tears cut paths through the dirt and grime caked on his face. His chest—his heart? It burns, it burns so much, he feels like it’s just going to cut through his muscles and skin and sear itself into the ground before him. He hears his heartbeat pounding louder and louder in his ears. He cries, shoving his bloody hands over his ears in an attempt to silence it. The pounding, the pounding, the pounding it hurts it—
Stops.
He lets out a light gasp, letting go of his ears simultaneously. His eyes widen. The burning, the pain there—it’s gone. In its place now lies an awful, hollow feeling. Like a hole has been drilled where his heart should be. It doesn’t hurt so much as it winds him. He’s… always had a limit for superstition. People always say that twins have a special type of connection with one another—twin souls intertwined and exacerbated with more experience and strength. He’s never been sure how much of that he’s believed, or even if he still does.
But there’s a part of him that, once again, speaks with an odd certainty. It’s gentler this time though, almost soothing even. He’d daresay it was even trying to lighten the blow. But nonetheless, tears well up once more in the grown man’s eyes as he sits up in the grass under the big blue afternoon sky. Birds quietly sing—a sound that, even just a little, offers him some comfort. His shoulders shake as the man quietly cries.
His brother is gone.
And now he’s all alone.
Chapter 12: Rebound
Summary:
Back into the shoes of Jesse as he finally brings his nether trip to an end and returns home with not only the books he came for, but a whole new addition to the family.
Notes:
HEY SORRY FOR NOT POSTING THIS AND LEAVING YALL ON THAT DEPRESSING CHAPTER WHOOPS LMAO
Anyways it's here, idk how great it is, but I ended up liking the end a bit more than i thought but GOD I am TIRED of the NETHER and I may have taken that out through some parts of my descriptions--EDIT 8/18/21: Rom and Hiro are going to make my teeth rot from being so sweet like damn shoutsouts to them
EDIT 6/8/23: Bro WHY is the formatting fighting tooth and nail against me 😭😭😭😭😭 anyways lookin good! 👍 Facelifted this one a bit :>
Chapter Text
“How… What killed you?”
Hiro sighs with a somber smile. He reaches up and pushes some messy strands of hair out of Jesse’s face. He shakes his head.
“I’m not going to tell you that part Jesse…”
“ But I—!”
Hiro holds up a hand, Jesse goes quiet. He takes Jesse’s hands reassuringly and nods.
“Do not take it as me not trusting you or thinking you immature, Jesse. Far from it. But you already have your own slew of demons you deal with. Those, along with your father’s death are already plaguing you…” He offers a somewhat nervous smile. Why’s he nervous? Jesse can feel his exhaustion already seeping in as he squints and tries deciphering his uncle’s behavior to no avail. Hiro continues, “I don’t want to share my own gruesome details and make you lose more sleep.”
“Uncle Hiro, I can—” He tries to argue but his uncle cuts him off once more.
“Especially over a man who isn’t going anywhere. ” He says, enunciating his words with a gentle smile. Jesse utterly freezes, those few words managing to completely stun him. All he can do is gape, barely managing to squeak out the words he wants.
“Y— You…”
Hiro smiles and reaches up, squeezing Jesse’s shoulder. “If—… If you’ll accept me that is. It’s the very least I can offer after all of this…” He huffs tiredly, “It’s… All this is a lot to process, but I don’t want to close myself off again. Especially not right after you’ve gone through all this trouble. It’d be cruel to deny you the opportunity. But uhh… It’s entirely up to you. I also understand if— If you can’t do that. I’ll take it with grace and get you whatever it is you need civilly.” He trails off, rubbing his own neck somewhat nervously.
All Jesse can manage to do is stare in dumbfoundment. Then, finally, a weak laugh begins to bubble up from his chest. The sound seems to disturb his uncle for a moment before the man finally meets his beaming face. Jesse enthusiastically nods, sniffling a bit at the prospect.
“You—” He chokes, laughing a little again, “You have no idea how much I’d like that, Uncle Hiro.”
“That’s…!” He breathes, “That’s fantastic! I suppose I’ve got a lost of lost time to make up for, don’t I?” Hiro can’t help but beam in return, his white eyes twinkling in the firelight. Jesse chuckles a little and nods and Hiro just smirks a little, nudging him now, “You know… You’re gonna wish I had stayed dead now!” He waggles his eyebrows, making Jesse snort and shove him.
“Like I would ever!”
“Say,” Hiro continues, pointedly ignoring him as he thoughtfully presses a fist to his chin, “Do you think I can pull off being the embarrassing and overbearing parental figure? Feel like we gotta fit in as many experiences as possible here.” He jokes and Jesse laughs. They sit contentedly for a minute as they chuckle and Jesse slowly gathers his thoughts. His gaze eventually drags downwards and he picks at the fingers of his gauntlets. Hazy memories flit in and out of his head whether he likes it or not, but they’re feeling like less of a burden now. His uncle must catch his shift in tone as he straightens a bit, seemingly just waiting patiently for Jesse to speak up.
“I… I remember when dad finally got home after your guys’ trip. He was hurt a lot all over, but I could tell he was sad more than anything. It’s like… Like he was a ghost almost. Physically he was there but mentally he just… He was so far away from it all, like he didn’t even realize all the places I remember he was bleeding from. It was scary seeing him come home like that… I feel bad thinking back honestly.” He huffs with a bitter smile, shaking his head, “Seeing him come through the door like that? And then doing so alone? The first thing out of my mouth was ‘ Where’s Uncle Brian?’ … I still remember how he looked at me. A kind of faraway shock with his mouth just hanging open like he didn’t know what to say. Then he just grimaced. I was pulled aside to go to bed not too long after that—not that I was able to sleep. Me and the other girl there… I barely remember it aside from dad, but we just quietly spied on them. Trying to get an idea of what happened. Didn’t work much though.” He smiles sadly and Hiro just nods, letting out a quiet hum in understanding.
“I can’t even imagine… I don’t blame you for not remembering much else, I certainly wouldn’t have at your age. Six years old is far too young to see your father in such condition…” Hiro says quietly with a scowl and Jesse nods somewhat blankly. He pushes some hair out of his face as he talks, hand briefly lingering a moment on his scar before dropping completely.
“Yeah I—... I took it pretty hard. That on top of losing you… But dad honestly wasn’t much better, I’d say. After you passed away, that was when we starting becoming way more protective of me. He left less. Always lingered. Never liked me doing things on my own for too long—especially off of the property.” He sighs, “I know he didn’t want to coddle me, and I’m still thankful for how much he did let me get away with in hindsight. But… There was a definite shift.”
Hiro blows out a shaky sigh. Jesse merely shares a sympathetic look with his uncle. It’s probably a lot to lay on him, but hopefully he could handle it. It’s the truth after all… His father changed after Hiro’s death. He still loved him dearly, but he changed, and his secretive nature of it all only drove the young Jesse mad. He never got a straight answer about his uncle’s death. Not until now. He knows his father would’ve told him someday as a teenager, but a part of him can’t help but remain bitter about it. But he’s grateful for the clarity now, at least. Better late than never. His uncle finally meets his gaze again and just gives him a small, useless shrug.
“Jesse… You were your father’s entire world . I don’t dare imagine how he would’ve acted if he’d ever lost you… He’d be utterly devastated. Not to mention a damn force to be reckoned with.”
“I know.” Jesse smiles sadly, “He always showered me in love, yeah, but after… after that…” He shakes his head a little, “Every day he went out of his way to make sure I knew how much I meant to him. How much he cared about me. How much he loved me. Sure, as a little kid it felt a bit embarrassing and overbearing at times, but I’m utterly grateful for it all.” He huffs with another sheepish smile, “He was really strong just for my sake… I— I can’t help but almost feel guilty about it sometimes—”
“Don’t.”
“Huh?”
Hiro sternly reaches out and places a hand over Jesse’s, “Don’t you go stabbing holes in yourself over something so far out of your control. You were just a child , Jesse… His child. He knew what he was doing. What it meant to be a parent, and what kinds of things he had to do and sacrifice in the wake of a tragedy.”
“I— I know … I just… I wish it’d have been a little easier for him sometimes…” He mumbles and Hiro smiles fondly at him. He reaches a hand up and brushes through his nephew's hair as he blows out an understanding sigh.
“There were so many times I thought to myself the same thing... It’s why I ended up coming to live with you guys. Your father was aware that he’d be faced with a lot of difficult situations raising you on his own… But he wouldn’t have made any other choice. While I’m sure he didn’t see my death coming, he was always a man who could survive absolutely anything… Adaptable, smart, determined… He wouldn’t want you berating yourself over such a little thing from so long ago. So don’t.” Hiro’s words are stern but caring, and Jesse finds himself only able to nod quietly in response. They sit in silence for a bit, the air growing a bit tense from the odd note they ended on. Thoughts pound through Jesse’s head, and he fiddles with his gauntlets.
“It… Wasn’t an easy death. Was it…?” He asks quietly, knowing just how ominous a question it is. His uncle considers him sternly for a long moment, merely studying him in that nervewracking way he does. Finally, he just sighs and solemnly shakes his head.
“... No.”
Jesse nods quietly. After a moment, he squeezes his uncle’s hand. Hiro cocks a brow, having fallen into his own thoughts when Jesse suddenly pulls him into another hug. Hiro momentarily stiffens, off-guard and still not quite used to it, but after a second he sighs and hugs back. Jesse’s not always found himself the best with words, but he certainly knows he can get his meaning across in other ways. This is one of those quiet ways of not only saying sorry, but proving he means it. Hiro—a man who grew up speaking a similar language—understands without a word being said. He simply squeezes his nephew tight in turn, and is content to relax there like that as everything sinks in.
Or at least they would. But the serene quiet is shattered by the sound of those heavy courtyard doors slamming open and against the brick walls with a thunderous clap. Both men immediately jump at the sudden sound and jerk their gazes towards the commotion. Hiro raises a protective hand to Jesse’s shoulder as he squints.
There’s a lot Jesse expects with those doors slamming open, but seeing Romeo first certainly wasn’t at the top of his list. His face scrunches up in disgust as the man comes sprinting out, gold eyes wide. He briefly shifts from a sprint to a very tense speedwalk until a familiar pink and sparking arrow flies behind his head, flinging up his hair and making him yelp. Any semblance of composure is abandoned as the man hustles the rest of the way over to the pair.
“Romeo—” Jesse starts with a warning edge to his voice, “If you—Oof! HEY!”
“Move! I don’t have the luxury of time to argue right now, Jesse!” Romeo prattles off, gripping the man’s shoulder and using him as support as he hops up into the raised bed, much to Jesse’s agitation. He shoots Romeo a pointed glare as the man stumbles into the bed itself, kicking up dust as he goes. He hastily ducks behind the two—moreso Hiro—and glares off at the doors to the courtyard. Jesse just rolls his eyes to the heavens.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Romeo sputters in disbelief, “What am I doing?! Well, gee, let me think hard on it.” He snaps. Jesse scoffs bitterly. If the man has time to be snappy then he’s gonna be perfectly fine. Romeo hisses at him, catching his attention again, “I am running! From your ridiculous blonde friend!” He scoffs, hovering a hand by his neck, “The madman was ready to put me in a chokehold!”
“Oh that’s a lie!” Lukas retorts as he runs out into the courtyard, bow still at the ready. He pauses briefly to catch his breath, blue eyes glaring daggers into Romeo from across the yard. He softens his gaze however when he shifts it to Jesse. He shrugs, “But I mean, if you wanted me to put him in one Jesse, I certainly wouldn’t mind—”
Hiro stifles a loud laugh and Romeo glares at him in utter offense. Jesse finally pushes himself to his feet, waving his arms and putting himself between the two groups.
“No! No! No more fighting! We’re done! We’re being civil now, okay?”
“Civil?!” Petra comes huffing out behind Lukas, sword at the ready and obviously disappointed. Olivia follows up right behind her and her complete and utter doubt is written all over her.
“Now that is something I find difficult to believe!” Ivor’s booming voice rings out as he shoves his way through Petra and Olivia, earning some annoyed looks in the process. The man shoots a deeply scrutinizing glare at Hiro, not that Jesse can blame him. The last time any of these guys saw the two in the same room, Hiro looked about ready to rip Jesse a new one. Petra sighs and begrudgingly puts her sword away then gestures between Jesse and Hiro, voicing the question on everyone’s mind.
“What’d you do?! You already win him over with the power of friendship or whatever?” She scoffs and Jesse looks at her tiredly. She at least gets some amusement out of that. But Jesse isn’t the one who answers.
“No, but these days I’m finding the blade of an axe to my throat quite convincing!” Hiro interrupts with a gleeful and near sing-song tone, not giving Jesse a chance to respond. He merely shoots a grin at his nephew who stifles a groan before burying his reddening face in his hands.
“Hmm… I suppose it’s a job well-done then, Jesse. Though I cannot help but wonder what the rest of this is about.” Ivor replies, voice still loud and very stern. Jesse holds his hands up with a sigh and with that Ivor leads the group closer. They keep their distance from the white-eyed king sitting so casually before them, however. Jesse certainly isn’t going to blame them for that either.
Despite Ivor leading the charge, Lukas is the one who speeds ahead and reaches Jesse first. He stuffs his bow back onto his back and, despite his eagerness, hesitates on reaching out immediately. He settles for a gentle hand resting on Jesse’s arm and an earnest look that fills Jesse with butterflies. He can’t help but smile up at the man which seems to ease his mind considerably.
“You’re alright?”
“Better.” Jesse answers by placing his own hand atop Lukas’ and beams. The man eyes him curiously and Hiro somewhat skeptically, but slowly nods.
“Okay… But I mean what I said about Romeo.” He jokes and Jesse laughs.
“I’ll keep it in mind.” He responds with a wink and a grin, hearing some undignified sound of horror from the man in the raised bed behind him. He shoots a sly smirk back in his direction before regrouping with the others. Ivor belligerently pushes Lukas out of the way and catches Jesse by the arms, assessing him up and down before finally easing up. He pats his arms in satisfaction and nods before stepping back once more.
“I believe you have some explaining to do here, Jesse.”
“Yeah… You guys are really gonna wanna sit down for this one, too.” He says with a weak laugh before turning and walking back over to the raised bed. He waves for the others to join him with a nervous smile. They hesitate a moment, eyeing Hiro warily, but humor Jesse.
He takes a seat a little further back from his uncle, ensuring his group has more than enough room to feel safe. Olivia kneels down on the ground beside Jesse while Petra takes a seat on the wooden ledge right by him, eyes steely and certainly daring either of the men before them to try messing with her. Lukas—mirroring Romeo’s own movements—climbs up and sits in the grassy interior right beside Jesse. Ivor, ever the hawk, remains standing and keeps a hard gaze trained on Hiro with his arms crossed. His uncle, however, remains utterly unfazed by any of their harsh looks. That, or he’s damn good at faking confidence.
Romeo still eyes Lukas suspiciously and scoots a solid foot or two closer to Hiro and away from him and Jesse. He previously scorned both of them, yes, but he now knows that Lukas certainly holds a grudge. The man squints, leaning on Hiro’s shoulder and whispering to him.
“So does this mean I’m relatively safe from them pounding me to a pulp?”
“I’d say so, unless of course you decide to do something outrageous. Then again, considering the shit you put them through I can’t say I’d blame them if they tried anyways.” Hiro hums with a nonchalant shrug. Romeo straightens in surprise and glares at him, becoming far louder than intended.
“Now who’s side are you on?!”
That manages to get a smirk out of Jesse at the very least. But it does little to soothe his growing nerves as he tries wrapping his mind around where on earth he’s even supposed to begin. Should he be blunt? Ease into it? Amble a bit? There’s so much he’s already learned that the others need to be caught up to speed on. He shares an unsure look with his uncle whose own gaze softens in sympathy. Jesse tries thinking hard for another long minute or so though, dreading how anxious he must be making the others in the process. Thankfully, his uncle sees his struggle and sucks in a breath to speak first, lighthearted as before as he replies to Romeo.
“You already know how I operate, Rom. Family first. Unfortunately for you, that means Jesse’s taking precedence right now.”
The sudden claim not only catches Romeo by surprise, but Jesse’s team as well. Despite the looks it earns him from the others, Jesse’s grateful for the breaking of the ice. They all certainly have a lot of questions for him though. Lukas is disturbed long enough to look at Jesse in extreme confusion to say the least—almost mirroring Ivor’s bewilderment. Petra is probably the most… hyped? If he dares to use that word, but she gets a sudden burst of energy as she gasps and suddenly leans in on his shoulder. Her eyes narrow, immediately shifting back and forth between the two men for any similarities she can find. Olivia does the same, but to a much less noticeable extent.
Romeo probably has the funniest reaction to Jesse. Though he’s probably quite biased. The man shrinks back, paling significantly and certainly needing a moment to reprocess things. Hiro just reaches over and gives the man a hearty pat on the back as a warm chuckle bubbles up from his chest. When his gaze returns to Jesse’s, he’s quite calm if not satisfied with himself. He waves for him to continue.
“I won’t steal your thunder anymore. You go ahead and do the ‘Official’ honors. Just don’t introduce me as too huge of a bastard.” He jokes with a playful grin that Jesse laughs at. Romeo damn near faints.
“Jesse…” Ivor starts, that classic warning edge to his voice, “I believe that I speak for everyone here when I ask; What on Earth is going on here?!” His voice raises from that quiet almost mumble to his classic enunciation in a snap as he nearly blows everyone’s eardrums out. He stands there expectantly with his hands on his hips while Jesse and Hiro grit their teeth in shocking unison. Not quite like-father-like-son but an uncle works just as well. Jesse forces out a chuckle as he sits up, holding his hands up innocently.
“Okay! Trust me I know that’s more than fair!” He blows out a sigh and shifts a little to face his friends more, “Alright, well… Long story short then. Everyone, this is Herobrine. But, growing up, I simply knew him as my Uncle Brian...” He trails off with a smile, letting his words sink in. Hiro smiles brightly, though his nerves finally begin shining through as a flush rises to his cheeks. Probably not the best impression to have made on his nephew’s best friends.
“UNCLE?! ” The chorus of voices all ring out at once. There’s an immediate slew of arguments coming from every direction but his uncle’s, all overlapping each other and turning into just garbled noise. Jesse just smiles as best as he can and gestures for everyone to settle, though with the bizarreness of the situation, it falls on rather deaf ears. So Hiro takes his shot at it. With a simple snap of his fingers, a thunderous clap of lightning rings out, making the others yelp and quiet down. Hiro just blows out a sigh and shares that nervous smile once again with Jesse.
“Uhh… Right, thanks.” He turns back to the others, “I— I know how this sounds, guys. Trust me, I know .” He blows out an unsure laugh as he meets the expectant eyes of each person, “But… This is real. And frankly, I think you are all just as thoroughly freaked out as both he and I were! No longer do I have a dead uncle, but rather, a half-dead demi-god uncle!” He pauses awkwardly there and purses his lips before glancing back at Hiro questioningly, “Half-dead or half-alive…? Is there any kind of preference with that thing?”
“Hmm… Let’s see…” He hums, drumming his fingers on his chin, “Steve would’ve nagged that Half-alive is more positive, but half-dead sounds pretty metal. So, I’m taking that one.”
His uncle grins with that and Jesse snickers, earning a scalding look from Lukas. The man probably believes he’s gone and lost it by now. Solidifying this, Lukas and Romeo actually share a look and seem to come to a rare agreement. How the hell are they supposed to take this? Lukas merely blinks before tapping Jesse’s shoulder to grab his attention.
“Hey, it’s a pleasure to meet and all but why aren’t you freaking out in the slightest?!” The strained worry in Lukas’ voice is obvious. Jesse lightheartedly rolls his eyes as Lukas holds a hand to his forehead, “Are you sick? Is the heat here getting to you? Is the heat getting to me? Am I hallucinating all of this right now?” Lukas’ shrill voice cracks as he looks between the other members of their group, earning a mix of shrugs. If he’s hallucinating then they’re all hallucinating the same thing.
“For the first time in my life, I’m going to be agreeing with the blonde brat on this one!” Romeo leans on Hiro’s shoulder again. “Are you positive? If so, why are you so calm? I know you Hiro, I see the humor but where’s the usual tension that goes with it?”
“I think I can safely say that Jesse and I already had our fair share of freakouts and have reached that stage of pure emotional numbness!” He says with a bounce in his voice, like it’s a pleasant and fun thing! Romeo blinks, then runs his hands through his hair as he looks from Hiro to Jesse, gripping his red locks tightly. Jesse simply shrugs, a bit smug about it. Romeo just becomes increasingly distressed.
“So, okay. Time-out here!” Petra rubs her temples then holds her hands in a T. “Are we just gonna gloss over the fact that he tried to kill us? Are we all just buddy-buddy now Jesse?”
Jesse grimaces a bit, honestly having forgotten about the crazy chase and fight he had before recognizing his uncle. He stutters, suddenly unsure of himself. Hiro straightens up again, becoming more serious and answering for him
“I feel it’s worth noting that I had no intention to kill any of you. Though Jesse got damn close with that dagger trick. SPEAKING of which!” He looks back at Romeo and points at him with a glare, “ We are going to talk about that later you shit.” Romeo grins and laughs nervously with a shrug. Hiro rolls his eyes and turns back to the others. “Normally, I wouldn’t be sorry for scaring people because frankly it’s the only entertainment I have these days. But, considering you’re all close to Jesse…” He blows out a sigh through his nose, rubbing his neck. “Yeah, I’m sorry. 52 years on this Earth plus dying once and I still haven’t grown up I suppose.”
“You’re 52?!” Ivor spits, his younger companions looking at him in a mix of surprise and… amusement. Was that a tinge of jealousy in his tone? Ivor crosses his arms and glares between the four, a slight red finding his way to his cheeks. “ It’s a legitimate question!”
“You jealous that he doesn’t look a day past 30 yet he’s in your ballpark age, Ivor?” Olivia teases with snicker. Jesse grins with her and Ivor rolls his eyes, regretting his big mouth. Hiro chuckles a bit.
“I suppose that’s one of the nicer side effects of dying and being resurrected so young. Forever 32!”
“Yes, quite.” Ivor grumbles, “Well Mr. Herobrine, I hope you don’t mind but I think we all need to talk to Jesse for a moment alone!” Ivor’s lack of patience shines through clearly as he places his hands on Jesse’s shoulders. A tight grip. Jesse feels a few drops of sweat dribble down the back of his neck. Whether they’re from the heat of the Nether or his sudden nervousness, he wouldn’t be able to say. Hiro’s brows twitch at the slight aggression but noticing his nephew’s sudden anxiety, he just smiles reassuringly.
Jesse smiles back sheepishly then stands, Ivor immediately taking the reins and shoving him further to the edge of the courtyard. The others follow, and Lukas shoots Romeo a glare before standing and following. With his back turned Romeo sticks his tongue out at the blonde, making Hiro laugh.
Ivor suspiciously glances back at the pair as he switches to hanging an arm protectively over Jesse’s shoulders. Moving over to the edge of the courtyard, a sudden burst of hot wind hits the group's faces. Jesse’s sure that Ivor’s happy he’s gotten into the habit of tying up his hair, but his own gets obnoxiously blown around before messily collapsing back into his eyes. He huffs out a breath to blow them back into place before taking a better look at his surroundings, truly dragging himself back into the present.
The courtyard balcony has a surprisingly beautiful view. Looking out you could see the vast ocean of lava that pops, bubbles and bursts at random. Then further out and painting the outline of the sea are the towering mountains of basalt. They arch high into the red fog, the sharp ends of blackstone and quartz stalactites the only things that cut through. He feels his heart drop at the sheer size of them; what are they like when they fall? Surely a few had collapsed around people before. He’d have to ask his uncle when he got the chance.
He finds himself wandering to the half wall of bricked blackstone and leaning on it as he stares out at the scene. He probably sticks out like a sore thumb. Bright shimmering blue and sparkling silvers constantly painted against the dark reds of the Nether. Though in this one part of the complex? He feels surprisingly at home. Though, while he’s only been here a day he’s already growing tired of the lack of overall variety. How could his uncle stand it? Especially for nearly 20 years?
He realizes how deeply he must’ve been zoning out when Ivor shakes his shoulder, near-yelling his name at this point to snap him out of it. He spins back around to face him and the others, blue eyes wide in the daze of being ripped from his own thoughts. What were they doing again? Oh right. Interrogating him. Jesse eases up with a sigh and crosses his arms in preparation for what’s to come. Olivia places a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, glancing from him back to Hiro before speaking quietly.
“Jesse… How… Well, first off, how are you doing, tough guy...?” She cups his face, staring at him in concern. Jesse huffs tiredly, his gaze dropping to the dusty gilded bricks at their feet. He gently shakes his head before shrugging and looking back up to her.
“Overwhelmed? Mainly just…” He sighs, “I’m tired. I’m really tired and numb…”
Olivia slowly nods, fiddling with a few stringy strands of his hair then dropping her hands to his shoulders with a nod. She always had cared for him like a sister would, and Jesse is ever thankful to have her to fall back onto. Petra rests her hands on her hips, catching Jesse’s attention. She jerks a thumb back to Hiro, not even gracing him with a look.
“Is all this… For real, Jesse? Like, you are being 100% serious with us about him being a good guy after all, right?”
“Well, yeah . I don’t exactly have a reason to lie, especially about something so personal to me. I—” He pauses. He blinks. Then he squints at Petra, the corners of his mouth twitching into a vaguely smug smile. “ Hold on. ‘After all’? Why does it matter , Petra?”
Petra goes a bit red from being put on the spot. She lightly smacks Jesse’s arm then crosses her own, knowing that she can’t play it off now.
“So I want to preface this with, ‘We had no idea this would turn into some kind of weird family reunion.’ But…” She winces a little, spitting the words out so quickly that Jesse hardly processes them at first, “ AxelandImadeabet.”
Jesse blinks. His brows furrow, “I—... Come again?”
Petra groans, rubbing her cheek a little, “Axel and I made a bet on whether Herobrine would really be evil or not when we ran into him—okay?!”
“You counted on us running into him?” Lukas asks in disbelief. Petra grins sheepishly and shrugs.
“With our luck, how could we not? Might as well have some fun with it. Anyways the important part is that I won and Axel owes me.” Petra grins to Jesse, trying to remain lighthearted. It works, and she garners a laugh from the young man. He grins back.
“Oh good! Let’s hope he doesn’t try scamming you out of your well-deserved reward!”
“Yeah! Right, Ivor?” Petra clamps a hand down onto the old man’s shoulder, the grump rolling his eyes to the heavens at what’s coming next. “I don’t know what I’d do if someone tried scamming me out of my hard-earned reward.”
“It has been SIX YEARS you two. How many more diamonds must you guilt me into giving you before you allow me to move forward in my life?” Ivor grumbles, making the group laugh. He eventually smiles though and simply shakes his head. “I can’t tell if you troublemakers are adding years to my life or just taking them! But, back to the topic at hand.” He sighs and looks at Jesse seriously. Olivia backs up a bit, allowing him room to step a bit closer. Old tired eyes bore into the young man as Ivor places a hand on his shoulder. “Jesse, are you certain that we can still trust this man? You must remember the reputation that precedes him!”
Jesse hesitates a moment as he thinks it over. Ivor had a point, but he doesn’t like judging on initial experiences or rumors. That’s only gotten him into trouble and hurt other people he hadn’t expected time and time again. No, he wants to be better than that, especially with his family. And Hiro is his family. With a newfound confidence in his eyes, Jesse nods assuredly to Ivor, blue eyes locked in a steely gaze. Ivor still has a tinge of doubt in his eyes as he pushes a sigh out through his nose, but trusts Jesse’s judgement. He pats him on the shoulder once more and nods before stepping back.
“All right then. With that settled, I suppose it’s about time we grab what we came here for. Your… Uncle will most likely be of some help, correct?”
“I think so. Only one way to find out.” Jesse shrugs before making his way back over to his uncle. It seems he and Romeo had been caught up in some talks that had Romeo in a bit of a frenzy. Jesse supposes he shouldn’t be surprised. Finding out that the one person you’ve become friends with also happens to be the uncle of the guy who kicked your ass is certainly a plot twist if Jesse’s ever seen one. Reflecting on it, it’s interesting seeing Romeo interact so warmly with another person, there’s obviously a lot of trust that’s built up.
Jesse’s face contorts slightly as he starts thinking a bit more on their behavior with each other.
Ew. Gross . No more reflecting. He does not have the emotional willpower to go there right now.
Romeo notices Jesse’s approach first and immediately shuts his trap, Hiro blinking in confusion before noting where his harsh gaze has shifted to. Hiro gently jabs him in the side and smiles up at Jesse from where he sits.
“Well?”
“They’ve got some things to get used to but I think they’ll get over it…” Jesse lightly kids with a smile, making the both of them laugh. He grows serious again and sits down, “Uncle Hiro… We still need the books we came for. It’s… It’s really important to me that I get them. Could you help us find them in that library of yours?”
Hiro blinks, brows furrowing at Jesse’s shift in tone. He sounds dreadfully serious for just a few books. He sighs and sits up straight, becoming almost parental in tone.
“I take it these books are gonna help you search for your dad?”
Jesse nods, not meeting his gaze. “That’s uhh… Heh, that’s the hope!”
“And what books exactly are you looking for, Jesse?”
Jesse sucks in a breath and opens his mouth to speak only to suddenly be cut off by Romeo. The man has a surprisingly serious tone and appearance as he meets Hiro’s gaze from where he's leaning on him..
“They’re searching for the Trilogy on the End Dimension. Apparently they were apart of Boring’s—”
“ Soren’s.”
“ Gesundheit! They were a part of that guy’s collection before you ran them out. Older books apparently, from prior to the first Order’s little reign.”
“Do you know much about the End Dimension, Romeo?” Jesse perks up a bit, not giving his uncle the chance to respond. Romeo smiles.
“Do I know about the End dimension? Jesse you’re forgetting that you’re asking—” Romeo’s smile falters as he feels Hiro’s cold gaze train in on him. He glances over to him, taking note of the troubled look. He coughs as he finishes up, “...asking uhh… Well, actually, someone who never had a hand in making it…” He sighs and rubs his neck, “Fred and Xara worked on the End together while the Nether I took on later. I wish I could say I paid more attention to the End in later years when I was on my own but…” He shakes his head, “My apologies.” Jesse looks to his uncle, underwhelmed. Hiro sighs.
“Catch me up first Jesse, what kind of information are you hoping to garner from these books…? What more are you searching for?” He speaks gently, and Jesse gives a half hearted shrug.
“ Clarity… Clarity and closure.” He sits up awkwardly, “There’s… A bunch of theories about what happened to Dad… Where and how he disappeared but they’re kind of unclear… I want to solve it. Get the facts straight and finally be able to move past this. The first step though was clearing up the rumors of one of the places he could’ve disappeared to…”
“And the End is somehow the most likely candidate…?”
“Yeah… But, not voluntarily of course.”
“How can you—?”
“I found records at the cave mouth.” Jesse cuts him off, not even willing to hear the idea. Hiro blinks in surprise. Records? This new tidbit certainly piques his interest and it even captures Romeo’s waning attention. Jesse smiles a bit nervously but continues, “Yeah, records like the ones he used to make… But these are different. One is just— just ominous bells and cave noises.” He shivers thinking about it. “The other one though is the worst of the two… It—… It’s a recording of Dad’s last minutes on the surface...” He mumbles out, feeling horribly small as he says it. Hiro lets out a soft gasp and instinctively leans forward, hesitating a moment on reaching out but finding a solid grasp on Jesse’s arm.
“Good god, Jesse… And you— you listened to those?”
“I had no way of knowing any better.” Jesse smiles sadly with a shrug, “They had a little note with them that kinda looked like dad’s handwriting. It just… Made sense to me that he’d made new stuff somehow while he was bored. I didn’t really think about the logistics of it at the time. I was too worried…” He sucks in a deep breath, “Suffice to say though, nightmare fuel.”
“That’s sick.” Hiro spits, anger bubbling up in him once more. But much like Jesse, he has nowhere to aim it. No idea of where to even begin. Out of the corner of his eyes Jesse briefly notes the sympathetic—no, pitiful— look Romeo’s staring at him with. That alone is enough to irritate him into regaining his composure. He forces his throat to clear and straightens his back, continuing.
“The last thing heard on it is an Enderman before the noise is cut off as it teleports away. It just goes silent, staticy. So…” He sucks in a deep breath and nods, “We think he was taken away to the End. But some desolate corner of it… An End City is the current theory but we don’t know enough about the End to really know if that’s right. Hell, I don’t even know if End Cities even truly exist! All we have are rumors about the whole dimension. I just want to see if those books can get us any more details on the End and how maybe even the Endermen work? That’s why we came here and well—!” He shrugs, “ Here we are.”
Hiro sits back, attempting to take everything in at once. He can’t though. There’s too much there to process and everything else from today is already giving him one hell of a migraine. He shakes his head and slouches, rubbing his temples. Jesse awkwardly shifts in his spot as Romeo gives Hiro a light pat on the back. They stay like that for a while and eventually Jesse’s friends meander back over. Lukas places a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, lightly startling him before he smiles warmly. Lukas nods to Hiro in question. Jesse grimaces and shrugs. Ivor just pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Okay!” Hiro suddenly sits up with a renewed energy that startles everyone. He chuckles sheepishly then eases up and points to Jesse. “I—… I can help you get those books—”
“Yes!”
“BUT!”
“But?” Jesse asks, voice cracking slightly. Hiro nods.
“But we are going to read those and talk about this together.” His voice grows serious as he takes and shakes Jesse’s hands. Jesse blinks in surprise, unable to immediately spit out any words. Hiro continues, “You—… You’ve said it yourself. We’re family . And your father was just as much my brother . I want to start being here for you more. This— This could be a good start. If you can accept that…” His confidence in himself wanes as he trails off. His face reddens as he becomes self-aware in the presence of Jesse’s friends, trying his damndest not to take his gaze off of Jesse in spite of it.
Jesse is numb. He sits there dumbfounded and blank for several long moments before simply laughing. It’s somewhat startling, everyone striking him with nervous glances. He shakes his hand and waves them off before meeting his uncle’s gaze and nodding. Of course he could work with him! Hiro made it sound like his conditions were a bad thing.
“Of course!” He blurts out with a grin, “Let’s go get those books!”
Hiro quickly lights up, beaming. “That was… Easier than I thought!” He laughs awkwardly and Jesse shrugs.
“You make it sound like I wouldn’t want to spend more time with you!”
“Haha, well… I wouldn’t have been surprised after everything…”
Jesse shakes his head and reaches out to squeeze his uncle’s arm. “I’m just happy to have you back. Now come on!” Jesse grips his uncle’s hands as he quickly darts to his feet, yanking him up as well. Hiro grimaces and stumbles, Jesse quickly letting go and starting back towards the interior of the Nether fortress at the head of the group. Hiro blows out a sigh and shakes his head in mild amusement
~~~~~
Jesse slows as the halls become nondescript to him once more. They’re at least beautiful to be lost in, albeit more of an ominous beauty. He practically forgot that he doesn’t know this place well. Squinting as he tries placing where they are, a few energetic taps on the shoulder snap him out of his gaze. He’s met by the casually smug gold eyes of Romeo who points down the hall opposite to where he was looking.
“Library’s that way short-stack.”
“ Gee, thanks.” Jesse rolls his eyes at the nickname, if he can even call it that. He blows some hair out of his face as Ivor audibly hums in the way that means trouble. That or at least something really tedious. He cocks a brow and looks back at him in curiosity.
“I was just thinking. Even with the newfound help of your—” He hesitates on the word, still extremely cautious of the idea. “—of your Uncle… The library was left quite a mess. Now that everything’s sprawled across the ground and scattered throughout the room, whatever means of sorting your uncle had in place will be useless. We’re going to be spending some time sorting through those piles I hate to say…” Ivor grumbles and a loud synchronous groan echoes through the halls. Romeo pouts and crosses his arms, his jewelry jangling as he does so. Jesse looks over at him miserably. Romeo shakes his head, deadpan.
“I am not sorting through that mess with you.”
Jesse feels like if he rolls his eyes one more time they’re just going to endlessly spin through his skull until they drop out and roll away. Hiro’s heels clack loudly as he picks up his pace, a grin on his face.
“One: I don’t sort those things anyways. Two! We don’t even have to go to the library for these books!” He pats Jesse’s shoulder in passing as he makes his way to the forefront of the group, flicking his cape behind him as he quickly makes his way through the halls. Romeo blinks in surprise, him and Jesse sharing a look before Romeo darts ahead to catch up with Hiro and see what this is all about. Jesse waits a second more for his own group to catch up before continuing ahead.
“ Wait! Why don’t you have the books on the End in your library?” Olivia crosses her arms, “You’re not leading us right into something are you…?” She grumbles and Petra lightly elbows her in the arm. Jesse decides to ignore it. Hiro glances back only briefly but doesn’t quite come up with a proper response. He hesitates before answering vaguely.
“I can assure you I’m not leading you into a trap. I wouldn’t. It’s your choice whether to believe that or not, and I get it. But there’s… reasons I kept them separate from the rest. But I’d rather not get into it while we’re walking.”
“Suppose that’s understandable…” Lukas mumbles as he finds his way back to Jesse’s side. Jesse happily greets him with a smile, which he returns.
They continue on through the maze of a fortress—maze of a home. How on earth Hiro keeps perfect track of seemingly every nook and cranny of this place Jesse just can’t wrap his mind around. Then again, he practically built this place—and Jesse knows every nook and cranny of the Order Hall and Beacontown, so he supposes they each have their own place. This is his uncle’s home the way Beacontown is his. After the third stairwell in a relatively short amount of time, Romeo frowns and tugs at Hiro’s sleeve. Soft white eyes look down to him, ready to answer his beck and call. Romeo keeps his voice quiet, seemingly unsure and confused himself.
“Why are you taking them this way?”
“Perhaps because the books are this way!”
Romeo could practically strangle the man right there. He smacks him in the arm, dead serious, which only makes him laugh warmly.
“I’m serious , Hiro! Why do you keep the books… Here?”
“I’ve grown to like reading in bed I’ll have you know!”
“Eugh… Fine, as long as you don’t become some crotchety old man…” Romeo teases as Hiro laughs, slamming open the door to his room. The chipper man smiles brightly and nods for Jesse and his group to follow in. He’s like an excited child ready to show off his new toy. He hurries into the large and spacious room, spinning in step once with his shimmering cape blowing outwards at the action. He’s certainly proud of his room, and it’s for good reason. Lukas gawks, slack-jawed at the gloriously high ceilings which arch up and highlight both the large doorframe and huge stained glass window opposite of it. Yellow, orange, red and white light shimmers into the room, casting everyone in a warm glow. It’s still relatively dark however.
Hiro hurries up the steps of the platform that holds his bed and an array of shelves that expand horizontally from the center, outlining the window for a way. The bed is large, certainly the peak of comfort with a makeshift red canopy made from the same heavy fabric of the curtains spread throughout the complex. The wood however is an elegant mix of warm dark wood and the lovely cream of birch. Many things are scattered throughout the room, some random clothes draped over chairs—a typical habit of his uncle that he apparently kept up—as well as several stacks of papers and quills hastily tied together and strewn about. Jesse figures it's a safe bet to say that’s a habit all of the men of his family had. Jesse knows that this is certainly similar to how his own office often ends up.
“Let’s get a bit more light in here!” Hiro’s voice has a faint echo in the large room and as he waves his arm upward, flicking his wrist, all attention is drawn to the chandelier that suddenly bursts to life high above them. It’s a pearly white and gold with dark accents that keep it from standing out too jarringly. But it’s an elegant and pleasant change from the common gothic aesthetic. The room is lit up further, a few candles flickering to life all around the room after the chandelier.
Jesse laughs in awe, this place is regal! He supposes he shouldn’t be surprised however, given his uncle’s nature. Hiro hums as he skims over the shelves by the bed, moving surprisingly quickly. He frowns and takes a step back after scanning all the shelves then has a visible ‘aha! ’ moment. He easily hurdles over to the other side of his bed (most definitely using his powers to carry him most of the way) and crouches down, digging down by the head of the bed.
Romeo cocks a brow as he wanders up, arms crossed. “I didn’t think you were the type to hide things under the bed, yet why am I not surprised?”
“Oh hush! I don’t like these things being out in the open for just anyone…”
“The only people who live here are you and me.”
“Your point?” He says playfully as he pulls out the three old books. Jesse approaches somewhat timidly, eyeing the trilogy. They’re obviously extremely old, the once tight binding loose and looking as though any little blow will make them crumble to dust. Yet they’re near spotless considering. They’ve seemingly had a lot of use yet were meticulously cared for… Jesse gently runs his armored fingers over the velvety royal purple surface. There are old gold ribbons accenting it that are frayed at the edges along with the cover in general. Jesse shakes his head and looks up to his uncle in confusion when a realization hits him.
There are various tables strewn about, helping the room feel less crowded. Jesse approaches one with a stack of books on it and several wide open to random pages. Papers lay around with random notes rattled off in hasty but still lovely handwriting. He gets a vague feeling that he’s seen it before but he knows it’s not Romeo’s. Odd.
He scans over the notes and the book the man was reading through. There’s history, urban legends, monster facts and… Jesse laughs.
“Soren’s books? Again?” He figures this place at least makes some sense to find them in—this place was the Order’s afterall. He hums in thought as he considers the odd scene. Herobrine is interested in how the world works it seems. An oddly deep and scholarly subject to tackle for a guy who’s known for wanton destruction…
“You were trying to find your own answers in these… These and all of the other books in the library… You wanted to understand the End Dimension and what—” He shakes his head, brows furrowing, “—what it had to do with your new powers. What it was all about—if there had been any warning you and Dad could’ve seen before—” He stops suddenly, the words catching in his throat.
There’s a knowing silence that fills the room. Hiro doesn’t meet Jesse’s gaze at first, simply opting to just stare at the books in his hands. A soft sigh is blown out through the demi-god’s nose before he begins quietly nodding with a bitter smile. Romeo ghosts a hand over Hiro’s arm, the action offering enough reassurance for Hiro to continue. He straightens, sucks in a deep breath, and meets Jesse in the eye once more.
“You’re a smart kiddo…! Wasn’t expecting to just get called out like that.” He lightly teases with a weak grin. Clearing his throat however, he nods and continues. “But yes… You’ve got me there. But, I think it’s about time I stop scanning these pages over and over for some answer I’m never going to get when someone else needs them. And needs them for something I’d say is far more important than knowing why I’ve got some glowing eyes …” He smiles and gently offers them out.
Jesse feels his throat tighten at the motion. This is it. The next big step. One goal covered and now onto the next. One step closer. His stomach tightens and he holds his breath as his uncle smoothly slips the books into Jesse’s own tentative grip. Awed eyes stare down at the old covers and he can feel his hands shaking within his gauntlets. On one hand he cannot believe he went through all of this trouble for a few books, yet on the other it feels like he’s just swung open a door that won’t ever be shut on him again. A bright smile creeps its way across his face and eventually a laugh breaks out. It shakes the tension out of him but not the odd numbness cursing his lower arms and legs. Shimmering blue eyes snap back up to the glowing white of his uncle and he smiles gratefully.
“ Thank you. Thank you so much! I’m… I’m overwhelmed . I can’t even think about how I feel! But I-I know that I’m…” He nods aimlessly to himself, deciding on how he feels, “I’m excited! I’m excited to have these—to be one little step closer to figuring this all out, and to have you back and ready to help me with this… I don’t know what in the world I did to deserve so many good things coming out of one day. ” He laughs. One day. Only one , though it’d certainly been a long and tiring as hell day. Hiro smiles and squeezes Jesse’s shoulder reassuringly with a nod. He holds his nephew’s gaze for a moment, pride seemingly making his eyes gleam this time.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for even considering giving me a second chance… But now I’d say that you need to get back home and crash, young man. I don’t need my nephew collapsing from exhaustion on the way out of here.” He snickers as he lightly pushes Jesse back towards his friends. “The minecart line is perfectly safe, and trust me, you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”
Jesse nods but then frowns, “What about your library? A-And reading these together? When—“
Hiro holds up a hand, cutting Jesse off. He smiles and shakes his head as he sluggishly saunters down the steps with Jesse back to his companions.
“Don’t even fuss about the library. My home, my mess, I’ll clean it up in time. But those silly books aren’t important right now! As for reading these with you, I say we both need some space and time to process each other first.” Looking from Jesse to the tired faces of his companions he nods, “This… Us…” Hiro gestures between him and Jesse quickly with a nervous chuckle, “It’s definitely weird among other things… How about in 2 or 3 days we meet at the Nether portal and then we can start seriously talking with more clear minds. We’re certainly not on the clock and… I could use the time to take this all in.” Hiro laughs weakly and Jesse mirrors him with a nod.
“That would be really nice. Thanks for thinking of that.”
“Eh, don’t thank me yet. It was a good 60% of me knowing I’m about to have an existential crisis!” Hiro snickers as he jabs Jesse in the side. The atmosphere in the Nether for once grows to a comforting and safe one as he garners a laugh from the entire group at that quip. Laughter. Friendship. These halls for so long have been void of these beautifully comforting moments. Jesse can tell just by the look on his uncle’s face that it warms him just like it does for Jesse. A new door has opened for them both, and hopefully Jesse can help make his uncle’s chaotic afterlife just a little more pleasant… He’s got a lot of work to do, but this is a start.
The New Order of the Stone packs their things with relative ease. They know what they’re doing and Hiro’s impressed! Separating ends on a good note for Hiro and most of them, the younger trio accepting his apology quicker than the jaded Ivor. But that isn’t to say they part on bad terms, just tense. He at least manages to get a handshake out of the stubborn man. A truce for now. Jesse is more touchy feely as always and Hiro nearly topples over from his hug again. He’ll take note of that for the future—small stature, grip tight as steel. But regardless it fills him with a type of glee he hasn’t had in years. The high before the hollow low as they leave and the familiar isolation surrounds him.
He knows he isn’t alone, and certainly it got better with Romeo around. But every time a new band of travelers leaves, it always leaves Hiro’s chest feeling hollow for a bit. He knows that tonight is already going to be one hell of a night. He probably won’t sleep. Blowing out a deep sigh, Hiro turns his back to his nephew’s diminishing figure, Romeo patting his back as they walk.
Chapter 13: 13
Summary:
What about that other disk??? 11 can't get all the credit here! Jesse and Axel take some time off as well as look into the other disk Jesse's father left behind.
Notes:
SO OKAY. NEW PLAN FOR THE MOMENT! I'm worried that the chapters Ive been uploading recently have been TOO long and overloading yall with information with too much time between each lmao so!!! For the meantime I'm gonna try cutting 'em up a bit more where I can so while I apologize for the relatively short chapter I swear there's a method to my madness LMAO
EDIT 8/18/21: AXEL AND JESSE,,, MY SONS,,,, also debating coming back to this one and seriously changing just a few details so I don't end up with an annoying plothole bc goddamn. we'll see tho
EDIT 6/8/23: im gonna be real im sure I could've fixed more here but I'm not too worried about this one <3 <3 Axel and Jesse's friendship is so important to me tho 🥺🥺🥺 Also not my last edit being like "i might change a few details to avoid a plothole" and this chapter's details having been changed periodically since to completely remove that 😭😭😭 we sure did See, and now here we are again <3
Chapter Text
“So… You’re related to a demigod now…?”
“ Yeah.”
Axel blows a massive sigh out and shakes his head, overwhelmed by the sudden and huge drop of information. A soft chuckle comes from Jesse in response to the noise. It’s all he feels he can do in the situation. What a stupid sounding thing, “related to a demigod. ” He hates how cliche it is. The hero of the town and frankly the world having a secret relation to someone grand like that? Sounds like something right out of a cheesy movie. Unlike those movies however, he has plenty of time to let it all fall into place with his life. There isn’t some giant threat looming that’ll destroy everything in time. No fighting against the clock with this little adventure! He has all the time in the world to process each new thing.
And his uncle! Man… That one will certainly take a few days to initially come to terms with. Hell, it’s already been a whole day and he still feels numb from it all. But… Elated too.
Jesse adjusts his position in the giant pile of pillows he and Axel have camped out on in his still unfinished apartment. Are they just a bunch of pillows hastily thrown onto the floor? Yes. Is it just what Jesse needs right now? Absolutely. He crosses his legs atop Axel’s, the latter just watching blandly before dropping back into the pillows again and staring at the ceiling like Jesse.
“Whaddaya think?”
“Pardon?” Jesse furrows his brows, looking over to his friend in mild confusion. Axel shrugs, not taking his gaze off of the high ceiling.
“Well I mean, that’s a lot to take in! It doesn’t matter what I think of the guy, it’s all your call in the end. Your family. So… Whaddaya think? Do you think he’s trustworthy? Reliable…?” Axel mumbles, trailing off and finally glancing over at him. He finds Jesse’s face contorted in thought, not necessarily upset or anything, just thinking hard. It’s a loaded question without a truly easy answer. Sure Jesse could say that yes, he does, simply because he’s family and family loves each other.
But at the same time that’d be wrapping it up in a bow all nice and easy, and you can’t really do that with people. No, there’s always more to it. Complications happen, people are bought out, they can become corrupt. Jesse’s seen all those things firsthand. He doesn’t know his uncle well enough from an afternoon of chaotic reuniting to say for certain that he’ll remain by his side. He’s already seen one of his weaknesses in action—Romeo. And Romeo without his powers is certainly vulnerable. What if something happened? Something came up? He can’t imagine his uncle choosing himself over Romeo. Hell, he can’t imagine his uncle in that situation anyways . Every time the thought runs through his head, all he can see is his uncle freezing up. Perhaps that’s telling of a good heart in him? Maybe Jesse’s just being naive.
After a while of tossing speculation around in his head, he sucks in a tense breath, bobs his head side to side in thought, then slowly nods.
“Yeah… I trust him.”
“Hm…” Axel only hums in response. Not necessarily in a bad way, just unsure. He doesn’t know what else to say or how else to react. He didn’t meet the guy so for now, he just has Jesse’s word. He smiles a bit with a chuckle, catching Jesse’s attention.
“ What?” He says with a smile. Axel shrugs.
“Just thinkin’. Laying around like this reminded me of all the times you, me, and Olivia would do the same thing back in the treehouse. Like during the summers?” He grins a bit and Jesse snorts.
“Yeah, when it was too hot to do anything else?”
“Exactly!” He points nowhere in particular for emphasis and Jesse snorts. He’s glad to have Axel here today. Despite being a sucker for all things destructive, Axel always has an air of chillness about him. He’s a good listener when they need him for it, and the bit of normalcy just hanging with him provides is extremely welcome. He’s good company when you need your nerves to be smoothed out. Axel purses his lips in thought and Jesse quirks a brow at the sight.
“So… Your uncle. He’s a good guy?”
A warm laugh bubbles up from Jesse’s chest. “ Yes. You lost your bet with Petra, I’d start emotionally preparing yourself for whatever terms it is you guys agreed to.”
“ Eugh… Don’t remind me.” Axel grins, the two laughing in the peace the apartment brings. The warm noise dies out after some time and Axel can tell Jesse’s slipped back into his own thoughts. From his perspective, It’s odd seeing him so quiet—introspective. Sure, Jesse has always been a sort of thoughtful person—perhaps overthinking a lot of the time—but he was never quiet about it. Suppose that’s a sign of his mind slipping back to his current crisis at hand. Axel sighs and bounces a leg slightly, moving Jesse’s in the process and snapping him back to the present.
“Hm?”
“You doin’ okay man…? For real?” He eyes Jesse more seriously, the classic Axel guilt trip. Jesse sighs but shrugs with a smile.
“Just kinda numb… Running through everything still. You know how it is.”
“Mmm… I get it, I guess. Ever try voicing your thoughts? I mean, it’d be more amusing listening to you ramble like a fool than watch you stare silently off into space like some sort of edgy middle aged professor.”
Jesse snorts, his shoulders shaking with quiet laughter. He shakes his head.
“Ew, I’ve gotten that bad huh?
¨Could be worse! I could’ve tacked on the fact that you’re going through a divorce!”
“An edgy and brooding middle aged professor who’s going through a divorce?”
“As he stares out his window at the pouring rain! Yes.”
Jesse sits up to laugh and Axel grins. Bullshit allegories always make Jesse laugh, and Axel had a natural-born talent of thinking of ‘em on the fly. Jesse settles down a bit then nods to himself and swings his legs off of Axel’s and to the floor past their little pillow pile. He hops to his feet, a spring in his step as always which drags Axel’s attention back.
Jesse wanders over to the countertop which holds his records, including the bad pair. Quietly he plucks up one of the two—the one he skipped previously—as well as the old note he found with them. He wanders back over to Axel who can’t help but frown a bit.
“Alright… So your thoughts lead you back to those huh?”
“Mhm…!”
“Okay,” he huffs, “I’ll bite. What’re you thinkin’ Jesse?”
“I’m thinking that if uhhh—” He quickly squints at the old note, “— Eleven had more clues in it than I initially thought, then maybe Thirteen does as well…” He sits on the carpeted ground beside Axel, giving him a clear view of both the disk and note. He leans up against the pillows and his friend as he slides the vinyl out of its cover. It looks quite lovely! Not a scratch in its surface—a stark contrast to the shape of poor 11. Axel pauses and squints.
“You haven’t listened to this one as much have you…?”
“Only two times.” Jesse sighs, “Only once all the way through. I just remember it being creepy, but there just… There might be something else, anything.”
“How many times did you listen to 11? Seems you had that thing near memorized…”
“It still had my dad’s voice in it. Sometimes when I missed him—” He pauses, staring into the black record with a cloudy yet steely gaze. He nods, “I—... I would listen to it. Even though it scared me I just… Part of me desperately didn’t want to forget. I didn’t want the sound of his voice to be lost to my memory even though I didn’t want to think or talk about it…” He scowls and shakes his head, “I know, I sound totally weird and hypocritical. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, you’re okay dude…! It’s a crazy situation,” Axel shrugs and meets Jesse in the eye, “I probably would’ve done the same thing if it were my pop. You don’t gotta apologize for being conflicted.” He chuckles a bit and Jesse visibly relaxes. He nods with a small smile.
“Thanks Axel.”
“Not a problem.” He pauses and reaches over, lightly placing a hand down on Jesse’s arm and pushing the record down. “Hey, look… You’re still pretty tired Jesse. You said that you weren’t going to meet up with your uncle again for a few days because you need time to process. I think what you’ve got is a good idea but, like, let’s save it for later.”
“Well it’ll just take a minute. I just want to see if there’s a clue in this somewhere. I promise it’ll be quick!” Jesse slips away from Axel’s reach and his friend just sighs in a bit of frustration. Axel shakes his head.
“Jesse, dude, you’re mentally exhausted. Give yourself a day’s break from all this would ya?”
“Axel I’m fine I just—”
“You’re not though, Jesse!”
Axel’s frustration slips through momentarily but it seems to be what Jesse needs to hear. He stops walking, growing hesitant and ever so slightly shrinking in on himself. He remains silent, suddenly unsure of himself to which Axel sighs.
“ Look man, I’m only scolding ya cause I don’t wanna see you messed up or hurt. Won’t lie! I…” He pauses, scowling a bit in frustration at himself now before shrugging, “All that stuff you went through because of Romeo? It’s still fresh. A-And Olivia and I were just… ignorant of it for so long too! Because we were “busy” and shit. Now I just… I don’t want you to feel like you’re in a place where you have to work yourself nearly to death to fix it all on your own. It’s a really bad habit you’ve gotten yourself into, y’know…” He mumbles, trailing off as he picks at the dirt and leftover ash under his fingernails. He frowns at the sight, no longer having the confidence to meet Jesse in the eye. His friend sighs but smiles.
“Thank you Axel… I don’t mean to worry you and the others.”
“Yeah well,” Axel lets out a stressed sigh but smiles, “We’ve been friends for pretty damn long now! Can’t help but get a bit anxious when you’re in trouble.”
“I promise I’ll try to stay out of the thick of it.”
“Ehh I know you won’t, but thanks, it’s the thought that counts.” Axel shrugs with a grin and Jesse laughs. He taps the disk in his hands, still not wanting to put it down right away. It’s on his mind and will continue to be until he listens to it. Suppose that’s how he’s getting through this all, taking one task at a time and having a one track mind about it. Axel quirks a brow at him and Jesse grins sheepishly.
“Okay, tell you what! Just… Let me listen to this once then I’ll drop it and we can run around town for the rest of the day! Deal?”
“ Deal!” Axel jumps on the offer, relieved at the concession from Jesse. Plus he’d honestly be lying if he wasn’t at least a bit curious about the sound of that record. Creepy ambiance and music always gives him goosebumps but he loves the small rush. What can he say? He’s an adrenaline junkie! Pausing in his thoughts he snatches up the note Jesse left behind and examines it. The lettering is quite nice, a bit loopy though. Jesse wanders back over, sharing a look. He frowns a bit as he studies it with him.
“I don’t know how I feel about that note to be honest… I mean, my dad could be curt, yeah, but it just…”
“Seems too robotic? It’s pretty freaky honestly…”
Jesse nods, “It looks a lot like my dad’s writing though is the thing. Or at least…” He pauses in thought. He blinks then holds up finger and hurries over to his other disks. Plucking a random one out of the stack he squints at the old writing written on the cover. Humming in thought, Axel knows he’s come to some conclusion.
“What’s up?”
“Can I see that?” He holds his hand out for the note, curiosity lacing his tone. Axel hesitates but nods and passes it over. Jesse sets it down on top of the vinyl cover right next to the other bit of writing. He sits down by Axel once again and they both squint at the different messages. The two bits of writing are strikingly similar, making Jesse momentarily doubt himself. Yet there’s a slight difference. The writing in the note is a bit larger, with more curves than his father’s. It’s a faint difference however. Jesse frowns.
“You see how this one is more curvy?”
“Yeah…?” Axel nods slowly, not sure where Jesse’s going with this. Jesse shakes his head.
“My dad never wrote like that. Like, okay, I get that it’s not a huge difference but I just feel like there’s something to it!” He holds the record and small piece of paper closer to his face, scrutinizing each stroke of ink throughout both.
“Okay, I get what you’re going for but I dunno Jesse… It’s pretty small. Maybe your dad was just stressed—in a hurry.”
“I just… I’m not so sure he did make them. My dad was good, yeah but… I don’t remember him carrying a recorder with him, unless he already set one up out there…” He trails off, falling into his own mess of thoughts.
Axel shrugs, “Who else would’ve? Maybe he felt something was up, scribbled that note in a hurry, and hit record in the places he thought he should be recording. Like, two suspicious parts of the cave or whatever?”
“No.” Jesse sits back, “That’s too much effort to go through. Plus I found them on his workbench by the entrance, Axel. It’s just not realistic for him to have been recorded getting caught in 11 then just, I dunno, coming back to the overworld to tidy them up before popping back to the End!” Jesse chuckles lightly at the thought and Axel laughs with a shrug.
“Hey man I’m just throwing out ideas. Know anyone with handwriting the note hints at?”
Jesse pauses.
“Papers lay around with random notes rattled off in hasty but still lovely handwriting. He gets a vague feeling that he’s seen it before but he knows it’s not Romeo’s. Odd.”
Hiro’s handwriting. The bits of it he saw in the Nether.
A chill runs down Jesse’s spine. No. That can’t be it. His uncle wouldn’t do that. Jesse swallows, the pain suddenly showing up on his face. Axel sits up a bit, suddenly worried. He ghosts a hand over his friend’s arm.
“ Woah. Hey man, you feeling okay? You just went pale… Did—... Did you think of someone?”
“ I need more time to figure it out. I don’t wanna jump to conclusions, Axel.” Jesse murmurs quietly, shaking his head as he gets up. Axel watches him, brow suddenly furrowed in concern.
“Jess what’d we say? No secrets, remember? We don’t want you bottling things up and having them just eat away at you!”
“I-I know I just—!” He stops, not really having a good explanation. He shakes his head, “I-I need to judge first before announcing it or whatever… I don’t want things being tense.”
“Jesse—”
“Drop it, Axel.” Jesse gets a slight edge to his voice, and Axel knows that anymore pushing at this point would just stress his friend out further. He hates doing it, but with a scowl he sighs and flops back onto the pillows. Axel rubs his face and Jesse drops the record and note off on the counter. He picks up 13 again and glances back over to his friend apologetically. Axel just shrugs—what’s he gonna do? He knows that if Jesse’s not gonna budge, then he’s not gonna budge. Jesse nods quietly and pulls the record player out once more and sets it by their pillow pile.
He plops down by Axel’s legs, leaning back and blowing out a sigh. He glances over the record once more, for some reason expecting it to be suddenly scratched, broken or cracked in the few minutes he set it down. Or maybe he was just hoping that’d happen. It was one of the two. He huffs and sets it down on the player but hesitates before setting it to play. Axel quirks a brow then blinks in surprise as Jesse flops back and looks up to his friend.
“I’m sorry for being stubborn and snappy… I’m not trying to be, like, a dick.” Jesse shakes his head a bit, blue eyes genuine. Axel stares at him for a minute before he fails to hide his own amusement. He chuckles a bit under his breath and playfully shoves Jesse’s head away.
“You know I can’t stay mad at you. Now come on! Let’s solve this spooky disk!” He shares a grin with Jesse who nods. He turns back to the record player, braces himself by sucking in a breath, and sets it to finally play.
As the first eerie tone rings out he slowly sits back, blowing a controlled breath out. Axel grimaces at the first sound. It’s gross. The first bell chimes kick in and Jesse shivers. Axel furrows his brow, meeting Jesse in the eye. He nods—he’s okay. He holds up his hand however and Axel quickly clasps it with a hearty shake. Jesse’s surprisingly composed, however his white-knuckled grip allows his true nerves to shine through. A rising few notes with an odd instrument come in—chimes? Something like that. It reminds him of water. Like dripping.
Axel feels Jesse’s grip relax at least slightly as the tones just continue aimlessly, slowly forming a haunting tune. It’s not much, but it’s there. The echoes and intensity of some notes are chilling however. Several notes just being drawn out for what felt like years. However, when things seem to fall into a somewhat predictable pattern, there’s a curveball thrown in.
“What was—”
“Shh!” Jesse squeezes his hand, suddenly perking up. Right before the music amped up into a note that chilled his blood there was a faint sound. Three to be precise. It sounded off in the distance from wherever this was recording. Bangs? No, it was something different… But familiar.
“Arrows…” Jesse murmurs, Axel blinking in surprise before scrunching up his face as he listens in. Both men now alert, the disk continues, Jesse seemingly right about it holding a few secrets. The bells and chimes continue, soon followed by a deep rumbling which shifts to another odd tune. Not a whistle but not a bell, another wind instrument maybe?
Then it cuts. Jesse and Axel blink.
“That can’t be it… That’s nothing!”
“Well no, hold on, we DID get to hear—”
Then it starts up again. Continuing. Both men go quiet once more as the faint howling of wind grows steadily louder, before an overwhelmingly large gust blows over. The chimes are faint but audible, and another interesting sound is heard. Water splashing! It sounds like something decently sized was dropped into water. The sound of currents flowing get drowned out once more by the music taking its place at the forefront once again. It doesn’t last much longer, the sound of wind rising in pitch being the last thing heard before this bizarre disk grows quiet.
Jesse sits there dumbfounded. Axel matches him and the two just slouch there for a long, quiet minute as everything flows through their minds.
“Wait wait wait. What was all that? Like I get the music, yeah, but the other noises! That shit was weird…” Axel shakes his head and Jesse nods in agreement as he plucks the record up. He examines it as if an explanation would be written all over it. He frowns and sits back in thought again.
“It was recorded at the same time as 11… I’m sure of it.”
That catches Axel’s attention. He squints and scratches the bit of fuzz on his chin. “Okay smart guy, what makes ya say that?”
“Well okay,” Jesse shifts his position to look at Axel, “First off there’s the fact that we heard distant but distinct cave noises. The wind, the water, and the arrows. The wind in particular is super interesting!”
“I’m not following.”
“When I showed up to that cave, every torch that my father had lit was out. Not put out from rain nor burnt out. Blown out. Every single one of them! That massive gust of wind that we heard mid way through might have been what blew them out… Then those arrows! Those must’ve been dad—”
“—or a skeleton, Jesse.”
“Well, listen! Listen to this okay? My father snatches a bow from a skeleton, he’s exploring the stronghold further when he gets spooked. Something starts chasing him.”
“The Enderman…” Axel murmurs and Jesse nods.
“He shoots off a few shots to get the thing to back off, it works but one of the arrows knocks open some air pocket or something. That gust of wind! The sudden burst of air blows up and out, leaving my dad in the dark since the torches were put out and—!”
“Cue 11!”
Jesse nods quickly, a smile on his face at the theory. It’s plausible! Some more details cleared up! Some more questions struck out! But… Wait. Jesse frowns, pausing in his celebration and covering his mouth in serious thought. Axel drops his own smile at Jesse’s look of confusion. So, okay, they have a decent idea of what happened in Steve’s last few minutes on Earth. But then again, it’s only a theory, no evidence. Hell there’s no evidence this disk even lined up with the time. But then why would it have been on his father’s workbench? Why would it be a part of a pair? Furthermore there was still that water, what dropped?
“I don’t get why this one was recorded…” He murmurs with a sigh. “It's just a bunch of eerie music and sounds of someone obviously getting chased. But the place it was recorded seems stationary, unlike 11. Both disks were labelled 'Exploration' so why wasn't this one on the move? And that begs the question of where disk 12 went! Not to mention why they'd be left on my father's workbench. A-And then that water! What on Earth dropped?”
“Sounded like a book.” Axel picks his teeth a bit and shrugs nonchalantly. Jesse blinks.
“How on Earth do you figure that?”
“I’m a man of many talents Jesse!” Axel grins as he sits back, arms folded behind his head. “It was totally a book. Average sized but thick.”
“... Right. Okay. I’m taking your guess with a massive grain of salt but we’ll go with it. I guess it did sound light enough to be just a book.”
“ You’re totally jealous!”
“I am NOT .”
“ HA! Just wait. You’ll see it was a book. I’m right.”
“You’re full of it!” Jesse laughs and shakes his head. Axel snickers with a grin that stretches from ear to ear. Jesse nods to himself, suddenly a bit excited, “ Whatever it was—book or not—I think there’s a chance that it may still be sitting at the bottom of that cave system! I wonder…” He fails to finish his thought aloud once more, leaving Axel hanging. He visibly runs through a menagerie of thoughts and Axel is a bit sad to see the excitement in his eyes die out once more. Jesse sighs, “Still don’t get why they were made though. Nothing we have makes sense… ”
“Well… Perhaps we gotta start thinking of other things that could’ve happened?”
“What do you mean?”
Axel shrugs and rubs the back of his neck, “Maybe they were tryna scare you—or whoever grabbed those things—off. Some random disks filled with creepy music and terrifying monster sounds? Uh, yeah, I’ll pass on that thank you. And I mean no offense, but it worked! Those things traumatized you as a kid Jesse! It almost feels like they’re just mocking you now. Like whatever show off created ‘em just made ‘em to get under your skin! They probably had the music ready to go on a note block or some shit and started playing it just loud enough that it drowned out anything notable. They were cocky too. If they weren’t then they wouldn’t have recorded these period.”
"Or they just happened to be recording when they caught something bad."
"But then why leave them on the workbench, like you said!"
“I-I don’t wanna think about that possibility Axel.” Tension returns to Jesse as the thought of someone possibly orchestrating his father’s death comes up. That’s the last thing he wants to figure out. He can’t even humor that right now. No. That’s one step too far. Too much.
“Jesse, it’s a realistic—”
“My Dad didn’t have enemies, Axel!” Jesse shoots back quickly, now distressed. He stands, quickly beginning to pace. “There was no one who would’ve wanted to torture him like that or record his last moments! Sides, that’s assuming that they knew the Enderman was gonna attack, which is ridiculous! Last I checked, Endermen don’t keep a neat little calendar with the days they’re gonna randomly yank people to the End on full display! A-And like you said, we don’t even know if this was for sure recorded at the same time..! It— It could just be random cave noises. Manufactured, even.” He trails off, losing steam.
“ God dude…” Axel blows out a long breath. He frowns, knowing he should’ve just stuck to his gut with not letting him listen to that disk yet. Now wasn’t the time. But, it’s too late to change anything. Now he just has to help Jesse settle down again.
“I-I regret listening to this right now. Let’s just—... Shelf this all. I don’t wanna think about it. Not on top of everything else. I’ll talk to my uncle about it and we’ll see what he thinks. He’ll know some more things about Dad hopefully. And— And when we read those End Dimension books together, we could also go through a few of Dad’s journals maybe…” He nods to himself, forming a vague sort of plan in his head as Axel watches. Finally Axel grunts and stands up. He wanders over to his scatterbrained friend and gently takes the record from his hands. Jesse only blinks in response, too overwhelmed to really oppose at this point. Axel smiles calmly and goes to set the record down next to its partner. He nods to Jesse.
“Alright, let’s get you out of the house for a bit. Get some fresh air.”
“ A— Axel I—”
“You promised, Jesse.” Axel meets his friend in the eye and Jesse shuts his mouth. He was caught. He can’t just break a promise. But then again he made that promise honestly not thinking anything would really come from their little mini investigation. Jesse feels his nerves beginning to return a bit as the initial shock begins wearing off and he’s forced back to reality. Back to the present. He locks his hands together awkwardly, not meeting his friend in the eye anymore.
“I’m just… Not sure…” He mumbles, trailing off. Axel drops a hand down onto his friend’s shoulder, grabbing his attention.
“ Hey, look… I know that you have a lot to take in right now… But you need a break from it. I’m sorry for letting you freak yourself out again. But, this was good, we know a few more things like you said we might! Just don’t let your brain explode from all of it now a’ight?” He lightheartedly jabs his friend in the side before slinging an arm down over Jesse’s shoulders. Jesse looks up at him questioningly, a strained look on his face. Axel just laughs a bit and begins walking, shoving his other hand in his pocket. “Don’t worry! We’re just gonna wander! If you don’t wanna talk a whole lot, then that’s cool too! But it’ll be good to get you out to actually see people, and talk to them about normal and boring things!”
Jesse takes a minute. Quietly processing. Eventually, he blows his bangs out of his eyes and nods rather absentmindedly. “Normal and boring. I think I can do that.”
“Sweet! Off we go then!”
Chapter 14: Downtime
Summary:
Jesse takes time to relax and have fun around town with his friends to take a breather from life
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Stepping out of the apartment and into the large halls of the complex does admittedly little to soothe Jesse's frayed nerves. The marble floors echo the clacking of his boots’ heels right back to him in a way that sends a shiver down his spine. He tries shaking it off casually but gets another squeeze from Axel’s arm still lazily slung across his shoulders. He offers a meek smile up to the man, raising a hand to pat his arm twice in thanks.
He sinks into his friend a little, focusing on the comfort and security he provides rather than the paranoia prodding at his mind. It’s aggravating how easily he can snap back into that nervousness he had as a child, always feeling like he wants to look over his shoulders. No, he needs to just refocus on literally anything and everything else. With that in mind, he picks up their pace a little—the sooner they get outside the quicker they run into normal people and the sooner he can get his mind to settle.
But, surprise surprise, as they turn the corner they actually manage to run into another soul lingering in the empty halls. Both Jesse and Axel stumble back to keep from bumping into the older man who seems just as surprised to see them—but pleasantly so.
“ Captain Stoddard!” Jesse blurts out, voice cracking. He holds a hand to his heart and blows out a sigh of relief though as his body finally catches up to his brain and drops his racing pulse—he’s far too tense for his own good. The older man looks at him oddly, but smiles nonetheless.
He’s a paler man but one who’s seen a lot of sunshine in his life and already seems to be soaking it up if the new tan lines are anything to go by. His hair’s mostly grey with some black roots still hanging on, though all pushed back and trimmed fairly neatly. Probably not as neat as his wife would like, much like his stubble. Green eyes sit behind some light metal framed glasses and his face has some pale knicks and scars scattered amongst the wrinkles settling in. Despite that however, he’s still quite a healthy man. Broad shoulders, steady muscle, and a healthy flush to his skin—the man is certainly keeping ahead of his age. Though his outfit certainly oozes the opposite of something intimidating—a floral button up, simple black slacks, and muddied up old boots that clash.
“ ‘Captain?’’” He repeats, a playful lilt to his voice. Jesse smiles sheepishly and clears his throat. Right— he’s not quite used to such a change in Beacontown’s line-up yet.
“Sorry— Odin . How’s the retired life treatin’ you?”
Axel’s eyes widen with that as he shoots the man—Odin—a look, “ Retired?! Aw man! When did that happen?”
“ Well, as much as I thoroughly enjoyed helping you lot keep Beacontown safe,” He laughs, stretching his arms a little with a shrug, “Runnin’ around 24/7 doing stuff for both that Admin fella and Lukas’ little posse back to back was more action than I’ve seen in years. Had I been any younger, I would’ve been able to bounce back in no time flat but, ah, I’m not what I used to be.”
“Damn… Gonna miss picking on ya whenever I pass through the gates!” Axel says with a grin, getting another laugh out of the man.
“While the feeling is mutual, I don’t think my knees could handle much more of it all—and the wife was certainly growing anxious.” He smiles, “Nadine’s already a worrier by nature, figured I’d done enough scaring her. So, a few weeks after the dust settled I got someone else appointed in my place. You remember Christine, right?”
“ Ugh… The stickler…” Axel grimaces, doing his best to stifle a groan as Jesse laughs. He bumps Axel in the arm, earning just a shrug from him. Jesse rolls his eyes with a smile. It’s been odd adjusting to someone else leading Beacontown’s Watch in Odin’s stead—the man has held onto the mantle from the time of the Witherstorm and always held similar roles in his life—but it’s a natural change. He’s certainly done more than enough for keeping Beacontown safe when Jesse and the others simply couldn’t. He’s earned his time settling down. That said though…
Jesse shoots Odin a sly look, “Y’know… For a man touting the ‘retired’ role, it sure seems to me like you’re out on one of your classic patrols.” He rests his hands on his hips, a cockeyed grin slipping onto his face, “This unfinished ghost town of a building isn’t exactly where I’d expect to see civilians mulling about yet— especially with the staircase up. Getting bored already?”
Now it’s the older man’s turn to look sheepish. He forces out a nervous laugh and rubs at his neck. All he can manage to do is shrug a little and Jesse just beams. Here the man is claiming his wife’s the worrier and yet he’s still out poking around for any sign of trouble. Old habits die hard, he supposes. Nice to know it’s not just him.
“... Suppose I can’t exactly try and slip anything by you, can I?” He jokes then blows out a sigh, clapping his hands together briefly before letting them swing at his sides, “Can’t help being antsy—I’ve never been much of a sitter as you well know.”
“Uh-huh, and how’s Nadine taking it?”
Odin chuckles weakly with a shrug, “I’m sure you already know the answer. Tells me the same as what you probably will—that I oughta be walking through some nice nature trail or on a beach rather than sticking my nose in alleys I don’t have to anymore. She even joked that if I keep wandering off on her that she’ll just start filing Missing Person reports!”
Jesse chuckles at that, “Careful, she’s a woman of her word!”
“Darn right—that’s what got me to marry her! I’m trying t’ be quick, but I figured I’d take a peek in here! The climb was a great workout! But enough about me,” He cocks a brow, lightly poking at Jesse, “You are oozing nerves, boy. Already tangled up in something new, huh?”
“Heh. Are you really that surprised?” Jesse feels his cheeks burn a little as that self-awareness returns. Odin just smiles.
“I don’t think anything surprises me at this point. Just don’t go getting yourself killed the second I’m off-duty—it’d be a bad look for poor Christie.” He winks and pats Jesse on the shoulder. Jesse snorts, nodding.
“I think I can manage that at least. Just trying to settle the nerves and piece some stuff together at this point.”
“Ah! That reminds me!” Odin perks up and steps out of their way, pointing off down the hall towards the stairwells, “Ran into Radar on the way here—The kid’s looking for you down ‘round the main street.”
“Oh! Thanks for the tip!” He smiles and feels a little burst of energy at the thought. It feels like it’s been ages since he’s seen Radar—he’s got so much to tell and thank him for. He takes a few steps forward in that direction without thinking before pausing and glancing back, “We’ll see you around, Odin—don’t stay out for too long.”
“Yeah, thanks Cap.” Axel hums with a hearty slap on the man’s back as he passes to catch up to Jesse. Odin just huffs and smiles, waving them off.
“Stay safe, boys!”
On that note and with a good chunk of his anxiety thoroughly pushed to the side, Jesse moves quickly through the expansive building. It forces Axel to even pick up his pace, which he doesn’t quite catch until halfway through. He slows it down with a nervous grin and a laugh from his friend before they finally fall back into stride. With warm sunshine pouring in through the grand windows and bathing them in different colored light of its mosaics, Jesse focuses in on every little detail around him that he can. Anything to keep his mind away from those disks for the moment.
~~~~~
“ Eugh… No offense but how long does it really take to install elevators in that stupid tower?”
Jesse smiles and laughs a bit at his friend’s complaint. He can’t blame him though, there are way too many stairs needed to climb all the way back up to his apartment. Jesse shrugs, the small bit of activity already making him feel a bit better. Normal.
“Whenever Olivia and her little ‘ helpers ’ get spare time to work on ‘em, I guess! She’s doing it for her class y’know! Not everyday you get to show a bunch of kids how to build redstone elevators for something with the height equivalent of a skyscraper.” Jesse grins with a shrug. Axel groans and rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, well, look. Stairs are awful no matter how strong a person is.”
“Oh no I agree.”
“Then why don’t you ever complain about it?”
“You always beat me to the punch!” Jesse grins and Axel huffs. Alright. He sees how it is.
It’s a beautiful day at the very least. The sun’s out and warming the place more than usual—a sign of the seasons rapidly changing. The sky is a clear and perfect blue with clouds puffy and white as pearls. Then of course, Beacontown is as lively as ever! It isn’t a surprise with the nice weather. Jesse sucks in a deep breath of the crisp air. It’s damn good being home. Despite only being there for a day, the Nether gets old fast. Perhaps it was because it was so similar to the First World where he spent a few miserable weeks not even a year ago. Well, whatever it is, it just makes him appreciate his overworld home all the more.
Jesse hops down the marble stairs from the center with a happy bounce in each step and a smile stretched across his face. From there, he and Axel begin making their way down one of the main roads. Despite his grumbling, it’s easy to tell that Axel’s relieved they’ve made their way out of that stuffy apartment. Jesse feels silly for even doubting him—nothing really improves his spirits like just taking a walk through town and saying hello to everyone that he can.
He’s found himself becoming a lot more sentimental in recent years. He’s always been a sucker for the small moments and wonders of the world, but with the drastic change to such a fast-paced lifestyle, he found himself losing sight of that for a while. But returning to those old habits feels almost like coming home, and every little moment finds a way of being special—even if it’s something as simple as smelling newly blooming flowers. A day like this one? Oh, it’ll be easy to find a mountain of things like that.
Jesse and Axel wave to some passersby as they meander down the main street. It’s always such a joy to see his townfolk, and for the most part he’s greeted with equally warm energy. That said, there’s still plenty of people in his city who are wary of things—wary of him. Romeo left a lasting impact that isn’t just going to wear off in a few months. All Jesse can do is continue to work diligently and do everything within his power to keep his city safe and regain their trust. But with people like Odin helping cover the ground he can’t, things should be in safe hands. Despite the sheer size and expansion of his home though, Jesse still does his damndest to meet each person at least once and help in whatever ways he can. Transparency and that sense of community is important to him, and one he wants to consistently foster.
Past speaking to Radar, he isn’t quite sure where he wants to go today, but then again he hardly ever does when he decides to walk through town. Things usually just come up on their own.
“ OH! JESSE! Hey!”
Speaking of which, here we go. Jesse quirks a brow and stops mid stride, turning around to find where the familiarly squeaky voice came from. Axel bumps his arm, nabbing his attention, and points behind them. Not far behind Radar waves with Stella and even Lluna right behind her. Jesse beams and waves back as the three quickly hurry over to the two men.
Jesse doesn’t even get a chance to say hello before Radar goes in for a hug. He laughs and wraps the kid into a tight hug back. This is actually the first time he’s seen Radar in days. Sure that isn’t super long but it already feels like it was months ago. He had put him in charge the morning before his friends came to help him unpack. A few more days and that’ll have been a week ago now. Wow. Jesse decides not to think about that quite yet. With one final squeeze he lets go of Radar and holds out a hand to Stella.
She cocks a brow, looking from his hand to him with her hands derisively sitting at her hips. Jesse rolls his eyes and nearly takes it back before she snags it and quickly hugs him. He nearly stumbles at the sudden yank and the hug is over just as quick as it started. Stella pats his cheek with a smirk.
“ Come on, Jesse. We’re friends, and I haven’t seen you in ages! I’m entitled to more than a handshake.” She exaggerates and Jesse can help but let out a tired chuckle. She sighs and crosses her arms, becoming quieter with her green eyes shimmering in concern, “How are you doing, handsome…? Petra’s told me that you’ve had quite a week.”
Jesse rubs the back of his neck and shrugs, suddenly growing nervous. He didn’t expect Stella of all people to know so soon, but then again he should’ve figured she’d get Petra to spill sooner rather than later. Why’s he so nervous anyways? They’re fairly decent friends at this point so it’s not like there’s any bad blood anymore. Occasional poking and prodding at most.
“ Ehh …”
She rolls her eyes, “Well I could’ve guessed that. You look considerably sloppier than usual.”
“ Gee. Thanks.” He huffs and Stella opens her mouth to retort but he just shakes his head with a tired smile and continues. “I’m giving you a hard time, no need to bite back. I’m managing, but I think things are getting better! It just takes some time, is all.”
“Well, that’s better than nothing. If you ever need help with anything in the meantime, I got you covered.” He holds a hand over her heart and nods perhaps a bit too genuinely. She purses her lips and glances to the side, “For example I could… Help clean up your apartment—”
“Nope!” Radar cuts her off to everyone’s surprise. She gasps and glares at the teen but can’t get out a word before Jesse laughs. Radar continues, now addressing Jesse. “For the record, before we saw you, I was stopping her from going up and messing with your things any further!”
“I wasn’t gonna do that much!”
“ Uh huh, yeah!”
“Just a few touch-ups to the carpet, some shifts to the paint-jobs perhaps, a remoulding for the loft and a little bit of closet alphabetization! ” She says, pinching her fingers together as if those are minuscule tasks. Jesse can only huff in amusement—to be fair, he’d probably prattle the same things off as small himself. He supposes that’s part of a reason they’ve ended up getting along so well—both utter workaholics. Radar rolls his eyes.
“ No. ”
“Jesse!” Stella whines, giving him a pair of innocent puppydog eyes. Jesse just snorts and nods to Radar.
“ Thank you, Radar.”
“ Oh come on!” She snaps, voice cracking. Jesse laughs and gently pushes by her to say hi to Lluna. The llama snorts herself at Stella’s reaction before happily leaning into Jesse’s touch. He smiles and crouches down, running his hands through her fur for probably a bit longer than normal. He glances back at Stella and Radar as he does so.
“So, what were you two up to before that?”
Radar smiles, holding his clipboard to his chest with glee. “I was going to go speak to Jack! He and Nurm wanted to talk about uhh—...” He nervously glances at Stella, who cocks a brow. He shrugs, “ S-Stuff…!”
“... Stuff?” Jesse repeats. Lluna snorts and Jesse eyes her. Radar laughs nervously.
“Well he just… Wanted an update on you and everything… He felt bad about not being able to tag along to the Nether.”
Jesse nods slowly, considering it. He hates to say it, but the man had completely slipped his mind in the midst of it all. Guilt stabs into him for it, but of all people around, he’ll certainly understand. He’s certainly touched to know he cares so much, but again feels foolish for somehow being surprised by that. He’s the one who really broke the ice the other day, after all. Which he still needs to properly thank him for—god does he owe that man.
Lluna gently headbutts the young man, shoving him back into the present. Jesse blinks then chuckles, nervously glancing behind him and noticing the worry-laced looks from his friends. He holds out a hand, assuring he’s fine. Lost in his thoughts again, such is becoming a nervewracking norm. He stands up straight and stretches a bit, nodding to himself.
“Well… I’ve been meaning to talk to Jack so how about Axel and I tag along?” He stuffs his hands in his pockets with a smile, “It could be a fun surprise for him!”
Radar visibly beams, quickly nodding. “ O-Of course! Yes! He’d love that for sure!”
“Then it’s a plan!” Jesse grins and nods to begin walking. Stella however stalls. The small group glance back at her expectantly and she simply smiles sheepishly.
“I uh— Actually I think I have a few more things to do! Is all…” She lies through her teeth. Her heels click against the cobble as she slowly begins backing up… in the exact direction of Jesse’s new place. Jesse playfully rolls his eyes. Axel huffs and pats her on the back sending her staggering forward with the group, “H-Hey!”
“You are not slick Stella. Come on, we can talk about my apartment another time.” Jesse says with a grin as he catches her by the hand and tugs her forward. She stumbles just a little but uses him to balance herself, shooting him a somewhat pouty glare. She fumbles over her words, attempting to spit out a retort. She fails however and eventually just scrunches up her nose.
“I’m not that easy to read…” She mumbles, falling into step with the group. Jesse chuckles and pats her shoulder.
“ Yes you are.”
“You’ve made a promise to me now though—we will have further talks about that apartment of yours. I have a feeling it’s being left in utter disarray with all this newfound trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.” She smirks a little, “Can’t ever slow down, now can you?”
“You almost sound envious— wanna trade lives for a bit?”
Stella just blows out a curt laugh at that, blonde hair glimmering in the sunshine as she flicks her head.
~~~~~
Jack and Nurm’s Adventure Emporium.
It’s not a place Jesse expected to see as a second home but it may as well be at this point. Jack and Nurm have become such impactful figures in Jesse’s life in the short time he’s known them, yet in less than a year he feels like he’s known them as long as someone like Ivor. It’s utterly surreal to wrap his head around the fact that they weren’t there for so much of what the New Order has accomplished. He’s certainly not going to complain about such a solid new connection though!
The walk there is pleasant as expected. Radar and Stella certainly help keep spirits light with their bickering and prodding. Jesse feels his cheeks begin to burn at keeping a smile for so long, yet he wouldn’t trade it for the world. The shop is nestled up in what used to be a corner of Beacontown, however with the rapid expansion of the city it’s become far more centered. Jesse smiles at the sight and mere thought of all the new construction. It’s beautiful! Lukas, the genius, has taken charge of a lot of the construction projects in the city in his spare time. He just has to hand it to him, things are truly looking breathtaking. Far better than if he was trusted with construction plans. He’s lucky Lukas was willing to take up such a responsibility.
Axel speeds ahead a bit to grab the door. He grins as he pulls and holds the door open, leaning up against the wood. Radar nods politely in thanks as he hustles into the Emporium. Stella follows, dignified as usual and simply smiling in thanks. Jesse pats his friend on the chest in thanks as he passes and Axel tails him with a smile. Behind him, he hears Axel chuckle in awe from behind him as they enter. This place always seems to shock the big guy, and Jesse can’t blame him. Jack and Nurm have one hell of a collection going.
It’s different than walking into a shop like Bruce’s—this place is homely and reeks of story upon story to be told rather than just a supply stop. Walking into the warmly lit emporium is pleasant to say the least and Jesse easily finds himself blowing out a sigh as he enters. It’s comforting and the air smells of smoke and cedar, a surprisingly pleasant and rather suiting scent. The plush carpet feels soothing under his boots, a welcome change from the cobblestone outside.
Jesse leaves Axel to peruse the aisles of nifty artifacts on his own in order to find Jack or Nurm. Turning the corner of one he spots Radar already talking with Nurm at the corner counter. Jesse smiles, putting his hands in his pockets. He inches closer, not really sure if he wants to interrupt their conversation or not. However he doesn’t get the chance to decide for himself as Nurm spots the young man and immediately lights up. He grins and unfolds his hands to open them for a hug. Jesse chuckles and hurries over, giving the man a good hug in greeting. Nurm after backing up smiles brightly, his eyes wrinkling with the gesture. He messes up Jesse’s hair as Radar begins to speak.
“We were just talking about how you were doing! Nurm here’s been worried to bits about you!”
Jesse chuckles weakly, “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” He offers the older man a tired but genuine smile, “I’m sorry for keeping you on edge for nearly a week… I’ve been out of it as of late.” He rubs the back of his neck and Nurm quickly shakes his head, assuring him it’s fine.
‘You do not need to apologize for being overwhelmed.’ He signs to the young man, Jesse tracking the motions of his hands quickly. He sighs a bit in relief and nods once more in thanks. Nurm begins signing again, ‘How was your Nether trip? I hope you found what you were looking for.’
“ Heh! I did, actually! That and uhh… Quite a bit more than expected. But I’d prefer to tell both you and Jack together if that’s alright. It’s… still a lot to process and having to repeat it all day would probably wear me thin.”
Nurm, despite a flash of concern in his eyes, nods in understanding. He clasps his hands together once more and relaxes, glancing out over the others in the shop. Always the quiet but watchful eye of the Emporium, he’s damn sharp too! Jesse watches as he squints slightly at Stella getting a bit too close to one of their tridents on display. Luckily however Lluna tugs her away, Stella rolling her eyes to the heavens in response. A soft chuckle bubbles up from Jesse’s chest, his smile quickly becoming infectious to the two around him.
Radar smiles and claps his hands together, shifting a bit in place. He apparently has something he wants to say. Jesse meets his gaze and cocks a brow, slightly startling the young man. Radar laughs a bit nervously and holds his hands up innocently before clearing his throat and turning to Nurm.
“Umm… I don’t think any of us have actually seen Jack yet. Is— Is he here? Or did we come at the wrong time? He said he would be available around now…” He mumbles the last bit under his breath and Nurm blows a sigh out through his nose. His shoulders shake in a quiet chuckle as he shakes his head. He unfolds his hands once more to begin signing, when a loud slam from the far back of the Emporium makes everyone in the room freeze.
Jack’s booming voice echoes through the Emporium, becoming less and less muffled as he makes his way out of the back of the Emporium. He sounds rather… impatient? Upset, perhaps? Either way it sounds like he’s arguing some point. Then there’s a pause, another voice? The second one is much more relaxed and thus quieter, but Jesse is certain he heard another man speaking.
“No, no, no! Don’t be stupid!” Jack speed walks finally into view, his words becoming clear. In his frenzy he doesn’t quite catch sight of the large group. Sauntering out right behind him and catching the group by a bit of surprise is none other than Bruce. Eyes closed, arms crossed, and with an easy smile on his face, he’s obviously amused by whatever Jack is going off about.
“I simply offered my professional advice, Jack. You asked for such and I’ve delivered! Kinda rude to be up in arms over something you requested.” Bruce replies casually and Jesse swears he can see the very instant Jack pops a vessel. However, his outburst will have to wait. Cool mint eyes flick over to the group, piercing for a moment before recognition strikes. Bruce immediately lights up into a grin, turning his attention over to the bunch. “ Jesse?! Is that you, kid? Ha!”
Bruce shoves past Jack, who stumbles over his words and deflates. Taking notice of all the business he suddenly has, he can’t help but shrink back in slight embarrassment before hurrying over himself.
Bruce greets Jesse first with a hearty handshake and bright smile before quickly being shoved aside by Jack. He slings an arm around the young man and traps him in a noogie of the century. Jesse squeaks at the sudden motion, quickly laughing and trying to push Jack back. The man grins and lets go only to hastily scoop Jesse up into a big ol’ bear hug.
“HAHA! Beacontown’s Hero returns from another thrilling adventure!” Jack steps back and grins as Jesse can’t help but beam up at his friend. Jack cocks a brow, a playful smirk dancing across his face, “ Did ya make those Nether beasts blood run cold?”
Jesse snickers and gently shoves Jack’s face back as he shakes his head. “I don’t know if I can say that.” He pauses. He remembers Romeo. He doesn’t even attempt to hide the sly look in his eyes, “Well, scratch that, I’m pretty sure I made one of ‘em shake in their boots.”
“Haha! That’s what we like to hear!” Jack pumps a fist in the air, newfound energy igniting him. Bruce quickly sneaks under Jack’s arm to step closer to Jesse.
“So the trip went well, I take it? Were those potions helpful?”
Jack scoffs and rolls his eyes, snatching Bruce by the collar and pulling him back a step. Bruce shoots him a disdainful look to say the least. Jesse’s eyes are momentarily taken off the two by the sound of Radar giggling at his side. Glancing over, he shares a look of equal amusement with the kid. It’s funny seeing their little rivalry in action! Though Jesse’s sure that Jack is holding back thanks to them all being there.
Jesse interrupts their glaring contest and rubs the back of his neck, “The Nether was uhh… definitely something. ” He laughs nervously, “I honestly got more out of it than I ever could’ve guessed!”
“Oh?” Both men respond in unison. Jesse nods and takes a slight step back to get a better look of everyone listening. Axel, already knowing the story, only partially listens in as he skims nearby shelves. Radar waits with a smile right alongside Stella. Leaning back against the counter, Jesse’s comforted by Lluna who headbutts him gently in the arm. He chuckles and absentmindedly begins petting here as he sorts through the chaotic mess of thoughts in his mind.
“Yeah… We were able to get the books! I’m looking forward to reading through those finally, and I’m sure Gabe and the others— especially Soren—” He rolls his eyes at the name, “—will be glad to know that we were able to get those back relatively unscathed.”
“Unscathed with that white-eyed banshee on your tail?” Jack asks incredulously, “Or wait, don’t tell me, he was completely made up in an attempt to spook you.” He huffs, crossing his arms.
Bruce taps his chin, “I dunno Jack… I’ll admit, I was poking around a little for myself outta curiosity since Jesse up and mentioned the guy and he’s sure got a lot more information out about him than even the Admin did. Conflicting information, sure, but information all the same. And if that little prick of a god existed, then surely this Herobrine character could.”
“Yeah but ain’t it just— I dunno! Far fetched?” Jack argues.
“So was the Admin and Witherstorm!” Bruce waves to Jesse, “Jesse’s certainly seen everything by now! So who are we to say?”
“ Heh, yeah uhhh…” Jesse laughs a bit and nods, “He’s real alright… Nearly gave me several heart attacks at best!”
“At best, eh?” Jack scratches his beard in a bit of disdain.
“We may have partially trashed his home.” He grins a bit as he thinks back, “Broke a ton of furniture, probably caught a few things on fire with those Blazes, and absolutely wrecked his poor library…!” Jesse laughs a bit at the last bit. Axel grins and turns around briefly to add his two cents as per usual.
“Uh, don’t forget the little stunt you pulled with those shelves! Totally classic, dude!”
“Little stunt…?” Bruce mumbles, eyeing Jesse curiously. The man just grins nervously as he hops up and sits on the counter with a shrug.
“Yeah! One of those one-the-fly panic sorta things!” He laughs, then notes the mixed looks of suspicion and bewilderment. He didn’t… But oh, oh he did . With a cockeyed grin, he rubs his neck and continues, “I’d been looking through the library on my own for those damn books—or at least I assumed I was alone. But uhhh… Ha! That’d be pretty lucky if true, eh?”
“This is not an encouraging start to this ‘ little stunt.’” Stella chimes in with heavy air quotes. Jesse just laughs nervously and nods in agreement.
“Sure isn’t. The guy appeared behind me out of nowhere! So, of course, I panic. I distract him. Then without a second thought I just—! I grabbed the shelf!” He laughs, “I-I’d only meant to drag that one down but they were so tightly packed it just became this insane domino effect from there…!”
Stella speaks in a deadpan monotone, “Your reaction to being cornered by a notoriously powerful deity was to drop books on him. Tell me you are joking.”
“In my defense it worked! He complimented me on it!”
She barks out a scoff, shaking her head, “Oh he complimented you!” She shifts to face Radar now, “Radar, hun, I think that’s our sure sign that Jesse here needs to be taken to a clinic. Clearly he got hit far too many times by those wither skeletons whilst there—he’s becoming delusional.”
“Oh, if you think that’s hard to believe then you’re gonna be callin’ me a pathological liar once I’m finished!” Jesse says with a confidence that probably doesn’t help his case much, but he just can’t help his elation. Stella, of course, notes as such.
“That’s not something you should say with glee.”
“Can’t help it!” He giggles a bit, a bright smile dancing across his face. Stella scoffs and crosses her arms, a disbelieving smirk on her face.
“Okay then. So he just stopped mid chase and gave you a small round of applause, Jesse?” She lightly claps her hands together in light mockery. Jesse rolls his eyes but chuckles. She continues, resting her hands on her hips, “You’ve said some pretty outlandish things before, but I can’t quite say I buy that one.”
“Y’know? You’re not far off! But I’d suggest you let me get back to the talking, yeah?” He goads with a smirk and she huffs.
“Oh but of course! You go right ahead, handsome.” She hums in that sugary voice of hers as she finds a nearby stool and yanks it across the floor with a squeal. She sits down with her legs crossed as professionally as ever with a sly sparkle in her eyes, “I am merely going to sit and enjoy every second of this fun little story.”
Axel hums from nearby, “Careful whatcha wish for.”
She eyes him oddly before returning her suspicious glare to Jesse. He just smiles innocently. Oh man, now he’s really gotta hype this up. He tries not to be a petty man, he really does, but sometimes? Oh sometimes getting the opportunity to wipe a smug smile off of someone’s face is just too hard for him to resist. With a new fire in his eyes Jesse sits up and continues.
“We did have a pretty crazy confrontation with the guy. Lightning everywhere, he could command all of these Nether mobs, he chased us all through his maze of a fortress and even fought Petra one on one! A-And with that chase—! Holy crap, it got intense!” He hovers a hand over his heart as every bit of it flashes through his mind once again, “But… I managed to actually settle him down. I got him to talking.” He says, a giddy bounce to his voice. Then he pauses to consider something. He bobs his head a little in thought, “ Well, more like called him out. I-It was all kind of an ‘in-the-moment’ thing.”
“How the hell’d’you get him to stop attacking long enough for that? ” Jack crosses his arms in slight suspicion, “You didn’t try blackmailing the guy, did ya?”
Bruce’s eyes widen and then he grimaces at the mere thought. He looks at Jesse and shakes his head, “Oh, Jesse… Don’t tell us you did that. I don’t think Beacontown can handle another crazy god.”
Jesse quickly shakes his head, “ No no no!” He pauses. He thinks. “Okay well it ended up kinda guilt tripping him here and there, b-but that wasn’t my intention!” He quickly spits, now getting anxious.
The others just blink.
Jesse sighs and deflates a bit. He shrugs and looks at Jack with a nod. “Remember how a few days ago I mentioned my uncle as well as my dad?”
“Of course! Couldn’t just forget…”
“Well, I figured out what happened to him! Every little detail!”
Jack blinks, now scrunching his face up in complete and utter confusion. “How did you learn what happened to your uncle in the Nether while constantly running from Herobrine? He happen to have some kinda auto-biography laying around that Herobrine also randomly happened to have?”
“Ha! No but that sounds like something he’d do and I’m sure he has somewhere!”
“That uh… Doesn’t really answer my—and I’m sure everyone else’s— question… ”
Jesse beams, his heart beating a little faster in his chest once again at the mere idea of it all. It still sends such a rush through him, leaving him actually feeling nervous again. He drops his gaze slightly, picking at his fingernails as he does. He notes Radar and Nurm seemingly to lean a little closer out of worry and he flashes them another little smile—he’s alright, but god how does he even broach this?
“It—... It was actually a lot easier than that. Simply put…” He hesitates a second before finally looking up with the lightest smile he’s had in a while, “He just— told me.”
“ Told you…?”
“I already mentioned I was able to slow down and chat with Herobrine, didn’t I?”
There’s a long moment of silence as his words settle in. Axel turns around and gives Jesse a thumbs up with a grin. Jesse meets the eyes of Jack in particular. He isn’t sure of what he’s hearing, and understandably so. Brows furrowed in concern or confusion and his mouth set in a tight line, Jesse can feel his gaze bore into him. He doesn't get the chance to linger with it though—Off to his side, Stella scoffs in utter disbelief.
“You cannot be serious.” She says with a stern look, as if trying to pick him apart for something missing or wrong. When she can’t find a shred of dishonesty, she worriedly shoots a look to Nurm and Radar with a quiet quip, “I think the stress has gotten to him this time.”
Bruce fails to restrain a loud laugh. Stella gawks briefly before shooting him a scalding glare.
“ Sir, I am serious !”
He points to Jesse with an easygoing smile, “Well, so is he.” Bruce looks to the young man, curiosity now piqued. “How did you speak with him? Was it paranormal? Through some kind of possession of Herobrine or something?” He holds a hand over his mouth, obviously ready to make mental notes of everything Jesse says. He shouldn’t be surprised Bruce would be fascinated by such a claim. It’s fun seeing him light up! Always looking for something new and exciting! Jesse rubs the back of his neck and gives a lopsided grin.
“ Uhh… Well! That’s the weird part! It… It definitely was him! But he’s also not the same anymore… Not as traditionally human. He’s not a ghost, he’s very much real and— and I just couldn’t believe it when I figured it out! He’s—as he wanted me to put it—’ Half dead’. But he’s not rotting or gross or anything. In fact he’s in great shape and, as far as I know, won’t age a day past 32.” He pauses and thinks, smiling somewhat slyly, “He hasn’t changed much personality-wise which I’d say is pretty miraculous for the powers he suddenly got.”
“ Powers?” Stella asks, a hint of dread in her voice. While the others seem to be bouncing around for much more complicated answers, Jesse has no doubt that she’s seen where this conversation is going from the start. Straightforward and to the point as always. Jesse grins. Before she can get a full answer though, Bruce chimes in.
“Fascinating! I’ve heard of reanimation before of course—seen a necromancer here or there even—but I’ve never heard of someone coming back like that. ”
“Neither had he, it seems. It looked like he was trying to figure it out a lot in his free time, but I didn’t actually ask too much about what happened or if he’s even found anything. Wish I had more detail to give you, but for now, all he said about when he first woke up again was that it was rough.”
“He must’ve been a man with quite a few connections in his lifetime to be reraised in such a good state. But I haven’t heard of any powerful ‘mancers capable of that which aren’t extremely shady or already dead themselves… Can’t imagine your family’d be the type to get all messed up in that junk…” He quickly prattles off, mind obviously shooting off in a million different directions at once. Jesse just chuckles a little. Bruce eyes him again, not quite making the key connection just yet, “ Powers , you said?”
“ Oh yeah! You know—lightning, hovering, strength, some speed, some fancy teleportation here and there! Oh! And don’t forget the trademark glowing white eyes!” Jesse brags pointing to his own eyes for emphasis. Bruce’s eyes shoot wide as it clicks.
“ Wait—!” Jack blurts out for him, making Jesse giggle, “ You—! Nah, you’re lying. You’ve gotta be pullin’ our damn legs that’s—!” He sputters, losing his words. He opts to just march on over to Jesse’s side and grips the countertop as he sternly shakes a finger at him, “Jesse, I don’t expect you to just be joking about this. Are you okay? Are you joking?! You must be. You’ve gotta be!”
“He’s not!” Axel hums in a sing-song tone. Radar lights up, practically bouncing in place and suddenly gripping his clipboard a bit tighter.
“ Your uncle is Herobrine?!”
“ I know! Isn’t it crazy?!” Jesse hops off the counter and quickly hurries to the center of the group with a skip in his step and his cheeks begin to burn from the silly grin on his face. “I-I had him cornered, right? A— And it was REALLY tense for a moment then he said some things, I said some things, we backed off and—” He freezes, words getting caught in his throat as he looks at the ceiling in disbelief. He rolls his eyes in amusement, “He made a wisecrack and it was one he used to absolute BARRAGE me with when I was a kid! And— And from there it just—… Clicked !”
“That’s…” Stella mumbles in utter dumbfoundment. Bruce cuts in once more.
“That’s incredible , Jesse! Talk about against all odds!” He laughs and shakes his head, “I dunno how you’ll ever get a reunion that tops that one. I’m sure you gave him one hell of a spook too!”
“Oh you should’ve seen his face!” Jesse laughs. He blows out a breath to try and settle himself a little, but just can’t wipe the grin off of his face, “I’m actually gonna be meeting up with him again tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“No kidding!”
“Yeah We’re gonna just spend some time talking things through now that we’ve gotten a bit of time and space to process. We’re probably just gonna wander around town or maybe a bit outside of its walls—depends on how well people uhh… Take him.” Jesse rubs his neck nervously. “Then in the evening we’re going to meet up with the Order. I’m hoping to properly introduce the rest of them and hopefully patch things up. Since he, y’know, attacked and drove them out of their own base 20 years ago.”
“Sounds like it’ll be quite the challenge.” Bruce chuckles. He nods, “What’s your uncle’s name? I assume you didn’t grow up calling him Herobrine?” He cocks a brow and crosses his arms with a playful aura about him.
Jack purses his lip and squints. “You said it was Brian, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Jesse nods, “But that was just one of his names. He grew up with two but mainly went by Hiro! For some reason as a kid I just stuck with Brian though…” He shrugs.
“ Hiro…?” Bruce mumbles from behind. Jesse turns back to face him and catches the man with a different look in his eyes. He’s hard in thought for a brief moment before Jesse catches a glance at him. It’s a bit shocking to see such a serious look on his face.
“Hey Bruce, you okay?”
The man straightens, some light returning to his eyes despite the light troublement still shining through. He coughs a bit and visibly relaxes before smiling apologetically.
“Yes! I’m sorry, I was simply reminded of someone is all! But I doubt they’re related.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m sorry for worrying ya!”
“That name scare you Brucie?” Jack teases with a sly smirk. Bruce doesn’t change expressions as he looks at Jack, yet something about his eyes sharply intensifies. Jesse would be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed by how quickly he can flip whatever switch was needed. He bites his lip to keep himself from chuckling. He supposes Jack deserves such a look for that jab. Bruce doesn’t even answer him before clapping his hands and turning back to Jesse.
“Anyways—!”
“I saw how pale you got! Can’t hide it from me!”
Bruce rolls his eyes. He puts more strain on his words, “ ANYWAYS.” He shoots Jack a look. He smiles and makes the motion of zipping his lips. Bruce smiles softly and nods in thanks. Jesse just stands there and waits, “I hope that your meeting with your uncle goes well!”
“Thank you! I’m anxious yet really excited to finally get to start reading through those books on the E—”
He’s interrupted by the sound of the front door being shoved open. All eyes move towards the front of the Emporium where a familiar blonde now freezes. She blinks, not having expected all of the eyes on her. The now nervous Nell sheepishly grins, scratching the back of her head.
“Aw shoot… Am I interrupting something? My bad, Jesse-dude!” She holds her hands up in a helpless shrug. Jesse simply shakes his head.
“N-No! It’s alright Nell. What do you need?”
She nods and turns to Bruce. She points to him. He blinks and points to himself in questioning. She grins and nods with a laugh before jerking her finger back towards the door.
“There’s some dude pounding like hell on the door of yer shop, man!”
Bruce visibly deflates, blowing a tired sigh out through his mouth. “Don’t tell me it’s—”
“Sure is! That guy is REALLY persistent about going through that tiny lil’ dungeon, huh? But uhhh— I’d really start heading on over there if I were you! I’mma head back over there and try to keep him from tearing the place to shreds but I can’t keep any promises, man!” She stuffs her hands in her jacket pockets and shrugs. Bruce lets out an exasperated sigh and nods. He looks over to Jesse with an apologetic look.
“Sorry Jesse, we’ll have to finish up this story another time.”
“It’s fine!” Jesse waves him off quickly, “Go! Make sure you don’t get your windows bashed in!” He chuckles weakly and Bruce gives a nervous grin.
“Sounds good. Thanks!” He directs his attention back to Jack and gives a curt wave. “See ya Jack! It’s been a pleasure!”
Jack scoffs and rolls his eyes, “As always, Bruce.”
With that Bruce grins, turns on heel and runs out. Nell steps aside as he hurries out then glances at Jesse, “Sorry to split so soon, Jesse-dude! I’ll chat with ya laters though!” She waves to him as she starts backing out of the Emporium. Before she’s fully out the door though she peeks back in and points to him, “And I hope those nasty hives get better for ya—If they’re contagious or somethin’ I’m comin’ after ya! Later!”
Jesse blinks.
Jesse looks at Radar.
Radar attempts to hide his grin behind his clipboard, cheeks pink.
“ You told everyone I had hives ?”
“I uh… panicked?”
“I’m… Not even gonna ask where.”
Axel clamps a hand down on his shoulder, nodding solemnly. “ It’s better that way…”
Jesse’s eyes widen, shooting Radar an incredulous look. Radar laughs up at him nervously, almost hiding behind his clipboard. Jesse’s own cheeks redden a bit as he shakes his head and lets out a curt little laugh. It’s all he can do. Ignorance is bliss, Jesse. Ignorance is bliss .
Jack blows an exaggerated breath out then drums his knuckles on the counter, slapping it with a grin. “Well, ol’ Bruce’s loss for missin’ out! Say, once you and your uncle are done with those End books, pass ‘em my way! The End sounds like a real adventure in the making!” Jack grins as he rubs his beard, looking off into space excitedly as he mulls it over. Jesse cocks a curious brow.
“I thought you’ve already been through the End and back?”
“ Huh? What makes ya think that?”
“Well…” Jesse chuckles awkwardly. He rubs his neck with a shrug when Axel pipes up in his place.
“Don’t ya own like, an elytra?” He places the artifact he was messing with back on its shelf then stuff his hands in his pockets. “Jesse used it to get up to Romeo’s ol' lava landfill, right? The shit we turned into Jess' new home?”
Jack shifts awkwardly and rubs his neck, gaining some curious looks. “ Well… Look I did get it on an adventure! But uhh… Well that doesn’t mean it had to be to the End y'know?” He shugs and chuckles awkwardly. He garners some confused looks while Jack just grins sheepishly.
“So… Where did you get it then?” Radar pipes up from behind his clipboard, somewhat suspicious.
“Ah well… Heh, that’s a story there.” He brushes some of his hair out of his face. “Well maybe not a big story. Basically a few years back Bruce and I went on a big ol’ spelunking trip! The Elyt—”
“ HOLD. UP. ” Axel cuts him off with a laugh, holding his hand in a T. “You two actually got along long enough to go on a trip together?!”
“Eh, well, contrary to popular belief he can be quite the adventurer.”
“Rare praise coming from you.” Stella hums in interest. Jack shrugs.
“Business is business and he knows when to get serious! He needed my help with some big dungeon crawler excursion in a dungeon in the southwest, which is a place I’ve been many a time. I acted as a general guide of sorts. This was several years back now, but god if the man isn’t still just as high energy now as he was then. I dunno how he manages.” He chuckles a little and just shrugs, “Couldn’t even tell ya what he ended up getting out of it all that he figured was worth more than an elytra, but that thing was my payment of sorts. Don’t ask me how the hell he got his hands on it. Knowing that man, it could’ve been from literally anything. Always had a plethora of connections, much like myself.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a lot of respect for him when it comes down to it.” Jesse shakes his head with a chuckle as he goes back to leaning on the counter. “What kind of beef do you even have with him?”
Jack shrugs, “I dunno, Jesse. Sometimes you just meet people where you could work well together, sure, but anywhere else you just…” He gently hits his fists together then shrugs, “ Bump heads . Like you and that Aiden fella did! Or you n’ Stella! I’m sure there’s some psychological mumbo jumbo that gives a better explanation and shit.” he rolls his eyes, “Nurm’ll say it’s just me getting old and crotchety.” He snorts as he points back to his partner.
Nurm huffs derisively with a nod. Jesse and the others laugh a bit, and Jack grins. Jesse playfully elbows him in the side.
“Say Legend, I think we could all use a good laugh. Wanna tell how that adventure with Bruce went?”
“Well, I can’t just say no to our Hero in Residence.” He claps his hands together and gestures for everyone to sit down on the carpet. “Circle up kids, this is a fun one!”
Notes:
Sorry for uhhhhh fuckin DISAPPEARING for like 5 months WHOOPS! The end of last school year was really brutal then I just Died over the summer (and also fixated big time on Danganronpa WHOOPS--) so I left this WIP untouched for a while. I never like writing when Im not passionate about something because I feel like Im not delivering the best I could, so I hope you all aren't too upset. But! With school starting up again Ive picked up writing once more so yeet !!! I may not update as often as I did but there will be updates again! So ye!!! Thank you for the patience and I hope this little filler chapter isn't too disappointing !!!
Hiro comes back next chapter as well as some GOOD STUFF so Im EXCITED!
(Also dont worry there isnt gonna be a flashback to a Jack and Bruce Adventure, though if enough people show interest I might one day get around to a little one off !)EDIT 8/19/21: Getting to the later chapters has been nice bc man I really did improve my pacing and writing as I went along
EDIT 6/15/23: getting some more WORLDBUILDING let's GOOOOOOOO !!! Pretend this scene and guy were always there okay I'm hitting u guys with that MIB memory erasing thing rn 🤵🤵🤵
Chapter 15: Catch-Up
Summary:
Hiro and Jesse vibe around town for the day basically and Jesse learns more bits about his uncle
Notes:
IM SORRY IM SO LATE. I WILL HAVE THE SECOND HALF OF THIS CHAPTER UP TOMORROW I JUST COULDN'T FINISH IT ALL TONIGHT,,,, BRUCE WILL BE THERE. HIRO WILL BE THERE. THE ORDER WILL BE THERE. IT'S GONNA BE FUN.
Also I did not edit this at all. My bad. I will come back and polish it up later, same with other chapters, but if I don't throw this out now then I don't know when I will LKSADJFF GO HAM!
EDIT 8/19/21: I'VE DONE IT! Ive come back to edit this and every other chapter, god bless also Hiro my fuckign BELOVEDDDDD
EDIT 6/23/23: FINALLY got this one done 😭✌️took longer bc basically the entire conversation with Hiro had to be redone bc all that information has changed up. Hopefully it's not too much of a drag since it's just Hiro talking for a HOT minute, but atm I can't think of any better way to fit the explanation in??? It's his story to tell so I think it's fine but yuh! ALSO UNRELATED BUT HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIC THE HEDGEHOG YIPPEE !
Chapter Text
The Nether, as always, is hot and gross. Jesse blows out a large sigh as he fans himself by the portal. Today’s the day! He and his uncle are gonna finally try to catch up and then go through those End books together. They’re in this mystery together now, and honestly? Jesse feels at ease just knowing his uncle is here to face whatever the truth is with him.
He doesn’t have as heavy of armor as he did before, as it’s just an in and out trip and he seriously doubts his Uncle would pull some kind of betrayal. Even if he does, Jesse figures he could handle it well enough. But that isn’t going to happen.
Hell, if his uncle doesn’t show up soon, then nothing would happen today in the first place. If anything wrong were to happen, him getting too worked up and dipping again seems the most likely. It’d be no surprise if he figures that Jesse has a grudge against him considering the sheer time and how he found him. But even if there is resentment still brewing in him, it’s easily overshadowed by the joy of having him back, though Hiro probably doesn’t see it that way.
“Boo!”
“Crap!” Jesse jumps, his voice cracking in the most embarrassing type of way. Behind him his uncle’s warm laughter rings out. Jesse turns around and tries to glare at him, but can’t really hold it. His uncle perks up, hands on his hips, and grins.
“What’s with the long face short-stack? Didn’t think I was gonna ditch ya, did you?”
“Wh—? No! I just—!”
“Uh huh. Okay.” Hiro shrugs with a dismissive smile and Jesse huffs before shaking his head.
“You’re a handful, y’know that?” He chuckles, and Hiro dramatically bows.
“Proud to be one! It’s my job as an uncle and a brother!”
The two chuckle quietly before a silence falls between them, a somber one as they remember that it’s just them now. Jesse eventually blows out a sigh then nods towards the portal.
“You ready…?”
Hiro just nods, growing more serious and slightly hesitant to be honest. But Jesse knows he’ll follow through. He smiles softly and gently tugs on his uncle’s arm, guiding them through the portal. He hears his breath hitch in anticipation behind him.
Stepping into the portal room, Hiro squints and shields his eyes as he adjusts to the bright white light. Jesse grimaces a little for him—he hadn’t even thought about that change, especially after sitting in the Nether for so long. Probably doesn’t help that the iron and gold in the walls bounces the light around even more, but his uncle seems to adjust fairly quickly. He lets out a long, shaky breath he’d been holding. Jesse shoots him a concerned glance which his uncle catches as he scans the room. He just smiles reassuringly.
“Sorry! I’m fine this is just—… I haven’t been back to the surface in a good while now… Especially not on good terms.” He mumbles. “I—...” He rubs his neck, “I tried to appear a little less imposing than I was before.”
He awkwardly laughs and steps back, his cape catching the light. Jesse smiles a bit—he’s right at least. His uncle appears far more casual than he was before. No hellish armor, not even his crown, just a bit of the gold shouldering and his sparkling cape then a red button-up with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Then just simple back pants and a matching pair of red, white, and gold boots. His hair’s even more loose! Pushed lazily to the side with some of it hanging in his face instead of pushed back, it definitely helps ease the tension lingering around him. Something about the look just oozes familiarity and comfort and despite all the change. The white eyes remain a stark reminder of reality though—as overjoyed as he is to have the man back, there’s still so much he doesn’t know.
“I’d say you pulled it off. Though… The cape might be a bit much.”
“Well you’ll have to take this cape off of my cold dead body, so.” He jokes. Jesse snorts and rolls his eyes and Hiro just hums in satisfaction. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the man eyes the stairs that’ll lead them up into the Order Hall rather warily. After a long minute of consideration, he sucks in another breath to steady himself and nods to Jesse, “I’m ready. Lead the way, shortstack.”
So with a smile, Jesse does. They bounce up the stairs and Jesse begins pointing out the various rooms of the Hall, Hiro slowly turning around and around trying to catch every detail of the place. It takes them a little longer than expected to make headway through the building because of his uncle’s curiosity, but he can’t say he’s disappointed by that in any way. The man views everything around him with a sense of awe and Jesse can’t help but wonder where exactly it’s stemming from. There’s so many stories with his uncle—he’s had to have seen a lot in his life. A certain type of pride wells up in his chest to think that this impresses him.
Beaming from it, Jesse nabs his uncle excitedly by the hands and pulls him forward towards the Treasure Room—already buzzing along the way. It feels like the heavy metal doors opening to the room take eons, but once they’re finally in they’re hit with brilliant sunlight beaming in through the large windows. His uncle hisses at it initially and that gets a little laugh out of Jesse, but he seems to adjust soon enough.
The moment they start looking around though, questions begin pouring out of Hiro about each and every item. Jesse enthusiastically obliges, his uncle captivated by every word and story out of his nephew’s mouth. He cuts it all incredibly short however, knowing the schedules they’re on, but it’d be easy to end up just talking to Hiro for hours. Outside the hall, the crisp blue sky of the mid morning sets a beautiful backdrop for the day. Eager to fit everything in, Jesse grabs his uncle by the arm once more and guides him out to the front of the Order Hall.
Stepping outside is an experience in and of itself. A quiet gasp escapes from Hiro as they step out and he first takes in the beautiful area surrounding the hall from its covered breezeway. Sunshine pours down all around and crystal clear water trickles under them before rejoining with one of the many creeks attached to the river delta Beacontown sits upon. The blue sky and sunshine gives it all an almost aquamarine color and the grass all around is a lush green with small flowers scattered throughout.
Hiro hurries across the breezeway to the stairs and down to the main street, his boots loudly clacking against the smooth stone. He catches himself on one of the supporting columns of the breezeway, swinging around from the momentum before looking to the sky with wide eyes full of wonder. The man’s left speechless.
Color bursts from every direction with blimps and hot air balloons amongst other flying contraptions dotting the skyline against puffy white clouds. Amongst them, beautifully sculpted buildings spiral high into the sky by them, each different and blooming with personality. And between them lie colorful cranes all set and ready to add even more. The cityscape towers over them, but it’s nothing but inviting. Hiro blends in almost naturally with the whimsy that oozes from it all.
Catching his breath, Hiro hurriedly shifts his gaze back down to what’s around him. By the steps and between the street, along the waterway surrounding the Order Hall, are small patches of bright green field grass littered with flowers of all kinds. Hiro carefully steps down, moving with light feet into the grass and down by the water’s edge. He’s utterly captivated by the nature surrounding him. He slowly crouches down in the grass, delicate and tentative, not wanting to hurt a single flower. Stretching a hand out to touch the water, he’s pleasantly surprised. It’s crystal clear, the blue sky above giving it that beautiful glow and color. It’s so cold to the touch, but so soft… Smooth. Pleasant, with that rippling sound he hasn’t heard in years.
Jesse catches up to him, breathing a little heavy as he slows to a step behind him. The man darts around to fast now and he certainly wasn’t expecting it out here. A part of him worries that this may all be too overwhelming for him yet, but still there’s another side of him that remains bubbly with excitement. His uncle looks at the world much in the way he always has—he forgot how much the man truly rubbed off on him. That said, as he approaches him he finds the man tensed and in some kind of shock.
“You alright…?” Jesse quietly comes up behind him and places a hand on Hiro’s shoulder. Hiro gasps a bit at the touch. He turns around quickly, eyes wide and genuine. Small tears briefly stream down his cheeks.
“It’s… I-It’s just— It’s beautiful…” He can’t find any better words, they just get caught in his throat. Jesse smiles softly and begins crouching down only to notice his uncle tense once more, his gaze stuck on the ground beneath him. Jesse freezes and glances down to see he’s in the middle of another flower patch. Understanding dawns on him and he adjusts himself accordingly, finding an empty patch instead. Satisfied, his uncle returns to merely taking everything in, leaving one hand twisting in the light current of the water. With the other, he examines the various little flowers and weeds in the area around them. The man gently rubs the petals of them between his fingers—something Jesse’s always loved to do as well—taking in how soft they are without hurting them.
“Which do you like most…?” Jesse asks quietly. Hiro hums and pauses, looking around before pointing to a simple white flower. A little daisy. Jesse nods with a smile and Hiro clears his throat a bit, pulling his hand back into his lap.
“When—… When I was little, your father and I were often kicked outside to find stuff to do. A good half of the time we went out and caused trouble, as I’m sure you expected, but the other half of the time we would just… Hang out, relax with each other. Your father always had his own personal library he brought along,” He looks up to the sky as he recalls it, laughing and shaking his head.
“That sounds like him alright.” Jesse says with a smile and Hiro nods.
“I on the other hand would spend my time playing in the dirt, exploring big trees, and more often than not, making little crowns and sashes of flowers.” He laughs a bit at the ridiculousness of it, his cheeks reddening. “I used to climb high into the branches of whatever tree we were by, hang down, then drop a big crown over Stevie’s eyes as he was reading.” He grins with another chuckle, “He always hated getting interrupted like that! But he was a good sport. He always kept each little crown I made for him until the poor flowers wilted. Our mother taught me how to do it when I was real young. I suppose I was pretty proud of it.” He smiles nostalgically and Jesse can’t help the grin.
“That’s a good memory. I’m glad you’ve got that one, despite it all.” Jesse stares down at the flowers in front of them. He hesitates a second then continues speaking. “After you were gone… I remember one day, dad took me down by the lake. You remember the one? Not far east from the house?” He nods at Hiro who thinks hard for a moment—no doubt the memories still fuzzy—but eventually he nods.
“In the birch forest, right?”
“That’s the one.” Jesse smiles, “We went down by the lakeside one day, and dad and I sat down in this little side bank full of these white flowers. I remember thinking how pretty it was. But… He sat down with me and taught me how to make little crowns with them… Where to make a hole in the stem, how to intertwine them, the works.” He laughs a bit sheepishly, “Neither of us were pretty good at it, and I dunno if I could even do it anymore, but it was special…” He glances at his uncle, who is just staring at him with his mouth slightly agape, a mix of disbelief and guilt swirling in his expression. Jesse smiles sadly and places a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. The event kind of speaks for itself. “Dad really missed you…”
Hiro nods quietly beside him. He can only imagine the thoughts swirling in the man’s mind. He sucks in a deep and shaky breath a minute later then looks at Jesse curiously, but remains somewhat reserved.
“Do—… Do you remember much from when you were little-little?”
“Bits and pieces as they come and go.” Jesse sighs a bit, knowing that’s not what his uncle wanted to hear. Hiro just nods however then smiles.
“I used to take you to that same bank, when you were real small and I was babysitting. I did the same thing then as I did when I was a kid.” He smiles and chuckles, “Your father would always get angry at me for taking you so close to the water, but seeing you covered in little flower crowns and chains—laughing and grinning as you would—he would always cool off.” He sighs a bit, “I eventually heeded what he said though, since you got a bit more daring as you grew older, and stopped taking you there. You would’ve dove head first right into that lake whether you could swim or not.” He grins and reaches up to ruffle Jesse’s hair. Blue eyes look up in wonder, then harden as he tries searching his own memory for these little moments in time. Hiro laughs and lightly pushes on his arm, “Don’t strain yourself, now!”
With that, Hiro stands—once again watching out for the flowers and hopping over them back to the cobblestone road. He grins, proud he made a three foot leap apparently. Jesse shakes his head at his silliness but follows suit, making the same little jump. He sees his uncle’s eyes glint with something at the sight of it, and can’t help the chuckle and foolish grin. He nods for him to follow behind and, just like that, they’re off to explore Beacontown.
Each building they pass catches his Uncle’s attention in a new way. It’s odd how just a setting change brings out such a different side to him. This is the all powerful demi-god, Herobrine? The same one that chased the Order of the Stone out of their own Nether Fortress, lightning blaring? The same one that now had snuck a cut daisy from the florist display they passed and had it tucked into his hair above his ear? How silly.
As for the other people in town, they don’t exactly greet him with open arms. Many people eye him warily at best and avoid their path, but Jesse’s surprised to say that there are more neutral reactions than he anticipated. Be it because they’ve heard good stories like Petra, simply didn’t know who he is, or are reassured by Jesse’s presence with him, he’s not sure but is happy to see some semblance of ease. Nobody tests their luck, just the opposite actually—as the morning goes on and they continue walking and talking quite casually, more people begin lightening up. One child even braves the man to compliment his cape and flower! His uncle—ever the drama king—gives her a brilliant smile and spins around to show it off before ending in a smooth bow. The boy lights up at that, and it’s easy to tell that his happy giggles make Hiro’s heart melt just a little.
They continue on from there, the conversation remaining light and primarily now about the city and the people inhabiting it. Knowing so many of them, Jesse has a wide array of stories to tell and is eager to share. That said, he only gets so far before a familiar voice catches his attention.
“Hey Jesse!”
“Huh?” He glances back over his shoulder, quickly bursting into a grin, “Radar!”
He opens his arms and the young man runs over to him, nearly diving into the hug once again. Jesse momentarily stumbles back, almost winded, and loudly laughs as does Radar. Hiro blinks in surprise and steps back out of their way, somewhat startled. In a snap Radar lets go and stands straight once more and adjusts his glasses, clipboard at the ready as always. It’s only then that he catches sight of Hiro and his smile drops into just a look of pure wonder.
“Woah…”
Hiro clears his throat and briefly waves.
Jesse chuckles and gestures to him, “Radar, this is my uncle! Uncle B— err—…” He catches himself mid-word, Hiro stifling a chuckle as Jesse reddens. He coughs then continues, “Uncle Hiro,” He emphasizes, “This is Radar. He’s the intern and town coordinator I was telling you about!”
Hiro nods and offers a hand, “It’s a pleasure Radar. I’ve heard only good things. Call me Brian.”
“It— It’s an honor!” Radar nervously takes and shakes his hand, “Thank you Mr. uhh… Brian, sir.” He awkwardly fumbles a bit at the end, gripping his clipboard tightly as he finishes. Jesse just smiles and pats him on the shoulder as the teen deflates.
“So,” Jesse starts, “What’s up? You got a couple papers stuck to that thing as usual, and as much as you like to just say hi, I know you’ve got something for me.” Jesse smiles as he casually crosses his arms. Radar nods and clears his throat as he begins feverishly flipping through papers. Hiro watches, amused.
“I mainly just wanted to let you know that construction in the east is continuing smoothly as well as on the tower. Olivia is out to Redstonia as well currently but will be back Thursday with some more of her class to continue work on that elevator system.”
“Sweet! Glad to hear it.”
“Oh also, heh! Poor Bruce… That guy who Nell came in yelling about yesterday? Ended up getting into a scuffle right outside the shop and, while I’m sure you’d approve it anyways, he wanted to run some plans for general repairs and frankly, reinforcements, by you before he began.”
“Oh damn, talk about some tough customers. If you end up seeing him before I do, give him my thanks for the heads up. That shouldn’t be a problem—I mean if Ivor’s still got lava pouring out of his house downtown 4 years later then I’m sure that’ll be fine.” Jesse smiles tiredly and Radar nods while Hiro listens closely, apparently in a bit of thought. He opens his mouth to ask a question when Radar, unaware, pipes up.
“Oh! I almost forgot! Lukas stopped by earlier!” Radar grins, seeing Jesse perk up with a sudden interest. “He asked me to ‘officially’ reserve a spot with him to workshop with you on his new book! Though uh… I’m sure he’s already had plenty of feedback from you in your free time. I know you’re staying with him for the moment, heh!”
“Oh?” Hiro speaks up, his tone teasing.
“Don’t.” Jesse lightly jabs him in the side, cheeks lightly pink. “Lukas has actually been pretty chill about that. He knows when a good time to talk about that stuff is and when it isn’t.” He sighs a little, smile strained, “Granted, since the Nether trip he’s been more focused on brooding about Romeo seeming in such great shape. Can’t say I blame him…”
Radar grimaces, “Eugh… Yeah, no, I bet he’s been seething in your place huh?”
Jesse huffs and nods. While the man helped them, it still boiled his blood on some level to see the man again so soon after everything he put him, his friends, and his home through. Noting a bit of tension in his uncle though, he reigns it in. He reaches up and pats his uncle on the arm reassuringly.
“No offense. That’ll be something I’m sure we’ll talk about later.”
Hiro nods, serious, “Good. And I certainly can’t say I blame you or your friend. He’s a damn annoying bastard even without those powers—and I had plenty of run-ins with him when he had them.”
Jesse nods while his uncle’s comment garners a small laugh from Radar, though he quickly bites his tongue, shoulders still shaking however. Jesse side-eyeing him with a smile certainly doesn’t help settle him either. He’ll admit, it’s both reassuring and amusing to hear that the man is a thorn in the side even now.
“How’s he been adjusting to it all? Life without the powers, I mean. It’d be one thing on the overworld but the Nether is a whole different ballpark altogether.” Jesse huffs and Hiro hems and haws for a minute as he thinks.
“Well, he has a ways to go for correcting that muscle memory. He’s so used to just teleporting and flying everywhere that the man keeps slamming into walls and jumping only to crash back down into the ground. Then there’s the whole self-sustaining business he’s practically forgotten how to do. The man won’t eat or drink for 18 hours then wonder why he’s got a splitting headache!” Hiro huffs, though there’s a lilt of amusement in his voice.
“Sounds like a pain.”
“To him, maybe. He’s gotten more bruises doing stupid things without realizing than anything, really. Lets go of things expecting them to levitate or something only for them to fall, is enduring all the soreness and stiffness that comes with working, so on and so forth. Interestingly though, the monsters still recognize him—he gets along quite well with most of the Nether creatures, actually.” He hums thoughtfully and Jesse can’t say it surprises him. Not with the weird amalgamations Romeo had created down in the Underneath. Plus, he mentioned that he had a hand in developing the Nether—those creatures must be like endearing pets to the man.
Radar scoffs, “Of course he would! He had a three-headed ghast waiting for us down in the Underneath! Those monsters love the guy!”
Hiro’s brows shoot up, “Three headed ghast? I know Romeo experimented with a lot of mobs but that’s a new one…”
“Oh! You haven’t heard about that bit yet, huh? Probably because his pride is still hurting from it not even leaving a scratch on us!” Radar grins a little as he side-eyes Jesse, who becomes somewhat sheepish in turn, “It was pretty intense, but Jesse handled it awesomely! I’m sure he’s gonna brush it off as just another little mob fight so you gotta ask me or the others for the real details!”
“Radar—” Jesse starts but his uncle shushes him with a hand gently pushing against his chest.
“No no no! Let him brag about you—I’m intrigued!”
Jesse tries protesting once more as his cheeks flare a little in embarrassment, but he doesn’t make much headway before Radar jumps on the opportunity to talk his uncle’s ear off about the whole breakout from the Sunshine Institute. Jesse’s happy to share stories, but always does his best not to sound like as much of a braggart as he was around the time they began traveling through the Portal Hall. Radar certainly knows this, but the teen also has no qualms enthusing about his travels with anyone who’ll listen—and his uncle is an absolute enabler.
It’s a lovely conversation despite the initial embarrassment and seeing Radar and his uncle get along so well so quickly is extremely reassuring. He intervenes though before Radar can go off on another fast-talking tale that’ll eat into all of their time. Jesse and Hiro still have things they need to talk about and Jesse certainly knows how much of a stickler Radar is for sticking to his schedule. Clearing his throat loudly, Radar bounces in place a little and nods.
“Well, I-I’d better be off! Don’t worry about any town duties yet either, Jesse—I’m still covering for you just fine.”
“Thanks Radar, I can’t express how much I appreciate the work you’re doing. You’re doing a fantastic job, too.” Jesse softens, making Radar beam.
“I won’t let you down, Jesse!” He then turns to Hiro and bows slightly in goodbye, “It’s been an honor Mr. Brian, sir! I hope to see you again someday soon—you’re always welcome here in Beacontown.” With that, the young man turns and hurries off to the next big project, whatever that is. Jesse watches him go, chuckling a bit as he narrowly dodges a few people coming his way.
At his side, Hiro leans down to him with a sly grin on his face, “So… You’re staying at your ‘charming’ friend’s place, huh?”
“Shut it!” Jesse grins and smacks his side, turning away and continuing their walk. Hiro laughs loudly, speeding up to keep pace with Jesse.
“Really though, you do have a lot of good people here, Jesse. I’m really, truly impressed…” He smiles down at him, pride shimmering in his eyes, “You’ve made a grand home of this place.”
Jesse’s cheeks redden at the compliment. He nods, “Thank you. That means a lot to me. It’s been a lot of work over a long time.”
Hiro nods with that and the two fall into a comfortable silence as they continue to meander their way through the streets once more. They sidetrack into a small park, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the large streets and finding a bit of solace. Eventually, Hiro waves at Jesse to stop for a moment and the two sit down on a fountain’s edge to rest.
They continue their ambling chat from there. They each reminisce about life, but Hiro insists on Jesse taking the reins of the conversation. So he does once more. He reminisces on the rest of his childhood with Olivia and her family, his teenage years with Axel, Olivia, Reuben, and the treehouse, and then begins diving into the Witherstorm fiasco from the very beginning with the build competition. Remembering back to it feels so surreal now as he sits in the midst of Beacontown, a place that wasn’t even a distant concept in anyone’s mind at the time. And now here he is. Here they are.
As Jesse recounts the story—from Boom Town, to Soren’s Lab, to the End, to the Far Lands, his uncle remains intensely focused and attentive. Not a word slips by him as he stares at him in a mix of concern and wonder. Hell, the fact that Jesse’s been to the End already is more than startling to the man—especially without even a lick of armor. But it was just one step in the journey for Jesse—he hardly remembers the dimension itself save for a few points here and there. The thing that stands out most to him is Soren’s home and artificial world. But as he continues weaving through the story until the end—explaining the loss of Ellegaard, Petra’s memory loss, the Witherstorm splitting, Soren’s betrayal, and finally the loss of Reuben—the conversation begins wrapping around back into the present day. How much he’s changed since and how much his uncle’s changed.
As much as Jesse is happy to share tales of everything Hiro’s missed, he still has questions he wants—no, needs—answered. What happened to him? How’d he come back? Where did his powers come from? Where do all of those rumors about him stem from? Jesse, admittedly, barrages him with questions now. But how could he not?
Shifting how he sits, Hiro lets out a long and uncomfortable sigh. He clasps his hands together tightly as he leans forward to speak, his gaze never quite trained on Jesse.
“As you can probably surmise, I was one of those that died to the Ender Dragon. So… Let’s start there, shall we?” He huffs tiredly and Jesse just nods a little.
“Yeah… So… The rumors aren’t true then, right? About the dragon trapping the souls of those it kills?” He asks cautiously, picking out his words as carefully as he can. His uncle just smiles bitterly.
“No. They’re true. And it was awful.”
“How—” Jesse’s eyes widen and he finds himself leaning in a smidge, morbidly curious now, “To—... To what extent…?” He mumbles, feeling his hair stand on end as he just imagines everything that he’s heard. A limbo. A purgatory. Either it was peaceful and serene like an eternal nap, or its own form of hell altogether. Hiro blows out a sigh.
“Depends on the rumors you’ve heard, I suppose. But it hurt. It hurt and continued to hurt. But at the same time it was a bizarre haze… Like some kind of hive. I could sense all the others trapped around me. I could hear them—their thoughts, their feelings, everything all swirled together until it became difficult to tell what was my own and what belonged to everyone else. A constant whispering that overlapped into nonsense but you could also make everything out perfectly. Whispers of paranoia, cries, self assurance, all speaking over one another. You lose sense of everything in there. Your own thoughts, your sense of self, your sense of time—it just unravels into chaos and pain. And the dragon fed off of it. I— I wish I could tell you how, but my mind—...” He grimaces and shakes his head, “I remember it now but it’s taken years to even solidify that much. And I was only there for one year.”
A chill runs up Jesse’s spine and down to his fingertips even in the warm sunshine. Despite the vivid description, he can hardly even begin to imagine the reality of it. His mind runs back several years to his time in Hadrian and Mevia’s little Games—more specifically, their little Respawn Zones. A phantom pain aches in his chest just thinking about his one time through—and that barely lasted a few minutes. A whole year of that? With no relief?
“Jesse?” His uncle asks, pulling him out of his thoughts. Jesse clears his throat and shakes his head a little.
“Sorry! I just—... It reminded me of something, but even then that’s nowhere near what that must’ve been like… I can’t even begin to imagine.” He grimaces, mumbling a little now as he peeks back up at his uncle through his bangs, “How did you get out?”
“That’s where things get… Really tricky.” He lets out a pathetic huff of a laugh, groaning a little as he rubs his neck. He finally meets Jesse’s gaze, an odd smile on his face as he nods to him, “Tell me—what do you know about how the undead work?”
Jesse’s brows scrunch together in confusion at that, “About the undead…? I mean— Well, they come out at night. They’re… Well, their namesake—undead. In some worlds, like ours, they’re sensitive to the daylight and will burn. ”
“And where do they come from?”
“Uhhh…” Jesse stalls, mind screeching to a halt. He honestly hasn’t ever really thought about it all too hard—they’re simply a part of life as casual as the weather. He presses his lips together as he racks his brain, “I remember… I think dad mentioned some kinda disease that reanimates corpses at one point…? I know Ivor’s talked about something similar, I think… And necromancy always has its place in rumors.” He mumbles, not too sure of himself. Hiro smiles slightly and nods.
“Getting there. But that disease is only for the zombies. That leaves skeletons unaccounted for, amongst others. Besides, it’s pretty odd how many mobs you'll kill only for a dozen more to take their place, right?”
“Are you suggesting necromancy…?”
“Bingo!” Hiro beams, “There are quite a few skilled necromancers out in the world, Jesse. Some with much further reach and power than you know.” A sly smile snakes across his face and something mischievous twinkles in his eye at that. Dawning realization sweeps over Jesse and he leans in more with a child-like curiosity in his eyes. Hiro laughs at that and nods, “You’ve already caught on to where I’m heading with this—well done!”
“So you—! But— But the dragon—!” Jesse spits out in a rush, causing his uncle to raise a hand to settle him.
“I know! I know. Let me explain before you barrage me with twenty-questions, alright?” Hiro chuckles and Jesse feels his face burn slightly, but he nods. With another deep breath his uncle searches for where to begin, “So… Yes. The way I got out wasn’t natural by any means. In fact it was a matter of luck and timing on my end. Because nobody else seemed to enter the dimension and die to the dragon within the year after I did, meaning my soul was… The loosest, in a way. I was the newbie with the loosest connection to the dragon. Relatively. And around that time, one of the much more ancient mages of our world decided he wanted a new addition to his ranks as well as a test of the strength of his own magic.”
“What’s his name?”
“Heh! Something that’s long since been lost to time. All of his lackeys and even he himself referred to himself as ‘The Nameless One’. And frankly it suits him, he never cared about something so fickle—only on what he could accomplish, which was a lot. The old boney bastard was set up way out east in an old desert temple.” He pauses as he racks his brain for a moment, “Trying to think of the coast it’s connected to… It’s a cute little isle with a decently popular port… Named after some kinda animal I think?”
Hiro hums as he rubs at his chin. Jesse frowns, racking his own brain for a long minute as he runs through all the places he’s been and heard of—which is, still shockingly enough to him, a lot.
“Squid Coast, maybe…?” He mumbles and Hiro immediately lights up, snapping his fingers.
“Yes! That’s the one! Thank you!”
Jesse smiles, “Okay, so this… Necromancer somehow pulled you out?”
“Yep! And it was messy.” Hiro says with a cockeyed grin, “Ancient magic versus ancient magic. Not a pretty sight and I was the one caught in the crossfire of it. Y’see, despite all that old bastard could do, he still had to put his all and supercharge his own casting to pull me out and the dragon was having none of it. It wasn’t a clean resurrection by any means—my soul’s been fragmented. It felt like being torn to shreds. And when I came out on the other side of it all I didn’t fare much better.”
Jesse winces at the thought, but nods for him to continue. Hiro grimaces a little in turn and nods to him.
“I woke up as a man overloaded with leftover power and no more knowledge than a hazy idea of my own name. My powers have… Shifted somewhat over time, but through a mix of that old geezer’s magic and the fidelity my own soul had to begin with, I was exactly what he was looking for. And he certainly didn’t foster someone that was level-headed and calm—I brought a brute strength and ferocity to the table he was lacking, and it went straight to my head. That’s where the beginnings of all those rumors of mine come from.”
“... How many of them are true?” Jesse asks quietly, a sternness washing over him as a new type of dread settles into his chest. Hiro tenses, a bitter smile gracing his features.
“More than you’d be proud of. More that I fear will just muddy your good name. They worsened, of course, over time.”
Jesse grimaces, “Let’s just… One thing at a time. You sound like you have more to say before we cross that bridge.”
“Right. Sorry.” Hiro sucks in another breath, steadying his sudden nerves, “With the whole of my soul stuck between two places—here and within the dragon—regaining any of my memory was a chore. I’d gotten a small bit of progress, but that door was completely closed on me when the Order banished it with that command block only a few years later. That entire sect of… myself was cut off with it. I became more unstable, more callous, more unhinged to be honest. The things I have done…” He mumbles with a scowl, tightening his grip on his own hands. He presses his lips into a hard line as his gaze finally meets Jesse’s once more and shakes his head, “I’ve not been a good man, Jesse. Not for a long time.”
“You’re here now though.” Jesse says honestly without thinking. Hiro shoots him a quizzical look and it makes something catch in Jesse’s throat.
Awkwardly shifting in his seat he frantically gathers all of the chaotic thoughts rushing through his head. He knows the things he’s heard about this man—Axel’s been utterly full of it. But so has Petra. For every thing Axel said that sent chills down his spine, Petra was right there to rebuttal with something else. The idea of Herobrine hasn’t exactly had a golden image in his mind, but not a demonic one either. He sits somewhere in the gray. A fuzzy feeling of something akin to nostalgia hits him and he finds the confusion and struggle the man before him is enduring familiar in a sense. He finds himself hoping that Ivor and him will get along—they’d have a lot to discuss.
“You’re here now…” Jesse repeats, murmuring it somewhat. Despite that though he still reaches out and takes his uncle’s hands within his own—they’re still warm to the touch. He gives them a squeeze as he meets him in the eyes, “Trust me when I say that I’ve crossed paths with a lot of people like yourself. They’ve all done bad things to say the least. Hurt people. Left them to just suffer and decay if not outright rot.” He spits, feeling his face grow hot as he gets fired up just thinking back on it all. He reigns it in however, rolling his lips as he nods reassuringly to his uncle, “But even amongst them, they’re almost split down the middle. There are plenty who stick to their guns no matter the cost, and then there are those who, when it comes down to it, face their faults.”
“What do you mean?” Hiro mumbles and Jesse swallows down his nerves as his gaze momentarily darts around them.
“I mean that— That you don’t have to be defined by your mistakes.” He pauses on that, allowing his words to settle in. Something in his uncle’s eyes softens and he continues, “You could be like Soren, Cassie, Hadrian, and Mevia and dig your heels in so deep that you continue to cause pain. Or you can take after Ivor, Aiden, Harper and hell, even Romeo.” He huffs and rolls his eyes at that, still disbelieving the sound of it even as he says it, “They’ve all fucked up badly to say the least, but they’re at least trying to do something better with themselves. I mean, even Soren’s starting to come around.”
Hiro chuckles weakly, “You don’t sound too convinced about him…”
Jesse’s cheeks puff briefly as he pouts, making his uncle laugh just a little more. He’s still… adjusting Soren to say the least. He’ll keep playing nice though and let him have his shot. For Ivor’s sake. He shakes it off though and refocuses, giving his uncle a shaky smile.
“All this to say that, despite however you’re feeling about all this, I don’t exactly see Herobrine the evil chaos-incarnate ripping through my town.” He laughs a little with that and Hiro’s eyes shimmer in something difficult to read—but hopeful to say the least.
“I’m… I’ve been trying to be better in recent years. I want to be.”
“Good. That’s what I like to hear and see.” Jesse smiles brightly with a satisfied hum, “I think you’re on the right track. Took a lot to just do this—to come home and to be so honest with me. I think that says a lot.”
“Heh! Glad one of us thinks so. My nerves are still shot to hell!” Hiro laughs weakly and Jesse shares that with him, nodding along.
He’s certainly had his fair share of admitting he was in the wrong and each time stings in a new way. Even with everything he’s learned and experienced, it’s hard to even begin putting himself in his uncle’s shoes. So much mysticism and chaos on levels his mind just doesn’t have a way of comprehending. Unable to think of how else to say it, Jesse just tugs the man into another hug. Hiro tenses up entirely at first but soon enough melts into it. They linger for a minute and Jesse gets a solid squeeze from the man, then he pulls back. A few more questions linger in his mind yet and as he pulls back, he’s certain it shows in his eyes.
“All that said, you obviously got some memories back somehow… When was that?”
“That’s been a shockingly recent development. It’s hard to wrap my mind around how much or how little time has passed these days, but a few years ago now something changed again. My powers shifted again into something stronger—more consistent—and my mind came back to me on some level in trade. I’ve always bounced ideas around but never was certain just because of the haze that’s always in my brain. Hearing that Witherstorm story of yours though, I think that just about confirms it…” He murmurs thoughtfully and Jesse’s eyes widen.
“The Witherstorm? How would that have anything to do with you?”
“Maybe not the storm itself, but that command block’s sure important, don’t you think?”
Dawning realization washes over Jesse and he sits up a little straighter, “I destroyed it… I destroyed the thing that put your memories on lockdown.”
“Bingo!” Hiro smiles warmly and clasps his hands together again as he nods along, “Romeo also had an interesting hypothesis that we bounced around. When the command block was destroyed, it was essentially the only other entity in our world that held a candle to Romeo’s powers which should’ve been balanced between multiple people. Without it, balance would be completely ruined as the remaining power would return to Romeo. But the world’s a funny place, and balance is important, so instead of returning back to Romeo…” Hiro trails off and gestures to himself vaguely with a shrug.
“You absorbed it. They ricocheted into you in an effort to balance the scales a little…”
“Yep! I’m your walking, talking, command block I guess!” He laughs a little and rubs his neck. He shrugs, “I don’t nearly have as much power as Romeo did though. As he put it, I’m more demi than god. It came with its own pros and cons.”
“Well that explains a few things… And that’s around the time when talk about you died down apparently—at least relatively.”
“Yeah, the moment I got my mind back it was sobering. I stopped dead in my tracks and asked just what the hell I was doing. Certainly wasn’t kind to myself or that old Necromancer as I came to terms with it all. I went my own way from there and retreated into the base in the Nether which I’d stolen within that first year of mine. Spent most of that time adjusting to my new powerset, trying to sort out the blurry haze of memories in my head, and figuring out just where the hell I was going next.”
“You keep mentioning the memory thing, you never really elaborated on that...” Jesse mumbles and Hiro lets out a curt huff.
“For good reason.” He blows out another sigh through his mouth, bothered by the memory of it and shaking his head. “I didn’t exactly wake-up as pretty and picture-perfect as I am now.” He holds his hands up under his chin as he says this, making Jesse smile ever so slightly.
“Is it because of your soul or the admin powers? I know Romeo had something similar.”
“A bit of both, but these days I’m inclined to say it’s still moreso the powers. They mess with your head, Jesse. A lot. I’m thankful I have such a limited amount of them because— Well, you saw just how confused I can get. I have my mind back, sure, but it’s an utter mess that hurts to try sorting out half of the time. I don’t trust my own memory. Then it’s also just… So easy to be aggravated. My impulsivity has worsened, I’m afraid. It’s difficult to recognize myself some days.”
Jesse hums thoughtfully with a stern nod. That’s exactly how Romeo described it. It’s haunting in a way to hear just how much those powers can change a person. It’s like they bring out the worst in people, yet Xara and Fred seemed so loved. Is Jesse just unlucky enough to find the people it’s corrupted? Or were they exceptions to the rule instead? A chill runs up his spine as he recalls what it was like when Romeo ran around wearing his face. He acted out of character, but it was apparently believable enough for Axel and Olivia to brush off any concerns. It leaves him wondering how he’d turn out if he truly did inherit those powers after finishing Romeo off. A dull ache runs through his forearm where the gauntlet burned its powers into his skin.
“When I first woke up, I was very… very lost.” Hiro mumbles, catching Jesse’s attention once more, “Like I said, I only really knew my name and age. Everything was blocked by that damn haze which left me feeling… empty. Hollow. Angry. And with my sudden new powers, I had the ability to lash out however much I wanted—which was only egged on further by the Nameless One.” He scowls and shakes his head, staring up at the afternoon sky as he thinks. A small smile graces his features though with an amused huff, “I suppose, for once, I’m glad that red-headed punk was there. If he hadn’t beaten my ass and showed me a taste of humility, I would’ve likely been worse.”
That surprises Jesse. His eyes widen, “Romeo?!”
“Don’t sound so surprised.” Hiro grins, flicking his hand flippantly, “I kept fucking up his plans for his ‘Champion’ or whatever even back then. Skewing the results or something—I dunno, I always just tuned him out. He was really pissed about it, but I couldn’t give less of a shit about some punk whose game I ruined. I thought I was hot shit! Then I got a taste of what real power looked like…”
“It’s crazy the stuff that he could pull off…” Jesse blows out and Hiro nods.
“That’s putting it lightly. But yeah, guess you could thank him for slowing down my little reign of terror. Not that he was much better but, eh.” He shrugs.
“Did he ever bug you again after that?”
“Oh yeah—especially after I took in the powers from that block. He wasn’t exactly too fond about losing out on his full potential to a ‘fragmented wannabe’ like myself.” He huffs and rolls his eyes, “That said though, I’d managed to get a better handle on my powers by then, even if some were still new. So that combined with my familiarity of the Nether, I essentially had home court advantage. The man’s not used to fighting fast in tight spaces like the ones I forced, so I managed to give him some issues despite it all. Hurt his pride to say the least.”
Jesse grins at that and gets a laugh out of his uncle. What can he say? Sure, it’s petty, but it still brings him some joy to hear about that man’s ego getting bruised by more than just him. He needed it. He laughs a little and just shakes his head as his mind mulls over everything it’s taken in. He feels like his head might pop from all the information shoved in it—imagine if he tried explaining any of the past six years to his twenty-year-old self?
He sits back and blows out a sigh, just rubbing his eyes a little. Hiro makes no attempt to press any further, allowing him the moment to breathe. Souls, dragons, command blocks, powers, balancing—he feels like he needs a nap. Then there’s his uncle. He can’t even begin to imagine how he’s feeling, but he’d bet it’s somewhere in the same ballpark. At the very least, they have no time limit. No rush. No world at stake. They can just sit, listen to the running water of the fountain, the birds distantly singing, and feel the warm breeze of the early summer washing over them. Finally, Jesse clasps his hands together and begins nodding.
“This is so weird…” He says with a pathetic laugh and his uncle snorts. Hiro reaches over and claps him on the shoulder.
“Tip of the iceberg, shortstack.”
“Heh! Is there anything else you think I should know before we head off to see the Order?”
“Hmm… Well…” Hiro sighs and crosses his arms as he thinks hard about something, brows knitted tightly together. He taps on his arm incessantly as he mulls something over before finally shrugging, “I suppose there’s one thing more. I’m not sure if it’s really all that relevant, but since we’re gonna be talking the End Dimension it might add up somewhere…” He mumbles and Jesse tilts his head curiously.
“Something more…? Is it something mentioned in the books?”
“No. Not that I’ve seen. They’re— This feels foolish saying, but I’ve been having these bizarre nightmares.”
“Nightmares?” Jesse asks, already skeptical. Hiro nods assuredly, but not without rubbing his neck.
“Yeah. Recurring ones. I only bring it up because they’re— Well they’re just odd, Jesse. And they’ve only just picked up in intensity after the command block was destroyed. I have a hazy recollection of having them a few times before but never really chocked them up to much—I had more important things to deal with. But after? I can’t help but keep them on my mind. And I say recurring, but… That’s a little misleading, I suppose. They’re never exactly the same but generally the same concept.”
“Keep talking…” Jesse softens and nods him along. Hiro swallows, nodding nervously. It’s obviously a topic he doesn’t like talking about. Jesse watches as his uncle’s gaze shifts down at his hands and arms. With a frown he clenches his right arm especially tight, clamping his other hand down over the top of it as he blows out a shuddery sigh.
“In these nightmares I-I’m… I’m human—er,” He pauses, choosing his words oddly carefully, “Well, I’m alive again. And— And every time I’m stuck in those End Cities and structures… Sometimes it’s other places though, like chorus fruit forests or…” He shakes his head, “Places I simply don’t recognize. Biomes that have long since died out to just be wastes that are out there now. I think reading those books about the End front to back so incessantly aggravated something in my mind, but still they just—… It’s so detailed. I’d chock it up to an overactive imagination but I’ve never had dreams so mundane yet vivid. Y’know what I mean?”
“I hear you. It could also have something to do with the powers you absorbed—knowledge comes with it all, I’m sure. Have you asked Romeo?”
Hiro blows out a frustrated sigh, “Yeah and he said just about the same thing as you… I dunno though. I’m probably just being foolish, but they just—… They feel different. I trust my instincts, Jesse, as I’m sure you trust yours.”
Jesse frowns, nodding as he quietly listens.
“Each one ends with me waking up with a jolt. Sometimes I lock eyes with an Enderman, sometimes I fall from one of the towers, other times I just get pains really suddenly in my arms, my eye, or my back. Hate the damn things, but I don’t know how to make them stop, either.” He sighs, rubbing his forehead.
“I’m— I’m curious, uncle… You hesitated earlier and switched words when you were describing how you looked in those dreams. What’s the difference between being human and being alive…?” Jesse lets out a weak laugh and Hiro smiles sadly. Sitting up fully once more, he just shakes his head.
“It’s… Odd. My fear of Endermen manifested, I guess… In the dreams I’ve become some bizarre amalgamation o-or mix of human and Enderman.” He traces up the body parts he mentions as he speaks, “My right right arm is covered in the same black, scaly hide of an enderman—I’ve even noticed small claws on a few occasions. Sometimes it has those glowing purple cracks in it like it’s injured—and the pain there certainly adds to it. But it’s not a constant. My other hand is better but has like… That shadowy gradient—like it’s beginning to go as well. Still pretty human though…?” He murmurs, confusion obvious as he speaks. Jesse thinks hard with him.
“Is it only your arm?”
“No. No… I never got a look to see how my lower body looks under the clothes, but from the feeling of things alone, my right leg is never doing so hot. Then I— I can just tell that it creeps right across my chest and up the left side of my face…” He brushes a hand over his cheek, brows furrowed as he recalls it, “My left eye… It’s completely covered. A-And the times I got to look at my reflection anywhere it’s— it’s got the same damn glow and coloration as—!” The words catch in his throat and he frowns, attempting to clear it.
“As an Enderman…” Jesse murmurs as he nods along. Hiro silently agrees.
“Pupils have slit too. Both of ‘em. Then of course vision’s weird with it, too. Works normally most of the time but sometimes it’s just blinding.”
“What’d you say you do in those dreams, again…?”
Hiro huffs with a shrug, “Well that’s the thing—Nothing. Or everything. It’s either mundane shit like—... Hell, I dunno, walking around and checking things out, ro completely action-packed and terrifying with no in between.”
“And you’re sure they’re never the same?”
“Positive Jesse. There’s a distinct feeling of deja vu that comes with recurring dreams. I never have that feeling with these—only confusion and dread.”
Jesse sits back, hand on his chin in thought. He’s right on that front. Jesse’s certainly had his own fair share of recurring dreams and nightmares and they’re always distinct. Nothing quite lining up with whatever his uncle is describing. Hell, half of ‘em sound outright boring to endure—sure the weird self transformation is horrifying in its own right, but to just be… wandering around? With little to no punch until the very end?
“I don’t get it…” He mumbles.
“Exactly!” Hiro huffs and sits back.
“I can’t really figure anything else out of it. Sorry you’re stuck dealing with them though, it must be exhausting revisiting that realm every time you shut your eyes. I can’t imagine the End was a particularly friendly place when you went there. I never saw it too much for myself. Most of it was spent in Soren’s weird mansion he made around the dragon altar.” Jesse shakes his head at the memory of that place, “He’s a bit… eccentric.”
“I’ll say. End Mansion, huh?”
“Enclosed in a giant sphere that has an artificial overworld made of wool. Includes a fake sky, sun, grass, and clouds.”
“... Interesting man.”
“Oh that’s only the beginning.” Jesse huffs with a slight grin, “Which reminds me, I’ve gotta ask him about a few things the time I see him! His books are in all sorts of realms. He mumbles, remembering each place he saw reference to the man and his works. He stops himself from going too deeply down that train of thought however as he glances up to see where the sun is. It’s sitting higher than he anticipated—already shifting back into a descent. His eyes widen and he quickly bounces up onto his feet, “Shoot! It’s getting to be about that time! We oughta get a move on or else we’re gonna be late.”
“Yeesh, already huh…?”
“Yep!” Jesse smiles, stretching his arms a little as he glances back at his uncle, “Speaking of the devil—you’re about to meet Soren! Along with all the other old Order members… How you feelin’?”
“Like I wanna throw up, but that’s normal.”
Jesse laughs at that but nods, “I get it. Don’t worry too much though, I’m on good terms with ‘em. I think we’ll be able to reach some kinda neutrality.” He offers his uncle his hand with a reassuring smile. Hiro nods and takes it, letting Jesse pull him up.
“Where are we meeting them?”
With that, Jesse grins. He nods behind Hiro, hand on his hips and looking proudly at the sky. Hiro follows his gaze to the giant floating structure surrounded by scaffolding and construction. The marble and gold accents in it glimmer brilliantly in the afternoon sun, complemented nicely by the darker shades of blackstone and other smoothed rock. Hiro goes slightly slack-jawed and Jesse just smirks proudly as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. Hiro merely points up at it.
“We get to go up there?”
“Sure! I live there, after all!” Jesse snickers, nudging him in the side as he passes and takes the lead once more.
Chapter 16: Book Club!
Summary:
Hiro reacquaints himself with the Old Order and Jesse decides his next move now that the End books are in his possession
Notes:
SO IT'S BEEN A HOT MINUTE,,,, MY BAD,,,,, WE OUT HERE VIBING
I hope quarantine is being kind to all of you !!! I'm doing my best to stay afloat and keep my motivation up, I'm honestly really proud I was able to get this and the next chapter finally out, as short as they are
Then again I shouldnt be saying they're short when my doc they're both on is 10k words in itself KLDJLKSDKFLJ I have not changed nor proofread too intensely as I don't have the energy and it would just be stuck in WIP-limbo forever if I didGo crazy AAA go stupid
EDIT 8/19/21: finally proof read for my past self <3 bone apple teeth
EDIT 6/23/23: two in one day LESSGO 😳🤝 mainly some touch ups in this one but a few conversational tweaks and addition regarding End stuff! #WorldbuildingMoment ✌️ <- I gotta stop using ironic hastags so much as jokes or else they're gonna become unironic at this rate and I'll fully become the Valley GirlTM I've always teetered on being. Anyways im rambling bye <3
Chapter Text
Jesse readjusts his grip on the three old books as the two walk through the large hallways. The sound of the pair’s heels echo against the polished stone floor. Jesse can’t help but be excited for when more people finally start moving about this place regularly. It’s too big right now. Too empty. He quietly sighs with that thought as they make their way back to his new apartment.
Hiro is content to be quiet for once—he’s still absolutely enamoured with the architecture around him. The sunlight peering in through the large windows is beautiful, and likely a warmth the man hasn’t felt in years. Though as they proceed, his excitement once more settles into something much more relaxed. Jesse’s heart beats incessantly against his chest, nerves making him antsy enough for the both of them. This is a big step and while Ivor has been nothing but helpful in the process of setting it up, he still can’t help but worry. They could walk away unscathed or he’ll be submitting new work order requests to repair even more on the tower.
He does his best to swallow it all down however, stopping short as they reach the door to his new apartment. Hiro nearly stumbles into him and he just offers his uncle a small smile as he fiddles with the doorknob. Trying not to drop the books at the same time is a bit awkward, but he manages it well enough and eventually pushes the door open with his shoulder. Moving in and holding the door open with his body, he kicks a little block beneath it so it stays propped open. With that, he blows out a huge sigh as he moves back into his new home.
Hiro walks in slowly, hands clasped together in front of him as he admires the apartment. He hurries forward to the far wall first though, and hops up onto the short bookshelf below the large window to take in the view of the cityscape before them. He mouths a breathless ‘wow’ and just leans up against the wall and window for a short while.
Jesse smiles, setting the new—old?---books down on the wallside counter by his now notorious box of records. He can’t help but smile bitterly at them each time he sees them now. He picks up one, running his fingers over the cover as usual. He’s surprised that the pain is easing up, but then again, he’d learned so much more than he ever thought he would so quickly. He glances over to his uncle, the light in his eyes growing brighter as he reflects. His family is getting some closure, and it’s growing once again in a way he never thought possible. He looks back to the record in his hands before setting it down. Maybe one day soon he and his uncle could listen to those records together—the good ones.
Taking a step back, Jesse moves over to his uncle.
“I’m… I’m really glad that you like everything so much. I gotta admit I was nervous!” He laughs a bit awkwardly, catching Hiro’s attention. Hiro squints, amused.
“Now why would you be nervous about showing me something so wonderful, hm?”
Jesse reddens at the compliment and just ducks his head a bit in thanks. Hiro nods in return then smiles. Jesse hops up onto the shelves next to him and crosses his arms as he stares down at the city.
“I’m just nervous about a lot of things I guess. But I mean, can you really blame me?”
“Heh, guess not. Don’t know what I’d really say if I were in your shoes. This,” Hiro gestures to the city, shaking his head, “is all because of you.” He looks over to his nephew with sheer pride that makes his eyes practically shimmer, “I never would have expected that this would be the way your life would turn.” He chuckles, “A wide-eyed little boy growing up in a little forest cabin becoming a world-renowned hero? Leading a city that’s expanding exponentially? And all before he’s thirty?” Hiro can’t help the grin, “You’ve turned into someone spectacular, Jesse…”
He pauses, white eyes shifting down for a second. His earrings quietly jingle, the late afternoon sun reflecting off of them. The sunlight suits the man as much as the fire—all warm. He reaches out and places a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, meeting him in the eyes.
“Your father would be so proud of you.”
“Thank you Uncle…” Icy blue eyes glaze over a bit as Jesse smiles. Hiro nods, not really having anything else to say. He gives Jesse’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze and the two share a comfortable minute of silence.
“Oh I do hope I’m not interrupting anything.” A new—but familiar—voice calls out to the pair from the doorway. Jesse gasps, and the two quickly turn to look back at the newcomer. Standing in the doorway, Ivor holds an arm over his eyes to keep the sun out. “I’d run over to greet you, Jesse, but frankly with you standing in front of the sun I can’t tell which of you is which! Though I suppose going for the short one is always a fair choice…” Ivor strokes his beard as he looks away. Jesse lets out a curt laugh then hops down and runs over to the older man. “HA! There we are!” Ivor grins as he gets a big hug from the young man.
“It’s good to see you!”
“You say that like I’ve been gone for months! It’s only been a few days since our Nether excursion Jesse, surely you haven’t forgotten, hm?” Ivor cocks a brow as he lets go of Jesse. Jesse rolls his eyes.
“I say one thing.”
“Ha! Merely getting even, my dear boy.” He holds his hands out wide as he speaks. Out of the corner of his eye he sees movement and turns his attention to Hiro who has meandered over. Ivor subtly moves in front of Jesse, standing between him and Hiro. Jesse huffs a little in amusement, but he can’t help but be warmed by the gesture. Even if everything with this new endeavor went up in flames, he’ll still have plenty of people in his corner. Hiro, hands clasped behind his back, nods in greeting. Ivor turns to face him fully, “Ah, and here’s the man of the hour. It’s a pleasure to have a… more formal introduction.” Ivor states and offers out a hand. Hiro nods and shakes it firmly.
“Yeah. I’m grateful for the opportunity, I know I far from deserve it. Sorry I tried killing you.” He takes his hand back and sucks air in through his teeth, swinging his arms awkwardly at his sides. “... Again.”
Ivor scans the man up and down, trying to read him. It’s nervewracking and leaves Jesse’s throat dry. But, much to his utter relief, Ivor waves it off.
“I suppose I won’t hold it against you—it seems to run in the family. The first real interaction I had with Jesse, he punched me!” Ivor huffs and Jesse clears his throat, glancing away from his uncle’s sudden gleeful grin.
“It was… Kinda in the moment…” He mumbles, rubbing his neck. Ivor chuckles and Hiro gives him a hearty slap on the back.
“Atta kid!”
“It certainly left an impression.” Ivor hums, unable to keep himself from smiling. “But before we go any further with this, I’d like something from you myself.”
“Ivor—” Jesse hisses under his breath, shooting him a pointed glare only for the man to hush him and hold up a hand. He scowls but doesn’t argue. Hiro however, remains unfazed and simply nods.
“Go for it. Whatever your concern, I'm more than happy to hash it out.”
The corners of Ivor’s mouth twitch into a slight smile—pleasantly surprised if Jesse were to hazard a guess. The man nods thoughtfully, “Making this easy. Promising. I’ll give you that one.”
“I’ve certainly caused enough problems already, doesn’t make sense to add more.”
“A good outlook. A simple query for you—” Ivor hums as he taps his fingertips together, “What is it you seek to gain from this?”
Hiro’s eyes narrow slightly, “... You’re implying I’d use this as a means to gain something more than just rekindling with my own nephew.”
“Jesse is more than just that these days. He’s a well-known young man with much influence and a lot of potentially powerful and dangerous items in his possession. Pardon my bluntness, but your reputation precedes you—I simply want to hear it from your own mouth rather than Jesse’s that you are doing this for the right reasons.”
Hiro stiffens at the accusation and Jesse grows even more nervous. He shifts to step between the two men but not only does Ivor catch him, but Hiro raises a hand to stop him as well. Hell, his own gaze is enough to freeze him in his tracks. Slowly dropping his hand and turning his gaze back to Ivor, Hiro sucks in a deep breath.
“... It’s Ivor, correct?”
“Indeed.”
“Good. Ivor, I could not care less about how the items in that treasure room could benefit me. Even the ones that leave me nervous such as that End Crystal or that damn beast’s own egg. I trust Jesse has enough sense not to do anything foolish with them. Furthermore, though I left his life far too soon for my liking and am coming back far too late, I still had a hand in raising that boy. In loving him. And if my brother is gone then it’s my responsibility to do whatever I can to make up for that absence and help keep him safe.” He huffs bitterly and shakes his head, “And I know. I’ve already messed that up spectacularly. I don’t intend on ruining a second chance.”
“Hmm… So a second chance, is it?” Ivor hums, stroking his beard in thought.
“Yes. It’s— It’s more than I feel I deserve, I know. But if he’s willing to allow me a chance to try, I don’t want to squander it. I have a lot to prove, but I’m ready to work at it.”
Ivor scans the man up and down for a long, agonizing minute. Jesse’s stomach tightens as he has to wait. He knew Ivor wasn’t the most keen on his uncle, but he didn’t expect it to come up like this. He supposes he should’ve expected something though—no way would they be going any further without his seal of approval first. Hiro meanwhile stands tall and serious, that stoicness washed over him once again. It’s not a look he’s used to seeing on him and can only assume it’s grown from the last twenty years of his chaotic life. But, thankfully, a satisfied smile tugs at the older man’s lips.
“Good! You’ll certainly be put to work around here—I know I was.” He huffs as he shoots Jesse a sly glance out of the corner of his eye. Jesse blinks in surprise before finally easing up. Hiro mimics him, a shaky smile gracing his features. They’re in the clear! That’s one down, only three more to somehow convince… And that’s where the real challenge will lie.
On that note, Ivor takes a step back and sucks in a breath. Jesse raises a brow, figuring he knows what’s coming next. Ivor clasps his hands together, the look in his eyes one Jesse has seen more times than he could count.
“So I indeed began talks with the others.” He says with a wry smile, “Brought up your uncle, the works, and tried to explain it as calmly as possible...”
Jesse struggles to quell the smile that sneaks across his face. Ivor continues, unable to hide his grin.
“It has gone… Interesting, to say the least!”
“Oh God, how much destruction was there?” Jesse says between giggles, putting a hand over his mouth. Hiro can’t help his face feeling a bit hot as he rubs his forehead. Ivor sucks in a breath.
“Well. I am still in the process of recovering the hearing of my left ear—courtesy of Gabriel.” He begins counting things off on his fingers. Hiro bites his fist, starting to cringe. “Soren screamed to himself very quietly for a while and proceeded to stuff his fingers in his ears to block me out. And Magnus,”
“Oh boy…” Jesse rubs his face.
“Magnus, in the midst of his fervent ranting, broke three lamps, a chair, knocked down my brewing stand four times, and he managed to leave a hole in the wall. You know how much of a clutz that man can be.” Ivor shrugs, “So, it went pretty well I’d say.”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it. I get it. I am not liked.” Hiro holds his hands up nonchalantly before stuffing them in his pockets. Ivor offers an apologetic smile then crosses his arms.
“Ah, they will come around. I don’t think they have a choice with Jesse here!” Ivor grins, elbowing the young man in the side. Jesse laughs nervously and shrugs. Fair enough. “Honestly the most egregious one is Soren! Ha! No surprise there! While he may take offense at all the architectural changes you’ve made to the place, I think he’s mainly upset he couldn’t look at his books for 20 years—less that you ran us out.” Ivor rolls his eyes, “Very typical of him to put his research before people, but that’s a can of worms for another day.” He looks to Jesse, “They’re truly just waiting to hear your confirmation that everything is alright, Jesse…”
“Well…” Jesse takes a breath and nods, “Best to just send them in and get things started, right?”
“Diving head-first as always I see. I'm glad to see you’re feeling better.” Ivor smirks and Jesse returns it. Hiro blinks with his hands on his hips, playing up his attitude.
“And what if I don’t wanna dive in head-first, eh? I mean, look at what happened the last time I did that, kiddo!” He holds a hand to his heart and Jesse isn’t sure if he should gasp or scoff. Regardless he gets a small laugh out of it and shakes his head while patting his uncle on the arm.
“Don’t be such a Drama King. If I wait for you to be ready then I’ll already be in my grave.”
“Oh and I’m the dramatic one! It wouldn’t be that long!”
“Yeah, okay. Bring ‘em in, Ivor.” Jesse smiles, nodding to the man. Ivor smiles back and claps his hands together.
“Surely! I will be just a minute!” He flicks his hand to them as he turns and heads out of the apartment, leaving Jesse and Hiro alone for just a few moments more. Jesse looks up to Hiro seriously.
“You ready?”
“I was gonna ask you the same thing.” Hiro cocks a brow. Jesse smiles sheepishly and shrugs. It has to be done. Hiro nods, “I get it. And, yeah, I think I can handle it. I’m a big boy.” He smirks and lightly punches Jesse’s arm, getting a chuckle out of his nephew.
“Glad to hear it.”
~~~~~
It’s a silent standoff now. On one side of the room stands Jesse and Hiro, and on the other is Gabriel, Magnus, and Soren. Ivor had long since slipped between the two groups, a mediator just as much as an old member of the Order. Hiro grips his hands tight in front of him but stands tall regardless, voice eloquent in a side of him he’s been seeing much of recently but can’t remember at all from his childhood.
“Again, I was acting out like a child. A sadistic one. I have explanations for my behavior and am more than happy to dive into even deeper detail than I already have, but I’m not using them as excuses. I’ve been a menace, and I harmed each of you as well as many other innocent people. I’m sorry. Truly.” He sucks in a breath, gaze strong and serious, “I don’t expect you to accept my apology, actions speak louder than words. But I hope we can put these differences aside for the meantime so we can all help Jesse.” He softens as he looks to his nephew with a nod, “This is for his sake.” He looks back to the group, “Is that… reasonable?” He asks, only to be met by further silence.
Ivor is already on board, but the three remaining men share some looks. Magnus and Soren silently communicate by making some faces at each other, passing a few shrugs back and forth, and generally having a silent conversation. Soren hangs back behind them just glaring at Hiro with his arms crossed in malcontent. It seemed he was going to be about as difficult as Jesse had guessed. But hopefully if the other two come around he’ll feel more inclined to go along with this. Gabe seems only slightly less indignant and Magnus is unreadable as ever. Jesse feels his skin grow hot out of sheer nervousness. He doesn’t want to say anything and ruin the weight of everything his uncle had just said, but how long could they truly let this silence go on?
“Alright!” The loud announcement and clap snaps everyone out of their intense stupor as Magnus takes a step forward with his typical smirk. He relaxes and holds his hands up and all eyes fall on him. He hooks his hands in his belt loops and rolls his neck with a shrug. “I’m sold. Let’s get to work!”
“W-Wait! Magnus—” Gabe starts, reaching a hand out only for Magnus to slip out of his reach.
“Oh come on! What good has holding grudges ever done us, huh? Sides, he seems like a cool guy! And, honestly, in Boom Town it’s not like I was personally much better! Heh! Sides, getting along will make this all way easier, and short-stack here can use all the help he can get!” Magnus walks over to Jesse and squeezes his shoulders as he points to him.
“Thanks…?” Jesse mumbles, unsure if that was entirely a compliment. Magnus pats his arm then pushes off of him, trying to appeal to the two remaining men.
“Come on! You—”
“Magnus, you are only drawn to this man because you admire the chaos he’s inherently involved in.” Gabe pinches the bridge of his nose and Magnus rolls his eyes to the heavens and sags where he stands.
“OKAY AND??” Magnus shrugs, “I’m the TNT guy! I know the logistics of that stuff! I can admire his work!”
“Work against us?”
“Where do you think I came up with some of my new moves from? He had flair! What can I say?” Magnus rolls his eyes and Hiro slightly nods from behind him. He did have flair. Jesse side-eyes his uncle with a piercing glare and Hiro drops the smirk he had on his face. Serious time. Right. Magnus waves Gabrial off as he continues, “Gabe you’ve only got a stick up your ass because King here hurt your damn pride!” He says as he jerks a thumb back at Hiro with his other hand on his hip. “Come on, man! Be the bigger person here! You really wanna disappoint Jesse by reverting back to the ass he met when he was twenty?”
“Magnus!” He gasps, promptly raising his voice, “I am not—!” He goes to chew him out but then notices everyone else in the room cover their ears except Magnus himself. Attitude on full display, Magnus mockingly clears his ear.
“Oh?? I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that! Could you please speak up for your poor, half-deaf friend, Gabriel?” He pouts and flutters his eyes, making Gabe growl and roll his eyes before he deflates and goes quiet. Magnus smiles back at Jesse and gives a thumbs up. Jesse warily smiles, unsure if this is any improvement or just making things worse. Eventually Gabe lets out one of his classic heavy sighs. His voice always resonated no matter what he did, it reminds Jesse of his father in a way. Gabe crosses his arms and looks up again, meeting Hiro in the eyes.
“I’m not going to apologize for my behavior just now, as I feel it at least starts making us even.” he begins. Hiro nods seriously. Gabe continues, “However… I think I am letting my pride get the better of me…” He nods and out of the corner of his eyes sees Soren gawk at where this is going. “You have regrets the same as each of us do. Imperfections and flaws, but you are putting in the effort to correct them… You need to be a big person to do that, so I respect that. It’s better than how we all acted when Jesse first encountered us. I will offer my services to be of whatever help I can in these upcoming encounters if need be. Perhaps we can find some common ground. For Jesse.”
Gabe nods and Hiro returns the gesture. Jesse can’t help the brilliant smile that washes over him as he lets out a breath he’d been holding. His palpable excitement brightens the room as he hurries over to both Magnus and Gabe who give the young man hearty hugs and good slaps on the back. Hiro smiles at the sight but soon drops it as he notices Soren still hanging back and glaring daggers into him. He sucks in a breath, hoo boy, this guy seems like some work. He glances at Jesse and clears his throat, pulling him out of his small celebration.
Jesse blinks in surprise and catches his uncle’s gaze before he gestures to the remaining man. Jesse spots Soren and cringes slightly. His change in energy is noticeable and the two older men once again share a look of uncertainty. Sure, Soren’s an old friend, but he still is rather estranged. Trying to intervene now may not be a good choice. Jesse intertwines his hands in front of him as he takes a step forward. He takes a deep breath, stands straight, and grows serious.
“Soren.” His voice makes the man’s gaze snap to him, unfaltering. Jesse doesn’t let it intimidate him, just continuing. “Remember our own conversation the other day about forgiveness.” He puts some extra edge on the word, and it genuinely catches Soren off guard. The man pales slightly, the tension from his anger dissipating. Jesse continues, “You’re not in shoes so different you know… You have a choice to make right here, right now. Improvement takes effort. We are all stepping out of our comfort zones here in order to grow.” He pauses, considering his next words then nods to himself as he continues, “You don’t have to accept any apologies, but at least start on growing a spine.”
Soren bites his lip as Jesse keeps his gaze on him. It’s a ridiculous scene—as if a child were the one scolding its own mother. Soren retreats inward to think, leading to long silence. Jesse relaxes slightly but doesn’t take his eyes off the man, expectant. At least that is, until he feels his uncle’s hand on his shoulder. He looks up at him, blinking in surprise. Hiro offers a small half smile and pats his shoulder. Turning his gaze down a bit he notices the trio of old books in his other hand then gets the idea. Hiro passes him and continues over to Soren, stopping just short of him and holding the books carefully in both hands. He clears his throat to catch the man’s attention. Soren turns around and cocks a brow at the man, slight disgust on his face.
“These are yours, right?” Hiro holds the books up a little to catch his attention. Soren blinks in surprise. Hiro continues, “The books on the End… They’re a good read! I understand why you’d miss them…”
“Yes…” Soren mumbles, running a finger over the top of one cover. He glances up to the mystical man before him who just nods—giving him permission to take one. Soren tentatively grabs the top book off the stack and a quiet gasp escapes him. He admires the rich purple velvet and gold on the old book. He sneaks a glance up to Hiro, still suspicious as he opens the book and begins scanning the pages, inspecting them. Hiro relaxes with a lazy half-smile. The perfect way to a nerd’s heart—give them a high quality book. Always worked with his brother when they were kids. Soren hums after a minute, looking over the back of the book next. Hiro raises a brow curiously.
“These are in… exceptional shape.” Soren slowly nods. He looks up to Hiro still with lingering suspicion in his eyes. Hiro nods.
“My brother taught me how to take care of old books. He was a dork like that—er… Not that I’m saying it’s bad! It— I just—...” He shuts his eyes and grimaces, shaking his head at himself. Almost had it, tough guy. He sighs and nods, “I’ve always tried keeping the books back home in good shape once I got my memories back. They’re all filled with fascinating things, and seeing that knowledge lost to laziness or ignorance just leaves a pit in my stomach… Plus the End has always been an important topic for me. I’ve read these books front to back dozens of times. Very informative! Never thought there was so much to that—” He suddenly catches himself, choosing his harsh words carefully around the guy that voluntarily lived there, “that dimension…”
Soren takes a long minute to consider him then slowly nods. “There is indeed…” He sucks in a breath then stands tall while holding the book tightly against his chest. “Well… It seems we’ve a lot of reading to do this afternoon if we wish to continue solving this mystery. I take it Jesse has caught you up on our theories thus far, yes?”
Hiro blinks a few times in surprise and Jesse behind him lights up with glee. Soren’s on their team! They really got him! Warmth flows through his veins at the mere aspect of it. Yeah, Soren’s a piece of work, but he is the expert when it comes to things on the End, and now that he has his books back he could be a fantastic asset. With that in mind Soren opens up the book again as he begins walking over to the small bookcase he and his uncle had been standing on earlier to stare out the window. He sits himself down as he flips through the first few pages and all the others eventually follow suit and settle down on the ground in the area. Ivor stops Jesse a moment before he joins the others to speak with him.
“Jesse, you know my faith in you is unfaltering, but I must ask—What is the plan now?” Ivor surprisingly is able to keep his voice a relatively quiet whisper.
Jesse frowns slightly. Admittedly, the thought of “what comes next” had been on his mind for a while. Yeah he’d been saying that the working theory had to do with End Cities, but until now they didn’t really have any way of confirming that. With these books they’ll hopefully get to know some more practicalities of the End dimension. For what? He can’t say he really knows, or at least, he doesn’t want to say what he’s thinking of doing just yet… There isn’t enough information. He’d be diving in blind.
Possibly catching onto this chain of thought, Ivor frowns, “You don’t intend to travel to those outer islands, do you?”
“I…” Jesse’s mouth hangs open but no words come out. He falters, dropping his eyes downwards. Ivor’s frown deepens.
“Jesse going in so soon without a plan or any idea of what you’re even searching for is indescribably foolish!”
“I-I don’t know yet, okay? I’m still thinking about it…”
“‘Still thinking about it’ is your way of saying ‘I’ve made up my mind but don’t want to say it and upset everyone’, Jesse. Do not try to fool me after all this time, now!” Ivor scolds him and Jesse feels his cheeks burn. He’s right. Ivor sighs and gives his arms a reassuring squeeze, “I suppose… Since I know I cannot change your mind, I just implore you to wait. Wait until you have a clear path ahead of you, and know exactly what it is you hope to find. You’re being rather impulsive with this decision, but I suppose I cannot blame you for it.”
“I’ll… try to hold back. I’m sure there’s other paths to take I just haven’t thought of. I… I honestly don’t wanna end up out there—especially blind. You’re right. I don’t even know what I’d be looking for…” He sighs, grumbling the last part. Ivor seems to relax a little at that—a hint of sense from the young man at least. Lightening up, Jesse smiles somewhat slyly, “Besides, you’ve already got enough grey hairs—you don’t need any more from worrying about me.”
Ivor scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Yes, well, I suppose that means you owe me a hair treatment once this is all over! You have been stressing me out for six long years now!”
Jesse laughs and nods, “Okay! Okay, I’ll pay for one.”
“Multiple treatments. One for every time you made me yank my hair out because of your antics.” He waggles his fingers at the word, finally walking ahead on that note. Jesse rolls his eyes with a smile and trails behind, soon joining the group of men on the ground.
He sits down between Hiro and Ivor, assessing where everyone is at. Soren is intensely reading on his own, Gabe is reading quietly aloud to Magnus as he seemingly adds commentary and Hiro is sitting focused on the third book for himself. Seeing Ivor and Jesse sit down however, he snaps it shut with a smile and passes it their way. Ivor blinks in surprise and he shrugs.
“Like I said, I’ve already read the things hundreds of times.”
“I recall you saying only dozens.” Ivor hums as he takes the book from his hands. Hiro shrugs.
“Eh, whatever, same difference. Point is I’ve read ‘em a lot. But another pair of eyes looking ‘em over is good. After all, I was more focused on the place’s creation and the dragon, so I didn’t particularly pay as much attention to the descriptions of the landscape and Endermen as much as you guys probably need.”
Jesse hums, “But, in short, are the rumors true—at least according to the book? About the cities, the different islands, the forests…?”
“Yeah, basically.” He nods. “It takes a pretty objective point of view. Probably written up by some Old Builder or by Xara or Fred. I think Xara was in charge of that realm, but she’s been powerless for so long, I don’t know if she’d even have knowledge that’d help, y’know?”
“You’ve met her?”
“Nope. But Rom’s talked a lot about her. He’s spoken with her a few times here and there, but I don’t know where they meet.”
“I see… So it might have been an Old Builder that wrote these. That makes sense I suppose. It would’ve been nice if someone had at least started mapping out the islands though.” Jesse sighs and Soren nods from his perch in front of the window.
“That would be nice wouldn’t it?” He turns a page, not taking his eyes off the words for a second, “From some upper levels of my home, you can see the beginning of the islands through a telescope. It’s quite the gap from the altar to them, no easy way to cross aside from the pearls and initial End Gateway. These books confirm that, too.”
“Hmm…” Jesse drums his fingers on his leg in thought. Gabe clears his throat and speaks up.
“If I may ask Jesse… How are you feeling in regards to this… mystery over your father? We do now have confirmation that End Cities are quite real, and they seem to be the only place in the many worlds your father could have ended up. Most other dimensions, even the First World you described, are relatively straightforward to leave. However… If you were dropped on a random island in the End…” He trails off, shaking his head, “There is simply no way to find your direction nor location. Finding your way back to the altar from there is a one in a million chance, and incredibly dangerous. I apologize for my… blunt language.” Gabe mumbles and Jesse sighs with a nod.
“Wrong.” Soren interjects, earning some confused glances his way. He just shakes his head, “Well, technically anyways. You see, in a perfect world, there are End Gateways periodically scattered all throughout the End Isles. Their locations are even announced with things akin to shimmering purple beacons—it should be fairly straightforward to leave. All one would need is a few enderpearls, a gateway, and a fair bit of luck to make it that far.”
“My brother could’ve handled that easily…” Hiro murmurs with a scowl and Soren nods.
“If he was anything like Jesse then I’m inclined to believe you. As I said before, this applies in a perfect world. And that means a world in which the dragon was killed naturally—not with the intervention of that damn command block…” Soren sighs and a chorus of unhappy hums ring out.
“So—” Magnus starts, “We fucked up the natural order of things once again and it probably costed Jesse’s dad his life, right? That’s what you’re saying?”
“If not countless others who’ve suffered the same fate since…” Gabe grimaces, solemnly shaking his head. Jesse’s stomach churns at the mere thought and Soren frowns but quietly nods.
“Yes… Something like that.” He mumbles, a pained look washing over him as he grips the book in his lap a bit tighter, “I do not believe the End Gates have properly opened outside of that one… It’d be like finding a needle in a haystack—especially with all of the odd ways the dimension itself shifts to confuse you. I never strayed from my home for that very reason—it’s suicide.”
“Well that just makes me feel all fuzzy inside…” Magnus grumbles and Ivor shoots him a pointed glare. Jesse blows out a heavy sigh, a hollow feeling engulfing his chest. How this is all wrapping back around to the very thing that started it all is almost poetic. Of course it’d all come back to that dragon and that damn block. Jesse frowns and pinches the bridge of his nose before dropping his hand tiredly.
“Stopping now doesn’t feel right. I don’t feel like we’ve done all we could do. Seen all we could have seen.”
“Soooo?” Magnus follows up, “Whaddaya thinkin’ then, hot-shot? I mean… Hate to be a downer but that sounds like a pretty solid account of what happened. Dude got grabbed, whisked away, and without a direct way home, I mean…” He huffs, a bitter laugh coming out of him, “Pretty cut and dry, don’tcha think…?”
“Well…” His voice is quiet as he thinks over it all. “I still have questions… Like why did it even happen in the first place? Was there any kind of warning? Or any indications left behind? It just—... It just feels too isolated and too specific of an incident for there to not be just… something else!” Jesse taps his nails together as he racks his brain.
“I just can’t believe it…” Hiro mumbles, staring blankly into the floor as he shakes his head, “I can’t comprehend how he’d be so— so careless… It’s out of character. My brother’s smarter than that. I just don’t know what he was thinking…”
Jesse pauses and then his eyes widen a little. He nudges his uncle, “This— This might be a long shot, but could someone like that Nameless guy help? Necromancer? I mean, it’s not like dad died to the dragon, right? If his soul is reachable then he could just— I dunno, tell us?” He stops talking as his uncle’s expression tightens into that of a grimace. He figured it was a long shot, but getting such an obvious denial still leaves him hollow and disappointed.
“The End is a difficult place to reach, Jesse. It takes a lot of strength for magic to reach into it—it’s not something your everyday Necromancer could do. And even if he were willing to help—which I doubt he would—that is not the kind of entity your father would want you tangling with. Not for something like this.” A hollow look graces his features and he huffs, “Besides, I don’t even know if the old codger is still alive. Last I heard, there was a real ruckus going on in his part of the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got caught up in it himself. The foolish bastard.”
Jesse huffs and pulls his legs to his chest, “Great. So back to square one.”
Ivor is the one to suck in a breath next, “Jesse… I loathe even bringing forth the idea, but…” He pauses, hesitating on saying it even now. He quiets his voice to something much gentler and rests a hand on the young man’s back, “Have you considered foul play…?”
The words make the room go silent. Any ambiance even feels like it’s quieted. Jesse grimaces, hoping he was gonna be able to avoid that subject and idea altogether. Foul Play. Murder. No campy mansions this time though. No, just him, a cabin in the woods, and a dark cave that still sends shivers down his spine thinking about. He blows a controlled sigh out through his nose and nods.
“Axel—… Axel had brought it up once we listened to 13—the other disk that was left behind. I didn’t—don’t—want to consider it, but…” He grimaces, fighting back the tears daring to try and leave his eyes. He shakes his head, clearing his throat but unable to keep the subtle shake and crack out of it, “There are too many inconsistencies right now to consider it as just ‘bad luck’ or… something.” He just clenches his fists as he sits there quietly. Hiro shares his pain and reaches out to gently wipe his cheek. Jesse sniffles and just shakes his head, “No… No idea who would though. Only ‘clue’ there is is the note that came with the disks and the disks themselves. Even then, they might still just be dad’s somehow. I really just don’t know…”
“Do you still have any of his journals? Maybe he left some—”
“The journal he had for that year he took with him to the Stronghold. It wasn’t on his workbench or anywhere nearby, so I can only assume it was on him when—” Suddenly Jesse stops mid thought.
“I don’t get why this one was recorded…” He murmurs with a sigh. “If someone wanted to leave clues, then the music didn’t help. Yet if someone wanted to scare me off, why leave the clues in there? A-And that water! What on Earth dropped?”
“Sounded like a book.” Axel picks his teeth a bit and shrugs nonchalantly. Jesse blinks.
“How on Earth do you figure that?”
“I’m a man of many talents Jesse!” Axel grins as he sits back, arms folded behind his head. “It was totally a book. Average sized but thick.”
“... Right. Okay. I’m taking your guess with a massive grain of salt but we’ll go with it. I guess it did sound light enough to be just a book.”
Jesse feels his heart swell with a flicker of hope and it nearly winds him. A wave of amazement washes over him and lights a fire within him, but he quickly surges to calm himself down. It was just Axel guessing. A shot in the dark. A real deus ex machina. But what if… What if Axel’s weird, stupid talent for knowing exactly what’s fallen is actually legitimate? Okay, maybe it’s not but that does give him a good idea regardless. Hiro waves a hand in his face.
“Earth to Jesse? You got something, kid?”
“Well… Maybe. Dad I’m pretty sure had the journal on him when he was exploring, I mean, why wouldn’t he? You knew dad. He would write down everything he could about a dangerous place he was scoping out. I’ve read his journals, he did this all the time before your guys’ BIG adventures.” Jesse shifts, sitting up straight now with everyone’s full attention, even Soren’s. “Look, while Axel and I were listening to 13, we were trying to theorize about a series of events that may have happened. But anyways, at some point, we hear water clearly flowing and something reasonably sized,” He grabs one of the End books and holds it up high before letting go of it. Soren gasps only for Jesse to catch it at the last second. He holds it there and slowly makes eye contact with each person there, “Drop in.” He sets the book down more gently now and continues, “I-It could have been anything, yes. But even if it’s not a journal, it still may have been something from my father. There might be more clues there in that cave!” He smiles slightly only to hesitate on the thought of returning there. Ivor speaks up.
“Are… you saying we should go back? To explore the scene of the crime…?” Ivor mumbles. Jesse takes a deep breath. He doesn’t like hearing those words, but it’s necessary at this point. It was the scene of the crime. A crime happened. His father couldn’t have just disappeared on his own like that. He wouldn’t have. There must be something more to the story. With a fire in his eyes, Jesse nods.
“Yes.”
Hiro rubs his mouth, “Are we gonna be able to find much though? It’s been years and a cave with a stronghold is bound to have brought about at least a few looters.”
“I wouldn’t say so… It was more trouble than it’s worth.”
“More trouble than it’s worth?” Hiro murmurs, a brow raised. Jesse deflates slightly, cheeks going red as he rubs the back of his neck.
“Yeah… W-When I was leaving officially I was still really paranoid of that cave so I uhh…” He chuckles nervously and clears his throat. “I uh… Improvised… And I managed to block it up.” He avoids eye contact as he says it.
“With… what, exactly?” Soren asks.
Jesse smiles sheepishly, “Well all that should be left now is a wall of sheer obsidian.”
Soren chuffs at that and Magnus snorts. Ivor lets out a curt laugh and slaps Jesse on the back, mumbling something about him always knowing he had a penchant for lava somewhere in him. Hiro sits there and simply purses his lips in thought, slowly nodding.
“I… Well. I suppose that would be more trouble than it’s worth, huh? I take it you broke into your father’s mining stash then? Actually, know what? I’m not even gonna press for details.” He shakes his head with a surprised smile—not what he was expecting but he can roll with that. The unexpected seems to be the new pattern. He continues, “Just gotta hope nobody curious or determined has passed by.”
“It was kinda out of the way, plus it’s probably overgrown now. But I think we should go there, the sooner the better. I know I could find it.” Jesse nods and Hiro can’t help but agree. The clock’s ticking, it’ll be a miracle if much is left, but maybe having it blocked up will have been the miracle they need. Jesse then glances over at Soren of all people, “Soren, would you mind coming along?”
“M— Me?!” Soren blinks, surprised to be asked to do such a task.
“Yeah. If there are still signs in the caves I missed—prints, scratches, or something—I want you to see them. Get your thoughts.”
“Y-Yes! Of course! I’d be honored to, Jesse…” He bows his head slightly and Jesse smiles.
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” He glances at Hiro who just gives a thumbs up. Oh he’s coming. Jesse isn’t sure he’d be able to talk him out of it. He nods along and continues talking—thinking as he goes, “I honestly think tomorrow afternoon would be good. Like you said—the sooner the better. Head out around noon or one… We’ll still have plenty of daylight. I’ll probably ask Axel to come along and maybe Jack—I wanna take a closer look down in those cave systems while you guys stay up and look over the entrance and stuff.” Jesse hits his hand with his fist, mind beginning to race as a plan forms. Ivor opens his mouth to speak but Magnus beats him to it.
“Okay?? What are our jobs???” He seems rather excited at the prospect of some big stronghold investigation. Jesse grimaces slightly and forces a smile.
“No offense Magnus… But I think I want you, Ivor, and Gabe to stay behind and read through these some more.”
“You’re killin’ me here, Smalls………….” Magnus whines and Jesse chuckles, offering an apologetic look.
“I believe that’s a good idea!” Ivor finally gets his chance to speak. He and Jesse share a knowing look. If Jesse was gonna end up going to the End, someone capable of making a solid game plan would be important. Jesse knows Ivor would be the best too, he would ensure to get every detail down to keep Jesse safe as possible. But that’s getting ahead of himself—for now, he just needs to become their resident End Expert in case Soren can’t follow through. Jesse smiles in thanks and Ivor nods, “Besides, learning this knowledge now could be useful for future ventures into that realm. There’s no dragon anymore after all. If there truly is as much valuable treasure there as the rumors say, then some future trips there may be ideal…” Ivor smirks, a twinkle in his eyes that grips Magnus’ waning attention. The treasure got him.
“Err…” Magnus tries to avoid sounding interested. He crosses his arms, “Fine! Fine! But you only got me doin’ this boring work once, kiddo! Cherish it!”
Jesse laughs, “I will! I promise.” He looks to Hiro who smiles and pats Jesse on the back before standing. He looks out the window while stretching slightly. The sun’s starting to dip down and change color now, painting the sky in beautiful pinks, oranges, and purples.
“I hate to cut my time here short, Jesse but…” He hesitates, “I think I’m gonna head back—if possible and if you’re—… Well, if you’re alright with that.”
Jesse pauses a moment to think it over but then nods, “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for checking though, I really appreciate it.” He smiles and Hiro returns it with a thumbs up. It’s understandable he’d be getting tired—first trip to the overworld in a while and this is how it was spent. He’d be tired too. “Can you find your way back to the Nether Portal in the Hall? I can walk you there if you want, I’m gonna stop by Jack’s anyways.”
Suddenly Magnus pops up, “I can be a guide for ya!” He grins. Hiro and Jesse blink, sharing a look of mild concern and confusion. Magnus rolls his eyes and bats the air, “Oh relax. I just wanna walk a bit! ‘Sides,” He nudges Hiro in the arm, “He seems likes a pretty dope guy, I kinda wanna chat outside of all this—no offense—heavy drama.”
Jesse chuckles slightly and shakes his head. He bats his hand, “Y’know what? Knock yourselves out. Just don’t blow up any part of my city, got it?”
Hiro grins and Magnus gives Jesse a salute. “Yessir mon capitaine!” With that Jesse stands, dusting himself off briefly, before moving over to his uncle. He smiles somewhat nervously and holds out a hand. Hiro chuckles, rolling his eyes before taking it and pulling him into a hearty hug. Jesse laughs as the two pat each other on the back. Jesse buries his head in his shoulder as he gives him one last tight squeeze, then lets go. Hiro lingers a moment longer though, catches his face in his hands and brushing over his cheeks with his thumbs—like always.
“Go punch Romeo in the arm for me.” Jesse smirks.
“I think I can do that!” Hiro grins with a wink and finally lets him go, “Rest up, A’ight?”
“Will do.” Jesse steps back and lets the duo go. Magnus gives a brief little wave before hurrying along. He immediately starts up a conversation just mere feet away at a pace that’s hard to keep up with. Luckily enough for him, Hiro seems pretty excited to reply. Jesse huffs in amusement, hands resting on his hips. That’s a chaotic duo right there if he’s ever seen one. Turning back around to the others, Ivor catches his attention.
“If you intend on speaking to Jack, I suggest you head out yourself Jesse. It’s getting late, and while I’m sure they’d let you in after closing you never know.”
Jesse nods, “Alright. You three okay?” He asks and Ivor looks to Soren who nods and Gabe gives a warm smile and thumbs up.
“We will be quite alright on our own, Jesse. We are three mature adults.” Gabe reassures and Ivor snickers.
“‘Mature’... Yes, quite.”
“Ivor, is there someone you’d like to say?” Gabe squints and Ivor innocently smiles.
“Not at all, Gabriel. Well, best be off Jesse! Chop-Chop! Up and away! Whatever… Else I can say!” Ivor waves him off and Jesse laughs. He crouches down to give Ivor a hug from the side, making the man grunt, then gets up and waves goodbye to the other two. Ivor chuckles quietly and shakes his head as Jesse turns and darts out of the apartment, ready to bound down the stairs.
Chapter 17: Buyer Beware
Summary:
There's a few more people Jesse needs to speak to before heading off on another adventure, and one of them has a few pro tips to share.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It’s gotten considerably late now as Jesse peers up at the stars beginning to peek out against the colored sky of the late evening. It’s lovely and the air is warmer than usual. It smells like the upcoming summer. Jesse smiles, closing his eyes and sucking in the sweet air as a cool breeze flicks his locks of hair about his head. He doesn’t like being out in the midday heat, but damn if he didn’t love the mornings and evenings. He bounces down the steps once more and begins another walk through town.
It’s gonna be a rough day when they all meet up again, but he still has one more thing he needs to do before he settles down for the night! He’s been thinking. Thinking about the type of people he’s going to bring along. Of course there’s his uncle and Soren, then he’s probably going to take Axel this time—he’s always a good person to have around if you needed to be grounded and Jesse isn’t sure what’s gonna be waiting for them. Jack is still up in the air depending on how this next part goes… But he wants one more ‘expert’ opinion, especially if they’re looking into those footprints, and Jesse has just the man in mind!
Brushing his hands along the green bushes that line the sidewalk, he feels a wave of excitement rush over him. He can’t say why exactly, but there’s just something about the mix of the beautiful evening and then the opportunity to get help from a local legend. At least, that’s how Jesse regards him—he’s lucky that the man considered moving into town. He bounces on the balls of his feet and opts to just start running. A grin sweeps over his face at the simple activity. There’s such a pure feeling to hear his own footsteps pound against the pavement in the twilight, something he can’t describe. He’s run through his city so many times yet it never grows old.
He sashays through a small group of people and uses a light pole to help swing around the corner without losing any speed. A few onlookers giggle as the young man speeds by. He darts under a dropping log as he passes a small construction site. He’s met with a few angry shouts but is already long gone before they can do much, and he knows they won’t stay mad for long. He sprints down another block, light on his feet as always! A splash surprises him as he runs through a puddle in front of a flower shop. They must’ve just watered all of their displays. The flower’s sweet aromas flood the air as he passes, the wind carrying the fragrance a ways further. Darting across another cobblestone street he begins to slow his pace, feeling refreshed from the short run. He glances each way before hurrying across the road once more to the comforting shop on the corner.
Bursting through the saloon-esque doors, Jesse smiles as he once more takes in the entire shop. He glances up at the little bell that rings as he enters. A few people are already in there looking around, he notes. Jesse smiles and waves a bit bashfully as the random customers glance over at the—rather surprising—newcomer. Years since Beacontown was created and yet he still gets the starstruck gawks of people. He pushes his hands into his pockets as he wanders further into the shop, glancing around the large building in attempts to spot the owner in question.
He hears him before he sees him, perking up at the loud clapping of his hands followed by the familiar laughter. A warm sound. He’s always a man you hear coming first, suppose in his line of work that’s the way it should be. Jesse turns and smiles as he watches him apparently complete some sort of transaction with three teens. A troublesome trio it seems and Jesse can’t help but feel nostalgic at the sight of it. It feels just like yesterday that he, Axel, and Olivia were doing crazy stupid things as teens in the forest around their homes. The three teens stare wide eyed into a small pouch before Bruce leans in and whispers something to them. Their grins widen as the man turns and winks, pouch of emeralds now in hand and a wicked grin across his face. Jesse can’t help but laugh as the three dart past him and hurry towards the door.
As they pass Jesse, Bruce finally takes notice. There’s a slight hesitation, seemingly some surprise in his eyes at seeing Jesse, before he flips like a switch to a broad smile.
“Jesse! To what do I owe the honor? I’ve just been seeing you around more and more lately!” The man chuckles as he tosses down his pouch of cash. He leans on the glass counter, eyeing Jesse curiously as the young man approaches once more.
“Oh I’ve just been a busy bee as of late.” Jesse grins and glances behind him out at the trio who are standing on the street corner fawning over whatever it was they just bought. Jesse leans on the glass counter casually and nods towards the boys as he speaks. “What’d those mischievous little devils buy?”
“Oh so you saw that, eh?” Bruce chuckles and then shakes his head as he crosses his arms. “Hoo boy… They bought firecharges.”
Jesse nearly chokes on his own spit.
“Firecharges?!” His voice cracks as he snaps back around to Bruce who just laughs.
“Hey now! Don’t give me that look! I’m just the messenger here! An innocent shopkeeper!” He grins and Jesse lets out a curt ‘HA!’ in response, obviously not buying it. Bruce waves a hand at him, assuring him it’ll be fine. “I’ve worked with those kids before. They’re clumsy at times but they’ve got good hearts. I’ll happily pay for any damages they may cause but I doubt they will. They’re smart—or at least smart enough to know what’s good for them. Now, what is it you came here for, eh?”
Jesse shrugs, suddenly nervous it seems. His eyes flick from Bruce’s intense stare to anything else around him as he musters the courage to spit out the words.
“Well I actually came to ask something of you, if that’s alright…?”
“Ask somethin’? I mean, shoot, I ain’t stopping ya! Do you need another supply run already?”
“Oh! No, no, but thank you for the offer. I just—”
Bruce’s eyes quickly light up as he gasps to himself, cutting Jesse off. He smiles apologetically and holds up a finger, excitement suddenly obvious. Jesse quirks a brow at the man’s sudden burst of energy but doesn’t get the chance to stop him.
“Hold that thought a minute Jesse! I found something awesome recently that I know you’ll be interested in seeing! Gimme a sec!” He holds up a hand for him to wait there as he begins backing up. Jesse hesitates but quickly nods, letting out a quiet sigh under his breath. With that Bruce quickly turns and disappears into the back room. Sure he was interested in what Bruce had to show, but couldn’t he have just waited a moment more? Regardless, he waits and a minute later the spunky and excitable man returns, holding a specially woven pouch and obviously being quite careful with it. Jesse’s attention and curiosity is immediately piqued.
“I-Is that bag enchanted?”
“It is indeed. But the bag isn’t what’s special, Jesse…” Bruce grins, catching his eye and winking. Carefully, he pulls the small pouch open and a white-pink glow softly emanates from inside. Jesse leans further over the counter in an attempt to get a better look. Inside is… an odd sight. His face quickly contorts into one of confusion. Inside sits a small pile of little inch by inch cubes, speckled with familiar blacks and greys and giving off an ethereal glow. But there’s no mistaking the type of rock that’ll easily make any experienced miner’s stomach drop.
“T-That’s… That’s impossible…!” Jesse’s eyes shoot up, quickly squinting into a scrutinizing look as he meets Bruce’s eyes once again. His voice is a harsh whisper, “Bedrock?!”
Bruce is unfazed by his glare and merely grins and nods in excitement. Jesse loosens up and opts to stand there slack-jawed. He’s never seen bedrock like this before. He only sees it in the bottom of mines shrouded in Void Fog, around the Nether, the First World, or in Ivor’s Far Lands base. And all of those times it was already set in stone so to speak. In place and unmoving. Unbreakable.
“W-Where the hell did you get these?! That’s— That’s CRAZY, Bruce!”
“HA! A true expert never gives away his secrets, Jesse!” Bruce grins then loosens up with a shrug. “Don’t worry, they’re safe as long as they don’t directly touch any surfaces like this counter or the floor. They’re damn picky little things though—sensitive. It was hell trying to find a proper enchantment that wouldn’t make these little bags weigh a ton!” He snorts, holding up the little pouch for emphasis. Jesse instinctively flinches at the sudden movement of the bedrock. He trusts Bruce though and his trust eases into curiosity.
“How… How do they work..?”
Bruce’s eyes light up with a mischievous glint. He nods, popping out a small cube into the palm of his hand. He moves so casually, seemingly unfazed by the idea that one slip up could cause a real problem. Bedrock is notorious for, well, being impervious to anything and everything. Jesse blinks.
“You’re wondering why this little cube isn’t reacting to being on a surface other than the special pouch, right?” Bruce draws Jesse’s attention back. The young man nods and Bruce returns the gesture. He hunches down against the counter, mirroring Jesse and holding the rock flat in his palm. “Bedrock is a fickle little piece of matter! I’ve always been curious about it throughout my life! But through my life I’ve also picked up on a few basic rules the stuff generally works by.”
“Rules?”
“Yep. Numero uno,” He pauses to hold up a finger on his other hand. “Bedrock, no matter where placed, will always act to fill out a square meter of space in whatever shape or mold is needed. When there isn’t a given shape that needs to be filled then the rock will take up the standard square meter cube I’m certain you’re familiar with.” He nods to Jesse as he speaks.
“What if the space you throw it into isn’t exactly a square meter?”
“Now that’s when things start getting interesting! If that happens then either it overflows, or the rock becomes denser! It’s embarrassing to admit but… I have a few pouches back there that are so heavy I simply can’t move them…” He laughs weakly, rubbing his neck. Jesse rolls his eyes with a smile at the man’s typical antics. Of course he’s got a few misfires in that back room. Jesse can only laugh at the image of one of those pouches breaking a table at the sudden weight and Bruce yelping in response. Typical late night antics he assumes.
“Well, if you ever intend on moving them, I’m sure I can try my hand at helping.”
Bruce chuckles and nods, “I’ll definitely consider making you do the heavy lifting. Lord knows my back wouldn’t survive it.”
Jesse laughs and nods, continuing. “Okay genius, tell me now why they’ll turn a little tiny bag like that into a weight from hell but it’s completely fine to just hold in your palm?”
“Smart man! That’s the other rule these stones play by. Skin doesn’t activate them. Do I know why? No. Am I going to lose sleep over it? Also no! I assume however that it’d be even difficult for gods or, well,” He gets a bit cheeky, rolling his eyes as he says the word, “—Admins, if every time they went to use these things they just exploded to life in their hands!” He chuckles.
“Suppose that makes sense… The stuff seemed pretty essential to building the different layers of the worlds, it’s everywhere at the bottom of mines, the Nether, the Sunshine Institute, and the First World.” He pauses and squints, “How much is there? I mean, I guess they coulda just poofed a lot into existence like Romeo tried doing here, but if you found some that are untouched like this… There must be some stashes left over, huh?”
“Ding, ding, ding! Right again, Jesse! That bein’ said, don’t ask me where any more is.” He scoffs and shakes his head, “This is the best I’ve got and will probably ever get. And even then I’ve already lost a handful. The others are uhhh…” He smiles sheepishly with a shrug, “In the back. But ah well, can’t learn without a few flukes, yeah?” He lights up, “Oh! And of course bedrock doesn’t activate each other in this form! However once one has solidified then the rest will respond to it the same as any other material.”
“Got it… Why do you think they form such perfect cubes anyways? It’s kinda weird, don’t you think?” Jesse questions as he leans on the counter. Bruce shrugs as he drops the little cube back into its special pouch and cinches it shut, swinging the bag slightly as he thinks.
“Well if it’s used as a base by the admins like ya said then it’d be pretty useful. Perfect square meter, smoother than a baby’s butt, easy to toss down in a jiffy—it’s perfect for forming a solid foundation! You can keep an easy track of length and don’t have to worry about cracks or whatever, any decent builder would kill to get something half as good. Buuut unless you’re an admin, it’s a pain in the ass to remove—for good reason. If the stuff holdin’ our world up above the void breaks then, uhhh…” He chuckles, “Well, I don’t think I need to spell out what would happen, do I?”
“Yeesh! Don’t even joke about it, with my luck we’ll be falling in the next hour.” Jesse stands straight and huffs, garnering a laugh from the shopkeeper. Jesse smiles, lightly knocking on the wood outline of the shop counter—can never be too safe! He points to the pouch with a nod, “So, where’d you even score?”
Bruce raises a brow with a smirk, “Hey now, any good adventurer never spills their jackpots for free.”
“Not even for me?”
“Haha, veeeery funny, kiddo.” Bruce chuckles, “You’re my competition! That’d be like, adventuring sin number #1!” He grins and Jesse fake pouts. Bruce snorts and reaches over to lightly shove him in the arm, “Hey now, no need for that! I’ll tell ya in time, promise, but first…” Bruce relaxes, growing slightly more serious as he puts the pouch down behind the counter then turns his full attention to Jesse with a charming smile. “You came here to ask me something before I interrupted you. What do you need, Jesse? I’m happy to oblige.”
With that pair of intense eyes on him once again, Jesse feels himself get nervous again. He rubs the back of his neck and sucks in a breath. Where does he even start? Bruce hasn’t exactly been heavily involved in this up until now… He could come up with some kind of cover but having people like Soren and Hiro there would make any cover difficult to keep up, regardless of how good the story was. Bruce is a smart man, he’d see through it—it’d be an insult to him to think otherwise. Jesse crosses his arms with a sigh and examines Bruce up and down as the man patiently waits, a look of mild concern now dancing across his features. Jesse’s throat is suddenly dry as he thinks hard… But…
He can trust Bruce. Sucking in another breath he nods and gestures for the man to lean in a bit and then speaks to him in a more hushed tone.
“I’ve been… Working on something, and I need your professional insight on it.”
Bruce blinks, processing the words. He frowns slightly but nods, paying good attention now as Jesse speaks. Jesse continues, “Long-story short I… I lost someone. Someone important to me. You’ve seen the world! Multiple! And I mean, you’re the drop-shop guy—you’re a monster expert. We think an Enderman was involved, so Soren’s coming along to take a look, but I would really appreciate a second opinion here. Your reputation precedes you, and I’d be honored if you’d be a part of this.” Jesse hesitates but shrugs, “However, I know this is kind of a big thing to ask of you—especially with us heading out tomorrow! But, still…” Jesse takes a step back, giving the man a bit of space to breathe and think it over. He grips his wrist anxiously as he waits.
Bruce’s mouth is sitting in a tight line, brows furrowed in thought. He rubs his mouth and beard as he thinks it over, but still responds relatively quickly—and relatively well. He nods to Jesse.
“What exactly do you want me to be lookin’ for, Jesse…?”
“There might be footprints left over. Claw marks. The entire scene is—hopefully—still rather untouched from when I was younger. I-I know it’s a bit of a longshot but regardless my own memory of how everything was set up is still pretty sharp. I wanna know your personal interpretation of what might’ve happened. Soren can tell us logistics and statistics but you… You can give us a look at what really happened. Active behaviors from your time in the field. You know how they’ll react under different forms of stress. At least, that’s my hope…” Jesse pauses then clasps his hands over his heart, eyes now pleading, “Please, Bruce. I’ll pay whatever, but this is just—… just really important for me to do. What happens next may be my best shot at finding some kind of closure.”
Bruce leans against the counter, looking Jesse up at down with a sympathetic shine in his eyes. The man drums his knuckles against the glass, but eventually meets Jesse in the eyes and nods. Jesse hesitates, not wanting to jump the gun. Bruce eases up however and offers that charming smile again and nods once more, more clearly this time. Nervous laughter bubbles up out of Jesse as he steps forward in relief.
“God, for real?! Man, Bruce, I seriously can’t thank you enough!” He reaches out and grabs his hands, giving them a squeeze before dropping them. Bruce chuckles and holds his hands up, shaking his head.
“Hey, think nothing of it! Truly! I’ll do this for ya free of charge.” He smirks with a wink and Jesse chuckles. Jesse shakes his head, putting his hands down onto the counter.
“No, no, you’ve already given me enough handouts. If we’re supposedly ‘competitors’ then I gotta pay the same price as anyone else! Name your price, I’ll pay it.”
“Nope.” Bruce grins and Jesse rolls his eyes, shooting the man a slight glare. Bruce holds his hands up, “Okay, okay! You don’t like debts, I get it! I don’t like loose-ends either. Look, I’ll find some price for you once the job’s done, sound good? Kinda hard to make an estimate on somethin’ like this, eh?” He crosses his arms with a shrug and Jesse leans back on his heel with a sigh. He had a fair enough point, he guesses.
“Alright. I can compromise on that.” He nods and holds out his hand. “Shake on it?”
Bruce grabs his hand and gives it a hearty shake, “It’s a promise! Now you’d best be off! You’ll need some rest before tomorrow.” He pauses and his eyes widen, “Oh! Time and place?”
“Right. We’ll meet you at the town gate around noon. I’m also thinking about bringing Jack to go deeper into the cave with, so… Just a heads up I guess.” Jesse chuckles slightly and a smile tugs at the corners of Bruce’s mouth.
“Awesome! I’m excited! Despite the…” He pauses to choose his words more carefully, “Well, if it’s something heavy for you that we’re gonna be investigating, then I hope we can at least make the experience a good one.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets, “You mind maybe giving me more details tomorrow as we head out? I don’t mean to pry but, a little better background might help me make some conclusions. Personality and personal background affects more than you’d think!”
“Sure. Just—… Try not to go around town sharing it all, would you? And I mean that seriously.”
“My lips are sealed, Jesse.” Bruce smiles then nods seriously, “I mean that. Client confidentiality and trust is important. Anything you want will stay solely between us.”
“Thank you.” Jesse sighs in relief with a smile. “Well… I’m gonna head out. Again, I really cannot put into words how much I appreciate this Bruce. You’re a lifesaver.”
“You’re always a pleasure to chat with, Jesse!” Bruce waves with a warm smile, “Oh, and give Jack my regards would you?” He grins and Jesse just laughs with his own grin.
“Will do.”
Notes:
BRUCE BRUCE BRUCE BRUCE BRUCE--
Ive had this chapter sitting in my WIPs for honest to god ages because I started writing it out of sheer excitement to write Bruce again KLSJKLSFDJKLDF but I had to write the other chapters before we got here so :///
EDIT 8/19/21: ALL CAUGHT UP BABEYYY!!! It may take a bit yet for me to get the next chapter out yet but I'm happy I've not only reread everything as a refresher but managed to update it all--hopefully it makes rereading much smoother. I have some plot holes I would like to resolve before they grow into larger problems so I may end up coming back and editing a few details in chapters like 13 and 6 I believe, but I'm excited! The next section is diving into the stronghold and frankly I'm glad I held out for the sake of getting to include a lot of the new Caves and Cliffs features! Can't believe I started this project even before the Nether update was announced :,)
Thank you for the engagement and for sticking with this!
EDIT 6/23/23: ONCE AGAIN WE ARE CAUGHT UP BABEYYYYY ‼️not much to poke at here but finally through the big stuff :>
Chapter 18: Well Gang, let's Split up and Look for Clues
Summary:
Time to head back to the scene of the crime, but the trip there is a little more awkward than expected for a much different reason.
Notes:
haha woah omg I can't wait to update my fic I'm sure it's only been a few months since I uploaded the last chapter!
-looks at calendar-
Oh.
Oh no.(More notes and general update at the end! Enjoy!)
EDIT 6/23/23: Minor edits :>
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along? I really don’t mind, Jesse.”
“I-It’ll be fine, Lukas!” Jesse says as he pulls some simple black fingerless gloves on and then clamps his gauntlets on over the top. Lukas frowns as Jesse hustles across the small house to grab his axe. Begrudgingly, Lukas picks up the brown satchel Jesse left hanging on the back of one of the living room’s chairs. Jesse hurries over as he secures his axe to the belt loop it hangs from. “We’ve already got such a big group, and I’ve got Jack and Axel tagging along to balance things out. I really appreciate your insistence but this’ll be okay. I can’t imagine we’ll run into any trouble we can’t handle.”
“Well…” Lukas sighs as he hands him his satchel, Jesse quickly slinging it over his shoulders and fiddling with its adjustment. Lukas continues, catching Jesse’s eye, “That’s not exactly the aspect of this I was worried about.” He shuts his mouth into a tight line and Jesse pauses his fiddling to respond.
“Lukas…” Jesse shuts his eyes tight and sighs only for Lukas to cross his arms.
“Before you start, I know how insistent you are and I know I can't change your mind—that’s not my intention. I just…” Lukas shakes his head, dropping his hands to his sides in frustration, “I hate sitting around while you’re running into something huge. If there’s something—anything at all—that I can do for you, please just let me know.” Lukas looks at him with desperation. Jesse just smiles sympathetically.
“Thank you, Lukas.” Jesse reaches out and clasps his hands between his own, “I really do appreciate it and everything you’re doing for me during this. But this time I think… I think just getting back to someplace safe and welcoming will do wonders.” Jesse then nods up at him sternly, “If anything else comes up though, you’ll be the first to know. Promise.”
Lukas stares at him in silence, brows furrowed and unsure. Jesse squeezes his hands and leans slightly closer, eyes pleading for him to trust him. Eventually, Lukas sighs and gives in.
“Alright. You’ll know where to find me... Be safe, okay? And know your limits.”
“I will! I promise!”
“Good. And I swear if you do the damn puppy-dog eyes on me one more time—!” He reaches up and holds Jesse’s face in his hands, shaking him gently and making Jesse laugh as he tries to pull away.
“Okay, okay! Now lemme go! You’ve gotta meet with Radar soon too—you’re gonna be late!”
“I guess you’ve got a point.” Lukas hums and lets go, but doesn’t quite back up yet. Jesse smiles up at him before it falters and his brows furrow. Lukas gives the faintest of nods, understanding, and Jesse goes in for a hug. It’s warm and safe, and a brief moment of utter solace before Jesse dives into something big yet again. He rubs Jesse’s back gently until he feels a reassuring squeeze signalling the man letting go, and then it’s done. They share smiles and Lukas takes the lead, grabbing his keys and opening the door for them while jesse speaks.
“We should be back sometime tomorrow. We should get there by nightfall on horseback then we’ll spend however long we need there and then we’ll come straight back. I don’t intend on visiting the house yet, so…” Jesse turns and waits for him as Lukas locks up. Lukas nods, stuffing his keys in his pocket and hurrying to catch up with him.
“That’s fine. Radar and I may be working tomorrow as well so we’ll see who gets back first. You remember where I keep the spare key, right?”
“Yessir!”
“Sweet. If you need us once we’re back, I assume we’ll be in the Tower or the Hall somewhere.”
“I figured. Now hurry! Radar’s gonna lose his mind if you’re more than ten minutes late.” Jesse laughs, gently prodding Lukas in the direction of the Order Hall. Lukas laughs along and holds his hands up innocently.
“Alright, alright! You better hurry too unless you want to hear Axel complain about getting there before you for the next week.”
“See ya, Lukas!”
“Later.”
With that, both turn opposite directions and head off. Jesse takes in a deep breath to steady his nerves—he can already hear his own heartbeat thudding in his ears. He couldn’t really describe his emotions even if he wanted to. He is… Well, he’s terrified. But he’s also thrilled. He’ll be returning to the place he hates most, yet going there could yield results he’s only dreamed of! It’s a whole cave system his father went through, there’s bound to be some kind of lead—especially if there were more than monsters involved. It’s a rather specific fear, sure, but facing the mouth of that cave again may be just what he needs.
Beacontown is already lively as he makes his way onto the main street. He smiles, waves, and greets each person he passes by—throwing simple ‘Good Morning!’s and ‘How are you?’s back and forth with those who speak up. There are definitely still some people who are cautious around him, but he’s understanding. It’s a little frustrating—patience has never been his strong suit—but he never lets it get the better of him.
He slows down as he gets to the main gate, awkwardly looking around for any of the others but finding none. He scratches the back of his head and meanders over to lean against the wall, deciding to double and triple check his gear in the meantime. He really isn’t too worried about mobs, especially with the group he’s got together, so he’s dressed light. He’s got his gauntlets (light and fingerless), his axe, lace-up boots, and some shoulder pads strapped on—a simple set Aiden had recommended and helped fit the last time he visited. He pauses in his third check to remind himself to make another trip to Isa’s dimension soon. It’d been a while and it’d be nice to see what’s changed since. Speaking of which, since Soren was around now maybe it’d be a good time to bring up why all his books were—
“BOO!”
Jesse screams and instinctively turns and swings a fist only for Axel to catch it and his other hand with ease, a big grin across his face as he starts to laugh. Jesse immediately deflates and starts to laugh with him.
“Aw man that was great! You shoulda seen your face! Good scream, too.” He teases and Jesse shakes his head with a grin, cheeks red.
“You are a shithead.”
“Aww, thanks buddy!” Axel pushes back on Jesse’s hands a little and Jesse’s eyes light up deviously at the little challenge. He interlocks their fingers and the two play-fight a little, just trying to outdo the other’s strength and shove the other back. They always did a little rough-housing growing up, but it’d admittedly gotten more fun since the Witherstorm with Jesse getting stronger. They spin and throw their weight around to get the other to slip up and lose their balance, laughing and yanking the other with them when such a thing happens. Jesse’s on a more equal footing in strength, sure, but Axel’s still over a foot taller than him and far bulkier—he’s fine with getting flung around a bit though. In the midst of their little competition, Axel’s eyes light up as he looks past Jesse.
“Uh oh! Here comes trouble.” He smirks and Jesse glances behind him to see the figures of Bruce and Jack slowly approaching, both already animated and engrossed in conversation. Jesse smiles and lets go of Axel, giving him a pat on the arm as he begins walking towards the others to meet them halfway.
In the midst of rolling his eyes Jack catches sight of Jesse and immediately lights up.
“Jesse!” He hollers, flinging his arms out wide for a hug and smacking Bruce in the nose in the process. Bruce recoils and glares at him. Jesse laughs and hurries over, happy to oblige in a bear hug. Jack claps him on the back before stepping back and letting Jesse turn to Bruce who grins and gives him a hearty handshake and pat on the arm.
“Good to see ya, kid. Honored to be on this excursion!”
“We’re happy to have you!” Jesse smiles, “I really do appreciate it, especially on such short-notice. I know you’re busy. How’re the shop repairs?”
“Aw, nothin’ I can’t handle.” Bruce waves it off, “Par for the course, honestly. Had this one asshole at my old place...” Bruce scoffs and rolls his eyes as he remembers it, “Guy got so mad that I put another client’s request before his that he torched my shop! A few of the locals tried to help but the fire spread too fast. Suffice to say our cordial relationship ended there. But I suppose I’m not as mad since I ended up movin’ here!”
“Yeesh, people really can get up in arms over the smallest of things, huh?”
“You’re telling me!” Bruce laughs and Axel scratches his cheek while thinking.
“That totally sounds like he was from Boomtown. That’s, like, standard over there. Buuut, people don’t really set up, like, super nice shops and stuff with the expectation it’ll be there long. Everything’s always changin’ and short-term.”
“I never learned enough about the man to say, but I wouldn’t be surprised.” Bruce shrugs and Axel nods, satisfied at his conclusion. Jack clears his throat and claps his hands together, gaining the attention of the other three.
“Everyone fully packed? Got the gear you need? Weapons?”
“Aw yeah we do!” Axel grins as he shows off his iron knuckles. He then pats some pouches hanging from his belt, “I’ve also got some dynamite and a lighter.” He nudges Jesse, “How ‘bout you?”
Jesse smirks and unhooks his axe, giving it a good toss and letting the sun catch the blade. Bruce leans forward in interest.
“All I need is my axe and I’m good to go. How about you two?”
“I have a diamond sword and pickaxe at the ready. Bruce brought a pick as well, so getting into the place shouldn’t be a problem.” Jack nods and Bruce unhooks his for emphasis. Jesse nods and turns to Bruce again, now noticing the large fabric case hanging from his back. Bruce follows his gaze and lights up.
“You are gonna love this, Jesse!” He quickly hooks his pickaxe again and lifts the case up and off of his back. He crouches down and sets it on the ground as he unzips it. “This is my favorite weapon! It took a while to get together—but man has it been worth it!”
As he says that he yanks back the fabric, revealing a large and shiny scythe. Bruce grabs hold of it and slowly slides it out and stands upright with it, showing off its true height and design. The staff of it is a shiny and sturdy silver with a black leather grip mid way up as well as two additional handles at the bottom and midway up the hilt. The blade itself is a whole ‘nother story. It’s perfectly smooth, shiny, sharp, and a gorgeous deep back color. The top of the staff where the blade is held has custom carvings that are sharp and akin to nether stars but with a few amethysts and seemingly an ender pearl embedded for additional decoration. Axel lets out a long and low whistle as Jesse and Jack just gawk at the weapon. Bruce stands proudly next to the scythe, the blade starting just a little above his head.
“I should’ve known you’d have a netherite weapon of all things!” Jack huffs and Bruce just grins, pride lighting up his eyes.
“It took a lot of time to actually get enough to make it! Not to mention the materials for the hilt and staff. But the netherite, man, talk about a project straight from hell.” He pauses, “Uh, figuratively as well as literally, I suppose.”
“Netherite…?” Jesse trails off, looking between the two men. Jack’s eyes widen.
“D’you know what netherite is, Jess?”
“I… I mean the name’s vaguely familiar?”
“Well, that’s alright. It’s real rare stuff after all. I only ran into one piece of the debris it’s made from one time in all my life and travels! It takes a lot of time in the Nether to find enough to make it worthwhile. You gotta mine for it, and you know how dangerous that can be in the Nether.” Jack scoffs, “Takes a lot of determination and, frankly, stupidity to go after a handful of the stuff.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said what I said.”
“I think someone’s just mad he doesn’t have any netherite gear.” Bruce smirks, spinning the scythe in his hand then using it to lean on.
“What?! I— I am not!” Jack sputters, cheeks red as he rests his hands on his hips. Bruce laughs and crouches back down to put the scythe away.
“I don’t blame you. Tell ya what, next batch I get I’ll toss your way. You can upgrade that sword of yours.”
“... Wait, are you serious?”
“Sure!” He finishes zipping the case and slings it back on over his head and dusts his hands off on each other. He winks, “You’d owe me one hell of a favor though.” Jack’s face wrinkles up and he makes a choking noise in the back of his throat.
“I’ll pass.”
The others chuckle and Bruce slaps him on the back.
“Your loss!” He turns to Jesse, “You’ve got a nice axe there! I know the blade’s diamond but I gotta say I’m struggling to place the hilt…”
“It’s a trident’s!”
“No kidding!”
“Yeah, I—” Jesse starts only for Axel to step in front of him and butt in.
“Doofus here has always been great with an axe, but he kept chucking them and losing ‘em. He went through my year’s supply of iron in 3 months! At that point Me, Liv, n’ Petra decided we oughta track a trident down so we could get him an axe with Loyalty on it.” He grins and pats Jesse on the back who just glares up at him, face red from embarrassment. “He hasn’t lost one since!”
“Clever! Sounds fun in a fight, too. You ever think of getting Channeling on it?”
“Yeah, haven’t gotten my hands on a book yet though.”
“Ah, I see, I see.” Bruce backs off and smiles. “Well, glad to see we’re all set! We’re still waiting for…?”
“Soren and my uncle. I’m honestly surprised they’re not here yet…” Jesse frowns, looking further into the city and crossing his arms. It’d been a few minutes already since they met up and Jesse was almost late. Bruce mumbles something along the lines of ‘let’s see’ and Jesse hears him fiddling with one of his pockets. He turns around as Bruce flicks out a silver pocketwatch and scratches his beard with a frown.
“Yeah, it’s already ten past noon.” He turns the watch for Jesse to see and Jesse smiles a little at the mismatching clockhands—black and bright green. Bruce looks at him in a mix of confusion and amusement. Jesse shakes his head.
“Sorry, just thought the mismatched clockhands were cute—looks like a nice watch! Thanks for looking at the time, though. I don’t know where they’re at.”
“Ah, thanks! It’s a handy little thing. Dropped it, smashed it, and stepped on it more times than I can count but it still works!” He grins and swings it around on his chain.
“Man, I wish my watch was that good…” Axel grumbles and Jesse side-eyes him.
“Axel. You don’t carry a watch.”
“Yeah cuz they always break.” He argues and Jesse rolls his eyes. He opens his mouth to argue when a whistle catches everyone’s attention. Coming from downtown with Hiro and Soren in tow is none other than Lukas. Jesse lights up then eyes him, playfully suspicious as he approaches.
“And what happened to meeting Radar?”
“Well, I met him, then as we were leaving your uncle managed to catch up to us and from there we ran into Soren. Who was lost.” He steps closer and lowers his voice to a whisper, “Your uncle honestly wasn’t much better and if he kept gawking at everything you wouldn’t be out of here until nightfall.” He steps back, “So Radar and I figured we could wait a few more minutes and I could get in some practice as your resident tour guide!” Lukas smirks and Jesse chuckles, nodding.
“Right. Thanks again, Lukas.”
“Sure thing. I’ve gotta split though, can’t keep that kid waiting too long. See you tomorrow.” Lukas steps back and gives a brief wave to the group and Jesse nods.
“Tell Radar thanks for me!”
“Will do!” As he’s leaving he fistbumps Hiro, returning his thanks, “See ya Mr. Hiro.” When he passes Soren, he gives him a hearty slap on the shoulder, causing him to stumble, “Play nice, Soren!” Soren in turn just rubs his shoulder and awkwardly waves as Lukas leaves. Jesse watches him go with a smile then meanders over to his uncle, eyebrow raised in questioning.
“ ‘Mr. Hiro’? I thought that was reserved for only close family?”
Hiro grins down at him, lightly elbowing him.
“Well, you were right about him being charming, alright.” He smirks, leaning back on his heel, “We chatted on the way over of course and he was awfully ready to talk you up. I just figured I’d get ahead of the curve! So, you dating orrrrr…?”
“Wh—?! I don’t—! I-I wouldn’t say—! I mean—…” Jesse sputters, face bright red, “It’s complicated—”
“It’s annoying.” Axel calls over only to get a glare from Jesse. Axel just grins and shrugs, “I’m just sayin’, man. Watchin’ you two tiptoe around each other for almost seven years… I was in denial of it for a while but if I can even notice it thennnnn…” He trails off and Hiro laughs. He rustles Jesse’s hair.
“I’m just given’ you a hard time, relax. I promise I won’t embarrass you.” He pauses, scrunches up his face in consideration, bobs his head from side to side, then continues, “Well. Not too much anyways.” With that he nudges Jesse’s arm then stretches an arm out to greet Axel first. Jesse takes in a deep breath and shakes his head. Right. Introductions.
“Uh, Uncle Hiro this is my friend Axel—”
“Wicked! I’ve heard tons of stories about you! Only good ones, of course.” Axel schmoozes and Jesse rolls his eyes—acting as if he and Petra didn’t have a bet on the whole thing. He just continues nonchalant as ever though, “I can appreciate a guy who knows how to cause some chaos though. You gotta tell me about those lightning powers!”
“Heh! Good attitude!” Hiro gives Axel a hearty pat on the shoulder. Jack approaches and Jesse gestures to him next.
“This is Jack, owner of Jack and Nurm’s Adventure Emporium. They were a big help when I was dealing with Romeo.”
“I’m known by many names, but for the sake of simplicity, Jack will work. Nice to meet you, mister… Uh… demi-god, sir.” Jack fumbles a bit, glancing at Jesse in uncertainty. Jesse shrugs sympathetically.
“Brian’s fine.” Hiro smiles offering a hand. Jack nods, giving it a solid shake.
“Brian, then! Jesse’s only said good things. I look forward to working with you.” He nods to him and Hiro returns the gesture.
“And this is—” Jesse smiles and turns to introduce Bruce only to find him a ways back—wide eyed and stuck in place. Hiro follows Jesse’s gaze and immediately tenses upon seeing the other man. Jesse hears the breath his uncle sucks in through his teeth and looks between the two in confusion as he finishes his sentence, “—Bruce…” He frowns and looks at Jack and Axel who just share his confusion and back off. A new voice cuts through the tension.
“I assume he’s the mob specialist you mentioned, Jesse?” Soren approaches, straight to the point as usual. Jesse awkwardly nods.
“Uh… yeah. Yeah he is. Bruce,” He manages to catch the man’s attention, his sharp gaze drilling holes into him. He gestures to Soren, “This is Soren.” He then walks over to Hiro’s side, placing a hand on his arm, “... And this is my uncle.”
“I… I see…” Bruce can’t manage any other words in his stunned state. Hiro sucks in a breath and rubs his neck, and Jesse begins getting frustrated. But before he can speak Hiro manages to get his voice back.
“God… You’re looking well, Bruce—hardly a day over thirty it seems… Glad to see the monster business took off for you.”
“I— Y-Yes… And you’re—” Bruce raises a hand and gestures to him, but finds the words getting stuck in his throat. Shock and confusion fill his eyes as he shakes his head and drops his hand back to his side only to immediately bring it back up to run it through and grip at his hair. “... Alive! You’re alive. I— I-I mean we all thought that—...” He makes a confused noise and blows out a sigh before wetting his lips nervously. Hiro nods sympathetically.
“Yes that’s… that’s about the general response.” He shrugs, forcing a smile and lighthearted joke, “Got sick of bein’ dead I suppose!”
“Heh! No kidding…” Bruce trails off, still in shock.
“Wait, you two… know each other?” Jesse blinks in surprise and the two men both shut their traps and avoid his gaze. Hiro sucks in a breath.
“Uh, to put it simply, yes. We… Are well acquainted.” Some of the tension leaves Hiro as he recalls it, “Bruce grew up with us, Jesse. A lot of us kids in the area grouped up and he was one of ‘em. Bruce’s family was one of our closer neighbors though—our parents interacted a lot so we ended up doing so as well.” Hiro explains and Jesse can’t help but stand there and balk. He looks between the two as he takes in the new information—Bruce seems to be really going through it, looking like he wasn’t even listening to what Hiro said. Suddenly the man lights up again and turns to Jesse, eyes sharp and pointing at him.
“I-If—! If you’re Hiro’s nephew… Then that means that—” His eyes go wide and he takes a step back and covers his mouth. He drops it after a minute and simply claps his hands together and holds them tightly over his heart. “You’re Steve’s son… Little Jesse…” He nods slowly in understanding, slowly connecting the dots in his head. He frowns again and paces in a quick circle. “Okay. Okay. I’m—” He rubs his face and takes a breath, “Jesse… Just what exactly are you having me investigate…? I-I’m not opposed to Hiro coming along, of course, but… I worry about the implications here.”
With that Jesse drops his gaze to the ground. He didn’t know Bruce had known his father, nonetheless that they were such good friends. This was already hard enough on himself and his uncle—if he didn’t know about his father’s disappearance then that would be asking a lot from him. He didn’t even know Jesse was related to him. He sighs and straightens, going to speak when he feels a hand on the nape of his neck. Hiro steps forward.
“Steven disappeared… Jesse was still young…” He pauses to allow his words to sink in. Bruce just stares, captivated by this information. Hiro continues, “Jesse found the scene where it happened as well as some odd records that seem to…” Hiro trails off, hating having to say it. He shuts his eyes tight with a scowl, “... That seem to depict his final moments in this world.” He gives Jesse a comforting squeeze, “Jesse here and his friends have begun doing some investigating to at least try and piece together what happened. For closure’s sake.” He nods to Bruce, “That’s where you and Soren were supposed to come in. An Enderman was heard on one of the tapes and, hopefully, Enderman tracks are what we’ll be finding at the scene.”
Bruce stands there and simply stares, mouth slightly agape. He drops his gaze somewhat, gripping the strap of his weapon case. Jesse sucks in a breath.
“I-I didn’t know… I didn’t realize you knew my father, I’m so sorry to be asking this of you, especially so suddenly. If you don’t want to go along that’s—”
“No!” Bruce immediately shoots back, almost panicked. It surprises the group, garnering a few looks of worry and Bruce rubs his arms. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to— ugh…” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looks at Jesse sternly, “I’m coming along. I have to.” Jesse frowns and walks over to him, resting a hand on his arm.
“Bruce, really… This is all such a shock, if you need time—”
“No, no, I can handle it. Yes it’s… I’m…” He hesitates, struggling to find the right words. “I just need some time to think as we walk. But coming along is something I need to see through, and I’ll do whatever I can to help guide you.” With that Bruce feels another hand on his shoulder and is shocked to look and see Jack staring at him with sympathetic eyes. The man forces a smile then sighs.
“You just discovered the loss of a good friend… Take whatever time you need as we walk, and additionally when we get to the place. Normally, I’d say to take the day off but…” Jack shakes his head then nods to Jesse, “We know all too well the pain of losing comrades, and the feeling of… of almost like you owe it to them to do everything you can to ensure they did not go out in vain.” Jack reaches his other hand to Jesse’s shoulder and looks between the two of them and over to Hiro with a nod. “We’re going to figure this out, for all of you as well as for Jesse’s father.”
“Thanks Jack.” Jesse sucks in a shaky breath and smiles. Bruce simply nods in agreement.
“Yes, that’s… That’s right.” He forces a smile and Jack offers a sympathetic look and another pat on the back before he steps back to give the men space. Axel meanders over to Jesse and pulls him into a simple hug from the side, patting his arm a bit. Jesse huffs in amusement, already feeling some of his tension dissipate and pats Axel’s back in thanks. With that he looks around at the group, counting the heads of Axel, Hiro, Soren, Jack, and Bruce. He’s happy with this party, and hopefully, given a bit of time and breathing room, things will ease up again.
“I think we oughta head out, or else we really are gonna be here all day. It’ll take until nightfall to ride there at best so the sooner the better, yeah?”
“You lead the way now, Jesse.” Soren nods to him, finally finding an opportunity to speak up. Jesse nods and moves away from Axel’s side. Soren hurries to catch up to him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a few questions on the way there about the biome and such before we arrive. Along with some other unrelated matters.” Soren drops his voice to a whisper, “Frankly the tension here is still palpable and I think engaging you, Axel, and perhaps your friend Jack in some conversation may help alleviate some of the pressure.”
“Too awkward for you, Soren?” Jesse retorts and Soren sputters but Jesse just smiles a little and nods, “That sounds good. I hate this kinda stress.” He clears his throat a little and speaks at a normal volume now, “Ask away. I had some things I was curious about as well, if I’m being honest.”
~~~~~~
The first few hours of the trip are pretty uneventful. Jesse, Axel, and Soren of all people managed to keep a semi-normal conversation going for most of the ride. Currently though, Jesse is hanging back while Axel and Soren take the lead and animatedly argue over whose lifestyle is more “adequate for long-term humanity.” Just how Axel managed to seriously rope Soren into such a one-sided conversation is beyond Jesse, but playing Devil’s Advocate against people he didn’t like is one of Axel’s favorite pastimes—it’s harmless save for making Soren grow a few more grey hairs.
Behind him, Bruce is riding quietly on his own, and then Jack and Hiro are taking up the back and sharing adventuring stories. They’d called up to him a few times to ask some details about Jesse’s time fighting against Romeo, but other than that adventure Jack seemed to be saving Jesse’s other tales for him to tell himself. He’d heard a few of his uncle’s pleas to hear about some earlier stories only for Jack to shut him down, and every time he got butterflies in his stomach knowing how excited his uncle was to hear about his life. He was excited to share more stories, but that’d probably have to wait until at least the trek back. They still have a ways to go before getting to the old cave entrance, sure, but the closer they got the less Jesse would be able to focus on telling old stories. Speaking of unfocused…
Jesse slows his horse’s pace until he ends up side by side with Bruce, who doesn’t seem to even notice. He’s been like a ghost the whole trip, not that Jesse could blame him. But it’s odd not seeing his uncle even attempt to talk with him once—they didn’t even ride together, despite their apparent friendship. His own curiosity is admittedly getting the better of him. Gently, he reaches out and nudges the man, causing him to tense up before seeing Jesse and letting out a large sigh. He laughs a little pathetically and holds a hand over his heart as he stares upwards.
“Gonna give me a heart-attack like that, kid.”
“Heh, sorry. How y’doing?”
“Ehh I’ve… Well, I can certainly say I’ve been better. But I’m sure you could be sayin’ the same, huh?” He returns the nudge as he says this and Jesse nods in understanding. He continues, “It’s… Mainly just crazy how small of a world it is. I mean, what are the chances? Me living in the town ol’ Stevie’s own kid built up and knowing ‘em by name? After all the places I’ve been?” Bruce shakes his head. “Incredible…”
“Yeah…” Jesse trails off, thinking of all the things he suddenly wants to ask Bruce but wanting to remain polite. It’s getting hard to hold his tongue though. In the midst of his internal debate Bruce continues.
“I really shoulda seen it coming though.” He chuckles. Jesse perks up, question obvious in his eyes. Bruce smiles and nods, “In retrospect you’re a lot like him. Curious, determined, strong-willed, and a young man who sees his plans into action. Not to mention physically—you really do take after him. I feel silly for not noticing it before.” He shakes his head, internally scolding himself.
“I can’t imagine… But don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“Ehh, I’ll try. No promises though.” He chuckles. “I assume you have another question for me though?” He looks over at Jesse curiously who just nods rather nervously.
“I wanted to ask about you and my uncle.” He glances back to Hiro as he says this, Bruce following his gaze. Jack and Hiro happen to catch their looks and the original tension returns to the air. Bruce looks away first and Jesse frowns. Jack loudly clears his throat and speaks up.
“I’m gonna… go make sure Soren keeps his blood pressure down while arguing with Axel. You two…” He looks between Bruce and Hiro, “Well, we’re all adults here, aren’t we? Talk or… something!” He shrugs and snaps his horse’s reins, rushing ahead of the group and up to the front. Jesse blows out a sigh. The mediator once again—How does Lukas do it all the time? He turns around and waves for his uncle to group up with them. He hesitates but obliges, joining up with the pair on Jesse’s left. Jesse looks between the two men on each side of him.
“Okay, how about we just bite the bullet now and get it over with? What else am I missing here, huh? You two grew up together yet you can’t even look each other in the eye. What happened? And don’t tell me you just ‘grew apart.’” He eyes the both of them and Bruce and Hiro share a nervous glance. Bruce laughs a little.
“I don’t think we can fool this one, Hiro.”
“Yeahhh he takes after his father on that one. Sees through everything.”
“Riiiight, you were the gullible one! I remember now!”
“Hey!” Hiro plays up a pout only for Jesse to interrupt by leaning forward and breaking their line of sight.
“Tangent later. Explanation now.” He pauses then adds, “Please.”
“Alright, alright…! Essentially at one point we just… Split up.” Hiro chooses his words slowly and carefully, Bruce slowly nodding along. Jesse frowns.
“Okay... And what caused the split?”
Both men pause, glancing at each other nervously for a minute. Bruce drops his gaze first, opting to stretch his neck instead. Not angry per se but certainly uncomfortable. Talk about a sore subject.
“Well...” Hiro sighs and glances from Jesse to Bruce, trying to find the right words. Bruce continues his thought for him.
“Conflict of interest.”
“ ‘Conflict of interest’…?” Jesse repeats, a brow raised. Bruce nods, Hiro slowly doing the same as he awkwardly rubs his neck, grimacing.
“With you coming around Jesse... Your father decided to settle down. Quit adventuring like we used to for your sake.”
“I-I was... Petty about it to say the least… The three of us had a big blowout and… that was that.” He practically mumbles, sounding much smaller than Jesse ever anticipated hearing the man.
“Yes. It was.” Hiro huffs, surprisingly cold. He hears Bruce suck in a deep breath on his right.
“I was… An entitled young man. A bit spoiled by my parents, really. Growing up so close to your father and uncle then, I started to see them as the siblings I never had. We did everything together, learned everything together, but I was the most adventure-centric of our bunch. And your father was… Well, he was my biggest inspiration. I wanted nothing more than to roam the world and share adventures together. But, by the time I reached the proper age, you came around. So, when Steven chose to settle down, it felt like a personal attack. He was just prioritizing his family of course, but the way he did so… It almost made it feel like I was never a part of it. He’d made a lot of promises and just broke them all in a snap. It felt like I had just been used up and thrown away. So I got angry…”
“Frankly…” Hiro speaks up, catching both men’s eyes, “We weren’t exactly kind about it either. I mean, I know I regretted a lot of what I said.”
“Yeah… Like I said earlier, it was a really big blowout.” Bruce mumbles, turning his gaze back to the road before them. Jesse nods in understanding.
“Did you ever run into each other again after that?”
“No. That was the last time I saw Steven and Hiro. Until now, anyway.” He furrows his brows in thought. “I’m trying to remember… to remember which town I was in when I caught wind of the news of Hiro’s death… It was a port town across the east ocean—past the ocean temple Jack brought you to. I had run into one of our old neighbors—chatty geriatric fella—and he just talked, and talked, and jumped from one topic to the next without even considering room for someone to breathe—nonetheless process—what he was saying. But regardless, I really considered writing a letter to Steve. Condolences, y'know? But I had no idea where he was anymore or where to even begin. Then… Next thing I knew I was on the move again. So that was a dud.”
“He would’ve appreciated that.” Hiro adds quietly. Bruce nods.
“I know he would’ve. I regret not putting more effort into it.”
“Be that as it may…” Jesse starts, straightening in his saddle, “Thanks for talking. Thanks for sharing. Even though you guys aren’t on the best of terms, I think… I think dad would be proud to see you guys being civil. Honestly, I dunno if I’d be able to do the same.”
“... Thank you, Jesse.” Hiro eases up his grip on his horse’s reins.
“Yeah. You’re a good kid.” Bruce nods and Jesse forces a smile and the three fall into a small silence. It’s more peaceful this time, however. Jesse glances upwards, trying to catch where the sun is positioned above the treetop canopy. The sunlight filtering in is getting considerably more golden, so evening is definitely approaching. After a minute, Hiro huffs, recapturing the attention of the two men. He smiles sheepishly and waves them off.
“It’s nothing I just…” He looks over and meets Bruce in the eye, “Despite… everything, it’s good to have you back, Bruce.”
Bruce sits there in stunned silence for a minute more. Slowly he blinks himself back into the present, shuts his mouth, and nods.
“It’s... good to be back.”
The three men share smiles and, finally, the air between them seems clean. Comfortable. Hopefully it’ll last the trip—the real test will be the actual cave. But that’s still a few hours away, and worrying won’t get Jesse anywhere. He rubs his face with both hands, pushing his bangs back, and sucks in a deep breath to steady himself. Hiro offers a sympathetic look and Jesse just gives him a lopsided smile before dropping his hands and letting the hair fall back into his face. He glances over to Bruce and strikes up conversation again.
“Say Bruce, I know you know a lot about the Endermen themselves, but have you really been to the End before?”
“ ‘Course! But I haven’t really been back—not much reason to since the Dragon’s gone.”
“What about the End Cities? Apparently the loot’s great.”
“Eugh.” Bruce grimaces, scrunching his face up in disgust. Hiro laughs, garnering him a derisive look from the man.
“You haven’t! Now THAT’S shocking! Chicken, Bruce?”
“Hush!” Bruce groans with an eyeroll, but he’s unable to hide his smile, “Let me finish next time! Some time ago, yes, I attempted to make my way over to an End City—but it was by no means an easy feat. Then—...” He pauses, huffing and shaking his head, “Well, I didn’t get very far. Saying I got into trouble would be putting it lightly…” As he says this, Bruce reaches up and unties his scarf, removes his beaded necklace, and pulls the neck of his shirt down to his left shoulder, revealing 5 massive scars—claw marks—reaching from his neck down his shoulder and back. Jesse and Hiro gape at them, unable to pick their jaws up off the floor long enough to say anything. Bruce shrugs with a resigned smile. “Don’t worry about sayin’ anything, I know. Talk about unlucky, right?” He lets his shirt go and rolls his shoulders to fix it before tying his green scarf back around his neck, pulling his necklace back over the top of it once it’s tied. He continues, “I didn’t go higher than the second floor of the place, but I luckily managed to snag the elytra Jack’s got now before I was attacked. Those wings were honestly the only reason I’m here to tell the tale! Getting lost on those islands...” He grimaces with a shiver, “I can’t imagine it…”
“That’s horrifying!” Jesse manages to spit out, Hiro nodding solemnly in agreement.
“Endermen are no laughing matter, and those claws of theirs…” Hiro shuts his eyes tight and shakes his head. “I remember… The day we found the stronghold, my brother’s hand got scratched with similar looking claw-marks. He had been holding back the last Ender Eye the portal needed to activate—analyzing how the pull of the portal worked, I guess. He was deep in his own thoughts and just curious, but I guess something didn’t like that ‘cause next thing I knew he dropped the Eye and was clutching his hand. Scratches went underneath his gauntlets and everything—it was weird.”
“I thought he was cautious of the portal?” Jesse furrows his brows, “Why would he mess with it like that?”
Hiro and Bruce both chuckle and share a knowing look with each other as Jesse sits there confused. He nervously shifts in his saddle while Hiro shakes his head, probably rolling his eyes if he could see them past the glow they emit.
“Your father, Jesse, was definitely a very academically inclined man. Probably a little too much so, if I’m being honest. He was careful, sure, but his curiosity often overpowered any sense of self preservation he may have had.” He laughs, “He used to get hurt doing the stupidest things! But that’s why it was good that others like us were around.” Hiro points to himself and Bruce as he says this. “I had the common sense! Not to mention general street smarts. And Bruce was people-smart—did all the trades and big talks. Your father was more of the absent-minded professor type. All analytical before anything else.”
“That’s…” Jesse just shakes his head, mystified, “It’s hard to think of dad in that way. He was always really touchy-feely and open with me. Well, I guess as open as you could be with a 10 year old, but you get what I mean.”
“Well… Things kinda had to change once Bruce and Alex left, then probably even more so once I was gone. He had to pick up the pieces left behind. Frankly, it’s weird hearing from you about him being more emotional—not to say he was, like, unfeeling. He was always just uh…”
“Guarded?” Bruce suggests and Hiro snaps his fingers with a nod, eyes lighting up.
“Yes! He was very reserved and practical more than anything. Always made decisions up here,” he points to his own head, “Always Logical, fair, whatever he called it. Whereas I usually made decisions ‘round here…” He gently bumps his fist against his chest, making Jesse smile.
“I always thought you made decisions from below the belt.” Bruce quips, failing to hide his grin. Jesse stifles a laugh as his uncle reddens and glares at him.
“Haha. Very funny. Anything else you’d like to add while you’re at it?”
“Nope.” Bruce smiles and relaxes in his saddle while Hiro scoffs and Jesse chuckles. He starts with a smug smirk.
“You—”
“AUGHH!” A frustrated yell from up ahead cuts Jesse off and makes the three men snap to attention. Luckily for them though, all they find is Soren pulling his horse back and turning around to join them in the back. “This is IMPOSSIBLE!” Soren huffs and throws his hands into the air and Jesse eases up—seems Axel won their debate.
“Having fun yet, Soren?” He grins.
“Your friend is deluded, Jesse! Absolutely deluded!”
“Yeah, yeah, c’mon hardass—we don’t bite back here.” Jesse chuckles and pulls his horse right, moving him and Bruce outwards to make room for Soren between himself and Hiro. Soren happily swings around and back up to join the group, heaving out a large sigh once matching their pace. Jesse looks ahead to see Jack and Axel looking back in mild amusement and sheer pride respectively. Axel happily waves to them and Jesse shakes his head with a smile before giving a simple wave back.
“I take it things are going better back here?” Soren asks as he glances between the three men, receiving a slew of nods. He claps his hands together with a new fire in his eyes, “Good! Hopefully this will make our work much easier.” He sighs, “Unfortunately I was not able to bring my recording equipment for me to make notes of the scene—far too bulky for this type of trip. It may take me much longer to write everything down and I do want to apologize for that in advance, Jesse.”
“It’s fine. You just do what you think you need to, I don’t wanna rush this, regardless of—...” He finds the words being caught in his throat and just clears it with a shrug, “Well, you understand.”
“Certainly. Thank you.”
“Yeah.” Jesse mumbles, wanting to get off the subject. Bruce leans forward in his saddle to meet Soren in the eye.
“What kinda recording equipment you got? I brought mine along if you wanna use it.”
“What?!” Soren squints and leans all over in his saddle to take a look at the light pack Bruce has on his back over his weapon case and the small bag on his waist. He frowns, “Malarky! Where on earth could you be carrying a recording device on you? To make a record takes quite a set-up and even the mobile ones were about as big as your backpack!”
Realization dawns on Bruce and he lights up.
“Oh! I haven’t used records in a while now! I suppose these’re not quite as popular as vinyls yet—records are just so classic.” He smiles a little and starts digging in the bag on his waist. “Classy, but not great for recording notes and memos in the field,” He pulls out a small rectangular device about the size of a small notebook. Jesse leans over to get a better look at the device. It has an embedded speaker, a smaller rectangular slot with two small circles, then a line of buttons to press at one end and a few jacks for other cords. Bruce smiles, “I’ve been using cassette tapes. Easy to make, highly portable, and fun to play if I’m being honest.” He grins and holds it out further for Soren and Hiro to get a better look at it. Hiro whistles as Soren balks.
“You can record tapes that easily?!”
“Yep. And it can hold more content per tape!”
“I’ve never heard of such a device!” Soren laughs, absolutely gleeful over this new discovery. Jesse rolls his eyes and smirks.
“Yeah, well, that’ll happen when you hole yourself up in the End for over a decade.” Jesse ignores the glare he receives and turns to Bruce, “I didn’t know you liked making records! I’ve never really dabbled in it myself but my father used to do it a lot when I was a kid, so I know it can be a real pain sometimes.”
“That’s an understatement.” Bruce chuckles with Soren and even Hiro seeming to share the frustration, “I don’t really make music though. I always just used them to make notes and stuff for my mob research. It was something I was taught as a kid.” He smiles and points to himself then Hiro, “My father was really big on them, so as kids he taught Hiro, myself, and Steven how to make ‘em and use ‘em! Your dad really liked makin’ little tunes and things rather than recording notes like I did, which was honestly surprising.”
“He preferred writing everything.” Hiro pipes up with a smile. “He went through so many journals it’s not even funny. I think he just liked the extra privacy—it’d be awkward to walk in on him recording somethin’ personal.”
“How about you, uncle? You ever make much?” Jesse asks and Hiro sits back and looks at the sky in thought. Slowly he shakes his head.
“Not much. I usually just helped your dad with whatever he was makin’ next. I was the instrument guy.” He suddenly perks up, “Oh! But I have tried some stuff again with Rom and the Piglins in the Nether!” He says with a grin only to be met with a chorus of scoffs and laughter. Bruce swings forward in his saddle to look at him in the middle of his laughing fit.
“You collaborated with Piglins?!”
“Hey! Hey! They’ve got way more style than you I’m sure!” Hiro bites back, defensive. “They’re chill guys! They’ve got good rhythm too. Don’t knock it until you try it.” He shrugs and Bruce hums.
“I’ve done a lot of trading with Piglins—didn’t realize they were interested in music though.”
“Yeah they were pretty proud. They insisted on naming it and everything—and you do not argue with those guys.” Hiro blows out a sigh as he shakes his head. “They wouldn’t take any other suggestions! It was that name or nothin’!”
“And that name is…?” Soren prods him. Hiro scratches his neck and clears his throat. Bruce and Jesse share an amused glance. Hiro rolls his shoulders and straightens his posture in his saddle.
“Uhhh I mean. Pigstep. They really wanted to call it Pigstep.”
“Pigstep?”
“Yep! They’re really into the whole ‘pig’ thing. It’s a sick record though so I can’t complain.” He shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck. “But anyways, it was pretty fun to make. I wouldn’t mind dabbling in it more if I’m honest.”
“It is quite relaxing, isn’t it!” Soren beams and Hiro nods. Soren claps his hands together, “Truly Bruce—er, if I may address you so informally—you truly ought to try it. I mean, I’ve made quite a few records myself and I’m no musician. But they are quite good if I do say so myself!” Soren brags as Jesse noticeably cringes. Soren frowns in confusion. “What? What did I say?”
“They’re bad, man…” Axel drawls from up ahead, turning in his saddle to look back at them. Soren sputters, face now red and aghast at Axel’s comment. Jesse avoids his gaze, Bruce maintains a perfectly calm poker-face, and Hiro covers his mouth with his hand to try and avoid snickering. Soren huffs.
“You just don’t know genius when you hear it, Boom-Boy. And if you must criticize my works, at least do so in a constructive manner, would you?”
Axel smirks and Jesse knows that mischievous glint in his eyes. Jesse sucks in a breath, bids adieu to the group of men, and hurries to ride up to the front of the party before he has to mediate round two between Soren and Axel.
~~~~~~
Jesse had gone considerably further ahead of the rest of the group, becoming more reserved as they approached their destination. Saying it made him antsy was an understatement—but lucky for him he had a quick fix in the form of a strong horse. Nothing quite made him feel as good as feeling the twilight air hit his face as his horse galloped on at full speed. His blood pumping, the sounds of hooves slamming against the ground, the excitement of weaving through the trees, over logs and boulders, and splashing through standing water from wetlands—It reminded him he was alive, and that he was free.
He’d gotten used to riding horses more while he was whisked away by Romeo—trying to find a way to the portal hall in an untouched world was quite the challenge, and there was a lot of ground he had to cover. A sturdy horse was the way to do it. Though that wasn’t who he had with him today, but she was just as good if not better.
“Atta girl, Delilah. Atta girl.” He mumbles as he pats her encouragingly on the neck. She’s Lukas’, and god does he have a good eye for horses. He smiles a little at the thought, remembering the few times he’s mentioned the farm he grew up on—of course he’d have a good eye. She was as much of a sweetheart as she was a great runner too, and Jesse’d be lying if he said he wasn't happy when she occasionally chose him over Lukas.
He looks upwards at the darkening blue sky, spotting the stars beginning to peek out and shine as nightfall approaches. Then there’s the moon, a bright crescent that glows in the dying light. The clouds are greying but still pearly white where the sunlight clings to them. It isn’t dark enough yet for the monsters to come out, but it’s certainly getting close.
Jesse lets out a sigh and slows Delilah to a steady walk. They’d gotten into familiar territory a while ago and that was partly the reason he rushed ahead anyways. The quicker they got there, the quicker they got in, and the quicker they got out. But speaking of “they”...
Jesse looks around him, trying to spot any of the others but to no avail. He rubs his neck and frowns. He probably shouldn’t have just run off, but oh well. Guess he’ll just have to wait around for them to catch up. Jack trailed him for a time so there shouldn’t be any huge issues—plus it’s just south of the old cobblestone path to his home. They’ll catch up. Might as well scout for the cave entrance in the meantime. He clicks his tongue and guides Delilah south along the mountainside.
He squints a little, starting to regret not bringing a lantern, but he came here in the dark before so it shouldn’t be too hard. Ideally. Hopefully. He huffs in annoyance at himself and Delilah whinnies at him. He pats her neck.
“It’ll be fine girl. But you know me, not really thinkin’ things through until the last minute.” He gets a snort in response from her and he laughs. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m working on it! Old habits die hard though…” He trails off, becoming distracted by his surroundings as a few landmarks in the stone become familiar. He absentmindedly grips the reins a bit tighter as the memories force themselves back into his mind. His eyes glaze over a crater in the ground and he huffs a little. That’s where he had to grab Ziggy by the collar to avoid the Creeper explosion. He never liked having to do that, but better that than his dog being hurt by the explosion.
He misses that dog. He hadn’t thought about him as much as he probably should’ve considering how crucial he was to his early teen years. Reuben didn’t remember him as much since he was just a piglet when Jesse took him from their home and left with Ziggy, but Ziggy had protected them both while he still could. Stayed alive a few years into his time staying with Olivia's family—he always like to think that he only finally passed on once he knew Jesse would be safe. That’s how it often felt with him. Maybe he’d add something to Reuben’s memorial for him, or make a separate, quainter memorial. He certainly deserved it.
Refocus, Jesse, refocus. They aren’t far now. He remembers this area well and slows Delilah to a snail’s pace as he picks apart the mountainside. A lot had grown over the stone in the sixteen years he’s been gone, but the shapes are still the same.
“Hey! Jesse!” Someone calls after him and his first response is frustration at being pulled out of his thoughts. He lightens up however as he looks back and sees Axel waving with a grin on his face. The others are a bit back still, but seem to be picking up their pace to catch up. Axel slows down as he falls into pace with Jesse and offers a sympathetic look and pat on the arm. “How you hangin’?”
Jesse bites his lip as he thinks. He shrugs, not really sure himself. Axel nods and gives his shoulder a squeeze.
“Yeah, I figured. Lemme know if you need a break or somethin’—I got you.”
“Thanks Axel. I… I think I’ll be able to handle it though. I feel… surprisingly competent. I-I mean,” He tries joking, “Not to brag, but I punched the powers out of god. A cave is— A cave is no problem!” He forces the words out then blows the tension out of his shoulders, “Besides, you and I are heading deeper anyways. It’ll just be like a regular mining expedition. Easy!”
“Hey man, if you’re confident, I’m confident. Just lemme know if we need to take a breather while we’re down there. S’all I’m sayin’.”
“I know, I know. But really I’m…” He slowly nods, a fire returning to his eyes, “I’m super curious to see what’s deeper down. Possible new clues, a whole new cave, and it has a natural and practically untouched stronghold way down inside of it. I’ve always wanted to see it! I think my dad will forgive me for going on ahead without him.”
“Dude, your dad would be crazy proud of you. I think he’s totally cheering you on through this, like, ‘Yeah! Go kick that Enderman’s ass, Jess!’ or whatever. Y'know what I mean.” He shrugs halfheartedly, plucking at his scarf a little. Jesse laughs, smiling brightly.
“Yeah. Yeah I do. Thank you, Axel.”
“Not a problem.”
The two chat a little about small things as the rest of the group catches up. Soren, Jack, and Bruce begin discussing a set-up plan to light up the area and cave entrance while Hiro joins Axel and Jesse’s conversation—albeit it ends up more of a conversation between just him and Axel as Jesse picks apart the mountainside once more. Finally, he pulls Delilah to a sudden halt and lights up.
“Here. This is it.” Jesse swings off of his horse and stumbles a little as he hits the ground. He frowns at the jelly feeling in his legs and takes a deep breath to steady his nerves. He hurries up to the mountainside, although this isn’t nearly as steep as what’s further up the path. It’s quite lovely if he was being frank as a wide array of plant life springs from the dirt and stone. It’s an unassuming little hill in the middle of nowhere—what better place to crawl down into a stronghold?
Axel walks up beside him, not doing a very good job at hiding his skepticism. Jesse ignores it and reaches out to the vines in front of him, gripping them tight. He holds his mouth in a tight line, furrows his brows, and readies himself to tear them off. Then he readies himself again. One more time—he squares his feet one more time! They’re right here, it’s right behind this wall. It’s right there. Jesse can hear his heart pounding in his ears, yet he can’t quite get his body to work with him.
He looks up to Axel, eyes shimmering no doubt with some kind of fear. Axel nods and grabs a handful of vines and roots then looks back at Jesse.
“On three!” He says and Jesse swallows down what nerves he can and steels himself, “One. Two... Three!” On the final count both grit their teeth and tear a large chunk of greenery from the wall with a satisfying ripping noise. Buried underneath all the dirt and plants, they see bits and pieces of that shining black stone blocking their path, the moonlight dancing off of it. Obsidian—just as Jesse said. Axel whistles with a grin and Jesse laughs in relief, almost feeling winded at the mere sight of it. He managed to get it right. They’re here. He’s back after all these years. Axel nudges him in the side.
“Good memory, Jess.”
Notes:
HEY SO THIS IS AWKWARD ISNT IT. A year and a half, talk about a hiatus 😭😭😭
First off, so sorry about that, honestly was not apart of my plan, things just happened. But!!! I still very much love this fic and story and absolutely want to finish it. I'm working hard on trying to stay on top of it and have at least two chapters on standby that I'm going to wait to release so I can work somewhat efficiently as school starts up again.My aim is to start updating this fic again with at least semi-consistent updates (real OGs remember the weekly updates high school me somehow managed 💀💀💀) and I'm goin to do that on a two week schedule with updates on Saturdays. I have chapter 20 ready to go and I will drop it on January 8th, and ideally by then I'll have the current chapter I'm working on completed and the next one started!
I'm sure there will still be some break periods just because that's life and I still have some things to iron out for the end of the story, but for the most part I'm finally happy with this next little arc! I was struggling a lot with some plot holes and inconsistencies that were really blocking me from moving on, but those have finally been cleared up thank GOD.
Anyways I've probably rambled enough at this point and I know I'm rusty lol, but thank you for the continued interest, support, and engagement!!! I really wouldn't have been able to bring myself back to this fic without it all, and seeing people STILL commenting and giving this fic kudos even now just absolutely blows my mind. I hope it continues to live up to all your expectations, and Happy Holidays!!! 💖💖💖
Chapter 19: Deeper and Deeper
Summary:
Jesse and the gang finally check out the inside of the cave and begin the descent down towards the Stronghold his father had found.
Notes:
Man pasting all the stuff from my doc into the ao3 text box makes it feel so much shorter than it is! 😭 It's 6k tho !
I don't really have any deep thoughts at the moment I can truly put into words so just hrgnghgnhnnnhngnh Jesse and co. my fucking BELOVEDS !!!ALSO it's SO good to finally be able to write more of Bruce !!! I know he didn't have as many bits in this chapter in this one as he did the last but he will again soon and I just!!! Love that guy!!! Anyways I hope you all enjoy and have a good weekend!!
EDIT 6/23/23: Minor Edits :>
Chapter Text
It was smaller than he remembered.
That was the first thought that popped into Jesse’s mind as he held the lantern in his hand high. But, miraculously, that was the only thing that felt different aside from perhaps a now solid layer of dust settled over everything. He was the first one inside at his own insistence. He was too antsy to wait until they had an entrance big enough for all of them to squeeze through, and he wanted to see it first before they began poking around. He didn’t like it, but it felt right.
He drops his eyes to the ground first thing, both dreading and praying to see those old muddy footprints again. He grips his lantern tighter as he lowers it, the flame inside flapping wildly from the small breeze coming into the cave. It makes the shadows in the cave sharper and much more dramatic—much to Jesse’s frustration. Finally, he feels his heart seize up in his throat.
It feels dirty calling such a thing “lucky,” but there they were.
He stands there a moment and just stares. The prints remained, albeit a bit more dusty and some parts chipped away from the occasional mob that must’ve walked over them. But they were there and they were solid.
Jesse slowly circles them, comparing every detail in front of him to what he sees in his memory. The final struggle right before the cave mouth is still almost entirely intact. He quietly crouches down by a bootprint and raises his lantern to clearer see the dried up mud. He scowls as he reaches out to inspect it, carefully dusting his fingers over the bumps and grooves in the dried material. It’s thicker than just mud, he now notes—sturdier too. Jesse rubs his fingers together in thought before he stands again and steps back. He sucks in a deep breath.
“They’re still here.” He calls out, his voice echoing off of the walls. “Everything! Everything’s still here.”
“Even the footprints?!” He hears Soren from outside. Jesse nods to no one in particular.
“Even them, yeah. It’s all a bunch of dried up clay! You can still make out a lot of the grooves from my—'' He chokes. He takes a deep breath. He clears his throat. “You can still make out the grooves from the boots, too. Not much other traffic up at this end of the cave, so it hasn’t been too badly worn away.”
He hears one of the pickaxes pause only to be followed by Jack’s voice.
“We can send Skinny through along with Bruce if you want, Jesse. But it’ll be a few more minutes before I’ve got this thing open enough for Axel, Brian, and I, though.”
“I-It’s fine. Wait until the rest of you can get through. I just… I’d like to look around a little more before we start.”
“Alright, give us a holler if you change your mind.”
“Sure.” He murmurs and hears the crisp clanging of diamond against the stone continue.
Jesse drags his hand along the left cave wall before he drops it to the old workbench still sitting there and wipes his hand across the surface. He lifts his hand to his face, inspecting the dirt and dust now coating his fingers in the dim firelight. It shimmers on his fingertips and Jesse glances back at the obsidian that’s still being hacked away at. The dust flies loose from the deep black stone, catching the moonlight and sparkling in the mysterious way obsidian does. Jesse dusts his hand off on his pants and turns his focus back to his surroundings. He raises his lantern high for better light and is engulfed in a feeling of deja-vu as he does.
All of it really is still here. Like a museum of personal nightmares. He walks a bit further inwards and accidentally kicks something, the sound of wood rattling across the ground echoing off the walls. He stiffens but then pauses to pick up what he kicked.
It’s an old torch, one of the blown out ones. He smiles bittersweetly at the familiarity of it—this was the one he plucked off the wall as a child. It’s much smaller in his hand now than it was then, and he had been too short to put it back where it was originally hung. It’s a little scorched, but still has plenty of material to burn—just as he had thought. He holds his lantern up to the wall and tallies each of the other torches to find the gap where it should be—if his father was anything, it was particular about organization, and he always kept his torches evenly spaced among other things. He spots a gap a little to the left of the dilapidated workbench and smiles a little. Right, he remembers plucking it off from there.
He cautiously sets the lamp down onto the workbench which creaks as he does so, but he lets out a sigh of relief as it stays strong under the new weight. Relaxing once more, he turns back to the wall. He sets the torch back in its place, careful to make sure it’s straight, and slowly secures it once again. He smiles softly as he gives the leather tie holding it up one final tug.
“There.” He mumbles quietly to himself. “Back where it belongs… Sorry for taking so long to fix my mess, Dad… I’m sure that only drove you mad for sixteen years.” He tries to chuckle but it only comes out as a soft huff. He grabs the lantern once again and holds it up as he steps back. Yep, now they’re back to being nice and even. He blows out a sigh.
But then he notices something. He frowns and immediately checks around him for any mobs or any people then moves back to the workbench. It’s clean. Well, it’s still extremely dusty but there’s nothing on it. No papers, no tools, nothing. But that can’t be right, he remembers the bench being covered in his dad’s notes, attempted maps, and other scribbles and small tools—all Jesse had taken at the time were the records and some spare blank papers. And that dust settling there means it’s been cleaned off for about as long as the cave’s been closed off. To double check he wipes a line of dust off the workbench and then off the old furnace still next to it but no, there’s hardly a difference.
Why are his things missing?
He turns and looks deeper into the cave, meandering that way and raising the lantern a little as he does. Maybe a monster got curious and took ‘em down? That’d be something he’d have to keep an eye out for as he, Jack, and Axel head down. If they don’t find anything though…
He frowns as he looks back at the workbench, not liking the pit in his stomach that forms as he does so. Someone else really could’ve been here. He frowns, trying to stop his brain from immediately jumping to worst-case scenarios. They’d been considering foul play but a part of him still just didn’t want to believe it. It was still mind-boggling to consider. He pushes those thoughts aside as he retraces his child-self’s steps. He ran home that night, listened to the disks, hated them, and tried to stay home for a few more days after that. Three days, he managed three days. Anyone could’ve walked by and taken his father’s notes and tools. They probably would’ve thought it was a mining excursion gone wrong and claimed Looter’s Rights. But something still felt wrong—what was it?
Suddenly, a shine on the cave floor catches his attention, and he feels his blood run cold. He walks back up and around the footsteps like his younger self did years ago and crouches down next to what he saw. He clenches his jaw, anger at himself washing over him for having forgotten about these glass shards. They had been kicked around and crunched up a little more, but they’re still here. He reaches down and picks up a thick piece that curved a bit—probably a fragment of the larger piece he picked up as a child.
Something had already been stolen from his father’s crime scene. That watch.
A loud crash and some yelling from behind him steals his attention. He stands and turns only to find a full entrance now cleared and a good pile of obsidian chunks crumbled on the ground as moonlight and the light from their other lanterns pours in. Axel cheers and claps along with Hiro and Soren as Jack and Bruce share a solid high five. Jesse relaxes, smiling a little now.
“About damn time!” Bruce throws his pickaxe aside and grins as he leans down and starts throwing some of the obsidian aside to clear the path. Jack, Hiro and Jesse move to help and within minutes the path is officially cleared. Bruce dusts his hands with pride. “Talk about making good time! Looks like we’re all set!”
“Looks like it.” Jesse forces a smile and Bruce nods then looks at his hands curiously. “Find somethin’ already, kid?”
Jesse blinks then lights up, quickly looking back and forth from Bruce to the glass piece in his hand.
“Oh! Yeah, sorta! I remember seeing this glass here when I was a kid—cut my hands on it and everything.” He begins explaining as he drops the piece into Bruce’s hand who inspects it curiously, Hiro and Soren looking over his shoulders at it as he does so. Jesse continues, “I’m pretty sure it was from my dad’s old pocketwatch just by how the glass curves. I found that and a little clockhand from it.”
“Pocketwatch?”
“Yeah. He had an old gold one, I think. Er—it might’ve been a fake gold layer because I remember him mentioning it was wearing off? He only ever brought it on trips so I honestly can’t say I remember it the best.” Jesse rubs his neck and Bruce nods slowly in thought as he inspects the curved glass. Hiro pipes up.
“Ah, yeah, I remember that gaudy little thing! It worked well but the outside was cheaply made—he had to replace the glass and stuff a few times, but it never stopped ticking.” Hiro pauses, “And you could never find the watch?”
“No, but I didn’t look very deep into the cave. But I also don’t think I’m going to find it in there. I found the shards and stuff right by um… W-Where the action happened, it seems. I can’t imagine it would’ve been knocked that far away since it was so close to the entrance.” Jesse pauses then remembers something and snaps to catch Bruce’s gaze again, “I was actually wondering—do mobs ever, I dunno, grab and carry things like that off? I know they can certainly take weapons and armor when given the chance but…”
Bruce shifts his weight and hums as he thinks.
“Well, that depends on what they’re taking. Endermen are the most curious, but Zombies, Skeletons, and even Spiders all get curious from time to time. Trinkets like a pocketwatch? A zombie or skeleton might pick it up for a while until they’re bored of it. Spiders might kick it around on the ground and play with it, but ultimately they’d all leave it alone eventually. An Enderman might hang onto it longer, but even they’d get bored. They don’t exactly have use for most human tools, despite their intelligence.”
“He is right!” Soren adds on, sharing a nod with Bruce. “Endermen certainly have the intelligence to be interested and want to hold onto such things—in the End I’d oft find many odds and ends around my base stolen and placed somewhere else hours later! They do not have any place to stash their findings, however. At least for the most part. They tend to just take and drop as they go.” Soren finishes and Bruce nods again in agreement as he hands the glass piece back to Jesse who just frowns.
“You don’t look too convinced, there…” Bruce chuckles a little and Jesse’s eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head.
“Oh! No no! I don’t doubt you guys, I just… I dunno, there are other things missing too.” Jesse steps back and points to the workbench inside. “I remember there were some more papers, writing stuff, and some small measuring tools on top alongside the records I found. I can’t remember if they were still there when I blocked up the cave, but the dust coating it all makes it seem like they were taken around the same time I locked up and left.” He rubs the back of his neck, “I’m gonna try not jumping to conclusions until we explore more, but it’s just weird how it’s all gone—and the watch was gone before all the stuff on the bench.” Jesse sighs and leans against the remnants of the obsidian wall and Soren purses his lips in thought.
“Perhaps your father managed to grab it off the ground before disappearing? However, as you said, speculation is just speculation. We should set up and begin our investigation, no?”
Axel elbows him and Soren shoots him a glare before straightening and clearing his throat.
“Er, that is to say, if you think now is a good time to start?”
Jesse huffs and smiles a little before glancing behind him and back into the cave. He lingers on the sight of it all, the image settling into his memory once again. But… He feels calmer. Accepting. Eventually, he looks back at the group before him and nods.
“Yeah. C’mon in—but watch your step.” Jesse nods and moves out of the way and to the back of the cave mouth as the others slowly file in.
Soren immediately approaches the prints and crouches down with a hand over his mouth in thought. Straight to the point as always. Jesse tries not to dwell on how excited the man is to see such things, it’s certainly not personal, but he feels himself tense up regardless. Axel avoids looking at the prints too hard and instead opts to look at the torches on the wall, and Jack heads straight over to Jesse’s side. He feels a heavy hand clamp down on his shoulder and give him a good shake, and he can’t help but smile a little. He nods in thanks and Jack returns the gesture and just continues to rub his back as they wait for the others.
Bruce hesitates mid stride as he catches sight of the prints on the ground. He blows out a loud sigh but forces himself forward, pity in his eyes but also familiarity—he’s run into scenes like this many times before while on the job. He shares a look with Jesse, but it’s a bit hard to decipher, not that Jesse will hold it against him. A lot of these things became personal very quick for him. Bruce stops to inspect the workbench in the meantime.
Hiro is the last one in, arms crossed and squeezed tightly around himself. Jesse can’t quite tell if it’s a mix of the moon and lantern light doing him dirty or not, but he seems pale. It’s a bit overwhelming, if he’s being honest. Hiro stops a step or two behind Soren and just slowly looks around each part of the little cavern before dropping his gaze to the prints and keeping them there.
“I hate Endermen…” Hiro mumbles under his breath, scowl settling on his face. “Killers, the lot of them.” He spits garnering a skeptical look from Bruce and downright offended one from Soren.
“Excuse you! These creatures may be deadly, but they are not active hunters! They are extremely docile and truly quite sweet if you merely have the patience to work with them.” Soren corrects and Hiro scoffs, eyes flaring in a way that makes it seem like he was rolling them.
“Right. That’s what my brother and I did wrong! Of course!”
“Well, given how short you’re being currently—” Soren glares up at him only for Jack to cut them both off with a sharp whistle. All eyes turn to him.
“That’s enough of that, now. I get it, this is… This is a lot for you guys,” He looks between Hiro and Bruce, “Emotions are high, but just… just breathe. We’ve got all night to figure this stuff out so if you need to take a walk or something, get on it. But we can’t be immediately at each other’s throats over it.” He looks back over to Hiro, “Do you need to come with us down into the cave for a while?”
“I don’t appreciate your to—”
“Do you?” Jack raises his voice a little and Hiro slams his mouth shut into a tight line. He clenches his fists at his sides and sucks in a long, deep breath.
“... No.”
“Okay, just as long as this isn’t gonna be a problem.”
“It won’t. I just—... I–!” He sighs, “I’m just frustrated. But, I need to be up here.” He fiddles with his shirt collar, “I need to think. And… He was my brother. My twin. I could probably offer some insight into how he thought or whatever…”
“That sounds like a good plan. Axel, Jesse, and I ought to start heading down then—we’ll leave you guys to investigate and speculate here. Hopefully we’ll all find something of worth.” Jack nods and claps Jesse on the back as everyone starts moving to get to work. Jesse lights up and clears his throat to recapture everyone’s attention.
“Really quick uh, I’d just prefer it if we avoided relighting my dad’s torches.” He rubs his neck, “It’s a little thing but they’re technically a part of it all and also I just… It’d feel wrong lighting them now.”
“Of course, Jesse.” Bruce nods, “We’ve got plenty of supplies and the room isn’t too large anyhow. We’ll be fine with what we have. Make sure each of you has a lantern before headin’ down, a’ight?” Bruce pats him on the arm as he finishes up and Jesse nods, going to grab two still unlit lanterns for Jack and Axel. The two do some last minute gear checks while Jesse returns and fiddles with lighting them. Bruce pauses to follow-up, “And good luck down there. Bring back somethin’ good!”
“Heh, we’ll try!” Jesse smiles a little as he hands off the two new lanterns to Jack and Axel. Jesse grabs his own, quickly checks he has his axe, then pushes past the two to take the lead.
“Jesse.” Hiro’s voice echoes through the small cave and the young man pauses to look back at him. They hold each others’ gaze for a long moment, Hiro’s face contorted in a mix of emotions as he continues, “If you find that stronghold down there, do not even think about going in.” He speaks with a sternness that’s uncharacteristic of him. “Promise me that.”
Jesse holds his gaze, gripping his lantern a little tighter in his hand and not really jumping to respond. He sees his uncle’s brows furrow.
“He won’t.” Jack speaks for him, clamping his hand back down onto Jesse’s shoulder, squeezing it just a little tighter. Jesse sees his uncle ease up. Axel nods, raising his lantern almost in a ‘cheers’ motion.
“Yeah! We’ll keep him outta too much trouble for ya. No spooky strongholds for us today.”
“Thank you.”
~~~~~~
“Sorry for… taking the reins from you up there, Jesse.” Jack mumbles, scratching the back of his neck as he follows behind the young man.
It was a quiet start to their expedition, and the tension in the air was suffocating to put it bluntly. Pure silence from Jesse from the moment his uncle first spoke up about the stronghold. He was certainly deep in thought but that definitely wasn’t reassuring considering the subject-matter. A Silent Jesse was rarely a Happy Jesse.
“How deep do Strongholds naturally start showing up?”
“Uh…” Jack frowns a little—he manages to answer though, “Well, they typically start showing up around deepslate if not a little higher or lower depending... Soren seems to have gotten lucky to have found one so far up in a mountain. Either way, we’ve got a ways to go yet.” Jack says as he hops down a ledge with a grunt. “Man, this thing is steep. I’m already dreading hauling myself back up. Your father was damn determined, wasn’t he?”
“He’d always get something done come hell or high water.” Jesse says shaking his head, “Never realized how true that was though. I knew he got frustrated easily when little projects around the house weren’t working out—I remember him working through the night a lot of the time just to find a solution. But, in hindsight, he was practically obsessed.” He frowns a little, “It makes me wonder if he really did have some enemies in his life. Determination is fine, but if he did whatever it took to get the outcome he was looking for, then he probably stepped on a lot of toes…”
“Hmm… I’m sure that’s unnerving to consider.”
“It is.” He stops a moment to take a breath, gaze still fixed on his surroundings as he speaks—avoidant, “It almost feels like I didn’t truly know him, and that…” He scrunches up his face, disturbed, “That’s a terrifying thought. I have his old journals and records, yes, but my memories of him are so important to me. It hurts to think they could be… I dunno, fake in a way?” He looks between Axel and Jack, brows furrowed. Axel scratches the scruff on his jaw.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that, man. I mean, you were just a little guy. That’s like parenting 101 to keep some heavier things hidden until the kid’s old enough to, like, really deal and understand it, right? I’on’t think it makes who you know him as any less real or whatever. You’re just an adult now so you’ve got, like, Adult Privilege.” He bumps him in the arm and Jesse smiles a little at the gesture but still doesn’t seem convinced. Jack nods in agreement.
“Axel’s right. He may not be as perfect as your childhood memories of him are, but the bottom line is that your father loved you very much, and wanted you to be safe. No man is perfect, but it sounds like he tried his hardest to be for your sake.”
“I know.” Jesse mumbles, “I just hope his baggage isn’t too heavy to carry…”
With that, Jesse pushes ahead of the group once more with Axel and Jack sharing a look of uncertainty before following.
It’s a lovely cave system so far, it’s easy to see why his father might’ve gotten caught up in it. And get caught up he did if the variety of torches strewn about are anything to go by. There were quite a few small branching paths that Jesse immediately ducked into, only to find a string of properly burnt out torches. It was almost comforting just knowing he was probably following his father’s exact footsteps and feeling the same awe and curiosity he once did. This cave was also a dream come true for any hiker—the incline down was no laughing matter.
Jesse pauses to frown at the thought and look up behind them. His father really had a whole marathon to run to get out, and he managed to get so close. He feels his chest tighten at the image of it. A few more steps, just a meter or two further, and maybe he’d have made it out and into the rain where no Enderman would follow. Jack calls out to him which pulls him out of those thoughts. They have places to go, and ‘what ifs’ wouldn’t get them there.
Further down it plateaus a little and the shape of the cave changes. Not that Jesse notices much until he feels cold water dripping down his back. He gets a harsh chill up his spine and jumps, holding up his lantern to see where it came from only to see large, sharp rocks hanging from the ceiling. Stray water runs down the rock from the darkness above and the dripping water echoes through the cave. Looking around more now, there are also jagged ones shooting up from the ground as well. Axel blows out a low whistle at it all.
“Right! I remember hearin’ about caves like this nearby. Can’t remember the last time I was in one… What are those things called again?” He gestures up to the hanging rock with his lantern.
“Stalactites and stalagmites. The ones from the ceiling are the ‘tites, and the ones from the ground are the ‘mites.” Jack announces, getting that husk in his voice he gets when he’s about to tell a story. He pulls a leg up on a rock and leans on his knee. “This here is a dripstone cave. One of the many underground biomes in the world. Once in my travels I knew a man who had ventured deep into the crevices of one for the treasure of Ulysses Denboreaux. He got the treasure, sure, but not without setting the dungeon’s traps off. Those explosions echoed through the entire cave system, rattling these ‘tites from their comfortable place above and raining hell unto him. Their jagged points matched with the weight of a dozen iron golems… The man is lucky he only lost one of his arms and an eye…”
Both Axel and Jesse shudder.
Jack grins and laughs, setting his lantern down a minute to give them both hearty slaps on the back.
“No need to worry! I doubt we’ll have that kinda trouble. Quite the tale, though!” He grabs his lantern again, “I’d uh… Well I’d watch where you step regardless. Even if there aren’t any boobytraps, those lil ‘mites can shoot up from little puddles and pools of water, so don’t underestimate any gaps.”
“Yeesh, no kidding, huh?” Jesse sighs. Axel cracks his knuckles, catching Jesse’s attention. He just grins.
“We haven’t ran into any baddies yet, but we’re starting to really get into the thick of it now! Gotta be ready! I heard slimes can even show up in these caves!” He grins, “Man, I’ve been wanting to test somethin’ new with slimes, but they’re so hard to run into!”
“Axel, if you blow up a slime with your dynamite and I get that stuff in my mouth again, you’re banned from the tower for a week.” Jesse says as he unhooks his axe.
“WHAT? Aw c’mon, Jesse, you don’t mean it.” He pouts and Jesse can’t help his smile.
“Okay you got me there. But I’d hold back on the dynamite until we’re in a different cave.”
“But the slimes!” He whines and Jack pats him on the arm before pulling his own sword off his back.
“Another time, big guy. You can always test what punching them does!” Jack playfully elbows him in the arm and Axel just shakes his head despondently.
“It just kills the momentum dude. And my arm will be stuck!”
“Then if we see slimes we keep walking. Simple.” Jesse finishes the conversation and marches on ahead, leaving Axel sputtering but ultimately giving in. Jack shares a sympathetic look with him and they continue on.
Jesse moves fairly quickly, curiosity and impatience starting to gnaw away at him. It was odd, he’d avoided this system like the plague and never wanted to go back and dive in, but now that he’s here, he just wants to sprint straight down to the stronghold—safety be damned. It doesn’t take long for the dripstone to seemingly phase out and back into a standard cave, but it still retains its size and vastness. It felt like you could build whole houses in some of the caverns. It was nice not being in some claustrophobic crevice for once.
Jesse hops over a skinny but steady river and reaches the back end of one cavern not long after. He slows to a stop with a frown. It split off a few directions from here—one that continued ahead on this level, two that seemed to ramp down, then there was a crevice that dropped down a system which the water was pouring down into. He sighs, pursing his lips as he thinks which way they should tackle first. Behind him there’s a loud splash and Axel shouts in surprise. He turns around in time to catch Axel slamming a fist into the face of a stray drowned before jumping back. Jesse sets his lantern down and hurries over as Jack finishes it off.
“A drowned?! Where the hell did—”
“Aquifers!” Jack points his sword towards the start of the water which was pouring in from a hole in the cavern’s ceiling. As if on cue another one of the barnacle-covered zombies drops with the water, landing on some rocks with a sickening crack and making Jesse grimace. It easily pops itself back into shape however and locks eyes with the group. Its empty face quickly contorts into one filled with malice as it gurgles and spurts out water in an attempt to hiss. Jesse grips his axe as the creature lunges forward and grabs at his leg, trying to dig its feeble claws through the leather. Jesse scowls, kicking it off and stumbling back only for it to grab at him again. It catches him off balance and yanks him down partially into the water. Jesse yelps before letting out a frustrated yell. Axel hurries over and grabs the drowned by the collar and throws it back. Jesse swipes at it, grazing its chest. The drowned staggers back in the waist-deep water and begins clicking its teeth at Jesse and Axel. Jesse pushes himself up and grips his axe with both hands as he runs up to the drowned, hitting it with a solid swing. The drowned is flung backwards and hits the wall behind the waterfall before slinking back below the water’s surface and is drug away by the current.
“If more of those guys are gonna drop from that we shouldn’t stick around to see it.”
“Oh I am more than happy to oblige on that one.” Jack laughs nervously as he hurries and leaps over the stream to Jesse’s side, hurrying to the opposite end of the cavern. Axel wades into the water and just trudges to the other side, briefly wiping his hands off as he does. Jesse smiles and offers him a hand up.
“Watch it!” Jack’s voice rings out. Jesse has no time to process as Axel yanks him into the water and he feels air whiz past his back. He tumbles a little in the water before finding the ground and shoving himself back up. He gasps for air, coughing up water in between breaths and struggling to keep steady footing against the current. He hears a sharp whistling and feels something splash into the water dangerously close. That’s when it clicks. He frantically starts blinking the water out of his eyes as he scans for the skeleton. There’s a glint some meters down on of the offshoots, and he manages to focus his eyes just in time to see the thing with its bow pulled taut. He gasps and immediately drops back under the water as another arrow whizzes over his head.
He grips a rock along the edge of the stream and tries to slow down his heart enough to orient himself. That skeleton is firing way too fast for any of them to just rush it. He grips his axe a little tighter in his hand, trying to picture his next move in his mind—he’s the only one with some sort of range, but he’s gotta be quick. He shifts his grip of the rock to the exposed part above the water and steels himself as his lungs begin to burn.
Jesse shoves himself up again and uses the momentum to swing out of the water. He rolls to the side and flips his bangs back as another arrow just misses him. He hops to his feet and dips forward just enough to catch a glimpse of the skeleton. It’s sticking close to a wall but starting to move more into the open for a clearer shot. He jumps back to dodge another arrow from it. He barely lands before he runs back into the open, axe already raised. With a solid slam of his foot into the ground he flings his axe forwards and it whizzes through the air. It slams into the skeleton head on, knocking it apart with a satisfying clang. Jesse sprints after it without a second thought. A foot or two away he holds out his hand and the teal blue hilt shimmers and makes the axe shake as it’s called back to him. He catches it with practiced ease, quickly ducking against the cave walls for cover as he scans the branching off paths further down. His breathing is ragged and quick as his eyes dart all around trying to pick anything out of the dark, but… There’s nothing.
Jesse lets his axe slide down in his grip until he’s mainly just holding the strap at the end. He rests his head against the wall of the cave as he takes a second to catch his breath and steady the heartbeat pounding in his ears. He can’t help but laugh a little—just a few little mobs and he’s already got that rush. Shaking his head with a stupid grin on his face, he pushes himself off of the wall and turns to head back to the main cavern.
He finds himself stopping though. He blinks, unsure of what exactly to call the feeling in his gut. Humoring it, he turns back and takes another look down the small cave system he’s run into. He realizes now that the shape of this cave—or rather, tunnel—is a lot less natural. His suspicions are confirmed as he looks further down the dark pathway. An old abandoned mineshaft—if his father were to explore anything next, it would’ve been the mineshaft. This is probably where they need to go next. Behind him he hears a distant explosion. Mind made up and realizing he should get back to the others, he turns and hurries back out to the cavern.
“What was—?”
“Oh, Jesse! I was about to run after you! No worries, it’s just Axel.” Jack jerks a thumb towards the sound the explosion came from and Jesse relaxes again. Jack looks him up and down, “Are you—?”
“Refreshed from the swim? Yeah, actually.” Jesse grins a little and Jack holds a hand over his stomach, chuckling with relief in his eyes. He shakes his head.
“Better you than me! Not that I couldn’t handle it!” He sniffs then bobs his head side to side, “It’s just— I don’t think I could, yknow—” He changes stance, holding his sword more akin to someone readying to throw a spear. Jesse laughs, clapping a little.
“Nah, c’mon, I’m sure you could pull it off!”
“Eh, maybe another time.” Jack relaxes with a smile, twirling the sword down and using it for something to lean on. “Axel said you had it handled so he went ahead and decided to poke around down in that crevice.” He nods to the gap where the water was pouring into the lower cave system and Jesse frowns.
“But the drowned—”
“He said, to quote, ‘If I see one of those barnacled assholes, I’ll punch right through it’s skull!’” Jack shares an amused look with Jesse as he finishes and Jesse just shakes his head with a sigh.
“Hey! Would you guys have a little more faith in me?” They hear Axel’s voice echo up and both of them chuckle. Jesse walks up to the edge and crouches down to call out to him.
“Find anything?”
“Uh, yeah! A sick ass geode!”
“Okay… Anything else?”
Axel’s soot covered face suddenly pops into view and makes Jesse jump. He pouts up at him.
“Aw c’mon, Jesse, geodes are super cool! It’s amethyst!” He grins but Jesse’s look of doubt doesn’t budge. Axel rolls his eyes. “Always a skeptic. C’mere, hold out your hand! We’ve never run into crystals this big! You’re gonna love this stuff, I just know it.”
A pleasant clinking sound rings out as he begins digging around in his pocket and Jesse begrudgingly holds out his hand. Axel smirks and grabs it, yanking it down a little more and forcing him down to his hands and knees. He places some shards into his hand and clasps his hand shut around them. Jesse pulls them back up and inspects them closer in the light, easing up a bit as he does so. They’re a brilliant purple and slightly translucent. As they roll around in his palm, they continue clinking, the pleasant sound making him smile. He picks one up and begins tapping the others with it, getting slightly different sounds from each one.
“Pretty…”
“Right?! See, I knew you’d like ‘em! I bet they’d make great wind chimes!”
“Oooh!” Jesse perks up at the thought of that, “I’ll have to ask someone about that. I’m sure Lukas would like them.”
“Okay if you’re gonna be sappy and gross you can hand them back.” Axel deadpans and Jesse laughs, pulling the pieces away. He tucks them away in a pocket of his own and moves to a crouch, offering Axel a hand.
“I found a mineshaft down that tunnel the skeleton came from and my gut’s saying that’s the way to go. I’ll help pull ya pack up.”
“You had me at ‘mineshaft’!” Axel beams and clasps his hand. Jesse grunts as he begins to help Axel scale back up the wall. Jack hurries over and grabs Axel by the arm and the two pull him back up in one swift move. As soon as he’s back on his feet he bounces in excitement, grabbing his and Jesse’s lanterns and handing his back. “Aw yeah! Mineshaft time! I’m so ready to punt some spiders, how about you guys?”
“Now a mineshaft,” Jack scratches his beard, a smile on his face, “That’s a classic. Ain’t a caving adventure without one!”
“Better than taking another swim with a drowned.” Jesse smirks as he rests his axe on his shoulder. He shoots a hand out, flicking it towards the tunnel. “Lead the way, big guy!”
“Ha! Now the real fun begins!” Axel grins and hurries ahead. Jack picks up his pace and rushes after him, obviously reinvigorated as well. Jesse chuckles and pushes himself into a jog just to keep up with the two, their hoots and hollers already echoing through the system.
Chapter 20: So We Back in the Mine
Summary:
Jesse, Jack, and Axel make their way through the maze-like mineshaft and finally reach the cavern they're looking for.
Notes:
Sorry this is uploaded so late tonight--I got sick p bad earlier this week and didn't have the brain power to finish some details and revise until last night and today, then my day was packed 😭😭
But!! Regardless here it is!!! In all it's 8.4k glory so I hope you guys enjoy!!!
EDIT 6/29/23: very minor punctuation changes
Chapter Text
Jesse hums in thought as he plucks at the glow lichen sticking to the wall of the mineshaft. It isn’t particularly interesting but he’s always wondered if odd things like it could be used in builds around town somehow. He crushes a little piece between his fingers, the dust glowing brightly before dimming out and falling to the ground. Lukas could probably think of at least a dozen things to use this stuff for off the top of his head.
“Chest incoming!” Axel’s voice booms and Jesse instinctively gets closer to the wall. A loud bang rings out followed by loud rattling and, on cue, a minecart with a rickety old chest inside speeds past him down the track. The track ends and the poor minecart comes off it and flips on its side before slamming into the opposite wall with a loud crash. Jesse cringes but chuckles as he walks over to check it out. He crouches down and grips the cart, heaving it back upright with a loud clang that echoes through the tunnels. “Anything good??” Axel calls and Jesse hums.
“Gimme a sec!” He shouts back and grips the chest’s lid. It’s rusted and he holds his breath a little as he forces it open, the hinges squealing as it does. He lets go and the lid lets out a loud snap and drops to the ground. Jesse just blinks and he hears Axel’s laugh as he walks up. Jesse stands straight with his hands on his hips and looks up at him with a lopsided grin, “Well.”
“Yeah I’d say that checks out. Now let’s see…” Axel grunts as he leans down and starts rummaging through the chest.
“My bets are on… Nothing! At least if the other chests have been anything to go by.”
“Aw c’mon! Don’t crush my dreams so soon. One of these has’ta be untouched! It’s too weird otherwise.”
“Not necessarily. My dad might’ve hit them all when he was first exploring. Probably stashed it all somewhere else if he didn’t have it on him.” Jesse hums and crosses his arms, looking around them at the different and now freshly lit tunnels surrounding them. It was nice being surrounded by such warm light again—and lucky that there were old lanterns still hanging around able to be lit.
“Killin’ the vibe, Jess.” Axel sighs. Jesse chuckles, giving him a hearty slap on the back.
“I’m sure you’ll get your chance, big guy. Still got a whole stronghold down here somewhere!” Jesse grins and shifts his stance, hands on his hips. He fiddles with his lantern hanging on his belt as he thinks, the metal making soft clinking noises as he does. “If I remember right, 13 was recorded from a real large cavern that had water pooling in it. That’s where we heard whatever it was drop. Might be a lush cave or something considering both the water and the dried clay my dad tracked—haven’t run into any yet, so…” He sucks in a breath and shrugs, forcing a grin only to be met with Axel staring at him oddly. Jesse frowns. “What?”
Axel hesitates, breath hitching and glancing away as he rubs the back of his neck. Jesse crosses his arms again and his eyes narrow. He raises his voice slightly, “What?”
Axel holds up a hand and Jesse eases up, “Easy, man, easy… I uh…” He tosses what little crap he found back in the broken chest and stands, fully facing Jesse. “You’re really gonna try getting into that stronghold, aren’tcha?”
Jesse stares up at him, gaze unwavering.
“... Heh. Guess I shouldn’t have to ask, huh?” Axel says as he dusts his hands off, his tone somewhat… Disappointed? Whatever it is, it makes Jesse falter and drop his gaze. He hears his friend sigh and feels a hand on his shoulder next, “Hey man, I’m with ya no matter what, and you know the thought of not exploring that thing kills me! But… I’unno… Maybe we should take a pointer from your uncle this time. Look, I get it, but you’re bein’ a little more brash than usual. Might be better not to test our luck, yeah? ‘Sides, we’re down here for that little book, right? Doubt it dropped inside that place.”
“... We’ll see.” Jesse forces out a response, glancing off and down one of the other tunnels. Axel pauses, considering his words, then nods, dropping his hand and putting both in his pockets.
“Sure. You’re the boss, Jess.”
“... I appreciate the concern, Axel. I’ll… try to be safe.” Jesse nods and Axel grins.
“ Try’ being the keyword, huh?”
Jesse huffs, shaking his head, “Isn’t it always?” He smiles and moves over to the minecart, peeking into the chest to see what was in there. Some bones and cobwebs. Sounds about right.
“There you two are!” Jack’s voice rings out and both men look his way. The older man runs over, seemingly on edge. “God I hate those little shitheads!”
“Ooooo, spider trouble?” Axel grins and raises his fists as he says this and Jack nods with an exasperated look before he starts shoving the both of them.
“Yeah. Bad trouble. We gotta get moving. NOW!”
“Wait, what? They’re just spiders—”
“They’re aggressive as HELL Jesse! There’s probably a nest and they were right—”
“—Behind you!” Axel yells out and yanks the two men towards him, a few spiders hissing and jumping onto the wall right where Jack and Jesse were. Axel bounces back, tugging the two along until they catch on and start running with him. Axel stops a moment to turn around and slug a spider flying towards Jack’s head and Jesse quickly takes the lead. The sounds of scurrying and hissing from both regular spiders and their cave dwelling relatives quickly start to catch up to them. Eight legs on each and the ability to leap a good 5 feet ahead—not a fun creature to try and outrun.
Jesse glances back a moment to count heads only to hear hissing from in front of him. He yelps and stumbles to a stop, reaching out and clawing at Jack when he passes him and pulling him down another tunnel to the left. He hears Axel snicker from behind them and another spider squeals as it gets punted back down the tunnel. Jesse desperately tries keeping his eyes on both his father’s old torches and the spiders scuttering about.
There was nothing quite like running blindly through one of these old mineshafts—each turn looked exactly the same and at some point Jesse swears he saw the same ore vein at least 3 times. He wonders for a moment if his dad did the same thing. They sprint down another long straight stretch when something catches his eye.
Jesse skids to a stop, feeling the wind rush past as Jack and Axel fly past him. Jack glances back at him and slams his feet into the ground to try and slow himself down. He calls out to him.
“Jess! The hell’re you doin’?! Get a move on!”
Jesse doesn’t even spare him a glance before sprinting off down a different path. Jack grips his hair as he watches a few of the spiders crawl after him.
“I—! God! Okay! THAT way now! Alright!” He lets out a frustrated groan and slaps his hand on his leg and begins running after him, knocking a spider back with his sword as he goes. Axel laughs and follows, batting a few more spiders off the wall as he rushes past.
Jesse up ahead hears them and slows his pace to fall in-step. Jack bops him on the back of the head and Jesse shoots him an offended look.
“Lacking on the communication there, Jess!”
Jesse blinks then gives a sheepish grin, “Shit, my bad. Thought I said something.”
Jack barks out a laugh. “Right! Well, fill us in on what you’re thinkin’ now at least?”
“Okay, I saw this way shot off to a lush biome!” He says with a smile, batting a low-hanging chain out of his way.
Jack pauses, brows furrowing. He slowly nods, “Okaaaayyy…”
“That’s about all I’ve got for a lead down to that stronghold. So, might as well make quick work of it.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“Admittedly, I’m not, so!” He shrugs and falls back, finally unhooking his axe and batting a spider back mid-jump with the blunt side. “I dunno where we’re gonna pop out but bolt to the sides when we get to an opening! I’ll keep up the momentum with these guys and we can, I dunno, circle up and finish ‘em off once we’re in the open!”
“Roger! Axel, stay on me and follow the green! Jess, you got the rear?”
Jesse nods, twirling the axe in his hand. Jack nods in turn and they get moving. They weren’t getting any chances to light the place up as they went anymore through their rush, and the darkness certainly wasn’t making this run any easier. Jesse curses under his breath each time he stumbles over a rotting minecart track and ahead of him he hears Axel do the same thing each time he knocks an old lantern to the floor. But for every trestle he tripped over, he saw two more glowing sets of eyes in the dark trying to get the jump on them.
Jesse gasps and grips both ends of his axe in a block as a large spider lunges at him from the side. He stumbles back into the wall and watches it struggle to bite at him over his axe. Out of the corner of his eye he notes another set of eyes and shoves his whole body towards it in a rush, the spider getting flung into the other one. They both slide back across the stone floor, stuck entangled in each other and Jesse takes the chance to swiftly bring his axe down on both of them. He rips the blade out and hurries off after the others again, trying to watch his feet for any lurking cave spiders—a system full of poison is the last thing he needs right now.
Thanks to the darkness though, their rush through the mineshaft actually gets easier, as the moment they turn the next corner they can see some light getting carried through the tunnels. Jesse’s heart soars at the warmth of it. Jack whoops in delight.
“Bet those are glow berries! Those babies usually hang down from high ceilings or ravine edges! Ready to get out of this cramped hellhole?”
“More than!” Axel grins, “Time to get these stupid spiders off our tail!”
“Couldn’t agree more!” Jack huffs and takes them around another bend to the left. Down the tunnel there’s finally an opening from the mineshaft illuminated in warm light. It seems there’s a wooden hangover into the cavern supported by chains, but it’s hard to see just how deep it goes. He grins back at the two, “There’s our opening! But we aren’t exactly gonna be on ground level so the fighting space won’t be much better. Got any ideas Jess?”
Jesse slows his pace a little as he thinks, eyeing their target and the current shaft they’re in. Trying to stop, he actually slips and slides forward a bit. He throws his arms out to keep his balance and actually looks down. Beneath him the floor is starting to become plush and green—moss. Definitely slick too. He looks ahead and notes how much thicker it gets as they approach the exit. He squints a little as he tries to see what the overhang ahead looks like. He has an idea but it’s missing just one…
He looks above them and bites his lip. Chains. Lots of them. If he’s lucky, this mineshaft system at one point continued straight ahead into the cavern past the wooden portion they see. If that’s the case…
Jesse jumps up and grabs one of the taut chains, yanking it down with him. There’s a wave of loud clangs and creaking and dust flies into his face as he moves. Regardless he wraps the chains around his hands a few times and keeps an eye straight ahead as he yanks the chains back towards him. All the others strung up rattle and shake in turn, a few inching different ways. Axel frowns a little, shooting Jesse a slightly concerned look as he keeps an eye on the supports. Jesse keeps his focus and yanks just a little more and—
—There! A glint in the light!
This could work.
Jesse drops the chains and grins. He quickly unhooks the lantern at his side and begins unscrewing the cap of the oil base. As he does he nods to Jack and Axel.
“Slow down and press yourselves against the cave wall once you’re outta the tunnel—preferably off of any of this moss too! I’m gonna aggro these guys on me. I’ve got an idea!”
Jack hesitates, flicking between watching Jesse check the amount of oil left in his lamp and the encroaching mob of spiders. Jesse locks eyes with him, gaze intense. He just flicks his head towards the exit and eventually Jack relents.
“... Okay. But be careful. We’ll be ready to jump into action.”
“Sounds like a plan!” With that Jesse turns back to the tunnel. Cap off, he starts moving towards the spiders. He reaches the edge of where the moss begins and ducks down—two cave spiders launching over his head as he does—and starts pouring some oil onto the moss and The spiders hiss and recoil. Jesse smirks. Don’t like oil much, huh?
Satisfied, and frankly getting a little nervous at the growing group of mobs, he stands up and starts heading towards the exit. He pulls his lantern up and checks the little oil that’s left and smiles, relief washing through him—just enough. He ties the cap shut, grabs his lighter from his pocket, and twirls around to jog backwards. The spiders have well moved into the moss territory now and that’s all he needs. In one quick motion he relights the flame, grabs the lantern by the base—apologizes to the lantern in his mind—then slams it down into the lush groundcover.
Within seconds the rest of the oil spills out, lights, and the new fire is roaring to life. The flames flicker and pop and bounce further down and back along the flammable moss, catching a good chunk of the spiders in its crossfire. The flames rush down into the group along the spotty oil path Jesse laid and bursts far back into the tunnel where he poured at the start. The tunnel is filled with echoes of the spiders’ screeches and the raging flames. They scatter and panic, many starting to cling to the walls and ceiling, rushing back into the safety of the tunnels, or rushing straight at Jesse—only to be met with his glimmering axe.
Regardless of their position though, those that stay in the tunnel have all focused on one target. The target in question grins at the feeling of dozens of angry eyes trained on him. Just what he was hoping for.
“AH—Shit!” Jesse hisses and yanks his arm back, searing pain shooting up it and startling him back into the present. Right. The flames move both ways. And he’s still standing on some moss. His stomach drops a little but he steels himself and quickly turns on heel. Time for the second part of the plan. He hastily rehooks his axe on his waist and whistles to make sure the spiders’ attention is on him. He begins his final sprint to the finish line with the spiders right on his heels. He kicks up droplets of water from the moss as he runs, still picking up speed. As he gets closer the overlook ahead becomes clearer. It’s part of the mineshaft and used to continue straight across the cavern, but the catwalk gave out across the middle. And the “middle” is wide. The only other part he can see intact is a small blur of brown in the far distance.
At this rate, he’s sprinting straight towards a ledge with a drop to who knows how deep.
30 feet. He splashes through a small trail of water that runs onto the wood ahead.
25 feet. If they’re not running after him anymore, then they’re running to escape the flames.
20 feet. He breaks out of the tunnel and hits the moss-covered wood. It creaks like a banshee under the sudden weight.
15 feet. He hears Jack yell at him from behind but it wouldn’t do any good. He glances back—sure enough he’s still got the whole mob behind him.
10 feet. He can begin to see just how deep this cavern dives into the earth.
5 feet. He speeds up one last time and turns his gaze upwards, finally seeing clearly what caught in the light. He grins.
1 foot.
He leaps, his feet almost slipping from the moss as he does.
“GOT IT!” Jesse practically screams as he clamps his hands down on the loose chain. The momentum flings him outwards across the expanse of the cavern and his ears are filled with the metallic rattling of the chains. He jerks his gaze back and watches the spiders either launch off the edge after him—missing completely—or failing to catch their grip on the slick moss and wood before sliding off the edge. The flames follow up behind them, losing momentum as it hits the water and the moss itself is quickly burnt up. He chances a look down and watches them tumble down into the darkness. He feels a pang of sympathy in his chest as they do.
He tightens his grip on the chain, just letting himself swing as he looks around.
The cavern itself is extremely large and a bit oval shaped and below him he can see where the stone transforms into deepslate. Glowberries dot the ceiling and hang down on brilliant green vines from every direction, wrapping the place in an almost magical light. Looking up into the darkness above, it’s almost like staring up at the stars. Jesse can’t help but smile a little at the sight as he catches his breath. In front of him he sees—well actually he hears the sound of it first—a good sized waterfall pouring down from the darkness. Following its trail down he can pick out a fair sized little lake brimmed with moss, flowers, and dripleaves. His heart catches in his throat at the idea of exploring what’s in that water. His dad’s journal could be right there. But, no, he has to keep his expectations realistic. Looking back across on his eye level he can see the other side of the mineshaft and what looks like a path that moves along the wall and slopes upward to his left before disappearing back into another tunnel. He huffs out a ‘huh’. He sucks in a breath as he readies himself to swing back over to Axel and Jack.
But then something catches his eye. He freezes.
Below him on his left—originally right—blending into the deepslate below is a structure. Its walls are of a similar texture to the deepslate, but far smoother, and a bit more mossy—not to mention more uniform. His grip slips and he gasps as the realization hits him, his blood running cold.
That’s their stronghold.
He’s practically mesmerized by it, just unable to rip his gaze away. He’d never seen a natural stronghold. Soren’s was so built upon it hardly resembled one anymore, and they were fairly rare still so finding them wasn’t exactly easy. He, Axel, Olivia, and Petra weren’t exactly looking for a reason to go back to the End before the excursion to Sky City, so they never felt the need to seek any out. Seeing one in this state is… Different. He can’t place his finger on the emotions it makes him feel, but he’s certain at least that his experience with his father and the newfound knowledge from his uncle aren’t making this any easier.
He’s ripped out of his stupor with the sound of creaking. Metallic creaking. From straight above him. The chain he’s gripping to for dear life shudders and he feels his heart leap into his throat. His eyes widen and he can’t manage more than a gasp as the taut chain goes slack.
He looks around in a panic for anything he could leap to to get out of this free fall, but he’s dead center in the cavern now. There’s no easy ledge to grab, he’s dropping down past the point of other chains, he can’t scan the ground quick enough for the off chance of there being water deep enough to land in, what the hell is he going to—
“AH—!” He blurts out a curt yell, suddenly yanked out of his freefall by the chain becoming taut once again. He falls a little more, the chain slipping through his hands. He claws into the links in desperation, finally managing to catch himself. His heart bangs loudly in his ears, drowning out any other noise. He grips to the metal tighter than he thought he could, now thoroughly dangling over the cavern with his arms above his head. He sways in the air, rather aimlessly contorting his body as he tries to gather his wits. Too close. Too damn close.
“Jesse!” He hears some voices shout from above him, forcing him fully back into the moment. That was… Jack, definitely. Axel for sure. Did he hear a third voice?
“I— I-I’m okay!” He yells up, craning his neck to look upwards and he spots Jack crouched over in fear along with— “Bruce?!”
The man in question lets out a relieved laugh as he nods.
“How about we ask questions once we get you out of there, ‘kay?”
“O-Okay! Where’s—”
“Hanging onto that chain you’re on, but I don’t know how long the old pulley up top will last so you gotta climb fast, kid!” Bruce glances between Jesse and some point above them anxiously before crouching down and reaching out a hand. “We got you!”
Jesse sucks in a breath and nods, focusing in on the task at hand. He bites his lip, straightens himself out, and begins pulling himself upwards. One hand over the other. Left. Right. Left. Right.
“Atta boy… There you go…” He hears Jack trying to soothe him despite the shake in his voice.
Finally he gets to a point where he can grip the chain with his feet too and god having the faintest bit of stability feels great. He stops a moment to breathe and checks where he’s at. Bruce and Jack lean over the edge with their hands outstretched. They’re still a bit far though… Jumping would be risky.
“Uh, Jess?” He hears Axel’s voice in the distance. “I don’t mean to rush ya, but I dunno how long this old thing is gonna hold.”
“G-Got it!” He yells, probably a little louder than he should considering how Jack and Bruce grimace. He huffs and grits his teeth, starting to move a bit more aggressively now. The chain shakes a little more at it, but the distance he’s making is worth it. Soon he’s at hand level, then eye, then a little above—he’s not taking the chance of leaping too low. Now to close the distance.
He looks above to where the pulley is, nervousness welling up. One shot at this probably. Here goes nothing. He slips his boots off of the chain and begins swinging himself towards the ledge. Jack quickly turns around and stabs his sword into the wood with his free hand for leverage. Bruce lights up and quickly does the same with his scythe. Jesse nods to them.
He kicks hard, gaining the momentum he needs. One swing… Two swings—getting closer. Third time’s the charm. He steels himself as he swings way back, the pulley loudly rattling up top. The wind pushes his hair back as he swings back towards them and flings himself off the chain. His stomach drops as he flies towards the wooden ledge in what feels almost like slow motion. But it speeds up again as he gets close and realizes he’s just a bit short of the ledge. But that’s no problem.
“GOTCHA!” Jack yells as the two of them snatch him out of his free fall. Jesse gasps, digging his nails into their arms as they cling onto him. Bruce grins down at him.
“Haha! Told ya we got ya! Fantastic job, kid!”
Jesse smiles up at him, laughing nervously as the stress melts away. They work on pulling him up, struggling just a little with the slick wood but managing regardless. With one final yank, Jesse’s pulled back onto steady ground and quickly escorted away from the edge. The two older men share giving him pats on the back and Axel finally lets go of the chain. He had been standing close to the tunnel entrance, one foot pressed against a boulder to keep him from slipping. Axel hurries over and before Jesse can think he’s scooped up into a hug. Jesse blinks a few times and goes to return it before Axel bounces off of him and is shaking him by the shoulders.
“Holy crap dude!!! That was insane! I mean—! I-It was cool, it was definitely cool, but when that chain started dropping?! Oh man, I dunno if I would’ve been able to catch it in time had Bruce not shown up. Insane timing.”
Jesse blinks then turns to Bruce who’s leaning on his scythe for support. Jesse raises a brow and Bruce smiles nervously. He gives a shrug.
“Just lucky, I s’pose. I was just heading down here to see how you guys were doing and see if you found the stronghold yet.” He bobs his head a little, “Partially because Hiro’s damn paranoid. Mainly because I wanted to see if there were any other clues to be found further down. Soren, Hiro, and I sorta hit a brick wall after a certain point.”
“We haven’t been down here that long, have we?”
“A few hours already, give or take. It had gotten fully dark by the time we got through the obsidian, so that was about 10, let’s see…” He frowns and fiddles with his pocketwatch, laughing a little as he checks. He quickly shuts it and stuffs it again then grins, “And it’s half past one now! The night’s still young it seems!” He pauses, “But… Maybe we should dial back on the whole ‘death-defying stunts’ thing, yeah?” He chuckles and Jesse smiles sheepishly.
“Well, ‘death-defying’ wasn’t exactly my intention.”
“Is it ever?” Axel butts in and Jesse pouts, looking away. Bruce laughs and lightly nudges him.
“Spoken just like your father!”
Jesse lights up, rubbing his arm a little bashfully. Bruce just smiles. He shakes a finger over at Jack.
“You guys are damn lucky you left a clear trail down! Especially making a mess of those mines! I dunno if I’d’ve made it on time otherwise!”
Jack lets out a curt laugh, “What? You can track all sorts of mobs—flying included—but have problems chasing after a few guys?”
“Heh! Mobs’re easy! Men? Eugh.” Bruce scrunches up his face in disgust and rolls his eyes. He shakes his head, “Never know what they’re thinkin’! Way less predictable and way less reliable!”
“Ohhh, I see!” Jack hums, “With that attitude I’m surprised you’re not a hermit tucked away in the mountains.”
“Well, unlike Soren I tend to enjoy getting a steady paycheck and indulging in nice things now and then.” He grins and Jack shrugs with a nod. It’s around then that Jesse begins tuning the conversation out and moving back towards the wall of the cavern to look for the way down. Axel follows him, grinning a little at the dwindling flames still burning on oil or now charred moss. He stamps some on the wood out as Jesse reaches the edge of the wooden overlook, resting a hand on the wall. This side doesn’t have the same nice incline down that the opposite end has. He frowns as he crouches down, trying to peek and see if there were any ladders or old stepping stones to get down by.
“Don’t go tumbling off the edge so soon, dude. Not when I just busted my ass to get you back up here.” Axel jokes from behind him and Jesse can hear the smirk in his voice. He looks back at him with a sheepish smile and scoots back a peg.
“Not the plan, don’t worry. I’m just tryna figure out how to get down from here…” He stands straight again and rubs his cheek in thought. Axel hums. Jesse turns to Axel and opens his mouth to say something before seemingly getting embarrassed and hesitating. Axel raises a brow. Jesse clasps his hands in front of him and sways on his feet as he speaks, “Ummm… Can I borrow your lantern? Since mine’s, uh…” His eyes flick back to the tunnel and he grins nervously. Axel raises both brows, mouth twitching into a smile—Jesse quickly follows up, “I won’t break yours! Promise!”
“Heh! You’re probably just gonna nab it off my belt if I don’t, right?”
“Hey! Don’t project!” Jesse sticks out a lip with a huff and puts his hands on his hips, gaining a laugh from Axel.
“Aw, you’re no fun.” He grins as he unhooks the lantern and gives it a once-over before passing it to him. Jesse smiles and nods in thanks, quickly turning back around and using the extra light to glance down. There’s a drop—a good 6 or 7 feet—but then a fairly nice path down, albeit a gravelly one. Jesse hums and stands back up. “I take it that it's a straight drop down on the other side?”
“Yeah. There’s a little lip but it’s mainly just, like, a cliff edge. Didn’t take much more than a peek to see that.”
“Oh well, at least we got somethin’.” Jesse shrugs. Without another word Jesse crouches down, braces one hand against the wooden overlook, then pushes off and hops down. He hits the ground with a quiet thud then straightens out. Above him he hears Axel yell something to Jack and Bruce and their reply before he hears a louder thud and ‘oof!’ from behind him. He turns back to Axel with a smile as his friend dusts himself off. Jesse turns again and begins eyeing the pathway down only to be stopped by a sharp whistle. Both turn back and look up to Jack.
“Sorry for the stop, but care to regroup before diving headfirst into the hellhole that is this cavern?” He shrugs, “I know you’ve got a one-track mind, Jess, but just… Slow down a moment, would ya? We oughta be careful down here, especially if a few of those spiders survived or if there are any other things lur— Bruce what the hell are you d—?”
He’s cut off with a resounding thump as Bruce hops down to the same level Jesse and Axel are on. He grins and waves up to him.
“Relax! We got plenty of skill between the four of us to deal with it. Plus…” He excitedly slips past Axel and bounces ahead of Jesse, skidding down a bit of gravel. He leans forward and squints then points ahead, “If my eyes aren’t lyin’, that’s our stronghold! I’m betting you got a great eyeful of it while danglin’ from that chain, right kid?” He looks back to Jesse who nods. Axel squints, trying to pick it out against the deepslate. Jesse steps closer to him and points to the places the stone changes and the ways the structure juts out differently. Jack lets out a large sigh.
“Last I checked, we weren’t here to check out a stronghold.”
“Oh come on, you can’t be serious.” Bruce groans and rests his hands on his hips. Jesse rubs the back of his neck and Axel crosses his arms with a sigh.
“I don’t think any of us are happy about it, but that was the deal. ‘Sides, I don’t exactly wanna be on Herobrine’s shit-list. No offense, Jess.” He holds up a hand and Jesse just shrugs. Bruce pouts.
“God he’s such a buzzkill… Oh well, guess it can’t be helped then. Another day!” He flicks his hand and dramatically turns on heel and continues down the gravel path.
“Bruce.” Jack raises his voice a little, an edge to it. Bruce looks back nonchalantly. Jack continues, “No bullshit.”
“I already said fine.” Bruce bites back quickly, “That said, I'm still here to do my job, so kindly keep the attitude out of it. I haven’t forgotten why we’re down here. Do not treat me like a fool.”
The two men stare at each other for a long time, both too stubborn for their own goods. Jesse and Axel stand there with a renewed tension in their shoulders, unconsciously taking some steps back and out of their crossfire. Jack raising his voice is one thing, he’s a loud guy by nature and always had a fiery side Jesse is well-acquainted with. But Bruce’s ire is new, and it’s cold. Jesse steps forward and cuts between the two, the tension dissipating almost immediately as he does. Both men sort of fizzle out as he looks between them, one hand held up cautiously and gently gesturing to settle. Jack’s the first to speak again.
“Okay…. Sorry. I know this is personal to you too.” Jack sighs in frustration and jumps down. Bruce makes a grunt and turns to him, brows furrowed and obviously a bit conflicted. Jack sighs, “I’m not used to bein’ around ya for serious shit, especially not shit that’s hitting you too. I’ll work on it.” Jack opens his mouth to say something else and Bruce holds up a hand.
“Relax, don’t get yourself wound up.” He sighs and smiles a little, though forced, “Thanks. Shall we move on?”
“Ugh, gladly.” Jack huffs and gets a chuckle out of Bruce for it. Jack quickly moves through the group and takes the lead, gesturing for the others to follow him as he unsheathes his sword. Bruce looks back to the other two and they all share some relieved smiles as Bruce takes up the rear with his scythe. Jack grunts from up ahead and calls back, “Careful comin’ down! This gravel’s definitely got some loose spots.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve had enough falls for the day.” Jesse responds and the tired look Jack shoots him is near priceless. Jesse giggles a little as he steps a bit closer to the wall. Behind him he hears Bruce gasp a little and glances back to check on him.
“Ah, I’m good! Sorry, I just remembered somethin’!” He grins and steps forward, clamping a hand down on Jesse’s shoulder, “Give Lukas my regards would ya? I started reading his books about your lot’s adventures and wow! Talk about engaging!”
Axel loudly groans from ahead, “Oh don’t start gushing about that dweeb’s books.”
“Excuse me?” Jesse raises a brow and Bruce lets out a curt ‘HA!’
“Oh c’mon, they’re good! I dunno how I managed to miss out on ‘em! I mean, I’ve certainly been in town long enough.”
“They get old.” As he says this he pointedly looks at Jesse who just rolls his eyes.
“He just wants to make sure the details are right Axel, he’s gotta run his drafts by us to do that.”
“Riiiight, and the 3 pages he always takes to describe the way your hair blows in the wind.” He wiggles his fingers dramatically and pushes his bangs back in emphasis.
“Haha. Very funny.” Jesse shakes his head and Axel grumbles something else to himself as Jesse looks back to Bruce with a smile, “I’ll pass that along, he’ll be flattered to hear it!”
“Of course! I mean, it’s just kinda crazy how much the scale of things have changed from when your father, uncle, and I were kids.” He shakes his head, “I mean, you went to the Nether, The End, A weird maze and lab in the Far Lands, other realms most of us didn’t even know existed like Sky City, and then whatever the hell the Games were—and all before you hit 23!” He winks and bumps him in the arm, “I know you’re not exactly an average joe but, man! Growing up, the Nether was the pinnacle of adventure—nowadays it’s used as a glorified superhighway.”
“Trust me, I… never in a million years, would’ve thought I’d be where I am now. For so long, the idea of going into a cave was the scariest thing in the world. Nothing could top it. I couldn’t fathom doing anything else. And now…” He pushes off the wall as they reach the bottom of the cavern, hopping off the path early and reaching the cavern floor before the others. He doesn’t bother cushioning his hop much and the thud echoes through the cavern. He shrugs and flings his arms out around them. “Here I am. It’s just… insane, y’know?”
“Well, you’ve grown into a fine young man. Your old man would be…” Bruce trails off, scrunching up his face as he walks off the path with the others. “God, I can’t even get words together, y’know? Proud, definitely. But blown away, for sure.”
“Proud, huh?” Jesse mumbles, smiling a little as something in his chest flutters then seizes. He sighs and swallows down the sudden lump in his throat as he’s reminded why exactly he’s down here. “Thanks. Let’s… Start looking around. Do what you gotta.”
Bruce nods and pulls his lantern from his waist. “I won’t go in, but I’m gonna look around that stronghold entrance for signs of a scuffle. Scratches, bits of fabric, the like. Anything that might be of interest.”
“Be safe.” Jesse nods back and with that turns to get a look at the cavern from the ground. Looking up, the overlook they were just on looks fairly tiny and it’s clear to see how the mineshaft used to hang over the cavern. Speaking of, dragging his gaze back down it doesn’t take long to spy where the missing midsection of it landed. The floor of the cavern has a few drop downs, almost making a natural amphitheater with the waterfall he saw earlier pouring into the lowest level. The old wood is partially sticking out of the water and split down the middle with the second half resting just on the shoreline. He begins walking towards it for a better look and he quickly gets enveloped in the sound of the water pouring down from above. Both parts of the wood have well been taken over by moss and mushrooms by this point and lend to a surprisingly serene scene. A good portion of this cavern is covered in some sort of plant-life, be it drip leaves, moss, glow lichen, azalea bushes, or bright pink spore blossoms hanging from above.
“This place is amazing! Y’know I heard Axolotls like these caves! Maybe we’ll get lucky and spot one or two in the water!”
“Heh, that’d be sweet.”
“Right! I was thinkin’ they could be a good mascot for Boomtown.” Axel mumbles and Jesse blinks, attention now fully grabbed.
“Wh—...” He shakes his head, “Okay. Reasoning?”
“Well they’re tough little guys! They regrow limbs! They’re crazy resilient! Just like the people of Boomtown!” He grins, elbowing Jesse a little, “Better than choosing, like, I dunno, cockroaches or somethin’...”
Jesse barks out a laugh and Axel moves ahead of him to check out the water. Looking back at the stronghold, it frankly fits in perfectly. The light is surprisingly pleasant thanks to the glowberries and lichen, giving the whole place a warm glow. It’s practically a mini-paradise down here.
Jesse frowns a little, something in his chest tightening at the thought. He’d always imagined this place as a dark and evil wasteland, a place where no light touched with no safety or security, but that was just… Wrong.
He stumbles a little as his foot gets caught on something. He tugs a little harder and looks down, noting the soles of his boots now thoroughly coated in wet clay. His eyes widen a little and he looks around quickly as he connects the dots. He looks over to the crumbled entrance to the Stronghold. If he were his father and he came barrelling out of there… Where would he turn? He glances back at the thin and gravelly path they made their way down on and frowns. No. Too big of a slipping risk. Plus, the clay didn’t reach out that far—he wouldn’t have stepped in it if he just darted that way. He shifts focus to the other side of the stronghold, spotting the start of that path up to the other mineshaft entrance as Jack begins climbing it. It was a neatly carved path, passing right behind the small waterfall and wrapping up and around the wall to where it disappeared into the mineshaft again. That exit was higher than the one they came in through too, there was probably a clearer path to the exit than what they found. He nods to himself, content. That was the path and one mystery probably solved.
He glances back down to the base of the incline, noting how close it is to the underground lake but something else catching his eye. There was another path right by the stronghold hidden in a small alcove up against the stronghold and the corner of the cavern. Jesse squints, humming to himself in interest. He begins meandering towards it for a better look. Pushing around the corner of the alcove, he’s greeted by a freezing wind that chills him to the bone. But worse than that is the eerie sight he’s met with. It’s another cave, but it’s tight and it dives deep straight into sheer inky blackness. Jesse frowns, crouching down at the edge of the drop and squinting. But, no matter his efforts or how much he strains himself he just can’t break through that darkness. Not from here.
He looks directly below him and spots a skinny ledge, but it’d certainly hold him. He swings his legs over the ledge, accidentally kicking a few rocks down as he does. They rattle down the side then bounce from stone to stone down into the darkness. But then there’s a noise. A new noise. Something Jesse hasn’t heard before. It’s… an odd kind of blip. Then it echoes. And there’s a chattering. Jesse freezes, holding his breath and training both his eyes and ears towards the darkness for something, anything.
… There’s nothing else once the echoes drown out. But they go deep. There’s something down there. Something new—something that sparks Jesse’s curiosity in the worst way. He has to figure out what it is. He pushes off the edge, ready to drop down.
“Kid!” A harsh whisper fills his ears and he’s suddenly yanked back before he can drop even an inch. A pair of strong arms drag him back and to his feet. “We gotta go, come on, come on! Quiet though!”
He looks over his shoulder with wide eyes only to meet Bruce’s—and he’s looking pale. Something in his stomach drops and he just nods, letting the older man pull him along and away from that cave. He takes one last look at that darkness that fills the cave before they exit the alcove and Bruce pushes them back into the main cavern. He pulls Jesse down to one of the lips in the ground and sits him down. Jesse opens his mouth to say something and Bruce just points at the ground before walking off and whistling to catch Jack’s attention.
“We might got a problem I need t’ take care of! Cover me!” He yells out and Jack frowns, confused. He hurries back down the incline and glances between Jesse and Bruce before Bruce catches up to him. Jesse frowns, watching Bruce say something to Jack and seeing the latter’s eyes widen—he nearly drops his sword. That steely determination of his lights up his eyes and he nods for Bruce to move ahead. He does, digging through his satchel for something as he does.
“Do you need me to help cover?” Jesse calls out and both men look back at him. Bruce shakes his head and Jack does the same.
“You stay there, Jess! We don’t know what might pop out and… Probably nothing but, just in case, you and Axel should stay back.”
“Could you at least tell me wh—”
“I-In a minute Jess! Please! Just… This will only take a minute.” Jack holds up a hand, glancing behind him at Bruce and back to Jesse a few times as he does. Eventually satisfied Jesse won’t follow, he drops it and refocuses his attention on the alcove, sword gripped tightly. Bruce disappears behind the wall.
Jesse cranes his neck to see anything else but fails. He slumps in his seat, pulling a knee up to rest his chin on and beginning to incessantly tap the metal on his boot. Axel wanders over, mouth pulled into a frown. He nods towards them in question and Jesse just shrugs. Axel scratches the back of his neck then pats Jesse on the shoulder.
“Might as well check out the water with me since it’s a waiting game now.”
Jesse stares up at him. He stares for a long minute. Then eventually he sighs and nods, pushing himself to his feet.
“S’pose so. Find anything of note?”
“Well it’s obvious mobs like to wander through—tons of tracks. Umm…” He pauses to think then perks up, “Oh! Did find something!” He takes Jesse by the arm and pulls him back a bit before turning him around towards the stronghold and lightly pushing his head back to look up. He grins, “Okay, now what do you see.”
“... Glowberry vines?”
“Behind the vines!” He shifts a little then crouches to be at Jesse’s level and points up to where he’s looking. “You see that shimmer up there?”
Jesse squints, but eventually spots something metallic catching in the light under the vegetation. It’s smooth. He nods.
“My bet is that’s copper or gold. And if you look at the shape…” Axel mumbles, outlining it with a finger. Jesse blinks and takes a step back.
“Are those… bells?”
“Massive ones! Like you’d see in some kinda church or somethin’. And they line that whole wall up there! There’s probably some chimes and shit mixed in too if they were that dedicated.” Axel swings into Jesse’s view with a grin. “I bet those are the creepy ass instruments we heard in that disk! They musta been hit or somethin’ in the commotion of it all!”
Realization dawns across Jesse and he slowly breaks into a wide smile.
“Axel that’s brilliant! Y-You might be right!”
“Hell yeah I am!” He pumps his fists and Jesse laughs, now unable to tear his eyes from the instruments. He covers his mouth with a hand and just shakes his head.
“I wonder what they were apart of…” He mumbles, getting a quizzical look from Axel. He nudges him. “Y’know, when this place was at its prime.”
“Huh…” Axel shrugs, “Ask Soren, he probably knows. I’m not even gonna pretend I’ve got an answer.” He mumbles as he walks off towards the water and Jesse laughs. He turns with him and walks down towards the water’s edge. That’s already a few mysteries solved within an hour! Good progress!
Reaching the water Jesse lets out a sigh as the mist from the waterfall hits him. It… really is refreshing down here. A part of him can’t exactly blame his father for losing track of time if he ever did. He gets down on his knees right at the water’s edge and reaches down to scoop some water into his hands. He splashes his face with the cold water and gets a refreshing chill down his spine. He shakes his head, blinking the water out of his eyes a moment before he goes to scoop a second handful of water. Halfway into putting his hands in the water he pauses. He pulls his hands back, shakes them out, and grips the edge of the small stony shore. He sucks in a deep breath and dunks his head into the cold water. He sits like that for a satisfying few seconds before whipping back out of the water. The air hits him colder and he grins as he shakes the loose water off. Axel laughs nearby.
“Feel better?”
“Totally reinvigorated!” Jesse grins, shoving his bangs back for the time being. He relaxes by the water, just soaking in the atmosphere for a minute and catching his breath. Small movement from the water catches his eye. He blinks then rubs at them to make sure he’s not just seeing things. He sees it again. Fish maybe? He hums and leans forward only to light up.
“Hey Axel, I think I just found your mascot.”
“What?!” Axel clambers over, leaning on a rock nearby. Jesse smiles and tentatively reaches a hand into the water again. Slowly, a little pink creature peeks out from its hidey-hole. Axel gasps and the axolotl swims over to Jesse’s hand in curiosity. It takes its time to bob around his hand and each finger, jolting back whenever he moves a bit too suddenly. Jesse chuckles and glances back to the place the creature was hiding.
He frowns.
It’s an odd little rock formation. Set up in a little triangle with pebbles built up behind it acting as a sort of wall and covered in moss for the most part. It’s cute, but something doesn’t sit right with it. The two rocks making up the little tent-like formation are cut sharp, practically rectangular.
“What’s wrong?”
“Its’ little house…” Jesse mumbles and reaches down into the shallow water. Axel gasps, lightly smacking him on the arm.
“Dude! Don’t just wreck his place like—”
Jesse pulls the “rock” out of the water and it immediately snaps shut under the weight of its waterlogged state. Jesse nearly drops it back into the water and his heart leaps into his throat.
It was a book.
Chapter 21: What Lies in Strongholds?
Summary:
Jesse gets a closer at the book he found and learns about what kinds of creatures in the deepest recesses of the earth as well as what may be lurking within his father's stronghold.
Notes:
Sorry for the upload being a few days late!!! This last week was unexpectedly hectic and stressful for my family and I ended up writing more than I expected without much chance to revise until this weekend. I wanted to end this cave exploration with this chapter but the final bits had to be pushed to the next chapter just because I don't want this chapter's events being completely overshadowed by the next scene. But luckily I've got a solid jump start on the next bit now! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Text
Jesse clings to the book desperately, eyes wide and heart in his throat. He shoves it to his chest and scoots back a bit from the water’s edge. No way. No goddamn way. He can’t get his hopes up like this. He has to settle down, it could be anything—there are billions of books in the world. He tries forcing his breathing to slow down, but just can’t stop his heart from banging loudly in his ears.
He swallows and holds the book out in front of him, actually taking a chance to look it over. Waterlogged is certainly a prime descriptor, his heart sinks a little just looking over it. If this is his dad’s old journal—and it really did fall as he tried to escape—then it’s spent a long time in that water. It reeks of mold and cave water. Despite the coats of mold and moss, it’s certainly leatherbound, and seems to still have most of its pages. He runs his fingers over the midsection, trying to find a strap buried beneath the growth—all his dad’s journals were built the same. His fingers catch on an odd bump on the back. He flips it over and sucks in a breath as he digs into the moss and pulls it away from the old leather. Underneath, a worn down old strap and clasp are bundled up and bent out of shape.
His heart seizes in his chest as he just stares at it. He takes the little clasp between his fingers and just rubs the old leather. He bites his lip and braces the back of the book in one hand while he attempts to peel open the cover with the other. There’s some tearing that makes him grimace, but from what he can see it’s just the moss, and soon the book’s open. Immediately his eyes dart to the backside of it for any hint of ownership.
His chest seizes and his hands go cold.
“I can’t believe it…” He mumbles, barely audible. Axel’s brows furrow as he leans closer to hear. Jesse shakes his head slowly, “This is it. This is actually it…!” He laughs a little and finally looks up to meet Axel’s eyes, his own incredibly light and watery. “This was my dad’s… I actually have his last journal, it’s actually in my hands! I-I never thought I’d see this one again…”
“How can you tell?”
“W-Well… Admittedly the ink is kind of messed up from the water. There’s writing in the top left where my dad usually put it, and it could be my dad’s but, yknow, can’t easily confirm it with just this. But thankfully, uh…” He laughs again, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. He carefully holds the open book out to Axel, and points to an odd set of blue blotches in the middle of the cover, “The day my dad set this journal up he left it open on his desk while he went to work on some stuff outside. I had gotten up on his desk to grab his blue inkwell and accidentally spilled some of it as I was getting down. That’s where these blue blotches are from. I-I know it’s the one I made because of this little part here.” He points to a smaller blotch from the spill.
“It… Kinda looks like a blurry cat?”
“Yeah! When the ink spilled and splattered all over this one part kinda looked like a cat head. I knew my dad was already gonna be mad I spilled on it so I figured making it into a full cat head couldn’t make things worse. So I just drew in the ears and whiskers. Though I guess the whiskers have kinda bled too much to see…”
“Oh my god!” Axel laughs, gripping the cover to get a better look as Jesse grins. “That’s priceless, dude! Man, I can’t believe this was still down here!”
“You can’t?!” Jesse laughs and Axel playfully shoves him.
“Aw y’know what I mean! But man… That’s just so crazy… How’s it feel?”
“I… I really can’t put it into words. It doesn’t feel real.” Jesse shakes his head and gently tugs the book back from Axel and just runs over the soaked cover page with his fingers. He smirks at Axel, “I cannot believe you figured it was a book that fell from that one little clip. That’s such bullshit.”
“Hey! I know treasure when I hear it, man! A true treasure hunter’s gotta have the ears for it just as much as the eyes! Whole package!” He grins and sweeps an arm out in front of them. Jesse snorts and rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, well, whatever you wanna call it,” He looks Axel in the eyes and smiles softly, “Thank you, Axel. If you hadn’t been so… so insistent, I don’t know if I would’ve gotten the courage to really have come down here. I mean, I know I’ve been curious regardless but…” He trails off, choking on his words and the slew of emotions swarming inside him. Would he have really been able to come down here on his own? Or without the potential for getting his hands on this? He sighs, hugging the journal close to his heart, “This is all I really need. I… I can live with just having this and knowing it was an Enderman.”
“Geez man…” Axel rubs his neck, flustered. He clears his throat then rubs Jesse’s back. “Glad I could help! But, we don’t gotta stop here. If we can figure out more we oughta, don’t ya think? You deserve closure, not just settling, y’know?”
Jesse stares up at him, eyebrows furrowed and a bit hard to read. Eventually he nods, forcing a small smile.
“Thank you, Axel. I just…” He shakes his head a little, “I feel like I’ve already asked so much of so many people. I know that’s silly and that you guys are here for a reason, but… I’ve just kept this stuff to myself for so long I can’t help but think that this is my problem to solve. And to solve on my own.”
“I hear ya, Jess…”
“T-Thanks… Really. I know I’m kind of a lot to handle right now, being so absentminded and stubborn…” He rubs a cheek sheepishly and Axel chuckles, shaking his head.
“Eh, you’ve put up with me since we were teens. I think you’ve earned getting to be the difficult one for a bit. But really, we get it man, it’s understandable.” Axel slaps him on the back and Jesse smiles.
“You guys are awesome.”
“You know it!” Axel opens his mouth to continue when an odd blaring noise echoes in the distance. Both men look back to the alcove Bruce and Jack dipped into. The sound rings in the air for a long drawn out note, until eventually subsiding and quieting back down to silence. They look at each other in confusion.
‘What was that?’ Jesse mouths and Axel shrugs. He makes a motion for blowing into some kind of horn then shrugs again somewhat half-heartedly. That’s his best guess. Jesse frowns and they sit there in silence and a newfound tension as they wait for some kind of explanation or follow-up… but none comes.
Anxious, Axel points to the journal and tries changing the subject. Though, he speaks just above a whisper, “So… Now what? I mean obviously we wanna read through that but… It seems pretty messed up right now.”
Jesse frowns and glances down at the journal in his hands with a nod.
“It definitely needs some real TLC and repair… But as long as we’re gentle with it I think it could still be salvageable. People restore old documents, books, maps and stuff all the time, right? Just a matter of finding someone who knows how to.” Jesse hums in thought and Axel nudges him. He looks up and Axel nods back towards the alcove.
“One of them might. They both deal with finding loot. Jack displays it and Bruce sells it—they prob’ly know some guys.”
“Good thought. I’ll have to ask when they’re done with… Whatever it is they’re doing.”
“What happened anyways?”
“I’m… I’m not quite sure. There was this cave that was really dark and some weird noises coming from it—stuff I haven’t heard before—and I was gonna check it out when Bruce just grabbed me and dragged me back all while keeping super quiet. Whatever’s down there it seriously freaked him out.”
“Yeesh…”
“Exactly.” Jesse sighs and stands up, moving to get a better look at the alcove. It’d been more than a few minutes at this point and the silence was starting to get unnerving. Axel joins him, squinting a bit as they try to catch a glimpse of either of the two men. They share an uncertain look before finally Jack backs out back into their line of sight. He moves to head back in their direction before hearing something and hurrying back in and reaching for something. Seconds later they can see him pull Bruce up and out. Bruce keeps his eyes trained behind him while Jack pulls him back into the open. Eventually he turns forward again when the walls obscure his view of that cave.
His eyes still shine with some concern. Jack stops around the stronghold and keeps watch on the path as Bruce just hurries over to Jesse and Axel. Jesse opens his mouth to question him but can’t get a word out before Bruce just shakes his head and grabs them both by the arm. He pulls them along to the opposite end of the cavern, and gives the signal for Jack to join them.
“What’s going on?” Jesse keeps his voice low but just receives a brief glance and silent hand from Bruce as he waits for Jack to make his way over. Jesse gawks a little but begrudgingly complies, crossing his arms. He hears Axel huff beside him. Whether it’s out of amusement or irritation he couldn’t say.
“I don’t think we’re bein’ followed. It went pretty silent by the time you grabbed Jess and Axel.” Jack heaves out a sigh of relief and a wave of tension rushes out of Bruce. He holds and hand over his own heart and nods a little.
“Good. Good… That’s the last thing we need. But we should still be ca—”
“Yeah, sorry, excuse me, but what the hell’s going on?” Jesse cuts in abruptly, finally catching both men’s attention. Bruce seems to hesitate a little and shares an uncertain glance with Jack. Jesse rolls his eyes, “Stop. I’m not a child.”
“R-Right! I’m aware Jesse,” Bruce stumbles over his words, somewhat flustered. He clasps his hands, “I just don’t want to put you in any more alarm because this could… Well it has the potential to complicate things. I’m not saying for certain that’s what happened but we definitely need to look into a few more things…”
“What does? Please, just— Don’t beat around the bush. I’m alright, I can handle it, now spit it out.” Bruce holds his hands up and nods, acquiescing.
“Okay.” He sucks in a breath and claps his hands in front of him, eyes focused, “Jesse have you ever heard of the Deep Dark biome?”
Jesse pauses. He scrunches up his face in thought. He shifts a little uncomfortably then quietly shakes his head. Bruce nods.
“That’s understandable, they’re rather rare and incredibly dangerous. Deep Dark biomes are home to only three things—Ancient Cities, Sculk, and the Warden.”
“The Warden…?” Jesse mumbles and Bruce nods. “I’ve run into one Warden while dealing with Romeo but—”
“Wrong Warden, Jess.” Jack cuts in. Jesse looks at him in confusion. Jack shakes his head, “This Warden is a monster. And a damn mean one at that.”
“Yes. The Warden lives exclusively in the Deep Dark, or at least, that’s what we assume. Potentially any place where there’s sculk, the Warden may follow…”
“Wait, you don’t know much about it? And what’s this sculk crap you keep mentioning?”
Bruce smiles bitterly, “Even I have my limits. I’d love to know more about the Warden, but it’s far too risky. I can’t continuously put my life at that big of a risk for the research.” He sucks in a breath, “The Warden is the mob of all mobs, really. Allegedly stronger than the Ender Dragon and Wither, and has taken down adventurers in full netherite within two hits. Easily two heads taller than Axel here and a third wider. Pure muscle, or whatever its equivalent is. It’s not a mob to be toyed with.” He sighs and Jesse feels his blood run cold.
Stronger than the Dragon or a Wither and can take the best of the best down so easily? Jesse looks over to the alcove and hugs himself a little tighter. Bruce follows his gaze and nods.
“Yeah, there’s probably one down there. That’s why I stopped you.”
“T-Thank you… Sorry for not thinking.”
“Don’t apologize, it happens to the best of us.” Bruce sighs, “They’re odd creatures. They don’t have eyes so they can’t see you per se, but their sense of smell is immaculate and their hearing even more so. And that’s where the rest of the sculk comes in. Sculk is an almost moss-like growth that feeds on death. The more souls sucked into its catalysts, the faster the sculk spreads across an area. There are other types of sculk-sensors and what we like to call shriekers. The sensors light up and communicate any vibrations it senses to other sensors or shriekers nearby and to the warden itself. When a Shrieker is alerted to movement nearby, it—” He shrugs and bobs his head, “Well it starts shrieking. This in turn is what triggers the Warden to come up from out of the layers of sculk nearby. I’ve also heard that for those in the vicinity of one when triggered, they start having trouble seeing. Like some kind of blindness effect.”
“That’s horrifying…” Jesse mumbles and Bruce gives a sympathetic smile. He nods.
“It is. I’ve known several fellow researchers who’ve become sculk on the floors of those caverns trying to get even the smallest bit of additional information. One wrong step down there and you’re done for.” He sighs, a new edge of irritation in his voice as he does so. “Not to mention all of the people who go down to those places for the old loot—not taking any of our warnings seriously—and end up just…” He grimaces, shaking his head. “Those cities aren’t playgrounds. It’s not like waltzing into jungle temples or running through Nether Fortresses. You get stuck in the Deep Dark and it’s only a matter of time at that point, because regardless of how silent you are, the Warden will find you. People always forget about its sense of smell until it’s too late.”
“You keep mentioning the cities too, uhh… What are those like?” Axel mumbles and Bruce lights up and slaps his forehead.
“Oh! Right, my mistake! Ugh, there I go getting so wound up again. Ancient cities are… well, they’re ancient and they’re absolutely massive. This Stronghold? Ha! It’s a joke compared to those things! They can stretch for miles in those caverns. They’re awe-inspiring, but extremely rare. Like other aspects to it all, we don’t really have many answers as to why they’re down there or who originally built them, but they’re massive deepslate and stone structures.” He glances back to the alcove, “I don’t believe there’s a city down there, maybe some old camp ruins at best, but it’s still dangerous if not moreso. Less space means less ways to get around. Less ways to get around means your chances of getting out alive are pretty slim.”
“Wow…” Jesse breathes and Bruce chuckles with a nod.
“Overwhelming, yeah? It’s one thing to just hear it, but to see it too.” He shakes his head, “Terrifying—and I don’t scare easily!” He rubs his cheek, “There’s a ton of rumors surrounding them, so it’s hard to tell fact from fiction. I’ve heard you could disrupt or distract the Warden in a few different ways—music, throwing things, you know the drill. But the most common one I’ve heard is that goat horns are effective in screwing ‘em up.” He unslings his bag and opens the top, pulling said horn out and up for the others to see. “I tried it once in an encounter some years back and while it wasn’t perfect, it bought me a few seconds. So there might be some basis to that rumor.”
“So that’s the noise we heard?” Jesse mumbles and Axel grins, nudging him and waggling his eyebrows triumphantly—he totally called it. Jesse rolls his eyes with a smile and Bruce nods.
“Yep! They’re real loud and disorienting. If anything had heard us from down there I wanted to overload and confuse ‘em. Seems to have worked!” He smiles, “Say, if you ever wanna take a preliminary peek at one of those cities, there’s actually one pretty close to that town of yours…”
That catches Jesse’s attention. His eyes suddenly drill into Bruce, “There’s what?”
Bruce just nods, “Found it on accident with a client once. A little bit northeast of where that hellhole with the prismarine gauntlet opened up. It was just a standard mining expedition with a few guys who wanted to get at a monster dungeon. At some point during a tousle a creeper blew its top and destabilized this whole vein of the floor. One fella fell down with it all and slid right down the incline into a thick patch of sculk.” He sighs and shakes his head, “It was a mess. Those kids of course didn’t know what it was or what was going on so they were loud and panicky, so trying to get him back up before the Warden came shambling along was…” He shudders, “I barely got that kid back up in time and we just booked it at that point. It didn’t follow us far out of the biome, but god if it didn’t give me nightmares for weeks.” He rubs the back of his neck, “I went back later and put up some signs and blocked it off, but I’ve no doubts some people probably slipped past it.”
“That’s horrible… I-I’ll definitely have a talk with Radar and Lukas about the best ways we can block that off and keep people out of it. I don’t want people getting hurt or worse down there. I should honestly just block the whole section with that stupid hellhole off in general. It’s just trouble down there.” He sighs then pauses. He hesitates a moment before speaking and Bruce just raises a brow. Jesse nods, “I uh… It would be cool to at least see it once though, if you would show me it. At least along the edge of it, we obviously don’t need to explore.”
Bruce smiles and nods, “I’d be honored! Better to get a glimpse before just blocking it off anyways, stave off that unnecessary and dangerous curiosity.” He grins a little and Jesse chuckles.
“You’ve got that right.” Jesse smiles and steps back, letting out a sigh. “Thanks for the info, and for uh… Well, keeping me from getting clocked by that thing.”
“Heh! Like I said, not a problem.” Bruce bows a little.
Jack nudges Jesse, “No way you’re goin’ to check that place out without me or Petra either! If she finds out you blocked off an Ancient City without letting her see it first she’ll probably never let it go!” He laughs and Jesse does the same.
“You’ve got a point there! Sure you guys can come alo—”
“Me too, Jess!” Axel grabs his shoulders and gives him a small shake. Jesse looks up to him and Axel just grins. “Aw come on man, you know we’re all gonna wanna see that thing! Honestly you’re probably gonna have the whole squad tailing ya! That’s the sight of a lifetime!”
Jesse sighs but smiles, “That sounds about right. Think you can work with that big of a group, Bruce?” He grins and Bruce lets out a curt laugh.
“Guess I have no choice!”
The four share a brief laugh and fall into a comfortable lull in the conversation. They all spare occasional glances over to that alcove but nothing ever appears—they seem to be safe in this cavern.
“Hey, y’wanna know why they’re called ‘Wardens’?” Bruce grins and the other three look at him curiously. He continues and jerks a thumb to the stronghold, “Apparently some of the first sightings of them and sculk were in deep strongholds way back. This was before the Deep Dark biomes and ancient Cities were really known, so it was figured they were meant to guard the strongholds and end portals from unwanted intruders! Hence, they’re the Wardens of the Strongholds.” He grins and there’s a soft chorus of ‘Oooohhhh’s from the other three.
Jack’s silent for a moment before getting an argumentative look in his eyes. “Now, hold on a second, that’s—”
A loud bang and rumbling noise cuts him off. All four men immediately look upwards and go silent. There’s about 2 more smaller ones only seconds after the first, but then they seem to quiet down.
“Thunder…?” Axel mumbles, looking between the others in confusion. They nod.
“That doesn’t make sense though.” Jesse butts in, “It was clear all day and there weren’t any storm-winds. We would’ve felt them. This valley tends to funnel those winds a bit more—cleaning up after a storm was always a mess.”
“Additionally, I wouldn’t expect the sound of lightning to carry all the way down here unless it struck fairly close by. And the odds of all three of those strikes hitting like that are pretty slim.” Bruce adds.
“Then what on Earth…” Jack mumbles as he looks up. There’s a moment of silence and contemplation between them all before something suddenly dawns on Jesse. His eyes light up and he accidentally meets Bruce’s gaze—they’re both thinking the same thing.
“Hiro.” They say in unison.
Jesse’s throat goes dry and he takes a step back, looking back up to the tunnel they came in. A newfound tension rises in his chest. How easily he had forgotten that his uncle, despite it all, wasn’t exactly the same man he used to be. He is far from harmless, and those powers mixed with his already volatile emotions? That’s a recipe for disaster. He’d mentioned to Jesse during his visit to Beacontown how hard it was to control his powers, especially when he was upset like when he first woke up with them. He knew that and still, he didn’t even bat an eye when Bruce showed up down here. Leaving Hiro alone with Soren. Not only one of the most difficult people he knew, but an avid Enderman enthusiast—monsters his uncle hated with a burning passion.
Oh god, he did not want to have to tell the Order his uncle killed the man.
Jesse turns back to the others, clutching his father’s journal a bit more tightly and with the panic probably clear on his face.
“We need to get back up there. Now!”
“Agreed!” Jack hurries over and places a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. Jesse nods and turns to start heading back up.
“Woah, hang on a quick sec!” Axel calls out and the two stop to look back at him and Bruce who haven’t really moved. Axel shrugs and gestures around. “Are you really done looking around, dude? I mean, your choice but…” He gives a little shrug, somewhat deflating, “I just don’t want you running off now and regretting it later.”
That makes Jesse pause. He grips the journal a little tighter as he glances around. Was he ready to just settle? It’s true that once he goes back up, he probably won’t have the nerve—or even the time—to come back down. His mouth hangs open as he tries to find something to say, eventually just turning in spot and looking up at Jack, obviously conflicted. Jack stares down at him for a long minute before finally heaving out a heavy sigh. He nods and reaches up to run a hand through Jesse’s hair.
“... Okay. But no more close calls, alright? The upcoming talk with your uncle is already gonna be hellish enough, don’t give me any more reasons to make him panic, got it?”
“Yes! Understood! I’ll try!”
“Don’t try, do!”
“... I-I’ll—” He pauses and forces a smile, “I will do my best.”
Jack steps back and eyes him before nodding again, “Yeah, guess that’s about expected. Good thing we’ve got other options.” Jack turns to Axel before Jesse can say anything, “Axel, you’re back on Jesse-sitting duty!”
“Excuse me?”
“You got it, Jack!” Axel grins and waves a lazy salute as he and Bruce walk over. Jesse crosses his arms and scoffs.
“When did you two come up with that?”
“When you rode Delilah off way ahead of us without warning on our way here.” He says snarkily with a smug smirk on his face. Jesse just glances away and covers one of his quickly warming cheeks with his hand. Axel laughs. Bruce, who had been digging around in his bag again, lets out a small ‘a-ha!’ and pulls something slim and silver out.
Jack eyes it warily, “And what is that exactly…?”
“One of my whistles! I still wanna take a look around the general area which means you’re gonna be travelling up on your own. I don’t doubt you could fight your way through but this’ll just make things easier.” He nods to the whistle, “Mobs hate it. It’s most effective on Creepers, Endermen, and Zombies.”
“Ooooh!” Axel leans in and Bruce shows it off to him. “Can you like… Train mobs with ‘em?”
Bruce lets out a weak laugh, giving a half grin as he bobs his head from side to side, “Ehhh, well… I dunno about that one. But you can at least get ‘em to move outta the way.” He shrugs, “I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t think about it when I was younger. Buuuuut all that led to was me getting blown up or shot at a whole bunch, so honestly I can’t say I recommend it.” He laughs and hands it over to Jack as Axel sighs a little in disappointment.
“Aw man… Having a creeper army for Boomtown would’ve been epic…”
“Ha! Maybe one day, big guy.” Bruce grins and gives Axel a solid pat on the back. Jack frowns.
“And what about skeletons or the shit ton of spiders lurking?”
“We switch lanterns.” Bruce unhooks his and holds it out. Jack opens his mouth to say something when Bruce flicks it on in a flash and suddenly a bright blue flame erupts within it. Realization dawns on Jack and Bruce continues. “Soulfire. They hate seein’ this stuff.”
“Huh. No wonder you waltz through these places so quickly.” Jack mumbles as he unhooks his own lanterns and trades out. Bruce grins.
“My dad always told me to work smarter and not harder.” He steps back with a satisfied grin. He turns around and points to the second path—the one Jesse’s father probably used—and speaks again, “I know you wanna get back up top quickly. That was the path Steven took, I bet it’s a straight shot to that dripstone cave connected to the entrance instead of having to go through that mineshaft. I know we haven’t marked it up yet but I figure you can make your way through no sweat.”
“Just gotta follow the old torches. I’ll look for anything suspicious as I climb, too.” Jack tucks the whistle into his belt and readies his sword and lantern. “You guys be safe down here. If you run into trouble, I dunno, scream as loud as you can or something.” He shrugs and Jesse laughs.
“Will do. You be safe too.”
“Yeah, I will.” He stands there a minute more, seemingly wanting to say something else but having trouble. Jesse tilts his head. Jack sucks in a breath and glances behind him at the stronghold. He shifts his gaze directly from that to Jesse and subtly shakes his head. “Jess… you’re one of the toughest bastards I know but… Stay outta there for now, got it? That’s no place to rush into…”
Jesse stays quiet again, though not without a bit more guilt. Jack gives him a pleading look and Jesse can’t hold his gaze. He looks down. He hears Jack sigh and the sound strikes a nerve.
“Just be safe, okay?”
“We will.” Jesse mumbles and Jack nods. He gives a brief wave to Axel and Bruce and finally turns and begins making the hike back to the top.
Once out of earshot, Jesse lets out a large sigh and slumps a little where he stands. Axel comes up behind him and offers his side as support. Jesse smiles weakly and just shakes his head before pushing off of him and wandering forward.
He holds the journal close to his chest again, getting waves of comfort from the soaked little thing. It was messy, dirty, smelly, and just overall really gross, but it was his father’s. He thinks back to all the other journals he took from the house and just stuffed away to collect dust… Another pang of guilt shoots through him. How could he have just ignored them all for so long? Why did he think packing all the memories of his family away forever was right? He plucks at the worn leather strap again. When he gets home, maybe he’ll finally read through them all.
“Jesse, I’ve been meaning to ask…” Bruce’s voice cuts him out of his stupor and he turns to face the man. Bruce gestures to the journal, “What all do you got there…? I don’t remember you bringing it down here and you didn’t have it when I pulled you away from that cave…”
Jesse lights up, “Oh! Gosh you’re right I didn’t even mention it, huh?” He scolds himself internally and holds out the journal, “I-It’s um… It’s my dad’s. The last one he had.”
Bruce’s eyes widen and his mouth hangs open slightly as he stares down at it. He tentatively reaches out to touch it, glancing at Jesse briefly before he does and Jesse just nods. Bruce runs his hand over the cover and gently lifts it slightly and tries to test the pages, but they’re still somewhat stuck together.
“It was sitting at the bottom of that lake—probably been pushed around a fair bit. An axolotl was using it as a house. But it’s been pretty damaged.” Jesse sighs, taking the book back. Bruce raises his eyebrows and nods, stroking his chin a little in thought.
“I… Didn’t realize we were looking for this. Sorry I didn’t help.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. I honestly wasn’t even expecting to find it so…” Jesse shrugs, feeling a little foolish for not mentioning it. Bruce just hums a little.
“It’s mainly just water damage, right?”
“As far as I can tell, yeah.” Jesse nods. “Hopefully the ink is still okay or at least salvageable. I mean, people restore old documents from shipwrecks and stuff, right? And those have been in seawater and for way longer! Maybe I’m just getting my hopes up but…” He smiles, “I really think this could be restored!”
Bruce nods quickly, “Oh certainly! I’ve restored a handful of waterlogged books for my shop before.”
“You have?”
“Sure! People love those old enchanting books, and other researchers will pay a pretty penny for getting stuff from old strongholds or mines cleaned up. It’s definitely helped business. If you want I could take a shot at it when we get back into town.”
Jesse lights up, eyes wide. He leans forward, gripping the little journal a little tighter. “For real!? You would do that?”
“Sure! And if I end up having problems I’ve got a good pal in another town who can fix anything! We’ll get this journal fixed up for ya good as new.” Bruce holds out a hand then hesitates, “If that’s alright with you that is. I know that little journal is… personal, to say the least.”
Jesse shakes his head. “N-No! I’d be thrilled to have you look after it in the meantime. You know how to handle these things, especially since it’s so delicate. Honestly I feel better giving it to a friend than just some random book mender I pay a fortune for.” Jesse laughs a little before his eyes widen, “Oh but I’ll pay you too! Promise!”
Bruce laughs and waves a hand, “Don’t even worry about that yet. Lemme see what I can get done and then we’ll talk. Sound like a deal?”
“Perfect!” Jesse grins and offers a hand which Bruce happily shakes.
“Pleasure doin’ business with ya! I’d hang onto that though until we’re back topside since I’m gonna peek around a bit yet.” He nods to Jesse who frowns in confusion.
“Aren’t we all…?” Jesse trails off, glancing between the three of them and Axel nods.
Bruce’s breath hitches a little as he and Jesse enter a small staring competition. Eventually Bruce just laughs a little nervously and scratches the back of his neck. He shrugs and nods to the Stronghold.
“Look, I’m gonna be taking a peek inside. At least at the front rooms. There might be somethin’ inside that we’re missing.” His smile drops and he grows a bit more serious, “Additionally, I want to make sure there’s no sculk spreading in there. I have a feeling you’re gonna want to explore this structure again later and that’s the last thing you wanna run into.”
Jesse pauses a long moment before nodding. He quickly opens his own satchel and finds a little nook to set his father’s journal. Once secure he shuts it and buckles it tight. From there he unhooks his axe from his belt and spins it once in his hand.
“Sounds like a plan. I’m going too.”
Bruce raises his eyebrows and Axel sputters from behind him.
“Dude! You heard Jack—”
“And I can make my own decisions.”
“Dude, your freakin’ uncle—who is already throwing lightning bolts like they’re darts might I add—he’s gonna be beyond angry dude! Like I said, I don’t wanna be on Herobrine’s shitlist!”
“He’s gonna have to go through me if he wants to do anything to you or the others. I’ll deal with his temper.” Jesse turns to him calmly, ignoring how his stomach churns. But he can’t just stand by when it’s right there! That’s where everything went down. This is the stronghold. The one that, for a brief time in his childhood, he fantasized about in awe before it became the subject of his nightmares. He couldn’t just leave this place without stepping foot inside. He can’t run away from it.
Axel just shakes his head and crosses his arms. “I dunno man… I don’t like the feeling of this.”
“Axel,” Jesse sighs, “Please, it’ll be fine. Now drop it.” He turns away from him and makes sure his gauntlets are tight again while Axel huffs.
“Alright, your call dude…”
“Thank you.” Jesse blows out a sigh.
“Of course. Just let me know how telling Lukas you dove head first into here goes, alright?”
Jesse pauses at that.
Then he stops completely.
He stands there a moment, processing a mix of shock, offense, and a rekindled nervousness at the thought of eventually having to do what he said. He lets out a curt laugh then slowly turns around and looks back at Axel with his mouth slightly agape.
“... Did— Did you just pull the Lukas card on me?”
Axel just shrugs nonchalantly with a smug smile on his face.
“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about, Jess. I’m just asking you to keep me filled in, y’know?” He replies smoothly and Jesse hears Bruce stifle a laugh from behind him. Jesse incessantly taps the hilt of his axe as the thought sinks in more than he’d like to admit.
The worst part? How effective it is.
Was he really just gonna dive head first into a stronghold that potentially housed a Warden? Not to mention all of the other shit Strongholds are filled with? He can easily hear the way Lukas’ voice would strain as he says, ‘You did WHAT?’ while running his hands through his hair—something he always did when stressed. God he needs to actually talk to Lukas, this is totally unfair.
Eventually, Jesse sighs, his grip on his axe slacking.
“... You’re such an asshole.” He whines and Axel snickers. His friend rushes over and hugs him from behind, resting his head on top of his own.
“Yeah, yeah, but it’s for a noble cause this time!” He grins and Jesse huffs, just giving one of his arms a pat. Bruce clears his throat and the two glance over at him.
“I’ve got a compromise!”
“Yeah?” Jesse perks up a little and Bruce nods with a smile.
“You guys hang out here while I scout this place out. I’ll keep you guys updated and if there’s anything I think you should see I’ll come get ya. Deal?”
Jesse purses his lips, considering it. It was definitely better than nothing.
“I still wanna at least go in the entranceway. I want to see where he ran out from. I just… I have to go in, even if it’s small.” Jesse mumbles and Bruce nods.
“Alright, let me get to it then! I’ll check this place out quickly and make sure it’s cleared for you to come in.” He gives a thumbs up, “Probably shouldn’t be more than a half an hour. I won’t go deep.” He unhooks his scythe and Jesse gives him the go-ahead. With his cue, he hurries in and quickly disappears in the old mossy structure.
Jesse holds his breath a little as he watches him turn that first corner and disappear from view. His stomach sinks and his thoughts race. Nothing’s gonna happen, they were safe, Bruce of all people would be able to handle that place. He just desperately tries to settle his nerves as nonchalantly as possible but regardless of his efforts, Axel picks up on it. His friend hugs him a little tighter. Jesse can’t help but smile a little and quietly thanks his friend.
He’s glad to have Axel here, despite their disagreements. He’s reliable, and while he cares just as much as the others, he doesn’t openly fuss about it save for a few exceptions. He’s just a generally calm guy, and god that’s good to have right about now. Had it just been him, his uncle, Bruce, and Soren—oh man, there might’ve been bloodshed on just the ride over.
Eventually the two meander over to the walls surrounding the crumbled brick entrance and just lean against them. Jesse considers looking around the cavern again, but the only thing he can think about is the stronghold and what Bruce may be finding inside of it. In the distance, another set of rumbling can be heard and both Axel and Jesse look upwards before sharing a nervous glance with each other. Hopefully Jack’s making good time.
Occasionally Bruce shouts updates to them. There’s not much—and thankfully no sculk close by—but Jesse can’t help but feel a little disappointed. Just some empty chests, dusty bookshelves, and old torches. Not to mention a metric ton of cobwebs. The traps that used to line this place all seem to be either too rusty to work, or long disabled.
That manages to make Jesse smile at least. The image of his father carefully crouching down and disarming things at each turn under warm torch-light floods his mind. Being slow and methodical as always—Jesse’s own impatience flares up just imagining it. It’s comforting. Such a typical thing for his dad to waste his time on. He supposes it was worth it though, it probably made his job easier and is certainly helping Bruce make good headway through the structure now. Looking out for his old friend even years later.
There’s a loud resounding thud that echoes through the Stronghold that's followed quickly by a yelp. Both Jesse and Axel tense, suddenly shoved out of their own heads. Jesse flings himself around the wall, hopping inside and yelling without thinking.
“Bruce! You alright?”
There’s a pause. Jesse swallows.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m good, just fell! There was some stuff blocking this damn door and it gave way easier than I figured it would!” His voice rings through the halls and Jesse lets out a sigh of relief, feeling the heaviness of the brief adrenaline rush set in. There’s some shuffling then quick footfalls and within a few minutes Bruce turns the corner again and smiles. He waves a little awkwardly, making Jesse chuckle. “Sorry about that! But uh,” His smile drops and he nods a little, “I…I think I found something you’ll wanna see.”
Jesse and Axel share a look of concern before Jesse nods. He helps hoist Axel up the stone ledge and into the stronghold then waves for Bruce to lead the way. The man nods and turns back down the hall. Jesse starts off fast but soon finds himself slowing to practically a shuffle as he takes in the surroundings. He’s in the stronghold. His father’s. This was it.
He instinctively reaches out and brushes his fingers along the stone walls, feeling the soft green moss growing within the cracks of the chalky old stone. Turning his gaze downwards he’s greeted with a similar sight but with trails of mud coating the top of it all. Footprints—all sorts of them. He bites his lip and tries identifying each one he sees. A brief memory flashes before him as he does—sitting at their old kitchen island leaning over a well worn book as his father points to each print and explains the little details. How to tell a Cave Spider from a standard spider, or a Husk from a Zombie. Jesse remembers his own frustration at not understanding it quickly. Coming back to the present he notes some boot prints as well—both old and new, presumably from his father and now Bruce. The old ones are too worn down to really say for sure, but something in Jesse’s gut tells him it’s right. He changes his pace to land each footfall in his father’s.
It was odd. One half of his mind was screaming at him the dangers of this place, and the horrors he’d dreamt about for years, yet the other half was content. There was the warm glow of Bruce’s lantern from ahead, and Axel was quietly following behind him. He was safe, and he was finally here. It almost felt like some kind of homecoming. His father had said he wanted to bring Jesse here one day for their first outing together. He may not be there physically, but they were both there in spirit.
As Jesse takes a little hop forward to keep up with his father’s old prints, Bruce clears his throat. The sound echoes a little in the stone hallways and Jesse looks up with wide eyes, suddenly feeling rather self-conscious. Bruce either pretends he wasn’t paying attention or doesn’t care and he just nods to a door a little ways ahead and on their left.
“This is the place. I’m not sure what room it was originally meant to be, but it’s definitely been turned into some kind of temporary workspace.” He moves ahead and gently pushes the door open before nodding back at the two to follow him in.
The room is cramped but long. No windows or decorations on the walls and if there was another door on the opposite end it’s been long blocked off by a pile of rubble and stone where the ceiling seemed to cave in. There’s several old desks and long tables pushed up against the walls, as well as what seems to be old weapon stands—their weapons long gone. Some empty bookshelves are half buried by the rubble in the back too. To his right, there’s some newer looking workbenches—the quick and easy type his father liked to set up like in the cave mouth. His stomach turns at the sight of it. He was definitely in here at some point. Additionally, there’s a few old chests and barrels shoved into the corners by the door. Walking into the room, Jesse has to watch where he steps so as not to trip over some of the overturned ones. He figures these were probably what was blocking the entrance that Bruce mentioned.
Out of curiosity he bends down and tries to pull one upwards, only for it to be far heavier than he anticipated. He blows out a surprised breath and just shares a grin with Axel. He notes the thick layer of dust on it then frowns a little. Odd they only heard Bruce’s yelp but not these things falling over. He stands and dusts his hands off though, not too worried.
He moves to some of the desks and smiles a little at the old parchment and leather covers. There’s some ancient looking papers dotted all across the desks and the nearby floors as well as some miscellaneous things such as old feathers, bones, string, and the like. Probably from mobs wandering around. Nothing spectacular is left over though, and certainly nothing legible. These papers are far older than just a mere 16 years. He picks up a delicate and yellowed old piece, squinting a little as he brings it closer. There’s a few old loops and letters, but not much. He can only imagine his father’s disappointment.
“Oh shit…” He hears Axel mumble from behind him and turns around to see him and Bruce looking in an old chest. He frowns and walks around another desk that blocks his view. As he does, Bruce reaches into the old thing and heaves out a heavy looking pack, dropping it on the ground by his feet with a thud. Jesse’s eyes widen and he hurries over.
“A bag?”
“Yeah. Dusty, but definitely not as old as the other shit in here.” Bruce nods up to Jesse. “I saw another one by the door initially,” he points as he speaks, “which is what made me think to come get you. I checked the other chests in here just in case there was any other leftover stuff and just found these three other bags in here.” He gestures to the chest as he finishes and Jesse crouches down to inspect the one he has. “The one by the door was a bit more beat up cuz of mobs n’ shit,” he reaches around and drags another one from the side of the chest. It’s considerably more faded and ripped but seems to be the same style as the one from inside the chest. Jesse frowns.
They’re an almost militaristic style—big, clunky, and with tons of straps and pockets. Oddly though, it seems there’s a large section almost carved out for something to get strapped in. Perhaps some kind of case or small machine. There’s nothing inside them, but they’re heavy and built to support whatever goes in that special compartment.
“Look like something your dad carried off with him?” Bruce asks. Jesse sighs, brows furrowed in frustration. He shakes his head.
“I’ve never seen these before in my life. All he left with was his satchel and a few pouches on his belt. Have you seen either of those?”
Bruce just frowns and hums in thought, rubbing his chin again. Axel frowns and begins digging deeper into the chest. Maybe there’s something left yet. Jesse turns the bag over in his hands to look at the side with the straps and spots a portion where a name could be written in. It was one of those tabs dedicated to writing return information, an ‘if lost please return to:’ one. However the words are cut off mid ‘return’ where the fabric is ripped. He frowns, inspecting the fray—it’s just this ownership tag. His gut ties itself into knots and he forces the newfound lump in his throat down. He drops the bag and quickly snags the other one, startling Bruce a bit in the process. The man scoots back out of Jesse’s way as he flips this one over as well. The tag on this one is gone too. He snaps to Axel.
“Those bags. Hand them to me.”
Axel pauses mid dig-session to look at him a bit confused but does so. He heaves one out while Bruce grabs the other and sets it down by Jesse.
“What’d you notice, kid?”
“They all have—or rather, had—name tags.” He flips the third one over. Ripped off as well. He’s starting to feel winded. He snags the last one and repeats the motion one last time. The pack is in lovely shape despite the dust. Worn from use but still cared for like the others from the chest. So seeing that property tag once again ripped from its seams leaves nothing but a heavy dread that forces his mouth to run dry. He just sits there and silently stares at where the tags should be, his vision getting cloudy as the potential implications settle in. He blinks a few tears out of his eyes and sucks in a breath.
“These weren’t my father’s and I doubt they were my uncle’s. I-I don’t know who all they belonged to, but all the name tags have been ripped off. And those are the only things missing.” His hands shake a little as he gestures over the bag, “They’re um… They’re otherwise in great shape! Aside from the dust.” He looks between Axel and Bruce who just share the same worried look, “Someone didn’t want them to be identified.”
The three of them stand there as a renewed dread weighs them all down. Axel is the first to move and he crouches down to sit by Jesse. Bruce reaches down and pats his shoulder.
“I… I know this looks bad. But…We may be jumpin’ to conclusions yet, kid.” He starts and Jesse shoots him a bewildered look. He holds up his hands and gently moves down to his level. “Let’s look at this from another angle, alright? Humor me…” He looks Jesse in the eyes hopefully and Jesse stares at him for a long minute before giving a small nod. Bruce returns the gesture then points to each bag. “Alright… Now, how many of these bags are here?”
Jesse does a quick double check on his math as he sniffles, “Four…”
“Right…! And what was the entrance to this cave system like when we first got here?”
“Still… Still blocked up. And it wasn’t really messed up aside from some papers and stuff missing.”
“Right. There’s still all this stuff left behind that’s helpin’ you figure out what happened.” He leans back on his heels and presses a hand to his chest, “Now, if it was me who charged in here guns ablazing for your dad, I don’t think I’d leave all this shit behind to incriminate myself, y’know? Yeah, it’s suspicious that whoever owned these decided to rip their only means of identification off, but for all we know they could’ve done that before even entering this cave.” He shrugs, “And frankly, these still look in pretty good shape.”
“That still doesn’t explain where his watch or those papers went.” Jesse scowls, digging his nails into the old bags. Bruce smiles sympathetically.
“I know it doesn’t, but that’s the thing—it may not be meant to...”
Jesse stares daggers into the old backpacks, not gracing the man with a response. He continues.
“Giving them a better look over now… As a professional, I’d say these things probably haven’t sat down here for more than ten years. Depending on how new they were when they were brought down here anyways. But I think these showed up after your father disappeared…”
“But that doesn’t make sense!” Jesse huffs as he slams the bag back down in frustration. “How would they have gotten in?” He glares at Bruce and points back the way they came, “Like you said, the entrance to the cave was blocked and untouched! How would they have gotten in if they hadn’t come in at the same time as my father?”
Bruce raises a brow then clasps his hands.
“All your experience in the field and you think a cave system containing a mineshaft, lush cave, and a stronghold only has one way in and out?”
Jesse stutters. He tries to argue but fails to get anything out of his mouth. He feels himself deflate as the anger is quickly replaced with embarrassment. He blinks a few times before eventually breaking Bruce’s gaze and pressing his lips into a tight line. He was right. He was absolutely right. There were probably a dozen different systems connected to this stronghold alone. It’d probably be easy for people to find if they were determined enough—and 16 years is certainly enough time for at least a few adventurers to stumble upon it and pass through. He eases up his grip on the packs and sighs. He was still viewing this whole cave through the eyes of a scared child where a simple wall of obsidian could block if off from the whole world. But that’s not how things worked. That’s not how any of this worked.
“... I never really thought of it like that.”
“That’s understandable. You were how old when this all happened…?”
“Ten. I was ten years old.” Jesse sucks in a breath and opts to just pluck at some of the straps on the bag instead of looking at Bruce. He hears the man take a breath—a small gasp?—and dares to look back up. Bruce is looking at him with a mix of emotions, but ultimately understanding. He reaches over and squeezes his shoulder.
“I see… Sorry for pryin’, not typically my thing but… I just wanted to make sure my math was right.” He sighs and shakes his head, “I can tell you one thing for certain. It’s not like Steven to just walk out on family.” He frowns, “He was a dedicated man. Would uproot his entire life without question for it. I’ve no doubt he fought hard to get back to you.”
Jesse tries to keep his breathing steady as he nods, smiling a little. “I feel the same. He never broke a promise and just…” He rubs his cheek a little, fingers lingering on the scars under his eye. “He was always there. He always came through in the end, no matter what…” He finally sighs and drops the bag, standing back up. “We should probably head back up. Besides, I think I’ve had enough of this…”
“Fair enough.” Bruce nods and Jesse helps him to his feet. “I didn’t see anything else in this place—no sculk either, luckily. But if this thing goes deeper underground then it’s possible some could still be around here. I don’t think your old man would set up base down there though.” He pauses a moment to think but then ultimately shakes his head, “Nah, not with you waiting for him. If he was with his brother though that’s probably a different story!” He laughs a little and Jesse smiles, looking at him curiously. Bruce continues, “Your dad was sometimes kinda absent minded, he’d see something, think ‘oh that’s weird’, and go investigate without a second thought.” He grins, “There were so many times as kids and teens when Alex, Hiro, and I would have to snag him and make him think for half a second before diving into something headfirst.”
“Those sound like good memories, albeit stressful. I can’t imagine…” Jesse chuckles and Axel scoffs from behind him. Jesse and Bruce look back at him as he dusts himself off and shoots Jesse a look.
“Jess, you can’t imagine it because you do the same thing. Buuuuuut I forgive ya at least because it’s funny watching Olivia and Lukas’ eyes pop out of their skulls.” He grins and Bruce laughs while Jesse hangs his head in embarrassment, but is unable to keep his own grin off his face. He bites a lip and slowly nods. Alright. Fair enough!
Axel picks up one of the old packs and slings it onto his back and Jesse looks at him questioningly. Axel shrugs.
“What? You sayin’ you don’t wanna take one back to get a better look at?”
“Er— Well no…” Frankly Jesse hadn’t even thought about taking them out of the stronghold. “What do you think, Bruce?” He glances over at the man, “If it’s been so long already, I don’t think anyone’s gonna come back for them. It might be nice to get a better look at them in the light too.”
“Your call, kid.”
Jesse smiles and nods. “Thanks for the offer Axel.”
“I got you, man!” He grins and nudges him as he walks past. “Let’s go check out the damage your unc the demi-god did then.”
“Ugh… Don’t remind me…” He groans and both men offer sympathetic looks. He follows after Axel with Bruce closing the room up behind them. The walk out of the stronghold is thankfully uneventful and they’re back in the cavern before they know it. Axel and Jesse move to climb back up the gravel pile only for Bruce to redirect them to the other path, the one his father probably took. It’ll likely be quicker and may not even cut through the mineshaft. Not having the energy to look another spider in its eight eyes, the two agree and set off up the new path. The lush cave biome lasted a little while up this path, making for a much more serene walk amongst the flowers and glowberries.
“Do you have any other stories about my father and uncle from when you guys were young?” Jesse catches up to Bruce and clasps his hands behind him as he asks. Bruce blinks, seemingly taken by surprise. Jesse stutters, “Er, if you’re okay with that anyways. Sorry, I forgot you guys ended on a kind of sore spot… But I do enjoy hearing about it. I-I haven’t really… Had that kind of thing, y’know?” Jesse mumbles. Bruce hums and scrunches up his face in thought.
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of stories. Just gotta think of a good one among the bunch.” He laughs a little, “We were a rowdy set of four. Always getting into somethin’ we shouldn’t have.”
“That’s right there were four of you… Alex, right? I don’t remember if I ever met him…”
“Her.”
“Her?”
“Yep!” He grins and nods, “She and I were kinda tight knit. She was the youngest and the both of us were a good few years behind Hiro and Steven so we tended to group up a lot when we’d do team stuff. Two vs two. I never had siblings of my own, like I mentioned, so I ended up seeing those three as ‘em. When we all got older and started doin’ our own things, Alex tagged along and traveled with me for a bit. We both always had a sense of wanderlust the twins didn’t quite match so it was great!”
“I’m sensing some kinda ‘but’ coming…” Jesse mumbles and Bruce flashes him a sad smile.
“Yeah… But,” He sighs, “Then things got complicated. She was my prime adventuring partner for a good amount of time—probably a good 5 years after my blowout with Steven and Hiro even—but then,” He snaps his fingers, “Gone on a dime just like that. Didn’t explain it, didn’t write, just disappeared.”
“Woah…” Jesse’s eyes widen with a sudden worry. “That’s… eerily similar. And you have no idea what happened?”
“No. I mean, she seemed stressed a few days before leaving, but she didn’t say goodbye or anything! Just… There one moment and gone the next.” He lets out a pained sigh and Jesse nods slowly. “We hadn’t had any kind of falling out or anything either, so I don’t think I did somethin’ to piss her off, but it was definitely odd.”
“For real…” Jesse shakes his head, astounded to hear another person close to his father up and disappeared. Did the same thing happen to her maybe? Were the two incidents connected even? Were they being targeted or both just unlucky? He crosses his arms and scrunches up his face in thought. He must’ve looked more disturbed than he imagined because Bruce’s eyes go wide and he quickly waves his hands.
“Oh god, sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything— God I didn’t even think—...” He rubs his forehead and sighs.
“I-It’s okay! It’s good actually. Something to consider…”
“Right… But god, okay, anyways!” He claps his hands together, “A good story! Some kind of fun trouble the four of us got into…” He trails off as he thinks.
“Y’ever get into one of your parents’ stashes?” Axel pipes up from the back as he grabs a little glowberry from its vine. Something dawns on Bruce and he lights up like a child in a candy store.
“Yes!” He points to Jesse, “And this was your father’s idea! One time when they were probably 13, 14, and Alex and I were 7 or 8, Steven thought it’d be a great idea to sneak into his father’s—your grandfather’s—crossbow stash.” He grins and Jesse’s eyes widen.
“My dad?!”
“Oh yeah! Oh, and I remember your uncle was scared shitless at the thought of initially sneaking those things out of the house. But eventually he got on board and they brought four of them down to the edge of the forest line by all of our homes.” He grins, “He taught us all how to shoot! Your uncle was atrocious at it but the rest of us could handle it. I remember Alex was practically bouncing off the walls with that thing in her hands. She had a real prim and proper family so any kind of rough and tumble stuff was done with us.”
“Was she a good shot?”
“Not at all! She accidentally shot a bolt through the window of your grandfather’s study which is how we got found out.” He smirks and Jesse and Axel laugh.
“Oh man! I can’t even begin to imagine the look on his face!” Axel clamps his hands down on Jesse’s shoulders and shakes him a little as he speaks. Jesse nods in agreement.
“HA! The old man was good, for sure, but the horror on your father’s face? Oh man, I'll never forget it!”
“Who was the best shot?” Jesse asks and Bruce grins, giving a small bow.
“Yours truly! Steven and I were pretty close to the same skill level, buuuuut I was just a little sharper. I’ve always loved studying monsters in particular, so I’ve always had the better eye for tracking and predicting movement. Sometimes it’s the little things that add up, y’know?”
“Wow! Would love to see you in action one day.”
“Heh! Well I hear you’re not too shabby with a bow yourself!” Bruce smiles and gives Jesse a friendly nudge to which he smiles. He shakes his head however.
“Aw, no. I’m good, sure, but Lukas?” His eyes sparkle a bit as he says it. Bruce crosses his arms and leans in, already intrigued. Axel lets go of Jesse with a loud groan and rolls his eyes to the heavens.
“Here we go…”
Chapter 22: Infighting
Summary:
The night and cave excursion ends on a sour note and Jesse scrambles to keep things at least tolerable between the party before heading back to town.
Notes:
OOOO IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SCENE FOR EONS! That said now that I'm through with this cave excursion I may need some extra time between the next few updates bc half way through working on this arc I realized I was gonna be changing up what I expected to do next ENTIRELY so I gotta make sure I get some new basic outlines set up. That said, I don't think there will be any huge gaps between things like there were before I started updating again previously. I know what I'm doing and OOOH BOY IM SO EXCITED GOING FORWARD!!!
Chapter Text
The conversation the rest of the way up the cave was lighthearted and a well-needed break from the events of the night. It definitely was a much shorter walk than the way they came down—it was a straight shot from the dripstone cave right to the lush biome and stronghold. Hiking up the path his father ran was still unnerving, but bantering with Axel and Bruce kept himself surprisingly occupied. Things almost felt casual, like they were leaving any old mining excursion.
Which is why the yelling echoing down through the caves was so jarring.
Jesse stops a moment, breath hitching. He couldn’t understand what all was being thrown around, but he could tell all three of the men up there were involved. He, Bruce, and Axel share a nervous glance and Jesse is the first to move, pushing his pace into a jog, then a run.
Rounding the odd bend of the cave back into the opening, things are… Well, physically they’re at least in better shape than he expected. His eyes immediately shoot to the ground to check for the prints—still there. With that confirmation, most of his own tension rushes away, but certainly not the buzz in the air. Looking up, his uncle is feverishly pacing with his fists and jaw clenched while Jack stands in between him and Soren. His uncle snaps to a stop and jabs a finger at Soren ready to bite but Jesse cuts him off.
“Hey!” He shouts, seemingly surprising the three. All eyes turn to him as he wanders a little further in the room, eyeing Soren and his uncle in particular, “What’s going on here…?”
“Nothing…” His uncle mumbles and backs off. Jesse’s eyebrows shoot up and he crosses his arms.
“Ohhh… ‘Nothing’, huh? Okay… so explain to me why we could hear that ‘nothing’ all the way down by the stronghold? Not to mention your shouting just now.” Jesse bites back and casually waves an arm behind him. Hiro balks at his words.
“I—! I-I wasn’t—! You—...!” He scrambles for an explanation as Jesse waits, gaze boring into him. Hiro’s eyes flare and he throws his arms up, “Tch! Fine! Fine! Whatever! I got mad! We had a spat! This guy,” He jerks finger at Soren who grimaces a little, “was talking utter nonsense!”
“About the Endermen?”
“Yes!”
“So the very thing I asked for his professional insight on?”
Hiro stutters, “W-Well… I mean, yes, but, Jesse your father wouldn’t have—”
“There is no way to accomplish what you are suggesting!” Soren butts in and earns a glare from Hiro. “I simply cannot see how such manipulation is possible!” He huffs and small sparks shoot from Hiro’s fists. Jesse can feel a faint static buzz in the air and his breath hitches. Either because he’s unbothered or unaware, Soren continues, “You are suggesting someone else sent an Enderman to attack. That is not possible for the average man to do! Especially not with an attack so rare! Endermen are highly independent—for all my knowledge they cannot be trained like some kind of dog!”
“And my brother would not provoke an Enderman in such a foolish way!”
“So you think it was foul play?” Jesse eyes his uncle suspiciously and he nods fervently.
“Yes! Look, your father could be absent-minded at times, sure, but never with monsters. Especially not Endermen! And last I checked, men can’t teleport to the End either! So someone had to have sicced it on him. Full stop.” He slices his hand in the air for emphasis, eyes hard as he stares at Jesse. Jesse sucks in a big breath and just hums in thought.
“If I may…” Bruce mumbles, stepping forward, glancing at Hiro nervously as he does. “The… The attack we’ve discussed was, as Soren mentioned earlier, not as aggressive as most others. I’ve seen it in practice a few times in the field over the years, and oftentimes it’s more defensive than anything. A means to escape while also sending one’s attacker away.” He shrugs, swallowing a little as Hiro glares daggers into him, “Look. I’m not saying it was entirely Steven’s fault, but perhaps he accidentally triggered a cave-in or a trap that made the Enderman feel threatened or afraid and it simply locked in on him as its target. Justified or not.”
“Oh please!” Hiro laughs, shaking his head. “Jesse,” He locks eyes with his nephew, “Do you honestly think this was just some sort of freak accident or because of something your dad did?”
Jesse tightens his grip on his arms and feels his cheeks heat up. “I…” He trails off, unsure of what his answer really is. Does he? What kind of basis does he even have for that? A missing watch, some missing papers, and some old backpacks that might not even be related? Sure the records were… horrifying. But what if they weren’t related either? What if they were being recorded for note-taking and someone else just picked them up? Oh god, but then there was that note that came with them. Not to mention it was just a few short days between when his dad left and when he showed up here—what were the odds of someone else completely unrelated coming in within that time? His mind races through everything he possibly can, but, quite honestly, his brain is utterly fried. Thinking straight is impossible. He lets go of his arms to quickly rub his face, simply shaking his head.
“See? Told you. Not possible.” Hiro flicks a hand towards Jesse while glaring at Soren, Jack and Bruce, the latter of which huffs. Bruce walks over and places himself between Hiro and Jesse, giving the latter a chance to breathe.
“All I see is you overwhelming your nephew. Leave him out of this, he’s already had enough to process tonight.”
“He’s an adult! If he didn’t want to be a part of the conversation he didn’t have to be!”
“That’s not the point here and you know it!” Bruce dares to raise his voice a little and Hiro’s eyes flash like he’s rolling them.
“Ohhh noooo, not a lecture from little ol’ Brucie.” He drawls, poison dripping from each word as they roll off his tongue. Bruce’s mouth presses into a tight line and he sucks in a deep breath, his voice low and cold.
“Hiro, you need to calm down or you need to leave. I understand that you are hurting but that doesn’t mean you can’t control your temper.”
“Ohohoho! Would you look at the pot calling the kettle black!” Hiro sneers, “That’s rich from you, Bruce.”
“My temper doesn’t strike people down with lightning!” He tries keeping his voice level but an obvious shake in it appears as he raises it. “If you don’t calm down you’re not only a danger to the stability of this cave system but to our lives!”
“Oh PLEASE! I think I know how to control a little lightning!” He hisses, flicking his wrist towards Bruce with a flash and loud bang. Bruce’s eyes widen and he hastily ducks, a small bolt of white lightning striking the wall right behind him and shooting rock across the cave. There’s a plethora of screams and gasps as everyone scrambles to protect themselves. Axel blocks a chunk flying at Jesse with his arm, sucking in a sharp breath between his teeth as the hits sting.
“BRIAN! ENOUGH!” Jack shouts at him but the man doesn’t break his gaze with Bruce. Hiro cocks a brow and shrugs.
“See? Just a little spark that didn’t even fray a hair on your perfectly preened little head.” He hums with a satisfied smirk on his face as the others can only balk.
“Have you lost it?” Bruce asks, utterly bewildered. “Had I not ducked you would’ve shot my head clean off!” Bruce straightens, voice raising as he flings his hand towards the now seared wall.
“If I didn’t think you’d duck, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“You are OUT OF LINE and you’re DANGEROUS!” Bruce yells at the man now and Hiro sneers.
“The only danger to our lives here is YOU!” He hisses, stepping into Bruce’s space. The man’s eyes widen again and his mouth hangs open, completely speechless. Hiro continues with a huff, flicking his chin derisively, “You don’t make knowin’ it easy though… Suppose cleaning up messes is your job… I’m not gonna make the same mistake my brother apparently did by trusting you.”
Bruce stands there in a mix of utter shock and, frankly, fear. The air in the room is suffocating and for as much as anyone looks like they want to say something, it seems like the only one who isn’t caught up on their words is Hiro. The man in question just stands there with his arms crossed, practically unbothered by the weight of it all.
“What’s wrong? Too honest for you?” Hiro hums and Bruce just balks, shaking his head.
“I cannot believe you…” He pushes out a curt, dry laugh. “Are you serious? Or did your reanimation not include your fucking brain?” He hisses and Hiro gets his turn to glare. He raises a hand and begins listing things off on his fingers.
“You had motive. You have been studying and playing your stupid little games with these monsters for your whole life! You were possessive and despised rejection to your goddamn core!”
“As a fucking TWENTY YEAR OLD!” Bruce throws his arms up and jabs a finger at him, “Half of those damn things can apply to you just as well and THEN some! Tell me, what other proof do you have, huh? Because, genuinely, I’d LOVE to hear it.”
Hiro huffs and slowly crosses his arms again, digging his nails into his sleeves. He remains silent for a long while, neither man backing down from their glaring match. Eventually he takes in a breath and speaks with a matter-of-fact tone.
“… Gut feeling.”
“Oh for the LOVE of—!” Bruce throws his hands up in the air in disbelief before loudly dropping them to his sides. He walks in a quick circle then turns back to Hiro. He slowly claps, scathing sarcasm dripping from every sound, “Aww… Thank you, Hiro’s gut! You’ve never led anyone astray before!” He scoffs, “Sorry Hiro, but is this a new gut? Or the same one that made you leap into that End Portal on a whim?”
“Why you little—!”
“I'm sorry but I am NOT gonna just stand here and be accused of MURDER based on your shoddy instincts! If you want to throw around baseless accusations like that then you need to actually have something to go along with it!”
“You—!”
“NO! Soren was right, an ‘average man’ couldn’t do it. But a demi-god whose specialty is destruction and siding with monsters more than humans? Who can say we can even trust you, huh? Yeah you’ve got the same blood as Jesse, sure. But where the HELL were you when he needed you?! Boning the motherfucker who tried to kill him and all of his NEW family and friends?” He steps forward and actually grabs his shirt collar and shoves Hiro back with that one. The man simply stares at him in a wordless rage. Bruce backs off but leans into his words, “You’re just taking your anger and self loathing and projecting it onto me because it’s fucking EASY, isnt it?!”
“SHUT UP!”
“ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!” Jesse’s voice rips through the cramped cave entrance, reverberating off the walls and quickly silencing the two bickering men. Bruce and Hiro both stare at Jesse with wide eyes as the young man glares at them. He waits for the echoes of his voice to die and disappear into the deeper cavern before he continues. He sucks in a long, shaky breath, and raises his tightly pinched fingers as he prepares to speak again.
“Jesse… I’m—” His uncle starts, much quieter now.
“I am speaking!” He cuts him off quickly, causing the man to somewhat shrink into himself. Both drop their gazes to the ground. He continues, his voice low and dangerous, “Look. I know this shit is awful, and frustrating, and makes you just wanna scream.” He takes another deep breath, desperately trying to keep steady. Axel moves to try and comfort him but he jerks a hand up, stopping him without once tearing his gaze away from the two in front of him, “But that doesn’t mean you two get to use my father’s death as a reason to tear into each other over some bullshit 26 year old baggage!” He hisses. “You two are TWICE my age! I should not have to be the adult right now, and especially not fucking HERE of ALL places! So you two either get over yourselves right now, or you GO.” He jerks a finger to the exit, breathing heavily as he drops his ultimatum.
Bruce stares at his feet, jaw clenched tight and face red. Hiro’s own hardened features begin to crumble as guilt sweeps over him. Neither man responds. Jesse feels that lump in his throat damn near choking him and swallows it down. Why aren’t either of them saying anything? Is it really that hard to even say sorry? Are they all just stubborn as bulls? He glances at his uncle who won’t even dare turn his way. Eventually, Bruce moves. He just begins to shake his head, his eyes cold. It’s that same chilling anger he saw briefly down in the cave, and despite his own frustration with the man right now, he can’t say he blames him. Bruce walks over to the workbench and grabs his things. He straps up silently, takes his lantern back from Jack, and exits the cave without a word.
They all watch him leave and Jesse just drops his arm to his side in exhaustion. Finally some hot tears slip out and down his face as he lets go of some of the pressure that welled up in his chest. He rubs his face and drops to the ground, leaning up against the cave wall. He pinches the bridge of his nose and shuts his eyes tight in an attempt to fight off the pounding headache settling in. To his right, he hears Jack sigh and curse a little under his breath, murmuring ‘I’ll be right back’ or something along those lines. He couldn’t care less right now honestly. Soren makes some excuse to leave as well—same as always. Axel sits down by him. On the other side of the small cave mouth, he hears his uncle slump down against the wall.
Hiro mumbles something and Axel responds. He doesn’t pay attention, but can tell by his tone he was probably just telling him to shut the hell up. Something probably like, ‘haven’t you done enough?’ It seems to go quiet after that. Most of it is drowned out by the muted thunder of clenching his jaw too tight on top of the throbbing headache. If he doesn’t force some of that tension out he’s going to start grinding his teeth too, he just knows it.
Jesse drops his hand and focuses on the sensations surrounding him. The stone is cold and refreshing against his back and neck. Though he can feel a distinct warmth to his left from Axel—the guy is a giant space heater in all honesty. There’s also the distinct smell of smoke and burnt oil from their lamps that would probably soak the little cave for a few days. What else is there he could focus on?
How tired he feels is a good one. As he slowly manages to ease up the tension in his jaw, shoulders, and fists, he really feels the exhaustion seep into his bones. Had his uncle not still been in the room he might consider taking a nap there—he just couldn’t care anymore. But, no, there’s still plenty to sort out yet and frankly, even thinking of his uncle right now is enough to tick him off again. He needs to get out of this room.
“Axel.” He says somewhat hoarsely. He hears his friend shift beside him. He sighs, “Could you please stay here for a minute? I’ll be right back.”
“... Yeah. You gonna be okay?”
“Hafta be.” He forces an exhausted smile that doesn’t reach his eyes as he finally meets the gaze of his friend. Axel studies him for a long minute before finally nodding. He gives Jesse’s shoulder a tight squeeze and Jesse clamps a hand down on top of his. He holds his hand briefly and gives it a squeeze as he stands. He doesn’t spare his uncle a glance as he leaves the cave.
Outside he’s hit with a refreshing breeze. It’s still dark, but things are beginning to be bathed in that surreal blue tint of the early morning. He hears someone clear their throat and meets Soren’s concerned and somewhat guilty look.
“I am sorry. I did not mean to provoke him like that.”
“... It’s fine. It happened. We just move on.” He pauses then huffs a little, amused. He lightly bumps the man in the arm, “Didn’t think you had it in ya to actively argue with a demi-god. Movin’ up in the world.” He jokes a little and Soren’s eyes light up in turn. He clears his throat and nods somewhat excitedly.
“Yes, well! I am a man of my convictions! I simply was not having his nonsense.”
Jesse nods and gives him one more brief wave before moving on. Frankly he’s had just enough of the topic. Up ahead he spots his main targets and sucks in a breath to prepare himself. He still has business to attend to regardless of this new mess. Approaching the two men, he catches whispers of the conversation and Jack doing his best to calm Bruce down. It seems to have worked at least a little—Bruce is no longer red in the face—but he still isn’t happy if the sheer speed at which he’s preparing his horse’s gear is anything to go by. Jesse clears his throat, catching the attention of both men.
Jack turns to him immediately and reaches his hands out only to hesitate. He concludes with just setting his hands on Jesse’s shoulders, eyes filled with worry.
“I’ll get back to you, Jack…” He mumbles, lightly tapping his arms for him to let go. The man frowns but sighs and complies.
“You need anything you just call, alright?”
“Thank you, but I can handle this.”
“Alright…” He nods and steps back a bit, shooting Bruce a look before giving the two some space. Bruce stands there tensely as Jesse approaches. Jesse ducks his head in greeting, hands in his back pockets. Bruce hesitates but returns the greeting, slowly going back to preparing his horse. Jesse breaks the silence.
“I’m more upset with my uncle than with you, Bruce.”
The man freezes for a moment then completely stops what he’s doing to look at Jesse in utter confusion. Jesse shrugs and continues.
“That said I’d rather just finish this night up, if you don’t mind.” He sighs and Bruce finally speaks as Jesse begins to dig through his satchel.
“... What do you mean?”
“Here.” Jesse pulls the old journal from his bag. “I’m still interested in restoring this. You can charge me extra, I honestly don’t care, I just want this journal fixed up and back home where it belongs.” He holds it out to him, tired eyes boring into the man. Bruce eyes the journal then Jesse somewhat warily.
“And you still trust me to do that…?”
“Do you think I shouldn’t?”
Bruce rubs his neck and shrugs, “That wasn’t a pretty sight in there… I can’t say I’d blame you if you didn’t.”
Jesse just lets out a large sigh and shakes his head. “No, Bruce. My trust in people isn’t that flimsy, and a little yelling match my uncle unnecessarily provoked isn’t going to change that. He crossed a line, I’d be about as pissed as you were, if not moreso.” He pushes the journal forward a little more, “... You said it yourself. My father was just as much of a brother to you as he was to Hiro. Please. I’d be honored if you’d do this…”
Bruce studies him for a long moment. For a minute, Jesse isn’t even sure if he’ll accept. If he just wanted to pack up and be done with him and this crazy mystery he wouldn’t blame him. It’s probably been just as—if not more—overwhelming for him in the past 24 hours to get caught up to speed with so many tragedies and revelations. This was just the cherry on top of it all. Eventually, he quietly nods and tentatively takes the journal. He turns the old thing over in his hands, running his fingers over the leather. He smiles bitterly at Jesse.
“You’re very kind, Jesse… Despite hurting right now as well. I mean this in a light hearted way when I say that your father could’ve learned a thing or two about forgiveness from you.” He laughs weakly, shaking his head. “Always ‘eye-for-an-eye’, you’d be surprised at the amount of trouble your uncle and I had to smooth talk him out of…”
“What about Alex? She not help?”
“Oh no, she helped!” He grins, although it’s a bit uncomfortable still, “She just helped your father get into more trouble.” He shrugs, “It was a balancing act between us four.”
“Heh! Kept you on your toes at least.”
“Ha! You’ve no idea.” He shakes his head with a laugh then grows more serious and nods. “I’ll take good care of this, Jesse. You’ll get it back and hopefully it’ll be like no water ever touched it! Or, well, at least not 16 years worth.” He smiles a bit more then his eyes light up and he snaps his fingers, “Oh! That reminds me—Those bags!” He points back to the cave, “I know Axel brought one up with him, right? I wouldn’t mind taking a better look at it while waiting for the treatment on this little guy to work. There’s typically manufacturing information somewhere on it and I’m sure Jack and I could make some calls to see how long ago those were in production. Might get lucky!”
“You don’t mind…?”
“I was fightin’ Hiro in there, not you. I’m still happy to help you with this mess in whatever way I can, kid.”
Jesse nods, a little stress off of his shoulders. “Right… Thank you, by the way. For stepping in for me. Sorry he escalated it.”
“Don’t mention it. He’s always been the emotional one, honestly. I just… I didn’t expect he’d…” He trails off, furrowing his brows. It’s a beyond heavy accusation and Jesse grimaces at the thought of it. Murdering his father. His uncle really accused him of somehow murdering his father. Not to mention that bold little lightning shot at him. He’s just glad it didn’t turn into an all out brawl. Jesse rubs his forehead then pinches the bridge of his nose—the hell was he even thinking? Oh right, he wasn’t.
“Well… I’ll let Axel know to pass the bag off to you.” He says with a nod, turning to head back to the cave.
“You goin’ back in there?”
“Can’t run away from my problems forever. And currently, my problem has glowing white eyes and is slouched up against the cave wall. Probably getting an earful from Axel, too.”
“Hmm… Well, good luck. Soren and I were discussing heading back to town. It’d be best to get some space from Hiro.”
“I understand. Ride safe. Axel should be out in a minute.”
“Will do. I’ll give you an ETA for that journal as soon as I’m able.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Jesse finally finishes up that conversation and gets one weight off of his shoulders. He fully faces the cave and huffs, beginning the march back. He catches Jack’s eye who pushes off of the obsidian wall, worried. Jesse just gives him a brief wave and moves right inside.
The scene is about the same as how he left it—quiet with his uncle turned away from everyone and Axel just sitting there glaring at him. Jesse grunts as he sits back down by him and rests his head back against the cool rock. He shuts his eyes and claps his hands in his lap, sitting there quietly for a few minutes—praying this doesn’t turn into another blow-out. The anger dissipates into pure numbness at this point and he just sighs. He opens his eyes again and nudges Axel who leans in.
“Could you please go make sure the others are okay outside? And that the horses are ready?” He whispers, barely audible.
“Yeah… You got this…?”
“I should. And if it turns into another shouting match I think I can handle that too. Who knows, might be cathartic.” He rolls his eyes a little and Axel smirks in amusement. Jesse continues, “One more thing: Bruce and Soren are gonna head back to town early. Would you pass that bag we found along to him? He said he’d look into the make and model for me while waiting on the book’s treatment.”
“Right. Can do.” Axel nods and offers a fist. Jesse smiles and lightly bumps it, garnering a grin from Axel as he stands. He moves quietly out of the cave, careful not to bump into anything as he does.
And then there were two.
Jesse finally shifts his gaze back to his uncle. Taking one final deep breath, Jesse swallows his pride and leans forward.
“... Wanna talk like adults now?” Were he not in such a horrible mood, he might try to keep himself from sounding condescending. Right now though? He couldn’t muster any of that respect. Luckily, any fight his uncle may have had seems drained. He just sighs and nods quietly, still not daring to look him in the eye. Jesse continues, “So what’s going on? Do you honestly think he had something to do with it?”
“Yes.” His uncle bites quickly and with force. But then his face contorts and he begins shaking his head and fumbling with his hands out of anxiousness. “... Maybe? I—... I don’t know…” He trails off with his voice barely above a whisper. He sniffles and sucks in a shaky breath, just continuing to mumble ‘I don’t know’s while shaking his head. Jesse sighs and nods quietly. As he thought.
“Your father…” He mumbles, catching Jesse’s attention. “Your father was always the smart one. I-I never… I don’t…” He shrugs, an agonized look on his face as a few tears of utter frustration slide down his cheeks. “I just had my gut… A-And your dad always had faith in my instincts when it came down to it. It— It was what I figured made me reliable. But… I dunno what is my gut anymore or if—” He swallows, clenching his fists, “Or if Bruce is right, and I’m just projecting my own problems and frustrations onto an easy scapegoat… I-I just…” He finally sits tall as he leans back against the stone, staring down at the old battered prints in front of him. “I’m pathetic Jesse. And I’m so so sorry…”
Jesse sits there quietly, unable to really find anything to say right now that he means. He picks at his fingernails as he thinks—or at least feigns doing so. His mind is blank, so he simply opts to ask the first question that pops to the front of it.
“Did you miss us?”
“Huh?” Hiro finally raises his head to look at Jesse once again, face contorted with confusion. Maybe that was a selfish thing to ask right now—just pouring salt in the wound—but he couldn’t say he felt bad about it. Jesse pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his head on them. He shrugs.
“Did you miss us…? While…” He pauses to find a gentle word for it, “While you were away…?”
“Of course I did… I—… I tried to forget and move on for what I thought was the sake of you both but… I pretended I did a better job at it than I had. Obviously it was the stupid thing to do, though.”
They fall into another quiet lull, Jesse just nodding. Hiro opens his mouth—wanting to say something but hesitating. Jesse just looks at him tiredly. His uncle takes a small breath and goes for it.
“What do you think of it all? … What happened here, I mean.”
Jesse blows out another long sigh. He was already sick of this goddamn question. Hell if he knew anymore.
“I think that our only potential source of anything conclusive at the moment has an ocean’s worth of water soaked up in it…” he grumbles with a huff, shaking his head. He picks at his nails, staring at them numbly, “Honestly I dunno anymore. Could be a crime scene or an accident site. I don’t know if any of the oddities here and there even have some sort of connecting string. Frankly I just wanna go home and I wanna sleep. I’m tired.”
“… I see. What’s this about a soaked ocean, though…?” He mumbles, “You kinda lost me there.”
Jesse perks up a little and he fiddles with his satchel strap as he looks over at him. “I found his journal down in the cave. The last one.”
“What?” Hiro immediately snaps up. Jesse nods.
“It’s in real bad shape though. Was sitting at the bottom of a small lake. Bruce offered to try and restore it himself or get one of his old business partners to take a look at it.” He pauses, “I don’t know how to feel about everything anymore if I’m being honest… But regardless of what happened to dad—foul play or accidental—this book will probably have just what we’re looking for in it. In that disk he was writing something quickly, it had to be in his journal.”
“You’re right. That needs to be restored ASAP.” He pauses, “Honestly…? Bruce probably is the best man for the job. He picked restoration up as a hobby when he was a teen to help out on our little excursions. If he can’t get it done himself then he absolutely knows people who could.”
“... You’re not mad?”
“You don’t have to ask my permission, Jesse.” He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “This is your investigation. Not mine. Bruce and I have baggage that neither of us have apparently healed from—you don’t. You know him for what he is now—a reliable and helpful businessman. Who am I to delay your answers over something so petty?”
“... Thanks. I’ll let you know once it’s done.”
“Right.” He mumbles and Jesse looks over at him a bit confused. Hiro rubs his face, brows furrowed and deep in thought about something. By the look on his face, Jesse already knows he doesn’t like what’s coming. Eventually, Hiro leans forward and clasps his hands together, dropping his voice to a quieter level.
“You’ve… Thought about it too, right? What might’ve happened after…” He nods to the prints on the floor and Jesse huffs, a bitter smile not quite reaching his eyes.
“Too much…” Jesse now moves to fiddle with the strap on one of his gauntlets, “I mean… Obviously I try not to linger on it, y’know? But at the same time I’ve spun through every possible way it could’ve happened… He could’ve been attacked. Going slowly or in a snap. He could’ve just starved or succumbed to the cold…” He trails off.
“... Or fallen after getting shot by shulkers.”
“Or missed a pearl throw.”
“Or simply stepping in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Hiro looks up to the ceiling and sighs, shutting his eyes. “It’s so hard to even imagine. He was such a fighter, and so dedicated. It’s just… it’s utterly impossible to imagine him just laying down and giving in. I simply can’t believe it.”
“I know… It still doesn’t feel real.” Jesse mumbles and his uncle nods in agreement. The man sighs and finally pushes himself to his feet. He dusts himself off and stretches, nodding towards the exit. “The others are probably waiting. I won’t rush you, but…” He trails off and Jesse nods, frowning a little as he remembers the other thing he should mention before his uncle leaves. He grimaces, not wanting to ruin what shaky foundation they’re currently treading on but knows he ought to.
“We also found something else down there. Inside the Stronghold.” He spits it out fast, stopping his uncle in his tracks not too far from him. He locks eyes with him and doesn’t dare to look away and feel that eerie gaze boring into him. Hiro’s mouth falls open a little and he takes a step back. Jesse clenches his jaw, unsure of what to expect. He can see the emotions his uncle flicks through within a matter of seconds—shock, confusion, anger, acceptance and then disappointment. He holds that one for a long few seconds before he just nods and crosses his arms.
“And… what did you find?”
“Two things.” Jesse numbers them off on his fingers, “It’s potentially connected to a Deep Dark biome with a Warden,”
“Excuse me?”
“—and then we found a workroom with some old backpacks in it. Not so old they’re ancient, but could potentially be from around the time dad went missing. They don’t look like anything he ever wore or that belonged to him. We’re gonna look into them just to be certain, and they may honestly be unrelated but…” He shrugs, “I figured you should know.”
Hiro just stares down at him before rubbing his face tiredly. He presses his lips into a tight line and rests his hands on his hips.
“Okay…” He mumbles, just standing there for a minute. Then he laughs a little—a small pathetic sound. Jesse eyes him worriedly. He just walks over and offers a hand to pull Jesse to his feet, “There’s really no stopping you once you get something in your head, is there?”
“Heh… Unfortunately it’s one of my best traits.” Jesse gives him a tense smile as he takes his hand.
“The jury’s still out on that one, kiddo.” His eyes flash lightheartedly like he’s rolling them. He pulls Jesse to his feet. “Let’s go. I think we’ve all had enough of this place for one day…”
Jesse hesitates, glancing back at the scene around them. He isn’t sure what exactly he expects to find, he supposes, but there’s a part of him that was still just… Hoping for more. He got the journal, so, sure—he probably did get more. But it almost doesn’t feel real with the pathetic state it’s in. A part of him can’t accept it’s real yet until he sees those words. He sighs, disappointment welling up inside of him when he feels a gentle hand on his back. He looks back to his uncle who shares an equally tired expression. Neither wanted today to end this way, but sometimes that’s how it has to be.
Exiting the cave, Soren and Bruce are already out of sight while Jack and Axel are finishing getting their horses together. Jesse starts walking towards them only to feel his uncle’s hand drop off of his back. He turns around to see him just standing there and looking back in the cave. Jesse frowns.
“I don’t want you going back in there, uncle.” He says cooly, bracing himself for any potential backlash. Hiro frowns in turn and studies his nephew for a minute before his look softens into one of guilt again.
“... I’ve broken your trust, haven’t I?”
Jesse hesitates, suddenly feeling hypocritical. But he’d be lying if he said anything else. He grimaces and nods.
“Yes. At least somewhat…” He mumbles, glancing off at anything other than his uncle. God the blades of grass beside them are suddenly so interesting. He’s stalling what he means to say though and he knows it. Jesse clenches his jaw and sucks in a big breath, blowing out an equally large sigh. “I love you, uncle. I’m going to be forever grateful that I managed to bring you back into my life. That said…” He hesitates, the words getting caught in his throat. Hiro just looks at him sadly as Jesse finally flicks his eyes back up to meet his, “If this is how you act under stress, o-or with the slightest hint of criticism, how on Earth am I supposed to trust you?”
He stares up at him for a long moment to let his words sink in. Hiro clenches his jaw and while he can’t quite see where his eyes are pointed, Jesse can tell he’s turned them away. Jesse shakes his head, crossing his arms.
“I know he was your brother and that this is important to you too, but I cannot put into words just how important this is for me. And if—…” He grimaces, keeping his eyes on him the whole time, “And if you cannot control yourself to the point that it could not only put my only chances of finding the truth at risk, but also other people’s lives?” He leans into the word, shaking his head, “Then maybe it’s better if you stay home for a while.”
The silence that follows is bitter and agonizing. Jesse waits as patiently as he can muster for a response. The cool breeze flicks some of his hair about, forcing him to push it out of his eyes. His uncle doesn’t even bother with his own. Finally, the man takes a small breath.
“... I see.” He replies quietly and Jesse feels a pang of pain shoot through his heart.
“I’m sorry…” Jesse mumbles and Hiro shakes his head, walking forward and placing his hands on his shoulders.
“No, no, I’m the one who’s sorry. Don’t you start apologizing for my fuck-up, okay? This was on me. I thought I could handle it and…” He grimaces, “And I couldn’t.” He sighs and lets go of Jesse, stepping back a little. “That being said… I think I’ll take you up on that sooner rather than later. My powers should be enough to get me back to the Nether. You deserve a calm ride home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He looks down as he says this and Jesse just nods, too tired to really argue the point. He just wants to go home and rest too. Away from that stronghold. Away from this cave. Away from all of these people.
Unfortunately, away from his uncle.
“Be safe… Like I said, I'll keep you updated.”
“I’ll be in touch then.”
“Okay.” He mumbles, wanting to say more like ‘Holding you to that’ or ‘Don’t disappear on me’ for example, but unable to muster the courage. So he stays quiet. His uncle sighs and at least offers out a hand. Jesse takes it and they shake, but there’s not much spirit in it. Jesse stares down at their hands as they finish it and sort of hang there dully for a moment, neither sure if this is all they’re going to say goodbye with.
Jesse sighs and moves in to give him at least half of a hug—hoping it could convey a little more than he was currently capable of doing. He hears his uncle blow out a heavy sigh and gets a hearty squeeze from him, ending with his hair getting ruffled. They step back from each other and share a nod. Jesse backs up slowly, still rather unsure, but gets a small smile from his uncle and a signal to move along.
Finally he turns away from him, only for the sky to be quickly filled with rumbling. He doesn’t even think to cover his ears before a large strike of lightning strikes behind him. He jumps forward out of instinct, quickly looking back behind him only to find emptiness and scorched earth where his uncle was. A hollowness fills his chest as he stares at the charred spot on the ground, keeping him entranced as the ringing in his ears settles.
He feels Axel jerk him back a little—a bit late but it’s the thought that counts. He looks over at his friend who’s got worry all over his face and seems to be speaking a million miles a minute, not that Jesse could hear him quite yet. Jesse points to his own ears and understanding washes over Axel before he eases up into what looks like a laugh. Jesse smiles a little and gets a comforting arm slung over his shoulders.
It doesn’t last much longer after that, though it certainly doesn’t help the headache. It’s nice being just him, Axel, and Jack though, and despite how long the ride back is, his energy gets a little renewal. They set off on horseback back home with their extra horse in tow and it’s less grueling than Jesse was anticipating, though that’s not to say he wasn’t utterly drained.
They at least manage to exit the little valley by the time sunrise begins rolling around, and the familiar sight sends pangs of bittersweet nostalgia rippling through his chest. It’s been a while since he saw those early morning pinks, oranges, and purples on the edge of the forest line.
The rest of the ride back is pleasant but Jesse probably couldn’t recount it if he tried. The number of times he dozed off in the saddle was probably giving their ride to the Far Lands 6 years ago a run for its money—and that trip took weeks. He barely remembers when they got back into the walls of town, nonetheless who took care of the horses and where they went. Regardless of where the time went, the sun was already back in its descent when he looked up from the main street of town. He doesn’t recall how many people he waved to or mumbled greetings to as he mindlessly meandered through town—or even if he recognized any of them, but within a blink he was alone again. Suddenly he was just back at Lukas’ little house and desperately trying to remember where the hell he put that spare key.
He finally racks his brain successfully and plucks the little thing out of its hiding place (underneath the shell of a little turtle ornament in one of the flower pots). He fiddles with the lock and key, stumbling into the door to push it open. Entering the house, he was certainly less than graceful—he’d be lucky if rumors didn’t start spreading of him wandering about stoned or drunk. Shutting the door behind him he just drops the key on a nearby counter and begins ripping off his shoulder pads and gauntlets. He kicks his boots off and throws his satchel into the chair, not even thinking of anything else before collapsing face first onto the couch.
He heaves out a heavy sigh as he buries his face into one of the pillows. He still needs to find Lukas and Radar and let them know he’s back in town—they’ll probably worry otherwise. He’d told Lukas they’d be back today, sure, but with the sun setting he’s probably gonna get anxious, and Lukas Is certainly the calmer of the two. He grips the pillow a little in frustration and closes his eyes, trying to build the motivation to get back up and go back outside.
When he opens them again, he somehow feels more sluggish than he was when he walked inside. But he’s… warm? He squints and turns a little, catching his elbow on something on top of him. Frowning, he pushes himself up a little. He catches what’s on top of him with a squint. A blanket…? He rubs the soft fabric in his hand as he stares at it in utter confusion. He didn’t grab this when he laid down so how…
His stomach sinks. He jerks his head towards the window only to be greeted with complete darkness and stars sparkling down. He lets out a loud groan of frustration and drops back down on his back. He presses his palms into his eyes. Two seconds. He shut his eyes for two seconds.
“Hey there…” A soft voice pulls him out of his thoughts. He pulls his hands away and looks up, getting greeted by Lukas with a sympathetic smile. He sets his book down on the coffee table and sits on the edge of it. “Sorry for not waking you, you seemed pretty deep in it. Gave Radar a surprise to walk in and just see you here, but even his scream didn’t seem to bother you.” He chuckles a little and Jesse rubs his face, attempting a weak laugh. Poor kid.
“Is he alright?”
“Only worried about you.”
“And you?”
Lukas hums a little, amused. He shrugs, “Only worried about you.”
Jesse smiles a little at that. He nods, “Sorry… I meant to swing by and see both of you, I really did. I didn’t expect to just…” he mumbles, hitting one of the couch cushions for emphasis. Lukas smiles sympathetically.
“Don’t even worry about it, you’re back in one piece and that’s about all we could ask for.”
“Physically, anyways.” Jesse huffs, smiling bitterly. Lukas’ brows knit together and he tilts his head a little. Jesse stares up at him for a long minute, both scolding himself for saying that and considering how much energy it’ll take to explain. He fights the urge to tear up just thinking about how the previous night ended. He shouldn’t leave Lukas hanging now, though. Jesse exhales shakily and just shakes his head. He quietly pushes himself up into a sitting position. Seeing the extra space, Lukas pushes off the table and onto the couch.
“There was a fight. My uncle and Bruce they… They know each other and I guess had some kinda baggage from way back.”
“Woah, you serious?” Lukas leans forward a little, thinking hard to try and connect the two men in his mind. Jesse nods.
“Bruce apparently grew up with my dad and uncle along with another girl. But they had a big blow out around the time I came around. I knew it was bad from how they were talking about it on the way over, but I didn’t think it’d get so bad.”
“What happened…?”
“My uncle he… He…” He presses his lips into a tight line, eyes darkening, “He was initially fighting with Soren—yelling, pacing, throwing lightning, the whole nine yards. Then when we got up there, Bruce stepped in, and he—my uncle—he was already this wound up mess and—! God he just took things way too far.” He blows out a bewildered sigh and meets Lukas’ concerned eyes, “He could’ve killed him. And even if he hadn’t, he could’ve brought that cave down on us if he wasn’t careful—and he wasn’t.”
Lukas pales a little as he takes in the information. He scowls and leans forward, reaching over to rub Jesse’s back. He shakes his head, “That’s—! What was he thinking?”
“He wasn’t. I-I’m just—! I’m so mad but at the same time I understand, and I’m just—!” Jesse chokes, burying his head in his hands as he shakes his head. His voice is muffled as he speaks, “I don’t know what the hell I expected. But I just… Not that.”
“... What’d you do next?”
Jesse grimaces. He lets out a pathetic huff, shrugging as he stares down at his hands. “What else could I do? I told him to go home. I said if he was gonna act that way and sling accusations everywhere the moment he got stressed, then how could he expect me to rely on him? I can’t justify putting other people’s lives at risk to make him feel better. A-And I just…” He rubs his forehead, “What if I’ve made the wrong call, Lukas?”
“About including him in this?”
“About including him in general!” He huffs in frustration, sitting back against the couch now. He picks at his shirt collar as he speaks, “I was so caught up in the euphoria of actually having him back, that I don’t know if I really considered whether I should. It’s been twenty years. On top of all that he’s not the same, he’s got… All that… A-And I can’t fucking stand Romeo! I know he didn’t know but—!” He just stops and shakes his head, sniffling a little. He sighs and rubs his eyes in frustration. Lukas blows out his own sigh, slowly nodding as the information sinks in. Jesse watches him think expectantly—if anyone had an answer it was gonna be Lukas. Eventually he frowns but opens his mouth again.
“I think you should take some time to rest. You’re in no state to make such big decisions right now, okay?” He nudges him a little, “So get that stubborn look off your face and just… Focus on being here. Being home—in Beacontown. I know that’s probably easier said than done, but…”
“No, no, that’s a good idea. There’s nothing I’d love more than to just— just forget about last night for a while. As stupid as that sounds after everything so far…” He scoffs, scolding himself.
“You don’t have to tell me everything that went down in that cave right now, Jess…” Lukas speaks quietly and Jesse nods.
“Thanks Lukas. I really appreciate this and… and you. A-And all of the support you’ve offered…”
“I’m just sorry I wasn’t there for you while it happened.” He frowns and Jesse smiles just a little. He shakes his head.
“It’s fine. Like I guessed, getting back here with a fresh set of faces and not having to think about all that is going to do wonders. Besides, Axel was a pretty great support. Just the guy I needed.”
“Good to hear.” He says with a smile. Then he pauses and that smile turns into a smirk, “I bet he really laid into your uncle after that shitshow, huh?”
“I didn’t hear it but I have no doubt in my mind that he did. So much for not wanting to be on his bad side.” He hums and the two chuckle a little at the thought. Good old Axel.
They sit there quietly after that. It doesn’t take long for Jesse to retreat into his own mind again, not that he enjoys it. He couldn’t stop himself from running through everything over and over again though—too tired to pull his mind away from it. He blows out a sigh and rubs his temples before dropping his head in his hands again. Too much. Way too much to think about now.
He hears a murmur from Lukas, but doesn’t register what he says until he feels a tentative arm wrap around his shoulders. He blinks a little in confusion, but eases up as Lukas pulls him into a hug. It’s warm. He buries his face into Lukas’ shoulder and shudders out a breath, clutching to him like a lifeline. Lukas tightens his arms around him and hearing his breathing is the most serene sound he’s heard in what feels like eons.
It’s cozy here in this house, and more than inviting. He’s safe like this. He can’t be bothered like this. His thoughts can swirl and storm in his mind all they wanted, but they won’t get to him for a while.
Chapter 23: Operation Reconciliation
Summary:
Jesse takes some downtime to organize and take care of his father's other old journals as well as help a friend with their own attempted reunion
Notes:
Sorry for the sudden month and a half long gap! Didn't intend for that to happen but literally everything just happened at once from my mom breaking her dominant wrist, to finals, to me needing to reorganize and redo my notes for this upcoming section. But!! Things are easing up again and I've already got a jumpstart on the next part so ideally we'll be back on schedule with updates every two weeks now!
Chapter Text
Jesse dumps the contents of his cardboard box out across the dark hardwood floors as he sits back down. A cloud of dust immediately billows out as everything hits the ground. He grimaces and bats a hand around in front of him, coughing as the musty smell of mildew hits him hard. Maybe he should’ve been a bit gentler about this rather than just dumping all these things across the floor. They were his father’s after all. A pang of guilt shoots through him as he picks up the first of the many old leather journals. He was letting his impatience and frustration get to him again. He blows out a sigh, more dust floating up and dancing in the sunlight streaming in.
“Sorry dad… That was stupid of me, I know…” He mumbles quietly as he reaches out across the mess of old journals, papers, pens and quills. He begins picking up the journals and separating them from the miscellaneous contents.
It was just him today—not that the others realized it yet. Admittedly, he left without much of a word. Not something he was particularly proud of, but he didn’t want looks of pity so early in the morning. They’d probably call him a hypocrite too—but really this was different. He wasn’t going through his father’s things for answers, no, not this morning. This was… Well, perhaps this was part of the mourning process—something he never allowed himself. He just missed him, and he wanted to allow himself that for once.
… Not to mention everything was a haphazard mess. He hadn’t exactly been kind to his father’s things in the years since leaving. In his teen years he’d made a few quiet trips to the house and back to make sure the important things weren’t looted. But once they were loaded into their boxes and shoved into some dark corner of the attic, he didn’t dare to even think about them. He pauses a moment to wonder what all is even left of that house. If the record player from his childhood is even still there. He’d avoided it like the plague since playing those disks—even when he returned to pick things up—like it was somehow cursed. But it was something his father had since he was young too. Another wave of regret wells up at that thought and he just shuts his eyes tight and shakes his head—nothing he can do about it right now. He can’t be brash.
Speaking of music, he sighs and relaxes a bit, focusing on the tune echoing through the still empty room of his apartment. He didn’t want to sit and do this in silence, so he mustered the courage to pick one of his old favorites. He had to reset it every once in a while when the track finished its loop, but he fell back into the habit naturally despite all of the years. He took a good 20 minutes at the start to just sit and soak it all in, in addition to letting himself feel whatever it is he ended up feeling. He’d cried, of course, but one of the many weights he’s held has been removed from his shoulders. He got to watch the sun rise with his father’s music playing—something he hasn’t experienced in years. It was one of the more relaxing tunes, too. He used to love putting it on to read or paint when he was little.
With three distinct piles now, Jesse turns to the journals. Some were in worse shape than others, and whether that was due to age or just sheer neglect, he wasn’t quite sure. Only one way to find out though, and he has plenty of loose pages to put back into place. He plucks the top one off of the pile—a greying red leather with dulled gold accents—and begins to undo the strap. His father always wrote in the top left of the cover. Basic things, such as name, age, date started and date finished, and potentially where to contact him if the book was lost. Jesse huffs a little at that as he reads the name of a small town post office. If only it were that easy these days.
This was definitely an older one, his age written down was only 21—younger than Jesse is now. It’s hard to imagine, but definitely made easier considering this little journal is packed with his thoughts for most of that year. He smiles a little and flips to a random page.
May 13,
Today we went to the mountains to get some goat horns.
Bruce scoped out the area on one of his previous solo-runs, and the horn he came back with has Hiro OBSESSED. The sound of that thing is going to be ringing in my nightmares. Turnabout’s fair play though if I could get my hands on one, which was the plan. The hard part? Actually getting the thing. For their horns to fall off the goats HAVE to slam into something, and the quickest way to do that?
Piss ‘em off.
Thankfully, my brother is an annoying bastard. He didn’t seem to appreciate my honesty the way Bruce and Alex did. He was real good at playing bait though! He should be proud.
He tapped out once getting two though. One for him, and one for Alex, who he didn’t want getting hurt. Him and his babying. She immediately declined and hopped down from our perch on a close-by outcropping to antagonize as many goats as she could. She came back with a haul only heard about in LEGENDS. Hiro was so mad!
Then it was my turn and, honestly, there’s no way to beat her record so I won’t bore you with the deta—
The rest of the sentence is hastily scribbled out in red ink. Jesse furrows his brows at just how sloppy this bit is until he gets to the new words. A new set of handwriting—one he’s begun to recognize. He grins.
HE ATE SHIT! IDIOT GOT PUNTED BY ONE GOAT THEN THROWN AROUND LIKE A VOLLEYBALL!
THAT’S KARMA! DIDN’T EVEN GET A GOAT HORN!
Below that, in the same colored ink, is a crude drawing of the event with a bunch of arrows pointing to it. Jesse cups a hand to his mouth and his shoulders shake as he quietly laughs. It took up the rest of the page, save for a small line at the bottom. Another bit of black ink catches his eye in the bottom corner. A small note. Short. Succinct. To the point.
Note to Self: Disown Shithead Brother
Jesse’s laugh echoes through the large room. It was funny seeing his father be so snarky and vulgar. He didn’t swear that often around Jesse of course, so this was definitely a treat. A new sense of excitement wells up in his chest as he turns to the pile of papers nearby—he’s pretty sure he saw an entry with the same year marked somewhere…
“There you are!” A new voice echoes through the room and Jesse looks up in surprise. Lukas greets him with a small smile, arms crossed a bit uncertainly. He moves further into the room and continues, “Sorry for barging in and interrupting. I just— Well I didn’t see you this morning and wanted to make sure everything was alright.”
Jesse rubs his cheek, feeling his face heat up from a bit of embarrassment now. “Sorry for worrying you. I’m okay though just…” He shakes the journal in his hand, “Busy, I guess.”
“This is a nice place to do it at least…” He hums and meanders in further, eyeing the record player as it continues its tune. “... Is this one of your father’s disks?”
“It is.” Jesse nods, turning back to the pile of papers as he does. Lukas nods and glances over the record’s cover and name—’Mall’. He smiles a little. Eventually he makes his way over to where Jesse’s sitting and checks out his current project. Jesse feels himself tense a little at the questions he knows are coming. He hears him let out a quiet sigh from over his shoulder.
“You look rough… Tell me you at least tried sleeping a little last night.”
Jesse shuts his eyes and blows out his own sigh, “Lukas, please…”
“Did you?” His voice is firm, but looking up at him, his eyes are gentle. Jesse can only look at them for so long. He fiddles with the journal in his hand.
“I’m… I’m preoccupied.” He mumbles and Lukas crouches down by him now, a tentative hand placed on his shoulder.
“I know. But you’re gonna run yourself into the ground like this…” Lukas pauses, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, I don’t mean to nag you. I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing.”
“It’s alright, I get it. I’d probably be doing the same in your shoes.” He smiles a little and Lukas huffs, matching it. Jesse lights up a bit more and nods to his piles, “Really though, I’m not focusing on any of the stuff from the past few days. These poor things have just been cooped up in boxes so long that they’re utter messes. Figured I could at least try cleaning them up a little and organizing them.”
Lukas hums in interest. He reaches a hand out then pauses, glancing to Jesse briefly for permission, which he grants. He gently pushes through the pile of old journals, plucking up an old book that got mixed in with this. An old mining guide. Definitely worn from use and age. It had a light blue cover with the simple drawing of a pickaxe. Jesse beams.
“Oh shit! I didn’t know that got mixed in here! Guess that makes sense though…” He trails off and Lukas raises a brow. Jesse grins and reaches over, opening it to the front cover for him and pointing to the writing in it.
To my adventurous sons, Steven and Hiro,
Only ten years old and yet, I can tell you boys are bound for marvelous things. But what’s a good adventure without a little bit of treasure to speak for it? The sooner you get these skills down, the more time you have for grand adventures. Be safe, and make us proud! I have the utmost faith in you two. Have each other’s backs and you will accomplish great things.
Be smart!
Papa
Lukas lights up with a smile. “This is the guide you mentioned! The one from your grandfather!”
“Sure is! Was buried at the bottom of my satchel for years before I decided to move it—I just forgot which box I shoved it in. This one makes sense though, considering.”
“Are these mainly just your father’s journals then?”
“Yeah, though obviously a few of his old books have gotten mixed in. Again—wasn’t exactly focused on organizing it until now.” He turns back to the papers and finally plucks up the one he remembers seeing. Lukas watches as he flips open the journal and quickly flies through the pages, trying to find the right place to stick the loose page. Eventually he finds the gap in dates and carefully sets it back in with a smile.
“Your father had nice handwriting.” Lukas mumbles, nodding in approval. Jesse smiles and nods in agreement. Lukas smirks and lightly elbows him, “You should take note.” Jesse balks, gasping a little.
“Oh come on! Not all of us can be as perfect as you are, Lukas.” He gives him a shove in the arm while Lukas just laughs.
They fall into a comfortable lull after that. Jesse goes back to his organization now with the added help of Lukas. Jesse shares the little drawing Hiro made alongside the story about the goat horns, and they take turns reading any funny snippets they find while putting loose pages away. There was certainly plenty of content to keep them occupied; the four of them struggling to free their boat that’d run aground on some icecaps (Hiro got dunked in ice water), their first Nether excursion (Alex accidentally shot his father in the leg instead of the very angry Hoglin), and the time they accidentally set their neighbor’s wheat fields on fire with some fireworks—just to name a few.
Sharing these was… Nice. Surprisingly nice.
Lukas always had a good cadence for reading, and he was both patient and respectful. He’d always been the one Jesse figured he’d share these entries with first. He’s happy he is, too. They don’t read too far into his father’s life, and drop off around the time Jesse was born. He didn’t want to think about how his father handled the fallout with Bruce or loss of his uncle just yet. The silly stories of his misadventures were good enough.
“No way!” Lukas laughs and Jesse perks up. The blonde leans over and holds out the particular journal entry, tapping it for emphasis. “This is the story Gabe told us last week! About the run-in your father and uncle had with the order!”
“Woah!” Jesse yanks the journal out of his hands probably a little too excitedly, eyes quickly scanning the page. Jesse grins, chuckling a little before he straightens, holds the book up, and clears his throat, “ ‘I expected backlash were we to be caught by those—’” He pauses, struggling to keep his composure, “Hoo, okay, ‘were we to be caught by those pompous uptight posers who’d so generously given away every detail of their excursion. Ideally, Hiro and I would be long gone before that happened, but it was best to expect the worst. That said, being called a ‘Unscrupulous, thieving, bottom-of-the-barrel cur’ by a now screaming Ellegaard was simultaneously the most terrifying and thrilling part of the day. I’m certain that, had she not been held back by her teammates, we would be bed ridden for a few months at the minimum.’” Jesse laughs, shaking his head a little, “Yeah, I’d say that lines up with what Magnus, Soren and Gabe said.”
“That’s amazing!” Lukas laughs, “I can’t believe they really ran into each other like that! Oh Ivor would get a kick out of this.” He shakes his head with a grin as he rereads the passage over Jesse’s shoulder.
“Oh god, he’d be cackling every two words with how my dad wrote this. Look at this!” He points to an earlier section and holds it up to Lukas. “ ‘This ‘Order’ was so preoccupied with glory and ego that just a few plastered smiles and compliments had them bending over backwards to flaunt every intimate detail of their plan. A child is more difficult to get information out of.’ Like goddamn, dad! He went home and just decided to skin them!” Jesse laughs.
“I see where you get it now.” Lukas teases and Jesse flushes with a lopsided grin.
“Oh man, I’m not that bad am I?”
Lukas purses his lips and looks upwards as he thinks, taking his time. Jesse gasps in mock offense which draws another laugh out of Lukas. Jesse fake pouts and claps the little journal shut before setting it down.
“You’ve wounded me, Lukas. Wounded me!”
“Now you’re just acting like that dramatic uncle of yours.” Lukas snorts and Jesse chuckles but quickly feels his chest tighten. Ugh. That dramatic uncle of his. He subconsciously clenches his fist and makes a noise of disapproval as his mind quickly races through the other night. Lukas’ eyes immediately widen, “Oh shit— I’m sorry, Jess, I didn’t mean to—”
Jesse practically jumps as he snaps back to the present. He immediately eases up and waves his hands. “No! No! I-It’s okay! I appreciate the sentiment, really.” He smiles tiredly and lightheartedly rolls his eyes, “That whole… Shit at the cave is just still irking me. I know you didn’t mean anything like that.”
“Yeah, still…” Lukas huffs out a sigh, shaking his head. Jesse frowns and just opts to rub his arm. He was good at beating himself up for little things as Jesse’s come to discover. Though his own definition of “little things” was probably a little skewed at this point in his life, so that probably didn’t help. Lukas eventually hums and plucks another book from the pile. It’s another regular book that got mixed in, however considerably higher quality than that old miner’s guide. Jesse watches as he flips it over with his brows furrowed.
His demeanor flips like a switch.
“Holy—!” Lukas gasps as he yanks the book close, now studying it with zeal. Jesse blinks at the sharp change. Glimmering eyes meet his own as Lukas clasps one of Jesse’s hands with his free hand, “This is a collector’s edition of one of my favorite series of all time! Do you know how impossible these are to find?!” He beams and Jesse just smiles sheepishly, shaking his head. Lukas gasps, grin spreading as he slaps the book down in his lap and straightens. Jesse knows that look. That’s the look of a man about to drop a whole encyclopedia entry on him.
He recognizes the book he has, of course. It was always much higher quality than the other books his father owned. It was a dark green hardback with gilded gold pages, a matching ribbon, and a title in the same style. No picture on the cover or back, just the lettering for the title and volume number—it was one in a set. ‘Doc Kelley: Volume IV’. Jesse had seen those books proudly displayed on their own dedicated shelf all his life with his father rereading them consistently. He never read them to Jesse though, claiming they’d just give him nightmares or ‘bad ideas’. Considering his track record, that was probably a good call for his already protective father to make.
“This is one of the Doc Kelley books! Well— Okay, you knew that from the title I bet.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know anything about the guy past that.” He chuckles and Lukas looks downright offended.
“Jesse. This guy was like. THE adventurer of all adventurers! A-At least until the Order showed up! But he’s been around MUCH longer. Kinda hard to tell what of these books are fact and what are fiction anymore if I’m being honest—things have become so embellished over time. But this collection is made up of copies of Doc’s original manuscripts! There were supposed to be many more copies distributed as an anniversary package, but there was a fire in the midst of development.” He sighs, shaking his head, “It destroyed the originals along with all of the materials used to create these copies. On top of that, due to production already stalling past their initial release date, any finished copies were sent out immediately so they had no more to easily reference.
“Retellings came out after—the stories were so popular amongst families and adventurers they just had to—but they kinda went off the rails because finding an original to reference was super hard, and the stories had already been so exaggerated by word of mouth that it got to a point where making things up was better for business.” Lukas rolls his eyes as he says this. “I mean, I get it—I guess—but frankly I find reality much more interesting in cases like these.” He holds the book up with a grin as he says this and Jesse beams.
“Huh! Interesting development.” He flicks a finger at the book and nods, “I remember my dad saying that those were a birthday present. His tenth one, I believe.”
“How—” He hesitates a moment, grimacing, but gingerly asks anyways, “How old would your dad have been this year…?”
Jesse blows out a breath and forces himself to do the math quick, “He was… My age when I came around—26. So, around 52-ish now.”
Lukas hums and flicks his fingers up in succession, seemingly doing some math in his head before giving a satisfied nod. “Your dad was lucky then! He got one of those early copies before the fire hit.”
“Cool to know! When did these books come into your life?”
“Ah! Heh, well, probably wasn’t the wisest thing since we always had trouble sleeping after, but Aiden’s dad used to read them to us when we were growing up. He was a total fanatic, too. His enthusiasm for them was totally ingrained into the both of us. He had the embellished ones, but he had grown up with the original stories too so he knew what was changed and what was the same.” He beams and leans forward with a chuckle, “Aiden and I would always argue over which of us got to play as Doc when we played ‘adventurer’. Maya, Gill, and Petra always thought we were insufferable for it.”
“Wow! That’s totally sweet, Lukas!” Jesse smiles, looking over the book again. “I guess that’s my cue to actually start reading again, huh? I’m sure I’ve got the others in one of these boxes. I know I grabbed the whole collection…” He mumbles, grunting a bit as he pushes up off the ground. He walks over to grab his last box of books—either they were in here or still packed away in the old treehouse attic. He heaves it up and begins walking back over, Lukas meeting him halfway and already starting to dig through the contents. Jesse smiles, feeling his cheeks burn a little—it was great seeing him so excited. He internally thanks his father for being such a nerd. Right away he could see some more of those gold pages glinting in the light as Lukas dug around. He sets the box down and both sit down to dig through its contents.
Jesse pauses not long into this, hearing something outside his apartment. He looks back towards his front door, unsure, and not quite being able to see past the archway. Lukas pays him little to no mind, completely focused. Those were… Footsteps? Quick ones it sounded like. His gut twists a little, hopefully nothing was wrong. The windows were cracked and he didn’t hear screaming yet. Right as he gets up to go check, his door slams open with a resounding BANG. Lukas finally perks up at this and another person hurries into the room, face flushed and out of breath as she slides to a stop in the archway.
“Petra?” Jesse balks and the girl in question heaves a sigh of relief as a grin sweeps across her face.
“Finally!!! I was looking everywhere for you guys!” She pauses, rubbing her cheek, “Well, Lukas mainly, but I can pick both of your brains.” She crosses her arms with a confident huff and Jesse just blinks.
“Okaaaay… What’s with the marathon sprint here?” He laughs a little and Petra rolls her eyes as she lets out a groan.
“Dude, Stella’s in the city. She saw me and tried to wave me over! Then when I turned she started running! So I did too! Please hide me here.” She clasps her hands together and peeks down at him through one open eye and Jesse just laughs. He waves her further into the apartment.
“The more the merrier!”
“You’re the best!” She grins and gives him a quick squeeze from behind before bouncing over to Lukas, greeting him with a small high five. She whistles as her gaze pans over the somewhat organized mess they’ve got sprawled across the floor. “You two have been busy!”
“Eh, haven’t exactly been working too hard.” Jesse shrugs and he stuffs his hands into his pockets. “What’d you wanna, quote-unquote, ‘pick our brains’ about?”
Petra hesitates now, biting her lip and swaying on her feet. She pulls her satchel up to her chest and hugs it, sucking a tense breath in through her teeth as she hums in thought.
“Well… It’s kinda a long story?”
“We’ve got time.” Lukas smiles and Jesse nods in agreement as he finds a place to sit back down. Petra bites the inside of her cheek as she stares between the two then sucks in a large breath and nods. She sits down quickly with a thud, brows furrowing as an air of sternness washes over her.
“I’ve… I’ve been doing some thinking and reflecting of my own since all this—” She waves her hand in a circle, glancing down at the journals as she does, “—started. I wasn’t gonna do anything about it originally but… Finding your uncle in the Nether? I-I dunno, it had me feeling a kinda way!” She sighs and flips open her satchel, tossing aside a few freshly crumpled papers and pulling out a notebook and pen. Lukas’ eyes widen suddenly.
“Wait, Petra, is this about your…?” He trails off quietly and she nods. He nods slowly in understanding, his own brows furrowing. Jesse looks between the two uncertainly. Noticing this, Petra offers a weak smile.
“I’ve got an older sister out there. One I wanna work things out with. We… haven’t really talked since I walked out as a teenager.” She quickly waves her hands around, pen and paper still gripped tight, “She was good! I gotta preface this with that! She was really really great to me and did her damn best. Things just got…” She trails off, definitely uncomfortable.
“Tense?” Lukas adds gently and she nods again.
“Yeah.”
“What happened?” Jesse mumbles, worry sweeping over him as he looks between his friends. Lukas only rubs his neck and Petra grimaces. “S-Sorry. I don’t mean to be so blunt.”
“It’s all good, I was gonna figure out a way to tell you guys anyways.” She says with a nervous laugh and shrug. She blows some of her bangs out of her face and scrunches up her nose as she thinks. “Basically we just… We needed different things from each other that neither of us could provide.” She relaxes a little, “Our parents were always super protective. Very prim and proper and coddley—drove my sister insane growing up, especially because she started out pretty meek and let them walk all over her. Over time though, she wanted to be outside and learn how to handle herself, how to be this rough and tumble kid! That caused a lot of strain between her and my parents, and she walked out when I was around a year old and she was 19.”
“Wow… I’m sorry to hear that...” Jesse shares a look of sympathy with her.
“Yeah, thanks Jesse.” Petra sighs, “There’s… more to the story though, unfortunately.” She rubs her arms and both men reach out to offer some support. She swallows and clears her throat, trying to keep her voice steady. Lukas gently interrupts.
“Petra, you don’t have to share more than you need to. It’s okay…”
She fervently shakes her head, “No, I wanna tell you guys. I’ve already talked with Jack and Nurm about this whole thing. But you guys are my best friends, and, admittedly, I think you two could help me write something to her better than Jack and Nurm.”
“Alright… As long as you’re okay with this.” Jesse nods to her sternly.
She smiles and sets down her notebook to squeeze his hand, “I got this! I went through it once already and it honestly felt really good, so I got this!” She grins and sucks in another breath before continuing her story. “My parents tried again with making a little princess out of me. But—even earlier on than my sister—I was being rebellious, rough, and overall just the opposite of what they wanted out of a kid. I was pretty young so I don’t remember things super clearly but um… I-It was rough.”
Both men nod solemnly and Jesse’s stomach twists at the mere thought. Petra continues.
“My sister came back one day and she came back in a rush. All I remember is sitting in my room playing, hearing the door slam downstairs, my parents yelling, and then my sister coming into my room with a smile. She told me things would be ‘okay now’ then packed my little duffel bag with all my favorite clothes and toys. Then she just,” She flicks her wrist, “picked me up and walked out with me.” Her eyes grow sad while she fiddles with the pen in her hands, “She kept my head down, so I wouldn’t see either of our parents. But I heard the way they were screaming at her, calling her awful things. Calling me awful things… Heard some things shattering back in the house, and honestly I’m just really glad she came and got me out of there.”
“That was a brave thing for her to do…” Jesse mumbles, “Especially with just… How your parents sound. I’m sorry they treated the both of you like that.”
Petra smiles, swatting some tears out of her eyes and trying to laugh off the tension. “I-It’s all good! It was a lot to work through, but I-I’m doin’ better. Still stings though.”
“No shame in that… You deserved better.” Lukas reassures.
“Thanks guys… You’re super sweet.” She smiles nervously and the three of them share a chuckle and some pats on the back. “Um, but basically like, after that whole mess got sorted out it was just me and her! And for most of it, it was really really nice! We had our occasional problems, of course, but like, nothing out of ordinary family shit. But there was this constant problem that we kept bumping into. And I think it comes down to me needing a mom while she just wanted her little sister.” She sighs and Lukas hums in understanding. She offers a sad smile and rubs her neck. “Things just kinda built up on top of that and as I got older we got into more fights. Eventually, when I was 17, it all just boiled over and I walked out just like she did. But I never went back…” She mumbles the last bit, and a new heaviness hangs over the three of them as she gives a rather meek shrug.
Jesse scoots closer and gently pulls her into a tight hug. She lets out a heavy sigh and sniffles a bit, eventually burying her head into his shoulder and squeezing back. Lukas leans over to rub her back. They stay that way for some time. Quiet, just listening to the music play and the faint whitenoise of Beacontown streaming in from the cracked windows. Her breathing is shuddery, but aside from that, she doesn’t easily show how upset she is.
The music fades out and the track skips. Jesse’s eyes snap to it. “Damn thing…” He grumbles to himself with a sigh. Petra smiles and eases her grip, pulling back from the hug. He offers her an apologetic look, “Let me take that thing off, I don’t want that eargrating skipping going as you talk with us.”
“It’s all good.” She laughs a little and Jesse smiles before racing over to take the vinyl off the record player. As he fiddles with it all, she turns her attention to Lukas. “A-Anyways, the gist is that I’ve been trying to write a letter to her, but I just can’t get the words right. I wanna fix things. I know I was hurting when I left, but so was she, and it’s eating me up.” She sighs with a shrug, exhaustion finally showing, “Any advice mister Writing God?”
Lukas laughs a little sheepishly and takes a moment to think. “Well… I think getting to the point and saying some of the things you’ve told us will definitely help. I get the feeling you weren’t exactly able to articulate what was causing all that tension to begin with back then, right?”
“Yeah! It was mind boggling once it hit me, too!”
“I take it you wanna send these via post, right?” Jesse asks as he walks back over. Petra nods.
“Ideally. I don’t exactly know where she’s staying permanently though… B-But I have a few references!”
“She travels?” Lukas’ brows shoot up and Petra looks at him like he’s stupid.
“Yeah dude! She’s like me! Where do you think I got it from, huh?” She grins and playfully nudges him. Jesse hums in thought and nods, walking off again. He has some spare envelopes, stamps, and ink around here somewhere. He ducks into the room turning into his home office space and begins digging through the drawers.
“What are those references you got, Pet?” He calls back as he looks.
“She’d send me letters!” She yells back, making Lukas flinch at the sudden volume. “She wrote to me pretty consistently for a while! But I uhh… Well, I never responded and eventually they kinda stopped. I have the return addresses though! I figure I could just send a buncha copies out to all of ‘em and one of them would hit eventually!”
“That’s one way to do it!” Jesse calls back with a bit of a laugh. Shooting in the dark, not like they haven’t done that before. He’s got the envelopes, the stamps, and he finally digs a new inkwell out from the back of his bottom drawer. He walks back into the room and offers Petra the supplies before sitting back down with a sigh. “Okay, is there anything else we should know as reference before we start workshopping?”
Petra scrunches her nose and taps her chin with the pen. “I mean… Not that I can think of? I was thinking of telling her I’ll be around Beacontown though if she ever wants to talk. Even if I’m out and about, I make frequent enough pitstops for it to be worth mentioning.”
“Sounds good. You can point her in my direction if you’d like.”
“Oh yeah! She doesn’t even know I know you!” Petra laughs a little, shaking her head, “Oh man, I’d probably give her a heart attack telling her about all the stuff we’ve done.”
“Welcome to the club!” Jesse laughs and extends his hand. Petra shakes it with a grin.
“Ah, so your uncle IS a worrywart!”
“Alas, it’s true.” He heaves another overdramatic sigh as he holds a hand over his heart. Petra lets out a curt ‘Ha!’ before letting go and pulling her notebook into her lap. She sucks in a deep breath. Here goes.
“Hey, guys?” She mumbles, looking between the both of them earnestly. “Thanks. I know this is a heavy thing to just drop—especially for you, Jess—but… I really really appreciate it.”
“Of course Petra.” Lukas smiles. Jesse nods in agreement and gives her shoulder a comforting squeeze.
“Just ‘cuz I’m dealing with my own chaotic family doesn’t mean I won’t help you with yours. Honestly, helping solve someone else’s problem is a breath of fresh air over here!” He huffs and rolls his eyes, making Petra laugh.
She shakes her head and snags him by the neck for another hug. “Ugh! You’re such an awesome little guy, y’know that?”
“You really gotta bring up my height at every opportunity, huh.”
“In my defense, it’s very endearing!” She grins as she releases him. “Agree with me, Lukas!”
“Do not encourage her, Lukas.”
He just raises his hands with a chuckle, “I am staying out of this one.”
“Booooo! You’re no fun.” She pouts then cracks her knuckles. “Alright, focusing time. Let’s get this done.”
Jesse nods and claps his hands together. “Okay! Operation Reconciliation is a go!”
Chapter 24: Errand-Boys
Summary:
The gang finish up and head out to get Petra's letters in the mail. They stop by Ivor and Harper's as well and end up getting a few updates.
Notes:
OUGH sorry this is a few days later than my typical Saturday upload--Last Sunday the first trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4 dropped which I stayed up for then I went and saw Sonic 2 on Tuesday and it was SO GOOD and I've already seen it three times. A brief glance at the fandoms I've made works for I think is the best environmental storytelling for why I was out of commission for a hot minute 😭😭😭
brain SO SO SO full rn and GODDDD FEELING SO FUCKING VINDICATED AS A SONIC FAN RN LETS FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THE MOVIE'S SO GOOD EVERYONE GO SEE IT ESPECIALLY IF UR A YE OLDE SONIC FAN LIKE ME 🙏🙏🙏💙
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Workshopping the perfect letter is a lot easier to do with 3 brains instead of one. Sure, it’d taken a lot of crumpled paper, some spilt ink, and a few hours to push the day into the afternoon, but it was done.
Well, for the most part.
Jesse sucks a sharp breath in through his teeth and curses under his breath as he shakes out his hand. Petra cocks a brow at him and Lukas just grins.
“Ahhh, papercuts. Welcome to my own personal hell, Jesse!”
“Those suckers are worse than getting stabbed I swear!” Jesse laughs and shakes his head as he finishes putting one letter in its envelope and seals it tight. They’ve now got an impressive stack of copied letters to send out to each return address Petra’s got written down. They probably would’ve been done sooner, but Lukas’ inner writer took over and made Petra re-write her final version a few more times to “find the perfect wording.” It was both agonizing and endearing.
Jesse stretches his wrists. He hasn’t written the same thing on repeat like that for a good while. Taking a glance at his hands he’s reminded why he tries not to—the amount of random ink he’s managed to get on himself is honestly impressive. How on Earth he manages to be so messy with the simplest of pens has always been beyond him. He claps said messy hands together and smiles.
“Looks like we’re off to the post office now, eh?”
“Looks like it…” Petra smiles, shaking her head a little at the pile they’ve amassed. “It’s weird seeing how many there actually are! I mean, geez, I knew my sister moved around a lot, but how many are there?” She picks a few envelopes up and drops them again in emphasis. Lukas purses his lips and hums as he picks up their reference paper and begins counting.
“Let’s see here… Twenty-seven!”
Jesse whistles as he adds his last one to the pile. “That’s as solid a start as any! Honestly, I’ve got a good feeling about this for you. I know the world’s pretty big, but some of these places she’s marked are pretty popular—I’m sure she’ll be back to one at some point. Who knows, maybe we’ll catch her in one of these places before she heads out for the summer months.”
“Assuming she didn’t burst out of the house the moment the frost disappeared.” Petra snorts, “She’s totally stir crazy, dude. I appreciate the enthusiasm though!”
Jesse smiles a little sheepishly and Lukas nudges her, “Hey, just another thing you’ve got in common.”
“I hope that’s a compliment.” She laughs a little and pulls her satchel around to her front, scrunching up her nose in thought as she looks between it and the thick stack of letters. “I think I’ll be able to fit all those in here, but I’m probably gonna have to clear all my stuff outta here first…” She mumbles as she begins to dig around in her bag. Lukas frowns in confusion.
“Your bag’s pretty big, I think those could fit without you emp—”
Petra yanks out a redstone comparator and drops it onto the floor with a heavy thud. Lukas’ words catch in his throat. He sucks in a breath to speak once, twice, three times before completely deflating and just sitting back to watch. Jesse follows up his thought.
“... What on Earth do you have a comparator for?”
“I dunno! Think I stole it from a jungle temple!” She shrugs nonchalantly and continues dropping random items. There’s a nautilus shell. A piece of a fern. Several netherbricks. A bottle of lime green dye. A whole skull. And frankly, both men stop trying to ask her questions when she rolls a pufferfish across the floor. She lights up. “Oh my gosh! I knew I had some spare in here!” She beams as she pulls out a handful of spare emeralds and Jesse just huffs in amusement. She pockets those and goes back to digging. “Almost there… Oh! Here, Jesse, hold out your hands for me, would you?”
Jesse and Lukas share a cautious glance and Jesse just shakes his head with a smile before he does as told. Might as well. Petra grips his hands and yanks them a bit closer, making sure he cups them a little. In one swift motion she scoops up something from the bottom of her bag and dumps it in Jesse’s palms. A small cloud of the stuff whooshes out from the quick movement and Jesse coughs and tries to blow it back only for it to get stuck to him and sparkle with that familiar warm glow.
“Glowstone dust?! Petra!” He groans and she laughs as he begins looking around at the mess that’s now coating him and his spot on the ground. “Ughhh… Well, guess it was bound to get tracked into this place eventually. Guess I’m stuck in glitter-hell.”
“Ha! Hey it could be worse! After all, I could've done this!” She leans over and blows a big burst of dust right off his hands and into his face. Lukas gasps and immediately claps a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing as Petra darts backward.
“That’s it!” Jesse scrambles to his feet and races after her, glowstone dust cupped tightly in his hands. Petra yelps and lets out a string of curses as they sprint around the apartment. She’s got the longer legs, but Jesse’s always been fast. It doesn’t take long for him to reach out and snag her which jerks her back. He grins and dumps the rest of the dust on her as she wrenches her arm free and stumbles away. He quickly reaches down and scoops up a smaller handful from the extra that fell and chases after her again.
“LUKAS HELP MEEEE!” She cries as she crashes into the man, forcing him to stumble and drop her now paper-filled satchel.
“ACK! PETRA! No way! I am NOT your human shield!” He laughs nervously as Jesse sprints over. He scrambles to try and unhook Petra from him only for her to swing him around in front of her as Jesse winds up a throw. “JESS!” He points at the man, warning him with a sharp look as well. Jesse stops just a second before launching the dust. Petra peeks out with a shit-eating grin from behind Lukas and Jesse smirks. He runs closer, trying to run around Lukas to the side she’s on. She catches on quickly and keeps yanking Lukas around to keep herself completely opposite to Jesse.
“Oh c’mon Pet! Scared?” Jesse teases and Petra giggles.
“I just think that we should all be included in the action, right Lukas?”
“If you guys get that crap in my hair I swear—”
“Ooooh, so the rest’s free reign!” Saying this she claps her dust-coated hands onto his cheeks then bounces back out of reach. Jesse laughs and Lukas lets out a long, very measured sigh. He gestures Jesse over with a finger. He moves, although not without his guard up. Lukas pulls his jacket sleeves up to his elbows and holds his hands out.
“Gimme the dust. Watch this.” Admittedly curious, Jesse complies—much to Petra’s apparent horror.
“Learned this trick from ol’ Gil when we’d use glowstone in our builds.” Lukas spits into the dust in his hands and begins crushing it before slowly turning to Petra. “Just a little bit of spit,”
“Ohhh shit…” Petra bounces on her feet as she scans the room for some type of cover. She starts running back towards the bookshelves.
“Some pressure,” He winds up his arm, focusing carefully on his aim. “Aaaaand…!” He launches the now fairly solid ball of glowstone straight at Petra’s back. It hits dead center with a solid ‘THWACK’ and explodes into a cloud of glitter. Petra stumbles with a yell and Jesse gasps.
“BOOM! DUST BOMB!” Lukas pumps his arm, yelling in triumph.
“Holy shit!” Jesse runs a hand through his hair as he laughs.
“WOO! BULLSEYE!”
“Our star pitcher at it again!” Jesse says as he gives him a small round of applause.
Lukas grins as he stretches his arms over his chest. “It’s like riding a bike. Sheer muscle memory, baby!”
“Ugh… Show-off.” Petra grumbles as she shuffles back over, now thoroughly a human disco-ball.
“You asked for it!” Lukas laughs and she reaches out to smear more dust on him—his jacket this time. He just watches blandly. “Wowwwww. Right. On. The leather.”
“Okay, I feel a little better now.” She smiles and shrugs, turning back to Jesse. He chuckles with a nod.
“Good to hear. Guess we get to walk around town like this now, eh?”
“Guess so!” She steps forward and plucks her satchel off the ground and slings it back over her shoulder. She gives pause to look down at the pile of her… miscellaneous trinkets. She purses her lips and furrows her brows, “Uhhh… I’ll come… back for those.” She nudges the pufferfish with her boot a little as she says it. Jesse just pats her on the back, frowning a little at the sudden cloud of glowstone billowing out as he does. Bad move.
They head out from there, though not without tracking glowstone for most of the walk out of the building. Jesse grimaces a little, pitying whoever’s on the cleaning shift.
The sun’s high in the sky by now and there’s not a cloud in the warm blue sky. Jesse smiles, sucking in the fresh air and basking in the warmth of the sun for just a moment. His world’s air, his home’s air. His heart swells with appreciation and he smiles. Petra and Lukas notice him stop and pause their walk, looking at him questioningly. He just grins a little and jogs back up to them, slinging his arms over their shoulders and forcing them to slouch a bit. They share a little laugh and he lets his arms slide off them as they continue their walk. The post office is just down the main strip and a bit towards the docks, so it’s a bit of a walk but a nice one.
Lukas hums to Jesse’s left, catching both his and Petra’s attention. He clicks his tongue, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, blue eyes lighting up.
“What’s up?”
“Huh? Oh, I’m just thinkin’. Since we’re all on the whole family topic lately, I really oughta bring you guys to meet my parents.”
Jesse’s eyebrows shoot up and Petra gasps in excitement. “Ooh! I’m so down! Your mom and dad are so sweet!”
“Yeah! They keep hounding me on bringing you guys down to the ranch for dinner one of these days.” He laughs and shakes his head a little. “A bit of travel though. Still, it’s real nice out there.”
Jesse frowns, “But… Outside of Petra they haven’t even met us? I don’t wanna intrude like that.”
Lukas snorts, rolling his eyes. “Oh, trust me. They already adore you.”
Jesse feels his face heat up and he stammers, “Wh—? How? I haven’t even—…”
“You kidding?” Lukas chuckles, giving him a warm smile, “Jess, on top of my letters they got dozens of my book drafts for feedback. Not to mention the completed products.”
Jesse covers one of his cheeks with his hand as if that’ll stop them from burning. “Oh.” Duh Jesse. Petra snorts and gives him a reassuring pat on the back. He clears his throat, stuffs his hands in his pockets, and nods, “Well, shoot, that’d be sweet! What kinda ranch is it?”
“Oh, typical cattle. Real pretty out there though, great place to clear your head and get some quiet.” He sweeps his hand out across them, “Dozens of sleepy rolling green hills and gold fields of wheat. Golden sunlight raining down each day and filtering in through the leaves of the lone oak trees. Cicadas and crickets always buzzing and chirping. It has its seasons of course but it really does capture this special summer evening feel, y’know?”
Jesse lets out a low whistle and Petra grins, leaning over Jesse to bump Lukas in the arm. “Still tons of trouble to get into in those old barns and corn fields! Great times spent running around out there with you guys while I was around!”
“Right?” Lukas laughs and Jesse smiles, albeit with a question in his eyes. Catching the look, Lukas lights up. “My parents’ property is one in a string of them, although there’s a fair amount of distance between them. Aiden lived down the road and Maya and Gil moved in further up the way around the time we were 9 or 10. They were a bit closer to town though so we always teased them about not being real country kids.” He snickers.
“My sister and I moved into the area for a while when I was, like, 14 I think? So I helped them raise hell for a while.” Petra rests her hands on her hips with a grin and Jesse laughs.
“What a great influence!”
“You know it! It was great honestly. Because I came from outta town I could just straight up lie about places I’d been and seen and they ate it right up.” She smirks and leans closer to Jesse, whispering, “Lukas believed in mermaids until he was 19 because of me!”
“Hey!” Lukas frowns as his cheeks flush in embarrassment. Petra just stands tall and rests her hands behind her head with a content smirk on her face. “Brat…” He grumbles and Jesse gives him a sympathetic smile.
“Hey, there are worse things you could’ve believed in.”
“Ooh! Like Santa until he was 14!”
“Petra!”
Jesse laughs and steps back a moment to let them duke it out. This really was a great change of pace from how things started this morning. It almost felt like old times, just getting to hang and laugh with his best friends around town without a care in the world. Sure, usually they were out doing something more exciting than delivering letters, but this right now was just perfect. His gaze washes over their current block and down the street when a familiar figure catches his eye. Small, lanky, high-energy but rigid movements, stylish glasses frames taped together in the center... Jesse smiles and brings his fingers to his mouth to blow out a sharp whistle. Everyone down the block shoots their gaze his way, including the young man which Jesse happily waves down.
“Yo! Radar!”
“Jesse!” The boy lights up and hurries down the sidewalk to meet up with the group, hastily stuffing his clipboard and papers in his bags. Jesse squints a little in amusement at the kid’s current get-up: cargo shorts, high white socks, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt but still wearing a nice looking blazer on top with his satchel slung over his shoulders. The boy slows to a walk as he approaches and Jesse nods to him with a grin, “Interrupted mid-jog?”
“Ugh, yeah. You wouldn’t belie—” Radar stops mid sentence as he reaches Jesse. His brows furrow as he looks over Jesse, Petra and Lukas in sheer confusion. “You’re… sparkly?”
“Ah— That, uh….” Jesse had somehow forgotten. He glances back to Petra and Lukas before looking over himself. He’d always heard of people practically sparkling in the light, but this was probably a bit too literal. Lukas walks over and slings an arm across Jesse’s shoulders.
“Going for a new look. You know how we are. Fashion icons and all.” He says impressively straight-laced. Jesse snorts, brushing his hand off as he laughs. Radar just stares at them.
“Riiiiight…” He shakes his head a little and blinks back to life, “Well, regardless, I’m glad I ran into you! I was heading your way actually—Ivor and Harper need a favor. Mind sidetracking to their place for a moment?”
“I think we could spare a minute or two.” Jesse smiles, “Any idea what he’s got for us?”
Radar just shrugs and Petra grimaces. She claps her hands together, “Yeah, okay, that’s cue for me to dip before he can drag me into whatever boring thing he has planned. You boys have fun though!”
“Ouch! We’ll make sure to pass the message along to him for ya.” Lukas smirks and Petra jabs her finger at him as she gasps.
“Do not be a snitch!”
Before they can get going again Jesse butts in. “Oh! You remember where the post office is, right? They had to move it after Romeo’s uh… ‘renovations’.”
“Oh yeah! Uhhh, by the docks, right?” She scratches the back of her head, uncertain. Jesse nods then pats Radar’s arm.
“Say, could you guide Petra? She’s got some important correspondence heading out—needs to get out ASAP.”
“Happy to!” Radar quickly looks down at his watch then nods to Petra. “We could even get them on the road by this evening if we get there quick!”
She lights up at that, “Oh shit! What’re we waiting for then! See you losers later! Let’s go lil’ guy!” She grins and nabs Radar by the arm who yelps but happily falls into a jog alongside her. He turns and waves back to Jesse and Lukas.
“See you guys in a bit!”
“Good luck!” Jesse calls back with a wave. The two watch them disappear around the corner. Lukas crosses his arms and eyes Jesse with a smirk.
“Is that how your damn letters always show up so fast? ‘Important correspondence’?”
Jesse doesn’t take his eyes off of where Radar and Petra disappeared to but Lukas watches the corners of his mouth twitch—daring to hitch up into a grin. He turns his back to Lukas and begins walking again without giving an answer. “Ivor’s then?”
Lukas huffs out a laugh and follows after him. “Seems so.”
~~~~~
Saying it was Ivor’s place would be a little bit of a lie. This was Harper’s little in-town lab for whenever she felt like sticking around the Beacontown area. Ivor’s “house” was still pouring out lava from the maws of its skeletal jaw. He’s managed to maintain it with impressive upkeep nonetheless. Harper’s place was a little messy and sporadic, but she knew exactly where everything was and where it went. It wasn’t nearly as large as her lab back in Crown Mesa just due to it being tucked away in a spare cubbyhole of the block, but she didn’t seem to mind. If Jesse knew any better then the place already had at least 5 sub-basements he wouldn’t officially find out about until a sewer or future subway line hit it. He’ll happily just wait and cross that bridge when he gets to it though—ideally, redirecting traffic isn’t too hard.
It’s got a similar aesthetic to her lab in Crown Mesa with many odd little shelves, prototype companions, homages to the originals, and all of her work mixed in with her essentials. Nothing quite like getting a loose screw mixed in with your cup of coffee, he supposes. He’d comment, but it’s not like he was any better at separating his home from work.
Lukas speeds ahead and holds the door for him and Jesse thanks him with a nod. She was often consulted while in town for builds, advice, help, or simply spare parts so the initial entrance to her place was much more stereotypical of a business. Upon stepping in Jesse immediately perks up at the voices carrying from further into the place. He can clearly hear Harper’s laugh, Ivor’s occasional spats, and… One more? He squints and shares a curious look with Lukas. The two pass through the foyer and through the doors into the main lab. The room immediately opens up with a much taller roof and generally open plan broken up and sectioned off using some shelves and various works in progress.
“Ah! Jesse!!” Ivor spots them first and hurries over to greet the two men. His voice also catches Harper and their third guest’s attention. Jesse gets a sudden pit in his stomach as he makes eye contact with Bruce. He gets a chill down his spine, which surprises him. What was that about? They ended on a fair enough note, so what’s with the spike in anxiety? He clenches his fists a little and tries to switch his focus to Ivor to ease his nervousness.
Vigilant as ever, Ivor eyes him dubiously. Jesse forces a smile and rubs his arms, trying to combat the sudden chill. He eventually drops his hands to his hips and stands straight, “Heard you need some help, old man?”
Ivor barks out a scoff at that. “Pah! Watch your tongue, Jesse! You know how skilled I am with a knife these days!”
“Skilled enough to slice your hand with a box cutter!” Harper calls with a laugh. Ivor just shoots her a look.
“Excuse me, if you couldn’t tell, my beloved, I am having a PRIVATE conversation with these two very responsible and well-respected young men. So if you could please carry on with your business transaction while I do mine, it would be IMMENSELY appreciated.”
“Ooooh, someone’s still grumpy! Want me to come kiss your hand better, dear?”
“Bah! Pay no mind to her, you two.” Ivor rolls his eyes and shoos them to another part of the open room as Harper snickers. Jesse smiles but his gaze lingers over on Harper and Bruce as she pulls the man back into conversation. He had felt his gaze boring into him, although he was probably giving him a similar look without realizing. Jesse clears his throat a little and Ivor loosens up, sharing a sympathetic look with the young man. “I hear things… Got rocky towards the end of the night?”
Jesse blows out a sigh of relief and nods, thankful he doesn’t have to beat around the bush. “Yeah. My uncle’s fault more than anything, but I still can’t help but feel…” He trails off with a grimace and Lukas finishes his thought for him.
“ ‘Awkward’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.” He huffs, “His uncle accused the guy of murder then totally went hog wild with the lightning—could’ve killed them all with a cave-in!” He scowls and Jesse squeezes his arm a little. Lukas sighs and tries to relax, opting to just cross his arms tight. They hadn’t talked about it all much since the night Jesse got back, but it wasn’t exactly surprising to know it got Lukas’ blood boiling. He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t comforting in a sense.
“He did what?!” Ivor looks between the two incredulously before his gaze falls on Jesse who just rubs his neck.
“They got into a fight—both were being pissy. I’m just glad I stopped it before it became a brawl.” He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I know I gotta talk to the guy again soon to get an update on everything we found, but I was hoping for a bit more time between then and now I suppose.”
“Hmmm…” Ivor scowls, twirling his beard around a finger as he thinks, eyes dark. “That’s a nightmarish way to end an already grueling night. My sincerest apologies you had to endure that Jesse…” He sighs and reaches out to the young man, giving both of his shoulders a squeeze before moving up and cupping his face in his hands. Jesse smiles tiredly at him and the man returns an equally sad one before pulling him into a hug. Jesse grunts a little, always surprised by the surprisingly strong grip the skinny man has. Ivor rubs his back gently before eventually letting go and stepping back.
“Thanks, Ivor… I’ll talk to you more about it later on.”
“And I will gladly listen. Allow me some sort of heads up if possible and I’ll get some tea going in advance, yes?” He smiles, the edges of his eyes crinkling as he does and Jesse smiles bashfully. He nods though and Ivor laughs in triumph, clapping his hands together. “Perfect!” He clears his throat, waving his hands a little as if it’ll clear the tension in the air as well—admittedly it works. “Now then! Your dedicated tasks for the day!”
“Yippee.” Lukas drawls and Ivor glares at him, making Jesse laugh. He ignores Lukas and continues with a shrug.
“Well, admittedly, I’m not 100% on the details. It’s Harper that needs the help. Though I do know you’re going to be doing quite some walking whilst making deliveries! Hope you boys are feeling strong today.” He says with a smirk and Lukas groans, rubbing his face. Lukas immediately scowls as he pulls back his now sparkling hand—already forgot somehow. Ivor laughs with a grin.
“Well, you two could certainly be spotted from a mile away.” A voice laughs from a bit behind them and Jesse turns to see Bruce standing awkwardly with a somewhat tense smile. Lukas immediately shifts to a glare and Jesse swallows and bites the bullet by stepping in front of him. He smiles back and begins walking over, glancing down over himself as he does.
“Yeah, not exactly part of the plan today but you know how it is.” He chuckles and Bruce laughs along with him, nodding in understanding. He hesitates but nods to him.
“You… Get it from the Nether, or…?” He trails off and Jesse shakes his head, blowing out a sigh as he rolls his eyes.
“God no. Haven’t even thought about talking to him yet.”
“Yeesh! You’re good at reading between the lines, kid.” He laughs a little awkwardly as he tugs at his beaded necklace and Jesse just rubs his neck.
“I’m not one for dancing around things.”
“That becomes clearer by the day.” They share a smile for a moment then lapse back into a silence. Jesse notices Ivor leading Lukas back over to Harper out of the corner of his eye and immediately feels a pressure off of his shoulders as they’re distracted. Bruce must feel the same because they both relax at the same time. They eye each other in a mix of understanding and solidarity. Eventually, Bruce reaches out and gently nudges Jesse on the arm. “Probably awkward for me to ask this but, how you holdin’ up, kid?”
“Ebbs and flows. As is standard by now.” Jesse shrugs and Bruce grimaces but nods in understanding, “How about you? I take it you were here dropping off an order?”
“Yeah. Redstone, iron, slime, blaze rods—the works.”
“ ‘Work smarter, not harder,’ right?” Jesse hums and Bruce nods with a smile. He lets out a sigh and runs a hand through his hair before dropping it with a sigh.
“Speaking of…” He starts and Jesse can’t help the way he grimaces. Here it comes. Can’t say he didn’t expect more frustrating news though. Bruce offers a sympathetic look, “Yeah, sorry kiddo. I’ve been racking my brain with how to even begin restoring that old journal but, frankly, I’m scared I don’t have the best tools for the job and I don’t wanna ruin the thing. I don’t want to take any chances so I think I’m going to head east to meet up with one of my old colleagues from my previous hometown.”
Jesse sighs, disappointment hitting him hard but not exactly being a surprise. “That’s fine. Whatever it takes, I’m willing to do. How long do you expect it to be?”
Bruce hesitates and scratches his beard. He scowls and shakes his head, “I can’t be certain. There’ll be the travel time across the sea and back, not to mention what his own schedule looks like and how severe he believes the damage is.”
“Excuse me for butting in!” Ivor’s voice cuts in as he approaches the two. He offers a smile and claps his hands together, “If travel time is an issue you could always take the Nether track eastbound—it reaches as far as my Far Lands base! Plenty of stops along the way, of course.”
Bruce’s eyes widen and he instinctively steps back. “Wow! I-I’m flattered!” He grimaces, nervously fiddling with the strap of his satchel, “Unfortunately I may have to decline that generous offer… I have several stops for clients along the way I already agreed to. I’ve already given my word on it—it’d be extremely rude to go back on that now. Not to mention bad for business…”
Ivor opens his mouth to argue but Jesse cuts him off. “That’s fine! Really! What you’re offering now is more than enough and I really appreciate your help, Bruce.”
“Sorry it has to be like this, kid.”
“It happens. Really, it’s alright.” He smiles, giving the man a light but playful shove, “Sides, if I were you I’d probably wanna get outta dodge too. Talk about awkward.”
“Oh c’mon now, you don’t gotta do that—you’re not that bad!” He laughs. “But, thanks. Appreciate it.” He claps a hand on Jesse’s shoulder and nods, a fire in his eyes, “I’ll be as fast as possible! I’ll see if I can pick up the extra work my colleague has going so he can focus on getting that journal back into ship shape in no time flat! Deal?”
“Deal.” Jesse smiles and they shake on it. “A week minimum thereabout?”
“Around that. Shouldn’t be much longer. Think you can stay outta trouble for that long?” He grins and Jesse lets out a curt laugh.
“We’ll see! Would be just my luck to get wrapped up in some other shit on top of this all, right?” Jesse grins and Bruce sucks in a breath through his teeth despite the amusement in his eyes.
“Let’s not speak that into existence. Keeping my shop afloat through Romeo’s heyday was tough enough, kiddo.” He smiles, though there’s definitely still some reservation there. He glances back towards the exit and flicks out his pocketwatch real quick, scratching his beard as he thinks. “I’m gonna have to get goin’ if I wanna catch my ship on time. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Um, one more thing though, if you don’t mind?” Jesse mumbles, feeling his face heat up as the man turns back to him. Those eyes drill into him even without him trying. Jesse shoves his nerves aside, “That backpack. Any updates?”
Bruce lights up, “Oh!” He frowns and sighs another frustrated sigh, spinning the silver watch on its chain as he does. “Nothing back from the manufacturer yet. Sorry.”
“I see…” Jesse’s voice wavers a bit. He clenches his jaw, trying to keep his disappointment in check. He nods to Bruce, “Alright. That’s… That’s all I’ve got for you. Thanks for being willing to talk despite… All that.”
“Business is business. ‘Sides, I don’t go back on my word.” He sucks in a breath and claps his hands together before raising his voice for the others in the back to hear. “Well! I’m heading out! Thanks for the business Harper and I hope those supplies serve you well! Always happy to help!” He stretches out a hand and waves to her with a bright smile.
“Thank you! Safe travels, now!” Harper leans over her workbench to wave back.
“Good luck.” Jesse nods and Bruce returns it. With that, the man makes a rather swift exit. Jesse can practically hear the tension deflating once the man disappears out the door, and he’s suddenly hit with the overwhelming need to sit down. His legs are like jelly. Ivor walks over and rests a hand on his back and guides him to the others. Harper gives him a warm smile as he approaches.
“You are much more patient than I would be in your position Jesse.”
Jesse just hums in acknowledgement and nothing more. Enough of that conversation, he wanted to get back to actually enjoying the day before them.
“What’ve you got in store for us, Harper?”
Harper pauses but then nods and turns back. She heaves a wooden crate up onto the workbench and slams it down with a heavy thud. “Redstone deliveries, of course!” She grins and gives the box a hearty slap on the lid as she says it. “I’ve got a few of these babies needing to get around the city. Namely to Olivia, Binta, and Stella. There are a few other people who need them but those three have multiple orders, so I hope you boys enjoy the walk here because you’re gonna be running in and out for a while!”
“Ahhh, nothing like being a classic errand-boy, eh Jesse?” Lukas hums as he hefts up the first crate.
“A thrilling day in the life of a god-killer.” Jesse huffs and shakes his head with a smile as he picks his own crate up.
“If it makes you feel any better Jesse, I’ll be sitting in mind-numbing boredom as I make my way to the Far Lands lab soon enough.” Ivor grumbles and Harper hums.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Mine.”
“Because?”
“Because I forgot to grab all of my things from the last time we were there, and now we’re paying for it.” He sighs, “At least the highway’s much faster… A day or so of travel won’t be so bad for my back than weeks on horseback.”
“Eugh, I wouldn’t have the patience to sit in a minecart for that long…” Jesse grumbles and Lukas’ eyebrow shoots up.
“Didn’t you go with him on horseback? That took weeks if not months last I recall.”
“That’s different though.” Jesse whines and Harper snorts. She claps her hands to grab their attention, checks her watch, then gives them a look and waves them off.
“Alright, alright, you boys best be on your way. It’s already getting into the afternoon and you know how snappy people get without their instant gratification.” She groans and rolls her eyes.
“You can just say Stella. It’s okay.” Lukas says with a smug smile. Jesse snorts and Lukas laughs, “What? Am I wrong?”
“Deliveries, Lukas. C’mon.” Jesse leans into his words with a chuckle before turning to head towards the door. He smiles at Harper as she blows him an overexaggerated kiss and shares a nod with Ivor. With that, he fully turns on heel and begins walking off with their delivery. It was definitely heavy enough to be redstone—he only prays there aren’t a million of these to lug around. Lukas scrambles to keep up and grunts as he readjusts to the weight, shaking his head and grumbling under his breath somewhat. Was he strong enough to carry it alright? Yes. Was it still a pain in the ass? Also yes.
“Been a while since I’ve truly been made ‘useful’, eh?” Lukas whispers to Jesse while lightly bumping his shoulder. Jesse gasps and looks up at him in utter horror.
“LUKAS! No!”
Lukas’ laughter ringing out is the last thing that echoes through the building before the two disappear for the time.
Harper lets out a big sigh as she leans back against her desk. That’s a couple of issues figured out for the day at least. She begins tidying up the workbench for the time being on top of grouping up the other crates Lukas and Jesse will come back for. Best to make this as efficient as possible.
Ivor clears his throat and catches her attention. She stops mid-motion and cocks an eyebrow at him. The man grins a sheepish grin as he shuffles up to the workbench. She stands straight, crosses her arms, and watches curiously as he slips one of his gloves off, revealing the bandaged hand beneath. With pink flooding his cheeks he offers his hand out and beams. Harper laughs a sweet laugh before slowly nodding.
“Knew you’d take me up on that offer. Of course, dear.” With that, she takes his hand and places a gentle kiss on his injury.
Notes:
EDIT 5/4/22: HEY GAMERS SO. It's been uhhhh -checks watch- two weeks and a few days since this last chapter dropped and I really like the two week schedule but Im gonna be honest my brain is FRIED. Between school and my old hyperfixations grabbing me by the throat rn idk when my bursts of motivation are gonna come and go, if I'm gonna be able to take proper advantage of them, and what will come out. NOTHING'S CANCELLED I SHOULD EMPHASIZE this isn't a dramatic farewell but if you see me clowning and updating a four year old sonic fic before getting the next chapter of Answers out well. You know what happened 😭😭
Seriously tho, if I do take a break I don't intend it to be for too long because the last break I took ended up with a fucking ungodly hiatus for over a year and that's just straight up embarrassing tbh. I know shit happens but damn bro I'm excited about this story too and I just dipped 💀 But I may take a bit of a break just to decompress and ideally get back into a better swing of things bc I've been feeling especially rusty with these last few chapters. I don't feel like I'm getting things across as eloquently as I used to or as I'd like to, so making shaking my content up a bit will help. We'll see! More updates are still coming ofc bc I'm REALLY excited for what's coming up, but I also don't wanna burn out completely here. If you're somehow here two weeks after this chapter dropped and reading this, thanks! I'm not dead I promise! 💖
Chapter 25: Romeo's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Summary:
Jesse, Lukas, and Stella continue making deliveries while Romeo endures the plot and is frankly not having a good time!
Notes:
HEY IM ALIVE!!! HAPPY PRIDE MONTH ALSO LETS GOOOOOO!! It's been a hot minute and I'm gonna get to fill my role as one of those insane ao3 authors who's like "yeah I died but I got better sorry about the hiatus!" finally <3 I'll save that for the ending notes section tho!
In the meantime! New chapter finally!!! it's been a slow work in progress since april but life was WILD so, apologies. But! Now you get a nearly 13k chapter! it's a bit fluffy but oh my god did I have fun writing it. I love all these guys so so much and writing them just having fun is a well-needed break methinks! I additionally was just kind of having fun with things so it may be a bit different than usual but I think it worked out well! ALSO !!! THANK YOU FOR THE NEARLY 7.5K HITS AND OVER 300 KUDOS???????? BLOWS MY MIND SM THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE CLICKED ON AND ENJOYED THIS FIC,,,, TYSM !!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Of all the games he’s made and forced others to play over the centuries he’s been alive, Romeo has always hated Hide n’ Seek. Not that it was particularly bad, but there were always so many places to hide, and it always took so long to find anyone! Not to mention when his friends would stick themselves in places they knew he wouldn’t wanna look (thank you Xara). It just got so boring and tedious! And nobody ever liked his proposed additions to the game, either! Totally unfair!
Not that he was actually playing the game right now. But damn if it didn’t feel like it.
“Hiro?” Romeo cups his hands and calls out. His voice rings out and echoes down the red stone hallways of the luxurious Nether Fortress. He rests his hands on his hips and waits. And waits. And waits. He lets out a loud groan that turns into a whine as he leans against the wall. He really did appreciate Hiro letting him stay in this fortress as it was quite nice and a place where he wasn’t gonna be disturbed, but tracking anything—or anyone—down in this thing was like finding a needle in a haystack. Typically, he could just yell out and the man would use his powers to poof somewhere nearby (and give him a heart attack) so he could talk. But he hasn’t exactly been cooperative lately.
Ever since getting back from that trip with Jesse, the man’s been holing himself up and avoiding Romeo like the plague. It was pretty easy to do too since this place was so large and he could teleport away whenever he heard Romeo getting near. Romeo sighs and tugs the strings of his cloak in frustration, tightening it. All he needed to do was let him know he was heading out, but the man wasn’t making it easy. His legs were already starting to tire out from merely walking around here and he’s got a whole day of walking left. He scowls and presses his forehead against the cool brick, whining a little at the thought. He sucks in a breath. Repentance, Romeo. Repentance.
Pushing off and getting back to it, he darts down one of the hallways he hasn’t searched yet. He twirls a loose strand of hair as he peeks in each room, admittedly nervous. He wasn’t sure what was going to come out of this conversation, especially since he was just telling him he was leaving, but he was tempted to press the man for something. It’s been radio silence from his end since getting back and frankly the curiosity and worry was getting unbearable. He’s already started considering just asking Jesse himself, but that is a horrendous idea. His jaw aches just thinking about how the young man would react to him.
He ducks his head in and out of another room only to double-take as he’s about to leave. He lets out a huge sigh of relief and swings the double doors wide open, a smile spreading from ear to ear as he spots Hiro. The man has his back to him, writing down something as he stands at a counter. Too antsy to sit, it seems.
“Well! About time I found you! You certainly don’t make it easy…” He tries laughing it off casually, but his nerves shine through clear as day. Hiro just grunts. Romeo grimaces—fantastic start. He sucks in a breath and claps his hands together, “I’m heading out. Just for a few days, I believe… Xara needs to pick my brain as well as get some assistance down in the Underneath.”
“You’d best get going then.” He replies quietly, voice monotone. Romeo frowns, a bit taken back by the cold disregard. He straightens and gets a grip on himself.
“Yes, well, I intend to. I just… Figured I ought to let you know.” He trails off a bit, a quiet prodding for some sort of response. He doesn’t get any aside from another grunt of acknowledgement. Romeo sighs and walks up to him, tapping him lightly on the shoulder before leaning against the counter he was writing at. “Isn’t there something we should talk about?”
Hiro hums and snaps the notepad shut and rests on it as Romeo eyes him, earning him a suspicious glare from the man. It doesn’t faze him as he drums his fingers on the cover and scrutinizes Romeo.
“Hmmm… You’re right. That bun you’ve tied your hair into looks nice, you should do it more.”
“Nice flattery, wrong answer.” Romeo narrows his eyes. He crosses his arms and nods at the notepad. “Should I be worried?”
Hiro sucks in a tense breath. He smacks his lips and shakes his head. “Nope.”
Romeo glares at him for a long, hard minute before eventually softening with a sigh. He nods. “Alright… Just… Don’t do anything brash while I’m gone. Jesse certainly is more than enough for the both of you.” He grumbles the last part and Hiro tenses.
“Any more nagging, dearest?” The nickname’s laced with an unusual amount of venom, and gives Romeo pause. He couldn’t help his mouth hanging open slightly. He knew Hiro could be short when frustrated, but it wasn’t like him to aim it at him—not since they’d gotten on good terms anyways. He steps closer and squints, scrutinizing every inch of the man’s face and body language.
“Well. I was gonna say ‘don’t do anything I wouldn’t,’ as a joke, but now you’ve gone and made me even more concerned. What on earth happened the other night, Hiro? I know all of this has been taking its toll, but you’ve been acting even more standoffish than before. Not to mention rude.” He huffs and grabs a nearby chair to sit in. Hiro sighs and seems to lose steam as Romeo sits down for the long-haul.
“ ‘m sorry… That was rude of me.”
“It was. Good start. Apology accepted, now can we move onto the root of this?”
“You’re not gonna leave until I do, huh?”
“Xara will understand the moment I mention Jesse’s name. I have all-day. Plus, my legs are tired from searching for you! So, this is the perfect reprieve before I head out again.”
Hiro sighs and throws down his pen in frustration. He presses his palms into his eyes then clasps his hands and leans on them against the counter. Romeo waits patiently.
“Lemme start at the beginning for you…”
~~~~~
Jesse hums to himself as he waits outside the little shop for Lukas, next deliveries still heavy in his hands. He stares up at the blue sky, picking apart some of the fluffy clouds lazily passing overhead. He’s already found some that have looked like cats, turtles, and pirate ships—now he just has to wrap his brain around the one currently passing overhead. Admittedly? It was getting the better of his imagination.
Something hits him hard in the back and he staggers forward. He gasps as his grip on the stacked crates slips and they threaten to fall, only for a second set of hands to steady them. He blinks in confusion before looking up and getting greeted by a familiar pearly-white grin. She flicks some of her blonde hair out of her face with one quick motion and Jesse’s tension dissipates with a chuckle.
“I didn’t know you were such a butterfingers, Jesse! My, my, I can’t imagine that’d do you much good in a fight.” Stella teases as Jesse shakes his head with a grin. She straightens with the crates, allowing him to regain his grip. He shifts them to his hip, noticing Lluna walk around from behind him. So that’s what hit him. He shoots a playfully suspicious look between the two—were they plotting?
“Right… To what do I owe such a pleasure? Figured I’d be walking all the way out to Champion City for your delivery.”
“Oh don’t sound so disappointed!” She gives him a light shove and he grimaces, opening his mouth to apologize only to get cut off by a little laugh. “Relax, handsome—I know you’ve been a busy bee as of late.” She reaches out and gives his arm a reassuring squeeze with a wink. She places her hands on her hips and stands tall, “Which is why you get the great honor of having my assistance on this fine afternoon!”
His brows shoot up and he smirks, “I thought hard-labor was ‘for the masses’? Those nails of yours look nice and fragile today! Cost a small fortune?”
She pouts and smacks him and he raises his crates in self-defense as he laughs. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! I get it! And for YOUR information, I did my nails myself! They’re strong! I can play errand-boy just as well as you and that’s a promise! Besides, I’ve been doing a lot more stuff like this over at Champion City as of late.” Her smile falters a little as she says it and Jesse nods sympathetically.
“How’s it going over there? If you ever need anything I—”
She holds a hand up to stop him. “No need to fuss, hon’. Truly. Thank you for the kindness though. If I end up needing help in any form you know I’ll ask.”
“Alright… I’m always happy to lend a hand in whatever way you need. Plus that’s a free project for me to kill time with.” He laughs and Stella hums in thought.
“And how has the busy life been treating you?” Her tone is light but her lips are pressed into a tight line. Jesse’s chest tightens as he sucks in a breath.
“Fine. It’s fine.”
“Jesse-sweetheart…” She mumbles and he shoots her a look. She scowls but drops the conversation with a quiet nod. Lluna rams into Jesse’s side again and he smiles, opting to pet her for the moment. Stella sits down on a nearby plantbox and slips her heels off, stuffing them into her bag and pulling out a set of tennis shoes. Jesse can’t help but smile a bit at the sight.
“Were you… Prepared for this?”
“I never know what I’m going to get into upon coming over here! I’ve decided to begin being a bit more prepared!”
“Uh-huh… If that’s the case you might as well get yourself a sturdy pair of boots. I know a great little shop.” He grins as he hoists a foot up on the ledge she’s sitting on and leans on his knee, showing his own boots off in the process. She scoffs and rolls her eyes.
“Yes, Jesse. I am well-aware of your consistent endorsement of cowboy boots. You say this as if I haven’t noticed you and your billion other pairs.”
He steps back with a laugh, “What can I say? Fashionable and functional. C’monnnn, I’ll even take ya to buy your own! Get ya spurs and everything! Make a day of it!”
“We’ll see about that.” She says with a smirk as she yanks on her sneakers. Jesse hums and readjusts the grip on his crates. He then pauses a moment.
“You sure about helping with this?”
“Jesse-darling, I am a woman of my word!” She grunts as she yanks her laces tight, tying them bogglingly fast. Quick and efficient as ever. She yanks the sleeves of her primly pressed dress-shirt up and buttons them up above the elbows. Digging around in her bag she pulls out a barrette and waves Jesse over before promptly dropping it in his free hand. He huffs in amusement as he looks over the fancy silver thing. Engraved flower patterns with pearls set within. She grabs her hair and starts pulling it up and notices him admiring the little accessory with a grin, “Like it?”
Jesse’s cheeks flush a little and he stutters, “I— Uh— Well, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t nice.”
“It’d look good on you! With the rate your hair’s growing I might just gift it to you!” She giggles as she plucks it out of his hand and sticks it into her hair. Jesse blusters and quickly reaches a hand up to run through his own messy locks—were they really getting so long?
The ringing of the business’ door distracts them and they turn to greet Lukas as he exits. The man stops a second in surprise upon seeing Stella who just waves giddily. He stuffs his now empty hands into his pockets.
“Well this is a surprise! What’s the occasion?”
“I was in town, saw you two running around, figured I could kill some time by helping you boys out!” She hops to her feet, bouncing a bit in place.
“Uh-huh. And what’s the catch?” Lukas raises a brow as he grabs his crates from Jesse. She snorts.
“Can’t a girl just help? Gosh, you’re just as bad as Jesse! Two peas in a pod, I swear.”
“Alright, well, since you’re feeling so helpful—my arms are tired.” Lukas says and drops his load into Stella’s arms. She gasps as her knees threaten to buckle under the sudden weight.
“Lukas!” Jesse scolds but it doesn’t faze him. Stella grunts, balancing on one leg to help shove the stuff up into a better grip with the other.
“D-Don’t worry! I got this Jesse! Just surprised me.” She sucks in a breath and heaves it all up, standing straight. She huffs, blowing loose hair out of her face. “Happy with yourself, blondie?”
“Very, yes.” Lukas nods with a smug smile. He chuckles and takes one of the crates in her stack back, happy to have made his point. Jesse rolls his eyes and Stella just sticks her tongue out at him.
“We should get going, we still have to drop things off for…” Jesse trails off, fishing a crumpled up note out of his pocket and quickly scanning Ivor’s messy scribbles. “Mr. Anderson over on fifth, Nadine and Odin on 19th, Olivia—she’s down at the renovation site working on those elevators, Radar,” He trails off for a second as he squints then blows out a heavy sigh, “Jed? The hell does he need this shit for…?”
“Isn’t he that prickly farmer in between our beautiful cities…?” Stella mumbles and begins ghosting her hands as she runs through a description, “Red suspenders? Copper hair? Beautiful eyes but horrendous personality?”
“The very same.” Jesse sighs and rolls his eyes, “He also is the reason people don’t like using the old highway anymore—keeps scaring people off. He’s a man of his word but does not like being told what to do no matter how kind you are… Any volunteers on who pays him a visit?” He asks, looking between the two of them.
Lukas and Stella both remain quite quiet. Jesse sighs and nods.
“Okay, when we get back to Harper’s to restock, we’ll draw straws. Deal?”
“I’d say yes but with your luck lately, Handsome…?” Stella mumbles and Jesse pauses at that. He laughs a little and bows his head slightly.
“Fair point. We’ll just cross that bridge when we get there.” He hums and looks at the piece of paper again, “Alright, who else do we’ve got here… Old man Hoffman by the docks, Orion—you can run that one over Lukas. Ms. Vasquez the next block over, and then Binta at the Oasis pick-up site by 6 o’clock.” Jesse flicks the paper back in his pocket and nods to Stella. “Then you have yours waiting patiently back at Harper’s, Stella.”
“Ahhh, this makes more sense now. Forgot about her order.” Lukas hums.
“Good god that’s quite the list still… And you boys have been working for how long already?” Stella scrunches up her nose as she looks between them. They shrug.
“It’s not too bad, just a bit of walking. A good workout, honestly.” Lukas smiles and she sucks in a large breath as she processes just what she signed up for.
“At least promise me I don’t have to do whatever fashion statement you two have going on with that glowstone coating you…”
“It’s a requi—”
“You don’t!” Jesse laughs, cutting Lukas off only for him to pout. Jesse snorts and nudges him before stepping up and nodding back to the street. “C’mon, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Might as well start walking. We’ll split up for the final few once we hit Olivia’s—center of town seems as good a place as any to break off.”
The others nod and Jesse takes the lead walking towards their next drop-off, greeting people as he passes. Stella and Lukas follow in tow and try to subtly shove or trip each other as they go.
~~~~~
Romeo grips his hair until his knuckles are white. He lets go and sucks in a breath to say something but loses his words. Again. He hums a loud ‘Mmmh!’ as he paces. Hiro sits on the couch now, arms crossed as he waits for Romeo to form some attempt at a sentence. The man claps his hands together, turns smoothly on heel back to him and presses his hands to his lips.
He sucks in a breath.
Here we go.
“You did WHAT?!” He flings his whole body into his words with his voice ringing off of the stone walls. Hiro grimaces. Romeo stands straight and slaps a hand to his forehead, shaking it in bewilderment. Hiro sighs.
“Rom…”
“My god Hiro! That’d be like—! Like—!” He sputters, snapping his fingers, “Like if Xara accused me of killing Fred! I mean, I’d probably never wanna talk to her again! And here’s the kicker—I actually did those things! Oh man, if it had been unfounded—!” He buries his face in his hands and shakes his head again. “And while Jesse was THERE no less?! Hoo boy, this is a rough one—that man can hold one hell of a grudge if so desired believe-you-me!”
Hiro sits there quietly as Romeo huffs, hands on his hips. He waits for a long few minutes, seemingly to see if he’s got anything else to add. Thoroughly satisfied he sucks in a breath and nods.
“Thank you, Romeo. Such an enlightening and uplifting conversation.”
Romeo rolls his eyes and sighs while Hiro stands up again with a grunt, shaking his head.
“Hiro, you know I appreciate your sincerity and honesty, but that was reckless.”
“I know, I know. Jesse laid into me enough already. But I—...” He trails off and Romeo’s eyes narrow.
“Oh Hiro. Don’t tell me you’re still suspicious of the man.”
Hiro sighs in frustration and hurries over to Romeo, taking him by the hands and spinning them around in one smooth motion.
“Listen to me, Rom—! In ALL the time you’ve known me—years we’ve tried draggin’ each other through the dirt and kicking the shit out of each other on sight INCLUDED—can you truly look me in the eyes and tell me my gut—my INSTINCTS—have ever been wrong?”
Romeo sighs and tries pulling away, shaking his head with his eyes cast away. “Hiro—”
Hiro cups his cheeks and meets Romeo’s own stubborn gaze. “CAN you?”
Romeo glares up at him, mouth set into a hard line as he thinks long and carefully. This close, he can actually make out the vague shape of Hiro’s irises that are so well masked by that vivid white glow. They’re the faintest of blues. Romeo eventually sighs but doesn’t let up on his glare.
“... No. I cannot.” Hiro lets him go with a huge breath of relief and steps back as if the conversation is supposed to end there. Romeo scowls and yanks him back around by the arm. “Hold on! You can’t possibly still want to lean into that accusation you threw out! I mean— Sure, you can, but that’s one surefire way to get Jesse to cut your thread again so soon!”
“I’m—! Ugh!” Hiro rubs his face then clenches his fists. “I’m… I’m not.”
“Yet you’re hesitating like this. Right.”
“Only because something still feels wrong, Rom!” He throws his hands up in the air before they drop helplessly back down to his sides. Romeo loses some steam at the sight and some of the tension in the air dissipates. Uncomfortable, Romeo just crosses his arms and waits for Hiro to continue. The man rubs his beard and cheek a little. “I know we’re obviously still missing pieces. I mean, shit, that’s the whole reason we’re even DOING any of this. But there’s just… There’s still something WRONG. We’re being led off-trail.”
“That’s a dangerous assumption to make when the person leading everyone that way could be you.” Romeo drops his voice and he can tell his words startle the man. Hiro frowns, suddenly looking more troubled than anything. He slowly sits back down on the couch.
“That’s… I suppose you have a point there.”
“Unfortunate, I know.” Romeo sighs and sits down next to him. Hiro buries his head in his hands and sits there quietly, refusing to show his hand. In all the times he had encountered Hiro, Romeo always saw him as strong and unbreakable. An outstanding man with a will that was rare to see. Reflecting, it makes sense that he’s so closely related to Jesse. The strength runs in the family—however, it seems bottling things up does as well.
“I’m so worried for him…” He eventually mumbles.
“Jesse?”
“Who else?” Hiro huffs, sitting back and shaking his head as he stares up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I don’t want him going to the End. Chasing ghosts he’ll never catch… Putting his life at risk… E-Especially with so much he has going for him!” He sits forward again, a new passion burning in him. “I mean, you of all people know what he’s capable of! You’ve seen all he’s created and fostered!” He throws out a hand for emphasis. “He has so much here for him!”
“Yet… You know you won’t be able to stop him if he makes up his mind, right?”
“What do you mean…?” Hiro looks at him with a newfound desperation. Romeo presses his mouth into a hard line and bobs his head from side to side.
“You’ve seen just how stubborn he is. I mean, you said it yourself—he went into that Stronghold anyways even after you pleaded with him not to. I have no doubt he felt guilty about it, but if Jesse feels the reward will outweigh the risk then he will gladly take that risk—and he is a horribly persistent optimist. Perhaps a little too confident at times, but it’s not like he doesn’t have a right to be. After all, he knocked me down a few pegs!”
Hiro frowns and pushes off the couch again, beginning to pace. “Right. He did, didn’t he?” He grumbles and an odd pit in Romeo’s stomach forms. He opens his mouth to say something but, seeing Hiro pick up the pace in his, well, pacing, opts to just wait for him to continue. Eventually the man shakes his head, balls up a fist, and slams the side of it against the wall, letting out a yell of frustration as he does. “Pathetic. I’m pathetic! Bruce was right. I mean—! God, YOU know MY nephew better than I do! And possibly ever will if I keep this bullshit up…” He grumbles.
“Well, that wasn’t exactly because we were close, you know. I’m kind of an outlier if anyth—”
“It doesn’t matter! You’ve got more experience with and understanding of him than I do. I mean, god, he’s been off struggling with god knows what—including you—for YEARS, and where have I been? What have I been doing? Fuck all!” He hisses, throwing his arms down. Romeo sucks in a deep breath and massages his temples.
“Hiro. We’ve had this conversation dozens of times in the past few weeks. It wasn’t your fault you didn’t know!”
“Don’t. I fucked up. Multiple times! And I don’t wanna hear it from YOU right now either! I mean, god, what must he think of me? Not only did I ignore his existence for 20 years but then I went and roomed with the guy who nearly destroyed EVERYTHING he had!” He sneers and Romeo balks, beginning to bristle on the defensive.
“Do not turn your guilt onto me all of a sudden! Unlike you, I’ve accepted my shit and am moving forward and doing whatever I can to repent for it!”
Hiro laughs in disbelief, “You expect me to just be accepting and peace-loving within a week?!”
Romeo gets up and stands just as tall, jabbing a finger into the man’s chest. “I expect you to see REASON and understand that sitting here wallowing in isolation isn’t going to fix things!” He steps back with a huff and throws his arms out, “Life goes ON, Hiro! And if you can’t find a way to make amends with Jesse SOON, he is going to go on again without you! He is kind, and gentle, but he’s dealt with enough of this! I cannot believe I’m siding with him but it’s as HE said—why does he have to be the adult here, huh?” He shrugs and runs out of steam. His words hand in the air for a moment while he moves back a pace. He pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh.
“Look, Hiro… I say this because regardless of what you think of me right now, I care. That said, you’re a big boy, you can work on sorting yourself out while still ensuring Jesse is however safe you deem is acceptable.” He walks over to the arm of the couch, snatching his cloak back up and putting it back on. He speaks as he ties it, “As I mentioned at the beginning of all this—I’m heading out for a few days to help Xara. If you need space to sort yourself out I recommend you take advantage of it.”
Hiro grunts, not meeting his gaze. “Good… I need to rethink some things.”
Romeo pauses his preparations a moment to turn back to look at him. “Such as…?” Hiro doesn’t even look at him as he begins making his way towards the doors behind Romeo, gruffly shoving past him.
“Everything.” He spits, slamming the doors shut behind him and leaving Romeo shocked and with a creeping sense of dread welling up inside of him. He hears the man’s footsteps echo and stomp off deep into the fortress before the quiet Nether ambiance fills the room once more. He can hear his own heart pounding in his ears and concern for both Hiro and Jesse now occupy the forefront of his mind. He swallows, trying to settle his nerves as he yanks his hood back up. He hurries out of the fortress in a manner he hasn’t done before.
~~~~~
“Oh—! Jesse-dear, I do believe you have one of mine there!” A soft voice calls from across the street. Jesse slows to a stop as he glances around for the source, Stella and Lukas only slowing for a second before he nods for them to just continue ahead.
An older woman hurries across the road between the break in carriages and wagons, gently holding her light blue skirt up as she bounces up onto the sidewalk—still especially elegant in her upper years. She has umber brown skin and black hair that’s primly braided and pinned up. Her dress is a simple two-tone with a tan low-cut top whose sleeves reach her forearm, a golden belt around her middle, and that light blue skirt with simple tan heels to match.
“Nadine! We were just gonna head your direction.” Jesse smiles up to the woman. She stands tall over him and gives him a warm smile back, black eyes twinkling.
“Well I’m glad we’ve run into each other then. I was just going to meet Odin for a quick bite downtown. You haven’t seen him at all today yet, have you?”
“Not him but I passed Christine briefly back around Ivor’s and she’d run into him—out on another walk he said. Though I have a feeling he’s been ‘walking’ since about the crack of dawn, eh?” He laughs a little and the woman’s mouth quirks into a knowing smile and she lightheartedly rolls her eyes. Jesse sets down his two crates and swaps them around, nabbing hers.
“That feeling of yours would be right. That man just cannot slow down, though I learned that a long time ago.” She laughs a little, the sound warm and Jesse just smiles. She reaches out and takes the crate from him, hefting it up with a grunt but not having any problems once she rolls her shoulders a little. She pointedly nods to him, “Do me a favor, Jesse and promise that you will learn to take a break every now and then.”
“I’ll do my best.” He laughs a little then nods to the crate, “If you’d like I can still carry that to your place? It’s no worry for me, especially since you’re going to eat.” Jesse offers with a little shrug but Nadine just shrugs him off.
“No no, it’s no issue. My workout for the day!” She hums with another smile and Jesse chuckles, “Besides, I can use it as a footrest at the restaurant and then Odin can do the rest of the heavy-lifting home.” She says with a mischievous grin. Jesse matches it and steps back with a nod and salute.
“Give him our regards and enjoy your day!”
“Will do—the same to you.”
He nods and gives her a parting wave. With that, she leaves and Jesse hefts up Olivia’s crate with a grunt. Shifting it a little in his hands, he huffs and then turns on heel to hurry after Stella and Luks—they walk surprisingly fast. By the time he catches back up he’s nearly out of breath and gets a teasing look from Stella.
“Sounds like you need to fit some more cardio into your regimen, Jesse.”
“Is that an offer? Thank you Stella, I’ll take you up on that!”
“Wh—?! I didn’t—!”
“How about we start tomorrow, eh? 6 am down by the docks? I always love that salty air.” He hums. She glares at him for a long minute while Lukas snickers to himself, earning the same look from her in turn. She scoffs and turns her nose up.
“Fine! You’re on. If you are a second late though I’m holding you to it.”
Jesse snorts with a brief roll of his eyes. Sure. He’ll be late. Right. He holds his tongue on her habit of being oh-so-fashionably late to everything. The walk is continuously pleasant from there, and the town begins opening up around them as they near the center of town and the plaza. But all of the construction tools and vehicles quickly take it up as they turn the corner into the thick of town.
Jesse sucks in a breath as he stares up at the center tower still floating above them. Construction of those elevators seemed to be going quite well though. They’re cylindrical and have glass features so you can intermittently see out across town as you rise up. Each could probably fit a group of 5-6 people and there were 3 being set up on either side of the plaza. Most of the scaffolding Jesse and Axel had passed under just a bit back was now gone and the ones on the right half of the plaza seemed completed with the others coming along. Granted, the central plaza around them still needed work, but work seemed to be going smoothly. Stella lets out a low whistle, admiring the craftsmanship. Jesse glances over at her and she nods up to it.
“Impressive. I know Romeo built it with… less than ideal intentions… But it’s turning out quite interesting Jesse.”
“ ‘Interesting’ huh?” He huffs and shakes his head, “Well. That’s certainly one way to put it.”
“Still mixed on it?”
“Can’t help but be.” He sighs. “At least it’s adding a lot of new living space though, and I know the plaza will turn out great.” He reassures himself more than anyone as he begins ascending the smooth stone steps up to the plaza. It’s a busy place as of late, not to mention loud. The constant ringing of metal clanging together, pistons chugging and the repeated buzzing of sensors being calibrated on top of the already loud construction noise. He’s adjusted to the sounds of woodcutters and jackhammers as the city’s continued expanding, but it’s always a little overwhelming getting close to such deafening noise.
Getting to the top, he yelps and immediately ducks down to just miss a metal beam being swung around. A few gasps are heard and a teen in a hard hat and flashy yellow jacket much too big for them grimaces.
“S-Sorry Mr. Jesse! We didn’t know anyone was coming up!”
He smiles and waves to them, albeit a bit more cautious now. No harm no foul. The teen visibly relaxes and clasps their hands together while mouthing a ‘thank you!’ to him. Lukas comes up from behind and nudges him.
“Already causing trouble?”
“You know me. I have a daily quota to fill.” Jesse hums.
“Uh huh.” Lukas huffs. Jesse just smirks and bumps him playfully. He turns his attention to the busy site at hand to try and spot Olivia amongst the crowd. Stella and Lukas set their crates down in the meantime and opt to take a breather on the stairs. Lukas scans the crowd with Jesse and hums, “You think we caught her on a break?”
“The words ‘Olivia’ and ‘break’ can’t be said together.” Jesse chuckles a little, “Nah, she’s somewhere around here, I’m sure. Just a matter of spotting her amongst the ocean of engineers…” He mumbles, gaze hardening a little. There is so much fluorescent yellow it’s fairly easy to ignore. Olivia would be in something that stood out to her students—ideally that bright red coat and green hat of hers. “I’ll be back.” He mutters before walking off quickly.
Stella squints as she chugs from her water bottle. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and throws her hands up.
“Does he always just wander off like that? Without so much as a proper word?”
“He’s just focused. You get used to it.” Lukas smiles with a laugh.
Jesse weaves his way through the clusters of teens and young engineers. He’s greeted with a lot of gasping and gawking as he passes and can feel his cheeks flare a little at all the attention. He smiles and awkwardly greets a few as he passes. It admittedly makes finding Olivia a little harder as he splits his attention between giving everyone a proper greeting and scanning the crowd. He passes by one group of engineers collaborating with the landscapers as they break up the old concrete to create some flower beds. The thick dust blows his direction and leaves his eyes stinging as he hurries on through.
He shifts the crates to his hip and coughs into his arm. Not watching where he’s going, he ends up slamming into one of the teens. The two stumble forward with a slew of gasps and he nearly drops his delivery again. He grimaces and swings his crates around to steady them out, getting pretty lucky as they stay put. He lets out a huge sigh of relief then turns to apologize.
“Hey, I’m— Oh!” Jesse blinks, noting the same teen as earlier. They dust themselves off and smile up at him.
“I-It’s all good! We’ll call it even.”
“Heh! Right.” He laughs a little and holds out a fist. The teen beams and happily bumps it, waggling their fingers and mimicking an explosion.
“Can I… Help you with something?”
“Ah, no I—” Jesse starts on instinct then stops. He shakes a finger and nods, “Actually, yeah. I’m looking for Olivia. Seen her?”
The teen purses their lips and hums in thought. Eventually they nod and gently take Jesse’s arm. “I think I saw her on the backside of the 4th shaft last. There were some circuit problems so she’s been tucked back there with a group of electric students!”
“Perfect! Thank you.” He smiles and allows the teen to weave him through the messy site. Turning the bend to the back corner where the 4th shaft is being worked on, the group comes into clear view. Jesse’s smile stretches into a grin as he just barely picks Olivia out of the gaggle of hard hats and reflective jackets huddled over her. He turns and nods his thanks to the teen who smiles and turns to get back to their post.
Getting closer, her voice becomes much clearer and he can tell just by her tone that she’s focused. He smirks to himself and quietly sets his crates down before slinking over to the backside of the group. As he approaches a few of the students notice him—he holds a finger to his lips, ushering them to keep quiet. They nod in mischievous understanding and slowly begin creating a gap for him to lean into. He clasps his hands behind his back as he joins her little lecture group and she is completely oblivious.
A few students begin to snicker as he nods thoughtfully along, hemming and hawing along to her inflection. Olivia spots one student trying to restrain herself from laughing and points to her.
“Madeline, this is serious material! You do understand the impact this circuit could have if it were to be handled sloppily, don’t you?”
The girl, Madeline, briefly flicks her eyes to Jesse as she clears her throat and nods. “Yes ma'am.”
“Good. Now treat it with the respect it deserves.” She shakes her finger at her and the others before bending back over the open circuit. “Now! Who wants to tell me which wire gets connected to this comparator? We just went over these particular models in class last Thursday, so come on, I know one of you has the answer.”
The students all look between each other and Jesse as Olivia waits for an answer. Jesse hums, scrunching up his face thoughtfully.
“Pretty sure that mint wire’ll do it.”
Olivia sighs, brows furrowing as she shakes her head, “No, not quite. Anyone el—”
“Nah, I’m pretty sure it is though!” He insists and Olivia frowns.
“If you’d like to overload and fry the entire grid from the inside, sure, but I swear we all talked about—” Olivia turns around to face them and makes eye contact with Jesse. He smiles innocently. A chorus of giggling sweeps through the group as Olivia merely crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows. She’s less than amused to say the least, but how could Jesse pass up the opportunity to be a moderate annoyance?
“Proud of yourself, Jesse?”
“Yep!” He claps his hands together and thoroughly ignores her death-glare, “Got a delivery for you! All the way from Harper’s place, even!”
She lightens up at that, “Oh! I completely forgot about those!” She stands and dusts her pants off. She shoos her students away, “Okay! Good lesson, let’s take a breather! Be back here in 20 and we’ll finish this bad-boy up! … Without Jesse’s witty commentary.” She eyes him with a smirk and there’s another wave of laughter that rolls through the crowd before they dissipate and talk amongst themselves. Jesse walks back over and retrieves his crates with a grunt.
“Got a place you’d prefer these?”
“Let’s get them over by the finished shafts!” She points back the way he came and claps her hands together in excitement. “Oh man! Those’ll be perfect up top!”
Jesse smiles and begins walking alongside her. “This is coming along real nice! Great kids out here too.”
“Aren’t they?” She squeals. She blows out a sigh and swings her arms, “A bit of a handful at times, but they’re so dedicated. And they’re so excited to be here!” She rubs her cheek, dropping her gaze. “Sorry the elevators weren't done before the landscapers got started though. Ran into some trouble and had to call Harper and Ivor out here, even. Pushed our schedule back a few days…” She sighs and Jesse nods thoughtfully.
“Yeah, Radar gave me the run-down. I take it that's what these are for?” He shows the crates off a little for emphasis. Olivia nods. He continues, “Don’t even worry about being off-schedule ‘Liv. The town can handle a little bit of chaos at the center for a few days.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know but still. I wanna get back out there and help you!”
“What? ‘Liv, this is INSANELY helpful! I can’t even imagine trying to oversee a project like this! You’re doing more than enough.”
She sighs, “I know, but you know what I meant.” She crosses her arms, hugging herself a little tightly and Jesse internally steels himself for what he knows is coming. “I know I went to the Nether with you guys but…” She lowers her voice, “I heard what happened in the cave… From Axel… I wish I could’ve been there, Jesse.”
Jesse sucks a breath in through his teeth. He clenches his jaw and simply nods. Olivia frowns.
“S-Sorry. I just— I wanted you to know. I don’t know what your next move will be, but if it’s a big one, I want to be there for you, okay?” She softly places a hand on his shoulder. He looks back at her, brows furrowed and obviously conflicted. He takes in a deep breath however, and nods again.
“I— I know. I know you wanna be involved. I’m still just—... I’m debating who I involve in this mess anymore… I’m trying to stay open though. It’s just—” He scowls, losing the words for it.
“Different.”
“Yeah.”
Olivia opts to just pat him on the shoulder and they walk the rest of the way in silence. Things lighten up as they pass by a few more gaggles of students. They’re more than happy to greet the two as they pass and some quickly lean in to try and get quick advice from Olivia before running off again. It’s sweet, and the energy here is high.
Olivia points to a spot on the ground nearby the operating elevator and Jesse is extra careful in setting them down with Olivia’s eyes so trained on him. Standing straight he can’t help but stretch and bounce a little on the balls of his feet now that the extra weight is gone. Olivia smiles and grabs him by the hand, walking him back to the others as they change to lighter topics.
Lukas and Stella greet them warmly, breaking up their own conversation about architecture styles it seems.
“Lukas!” Olivia squeals and throws out her arms for a hug.
“Olivia! How’s it going?” The man laughs and hops to his feet, greeting her with a good squeeze.
“Oh, well, Jesse only interrupted my most important lecture of the day. So, pretty good overall!” Over his shoulder she meets Jesse’s gaze and points to Lukas. Jesse raises a brow. She smiles smugly and nods in approval with a thumbs up. Jesse scoffs and rolls his eyes. How many times has she done that in the past 6 years? He’s frankly lost count.
“Ha! Now why am I not surprised?” Lukas looks at Jesse with a sly smirk. He steps back and stuffs his hands in his back pockets. “Great progress out here! Your students seem enthusiastic too.”
“They are! I was just telling Jesse all about them.” She raises her head high in sheer pride. “I’d be careful with your charisma, boys—keep it up and they’ll be begging to hold their graduation ceremony in Beacontown instead of Redstonia!” She laughs a little and Jesse beams.
“You say that as if it hasn’t happened before! Always happy to take ‘em off your hands for a year.”
“Oh! That reminds me!” Olivia smiles and grabs Jesse by the hands. “Tomorrow! Mark it on your calendar!”
“Oh…?” Jesse raises a brow, somewhat apprehensive. Olivia smiles and giggles.
“Relax, it’ll be fun—I promise.” She steps back and rests her hands on her hips, nodding towards her students. “I’ve got a gaggle of kids who’ve got a bunch of free time on their hands now that three of the 6 shafts are pretty much done. We’re gonna start on the Redstonia mural by the northeastern gate!” She points off towards it and, in turn, Redstonia. She smiles, “The kids would love it if you joined them—and I know you love messy projects like that.”
“Oooh! That actually sounds great, ‘Liv! Time?”
“Be there by 9 so the sun doesn’t kill us.”
“Deal!” He holds up a hand and they high-five on it. “Alright, we’ll leave you to it. We’ve still got some more deliveries to run on the outskirts. Catcha tomorrow if we don’t see you later!”
“Holding you to it!” She gives a few parting waves to the small group before turning and hurrying back into the plaza, loudly clapping and calling for her student’s attention. Jesse smiles as he watches them all form up around her—she really did grow into her teaching role well. Ellegaard would be proud of her. With that, Jesse turns back to his own ragtag group and meets the expectant gazes of Stella and Lukas.
“Right. Now we split up. Lukas, do you wanna—”
“I can cover Orion and Radar. Radar mentioned wanting to pick my brain earlier which I don’t mind, but that’ll probably take some time knowing him.”
“That’s fine. I can’t imagine taking too much longer! I don’t mind running Binta’s delivery over if you’ve got Anderson’s, Stella. Though… He can be kinda rude.”
Stella rolls her sleeves up further, “Oh, Jesse-darling you don’t even have to worry. That old codger is well-acquainted with me—he won’t be any trouble!” She says in a sing-song tone. Jesse and Lukas share a concerned glance and Jesse just blows out a breath and nods. Sure. Not gonna question it.
“Guess we get to it then! I’ve gotta run back to Ivor’s one last time and I suppose I’ll meet up with you two later.”
“Good a plan as any.” Lukas smiles and the three share nods before splitting throughout town.
~~~~~
Balancing four of those crates all on his own was admittedly a lot harder than he thought it’d be. Not to mention heavier. Not that he was gonna admit that when Ivor had been so smugly watching. He makes a mental note to find a way to get back at the old man for it. The walk was at least going to be pretty pleasant—The Oasis meet-up point is a little bit outside of Beacontown via the southeast gate. It’s a trail lined by oak trees that follows one of the tributary rivers to the main rivers that cut through town and most of the continent both south and eastward. It’s a cute little dusty and gravelly path that connects with the main road to Boomtown—Axel’s fond of it like that so Jesse’s been procrastinating paving it if he can.
Jesse smiles as he takes note of just how dusty the cobble around the gate to said path is. It’s messy, but in a homey way. As he waits for the gates to fully open he wonders how long it’ll take for some stick in the mud to start flooding his mail with complaints about it. Just thinking about dealing with someone so entitled makes him roll his eyes.
“Jesse! Jesse, wait up!”
Jesse blinks and turns around, surprised to see Stella jogging over. She stops by him and leans on his shoulder as she catches her breath. He looks around but doesn’t see Lluna anywhere in tow—she probably quit while she was ahead. Smart llama. He turns his attention back to Stella.
“... You hanging in there?”
“YES, you just walk far too fast for a man of your stature.” She sucks in a breath and waves a hand around, “I just finished with Anderson and figured I could probably catch you before you got out of the gates. I didn’t expect you to already be over here though! Oh man…” She whines as she leans back and stretches.
Jesse’s brows shoot up. “That was fast. He really answer that quick and easy?”
“As I said, hon’, he’s well-acquainted with me. No problem at all.” She swings and arm out between huffing then leans forward and rests her hands on her knees. “Oh god I’m out of shape. I’m gonna hurl.”
“Well shit, sit down or something, get out of the sun at least—” Jesse begins looking around for a place to rest but she just stands straight again and clamps a hand down on his arm.
“No no no! I—... am dedicated. I’ve got this.” She rests her hands on her hips, giving him a lopsided smile as sweat beads on her forehead and stray hairs stick to her skin. Jesse just stares, somewhat aghast. She blows a hair out of her eyes only for it to stick to her forehead then nods, bumping him on the arm with a fist. “C’mon handsome. One last delivery then we can grab some margaritas. My treat.”
“I don’t think margaritas help with heat stroke…” He grumbles, following after her and onto the dusty old trail.
As expected, the walk is at least pleasant. The trees offer good shade from the sun and their arc over the trail actually funnels a nice breeze through. Stella added an extra 10-15 minutes at the start by stopping every few minutes to dig the gravel out of the soles of her tennis shoes, but eventually gave up. Jesse gave her an empathetic but approving pat on the back. A few months back she’d probably cry at the thought of getting those shoes dirty. She had wanted to loosen up and learn to get a bit more rough and tumble though, and she’s made good progress. Cleaning up Champion City has definitely forced her out of her comfort zone.
Jesse sucks a breath in through his teeth as he, for the third time today, stumbles. “Fuck! God damn!” He hisses as he tries to save his balancing act once more. Had it only been three boxes like before, it’d be fine, but four? Oh this was pushing it. Stella quickly swings around front and helps catch them for the second time today. Jesse lets out a long sigh as they’re steadied and she peeks around the wall of crates to give him a sympathetic smile.
“Here hon’, set these down for a sec and I’ll take a few. You’ve done plenty.”
“No, no, it’s okay. I don’t want you carrying any if you’re still feeling—”
“Jesse.” She glares at him a little and he holds it for a minute. Ultimately though, the weariness in his arms wins the argument with his own stubborn pride. He sighs and nods, doing as he’s told and setting them down. He rubs his face with his hands as he sits there crouched, blowing out a big breath as he does. Stella pats him on the back. He nods in thanks and grunts as he pushes himself back up, stretching a bit as he does.
“Next time Ivor wants me to be an errand-boy, make sure I have, like, a wagon or something.”
“Agreed.” She huffs as she picks up two of the crates and Jesse scoops up the last two once more. They start off again and conversation turns casual. They banter a bit about how to run a town before shifting into talking about some of their current challenges. Stella discusses all of the quirks that have come from building from the ground up as well as ‘expanding her palette’ when it comes to building styles. Jesse’s more than intrigued. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see how this new take on the city turned out. The experience of its destruction was… Horrendous to say the least, but Stella’s at least been given a new lease on life. She doesn’t want to squander it either. He’s come to respect her a lot for that.
Next it’s Jesse’s turn to talk and he gets the fun job of easing from talking about the renovations downtown to the fact that they’re apparently both bordering on an incredibly dangerous ancient city. Stella merely gawks at him, not entirely believing it until he mentions Bruce’s own story of discovering it. He shifts tone a bit to describe what exactly the Deep Dark was—from his understanding—and she listens intently. She took the news like a champ (pun unintended) and immediately sprung into discussion with him on how they can both ensure it’s properly cordoned off. Her managerial skills really were something else, and her immediately taking the reins to problem-solve with him takes a weight off his shoulders he didn’t know he had.
The rest of the walk is pleasant. Warm, but pleasant. Jesse admires some of the flowering bushes that appear alongside the path—colorful and full of life. While he wasn’t a fan of heat, he had to admit that early summer truly had some of the best flowers. After a bit longer, the sound of the rushing water gets louder and begins drowning out their conversation while also signaling their arrival. Jesse smiles as he looks out across the forking rivers, one rushing south down to the Southern Bay and the other heading eastward yet, still alongside the road to BoomTown. It was a bit busier down here alongside the actual river—many smaller docks and waterside businesses. It reminded him of a coastal town, almost. If they were to take the main river road back up and into town via the south entrance, they’d watch as these little docks turn into a fully fledged seaboard. Beacontown was based right on a massive river delta that opens up to the west coast, and water-based trade and travel was booming. There was no river that went straight east to west, but Olivia had proposed they make a canal through the battered land the Witherstorm tore up by the old Order Temple more than once.
Jesse pulls Stella off the main road and into a little, equally dusty, roadside outlet. He blows out a sigh as he sets the crates down for the final time. Stella happily follows suit. The sun was starting to get a bit more golden in the sky now—night was still a while away but, if he had to guess, it was probably 5 or 6 o’clock by now.
“I’ll admit, Jesse…” Stella starts, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air while she stretches, “This is a lovely little meeting place.”
“I certainly thought so! Perfect time of year too—I love the snowball bushes.”
Stella scrunches up her face and stops mid stretch. “The… what?”
“Snowball bushes!” Jesse smiles and jogs over to one of the many flowering bushes along the grassline. He delicately leans a few of the rounded bundles of white flowers forward. Stella crosses her arms as she walks over to inspect them closer. “These little guys! They come off like little pom-poms or, well, snowballs.”
She hums as she takes a little bundle in her hands. “Not snowballs. Viburnum Opulus.” She states matter-of-factly.
Jesse blinks. She simply looks at him. He blusters out a laugh, “Vibrant Opulence?”
“No!” She pouts and lightly smacks his arm, “Viburnum Opulus! Guelder Roses! That’s their name! Not,” She scrunches up her nose, “ ‘snowball bush.’ I thought you’d know that.”
Jesse snorts, letting the plant go and stuffing his hands in his pockets, “Sorry for not memorizing the useless scientific jargon of every plant on the planet.”
“It’s not useless!” She argues and begins listing off on her fingers, “It’s a specific description of its family and genus! To help make distinguishing between subsets and family members that much easier. You could at least call them ‘Guelder Roses.’”
“Yeesh, you sound like my father.” He laughs and Stella blinks, a bit taken aback by the casual mention. With no bad air though, she eases into a smile and begins to chuckle herself. She reaches out and lightly shoves him on the shoulder.
“Well, it sounds like he was a man with some taste and sense!” She beams, “Unlike some people I know…” She taps her chin and hums, “Suppose it didn’t run in the family, hm?”
“Har har.” He smiles, “It’s called practicality—you should try it sometime.” He plucks a little bundle of flowers off the bush as Stella gasps and tosses it around in his hands. It stays together well, save for a few petals flitting down to the ground. “We had these bushes near my home. I used to throw them at my dad.” He giggles, “They’d explode into a white petaled mess—like snow. I loved snow—still do—so I’ve always loved these things.”
“I’m sure your father appreciated getting pelted with flowers.” She smirks and Jesse laughs.
“Oh he certainly put up with it! I would always sneak up on him when I did it then run away before he could grab me.”
“What a little menace!” She laughs and he just grins with a shrug. She nudges him with a soft smile, “Thanks for sharing, Handsome. That’s a cute story.”
“Thanks for listening.” He smiles back and offers the little bundle out to her, spinning it by the stem. She happily takes it, spinning it between her own fingers. It’s not long after that that they hear a familiar whooping and yelling from down the road. Both turn to see who’s causing the commotion and are greeted with a bubbly Binta, waving at them as she approaches. Jesse waves back then pauses as he notices who’s following up a bit behind her.
“Is that…?” Stella echoes his thoughts.
“Xara? I think so… Wonder what she’s doing here.” He mumbles and Stella shoots him a worried look. He continues, “She doesn’t typically come out here for these—a lot to do in the Underneath. Surprise visits aren’t exactly her thing.”
“Oh dear…” She mumbles but masks her worry as Binta gets close with her brown pack llama. She grins and opens her arms out wide and Jesse happily obliges with the hug.
“Good to see you, Binta!”
“Amazing to see you, too! I hope it wasn’t too much trouble getting these out here?” She grimaces a little and Jesse laughs.
“You kidding? I’ve barely left town. You’re the ones who’ve done all the work. Really, we oughta meet at the old Order Temple more often!” He shakes his head and moves over to the crates as she leads over the llama.
“Oh nonsense! It’s a bit of travel, sure, but it’s nice getting some sunshine!” She beams as she begins loading up the crates. Her llama huffs a little and shifts on its feet and Jesse smiles sympathetically, reaching a hand out to pet its neck. Binta straps the last one into place with a satisfying tug and her llama stares down at her, over this idea already. She smiles nervously and pats its side, “I know buddy, work sucks huh?” The llama snorts and spits at the ground, causing her to laugh. She lets out a sigh as she nods. “Oh, I feel that, buddy.”
Jesse takes a step back and turns to Xara as she catches up to the group. The rugged woman walks up to him and studies him a moment before huffing with a smug smile. She reaches out and plucks something out of his hair then holds it out for him to see—one of the little white petals.
“Playing amongst the flowers, are we?” She chuckles and Jesse sinks back, somewhat self-conscious. She pats him on the arm, “Relax. It’s good to see you in good spirits, Jesse. I hope things have been well since the last time we’ve seen you.”
“Well…” He laughs awkwardly and shakes his head, “It’s a long story. But I’ve been staying busy, to say the least.”
“Always the long stories with you…” Xara sighs as she crosses her arms. She smiles fondly, “I’d be concerned if it were any other way.”
Jesse laughs and nods. Fair enough. Stella steps up and they all properly exchange pleasantries. Jesse fishes out another note from Ivor and Harper and passes it off to Binta—a description of purchase, or something. He glanced at it earlier and it was a lot of redstone jargon that frankly, Olivia was much more equipped to dissect. Binta skims it and nods as thoughtfully as ever, though. Once the business side of this is complete, Jesse turns back to Xara.
“Are you able to stick around for a bit more? Late lunch or a drink? My treat.”
Xara grimaces a little and Binta tenses, sucking the air in through her teeth as she nervously looks between them all. She fiddles with the lead on her llama as she speaks, “Oh gosh, Jesse. I mean—! We’d love to, really, but…” She trails off and Xara nods solemnly.
“Unfortunately, we’re busybodies ourselves. Not to mention still waiting on something down by the portal that was supposed to show up this morning. Another time though, happily.”
That makes Jesse pause. He frowns, “Did a delivery party go missing?”
Xara lets out an irritated grunt. “Something like that. Running late with no word.”
That’s certainly concerning. Jesse racks his brain, trying to remember if Radar’s mentioned any outbound shipments being MIA or breaking down on the road. None come to mind. He opens his mouth to add something more only to be cut off by a new but unfortunately familiar voice.
“And you have my sincerest apologies for that, Xara!”
Jesse and Stella turn around only to be greeted by none other than Romeo as he tugs his cloak hood down. Both narrow their eyes immediately.
“You—!” Stella lunges at him and Jesse quickly nabs her by the waist at the last second. Romeo jumps back, grimacing. Stella growls as she hits Jesse’s arms, “Let me GO, Jesse! Let me go so I can MAUL him!”
Jesse grunts as he steadies his grip on her, “Trust me, as much as I’d love to, Stella, I’d rather like to hear why the hell he thinks he had the right to waltz through MY city to get here.” He hisses, glaring daggers into the man who recoils, holding his hands out defensively.
“Okay, okay! That’s warranted and I’m sorry! Truly! I didn’t do it simply because I wanted to antagonize you—either of you! But—ACK!”
Xara marches up and grabs him by the ear, yanking him with it. “You’re late, Romeo. You better have a good explanation.”
“I-I know, I know!” He winces, awkwardly contorting to keep the pain minimal. “Xara, please just allow me a few minutes here and I’ll explain everything to you as we walk! But Jesse, I—” He grasps her wrist and manages to unclamp her nails from his ear and lets out a sigh of relief as he stands straight. She scowls but he ignores her, turning to meet Jesse in the eye, “We need to talk about your uncle.”
Jesse loses a little steam at that, especially with the way Romeo’s voice quiets and drops. He inspects the man, and while Romeo has always seemed a bit meeker without his powers, there’s a very uncharacteristic seriousness washed over him and a heaviness in his eyes. It fills his stomach with dread. Stella seems to feel the temperature drop and stops struggling in his grip, instead shifting worried glances between the two of them. Jesse clenches his jaw a little then finally nods.
“Okay… Let’s make this quick.”
“Of course.” He bows slightly then nods off to the side, “Can we step aside for a second?”
“Sure.” Jesse mumbles, letting go of Stella and cautiously beginning to walk off to the grass-line and out of earshot of the others. Romeo follows quickly, the sheer anxiety emanating off of him admittedly making Jesse more nervous. Jesse stops, crosses his arms, and glares up at the man. Romeo nods and sighs.
“Firstly, again, I’m deeply deeply sorry for overstepping the clear boundaries we agreed upon—metaphoric restraining order and all.” He waves his hands around with a sigh, “I know I’m not to be within miles of this place, but I also feel this is too important not to warn you about.”
“Warn me?” Jesse’s brows furrow and Romeo nods, rubbing his forehead.
“Hiro is… Something’s simply not right. He’s being utterly unpredictable. I’ve never seen him like this before and I’ve seen him troubled by a wide variety of things over the years. I suppose this is certainly different, but regardless I’m unnerved. I simply have no clue what he’s thinking or what he’ll do.” He shakes his head with a defeated sigh.
Jesse’s stomach turns and he can’t help but nervously sway on his feet a little. He presses his lips into a tight line as he thinks and can feel Romeo’s worried gaze boring into him. He flicks his eyes back to the man and speaks barely above a whisper, “Do… Do you think he’d hurt anyone?”
Romeo hesitates, looking away from him as he does. Jesse tries to mask how hard he swallows. Slowly though, Romeo begins to shake his head, wavy red locks bouncing with the motion. Though he’s so reserved it doesn’t do much to comfort Jesse. He speaks again.
“I… I don’t think so. I know he wouldn’t hurt you. At least not purposefully, but again, I’ve no clue what he’s planning on doing.” He throws his arms out and gestures around them, “He could show up any second oh a whim and just want to talk with you.” He lets his arms drop as Jesse visibly recoils at the thought. Romeo nods sympathetically, “I figured that’d be your reaction. I tried convincing him to postpone it and be patient but stubbornness apparently runs in your family.” He says as he rolls his eyes.
“I love him, I do, but I don’t know if I can handle him right now. Especially not if…” He trails off, now thoroughly unnerved. Romeo sighs and nods in agreement. “If he does show up, I would rather it be just to talk though.”
“I hope so too, Jesse. For both your sakes.” He sucks in a breath, regathering himself and trying to appear professional, “I wish I had some additional good news, but I do not. I just wanted to ensure you were forewarned and… Eugh, potentially on your guard, I suppose.” He mumbles, hating the thought of things getting messy.
Jesse finally gives pause at that. He furrows his brows and glances Romeo up and down once again, still somewhat suspicious of his motivations here.
“... Why?”
Romeo blinks, “Pardon?”
“Why tell me? You know the risks of coming out here, nonetheless my own—…” He purses his lips and searches for a somewhat civil way to phrase it, “--utter disdain for you. You don’t seek to gain much here, so what’s the catch?”
“ ‘Why?’ ” Romeo raises a brow then pauses, caught off guard by the question. He crosses his arms as he blows out a breath, deep in thought. It takes a minute, but eventually he just shrugs and shakes his head a little, “I suppose… It just felt like the right thing to do. It’s the least I could do, actually. I know I can’t help you in many ways, nor would you want it—don’t blame you—but given the circumstances… It just seems appropriate. I don’t want any more trouble and I’m literally the only set of eyes on your uncle. Jesse, I’ve pissed off Xara to ensure I’ve gotten all the information I can so I could deliver it to you. If I didn’t think it was worth mentioning, I wouldn’t have, I can assure you.”
Jesse stares at him for a long moment before slowly nodding, pleasantly surprised. It was… Thoughtful. He’d be fooling himself to insist there was any malice behind this. As rocky a standing they have, he can’t help but feel a little bit of pride for how the man’s already grown in a few months. Normally, he’d expect some deluded mind-game or, well, literal game as a trade for just a smidge of this information. Romeo was working on things…
Jesse ducks his head, clearing his throat. “Well… I’m not gonna say it twice—and can’t believe I’m saying it to begin with—but… Thank you, Romeo. I appreciate this.” He sighs, looking back at the others and then past them to the docks and Beacontown in the distance. “I’ll figure something out.” He huffs then grumbles, “A vacation, probably.”
Romeo nods thoughtfully, “Ah, yes, you do look utterly horrible.”
Jesse glares at him and he simply smiles sweetly, though not without that mischievous glint in his gold eyes. Ah. That’s about what he expected.
…
He’s been amicable enough today.
He reaches up, grabs him by the ear, and drags him back to the others—Romeo complaining and whining all the way. Xara gets a good laugh out of it. Despite the pointed glare Romeo gives him, the air lightens up considerably as Jesse and Stella give their proper goodbyes to Binta and Xara. Binta shares hugs and Xara gives Jesse a handshake and hearty pat on the arm. Before they can head off, Jesse makes sure to even give Romeo a proper handshake in thanks. Nothing more than that, but it seems to make the man happy. For better or for worse, Jesse’s yet to decide.
From there, the groups split and Jesse and Stella make their way back up the trail to Beacontown. Though it’s not without her prodding him with questions—not to mention frequently checking if he’s sick when he speaks neutrally of Romeo. Eventually he zips his mouth shut and promises he’ll tell her if she treats him to those margaritas—to say she was utterly ecstatic would definitely be an understatement.
~~~~~
“You be careful with that now, furball. These shards are fragile.” Jesse mumbles, shooting a pointed look to the ocelot perched on the desk he was hunched over. It huffs out of its nose at him and makes him chuckle a little as he focuses on the work before him.
It was fairly late in the evening now. Drinks with Stella were boisterous and fun, as usual. They parted ways after leaving the restaurant though as she wanted to hit the road back home before the sun set. Though it was certainly not without a promise that she’d be back soon. The sky had been orange from the sunset around then, with those blue evening shadows starting to engulf the city. Now though, the sky was its soothing purple-blue as the sun finally dipped under the horizon. Probably around 9 if he took a wild guess. Certainly pretty, but not enough light to do what he needed. Now, everything in the room was bathed with warm yellow lamp-light.
A soft yet melodic clinking sound echoes through the room just barely heard over the quiet music playing. A second layer of clinking starts again for probably the dozenth time tonight as the cat lightly rolls some amethyst around with its paws. Getting more excited, the cat purrs and begins batting it around more playfully. He jumps around, flinging it back and forth to himself. Jesse grunts and carefully moves his project just a few inches to the right and out of his way. It’s all fun and games though until the shard he’s batting flies off the desk.
“Dewey!” Jesse flings his chair onto its back legs to catch the shard with his left hand, right one gripping the desk to just barely keep from falling. He stays in that precarious position for a minute, his heart pounding in his ears as he catches his breath. He lets out a slow and steady sigh as he carefully brings the chair back to a sitting position. He leans on his elbows and presses the cool shard to his forehead for a moment as he lets out another sigh. “... What did I say?” He eyes the cat once again who gives him an ambivalent look. Jesse huffs and shakes the shard at him, like a parent scolding their child.
“No more of that. You keep that up and I won’t let you work with me anymore, you hear?” He tries keeping a straight face but the cat immediately headbutts his hand and begins purring. Jesse swallows a smile, “No, no, you do not get pets for that! I'm serious!” He falters and laughs a little at the end and gets a long wail from the cat—arguing.
“He helping you out?” Lukas’ voice cuts in and Jesse looks back to see him leaning on the doorway with a soft smile. He can’t help but melt into a smile himself. Dewey immediately hops off the desk and runs over to Lukas, meowing at him in greeting before rubbing up against his legs. Lukas hums and reaches down to scratch him, “Yeah, yeah, pretend you’re not being a brat the second I arrive. I know how you are, Dew.” He snickers and gently messes with his cat’s tail only for Dewey to roll over and begin playing with his hand. It lasts only a second or two before he rights himself and races off, tail held high and happy. Lukas shakes his head with a smile before coming further into the room.
“Big personality for such a little guy.” Jesse laughs somewhat nervously, dropping the amethyst onto some cloth on the desk and slouching in the chair.
“You’re telling me!” Lukas laughs. He reaches Jesse’s chair and leans on the back of it. “Whatcha doing?”
Jesse quickly glances between the little work-in-progress craft and Lukas. He clears his throat and rubs his neck, admittedly a little embarrassed.
“W-Well! I-It’s mainly just a little craft. I’ve always liked making little things like this as a hobby. Kept my hands busy. I guess I just… I dunno, I’ve been trying to take to heart what you said.” He glances up to him briefly, “About taking my mind off of things. I always enjoyed doing little projects like this and so far I’ve had a nice time doing it! It’s relaxing.” He mumbles and Lukas smiles, reaching out to rub his shoulder.
“I’m glad to hear it, Jesse. Really.” He gives his shoulders another squeeze then points at his project. “Mind telling me what it is?”
Jesse grins and gently lifts the project by its top wires and hook. The wires span out across a small round slab of spruce wood that’s already been sanded down and polished. From there, more wires hang down at varying heights with one longer one in the middle. The middle connects to a similarly wooden striker and, at the very bottom, a lovely diamond shaped wind-sail. The other shorter wires connect to some carefully cut and now tube-shaped amethyst shards. Not all wires have an attached bit of amethyst yet, but it’s clear already what it intends to be. Lukas gasps and reaches out to caress some of the amethyst. They’re translucent and a gorgeous contrast to the warm spruce wood.
“Wind chimes?!”
“Yessir!” Jesse beams. “I-I didn’t do all this tonight though—especially not the amethyst.” He laughs a little, “I started working on those yesterday morning then took a break to focus on the wood and stringing things up. Olivia hooked me up with a sweet diamond tipped cutter so it hasn’t been too hard shaping these little shards up, thankfully.” He smiles and picks a half finished one for example. He hands it to Lukas who studies it intensely. Jesse can’t help but feel his stomach flip and Lukas studies his handiwork—he was the best architect he knew after all, and ‘detail oriented’ wasn’t the half of it. The man melts into a smile however and shakes his head in wonder before handing it back.
“I knew you were talented Jess, but this is pretty outstanding.”
“Oh come on!” Jesse laughs, feeling his cheeks begin to burn at the compliment. Lukas shakes the amethyst at him.
“I’m serious! This is great so far! I cannot wait to see the finished product!”
Jesse just smiles bashfully as he snags the shard back and shakes his head. Lukas fake pouts for a moment only to be offered the actual chime set itself. His eyes widen a moment and he blinks as Jesse insists.
“It’s a bit off-weight, but go ahead!”
Lukas nods excitedly and stands straight to take it. He hesitates a moment then gently grabs it, slowly moving closer to the lamplight to admire it. The amethyst tubes already in place gently clink and begin their soothing melody. Jesse sits back in the chair again and lets out a soft sigh as he watches Lukas fiddle with the chimes. The little lamp is the only source of light in the room, casting dramatic shadows over the man. His blue eyes were glistening, and his already golden hair shimmered like true gold as it caught the light. It was messier than usual with strands falling into his eyes—a sign of a long day’s work. Jesse realizes he’s staring probably a bit too much once his gaze drops to the other man’s lips. He sucks in a breath and turns back to the table, fiddling with a shard as he pushes the chair back to its back two legs.
Lukas asks something quietly, yanking Jesse out of his thoughts.
“Huh? Sorry.”
“You’re good. I asked, um… I asked what song is playing tonight?”
Jesse blinks, honestly having forgotten that music was playing. “Oh!” He sets the chair back down with a thud and crosses his arms. Lukas walks back over and gently places the chimes back down in their spot. Jesse shuts his eyes and taps his arm, trying to remember it without looking. “I think this one’s called ‘Wait’.”
Lukas hums out a chuckle. “That’s certainly fitting.”
“I thought so.” Jesse grins. He shifts in his seat to face Lukas better, “So, we’ve covered what I’ve been up to—how about you, blondie? Didn’t see hide nor hair of you since we split up after dropping Olivia’s delivery off. You missed Stella’s tears of relief to finally be finished! Out on the town?” He teases and Lukas snorts, batting him.
“You wish it were that exciting. Nah, Radar just stuck around to ask me some questions about specific signs.”
“Oh!” Jesse lights up at that. He rests his arms on the back of his chair. “How’re his lessons going?”
“Fantastic! You know how quick of a learner he is.” Lukas beams, then smirks and bumps Jesse on the arm, “Give him another week or two and he’ll be caught up with you.”
Jesse’s jaw drops, “WHAT?!” Lukas just smiles as Jesse struggles to regain his composure. He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head, becoming much more animated as he speaks. “I’ve been studying with you for three years!” He huffs in disbelief, “I-I mean— I’m not the fastest by any means but—!”
“I warned you he’d catch up quick!”
“Still!” He leans into the word, almost whining. He shakes his head but smiles, “Man, I swear he’s gonna know a hundred languages by the time he’s 20. How’s he do it?”
Lukas shrugs with a simple smile. “Well, some people’s brains are just wired differently and take concepts like languages in like they’re nothing.”
“Oh gee, thanks. Helpful tip brainiac.” Jesse rolls his eyes and Lukas grins. He signs something quickly and Jesse barely manages to catch it. It leaves Lukas getting the most dramatic glare and pout combo from the man, however.
‘Get Good.’
“Now you’re just being a shit.” Jesse lets out an exaggerated sigh and gently pushes his hands apart. Lukas laughs.
“Haha! Hey, if you wanna keep up I simply suggest hitting the books again, Jess. I’ll help.” He smiles and moves back to lean on Jesse’s chair. Jesse slouches again and lets out a groan.
“Eugh… I’m really building up quite the reading-list, huh?”
Lukas just smiles and pats him on the shoulders. “You’ll find a way to make it enjoyable, I’m sure.” He leans a little closer, “I’ll even read those Doc Kelley books with you!”
“You just want a closer look at that collection.” Jesse smirks and Lukas grins.
“Whaaaat? Nooooo…” He says in mock-offense. Jesse just chuckles. They stay like that for a minute, taking in the calm quiet and simply basking in each other’s company. Jesse could probably fall asleep right then and there as Lukas seems to take to gently rubbing his shoulders—as if he wouldn’t notice. They’ve always had little moments like these together—not that either of them have had the nerve to say anything about it. Lingering touches light as a feather, drawn-out glances that end when the other notices, and the occasional hug that probably lasts a bit longer than it should.
Those moments have been getting more common during his stay with the man. It makes him nervous. He doesn’t intend on staying here forever, but it’d be one hell of a lie to say that his little work-in-progress apartment wasn’t getting less and less appealing by the day. Not to mention the fear of messing up whatever friendship they have currently. He knows better than to fool himself by calling it that, but just can’t quite bring himself to address the elephant in the room. The tenuous time they had after Jesse let Romeo go hurt like hell, he’d rather not mess things up again if he can help it. He’ll cross those bridges when—and if—he gets to them.
Lukas hums a little to grab his attention, “Want some tea or something? Take a break?”
“Oh! Yes, please! Lavender if you have it.” Jesse smiles. “Thanks Lukas.”
Notes:
Hey besties how's it going we at the bottom notes section now! So, again, apologies for just peacing out for a hot month or two--wasn't intended. Had some shit going down tho including a minor car accident, some emergency vet ordeals, and many finals including preparing to earn my associates transfer degree and begin networking for job and internship opportunities so it's been INTERESTING!
I'm on summer break tho so I hope to get back on track here especially because I'm VERY excited for next chapter and a big bit coming up. We're finally past a few hurdles I've had on my outline for a hot few years and I'm VERY excited going forward. Things are going to start escalating and I'm going to try and keeping the energy from slowing down too much. There will be some breathing room, but the characters aren't exactly gonna be relaxed lmao ✌✌✌
Thank you all for your patience and I hope you stick around! After this small arc of chaos, we're pretty much in endgame which I've been planning for almost 4 years--so suffice to say I am through the ROOF at the notion of getting started!
EDIT 6/29/23: Few little additions !! :>
Chapter 26: So Much for Rest and Relaxation
Summary:
In the midst of working on the Redstonia mural, the gang finds a somewhat unsettling surprise in the Order Hall and Jesse later has a proposition for Lukas
Notes:
HEY BESTIES WE BACK! I don't know what's hit me lately but I think I'll be able to keep up the ol' two week schedule at least for a hot minute because as I post this I already have the next chapter after this completely drafted and am working on chapter 28 as we speak! Words go BRRRRR
But for now we got this one and it's about 10k words! Honestly the next few chapters are just gonna be long ones as I have a lot I wanna cover and would rather not break them up if possible! I always feel a little bad since I know it can take a while to read through but also I figure more content is always more fun than less 😭😭😭 so! Enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Like this, kid, like this!” Jesse says as he dunks a large paintbrush in purple paint. He stands straight and flicks the paint off the brush and towards the wall in an upward slash. Perfect purple splatters dot the bricks and join the plethora of other colored splatters. The teen next to him purses her lips as she slowly mimics the motion with her dry brush. Jesse beams, “That’s great! Good form! Pretend you're swinging a sword or something—just put your whole body into it and get messy!”
“L-Like this?” She repeats the motion a little faster, black braids flinging around, but remains stiff on her feet. Jesse nods and bounces over to her.
“Getting there! Move with your waist and feet though—don’t wanna throw out your shoulder. This is for fun, remember! Let loose.” He hovers his hands over her shoulders before she nods back her permission to have help. He smiles and puts one hand on her shoulder and another on her back, guiding her whole body alongside with the swing a few times over. “Step into it, keep your arm stiff, and follow through. See what I mean?”
“Y-Yeah! I think so!” She nods quickly, new focus in her eyes. Jesse nods and steps back to watch as she dunks her brush in some red paint, the stuff dripping all over the can and onto the ground. She bounces on her feet a little then slams a foot forward as she slashes upwards with the brush, letting out a yell. The drops of paint slam into the wall and spread out in perfect splatters. Jesse lets out a whoop of applause.
“YEAH! Atta kid!”
“Finally!” The girl screams, jumping in excitement. She drops her brush and runs over to Jesse, giving him a solid double-handed high five and splattering some more paint over them in the process. She grins and spins around to look back at their progress and rushes back to nab her paintbrush off the ground and start flinging paint again.
Jesse smiles and calls after her, “Try flicking just your wrist up close! That works too!” She turns and gives him a thumbs up which he returns.
The mural was coming along great so far. They’ve got most of the core aspects already outlined in black as well as the backdrop’s color picked out and thoroughly painted—a nice light purple-grey color. A few kids have designated themselves to be on gradient duty and are seeing to it that there’s a shift to a darker, richer purple as the black outlines are approached. Olivia’s been running back and forth between both here and the plaza all morning trying to oversee until Jesse insisted he could handle the kids over here on his own. She was nervous about it initially but eased up at not only his own reassurance but some of her kids adding in their 2 cents—so many cents actually that he’s surprised she managed to maintain her own train of thought during it all.
The mural was pretty straight-forward on paper—a mural representing Redstonia and depicting a lot of iconic redstone contraptions and inventions spread out across the brick wall. Jesse always liked getting a bit creative though, so they were probably gonna be taking a bit longer to finish than Olivia anticipated. They were having fun though, so that’s what matters. The kids wanted a way to make the background pop a little to emphasize the actual content of the mural so they’ve decided to try and get a more graffiti-esque look going with tons of bold, white outlines, dropshadow, gradients, and splatter. They’re gonna have to repaint a few things, but it was definitely worth it. These were probably some of the smartest and most creative kids around, so giving them the chance to let loose and get messy was good for them.
Jesse shields his eyes as he checks where the sun is. Probably about noon. They’ve been going for a good while already and thankfully it hasn’t gotten horribly hot yet—but he’s definitely working up a good sweat. He’s probably gonna have to call for a break around 5 or so though when it’s warmest… Taking his hand away he notices just how much paint is already covering his hands and arms. They nearly cover the patterned scarring Romeo’s gauntlet etched into his right arm. He smiles as he overturns both and sees splotches of purple, red, grey, blue, black, and white that are speckled, scraped, and dripping across his skin and even tucked away between his fingers. He chuckles a little, remembering how messy he’d get when fingerpainting as a kid. It was just like this and frankly he cannot wait to get even messier.
He runs back over, picks up his brush, and joins the girl and a few other kids who are taking turns splattering the wall while one works with some spray cans up high to continue the purple gradient of the next section. The kids wanted a galaxy type feel with it all, so that’s what they were aiming for. This is the test section of the mural to get things right, and so far so good. Their next step would be restoring the integrity of some of the outlines and adding some white to make them pop. For now though, it was a chaotic free-for-all with paint.
Admittedly, they get carried away pretty easily. One little flick hitting another person is all it takes for an all out paint war to start. The teens laugh as they nearly stumble while dunking their brushes mid-sprint in order to get ammo to fling at the others while others just attack their friends by painting them outright. Jesse yelps as they finally decide to try ganging up on him, breaking into laughter as he fruitlessly tries flinging paint back at the persistent group wanting to nail him. C’mon, who would pass up the chance to pelt the Hero in Residence in paint?
“Ah!” The girl from earlier yelps and steps back quickly, a few of the kids immediately stopping and the others soon freezing as well. She holds a hand up, signaling she’s okay with a laugh before holding her head up again and revealing her glasses now coated and utterly sopping with paint. A chorus of grimaces and ‘Oooooh…’ s echo through the group while Jesse jogs over.
“Aw man, talk about total wipeout…” He awkwardly chuckles, “Here kid, I can wipe those off with my shirt—it’s already a mess anyways. Your eyes okay though?” He asks as she hands off her glasses to him. He quickly begins trying to rub the paint off on his white t-shirt while looking over her face. She’s got one eye shut tight as paint drips over it and is squinting out of the other.
“I’m okay! I just don’t wanna open it without wiping the paint away and my hands are…” She trails off, lifting her own already messy hands before dropping them kinda uselessly. Jesse frowns and hums in acknowledgement. He steps back a moment and whistles to the others.
“Hey! Anybody got a semi-clean handkerchief or napkin? Got some paint in the eyes over here!”
“I got one!” A familiar voice pipes up and Jesse’s surprised to see Radar jog over, a bit messy himself. Radar passes it to him and Jesse smiles.
“I didn’t know you snuck into this little project! Why didn’t you say somethin’?” He chuckles and raises the dirty glasses, “Here, I figure you’re probably better at cleaning these than I am. Got the worst of it but not the smudging.”
Radar lights up at the pair of glasses being handed to him, “Oh absolutely! I’ll be right back, I have some cleaning stuff in my bag!” He nods quickly and darts off down the line again. Jesse turns to the girl and quickly begins wiping her eyes clean and pushing some soaked hair back so it doesn’t keep dripping.
“Was that Radar, sir?”
“Sure was! No need for the formalities though, kiddo. Just ‘Jesse’ is fine!” He smiles and wipes away the last of the paint and steps back. “There! Good as new! Feel better?”
The girl cautiously blinks her brown eyes back open but then smiles and nods.
“Yessi—! Er, Yes! No burning or anything, though you make quite the blurry blob, Jesse.” She teases, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Jesse laughs.
“Why thank you, I do my best!”
Radar hurries back over, still rubbing at the glasses a bit and the smell of alcohol strong as he does. He hems and haws as he looks the lenses over—perfectionist as always—but eventually settles with them.
“Here you go! Good as new!” He hands over the thick black frames and the girl puts them on quickly, blinking a few times as she adjusts again. She takes a step back, practically stupefied.
“Wow! These haven’t been this clean since I got them! Everything’s so much more… Colorful! Gosh, were they really that dirty before??” She takes them off again to examine the lenses herself and Radar giggles. She puts them back on and sighs before bowing her head towards both of them, “Thank you!”
“Glad to help.” Jesse smiles, he steps back and raises his voice somewhat for the next part, “And let’s call it for the day on the paint fights, capisce?”
He gets a chorus of ‘capisce’ s in return ranging from gentle responses to purposefully obnoxious screeches and a flurry of thumbs up. He chuckles and gives a thumbs up back before waving them off. He pats the girl on her arm as he begins to walk, “Keep up the good work. I’m gonna take a breather. You’re the pro now.”
“Right! Will do!” She smiles and hurries off back to the wall, already yelling at a few of her classmates to get back in tow.
Jesse huffs with a smile and walks over to the shade of a few oak trees in nearby plant-boxes, Radar following him. He reaches over to the young man and ruffles his hair before giving him a solid hug from the side. Radar grins.
“Sorry I didn’t say anything when I showed up! You were so deep in conversation with a few others I didn’t wanna interrupt—I figured I’d end up talking with you eventually.” He smirks and Jesse shakes his head.
“You should’ve said somethin’! I wouldn’t have minded! You having fun at least?”
“Oh absolutely! I already got everything crucial today done by 8 AM—don’t ask me what time I woke up—so it’s basically a free day for me! I haven’t gotten to do something like this in forever! Sure it’s a little—” He sucks in air through his teeth and clenches his fists in mild discomfort. But he perks up and claps his hands together, “But! I need to get a little messy here and there! Can’t have one without the other.” He smiles and Jesse chuckles.
“I see! Well, quit when you gotta. I know you value your organization and cleanliness.”
“I will! Honestly, I just need a drink or something right now.”
Jesse blows out a sigh and nods tiredly, “I feel you there.”
“You two giving up already?”
Radar beams, “Miss Olivia! Lukas!”
Jesse turns back to see the pair walk up and park right by the planter box. Olivia sighs as she hops up on the ledge of it and sits down in the shade. She’s long since shed her giant red coat and is opting for a red tank top and black jean-shorts with some white tennis shoes. She sighs and fans herself a little.
“I dunno how Axel and Magnus do it in that desert of theirs. Heat sucks.” She whines.
“The zero percent humidity helps.”
“Ugh, you’re right. Jesse, why did we both decide to take up residence in places surrounded by water.”
He hums thoughtfully, “Forgot about summer.”
“So true, so true…” She sighs. “I’ll drink to that!” She smiles with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Jesse and Radar watch in mild confusion and amusement as she clears her throat—Lukas playfully rolls his eyes, seemingly knowing what’s coming. She straightens her back and holds her chin high as she claps twice and speaks in an overly snobby and mockingly-rich fashion, “Oh, cabana-boy!”
Jesse snorts as Lukas heaves up an ice chest onto the planter box. She grins and giggles, dropping the act quickly.
“Thank you, Lukas!” She coos before popping the thing open and digging around amongst the ice. She fishes out four cans and sets them on the ledge before slamming the chest shut and hopping off herself. She turns around and drags the chest over, bracing herself a moment, and then lifting it herself with a grunt. She nods over towards the mural, “I’m gonna go make sure my kids are doin’ okay, then I’ll be back!”
“Sounds good ‘Liv. We’ll be here.” Jesse nods to her and Radar flashes her another smile as she passes him. Jesse hums and picks up one of the cans, passing it to Radar, then grabbing and popping another open for himself. Lemonade—nothing better for days like these. He eyes Lukas, “Wasn’t expecting to see you out here today, she nab you off the street?”
Lukas hums thoughtfully, “Something like that.”
“I see…!” He drawls, taking a sip from his drink—strong flavor and colder than the arctic, perfect. He points to him with the drink, “And what job, pray tell, has Olivia assigned THE Lukas Belle outside of ‘cabana boy’?” He asks while taking another sip of his drink.
“Oh, odds and ends. I’m the ‘eye-candy’, it seems.”
Jesse chokes on and spits a little of his drink. Radar clamps a hand over his mouth as he steps back to laugh at Jesse. Jesse coughs as he reaches across to lightly smack Lukas in the arm.
“Be serious!”
Lukas grins, “I am! Can’t you tell?”
Jesse laughs and shakes his head and Lukas joins him. He clears his throat and nods.
“She actually hasn’t given me any tasks so far aside from helping her pack and move these coolers around. I don’t mind though, my schedule’s relatively free. I can see you guys are already hard at work though.” He chuckles as he reaches over to Jesse, picking at some paint splattered on his cheek. Jesse snorts and slinks back from his touch before his cheeks can flare up too much.
“Yeah, well, we had a pretty epic paint fight a few minutes ago! Shoulda seen it.”
“Ahhh,” He nods then shrugs pretty bluntly, “Yeah, that’ll do it.”
Lukas reaches over and nabs his own drink, popping it open and joining the others. They relax there in the shade for a few minutes, just watching Olivia work with her kids. She was efficient as ever, grouping them up in no time flat and getting them into a quick and easy single-file line like it’s nothing. Passing out drinks is snappy and she’s done within just a few minutes, already packing up the cooler and making her way back over probably quicker than Jesse could lace up his hiking boots. She drops the cooler on the ground with a grunt and goes straight for her own drink, popping it open and chugging it without a word. The other three pause just a moment to watch as she downs it, finishes with a satisfied sigh, and crinkles up the can. She crouches down and opens the cooler and nabs a second drink, opening it and drinking it normally like the first one didn’t even happen.
“God ‘Liv, if you’re that thirsty it might be time for a break.” Jesse chuckles a little nervously. She frowns and shakes her head mid sip. She clears her throat.
“Nah, trust me—I’m good. I’ve been going through ‘em and water bottles back in the plaza to keep my electrolytes up. I’m plenty hydrated.” She says then sighs pitifully, “Gonna have to pee a lot later though. You know how it is.”
Radar snorts and Lukas chuckles while Jesse just shakes his head and hides half his face in embarrassment. Radar suddenly lights up and snaps his fingers.
“Oh! I know!” He turns to Jesse, “Jesse, some of the other teens wanted to see the Redstone Heart—if at all possible—so they could reference it for the mural. Would it be okay if we went and got it from the Order Hall?” He steps closer and nudges him, “It’s air conditioned!” He hums in a sing-song voice. Jesse smiles a little at that then thinks on it, drumming his fingers on the wood. He looks at Lukas and Olivia.
“What do you guys think? I know what my opinion is but…” He trails off as he takes another sip. Olivia purses her lips while Lukas bobs his head from side to side. Olivia speaks first.
“I’m alright with it if you are, Jesse. Though it has a different significance for you guys than it does for me.” She looks between them as she says this, her gaze lingering on Lukas a little longer. The man absentmindedly rubs the base of his scalp as he thinks hard. Jesse eases up his gaze a little to not pressure the man—he wouldn’t blame him if he thought it was a bad idea, he was chipped the longest after all.
Eventually Lukas shrugs with a nod, “Sure. We’ll be right here to watch anything just in case. It’s just the heart too so it’s not like it can do anything on its own.”
Jesse smiles, “Alright then! Looks like we’re taking a trip to the Order Hall!”
~~~~~
Getting through the doors of the hall is like a breath of fresh air—literally. It’s probably a good 20 degrees cooler inside and the relief surges through all of them.
“Yessss! AC…” Olivia says with sheer satisfaction as she hurries further in, basking in it. She huffs as she catches her breath then puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head. “Jesse, I don’t think I’m gonna be leaving this place today, sorry.”
“I’ll let security know.” He snorts and she laughs a little.
The walk to the main hall isn’t that far from here, but they all certainly take their time. There’s a few people they pass in the halls—students, engineers, security, nether spelunkers going to and from the portal, and regulars just enjoying the peace and quiet of the building. They get a few greetings as they pass, but for the most part people are content to just smile, wave, and move on with the same energy as if they were in a library or museum.
Jesse approaches the keypad into the Treasure Room and quickly punches in the code, opting to stuff his hands in his pockets and lean against the giant door frame to chat with the others as they wait for the large doors to rumble to life and slide open. It was easy-going as usual in the Hall—not to mention pristine. The doors finally open wide and light floods in from the room’s giant windows, signaling it’s time to enter. Jesse pushes off of the door frame and ducks into the room, still chattering away.
He pauses a little as he steps in, noticing it’s a little warmer in here than other spots in the building. He glances up and notices the awning windows on top of the main floor-to-ceiling ones have been cracked open for airflow. He hums out a little ‘huh’ but moves along—he figured they’d be closed with the heat sweeping through town.
“Alright! Redstone Heart time!” He smiles and claps his hands together as he walks over to the odd power-core.
“This thing is so cool… Still waiting on Harper to let me read about how it functions.” Olivia says with a sigh. Jesse raises a brow.
“Really? After all this time?”
Olivia crosses her arms, pouting a little, “She says I still need some more experience and to, quote, ‘curb my mad scientist tendencies’.” She rolls her eyes, “So I get a little excited and experimental! Anyone would! But I would by no-means call me a ‘Mad Scientist’.” She quotes the title in a high-pitched and mocking tone before rolling her eyes.
“Maybe it’s literal.” He grins and Olivia glares at him.
“Haha. Cute.”
He chuckles and carefully picks up the core with a grunt. It’s easier to lift these days, but it’s still a heavy little thing—trying to rip it out of PAMA the first time had him nearly throwing his shoulders out. It’s harmless now though, and hopefully would stay that way. Radar leans over his shoulder to ogle the pulsating red core before beaming.
“Um… Hey Jess? Radar?” Lukas pipes up from across the hall, standing by another pedestal. “Has anything else been loaned out recently? Something’s missing.” He steps back and points to another empty pedestal. Jesse’s eyes widen before narrowing in confusion and Radar practically has a heart attack where he stands.
“WHAT?!” The teen barks, racing over to the other pedestal. Jesse sets the Redstone Heart back on its own pedestal for the moment before racing over, Olivia in tow.
“Nothing I’m aware of…” He mumbles, scratching his cheek. “Ivor might’ve just taken the flint and steel again?”
“Sorry, Jesse.” Radar mumbles, catching his attention. He points to another pedestal near the armor stands, flint and steel still displayed loud and proud. “No dice…”
“Weird…” He says with a frown, stepping back to begin taking stock of everything. They had a fair amount of items in here so it was kind of hard to tell what exactly was missing right away. Radar hurries to begin doing the same, shaking from nerves.
“Lemme check the door logs.” Olivia nods to them and hurries back out of the Treasure Room. Lukas inspects the area around, drumming his fingers on his arm as he does.
Jesse counts off each item on his fingers: Amulet, White Pumpkin Mask, Portal Atlus, Redstone Heart, Eversource Crown… He continues down the list, feeling an itch in the back of his mind like he’s missing something obvious.
“Um! Double problem!!!” Radar squeaks, grabbing both men’s attention. He jumps back and flings an arm out towards yet another empty pedestal. Jesse’s jaw simply drops as he marches over. He wipes a hand across the top of the pedestal as if that’ll somehow change what he’s seeing. One item missing wasn’t super alarming, a bit odd maybe, but he knows so many people who could’ve borrowed something and simply forgotten to mention it. Two though? That’s a bit much. How could letting him know slip their mind? Unless it was Ivor of course… But even then…
“This is where we had one of the End Crystals displayed…” He mumbles as he steps back, rubbing his mouth as he thinks hard. Radar’s eyes widen as Lukas snaps his fingers.
“That’s what’s missing over here! The Dragon Egg!”
“But that’s—!” Radar protests, flabbergasted. “That’s impossible!” He throws his hands up, marching back over to Lukas’ pedestal in disbelief. He shakes his head and Jesse nods slowly. That’s what was missing. That was the Egg’s pedestal. Radar continues his rant, “I was here yesterday! I looked at the egg! I-I’ve been rereading Lukas’ first book and thought ‘Man! What a cool trophy Ivor got from the End! I should take a closer look the next time I take stock!’ So I DID! And it was HERE! And it was FINE!” His voice cracks as he hastily looks between the two men.
“Easy, Radar… Easy…” Lukas mumbles, reaching a hand up to squeeze his shoulder. The teen shakes his head, rubbing his temples.
“Another fanatic of the End on our hands, huh?” Jesse sighs.
“Thrilling.” Lukas grumbles.
“You guys… Aren’t freaking out?” Radar looks between the two in utter confusion and disbelief. “Jesse, someone stole the Dragon Egg and one of the End Crystals! I feel like I shouldn’t have to emphasize just how rare those things are!” He says with a huff and Jesse and Lukas share a glance before they end up shrugging.
Lukas continues, “Frankly, I’m more concerned about security than what was taken.”
“Agreed.” Jesse nods. “Besides,” He forces a smile and pats Radar on the shoulder, “I’m pretty sure it was just Ivor—these are sentimental to him more than they are to us. He said he was heading back to the Farlands lab too, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just got swept up in whatever it is he’s working on and forgot to tell one of us.”
Lukas nods in agreement and Radar lets out an audible sigh at that, finally relaxing a little.
“Sorry to burst your bubble Jesse, but that’s not possible.” Olivia pipes up as she re-enters the room. The three men shoot her worried and confused looks and she fiddles with her hands nervously as she approaches. She shakes her head. “The last log before us was early yesterday morning—around 6 am.”
“What?! That’s when I came in! I was doing my weekly check of everything then and, again, nothing was missing. A-And I didn’t take anything!!! I don’t have any use for— for some weirdass crystal and an overgrown egg!” He barks out a laugh, panic resurfacing.
“It’s okay Radar, we know it wasn’t you.” Jesse reassures, rubbing his back a little. The teen lets out a huge sigh, shaking his head. Olivia clears her throat to continue.
“Only Ivor, Harper, and a few of us know how to operate this room and can access the previous log entries. Nobody else has come through those doors.”
“Unless they came through somewhere else…” Jesse mumbles, glancing up at the cracked awning windows. Lukas’ eyes widen as little as he follows his gaze, quickly shaking his head.
“Those little things?! Jesse, I mean, sure, yeah— but trust me—and I say this from experience when dealing with Romeo—those are hard to slip through.” He frowns and Jesse just tilts his head a little in questioning. Lukas sighs and begins gesturing to the windows. “Okay, well, first off they’re pretty high up off the ground, 30-40 feet up, right? You’d need one hell of a ladder or scaling gear to get up the wall and slip through—which would DEFINITELY catch someone’s eyes, regardless of the time of day. Also, those windows are small and not easy to slip through—I didn’t even try it.”
“Then how’d you get in?” Jesse frowns.
“I pearled in. But even then, the crack is so small that it’s easy to hit the sill or wall instead of slipping it through. But once you do manage to get a clean shot, the pearl could still hit a lot of other things inside. The first time, I hit the lights and then dropped the rest of the way down, knocking a pedestal over in the process. Throwing a pearl isn’t the same as aiming with an arrow.”
Jesse raises his hands, “Okay, okay! I hear you loud and clear. Probably not likely given nothing’s broken especially. But, still… It’s not impossible. If they were detail oriented and had time I’m sure they could’ve covered their tracks—and the time was there.”
“So you think that’s what happened?” Lukas asks, somewhat bewildered. Jesse frowns, crossing his arms and shifting a bit nervously on his feet. Eventually he shakes his head.
“... No. No, I don't think so. There’s a simpler solution. Besides, we haven’t had any behavior like that in the past, and both of the things stolen are incredibly specific and not exactly the most valuable things here. They’re specific to The End, which, given what I’m dealing with right now...” He swallows, shaking his head a little, “It’s probably someone aware of that. And more than likely, someone who can zip in and out,” He snaps his fingers, “with just a snap—everything else left untouched…”
Olivia gasps a little, “Oh god… Your uncle…” She covers her mouth as Jesse nods.
“Remember— he was killed by the dragon.” He sighs, “Romeo would be the only other contender, but that’s if he still had his powers, which he doesn’t. Not to mention the fact that I know he’s in the Underneath with Xara. I even spoke with him yesterday—”
“You what?!” Lukas raises his voice a little, caught off-guard. He shakes his head in confusion, “But, we were all still in the city! Jesse, we said he wouldn’t be here.” He glares down at the man, downright offended by the idea of Romeo around. Jesse restrains himself from rolling his eyes.
“Lukas, please, we can argue about this later but I promise you he was well aware of the fact that coming here got him in deep shit. Which adds to my point—he wouldn’t dare touch anything, so it was probably my uncle. That said…” He sighs a little in frustration, “I wish we’d seen this yesterday somehow… I would’ve asked Romeo if he’d seen my uncle with them. He might’ve at least known something. He risked a lot just to come find me and warn me that my uncle was being unpredictable.”
“He… warned you?” Lukas mumbles, brows furrowed in suspicion. Jesse nods.
“He’s really concerned. Bad feeling in his gut and he seemed pretty disturbed. The last time I saw him that serious was when the Terminal Zone was collapsing.” He takes a step back and rubs his forehead before tiredly dropping his hand to his side. He shrugs, “I wouldn’t be surprised if my uncle just zipped in, grabbed these, then zipped out without much thought past how he was gonna study them or whatever it is he’s doing…”
They stand there in an awkward silence, unsure of what exactly to say or do next. There isn’t much they can do, unless they want to barge into Hiro’s fortress, and that sounds like a horrible idea. There is some solace knowing that it was just him doing… whatever it is he’s doing, but it’s still nerve wracking in the first place. Jesse’s at least content they’re safe, for the most part anyways. He can’t imagine his uncle damaging either item regardless of his weird headspace—they’re too important. Jesse lets out another sigh.
“There’s nothing we can do right now guys. Let’s just… Leave it be for now and get back to work. I’m sure Olivia’s students are wondering what’s taking us so long.”
“That…” Olivia starts, unable to figure out what exactly to say though. She stumbles over her words a moment more before sighing herself and just nodding quietly. “That sounds like a plan. I’m sure we’ll get some more answers in time. Besides, like you said, it’s probably just your uncle.”
“Exactly.” Jesse says as he plucks the Redstone Heart back up. He nods towards the door. “C’mon. Let’s just get going. Sulking here won’t get us anywhere.” He sucks in a breath and smiles, forcing himself to perk up a little. “Hey Radar! You wanna try carrying this thing back?” He grins as he holds out the power core. Radar’s eyes widen.
“Wh—! Me?!” He looks around as if there’s someone else Jesse could be looking at. Jesse chuckles and just holds it out to him. Radar beams and happily takes it. The weight of it makes him stumble a bit and the other three instinctively reach out to help him. “No no! I got it! I got it!” He squeaks then sucks in a large breath, heaving it up into a better position. He grins, “Wow! This is so cool! It’s like… Staticy!”
“Yeah, you’re gonna have to run a comb through your hair after this.” Lukas chuckles as he hovers a hand over Radar’s hair and it stands on end. The teen grins.
~~~~~
The rest of the day after that is fun, sure, but Jesse’d be lying if he said he was as engaged.
They finish up most of the wild stuff pretty early on and while the normal painting is fun and relaxing, it’s also rather mundane. It’s very easy to slip into his own chaotic stream of thoughts as he mindlessly brushes on layer after layer with the kids. He tries not to make it obvious, but a few of the kids catch him being more absent-minded, not to mention Lukas, Olivia, and Radar reading him like a book.
Olivia decides to call it a night earlier than scheduled—they’ll finish up tomorrow. Jesse tries protesting but it’s a losing battle. Besides, she offers to take the other three out to dinner to finish off the evening. The food’s nice, as usual, and while they try to keep the conversation light, there’s an obvious tinge of uncertainty in the air and it makes them all tense. Jesse honestly figured it wouldn’t bug him very much, especially since he pretty much knows what happened. And yet, here he was. He couldn’t even place a finger on why exactly it was bugging him. But he couldn’t get his mind to slow down again.
It’s still warm outside, and the sky is a mix of purple and orange as the sun sinks lower and lower into the horizon. Lukas and him got back from dinner probably an hour or so ago, but they were still putzing about.
Jesse grips the wooden support beam tight as he balances on the porch railing. He grunts as he twists a hook into a beam supporting the porch’s little roof. He finishes the last tight twist and gives the hook a little shake as a test—sturdy. Perfect. He glances down at where he’s standing and smiles a little somberly—his father would yell at him for being up here. He always said standing on the banister back home was dangerous. He hums a little chuckle to himself as he jumps down, landing with a resounding thud and shaking the porch a little as he does. He dusts himself off and walks over to grab the real addition. He plucks up the amethyst windchimes with a smile and studies them once over to make sure they’re truly ready to be hung. He managed to finish the last few bits since coming home and was eager to see them work.
Lukas was also more than flattered to get them as a gift. A thanks for helping out so much, Jesse had said. That was his cover for it anyways.
He hops back up on the banister with them, wobbling a little at first. Lukas, in the meantime, works not too far away in the little front yard to clean out some of the empty paint cans, brushes, and buckets. The lovely melodic clanging of the amethyst catches his attention between spraying down buckets and he pauses. Lukas smiles as Jesse slips the chimes on their new hook and then tries to steady them.
“Those look really nice, Jess. Really, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Huh?” Jesse blinks, staring at him a moment as if he didn’t hear him outright. Lukas goes to repeat himself before Jesse blinks and nods, cutting him off, apparently finally processing his words. “Oh! Hey, no problem! I don’t mind hanging these up—easy peasy, really.”
“Well, you know I meant a little more than just thanks for putting them up.”
“Seriously, no need to thank me! You’ve done so much, I just— I figured I oughta thank you somehow.” He smiles and Lukas returns it. Lukas goes back to scrubbing a little as Jesse hops down from the banister.
“Something’s still on your mind though. You’re thinking hard.” Lukas calls out and Jesse freezes mid-stride, wincing a little. He lets out a large sigh and turns around, nodding.
“You’ve got me there. I’m just— I’m worried.”
“Elaborate?” Lukas questions, glancing up at him for a moment as he switches his hose back on. Jesse sucks in a deep breath and nods.
“I mean— I’m worried about security, y’know?” He picks at his fingernails “If it wasn’t my uncle, then someone is slipping into the tightest crevices of my city and could potentially be hurting others. I can handle a few things being stolen, but others? Those are their livelihoods. Like, god, what if someone steals from Jack and Nurm’s shop? Or Bruce’s? Or Harper’s? They’ve worked really hard to make such nice places, but if that could be undone so easily…”
Lukas smiles and actually laughs a little as he shakes his head. Jesse frowns, feeling his cheeks heat up. Lukas holds his hands up.
“Sorry, I’m not laughing at the idea—it’s very serious and a real concern. It’s just… It’s very like you to worry more about a hypothetical super-burglar that could hurt the city than you actually being robbed.”
“W-Well, when you put it that way—”
“Jesse, everyone’s safe. I’m sure of that.” He nods to him, “You’ve been extremely diligent and even if the occasional problem or robbery occurs—which it will regardless—I’m confident you’ll handle it with grace. But there’s no critical, gaping flaw in any of the security around. You know how Odin is and Christine is certainly taking up that mantle. The city’s in more than capable hands. This was just… a really weird situation.” He tosses the now clean bucket aside and grabs a new dirty one to begin spraying. “Your concern is sweet Jesse—you have a good head on your shoulders. This is why the people trust you.”
“... Thanks Lukas.” Jesse mutters with a sweet smile, unable to come up with anything better, or rather, anything to refute him with. It’s nice having someone so logical nearby.
“Of course, Jesse.” Lukas pauses a moment as he shifts through the spray settings on his hose. “And you know, if you’re really so worried, you could always just go ask your uncle.”
“Ugh.” Jesse grunts in response and Lukas laughs a little at the sound, raising a brow. Jesse lets out a long, frustrated sigh as he leans against one of the wood supports. “Look, I know I should. I know that’d be the simplest solution here. But I just…” He trails off with a frown.
“You’re not ready.”
“No.” He says it quietly. Lukas sits there a moment and lets his water run as he thinks about that. Jesse can tell he’s still concerned. He crosses his legs as he stands and clears his throat to continue, “I also just… That’s not how I want to open the conversation. I don’t know where his headspace is or what he’s capable of, so to rush in there and accuse him of stealing something from me? Even if I’m right, he’d be offended and it might just set him off. I don’t want to make things worse and seem like I’m just continuously finding reasons to be mad at him.” He grumbles, frustrated. Lukas lets out a low hum with his own brows furrowing.
“That is a conundrum, huh?” He sits back on his heels and blows out a sigh. Eventually he shakes his head, “Wish I could say I had any better ideas for you, Jesse. Staying out of it for the meantime is a sensible thing to do, if not super frustrating.”
“Tell me about it.”
“... You know though, the longer you wait to talk to him, the more it’s just gonna eat at you.” Lukas says as he gets to scrubbing again.
Jesse sighs again, “Trust me, I know. But Romeo said he was giving the guy space, which I think is the right call here. I don’t think he’d ever try and hurt me, but…” He pauses. ‘But…’ what, Jesse? He rubs his arms, getting a chill and shaking his head. “I think letting him have some space to just breathe and process on his own will pay off.”
Lukas stays quiet with that one, slowing down his scrubbing motion to think hard it seems. After a moment or two he stops fully to turn and look back at Jesse.
“Are you sure?”
Jesse holds his gaze. He taps his own arm a bit anxiously, but does nod. “Yeah. He’s just emotional… I don’t think he could hurt a fly anymore even if he tried.”
“That’s a lot of faith to be placed in him.”
“It is. And I hope he doesn’t let me down any further.”
“I hope so too, Jesse.”
~~~~~
The rest of the evening is uneventful and calm. They both take their turns in the shower to scrub all the paint off—moreso Jesse—and it’s a welcome relief. A little hot water and steam always goes a long way for clearing a mind and while Jesse just knows he’s gonna get all speckled again tomorrow, at least he could bask in the serenity of it for the moment.
There wasn’t much left to do for the night. The shower did help his mind settle down after the day’s events, and Lukas caught him not too long after to offer reading together. Honestly? It sounded like a perfect way to wind down. Jesse had brought the Doc Kelley collection back to Lukas’ house in the days between running Ivor’s errands and beginning the mural. They’d already started on the first book but hadn’t gotten super far yet, no thanks to Jesse drifting off too quickly—not his fault Lukas had a relaxing voice to listen to. So they got their preferred teas and sat down on the couch and just read for a couple of hours.
Eventually, both of them were starting to drift off, and Jesse was having trouble keeping his eyes open to read just a few words at a time. They called it a night probably around midnight and Jesse was more than happy to collapse into his bed.
And yet, the moment he laid down any notion of resting immediately left him. Maybe it was the cold moonlight lighting up the dark room, the fact he was alone, or Dewey clawing at his door and howling until he let him in to sleep on his bed. Whatever it was, his mind was back on the one-way track it’d been stuck on since early that afternoon.
Patience. That’s all that’s left now. Simply having some patience.
He hates it.
These past few days have been great, they’ve been relaxing and a great distraction. Hell, as much as he hated the idea of waiting a week or more for Bruce to get back with the journal, he could deal with it. But with his uncle’s shenanigans in the Order Hall? Saying he was antsy was just the start of it. His mind’s ablaze once more, running through everything they’ve investigated thus far, and everything still needing to be done. There’s so much information just at the edge of his fingertips, but he can do nothing about it. Was there anything he could do in the meantime?
He pauses his mindless petting of Dewey as an idea strikes him. The cat makes a quiet ‘Mrrp?’ sound as he realizes he’s no longer being pet. Jesse sits up in bed, pressing his hands to his face. He wipes the sleep out of his eyes then clasps his hands tight, pressing them against his mouth as he thinks hard. His idea is… Well, it’s an option. And frankly, the more he thinks about it, the more butterflies he gets. He rationalizes it in his head—there had to be more to see, more to pick apart. It would give him the satisfaction of actually doing something. And none of his friends were gonna like hearing it, but it didn’t have to be a big excursion. No, they could be there and back in an afternoon—he was certain. Short and sweet. Just a peek.
Dewey headbutts him in the arm, purring loudly. Jesse smiles and raises his arm for the cat to crawl under. He gets back to petting him and Dewey rubs against his arms and chest happily. He turns and even pushes off his front feet so he can reach up and bonk Jesse’s chin. Jesse chuckles.
“Thanks, Dew… I see you, boy. Good kitty.” He sighs, “I gotta figure out how I’m gonna tell your dad my new idea…”
The ocelot looks up at him curiously. Jesse smiles.
“He’s not gonna like it… But I’m sure he’ll come around, right?”
Dewey yowls loudly at him and Jesse winces. He nods. Okay, an official warning from the cat. Good to note.
He’d be insane if he decided to wake Lukas up and tell him at some hell hour though, so he forces himself to lie back down and try to get some sleep. It makes its way to him eventually, though Dewey deciding his windpipe was the perfect place to splay out certainly did not help. He wasn’t exactly a cat person, but Dewey was sweet and fairly doglike in his own way.
The night comes and goes and morning leaves him feeling groggy but anxious. The morning is slow as they both grab some breakfast and get things together. Jesse takes the initiative to do the dishes after breakfast, Dewey following him around and batting at the towel he picks up. Lukas takes the towel from him just a few minutes in and begins helping him by handling the drying and putting dishes away.
“How do you think Radar’s feeling?” He asks.
Jesse pauses a moment in his scrubbing of a bowl to think. “About yesterday?”
“Mhm.” He hums as he sets the first glass back in its cupboard.
“He’s probably stressed. But, I think we managed to calm him down—at least a little bit anyways. He was pretty happy once we got back to work on the mural. He’s a good kid.”
“Glad we agree.” Lukas smiles and Jesse matches it. He lifts the bowl he was working on out of the suds and rinses it under the hot water once more before passing it off to Lukas. He takes it and begins drying. “Ivor’s probably reached the Far Lands by now right? He started a few days ago now.”
“I think so… If not yet then sometime today. Nether superhighway and all—only takes 3 days allegedly.”
“Ugh, I don’t think I could handle sitting in a minecart for three days straight. Especially not in the Nether—hot, cramped, and it’s just the same few biomes over and over again. I’d rather take the several month horse ride.”
Jesse chuckles, “Man, I’m not gonna forget that ride for as long as I live. Soren and Ivor wouldn’t stop fighting like an old married couple the entire time—I thought I was gonna go insane.” Jesse rolls his eyes as he picks up another dirty dish. Dewey tries batting it out of his hands and he gives the ocelot a pointed glare, shaking his finger at him. Lukas laughs with a grimace.
“God, I bet.”
The conversation lulls after that. Not uncomfortable, but both just relaxed and focused on what they’re doing. Jesse presses his lips into a tight line as he thinks over everything again. Not to mention the idea he had. He’d second-guessed himself a few times this morning already, but he really was starting to become unsure if he could keep his patience up. How is he supposed to just keep lollygagging along as if the things that could change his life weren’t just hovering out of arm's reach? He has to be productive somehow, he has to do something.
—
Lukas absentmindedly dries each dish as Jesse hands them over, putting them away on sheer autopilot as he faces the cabinets. He holds his hand out for the next dish he knows is coming. And he waits. And he waits. He finally glances over to Jesse in confusion only to see the man leaning against the sink’s edge, staring hard at the running water. He opens his mouth to say something only for Jesse to beat him to the punch as he shuts off the water and finally grabs another dish to dunk in the sink.
“What if we took a trip together? Just the two of us.”
Lukas’ heart momentarily leaps into his throat before he gives pause. That was… sudden. A trip? Them? Had he not known Jesse as well as he does, he would probably be giddy like a schoolgirl. He slowly sets down his towel and turns to face him as he leans up against the counter.
He crosses his arms, “uh-huh… And, where to, exactly? The beach I hope.”
Jesse pauses mid-scrub and hums a little, half joking. “Damn. That’s a better idea than I had. But, no.”
Oh boy, here it comes. “So then, where were you thinking?”
Jesse pauses what he’s doing again and Lukas can practically hear the gears turning in his head. He puts the plate he had in hand down and grips the edge of the sink, drumming his fingers against the basin. Lukas’ heart leaps into his throat once again but for all the wrong reasons. Realization sweeps over him and he rubs his forehead as he speaks a bit gentler.
“Oh god Jesse, please don’t say your father’s stronghold…”
Jesse takes in a long, steady breath. He clicks his tongue, looks back at Lukas, and nods, “I’m gonna say my father’s stronghold.”
Lukas buries his face in his hands, barely letting out a muffled, ‘Oh boy…’ as he takes in the information. He can feel Jesse staring holes into him and he finds himself slowly starting to shake his head. What else was he supposed to do? This is ludicrous.
“No. No! Absolutely not!”
“Oh Come on! Lukas!” Jesse turns to fully face him now, desperation in his eyes. Lukas sticks to his guns, holding his hands up and shaking his head.
“No! Jesse I—! You—! You just got home and you already want to go back there?!” He huffs, laughing in utter disbelief, “I mean, good god! Jesse, I know you’re dedicated to this and I appreciate and want to support you in any way I can through this—but I cannot just bat my eyes and say ‘Yeah, Jesse! Sure! Let’s just jog over to the underground death trap again!’”
Jesse frowns, losing steam and certainly becoming despondent. “Lukas, please. Would you at least hear me out? I swear I really do have a reason behind this.” He looks up at him pleadingly. Lukas clenches his jaw as he stares back, but he can’t really hold it. Not when he’s being this genuine. And those damn big blue eyes.
He blows out a large sigh and nods and he hears Jesse gasp a little. “... Okay. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” He points to him as he says this but Jesse is smiling regardless.
“That’s fine, thank you.” He sucks in a deep breath and leans back against the sink, thinking. “It’s… It’s not like I ENJOY the place, but, admittedly, I was kinda preoccupied with a lot when first hitting it. Not to mention the fiasco at the end.”
Lukas nods slowly. Jesse continues.
“And I’ve had some time to settle and some time to think. And I want to get another look down there without my uncle, Jack, or even Bruce just breathing down my neck.” He lets out a sigh as he says it, “We cleared a path and got the real nitty-gritty stuff done already, it’d be a clean visit. I just…” He pauses, pressing his lips into a tight line as he seems to search for the exact words. He nods, satisfied, “I want a second opinion. A fresh set of eyes. And, Lukas, you’re one of the most brilliant and detail-oriented people I know—if one of us missed something, you’ll pick it up. I just know it.”
Lukas drums his fingers on his arms, slowly nodding along. Okay… There was reason to that. One matter though…
He tilts his head, eyeing him curiously, “… Okay… Why not bring anyone else along? More sets of eyes would only help, right? I’m sure Olivia would be interested.”
Jesse sighs, a little bit of guilt lacing his features as he picks at his nails again. “I just don’t want this ending up as more than a two person job, y’know? I don’t exactly wanna spend ages down there or do all that prep work and just…” He rolls his eyes with a huff. He looks at Lukas seriously and snaps his fingers, “Just in-and-out. A quick second opinion. That’s all I’m asking for.” He smiles weakly, “And besides, I love everyone else but—…” He pauses, almost as if catching himself on something. Lukas waits curiously. Jesse stays there a moment then swallows, shrugging, “Some quiet company would be nice…” He mumbles, trailing off and seemingly a bit unsure of his own words as if he changed what he meant to say.
Lukas nods again, just to confirm that he heard him. He plucks at his lip as he contemplates this. A revisit. Just him and Jesse darting in and out. Short. Simple. Surprisingly to the point. Everything he’s ever been taught is that Strongholds are beyond dangerous, however, as Jesse said, they already dealt with the nitty-gritty of getting down there and cleaning the path up. At least for the most part. He’s gotten most of the details of the first trip out of the man by now, and they even have a shortcut down through a lush path that monsters tend not to linger in. He hates the fact that he’s rationalizing this, too. He sucks in a breath, knowing he’s probably gonna regret asking.
“... In-and-out?”
Jesse’s quick to answer, “I just want your opinion on a few things, yes! I’m not looking to go spelunking. Get done with daylight to spare and get back to town. The Order Temple is honestly not too far North from it all, we can even take the Nether shortcut.”
Lukas looks up to the ceiling then clicks his tongue. Jesse eyes him and Lukas holds his hands up, “... Let me think on it.”
“Shit, seriously?!” Jesse gasps, voice cracking. He coughs, “I-I mean—” He pauses to breathe and clear his throat, “Thank you, Lukas.” He nods to him with a smile before turning back to scrub at some dishes, “Your decision in the end. I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Thanks, but I have to ask… Are you adamant about going back there?”
It’s Jesse’s turn to go quiet, pausing in his motions as he does. He sucks in a breath through his teeth and stares down at the things in his hands. He speaks quietly, Lukas can hear a tinge of guilt lacing his voice.
“It’s… gonna stick in my mind. I… I can’t just stand around like everything’s normal Lukas…” He looks back over his shoulder and meets him in the eyes and Lukas feels himself swallow. That’s what he was afraid of hearing, and yet, he didn’t expect any other answer from the man. It’s simply how he is. Sometimes it leads him to great things, sometimes it leads him to trouble. Regardless, Lukas wouldn’t want him to change. He sucks in a long, large, and tempered breath.
“Looks like we’re hitting the road then, huh?”
Jesse drops and fumbles with the plate in the sink a moment before looking back at him with wide eyes. He’s unable to keep his excitement in check.
“Are—?! Lukas! You don’t have t—”
“And leave you to go dive head first into a place like that alone?” He smiles, laughing a little, “Even if I wanted to, I think Axel, Olivia, Petra and Ivor would all be coming for my head!”
Jesse just laughs and pushes off from the sink, quickly slinging his soaked arms around Lukas in a tight hug. Lukas yelps at the cold and wet feeling from Jesse’s hands hitting his neck but just laughs along and hugs him back. He shifts his head just a little bit so he’s by his ear.
“You absolutely owe me the best beach vacation, though.”
Notes:
OKAY BEFORE IM CRUCIFIED! I promise this Stronghold trip is gonna be very different from the first and I'm so fucking excited you have no idea. You'll see what I mean soon enough <3 <3 <3
Also! I hope that little switch to Lukas' POV at the end isn't too jarring. I know it's technically taboo to do that without a proper scene or chapter change but like. boo hoo my fic my rules we're here to have fun!!! and I'm gonna be switching between the two just a little more often in the coming chapters so! A little taste of what's to come (also writing other character's POV of Jesse is so fun??? Shoutsouts to my mans ✌✌✌ )
Thanks for reading!!!
also missed the double pride month upload by like 2 days but know that spiritually it happened 👍
Chapter 27: Back at it Again
Summary:
Jesse and Lukas return to the stronghold on their own and find a few more surprises within along with some disappointments
Notes:
HAYYYYY we back!!! And it's long again! This one is about 15,000 words and definitely feels a bit different (at least to me) compared to some other chapters? There's a LOT more prose moving events along which I hope people don't mind? There's just so much ground to cover and I don't wanna unnecessarily pad it out, so we trying some new tricks! It's a LOT of fun Jesse and Lukas content tho, I LOVE writing these two ;;w;;/// they have such a fun dynamic!!! Also part of my excitement is just like OUGH !!! Things are HAPPENING NOW! You'll get what I mean by the end--have a good one, thanks for reading, and holy shit thanks for the 8100 hits????????? That's INSANE and I deeply appreciate every single one of those readers 💖💖💖 We're also hitting the 200k word count with this chapter I think so hell yeah !!! Longfic time babeyyyyyy ✌✌✌
Also look forward to the next chapter bc it's probably gonna be the longest single chapter I've uploaded if I end up keeping it together. I'm still debating on whether I wanna split it up into two bits (the draft is already 10k and I'm only about half way through with all the things I wanted to get done in it) but I REALLY don't wanna have a two week split between it all--we'll see how it goes though once it's all actually drafted lol!
Anyways im done rambling now, Hope you enjoy!!
Chapter Text
“You’re going to do what?!” Radar slaps his clipboard down against his leg to stare at Jesse in bewilderment. Jesse cringes and reaches out to him only for Radar to lean back, attitude on full display. Jesse backs out of his space.
“ Voice down! Please, Radar—It’s just a quick trip, there’s no need to make a big deal out of it.”
“No! No, no, no, no, no! ” He shakes his head, swinging his clipboard around as he does. “It IS a big deal, and I cannot believe you’re condoning this, Lukas!” He swings his clipboard over to him and jabs him in the chest with it. Lukas shrugs and nods.
“Yeah that’s fair.”
“So then why—?!”
“Radar, listen, please.” Jesse steps forward and cuts him off, clasping his hands together tight. The teen gives him the most stubborn gaze he can muster and Jesse really starts to regret rubbing off on the kid. Eventually though, Radar breaks with a loud sigh and eyeroll. He throws up his hands then crosses his arms. “ Okay! But I’m not happy about it.”
“Lukas said the same thing—don’t worry.”
“ What?!” He glances between the two as Jesse slings an arm around his shoulders, continuing animatedly.
“Look! All we’re gonna do is take another look at the stuff in the areas we already cleared out. No spelunking, no wild chases, no daredevil stunts!” He sighs and shifts positions, giving both of Radar’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “I know it probably sounds like I’m scrambling for a stupid excuse to do more, but I promise you, I don’t want to do anything more than necessary down there. It’s gonna be a day-trip. Nothing more. Promise.”
Radar grips the clipboard in his hands and stares at Jesse uncertainly. Jesse tries keeping a confident smile up but feels it slip at the doubt in Radar’s eyes. His own expression shifts to one of worry.
“Radar, you can trust me. I hope I didn’t do anything to make you think otherwise.” He mumbles and the teen’s eyes shoot wide-open. He quickly shakes his head, leaning into it almost.
“Oh gosh, no no no! That’s not it! I-I… I do trust you, Jesse.” He smiles a little, “I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t. I’m just worried is all. Strongholds are dangerous, and it’s just the two of you!” He reaches up and squeezes one of Jesse’s hands that’s on his shoulder, glancing at Lukas as well. “I care a lot about you guys… More than I can put into words. I just don’t wanna see anything happen to you. So, yeah, I’m nervous.”
Jesse relaxes with a smile. “Okay. Just making sure.” He nods, more confident now. “But as for today, I swear , I do NOT wanna be down in that cave for longer than an afternoon. We’re gonna hop on over to the Order Temple via the Nether, walk south until we get to that little valley, then just dip in and out. I want it to be a lowkey thing because that’s all it really needs to be with what I plan to do.”
“I see… Okay… That’s a lot more fair.” He laughs and Jesse chuckles along with him. “Admittedly, Olivia told me to dig into you if you had ‘any crazy ideas’, so you have her to thank for that.” He grins and Jesse balks. Radar hesitates again though, brows furrowing as he nervously pushes his glasses back up into place. “So… I know you obviously don’t intend to be gone for long, but… Just in case, should we go by the 3 day system?”
Jesse hums as he thinks. The 3 day system is something he and Radar started using a few years back when he first became an intern. The rule was that if Jesse goes out on an excursion somewhere lowkey that was meant to be short, but then three days and three nights went by without word, then Radar would reach out to other members of the Order. He’d debrief them on everything up to that point—the when, where, how, and why—and essentially put out an SOS. He’s only had to fully use it a handful times, and most of those ended up being false alarms, but it’d saved Jesse some pain the rare times he needed it.
Jesse hesitates a little simply on the basis that three whole days over a little afternoon trip seems somewhat overkill. He looks back at Radar though, the memory that sparked the system going off in his head as he does.
“Jess, you remember what I said right?”
“3 days at most! So I shouldn’t slack off on my chores until the last minute!”
“ Smart kid.” He begins walking backwards away from the house. “Alright… You know the drill. I love you, Jess, and I’ll see you again soon. Be safe! I don’t like worrying about you, son.”
… He’s going to be heading to the same exact place, too. Maybe that realization is what puts a pit in his stomach. He swallows the lump in his throat as that dread threatens to swallow him whole, and smiles with a nod to Radar.
“The 3 day system sounds good. We’re pretty tough, though.” He grins as he leans over and nudges Lukas, who smirks in turn. “I think if worse came to worst, we’d be able to hold out for the cavalry.”
“You better not make me call it, though. For my sake—do you know how awkward those calls are?” Radar huffs a little as he gently shoves the man. Jesse laughs, nodding. Radar steps forward, poking him with a corner of his clipboard. “I’m serious though, Jesse! You gotta promise me!”
Jesse pauses a moment as he studies Radar. An odd wave of deja-vu washes over him. He decides to indulge a bit in it. He smiles and steps back a pace, drawing a large ‘x’ across his heart.
“Cross my heart, hope to die—or stick a thousand needles in my eye.” He grins and Radar can’t help but laugh at the dramatization of it. Jesse softens, “I promise though, Radar. It’ll work out.” Radar presses his clipboard up against his chest and sucks in a large breath, nodding as he does. Lukas reaches out to the teen and smiles with him.
“I’ll keep him out of trouble.” He winks and Radar visibly relaxes a bit more. Jesse raises a brow and Lukas grins, sweeping an arm out towards the exit of the Treasure Room. “Well, if we wanna get back by nightfall we oughta head out.”
“Right!” Radar perks up and begins pushing them a little, “Get out there! Conquer! Be Heroes! Then get back quick and safe! I’ll keep this between us in the meantime so nobody blows a gasket.”
“Thanks Radar. Last thing I want is for everyone to be scrambled, miss us, and end up diving even further into that place.” Jesse blows out a tense sigh, the mere thought stressing him out. “We’ll be back before you know it.” He smiles and pulls the kid into a tight hug. Radar squeezes him tight then lets him go in order to give Lukas the same treatment. Lukas pats his back in turn.
From there, they step back from Radar and wave their goodbyes as they leave the Treasure Room and enter the main hallways of the Order Hall. Jesse nods to their left and they turn down the hall towards the Nether portal.
They’d spent yesterday finishing up the mural and then getting the gear they wanted ready, and today was a pretty early start—the sun hasn’t even risen yet. Jesse’s certain that Olivia must have some sort of suspicions since yesterday. His mood had perked up since the day before and he had been acting with as much energy as he had prior to finding out items from the Hall were missing. Whatever those suspicions were though, he couldn’t say. She’d questioned him a little, but not extensively. A pang of guilt shoots through him as he thinks it over. This was… Well, it was definitely gonna be breaking their whole ‘no secrets’ pact. But he really just needed someone calm, logical, and at least somewhat unbiased to look things over with again.
He loves the others, but they’re not Lukas.
This needed to just be the two of them. It’ll be easiest that way. He’s already made peace with taking the blame, it’s his idea after all. He definitely owes them big-time after this though. He owes a lot of people for going through all this with him.
“Nervous?” Lukas asks. Jesse jumps a little, not realizing how deep into his own thoughts he was. He blows out a sigh and nods.
“Just… I hope Axel and Olivia don’t get too mad. I know they’re gonna be upset anyways, but…”
“Admittedly, I can’t blame them. But it’s not like you haven’t dove into something without mentioning it before—remember the Portal Hall fiasco?”
“Ugh, how could I not? Supposed to be just a quick romp chasing Aiden and then boom! Stuck portal hopping for months.” Jesse grumbles and Lukas smiles a little.
“Exactly. Besides, you’re not exactly alone.” He steps a little closer and slings an arm around his shoulders. Jesse raises a brow and Lukas smiles, “It’ll be alright. I’m sure there’ll be some frustration, but they’ll understand. Especially when we come back with a bunch of new clues.”
“Oh? Someone’s confident.” Jesse eyes him curiously and Lukas smiles sheepishly.
“Well, admittedly I really was giving it some thought and… This checks out. There was so much going on for everyone the night you guys went—Hiro and Bruce’s history then fight at the end absolutely added some unwanted tension to say the least. So, there probably are details you missed. If we can add a few more pieces to the puzzle and put your mind at ease while waiting for Bruce and Hiro, then I think… I think this is worth the shot.”
Jesse blows out a sigh of relief, nodding, “Oh man… That’s a relief to hear, not gonna lie. I appreciate it, Lukas. I honestly can’t thank you enough for doing this.” He slips out from under his arm as they begin descending the stairs down to the Nether Portal.
“I’m with you, Jesse. Despite that meaning we do some crazy stuff sometimes—wouldn’t be an adventure without it.” He smirks and Jesse chuckles, admittedly a little embarrassed. Regardless, they fall into a comfortable lull after that as they make their way back down to the Nether portal.
They stop right before it and do one final gear check. They’re packing light for this one, not really intending to get into any fights if they can help it. Jesse’s got the same lightweight armor strapped on—the same pauldrons and gauntlets that he had the first time they dove into the Stronghold. He’s grateful for it too—it’s way too hot out for a regular armor set. Just a black t-shirt, jeans, solid boots, gloves, and the strapped on armor. That and his axe were all he needed. Though he did stuff a few snacks away in one of his belt bags. Only other thing he’s got are two lanterns also hanging from his belt.
Lukas was admittedly dressed a bit heavier. He has his old get-up that he wore during the rebellion against Romeo and thus was dressed in some more muted colors than usual. A dark green t-shirt with a matching green bandanna—though that had an intricate decal sewn in in gold imitating the skeletal jaw of an ocelot—and then his leather jacket on top. He had another grey waterproof jacket that he’d usually wear on top, but it was definitely too warm for that. He’d already shed his leather jacket and stuffed it away in his bag—not like he needed to blend in anywhere. The black archery gloves weren’t leaving his hands anytime soon though.
The outfit came together well when need be with matching grey boots that sported some plated shinguards he’d strapped on after. The warm brown leather on the backside of the boots and shin guards matches his satchel and quiver. Speaking of, Lukas unhooks his bow and plucks on the string—once again checking to make sure the infinity enchantment is still working. Pink sparks crackle to life as he does and he nods, satisfied. Last, but most certainly not least, are the green lensed pair of goggles resting on his head—nightvision imbued and got him through a lot of tight squeezes. He was light with the armor—only nabbing some shoulder pads—but that was all he ever needed. He hit hard and fast from a long distance, and ideally—if push came to shove—that’s all they’d need to do today.
They share a glance once they complete their respective checks and turn to the portal. Lukas gestures for Jesse to head through first and the man nods, racing through with a leap. Lukas takes one last look behind them out of habit then races through.
It’s easygoing from there. Jesse complains about the heat, Lukas comments how it’s not so different back home, and Jesse pouts a little as he kicks some minecarts into place on the tracks. Lukas hops in the front one while Jesse connects the two and gets them going with the starting pushes. He races alongside them and then hops in his once some momentum’s going and is happy to kick back and relax for the ride. One of the many large-scale projects in the past 6 years has been improving the main tracks throughout the Nether which included removing any unnecessary booby traps and cart-acrobatics. A little less exciting, admittedly, but certainly safer and more efficient.
Lukas turns around in his cart, leaning on the railing as he chats with Jesse. He’s managed to slink down into his and kicked his feet up to hang out over the edge. They shoot the breeze, laugh, and generally just chat as the line carries them along through the relatively repetitive dimension. It’s a pleasant start, and just talking with Lukas alone has him wondering why they never did much like this before outside of town. Their ride’s not a very long one—superhighway and all—and they reach their next portal within an hour.
They hop out of their carts and stretch a bit. Lukas steps back to stretch his shoulders while Jesse grabs hold of the minecarts and heaves them out of the way onto the loading rack for later on. The blue nylium of the Warped Forest crunches under his feet as he moves and he glances back to find Lukas admiring one of the odd stalks that grows out of the ground. Jesse smiles as he walks over to join him and Lukas begins sharing a tale of a time he and the Ocelots had to come all the way to one of these forests for wood for those blue warped planks only for them to get burnt a day before the building competition in a storage fire. Jesse grimaces but remembers how the Ocelots still managed to win that year anyways… Lukas notes how all the blues here match Jesse’s eyes and he’s surprised his face could feel any hotter when they’re standing in Hell.
Stepping out of the portal, Jesse nearly forgets that there’s still a small lake right upon stepping out of this portal—he really needs to clean this place up. He’s thankful for it this time though and hops off the obsidian and into the waist-high water. He sucks in a breath and dunks his head under as Lukas hops through and lands beside him. The water only rides up to the man’s thighs—lucky tall bastard. Jesse swings upright out of the water suddenly and accidentally flings some water in Lukas’ face. He gasps and apologizes but they both end up just having a laugh about it—he needed the cool-down anyways.
They climb out of the water and Jesse hops up onto a rock outcropping to orient himself. The sun was just starting the peek above the mountainous horizon and painted everything with dramatic orange and yellow light. There were just a few puffy clouds dotting the sky, but otherwise there were still a few faint stars he could make out above them. Jesse turns southbound and Lukas tosses him a telescope. He thanks him and peeks through the dramatic early morning shadows, spotting the path they need to take to get to his old forest valley. He shouts down to Lukas and points where they need to go before tossing him his scope back. Lukas helps him down and the morning of marching begins.
They take a bit longer than usual getting down from the mountainous area the Order Temple is built into, but it’s worth it to get a clear shot of the sunrise. Both men have to shield their eyes at parts as they descend and reminisce about the first sunrise and sunset they saw from that temple. It’s infinitely more enjoyable when there’s no all-consuming eldritch horror hunting them down, that’s for sure. Lukas has him pause for a moment to take it in as the sky’s painted a mix of orange, pink, purple, and blue as the sun slowly gains altitude and starts shifting things to that normal sky blue. It’s a quiet moment, but one well spent.
They make pretty good time for being on foot—Jesse walks fast and Lukas has long strides, perfect fits. They hit the outer edge of the valley by around 9 AM and entering the forest envelops Jesse with comfort. He’s always found homes amongst the trees, and despite everything that's happened, he always loved getting to return to this old birch forest he once called home. They manage to slip onto that old mossy-cobbled road he remembers so vividly and they take a brief break to grab a snack. Lukas is mesmerized by the greenery around them, and the golden sunlight flitting through the almost iridescent green leaves borders on heavenly. The man grins and darts off the path a moment only to come back a few moments later with two bright green apples in hand—an oak and apple grove hidden amongst the foliage. Jesse hums, wondering if that was the same grove his neighbors owned that he’d steal apples from. Lukas laughs at that while showing off a few extras he stuffed in his bag. Jesse’ll have to draft an apology for all the apples he’s taken from them throughout his life.
Once on the road, the rest of the walk is about as straightforward as one could get. He finds the outcropping and little open area surrounding the cave’s entrance without much trouble—it’s a lot easier to spot since their little excursion here, and the daylight certainly helps. It’s late in the morning by now and Jesse shields his eyes to look up at the sun’s position. They managed to make it before noon, and that’s a pretty good win in his eyes. A few short hours spent underground at most and they’d be back at the Order Temple just in time to catch the sunset.
He glances off down the old cobblestone road while biting into one of the sour-sweet green apples Lukas plucked earlier. Further southbound, to be more precise. His childhood home was just about another hour’s walk from here. He can’t help but get caught up on the thought. There’s not much there for him right now though aside from memories. He wouldn’t mind if Lukas saw it first though…
“Hey, you doing alright?”
Speaking of. Jesse perks up, blinking back into the moment as Lukas hovers a hand over his arm. He nods.
“Yes! Yeah! I’m good, sorry. Just… Thinking.”
“Right, we’re close to your old home too, huh?” Lukas mumbles and Jesse can’t help but smile a little. Hitting the nail on the head as always. Jesse nods.
“Yeah… It’s about an hour from here, just gotta follow along the road here and it’s a straight-shot.” He stiffens his hand, slicing upwards down along the path as he speaks. Lukas nods and hums in thought. Jesse nods over his shoulder to the cave entrance. “My dad used this place as a regular old mine for ages. The Stronghold was a completely accidental discovery after we had some tremors around here—uncovered it down in the cavern.”
“Wow… Talk about a surprise.”
“Right?” He smiles with a huff, then finishes off his apple. This was gonna be their last little break for a while and the apples were honestly the best little boosts of energy. He twirls the core by its stem before deciding on a direction and chucking it. Lukas whistles at the air it gets and decides to make it into a little competition. Jesse smirks with his hands on his hips as he watches. Lukas winds up like a regular baseball player and launches it, making Jesse jump back at the small bit of wind that’s blown on him from the motion. Lukas may have lean muscle, but he still had an arm that was not to be messed with. Archers are just built different. It doesn’t quite arch as high as Jesse’s, but it’s distance and sheer speed more than makes up for it. Jesse applauds him and they finish they’re little mini-competition—and with it, their break.
Jesse sucks in a breath as he approaches the cave entrance again. He unhooks one lantern and hands it to Lukas while he begins to light up his own. The blue soul-fire flickers to life after a few ticks and he smiles. He’d made sure to to remember what Bruce said about mobs hating these types of flames and figured it couldn’t hurt. Today was a day for avoiding fights, hopefully these little things would help—not to mention the fact that they burned a bit brighter than regular fire.
He grips it tight and stares up at the cave mouth before him once again. He sucks in a big breath, preparing himself to be strong once again only for a gentle hand to ghost over his back. He reels a little, looking up at Lukas in surprise. The man just nods, giving his shoulder a squeeze in comfort—no tackling this alone. Jesse smiles, switches his lantern to his other hand, and drags Lukas’ arm across his shoulders, giving his hand a return squeeze as he does. Jesse leads them inside and is careful not to mess with the prints once again. Lukas slows down to a stop but instead of slipping away from his grip Jesse stands there with him.
“Are these…?” He trails off quietly and Jesse just nods, giving a quiet ‘ Mhm’ in response. He hears Lukas let out a pained breath as he raises his lantern, slowly slipping away from Jesse to crouch down and inspect the old things. “These look like Enderman tracks alright…”
“That’s what Soren and Bruce said. Confirmed the attack style as well.”
“I see…” He says as he gently reaches out to the long-hardened clay, brushing his fingers delicately over the boot prints. This was a man of about Lukas’ own stature—it’s scary to imagine a creature being able to dispense with him so easily. Jesse tears his eyes away from it with a shuddery breath, opting to readjust his gauntlets and hook the lantern back to his belt. Something else to keep his thoughts occupied and the images of Lukas being grabbed the same way out of his head. The man in question must hear him as he glances back then stands and rejoins him not long thereafter.
“Let’s head down, Jess…” He says gently, pressing a hand against the small of his back and guiding him away from the scene at the cave-mouth. Jesse nods and allows Lukas to walk him further into the cave, albeit not without sparing one more glance over his shoulder. The sunlight streaming in through the makeshift opening in the obsidian highlights the old prints in an ironically angelic way. It catches the dust they kicked up as it floats aimlessly through the air, adding an odd sparkle. There’s something… serene about it. An odd wave of acceptance suddenly washes over him as he stares back. Acceptance … Why now? His expression and pause must show just how puzzled he is by his own reaction.
“Jesse? You alright?” Lukas prods softly and Jesse looks back up to him with somewhat wide eyes. He meets Lukas’ worried gaze and something clicks into place as he makes that eye contact. Jesse’s throat runs dry but he nods.
“Yeah… Yeah, actually. Just… A lot to think about. But I’m doing better than last time.”
“Oh! Well, that’s good to hear at least. But don’t worry about speaking up if you’ve gotta. I don’t mind pausing here and there.”
“I know. Thanks, Lukas.” Jesse smiles and continues walking down into the cave, Lukas right beside him. He glances back one more time at the entrance and lets his gaze linger, offering a quiet goodbye for the meantime.
The walk down is easy as expected. They get to the dripstone portion and Jesse recounts Jack’s own dramatic tale of the collapsing dripstone cave from when they had all gone through here previously—Lukas is both fascinated and horrified as he looks up at the stalactites above them. The cutoff to the lush cave shortcut is right off a little side tunnel of the dripstone cave which certainly makes their lives easier. The lush portion is a delight as always, saving them the trouble of needing the lanterns strung on their hips as glowberries hang down from every section of the ceiling. Jesse glances back at Lukas who’s slowed down to take it in. The man smiles as he reaches up and plucks a few glowberries from their vine. He beams and shows them off a little to Jesse who returns the look. Lukas moves forward and rejoins him, still admiring the little handful of glowberries as he does.
“You know how people mix holly into decorations around winter? I think it’d be fun if we tried that but with glowberries. Maybe pinprick some food dye into them to get different colored little lights.” He says as he raises the bundle of berries again to admire them.
“Oooooh, I like the sound of that.” Jesse hums and Lukas beams. It was very like him to see all the things here and immediately start thinking of a million different ways to use them in builds. As they make their way down, Jesse points out different things and asks Lukas what he’d use them for in a build if he could. First it’s the vines, then the drip leaves, then the moss, and of course the spore flowers. Admittedly it’s all pretty garden related—unsurprising—but the idea of bringing some of these cool plants into Beacontown’s gardens makes him giddy.
Lukas’ breath is stolen away by the cavern itself. The man slows to a near stop as he blows out a quiet ‘Wow…’ between breaths. You could easily see everything from this path as it stretches down and around the outer edge of the cavern. Jesse’s eyes flick from the waterfall, to the lake, to the stronghold, and then to the old mineshaft platform he had a close encounter on. The scene is just as beautiful as before with the hundreds of glowberries hanging down from above and the ground being just as lush and colorful at the very bottom. Lukas looks over at Jesse in awe and he just smiles, taking him by the arm and leading Lukas the rest of the way down the path. The waterfall is loud and the mist they’re hit with as they pass behind it is refreshing. Lukas drags his goggles down once they’re past it to clean them off with his bandanna.
Reaching the bottom, his eyes are glued above them as he slowly spins in place to get a good view of everything. Disbelief and awe is written all over him and it’s always been one of Jesse’s favorite looks on the man. Soft smile that crinkles his eyes which are practically sparkling in and of themselves—he just radiated love and appreciation and it was infectious to be around. It’d be a lie to say that he hadn’t made a few excuses to get Lukas out and about just to see his reaction. Lukas lets out a small chuckle, just shaking his head.
“This place is amazing, Jess… I-I know what we’re here for, but just… wow.” He blows out another breath and Jesse walks back over to his side.
“I know what you mean. Really cool mix of things here. Mineshaft, Lush cave, Dripstone cave,” He remembers the odd and dangerous little alcove now sitting quietly off to their left. He’ll mention that one later. He continues, “... And a Stronghold! It’s crazy to see it all together. A caver’s paradise, honestly.”
“Absolutely!” Lukas agrees quickly with a nod before returning his gaze to their surroundings. Jesse smiles a little.
“It’d be fun to bring the whole gang down here one day—especially to actually explore the Stronghold. I think they’d love it.” He pauses, “Er, once this all blows over , anyways.”
Lukas turns back to him with a smile, “I think they’d like that. Probably still a lot to find in a system like this.”
“Exactly!” Jesse says with a grin. He moves a bit further into the cavern, finding his way to the center then waves Lukas over and points to the little lake off to the side. “Axel and I found some axolotls in there. That’s where we found the journal.”
“Right, and one was using it as a little house, right?”
Jesse smiles with a little laugh, “Yep. I feel kinda bad for the little guy!”
“Well you’ll just have to come back later to give him a new one, huh?” Lukas teases with a nudge.
“If Axel doesn’t beat me here and take the little guys home!” He says as he begins walking towards the lake. They hop down to the water’s edge and Jesse scans along the little shore for where exactly he found the book. He waves Lukas over once it spots it and points it out, and luckily enough the axolotl is there too. Lukas is quick to fawn over the little creature and dip his hand in the water for it to check out. The little pink guy is pretty friendly, and happily engages with him.
Lukas insists Jesse dip his hand in as well and, to their surprise, two more slink up—an orange and a white one. The little creatures become playful, happily swimming in and out of their fingers and around their hands, chirping excitedly as they go. Jesse and Lukas share some laughs as they watch the little guys. They were getting a little sidetracked, sure, but it definitely lifted Jesse’s spirits—and he’s certain Lukas knew that as well.
Eventually the axolotls end up playing more with each other than with them and swim off into the deeper end, chirping and bobbing in and out of the water as they go. The pair watch them go and sit there for a moment more, enjoying the serene moment by the water’s edge under the warm light of the glowberries. Such a dramatic shift to then look behind them at the rough and almost industrial stone structure built into the cave-wall. Jesse sucks in a breath, gripping the plush grass and moss beneath where he sits before nodding to it.
“There’s our next stop. There’s a workroom inside I wanna check out mainly. We can scan the hallways later but that’s what I wanna check out first.”
“Sounds good to me.” Lukas says as he gets up with a grunt. He offers a hand out and pulls Jesse up. They both wipe the water off on their jeans and begin their walk towards the Stronghold. Lukas preemptively unslings his bow and nudges Jesse with his elbow. The man nods and pulls his axe off of his belt loop, twirling it once in his hand as he grips it.
Jesse hops up the ledge into the Stronghold first, quickly scanning either direction. The dark hallways are illuminated in the cold light from his lantern and it admittedly sets him more on edge. That’s right. This is still a Stronghold—a dangerous one—and it was just the two of them now instead of having both Bruce and Axel and then his uncle or Jack on standby. He doesn’t see anything immediate though and spins his axe in his hand out of habit as he stands straight. He quickly tucks it into his belt and turns to help Lukas hop up with both hands.
The man grunts as he hops up then gives a quick thanks as he scans the halls just like Jesse. He reaches up and flicks his goggles down and nods to Jesse who moves ahead and begins leading them through the halls. They move a bit slower than normal and remain cautious, but as they proceed through the halls and over deactivated traps and old remains of monsters, the tension begins to dissipate. The blue lantern light catches the muddy footprints lacing the ground from all the monsters and then his, Axel’s, and Bruce’s from their last visit. He knows who they all belong to, yet can’t help but get a shiver from the sight—it feels like something out of a horror story as they explore some abandoned structure where something horrible happened.
… Though, he supposes that’s exactly what they’re doing. Not just his father, but this whole place was once a bustling hub of life as people just like him and Lukas lived down here in hopes of escaping the chaos above them. The stories of why are a blur and all heavily debated, but the common thread through it all is that the virus and black magic that stirred up the undead and restless souls had something to do with it. It’s an odd thing to imagine since things like zombies, skeletons, and the undead have always been a part of life here that they’ve simply adjusted to.
A spider lurks as they turn a corner and both men immediately go on high alert as does the arachnid. The spider tenses and both men ready for it to jump with their weapons drawn, but instead it simply hisses before turning around and scuttling off. Both go slack and simply blink. Jesse glances down at the lantern on his hip before meeting Lukas’ gaze as a grin slinks across his face. Soulfire—who knew!
Moving ahead Jesse spots the door to the workroom. He lets out an audible sigh and hurries over to it, pushing it open and ushering Lukas inside. Once in, he closes it behind him and makes sure it’s shut tight. He backs off slowly, making a ‘ stay’ motion with his hands on instinct. They both let out sighs of relief and share a smile as they stuff their weapons and take a chance to breathe and look around. It’s pretty much the same as how they left it—desks and papers strewn about, rubble still in the back, old dilapidated bookshelves in the back, and the barrels still knocked over by the door.
Lukas moves over to the rubble pile and hops up onto it, peeking upwards and into the semi-exposed upper level of the Stronghold. Jesse meanwhile meanders back over to the chest with the bags they found. The old ratty and tattered one was still sitting out and the other two had been put away. He crouches down and grunts as he heaves the heavy lid open. The old hinges on it let out an ear piercing squeal and both Jesse and Lukas wince at the sound of it. There’s a solid clunk as the lid drops back against the wall. Jesse stands straight and dusts off his hands before leaning in and heaving one of those bags out of the chest. Lukas meanders over.
“Are these…?” He trails off and Jesse nods.
“Yep! Not sure their relation—if any at all—but I figured you’d wanna look at them.”
“Cool, cool. You said the nametags were gone, right?” Lukas asks as he crouches down by the bag, pulling it towards him. He pulls his goggles up to his head again and blinks back to the normal light and colors around him.
“Yeah,” Jesse nods. He points to a section of the bag, “Between the shoulder straps, right under where the top handle is. They’ve all been ripped off.”
Lukas turns the bag over in front of him and leans forward to inspect the rip. Jesse stands over and watches, curious but also a bit anxious. Lukas squints, his whole face scrunching up as he runs the delicate frayed fabric between his fingers. His eyes widen briefly and Jesse hears a soft gasp escape the man before he leans back and feverishly begins unhooking his lantern from his belt. Jesse takes a step back, trying to give the man space as he yanks the lantern free and holds it up to the frayed tag, scrutinizing it with a newfound ire.
“What is it, Lukas…?” Jesse dares to ask as he crouches down. Lukas double takes between him and the bag and he stutters over his own words.
“ W— Well… Okay, god, how do I say this?” He mutters and Jesse gets a chill up his spine, leaning in a bit closer as concern sweeps over him. Lukas studies the fraying once more, as if he’s trying to be certain before saying anything more. He blows out a sigh and shakes his head a little, “Okay, it’s a small detail to miss in general—especially in regular torchlight—but… Jesse these tags were torn off recently. Like, within the last few months recent. Probably sooner, considering everything.”
Jesse’s stomach drops along with his jaw.
“Wh— What?!” He leans back in to look at the fabric and Lukas turns it a little so he can see better.
“Look at the fraying specifically. I want you to notice the color—it’s a bit easier to see in this light.”
Jesse silently nods and hones in on the frays compared to the rest of the remaining tag. He frowns a little, noticing how much brighter of a white the fabric that’s been torn is compared to the rest of the tag. He looks up to Lukas, a bit confused. The man continues as he gently taps the tear.
“It’s whiter where it’s been torn, right? The fray hasn’t been yellowed yet from age. If these were ripped off years ago, that wouldn’t be the case. These bits of fabric have just been exposed.” He shakes his head, sharing a disturbed expression with the man, “Jesse, someone was here to do this recently.”
Jesse slowly shakes his head as he sits back on his heels. That doesn’t make sense. That can’t be right. Lukas sets his lantern down and turns to Jesse, waiting for him to say something. Jesse just shakes his head again, more passionate this time.
“No, no! That just… That doesn’t make sense? Bruce, Axel, and I found these bags like this! They were stuffed away in the chest save for the ratty one. If someone wanted to hide them, why wouldn’t they just take the whole things with them? Why just rip the tags off?” He flings his hands out, gesticulating animatedly as he speaks. Lukas frowns in confusion himself.
“I… I don’t have an answer for you Jesse. Maybe they just couldn’t?” He reaches over and tests the weight of the pack again, “They’re pretty heavy, I guess. It’d be a lot to haul all of these around, in-and-out, in-and-out.” He trails off, admittedly unsure of his own suggestion. Jesse reaches over and fiddles with one of the straps on the bag.
“And our entrance was blocked up with that obsidian until just recently. The tags were already gone by the time we got here. If they somehow got in from some other entrance that’s further out, I guess it could be a hassle… But still it doesn’t make sense. ” Jesse huffs, throwing the bag’s strap down in frustration. “They could’ve done a number of other things—they probably could’ve burnt them, or tossed them away, or anything! I just don’t get it…” He blows out a sigh and runs a hand through his hair. Lukas pats his back a little but ultimately doesn’t say anything more. Jesse just keeps shaking his head as he pulls the bag closer and inspects it more for himself, as if the true answer will appear between the bare threads.
—
Lukas slowly stands up, letting his hand drift off of Jesse’s back as he takes a second look at the surrounding room. This is already an unnerving start, maybe there’s more left to see? He glances at Jesse once more but the man is engulfed in his own thoughts and glaring daggers into the odd pack. Understandably, at least. Lukas takes a step back and begins inspecting the place with renewed curiosity.
He meanders deeper into the room, returning to the area with the pile of rubble and the old bookshelves buried beneath them. He hops back up onto the rubble pile and takes another look around through the holes in the upper wall and ceiling. He left his lantern with Jesse and the other sitting back by the door so it’s a bit darker, but still good enough. There’s not really enough room to slip through himself as the space above him is cut through by an old wall. He’d have to contort his body to squeeze past it and slip through one half of the already limited opening—Jesse certainly wouldn’t fit with his bulk.
Initially, he thought there might’ve been a door on this end of the room, but there wasn’t enough rubble and gravel to cover it if so—unless for some reason it only went up to his waist. That said though, the layout around him doesn’t quite make sense… Sure, Strongholds are hard to navigate, but they had to make sense at some point for the people down here. He squints a little in the darkness as he looks out across the top of some more stone-brick ceiling before it’s covered by the cavern’s stone. This didn’t make sense. They were already at the edge of the compound—at least for this section. So why does there seem to be another 10 foot extension to this room?
He ducks his head back down into the room, scrutinizing the wall he’s standing up against. There’s something else on the other side of it. The question now is what they were missing. He jumps down from the rubble and gravel with a thud and Jesse shoots him a questioning glance for just a second before going back to what he was doing. Lukas turns to the wall and frowns, studying it for what already feels like the millionth time. He crosses his arms—was he actually right about the door being stupidly short? He hopes not—they didn’t exactly bring mining gear to move all this junk out of the way with. He sighs. No, that’s probably not it anyways. That wouldn’t make sense architecturally.
He does notice something interesting though. A little offset to the left of the center of the wall, there’s a straight line amidst the brick’s moulding. It runs from just one brick layer below the ceiling to what he assumes is the floor, though it’s hidden by the rubble. He walks over and scoops a bit of gravel away to double check and, sure enough, the line continues down. Not to mention the fact that, upon closer look, these bricks aren’t properly moulded together.
As if they’re supposed to move.
Lukas’ heart begins to race as he tries following the lines up and across—another straight line starts just below the top brick line and cuts left, quickly being hidden by the old dilapidated bookshelf. He quickly finds where the line would allegedly follow through and traces over the back panel of the shelf in its place. He scowls and digs his fingers in between the cracks in the old wooden planks and grunts as he rips the rotted wood away with a loud crackling as it splinters and breaks. He throws the plank to the ground with a high pitched thud, going right back to that line. It disappears again behind some more wood and he huffs, stepping back to make sure it doesn’t reappear past the shelf. But no, there’s no line shooting down exposed. It’s gotta be behind this shelf.
“Lukas…?” Jesse asks tentatively. Lukas glances back and can see him staring at him oddly. Lukas nods towards the shelf.
“Help me move this—there’s something back here. A secret door or something!”
Jesse’s eyes widen and the man shoves himself up and rushes over. Lukas grips the back edge of the top of the bookshelf and Jesse slips by him, getting ready to push the lower half. Despite its age, it was solid dark oak and still boasted a good weight. They meet each other’s gazes and Lukas nods, mouthing a little countdown before they both heave. The sound of the old wood scraping against the stone is grating on the ears, but they manage to turn it completely sideways and expose the back wall for the most part. They both let go and blow out some breaths then Lukas immediately rushes back over to the wall. Jesse just watches with his hands on his hips.
The other line down is now exposed and, even better, he can see the bottom line as well. There truly is a fairly wide rectangular section that’s somehow meant to move. Lukas crouches down and hovers a hand by both the bottom and side cracks. There’s a faint breeze—cold air trying to rush into the warm room. He looks back up at Jesse and nods.
“There’s a room back there. There’s gotta be a switch or something around—start looking.” Lukas says with a nod before standing straight again. Jesse nods and bounces back, beginning to scan the room anew. Lukas looks at the new exposed wall itself. It was pretty bare and boring, though there were definitely some bricks out of alignment. He reaches up and starts pushing and tugging on each. He moves from the top down, but none of them make any significant noise or clunking sounds. Either they get pushed through, pulled out, or simply crack and break off in his hand, brittle from age.
Lukas scowls as he tosses another broken chunk away, the rock clacking across the floor like the others before it. It doesn’t look like the switch is on the wall itself. He lets out a sigh and looks back to Jesse who’s near the door and crouched underneath one of the workbenches. They meet each other’s eyes and the man just frowns at him and shakes his head. No dice on his end either. Lukas nods and turns back to his area. It’s probably going to be on a wall rather than the ceiling or floor since this place had multiple levels both above and below them. He glances at the second old bookshelf that’s considerably more buried than the first and prays the switch didn’t get buried or stuck behind it.
He squeezes past the shelf they moved and presses up against the wall, trying to peer behind the second shelf for anything odd looking. He hears Jesse shuffling around in the room behind him, moving something across the floor—probably a table or chest. It’s dark behind the shelf and he frowns, not quite wanting to go grab his lantern and try maneuvering that clunky thing above him while reaching behind the shelf. Instead he flicks his goggles back down. The familiar warm green tone washes over everything, but makes the area considerably brighter. There are definitely some bricks out of place behind the shelf, though part of him doubts they’re significant. Regardless, he manages to push the shelf just an inch further from the wall in order to reach his hand back.
Right as his fingers graze over the first brick, a loud mechanical clunking noise rings out right by his ear that quickly turns to rumbling. Lukas takes his arm out and jumps back with a gasp—did he do that? No, he couldn’t have, he didn’t touch anything he was aware of. Some loose dirt and pebbles shake free and fall as the cut-out section of wall slowly begins pulling back. Once free from the rest of the wall, the hidden door seems to loosen up and swings open like a regular door on a hinge. A gust of cold air flies out and mixes with the somewhat warmer air in the room, making their light flicker. The strong smell of old mildew and mold hit them both hard and he hears Jesse cough a little behind him—that’s when realization dawns on him.
He turns around to see Jesse sitting on the floor by the chest that housed those odd packs, however the chest has been pushed away from the wall and there’s a small hole in the wall between a few bricks near the ground. Jesse notices his gaze and gives him a lopsided smile, pointing to the odd hole.
“There’s a lever way back there—had to reach half of my arm in to grab it. Tons of cobwebs and gross stuff too.” He grimaces as he wipes his hand on his jeans. Lukas slowly nods.
“Wow… Y’know, I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting, but ‘secret room’ wasn’t exactly on my list for today.”
Jesse lets out a curt laugh as he stands, “I dunno, I think it suits the place!” He wanders over to Lukas’ side, hand hovering over the axe on his belt. “I don’t think there’s any mobs in there, but…”
“I’m not seeing any.” Lukas says as he steps forward and scans the odd little room more closely. It’s got a considerable amount of actual items packed in and seems like it hasn’t seen the light of day for a while. He nods back to Jesse, “Do you mind grabbing the lanterns while I do a quick scan?”
“Sure thing.” The man says with a nod and hurries back while Lukas moves further in. He unhooks his bow and slowly pulls the string back. Pink light crackles at his fingertips as an arrow slowly forms against the drawstring. He eyes the stone ‘door’ and the corner of the room it’s now hiding. He holds his bow and arrow high, the pink light illuminating the dark room and darts around the corner in a flash, ready to fire. But he’s met with nothing but the same mess as everywhere else. No hidden monsters. No traps. He feels the aftermath of a small rush of adrenaline as he relaxes his drawstring. The magic arrow slowly dissipates as he does until it’s gone and the room returns to that normal inky blackness.
Jesse jogs in and the room is illuminated with that cold white-blue color from their lanterns. Lukas quickly reslings his bow as Jesse hands him one again and he mumbles a quick thanks. He yanks his goggles back up and the pair finally get a chance to examine this odd little extension.
It’s more of a mess than the room they came from, just to start. There’s cobwebs hanging from above and draping entire cabinets, chests, and corners of the walls, floors and ceilings. There’s several cabinets, more barrels, weapon stands, and chests—except this time they’re not empty. Rusted swords, halberds, spears, and remnants of other weapons stay tall in their stands or are scattered and splintered across the ground. Some armor pieces are scattered and broken up across the ground—chestplates without their backs or shoulder pads, gauntlets missing their fingers, loose nuts and bolts, the like.
Lukas crouches down and inspects something by his foot. He plucks up the little stick, an old arrowhead stuck to it—broken arrows as well. It’s odd that so much was leftover in here—perhaps it was a stash only used for emergencies? But the mess left behind leaves a pit in his stomach. It looks like there was some sort of fight in here. Another mess by one of the cabinets catches his eye and he wanders over to it with his lantern.
—
Jesse moves over to the chests and cabinets first, not wasting any time in opening them. One chest holds a lot of quivers and arrows. The other holds old supplies like canteens, satchels, thermoses, and cans of what looks like used gunpowder. The other chests are pretty bare or just have broken junk in them as times gotten the better of them. He shuts the final chest with a sigh and approaches the cabinets against the back wall.
One cabinet holds sets of armor for the taking—fairly well organized too. There seems to be several sets tucked away, all iron. However there’s a bit of disarray, probably from some of it being yanked out and splayed across the stone floor. He picks up an old helmet for a moment and studies it. Not bad craftsmanship, but rusty. Most of these things are at this point. They wouldn’t be of much use in this state were they to need them. He sets the helmet back on top of a few others on the top shelf then shuts the cabinet doors.
He moves on to the other cabinet and opens it, surprised to find the same as before. Simply more armor. This really is quite the little storage room. An odd mix of feelings wash over him—awe at the amount of guards they must’ve had down here at one point but also sadness, knowing that this place had been abandoned early. Something bad happened to the people in many of the Strongholds throughout the world. That was simply a fact. He shuts this cabinet too.
He loses a little steam as he moves over to the third one, honestly expecting just more of the same sad sight. He notices a bit of a mess at the base of it and kicks some of the odd wood and metal to the side as he approaches. Grabbing the old bronze handles, he yanks the double doors open and is met with a different sight than before, startling him.
Crossbows. Several of them. Three hang up on the back wall of the cabinet while a fourth sits on a shelf below them about where his waist is. For some reason he gets an odd chill down his spine. He frowns and reaches in, carefully grabbing one off the wall and pulling it out. He readjusts his grip to hold it properly and inspects the thing. It’s in good condition. Like, good condition. He feels like he’s seen one like this before too. He flips it around in his hands, looking for any branding or namesake and finds a label. Nocturne Weaponry—that’s a shop from out east in one of the coastal towns by Redstonia. This is an “old” model, technically, but not older than 20 years. What the hell is it doing down here?
He frowns and looks down at the mess he kicked aside just a minute ago. Crouching down with the crossbow he picks up some of the wood and a few wires and metal bits come along with it. Just as he guessed—it’s a busted crossbow. It’s way older than the one in his hands though with the wood rotted, metal rusted, and wires frayed and long broken. Looks like whoever was here just threw the old ones out without a care so they could fit their new ones in.
Jesse frowns a little more at that thought, some anger flaring up. The least they could’ve done is set them aside out of respect—the people who wielded these probably died with others like it in their hands. This was no way to handle them. He sets the nice crossbow aside and gathers up the pieces of the old one and sets them up nicely on one of the tables, offering a quiet apology for kicking it earlier.
“Hey uh… Jesse?” Lukas quietly calls out to him and he turns around. The man’s hunched down over an odd mess of wood, black material, wires, redstone and…
“Is that—?”
“Another one of those packs? Yeah, it is. And I think we’ve got our answer for what they’re for.” He says this as he picks up one of the black pieces. He hands it to Jesse as he crouches down by him. Jesse recognizes the material the moment it hits his hands. Those familiar bumps and grooves and the shiny black surface. It’s vinyl—this is a shard of a broken disk. He scowls, leaning forward and looking closer at the mess. He picks up a few other pieces and puts them together, confirming what he already knows.
He connects the pieces in his head suddenly and his stomach simply drops. He looks up to Lukas with wide eyes and the man grimaces, quietly nodding. He points to the mess before them and plucks the frayed and tattered bag up a smidge.
“This was made to carry a recording device. All this wood and redstone crap is probably a busted one that got smashed mid recording–one of those big clunky mobile ones. I’m sure you could fit other things in too, but the recorder is what they’re here for.”
“So that means…” Jesse breathes, bringing a hand to his forehead as his heartbeat begins to drum louder in his ears. Lukas reaches a hand out to steady him.
“Hey—”
“ Whoever had these was involved! A-And—! Oh god there were multiple people. There was a group down here, Lukas!” His voice cracks a little as he leans into the words. His breathing quickens as his mind quickly flicks through all the possibilities—suspecting any one person was bad enough, but a group? What was he supposed to do with this?
“I-I know, but breathe a little, okay?” Lukas mutters to him and Jesse forces out a sigh. He nods, pressing his lips into a tight line. Then another thought hits him. His eyes widen and he stands suddenly, looking back to the crossbows. Barely a second passes before he darts over and grabs the newer one. He stops momentarily to check the other three in the cabinet—all the same make and model. Satisfied, he finally huffs and turns around with it to get a clearer look in the lantern light. He stares down at the crossbow in his hands as he remembers back to what he and Axel heard in disk 13.
“What was--”
“Shh!” Jesse squeezes his hand, suddenly perking up. Right before the music amped up into a note that chilled his blood there was a faint sound. Three to be precise. It sounded off in the distance from wherever this was recording. Bangs? No, it was something different… But familiar.
“Arrows…” He murmurs, Axel blinking in surprise before scrunching up his face as he listens in. Both men now alert, the disk continues, Jesse seemingly right about it holding a few secrets.
~~~
“Well, listen! Listen to this okay? My father snatches a bow from a skeleton, he’s exploring the stronghold further when he gets spooked. Something starts chasing him.”
“The Enderman…” Axel murmurs and Jesse nods.
“He shoots off a few shots to get the thing to back off, it works but one of the arrows knocks open some air pocket or something. That gust of wind!”
His blood runs cold as he stares down at the weapon in his hands. He was wrong. That wasn’t his father shooting to scare off an Enderman. No. That was someone shooting at his father. Whoever was down here with him, they wanted him dead. It’s no longer a question of what, but who. And what group did he run into and piss off?
“Dad… What the hell did you get yourself into…?” He mutters as he turns the weapon over in his hands. Lukas looks up at him in confusion and Jesse sighs. He walks closer, holding out the crossbow to Lukas who takes it to study. He continues, “These are newish models. Probably no older than 20 years old—I remember seeing Jack with one and I think my father had one like it back home.”
“I don’t like where this is going already…” Lukas mumbles, looking up to Jesse with a disturbed expression. “I’m guessing there’s more than just speculation here…”
Jesse nods, “Axel and I heard arrows—or more precisely, bolts— being fired off in 13 when we listened to it. We’d assumed that my father stole a bow and some arrows or something to scare the Enderman off but…” He grimaces with a sigh, “That… That did seem a little far-fetched…”
“God…” Lukas breathes out a shaky sigh as he stares down at the thing. “I’m not liking where this is going Jesse… Trying to find one person is already dangerous enough, but a group? I worry about what exactly we’re sticking our noses into…”
“Don’t worry, I’m in the same boat with you there.” He sighs, “Admittedly, I don’t even know where to go from here. It’s not like they’ve left anything else identifiable behind. The crossbows are all the same make and model and they’re 20 years old. There’s no way we’d be able to track who bought them even if the weaponry kept records—they could’ve passed hands a dozen times since and off the books.” He spits, thoroughly frustrated now. He came down here to find more clues to clear this mess up, not ram them straight into a damn wall.
Lukas is quiet and just reaches a hand out to squeeze his shoulder. There was really nothing else to say that Jesse hadn’t already said. This is… A frustrating discovery. One step forward and two steps back. Jesse drops his head into his hands and rubs his face, unable to stop the feeling of hopelessness that wells up in the pit of his stomach. What now? If Bruce came back and his father’s journal had nothing in it then that’s simply it. There’d be nothing else he could do. He simply has to live with vague possibilities and the assumption that some group out there had a hit on his father or just didn’t want him poking around their claim.
He lets out a frustrated groan and stands up, grabs his lantern, and marches out of the secret room. Lukas hesitates with the crossbow but ultimately settles on putting it back in the cabinet before chasing after Jesse.
“Jess, hey…” He soothes, reaching out a hand to place on his back. Jesse grimaces, wanting to pull away but knowing he shouldn’t. This isn’t Lukas’ fault, he can’t be frustrated with him for no reason. He just crosses his arms tight and shakes his head.
“I just— I can’t believe I’ve come all this way for nothing.”
“But you didn’t, you’ve learned a lot about what happened down here.”
“I-I know. I know I have and I’m trying to be okay with it but I just—!” He throws up a hand, stopping short though and just shaking his head again. “But I have so many more questions now and knowing I’m not ever gonna get a reason for them just—!” His voice cracks and he clamps a hand down over his mouth. Lukas quickly sets his lantern down and wraps his arms around him, pulling the man into a gentle hug. Jesse tries keeping himself together, struggling to swallow down the lump in his throat. Lukas tightens his grip a little and rubs his back.
“I’m so sorry, Jesse…” He mumbles quietly into his ear and Jesse shudders at that. He shakes his head into Lukas’ shoulder. This can’t be the end. There has to be something else. There just has to be a way forward. There just has to be…
They stay like that for a few minutes as Jesse works through the newfound flood of despair he’s hit with. He’s accepted his father is gone. Despite how desperately he wishes for a miracle, he accepts it. But he thought—he truly hoped —that he could at least put the whole ordeal to rest and know why he was killed. Now he can’t even get that. He never got to lay his father to rest, there was nothing left he could even use in his stead, so if he could’ve at least gotten the story that would’ve been enough. But unless that journal of his holds a miracle inside, then this is it. This is where the trail goes cold.
An agonizing sense of acceptance—or perhaps it’s just sheer exhaustion thinking about it—finally catches up to him and he pulls himself together. He shoves the wetness off of his cheeks with a huff and Lukas lingers a moment before Jesse nods to him. He’ll be fine.
“We’ll work through this together, okay…? I know these weren’t the answers you were looking for, but…” Lukas trails off with a grimace. “I wish I could say I knew where to go next. But I don’t. Let’s go home for now and we can process and prepare something else. I know that regardless of what the journal does or doesn’t say, you’ll wanna do something in honor of him, right?”
Jesse nods quietly, not meeting his gaze. Lukas nods in turn.
“Alright… So we’ll figure something out. But, I just—” Lukas hesitates, swallowing a moment before continuing. He gently guides Jesse’s chin up so he’ll look at him. Lukas’ eyes are filled with concern and his brows are furrowed as Jesse looks at him. He makes sure to hold the look, “I don’t want you obsessing over this to the point that it tears you apart, Jess…”
Jesse swallows, feeling another batch of tears sting at the corners of his eyes but gives a little nod. He’s right. He can’t just endlessly chase ghosts with no direction to turn in. He has people who rely on him and a life right in front of him to live.
“I won’t.” He manages to mumble out. “Promise.”
Lukas nods a little in return and lets out a sigh. He pulls Jesse in for one final tight hug and Jesse squeezes back with everything he can muster. Finally, they let go, and Lukas steps away to look back at the odd room one more time. He blows out his own semi-frustrated sigh and Jesse looks at him curiously.
“What is it?”
“I just don’t get something…” He mumbles, crossing his arms. Jesse pushes off the table he’s been leaning against and meanders over.
“Get what?”
“How Bruce missed this when you three were down here.”
Jesse pauses at that. He hadn’t exactly thought of it—it was fairly hidden and when they came in they didn’t exactly study it closely. There were more pressing things, like the packs and then getting out of there to see what his uncle was getting himself into. Lukas notices his doubt and continues.
“I know, I know, things were busy but looking for stuff like this is his job , Jesse. I mean, people pay him to guide them through places like this, right? It’s his livelihood.”
Jesse shifts and shakes his head, more uncomfortable now. “Listen, it was a weird night for all of us there, Lukas… He just learned that someone he grew up with and saw as an older brother was dead and gone and that he was going to help explore the crime scene . I wouldn’t blame him if the stress of it all got the better of him.”
“But he’s a pro.” Lukas argues, “His whole thing is about being able to perform well under-pressure.”
“It was personal , Lukas.” Jesse huffs a little in disbelief, pinching the bridge of his nose. He swings an arm out, “If you had just learned I died here, would you be running at 100%?”
Lukas flinches a bit at that. Seems that image got through to him. Jesse feels a little bad but is glad he’s gotten through to him at least a little. He speaks again, albeit quieter now.
“Jesse if this had been you , I wouldn’t sleep until I combed every inch of this place.” He states, meeting his gaze with an intensity that makes Jesse’s stomach flip. He swallows, attempting to soothe his suddenly dry throat. Lukas falters a bit, flicking his eyes downward as he plucks at his quiver’s strap. “Though… That’s just me, I suppose. Different people respond differently…”
“Yeah… And like I said, a lot was going on and happened pretty suddenly.”
He pauses with a nod, “You said they were kinda estranged, right? Bruce and your father…?”
Jesse blows out a sigh with a nod, “ Yeah. Had a big blowout with my father and uncle around the time I came around. That was the last time they saw each other.”
“Gotcha… Yeah, that’s… That’s fair. That’d be like if I found out one day something happened to Aiden.” He shakes his head with a frown. “I can’t imagine the mix of emotions he was dealing with… I don’t think I would’ve been able to have done what he did in coming down here.”
“I hear you…” Jesse mumbles, letting the conversation trail off. Lukas rubs his neck and speaks again after a minute, looking somewhat sheepish.
“Sorry, Jess… Didn’t mean to sound so accusatory. I’m just—...” He sighs, crossing his arms. “I’m frustrated for you. I’m frustrated this detail got missed because it might’ve saved you some pain had it been caught earlier. I let my emotions get the better of me.”
“No, no, it’s okay. Really.” Jesse laughs a little and reaches over to pat his back, “If we had the guy down here with us he’d probably say the same thing about it looking odd on his part.”
Lukas smiles, “At least he’s got a good sense of humor. I’m glad he’s still willing to help out, Jesse. Fixing up that journal is a big deal.”
“Right? Oh man, I owe him big time— especially for still agreeing to it after my uncle’s temper tantrum!” Jesse grimaces, laughing awkwardly. Lukas smiles and nods in agreement. Jesse looks back into the room then nods to himself, “Just in case though, I’ll let him know what we found and ask him about it.”
“That sounds good. If he did find this, he probably just didn’t want to freak you out so soon after finding the packs. I don’t think anyone predicted your uncle going haywire and cutting things short.” Lukas sighs and Jesse rolls his eyes.
“God, you could say that again.”
Lukas moves to close that room off once again while Jesse reflects on everything so far. Despite the obvious setbacks, they did at least figure some things out. He’s honestly kind of excited to share his findings with Bruce once he gets back from the other continent. He hears Lukas grunt as he tries to contort himself in a way to easily reach that lever. He laughs a little.
“Weird angle, right?” He tries to joke. Lukas just laughs a little in embarrassment and shakes his head.
“If I could have a word with whoever designed this place he’d get an earful from me and that is a promise!” He laughs with a tug and the loud mechanical clanking begins again. The secret door swings back around and slams back into place with a loud resounding thud that echoes out the room and down the halls. It makes both men flinch a little and they share a surprised look. Not a great feature if trying to remain secret. From there it chugs forward back into its place in the hole in the wall—still loud as stone drags against stone, but it doesn’t reverberate through the whole structure. It settles with one last mechanical thud and a few more pebbles and lines of dirt falling.
Jesse squints a little as he reflects on the sound. That thud more specifically.
“I wonder…” He mumbles to himself before turning back and looking at the knocked over barrels by the door to the room. He walks over to the dusty one that was laying on its side—the one he tried lifting last time. He bounces a little in place, sucks in a breath, grabs the top rim, and heaves it upright with a grunt. Lukas has noticed him by now and is watching with an odd look. Jesse moves to the door and swings it open then leaves it to hang freely.
He eyes the heavy barrel as he walks back over. He stares at it for a moment then sucks in a breath and quickly slams his heel into the side as hard as he can. It flies forward and lands back on its side with a thump, but a muffled one. It barely echoes in the room, nonetheless down the hall. His eyes narrow as he stares at it.
There’s a loud resounding thud that echoes through the Stronghold that's followed quickly by a yelp. Both Jesse and Axel tense, suddenly shoved out of their own heads. Jesse flings himself around the wall, hopping inside and yelling without thinking.
“ Bruce! You alright?”
There’s a pause. Jesse swallows.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m good, just fell! There was some stuff blocking this damn door and it gave way easier than I figured it would!”
The dust makes sense now, at least. But it looks like he really does need to ask the man some questions about how this room first looked when he found it. This isn’t exactly a good look for him at the moment, and he dreads how it’ll come across when he tries bringing it up. He probably was just trying not to freak him out so quickly—as frustrating as that coddling is. He internally berates himself for getting so worked up over the packs alone. Had he kept it together Bruce probably would’ve shown them how the room worked and the rest of this stuff. Then to go from dealing with him to his uncle… Eugh, he’s embarrassed just thinking about it.
Lukas must catch on to what he’s thinking, or at least something similar. He walks over and pats him on the arm and Jesse just sighs. It’s time to get out of here and figure out what these little snippets mean. He also needs to tell Soren and Jack to relax with the research into those packs’ manufacturers—they already got the idea.
“C’mon. This was the main area I wanted to check out. I don’t think there were other areas my dad set up in unless there’s a library around, and that’s probably deeper than we should go.”
“Alright, that sounds like a plan. Wanna take one more look around the cavern? Maybe there’s some evidence of a crossbow fight still out there.”
“Sounds good.” Jesse smiles a little and begins packing up his things. It was a bit uneventful this time around, but that’s okay. Each excursion doesn’t have to be packed to the brim with death-defying stunts.
Lukas double checks he has everything as he hangs his lantern back on his belt then gives the thumbs up. Jesse nods in turn and unhooks his axe just in case as they head out. The walk though is just as mundane, despite the eerie cold light from their lanterns. They walk in silence however, neither really sure what to say after that. It’s a little uncomfortable, but worse things could happen.
Lukas hops down out of the Stronghold first then offers a hand up to Jesse to help him down. He smiles and gives his thanks then they slowly meander back into the large cavern.
Lukas rests his hands on his hips as he looks out around them. He blows out a breath, “ Well. ‘Lotta ground to cover. Any ideas where the shooting might’ve started?” He asks as he looks back to Jesse curiously. Jesse hums in thought. He reaches up and traces the path they came down on all the way back up to where it disappears into the smaller cave.
“We’re pretty sure the path we came down from is the one my father took during his sprint out. So I’d bet that—if anything—bolts or scrapes would follow along that area.” He jogs a few steps further out from the Stronghold and turns around, getting a better look from the structure. It’s pretty well settled into the cavern wall, but there’s another level above where he and Lukas entered. The wall has crumbled in some spots, turning what used to be a hallway into a sort of exposed balcony. He nods to Lukas, “There are a few spots on the level above us that are exposed where someone would’ve had good range to shoot.”
Lukas runs over and looks up with him. He lets out a small gasp and a ‘ oh!’ as he looks up with him. “Yeah, I see what you mean—Not much cover for them but I don’t exactly think they were getting much in return.” He says bluntly and Jesse nods, mouth twitching downwards a little. Lukas catches himself and immediately stutters, “Ah, sorry! I didn’t mean to be so flippant, really, I just…”
“No, no! It’s okay. It’s the truth. My dad didn’t exactly leave with anything ranged either. It’s a good observation.” Jesse tries to smile and Lukas sighs.
“Still… That’s your dad.”
Jesse gently elbows him, “ C’monnnn , I’m already beating myself up more than enough for the both of us. You can’t be joining my pity party.” He jokes and Lukas cracks, smiling a little.
“ Alright , alright! Let’s get this done though so we can go do something nice once we’re back in town. End on a good note.”
“That sounds awesome .” Jesse blows out a breath with a smile. “We can nab Radar, too. I’m sure he’s already worried half to death. Get shakes or something with the kid.”
“Good plan!” Lukas says with a smile and raises his fist. Jesse chuckles and bumps it. It was a deal! Lukas looks back to the area ahead and scratches his jaw, “It may be hard to find anything, admittedly. If there’s any scraping on the stone then the moss and plants will probably be covering it. Our best bet would be finding a bolt.”
“Gotcha! Check out any lumps on the ground too, there’s the chance the moss grew ov—”
A deafening crack and boom from far above them suddenly cuts Jesse off. The ground jolts violently beneath them, sending Jesse staggering. The pair quickly reach out to clamp down on each other’s arms. Jesse hears Lukas gasp and is suddenly yanked back a pace with the man. A large boulder slams into the ground before them, splintering with an ear splitting crack. Looking above, many more rocks and smaller boulders follow—Lukas grabs his head and shoves it down before he can get a good look of what’s happening. They crash into the ground with a few more deafening booms, a sea of dust rushing down with them. Lukas’s grip tightens and he hurries the both of them further back from the barrage of falling rock.
Jesse clings tight to the man’s jacket, the dust burning his eyes and their lanterns catching it and creating a cloud of eerie blue fog. He stumbles along blindly, just trying to keep pace with Lukas’ yanks and shoves. It happens so fast and seems to last forever all at once, but just as suddenly as it came, it stops. The cavern settles into silence around them once again.
The dust floods through the bottom of the cavern, slowly settling. Jesse coughs, still desperately trying to blink the dirt out of his watery eyes as Lukas pulls him towards the wall. He moves them a few feet up their path before stopping. Jesse blinks his eyes open finally and looks around in utter confusion.
“ What the fuck was that?!” He gasps, still sputtering out a few coughs as he looks around. There wasn’t a lot of damage down here, just those rocks and boulders that fell from the top of the cavern, but nothing other than that–No serious caving. The fact that they heard such a loud bang and the whole cave shook with only this being the outcome leaves a pit in his stomach. If this wasn’t what blew, what did?
“I don’t know.” Lukas coughs out, hitting his own chest a little. He looks up at the rest of their path in worry and Jesse follows his gaze. Lukas looks back at him, fear lacing his eyes, “It sounded like it came from above us…”
“Yeah…” Jesse nods, returning the look. He pushes past the man, slowly beginning to shake his head, “We…We gotta go, Lukas. Now!”
Lukas just nods back and Jesse presses his mouth into a tight line as he begins running up the slope. A new dread fills his stomach as he sprints up the path, footfall after footfall mimicking his father’s. His old man made his own mad-dash for the exit—now here he is, getting the joy of doing the same. He glances back at Lukas, getting a swell of determination as he does—it’s not just himself he has to get out of here, it’s Lukas too.
The run up is a lot faster than Jesse ever imagined. When going on sheer instinct, there are perfect footfalls, jumps, and places to sprint and shave off whole minutes at a time. It was already a shortcut, but this is really emphasizing the ‘ short’ of it. Running through the lush cave he sprints easily along a shoreline, hops onto a dripleaf and boosts himself up to a new ledge. The steepness of the path down is barely noticeable with how easy it is to boost themselves up. He slams down into some wet clay and stumbles a little, but is caught by Lukas who quickly pulls him back on track. He may be able to outdo Lukas in a sheer sprint, but the man is much better at quick jumps like this—his agility and ability to catch-up is always a surprise.
They turn the bend of the final stretch of the lush shortcut and are once again hit by a cloud of freshly kicked up dust and dirt. A bit has settled at this point and instead of the beautiful green scenery they’re used to seeing, everything has a sickly grey-brown coat. Jesse’s stomach drops again at the sight and he just shakes his head, sprinting ahead once again.
“ Jesse! Hold on!” Lukas calls out after him but he doesn’t slow down.
He reaches the other end of their tunnel, the dust still somewhat thick here. He swears he can even smell the remnant of a creeper explosion. He slows just a little as he approaches the exit into the larger dripstone cave that connects them back to his father’s cavern, his stomach doing another acrobatics act. It’s blocked by a large chunk of stone now. Jesse keeps his momentum and braces himself, ramming into it with his shoulder. It shudders just an inch, but nothing more past that. Jesse sputters as he steps back, looking at it in horror.
“ Shiiiiiit…!” He hears Lukas say as he slows to a stop behind him. Jesse shares a worried look with him or at least he assumes he does—it’s hard to tell now as he’s pulled both his bandanna up and goggles down. Jesse moves to take a step closer only for Lukas to catch him by the shoulder. He looks back in utter confusion—what is he stopping him for when they need to move now?
Lukas reaches up behind his own neck and quickly unties the bandanna, passing it to him. Jesse blinks.
“Take it. I’ve got my jacket to breathe into if I need to, you don’t. Hurry.”
Jesse doesn’t even have time to nod and just hastily ties it up, yanking it above his nose quickly. He turns back to the stone slab blocking their way and notes it’s hanging at a slant. He crouches down by the bottom where it juts out and his lantern lights up an opening to his right. There’s still some space beyond this rock, it’s not all buried. They may still have a shot. He stands up and braces himself again.
“There’s still space past this thing—help me move it. Try pushing it left.”
“On it.” Lukas rushes up and readies himself against the rock as well. Jesse nods.
“On three. One. Two—!” He doesn’t have to say the third number as they both suck in a large breath and begin to heave. Jesse presses his palms hard against the cold stone, putting every muscle from his feet to his shoulders into it. Lukas grits his teeth as he tries using his whole upper body as something to push with. It’s agonizingly heavy for just the two of them. Probably 8 feet tall and a solid few inches thick and wide enough to block their little doorway. But slowly, the large slab begins to give way. They hear a faint scraping as it’s shoved up and back across the ground. Some other rocks start to move and topple off of the slab and Jesse’s chest swells with hope. The blue light of their lanterns begin to flood more of the area around them, little by little. Lukas’ foot slips beneath him for just a second and Jesse immediately shoves everything he can against the rock to stop them from losing progress. Luckily enough, that little adrenaline boosted shove is the final kick it needs.
The weight is suddenly lifted off them as the slab begins to topple backwards. Both men gasp and Lukas yanks Jesse back a few steps as the bottom half of the rock flips upwards where they stood before slowly sliding to the ground on top of the smaller rubble pile. The two stand there a moment, panting and gripping each other’s arms with shaky hands. Jesse is the first to let out a little chuckle and grin up at Lukas, though he probably can’t quite see it under the bandanna. Regardless he raises both hands and the man meets him halfway in a double high five. They hurry along from there though.
The high energy doesn’t last for long as they realize where they’re standing. It’s a small area now, probably only 10 feet wide and 6 feet across with rubble, collapsed stone chunks and debris all around them. The dust is still bad, blanketing everything in a blue fog as it’s lit by their lanterns and reeking of gunpowder. Gunpowder means TNT or dynamite, if that’s the case then… He shoves the idea far out of his mind and just runs towards the direction they would’ve come down from only to find the dripstone completely collapsed ahead of them.
“No, no, no, no, no, no…” He mutters as he shakes his head. He hops up onto some of the rocks, trying to move higher to get a better look. Behind him Lukas does the same for the opposite direction. But it’s no use. There’s nothing to slip through. This isn’t some simple wall of gravel they could eventually dig through. This is a cave-in.
And now they’re trapped.
Jesse backs up just a little from where he was pressed up against the ceiling, staring at the stone in front of him in utter disbelief as he lets out a shuddery breath. They’re caved-in. They’re trapped down here. And they don’t have any of the equipment they need to get out.
He feels a gentle hand wrap around his wrist and turns to see Lukas. He looks between him and the wall of stone before them, desperately trying to find something to say but unable. The man just carefully pulls him back down to ground-level. The pair stand there speechless, just looking around them as they do. Jesse swallows, voice small.
“I… There’s no way through my side. It’s all caved in.”
“Same with mine…” Lukas says through a shuddery breath. They both just stand there, nodding along blankly as the situation sinks in. Lukas frowns, “Do… Do you smell that?”
“The creeper remnants?”
“ No, no—I mean, now that you mention it yes but—” He stutters, eyes urgent, “Jesse the gunpowder.”
Jesse’s throat runs dry and he begins shaking his head in utter refusal.
“No, no, that can't be right.”
“But you smell it?”
“ Yes but it was probably just a creeper! It had to have been!” He cries out now, not allowing his mind to go where Lukas is trying to point him. Lukas tightly grips him by the shoulders, shaking him just a little.
“ Jesse! Creepers don’t do this kind of damage—we both know that! A-And if there’s gunpowder residue then—” Lukas suddenly stops. His expression drops and Jesse’s blood runs cold at the sight of it. Lukas drops his grip from his shoulders to his wrists—his hands are clammy and his hold is tight and shaky. He lowers his voice. “ We need to go.”
“ What?!” Jesse gasps, looking around them for something, anything to make the man change his mind. But Lukas is persistent.
“ Jesse , if this place was blown with TNT then that means someone had to set it up. That’s bad enough, but if a creeper set it off early ? That means that it not only saw someone, but that we are probably not alone with whoever tried to trap us ! We need to go NOW! ” The urgency in Lukas’ voice rises to a yell as he wraps an arm around the disoriented man’s shoulders, urging him back into the tunnel they came from.
Jesse’s head spins as he’s moved forward and he feels on the verge of fainting from it all. He can hardly wrap his mind around the fact that the exit is closed off, hell, he can hardly get his thoughts in order at all right now. But trapped? And trapped in with whoever did this? Impossible. It’s just not possible.
He can only grip Lukas’ hand tight as they begin to run again. They just run, the wind whipping through their hair as they dive deeper and deeper back into the caves to what little semblance of safety they had before. Back to their Stronghold deep within the crevices of the Earth.
They came down here to find more about who or what was hunting his father.
But now they’re hunting them.
Chapter 28: Trapped
Summary:
Jesse and Lukas search the Stronghold in an effort to find an exit out and form a new plan, however it's short-lived as things get complicated.
Notes:
okay so I was gonna upload this tomorrow but I got impatient LMAOOOOO
AS I PROMISED THIS IS A LONG ONE! It's just below 24k words and there's a LOT happening but a lot that I REALLY wanted to have linked all together! This is probably one of if not my favorite chapter thus far and I feel really stands out alongside chapter 11 with the flashback of Steve and Hiro's last trip together. Ironic too considering they both deal with Strongholds and different things that happen in them!
!!! ALSO !!! I do encourage heeding some of the new tags and warnings because this chapter DOES get intense! There's no outright graphic gore but there will be horror elements and injury mention and clean-up! So take care of yourselves and be prepped for that!
That said, good luck, have fun, and I'm so sorry <3
Chapter Text
It’s another one of those dreams. Or nightmares, rather.
He hits the ground of the End Dimension hard with a grunt. That dry, shimmering endstone dust billows up under his boots–just like the ones he always used to wear when adventuring with Steven. He’s got a dulled red wrap this time though–a fun new touch! His brain has finally caught up to his new wardrobe from the Nether, it seems. The events leading up to this moment are a blur. He was being chased, right? That feels right.
His heartbeat drums loudly in his ears and he struggles to catch his breath as he whips his gaze around. Where was it? Where did it go? He feels further paralyzed as something whips past just out of the corner of his eye. Were those dragon wings…? He swings around that direction only to be met with another barren view of the End Dimension. He then sees the same glimpse out of the corner of his left eye. He gasps and moves back, swinging around that direction next. He can’t hear a damn thing past his heartbeat despite how loud that dragon was when it moved.
When he swings around, he comes face to face with something, but it’s certainly not a dragon. Slitted, glowing purple eyes glare down at him and he feels his blood run cold and cold sweat begin to form down his back. This Enderman was angry and he looked mean.
The creatures are a horrifying sight to behold casually–vaguely humanoid but practically skin and bone. Torsos are just barely more than a spine, lungs and hips that jut outwards with thick black hide and scales clinging close–you could see the indentations where bones and joints connected. Their legs were in better shape–lean muscle all the way down to their clawed feet. They stood on the balls of their feet, elevating their height while also adding to their natural agility–on top of the teleportation, they could naturally move quite fast and had terrifying mobility when needing it. They were hunters like no other. Whenever they’d get angry, those scales would also bunch up and stand on end–creating an effect much like a puffed up bird. However those scales are sharp and almost as strong as their claws and tend to stand on end regardless at the joints.
The shoulders and arms also had a bit of muscle and their hands were large, with long fingers that ended in large retractable claws. They were bony, but strong. Their necks and heads were probably the most eerily human. Skinny as usual, but could vary by Enderman based on their health. Then their heads are similar to human skulls but dip into the uncanny valley. Their eyes sink into the sockets a little with clear eyebrow muscles. No clear nose aside from two little nostrils–but if you’re that close you probably won’t have much longer to enjoy the view.
The mouth is the worst part. It’s almost alien with the way it seems to just appear. There’s a smooth upper lip or mouthguard that covers it all for the most part, giving their faces an appearance of being smooth from the chin to the eyes. But when provoked, it unhinges its jaws and bears those teeth and the hide and sinew barely holding those pieces together. Their mouths open unnaturally wide, and whenever they screech at you, you can expect to be hit with some of their saliva–it slowly burns if you’re not careful.
But this Enderman is different. And it’s a nightmare.
It’s nearly entirely missing its upper mouthguard save for a little section back under its right cheek. Otherwise its entire mouth is on full display with its mismatched and jagged teeth sticking every which way. Glowing pink-tinted saliva oozes from its mouth in the places where it’s actually missing teeth. Its scales on its head are different too. Two lines of scales begin above the eyes and travel back down behind its head all the way down to its back where they merge into one big line, almost looking like some kind of horns or fin. They stand on end, giving the creature’s silhouette a unique and messy look. In general, it’s much more ragged looking, with bits sticking out and not settling right even if they wanted to. There’s also a large diagonal scar in the middle of its face, not to mention many more over its body–they all glow a faint purple. Even its claws are thicker–stronger. They’ve gotten good use and seem to be the only thing this enderman preens.
Of all things that well up above the fear in his chest, a blinding and uncharacteristic rage is what he notes. He tenses his right hand, lets out a yell and swipes at the creature on instinct. His motion’s a blur until the unthinkable happens. The Enderman catches his arm. Strong bony fingers wrap unnervingly around his forearm, much like a spider’s legs. Now he gets a good look at his own hand and feels the fear well-up in him once more. It’s that black coloration. A patch of scales even formed on the back of his hand and are beginning to lace up his arm. His fingers are looking less human and more like claws. They’re sharp too, and he keeps twitching them, trying desperately to make some sort of contact with the beast. Just one scratch. But most importantly he recognizes the pattern this nightmare shares with all the others–he’s becoming one of them.
He immediately starts tugging, squirming, yanking, anything to get his hand free from this nightmarish beast. But its grip is sheer iron—unwavering. The muscles around the corners of the creature’s mouth twitch and he freezes as a low guttural growl begins bubbling up from its chest. His breathing quickens and he hesitates, but slowly raises his gaze up to once again meet the beast in the eyes. The moment he does, its eyes narrow and its jaw unhinges as it lets out an ear-piercing scream mere inches away from his face.
Hiro wakes with a start.
He shoots up, gasping in air and clutching his right arm close. Those gasps quickly devolve into coughs and he gets stuck in a whole coughing fit. Another nightmare. Just another nightmare. Breathe, Hiro, breathe. He manages to fit some deep, albeit shuddery, breaths in between coughs and slowly starts to settle. He then drops his head into his hands, gripping at his hair as he does. Always nightmares. Always. He blows out an annoyed sigh as a headache sets in with a newfound ringing in his ears.
“ Lukas!” A voice echoes out.
Hiro tenses, immediately snapping his head up. The voice was male, and sounded alarmed. He sits there in his bed and waits quietly, listening intently for anything else. There’s nothing though. No more yells. No footsteps. No doors. He frowns and pushes off his covers, tentatively getting out of his bed.
He pads over to his door and steps out into the hall, the nether brick warm against his bare feet. He looks down the hallway but there’s nothing, and the silence is deafening. Regardless, he moves out further and lets the door shut behind him with a heavy thud. He runs a hand along the wall as he makes it to the first crossroad.
“Hello? Jesse?” He calls out, voice echoing back before quieting. In return he’s merely met with the quiet buzz of the Nether. He racks his brain for some kind of explanation before calling out again, more unsure.
“ Is everything alright? ”
Once again, he gets nothing but silence in return. He leans against the wall and presses his palms into his eyes, feeling the warmth from their glow against his skin. Dropping his hands, he lets out a sigh. He’s not going to be able to just continue his day or go back to sleep without double and triple checking everything, so he might as well get started.
He hops a little in place then pushes off the ground, wavering a little in the air as his powers catch up to being as awake as his brain. Exploring from there is a breeze. He has plenty of time on his hands and sweeps every hall, every room, and every nook and cranny within each. He even stops by the minecart entrance. But throughout all of it? He finds utterly nothing .
He drops to the ground and takes a seat on one of the balcony’s benches. Nothing. Not a person here save for him. He drops his head into his hands once again. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he sucks in a deep breath.
“First nightmares, now hallucinations. Great, Hiro. Things are just going peachy, aren’t they?” He grumbles to himself. “As if I weren’t already making things complicated enough for myself…” He says with a huff, simply shaking his head as he’s left once again with an empty fortress and too many thoughts for his own good.
~~~~~
Jesse and Lukas are sitting down at the underground lakeside. They’ve both long since abandoned their boots and are just lingering with their feet dipped in the cool water as they settle down and get their bearings. Nobody seemed to follow them, and they haven’t seen anybody since, though that doesn’t mean they haven’t been on edge. Jesse keeps looking over their shoulders in paranoia as if they’re being watched. Granted, they probably were. Regardless, Lukas had passed Jesse one of the apples he saved while he pulled out his other one; so they’ve been munching on those quietly.
This… Wasn’t supposed to happen. It feels fairly obvious to say but Jesse can’t help but keep repeating it in his mind. None of this was supposed to happen.
Jesse raises the green apple to his mouth again but stalls mid-way. His appetite is hardly there. Initially, just biting into and eating something helped ground him and keep him from fully freaking out. But now that the adrenaline’s worn off and he’s gathered his thoughts? He can barely manage to force another bite. He slowly lowers his hand back into his lap and notices Lukas glance at him out of the corner of his eye as he does. Jesse just stares blankly into the water.
“... This is all my fault.” He says with a pathetic huff, his voice barely above a whisper. He shakes his head, “I’m so sorry, Lukas… We never should’ve come back down here.”
“Jesse, you couldn’t have known this would happen…” Lukas replies quietly. Jesse just grimaces.
“But this was a stupid idea. If we had just– If I had been more patient. If I wasn’t so stubborn and we had prepared and brought some other people with us then maybe–!”
“They’d be stuck down here too. Or worse, they could’ve been hurt.”
“Or we’d already be out of here and on our way back home.”
“Jesse, you can be mad at yourself all you want, but the fact of the matter is that this took us both by surprise. When we were both discussing it, the most worrying things we were thinking of were the monsters. Never in a million years would I–or you– have guessed that our only exit was gonna be sabotaged.” Lukas says it wholeheartedly and with a confidence that makes Jesse’s chest ache with guilt regardless. He huffs, shaking his head. The corners of his mouth twitch upward for just a second.
“I can’t believe you’re not mad… What happened to that attitude of yours?”
Lukas smiles a little sheepishly and chuckles, “Oh trust me. I am mad, but not at you . When I run into the asshole that pulled this shit though?” He points vaguely upwards towards the cave-in, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “ Oh, they’re gonna get more than just an earful from me.”
“ Heh. Take me along, I have some choice words for them too.”
“ Deal. ” Lukas smirks and offers out a hand. Jesse returns the smirk and gives him a hearty handshake. They let go and chuckle a little but the energy dips again pretty quickly. Jesse finds a little more strength to at least continue eating though. He bites into the apple again, thankful for this one refreshing little thing. It was cold, sour, juicy, but had a sweet aftertaste. Perfect, and just what they needed right about now.
Lukas finishes his own apple off and chucks the core out and across the water. It disappears into the darkness and eventually a faint splash can be heard. Jesse glances at his own as he finishes up–that’s right, they might still be getting tracked. It’d be good to keep any lingering evidence at least somewhat out of the way. Jesse takes a few more bites out of his apple to finish it off then chucks his own core while he’s still swallowing. He then reaches down to the water and cups some into his hand, splashing it onto his lips to wash the juice away.
“We’re gonna need a game-plan though, as much as I hate to say it.” Lukas says with a sigh as he pulls his feet out of the water. “We can’t just sit down here and sulk. I know you’d get antsy within the hour just waiting for someone to come running. So! Any ideas?”
“Hmm, well first-off I’ll take that as a compliment,” He eyes him with a small smirk then drums his fingers on his leg, “Second… That’s a good question.” He heaves a heavy sigh and holds up two fingers, “I feel like we’ve got two options here. We can hunt the area for any old left-behind loot and mining gear then try and dig through that cave-in, or we can start looking for another exit.”
“And I take it that would mean diving deeper into that Stronghold than we’re prepared for, right?”
“Most likely either way honestly. I don’t think the mineshaft is gonna lead us anywhere further except maybe down a few more man-made tunnels. We might be able to find a few more pickaxes in the cut-off part, but honestly? If multiple people were down here I don’t think we’re gonna get lucky. Anything we find would probably break before we even made a dent.”
“I was thinking the same.” Lukas says with a heavy sigh. He pulls his knees to his chest, clasps his hands around them and then shrugs, “Alright then. I guess we’re diving into a Stronghold.”
“I guess we are.” Jesse smiles nervously as he says it. Putting this on his list of horrible ideas for sure. Lukas begins to tug his socks and boots back on with a grunt. After getting both back on he smiles back at Jesse.
“Y'know? I always wondered what it’d be like to wander through one of these things! Especially when you hear about the people who dive in unprepared but still come out on top. This might end up being good writing material!”
Jesse can’t help but laugh at that. Here he was sulking and while Lukas is probably scared half to death by the idea, he’s still putting on smiles and trying to cheer him up. This is so totally unfair, it should be the other way around! He begins getting his own gear back on but pauses to give the man a sincere smile.
“Thank you, Lukas. I seriously owe you for this.”
“Still holding you to that beach vacation!” Lukas says with a grunt as he stands. He offers a hand out to Jesse as he pulls his second boot on. Jesse quickly finishes and takes his hand, getting pulled to his feet.
“And I’m a man of my word—white sandy beaches coming right up.” He replies confidently with a small smile and Lukas grins. His mood switches to something more serious as he steps forward and gets another look at their surroundings. Nothing else had fallen in, and there weren’t any follow-up explosions thankfully, but the boulders and rocks that fell had made a nice little pile in the cavern to the right of the Stronghold. Some had hit parts of that old mineshaft catwalk he’d jumped off of last time and brought a bunch of the old rotted wood down with it. Jesse grimaces a little at that, unable to stop himself from imagining what would’ve happened had the cave been blown while he, Jack, Bruce, and Axel were up there. He’d be making quite the red stain on the cavern floor to put it lightly.
Turning back to the Stronghold, he gets a new wave of butterflies in his stomach. They barely have any armor, nonetheless anything past their own lanterns to light their way. Their weapons are great, sure, but they won’t do much if they get themselves hurt—they need to be careful with this.
As he stares ahead at brittle stone structure, another thought crosses his mind and makes his hair stand on end. He glances leftward and to that alcove from before—the one Bruce hauled him out of before he got in too deep. The Deep Dark. There’s still a very real chance it could be creeping into some of the lower layers of the Stronghold, and none of them dared to go deep enough last time to confirm such a thing. He’d mentioned the area briefly to Lukas in the scattered recounts of the caving exploration trip, but now’s definitely the time for a more serious conversation. Hopefully they won’t have to venture through the biome, but…
“Hey, Lukas? There’s something else I think we gotta prep for…” Jesse mumbles, turning back to the man with a stern look washing over him. Lukas eyes him with trepidation. Jesse rubs his neck, fiddling with some of his hair as he does—he grimaces a bit at the sweat that coats his hand. Regardless, he continues, “Remember that biome I mentioned? The Deep Dark thing?”
Realization dawns on Lukas as his eyes widen. He slowly nods, “The thing Bruce told you about and pulled you out of… That he and Jack tackled alone.”
“Yeah…” Jesse says with a shuddery breath. Turning back to the alcove, he guides Lukas’ gaze with his finger. “I found it starting over there. Down in a cave that just dove deeper into the deepslate of this cavern. We didn’t check the lower portions of the Stronghold out so I don’t know if it’s moved into it or not, but we should be ready just in case.”
“Right. We should try and avoid any of it if we can though.”
“ Agreed.” Jesse blows out a sigh as he speaks. Lukas pauses, scrunching up his face as another thought seems to wash over him. Jesse cocks a brow, “What is it?”
“The monster you mentioned. The Warden.” He says bluntly and just hearing its name sends a shiver up Jesse’s spine. Lukas nods towards the Stronghold before continuing, “What’s the plan if we run into one?”
Jesse stops at that. Blue eyes flick downwards as he tries to gather his thoughts. With the way Jack and Bruce responded, running into a Warden is obviously the worst case scenario. He remembers Bruce’s words about how the monster could take down adventurers in full enchanted netherite armor in just 2 or 3 hits at worst and they didn’t even have iron aside from some basic shoulder guards. Even if they had the gear for it, Bruce mentioned that there wasn’t much known about how to deal with the things and killing them certainly seems off the list. A distraction with noise might buy them a few seconds at best but even then… He grimaces then flicks his eyes back up to Lukas’, expression set in a grave seriousness that’s uncharacteristic for the man.
“ We run.”
Lukas swallows hard, reaching up and running his hands through his hair. He breaks Jesse’s gaze and just quietly nods. He feels a bit bad for scaring him like this, but there was simply nothing else they could do. There were no other plans they could make. Jesse takes a step forward and gently grips the man’s arms.
“We just— We need to stay quiet if we see any of that stuff. Quiet and fast. I-It can’t see but it can hear a pin drop and has an even stronger sense of smell. If one comes along then we could maybe distract it for a few moments by throwing something else or making some kind of sound, but that isn’t gonna hold us over. We’d just have to run.”
“Okay… I don’t like this one bit, but we’ll get through it.” Lukas sucks in a deep breath as he says it, trying to calm himself a bit more than Jesse at this point. He raises his hands and begins signing along as he speaks, “If we run into a situation like that we switch to sign to communicate.”
‘ Good plan.’ Jesse signs back. Lukas smiles.
They do one final check of their gear on top of the dozens they’ve already done. Jesse couldn’t lie, he was happy to procrastinate diving into that Stronghold. At least out here by the lush lake and under all the glowberries he could pretend for just a moment that everything was okay. Under the warm light no monsters would come to get them, and maybe no people would either. And maybe—just maybe— he’d close his eyes for a minute, reopen them, and this would just be some kind of bad dream he had. A nightmare he’s yet to wake up from.
But it isn’t, and diving into that Stronghold is accepting that fact.
Lukas unslings his bow and Jesse yanks his axe from his belt. He gives it a solid twirl before catching it again with a white-knuckle grip. The pair share one final glance, their cold blue flames bathing them in an eerie light and casting dramatic shadows across them. Lukas’ deep blue eyes stand out in the blue light, appearing even darker while his skin looks pale. Jesse’s eyes blend into the light, the same color and tone of that fire. They share the same uncertain but steely gaze and simply nod.
Back into the bowels of the Earth they go with nothing but hope, their wits, and a prayer.
~~~~~
It doesn’t take long to move past the old workroom. Relatively speaking, it was still pretty close to the exit. As they venture deeper, Jesse actually notices a pattern to how the place is set up—Lukas mentions it too. Most of the rooms on the outer edge are geared toward protection and armaments whereas the interior is where things become more domestic, for lack of a better word. Watch towers turn into apartments, gaols turn to little homes or businesses, and weapon bays become food and general supply storage.
They continue along through the hallways and try to stick to the outskirts. They meander through the area, splitting momentarily to see if there are any cave entrances they can slip into.
Jesse carefully steps between the collapsed iron bars of an old gaol. Nothing left here except some moss and the crumbling gaol itself—even the zombies that may have been housed here are long gone.
“ EUGH!” Lukas’ voice rings out and gives Jesse pause. He hears the man shuffle around a bit before yelling again, “HEADS!” His yell is followed by a resounding ‘THUNK!’ that’s almost plastic sounding.
“ WOAH!” Jesse yelps, ducking just in time for the skeleton’s head to fly right over him and smash into the wall behind him, instantly bursting into shards and dust. Jesse blinks as he glances at the now decimated skull and then back to Lukas who jogs over, obviously a bit startled and still gripping his bow as if it were a bat.
“Damn thing scared the crap out of me!” He shakes his head as he says it, panting a little, “Here I am just poking around in a back cell and suddenly I’m getting shot at!”
Jesse laughs a little, “So your first thought was to smack it with your bow instead of, I dunno, firing back?”
“Jesse, do I judge your questionable axe tactics?” Lukas eyes him as he rehooks his bow to his back. Jesse shrugs a little.
“Not outwardly. ” He smiles and Lukas scoffs, but is unable to keep the smile off his face. The little lighthearted moment is snuffed out by the sounds of more rattling around the bend they need to go. Lukas sighs and reaches up for his bow again but Jesse gently stops him. He smirks as he raises and shakes his axe a little, garnering an eye-roll from the taller man. Regardless, Jesse jogs ahead, tossing his axe in a small twirl as he runs. He speeds up in the last few seconds, readying his axe up by his opposite shoulder. Hitting the bend he slams his right foot down hard and flings his axe out sideways down the hall with the full momentum of his body. The axe blurs as it speeds down the hall like a helicopter blade, slamming through two skeletons’ chests and blowing them to pieces before they could fully process him swinging around the bend. Jesse stumbles, the power of the throw throwing him back.
The axe skids over a creeper and manages to slash it before getting knocked off course and loudly clattering to the floor. The creeper hisses and turns his way, trying to rush towards him on its stubby legs. He holds out his hand and the hilt of his axe flashes and shakes before the magic kicks in and flies back in his direction. Instead of catching it by the hilt, Jesse nabs it by the leather strap at the end and uses its momentum to immediately helicopter it in place as he watches the creeper get close. He smirks, feeling the air whip his hair up from spinning his axe in place. After a second of charging he lets out a yell and launches his axe into the creeper. It hits dead-on and the momentum knocks the creeper several feet back before it bubbles up and disappears in a puff. The axe clatters to the ground again and he happily calls it back once more. He smiles as he tosses it between hands.
“I’m amazed you’ve managed to not slice something off with that thing.” Lukas laughs a little as he walks over. Jesse pauses his tossing to shake his axe at him.
“Hey! I didn’t insult you! ”
“Because we both know I’m too good to accidentally shoot myself in the foot. You with that however…” Lukas trails off as he clicks his tongue. Jesse lets out an amused ‘ HA!’ before smirking.
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Can always count on me, Jesse.” Lukas quips back with a solid pat on the back before pushing ahead. Jesse smiles and chuckles as he follows after him, a nice quiet lull overcoming them as they stick close and proceed deeper into the Stronghold.
They try to stay on the top levels but only run into bricked up walls and dead ends hitting strong stone. Neither can say they’re particularly disappointed, they figured it wouldn’t exactly be that easy. Their first spiral staircase is an eerie one. Jesse unhooks his lantern and holds it out over the precarious drop down the center of the stairwell and gets a shiver up his spine. It’s a straight shot down several stories and he can already see some stone stairs that have given way from age. He takes the lead heading down and each step is delicate and cautious. Despite it, one step gives way beneath him and he scrambles to catch the next one only for Lukas to catch him before he even gets that far. He shares a nervous chuckle with the man as strong arms hoist him back to his feet and he thanks him before continuing down, his heart beating even louder in his chest than it had when the step gave way.
They reach the bottom and it’s astonishing just how much the structure begins to open up. Wider halls, larger buildings—if you could call them that—and more intricate stone-cutting. These were the parts more suited for everyday traffic and built for the long-term. That said, it’s still very much a maze of hallways and subdivisions. Despite the new look though, this level doesn’t offer much either.
Empty rooms, old torches and long-deactivated traps litter the pathways. Old arrows and bones snap under their feet, the small sound echoing through the open halls. As they duck in and out of the old buildings, they find some chests, cabinets and the like, but none of them have anything particularly of note—Jesse curses his father’s diligence. They do pass by a library however.
Peeking in, the architecture is quite astonishing. It’s not huge by any means, but it’s certainly sizable. It reminds him of the library back in the Nether Fortress, albeit on a smaller scale. It’s a round room with two large staircases at the back that bend back along the curve and lead to a further in-set level that’s outlined by stone fencing and beautifully carved columns that reach up to the ceiling. Between the staircases lies the remnants of a stone statue that he can only assume was once representing a person, it’s been destroyed however with the stony remains scattered across the floor in front of it. The walls are lined with bookshelves that are covered in dust, cobwebs, and still a fair amount of books. Many have been thrown to the ground with loose pages littering the old dark oak floors. There’s a few regular standing shelves and some wooden tables and desks strewn about, but they’re understandably quite beaten. The showstopper above it all however is the old iron chandelier that hangs down, its candles long burnt out. He wonders momentarily if that was his father’s doing as he attempted to light this place up. Jesse lets out a low whistle just imagining how this place must’ve looked back in the day.
He and Lukas take some time to admire the room and poke around, peeking at a few books. They’re old of course, but about what one would expect—it seems only fiction books are truly left on the shelves he scours. The others were probably taken by whatever group was down here to turn a profit. Jesse frowns a little at the thought as he shuts an old children’s book, dust billowing out of it as he does. There’s still a lot of history to be found in these types of books, they should’ve taken them all if they were going to be stolen.
He moves over to large old tables. The legs on one have completely collapsed, dropping the tabletop on top of them and some other old book stacks at an odd angle. He crouches down to take a peek at the old stack of books under the tabletop. It’s a bit in the way so he sucks in a breath and gets a solid grip on the old wood in order to move it. He grits his teeth and slowly pushes the old wood off and it unfortunately falls with a louder clatter than he hoped it would, echoing loudly through the room and probably out into the main halls. Lukas looks his way and he offers an apologetic glance and nervously looks over his shoulder—that would’ve definitely been heard. They should pack it up and move out quickly, just in case.
Real quick though he takes a peek at those books and quickly smiles—they’re a stack of more old children’s books. A little piece of different looking paper sticks out from the cover of one that’s fallen out of the pile alongside a few others. This was probably a kid’s little collection at some point or another, probably making a list of all the books they wanted to take home and read—it reminds him of something he used to do. He reaches down and plucks the little note paper up, noticing it’s lined and a bit more modern than he’d expect to see down here.
Turning it over he understands why as his stomach does a somersault at the familiar handwriting.
Self-Reminders/Notes!
- Bag can only fit 3 normal sized books, but could fit 2 regular ones and maybe 3 kid’s books
- Pick up books with most research potential
- Pick out favorite 3 books for Jesse
- Go back into town and actually buy some new ones Steven!!! He can only reread the same books for so long before getting bored!!!
Jesse stands slowly, staring down at the little note in his hands in shock. He can only blink as he looks back down at that little stack of books. A few of those were meant to be his. He bends back down and picks up the book it was stuck in. It’s a little blue book with an old hand-inked cover of a large and spectacular looking treehouse. He can’t help the little laugh that comes out of him as he looks over it–allegedly it’s some kind of magic too. He can only imagine what would’ve happened had he gotten this book as a child—he would probably bother his father nonstop about how cool it’d be to build a treehouse just like the one on the cover. He tucks the note back inside the cover and just keeps staring down at it as he slowly shuffles back over to Lukas.
“Y’know,” Jesse starts, nabbing Lukas’ attention, “This probably isn’t the right time to be feeling this way considering, but… I-I can’t help but be… almost glad?”
“… Glad about being trapped miles underground with someone trying to kill us?” Lukas replies dully.
“N-No! No, god no! I-I mean—” Jesse stammers, “Knowing that on some level it was foul play that got my dad.”
“What do you mean…?” Lukas’ voice softens with concern as he finally shifts his gaze towards him and Jesse just shrugs half-heartedly.
“W-Well… I mean, as a kid with something so outlandish happening, it’s easier to compartmentalize if you can rationalize, yknow? And so I did. It hurt a lot, but I did. But with this kind of confirmation it’s freeing in a way. Because this way I know for certain that he didn’t just… just abandon me.”
“Jesse…” Lukas mutters, moving a bit closer to the man now. Jesse just shakes his head, still staring down at the little blue book as he speaks.
“I didn’t think about what I saw or heard for years. I just knew my father was gone and I was alone—for a time, it was easier to rationalize that he left and to try and bury it down with it simplified, but…”
“But he loved you.”
“Yeah. And that was the hardest part.” He says quietly as he traces his fingers over the worn almost fabric–like texture of the cover. Lukas stands by him quietly in solidarity while also keeping watch. After a quiet moment of thought, Jesse clears his throat and holds the little book out to him.
“Can we keep this in your satchel as we go? My father left it here, it seems.” He says a little sheepishly and Lukas just smiles and nods.
“Gladly, Jesse.”
They tuck away the little book for safekeeping and Jesse thanks Lukas once more. From there they link up once more and hurry out of the library, albeit with a bit more caution now that someone may have heard them.
The rest of this level is similarly devoid of anything particularly useful. No exits, no loot, no answers or hints of who was down here either. A pack of spiders crawl out of the wall and while most of them hiss and hightail it from their fire, they end up having to hastily bat around a few of the bolder ones. Jesse gets a chill down his spine looking at all of the eyes of one, unable to feel completely comfortable as he looks around. More eyes than just those eight could still be on them, and his stomach churns as the feeling of being watched returns. ‘Unsettled’ doesn’t quite do the feeling justice. It’s one thing to be watched by hostiles, and another to be watched by people, but this one is distinct—familiar he almost dares to say. It reminds him of how he felt in the days leading up to leaving his home. He moves a bit closer to Lukas, sharing a concerned glance and while he’s certain the problem is communicated, he keeps quiet about the odd familiarity of the feeling. He doesn’t want his childhood fears feeding into both of their nerves and spiking their paranoia so much they start getting sloppy. And that’s all it was, paranoia.
They finally find another stairwell that’s not completely ruined and continue their descent downwards. This process starts to become a bit repetitive. The deeper they go, the larger the structures continue to get. Some hallways and ceilings begin to reach up multiple stories, really starting to emphasize just the size of these complexes. One section in the middle of the structure in the top few floors was walled off, they noticed. He’d be lying if he said his curiosity wasn’t starting to itch at him. Whatever it was, it must be massive to take up so much space.
The current stairwell they’re taking is the tallest one they’ve been in so far and Jesse can’t help but begin to wonder just how deep they are now. They’re probably in for a treat though! He reaches the ground level with a little hop off the last step then waits for Lukas a moment. Once caught up they push forward. Jesse quietly pushes open the wooden door from the stairwell’s hall to the main section of this level, and looks around a bit. A few spiders and a creeper hiss but scuttle away from his light and he blows out a small sigh of relief. It was a bit odd though… There weren’t exactly a lot of monsters in here, and they’ve certainly had plenty of time to call the place home. The zombies he can maybe rationalize as the group party coming through and razing the place, but the other monsters? Not so much. It wasn’t for lack of darkness either—not a single torch or lantern they’ve seen thus far has been lit. It’s unnaturally empty down here.
He moves more confidently into the new section, the door creaking loudly and reverberating through the space, followed by the clicking of his boots on the stone doing the same. It was a medium-height little room, perhaps about two stories high. Long, rectangular, but cute in style. As both step further in, the area is bathed in blue light and they get to see the patterns in the stone. Along both long walls are a series of arches and columns connected to each other that are intricately carved from what looks like quartz. They’re gothic in style and add a unique shape to the area. It seems like a sort of plaza and even the floor’s brick is laid differently in a circular star-like pattern. There’s a mix of stone, blackstone, and netherbrick from what he can gather in the off-color light. Straight ahead is another set of doors like the ones they’ve just walked through, and then there’s a similar pair on their right wall. There are two “buildings” built into the right wall with what looks like some decrepit flowerbeds that have long since spilled any dirt or plants they housed. On the opposite side, left of them, is another set of doors but these are much grander than any other they’ve seen thus far and are elevated by a short set of stairs.
The “building” they’re attached to has much more intricate stonework on its “outer” walls and arches with the doors which stand a good 10 feet tall themselves. Their light dances across the old smoothed stone bricks and catches on the green moss stuck between much of it. Even better, there are about four windows, skinny and tall, on either side of the doors. He and Lukas share an awestruck glance.
Jesse decides to move a little closer to get a better look at the windows and is pleasantly surprised to see beautiful—albeit dirty—stained glass. Something through the glass catches his eye and he frowns, leaning a bit closer to try and get a good look. It’s hard to tell through the dirt and grime but it certainly looks like some kind of moving blob—maybe their assailant is in there? Jesse’s heart starts thumping at the thought of it. He squints and reaches up to wipe some dirt from the glass, finally getting a clear view.
It takes mere milliseconds to realize what he’s looking at. Tall, black, scaly, and with bright glowing purple eyes. It seems to be just… standing there idling and staring off into the middle distance. Jesse grimaces a little as the creature twitches and occasionally jerks around in place. He doesn’t dare look any higher than that 9 foot creature’s shoulders. He can’t help but sit there and watch as the sharp scales along its limbs extend and retract seemingly with its breathing—which is odd. This enderman was irritated about something, that or it’s fresh from a fight. Neither option he likes.
Nervously, he takes another glance of his surroundings, making sure to take his time scanning the darkness for anyone or anything else. There’s some faint whistling on the little breeze that makes its way through the place, but nothing too abnormal. Despite his nerves, he can’t spot anything concerning, so he goes back to looking in through the window. Just his luck, he catches the tail end of the Enderman teleporting away in a flash of shimmering purple and with a familiar ‘ vwoop!’ noise. But not before quickly cracking its head back—unnaturally so—and locking its purple eyes with Jesse’s.
“ Shit!” Jesse hisses as he stumbles back. Lukas perks up from where he was by the old flowerbeds and rushes over.
“What is it?”
“ Enderman! Stay on your toes!” Jesse says probably a little louder than he should as the howling static of an Enderman’s hunting call begins ringing in his ears. He shuts his eyes and backs away from Lukas, trying to drown out the static just enough to hear where it moves. He grips his axe tight as he swings around and stands at the ready, heart thumping loudly but breathing steady. Crackling sparks momentarily drown out the sound of the static and he knows that Lukas is also standing at the ready to cover him.
He hears a screech but the static drowns it—which direction?
“ LEFT!” Lukas yells and Jesse immediately swings his axe left, digging into something with a sickening crunch. The beast screams out and he feels the static flare right as it teleports away. He bounces back, both hands on his axe now and ready to dart any way he has to.
He hears a short ‘fwip’ behind him and swings his whole body and axe around like a batter at base. The sharp blade rips through the jagged hide and scales with just enough resistance to make him grimace. He opens his eyes and yanks his blade out with a yell, kicking the creature backwards as he does. The enderman locks eyes with him once more and fully reveals its jaw and teeth to let out an eargrating shriek. The enderman has a clean slice in the center of its chest where its pearl would be and a large, rugged laceration across its pelvis and down to its leg that's oozing glowing purple blood. With the damage to its pearl though, it can no longer teleport.
The enderman flares its scales with a hiss before it digs its claws into the ground and flings itself forward in a snap. Jesse dives right, immediately bouncing back to his feet just in time to duck as it leaps again. He swings his axe overhead to keep it off of him and catches the creature in the wrist. He shoots away from the blood that rushes out and sizzles into the ground then gets back to his feet just in time to watch that arrow of Lukas’ fire off straight into the Enderman’s side and momentarily pin it up against the fancy structure.
The pink energy breaks through the hide and spreads like a lightning strike throughout the Enderman as it screeches in pain. Jesse takes the opportunity, aims quickly, and flings his axe forward right into the spine of the creature. It shrieks and shudders momentarily as that pink glow shoots outwards from the wound until it encompasses its whole body and the Enderman dissipates in a bright light with a fairly loud bang. Both men shield their eyes just slightly as the blast rings out. Once gone, Jesse turns to Lukas, a quip already on his tongue about his shooting only to see him wide-eyed and already pulling on his drawstring again. He doesn’t even have to wonder why and is already half way into a dive-roll forward by the time the words get out of Lukas’ mouth.
“ DOWN!” He yells, the sound nearly getting drowned out by the loud bang and scream of his arrow hitting its target.
Jesse calls his axe and swings around just in time to see what Lukas did.
“ A second one?! WOAH–!” He yelps and ducks, just barely missing the Enderman’s claws as it dives for him. The whoosh of wind from the swipe flings his bangs back. He shakes his hair back into place as he bounces back and sees the Enderman clinging to the wall before leaping back down with a loud thud and charging the man. He flies left, pivoting to catch just a little of the creature’s side as it passes. It lets out another screech, albeit much more enraged than pained.
It teleports away as it glances back at Jesse and he curses under his breath, their lantern light flinging around chaotically not doing them any favors and creating stark shadows between all the columns. Lukas jumps and fires off an arrow towards one, only for the light of the arrow to reveal that it was a trick of the light and rubble. Lukas lets loose a string of swears as he yanks another arrow to life, this one sparking more violently than the last.
“ THERE!” Jesse’s eyes catch the creature’s in the darkness and he makes sure to lock eye contact as the creature begins to shake. Lukas snaps that direction and the arrow flies mere fractions of a second later. It explodes in a bright flourish of light—another direct hit. The enderman staggers back with a hiss and Jesse can see it was hit dead center in the chest much like the other one. He slaps Lukas on the back as he passes him to engage, “ NICE ONE, LUKAS!”
He whistles loudly and the creature snaps its head in his direction, once again trained in on him. Jesse nods— atta monster— and slowly begins bouncing in place. The enderman lunges forwards once more, slashing the air just before Jesse with both sets of claws. He raises his axe to catch the beast mid-swipe but has to jump back again before he can even wind up, startling him. He begins to leap backwards continuously as the Enderman begins a full frontal assault, slashing nonstop with each hand every second as Jesse just barely maintains enough space between them. Anxiety starts to bubble up in his chest—Endermen are ruthless once provoked, but this kind of attack was almost desperate in nature, even with their pearls out of the picture they don’t usually resort to this kind of attack pattern. He hears the whistling of the sharp claws as one passes just millimeters away from his nose and begins to get even more nervous. An arrow grazes the back of the monster and Jesse watches as it bounces off of some of its upturned scales and dissipates.
At this rate he can barely get enough time to bounce back, nonetheless raise an actual weapon and he is running out of room fast with the strides this thing takes. He ducks down once as he bounces back, heart racing as the clawed hands clench where his head was mere moments before. This time when he rises back up he does so with his axe already in a sturdy blocking position. The enderman’s claws scratch the blade dead center and a flurry of orange sparks fly as it does. Another arrow flies by right as the enderman shoots left in a flash. Jesse gasps, just barely swinging around in time to parry its attack. He flings his axe from side to side, up and down in a vain struggle to keep the aggressive creature at bay with a flurry of arrows skidding past his head throughout. Despite the effort, this one’s slippery and catches on quick—opting to leap from place to place and contorting itself unnaturally to avoid being an easy target.
“ Any time, Lukas!” He yells out as the enderman charges with another string of slashes.
“ TRYING! He won’t stop fucking moving!” Lukas yells with a growl as he knocks another arrow. Jesse stumbles back with a grunt, foot momentarily catching on a loose brick. He stays on his feet but the stutter throws his block off just enough for the tips of the Enderman’s claws to reach him.
“ AUGH! FUCK!” He hisses as the force of the swipe throws him back further. An intense stinging and burning lights up the left half of his face. He stutters for just a moment and curses himself for it, already expecting another round of the even deeper burning pain, but instead comes a bright flash of pink light and another earpiercing shriek. The enderman flies off to the side, the arrow hitting it dead-on. Before it can get up fully Jesse grits his teeth and slams his axe down into it with a yell before hopping back and letting Lukas finish the job.
It’s done within seconds. The man knocks and fires arrows faster than Jesse can fully catch them forming and the enderman finally dissipates in a blinding flash of white. The sound of Jesse’s axe clattering to the floor is the last noise that echoes through the space until things settle to the eerie silence again, save for his and Lukas’ own ragged breathing. They don’t stand and stare though, Lukas swings around still ready to pull another arrow to life any second and Jesse races over to his axe, clutching it tightly between sweaty hands as he runs up and slams his back against Lukas’ to scan the area with him.
But there’s nothing. It’s quiet down here once more. It was just the two of them.
Jesse lets out a sigh of relief and all the tension rushes out of his body. His heart pounds in his ears as the adrenaline rush runs out and he reaches up to wipe some sweat from his brow only to quickly be reminded of the burning sting felt across his face as sweat drips into the cuts and aggravates them even more. He audibly winces, sucking some air in through his teeth and hears Lukas gasp. The man quickly steps away from their back to back position, reslings his bow, and swings around to the front of Jesse.
“ Are you okay?!”
“ Y— Yeah…!” He manages to laugh out nervously between breaths. He swallows, vaguely gesturing to his face, “I-It just burns a little—surprised me more than anything. You know endermen cuts…” He says as he blows out a heavy breath. Lukas scowls as he pushes Jesse’s bangs back. He makes a low hum of disapproval but ends up nodding.
“You’ve got two little scrapes above the brow and then,” he wipes some blood off of Jesse’s cheek and shows it to him, “A bigger one on your cheek.”
“Think it’ll scar?” Jesse grumbles. He shakes his head, “I can’t have a sideways scar Lukas, I’ve got a vertical one over my other eye. It’ll be tacky.”
Lukas hums out a chuckle and Jesse smiles. He shakes his head.
“Nah, they’re superficial. A little blood, but no biggie. Bet it feels worse than it looks though, right?”
“If you’re touching my face right now I cannot feel it. So. You know.” He huffs with a smirk and Lukas just snickers before backing up and patting his arm.
“Yeah you’re fine. Glad to see it. Gave me a damn heart attack hearing you scream.” He rolls his eyes as he says it and begins walking back towards the room’s center. Jesse gasps in mock offense as he follows. He really is lucky they’re superficial. Endermen cuts are notoriously painful and susceptible to infection. Their claws are slightly serrated, making them hard to cleanly patch or stitch up correctly without the assistance of potions early on. The pair share a few more lighthearted chuckles, just communicating silently until Jesse glances back at the window he had been looking through. He rubs his cheek—the good one—a bit in thought.
“I don’t get what caused it to attack… And I didn’t even see the second one there.”
“Yeah, what exactly happened?”
Jesse just shakes his head and crosses his arms with a shrug, “Wish I knew. I saw it through the window but it was mostly turned away from me. It seemed really agitated already but despite that it was just… standing there. It was the one that locked eyes with me .”
Lukas shudders.
“I don’t like that… You think something’s in there…?”
“If there was, it's probably gone now. Anything with half a brain wouldn’t stick around after that commotion.”
“Ideally. Don’t like the implications, though…”
“Yeah, me neither…” Jesse mumbles as he rubs his arms, getting a shiver up his spine.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Just… Hate the feeling of being watched.”
“Oh, good, so it’s not just me.” Lukas tries to laugh but it’s much more tense than soothing. They stick to silence for a beat and opt to both rescan their surroundings. It’s just as eerily silent as before, no other noise than their own breathing, and certainly no additional sets of eyes. He just blows out a sigh and lingers there in silent contemplation as he repeats the encounter in his mind. Jesse hears a small gasp moments later and feels a nudge in his side from Lukas.
“What’s up?”
“Here! I still have a potion left over from the Nether—Regeneration. There’s not a whole lot left but if you wanna grab a sip it should help with that burning.” Lukas says as he flips his satchel open. He pulls a little reinforced bottle out of his bag, the warmly glowing pink liquid dancing inside it. There was probably about a third of the bottle left. It probably wouldn’t be enough to really help with a serious injury were either of them to get one, unfortunately—at least not unless applied directly, but that hurts like a son of a bitch and Jesse just cringes at the thought. He takes the bottle in hand and considers it for a long minute. But eventually he just shakes his head and hands it back.
“A little stinging never hurt. We should hang onto that just in case something bad actually happens.”
Lukas frowns but accepts it and stuffs it, “That’s a concerning thought. But probably the smart move.” He says with a sigh then eyes him, “Let’s try not to plan on it though. Fair?”
“ Beyond fair.” Jesse blows out a huge breath as he says it, “I do not want to leave here with more scars than I came in with, thank-you-very-much.”
“Ditto.” Lukas says with a smile then nudges him, “C’mon. Let’s check this fancy place out. Maybe if we’re lucky we can catch someone in the act and get some answers.” He nods towards the much larger and more intricate set of doors up the steps.
“Oooooh, now wouldn’t that be a treat?” Jesse smirks and they meander closer. They’re thick spruce doors that are hand carved with symbols and story scenes he doesn’t recognize. One is actually already cracked ajar for them with some rubble and old wooden supports keeping it from shutting at the bottom. Jesse tosses his axe in his hand as he slowly creeps in.
The sight on the inside is much more dramatic. A central aisle dotted with old dilapidated pews and dirtied quartz columns rising high into the darkness of the cave at least 4 or 5 stories up. Stained glass windows, both shattered across the ground and still intact, are key focal points throughout—albeit dusty. Another old iron chandelier sits amongst the rubble of a few pews, its chain seemingly cut. The ceilings themselves are hard to make out without proper light, but he can tell they’re raised in an almost gothic style. Their lanterns do catch on something above though and Jesse smiles in awe.
Bells, six of them it looks like. Huge, long-since oxidized copper bells hang high above them awaiting someone to ring them once more. These were probably the same ones he and Axel saw from the cavern, which really tells a lot for their sheer scale. Some old criss-crossed wooden platforms run between them up there and Jesse can only assume they were for those in charge of ringing them so they could get around quickly. It looked like a little mixed attic space up there from what he could see. Even the chandeliers are hooked all the way up there. Talk about quite the church.
He and Lukas take a quick look around but regroup within just a few minutes—this place is such a spectacle it’s not even worth checking for anything left behind, it’ll easily all be gone. There’s no sign of anyone else left in its nooks and crannies either, their quick scope of the place comes up empty for better or for worse. They leave the church from there and back out into the “open” square. The distant sound of running water catches the attention of both men and they immediately decide to investigate. If they’re lucky, they could find another cave system with it.
The exit from the square leads back into more enclosed hallways. These seem to return to the classic form of apartments and homes built into the walls. They’re compact, cramped, and laid out in a confusing maze of brick hallways that all look the same. Despite how hard they try to keep on track and understand how this place must’ve been set up ages ago, the crumbling walls, downed doors, and general disrepair makes some areas much more confusing to navigate than it should.
Finally they manage to find the source of the water but disappointingly, it’s just from a little fountain in a small plaza. Jesse approaches and dunks his hand under it. It’s cold and clean—perfectly fresh and Jesse takes a handful to drink. His brows shoot up and he swings around to grin at Lukas and wave him over. Jesse flicks open his canteen and begins refilling it with Lukas quickly joining him. Lukas brings his canteen to his lips and takes a few swigs right away before dropping it back under the water to top it off and Jesse chuckles a bit. Lukas just nods his approval.
Unfortunately, this means they’ve reached a dead-end. It wasn’t a natural stream part of a cave system, and now they’re deep into the odd maze of this low level of the stronghold. They try to enjoy the little reprieve and take solace in knowing they’ve got a solid water supply, but it’s disappointing that they seemingly have to dive even deeper yet. It’s already been hours. With heavier hearts, they move along and down the next small staircase down.
Caves seem to open up alongside a few walls and the pair take each opportunity to hop down and explore them, though it never ends up being for long. Either they hit a wall, it goes deeper downwards, or they simply reach a point they cannot crawl through. It’s dark and disheartening amongst the deepslate and as Jesse pulls Lukas back up into the Stronghold for what feels like the dozenth time that night, he cannot help but begin feeling a mix of hopelessness and frustration. It’s one thing to be trapped in a place you know, but a place you don’t that’s set to kill you at any ample opportunity too? With the constant feeling you’re being watched? That’s a whole new level of frustration Jesse didn’t think he could unlock.
Sounds of shuffling and groaning echo down one of the many repetitive halls and freezes both in their tracks and the nauseating stench characteristic of the creature hits them hard. They share a concerned glance—zombies aren’t exactly worrying but they haven’t seen any all night until now. The light from their flames glint off of Jesse’s axe as they carefully creep ahead and peek around the corner. There’s a single zombie idling and stumbling along the wall. It’s hard to make out the details but it seems to be the remnants of a woman, although what little hair she has remaining is hanging on for dear life. Her skin is long-rotted and a disgusting yellow-green with parts completely stripped and exposing bone all throughout her body where the clothing has been ripped away. She stumbles along seemingly unbalanced by something and as she trips over her own feet forward there’s a loud rustling and almost jingling as if she’s got loose items. Jesse begins to approach at that, curiosity getting the better of him and figuring the soulfire will help keep some distance between them.
His heels click against the stone and echo down the hall, quickly catching the creature’s attention. The decrepit woman snaps her head in his direction, flinging her whole body around and tripping a little over her feet as she does. She narrows her eyes and attempts an odd throaty hiss as she begins chattering her teeth at him and Jesse grips his axe a little tighter. The light really makes her features clear—milky white eyes, rotted teeth, and what seems like a cut in the back of her neck. Most importantly—and confusingly—is the backpack she’s wearing. He can’t see the back of it, but the shoulder straps are eerily familiar and still buckled tight over her chest despite its age. The woman’s gaze flicks from his face down to the blue flame at his side and rather than fear, a new aggression washes over her. She tenses in that all too familiar attack stance and Jesse’s eyes widen as she charges at him with a guttural scream.
“ Oh fuck !” He yelps and leaps backwards in a panic as she lunges towards him. He hears Lukas unsling and prep his bow with the pink light flooding the hall and mixing with their blues. It hardly slows her and she takes another swing at Jesse, albeit seems to be focusing on the lantern specifically. Broken and frayed nails take another close swing around his thigh, millimeters away from the glass and Jesse sucks in a sharp breath as he manages to dance just out of reach. She nicks it and sends the lantern swinging on his belt, creating erratic shadows around them. He clamps a hand down on it as he raises his axe to block any more swings.
“ Jesse move! I need a clear shot!” Lukas calls out to him and Jesse flicks his gaze back a moment and hesitates.
“She’s not attacking me! She’s after the lantern!”
“ Okay?? And what do you think she’s gonna do once the light’s out?!” He shoots back, an irritated edge in his voice. Jesse hesitates again, still curious, but ultimately concedes. She lunges at him and he catches her with the block. She hacks and screams at him with spittle flying everywhere much to his own disgust all while trying to push back against his axe. Luckily, Jesse easily outdoes her in strength. He takes a quick glance behind him back at Lukas to make sure he’s ready then flings his axe forward and sends her stumbling back. Jesse immediately darts to the side wall as she struggles to stay upright and she barely manages a few steps back before that hot pink arrow shoots through the dark and hits her square in the chest. The arrow explodes into a pink light that blows her back and sends her rolling across the ground and leaves her twitching. Jesse grimaces as Lukas races up with another arrow already knocked and quickly finishes it.
“Thanks…” He mumbles as he slowly passes him again. Lukas just nods and keeps his bow ready as Jesse approaches the now truly dead woman. He crouches down by the reanimated corpse and coughs a little at the strong stench he’s hit with—she’s musty on top of everything else and has been down here for a while. What he really wants to get a look at though is her backside. A grimace sweeps across his face as he rehooks his axe and dares to reach out and carefully turn her onto her stomach. He practically drops her as soon as possible and steps back to hastily wipe his hands off on his jeans in disgust. There’s nothing worse than getting those gross old fluids on your skin—he’s gonna be washing his hands for days. He steps close again though and gets to really study her and a few things stand out right away.
“ Oh shit…” Lukas gasps from beside him as Jesse reaches down and tugs at the ripped up old pack. It’s the same as the ones they found up in the workroom. More disturbingly, however, are the clean cuts that rip through it and the back of the woman’s neck. There are five razor sharp cuts hitting the pack—the top one taking the tagged area clean off—and then a sixth leaving a deep, clean, and deadly cut in the back of her neck. Anyone with half a brain could tell that this was the killing blow—the poor girl wouldn’t have stood a chance. But this alone isn’t quite what makes Jesse’s stomach drop, no, it’s the clear recognition of what did this.
“These are from Endermen claws…” He murmurs as he runs a finger along the somewhat serrated fray of one of the pack’s cuts. Lukas crouches down and does the same, nodding quickly with a shuddery breath.
“ Horrifying… I-I can’t imagine…” He trails off, simply opting to shake his head.
“She must’ve been apart of the group that came down here with these—there’s no way she locked this thing onto herself so tightly postmortem, right?” Jesse says with a shudder as he glances over at Lukas. The man swallows and nervously shakes his head. No. She couldn’t have. It leaves an odd pit in his stomach and he can’t help but look around, almost expecting some of her zombified teammates to come around the corner. But there’s nothing. The unnatural quiet of this Stronghold returns in full force.
“Do you–...” Lukas starts, catching his attention again. His brows are furrowed hard in thought now as he seems to study her neck. “Do you think the Enderman did this sixth one too?”
“What makes you suspicious…?”
“It’s too clean.” He says bluntly. Jesse blinks and scoots a bit closer to him to get a better look. He traces a finger along the edge of her old skin, and thankfully the cut is still pretty clear. It’s much deeper and a single clean slice—no jaggedness at all. Lukas continues, “Endermen claws are naturally serrated, and yes they can get deep if you’re unlucky enough to be so close, but the ones on the pack are pretty light and not to mention Endermen don’t exactly have a sixth extra long finger on their hands, nor any reason to attack with only one claw.”
“... What are you proposing?”
“Jesse this killing blow was done with some sort of bladed weapon. I-I can’t tell what, but it certainly wasn’t an Enderman.” He says it bluntly and it leaves Jesse silent. He wishes he could disagree, but had he not said it already Jesse would probably come to the same conclusion. Lukas eventually sighs and stands back up, pulling Jesse up with him. He simply nods in thanks, unable to take his eyes off of the horrible slice.
“... Do you think it’s the same person after us now?” He speaks barely above a whisper as he looks back up at Lukas, clinging to his arms just a little tighter. Lukas presses his lips into a firm line and takes a final look between the woman and Jesse before responding.
“I can only hope not, Jess…”
Jesse grimaces at that but slowly nods. That’s all they could do—hope. He blows out a heavy sigh and nods further down the hall.
“Let’s get going. We shouldn’t linger too long.”
“ Gladly. ” Lukas responds quickly and begins turning them away and picking up their pace to be a bit quicker than usual. Jesse links their arms as they walk and gives his hand a reassuring squeeze as they move down the hall and far away from the long dead woman.
The bend at the end of the hall leads them to yet another incline down and Jesse can’t help but heave out a heavy sigh at the sight. He kicks a broken old brick down the steps with a huff and earns a scolding look from Lukas as the sound echoes loudly. Guilt sweeps over him and he cringes, apologizing quietly and deciding to take the lead down. Some whole steps have long given out and he does his best to land quietly on the balls of his feet before helping Lukas down.
Looking around at the bottom, there’s an eerie shift in the air—it’s colder, for certain and the darkness engulfing the halls somehow seems like an even thicker ink. Chills run up his arms and Jesse curses under his breath at just how sudden it is. He’s usually pretty good with the cold—prefers it, even—but the fact he could suddenly see his breath is unnerving. He glances back at Lukas who shares the same level of trepidation. Jesse links their arms up again as they slowly start walking once more. Something was wrong down here, but they’ve no way to move except forwards.
Structurally it’s pretty much the same down here—arching halls that break off into sectioned off rooms whose purposes have been long since lost to time. It feels similar to walking the eerily familiar halls of a hotel in the dead of night. Every direction looks the same and the silence is deafening, yet you know there are more than enough eyes behind each door you pass. They use the classic hand-to-the-wall trick for mazes and stick to the right.
Surprisingly, it only takes a few turns down random halls down here for a major change to appear. They both stop in their tracks.
Light.
Warm light.
Jesse immediately rips his axe off its loop and Lukas readies his bow just as suddenly. Light like that means fire, which means torches or another lantern. Another person. A loud drumming in his ears drowns out the shaky breath Lukas sucks in next to him as the adrenaline kicks in for the both of them. A fury rises in Jesse’s chest as the realization that they may finally get to confront the asshole who cornered them jumps to the front of his mind. He tries to keep his footfalls light as he creeps towards the light, but can’t help speeding up in anticipation.
The warm light bathes him as he reaches the top of yet another goddamn staircase, however this one’s a bit different. A very long straight-shot down split up into several flights rather than a spiral and made of a detailed mix of stone, deepslate, and obsidian with emerald and gold accents sprinkled throughout he can make out under all the old dust. The light is emanating from a hall at the very bottom. It’s considerably warmer where he stands and he frowns a little in confusion and decides to wait until Lukas is back with him. He lets the man catch up and gives him a minute to process the scene himself—it’s entirely different from what they’ve seen all night. If Jesse were to take a guess height-wise, it’d be that they were starting to approach the bedrock level.
They share a nod and proceed down the stairs. Jesse finds himself squinting a bit as the new bright, yellow light envelops everything around them—he’s gotten so used to the dark and blue that this is admittedly a bit jarring. Around halfway his ears completely pop from the pressure and he pauses briefly in surprise. Lukas hears him gasp and looks back up in concern. Jesse grimaces and does a quick sign.
‘ Ears popped.’
Understanding washes over the man and he quickly nods and turns back around. As they approach the last third of stairs, Lukas slowly pulls his drawstring back and tries to keep the sound of his bow as quiet as possible, but interestingly enough, it’s drowned out by the sound of other popping. Despite their assumption, the sound puts Jesse at ease and he relaxes as the encased lava finally comes into sight down the hall. Lukas hits the ground first and releases his drawstring completely.
“Huh. empty.”
“You kidding me?” Jesse grumbles as he leaps down the last few steps with a solid thud. Lukas shoots him another look but he just brushes it off and pushes ahead in annoyance. Saying this hall was ‘different’ would be the understatement of the year. The heat hits them in full force as they approach and he hears Lukas let out a sudden shiver as he adjusts to the dramatic change. Thick glass at each corner of the hall and along the top and bottom edges encase a bright flowing lava. At the end of the hall is a wall that stands proudly and boldly, reminding Jesse somewhat of the church they saw a few levels up. The stone is carved intricately with gold and emeralds inset into it in a pattern that’s symmetrical from a crack straight down the middle. Jesse approaches it first and runs his fingers over some of the old gold and emeralds, wiping the dust away. Whatever this was, it was the pride and joy of this Stronghold.
Realization hits him like lightning and he can’t help but gasp and take a step back. The Portal. Strongholds were home to End Portals. He’s probably standing at the door that leads in. Butterflies flood his stomach with a childlike wonder and excitement—he’s never seen a natural End Portal room! He’d only ever seen Soren’s industrialized stronghold.
“Lukas, this is—!” He starts.
“ The Portal Room.” Lukas finishes it for him, sharing a similar sense of awe as he backs off from one of the side walls. Jesse’s eyes widen as he glances between the two walls—both symmetrical and sporting 3 old levers that sit atop more of the carefully carved stone. Just like in his uncle’s story! Jesse runs over and bounces on his tip-toes, hastily wiping the dirt and dust away from the stone above the levers and revealing the ancient writing scratched in. Lukas gasps and Jesse just grins back at him.
“These are the instructions on how to open this safely! It’s booby-trapped otherwise. My uncle said my father knew how to read it, but it’s a really old script. Damn, if he were here he’d probably be able to read it himself with all the obsessive studying he did after dying. This system is a simple three step pattern but you gotta do it in unison for it to work. My uncle still remembered the exact way they did it.”
“Hm. Do you think all are rigged with the same pattern?” Lukas mumbles and Jesse can’t help but snort.
“Well that’d certainly be convenient for us. Unfortunately, I doubt it.”
“Damn.” Lukas blows out a heavy sigh. He points up at the writing, “I studied this stuff years ago as a teen, and I recognize a few characters but nowhere near enough to feel confident.”
“We’ll get to look at one of those original portals one day.” Jesse says as he gives Lukas an encouraging pat on the back. Lukas lets out a frustrated sigh.
“As much as I’d love to get a glimpse at the architecture of the thing, that wasn’t what I had in mind.”
Jesse simply raises a brow and rests his hands on his hips. Lukas nods to the door.
“We’re a creative pair. If there’s really no easier way out we could probably find a way to make a portal, nab some blaze powder for some ender eyes, and then light that portal up. All we’d have to do then is sit and wait for this portal’s door to close and we’d be able to hop out of the regular one and we’d be right at Soren’s base with a straight-shot home.”
Jesse blinks. He hadn’t thought of that. He looks behind them back at that big stone door and really curses that they didn’t bring any more gear—they could probably break in if they’d really wanted. Jesse frowns and rubs his mouth in thought. They’d explored pretty intensely so far whether they liked it or not, and whatever entrance the other group came in through was seemingly impossible to find. A thought washes over him that makes his stomach drop—it could’ve even caved in like theirs. It’s been years, after all.
He crosses his arms as he looks back at the stone door and weighs their options. Lukas’ idea is solid and would probably get them out far quicker than trying to explore this place, however it’d demand a lot more danger fighting blazes and generally braving the Nether. But they were both in fighting condition, and as long as things stayed that way, they could probably handle it. Hell, with the Nether being as small as it is, they may just be able to find their way out through there.
He looks back up to Lukas with a nod, “I like that idea.”
The blonde’s brows shoot up. He frowns, “Okay, well, I’m flattered Jess, but we still can’t really do anything if we can’t open up these doors. And this lava will probably drop if we try breaking in.”
“Yeah, but we already found one huge library. This script was pretty popular at the time still, we may be able to find some sort of reference. If not there then maybe there’s a secret prep or reference room for this. The End would be safer to wait in than the Nether—especially around Soren’s old base—but if we don’t find anything we can always just leave via the Nether. It’s small enough that I’m sure we’ll spot another portal or even the highway in no time!”
Lukas hums in thought. He slowly begins to nod and his frown shifts into a smug smile. He nudges Jesse with his elbow, “Y’see? This is why we’re a good team! Clever thinking!”
“Heh! Never doubted it!” He grins and they share a solid high five before clapping their hands together in a tight grip and bumping their shoulders together. Jesse nods back to the stairs, “Let’s aim for the safe exit first. Staying on the move in general is probably safer anyways.”
“So back to the library then?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Sounds solid.” Lukas says with a smile and Jesse returns it. They turn and head back up the stairs, each step more tiring than the last. Once they get to the top Jesse stops for a moment to blow out a breath and laugh a little—who decided that a billion flights of stairs was a good idea? They move ahead and back through a few hallways only to slow down pretty quickly to a stop.
“Do… Do you remember which way leads back to that staircase up?” Jesse mumbles sheepishly.
“Uhhh…” Lukas mutters out as he looks between all the different halls they could turn down. They’re all practically identical. He clicks his tongue and sucks in a breath through his teeth, “I can lie and say we should turn right.”
“ Shit!” Jesse sputters out between laughs. They share a pathetic little laughing fit, unable to really do anything else in the moment. What a clever team they were. Jesse flings a hand out, “ Sure! Right it is! We’ll find it eventually.”
“Cool, lead the way!” Lukas says with a grin and the pair shoot off down the hall, feeling utterly ridiculous but a bit lighter. They had a goal and a solid idea of how to get out now. They could probably find a way to get obsidian using that lava by the portal room and the water from the fountain they passed earlier. It was just a matter of navigating this low level—probably the last level, frankly.
They meander along and take note of the crumbling walls as their breath once again billows out in front of them as the chill returns. These halls all look the same, but Jesse can’t help but feel like they’ve not been down this way. He slows to a stop as they reach another Y-fork in the halls. He’s typically pretty good with directions and mentally mapping places out as he goes and his gut keeps saying they should head back left. As he stands there checking out each path, Lukas continues a little ways forward on the one straight ahead.
A cold breeze sweeps through the halls and Jesse stops to wonder if the way Lukas is heading may actually lead somewhere promising. There was another exit they had yet to find, after all. He turns and glances down after Lukas out of curiosity. The man catches his boot on some upturned bricks and stumbles forward a few steps, letting out a string of curses as he does. Jesse would’ve laughed had there not been another sound that follows. First it’s an odd blip, then a slight pause, and then several other blips and chattering follow. All the pieces snap together at once as he recognizes them. His stomach drops and he immediately bounds into as quiet of a sprint as he can. He skids to a stop at Lukas’ side, clutching to him and partially using the man as a means to help him slow down.
“What the—?! Jess, easy, what’s going—” Lukas starts and Jesse quickly clamps a hand down over his mouth as he presses a finger to his own lips—but he’s not quick enough. A loud ghastly shriek echoes out from the darkness beyond what they can see. A gust of icy wind cuts through them alongside the noise that drags out and reverberates down the halls behind them, lingering with an almost glassy ringing. It’s like a horrifying alarm and Jesse feels his own blood run cold. Lukas tenses under his grip. A distant sound of what almost seems like a sturdy heartbeat soon thuds through the hall alongside another gust of wind. It whips about them and threatens to snuff out their lantern’s flames and they’re momentarily surrounded by an almost pulsating darkness. It feels like death.
Confusion and fear sets every nerve alight in Jesse and he can feel his hair prickle up on his arms. They need to go. They need to move now. He barely dares to breathe in the fear of setting one of those things off again, but manages to slowly remove his hand from Lukas’ mouth. The other man just stares off into the darkness with the same wide eyes as himself. The odd thudding and wind stops just a few moments later, but even with the wind gone the darkness still feels stifling. Jesse swallows and grips Lukas’ arms, shaking him gently to catch his attention. Lukas snaps his gaze back down to him and Jesse just nods back the way they came and tries urging him along. Lukas frowns a moment as he looks back down the dark hall. Jesse shakes him again, more urgent this time, and Lukas holds up a finger which sends Jesse’s heart into his throat.
Lukas hooks one arm with Jesse reassuringly but then unhooks his lantern from his belt and raises it high, getting light much further down the hallway. He squints, frowns a little, and tugs Jesse forward just a smidge, much to his outrage. Lukas is lucky they have to be near silent right now because Jesse absolutely has some choice-words for the man as they creep forward. Eventually though, the origin of some of those noises seem to come into sight as they peek around a slight bend in the long hall.
The scenery changes into something even more out of a horror novel. There’s a deep blue, almost slimy black-looking material coating every wall, the floor, and the ceiling in a splayed out almost cobweb-like form at the edges with the main body being thick and pulsating. Several of its own odd growths peek up from out of the ground amongst a mix of cracked and bleached bones. Some sport more than others, with a few having four jagged bones sticking up in an almost square pattern. Then there were the pure ones with funny little tendrils that looked to be bobbing back and forth indefinitely. It looked almost like an odd sea creature. The material itself has bright pulsating little lights speckling its surface to top it off. Lukas frowns and brings his lantern in close for a second and completely shuts it off, much to Jesse’s horror. He looks up at him like he’s crazy and Lukas just reaches down and turns Jesse’s own lantern down low. He considers smacking the man right then and there but trusts there’s some method to his utter madness.
Without their own glaring lights, the scene becomes a bit less eerie and somewhat beautiful. The little specks of lights almost look like stars. Curiously, they all sport the same shade of blue as their own soulfire, and given the eerie appearance with the bones spread throughout and general feeling of dread and death down here, he wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some sort of connection to be found. This is probably the ‘sculk’ that Bruce had mentioned. He gets another chill up his spine as he looks at how much of the Stronghold before them is coated in it. It wasn’t like this initially, which means this stuff spreads like a weed. It probably explains the lack of monsters down here in general—This whole Stronghold must be sitting on top of a field of the stuff.
Lukas’ flame returning and flashing the whole area with light again takes him out of his thoughts. He looks up at the man and finally gets a signal to head back. He fights the urge to let out the largest and most relieved sigh of the night as they finally turn around and hightail it out of that hall.
They stay silent a long time after out of sheer caution and, frankly, fear, but stick close to one another. From there they hurry to try and simply find those stairs back up. They manage to duck down a few more hallways only to be met with the horrifying realization that, at this point, all of them lead right back into the Deep Dark. There were a number of paths they hadn’t even tried exploring but odds are that they’d all end up the same—probably including their one exit out. If anything, it’s more fuel for them to get going on some kind of portal escape. By the end of their search, they’re just constantly moving at a quick jog and borderline run every way they go.
They finally find the staircase out of this maze and rush up in a grateful daze, like they had been trapped in a desert and suddenly stumbled upon an oasis. While it’s still kind of maze-like up here, they have much more luck thanks to the sounds of water from that distant fountain. They practically sprint their way back and that pathetic and disheveled old fountain shines like diamonds in their state.
Jesse pants near haggardly as he staggers over and takes a large handful of fresh water. Lukas collapses onto the short wall keeping the pooling water in place and splashes his face a little as Jesse gulps down the cold drink. He eventually collapses onto the wall right beside Lukas and splashes his own face, savoring the chill and temporary sense of safety and serenity that the gentle trickling provides. His cuts from earlier burn like hellfire as he does but he couldn’t care less about it. This is turning into quite the little trip—he’s already got so much to tell the others when they get back and knows that there’s probably still much more to come.
Jesse blows out a large sigh as his breathing and nerves settle once more. He has no idea what time it even is anymore and his chest can’t help but pang with sympathy for his father who was scrambling down around here—He probably did manage to lose track of time at some point, especially with his own excitement for these things. If only Jesse had thought of bringing a watch. It was long into the night by now at the very least. Hopefully Radar isn’t too worried yet. He quickly pats the few little bags on his belt. Nothing. All he had left was pretty much just a little granola bar pack to split with Lukas. He scoffs at the pathetic nature of it. Oh well, they could handle a little bit of food deprivation if it came to it. Ideally not, but they’d get by regardless. Speaking of conditions…
“Lukas,” Jesse speaks up and catches the man’s attention, snapping him out of a little doze. He smiles sympathetically and nods up to him, “How you holding up…?”
Lukas scoffs with a smile. He shrugs, “Little tired, little peckish—definitely could use a shower. But nothing I haven’t done before.” He leans forward on his folded leg, “How about you though…? How are those scratches?”
“They still burn, but I’ve got some feeling back in my face now so that’s gotta be a positive.” He says with a smirk and Lukas chuckles.
“I suppose that’s all we can ask for, huh? They don’t look infected or anything either, so that’s good.”
“Sweet! Save that regen for another day!” Jesse beams and Lukas smiles, although it’s still somewhat reserved. Jesse grows a little more serious and clasps one of Lukas’ hands in his own, clapping the other one on top in a solid hold.
“Uh-oh… I’m about to get a classic Jesse Pep-Talk, aren’t I?” Lukas mutters with a nervous laugh.
“Don’t ‘Uh-oh’ me!” He says with a grin as he leans into the words. Another chuckle bubbles up from Lukas’ chest as he gives in, accepting his fate. Jesse gives his hand a solid shake—comforting, confident—and meets his gaze with a soft smile, “Hey. It's okay. I trust you to have my back when it really comes down to it. You haven’t let me down yet.”
Lukas rubs his cheek a little as he reddens, embarrassed to have been read so easily. He nods, “I-I know. It’s just— It’s frustrating. I know I could’ve hit that Enderman! I’ve managed to deal with worse and more chaotic creatures, so it’s just frustrating that I wasn’t able to get my shit together quick enough to spare you a few cuts.”
Jesse smiles sympathetically, “It’s alright! Really, Lukas. A few scrapes aren’t gonna kill me, and you came through when I really thought I was gonna be in trouble. So, no more of this doubt, alright? You’ve got this. You’ve already more than proven yourself of being capable, at least in my eyes.” He lets go with one hand and reaches up to give his shoulder a squeeze, “ ‘Sides, these aren’t exactly normal conditions we’re dealing with… I’m… Shit, I’m trying to keep reminding myself that just to keep my head on straight, but… I-I’m having some real troubles too. No pressure, but, I’m glad that you’re here to have my back in this.” His smile turns a bit nervous and Lukas squeezes his hand back.
“Thanks Jesse… I just don’t like worrying about you. You know that.”
“Well, ditto. And I’ve got your back for as long as you’ve got mine.” He pauses, cheeks reddening somewhat as he smiles a bit sheepishly, “Though I guess I’ve been running you a bit ragged with all the things I keep diving into, huh? Sorry…”
Lukas laughs at that, simply shaking his head, “Jesse I’d be concerned if you weren’t. No worries, I work best in the dynamic we’ve got going. You tank, I clean up.”
“They never expect the quiet guy in back!” Jesse smiles and gives Lukas another reassuring squeeze. Lukas smiles back, eyes sparkling.
“Nah, they don’t. Thanks Jesse. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Same to you. Promise.” He drops his other hand from Lukas’ shoulder back to hold his hand in both of his own, eyes sparkling with confidence. If there was anything he was sure of, it was that he was gonna get Lukas out of this. That’s the minimum he owes the man.
He smiles, unable to help but note just how warm his hand was between his own. Usually it was the other way around. He lets out a sigh as he absentmindedly thumbs over the back of his hand, soaking in the small comfort from it. Calloused in some spots, but still smooth and well cared for, unlike his own. Lukas squeezes his hand back and he suddenly gets a little self-conscious, swallowing as he looks up at the man. Lukas doesn’t seem bothered and gently nods behind Jesse.
“Ready to go check out that library?”
“And get the hell out of here? God, I can’t think of anything bet–”
A loud boom reverberates from down the hall, setting both men on high alert immediately. Jesse lets go of Lukas and immediately jumps to his feet, axe already in hand. He jogs a few steps towards the sound on instinct before staring into the dark in confusion.
“What now?!”
“That sounded like another kind of explosion. Definitely smaller though. Dynamite?”
“No, dynamite’s sharper—more bang for your buck. That must’ve been a creeper.”
Lukas frowns as he joins Jesse by his side, “Yeah… but creepers don’t attack other monsters… They only go after—”
“—other people!” He gasps, “ HEY! ” Jesse’s hollers out with his voice reverberating down the old stone halls. He’s already slamming his feet into the stone in a full-on sprint before the words finish leaving his mouth. Lukas bolts after him, right on his heels. This is it. Time to set this bitch straight.
Jesse swings around the first bend and finally catches his first glimpse of their pursuer, or rather, their figure. They’re cloaked and unrecognizable in the brief glimpse he gets as they swing around the next bend. Long sleeves covering their arms and thick gloves it seems in the low light. He also sees the blast remnants from the creeper thanks to the lovely new hole in the middle of the hall. Through it he catches a quick look of their perp racing down the next hall to their left.
“ Fucker!” Jesse hisses, forcing himself into overdrive, “ HEY! ” He yells out again as he leaps over the new gap and skids into the wall at the end of the hall. He digs his fingers in between the bricks and flings himself forward again, letting the momentum do most of the work.
“ On your left!” Lukas calls and Jesse drops to a roll as they turn the next corner, a hot pink arrow flying over him. It slams into the opposite end of the hall and explodes with a loud bang that blows some old bricks to smithereens. The figure yelps in surprise, desperately trying to cover their head. They quickly get back on the move however as Lukas curses under his breath and pulls Jesse back to his feet. Jesse’s grip on his axe tightens—his turn. Lukas rips another arrow to life, raggedy and crackling ferociously.
Lukas launches the arrow as soon as the next hallway opens up and immediately pulls back another, beginning to unleash a whole volley. Their assailant seems clever though, they manage to dodge each one without even looking back. Jesse takes note of that—intimately familiar with projectiles. Lukas races ahead to keep the pressure on and Jesse pauses just a moment as he spies a fork through some broken down walls—if he’s fast enough he could cut their assailant off entirely. He immediately breaks away from Lukas and leaps over the broken old wall.
He has to snake his way through some dilapidated old rooms. He drops onto an old bed, gains a foothold on its frame, and leaps over the caved-in floor to a rotting table. He snatches the next old wall and flings himself over, dropping onto a counter, hopping to the ground, and ending by leaping through the long-broken window. He bounces back out of his crouch and begins swinging his axe on its strap as the sounds of footsteps rapidly approach.
“ NOW JESSE!” He hears Lukas yell as another flash of pink races down the hall before him. Trusting the man, he launches his axe forward—aimed low—and manages to catch their assailant’s legs right as they run by. Jesse whoops in premature celebration only to watch as sparks fly instead of blood as his axe makes contact before skidding off across the ground.
“ What the—?!” He yelps in surprise, watching the stranger barely stutter in their movement as they reach deeper into their cloak. Armor. Tough, too. He catches a brief flash of light and sudden crackling hissing before they dip behind the next wall. Jesse’s eyes widen and he makes a mad dash towards the intersection.
“ LUKAS GET DOWN!” He screams as he crashes into the man, gripping him by both the jacket and hair and yanking him down behind the cover of the opposite hall right as another ear-splitting explosion rings out. The explosion launches shattered brick and stone in every direction and manages to rip Jesse’s own lantern off of him and sends it crashing to the floor to explode in a brilliant ball of blue flames. Jesse covers Lukas instinctively.
“ JESS! You okay?!”
“Fine! Fucker’s got spare dynamite left!” Jesse blurts out as he struggles to catch his breath and starts to cough with the dust and gunpowder. He yanks Lukas’s bandanna up over his nose again and gets to his feet, quickly pulling Lukas up too, “ Sorry for grabbing you like that!”
“I’m fine! Let's move, they're getting AWAY!” Lukas yells and Jesse just nods, quickly retrieving his axe from the ground. He grimaces and rushes past the hot blue flames roaring loudly in the crossroads, a few licking at his upper arm much to his annoyance. He hisses at the sudden pain but doesn’t let it slow him.
Lukas follows on his heels once again and he quickly notices the cold blue light he’s grown familiar with going out completely. He dares to take his eyes off of their escaping assailant for a second to check on him only to see him switching his own lantern off and stuffing it away safely into his satchel. Smart man. Don’t need another blast like his. The hall is now filled with sporadic hot pink light as Lukas pulls arrow after arrow to life, one flying right past his face—he doesn’t flinch.
Lukas speeds up and snags Jesse by the back of the shirt, yanking him into a small alcove in the wall as another stick of dynamite flies by and blows. Lukas wraps his arms around him and grips him tight as the whole area shakes around them, some pebbles and dirt starting to rain down from above with that one. Jesse’s heart drums loudly in his ears—they can’t get caved in a second time, they have to stop them!
Jesse nods up to Lukas and slips out of his grip, running off once more. He’s the fastest of the both of them, he’s gotta catch them, no matter what. He gets an adrenaline buff, speeding up despite his body’s screaming protests.
“ CENTER!” Jesse calls as another stick gets chucked back at them. Both men fling themselves to the outer walls and hurry past, leaving the explosion in their dust. Jesse glances back to check and Lukas shares a shaky grin with him. He smiles under the mask and just focuses on his new job.
The stranger is certainly quick on their feet, both mentally and physically and has gained substantial ground against them. But Jesse’s keeping up just enough to see where they’re turning, even if it’s at the last second. The stranger leaps over a pile of rubble. Jesse mimics it seconds later. They swing around a sharp corner and drop to the ground, sliding under a low break in the wall. Jesse does the same with twice the speed, swinging back to his feet without even needing the extra push off of the ground.
A flash catches his eyes in his peripheral. He flicks his gaze that way only to see a stick of dynamite burning up contently mere feet away from him.
“ LUKAS DON’T FOLLOW! ” He shrieks as he leaps over a near half-wall just feet away and curls up for cover. It blows with a sharp bang, another huge flash of white light that momentarily blinds him, and his ears are left ringing from the proximity. His grip on himself tightens as the explosion blows open the wall it sat by and debris rains down on him. It stings for a quick second, but if any of it hurts him he’s too hopped up on adrenaline to notice.
He sucks in a shaky breath, only able to hear his heartbeat pounding above the ringing. He can’t stop though, he has to keep going. He shoves himself upright and keeps running after where he saw the stranger go, attempting to call out that he’s okay to Lukas, and praying the man didn’t get hurt himself.
He recognizes where they are again as the stranger barrels through the familiar wooden doors and out into the plaza by the church. Jesse clenches his jaw and slams into those doors right as they manage to close shut again. That stupid trap lost him precious time, they could totally lose them in the church if he doesn’t get it together.
He’s ripped from his thoughts by a tight grip on his arm and shoulder and he instinctively goes into fight-or-flight, trying to rip free and fight back. He’s flung around and meets the intense gaze of Lukas who grips him tightly by the arms. He’s mouthing something Jesse can’t make out with the ringing in his ears. Jesse just shakes his head and points to his ears. He probably yells louder than he means to.
“ They’re gonna get away, we can't LOSE THEM! ”
Lukas cringes and claps a hand down over Jesse’s mouth, now signing as he speaks.
‘Enderman! There’s another one around! I saw some particles and–’ “ —heard it teleporting around! ” His muffled voice manages to cut through somewhat. Jesse’s eyes widen in horror as he quickly looks around—how’s he supposed to fight an Enderman when he can barely hear?
He swallows and looks back at the church. Enderman or not, they cannot let this motherfucker get away. He shares a stubborn look with Lukas who hesitates but nods, giving Jesse a reassuring squeeze. On that note, Jesse takes the lead once more and rushes into the church. The creaking of the doors’ hinges he hears a bit clearer, and his chest swells with a little more confidence.
The first thing he manages to see in the pitch blackness of the church are glowing purple particles of an Enderman’s teleport. His stomach drops as his hair stands on end. He did not want to fight another Enderman so soon. He readjusts his grip on his axe, desperate to compensate for the sweat coating his hands. As much as he hates this, he gets a petty satisfaction thinking their little assaulter could be on the receiving end of its hunt.
Never did he expect to be so relieved to see the horrifying blue light of soulfire light up a scene. He looks behind him and spies Lukas with the lantern relit and once again hanging from his belt. It’s not as much light without his own lantern helping, but it’s enough. Jesse sprints deeper into the church, axe at the ready and scanning between the pews, hypervigilant with his hearing shot.
He spots unfamiliar but fresh boot prints amidst the mess of splintered wood, rubble, stone, and worn red carpet. They lead off a direction slowly exiting the range of Lukas’ light to a door towards the back left of the church. He slams into it with his shoulder, breaking the old wood off of the hinges and stumbling in. It’s a tight double-back stairwell, likely leading up to the catwalk and attic they saw earlier. He frowns and manages to spot another, albeit more spotty, print and immediately gets one foot on the first step and a hand on the railing to race up when he sees Lukas’ lantern light swing erratically out of the corner of his eye.
He hesitates, glancing up the staircase and lingering just a moment more. Either he catches their perp or checks on Lukas. He clenches his jaw, digs his nails into the wood of the railing and shoves himself away and back out into the open floor to see what’s going on, cursing as he goes. A bright pink arrow flies off into a corner of the church as Lukas stumbles back—probably the Enderman. Dread fills his chest already but another sight far above Lukas catches his eye. A quick flash of light. A reflection of something large and metallic—something not there before. It catches a few times and seems to be moving across the criss-crossed wood and towards the giant bells.
Jesse hurries over to Lukas’ side and they regroup, albeit chaotically. He seems startled by that Enderman, or what little they’ve seen of it. He can barely hear him rambling in a frenzy about how it’s teleporting around too quickly to get any sights on and Jesse just hooks one of their arms and presses his back up to Lukas’. He forces his nerves to settle again in order to focuses, ready to hit back against anything.
The deafening gong of one of those huge bells directly over their heads was, admittedly, not what he expected to fight. The bell’s clanging comes in slow beats as the giant thing takes its time swinging from one side to the next, but each chhime practically sends out a shockwave of noise that shakes the building just enough to send small rock and debris hurtling down atop of them. Lukas cries out in pain and covers his ears and Jesse grimaces but manages to work through it. His ears were already ringing, a little more couldn’t hurt.
Jesse staggers forwards away from Lukas and the pews and tries eyeing what the stranger is doing up there. Hopefully leaving now that they’ve made a decent distraction. Or getting attacked by that Enderman. That’d work just as well.
He hops up on the old table at the forefront of the church in an attempt to get a better angle. Another loud clang rings out and Jesse cringes as more small rocks ram down onto him. His eyes scan those wooden platforms once more, squinting in desperation to catch anything so far above them. There! Another flash! Lukas’ light manages to catch whatever they have for just a second as they seem to approach the bell closest to where Lukas has managed to stumble to in an attempt to follow Jesse. He hops down from the table and starts making his way over to meet him.
Then there’s another flash—much higher up this time, above the bell—and some hot orange sparks along with it.
Jesse’s blood runs cold. He doesn’t need to hear it to know that the thick iron chain holding that bell in place for centuries just got cut like it was butter.
Jesse now rushes into a full-on sprint as the bell’s gonging goes off-key and odd as it begins hurtling towards the cold stone floor. Jesse dives into Lukas, slamming the man to the ground and sending them rolling further down the decrepit old aisle. The rickety green bell crashes just mere feet behind them with an earth-shattering boom, utterly destroying the old flooring and sending even more rock and debris flying outwards as the entire Stronghold shakes under its weight. Jesse gasps as he covers Lukas in what little way he can, the other man gripping just as tightly to him.
They lay there panting and shaking as they barely begin to process such a close call when Jesse suddenly sees Lukas’ eyes reignite with utter horror and gasp at something straight above them. He doesn’t even have to ask. Jesse grunts as he yanks both him and Lukas back to their feet, not letting up on his tight grip on the man to get him going. The next bell practically scrapes at their heels as it hits the ground, shaking the ground with another thunderous boom as it does. Lukas trips and drops to his knees from the sudden shake and Jesse momentarily panics as he rushes back to help him.
Lukas gets back on his feet only to immediately drag Jesse off to the side and into some of the pews, taking his turn to cover the man as the next bell actually hits and splinters some wood. His leather jacket takes most of the blow as the wood bounces off and they’re back to properly running within seconds. Jesse grips his hand tight and swings them out wide, past the old quartz columns and out of direct fire from those bells. One more drops directly on top of the pews they were just running through and the explosion of wood is a weapon in and of itself. Jesse hears Lukas hiss and the man limps a little at his side before forcing himself back into a run.
Their new challenge would be the exit. It doesn’t take a genius to know that those are getting cut down strategically in an attempt to fucking kill them in one shot, and there are two dangling perfectly above the doors out—their assailant is probably already heading that way too. They have to get there first.
Jesse tugs on Lukas’ hand, desperately urging him to pick up the pace. He stumbles but complies, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to keep up. Above them, Jesse sees their mystery figure running amidst the shadows of the catwalk, heavy footfalls a dreadful reminder of what’s to come. They reach the mess at the front door and Jesse hears the unique metallic clang of metal cutting metal much more clearly now.
The two men wrap their arms around each other as they desperately stagger over the slick gravel sliding out beneath their boots and broken old supports to get to that cracked open old door. Jesse dares to glance above them for a second and his stomach does somersaults as Lukas’s light shines dramatically against the intricately carved outer shell of the two copper bells just two or three stories above them and dropping fast.
Jesse practically throws Lukas through the door first and the man is sent stumbling—but not for long. Lukas swings around as Jesse squeezes through the door too and grabs him by both hands, hastily yanking the man out of the building and down the stairs. The first bell hits the ground with a loud clang, boom, and shake but is quickly drowned out by the second one as the copper hitting copper rings out in an ear piercing gong much louder than the normal clapper made. But worse and more shockingly yet, the bell doesn’t stop there. It bounces off of its twin and slams through the entire front wall of the church almost explosively, destroying centuries old glass and stone within seconds as it begins to bounce down the steps and roll towards the old businesses across the plaza.
Lukas acts fast and rushes them over to the doorway to the stairwell they first came in through hours ago now and they take cover there, hidden slightly behind the heavy doors. The bell speeds across the plaza, ripping up old patterned stone and barreling through those old columns like they’re sand before finally slamming into the opposite wall and bringing down the entrance to those old shops and sending the stronghold shaking once again. It rolls a little bit backwards but is stopped pretty quick by the new debris collapsing on top of and around it. That final clanging from it reverberates off the walls, but finally manages to start dying down. A few rocks hit it and make it chime, but nowhere near as loudly as before. Jesse can finally hear himself think again.
The pair collapse to the ground behind those doors, simply clinging to each other, panting and shaking. Too close. Too fucking close. He hugs Lukas a little tighter and the man reciprocates. He just presses himself up against the man’s chest and can hear his heart hammering away just as violently as his own.
A loud pair of boots hit the ground hard and echo through the plaza. Both men freeze. Jesse and Lukas share a now much more panicked look. They may not be able to take this stranger. Not like this. Not here. They just need to run and get as far away as possible. The hair on the back of his neck prickles up and a sense of static fills the air—that fucking enderman is still lurking too. Jesse hops up first, getting another burst of adrenaline as he does, and pulling Lukas back to his feet. He feels another wave of guilt wash over him at the sight of just how exhausted Lukas is but can only manage an apologetic look as he grips his hands tight. Once up, Jesse lets go and rushes over to the spiral stairs.
He slows as he approaches, sensing that static grow stronger. He looks up towards the top of the steps, now nervous. There’s a distant but still considerably loud Enderman screech that rings out and the cold sweat that drips down his back is nothing to scoff at. Jesse hesitates, looking back and forth between the stairs and the wooden doors leading back into the plaza. Enderman trying to kill them, or person trying to kill them. What a fun choice.
Jesse clenches his jaw and sucks in a breath with a newfound steel in his eyes. Lukas looks at him worriedly. Jesse grabs Lukas’ hand and grips it tightly, nodding towards the door.
“ We run. They won’t expect it. Don’t hesitate or stop, no catching them. We just need to move .”
“ Are you insane?!” Lukas hisses back and Jesse glares up at him.
“ Enderman or this asshole? Frankly, I’ll take the option without serrated claws!” Jesse bites back and Lukas cringes, hating that he’s right. He swallows and nods.
“ Okay. On your cue.”
Jesse nods and reaches over, flicking Lukas’ lamp back off—a small advantage but an advantage nonetheless. He squeezes his hand one more time before letting go and moving ahead. He sucks in a large breath, barely able to make out the doors in the new inky blackness engulfing them. Regardless, he knows what he’s gotta do, and if they’re lucky…
With an ideal idea in mind, Jesse bounces on his feet and begins a steady run towards the door, gaining speed as he goes until he’s at a full sprint. He holds his breath as he crashes straight into the door with his shoulder, getting some resistance and earning a sharp yelp from someone with a satisfying thud. The door flings whoever it is back and the figure slams into the ground with a loud clattering somewhere nearby. Jesse spits in that direction on impulse. Perfect! Just What he hoped would happen! He can’t help but grin at his petty little success and picks up the pace.
“ LET’S GO LUKAS! LET’S GO! DON’T STOP! ” He hollers back and is happy to hear that second set of footsteps still following fairly close behind. He slams into the next set of doors on the opposite end of the now-ruined plaza and leads them back into the maze-like hallways that lead deeper into the stronghold. A faint noise catches his eye, almost like an odd high pitched whistling, but he runs out of range before he can really process it. Regardless, he can’t help but laugh as the sound of the door hitting the figure and flinging them back replays in his mind. Fucking karma, bitch. He hears Lukas chuckle in utter disbelief somewhere behind him as he flicks his lantern back on at a low level—just enough to see where they’re going.
The elation the small moment brings after everything almost makes him forget about the Enderman. The Enderman finally makes itself known and teleports in front of them down the hall, unhinging its jaw to unleash a glass-shattering scream. There’s a lot Jesse first notices about this guy in a quick glance, but the lack of a mouthguard bearing its jagged teeth with bright saliva dripping out, generally erratic scales that double over it’s head and down its back, outrageous height of probably at least 12-13 feet, and plethora of large scars including a giant diagonal one right down its face burn themselves into his mind fast. This Enderman is old and experienced and it is mean .
“SHIT! ENDERMAN! GO! ” Jesse skids to a stop and tries keeping his eyes low as he catches and shoves Lukas down a side hall.
“Oh FUCK he’s a BIG one!” Lukas sputters and claws at Jesse to drag them both down the new hall. This wasn’t a fight they’d easily win, especially not here. The Enderman hisses again and swipes its serrated claws at the pair, just barely missing. Lukas swears under his breath and Jesse shares his tension as he sprints ahead. Thudding overhead rekindles that dread in his chest—another set of footfalls, but how’d they get up there so fast? They seem to run ahead and down a branching path however, off towards a deeper portion of the Stronghold. Hopefully they’re just hightailing it for good. Jesse continues forward on the path.
“ Do you hear its call??” He shouts back to Lukas between breaths.
“ No! I thought you did?!”
“ No!”
“So which one of us is it fucking after then?!” Lukas hisses and Jesse shoots a sympathetic look back. This Enderman is already acting differently and seems really experienced. Not a good sign. Speaking of, the beast teleports ahead of them once again with a hiss. Jesse lets out a less than graceful set of noises as he tries to slow down just enough to grip the edge of a wall and swing around into the next hallway over. The Enderman attempts to cut Lukas off only for the man to drop to the ground and slide beneath it, rolling back up to his feet and booking it again immediately after.
Jesse turns one more sharp bend in the hall and is surprised to see a somewhat familiar hallway—that fountain isn’t too far from here. They must’ve really taken the long way out when starting this hellish chase. This hallway opens into a neighboring one halfway through before continuing to a dead-end at the very back with an old rusted lantern placed in a small alcove.
As Jesse begins leaning to the right and towards the next exit, the Enderman teleports into his path one more time. He gasps and stumbles back, throwing himself back against the opposite wall to avoid the creature’s snapping jaw. He frowns, unhooking his axe again and blocking a swipe aimed at him. He throws the Enderman’s hands back with a solid shove off of his axe and the creature actually stumbles. Jesse takes the chance to dart left and gain some space, and now he and Lukas surround it.
The Enderman stands tall at its full height, towering leagues above them with its scales on-end and claws ready to attack. It seems to be studying them, almost. Choosing carefully, especially as Lukas slowly begins pulling an arrow back. The Enderman’s focus shifts to Lukas and Jesse feels his heart drop.
“ HEY! ” He yells out on instinct and the Enderman’s eerie slit eyes snap back to Jesse with an unnatural quickness. He could almost swear he heard bones snap in and out of place.
The Enderman paces over and screeches in Jesse’s face and he hastily raises his axe to block some of the saliva from hitting him. Behind it he can see Lukas slowly pulling an arrow tight—he’s lined up for a great shot back there as long as Jesse can keep this thing’s attention. The Enderman stands tall again and Jesse hears something further above them. His eyes dart upward—that high pitched sound again, was it actually whistling? He’s certain he heard it this time.
The Enderman tenses, huffing and puffing for a second before seemingly deciding something and beginning to chatter its jagged fangs together. The new sound snaps Jesse’s attention back and catches him off-guard. They don’t… do that, normally, do they…?
His grip on his axe is knuckle-white, but all he can seem to muster is the ability to shuffle back a few paces as he stares up at the thing, eyes locked and jaw clenched. It begins making the classic low, guttural rumbling noise that begins to clear into a hiss as it raises in pitch. He sucks in a breath and raises his axe, nerves regained and ready to go on the offensive and start their final stand.
Then the pitch drops.
And with it, so does Jesse’s heart.
This is a “new” sound, but it’s one that he’s excruciatingly familiar with. One filled with guttural growling just barely muffled by the static of their stringy vocals. His breath hitches and blood runs cold as the Enderman raises its hands, ready to clamp down around him. And all he can do is gape. All he can do is the same thing he did sixteen years ago. All he can do is what he did when he heard that sound the first time. All he can do is what he’s done in every nightmare that’s plagued him since.
All he can do is freeze.
“ JESSE! ” He hears Lukas’ voice rip through the cave immediately followed by the erratic crackling of his bow sparking as he hastily rips an arrow to life. Within seconds that brilliant pink light flies through the dark hall and strikes true, hitting the enderman in its back in a violent explosion of light with a thunderous clap. The creature staggers forward and lets out a piercing and agonized screech—Jesse is shocked out of his stupor and has to drop his axe and throw his hands up over his ears to maintain any semblance of composure.
It flails about wildly, claws scratching at the stone walls and causing sparks to fly from the old iron mixed into the stone. Jesse lets go of his ears and raises his arms to try and shield himself from the sparks, yelping a little as some sting his bare arms. With that it recognizes Jesse in front of it once again and its eyes narrow, a renewed rage filling its stance. The enderman screeches again and icy blue eyes widen. All he can manage is a small gasp before the enderman charges and slashes a clawed hand at and across the man, getting him right in the gut and flinging him back into the brick wall with a loud cracking thud that reverberates through the cave. His head hits the stone hard and he goes limp, dropping face-first to the ground with several shattered bricks following after.
Time’s a blur from there. His ears are filled with ringing and static as he manages to blink his eyes open, vision spinning and blurry. He desperately struggles to process the giant black blob towering in the room and the pink flares of light. Then a searing pain burns through him from his abdomen. He chokes out a gasp and agonized cry as he attempts to curl in on himself. But he can hardly even move. His head pounds like a thousand drums and his heartbeat drowns out any other sound trying to reach him. He grits his teeth, bites his tongue, and balls up a fist to try pushing himself up on. His body screams in protest as that pain shoots up and through him, causing him to stutter and cry out again—he’s not going to be able to lift himself up like this. He pants, huffing and puffing as he holds himself up at least a few inches off the ground with a shaky grip and preps himself for what he does next. With one large breath and quick burst, he shoves off of his fist and flips himself onto his back. Another sharp shot of pain rips through his body from his side as he hits the ground and he chokes back another cry as he finally curls in on himself.
His vision spins even worse above him, and he can see the pink flashes still shining periodically against the ceiling. His hands immediately clamp down on the source of the pain at his side, and he doesn’t need to have all his wits to recognize that oozing warm liquid that quickly runs between his fingers. A chill runs down his spine and he can feel a cold sweat coming on. He shakily raises one of his hands to his face. Glassy eyes squint in the chaotic light of the room, struggling to focus as he notes the darker shade of liquid coating his hand. A drop drips off of his fingertip and onto his cheek, making him flinch right as things come back into focus.
Blood.
… A lot of it.
He feels his head spin as he drops it back to the stone and his hand back to his side in a feeble attempt to keep the bleeding in check. It’s futile. He can already feel his back being soaked as it begins to pool beneath him. He feels his breathing get ragged as panic swells in him again—he can barely see, he can’t hear, he can’t move, and he’s on the verge of blacking out as he bleeds out—… out… Where even is he, again??? An agonized static screech fills the air and his eyes fling wide open once as the memory of the enderman finally fits itself back into place. Right . They’re in the stronghold— Lukas is here . They were attacked by an Enderman and… God it made those sounds again… It made those fucking sounds again and— and it could’ve grabbed him and—!
“—sse! …—esse! Jesse!”
He’s being shaken, a tight grip on his arms. He blinks his eyes open— when had he shut them? —and is greeted by a horrified looking Lukas. A pang of guilt shoots through his heart at the sight. He opens his mouth to try to speak, and coughs a little as he does.
“…u.. kas… H… Hey..” He attempts a shaky and utterly lopsided smile as tears well up in his eyes. It doesn’t last. He clenches his jaw to stifle a cry as another scorching wave of pain rips through him. He hears Lukas gasp and suddenly feels two warm hands caressing his face. He gasps as he struggles to get his breathing in check, ragged as it may be.
“ Shhh , shhh, okay— it’s okay— I’ve got you . I’ve got you… Don’t try to speak, this is…” he trails off, eyes downcast to Jesse’s side he can’t quite see for himself. He sees the man swallow and can tell he’s beyond pale even in the pathetically low light. A new wave of fear washes over him, and cold dread pools in his stomach in a way it hasn’t ever before. It’s bad. He’s going to die down here. Just like his father.
Lukas absentmindedly strokes his cheeks as he speaks again, “It’s… It’s gonna be okay. It’s not horrible… No biggie, right? ” He smiles and Jesse attempts to match it, at least crinkling up his eyes as he forces that lump and thudding heart in his throat down. Lukas nods, a new steel in his eyes.
He pulls one hand away and yanks his satchel off, beginning to rifle through it just outside of Jesse’s view. He hears some clinking, Lukas gasp, and the sound of him hastily yanking what he assumes is a bottle out of his bag.
“ Shit! ” He hisses and Jesse swallows, furrowing his brows as he tries to get a clear look at the man’s face. Lukas squeezes his cheek and looks back to him, holding up a potion bottle with a worried look in his eyes. Jesse’s eyes flick to the contents of the bottle—or lack thereof. It just barely had the bottom third of the potion left and was a warm pinkish glow—Regeneration. Right. That was all they had.
It’s nowhere near enough. Not for this.
Jesse swallows, eyes flicking between the near empty bottle and Lukas, the terror of death trying to so desperately wrap its hands around him shining clearly in them. He can’t go out like this. Not here. Not now. Not leaving Lukas behind. Lukas grimaces, tapping the bottle as he thinks and glances down to Jesse’s wound.
He shakes his head a little, “I… I think I can make this work, but it’s gonna be a fight.” His eyes flick back up to Jesse’s who just tries to nod, a few tears spilling over.
“… I—“ He chokes, voice croaky as he swallows, “I d.. don’t wan’… die d- down ‘ere…” He gasps a little, shaking his head as some more tears slip out. “I’on’t… wanna g—! go like—! like m’ dad…” He cries and Lukas quickly leans down and cradles him, pressing their foreheads together as Jesse lets one shaky hand go to grip onto his jacket. He cries into him, voice small.
“You won’t Jesse. You’re not going anywhere. It’s okay, it’s okay … Nothing’s gonna take you away. I won’t let anything else hurt you. I promise. ” Lukas murmurs to him, trying to soothe the delirious man from his shock-induced panic. Jesse just mumbles vague apologies to him between breaths as Lukas gently tries shushing him. After a precious few seconds—which is pushing their new time limit—Lukas forces himself out of the embrace, sucking in a breath as he steels himself.
“Okay… With only this much potion left, we gotta make it count.”
Jesse nods, gasping as he tries to get his breathing steady.
“We gotta at least try and get these scratches to close or stop bleeding. And that has to happen now . We don’t have the luxury of drinking this thing anymore—the bloodstream will take too long.” He shakes his head as he pops the bottle open and turns to Jesse’s wound. He looks back up to Jesse, “You have to move your hands.” He nabs his satchel and drags it closer to Jesse’s side then scoots around so his back is facing Jesse’s head, ready to block his arms again if need be. “This is going to hurt. Grab onto my satchel if you need to claw at something.”
Jesse swallows thickly but nods. He carefully pulls his hands away from his sticky side, some bits already pulling against his skin and the wound. It flares up with pain as he breaks them apart. He shakily clings to the satchel, clenches his jaw, and braces himself.
“ Sorry, Jess…” Lukas mumbles as he quickly tears away any bits of fabric in the way. The enderman cut through everything like it was butter. “ Here goes. ” He grimaces and presses down on Jesse with his right arm to keep him in place as he begins to pour the potion over the first laceration.
Jesse flinches and an agonized scream is immediately ripped from his throat, hauntingly echoing down the old stone halls. The feeling of a thousand icepicks being dug into the wound is the first sensation that hits him followed by a sheer white burning unlike anything he’s felt before. He slams a heel into the ground, instinctively trying to move away from the pain but being trapped under Lukas’ weight. He seethes, trapping another yell in his throat as he slams his teeth down onto his tongue. That shifts into a hacking cough before devolving into more strangled cries. Lukas grimaces at the noise as he moves along each cut, desperately trying to make the potion last and to get some scabbing to form. He has to be fairly slow and methodical however, ensuring every drop makes its full impact as Jesse lays there writhing in pain beneath him.
~~~~~
A warm light bathes the end of the hallway thanks to Lukas sharing his flame with the old lantern. He needed something else to work with, and the warm firelight is at least a little solace in the wake of this horror. The potion barely covers the bare minimum. Barely. But it works. The bleeding has stopped for the most part. He just prays no crucial nerves were cut.
Lukas drops the bottle without a second thought, hurrying to try and inspect the wounds at this point. His heart hasn’t stopped pounding in his ears since that first explosion, and his hands threaten to betray him with just how intensely they still shake. He could’ve been faster. He should’ve been faster. He fruitlessly tries settling his frayed nerves and the tears that burn at the edge of his eyes as he continues to patch up these wounds—He needs to focus.
Jesse had been cut fairly-deep in 5 strips on the left side of his body from the side of his stomach up his side, just ending below the ribs—thankfully it seemed nothing vital was immediately punctured, and if anything had, then the potion hit those first for repair. That said though, the wounds are undeniably fragile and could be ripped open easily. All the potion was able to do was get them to gently scab over, Jesse will have to do the rest of the healing naturally and preferably with some proper medical care. They have to get out of here, but it’s going to be a slow process—especially without any proper medical supplies, their main exit closed off, and their new plan properly scrapped. Just their fucking luck.
Lukas shuffles through his bag again, yanking out the shitty old kit he’s used a million times. He has some gauze and bandage, sure, but nowhere near enough. He’d do what he could, but they’d have to get creative.
He studies each scratch as Jesse drifts in and out of consciousness, murmuring incoherently as he’d been doing for some time now. Lukas had enough gauze and bandage for two of the small ones, or one of the three large ones. The large ones could reopen the easiest, but if he only manages to cover one out of three and the rest reopen it’s practically pointless. Yet, if he only covers the smallest two and the three large ones reopen, the same could apply and he could bleed out much faster.
He lets out a frustrated sigh and just picks one of the large ones, shaking his head as he goes. It’s fairly quick and easy, but now the new problem of the others. He glances around them for anything they might have and gets an idea as his eyes land on Jesse’s shirt. He nods to himself—that’s the plan.
He carefully reaches under the man, hoisting him into a sitting position against the wall. Blue eyes flutter open and Jesse grunts as he tries to help straighten himself however he can. Lukas begins unstrapping and unbuckling what little armor he does have and tossing it to the ground then tugs on the man’s shirt. Jesse’s brows furrow in confusion for a moment until Lukas tries tugging again. The man nods sluggishly and hoists his arms as much as he can—not much at all, really—while Lukas shimmies the fabric off. He was fairly responsive and understanding—that’s a good sign.
“I’ll be right back—promise.” He squeezes Jesse’s cheek again, thumbing over his scar, and the man just nods tiredly and lets him go without a peep. And there’s the bad sign. He never likes being alone when vulnerable. Lukas sucks in a breath and hurries back to the fountain spring they passed. He hastily dunks the fabric under the freshwater, quickly rubbing out any blood and grime he can. Once satisfied he turns and runs back, starting to rip the shirt into strips as he goes.
Crouching down next to Jesse, he sheds his own jacket and immediately gets to tying the makeshift bandages around Jesse’s torso—a new addition amongst the plethora of other scars against his warm brown skin. The man flinches a little at the sudden chill of the sopping wet cloth, blinking back to life.
“ Sh-Shi—!” He hisses and Lukas winces.
“Yeah, cold, I know. It’s all we’ve got though… You get my jacket in the meantime, I know it’ll fit you.” He nods as he slings another new bandage on. Jesse nods, dipping his head back against the cold stone. He huffs a little and Lukas looks up to see him bearing a lopsided grin as he breathes raggedly. Lukas warily eyes the man as he shakily reaches up and taps one of his own biceps.
“I-It… It’ll be tight… in the arms …” He croaks out with a smirk and Lukas gawks, unable to believe what he’s hearing. He can’t help but laugh a little.
“ Okay , now is… Not the time to joke about your muscles!” He says with another nervous chuckle, shaking his head at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Jesse hums out a chuckle himself—rich and deep from deep within his chest.
“But… I-I don’t wanna… rip your nice jacket…!” He slurs with a weak laugh before grimacing. Lukas just shakes his head with a smile as he finishes his work. He tries not to get his hopes up too high with this behavior, knowing the man is probably just enduring some kind of shock still. He grabs his jacket and carefully pushes Jesse forward so he can drape it over him. He manages to get one sleeve on himself but Lukas has to help him on the injured side. Once on, the man finally relaxes again. Lukas grabs his canteen and shoves it into his hands.
“Drink.”
“Th.. Thanks…” Jesse sighs, raising it to his lips slowly and meticulously in a vain attempt to ease the way his hands shake. They sit in silence as Jesse gulps down the drink, barely pausing to breathe. Lukas hovers a gentle hand over Jesse’s, forcing him to pause at least a little periodically. Once done, Jesse wipes his mouth with the back of his arm and nods his thanks to Lukas as he hands the canteen back. Lukas takes it and screws to cap on—he’ll have to refill it once they pass the spring.
He sighs. And now the big problem.
He slowly packs his things back up, giving Jesse a moment to gather any shred of wits he has. Whether he likes it or not, they’re gonna have to get moving—the longer they stay in here, the more likely problems could arise with those injuries that Lukas couldn’t see. Even if Jesse wanted to sleep for a while, those are hours wasted and potentially working against them. No, they need to get a move on and find another way out. Fast. He’ll carry Jesse if he has to, but they can’t just sit here and wait.
He slaps his satchel shut and dares to sneak a glance back at the man. Their eyes meet, and it’s clear as day that Jesse’s already come to the same conclusion. The man gives him a small nod which Lukas solemnly returns. He sucks in a breath.
“I hate asking it but… How’re you feeling?”
Jesse huffs, a lopsided grin crawling across his face. His voice is quiet and hoarse. “ Peachy .”
Lukas smiles, “Good to hear.” He turns serious again and reaches up to check Jesse’s forehead. No fever—good. He then reaches down and checks his pulse—a little subtler than typical, but that’s to be expected given the bloodloss. He’s a bit clammy, but not as bad as he was, albeit still a bit pale. He’s conscious and fairly aware though, if not a bit stunted from the shock, but that’s still the best news he could’ve gotten. He pulls back and gives his shoulder a squeeze, “Think you can walk at all?”
Jesse hums in thought, furrowing his brow. He shifts his legs a little on the ground—testing them it seems. After a minute or so of thought, he gives a sturdy nod.
“Think so… gonna be slow, though. I’unno… how m’ balance is gonna be…”
“I’ll support you.” Lukas nods and slings his satchel back on as he swings around to Jesse’s weak side. He carefully puts one of his arms over his shoulders as Jesse sucks in a pained breath and meets his gaze to check. “Okay. On ‘up’, got it?”
Jesse nods sluggishly.
“Okay. Here we go… 3… 2… 1… Up!” He grunts and Jesse cringes as he clings to him. He tries pushing himself up with Lukas’s help, but struggles badly. Lukas notes how horribly his legs wobble. Once on his feet, Jesse lets out a large breath and pained cry. He clutches to Lukas and stumbles the first few steps, but manages to get his feet in order quick enough.
Lukas’ heart aches as he watches. There’s no way their portal plan is going to work. Not with Jesse in this state. He has to get them out slowly and safely, but also soon. They can’t fight anymore, and those wounds are a ticking timebomb for Jesse. Hopefully with the way this fight went though, their little pursuer will think they’re finally done and gone and leave them alone, escaping for themself.
But that leaves a new pit in Lukas’ stomach. He stares at Jesse as his head lolls against his shoulder, anxiety welling up in his chest.
How the hell is he going to get them through the Deep Dark?
Chapter 29: The Deep Dark P.1
Summary:
Lukas scouts ahead into the Deep Dark to try and find a way out
Notes:
ay bing bong hey what's up im NOT dead! Sorry about that month long break I got hit with the ao3 writer's curse and had pipes in our house burst (twice) and a family member hospitalized (twice) amongst other things including getting a new job so yknow how it be 😭
THAT said, here we are! and it's Part 1 bc I intended to get them through this section in one fell swoop but have not been writing fast enough to do that and this bit already got long enough as it is 💀 12k of mostly prose and many fun times to be had JKJKDJKFJKJK
That said tho it's been fun writing for Lukas! Cool guy, capable, a little reckless but can handle it 💖
I can't think of anything else to say so enjoy!!!
Chapter Text
Lukas slams another chest shut with a string of curses. Were there truly no chests that hadn’t already been looted? Anything would be helpful at this point. He’d thought that maybe they’d be lucky enough to find some spare Ender Eyes in these old things. If he got a few then maybe—just maybe— they’d have a shot of using that End Portal to get to Soren’s. The water’s long gone by now and there’s plenty of supplies there perfect for treating Enderman wounds in that mansion. But no dice. Of course. Because why would they get so lucky.
He kicks the old chest in frustration and runs his hands through his hair. Not that he had any idea how to break into that portal room anyways, but had he gotten those eyes he would’ve figured it out. Doesn’t matter what he had to do. Not that it matters much anymore, now that room just sits there and mocks them with its warmth and illusion of safety.
He sighs and stalks out of the hallway, another failure for the books. Despite how desperately he wants those Ender Eyes, the number one thing on his mind is just another potion. Strongholds are known to have good loot, and leftover potions were a common one. Something, anything related to healing he’ll gladly take. The further he moves about this damn Stronghold with Jesse in this condition, the more he feels one will be necessary in order to get him out. It’s a dreadful realization to have as he sweeps more and more of the structure, finding less and less with each move.
Luckily, it’s been relatively peaceful since their big confrontation, and while he has nothing to confirm it, something tells him that they at least won’t be seeing their pursuer or that Enderman again any time soon. That said, every nerve of his is still alight with adrenaline, and the stress of the situation hasn’t eased up one bit. He either figures something out or Jesse probably dies down here. He could survive the few days it’d take for Radar to call something in, but those wounds will begin causing more problems the longer they go without proper care. That’s the damn thing about Endermen.
The search thus far has been slow-going, especially while touting Jesse around. He didn’t dare leave the man’s side for what felt like eons, but eventually it became clear to the both of them that dragging Jesse everywhere Lukas wanted to go wasn’t doing them any favors. Jesse phrased it in a way that makes his heart pang with guilt and utter sadness just remembering.
‘I’m a liability.’ He’d said. A liability . Lukas would’ve never used such a word to describe the man, but Jesse was insistent. As much as it ate at him from the inside out, if Lukas were to have any chance at finding them a way out in a timely manner, they’d have to split up for a bit. It utterly kills him inside knowing Jesse is alone and aching in some nook and cranny of this place after such a harrowing attack. All he wants to do is pull him close and sit there until some miracle comes to save them. But that’s not how things work, and he has to forge that miracle himself.
Another one of those blips and chirps ring out as he runs by a crack in the wall. He immediately cringes and stumbles as he attempts to slow himself. Those stupid little snitches. He’s run into a few of those sensors on his own already, much to his dismay.
He stops on that thought.
He looks back towards the sound and recalls how the sculk patch he and Jesse had run into earlier was covering a whole section of the Stronghold. Probably far more than just that little hallway they saw. And those parts are probably unexplored… Or the sculk may have grown over some old chests that’s hidden them from prying eyes.
Oh. He’s got an idea. And it’s a bad idea. Jesse has been rubbing off on him.
He sucks in a deep breath as he gets going again. Oh how the tables have turned! Jesse’s gonna hate the sound of it, but oh well, shoe on the other foot and all that. This really could be their best bet for finding something of use. He’s good at being quick and silent, it’s all he ever did during the rebellion—he thrives in those settings. He can get Jesse somewhere safe and as comfy as possible and it’ll be easy from there!
He sprints up some steps and hobbles a little as he reaches the top of it, grunting as the cut on his leg burns, giving him a steady reminder of his own fragility. In the frenzy to get Jesse stable he hadn’t even thought of the cut in his thigh from those flying wood shards in the church. He didn’t even have anything for it. Jesse had forced him to take his bandanna back and he managed to wet it in the fountain and secure it in his jeans over the cut, but it didn’t exactly do much aside from hopefully stopping the bleeding and keep some dirt out of it.
Speaking of the fountain, he reaches the little plaza where Jesse is currently sitting with their lanterns—both the old rusty one with the normal flame and Lukas’ soulfire one. Lukas pulls his nightvision goggles back up to the top of his head and blinks his eyes back to normal as he readjusts to the light. It was better for Jesse to have both the lanterns—especially the soulfire one to keep what few monsters there were at bay. The old rusted one was a little unnecessary, but the warm light was comforting, which he certainly needed. It must be just as gut-wrenching for Jesse to be without Lukas—if not moreso —but it’s best to avoid jostling him and those wounds unnecessarily.
Jesse’s eyes flutter open as he hears Lukas approach and a loving smile spreads across his face, making Lukas’ heart flutter. He tries not to get his hopes up as his name rolls from the other’s tongue.
“ Lukas…!” His voice is still weak as he speaks and Lukas gives him a smile back as he crouches down by his side.
“Hey, Jesse… How’re you holding up?”
Jesse blows out a long sigh, “I’ve managed t’... t’ count how many bricks make up the ceilin’...” He smirks a little and rolls his eyes, “So, yknow… Having a party up here…”
Lukas chuckles a little, admittedly feeling a little better with the joke. Despite everything, simply being around this man always raised his spirits. He nods back at the other entrances to this plaza.
“Any problems?”
“If there were I wouldn’t’ve… managed t’ finish countin’...” He snarks and Lukas smiles again. He nods. Okay, so no monster problems. Good to hear. Jesse still had his axe, but it’s not like he could use it in this state, and leaving him alone and defenseless here was completely off the table. As Lukas thinks that though, Jesse lifts their temporary solution to the problem with another grunt. He grips the crossbow tight in his good hand and squints as he aims it towards the main entrance. He pretends to shoot it complete with a ‘ pshew ! ’ sound effect much like a kid. Lukas laughs as Jesse gives him a lopsided grin.
“I can see you’re armed and dangerous.”
“ Y’know it…! ” He croaks but then grows serious with a scowl as he grips the crossbow a little tighter. “I’m dropping this fuckin’ thing th’ moment we’re safe…” He spits.
“No arguments here. Sorry to make you wield it…” Lukas mutters as he trails off, another wave of guilt washing over him—certainly not the first one of the night. He had gone and retrieved the crossbow pretty much first thing once he realized he’d have to leave Jesse behind to search for their way out. He knew Jesse wouldn’t like it with the connotation it brought, but he needed something to protect himself with and even a baby could shoot a crossbow if it really wanted. It wouldn’t demand much and he could handle the little bit of kickback. Better that than death.
“It’s what it is…” Jesse mumbles with a one sided shrug, avoiding moving his injured side in any way he can. Lukas sighs and nods. Jesse raises his brows at him, “So… Next move…?”
Oh boy. Here we go.
Lukas sucks in a breath, “I… I keep coming up empty with the chests. And I haven’t found anything that would help us, nor any exits or caves we’ve somehow missed.”
Jesse frowns a little but sluggishly nods along. Lukas presses his lips together nervously then sucks in a breath.
“There’s… another option yet. And you’re not gonna like it one bit, but we’re running out of choices.”
“ Lukas…” He says his name again, but this time there’s a warning edge to his croaky voice. Lukas ignores it.
“I’ve gotta go check out that Deep Dark biome, Jess. If nothing else, then there may be some old untouched chests buried in that sculk.”
Jesse’s otherwise cloudy eyes narrow and he suddenly seems much more alert than he has been. He tries leaning forward only to get hit with another shot of pain and flinches, clenching his jaw tight as Lukas gently helps him lean back again. Jesse just adamantly shakes his head.
“Uh-uh. No. No! You can’t, Lukas…!” He chokes out and Lukas just sadly meets his eyes. He can see tears welling up again as Jesse just continues shaking his head, “You– You can’t—! That place could kill you…”
“And staying here could kill you.” He replies without skipping a beat. Jesse just drops his head back against the stone, still shaking it in utter denial. Lukas sighs and reaches out to him, pulling his face back so he can look him in the eyes, “ Jess… I don’t like this either. Don’t think I do. But I’ve exhausted every other option. That’s the last place to check but the only one we have left. I’m certain now that we’re probably not gonna be getting out of here via any portal hopping, so scouting ahead is gonna happen either way to make sure I can get both of us through there safely…”
“This… This is so fucked …” Jesse sniffles. Lukas smiles bitterly and nods, pulling him in for a little hug. Jesse grips him tight with his good arm. After a moment, Lukas feels him shift a little against his shoulder and tilts his head.
“What is it?”
“Is… Is there someplace else I could wait…? I’m cold…” He mumbles into his shoulder. Lukas’ heart aches and he grips him just a little tighter.
“ Well,” Lukas lets go of the man and sits back on his heels, sighing as he thinks, “The only semi-warm place I can think of nearby is the End Portal room. But, Jesse, that’s a lot of—”
“ I-I can make it there . Promise…” Jesse nods to him and Lukas sighs. He stares at the poor man, assessing the damage. The least he could do would be getting him someplace where he feels warm and at least a little safe while he runs off into the utter opposite. Eventually, Lukas nods.
“Okay… On three again, then?”
Jesse nods and Lukas quickly packs up their things then shifts around to help lift him. He counts down once more and heaves, though this time Jesse nearly collapses halfway through the lift. Lukas catches him but probably grips him a little tighter than he should and Jesse cries out before gritting his teeth and forcing himself forward. Lukas quickly spews out apology after apology and Jesse just gives him a sad smile.
Lukas eases his grip as Jesse steadies on shaky legs. So another hike begins. Jesse blows out a shaky breath as he holds on tight and rests his head on Lukas’ shoulder in the meantime. Their pace is agonizingly slow, but it’s steady. The stairs down to each level are the hardest part, but Jesse’s insistent. Watching the way he winces and suppresses each yelp and cry just fills Lukas with more and more dread. They haven’t even reached the mountain of steps that lead down to the End Portal, nonetheless what it’ll be like to start hiking up and out of the cave.
Eventually, the pathetic pair make it to the top of the Portal Room’s steps once more and Lukas can already feel the warmth radiating from the lava down by the door. Jesse relaxes a little at the feeling of it and a wave of worry washes over Lukas briefly. Jesse wasn’t so far into his injury that resting could be fatal, but it still made him nervous leaving him alone to rest somewhere so classically cozy. Or at least the closest they could get in a damn Stronghold. But of course, there are no safer options at this point, so he sucks it up and preps for the walk down.
Jesse shuffles forward to begin only for Lukas to gently stop him. He looks up at him in a mix of worry and confusion. Lukas pulls them back a pace and slowly lowers Jesse back down to a sitting position as the man just watches in ever growing tension and a spot of fear.
“Easy, it’s alright… I just have an easier idea.” Lukas mumbles with a smile as he crouches down with him.
“Al–... Alright …” Jesse murmurs unsurely. Lukas reaches around Jesse’s back with his right arm and tucks his left underneath his legs. Jesse’s eyes widen as he realizes what he’s trying to do and goes to help by wrapping his arms around his neck only to be unable to lift his left arm very high without gasping. It tugs on his injury and he shoots Lukas a guilty look.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” Lukas soothes and Jesse just sighs in defeat, resting up against his shoulder with his good hand resting against his chest as Lukas hoists him up into his arms. He’s had to carry Jesse a few times before over the years, but never for a reason quite this dire. He was gonna have to make up for it by swinging him around in a dance or something silly later down the line. The man’s a little heavy in his arms, but nothing he couldn’t handle as he begins down the stone steps. They make much better time than they have the whole walk over. He could potentially try carrying Jesse through the Deep Dark, but he’s certain the man will be having none of that. He’ll just have to wait and see what the biome’s like.
Reaching the bottom of the long staircase is a relief in and of itself. The light is bright, the air is warm, and no monsters are lingering in the area. Jesse managed to relax in his arms fairly early on, but getting down to this type of heat must’ve felt heavenly with the sigh he lets out. Lukas finds a sweet spot a little ways from the stairs but not quite in the midst of all the lava, hopefully it won’t be too warm. Jesse usually hates the heat.
Lukas crouches down slowly and carefully sets Jesse back down on the ground and props him up against the warm brick wall. He meets his eyes briefly and they’re clouded with sheer worry. Jesse’s hand lingers, lightly gripping his shirt as he seems to be thinking. Lukas tries giving the most confident smile he can as he relights the lanterns in the meantime and ensures the crossbow in Jesse’s lap is still strung and ready.
“ Lukas…” Jesse mumbles and snaps his attention back. Jesse contorts his face in hard thought as he looks at him. He keeps his mouth open just slightly and stutters a few times before eventually just blowing out a sigh and shaking his head, giving up on trying to say whatever it was he wanted to. Lukas’ heart beats just a little faster and he raises his hands to clasp the hand Jesse left lingering. He grips it tight with a reassuring squeeze.
“It’ll be alright, Jesse. I’ll be okay. I’ll be right back, I promise.” He says with a smile and Jesse frowns, a flash of fear lacing his eyes and his breathing immediately picks up the pace as the floodgates he was keeping shut open again. He just stares up at him shaking his head, eyes pleading. Lukas quickly scoots closer and raises one hand to his cheek, shushing him before Jesse can even get his mouth open, “ Hey hey hey…! Easy! Easy… It’ll be okay—”
“And I’ve heard that before, Lukas!” He chokes out, tears welling up again. Lukas sucks in a breath to steady his nerves as Jesse breaks into a fit. Lukas nods quietly as he begins wiping the tears away as the man cries. Jesse chokes on a sob, swallowing it down as he looks at Lukas desperately, “This is crazy… Please… I’on’t wanna lose you too…”
Lukas gets his turn to swallow, trying to keep his own nerves steady as his own eyes begin to burn. Jesse tightens his grip on Lukas’ hand a frankly impressive amount considering his woozy state, and he can feel the way he’s shaking again. He glances down to their hands and the awkward way Jesse is gripping his left hand. Taking a deep breath Lukas pulls his own away for a moment, then reconnects and interlocks their fingers, holding tight as he meets Jesse in the eyes once more. He strokes his cheek comfortingly.
“Jesse, I’m not gonna let anything take me away from you. Promise .” He says with a confidence from deep within his chest that even surprises him. His cheeks burn as Jesse’s gaze bores into him. It was true though. It's always been true.
Jesse drills holes into him as he sucks in shuddery breath after shuddery breath. He’s thinking hard behind those eyes, the only question now is whether he’s thinking coherently . Not that he can blame the man for not being able to, so much has gone wrong so fast and now he’s about to leave him on his own to go dive head first into the most dangerous section of this cave. After a long while Jesse blows out a sigh and lets go of Lukas’ hand, and for a moment he’s worried he’s truly hurt the man. However, Jesse then raises a finger to his own chest and draws out a shaky ‘x’ over it. Lukas eyes him curiously.
“ Cross… Cross your heart?” He croaks. Lukas blinks in surprise. Jesse’s jaw clenches and he repeats the motion just a little faster, practically begging. Lukas begins to nod, slow at first then much more insistent.
“Yes. Yes, of course.” He breathes, another shaky smile snaking its way across his face. He mimics the motion over his own chest—over his own heart. “I cross my heart and hope to die or stick a hundred needles in my eye.”
Jesse suddenly lets out a weak chuckle and Lukas blinks. What? What’d he say?
“A thousand...” Jesse mumbles.
“Wh… What?”
“It’s s’posed t’ be… a thousand needles in your eye…” Jesse says with an affectionate smile and reaches a shaky finger up to lightly tap Lukas on the nose, startling him further.
Oh. Well, now Lukas’ cheeks really burn.
“R–... Right! I-I knew that…! I was just… testing you. Making sure you’re still with me here.” Lukas sputters out and Jesse merely smiles again, doing nothing to help his rapid heartbeat. He forces himself to be a little analytical—he’s on the clock and while Jesse’s certainly aware of what’s going on, he’s definitely a little delirious yet. Hopefully that won’t worsen, maybe the warmth will help, even.
Lukas hesitates. He really doesn’t want to leave him. It’s a nice note to end on at least, but doesn’t do much to soothe his nerves. He just wants to curl up and sit this out with him, joking and laughing and keeping that smile on his face. But that isn’t to be. Not yet. He can’t be giving into those thoughts when they’re still on the clock.
He sucks in another big breath and Jesse must catch onto what he’s thinking if the somber look that washes over him means anything. Lukas offers a sympathetic look back.
“Are you comfier here?”
“Mhm… It’s warm…”
“Good…” He breathes, trying to restrain his own worry, “I won’t be long. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll even find that way out through there. Then we can make a new plan of attack—sound good?”
“Y-Yeah…”
“I know…” Lukas sighs and considers giving him at least another hug before heading out. He doesn’t want to move the man too much though after just getting settled. He thinks for a moment more then settles on his choice. He scoots a little bit closer and brings his second hand up to caress Jesse’s face and smiles. Jesse matches it, raising his own hand to gently rest on Lukas’ arm. Lukas sighs and presses their foreheads together and Jesse moves his hand to the back of Lukas’ shoulder, gripping his shirt tight in the makeshift closeness. It’s a comforting moment in the warm orange glow of the popping lava. His heart beats a little faster in his ears and his face becomes a little hotter, trying not to overthink just how tightly Jesse grips his shirt. He’s always been pretty physical with showing his friends affection.
Eventually, Lukas pulls away and it leaves a hollow feeling in his chest. Now comes the worst part— leaving. Jesse’s grip loosens and his hand runs down his arm all the way to his hand as Lukas stands again. Lukas smiles at the loose grip lingering on his fingertips as Jesse nods up to him.
“ Be safe…” He says before the corners of his mouth twitch and turn upwards, “ ‘ Y’know I don’t like worrying about you.’ ” He quotes and Lukas laughs a little at that. Using his own words against him, of course. He nods.
“Same to you. Don’t start doing anything clever while I’m gone, understood? Don’t want you bleeding all over again.”
“ Yessir.” Jesse says with a smirk and lazy salute. Lukas rolls his eyes. He nods and gives Jesse’s hand one final squeeze.
“See you soon.”
“You better…”
And with that, Lukas lets go of Jesse’s hand and backs out of his reach. They share one more smile before Lukas forces his legs forward and back to the steps. Behind him he hears Jesse sigh and glances back to see the man leaning his head back against the stone and resting his eyes. The orange glow is flattering for him, catching his brown curls and edge of his face just perfectly. Lukas shakes his head and tears his gaze away, yanking his nightvision goggles back down and racing up the stairs.
He’s disappointed to say that he’s gotten to know some of the ways through this Stronghold much better by now. The eerie cold sinks its teeth deep into his bones as he re-enters the Deep Dark’s territory, taking each turn and stride with a little more confidence than he feels as his heart rattles in his chest. He presses a hand to the freezing stone as he turns the final bend into the long but familiar forked hallway. He slows his pace as he continues straight ahead just as he did before, dulling the sounds of his boots to a nearly silent pattering. The newfound silence is different than in other parts of the structure—there’s a grave heaviness and tension to the air that’s suffocating. Every inch of his surroundings are on high alert and listening to him. Listening for him. Waiting for one slip-up.
He’s careful to sidestep the bricks he caught his boot on before, stepping light as a feather with the poise and grace of a dancer. He’s always preferred hanging back to take the more stealthy approach in a fight, and their recent escapade with Romeo 6 months back really forced him to hone those skills. He’d never thought himself the truly rebellious type, but someone had to step up to the plate when “Jesse” was running rampant. He learned a lot about moving through the shadows during those few months, what with his face plastered on wanted posters throughout town. This place would be a great test of those skills and experience.
He blows out a heavy breath to settle his nerves.
Cutting through the silence, those odd little blips and chatters briefly ring out as he freezes in place.
That was too loud.
He tugs his goggles up for a moment and squints down to the bend at the end of the hall, double-checking for the dark substance that sparkles like stars. Up ahead he’s greeted with the same image as he and Jesse saw before—the walls and ceiling being speckled in twinkling little lights that adorn that odd blue-black substance. He sucks in another, quieter, breath and nods to himself. This is the place. He’s really doing this. Hopefully it’ll make for a damn good book later. He pulls his goggles back on before proceeding slowly down to the bend in the hall.
He can’t say for certain if the green tinted nightvision makes the experience better or worse. It’s eerie all the same to watch as the cold and solitary stone of the stronghold gives way to this almost alien substance that looks to be spreading like a parasite. It crawls up the walls and onto the ceiling, the stuff getting thicker and more clearly alive the further in he looks. Just like before, the edges splay out in almost cobweb-esque patterns while the main body pulsates in rhythm to the twinkling lights and swaying tendrils that are trained to pick up every sound around. He’s already seen a few of those up close through various cracks and other tunnels as he’s explored, and they’re almost cute in the way they shake and light up when picking up a sound. Less cute when he’s the one they’re snitching on. The boned ones are the one’s he’s worried about. He’s not sure what they do.
He bites his lip and focuses instead on where he steps as the ground begins to get more and more coated in sculk. He’s not sure what would happen if he were to step on it, but he’s happy to avoid it. Jesse didn’t say anything about sculk climbing over people, but he can’t keep the damn image out of his mind with the way it snakes out like it has tendrils. Reminds him of the Witherstorm’s in some odd way. A pang of nostalgia hits him as he thinks of that monster. Was it one of the most terrifying experiences of his life? Yes. Would he be happy to go back and just deal with some stupid, thoughtless monster you could just whack with an enchanted weapon and be done with? Also yes, admittedly.
He continues his tense little game of hopscotch through the sculk, momentarily losing his center of balance here and there but managing to get his grip without any disasters. He reaches the end of the hallway in one piece—one nervous, tattered, and seriously stressed out piece, but one piece nonetheless. He finds a semi clear section of the wall to press his palm against as he cranes his neck around the next bend. The few tendrils of sculk underneath his hand squish and spread out as he lays pressure on them, spreading the bubbly substance all across his palm with a cold, slimy wet feeling he knows he isn’t gonna be easily scrubbing away. He swallows down the urge to gag.
But focusing now on what’s ahead of him, his eyes widen and he immediately forgets all about the sculk coating his hand. Ahead of him, what once was a hallway has now crumbled and opened up to another high ceiling deepslate cavern. It’s still part of the stronghold down here, but with the infestation of sculk, the thin thread of structural soundness this old thing was clinging to has given way and the structure has crumbled all around him. There are piles of broken bricks, gravel, and other various stones and dirt all throughout—some already buried in sculk and some still fresh enough to be exposed. But this is great news for him. Tattered multiple story walls and an open plan means he can scale walls and easily take this whole place in and maybe even spot an exit. He’d much rather try to escort them through a wide open space like this than another set of maze-like halls.
Gently pushing off the wall, he hurries ahead and b-lines it straight to the first broken down wall he sees, careful still to avoid any large patches of sculk. He notes just how much more of an echo there is now that the walls have opened up. Reaching the wall, he cringes a little at the amount of it covered in sculk but hops up onto the first hand and foothold regardless. His leg burns a little, but that’s nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. Growing up, he and Aiden would get into all sorts of places by scaling fences, walls, rock, trees—you name it. While he’s not gonna place any bets on freehanding something smooth like quartz, old dusty bricks like these are a cakewalk. Only thing to worry about are the ones ready to crumble, but those are easy enough to spot. Climbing’s second nature at this point and while he’s not going his fastest thanks to the sculk covering a lot of his hand and footholds, he still manages to clear what would’ve been the first story within a few seconds.
Once up, he barely glances around before leaping up to a new notch, wanting to climb as high as possible for the best vantage point. He gets a bit more confident now and huffs as he starts leaping to new footholds rather than taking his time to climb. He clears the second story quickly thanks to it. He notes a jutting out beam up to his left and takes a quick peek inwards to check out its setup. It’s still pretty secured by other materials. Seems stable enough. Satisfied, he leaps off his current foothold and catches the beam with both hands, using the momentum to swing around the side of the wall where a much easier path upwards greets him. He lets go and catches a few rockier bricks, digging his fingers as deep into the moulding as he can while catching the bumpy wall easily with his feet. The beam creaks and shifts loudly in response to his weight, sagging further out and knocking a handful of rocks and bricks down as it does, but it doesn’t quite fall out. Had Lukas stuck around on it though, then it’d be another story.
As the rocks and brick slam into the stone ground below, a chorus of blips and chattering rings out. That’s not so worrisome to him, but the sound that follows sets his hair on end. Another horrifying shriek echoes through the large cavern, much louder, much sharper, and much closer. It’s not quite the same as the one he heard alongside Jesse, but it’s just as chilling. A heavy thudding follows and, looking around himself now, that practically pulsating darkness hits him before retracting as suddenly as it came. A few lower toned chatters follow off in the distance, but after that the cavern returns to its dead silence. A chill works its way up his spine and Lukas swallows as he readjusts his grip on the brick above him. There’s a dread settling into him that he can’t quite explain. Those must be the shriekers Jesse mentioned briefly. He can’t say he knows much about them, but something tells him that he only has a few more times to set those off before he gets into trouble. He blows out a quiet breath as he pulls himself up the rest of the way to the top of the decrepit third story.
He hoists himself up with a grunt, swinging a leg up onto the top to help pull him up the rest of the way. A small group of bats squeak and fly off into some higher part of the cavern, triggering a few sensors as they fly. He straddles the old brick wall for a moment to catch his breath and get a brief scan of the area. The cavern is… Bigger than it initially seemed from on the ground. He blows out an annoyed sigh and hears a small set of blips and chattering follow now too long after. He rolls his eyes. God they’re particular.
He pushes himself up and into a standing position once more, now delicately balancing on the old brick line like a tightrope. Usually he could go pretty fast on a line like this—almost 4 inches wide, that’s pretty generous—but given how old they are and the slimy crap coating so much of the place, he decides to slow down a pace. Reaching a corner of the building, he settles back down into a steady crouch to really start analyzing the place around them. He smiles a little to himself as he sits there for a moment—Jesse’d probably say he looks like a gargoyle or something up here. Some funny little comment with that bright grin of his with his hands probably pointedly rested on his hips. The image of Jesse now flashes through his mind, starkly contrasting the bright and snarky personality he usually sports. His heart aches and he clenches his jaw as he shakes his head. He still can’t believe it. It never should’ve happened.
He hastily reaches into his satchel and nabs the little telescope he brought along. Usually not much use in the dark, but with the faint blue glow of the sculk he might be able to make out a little bit more than usual. He yanks his goggles up to the top of his head and blinks a little, forcing his eyes to readjust to the low light. ‘Deep Dark’ really wasn’t an exaggeration. No wonder the Stronghold itself was so eerie.
It takes a moment to readjust, but he manages to fairly quickly. They’ve been down here for so long already he can’t say he’s surprised, though picking details out is still hard. Generally though, he can see how the maze of hallways and rooms are laid out. He’s backed into the lower corner of the cavern and able to see most of the exposed old structure. Down to his left, back by where he came in, there seems to be two hallways that enter the area, separated by some walls and buildings. It’s an odd mix down here with some buildings still fully intact despite the sculk, and others just left in piles of rubble. Most of the structure has long since worn away and been tossed around of course since all of this was once encased in stone brick. Regardless, it leaves behind an interesting little city plan in its wake.
The further path in seems like it’s a main street of sorts, reaching all the way back to the last block or two before the structure hits the back wall of the cavern again. It juts off at varying points into some, for lack of a better word, couldesacs—both do, actually. It really is labyrinthian in the sheer amount of ways one could walk through here. He frowns a little and pulls up the spyglass, focusing in on part of the main road about a block up from the entrance. Just as he thought, it’s blocked off. Remaining rubble, be it from a wall or part of the old roof, has completely blocked off the road. He begins retracing all the paths he glances over before and finds several more blocked off sections.
That’s not even mentioning the sculk infestation amongst it all—he sees more of that slimy black ink than actual stone. His eyes catch a bony structure like the ones he and Jesse saw in the hall and grimaces at the sight. Four jagged bones rise straight up out of the structure, sharp as knives, with a familiar blue glowing pool between the four of them that slowly seems to be swirling around and around in a nonstop loop. Something about the sight makes his hairs stand on end and he switches his gaze to somewhere else.
The outer walls of the cavern wrap around in a weird misshapen crunched circle, but the ceilings arch high above him still even from a third story structure. A few stalactites hang down, but they’re small and blend in with the natural arch of the cavern. Dragging his eyes back downwards, he traces along where the wall meets the ground and spies several cave entrances but can’t see from here just where each one goes. Additionally, there are several spots where branches of the stronghold disappear back into the walls of the cavern, including one at the very back just about a block to the left of the main street with a dim light emanating from it.
He pauses at that. There hasn’t been a light this whole time. Both his logical side and architectural brain kicks in fast . While the Stronghold for them hasn’t exactly been easy to navigate, Lukas can find some vague rhyme and reason for a lot of it given some thought. There was consistency, it’s just been battered and beaten down with time. That said, if this was a main hall at some point, that path may just lead somewhere promising. With all of these different cave entrances and stronghold branches around, one’s just bound to go upwards instead of down— especially so with that light.
As he flicks away something else catches his eye. Something much more familiar and something that makes his heart stop just for a moment. Amongst the desolate blacks, greys, and blues, the comforting warm brown of a raggedy old chest feels like he’s practically seeing sunlight. He glances around the area to get his bearings of where it’s sitting and sees a second one nearby and actually breaks into a grin. He rips the scope away and squints out to where the building with them both is. They’re not too far and in an old building right next to the collapsed section of the main road.
He does one more look around, this time trying to spot chests amongst the rubble as there’s probably more lurking around. He spies one or two more but can’t get anywhere past that. He frowns and stuffs the scope again, internally debating now. There’s bound to be more lurking around, but he can’t exactly see through walls. It’s about time he gets down and starts poking around the old fashioned way.
With a satisfied nod to himself and renewed vigor, he flicks his goggles back down and scouts out the best path over. Right below him is a wall that goes straight along the road a little and then turns right and up towards the building he needs, stopping short just across the road from the back of the building with the first chest dead ahead. The only thing left to do now is climb down.
Lukas cranes his neck over the side of his perch and does a quick scan of the brick and spies a reasonable way down. With not a second wasted he turns around, makes sure his topside grip is solid, and then rappels down onto the brick. He finds his footholds no problem and begins the climb down. The walls themselves still stand about a story above the ground so it’s less of the climb, thankfully. He’s there pretty quick and drops the last few feet, landing with a near mute thud on the balls of his feet.
He moves swiftly along the top of the wall, slowly rising out of his crouch but maintaining some flexibility. He makes the first turn and notices one of those blockages about halfway down the wall, cutting the first of the two entrance hallways off from having a clear path in. Looks like there’s only one bottlenecked entrance. He moves ahead past it up to the end of the wall at his first clear intersection, to his left lies the building he needs.
Also right next to it? Another problem.
Contently propped up against the outer wall of the decrepit old pile of junk is one of those shriekers and a whole set of sensors around it dancing happily in the silent ambiance. But if Lukas knows anything about these old chests, it’s that they’re far from silent. That shrieker is going to be triggered at least once if he’s lucky, but probably more. What’s the old adage? Third time’s the charm? He and Jesse already set one off together, and he set a second one off not even fifteen minutes ago, a third time would be pushing it.
But he needs to check those chests. Hell, he should probably check all of the ones he can find just starting with those two, but then what? Wherever it’s at, the Warden is bound to be getting closer and he’d rather leave it in his imagination. He sucks in a breath and slowly blows it out, not making a peep from his perch. He’s just going to have to play this quick and smart. Simple as that.
With that, he swings down, catches some bricks with his feet, and quietly climbs the rest of the way down. He glances both ways down the road on instinct as he creeps across the old stone, avoiding whatever pulsating sculk he can. He comes up on the back of the building and glances at the shrieker to his left and the odd glow emanating from it. His gaze lingers, more curious than he cares to admit. He creeps a step or two closer, just so he can get a better top down view and momentarily pulls his goggles up. That swirling blue pool is a lot more eerie up close, with a faint fog even bubbling out of it. There’s a faint icy breeze being whipped up by the steady motion of the liquid inside and Lukas can’t help but lean into it.
Now, he’s heard the stories. He’s read about many of the odd artifacts of the world being powered by the souls of people, monsters, or animals. He’s seen the sand, hell he’s held the flames. But to look down and see a small sea of genuine souls trapped stirring in some jagged alarm system feeding off of them? It makes him dizzy. It feels impossible, and yet there they are right before him, and nothing else makes sense. A brief thought flickers through his mind—what would it feel like to reach into a pool of souls ?
Lukas backs away from the creepy structure before he can find out.
Slowly meandering around the right of the building, he scans above him for the cleanest means of entry—he doesn’t want to accidentally knock a brick loose or kick up some gravel so close to that little alarm. As he’s about to turn the corner, something bright catches the corner of his eye. He stops immediately and glances down, spying a tripwire mere inches ahead at about shin-level. It catches the dull blue glow from the sculk and almost seems to light up itself, or at least as much as it can in the dark. He freezes up, quickly jerking his gaze around for anybody watching him. Nothing. He can’t see anybody, at least not easily. His heart beats loudly in his ears now and he momentarily wonders if that could be heard by these little snitches too. He crouches down to better inspect the wire and frowns.
The wire is fresh by mere hours. Taught, bright, and ready for use. It’s not too complicated, per se, but still would’ve taken some time to set up. Perhaps their pursuer isn’t as far ahead as they thought. At the height it’s sitting at, they would’ve both triggered its trap and likely stumbled if not fallen completely. Though, what it’s hooked up to is still the worrisome part. While somewhat unsurprising given how their last chase went, the hastily crafted bomb is still a scary sight to see. It’s a bold move to set up something so easily triggered by any monster, but then again, it’s not like there really were any to be seen down here, save for the occasional bat. Either they’d trigger it, or the Warden would.
He slowly rises back to full height, not taking his eyes off of the bomb for a second. Another complication for him, but one he can’t help but wonder about. Why here? Why now? He hasn’t run into any other rigged section, so what makes this part of the stronghold special? Surely they didn’t go through and rig every inch of the deep dark? His heart leaps into his throat and hope sends goosebumps up his arms.
The exit. He could be near the exit. This could be their last-ditch attempt to prevent them from getting out.
And like hell it will.
Lukas glances around again with a renewed purpose, mentally mapping the area again and trying to trace out the easiest route for Jesse to get through. He’ll have to go around and explore a bit more to see where exactly more of those tripwires and shriekers are, but that’s fine he can be quick and quiet—it’s Jesse that he’ll need to worry about in the case of a Warden showing up. His gaze shifts back to the tripwire as the idea of a Warden chase crosses his mind. They’re strong and blind, but have amazing hearing and scent. If push came to shove… And these traps…
He stores that idea away for later and as one to keep to himself. He doesn’t need to scare Jesse unnecessarily. This place leads to their way out, they’ve gotta get through it. That said, any bonuses they can find he’ll happily take. Carefully, he steps over the wire and explosive and continues on, pulling himself up into the old building not long after. The sculk squelches underneath his hands and feet and he grimaces, hastily wiping his hands on his pants once he’s standing again.
Two chests. One in front of him and one on his right. Both obviously rusted and rotting. Differing amounts of sculk lining both. Shrieker right outside the near non-existant wall. Perfect. What more could he need?
He bites his lip as he decides on how to deal with this. Opening both at once could save him some shrieking heartache, but they’re a good 10 feet apart and latched tight. He frowns and shifts on his feet, his bow on his back gently bumping the back of his head as he does.
Another idea—and this one will make him look silly! But it’ll work! Lukas grins as he quietly unlatches the first chest then shuffles over to the second one on his right and does the same. Once undone he yanks his bow off of his back and grips it tight in his left hand. He sucks in a breath as he braces the lid in front of him with his right hand and then leans out to stuff the top of his bow under the lid of the first chest back to his left. It’s certainly a straining stretch, but he eventually manages to get some solid leverage and grins. Now the fun part.
One…
Two…
Three!
With one quick motion Lukas throws both chests open. The lids fly back with ear-grating screeches and thud loudly against the bricks they’re laid up against. Their clattering echoes up and throughout the cavern and soon a chorus of blipping and chattering rings out once again, but much louder and much fuller. Just as quickly, that shrieker does its little job and a banshee’s scream rings out. Lukas rushes to his feet and begins digging through the contents, heart already leaping into his throat at the familiar purple-pink glow of enchantment meeting him right away.
The chest in front of him is a mixed bag with simple stuff like bread, rotten apples, and some gold, but then also an enchanted book. He grabs the book and quickly scans it—channeling. Could be of use. He stuffs it. He lets the apples and other useless contents drop and then rushes over to the other chest. And oh man, he really was right about some good stuff being left behind here. There’s some iron, some more bread, and some old gunpowder, but even better is the small enderpearl pouch and beautifully glowing glass bottle.
He stuffs both and quickly scans the bottle’s cherry red contents as darkness begins to pulsate at the edge of his vision. He can’t help the bit of disappointment that wells up in him at the label. ‘ Instant Health’. Not bad, but regeneration would do more for Jesse at this point. This would just give him a bit of a temporary adrenaline boost in the case of an emergency.
He takes the empty reinforced bottle out from his satchel and carefully pours the contents of the new bottle inside before setting it carefully into place. He goes to put the old glass bottle back in the chest when he pauses, admiring the dirtied and smudged thing. It looks one wrong breath away from shattering. Could be useful. He decides to keep it on hand as he rises to his feet once more.
Lukas slips out of the decrepit building and crosses the brick road to another wall further in. He finds the hand and footholds he needs and flings himself back up. Once topside he’s greeted by that eerie glow once more and looks straight down on the opposite side of the wall to see another one of those shriekers with its soul pool. A shiver runs up his spine and he briefly rubs his arms before moving to the left and edge of the wall where a four-way intersection lays. He scans each turn and street before him for more wires, and unsurprisingly enough he sees multiple.
One lines the entry on his left, one in front of him right by the shrieker, and a third across the intersection, mirroring the one on his left. If they were to walk straight down the main road, they’d run into two in a row. He looks right and further down the side row, spying another one. These are the main paths, so it makes sense they’re the most trapped. Interestingly enough however, not all of these wires are hooked to explosives. Following the one in front of him, for example, it merely leads to a small old table with a pot on top. Tripping would probably yank that little table out and leave the pot to fall and shatter, creating quite the commotion for this biome’s standards. Simple yet effective. They must’ve been running low on that dynamite and had to get creative. Had this not been the situation they’re in, Lukas may admire their adaptability.
Lukas takes a deep breath and scurries along the top of the wall and looks for a safe place to get down. The walls and tops of buildings will be his home turf as he scans this place, especially with those wires, and he needs to know where they all are. He’s not gonna risk disarming them, especially the bombs, so best to just avoid them altogether. So, quietly and as slowly as he can, he begins his search.
It goes well, which is to say that this is going to be fucking horrible. The sheer amount of sculk and shriekers alone is already going to make this a challenge to say the least—especially with stepping a little too hard on any sculk setting off those sensors. Even if they’re as silent as humanly possible, any little slip up—a wheeze, a stumble, a gasp, anything— could ring the alarm and get a Warden on their heels. Even a damn bat swooping at random. But the traps on top of that? They make this feel like it’s gonna be impossible.
But this is a risk they’re going to have to take. They have no other leads, and the idea that this could be the exit only gets stronger as Lukas approaches the one path at the very back of the cavern. It’s the same one he saw from the top of that building on the opposite end of the cavern, the one a little offset from the main road. Approaching the stone doorway carefully, his eyes flick from the wire strung across the path, to the way it trails up the walls, and finally to the whole collection of dynamite strung up across the top of the stone. Lukas scowls and steps back a few feet to get a better look. Above the stone brick outline of course lies regular deepslate and a plethora of other deep earth stones in the natural jagged curves of the cavern wall. This is where most of that dynamite got set, and for good reason—if this wire were tripped, it’d likely break an entire slab of deepslate off the wall and drop it on their heads. Another cave-in at best and getting crushed to death at worst.
There’s a single lantern hanging a little bit into the path, the only sign of life they’ve seen this entire time. He pulls his goggles off and blinks away the green to get greeted by the comforting orange glow of that simple little flame. It’s warm, familiar, and safe, and just begs for someone to come running in without thinking. Had they been running through in more of a panic, especially with a Warden on their heels, they probably would fall right for it. Clever bait.
He puts his goggles back on and falls back from the exit, back into the darkness. He hasn’t been risking walking into any of the still complete buildings since finding those tripwires, chests be damned. Regeneration potions are harder to make and to get—he’s already got an instant health potion at his hip and sights on the exit with a plethora of potential paths they can take already in his head. He doesn’t need to take the risk if they can get out of here.
That said… He still has one thing left to investigate. He doesn’t like that he has to investigate it, and frankly would prefer not to and just leave it in his imagination as he thought before. But… He truly does need some kind of idea of how it operates in case bad goes to worse. Jesse’s not himself and just deteriorating as the clock ticks, he won’t be able to react like typical. Lukas has to make up for that. He’s gotta know everything he can.
He returns to the main road and climbs up onto the wall. There’s a solid corridor here with the wall pretty complete and buildings complete on both sides in lines of three, isolating the path. Once you walk in, the only way out is straight through unless you climb like he can. Perfect for what he needs.
He crouches down on the wall and twists the empty glass bottle on his belt nervously. He pulls a silent but deep breath in through his nose as he brings his fingers to his mouth. He blows out a piercing whistle. The sound echoes off the walls and one or two bats fly around higher up at the disturbance, not to mention the predictable chorus of blips, chattering, and shrieks. That pulsating darkness attacks him again, but this time it sticks around. He feels his heart drop and his palms sweat as a loud crackling rips through the silence not far from his very perch. Lukas jumps and jerks his gaze towards the sound, his eyes landing on a thick vein of sculk down below just a mere 10 feet away.
The crackling mixes in with the disgusting wet squelching of sculk being ripped apart as the ground practically shifts before his eyes. It’s not his imagination either—the vein of sculk shifts and swirls in a whirlpool on one fixed point much closer than he’d like. Something freezes him in place, unable to rip his eyes away from it. Bleached white bones shift through the oozing black mucus and crunch into place at the center. A large appendage violently rips through the sculk, spewing it everywhere and causing Lukas to flinch. It reaches high—7 feet—and flexes the claw-like tendrils of its hand. It’s bulky with hardly a distinction for even a wrist—nothing but pure manufactured muscle and bones to reinforce the shoulders. It clenches its fist and slams down into the ground with a deafening thud. Lukas flinches as pebbles shake at his feet. Another arm shoots up out of the gunk and slams down on the opposite side. It steadily rips the rest of itself out of the ground, but the only two things Lukas can fixate on are its head and its chest.
It’s practically dripping in sculk, and while he knew the creature was blind, the lack of eyes against the gaping maw of a mouth and slit nostrils feels like an alien nightmare. On its head, stemming from where a set of eyebrows might sit, is a grand series of those sensors that branch high above its head like a set of antlers. Bright glowing sculk hangs from them like moss on a tree and lingers on other areas around its body like around the neck, shoulders, and bits of the arms. Its mouth is the worst. Wide open and black with small but jagged teeth sporadically set in different directions of different shapes and sizes, all smashed together in a disgusting attempt to make something whole. It stays open and saliva begins to ooze out of it in long thick strings before pooling on the floor beneath it. Lukas has to cover his mouth to stifle a cough—it utterly reeks of mold and decomposition.
The real highlight however lies at the center of its chest. A mess of bones have come together in the dead center to form a jagged ribcage that vaguely protects the glowing thing that must be its heart. It finishes pulling itself up out of the ground with a loud guttural hiss, and as it stands back on its muscled haunches, it reaches its full height and towers high over the average Enderman. A good 13 feet if he had to guess on a whim, at least 4 meters. The wall he’s perched on no longer touts the safety it once did, just barely a few feet above this thing’s head. This beast could reach up and grab him with ease.
As it settles, a new sound reverberates through the cave. A thumping. A heartbeat. It’s heavy and resonates deep within Lukas’ own chest, almost daring his own heart to beat in sync. And with a clearer look, he can actually make out what said heart looks like. It’s a brighter blue and glows brightly with each thud, but this is no regular heart. Lukas blows out a cold and shuddery breath as the screaming souls ignite with each steady beat of this creature’s heart. Trapped or not, the implications weigh heavy on his shoulders for the brief second he has to consider them.
The next sound that comes shocks him out of his studies—A long and wheezy whine from the beast followed by loud sniffing, moving its head and body along with the motion. The smell. Right. He forgot about the smell. It lets out another whine, this one seemingly more irritated. He can’t tell if that’s because it found something or not, but he just prays it’s the latter. It begins sculking forward, swinging its arms as it moves to balance out how top-heavy it is. It’s not at all graceful with how it shambles along, each slow step making that sickening squelching noise. It scans the area around it carefully, heading in the direction Lukas needs to go to get out. His stomach ties up in knots.
A bat squeaks out not too far above them and the Warden’s sensors shake and glow with that familiar blip at the sound. It stops and looks upwards with another little whine, this one rising in pitch in sheer curiosity. Lukas creeps along the wall and onto the first building’s roof, not taking his eyes off of the creature as he does. It tilts its head as the bat continues to squeak and fly in circles. It’s almost sweet with its curiosity. Almost. Not quite.
It reaches upwards towards the bat, whining softly only for the bat to flit out of reach. The sound reaches its sensors once more and it groans, thoroughly trained on the creature. Lukas scans his surroundings in the meantime, trying to spy a better place to perch ideally much higher than this thing. The best place would be the building he scaled when he first came in, but that’s still halfway across the complex with a Warden between. If it stays distracted however…
He tries to drown out the creepy sounds it makes and focus on his slow creep towards the edge of the third building. Unfortunately closer to it, but also closer to safety. Halfway over the last roof it makes a different sound. Guttural. Antagonized. Lukas freezes and his blood runs cold. He slowly dares a glance, and is relieved to find that it’s still trained on the bat, but this new aggravation doesn’t exactly relax him. All of its sounds have an almost alien sounding reverberation, but these are much worse. A deep rumbling comes from its chest and Lukas can feel it down to his own core. With each noise the bat makes, the angrier it seems to get, until finally it reaches a tipping point.
The bat has flown behind it and far out of reach by this point, but the Warden remains fixated. The beast winds up as if taking a deep breath, then throws its entire body forward and rips a hissing roar out of its throat. Lukas gasps and instinctively ducks down, wide eyes still trained on it. The creature practically leaps forwards and shambles towards the bat at horrifying speeds for its stature, closing the distance of the entire main hall within seconds . One of its heavy arms flies out and tries swatting the bat. It misses, but the limb comes crashing down into the stone and knocks what was left of a second story building to the ground like it’s butter. The sound of the loud crash irritates the creature further and it lets out another throaty roar.
Luckily, its pursuit of the bat made it turn around and head back towards the back of the cavern, giving Lukas the break he needs. With shaky limbs he forces himself along until he reaches the building’s edge. He drops down the side as fast and quiet as possible, but the sweat coating his hands threatens to drop him. He manages to make it to the ground in one piece, but not without a heart hammering hard against his ribcage. He glances behind himself, getting his bearings—-there’s a wall behind him that’ll drop him in that 4 way intersection on the other side. He knows where the traps are, he could avoid them.
He wants to sprint through the halls and be done with this place, but he keeps his panic suppressed just enough to do what he’s gotta. He needs to get to the wall on the other side of the hallway he’s about to climb into and he wants to avoid messing with those wires. There’s a blocked path of old debris and bricks in the middle of this wall and opening it up. He hurries over to it. With feather-like steps, Lukas slowly crawls over the old rock. There’s a faint crunching under his feet that makes him cringe and a few small rocks tumble down the slope, but thankfully those noisy bats have the creature’s attention.
As he reaches the top of the debris he notices another shrieker close by. Bad news. He doesn’t dare ask what triggering a second one would bring at this point. The Warden lets out another hiss and Lukas freezes once more as adrenaline floods his veins. There’s no immediate charging however, and he doesn’t hear anything coming his way. He sneaks a brief glance to double check it’s staying far away and continues on down into the 4-way intersection. He swings over to the wall and decides to climb down the brick rather than chance kicking up some gravel so close to that shrieker.
Once down into the intersection, a wave of relief washes over him. Just being out of that thing’s line of sight is a comfort, even though he knows it’s a foolhardy one. Here it’s just him, the freezing pitch blackness, two shriekers, and the deathtraps their good ol’ murderous friend laid out for them. He’d happily take more of these over an up close and personal run in with that monster.
He approaches the opposite wall and dusts his sweat-coated hands off to climb again and braces himself against the bricks. He sucks in a breath, and right as he’s set to push off of the ground, a sound stops him in his tracks. Or rather a lack of sound. He turns his head sideways in an attempt to hear just a little better as he holds his breath. That’s when the next hit comes. There’s a new sound and then a sudden loud blast —almost like some sort of shockwave. Lukas’ face scrunches up in confusion as he fully looks back that way. A handful of rocks and a small stalactite falls from the ceiling with a deafening crash, but he has no idea what exactly just happened. One thing he does know though is that the Warden lets out a sound almost like relief and that he can no longer hear any bats in the cavern.
Scrambling up the wall now, Lukas shoves himself up to see what’s going on. A loose brick drops out under his foot and he slips and slams into the side of the wall with a gasp. The cut on his leg sears with pain as he bites his tongue hard to keep from being too loud, but the damage is already done. The thud and sound of the brick clattering against the stone floor cuts through the newfound silence and Lukas feels his blood run cold. Both shriekers go off and the Warden makes a startled noise and shifts. He doesn’t have to look to know that it’s heading his way now. Shit.
He doesn’t stick around to find out what happens next. He flings himself up the wall and drops down the other side with a roll. The Warden lets out an irritated whine and its shambling picks up the pace just slightly. Lukas forces himself to stay in place—he needs to have his wits about him right now. He swallows and quickly takes in the view of the intersection. The building with the two chests he looted is ahead of him a little to his right and that tripwire strung diagonally from its corner and across the road hooks to the wall on his left. He can hear the Warden whine as it begins sniffing again—searching for him. It’ll probably pass straight through the four-way which would get rid of those traps for him at the cost of pissing it off more. Lukas bites his lip in hard thought.
No, they could be of use later if they need them, and he doesn’t want this thing even more pissed right now. Time to test that bait.
Lukas pushes off the ground and upright again, nabbing the empty glass bottle off of his belt and turning around back towards the walls. He grips the neck of the bottle tightly and frowns as he quickly tries mapping out the distance in his head. He’s just gotta make it pass over that middle hallway—that’s all. Sucking in a breath, he pulls back, aims high, and chucks the bottle out into the darkness. He stumbles forwards a bit with the throw and just stands there anxiously as he listens. His breath is visible before him as he pants. Finally, there’s the distant but distinct sound of glass shattering and he hears the Warden respond in turn. He breaks into a smile as the beast turns on heel and quickly shambles towards the sound and far away from both him and those tripwires.
As it moves, so does he. Lukas quickly and quietly steps over the nearby wire and hurries back to the building he climbed to start. He scales it again, albeit a bit more carefully now, pausing mid-climb here and there to glance over and check in on the Warden. It’s comfortably out of range of him now, at least for his standards, and he just gets to watch. Finally up top again, he crouches down slightly behind a crumbled wall and desperately tries to settle his breathing. Upon first reaching the shattered glass, the Warden reached down and picked up some fragments, practically inspecting them. Then it stood around smelling uncomfortably deeply and Lukas had half a mind to stop his climb then and there and book it in case it somehow managed to pick up a trace of him. But things seem to be fine and it’s only meandering around the back blocks now. It’s miraculously avoiding any tripwires, though its shortcuts through and over old buildings probably help on that front.
Whatever that loud blast was before, it doesn’t duplicate it, and unfortunately for Lukas there are no more bats hanging around to piss this thing off. He’s certainly had his fill picking on it, and is happy to just avoid triggering one of these things with Jesse in general. Despite the rapid pulse, clammy hands, and overall feeling of exhaustion and terror, Lukas can’t help but be happy that he managed to get a look at this thing. Jesse was right that they would just have to get away if they encountered one, but running isn’t an option. Quiet and with distractions along the way seems to work though, at least for the moment.
And not long after sitting down? It decides it’s seen enough. Lukas watches intently as the creature grunts, bends over, and rips into the sculk with that horrible squelching and dives in head first. It disappears even quicker than it emerged as the sculk and bones dissolve once more into their regular patches. There’s a resounding hum as it all splays out as he assumes the souls dissipate from that form. The hum echoes briefly but finally gives way to silence as well and all that’s left in the wake of that Warden are a few less bats, buildings, and nerves. But finally, finally, Lukas has an idea of what they’re up against in here. The exit’s here, he knows it, now it’s just a matter of getting through to it.
Lukas pulls back from his outlook and leans back against the freezing wall, letting out a heavy breath. Chattering follows but at this point he’s past caring—he hasn’t triggered a shrieker up here yet, he’s fine. Talk about an ordeal, and they haven’t even gotten to the toughest part yet. He reaches up and rubs his face, his icy hands refreshing against his hot skin. Man, where was he going to begin when telling the others? Radar’s probably worried sick, and no doubt Petra, Axel, and Olivia are really starting to question the kid. They owe him so much when they get back. When. Can’t be ‘if’, has to be when.
Speaking of getting back, he’s been in here for far too long. At least two hours just crawling through the whole place at a snail’s pace. He needs to get back to Jesse. With that in mind, and his quick break over, Lukas begins his climb down.
Chapter 30: The Deep Dark P.2
Summary:
Jesse and Lukas make their way through the Deep Dark to reach the Stronghold's exit
Notes:
wahooooo!! anotha one <3
This is the thriller/horror chapter! I don't have much experience writing scary stuff but I DO play horror games and Alien Isolation is a fave so hopefully I managed to translate the dread at least okay-ish! Regardless there's some scenes in this that have been in my brain for MONTHS and Im REALLY excited about it all OUGH !!!Jesse and Lukas my BELOVEDS. So sorry to do this to you guys and for over 15k words 👍👍👍
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A sharp pain from his ankle startles Jesse out of his doze. He hisses and kicks around, foot connecting with something small but infuriatingly annoying. The small creature hisses back at him and he just sneers as he haphazardly flings the crossbow that direction and fires a bolt. It misses, and the sound of the bolt embedding itself into the stone echoes through the hall and stairwell. He misses, sure, but it does its job regardless. The small pack of Silverfish scuttles away, leaving Jesse to his own devices once again. He blows out a sigh and drops the crossbow as a dull pain ripples through his shoulder from the exertion and the damn thing ramming itself into him with the kickback. Another bruise for the collection.
This spot had been great for the warmth, but neither had half a brain to remember that Silverfish were common around portals. Damn things. He grumbles a few curses to himself as he glares at the other bolts sticking out of the ground. Would Lukas probably say that was a waste and reckless of him? Yes. Does he frankly care? No.
He slowly and carefully sucks in a deep breath, wheezing a little as he does. Suffice to say he’s just been feeling worse by the hour. No patch-up, no pain killers, no potions, just sitting and languishing in his freshly mutilated state. Every breath is a gamble pain-wise—some are easy with no issues at all, others hit a nerve and leave him tensed up and holding his breath for long periods at a time. He rests his head against the warm stone for the billionth time and shuts his eyes. There’s not much left for him to do, and he’d rather wake up to a bad surprise than sit wide awake and stew in anxiety and pain for hours. He’d already heard two distant but loud noises, but it’s a blur. Couldn’t say what they were, but he just prays he’s hallucinating and no more parts of the cave came crashing down.
He also prays he’s not alone. The thought of Lukas not coming back has been eating at his mind since the moment he was out of sight, and it’s been hours. The time hasn’t done him any favors. What if he was attacked? What if that person came back and decided to off them one at a time? Or do just enough damage so Lukas was left hardly able to move like himself? Or what if those noises he heard were parts of the cave coming down on top of him? What if he didn’t die immediately? What if he was sitting there alone and in pain and agony, just wasting away?
The chill of tears running down his face shocks him out of those thoughts for just long enough. He sniffles and raises his good hands to his face, batting them away. Lukas would be fine. He’s a tough guy. He’s capable. He’s gotta be okay. He can’t fathom what he’d do if he wasn’t. It’d be all his fault. He taps on the crossbow, then shifts to plucking on its drawstring. He’s been trapped in this cycle of thoughts since their attack, though the worry for Lukas has been ever-present from the beginning. Now it’s just ten-fold. What are they going to do? What if they really do just die down here?
Jesse opens his eyes again and stares intensely up at the cracks in the ceiling, just beginning to count. He’s already counted this section 5 or 6 times, but he’ll take anything over letting his panicked mind drift back to everyone waiting back home for them. Within a few minutes, the warmth in the area seeps back into his muscles and he relaxes a little more, drowsiness settling in once again. He doesn’t fight it and just rests back up against the wall for however long he can.
The feeling of knuckles ghosting over his cheek is what wakes him up again. His eyes flutter open and he furrows his brow slightly as the person comes into focus. He tenses at first until that familiar shape of Lukas settles in. His heart practically leaps into his throat with how suddenly light he feels. He beams.
“ Lukas…!” He croaks out, not even caring at how bad his voice sounds anymore. Lukas returns his smile. How didn’t he hear him run down here?
“I promised I’d be back, didn’t I?” He says with a chuckle and Jesse instinctively tries straightening and shoving himself forward only for another wave of pain to rip through him. He grimaces, trapping a cry in his throat and hears Lukas quietly gasp. The man quickly crouches down and helps brace him. Jesse scowls and shakes his head, utter frustration bubbling up immediately and threatening to boil over. This is pathetic, this is so stupid , he should be better than this. Lukas lingers and Jesse just grips his arm and leans up against him, resting his head on his shoulder.
“ S… Sorry… ‘m sorry…”
“It’s okay, you’ve done nothing you need to apologize for, Jess…” Lukas murmurs and Jesse just grimaces again, burying his face deeper in his shoulder. He has a lot to apologize for, actually, but arguing it right now obviously isn’t gonna do either of them any good. So for now he’ll just sit quietly and thank whatever higher beings there are that Lukas is safe and with him again. He feels the man shift and is gently pulled into a more comfortable position. He feels the pressure taken off of his gashes and can’t help but sigh into the new hold as Lukas gently rubs his back. Screw everything else, this is all the comfort he needs to die happy. Perhaps his bar is a little low at the moment. Regardless, he could fall asleep again right here and now, but he tries not to and focuses instead on Lukas. He shifts his head on his shoulder again to speak easier.
“I heard those loud booms… or whatever they were…” He mumbles, “I was worried y’ might’ve… Or that maybe somethin’... I’unno…” He trails off, unsure of what exactly he actually wanted to say. He knows what he means but the fog in his brain isn’t exactly helping him put the pieces together. Luckily, Lukas knows him well enough and tightens his grip just a little.
“It’s alright. I’m actually back bearing good news for once.” Lukas says and Jesse can practically hear him smiling. He blinks and slowly pulls back from the man to look up at him in confusion. Lukas’ smile brightens even more—he was smiling—as he reaches into his bag. He pulls out the potion bottle that had the regeneration in it earlier, though now it’s filled with a cherry-red liquid. Why’s it filled with something red now? He thought Lukas used the potion up on him? Jesse stares at it for a few seconds longer than he should just merely attempting to process it before it finally clicks. His eyes widen as Lukas proudly shakes the bottle.
“It’s an instant health potion.” He says and Jesse can’t help the disappointment that floods him. Lukas smiles sympathetically, “Yeah, I know.. But it’s at least something, right? Listen, I don’t know how much further we’re gonna have on our way back up, so I’m gonna save it either for a bind or once we get up to a point where we start seeing regular stone again. You know what to expect right?”
Jesse nods sluggishly, “ Adrenaline.”
“ Right. Good. That doesn’t mean you can start doing acrobatics though–the last thing we want are those wounds opening again. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“ Good.” Lukas says pointedly as he stuffs the bottle back in his bag. Jesse watches aimlessly, thoughts floating lazily through his head. He frowns a little. Wait. What did he just say? Two thoughts manage to click together and he looks up at the man curiously.
“Our way back up…?” He mumbles in confusion and Lukas pauses his packing to glance at him. He stares at him for a long enough of a time that Jesse begins to worry he said something stupid, but eventually smiles again and nods.
“Yep! Pretty sure I found the exit, actually!”
Jesse’s eyes widen at that. Exit. He said exit, right?
“T-The exit? Like, out out?” He spits out quickly, the shock of it cutting through the fog plaguing his head. They could get out of here. They could go home.
They could be safe.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get movin’...!” He says with a smile as he glances around. Lukas returns the smile but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Jesse notices and tilts his head curiously, “What’s wrong?”
“Jess… We’re gonna have to go through the Deep Dark to get to it.”
Oh.
Oh, that’s right. His own smile falters as the information sinks in alongside a new sense of dread. He hasn’t even seen that biome, but he knows it’s dangerous for even the most prepared—but for him? In this state?
A part of him begins to panic—he doesn’t wanna get left behind down here. Being alone for these little bits was bad enough—but to be left to go get help? For potentially a whole day? Or more? What if he’s forgotten about? Or thought of as a lost cause? He feels Lukas fingers under his chin as his thoughts begin swirling again and the man pulls him back to look at him.
“ Jesse— Jesse, hey, easy, it’s okay. I’ve got a plan for the both of us. It’s not exactly gonna be a walk in the park, but I think we can make it work.” He says with a reassuring smile and Jesse’s anxiety melts away fast. Oh. Right. Lukas would never just leave him like that, how silly of him to think so. He scolds himself internally for allowing his thoughts and emotions to just fly all over the place like they are.
“What’s the plan…?”
“Okay, so…” Lukas starts with a deep breath as he claps his hands together, “Those shriekers are really sensitive, so we’ve gotta be really careful not to set any off. That means being slow and quiet.”
Jesse nods. Slow and quiet. He can certainly do the slow part. Lukas continues.
“That’s simple enough, right? Well, here’s where the wrench gets thrown in,” he says with a sigh and Jesse tries to keep his heart from dropping too far. Lukas runs his hands through his hair nervously, “Our little ‘friend’ left us some parting gifts, so to speak. AKA, there’s tripwires everywhere. Some are hooked to spare dynamite they had and made into makeshift bombs. Others are attached to objects meant to make noise. The exit also has a wire that’ll blow the whole cave down if triggered, so we’ve got to make sure we avoid that one at all costs. I scouted the entire area and I know where most are now and have a pretty good idea of a path for you. We’re gonna be travelling on the ground through the halls since you’re in no condition to climb. Make sense?”
“Mhm… Fucker really wants us dead huh…” Jesse blows out with a sigh. Lukas nods.
“Something like that. Yet they’re too cowardly to face us again on their own. I think we gave them a good scare.” Lukas says with a smirk and Jesse smiles a little with him. Lukas reaches over and begins packing their lanterns and things again and Jesse does what he can to check the crossbow. Still working, of course, but he definitely wasted a few bolts. Jesse glances up to Lukas again and examines him—he looks in pretty rough shape too, no doubt exhausted. Hair all out of place, dirt caking him especially on his arms and face, and what looks like a little bit of sculk stuck on his hands and in his hair. He cringes and reaches up to wipe some of that gunk off with his good hand, causing the man to freeze.
“Lukas… Are you up for this…?” He mumbles and Lukas’ eyes flick over to him. They’re steely—unreadable. Finally he relaxes a little and forces a bitter smile.
“Jesse, time isn’t exactly a luxury we have anymore. I’ll be fine, but we need to just rip the bandage off and get this over with. We can worry about resting once we’re on the other side.”
“But if you’re tired —”
“ Jess. We have to go now. We’re gonna be in danger either way, it’ll be alright.”
He stares at the man uncertainly for a moment more before finally conceding with a quiet nod. He trusts him, things will be okay. Lukas takes his satchel off of him and slings the crossbow over his shoulder in its place for the meantime. Jesse looks at him curiously and Lukas just reaches out and hooks his satchel over Jesse’s good side. Jesse blinks, looking at the bag and then at Lukas in confusion.
“I also found a few other things in the chests I looted. Mainly some Ender Pearls—could be useful. You’ve now got those and the potion on hand. Keeping them on you will probably be a little easier in case we need to split up in a bind.”
Jesse frowns, “Don’t like th’ sound of that…”
“I don’t either, but it’s just a precaution. Better safe than sorry.”
Jesse says nothing more, just quietly nods as he grips the strap of Lukas’ bag. Thoroughly satisfied with their setup, Lukas blows out a sigh and sits back on his heels. As much as he tries to hide it, it’s easy to tell he’s anxious. Jesse tries swallowing down his own nerves at the sight of it. They’d gain nothing from freaking themselves out before they even leave. Jesse takes one final glance around the portal room entrance and smiles a little bitterly. Had his uncle been here they could’ve opened it up, or better yet, he could’ve just teleported them out of here. Another pang of guilt shoots through him—the last thing his uncle wanted was for him to go into the Stronghold. He was already testing his luck with the peek he took with Bruce and Axel, but this? Oh this would really take the cake. Hopefully he gets the chance to tell him about it himself though, instead of hearing some secondhand story of how they died down here.
He shakes his head—god, isn’t he just the optimist? Olivia’s usually the pessimist, not him. He shoves the thoughts as far away as he can and bites his lip as he starts shifting to get up. Lukas quickly stops him and he frowns. He goes to protest only to be beaten to the punch as Lukas swings around and wraps his arms around him to lift him up once more.
“Lukas, I c’n walk…! Really…!”
“Not up those stairs. And you’re gonna be doing plenty of walking through that biome, let’s save your energy for that, alright?” Lukas grunts as he stands tall with Jesse once again. He sighs and just rests up against him—there’s no use in arguing. Lukas readjusts his grip a little as they start up the stairs and then chuckles a little, “Free workout for me, too.”
Jesse smiles at that, simply shaking his head.
After spending so long down by the portal room, it’s jarring entering the darkness of the rest of the stronghold. His eyes struggle to adjust to the pitch black halls, not to mention the way any warmth is sucked out of the air. A shiver runs through him as they reach the top of the staircase and he pulls Lukas’ jacket a bit tighter around him and instinctively tucks himself a bit closer to the man. He’s still warm and a much needed comfort here—even just the steady thudding of his heartbeat puts him more at ease. He hadn’t realized how comfy he really got down there. Their soulfire lantern is turned on at a low flame, and it at least helps a little, but not much. He misses the warm light already.
The walk through the halls is eerie as always, but Jesse can’t help the way his heart speeds up a little faster and he keeps seeing movement out of the corners of his eyes. They haven’t been attacked since their big confrontation, but that hasn’t exactly soothed his nerves to say the least. Not being able to see as well certainly doesn’t help as he strains to peer down one darkened hallway they pass after another. His grip on Lukas’ shirt tightens and he can’t help but feel that now familiar paranoia creep up on him like when he was a kid. Any corner. Something could be around any corner and ready to strike them down, and it’d be easy at this rate.
But that dreaded blow never comes. Instead, the stronghold just gets colder and darker as they finally make their way back to that fork in the halls that leads into the Deep Dark. Squinting, Jesse can make out the vague twinkling of sculk at the end of the hall just before the bend. His heart drops and his stomach churns with another type of dread. This is it. This is the last little thing standing between them and alleged freedom. Why doesn’t he feel happy about it?
Lukas hums something akin to dismay and Jesse looks up at him curiously. The man sucks in a nervous breath, shuffling on his feet as he looks between Jesse and the sculk down the hall. He shakes his head.
“Jess, I can just carry you, you don’t have to—”
“ What?” He croaks but manages to cut him off. He scoffs, weakly starting to push against Lukas’ chest as he shakes his head, “Uh-uh, no, Lukas… Lemme at least try. You’ve done enough, you’re tired, if y’trip then we both go down…” He tries to argue as the guilt wells up again.
“ Jesse…” Lukas sighs as he looks at him. Jesse jabs a finger up at him.
“ See? There.” He coughs out, “I’ve been resting this whole time…!” He swings his good arm out wide as he speaks then shakes his head up at him, “You haven’t … The least I c’n do is walk…”
He stares up at him, begging. Honestly, he doesn’t expect Lukas to listen to him at this point, but he tries to make himself seem as adamant and capable as he can. Something must work, be it his own exhaustion or the big blue eyes Jesse’s shooting up at him, because eventually the man lets out a long heavy sigh, and nods.
“ Okay. Fine. We’ll start out walking like we planned. But if anything happens, I’ll be right here and ready to help you the rest of the way, alright?”
“Mhm.” Jesse nods quickly, already distracted by taking in his surroundings. He hears Lukas let out another sigh and slowly he starts lowering the arm hooked under his knees. Jesse perks up and holds his breath, bracing himself for the pain that comes with unfurling and then walking. But he’s gotta suck it up for this, no matter how bad it is he’s gotta stay on his feet. As expected, the moment his left leg straightens out it tugs on his lacerations and a roar of pain shoots up and out from his side. He clamps down hard on his tongue, and while it hurts enough to be dizzying, it’s actually starting to get familiar. For better or for worse, he isn’t sure, but hopefully this means he could work through it.
Lukas tries gently tugging Jesse’s bad arm around him again to help support him on his bad side, but Jesse scrunches up his face and shakes his head. He needs to be able to walk on his own at least a little, he has to know he’s able to or else he’ll really be in for it if they got separated. The idea makes his throat run dry, but he has to be ready for anything in there. Lukas, while obviously concerned, at least doesn’t push too hard. Jesse compromises on just keeping a steady grip on his hand.
“Hey, there you go…! Easy does it…” Lukas mumbles out words of encouragement as Jesse actually manages to keep upright relatively on his own. He blows out a smile, happy to at least have this one thing going for him. He wants to curl in towards his injured side a little, but that’s to be expected. Lukas tilts his head a little, catching his attention again. He nods to him, “How are you feeling…?”
“Fine…” He says, ignoring every little way his body screams at him to just sit down. A little pain never hurt anybody, he’d be alright. He glances around, his head spinning just slightly as he does. He frowns as he squints and Lukas must see it.
“Ah! Here, you’ll need this much more than I will.” He says and drops one hand to quickly detach the soul lantern from his belt. He reaches over and hooks it onto Jesse’s belt on his good side and cranks the flame up all the way. Their surroundings immediately light up in a brilliant blue glow and Jesse can’t help the relieved sigh he lets out to have light again. He can actually see the way his breath fogs up in front of him now.
“Thanks, Lukas…”
“Let’s save the ‘thank you’s until we’re outta here, yeah? Then you can shower me in praise.”
Jesse hums out a little laugh, “And plan that beach vacation…”
“... Yeah,” Lukas says as he squeezes his hand a little tighter, “ And plan that beach vacation…”
There’s a long beat of silence after that as they stare down the long dark hall once again. Make or break, this is it. He takes in a shuddery breath and hears Lukas do the same beside him. They glance at each other and share a mixed look of nervousness, but also peace. At least they won’t be alone in this, regardless of what happens. That’s all they could ask for at this point—at least, that’s what Jesse thinks.
“We gotta be quiet—I’m gonna switch to sign now, okay? Can you keep up with that?”
Jesse nods and signs a shaky ‘ Okay’ back to him. Lukas smiles sadly but nods. With that out of the way, off they go. Lukas takes the first steps forward and gently tugs at Jesse’s hand to come along. Jesse holds his breath as he begins to try walking with him. He stumbles nearly immediately, but manages to catch himself. He grimaces, biting down hard to keep any noises from escaping him and opens his eyes to see Lukas staring back at him in shock and concern, but what else is new? Jesse frowns and steels himself, forcing his body forward and to just make it through step after step. Soon enough, walking finally comes to him. It’s a bit haggard, but he’s making ground and it’s relatively quiet still, so that’s a win in his book. He gives Lukas’ hand a reassuring squeeze.
The hallway is as eerie as ever, and turning the bend makes his stomach churn once again as he glances up and spies the sculk splayed out. He can’t help but slow his pace as they fully turn down the new hall and simply stare ahead in awe. Inky black pulsating masses are everywhere , sparkling rhythmically like it’s breathing. It’s silent down here other than their own breathing and footfalls, leaving him more rattled than if it weren’t. It feels like it should be making noise, any kind—just something to break the silence.
The back of his foot accidentally sinks into the edge of one patch. It sinks in deep and squelches uncomfortably beneath him. Through his boot he can feel it chill like ice. A nearby sensor goes off and his eyes quickly dart to it. The little dancing tendrils light up in the darkness, followed by a few more, but thankfully the trail stops there. He stays in place in an attempt to just steady his breathing. One noise too loud and they could be done for—they’re not even in the thick of it and he’s already messed up. God, how’s he supposed to get through here without drawing any attention? Lukas squeezes his hand and he squeezes back, allowing himself to be tugged along again. He keeps his eyes trained on the ground, placing every step much more deliberately and practically walking a metaphoric tightrope.
They reach the sharp corner at the end of the hall and Lukas presses them up against the far one, leaning around it to scope the area first. Jesse takes the opportunity to lean against a clean part of the wall and immediately feels relief from the tension taken off of his wound. As soon as it comes though, they have to move again. Lukas nods back at him and tugs him forward and out into the next hall.
Up ahead he can see two hallway entrances on the right, about a good 50 feet apart or so with the back of a building splitting them. But more notably he notices the ceiling, or rather lack thereof. Jesse’s eyes widen as they step out of the cramped hallway into the crumbling open one. He traces up the solid stone brick and into the jagged outcropping of deepslate that shoots high up above them in this new cavern. More impressively yet is the way the sculk follows. His eyes trail over the sparkling pattern of the bluish black substance as a vein stoops high over them and into the ceiling. Glowing threads of it hang down like vines or moss, and others wrap tightly around some of the few pillars and stalactites. Sculk reaches all across the cavern and he can already see it lighting up and highlighting so many of the long collapsed structures.
It’s beautiful. As scared as he is, he can’t help but admire it all. A wave of familiarity washes over him, at least for a moment as he recalls the way the Keep was down in the Underneath. The same blues, similar tints, similar fungi. Though that place was much warmer and felt much more like home than down here. This is a simulacrum of the things surrounding the Keep—a deceptive and dangerous copy.
They approach and actually pass the first entrance, seemingly opting for the further one. Jesse glances down the hall briefly, squinting to pick out the details. His light shines a little ways down and highlights a giant rubble pile in the dead center of the hallway. Ah. That makes sense. He shifts his attention back to Lukas as they continue on and up to the second hall.
As they pass the back of the old building, or what used to be a room anyways, another little spectacle catches his eye. Right on the corner of the path and sitting pretty is one of those jagged boned structures. They’d passed by one in the bend but it was half buried and not much past bones, this one is bright and bold and seemingly hard at work. Jesse swallows down his nerves as their pace slows as they turn onto the road—this must be one of those shriekers if they have to be extra quiet.
Jesse shimmies a little closer, wanting a better peek. He can see a bright blue glow emanating from the center and a light fog billowing up and out of it. He frowns, unable to see any more details as Lukas tugs him back. He feels a tap on his arm and shifts his gaze to him and a hand he’s got up and ready to sign with.
‘ Soul pool.’
Jesse’s eyes widen as he jerks his gaze back towards it—bad move. He sways on his feet and Lukas helps steady him and forces them ahead a bit quicker now. Right, they’re not there to sight-see.
They continue down the path and into their first little intersection. The road only continues a little way before stopping at a building on the left, and there’s another pile of rubble blocking the way ahead, so right it is. There’s a lot of old bricks and loose gravel lining the paths and Jesse has to slow his pace in order to step right. He grips Lukas’ hand tight as he slips on some gravel, immediately holding his breath tight. Lukas catches him with his other hand and Jesse shakily steadies himself again as a flurry of sensors light up and ring out around them. Another shrieker not too far ahead catches his eye and he can’t help but hold his breath again. But miraculously, one way or another, it doesn’t ring out.
Lukas follows his gaze back to the shrieker then back to Jesse and nods to him reassuringly. It’s propped up against the side of a decrepit old building that’s practically just half walls and a foundation. As they continue further down the path he can see back behind that rubble pile that blocked their way and also inside the destroyed structure. Two chests sit there with their lids ripped open wide and some items dropped around them—old loot probably.
Something clicks and he pauses as they fully pass the building now. He tugs Lukas’ hand a little and the man looks back at him curiously. With his good arm Jesse taps his satchel and then points to the building with his brows raised questioningly. Lukas stares at him for a moment then at the structure and eventually nods. Okay, so this was where Lukas found that potion. Jesse frowns at the thought of how loud that must’ve been, especially right next to a shrieker. Not that he has any room to talk, though.
Past the rubble he can see the path continue most of the way across the cavern, almost like a main street. His brows shoot up and he smiles at that—all they gotta do is wrap around this building to get back on the main road and then it should be an easy walk! Jesse moves to pass by the front of the building only for Lukas to squeeze his hand tighter and catch the same arm with his other hand. He winces a little at the small yank and looks up at him again, now a little irritated. Lukas signs in a rush.
‘That way is trapped.’
The words are simple, but send sobering shockwaves through him. Right, he’s not leading here, he doesn’t know this place, Lukas does. He has to get his head in gear. He swallows and nods sheepishly, some dread sinking in as he realizes they’re going to have to walk that much further to find a safe path. He’s already getting tired again and staggering more than truly walking. He can only hope the wheezy way he’s breathing now isn’t too loud. He grips Lukas’ hand tight and turns his gaze downwards again as he pulls him along. One step at a time, that’s all he can think about.
There’s another building, a smaller one, that they pass as well before reaching another intersection. It’s an odd layout down here, feeling even more maze-like with the way the stronghold has collapsed around them. The “buildings” they see were once just regular rooms connected to normal labyrinthian halls of the stronghold, but with most of the ceilings having collapsed, it feels more now like an odd enclosed town. Lots of walls that made up the long hallways still stand tall a good 15 feet up. There are places where they’ve been completely knocked down and others where bits of stone still overhang where the ceiling once stood. Sculk hangs down in bright tendrils of shimmering light.
It’s alien down here, from the sculk to the layout, it’s all alien. Like something normal but shifted just slightly to the left, something built with the natural confusion that you see in dreams. He glances down behind them and spies a building partially enclosed in the cavern wall that reaches up a good three stories—a good vantage point. Additionally, with each building comes another niche little back alley and into another section that has no clear entrance otherwise. Looking through a window he sees another shrieker.
Lukas pauses ahead and Jesse with him. Peeking around him, Jesse sees what’s stopped him—in the middle of their path is a little pile of gravel and brick. Lukas looks off to their right with a frown, seemingly trying to look for a way around it before simply shaking his head and, by the way his shoulders move, blowing out a quiet sigh. He turns back to Jesse.
‘ I forgot about this. We either climb or backtrack and walk over those tripwires. What can you handle?’
Jesse’s stomach drops as he glances around briefly. He could probably make it over one wire at least, but multiple? No. He knows his body too well for that. He looks ahead at the gravel. It’s not high, thankfully, but he can already tell just how exactly he’s going to feel some burning from it. Not to mention the sound it could potentially create. He frowns and shuffles ahead, letting go of Lukas’ hand as he gets close and looks around. He curls in on his injured side just a bit as he guessed. Over the gravel, the path seems clear, although there are two shriekers—one dead ahead and one kind of off to the left by another gravel and brick pile in the middle of a wall section. Must’ve collapsed.
Little bits of gravel being kicked up and tossed around they could probably come back from, an explosion? No. He nods to the pile and shakily signs back.
‘ Climb.’
Lukas nods and hurries over to him, clasping both his hands tight. He stops short and glances between him and the pile and Jesse quirks a brow. He pulls a hand away and shakes his head.
‘ Don’t try carrying. Hurt too much to stand up again. Too loud.’ He manages to sign out, albeit a bit sloppily. Lukas presses his lips into a tight line but nods. Seems he read his mind. He lets Lukas take his hands again and the man carefully climbs up backwards, slowly guiding Jesse. He watches his steps carefully, digging the balls of his feet into whatever little nooks and crevices he can find in the gravel. He holds his breath as his lantern swings erratically at his hip, making it hard to concentrate on where to step.
His foot finds another sturdy foothold and he shifts his weight to it only for the gravel and dirt to rip out from under him. He slips and lets out a gasp as he nearly falls face-first into the pile. Lukas lunges forwards and catches him under the arms, yanking him back upwards on instinct. The sudden jerking yanks his wound and he’s not quick enough to stifle the pained cry that rips from his lips as he clamps his hands down on Lukas’ arms. He bites down hard on his lip, drawing blood in the process. The sound of his voice echoes throughout the cavern and sets off the shrieker nearby as they hastily stumble the rest of the way over the little hill and down.
Darkness pulsates around them and he hears a faint thudding in the distance that sends shivers up his spine. Lukas tenses and puts an arm around his shoulders as he hurriedly guides them across the open road and down a relatively sculk-free path. He tugs them up against the wall close to the dead-end corner and Jesse presses further into Lukas. They’re in trouble. He fucked up and now they’re in trouble for it. He grips Lukas’ shirt as he buries his face in his chest, just seeking whatever comfort he can find in his warmth. His heart beats a million miles a minute as Lukas scans the area around them. That nightvision must do wonders for him—Jesse can only see a good 15–20 feet ahead normally, but whatever this darkness effect is, it shoves that down to practically zero. He’s utterly blind in here, regardless of that lantern.
With every nerve alight and hair standing on end, it’s almost anticlimactic with the way everything returns to silence. He slowly blinks his eyes open and eases up, chancing a glance around. No more darkness either. There’s no more chittering, no more screeching, and certainly no loud creatures heading their way. All there is is Lukas’ breathing up against his ear. And after a good few minutes in silence, he hears the man let out a sigh of relief. That was too close, apparently, and Jesse hates every bit of it. He’s a detriment to them both and he knows it. There has to be a better way through.
He pushes back from Lukas which draws his attention. The man reaches out worriedly as Jesse rests against the wall, hands raised to communicate. He pauses and sucks in a deep breath, pushing back the brain fog as best as he can to speak well.
‘ We can’t do this. We need to split up.’
Jesse doesn’t have to see behind those goggles to know the exact way Lukas’ eyes flash with outrage. He shakes his head immediately and Jesse can practically hear the way he enunciates the ‘ Absolutely not!’ in his head. Lukas reaches out to stop Jesse’s hands and he pulls them away, forcing a sad smile up at him.
‘ We’re loud, slow, and blind together.’
‘I know the path.’
‘You know parts of it.’ He signs as he nods back towards the gravel hill they just went over, the one Lukas forgot about. Lukas stops briefly at that and Jesse winces. That was probably a tad hurtful. He reaches out and gives Lukas’ hands a reassuring squeeze, gently thumbing over the backs of them for a minute. After, he pulls back to continue, a hazy idea slowly forming.
‘ Go high again. Be my eyes. I trust you to guide me.’
‘ You can barely walk on your own.’
‘ I have the potion. I have the pearls. I can make it.’
‘You’re not thinking straight. This is ludicrous.’
‘I know my body. We can’t waste time taking wrong turns or backtracking.’
‘We—’ Lukas starts and Jesse reaches out and clasps his hands, effectively cutting him off. His grip is weaker than he’d care to admit. He looks up to him desperately and gives his hands a shake. He signs one more thing.
‘ We need to get this right before I can’t anymore.’
Lukas presses his lips into a hard line at that as Jesse simply clasps his hands together tightly. He silently pleads with him, not daring to look away for a second. They can meander all they want as long as they don’t summon the Warden, sure, but they still have the entire climb out of this Stronghold afterwards and if Jesse wastes all of his energy here then… Well, he tries not to think about it too hard. Just keeping his breathing smooth is getting to be a struggle, and more time is not the favor it usually is.
Lukas glances around them and upwards and hope sparks in Jesse’s chest. He may actually listen to his half-brained stupid idea. It makes sense, it’s not a dumb idea by any means, but certainly stupid given the circumstance. But, any idea aside from clinging to each other so tight they can’t breathe sounds stupid at this point. So, they might as well be a little strategic, right?
‘ I hate this. I really do.’ He signs and Jesse breaks into a large smile. He nods sympathetically. The last thing on Earth he wants to do right now is leave Lukas’ side and the comfort that comes with it, but this is probably their best way forward. Jesse shimmies forward back up to Lukas and carefully wraps his arms around him in a hug. Lukas is quick to return it with a protective grip as he wraps a hand around his back and rests another on the back of his head. He entangles his fingers in his hair and Jesse just about melts.
Jesse swallows, taking a deep breath as quietly as he can to soothe his nerves before tapping twice on Lukas’ back to let go. He complies, but not without one final squeeze and a serious look of displeasure. Jesse smiles up at him in understanding. Now, onto business. Jesse grabs the satchel at his side and twists it around front before signing something.
‘ Need anything?’
‘ Pearls.’ Lukas signs quickly and Jesse nods, shifting so Lukas can dig through his satchel. He pulls out a small handful, probably 3 or 4 out of all of them. Jesse frowns up at him. Without giving him a chance to speak, he digs in himself and pulls out an extra pearl and shoves it in his hand. He jabs him in the chest once for good measure and then shuts the bag and sees him smile out of the corner of his eye. Lukas meanwhile turns the old rusted lantern at his waist on low, lighting him up in a warm glow amidst the darkness. Jesse smiles at that—a warm beacon of safety; it suits him.
With everything together they share one final nod and Lukas gestures for Jesse to stay for the moment. He complies and shimmies back a pace to give the man room to start climbing. His arms are covered with goosebumps, and whether they’re from the cold or his own nerves he can’t say anymore. For what it’s worth he rubs his hands together then blows into them for some semblance of warmth as he leans up against the old cold wall. He typically liked the cold— loved it, even—but he’d never wish this type of freezing on anybody.
He glances up towards Lukas up top, relieved to be able to see the man clearly now with that warm light—he can even see how blonde he is again! The blue light of the soul lanterns drowns out any color so easily, it’s refreshing to see that lovely gold again. After a minute the man climbs back down and shakes his head. Jesse frowns and uses the wall as support as he walks over to him.
‘ There’s glass all over the ground in that hall, right by that shrieker we set off.’
Jesse quirks a brow at that. Glass? How’d glass get there? Lukas, seemingly a bit sheepish now, hurries the conversation along.
‘ We’ll go around. There’s a back alley behind those buildings that meets the same path. It’s longer but safer. That alley’s clean.’’
Jesse nods and glances to the buildings on his left. There’s seemingly four and they’re tightly packed, still relatively well-built, and tightly pressed up against the cavern wall. The deepslate even juts out a little to give them some cover, not that it does them much good, but at least Lukas has some sturdier ground to climb. They share another look and Jesse shoves off the wall to cross the path over to them, Lukas momentarily taking his hand to help.
Once they reach the buildings, Lukas lets go and begins to scale one as Jesse passes and reaches the backside. It’s an odd layout with two of the buildings facing the wall they’d just been by, the third—across the small alley—facing outwards towards the street perpendicular, then the fourth one huddled in the back corner opening the same direction as the first two but on a street that’s perpendicular at the back. The alley between them is small and tight, almost reminding him of the one he and Petra met Ivor in all those years ago.
He smiles at that. Ivor would kill him for saying this type of alley suited him well.
He glances up to Lukas who’s already onto the second building’s roof and gives him the all-clear.
‘ I’m gonna look ahead. Step carefully.’
Jesse nods and returns the thumbs up and then focuses in on his walk as Lukas hops to the backside of the roof to scan the next stretch. He doesn’t want to say the alley is darker, per se, considering how the rest of the cavern here is, but it sure does keep that creepy alleyway spirit. But aside from that? It doesn’t seem to hold any surprises. Jesse leans up against the first building’s backside wall as he walks. The ground’s a bit rougher with the natural deepslate, debris, and gravel littering it, but nothing he hasn’t handled before.
He can almost imagine this place as the bustling little town center it once was. Or whatever it was, anyways—only the dead know what it was actually like living down in these things. He reaches the end of the first building and notes an even smaller alley to his left that leads back to the street. The third building still sticks back a ways on his right, stopping short of half-way into the second little building. He grunts as he pushes off of the first one and walks forward without any support. He stumbles, but manages to catch himself without falling.
He lets out a long, quiet breath. Oddly, the next thing that hits him is the little memory of when Stella helped with Ivor and Harper’s deliveries. How many times did she help catch him that day? Oh man, what would she be saying if she saw him now? A smile creeps onto his face at the thought and warmth swells in his chest. He’ll have to tell her how much of a clutz he’s become when they get back. When. Not if.
Steeling himself, he moves forward again, albeit wobbly, until connecting with the wall of the next building. The pain of walking is at least more familiar now, and he’s managed to get a decent speed going—already over halfway through! He glances upwards towards the top of the building once more. He can’t see Lukas but can see the little glow of light emanating from him and he smiles. Some bricks are out of place against this second building and he can peek inside. There’s nothing much inside anymore save for some rotted out wood tables and shelves and a lot of sculk. He makes a disgusted face, practically sticking his tongue out at it as if it would somehow know he’s insulting it.
He approaches the back end of the third building on his right, marking him almost at the end of this fun little walk. As he passes he glances off down that small side-alley in curiosity. But instead of something normal like a street or debris, his gaze meets that of a vibrant blue and white vase sat contently on a tabletop. He just squints in confusion as he staggers along towards the exit, simply not understanding the odd placement. While examining it, he doesn’t notice how something rides up over the toe of his boot until it reaches his ankle. He doesn’t connect the dots until it’s too late.
The line goes taut and Jesse trips, his momentum for once too fast and he’s unable to stop himself from falling. He hastily swings his right arm around in a desperate last-ditch attempt to land on his good side. He comes crashing down with a decent thud, loud stifled grunt, and the ear-piercing crash and shattering of that oh-so-lovely vase. Jesse braces his right arm against the ground with his hand balled up in a fist as he rides out the waves of pain that ripple through him from the fall. A loud series of blips and a far too close shriek rings out once again, sounding like those trapped souls are really starting to have enough of him. Frankly, he is too.
He steals a glance up to find Lukas has swung back around and is looking down at him in what he can only assume is fear and worry. He flings his left arm up at him—he’ll be fine, he just needs to get up. As he grits his teeth and begins the process of pushing himself up again, that darkness begins to clamp down and pulsate at the edge of his vision. He ignores it best he can. On his knees now, he glances up again to see if he can still even see Lukas above him through the blinding darkness. It’s hazy, but occasionally it backs off just enough for that lantern to shine through. It seems to stick around for a little longer, and he almost has time to wonder why when another sound cuts through the silence.
Shit.
A disgusting, new, and nearly deafening sound pierces the silence from just a little ways directly behind him. It’s a wet crackling of stone and bones mixed in with the sticky squelching of the sculk all clanging together in a bizarre orchestra. ‘ Unnatural’ or ‘ Uncanny’ don’t do it justice, but it makes his stomach churn and his chest fill with dread. There’s a slam, followed quickly by another one, before a spine-tingling, wet, ripping noise slowly drags out and echoes through the cavern.
“ Jesse!” Lukas butts in with a fairly loud stage-whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. He points to the final building up ahead just barely cutting through the inky blackness, “ Get inside! Now! ”
Jesse doesn’t even bother responding, just giving the man a half nod as he shoves himself up the rest of the way. He staggers on his feet and stumbles into the wall but then uses it to shove off of and get going. Behind him he hears two more loud, squishy thuds and then most of the noise disappears save for a single, slow thumping of a heartbeat. He doesn’t dare try looking at the thing as he swings around the doorframe and into the building.
He immediately freezes as he comes face to face with another shrieker—probably the one he set off. He clenches his fists and makes a brief choking motion in the air as he holds his breath. It’s unbothered, of course, just sitting pretty tucked away in the corner. He throws his hands up in the air in sheer frustration, rolling his eyes as he does before turning on heel and quietly marching to the opposite corner. He presses himself up against the two walls and scans his surroundings, or rather, what he can of them with the darkness. It’s still blinding, pulsing in tandem with that heartbeat and making even the shrieker on the other side of the room hard to see at times.
He feels a new sense of panic wash over him as he fruitlessly tries shoving himself further back into the walls. He hasn’t felt this way in a long time, but it’s startlingly poignant as he stands there helplessly. He cannot see. He cannot speak. He’s beyond hurt, and he himself has no clue which way is out. And now? Well, now he’s walked them straight into their little friend’s final trap as a Warden begins its hunt. Great job, Jesse. What a spectacular plan. He clasps his hands over his mouth to keep quiet as his breathing starts getting more ragged.
Lukas is here. Lukas is his eyes. He’ll keep him safe.
He starts repeating that mantra in his head, clinging to it desperately to keep himself grounded. Then another voice interrupts the one in his head, an inhuman one. A slow, loud, and gravelly whine echoes through the cavern. Jesse freezes. Another long whine rings out, seeming more agitated by the end before a loud sniffing is heard. The smell. He forgot it could smell. Jesse curses to himself once more—oh this would be fucking easy for it with the sweat they’re drenched in. He shakes his head in utter denial before another much more sobering realization hits him.
Blood.
He pales.
Jesse is still soaked in his own fresh blood .
Sickly thudding and squelching begins, subtly shaking the floor with each one. It must be walking and it must be huge. Jesse scrunches his eyes shut tight as those sounds travel closer down the path he just took. It’s heading his way. Could it at least give him the courtesy of pretending it doesn’t know where he is?!
It lets out another pitiful noise and stops right outside the building. With each brief retreat of darkness, Jesse can see its feet just outside through the broken down front entrance. He silently gapes at the thick and completely bone-reinforced hoofs this thing sports. Sculk leaks through some of the cracks in them like puss, but despite that, the rest of it has formed together to make muscles as thick as tree trunks. No wonder this thing shakes the ground it moves over, how much must the damn thing weigh?
A deep growling resonates down into his own chest quickly followed by a thud against the building further above him. Jesse flinches, holding his mouth tight and shutting his eyes once again as dirt and debris sprinkle down. He hears more loud sniffing followed by another irritated groan as the creature continues hitting the old walls above him. If he’s just quiet, maybe it’ll go away…
A new sound in the distance rings out. Sharp. Light. But solid —like a rock hitting rock. The Warden hears it too and makes a curious noise akin to a child. Jesse holds his breath. There’s a silent beat between everything until another little ‘ tink!’ rings out. He hears the Warden shift above him, making some utterly conflicted sound before three more sharp little noises fully steal its attention. The Warden lets go of the building and backs off, wandering off in the direction of the new noise.
Jesse stays there, paralyzed in the little corner and unsure of what to do. All he does is listen as the Warden’s steps slowly get further and further away. Suddenly a new warm light hurries in and Lukas quietly swings around the corner. He opens his mouth to say something and Jesse just jerks a finger straight ahead at the opposite corner. Lukas freezes and glances over to the shrieker before slowly turning back to Jesse. Jesse’s unable to tear himself out of the position, just glancing between the shrieker, Lukas, and the direction of the Warden.
Lukas pulls his goggles up to his forehead so he can see his eyes and the worried gaze that washes over him almost makes Jesse slip and let out a cry. Lukas strides over, gently catching his outstretched hand and pushing it back down as he walks up and presses up close. Jesse immediately latches onto him, burying his face deep in his shoulder as he shakes. He can’t think clearly anymore, he’s just running on sheer panic and adrenaline. He barely even processes Lukas guiding him out of the building and back into the streets.
They stop not too far outside and over Lukas’s shoulder Jesse manages to spy the backside of the monster through the dark. His eyes widen in horror as he takes in its hulking figure. Tall and muscular with veins of sculk hanging down like moss and practically dripping from its head. A cacophony of sensors stretches high above it like antlers on a deer that light up periodically in the dark. On top of the sculk, more bones lie scattered throughout its body as reinforcements. It slows and turns left around a corner, further out of sight. Jesse can only stare, frozen once again.
“ Jess. Jess, look at me, look at me …” Lukas murmurs under his breath into his ear before finally just grabbing hold of his face with both hands and turning it towards him. Jesse blinks back to the moment as he’s suddenly staring at Lukas very closely. He feels his breath against his cheeks. He just swallows and nods, eyes still wide as he tentatively reaches his own hands up to hold onto Lukas’. Lukas nods and smacks his lips nervously as he continues.
“ We need to move. Now listen, the rest of your path is clear, okay? I promise. I-I know I’ve fucked up twice now on you, but—”
“No, no, no, I— ” Jesse quietly croaks, trying to interject only for Lukas to press a finger to his mouth and start shaking his head.
“ These are my fuck-ups, not yours. Now,” He glances nervously over his shoulder back at the Warden before looking at Jesse again, “ Can you trust me?”
“You ‘ave t’ ask…?” Jesse squeaks, giving his arms a squeeze as he does. Lukas smiles sadly at him then nods.
“ Just makin’ sure I still have you with me… Okay. Listen carefully. You need to get back to the main road.” He speaks slowly and enunciates carefully, making Jesse a little anxious while also being grateful for it. He nods quickly. Lukas continues, “ Head straight to the very end of this road and then you’re gonna turn left and zigzag 3 turns back and forth down to another. The Warden just made that first turn but then continued straight instead of turning, do not go straight. That’s where that glass is on top of a handful of traps. From there, go straight, then turn right and you’re on the main road. Got that?”
Jesse nods again.
“ Good. Once you’re on that road go all the way down. At the end, turn left, and then take the first right. At that point, the exit will be straight ahead. Do not go through it without me. There’s a wire rigged to cave it in. Wait for me and we’ll go through together. Clear?”
“C-Clear…” Jesse mumbles and Lukas lets out a breath.
“ Okay. Repeat it back—simple.”
“Straight. Left. Zig-zag 3 turns. Straight. Right. Straight. Left. Right. Straight. Stop.” He rattles off, eyes erratically flicking about as he struggles to tie them down in his memory. He gets it though.
“ That’s perfect, Jess! You’re amazing.” Lukas breathes and breaks into a bright grin as he thumbs over Jesse’s cheeks with a nod. He moves to pull away when Jesse’s grip tightens. He looks back in confusion.
“ What about th’ Warden? A-And you? I’m covered in blood …!” He rambles off, each thing adding more tension than the last. He shakes his head, “ It’ll smell me Lukas, we’re sitting ducks…!”
“Which is why I’m gonna distract it.”
“Wh—?!” Lukas clamps a hand over Jesse’s mouth before he can raise his voice too high. Is he out of his mind? That news manages to shock him out of a bit of panic at least as his brain rushes to try and think of other ideas. Once seemingly settled, Lukas lets go and just grips his face again.
“Jesse, I’m gonna do everything I gotta to keep that thing away from you. I’ve got ender pearls, nightvision, and my bow—it may be a challenge but I can keep out of its reach. I’ll meet up with you at the exit like I promised.”
Jesse can only stare at him in shock. They were doing this. This is really what they were doing. His mind races for alternatives, for some miracle way of sneaking them both through, but he comes up short. If they’re stuck together and it attacks… that’s it. That’s simply it for the both of them. He swallows and slowly nods as his heart sinks in acceptance. He reaches out and tugs on the shoulder strap to the crossbow. Lukas looks at him curiously.
“ Lemme ‘ave it. Take some weight offa you and maybe I c’n take a page outta your book if need be.”
“Jesse, are you—”
“Hand it over, we’re on th’ clock.” He whispers and Lukas stares at him unsure for a long few seconds before finally obliging. He quickly unslings it and helps sling it over Jesse’s good shoulder and then hooks the bag of bolts onto his belt as Jesse adjusts. It’s certainly another weight on his shoulders, literally, but he could handle it. Packed up and good to go, they both stop and simply stare at each other. Lukas brings his hands back up to cradle Jesse’s face and presses their foreheads together.
“ Be safe.”
“You too.” Jesse breathes. Then just like that they split again with Lukas rushing off towards the wall alongside the Warden and Jesse carrying on down the road.
He staggers over to the closest building and wall to lean up against as he walks. He stifles a grunt as he reaches down and digs through the satchel, tearing that nice red potion out. Instant Healing, aka a free adrenaline boost and pain killer for however long the ingredients determined. It’ll take a few minutes to kick in and those distressed whines of the Warden tells him that he’ll definitely need it. This certainly is a bind as Lukas would put it. He grips the cork with his teeth and yanks it out before dropping it into his hand. He slows his walk to a shuffle as he downs it. Once finished, he resists the urge to gasp and covers his mouth. He harshly corks the bottle and stuffs it back in the satchel, refocusing on his walk.
He passes by another street to his right and only gives it a brief glance as he does. Two shriekers out in the open and a shiny white wire resting at shin level right at the entrance. He remembers Lukas mentioning all the ones he saw being at shin level, no wonder the alley one slipped by. Their little perp must’ve measured wrong for that one. As Jesse reaches the wall on the opposite side of the path, he sees the quickly crafted bomb strung up nicely and just waiting for them to walk through. A shiver runs up his spine—he’s lucky that all he ran into was one of the pottery ones.
The end of this road is in sight, and as he gets close he’s reminded just how close that thing is. Darkness envelops him again, pulsating alongside its beating heart once more and dizzying him. He swallows in a vain attempt to soothe his suddenly dry throat. Jesse slows his walk as he reaches where his support wall and a building collide into a corner and the street ends. Looking down the road to his left he knows that there’s a straight shot through that shattered glass by the shrieker, but all he can see is sheer blackness enveloping everything but his little blue lamp. He’s no idea where Lukas has run off to, unable to even see that comforting orange glow.
Don’t go straight. It’s dead ahead.
He creeps along the building’s wall, his own heart beating louder with each step as he actively walks towards the creature. He repeats Lukas’ instructions in his head to keep himself as steady as possible. He walked straight and has now taken his first left. Next are the zigzags… If he follows the walls, he should be alright.
His blue light catches on some freshly kicked up dust and he squints. In the middle of the path are some freshly moved bricks, scattered and in a few more pieces than they probably started. His toe accidentally taps against one and shifts it over the stone. It creates a small ‘ tink!’ noise and Jesse lights up. These were Lukas’ distraction—he was throwing them . He smiles a little at that.
Sharp crackling rings out and sets off some sensors. Jesse stops as he reaches the edge of the building. The Warden makes another confused noise that raises in pitch. A curious little ‘ hm?’ and Jesse can see its glowing sensors tilt alongside its head. It takes another step and the crackling repeats, causing it to stop. It must’ve found that glass and has managed to confuse itself. The Warden takes a few more steps as it turns around and becomes growingly irritated as the glass continues to break. Jesse steels himself, trying to trust it’s distracted as he makes his first turn around the corner of the building. One turn down, two to go.
He follows the building around to another perpendicular wall. He turns left again—turn number two. The Warden hisses and stumbles back out of the glassy path, each step thudding loudly through the cavern and making the pebbles at Jesse’s feet shake. He holds his breath and crouches down a little, pushing himself to go a little faster. Now done hissing, it lets out a series of guttural whines that switch with sniffing. A thin wall cuts between him and the Warden now, but nothing more. He reaches the end of the wall and presses himself up against the edge as he turns to get a look at the creature. It slowly turns around to face him as it sniffs again and Jesse feels the cold sweat dripping down his neck.
That face… That mouth… He’s never seen anything like it. With each breath, the creature’s shoulders heave up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Thick saliva oozes out of its gaping maw and drips onto its limbs and the floor. It’s just a deep black hole that takes up most of its face, and it’s something fresh out of a horror novel. Small mismatched teeth line the mouth and Jesse can practically feel just how jagged they’d be ripping into flesh. Then there’s that heart, and the first raw souls he’s seen. With each thud, that icy blue heart illuminates and shows the screaming souls melded together to form the key to this creature. A creature made by souls, of souls, to collect souls. Or at least, that’s his best guess…
It has no eyes, and yet it’s trained directly on him. Panic seizes him once more as it begins that growling again. He bites his lip and shoves off the wall and turns right and down his final zigzag. Now he just has to make it to the main road and turn right. Go straight. No immediate turns. He repeats the instructions to himself over and over as he passes by another back road and ignores it, heading for some buildings in the distance. The Warden’s footsteps slowly begin to follow. Jesse staggers faster.
He catches the next building’s wall, practically stumbling into it with a gasp. The Warden responds with a hiss. He shakes his head and keeps moving. Ahead of him he can see how the road opens a bit more and recognizes the path they had initially walked in on. With no more gravel roadblocks, it’s a straight shot. Other noise starts ringing out behind him on some other path, but those squelching thuds continue to get closer rather. He grips the corner of the building and swings around onto the main street. He chances a glance behind him just for a moment and sees the hulking monster shambling behind him. It’s body is tense and it’s entirely focused on him.
Looking ahead he’s greeted with a dizzying sight. It’s a straight shot, yes, but this portion has remained intact with buildings lining both sides of the path and packed together tight. There are no places to turn or alleys to cut around with, either he tries out walking this thing or ducks into a building and prays.
Jesse knows that he is not fast enough.
With his heart seizing in his chest, Jesse staggers right and stumbles into the first building along the stretch.
It’s a small and tight room, but almost completely untouched. Some part of him feels a thousand times safer at the claustrophobic nature of it. The thudding footsteps of the Warden round the corner as it lets out a growl and begins sniffing again, no doubt trying to figure out just which little building he ran into. He hurries into the back corner as far away from it as possible, feeling his limbs begin to shake as the panic seeps deep into his bones. He practically dives down to his knees as he reaches it and hears the Warden whine right outside. His side shoots some burning up through him, but it’s dull now from the adrenaline—he has more pressing things to be freaked out about, and boy is he freaking.
For the second time tonight, Jesse scoots back and presses himself back as far as he can into a corner. This time, he pulls his knees close and the jacket around him a little tighter, shutting his eyes and burying his face down to make himself as small as possible. His heart practically beats out of his chest. He can’t look. He just can’t look anymore and leaves his ears to do the work instead. And so they do as the Warden winds up and lets out a new aggressive roar—he can practically hear the spittle flying out of its mouth as it does. There’s a brief pause then a loud slam, cracking, and a deafening crash. Jesse flinches, tightening his grip on himself. It just broke something trying to search for him. But it wasn’t quite right, it sounded like a building from across the street. How long until it finds his? What would he even do if it broke in here? Is there even anything he could do?
Lukas is here. Lukas is his eyes. He won’t let that happen.
The creature lets out an agitated whine as it seemingly steps back—and closer—before hissing again. Jesse flinches again and clasps his hands over his mouth, remaining small and quiet. He feels like a child. Like how he once desperately wrapped himself in blankets in the corner of his room to hide from those monster noises—but those were merely records. This one is actively hunting.
As he shifts his hands, he feels the tug of the satchel on his arm and cracks his eyes open just enough to glance at it. An idea hits him and hope shocks his system. The pearls. He still has some pearls. He doesn’t know what he’d do after throwing the first one, but it could be disorienting enough to confuse the creature for just long enough to escape. He relaxes his legs a little to pull the satchel onto his lap to dig through it.
Seconds after ripping the flap open, another deafening crash rings out as a fist of sheer sculk slams through the front of the building. The bricks go down like a house of cards, and suddenly Jesse is much more exposed. He jumps and instinctively tries inching back only to hit the cold stone already pressed up against his back. The Warden sniffs as it moves further into the space, crouching down as well in order to fit below the ceiling. Jesse freezes, petrified and not wanting a peep to come out of him.
It grips the pathetic overhang left standing to help steady it as it crouches into the space half its height. It lets out a low and irritated groan, the rumbling resonating deep into Jesse’s chest with it so close. He shuts his eyes tight, slowly snaking a shaking hand back into the satchel as it begins to sniff again. Any noise outside of them has long been lost to him, and panic seizes him momentarily at the thought of Lukas being on one of those buildings it tore down.
It inches closer as it hones in on his scent in the back corner. There was nothing else in here to find but him, it was only a matter of time. He fumbles as silently as he can inside the bag until finally managing to grip those familiar smooth pearls in his hand. He opens his eyes just to see the creature attempt to stand again in the closed space. With the ceiling so low, it can’t reach full height and looms over Jesse instead, trapping him in that back corner.
Jesse halts everything down to his breathing in a futile effort to buy him some precious seconds to aim. The Warden hisses down at him, daring him to do something, anything, but he remains still and silent. His eyes trail up the deeply disfigured creature and the way the sculk in it has that same shimmering star effect. His blue light creates dramatic shadows all across and up the creature’s hunched form. Broad shoulders and cracked, bleached bones practically create armor for it. It smells of mold, mildew, and complete decomposition, making his eyes water. Finally, his eyes reach its head once more, and for the first time all night he wishes he were engulfed in darkness. Practically straight above him now is that gaping maw of it and the alien-like slits for its nostrils. But the worst part is still the mouth and all of the little teeth lining it. They shimmer a pearly white in the cold blue light. This moment, this experience , burns itself into his mind with a clarity he knows he’s going to wish he could erase for decades to come.
A long, thick, string of saliva drips down from its mouth and onto Jesse’s face right by his eye. It’s cold, and Jesse suppresses the innate urge to hurl. From there, it slowly drags down his cheek, jaw, and neck and onto the rest of his body. He bites down on his tongue, willing every muscle to remain completely and utterly still. More spools of saliva fall onto his head and arms as the Warden groans above him. It’s wheezy and pained, and drags out long and slow as the creature slowly crouches down. It leans in close, taking one more big whiff of the air around it—around them— as Jesse grips the pearls tight and manages to crack his eyes open. It huffs and the disgusting breath of hair blows his bangs aside. Now or never.
An explosion rocks the cave and sends small debris raining down on both of them. The Warden immediately jerks back in some surprise and looks off towards the noise. It lets out an irritated, albeit still curious whine. It sits there unsure now, groaning in indecision as it looks back and forth between the sound and Jesse. Jesse glances off to the side, eyeing a prime getaway now as his heart hammers against his ribcage.
That’s when the second blow comes in the form of pink lightning.
Jesse’s eyes widen as the crackling arrow flies through the darkness and explodes against the Warden’s wide back in a blinding plume of light. It staggers forward onto its knees and almost slams a hand down onto Jesse as it catches itself. Jesse squeezes himself back even further, desperate to keep out of its range. The pained noise it lets out is curt and stark, almost like a gasp. It shifts to turn around but can barely budge before another arrow slams into it and knocks it back down. Jesse can practically see the sculk across its body move in a wave as its anger takes over.
Then within a snap, it flings itself around and rushes out of the building with a gust of wind. It moves with startling speed and lets out another roar the moment it manages to stand tall again, throwing its whole body into the motion. It gets greeted by another arrow directly in the head, sending it staggering backwards. Jesse blinks his eyes hard, struggling to see past the pulsating darkness still plaguing him and to find Lukas, but it’s futile. Instead, he hears his voice.
“ GET TO THE EXIT! I’LL MEET YOU THERE!”
Jesse gasps and opens his mouth to yell something back only to be cut off by the Warden letting out another roar.
“ GET GOING, JESS! ” Lukas shouts and a small barrage of arrows ram into the creature as he hears a loud slam somewhere down the path, followed by quick footsteps. The Warden makes its agitation known and immediately gives chase, rushing out of his sight at a terrifying pace. Jesse shoves himself to his feet and runs out to the crumbled walls and stops, pain no longer a thought as the Instant Health finally settles in his system. With the Warden out of range now, the darkness clears just enough for him to catch the distant sight of Lukas taking a few leaps as he darts down into the main road’s intersection and off on a side road. The Warden follows without hesitation, much to its own foolishness.
Jesse watches in sheer shock as it runs right into one of those tripwire traps, setting off the bomb practically right in its side. It lets out an agonized scream as it staggers away from the rising plume of smoke and flames that have latched onto the nearby patch of sculk. There’s a high pitched screeching in the air as it burns that makes Jesse’s gut tie up in knots. Souls. The souls are burning. The flames quickly turn blue, affirming his suspicion. Despite the obvious pain, the Warden does not let up on its pursuit, actually seeming even more adamant as it turns and races after the direction Lukas darted. It disappears behind a wall, but mere seconds later another explosion rings out with an orange plume briefly illuminating the cavern.
Jesse swallows and turns on heel—he can’t ogle, he has to move. With the cavern now bustling with the sounds of shriekers, sensors, running, and the occasional but persistent bomb, Jesse grips an ender pearl and flings it down the road. The pearl lands and he’s ripped down the main road in an instant. He staggers forward as he lands but catches himself smoothly. He takes a moment to shake his head and get rid of the dizziness that comes with teleportation but then gets to work. There’s some new debris ahead of him from a collapsed building and glancing up he can see it was recent work done by the Warden. This was probably one of those booms he heard earlier while waiting for Lukas. He sucks in a breath and hurries over the messy pile before shooting left.
First turn on his right. First turn on his right. First turn on his— Aha! He slows to a stop as he stares down the next street and meets the warm orange light of a lantern hanging ahead of him. Warmth. Safety. Home. Hope floods his chest and makes his throat run dry, but he smiles nonetheless. He hurries ahead and stops just short of the final doorway, just admiring it. That’s when his eyes catch that final trap. He gets a chill as his eyes drag up the tripwire and to the multiple packs of explosives rigged to drop that rock on their heads. He glances between them and the lantern as he clenches and unclenches his fists in nervousness. Such a clear bait. It was one thing to attack them themselves, but this is conniving. It’s sneaky and underhanded, and it does little to assuage Jesse’s worries.
Another explosion knocks him out of his state, this one much closer. Jesse whips around to see the plume come from the hall he was just standing in as Lukas races past and further down the hall. Jesse’s eyes widen and he rushes back to the hall and looks out after Lukas. The Warden rushes around the corner and doesn’t slow down as it sprints after Lukas. It steps on another wire and Jesse gasps as he stumbles back and crouches down, covering his head as another bomb explodes. It leaves a ringing in his ears and the Warden lets out another cry as it staggers forwards, thoroughly slowed however. He can see more bones sticking out where sculk has been blasted or burnt away—mismatched but put together just well enough to create a figure. Its ribs are on full display as well as bits of its spine and arms.
It wobbles on its feet, crisscrossing its steps as it struggles to remain balanced but remains fully fixated on Lukas—Jesse stands mere feet from it and it doesn’t even grace him with a glance. Lukas actually manages to gain good ground on it and Jesse can’t help but grin in utter awe. He managed to outrun it. He managed to outrun a Warden ! His chest floods with warmth and admiration as he watches.
Then the Warden moves again. And it moves with an almost gurgling growl under its breath, snapping Jesse’s attention back. The creature curls in on itself and Jesse can’t help the pang of sympathy at the pain it must be dealing with—it looks about torn up as him at this point. It crisscrosses its arms down over its chest and grips its fists tight, beginning to shake. Jesse frowns and begins backing up a little. The remaining sculk begins to ripple over its body in waves, faster and faster with bright blue energy lighting up. It lets out a new sound, one that’s almost distorted like a scratched up record or an injured enderman, but still so clearly unique to this sculk-built creature.
Down the path, Lukas glances back behind him and his eyes widen. It’s not just a look of surprise though. No, Jesse knows that look of his. It’s fear. Complete and utter fear. Jesse instinctively begins unslinging the crossbow and loading in a bolt as Lukas skids and desperately tries running right and down another road.
“ LUKAS!”
He doesn’t get out of the way quick enough.
The Warden flings itself wide again, shoving its chest outwards as that raggedy ribcage rips open wide and a blast of pure soul energy shoots out with a deafening bang and shockwave. The bright blue energy rips down the path at lightning speeds and snags Lukas by the legs. The man screams as he’s easily ripped off the ground and flung through the air. Instead of managing to slip down that road, he’s shot straight into the wall at the end of the path with a sickening thud and cracking noise. Lukas goes silent at that. Faster than he can even process it, the Warden lets out a satisfied huff and then darts forward down after him.
Jesse darts out into the hall after it, mind running a million miles a minute, but stumbling. He’s not going to get to him before the Warden does. Not on foot. And it’s going to kill him the moment it reaches him. The world slows down for him then.
Not on foot.
Jesse stares down the path at Lukas’ distant crumpled form, at their exit and its rigged explosives, and then high above him at the cavern ceiling. The crossbow feels heavier in his hands by the minute.
He has an idea, but he needs to be fast.
He shoves a hand down into the satchel and grips three pearls tight. With them in hand, he clenches his jaw tight and raises his crossbow up to his eye. He stares down the sight with a white-knuckle conviction, the only sound in his ears being the drumming of his own heartbeat. A deep breath in, and then the world speeds up again.
He fires off the bolt, the kickback of the bow not even fazing him. He hits the Warden square in the spine. It staggers.
“ HEY! ” His voice rips and reverberates through the cavern. Its sensors twitch. He loads another bolt. He fires. This one hits the side of its head. The irritated creature now stops and spares him that glance. Jesse moves.
He fires off the first pearl down towards Lukas, then immediately looks high and chucks a second one directly upward and high above the stronghold. He chucks the crossbow to the ground as the first pearl hits. In an instant he’s at the end of the path and Lukas is on the ground in front of him with an even angrier Warden right behind them. Jesse dives for Lukas, wrapping both arms around the man as he turns back to look up at the creature. It lunges forward with a roar and its arms raised high and ready to slam down on top of them. Jesse grimaces and shuts his eyes tight, clinging Lukas close and doing what he can to shield him.
That’s when the second pearl hits.
Jesse and Lukas crash into the ground, and off in the distance Jesse hears the Warden slam into the stone floor. Jesse gasps and his heart soars as he looks up and now sees the Warden at the opposite end of the road. Lukas groans beneath him and Jesse immediately kicks back into gear. He gets back into a sitting position and pulls Lukas into his lap, getting a tight grip on the man. Then, raising a hand to his lips, he blows out a long and loud whistle.
The Warden jerks around and looks straight at him one final time.
Jesse can’t help but smirk.
The creature lets out the most guttural screech of the night as it turns on heel and races back towards them. Jesse turns to the exit on his left and throws his third and final pearl as he clutches Lukas tight. He watches with a smile as the Warden turns the corner just for them to teleport away. It claps its hands together with a rippling boom right where they sat then pulls them apart in utter confusion. Jesse fumbles a little as they slam back into the ground again, but cannot keep the grin off of his face as they sit safely behind that warm old lantern hanging in their exit hallway.
Lukas shifts in his arms and he watches the man’s eyes flutter open then squint in confusion at the sight of the Warden so far away. Jesse sucks in a breath and slings one of Lukas’ arms over his shoulder and shakily pushes them both to their feet, allowing the adrenaline to do the work. Lukas is weak on his feet and Jesse struggles a little to get him walking but manages. He glances behind them and is happy to see a short set of stairs upwards before the brick of the stronghold turns into naturally sloping stone.
He gets them to the stairs and Lukas regains some composure, getting himself up the first half of the steps on his own. Confident enough, Jesse sits him down and then turns around, rushing back to the entrance of the small hall and nabbing the lantern off its hook. He looks out at the Warden for the last time and lets out one more whistle. It doesn’t even hiss, merely charging without hesitation. Jesse turns on heel and begins running back down the path and up the stairs. He snags Lukas by the hand and helps him up before taking one final glance back at the perfect moment. The Warden runs right into that final wire.
“ LET’S GO! RUN!” Jesse yells as he squeezes Lukas’ hand and begins hurrying up the path. The man nods, obviously dazed but not arguing. Behind them, a loud series of bangs goes off, followed by undead screeching and then the deafening deep cracks and booms of rock breaking off and slamming into the ground. A wave of wind hits them and Lukas gasps behind him. He feels the man pick up the pace, quickly taking the lead and being the one to tug Jesse along, albeit he’s moving quite clumsily still. He chances a look back and sees the massive and thick cloud of dust and smoke rushing up at them—but no Warden, and no blinding darkness. At that, Jesse just can’t help but laugh.
The cloud soon engulfs them and Lukas pulls them off into a clearer side tunnel. He immediately wraps his arms arounds Jesse and shields him as it all rushes through. Jesse can hear his heart hammering against his chest as he clings to the man, soaking in the comfort as his thoughts manage to settle again.
They’re out—they’re actually out ! At least, they’re out of the worst part, and that’s all he can get himself to care about.
The dust settles fairly quickly, or at least it feels fairly quick. He couldn’t say how much time actually passed with them standing there. His hands shake where he grips the man’s shirt, and he can’t help but sniffle as the emotions settle in and start flooding him. Every part of him shook, to be truthful, yet his pain wasn’t even that bad yet. That potion must’ve been a lasting one, not that he’s going to complain about that. He feels Lukas’ hands shift and one embeds itself deep in his curls and Jesse sinks into the renewed hug. He can only manage to gasp as a few tears slip out, he doesn’t have the energy or brainpower for anything more complicated yet.
Finally, he double-taps Lukas to let go and the man stutters but complies. They have to keep moving, especially with his little adrenaline boost still going. Any ground they cover is good progress. He glances up at Lukas briefly before grabbing his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. The man sways on his feet and seems still somewhat dazed, but that’s understandable. Jesse tugs on his hand to urge him to start walking and he doesn’t immediately respond. Jesse frowns and goes to tug again only for Lukas to shift his gaze to him finally. There’s a little pit in his stomach, but Jesse ignores it and smiles.
“We should get walking… We still gotta get out of here, and might as well move for as long as that potion’s working, right?”
Lukas squints, eyes foggy, but then nods after a moment. Jesse’s smile falters for a moment but he returns the nod. He now notes the blood dripping from the side of Lukas’ head—he got hit hard. His stomach churns and he swallows, quietly hoping it wouldn’t be a problem. He wouldn’t know what to do if Lukas ended up injured and unable to continue or help. Jesse gives his hand another squeeze as his heart swells—he wouldn’t be here without this man. Full stop.
Jesse turns and begins walking, with Lukas quietly following. They’ve reached a natural cave incline now which, while still a bit rough, is nowhere near as bad as the sheer stairs. Even better? Every few minutes or so they pass old blown out torches or spot occasional miner’s gear—this was a well-traveled tunnel at one point, the exit is somewhere above them. They’re still deep in the earth amongst the deepslate, but if they can at least hit regular stone before his potion runs out, then they should be golden.
They don’t get very far however before Lukas’ hand slips out of Jesse’s. He isn’t too worried initially at just that, but when he hears the man stop walking behind him, he stops as well.
“Lukas…?” Jesse murmurs as he looks back. The man sways in place and frankly looks almost like a zombie. He doesn’t respond to Jesse’s voice at all. With the worry now thoroughly pent up in his chest, Jesse opens his mouth to speak again much more urgently. He’s beat to the punch, however. Lukas’ eyes flutter before rolling back into his skull as the man collapses to the ground with a heavy thud. Jesse lets out a horrified gasp and immediately dives to his side.
“ Lukas! Lukas! ” He cries, voice rising as he shakes the man, but there’s no response. Jesse grips his shirt tight, now freezing up again as a chill seeps through down to his bones. He swallows down the sudden lump in his throat as he raises his hands to Lukas’ face, “ Lukas, c’mon we gotta get outta here— please ! Please, wake up …” He chokes out, voice starting to give. Nothing.
His begging falls on deaf ears.
Notes:
Oh also!!! Bc im obsessed with making playlists, here's the one I made for the fic just in case anyone's curious!!! 'Roads' my beloved like OUGH
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6X6UrqfdewLv6srgcLbMyM?si=06e7d9fe95684e1d
Chapter 31: Escape
Summary:
Jesse & Lukas make it back above ground and get the care and rest they need before going home
Notes:
WOE, 16.5K CHAPTER BE UPON YE! I'm not quite late this time which is a fucking WIN bc. girl I went to celebrate my bday and now I got COVID 😐😐😐 after nearly 3 years of being to most diligent in my family, what are the odds bro. Anyways if there are typos or smth seems off my b I am hacking out my organs
But fr I'm getting better so no worries on that front! 😭 it's just an ordeal, but I at least managed to get this finished up!! Been waiting a WHILE to post some of the bits from this one, and I hope yall like!! :>
Chapter Text
Lukas’s head throbs with a pain that feels just like a knife getting stabbed in over and over again. It hurts like a son of a bitch, and that’s the first thing he gathers as he wakes up. The second thing? Warm hands. Warm, calloused hands gently brushing his cheeks and combing through his hair. It’d be a lie to say it wasn’t helping.
He squints, carefully opening his eyes. Where… was he? Who was he with? He feels like he knows but blanking on it makes his heart race. He flinches under the touch now, struggling to get a clear view of his surroundings. It’s dark, with just some faint orange light from a little firelight and stone all around him. He’s on the ground in some kind of alcove but his head spins and blurs everything he tries to focus on. The hands stop and recoil just a little.
“ S’Okay— It’s just me—it’s Jesse. Careful…” The man’s quiet voice rings in his ears.
Lukas freezes, shifting his gaze to the direction the voice came from. He’s greeted by a familiar face filled with concern. Jesse— right, he was with Jesse. But the man looks pretty worn down himself, those eyes he loves so much are cloudy and exhausted. He reaches up and gently grasps Jesse’s— his? —leather jacket as he tries figuring out what’s going on. Jesse’s eyes crinkle in a pathetic attempt at a smile.
“Welcome back to the living… Here t’ stay this time?”
“What happened?” Lukas mumbles, startled by how hoarse Jesse’s voice is. “Where—…?”
Jesse frowns a little at that, heaving out a sigh as he rests his hands again and Lukas realizes he’s being propped off the ground with his head resting on Jesse’s lap. As Jesse glances away to think, the light catches his face a bit more and Lukas can clearly see how red and puffy his eyes are, not to mention the streaks down his cheeks that have cut through the dirt and grime. Was he crying?
Jesse finally turns back to him and swallows, “We were stuck in the Stronghold and had to go through the Deep Dark. There were traps in there to purposefully mess us up. We ran into the Warden. It attacked you with some kinda blast and…” he trails off, grimacing and trying to blink something away. He shakes his head, “You hit your head pretty hard and you’ve been in and out of consciousness and lucidity since. I didn’t have anything to clean the blood with, sorry…”
He raises a hand to his head, touching the spot on the side where a lot of the pain is coming from and wincing as he does. There’s blood there with some having dropped down the side of his face and dried. Lukas begins to slowly nod, the puzzle pieces are foggy but they’re coming back. The stronghold, the cave-in, the Deep Dark, the Warden, and Jesse—
Lukas’ eyes widen and he forces himself upright much quicker than he should. He cringes, gripping his own head a moment before turning his fearful gaze to Jesse, reaching out to cup his face.
“ Your wounds! How did you get us—?!”
“Potion. ‘member? Adrenaline boost really helped…”
“Holy shit, Jesse, what the fuck. D— Did any of them reopen? Are you hurt?” He shifts his gaze to his wounds as quickly as he can manage without sending the whole room spinning and Jesse just shakes his head.
“I’on’t think so…? Might’ve been some bleeding but nothing huge for me t’ note… But, Lukas I’m…” He trails off quietly and Lukas feels his blood run cold. He dares to raise his gaze from his injuries back up to his eyes. ‘ Weary ’ is nowhere near a strong enough word for the exhaustion settling into the man. He nods to him, confirming something he feared to hear, “‘m really tired…”
Panic begins to seep into Lukas—just how long were they stuck sitting here waiting for him to wake up? If Jesse’s been bleeding again, how much and for how long? Lukas’s brain finally kicks into full gear, forcing his wits past the thick fog in his mind. He cannot let Jesse fall asleep here. This could kill him.
He raises his hand to the man’s forehead again, this time coming back with it scorching hot. A fever. Even worse. Something’s going wrong with that wound. Even his breathing sounds more labored and wheezy. He obviously looks horrible, but this isn’t helping. God, aren’t they just a pair? One gutted like a fish and the other with a bloody concussion. He reaches back up to the man, shaking his head as he does.
“Jesse… I know you’re tired, and I am too, but we can’t stay here… We can’t stop and rest like this yet.”
Jesse looks like he’s about ready to cry, “I can’t, Lukas…”
“ Yes you can. I know you—”
“I can’t ! I nearly got you killed …!”
Lukas freezes at that.
Oh.
Oh, there’s much more going on up in that head of his… He momentarily meets Jesse’s eyes as he grimaces in frustration and what he now recognizes as sheer and utter guilt. Lukas vehemently shakes his head in turn.
“No, no Jesse you didn’t—”
“ I did and we both know it!” He yells now or at least the closest he can come to it with his hoarse voice. He gasps in a breath, jabbing a finger into his own chest, “ I poked m’nose too deep, I thought about coming ‘ere, I brought you along, I got someone wiling t’ do ANYTHING t’ fuckin’ kill me, I decided to chase after ‘em, and I decided t’ split UP, Lukas! ” He winces, a few hot tears slipping out as his breath is stolen from him. He drops his eyes to the floor and shakes his head, “ This … Is all … on me …”
“Neither of us had any way to see this coming, you’re not responsible for their actions.”
“ But I am f’r every other goddamn mistake I’ve made!”
“You made the best choices you could given each circumstance, Jesse!”
“ Well my best isn’t good enough, apparently! ” He spits, heaving heavy now between an already ragged state and the mucus no doubt making it worse.
“Your best is about as good as mine. And, despite what you may think, splitting up when we did saved us! Had we been stuck together with that thing on our tail, we’d both be dead, Jesse…! You make tough decisions, but you make them well.”
Jesse just shakes his head as he curls up a fist and slams it into the ground, “I can’t anymore! I just… can’t … I just wanna sleep …”
“ Like hell!” Lukas cups his face again with a sturdy grip, his own eyes beginning to sting from tears, “I don’t care how worthless you feel right now, I’m not just gonna leave you here! Not like this, Jess… You and I both know what may happen if you shut your eyes on me.” He shakes him gently as he says this and Jesse just heaves out a silent sob. Lukas crouches down to meet him in the eyes again. “So, please, I’m asking—no, begging you to just hold on. I will carry you all the way back to town myself if I gotta, but we’re not giving up here after coming so damn far . I won’t let you.”
Jesse cries out fully, heaving forward as the tears rush out and fall into his lap. He shakes his head, clenching his own shaking fists tight as he does. Lukas’ heart aches—he’s never seen the man like this, despite everything . This trip was the straw to break the camel’s back. Lukas swallows down the lump in his own throat and gently tries meeting his gaze again, hands tentatively reaching out to hold him still.
“Jesse, please, look at me— look at me…” He soothes and the man fights it but eventually drags his gaze back up to Lukas’, halting his tears, shaking, and sniffling as much as he can in order to listen. Lukas lets out a shaky breath.
“Jesse, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I can’t. I just— I cannot lose you. I care about you so deeply it makes me ache . Do you understand? ” His voice shakes as he says it, a few tears slipping down his own cheeks as he does—they’re cold against his skin.
Jesse sucks in a shuddery breath but begins to nod. Lukas nods in turn and pulls him in by the back of the head and gently presses their foreheads together. He lingers with the touch, heart drumming loudly in his ears and Jesse’s breath tickling his skin. It’s the fever, and he knows it, but the man is so warm to the touch in a cold place like this. He holds this for a minute or two before switching and pulling Jesse into a full hug he happily accepts. They sit there quietly in the dark simply clinging to each other, Lukas tracing circles in his back. They would go together or they wouldn’t go at all, and that’s the bottom line.
Jesse’s the first one to speak again. It’s quiet, hardly above a whisper.
“L-Let’s… Let’s go . I wanna go home …”
Lukas sets his mouth into a firm line and nods. “I do too.”
His grip eases and he pats Lukas’ arm lightly twice and Lukas recognizes the signal to let go. He does and the pair part. Jesse nods shakily, gripping Lukas’ hand. Lukas sucks in a breath and dares to stand up, a bit wobbly on his legs not to mention super sore on his right side. That blast was one thing but hitting the wall truly was another. Nothing he couldn’t handle though, hopefully. His head threatens to spin if he moves too fast and the headache’s still there, but again, he can survive. He leans on the wall a bit as he creeps over to the alcove’s exit. They’re back into stone territory and there’s clearly an incline upwards to their right.
“I tried… followin’ the old mining gear scattered…” Jesse says with labored breaths and raises a shaky hand up to point vaguely upwards, “There’s prob’ly an exit somewhere ahead… Or somethin’ ... I’unno, Lukas…” He mumbles out and Lukas nods. Hopefully they’re not too far out yet and a little bit of adrenaline is still in Jesse’s system—this really seems like the home stretch. They could be close. He turns back to Jesse.
“How long were you walking with me?”
Jesse shrugs, “I’unno… You were… out cold for a bit then woke up again. But… but you were really off. Dizzy, confused, sluggish. But y’kept goin’. Y’caught on and we continued but sometimes you’d slip into a doze or somethin’… wake up ‘n do it all over again. That happened a few times before you completely dropped for real…” He grimaces as he says this, clutching the long sleeves of the jacket as he does. “I-I thought— I wasn’t sure if…” He trails off, voice hitching a little. Lukas feels his heart drop some—the utter guilt this man must be feeling is eating him alive. Regardless, Jesse clears his throat and continues, “I’unno how long it’s been... It didn’t feel like you ever slept that long though…”
“Okay… Okay, alright, let’s—“ he sucks in a breath to steady his own nerves. “C’mon. We gotta get a move on and get out of here because time is doing us no favors. I have a feeling you probably dragged my ass up a good ways though so just— hang in there. ” He forces a smile, trying to lighten the mood where he can. Jesse looks up to him with a bit of uncertainty but does nod. Lukas crouches back down and gets into position on Jesse’s weak side.
He once again counts down and they once again shove off, but while Jesse’s legs always shook, this time they completely give out from under him. He cries out as he drops and Lukas gasps, immediately dropping down to try and catch him.
“I’m… I can’t … I’m so sorry …” Jesse whispers between wheezy breaths. Lukas swallows in nervousness. That potion helped him escape that biome and drag his own ass back up to stone level, but it really was his last hurrah. Jesse already felt horrible, but the crash after its effects wore off is another intense layer of exhaustion. He eventually gives his shoulders a squeeze.
“What was it you told me all those years ago in Soren’s little happyland…? That when the going gets tough ‘we stick together extra hard’?”
Jesse actually manages to crack a silly smile at that and chuckle a little.
“Coulda… worked on the wording, huh?”
“It’s the thought that counts.” Lukas says with a warm smile. He nods to Jesse, “We’re sticking together, and I’ve still got some oomph in me, so we’re getting out of here.” He says confidently, desperately ignoring the way his own world spins around him. Jesse looks up at him in confusion as he hooks the old lantern to his side alongside the soulfire one. Flicking the soulfire lantern’s switch, he’s disappointed to see it’s finally run out of fuel. Not surprised at this point, but disappointed—hopefully they won’t run into any monsters in general. With the classic lantern in place, he reaches down around Jesse’s back and under his legs again. Jesse stiffens and grips Lukas’ shirt as tight as he can—it’s featherlike.
“Lukas…! No! You’re hurt…!” He croaks and Lukas actually does pause, but only to raise his eyebrows and give Jesse the most scalding look of disbelief he can. The man swallows and hesitates, a sense of sheepishness washing over him.
“O-Okay… Point taken. ” He mumbles as he settles against his chest and loosens his grip. With Jesse quiet, Lukas sucks in a breath and heaves him up. He stumbles back a few paces and drops to a kneel on his hurt leg, causing Jesse’s breath to hitch. He grimaces at the burning in his thigh but sucks in a breath and shoves himself back up. He’s shaky on his legs but can manage—he has to. Jesse looks up at him with a concern that almost makes him feel guilty, but he nods to him in reassurance and begins the trek forward.
Lukas leads them out of their alcove, taking a glance either way as he reaches the threshold. He sucks in a deep breath as he does. Looking downwards he cannot help but stare at how steep it got at certain parts. He looks down sternly at Jesse in his arms who sheepishly glances away—he shouldn’t have been making that climb on his own, nonetheless with another person probably hauled over his shoulders. Not that he could stay upset, though—he adores his refusal to quit even in the worst situations. It makes his heart even heavier knowing just how close he is to quitting now. He makes the right turn to begin the hike upwards.
It doesn’t take long for Jesse to relax in his arms, for better or for worse he can’t really say considering that fever. Something tells him though that Jesse’s reached the end of his ability to help. For now, he’s just trying not to think about how heavy the man is in his arms or how badly his muscles burn from exhaustion— just a little longer, then they’ll be out. What they’ll do once out is a whole different story, but they’ll get to it when they get to it. For now he was just gonna worry about the occasional tunnels they trudge on past.
Sound travels well in the tight little cave, with spider hisses and zombie groans echoing up to them sporadically. Every time something aside from his heavy footsteps and their ragged breathing hits him, Lukas freezes and scans the area. But luckily enough for them, none of those monsters run out to greet them.
It’s not any special cave, per se, but it has its pretty features. The path leads across parallel granite and diorite veins, adding some refreshing color and striping to the dull stone. His lantern light bounces off of the rocks and the small quartz crystals embedded in both, making the path shimmer in a way almost like out of a fairy tale. There are other little veins and bits of ore that sit in the walls and the further they go the more repetitive it seems. Lukas almost wonders if he’s started going in circles.
He shuffles over some redstone which glimmers in response and adds another warm light to the tunnel, at least temporarily. He pauses to glance back with a little smile and hears Jesse hum. However, if the man were going to say something, he must decide against it—or more likely the thought escapes him. The further they walk, the less talkative he gets—and the less comprehensible he gets. That fever is settling in with delirium. Lukas looks at him curiously anyways as he pauses to rest against the cave wall. Jesse just sluggishly nods towards the redstone.
“Redstone… ‘livia likes it—she’s really good wi’ it too… Cool, right?” He mumbles with a proud smile. Lukas nervously returns it.
“Redstone’s difficult, that’s impressive.”
“Tha’s wh’ I always tell ‘er…! Gotta work on tha’ confidence o’ers…” He finishes with a little frown before settling back against Lukas’ chest. Lukas just nods quietly as he pushes off the wall to walk again, grunting as he tries picking up the pace. Jesse nods in and out of consciousness against him in the meantime. The path is somewhat dirty with dust and mud kicked up from monsters, but more poignantly are human tracks—old and new.
It’s clear people have been here before with the burnt out torches and scattered remnants of gear. The thing he’s keeping his eyes trained on though? The freshest set of boot prints—probably their assailant’s. They don’t waver from one path and move sparsely—confidently. Whoever that was, they know this cave system. Fury burns deep down in Lukas’ core as he thinks of that person and what they’ve done to them—done to Jesse . His gaze drifts down to the paling man in his arms and the ragged bandages desperately hanging on around his core. He gets a rush of adrenaline from the anger and readjusts his grip on Jesse as he walks with more purpose, fighting back against the headsplitting headache as he moves.
Jesse groggily blinks his eyes open as he does and his gaze drifts around them. They pass by a geode and he swings a heavy arm out to point at it.
“Amethyst… S’pretty… I wanna make s’methin’ wi’ ‘em one day…”
“You’ve made me some windchimes with a few shards.”
Jesse’s eyes widen, “Really…?”
“Mhm,” Lukas nods and grunts as he steps up a ledge. Jesse’s head lolls against Lukas as he lets out a long hum in thought.
“I’on’t ‘member that…”
“That’s alright, you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
“Where’re th’ at?”
“Hanging from my front porch.”
“Oh.” Jesse mumbles. He looks up at Lukas curiously, “Are th’ good…?”
Lukas smiles a little at that. He nods.
“ Yeah. They’re gorgeous. Sound great too—you did an amazing job.”
“Sweet…” Jesse says with a contented sigh as he rests against Lukas again. He rests his eyes quietly and Lukas tenses again for probably the dozenth time since they started walking. He gently shakes the man in his arms.
“Gotta keep those eyes open for me, Jess… Need a second set here.” Lukas mumbles out. Jesse frowns as he’s disturbed but nods and shifts his gaze ahead of them. Lukas lets out a small sigh of relief. They continue stumbling blindly towards what’ll hopefully be their freedom. It feels endless—the terrain is rugged, the light is pathetic, and the weight of them both is a goddamn challenge.
But eventually Lukas notices a shift in the air.
It gets… muggier. Warmer. And eventually more lush plants and vines begin to appear. Jesse’s eyes blink wider and the man sits up a little in his arms, probably noticing Lukas’ own shift in mood. Lukas holds his breath however, half expecting it to open up to another lush cave of doom. But instead, when they turn the bend, they’re greeted with precious blue daylight streaming in from the distance. It’s faint, but it’s sunlight , and it’s merely a few bends away.
Lukas lets out a gasp and his knees nearly buckle beneath him at the dim light. Swallowing, he gets a grip on himself—he’s gotta get them out, not almost out. With that in mind, he hurries up the incline and around the bend. Then another, that light billowing and getting brighter with each step. At the third and final bend, he swings around and immediately stumbles back at the sudden brightness of the sunlight streaming in from the exit. On top of it are the sounds of waves, the smell of saltwater, and mist that gets flung high and some into the cave mouth. Stepping up further, they even get hit with some and the water is cold and relieving.
Jesse gasps and begins tapping Lukas’ chest, wanting to be put down. Lukas takes one look at the jagged stack of rocks that leads to their exit and decides to ignore him. He scrambles the rest of the way up, his body's aches and cries work against him but they finally make it up and out into the warm day. Jesse’s grip tightens around Lukas as they stumble out and onto regular ground. The wind is knocked out of him at the sight.
The surface… Freedom—and daylight!
They’ve walked out and into a partially covered lagoon that’s overrun with thick healthy flora. Lukas wonders if he’s truly ever seen a place so green in his life. There’s a pretty clear trail down the side of the water and out to the main bay which they follow. As they move, Jesse begins squinting more, taking more and more looks around as they go.
“I recognize this place…” He mumbles and Lukas’ brows raise. He isn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but he hasn’t said anything incorrect per se. Still, he takes it with a grain of salt. Regardless, being so close to water like this means that there will be boats on the water, and boats on the water means they can get help.
They keep going and eventually the dirt and mud gives way to sand, and the sun is utterly blinding as they step out from under the roof of the lagoon. It’s an almost tropical beachside and Lukas wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t far from the jungle now. They step out onto smooth bright white sand and up to the water’s edge. The water is a bright blue like the sky above them—only occasionally dotted by a puffy white cloud. The waves are strong with big bubbly whitecaps, and it’s so loud it almost makes it hard to think. He’d grown used to such eerie silence that it’s overwhelming, but in a very welcome way. He’d always loved being around the water. Jesse reaches a hand out and down, getting it hit by the splash of one wave. He smiles. It’s a huge bay, and you can't quite see the mountains across the other side.
Better yet? There are boats in the water just like he hoped. Lukas helps Jesse to his knees in the sand, already thinking of a million ways to nab the attention of those people when Jesse speaks again.
“T-This ‘s th’ Southern Bay…! There’s a port town…! West o’ here! Where one o’ th’ rivers meets th’ bay—th’ widest one…” He says while raising a shaky finger west. Lukas just nods, heart beginning to beat out of his chest as he runs to grab some quick firewood and something reflective to shine one of those boats' way.
They’re actually gonna make it out of this. They actually did it. They’re gonna be alright.
Thinking that, he can’t help but grin from ear to ear as he slaps a quick signal fire together nearby. It works like a charm too. Jesse watches curiously, shifting around in the warm white sand. Lukas rips his goggles off and shoots back to his feet, staggering around as he struggles to regain his balance. Once he does he stands tall and raises his goggles even higher, using them to catch the sunlight and reflect it out towards the boats.
It takes a little time, but within the both short and everlasting hour, they catch the attention of a crabbing boat. Lukas waves them down and they dock not too long after. He hurries over and kicks out the fire with some sand then rushes over to Jesse. The man gasps and reaches up from where he sits for Lukas, not wanting to be left behind. He quickly crouches down and scoops him back up into his arms then turns and starts making his way towards the boat.
An older man leaps down and meets him at the water’s edge, eyes widening as he gets a better look at the pair. Lukas sees him shout something up to the ship’s crew and a few men scramble further back into the ship while others begin lowering the boat’s cage with a raft tied on. Lukas hurries to wade into the water and meet the man.
“ Thank god you’re here! We need medical attention he’s—!”
“Already on it!” The man responds quickly, voice gruff much like the rest of him. He’s older, shoulder-length stringy dark hair with wrinkles, a beard, and plenty of stubble, probably his late 50s and early 60s, but still well-built—obviously enjoys boating and fishing still. Pale, but grizzled and wearing thick layers with the standard coveralls and rubber boots for crab fishers and then a coat far too heavy for the weather. The man presses an urgent hand into Lukas back, guiding him to the raft.
“ Thank you so much, I-I don’t know what else to say!”
“Nothin’ else you need to say, kid. We’re just happy to apparently get here in time.” The man responds as he hops up into the raft. Lukas raises Jesse up and trades him off into the fisherman’s arms who carefully sets him in the raft. He turns back and grabs Lukas’ hands, hoisting him out of the water and up next. Lukas hurries back to Jesse’s side and pulls him into his lap, clasping his hand tight. His eyes are cloudy in confusion, unable to keep up with how fast everything’s moving now, but he relaxes once back in Lukas’ arms. The fisherman whistles upwards and yanks on one of the pulley ropes. There’s a sudden jolt that sends them all reeling and makes Jesse yelp in pain, but then the raft starts raising.
“I’m Maverick. You two got names?”
Lukas laughs a little at that and then nods, “ Yeah, I’m Lukas, this is Jesse—we’re from Beacontown.”
The man’s brown eyes widen and he leans forward with his hands clasped tightly on his knees.
“ Wait— yer not the— That’s not the Jesse I’m thinking of, is it?” He says as he points down at him. Lukas smiles sympathetically.
“The Witherstorm one? Yeah. It is.”
“ T-Then you’re—!” He gapes and lets out a long, low whistle. “ Shiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt…! I know who y’are! Everyone in town knows—My daughter’s even got your books at home! Can’t believe I didn’t recognize ya.”
“Heh, don’t blame you. This… isn’t exactly our Sunday Best.” Lukas says as he blows out a sigh. The man nods solemnly.
“Looks like you two have certainly been through the wringer. But don’t worry, you’re in safe hands now.”
Lukas goes to say something in return when the cage and their little raft are swung back on deck with a heavy thud that nearly sends Jesse and Lukas tumbling again. Lukas catches himself on the raft’s edge as Jesse tenses and hisses. Maverick hops out and once again helps Lukas get Jesse moved and Lukas hops out and onto the deck, dropping on his bad leg and causing a chorus of gasps to ring out. He raises a hand in reassurance and gets back onto his feet. A flood of security washes over him as he looks around the deck at all the people rushing about to help. Safe. Finally safe. Maverick nods at Lukas to follow him and they hurry inside where some other crewmates have set up a quick little medical table with some sheets splayed across the little kitchenette island. He sets Jesse down there and steps aside for Lukas to move in.
He grips his hand and notices first thing how he doesn’t even grip back now. Looking down his eyes are shut, but for the first time all night—or day, he supposes—he seems peaceful. He can’t help but shuffle in place nervously regardless. Maverick rushes to the other side of the makeshift table with a first-aid kit and another crewmate who’s much closer to Lukas’ age, probably just a few years older. She’s got tanned skin with dark brown hair whose tips lighten into a strawberry blonde, and then deep brown eyes. She rolls her sleeves up to her upper arms and yanks her ponytail tighter before washing her hands in the nearby sink. She dries her hands with a towel and sucks in a steady breath, obviously trying not to match Lukas’ nervous energy. Lukas unintentionally cuts her off as she’s about to speak.
“Enderman attack. Starting at the front of his stomach on his left side—by you—and wrapping around and up before stopping around his shoulder blade. Five lacerations, an inch or two deep at the center. Heavily serrated claws. I-I think it’s infected.”
Both fisher’s brows shoot up in horror. The woman speaks now.
“How long ago was this?”
Lukas grimaces and shakes his head, “I-I dunno! We got trapped underground with nothing. If I had to guess…? Probably about a day or so now. Maybe longer, I really have no clue. I was in and out of consciousness for a while there too.”
“Good god… That long? And he just now lost complete consciousness?” Maverick mumbles.
“He was getting pretty delirious in the last few hours. I woke up and noticed that fever was scorching and has just been getting worse. He managed to think he recognized the area though, so he still had some wits about him. I had about a third of a regeneration potion on me and I applied that almost immediately after he got hit.”
“Directly?” The woman asks.
“Yes.”
Both wince at that and Lukas sighs in understanding.
“Anything else…?”
“He had a potion of Instant Healing at one point—helped us get out of a bind. I dunno if that did any good for his body per se but it kept us from getting killed.”
The woman nods and they begin their work. She introduces herself as Lisette, who is luckily studying medicine and doing crab jobs on the side to help pay for it all. She takes charge with Jesse and Maverick pulls up a chair to get a look at Lukas’ bloodied head and leg. Jesse’s raggedy old shirt bandages are finally unwrapped and thrown away and Lukas’ poor jacket is set aside to be cleaned later. A few other crewmen come in to help out and lots of curses and whistles are thrown around at the sight of the damage and Lukas’ own recounting of their night of horrors.
Lisette isn’t able to go the whole nine yards with Jesse here, but assures Lukas that they’ll be able to get everything they need to done in town with the lead clinicians. At the very least, the bleeding wasn’t substantial enough to be currently life-threatening. The infection is another story, but their timing may just be perfect. She also assures that no doctor on the continent would want to let Jesse slip through their fingers, so he’ll be getting the utmost care without a doubt. It’s scary to hear how close they cut it from an actual doctor, student or not, and Lukas tries not to seem surprised. One thing’s for certain, he’s thankful to have gotten out when they did—who knows how long it would’ve taken for another boat to come by.
Lukas gets the blood cleaned off of him by Maverick and with the focus on Jesse he doesn’t exactly get checked as in-depth as he probably should’ve, but he can’t say he’s too worried. He’s got a shitty ice pack to hold against the almost comical goose-egg on his head and alleviating the stabbing pain, so that’s all he could ask for. On top of that, he finally gets that damn cut in his thigh cleaned and properly bandaged.
Jesse does manage to get stabilized and by then they’re not too far from Oldport—a port town on the southwest cape of the Southern Bay, right along the waterway that leads out to the sea. It’s a substantial town that’s huge in trade, tourism, and of course, fishing of all types. The bay connects to some of the main rivers that cut through the continent—including the one that leads up to Beacontown and then through its delta and out to the western sea. Started small and simple, as most do, but grew exponentially with Beacontown’s foundation and rapid expansion.
It’s a waiting game now and Lukas just sits at Jesse’s side, gripping his hand tight and quietly rubbing circles in the backside. He quietly makes conversation with the other crewmates as they travel—not to mention thanking them endlessly. It’s no exaggeration to say that they saved their lives, and he ensures that they understand that.
~~~~~
Radar,
Jesse and I are okay. As I’m sure you can guess, given the time that’s passed, we ran into some problems—can you say you’re surprised? That said, there’s no need to send in the cavalry. We’ve got a few bumps and scrapes though amongst other things, so we’re likely going to rest another day or two before making the boat ride home. We’re in Oldport now—I’ll explain in person—and in good hands.
Sorry for the stress and pressure we no doubt caused, I’m sure you handled it well though—you’re growing to be a great leader. Thank you for being someone we can always rely on. You’re relieved of your worrying though, go take care of yourself now.
We’ll see you at home, and we owe you one,
- Lukas
Lukas blows out a heavy sigh as he leans back in the old wooden chair, grimacing quickly as pain shoots through his head. He clenches his fists and drums on the old tabletop as he lets the pain wash over him, blowing it away with one more controlled breath out. He should be resting like Jesse—Doctor’s orders—but a small crew on speedboat said they were heading upriver and he couldn’t let an opportunity like that slide.
He folds the letter up neatly and stuffs it in a pearly white envelope as he stands. He bumps the chair back into place with his hip as he focuses on sealing the thing up and walking out of the small side-office. He passes through the small medical wing and gives Jesse a passing glance as he hurries to the door, trying and failing to be quiet on the creaky old floors as he goes. The man doesn’t stir from his bed, for better or for worse. Reaching the opposite door to the hall, he pulls it open only to be greeted by another person. He gasps and jumps, fumbling and nearly dropping the letter as the woman does the same.
“Lukas! I’m so sorry, I was just coming to check on you guys…!” Lisette whispers, albeit rather loudly. Lukas holds a hand over his rapidly-beating heart as he lets out a pathetic laugh and just shakes his head. He waves the letter in hand.
“I-It’s okay! I just wasn’t expecting it, heh! Hoo boy…” He blows out a breath to steady himself as Lisette smiles nervously and nods behind him towards Jesse.
“Sleeping Beauty awake yet…?”
Lukas follows her gaze briefly before frowning and just shaking his head. She grimaces and nods.
“Heavy sleeper then…”
“It’s alright, he needs it. He’s alive, that’s all I could ask for right now.”
“He’s lucky to have you.” Lisette says quietly with a smile. Lukas feels his cheeks redden and he lets out a nervous little laugh. He rubs his neck and goes to protest with something only to be cut off as she finally eyes the letter in his hand.
“I thought the head Doc said ‘No Working’?” She says with a smirk. Lukas shrugs a little bashfully then clears his throat.
“Yeah, he did, but this is different.”
“Uh-huh.” She crosses her arms and leans against the doorframe. Lukas rolls his eyes with a snort and holds the letter out. Lisette takes it and inspects the address with a thoughtful nod.
“There’s a speeder heading up to Beacontown—should be there by morning apparently. I gotta get the word to Radar that Jesse and I are fine.”
“If ‘ mutilated ’ and ‘ concussed ’ are your definition of ‘ fine ’, then I fear to see what your definition of ‘ bad’ is.”
“Yeah, well, if I tell him that he’ll have a heart attack and send an even larger cavalcade after us. Regardless, if I don’t get this there ASAP, he’ll be sending people off to that Stronghold anyways.”
She grimaces and grows serious at that, pushing off the wall to stand tall. She swings her backpack around to her front and stuffs the letter before nodding up to Lukas.
“That is important then. I’ll make sure this gets to the speeder ASAP—I know this place better than you, plus I’m not concussed.” She says pointedly and Lukas opens his mouth to protest when she cuts him off with a snap and simply points back into the medbay. “ No. Now take a page out of your friend’s book and go rest, please.”
Lukas swallows and raises his hands, slowly backing off with a nervous smile.
“Yes ma’am. Hear you loud and clear.”
“Good! One of us will be back later to check up on you guys. Mav keeps bugging me to tell you that he’s happy to cook something up for you two, but don’t feel pressured. I dunno how good fish sounds after being on that smelly ol’ boat for so long.” She says with a little laugh and Lukas smiles softly.
“That’s very kind of him. We’ll definitely consider it.”
She returns the look then swings her backpack back around. Once comfy, she gives a lazy salute and shuts the door on them again. Lukas can briefly hear her footsteps receding as she goes before they’re left in relative silence once more—’ Relative’ being the keyword. It’s a sweet little clinic with a lot of character, but it's fidelity has been lost with time. The soft droll of people chattering and bells clanging from the docks are a beautiful change of pace though and bring about a relief he never expected.
… Taking a page out of Jesse’s book to rest. Right, Jesse’s book. He smiles at that and shakes his head—oh if only that poor woman knew how far from the truth that was.
A sudden stirring and coughing from behind him rips him out of his thoughts. He whips his head around and spots Jesse upright and hacking into his hands and sheets.
“ Jess!” Lukas blurts out as he hurries over. He sees Jesse’s brows knit as he glances up in confusion towards the sound. His eyes completely widen as Lukas comes around the bed.
“ Lukas…?” He mumbles and Lukas nods. Jesse’s eyes widen as he opens his arms. Lukas gets to the edge of the bed and drops down, immediately scooping Jesse into a secure hug. The man lets out a gasp, “ Lukas ! Oh my god—!”
“ I’m here! It’s okay, everything’s okay now.” He quickly mutters out. He adjusts and readjusts his grip on Jesse as the man digs his nails in to do the same. The man is still burning hot in his arms. Jesse practically claws at Lukas’ back to get closer as he lets out his first shuddery sob of relief.
“I thought— Oh god I thought that you— That WE—…!” He stutters, gasping in a breath as he shakes his head against Lukas’ chest, “I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
“ Shhhh, shhhhh, it’s okay, it’s okay…” Lukas pulls Jesse up and a little closer yet, wrapping one arm around the small of his back and using his spare hand to comfortingly run through his hair. Jesse shudders as he rests his head on Lukas’ shoulder who soon shifts to whisper more reassurances into his ear, “ We’re okay… We’re safe… It’s not your fault, Jesse. It’s not your fault.”
“ I—!” Jesse chokes, swallowing as he tries steadying himself. He shakes his head, “ If anything had happened to you, Lukas…” He drops an octave, trailing off as he just tightens his grip. Lukas nods in understanding as his heart beats incessantly against his ribcage. He was so close to losing Jesse as well—no monster could chill him to the bone in the same way as that simple thought. Lukas squeezes the man even tighter, resisting the urge to kiss his head in comfort as he does.
“It’s okay, Jesse, I know. I know… ”
“ Oh god, Lukas…” He blows out a heavy sigh, the breath tickling Lukas’ neck. They stay there for some time just mumbling apologies and reassurances to each other. There’s not much else to do, and for once in both of their lives, they have nowhere else they have to be. It’s just them here, and there’s nobody else there has to be.
The rush of emotions eventually does pass, and serenity returns to the little clinic. Lukas rubs circles into Jesse’s back as the man just sits there holding on tight. Eventually they part and Lukas runs his hands over Jesse’s arms comfortingly. He reaches up and brushes his bangs back and out of his eyes, tips of his fingers catching lightly on some of those dark brown curls.
He lets himself linger a moment to admire the man, taking in all the little details of his face like he has a million times before. The unique pattern of that scar over his eye, the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles, and every single freckle spattering his skin like stars against the night sky. Battered, beaten, exhausted, and still flushed, but most certainly still the Jesse he knows. He presses the back of his hand to his forehead again. It’s still hot, as he expected, but he’s certainly in better shape than he was. He helps Jesse settle back down from there, careful not to jostle his injury or new bandages too much as he does. He grimaces slightly but then blows out a sigh and smiles up at Lukas.
“Y’know, I actually don’t feel so bad…!”
“That’s because of all the painkillers you’re hopped up on.”
Jesse blinks, startled, “Painkillers…? Already?”
“Yessir, and a fun plethora of goodies for that infection and fever on top. They’ve already done good work on you.” Lukas pauses as Jesse just looks more distressed by that. He leans forward on his knees, “What’s the last thing you remember, Jess…?”
Jesse shifts uncomfortably against his pillow as he glances away, leaving a pit in Lukas’ stomach. He offers a half-hearted shrug.
“I-I mean, I remember the important parts… I remember the Stronghold and getting trapped. I remember pretty much all of that, but things start getting blurry around the explosions…? Then there was that Enderman… I remember that well. After that? It’s another blur… Next thing in my memory is the Warden and getting chased by it. It’s… I remember the way its saliva dripped down me—how cold it felt. I remember seeing you get flung, but that portion’s a blur… Then you… You dropped. A-And I couldn’t get you to wake up.” He grows quieter as he recalls it. Lukas listens patiently, noting the subtle way Jesse grips at his sheets. The man raises a shaky hand to tuck some of his hair behind his ear, clearing his throat, “After that, there’s nothing. That’s the last thing I remember at the moment… I dunno how we even got here…”
Lukas slowly nods, blowing out a heavy breath as he does. He’s got some gaps in his memory himself, but even he can remember more than that by now. Not that he can blame the man much, if getting smacked around by that Enderman didn’t do it than the sheer fear and new trauma probably did. A cold pit forms in his stomach realizing that Jesse would probably never remember any of their conversation leaving that cave. But perhaps that was for the better, he can process those same emotions without the threat of dying hanging over them now.
“Okay, gotcha. That’s alright. We’re in Oldport now, in their local clinic. You got us halfway up the slope of the cave and then I finished the hike. A crabbing boat picked us up from there.” He explains slowly and Jesse nods along, still obviously unnerved by his own gaps. All he has are the worst moments in his mind—that must be torture. Lukas sighs, “I’m sorry you’ve gotta have those things on your mind regardless, though…” He clasps one of Jesse’s hands tightly between his. Jesse just smiles sadly and shrugs.
“Part of the job description by now. ‘Sides, I can’t leave you all on your own.” He squeezes Lukas’ hand reassuringly as he says it and Lukas’ own heart tightens. He can’t quite put his finger on it, but seeing the man before him attempt to comfort him of all people when just that morning he watched him hit his breaking point fills him with some type of emotion. It hurts.
“You don’t have to be strong for me, Jess…” He whispers, giving his hand a squeeze. Jesse’s smile falters momentarily. Lukas holds his gaze sternly until the man flicks his gaze away and swallows nervously. He nods.
“I— I know , I just… It was so bad… the bits I do remember…”
“I know it was… We’ll work on it together—I’m not going anywhere, okay?”
“Thank you, Lukas… I know you aren’t.” Jesse says with a warm smile and another squeeze of the man’s hands. Lukas returns the smile, unable to stop the way his cheeks burn at the brilliant sight of the look on Jesse’s face. Even battered and beaten that smile could light up a room, and here it is making his heart hammer in his chest. It’s good to see those eyes full of life again—tired, but alive. He realizes how close he’s sitting to the man and cringes a little before backing off.
“Need anything?”
“I’m parched, actually… Water?”
“I think I can handle something as simple as that.” Lukas says with another smile as he stands. The rest of the afternoon is smooth sailing from there. Lukas pulls a chair up next to Jesse’s bed rather than laying down on his own—against doctor’s orders, sure, but he knows he’ll be okay more or less—and updates Jesse on the little things they currently need to worry about, such as dinner. Lisette eventually comes back around, this time with Mav in tow who simply insisted on seeing them again before nightfall. Lukas manages introductions, and Jesse is amicable and friendly as per usual, as if the giant lacerations don’t even exist. He gets along great with the both of them, not that Lukas can say he expected anything less. They end up taking Mav up on his offer of dinner at Jesse’s own insistence. Lukas tries to steel his stomach for the smell of seafood again and Jesse just talks to him about all the ways it’ll taste great in an effort to help.
In the midst of dinner, Jesse dares to ask about Beacontown and getting home in general. Luckily or unluckily, the doctor’s aren’t keen on letting them go too easily yet. Lukas gives him the “fun” run-down on both of their conditions and somehow Jesse’s more surprised to hear that Lukas got a concussion than he is to hear that his infection could’ve been deadly had they been much later. Can’t say Lukas is surprised with that one, either. But the worst of their cleanup has already been done, now it’s just monitoring and resting for the both of them.
With that in mind, the clinicians are pleasantly understanding of privacy, and better yet, one knows a local innkeeper quite well. Once they get the okay in the morning, they’ll be allowed to spend time in a nice hotel room rather than in a public building. Not that it was particularly busy with patients, but privacy is privacy. Just the mention of that little shift towards normalcy forces a substantial tension out of Jesse’s shoulders—he never liked being stuck in places like this.
But for the meantime, the stiff clinic mattresses would have to do. The head clinician gives them one final check for the evening and then leaves them to it, ensuring that he or one of the practitioners would be just around the corner throughout the night if anything came up. The illusion of their new privacy was a formality, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Lukas wishes he could say that the moment they got some space, that they both went out like lights. That sleep came easy and the dreams were even better. That’s a fool’s errand, though. A unique challenge was poised as the sun dipped lower under the horizon. He was a little put-off by the darkness, certainly, but Jesse only became more agitated. Lukas was the lucky one to have brought his night vision goggles down into that cave. Jesse not so much. The darkness no longer brought the same quiet and solace, despite their safety.
‘I feel like a child, again,’ he’d told him. ‘I feel like I’m back home that night when I brought those disks home. I-I can’t even shut my eyes without—…’
He didn’t even have to say it. The experience of that… thing … It was horrifying. The squelching of that odd soul-bound groundcover mixed with the crunching and contorting of bones as it first emerged and built itself up was just the beginning. Those harrowing shrieks, the moaning and groaning it made as it shuffled about looking for—no, hunting them down. Even he felt the paranoia of it all seep in. He ends up lighting a small lantern in a nearby corner—not too bright but bright enough to cast the wing in an orange glow that chases the shadows out of reach.
From there he sits in Jesse’s bed with him, just staying up to talk. It’s reassuring for them both, and as exhaustion creeps in they desperately try to fight it with increasingly short and silly conversations. Jesse eventually resorts to i-spy in his desperation. They give in to sleep eventually however, and it’s just as fitful as expected. Nightmares, memories, and pains mixed in with already exhausted minds leads to a night of barely existent rest. The most Lukas gets out of the experience is a kink in the neck for dozing at a stupid angle—nice going blondie.
The day’s a little better, though with the relief worn off the exhaustion is all that’s left sinking into their bones. As for the doctors, all that’s left is to ensure they’re out of the danger zone, and Jesse responds to his infection’s treatment better than Lukas does with his concussion. They don’t talk much with each other, not out of any ill will, but simply no need—rest is what they need. Lisette and Mav swing by too, but even they can sense the lower energy and don’t stick around for too long.
It’s a quaint little room with two separate little bedrooms and a small living area between. Getting Jesse from the clinic to the room was probably the hardest part, but the feeling of a real bed does wonders. The doctors of course insisted they stick in the clinic for longer, but Jesse being Jesse made it clear that they need to be home as soon as possible. He wanted his own space again, and he wanted to start readjusting to moving on his own. Normally, Lukas would probably tell him to slow down, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t just want to get home too. They’ve been cared for, they’re not at risk, if Jesse thinks he’s okay to move around then he can move.
They don’t talk much outside of necessity. It’s mainly just a day spent resting and napping on and off. Lukas can’t help but wonder if their whole rhythm got messed up down there—he does not want to fight his sleep schedule on top of everything. They snack, they sleep, and they take what little tinctures and medicine they need throughout the day. The clinicians pop in as they said they would and do their little checks. Jesse even shows off how he can manage to stand on his own two feet (albeit quite wobbly—not to mention the need for constant support). It’s small, but they manage to get a little laugh out of it. Everything’s all well and good.
Then night comes around again. They’re a little more prepared for it this time, but that does little to comfort either of them. Lukas ensures that the lamps stay on and checks that there are no dark corners or cubbies. Additionally, they’re lucky to have a little radio in their room. Nothing too fancy, but just enough to fill the silent space with some pleasant whitenoise. Jesse hobbles around listlessly, using anything in the room he can to stay upright. He’s always been a pacer, for better or for worse. Lukas gently catches him by the arm at one point and the man flinches. He blows out a heavy sigh and Lukas only nods, his own nerves shot up with that same unnecessary adrenaline. He manages to get him to sit down at the very least.
They hadn’t really discussed it during the day, but both sort of knew how they were going to be handling this night. With so much rest and sleep done during the day, they’d be staying wide awake. Doing what? Who knows. Neither quite had the foresight to think that far ahead. But they were awake, and that’s enough for the meantime. No monsters lurking in the shadows tonight.
They don’t stray too far from each other, doing aimless little things here and there. At one point Lukas sits down beside Jesse and they read together. At another, Jesse leans against the kitchenette counter and helps him prepare tea. They don’t talk about much again, but that’s okay. It’s hard to find something to talk about that doesn’t bring their minds back to… Well, everything. They think of going home and their thoughts go to where they’ve been, and if they let them get that far then they’re served with reminders of everything they don’t want to be reminded of. Not just yet.
They do well for the most part and Lukas thinks that they just might be able to move past this without too much lasting damage. That’s wishful thinking of course. They get their harsh little reminder of reality as the sound of teleportation echoes in through their cracked window. Both men gasp and snap their heads towards the sound. Jesse drops his mug and stiffens and Lukas instinctively gets close to put an arm around the man, not for a second taking his eyes off of the window and surrounding area. But there’s nothing of course, it was just passing by as all Endermen do. Non-hostile, hell it probably didn’t even know they were there. The same couldn’t be said for the other way around.
Jesse clasps a hand over his mouth and hunches over where he sits. Lukas swallows and pulls his arm back from around his shoulders in order to cup his face.
“Are you okay?”
Jesse hesitates and he can see his brows knit together tightly. His eyes darken in concentration and thought until finally relaxing and shutting. Acceptance. Jesse quietly shakes his head.
“Okay… What do you need? What can I get you?” Lukas whispers up to him. Jesse takes a moment more but then shakily raises his free hand.
‘Water.’ He signs. Lukas nods and gets right to it. He sways a little on his own feet as he stands and walks, but at least he can walk on his own. He’s there and back within a minute and Jesse takes the glass happily. He chugs it and Lukas takes the moment to go and shut the windows. He laments the loss of the fresh rain smell as he begins shutting them, but it isn’t worth the panic any sounds might bring. As he finishes and walks back over, Jesse hesitantly offers up the now empty glass. Lukas smiles and takes it.
“Feel better?”
“Less parched.” He mumbles, avoiding the question. “Thanks…”
“Happy to.” Lukas smiles again as he walks off to the kitchenette with it. He washes the cup while quietly wondering what he ought to do here. Talking about it would probably be needed sooner or later, but it still feels way too soon. Way too overwhelming. But he’s running out of ideas for ways to comfort him—maybe he was already doing enough? It doesn’t feel like it.
“Lukas…?” Jesse mumbles out.
“Yeah? What else can I get ya?” Lukas glances back to the man as he asks just in time to see him shrink in on himself. He’s standing now though, albeit still in that off-balance and pained way he does. His eyes are cloudy and his brows furrowed as he thinks hard. There’s something to the soft inflection of his voice that catches Lukas off-guard. It’s hard to place.
Jesse sucks in a shuddery breath, squinting a little as he gets chilled and a fresh wave of tears threaten to spill over. Lukas frowns in worry and quickly hurries over to him, hesitating on reaching out quite yet. Jesse just shakes his head and shuffles a bit closer, and Lukas lets him into his space. Jesse drops his head into the crook of Lukas’s neck. He makes a somewhat surprised noise but quickly gathers himself and wraps both arms tightly around Jesse, pulling him into the embrace.
Jesse shudders at the touch and ends up clutching to him like his life depends on it. Lukas stands there holding the man tight and rubbing circles into his back as he steadies his breathing. It hurts. All of this hurts to see and endure. He tries not to dwell on it for whatever it’s worth. Subtly, Lukas starts swaying them along to the faint music playing from the radio—anything to add a little comfort. Jesse sucks in a breath to say something and Lukas prepares to break away from this little momentary embrace. What he gets instead nearly winds him. Quietly, hardly above a whisper he could’ve missed with a quiet breeze, is a single word mumbled into his ear.
“ Stay… ”
Lukas freezes. It isn’t a command, but more like… pleading . Lukas’ heart flutters and aches simultaneously—it’s straight-up dizzying. He grips Jesse a little tighter and just begins nodding.
“ Okay… Okay… I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere… ” he mumbles back in a desperate attempt to comfort the man. It must work if the way he relaxes in his arms means anything. What that means just yet, he isn’t sure, but instead of backing off like he’d normally expect Jesse to, he sticks close. He blows out a contented sigh as they continue swaying in time to the music. The fear and panic slowly melts away into the warm oranges and yellows of the low lamp-light.
Jesse’s eyes flutter open again and he pulls his head up to meet Lukas in the eyes. Lukas stutters in his swaying for just a moment as he does, expression hard to read. It’s soft though, and full of some type of appreciation. Lukas swallows his heart and just smiles a little. Jesse returns it and pulls one of his arms away from the embrace to reach down and interlock their fingers. He chances another curious glance up, probably seeing if Lukas will catch on. A warm chuckle bubbles up out of Lukas’ chest as he does and shifts them both to a proper dancing position. Jesse winces a little as he readjusts the arm on his bad side, but makes it. Lukas lets his hand rest comfortably on the small of his back and that’s where they stay.
He tries not to think about the intimacy of it all, but when Jesse starts humming and mumbling along to the songs it starts getting hard. His heart swells with adoration for the man before him, not for the first time tonight and certainly not the last. Eventually Jesse shifts to once again rest his head against Lukas’ shoulder, and Lukas is right there to rest his own head on top of his. Ebbs and flows of quiet conversation come and go from there, all relievingly casual.
“Did they have any more potions in the clinic?” Jesse mumbles and Lukas desperately tries to ignore the warm breath on his neck.
“Mm-mm. The only one that’d do you any good right now is another Regen potion, and they don’t have any ingredients on-hand…” He responds quietly, a bit surprised by the raspiness of his voice. How late was it getting? Jesse nods into his neck with a thoughtful hum.
“So natural healing it is until I get to Ivors… Damn.”
“At least there’s painkillers, right?”
“For me, sure. But what about all of the poor saps like you who have to deal with me?” He leans back and pouts up at Lukas as he says this. Lukas can’t help the soft laugh that escapes him as a grin sweeps across his face. He shrugs.
“I’ve made it this far. I think I can survive doting on you a little more.”
“Wish I could dote back. You’re the one with the brain injury.” Jesse says as he reaches up and pushes some loose hairs back with his good arm. Lukas snorts and rolls his eyes.
“Always one to make it sound worse than it is.”
“I’m just saying it how it is.”
“All my post-concussion symptoms are just some more headaches, dizziness, and anxiety—and I’m not even sure if I can blame that last one on the head injury. What are you still dealing with, meanwhile?” Lukas reaches up and presses the back of his hand to Jesse’s forehead and cheeks again as the man laughs. Lukas purses his lips, “Well aside from the giant active wound, the remnants of an infection and fever. FROM said wound.”
“Hm… I’m not a fan of this conversation suddenly, let’s change subjects!” He hums and Lukas laughs again.
“Okay sore-loser. How about this—we’ve got plenty of time on our hands, and you owe me, so let’s start talking about beaches, hm?”
“Whaaaat? You’re telling me this wasn’t your dream vacation?” Jesse mock-gasps. Lukas pinches him. He yelps and lightly smacks his arm as Lukas laughs. “ Hey! I’m just playing! No fair!”
~~~~~
The rest of the night is a blur, but not a bad one. They fussed about and chatted between moments of just quietly enjoying each other’s company. It was admittedly tiring staying up however, both had yet to get an actual night’s sleep. The day is more of the same as it was before; check-ups, putzing, and naps thrown in between. Sleep comes much easier with the daylight however.
They manage to work something out under the guise of it helping keep Jesse from tossing and turning too much on that wound. They share a bed and rest together. It’s awkward at first getting settled, but the exhaustion does away with any of that rather quickly. Unfortunately their first attempt of resting doesn’t last long before knocking at the door wakes them up again. Lukas answers it in a hurry and is greeted by Lisette with his cleaned jacket and bandanna. He takes them gratefully and talks some with her before finally parting. Jesse catches the tail-end of the conversation as Lukas sets about putting his things away.
Tomorrow’s the day they can leave. There aren’t any speeders they can hop on, unfortunately, but a small merchant’s boat had a spare room and bed they were happy to offer. Jesse was more than happy to hear about the offer, even if Lukas and their doctors had their reservations yet. But they really do need to be getting home—who can say if Lukas’ letter to Radar even made it on time. They weren’t on vacation, they needed to go as soon as possible.
That said, as the day goes on, their chances to rest before nightfall get fewer and further between as people begin to come and go from their room with final checks. Lisette helps with communications between them and the boat. Around lunch she even takes Lukas with her out of the hotel and down to the docks so he knows where to meet them in the morning in case she misses it, for whatever reason. He’s come to learn she’s a very meticulous woman, though that’s probably a great trait to have in a future doctor—always ready for any situation. He’s happy to have met her back on that crabbing rig.
Maverick’s another story, a laid-back family man the whole way. He and his wife helped take care of their food situation and supplies. They even got to meet his wife and young daughter (at Jesse’s insistence, again) the day prior. Jesse kept the girl, Dahlia, preoccupied as Lukas discussed their plans with Mav and his wife—an equally rugged and hard-working lady named Floria. The merchant’s ship was high quality in terms of amenities, but slow—getting up the bay and into the river would take into the night and they likely wouldn’t get back to town until the morning. Mav insisted they take some things with them while his wife reined in his eager nature to help.
They eventually settle on just enjoying what food they offer to serve in the meantime, though promise to write or visit again one day. Dahlia makes sure to hammer the latter option in. Jesse, ever the jewel, even crosses his heart on the matter, making the girl beam. She gets her bonafide Jesse-hug, and Jesse gets his kid-time fit in. They bid adieu for the day from there, though not without a lot of smiles and a few extra signatures in the young girl’s books.
Their doctors come in one final time as the sun begins to bask everything in a pinkish glow. This is their final check before leaving, so they make sure they’re extra meticulous and agonizingly slow. With the lack of sleep setting in, they’re probably not the best patients in the world but they try. Lukas can tell just by the way the lead clinician packs his old black leather bag that he’s less than certain about them leaving. Lukas offers one more instance of reassurance as he sees him out, though realizes it probably sounds like a practiced script by now. He can’t even hide his excitement at the prospect of going home. The doc’s nice enough at least, and wishes them both the best on top of kindly hoping he doesn’t have to patch them up again anytime soon.
As Lukas shuts the door and latches it shut behind the receding doctor’s form, he blows out a heavy sigh. Finally. Peace and quiet. Who knew being stuck in the same room all-day could be so draining. He leans against the door and allows his head to loll back against it with a solid thump. He rubs his face, digging at his eyes for a moment before shaking himself off. He meanders back into the main room and flicks the little radio on again before going around and hitting the rest of the lights. There’s little light left outside, with just a hint of blue left to the sky as the stars all begin peeking out.
Jesse gives him a little wave as he moves into his little bedroom. Lukas smiles and waves back as he checks this room, only to find it already lit. He raises a brow and Jesse just shrugs.
“I’m not that helpless, Lukas.”
“Never said that. Just don’t want you straining yourself while you’re still hurt.” Lukas mumbles as he rubs his neck and Jesse just smiles sadly. He uses his good arm to slowly shuffle over and give Lukas some space to sit down which he takes happily. The man drops down with a heavy thud, making the mattress bounce a little. Jesse snorts as he eyes him.
“That bad, huh…?”
“Oh I never thought he’d leave!” Lukas whispers as he raises his head from the pillow. Jesse laughs at that, slowly nodding in agreement. Lukas nods up to him, “How ‘bout you? How’re you feeling?”
Jesse lets out a long and heavy sigh, “Tired… But okay. I probably won’t be moving as well without those painkillers though, dreading that part of the boat-ride.”
“I hear you… They just don’t want any complications from potions. I’m sure Ivor’ll be able to make it seem like you never had those to begin with.”
“Cross our fingers, right?” Jesse says with a smirk. He shifts positions again to lay down flat on his back, finally relaxing once more. “I think I’m tired enough to sleep for a week.”
“Ditto. Let’s try and take advantage of it before getting on the boat.” Lukas nods to him as he messes with his own pillow. Jesse just nods and settles in himself, trying not to move too sharply in the process.
The attempt at sleep is about as fitful as either could expect. Lukas manages to doze off almost immediately, sure, but any little sound or move Jesse makes wakes him up and has him on the lookout for something else in the room. It’s almost more exhausting than if he’d just stayed up. He hears Jesse blow out his own frustrated sigh and wonders if he somehow woke him. But as he shifts, no, he’s just struggling to stay comfortable. He’d hoped they’d be tired enough to bypass any semblance of dreaming, but they’re not quite lucky enough it seems.
Jesse grips his pillow tightly as he sleeps and Lukas frowns. He raises a hand and hovers it over him for a moment. Then some seconds. A minute. He doesn’t know what the right thing to do here is. He knows what he’d like to do, but hesitates. Perhaps simply being here was enough?
Jesse cringes in his sleep, curling up further within himself and making Lukas’s heart ache. No. He needed to do more. He reaches out and gently pulls Jesse closer before clasping his arms around the smaller man. Despite his anxiety, Jesse seems to relax and even unfurl some. He buries his head in the crook of his neck and presses up against him.
Lukas freezes a moment, both overjoyed and shocked. He could feel his warm breath on his neck, not to mention just how the man’s a human space heater. He can’t help but run his fingers through those dark brown curls—soft as he always figures they’ll be.
They fit together like puzzle pieces.
~~~~~
The morning’s busy as can be. Lukas wakes up first to pounding on their room’s door and groans at the headache that attacks him immediately. His throat’s parched and he’s the groggiest he’s felt in a long time, which means he managed to sleep well. His brain finally manages to catch up with his body, and he immediately gets a stabbing pain of sadness and regret knowing he has to untangle himself from Jesse. He’s finally so content, too.
He lingers a moment, just watching the man’s chest steadily rise and fall in time with his own. Still so warm, too. He brushes some hairs out of his face and lazily ghosts his fingers up and down his back. Jesse blows out a content sigh at the touch, and the corners of his mouth twitch upwards for just a moment. His heart aches and he grimaces as the knocking at the door calls him. He takes one more moment to ensure the moment is burned into his memory and then slowly untangles himself from Jesse. The man whines a little but doesn’t immediately wake. Lukas leaves him to get the door—he needs whatever rest he can get.
Lisette greets him with a smile, excited to guide them down and apparently happy to not miss it like she worried. Lukas assures her that he never had a doubt she’d be here. Lisette comes in and helps put a few things in the room in order as Lukas goes to retrieve Jesse. He’s groggy, but works with him well. Lukas helps get his cleaned jacket on him and then helps him to his feet. Jesse grimaces as he gets up and Lukas shares the expression—he can’t imagine what it must be like, with or without the medicine. But, as long as he’s got Lukas at his side, he can walk.
Lisette smiles as they walk out and greets Jesse with a handshake and sympathetic look. He cracks a joke and the tension dissipates like that, easy for him as always. Lisette leads the way from there.
—
It’s a very cute town that’s built up in stair-like layers into the side of the hilly mountainside Oldport is propped up against. There’s never anything too steep, but it was still substantial enough to warrant building into rather than terraforming. It’s easy to tell Lukas is ecstatic as he looks around at everything they pass. Thankfully for Jesse, there’s an emphasis moreso on steady inclines rather than sharp staircases. It takes a little longer, but they take the main cobblestone roads as they gradually zigzag down to the docks. They themselves are lined up along the entirety of the town anywhere where land meets water. It’s an interesting little town, and larger in length than height or width—it only goes up the hillside 4-5 blocks before stopping. Along the water’s edge though? The town wraps all the way around and down the waterway that opens up to the sea in the south, continuing probably 5 or 6 miles.
The boat waiting for them is quite cute, and the speed makes a lot more sense when looking over the old intricately carved wood. Jesse blows out a low whistle as his eyes scan over it all and the deep royal blue sails dangling high above them. He’s always loved old boats like these, not that there was any sort of lack of them on the water.
Lisette waves for them to stay put as she rushes up the gangplank. Not long after she comes back down with the captain to make way for introductions. They exchange pleasantries and Jesse makes sure to give a hearty handshake and thank him extensively. He’s a pleasant guy and prattles on and on about his goods, the places he’s stopped, and just why they’ve got the extra quarters available—bizarre misadventure with his ex-quartermaster. Lukas and Jesse share an unsure look on that one because they did not need all those details.
They manage to get enough of a break from talking to the captain to address Lisette once more and get the chance to thank her, with Mav and his family showing up not too long thereafter. The pair thank them all for everything they’ve done and Jesse assures that they’ll be sure to visit at some point. Jesse, hugger that he is, sees them all off with some solid ones. Lukas is a little more formal with handshakes, but old Maverick gets the jump on him, getting a laugh out of them all. Lukas comes out of it seeming refreshed and Jesse eyes him.
“He popped my back!’ ” He says with triumph, and gets another laugh out of them all. On that good note, they head up the gangplank. The boat’s a bit packed with packages, crates, barrels, and odd miscellaneous items covered with sheets and tied down with those classic sailor’s knots. Jesse cocks a brow as he drags his eyes over everything from what seems like paintings, to animals, to food, and statues. He knew the captain was eccentric, but he’s really covering all bases as a merchant. No judging though, if it works it’s not like he can argue.
A loud mooing catches their attention and they spy 3 crewmates wrestling with getting a cow down the gangplank. Jesse coos at the sight of the creature. He can’t help it, he still loves farm animals and cows are such sweethearts. He pouts and laments the fact he can’t walk on his own, he’d be killing it as a cow-whisperer right now.
They decide to linger above-deck for the first leg of their trip, realizing they’re bound to get more entertainment from one crew than they’d get from a year at the theater. Jesse finds a nice spot atop a barrel in the corner and they simply wait. They’re right too. Shoving off is clean and impressively efficient, but the moment they’re free sailing on the open water all hell breaks loose.
Shanties are of course, the everlasting classic, but recreations of their favorite productions are a fun new addition. With a twist of course, because half of the crew doesn’t know the show one will bring up and it quickly devolves into some parodic chaos edition of a classic story. One crewmate even gets mad at another and insists they replace him with the deck’s mop as it’s ‘more capable and reliable.’ Unfortunately for him, the mop wins the day and steals all the roles assigned to the poor man. He doesn’t stay mad for long though, one only can when their friends keep trying to badly mimic your voice coming from a raggedy tool with googly eyes taped on.
Their final play comes to a close much earlier than intended however when the boat’s mutt rushes in and steals their beloved mop-mate away. Jesse didn’t think he could see a gaggle of grown and rugged men and women shriek so loud and move so fast after a dog. It’s been a long time since he’s laughed so hard he’s worried about pissing himself, but that just about did it. The dog does them in, just running and running non-stop until the crewmates are hunches over huffing and puffing in order to catch their breaths.
From there, they all tired stagger away to whatever evening duties they have, be it dinner, cleanup, or stock. With the sun beginning to turn the sky orange, and a substantial breeze wafting over the water, Jesse and Lukas decide it’s time to take their leave to their quarters for the night, talking animatedly about the ship’s antics as they go.
It’s a simple room, not much to be expected. A bed, a window looking out to the water, some small stands and a closet. It’s small and cozy and the perfect, quiet escape from whatever was happening on the rest of the ship. They get comfortable and just chat for a while more until dinner’s ready. They’re pleasantly surprised by a crew member dropping off plates right to them and make sure to shower them in appreciation and they return it. The food’s satisfying and cozy, just like the rest of the ship is starting to feel. The longer they’re here for, the more Jesse begins to understand the odd appeal of this eccentric old girl.
As they’re eating, the sun both dips lower beneath the horizon and the moon rolls up—bright and beautiful. Lukas gets up and lights their little lantern in the corner. It’s old and about as shoddy as the rest of the ship, which makes sense, but Jesse can’t help but tense at the lack of real light it provides. Just a small little corner of warm orange light. Lukas offers a sympathetic look as he takes his plate and places them both where instructed earlier.
Jesse grunts as he begins tugging on the sleeves of the jacket.
“Need help?” Lukas asks and Jesse glances up in surprise. He hesitates but soon nods.
“Y— Yeah, if you don’t mind I’d appreciate it…” He mumbles out and Lukas nods, hurrying over. With his help it’s off in a breeze. Jesse gets a chill up his spine as the cooler air hits his back but smiles up at him. “Thanks for that. I’d rather not sleep in it…”
“No offense taken.” He says with a smile. Jesse matches it. He presses his hands against the mattress to scoot back and lay down but flinches as a sharp pain shoots up through him. He ghosts a hand over his side with a grimace as Lukas hurries back over.
“ Hey, easy, lemme help…” He whispers softly to him and Jesse just sighs with a nod. He reaches up and hooks his good arm around his neck, trying to take whatever weight off of Lukas he can as the man helps him get his legs up and reoriented.
“Thanks…” He says with a smile as Lukas pulls away.
“Of course, can’t have you dangling halfway off the bed all night.” He says with a smirk as he rounds the bed to the other side. Jesse chuckles a little at that and nods. Lukas rolls onto the bed with a loud and content sigh. Jesse smirks.
“That comfy already?”
“I think anything’s comfy after all that stone. I cannot wait to get back to my bed at home.”
“Oh man I feel you there…” Jesse says with another laugh. Lukas straightens himself out and Jesse nudges him in the arm, “Just think, by the time we see daylight again, we’ll be back home.”
“I think that’s the most heavenly sounding thing you’ve ever said to me, Jess.”
Jesse snorts and lightly smacks him in the arm. Lukas smiles over at him.
“But how about you? How are you holding up?”
“Me? Oh geez, okay, well…” Jesse purses his lips and Lukas just cocks a brow at that. He continues with a nod, “A little cold, definitely feeling that lack of painkillers, and I’ve got coldsweats with the darkness, won’t lie, but… But, despite all that, I think I’m doing pretty damn well. I’m thrilled, even.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah… We made it out, and now we’re going home in relatively one piece. What more could I ask for?”
“I suppose you’ve got me there.” Lukas huffs and smiles softly with a nod. Then he pauses. Jesse eyes him curiously.
“What’s wrong?”
“I guess… I’m kind of dreading reaching town a little.” He mumbles and glances at Jesse. If he’s expecting him to say something, he doesn’t get it as Jesse just lays there patiently. Lukas shrugs, “I-I guess uh… Well, I know it’s gonna be a whole mess we’re gonna have to explain. Everyone’s gonna be worried, things are gonna be chaotic, and it’s just— I wish that we got to go home to peace and quiet instead. That you could wait until you were patched up before having to dive back into reliving… All that…”
“I wish you didn’t have to relive it either.” Jesse shoots back and notes just how Lukas’ eyes widen briefly before he recoils a little. Jesse goes to turn towards him when he’s hit with another sharp pain— right, he can’t do that. Frustrated, he drops back onto his back and just shifts his head to face him, “I know it scares you just like it scares me… I know you, Lukas. Don’t think you can fool me… It’s not your fault I got hurt, and you don’t have to go around pretending that—” He grimaces, choking on the monster’s name. He swallows and clears his throat, not ready, “—that monster didn’t scare you. It’s okay…”
“ … Guess we both get to go back to town afraid of the dark then.”
“Guess we do.” Jesse says with a smile, “Despite how daunting it all seems, I think it’ll be alright. I’m excited. We gotta take Radar somewhere good for all this.”
“You’re telling me? Oh my god , Jesse, he’s gonna kill us!”
Jesse barks out a laugh at that, quickly nodding in agreement. Lukas breaks into giggles alongside him, and the sound warms him to the core. He chances a glance over at the man in the low light of the night. Their little lantern is pathetic, sure, but the dim firelight and moonlight bathe him in a mix of cozy orange and pale blue light. It’s impressive really just how naturally photogenic the man is. Jesse quickly runs through all of his memories of the man, trying to think of a single time he wasn’t agonizingly handsome. No dice.
Lukas smiles at him softly and Jesse realizes he’s been staring. He lets out a nervous laugh and clears his throat and Lukas does the same. He nods over at him.
“We should uh… We should probably try to get some sleep, Jess. Even just resting our eyes will be good.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He mumbles, not sounding convinced and certainly not feeling it either. Lukas hesitates a moment and Jesse’s stomach turns itself into knots as he tries not to think too hard about it. Trying to convince himself he’s not waiting for him to say or do something more. Oh he’d kill to be as comfortable as he was last night, but what if that was just a fluke? An accident? He doesn’t wanna embarrass them both like that and then be trapped sharing a bed—oh god that’d be a nightmare. So instead, he remains quiet and just smiles.
“‘Night, Jess.”
“Goodnight, Lukas.”
Lukas returns the smile and shifts onto his other side so his back is towards Jesse and focuses on getting comfortable. Jesse meanwhile stares daggers up into the ceiling. He bites his lip, shaking his head at himself. Another chance come and gone. Is he ever gonna take one? That nagging part of his brain tells him that he’s making the right choice, and that anything else would just be stupid and a fasttrack to humiliating himself. And yet…
And yet that other little part of his brain was screaming at him. That of course he should say something, so much has happened that shows just how much Lukas cares in return. Would it really be foolish to assume there’s something else there? It’s not like their friends don’t tease them endlessly, there’s probably a reason right? Then again, he could just be really obviously down bad,and it’s one-sided. But what if it’s not? But it could be. Unless?
Jesse groans and reaches up to rub his face. He scrubs at his face hard and he hears Lukas shift a little. He’s not quite facing him but he’s got his ear ready. Jesse clenches his jaw.
Oh god. Just how stupid was he feeling right now?
…
Well, he nearly died. If it goes sideways he can pretend he was delirious from pain and can’t remember a thing. Solid plan, Jesse. He sucks in a breath as he digs at his fingernails.
“Can we… Talk?” He asks, voice barely above a whisper.
“... About what, Jess?” Lukas responds just as quietly.
“ W— Well, I…” He trails off, seemingly searching for the words. Eventually he just reaches a hand up and rubs his face as bitter laughter rises out from his chest. He drops his hand uselessly, “What the hell are we doing?”
“Huh…?” Lukas finally stirs at that. He turns back over to face Jesse, face contorted in confusion. Jesse meets him in the eyes and holds his gaze as his heart drums loudly against his chest and it suddenly feels hard to breathe. He forces the words out anyways.
“Us. What are we?”
Lukas’s eyes widen and he freezes, jaw slightly slack. Jesse holds his gaze, trying his best to remain as confident as he possibly can. Lukas just blinks and knits his brows together and the small change is enough to rattle Jesse. He drops his gaze and shifts his head to look back at the ceiling, desperately ignoring the fact that he knows Lukas is still looking at him like that.
“I mean, I know what I wanna say. I know what I want us to be.” He begins to ramble nervously, gesticulating wildly as he does. He swallows, trying to find some way to save this, “ Hypothetically.”
Oh god great save, genius. ‘Hypothetically.’ How utterly smooth.
“Oh god, what the hell am I saying…? I-I’m sorry, you can just— Fuck, forget I said anything—”
“No, no, wait—” Lukas cuts him off, pushing himself up onto his arms now so he can look at him better. Their eyes meet again and they both pause, each searching the other to figure out just what the hell’s going on in each other’s head. Jesse can’t help but get distracted at the way his blue eyes shimmer in the light. Not to mention his hair so perfectly falling into his face, proper hairstyle long-abandoned without his products. It’s nice seeing his face outlined by those short bangs. Jesse swallows.
“You—...?”
“Yeah, wait … I wanna hear what you wanted to say…”
Jesse just blinks. His head spins and he finds his mind completely and utterly blank suddenly. Not his fault the cute guy of his dreams wants to hear his stupid attempt at explaining his feelings. Lukas nods.
“So… Hypothetically, what would those things be…?” He says it softly, curiously, and his eyes glint in a way that makes Jesse’s heart beat even faster. Does. Does he actually have a shot here? His dry throat certainly doesn’t think so. He sucks in a breath, clears his throat, and nods.
“… Hypothetically, that… that you’re probably the most important person to me currently. Amongst other things…”
“ ‘Other things,’ huh?”
“ Mhmmm.”
“Likeeee…?” Lukas drawls, relaxing with a smile as he props his head up on his hand. Jesse chuckles nervously, really feeling the color rush to his cheeks now. Oh god, here comes the rambling and he damn well knows it.
“ W-Well… Th— That you have more than just my respect and admiration as a friend. That… That I think about you near constantly in some form. That everything you do captivates me. And that it has been for years…” He trails off, glancing up at him unsurely. Lukas shifts a bit and he sees him roll his lips together almost as if he’s trying not to smile. That’s when Jesse spots color in his cheeks. Is he blushing too?
“And… if I hypothetically shared one, two, or—… ALL of those sentiments…” He shrugs, avoiding his eye contact until the very end. Then he finally meets his eyes again and Jesse feels everything tighten, just daring him to try speaking again. Lukas continues, “ Then what…? What would we do in such a world?”
Jesse stares up at him, desperately trying to get his voice to work with him again. He swallows and offers up a lopsided grin for the man.
“We wouldn’t be able to keep our hands off each other for one thing— ”
Lukas snorts and reaches over to smack him, making Jesse laugh in turn. The tension in the air remains, but it’s much lighter between them now. He grins up at Lukas as he just laughs.
“ Be serious!”
“ Okay! Alright! I can be serious…!” Jesse sucks in a breath to steady himself as he purses his lips in thought. He eventually just kinda shrugs, “ Hypothetically I suppose we’d just have to do what everyone else does by dating.”
“I suppose so…” Lukas says with a smile. He sucks in a breath and gives a little shrug, “And… Is there anything else in this… hypothetical world?”
Jesse lets out a long and drawn out hum of thought. Lukas’ smile makes his eyes crinkle in the way Jesse loves. He drums his fingers atop his chest before slowly shaking his head.
“Y’know…? I actually can’t think of any more hypotheticals.”
“Oh…” Lukas replies and Jesse can hear the way he’s trying to hide his disappointment. He reaches up and nudges him.
“I know a few things for certain, though.” He says with a reassuring smile, praying it masks his nerves well. He was just speaking now and couldn’t stop the words from rolling off his tongue no matter how his brain screamed at him. He wasn’t going to stop either.
“Oh yeah?” Lukas huffs, smiling back, “Like what?”
“How I love you.”
For the second time tonight Jesse leaves Lukas speechless. The man freezes again, but this time, an overwhelming calmness and confidence washes over Jesse. Maybe it’s over-confidence, maybe it’s just relief at finally, finally getting those words out into the open, but whatever it is he can’t stop. He doesn’t want to stop.
“I love you, Lukas… So much that my soul aches down to my damn core sometimes…”
“J-Jesse…” Lukas mumbles out nervously, and Jesse can see the way that redness spreads from his cheeks down his neck and presumably onto his shoulders. Jesse smiles, just rambling at this point but feeling so warm while doing so that those nerves can no longer touch him.
“I want to be more than friends—I want to wake up beside you, to make breakfasts with you, go out into town with you. Not in the ways we already do. I want to meet your family and I want them to smile so bright at me that I know I’ll never have to worry again. I want you to look at me like I’m the sun, moon, and stars—the same way I look at you… I-I… I want you. Just you.”
He finishes nearly out of breath and able to hear his pulse in his ears. He stares up at Lukas and just hoping for something, anything. Finally, Lukas swallows thickly and sucks in a breath. He lets out a weak laugh and smiles before beginning to shake his head. Jesse’s stomach drops for just a moment as he wonders if he just majorly messed up. Then Lukas leans in a little closer, speaking quieter and dropping his voice an octave.
“You... have no idea … just how long I’ve wanted to hear those words…” He finishes with a bright smile and Jesse’s heart flutters. “I don’t think ‘I love you’ encapsulates just how much I care about you. I love you, but saying it just doesn’t feel like nearly enough, does it…? And yet, I still get butterflies saying it…” He says with a light laugh and Jesse just nods along. Exactly. Ever the wordsmith, he hits the nail on the head.
Jesse reaches up a tentative hand and brushes some loose hairs back out of Lukas’ eyes. He can feel his heart drumming incessantly against his chest as he lets his touch linger and slowly drag down the side of Lukas’ cheek, eventually shifting to caress his jaw. Lukas ever so slightly leans into his touch, closing his eyes just a moment longer to bask in it. Jesse’s thumb brushes over his lips delicately and for a moment he wonders if this is just another one of his dreams. Lukas opens his eyes again and meets Jesse’s and they share the same mixed expression as they lay there, lips slightly parted. Jesse stares up at and into the man’s own deep blue eyes, searching for some kind of answer or sign of what to do next. Their own somewhat quickened breathing has all but drowned out the other ambiance of the quiet night on the water. It’s just them here. No pressures, no responsibilities, no extra eyes.
Lukas leans in just an inch or two closer before pausing, searching to see if this is the right move to make. Jesse steadies his grip on his jaw and strokes his cheek with his thumb before sliding his hand along the back of his neck. He gives the faintest of nods. Confirmation. That’s all he needs. Lukas leans in further and Jesse’s eyes flutter shut as it happens. Lukas’s lips gently brush against his own. Soft. Warm. It’s unsure but sweet, and done with such care that it makes his heart ache.
A kiss. A kiss from Lukas—something he’d accepted as only a part of his far off dreams and fantasies. Jesse’s head spins and it’s not from the pain. It’s utterly electrifying and sends shivers down his spine as his heart beats rapidly in his ears. But it’s gone as soon as it starts. Lukas parts, but they remain mere inches apart. Jesse can feel the warmth of his breath on his face. His own face feels hot and he opens his eyes just enough to see the man on top of him. Gorgeous, as always. Yet they’ve both froze once more. What was it that always stopped them? Right. The fear of somehow ruining things. Of destroying what precious relationship and memories they have with an inappropriate misstep neither are sure they can admit. But he can’t go back to that, at least, not yet. Not here, where reality could still be escaped. He reaches up with his other hand to caress Lukas’ face with both.
“Again.” He whispers.
Lukas’ eyes alight with a new type of passion that gives Jesse butterflies. He nods with a smile. Jesse barely manages to return it before the man dives back in, kissing him again albeit with a bit more confidence this time. He grips the man’s face, trying desperately to convey everything he’s kept in for the last 6 years into one action as he deepens it. Lukas shifts positions to practically straddle him to more easily move and Jesse entangles his fingers in shimmering gold hair. Lukas breaks just a moment to pull back and stares down at him with such love and fondness that Jesse could probably start blubbering like a baby again. Wouldn’t exactly be the most romantic sight in the world, though.
Lukas raises a gentle hand to his cheek and Jesse momentarily shuts his eyes to bask in it. He ghosts his fingers and knuckles down his cheek in a motion that sends chills up his spine. Lukas turns his hand over to rest on Jesse’s jaw and just strokes his cheek and scar with his thumb. Jesse can’t help but beam at the gesture. He drags a hand down Lukas’ neck, shoulder, and arm to grip his hand on his cheek, leaning just enough to kiss it, lingering with the contact. A fond chuckle bubbles up from Lukas’ chest as he finally leans back in for the third time. Jesse sighs into the new slew of kisses and just slinks his arms around Lukas’ neck. Nothing else matters right now. While the pain keeps much else from happening, the kisses are enough of a dream come true to put him on cloud nine. He can’t ask for anything more than this—to just be here with Lukas and in his arms. There’s no safer place in the world.
Chapter 32: Back in Business
Summary:
Jesse and Lukas get back into town with a bang!
Notes:
I no longer have COVID! Still kicked my ass tho so Im a few days late 😭
Meant to have a few more scenes in this chapter but I got to the end point in this and realized I was 7k in and was like 😐 fuck. well. guess i'm splitting THIS up JKLSDFJKLJKLSD
Lowkey okay with that tho bc I was struggling with how I wanted to split some bits up and this makes it 10x easier LMFAOSo yeah!!! Hope u enjoy!!! OH AND NEW CHARACTER TIMEEEEE IM SO EXCITEDDDD
Chapter Text
Footsteps and faint yelling in addition to clattering on the decks above are the first things that stir Jesse from sleep. He blearily blinks the sleep out of his eyes as the additional sounds of gulls crying ring out. Golden light pours in through the window and warms him—but the main source of warmth? Oh, that’s much more important to him.
Jesse adjusts his arm a little, wincing as his injury gets pulled even by that, but settles back against Lukas. He rests his head on his shoulder, buries his face into the crook of his neck, and then relaxes once more in the comfortable position. They were probably docked already, but just a few more minutes like this wouldn’t hurt anybody.
Lukas stirs just a little and he hears the man pause a moment before settling back down and gently starting to rub his back. He didn’t think he could get any more relaxed but here’s Lukas proving him wrong again. He hears the man sigh and feels his warm breath against his ear. It gives him goosebumps and he just smiles. He can feel himself slipping back to sleep fast. Unfortunately for him though, Lukas has a sense of responsibility.
“I don’t think the crew would appreciate us loitering like this is some kinda hotel, Jess…” he hums and Jesse lets out a forlorn sigh.
“Should’ve taken a cruise over…”
Lukas snorts at that and Jesse chuckles. He sighs and begrudgingly pulls himself away and props himself up on his good side, wincing as the pain shoots up from the other. Lukas frowns, hands ready to help but Jesse just offers him a small smile and shake of his head. Lukas sighs.
“We should go grab some kinda potion for you. Ivor and Harper’ll probably have some good ones.”
“… Eugh, survive the enderman attack only to be killed by Ivor. Can’t wait.” Jesse grumbles.
Lukas laughs a little and reaches up to run his hands through Jesse’s hair, admiring him. Jesse smiles and nods to him.
“But what about you and that nasty concussion? You feeling alright…?”
“Headachey, a bit sharper where I got hit, but mainly just sore more than anything. Don’t be acting like I’m the worst looking one here.” He smirks and Jesse huffs a little as he stares down at him.
“Maybe… Scared me though…”
Lukas raises his brows and playfully tugs on one of Jesse’s curls, “I scared YOU?”
Jesse laughs at that, cheeks reddening a little in embarrassment. Yeah, that’s fair. He lingers in the position, just enjoying the feeling of Lukas combing through his hair. It’s almost heavenly in the early morning sun—if only they didn’t have to check out so soon. Part of him wonders if he’s deep in some dream and he’s gonna be waking up in that hospital bed again soon, but the aches and pains still rippling through his body give that thought a good run for their money. He meets Lukas’ gaze and leans in closer, hesitating a moment just in case. He feels Lukas gently tug him further and breaks into a grin as they meet again for another kiss. It’s a little less than graceful and they laugh into it, but it’s slow and cozy. Butterflies fill Jesse’s stomach as it all sinks in for him—he’s kissing Lukas. Not only is he kissing Lukas but he kissed him a lot the night before. Then on top of it he actually got his chaotic bundle of feelings into words that Lukas now knows. It makes his head spin just to think about it.
They break with a smile and Jesse takes a moment to quietly press their foreheads together. Lukas rubs circles in the small of his back and he begins getting drowsy all over again. Such a scam that they have to get up. Jesse sucks in a breath and begins working on getting himself fully upright. Lukas pushes himself up probably quicker than he should if the way he winces is any indication. Regardless, he presses a gentle hand against Jesse’s back and a steady grip on his arm to help him up. Jesse grits his teeth and flinches as the pain sends shocks through his system but finally he’s back up. Lukas rubs his back a little and Jesse gives him a smile and nod in thanks. Lukas returns it and gets up himself, stumbling a bit and having to catch himself on the bedframe. Jesse instinctively moves to reach out but only gets hit with another shock that keeps him in place. He winces and just looks at Lukas worriedly.
“You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, just gotta get it back together.” He smiles back at him and Jesse nods, albeit still quite nervous. Lukas dropped hard when he did and saying it was terrifying would be the understatement of the year. He’d been thrown hard by the Warden and while, yeah, it could’ve just been the head injury, they didn't exactly know if the Warden had any other effects. So having Lukas drop and be unable to shake him awake for as long as he did was… Well, he’d never wish that terror on anybody. He can’t help the guilt that seeps into him over it all. None of this had to happen, and it probably wouldn’t have had it not been for his own insistence.
“Do you want some help with this, Jess?” Lukas’ gentle voice pulls him back out of those dark thoughts and he looks up to the man holding a spare shirt and his jacket in his hands. Jesse’s brows furrow a little as he eyes the clothing then slowly shakes his head.
“I don’t want the shirt… I’ll take the jacket though.”
Lukas frowns, “Alright… might help keep the bandages safe, though.”
Jesse just shakes his head again, more sure this time, “The jacket’ll be fine… People’ll be less likely to bug us if they can see I’m injured like this.”
Lukas sits back down on the edge of the bed, setting the clothes in his lap as he does. He sighs with a nod.
“Okay, I understand that. But that’s a double-edged sword y’know… You walk into town haggard and with those bloodied bandages on full display and everyone from here to Champion City will probably know by nightfall. That’s a big deal.”
Jesse frowns with a hum. He hadn’t thought of that. Not that he’d managed to think of a lot in general yet. Lukas continues as he fiddles with the spare white shirt in his hands.
“Hopefully the rumors already en route will get jumbled and too ridiculous to believe as they start to leave Oldport. Could really nip them in the bud if we play our cards right, though.”
Jesse rubs his face, forcing himself back into leader-mode as he considers every angle—especially with the whole ‘someone-wants-them-dead’ thing. Not to mention the fact that the poor city is still trying to get their footing back after Romeo’s rampage. If he walks into town half dead then that will shake things up again and not in a good way. He has to keep his head held high.
“I wish… I wish that, for once, I only had to worry about how you and the others would respond. Not the rest of the continent…” Jesse mumbles as he peeks up at Lukas through his bangs. The man presses his lips into a tight line and just nods.
“I know, Jess… I’m sorry.”
“Help me with the shirt?”
“Gladly.”
Once dressed, the walk off the boat is smooth. Slow and busy with everyone trying to chat their ear off already, but smooth. The sunlight coming in from the east is still beautifully golden and Jesse has to shield his eyes as they head down the gangplank. It’s probably just approaching 8 AM if he manages a guess, 7:30 more likely though with all of the merchants still setting up their gear for the day.
The docks are always busy and a prime place for little flea markets on the days the town centers are off-limits. They stick to the back cobble walls along the path of the whole dock, holding their goods out with their others on display as they loudly advertise and haggle with locals and travelers alike. It’s fun to take the walk down here when everything’s open. Only problem with them are the unruly gulls who have an unfortunate lack of understanding of the whole “trade” thing. He can’t begin to count the number of times some poor sap tried selling jewelry down here without proper distractions and got his loot snatched up by some bird.
As they officially disembark from the boat and give the captain their thanks, Jesse can’t help but notice the whispering that begins to snake its way through the crowd. Not to mention all the extra eyes. The people of Beacontown were used to Jesse going out on excursions, but with the way these past few weeks have been already, it’s no surprise Lukas guessed they’d be talking. As he grows more and more self-conscious as he hobbles along with Lukas as a support, he’s increasingly thankful that he has the shirt on. He sighs and leans further into Lukas, finding comfort in his warmth.
He sucks in a deep breath of fresh air, soaking up the cold and clean feeling filling his lungs. With the sounds of the water’s waves and gulls already crying, he gets a swell of relief and appreciation that almost makes him tear up—he’s home. Lukas’ arm tightens around his shoulders just a smidge and Jesse smiles up at him. When their eyes meet there’s a mutual understanding that Jesse takes solace in. Lukas knows.
They don’t really move that fast, especially as crowds start to mull in for the early morning market, but that’s okay. Jesse does his best to smile, nod, and wave to the people who pass but it gets difficult quickly as he strains to focus simply on moving forward. Ivor’s. They just gotta get to Ivor’s and the pain’ll be gone. Lukas, noting Jesse’s struggle to keep up, starts being the one to greet people instead and that natural charisma of his works like a charm. Hell, Jesse could swear that some of the people didn’t even see him clinging to the man’s side.
He’ll admit though that he dawdles at times. He can’t help the way his gaze lingers on the stalls on the dock, or the shops in town, or the people running through the streets just so full of life. Children laughing is music to his ears and he just wants to bask in it after being so thoroughly assaulted by silence and gloom for so long. It felt like they were down there for eons, and yet he knows it was only a few days. He’ll take anything to flush those memories out, even if it means hurting for a little longer as they walk a little slower.
He admires the skyline against the bright blue sky—puffy clouds included but still mostly clear. A warm breeze rushes by them and it warms Jesse to his core. He’d always preferred the cold, but not today. Today he’s going to soak up all of the warmth and sunshine he possibly can. His gaze passes over a large clocktower in the distance by the center of town and smiles. It was just a few minutes to 8 now, and the bells would toll, signaling it, and heard all across his city.
Jesse reaches out and rubs some flower petals between his fingers as they pass by a florist’s—one of a few in town. He smiles at just how soft they are and the air as they pass is filled with their sweet smells; the roses especially. He purses his lips in thought as he tries remembering what flowers Lukas preferred—either sunflowers or lilies… His thoughts get interrupted by the clocktower’s first bell toll of the hour. Jesse smiles, the sound pleasant.
He expects a second lovely chime to ring out in its series of eight, but the sound is drowned out by a sudden low and thundering crack that pierces his ears. Jesse immediately feels a familiar rumbling in his chest and the ground gives a light shake beneath him. He gasps and snaps his gaze up as people around start shrieking and shouting. On the skyline, a large fiery black cloud rolls upwards shockingly fast. It’s not big enough for the shockwave to hit them or damage anything this far, but even as the initial flames of the blast disappear from the tower of smoke, the cloud itself does not.
Around him, a small crowd starts to form as people stop walking and come out of their buildings to see what’s going on. Confusion and fear sweeps through the street in a snap and suddenly people are starting to ask questions. As soon as they notice him there he starts getting barraged with them.
“What was that?!”
“Did something just explode?”
“Is there a fire?”
He can only mumble out his own confusion, already sluggish mind barely able to keep up. He’s back home right? He’s not dreaming, right? Why was something in his town just blown up? How could that happen? This doesn’t happen here. This shouldn’t happen here. He swallows thickly, his throat dry, and immediately begins tugging on Lukas.
“C’mon… We gotta see what that was. C’mon!” He urges and Lukas blinks, snapped out of his own disbelieving daze at the sound of Jesse’s voice. He nods.
“R—... Right! Hopefully nobody’s hurt…” He mumbles out and Jesse’s stomach drops as they pick up the pace, racing off as best as they can towards the scene. His heart hammers in his chest and dread pools in his stomach as they hustle through the streets. He doesn’t even have to see it, he can already guess the damage—soot everywhere, glass shattered from the shockwave, a fire burning and potentially spreading, and then innocent passersby dirtied and potentially bloody as shrapnel and glass got shot out into the street.
Barely a half hour home and things are already going wrong. What the hell is going on?
He’s angry at just how long it takes for them to get to the scene. Even with all of his effort, his wounds keep him from getting any quicker than a pathetic half-jog—he knows people who can speedwalk more effectively. It's fifteen of the most agonizing minutes he endures.
“Jesse, is that you?!” A female voice rings out and they pause briefly as a woman runs forward through the haze quickly settling down around the nearby blocks. She’s lean with short yellow hair and a green bandanna tied around her forehead and then fitted with light leather armor reminiscent of the watchmen around town. She moves fast and fear is written all over her face, “You AND Lukas—god it’s good to see you.”
“Christine! What the hell is—?!”
“I don’t know yet. I’m on my way too and so are some other watchmen. I can help cut you guys a path though.”
“Please. Hurry!” Jesse urges and she nods with a grimace. Turning on heel with an anxious bounce in her step, the young woman hurries forward, bellowing voice ringing out urging people away from the scene and to let them through. It’s more attention than Jesse would’ve liked on him with the state he’s in, but that ends up the last thing on his mind as that towering pillar of black smoke grows.
As they close in on the block the smoke burns his eyes and stings his throat. He raises his arm to cough into and Lukas once again passes him his bandanna. He just sighs and shakes his head, pushing forward without it. Lukas frowns but doesn’t dare stop just to nag.
“It smells like a firecharge.” Lukas comments and both Jesse and Christine nod, disturbed by the thought. The smell’s different than that of gunpowder or a creeper blast—it’s savory, almost. Like walking past a grill but they were using ash as seasoning. It’s a weird mix of good and rancid, and stands out like a sore thumb. As they finally turn the corner on the last block, they see the four-way intersection dead ahead with water being sprayed in and onto the charred skeleton of one of the corner buildings.
His stomach sinks. He knows that shop.
As they get closer, the owner in question runs into view, ushering curious onlookers out of the way and out of the immediate danger zone. Bruce is utterly caked in black soot and grime, looking both exhausted and frantic. A figure runs through the haze towards him and immediately sends adrenaline coursing through his veins at their silhouette. They have a dark cloak hanging off their shoulders, some layers, and what looks like thick gloves. His mind flashes to his scrambled memories of the chase down in the Stronghold, having an eerie sense of deja vu.
He almost calls out to Bruce to watch out only for more details to come into view. The figure immediately moves to help keep people back and even pass their cloak off to someone injured—an act of comfort. Jesse suddenly feels silly as the woman becomes clearer. She’s following Bruce to help others alongside him, not harm. Cloaks and gloves aren’t uncommon and she seems like a traveler. She’s got fiery orange hair and what seems like a green tunic, brown pants, darker brown boots, and a few things slung over her back as well as hanging from her belt. She’s tall, probably a little taller than both Lukas and Petra. Finally, she’s just as dusty as Bruce—was probably as close as he was. As Bruce raises his hands to the back of his head in overwhelmed stress, she reaches out and seemingly tries to settle him.
As they get into the four-way intersection, a wave of relief washes through Jesse to see that the flames have already been thoroughly doused. Christine rushes off without a word and, through the chaos, he can actually see Odin helping direct medics arriving and people on the fringes—honestly he hears him before he sees him, and people certainly listen to the man. Curiosity is still piqued though and where some people rush out, more people flood in. Jesse stretches on his tiptoes to see over the heads of a few people in the crowd of confused onlookers when Lukas just cuts them a path through to the front. As they get there, an eargrating creaking pierces the air and in a split second Bruce and the woman are turning back to the crowd and straggling people and screaming.
“IT’S COMING DOWN! MOVE!”
Jesse’s eyes widen and he immediately moves to help guide the crowd back with Lukas, shouting with his hoarse voice as another series of shrieks and screams ring out. They’re easily drowned out by the building’s creaking, shuddering, and soon the loud and resonating boom of it giving way and collapsing in on itself. A small shockwave blows out along with a new layer of dust and knocks Jesse off balance. He stumbles forward and preps to fall on his good side only for strong arms to catch him before hitting the ground. He winces at the pull but relaxes in the familiar grip of Lukas. He nods his thanks up to him and shakily pulls himself back to his feet.
The cloud of dust rushes past them all and through each of the offshooting streets. Jesse’s grip on Lukas tightens at the horribly familiar blindness it brings. Lukas pulls him closer and into a hug as they simply wait for the dust to pass and settle. It takes a long minute of whipping wind and soot, but it does. Jesse pulls back and rubs at his eyes, cursing under his breath momentarily before finally turning to see the damage.
His heart just sinks. Instead of the fun western-style two story little corner store scraping the sky, there’s just a hole. Empty space. The shop’s nothing but charred rubble on the street corner now. Jesse sinks further into Lukas’ arms a bit as he just stares on in horror, a shuddery breath escaping him. Lukas rubs his back comfortingly and they begin walking towards Bruce and the woman helping him. In a split second, another woman runs up to them both but speaks to the redhead first in a frenzy. Jesse’s embarrassed to say it takes her glancing their way and doing a double take for him to process that he’s looking at Petra. Her eyes immediately widen as she cuts short of whatever she’s saying to the woman.
“Holy shit! Jesse! Lukas!” She yells, crashing through both the woman and Bruce as she races over. She reaches the both of them and immediately reaches down to support Jesse as he stumbles forward. She clasps her arms tight around his, looking him up and down in a frenzy then shooting over to Lukas to do the same, “What the hell happened?!”
Jesse shakes his head, “Later, Petra, we’ll explain later—what happened here?! What’s going on?”
She hesitates, not wanting to just jump subjects but ultimately relents. She just shakes her head and shrugs, stuttering a little as she tries to get the words to form.
“I-I-I don’t know! Out of nowhere the shop just exploded! The 8 am bells barely got one toll out before it just— well you heard!” She momentarily lets go to fling an arm back towards the pile of rubble and Jesse just frowns. He slowly shakes his head, unable to fathom it. Silently, he pushes off of Petra and stumbles the rest of the way over to Bruce. Lukas goes to follow and Petra catches him by the arm.
“What happened to you guys? First you dip from town without a word for days and now you come back like this? You look horrible!” Her voice cracks as she says it and Lukas just blows out a tired sigh. He gently waves his hands as if pressing down on the air, trying to get her to relax.
“Okay, listen, it’s a long story… lotta pain.”
“Well I can see that, genius!”
“Pet—” He starts, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before continuing, “Look, someone caved us in and attacked us.”
“Wh—?!”
He cuts her off, “I’ll tell you everything in more detail in a bit, let’s just get this whole mess patched up and slow down—I still need to take Jesse to Ivor’s hopefully for another regeneration potion,” He pauses and glances around them before leaning a little closer and speaking quieter, “he’s got enderman lacerations.”
A new horror shines in Petra’s eyes “Enderman?”
Lukas nods and gently takes her by the arm to walk with her and catch back up to Jesse. As they walk, Petra whispers to him.
“I’ll go with you to Ivor’s… I wanna hear everything.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Lukas mumbles out before finally catching back up to Jesse. He wordlesslessly swings his arm back up and Jesse moves in to use him as support, his good arm wrapping around Lukas’ waist. Lukas’ arm drops over his shoulders and he gives him a reassuring squeeze. Petra’s eyes flash in sympathy. As they approach, Jesse notes the stunned and surprised expressions of Bruce and the woman. Slowly Bruce starts shaking his head. He opens his mouth to speak but Jesse cuts him off.
“Are you okay? What the hell happened?!”
Bruce blinks, just sputtering, “I—”
“There was a bomb set up somewhere inside.” The woman cuts in and something buzzes in the back of his brain about her voice being somehow familiar. Jesse’s eyes widen at the news. Bruce clenches his jaw and nods, brows furrowing.
“A bomb?!” Jesse repeats, the breath being stolen from him. There goes any chance of it being an accidental discharge. He wishes he could just believe some damaged firecharge sparked and set off the other shit in his shop. Oh he wishes he could.
“Yeah! Damn fucking lucky I was opening later than usual—there could’ve been more people in there!” Bruce spits as he uselessly flings an arm towards the rubble pile that was once his shop. He lets out an utterly frustrated sigh, shaking his head again, “Dunno where but I got here not too long ago with her,” he jerks a thumb to the woman, who nods, “to nab her some supplies as well as just show her around the shop, right? Except when we get inside the place it’s ransacked! Someone broke in and there was shit everywhere! Chests emptied, cash looted, everything!” He rants and the woman pats him on the arm. Jesse blinks in utter dumbfoundment.
Lukas pipes up, collected as ever, “If they were just ransacking, why blow the place?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” The woman responds equally as coolly. Lukas just hums in dismay as he furrows his brows in hard thought.
“I think it was to cover their fucking tracks and in hopes that I wouldn’t notice certain things missing.” Bruce scoffs, crossing his arms now with a shrug. The woman nods with a frown of her own.
“If they thought you were still gone, then from their eyes there’d only be rubble left for you to find. No way to notice anything’s missing if it’s all ash.”
“So they did leave with stuff?” Lukas clarifies and Bruce nods. He continues, “And you know what was stolen?”
Bruce nods again, “Yeah, I always know my inventory! T-They took things like gunpowder, more firecharges, some of my pearl-arrow stocks, my damn bedrock—”
“A lot of dangerous stuff, basically.” The woman answers again, cutting him off and probably stopping another rant. He blows out another frustrated sigh and just nods.
“Yeah.”
“Shit…” Jesse breathes out. His legs feel wobbly beneath him on top of feeling like he’s about to hurl. First it was an explosion, then it was a bomb, then it was a bomb to cover someone’s tracks. What else?
“Kid, they took somethin’ else, too…” Bruce continues and Jesse just looks up at him warily. He winces and shrugs uselessly, “That pack. The tattered old thing we got in the Stronghold. Soren had it for a bit while I was gone but then gave it back to me in the meantime for safekeeping. It’s gone. I couldn’t find it anywhere this mornin’...”
There’s the kicker.
Jesse doesn’t meet anyone in the eyes, just dropping his gaze and slowly shaking his head. He’s too stunned for anything else. He begins shuffling backwards towards the sidewalk and Lukas frowns a little but tries to move with him. Jesse swallows and slips away, simply gripping his hand and using it to help him slowly sit down on the sidewalk’s curb. Even the pain ripping through him from his side isn’t enough to snap him out of his daze. Lukas worriedly crouches down beside him, still clinging tightly to his hand. Above him the woman lets out her first truly frustrated sigh as she shakes her head.
“I still don’t get that part! I mean— I saw a billion better packs in your shop that were bigger and better quality—better ones if they just needed something to stuff their stuff into.”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Bruce grumbles. She continues her own little rant.
“It just doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t make sense why they’d grab some beat up 20 year old one you had in the back.”
“No, no… I think it does, unfortunately.” Jesse mumbles out and finally catches their attention again. He rubs his mouth, still not taking his gaze off of the middle distance as he speaks, “Obviously there was a target and goal in mind here—sounds like the asshole we ran into. Big on explosive traps to say the least… Clever.”
“I don’t like this… I don’t like this for a damn second.” Lukas mumbles, scowling as he grips Jesse’s hand tight. There’s a silent agreement amongst them all as they share nods. Bruce is the one to break the silence, scuffing his dirty boot into the dusty cobble street.
“I’ll be fine, I’ve built up my stocks before, but…” He trails off and Jesse just shakes his head, dropping it into his hands.
“This doesn’t happen here. This shouldn’t happen here. God, what am I doing…?” He mutters to himself before sucking in a shaky breath and pulling his head up. He props his elbow up on his knee and leans into his hand for support, rubbing his forehead. His eyes are red and watery, maybe if any of the public asks he could just say the smoke was getting to him. Petra crouches down on his other side now and reaches over to pat him on the back. Finally, he looks back up and meets Bruce in the eyes as an embarrassing amount of hopelessness washes over him.
“So it could happen again…?” He croaks. The man’s brows furrow a little in confusion and Jesse just sniffs and points to the rubble, “This. This could happen again. They grabbed everything they could need to do this again.” He shifts from asking a question to answering it himself. As he says the words a huffs out a pathetic and shuddery breath.
“Kid, hey…” Bruce mumbles and Jesse just screws his eyes shut and grimaces, shaking his head.
“A-And I still don’t have the faintest idea of who I’m even chasing… They could hit anyone. Anywhere. Anytime… and I won’t be able to know until it happens.” Jesse cries, the overwhelming stress of everything rolling back in and hitting him all at once. More people are getting hurt now—his people. His innocent people. Lukas gently shushes him and pushes some hair out of his face.
“Jess, hey, this isn’t your fault…” He quietly reassures. Jesse just scrunches his face up and adamantly shakes his head.
“How? How?!” He demands as he uselessly flings his hand out. “They took that pack out of everything else that could’ve been taken—the one thing that’s personal. They’re linked, Lukas! I can’t sit around pretending they’re not!” He laughs, knowing if he doesn’t he’ll just end up crying instead. An odd sense of deja-vu envelops him, feeling like he’s already said or felt this before but unable to place it anywhere in his memory. He jabs a finger into his own chest, “I stuck my nose into this. It was already bad enough that you got hurt, Lukas. But now Beacontown? Innocent people?” He sputters there, unable to form anymore words and at a complete loss. He just scoffs and laughs as he shakes his head once more.
There’s another heavy beat of relative silence. All around them though are the murmurs of scared people, cries of children or the injured, and the consistent scuffling of first-responders and watchmen hurrying around them. Jesse simply hangs his head.
“We…” Bruce hesitantly starts. He clears his throat, “Soren and I found out a little bit at least. Jack and I hit dead ends with the manufacturers, but Soren had some questions and took a peek at it himself. He knew right away what it was used for! I’m honestly surprised I didn’t realize it sooner since I messed with ‘em so much myself, but it’s—”
“For recorders.” Jesse cuts him off, curt. He pinches the bridge of his nose, “We know.”
“You… know?” Bruce’s brows shoot up in surprise before furrowing again. Jesse nods and clasps his hands together in a white-knuckle grip. He clenches his jaw tight and the anger washing through him is palpable at this point.
“We just got out of that fucking stronghold.” He spits. Lukas grimaces as Petra and Bruce gape while the newcomer simply raises her brows in surprise.
“What?!” Petra blurts.
“You went back alone?!” Bruce follows suit.
“It was just Lukas and I and we weren’t exactly expecting to run into trouble. Was supposed to be a day trip—just gonna glance at what we found and get a second opinion.” Jesse continues, voice dangerously level, “But we ran into someone down there. They fucking blew up the exit on us and caused a cave-in on us, so we got stuck for fucking eons trying to find another way out. With a few fun scrapes along the way.” He huffs and reaches down to the hem of his shirt, lifting it as best as he can and showing the bandages wrapped all up his torso. They stare at him in horror. He just drops it and scoffs before nodding to Bruce again, “You were right about there being a deep dark biome down there by the way—it was creeping into the lower levels of the damn thing and we had a hell of a time traversing it to find another exit!”
Bruce’s eyes widen and he sputters. The woman lets out a whistle and blows out some tension. Jesse at least offers her an apologetic look for catching her up in all of this.
“Oh my god, kid! Wh—?! How?!” Bruce asks incredulously. Jesse ignores him and hums, holding up a finger and batting the air with it.
“In fact!” He accentuates his words, “There’s another thing we need to talk about. In the Stronghold, there was an extra room. Hidden. It was filled with old crossbow supplies and a few broken recorders. Did you know about it when we went in?” He meets him in the eyes again and can tell his gaze unnerves him on some level. He can’t say he cares much at this point though. Bruce blinks.
“A secret room?”
“Yes. Or at least, it was shut off from the rest of that workroom. Lukas was able to find it, and despite all that was going on that night I’m finding it increasingly harder to believe a man of your abilities just missed it. The sound of it shutting was that loud bang we heard too, wasn’t it? Not some barrels blocking the door.” He asks and Bruce stands there, momentarily speechless.
“… Kid, I—…” He mutters and Jesse sits forward again, desperation flooding him.
“Bruce, please!” He pleads, “I just want some honesty! You do realize how this makes you look, right?! I don’t want to be unable to trust you!” He spits out in a frenzy, heart pounding a million miles a minute. Bruce’s eyes widen and he quickly urges for him to settle down as he crouches down by him.
“Woah! Woah, okay okay, easy…” He soothes and Jesse tries settling himself a little with some deep breaths. Bruce sighs, speaking slower, “Alright, you got me.”
“What the hell man…?” Jesse mumbles out as he shakes his head. Bruce frowns with a sympathetic shine to his eyes.
“I know, I know. It was wrong of me to hide that from you. But, admittedly, after that scare with the sculk and just… the gravity of it all. I just didn’t want to hit you with another blow upside the head, kid. Especially with the uncertainty of what we were gonna find your uncle doing topside. I mean, just finding those bags was a lot, yeah?” He asks quietly and, begrudgingly, Jesse nods. Bruce nods solemnly, “How do you think you would’ve handled finding those weapons and smashed up players down there, huh?”
“I don’t need to be coddled, Bruce.” He spits. Bruce holds his hands up and sits back on his feet.
“I-I know that, Jesse. You’re certainly a more than capable young man. I’m sorry if that’s how it’s come across. That’s my mistake.”
“You’re right. It is.”
Bruce sucks in a deep breath, “That being said. I did intend on sharing it with you once you’d gotten some room to breathe. Honestly, I figured we’d be making another trip out there relatively soon, though your uncle’s outburst and finding your father’s journal definitely threw a wrench in that…” Bruce sighs, unsure how to proceed with Jesse still visibly frustrated. Something clicks and he lights up however. “Oh! Speaking of! I do have some good news! We’re damn lucky I took that little thing out of town for a tune-up.”
Jesse’s eyes widen and his heart stops, “You don’t mean—?!”
Bruce smiles and triumphantly pulls the old leatherbound journal out of his bag. Jesse gasps, the leather itself already looking ages better. Bruce holds it out to him and he happily snatches it. He immediately flips it open and tears through the pages—words all legible and fairly clean now, all things considered.
“There were a few pages missing here and there, unfortunately. I assume some of those axolotls you mentioned seeing decided they’d be good toys or snacks or something…” He sighs, “I admittedly didn’t have the heart to look at much so I don’t know what’s there or what isn’t—especially with the final entries… It felt wrong. But, hopefully, it’ll have everything you need.”
“This is…” Jesse mumbles, breathless as he stares down at the familiar old journal in his hands. He shakes his head as he runs his fingers over the old ink. “I can’t believe it’s in such good shape.”
“Yeah, that old friend of mine does fantastic work!” Bruce smiles, “Done this stuff all his life so he’s a real small town pro, but delivers the best of quality.”
“Oh sweet! What’s his name? I’ll have to send a thank-you or— or something!”
Bruce laughs and reaches out to clap him on the arm, “How about we wait a little for that. I’ll get you his info once you’re more settled, yeah?”
“Heh!” Jesse smiles a little nervously, “Yeah, I got knocked pretty good so I’m kinda ditzy at the moment… That’d be lovely though, I cannot thank either of you enough.”
“Not a problem, kid.” He pauses, “He… He also mentioned to give you his condolences…”
“Really…?” Jesse asks, his eyes softening and he feels his heart sink. He gently shuts the little journal and holds it close to his chest as he lets out a sigh. He nods to Bruce, “Thank you… And I mean, seriously, thank you for this. Your friend too—you both have done a favor for me I don’t think I’ll ever know how to repay.”
Bruce gives him a tired smile. “Of course, kid. It’s the least I could do. Sorry again for keeping you in the dark… I figure I’m a pretty professional guy, but, shit… You’re Stevie’s little boy, y’know?”
Jesse smiles and lets out a weak chuckle. He nods, “Yeah… Just… you didn’t see anything else in there we missed, did you?”
Bruce shakes his head, “Just a mess. What you described is what I saw. Honestly you probably got a better look than I did considering I just kinda shut the door in a panic.” He shrugs halfheartedly and Jesse frowns with another nod. The woman perks up now from behind Bruce.
“Wait— what’d you say?” She asks quickly. Bruce blinks, face going blank and letting out a long ‘uhh’ as he runs over everything he said again. Petra lights up and bounces to her feet.
“Oh shit that’s right! Got so caught up in everything I forgot to introduce you!” She gives the woman a sheepish smile and then slings an arm around her. She shoots a grin at Jesse as he stares up and glances between the two. Now that he’s close, he can see a bunch of freckles underneath all the caked on grime on top of a complexion shockingly similar to Petra’s. He lights up and Petra practically bounces in place and nods, “This is Alex! My older sister!”
“Holy shit.” He blurts and gets a few laughs out of it. He shakes his head and just looks back up at them in a bit of amazement, “Talk about a quick response!”
“Oh c’mon it took over a week!” Petra snorts and Jesse laughs.
“And that’s supposed to be long? I didn’t realize you’d gotten so impatient.”
“Are you gonna snark or can I finish introducing you?”
Jesse laughs and shifts a little before tugging slightly on Lukas’ hand and gesturing to get up. He nods and stands with Jesse, both familiar with the routine by now. He tries to hide his grimace with a smile and lets out a sigh of relief as he straightens.
“Ugh, Talk about a horrible first impression!” He laughs nervously as he bats at his eyes and the woman—Alex—laughs. Petra grins and waves a hand over towards Jesse now.
“Alex, this is Jesse—one of my best friends I’ve told you about!”
Bruce points to him as well with a proud smirk, “Steve’s kid.”
Alex gasps and holds her hands to her mouth, utterly beaming. Her excitement is palpable as she steps forward to give Jesse a hearty shake of his hand. She stays close, green eyes quickly scanning and inspecting every inch of him.
“No way! Talk about such a small world!” She laughs and Petra steps back to stand by Jesse, giving him a hug from the side. Alex takes Jesse’s hands in hers and gives them a squeeze, “Look at you!” She swings his arms out, being careful with his injured side, and steps back to look him up and down. She shakes her head, “And my gosh you’ve got some muscle! And that scar on your eye! Last time I saw you, you were just a pipsqueak!”
“I still am to some people.” He snorts and she chuckles. He understands why her voice initially sounded so familiar. Alex, his father’s dear friend and sister figure. The vaguest hints of a memory poke through and try to surface, but he can’t quite grasp them clearly. Just an image or two. She pauses and smiles up at him sympathetically.
“You don’t remember me much, do you…?”
He tenses and glances away, “I— I’m sorry…”
“That’s okay, you’ve definitely been busy. Such little overlap on top of everything else happening… I’m not surprised.” She says with a sad laugh and smile, gently letting go of his hands. Jesse just nods and then swallows, feeling a lump in his throat.
“Yeah… If— If you came to see my dad—…”
She holds up a hand, “I already know.”
Jesse stutters, “Y— You do?”
“Bruce told me. I mean, I haven’t heard from Steve in such a long time and I haven’t seen Bruce for even longer!” She laughs nervously, though it’s easy to see the heaviness in her eyes, “I thought, maybe, he’d know something before I did… I was right, I guess, but I never would’ve expected that it was because… Well, I certainly don’t have to inform you, yeah?” She says quietly.
“Yeah…” Jesse swallows again, simply nodding. She rubs his arms up and down and then pulls him in for a hug. He’s stiff at first but relaxes into the odd familiarity of it. She gives him a squeeze.
“I’m so sorry, kiddo… Had I known, I mean—! You would’ve been home with us without a second thought. I went to the house once but just found it empty… I simply thought he decided to move away with you.” She mumbles and then steps back, allowing him his space. Jesse sadly sighs, shoulders heavy.
“… Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment.”
“Yeah, if there’s anything I can do, just ask.” She says with a warm smile. As she does, Jesse’s eyes cut over to something hanging from her hip. It’s a crossbow. Jesse feels an odd pit in his stomach and glances up, finally processing the rest of her gear. She’s got a bow and quiver hanging from her back along with what looks like a roll-out pack. Her green tunic is loose with a light brown belt hanging loosely around her waist and then a darker green undershirt beneath it and fully covering her skin. As he initially thought, she has long, dark brown, leather gloves. Add that cloak she was wearing earlier, and, well… His eyes snap back up to hers as she speaks again, “I’m glad you and Petra became friends again, despite the choppy memories.”
He does his best to smile despite the sudden nerves, “I am too. She’s one of the best friends I could have.” He pauses and flicks his eyes back to her crossbow, which she notices this time. He clears his throat and laughs somewhat awkwardly, “Sorry— I just—” He points to it, “That’s a nice crossbow. Where’d you snag one like that?”
“Oh! Ol’ Betsy?” She says with a small laugh and lugs the weapon up into her arms, showing it off to him. “I've had her for years. Got her back when she was brand new and she’s stayed true since! Built well to last a few decades!” She says with a satisfied smirk and Jesse nods, keeping a smile on his face despite his hammering heart. It’s the same. It’s just like the others he saw. Same label stamped in, even—Nocturne Weaponry.
“Really now. That’s sweet.” He says and shares a glance with Lukas who gives him a subtle squeeze on the arm. Confirmation—he sees it too. They’ll be talking about that later. He continues with another question, “I know you and Bruce are friends, but how’d you run into each other?”
Bruce laughs a little at that one, “A coincidence! I had a layover ride at Oldport and she was on the same ship! Appeared from thin air after how many years?” Bruce laughs and she rolls her eyes with a smirk and shrug.
“The stars just aligned, I guess! We both got into Beacontown just two days ago.”
“Huh! Guess we just missed you.” Jesse hums and feels Lukas give his shoulder another squeeze, this one a little more of a warning. He subtly rolls his shoulder under his grip as he nods to her, “We just got in from Oldport—were unloading from the dock not too long before 8.”
“Oh wow!” She blinks, “I didn’t know you guys were all the way over there! I suppose that makes sense though… Strongholds tend to be a bit of a travel no matter where you go.” She sighs in mild annoyance and Jesse smiles again, but his bitterness can’t help but sink into it. Noting his tension, Lukas sucks in a breath and puts on a charismatic smile as he leans forward and offers a hand out to Alex.
“Good to see you again!”
She happily takes his hand with a smirk, “Still causing trouble, farm boy?” She teases and Lukas laughs, stuffing his hand back in his pocket. He hems and haws but just shrugs, “Here and there. I mainly just—”
“He was wanted for vigilantism while Romeo was parading around with Jesse’s face.” Petra snorts, “And a bunch of fun other things while running in and out of the Portal Hall looking for Jesse! Such as—!”
“Oh come on, Petra, you say that like I’m some kinda wanted criminal.” Lukas laughs and she smirks.
“In some worlds I’m sure your rap list is quite long!”
“Oh please.” He scoffs as he rolls his eyes and Jesse laughs alongside Alex. He pointedly nods to her, “Ignore your brat of a sister, I’m just trying to stick to writing these days. These two are the ones who keep making me get my bow out.” He snorts as he glances between Petra and Jesse.
“Ohoho, archery huh? I noticed you had a little more muscle on you! You were so lanky before!” She grins and then winks as she plucks at her bow and crossbow’s drawstrings, “Good choice.”
Jesse’s stomach churns a little at that. He leans a little more into Lukas’ side and sighs, trying to keep his smile plastered. Petra notices him straining and subtly eyes him in confusion.
“Uh— Hey why don’t we—” She starts and Jesse cuts her off.
“Pet, I’m— I’m sorry but, I don’t think I’m really in the headspace to exchange any more pleasantries. Can we do this later? Please?”
“O-Okay…! Okay! Yeah, I-I’d bet with—…” She awkwardly waves her hands around him, waggling her fingers a bit, “All that. And the pain.” She sucks in a deep breath and turns towards her sister, “Alex? I’m gonna help Lukas and Jesse back and I’ll catch up to you later but I gotta get the scoop of what the hell’s going on.”
“That’s fine, Petra. We’ve got plenty of time.” She says with a smile. She shrugs, “Besides! There’s plenty for me to check out in the meantime—I haven’t been here before! And I have a tour guide!” She smirks and socks Bruce in the gut and the man momentarily doubles over with a wince. He presses his lips together tightly as she laughs and shakes his head, trying not to let a smile slink across his face. Petra awkwardly claps her hands together as she begins backing up with Jesse and Lukas.
“Sweet! Uh, catch ya later then.”
“Take care!” Bruce calls with a wave to Jesse and Lukas who both nod. Once satisfied, they turn and start back on the path towards Ivor’s. They’ll still have to swing by and see Radar, not to mention Axel and Olivia, but the sooner he gets his pain managed, the quicker that’ll happen. Jesse sighs, easing up now that it’s just them again. Glancing behind him he sees Bruce and Alex getting back to talking with Odin, Christine, first responders and cleanup crews. As his gaze turns back towards the rubble he can’t help but feel his chest flood with guilt once more on top of an agonizing helplessness. He’s not even in good enough shape to help his people when they need it most. He once again leans into Lukas for comfort and this time Petra notices, eyeing them.
“You guys are gonna make me feel left out at this rate.” She snorts and moves up, slinging an arm around Jesse opposite of Lukas. Jesse laughs a little at that. She gives him a hug from the side, “C’mere, been worried about ya.”
“Sorry. Really, wasn’t the plan.”
“You should really start anticipating things not going to plan.” She says with a huff and Jesse chuckles tiredly. He slowly nods, brows raised.
“Got a point. I’ll start with the next plan I make—whatever it is whenever it is. Remind me!”
“Heh! Will do.” She pauses for a beat then leans in and starts speaking quieter, “Okay but be real, I know you’re having a hoot cuddling up to blondie like this.” She teases and Jesse just snorts with a smirk.
“No shit—that’s why I’m dating him.” He shoots back with just as teasing a tone and Petra utterly stops in her tracks. She looks between the two of them with a squint, probably trying to see if he’s kidding or not. Lukas laughs, cheeks going pink as he glances off. Jesse just shoots her a lazy grin over his shoulder. There’s her answer. She covers her mouth with her hands, eyes wide. They slow to a stop and glance back at her. She sputters, swinging her arms around animatedly as she tries to get words to form.
“Oh my god!! What the fuck you guys?!” She blurts out as she marches back up to them and they both laugh. “You’re serious?! Deadass?!”
“Yeah, last I checked.” Lukas hums and Petra just blusters out some less than dignified noises.
“Well shit! Took you two chickens long e-fucking-nough! Axel owes me another hundred bucks!” She huffs and Jesse laughs more into Lukas’ side who just raises his eyebrows.
“He actually committed to a hundred dollar bet about this?” He asks, deadpan. Jesse waves a hand around.
“No, no, hang on—this implies he bet another hundred on whether my uncle was evil or not!” Jesse snickers then winces, doubling over slightly, “Ow! Ow! Okay, can’t laugh—that’s the universe telling me not to laugh.”
Chapter 33: Decompression
Summary:
Petra, Lukas, and Jesse drop by Ivor's to get patched up and then go on to meet back up with Olivia, Axel, and Radar
Notes:
AUGH IM NOT DEAD. IVE BEEN THINKING ABT THIS CHAPTER NONSTOP SINCE I FINISHED THE LAST ONE BUT. UH OH GAMERS !
I'm gonna do a fun little experiment where I Don't Say Anything about how life's going and pretend that I'm not stressed to trick life and my brain into chilling out so I can write decently yk yk
ANYWHO we still here we still going and we're into a new little bit and the pieces are getting better organized SO !!! Enjoy!!! I think this one's around 13-14k???? So! <3
Chapter Text
The walk to Ivor’s is both short and agonizingly long. He hates how much is running through his mind all at once. Petra had tried getting them to tell all on the way there, but both men merely apologized—they’re bound to tell the whole tale at Ivor’s and would rather not repeat it if possible. They say they’re just too tired, but Jesse can see the way Petra’s brows furrow and scrutinize them. He doesn't chance a look up at Lukas, but even just briefly acknowledging that they’re gonna talk about it sends horrifying images flashing through Jesse’s mind and leaving him tenser. Petra has since resorted to just keeping a comforting arm slung over his shoulders and giving the occasional squeeze.
Walking across the main street is hard—not physically, but he hates looking down uselessly at the Order Hall. Radar is probably worried sick, but he has to get his pain in check before he starts running around again. Hopefully the kid could hold out a little longer. Hopefully the kid wouldn’t kill him himself.
‘It’ll just be a day trip!’ Oh, famous last words, Jesse.
He blows out a sigh and shakes his head. Lukas gives him a reassuring squeeze from the side and he just smiles up at the man. At least one good thing came out of that whole mess. One very good thing, in his humble opinion. He leans into the man’s touch again, practically nuzzling his shoulder and Petra snickers a little. He shoots her a look and she just grins, clasping her hands innocently behind her back.
They finally approach Ivor and Harper’s place and Petra darts ahead to grab the door. Jesse shares a relieved smile with Lukas as they hobble inside. Finally, he’ll be able to get back on his feet. Jesse sucks in a deep breath to call out for the older man but gasps and winces as pain ripples up through his side at the action. He scowls, frustration bubbling up in him. He hears steps rush over and meets Petra’s worried gaze in a flash. All he can do is sigh and flash her a tired smile as he slowly straightens himself up again.
“I-I’m okay… It's just— I can’t do much…”
“Yeah, can’t even take in a whole breath…” Petra murmurs, brows knitted together tightly in concern, “Let us handle this.” She says with a reassuring pat on the arm before straightening and sucking in a big breath of her own and cupping her hands around her mouth, “HEY IVOR! HARPER! EMERGENCY!”
Jesse and Lukas wince a little as Petra shoots them a grin. They share a small laugh with her as quick footsteps approach. Ivor swings around the corner and throws his hands up as he stares at her.
“What in the blazes are you yelling about now? I’ll have you know I was just—!” He startles as his eyes finally flick over to Jesse and Lukas. Miraculously, Jesse sees what little color’s left in the man pale. His eyes widen and if he could age years within seconds he probably would. Ivor rushes over to the pair and quickly places his hands on both their shoulders, “Good God! What happened to you two?!”
“We—”
“Ah!” He cuts Jesse off and holds up a hand. Jesse blinks. Ivor just shakes his head and speeds around to their backsides—mainly Lukas’—and gives a light but solid shove, “Get moving! I can only assume you messes came for some patch-ups. The moment you’re sat down you shall have plenty of time to explain this mess!”
Jesse grimaces at his loud voice but then just smiles. Lukas sucks in a breath and gently tugs Jesse along. Ivor’s stern look immediately softens and he rushes over to pick up Jesse’s other side where Petra left off and actually shoving her back in the process. She scoffs and rolls her eyes which he returns with a pointed glare before focusing again on Jesse. He slings Jesse’s good arm around him and lets out a stressed breath.
“You look horrible.”
“Always the flatterer, Ivor.” Jesse jokes. He gets a scoff from the man and chuckles. Warmth floods his chest simply getting to be around the older man again though. Out of all the people he’d run into that have let him down in the last 6 years, Ivor continued only to step up to the plate. Certainly an odd old friend, but one he could trust with nearly anything. Jesse already feels some of his tension dissipating at the idea of getting to talk to him about everything that's happened—if there was anyone that could make better sense of it than he can, it’s Ivor. If there was anyone that could make everything feel a little better, it’s Ivor.
As they move into the main area of Ivor’s place, Jesse smiles. It’s always a nice ambiance here—sure, he called it ‘spooky’ at one point with the low light and odd arrangement of bookshelves, but now it just reminds him of home in its own little way. He’s a little disappointed to not see a fire lit in the fireplace, but it is getting into the thick of summer time.
One thing he doesn’t expect though is the handful of guests already inside.
Instead of getting a quiet reprieve with just Ivor and Harper, it seems what remains of the Old Order is lingering about as well as Jesse spies Magnus, Gabe, and Soren all talking with Harper. Well, they were talking with Harper. Now all eyes are wide and on him. Harper speaks first, yanking up the front of her skirt somewhat as she hurries over.
“Jesse! Gracious, look at you! C’mon, we gotta sit you down.” She mumbles, wanting to put a comforting hand somewhere on him but unable to find a spot. Lukas smiles tiredly at her and loosens his grip a little. Harper happily obliges and takes his place quicker than Jesse can process Lukas as being gone. He staggers back himself and Petra helps steady him. Ivor nods towards the main table in the room.
“Sit him up there.”
“On the table?! Ivor, he’s hurt!” Harper argues and he huffs.
“Yes I can quite see that which is why I suggested the table. Unless you’d like to try examining his wounds in a plush lounge chair, hm?” He replies pointedly and Harper just scoffs but she nods. Carefully, they help Jesse push himself up onto the edge of the tabletop. He clenches his jaw, one hand hovering over his side as both he and his pain settle. He blows out a heavy sigh and Harper reaches up and runs her fingers through his hair a little.
“Thanks.” He mumbles, offering her a little smile. She just nods sternly.
“I’ll accept it once you tell us what happened.” She says and takes a step back to look between him and Lukas, “I know you lot are drawn to trouble like a moth to a flame, but THIS feels like something else entirely!” She snaps her fingers at Lukas and then points to a chair, “You sit down too, Blondie.”
He sluggishly obliges, dropping down into it with a groan. He relaxes though as he presses his head back against the plush headrest. Jesse winces in sympathy—he probably has another headache already with it all. Petra shoots Jesse a nervous smile as she walks over and gives Lukas a hearty pat on the arm. Finally, the other three in the group get a grip on their own voices with Magnus leading the charge as always.
“Ho-ly crap! I’ve seen you battered and bruised a few times, kid, but this is next level!”
Jesse huffs tiredly but not without a lopsided grin, “Ohhh, just you wait Magnus. You haven’t seen the half of it.”
“Yes, speaking of, let’s get this shirt off so I can take a look at the damage, yes?” Ivor says, already reaching for the hem of Jesse’s shirt. Jesse’s brows furrow but he nods and grips the back of his shirt at the nape of his neck in his good hand.
“Okay, you’re gonna have to get some new bandage and gauze though. A lot. It’s not just one cut.” He grumbles and it gives Ivor pause. Dark—nearly black—steel blue eyes scan Jesse’s face in concern and a hint of curiosity. Jesse knows exactly what question is running through his head—What on earth did you get yourself into? All he can manage in return is a sad smile. They tug his shirt off and Ivor quickly slips it off the remaining arm. He quickly scans the somewhat bloodied bandages wrapped tightly around Jesse’s core and up onto his torso. Seems he tore something again—probably on that hustle towards the explosion.
“My goodness…” Gabriel’s typically booming voice comes out in a gentle hush. Magnus’ eyes just widen at his side and the two take a few steps closer. However, Soren’s the one who hurries up. He completely shoves past Gabe and Magnus, eyes wide.
“Jesse! Wait just a moment— Those scratches on your cheek and brow— Are they—?” He sputters as he gets close. Jesse tenses a little as Soren lifts his chin to inspect him, but Soren doesn’t notice. Harper’s brows furrow.
“You recognize them, Soren?”
“I’d sure hope so…” Lukas grumbles from his seat, gaining a few looks. Soren lets go of Jesse to back up and look at him questioningly. Ivor frowns and sets on quickly undoing his bandages, gasping a little as the first cut comes into view on Jesse’s hip. Harper lets out a string of curses under her breath at the sight and snaps her fingers at Gabe.
“Our medical supplies! They’re in a cabinet near the main door!”
“On it!” He blurts before racing off down the main hall. As Ivor pulls each layer of bandage and gauze off of Jesse’s skin, he winces, biting down on his tongue hard. Petra rushes over, her own eyes wide and mouth agape. She offers out her arm and Jesse gratefully takes it, trying not to let his grip get too tight on her, but using her as support as the removal of each bandage tugs on the still fragile scabbing of his lacerations.
Finally, all five are on full display again from front to back. He barely hears the small chorus of gasps that ring out over his own breathing. Jesse gets a chill up his spine at the sudden feeling of the cold air. Images of the deep dark and that stronghold flash through his mind against his will and he sucks in a shuddery breath. Glancing down, he finally takes a good look at his wounds. He’d been putting off looking at them himself each time the doctors from the clinic redressed him, too much to handle so soon.
They’re still too much to handle. Jesse gets dizzy just looking at them. He knew they ran deep from what he felt and what the doctors and Lukas told him—mainly Lukas—but seeing it is something else entirely. He also knows what a healthy wound looks like, and despite the clinic’s best efforts, they still aren’t completely back to normal. Almost reading his mind, Petra presses her hand to his forehead and frowns. Ivor sees it and scowls himself, pressing his hand up there next. His scowl deepens.
“My god, Jesse…” Soren breathes out. The man approaches slowly, brown eyes big with sympathy and worry. “Those are Enderman lacerations, aren’t they…?”
“Enderman?!” Gabe blurts out as he returns with the medkit. He passes it off to Harper quickly and his eyes widen at the sight of Jesse’s wounds, “Good Heavens! I don’t think I’ve seen Enderman cuts that large before! Hey—!” Gabe frowns as Magnus jabs him in the side with his elbow. Magnus loudly clears his throat and steps forward.
“What he means, Jesse,” He starts, hands pressed into each other. His eyes soften as they come up to meet his, “—is that we’re glad you’re okay. Both of you.” He emphasizes, looking between him and Lukas.
Jesse smiles a little at that. He nods.
“Yeah. We are too.” He hesitates, breath hitching as his brows furrow, “We— We weren’t sure if… If we were gonna…” He trails off, not sure how he should even say it. ‘Hi, yeah, we thought we were gonna die down there a few times and I didn’t think I’d ever see any of you again!’ Like that would go over well.
Petra frowns a little and moves in closer, quickly wrapping her arms around Jesse’s neck and pulling him into a little hug on the side. She squeezes him as tight as she dares to with his wounds, which is hardly at all for her standards. Even still, he can hear her heart already hammering away in her chest and that renewed guilt washes over him. They almost lost him and Lukas. And they may not have ever known what happened to them. He reaches up and gives her a little pat on the arm, squeezing it once before letting go. She sighs and backs up a little, meeting him in the eyes as she clenches his hand between hers.
“Okay… Tell us what happened. We wanna know everything.”
Jesse swallows. He nods though.
All eyes shift to him as the others in the room find a place to sit or stand. Ivor pats him on the shoulder as he passes by, heading towards his brewing station—he’ll be listening, but he wants to see what he can scrape up in the meantime. The sooner he’s cared for the better. Jesse mumbles his thanks as he passes.
Lukas grunts and stands again and it looks like Harper’s about to scold him for it until he finds a spot on the table next to Jesse. His presence alone puts him at east and he has to resist the urge to slump into him and just let him do all the talking. He’s already taken care of so much, the least Jesse can do is cover this. Surprising him in a way that makes him giddy, Lukas plucks his other hand up and interlocks their fingers, pulling it into his lap and clasping his other hand on top of it. Jesse smiles a little at the motion and tries not to let it pull his thoughts too far from the subject at hand. It’s a challenge. He clears his throat and sucks in a breath.
“A few days ago… Or, well, I guess more than that by now, huh? We were in Oldport for… Two days? Then in the… for…” He mumbles, brows furrowing in confusion as he looks up to Lukas for clarification. His memory’s too jumbled to even begin guessing.
“We were in Oldport for three days. Underground for two.”
Jesse’s brows shoot up in surprise. Five days. Right. Lukas had mentioned that to him once before in the hotel. He swallows and nods, noting Magnus repeats ‘underground’ questioningly under his breath.
“Right… Five days ago, Lukas and I left town. I— I had asked him a favor. I wanted a second opinion on some of the things we saw down in that Stronghold…” He glances at Soren as he says this, whose eyes just widen once again as he leans forward.
“You two went back there?!”
Jesse nods, clenching his jaw and giving Lukas’ hand a squeeze as he does.
“I didn’t— We didn’t expect to be gone for more than a few hours. The furthest we went was that workroom that Axel, Bruce, and I poked around in. I thought a fresh set of eyes would be good, and they were. Lukas managed to find a hidden section of that workroom. It had another one of those packs and a broken recorder in it. There were also sets of relatively new crossbows—maybe 20 years old at the worst? Nocturne Weaponry—that was the label. You guys know the shop.” He mumbles, straining to remember everything. He at least knows the start of things well. He perks up, “You guys have got word of what happened in town already, right?”
“Yes…” Harper responds, tightening her crossed arms, “Buildings don’t just blow like that, Jesse.”
“You’re right, they don’t. We stopped and talked to Bruce and Alex already to get the details which is where we ran into Petra—looks like a bomb was rigged.” He says with a sigh and a slew of curses from everyone pass through the room. Jesse nods more than understandingly, “But also, the perp for some reason took the pack that we got from the Stronghold. Along with some other dangerous supplies. But anyways, the cave—” He says with another impatient breath, already frustrated at himself for getting sidetracked.
“We discovered that room and were pretty satisfied with that. We were gonna look around the main little cavern a little more when— when there were these loud bangs. These explosions.” He says with a frown which regains the interest of everyone in the room. Magnus scowls and crosses his arms.
“Explosions? Like… Creepers?”
Jesse huffs tiredly, “Well, we think a Creeper set them off initially. But, no, larger than that unfortunately. Someone rigged that entire dripstone section of the cave with explosives and caved it—and us—in. Rocks were even dropping all the way down in the cavern on top of us… I-It was bad.” He mumbles, remembering how the ground shook slightly beneath them as those boulders rained down and the dust engulfed them in a blue fog with their lanterns.
“They blew up a DRIPSTONE section?! No wonder it sent a shockwave all the way down! Those things are huge ticking timebombs on their own! Sinkholes in the making!” Magnus blurts, garnering a few looks of disapproval at his outburst. He ignores it but then a realization washes over him and sobers him, “Oh man…! I’m glad you guys were far from it when it dropped. We never would’ve found you…”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t’ve.” Lukas huffs with a short shake of his head, “Complete collapse. Floor to ceiling—who knows how far it ran. Probably collapsed a good section of that mineshaft that was in there. Luckily, our second path through the lush cave took us around that, but…” He trails off with a frown. Jesse picks up for him.
“The shortcut cuts off at the dripstone portion, and past the dripstone was the main path out. With the dripstone section completely buried though… We were stuck. There wasn’t any way back up, and we didn’t have any tools to even think about mining through. So we just… We had to go back down. We had to find another way out. The only place we had left to go was deeper into that Stronghold.” He mumbles, feeling his own eyes widen a little as the fear of that place grips him.
“No wonder you were down there for so long…” Gabe laments, “Those structures are the worst of mazes…”
“You’re telling us.” Jesse scoffs, “We were tight on time too. Not just because, well, y’know—hunger and thirst and all that but—” He hesitates, his throat becoming momentarily dry. He licks his lips and sucks in a breath, “Because those explosions were set off by a Creeper, that means they were triggered prematurely and because it presumably saw someone. The person who set them up was still down there with us. We got pretty deep into the Stronghold before we ran into them. But we did. That’s… That’s where my memory starts getting hazy…” Jesse mumbles with a scowl. He sits there and grips Lukas’ hand a little tighter as he tries forcing himself to remember more. But nothing comes easily to him. Just a blur of explosions, the look at that enderman, and then a lot of pain. Then it really starts getting choppy.
“Hazy…?” Soren mumbles worriedly, “I suppose that makes sense if your wound got infected, but otherwise—”
“It did.” Lukas cuts in. Soren blinks, shifting his gaze over to him instead. Lukas grips Jesse’s hand tight in return and Jesse just sighs, finally slumping into him as Lukas takes over from here. He knows the rest better whether Jesse likes it or not. He hates feeling so useless.
“T-To what extent?” Soren hurriedly asks, approaching the two again. The man reaches a balmy hand out and presses it to Jesse’s forehead, shocked to feel him still a little warm. Lukas is silent for a minute, thinking hard. Jesse gently rubs his thumb a little with his own in support as Lukas musters up the courage and the best way to say this part. He doesn't like it. Jesse knows he doesn’t like talking or thinking about any of it, to say the very least. He went and scared the man half to death. Finally, Lukas swallows and clears his throat, jaw clenched.
“When we got into Oldport, the clinicians were very scared. But they said we were lucky. If we’d been just a few hours later then that infection would’ve eventually killed him. If the bloodloss hadn’t first, anyways.”
A silence steals the room. Jesse can’t even hear Ivor messing with his glass bottles anymore. He keeps his eyes trained on the floor, avoiding each and every gaze he can feel trained on him. Petra, Ivor, and Harper’s are the worst. He just listlessly kicks his feet as they dangle over the table’s edge, trying to force the anxiety through him. Eventually, Jesse raises his head and nods towards Lukas as he gently bumps his shoulder with his cheek.
“He got us out… Our little confrontation with our bomb-happy assailant ended with us running into an enderman. Tall. Raggedy looking—scales all jagged and just very beat up. Tons of scars—one diagonal across the face. No mouthguard. Thirteen feet tall about…? Serrated claws…” He mumbles, rattling off everything he could remember without a second thought. “I-It— It hit me in the side in front and I just— I flew…”
Soren squints his eyes in a little bit of confusion and Lukas clarifies, “The enderman threw him back and into a stone wall. He passed out for a few minutes but was semi-conscious when I finally chased the thing off and got to him. I had about a third of a regen potion left so I did what I had to and poured it onto the wound.”
A chorus of winces and hisses ring out. Jesse joins them. Oh, he remembers that part all too clearly. He hasn’t felt scorching white pain like that before in his life. Soren nods slowly in understanding, simply clasping his hands together at his front. Lukas sucks in a deep breath and continues and Jesse can just feel the stress oozing off of him as his voice remains short. It’s not personal, he knows it’s not, he was just scared too.
“We didn’t have any real armor so… You know how that goes. I used his shirt for makeshift bandages, gave him my jacket, and we got going again. A big chunk of that time was spent trying to find our way out and eventually I did but…” He grimaces and Jesse sucks in a deep breath.
Jesse mumbles up to Soren, “Remember that biome Bruce mentioned? The Deep Dark? The place with the—” The name catches in his throat. He shuts his eyes for just a second to swallow it down as thoughts of the creature and the overwhelming fear and helplessness he felt that night threatens to choke him. He forces it all down, “—the Warden.”
Soren nods hesitantly.
Jesse nods in return, “We had to go through it. And our assailant rigged it all with these— these traps.” He clenches his jaw tight, desperately trying and failing to keep the shake out of his voice, “And let me tell you, Soren. Never in my life do I want to see that place or that— that fucking creature again.” Tears sting at the corners of his eyes as he shakes his head, “I’ve never been so scared in my life. It glowed and was this… This hulking figure of sculk that congealed and formed itself with bleached old bones left behind. Legs like tree trunks with arms to match, sculk hanging off its antler-like sensors like moss and other bits just oozing out of the cracks in the bones like this alien puss.” He scoffs, losing his words a little as he scrambles to describe its actual face. He chokes on the words, forcing himself to just laugh at this point, “And it was blind! But, oh, it could hear and it could smell.” He leans deep into the words, practically sneering, “It could smell me, Soren. It smelled my blood… And it wouldn’t stop for nothing.”
“Jess…” Lukas mumbles, gently pulling him back. Jesse shuts his eyes tight at the soft touch, just shaking his head. He hates it. He hates that thing. He never wants to see one again. He never wants to smell one again. He never wants to hear one again. And, good god, he never wants to feel the saliva of one oozing down him ever again. He sniffles a little.
Harper steps up and pulls Soren back, gently urging him back towards Magnus and Gabe. Petra quickly swings around and takes up everything in Jesse’s line of sight. It’s a relief, really, not seeing anyone else but her and Lukas. Petra scoops him and Lukas into a group hug and the warmth of it is a relief. He sighs into it, clutching to the both of them like nothing else matters. They’re home. They’re safe.
“Thank you, Petra…” He murmurs and Petra just sighs as she squeezes them both tight.
“Thank you guys for not giving up and dying on us… I dunno what we’d even do.” She blows out a sigh and then shakes her head, “I’m so sorry you got stuck alone like that… I-I’d be completely panicked! You’re troopers. Insane, but fucking troopers.” She pauses a minute and Jesse can just tell she has something else she wants to add. With another small squeeze she mumbles it, “And we’re gonna get the stupid bastard who put you through this. Who’s putting Beacontown through this.”
Jesse just swallows and nods, clenching fistfulls of her vest. Behind him, he hears Ivor let out a frustrated sigh—not a good sign. He hesitantly pulls back and out of the hug to glance in his direction. Harper moves to his side and he sees her whisper something to him only for him to shake his head and pull away. Jesse frowns as Ivor begins moving back towards them, face grave in a way he’s only seen a handful of times. These rare moments though truly show the man’s age as the circles under his eyes seem darker and a few more strands of hair are greyer than they were before. As the man wraps around back to their front, Jesse clears his throat to catch his attention.
“Ivor, is everything alright…?” He glances down to his hands, noting the lack of any bottles or potions. His stomach flips and he glances back over his shoulder towards the brewing stands—a few bottles sit there but are stalled and incomplete. No sign of that comforting pink liquid he so desperately needs. As he meets Ivor in the eyes once more, the man’s face contorted in a mix of concern and… Well, something else unidentifiable. His brows are knit tightly together and he seems quite stern, however.
“I—” He pauses, pressing his lips together in a tight line. He sucks in a breath through his nose and clasps his hands together in a white-knuckle grip at his front, “I cannot make your potion, Jesse. I’m sorry.”
Jesse blinks. He stares at him, disbelief washing over him. Is he hallucinating? He heard him correctly, right? All he can do is force out a laugh and shake his head.
“You—… Ah, t-that’s funny. You almost got me!”
“I’m serious, Jesse. I’m sorry.”
Jesse swallows, a bead of sweat rushing down the side of his face as he just stares at him. Almost mocking him, the news of no relief forces him to fully tune into each ache and pain of his body once more. His eyes sting at the mere thought of having to wait this injury of all injuries out—he has things to do and a town to run and keep safe! He can’t just be sidelined like this! And he certainly doesn’t want these damn scars—he doesn’t want to think about what happened ever again. He shakes his head in denial.
“No. No, that’s— What do you mean you ‘can’t’?”
“What do you think I mean?” Ivor huffs, raising a brow, “I do not have the supplies for such potions at the moment. Nor do I have any leftover.”
“Bullshit!” Jesse retorts, voice cracking a little, “That’s bullshit Ivor and we both know it!”
Ivor sighs, “Call it whatever you’d like, Jesse. It doesn’t change anything.” He throws his hands up in frustration, “Even if I wanted to, with Bruce’s shop in shambles, it’d take a mix of bartering and hunting to gather all the supplies, and that could take a few days at best depending on what I’d need. At that point, I don’t think it’d rid you of those scars…” The older man approaches him and places his hands comfortingly on his shoulders, giving them a firm squeeze as Jesse just eyes him through his bangs, “I’m sorry… but I have no miracle cures for you this time.”
Jesse just hangs his head and Ivor takes the opportunity to gently pull him into a hug, squeezing him tight. Some pain shoots up through him and makes him stiffen, but he just bites his lip and rides the wave out, settling into Ivor’s hug. Eventually, shaky hands reach up to clutch at the man’s back. Ivor pats his back and sighs.
“Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise, even… Some proper bedrest may do wonders.”
Jesse just scowls, despondent. Ivor scoffs and pinches his cheek, making Jesse jump. He shakes a finger down at him.
“Don’t give me that look, brat!” He lets go of him only to hold his face in both of his hands, touch gentle but voice stern, “Maybe rest will even improve that attitude of yours!”
Jesse can’t help but snort a little at that, corners of his mouth threatening to flick into a smile. Ivor raises a brow and inspects him closer, which does little to intimidate him. It’s almost—no, it is silly, and it manages to get a little chuckle out of him. Ivor eases up a little at the sound and Jesse raises his hands to gently pull Ivor’s away from squishing his face any further.
“Okay! Okay I— I hear you loud and clear, Ivor...” He says with a sigh.
“Good! Stop trying to get yourself killed!” Ivor huffs and shakes a finger at him, “Not good for my blood pressure…” He grumbles and Jesse shoots him an apologetic smile.
“Really not tryin’ to, I guess I’m just a trouble-magnet, huh?”
Ivor sighs, “Yes, it seems so. But unfortunately that’s part of your charm isn’t it?” He snarks with a small smirk, the wrinkles surrounding his eyes crinkling a little. Jesse laughs out a tired laugh.
“Yeah.” He sucks in a breath, “Is there anything else to know…? I’d like to just get patched up and head out—I still gotta let Radar, Axel, and Olivia know we’re alright.”
Ivor pauses as he looks at him for a long moment before finally nodding, “I believe Soren may be able to fix something up for you. I need to speak to one member of your little cohort in the meantime!”
“Wait, you’re not gonna—?” Jesse mumbles, nervously glancing between Ivor and Soren. Ivor waves him off as his attention turns towards Petra and Lukas.
“He’s much more qualified to speak on such injuries than I am! Soren, would you mind at all?” He asks, waving the man over. Soren happily steps back up with a nod and hurries over to Ivor’s stashes to begin rifling through them.
“Gladly! Jesse, I can concoct a tincture that will wipe out any more problems with a bang! I’ve treated many an Enderman laceration—primarily on myself—and this tincture is easy to make and does its job quite well!” He hums as the sounds of jars and boxes getting moved around in the wood cabinets rings out. Jesse frowns, nerves palpable, and Lukas reaches over to give his hand another squeeze.
“It really works that well…?”
“It does!” Soren beams as he sets a mortar and pestle on the table not too far from Jesse. He smiles up at the man as he sets some ingredients down—fermented spider’s eye, a red mushroom amongst others, and some blaze powder dropped directly into the mortar. Jesse’s eyes flick warily from it to him and Soren just laughs, “I know, it’s an odd array so far! But you must trust me.”
“Right…” He grumbles, blowing out a sigh as his mind revisits everything he’s learned so far. Does he trust Soren? Not particularly. But he trusts Ivor, and he seems confident at the very least. So, deciding he’s rocked the boat enough for one day, Jesse swallows his nerves and his pride and remains silent.
Soren grunts as he pulls back from the cabinets with another small handful of items, a knife, and a bit of hot water. As he sidles back up to the ingredients and mortar and pestle, he begins cutting down some to particular size before throwing them in and beginning to crush it all up. As he works, Ivor claps his hands together and eyes Petra and Lukas.
“Let’s see, who shall I speak to?” He hums and begins pointing back and forth between the two, “Eenie, meenie, miney—YOU.” Ivor finishes without half a thought, swinging his finger towards Lukas. The man blinks, laughing a little nervously as he glances between Petra and Jesse for help. Unfortunately, it looks like Ivor had his mind set from the start.
“Uhh, what…?”
Ivor ignores him and jabs a finger at Jesse, “You. Stay. YOU,” he swings back around and grabs Lukas by the arm now, swiftly hauling him off of his seat on the table and onto his feet. Lukas makes a less than graceful sound and his wobbling quickly turns to stumbling as Ivor yanks him along towards another room. Lukas winces and bats him off.
“Ivor! I’m not a child—would you knock it off?!”
Ivor scoffs and pauses a moment so Lukas can catch up and fall into stride with him. He crosses his arms, “You complain like one! Fine! But walk fast!”
Lukas lets out an annoyed sigh and briefly shoots Jesse a strained smile and wave back over his shoulder. Jesse just chuckles a little as he returns it, Petra shaking her head in bewilderment at his side. No matter what they do, Ivor will always remain a little unpredictable to them. Not that they’d have it any other way. Turning back to Soren, Jesse rubs his arms somewhat sheepishly.
“So… How does it look?”
“How does it look?” Soren huffs with a little laugh, doing little to ease his nerves, “Well, you’re still rather warm and that wound is utterly horrific! I’m certain it looked even worse for that first crew of doctors who got a look at you though, what with the excess puss and blood and all.”
Jesse grimaces, immediately trying to purge that image from his mind, “Oh gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I’m not going to sugarcoat something of this severity, Jesse.” Soren hums as he pours a little of that hot water into the mortar and begins turning the powder into more of a paste. His face scrunches up a little as he works, “Hmm… Y’know, I ought to check on your breathing now that I think of it. Does anyone have a stethoscope on-hand?”
Harper scoffs, “Uh, no offense Soren, but what sort of lunatic just casually carries those around?”
“I’ve got one!” Magnus blurts with a grin as he yanks one out of his satchel. The others stare at him rather blankly while Soren just claps his hands in glee.
“Splendid! That’ll work perfectly! Set it down here by me and I’ll use it in a minute.”
“Can do Mon Capitaine!” Magnus says with a lazy salute. He hurries up to the table and tosses it down haphazardly before crossing his arms with a smirk. Gabe also approaches with his hands on his hips and a suspicious glint in his eye.
“Do I dare ask why you of all people had one…?”
“Handy for cracking locks!” He says with a proud shrug. Judging by the glares he receives from everyone in the room save for Soren, this is the decidedly wrong answer. He clears his throat and rubs his neck, quickly scrambling to save face, “Er—Not that I’ve done anything like that while in town, kid!” He crosses his heart, raises one hand, and stands straight as a board, “Honest! Scout’s honor!”
“That’s… Lovely.” Harper mumbles. She reaches over and taps Soren on the arm, “Soren, why don’t you hold onto that stethoscope until you boys are done in town? Especially since you know Jesse’s injuries best.”
“Oh! Yes, yes, that’s a good idea!” Soren nods quickly between his crushing and Magnus’ expression slowly drops. His mouth hangs open somewhat as he looks between Harper and Soren.
“Oh, uh, I mean, you don’t gotta—”
“That sounds like a great idea!” Gabe butts in, a warning grip resting on Magnus’ shoulder, “You hang onto it, Soren.”
“Thank you Gabriel! I shall!” He smiles and tugs his sleeves up a little, pushing the mortar away now that he’s satisfied with its consistency. He picks up the stethoscope and quickly puts it on. He turns towards Jesse and gestures for him to lean forward. Petra grimaces for him.
“Cold metal incoming, Jess.”
Jesse grunts with a small smirk, “This might just do me in, Pet. Tell the others I love ‘em.” He jokes and she playfully smacks him in the arm, getting a chuckle out of him. Soren presses the chest-piece of the scope against the middle of his back and the freezing touch sends a chill through him, making his whole body shake briefly in response. He murmurs out an apology and Soren just hums.
“Breathe in for me. Deep.”
Jesse complies, though not without some hesitation. He slowly and carefully takes in a breath, acutely aware of how his chest moves with each bit of air sucked in. He struggles a little to get a full breath in when his side starts twitching with pain again. Soren hums a little and he can’t for the life of him figure out if it’s a good sign or a bad one. He holds his breath at the max he can go, which is admittedly not as deep as it should be.
“Okay. Out again.”
Relieved, Jesse has to fight the urge to just blow it all out at once. But he gets there and is happy until Soren asks him to do it all again as he shifts the position of the chest piece. He does, but his patience wanes with it. Finally, the man removes the cold metal and backs up.
“Okay! Could use some work, but I think most of it just has to do with pain at this point rather than an ailment. Would you agree?”
Jesse just nods.
“Good! This will do wonders for you then!” Soren pulls the mortar forward once more and hangs the stethoscope around his neck for the time being. The paste inside of it is a somewhat desaturated raspberry color. Could look worse. But it’s not exactly appealing imagining it being lathered on his lacerations. Jesse scrunches his nose up at that and Soren shoots him a sympathetic look, “I know, not the most enthralling experience, yes? But it also has painkilling agents within it, so it should do quite a bit to help you.”
“Really?” Jesse’s brows shoot up at that, pleasantly surprised, “What else should I expect?”
Soren hums and taps his lips in thought, “Well, the first day will likely be the roughest. It’ll be tackling a lot as it sets in. It’ll likely leave you feeling a little drained and worse for wear, but it’s worth it to ensure it clears out your system. The day after that you’ll feel miles better though! In fact, it’ll probably be important to keep you seated because, despite feeling better, you won’t be yet. Made that mistake once or twice myself.” Soren chuckles nostalgically.
“Okay, worse and then better. I think I can do that.” Jesse mumbles and Soren just smiles. The man pulls the mortar closer to start applying the tincture and Jesse can’t help but grimace. He trusts Ivor’s judgement, sure, but having this guy applying that stuff is just a bit much. Without really thinking he pulls back, face contorted in discomfort. Soren frowns.
“Well, I can’t exactly help like that, Jesse…”
“Here, I’ve got this.” Petra steps up with a smile, scooping some of the odd paste up herself. She sticks her tongue out a little, the texture like something akin to a weird slimy smoothie, but forces her best smile. Oh, that is going to be fun to have pressed up on his side for the next few days.
“Doctor Petra now, huh?”
“Best in the nation! Guaranteed!” She grins and Jesse carefully lifts his arm out of the way so she can get a clear shot at the wounds. He’d take Petra patching him up over Soren any day. Hell he’d take her patching him up over most people in general. They’ve certainly done their fair share of stitching, bandages, etc. on each other. She glances to Soren, “Any particular instructions here?”
“Aim for around the edges—it’ll work on top, sure, but it’s mainly just scabbing there. The edges between the skin and the scabbing will be the best areas. Especially since those claws were serrated.” Soren says quickly, pointing around the outlines of each laceration. Her brows furrow deeply and she nods.
“Okay. Jesse, you owe me somethin’ for this though!” She says with a hum as she begins lathering the pastey tincture on. Jesse shivers a little at the weird feeling and focuses intently on anything else—such as her words. He snorts.
“I owe you…? Okay, what’s the price?”
“Details. Juicy details.”
“Oh here we go.” Jesse chuckles and sighs with a smile, his face starting to flush, “Okay Petra, do I dare ask what about?”
She smirks up at him, “Something tells me you’ve already got a clue.” She pauses to scoop up some more of the paste, losing the snark and her eyes flashing with genuine glee as she smiles down at him, “So come on! Spill! How’d you and Lukas finally manage to get together? With everything going on it just feels dramatic.”
“Ohhhh?” Magnus croons and Harper gasps a little as a smile spreads across her face. She crosses her arms and meanders over to Jesse’s other side, inspecting him knowingly as he just nervously laughs. Did he expect anything less of Petra than to get the whole peanut gallery involved? No. Was he prepared for it? Also no.
Gabe smiles nostalgically and rubs his beard a little, “A new relationship? Now, I swear this reminds me of something I’ve heard once or twice before…” He hums. Magnus shoots him a look.
“Hey! Can it! At least let us embarrass the kid before we embarrass ourselves.” He scoffs.
“Speak for yourself.” Gabe laughs and Magnus, despite his best efforts, grows somewhat red in the cheeks. He sighs and just waves the man off, trying to ignore him as he slides up to Jesse’s side, bumping Soren and Harper out of the way as he does. He leans on the table on his elbows and rests his head in his hands—hell, if he weren’t using them to stand he’d probably be kicking his feet too.
“Soooo how’s the honeymoon phase treatin’ ya?”
Jesse rolls his eyes and shakes his head with another laugh, “Always quick on the draw for gossip, aren’t you Magnus?”
“Uh duh—now are you gonna stall or spill!”
Jesse clears his throat awkwardly as he quickly flicks his gaze between them all before landing on Soren of all people. He’s listening in, sure, but also beginning to tidy the mortar and pestle as well as get some wraps out for his torso. Great! A perfect distraction!
“Soren, hey, had a question for you about that pack from the Stronghold by the—OW?!” Jesse yelps mid sentence as Petra’s fingers press into his wounds slightly.
“Chicken.” Petra scoffs and sticks her tongue out at him while he just stares up at her slack-jawed. Okay, noting that for later—he’ll find a way to get back at her. He shakes a finger up at her in warning and she merely rolls her eyes and laughs. He probably looked about as intimidating as a little wet dog, so he can’t say he blames her. Thankfully, Soren picks the conversation up despite the interruption.
“What do you have questions about, Jesse?”
Jesse clears his throat again, “The pack. When I briefly saw Bruce he mentioned that you guys had at least come to the conclusion that it was made for carrying recorders around. Is that right?”
“Indeed.” Soren nods as he presses the wrinkles out of one of the bandages he’s laid out, “They’re quite useful! I had a whole stash of them whilst I was in The End—to ensure I could properly record my findings as I traveled. They were cumbersome, yes, but worth the ordeal so none of my thoughts would be lost to the gaps in my own memory!” His eyes glimmer as he speaks and Jesse just nods. So the Order—or Soren at the very least, did use them.
“Those blasted contraptions even wore me down the few times we’d travel with them.” Gabe scoffs, leaning back against the table now with his arms crossed over his chest. He shrugs, “I don’t know how you managed to carry them all over the End of all places!”
“Determination my dearest friend!” Soren hums. Jesse notes that too—Okay, so the whole Order did use them at one point. It’s good to know, albeit it sets him on edge. Once again, he finds himself quite glad to have Petra being the one actually patching him back up rather than Soren. On his other side, Magnus groans.
“Ugh, and don’t forget about all the mods Ellie would add onto hers! I swear, that thing was heavier than bedrock.”
“Do you remember how she would end up trading hers off to one of us?” Gabe asks.
“How could my poor spine ever forget?” He scoffs. Gabe nods.
“She used to line the bottoms with ingots when one of us made her mad. Caught her doing that once.” He says casually and that gets a laugh out of Soren while Magnus shoots up straight, jaw hanging open in offense.
“That conniving—! EUGH I KNEW there was something off a few times! So I wasn’t imagining it!”
Jesse interrupts him, catching Soren’s attention again, “What about that pack’s design? Anything, I dunno, stand out?”
“Hmm… Not particularly. It was well-made and, despite its weathered look, managed to carry quite a few heavy items still.” His eyes sparkle with a bit of wonder as he speaks faster, “Why, when Bruce and I spoke of it upon his return to town, we even borrowed an old recorder from that Jack fellow to see if it could still manage the weight—worked quite well!”
“I— I see.” Jesse chokes out. Gabe frowns and meets his gaze from down the line.
“Are you alright, Jesse?”
Jesse swallows, “I mean— I’m—” He sighs, rubbing his forehead, “I’m trying not to let my mind run wild here. It’s just— I’m having trouble knowing who it is I can and can’t rely on lately. I can’t help but look at that coincidence oddly.” He huffs, “I mean, damn, there were five or six of those things around there, too. Hell, found one attached to a zombie!”
“I believe any one of us would be paranoid in your place, Jesse. I certainly take no offense.”
“Hear, hear!” Magnus quickly adds, pumping his fist in the air. A little pressure is relieved at that, but admittedly not by much. Yet, he can’t easily imagine the Order going so far when they couldn’t even slay the dragon—but perhaps that dragon is a motivator? They could’ve seen his father down there and assumed he was on his way to do what they’d spent ages planning. They mentioned getting upstaged by him and Hiro once before, perhaps they wouldn’t have wanted it to happen twice on such a grander scale? But, despite his nerves, Jesse still feels like he’s reaching. There are other places that require his focus and energy right now.
Petra frowns a little as she pulls back from Jesse, paste all applied. She looks around with her messy hands and Harper quickly passes her a rag to wipe them off on. From there, she moves onto grabbing the gauze and bandages, shooting Jesse a questioning look as she lays the gauze on.
“You said a zombie had one of those packs on…?”
“Yeah.” Jesse nods fervently. It was a small moment that was relatively easy to forget with everything else happening, but one that felt important. Especially as more details come back to him, “A-And I recognized something! Aside from the pack I mean. It was this woman and she’d definitely been down there for a while—she was in the lower subsections, closer to the deep dark. One of the very few monsters we actually saw.” He gestures over his shoulders and across his chest as if there were backpack straps and a clip or tie holding it secure, “She was fully geared up! Too well secure for her to have somehow put it on post-mortem—Lukas and I think she died with it on.”
“That’s… Well, that’s an eerie sign to say the least…” Petra says with a grimace as she finishes with the gauze and begins wrapping the bandage around his torso. Jesse nods.
“It gets worse and also just—” He pauses, face scrunching in confusion, “Weirder? She attacked me, sure, but it was like she wasn’t focused on me. She was focused on my soulfire lantern that was hanging from my hip—absolutely hated the thing. Sure some monsters get snippy with it, but this was a laser focus. It was like it was personal.” He finishes, still baffled as the words roll off of his tongue. He can’t remember seeing a zombie act like that before, or if they have he certainly hasn’t noticed. Soren plucks at his beard in thought.
“Perhaps it was integral to her in life…?” He mumbles, garnering a few questioning looks. He sucks in a breath and elaborates, “Sometimes monsters like zombies or skeletons can maintain bits and pieces of memories from their previous life—zombies much more likely. If her death was traumatic, then some aspects of it may have burned into her mind.” He nods to Jesse, “The presence of soulfire, for example.”
“A zombie with PTSD… Huh…” Petra mutters thoughtfully as she tightens the pearly white bandages and ties them neatly. Jesse winces a little at that but nods along. He absently rubs at his side as he begins to speak again.
“Traumatic is a good word for it I think. Her pack was pretty ruined—had five slashes running straight through it and into her back. Pretty similar ones to mine too, now that I think about it…” He mumbles with a frown, now desperately trying to connect the lone dots floating around. There’s still not enough to create a clear picture for him, “Lukas and I figured it was an Enderman—”
“That doesn’t explain the soulfire bit though, does it?” Harper pipes up, anxiously tapping her own arm. She shakes her head, “I know they travel to Warped Forests but they don’t typically bring Nether objects back, do they? Especially fire.” She asks, glancing at Soren who just shakes his head.
“Not really. There are exceptions, but no. I can’t think of any reason for it.”
“Well that’s the thing—” Jesse cuts in again, a bit frustrated at being interrupted, “We were pretty certain the Enderman didn’t cause the killing blow. There was another cut—a really deep one—in the back of her neck. It was clean as a whistle, like from a bladed weapon rather than a claw. Any deeper and she would’ve been walking around without a head.”
“So an individual such as your pursuer, then.” Gabe concludes, “Either someone similar, or perhaps even someone returning to the scene of the crime. Do you know if they had a bladed weapon, Jesse? You mentioned you and Lukas gave chase at one point.”
Here comes the difficult part. Jesse shuts his eyes tight and grips the edge of the table as he concentrates. He knows he has the answer somewhere in his mind. Somewhere amidst the fog. He wants to say yes, but it was so dark and all they fought with were those damn explosions—sticks of dynamite if his memory is serving him right. And that’s a big if. But nothing is easily coming up—they ran, there were those explosions and… crashing? It’s a blur of adrenaline up until the Enderman. He sighs and drops his face into his hands, rubbing his eyes hard.
“Don’t strain yourself, now…” Gabe mutters, voice gentle and Jesse feels a warm and reassuring hand on his back. He just shakes his head.
“I-I know I can remember I just— I’m stuck. But I want to say yes. I don’t know if that’s right but I want to say yes. There were also crossbows down there though, so maybe that’s their MO…” He grumbles and notices Petra stiffen a little at that out of the corner of his eye. Right. Her sister. He certainly won’t be forgetting about her for a while.
“I see… It’ll be something to keep in mind then. If you so happen to remember anything more about the cut, perhaps I could at least help identify the type of blade. I’ve used many over the years and there’s a slew of blade-types for swords alone.”
“Right now I just remember it being impressively clean cut—probably went through like butter. I think it had a steady bevel to it though. Didn’t seem like something from a rapier or other thin swords.”
“I see…” Gabe mumbles, deep in thought, “Well, it was at the very minimum a higher grade material if it cut through so much muscle, skin, and fat so easily. Diamond seems likely.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know if I think of anything, I guess.” Jesse says with a frustrated sigh. Gabe just smiles sympathetically and gives his good shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He’s always been a kind man, if not a bit arrogant. Or, well, a lot arrogant when they first met. He supposes he’ll have to keep it in mind that the Order he knows now isn’t a one-to-one to how they once were. But Gabe’s smile holds no ire nor regret—he can only hope it’ll stay that way. A sly smile weasels its way across his face and he scoots in, gesturing Jesse to lean in a little so he can whisper something. Jesse hesitates a moment, but his curiosity wins him over.
“So that blonde ‘friend’ of yours… Was it romantic?” He asks with a grin, waggling his eyebrows somewhat. Jesse scoffs out a laugh as his face runs hot once more and shoves the man back. Gabe just bellows out his own laugh in turn, voice reverberating off the walls. He points to Jesse while looking between all the others, “Look at this! He’s shy!”
“Buzz off!” Jesse says between laughs. A door shutting from somewhere else in the building catches his attention just briefly and through the laughing he hears footsteps. Petra notices it too and shoots him a smirk before bouncing off towards them. Jesse’s eyes widen and he tries snagging her arm, vest, hair, anything before she gets out of his reach but alas. She flies right by and rests her hands on her hips with that smirk still plastered on her face as Ivor and Lukas return.
“Oh hey Jesse, look! Your boyfriend’s baaaack!” She teases, shooting him a look over her shoulder while Lukas pauses in his steps to scoff. He lightly shoves her in the head as he passes and Petra quickly punches him in the arm in return. No matter what they do, she’s always gonna pick on them in one way or another. Glad to see she’s quick to adapt. Lukas laughs a little as he approaches but Jesse quickly notices a heaviness in his eyes that wasn’t there before. His own brows furrow and he opens his mouth to speak but gets cut off by Ivor loudly scoffing.
“What are you babbling about?”
“Noth—” Jesse starts only for Harper of all people to step in and sling both of her arms around both Jesse and Lukas’ shoulders. She beams at Ivor.
“Your boys came out of that damn stronghold with at least one good thing! Oooh, the tabloids will be eating the two of you up! Hope you’re ready.” She teases and Jesse just lets out a defeated chuckle. Ivor’s brows shoot up and he blinks.
“Is this… new information?” He mumbles, confusion quite genuine. Jesse can feel the sudden heat in his cheeks practically poke at him like pinpricks. What does he mean ‘is it new ‘?! Harper’s own eyebrows shoot up and she just starts laughing a little as Lukas and him share a bewildered look. Lukas already has one hand pressed to his cheek and no doubt ready to hide his face in. Harper nods.
“Yes! Yes, this is new, Ivor.”
“Oh dear. It seems I’ve been misconstruing some things for quite a while then…” He mutters, running his fingers through his beard. Lukas’ brows shoot up and he sputters.
“You’ve what?!” Jesse chokes, voice cracking, “Ivor, how long is ‘quite a while’?” He asks, heavily leaning into the air quotes. Ivor taps his cheek as he thinks.
“Hmmm… Let’s see… How long ago was it that we first ran after that Aiden punk into Sky City. When we went after the Eversource?”
“Four years?!” Jesse’s eyes widen and his jaw hangs slack in an embarrassed horror. Petra spits out a laugh, clapping her hands as she briefly doubles over. She points at him, vindication burning fiercely in her eyes.
“I TOLD you! I told you it was obvious! But nooooo…! What would I know?” She stands tall with one hand resting lightly over her heat and lets out a blissful sigh, “Thank you, Ivor. You’ve made my day a thousand times better.”
“Ha! Well, I’m glad my mistake has made someone happy.” He says with a smirk then walks over to Jesse and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. His voice is quieter as he grins, “Congratulations, Jesse.”
“I—”
“And you too, blonde-guy!” Ivor says in more of a shout as he reaches over to clap Lukas on the arm. Lukas just laughs as he shakes his head in equal embarrassment. Finally content it seems, Ivor steps back with a wide grin of pride—he’ll ignore the fact that he’s apparently assumed they were together for years already. No wonder he would split them off together in his plans. Oh, he’s really gonna be revisiting a lot of group memories with that new context. Jesse supposes he’ll let it go for the meantime however—Lukas’ laugh and blush are endearing enough to make it worth it.
~~~~~
With a fresh set of bandages on and a care plan at the very least, they finally manage to split from Ivor and Harper's—though not without a lot of demands that they check-in and remain diligent with rest. There’s certainly no arguments there though, plush warm sheets on soft mattresses in the safety of their own home? Oh, now that’s a dream come true. But first? First they have to face the wrath of Radar, Axel, and Olivia as renewed dread settles into Jesse’s stomach. He can’t wait to see them, but he dreads their inevitable disappointment in him for not saying anything. But one step at a time. For now, they just have to get to the Order Hall which feels like much longer of a walk than it is.
Petra jokingly offers to piggyback Jesse and he damn near takes her up on it, but he declines. At least for the walk down mainstreet—around the Order Hall is free reign. For the meantime though he’s just thankful that Lukas was still quick to offer his support and keep him from staggering too horribly. It’s a beautiful, sunny, and warm day and he’s happy to be able to take it all in again.
There’s still remnants of smoke and haze hanging over the western portion of the city where that disaster with Bruce’s shop was, but luckily it’s begun to clear up. Maybe they’ll get lucky to get a summer stormfront to clear the air for them, he hasn’t even thought about checking something as mundane as the weather. Would be refreshing to do in the evening with some hot tea and a nice blanket, anything remotely cozy.
The Beacon that his city’s so known for is still brightly illuminated and pristinely polished—seems Radar kept himself busy. As they approach the doors to the Order Hall his ears are filled with the sounds of fresh running water as it cuts under the elegant stone breezeway. Warmth floods his chest as he finally, finally relaxes. This is home. Beacontown has been through a lot, sure, but the Order Hall is untouchable—the true place he can rely on to be safe. Hell, the squeaking of the large doors on their hinges as Petra presses them open is like music to his ears.
He finds himself blowing out a long sigh as they step inside and beside him Lukas does the same. They briefly share a smile. On top of it all, they’re enveloped by cooler air and, for once, Jesse considers seeing if Radar will crank up the heat. They’ve certainly had their fair share of freezes, though this is at least more refreshing than the icy bite of that cave. He’s done enough to scare the kid, he won’t kill him by admitting he’s cold in 70 degree conditions.
The Order Hall is as quaint as per usual—not a whole lot of foot traffic, though enough to have a few people to smile and wave to. Surprisingly, nobody tries talking to them and whether that’s because they look tired or because they assume he’s busy with that mess this morning, he doesn’t really care. The quiet is appreciated.
That said, however, it also makes voices easier to hear as the three of them approach the Treasure Hall. He recognizes Olivia’s voice right away—stern, too. His stomach sinks a little, she was probably worried out of her mind both for them and the town. He doesn’t quite catch her words but he, Petra, and Lukas all share a concerned look and pick up the pace down the hall. Right as they turn the corner, they hear Radar and Axel both pipe up—hey, at least they’re all conveniently in one place, right?
Jesse’s ready to push off of Lukas and punch in the passcode for the keypad, only to be surprised by both doors still wide open. Inside, of course, he sees the backs of Olivia and Axel on top of Radar pacing, speaking fast, and seemingly trying to reassure the two as they talk. Axel blows out a heavy sigh, shaking his head.
“Radar, kid, look— it’s nearly been a week man. You’ve called us for help before, can’t we at least know what’s goin’ on?”
“I—!” Radar chokes, grimacing, “Look, I’ve heard from Jesse and Lukas and they’re okay! But seriously, I think it’d just be best to wait until they tell you.”
“Radar,” Olivia butts in again, a warning edge to her voice, “Where did they go?”
Radar panics under her gaze and it’s about there that Jesse’s seen more than enough. He sucks in a quick breath and blows out a short and sharp whistle, quickly getting everyone’s attention. Petra tries sporting a grin, though it comes out rather nervous while he and Lukas merely greet them with weary smiles. Though, judging by the way they gasp, it does little to assuage their nerves.
“JESSE!” Olivia shrieks in what he can only describe as horror as she clamps her hands to her mouth. Yeesh, he really must look worse for wear. Axel’s not far behind her.
“Oh fuck— JESS!”
The two of them immediately turn their backs on an utterly stunned Radar and race over to him. Jesse clenches his jaw as he pushes off of Lukas and stumbles towards them, his walk much more of a stagger. Olivia looks like she’s going to start crying at the mere sight of him. Axel closes the space first and starts talking before even getting to him.
“Dude stop! Hey! Stop walking, little guy! C’mon, easy…!” He shushes, voice gentle. It makes Jesse’s eyes sting a little and he swallows down the lump that so quickly forms in his throat. His friends—his best friends.
Axel’s the first to intercept him and he wastes no time in scooping the smaller man up into his arms. With the warmth Jesse melts into, he doesn’t even have the energy to protest, simply reaching up with his good arm to hug Axel tight. Axel kneels down to the ground just in time for Olivia to swing around and utterly collapse onto the two of them in a tight hug. Jesse sucks in a sharp breath between his teeth, stifling a yelp at the sudden and sharp pressure on his side. They gasp and ease up, though not without sharing a scathing look of concern with each other. Olivia sniffles and shakes her head as she holds Jesse’s face in her hands, tears running down her cheeks—how many times had they gone and worried each other sick in their lives? As kids they used to be a lot more even, but now Jesse apparently just can’t stay out of trouble.
“Sorry ‘Liv…” He mumbles, no other words even coming to him as those roll off of his tongue. He shifts his gaze up to Axel, “Sorry Ax… I’m so sorry— I’m so so sorry.”
Olivia just huffs and shakes her head, pulling him back into as tight of a hug as she dares. Axel pulls them both in tight and they sit that way for a long minute. Jesse buries his face into both their shoulders, just soaking the moment in. There’s been a few moments in his life where a hug with them felt like this, but it always felt like each one got more important than the last. At least this time there’s nothing else going on, he just solely gets to focus on them. A few of his own tears finally slip out as his own shaky grip on them tightens. Without a thought, theirs do the same and for just these few minutes, Jesse can almost see himself, Axel, and Olivia, just sitting back in that treehouse spending the night together. Eventually though, someone has to give and reality must be returned to. Olivia—ever the pragmatist—is the one who does it by pulling back to better inspect him.
“What happened to you?! What did this?!” Her voice shakes with an outrage that’s difficult to hear. Jesse merely winces as shame floods him again. Lukas, of course, finds the words before he can.
“Someone tried to kill us.”
Simple, straight, and to the point in a way that gives Axel and Olivia more of a start than they bargained for. Their eyes shift up to Lukas, who they now fully process as just as haggard. Hell, his hair isn’t even styled yet. Olivia’s breath hitches and she stands once again in order to inspect him. Much like with Jesse, she clasps Lukas’ face in her hands, worried eyes scanning over all of the cuts, bruises, and the dark rings under his eyes. Her gaze softens in an agonized sympathy and Jesse can already list the ways she’s thinking she could’ve stopped this. Regardless, all she can do is push some of the loose hairs out of Lukas’ face as he offers her a tired smile.
“If it wasn’t for Lukas…” Jesse starts, shaking his head a little. He smiles, a bit of wonder sparkling in his eyes, “If it wasn’t for his damn determination and quick thinking throughout it all, I’d be dead… He saved my life down there.”
Axel and Olivia’s eyes shine over with a renewed horror as they turn their gazes back towards Lukas. Lukas smiles sheepishly under the pressure, not able to hold either gaze and scuffing the toe of his boot into the ground.
“Well, I can’t take all the credit.” He shrugs then nods down at Jesse, “Jesse saved my own ass a dozen times before that happened. Even once while he was injured. Crazy of him, but god if he didn’t manage to pull it off somehow…” He says, blowing out a laugh, “We’d probably still be stuck down there if not for him.”
“ ‘down there’...?” Olivia repeats in confusion. Jesse carefully tugs the hem of his shirt up to show some of the bandages, pointing to them as he does.
“Yeah. Someone caved us in and then we got attacked by an Enderman.”
“O-Oh my god…!” He hears Radar’s shaky voice ring out as his own footsteps finally hurry down. He stops short of them all, merely standing there with his hands clasped in a white-knuckle grip and pressed up against his mouth. Those big dark brown eyes of his quickly turn glassy and, thankfully, Lukas is right there to scoop him up. The man gently pulls out of Olivia’s grip to tug Radar into a secure hug.
“It’s okay, Radar. We’re just a little worse for wear…” Lukas says and just blows out his own heavy sigh as he rubs the teen’s back. Radar just stares in a mix of shock and horror.
“Radar wasn’t lying by the way, just so you guys know.” Petra says, shifting a little awkwardly as Axel and Olivia look up at her in confusion. She rubs her neck, “The guys got stuck in Oldport for a few days to get patched up and rest, apparently. Just got the whole story on the way back from Ivor’s.”
“Ivor’s?” Axel questions, brow furrowed. Jesse presses a reassuring hand into his arm.
“We thought he might’ve had some regen potions left and it’s hard for me to walk at times. So, after dealing with the explosion and building collapse downtown we swung that way. He didn’t though, so it took a little longer…” He says with a sigh and Axel nods, easing up a little with that.
“Yeah,” Petra’s quick to corroborate, “I ran into them when the building went and have been hanging with ‘em since. They just got off the boat not even an hour before that whole mess happened.”
From there, none of the three really say anything, they just stare at Jesse and Lukas in a mix of horror and concern. And they haven’t even heard the half of it yet. Axel swears under his breath and shifts Jesse’s position in his arms into something more comfortable. Next, he waves Petra over and she happily drops down next to him. Olivia eventually breaks into a small cry, just utterly overwhelmed. She gently grabs Lukas and Radar and leads them over to the other three and they all move in for a group hug from there. Olivia joins it last, collapsing around the lot of them, trying to squeeze everyone she can into her arms. From there, the six of them just sit and hold on tight to each other, making a silent promise to not let anyone go.
The Treasure Room is quiet and peaceful with the sunlight that’s streaming in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows warming their backs and arms. Hell, Jesse’s so comfy at the center of he all that he could happily just sink into it for hours and be fine with it. Probably not the most comfortable for some of the others though.
Finally, the group parts, but it’s done rather quietly with nobody really knowing what to say or do next. Jesse just sighs and leans up against Axel for the meantime. He notes the troubled look in Radar’s eyes however. Oh, he knows that look well—guilt wells up in those big brown eyes of his as he gets another closer look at Jesse. Jesse sighs and sits up, forcing a tired smile onto his face for his sake. Radar just shakes his head as he finally meets Jesse’s gaze, eyes still glassy and threatening to spill over.
“This is all my fault…” He chokes out and Jesse grimaces. He looks at him sadly, reaching out to him as he shakes his head.
“Radar… No, no, no. How could it—”
“Because I knew!” He snaps, fists clenching in his lap and voice quickly becoming hoarse, “I knew where you were and I— I had this bad feeling but I didn’t—! I didn’t…” He trails off, losing steam as his voice catches in his throat and a few of those tears finally snake their way down his cheeks. Jesse reaches out and pulls Radar into another hug, as tight as he can for his state. The teen instantly clings to him and cries into his shoulder, quickly rambling out apology after apology. Jesse shakes his head and rubs his back, shushing him quietly.
“Shhh… It’s okay, there’s no way you could’ve known… Nobody could’ve. You did everything exactly as I asked and took care of everyone in the meantime.” He smiles a little, giving him a squeeze at that, “You’ve done great! This isn’t your fault okay? It was me. I chose to go in. Not you.”
“But you—! Like you guys just said you—! Both of you could’ve died…!” He retorts and Jesse just smiles sadly.
“... Yeah, but we didn’t. We’re tough and pretty resourceful—not to brag.” He adds, trying to be a little lighthearted. He gets the smallest of huffs out of Radar, but that’s as great of a start as any. He continues, “We’re here now, and we’re back in one piece more-or-less! So, no more of this, alright?” He asks quietly as he leans back from Radar, reaching up to gently wipe away his tears with both of his thumbs.
“I— I don’t— I can’t just—...” He sputters at a loss and Jesse sighs but nods. As proud as he is of the kid, he’s picked up a few traits that have gone and gotten himself into trouble. The overt sense of responsibility is one they’ve always had in common though and it’s certainly bleeding in. With nothing left to easily say, he just tugs him back into another hug and rests there with him. Words always have issues coming to him in moments like these, but a solid hug could convey a million in a flash. That’s what he’s always figured, anyways.
“... What now?” Radar mumbles out after a few minutes. Jesse blows out a long, heavy sigh. That’s a damn good question and one he can only answer in the simplest of means. What now? Now, he’s hopefully gonna go home and pass out for a few days. But he knows that’s not what he means. He doesn’t have an answer yet, so he just squeezes him a little tighter as his brows furrow.
“We’ll figure it out… Right now I just gotta get my head back in shape, not to mention get you guys caught up on it all.” His eyes flick between Axel and Olivia as he says this and he receives some intense gazes as he does. Oh yeah. He has a LOT of explaining to do. He winces a little and braces himself, “I’m… I’m sorry for not telling you guys. I know we said no more secrets and I went against that. I just didn’t want you to worry and wanted a small trip in and out. I didn’t think we’d be gone for more than a few hours at most…”
“Decent start. Keep talking. Where did you go without us? It better not be what I think you’re about to say…” Olivia’s eyes narrow as she slowly raises her arms to cross over her chest. Axel’s own eyes widen in realization as he shoots his gaze Jesse’s way as well.
“Oh Jess… Don’t tell me…”
Jesse shuts his eyes and clenches his jaw tight in a grimace as he nods his head. Immediately, he hears two heavy sighs of disappointment and he opens his eyes only to be greeted with mixed looks of hurt and concern. Axel’s features are washed more in the latter while Olivia’s are bathed in the former. She was always a worrier, this was only fuel for her fire.
“I asked Lukas the favor of going with me for a second opinion. Look, take up your frustration with me, not him or Radar. But just—” He holds up one hand and sucks in a breath, “I’m sorry. You have every right to be pissed. But frankly I really just wanna relay what happened and go hide in bed for the next three days.”
“Oh I can assure you you are not going ANYWHERE as long as we’ve got a say!” Olivia digs into him, jabbing a finger into his chest, “I just—! Ugh I love you but you scare the crap out of us sometimes!” She angrily sighs, gently shaking his face in her hands. He just offers a strained smile and nods. Axel nudges him.
“What happened down there, man…? Run it by us. Let’s figure this out as a group now that we’re all back together.”
Jesse nods, “Okay. We’ll start at the top.”
Chapter 34: Woodworking
Summary:
Jack asks Jesse for some help with repairs and they have a talk
Notes:
Happy Holidays!!! 6k chapter today but it's a goodie that I really like!! :> Nothing crazy to report this time around thankfully, so hell yeah!!!
I don't have much else to say but I also wanna thank everyone for reading in this last year especially! Updating today marks a whole year that I've been updating fairly consistently which is just !!! So insane to me !!! I haven't been this productive with this fic since 2019! It's just totally insane to me that this time last year I was uploading chapter 18, and now we're all the way up to 34. That's just so insane!! And the feedback and retention from readers has been even more amazing, i'm so so thrilled that so many people have been enjoying and continue to enjoy this silly little fic and I hope that, going into the next year, I can continue to provide a fun experience ;;w;;/ There's really exciting stuff coming up and I just cannot wait to get there!!
And tysm for the 12k hits???????? LIKE. HOLY SHIT. 😭😭😭 When I first started writing this back in high school, 100 hits seemed like a fever dream. I'm just so so honored and appreciative, so thank you all again :,)
Happy Holidays and here's to a good 2023!!! 💖💖💖
Chapter Text
Of all the people they’ve spoken to since getting back into town, Jesse’s certain it’s Dewey that was the most distraught about their absence. In the hours and days that follow getting back to Lukas’, that little cat is determined to not let either out of his sight for love nor money. Not to mention the howling and wailing— god the howling and wailing. He’s more than opinionated, though it’s probably well-deserved considering. Again, Jesse never figured himself much of a cat person, but he makes an exception for the ocelot as it clambers over him and Lukas while they try to sleep.
The loud purring is an unexpected but pleasant surprise—almost like an odd sort of lullaby. It’s relaxing, though Dewey’s persistence of laying on some part of his back or right up against his head takes some getting used to. Lukas at some point just rattles off a factoid about purring helping cats heal and thinking how sweet it is that Dewey’s trying to help. It’s sweet, but Jesse would find it sweeter if the 25 lb brat didn’t try tripping him at every opportunity he gets—he swears that cat thinks making him stumble is a game.
As for how he feels? Well, Soren was right about feeling godawful for the first day. He could barely bring himself to get out of bed, though he can’t say he feels too bad about it. A day of doing absolutely nothing is relieving, and it’s even better with all the weight of their trip finally off his shoulders. Home is cozy, the bed is warm and plush, and there’s nowhere he’s required to be. Hell, Lukas doesn’t even stir until the afternoon, which Jesse is more than happy about.
Thankfully, without all of the stress of needing to get home, heal, and see everyone again, sleep comes a little easier. There’s less plaguing both of their minds to worry them, at least relatively anyways. Jesse does his best to simply ignore the disaster in town the morning they got in—there’s not much more he can do in his state. They’re both still high-strung on some level though, if it’s not town worries then it’s nightmares waking them up in a snap. It’s exhausting knowing that one’s nerves are already frayed from paranoia and still being unable to settle the body despite it.
Lukas remains his rock and he can’t help but feel self-conscious as Lukas begins easing back into his normal self while Jesse still jumps at shadows. It’s beyond frustrating, too—he should be able to handle himself by now. He’s been through so much, he’s fought so much and he’s had nightmares before, so why hasn’t he been able to just suck it up and move forward this time? He feels almost stuck in time with his chest always tight, hands always sweaty, and constantly vigilant and fidgety meanwhile everyone around him is starting to ease back into routine. He clings to the hope that it won’t last and that once he’s healed he’ll be right back to normal but something in his gut tells him otherwise. It just makes him queasy. How’s he supposed to protect his people and the people he loves if Dewey suddenly running across the hall leaves him shaking and hyperventilating?
For the most part though, he’s given ample opportunity to ignore it. There’s Lukas and Dewey of course but Radar, Petra, Axel, and most certainly Olivia hang around a lot. Hell, the second night they all just camped out in Lukas’ living room. A lighthearted sleepover that made Jesse once again feel like they were just back in that tiny treehouse from years ago. Nobody talks about their trip to the Stronghold, the explosion in town, or even Jesse’s family in general. They just shoot the shit and laugh until their stomachs hurt in the late hours of the warm night.
Daylight eventually rolls around though and with it comes their duties and responsibilities, so they disperse once again. Though not without the occasional check-up throughout the day. That’s the sum of how the first few days in town go. Of course throw in some redressings for his lacerations and for the remnants of Lukas’ concussion, and then it’s a wrap. Issues linger, but at least the backdrop for them is mundane. Such as it is right now.
Jesse grimaces into his pillow at the now all-too-familiar pressure of an ocelot’s paws crawling over his back and up to his head. He can’t say if it’s just Dewey or cats in general, but he has such a talent for pressing all his weight into a single paw in the exact wrong spot. As if on cue, Dewey presses right into his shoulder and sends a sharp pain through it while the sound of his sniffing bellows like thunder in his ears.
“ Dew, come onnn…” Jesse whines, knitting his brows together while lazily reaching up to scritch behind his ears. He lets out a little ‘ mrrp’ and shifts, thankfully taking the pressure off of Jesse’s shoulder. He releases a breath at that and relaxes again, dropping his hand back to his pillow with a thud. He’s almost back to his little mid-morning nap too when Dewey starts kneading on his back. His tank top could probably withstand the claws of a domestic kitten but a fully grown ocelot? Well he’s gonna start a new ripped fashion trend at this rate.
He tries rolling his shoulders and eventually manages to slip out from beneath him enough to shift onto his good side. But, as he’s come to learn throughout his time here, cats are probably the most persistent pet someone could have and Dewey wants something from him. It only takes a few seconds for him to crawl back over and sniff the side of his face and ear again and finally he’s hit with that sandpaper-like tongue on his cheek.
“ Augh! Dewey!” He laughs a little, weakly trying to push his face away and only getting his palm licked instead. Jesse sighs in defeat but smiles, “ Alright! Alright, you win. I’m up, buddy! Come on now…” He grunts as he gently pushes the large cat back and himself upright. Dewey purrs loudly and rubs his face against his shoulder and side while Jesse stretches his arms high above him. His side twinges, but it’s certainly not as bad as it was at the start. And he could not be happier about getting his range of motion back.
Dewey hops down from the bed with a thud as Jesse stands, quickly racing between his legs. Jesse snorts, gently prodding the cat forwards towards the door. The moment he so much as cracks the door open, Dewey barrels through, feet loudly thudding over the wooden floors of the house. Somewhere further into the house he hears Lukas yelp and chide the cat as something falls—no crashing sounds luckily! Jesse just chuckles to himself as he wanders out of the room and towards the noise.
He finds Lukas in his office and it picking up books out of a pile on the floor under his bookshelf. Jesse raises his brows in surprise and carefully lowers himself to the ground to help picking things up. Lukas blinks in surprise at the sight of him, quickly double-taking towards the door and back to him.
“Jess! I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Well you seem a little preoccupied. Not surprised.” Jesse says with a small laugh as he hands a small stack of books up to him. Lukas takes them and deflates with a tired smile and huff.
“ Uhh, yeah. Dewey came racing in while I was writing and decided he’d try climbing the bookshelf. Leapt right up to dangle from the third shelf, shook the bookcase, then changed his mind and leapt off of it again. Made the whole thing shake! Surprised the whole shelf didn’t come down.” He says with a shake of his head.
“Who needs kids wrecking things when you can just get a cat?” He jokes and Lukas laughs.
“ Right?!”
The conversation shifts to silence from there as Jesse picks and organizes the books and loose papers while Lukas handles setting them back up on their designated shelves. He organizes in such a particular way Jesse doesn’t dare to touch the shelf itself. He’s tried explaining the method to his madness once or twice before, but it just never stuck. Maybe he’d ask him again, it probably isn’t that bad, he just never hung around too long to remember.
Jesse uses the shelf as support as he pulls himself to his feet again with the last books tucked under his arm. Lukas frowns a little, hands full and unable to help but Jesse just shoots him a smile. Frankly, he’s just glad he’s able to pull himself up without freezing in pain every two seconds. Proudly, Jesse offers the last books to Lukas who plucks them up with a smile. As he stuffs them into their proper places, Jesse goes to ask his question only for the sound of knocking to echo down the hall. Both men stop and glance towards the hall and then each other—the others said they’d be busy today, who’d be knocking? Another set of knocks rings out and Jesse begins moving back and out of the room.
“I’ll grab it, you check on wherever Dewey is.”
“Got it.” Lukas says quickly as he dusts his hands off and exits with him, whistling for Dewey.
Jesse hurries to the door, hobbling a bit more than he’d like. He hears Lukas mulling about with Dewey racing around in the midst of his apparent zoomies behind him. He opens the door about a foot, making sure to body block the opening. Though not without a smile.
“Hey, what’s—” He pauses, eyes widening as he actually takes in who’s at the door. His expression softens into one of pleasant surprise, “ Jack? What’re you doing here?”
The gruff man meets him with a smile of his own and a slight nod of the head, “Just the man I wanted to see, heh!” He sucks in a breath, awkwardly crossing his arms, “I’ve just—... Well, Petra’s mentioned a bit about how things have been going and I uh—” He clears his throat, obviously a bit unsure of himself, “I know you’ve got more than enough help, but I guess I wanted to just… See for myself. Check-in a little.”
Jesse smiles and relaxes some, nodding quietly, “I’m… I’m getting there.” He says, though it definitely doesn’t sound as confident as he hoped. Understanding flashes in Jack’s eyes as he nods.
“I getcha. I getcha.” He sucks in a breath and scans Jesse over, “I was gonna ask if you wanted to come help me with a little project back at the emporium—nothin’ too big, just replacing the wood on some old shelves and counters. Figured it wouldn’t be too demanding of work and that it might be nice to have somethin’ to do with your hands. But, uh, if I’m interrupting somethin’ or that’s a no-go, that’s all good.”
Jesse’s eyes widen a little as he realizes how barely cracking the door must seem to him. He quickly shakes his head and clears his throat, “No no! No, this is—” He laughs as he messes with the door, “Not meant to be unwelcoming, it’s just preventative.”
“Preventative? Of what?”
“Well—” Jesse starts then feels something slam into the back of his knee and grunts as he’s pushed forward a step. He quickly stiffens right as Dewey tries taking advantage of the gap and the cat only ends up getting his head stuck sticking out in the small space between the door and Jesse’s leg. Jack snorts as Jesse just grins up to him, “He’s been a bit high energy today.”
“I can see that!” Jack laughs and crouches down, holding a hand out to Dewey’s nose. The cat sniffs it barely for a moment before just headbutting his hand. The man chuckles and quickly begins petting him. Lukas races up behind Jesse as he relaxes the door and Dewey slinks out to drop down right in front of Jack. He happily obliges the cat with pets, even daring to play a little bit with his mouth, rolling him around. Jesse and Lukas watch in a mix of relief and amusement.
“Gimme a minute to change clothes and I’ll be right out, Jack.” Jesse says with a nod.
“Take your time, Jesse! I’m getting my cat-fill!” Jack says with a grin and Jesse just returns it. He gives Lukas a peck on the cheek then ducks back inside to grab his things.
~~~~~
The Emporium is as pleasant as always, though they have a few more curtains open than usual, bringing a load of sunlight inside to make work easier. Conversation on the way over is refreshingly mundane and dull and Jesse can’t be thankful enough for the twinge of normalcy. Granted, he has to take a moment to sit down once reaching the Emporium, but Nurm catches him and Jack there and he’s able to forget about his condition with the smalltalk. Even Jack’s red macaw, Archie, flies down to greet them. The bird happily hops from Jack’s shoulder down to Jesse’s and plucks at his hair, getting a laugh out of him. Eventually—and through a lot of schmoozing—Jack manages to get Archie to climb back on his shoulders and off Jesse. From there they bid Nurm adieu and Jack gives him a brief overview of what they’ve gotta replace. From there, they head towards the workshop in the back of the shop.
The first thing Jesse notices upon stepping into the back shop is the smell of freshly cut wood. It shoots him right back to home at his father’s cabin and even his own treehouses, both of which somehow always smelling of cedar. It relaxes him with ease. Ahead of him, Jack moves over to the large door in the wall and grabs the handles at its bottom, hauling it upwards and letting more sunlight in. It also opens up more space to work in, with one of them sticking outside and the other out on the concrete. He usually hates sweating in the heat, but doing some good old woodworking in the summer sun sounds like just the thing he needs.
Jack claps his hands together, “Alright! Ready to get started?”
“As I’ll ever be. I can take the patio first—I think I could use some good ol’ vitamin D.”
“Hm, alright, but if you start overheating you better say somethin’. You go dropping from heat exhaustion on my watch and Petra will throw a fit.”
Jesse smiles a little sheepishly at that but nods, “Deal. How do you wanna do this?”
“Well, as you saw we’ve got a few things to replace. Shouldn’t be rough work, just some cutting and sanding things down back into shape. I do wanna rebuild that one corner counter altogether… Got some rot working into it and it’ll be better to just bite the bullet now.” He mumbles as he rubs his mouth in thought.
“Sounds like a plan—not like I have anywhere else to be. I can handle cutting things down and sanding ‘em if you wanna deal with the varnish and putting ‘em together.”
“I like the sound of that. Deal.” He says with a smile and picks Archie up off his shoulder, bouncing him in the direction of a bird tree in the corner of the shop. The bird squawks and happily flies that way. He lands and immediately starts playing with some of his bells and bouncing his head at them. Jesse smiles at the sight and begins grabbing the tools he’ll need and hauling them out onto the patio. Jack does the same, only chiding him a little when he tries hauling something particularly heavy outside. He ends up moving the workbench for him altogether, which Jesse is quietly grateful for.
Jack leaves him a small list to get started with while he retreats back into the Emporium to grab more measurements. And just like that, off they go. Jesse shoves his bangs back and out of his face and gets to work sawing the first 2x4 of many. It takes some adjusting to the motions in a way that doesn’t hurt him too much, but he picks it up quickly.
Woodworking has always been a hobby of his, and getting to get back to it in a way that also helps a part of his community? Oh, that’s just too good to be true! It’s a pretty small help, granted, but it’s good work, and it’s for a friend on top of it all. He’s not as quick as he would like, but for once, it doesn’t actually bother him. There’s no deadline, he’s safe, and he has all the time in the world. It doesn’t take too long for Jack to return with a new list and a few slightly more complicated cuts he needs, which Jesse happily takes in stride. For a long time, they work in relaxed silence. The only sounds cutting through the air are the chugging of Jesse’s saw and sandpaper, Jack’s hammering, Archie’s playing, and the ambient buzz of the summer afternoon.
Jesse catches a rounded off shelf as he cuts it off its plank. It’s like a diamond in shape with the v-shape base, but a rounded top instead of the typically jagged lines. He holds it up in the light, scrutinizing the curve with a sharp eye. He hums in dismay and blows some loose dust and chips off. Needs some sanding down, but definitely could’ve been worse. Tossing it aside, he nabs his water bottle and takes a few swigs. Once setting it down, he blows out a sigh and shoves his bangs back for what feels like the dozenth time. They stick a little bit better this time though, no thanks to the sweat.
“How ya doin’ over there, Jesse?” Jack calls from where he’s sat on the ground and applying some varnish on one of the repaired shelves.
“Sweaty! How about you?”
“Fairing about the same.” He replies with a laugh and Jesse just smiles. There’s a beat of silence that Jesse figures will lull back into them both working quietly. He hopes it does, anyways.
He had a feeling he was inevitably due for some sort of conversation here. It’s no secret that Jack likes keeping himself preoccupied to work through his own difficulties, much like Jesse himself—if Petra passed that knowledge along, he wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. And as Jack sucks in a breath to speak again, Jesse steels himself.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, Jesse, but…” He pauses, voice softening a little, “How you holding up there…?”
Jesse sucks in a deep breath, but some part is relieved to be asked. If anyone will get it, then Jack will, “Admittedly, I’m… I wish I were doing better than I am.”
“... The nightmares and paranoia are the worst parts, aren’t they?” Jack asks and Jesse’s only somewhat surprised to see him hit the nail on the head right away. His startled reaction must be enough of an answer because Jack just gives him a tired but understanding smile, “I know you live a life that’s… Well, larger than life. But you never forget whenever you have those close brushes with death. Especially not one so…” He just grimaces with a shrug.
“I— I know. But it’s still just—... It’s annoying . I feel like I handled the aftermath of the Witherstorm better.” Jesse says with a sigh, setting his bottle down and grabbing the latest shelf piece and his sandpaper. Jack hums in thought, slowly nodding.
“Well, let’s think of it this way. When you went charging into that final fight with the Witherstorm, what all did you have with you? How prepared did you feel?”
Jesse pauses his sanding briefly to think, “Well… I had Ivor’s new armor… I had my command-enchanted axe, Reuben was with me, so was Axel, Olivia, Petra, and Lukas. They weren’t in the monster like I was, but I knew they were nearby. And I was pretty top of my game for what it was worth. Spent that time while travelling to the Far Lands training with Ivor so I felt a bit more confident than I was just running around out there getting the Order together. And I guess… I mean I went in knowing exactly what I had to do. It was pretty straightforward.”
“Right, so in the midst of your worst moment up there, you were strong, protected, supported, armed, and you had a way to kill it.”
“I… guess?” Jesse mumbles, unsure of where he was going with this and continuing his sanding of the shelf. He shakes his head, “That didn’t make it any easier though…”
“Course not. But, despite the fear of it all, I’ve got a feeling you were pretty confident you could pull it off. Somewhere down there, anyways. There’s a reason you continued that life afterwards—you knew you could handle the blows thrown at ya.”
“Where are you going with this, Jack?”
“Okay, okay, hold your horses. So, lemme ask a similar question now—when you had to run into the Deep Dark, what all did you have with you? How prepared did you feel?”
Jesse completely stops at that. What did he have with him? It felt like nothing, “I… I didn’t have much. We didn’t have much. I mean,” He lets out a bitter laugh, “What pathetic little armor I had was thrashed and thrown out after I got hit so all I had was Lukas’ jacket, we had someone hunting us that we weren’t certain was gone , I could barely walk nonetheless fight, and we were in unfamiliar territory up against an enemy that could smell us from a mile away probably with our communication limited.” He runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head, “And to top it all off, Lukas was tired and hurt himself…”
“How confident were you that you could get through?” Jack asks gently and for some reason the question sends a chill up his spine. Doesn’t take much to figure out why though. Jesse swallows, trying to fight just how dry his throat suddenly becomes. He drops his tools and goes for his water bottle, taking a few swigs as Jack waits patiently. Jesse paces a little nervously.
“... I wasn’t . I was clinging to Lukas’ words and assurances that we could get through, but I don’t think even he was that sure. I could barely even think straight half the time. I was so panicked.”
“Well, that sounds pretty different compared to the Witherstorm, dontcha think?” Jack says with a grunt as he reaches over for his own water, giving the varnish a chance to dry. Jesse slows his walking to think a little, tapping his bottle as he does. He gives a half-hearted shrug.
“I mean, yeah, but— but it’s not like the whole world was at stake. It wasn’t that big of a thing, you know?” He mumbles, for some reason feeling rather embarrassed, “I mean, I was scared but it— it shouldn’t be so…”
Jack blows out a sigh at that and shakes his head, “Jesse… You’re thinkin’ about this the wrong way.” He turns around from his spot on the floor to fully face him, “You’re not some advocate for the entire world. I know it damn well feels that way—especially what with Romeo and his Champion business. But, you’re still just you , Jesse. Don’t go forgetting that.”
“I’m not,” he argues, “but it just doesn’t feel—”
“It doesn’t matter if the entire world wasn’t at stake.” Jack interrupts. He sighs and pushes himself up off the ground, briefly dusting some woodchips off his pants. He walks over to Jesse and gives his shoulder a comforting squeeze and small shake, “ Your world was at stake, Jesse. That’d send any man’s mind into a frenzy… Give yourself some grace.” He says gently, offering up a small smile, “It wasn’t Jesse, slayer of the Witherstorm and Romeo down in those caves. It was just Jesse, smalltown country kid trying to figure out what happened to his pop. And it’s okay for that kid to be scared. ”
Jesse sucks in a deep breath, grip on his water bottle tightening just a little. He’s right. He knows he’s right. But how is he just supposed to step back and allow things to continue this way?
“I can’t, Jack.” He murmurs, chest tightening in shame as he says it. Jack’s eyes soften into something unreadable. Jesse just sucks in a breath and gently pulls away from him as he speaks, “I mean I feel like that kid again with how jumpy I am. I can’t stand being in the dark anymore, I’m starting to dislike the cold—and you know how much I hate the heat—and I can’t even so much as hear an enderman without—!” He hesitates, face flushing from embarrassment as he says it, “—without it sending me into a panic.” He shakes his head with a sigh, taking a sip of water, “I haven’t even touched my father’s journal since getting it back. I mean, you heard that tape. He was writing. I’m gonna have to read that! And then there’s that sound. It’s the same one I heard right before I got attacked. Just like him. Same fucking place. All the same.”
“It made that same noise?” Jack asks, brows furrowed in concern and a bit of fear flashing in his eyes. Jesse just nods as he drinks his water, quickly becoming upset to find he’s drained it all. He slams the cap shut and sighs.
“Yeah, it did. Looked like it was readying to do this,” He tosses the bottle up a little then clamps both hands around it in the deathgrip that crunches the plastic as he catches it. He huffs, releasing the grip and dropping his hands to his sides, “... But Lukas got a shot in on its back before it could grab me. It got angry then. I know we can’t quite understand them but— but I think it wanted to make sure it got me in some way. It just focused in on me instead of Lukas who shot it… I mean, shit, I’m glad it didn’t hurt him, but it’s just so…”
“I don’t mean to doubt you Jesse, but you really think it focused on you like that…? You’re right in thinking that’s weird.”
Jesse nods, clenching his jaw tight, “It did. It looked right at me. I could describe its whole face for you easily. It saw me and it got angrier.” He swallows, wiping his clammy hands off on his jeans and taking a moment to set his water bottle down. Examining his hands he lets out another frustrated sigh, “God look at me… My heart’s even starting to race just thinking about it. I can barely keep a grip on myself, I— I don’t know what reading that journal’s gonna do to me. I’m scared. I feel just—!” He clenches his fists, shaking his head, “I see everyone around me starting to get back into routine. Healing. Moving forward . A-And I just feel pathetic! I feel weak and like I’m just trapped back down in that cave still and it’s so frustrating! I know that I’m safe, and that I can handle these things normally, but my body won’t listen to me!” His voice cracks as he throws his arms out uselessly, eyes becoming glassy much to his own chagrin.
Jack hums, crossing his arms and nodding, “Okay, okay… I see…” Jack rubs his mouth in thought and Jesse, frustrated and with nothing left to do with his hands, moves back over to his station in the sun and gets back to sanding down that shelf. The sandpaper shakes in his hands so he just applies some more force in a vain attempt at stopping it. Jack ends up wandering over to his station and just quietly watches him work for a few minutes. Hell, he even pulls up a stool.
Jesse’s brows furrow and his focus remains solely on the rough texture of the wood and sandpaper in his hands. He strains his eyes and mind to pick apart the wood down to the grain and avoid the images flashing through his mind. It takes a few minutes and a lot of focus, but eventually his motions and breathing slow again. Once realizing it, all he can do is shake his head at himself with a scowl. He stops and drops the wood back down on the bench, flippantly tossing the sandpaper down too before dropping his head into his hands. He feels a calloused hand reach over and grip his shoulder with that same comforting squeeze as before. Jesse just sniffles and clasps his hands together tightly, back to shaking his head at himself and looking anywhere other than Jack.
“Say,” Jack starts and Jesse dares to glance at him out of the corner of his eye, “Can I tell you a story?”
Jesse’s face scrunches up in confusion, “A story…?”
“Yeah. It’s a good one.” Jack says with a confident nod.
“Sure, I guess…” Jesse mumbles. Jack grins and gets partially off his stool to snag another one fairly nearby. Its legs screech as the wood gets dragged across the pavement. Jack points to it and Jesse nods, albeit hesitantly. As he wanders around the table and sits down, he can’t help but feel self-aware. Jack either doesn’t notice or doesn’t react, simply propping his boots up on the lower rungs of his stool and straightening with that storytelling grin of his.
“Alright! Now, This one’s relatively recent. Happened about, hmmm,” He rubs his mouth, “nine months ago give or take.” He leans forwards, eyes sparkling and hands ready to gesture and practically paint the picture of the scene as he speaks, “I had this newbie on the scene come askin’ me for help alongside a friend. Big fan with ‘em, too. So, I was holdin’ myself to a damn high standard. I had a lot of honor and a whole reputation to uphold after all—you know how that is.”
Jesse nods slowly, feeling an odd sense of deja vu.
“So there we were—Me, Nurm, and these two newbies with me. Forty fathoms below the violent waves of the sea in an underwater temple like no other.” He says with a smirk and recognition sparks in Jesse’s mind, before he can say anything though Jack keeps talking, “But while this chillingly magnificent temple was a sight to behold for those newbies, it was a place I’d been once before. And a place that left me shaking in my boots whether I liked it or not.”
Jesse huffs in amusement, a sad smile pulling at his mouth, “Jack, you don’t gotta…”
“No no no! Listen!” He insists, reaching out to gently smack him in the arm. Jesse’s smile brightens a little at that as Jack pulls back, “Now I’m…” He hems and haws a moment, “Not as young as I used to be. Not exactly in my adventuring prime anymore. But these newbies I was helping? Oh man.” He blows out a sigh and waves a hand over the top of his head with a ‘ whoosh’ noise, making Jesse laugh in embarrassment, “These two were these hotshots! New kids on the block that everyone and their mothers were raving about! I couldn’t let them see me like that.” He flicks a hand and scrunches up his nose derisively. He leans forward with a sigh, resting his arms on his knees, “Unfortunately though, my damn brain n’ body had different ideas. Wouldn’t listen to me no matter what I did or what was on the line. Had to stop a few times just to get my breathing under control all while trying to keep it cool in front of these guys. They’d already run into so many old frauds, I didn’t wanna be another bad chip in the block and disappoint, yknow?”
Jesse just nods a little with a smile and Jack smiles back. He sits back on his haunches with a heavy sigh and slaps his knees in defeat.
“But, no matter how badly I wanted to keep pushing forward, I just kept slowing down and needing breathers. Probably looked like a zombie! And as I’m standing there trying to catch my breath, one of the newbies hangs back with me. And I’m standing there barely able to breathe and thinkin’, ‘ Aw hell, he’s probably boutta chew me out for bein’ more jumpy than a Creeper with a Cat.’ But… I was surprised. Real pleasantly surprised. Because despite the accolades, the fame, and not to mention his own problems, that man spoke to me with nothing but understanding and grace.” Jack leans into each word, enunciating carefully and shaking a finger as he makes sure to meet Jesse in the eyes. Jesse swallows down the lump in his throat and just nods as Jack continues, “He knew, after all, that that place made a lotta trauma resurface for me. He knew I was just scared. And he knew that, when working with someone in such a… delicate state, that harsh words and slaps on the wrist would do nothing more than hurt me. Hell, it coulda even broke what spirit I was clinging to in order to push through that place and keep adventurin’.”
“It would’ve been humiliating…” Jesse mutters with a nod and Jack returns the gesture.
“That’s right. And that’s just the tip of it.” The man grins a cheeky grin and sharply leans forward again, “ Now. If that man were here right now—”
“ Jack—” Jesse chuckles and Jack sputters some less than elegant sounds out to stop him from speaking, making Jesse laugh a little more. Jack points at the ground between them enthusiastically.
“ —If he were here right now! And he saw the way you’re struggling, what do you think he would say?”
Jesse blows out a heavy sigh but smiles all the way. He kicks his feet a little as they dangle off the stool and picks at his nails, mumbling out the answer, “... He’d say the same things he said to you.”
“That’s right. And would he be angry or frustrated?”
Jesse shakes his head, unable to believe he’s ended up having a talk like this , “No.”
“And why not?”
“Because it’s not my fault.” He says with a huff, feeling like a kid getting chided despite his grown age. He keeps the smile up though. He can’t help it, not after something so cheesy. And as Jack reaches out and gives his shoulder just one more squeeze, he feels warmth bloom in his chest.
“ Damn right it’s not, Jesse.” Jack says with a stern look. It’s comforting. There’s no way he can argue with that look and that grip—Jack won’t let him. Finally Jack eases up, but not without clamping his other hand down on his other shoulder, “Okay… I’m glad we understand each other. Don’t forget that you’ve got more than enough people ready to help. We’ll get you through this. It’ll take time, but if anyone can pull it off, I know you can because you are fuckin’ spectacular, y’hear?”
“I do.” Jesse says with a smile and reaches up to rest his hands atop Jack’s. He gives them his own reassuring squeeze, “Thanks Jack. For helping me get my head on straight…”
Jack’s eyes twinkle with something akin to pride as he smiles, “I should be thankin’ you. But I guess I’ll accept it. Anytime, Jesse. Thanks for doin’ me the honor of listening to me blabber, I’m glad it helped.”
“A little cheesy, but I think I needed that.” Jesse beams with a laugh and Jack chuckles with him. There’s a beat of silence as both of their laughter tapers off where neither quite removes their hands yet. Jesse feels a little self-conscious, not quite sure if simply thanking him is enough. Jack’s the best person he could think of talking about these things with, and it’s hard to express just how much he appreciates knowing that he understands. That he sees him.
He decides he can do better. Lifting Jack’s hands off of his shoulders just slightly, Jesse slips off of his stool and into the man’s space, hooking him into the best hug he can muster. Jack grunts in surprise at the sudden change. He pauses a moment with his hands hovering unsurely before just chuckling and squeezing him right back in a bear hug. Hell, he even gets a solid pat on the back.
Jack’s good at hugs. That’s another thing they’ve got in common.
Chapter 35: Take 2
Summary:
Jesse seeks Petra for help with a small project and ends up encountering Alex for a second time, for better or for worse.
Notes:
HIIII MADE IT OUT OF THE TEN DARKEST WEEKS OF THE YEAR AND IMMEDIATELY WENT INSANE. THIS HAS BEEN STEWING IN MY BRAIN FOR SO LONG MY B BUT WE GOT IT 💪💪💪
Hope everyone's holidays were great and that February treats us all well!!! 🙏I'm very happy with this chapter and I think it's one of my favorites for a few reasons--another 12k here for yall so I hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The smell and strong taste of lavender is refreshing beyond belief as Jesse takes a sip of the lemonade in hand. He smacks his lips and whistles with a grin before raising the glass in cheers, garnering a snort from Olivia. She rolls her eyes as he sets it back down on the coffee table between them, Axel eyeing it curiously now as he scratches Dewey’s neck from his seat on the ground.
“What? It’s good?” Axel mumbles.
“Duh!” Jesse chuckles, “Then again, I’m pretty biased—love lavender. Though you should know by now that Olivia makes the best lemonade!” He teases, reaching down to lightly shove his arm.
“Oh cut the flattery,” Olivia starts with a huff, “I made that batch in such a frenzy!” She says with a dismissive wave of her hand. Jesse leans forward in his seat on the couch, eyebrows shooting up.
“What?! Oh c’mon! It’s great!”
“Jesse, you just said how biased you were. I appreciate it, but I totally overloaded on the sugar.” She says with a sigh as she shifts in the chair so she’s sitting sideways, her legs dangling off of the arm. Jesse just pouts while Axel’s eyes light up. A warm chuckle bubbles up from his chest.
“Ohohoho, now I’ve got to try it!” He grins as he reaches up towards Jesse’s glass, waggling his fingers as he goes. Jesse smacks his hand away with a pointed glare and Axel jumps, “OW! Dude?!”
“This is mine! Get your own glass!” He says with a huff as he picks it back up for another sip. Axel pouts up at him and Jesse just matches the look, albeit a bit more dramatically. Olivia lets out a small laugh at the sight. The atmosphere is light as they loiter in Lukas’ living room for what feels like the billionth time. It’s early afternoon and they’ve both managed to stick around since the morning—though Olivia was probably the only person truly awake before 10 am rolled around.
Jesse’s been feeling a little bit better though. Still jumpy, still tense, but his talk with Jack has stuck with him. He’s been feeling more relaxed and has been working on shifting how he works with himself a little—gotta be more patient. More forgiving. He’s got a ways to go yet, but this would probably be a good course for him. Hell, maybe he’ll come out of it all just a smidge less impulsive in the end. That’s still up for debate though, knowing him. For now though, the lemonade’s nice and his head is just a smidge clearer.
That said, the nightmares haven’t let up. He’s no stranger to waking up with a parched throat and sweat gluing him to his sheets, but it’s damn exhausting. Though, for better or for worse, his memories are slowly beginning to trickle back. He can’t remember a lot yet unfortunately, but some fresh flashes of their pursuer in his mind have come back. He takes another sip of the icy drink and sighs as he sets the glass back down on its coaster. Olivia hums a little in dismay.
“Getting any more sleep yet…?”
Jesse smiles nervously, “I don’t got the bags under my eyes still, do I?”
Axel hems and haws a little, leaning forward to inspect him. He sucks in a breath through his teeth and shrugs, “Well, you’ve definitely looked better if that’s what you’re asking.”
Jesse huffs out a laugh and nods, “Right, riiight… Duly noted.”
“Taking that as a ‘No’ then.” Olivia sighs and Jesse just gives a meek shrug.
“Wish I could say yes. I seem to adjust to one thing then more memories just clear up and keep adding fuel to the fire. I know it’s only been about a week but just—… Damn, y’know?”
She perks up a little at that, “You’re remembering more?”
Jesse shrugs, “I mean, technically, but not a whole lot. Just some bits of when we chased after whoever was tryna kill us. Even then though, it was so dark down there it’s not like I could name a face or anything even if I wanted.”
“This sucks.” Axel grumbles and Jesse and Olivia chuckle in unison, nodding in agreement. Jesse grunts as he leans back against the couch, kicking his feet up onto the table. He shuts his eyes briefly and lets out another sigh, but just shakes his head. He couldn’t make anything out of the flashes even if he tried.
“I remembered more about the bells mainly… How they were dropped on us…” He mumbles as he stares at the ceiling, “They were huge and just toppled down like nothing. Just a little flash of red in the darkness then we had to run.”
Axel’s nose scrunches up, “Flash of red?”
Jesse shifts a little and picks his head up so he could nod at him, “Yeah. It’s a blur still but I remember that little bit at least.”
Axel sits back and hums in thought as he pets Dewey, sharing a brief look with Olivia as Jesse relaxes again. Dewey lets out a little ‘mrrp’ as Axel shifts again, sitting up again and leaning forward.
“That sounds like they were up there straight up cutting through the chains to drop those then. Instead of like, releasing their tethers, y’know?” He mumbles and glances between the two. Olivia nods in agreement while Jesse slowly nods, not sure if that really adds anything of worth. Axel continues, “But those bells were like— Massive. So they would’ve been held up by some pretty tough chains—especially since they were still hanging by the time we all came around. Iron or steel at the minimum.”
“And they would’ve been tall,” Olivia adds, “So the weapon needed to not only be strong and sharp, but long. Unless the pursuer themself was tall enough to have reached that chain on their own.”
Jesse hums, brows furrowed as he shakes his head, “No… No they didn’t seem that tall. Not freakishly so anyways. I don’t think it was the enderman up there—I wouldn’t’ve been looking that direction otherwise. But if we’re talking just weapons then I suppose that makes sense. Not sure what to do with that though… Don’t have anything more specific.”
The other two deflate and it leaves Jesse feeling a little guilty, not to mention self-conscious. He huffs and begins drumming his fingers on his arm. He reviews what he can in his mind, trying to skim the grodier parts. He perks up after a moment.
“I did mention something else to Gabriel though. I don’t wanna jump to conclusions yet, but that zombie we saw down there had her neck sliced by a blade with a steady bevel. Cut really easily too—Gabe said probably diamond.”
“Well a diamond weapon would certainly cut through those chains easily.” Olivia adds and Jesse nods in agreement, “That’s at least something, right? A long, diamond, weapon.”
“If they’re the same. There’s still the fact that it could’ve been a group effort that took my dad out.” Jesse bounces back, rubbing his forehead a little. Olivia plucks at her lip, deep in thought. Axel snaps his fingers a few times, grabbing their attention.
“You guys were chasing them—if they had a large weapon on them then it’d be pretty easy to see right? Strapped on their back or hip? Especially with a diamond blade. Remember any flashing?”
Jesse frowns at that. He doesn’t. Hell, he doesn’t think Lukas mentioned anything like that either. Only the dynamite. He shakes his head, “Doesn’t sound familiar, but I’ll ask Lukas when he gets home. Not like we’re pressed for time. It’s possible they had it stowed away somewhere in that church maybe? There was some weird stuff going on there earlier which is how we got into that first little scuffle with the endermen.” He mumbles, vaguely gesturing to the scabbed scratches over his brow and on his cheek.
“Cheers, I’ll drink to that.” Axel says and quickly steals Jesse’s lemonade and begins to chug it. Olivia laughs as Jesse just stares at him in a mix of disbelief and defeat. Axel finishes it off with a satisfied grin, clapping it back down onto the table.
“Proud of yourself?” Jesse hums.
“Very!” He smirks then shoots Olivia a thumbs up, “Tasted great by the way! Perfect amount of sugar in my humble opinion.”
She shakes her head with a smile and stands, stretching her arms high above her head, “Well then, I guess I better grab some more.”
Axel lifts Dewey into his arms and then stands with her, “Better make mine to-go. Hate to split on you guys, but you know how it is.” He says with a sigh as he sets the cat down into Jesse’s lap. Jesse blinks and his eyes dart over to the clock and quickly widen.
“Oh crap! Yeah, you gotta be on the other side of town by 2 right? That’s only fifteen minutes!”
“What?!” Olivia yelps from the kitchen area, nearly spilling the drinks she’s pouring. She scrambles over and practically slams into the back of the couch to look up at the clock. She slams a fist into the cushion, “Shit! I’m so sorry Jesse I meant to be out of here by one! Ugh, my class is gonna totally rub this in my face!”
“Hey, hey, relax! It’s all good, just go take care of what you gotta!” He says with a smile, squeezing her arm reassuringly. She offers him a tired smile and races back to the kitchen. She swings in and out, shoving a lidded cup into Axel’s hands and setting down one on the table again for Jesse. He shakes his head, “ ‘Liv, c’mon, you didn’t have t—”
“Not hearing it!” She spits out quickly then reaches down and hugs him tightly from the side. He laughs and squeezes her back with one arm. She releases him in a flash and gives him a solid clap on the arm before darting to her bag and the door, “See you guys later!”
They trade brief waves and, just like that, she’s racing out the door and down the street. Axel laughs a little as they watch her go and just shakes his head. He walks over and nudges Jesse in the arm.
“We’ll be back later probably. Or somethin’. Regardless, we're not out of your hair yet.”
“Thanks Axel.” Jesse says with a smile. He returns it, shaking his glass a little.
“Not a problem. And tell that dork of yours that we’re borrowing his cups for a bit.”
Jesse’s cheeks flush a little as he scoffs but he nods with a grin, “Alright. Better actually return it though. He really likes that cup.”
“Oh he does?” Axel’s eyes light up and he raises it to examine it. Jesse rests his head on his hand, shooting him a teasing look.
“Axel.”
“Relax! I’ll give it back!” He laughs and starts sauntering towards the door. He shrugs a little as he reaches it, “How soon that is depends on how much he annoys me though. See ya Jesse!” He quickly spits out then pushes out of the door. Jesse laughs and rolls his eyes, just shaking his head as the door shuts behind him. On his lap, Dewey stirs and rolls onto his back, paws up. Jesse smiles, gently messing with his mouth and paws a little before settling back into petting.
“What am I gonna do with him, Dew? Huh?”
Dewey just purrs and stretches his paws high, grazing Jesse’s nose as he leans over him. It gets a giggle out of him. The quiet, save for Dewey’s purring, is a stark contrast to how the rest of the morning has been. As Jesse focuses his attention on Dewey, he can’t help the bit of tension that returns to him. The daylight thankfully keeps his mind from wandering too far, but sitting alone in the quiet makes him antsy regardless of how logical it is.
As he settles back into the couch cushions, he sighs. His eyes dance all around the room with his lips pursed tightly in thought—there’s gotta be something he can occupy himself with. Something that won’t leave him even more sore and achy, anyways. He’s got no clue on when Lukas will be back from his shopping and sitting around and just waiting is asking for trouble. So, with a grunt and shifting Dewey into his arms, he gets to his feet.
The cat freezes, confused by the sudden change. Jesse laughs a little at the way his pupils shrink and he looks around, ears flicking forward and back. Eventually though, the cat makes up his mind and claws up at his shoulder. Jesse bites down at the feeling of those claws.
“Ack! Dewey! Hey—! Are you serious?!” He sputters out as the cat squirms and pulls himself up to perch on his shoulders. He stumbles a little at the sudden top-heaviness Dewey adds but catches himself on the back of one of the chairs. Dewey, finally satisfied with his seat, gently headbutts him before trying to lick some of his hair. Jesse snorts at the cat’s struggle with his long hair and reaches up to pet him.
“Yeah, not as easy to work with as your fur, buddy…”
With that settled, Jesse rests his hands on his hips and thinks. An idea quickly springs into his mind and he makes his way back to the guest room he’s been bunking in. Walking in, he frowns a little at the messy bed but ignores it for the moment—that’ll be a problem for future-him. One thing at a time. Checking the desk sat by the windows, he’s relieved to see his axe still sitting there just collecting dust. He nabs it and slings it into his belt loop then heads over to the trunk he’s been using.
He kneels down before it and rolls his shoulders a little as Dewey decides to switch sides and lean forward to check out what he’s doing. It opens with a squeak and Jesse quietly notes that as another little problem he can fix in his free-time. Inside he begins shuffling around the stacks of old books and trinkets. They’d been storing his father’s Doc Kelley books in here for the meantime as well as some other trinkets. Then on top of that, some of the items from the Stronghold were tucked away in here, alongside Jesse’s satchel.
Speaking of those, Jesse lets out a small ‘Aha!’ as he nabs the old shimmering book that somehow got knocked to the bottom. He leans over the trunk a little more and grunts as he pries it loose from beneath some others, then blows out a breath as it’s freed. Settling back on his knees he brings the book closer to study. It glows a soft pink—the telltale sign of an enchantment. In old script the word ‘Channeling’ glints in the light, silver in color. Jesse smiles and rises to his feet once more, though not without nabbing his satchel as he goes. He gives the trunk a good kick in the side and it shuts on its own with a slam. Dewey jumps at the sound and launches off his shoulder and onto the ground. Jesse grimaces and stumbles a little at the sudden force, but then just chuckles as Dewey arches his back a little at the trunk.
In the midst of catching his balance again though, something small clatters to the ground. Small enough he barely hears the little tap as it hits the ground, but Dewey perks up. He immediately snaps towards the noise with his eyes dilated and ears forward. Jesse frowns a little in confusion at that and quickly sets his stuff down on the desk as Dewey runs over to sniff what fell.
“Hey, hey, don’t eat that buddy. Lemme see it.” Jesse mumbles, gently pushing his head away to pluck the little thing up. It’s small and thin and at first he thinks it’s a woodchip against the dark oak floorboards. But then it’s cold to the touch—metal.
“The hell…?” He mutters under his breath, brows furrowing in confusion as he stands again. He swings around and holds it up to the light coming in through the window. Despite his confusion, it’s exactly what he suspects it is. The memories come back to him in a flash.
He stops himself from kneeling down as he realizes that it’s glass that’s scattered about. Something shattered. Something small. He frowns and picks up a small piece and studies it. It’s thick and curves dramatically near the edge. He sets it down and looks among the pieces for anything that might tell him what dropped.
Bingo. He spots a small black shard, but pulling it closer, he realizes it’s a clock hand. One of the clock-hands to his father’s pocket watch.
He hasn’t seen this thing in years. In the chaos of it all, he’d tucked it away somewhere. With it being so small he naturally figured he’d gone and lost it eons ago. Briefly, he glances back at the trunk as he turns it over and over again in his hand. It must’ve been slipped into one of his father’s old books and finally got knocked out with all the shuffling he’s been doing lately. And yet, something odd nags at him from the back of his mind as he stares down at the little piece.
There’s a gentle knock from behind him and Jesse jumps a little as he swings around with wide eyes. In the doorway he meets the sympathetic eyes of Lukas who just gives him a little smile.
“Ah—! Lukas—!” He starts, somewhat taken aback. He didn’t even hear the man come in.
“Sorry for scaring you.” He says a little sheepishly as he meanders into the room. Jesse quickly shakes his head.
“No, it’s no biggie. I’m just—” He lets out a pathetic huff and nervous smile, shrugging, “Stuck in my head, I guess! But what else is new?”
Lukas hums a little in dismay and gently reaches out to rub Jesse’s arms reassuringly. His touch is warm as always and Jesse can feel the little bit of stress melt away with that alone. Finally he drags his hands up to cup Jesse’s face, thumbs grazing over his cheeks lovingly. It makes him smile and he more than happily leans into the touch as Lukas finally presses their foreheads together. They stay that way for a quiet minute, and it’s utterly serene. Eventually though Lukas breaks the silence, voice gentle.
“You looked a little confused… Memories giving you trouble?” He asks tentatively. Jesse slowly sucks in a large breath and lets out an equally heavy sigh, brows furrowing once more.
“Sorta? But not the ones you’re thinking of.” He replies and Lukas’ face contorts in confusion now. Jesse pulls himself out of the little embrace and takes hold of one of Lukas’ hands. He drops the little clock-hand into it. Lukas glances between him and his hand curiously as he slowly brings it up to study it.
“What’s this…?”
“A clock-hand. Used to be part of my dad’s old watch.”
“Oh!” Lukas’ eyes light up in recognition, “The one you said you found in the cave as a kid, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Interesting…” Lukas mumbles as he shifts to hold it up in the light much like Jesse did. His other arm snakes up around Jesse’s shoulders and they both relax a little more as Lukas takes his time studying it. Eventually he nods a little and pulls it back down, “Okay… So, what about this little thing is making you pop a vessel? Sounds to me like you know what you’re talking about.”
Jesse sucks in another breath as he gently takes it back from him. He shakes his head a little as he goes over the shape over and over again. It’s almost gothic in style with a round base that narrows into a barbed yet elegant arrow at the top. It’s not easily mistakable.
“That’s the thing… I honestly thought I lost this years ago in the midst of all the moves considering just how small it is. Could never remember where I stuffed it but it turns out it was tucked away in one of those Doc Kelley books. Haven’t seen it in years until today when it got caught on my satchel or something and dropped out.”
“Okay…” Lukas drawls, confusion evident in his voice on where this is going. Jesse smiles nervously, not sure he believes what he’s about to say himself.
“I feel like, despite that, that I’ve seen this recently. I-I don’t know how and I can’t for the life of me place where but… I swear I’ve seen it around.”
“Maybe you passed over it while unloading those books?” Lukas asks with a frown. Jesse shakes his head at that.
“No. If I’d run into this I would’ve put it somewhere special and far safer. It’s too important to me not to.” He scowls and sets it down on his desk, “It’s fresh in my mind from running into it, but I can’t for the life of me place the how, why, or where. I-It’s a different feeling from remembering, but at the same time I just—” He stops short, pressing his lips together tightly, “I’m starting to wonder if it really is just my head still being scrambled from everything in the Stronghold… I mean, it doesn’t make much sense, does it?” He huffs out a curt little laugh and shakes his head, “Maybe I’m— Maybe I’m just mixing things up.”
Lukas squeezes his shoulders comfortingly and Jesse twists around to hug him from the side, resting his head completely on his shoulder. From there Lukas rubs his arm comfortingly.
“I trust your gut, Jesse.”
“Heh, glad one of us does.” He says with a small smile and Lukas chuckles, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. He gets butterflies in his stomach from the little gesture—he just can’t help how giddy it makes him. His smile must brighten if the way Lukas’ does in turn means anything. He pulls away at that point though and retrieves his satchel and the book from his desk again. Glancing back, Lukas’s brows furrow a little in concern as he now notices the axe hanging from his waist.
“Where are you heading off to?” He asks apprehensively. Jesse’s eyes widen at how he must look and quickly holds the Channeling book up for him to see, tapping his nail on the cover for extra emphasis.
“I was gonna go for a walk and see if I could get Petra’s help with applying this! Don’t worry, I have no intentions of getting swept up in anything else.” He grimaces a little, “My side hurts just thinking about that.”
Lukas’ gaze softens in relief at that and he chuckles, “Ah, alright, alright. Sorry, I don’t want to sound like I’m nagging you or something. I just— You know I—”
“—hate worrying about me.” Jesse slyly finishes for him. Lukas cocks a brow at that and Jesse laughs, “I promise I won’t be causing any trouble this time around though. I just need some fresh air and to stretch my legs.”
“Alright, just don’t overdo it, okay? Rest if you need to.”
“I’ll be back before dark.” He says with a smile and Lukas returns it with a nod. Then he perks up.
“Oh! Hey, here’s an idea—” He starts and unhooks his axe for him then holds it up. Jesse eyes him curiously as Lukas tucks it blade-first into the satchel. He then takes the book from him and stuffs it in another pocket away from the blade. The hilt sticks out of course, but you’d have to look closely to tell what it is with the flap shut. Once satisfied he nods up to him, “There. If people don’t see it hanging from your hip, they’ll be less inclined to bother you.”
“Oh! Right, good thinking! Thanks Lukas! I’ll see you later.” He hums and quickly reaches up to peck him on the cheek. As he passes him to head out of the room, his hand slides down the man’s arm and catches his hand. They both smile and chuckle a little as they briefly intertwine their fingers, giving each other one more squeeze before letting go. With that, Jesse’s off.
~~~~~
Finding Petra ends up being much more of a hike than Jesse anticipates. He ends up managing to see a whole plethora of people that day. The first place he checks is the Emporium and he’s honestly surprised not to find her there. Jack and Nurm as well as a few of their customers are always happy to see him though, and from there they point him in the direction of the Order Hall. So he heads there next.
It’s also a dud. Radar is both happy and surprised to see him. He gets an earful from the young man about trying to work again so soon, which is endearing! Though poor Radar ends up feeling a little embarrassed to find out that’s not why he’s there. But, again, he’s missed Petra by just minutes. Radar directs him towards an inn in the east district—seems she was making the rounds with her sister and Bruce throughout the day, hopefully he catches her during some downtime. He thanks Radar, makes sure to tell him he’s doing great, and then heads off once again.
The final trek once getting to the inn is that goddamn stairwell. He gets the absolute delight of making the trek up four flights of stairs to the floor she’s booked in while back in town. Jack was giving him an earful the other day about how frustrated he was to not have his spare room open—too much stuff piled up in it. As he stares up at the daunting flights of stairs, he makes a note to himself to help Jack with that the moment he’s feeling better. He’s come this far though, so he grits his teeth and makes his way up. He’s practically out of breath as he trudges up to her door, rapping on it with his knuckles.
“Hold on! Hold on, hold on—!” He hears her yell from behind the door and smiles a little. That’s followed by the sound of something getting knocked over and her cursing, but she makes it to the door seconds later and flings it open. Her eyes widen at the sight of him and she brightens into a grin.
“Woah-hoh! Hey Jesse! Surprised to see you up here.” She says, brows furrowing just a moment as she glances over him. He smiles with a bit of a shrug.
“Gotta get movin’ sooner or later.”
“Sure, sure. Here, c’mon in! Sit down or somethin’, you look like hell.”
“Haha.” He eyes her as he passes by and she shuts the door behind him, “I actually came for a favor. I was hoping that you could help me put on an enchant—” His eyes lift to the room and he stops dead in his tracks as he spies Bruce and Alex hanging out as well, “—ment…” He stands there rather blankly for a moment as the two offer him some waves in greeting. Damn, guess he didn’t catch her on a break after all. He awkwardly clears his throat and steps back, “Uh, sorry, I didn’t know you guys were still busy. I can come back—”
“No, no, no!” Petra quickly waves that off, “Seriously, it’s all good. I mean, you already made that walk up here anyways. I don’t wanna send you right back down.” She says with an awkward laugh. He hesitates still until Bruce pipes up.
“By all means, kid! Take a load off! Only thing you’re interrupting is me tellin’ Petra here about how much she reminds me of her sister!” He says with a grin and Alex rolls her eyes from her seat. She meets Jesse in the eyes and leans forward.
“Please interrupt him—he’s storytelling.” She says, side eyeing the man.
“Aw c’mon, don’t be like that!” Bruce responds with a pout. Alex just smiles. Petra chuckles a little then sidles up to Jesse and nudges him.
“Whatcha need help with, Jess?”
Jesse stutters, almost blanking on it all before tugging his satchel around. Petra watches curiously as he flips it open and takes both his axe and then the enchanted book out. He presses his lips into a line then awkwardly holds it up for her. She takes it and hums curiously as she runs her fingers over the cover.
“Lukas found this down in that Stronghold. I figure that since I used a trident for my axe’s base I might be able to enchant it. I mean, the Loyalty one certainly works, so why not this too?”
“Ohhh!” She lights up, nodding quickly. She pauses then and eyes him in a bit of confusion, “Okaaaayyyy… So, what part of that do you need me for?”
“The uh— The actual enchantment. With the anvil.” Jesse sputters somewhat bashfully. He rubs his neck a little as he gives a half-hearted shrug, “I dunno if I even could with my side still so…” He awkwardly trails off and Petra’s eyes widen a little as she nods, “‘Sides, you’ve always been way better at it than me.” He adds with a little chuckle and she smiles with him.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Now hurry up and go sit down! Killin’ me here watching you hobble around. I’ve got this covered.” She says with a confident smirk and Jesse passes her his axe, too. He lets out a sigh of relief.
“Thanks Petra, you’re amazing.”
From the other side of the room, Alex hums a little, “Careful with all that flattery, Jesse! Her ego’s already inflated enough.” She teases and Petra shoots her a pouty look.
“Oi! Relax!”
Jesse chuckles a little as he finds a spare chair to sink into—and sink he does. He utterly relaxes into the cushions with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. Petra gives him a hearty pat on the shoulder and he grins. Bruce lets out a chuckle.
“Geez, kid. You’re lookin’ like you just ran a marathon—haven’t fallen out of shape that fast, have ya?”
Jesse shifts into a far more proper position and smiles sheepishly, “Yeah, well, a marathon’s a good way to put it I guess. Still got a ways to go with my side so a lot of stuff is leaving me down for the count.”
Bruce frowns at that, “I thought you were going to Ivor’s to get patched up?”
“Couldn’t.” Jesse says with a sigh and simple shrug, “So we’re doing this the old fashioned way. Don’t have to worry about infections or the fever anymore at least, but they’re gonna take a while to heal up.”
“No kiddin’... Shit.”
“Right?” Jesse weakly chuckles. Just his luck these days.
“It’s good to see you’re resting then.” Alex adds with a firm nod. Jesse finally turns her way and gets to actually take her in now. Sure, they were introduced the day they got into town, but with so much going on, it was rather frantic. He swallows down some nerves that well-up inside of him and returns her nod. He can’t jump to conclusions—after all, his mind was so riddled with paranoia when they ran into her first. Sure, it still is but he’s got a few more wits about him. As he returns her nod, he hopes that he’ll leave here with a different impression than what he’s coming in with.
She’s much more cleaned up now. Her eyes are a vibrant green, her skin is rather pale—though clearly sunburnt in some spots—and she has even more freckles than he thought now that the dirt’s all gone. Though, knowing Petra, he probably should’ve expected as much. Her weapons, cloak, gloves, and different packs have all been laid down beside her chair and she seems quite relaxed. There’s a calm air about her that’s striking and Jesse knows just from looking at her that she’s seen a lot.
He shifts in his chair somewhat uncomfortably, eyes flicking up and down from her, “Hey um… Miss Alex, would it be alright if we uhh—”
“—Start over?” She finishes his sentence with a sympathetic shine in her eyes. He nods, eyes heavy and serious and she smiles, “I’m more than happy to oblige. And don’t you worry about formalities, I’m certainly no ‘Miss’.” She says with a laugh and Jesse smiles.
“Thank you. If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me a bit about yourself? I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about my end from these two blabbermouths.” He chuckles as he points between Petra and Bruce, earning some exaggerated looks of offense.
Alex laughs at that, “Yeah, that I have.” She bites her lip and rubs his hands together in thought, “Let’s see… Well, obviously I grew up around the knuckleheads that make up your father and your uncles! Loved every second of it too—something about adventuring was just in my blood. In all of our blood.” She says with a smile as she glances over at Bruce who nods in agreement.
“I still blame your father for that one Jesse. Even as a child he knew how to get us riled up and excited for the world and all it had to offer.”
“Oh he was a total tease about it, too!” Alex adds in lighthearted frustration. Jesse laughs a little at that—his father, from what he remembers, was a spectacular storyteller. Her smile widens as she thinks back, “Him and Hiro were adamant about not allowing us to go with them on any of their larger adventures until we were about 20—wanted us to be fully prepared. The worry-warts.” She scoffs and Bruce smiles bittersweetly. She continues, “So, most of my training came from them. But, well, you know how life is. By the time that we hit that age, you came around, Jesse.”
Jesse sits back a little as he nods in understanding. It’s a little more detailed than what he got out of Bruce and his uncle when they attempted to talk about it on the way to the Stronghold, and it makes a little more sense in his mind now.
“I can see how that’d be disappointing…” He starts and both look at him in pleasant surprise. He shrugs, “I mean, I certainly know just how well my father could hype something up. So to grow up with all these grandiose ideas of adventures that were just waiting there for you only for them to just get cancelled...” He shakes his head, a little embarrassed on behalf of his father, “I-I can’t imagine. That was your whole life at that point. I’m so sorry.”
Alex’s brows furrow and she fervently shakes her head, “Jesse you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Do I wish I got to go on a few big treks with your dad and uncle? Of course. Did it sting? Absolutely. Bruce and I were young, ambitious, and it was crushing at the time. But I’m not gonna sit here resenting him for wanting to be a good father.”
Bruce crosses his arms, nodding along, “... She’s right. I’ll admit, I handled it less gracefully than she did, but she’s right.”
Alex smiles fondly and rests her chin on her hand, “I dunno, I think if the shoe was on the other foot then Steve would’ve responded similarly. Loved the man but damn if he wasn’t bullheaded…” She perks up and gets a mischievous glint in her eye, “You know what? I think I’m fine not going on any treks with them! I dealt with you for years and you might as well be Steven’s ‘mini-me’!”
Bruce laughs rather bashfully, “Nah, c’mon, you don’t gotta try makin’ me feel better… I was a little punk.”
Petra butts in with a smirk, “Hey, every squad needs one. Balances the scales, or something.”
“Are you owning up to that title, Pet?” Jesse asks with a smug grin. She stutters and shoots him a glare.
“No, thank-you-very-much.” She responds, pointedly leaning into him before rubbing her cheek in thought, “Nah honestly my first thought was Aiden. Y’know, back in the whole Ocelot set-up?” She grins and Jesse lets out a hearty laugh at that, getting curious looks from both Alex and Bruce.
“Oh, I’ll make sure to tell him that the next time I see him.” Jesse snarks and Petra opens her mouth to argue when Alex cuts her off.
“Isn’t Aiden the one you said threw Jesse and Lukas off a cliff…?” She asks with an apprehensive chuckle. Bruce’s brows shoot up at that then he hums in thought, eyeing Petra curiously.
“Starting to feel a little less complimented over here, Petra.”
“No! That’s not—!” She sputters then shoots glares at both Jesse and Alex who just laugh. This is nice. This is really nice. Jesse relaxes in his chair again as he nods back to Alex.
“Okay, I know you guys worked together for a while, so where’d you go from there?”
“Well, as you said Bruce and I were a duo for a few years as he kickstarted his whole business. I was happy travelling as I wasn’t that close to Petra and I’s family. Our parents were…” She pauses, looking for the right words, “Very preoccupied with keeping up appearances. I never fit into their little box, so you know how it goes. Petra was treated well though, so I tried not to blow the whole top off and just stuck to my own thing.” She grimaces a little, “But, things changed. I’ll spare the sob story and cut to the chase. I split off from our partnership to take care of her and that’s about the time I got back into contact with your father. Life ebbed and flowed from there and for the most part I’ve just been travelling on my own since!” She says with a smile, though there’s obviously some strain in it.
Jesse nods slowly as another question pops into his mind, “Bruce said you hadn’t seen each other in years. Did you not go back?”
Alex cringes, guilt seeping into her eyes as she interlocks her fingers, “Yeah… I-I meant to write! Really, I did! But… It was such a rush to get out and help Petra that by the time I was settled and we were safe I realized that, uh… I didn’t have any of our addresses memorized!” She shrugs meekly, cheeks reddening in embarrassment before nodding towards Bruce, “He always handled the nitty-gritty business side of things so I never really had to. I was more of the brawn and field-work type than bookkeeping. And with everything already being so chaotic, I didn’t wanna haul Petra all over the place. So, I made peace with it and figured that, given how both of us live already, we’d run into each other again eventually!” She leans forward, “And then I’d owe him one hell of a favor—Or a drink at least! And lo and behold!” She shoots her hands out, presenting Bruce with what are practically jazz-hands, “Ta-da!~”
Bruce snorts a little at that and waves her off, “You don’t gotta do the theatrics.”
“Aw, I thought you liked them!” She pouts and he scoffs with a smile. Jesse just shakes his head.
“Man… That’s quite a life. Glad to see you guys are still friends though, despite all the ups and downs.”
Bruce settles back into the couch, hands locked behind his head, “No hard feelings here. I’ve mellowed out in my old age!”
Petra scoffs and cocks a brow, “Old?”
“Rude! We are not old!” Alex chides, reaching over to smack the man in the ribs. He flinches and glares at her.
“Oh go and tell that to my damn knees! Might as well’ve replaced ‘em with party poppers!” He huffs and gets a few laughs out of Petra and Jesse while Alex just rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She points at him animatedly.
“See what I had to put up with?”
“Nah nah, I’m with Petra and Alex on this one,” Jesse starts and shakes a finger knowingly, “Ivor is old.”
“Exactly.” Petra tacks on with a smug smirk and her hands on her hips. Bruce balks and sits forward again in disbelief.
“HE’S the standard?” He slaps his knees, “Damn! So much for taking advantage of those senior discounts. The man’s still bouncing off the walls. I’ll be on my deathbed before I hit eligibility at this rate!” He whines with a forlorn sigh and Jesse just snorts. Alex shakes her head.
“Now you’re just being dramatic over what’ll end up being a two buck coupon.”
“Hey! Those two bucks could save my life!” He retorts, pointing at her accusingly. They all laugh at that, a lighthearted air filling the room. Alex fits like a glove in their company. A puzzle piece slotted right back into place, almost. Jesse remains apprehensive in the back of his mind, but she’s nice. He wants to believe in her. He leans forward again in his chair and clears his throat.
“Okay, last question I promise.”
“Shoot it, kid.” She replies with an easy smile. He returns it and nods.
“I don’t mean to get heavy again but I’m just curious like—” He pauses, rolling his lips as he thinks about how to word this, “I don’t really remember you or Petra a whole lot. Were things okay with my dad after you reconnected…?” He asks tentatively and Alex purses her lips, brows knitting together. Oh boy. She clasps her hands together and sucks in a breath.
“Your father and I…” She starts then pauses, shifting uncomfortably, “There were some disagreements.”
Jesse feels his heart sink a little. Bruce seems the most surprised at that admission—guess this is the first time she’s mentioned it.
“You’re serious?” He asks, voice gentler than usual. She just nods with a grimace. Bruce blows out a sigh and shakes his head, rubbing his forehead as he does, “Steven, Steven, Steven…”
“Yes… I-It was difficult, definitely. I think he was just struggling to deal with a lot though. I’ve tried not to take it too personally…” She finishes with an awkward laugh and Jesse just frowns, eyes shining with sympathy. What the hell was his father doing?
“How—? Wh—?” He shakes his head, “What happened?”
“Well… I-It wasn’t too long after losing your uncle, Jesse. I was the one who was watching after you while Steven and Hiro were gallivanting down in that cave—I don’t know how well you remember that.”
Jesse nods slowly, finally able to match a face to some of his blurred memories. He was with Alex—Aunt Alex, his dad had called her. He vaguely remembers the initial excitement because he knew there was another high-energy kid to play with. That must’ve been Petra. But, unfortunately, those aren’t the memories that stick out to him as sharply.
“I remember when my dad got back… All ragged. Broken, bleeding, crying. I’d never seen him like that before… Then of course the absence of my uncle was impossible to miss.”
Alex nods solemnly, “I figured that’d be where your focus ended up. You were still pretty small and awfully scared that day and in the ones following. A few months after that is where things got kinda rocky. You see, I was going to be moving with Petra again. It was further away but actually into a town. More people, resources, work—the whole nine yards.” She says with a shrug and Petra nods along.
“That’s where I ended up meeting Lukas and the other Ocelots.” She clarifies and Jesse nods slowly before turning his attention back to Alex.
“I wanted him to come along. Him and you. After going through so much, I didn’t think it was healthy to stay in that little cabin. I thought it’d be good for the both of you, Jesse.” She sucks in another deep breath and shakes her head, “But, he had other ideas. He was stubborn, as always. Dug his heels in deep and just wouldn’t listen.”
“Why…?” Jesse asks, utterly mystified to hear more about this side of his father. Bruce hums as he rubs his mouth in thought.
“If I were to take a stab at guessing, I’d say he probably didn’t wanna uproot you any more than you already had been with the death of Hiro and then seeing your dad like that. Probably figured that staying in the same house with your old man would make processing it all easier to handle.”
“And I vehemently disagreed.” Alex adds.
“And he didn’t take too kindly to that, did he?”
“Did he ever?”
“Stubborn as a bull.” Bruce huffs with a shake of his head.
Jesse just sits there, hands tightly interlocked and shaking his head. He shuts his eyes and pushes a sigh out through his nose. He was just doing what he thought was right. Jesse can’t even imagine how he’d respond in the same situation. Still, it’s once again unsettling to hear this side of him further cemented. How many enemies did he make like that? Who decided that they wouldn’t stand for his bullheadedness? Hell, his insolence? Jesse drops his head into his hands and just rubs at his face as silence takes over the room.
Alex shifts in her seat uncomfortably, unlocking and relocking her hands together. Eventually she clears her throat, recapturing Jesse’s attention. She smiles warmly and nods towards where Petra’s set down his axe and the Channeling book.
“You do a lot of fighting in thunderstorms, shortstack?” She asks, giggling a little at the thought.
Jesse’s nose scrunches up in confusion, “No…? Why?”
“Channeling’s finicky.” Bruce starts, leaning forward in his seat again, “Only redirects lightning already bein’ thrown around.”
Jesse hums in dismay, deflating a little, “Huh, damn. Was hoping to get some more use out of it.”
Petra perks up, snapping at Jesse with a teasing grin, “Ooh! You could get your uncle to play tennis with you though!”
“Haha.”
“Heh! He still has one-up on ya, kid.” Bruce says with a smile and Jesse returns it, although he’s rather sheepish. He notices Alex glance between them in a bit of confusion and Bruce’s eyes widen, “Oh! Right! Uhh, Petra and I figured that whole— thing— might be better for you to try explaining.”
“Yeah! Straight from the horse’s mouth.” Petra quickly tacks on and Jesse just blinks. He glances at Alex utterly blankly. Explain his uncle. Oh how is he supposed to even begin with that one? She looks back at him a little confused and somewhat expectantly and Jesse just awkwardly rubs his cheek.
“Uhh… Mind if I take a raincheck on that one? My brain’s frying enough as is and I dunno where to even begin.”
“That’s fine.” She says with a smile, “If I’ve made it this far without knowing then I think I can hold out a little longer.”
“Thanks, I gotta sort some stuff out with him anyways.” Jesse huffs with a tired smile. He feels a little pang of guilt at holding out on her, but figures she’ll understand once he actually explains. After all, that’s not exactly a straight-forward story to tell. Satisfied, Alex crosses her arms and legs, humming in thought. She garners some inquisitive looks from the others before speaking again.
“If it’s lightning you wanna throw around then there may be something yet…” She snaps her fingers, glancing over at Bruce, “What if he imbued it with an electric soulstone? Like the ones old Geomancers used? That might give it the charge he’s looking for.”
“Huh…! Hadn’t even thought of that!” He pleasantly hums, rubbing his chin in thought, “That may work—certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“Soul-stone…?” Petra tentatively mumbles out, sharing a concerned glance with Jesse. Alex nods excitedly.
“Mhm! There’s a lot of old artifacts and weapons that run off of soul-energy.”
“Great stuff for when you’re in a bind! Unfortunately, my stash just went up in smoke…” Bruce says with a heavy sigh and Alex perks up.
“Oooh, well it’s your guys’ lucky day, then! I never keep mine too far out of reach!” She hums and stands up with a grunt. As she leans over and snags a brown rolled up pack, Jesse really gets to take in her stature again. She’s probably a whole foot taller than him—taller than Petra or Lukas by a few inches even. Not quite on Axel’s level but only by a few inches. She’s strong too with clearly toned arms even under the tunic and long-sleeved under layer. Tall, strong, and heaving around weapons they’d never heard of. There’s that damn pit in his stomach again.
She unbuckles the pack then drops it on the ground, kicking it open. Petra and Jesse’s eyes immediately widen at the sheer amount of unfamiliar weapons and items strapped into the unrolled fabric. Bruce lets out a long whistle and that’s enough for Jesse to know that she really does have quite the stash. There are actual weapons of course ranging from daggers to sickles, gauntlets, staffs, glaives, and scythes, and then there are more peculiar items. Things such as different cloaks tucked away, bags of unfamiliar powder, amulets of different colors and shapes, tomes that look old and well-used and even peculiar looking feathers and totems.
But what catches his eye of course are the soul-centric gear and artifacts. They’re easy to spot with that familiar cold blue—some even have the haunting faces of them etched in. A shiver races up his spine at the sight of a peculiar looking soul lantern she moves off to the side, utterly unbothered by it all. She hums and crouches down before everything, hand hovering as her eyes scan over each and every item.
She frowns a little as she looks at one piece, “Damn, I forgot to return that to Archie! Oh well, I’ll get around to it when I’m next over there…” She mumbles to herself, tapping her lips in thought. Jesse’s brows wrinkle and he leans over to Petra.
“Jack’s bird?” He whispers.
“Different Archie.”
“Ah.”
“AHA! Here!” She says triumphantly as she grabs a staff with a deep blue gem sat perfectly at its tip. She shows it off with a smirk, “Take a gander! It’s in pretty great shape, honestly. Only used it a little bit while travelling.” She huffs a little as she studies it in her hands, “The lightning’s cool and all but I’m more into big AOE stuff—bombs, fireworks, TNT, the lot.” She says with a smile and it just makes Jesse sink further into himself.
“Woah-hoh-hoh!” Petra says with a laugh as she leans in over Jesse’s shoulder to look at it, “And Jesse could summon lightning with that thing in his axe??”
“Maybe!” Alex chuckles with a nervous shrug.
“Yes, but I think your sister needs to get her eyes checked.” Bruce hums as he leans forward and taps the gem, “That’s not a soulstone.”
“What?!” Alex’s eyes widen and she whips around to look at him in shock.
“Look closer Al, c’mon now!” He grunts as he twists the staff around in her hands. Alex leans close to it, eyes narrowed and scrutinizing. They’re quiet for a moment and Jesse and Petra share an amused look. Finally, Alex gasps, yanking the staff closer.
“Why that lying little—! Oooh, he cheated me out of WAY more emeralds than he should’ve!” She hisses and Bruce laughs at that as he sits back. She shoots a glare his way and he just holds his hands up with a grin.
“Look, honestly it ain’t half bad. Just a little less bang for your buck since it ain’t runnin’ on souls buuuut…” He twists the staff around again a smidge, the glimmering blue stone catching in the light and beaming a prism of blue reflections around the room. Jesse and Petra grimace a little as some speckle their faces. Bruce smiles, pointing to it assuredly, “Still a mighty fine stone! Geomancers make good work of ‘em and obviously you haven’t had any troubles with it.”
“Fair enough—I certainly didn’t note a difference whenever I used it…” She hums in consideration for a moment and Jesse clears his throat.
“Uhh… If the offer still stands, I mean, I’d be honored to give it a try. Without the souls, especially…” He mumbles and Alex lights up again, smiling sweetly.
“ Of course, Jesse! This’ll still work just fine with that book, in fact it may help you control it a bit more since it doesn’t have the erratic power that souls provide.” Her energy returns to her although she awkwardly shifts, setting the staff down as she lets out a little laugh, “I-I’m not the person to transfer it, unfortunately—I use them more than I tinker with them. Buuuuut,” She turns to Bruce with a grin and clasps her hands together. The man snorts and rolls his eyes.
“Right. Always with the favors. How many do you owe me now?”
“Uhhhhh…” She mumbles, nervously combing her fingers through the ponytail hanging over her shoulder.
“If you pay me I’ll drop the favor.”
“Deal!” She spits and immediately spins around and grabs her emerald pouch. Petra barks out a laugh at that. As Alex digs through her pouch and tosses a handful of gems his way, Petra and Jesse’s gaze returns to her stash. Jesse can’t help but keep his eyes focused on the soul-based weapons and he notices from the corner of his eye that Petra seems focused on the same things. They share a somewhat uncertain glance and Petra awkwardly clears her throat, catching her sister’s attention again.
“So… Do you use soul weapons a lot, or…?”
“Oh yeah!” She replies easily, “I’ve got a few that are pretty essential to how I fight at this point—some favorites I suppose.”
Petra laughs rather tensely, “Isn’t that kinda… I dunno… morbid?”
Alex pauses and looks at her blankly for a moment, then she lights up and purses her lips together in hard thought.
“Huh! I guess so? I’ve been using them for so long I guess I just got used to it, but they’re pretty new to you kids, huh?” She hums and the two of them nod.
“How—” Jesse starts, brows knitted together, “How do you collect them? The souls…?”
“Oh that’s the easy part,” She states with a flippant wave, “If you have any soulbound item on your person, then the souls of anything you kill wil naturally gravitate towards it. Energy builds up in it over time until it’s ready for use. Then it usually needs a little bit of time to cool down before being ready to go again.”
“And you can get souls from…?” Petra mumbles, raising a brow at her sister. Alex smiles.
“Oh well with fighting mobs it’s pretty easy to build up a charge. Each creature charges them at a different rate of course—different souls and all.”
“Even like… people souls…?” Petra mumbles and Alex’s expression darkens and her movements slow. She eyes her younger sister for a long moment with a gaze that Jesse dreads being placed onto him. Eventually she nods.
“Yes… Potentially. I’ve run into other… adventurers before who… Take advantage of such things.” she chooses her words carefully, disdain evident, “Unfortunately, our souls are powerful things—especially with the more we travel. The more we live. The more we experience. And… there are bizarre rules for how these things work… But there’s a unique benefit for acquiring the souls of the same creature as oneself—of other people. You could recharge your weapons for a massive boost, sure, but… That’s not what most people seek them for…”
“What else is there…?” Jesse asks, voice gentle. Alex presses her lips into a tight line and clasps her hands together as she glances between the two of them.
“Rejuvenation. An extended lifetime. You take from others to elongate your own…” She says stiffly, a distant look in her eyes. Jesse feels his stomach absolutely churn at the mere idea and through a brief look shared with Petra he can tell she feels the same. Alex continues, stealing their attention back, “Other mobs can take advantage of it, too. That’s how you get those old, big, and mean ones occasionally milling about… But it has to be the same as themselves. Zombie for a zombie, Enderman for an Enderman—” She hesitates but slowly nods as she meets their gazes once more, “Human for a human…”
“Jesse,” Petra starts, “Doesn’t that remind you a bit of—”
“—Hadrian and Mevia?” He huffs and she nods. He blows out a tired sigh and then nods to Alex, “Yeah, now that you explain it I think that helps us understand how a few more things we’ve run into worked…”
Bruce frowns, “If I remember right, they were part of those Games, right? The hosts or whatever…?”
“Yeah. Old Assholes. Killed and revived people in a neverending loop as part of the Games. They had weird permissions and far more life experience than they deserved—wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way to farm the souls on top of getting their free entertainment.”
“Definitely sounds like the sleazy kinda thing they’d do.” Petra grumbles and Jesse nods in agreement. Alex grimaces at the sound of it.
“That’s horrible! I’m glad you lot took care of that problem—don’t need people like that out there causing a ruckus.” She sighs then shakes it off, forcing a smile, “But, on a much less heavy note—There are other ways to get them too! My favorite one is to get some soul-speed boots and run over a bunch of soul sand and soil in the Nether! When you have those boots on you can kick up some of the souls stuck in the stuff and get a charge through there. It’s kinda tedious—Fun though!” She says with a laugh.
“Could um…” Jesse mumbles.
“Hm?”
“I-I was just wondering if you could also get a charge through sculk?”
“Sculk?” Alex’s eyebrows shoot up, “As in, from the Deep Dark?” She clarifies.
Jesse nods. She straightens a little and blows out a sigh. She drums her fingers on her knees and purses her lips in hard thought, but eventually she nods.
“Yeah… You could. It’s a goldmine of soul energy down there from what I’ve seen. I try not to poke around down there too much though if I can help it. Those Wardens are bad news.” She says with a huff and shakes her head. Jesse mimics the motion.
“Yeah, you could say that again.”
She offers him a sympathetic smile and reaches over, giving his arm a squeeze, “Nevertheless, this staff should work perfectly! With the Channeling on top of it, perhaps you’ll even get a little more control than even I had with the staff alone. I’m excited to see!” She nods her head towards Bruce, “You’ll get that axe in working shape, Jesse. Bruce always follows through with his work.”
“Now, why does your tone almost make that sound insulting?” Bruce asks, a teasing lilt to his voice. She huffs with a smirk.
“Because it is.”
“Aw come on, dedication and reliability are crucial for—!”
“ —for a thriving business. Yes, yes, I know and remember that slogan of yours.” She huffs, sticking her tongue out at him. She smirks back at Jesse as she rolls her eyes, “He got us into such a fun variety of binds throughout the years with his damn ‘always follow through’ motto.”
“Stories for the collection!” He defends.
“Scars for the collection!” She retorts, leaning into her words. Bruce scoffs, pointing at her.
“Hey now, I could’ve had a few more had it not been for that creativity of yours. So I’d say it worked out!”
“I should have let that happen.”
“Wow. Mean.” He huffs and she offers a cheeky grin.
With that settled though, she sets the staff aside and swiftly rolls her pack back up. Out of sight out of mind for her, but not so much for Jesse. Nor Petra by the looks of it. She stands first and offers Jesse her hands to help him up. He’s grateful for the help, grunting a little as she pulls him to his feet. He wavers a little yet as his side strikes him—he’s been bending too much for his own good what with getting in that trunk, all the walking, the stairs, and now the hunching and kneeling throughout his time here. He’s definitely gonna be feeling it in the morning. He grimaces a little and rubs at that side only to find it already more tender. Perhaps he’ll grab a hot shower on top of it all when he gets back.
“Hey, uh—” He starts, nabbing Alex and Bruce’s attention once more. He jerks a thumb over his shoulder towards the door and gives a tired smile, “This has been enlightening and I appreciate the help with my axe—really I do—but I think it’s time I head out.”
“Not a problem, kid.”
“Yeah, go right ahead, Jesse. Rest, and we’ll catch up again later.” Alex says with a smile. He nods, grateful to be let go so easily for once. He moves to pull away from Petra but finds her stopping him. He blinks, only a little worried before she just hooks her arm around his shoulders and smiles. She waves to the two over their shoulders with a smile.
“I’m gonna walk him out! The others would kill me if I let him fall down all those stairs like some sort of ragdoll.” She says with a grin and Jesse just snorts. The pair laugh and just wave her off too and it’s as simple as that.
Getting out of the room is relief enough, but actually moving into the stairwell is where the pressure releases. Once the door is shut behind them, Jesse blows out a heavy breath. It’s quiet out here save for them and their echoing footsteps. Petra laughs awkwardly and he glances back at her to find her wearing a sympathetic and equally nervous smile to how he’s feeling. He just nods a little and begins down a few steps, rubbing his eyes out as he goes. Petra follows a few steps behind, but obviously lagging if her footsteps are anything to go by.
“That was um…”
“Something.”
“Yeah. That was something.” She sighs, rubbing her arms nervously, “I-I didn’t even know there were such a thing! I mean— I guess it makes sense that people would figure out how to like… Harness all that energy but it’s still so surreal to actually see… A-And as weapons no less! I’m all for cool weapons and new ways to cause problems, but that just feels… Icky. Especially for my sister to be carting those around. Man…”
“Is that unlike her?” Jesse asks tentatively, pausing on the first landing they reach and leaning a little on the rail. The metal is cool against his hand in the otherwise stuffy stairwell. They’re always so stuffy in the summers. Petra stops with him once she reaches the landing as well, shrugging a little as she finds a spot of shade.
“I mean— Yeah? I-I dunno… She just never struck me as the type, but I guess she’s always been pretty efficient at what she does. Real survivalist type—liked the idea of living off the land and being a nomad. So it makes sense she’d grab what worked best.”
“... That makes sense.” Jesse mumbles, though it’s half-hearted at best. Petra picks up on it and nervously hurries to make up for it.
“She’s still great though! I mean it’s not like she’s hurting or using people. We kill mobs and shit all the time! She’s real sweet—I hope you like her.”
Jesse shifts uncomfortably, leaning up against the rail, “... I do, it’s just…” He trails off crossing his arms over his middle rather nervously. How does he say this? Should he even? Petra shifts a little nervously, forcing out a weak laugh.
“What? You don’t think she’s a killer or somethin’, do you?”
Jesse opens his mouth to speak but hesitates, unable to find the words. So he clamps his mouth shut. His jaw clenches tightly and he nervously rolls his lips. He taps his finger on his side incessantly, brows furrowed hard in thought, but his silence says enough for him. Petra’s demeanor shifts instantly. She blinks, stunned.
“Oh my god… You do…” She breathes in disbelief and Jesse just sighs in frustration, “Wh— Jesse, how can you—?”
“Okay, I know how this sounds but just—” He grimaces, holding his hands up for a moment, “Listen to me for a minute. From my perspective.”
“You are pushing your luck, Jesse. But, fine. I’ll hear you out. You better make this good, though.” She huffs, crossing her arms and taking up a defensive stance. Jesse grips himself a little tighter but nods.
“She was standoffish with that talk. And she knows an awful lot about how all that stuff works and then still uses it so flippantly? I-I dunno, it doesn’t rub me the best way and you just said it feels icky yourself. Then she’s just— You’re right, she’s a survivalist and she seems very strong. Very capable. And we both saw all the gear and different weapons she’s touting. Blades, projectiles, staffs, a-and more magic items than we even knew existed. It just feels— A little overkill, dontcha think?”
“That doesn’t make her a killer, Jesse.”
“I— I know it doesn’t. Not inherently. But still there’s just—!”
“Just what, Jesse?” She presses, tone just daring him to say something bold. He clenches his jaw tight, carefully considering how to even begin without making this sound alarmist. He has his reasons. He can’t be insane for being concerned. He drums his nails against the metal railing as he thinks, the tinny sound echoing in the large stairwell. Finally, he sucks in a deep and measured breath, letting it out just as controlled. With his tone even and quiet, he answers.
“Petra… When Lukas and I were down in that Stronghold, our pursuer was completely covered, but—”
“Oh my god!” She laughs, cutting him off which makes his bristle, “Not only are you accusing my sister of potentially being involved in murder but now you’re saying she was the one chasing you guys?!” She just laughs again in disbelief, “What are you gonna say next, huh? That she was the one who offed your dad?”
Jesse stands there frozen, cheeks a little redder now but becoming more indignant. Petra’s eyes widen and all she can do is step back with her mouth hanging open. After a moment, she shakes herself out of her stupor and turns towards the next set of stairs, beginning to hurry down them.
“I can’t believe this. Wow. WOW, Jesse! Real mature of you!”
“Petra, wait!” Jesse groans, swinging himself around the railing and hurrying after her, their footsteps once again echoing throughout the stairwell. She just shakes her head and he continues talking anyways, “Look, the person we saw was covered head to toe, cloaked, wore what looked like gloves up to the forearm, smart, a survivalist, and really fucking good at fighting! And what do I see when I get back into town? Someone covered head to toe, cloaked, wearing gloves up to her forearms. Someone who’s smart, someone who’s a survivalist, and someone who’s really fucking good at fighting!”
“You’re grasping at straws, Jess!” She hollers back as she swings around the post down to the next set of stairs. Jesse pauses on the landing for a moment to gather himself as his side protests at the speed he’s moving. He swallows the pain down and rushes after her once again, frustration growing with every step.
“Okay, fine! How about this then? In that Stronghold we found a whole room filled with crossbows and bolts all the exact make and model of hers. Down to the branding. Oh, oh! Or how about this one? She just so happened to show up out of thin air in Oldport a day before Lukas and I did! Her receiving that letter of yours and getting into town within a week makes a lot more sense if she was loitering around already!”
“They were popular. Coincidence. Then again, coincidence! She’s been doing this stuff for years! She knows people and how to get around fast—she’d beeline it.” She huffs, swinging around down to the next set of stairs. Jesse scoffs, racing right after her.
“Oh okay, then how about the part where she openly carries weapons powered by the souls of the dead everywhere she goes?” He raises his voice, it echoing off the walls a little. She just huffs and shakes her head. He digs further, “Maybe the fact that our pursuer blew up the fucking cave and threw dynamite at us will jog your memory? After all, she loves AOE stuff and TNT, right?”
“ENOUGH!” She stops short on the next landing and yells up at him, freezing him in place on the steps. Now that he can see her face again, he notes how red her cheeks are and that her eyes are starting to get glassy from frustration. He deflates a little at that. She throws her arms out, “You— You can’t, Jesse!”
“Petra, I’m sorry, but what do you expect me to do?!” He asks, practically pleading. If he has another option he’ll take it, god he’ll take it. She shakes her head and throws her arms up in defeat before running her fingers through her hair.
“I— I dunno, trust me maybe?!”
“Petra, this isn’t about me not trusting you, it’s about not trusting her.” He says, uselessly dropping his hands against the rail.
“W-Well—! Come on, maybe it is just a coincidence!” She stutters and Jesse just sighs, shaking his head in frustration. He wishes he could give into her denial, but can’t find it within himself to manage even that. There’s too much lining up. Too much that’s weird. He reaches the landing when her eyes light up once more and she lightly smacks his arm, “OOH! O-Or she was set up!”
That snaps something in him. It must show too with the scalding look he sends her way in passing. He just frowns and continues down the stairs, scoffing and letting out a bitter laugh.
“Oh great! Another scheme!” It’s his turn to shake his head in disbelief. He’s already suspending so much disbelief throughout all this, but that’s just too much for him. He can only reach so far. Sure, she seems nice. Yes, she seems concerned. But who’s to say those aren’t fake platitudes? He can’t take another curveball in all this, he just can’t.
“Jesse—” Petra starts, obviously frustrated again as she hurries after him, right on his heels. He stops mid-step and turns to look up at her.
“Petra, I’m sorry. But I’m not just gonna brush this off as some freak coincidence! It’s weird! It’s scary!” His voice cracks a little as he pleads with her, practically begging for her to see it from his point of view. Unfortunately, she’s just as stubborn as he is and doesn’t budge.
“Jesse, she would never do those things. There’s no way. There just isn’t! She’s not that kind of person!”
“How are we supposed to know that?!”
“She’s my sister! I know her!”
“If you knew her so well then you wouldn’t have become estranged, now would you?!” He spits, jabbing a finger into her chest. He only realizes the weight of his words once they’re already out of his mouth. She stares down at him in a mix of pain and shock. Her brown eyes become glassy once again as she just gapes at him. He clenches his jaw tight—he has to get his point through. He has to keep going. So he does.
“Would you?” He repeats, voice a little softer but not letting up on the force. She presses her lips into a tight line and he finally pulls back out of her space, but only a tad, “You haven’t talked to her in a decade, Petra. I’m not saying this because I like this, or as some sadistic ‘gotcha!’—I hate sitting here stewing and doubting everyone I know, but that doesn’t mean I can just pull the wool over my eyes. Someone wanted to fucking kill us and now there’s someone blowing up my town and my people could easily go with it! She is a potential danger. I cannot ignore that.”
She stares at him silently for a long time, completely stiff and tense. Her lip quivers just slightly, and Jesse notes just how her fists shake at her sides. She clenches and unclenches them periodically, no doubt trying to combat the sweaty way they feel. But she doesn’t blow her top. No, her anger doesn’t manifest like that right away this time. And that’s probably the most concerning part.
“You’re out of line, Jesse. That’s a low blow.” She says, her voice low and quiet with the faintest of shakes to it. But, in the frustration that spills over him at her not even addressing what he’s had to say, he doesn’t catch it. His temper gets the better of him and he spits venom instead of rightfully backing down.
“Well apparently it’s one you needed to hear.” He huffs before finally turning around and continuing down the stairs. Behind him he hears Petra blow out a breath of complete and utter disbelief.
“Needed to—?! Oh my god can you even HEAR yourself?!” She laughs scornfully, racing after him again. He just shakes his head. She makes quick work of closing the gap between them on the landing where she grabs him by the arm. He grunts a little as she yanks him back and spins him around, jabbing a finger into his chest this time, “No! I’m not putting up with this! Here’s something that YOU need to hear; You are being a total asshole right now!”
“I have to protect my people, Petra.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t have to be a dick about it!”
“You’re right! I wouldn’t have to if you could just take ‘No’ for an answer sometimes! But we don’t all get what we want, do we?” He hisses, words just flying off his tongue like daggers. Petra backs up a pace, gawking at him and just shaking her head. He crosses his arms tightly, rubbing at his own eyes as they sting and he can’t even say over what just yet. All he knows is that he’s angry and she’s not listening to him.
“... Okay.” She blows out, catching his attention again. She drops her arms to her sides, shaking her head, “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”
“I’m standing my ground on this. You can stand on yours too, but that’s where things are apparently gonna lie. I love you Petra, but I have an obligation right now and that’s getting this sorted out before more people get hurt.”
“And you’ll hurt all of us along the way if you gotta, right?” She huffs and Jesse’s eyes widen a little at that. His blood cools and he sobers up just a little, though it’s certainly far too late to matter right now. Petra scoffs and just shoves her hands in her pockets, “‘Whatever it takes’, yeah? Tch. Some ‘love’ ya got there.” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, “See you later, Jesse.”
With that, she fully turns away and begins marching right back up the stairs. Jesse just stands there numbly as he watches and eventually listens to her go. Her footsteps ring out with each step upwards until she finally reaches her floor again, then there’s just the squeak of the door opening followed by a heavy slam. He flinches a little at that and blinks himself back into the moment, the hot air of the stairwell suddenly feeling suffocating to him. He staggers over to the railing and leans on it, dropping his face into his hands.
What the hell is he doing?
~~~~~
The walk back to Lukas’ place is a blur as he just replays his argument with Petra over and over in his mind. As he loses all the adrenaline that got pent up, all that’s left is a sense of shame and embarrassment hovering over him. He finds at least a dozen things he could’ve done differently and is certain he’ll only find more the longer he lingers with it.
Getting up to Lukas’ door is the hardest part—what’s he supposed to say? He bites down on his tongue. No, he knows what to say, he’s just embarrassed he has to say it. Outbursts like that are something he’s supposed to have gotten over and left in the past with the cocky 22 year old he once was. That sudden rush of confidence that came with the whole “Hero” status mixed with a temper he never had the backbone to actually act out on prior had turned into an explosive cocktail, but one he worked past. Or so he figured, anyways. He didn’t like it, and it’s worrying to think that he could snap back to that under pressure.
Ashamed and still reeling, he pushes his way inside. Dewey runs to greet him first, howling all the way. The amount of unconditional love the ocelot gives him as he bumps into his legs purring like a motorboat makes his chest tight. He reaches down to pet him a little bit as he hears Lukas come out from one of the back rooms.
“Jesse! Was starting to wonder when you’d—” He stops mid sentence as Jesse straightens to look at him. He certainly feels heavier and that weight must show in his eyes because Lukas picks it up right away, his demeanor changing in a flash, “What happened?”
“I fucked up, Lukas…” Jesse sighs and shakes his head as he chucks his satchel down. He slowly starts meandering his way over, but Lukas is already closing the distance. Jesse catches him by the chest, stopping him just a little short so he can look up at him. He nervously grips at Lukas’ shirt as he rests his hands against the man’s chest, swallowing down the lump in his throat.
“What? What do you mean…? What happened?”
“I fucked up bad, Lukas. Petra and I— W-We got into a fight and I—” He grimaces, shaking his head, “I was nasty. I was fucking mean. I-I don’t— I don’t know why or what—...” He trails off, losing his words and Lukas just gently shushes him, rubbing his hands up and down his arms in an attempt to soothe him.
“Hey, hey, relax, we’ll figure this out, okay? Just… Settle down a little and tell me what happened. Let me grab some tea and you can tell me everything that was said, alright?”
“Okay.”
Notes:
Shoutout to Minecraft Dungeons btw all my homies love mc dungeons ✌✌✌ it has SUCH cool items and stuff!!! Can't wait to explore them some more <3
EDIT 7/1/23: Got to sneak a little bit more in <3
Chapter 36: Speculation
Summary:
Jesse begins the process of reading his father's last journal as well as getting updates about the state of Beacontown
Notes:
HIIII -walks in 4 days late and starbucks- my b but I got a job!!! Was busy interviewing and getting stuff ready over the weekend so I didn't have much of a chance to get where I wanted 😭 This one's a little bit shorter but still pretty good! It's 6.5k and honestly I'm happy with it just being that because with the stuff I had planned that was supposed to go in this chap, I think it all would've overshadowed the content that's here which is important too in its own right. I still hope it's enjoyable and I had fun writing it as always! But I suppose me saying that also says a little about what to expect for 37 ehm. teehee <3
Hope Valentine's day was lovely for everyone and I hope you enjoy!!!
EDIT 7/3: Additional mini convo :>
Chapter Text
I believe in all my pride and, frankly, ego that I’ve misjudged just how stark the difference between ‘alone time’ and simply being ‘alone’ is. All my life I’ve treasured my alone time, but always had the luxury of knowing there would be someone to turn to if I were ever in need or simply wanted to talk. Now I’ve learned just how hollow loneliness truly feels.
Hiro’s gone, I haven’t spoken to Bruce in nearly a decade, and in my own stubborn pride I’ve lost Alex as well. She saw me hurting and just wanted to help take some of the weight off of my shoulders, and in return I callously pushed her away. She still writes, but the letters are stagnant and further between with each passing year.
This isolation is suffocating, and while Jesse doesn’t exactly have the experience of much else, he deserves far better. He’s already ten, and he needs to be with more kids his age than the few that occasionally come over from the orchard. I cannot keep failing him like this, and this incessant coddling will do nothing but hurt him.
I’m thinking of finally packing up and moving out of this old house and closer to town. It hurts leaving behind all the memories here, but a fresh start is what the both of us need. I was thinking of bringing the topic up to Alex in my next letter to her, on top of apologizing. She was in the right, I was not. I know she’d like to see Jesse again too—he’s grown so much. I can only hope that her frustration with me hasn’t shifted to resentment—especially with the loss of Hiro. She and him were always close. I swear she knew my brother better than I did at points.
Additionally though, if things can be worked out, I can’t help but wonder if she might be able to mediate something between Bruce and I. Despite my frustrations with the man and his horrid pride (which he no doubt picked up from me), I miss him dearly. He’s nearly 30 now—I can hardly believe it. He and Alex are still so small in my mind. The annoying little brother and sister Hiro and I never asked for but got stuck with regardless.
I miss my family dearly. And Jesse needs more figures in his life than just me. I just know that if Bruce relented a little that he’d become enamored with Jesse—he reminds me of him in so many ways already, such as with that unrelenting curiosity of his.
On top of that, I know that there’d be people at the ready to care for him were anything to happen to me prematurely. I have no plans of doing anything overly stupid, but when he’s old enough I will be returning to the End.
I will not allow Hiro’s death to be in vain. I can’t. It was my fault and responsibility, so it’s only natural I clean up the mess. It doesn’t matter how long it takes—I’m a patient and determined man.
I’ve actually stumbled upon another Stronghold not too far from home—about an hour’s walk. That’ll be the place. I’ve yet to explore it and ensure it’s as safe as it can be, but when I do I’ll be slow and meticulous. No mistakes down there, Jesse is still too young. But if I don’t stake a claim then I’m going to lose it. It simply cannot wait.
Jesse blows out a heavy sigh as he shuts the journal and sets it down on his lap. He drops his head into his hands, rubbing his face probably more harshly than he should. After explaining to Lukas everything that’d happened with Petra the other day, they were both left sitting at a bit of a loss. He needs to apologize of course, but as long as Alex is a suspect, Petra may not be willing to accept any apologies. He can’t say he blames her, but it certainly isn’t making things easier.
So, after mulling around the house for a day or two hitting wall after wall, Jesse’s turned to his father’s last journal. If there was anyone who could help him clear this up, then it would be him after all. Alas, despite all the entries he’s pawed through thus far, he can’t find anything particularly new or different from what he already knows. Hell, he even dragged out some older journals of his father’s from when his and Alex’s argument first occurred as well as his uncle’s death. All he’s found however is just the same story he heard from her, albeit from his father’s side.
It’s surreal in a way seeing his entries shift from that initial stubbornness Bruce, Alex, and even his uncle had described melt away as time went on. He had a lot more regret than Jesse ever imagined he would and a deep ache settled in his chest at it. He deserved better. They all deserved better. If only he had gotten a little more time—he wanted to make things right.
He plucks his latest journal up again and rereads the entry he just looked at. He does that once, twice, three times, but no new information comes to him. There’s no secrets between the lines for him to find. No clue or relief is going to be found on these pages and he knows it, but that doesn’t make the next step any less dreadful. If he wants info, he has to look at the final entries.
He runs his fingers over the course pages, pausing momentarily to thumb over some tear stains. Not his own, so he can only imagine they’re his father’s. He didn’t think those would survive the refurbishing process, but he doesn’t think too hard about it. Not his problem right now. Shutting the journal, he shifts it onto its side to examine the pages. His father only got about halfway through this book before disappearing and one could tell that just by the way the pages settle in the book. The fresh ones sit in-line with each other, whereas the used ones are a bit more shifted from the experience of writing on them on top of the water damage.
Looking around him at the state of his bed with all the other journals and some loose pages sitting about, he feels a little overwhelmed. Leaning back against his pillows he cranes his neck to glance up at the clock. Noon. He’s been at this since the mid-morning, too. There’s just so much of his father’s writing to dig through. He blows out a second sigh and begins cleaning up the piles around him, stacking journals and tucking pages back where they belong. Once done, he grabs the stack and gets up, carrying them over to his desk for the meantime.
He stops to stare down at the cover of his last one for a long time. The last entries are right there. All he has to do is open them and skim them. That’s all he has to do and perhaps he can put all this paranoia behind him with that. But he needs a break first. He needs to clear his head before tackling his father’s last words. So he steps back, stretches his arms and back, and starts thinking. A walk through one of the parks or squares could be nice… But there’s also the Order Hall. The idea of that perks him up a little. Stopping and chatting with Radar could be good—maybe he could get some updates, even. Satisfied with that idea he turns and finally meanders out of his room.
“Hey there…” Lukas’ voice pipes up and Jesse’s only somewhat surprised to see him lean up against the corner of the hall. He must’ve heard the sound of him finally shuffling all around on top of his door. Jesse smiles as he wanders up to him and lazily slings his arms down around his waist.
“Hi, feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen you.” He teases, getting a chuckle out of him.
“Yikes, the reading was that bad, huh?” He asks with a quirked brow and Jesse just sighs and leans up against his shoulder. Lukas relaxes and the atmosphere shifts to one just a little more somber as he gently rubs Jesse’s back.
“I’m just finding more of the same so far in his old stuff… Info we already knew, just from a different angle.” He says with a heavy sigh and straightens again so he can meet Lukas in the eyes. The man frowns with a hum, absent-mindedly reaching up to swipe some stray hairs out of Jesse’s eyes.
“Another dead-end, then…?”
“Maybe not. I still have those final entries to cover.” He mumbles and Lukas visibly winces on his behalf.
“You sure about this…?”
“Gotta do it sooner or later. If it’s possible to sort it out sooner then I’ll take it—I don’t want Petra to just keep hurting. But we gotta sort this to fix that.” He huffs a little, just shaking his head. Lukas nods quietly, his eyes clouded as he thinks hard. Jesse allows him time to gather his own thoughts and just settles back into his place leaning up on his shoulder. This is the only part of this whole fiasco he doesn’t hate—being with Lukas. Finally able to express what he’d always dreamed of. He smiles to himself a little at that but then Lukas’ voice pulls him back out of his thoughts.
“What about the Order? Could we still consider them…?” He mutters and Jesse can tell just by the tone of his voice that he doesn’t even believe that anymore. He sucks in a long breath and this time fully pulls back, shaking his head. He gently keeps hold of Lukas’ hands in the meantime, however.
“On a glance? Maybe. Looking closer though? No…” He shakes his head again as he speaks and Lukas nods in silent agreement. Jesse continues, “Had it been them, Ivor would’ve known. Not only that but he would’ve told me eons ago and made sure they’d taken responsibility—no way he wouldn’t’ve.” He shrugs a little, “Can I see Soren being dodgy? Yes. Ivor? God no. He wouldn’t do that.”
“Agreed.”
“Plus like—” Jesse starts, wetting his lips, “There’s a reason that Soren’s base is called his Stronghold, y’know? Now that we’ve gotten the room to breathe and think, it makes less and less sense with them. I mean, we even used his End Portal! Hell, if the Order had been in my dad’s stronghold then it wouldn’t have been so—... so….” He trails off, proper words to describe how horrid it was escaping him. All he gets instead are flashes of everything that hurt them. Everything that scared them. Before his hands can get too much more sweaty, Lukas suggests a few.
“Dilapidated and utterly horrible?”
“Exactly!” Jesse smiles in relief, “It’d look way more like Soren’s!”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Lukas nods and Jesse returns the gesture. There’s an awkward silence now though. A realization that comes with that. Jesse feels his stomach sink and he grips a little tighter at Lukas’ hands.
“... Unfortunately, that kinda leaves us back at square-one with next to no leads.”
“Except for Alex.”
“Except for Alex…” Jesse repeats quietly. It’s Lukas’ turn to sigh this time as he simply shakes his head, raising his hands to Jesse’s arms and rubbing them comfortingly. He can practically see the gears turning in his head. They’re missing something yet, they’ve just got to be. After a moment Lukas lights up but then his scowl quickly returns—deeper this time.
“We still have a whole group unaccounted for with that though, Jesse… And friendly as she seems, she’s been working on her own for how long?”
“Years. She said she’s encountered people here and there but she seems pretty independent. Seems to know a lot of people though… She worked with Bruce for a while but they parted ways years before my dad disappeared. And there were certainly more than two bags down there. Save for the one on that zombie.”
“Right. The one on that zombie…” Lukas repeats quietly, still unsure what to make of that particular encounter. Jesse can’t help but keep revisiting it. It was just so odd.
“We can’t say for certain if it was a person or some other armed mob that killed her, but my bets are on another person. Maybe there was a group plan and she got cold feet? So…”
Lukas sighs, “Loose lips sink ships…”
“Right. Doesn’t help us much past that though, unfortunately.” Jesse grumbles and Lukas gives his hands a squeeze, raising them up and clasping them between his own.
“Hey, there could be hope yet. Your father seemed like an analytical man—he has to have something down!”
“God I sure hope so, Lukas.” Jesse says with a heavy sigh. Lukas smiles at him and squeezes his hands again then lets go so he can more properly hold them and interlock their fingers. Jesse smiles a little at that and it only grows as Lukas swings around and begins tugging him further into the house towards the kitchen.
“Come on, let’s grab a snack or something!”
“Hmm… Well I was gonna go on a walk, but I suppose a treat before that can’t hurt.” He hums and Lukas grins, tugging him along a little faster and Jesse just laughs, “Woah, careful! I’ll trip here! What’s the rush?”
“Well, uh,” Lukas falters for a moment, smile flickering away for just a second before returning with a little shrug, “I gotta stop by another shop later so I’m gonna be heading out in a bit.”
Jesse cocks a sly brow, chuckling a little, “More errands? When did you become such a busy-body?”
Lukas laughs at that and smiles, “Hey, I’m just making up for you in the meantime! You’re welcome, by the way.” He hums and Jesse laughs, nodding along.
“Guess I owe you.” He shrugs then quickly yanks Lukas close again. The man yelps in surprise at the sudden tug and practically stumbles into Jesse. Jesse just looks up at him with a charming smile as they stand there chest to chest, “How about dinner? Your favorite place?”
Lukas’ cheeks redden as he smiles somewhat bashfully, “Now, how can I pass up on an offer like that?”
“It’s a date, then!” Jesse giggles, swinging him out wide again in a spin. Lukas laughs the whole way, hanging on tight to Jesse’s hands. His smile is dazzling and butterflies flutter wildly in his stomach. Mid-spin, Dewey runs through Jesse’s legs and nearly makes him stumble. A quick slew of curses escapes his lips which just gets Lukas laughing harder. That only lasts so long though when Dewey comes back for round two of this new little “game.”
This time, he bounces straight off of Jesse’s leg, knocking him off balance much easier than he’d like to admit. His leg buckles and he gasps, trying to catch himself on Lukas in vain. Still recovering from the last stumble, the poor man barely stands a chance. There’s a brief second of hope but as Jesse and Lukas’ gazes meet, their fates are sealed.
Jesse chokes out a scream and Lukas yelps as Jesse falls and he’s yanked right down with him. Jesse lands flat on his back with a grunt and solid thud. Lukas, in all his grace and glory, lands flat atop of him, though not without sharply elbowing him in the gut first. It knocks the wind out of Jesse and he sputters, face scrunched up in a grimace. Lukas recovers quickly and jolts up onto his elbows to stare down at him. His brows are knit together and those sapphire blue eyes wide in worry. He barely gets a word out though before that groan shifts into bubbling laughter. Relief washes over Lukas and a smile stretches across his face as he stares down at Jesse, slowly joining him.
“We— We—” Jesse starts between giggles as he finally blinks his eyes back open, “We are so graceful.”
“The epitome of it, I think.” Lukas responds with a grin which just tickles Jesse more. His back practically arches and his eyes crinkle as he laughs and Lukas just shakes his head. The wooden floor isn’t the most comfortable place in the house, but oh well. Lukas just waits with a smile as Jesse’s little laughing fit passes, his cheeks redder from it. He can’t help it—he needed that silly little relief. Once settled—or as close as he can get with the occasional giggle still slipping out—he smiles up at Lukas and gives him a quick once-over.
“You okay?”
Lukas scoffs with a smile, “I’m fine. I just gotta know if my damn elbow broke one of your ribs or not.” He chuckles as little as he says it and Jesse just hums. He grabs one of Lukas’ hands and guides it over his own sides, testing his ribs with him. Lukas snorts at that, that dazzling smile returning. As they test each rib, Jesse contorts his face in a different “thoughtful” way—he’s expressive to say the least. Once all are felt, Jesse hums with another bright smile.
“Nope! Think we’re in the clear.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I love you too.” Jesse says with a grin and brings his hands up to cup Lukas’ cheeks. The man just shakes his head but happily leans in for the kiss. Butterflies flutter in his stomach and it’s still just as electric this time as all the others they’ve shared since getting back. He can’t imagine a day where it isn’t, frankly. Not after how long he’s hoped for this. They part with soft smiles and Jesse takes an extra few seconds to gently thumb over his cheeks. He’s probably biased, but he swears he’s never felt skin softer.
As romantic as laying uncomfortably on the floor may be, Dewey is curious and confused as to why their fun new game stopped. The ocelot scurries over and makes no hesitation to press his paws right under Jesse’s collarbone so he can sniff at them. Jesse rolls his eyes and scoffs at the cat, though not without a small smirk. Lukas shares a knowing look then finally sits up. He shoos Dewey back and helps Jesse to his feet. His back will probably yell at him later but he can’t find himself too bothered by it. Lukas taps him on the arm once up and then nods towards the kitchen. Certainly won’t argue against something sweet before hitting the road.
~~~~~
Getting outside is more refreshing than he anticipated. Sure, the air is already hot with the sun beating down, but it’s nice in a way. Getting more tolerant to the heat wasn’t something he expected out of all this but he can’t say he minds—it’ll certainly make Nether trips a little easier. With that thought in mind, he picks up his pace towards the Order Hall. If he’s lucky, Radar will have something mundane he can do with his time.
The walk’s pleasant as always and he’s finding himself able to pick up his pace just a little more than he has been. It lights a little spark in him and lifts his spirits in its own right. Slowly but surely he’s getting back to where he wants to be. Where he needs to be. Hell, hopefully sooner rather than later he’ll be running over these cobbled streets like he was just two weeks back. He already misses bouncing around town and greeting everyone.
Getting inside the hall is a relieving break from the heat as always and he’s greeted with a few gasps and bright smiles as people see him back for the first time. It’s a small detour but a more than welcome one. The well-wishes and compliments are refreshing to say the least and get his mind running again and ready to problem-solve. He’ll hold himself back though—he can’t get ahead of himself so soon.
A familiar sight in the Hall perks him up, the corners of his mouth tugging into a smile. He sucks in a little breath and pushes himself a little more, picking up his pace but keeping his footsteps quiet. He hurries up behind the older man, almost crouching down a little and then quickly taps him twice on the back.
“Good god!” Odin hisses with a visible jump before flinging around, eyes wide and stanced for a fight. Jesse bursts out laughing, beginning to clap a little as the man deflates. He holds a hand over his heart and leans against the wall which only makes Jesse more giggly.
“Sorry! Had to!”
Odin shakes a finger at him, “You certainly did not, boy!”
Jesse just grins, cheeks turning a little pink but still beaming. It takes a lot to sneak up on Odin with all of his experience, but it’s always been a fun challenge—in the last year or so though, he’s finally managed to pull it off and oh he was taking full advantage of it. He’s got a lot of ground to cover and some scales to even out and even injured, he’s gonna go for it. On that note, a little extra flame of excitement wells up in him—if he was able to pull it off even with his injury, then he’s really getting better. That or Odin’s getting rusty. He’s just gonna choose to believe it’s the first option.
“Well, now that I’ve got your attention, how’s the day? On another patrol?” He teases and the man snorts and rolls his eyes. He lightheartedly jabs a finger into Jesse’s chest, a sly look gracing his features.
“A walk, yes. I am merely taking a stroll. But aside from your antics nearly sending me to an early grave, the day’s good!”
“Pfft! Oh c’mon, give yourself some credit. You don’t go down easily.” Jesse hums, giving him a friendly bump on the arm. Odin smiles.
“Two of us then! You certainly seem to be healing well enough—I’ll pass the word on. I know Christine, amongst others in the Watch, will be glad to hear it.” He pauses and then grows a tad more serious, “By the way, we’re all keeping extra sharp eyes out for anything odd around town. Ears open, too. We don’t need any repeats of Bruce’s shop as I’m sure you already agree. And you know me—too antsy to sit still for too long. If I— If we see or hear anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
Jesse breathes out a sigh of relief and nods, “Thank you, Odin… But, please, don’t take on more of the load than necessary. I certainly know how hard it can be to kick old habits, but you’re not obligated to do anything anymore—you’ve helped more than enough. Focus on keeping your family safe now.”
“I’m well-aware, Jesse. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn a blind eye to anything odd that I see—not how I work. You know that.”
“I-I know. Still, just want to keep people safe—including you lot.” He huffs with a tired smile and Odin just gives him a reassuring pat on the back.
“You’re certainly doing all you can and I’m certain there’s tons more going on behind the scenes I couldn’t even fathom. You’ll get it sorted though—you always do. It’s why we’re rather fond of you.” He grins and bumps Jesse on the shoulder, causing him to snort and grin a little bashfully. He nods though, warmed by the sentiment.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence—really been needing those lately.” He sucks in a breath and claps his hands together, “But enough heavy talk! I was going to go check for Radar in the Treasure Room but, hey, if you’ve seen him anywhere else I’d appreciate the heads up.”
“Treasure Room sounds about right… Talked with both him and Olivia briefly in the Library earlier before Olivia had to take off for another class or something. Then Radar said he has some paperwork to go work on and took off in that direction. Might be in there for the quiet.” Odin hums, adjusting his glasses slightly as he thinks. Jesse smiles and nods.
“Perfect! Best I head off then. Thank you again, Odin—for everything.”
The man huffs with a warm smile, “Always happy to help. You just be safe out there, boy. Leave the trouble for one of us to run into, wouldja?”
“Well, I was about to say the same thing but you beat me to it. Will do!” Jesse laughs with a quick nod, leaving Odin chuckling. The man finally waves him off, beginning his trek back towards the exit of the Hall as he does.
“See you around, Jesse!”
“Will do!”
With that, Jesse finally turns back towards the Treasure Room and continues walking with a renewed pep in his step. A few more people try stopping and talking with him, but most stick to curt conversations with the speed he’s trying to go—a fairly successful speedwalk. His side begins to burn after a while unfortunately and slows him back down, but it’s certainly been worse. Waving each person he meets goodbye, he slowly gets closer and closer to the Treasure Room where he’s been directed by more than just Odin. Seems Radar’s being more diligent than ever—if that’s even possible. That, or Jesse’s just become far too predictable for the young man.
As the big doors clunk open and Jesse moves inside, he spots Radar immediately. His bright green jacket stands out like a beacon against the grey stone of the steps he’s sitting on at the other end of the hall. With his clipboard in his lap and his pen tapping incessantly against his leg, it’s easy to tell he’s hard in thought. A fond smile slips across Jesse’s face as he stuffs his hands in his pockets and makes his way over. He blows out a short whistle which immediately catches the young man’s attention. As his eyes snap up, a broad smile sweeps across his face in a flash.
“Jesse!”
“Hey there, Radar!”
Radar quickly sets his stuff down on the steps and hops to his feet. He races over to Jesse, hustling to slow down at the last second to keep from outright crashing into him. Jesse laughs and Radar just gives him a nervous little cockeyed grin. He pulls his hands from his pockets and tugs him into a hug—not as tight as his typical ones but good enough. Radar makes up for it and gives him a little extra squeeze before backing off with a smile. Worry still laces his features as he looks him up and down, but thankfully he’s not so worried as he was the day they got back. With a quick breath sucked in and a small clap of his hands, Radar straightens.
“So! What can I do for you? I’m surprised to see you over here.”
Jesse shrugs a little sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck, “Been doing some reading. Needed to get a break and go on a walk—figured I might as well see if I can’t cause a little trouble in the meantime.” He teases and Radar snorts, nudging him.
“If Olivia was here she’d pinch you or something for that.”
“Maybe punch at this point. Which is fair if I’m honest…” He mumbles with a somewhat strained laugh. Radar shares a grimace with him. Jesse sucks in a breath and quickly changes subjects with a clap of his hands, “So! How are things? You still handling it all okay…? I hope you’re not getting overwhelmed…”
“Oh! Oh no, everything’s actually quite well on that front!” Radar beams, eyes shimmering with pride. He hurries back to the steps and plucks his pen and clipboard back up, flipping through some papers as he walks back over. He loudly taps the back of his pen on a point about halfway down the page, “Our trading’s on an upward trend with more merchants and transactions completed so far this month than by the end of last year’s complete summer—no doubt hindered by Romeo’s whole debacle—however I’m sure we’ve also received a boost due to renewed interest in Beacontown after his defeat. So I’m gonna say that’s a net win! Jobs are normal, the mine’s up to standards with the entrance to that Ancient City actually being confirmed and properly cordoned off,” He rattles off and Jesse gets a slight chill at that. He almost forgot about that. Radar continues, “Stella helped with that actually since it’s kinda in between. Shared land, I guess. But anyways it’s settled and in good hands!”
“That’s a relief to hear. How are the townspeople holding up…? And construction?” Jesse asks, plucking at his lips a little in thought. Radar grimaces a little at that, sucking a slow breath in through his teeth.
“Well… That’s a little more iffy, admittedly…” He mutters. Jesse slowly nods as Radar flips another page up, brows furrowing as he carefully scans through the lines of writing, “Construction and renovation on Romeo’s tower has been postponed since Bruce’s shop was blown up—for safety’s sake. But, once that’s properly handled, things should continue as scheduled. As for the people? I won’t lie, Jesse; everyone’s starting to get freaked out. They love hearing about your adventures, of course, but another one affecting town so soon? And leaving you so injured?” He sighs, dropping his voice an octave as he pushes up his glasses, “They’re starting to really talk.”
“I was afraid of that… Figured as much though.” Jesse says with a sigh, resting his hands on his hips. He chews on his lip a little as he glances around them, thinking hard. Transparency has always been important for him as a leader, especially after Romeo ran around with his face causing such chaos. He’s gonna have to address them all in some form soon, but what to say? Everything’s still a foggy mess to him, and he’s at the dead center of it all—how would that be comforting to hear…?
“You have an idea…?” Radar asks quietly, leaning down a little to catch his gaze. Jesse crosses his arms and sighs as he nods.
“I’ve gotta make an address sooner or later. Got any open spots in the schedule?”
Radar blinks in surprise then snaps his gaze back down to his papers, “Err… Lemme look… What day is it again?”
“Monday, I think?”
“Right, right—I knew that. Ummm! Oh! Here, I’ve got a gap on Saturday we could work with? Gives you some extra time to prepare that way.” He pauses, “If… If you’re sure about this, anyways. What are you even gonna say…?” He mutters, eyeing him less than confidently. Jesse sucks in a breath, shrugs, and lets out a nervous laugh. It obviously does little to assuage Radar’s worries.
“No clue yet! But I gotta say something, Radar. Silence is just gonna look suspicious, and rumors get more dangerous the longer you leave ‘em unattended. I-I guess I’ll just say…” He stutters, scratching his head, “I mean, that there’s a problem—obviously—but that we’re figuring it out. Maybe I could bluff a little. Use it to draw out whoever’s doing all this.” He grumbles with a sigh and Radar slowly nods. Jesse perks up a little at that and taps his board a little, “Oh! How is that going by the way? I know I’ve got my own search going on but… No more scares yet, hopefully…?” Jesse says, trying not to grimace. The last thing he wants is to hear that they’ve found another bomb, but it’s his duty to take care of it if they have.
Radar stares up at him for a long moment and it’s admittedly a little unnerving. He seems to be considering even telling Jesse. Not that he entirely blames him. Ultimately though, Radar sucks in another slow breath, flips all his papers back to normal, and shakes his head.
“No.” He forces out and a pit of dread settles in Jesse’s stomach at that. He nods slowly and Radar continues, “Which is… Good… But it’s also a bit nervewracking in its own right, you know?”
“Yeah… Too quiet.”
“Exactly… B-But maybe they got scared off by seeing you guys back in town after all that? After all, it sounds like they didn’t expect you to—” He stops himself short, biting down on his tongue. Jesse nods solemnly and reaches out to give Radar’s shoulder a solid squeeze. They didn’t expect them to make it out of that Stronghold alive. Good. Hopefully they’re hiding somewhere with their damn tail between their legs and panicking. If they panic, they’re bound to slip up sooner or later. The sooner that happens, the sooner they get an extra lead.
“I hear you. Well, thanks for the updates—I appreciate it, Radar. I trust you’re taking care of everything.” He says with a smile and Radar returns it, albeit rather shakily, like something’s still bothering him. Before Jesse can ask him about it he perks back up.
“Yep! Only other thing of note on the schedule is that I got Olivia set to come in here Thursday for repairs.” He says with a snort. Jesse quirks a brow at that.
“Repairs? The doors seemed to be working fine to me.”
“Oh don’t worry! They’re not big repairs. But, oh my god,” He rolls his eyes and slaps his clipboard against his leg, “I cannot focus in some of the other rooms!”
“Oh?”
“Yeah! The clocks’ speakers are on the fritz so instead of, y’know, making the alarms loud, their ticking is just incessant. It’s driving me up the wall.” He says with a loud groan. Jesse laughs a little at that. Slowly, he nods. Yeah. Yeah that’d definitely be annoying.
“I can see how that’d be a problem.”
“Ugh, the ticking is so obnoxious I swear I can’t even think half the time!” He rants and Jesse chuckles. He reaches over to clap him on the arm.
“Thursday’ll be here before you know it! In the meantime, I guess this is a pretty good spot to get work sorted. I know I’ve dragged all my papers in here dozens of times and just worked on the steps.” He hums and Radar blinks in surprise.
“Really? I don’t remember that…”
“It was before your time here. Back when I’d be pulling regular all-nighters and get all hopped up on caffeine to finish everything on time.” He says prouder than he should be. Radar stops and stares up at him, pretty deadpan. Jesse stalls, hands awkwardly slinking back into his pockets, “What?”
“Don’t try and act like you’re not still doing that.”
Jesse sputters a little at that, cheeks flushing. He opens his mouth to defend himself but comes up short. So he just clamps his mouth shut and sheepishly rubs his cheek. Radar gets a good snicker out of it at the very least, so he supposes the little loss of dignity is worth it. Radar grins and gives him a lighthearted nudge and he ends up chuckling with him, albeit moreso out of embarrassment. Nice try, Jesse. Can’t slip anything past this kid. He opts to just glance around the room in the meantime, waiting for the air to settle.
As his eyes scan over everything—from the odd trinkets they’ve collected, empty podiums, to the sparkling red flags gifted to him from Ellegaard’s precession—something odd gives him pause. A frown tugs at the corners of his lips and his brows knit together. Already preoccupied with writing in something new—probably the address Jesse’s requesting—Radar doesn’t even notice the way he’s stalled.
“Uhhh… Hey Radar?”
“Yeah?”
“Where’s my axe?”
“... You mean the one you handed in for a fix-up? I assume it’d be with Petra, not here.” Radar mumbles and Jesse shakes his head.
“No, no, not that one.” He says carefully, trying to keep his voice leveled so as not to freak him out. That gives Radar pause. He turns around and looks at Jesse in confusion as he vaguely points up on the wall, “I meant the one with the Command Enchantment. The one I killed the Witherstorm with? I don’t see it anywhere.”
“O-Oh!” Radar chokes out, voice cracking. Distress crashes down upon Jesse like a sudden wave.
“Oh god, tell me it wasn’t taken too.”
“A-Ah, well, um…” Radar hem and haws a little, doing little to settle his nerves. He sucks in a breath and holds up his hands after a moment, “Don’t— Don’t freak out so much. I believe Ivor lent it out, if I’m not mistaken…”
“Ivor…?” Jesse repeats, admittedly suspicious. Radar nods quickly.
“Mhm! Said he wanted to poke at it—or something.” He swirls his pen around in the air as he thinks, trying to remember, “I think he wanted to look into how it was responding to the absence of an Admin. Since, y’know, the command block was so tightly tied to it and all that.”
“... Huh.” Is all Jesse can manage to get out. His hands rest on his hips, silently drumming against them as he chews on the inside of his cheek. That… Sounds like something Ivor would do, definitely. But something nags at him. Radar grips his clipboard nervously.
“Is— Is that okay…? Sorry for not mentioning it.” He mumbles, nearly inaudible. Jesse waves him off.
“Yeah, it’s fine—don’t worry. It just—” He pauses, rolling his lips as he shakes his head, “He never mentioned it when I saw him and hasn’t since.”
Radar sighs a little at that, a heavy exhaustion stealing in surprisingly fast, “Well, in all fairness I think he had more crucial things preoccupying him—such as your wounds?”
“Ah,” Jesse clears his throat and nods, rubbing at his arms, “Yeah. That’ll certainly do it.”
“Look, Jesse, just—” Radar reaches out but stops short, biting his lip and just shaking his head, “Don’t stress—let us handle it. I’m sure it’ll be back here in no time.” He says with a smile. Jesse returns the smile and nods, reaching out to give his shoulder another squeeze in thanks. They hold that for a moment until Radar perks up and his gaze snaps down to his watch. A slight gasp escapes him alongside a grimace and he quickly hurries back to the steps to grab his bag. He begins shoving everything back inside surprisingly fast and probably messier than he should be—not that Jesse’d be any better.
“I hope I’m not making you late for something?”
“Oh! No, no! I just gotta split—sorry. Lukas wants to talk to me.” He says with a dismissive wave. That catches Jesse’s attention, however. He quirks a brow and meanders over to him.
“Lukas? He told me he was heading to a shop around this time. What do you need to talk about…?”
Radar pauses for a moment and Jesse can swear he sees him pale just a smidge. Radar hesitates as he looks back up at him from under his thick frames. He seems to be debating on telling him which is getting more and more worrisome. Is he missing something here? He doesn’t like it. Eventually Radar sucks in a breath and nods.
“Okay so, he said to keep it quiet so keep your lips sealed, would you? It’s supposed to be a surprise.” He clasps his hands together tightly and pleads up at him. Jesse blinks. It almost takes him an extra minute to just process his words alone. Once he does though, the tension hardset in Jesse’s shoulders practically disintegrates and a relieved smile sweeps across his face. He laughs a little as he holds a hand over his heart.
“Damn! You had me scared for a minute there…! Yeah, I can keep a secret—I’m even good at pretending to be surprised!” He hums with a smirk and Radar snorts, shaking his head a little as he rubs his face. Jesse giggles, “Cross my heart, Radar!”
“Okay! Okay, basically, he wanted to talk about some additions to the garden areas around town. Says he got some inspiration while trapped down there from the lush cave or something…?” He shakes his head, “I’ll believe it when I see it, but Lukas hasn’t let us down yet.” He hums, smiling. Jesse huffs a little as he nods.
“I see… Already back to work with him, huh?”
“Well, he’s got about as much to deal with as you do.” He shrugs and Jesse rubs his neck.
“Yeah! Yeah, I-I know that, I didn’t mean to imply he didn’t or—... Eugh, sorry, I know. I’m just… surprised I guess. He’s seemed like he’s needed to decompress outside of any work. He was talking about a vacation, too.”
“Well, you two are pretty like-minded. “Vacation” can count as anything not relating to the current problem, even if it’s more work.” He huffs, mildly amused at the idea. Not that he’s not guilty of the exact same thing—at times like this it’s no wonder Jesse and Lukas took to him so fast. The young man straightens and lightly jabs his pen into Jesse’s chest, “Which, need I remind you, you should be resting! Not “looking for trouble,” as you so generously put it.” He teases and a smile sneaks across Jesse’s face. He lets out a weak laugh and holds up his hands.
“I know, I know, and trust me—real trouble is that last thing I’m lookin’ for right now.”
“Hmm…” Radar loudly hums as he fiddles with the clicker on his pen. His eyes scan Jesse up and down again, cartoonishly judgemental before nodding to himself, “Very well! I guess I can let it slide. As long as you don’t let Lukas know I told you anything, of course.”
Jesse smirks and makes a quick zipping motion over his lips, seeming to flick the key away right after. He quickly crosses his heart with a big X too for good measure. Radar laughs as Jesse just clasps his hands behind his back, contently quiet after that. Radar meanwhile seems to retreat to his own thoughts. With his hands tightly gripping the strap of his bag, Jesse almost starts to worry again before he lights up, eyes big and bright.
“Oh! Hey Jesse! How about this—Meet me here day after tomorrow at about noon and I’ll have somethin’ easy for you to do!”
“Oh?” Jesse quirks a brow, “Mind telling me what that thing is?”
“I do mind actually,” Radar hums with a cheeky smile, “Trust me on this. It’ll be a nice change of pace.”
“Okay, I’ll trust you.” He replies with a chuckle and Radar beams.
“Yes! Awesome! Thanks, Jesse! I-I really gotta go now though!” He blurts out, quickly beginning to recede from him. Jesse just waves him off with an easygoing smile.
“Go on! You’re gonna make Lukas worry if you’re late.”
“On it!”
And like that, Radar turns on heel and races—or rather, intensely speedwalks—out of the room and building. Once alone again, Jesse blows out a sigh. He sits down on the cool stone steps, using the top one to stretch his back a little as he leans up against it. He gets a refreshing popping and blows out some tension at that. Didn’t even realize he had some sort of knot back there.
Once settled he spares another glance around him. An egg and an end crystal missing… and now Ivor has gone and borrowed his axe. He can’t help but chuckle a little as he rubs at his eyes. At this rate he’s gonna have to armor back up and go grab some new trinkets to display. But admittedly, even a normal adventure sounds exhausting at the moment. The Portal Hall will always be there when he’s ready, and he is by no means ready. With that thought he carefully pushes himself to his feet and slowly meanders out of the Order Hall.
Chapter 37: Facts
Summary:
Jesse gets a fun new ability, finally gets to read the end of his father's last journal, and learns a few more unexpected details about his situation in town--for better or for worse.
Notes:
HIIIII <- IS LIKE TWO WEEKS LATE AGAIN <3 <3
sorey abt zat 🧍I got my new job and immediately got put on more hours than I anticipated due to some understaffing 😭😭😭 BUT ITS FUN ITS V FUN !!! And that said SO IS THIS CHAPTER LIKE OUGH. O U G H. took me a hot minute to get some transitions down and scenes fine-tune the scenes themselves to make sure I didn't forget my own writing and plans and am pretty happy with this!!Big ol 16k chapter and the part 2 to the last one! Im so fucking glad I split them bc girl there is. SO much happening 😭
Have fun! <3
Chapter Text
The midday sun beats down relentlessly as per usual as the day slowly drags on. Stepping outside of the Order Hall’s doors, Jesse’s hit with a warm breeze that mixes a little with the cold air escaping from the building. It’s almost refreshing in its own right. The shade the little breezeway leading up to the doors provides is certainly a plus. As the doors thud shut behind him, he takes his time crossing it back to the main road. He stops briefly about halfway across to lean on the cool stone railing and glance out over at the sparkling water of the stream that runs beneath the breezeway—crystal clear and an almost shimmering aqua, just like it should be. A smile tugs at his lips as his gaze wanders a little upstream and he spots some people wading into the cool water and splashing each other as they go. A normal summer in the making for everyone else, he’s thankful for that at least. As long as his people are okay in these weird times then things should work out.
He pushes off the railing and continues his march to the main street. The sun’s warm on his skin as he leaves the shade and above him the sky is a perfect blue without a cloud in sight. Though, the town’s nameworthy beacon certainly fills some of that blank space. Such a sturdy device already, but that Witherstorm’s nether star is probably strong enough to keep the machine running for centuries to come. It hurts his brain a little to think about too hard, but at least it’s a comforting constant, not to mention something that makes Beacontown truly feel like home.
But enough reminiscing, he’s still got some work cut out for him back home. He can’t help but be a little disappointed that Radar had to leave so soon, he’d’ve been happy to procrastinate on reading those final entries for a little longer. But, c’est la vie. He can always walk slow.
The main drag is always a lovely sight, and despite the eventfulness around town lately, Monday afternoon is as busy as ever. He passes by lots of people who greet him with brief waves and smiles, and a few who even stop to chat. Though there’s also the types that offer him stern looks or even brush shoulders with him. Not that he can say he blames them. He isn’t quite sure where he’s even wandering to at this point, but slowly back to Lukas’ place is his best place. He briefly considers stopping by Ivor’s, or maybe seeing the old Order in general, but that just feels a little too on the nose for him. No, he’s got things to do and demons to face.
A whistle catches Jesse’s attention and his eyes quickly snap behind him. To his surprise, he’s greeted with a smile and a wave by Bruce before he jogs over from the other side of the road. In his hand is something that makes Jesse’s heart leap in anticipation—his diamond axe’s blade shimmers brilliantly in the midday sun. As Bruce stops before him, Jesse greets him with a bright smile, both excited to see him and his axe as well as relieved for another distraction.
“Hey kid! Glad I caught ya—Check this out!” The man says quickly between breaths, but not stopping to breathe before he holds the axe out for Jesse to take. He’s utterly beaming with pride and it’s infectious. Jesse hurries to indulge him, taking the axe carefully and examining it.
The first thing he notices is a slight tingle in his hands as he grips it, and it sends a chill up his spine. Like there’s a buzz in it or something, but it makes him feel just a little more energized. Physically, it’s not super different, however near the top of the hilt, an indentation has been carved out and that geomancer’s stone fitted perfectly into place. It’s outlined in a bit of silver, making the design a bit cleaner and keeping the blues from both the hilt and gem from clashing too much. Running his fingers over it, he can’t help but be awed by the quality of work—it’s like the axe had always had the gem in it. It’s perfect. On top of it, it seems that the gem was also minorly cut and polished in addition to the blade being sharpened. His pleasant surprise must be written all over him by the way the man’s grin brightens. He leans in a little and points to the stone as he speaks again.
“Fit like a glove and works just like Al said it would! Also gave the whole thing a little bit of polish and sharpened the blade up for ya—she’s fresh as a daisy!”
“Oh man, you didn’t have to do all that.” Jesse says with a simple shake of his head, but unable to wipe the smile off of his face or even tear his eyes away from his weapon. Bruce shrugs.
“Eh, was pretty simple routine! Jack’s lendin’ me his bench for the meantime so I figured I might as well put the time to good use.” He hums and gives Jesse a playful nudge, getting a chuckle out of him in turn. Jesse raises the axe a little in his hands, admiring how the sun pierces through the sapphire blue stone.
“How do I use it?” He asks quickly, unable to keep his excitement out of his voice as he begins tossing it between his hands. He pauses briefly as a thought crosses his mind and he shoots Bruce a grimace, “It doesn't need souls does it…?”
The man quickly shakes his head and waves the idea off, “No sir! Not in the way you’re thinkin’ anyways. Most standard magic is drawn from our own power which is technically where that soul stuff comes in, but this little guy isn’t gonna be having you collect others. Pretty simple magic, actually. It’ll need to recharge on its own but you’ll fall into step with it pretty easily, I’m certain. You’ll probably feel a bit of a buzz while holdin’ onto it! Kinda staticy.”
“Yeah, I noticed the staticy part! Is that just kinda standard?”
“It is, yeah, but trust me when I say that you’ll get used to it so fast that it’ll feel like any other weapon to ya soon enough. Especially since your family seems a little predisposed to lightning magic.” He jokes and Jesse laughs a little sheepishly with him—guess he really is starting to take after his uncle these days. A part of him feels a little relieved to hear a joke like that though considering how his uncle last used his lightning around them.
“Awesome. I just— I can’t believe there’s still so much out there left to learn about!” Jesse beams with a shake of his head, “Magic, mobs, dimensions—there’s still so much left to explore I feel like I hardly know where to start!”
Bruce smiles nostalgically, “It’s almost overwhelming, isn’t it? I hear ya. But you’re still young—you’ve got plenty of time to discover it all.” He claps his hands together, “But you could get me talking for weeks about all that! For now, let’s focus on getting ya set up with this sweet new axe, yeah?”
“Yes please! Can you show me?”
Bruce grins, “Happy to! Probably best to test this stuff outside of the walls though—don’t wanna electrocute any innocent pedestrians.”
Jesse nods quickly and hands him the axe back for the meantime then jerks a thumb over his shoulder, “We can go along the road between Beacontown and Champion City. There’s a lot of field space out there.”
“Lead the way kiddo!” He waves his hand forward with a smile and Jesse nods, taking the lead as they head back down main street. The city’s grown enough that it’s less of a straight shot from the Order Hall to the Main Gate than it used to be. The road eventually ends up curving and weaving around as it follows along the riverbank, but it’s a nice walk through the heart of everything. Somewhat long on foot at his current pace though, but he knows better than to push himself right before he tests something as crazy as throwing lightning from his axe. He can’t help but feel a little self-conscious as he notices Bruce slowing his pace a little for him, so he opts to at least make some small-talk.
“Petra mention any troubles with the enchanting?” Jesse asks and points vaguely at his axe now hanging at Bruce’s hip. The man blinks then purses his lips with a thoughtful hum. He shakes his head though.
“Nope. She did a fantastic job with it like you said she would.”
“You were there?” He asks and his voice cracks much to his own horror. He clears his throat and rubs his neck a little as his cheeks burn. Bruce just glances at him casually and nods.
“Sure was! She wanted to shadow me a lil and learn how to imbue regular weapons, so I showed her the ropes.” He says matter-of-factly with a shrug. There’s a beat of silence however and finally his nonchalant air slips as he quiets his voice and glances at Jesse out of the corner of his eye, “… Talked a bit too.”
“Ah.” Jesse grimaces and stops in place for a moment to just run his hands through his hair. Bruce stops a pace ahead of him and just shoots him a sympathetic smile. Jesse sighs at that and drops his gaze to the ground as he shakes his head. Bruce rests his hands on his hips as he continues regardless.
“She’s pretty torn up about the whole thing... Though, given that reaction, it doesn’t look like you’re fairing much better.”
“… No.” Jesse sighs and finally forces himself forward again, probably a little faster than he should and gesturing wildly as he speaks now, “But I don’t know what to do! I-I mean I get it, I understand WHY she wouldn’t wanna just cave—Alex is her sister after all. And she JUST got her back. If it were me, no way would I wanna just accept the accusations I was slinging her way.” He pauses, losing a little steam and just dropping his hands to his sides, “But unfortunately that’s put us at a stand-still… I can’t just IGNORE the possibility that Alex had a hand in things, but I don’t want this to come to a hill I die on.”
“Hmm… Certainly a dilemma if I’ve ever heard one.” Bruce mumbles and Jesse blows out a tense sigh. He kicks a rock along the cobblestones, watching it bounce and roll further down the road and slight incline downhill until finally disappearing from sight into the crevices and cracks in the stone.
“Guess we’re both too stubborn for our own good…”
“Well now, where have I heard THAT one before?” Bruce huffs earning a bitter smile from Jesse. The man speeds up a little to catch back up to him and Jesse rubs his arms nervously as he drags his gaze up to meet his.
“ … Ever come up with a solution?” He mumbles, desperate for any kind of solution to this stalemate at this point.
“For your father and I? Sheesh…” Bruce grimaces and rubs the back of his neck. Jesse notes the old endermen scars peeking out from underneath his bandanna as he does. Guess they’re matching with a few things now. Eventually Bruce shrugs a little, “Well, I’ve certainly had time to mull it all over. But… Best thing I could ever come up with is just— Finding a way to swallow my pride and talk.”
“Eugh… Wish we could just wrestle a little and call it good.” Jesse grumbles which manages to get a laugh out of Bruce. He reaches over and claps him on the back with that one and Jesse smiles at the gesture.
“Well, fighting can’t be the answer to everything, unfortunately. Nah, some things just require you to boot up and face it head-on. Though I get the feeling you already knew that…” He hums and Jesse sighs again.
“Yeah. Figured you’d say that. I’ve just got so much at stake here, it’s not just about me or my family shit anymore—it’s about the safety of everyone in Beacontown… Takes a whole different type of bravery for this… Easy way out is to just— Dig your heels in. Stick to your guns.”
“You don’t strike me as the type willing to just lay down and let that happen.” Bruce mumbles and Jesse nods.
“No, you’ve got that right. Doesn’t make it any easier though.” He says with a frown and Bruce reaches up to pat his shoulder this time.
“If anyone can pull it off, I’m sure you two can. Be better than us old-farts and straighten this out, alright? Especially while it’s still something on talking level. Resentment ain’t a pretty thing, kid.” He says with a seriousness that he’s only seen a few times before. Jesse tenses but returns a stern nod.
“I won’t. Trust me—I hear you.” He pauses, grimacing again, “I just— I just gotta figure out where to even begin.”
Bruce pulls back a moment to think. He crosses his arms and mulls it over as he glances at the city around them. After a minute or so he nods to himself then returns his gaze to Jesse.
“Why not thank her?”
“Huh?” Jesse blinks. Bruce unhooks the axe from his belt and holds it up between them for emphasis. Jesse takes it from him slowly and Bruce gives the blade a light flick which echoes with a metallic ting.
“Thank her for helping with the axe. She didn’t cut any corners no matter how mad she was. Then go from there. Breaking the ice is the hardest part I think.”
Jesse begins nodding slowly as he stares down at his axe, “That’s… I can do that, I think.”
“Sure you can, kid. Have a little confidence, now.” He pauses then rubs his neck again, “Only other advice? Be careful with what accusations you start throwing around. I know you’re damn stressed and take after your uncle with that bleeding heart of yours, but letting your emotions throw words outta your mouth before you can really think could just get you into trouble. You saw how it got to your uncle back at that cave…”
Jesse freezes up a little at that, shame bubbling up fast. Oh god, is he really starting to act like that? He’s always struggled with his own filter, but he’d been doing so much better in recent years, the confirmation he could be getting worse again is a hit he wasn’t expecting.
“I… I didn’t even realize it’d gotten so…” He mumbles and Bruce’s eyes widen a little and he quickly brings a hand back up to his shoulders.
“Hey hey! It’s okay—It’s all good! If I was in your shoes I’d probably be doin’ the same and I’m sure that even Petra understands that on some level. You’ve got a lot happening right now, I’m just saying that, because of that, watch yourself a little closer. It’s easy for emotions to get the better of ya, especially when ya feel vulnerable.”
“R-Right. Thank you, I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, kid, sure… No hard feelings, really.”
“I know.” Jesse says with a small smile and the man relaxes a little. Bruce rubs his neck a little and looks like he wants to say something else but holds back. Jesse nudges him with a somewhat sly smile and the man startles a little.
“Oh— Uh— I-I mean, I dunno, you’ve certainly heard more than enough of my two cents already, kid.” He mumbles and Jesse laughs a little at that.
“That’s fine. I like hearing it, I could use some other perspectives—especially now. I can hardly trust my own mind right now with the way my memories are still flitting in and out.”
Bruce frowns a little at that but nods, “Damn. Really did a number on you, then…”
Jesse shrugs with a tired smile, “I’m getting better. Slowly but surely.”
“That’s good. No more endermen for a while, yeah?” He jokes a little and Jesse nods, “Anyways just— What I was thinkin’ is that I dunno why Alex would do such a thing. But then again, I haven’t exactly seen her in years. She didn’t seem off in any way when we first ran into each other at the docks, but I guess I dunno if I can accurately judge her character anymore.”
“I see…” Jesse hums, mulling the information over. He plucks at one of his curls as he recalls the section of his father’s journal he read this morning, “I’ve been starting to go through my father’s journal. He mentioned that he thought Alex might’ve resented him for Hiro’s death.”
Bruce’s brows shoot up, “Really?”
“Mhm. Said he figured she took to Hiro like you took to him. He wasn’t upset at her for it though, just seemed sad. But even then, I’m not sure. Something still doesn’t feel right, and if I just sling accusations around, like you said, it’ll just get me into more trouble. At the same time though, I can’t just ignore the problem—who knows what’ll happen next with the stuff whoever this is took from your shop! And then there’s the fact there could still be a group out there when she’s working alone… It’s not adding up…” He grumbles and Bruce frowns, nodding slowly.
“I see… Unfortunately, your guess is as good as mine with her at the moment. But I would encourage talkin’ to her or at least keeping an eye on her. If worst comes to worst, then at least she’d not be likely to act with eyes on her, capiche?”
“I hear you. I’ll consider it. She does seem really nice… Petra hasn’t said a bad thing about her.”
“She’s a good woman, from what I know of her anyways. Try not to be paranoid, but don’t let your guard down too much, kiddo.”
“Thanks Bruce. I won’t. Just sucks not knowing who I can even trust anymore. Between my uncle, that scare with you, and now Alex it’s just so— so frustrating and honestly scary.”
“I can imagine… Sorry again about that room deal—I really was gonna ask you about it, but with the way that day ended…” He grimaces awkwardly, “I figured one thing at a time. That journal was first priority. Glad it’s been a bit of use so far.”
“I understand. I still gotta get his address from you to thank him.”
“Oh yeah huh! Well, I can start by telling ya his name—the old codger is Henry Cobbler, he’s out east in a little portside town across the sea. Town of Colkirk! Sweet ol’ bastard, lemme tell ya.” He smiles warmly with a chuckle and Jesse nods along. He’s heard of Colkirk, stopped in it once while on an excursion exploring a sea monument about three to four years back. Cute little place. Bruce nudges Jesse, a playful glint in his eyes, “Don’t tell Al I saw him! She’s got a whole little competition goin’ on with the guy and would never let me hear the end of seein’ him without her.”
Jesse laughs a little at that and crosses his heart, “Your little trip’s safe with me… For now, anyway.” He grins and Bruce balks.
“Hey now! Just whose side are you on?” He teases, giving him a shove that sends him stumbling to the side, albeit laughing all the way. Jesse just smiles innocently and speeds ahead as Bruce shakes his head. Comfortable silence returns with that.
The walk remains pleasant and the streets busy with horses, carriages, consumers and merchants all bustling to get to where they need to be. As Jesse and Bruce bolt to the side of the walkway to make room for a woman sprinting down in a particular rush, the town’s clocktower echoes in the distance. Only two chimes—2 PM then. Jesse blows out a small sigh of relief at the normal hustle and bustle that follows. Every time he hears that clock now it’s like a gamble. Who knows if or when his little pursuer is gonna hit next? They’ve been inactive for a week now, which is less comforting than Jesse expected it to be. A light pat on the back brings him out of his thoughts and back to the present as Bruce just nods them along. He quietly thanks him and they’re back on their way.
For a man as charismatic and outspoken as Bruce, he’s surprised to see how quiet he can get. Introspective is the word, he thinks. It’s something he easily recognizes from himself, but it still can’t help but make him curious. He’s got a lot of knowledge of the world bouncing around that head of his—Jesse knows what he spends his time thinking about, but isn’t quite sure where Bruce would lie. Though these days his business and the cinders remaining of his shop are probably at the forefront of it all. He falls back into step with him and, after a moment of consideration, he nudges him again.
“Penny for your thoughts? Looks like you’re thinking hard… Thinking about your business?”
“We’re gonna run outta spare change soon, kid.” He jokes and Jesse snorts at that. Bruce sighs and shakes his head, “Nah, not thinkin’ about that though… Certainly got plenty o’ time to do that already.”
“I bet.” Jesse says with a wince and Bruce shares the sentiment. He stuffs his hands in his pockets as he thinks, seemingly a little nervous if the way he rolls his shoulders on top of it is anything to go by.
“I’m just uh… I dunno… Lamenting? Is that the word?”
“Uh-oh, dangerous territory with that.” Jesse dryly jokes, getting a small smirk out of Bruce.
“Yeah, you could say that again.”
“What are you lamenting?”
Bruce blows out a long sigh, “Well… I just… I dunno. I can’t help but wonder, y’know? Wonder what would’ve happened if things were different. Hell, even a small change could’ve gone a long ways. The Nether’s been built up with all these fortresses and highways for what feels like eons now but what do we have to say for the End? Those books the Order had are probably the best sources of knowledge we’ve got on the place. And even then, who’s to say if they’re even accurate anymore? Not like anyone goes there to check.”
Jesse huffs at that, “You could say that again. The books are interesting to say the least. They speak of so much—forests with giant purple trees, a plethora of different biomes, other types of endermen, cities, docks, and structures beyond what we can even imagine.” He shakes his head in disbelief as he remembers all the passages and occasional sketches jotted down in the old tomes. They described a place that was beautiful and teeming with life, but where was any of that in their world now?
“That sounds wonderful, but…”
“But where is any of that, right?” Jesse shrugs, “I wish I knew. I bet it’s all died off by now, either by neglect, the dragon, or hell even something Romeo did during his reign as admin. All that could be seen when we went there last were barren distant islands with the occasional chorus fruit forests. I’d be more concerned about the dust storms there than some unknown enderman variation.”
“Eugh, that damn end dust is something awful.” Bruce groans, “Causes blindness and dizziness if inhaled. Can tell you that just from my minimal experience tryin’ to trudge through those islands. Obviously didn’t get much further past that as you well know. And that goes back into my point! Anyone who’s seen some other part of The End or, hell, anyone who can even navigate it has probably either died or gotten lost out there eventually. Everything looks the same, just like you described. And it’s not like anyone’s bothered to try mapping the place out, unlike the Nether.” He rants and Jesse stops in place there. Bruce continues, not noticing, “Even if there isn’t much to find, a little direction would be nice… If there’d’ve been even the most bare bones of maps or structures back in the day then maybe just…” He trails off, getting a distant look in his eyes. He sighs and shakes it off, “You know what I mean?” He asks only to get a beat of silence in return.
Bruce stops, only now noticing that Jesse stopped walking with him a minute ago. He looks back at him in confusion only to find Jesse seemingly deep in thought. He plucks at his lips, gears turning in his head and some sort of idea obviously forming.
“... Huh.” He hums and Bruce just quirks a brow.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing.” Jesse waves him off, quickly picking his pace back up and passing him, “I guess I just never thought of it that way. I know that it’s been a place of mystery for ages, but I guess I never considered it being equal to the Nether. I mean, that place was a total mystery at one point too, right? But then people explored it. Mapped it. Everyday folk even though it’s one of the most dangerous places out there.”
“Yeah…?” Bruce agrees albeit very tentatively. Jesse smiles and nods.
“Relax, that’s all I was thinking about. C’mon, you gotta show me how to chuck some lightning around!” He says, quickly grabbing Bruce by the arm and yanking him forward and through the gates.
“Woah! Okay, okay, kid! Slow it down a little!” He sputters out though it falls on deaf ears for the moment. They hustle to get out of the gate before a crowd sweeps in, but then finally Jesse’s eagerness seems to ease up and they’re back to a casual walk. The road out of Beacontown over to Champion City has always been a pleasant walk—out of the hustle and bustle and back into nature the moment the city walls are left. There are a plethora of farms and orchards nestled in amongst the flatlands and the rolling hills in the distance, but the main areas along the roads have remained fairly untouched yet. Romeo’s little Hellhole certainly hurt any real-estate prospects. Then this Ancient City business that’s somewhere out here beneath it all certainly won’t improve them. Makes for perfect space for moments like these however.
“We should probably find a spot on the road so we don’t catch anything on f—”
“Nope! Trust me, I’m a pro—no fire’s gonna start.”
“Uh— Okay… If you’re wrong though then you’re taking the fall.” Jesse mumbles and Bruce barks out a laugh.
“Deal, kid!”
They find a spot and finally stop, hopping off the road and moving into the lush grass of the fields. They’re soft and raise to their knees, in the process of shifting from green to that nice golden hue so characteristic of summer. Tall flowers of varying colors also spring up between the grasses—Jesse recognizes a lot of them as weeds he used to help his father pull back home, but outside of being a farmer’s plague, they’re quite beautiful. Jesse tosses Bruce his axe and they get down to business.
“Alright, so these things tend to charge pretty dang fast! Your axe is smaller than the staff this guy was initially tucked into, so you’re likely gonna get a little boost anyways. May not be as snappy as your uncle but, hey, considering you’re a mere mortal like the rest of us I’d say it’s not too shabby. It’ll just be about timing your shots well.”
“Gotcha. Okay. How do I tell if it’s charged?”
“The stone itself’ll tell ya. Here, check it out,” Bruce steps close again and holds the axe up so they both can see. The sapphire blue stone shimmers in the sun once again, though looking a little closer Jesse can see what look like sparks flicking around inside of it.
“It’s sparking inside?”
“Bingo!” Bruce smiles and pulls back, spinning the axe in his hand, “That means you’re locked and loaded. Might take somewhere from 10 to 15 seconds to recharge—we’ll see. And now, I know that doesn’t sound like a whole lotta time right now, but you gotta remember just how long that feels in the heat of a fight. A lot can happen in ten seconds, so you’d best watch yourself real carefully, got it?”
“Loud and clear. How do I activate it…?”
“Ah, now there’s the fun part! Or tricky part, depending on your definition.” he shrugs, “It’s… Well, it’s more intuitive than anything. I’m not sure how else to describe it, but you have to put your whole body into it. Since this guy doesn’t run off of souls unlike other staffs and artifacts, it’s gonna be drawing on your power. Now, I wouldn’t’ve done this upgrade for ya if I didn’t think you couldn’t handle it, but that means you gotta be careful. If you hesitate or backpedal on a command—for whatever reason—you could receive the kickback and be electrocuted yourself. It’s a trade off.”
Jesse tenses at that, fear suddenly washing over him. It must be obvious, too. Bruce hurries over to give him a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.
“Hey, hey, listen— I know that sounds real awful—”
“Uh, yeah.”
“But! Buuuut, I promise it really ain’t. It’s real easy to get a command through. Happens just like that.” He snaps his fingers in a flash and smiles, “I’m just giving you the warning now so you know. You gotta commit to it. But, I know how life can be, so if you ever find yourself in a situation where you think you’re gonna get the kickback then just chuck your weapon away. It may go a little haywire, but you’re more likely to avoid getting the brunt of it that way than if you’re still clinging on tight. I know I’ve had to do that once or twice. Not fun, but it kept me alive.”
“O-Okay… Is there anything else I should expect…?”
“The first few times you use this, you’re probably gonna feel pretty drained since it’s running off your own energy,” He gently bumps Jesse’s chest above the heart as he says this, “But that’s normal. It’s just an adjustment period like everything else. I think you’re more than predisposed to handle this stuff amazingly though, kid. You’ve been through enough to get the experience it takes to be a real menace with this thing.” He says with a smile.
“And you think it’s worth the risk?”
“The risk is small. I’m only telling you so you don’t get surprised. It’s easier than it sounds—Check it!” He bounces back a pace, twirls the axe once in his hand then flings his arm out, using the blade of the axe to point to a spot on the ground not too far from them. In a flash the blue stone openly crackles then there’s a briefly blinding flash from the weapon. Immediately it’s followed by a thunderous clap and bolt of lightning striking the ground right where Bruce aimed. Characteristic of the element, it’s gone in a flash and only leaves charred grass in its wake—and like he said, it was so concentrated that any fire choked on the ash before it even had a chance to breathe. Jesse just stands there staring with his mouth agape. He would be able to do that? With just his axe? A-And he made it look so easy!
Bruce lets out a satisfied hum and hurries over, pointing to the gem quickly before Jesse can even pick his jaw up off the floor. He sees what he’s hurrying to point out though, the gem has momentarily lost its brilliant color and is almost grey in appearance, though regaining itself quickly—this must be the charging. Bruce shoves the weapon into his hands, shaking him out of his awe as he squeezes his fists around the hilt. Jesse blinks.
“You want me to try already?”
“You want to though, don’t you?” He asks with a sly grin and Jesse can barely hold a serious face for a second before a grin sweeps across his own face. He'd be lying if he said he didn’t. Bruce laughs and claps him on the arm, “Thought so! But um…” He pauses then takes him by the shoulders and guides him back to the pavement. Jesse quirks a brow and he smiles sheepishly, “I’m a pro. You’re a rookie. Or in layman’s terms—a walking fire-hazard.”
“Oh wow.” Jesse responds dryly with a slight glare. Bruce just snickers then points out at a spot about 15 feet ahead of them.
“Okay, you’ve got some pretty good range on that thing, but for now you gotta just get a feeling for it before trying anything fancy. What I did was a pretty basic shot—the better you get, the more tricks you can pull off, especially with an axe as unique as yours. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I want you to aim for that spot in the middle of the road between the two lamp posts, got it?”
“G-Got it.”
“Good!” He pats him on the shoulders then bounces back a few paces, “Now, don’t overthink it. Feel it. Envision where you want it and then strike with your all—that’s all it takes.”
All it takes, huh? Jesse shakes his head at himself as he stares down at the axe in his two hands. He almost feels like he’s never held the weapon before in his life at this point. It reminds him a little of the lessons his father used to give him when he was a kid. He stares down at that beautiful jewel sitting perfectly in place and just waiting for him to give the call, already sparking within itself once again. An electric feeling runs up his arms and makes his stomach flip. He swallows and readjusts his grip. Ahead, the road is empty—just cobbles upon cobbles into the distant horizon where Champion City rises up out of the ground.
He beat god in a fistfight, he can handle a little lightning. Yeah! No problem!
… And yet he feels so beyond awkward like this. What’s he doing trying to hold his axe like some sort of awkward sword? He has to loosen up. He blows out a sigh and forces himself to let go with one hand and stand up straight. As he lets go with one hand, he feels the electricity intensify in his other. It’s foreign and odd, certainly, but that sense of invigoration returns. And as he stares down that simple cobblestone road and lets the feeling wash over him, a sense of serenity does as well. He raises his axe, testing his aim down its hilt. He bounces it lightly in his hand and chews on his lip. Dropping it back down by his waist, he feels as ready as he’ll ever be. With one final breath he bounces on the balls of his feet and mimics Bruce’s motion.
He flings the axe out, aiming once more with the hilt and stepping hard into the motion. As he moves, the image of lightning crashing into that spot flashes through his head and he feels a pull resonate from deep within his chest—almost like a vacuum. And as he firmly plants his foot down on the ground, that almost empty feeling in his chest bursts into a warm and almost sparking feeling of sheer energy and he can hear the crackling from his axe ring in his ears. As his chest blooms, the stone flashes right in the center of his vision and his heart races. Just like before, there’s a thunderous clap and a large bolt of lightning slams down dead ahead of him.
But unlike Bruce’s, his bolt is messy and comes down in multiple tendrils that send sparks flying. And even more unlike Bruce’s, the moment that lightning blasts the ground, there’s an unexpected kickback from his axe that sends him flying back with a surprising bit of airtime. Jesse barely gets a yelp out before he hits the ground again and is sent rolling the rest of the way.
“Shit! Kid, you alright?!” Bruce curses as he hurries over. Jesse coughs a little, grimacing a bit as his side punishes him for that but nods. He waves the man off and Bruce scowls but does. He clasps Jesse’s hand and helps him up and he stumbles a little once on his feet again. As Bruces steadies him and mumbles whatever worries he’s rattling off, Jesse glances back at where his lightning struck and sees a large charred patch of ground. He can’t help the grin that slinks across his face. Bruce stops talking at some point and Jesse glances back to see him looking at him with a question in his eyes. Jesse stutters, not even slightly aware of what he asked him. He just says the first thing that comes to mind.
“... That was so cool. I wanna try again.”
Bruce blinks. And he stares, mouth just slightly agape. Apparently that was not any answer he was looking for. However, it seems like it was a pretty good one. After a moment or so of silence, Bruce starts laughing—quiet at first but steadily increasing in volume and intensity. He steps back a pace from Jesse to rest a hand on his hip and press the other to his forehead. He stares up at the sky and shakes his head. Jesse ends up joining, probably far more giggly than he should be considering how that just went. Finally Bruce turns back to him and gives both his arms a solid clap.
“Atta kid! That’s what we like t’ hear!”
Jesse beams and raises a hand which makes Bruce laugh a little harder. He obliges with a nod however and gives him a solid high-five. Jesse whoops, back to bouncing on the balls of his feet and glancing back down the road. Bruce snorts and reaches over, stopping his bouncing early.
“Okay! Okay, I’m super glad you’re pumped about this, but one thing at a time! I think that’s probably good enough for today with that little explosion.”
“What?! But I—”
“Got thrown a good 5 feet before rolling another 5. You are really gonna feel that in the morning. You can try it again when you’re less battered, yeah?”
“Aw c’mon!” He complains and Bruce just shakes his head with a smile, already starting to walk back. Jesse sighs, looking down at his axe sadly before begrudgingly falling back into pace with the man. He admires the stone, watching it subtly flash as it finishes its recharge. Content, he slings it into its loop on his belt, a feeling of comfort enveloping him as he does. It’s good to have it back. Bruce glances back at him and nudges his arm.
“No wounds reopening?”
“Does my pride count?” Jesse asks and Bruce barks out another laugh. He nods along—fair enough.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I honestly forgot that was a thing that could happen.”
“What was it exactly?”
“Well, most people’s souls have power, and they grow as you grow, which makes sense. Magic is an outlet for all that energy. But if you’ve got a lotta power in there,” He says as he lightly bumps Jesse’s chest with his fist again, “And no outlet for years, then the first chance it gets, it’ll probably overcharge. Mine sure did—though not quite as spectacularly as yours! My compliments to you, kid.”
Jesse snorts at that, “Sure, sure. So, do I gotta worry about that happening again?”
“Unless you wait another 26 years to use it again then, no, certainly not on that level. You actually had pretty good control considering. Thinking back, I’ve seen some people have quite the explosive starts. You’ve got a natural talent for it, I’m certain.” He says with a smile and Jesse returns it.
“Thanks Bruce.”
~~~~~
By the time Jesse gets back to Lukas’, the aches are certainly settling in from his little tumble. Getting in the door and getting to put his axe away and take his shoes off is beyond relieving. Lukas isn’t back yet, though he can’t say he’s surprised—it’s still fairly early in the afternoon with plenty of daylight left to spare. He’ll probably be on his own for a bit yet. The first thing he does? Get a scalding hot shower. His body’ll thank him later and he knows it. Thankfully—aside from pain—his lacerations are fine and remain shut and slowly healing. They’re getting less red. Still swollen and ugly, but not infected and the scabs are a refreshing sight. His body at work. Still definitely seen better days when looking in the mirror though.
After the shower’s said and done (and Dewey has had his fill of wailing at the shut door the whole time), he meanders back to his room. That silly cat remains in hot pursuit the whole way and Jesse smiles as he weaves in and out of his legs. Dewey hops up onto his bed first thing and runs along it by his side the whole way down, standing tall against the end bed frame and howling at Jesse. He stops his search for any decent shirt he’s got lying around to chuckle and pet the demanding ocelot. Placated, Dewey returns to the head of the bed and settles down on his pillow. Jesse rolls his eyes and moves along, finding a button-up draped over the top of his mirror and tugging that on. It’s light and the fabric is cool to the touch—built for the summer, much to his relief.
He pauses a moment to glance at himself in the mirror. He purses his lips and hums disapprovingly at his hair hanging so low in his face. His bangs are unruly and the rest of it is getting dangerously close to brushing against his shoulders. He plucks at a loose strand and runs his fingers along it, testing its length, then frowns. He needs a trim. Or, as he wraps the back up and lifts it away from his shirt’s collar, something to help him pin it up at the very least.
Digging around in her bag she pulls out a barrette and waves Jesse over before promptly dropping it in his free hand. He huffs in amusement as he looks over the fancy silver thing. Engraved flower patterns with pearls set within. She grabs her hair and starts pulling it up and notices him admiring the little accessory with a grin, “Like it?”
Jesse’s cheeks flush a little and he stutters, “I– Uh– Well, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t nice.”
“It’d look good on you! With the rate your hair’s growing I might just gift it to you!” She giggles as she plucks it out of his hand and sticks it into her hair.
The corners of his mouth quirk upwards a little at the memory. He probably won’t take Stella up on that little jab, but it’s a nice offer. Probably anyways. Though, maybe a change of pace could be nice. He hums in thought before sighing. Whatever, he’ll consider it later. Dewey lets out another loud meow and Jesse sighs, stepping back from the mirror to eye him.
“I hear you. I know. I won’t procrastinate anymore! This is it! Really! Doing it right now!” He says with his hands up. Dewey simply stares at him, leaving him certainly self conscious. He lets go of his hair to rub his neck, “And now I’m acting like you know what I’m even doing… Anything to put off the inevitable, huh Jesse?” He mumbles to himself, hands sternly on his hips as he stares down that stack of journals. In one swift move he strides over, snags the last one off the top, then hops onto his bed. It bounces a little and only slightly disturbs Dewey. Jesse pays him no mind, merely scooting back to lean up against the headboard as he stares down at the old leather once again.
“Alright dad… Let’s see what you’ve got for me… Gimme something to work with here…” He mumbles, finally pushing it open and flipping through the pages and past the entries upon entries he’s scoured already. He passes ones talking about Jesse’s 10th birthday, about the following fall and winter, about their lives back home enduring the mundane. His eyes briefly linger on the journal entry from when he got his scar.
We had a run-in today. Or tonight, rather. Jesse and I got into a rare argument about his uncle—he’s angry I won’t tell him the details of what happened yet. I cannot put into words the pain it brings me to keep the truth from him, but I don’t want to scare him so bad so young. But, being ten, it all looks so different for him. He stormed out in a fit to go cool off outside with the animals—something he’s done a million times before. It was sunset around then, but the sky was still orange so I kept myself from going after him right away. I’ve always done my best to give him the space he needs before we talk again, but god how I regret it tonight. An orange sky still means a setting sun, and that still means there are monsters about.
I had barely sat down before I heard him scream. I’ve never felt my blood run cold so fast or knew that my heart could drop so far down into my gut. I’m not sure who there is to thank out there—if anyone—for the fact that I got to him quick enough, but they have my thanks. He’s alright now, just a bit banged up and shaken. He’s got a good scratch over his eye that may scar, I just hope his eye isn’t damaged—it doesn’t seem to be at this point. Though, I would take anything over losing my boy.
The rest continues with some similar introspection and guilt laced in. The biggest thing of note however is the shakiness of the handwriting compared to his father’s other entries. He remembers his father being worried for him that night, but he put on such a calm front for his own sake. It’s a sobering experience to see. As he turns the pages once again, he gets the feeling that that scribbly scrawl is going to return in the later entries. He passes the entry about them moving he read earlier that day and feels his stomach churn seeing how few written pages were left comparatively. Almost there. He knows the section he needs when he reaches it, no thanks to his father creating a large header simply labeled ‘STRONGHOLD’ at the top of the page. Seems he doubled his journal as his notebook. Underneath, he began taking notes.
STRONGHOLD
Discoverable through large lush cavern connected to mineshaft—long drop down from platform however second path that wraps around and down
Exposed church bells viewable from distance—larger complex than others
Section exposed to cavern seems to be old guard barracks—Need to be careful; many of those trapped
Already disabled a few up front
Underwater lake/aquifer accessible via Lush cavern
His initial notes are all very straight and to the point. An eerie sense of deja vu—if that’s even the proper word for it—washes over him. He knows exactly what each of these bullet points are talking about. He was there. He saw them all for himself. He walked those same grounds like he was following the ghost of his father. Briefly, he catches himself wondering if his spirit helped them down there at all. Guided them. Who knows what even happened in that span of time he was apparently dragging Lukas upwards—that’s all fog to him and Lukas certainly wouldn’t remember. Perhaps, at least for the meantime, he’ll believe that his father helped them and was down there with them. Always looking after them.
He sucks in a deep breath and pushes forward, flipping the page to something more akin to an actual journal entry.
I’ve momentarily stopped to both eat and gather my thoughts.
There’s a lot down here. So much more than I ever could’ve fathomed. The Stronghold that Hiro and I explored just four years ago felt enormous—but it was nothing compared to this spectacle of a structure. These architects must’ve worked for years down here, especially with how detailed some of it is.
I’m in the library now, and it’s breathtaking. So much knowledge packed away and hidden for who knows how long? I’ve already done a cursory glance over some of the books and am still debating what ones I’ll be taking home with me on this trip. My satchel was not prepared for something like this and I suppose I’ll just have to come back more prepared next time.
Jesse smiles briefly at that, plucking up the folded up little note he’d stuffed into that page earlier to glance at it again. His little list of books his father had meant to bring back to him—they’re sitting on his desk now. A delayed gift, but one he’s happily accepted. There’s more left to read yet though, so he sets the note to the side and engulfs himself in the written voice of his father.
The mob situation hasn’t been too bad. A few that have admittedly caught me more off guard than they should’ve, but nothing difficult to handle. That said, however, there is a surprising lack of them. I almost feel foolish for bringing my armor—like it’s somehow overkill. Normally the lack of mobs would leave me suspicious of other people potentially in the area, but as I was exploring the lower levels of this place, it’s abundantly clear why this place is so empty—sculk.
I noticed the temperature drop as I entered the area around the Portal Room, but it took me some extended exploration to really find any of it—there’s a large deepslate cavern with some more decrepit rooms that it’s set itself up in. If left unchecked it’ll likely open up with many of those old halls and buildings collapsing in on themselves. I kept my distance despite my curiosity, though it’s something to note as a concern. If I don’t act to get rid of those Catalysts then it’ll inevitably spread all throughout those lower levels and leave the place a walking deathtrap. Strongholds are dangerous enough on their own, I do not need the threat of a Warden on top of it all.
That said however, it seems there’s an additional exit through that area. I’ll need to explore where the other end of this place opens up—could be an easier access than the one back home. If so, the sculk most certainly needs to be dealt with.
A heavy sigh escapes his lips and Jesse just shakes his head to himself. That eerie feeling returns in full-force as he runs his fingers over the words. It’s remarkable how well he predicted that sculk would affect the place. If only he could’ve seen how it is now. What they had to cross to get out. What creature they had to face. Oh the stories he could tell his father…
Something small bugs him about this portion though. His father mentions his armor almost being overkill… But what armor? Jesse remembers how he left so clearly—it’s what kept him convinced he wouldn’t try anything foolish for so long, after all. His father did not have any armor on him, and his satchel certainly couldn’t fit it. He supposes that he could’ve hidden it away at the cave’s mouth in advance, but despite the added protection on his father it still leaves a pit in his stomach. Jesse certainly knows a stronghold like that calls for protection, but it still meant his father lied. Probably to keep him thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal for him to be diving into, but it still leaves a bad taste in his mouth. It leaves room for doubt, which just makes his heart race.
There’s still another paragraph left, and as his eyes briefly skim it, it catches his attention. His heart leaps into his throat and his stomach churns. It’s not long at all, but the implications leave a numbness rolling through his hands. Despite everything he’s endured and seen, it’s still surreal to read.
I don’t believe I’m alone down here, though.
Several traps have already been disarmed, not to mention things unnaturally moved. I’ve even seen footprints—recent ones. Not like the worn down shuffling of zombies, but that of a person—or people, even. In some places the sets aren’t alone. It’s such a large complex, however, that it’s hard to tell if we just missed each other by days, mere hours, or if they’re still wandering about concurrently.
I don’t believe they’ll be any trouble, however. I’ve run into fellow explorers before. My only concern is Looter’s Rights. If they reached this place before me and have their own plans for this Stronghold, then I’ll be back to square one and need to find another one for my future trek to The End. This place is the find of a lifetime—a large Stronghold, beginnings of the Deep Dark, a Lush cave and mineshaft above, and then Dripstone even further. Convincing them may prove difficult.
I can only hope they’ll be reasonable to strike a deal with.
Jesse slams the journal shut there. He lets it slide out of his hands and into his lap as he leans forward and merely rubs his face with his hands. It’s like he’s reading a horror novel—his father might as well have written a ‘What could possibly go wrong!’ to top it all off. He sniffles a little and just digs at his eyes to fight the way they’ve begun to sting. There’s nothing left for that entry and at this point he can’t tell if he’s grateful or frustrated. He’s got confirmation now for one thing, but it’s something he already knew.
If anything though, at least he’s as meticulous as ever. He’s bound to have something written. With that thought, Jesse sucks in a breath and snatches the journal back up, quickly flipping back to the page he left off on. Only now, however, does he take note of the state this page is in. It’s ragged around the edges with a myriad of little cuts and tears. He frowns and turns the page, finding another set of his father’s bulletpoint notes, however this page looking even more tattered than the last.
His throat dries a little as he examines the damage. That’s right. Bruce mentioned that there had been some pages missing towards the middle—from the damage caused by the axolotls and other elements. Glancing back at older entries, he spies the same types of cuts, jagged edges, and textures—little bouts of pages that the axolotls likely parted to make their little cubby space. It’d make unfortunate sense for them to gnaw at these final entries a lot, too. By the nature of the pages being more used, they’d naturally fall away from the still clean pages left in the book and create a natural parting. Just his luck, huh?
Turning the next few pages, his father’s notes become even more tattered with some pages not even being connected to the binding anymore and mere fragments of what they should be. He finds several tears along the binding where a page should be, but has been ripped out. His heart aches at not only the loss of information, but the loss of just those few more bits of his father he has left. Even if the words meant nothing to him, they were his.
What little he can make of the tattered pages left are simply more observations. More notes. He can hardly make any names out of the remnants and can barely tell what he was saying half the time with sentences ripped into shreds of their former selves. Small dark speckles of something. They’re reddish-brown in color and he refuses to think too hard on what spatter stained these pages. Not to mention that shaky writing returns and his father’s letters grow in size—a sign of things getting frantic. But he can’t piece them together. And sooner rather than later he runs into blank pages. Still tattered, but blank. And as he continues slowly paging through them, the better condition they return to. All he can do is hang his head in his hands in defeat as he racks his brain for something, anything.
He heard him writing, he heard him! He could hear it again and again if he so desired—it’d be easy. If he was writing in such a frenzy, would he dare to leave it up to fate to get the message out? Maybe it’s the denial sinking in, but no, no he can’t just sit there and believe that. Not his father.
Jesse gets up from his spot on the bed with a new fire in him. Dewey eyes him with a curious glance as he’s bounced around with the sudden movement. He pays the ocelot no mind and moves straight to his dresser and yanks the top drawer open. Without hesitation he grabs his knife from inside, eyeing the blade briefly in the evening sun before nodding in satisfaction. This’ll do just the trick. He marches back over to the bed and snatches the journal up again before slamming it down on his desk in the light.
He rolls his lips a little nervously as he stares down at it. He feels a little bad, but at the same time he knows a few of his father’s old tricks. That said, he flips the cover open, mumbles a quiet apology, and gets right to work at cutting into the cover. As a child, his father would always hide things within the covers of his journals—be it trinkets or other little notes. He never read his father’s journals outright as a child, but he’d always be trying to sneak peeks of what his father was hiding in these makeshift sleeves. Eventually he’d caught onto his antics and started leaving him little notes—he still has a few of them tucked safely away.
Only problem here though is time. As he’s halfway through cutting he realizes it. His father wouldn’t have had the time to stitch it back up if he tried hiding something in there. Unfortunately, his suspicions are confirmed as he peeks inside and finds nothing. For the sake of diligence, he checks the back cover, too, but no luck. As he leans on his desk he blows out a heavy sigh, rapping his knuckles against the solid wood surface.
He’s missing something. He’s just gotta be. What’s a quick and easy but sturdy hiding place within a book? What other place is there to even look? Setting the knife down, he carefully turns the now slightly mutilated journal around, dark eyes picking apart every stitch and crack in the leather. As he flips it over, the binding of the journal sticks up at an odd angle from the years of use and being perched like a tent in that lake. The old thing certainly has charm, he’ll hand it that.
Silence steals the room as the drumming of his knuckles stops. He stares down at the journal from the bottom of his eyes. More specifically, that binding. Calloused fingers graze over it with a feather-like touch as another possibility pops up. Carefully, he lifts the journal with it still open flat so the binding remains tented. It’s a small space, but tight—especially for a wrapped up piece of parchment. And if you didn’t know to look there, then you wouldn’t. Any paper left there would probably look like the binding itself if folded correctly.
He holds it up for the light to run through and sees the golden light of the evening reflect through exactly that. On the surface, it seems merely like the parchment with the binding is peeling from age and damage, but a little closer look and Jesse can make out some tattered edges as well as some darker spots amongst what seem to be folds. He sticks a fingertip into the small space, doing his best to claw out at least a snippet to grab. After some finagling and awkward shuffling around—as if moving around the room with his tongue peeking out of his mouth would help—he gets a sliver of the parchment out.
Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Jesse yanks the rest of the hidden page out in one fell swoop. It’s definitely in the worst shape out of anything else in the journal—it’s obvious that neither Bruce nor his friend Henry realized it was even there. He gently sets the journal back down and gets right down to unfolding the page, leaning up against the desk for the best light as the remaining sunlight streams in over his shoulders.
Right away he can tell this is going to be tough to decipher. The old ink has bled through multiple folds that it obviously wasn’t meant to—he has the water to thank for that. On top of that, the last few folds are difficult to undo for a reason that makes his stomach churn. He’s found the source of that reddish-brown substance as long dried blood spatter that almost acts as a glue. Thankfully the age and water damage have done enough that it comes off in flakes, but that doesn’t stop the bile from stinging the back of his throat.
Once unfolded, he scowls. The writing—what he can make of it—is large and scraggly. Panicked. This is the entry he was looking for alright. But with all of the ink bleeding, it’s hard to make out most of it. However, ironically, his father’s blood seems to be a saving grace. It kept the section around and in the midst of it at least semi legible, hindering the ink’s bleeding just enough to decipher if he concentrates. He brings the paper even closer to him, squinting hard as he carefully traces along each line and stroke. They seem to be notes, or something close to it. A recount of what he saw—what was chasing him. At least part of it.
Enderman. Tall—13 feet. Jagged scales and teeth—VERY SCARRED. LONG serrated claws. OVERLY aggressive—hunts for SPORT NOT DEFENSE ! ! !
LOYAL ! ! ! Already KILLED down here—DETERMINED t
The ‘o’ in the next word ‘to’ is dragged out and devolves into what looks like a scraggly line. That must’ve been where he got cut off and had to keep running. He couldn’t even finish whatever thought he had. A chill runs up his spine as he rereads the words—double, triple, and quadruple checking that he’s reading it right to begin with. He’ll have to have the others look it over to confirm, but deep in his gut he knows he’s hit the nail on the head.
It’s the same one. He’s gone and described the same enderman that attacked him. Likely the same one that attacked that woman down there, too. He briefly wonders if perhaps it’s merely taken up residence in that Stronghold, but that bolded and underlined ‘LOYAL’’ can’t help but stand out to him. Loyal to what? To whom? And then there’s the bit about it hunting for sport rather than defense. It’s terrifying to say, but he has to agree. It’d explain the odd behavior from it that he and Lukas saw down there to say the least. Determined, too. It was damn determined to get Jesse out of the picture. Had Lukas not been there, he likely would’ve died on the spot if not teleported like his father. Talk about a bizarre Enderman to say the least.
Glancing back upwards at the top half of the page, he can tell there was a rapid descent into panic from the way things are blocked out alone. The start seems like his typical paragraph form with small writing, but further down his writing grows larger and less neat and tidy—merely taking advantage of any space the page would offer with some of the last few lines even going sideways up the page. He was desperate to get this message out. A part of him can’t help but feel like a failure for not being able to read the top half. Maybe they could make something out of it, but it’ll take some serious conversation and back and forth. He has no doubt now that the answers they’re searching for are hidden in those blots of ink, if they’re even salvageable.
He stays there for eons, just squinting at the watered down strokes over and over, trying to make out any sort of name or identifying word. But it’s difficult, he knows the base is there—he can almost see it—but the longer he strains himself the more it feels like the ink is practically shifting on the page before his eyes. One moment he sees his uncle’s name somewhere. The next Bruce’s. Then Alex’s. Hell, at one point he swears he catches The Order mentioned and then suddenly it’s back to a garbled mess of letters that don’t even make sense. Finally, after enough time and with the quickly receding light behind him, he concedes to the fact that his mind is just playing tricks on him at this point. If he wants to find something there, he will, but that doesn’t mean it’s what he actually wrote. A fun optical illusion for the frustrated and disappointed.
Folding the page back up, he dully looks around his room for the faintest idea of a safe place to put it. It’s soft to the touch as he thumbs over the old page. He doesn’t feel right setting it back in the journal. Not yet. So, for the meantime, he decides to put it back in his dresser. As he yanks open the drawer, he’s enthralled to find that Lukas has kept up his quirk for furniture with hidden cubbies and drawers. Reaching to the back of the drawer, he’s not surprised in the slightest to find it movable with a small cubby space in-between. The page gets tucked away in there for safekeeping—it may not be as long-lasting a spot as his father thought of, but it’ll do its job. Content, he sets everything back into place, shuts the drawer, and steps back from it all with a measured yet heavy sigh.
Well. He’s done it. He’s read it. And he’s sure that once nighttime comes around he’s going to be tossing and turning as the worst of it all settles in. His father’s blood was in those pages. His blood. His throat dries and it’s either a cold sweat coming on or freezing water dripping down his back from his still drying hair. Regardless, a chill shoots up his spine and he finds himself rubbing at his arms.
He can’t leave the memories of his father on this note. There has to be something more he can do. The idea of setting up some means of a memorial flits back into his head, and while it remains hazy, he has a plethora of other ideas bounce through his head in rapid succession. He could do what he’s done with Reuben and set up a memorial. There could be a celebration of Life, like with Ellegaard. Maybe they could dedicate an art piece? He grimaces with the thought of that one though. Doesn’t feel like something he’d like. What would be something worthy of his legacy?
…
It’s time to shift gears. That’s all he can do for now. He has to learn not to get ahead of himself, no matter how tempting or good the ideas may be.
Stealing a glance up at the clock, he can’t help but wonder if Lukas is back yet. It’s getting darker slowly but surely, and he hasn’t heard anyone come in—Dewey certainly hasn’t gone racing off for him either. Without another thought he simply starts walking and forces himself out of his room. Dewey, of course, perks up at the sound of the door and quickly scurries after him back out into the house.
Unsurprisingly, the house is as empty as he expected it to be. He lets out a little ‘huh’ and pads over to the lamps Lukas always has on at night. First, the standing one by the hall entrance. Second, the one in the kitchen, third and fourth are the ones in the living room which bask the rest of the home in a comforting golden glow. He sighs and Dewey lets out a questioning little meow. Jesse smiles as the ocelot hops up on the couch and he scratches him behind the ears.
“I dunno what’s holding him up either, Dew… Let’s just hope it’s something as mundane as possible, right?”
Dewey purrs, dragging his face along Jesse’s forearm. Jesse shifts awkwardly in place as he glances around. He supposes he can find something to do while he waits. He meanders over to the kitchen—might as well get some dishes done. It’s simple and easy but takes a good amount of time yet, especially without Lukas on stand-by to dry them off and put them all away. Dewey isn’t quite the assistant he seems to believe he is, but that’s beside the point. Eventually, towards the end of their work, the man of the hour finally arrives.
The front door opens and both Jesse and Dewey look that way at the same time. Lukas staggers in sluggishly, looking utterly exhausted to say the least. His bag hangs off his arm and his hair is messed up with strands falling into his face like he’s been running his hands through it. He rubs his eyes as he kicks the door shut behind him with a bit of a slam. He only looks back at it vaguely before just sighing, shaking his head, and throwing his bag down onto one of the chairs. Jesse frowns, quickly moving out into the open.
“Hey.” He starts, voice gentle as he steps clearer into the light. Lukas perks up a little at the sound of his voice—guess he didn’t even see him there. Jesse presses his lips into a tight line as he approaches the man, studying him closer now. He’s not hurt anywhere, so that puts him a little more at ease, but that leaves him utterly dumbfounded as to why he’s so out of sorts. He raises his hands to Lukas’ cheeks, softly brushing over them with his thumbs as he studies him. There’s a heaviness in his eyes, though he knows he’s gonna try hiding it. Despite it, Lukas smiles for him and those eyes soften.
“Hey there…”
“What’s going on…? What— What’s wrong?” Jesse asks, mumbling more than he probably should. Lukas sighs and shakes his head, keeping the smile up as he pats Jesse’s arms.
“Just… A ridiculous day. I’m sorry, but do you think we can raincheck that dinner? I just wanna relax for a while.”
“Of course! Of course, Lukas. We’ve got plenty of time. Eating in is more fun most of the time anyways.” Jesse says with a smile and shrug and Lukas chuckles at that, the sparkle returning to his eyes. That’s what Jesse wants to see. He slips his hands down and intertwines them with Lukas’, tugging him further inside and away from it all.
From there, Lukas heads off to get comfortable and Jesse returns to the kitchen to attempt making dinner. Dewey offers his “assistance” and, frankly, he’s just happy nothing shattered or spilled. He cooks a decent meal at the very least and Lukas’ face lighting up as he meanders into the kitchen in his pajama pants and a tank top makes it all worth it.
The evening’s nice and they wind down from there. The house is the perfect temperature, the lighting makes things cozy, and the company is the cherry on top. Lukas briefly asks if Jesse finished his reading and Jesse manages to answer, albeit sparing him the details. It leaves the air a bit heavier, but both move to brush it off and move to lighter topics—and it certainly works. After dinner is finished and things are all cleaned up, Jesse suggests they read together again—something that’s almost become routine now. And now that all their cards are on the table? Oh, it’s just gone from great to amazing. It was already a dream come true just getting to sit with Lukas and listen to him share something he was so passionate and nostalgic for, but getting to cuddle with the man now is an undeniable bonus.
They settle in on the couch and it doesn’t take long for them to end up bundled together. Jesse lays atop of him contently in the crook of his arm by the back cushions of the couch with his head on Lukas’ chest. They make good progress in their book—they’re already onto the third one—but there’s still one negative. Well, he supposes that calling it a ‘negative’ isn’t quite the right word. But damn if it isn’t gonna affect their reading process. He was already struggling at times to stay awake before when Lukas would read to him, but now? Oh now this was just plain unfair! It’s just so hard to keep his eyes open when he’s so comfy and Lukas is running his hand up and down his back or combing through his hair. Though he has a feeling the man knows exactly what he’s doing, the bastard.
He chuckles a little as he thinks that, a smile tugging the corners of his mouth up. Lukas momentarily stops his motions and his reading to eye him, a playful glint in his eye.
“What has you giggling? Are Doc Kelley’s harrowing moments in a jungle temple funny to you? Cold, Jesse.” He teases and Jesse snorts, eyeing him before rolling his eyes. Lukas hums and stuffs his bookmark into the page, setting the book down on the table, at least for the moment. Jesse watches him curiously before he props himself up just a little, getting a better angle to look at him with.
“Already done?” He asks and Lukas shrugs with a little smile.
“You were starting to doze off. No biggie.” Lukas hums as he brushes some stray hairs behind Jesse’s ear. Despite the tooth-rottingly sweet touch, Jesse grimaces.
“Sorry… I hope you don’t think I’m uninterested. I really love reading with you. It’s relaxing—almost too much so.” He mumbles with an awkward smile and Lukas laughs.
“No, don’t worry. I get it. I’m glad that you feel so safe with me, Jesse.”
“I sure hope I would after all this shit!” Jesse jokes and Lukas chuckles at that. He smiles as he settles back down onto Lukas’ chest. Shifting a little, he stares up at the ceiling, thinking now as memories drift in and out of his head. Vaguely, he remembers being a little boy and running to his bookshelf at night and nabbing one or two books he really liked. With them in hand, he’d run back over to his bed with his dad waiting and ready to read them to him as he got cozy. A little nightly tradition of theirs. Maybe that’s why this is so soothing now? He can’t remember much of his old books just off the top of his head, but the image of his father sitting on the edge of his bed and waiting for him is clear enough to make his eyes water.
Jesse sucks in a deep breath and blows out an equally heavy one before batting at his eyes. It catches Lukas’ attention and he frowns a little, immediately going back to rubbing his back soothingly. Jesse feels almost silly, just offering him a smile in thanks.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just… Remembered somethin’ with my dad. It was sweet. Bittersweet.” He mumbles with a sad smile. Lukas eases up at that, just nodding along.
“Share. I want to hear about him...”
Jesse smiles a little at that, “He was good to me… I remembered just—... He’d let me pick out a book or two at night then I’d race back to my bed so he could read them to me! God I wish I could remember the names of some of my favorite ones—I just have bits and pieces from my favorite ones though. Lots of folktales, I think, which almost feels surprising now given how much I’ve learned about him. But he always just…” He pauses, searching for the right words, “He loved things of whimsy. He had this lightheartedness that shone through for me. Do different voices for characters as he read, tickle-attack me whenever a monster or something scary happened in the story, things like that… I didn’t know I still remembered those things… Funny how such little moments can open the gates on memories like that.” He mumbles, shaking his head a little. Lukas hums in a tinge of disappointment.
“I wish I could’ve met him… He sounds like he was wonderful.”
Jesse smiles, “He would’ve loved your work. He would’ve loved you.”
Lukas practically beams at that, albeit bashfully. A red tint brushes over his cheeks and Jesse takes hold of his hand and brings his knuckles to his lips for a soft kiss. It’s easy to imagine him and Lukas getting along both with their writing and philosophically. He can practically hear the corny jokes his father would make if he could. It’s bittersweet, but it’s a welcome change of pace compared to how he’s been thinking of his father over the past few weeks. With so much bad, he has to hold onto the good especially tightly.
“Have you thought much about what you wanna do for him yet…?” Lukas asks, catching Jesse only a little by surprise. “For a potential memorial or something, I mean.”
“Oh! Well… Yeah, I have a little bit.” He starts, frowning a little, “It’s hard though. I want to make sure that it’s something that actually means something to people. It doesn’t feel right to just slap his name on some stone with some flowers and call it a day. I think if I dared to make a statue then he’d haunt me. Too tacky.” He scoffs and Lukas laughs a little at that, nodding along.
“I see, I see… That is a conundrum, then.” He hums in thought, “Want something nice, but also not something he’d scoff at. Nothing that’d seem performative...”
“Exactly.” Jesse groans, rubbing his face with his hands as he begins to shake his head, “It’s not the same as Reuben. Everyone knows who he is and how he helped with the Witherstorm. He did something that helped change lives—saved them, even. My father… He absolutely did those things too, but not on that scale. People don’t know him en masse. I want— I wanna do something worthwhile in his name. Some kind of Legacy project, maybe…”
“That’d be great! That sounds like something up his alley, at least according to what I’ve heard from you.”
“I’m glad you think so. I just can’t think of anything else that’d please him as much. Doing something to help make lives better or easier for others… He’d like that, I think.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Lukas hums with a smile and Jesse returns it, albeit somewhat nervously. Something else is on his mind. All throughout the night he’s been running ideas for different projects through the back of his mind. But one sticks. One sticks and won’t leave for love nor money. And no matter what he tries coming up with, it stays with him like an itch he can’t scratch. It’s not something he’d even dream of attempting now though, no, not this soon. It’d be a longterm project that’d probably start months if not years down the line. He chides himself for even letting his thoughts get that far ahead of himself when he knows where he sits now. He sighs and vents his frustrations.
“It’s hard to brainstorm for. I know I’ve got plenty of time, but I feel like if I don’t figure something out then it’s just gonna be hovering over me, y’know?”
“I hear you. Knowing you, you’d probably end up feeling guiltier the longer it stayed in limbo.”
“Exactly! Ugh, I wish it could be simple for once. Just one time.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, if it was any easier then you wouldn’t be the same man I know you as. You don’t half-ass things and people know that, and your hard work pays off. You’ve made a lot of lives better that way, Jess…”
“Yeah… That’s what I was thinking.” He bites his lip a little, “There’s… There’s an idea that’s been sticking with me ever since it got into my mind. It’s not one I’d even think of starting any time soon, but it falls into all that! It could help people. Pave the way for things we can’t even imagine. Save lives… It just feels right.” He settles with another sigh. Lukas’ motions stall just a little as he listens, though Jesse doesn’t quite notice it as he’s absorbed in his thoughts.
“What are you thinking…?” He asks. Jesse answers readily.
“I’ve been thinking of mapping out the End dimension. Like how the Nether is, y’know? It’s a small thing, sure, but it could open the door for so much… Exploration, new knowledge, infrastructure… All things that could’ve saved my dad.”
Lukas practically freezes in place and that finally catches Jesse’s attention. He frowns, noticing the sudden tension throughout the man. He sits up in confusion and meets Lukas’ eyes only to find him staring at Jesse with an almost accusing glare of bewilderment. Jesse blinks, surprised to receive such a scathing look so suddenly—it hurts. His mind goes blank as the confusion washes over him. Sure, he knew the idea was a longshot, but it’s not like he was gonna start it now—of course not. Why is he getting this reaction?
“... Do you ever slow down?” Lukas mumbles.
“What?”
Lukas’ brows raise in what seems to be offense. He huffs and just begins shaking his head as he fully sits up and pulls away from Jesse. Without another word he stands up and walks a few steps away from the couch, leaving Jesse even more dumbfounded than before. The new empty space on the couch suddenly feels much much colder.
“Lukas, what—”
“No.” He cuts him off, slicing the air with his hand before dropping it to his side. Jesse blinks, stunned. Lukas stands before him with a hand on his hip and staring down at him sternly. His brows slowly furrow as he repeats after him.
“‘No’...? What are—”
“Exactly what you think I’m saying. No. We’re not even gonna entertain that idea.” He states, cutting Jesse off once again in the process to his steadily growing frustration.
“Oh… kay…?” He starts with a mumble, still dumbfounded by such a stark attitude change. He shakes his head, “Lukas, I know it’s not an easy idea by any means and would mean there’s a lot that could happen, but I’m just saying, it could—”
“No, Jesse. It’s too dangerous.”
“Uhh… Excuse me?” Jesse asks, almost chuckling from an odd mix of offense and utter disbelief. His eyes scan the man, searching for some kind of answer but falling short. “Lukas, I don’t know if you remember but I’ve been there before.” He points between the two of them, leaning into his words as he does, “We’ve been there before.”
Lukas scowls, just shaking his head again, “I cannot believe you’re considering this. I mean— Do you even hear yourself? Dimension hopping? Traversing the End? Jesse, you nearly got killed by just one enderman! What the hell do you think gallivanting into a dimension full of them is going to do for you?”
Jesse bristles at that, “I’m not talking about now, Lukas. God no! And were you even listening to me? Just minutes ago you were agreeing that projects that could help people are right up my alley. And, again, it’s just an idea—and I’m not just going to go ‘gallivanting in!’”
“That’s not the point, Jess. It’s the principle! I don’t want you going there—period!”
“What the hell is this?” He stands now, looking around them in frustration, “Lukas, what piece am I missing here? This isn’t like you—you’re acting like I just told you I’m gonna leave at dawn to go get myself killed!”
“Knowing you, you might as well be!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think it means, Jess?!” He lets out a frustrated sigh and runs his hands through his hair, messing it up even further than it already was as he begins to pace. It stings. Jesse stands there clenching and unclenching his fists. He’s missing something here. He’s gotta be. But it hurts like hell to hear after a long day.
“So what? You don’t trust me, suddenly? That’s it?! Lukas, I’ve always been honest with you—you asked me what I was thinking so I told you! And I’m telling you now that it’s not even on my radar as something to begin yet. Why the hell would I?!”
“It’s a reckless idea regardless, Jess!” He huffs in disbelief, “I mean— I just can’t believe you don’t see that!”
“‘Reckless’?!”
“If you can’t fathom that then let me put it this way! Would your father—”
“Don’t you dare—”
Lukas doubles down, raising his voice slightly, “Would your father HONESTLY want you to be taking this kind of risk in his name?!” He snaps and Jesse feels his face flush as blood and newfound adrenaline courses through his veins and tears begin stinging his eyes.
“Get your goddamn nose out of MY business if you don’t like it!”
“Oh, so he’d agree to this then?”
“I don’t CARE whether my father would agree or NOT! He’s not HERE! But if he was? And it had been ME thrown into that HELL?” He jabs a finger into his own chest, leaning into his words, “I know for a FACT that he’d be doing the same damn thing I am!”
Lukas goes silent after that, pressing his lips into a hard line. Jesse glares up at him through glassy eyes, desperately trying to find something, anything, to make this make sense. As Lukas paces, he keeps shooting glances his way and his expression is almost unreadable. Hurt? Frustrated? Guilty? He can’t pin anything down on him and it’s agonizing. Eventually, the man slows to a stop, rubbing his mouth in thought. Jesse keeps himself planted firmly in place despite the way his chest aches and how he’s heaving large breaths just to keep his breathing semi-steady.
It takes an agonizingly long time for Lukas to think, and a blank look slowly washes over his face the longer he does. It’s unnerving. Jesse’s heartbeat pounds away like a rapid drum in his ears as he just stands there and waits. He can forgive that spat, but he needs to know what’s going on in that head of his. Eventually, Lukas sits down, clasps his hands together, and leans against them.
“... Ivor and I had a talk.” He says, voice quiet.
Jesse freezes. It’s not the start he was expecting, but not one that leaves him feeling anymore reassured either. Confusion must be written across his face because Lukas continues after a brief glance his way.
“His Far Lands lab was broken into. The rest of the End Crystals are gone.”
“What…?” Jesse mutters, a hollow feeling consuming his chest as his heart drops.
“They’re gone. So is your axe with the command enchantment. A-And with them and the dragon egg gone it could mean that if you went to the End then—”
“How long have you known?” Jesse cuts him off, voice low and not even processing what he said. Lukas finally looks his way again. They stare at each other for an agonizingly long and utterly silent minute. Guilt riddles Lukas’ frame and Jesse’s stomach churns, “Lukas… How long have you known?”
“... Ivor told me the day we got back. While you were getting cleaned up.” He mumbles and it nearly staggers Jesse. That long? He’s known that long and hasn’t told him? Something that important? But then something else dawns on him. No, it’s not just Lukas.
“Do the others know?”
Lukas presses his clasped hands to his forehead and stares down at his feet as he answers, “Yes. Ivor and I grouped everyone up and shared it all.” He sighs, sitting up again, “That’s where I’ve been all afternoon—we were all discussing everything we know and what we could even do and feeling useless the whole time.”
“But you didn’t tell me.”
Lukas shifts, uncomfortable, “Ivor and I agreed that… that it’d be best to keep it quiet.” He finally raises his gaze to him and catching those tired eyes of his leaves Jesse both fuming and feeling indescribably hurt, “The others all agreed. Unanimously.”
“Wh—?! For what reason?!” He sputters, looking around them like the answers he wants are written in the walls or as if this is some kind of bad dream he’ll be waking up from soon. He prays he’ll be waking up from it soon. His limbs tingle as both panic and a sense of total and utter helplessness washes over him. It sets alarms off and he’s immediately on much further edge to say the least. He’s just been in the dark? This whole time? Lukas frowns, blowing out another sigh of frustration as he flings his arm out in frustration.
“The same reason Ivor chose not to heal you, Jesse! We know you! You would just— Just wind yourself up and up until you burst and go and get yourself hurt!”
“I won’t—”
“No! Look what happened this last time when things went missing! Your mind went wild with ideas, you got obsessed, and you got hurt—we both got hurt! Frankly, your health is more important to us all than your impatient impulses!” Lukas rants and Jesse bites down hard on his tongue. He sucks in a slow and shaky breath through his nose, keeping his voice low and as level as possible.
“... Funny.” He huffs, “I remember you saying that getting stuck down there wasn’t my fault. That nobody could’ve predicted that and what happened next. I even remember you agreeing that going down there was a good idea.”
“And you nearly died for it!” Lukas practically cries out at this point, startling him. He continues, shaking his head and then dropping it into his hands, “I-If I had just— If I had stood my ground, none of that would’ve happened. We wouldn’t have gotten trapped, we wouldn’t have had to go through that dark hellscape, and I wouldn’t have had to hold you uselessly as you bled out on some rank stone floor!”
“Lukas, you saved my life!”
“And I could’ve kept it safer had I just said no. Had I just waited for us to make a plan.”
“Is that what all this is about? Your guilty conscience for something that isn’t your fault?! Lukas, you told me that nobody could’ve seen that coming! So why are you going and blaming yourself for it now?”
“Because I want to keep you safe! Safe and alive, Jesse!”
“And you think you can do that by lying to me?!” Jesse sputters, huffing in disbelief, “Lukas, you know how much I hate that! Look, criticize me all you want, I can take it, I know I’ve got shit to work on—but do not lie to me! I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to ask that we just— I dunno, talk about it?!”
“What, so you can find a way to convince me to change my mind?”
“What?! Lukas, no, I’ve never—!”
“Well it feels like that sometimes, Jess!” Lukas blurts, his voice hoarse from frustration. He drops his head into his hands again and begins shaking it and Jesse just stands there numbly. Was he really that bad? Had he been doing those things without realizing it? It makes his stomach churn in disgust with himself to even think about. That’s not the person he wants to be nor strives to be. He keeps attempting to swallow down a lump in his throat but to no avail. It all leaves him feeling horrifically small and ashamed, and when he finally gets the words back, they’re quiet, barely able to get them out.
“... I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Lukas.”
“Yeah, well, I am too.” He sighs and rubs his eyes harshly, sniffling a little. He sucks in a shaky breath and stands back up, not even sparing him a glance, “... I know what that means by now. You’re incapable of changing your mind once it’s made up.”
“E— Excuse me? Lukas, I haven’t even planned anything!”
“It doesn’t matter! That’s not how you work! I could spell it all out for you in the worst case scenario, but instead of heeding any kind of warning you would just find a way to do it anyway!”
“Yeah because that’s what we do.”
“That’s NOT—! Do my words mean nothing to you?” He stops, finally meeting him in the eyes for this. Jesse lets out a huff of disbelief.
“Of course they do! Lukas, if they didn’t we wouldn’t be here right now!”
“Then tell me you won’t go. Tell me you won’t step foot in that damn place.” He says and it’s almost daring him, but under the hard exterior Jesse knows he’s pleading with him. He’s too stunned to speak. He doesn’t know if he even can. He hardly knows what he’s doing now, how can he say what the future holds? That’s not a promise he’s sure he can make and as he stands there with his mouth just hanging agape, he knows it shows.
Lukas grimaces in a pain that cuts through Jesse like a knife. His eyes crinkle up as he no doubt fights the tears glazing over them and his jaw clenches tight. Before Jesse knows it, he’s already given him his answer. As he slowly starts shaking his head, Lukas backs up out of Jesse’s space.
“Fine.” He starts, voice hoarse before quieting to a dangerously low level, “So be it.”
With that, Lukas turns on heel and storms out of the room, footsteps thudding loudly throughout the house. Jesse just watches him go, feeling utterly drained and hollow. As Lukas’ door slams shut in the distance, he doesn’t even have the heart to get angry. He’ll have plenty of time for that later. For now, he just braces himself against the back of the couch and focuses on getting his shaky breathing in check, not to mention his heartbeat from pounding in his ears.
After a few long minutes, he gets what he can manage of himself together. Left to mull about like a ghost, he awkwardly makes his way around to turn out all the lights for the night and tidy up where he can—anything to keep himself moving a little as he attempts to process it all. Can’t say he does a great job at any of it though, and the further into it he gets, the more hurt he feels. Eventually he just makes his way back to his room and is more than happy to get inside and be alone. When morning comes? Oh, that’ll be a different story, but for now he nurses the numbness enough to just get to sleep.
Chapter 38: Skipping Rocks (Take that you fucking lake)
Summary:
Jesse seeks some additional advice to help gain some perspective on everything and hopefully get a second-wind
Notes:
AAAAAAAAAAAA. CAN LIFE SLOW DOWN. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUT LIKE 2 WEEKS AGO. 🧍🧍🧍BUT ANYWAYS IT'S HERE !!! About 13.7k this time!! 😭I gotta just kick this one out or else Im gonna be stuck here forever so any of you end up coming back to this chapter months down the line and seeing edits zo not worry about it.
SPEAKING OF THO. GOD. Hiro my darling my beloved I have been mentally SHAKING HIM until compliant lore fell out because. mh. I wrote myself into a corner and did not like it! So part of my laundry list on top of working on this next chapter (which im VERY excited for) will be going back and tweaking older chapters bc lore is changing and thus so is exposition! Don't know when exactly I'll have that done but will try to mention it in the notes of the chapter release it's closest to!! I'm very happy with what I have now and think it'll be more satisfying! Apologies for the late-game retcon but I think it'll be for the best to make this story feel like the best version it can currently be!!! <3
Will do my best to aim for that 2 week update again even tho it's been difficult, but if I don't reach that then it will absolutely happen within another month!! Unfortunately my job has had some WILD ups and downs and my schedule has just been utterly chaotic so apologies for that but we're getting there! 💪💪
Okay I think that's enough preamble for me--Hope you enjoy this one!! 💖
EDIT: bro the next time google autocorrects and does smth like turning "trudging" to "trussing", i'm going to Google HQ myself. TALK ABOUT EMBARRASSINGGG 💀💀💀 anyways some small changes and revisions have been made so it's a little smoother and less repetitive <3
Chapter Text
“Something’s wrong.”
The man’s voice echoes alongside his heels as he paces fervently back and forth across the perfectly polished warped wood floors. The sound bounces high above him—above them—and off of the blackstone walls around them. It’s otherwise quiet save for the man’s belligerent anxiety. Just another day in the Nether. Another long and boring ass day in the goddamn Nether. No word from the surface. Not a peep.
“Repeating yourself doesn’t make it anymore true, Hiro.” His companion says with an annoyed sigh as he unpacks his things, shoving some loose red hair back as he does, “And if you’re going to put all that energy somewhere, would you put it into giving me a hand rather than wearing a ditch into the floor?”
Hiro sighs, losing some steam and making his way over to Romeo’s side—though not without fervently shaking his head all the way over. Romeo was gone admittedly much longer than he anticipated to help Xara and, in the meantime, something’s stirred up a storm in Hiro. Even regarding the terse terms they ended on, the man seemed surprisingly relieved to see Romeo back. Considering the note he left on he just can’t help but be surprised, and that’s worrisome. He came back expecting that they’d need to talk again—that Hiro would still be his stoic self like he always is when introspective. Or broody, if he’s going to be particularly descriptive.
But no. No, instead he returned to the man being almost sick with an anxiety he hasn’t seen in him before. He’s always been rather antsy—much like himself—but this is different. Dread pools in his stomach. He hasn’t found any evidence that Hiro’s been out getting himself into trouble, but his actions aren’t exactly soothing him. A guilt plagues the man down to his very core and if he’s not pacing then he’s either running his hands through his hair or bouncing his leg like his heart’ll stop if he doesn’t. Any prodding for more information has left him at a loss too—the man seemingly has nothing more than vague feelings. Something he finds hard to believe, if he’s being frank. He must know something more. Something he’s holding out on. The question is what.
“I’ll repeat it as many times as I need, Rom. Something. Is. Wrong.” He repeats for what Romeo feels is the billionth time. Hiro anxiously takes some things from him and immediately turns to put them away just as stiffly—actions curt and snappy. Romeo shakes his head, hands resting on his hips.
“Okay. Again, care to elaborate?” He hums, leaning into the words. Hiro stalls in place, frustration obvious as it washes over him and his eyes flare as he no doubt glares at him. Romeo’s long gotten used to those looks by now and just looks at him expectantly. Hiro sighs, grunting as he pushes himself back to his feet. Finally, he shrugs and rubs his neck.
“If— If I could then I would. I just feel it, Rom. What has it been now? Two weeks? More? God I can’t even keep track of the time at this rate…” He grumbles, pressing his palms into his glowing eyes. Romeo eases up a little at the sign of his distress.
“No, no, that’s about right… According to Jesse’s estimate he would’ve gotten the journal about a week ago at most—”
“Which is weird! He said he’d tell me!” Hiro blurts, voice practically raising an octave. Romeo bites down hard on his tongue not to snort at the sound. Serious mode, Rom. Serious mode. He sucks in a breath and shrugs.
“I think you’re freaking out over nothing. He probably just needs time preparing to read such a thing on top of keeping up with his duties in that city of his. Quite a difficult task to stay on top of it all—if I do say so myself!” He huffs, crossing his arms in the process as he recalls back. Hiro shoots him a certainly less than amused look which, admittedly, bursts his bubble pretty quick. Right. Not exactly a brag…
“That’s not entirely what I was worried about though…” Hiro mumbles and Romeo just eyes him. He sighs, “I think— I think he’s in trouble? Or— Well he was. I-I don’t know how to describe it…”
“Have you, oh I dunno, talked to him about it?”
“Talked to him?” Hiro balks, quickly shaking his head, “No, no. Not that I don’t want to—God, I already find myself missing the kid—but… I dunno… I don’t think it’d be good for me to show my face around there right now…”
Romeo tenses, turning suspicious, “Why? Did you do something?”
“It’s just not a good time, Rom.” He replies, though not exactly answering his question. Hiro goes to step past him to put his now empty bag away only to be stopped by a grip on his arm. Gold eyes drill into him and Hiro just matches the gaze—as stubborn and surefire as ever. Romeo stays there and simply searches him for a long minute, but they’ve done this before. They’ve done this hundreds of times before. And just like every other time, he can’t read him for love nor money. How the man can manage to be both a bleeding heart and stoic statue at the same time still evades him, as frustrating as it may be. Finally, he lets go, though not without blowing a stern sigh out through his nose.
“I don’t appreciate that you’re holding out on me. But that’s your prerogative.”
“Well I just— I don’t know if I trust my gut or mind these days. If he needs it, I want to help. But if he’s not and I’m just paranoid? That’s gonna be stifling. I’ve already overwhelmed him with enough of my antics. I just… I told him I’d be in touch. He knows where to find me. But I don’t like how it’s been so radio-silent on top of other things. Does that—” He hesitates, glancing his way unsurely before fully turning to face him, “Does that seem in-character for him?” He asks, voice smaller than before—it’s easy to tell that it’s painful for him to need to ask Romeo of all people about his own nephew, especially given the note he left on. Pressing his lips into a line, Romeo shrugs.
“It’s… hard to say with him. I think that if anything truly noteworthy were to happen that he’d tell you, but knowing how the world likes to run that man ragged? I wouldn’t doubt he’s simply been swept up in some other chaos happening in that town of his.” He rolls his eyes as he says it and Hiro nods, seeming to consider it. It’s a very different life Jesse lives up there compared to their own. Sure, there’s things that need to be done here and there, but nowhere near his level of responsibility. Romeo could easily see Jesse losing weeks of time just trying to do his basic duties—that’s probably harder for Hiro to comprehend than him however due to a simple difference in experience. Hiro does things on his own terms and time, after all, who would dare try bothering the high and mighty Herobrine?
‘High and mighty’ probably isn’t the best descriptor for him at the moment, but that’s alright. They can keep it to themselves within these walls. Romeo gently takes his bag from him, offers a tense smile, and moves to put it away now too. Hiro lets him, opting to just remain in his own thoughts now. Always such a recluse when troubled, and ‘troubled’ is probably putting this all lightly. As he finally gets his bag properly folded enough to fit in one of his drawers, Romeo huffs, stands, and shuts it with a kick. He runs his hands through his hair, forcing the tension out of his veins—home at last. He’s more than happy to help Xara these days—not to mention it’s the least he could do—but with so much other stuff happening and keeping his mind running, he can’t say that the trip was an easy one. With that thought in mind, his beloved thorn in his side blows out a sigh and rubs at his eyes once more.
“This is ridiculous. I can’t believe how worked up I’m getting…”
“Frankly, I can’t either.” Romeo agrees dully and can practically feel the way Hiro rolls his eyes. He just continues, “Look. What day is it, even? Tuesday?” He mumbles, scratching his head as he thinks, “Whatever day it is, give him a few more. If we reach the three week point then reach out to him. Or two and a half if you’ve got patience like mine.”
“Yeah, yeah… Nothing brash, right?” Hiro grumbles, “I’m just worried…”
“And water is wet.” Romeo hums, “I’ve no doubt you are, but you have to breathe a little and realize that he’s more than capable of taking care of himself. Trust me, I would have the displeasure of knowing. He’s not the 6 year old child you remember, regardless of how distorted your sense of time is.”
“I know about the time blindness.” Hiro groans and Romeo huffs out a laugh with a smirk. An unfortunate side effect of powers like what Romeo had and Hiro now has is the longevity of life. Romeo has struggled to place a proper time frame on how long he had his powers for because it’s all still so hazy to him, but it never felt like it was more than 100 years. Of course, history itself argues for something much much longer. The whirlwind of it all was something he became accustomed to however—His life was frozen in place and looked like it’d stay that way for eternity, so why even worry about such a trivial thing? At some point or another he just stopped caring.
Hiro though? Relatively, he’s still very new to the whole experience. It doesn’t help that his memories seemed to return in staggered fragments. It’s no wonder that he’s still having difficulties adjusting to the new norm. It would be like he blinked and now suddenly that boy is grown. But on the flip side, having nothing to do but sit and wait in place for weeks is agonizing. Romeo’s own sense of patience was horrifically skewed by his powers, he has no doubt that Hiro may be dealing with something similar. That, or it was just a trait that ran in the family. He can’t say which is worse, if he’s honest.
He remembers the first time he ran into the man a good 20 years ago—he was much like himself when he first absorbed Xara and Fred’s share of powers. Utterly drunk with it. He packed quite the punch for an unplanned little bastard. He remembers multiple times in that first year or so how he’d tried ridding him of those powers out of sheer annoyance, but for better or for worse he was unable. Then as time went on, each encounter he had he’d notice that there were shifts in him. He calmed, became more introspective—more menacing. His reputation shifted to one of a haunting ghost story in stark contrast to Romeo’s god-like status. By the time the man reached that demi-god status, he’d seen and done so much—it almost impressed him. Almost. But enough lamenting for him, his image in the eyes of that damn nephew of his is what’s important now. Not the rest of the world’s perception.
“I know you know about the time blindness. I am merely reminding you.” He says and Hiro scoffs. There’s another pause in the conversation there and, while not too uncomfortable, he can’t say that it puts him at ease. Glancing back at Hiro, he spots him now sitting and thinking hard once again. Romeo opens his mouth to ask something only to be beaten to the punch.
“I’ve been having nightmares again. More than usual. I-I know they kickstarted again after the start of—” He pauses, grimacing a little, “Well. Of all this. But they’re getting worse… And just… Just getting odd…” He mumbles and the utter dumbfoundment is laced deep into his voice.
“What do you mean…?” Romeo asks with a frown. Hiro matches it and Romeo finally makes his way over to sit down by him on the room’s couch.
“Well… They’ve always been about the End, right?”
“Right.”
“And about all these endermen and like— like the fear of turning into one.”
“Consistently, from what you’ve told me…” He mumbles and nods along. Hiro fervently matches the gesture, now beginning to speak more animatedly.
“Well I had another one recently that’s stuck with me. It started pretty standard y’know—ugly ass enderman, I’m turning into one and can still hardly fight back, the usual. But right at the end, as I woke up and was still coming out of it all, I swear I heard Jesse’s voice. He was yelling out for Lukas, and he seemed pretty desperate, too.”
Romeo’s brows shoot up at that before furrowing again, “You heard him? Here?”
“I did! I even got my ass up in a hurry to go check if everything was alright! I could’ve sworn it was like he was right down the hall. Not a person to be seen though and I checked everywhere. Multiple times.”
“If you hadn’t been woken up from a nightmare mere moments before I'd say you were sleep deprived and hallucinating!” Romeo hums in thought and Hiro shifts to look at him and lean into his words.
“I mean it, Rom! Had this horrible headache and ringing in my ears right beforehand—that’s not happened before. A-And ever since then I’ve just had this awful feeling of dread. Even had a completely different type of dream not long after. Not even sure if I can classify it as a nightmare. It was just cold, dark, and quiet. Like some kind of weird meditative state rather than a dream.”
Romeo sits back against the plush cushions of the old couch and crosses his arms. That is odd. Certainly a change of pace, but maybe not a bad one? He isn’t quite sure. That wasn’t an experience he ever had, so he can’t say if it’s something to do with his powers either. Or if he did then he’s long since forgotten it.
“Maybe…” Romeo starts quietly, “Maybe, with all of this worry and drama over Jesse, your mind has finally found something else to focus on. A new fear of being unable to help keep him safe.”
“That’s horrifically thoughtful coming from you.” Hiro mumbles dryly. He nods however with a sigh, “That’s what I’m wondering… But that doesn’t mean I feel any less terrified by that dimension and those monsters in it.” A scowl pulls at him and his brows furrow as he shakes his head, “I don’t know what’s gonna happen next, but I know one thing for certain. I do not want him going to that dimension. Chasing ghosts that aren’t there… Putting his life at risk…”
“You keep saying that Hiro… With the dragon gone though, it wouldn’t be that horrid, would it? Not to play the contrarian—”
“You can’t say that when I know how much you love to argue.”
“I’m speaking in terms of principle! And as I was saying, he’s not entirely unfamiliar with the place.” He shrugs, trying to find something to ease his mind. Perhaps he’s biased by Jesse’s feats, but he just can’t find himself too worried by such an idea. The End is a wasteland even he wasn’t interested in prodding. If he survived places like the Underneath then surely those weird little islands Xara used to love so much should be no problem.
“But he’s never left the altar, Rom.” Hiro presses as if that’s supposed to make a difference to him. Romeo shrugs and Hiro’s eyes flash like he’s rolling them, “Look, that altar is still dangerous regardless. And who knows how the endermen will act without their dragon!”
“You mean the dragon that’s been dead for a good 15 years…?” Romeo mumbles and Hiro glares at him. He smiles sickeningly sweetly, “Oh, my apologies, do continue.”
“I’ve read those books front to cover hundreds of times. I could probably recite them to you if I felt so inclined! That being said, past the initial altar was nothing good. Just a lotta trouble. And that’s even assuming it’s all still the same. Who knows what’s changed with the dragon gone and all that command block fuckery. Could’ve led to a ripple effect. Those books tell us so much of what should be there—which is all dangerous as hell already—but how are we to know that that’s even accurate anymore…?” He shakes his head, “Death is one wrong step away in every direction in that place. Full stop. His father wouldn’t want him running into all of that… Not for anything.”
A silence steals in after that. Hiro simply stares at the blue wood floors ahead of them. Romeo isn’t sure what to say. Good luck? That wouldn’t exactly get him anywhere anytime soon. He’s always had trouble reasoning with Hiro when it came to anything even remotely End related—even things as small as encountering the endermen while visiting warped forests nearby. His reputation among them might be worse than his reputation among people topside at this point. He’s overkill and aggressive with any one he sees. Not that he can blame him considering his circumstances, but it doesn’t make this any easier.
That said, it makes his next words even more stunning to hear.
“... If he goes I’m going with him.”
“Wh— What?” Romeo completely falters, eyes going wide with an alarming sense of dread freezing him in place.
“I’m terrified of the thought.” Hiro quickly adds on, finally dragging his eyes back up to meet Romeo’s. At this close, he can once again barely begin picking out the faint outline of his irises amidst the glow. A hint of blue—a husk of the color they used to be. His gaze is somber and pained, but accepting. He clasps his hands together in a white-knuckle grip, a rare sternness washing over him now, “If I lost him to the End, Rom… And I did nothing to help protect him…” He trails off and just shakes his head, “I would never be able to forgive myself. It’s already difficult enough as it is.”
Romeo swallows the new lump of anxiety making itself cozy in his throat. He’d like to say he still wasn’t worried, but this damn man has a knack for making him reconsider things like that very quickly. It’s his tone more than anything. It’s rare to see him so serious, and typically he’d only talk like this if he had good reason to. But even with only anxiety to work off of this time around, he can’t help but get swept up in it. He’s at a loss for words if he’s honest. There’s no way for him to predict the future, nor would he of all people be able to convince Jesse to just stay home and relax instead of running off to some new adventure. The man wouldn’t like to hear it, but if he were in Jesse’s shoes he’s sure that, at one point in his life at least, he’d likely do the same.
“Well…” He breathes, forcing a smile, “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that then, eh?”
“And if it does?”
“Then you come back in one piece. Simple.”
~~~~~
If the night was bad, the morning is a thousand times worse. With the exhaustion that numbed so much of the pain gone and out of the way, all that’s left is his hurt and, putting it simply, anger. Anger, hurt, and shame. It’s a horrific combo for him and he knows it, but as he paces around his room with a fire in his step, none of his typical tricks help him. He can’t even stand the thought of leaving his room—if he saw Lukas right now? He hates himself for it, but he doesn’t know if he’d be able to hold his tongue and that’s the last thing he needs. Humiliation stews in his gut at the mere thought, but at the same time so does that offense and pain as his words from the night before echo through his mind. He’s just too high-strung.
He needs to get out of this damn house. Where he’ll go? No idea. The thought of visiting his uncle briefly flashes through his mind, but then so do the accusations his mind throws towards him. The missing artifacts. His flaring temper. How he could’ve hurt them—it just leaves his face growing hotter and he hates it. Raising his hands to his head he grips tightly at his hair and shuts his eyes tight, choking a furious yell in his throat. No. He can’t see him like this. His uncle would just mirror his own horrible energy and they’d end up worse than they started. He can’t be going and creating even more problems for himself.
Jesse sucks in a very deep breath, forcing himself to steady. He’s gotta talk to someone—anyone—but the very thought of seeing most of his immediate circle just leaves him feeling ill. None of them would hear him out, they’re all just going to agree with Lukas—they already have. Hell, he isn’t sure if he even wants anyone on his side, he just wants someone to listen to him without chiding him like a child. Not that he doesn’t feel like one, but damn it he knows what he’s doing!
He rubs at his face and digs at his eyes, trying to shake it off. In a flash he rushes to his drawers and gets some clothes out. Getting dressed is a momentary distraction but one that only goes as far as reducing his thoughts to the repeated mantra of, ‘I need to get out of here.’ It barely takes him a minute to be changed and as he sits down on his bed to yank his boots on he stares indecisively at his bedroom door. He needs to leave. But that means crossing the house. He hasn’t even paid enough attention to tell if Lukas has even been moving about throughout the rest of it, but he’d rather not take any chances. No doubt the man has heard him stomping around his room—probably thinks he’s being ridiculous for it. His face grows hot again and he rubs a cheek with his hand. Can’t say he doesn’t feel ridiculous either, but what’s done is done.
Glancing around his room aimlessly for solutions or any means of an excuse, Jesse’s gaze stops on his windows. He pauses, pursing his lips in thought. Is he really going to hop out a window to avoid a simple conversation? Oh, he really is being childish now. But an idea’s an idea and he’ll take looking foolish over potentially getting into another confrontation. With his mind made up, Jesse bounces up off his bed and hurries over to the large windows. He unlatches them in the middle and pushes them outwards, the slightly cool morning air billowing in. A brief relief rushes through him at the mere feeling and he sucks in a deep breath of it, his mind slowing down as he does. Call him a hippie, but just getting outside has always done wonders for him even as a boy.
Hopping up onto the windowsill, he briefly glances down at the distance of the drop. Not bad, a little higher than he’d like no thanks to the house’s foundation, but nothing he can’t clamber back up. With that, he swings his legs over the ledge and drops down in one swift motion. He lands on the grass with a soft thump, his boots’ silver spurs jangling a little as he does. He takes a second to shake his feet out then gets to walking, hopping onto one of the side roads in a flash. He takes a few extra minutes to go wide and avoid the front of the house and its large windows. But once he’s past it a weight rolls off his shoulders—free and unstifled. Still doesn’t know where he’s going, but he’ll get there. One problem at a time.
He walks faster than he probably should, heart still hammering away in his chest. Getting into the thick of town he can only pray it’s not noticeable, yet he keeps catching the corners of his mouth giving way to a scowl. But then people start greeting him as he passes. It lightens him up a tad—he forces it a little at first, but it feels a little more natural with each encounter.
As he passes a park he returns to a tightly packed strip of independent shops—all colored vibrant shades of the rainbow. A red one with white bordering catches his eye—a clothing shop, it seems. The bell above the door pierces the air followed by a girl racing out and giggling. A woman steps out after her, a tired but happy look gracing her. As she begins to twirl, the girl spins right into the middle of the path without realizing. Her mother’s eyes widen briefly and she hustles to gently tug her gleefully twirling daughter a little to the side to keep her out of the path of others—including Jesse’s.
“I’m so sorry, she’s a bit energetic today!” The woman says with a tired laugh. Jesse blinks, immediately lighting up a little. He gives them his best smile and shakes his head as he stops.
“No need to apologize—she must have a good reason with all that spinning.” He says with a small chuckle. The mother sucks in a breath to speak but her daughter excitedly cuts her off as she bounces in place.
“I got a brand new skirt!” She blurts before twirling again in place, her lavender skirt billowing out as she does. Jesse smiles and chuckles.
“Wow! Would you look at that! Talk about lucky.”
“Right?!” She stops and beams up at him. He crouches down to her level and she continues animatedly, “My momma said that if I stayed on top of all of my chores and homework last month that I could pick out anything I wanted today! And guess what?”
“What?”
“I ended up getting an A on my school project on top of it all!” She hums proudly, swaying on her feet. Her mother chuckles with a smile and Jesse beams.
“Well, well! Look at you! Got a little Jack of All Trades in the making!” He says with a lopsided grin and she nods proudly. He stands up again as the mother gently takes her hand, “It looks like you ladies still have a lot to celebrate for—I better leave you to it!”
“You bet!” She hums and her mother leans in, speaking to him quietly.
“Thank you for entertaining her, sir.”
“Always happy to.” He hums, returning the smile, “And no need for the formalities—it’s just Jesse.” He says with a nod and steps back and out of their way, waving his arm grandly for them to continue. The little girl giggles and marches ahead like the sidewalk was made just for her. Her mother gets tugged along and shakes her head lightheartedly. At the last second the little girl twists around and waves at him.
“Bye Mr. Jesse! Have a good day!”
“Bye now—you too, alright?” He says and returns the wave. The little girl nods and bounces back around, falling into step with her mom and swinging their arms as they walk. Jesse huffs out another chuckle, warmth bubbling up in his chest as he watches them go. Finally, he turns on heel and continues along the street to wherever it is he ends up. Beacontown’s got a lot of good, innocent people—little interactions like that just remind him of it. Remind him of the people he owes and vows to protect.
Looking both ways as he reaches a bustling street, Jesse slips off the sidewalk and hustles across the road. He weaves his way through quick-footed people already in a rush to get the day started and bounces between the occasional carriage or caravan using the road. Always something going on it seems. Can’t say he’d have it any other way, but a proper vacation just sounds more appealing by the day.
He slows his pace as he gets back onto the sidewalk, just ambling forward towards… Well, wherever he’s going. His arms swing dully at his sides and he almost feels like an awkward teen again as a few people glance his way. Some awkward smiles and a few blocks down the line, he stuffs his hands into his pockets and gets back to thinking as he weaves through the crowds. Thankfully, his side isn’t giving him much trouble, but aggravatingly enough, the walk itself isn’t settling his nerves as fast as typical. A lingering dread, restlessness, and annoyance sits in his chest and leaves him kicking rocks as he marches along.
Blowing out a sigh and running his hands through his hair again, he internally chides himself. Isn’t happy inside and isn’t happy outside. Can’t stand being alone but suddenly there are too many people. Which is it, Jesse? The sun feels good on his skin at the very least, already warming him up. Reaching another street corner he dips back to one of the drinking fountains installed and goes for some water—warm at first but it cools down quickly. It’s a refreshing reprieve as he just hones in on the taste and feel of the water, the sun on his skin, and the sounds of a busy day with birds chirping from above. But then another sound cuts through it all and snaps him back to the present.
“Jesse?” A voice calls out and his brows furrow in confusion as he pulls back up and begins looking around. He hastily wipes the dribbling water off of his chin so as not to embarrass himself.
“Jesse! Over here!” The voice calls again and this time he recognizes it. It makes his stomach drop as he pinpoints where she’s calling from. Olivia. Just hearing her voice sends a shockwave of pain through his chest. He must look it, too—solemn, accusing, and hurt all in one. Because the moment he looks her way and his eyes meet hers, that smile of her falters. She falters, almost freezing in place. But there’s a recognition in her, too. Growing up alongside someone has its perks—can tell a whole story with one look, both good and bad.
She hesitates where she stands, mouth moving like she’s trying to figure out what to say. It gives Jesse just enough time for a proper headstart. Shaking his head, he turns and picks up his pace to blend back into the crowd as he turns his back on her. Guilt flares in his chest at his selfishness, but he can’t do this right now. He just needs to walk away.
“W— Wait! Jesse, wait up!” She ends up calling after him. He picks up his pace slightly. Behind him, the sound of Olivia’s rushing steps along the pavement begin to ring out and he briefly glances back to confirm it. His gut twists in on itself and a form of panic grips him. There’s not even a second of thought in it as he reacts. There’s just one option that rings through his mind, and not one that makes him proud.
Run.
In a snap, he’s in a sprint with the warm wind whipping against his face. It’s funny, it reminds him of things they used to do as kids. Olivia, despite what she seemed at a glance, always was able to keep up with him. Their races always ended up neck-in-neck with them arguing for hours afterwards about who actually won. It’s a fond memory. But right now, that just means that Jesse has to keep his focus and hope his athleticism outmatches her sheer determination. Admittedly, knowing her, he pushes himself just a little harder at the thought.
Olivia catches on quickly and calls after him again, picking up her pace, too. Off to the races they go. Jesse bobs and weaves through the people on the sidewalk with practiced ease, gaining a little ground thanks to it. By the time he passes them, the people step aside for Olivia though, so they’re shortlived gains. As he barrels through another crowd, the city gets a little tighter and it gives him an idea. In a flash, Jesse makes a snappy sharp turn and ducks into an alleyway. Behind him, he hears Olivia gasp.
Unlike Olivia, Jesse knows his city like the back of his hand—including every nook, cranny, and alleyway. Sure, he doesn’t have the cover of the crowd anymore, but he has a home turf advantage. As he swings around a tight set of corners, a feeling of deja vu wells up within him. He was doing this same thing not even a year ago to get around the city while Romeo was parading around with his face. They were a tremendous advantage—tight, out of sight, and connected to most parts of town if you know what you’re doing. And he certainly knows.
With his lead growing and the alley complex growing more complex, Jesse starts looking for a place to hide out until Olivia passes. At a triple fork in the road he stalls for just a second as his eyes dart down each path. Off to the right, one of the older brick buildings has a metal fire escape with a broken ladder hanging from it and some old wooden crates piled up beneath it. On the escape itself, there’s some barrels and miscellaneous bits and bobs—perfect to duck down behind though. So he makes his choice.
He hops up onto the crates with ease then leaps up for the ladder. He snags it, leaving his body swinging for a moment as he grits his teeth and begins to pull himself up. The first few rungs are a chore but the moment he can hoist his feet up to push against the bottom one, he practically launches himself up the rest of the ladder. The metal platform shakes and creaks as he rushes across it and he winces. But he ducks down behind his cover and, once settled, it returns to silence. Save for his ragged breathing at least. He hovers a hand over his side which aches and throbs with that stabbing pain now as the adrenaline wears off—but he pulled it off at least. He’s getting his agility back.
He hears quick footsteps hurry into the fork followed by another set of ragged breaths—Olivia. He presses his lips into a thin line and stays low and quiet, merely staring up at the sky above him from between the two buildings—a stark blue against the shadowed alleyways. Down on the ground Olivia takes a moment to catch her breath, slowly looking around down all the different paths. For a long moment, he thinks that she’s caught onto his little trick. Of course she would, she’s Olivia. But, either it be because she knows or simply doesn’t feel like bothering at this point, she blows out a sigh and what almost sounds like a whine before hurrying off in a different direction.
Jesse blows out a sigh of utter relief as he slumps back against the scratchy surface of the building’s old bricks. But the relief is shortlived and soon replaced by a wave of shame and hollowness. What’s he doing? Why is he running and hiding like this? It’s not some god-like maniac forcing him into the alleys this time, no. No, this time it’s people as simple and harmless as his best friends. As someone who cared about him like a sister since they were young. It leaves him feeling pathetic. But how’s he supposed to just show his face after a stunt like that?
As he stares back up at that sliver of blue sky and catches his breath, he finally gets an idea of where he’s going. Of who he needs to talk to. With the route he took he’s even close by. A bit of anxiety wells up in him at the thought, already knowing what note he’s been leaving everyone else off on. But, if anyone could understand his mindset right now, it would be Jack.
~~~~~
The front door squeals on its hinges and a familiar set of wind chimes ring out as Jesse steps inside. He takes a moment to admire them as he glances up—all sea-themed with shells of all shapes and colors making up the bulk of them. A small smile pulls at the corners of his mouth as he moves further inside. Even with the midday sun, this place remains cool and dark on the inside, the only lighting being the different colored lamps and display cases strewn about. They’ve closed the curtains today it seems—not that he’s gonna complain. It certainly helps against the summer heat, not to mention the atmosphere. A little bit of tension releases just as he soaks it in.
It’s not very busy yet, if at all. As Jesse steps further in, a few teens practically clamor over each other as they march towards the exit. They’re all chatter and buzzing like bees as they finish up their little visit—Jesse even recognizes one as a student of Olivia. They briefly glance at him and grace him with some excited waves before they tug each other out of the store and off to whatever big plans they’ve got for a fine Tuesday afternoon. Jesse already finds himself squinting a little as the harsh sunlight floods back in.
Remaining are just a few quiet stragglers—other collectors in town and more often than not older people sharing stories of their own youthful travels. Jesse peeks around a podium display and notes Jack in an animated conversation with an older couple. He smiles a little, recognizing them. Custom jewelry-makers that often sell their wares during those dockside markets. He has plenty of time so he allows himself to just amble about and peer at all of the knick-knacks Jack has displayed today.
There’s a squawking from overhead and Jesse feels a small wave of air hit him. Shooting his gaze upwards for the little culprit, he feels the now all-too-familiar sensation of talons landing and slightly digging into his shoulder as a new weight settles there. Hell, the bird has him taking a step forward to balance himself with the force it landed with. Jesse chuckles a little and turns his smile towards the big scarlet macaw.
“Hey Archie,” He raises a hand up to rub underneath the bird’s beak, “How’s it goin’, buddy?”
“Hi!” The macaw blurts in his nasally little voice. He raises one of his feet and waves it around a little, mimicking a waving hand. Jesse doesn’t encounter birds big enough to speak too often, but Archie’s been a fun one. He’s certainly learned a lot from Jack about them—he can’t say he’s a bird person per-se, but damn if he hasn’t considered it. Very clever little things to say the least.
“Hello!” Jesse says again with a little laugh. He reaches up and gently ruffles Archie’s feathers on the back of his head and the bird happily obliges. Once he drops his hand, the bird bobs around to the faintly playing music echoing through the shop. Hell, at this point he wouldn’t even be heartbroken if he couldn’t talk to Jack—Archie’s enough of a joy. He continues to dance from his shoulder contentedly as Jesse meanders about, feeling considerably at ease now.
It’s been a long time since he’s gotten to merely amble through a shop at his own pace. Especially Jack’s. Sure he’s poked around here and there, but not really admired much in depth like he is now. It reminds him of the first time he and Petra came through here. His chest tightens with anxiety at the thought of Petra. Then there’s the memory of that gauntlet. He absentmindedly ghosts a hand over his right forearm and hand where the scar of it remains burned into his skin. That’s one wound healed, at least, but that just leaves Petra—amongst others. A new wave of anxiety washes over him and he just hopes that Jack won’t hold it against him. At least not too much—there’s no doubt in his mind that he’s already got the full scoop if not more. If Bruce knows then Jack certainly will.
Jesse peers into one display with his hands clasped behind his back. It’s a collection of teeth from different mobs over the years—most he recognizes but there’s a few that stand out. A large set catches his attention though with all the teeth thin but sharp like pinprick needles. He winces a little at the sight, already able to put an image to the sight—Ghasts. He isn’t sure if he should dare ask Jack how he got those.
Conversation picking up in volume catches his ear and he snaps his gaze up just in time to see the older couple leaving. Jack waves them off with a bright smile, not noticing Jesse at all yet. His stomach twists a little and while some part of his mind screams second-thoughts at him, he stays firmly in place. Even if he were to try making an escape, Archie’s squawking gives him away in a flash.
“Jack! Look! Look!”
“Hold on now, Arch!” The man grunts, not quite looking their way yet and causing Archie to bob a little more in impatience. Jesse smiles nervously and rubs his arms. He forces himself away from the displays and up towards the counters, although his feet tend to drag against the carpet. As Jack putzes behind—and quickly shifting underneath—the counters, Jesse slows to a stop just a few feet short. There’s a good minute where he just watches, trying to figure out what to do and where to start. Unfortunately with the buzz of his mind, no easy answers come to him. So, without much more thought to it, Jesse clears his throat.
Jack seems to hear that—oh boy does he—because the man accidentally slams his head into the underside of the countertops as he tries to stand in a rush. Jesse grimaces at the solid thunk and his pained hissing, cursing, and groaning. Nonetheless though, it doesn’t stop him and the man manages to bounce back up to his feet. As he meets Jesse’s gaze his eyes widen momentarily before he settles again.
“Jesse! Uhh… Hey there!” He clears his throat, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long?”
“You didn’t.” Jesse replies with an easygoing smile—it feels sort of like a lie, but is it really if Jesse was the one awkwardly standing around just trying to make up his mind? Jack pauses to eye him up and down for a long moment, but eventually just nods.
“That’s good then. So!” He claps his hands together, “What can I do for ya?” He says with his standard lilt and smile that he’s seen and heard hundreds of times already. Which makes it all the easier to tell he’s tense about something. Something’s not quite right and anxiety briefly wells up within him at the mere thought. Hopefully it’s something mundane—and if it’s something about him, then hopefully it’s something that can be solved in a flash.
“If you’re not busy, uh, I was kinda hoping— I mean I— If at all possible—” Jesse stumbles over his words, frustration and embarrassment flaring. He coughs a little and sighs, “Can we talk?”
“Talk?”
“Yes. Please.”
Jack hums in consideration, his eyes softening as he nods, “... I think I can spare a few minutes for that. How’s about a walk alongside it? Down by the delta?”
“That sounds lovely.” Jesse breathes a sigh of relief at that, the corners of his mouth twitching back up into a smile.
“We’ve got a plan, then!” Jack nods again and leans over the counter with his arm out for Archie, “C’mon buddy, you’ve gotta stay here with Nurmie.”
The bird squawks and turns his head upside down at him. Jesse chuckles a little at the sight while Jack scoffs.
“He’s got an attitude today, huh?”
“Oh he’s always got an attitude, the little bastard.” Jack grumbles and he bounces his arm again, “C’mon Arch, I’ll even cut you up something fresh when we’re back.”
The macaw considers him with that one, head tilted slightly. “Fresh?”
“That’s right, buddy. Fresh.”
Archie begins bobbing up and down happily until finally hopping from Jesse’s shoulder to Jack’s arm. The man smiles as he waddles up his arm to his shoulder now, stopping a moment to gently pet and scratch the bird. He trills happily. Jesse takes a moment to roll his shoulder out while Jack holds up a finger and steps back to find a proper perch for the bird. As Jack walks to the back he catches a glimpse of Nurm in passing and offers the man a small wave. He gets a smile and slight bowing of the head in return—ever polite as always.
He smiles to himself as he hears the faint voices of Jack and Archie arguing once more about something. Such a large personality in that bird. Finally, after a few minutes of seemingly placating him, Jack marches back out. He dusts off his hands and offers Jesse another smile which he returns. Nodding his head towards the back door, Jesse obliges and they’re off.
They don’t talk much past basic pleasantries until they’re out of the city walls. They take an asphalt path up along the northernmost river until they find a gravel offshoot to split off onto. The further north they go, the terrain begins to shift with more spruce and cedar trees sprouting up. The coastline is fairly rocky rather than the pleasant sandy beaches of most places. A few puffy clouds dot the sky and give them the occasional cover from the intense rays of the summer sun. The shade is a relieving reprieve and refreshing alongside the sound of the water of the delta. They slow their pace as they walk along the water’s edge and Jesse blows out a sigh.
“For a guy who asked to talk, we sure haven’t done much of that yet.” Jack starts and Jesse lets out an awkward huff and smiles.
“Yeah, my bad… Like being out here rather than in town for it though. Less stifling.” He mumbles and leans down, snatching up a decent sized rock to toss around in his hands. He sucks in a breath and glances up at Jack, “But I also noticed you’re kinda tense before I’ve even gotten a word out of my mouth.”
“Oh, well—” Jack blows out a sigh and some tension releases from his shoulders, “You don’t hafta worry about that, Jesse. Let’s just focus on what you wanted to—”
“Wait, so it doesn’t have anything to do with my situation with Petra?” Jesse stops and eyes him suspiciously. Jack stutters a moment under his gaze and it sets a pit in his stomach. He grimaces, “Oh Jack, don’t tell me it’s something—”
“Hey, hey, easy!” He spits out in a rush and clamps down a hand on his shoulder. He blows out a sigh, “Look it— It’s just some stuff with the shop. Business related. It’s not anything you gotta worry about, especially in times like this.”
Jesse’s gaze softens at that into one of worry, “Are you two okay? If you need help—any at all, then—”
“Hey now, what did I just say?” Jack asks with an easygoing smile. Jesse stutters but eventually just huffs out a smile and nods. They continue to walk again from there and Jack eventually just stuffs his hands in his pockets and keeps his gaze fixed out over the water. A nice breeze rushes over them from it, blowing their hair about.
Eventually Jesse slows to a stop again, testing the rock’s weight in his hand as he approaches the water. He bites his lip and lines up his shot before launching the rock out to skip across the water. It fails pretty miserably with one “skip” before crashing into the water with a big splash. Jesse runs his hands through his hair and bites his lip, that little display doing little to help ease his embarrassment.
Jack meanders up to his side and grunts down to snatch up a rock of his own. Flat, smooth, and round—perfect. He holds it up so Jesse can see and then begins lining up his own shot. Jesse steps back and crosses his arms as he watches. He flings the rock out across the water, this time getting four or five solid skips before it finally plops into the water. Jesse’s jaw goes slack as he shoots him a look and Jack just chuckles.
“All about form and the rock.”
“Show off.” Jesse mumbles with a small smile. Jack just chuckles then grunts as he bends back down. He hums to himself as he scans the rocks before finally snatching another one up and bouncing back upright. He reaches up, grabs one of Jesse’s hands, and plants it firmly in his palm before giving him a hearty pat on the back. “Bend your elbow more and shoot it out from your side—kinda underhanded, like I just did. Practice makes perfect.”
“O– Okay. Gotcha.” Jesse nods, turning the smooth stone over in his hands. He furrows his brows and shifts his stance to try again. He does as told, making sure to really bend his arm and test his throw at an angle. Jack perks up and stops him before he can.
“Oh! And snap your wrist! That’ll really get it going!”
“Bent arm, underhand, snappy wrist. Easy enough on paper.” Jesse hums and finally winds up again. Sucking in a breath, he chucks the rock off across the water. It makes 2 wobbly skips before collapsing beneath the waves, but skipping is skipping. He laughs a little, lighting up and Jack grins next to him.
“There it is! Getting there!”
“Aw man,” Jesse rolls his arm as he laughs, “Gonna have to really practice that.”
“You’ll pick it up fast.” Jack hums and snags another rock and launches it within seconds—this one getting 7 or 8 skips no problem. Jesse whistles and shakes his head. Guess he better get down to it. As he picks up another rock, Jack clears his throat again and nabs his attention. He shifts his weight, letting his hands awkwardly hang on his hips as he glances around them, “So… talking… I’m gonna guess this is about Petra?”
Jesse sighs, “And Lukas, and Olivia, and Hiro, and…” He pauses, rolling the new stone around in his hand before shrugging rather pathetically, “Everyone else, I guess.” Jack’s brows shoot up at that.
“Quite the laundry list goin’... What happened?”
“I… I dunno, I think I’m just being utterly ridiculous at this point.” He grumbles, chucking this rock out a little harder. It skips 3 times before falling. Jack hums at that and Jesse just rubs his neck, “I got into a fight with Lukas—as if Petra wasn’t bad enough.”
“Another one? Yeesh… How bad?”
“I climbed out of my bedroom window rather than using the front door this morning if that tells you anything.” Jesse huffs as he crouches back down to look for rocks. He can’t find any quite right so he wades into the edge of the water and grabs a river rock. Jack grimaces behind him.
“Yeah that… that gives me an idea. What about?”
“Well, I—” Jesse hesitates as he shakes some excess water off of his rock, “I’ve been trying to think of ways to honor my father lately. Some kind of legacy project, y’know? So I brought up an idea—made it clear I wasn’t even thinking about starting any time soon—but he totally freaked out over it in a way that just… didn’t make sense.”
“Blindsided, huh…?” Jack mumbles and Jesse nods.
He huffs, “One-hundred percent. Said a lot of hurtful shit too… I pressed him enough that he finally spilled it all. And it turns out he’s been withholding a lot of information from me. Important things too—crucially important! Then not only that, but apparently everyone else agreed to keeping it hush hush. Axel, Olivia, Ivor, Petra, Lukas, Radar—” He grimaces, feeling sick to his stomach at the thought of it, “They unanimously decided that lying to me about important shit involving the potential safety of my town was the best option.”
He shakes his head with a scowl and just straight up chucks this rock out high and far, aiming for sheer distance and height this time. It flies for a while, the splash barely visible in the distance. He finally turns to Jack again and huffs.
“I can forgive a lot, Jack. But I can’t stand being lied to. Especially not with things like this. Especially not now. I don’t care what state I’m in, I need to know what’s going on. I can relax all I want once the problem is solved.”
“Is this attitude that ‘ridiculousness’ you mentioned?” Jack mumbles and Jesse hesitates. His cheeks flush and he loses a little steam. He turns his new rock over and over in his hands, just grazing his thumbs over the smooth surface.
“I—... I mean, I dunno… I don’t feel like it’s ridiculous to be hurt by that, but I guess the way I’m handling it feels pretty stupid. But I dunno what else to do! I feel like if I try talking with one of ‘em then I’m just gonna end up blurting out something even more stupid! O-Or even unconsciously manipulate them in some way! I’ve already let my big mouth run enough. But at the same time like—” He stutters, the words catching in his throat, “I ran away from Olivia and hid from her on a fire escape to avoid a simple conversation. That’s ridiculous!”
“A fire escape…?” Jack scowls and Jesse just shrugs helplessly.
“I dunno what to do, Jack… I just— is it too much to want some simple communication?”
Jack sighs as he meanders up to Jesse’s side ankle-deep in the water. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and stares out at the waves for a moment, face scrunched up in hard thought. His grizzled features shine through the look as frown-lines clearly settle in. Examining him, Jesse spots a few strands of grey starting through his hair. Not many, but a few small streaks here and there—a peppering. Probably from stress were he to hazard a guess. A dry huff escapes him at the thought—he’ll probably be looking that way soon if things don’t change.
“He give you a reason for doin’ that? Holdin’ out on you, I mean.”
Jesse scoffs, “Yeah. To protect me from myself.” He chucks another rock at that, hating the sound of the words rolling out of his mouth. Jack hums in what Jesse can only hope is dismay but has the feeling it’s more neutral than that. Jesse blows out a sigh and steps back to shrug, “They think that the moment I hear this stuff that I’m gonna go off to the races to get myself killed! That what I did with going to the Stronghold is proof of that.”
“You think that wasn’t impulsive?” Jack mumbles and Jesse cringes.
“No it… It was. That said, I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two after the shitshow that led to. Like I told him—I have no plans right now. All I wanna do is recover and, if possible, get whoever it is that has the explosive trigger finger out of my town and away from my people. Is that seriously unreasonable to ask?”
“... No. No, it’s not.” He starts but Jesse can already hear the hesitation on the tip of his tongue, “But what idea did you float that set Lukas off…?”
“Admittedly? Probably a bad one.” Jesse says with another sigh as he kicks some water around, “I wanna do something that could help keep more people safe. Prevent what happened to my father from easily happening again. If the Nether has been able to gain so much infrastructure, then The End should have that same potential.”
Jack cringes at that, blowing out a low whistle. He nods along slowly, “I hear ya… But I also uh, well I can see why Lukas…” He trails off awkwardly and Jesse nods.
“I didn’t think it was a bad time to broach it. Hell, how was I supposed to know what he was freaking out about? From my eyes it had been a nice evening—we’d winded down, and the conversation naturally came up. Why wouldn’t I tell him?” He sighs, “But had he actually explained to me what was going on, then I’d’ve definitely held back. Thought twice. But no, I had zero clue there was even a problem and now I’m the bad guy for it.” He huffs and swings an arm his direction, “I’m sure you already know about Ivor’s lab being broken into, too. More End shit getting stolen.” He grumbles and Jack nods albeit awkwardly.
“Yeah… Petra got weirded out by all the End stuff getting jacked. Someone’s obsessed.”
“Yeah, which brings me to my next problem. My uncle.” Jesse rubs his neck, “I still haven’t talked to him, for starters. Considered it this morning! But I’m just— I’m too high-strung, I swear I’ll just end up bouncing that energy off of him and we’ll end up in an even more precarious spot than before. And then there’s Romeo coming to warn me about him being unpredictable? I just dunno, Jack…” He sighs. Jack meanders alongside him and pats him on the back, getting a huff and tired smile out of the man.
“You think it’s your uncle stealing those items?” He asks as he drops his hands back into his pockets. Jesse nods easily.
“Has to be. He’s the only one I can think of who can get to so many places so snappily. Getting to the Far Lands would take eons for anyone else unless they knew about Ivor’s personal line—and even then getting there and back almost takes a week if you’re fast. Don’t know why he would, aside from obsession, but that’s what I think.”
“Well, you know the rumors about what that egg and those crystals can do, right?” Jack mumbles and Jesse frowns.
“I mean… I-I’ve heard a lot of things, Jack. Hell, as a kid I’d race around spreading my own to get a rise outta other kids. Doesn’t mean any of it’s true.”
“It was enough to get a rise out of Lukas though.”
Jesse just huffs and rolls his eyes, “Not to sound like a bitch right now, but when Lukas is stressed he’ll believe a lot of things. That doesn’t make them any more true—he’s just a worrier. Even if those rumors held any water at one point, Soren went and fucked up the natural order of things with the command block. The End is already a shell of its former self—we don’t know anything about it! Which is why I considered the idea in the first place—to make it safer out there.”
Jack nods thoughtfully with another hum. They fall into a short silence and Jesse gets right back to practicing his throws with the river rocks. He’s slowly getting soaked just standing knee-deep in the rushing water but he can’t find it in himself to care just yet—the cool water is refreshing against the warm air, if anything. Snagging another rock, he lets it fly across the water once more. It skips 3 times again, but is a bit more steady as it flies this time. Getting there.
“I think you’re being foolish to count it out as a possibility, Jesse. I mean— Hell, look at what ignoring the idea of an Admin got me. You don’t wanna regret it later on.”
“I’m not—!” He starts, then blows out a steady breath through his nose, checking his temper, “I’m not, really—I’m just looking at it all logically. Even if it were true, it’s not like I have to worry about it.”
“What do you mean…?” Jack mumbles, eyeing him curiously. Jesse just shrugs.
“Simple. If my uncle has those items—which he probably does—then nothing’s gonna happen. I mean, you heard how he died. Why would he even attempt such a thing?”
“... Fair point.” Jack concedes with another nod. Reaching down into the water for another rock, he grunts out another question, “But then we’ve got a mighty-fine coincidence going on, wouldn’tcha say? One man’s teleporting around stealing End items for “safekeeping” while another person, like you said, is lighting the town up like no tomorrow. Where do they fit into all this?”
“Like you said—Coincidence. I’m pretty certain it’s whoever attacked us down in that Stronghold—same kinda pattern so far. Well, if a penchant for dynamite is a pattern, anyways.” He scoffs and merely crosses his arms as he watches Jack skip his rock. Six skips this time—he must be distracted. The man curses under his breath and rolls his arm a little—ah, nevermind. Jack nods along regardless.
“Okay… And you believe this person was Alex, right?”
“Bingo.” Jesse answers with a finger-gun pointed in his direction. He goes to list reasons off on his fingers but then hesitates a moment. He remembers Bruce’s words from the day before and bites the inside of his cheek as he just stuffs his hands in his pockets. Ease off the accusations. Digging in his heels won’t help anybody. He shrugs kinda meekly now, “Or, at least, that was my thought process… I gotta ease off the gas. Stop throwing so many assumptions around, huh?”
“Sounds like that’s what’s been getting you into trouble. Not that I can blame you much. Stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one.”
“What else is new?” Jesse laughs with a weak shrug. Jack matches it, though a somberness fills the air between them. Jesse just ends up shaking his head, “I know I gotta figure this all out somehow… Just don’t even know where to start…”
“I’d say start from the bottom and work your way up.”
“Yeah?”
Jack nods confidently, “Definitely. Start with folks like Olivia, Axel, and Radar first. Stop separating and isolating yourself.”
“But I just—” He hesitates, feeling like a kid for what feels like the millionth time today. He kicks a rock in the water, watching some dirt and sand billow up in the process and make the water just a shred murkier. “They betrayed my trust. It hurts. What if I let it get the better of me? Or try something underhanded without realizing it?”
“Jesse, at their core they’re damn worried about you. Even if there’s a little bit of headbutting, you’ll all end up on the same page because at the end of the day, you all care about each other. And I don’t know what the hell you’re even talking about with that manipulation business. You’re not a bad man, and you’re certainly not the manipulative type—the opposite, I’d say. Some people just don’t know what to make of folks with their hearts on their sleeve.” He shrugs a little and it’s surprisingly reassuring to hear him say so confidently, “I think you’ll feel a lot better than you realize to have them back in your corner—something I don’t think they ever left, by the way. Just got different ideas on how to help you strategize, y’know? From there, you can get their help on figuring out how to proceed with Petra and Lukas.” He pauses at that and shoots Jesse a look, “Which one do you think will be harder to get through to…?”
Jesse blows out a sigh as runs his fingers through his hair, hooking his hands behind his neck and just hanging them there as he stares out at the water. That really is a good question. Petra, who’s bullheaded much in the same way he is? Or Lukas, who has his own long-lasting type of ire? He’s gone and lost both’s trust for different reasons, but it’s trust gone nonetheless. But who's more reasonable…?
He sucks in a deep breath and presses his lips into a thin line, “Lukas will be more difficult. Petra may be hotheaded like me, but if I work up the nerve to just talk with her, then I’m sure we both can come to an understanding. I just gotta show that I’m willing to give a little more grace than I have been—which I am. I can’t be jumping to conclusions so soon. Things will become clearer the more we work together to figure things out.”
Jack smiles at that, letting out a quiet chuckle and catching Jesse’s attention. His stomach does somersaults despite the good sign. The man nods along as he finally trudges his way out of the water.
“Sounds like the type of thing Petra would like to hear, Jesse!” He calls back as he begins stretching his arms. Jesse brightens at that.
“You serious?”
Jack huffs with a grin, “You kidding? Sure, she’s defensive and stubborn, but she isn’t dumb either. She’s been doing her own thinking. You two might be closer to common ground than you think.”
“Oh man I sure hope you’re right…” Jesse blows out with a sigh of relief. Jack smiles but then it falters briefly, stalling Jesse in his tracks out of the water. All he needs to do is raise a brow and Jack grimaces.
“Yeah, okay… There’s one more thing we oughta discuss before parting ways, I think. Knowing you, you might wanna stay in the water for another minute.”
Jesse eyes him suspiciously but then nods, raising his hands to rest on his hips, “Okay… What’s today’s surprise?”
“Not a good one, unfortunately. But one you oughta know about—at least if I’m gonna stay on your good side.” He says with a sheepish laugh, scratching his beard a little. Jesse blinks then just stares up at him expectantly. Jack sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth, “It’s about that fishy business with my shop that you caught me sulking about.”
Jesse’s look softens into one of sheer worry at that, “Is everything okay?”
“It is thanks to Nurm’s sharp ears and my own keen eye.” He sighs and Jesse’s frown deepens at that. Jack crosses his arms and looks down, taking a moment to gather his words and thoughts it seems. It does little to assuage Jesse’s nerves. Finally, his eyes flick back up to his and they’re dark and heavy—at once Jesse can see the exhaustion clear in the man, “There was another one of those little presents left by our mystery friend under the shop’s stern.”
Jesse feels his blood freeze in his veins, “What?”
“Nurm heard it first—there was this ticking not like any of the clocks we’ve got in the Emporium. I couldn’t hear it as well as he could, but once we got to investigating I found it nestled up in a cubby between the supporting foundations and the stern of the ship.” He grips his arms a little tighter, “Was set for the same time as the other one. Eight AM on the mark. We were up all night tryna pinpoint the damn thing and I managed to finally rip enough boards away to get at it at around six.”
“Oh my god…” Jesse breathes, a shake to his voice. Jack grimaces but nods, swallowing down a lump in his throat.
“Took it to Harper first thing and she and Ivor disarmed it—but it was well-made. Same type of stuff that blew Bruce’s place sky high, though. It would’ve been…” He trails off, voice growing quiet as he quietly shakes his head. Jesse wades out of the water and over to him without really thinking. He tentatively places his hands on Jack’s arms and scans him up and down with a faraway gaze. After a minute or so, he just shakes his head and collapses into a tight hug around the man. Jack unfurls himself relatively quickly and returns the bear hug.
It could’ve been done in a snap. In the blink of an eye he could’ve lost two more people in his life. That would’ve been it. No comebacks or do-overs. Just a brief flash and it’s over. He squeezes Jack a little tighter at the thought.
“I’m so sorry Jack…” He apologizes, voice shaking, “What the hell have I brought home…?” He mumbles into his shoulder and Jack’s grip tightens just a little more. A calloused hand finds its way to the back of his head in a reassuring squeeze.
“You didn’t bring anything. It’s all on this damn maniac.” He mumbles and Jesse does his best to just nod along. Somehow, he has to do anything he can not to internalize this. That’s what got him into trouble last time. But he just can’t help but feel utterly sick to his stomach—this all began because he stuck his nose in too deep. This is his town, too. How’s he not supposed to feel responsible?
“What the hell do we do?” He asks, but it barely comes out as a whisper. Jack lets out a heavy sigh and it’s warm against his ear before fully pulling away. His hands linger on Jesse’s shoulders as the man meets his gaze, intense, focused, and searching for an answer. After a long minute of consideration, the man gently nods.
“We stay alert. Stay vigilant. But you need to keep resting.”
“But this—!”
“—Is something we can all handle as a team.” He cuts him off with a reassuring squeeze. It’s comforting, but does little to ease the drumbeat of his heart or the fear etching into it. Jack continues with a deathly serious tone and stern grip, “We need you waiting in the wings if and when things get real, because whoever this is isn’t gonna go down without a fight. But that means you gotta lay low for just a little longer as we gather more information—and it’ll come.”
“I—” Jesse chokes, “I trust you, Jack. But if we miss something and this happens again, then we could stand to lose so much. We were damn lucky no one was seriously hurt when Bruce’s shop went, but the more of these things there are, the worse our chances of getting everyone out unscathed are.”
“Which is why we’re acting fast. Ivor and Harper said they’d get everyone in the loop as fast as possible—hell Radar was the third person to know this morning. The city’s watchmen have already been on the lookout, but with this one salvaged before it blew they’ve actually got something to look and listen for. And if this asshole is going around setting these up then one of these times they’re bound to slip up and leave something more for us to find.”
“The more pressure we lay on, the sloppier they’ll get…” Jesse mumbles out with a nod. Jack matches it fervently.
“Exactly!” He smiles a little then eases up and backs out of his space. Jesse seems more than shaken still and Jack shares another sympathetic look with him, “I don’t like this either, Jesse. Not one bit. But we’re playing one hell of a round of chess now.”
Jesse continues nodding to himself. He’s fought enemies like this before—it’s not a matter of endurance anymore but rather one of prediction. Jesse has already managed to push this person to this extreme, and now they’re trying to get some sort of rise out of him in turn. What that is though is anyone’s guess—and he’s gonna need all hands on deck to figure it out. That means there’s work to be done and amends to be made. With a renewed fire in his eyes, Jesse meets Jack’s gaze once more. But seeing it, Jack returns his grip to Jesse’s shoulders, eyes urgent.
“I know you’re gonna wanna hit the ground running to fix this, but remember how we got here in the first place. What upset everybody.” He urges and Jesse scowls a little at that but Jack holds up a hand to settle him, “Hear me out, because we can play this right into our hands.”
Breaking one of his impulsive habits and having it work in their favor? Now that manages to intrigue him.
“Keep talking…” He says, scanning him briefly. Jack flashes a toothy grin.
“Stay on the sidelines, lay low—make it seem like you’re still in the dark, even. If you’re who they want a reaction from, then they won’t be paying too much attention to the rest of us, wherever they are. If they didn’t get a reaction from you today then—”
“—they’re gonna scramble to get my attention…” He finishes the thought and Jack passionately nods. Jesse continues the line of it, “The more of a rush, the better chance of a mistake. They want to remain a presence in my mind. Something keeping me paranoid so I make another mistake.”
“Bingo. And we aren’t gonna give them that. And that?” Jack smirks, “Oh, Jesse, I think that just might drive ‘em mad…”
A smirk cracks at the edge of Jesse’s mouth and there’s a devilish glint in his eyes as he meets Jack’s gaze, “... Y’know? For once, I think I like the idea of getting benched.”
A grin spreads across Jack’s face as he claps him on the arms, “That’s what we like to hear! Now we’re in business!” He whoops, pumping a fist in the air as Jesse laughs. A bit of hope dares to spring in his chest as he races through everything needing to be done yet—they can do this. Hell, he’s already gonna be busy tomorrow with whatever Radar has booked for him—he can play the role of oblivious leader, sure! Maybe he can even get Stella to do something with him around town. His mind rushes through a billion things he can do in public to take the heat off of the others—if they’re watching him like a hawk then he’ll give them something to gawk over alright.
Does he have a mess to clean up in the meantime? Yes. Can he do it? Surely. He just has to. Like Jack said, he can start from the bottom and move up. The mere idea of talking to Lukas again still, admittedly, raises his blood-pressure as well as stirs up feelings of humiliation and shame. But he’ll get there. It’ll just take some thought to find a place to even begin. He’ll be the bigger man if he has to, but some part of him can’t help but cling to the hope of getting an apology. Of walking home and being welcomed back into the warmth that was there before. But the mere idea of being stifled away in his room again leaves him wanting to gag.
He glances back out at the water with that thought and the weight returns to his shoulders. Manageable but ominous all the same. His heart still rattles away in his chest and he does his best not to let it overwhelm him in the meantime. There’s a little nudge on his arm and he glances back to see Jack once more with his arms crossed and somewhat sheepish.
“... Sorry, by the way. For not telling you sooner—especially when this whole new debacle is all about people not being transparent with ya. It’s not that I don’t trust you with it, but you’ve already been through hell and back… Didn’t wanna hit you with something else while you were down. Bet that’s just what the others were thinkin’ too.”
“Thanks for the apology, Jack.” Jesse says with a smile, “I appreciate the perspective, too. God knows I could use it lately.” He laughs weakly and begins walking back towards the water and an outcropping of rock jutting into some deeper parts of it. “As for dealing with the soul-crushing weight of it all? I think I’ve got a pretty decent solution for the meantime!”
Jack scoffs and rests his hands on his hips as he eyes him slyly, “Uh-huh… And what is that, exactly?”
“A natural shock to the system!” Jesse hums as he wades back into the water, kicking it up the further in he goes until it reaches to about his mid-thighs. He shoots a grin back at Jack as he reaches some of the rocky outcropping. Jack merely watches on in amusement from the shore as Jesse braces himself against two split rocks with both hands. In a flash—and with one quick and deep breath—Jesse flings himself forward and dunks his head completely into the water.
Jack lets out a curt laugh at that which only grows as he sees an intense bout of bubbles popping up around his head. It doesn’t take long for Jesse to fling himself back upright with the rocks as leverage. He gasps in a breath and lets out a whoop as he blinks the water out of his eyes and shakes the hair out of them too.
“Were you screaming under there?” Jack asks mid-guffaw. Jesse just shoots him back a lopsided grin and that’s really all he needs for an answer.
Jack shakes his head and waves for him to get back up there and he complies, hiking out of the water for the second time today. Jesse joins in his chuckling as he gets close. He’s sopping wet in most places by now—a total mess by all accounts—but Jack can’t help but just shake his head and sling an affectionate arm around his neck. A little lightheartedness is just what both men needed.
The walk back into town continues with that air and leaves Jesse feeling hopeful. Conversation remains light and fun the whole way back to the Emporium. Jesse finally parts ways with Jack from there, shocked to see the clock inside dipping into the evening hours—who knew they’d been gone so long? Regardless, he has another stop to make and ends up speeding up his pace just a tad to ensure he makes it on time.
As he enters the bustling construction-filled plaza, he ends up making it just in the nick of time. With students clearing out and chattering amongst themselves it doesn’t take very long for him to find just the person he needs trying to pack up her things. She grunts in place as she tries hauling a heavy little crate up and out of the way, struggling to get the momentum she needs to swing it off the ground.
“Here ‘Liv. Lemme help with that.” He says and quickly races to lift it for her. Olivia utterly freezes where she stands as he hefts the little thing up and puts it back in its proper place amongst the others—a shipment heading back to Redstonia it seems. With a grunt, he shoves it snugly in amongst the others then reaches around to nab the securing straps. He can feel Olivia’s eyes on him as he works but does his best to keep his focus on the task at hand.
With it all tightly secured and ready to go, Jesse blows out a sigh and finally turns around to face Olivia. Her arms are crossed and insecure and she stares at him utterly conflicted. Jesse smiles sheepishly and rubs his neck, bowing his head a little as he does.
“Hey uh… Would… Would it be okay if I crashed at your place tonight?” He mumbles, shifting to interlace his fingers nervously at his front.
That question seems to shake her out of her stupor just a little. The corners of her mouth twitch upwards into a small smile before she chuckles. His heart hammers away in his ears but his nerves are replaced with a flash of hope at that. From there, a broad smile lights up her features briefly before it’s replaced with a sly look.
“I dunnooooo… The last time you asked me that you ended up stuck at my place until you moved out at, what, 17?”
“16 if we’re being technical, which—knowing you—we always are. If you really wanna get into the nitty-gritty though I’m sure I wrote down the month, day, time, stars, planetary alignment—Ow!” He starts in reply only to get cut off by a teasing slug in the arm. He laughs and recoils slightly to rub where she hit him and she just shakes her head, rolling her eyes at the same time.
“God you are so full of it!” She laughs. There’s a moment’s hesitation though as her gaze lingers on him. Her eyes grow glassy and her lip quivers just slightly as a handful of emotions seem to roll through her—a mix of worry, joy, and fear at the forefront. Jesse just takes the plunge from there and reaches up to trap her in a hug. She gasps a little but quickly squeezes him back. They relax into the hold and he allows them a minute to merely breathe. His own heart is still hammering away in his chest and, knowing Olivia, hers is probably doing the same. Eventually, he blows out a sigh and gets to the thick of things.
“I’m sorry for being so ridiculous. I just— I’ll explain it all but I didn’t wanna go and say something equally as stupid… ” He mumbles and hears her scoff against his ear. It makes his chest swell in a way he couldn’t have expected. She just shakes her head against him.
“Lukas already explained plenty for us to get the picture. I’d’ve probably run too knowing my nervous wreck of a self…” She pauses for a moment and Jesse can almost hear the smile in her words, “The fire escape was certainly a unique choice though.” She mumbles and Jesse just momentarily buries his face in embarrassment as he chuckles awkwardly. Ah. So she did know.
“I uh… Got creative?”
“Creative. Sure, we can call it that, I suppose.” She huffs, “You’re such a dork sometimes, y’know that?”
“Old habits die hard?” He asks and she snorts, lightly yanking on one of his curls and he just laughs in the embrace. How many times have they worked out their little problems and qualms like this? He can remember so many times they’d pretend to hug while yanking each other’s hair or pinching each other where Olivia’s parents couldn’t see, just trying to see who would cave first and lose their little argument. But this one shifts to something else and something much more comforting even as his heartbeat still thuds in his ears.
“So, we’re okay…?” She asks quietly, sniffling a little. Jesse nods, squeezing her just a bit tighter.
“Yeah. We’re okay.”
Chapter 39: Order Up!
Summary:
Jesse gets a surprise visit thanks to Radar as well as gets down to start talking to a few more people, making a bit more progress than he initially planned but spontaneity is his bread and butter!
Notes:
HI HI HIHI HEY HEY HEY STOP FOR A SEC LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. HI. HELLO.
If u have read this fic at any point prior to 7/4/23, I have a fun update for u guys bc the reason this took so long to get out is because I had to go back and strengthen some foundational stuff--Answers got a patch update <3 I went back and edited, revised, and added content accordingly to ensure that the whole story read smoothly and that getting to this point would feel less like a rug pull that came out of nowhere because personally I don't find that satisfying in any means. That said, I also deeply understand that this is getting to be quite the long ass fic and rereading the entire thing may not be an effective use of everyone's time, so I have the chapters most notably changed noted and they are as follows!1, 3, 8-16 (Hiro has been a problem child for certain plot point but dw he's better now), 25, 32, and then some additional little bits of conversation in 35 and 36
There have been edits to other chapters as well, but these were the ones I felt were the most substantial to note! As I said, I've been going through and touching up every single chapter since early May so 😭👍 !!! But genuinely I do believe this was very much for the better--I finally have a version of this story that's much closer to what I intended it to be back in 2019 where I lacked the skill to properly create it. I hope you guys still enjoy it too!!
This chapter's a big one for a few reasons--22k--and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Some unexpected funsies but I LOVE exploring LORE and CHARACTERS and UNTAPPED DYNAMICS RAHHHHH but just Trust Me Bro 🙏
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
With a scalding mug in one hand and iced water in the other, Jesse carefully makes his way over to the little hotel room’s couch. Olivia sits curled up in one corner with a stern gaze fixed on piles upon piles of papers. Reports, most likely, if Jesse were to hazard a guess. He stops right before the coffee table, awkwardly trying to find a spot to set down the mug by her. Ideally before the heat burns all nerves out of his hand. Olivia, ever focused in her work, doesn’t even notice him at first.
“Any of those papers seem worthy of being a coaster?” He hums and Olivia’s eyes shoot up at him, mildly surprised to see him there, before she snorts and scrambles to bundle them up and set them aside. With a free spot, Jesse finally sets down the mug. The cozy aroma of coffee wafts up from the drink and, for just a moment, Jesse wishes he had gone and made himself a second cup. Water’ll do though—it certainly feels nice to press his hand against the cold glass.
As he makes his way around the table to find a spot next to her on the couch, he smiles a little at the marked up papers—student assignments, it seems. Even when she’s out here on work, she can’t help but keep her nose deep in it even in the place she’s supposed to be resting. Not that he has much room to speak, but it’s still amusing. Less amusing to realize you’re sleeping on top of some by accident though—he learned that the hard way the night before as the sound of crinkling paper stirred him out of a doze.
A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as he thinks it over. They ended up staying up late just talking and Jesse crashed on her room’s couch for the night. It reminds him of a good portion of time when he was adjusting to life in Beacontown. Being a key figure was new and he ended up doing a lot of couch surfing. He didn’t mind it so much, but it probably didn’t look the best to have him of all people just ghosting around without a permanent place aside from the treehouse which was further out than Champion City. Not exactly ideal living arrangements.
As for the current state of things, they haven’t heard a peep from the others, nor Lukas. The others he can understand, but Lukas? He can’t lie, that still stings a little. There’s no doubt that he noticed Jesse was gone, but either he at least trusted him enough to not go do something horrifically stupid, or simply didn’t care at this point. He’s sure it’s the former, but can’t help but be pricked at by the thought of the latter. He had briefly considered going back the night before, but by the time he and Olivia were done talking it was a horrible hour and he just didn’t have the heart to. What if Lukas was still up? What if he had to talk to him? He was exhausted, he couldn’t imagine doing it and having it end well.
So here they are, still loitering in Olivia’s air conditioned hotel room just gathering their energy for the day. As he sits down and takes his first sip of water, Olivia hums and throws her legs across his. He scoffs and gently shoves them off of him. Within a second she puts them back up. He shoots her a look as he pushes them off again which she blissfully ignores. There’s only a slight pause as a smile snakes its way onto her face. For the third time she throws them back up and Jesse shoves them off, harsher this time and making her spin in her seat a little. She laughs while he snaps his fingers and points at her in a playful warning.
“One more time and I swear I’ll haul you off the couch altogether!”
She sticks her tongue out at him, “Boo—you’re no fun!” With that she raises her legs and lightly shoves his arm with her heel. He yelps as he’s jolted sideways and some of his icy water spills, an ice cube hitting his leg and making him curse at the sudden freeze. Olivia belts out a laugh as he flinches. Satisfied, she scoots back into her seat, pulling her legs close as he fruitlessly tries wiping himself off. Oh well, he’ll certainly be cool for a while. If he grasps for straws, maybe he can say it’ll help against the summer heat? Sure, he can go with that.
Olivia lets out a thoughtful hum as she flips through a small batch of papers. Jesse curiously glances her way between wiping his hands off on his pants and taking another sip of water.
“Sounding mighty thoughtful, ‘Liv. Student give you a real creative one?” He asks, perking up at that idea and actually leaning over to crane his neck for a peek. She snorts and bats his face lightly with the papers then just shakes her head.
“No, quite the contrary. I was just— I dunno, is lamenting the right word? Regardless, I can’t help but be amused whenever our— er, y’know, my parents send letters.”
“Sigrid and Atticus?”
“Unless you know something I don’t and I have another super secret set of parents, then yes.” She answers and Jesse rolls his eyes.
“Ha ha.”
She hums and shrugs, “No, but seriously—I will never be bored by the difference in how these two write! I mean, listen to this!” She sits up, shifting position to hold the paper out and lean up against him, Jesse curiously gives it a once-over as a smile creeps across his face. Olivia starts again with an added voice for effect, “ ‘To esteemed engineer Dr. Olivia Rialto of Redstonia,’ which sounds like she’s gotta be hamming it all up for a laugh, right?”
“Right. But knowing her…”
“Exactly! She’s not! She just writes like that.” She shakes the pages a little, holding them out for him to take, “And look! She even used special paper, a type writer, and—” She swoops down to dig through a pile of, presumably, trash. Ripping out an envelope, she flips it around to show off a brightly colored patch on it, “A wax seal.”
Jesse chuckles, nodding along, “And then Atticus…?”
Olivia scoffs and rolls her eyes, “Dad folded up a piece of paper and glued it shut with a custom little drawing of, like, a mob. He always does.” She mumbles, but an endeared smile tugs at her lips as she finds it and pulls it out of her pile. As she turns it over in her hands, her smile grows, “He starts the letter with ‘Hey Olive how’s it hanging,’ and then immediately apologizes for the ink being orange and magenta because he lost his main pen and had to use one of those like 3 buck multi-ink ones.”
“I should get one of those. Could be funny.”
“Jesse if you send me a letter that looks like this I will disown you.” She responds dully and he hams up a pout. She snorts and carries on, sitting back into the plush leather couch once more.
“Now, if you didn’t know these two, which one would you guess is a notable politician and who is the middle-school teacher, hm?”
Jesse barely processes her full question before the custom little sticker on Atticus' letter catches his eye. He beams, leaning forward to fiddle with it and get a closer look at the cute little thing.
“Ooh! Hey! He makes little creepers for you!”
“Huh? Oh! I mean— Yeah, he always has. Why?”
“Just thought it was cute!” He hums and she seems satisfied at that.
They fall into a momentary silence as he glances it over. He gets letters from them on occasion as well and it has him racking his brain to remember what kinds of little homemade stickers Atticus left on his. It feels obvious but slips his mind. They both take the moment to sip on their drinks and as he crunches on an ice cube it comes back to him and he nearly spits the water out at the ridiculousness of it. He takes a moment to recollect himself and then lets out a dry huff as Olivia merely stares at him with a raised brow.
“Would now be a bad time to mention that he always made little endermen for me?”
Olivia’s eyes widen and she claps a hand over her mouth. Jesse can’t help but start giggling at the sight—talk about ironic. She giggles with him, horrified and embarrassed for her father. She briefly hides her face in her hands before just shaking her head and sighing.
“I’ll bring that up in my next letter.”
“Aw, but they’re kinda cute!” Jesse says, giving her a light nudge in the arm, “Don’t make him feel bad!”
“Jesse the moment I mention you got mauled by one he’s gonna feel bad anyways.”
“Okay, well that’s simple!” He huffs and sits back into the couch, flicking a hand, “I mean we just—!” He pauses, his mind suddenly screeching to a halt. ‘We what, Jesse?’ He asks himself. He bites his lip, brows furrowing in thought, “Um… Well we just—... We could uhh… not… tell him…?” He trails off, voice getting smaller and less sure as he goes until he ends up with a nervous grin and rubbing his neck. Olivia blinks at him in a deadpan.
“Jesse.”
“Okay so maybe I’m drawing a blank on ideas.” He concedes with a shrug. Olivia scoffs out a laugh before patting him reassuringly on the arm. Leaning forward, he sips on his drink once more, beginning to run through the tasks of the day in his mind.
Radar’s got something for him at noon still—hell if he knows what it is—so that’ll certainly eat up some time. Ideally, it’ll keep him in public for a little while. Additionally, getting to chat with Axel would be nice, but if he can’t then Olivia already promised to help catch him up considering the running around Jesse’s bound to be doing. Ivor would be nice to speak to as well, though that one leaves him a little more nervous. His nail clinks against the glass as he taps on it. He’d really like to speak to Alex at some point, too. He hasn’t really gotten the chance to read her in a one-on-one situation.
Then there’s of course Petra herself. He bites his lip as he thinks it over. He clings to Jack’s reassurances more than he’d like to admit. There’s a good enough idea of what all he wants to say, but he can’t help but feel it’s still lacking something. Hopefully speaking to Alex himself will help him find the words he’s missing yet. Taking a steadying breath along with another sip of water, he makes peace with that. He’ll do his damndest, and hopefully it’ll be enough.
His gaze shifts to the clock in the room and he gets a jolt to the system, immediately standing up. It startles Olivia and knocks some of her papers out of her hands. She glares up at him in confusion as he curses under his breath.
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice the time! Shit! I gotta be at the hall by noon!” He blurts, hurrying off to the kitchenette to chug the rest of his water and put the glass away. Olivia balks, double-checking the clock with her own watch and grimacing.
“Yeesh! Talk about a lazy morning, I guess. Last time I checked it was nine-thirty—not eleven!” She blows out a sigh and starts gathering her own papers, shifting them into neat piles. She bounces up and goes to fetch her bag. Jesse pops a remaining ice cube in his mouth then dumps the rest in the sink before hurrying back over. As Olivia opens up her bags he gets to helping her stuff her papers away. She shoots him a worried look and tries shooing him.
“No no! I got this! Radar’s waiting for you right? You’re gonna have to hustle to make the walk over as it is.”
“You say that, but…” He mumbles, quickly filing away the last two stacks and flicking the bag shut, holding his hands up with a grin, “Easy-peasy!”
She huffs, a smile tugging at her lips. She swings the strap over her shoulder and shakes her head, “Okay, point proven, now c’mon!” She gives him a gentle push towards the restroom, “You’ve still gotta clean up a little. Now hurry!”
“Okay! Okay!”
~~~~~
The two of them rush out the door at about the same time and take longer than they probably should've—though the playful shoving match as they try marching out through the doorframe at the same time probably didn’t help. But that’s par for the course with them. Olivia hurries, sure, but her deadline isn’t nearly as stringent as Jesse’s. They bid each other adieu for the meantime as they reach the stairs and Jesse hurries ahead, riding the rail down as Olivia takes her time. He bounces off at the bottom, a skip in his step. Shaking his hair back into place, he bursts out the front door, briefly giving the receptionist a wave as he goes.
Hot air hits him immediately as he gets out the front doors and he blows out a breath. Clear blue sky with a few straggling white clouds—puffed and thick like cotton candy. Surprisingly little haze in the distance—perfect for seeing snowcapped mountains to the northeast. Nice day, but one that’s bound to get him working up a sweat. Time to get to it.
It’s just as busy as the day before as he bobs and weaves his way through town. People hard at work, kids running amok, travelers passing through—a normal day in the life. He makes good time though as he bobs and weaves through the crowd. Eventually people take notice and step out of the way in advance which he offers nods and smiles of thanks as he passes. His eyes briefly catch the town’s clocktower towering high into the skyline. His gaze narrows a little and his stomach churns. Tick-Tock. He picks up his pace at that.
Reaching the Order Hall, he blows out a sigh of relief. He doesn’t have a watch on him but, hazarding a guess, he’d say it’s just about noon. Radar can handle him being a minute or two behind. Before crossing the breezeway to the doors, he steps down to the riverside and splashes some water on his face to cool himself down. Icy cold and crystal clear—perfect for summer. Heat-stroke successfully avoided, he hurries on inside.
As he turns the corner towards the Treasure Hall, he bumps straight into Radar. They both let out yelps of surprise before the realization sinks in and they both begin to laugh. Radar straightens his glasses and smiles, albeit a bit nervously.
“There you are! Was starting to wonder if you forgot.”
“Aw c’mon, I’m not that late, am I?” Jesse asks, hands on his hips. Radar hums and checks his own watch.
“By about fifteen minutes and 24 seconds. But, hey, who’s counting?” He teases and Jesse snorts. He holds his hands up.
“Okay, okay, you got me. Sorry about that, time got away from us this morning.” He lets out a weak laugh, reaching up to rub his neck. Radar shrugs.
“No worries on my end.” He pauses a moment, gaze dropping off to the side before cautiously raising back up to Jesse, “Um… Jesse…? I-I’m sorry for— well… Y’know… The lying.”
Jesse blows out a sigh and gives him a sad smile. He reaches out and affectionately messes up Radar’s hair before dropping his hand to his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.
“It’s okay. I… Well, I certainly don’t blame you. It’s gotten me to have some necessary conversations, even if they’re pretty intense at times.” He tries making light of it with a chuckle, but Radar remains unsure.
“You sure…?”
Jesse nods, “Positive. Gotta give and take a little.”
Radar hums in thought, nodding along slowly. “Okay… I’m glad I can finally talk to you about everything though. It was so nervewracking!”
“I’m gonna guess that you and Lukas weren’t talking about garden planning the other day then?”
“Heh… Yeah, not quite. Unless the seeds are the bombs being planted around town, anyways.” Radar says sheepishly. Jesse huffs out a smile at the bit of dark humor. He nods along, albeit quietly. He slings an arm around the young man’s shoulders and gives him a squeeze from the side.
“So,” He starts, stuffing his free hand into his pocket, “Whatcha got for me today, Radar?”
A sly smile tugs at the corners of Radar’s mouth as they begin to walk back to the Treasure Room, “Well, ideally it’s something pretty mundane. A break from… all this. I also remember you mentioned that your light armor was totally thrashed in that stronghold?”
Jesse blows out a forlorn sigh, “Yeah. Wasn’t built for that kinda encounter. It’s a shame, I really liked that set. Say what you will about Aiden, Maya, and Gil, but they hooked me up with a good one. Gil’s become a brilliant leatherworker and welder.”
“He made that last set himself? I just thought they knew people…” Radar mumbles and Jesse laughs a little at that.
His thoughts briefly linger on the odd trio still milling about in Isa’s dimension. It was only in the last year that he’d really started to speak with them again—though it wasn’t exactly through some casual means over coffee. Of course not, that’d be too easy for him. No, in the midst of Jesse’s altercation with Romeo, Sky City’s dimension ended up being a sort of safe haven he found himself in after being whisked away with a snap of Romeo’s fingers. Romeo stopped paying much attention to him and it gave him a chance to get patched up and regain some wits around some at least somewhat familiar people.
Prior to that though, he hadn’t seen the Blaze Rods since the fall of Sky City. It was odd, but they’d certainly mellowed out—though humbled is probably the better word for it. Aiden changed the most, certainly. Still blunt and rude at times, but also more self-aware and dare he say introspective. He wouldn’t run his mouth a million miles a minute anymore, he’d think before he said or did anything and it allowed the man’s intelligence to shine through more considerably. Lukas had been such good friends with him for years for a reason, and admittedly, Jesse could begin seeing parts of the man he once described peeking through.
Though, while Jesse’s feelings have eased up substantially with all of their help and, frankly, support—daring to even call them tentative friends if not allies—Lukas’ have not. Not that he blames the man. It was a much more personal betrayal for him for a plethora of reasons and he’d probably do the same in his shoes. Still, despite it, he can tell some part of him misses them just by the hollowness that settles into his eyes whenever he speaks of them all. Hell, he’s seen the stack of letters from Aiden he’s threatened to use as kindling. Yet they remain unopened on his shelf just collecting dust. It’s not his place to make decisions for him or decide what’s best on his behalf, but he’s at least quietly offered his support in whatever Lukas chooses to do.
“Why not ask Gil to help you with a new set?” Radar hums, his voice pulling him back into the present.
“What?” Jesse blusters, “I— No, no, they’re all so busy over in their own realm. They already helped enough with Romeo, I’m sure Isa still needs their hands on deck somewhere else. She was certainly working them hard last I saw—not to mention the townsfolk. Humbling for them, I think.”
“Busy bees everywhere.” Radar mumbles and Jesse shares a sympathetic smile with him. Radar hums in thought, “Still, it’s been a while hasn’t it? I wonder how they’re all doing over there…”
“Not sure.” Jesse says, lips pursed. He shuts an eye and scrunches up his face as he thinks back to his time over there in the midst of Romeo’s whole stint, “The town was in great shape last I saw. It was starting to really come together and I think Isa was considering heading out on her own sooner rather than later rather than on an expedition crew.”
“Oh wow! You think she’ll stop through at some point?” Radar asks, a twinge of excitement taking over. Jesse smiles and shrugs.
“That’d be sweet wouldn’t it? Isa the traveler instead of Isa, ex-ruler of Sky City and co-founder of Terra. I think she’s gonna go around their realm a bit more first though. They spent so long blind to what all was out there, I’m sure she’s just itching to go brave it all at her own quick pace.”
“I bet it sounds tempting to explore even for you, huh?” Radar nudges him slyly and Jesse just smiles sheepishly.
“I’ll admit, I think about it every now and then…” He mumbles, “Right now though?” He makes a disgusted face and Radar laughs. On that note though, they reach the Treasure Room’s doors. Jesse pulls away from Radar briefly to punch in the door’s code. As they begin their thunking and creaking to peel open, Jesse turns back to Radar. He opens his mouth to speak again but, as the doors open, he’s cut off.
“Well that sure took long enough!” A new but familiar voice calls out and Jesse stalls. His mind goes momentarily blank as he tries to place it. The woman’s voice is followed by a man’s voice—deeper, too.
“Short-stack’s late as usual!” There’s a chuckle and Jesse turns around to finally see who it is. Three familiar sights greet him. With her short brown hair pinned back slightly by gold and white hairclips, Maya waves to him with two hands and an eager smile. Sitting on the steps behind her with his hands clasped loosely at his front, Gil shoots him a salute with a smile, “How’s it goin’, Jesse?”
“Wh—?! When did—?” Jesse starts but is interrupted by chuckling from the tallest of the bunch.
“Jeez, help a guy run a god outta town and he can’t even meet us on time?” Aiden huffs, rolling his green eyes lightheartedly. He’s stood casually next to Gil, leaning on his knee propped up on the steps. He pushes his one foot off to stand tall and fully face Jesse with a smirk, “Cold, Freckles.”
He scoffs at the remark from Aiden, but a grin tugs at the corners of his mouth as he glances between Radar and the trio in a bit of bewilderment. Radar just shrugs with a smile and nods their way. Jesse grins and shakes his head before hurrying further into the room.
“Finally—some people who don’t know what the hell is going on! Thank god!” Jesse laughs and gets a few odd looks for it, but pays them no mind. He jabs a finger at Aiden as he approaches, a sly smirk on his face, “And you are not gonna hold that over my head forever.”
Aiden scoffs, cocking a brow, “Me? Let it go?” He shifts his stance, shoving his hands in his pockets as he shrugs, “I dunno… Tall order, dontcha think?”
“Ha ha.” Jesse huffs but then steps forward and stretches out a hand. Aiden snorts and shakes it, but not without giving him a familiar clap on the arm on top. Stepping back, Jesse clasps his hands and hangs them around the back of his neck with that smirk still hanging on his face, “If you’re gonna keep that energy up then, hey, now’s the perfect time to nab that flint and steel of mine if you really want it!” He shuts his eyes and turns slightly, “Here, I won’t even look!”
Aiden just scoffs at that and the other two shoot sly looks amongst each other. Perhaps Jesse’s more thrilled than he should be to see these three, but he’ll easily take whatever prodding comes with them than all the shit happening in town. Radar had a point—it’s a good distraction. He blows out a sigh of relief and just casually rests his hands on his hips as he shifts back their direction and waits for a response. The three still seem to be taking in his general attitude though, Aiden most notably.
“That’s…” Aiden starts before finally just shaking his head with a somewhat tense chuckle, “Okay, cool start. But—kindly—what the fuck? I know you liked that armor but I didn’t think it was worthy of some ‘oh thank god’s. What’s all the fanfare about?”
Gil nods as he leans forward on his knees. An uncertain twinge laces his voice as he speaks, “Yeah, not gonna lie I was gonna ask—got a few empty podiums ‘round here. Late spring cleaning…?”
Jesse blows out a sigh. Facing them fully, he shrugs, “I wish. No, it’s a long and hellish story so, frankly, I am thrilled to see you three. I can like— talk about normal things for once! Like the weather!”
“You’ve certainly looked better, I can tell you that. And I take it that means you’re not keen on filling us in right away?” Gil mumbles and Jesse shrugs tiredly with an apologetic smile, losing some steam with it.
“Wouldn’t do you guys much good. ‘Sides, it’s getting sorted.” He replies, albeit a bit less confidently than he’d like. Gil must catch it because his gaze just narrows slightly. He hears Aiden huff beside him and glances his way next.
“Yeesh. Y’know it’s bad when you’re looking at us like we’re a set of diamonds…” He mumbles and Jesse just chuckles, waving him off.
“Listen, I’ll take what I can get! Whatever I can help you guys with will be a breath of fresh air, I can assure you of that.” He says and Maya hums in thought.
“We were told that you could use a hand?” She mumbles, glancing between Jesse and Radar a little confused. Jesse blinks, mirroring her expression. He glances back at Radar who scuffs his shoe into the ground slightly before shrugging.
“Well, you do need some new armor. And—as you just said—a change of pace. Figured something as mundane as getting some new stuff fitted with these guys like last time could work.” He shrugs, “Hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” Jesse asks in some disbelief, “Not at all! Unexpected, sure, but not bad. I just hope I’m not stealing you guys away from anything important…” He says with a frown and Maya shrugs.
“Isa and Milo were the ones who gave us the OK to come in the first place, so I’d say we’re all good. Though I think they’ve still got a soft spot for you—they’d let us come check up on ya regardless.” She giggles a little with a wink and Jesse matches it with an awkward chuckle, rubbing his neck. He’d prefer they not drop things to check in on him, but he supposes that’s out of his control. Besides, Isa’s got a good head on her shoulders—she’d have the hole they’re leaving filled in no time flat.
“Okay, as long as it’s not a burden.”
“Burden? Oh c’mon, where’d all that overconfidence of yours go?” she teases with a playful slug in the arm. He grimaces slightly but just forces out a laugh, quietly nodding as he rubs his arm.
“Sorry. Been way too inside my own head lately. So, what’s the plan? You guys must be starved, right? We can nab lunch first if you wanna.” Jesse mumbles as he glances between the three. Aiden and Maya both light up a little at that but Gil shakes his head and speaks before either can get a word in edgewise.
“Nah, let’s nab some new measurements first—it should only take a few minutes.” He starts and earns some pouts from the others. He pointedly ignores them, the corners of his mouth daring to twitch up into a smile for a moment, “Then we can talk specifics while eating. I’ve gotten better with my leather-working since last time! Might be able to do a little more for ya.” The man says with a grin, shimmering with pride. Jesse smiles and nods.
“We’ve got a plan then! Say, Radar,” Jesse glances back at him, catching the young man’s attention, “You’re more than welcome to join if you’d like! You’ve gotten a break to eat, right?”
Radar smiles sheepishly, “Ah! I-I’d love to Jesse—really I would—but, um…” He trails off with a sigh and shrugs, “I’ve still got some things to do. Mrs. Stoddard wanted to talk to me about a Missing Person’s report at about one, so I really don’t wanna be late for that.”
“Stoddard…?” Aiden mumbles, brows furrowing in thought, “Like the old Captain Stoddard? From way back when…?”
Jesse nods, “Yeah, Odin just retired recently.”
“No shit!” Gil exclaims then lets out a low whistle, “Man… That’s like if Reggie decided to hang it up… Weird to think about.”
“You two don’t sound super concerned despite it being a Missing Person’s report…” Maya mumbles as she glances between him and Radar. Jesse’s cheeks redden as he realizes how it must seem from the outside. He quickly stammers and shakes his head.
“Ah! No, no, I don’t think it’s anything to seriously worry about. Odin’s kept going on his standard patrols anyways despite Nadine—his wife—asking him to reign it in a little. She joked that if he didn’t she’d file him as missing to make a point, and I don’t know how well you guys really remember her but she’s always been true to her word.”
Radar nods, “Yep! I’ve even seen him milling about during my late-night coffee runs! The guy’s just too antsy—can’t seem to sit down.” Radar smiles sympathetically with a small shrug. Jesse rubs his neck a little—now why does that sound familiar? Radar sucks in a breath and continues, “But yes, I’m gonna go be talking to Nadine about it. I’m sure I’ll be getting an earful about that man…” Radar laments and Jesse chuckles a little, giving him an encouraging pat on the arm.
“Report back on how it goes, alright?”
“Will do!” He perks up with a smile and nods to Aiden, Maya, and Gil, “And thank you three for coming by, I know it was a bit short-notice. I think it’ll help keep him out of trouble for a day though.” Radar adds with a sly smirk which gets a laugh out of Aiden. Jesse sputters, face reddening again. Before he can get in a proper word though, Radar laughs, gives him an encouraging pat on the arm, and hurries out of the hall with his things, “See you guys later!”
“Byeee!” Maya calls after him, waving him off with both hands. Once he’s gone, she snorts with a small smile, “Such a sweet kid. But you heard him, Blue! Only mild troublemaking allowed today. Say! Maybe we can finally finish that tomahawk competition!” She says with a playful elbow in the ribs.
And moreso, an elbow right in his lacerations. Jesse immediately sucks in a pained breath through his teeth as a sharp pain shoots up through him, forcing him to double over just slightly. Maya stutters, eyes widening in concern and he quickly forces out a laugh through his teeth, trying to wave her concern off as he grips at his side. He must do a pretty miserable job though, and he finds himself straining to even get himself standing tall again. He’s been working himself a bit harder than he should, what with all the running, flinging lightning, and so on. He’s really starting to feel it again, too. Aiden ends up gently helping him straighten his posture again with a hand on both his arm and back. He quietly nods his thanks up to the man before rolling out his tense shoulders with a sigh.
“A— Are you okay?! Holy crap, I didn’t—! That…” Maya stutters, awkwardly clasping her hands together at her front and Jesse laughs weakly.
“Sorry—suppose I should’ve mentioned that at the very least. Seems I can only run into you guys while injured in some form, huh? If you could try being gentle when getting my torso measurements I’d appreciate ‘cause I uh…” He trails off, unsure how to even start.
Knowing these three, the moment he mentions an Enderman or they even see his wounds, they’re going to be clawing the information out of him no matter how long it takes. Moreso Maya and Gil, but Aiden’s gonna have his own questions for once. It’s just how they operate. For better or worse? He can’t say, but as he rubs his forehead and pinches the bridge of his nose, he quietly accepts his fate. Who knows? Maybe some thoughts from a group completely blind to it all could help him. With a dry laugh and shrug, Jesse just tugs the hem of his shirt up, displaying the Enderman lacerations.
“Had a close call recently, to put it lightly.” He huffs and the three stagger back a pace in horror at the sight of them. They’re still not the prettiest sight to behold, but certainly leagues better than when he first saw them. Not that they could tell. Gil’s the first to move. He shakes his head and grips Maya’s shoulder as he turns away fully, a shade paler—that’s right, he never was the best with wounds. Jesse grimaces and quickly drops his shirt again, “Sorry Gil, are you gonna be okay?”
The man scoffs, turning back around to shoot him a bewildered look, “Am I okay? Dude, I’m not the one that looks like he got flayed! Holy crap…” He holds a hand over his heart and Maya gives him a little pat on the shoulder.
“Those almost look like they’re from an Enderman…” Aiden mumbles, eyeing Jesse warily. When Jesse merely offers him a sheepish shrug, his eyes nearly bulge out of his skull and he sputters, “Wh—?! Don’t just shrug! What the hell!”
“Lemme guess—” Maya interjects before Aiden can really get going on a rant, “—this is all a part of that ‘long story’ you’re holding out on us, yeah?”
“Yeah… Though I have a feeling you guys are gonna hound me for an explanation and all the details you can get, right?”
“Ohohoho, now you’re catching on!” She hums as she hurries over to him, giving him a tight squeeze on the shoulders. It gets a tired chuckle out of him as he brushes her off. He blows out a sigh but smiles as he nods towards the door and begins walking.
“Shit… C’mon then. We’ll walk and talk and get some stuff done towards that new armor while I fill you guys in on the main bits. Then we’ll grab lunch. I’d rather you hear it from me than through some wild rumors around town, anyways.”
“A bit late for that one.” Aiden hums as he starts walking after him. Jesse shoots him a questioning and rather suspicious look. In turn, he only gets a sly grin, “How’re those nasty hives of yours healing up, Jesse?”
Jesse’s face heats up almost immediately and Aiden just smirks and hurries ahead. Jesse doesn’t really think, just wordlessly rushes after him already intent on making things even. Behind them, Maya’s laughter drowns out the sound of their rushing footsteps.
~~~~~
As Aiden sits back down at the table beside Gil, he winces with a grimace which garners some quiet chuckling from the three others. He shoots them each a sharp look but none of them are fazed by it, merely continuing to enjoy their food and drinks. Across from him sits Jesse with Maya to his left and Gil quietly putzing with a pen and paper by Aiden. Jesse hums out a satisfied chuckle as he takes another sip from his glass. Aiden huffs at that, simply shaking his head in disbelief.
“I still can’t believe you nailed me so hard… I’m gonna go black and blue along my ribs, y’know!”
“Whining already?” Jesse hums again with a sly look as he sits back in his chair, garnering another sharp look from the man. He just eyes him with that mischievous glint in his eye, “Now, last I recall, you told me, ‘okay, you can slug me for that one and we’ll call it even.’ Isn’t that right, Maya? You remember, right?” He nudges the woman next to him in the arm and she nods very seriously.
“Crystal clear, Blue. And we all heard the same thing, right Gil?”
“Mhm.” The man grunts, not looking up from the journal he’s scribbling in as he nods. Aiden just rolls his eyes and groans as he sinks into his seat.
“Okay, well, you’re supposed to be, like, hurt! That means you’re supposed to be weaker.”
Jesse laughs a little more sheepishly now and concedes with that, “Okay, okay, I admit I probably coulda held back some. My bad.” He lightly taps the man’s legs with his foot under the table to nab his attention fully, “Tell you what, the next Gapple I find I’ll toss your way. Free regeneration for you and those bruises.”
Aiden huffs again in disbelief, but the corners of his mouth threaten to twitch into a smile. He waves him off, “Like hell. I’m not the one here who could use that regen, Freckles. I’d probably end up with the same type of bruising just by accidentally hitting the countertop. You ever done that with those granite corners? Shit hurts.” He says with a grimace and Jesse huffs out a little laugh, content with the conversation there. He turns his attention to Gil who’s still scribbling away in that little journal of his—sketching more like it—and judging by the furrowed brow and scowl on his face, he’s pretty concentrated.
“What’s giving you trouble over there, Gil? You look about ready to burn the whole thing.” He asks and the man perks up, momentarily stunned. Then, he blows out a heavy sigh as he slumps into his seat much like Aiden, the metal old thing creaking as he does. He chucks his pen down and shakes his head.
“I tossed the last sketch I did for the first bit of leather I helped suit you up with and now I'm paying the damn price for it… I don’t know where my brain is! I just can’t get what I’m trying to do in my head to work. But I can’t just start cutting shit and praying—it’d be a damn waste of materials and time…” He sighs as he rubs his mouth, beginning to incessantly bounce his leg as he glares daggers into the open pages before him. Jesse nods in thought and sets his drink down, leaning over on the table to better look at him.
“Well, I don’t mind something new and different, honestly! I just liked how lightweight the stuff was, but uh… Heh, I suppose I’m reconsidering the areas I wanna cover these days. Think we could emphasize some torso and neck guards somehow this time around?”
Gil gets a rather inquisitive look at that. He pauses. Considers it. A smile slips across Jesse’s face as the man slowly sits back up, frustration melting away as the inspiration returns and gears start spinning once more. He quickly begins nodding.
“Yeah… Yeah! I-I think I can do that! No problem! I’ll shoot a few basic ideas out and then we can chat about what you like and what you don't and then adjust from there—sound good?”
“Sounds perfect! Thanks man, I seriously owe you one for getting your last set so thrashed…” He says with a grimace and Gil snorts and looks at him like he just spouted nonsense. Before he can say anything and undoubtedly chide him like he’s come to learn, Jesse changes subjects as he glances over the group as a whole, “So, obviously I’ve been talking your ears off about my weird family drama since you got here, but how are things back in Terra?”
“Mundane, relatively.” Maya shrugs, “But that isn’t a bad thing. Kinda nice just having a routine. We’ve been getting a lot more grunt work on top of our other stuff though!”
“And that’s… an upgrade…?” Jesse mumbles, eyeing her worriedly, “I thought you guys started with that, I mean. Seems like a downgrade which is… concerning.”
Maya snorts and waves him off, “No no! It’s better grunt work! Like, uhh, more protection-based! We’re doing a lot more with the Guard these days as well as even some mercenary work! Almost five years out there now… And with everything that happened with you coming back through and that admin guy, we gained some unexpected confidence from the people back home…! I’ve had a lot more kids running up to me to help chase away animals or stray mobs that scared them and such.”
“We do a lot of patrols with the Guard as well as general mob culling or pushback.” Aiden adds, pulling Jesse’s attention his way, “Reggie’s become a real ally… We share a lot of fighting tips and tricks back and forth, and I think Terra’s a lot safer for it. We still stick out from the rest of the Guard, definitely, but we’ve actually started getting hired for some stuff. More merc work, like Maya said.” He mumbles with a shrug and Jesse nods along.
“That’s a pretty big step—shows the people are really starting to trust you. How’s it feel…?” He asks the question rather tentatively and gets a myriad of conflicted and rather guilt-ridden looks, amongst some cringing. Maya and Gil end up looking at Aiden who shifts uncomfortably under everyone’s gazes.
“Well… Personally, I don’t know how deserving I feel of it. Still just feels like the least we oughta be doing. Isa, Milo, and Reggie still have say over us but… They’ve become a lot closer to peers than I ever expected. Isa especially—she’s still standoffish but surprisingly emotionally driven. Helpful. A lot more willing to find a middleground to work from. And… I do like what the town’s becoming. I like our house. I like the location.” He shrugs, the tension steadily dissipating from him, “Didn’t expect to be someone to enjoy the peace but I keep finding myself relieved after some big excursion. Certainly don’t have any plans to go and fuck things up now. Still, I wouldn’t mind being allowed to go on one of those exploratory missions one of these days though… Just to say I could.” Aiden hums as he picks up his own drink, taking a long sip as Maya and Gil nod along in quiet agreement. Jesse smiles a little.
“That’s good to hear. Honestly, you guys oughta have a chat with Harper. She knows a thing or two about rebuilding a town around people who were less than open to having her around at first… I think she could offer you guys some good words of advice, or whatever.” He shrugs, rubbing his neck a little. Maya smiles and playfully bumps his shoulder with her own.
“Aww, he cares!”
“Heh! Sometimes too much for my own good, I think…” He laughs weakly with a small shake of his head. Gil snaps his fingers and points at him.
“Which brings us all the way back around to what started this all—you’re still holding out on us, man! C’mon, we can take it! What’s been happening since that Enderman attack? How the hell did you even end up getting nailed by the damn thing…? You’re dense like Aiden but not stupid.”
“Dude.” Aiden says with a glare. Gil gives him a lighthearted shove but not without taking his eyes off of Jesse. Jesse meanwhile just sits back in his seat with his arms crossed and heaves a heavy sigh.
“Well, Lukas and I ended up going back to that Stronghold I mentioned—was supposed to be quick and easy but things went wrong fast. I… I-I’d rather not go into the details and, frankly, I’m still fuzzy on a good chunk of it all after getting thrown around and being pretty feverish. We weren’t expecting trouble and packed light and, well, the rest is history.”
“And where does that leave you?” Aiden asks. Jesse holds his gaze for a long moment. A bitterness settles into him as he runs through everything that’s happened since. A scowl tugs at the corners of his mouth and he sighs then picks up his glass, raising it in cheers.
“Being the jackass you always thought I was, apparently.” He huffs with a bitter smile before taking a sip. Aiden’s gaze narrows and as Jesse sets his drink back down he continues with a shrug, “There’s been new trouble around town ever since we got back. And coming off of nearly getting killed? I’ve been high strung, paranoid, and honestly haven’t slept for shit in a long time. And I’ve gone and pissed everyone off to boot so, hey, if you wanna fit in an ‘I told you so’ now’s your chance.”
“... I’ll pass.”
“Suit yourself!” Jesse hums and across from him Aiden sighs. Gil pipes up next.
“I was wondering where your little entourage was… We usually see at least one or two of them running around whenever we stop through. Been pretty quiet though.”
“Yeah, I still gotta have a talk with most of them. But while the others were frustrated with me, I really pissed off Petra and Lukas. Neither have spoken to me in days.”
There’s a chorus of grimaces and pained ‘ooh’s that echoes around the table and Jesse manages a weak smile and nod. Yeah. That’s fair. He’s gotten himself into quite the situation. Maya leans forward on the table with her arms crossed tightly and her face scrunched up hard in thought.
“Everyone knows you don’t mess with Petra… But I don’t need to tell you that. And then Lukas…” She trails off with a mumble, glancing at both Gil and Aiden worriedly. Both men cringe with pained breaths sucked in through their teeth. Jesse can do nothing else but let out a pitiful laugh at that.
“Encouraging. Thanks guys.”
Gil rubs his neck, “Hey man, I’m sure it’ll work out. All we’re saying is that Lukas has always been… Well, he’s got the damn memory of an elephant. Always has. Not a bad thing, but he can be stubborn in his own right.”
“Trust me, I know. And I know he’s just— Just stressed like I am. But I have no idea where to even begin with him…” Jesse says with a shake of his head, “I’m gonna talk to Petra soon. Might try swinging by to talk to Axel and Ivor first, but I’ve got an idea of what to say to Pet. I think we’ll be able to find a middleground for the meantime if we just talk. Nervewracking, but it’s not like that feeling’s ever gonna pass, so the sooner the better. Just gotta break the ice…”
“How’d you manage to piss her off in the first place?”
“You know that sister of hers I mentioned?”
“Yeah, we remember Al from way back when.”
“Accused her of murder to begin with.” Jesse mumbles with another sip from his drink and the trio cringes again. Jesse just nods, that heat returning to his cheeks. They slowly nod and Aiden drums his knuckles on the tabletop.
“Yeah that uh… That would sting, definitely.”
“And then Lukas…?” Maya asks tentatively and Jesse just huffs out another pathetic little laugh as he rubs at his eyes.
“That is another long story. Pissed him off on a variety of fronts—some I didn’t even know were a problem to begin with. It was honestly pretty left-field, but with everything in mind, I get why he was upset… Still hurt a lot though. I feel like I can’t even look him in the eye. Totally childish, sure, but I’m just at an utter loss of where to even begin… I know you guys aren’t exactly on good terms with him either but, shit, you all practically grew up with him. Any tips…?”
Maya and Gil glance at each other uncertainly before turning their gaze towards Aiden—he’s known Lukas the longest after all. The man certainly feels the pressure, too. He shifts uncomfortably again, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. He blows a heavy sigh out through his nose as he thinks.
“Lukas is… A good guy. A really good guy, who holds his friends close to his chest...” He starts, choosing his words carefully, “He’s kind. Typically pretty reasonable, but can get snippy when really stressed or high-strung. And he tends to take things personally or take a lot of responsibility even when he doesn’t gotta.”
“Yeah, that sounds like him.” Jesse mumbles, recalling some of the first time he even spent with Lukas throughout the Witherstorm both with his first night with him, Axel, and Olivia, and then how he acted when they got to Soren’s little artificial world. Amongst many other times over the years. Aiden rolls his lips as he nods along.
“He usually just needs a little time to cool off then he comes back around to talk it over again more calmly. But if you’ve just been getting the cold shoulder then that’s…” Aiden grimaces and Jesse feels his stomach flip at the sight. He groans and drops his head into his arms on the table. There’s a reassuring pat on the back from Maya and the woman blows out a sigh.
“We’ve all got our vices, Blue. Lukas’ has always been that he just— He holds onto things. But that doesn’t mean he’s impossible to talk to! You know that.”
“Yeah, it just feels extra impossible right now…” Jesse mumbles as he pushes his head up slightly to rub at his eyes, “I don’t wanna keep disappointing him or making him feel like he or his thoughts don’t matter to me. But I can’t just— just make big promises that I don’t know if I can keep either. And I feel like that’s where we’re stuck at… I know I can’t have my cake and eat it too, but goddamn either choice is just making me feel selfish.”
“What do you mean?” Gil asks, finally closing up that journal of his to fully turn his attention Jesse’s way. Jesse blows out a sigh and sinks into his chair now, pressing off the ground to rock on the back two legs for a moment as he thinks.
“Well… He doesn’t want me going to the End Dimension for any reason. Ever. And there’s reasons for that which make my own stomach churn to just think about, but… There’s more to it than that. He doesn’t want me diving into any more danger, which I understand but… I feel like at this point, that would mean just cutting this whole investigation short and abruptly. Packing it up. Putting it back on its little shelf, out of sight and out of mind. And if I continue then I don’t know where this is gonna take me, so I can’t make false promises like that. And… Nor do I want to, honestly. I feel like I’m so close to the truth that stopping would just… That it’d almost be a disservice to my dad. That’s selfish though, and I’m trying not to be so impulsive or bull-headed. I’ll do what I can—I’ve gotten more than I ever could’ve imagined out of all this already. But also…” He trails off, a faraway look in his eyes as he shakes his head. Gil leans forward on his elbow and waves him along.
“But…?”
“I dunno… Part of me really does just wanna throw in the towel. Curl up somewhere safe and not have to worry about any of it again. I’d stop poking my nose into things that could get me into trouble, which, hey, sounds great on the surface! But then I remember just—...” He falters a moment, unable to get the words out before just shaking his head and speaking quietly, “It’s too late for that… I’m not the only target now. It’s my people, too. And no matter what I want, I can’t just bury my head in the sand and pretend things are normal.”
Aiden frowns at that, “Your people…? What do you mean?”
Jesse pauses a moment to consider Aiden. Hell, he considers all three of them. And something in him snaps back into shape—almost sobering him. What’s he doing talking about all of this? These three are just here to help him with some armor, nothing more. They’ve already helped Beacontown enough in the last year, he doesn’t need to be making his problems theirs again. He doesn’t want to drag anymore people into this. He rolls his lips and blows out a sigh as he thinks, but he ends up just shaking his head.
“I-I can’t. I can’t. I can’t get anymore people involved—there’s already too many people in the crossfire because of it.” He mumbles, burying his face in his hands as he shakes his head. He can feel the gazes of the others shift and narrow onto him. This is probably doing the exact opposite of what he needs, but his thread is running thin. He shifts to pinching the bridge of his nose with a scowl, “I’m sorry. I really appreciate you guys listening to me to begin with, but that’s already more than I should’ve been doing. I mean, just listen to me! Complaining like no tomorrow—that’s not what you’re here for.” He forces out a laugh as he shakes off the nerves settling in.
“Woah, Blue, no, really it’s—”
“No. I just— I gotta put my foot down here. I’m supposed to be getting my own team back together, not dragging you lot into this.” He sighs and tries shooting Maya a smile, but he’s certain it comes out far more strained than it should. His chair lets out a grating scraping sound as he pushes it back and stands up, ignoring the looks it garners from the others. He picks up the bill and puts it in the little black tab, ready to carry it up to the front, “I’m gonna go pay. My treat.”
Maya opens her mouth to argue when Aiden cuts her off, “No worries. We’ve still gotta figure out where we’re gonna bunk tonight anyways.”
Jesse pauses at that, eyes narrowing. But Aiden remains pretty casual, despite the somewhat confused looks Maya and Gil share with each other. However, the other two seem to tune in to whatever idea Aiden’s spinning rather quickly—Gil beginning to nod not too long after.
“Yeah! Oh man, I almost forgot to mention—Jesse, you’ve got one of my favorite leatherworker’s in town. Always love stopping by whenever we’re in town and I know he could really help work out some kinks in my armor design for ya! Poor fella’s arthritic though—only open Thursday through Sunday.” Gil says with a grimace and forlorn sigh, “So I’m gonna have to loiter around town for at least another day.”
“Gil, you don’t have t—” Jesse starts but doesn’t get much further past that.
Maya leans forward in her seat abruptly, a pout already on her lips, “Oh man and I really would like to replenish on my herbal stash! Beacontown’s the best for nabbing the stuff with all the trade coming in through the delta. I could even grab some seeds to take back home!” She presses a finger to her chin in thought before letting out a sigh of her own, “Unfortunately though, I’m probably gonna have to wait until the Saturday market for it all… Guess I’ll be stuck with you Gil!”
“And Isa and Milo gave us strict instructions to not split up, even if we end up gone for longer than expected.” Aiden adds, shaking his finger at the both of them, They all start nodding, almost sarcastically serious as their gazes shift over to Jesse’s. The man just gapes for a minute as he takes it in. Aiden merely offers a conceding shrug, “Which means… We’re all just gonna have to stick around town for a bit, I guess. Damn…”
Jesse’s quiet for a long minute, mouth still just hanging slightly open as his gaze shifts between them all. They all remain extremely earnest, albeit with some very knowing glints in their eyes. Eventually, Jesse just huffs in utter disbelief.
“... You guys are still a batch of shitheads, y’know that?”
Gil barks out a laugh at that while Maya and Aiden just shoot a pair of toothy grins his way. Jesse rolls his eyes but the corners of his mouth threaten to give way to a smile. It’s difficult for him to stay mad with something like that. Pulling excuses out of a hat to loiter so they can coincidentally be around if things go wrong. Not that they’re coy about it in the slightest. Jesse just shakes his head to himself and points at them all with the tab.
“For the record—I am not condoning this! Alright? Not my idea!”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about short-stack!” Gil hums and Maya nods in agreement, interlacing her fingers together with a little shrug.
“We’re merely tourists, Blue!”
“Yeah, lighten up Freckles. What happened to the whole ‘Thank God, normal people!’ thing? We’re just hanging out.” Aiden hums with a shrug and Jesse scoffs. He walks around the table and lightly smacks him in the back of the head with the bill’s tab.
“Smart-ass.”
Aiden scoffs, rubbing the back of his head briefly, but it doesn’t wipe the smirk off of his face. Though as Jesse goes to pass, Gil reaches out and gently tugs him to a stop.
“Oh! Real quick!”
“What’s up?”
“I mean it when I say that fella I know does good work—would you mind swinging by old Flintlock’s tomorrow at, say, ten-ish? The three of us would probably be able to get something really solid down for that armor of yours in no time flat! OW!” Gil suddenly barks as he shoots a glare at Maya who just seemed to kick him under the table. She waves at him.
“At ten?! Oh come on, Gil! Give him some time to sleep in—we all know that you can barely stand before ten yourself.”
Gil’s cheeks redden but he concedes, “Okay, sure, but would it kill ya to ask without the pain?”
“You’re my little cousin, of course not.” She replies bluntly and Jesse snorts before immediately covering his mouth with his hand. Gil’s brows raise and he points a threatening finger up at him. Jesse smiles and holds his hands up innocently while Gil slowly begins to nod.
“Good… We’ll go with one-ish then.”
“Deal.” Jesse sticks his hand out and Gil gives it a solid shake, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow then. Take care in the meantime.”
“Get some actual sleep tonight, Blue!” Maya chides and he laughs a little sheepishly but bows his head in a nod. With that done, Aiden actually gets up as well which garners some curious looks. The man shrugs as he straightens out his jacket.
“In all seriousness, I’m still gonna go let Isa know we’re sticking in town for a few days.”
Jesse hesitates one last time and shoots a nervous look around the three of them, “... Aiden, honestly, you guys don’t—”
“Jesse, let me put it this way,” Aiden stops him there with his hands up and Jesse begrudgingly clamps his mouth shut as the man talks, “If we waltz back into Terra and tell Isa about all the little chaos you’ve mentioned to us thus far, what do you think she’s gonna say? Huh?”
Jesse blows out a heavy sigh and doesn’t quite meet his gaze, “... She’d say ‘Then what the hell are you doing here?’ or something. Because an ally’s an ally no matter what help is needed, right?”
Aiden smirks and claps him on the arm, “Now you’re catching on!” He turns back to Maya and Gil and points at them, “You guys find a place we can hole-up for a bit and I’ll be back before it gets too dark, ideally.”
“Aye aye.” Gil salutes and Maya just nods fairly enthusiastically.
“What happened to not splitting up, huh?” Jesse huffs as he eyes him and Aiden shrugs lightheartedly.
“Don’t be such a stickler for the details…!”
Jesse scoffs at that and just shakes his head while Maya and Gil grin up at him. They wave them off and, satisfied, Aiden nods and turns to walk out. Jesse follows along as he takes the bill up front to pay. As they walk though, Jesse elbows him in the side one last time for good measure.
“Don’t cause me any migraines between now and tomorrow, capiche?”
Aiden snorts at that, “Weren’t we just talking about the problem with making promises you can’t keep?”
He hates to say that manages to get a solid laugh out of him.
~~~~~
Back on the main street, Jesse’s mind buzzes as he aimlessly meanders. With his hands stuffed in his pockets, he deeply scrutinizes the sidewalk before him as he considers everything as well as where he’s even heading next. Either Ivor or Axel at this point… Both will be awkward to say the very least. Just thinking about it all still leaves his chest panging with a mix of guilt and hurt and his face heating up from shame. Here he was at his grown age having his friends all make decisions for him like some kinda irresponsible kid being grounded. Talk about embarrassing. But Jack’s words stick in his head, and he certainly wouldn’t be any better than a kid if he were to just keep digging his heels in and pouting about it.
As he walks along, he just keeps repeating his little ‘Communication is Key’ mantra. Not that it helps him figure out who he wants to speak to first. On one hand, he knows Ivor trusts him to an exceptional degree and he keeps repeating that to himself, but on the other he just can’t help but be nervous to confront the man. Ivor’s always had such a firm stance about lying for things like this ever since the debacle with the Order—it’s probably not going to be a fun talk by any means. Ivor went against his own policy because he saw Jesse as so… what? Incapable? Untrustworthy? No, probably none of those things. The man was just worried about him, just like the others.
They’re all still in his corner. Just different strategies.
Jack’s words remain an anchor in his mind as he tries to keep those other paranoia and anxiety ridden thoughts from pricking at him. Just thinking about what he’s going to say to Ivor creates a lump in his throat, however. Hell, part of him almost wants to talk to Axel first just so he can have the man tag along. He’s always been a calming presence to have around, even with his own chaotic quirks.
He needs to keep his messy emotions reigned in just a little more than usual right now. Going from keeping things bottled to having a bleeding heart on his sleeve has just caused him trouble. There’s a balance he’s gotta strike between the two—he can allow his feelings to affect how he considers his decisions, but they can’t be making choices for him anymore. These talks with the others could help him start sorting that out—he has to stay true to what he means to say and the bigger picture right now, not just prattling off the first things that come to mind. That’s his goal anyways.
Kicking a little rock down the pavement, he blows out a big breath before nodding to himself. He’s got this! Sure! But that in mind, Axel seems like a better person to start with. Even if he fumbles, the man will know what he’s aiming for—he always has. He lifts his gaze to take a look at his surroundings and figure out the quickest way to get to Axel’s place in town. Making his way closer to the street corner, he’s on a somewhat elevated hill in town which gives him a fairly decent look at the skyline. The sun’s bright on him as he steps out of the shade of the building on the corner and—
“Oof!” Jesse lets out a grunt as a jogger slams into him with a surprised yelp, sending them both dropping to the pavement. He winces as he catches himself on his bad side, gritting his teeth with a sharp breath through his teeth. The jogger shakes her head out then gets back to her feet in a snap, although she wobbles for a moment. There’s a gasp and that pulls Jesse out of his daze to actually take her in.
“Jesse! Crap, I am so sorry!” Alex grimaces and quickly holds both hands out to him, “Was running and chicken-necking like a total tourist. You okay? Nothing broken?”
“No ma’am. Just as battered and bruised as usual.” He tries to joke but it doesn’t come out as light hearted as he’d hoped. Swallowing down the awkward tension, Jesse just clears his throat and takes her hands. She hoists him back to his feet with ease, almost giving him a little bounce in his step in the process. A warm smile graces her features as she looks down at him and he can definitely tell she’s been jogging for a bit—skin red and sunburnt, sweat beading on her forehead, hair pulled back into a once tight ponytail now loosely falling apart, and light clothes and running shoes just for the occasion leaving her myriad of scars on full display. She smiles and gives him a lighthearted bump in the arm.
“You almost sounded like your old man for a sec there! Heh!”
Jesse blinks in surprise but lights up at that, “Wh— When?”
A grin graces her features as she chuckles, “That grunt of yours! Y’know—‘oof!’” She mimics in a gruff tone that makes Jesse smile rather sheepishly, though confusion still laces his eyes. She continues animatedly as she recalls, “Steve would bounce into things or trip over himself when too engrossed in something—I’m sure he tried telling you that your uncle was the clutz as if he didn’t trip over his own feet at least a dozen times per trip. A very capable man, sure, but ridiculous in his own right.” She laughs a little at that and Jesse beams, heart seizing with some kind of joy. It’s small, but seeing something of his dad in himself almost feels unreal.
“I— I-I didn’t know that! Heh… He did claim that Uncle Hiro was always more of the ditzy one, but the more I hear about dad the more I’m thinking he was projecting.” He says with a mischievous grin and Alex lets out a curt laugh.
“Ha! Now you’re really putting it together!” She blows out a breath and becomes somewhat more serious as she nods to him, “Sorry again for slamming into you though. Never fun to hit the pavement.”
“Some skinned knees are nothing to me at this point, really.” He hums with a cool smile and she relaxes, nodding along before glancing off along the skyline herself. Jesse shifts awkwardly, stuffing his hands back in his pockets, “You enjoying the sights though?”
“Huh? Oh! Definitely! It’s been a while since I could just go on a normal jog. Usually I’m off running through the woods or some old beat up mineshaft. Hell, my bird’s still circling overhead out of habit!” She laughs, pointing skyward as she says it. Jesse’s eyes widen a little at that and glances upwards in reaction. There are a few large birds streaking across the sky, but no particularly poignant ones. His brows furrow as he turns his gaze back to her.
“I didn’t know you had a bird. What type?”
“Oh well she’s always pretty independent—never liked being cooped up inside of buildings, so she’s just been kinda loitering around outside of Jack’s. She’s a golden eagle! Argyle’s her name—I’ve had her since she was a wee little thing! Bruce helped me patch her up back in the day, poor thing broke her wing. One sec,” She holds up a finger and takes a few steps back from Jesse. Taking a good look at her left arm now, there’s a myriad of old scars very reminiscent of a bird’s talons digging into her forearm. Using both her pinkies, Alex lets out a sharp series of whistles which leaves Jesse wincing. Then she merely holds out her arm and waits, shooting Jesse a wink as she does.
It takes a minute, and as Jesse glances around he has trouble spotting the bird until she flies right over the back of his head. He yelps a little as the wind from the speedy dive kicks up some of his curls in the process. But despite the speed and power the bird comes in at, she lands perfectly on Alex’s arm. This close it’s easy to see the gold in her feathers glimmering in the afternoon sunlight.
“Atta girl! Isn’t that brilliant, Jesse?” Alex beams and he just lets out a little chuckle as he slowly approaches again. The eagle considers him for a moment with those bright gold eyes but quickly eases up under Alex’s touch. She’s a large bird that’ll easily give Archie a run for his money. Her talons are a bright gold and she’s certainly healthy—absolutely a bird of prey.
“Definitely. She certainly seems to know it, too. She must be a good companion.”
Alex nods readily with a heavy seriousness lacing her eyes, “You have no idea. I’m a pretty great tracker in my own right, but with her help? Oh man, it’s next level. I don’t know what I’d do without her—where I’d be without her.”
“And you said Bruce helped you with her…?”
“Mhm! He was aiming to be a vet for a long while, actually! Got pretty far in that track before shifting gears again—never dropped the skill-set though! And that’s certainly come in handy.” She says as she scratches lightly under Argyle’s chin. Jesse slowly nods, remembering the man mentioning something like that back when Lukas and him first stopped through his shop back before the Nether excursion. He almost gets whiplash just thinking about it—so much has happened in such a short time, it already feels like years ago.
“Sounds like it! She seems pretty well-trained for such a big bird. Eagles are so cool…” He hums as he takes a slightly closer look at her, though still remains a good distance. He does not need to get bird scratches on top of endermen ones. Alex however hops a little closer to him, the bird not even seeming bothered—curious if anything. She reaches out and seems to inspect Jesse, but remains relaxed.
“Well frankly any animal can become a companion, Jesse. It’s more than just some training. There’s a bond! Though, I know I don’t exactly have to preach to the choir with you about that, heh…” She trails off and Jesse sucks in a little breath as he nods. She nudges him a little in the arm, “I’m sorry for your loss, by the way… I know it’s been a few years, but that little piglet sounded like such a special little guy…”
“He was. Took him off the property with me when I left home… Him and Ziggy.”
“Oh man, Ziggy…” She blows out a sigh, eyes dark and somber as she recalls back. She shakes her head a little, “That dog went everywhere with your father… Perfect guard dog, too. I’m sure he took good care of you for a while, didn’t he?”
“Reuben and I both. I’m glad I had him.” He says before blowing out a heavy sigh. He takes a step back, forcing his mind to another subject as he does, although not leaving the companion idea in its entirety. His arms swing awkwardly as his sides before he sucks in a breath, catching Alex’s attention as he does, “I have a question for you. About the types of things you’ve seen out in the field, I guess.”
“Shoot.”
He nods, nerves alight and shifting his gaze around anywhere but her as he speaks, “You said that… that any animal could be trained. That any of them could become a… a companion… Even mobs?”
“Of course, Jesse.” She says without so much as hesitating which stuns him a little. His stomach flips but she continues speaking as calm as ever, “Now—while this may sound like something your uncle Hiro would have said—they’re more than just killing machines, y’know…? Each and every one has its own life—just as complex and full in their own right. I know I work in a field that deals with disposing of a lot of them in pretty quick succession, but that doesn’t mean I lack respect for them. And neither should you.”
“... You’re right, it does sound like something he’d say. You really do take after him.” He huffs with a little smile, “Though, I don’t think he cares much for endermen these days…”
“Huh?”
“There was a uh… A part in my father’s journal where he took note of that.” He waves a hand awkwardly, “That you and him were really close, I mean.” He makes note not to mention his father’s fear of her resenting him for Hiro’s death. It certainly lingers in his mind, however. Regardless though, Alex’s cheeks flush a little and she just nods rather bashfully.
“He did, did he? Heh! Well, I dunno about that—I’m merely telling you what I know. I’ve seen some pretty interesting things out there…”
“What about endermen? That’s been a point of contention ‘round here lately… Any thoughts? Words of the wise?” He hums, lazily shrugging with his hands stuffed away in his pockets. Her brow furrows in hard thought.
“Hmm… Well, they’re highly independent with a much more complex hierarchy than most other mobs—probably closer to piglins in that respect. But they’re also fearsome and they know it. I can’t say that such a thing would be easy, but perhaps…” She trails off as she thinks hard. Argyle coos a little on her arm and as her gaze snaps back to her bird her eyes grow steely. Slowly she nods as she smooths out some of the eagle’s feathers, “If I were to go out on a limb? Maybe if one was picked up as an infant it could work out… Can’t say I’ve seen it done before though, which frankly goes to show just how dangerous a venture that’d be. I mean— I know people who’ve run around with baby ghasts, Jesse.” She laughs and he staggers back a pace with wide eyes.
“A baby ghast?!”
“Mm! Cutest little thing I’ve ever seen, too! Oh you’ll have to find a way to see one sometime!” She croons and Jesse makes a mental note to… See a baby ghast? However he’ll manage that. Though, thinking about it, Hiro probably would probably give him a leg up. Alex waves a hand, catching his attention again, “A-Anyways though. Taking in a baby enderman? I think there’s a reason we haven’t seen anyone succeed in that. It’d be testing fate in and of itself.”
“Yeah. No kidding. They’re mean enough when knocking stuff out of their hands… Stealing one of their kids…?” He grimaces and Alex shares the expression. That’s good to note though—despite the new angle, it seems pretty consistent with what both Bruce and Soren have said up to this point. They’re not types to take to being bossed around easily, and creating a companionship like that would be… Well, certainly no easy task. But that still leaves him with questions about that damn enderman. It definitely didn’t seem like the type to just follow someone else, so what’s it’s deal? He blows out a sigh as that line of questioning just hits another wall. Maybe he’s being too close-minded. There could be some other type of control, maybe? He feels like he’s starting to grasp at straws though. The sound of Alex clearing her throat shakes him out of his thoughts again and he looks at her curiously.
“Something wrong?”
“Ah, no! No, not quite… Well—” She lets out a frustrated sigh and bobs her head side to side, and Jesse presses his lips into a tight line, doing his best not to allow himself to jump to any conclusions as she speaks again, “I’m actually kinda glad I ran into you in the first place, Jesse. I-I wanted to apologize.”
That catches his attention. Jesse cocks a curious brow.
“Apologize? For what?”
“F-For whatever it is I may have said or done that…” She trails off before awkwardly interlacing his fingers together at her front as Argyle moves to perch up on her shoulder, “—that’s led to you and Petra fighting… I mean I— I’ve been front row to these kinds of things before. I’m sure you can understand what I mean there… A-And I’d just— I’d hate to be the cause of ruining such a good friendship for whatever reason… Just— Just tell me what to do and I’ll happily comply if it’ll help.”
Jesse’s eyes widen at that. Something in his chest seizes as his mind shoots through a million questions at once. What does she know? She can’t be serious, can she? Is this a ploy of some sort? To what length would she comply with? It takes a second for him to shake the loud noise out of his head, needing to physically shake his head a little to knock himself out of the stupor. No. Despite his nerves and her… Soft spot for so many mobs, amongst other things still at the forefront of his mind, he won’t jump the gun and let his paranoia run things. He’s better than that. Clenching his jaw, he meets her in the eyes and shakes his head.
“No. No, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who needs to be apologizing.” He sucks in a deep breath as Alex eyes him in a confused concern—her gaze is sharp, probably sharper than she realizes. Regardless, he continues, “I’ve been… Well, I’ve been in a pretty miserable state since getting back. Jumpy. Paranoid. Loose-lipped. It’s… It’s led me to lashing out pretty unfairly… I-I’m working on it though. Hell, you just caught me on my way to go make some more amends.” He waves an arm vaguely out towards the street with a weak laugh as a look of understanding washes over her.
“Oh boy… I see. Well… While I’m sad to hear it’s reached that point, I’m glad to see you’re being proactive about it. Harboring ill-will only leads to trouble—trust me when I say that.” She mumbles, expression switching back to something far more grave than it was just seconds ago. It’s still jarring to see how she can flip between the two, but he doesn’t linger on it, merely nodding with an equal seriousness.
“Believe me, I’ve already encountered my fair share of people who’ve let those sorts of things change them… Some improve. Some don’t. I don’t want to wind up on a path like that.”
“Wise-words.” She says with a somber smile then lightly bumps him in the chest, “While your father shines through you in a lot of ways, you’re different on that front. He could’ve learned a thing or two from you, I think…”
A weird feeling of deja-vu envelops Jesse as he just huffs out a laugh, “Heh, yeah, that’s what I’ve been hearing… Eye-for-an-eye, right?”
“Unfortunately. That man had the memory of an elephant.” She huffs with a little wave, lightening the mood just a smidge. Jesse can’t help but laugh a little at that—Gee, that almost sounds like someone else he knows. A fondness rushes through him for it though—he already misses Lukas’ presence around him. But dread floods him at the same time. He can only hope that they can talk through this whole mess.
But one person at a time. Just like the words are slowly coming to him for Petra, they’ll come for Lukas, too. He feels almost mean for it but some part of him is confident that, between Lukas or his father, Lukas would be the more reasonable. His father could play the cool-headed one all he wanted, but Jesse’s seen his journals. Jesse’s heard more and more stories now. And most importantly? Jesse takes after him more than he ever thought—so something tells him that that man was running off of his emotions just like Jesse has been. He was just better at cleaning them up into something presentable. But he shouldn’t be getting ahead of himself.
“It’s nice hearing about him.” Is all he says, but a sweet smile graces his features as he does. Alex shoots a sympathetic look his way before nodding.
“Even if it’s about all the trouble he’s gotten into, huh?”
Jesse huffs out a pathetic little laugh and just shrugs, “I mean— Can I really be the one to judge at this point?”
“I suppose not.” She chuckles with him, her eyes crinkling with her smile, “You truly are your father’s son.” She sighs wistfully, a fond sparkle in her eyes, “The others will not believe a word I say when I get back. They still couldn’t believe Petra was my sister even with the letter in my hands! Heh! Might bring some more tourists to this side of the world sometime soon.”
“Others? I thought you were some lone-wolf wanderer?” Jesse jokes though his confusion shines through. Alex playfully bats him on the arm.
“Now that doesn’t mean I don’t have friends, Jesse!” She laughs, “And I mean— I’ve teamed up here and there! I mean there was that time with Greta up in the mountains, and then Sven on his boat, oh and of course Val! She always has something to do!” She spits out animatedly, her mind bouncing around a billion places just by the look of it. Then she stops though, turning a little sheepish, even, “… Huh, I guess I’m a pretty lousy lone wolf when I really think about it. But seriously, I mainly do travel alone! I just… Get very easily wrapped up in other people’s business…?” She says with an awkward laugh and Jesse snorts, bumping her on the arm now.
“Ohhh so you’re a nosy type then. No judgment!” He hums and she shoots him a disgruntled look. He just grins and gets a snort and another lighthearted shove back from the woman. He eases up with a small smile and nods to her, “Who was the group you were with when you got the news?”
“Just some pals over on Squid Coast—if you know the place. I already briefly mentioned Val but there’s a whole gaggle of them.” A cockeyed smile graces her features as she shifts her weight to one leg and eyes him, “They’ve been following word of your lots’ treks since that Witherstorm! Mighty impressed!”
“No kidding!”
“Mhm! I was actually with them when we first got word of the whole ordeal—oh you should’ve seen it, Jesse!” She laughs, waving a hand as she recalls, “Karl came RUNNING in as an absolute frantic MESS! Hollering all about the end of the world and all this other nonsense!”
“Karl…?”
“One of the group there—though, I’m not sure if any of them would really call him much of a friend. An instigator, that one. He’s a very very arrogant and egotistical man. Not to mention destructive.” She huffs, shaking her head sternly, “Such a waste of talent with him. He’s a skilled fighter which is unfortunate—I don’t think he has a sympathetic bone in his body.”
Jesse grimaces a little, “Sounds like one of the uhhh… Sketchy adventurer types you mentioned the other day. I wouldn’t wanna be on his bad side.”
She scoffs at that, a smirk making its way across her face, “Oh don’t you worry about that—He’s also an utter coward when it comes down to it. The type who thinks he’s better than everyone solely because of seniority.” She huffs and rolls her eyes as she raises her hands to her hips, “Not that he has much experience past needless violence and stealing the homes of locals and crowning himself ‘Village Protector’ or whatever the equivalent…”
“Hoo boy… Yeah I’ve run into those types, he sounds like quite the character though.”
“Quite the troublemaker more like! Not in the way we are, of course.” She adds quickly and gets a short laugh out of him for it, “But the others have done well with keeping him in line so long as they can help it. He’s gotta learn some way… But, anyways, I think you’d all really like the rest of them! I know they’d certainly be stoked to swing through here, Boomtown, and Redstonia! They’ve always wanted to, just never found a good excuse I guess.”
“Well we’d certainly be happy to have them—the more the merrier! I always love meeting new people—especially some fellow adventurers! What are their names? You mentioned Val and of course Karl, but…”
“Oh! Right!” She smiles and quickly begins counting off on her fingers, “Well there’s Valorie, Archie, Hal, Hex, Adrienne, and Yumi! They’re a colorful bunch. I already know that Yumi would adore meeting Jack and Nurm! Jack, Nurm, Petra and I have even spoken about taking a trip out their direction as well. I know a few people who run some caravans and shipyards to speed things along or get a real unique experience depending on what she wants.”
“Petra would love that—an adventure with her idol and her sister? That’s a dream come true for her.” Jesse hums with a soft smile and Alex brightens with his words.
“You really think so? I’ve been so nervous about intruding on such a thing with her…” She mumbles, nervously plucking at some stray hairs hanging loose. For such a seemingly confident woman it’s interesting seeing her so jittery. But good. Especially to see she cares so much about Petra. Though it leaves his own stomach churning to think he could’ve damaged their relationship with his little outburst. If he’s wrong, then he’s just planted unnecessary doubt and stress in Petra’s mind when they’re already struggling to repair their bond. He tries not to think too hard on it all—to keep his mind neutral until he gets a chance to cover things with Petra. Just talking about it all though makes him itch to go speak with her though—they need to figure something out here.
Still… She seems genuine enough. At least whenever it comes to her sister. And Jesse can more than respect that. He reaches out and gives her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
“Of course. I don’t know how much Pet has mentioned, but she’s kinda been struggling over the past year or two with figuring out her own identity in a way…?” He sighs, stuffing his hands back in his pockets and begins pacing a little as he speaks, “Lukas, Axel, Olivia, and I all had things other than adventuring that have taken our attention in different directions. But not her. She’s been thinking she’s somehow lacking something when, honestly, she’s always been one of the best adventurers I’ve ever known. I’m honored to call her my friend—one of my best friends. And I think that… that having some guidance, and someone to help her connect with others outside of just our group to better find her place in the world rather than feel second-fiddle would do her wonders.” He stops and turns back to her, giving an awkward half-shrug, “That’s what I think anyways. I’m not her so I can’t deem what’s best, but I think it’d be appreciated at the very least.”
Alex is quiet for a moment, expression somewhat blank and unreadable as she looks him over. It makes him nervous and has him wondering if he said something wrong. Hell, he even glances back over his shoulder to make sure he’s not missing something obvious. But, no, eventually she lightens back up into a soft smile and just nods.
“Thank you for your insight, Jesse. I-I didn’t know, but I appreciate it. The last thing I want is to alienate her when trying to share in something we both seem to love.”
“Happy to help.” He says with an easy smile and the conversation lulls once again. However, there’s still a somewhat awkward energy lingering and both of them remain restless in some form. That eagle of Alex’s seems to sense it as well, starting to fidget on her shoulder briefly before just up and shoving off again. The force of it has her stepping back a pace before laughing. Jesse has to dart out of the large bird’s path as it soars back into the sky. He ends up watching her for a long moment, shielding his eyes from the sun as he does. At first she’s a stark dot against the bright blue sky, but slowly that detail fades out and he loses her in the midst of everything else scraping the skyline.
But that brings him back to the moment at hand. Something tugs at the back of his mind like he’s forgetting to mention something he’d meant to. Might as well make use of the time he has with the woman, but his damn brain’s drawing a blank on him. It leaves him feeling foolish. Though his head practically spins once he latches onto it—Hiro. How could he forget? His uncle’s presence is still so new to his life and yet here he is, still forgetting the obvious. But as he opens his mouth to speak, Alex beats him to the punch once more.
“Um, I’m sorry to keep you, Jesse—especially with something so crucial and I know you are a busy young man to say the least but—... One more question?” She winces and clasps her hands together tightly as she eyes him. He blinks but nods and she breathes out a sigh of relief, “Thank you! I’m just— That raincheck you mentioned the other day…? Something about your uncle and… tennis?” She asks with a more than unsure laugh. Jesse blinks for a moment as he tries making sense of it himself—ah, right, the lightning.
“Oh! Oh! Yeah that’s—” He sucks in a nervous breath and then settles down his energy, speaking a tad quieter, “That’s a… long story. But one you deserve to know. It has to do with the death of my uncle Hiro.”
Alex immediately stiffens, a flurry of emotions flashing through her eyes—first pain, then scorn, then a profound sadness and sympathy. She just quietly nods along and with the way her nerves return, Jesse can tell she’s debating on telling him something. It leaves him nervous for a moment, but she’s probably just blind to what he knows—for all she knows his father never told him and he had no way of knowing what happened. Hell, for most of his life that was exactly what happened.
“It’s okay—I already know how things went down. He died to the Enderdragon, yeah?”
She freezes and her eyes meet his. Wasn’t expecting that it seems. From there, her gaze hardens into something more scrutinizing as a question forms on her lips. Jesse sucks in a deep breath and gently reaches out to her and guides her over to a nearby bench to sit down just with that look alone. Bruce looked like he was damn near on the verge of fainting when he first saw Hiro, he’d rather not test his luck a second time then have to tell Petra he made her sister black out.
“Did— Did your father actually tell you…? So young?” Her voice drops to a whisper, darkening a smidge as she grips his shoulders now. It’s startling, but in the midst of her intensity concern ultimately shines through.
“No! No, no he didn’t—he didn’t wanna scare me…” Jesse quickly responds, shaking his head in a frenzy. He claps his hands down on top of hers as she relaxes a little, “No, honestly the answer is— is way weirder than that. Because I didn’t hear it from Bruce, either.”
“Then who told you?”
“The surprisingly simplest answer—uncle Hiro told me it all himself.”
There’s a pause. A hitch in breath. Then a longer pause. And finally Alex pulls back and shoots Jesse an understandably odd look. Her grip drops from him and she holds up two fingers as she tries and fails to form something to say. She keeps trying and Jesse just waits patiently. Ultimately though, she opts to just press the back of her hand to his forehead. Probably foolishly, Jesse barks out a laugh at that. Gently he wipes her hand away and leans into his words.
“I’m serious! Just ask any of the others and they’ll back me up—as crazy as it may seem! Bruce has even seen him!”
“But that’s! H-He’s—!”
“—Been through hell but has come out the other side!” He quickly finishes and grips her hands with his own. He pauses however and mumbles as another thought hits him, “... Though, I guess technically he’s still living in hell… Nether, and all…”
“I’m— you—” She sputters for a good minute before pulling back again and just pressing her fingers into her temples. Jesse smiles and awkwardly shrugs.
“Surprise…? Heh… You’ve heard of Herobrine, right?”
That’s all he seemingly has to say before her eyes widen and lock onto him. He freezes under the sharp gaze, momentarily wondering if he’s somehow said something wrong. She eventually eases up however and slowly begins nodding.
“I— Of course I have! I’ve run into the man once before…” She mumbles, finally tearing her eyes away from his to look at the ground. Nervously, she interlocks her fingers and cracks her knuckles one at a time. “Ever since I first heard of him I… I-I dunno, I guess I had my suspicions given the names and what little description there was of him. But once I actually ran into him with some others…” She sucks in a shaky breath and Jesse’s stomach drops a little as he watches the woman pale slightly.
“He attacked you…?” He mumbles and, hesitantly, she nods.
“Seeing him… He was a spitting image, of course. But he was so—... so scary… I couldn’t recognize him anymore. Reasoning with him was completely out of the question, and had I tried… Well, I’d have lost more than a little blood.” She mumbles and Jesse’s throat runs dry. As she turns back to him, confusion remains etched into her, “But, you said that he told you…? Everything? He actually recognized you, sat down, and told you?”
Jesse awkwardly rubs his cheek but nods, “Yeah. Took some uhh… Convincing at first, but once I caught onto who he was I wasn’t just gonna let him worm his way out of it. And I mean, while dramatic, he still definitely had his wits about him. How long ago was it that you ran into him…?”
“Definitely some years now, so him settling down could make sense… Over a decade at least, maybe more? Probably more… I just— I remember it very clearly.” She mumbles, running her fingers through her hair again as she does. Jesse slowly nods. A decade. His uncle would’ve still been fairly fresh to things then, and if it had been even earlier? Yeah, no, it unfortunately lines up to what he’d mentioned himself. All he can say is that he’s glad she got out of there relatively unscathed—his uncle wouldn’t forgive himself had he actually harmed her. He doesn’t need to hear that from him to know it. Jesse reaches over and tentatively pats her on the back.
“... He’s still got some quirks and— well, some issues. But he’s got a lot more of his memory back now. He’s a lot more reasonable than he used to be—independent, too. If you’d like, I’d be happy to reintroduce you two.”
She looks up at him with wide eyes as she sputters over her words, “You’d— You’d do that…?”
“Sure would. He’s pretty apprehensive about some stuff right now though. I may need a few days yet, if that’s alright…” He awkwardly clasps his hands and glances back out at the skyline towards the Order Hall, “He’s uhh… heh, one of the people I’ve gotta go clear some things up with. I think he’d be thrilled to see you though.”
She huffs at that and Jesse’s momentarily worried he’s in for some other surprise. So many ‘oh well actually…’ type conversations with these people so far. But, no, instead he’s pleasantly surprised to find her smiling at him with glassy eyes.
“Jesse… You just told me I could meet a brother I long thought dead. You can take however long you need to prepare—you’ve already offered me more than I could’ve ever asked for.”
“Then it’s settled.” He says with a small smile and Alex lights up again at that. But this time he doesn’t quite catch the whole thing. In a flash she wraps him into a tight hug. It catches him by surprise and he ends up tensing up within it, but he manages to pat her arm assuringly despite it. After a long minute, she gives him one more squeeze then backs off entirely, even going so far as to hop back up to her feet. She laughs a little awkwardly and bats at her eyes briefly before just shaking her limbs out.
“Okay! Okay, I gotta stop keeping you—you’ve definitely got places to be! A-And I’ve got a run to finish! So—!” She spins back around to face him and shrugs with a grin, “Off we go, right?”
“Sounds like a plan. Enjoy the rest of your run.”
“Thanks! I’ll try not to hit any more pedestrians.” She grins as she finishes her stretches. He smiles a little at that and nods before slowly standing as well. He grunts a little as he straightens out his bad side, but the pain is fairly dull, much to his delight. With a wave and a bounce back into her jog, Alex hurries off, obviously reinvigorated. Thankfully, she’s sharp on her feet, already bounding over benches and around people where she needs before fully dipping from sight. Scanning the sky, Jesse can’t even find a trace of Argyle. He huffs and just shakes his head a little. Lots to take in and so little to do with the information yet.
Well, if he were sticking to his original plan, that is.
It’s been long enough. He needs to be back on the same page with Petra. They’ve gotta have a common ground idea of that woman—there’s just no way around it. They need to before things get any more serious than they already have. Before he even thinks about reintroducing her to Hiro, he needs to be certain about them both, and god, he just needs his team back. His best friends back.
The others? Still stings how they hurt him. Still isn’t sure how he wants to broach it.
Petra? He’d say they’re more than even with each other at this point. Hell, he’s gonna be owing her for a while with the way he acted.
He still wants to be back-up in her corner. Hopefully she still feels the same. While his nerves certainly try to convince him otherwise, he once again clings onto Jack’s words from the day before—They’re closer to a solution than either of them think. They’ve just gotta be.
His eyes dart in the direction of the clock tower on the horizon as their bells toll for four o’clock. It’s a chime that echoes far across town no matter where you are. Though lately he’s been able to hear it much better for everyone tends to hush as they strain to listen. As they wait to see if this is the time something else sends a black cloud of smoke into the sky. A scowl graces his features, but the city remains quiet outside of the bells. With that small relief, Jesse turns on heel and begins hurrying off towards Petra’s.
~~~~~
With his pen tapping incessantly against the table, Lukas stares down at the blank pages before him in complete and utter frustration. He can’t focus for the life of him—not on what he wants anyways. Blowing out a heavy sigh he resorts to pulling back a few pages and rereading what he’s written thus far in some desperate hope of inspiration striking and carrying him away. But just halfway down the page his thoughts take over once more and by the time he’s read back to his new blank spot, he realizes he didn’t soak in a word of it.
He throws down his pen in frustration and groans, hunching over his desk and pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes. What’s he even doing? Well, okay, that’s a silly question but damn he’s usually more capable of at least functioning despite stress. Yet here he is, unable to even get something he loves done.
He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest, turning his gaze towards the ceiling. The old wooden thing squeaks beneath him as he does, but sturdy as ever it holds true even on its back two legs. He doesn’t find anything really interesting or helpful in the wood above, but as he eyes the old grain patterns he allows his thoughts to wander.
He hasn’t so much as seen Jesse since the other night, not that that surprises him. On one hand it’s relieving to have some space without him around to breathe and think, on the other it’s irritating in its own right. The man would rather climb out his damn window without a word than to chance having to look him in the eye. To even entertain the idea he could be wrong. Just thinking about it all leaves a disgusting tension tightening his chest. With a heavy sigh, Lukas reaches up and pinches the bridge of his nose. He’ll have a tension headache kick in soon at this rate.
He hates seeing Jesse hurt, and he hates that he played a part in hurting him, but no matter how many times he runs through it in his head he just can’t see any other ways they could’ve gone about this. The others needed to know and Jesse needed to be slowed down. It should’ve been a quiet and easy thing that, once he was less frazzled, he’d understand. But no, they just had to have some asshole decide to start blowing the city sky high to make things worse. If only he’d gotten a chance to rest. If only he’d have only himself to worry about.
If only Lukas had been faster in the first place.
Lukas scrubs at his face with that one. He just cannot fathom how that man’s mind works sometimes. To nearly die to one enderman and then somehow come to the conclusion that he’s gotta go running around their damn home? And then he’s still considering it even after everything that’s been stolen? He’s a smart man. He knows what could happen. It stings to know that his words have gone right through him—how could they not have? He practically spelled it right out for him then and there and yet he still couldn’t stop himself. He couldn’t do this one thing for him. How’s he supposed to live with someone so determined to go and get himself killed?
A knocking at his front door shakes him out of those thoughts. His face contorts into one of confusion as he hears Dewey quickly scurry off into another part of the house at the sound. He wasn’t expecting anyone, and he hardly expects Jesse to be so bold with him. He drops his chair back down to all-fours and then stands, the wood scratching across the hardwood floors.
“Hold on!” He calls out and quickly cleans up his little desk space of loose papers and pens before kicking his chair back into place. Turning on heel he hurries out of the room and into the main hall and area of his home. He runs through everything in his head again but comes up empty—he’s not forgetting a meeting with someone, right? No, he’s already taken care of everything. He’s been so frazzled he’s been beyond diligent. Only one way to find out though. With a quick tug on the door, he flings it open and is greeted by a surprising sight to say the least.
Standing on his porch and awkwardly glancing around with his hands stuffed in his pockets is Aiden of all people. And the moment he hears Lukas open the door the man stiffens, almost looking like a deer in the headlights. Seems he didn’t expect him to answer. And honestly? As he should’ve.
“Oh fuck no.”
“Wait, Lukas—!” Aiden darts forwards and catches the door at the last second as Lukas tries slamming it shut on him once more. Lukas grunts at the resistance and, petty as it may be, presses his whole shoulder into the door which only leads Aiden to do the same. A crack a few inches wide remains however, and Aiden is damn determined to keep it that way.
“Go away, Aiden!” Lukas hisses, “You are the last person I wanna talk to right now!”
“I can name at least three people lower on that list than me!” He argues back and Lukas scoffs and rolls his eyes, just pressing more against the stupid wooden door. Aiden sighs, “Dude, seriously, I’m just here to talk. There are worse things that could be happening right now so would you just hear me out for two seconds?”
“Oh, please! And why the hell should I?!” He hisses and Aiden seems to wince at that. He goes quiet for a moment though, pausing his own pushing to think. It’s stupid how much deja vu he gets from the moment. How many times had they done this growing up? The bitter memory leaves him feeling sick to his stomach and he wants to ram the door shut then and there. But no. He’ll see what smart little thing this man can come up with first.
What he isn’t expecting though is to see the hilt of Aiden’s hunting knife be offered up through the crack in the door. Same one he’s always had—albeit far more beat up and worn from the years of use. Lukas blinks as he stares at it, drawing a complete and utter blank. Then, finally, Aiden’s face peeks through the crack as he offers it up, although he certainly seems apprehensive.
“... I’ll let you stab me back? Get even?” He says with a little shrug.
All Lukas can manage to do is stare at him in complete and utter disbelief. The man remains wholly genuine about it though, as ridiculous as it is. Not that he wouldn’t complain about it for eons the moment they went through with it. He always did. As he stares at the knife for probably a second too long for Aiden’s comfort, Lukas finally just scoffs.
In one fell swoop Lukas rolls his eyes, steps back, flings the door open, and crosses his arms. Aiden doesn’t get so much as a chance to think before he falls face first into the floor without the door’s support. He lets out a more than undignified yell and lands with an even harder thud with his knife clattering across the ground. He groans as he shifts onto his back and Lukas kicks his knife back over to him. He receives a good glare from Aiden, but it doesn’t last more than a second or two. Lukas stalks around him, not letting up on his own obvious disdain.
“As thankful as I am for your assistance in kicking Romeo to the curb,” He starts through gritted teeth, “It doesn’t mean I’m happy to see you.”
“Noooo… I thought slamming doors on people was seen as a warm welcome here!” He groans and winces a little and Lukas rolls his eyes.
“That didn’t hurt. I’ve seen you drop farther into worse places a billion times. You’re fine.”
“I would be if that boyfriend of yours didn’t punch so hard. Landed right on the sore spot.” He grumbles with another wince and it momentarily catches Lukas off-guard. A brief stint of pride wells up in him as well as butterflies at the mere mention of Jesse as such a thing. It sours with nerves again pretty quickly, however. Aiden sighs and holds up a sluggish hand, “Gimme a second—I’ll be good. Promise.”
“What the hell do you want, Aiden?” Lukas huffs out with a sigh. It takes a moment of consideration as Aiden catches his breath and stares up at him, expression fairly unreadable. He grunts a little as he sits back up and uses his foot to gently knock Lukas’ door shut from there. He sucks in a long and slow breath before he starts—Lukas’ sign that he’s probably not gonna like what’s about to come out of his mouth.
“Well… A little birdy told me that some shit’s been going down and that you’re ‘bout as high strung as a creeper caught in a herd of cats. Just to start.”
“And does that birdy still have enough reckless abandon to cover the worlds over?”
“Luk—”
“I’m not gonna be lectured, Aiden! If that’s all you’re here for then get out of my damn house.” Lukas huffs and jerks a finger towards the door. The man doesn’t budge from his seat on the ground, merely raising his hands slowly and innocently.
“I’m not here to lecture you… Would you breathe for two seconds before that head of yours pops like a balloon? God...” He grumbles and Lukas’ gaze narrows. Thankfully, the man seems to have a lick of sense and winces at that, “Bad choice of words. But relax wouldja?”
“You want me to relax when he’s sending you to play messenger now?” He scoffs and just shakes his head as he runs his fingers through his hair, “I feel like I’m losing my mind! It’s one thing if he can’t even show his face but then yours?” He sputters, coming up short for words as the stress and, frankly, some level of outrage chokes him. It shouldn’t—hell, it usually doesn’t—but he can’t get himself to settle from being so high-strung.
“Lukas, he didn’t ask me to do anything. He doesn’t even know I’m here.” Aiden says bluntly and it stalls him for a moment. Lukas glances back at him with a newfound sense of confusion. For what purpose? What good does he get from coming here? The question must be obvious on his face, that or Aiden unfortunately still knows him well enough to guess how he ticks, because the man answers it readily, “I’m on my way back to talk to Isa about getting the go-ahead to stick around for a few days. Seems like a good time for an extra set of hands. And no, Jesse didn’t ask us. He actively tried to prevent us from getting involved—for your information.” He pointedly adds and Lukas just raises a brow. Finally Aiden shrugs, “I just figured I’d stop by here on my way out.”
“Why?”
Aiden huffs at that and actually rolls his eyes like it’s somehow obvious, “‘Cause whether you like it or not I still have a pretty good idea of how you tick. Is Jesse gonna pass me on that real soon? Probably. But I grew up with you. We’ve done so much stupid shit and fought tooth and nail over even dumber crap—I know what your facets of being pissed are.” He says with a grunt as he finally gets back up to his feet. He hobbles for a moment then quickly shakes out his ankle as he straightens his jacket again. Lukas doesn’t know how he can stand to wear that heavy thing in this heat still—he’s always been resilient in that way he supposes.
“‘My facets of being pissed’ huh?” Lukas just dully huffs with his brows raised.
“Yep. You can get irritable easily, sure, but you are one of the most annoyingly reasonable people I know. Patient. Practical. Always coming back with a cool head later on or the whole mediator schtick.” He prattles it all off with a tone of annoyance, but the fond smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth gives him away. He waves it all off then turns to Lukas with his hands on his hips and slightly more serious, “So when you go and chuck all of that out the window? There’s trouble. You’ve got something bad brewing under it all. So what’s going on? What do you want out of this…?” He mumbles, gesturing vaguely.
“What do I want?” Lukas scoffs with a scornful laugh. He can’t believe he’s even having this conversation right now. He shakes his head in disbelief and flippantly raises a hand to start counting on his fingers, “Gee, let’s see. I would like it if we didn’t have to deal with someone running around bombing buildings after trying to kill us. I would really like Jesse to get some ounce of sense in his head and actually listen and heed our concerns and warnings amongst other things! Oh, and I almost forgot—” He claps his hands together and shakes them briefly at Aiden as he smiles a sickeningly sweet smile, “I want you out of my house.”
Aiden purses his lips as he sucks in a deep breath through his nose and begins nodding. Perhaps that was petty of him, but he can’t exactly find it in himself to care right now.
“Yeah uhhh… That is… Definitely a bitch of a situation…” Aiden mumbles as he rubs the back of his neck and Lukas just rolls his eyes again. Aiden sighs, brows furrowing seriously, “But what was that first bit? Someone’s bombing Beacontown…?”
“Jesse didn’t tell you?”
“No. He clammed up pretty tight at one point though. Hazarding a guess, I’d say that’s probably what he was thinkin’ about… Tried pushing us away real hard after that.”
“Yeah he’s… He’s already so high-strung over it all. He just doesn’t want anymore people ending up in the crossfire of it all, I think…” Lukas loses some steam with that, motions becoming sluggish as he aimlessly paces. Aiden lets out a hum in understanding, but he certainly doesn’t sound the most pleased about it.
“When did that even start?”
“We weren’t even in town for more than an hour. Just got back from that shitstorm in the Stronghold. Then once we got our grips on the situation, Petra and I helped haul Jesse over to Ivor’s where he filled us in on… The other issue. And we kept it a secret.”
“And you lied.”
Lukas bristles but sighs, “Yes, okay? We lied. But you have to understand—Jesse and I just got out of a Stronghold where our only entrance was purposefully blown up on us to trap us down there. Where someone continued to attack us. Where that Enderman attacked Jesse because I wasn’t fast enough to stop it and where he almost died because of it. And that’s not even mentioning the hell we went through to get out of there…” He mumbles, running his hands through his hair and picking up speed a little as the tension returns. He can’t help but get riled up as he runs through all the memories burned into his mind—still so fresh. Aiden tenses and raises his hands a little.
“Okay, okay, I hear you but don’t you think—”
“He broke down in my arms, Aiden! He pleaded with me about not wanting to die down there like his dad did—yelled at me about how it was all his fault and how he failed. And he was so scared. A-And now I’m the bad guy for seeing all that and deciding not to tell him about another horribly stressful thing that he could easily go and riddle himself with guilt over?! The last time that happened we ended up in that hellhole!”
“... God Lukas.” Aiden breathes out with a horrified glint in his eye as he shakes his head, “Okay so—... fuck— what was the secret on top of it all? You’ve both been beating around the bush about it.”
“A bunch of the items from the dragon fight are missing. Stolen. The egg and all of the End Crystals. On top of some other concerning items that could be used to cause trouble. E-Even his axe that he used to destroy the Command Block is gone!”
“The Egg and the Crystals?” Aiden repeats quickly with wide eyes. He seems to pale quickly with that, leaning back a little as he does. Lukas just nods fervently, sharing his fearful look. He doesn’t need to spell out what he’s thinking for Aiden to understand. They’ve spent so many nights whispering rumors and stories to each other about the world. He knows.
“And he just—... He’s got so much running through his mind, and I know he does, but how are we supposed to help if he won’t listen? I mean—” He huffs in disbelief, shaking his head incredulously, “He wanted to go to the End, Aiden! To map it, despite everything! I-If he had known about all the missing shit on top of these attacks going on, what do you think he would’ve done?”
“Well…”
“I can tell you what he would’ve done!” He cuts him off, flinging his arms wide, “He would’ve gotten obsessed and put getting there and ‘finishing this’ or whatever on the fast track before he was even fully healed himself. It’s just— It’s how he works.” He rants and Aiden holds his hands up again. Sucking in a big breath, Aiden drags out a chair from the small dining table. The legs screech obnoxiously across the wooden floor and he spins it around the lean up against its back, then sits down for this. It doesn’t exactly leave Lukas feeling any more confident in where the conversation’s heading, but hell, he’s on the verge of grabbing a chair for himself. Just talking about it all is enough to induce a migraine.
“For seeming to know exactly how he works, you’re not exactly winning any bets.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Aiden shrugs, “Look at it this way—he’s got all the information he needs to do exactly what you’ve described. And has he?”
Lukas hesitates with a scowl, “I— No, but—”
“But what? You’re right. He’s a smart man and he is damn determined once he sets his mind to something from what I’ve seen. But I’m not seeing that Jesse right now…” He hesitates, choosing his words very carefully as Lukas eyes him, “I know I’m playing Devil’s Advocate for a guy I don’t exactly have the best record with right now, but shit, I dunno Lukas… I think he’s a bit more self-aware than you’re giving him credit for.”
“And yet he still wants to do it, doesn’t he? To go to the End?”
“Lukas…” Aiden sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose and Lukas just huffs and shakes his head.
“It’s the principle, Aiden! The fact he could even consider the idea is just—! I cannot fathom it! I’ve supported him through everything, but this? I-I don’t know! It feels like a slap in the face. Like my words mean nothing to him.”
“You know it’s bad when I’m telling you that you’ve got it all turned around… God Lukas, he’s not out to spite you—he just wants to do something for his dad or whatever!”
“And while I want to help him in pursuing what he thinks is right, I’m tired of seeing him hurt for it!”
“So what? You’re gonna start coddling him?! Deciding what’s best for him without him even knowing?”
“You say that like I enjoyed keeping that from him! Like it wasn’t hell in its own right!” He argues, leaning hard into his words, “And telling him the truth isn’t coddling! He’s asking to do something that’s suicidal, Aiden! He can hardly hear the sound of teleportation without getting a panic attack—how the hell is he supposed to survive in an entire dimension of them?!”
“... Okay here’s an idea—and hear me out.” Aiden starts with his hands up. Lukas just sighs and drops his hands to his sides as he waits for whatever answer coming his way. Aiden smiles smugly as he leans into the words himself, “Ask him.”
“... Why am I even talking to you about this?” Lukas mutters beneath his breath as he turns away and shakes his head. He waves to the man off with a strained sigh, “It’s been horrible seeing you, Aiden! Now get out of my house…”
“Ohoho so you still clam up whenever someone has a point huh? Thought you became—what were your words? ‘A bigger man than that’?” Aiden digs with a scoff and Lukas bristles, dropping his voice low.
“Go ahead. Keep running that smart mouth of yours. See what happens.”
“If that’s what it takes to get through your thick skull then so be it.” He bites right back without so much as a second thought, “Lukas, I’ve got nothing left to lose when it comes to you. So yeah, I’m gonna be blunt. I know you’re in a shit situation, but you’ve also gotta wake up and smell the roses a little.” He sighs, “You hate seein’ him hurt—I know that, you know that—but you’re not exactly giving him much room to work with…”
“What do you mean? I haven’t pushed the topic at all. Hell, we haven’t spoken at all since the other night.”
Aiden winces, “Not the type of space I meant… God, this is really gonna sound like the pot calling the kettle black but, don’t you think this all sounds kinda familiar…? A This or That? A choice on a precipice…?” He mumbles and Lukas squints in confusion.
“‘A This or That…’? What— What are you talking about? Vagueness doesn’t suit you.”
“Yeah, not my thing typically, but I figured I wouldn’t have to spell it out for ya…” He sighs and rubs his neck again, not quite looking him in the eyes.
“Spell what out?” Lukas asks, voice raising a smidge into something more urgent. Aiden grimaces and slowly interlaces his fingers as he leans against the chair. He takes a long minute to seemingly consider what he says, stealing brief glances up at Lukas as he anxiously bounces his leg. When he speaks, his voice is surprisingly soft—a telltale sign of him being more than uncomfortable.
“You basically gave him an ultimatum between either you or his dad, Luke…”
Lukas mind screeches to a complete halt at that. He almost becomes woozy as he pales and a sobering weight washes over him. An ultimatum? No. No that’s not it at all. He would never. That’s not who he is. He didn’t do that, that’s not how that turned out. But the idea alone makes him more sick to his stomach than he’d like to admit. Aiden gets up out of his chair and easily lifts it, bringing it over to where he’s standing, not that Lukas immediately notices. He just shakes his head a little.
“I—... No! No, it’s not—! I-I would never ask him to—...” He sputters desperately and Aiden just gently presses down on his shoulder and helps the man sit down. Once down, Lukas immediately hunches over, gripping his head in his hands. “I-I just—! The moment he puts his mind to something, he’s gonna do it no matter the cost!”
“Well, unless I misheard all of that annoying gushing you did after the Witherstorm, I thought that sheer determination was something that had you head over heels. You really wanna just stamp that out…?”
“No!” Lukas immediately shoots back, jerking his gaze back up to look at Aiden through glassy eyes, “I love that about him! I do! I-I do… He’s an amazing man, but… I-I can’t stand this… I can’t stand seeing him in pain like this. A-And I—... I failed him. I don’t wanna fail him again. I just want him to be safe…” He chokes out despite the lump in his throat. He grits his teeth, not wanting to cry in front of Aiden of all people. The man sighs as he awkwardly hovers at his side. Lukas just shakes his head and buries his face in his hands again. Aiden takes the hint with that, backing off to give him some space. He hears the sound of him meandering off to another part of the open room, his boots thudding softly against the wood. He ignores him past that though, just taking the time to gather himself and his thoughts.
But he had a point. It eats at him to know, but he had a point. He shut down Jesse in such a way that he probably felt trapped between one choice or another and it leaves him aching to know that’s how his words manifested. All he wanted was to protect him—not to shut him off from this completely. He sniffles a little and shifts his hold so his hands mainly just cover his mouth and cheeks now. They’re burning and he has no doubt he’s red as an apple. Foolish. He’s been foolish in his own right. Looks like he’s gonna have some things to work on just as well.
Creaking of wood catches his attention and he glances over to see Aiden pick something up off of the coffee table. He turns it over in his hands, though with his back to him Lukas can’t see his expression. He blinks the tears out of his eyes and bats them away to clear his blurry vision, but before he can figure out whether he even wants to say anything, Aiden pipes up.
“You actually managed to get your hands on some of Doc’s books, huh?” He asks, tone casual and light. Lukas just blinks at him blankly, feeling like an utter wreck. Aiden doesn’t even acknowledge it as he just nods approvingly down at the book in his hands, “They anything like the stories my dad used to tell us?”
“... Less embellished.” Lukas manages to get out, voice hoarser than he anticipated. He clears his throat and sniffles again but nods over at him, “As he always suspected.”
Aiden finally looks over at him—and it’s with wide eyes. In a snap he jerks his gaze back to the book and yanks it closer, inspecting it a bit more closely. Lukas could almost laugh. He did the same damn thing when he first spotted the books.
“Oh shit! This is that collector’s edition!” He jerks his gaze back to Lukas and snaps his fingers quickly as he recalls, “The— The one from before the—”
“—Before the fire, yes.” Lukas finishes for him with a nod and the man laughs and shakes his head as he looks back down at the little thing.
“Damn! I knew you were always a fan but I’m surprised you managed to get your hands on a set. Color me impressed. Was it as impossible to do as we always imagined or do you have hookups from being a bigshot author around here?”
Lukas scoffs at that, a bitter smile gracing him as he just somberly shakes his head, “... No. As much as I’d love otherwise, they’re not mine to claim.”
“Come again?”
“Those are Jesse’s. Belonged to his father when he was young.” He says with a nod towards the book. Aiden seems to take a minute to process that, slowly nodding to himself as he re-evaluates the book in his hands. He’s more somber for it, too.
“... Good taste.”
“Yeah. I said the same.”
A long beat of silence stretches between them there. He doesn’t know what to say, nonetheless what to really do with himself. He knows what he should do, but he needs to gather himself first. He can’t be a complete blubbering mess when trying to talk to Jesse. Hell, he needs to go over everything again in his mind—a little slower this time. A little more open this time. He blows out a heavy sigh as he rubs at his eyes again, his shoulders feeling heavy suddenly. Not that he gets to linger on it long though.
“Did you hear about the musical?” Aiden asks, breaking the silence again. Lukas blinks before contorting his face in complete and utter confusion. He shifts fully in his chair to face the man now.
“... The what?”
“Apparently at some point someone thought it’d be a great idea to try adapting some of these stories into a musical.” Aiden says with a somewhat nervous smile, fiddling with the book in his hands and raising it slightly, “I managed to get my hands on a copy of one of the scripts though—took a lot of hunting and asking around, but I got it. Prized possession right there.”
Lukas lets out a weak chuckle as he just shakes his head, “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me…?” He nods to him with a tired smirk, “So, what’s it like? Inquiring minds gotta know.”
Aiden grins.
“Bad. Really bad.”
Lukas snorts out a laugh at that, unable to help himself. Aiden gleefully continues raving about it at the mere sound.
“My dad was so jealous to hear I got a copy, but upon reading it? He refuses to acknowledge it even exists, Luke!” He says with a firm sweep of his hand, making Lukas laugh harder. That sounds exactly like the man he remembers. In between his giggling, Lukas manages to get a question out.
“What— What story did they do? Don’t tell me it’s the—”
“—The Mesa mineshaft and dungeon where he and everyone almost died horrifically? Oh yeah!”
“No! That’s horrible!” Lukas gasps with a hand to his mouth and Aiden just nods along, grimacing through his grin.
“And remember—not just a play, a musical.” He emphasizes the word and Lukas just grimaces, shaking his head again as he sits back in his chair. Aiden’s laugh rings out through the small house, a sound he hasn’t heard in years. It’s almost pleasant. For a brief moment, Lukas could pretend they were preteens again at some sleepover or something, telling each other all sorts of stories. He swallows, forcing that lump further down his throat as he speaks again and tries to keep the shake from his voice.
“... I’m not gonna say it twice but um… Thank you, Aiden. For getting through my thick skull.”
Aiden smiles and nods a little as he meanders back over. He gives him a gentle bump on the shoulder, “Yeah. I was always good at that, at the very least. Take some time to, uh, recollect yourself though before trying anything. This shit’s messy…”
Lukas huffs but smiles, nodding quietly. He certainly had that right. Knowing Jesse? He’s probably gonna be couch surfing where he can in the meantime—wouldn’t be his first time. He’ll have to catch him around town somehow, probably. But that’s getting ahead of himself and makes his head hurt. It still hurts. It still hurts that any of this even happened to begin with, but he definitely could’ve gone about it better. They were both right and both wrong.
At his side, Aiden bumps him again but a bit more teasingly this time. Lukas looks up at him tiredly and confusion evident. Aiden smirks a little and shrugs.
“Y’know... We’re gonna bump into him again tomorrow since Gil’s helping him get some new duds. I’ll talk you up—put in a good word for ya.” He says with a wink and Lukas snorts, batting his hand away.
“... What you mean is you’re gonna tell him some embarrassing shit I did as a kid, right?”
“I mean I’m gonna tell him embarrassing shit you did as a kid, yeah.” He responds coolly and Lukas laughs, giving him a lighthearted shove for the first time in years.
~~~~~
Staring at the door to the hotel room, Jesse finds his heart pounding a million miles a minute in his chest. Hell, it’s one of the bigger adrenaline rushes he’s had in a while—and that’s saying something. The stairway up was just as stuffy as it was the last time he was here, but this time he’s a little less out of breath and in a little less pain than he was before. Still not great—still aches—but marginal improvement is improvement he will happily take. He hastily wipes his sweaty hands off on his pants.
Sucking in a nervous breath, Jesse raises his fist to knock on the door only to have it open on him outright. Petra stops dead in her tracks halfway out the door as she catches sight of him with wide eyes. Jesse also freezes, mirroring her deer in the headlight expression for a good moment before finally dropping his hand back down to stuff them in his pockets. He steps back a pace to give her a bit of space as she eyes him somewhat warily. He swallows his nerves and gets right to it, addressing her seriously.
“I got my axe back from Bruce the other day. I-I wanted to thank you for it.” He spits out, trying not to stutter over his words. Petra just looks at him oddly and he takes a breath to try and soothe his nerves, “I really love it! It's amazing… Strong, sharper than ever, cleaner than it’s been in eons and the stone is— it’s insane. It threw me like ten feet back across the pavement and onto my back.” He laughs a little then clears his throat to reign in his rambling, “But I wanted to first and foremost say… Thank you. For the work and care you put into it despite… everything. I really appreciate it.”
“... Sure, Jess.” She stares at him for a long moment before quietly nodding and turning to walk down the hall past him. Jesse’s heart catches in his throat and he continues quickly—blurting it out more like.
“And I’m sorry.”
She stops walking.
“I’m sorry for everything I said. For being so callous and stubborn. It was uncalled for and unfair to you. I-I know there’s so much more left to say and, hell, do to begin making it up to you but I just— I wanted— I’m afraid that—” He loses his flow and Petra finally glances back at him with worried eyes. Finally, he just blows out a heavy sigh and gives her a shrug, eyes desperate and voice far meeker than it’s been in a while, “Can we talk?”
Petra considers him for a long time, a somberness still settling in her eyes as she does. Jesse’s heart beats rapidly against his chest as he waits and just prays that his embarrassing little rambling worked as enough of an icebreaker. But, much to his absolute delight, a small little smile slips its way onto Petra’s face and a hand of hers raises to his shoulder.
“... Sure. Let’s talk.”
Notes:
LISTEN LISTENNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. listen. The untapped potential with the Blaze Rods is so fascinating. They've got sm going on with them I want to put them in a jar and shake them around. u guys gotta trust me-- ( <- is ripped from the stage via hook)
Chapter 40: Small
Summary:
A normal day in Beacontown becomes a catalyst for events to come.
Notes:
HIIIIIIIII IM LATEEE 🫶🫶🫶 💖💖💖
I think I need to just stop saying my goals aloud bc then things keep happening. If I remain quiet, the ao3 curse can't see me...................... Anyways HI SORRY ABOUT THE. checks watch. FOUR MONTHS. OOPS. I posted the last chapter and almost immediately hit an atrocious amount of burnout--did the mental equivalent of revving up a motorcycle and going "AW YEAH WE'RE BACK IN ACTION!" and then speeding straight into a brick wall 😭👍 Which was like torture bc this is a chapter I've been both extremely nervous about but also super excited for!
I'm not sure how happy I am with the first half currently but I don't think it's bad either, so I'm just going to be fine with it bc the second half is where I wanted to focus my energy anyhow :] This one gets a bit intense, I will forewarn that, but I did my best to write it in such a way that, while still impactful, hopefully doesn't feel TOO forcibly out of the genre that I've been setting up here! I can only anxiously pray that it's a satisfying and thrilling turn of events 😭🙏 I feel nervous about almost having too many things go wrong throughout these last several chapters, however things have been obviously building for a bit and my mindset is that we're at a bit of a catalystic point. But I won't say much more than that--Enjoy! Have fun! And I'm very excited for what comes next :]
Chapter Text
The light filtering in through the drawn brown blinds of the stuffy little room is golden and almost orange in color, bathing the room in a cozy atmosphere. A stark contrast to the topic at hand. Jesse paces rather aimlessly with his arms tightly crossed while Petra sits hunched over on the couch, legs bouncing incessantly with anxiety but eyes not letting off of him for even a moment. They’ve managed to stay civil as they’ve started their awkward apologies, but tension still lingers over the entire topic.
Jesse’s managed to state his piece. The jury’s still out on whether it had any tact or not, but Petra listened and it’s gotten the conversation going. As awful as it makes him feel, she felt she had to apologize for a thing or two as well. But he certainly knows by now that arguing the point would’ve been fruitless. Still didn’t make the actual subject matter any easier, and now, whether they like it or not, they’ve got a situation on their hands. But progress is progress.
“I think…” Petra starts with a mumble, catching Jesse’s attention again as he stops in place, “I think at this point I’m just… I’m scared, Jesse. I’m really scared.”
Jesse blows out a heavy sigh and nods as he walks over to her, “I know... God, Petra—I’m so sorry for even planting such an idea in your head.” He grunts as he sits down on the coffee table in front of her then tentatively takes her hands in his, giving them a comforting squeeze, “If I could take it back I would. I jumped the gun. Unfairly. But we’ll figure this out as a team, and really, your sister is so kind and courteous—I don’t know what I was thinking.”
While it takes her a second to reciprocate, she squeezes his hands back and nods a little, “... I appreciate that, Jess.”
“There’s a ‘but’ coming with that, isn’t there?”
She laughs weakly and just nods, “Yeah... I-I mean I’m— I’m glad we’re gonna get this sorted but—... I just don’t know what to believe anymore. And, like, yeah you and your little outburst had me thinking about it. Sure. But I-I also just— I dunno…”
Jesse’s brows furrow and he just shakes his head at himself, “I’m so sorry, Petra. It’s one thing for me to make my own life a mess, but now I’m meddling in places I shouldn’t.” He blows out a sigh of frustration and reaches out to squeeze her arm without thinking before hesitating and pulling back. The last thing he wants to be right now is overbearing. Though it’s done rather awkwardly to say the very least.
“No, Jesse, I— That’s not what I mean— I mean, yes, you did mess up.” She huffs and nods, beginning to speak faster as she runs through it again, “You very much did. Uncalled for, rude, and totally presumptuous! Still gets my blood pumping just thinking about it.”
Jesse can’t help but stare at her somewhat awkwardly. She catches his eyes and bites her lip, seeming to reel it in a little as she sucks in a deep breath.
“But, um… There were parts that still freaked me out on their own. I-I mean I— I chocked it up to just being defensive and paranoid because of our fight but um… They still bugged me even before that I think... Like, maybe she’s just quirky or something but there are times where she can be just…” She trails off, brows darkly furrowed as her gaze remains fixed on some pathetic little stain in the carpet.
“... Intense?”
“Thanks for putting it politely but I was gonna say freaky.”
Jesse clasps his hands and blows out a measured sigh. He still can’t help but feel more responsible than she says, but that’d be childish to bicker about at this point. Instead, he simply remains quiet and soaks in her words, searching relentlessly for some sort of solution. A sobering reminder washes over him however—this is not his place to make some sort of judgment call. How to proceed should not be up to him this time. He looks up and meets her in the eyes with a hardset gaze.
“What do you wanna do?”
Brown eyes briefly widen before she presses her own lips into a tight line. Her eyes skirt away from his and she rubs her arms quickly, fighting off a chill in the sweltering little room. Jesse pulls his gaze away, trying to release whatever pressure he’s placing onto her.
“Whatever you choose, Petra, I will back it. You know her better than I probably ever will, and I trust your judgment.” Jesse quietly adds, which briefly perks Petra out of her trance. She takes a moment to soak in his words before swallowing and nodding.
“... Thanks Jesse.” She pauses then her mouth quirks into something more sly, “Took you long enough, though.”
Jesse snorts out an awkward laugh and hangs his head, feeling his cheeks already burning. He nods though, happy to concede there.
“Yeah, sorry, my head’s been up my ass a lot lately. I get to talk to a lot of people in the coming days.”
“Damn, and here you had me feeling special.” Petra puts on a horribly dramatic pout and Jesse just laughs again, a little lighter this time though. Despite the pressure, the tightness in his chest manages to loosen up. His pulse is still hammering away in his ears but the adrenaline will be crashing soon enough. He smiles and offers an apologetic shrug.
“Sorry. You know me—can’t stay out of trouble even if my life depends on it.”
“Heh, well, I suppose that’s where we get to come in, right?” She reaches over and bumps him in the arm, “All for one and one for all, or whatever geeky thing Lukas would spout. And hey! We wouldn’t be where we are today without your horrific streak of bad luck!”
“Eugh.” Jesse tiredly rests his face in both his hands as he shakes his head, “Y’know if it wasn’t the Enderman that did him in, my father would’ve had a stroke watching all the things we do.”
“Dude!” Petra laughs, voice cracking in horror. Jesse giggles along with her. A little bit of morbidity never hurt, right? Though, as the laughter fizzles out and silence steals back in, the reason for why they’re both there comes right back around. Petra sucks in a deep breath and rubs her hands together, “Okay so… Before you even showed up tonight, I was already thinking about this. It’s not, like, revolutionary I guess but—”
“Trust me Petra, it doesn’t have to be. Like I said—whatever you choose, I’m with you. You lead and I’ll follow.” He smiles a little, “Hasn’t done me wrong yet.”
A small smile graces her features and she nods, “Thanks. I still don’t think that my sister is responsible for— for anything… weird. At least, maybe not directly…? Still, there’s stuff about her that I think… I think it’s still worth keeping an eye on her. Be kind, be welcoming, be ourselves. But until we’ve got more answers, I don’t think it’d hurt to keep some sort of guard up. I don’t like how blind we’re flying right now. It feels like a hit’s gonna come from somewhere close and somewhere unexpected. It sucks. And I’m also sorry that I didn’t really think about how much you’ve probably been feeling like you’re getting closed in.”
“Petra—”
“I know, I know, it was all heat of the moment and whatever! But still, I can empathize with a friend, right?” She mumbles with an awkward smile and shrugs.
“Heh, well, knowing you it’d be foolish to try stopping you at this point. So I suppose I’ll just have to deal.”
“Ehhh, I’m just testing the waters of taking a page out of your playbook. Don’t worry—I’ll still find some other ways to make sure we’re even.” She hums with a smirk and even more devilish twinkle in her eye. But hell if that isn’t one of the most comfortable things Jesse’s seen in the past few days. With that, he smiles and pushes himself back to his feet, allowing Petra some more space as he stretches.
“I’ll take whatever you throw at me! Scout’s honor!”
“You are so gonna regret that.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He laughs a little before turning back to her one last time, hands resting awkwardly on his hips, “But in all seriousness, uh— Well, I’m glad that we’ve got a sort of plan. And, y’know, thanks again for being willing to talk, Petra… Sorry again for being so difficult lately. None of that— It was just uncalled for.”
“Apology accepted, Jess. Thanks for being willing to even come up here. I know how hard it can be to put that pride down sometimes.” She blows out a heavy breath, “So… Now what? What’s next?”
“Well… I’ve had some long days lately, so for now I’m just trying to get my thoughts in order, rest enough to get these stupid lacerations all cleared, and then find more people to pester. Otherwise, it’s just one thing at a time with our trigger-happy friend still running amok.” He huffs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “And I’m not even ready to get into the can of worms that is Ivor’s base getting busted into. That’s just— that’s gonna be a migraine I’ll get to when I talk to him.”
Petra grimaces at that, “Ah… Cat’s outta the bag there, huh…?”
The look Jesse gives her is probably a bit more sour than he intends but he quickly just sighs and shakes it off.
“Uh, yeah. You could definitely say that. Don’t uh… Don’t worry about it though. I figure we’re even enough.” He awkwardly scratches at his head, “‘Sides, there’s a lot of more pressing things right now. If we— If I let every little thing get under my skin and pull me away from you guys, then I’m just asking for it at this point. Just gotta keep chugging along and moving forward, whatever direction that is.”
“I can jive with that…”
Jesse lets out a tense chuckle and nods, “For the meantime though? I’m probably just gonna go crash back at Olivia’s. If I run into anyone else today I think my head’s gonna explode.”
Petra squints in confusion, “I thought you were staying with Lukas?”
And there’s his cue to grimace. Jesse runs an uncomfortable hand through his hair to say the very least.
“Yeah, heh, uhhh… Y’know, at this point I think it’s just safer to assume that I’ve pissed everyone off. Like, I hung out with Aiden today. And I’m gonna do the same tomorrow. So.”
“Yeesh, you have been busy haven’t you? Thought the docs told you to rest, not go around causing trouble.”
“I’m just gonna chock it all up to that horrible streak of bad luck at this point.”
Petra snorts out a laugh at that and stands up with him, “Okay, okay, I getcha. How about you crash here tonight then? I could even tag along with you tomorrow.” She says with a small smile and bump on the arm, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen those three—could be fun to mess with them again. Alex’s been reminding me of allllll the old things we’d get up to. I’ve got so much dirt, dude.”
“Heh! That’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t wanna be overbearing Petra—”
“Nah, nah! Seriously, it can be like how it was after the Witherstorm, y’know? Like when you’d just sorta hop around and crash with whoever. Ooh! My room here even has a balcony—we could go grab some smoothies and I could fill you in on all the cool stuff I’ve done since leaving town after we finished beating the crap outta Romeo. We haven’t gotten to properly talk like that yet!”
She’s a little awkward yet, but her eyes still shine with an eagerness that feels like home. It catches Jesse by surprise and unexpectedly chokes him up. A small gesture, sure, but one that promises normalcy. Promises that they’ll be okay.
“That… Actually sounds really nice.” Jesse breathes out, feeling a little more tension release from his shoulders. He’s not sure how comfortable he feels about it, but the only way to feel better is to try, and an evening just shooting the shit and sharing stories sounds wonderful. He clears his throat then gestures vaguely northbound, “I-I know a guy who just opened up a new little drink stall uptown by the stadium—I’ve been meaning to find time to check it out. I’ve heard nothing but great things.”
“Well crap! What are we waiting for?” Petra smiles and waves him forward, “Lead the way—I won’t even force you to take the stairs!”
Jesse huffs out a laugh and side-eyes her, “Saving my pain for later, are we?”
With a bright grin, Petra hooks her arm down around his shoulders and gives him a tight squeeze.
“You know me so well!”
~~~~~
“I thought you already got the measurements you guys needed—is this seriously necessary?” Jesse flinches, hissing a bit under his breath as Maya and her ruler pinches his arm. Maya glares at him slightly then sighs as she pulls her tape measure back.
“Frankly, I was quite happy with what we had—much like yourself. But someone,” She shoots a pointed glare Gil’s way, “Didn’t think they were right.”
“Maya, like I’ve told you, I just want to be sure we’re not using too little material—we do and it’ll mess up the whole set and I’ll have to start over completely from scratch.” Gil bites back, speaking surprisingly fast for the otherwise mellow man. Maya just rolls her eyes however, obviously well-acquainted with this side of him. She just shrugs.
“Then, like I’ve told you, just use more and then trim it down in post. Your obsession with getting it perfect first try will be the death of us all.”
“It’s not the same.”
“‘iT’s NoT tHe SaMe!’—That’s what you sound like right now. Nasally.” She mumbles, swapping between a near ear piercing crack to her regular monotone in a snap.
The morning and early afternoon has started well—one of the better ones recently. He and Petra were up and getting coffee and some semblance of food at a decent time and then nabbed some better stuff while walking through town. It was almost thrilling in just how casual it was. Simple things, like talking with the crows and pigeons and making each other laugh hard enough while eating that it was a question of whether it’d come back out of their mouth or nose.
Then the shop they’ve met the colorful trio at is a homey little one—old man Flintlock is a passionate and enthusiastic old codger, but a man Jesse has seen many a time for minor repairs and tips. And this morning was no different with the man gleefully getting involved in their new little project. It didn’t take long for him and Gil to do some major overhauls to the design he had, and from there, the rest is history.
The old man himself had to run to grab some more materials for them to get started, but no doubt Jesse’ll be getting called back here to see him and Gil quite a few more times in the coming days just to double and triple check the fittings as they make progress. He’s honestly excited for it—it’s something to keep him busy and not a field he himself works in, so it’s like magic watching it happen in real time.
As Maya and Gil go back and forth, Jesse bites his lip to keep from chuckling at their antics. It doesn’t last however as the wind is practically forced out of his lungs as she moves to measure his torso and tightens the tape. Petra covers her mouth with her hand and Jesse swears he can hear her snickering under there as he awkwardly stands in place. Gil opens his mouth with a retort ready to fire but doesn’t get the chance to launch it.
“I think you oughta focus more on the numbers right now and less on the bickering?” Aiden interjects, earning annoyed looks from the both of them—not that it fazes him. “Last I checked you’re measuring for armor, not a corset. Ease up before he goes purple.”
Maya’s eyes widen as she gasps and quickly slackens the tape, “Oops! Sorry, Blue!”
Jesse breathes out a sigh of relief and just laughs, “You’re fine. What’s a little oxygen deprivation to keep you on your toes, right?”
She sighs but manages a sheepish laugh, her cheeks red from embarrassment, and just lightly smacks him with the tape as she quickly finishes up. She haphazardly chucks the tape to Gil who catches it less than gracefully with his free-hand. Maya just gets to jotting down her numbers more clearly, completely ignoring his struggle. Jesse takes amused pity on the man and crouches down to pick up one end and begin wrapping it up using his elbow as a base.
“Thanks, man. Sorry— Didn’t mean to be such a mess right away! I dunno what it is.” He sighs and Jesse simply chuckles and shakes his head.
“Trust me, you don’t have to apologize. You guys are already doing more than enough for me.”
“I know, I know, but you’ve got a busy schedule and all that.” He huffs as he tosses Jesse the last of the tape and he wraps it up neatly. With his hands free again, Gil gets back to his notebook with everything jotted down. Before Jesse can reply though, the conversation moves along.
“Ooh! Can I check out what you’ve got sketched out?” Petra asks, already craning her neck to get a peek over Gil’s shoulder. He hesitates a moment but then nods and holds the journal out more.
“Sure thing! I’ll explain what I’m thinking here anyways, might catch a hitch or two in the plan.”
“Rubber-Duck method back to save the day once again!” Maya hums in a sing-song tone as she rips her own little note page out and sticks it in his journal. He blinks and briefly reads it over, nodding thoughtfully before stuffing it and getting down to business with Petra. Maya wipes her hands off and wanders back over to Jesse with Aiden joining them soon thereafter. He takes the tape measure off of Jesse’s hands and ties it up neatly before tossing it back on the workdesk before finally turning to them with a shrug.
“Well, looks like there’s time to kill. What’re you gonna do next, Freckles?”
“Ideally? Finally fit some time in to go chat with Ivor and hopefully not amble around as frantically as a chicken with its head cut off.”
“Tough challenge, Blue.” Maya teases with a sharp breath sucked in through her teeth. She pauses though to give him a wink and confident smile, “I think you can handle it though. Ivor’s only kinda scary, but I think he’s got a soft spot for you.”
“Heh! Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think the real challenge will be figuring out where the hell he is in town. Usually I can find him at Harper’s but if he’s not there I’ll be in for some sorta goose-chase, that’s for sure.” He pauses a moment and then crosses his arms as a thoughtful look washes over him, “Though… I know Olivia and Radar are gonna be doing maintenance for some clocks and some other stuff in the Order Hall today… If I’m lucky then Harper and Ivor might have been pulled in for some help. Expediting the process and all that.” He shrugs.
“Sounds like you’ve got it more figured out than you think.” Maya says with a smile and Jesse returns it, albeit bashfully as he just toes the ground and shrugs.
“I’ll take what I can get!”
“Hey, Jesse! Can I get your opinion on somethin’?” Gil calls out and Jesse perks up to see the man waving him over. He nods and shoots a quick apology to Maya and Aiden and hurries on over, pretty much trading places with Petra who, from the looks of things, gets right into getting under Aiden’s skin. For better or for worse? They’ll just have to wait and see.
As he jogs back to Gil the man holds his journal out to him and taps between two designs—one with the design of a string of Lilies of the Valley and the other with a crashing ocean wave, “I wanna practice my engraving a bit more but I’m not sure which design I’m liking more. Any preference?”
“Oh sweet! Lemme think for a sec… Would you be putting—”
The loud clanging of the heavy workshop doors slamming open and back against the walls completely overshadow Jesse’s words. A silence and shock immediately fills the space as all turn to look at the sudden commotion. In stumbles Radar, eyes wide and brows furrowed as he frantically traces over everyone inside before they land on Jesse. And the moment they do, he freezes. And it only takes that for a horrible dread to settle in his stomach. He backs away from Gil immediately and hurries over to meet the young man halfway. He practically catches him with the sheer speed he rushes over with.
“Jesse! Thank goodness I found you so quickly!”
“Woah! Radar, hey! Easy, easy—what’s going on? You look like you ran a marathon.”
“I-I— Well I guess I sorta did. I-I was at the Hall with Olivia just working a-and y’know it’s business as usual and all that, right? People, the watch going in and out, Ivor and Harper came through even, everything just whatever, haha! Um, but— I— Hoo boy, how do I even—?!” He chokes, his voice cracking as he spits the words out faster than he can breathe. The others start hovering around the two now, morbidly curious about the commotion and sharing uneasy looks.
“Slow down. Breathe a second. Now, just tell me, what’s going on? What did you find?”
Radar freezes, his grip on Jesse’s arms tightening as he wordlessly mouths something, his voice failing him. At this closer look now though, it’s easy to see his eyes are red and watery. Something is wrong. Something is deeply wrong, and it leaves Jesse’s hair standing on end. He gives the young man a gently reassuring squeeze and it’s enough to momentarily pull him out of whatever state of shock he’s in. He swallows, voice quiet and low in a way that leaves Jesse’s blood freezing in his veins.
“We found Captain Stoddard.”
~~~~~
The walk out to the scene of things is a sickening blur. One minute they’re rushing through Beacontown and the next they’re out in the farmlands on its outskirts—a place not in Beacontown’s jurisdiction nor Champion City’s, but one they’ve chosen to share equal responsibility for. He in fact knows the man who runs this farm and orchard which does little to ease his worries—he’s a pain in his own right.
Upon arrival, there’s already a handful of people there including Stella, her own set of watchmen and guards, and Christine along with some more of Beacontown’s watch, speaking frantically with Champion City’s. Radar splits from their group almost immediately to go talk with Christine. There’s also a small handful of what seem to be medics that are grouped and talking, and then lastly, off on his own, there’s Jed—the landowner—seeming more than displeased to say the very least.
Most disturbingly however, and the thing that has Jesse freezing in his tracks as they come over the small hill in the land, is the white tarp draped over a figure on the ground. His throat runs dry at the mere sight of it and his mind just screeches to a halt. There was nothing good that could’ve come from how Radar approached him, but regardless of just how much he suspected to come to a scene like this, another part of him still didn’t expect it to be true. Around that time there’s also a familiar gasp and before he knows it Stella has swapped places with Petra, Aiden and Maya and has hurried right on up to him. She catches him by the hands, snapping his gaze away from the tarp and over to her.
“Stella… I—...” He fights to get some sort of sentence out, but the words choke him. It’s a surreal scene and not one that feels real yet. Stella’s eyes shimmer with a deepset pain and sympathy as she momentarily takes his face in her hands, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. There’s something about the small gesture that just shatters any deluded attempts at denial his mind might’ve tried fighting to come up with.
He lets out a shaky breath and a tear slips out of his eye. He hastily begins blinking the others away. It’s then that she simply pulls him in for an actual hug that he quickly reciprocates, momentarily burying his face while he can. They hold it for a minute as he scrambles to gather what he can of himself for what comes next. With another deep breath, he steps back and moves to join Stella at her side, hand still gently resting on her back while she keeps one arm around his shoulders. Like that, they proceed down the rest of the hillside to rejoin the group, being met with a plethora of scared and confused looks from everyone there. His eyes scan the small crowd as his heart hammers away in his chest and he regains his voice. There’s only one way to really begin.
“Who can tell me what happened here?”
Christine opens her mouth to say something but then Jed clears his throat and steps up, arms crossed and green eyes dark. It spells trouble to say the least, but at least the man seems to be cooperating. He’s someone Jesse’s had spouts of difficulties with before over the years—only in his 30s but with the attitude of what he can only describe as an entitled old man, but is otherwise fairly unremarkable in appearance. Green eyes, dusty reddish brown hair, a few scars on his face and arms, a white button up, muddy and worn jeans and boots, and red suspenders pulling it all together. The most notable thing on him is the large diamond scythe hanging off of his back.
“What happened here is that the Reaper came and took this codger early. On my property.”
“Mr. Hall!” Stella barks at the man and he just huffs. With a scowl on her face, she marches up to him and jabs a finger into his chest, “While I know this is exceedingly unprecedented for us all, would it kill you to have some semblance of grace? This was a good man who has been a pillar in the area since the days of the Witherstorm. At least do his memory the favor of feigning some respect!”
Jed glares down at her silently for a long minute before finally sighing and conceding, “Fine.” He turns to Jesse and eyes him, “You better pay attention, Hero, because I’m not going to repeat myself. While I can’t tell you just what the hell your old watchman was doing all the way out here or how he got chopped, I can tell you where I found him and when.”
“That’s… fine. Please, just tell me everything you know.” Jesse urges. Jed sighs, nods, and takes a step back. Reaching a hand out, he begins outlining a low running irrigation ditch at the bottom of the hillside between the bottom of his orchard and one of the less traveled roads leading out from town.
“Early on this afternoon I was down finishing up tending to my trees before the bulk of this year’s harvest bears fruit. I’ve been out here since dawn but work my way down the property in pace with the sun. I started smelling rot or something similar as I got further down—I thought it was a zombie or something initially just taking cover in the shade of the trees. But I couldn’t find any sign of one and the smell just kept getting worse the further south and east I went. Eventually it was driving me crazy enough that I went searching. I’d rather find some monster or dead animal myself than have my sister accidentally stumble into it. And I’m glad I did, because I found your man collapsed at the bottom of the irrigation ditch not too long after.”
“The irrigation ditch…?”
“Yeah. Not a pretty sight. But there wasn’t really any fresh blood or anything, just a lot of mud caked on. I’m guessing that he got kicked around and then fell into it somewhere upstream. I had a bit of a summer downpour out here the other day so it was fuller than usual. It’s not exactly something difficult to climb out of though for someone with their wits about them. Suffice to say, with the sun and heat that’s come back around, some of that water’s gone and dried up. It’s not uncommon for weird stuff to come out of that thing, but this is…” The man sucks in a deep breath and glares daggers into Jesse, “Well. Notably unique. We can put it that way.”
He ignores the bite to the man’s voice, “When you found him, was there any chance that—”
“No.” Jed cuts him off quickly and bluntly, making his stomach churn. Jed then nods over to the tarp, “I’m sure you’ll see for yourself real soon, but there wouldn’t have been anything I could’ve done. The medics might be able to give you details, but a blind man could tell you he’s been dead for a day or two at the very least. And that’s all I know.”
Jesse nods slowly, unable to take his eyes off of the tarp not too far away from them, “I see… Thank you for the info, Jed. I’m sorry this happened.”
“I’m sorry, too. It’s taken a damn annoying chunk of time out of my day and is completely ridiculous. I’m a farmer, not a goddamn undertaker. I’ll give you whatever it takes for you to hurry and get this mess cleaned up and sorted out, but you better make it fast. It’s ten to three—my sister will be on her way home soon. I don’t want her coming home to this.”
Jesse tries not to prickle too much at the man’s tone and just nods, “Believe me when I say I want this sorted out as soon as possible. But you’re gonna have to give us a few minutes to get things organized.”
“Then stop yapping with me and get a move on, would ya?” He hisses and Jesse sucks in a very deep breath to steady his nerves and move along, face hot from his own irritation. Though Stella certainly seems to have a few choice words on the tip of her tongue. He pulls her along with him however, leaving the fuming man behind. As they approach the tarp, the head medic gets back to his feet and meets them halfway.
“Afternoon, sorry we’re not meeting on better terms.”
“Feeling’s mutual, doc.” Jesse sighs and briefly shakes his hand, “I— I dread having to ask, but…” He mumbles, eyes stinging as his gaze shifts from him back down. The medic grimaces and nods.
“I know. It’s—... Not good, Jesse. I can tell you that. Monster attacks are rarely a simple affair, but this one is—” The man stutters over his words, seemingly struggling to find the proper words. It leaves a pit in Jesse’s stomach and he narrows his gaze.
“A monster got to him? What type? Odin was a tough man to say the very least—I have trouble believing he went down so easily.”
The medic hesitates, eyes flicking away nervously as he clasps his hands at his front, “Well, that’s where we’ve been having a bit of trouble. On the surface it seems straightforward but there are… inconsistencies. We’ll need more time and of course a more proper inspection before I can put anything on paper, but… At the very least, there are enderman lacerations present.”
Jesse’s stomach drops at that and Stella gasps at his side, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth. The medic shares a sympathetic look before dropping his head low. All Jesse can do is stare down at the clean sheet mere feet away. He suddenly feels utterly sick, but the bile that burns the back of his throat has to be swallowed down for the moment.
“I’d like to look at him for myself, Doc.” He says, voice cracking a smidge. The medic just quietly nods and steps back, clearing the path. Jesse silently nods his thanks to him and moves right on up to the tarp and crouches down. Petra, Aiden, and Maya meander over as well as the others clear out, the latter two hanging back a bit further to not crowd.
Reaching up to the top, Jesse gently grabs hold of the white sheet and pulls it down enough to reveal the man’s face. Behind him, Stella’s breath hitches and she quickly turns away, clinging tightly to herself.
“I’m— I’m sorry, I can’t look at this.”
“It’s okay—I’ve got this.” Jesse reassures, reaching up to pat her on the arm before he sends her along. She just nods and steps away, presumably to go gather more information. With that, Jesse turns back to more thoroughly inspect the man.
It feels obvious to say he’s pale. Blue and a little bloated even. There are scratches on his face with dried mud and what he knows is likely blood as well still caked on. But despite it, his expression is staggeringly peaceful. Eyes simply shut as if he were asleep. The man looks as if he might just wake up and start egging on Jesse for being so worried—a conversation they’ve had enough times for Jesse to practically hear again right on the spot. He grimaces, tears stinging the corners of his eyes as he reaches up to brush a few straggling hairs back and out of the man’s face. He never liked them getting in his eyes. A shaky breath escapes him and he feels a comforting squeeze on his shoulder and looks up to see Petra. They share the same strained look before she squats down beside him.
“Did I hear the doc mention an Enderman…?”
“I wish I could say ‘No, you heard wrong.’”
Petra lets out a concerning hum and crosses her arms tightly over her chest while Jesse sucks in a breath and yanks the tarp back more. It exposes the man down to his waist and immediately leaves him feeling sicker. His clothes are tattered in spots along his sides, arms, and presumably his back. And lacerations of varying sizes and depths lace the man. Lacerations like his. Stray hits lace up his sides and some shallow ones pepper his chest, but the worst remain on his forearms. Even the ones on his face match up. But there’s still one more place yet to see, and if the edges of the cuts on his sides and the back of his neck are any indication, then his back got the very worst of it. He gestures to Petra about what he wants to do and she immediately reaches up to help.
“Sorry, Odin, gotta take a peek though…” He mumbles and, with a grunt, the two carefully lift and turn him onto his stomach, taking care to keep his head in a respectable position—it’s the very least they could do. Once he’s repositioned, Jesse dares to take in the full scene. A small but horrified gasp is ripped from his throat. He loses his balance and hastily clutches at the grass to keep himself from fully dropping onto his back. Petra’s eyes widen and she jerks to reach out to him, just stopping short as he catches himself.
“Jesse?! You okay?”
Her words go in through one ear and out the other as he stares down at the morbidly familiar wounds streaking across the man’s back. Five razor sharp yet serrated lacerations streak across his back—lacerations in a size and shape that are uncannily familiar in more ways than one. But the most damning thing is what lies just a little ways up—that sixth cut above them all that lays deeply embedded in the back of his neck. A clean slice. Different from the others. Jesse can only hover his fingers over each of them in an awestruck horror as a stark memory from that Stronghold practically invades his vision with the dreadful feeling of deja-vu.
“ Oh shit…” Lukas gasps from beside him as Jesse reaches down and tugs at the ripped up old pack. It’s the same as the ones they found up in the workroom. More disturbingly, however, are the clean cuts that rip through it and the back of the woman’s neck. There are five razor sharp cuts hitting the pack—the top one taking the tagged area clean off—and then a sixth leaving a deep, clean, and deadly cut in the back of her neck. Anyone with half a brain could tell that this was the killing blow—the poor girl wouldn’t have stood a chance.
A renewed stinging at his own side brings him back to the present. He drags his shaky hand back to it, clutching his own hidden wounds tightly as that vile feeling burns the back of his throat once. He tries swallowing, only to have his throat come up completely dry.
“These… These were meant for me.” He mumbles out, a horrible dizziness overtaking him as his mind replays his own encounter with that enderman. It was dazed by Lukas—it wasn’t able to grab him like his father, nor was it even able to hit him how it wanted. A fluke or unbelievable luck—whatever it is, he got undeniably lucky. With a shuddering breath he blinks a few tears out of his eyes and cups a hand to his mouth as a newfound guilt wracks him. It’s practically a taunt.
This is all the confirmation he needs to know that whoever it was down there with them came home with them. And not only that, but that woman stuck down there died years ago. Yet it’s the exact same M.O. He could almost laugh if it didn’t make him want to cry. Another serial killer on their hands, and this one has been working efficiently for a long time. With how liberally they’re attacking his home, he and Lukas, and now Odin, he would be surprised to learn they hadn’t killed others. And with that thought, a rage reignites within him as he just stares down at the wounds through puffy eyes.
With a deep breath he snaps to catch Petra’s attention again and gestures once more and the pair make quick work of putting Odin back on his backside. Jesse reaches up once more and fixes his hair again. He lingers, lightly flicking away bits of mud caked on and settling in annoying crevices. How foolish. He’s been so foolish. He should’ve known—there had to have been a way for him to know. There had to be something he somehow missed, and yet nothing comes to mind. How are they going to tell his wife?
This is far from the first time he’s had to deal with death. Nor will it be the first time he’s delivered such solemn news to friends or family, but with everything else happening he just can hardly wrap his mind around it.
“Jesse, hey…” Petra starts, voice finally reaching him again. He blinks himself out of his stupor and looks up to find she’s shifted more to Odin’s side—directly opposite of Jesse—and is inspecting some of the wounds on his arms. Aiden and Maya hover over her, gazes just as scrutinizing. A deep scowl rests on Petra’s face and her gaze shifts to some of the cuts on his face before she lets out a disapproving hum.
“What? What is it?”
“O-Okay, um, first I just… I wanted to make sure you know that— that it’s obvious he didn’t go down without a fight.” She taps a little on the wounds on his forearms as she says this and while Jesse clenches his jaw, he nods. His chest is shockingly spotless with really only surface level hits, meanwhile his arms are totally battered—classic defensive wounds. She nods with him then sucks in a deep breath, “Second, I’m… I’m confused about a few of these hits.”
Jesse frowns, “In what way?”
“Well, they’re all Endermen scratches, right? Save for the um… The neck wound.”
“Yeah… They all look like it. They’ve even got the annoying bloating and irritation that comes with the scratch. Just like mine.”
“But that’s just the thing! Look at a few on his chest, face, and arms here—they have the same slashing pattern, but they’re utterly spotless! No infection, no irritation, nothing else that really screams ‘Enderman’ past the shape of the cuts themselves.”
“So… What? I don’t think an enderman cares to wash its hands in between hits.”
Petra rolls her eyes, “Jesse.”
“Sorry. I’m listening.”
“What I’m saying is that Endermen claws are literally laced with the irritant that makes even the tiniest cuts swell up and sting. Even when they’re tended to right away, that’s what makes them sting—like a cat’s scratch, y’know? So it’s bizarre that some of these cuts don’t even have that. They’re acting like a regular cut from a knife or something. What that means exactly? I dunno… But it’s weird.”
“... The medics here were saying that there were some things that seemed out of place. That’s probably what they were referring to.”
“Did they have any ideas?” Maya asks, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes. Jesse just sadly shakes his head and she utterly deflates, staring down at Odin sadly.
“… It’s weird though, isn’t it?” Aiden mumbles, arms crossed tightly over his middle. He gets a few confused looks—obviously it’s weird, they just said that. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, “I meant the fact that we’re here looking at him at all. Like you and your blonde friend said—he’s experienced and he’s well known. If they’re trying to keep a low-profile, this isn’t the way to do it.”
“It might’ve just been Wrong Place Wrong Time.” Petra adds, nodding down at him, “He was still keeping an eye out. Y’know, doing the job he had for years. He might’ve found something and it just…” She trails off, pressing her lips into a hard line, “Got messy.”
Jesse slowly nods, stomach sinking at her words. Knowing Odin, she was probably right on the money. It’s foreboding though, knowing that even he wasn’t able to make it out of whatever scrap he got caught up in.
Petra speaks quietly, voice barely above a whisper now, “... I don’t think we’re gonna find anything else here, Jesse. We should pack it up.”
“Yeah. I’m with you. Anyone got the time?”
Aiden clears his throat and nabs their attention before glancing down at his watch, “About 2:55 for ya.”
“Crap, okay, yeah, we gotta get him back home.” Jesse says and blows out a heavy sigh. Petra nods and, carefully, sets his arms back down in something comfortable.
“Did you need us to help with that?” Aiden asks and Jesse pauses to consider it for a second before shaking his head.
“No. Gil’s probably wondering where we’re at anyhow. You guys oughta get back to him and reassess what you’re doing next. Things just got a whole lot messier here.”
“Always do when you’re involved—it’s why we stuck around, Freckles. Noted though, we’ll just let your lot handle it. Probably cleaner that way with the paperwork—am I right?” He responds and Jesse just huffs out some pathetic semblance of a laugh. With that, Maya and Aiden move back and allow just Petra and Jesse to sit there for a minute and finish things up.
Jesse gets ready with the tarp again but waits as Petra seems to linger for a moment. A few more seconds can be spared at the very least. After a little bit, she sucks in a shaky breath and sits up, nodding to him once more. With that, Jesse gently covers the man again. Lastly, he gently rests his hand over the top of where his eyes would’ve been and takes one last moment to fit some respects in.
“Thanks for everything, Cap. I’ll see to it none of this was done in vain. You have my word.”
He pauses for a moment, allowing his words to sink in—almost in a hope that they’ll reach him somehow. Finally content, he pulls back completely and tears his eyes away from him and back to everyone gathered on the scene. Out of the corner of his eye a hand is offered out to him and he glances up to see Aiden standing at the ready. He nods his thanks and takes it with a solid clap, the man pulling him to his feet in one swift move. From there, he gets a reassuring pat on the back and they’re off once more.
As they move away from Odin, Christine finally approaches him—brown eyes big and watery. She exudes fear and nerves, something very rare to see on her. It just looks wrong. Jesse grimaces and just wordlessly holds out his arms a little. She nods a little and hurries over, swinging her arms around him in a brief but tight hug before stepping back and pressing the wrinkles out of her shirt.
“Firstly Jesse I just— I want to apologize.”
“Christine, no, you have nothing to—”
“But I do.” She quickly bites back, hand held over her heart as she sniffles, “I-I’m supposed to be taking up Odin’s role as Captain a-and—! I mean look at this place! The Treasure Hall was broken into, buildings are blowing up, you got attacked, and now Odin is—!” She chokes on her words with a grimace and defeated shake of her head. Jesse reaches out and gives her arms a tight squeeze.
“Christine, Odin personally selected you for this because he knows you’re not only capable of doing what he did but ready to do that and more. And back when he ran his thoughts by me, I was on board whole-heartedly. And I still am.” He reaches down and clasps both of her hands within his own, “This… This is something I brought home. If anyone is to take responsibility for everything that’s happened in these last few weeks, it’s me. I’m the one they want.”
Christine presses her lips into a tight line, but she doesn’t argue. She shakes their hands a little, meeting his gaze with a simmering fire in her eyes, “We’re gonna make this right.”
“We will. You have my word.”
With a shared determination, the pair unhook their hands to properly clasp them in a shake. It’s hearty, and Christine’s grip remains tight—much like his own. It’s a small thing in a situation that feels otherwise overbearing, but it’s reassuring. Not alone.
In the distance, Beacontown’s bells begin tolling to signal three o’clock—time to get a move on. Jesse steps back and raises his fingers to whistle and catch everyone’s attention. But a distant yet piercing crack and bang stops him short, the tremor rushing through the ground making him wobble on his feet. Confusion and panic quickly engulfs the scene but all Jesse can do is freeze as that horrible dread and deja-vu seeps deep into his bones. Wide eyes jerk back in his city’s direction only to watch helplessly as that black smoke billows back up into the sky from the very heart of it.
And, like a nightmare he can’t wake up from, Jesse just watches and listens as a second explosion snaps and sends another pillar of black smoke and fire shooting into the sky—the glowing flames adding a hellish glow to them like something out of a play. And then there’s a third. A fourth. A chorus he can’t even wrap his mind around sends shockwave after shockwave out.
Someone blows out a low whistle behind him and the voice that follows stuns him out of his stupor. Jed huffs, “Normally, I’d ask if that was your idea of remodeling. But, given the circumstances, I’d say you better hurry.”
Jesse can only look back at him in his stunned state. It’s not quite a glare but the intensity in it probably gets the same effect across. Radar hurries over and shakes him a little, forcing his mind back into reality whether he likes it or not.
“That’s coming from somewhere downtown—I hate leaving things here, but Jesse we have to move!” He urges and something clicks in his mind that sends a cold sweat trickling down his spine as he jerks his gaze back to the distant skyline.
“Oh don’t worry! They’re not big repairs. But, oh my god,” He rolls his eyes and slaps his clipboard against his leg, “I cannot focus in some of the other rooms!”
“Oh?”
“Yeah! The clocks’ speakers are on the fritz so instead of, y’know, making the alarms loud, their ticking is just incessant. It’s driving me up the wall.” He says with a loud groan. Jesse laughs a little at that. Slowly, he nods. Yeah. Yeah that’d definitely be annoying.
His body begins moving forward on its own as the realization sinks in.
“The Order Hall… Radar, that ticking wasn’t from broken clocks.”
~~~~~
The race into town on autopilot is chaotic. Nobody wastes their breath on trying to say anything—everything is put into just racing back as fast as they can. And it’s horrible inside the walls.
Blueish-black haze and dirt fills the air, getting thicker the deeper into town they get. Jesse’s frankly lost track of who’s even running with him anymore—hell he’s lost track of everything but the feeling of his feet slamming into the pavement carrying him closer. Panic is the only thing driving him as his pulse pounds in his ears, drowning out anything else. He slams into people trying to run away more than once, not stopping for a second as he does. All that’s in his head is getting to the Hall. He just has to get there.
Loose papers and fragments of stone and wood begin littering the streets the closer he gets, and the air begins choking him as he sucks in large breaths of it without a second thought. There’s no way to easily breathe through it and he suddenly staggers as he begins hacking from it all. The smoke burns his eyes and he slams an arm to shield his nose and mouth as he coughs into it. But he keeps going, forcing himself to keep his composure to keep going. He’s almost there. He just has to get there. He just has to keep going.
Before he knows it, he swings around a corner and makes it into the clearing with the Hall dead ahead. And it’s unreal. The heart of his city—a symbol of everything he and his team stands strongly for—sits billowing out black smoke and orange flames with its stones cracking and tumbling off into the water below. People scatter in the immediate square, frantic and screaming to get away or trying to find help. Eerily in the midst of it all though is Beacontown’s namesake that illuminates the area in a plethora of colors as the dust catches the light.
But it’s all dulled to him—just a part of the haze. He momentarily freezes again, unable to get his legs to move him from that spot, momentarily trapped watching in utter shock. It’s like something out of a dream—or he supposes it’s more of a nightmare he just can’t wake up from. His snap back to reality only comes as one of the quartz pillars of the building’s breezeway snaps under the pressure and collapses. More screams ring out as people scramble back and out from under the cover as that corner of the ceiling drops.
A shaky gasp is all that escapes him before he’s sprinting straight towards it. Olivia. Olivia’s in there. Ivor’s in there. Harper’s in there. His people are in there. He can’t be standing around. He has to move. He has to help. As long as his legs can carry him, he has to try.
“Jesse?!” A voice yells out. He doesn’t know who it is. He doesn’t care. But the next thing he knows, he’s yanked out of his desperate sprint by strong arms. With the sheer momentum he’s got, he’s practically swung through the air before dropping. And in a snap he’s stopped short of his one goal. The world is violently snapped back into something far clearer as his senses return to him and pain ripples through his chest.
“NO! LET ME GO!” He screams and thrashes in whoever’s grip he’s stuck in. He starts clawing at familiar arms, eyes locked only on the scene ahead of him, desperate to keep going.
“Dude, I’m sorry, but you’re still hurt, too! I’m not letting you run into that deathtrap!” Axel’s voice cuts through clearly now. Jesse tries anything he can, punching, kicking, and more thrashing—but he makes no ground. So he continues pleading.
“LET ME GO! OLIVIA! Olivia’s in there!” His screams quickly begin to devolve into cries as he just desperately points ahead. In a flash, more people rush past them, the first being Petra who dashes straight in without a second thought. On her tail is Christine and a few other Watchmen—a few others already coming out with people slung over their shoulders or in their arms.
“Maya! Gil! On me!” Aiden’s voice rings out next and he stalls just for a moment as he waits for his teammates. With them in tow, they rush in next. He briefly catches the man’s eyes but whatever he tries to communicate in that brief glance is lost on Jesse. Hell, he even watches Stella rush up into the dust and grime and help catch a few people just coming out and help them hobble away.
Jesse lets out a frustrated yell as he slams down on Axel’s arms, but it does nothing. Axel remains quiet and just opts to tug Jesse closer to him in a makeshift hug. All that’s left for him to do is just cry and continue his futile attempts at bartering with the man. He can’t be useless. He can’t just sit here. He can help—he has to help. He just has to.
“I’m not useless, Axel please!”
“Nobody said you were, Jesse! You think I don’t hate this?! But crap, neither of us are gonna get anywhere in there! It’s too cramped for me with all that rock and you can still barely lift yourself up!”
“That’s not true—just let me try!” Jesse bites through gritted teeth, chest aching. He can’t believe it. He just can’t. But if he’s not even strong enough to get out of Axel’s grip right now…? He just shakes his head and struggles more, not able to accept it.
“C’mon man, just stick with me here. I can’t have you rushing in there and dying on us…”
Finally, Jesse just crumbles and shakes his head through gritted teeth. This is too much. This is just too much.
It doesn’t take long for more people to come rushing out—hell there’s people he never saw go in coming out. Jack and Alex help a group out and send them rushing along before turning to hurry back inside. Lukas comes out with a kid wrapped in his jacket, the mother right behind him and clinging to his hand. Petra re-emerges alongside Bruce as they help someone barely managing to hobble on their good leg.
This is how it goes. People rushing in and out, in and out, for what feels like agonizing hours but could only be mere minutes as more fiery rock and debris rains down from the building around them, creating a constant cacophony of chaos. He scans the crowd in the haze desperately waiting for his friends with baited breath. Harper comes out first with Maya helping her—coughing and dusty but not horribly worse for wear.
There’s another shuddering as the building loses another set of supports and a new shocked chorus of yelling rings out with a renewed rush of people in and out. More strangers. So many strangers. But finally, finally, a familiar set of silhouettes pierce the haze and Jesse’s heart practically leaps up into his throat. He forces himself, and Axel in tow, back to their feet as Ivor and Olivia make their way out—Ivor practically holding the poor girl up on his own.
“Ivor! Olivia!” He cries out to them, voice hoarse. They snap out of their dazes at the sound, looking around a moment before they finally spot the pair. Olivia’s worry melts away into a bright smile and Ivor laughs triumphantly, some dust and soot falling out of his beard as he does. Despite the joy on them though, they look horrible. Ivor is covered in black grime and something else dark caked to his face and hands—could be mud, could be dried blood. And then there’s some fresh blood standing stark against his pale face as it trickles down from his forehead. His eyes hold a heavy tiredness in them. Olivia, though, is worse—one side of her with more cuts and burns than the other, like she was caught in some of the flames when it happened. But she’s on her feet and she’s moving. And she’s alive, her eyes even twinkling at the sight of them.
They do their best to hurry his way as Jesse swings back to look at Axel for the first time all day. The man hesitates a moment, seeming to consider what Jesse will do. It takes a moment far too long in his opinion, but he eventually does just huff with a smile and lets go, giving him a pat on the back. Jesse nearly drops without the support, not realizing how numb his legs were until he has to stand on them on his own. That doesn’t stop him though. Without a thought, he shoves himself off the cobblestone and races over to the pair, Axel right behind him.
He crashes into Olivia first, trapping her in a bear hug. She can only laugh through her wince as she stumbles back before returning the gesture, sniffling a little as she buries her face into his shoulder. Axel quickly swings around and joins them, holding his two friends in a tight bear hug for a long minute that the three just melt into. Jesse feels like he hangs onto them forever yet hardly a second at all. But at some point he just gasps, pulls back in a flash, and yanks Ivor over for the same treatment. The older man is certainly startled by the sudden yank but happily accepts it, patting him on the back.
“We’re quite alright, Jesse! Shaken, certainly, but—heh! They’ll have to try far harder than that to be rid of us!” He says heartily with a more solid clap on the back. Jesse can only laugh, but hiccups through it. Still, it gets a smile out of him. As frantic as he remains, with them here and the others still moving at a good pace, he has ground to actually begin getting his wits about him again. He turns his gaze back to the Hall and Olivia follows his gaze as a few more of their friends and allies make their way out.
“W-We were some of the last ones! We were trying to help guide people out from the inside. There shouldn’t be anybody left.” Olivia adds, giving him a reassuring squeeze that snaps his gaze back to her. All he can manage is just to nod and hug her again. She chuckles a little and pats him on the back as well, “I’m glad you’re safe, too.”
“I’m— I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. We— I was out and—” He struggles to form anything really coherent and just gets a sympathetic look from Ivor.
“We are simply glad to see you here now!” He pauses though, a much more serious look washing over him as the building begins rumbling again and Jesse, Axel, and Olivia shoot it fearful looks. Ivor scowls and wraps his arms around the both of them, urging them away, while Axel begins hovering over them as more of a shield, “We shouldn’t be so close. The damage dealt to its foundations are—”
“GET BACK!” Petra’s voice rings out as she and her sister rush out of the collapsing breezeway one last time, Alex waving people back as she goes. Another column crackles as its breakage spreads and pieces begin to crumble. First small bits, then a chunk at its base practically shatters under the weight of it all. As the column twists unnaturally and begins to collapse, it slams hard into its neighbor, knocking it off-balance with an explosion of quartz dust and debris.
It’s just like a house of cards from there.
The crashing of stone into stone is deafening, only worsened by the smoldering chunks from the fire that slam into the water and emit a horrible high-pitched hissing. The breezeway completely drops in a snap and wave of dust, blinding everyone in the area and leaving no way to see the damage—only hear it. Squealing and snapping of steel pierces the air throughout the thunderous collapse already ensuing, making Jesse’s stomach churn at the mere thought of what they’ll see when the wind stalls and the dust finally settles.
Through the blinding haze, they manage to at least make their way back to the Beacon and its fountain. Their surroundings flash a different color every few seconds as the Beacon continues shuffling through its routine like normal. Blue, then red, then green, then yellow, then white once again and repeat. It’s disorienting and eerie at the very best as that red light especially illuminates what they can make out of their surroundings. Jesse briefly considers using the water of the fountain to wash off his face until he sees the sludge it’s become. Dirty and contaminated, becoming more like the texture of wet concrete than water as more falls from the sky.
His eyes burn and his throat even moreso, not to mention the heat of it all. The others don’t fare any better and they end up just huddling down behind the Beacon and just attempt to ride out the rest of the collapse with their heads down. At some point throughout it all, a few others manage to find and rejoin them—Petra, Harper, and Alex.
He couldn’t say how much time actually passed—they could’ve been sitting there for seconds or for hours and it would’ve felt the same. But finally, it’s quiet enough that Jesse hears his own haggard breathing again. In fact, he hears the same from the others. Slowly, he blinks his eyes open, dust and grime caked to his eyelids peeling off or falling off into his eyes. He raises his hands in a futile attempt at wiping some of it away only to find his hands just as coated. Hastily brushing them off on his pants to the best he can, he manages to clear his eyes and slowly blink his vision back to some semblance of clarity. From there, he slowly rises up to his feet and begins taking in his surroundings as more dust and debris fall off of him and thud against the ground as they drop.
A hollow feeling settles deep in his chest as he takes a long look around. For once, the bustling town is practically silent. Eerily so. Only broken by the flitting of papers in the wind or the distant cries and coughing of his people. He’s certain some fire has to still be crackling away somewhere, but the deafening roar that plagued his ears before is gone. The heavy haze all around still lingers enough that it’s hard to tell people from the rocks and debris. It’s alien. Entirely out of this world. He knows exactly the spot where he’s standing—he’s stood there a thousand times before—and yet his mind refuses to recognize even a smidge of it.
And then he turns to look out at the Order Hall—the heart and spirit of the city.
And all that sits in its place is a smoldering pile of rubble and melted steel. A few walls barely poke up a few feet, but the roof completely fell in on itself. For the first time since he was twenty, he can see the landscape out across the water from the Beacon without the Hall. The water doesn’t even look like itself—contaminated and practically black from all the dirt and ash that still falls from the sky, blocking out the sun above them.
Small.
That’s the only way he can describe how he feels anymore.
Small. Like a lost child somewhere far from home.
Chapter 41: Aimless Chaos
Summary:
Lukas and Ivor try to get a grasp on what's going on and catch up with Jesse while Jesse just focuses on keeping himself from spinning out before comprehending what to do next. He manages to get some encouragement from the unexpected.
Notes:
HI. IT'S FEBRUARY. OOPS. HAPPY LATE VALENTINE'S, NEW YEAR, AND CHRISTMAS 😭💖!
Like I said before I need to stop being like "I'm back fr this time guys I've got this!" because then somethang always happens and whell. Glad to finally get the ball rolling again here tho!! I really like a lot of bits from this chapter and the ending scene is one I've had roughly drafted/vibed out for about 3 years now, so part of the wait was my own perfectionism kicking in to make sure I was as happy with it as I could be!It's not perfect, but I think it's good for what it is and I can handle that--I can always refine a bit more later on like I've retroactively done with other parts of the fic, but the message will remain the same :] That said, despite my own nerves about a few parts here, I think it's at a place that's good! And I hope it's an enjoyable read!
Sorry for the wait--thank you all for your patience with me!!! 💖
Chapter Text
Dust and smoke burns deeply within his lungs. Lukas raises a near frantic arm to his face again, brows knitted tightly as he hacks and coughs. A wary hand hovers over his back, not quite sure if they wanna touch him or not. Eventually though it makes contact, giving him a few hearty pats before gently rubbing it a little. Lukas shifts his gaze to see it’s Maya. Nerves shine clearly in her eyes in the brief moment he meets them before she pulls back and averts them fully—but even so, in that little glimpse, the worry coating them is what stood out most. Awkwardly, he reaches over and pats her on the arm—a silent reassurance. The corners of her mouth briefly twitch into a smile.
“Everybody in one piece?” Someone asks before shifting to coughing much like Lukas has been—Aiden. Behind him, Maya just nods and Gil lets out a shaky ‘yeah’ at best. Aiden nods before those green eyes shift to Lukas expectantly. He takes a long moment to consider him before just silently nodding. He’s definitely bruised and bleeding in a few places from the flying debris, but frankly that’s the very least of his concerns.
Rising up on shaky legs, Lukas lets out a grunt and blinks his stinging eyes free of the tears to get a proper look around them. He knows what he’s seeing in front of him—of course he does—but even as he shuffles over a rubble pile that acted as a pathetic little cover for them, it doesn’t feel real.
Turning away from the group again, his eyes scan the bleak horizon where the smoky haze is still hanging heavy in the air and obscuring anything past the main square nearly completely. Glancing upwards, the sun still struggles to fight through the ash, leaving the area bathed in eerie grey light. Well, save for the flashing of the Beacon. Still shining bright and cycling through its rainbow. But as he glances over that iconic little structure, a set of people catch his eye and the gasp he lets out gets almost immediately caught in his throat. He knows that little group—and if the way a few others are joining them, it looks like they’ve got everyone accounted for. As the others get to their feet behind him, Lukas hobbles the rest of the way over the rubble and back onto flat ground. Once there, he races over to the group without a second thought, the other three right behind him.
Petra sees him first and lights up, “Lukas! Oh man, is it good to see you!”
He slows to a complete stop and just sort of hastily nods, going right into a headcount of the people in front of him—Nurm, Jack, Bruce, Petra, Alex, Radar, Stella, Ivor, Olvia, Axel, and… and? He counts again with a frown then steps back and glances around. Coming to his stop at his side, Aiden looks at him curiously then glances back at the group and seemingly does the same as he did before frowning. Lukas keeps his head on a swivel as he glances around still.
“I-It’s great to see you guys, too! I’m glad you’re okay! Where um—… Where’s Jesse?”
Axel lets out a gruff scoff only to get elbowed in the side by Petra in a snap. He mumbles out an ‘ow’ but begins glancing around in confusion with the others. Aiden huffs.
“He was just here! We ran in with him—not to mention saw him with you guys.”
Olivia, despite looking utterly haggard and exhausted, loudly clears her throat and catches their attention. She meets Lukas in the eye with a horribly sad and tired expression, hair sticking to her face in a mix of sweat and blood. Pointing off behind her and towards the site of what used to be the Hall, she nods.
“He went off towards the Hall. Wanted a closer look, I think…”
Lukas frowns as his gaze snaps off to that awful view, his stomach churning just looking at the debris. Small smoldering flames still lick away at the fringes and remnant walls desperately struggle to remain upright. He has no doubt that a strong enough wind could even push them down at this rate. Before him however, even in the midst of Ivor attempting to patch her up and prodding all of her burns and wounds, Olivia narrows her eyes. It’s a deeply scrutinizing look that he’s received from her many times before, but this one feels much heavier.
“You’re not gonna go try talking to him now, are you…?”
“Look, I know— I know things are—“ Lukas chokes on his words, the stress rising in a snap like bile in his throat. He raises his hands up to run them through his hair once and grip at it before defeatedly dropping them to his sides once more. He just shakes his head, “Olivia, I have to know he’s okay. I just— I need to see him…”
She looks him over for a long minute, gaze softer now but still worried. But finally, it eases up completely and she just nods, blowing out a heavy sigh.
“… Okay. Just— One thing at a time, okay? He’s scared, Lukas. It’s— It’s been a while since I’ve seen that sort of panic on him to say the very least.”
“I-I know.” He quickly stammers out. Hasn’t been as long on his end. Their little Stronghold escapade made sure of that. Brief memories of that ordeal and the man in question flash through his head, leaving his chest aching. He really does just have to find him. Now.
“Lukas!” Ivor announces, stopping him short of taking off. The older man finishes up a bandage on Olivia then stands, dusting off his clothes as he goes. It isn’t the cleanest patch-up job for her, but certainly the best that can be done for the moment. With a smile and nod, Ivor rests a hand down on his shoulder, “I shall accompany you. It… May help ease a bit of the tension this way.”
Lukas hesitates a moment, partially wanting just a moment where he could hang onto Jesse just for himself, but quickly brushes that away. He’ll probably appreciate this far more.
“That’s fine. Let’s go.”
Ivor simply nods and follows after Lukas as he pulls away from the group. He doesn’t mean to speed up so much so fast, but he can’t help it. He goes from a quick walk into a run before he knows it. Hurdling over the rubble piles and downed quartz columns is second nature to him by now—agile as a cat like always. Before he knows it he’s passing the threshold of what would’ve been the Hall’s large entrance, Ivor trailing a bit behind him now. If he had his wits about him he’d stop and allow the man the time to catch up, but saying his thoughts feel scattered right now would be an understatement.
He does indeed slow down though, albeit for a less chivalrous reason. As he passes into what was once the open foyer of the building, his heart sinks deep into his chest. He slows to a snail’s pace as all he can do is look around helplessly at the scattered remains of a place he’s spent the better part of six years going in and out of at least weekly if not daily at some points. Reduced to nothing but dust and rubble. As he ghosts further inside, feet guiding him towards the Treasure Hall all on their own, the wind unnaturally bats at his hair and sends a chill up his spine.
All that’s left to recognize of the Treasure Hall at an initial glance is the heavy doors. Amongst the collapsed walls and roofing leaving the rest of the building open, they stand strong—still sparking with some semblance of power clinging on. Lukas can only huff and shake his head as he awkwardly clambers around them and into the area that once hosted the hall.
Jesse’s not here. That’s the first thing he notes. As he walks further into the open floor, he begins shifting and scanning the now open horizon. He hasn’t seen Jesse at all so far. Not many walls remain still standing to easily shield anyone, though there’s enough that it leaves room for doubt. If he expected to see him anywhere around the wreckage though then it’d be here. He simply frowns before taking in the sights.
A few busted and dented pedestals remain standing and poke up through the wreckage of the collapsed roof and chandelier. Shattered pieces of stained glass litter the area, occasionally catching the filtered light that shines through. Beneath chunks of stone and dust, Lukas can occasionally make out that once bright red carpet that laced the center of the room. In the distance, the armor storage Olivia worked so hard to create sparks with some capsules sticking up and the armor partially rolled out. Others are completely buried by debris. Lastly, murky water seeps in from cracks in the foundations and through the edges, swept further inside by the river currents still struggling to push forward into Beacontown’s delta.
Walking further, Lukas’ foot crunches something and his heart shoots into his throat. Quickly pulling back, he blinks down to see just what he stepped on. Just the sight leaves his stomach sinking and him grimacing. Carefully, he reaches down and picks the little crown up and inspects it with a careful eye. It’s dirty and dented in spots and missing a little jewel here and there now. Wordlessly, Lukas finds a little bit of water and dunks the crown in, then brings it up and uses his shirt to clean it. Or at least clean it as much as he can—with all the dust coating him, too, it’s kinda shoddy work. Still, some of that brilliant gold begins shimmering once again. A bitter smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.
The feeling of a hand on his shoulder makes Lukas jump. He jerks his head around only to meet Ivor in the eyes, the man sharing the bittersweet expression he was just sporting. He relaxes at the sight, eyes dropping as he just wordlessly nods. There’s really not much to say. In response, Ivor merely gives his shoulder a squeeze then offers something out, clasped in his bony hand. Opening it, the oh-so familiar glow of their favorite little trouble-making flint and steel shimmers a brillant blue despite the grime. Lukas can’t help the odd little laugh that escapes him and Ivor matches it. It’s good to see though—maybe there would be hope for the other items they’d left in here. Ivor pockets it not long after and offers his hand out for the crown and Lukas gladly passes it to him for safe-keeping.
With that tackled though, they still have a problem on their hands.
“I have not seen Jesse yet…” Ivor says with a heavy sigh. Lukas frowns and shoves his hands in his pockets as he nods and takes another look around.
“Me neither. Not yet, anyways. There’s still a lot of ground to cover here—I’m gonna get back to it.” He says, short and simple. Ivor takes a long moment to seemingly consider that, eyes heavy, before simply nodding and patting Lukas on the back.
“You’re right. No use standing around lamenting things we cannot change. We’d best find him, as I’m certain he’s stuck doing the same.”
“Yeah…” Lukas mumbles, not really gracing him with even a look past that, just pushing off and getting back to it.
He climbs back around to what were once the Hall’s grand hallways and stops briefly—deciding which way to tackle next. He decides to take off towards the entrance to some of the lower-levels, admittedly curious to see what’s collapsed down and what’s still standing strong.
Familiar whooshing and off-puttingly ethereal sounds answers one of those questions before he even sets his sights on the room. Turning a corner and carefully skirting along the edge of the collapsed basement, Lukas catches sight of the remnants of the room that hosted the Hall’s Nether portal.
The iron and steel of the walls bend in odd ways—almost like a collapsed soda can—but they remain upright. A few stray sea lanterns here and there remain lit, albeit flickering. The roof—and what was once the ground level’s library floor—has completely collapsed in with some stray water not far behind. But not enough. Not enough to disrupt that ever-sturdy obsidian. It stands tall in the midst of it all. Unbothered. Unaffected—Hell, it doesn’t even seem chipped.
It gets a smile out of him. More than he’d anticipated. And within it, that gorgeous purple portal still swirls with its magical particles still fluttering through the air. His gaze slips downwards, taking in the floor around the portal. Call it luck, or whatever it is, but the debris that’s piled up has managed to keep the area around the base of the portal relatively free of water—protecting that sensitive purple portal like a final guard. Though something else catches his eye that leaves him squinting. He steps back and blows out a sharp whistle, catching the attention of Ivor’s distant form.
“Got something you might wanna see!” He calls out, hurriedly waving the man over. Ivor gets a move on right away and Lukas merely stares back down at the portal in the meantime. His fingers drum as he rests his hands on his hips. Ivor finally catches up, breath a little haggard but in control.
“Now what is it that you wanted me to— Oh!” His brows shoot up at the sight of the Nether Portal. A crooked grin quickly cracks his otherwise somber deameanour and he laughs, “It’s been quite some years since a Nether Portal has been such a joy to see! Making me feel younger by the minute—I might as well be back in Gabriel’s Keep after Endercon.” He hums with a little chuckle. Despite the morbidity, it manages to get a chuckle out of Lukas—especially as Ivor nudges him with an elbow. What else is there to do?
“While I’m thrilled to see it too, that’s not exactly what I meant.” Lukas steps up to Ivor’s side and points down at the floor near the portal, guiding his gaze. In the midst of the mess a few fresh and muddy boot-prints stand starkly against the otherwise bright floors. The light mood falters a little there, but only a smidge. Ivor’s expression falls slightly and he just lets out a long and knowing hum. Lukas steps back as the man straightens again and thoughtfully twists at his beard.
“Well… It seems we’ve figured out just where our favorite troublemaker has gone. I can only imagine what must be going through his head…” Ivor sighs and Lukas just nods quietly and begins hopping down the chunks of stone and metal to get to the portal. Ivor blusters, “Wh—?! Where are you going?”
Lukas pauses a moment to glance back up at him, “My guess? He’s going to talk to his uncle. That’s the only thing that dimension has for him right now. As for what he’s gonna say to him?” Lukas hesitates and just shrugs helplessly, “God only knows. He might confront him. He might just need someplace quiet and someone out of the loop to talk to. Either way, I’m going after him.”
“... While I highly suspect the same of Jesse right now, as you said, we haven’t the foggiest idea of what for.” Ivor frowns, “You don’t even have a sword to your name right now, Blondie. To waltz in as you are would be—”
Lukas can’t help but bark out a laugh. It cuts the man off and he earns a glare for it but he can’t find it in himself to worry about it. He twists around on his little perch and flings his arms wide.
“Ivor, honestly, whatever happens at this point may as well just happen. Whatever I run into there is— it’s miniscule compared to—“ he loses his words, just opting to look around again before deflating and just dropping his hands at his sides. “‘Sides. Jesse’s in there in the same state right now. Two heads are better than one and the sooner I get there the better.”
“… I’ll be going with you then! I worry about that uncle of his, still.” He grumbles with a scoff. That’s right—there’s still the entire issue of his stolen End items.
Ideally, they’ll be killing two birds with one stone with this visit—perhaps Jesse’s thinking the same thing. If he’s thinking at all, anyways. He doesn’t forget Olivia mentioning how overwhelmed he seemed, and seeing him in that state for himself? It leaves him worried. He’s an amazingly capable man—he knows this incredibly well—but if he’s stumbling around in a daze, he simply can’t help but worry. All the more reason to get moving.
Ivor’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts once more, “Before we go on though, I think it’d be best to at least inform the others and not disappear without a trace, yes?”
“… Yeah, they should probably know the plan.”
“I don’t like the sound of your hesitation, Lukas.”
He sighs, cheeks burning a little as he’s so easily read, “Ivor, you’re going to have to be the one to tell them. I’m gonna go ahead after Jesse—I have no doubt that you’ll be able to catch up to me in no time flat. The longer it takes for us to get in there, the longer Jesse’s alone and the more of a chance there is for something to go wrong. So please just—“ He holds his hands up, sighing in frustration, “Let me do this? Okay?”
Ivor scowls and considers him for a minute far too long for his liking. Finally though, the man seems to cave, though not without the horribly exasperated dramatics. As he begins very vocally grumbling to himself, he also digs for something within his cloak. Finally, he pulls out a decent sized dagger and tosses it to him. Lukas nearly jumps but manages to snag it without trouble. It’s a simple but strong dagger—fine silver adorned with gold and with a blue gem set deep within it. It’s quite lovely, actually. Nodding to himself, Lukas stashes it in a belt loop then glances back up at the older man only to see him jabbing an accusatory finger at him.
“You two must stop rubbing off on each other like this! My hair will go white within another year at the rate things are going!”
Lukas chuckles, a fond smile pulling at his lips as he does, “Thank you, Ivor. We’ll see you soon, alright? Then we can get this… disaster straightened out.”
“Feh!” Ivor simply waves him off at that point. Lukas just chuckles again, too familiar with how Ivor works to be bothered. So with that, he turns around and continues clambering down towards the portal. He sees a few more boot prints as he does and dares to follow them—trusting Jesse’s path down to be safe enough. Hitting solid ground is refreshing compared to all the shaky rock and gravel.
As he stands before the portal he takes another breath to steady his nerves. With a brief glance behind him, he’s surprised to see Ivor still there, arms crossed tightly over his chest. He just smiles up at the man and gives a brief wave and nod. Pleasantly, Ivor returns the gesture. That in itself leaves him feeling safer somehow—things’ll be fine. He’s just gotta get moving. So with that, he leaps through that familiar old portal.
For once? The heat of the Nether isn’t all too different from what he felt on the surface. It leaves an awful dread in his stomach, but he’ll have time to dwell on it later once Jesse’s home. What an utter mess.
Moving into the familiar hub, it doesn’t take long for Lukas to spy one cart missing from the others. A bitter smile graces him and he just sighs. Just as he suspected. He doesn’t waste any time making his way over to them and pushing one onto the line for himself. He grits his teeth a little at the heavy thing but manages to get it rolling well-enough and hops in without a hitch. It’s slow and clunky at first, but once he hits that first batch of redstone power, he’s off to the races.
The wind’s still hot against his face, but the sweltering heat and the smoke that hangs in the air here is far different than the stuff he was hacking up back home. Thinner. More like the type that’d come with a campfire in an odd sort of way. Regardless though, it still feels much easier to breathe in here which is saying something. He shakes his hair out a little with that thought only for some more dust and particles to fall out and into the cart beneath him. He dreads seeing what he must look like in a mirror.
The ride out to the Fortress feels both shorter and longer this time around. Relaxing still with the wind and steady rumble down the line, yet it still feels like an agonizing slog to get through. He laments more than once his decision to go ahead and not wait for Ivor for a plethora of reasons, but he’d be lying if he said having someone to chat with wasn’t one of them. Then his nerves begin to really prick at him as the structure comes into view around the bend. What if he is walking into some kind of confrontation? Or hell, what if he’s wrong? What if he’s wasting his time? Or what if Jesse is still upset enough that seeing him just has him backing out altogether? It’s not like he’s gotten the chance to actually see him since… Well. Long enough to make him nervous.
But one step at a time. He’ll cross those bridges when he gets to them. For now? The cart pulls into its destination with a slam just as it did before. Lukas grits his teeth as he’s jerked forward in his seat, the metallic clanging of the cart echoing through the room and likely up into the structure. He sits there for a moment with his head in his hands and just letting his poor stomach settle—truly, why couldn’t Ellegaard design one normal minecart line?
Once the nausea finally subsides, he clambers his way out of the cart. He stumbles more than he cares to admit. He certainly doesn’t feel his best to begin with, but this probably didn’t do him any favors. Still, he has to keep moving forward, so he steels himself and does his best to shake it off and not look down through the ever-dizzying glass floor this room sports. As for the state of the fortress? It’s quiet, which is a better sign now than it was the first time. No fight to be found here, at least not yet. He takes the chance to glance around and finds everything to be, well, pretty much the exact same as when they left it. Dusty, but not horribly messy. It’s odd only seeing his one minecart though rather than having a whole group with him, it leaves a weird pit in his stomach. It’s… Lonely out here. A brief pang of sympathy surprises him for Hiro—Romeo only showed up relatively recently. A place this large just feels unhealthy to be in all by oneself.
He blinks, mind screeching to a halt. He backs up a few thoughts and shoots the minecart line a harsher look. One minecart. His minecart. Jesse should be here, right? So then where did his cart disappear to? He begins looking around in more confusion however that line of thought doesn’t get very far before a pair of heels echoing down the stairs and another voice forces him along.
“Lukas?” That horribly familiar and grating voice asks. He glances back and meets a pair of confused and rather perturbed gold eyes. Romeo bounces off the last steps of the stairs down and strides over to him—probably a tad more confidently than he should be. Though it only seems to pass his mind once Lukas meets him with a scowl and the man awkwardly stutters to a stop a few paces away. The only way Lukas can truly describe interacting and seeing the man again so soon after everything he put them through is… Well, awkward. Tense still, certainly, but Jesse’s uncle taking pity on the man has thrown a wrench into things that he isn’t quite sure how to navigate yet. But at the moment? He can hold his tongue. Somehow, Romeo has become one of the last problems on his mind.
Before him, the man scans him up and down with a look of bewilderment. He can’t say he’s entirely surprised—he isn’t exactly dressed to impress and probably still just looks like hell. Ironic given where he is. Eventually Romeo just sort of grimaces, eyes glancing upwards.
“You’ve um… You’ve got this uhh…” He mumbles. Lukas just silently quirks a brow at him. Sucking in a breath, Romeo just reaches up and dusts his hair a bit, leading to some dried clay and a solid plume of dust falling out. Lukas shuts his eyes tight and just rests his hands on his hips as he sucks in a measured breath.
“Romeo.”
“Uh— Yeah?”
“Do not. Touch. My hair.”
“Ah— Right. Apologies, Lukas.” He responds quickly, stepping back fully as he clears his throat. He dusts his gloved hands off on his pants as he does and he has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Rather bravely, if he’s being honest, Romeo sucks in another breath and speaks once more, “Well, I’m certainly aware that you didn’t make the journey out here to see me. I’ll fetch Hiro, yeah?”
“Fine, but I also need—”
Before he gets much else out, another set of rushing steps hurry down the stairs. In a flash Hiro joins the group on the floor, eyes wide and jittery energy more than noticeable. When he meets Lukas in the eyes though, some of that energy dies down only for it to quickly turn into confusion—something that makes his stomach churn.
“Lukas? What— What on Earth?”
“Hey there, Hiro.” Lukas mumbles with a shrug, unsure of what else to really say yet. Hiro approaches the two and passes Romeo with a brief touch on the shoulder before taking full stock of Lukas. His face is etched in worry and he sees his eyes widen and narrow a dozen small times before he just shakes his head and raises his hands to Lukas’ face and begins inspecting him.
“My god! What the hell happened to you? You’re bleeding, even! Or were… God look at all this crap caked on you…” He grumbles, flaking away some dried blood from his temple. As he does a sharp pain shoots through his head and Lukas noticeably grimaces. Hiro’s grip immediately eases and he shifts to just hovering around his shoulders, but his expression turns stern. Lukas raises a hand to wave him off.
“It’s— It’s fine, really, I’ve just been bumped around a lot lately. Look, I'm just here for Jesse right now. Please.”
Confusion returns to Hiro and he briefly glances back at Romeo as if for confirmation, only to get his own helpless shrug in return. Dread pools in his stomach again—he had to have come through here, right? Where else could the man have disappeared to? Lukas swallows down the doubt and just nods assuredly.
“He went through the portal and came this way. He’s here, right?”
Romeo and Hiro share one more unsure look before Hiro turns that stern gaze back to Lukas and shakes his head. He just feels his heart sink. Had he been anywhere else, he’d daresay he might have a cold sweat come on. Where else could he have gone?
“Lukas, I haven’t seen Jesse since we went and explored that cave site together weeks ago. Frankly, I was starting to get worried myself.”
“‘Starting’.” Romeo repeats with a scoff and a laugh. Hiro scowls back at him but the man doesn’t even flinch, just waves him off. Shaking his head a little, Hiro turns back to Lukas and softens yet again.
“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. I’m sorry, that obviously isn’t the news you were wanting to hear.”
Lukas’ head spins with confusion as he just stands there mystified, “I don’t— But that— Where would he have—?” He stops short and just crosses his arms tightly over his chest. A gentle hand rests on his shoulder and he looks up to meet Hiro in the eyes once more. Bright as ever, but this close he could almost make out the faintest of irises—barely hanging onto a tinge of blue anymore amidst the blinding white light.
“Lukas, catch us up here—What happened? What made him run off? Maybe I could help.”
He instinctively backs up a little, his mind rushing through a million things he needs to ask and say first and foremost before his mind utterly shuts down on him. Sensing the man’s tension, Hiro doesn’t push his luck and gives him some extra space. He’s in for a surprise though at the next words out of Lukas’ mouth.
“Where’s the dragon egg?”
Hiro blinks. He pauses, replying tentatively, “I— Pardon?”
“And the End Crystals. Where are they?” Lukas asks again, before turning to Hiro and apparently answering his own question. “You have them.”
He says it with such conviction, like it’s the only obvious solution here. It trips Hiro up for a moment and he seemingly needs a second to process his words just to begin.
“The dragon egg…? Why would I have the dragon egg?” Hiro mumbles slowly with a frown. Lukas’ throat runs dry at that and the breath is damn near ripped from his lungs.
“Wh—? What do you mean?” He could almost laugh if he weren’t so stressed, “You’re the only one who— W-With the Order Hall built the way it is— was—”
Hiro just slowly shakes his head in complete and utter confusion, “I have no use for those things. Besides, they’re Jesse’s now. I wouldn’t just up and steal them.” He nervously crosses his own arms over his chest and shrugs, “Even if I wanted to for whatever reason, I’m already on his shit list—wouldn’t exactly be a good move on my part.”
The rest of whatever steam Lukas was running on to get through this crazy day crashes right there. Hell, even looking at Romeo, the man just helplessly shakes his head. Seems Hiro is telling the truth, for better or for worse. Well, for worse. Decidedly for the worst. He can’t muster anything else and goes silent, his blood freezing in his veins. It must be obvious if the way the two men suddenly tense is any means to go by. Whatever worry was already enveloping Hiro only gets amplified as Lukas’ gaze drops from either of theirs.
“Woah! Easy there. Sit down or something. You wanna sit?” He mumbles out the last bit as that comforting hand comes to rest on his back again and he begins looking around. Lukas hears Romeo mumble something and Hiro agrees. He just idly nods, feeling too suddenly overwhelmed with it all—perhaps similar to whatever daze Jesse’s in. He just allows his feet to take him wherever for the moment, and sitting down somewhere sounds perfect. With that, Hiro guides him up those stairs and away from the dizzying glass floors of that entrance room. Before he knows it they’re in a notably more plain room—at least for this place’s standards.
Lukas practically collapses onto the seat he’s guided to, head dropping into his hands. Hiro shifts around to his side at that, his tone different than what he’s used to from the man—stern yet soft with concern.
“Are you alright?”
Lukas just huffs, dropping his hands and unable to wrap his mind around the words he needs. Hiro frowns at that and crouches down, forcing himself into Lukas’ line of sight.
“Lukas? Lukas, hey, talk to me here. What’s going on? What happened?”
“I—” He chokes, almost laughing. All he can muster is to just shake his head, his eyes stinging as he raises his hands up to scrub at them. Eventually his hands drop back to his sides and he just looks aimlessly upwards, “Where do I even begin? There’s so much. So much has happened a-and it’s been so— It’s been awful. But today there was an explosion a-at the Hall and Jesse’s been so freaked out and—”
“Okay, okay, let’s—” Hiro interrupts him, stopping Lukas short of turning into a quick-lipped mess, “Just— Breathe first and then go one step at a time, alright?” He mumbles out, quickly shifting to take a seat at his side. Lukas blows out a sigh of frustration and shakes his head.
“Hiro I— I don’t know where Jesse is if he’s not here.” He urges, trying to get his point across in whatever frazzled way he can. As he opens his mouth to continue however a loud metallic thudding echoes through the fortress. All three men shoot their gazes off towards it before glancing back at each other in a curious silence. Romeo breaks it.
“That was more minecarts… Were you with a group?’
Blinking a moment, Lukas nods, “Yeah… Ivor was gonna follow me. He shouldn’t have been that far behind.”
Romeo nods and clears his throat, “Okay. Hiro, you can stay here and I’ll guide the others this way. Just— Focus on getting this sorted.” He mumbles with an awkward wave of his hand. Lukas shoots him a glare and Romeo just holds his hands up innocently. Hiro nods however and gives him the signal to head out. The man quickly turns on heel and darts out of the room, probably happy to be out of Lukas’ presence. With the silence returning to the room, Hiro sucks in a steadying breath and speaks calmly—a stark change from the anxiety Lukas knows is still riddling the man.
“Alright… Let’s figure this out. What has my nephew gone and gotten himself into this time?”
—
Romeo rushes back down the steps, taking a leap off the last two and just in time to meet the two people getting out of the remaining minecarts. A familiar pair for him. He whistles and catches the attention of both Ivor and Petra, though not without receiving some scowls from them both. He holds his hands up, matching their stern expressions with one of his own.
“Easy now, I’m just here to play chaperone. But I can tell you up front that we don’t have Jesse nor any of his missing End relics if that’s what you’ve come to interrogate us over.” He huffs and, thankfully, that seems to loosen up the atmosphere almost immediately. Both Ivor and Petra recoil in some form of shock. He tries to ignore the odd pit in his own stomach, but as Petra lets out a string of curses and looks right back to the minecarts, he can’t help but remain unnerved.
“Ivor, I know we just got here, but if Jesse isn’t here—” She starts and Ivor just turns to her and nods with a hand on her shoulder.
“Hurry back. I shall assist Lukas here with Hiro. I’m sure that man is bound to have a billion questions of his own now…”
“He’s not the only one.” Romeo huffs, earning two derisive looks but he doesn’t let them faze him this time. “Lukas is a wreck of a man right now—practically incoherent. Someone give me the long and the short of it, would you?”
Petra glares at him with a huff, “Oh, and you think you deserve that?”
He matches her energy with his own, “It’s not about what I deserve, but I’m the one who’s gonna be dealing with Hiro here in the meantime once you lot return topside. I’d like to be on the same page or better informed before he starts clamming up on me too. It’s a right pain in the ass.”
Petra scoffs at that but Ivor seems to consider him for a long minute, scanning him up and down. Finally he sucks in a deep breath and nods.
“Fine.”
“Wh—?! Ivor!” Petra hisses but the older man just holds a hand up to her.
“Allow me to deal with this. You should get a headstart back to the others.”
Petra scoffs at that but doesn’t immediately retort. She just glances between Ivor and Romeo for a long moment before finally sighing and relenting. She resheathes her sword and moves back to the carts, but not without pointing an accusatory finger at Romeo.
“Alright, but if you try anything with ANY of them, it’ll be me you gotta deal with!”
“Fair deal. Safe travels, Petra!” Romeo hums and waves in return. She merely sticks her tongue out at him and flips him off. With that, she pushes off and heads back off towards home. With that, Ivor heaves a heavy sigh and turns towards him.
“I shall talk as we walk. Where’s Lukas and Hiro?”
“This way.” Romeo nods and takes the lead, rushing back to the stairs.
The walk up is a short one, especially at the pace they move, but Ivor’s words are even faster. Certainly blunt, but a useful change of pace. A second trip down to that Stronghold, a hidden attacker, rogue endermen, theft on all fronts, and now the town blowing up with people winding up dead on their doorstep. That alone is enough to lead any man to overwhelming distress to say the very least. The emotional toll on top though is the nail in the coffin. Ivor hardly gives him details—unsurprisingly—but hell, if he were in the same place, he would have done probably the same thing Jesse’s up and done. Disappeared to clear his head somewhere. Certainly less than gracefully, sure, but he can’t say he’s surprised.
Getting back into the room does little to alleviate the tension still palpable in the air. Lukas and Hiro look up from their seats to greet them and the young man seems relieved at the mere sight of Ivor. There’s a question in his eyes he doesn’t even need to voice, and Ivor solemnly shakes his head. While disappointed, Lukas doesn’t seem horribly surprised. It was a longshot and he knows it. Ivor speaks however.
“Petra initially came with me but I sent her back to let the others know. I’m already aware that our End trinkets aren’t to be found here. Nor Jesse.” Ivor pauses at that and shifts towards Hiro, “Apologies. Seems our accusations were rather off.”
The man just shakes his head, “No, don’t be. I’ve been erratic. From the sounds of it, there’s a damn slick thief out there if it led you to thinking someone like me was one of the only options.”
“The place was spotless. Not so much as a thread out of place aside from those items. And they got all the way to my Far Lands lab somehow…” Ivor shakes his head with a deepset scowl, “The timing of it all simply doesn’t make sense. It took us months to ride out there, yet the theft of the rest of the End Crystals had to have been within that timeframe—I had just been there days prior and they were right where they’ve always been.”
“How do you manage to get there within mere days?” Romeo huffs and Ivor crosses his arms.
“You truly are a forgetful man. There’s a private line here in the Nether that leads to it, but only we know of its existence for this very reason. My lab is private and in a dangerous locale to say the very least. I do not need tourists at my door!” He scoffs and Hiro just frowns a little.
“Well… Like it or not, it sounds like someone found that line of yours.”
“Do you think that’s where Jesse could’ve headed off to?” Lukas asks, glancing between the two men as he does. With no immediate response he just shrugs a little, “I mean, we saw he at least headed in this way. There’s only so many places the Nether lines hook up to. Here, Boomtown, Redstonia, the Old Order Temple, Gabriel’s Keep, Soren’s Stronghold— I-I mean, hell I know there’s a lot more going on obviously but…”
Ivor sighs with a nod, “There’s a lot for us to do in the coming days, but we need him home first. If he’s not here… I don’t know where he could’ve gone. I certainly doubt he’s stuck around in this dimension. He hates having to come through here with the heat and precariousness of it all, but the question is where he’d run off to and why… There’s nothing for him at any of those locations.”
“Soren—he had access to an End Portal, didn’t he…?” Hiro mumbles and Lukas shakes his head vehemently.
“Soren does, but Jesse wouldn’t go there. He… He wouldn’t do that on a whim. He wouldn’t just— just knowingly throw himself into that kind of danger.” Lukas’s words slow the more he speaks, as if coming to terms with it himself.
“Agreed.” Romeo adds in, garnering a few odd glances. He continues speaking anyways though with his hands resting confidently on his hips, “Jesse’s overwhelmed, not stupid. I doubt he’s gone anywhere that could lead him to trouble. I’d wager he’s just gone to find some place to clear his head proper.”
Ivor hums with a thoughtful nod and Hiro shoots an uncertain glance around the room, but that’s not where Romeo’s attention gets drawn. Lukas meets him in the eyes and, while begrudging, the man nods. It’s odd seeing him agree, and it even more notably settles the tension in his shoulders.
“That… That sounds right. He pulls back from everything. Impulsive? Yeah. Dangerous? Hardly. There’s a few places he could’ve gone from here. Or, hell, we could’ve missed him altogether and he might be back in town by now.” Lukas huffs and pushes himself to his feet, “Whatever it is, we’re wasting time sitting here.”
Ivor however catches him by the shoulder and gently sits him back down, much to Lukas’ obvious frustration. He looks up at the older man with mild bewilderment only for Ivor to give him a squeeze on the shoulder.
“In that case, then he’ll be back before we know it.”
Lukas huffs out almost incredulously, “So… What? Are you saying we should just stop looking for him? Not make sure he’s okay?”
“I think you’ve gone and answered your own question there, Lukas.” Ivor clasps his hands together at his front, “Impulsive? Yes. Dangerous? Hardly.”
“I thought you came to help me look for him!”
“I came to ease the tension when we found him. I’m concerned for him, of course, but I agree—I don’t think he’s anywhere he can’t get back home from. And when he’s home, there’s already a handful of people ready for him. Jesse will likely be just fine on his own. We, however, owe a clearer picture of what has occurred in these last few weeks to someone here.” Ivor says with a hum as he nods towards Hiro. Lukas glances his way and opens his mouth to protest only for Ivor to cut him off, “I wasn’t down in that Stronghold, Lukas. It was just you and Jesse, and we’re obviously short one of you at the moment.” He huffs with that and moves to pull up a seat, the chair screeching across the eerie blue wood.
Lukas deflates at that, almost looking miserable even. As if reading his mind, Ivor reaches out and pats him on the arm.
“I know why you’re worried, Lukas. But perhaps… If Jesse took such space to begin with, rushing into his space and crowding him once again might be a bit much. He knew exactly where we all were after all, yet he went off on his own for a reason. You and I agreed when you returned from that Stronghold—best not to overwhelm him, yes? Besides, wandering aimlessly and letting our thoughts get away from us when he’s more than capable will do nothing but exhaust us. Here, we can do something. Regain an ally, perhaps.” Ivor says, sharing a cordial nod with Hiro as he does.
“... I hear you. Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” Lukas mumbles.
Ivor huffs, a bitter smile making its way onto his face, “Believe me, nor am I.”
It’s around there that Romeo takes note to bid his adieu. He doesn’t need to know any more details than what Ivor already spoke to him about. Besides, he knows Hiro will be recounting it all to him later regardless. It’s just how the man processes things. He won’t need to hear it a third time, and it’ll certainly ease the process if he’s not around. So he leaves the stifling tension behind him and shuts the doors to the room quietly.
… Though, he’d be lying if he said that this would be where his involvement ends. He’s a curious man by nature. Always has been. Always will be. Similar to someone they all know in a way that has both aggravated and fascinated him for the longest of times. And he has a hunch he’d like to poke into. He needs to grab a few things before he leaves, sure, but his exit is swift and goes unnoticed by the three men enveloped in conversation upstairs.
~~~~~
Running on autopilot might be putting it far too simply. Everything just feels like a blur in Jesse’s mind. He’d say he didn’t know what he was thinking, but that requires him to actually have a thought within his head. No, all he could probably repeat back is that he had to go wherever his feet were taking him—somewhere away from it all to even get a grasp of reality. First he’s kicking through the debris and water in town, then the red dust of the Nether, and now it’s green once more with mossed over and cracked cobblestones buried by time. Just one foot in front of the other. One in front of the other.
Before he knows it, his boot kicks an old plank of wood as he shuffles along. The clattering it makes is enough to stop him in his tracks, if at least for a moment. He bends down and picks the old thing up to inspect it and finds dried old white paint still sticking to parts. He just huffs, a warm feeling enveloping his empty chest finally as he pulls his gaze up from the ground to take stock of the familiar old place around him.
At the end of the worn old path still sits the same beat-up old cabin he remembers. Worn by time as the jasmine and brambles grow unchecked, but still standing otherwise proud. Hell, with the breeze on the air he swears he can even hear the old chains on the porch swing squealing. He grips the piece of wood just a little tighter in his hands as he stares ahead, nerves alight for whatever reason, yet at the same time there’s no other place that feels like it’ll protect him right now. Irrational? Probably. But he’s in no state to argue, so instead he merely lets his feet carry him home.
The wooden steps squeal and creak under his weight, yet they hold strong. His heels thud on the porch in a way that seeps him in nostalgia—familiar and similar to the sounds he would wait for at the end of each day. As he moves towards the door he gives a brief look to his side to check the porch only to be met with exactly what he thought he heard—that beat-up old swing still hanging on and rocking. Beneath it however is something that almost makes him laugh. One of their old lanterns, long shattered and stuck in a collapsed section of wood. Must’ve blown right off its hook at some point. It brings some kind of bitter smile to his face at the very least.
As for the door? Well, the outer screen door has been long since detached and slid down the steps onto the front grass. A shame, but he supposes it’s not something he couldn’t fix. The main door still sits in place, worn down but seemingly unbothered. Battered from time like all else, sure, but hell it matches himself at this point. He grabs that old knob and turns it, pulling the door open.
And it comes off its hinges.
Jesse stumbles a little and immediately curses under his breath as he awkwardly catches the heavy old thing. He cranes his neck to see what even broke and ultimately just shakes his head with a sigh. Awkwardly shuffling to the side, he props the old thing up against the house’s wall. Stepping back, he holds his hands out towards it as if that’ll be the magic touch to keep it from sliding from place and dropping—it does the trick though. Blowing another big breath out and running his hands through his hair, he just stares at the hole where it should be. Looking closer though, it doesn’t seem like a horrible fix. Just some new nails, maybe a new hinge up top. Nothing catastrophic.
Dropping those hands down to his hips he begins nodding to himself as he looks around, “Okay… Alright dad, let’s see if your toolbox is still where you stored it.”
He finally moves inside the old home and, much like the cave, it’s smaller than he remembers.
It’s far less suffocating though. It’s an odd realization to have considering just how he left this place all those years ago, but it’s almost cozy—if not a bit muggy. Unlike the cave though, he can at least say he’s seen this place once or twice since he left. Just to come pick up a few mementos though, and he never allowed himself the time to soak anything in. He’s impressed with how much is still in place. If any looters ever came through then they didn’t leave with much. Things are knocked over and broken, absolutely, but the furniture still remains. Down to the pictures on the walls. The couch is still there and the red curtains are dirty, tattered, and droop halfway off their lines, but they’re still there.
Just a broken down old cabin in the woods. He shouldn't say he’s surprised—he’s run into dozens of ones just like this whilst out exploring the world. But a part of him almost hurts to see his own end up among the ranks. Hell, he knows for a fact that some of the mess was done by his own hands. Ripping drawers or cabinets open as he rushed to grab what he needed and get out in those few visits. It makes him grimace a little, but the feeling washes away fast. How is he supposed to be upset with himself when he was just young and hurting? It could certainly be worse for wear, considering. It’s still standing and so much is still here, even if it means there’s some plants snaking their way up through the floorboards now.
Forcing himself out of his vignette framed stupor, Jesse moves further inside and begins scanning around for his dad’s old storage spots. It’s difficult keeping his mind from spinning with a million different thoughts just looking at each little thing, but he remains focused. Toolbox. He needs to find a toolbox and fix the door. A simple and easy task—something he’s done in a hundred places a hundred times. The silence that he’s come to find deafening lately offers a brief respite in here, with only the soft thudding of his boots breaking it. There’s the occasional gust of wind or squeal from the swing’s chains, but not much else.
Making his way over to the back door, he stops short and turns to an old wooden crate. It’s got piles of old suitcases and bags stacked on top and around it, not making getting in easy. He scoffs a little in amusement at the sheer amount of cobwebs to boot. He picks up one of the old bags and uses it to swipe away the webbing before gently tossing it aside. Dropping to his knees, he begins shifting things around and taking the old suitcases stack on top off. Beneath it all, the crate is pretty simple but with a rusty old latch. Prying the thing open is the toughest part, he even has to grit his teeth a little, but it snaps open soon enough. Certainly loud though—he was probably putting in a little too much force considering how the top of the crate pops open for a second itself before slamming shut again. He grimaces at the loud clanging but eases out a sigh soon after. There’s nothing he really has to be quiet for here, it’s just a little unexpected.
Opening the old thing up though yields less than he hopes for. He purses his lips and drums his fingers on the lid as he shuffles through the few abandoned boxes and supplies left behind. No toolbox. Shutting the crate, he sits back on his feet with his arms crossed hard in thought. Where else might he have stuffed his tools? He can’t remember if he moved them himself or not… But, no way to find out just sitting there. So, with a grunt, he rises back to his feet and moves deeper into his old home.
The hallway is tighter than he remembers, but not in a way that’s suffocating. Four simple doors lie ahead of him, and right away he knows he doesn’t have to worry about at least two of them. The bathroom is certainly no place for what he needs. But then his uncle’s old room… Well, he knows that his father certainly never touched it. Not for years. He doubts he’d find anything in there—and he himself hasn’t moved anything there either. Ignoring his own room, Jesse turns into the first door on his left and moves into his father’s.
The room is dusty, as expected, but it’s messy in a way that startles Jesse just a tad. It’s not wrecked, but it’s more disheveled than he remembers leaving it. Some drawers left open, blankets ripped off or on the ground and the few remaining things left on his dresser knocked over. It’s not surprising though, really. Plenty of animals or looters have likely passed through even if there wasn’t much left to grab. It does leave Jesse irritated to say the least though—he hadn’t even considered the tools being stolen but it’d make sense. They’re practical. Then seeing his father’s room so trashed stirs him in a way that the rest of the home hadn’t. This room at the very least deserves better. Still, he moves further inside towards the closet to keep searching—one task at a time.
With the closet already partly open, his hopes aren’t exactly high, but at the very least he knows a few tricks his father had up his sleeve. Giving a cursory glance to the upper shelves he finds exactly what he anticipated—Nothing! He just gives a small huff in some kind of amusement. Some of the shelves he unfortunately would still need some sort of stool to reach. He supposes he must’ve gotten his height from his mother rather than his father’s side of the family. But enough of that—now he turns his gaze downwards.
He crouches down to the wooden floor and runs his hands along the seams in it until he finally hits a subtle lip. He pauses and runs his fingers over it again then shifts along some other planks, following the seam up and down. Beneath the dirt and grime it’s hard to see at first, but as he swipes along, the little cut section becomes clearer. He grins—just as he thought. His father had a hidden little compartment in the floor back here, but he never quite figured out how to open it—it’s not a simple little door. Seems like something his uncle might complain about being a pain. But it doesn’t take much to find a divet in the old wood that seems on the surface like a hollowed knot, but it’s a rather nice grip once he reaches his hand in.
He grits his teeth again and begins pulling up on the old wood cover. The years have certainly settled in though and it’s tightly packed. An almost prickling sound rings out as a few wood chips split off and the whole thing creaks as it slowly chugs out of place inch by agonizing inch. Jesse grimaces and switches positions to brace his foot against the back wall and add to the pressure—and that does just the trick. With just a little more force, the cover finally breaks free with a sharp jerk that throws Jesse off balance and catching himself at the last second. But he did it! Blowing out a breath of relief and finding himself even laughing a little, he lifts the old square cut-out off to the side and looks down in the old cubby space.
He really has to resist the urge to pat himself on the back because right before him and sitting pretty is the old wooden toolbox he remembers so well along with a few other trinkets. He heaves the toolbox out and sets it down with a heavy thump before glancing back down at the cubby. A few little boxes he doesn’t remember nor recognize—seems he’s the only one who bothered opening this thing. Though he’s probably the only one who knew about it if he’s honest. Regardless though, now’s not the time to carry more with him, so he simply puts the cover back on and makes sure it’s sturdy and tight with a good hit and eventual slam of his boot once back on his feet.
Grabbing the toolbox once more, he turns to head back out front but is then greeted by the sight of the messy room once more. It freezes him in place and reminds him of the guilt that’s still churning his gut and running his throat dry. He hesitates, but comes to a conclusion almost on autopilot. Setting the box down atop his father’s old dresser, he gets to straightening things up as best as he can without another word.
It doesn’t take too long, but then again he doesn’t exactly have a great frame of reference right now. However long it takes to shut doors, straighten drawers, and pick things up as well as dust them off. The bed he deals with last, having just tossed the discarded blankets and pillows up on it as he worked around the room. It doesn’t take much to make it up, and it’s bittersweet pulling the blankets up to how they always were. He lingers as he presses the wrinkles he can out of them, just mulling everything over however he can stand to.
Then the sound of giggles freezes him where he stands. He blinks. Is he hearing things? But it certainly had a bit of an echo to it—and it was high like a child. He steps back and warily looks at the doorway, hands dropping to his sides for a weapon but coming up short—it’s only then that he really realizes his short-sightedness and momentarily he curses himself. But before he has any chance to grab something to make do with, his tension releases as the little culprit flits into the room.
It’s a small little thing with a faint blue glow, flitting through with an air of gentleness about it as it almost jingles and spins upwards. An Allay of all things. Jesse blows out a slow and steady sigh of relief before a small smile pulls at his lips.
“Hi there, you little guys the new tenants…?” He hums and tentatively holds a hand out as he catches the Allay’s attention. It flits over curiously but just giggles again and spins upwards—seemingly quite happy. Jesse smiles at that, “Not exactly the most high-class place these days, sorry about that. I’m gonna try cleaning up a little.”
The Allay certainly doesn’t seem bothered by the place and speeds around Jesse, whipping up his hair and playing with him a little. It gets a little laugh out of him and he happily indulges the little thing, giving it a few boosts off the palm of his hand. He needs to get moving again though, yet as he moves back to the old toolbox, the Allay keeps pace and starts shuffling through the items with him.
“You gonna help me out here? Or just look cute and keep me company?” Jesse asks with a laugh only to be met with some sort of affirmative jingling. He just nods and shrugs, “Alright, guess I can’t argue with that.”
His father always kept loose spare parts sitting around in the bottom of this thing. He finds a spare hinge pretty easily with that—certainly not matching at all, and a bit beat up to say the least, but it still functions so it’ll work well enough. Then it just becomes a matter of finding some spare nails. There’s certainly a variety just sitting at the bottom of the box and occasionally poking him as he shuffles things around, but most are far too small for what he needs. He frowns and sighs as he pulls up yet another dud and that seems to catch the Allay’s attention. It hops up and pushes his fingers apart a little to get a better look at the nail in his hand before looking up at him with a questioning jingle.
“Too small. I need something more… More like…” He pauses to set that nail down and fish out one he saw earlier and foolishly didn’t set aside. He finds it with an ‘aha!’ and holds it up for the Allay to study. They flit around his hand and the nail thoughtfully before jingling with a nod and plucking the nail right up from him and racing off into some other part of the house. Jesse merely blinks as he’s left there one nail shorter. Awkwardly he just rubs his neck as he stares back at the toolbox—well, however he does it, he’ll find a way to get this done.
Intent on getting started, he heaves the toolbox back up and finally leaves the old bedroom, though not without giving it one more long look. He’ll be back, sure, but still… He almost feels like he needs to apologize for letting it become so disarrayed. Regardless, he lets it go and shuts the door gently behind him. As he turns to step back out into the main room however, that jingling little figure races back up to him and stops short of slamming right into his face and he almost stumbles for it.
The Allay proudly spins and darts down to Jesse’s spare hand, yanking it up and open before dropping something right into his palm. He just blinks in dumbfoundment before processing what exactly it is—another nail, just like what he needs. Immediately he perks up, the corners of his mouth tugging into a smile.
“Where did—! How—? Well-done!” He laughs as he holds it up and the Allay dances with the original nail still tucked under its arm. Jesse sucks in a deep breath and his expression shifts into one more determined as he shakes the nail, “We’re gonna need a few more of these. I don’t know how many you can find, but if there’s any you can pick up—”
He hardly gets to finish what he says before the Allay beams with a giggle and shoots off again in another direction, whipping his hair up again as it shoots by. Jesse just laughs, heart a little lighter for it.
As he stands in the threshold between he hall and open living space of the old cottage, he wonders if maybe checking through the other rooms is worth it. He can’t imagine there’s anything in his uncle’s room, but maybe some leftover parts in the bathroom or his room from one of the many repairs or projects they both got up to? It might be a stretch but it feels foolish to leave the little Allay to scour the home on its own. So, setting down the toolbox once more, Jesse moves to the closest door first—his own.
There’s a lot of things he’s expecting as he pushes the creaky old door open again—hell even the odd deja vu that floods him is par for the course—but the mess certainly is not. His expression falls and darkens into one of utter confusion at the scene he finds. If his father’s room was a mess, then his was utterly trashed. He can hardly see the floor underneath everything. His bed is ripped apart—sheets and pillows all separated and thrown haphazardly around with the mattress itself even lying halfway off the frame at this point. All his drawers have been fully ripped out of their dressers, dumped, and thrown aside if they’re not broken. His curtains hang halfway off their posts and his closet doors remain flung wide open. Craning his neck from the doorway he remains frozen in, he can tell the whole space has torn apart as well and sits empty in its corner.
All he can feel at this point is utterly baffled. He’s been through his home a few times in the years since, and yes, he’s made some messes trying to find the stuff he wanted to take with him. But he never did anything like this. Much less to his own room. It’s obviously like someone was here looking for something, but with the mess and dust still lingering in the room it obviously wasn’t a recent search.
As he stands there leaning on the doorknob almost lazily for support, the realization comes to him easily and it’s almost serene. They were probably looking for those discs he took by mistake. They tore the place apart looking high and low looking for them—to no avail. And they knew they were somewhere in his room. Fascinating. Just fascinating. He merely huffs out a scoff and drums his fingers on the cold metal knob as he mulls it over. There’s not enough energy in him at this point to become outraged over it. All that settles in him is a bittersweet satisfaction knowing just how mad it must’ve driven them to know they were gone—and so was he.
Until nowadays, anyhow.
He stops his thoughts short there—too much. He just has to fix the door to his house right now. Unfortunately though, he’s probably not gonna find much of anything with the state his room is in. So, leaving the door hanging open, he just takes his leave.
The other two rooms are fairly normal—more akin to how his father’s room was. The bathroom has some cabinets open and the shower curtain is long gone, but it’s nothing truly difficult to clean up. The Allay darts throughout the place as he makes quick work of it and drops a few more nails into his hand before racing off once more. He didn’t anticipate the company, but it’s pleasant at the very least.
If anything, his uncle’s room is the really odd one. It’s clear as he pokes through it all that someone dug through all the drawers and closet, but unlike the other rooms it was all put back together. It’s a staggering difference compared to his room right through the wall, but he’ll take whatever solace he can find in it. Even if his uncle is back with him now, it’s a relief to know his room was left somewhat respected for whatever reason. A little mystery, sure, but not one he’s going to concern himself with right now.
Meeting up with the Allay once more, Jesse manages to get enough of what he needs to finally tackle that door and makes sure to thank the little creature. He curses not having any more shards of that amethyst Axel found in the mineshaft—he swears he remembers hearing that the little guys love them. Still, the Allay doesn’t seem too upset and follows him outside still.
It’s a great little helper, switching his tools out for him and hanging onto the spare parts he needs while he sets the door back in place and works. He’s only had a few encounters with Allays over the years and they were always very brief—strictly bound to freeing them either from Outposts or Woodland Mansions. He can’t blame the poor things for not sticking around much after, but it’s nice to see one happy and healthy—not to mention so readily helpful.
They make quick work of the door, too. In no time flat it’s back in place and like it was never broken to begin with. Jesse steps back and blows out a sigh, chuckling a little as the Allay lights up and dances around. He holds up a hand and the little creature flies over to bat it in a jingling high-five.
“Thank you! Might come back and fix up a few more things here soon if you wanna stick around.” He hums and the Allay nods enthusiastically—it seems happy here. That's a good enough reason for him to get in gear on cleaning the place up. As long as someone is using it then it’ll be worth the effort. “Alright, then it’s a deal.”
With that, the Allay giggles once more and gives Jesse a quick pat on the cheek in thanks before it backs up and darts off somewhere, mission momentarily accomplished. As the sounds of it disappear into the distance, Jesse quietly lets out another sigh. He stares at the door in front of him and inspects his handiwork once more, testing the door on its hinges again. It squeaks horribly still, but that’s nothing a little oil couldn’t fix. Easy. Not that he has any on him right now.
“It always seems to start at a little cabin in the woods, eh?” A sudden voice calls out from somewhere behind him and Jesse jumps before contorting his face in utter confusion at the familiarity of it. He lets go of the door and turns to face the path leading up to his home. Blue eyes merely widen and he just stays stuck in place in utter dumbfoundment more than anything.
“Romeo?” Is all he can manage to get out of his voice. The man in question holds his hands up in peace before stuffing them in his back pockets. He sighs as he takes in the sight of the old house and the young man before him.
“I know I’m probably the last person you’d like to see, but I had a feeling you might wind up here. Call me curious, but I wanted to see if my hunches have any merit these days.”
“How’d you even get here? How’d you even know where here is?”
Romeo huffs at that, a bittersweet smile tugging at his lips, “Come on now, Jesse. You really think it was that hard for me to have gotten information on someone at my prime?”
That startles Jesse enough to get a bit stronger of a reaction from him as he glares down at him from the porch, “You— You’ve known?”
“Not everything, no. I wasn’t concerned with the finer details of it all.” He quickly tacks on, deflating Jesse just as quickly as he riled him up. He’s almost disappointed in a way. Romeo seems to almost sense this and continues, his voice a bit gentler—an odd sound from him, “But I did see a man who started simple in a little cabin in the woods… One who made his own life with his dearest friends at his side.”
Jesse quietly stares down at him as Romeo continues taking stock of everything around them. Finally he sighs and faces him again with that bitter smile and a shrug.
“I suppose… Given all you know about me, you could say it made me rather nostalgic, eh?”
Jesse’s only able to hold his gaze for so long after that, dropping his eyes first and just quietly nodding as he stares at the wooden planks at his feet. Eventually he just shakes his own head, sighs, and shrugs as he moves to sit down on the porch steps. He can’t find it within himself to be angry right now. It just sounds exhausting. Quietly, Romeo approaches him. He doesn’t pay him any mind, just staring straight at the ground ahead. The man stops short at the steps and while he doesn’t look up at him to know, he’s sure he’s debating just what ridiculous thing he wants to say next.
He says nothing though. Instead, he carefully takes a seat by Jesse, albeit on one step lower than he’s on. He grunts as he does, awkwardly lanky still despite not being the tallest of men. It’s odd. There’s not much else Jesse can readily say about it.
“What are you here for, really?” Jesse asks as he picks at his nails, a sharper edge to his voice than he really meant to have. Romeo looks up at him with a stern expression.
“Surprising as it may be, I’m not here with any ulterior motives, Jesse. But you’ve got a few people running about wondering how you’re faring. Call me curious as well, I suppose.”
“Liar.”
“Well!” Romeo forces out a curt laugh and twists around to fully face Jesse, “Good to see you still have your atti—” He starts only for the old wooden boards beneath him to loudly creak in protest. And unfortunately for him, their years have caught up to them, “—tUDE?!” Romeo’s words get quickly choked into a yelp as the rotted old planks collapse with a loud chorus of cracking beneath him. Jesse jumps and pulls back in sheer surprise as Romeo’s suddenly dropped into the new hole in the steps, but thankfully no other parts of the stairs break with them.
It leaves him stuck rather awkwardly to say the very least—Legs and arms still free and sticking out while most of his torso and head have dropped down into the empty space. Initially, neither of them really react past that initial jump, instead they just meet each other’s stupefied gazes as they process just what happened. Then once it finally sinks in, odd as it feels, they both begin to giggle… Which turns to chuckling. And from there, laughter.
A lopsided grin snakes its way across Romeo’s face before he hides it with one hand in embarrassment. Jesse doesn’t even try to hide his joy as he leans back against the old banister and claps his hands whilst Romeo braces and awkwardly hoists himself up. He does a pretty crap job of it initially, not that Jesse would fare any better with his legs flailing around just the same. Still, it’s a joy to watch.
“Here, my god—! This is just getting sad.” Jesse says between his laughter as he reaches out a hand.
“Oh great! My favorite reason for help—pity!” He huffs but gratefully takes Jesse’s hand with a hearty clap. With his help, Romeo manages to heave himself up and out, shooting a pointed glare down at the old wood for good measure. From there, Jesse guides him to sit back down, this time on the step beside him which the man happily obliges.
The tension from earlier is cut down a peg and leaves them with just the quiet solitude the old birch forest brings. His own gaze shifts from the trees, to the clouds, to the newly created hole in the stairs, and back to Romeo only to find him doing the same. His expression jarringly at peace.
He’s sure that Romeo has more to say—he always does—yet once settled he merely sits there quietly with his hands clasped in front of him as he leans on his knees, much like Jesse is. It leaves him a little self-conscious, but nothing much worse than that. It’s… oddly serene. Though, the quiet doesn’t suit the man. As bizarre as it is with Romeo right beside him, Jesse’s the one who breaks the silence.
“... When was the first time you went back?” He asks quietly without meeting him in the eye. Romeo merely tilts his head in his direction to listen, then hums in thought before blowing out a big breath.
“Hmmm… Well… It took a long while, to be quite honest. I was never a homebody, really.” He says with a shake of his head only for a more somber look to follow, “But… I would visit every now and then the more distant I felt. Take a few things with me here and there. It wasn’t really until after Fred that—... that I began truly caring for our home and its grounds. Too little too late in my book, but I guess taking care of it and the trees still lingering around was my way of trying to apologize. Not that it could bring back the dead but…” He trails off quietly and Jesse just nods.
“... I cleaned up my father’s room not long ago. Fixed the front door too after the hinges broke.”
Romeo smiles a little at that, “I was wondering just what you were doing there.”
“Seems like the least I could do after leaving this place the way I did. It’s such a mess. I wish I had taken better care of it.”
Romeo stares at him for a long moment out of the corner of his eye before nodding, “... I understand. I’m sure he appreciates everything you’ve done, Jesse.”
Jesse just finds himself shaking his head, not necessarily disagreeing, just having trouble taking it all in. If Romeo could find the time to take care of his old home, he somehow should. Instead he’s left this place to rot. He’ll fix it, sure, but it’s hard not to have regrets. Not that any version of himself prior to this ordeal would’ve been anywhere near ready to do it. What a fun little paradox he’s made for himself. Romeo humming in thought nabs his attention again though. He’s looking around at the trees and plants lining the property, nodding to himself as he does.
“He would’ve liked this place. This was the type of forest he’d always wished we’d built our cabin in.”
“Fred?” Jesse asks and Romeo nods again. Jesse looks around at the birch trees standing proud in the late day sun and just what he’s talking about clicks. Slowly, he nods in agreement, “Right… He loved birch trees, didn’t he?”
“Yep. He always thought they were the most elegant with their white bark. The tree we have out front of our home he—” He pauses to force out a strained laugh, “He dragged Xara and I on a whole journey just to find that sapling. The memory is fuzzy for me but… It was some elaborate game of telephone between him and a line of wandering traders. He was so proud though! And he babied that tree like it was his own child from the moment he got his hands on it.”
“How’s it faring these days?”
“It’s—… It’s doing well. Strong. Tall. I just recently tended to it again when I was visiting Xara.”
“... I’m glad to hear it, Romeo. Really.”
“Thank you, Jesse.” He replies quietly, matching Jesse’s own tone. As he nods, a silence returns. Again, he’s sure Romeo has more to say. But again, he seems to respect the silence. Or rather Jesse’s current preference for it. It’s uncharacteristically compassionate for the man, but a pleasant surprise these days is more than welcome. Still, there’s an obvious elephant in the room.
“I take it you caught wind of what’s going on back in town.”
“You say that like I’m here to hold your hand and walk you home like some sort of godawful chaperone.” Romeo says with a sly huff. Jesse matches it with a shrug and tired smirk.
“Well, I don’t know what else to expect from you being here. So— Aren’t you?”
“Ha! The only person who even knows I’m here is yourself.” He says almost too proudly to which Jesse merely raises his brows. Romeo eases up, crossing his arms a bit stiffly but remaining genuine nonetheless, “I’m being honest for once. You can believe it or not, but I’m obviously not here to tell you what to do. We both know our abysmal track record with that.” He huffs and Jesse hates to admit it gets a curt chuckle out of him.
“Right. So then you came here because…?”
“Because whether either of us like it or not, we think an awful lot alike, Jesse. Simply put, coming here—coming home—it’s… It’s what I would’ve done.” He pauses to meet Jesse in the eyes with that. Jesse holds his gaze unsurely as he studies the man before him but can’t find anything less than his heart on his sleeve. Sucking in a breath, Romeo speaks again, “And that’s to say just—... If it were me, I’d be at a loss. Both paralyzed in the moment yet also 3 steps ahead and ready to move along. But stuck with how to get from here to there. I’d want to buckle down and just get my hands dirty already, but that’s hard when the world’s still on fire, eh?”
“So… You’re here with a brilliant solution then?” Jesse asks despite already knowing the answer. Romeo just shoots him a regretful smile and he huffs with a smile and shrugs, “Figured.”
“Misery loves company though. And at the very least I’m very well-versed in making people miserable!”
“I think you’re misunderstanding that saying.”
“No, I know what it means. I’m a talented multitasker!” He says quite earnestly and Jesse hates that it gets another laugh out of him. He just shakes his head and Romeo sighs once more, “Truly though, I sympathize with you, Jesse. And I’m certainly not here to hound you about things you already know.”
“Well… As much as I wanna avoid adding any fuel to that ego of yours, you’ve… You’ve caught me. I’m at a loss. I’m sure I’ll figure something out but… What a mess. I keep saying it but, hell, what else can I say at this point?” He huffs a dry laugh, just shaking his head.
“Well, think of it this way—it’s not another Witherstorm at least, eh?” Romeo says with a partial grin and Jesse just shoots him an utterly miserable look from the corner of his eyes. He lets out a laugh at that and holds his hands up in peace, “Alright, still too soon then?”
“You are exhausting.”
“See? Doesn’t cleaning Beacontown up seem so much more appealing now?” Romeo hums with a smirk and Jesse scoffs at the ridiculousness of it. He can’t believe he finds it almost true. Almost. Romeo clears his throat and continues, less snarky—or at least for his standard, “I do have some information that the others seemed to find useful, and that’s the fact that your uncle certainly doesn’t have anything of yours. Acting oddly and antsy? Sure. But through all of my own prodding and interrogating, I feel quite confident in saying he’s no thief. Though, I know that doesn’t exactly add any clarity to this… situation.”
Jesse lets out a long and thoughtful hum as he scans the horizon. He doesn’t have much of a reaction outside of that. His breathing remains steady and there’s no drumming pulse in his ears. Romeo’s brows furrow and he eyes him oddly.
“You’re taking that news better than some of your little pals did.”
“I feel like that’s par for the course right now. It’ll hit me later. And frankly, I—” Jesse hesitates, clamping his jaw tight for a moment before shaking his head, “I don’t know if I ever really believed he did rather than just hoped he did.”
“Hmm. Now that I’m more than familiar with. We do what we have to in order to feel some sort of control, don’t we? Though,” Romeo coughs a little, awkwardly looking off somewhere else, “You certainly have a far better track record in how you deal with it than I do. So, point for you—take pride in it.”
Jesse huffs at that, “Y’know what? Cheers. I’ll take it.” He shrugs, “Me and baseless accusations again, though… I came up with reason after reason for why or how he could’ve if he wanted to, and it made sense to the others, too. But… Honestly, walking into the Hall that day when we first found them missing? I dunno. It just felt off. I don’t like it by any means, but with the way our little terrorist has been doing things? They could’ve done it. Hell, they’ve even got an enderman buddy it seems. That’s free teleportation.”
“Teleportation is truly such a lovely perk. I miss it every day…” Romeo sighs longingly and Jesse just eyes him.
“You still running into walls and doors?”
“Regrettably.”
Jesse nods. Fair enough. Centuries of habit probably dies pretty damn hard. Jesse rests his head in his hands and looks up at the sun in the sky. The light is starting to twinkle into something gold, and finally something twinges in his hollow chest upon looking at it. Not that it’s of any comfort. He needs to get back. But where to even begin then? Starting is still daunting of course, but the worst part is figuring out just what the next step is gonna be after. Of course, it’s not on him to figure out all on his lonesome, but he can’t help but wonder just how they’re going to stop this without even a face or name.
It feels eerily familiar. Like he’s twenty again and staring out in the distance at the Witherstorm, knowing it’s slowly closing in and destroying everything it can as it does. And a solution still feels so far away despite constantly walking towards it. He drums his fingers on his cheeks, thinking hard and trying to tap into his old mindset the times he’s been up against crazy odds before.
Have confidence. Have faith in his friends and allies. And maybe just do something crazy. That’s what he’s best at, honestly.
“Can I ask you a question, Jesse?”
He’s pulled out of his thoughts to look at Romeo suspiciously, “... Okay?”
The man clasps his hands at his front again, looking uncharacteristically thoughtful, “Do you think you’re really at a loss, or are you just dreading committing to the conclusion you’ve come to?”
Jesse’s stomach churns as he meets the man in the eye, feeling bizarrely vulnerable not for the first time around this man. But for the first time it’s not entirely negative. Those golden eyes of his shine in a distant understanding—like Jesse’s made of glass and can be seen right through. He’s not sure what to make of it, really. Insightful? Maybe. Just as troublesome? Yes. All he manages to do is let out a sigh and Romeo eases up at that.
“I… I have to think. I have to talk with the others. See what the damage is.”
“Sure. Though, on the off chance things get dicey again, I do actually have something for you…” Romeo mumbles before he swings around his satchel and begins digging through it. Jesse eyes it and blusters out a laugh.
“Oh, ‘No ulterior motives’ my ass!”
“Do you tell everyone with gifts ‘I told you so!’ ‘I told you so!’?” Romeo huffs and mocks with a nasally little voice as he searches. Jesse just snorts and rolls his eyes.
“If it’s a gauntlet I’m going to kill you for real. I’ll do it. I’m in the mood today.”
“Eccentric handwear is so last year, Jesse—keep up.” He hums and then lights up as he stops his digging, “Aha! Here we are!”
Jesse’s not sure what exactly to expect from Romeo, but what he pulls out certainly isn’t it. Out from the satchel comes a beautifully patterned gold and royal blue bandanna with hints of red decorated in a pattern that looks extremely familiar. But unlike most bandannas, this one has a set of golden clasps on the back as if it’s meant to hook onto something for extra security. It utterly glimmers in the sunlight and Jesse almost swears he sees the sheen of some kind of enchantment imbued within the fabric.
Jesse’s utterly stunned and it must be obvious on his face with the knowing chuckle Romeo lets out. His gaze moves up to the man, suspicious as to what the catch here must be. In turn he simply holds it out a bit further.
“It’s an addition to my old armor set—the one you found while in the Underneath. The Golden Apple.”
“Addition…?”
“Yes. I managed to mess it up quite awfully some time ago so I didn’t keep it with the set—intending to fix it one day. Never got around to it though. Xara though, she’s gotten quite good at these sorts of things… I asked her the favor when I visited not long ago.” He can’t help the slight grin that tugs at his lips, “You know, when you and Stella caught me on the outskirts? How about we call this thanks for not letting her gouge something of mine out?”
“Jury’s still out on that one, Rom.”
“Eh, worth a shot.” He shrugs but then grows more serious again, “Look, there’s something important to note about my armor, Jesse. All three of our sets, mine, Xara’s, and Fred’s, were made to withstand the harshest of conditions in all of our dimensions. Overworld, Nether, the Portal Halls, and most poignantly—The End. Fire Resistance, Feather Falling, Blast Protection—they have the works.” He pauses to fold up the bandanna, “The End is notorious for its dangers—be it the jarring cliff-faces or horrible duststorms. End dust just on its own can cause temporary blindness and a handful of other annoying little perks if breathed too deeply.”
Jesse eyes him and the bandanna nervously and Romeo notes it. He takes notice and while he seems to want to grasp a hand or part of his arm, he holds back, just silently urging him with his eyes instead. He shakes the bandanna in his hands slightly as he speaks.
“Jesse… I know I am the very last person on this planet who should even dare to ask a favor of you. And now of all times. But regardless, I’m going to ask anyway.” He pauses to suck in a breath and Jesse notes that it’s almost hitching in his throat. He’s nervous. More than he’s letting on, and something grave shines in his eyes as he speaks, “If you at any point think you are going to take on the End Dimension, my one request is that you take my armor. Not only for your sake, but for your uncle’s as well. It’ll keep you safe. That’s not a slight on Ivor’s ingenuity, but… Well, you understand what I’m saying. I’d also be honored by it, of course, but that’s not the point. Just… Please.”
Jesse takes a long minute to allow his words to sink in. It’s horrifically thoughtful of the man and he’s not sure how exactly he’s come so far as to deserve it. But he’s always held Romeo in a harsher regard than the man did for him. Then there’s the mere fact he had the foresight to get it ready so long ago now. He doesn’t know whether to appreciate or hate the fact that they think so alike still. That’s it’s own box he’s still not unpacked yet, but one he’ll get to eventually. For now, he can’t find it in himself to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“... If it comes to such a thing, I think I can manage that.” He says and something in Romeo’s eyes lightens in a way he hasn’t seen on the man before. A smile—a genuine one—twitches onto his face. It’s a little olive branch, but one he’s tentatively taking nonetheless.
Carefully, Jesse takes the bandanna from Romeo’s hands. Thumbing it over, it’s almost like silk—cool to the touch but strong. Not to mention utterly gorgeous. If it was tattered and torn at any point in its life, he certainly can’t tell. Xara did amazing work on it and he can already see how it’ll look with the rest of its set in his mind’s eye.
“Thank you, Romeo.”
“No need, Xara deserves all the credit. I mentioned it was for you and she sought to make sure it was perfect.”
“Well, if you see her before I do, pass my thanks her way.”
“I think I can manage that.” He says with another smile, “Now, I’m not going to pretend like I know what the right answer for you is, Jesse. I certainly don’t envy you as it stands. But… I do hope that whatever it is you choose, you’ll feel prepared for it.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to anything drastic. But it’s good to be prepared.” Jesse nods as he folds the bandanna up before finally standing and tucking it away in one of his pockets. Clearing his throat, Romeo finally rises too, albeit with a horrible cracking in his back that leaves the both of them grimacing. Romeo shoots the broken old stair a scathing look before sighing.
“That’s another thing I forgot about being mortal—you so much as breathe wrong and suddenly you might as well be on your deathbed!” He scoffs but leaps off the steps to the bottom as he finishes speaking. He sticks the landing better than Jesse would’ve expected but still wobbles on his feet. Jesse moves to walk down the stairs himself but that hole definitely catches his eye. He hates how much it makes him hesitate.
… So, he simply follows after Romeo’s lead, for better or for worse. He leaps off the steps right in tow and lands solidly with a thud. Romeo seems pleasantly surprised before his face shifts into something mischievous. Something just a little too clever is on the tip of his tongue and Jesse points at him in warning.
“Don’t ruin it.”
“... I simply don’t know what you’re talking about!” Romeo shrugs, “Anyhow! I don’t know what a mess of a man like yourself plans to do next, but I’ve got places to be. Sweat to… purge from my body back in hell.” He mumbles, awkwardly shrugging at the end. Jesse huffs a laugh and just shakes his head.
He stuffs his hands in his back pockets, glancing at his old home as he thinks. It makes him feel a little warmer to see now. But it’s probably about time he leaves for now. There’s another home that needs cleaning. In time though, he’ll get to them both. Sucking in a breath he nods to himself that silent promise and turns on heel, heading off down the road back towards the old Order temple, passing Romeo as he does. The man looks at him curiously before following a few paces behind.
“Escorting me now, eh?”
“Don’t give yourself that much credit. I’m a mess with a bigger mess I need to get back and clean up. We may be going to the same place, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking responsibility for anything stupid you do.” He says with a shrug and Romeo nods thoughtfully.
“Sure enough then. I don’t plan on it—I don’t believe coming back a gory mess would do any favors for your uncle’s blood pressure.”
“Nah, I think I beat you to that one anyhow. Wouldn’t even be original.”
Romeo hums and thoughtfully nods, “Very good point.”
Not the company he expected to share today, but he supposes it can’t get much worse. At the very least, the dry banter is surprisingly normal. He can do banter. A little more normal one step at a time. He glances up and takes in the dappled sunlight streaming in through the leaves in the trees, that tiny little house receding in the distance behind them. He wonders briefly if he looks like how his father did whenever he left the house. There’s no way to say for certain, but at least the old road is a comforting one.
“Oh, Romeo, I meant to ask—” He says almost with a laugh as he snaps back at him, “how good are you with carpentry?”
The man pauses mid-gait to think the question over before shrugging, “I dunno. Haven’t done it in millennia but it was pretty ingrained… I’d say I’m pretty confident despite the time!”
“Great! You owe me a new set of stairs.”
Chapter 42: Recoup
Summary:
In the aftermath of a horrible day, Jesse gets to talk to a few people he hasn't in a while before setting his sights forward on what to do next
Notes:
WE GOT ITTTTT YEAHHHH I don't have a whole lot of notes for this one but Im really happy with how it turned out!! It was very sweet to write and hopefully just as fun to read! Enjoy!! Also happy Spring Break to those who're in the midst of it currently and best of luck on any finals for those coming up on it!! 🙏💖
Chapter Text
Romeo conveniently tags along for most of the walk back, though Jesse hardly calls him on it until actually reaching the return portal. He almost thought the man might up and try and re-enter town with him. He ends up even asking him if he wants to and while the man clams up, stunned to even be asked, it doesn’t take him long to come to a surprisingly reasonable conclusion. It really wouldn’t be the best look to have Jesse walk out of that portal with him in tow given the newfound damage. How Jesse managed to not see that impresses himself, but he’s certain the shock has more than something to do with it. So instead, he simply thanks him for the escort back, which Romeo abashedly denies being what happened. As if his own presence didn’t ward off the mobs whose paths they’d crossed and moreso as if he didn’t know that. He’s a clever man, but still an awful liar.
But with final thank-yous and goodbyes properly exchanged, they each turned on heel towards their own homes. The nerves returned as Jesse passed through the portal and stepped back into the shallow water pooling at its feet, but they’re nowhere near the cacophonic noise it was earlier in the day.
The first thing Jesse notes is the darkness that permeates around him, and that alone speeds up his heartrate, but turning his eyes upwards he’s greeted by a much more welcome sight than craggy deepslate or old church bells—stars. Granted, there’s still a haze lingering on the horizon and in the air, but looking straight upwards? He can see stars against the darkening blue sky with the moon even beginning to cast its own ethereal light over everything.
He just focuses on that, keeping his mind blank as he scales his way back up to ground level from the old room. He’s a little wobbly on his feet, not quite realizing just how physically tired he was until now, but it doesn’t cause him too much trouble. With one last little hop, he’s back on what used to be the old tile floor of the Order Hall.
A scowl paints his features as he pauses to rest his hands on his hips and take another look around. With the haze clearer, it’s easier to see out across the whole collapsed structure. But more curiously, he spots distant yet warm torchlight and people still shuffling around the entrance. He can only assume it’s some attempt at a cleanup and rescue crew still responding. So that’s where he goes.
As he moves back into the midst of actual people, he gets a few gasps and relieved greetings. But nobody fully stops him. There’s a somberness to their words, an unspoken apology. He must look like he just got out of some sort of horror novel with the dried blood, mud, and other grime still caked all over him. Not a single chance to get washed yet. He makes sure to thank each person he passes and gets some reassuring pats on the shoulder and squeezes of his hands out of it, each person wholly dedicated to their work ahead. It reminds him, actually, that he’s still meant to make an address just the day after tomorrow. He’d already started writing one up, but hell, he’s going to be slaving over his desk now trying to rework it. But it’ll be done. It needs to be done after a day like today.
Walking down the remnants of the front steps, Jesse’s pleasantly shocked to find that the pile of rubble that was once the collapsed breezeway has already begun to be maneuvered and a pathway cleared. It takes him down and splashing through some more murky and shallow water, sure, but it leaves him astonished and what all has already been accomplished. But as he exits once more and gets closer to some more thoroughly lit areas, he sees just why.
His heart pangs with a bizarre combination of both pride and guilt as he spies the young man still animatedly working to coordinate a current group of volunteers. Jesse hangs back, allowing him to finish and the group to disperse before he dares interrupt, but the more he does, the more that feeling of pride overtakes any guilt that was welling up. A ghost of a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as the group lets out a sort of rallying chant before they dart off to work, leaving the young man behind—not that it fazes him, instead he just gets back to scribbling fervently at his makeshift desk.
“Radar.” Jesse calls out. The young man freezes in place.
Radar just turns around, eyes wide and glasses crooked on his face. He’s still just as mucked up as Jesse is but he’s also been too preoccupied to notice, it seems. Hell, he’s even got his jacket loosely hanging off of him halfway. For a split second Jesse’s almost sure that the look he’s gonna receive from him will be one of disdain, but that ridiculous thought is washed away before it even has a chance to linger as relief floods the young man’s form and a smile spreads across his face.
He doesn’t even have to say it. Jesse starts walking towards him and Radar meets him halfway, collapsing around the man in a hug that Jesse is more than happy to return with one arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders. He lingers for a moment, the air somber still, but that’s not the first thing Jesse intends to speak on. It’s more than obvious. Instead, Jesse just quietly takes proper stock of the full scene around them with people still rushing around in the distance and a bunch of little tents and pop-up canopies littering the town center. He nods quietly to himself before giving Radar another squeeze.
“I’m really proud of you.” He says, his voice quiet enough to just share in this moment. He hears the young man’s breath hitch a moment before he pulls away just enough to look up at him in surprise. Jesse gives him a tired smile in turn and just nods in approval as he looks around, “This is amazing what you’ve already gotten done. Thank you, Radar.”
Words seem to get caught in Radar’s throat, but after a second he just sternly nods up to him. “You don’t have to thank me, Jesse. I just— I couldn’t stand and watch. I had to do something.”
Jesse’s smile brightens, eyes twinkling with some newfound life and sheer pride as he just nods, “I hear ya. Still, I’m grateful.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit.” Radar hums with a shrug, but not in any sort of sheepish way like he once might have. There’s confidence in him that’s a pleasure to see. He really has come a long way in the last year alone, it makes him excited to see where he goes. Radar’s eyes then flick somewhere past Jesse and his smile grows as he gives Jesse a reassuring squeeze. In his stupor, Jesse can’t piece together the faintest of ideas why until a familiarly warm voice calls out.
“Jesse?!”
Looking back, Jesse’s eyes only widen before squinting in a flurry of confusion as he’s greeted by the sight of his uncle of all men, struck first and foremost by those ever more familiar blinding eyes of his. Radar lets him go and urges him along gently, though it moreso just causes him to stumble, but that at the very least shocks him back into some kind of motion.
“Uncle Hiro?” is all he gets out, bewilderment to see him here lacing his voice. That seems to only spur his uncle along though because the man quickens his pace over to him, already shaking his head far before catching up to him.
And catch him he does—in a real and proper hug that feels just like the home he was visiting mere hours before. It surprises him to have his long-burning eyes watering so suddenly from its warmth. Speaks for itself too with the strength in which Hiro hangs onto him. The man smells of smoke and metal, but like the homely kind you find around a fireplace or campfire. He wasn’t sure just how he’d feel to see his uncle again, but relief is all he finds as he hangs on in turn.
When he finally pulls back, Hiro’s grip eases to something gentle but sturdy as he takes Jesse’s face into his hands, brushing his grimey cheeks with his thumbs. From here, Jesse can more clearly sense the subtle shake in his hands only made clearer by the worry etched into those blinding eyes of his. Jesse reaches up and gives his wrists a reassuring squeeze and a smile to boot, albeit a pretty miserable one. His uncle just blows out a heavy sigh of relief and shakes his head.
“You are unbelievable.”
Jesse just huffs out a form of a laugh at that. He still has the energy to shoot something back though, matching his uncle’s nerves with the perfect remedy—snark.
“That’s a weird way to pronounce unkillable.”
“You—! Jesse De León—!” He tries scolding him but a laugh bubbles up and ruins any stern tone he attempts. He just shakes Jesse gently in his hands as he shakes his head, “I think your father is shooting all of his ethereal stress into my body!”
Jesse laughs a little more at that and shakes his head, “What are you doing here…?”
Hiro’s brows shoot up, “What am I doing here? Well I’m coming to make sure you’re still in one piece for starters! My god, Jesse! I mean—!” The man practically scoffs as he briefly lifts his head skywards before just shaking his head at him once more, “Going back to that stronghold? An Enderman?!” Hiro seems to want to go on but with the way Jesse winces he bites his tongue and just blows out a heavy and steadying sigh, dropping his hands down to his nephew’s shoulders. The frantic energy he sports is forced down and packed away, replaced with something simply serious. Jesse nods solemnly, patting his uncle’s hands briefly.
“I know. We have a lot to talk about—including dad’s journal on top. I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
“Yes, we do… But, for now, you desperately need to go home, clean up, and rest.”
Normally, Jesse may be inclined to argue—to do something more, but it’s more than obvious he won’t be of any help out here right now. His mind is utterly fried, but there’s still so much left for him to do. People to talk to, details to be caught up on—it’s exhausting to even think about.
Hiro gives his shoulders a squeeze, speaking with a stern tone rare for him, “I intend to stay here and help where I can. I don’t need to rest the same way you all do, and the boost my powers give me can go a long ways—I can be of service here.”
“... If that’s okay with you and the others, that’s alright with me. Has anybody given you any trouble though? I don’t mean to be callous but…” Jesse trails off as he glances the man up and down and while Hiro stiffens a moment he just sighs and offers a tired smile.
“No worries on that front. Frankly, people haven’t given much thought as to who’s helping him as long as they receive aid. Additionally, I’ve mainly been running about with Gabriel, Magnus, and Ivor since coming back here with him and Lukas. I think it’s helped to be around familiar faces, and I’ve got a lot of experience in scenes like this…” He mumbles the last bit, face tightening into something darker than he’s seen on the man.
Hell, actually taking a closer look at the man it’s obvious he’s already been hard at work. Usually a prim and proper shirt wrinkled and covered in dust and mud as are his hands and arms. Same story for his pants and shoes, now all scuffed and dirty—hell, he fits right in with the scene. Maybe dressed a little too well to begin with, but half the city was in the same boat. The sound of him clearing his throat pulls Jesse’s attention back to what he’s actually saying and he finds him smiling, though it’s definitely strained.
“So don’t you worry—you can get in on the clean-up once that head of yours is cleared and your body is rested. Sound like a deal?”
Jesse nods, “I think I can manage that, yeah.” He pauses in thought for a moment, gaze flicking up and down from his uncle with another question on the tip of his tongue. His uncle merely raises a brow expectantly. Jesse clears his throat, “You mentioned um… Lukas came back with you?”
A far too knowing look glazes over Hiro’s face as a corner of his mouth upturns into a smirk. Jesse does his best to remain stoic, but can feel his face burn all the same. Hopefully the grime masks it. Finally though Hiro steps back and simply nods, hands casually resting on his hips.
“He did indeed. In fact, he was the one who came to find me to begin with! Seems he was awfully worried about you, followed your little path into the Nether and assumed you’d gone to find me—not even a weapon to his name save for a dagger Ivor tossed him at the last minute. Ivor followed him, but he was a few minutes behind—apparently making sure the others knew just what they were up to.”
“Did he!” He raises his brows and nods, trying and failing to act like that doesn’t stir some kind of horrible butterflies in his stomach nor make his heart beat like a drum in his chest. Hiro nods quite sincerely, clearly reading him like a book but at the very least doing the favor to his pride of not saying it. Still, he eases up and gives him a gentle bump on the arm.
“He really has been worried about you, Jesse. Was certainly a disheveled mess by the time we got to speaking. I know things are… Difficult, to say the least. But I think he’d be quite happy to see you.”
Jesse nods quietly. He’s nervous, definitely, but… He misses Lukas now more than that. He crosses his arms over his chest and rolls his lips, working up the courage to find a way to start walking.
“Could… Could you pass along a message for me down the grapevine? Just let the others know I got home alright?”
“I think I can manage something as simple as that.” Hiro nods. Jesse returns it but then pauses once more, having yet another question on the tip of his tongue. Hiro waits just as expectantly as he finds the words for it. Finally, Jesse clears his throat and glances up to him, voice a bit quieter.
“And uh… Would you walk with me?”
Hiro’s gaze softens and that smile returns. He nods readily, “I’d be happy to, Jesse. Lead on.”
It doesn’t take much to get going from there. The walk through town is a somber one, and even in the low light of the newfound night, Jesse can see just how far the debris and grime has reached. Caked onto buildings, boulders and rubble flung out just block after block. The walls of Beacontown don’t provide the same sense of safety they once did.
But his uncle does.
They don’t really talk as they walk, but his mere presence is one that keeps him at ease. Both for the task ahead of him and just the mere act of passing through town and soaking it in. Hiro takes it seriously, too. It’s his odd stoic side that comes out during it. He walks with confidence, but Jesse can tell by the way he carries himself that he’s almost ready for anything if it comes to it. Briefly it leaves his mind wandering and wondering just what all his uncle has seen and been through in those twenty years he was gone. Stories for another day—he seems naturally defensive though. But right now he finds himself more than grateful for it. If the need arose, he certainly isn’t in the frame of mind for it.
Soon enough they reach their destination. Jesse hesitates at the porch steps but gets a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder for his troubles. He smiles in thanks.
“Well, this is your stop! All in one piece, too!” Hiro hums, lightheartedly flicking Jesse in the forehead as he says it which gets a snort and batting of the hand from the young man. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Sound like a plan?”
“Sure. I’ll be happy to.”
“Good.” He replies rather pointedly but then eases up with a sigh as he briefly glances between the house and his nephew, “Have a good night, Jesse. And please take care of yourself.”
“I will. You too, uncle. Thank you again.” Jesse says and gets a simple nod in return. But as Hiro turns to leave, a sudden thought hits Jesse and he perks right up—feeling foolish to have somehow let it slip his mind already. He quickly catches his uncle by the arm, “Oh! Wait! Can you wait for a sec? I wanna give you something.”
Hiro looks at him quizzically for a moment but shrugs and eases up, “Sure. Hit me with it.”
Jesse smiles, albeit nervously. He’d been thinking about it on the way over and it just seems like the right thing to do. He turns and hurries up the steps, trying not to overthink it as he reaches the door. He does anyways though, lingering on the handle for a few moments before just shaking it off and shoving the door open anyhow.
The light inside almost blinds him compared to the dim Nether and night outside. He rubs at his eyes for a minute as he lets the door shut behind him. Looking around and stepping further inside though, he’s met with more than just one surprised gaze. He catches Lukas’ eyes first as he sits on the main couch, but with him in the home are Maya, Gil, and Aiden. He feels especially put on the spot now, but remains stuck sharing a deer in the headlight look with Lukas.
Nervously, Jesse rolls his lips and ends up just raising his hands and moreso a finger. A signal to just… Hang on. He’s gonna be right back and make this quick. He’s more than nervous to request such a thing already, but wordlessly Lukas understands and nods for him to move along. He returns the gesture in thanks and quickly makes his way to his room. Behind him, for a brief moment, he hears the others begin talking followed by sudden shuffling. But that’s not what matters right now.
Inside his room, Jesse strides over to his messy little desk and shuffles through all of the old papers and journals he left there. It takes a minute—curse his haphazard nature—but he finally finds the one he needs. That last journal. Picking it up still feels utterly unreal and has him holding his breath. He takes a moment to soak it in again, running his fingertips over that old leather. Finally, he nods to himself and clutches it close to his chest before hurrying out.
Outside of his room he strides back to the front door without tearing his eyes off of it, focused on what he’s doing. The warm night’s air hits him like a wall as he gets the door open and it takes him a second to rebound from it, almost laughing at himself. Hiro, waiting patiently, turns around with a smile and watches his nephew hop down the steps with a curious eye.
“Here.” Jesse simply says with a small smile before holding out the journal to him. Hiro blinks as he looks down and takes a moment to process what exactly is being handed to him. When he does? Hell, those glowing eyes of his practically flash like a momentary flare in sheer shock. The look he shoots Jesse is utter confusion and worry.
“Jesse! This is—! I-I can’t just—!”
“Oh, but you’re gonna!” Jesse insists, reaching out and guiding one of his hands to grab onto it. “Look… I know what I’m doing, uncle Hiro. I trust you. I was thinking, just…” He pauses, gaze falling down to the book now, “There’s so much to talk about… I don’t know where to even begin. But this? You deserve a chance to read it too. And I know that—regardless of everything else going on—you’re going to take care of it.”
Hiro hesitates yet but, as Jesse lets go, he fully pulls the little journal closer. He runs his fingers over the leather, expression stern and brimming with that sense of mourning Jesse’s been touting for weeks. Finally, he blows out a sigh and clutches the old book to his chest, meeting Jesse’s gaze dreadfully seriously.
“I will. You have my word.”
Jesse smiles up at him, merely nodding. There’s not much else he feels he has to say. And even if he were going to, the bundle of noise that bursts out the front door behind him is enough to stall anything left he might’ve had. The Blaze Rods come shuffling out in a hurry, all babbling about a variety of things—Maya in the lead, Gil behind her, and Aiden taking up the rear. Jesse hops back out of the way and Maya gives him a bright grin and confident swipe under the chin.
“Chin-up, Blue! Dread doesn’t suit you!” She pauses then leans in with a sly wink, voice quieter, “Don’t worry, we loosened him up for ya.”
“Yeah!” Gil chimes in, arms wide as he follows, “And don’t we just have the most convenient timing, too? OW!” He yelps as Aiden reaches up and lightly smacks the back of his head before rolling his eyes and pushing him along.
“Dude. Subtle.” He nods to Jesse in passing as he goes, “Take care, Freckles. No more surprises on our watch—can promise ya that.” He huffs, a confident smile lighting up his features. It’s a weird comfort. But just like that, they’re gone as quickly as they came with enough personality to fill a building. Hiro watches them go with a chuckle and shake of his own head.
“Quirky bunch. As expected from ‘round here. On that note though, I’ll take my leave too.” He reaches up and messes up Jesse’s hair once for good measure. Pulling back, he gives him a final nod, “You have a good night Jesse.”
“You too, uncle.”
Hiro smiles then turns his gaze upwards and behind him and waves, Jesse not quite processing why until he speaks again, “Good to see you again as well, Lukas!”
Jesse feels his stomach flip on a dime.
“You too, Hiro. Glad we could talk.”
Hiro smirks as he shoots Jesse one last look, punctuating it with a wink. And like that? He turns on heel and leaves, striding away quickly as always and seemingly opening that journal and burying his nose in it right as he starts walking, his own eyes illuminating the pages before him. Jesse lingers for a moment, watching his form disappear into the night and around Beacontown’s tight corners. Finally, with no more excuses, he turns back to glance up at the porch.
Lukas is left leaning on the doorframe, light from the house illuminating his backside and almost making it hard to read his expression. But his eyes adjust enough to see it’s fairly neutral, if not a bit tense. Jesse stands at the bottom of the steps, hands awkwardly tucked into his pockets as his mind runs through a million different things he could say. Things he should say. But where to start? He can only assume—or rather, hope that Lukas is thinking the same.
They both stay there in the horrific quiet however. The only sounds filling the air being the summer crickets, occasional breeze, and distant ambiance of the city shuffling around in the aftermath of the day. Both want to say something. They might vary on what exactly that is, but neither are getting anywhere fast like this. With his hands sweaty in his pockets and heart felt in his throat, Jesse takes a leap to break that initial silence.
“Today—…” He starts, voice raspier than he intends. He clears his throat and sighs, speaking quietly with exhaustion settling back into his own frame, “After today just... Are you okay?”
Lukas quietly regards him for a long moment before slowly nodding, “Yeah… Just a bit bumped and scraped. Shaken.”
Jesse slowly nods with that, awkwardly pulling his hands back up to rub at his arms. Lukas drums a finger on his own crossed arms—a nervous habit. Jesse notes that he’s still pretty disheveled for his own standards, but cleaned up from the dirt at the very least. Cut up and scraped like he said though. He’s probably got his own myriad of those he’s gonna discover soon.
“Are you okay?” Lukas asks, pulling his gaze back up to him in a surprised snap. Jesse blinks but slowly nods.
“Yeah… Yeah, I’m okay. Just… a bit bumped and scraped. Shaken.” He replies with a shrug and tired smile. Lukas huffs, but it’s a fond one. Still, they’re left with the silence between them again. Both men glance down at their own feet. Jesse feels like he’s twenty again and struggling to talk to him at Endercon all that time ago now. Lukas breaks it this time though with a clearing of his own throat.
But then he hangs there for a second, mouth slightly open like he wants to say something but is coming up short. Eventually, he just sighs and shakes his head. He pushes off of the doorframe and pads over to the edge of the stairs. Jesse eyes him curiously and his heart skips a beat as the man just relaxes and offers a hand out.
Blue eyes flick up unsurely for a moment. No hit comes though. Gently, Jesse reaches up and clasps Lukas’ hand. His own eyes seem to soften in turn as he squeezes it before he guides Jesse up the stairs. It’s warm and almost makes his own hand tingle.
Once on the porch, the pair shuffle around slightly and Lukas doesn’t immediately let go, allowing Jesse closer into his space. Jesse scans the man curiously, eyes flicking over every detail of his face to try and pinpoint just what is going on in that head of his. The golden orange light pouring out from the open door of the house bathes them in warmth, and it’s beyond comforting.
There’s a brief hesitation as Jesse finally feels the warmth of Lukas’ hand slip away from his own. But it doesn’t take long to be replaced as the man tentatively reaches up and brushes some of his messy locks out of his face and lingers with his hands coming to cup his jaw. Jesse melts into the touch, eyes shutting and instinctively clasping his own hands over Lukas’ as the man inspects him.
Then those hands move further back, and suddenly Jesse is pulled into a gentle embrace. It steals his breath momentarily, but he doesn’t make a peep—keen to not ruin it. He raises his own hands to Lukas’ back, gripping it a bit tighter than he means to as he buries his face in his shoulder. Lukas returns the gesture, holding him tighter for the moment.
They stay like that for a long while. Long enough that the tension begins to release from Jesse’s chest, like releasing a pressure valve. He almost thinks he feels them swaying for a moment, but he probably just imagines that.
A heaviness still remains in the air. Jesse knows that. They both know that. But they’ll face that hurdle in a minute. For now? This is fine. This says ‘I’m happy you’re safe’ better than their own mucked up words might.
Eventually though, they part, meeting each other in the eye almost immediately. A lingering ‘Now what?’ left permeating the air. Lukas rolls his lips, brows furrowed hard in thought as he just reaches up to swipe another curl from Jesse’s eyes and rubs some dirt off of his cheek. His bangs are getting long enough to become a hassle now. He’ll need to get a trim or start pushing them back and out of his eyes. But that’s a problem for later.
“I managed to find some time between it all,” Lukas starts, glancing off unsurely, “I cleaned some clothes. Fresh. I can go ahead and draw you a bath if you’d like.” He mumbles out, but his tone is gentle. It’s seemingly a small thing, but a gesture that says a lot. Jesse’s eyes sting a little at the mere thought.
“I—... Are you sure?”
“Mhm… Might help. Little nicer than a shower.”
“... Yeah. I think I’d like that. Thank you, Lukas.” Jesse pauses, gripping his own hands somewhat nervously at his front as he traps an ‘I love you’ in his throat. Instead, he opts for something else that says it all the same, “After, I’ll cook something if you haven’t eaten yet.”
Lukas’ eyes soften and a small smile pulls at the corners of his mouth, “Yeah… I think I’d like that.”
Jesse matches his smile in turn and, despite the nerves still tying him into knots, there’s a sense of calm that washes over him. With that, Lukas steps back and guides Jesse inside the warm home, something he happily obliges. Shutting the door behind them, the cold messy world outside is momentarily shut out once more. For now, everything that matters lies within these walls.
~~~~~
Scratching and howling at the bathroom door is Jesse’s sign that he’s taking far too long. He can only smile as he sits there, glancing at the pacing shadow of that little ocelot as he starts pawing under the door. It gets a little chuckle out of him and he figures he might as well finish up. The scalding water and thick steam really has been nice, though. With a fresh set of clothes waiting for him to boot, how could he not soak it in?
And hell, it probably sounds silly… But as he worked to scrub away all of the blood, sweat, and grime, he felt like there was more being washed away and sent down that drain. Like with each little white set of suds, another layer of this little era of fear was peeled away. Despite the uncertainty ahead still, an odd but welcome serenity settles in the place where all of his paranoia, fear, and anxiety has been making its home since that Stronghold. He feels like he’s hit rock bottom after today—the only place to go from here is up.
Sure, it’s not all going to magically disappear overnight—the nightmares, the jumpiness, the lingering distrust throughout town, they’re going to take some time—but at the very least, it’s like he can feel his own mind coming back to him. Like he can sigh out in relief and start walking forward again, however that’ll look. A sense of regaining his grip on life’s reins.
Even as he moves to dry off and get dressed again, his muscles are momentarily pain-free. He feels lighter.
He works on getting his hair from being soaking wet and—seeing Dewey’s paws still swiping under the door—he smiles and flicks the towel down as a makeshift toy. That certainly gets the cat’s attention and it immediately starts playing and clawing at it with much more fervor. So much fervor, in fact, that as Dewey jumps in to swipe particularly far there is a resoundingly solid thump against the door. Jesse immediately grimaces but begins chuckling to himself as the odd little cat seems to reassess their game after thoroughly headbutting solid oak. Then, of course, comes the long wailing howl.
“I’m sorry Dew!” Jesse says between weak laughs, grimacing through a grin as he gently takes the towel back. He receives more howling from the ocelot in reply and just shakes his head.
He tosses the towel aside and moves to fully close up his shirt, but pauses a moment as he passes the mirror. He hesitates a second but then wipes away some of the steam and uses it to get a better look at his new laceration scars, moving the extra fabric aside. They’re still not fully settled, of course, but past the point of much concern. Still, even they’ve left him alone tonight. They’re starting to blend in more with his myriad of others. Less red, less swollen, and parts of the scabbing begin to flick off and reveal discolored scar tissue beneath them. The ones from Mevia’s axes finally have some competition, he notes. He huffs out a tired but amused smile before just shaking his head and buttoning up. If his father could see him he'd probably be doing the same thing. Such a troublemaker.
Thoroughly cleaned up, he makes sure everything in the bathroom is folded up and put in its proper places before taking his leave. He has to suddenly stop short as he tries stepping out to keep from tripping over or, heaven forbid, stepping on Dewey. He lets out a less than graceful sound as he hops around on one foot to keep from committing such an unthinkable crime, and Dewey merely stares up at him with big eyes as he sits there. Then he peeks his head in the bathroom curiously, racing inside before Jesse has a chance to really respond. He huffs and stands there with one hand on his hip and the other still propping open the door.
“Dewey, you’re not gonna like it in there like that.”
He gets an almost whining wail in return and just rolls his eyes. He watches and waits as the ocelot investigates the steamed out room. Dewey steps in one spot only to bounce to the side and seemingly glare at it as he shakes his paw. Then he sniffs it. Then he moves on, pointedly walking around the little splash of water. Not that his next stop is going to be any better, Jesse can only shake his head as Dewey eyes the tub and leaps up and into it. It’s mostly empty by now save for maybe the thin layer of water that’s left to dry, but even that is too much. The moment he lands Dewey springs back up almost like a cartoon and immediately scrambles in the tub to gain traction and leap out. Not only does he launch out of the tub, but he manages to use the doorframe as a springboard to utterly bolt out in a frenzy. Jesse just laughs as he lets the door properly shut.
“I told you!”
Dewey runs around shaking himself out and kicking his feet dry, but it takes him a few laps before he starts to settle again. Finally though, he leaps up onto the back of the couch and hastily starts grooming himself. Jesse just crosses his arms and watches him settle with a smile. He reaches out and gives him a solid pat on the head, playing briefly with his paws as he walks off.
He makes his way into the kitchen and drums his fingers on his leg as he takes a peek at what they’ve got to cook up. What even sounds good? He lets out a long hum of thought before hearing the floor creak behind him as Lukas walks back into the room. He glances back at him over his shoulder and nods in greeting, which the man returns. As he does, he steps slightly aside so the food is a bit clearer and nods towards it.
“Any preference?”
Lukas blinks, caught a little off-guard before he purses his lips in thought. He steps further in, hands in his pockets as he peers over everything in both the pantry and fridge. He perks up with an idea and opens the freezer, careful to let Jesse step aside as he does. Jesse whistles at what he pulls out, taking the carefully packaged fish from him. Hell, he doesn’t realize how hungry he is until he sees it—he might start drooling at this rate. They may not have everything needed for something super fancy, but can’t go wrong with salmon. He smiles up at Lukas, an inspired glint in his eyes.
“I know just the thing! Salmon is perfect.” He hums and moves to get everything ready to prep it, now seamlessly darting around the whole kitchen. Lukas steps back to lean against the table to give him space, a small smile on his face.
“It’s fresh too—Maverick sent it. A get-well-soon gift according to the note.”
Jesse pauses to smile a little brighter at that, “That’s super sweet! I gotta get some kind of thank-you for him in turn. Same with those docs, too—Lisette especially. I know we thanked them in the moment but just—... Something a little more proper feels in order, considering.” He trails off a little and Lukas just nods in agreement.
“How was the bath?” Lukas asks, voice still a little quiet. Jesse glances at him briefly to check on him. There’s still some nerves oozing off of him, understandably, but he seems more relaxed. Jesse takes a minute to stop what he’s doing to offer him a warm smile and small nod.
“Perfect. Just perfect… I really appreciate it, Lukas. And I cleaned up in there and have the window cracked to air it out, so don’t worry about anything like that.” He pauses to glance over at Dewey who’s still licking the wounds to his pride, “Dewey even inspected my work. Got his seal of approval!” He hums and that gets a quiet chuckle out of the man. He lightens up with that and slowly crosses his arms as his gaze shifts to the ceiling and a sly smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth.
“Really now? And… would you say he was bouncing off the walls in sheer joy?”
“Damn, so you heard that, huh?” Jesse huffs, shooting a grin over his shoulder as he washes his hands. Lukas just shrugs.
“Only a little.” He hums. There’s a momentary pause in the conversation and Lukas pushes himself off of the table and meanders over, taking a glance at Jesse’s workspace as the man claps his hands and moves to get started, “Is there anything I can do?”
Jesse slowly pauses, stopping momentarily to look up at him in surprise. But then his expression softens. There’s a brief hesitance on his part but, in spite of it, he reaches up to lightly brush Lukas’ cheek before he runs his hand down to his chest and pats it.
“Let me do this for you—it’s alright… My turn, okay?” He says quietly, gently. Lukas softens, his eyes practically shimmering in what he can much more clearly see is guilt. A gentle hand takes hold of his, lifting it off his chest and running his fingers over his knuckles.
Lukas changes his grip to something a little sturdier as he raises Jesse’s knuckles to his lips, placing sweet and featherlike kisses on each one of them. The butterflies are back as warmth pools in Jesse’s stomach at the touch. Finally, Lukas’ gaze meets his own once more and it almost feels like his breath is being taken from him again. Gently, Jesse tugs the man in a little further and Lukas obliges, leaning down a little to press his forehead against Jesse’s which he happily basks in. The touch is warm and soothing, leaving his heart hammering a little quicker in his chest.
“I’m sorry…” Lukas breaks the little silence, voice quiet but genuine. He opens his mouth with more to say, but seemingly struggles to find the words he needs. But Jesse knows what he means. It was obvious what he meant before he even opened his mouth.
“I am too… We can talk about everything more after dinner, okay? I’m ready if you are.” He replies with a reassuring squeeze to Lukas’ hand still wrapped around his. The man nods, not taking his eyes off of Jesse for a second.
“It’s a date, then.” A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips which Jesse mirrors before he blows out a sigh and basks in the little embrace for a moment longer. With another squeeze to Jesse’s hand, Lukas murmurs one more thing, “I love you, Jesse.”
Despite his heart leaping into his throat and catching his breath, Jesse breathes out a reply, “I love you, too, Lukas… We’ll figure this out.”
“I know. I trust you.” Lukas says with a warm smile before pulling back for the moment. Jesse’s own smile brightens and crinkles his eyes. Even as Lukas steps back, the hold on Jesse’s hand lingers up to the fingertips until he’s entirely out of reach. It leaves them both chuckling a little. And from there Jesse gets to proper work with their dinner.
The time passes in a blur from there. It becomes something of routine, which is a welcome relief. For the moment, nothing outside lingers in the quiet of his mind. It’s just… A nice meal. He’s no five-star chef by any means but it tastes good, he eats everything on his plate, and they even toss Dewey some bites and laugh over it.
Cleanup goes the same. Easy. Quiet—but a serene type. Even as Jesse finishes drying off the last of the plates and the inevitable conversation he’s found himself dreading for days rears its head, there’s no longer a sickening churning in his stomach. They just have to talk and do what they’ve gotta do to straighten things out—like they’ve always done. Simple as that.
As he makes his way back into the main room and greets Lukas once more, there’s really only one thing left stopping him short. Where to begin?
For better or for worse, Lukas seems to struggle with the same problem. Both are a breath away from saying something and waiting in sheer anticipation for the other, but it just leaves them stalling. Finally, Jesse gets his brain to just spit something out but, much like before, Lukas has a similar idea.
“I’m sorry for—“ “I’m so sorry that—“
They both blurt out their apologies at the same time, accidentally speaking over each other and stopping short as they realize it. They stare at each other for a moment as the moment processes before weak laughter finds its way out of the both of them. Jesse just crosses his arms sheepishly while Lukas runs his hands through his hair. They eye each other for a moment before the corners of Lukas’ mouth twitch upwards slightly.
“We’re so good at this, aren’t we?”
“Only the best, of course.” Jesse replies with a tired smile before holding his hands up, “Here, I’ll start.”
Lukas seems to hesitate for a second with that guilt flashing in his eyes once more but he concedes with just a nod. Jesse sucks in a deep breath as he regathers the words that have been floating through his head off and on for a bit now—well, when he’s gotten the chance between it all anyways. Clearing his throat, he starts the best he can.
“I’m sorry for being so… Difficult to say the very least. I-I know that my determination and persistence has always been pretty positive! But this— this isn’t quite the same… I’ve been bull-headed, short-sighted, and admittedly not very agreeable to anything outside of that. And now that’s—...” He pauses, shaking his head as he takes in another deep breath, “Now that’s gone and created this whole mess. I can’t help but think that going back to that Stronghold was just kicking the hornet’s nest. It was already hell enough getting stuck down there—trapping you, too. Letting you get so hurt… But now with everything in town?” He hesitates, briefly losing track of where he’s going as the reality of it all momentarily stuns him again.
“Jesse, I-I know what I said before but that’s not— I didn’t mean—” He sighs, stumbling over his own words before taking a breath to speak clearly and succinctly, “I do not want you feeling responsible for this asshole’s actions. They did this, not you.”
“I know. But I am responsible for my own mistakes that’ve led to them.” He says, a weird sense of deja vu washing over him but unable to pinpoint how and where from. A bitter smile washes over his face, “If what people have been saying is true, then I got a lot of it from my dad. The stubbornness. The curiosity that has me sticking my nose in places I shouldn’t. I’d say the jury’s still out on whether that’s for the better or for the worst given how things are going.” He says with a weak laugh. He sighs, “I’m also sorry for scaring you so much. As much as it hurts to know you guys felt you had to keep me in the dark, I get where you’re coming from… I haven’t exactly been focusing on my own health here.”
“No, I’m sorry for lying. That was my own bad call. And you’re not the only one here who should be apologizing for being foolishly stubborn. I still cannot believe what it took to get my own head on straight…” Lukas sighs and takes Jesse’s hands in his own, “I know how you feel about being lied to, and yet I did it anyways at a time when you needed literally anything else. I really just— just let my fears get the better of me.” He mumbles, face a little red as he admits it.
Jesse looks at him in a mix of sympathy and puzzlement, “Lukas… I know you feel guilty about me getting hurt. But it’s like we’ve both said time and time again now—we couldn’t have seen it coming. So… I feel like I’m still missing a piece here. What changed? Talk to me.”
Lukas’ brows knit together in worry for a moment as he takes a long look over Jesse. Finally though, he blows a quiet breath out through his nose and nods, leading him to sit down with him on the couch. Jesse obliges and just waits quietly—expectantly. He runs his thumbs over the backs of Jesse’s hands as he gathers his thoughts before finally surprising Jesse with a question he wasn’t quite expecting.
“Your memories of the Stonghold pretty much stop after I collapsed, right?”
Jesse blinks. But then he tries running through the events of that ordeal once more. He’s gotten a lot more of the pieces back together since they’ve gotten back, but he still knows it’s not perfect. But, as the man says, things remain dark after the Warden encounter. Even Lukas collapsing is fuzzy—he remembers the fear he felt more than the details. Slowly, he nods.
“Yeah… After that— that Warden I just… The next clear place I remember is the clinic.”
Lukas sighs in a way that almost sounds like relief and he nods, giving his hands a solid squeeze, “I’m glad. I’m glad…”
“Why? What happened?” Jesse asks, dread actually beginning to pool in his otherwise hollow gut as he racks his brain for some other monster encounter he’s missing.
“I-It wasn’t any sort of attack, so don’t worry about that. But you…” He trails off which quickly pulls Jesse’s attention back up to look Lukas in the eyes. That grip on Jesse’s hands tighten, almost protectively and it leaves his heart drumming a little louder. Lukas sighs, “You hit your breaking point down there, Jess… Y-You were hurt and sick and just—... You just kept begging me to let you quit and rest. You couldn’t stand to do it anymore. I know we’ve had our moments over the years, sure, but—... But never like that, Jess.”
“Lukas…” Jesse breathes, moving one hand up to gently rub his arm. Lukas just continues.
“I was so close to losing you— It just terrified me. It still does. And, even if you couldn’t remember it, I knew how close you were to that breaking point. I-I didn’t know what would happen if we told you something more on top of it all, but I was scared to find out. So that’s… That’s where my head was at. And then when you brought up the End?” He can only let out a pathetic huff of a laugh as he shakes his head, “I choked. I let my own terror and guilt get the better of me and just… lashed out. And I’m sorry for that. I never want you to feel like you have to choose between getting closure with your father or being with me. But, dense and arrogant ol’ me, that’s exactly what I did.”
His voice trails off into silence as Jesse just watches him, eyes shining in somber sympathy. As he mulls his words over, he slowly begins to understand a few more things himself. Why he was so much more tense after it all, for starters. The mind can forget, sure, but the body sure doesn’t. And it certainly creates a clearer picture on Lukas being as high-strung as he’s been. Quietly, Jesse tugs Lukas forward and into a hug. The man freezes for a moment in the embrace before finally relaxing and returning it.
“I’m so sorry that I’ve been so callous. This whole thing is just so— so—”
“Ludicrous?”
“Heh, that’s an eloquent way of putting it. I was just gonna say crazy.” Lukas huffs and Jesse can’t help but chuckle a little bit into his shoulder. From there, Jesse just lets his head rest as he soaks everything in, the pieces of it all falling more into place. They were both wrecks. Just too much all at once and nowhere to flush it out.
“... I’m going to be better. I don’t want you of all people feeling like nothing you say matters to me. It’s everything and more to me, Lukas.” He mumbles with a sigh and just feels Lukas’ grip on him tighten ever so slightly.
“Thank you, I know it is… It was foolish of me to doubt that. I’m sorry for what I said. Especially with your father. That was—... That was a low blow. I don’t want to be someone you feel you have to hide things from or can’t be honest with. I hope I can earn that trust again.”
Jesse smiles softly, “Frankly, knowing you, and knowing everything we’ve already seen, said, and done? I don’t think that’ll be too hard. Thank you, though.”
“Of course, Jesse. I know you’re not naive or stupid, and I certainly know you’re not made of glass. Doesn’t do us any good to act like you are.”
“Honestly, I can’t say I’d’ve done much better if I was in your shoes. We’ve been stuck between a rock and a hard place both literally and figuratively lately.”
“Oh man, once this is all settled, I’m boycotting any kinda caving adventures for at least the next five years. Endermen, too—I already didn’t like ‘em but this is just the cherry on top.” Lukas sighs and scoffs while Jesse hums out a little laugh.
“Only five years?”
“I’m being generous enough I think with your and Petra’s track records.”
“Heh! I wish I had room to argue but—” He smiles a little there, “I’ll at least aim for six. For your sake.”
“Now you’re just sucking up.” He hums bluntly and Jesse laughs, cheeks burning a little. Lukas softens at that, finally lighting up in a way that releases the weight that’d settled into his eyes. After a moment though, some nerves snake their way back into the man’s frame.
“So, uh… We’re cool?” He asks almost sheepishly. It’s a small and timid question, but one that’s oh-so familiar. It easily sends Jesse just flashing back to being freshly twenty. That same tone and uncertainty he spoke with all that time ago at Endercon—he always found it somewhat endearing. Jesse beams with a chuckle as he nods.
“Yeah. We’re cool.”
“Cool, cool…” Lukas nods to himself thoughtfully, blowing out a sigh of relief.
“Coolio.” Jesse hums and Lukas pauses for a second as his mind must take him back in the same way as Jesse’s. Then he just snorts out the perfect response, as done once before.
“Coolness!”
They just break into stupid laughter from there, snickering like children. It’s a bit mind-boggling to think of how far they’ve come now, but he’s certainly not against it. How could he be? Well, maybe his twenty year old self still had some reservations, but they are long past those minor talking points.
As their laughter pitters out and the quiet steals back in, the tension that once laced the air is replaced with the feeling settling in all over Beacontown now. Silent Anticipation. Like a quiet question muttered under one’s breath. Jesse sucks in a deep and measured breath and Lukas rubs his arms before meeting him in the eyes, both men wearing equally stern looks. One more thing needs to be covered. One last hard conversation. But one they can more than handle now. Biting the bullet, Jesse speaks first.
“So… My uncle doesn’t have any of the End artifacts.”
“No. He doesn’t.” Lukas confirms and Jesse just nods. “I—... I went to the Nether today thinking you’d gone to speak with him in the shock of it all. Didn’t find you there, of course, but Ivor wanted to stay and catch Hiro up to speed. So… That’s what we did. I’ve filled him in on everything I can, I think he’s just wanting to pick your brain on it now.”
Jesse grimaces but nods. He’s not exactly looking forward to going into detail about how he almost got killed in that Stronghold just like his father, but it’ll have to happen sooner or later.
“Yeah. I heard. Sorry for up and disappearing, I just had to get some space to… I dunno, not explode?” he huffs out a ghost of a laugh, “Not one of my most graceful moves but I’d say it’s par for the course ‘round here lately.”
Lukas hums with a small smile, “I’m just relieved to see you come back alright. Where’d you end up heading off to anyhow? You went into the Nether then…?” Lukas trails off and shakes his head at a loss. Jesse smiles sheepishly.
“I hopped out at the old Order Temple. Remember what I said when we were on the way to the Stronghold about my home not being too much further?” He asks and Lukas’ eyes light up, “That’s where I went. I went home…”
Slowly, Lukas nods, “I see… And, how was it?”
“Messy.” Jesse laughs weakly, a pang of guilt shooting through him as he does but he shakes it off easily, “The time’s caught up to it and it’s obvious some people have been through it. Some Allays have taken up residence in the area though—the front door fell off the hinges when I first got there and one worked to help me find some old nails to repair it. Sweet little things. It was… Idyllic, almost. I really needed something simple but sweet like that…” He says, slowly nodding as he does.
“I’m glad to hear it, Jesse. I’d love to see it one day.”
“Heh! I’ll definitely have to clean it up a little before the grand tour. Romeo owes me a new set of porch steps.”
“Romeo?” Lukas asks, tone so obviously skeptical it almost makes him chuckle. Sucking in a big breath, Jesse nods.
“Yeah. The guy showed up outta nowhere and had a chat with me. It wasn’t bad though… Can’t believe I’m actually saying that about Romeo of all men, but hell, bigger fish to fry at the moment. He… He had a good idea of what was running through my head. Hate to say it. But it was a good talk. Gave me an addition to his armor-set, too.”
“That’s…” Lukas starts, rather dumbfounded. Jesse just grins and nods. Exactly.
“Who knew! There’s an ounce of empathy that survived it all! He may have hope for him yet.” He jokes but a sense of gratefulness still remains.
He wouldn’t tell him, at least not right now, but he isn’t sure how any other encounter out there would’ve gone. Romeo was just the right person for the time and for that house. He pauses on that thought as the images of the rooms flicker through his mind again and he frowns.
“One thing to note, I suppose, is that my room was ransacked. Most rooms were messy but mine was torn apart—as if someone was looking for something at some point. It wasn’t recent. I’d bet it was our little pursuer trying to find their disks that I unwittingly took home. Only room that wasn’t touched was my uncle’s… Hell, if anything it was cleaned.”
“... I don’t like the sound of that. You should mention that to him when you two talk. I don’t know if he’ll have any foresight, but that feels… Notable.”
“Agreed.” Jesse sternly nods. After a second of silence Lukas perks up slightly, another thought crossing his mind.
“Oh! Speaking of—he actually did mention something weird. I’m sure he’ll bring it up when you and him talk next but he had another one of those nightmares. And he said that he heard your voice yelling right after? Woke him up and he thought we were both in the Nether, but obviously I mean—” Lukas just shrugs and shakes his head. Jesse frowns at that.
“Heard me?”
“Yeah. Heard you yelling for me, too. Happened around the same time we were stuck down in the stronghold. Right in the thick of it.”
That sends an odd chill up his spine, “That’s weird… Did he mention anything about the dream he had beforehand?”
Lukas hesitates, a spark of fear flashing in his eyes before slowly nodding, “Yeah… He did…”
“And…?” Jesse asks, voice small and partially grimacing. Just from Lukas’ look alone he knows he’s not gonna be liking the answer that comes.
“He only brought up the fact he had this dream after I’d explained the endermen that attacked us, Jesse… The description I gave—.. He said it was exactly like the one he saw in his dream.” Lukas frowns and shakes his head, “I can’t make much sense of it. But he said he was having some sort of scuffle with it in the End Dimension. That his own hand was all messed up and like an Enderman as well, but that he also heard the dragon’s wings flapping somewhere overhead—he couldn’t see it anywhere though, sounding like it was constantly close behind him. Woke up after the thing screeched at him.”
Jesse shudders, practically able to hear it in his own ears, “That’s bizarre… What are the odds? Did he mention when he ran into that Enderman?”
“That was what creeped him out, Jesse. He’s never seen that Enderman before. Not until that dream.” Lukas mumbles and Jesse just rubs his face a little as he tries putting the pieces together. But he can jam them together all he wants—some things just don’t fit yet.
“I’d bet good money that Enderman is the same one that attacked the woman down there all those years ago…” Jesse mumbles now, brows knitted together tightly in thought and Lukas tilts his head curiously at that.
“You sound more confident in that now…”
“Yeah… Wish I could say I wasn’t but…” Jesse scowls as he shakes his head, comparing the two images in his mind as he thinks, “Odin’s wounds were the same. Down to a T. Newer, obviously, but the exact same lacerations and then one clean blade cut to the neck.”
Lukas’ eyes widen, “Oh my god that’s right… You were out at Jed’s property when—”
“Yeah. When the Hall blew.”
“God…” Lukas blows out a sigh and a silence returns for the moment as both men sit there mulling over the information they’ve shared. It’s not uncomfortable anymore, but they both come out of it feeling equally frustrated. With a sudden pep to his step, Lukas bounces up from where he’s sat and runs his hands through his hair. He spins on his heel though in a snap and waves his hands as if to set the stage.
Jesse raises a brow.
“Okay so—what do we have right now? We’ve got…” He starts numbering things off on his fingers, “A dragon egg, the crystals, and your original axe missing. We’ve got an Enderman with a weirdly serial track record attacking people involved. We’ve got whoever was down there with us and with that Enderman. And now we’ve got whoever is attacking town slowly upping the ante in their attacks—most likely the same person who attacked us given… Well, everything.” He sucks in a breath and rests his hands on his hips, “So… Where does that leave us?”
Jesse grunts as he stands up to join him, “That leaves us with a very End-themed terrorist. And Jack said something that I think is good to consider—they’re looking for a reaction. And the more they scramble to get that, the more likely they are to slip up along the way…”
Lukas frowns, “So— Are you saying we should wait until they do something else?”
“No, god no. But, Lukas, I think they already have.” Jesse urges and Lukas looks at him quizzically. Jesse’s throat runs dry as he speaks, but it makes sense in his mind, “Odin, Lukas. Nobody in their right mind would pick a fight with him without reason. And we know how he was—He couldn’t stay still for love nor money, retired or not. He was probably out doing what he always does—making rounds. And I bet he caught someone in the act and they panicked.”
“Okay… I follow… But what clues does that garner us?”
“Well, we know for sure that whoever it is was down in that Stronghold years ago. We know that this Enderman is probably the same one, and we know that it’s somehow working in tandem with this asshole. The killing blow was a large blade to the back of the neck. That’s crystal clear now with how Odin washed up. So not only is the Enderman working in tandem, but it’s consistently letting someone else get the final kill. With a practiced pattern—or hell, a routine for their kills.”
“Do you think there were others out there…? Not just these two?”
“Have to be. It’s too well rehearsed. And now all the Watch knows about it—if they were on high alert already, now it’s going to be stifling. And an Enderman that big? If it steps foot anywhere in town, we are definitely gonna know.” Jesse drums his fingers on his hips as he racks his brain, “Plus, Odin didn’t go down without a fight. There’s no way to tell if the Enderman or person there took most of his blows—but if we find anyone particularly shaken up it may be worth keeping tabs on.”
Lukas nods slowly as he soaks it all in, “Anything else…? Identifiers? A chipped blade, even?”
Jesse frowns at that, losing a little steam as the disappointment floods him, “N-No… Nothing yet. Hell, half of Odin’s Endermen cuts don’t even make sense—the smaller ones all over his front and arms are serrated and shaped like them, but no irritation or anything. Like a normal blade’s cut. But we don’t even know where the actual fight took place, so whatever went down there is really anybody’s guess.” He pauses for a moment as that thought graces him, “Honestly… In retrospect? I don’t think our mystery killer is as well put-together as it feels.”
Lukas just crosses his arms curiously and gestures for him to continue. Jesse wets his lips as he slowly paces now, tying together what thoughts he can while his mind is still clear—be it from the remaining shock or the bath.
“I guess just—... Look at it this way. First, they don’t clean up their stuff. Axel, Bruce, and I found it a complete mess in the Stronghold. All they did was tear the ID tags off—that’s something someone does in a bind when they’re out of other options. Then we found those crossbows still there and the busted recorder. Then the zombie with one of those packs still clinging to her and the wounds we’re familiar with.” He begins picking up his pace a little, “And, remember when we first found the cave-in?”
Lukas nods, “Yeah. We could still smell the fresh gunpowder…”
Jesse points at him, “And the remnants of a creeper explosion! You were the one who said it—A Creeper likely blew up and set off the whole thing early, trapping them down there with us. I mean, think about it, who in their right mind would force themselves to go through the Deep Dark if they had the option to just light a match and leave the collapsing cave behind? A-And then back to Odin! Only an idiot would willingly get into a fight with a man like him—and I don’t mean just on a fighting level, but like— Everyone knows and loves Odin! The death of a man like that doesn’t disappear or get swept under the rug. It seems like the only thing they have planned out is stealing those End artifacts.”
“So, you agree?” Lukas asks nervously with his arms crossed over his middle. Jesse pauses to meet his gaze, sharing a look of dread before nodding and answering that unspoken question.
“Yeah… I don’t really see who else could have them if it’s not Hiro and not us. Those things are in enemy hands now.”
“Yeah. And, even if they’ve made a lot of missteps through this whole scramble, that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous.” Lukas huffs and rests his hands on his hips now, “They’ve definitely got more than luck on their side. Adaptable. Quick.”
“And clever as a damn fox.” Jesse finishes for him, “Smart and resourceful enough to pull off some kinda truce with an Enderman and still manage to snake their way just out of reach despite all of the mistakes they’ve made along the way. Hell, they made traps on the fly and in the Deep Dark of all places!”
“And now they’ve managed to shake up the whole town with these bombs…” Lukas blows out with a heavy sigh and Jesse matches it, slowly nodding.
“They’re putting their all into things now in an effort to get us—get me to slip up. To give them a chance to finish the job once and for all…” He mumbles, plucking at his own lips as he fights to get into the mind of their frenzied assailant, “It—” He starts but then chokes on the words, almost not wanting to say it. To speak it into reality. But, swallowing the bile in his throat, he pushes them out anyways, “It feels like we’re being corralled. Like cattle. With each attack—each hit—it’s pushing us further into a corner. We don’t know what exactly they know, but it’s safe to say they know far more than they should. The End artifacts are too personal. Too perfect a set-up, especially if…” He trails off, sharing a knowing look with Lukas who in turn just runs his hands through his hair again.
When Lukas speaks, his voice is low and quiet—as if to keep it from prying ears, “... It’s a Hail-Mary of a plan for them. Those things were stolen before you and I even went back to the Stronghold—they’ve been holding onto it in their back pocket like a last resort. For all we know, the dragon’s never been killed. Any speculation on how to resurrect it is just that—speculation. And that’s not even counting Soren’s potential tampering since he used the Command Block. But they know that, which is why they grabbed insurance…”
“My axe. Yeah… Imbued with that Block’s power—or at least the power that could undo it.”
His words feel like they echo in his ears, even when spoken under his breath. It’s a concept that’s unfathomable, but one they’re forced to face whether they like it or not. If their enemy is considering it so seriously, then they need to as well. If they can somehow get one step ahead, they’ll regain the upper hand. But how do you prepare for something so daunting? So huge? Something that hasn’t been done before? For what feels like the dozenth time today, Jesse feels freshly twenty again and as if he’s staring off at that Witherstorm in the distance.
“They’re not gonna risk revealing themself until they think they’ve won…” Jesse says quietly. Lukas’ expression hardens, but he nods quietly.
“... Like Romeo.”
Jesse nods slowly. Despite the rather pathetic imagery the man has had in the last few weeks, it doesn’t take much to remember just how it felt watching what he thought was a friend turn into that power-crazed wretch of a man. In a way it’s almost hard to fathom it’s the same man, but he supposes that speaks more to the influence all that power has on a person. He did say it changed him, and while he was pretty damn skeptical at first, the more he’s forced to interact with the man, the more he’s inclined to believe him. Plus now his uncle is accounting to a similar experience with his initial burst of power. But they’re not the enemies this time around. With a sigh, he brings his mind back to their shadow of a perpetrator.
“I… I don’t know what the next move is exactly. I don’t want to be brash. But I need to act soon, for the sake of everyone else now getting caught in the crossfire now. It’s only a matter of time before we lose even more. Jack and Nurm got lucky with their shop—but we can’t depend on luck alone. If there’s a way we can stop this without walking straight into a trap, I want to find it. But if the only way out is to just— grit my teeth and take the bait, I—...” He stops short, not even knowing what to say. What else is there to say? He looks up at Lukas at a loss and the man just softens.
Closing the distance again, Lukas approaches Jesse and runs his hands up his arms and shoulders to eventually cup his face. A hold that’s becoming more and more familiar and just as comforting each time. Jesse searches Lukas for some kind of miracle answer—like he’ll light up in that brilliant way he does and solve this whole debacle in an instant. But that never comes. No, instead Lukas just gently moves a hand up to brush the hair out of Jesse’s tired eyes with an air of sympathy. Finally though, he does manage to suck in a long and quiet breath.
“Jess… Do you remember what I told you back before we went to the Nether? When this was all just revving up?” He asks, voice gentle and reassuring. It stings Jesse’s eyes just to hear. He racks his brain, searching through his memories to try and find whatever moment he’s thinking of. But he can’t.
He shakes his head in silent apology.
“That’s okay—I wouldn’t either.” He hums out a little laugh as he says it and it cracks Jesse a little bit, a brief smile dancing across his face, “But what I mean to say is just… Whatever the decision may be, you’re not doing this alone. Your world is my world—it has been for a long long time now. And as someone who would run to the ends of the Earth and back for you?” He pauses, making sure to meet Jesse in the eyes as he speaks, “There’s not going to be a moment going forward where you have to face this alone. I’m not going to let my own fears get in the way—we’re a team. Whatever is thrown at us, wherever we have to go—be it to the far reaches of the worlds, Nether, or the End—” He reaches down and clasps Jesse’s hands tightly within his own, “—I’m going to be right there with you.”
Jesse gapes up at him, heart pounding a million miles a minute in his chest. The relief that washes over him is almost too much to fathom. What does he say? What is there even to say? His brain is a scrambled mess and his face is hot. Trying and failing to grasp onto something—anything—to cut the silence and respond with just to show how much he cherishes that. He blurts out the only thing that comes to mind.
“Kiss me.”
Lukas stutters, eyes momentarily wide—as if unsure he even heard him correctly. Jesse swallows in a vain attempt to soothe his suddenly dry throat.
“Kiss me, Lukas.” He urges—bordering desperate—and shaking their hands as he does. Almost dizzied, Lukas manages to nod and reaches back up to softly cup Jesse’s face. The featherlike touch sends sparks up his spine. The kiss he’s graced with is gentle, but not what he needs. Not what he means. Jesse reaches up and wraps his arms around the man’s neck, returning it tenfold with a passion and drive to get across every word that’s failing him through it. He’s not a poet—never has been—but maybe he can show what those words mean to him all the same.
The pair stumbles a pace but falls into sync. Jesse feels those hands shift from hanging loosely off of his face to tangling themselves in his curls. His lungs begin to burn and lips almost begin to hurt. It lasts forever yet not enough time at all. He breaks suddenly to catch his breath, face red hot and he meets the eyes of a stunned and properly red Lukas in turn. A sudden wave of bashfulness washes over him as he realizes the fervor of what he just did. He swallows down those nerves as he briefly runs a hand down over Lukas’ chest. Reaching up, Jesse plants two more gentler kisses on Lukas—one at the edge of his lips and one on his cheek, letting each touch linger to soak in the meaning of everything he isn’t sure how to say.
Their eyes meet briefly and he knows he got it right. Unsure of what else to do, Jesse hugs the man close and merely relaxes into his shoulder. Lukas takes no time to tightly clasp those warm arms of his around him once more, enveloping him in much more than just safety. And as those hands ride up and he finds a place on his temple to plant another kiss, every touch feels purposeful and etches his love deep into his skin. Warmth blooms in him from the inside out, cementing his place right here in Lukas’ arms—right here at home.
Chapter 43: Turning the Tables
Summary:
A plan is formed for how the gang is going to take down their quirky little terrorist
Notes:
alright so we're all just going to pretend that it says im posting this in like April of 2024 okay? okay. nobody look at the timestamps ☝️
but HELLOOOOOOOOOOO I'll have more notes for context on what the fuck I've been up to at the end so yall can bite into this but HIIIIIIII 💖💖💖
It's not AS long but I do intend to update again soon, and I really do mean that this time! 😭🙏 hopefully a part 2 in the next week or so because I'm FINALLY through this roadblock as well as um. some others IRL LMFAO. But enjoy !!!!! It's still about 6k and hopefully doesn't feel TOO out of sync form the others, I may come back and tweak some minor things (and actually proof read oops) when I have a brain and not soup in my head but WE ARE BACK YAYYYYYYY !!!Also I'm a day late but happy 6 years to this fic!! 🎉💖 and Happy New Years too. ig. BUT HAPPY BDAY ANSWERS 🫶
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The heels of boots click as Jesse hops down the concrete steps of the small townhouse. He blows out a steadying sigh as he reaches the sidewalk once more—yet another difficult conversation out of the way but one none the easier. Still, getting the opportunity to speak to Odin’s wife—hell, now widow—was crucial. The pair had been so kind and helpful for as long as he’s known them, it’s the absolute minimum he could do.
“Jesse! Dear, hold on a moment!”
The still shaky but smooth voice of Nadine calls from within the house once more. Quickly, the woman yanks open the door and is utterly relieved to see him still standing there. Before he gets a chance to say so much as a word she just huffs out a small smile and holds up a notepad—his.
“Something tells me it’d be troublesome to lose this.”
“That’s—!” Jesse pats his pockets down in sheer reaction before shaking his head and giving her a nervous smile, “Thank you, Nadine! Gosh, I’d probably forget my own brain somewhere at this rate.”
“Breathe—You’ve got a lot ahead of you yet, so just breathe a little and be sure of your actions before you follow through.”
Jesse offers her a somber smile, “Wise words. Though not the ones usually in your wheelhouse…”
She matches the look and then shrugs, pulling up her gray shawl a bit tighter around her shoulders. Elegantly dressed as always but wearing much darker colors than her usual. The black dress stands out. He’s matching her on that front with black slacks and suspenders and a simple gray button up with the sleeves rolled up. It’s a small gesture, but again, felt like the bare minimum of a start.
“Odin and I always had different ideas of what was wise per se, but we could at least agree on that one.” Nadine continues with a wistful sigh, a wry smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.
Jesse smiles and nods, “I’ll take it to heart. Promise.”
“Good—he may just come back from the dead to throw a fit if you don’t.” She hums and Jesse laughs, a little mortified but happy to at least see her able to be a little light about it all. She chuckles with him as she leans on her doorframe. Though as they both settle, the air shifts. The tone shifts. Jesse isn’t quite sure what to expect but is ready for anything she may ask of him. And she does. Nadine rolls her lips and sucks in a deep breath, turning serious now as those inky black eyes of hers level with his.
“Promise me one more thing, Jesse.”
“Anything.”
“Make sure that devil rots for what they’ve done.”
Jesse’s jaw clenches, but it dredges up just enough of the simmering fury sitting deep in his gut to burn the words into his memory. In a way it almost makes him laugh, but instead he takes in a deep breath before he levels with her.
“Nadine… Believe me when I say that that is one of the easiest promises I have made in a long time.”
They shake on it for good measure. And that’s that.
There’s a lot Jesse has planned to do. A lot he has to do, and as he walks through his town with a renewed drive and fire in his step it all rushes through his mind once more. But first thing’s first—he’s got a damn crucial meeting to attend. So he picks up his pace, his gut twisting once more as he turns back towards where the Order Hall was.
Town’s busy again. Though that’s the understatement of the damn year. Workers and volunteers alike feverishly rush all around him. Dust and dirt still covers the streets, kicked up with each step and blanketing his deep black slacks in a thin veil of brown and gray powder. Not that he pays any mind to it—he hardly notices. Dust and dirt are the last things on his mind.
His eyes remain glued to the pages of his little notebook as he walks, knowing the streets well enough to not need to look. And moreso, people clear his path without question. It’s not even a concern to him. He remains courteous when greeted or spoken to, of course, but the air he carries himself with speaks for himself. He is not a man to be stopped nor trifled with right now.
It’s still relatively early in the day—purposefully. Not even nine yet. And that’s just perfect for them right now. The night crews will be moving out to rest with the day crews coming in, meaning there will be less people to intercept, interfere, and overhear. Not that he’s particularly concerned with that being an issue given where they’re meeting, but they can’t be too careful. Especially not now, of all times.
Snapping his book shut as he enters the shattered heart of Beacontown once more, Jesse wets his lips nervously as he runs through everything in his mind once more for good measure. There’s a lot to do. A lot to say. And a lot of people to manage under a watchful eye. But they can do it. And to do it, he needs his team all on the same page. So, as he crosses the remains of the Hall’s old breezeway, Jesse picks up his pace.
Much of the debris has already been moved to reveal some semi-consistent pathways, though the work on the Hall itself has barely just begun. But suffice to say, it’s a bit easier to make his way to the remnants of the old Treasure Hall today than it was the day before. His people move fast, almost miraculously so, and he couldn’t be more grateful for it in a time like now.
He steps in to find that he is, somehow, late. Ahead of him and already intermingling with one another stands Ivor, Radar, Olivia, Petra, Axel, and Lukas. Ivor’s the first to notice him and the old man blusters before whipping his hands to his hips.
“Well! Punctual as usual, aren’t we, Jesse?”
He can’t help the laugh that pulls from him. He bows his head somewhat bashfully as he closes the gaps between him and them. He’s greeted by a hearty clap on the shoulder from the old man, his eyes twinkling as a bitter smile pulls at his lips.
“Sorry. Been bouncing around all over already. Thanks for being here guys.” He huffs out with a sigh and is met with a series of quiet nods. He’s ready to launch right into it but stops himself, feeling the tension flowing through him already. So instead, he takes a deep breath and takes a moment to look around at them all, “How… How are you all hanging in there?”
“Still standing, aren’t we?” Petra asks and gets a few tired laughs out of everyone. They all nod. That sums it up well. Looking around, he spies some cuts and bruises amongst them all, but the worst of it seeming to have passed. Olivia is the one he looks to the most and he’s grateful to see that she’s in better shape than she had been yesterday. Her hands are still bandaged, but only in a few small spots. Same with her face. Seemingly following his gaze, Ivor clears his throat.
“I was able to help patch some people up with a few potions. Didn’t quite have enough for everyone but we were able to cover the most severe cases.”
“I waited ‘til the end.” Olivia tacks on, noting Jesse’s simmering confusion and concern. She holds up her bandaged hands, “It helped a lot! But I wasn’t able to get a full bottle so I’ve still got a few bad spots—the worst places it got me. Might scar, but that’s okay.”
“Gotcha. Are we going to be able to get more potion ingredients soon?”
“Three steps ahead of you, Jesse!” Radar pipes up, “We’ve got a ship inbound. Should actually be here around one—and it’s one hell of a stock. Was supposed to be here last night on a regular restock but it made a few pitstops after hearing of the situation here—got some extras from other ports and towns that wanted to pitch in. It… It should be enough. At least for the next week.”
Relief sweeps through him at that as he nods, “Good. The sooner the better.”
With the basics out of the way though, and everyone more or less in one piece, that means it’s time to hit the ground running. Jesse quickly brushes his hands through his hair as he mentally resets himself—his team knows that cue all too well. They all settle in and train their gazes on Jesse, serious and ready to listen. Blue eyes cruise over each set in his small crowd before he just rolls his lips and nods.
“Okay. Down to business.”
“Your boyfriend here already ran us through a lot of what you guys chatted about last night.” Axel starts with a shrug. Jesse ignores the little teasing prod he fit in—habit for the man at this point—as well as the side-eye Lukas drifts his way. Axel however crosses his arms at that, a scowl pulling at his mouth, “This whole thing reeks, dude…”
“Okay well let’s just— Let’s walk through this from the beginning, okay?” Olivia says, earning a few nods from the likes of Ivor and Lukas while Axel and Petra just sort of shrug. With that though, Olivia’s big brown eyes turn back to Jesse and she waves a hand out to him, “Okay Jesse… Our perpetrator. Started seeing them after they ran into you and Lukas in the Stronghold, right?”
He nods, albeit hesitantly, “Sure did. But they came prepared. So they must’ve caught wind prior to that second trip. And it’s not my Uncle Hiro—I feel like I can say that fairly definitively at this point. He didn’t have the End artifacts anywhere in the Nether and he’s been nothing but supportive since. He’s messed up, yeah, but I don’t think it’s out of any kinda malice. Not at this point…”
“Agreed.” Ivor chirps as he runs his fingers through his beard, “He’s an odd one to say the least, and certainly capable of much, but I’m not inclined to believe he had anything to do with your father’s death nor the attack on you. Not that that does us any favors in clearing things up…” He chuffs and crosses his arms sternly at that.
Jesse sucks in a breath, “Look, even if it’s not him, it’s someone close enough to know a lot more than they should. But with everything going the way it is, my head’s spinning out of control trying to figure it out. And, as Lukas and I were saying last night, I doubt they’d show their hand until they think they’ve already won.”
“So if they’re that close then we keep hunting to shut them down, right?” Olivia jumps in. Jesse hesitates and crosses his arms to think.
“I—... I want to say yes, but ‘Liv, I think we’re running out of time. Odin’s dead, and Jack and Nurm were this close to getting the same treatment.” He pinches his fingers together in emphasis, a chill running up his back as the words leave his mouth, “We need to make a move that’ll get them to change gears as well. I think we need to focus less on who it is, and more on just plain stopping them.”
Axel frowns, “Dontcha wanna know though…? I mean, if we buckle down and go hard on this guy, then who knows what could happen. You might not get to like, ask ‘em what this is even about, y’know?”
Olivia pinches the bridge of her nose, “Axel, people are dying.”
“Well geez I know that—Believe me, I’m more than happy to beat our trigger-happy friend here into a pulp and then some.” He rubs the back of his neck nervously, “But if you think they’re the same person who put your dad down then maybe we oughta be, i’unno, intricate? Or whatever? Just so you can, like, get some clarity before they go off and get mauled by your dad in the afterlife.”
Dark as it is, Jesse can’t help the small laugh that escapes him, “As much as I’d love that, I just… This was my last straw. I owe it to the people of this city to do what’s best for them, and if that means hitting fast and hard when an opportunity strikes, then that’s what we oughta do.” He pauses to reach out and pat Axel on the arm, “Thanks though, but I think that simply getting to see who it is we’re dealing with will be enough for me.”
“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy, Jesse.” He mumbles and bumps him back.
Petra steps forward and quickly looks between everybody, “Okay so what’s the plan then? How do we flip this around because it really feels like we’re backed up into a corner here. I mean— We don’t do anything, and they kill people. We act and get it wrong and boom, they still kill people. Jesse if we don’t know who it is and if we don’t somehow move and move fast to nab them, then we’re fucked. There’s gotta be something.”
Lukas drums his fingers anxiously against his bottom lip, just shaking his head, “If only I had gotten a clear look at them while underground… If we had at least seen something down there, then we probably wouldn’t still be in this mess.”
What was once a blooming guilt returns to Jesse’s chest only as frustration now. He saw them. He knows he did, but damn him if the memories weren’t spotty at best. He can’t make any plays or assumptions off of things he doesn’t even know he can trust. Sucking in a breath, he holds his head high and steels himself.
“We can’t just sit here lamenting what we can and can’t remember. It sucks, it’s frustrating, and it’s put us in an even worse position, but we gotta just move on.”
That earns him some bold looks from his friends. But it’s how he feels, it’s how he’s felt all through the morning. Even the night for once wasn’t filled with dread. Exhaustion, sure, but something’s returned to him now. Something he’s been missing, and it feels good. He’s not happy yet, nor is he anywhere near the state he wishes he were in. But, for the first time in a long time, he feels strong. Like his destiny is back in his own hands to decide. He rolls his lips, his eyes burning with the righteousness blooming from deep within him.
“I’m done with it. I’m over this fiasco—I’ve got all that I need. I know more now than I ever thought I would, and I’m not risking everything else I’ve got now on some ‘what-if’ questions I doubt I’ll ever get cleared even if I’m lucky. What’s important to me now is making sure we’ve got a home and that we get to return in one piece—and that means flushing this prick and their little enderman buddy out and taking them down hard.”
The others allow his words to sink in, and it even seems to fill some of them with relief if the looks he earns from a few mean anything. He’s glad to see it, and he certainly means every bit of what he said with his whole chest.
“... Your confidence is admirable and refreshing beyond belief, Jesse,” Ivor starts and he can’t practically hear the next words out of his mouth before he so much as opens it, “But I’m afraid mere confidence does not suffice when we are in desperate need of action.”
“I know. And I have an idea.”
Olivia’s eyes narrow as she points at him, “And I know that tone… How much trouble are we gonna get ourselves into with this one, Jesse…?”
Blue eyes meet brown and he holds her gaze for a long moment. Her gaze narrows, the exchange sharing a conversation in and of itself and stirring her own nerves if the breath she sucks in is any indication.
“Sometimes… In order to really clean things up, you have to make an even bigger mess than what you started with. Rip up all the old to see how deep the dirt runs. Our little perp has a scary back-up plan locked in and at the ready and all the cards stacked in their favor right now. They may be nervous enough to trip up with Odin, but that’s not enough. It’s just like Petra said—we’re unfortunately long past the time for anything less than something a little bit crazy—we need a hail-mary to get out of our corner.”
Jesse sucks in a deep breath as his heart races a little in his chest, already planning ahead all the things they’ll need to prepare for this.
“We let them think they win. We go back to the End.”
Everyone visibly reacts with a clear sense of uncertainty, but nobody really says anything just yet in spite of it. If anything tells him how deep they are, it’s that. He’s not sure if it instills him with confidence or not. But, hell, they’ve already done so much in their time together—from Witherstorms to Admins, what’s this to top it all off?
“Here’s what I’m thinking—we give them their golden opportunity on the silver platter. Let them think they’ve blindsided us. Because if they think they’ve got this in the bag, they’re gonna go quiet and they’re going to wait just for that moment. Think about it—We don’t even know if their little back-up plan will work and they certainly don’t! If they were confident, they wouldn’t have grabbed my axe! But if we can bait them into even trying, then not only are they out of town, but we see their face, and we have the chance to completely jump them without worrying about anyone or anything else getting caught in the crossfire.”
Olivia presses her hands into her temples, “Okay, Jesse, and just what happens if their plan works?”
Axel grimaces, “Then we… die…?”
“No we don’t die.” Jesse can’t help but laugh. Olivia reaches out to lightly shove his shoulder.
“I’m serious, Jesse!”
He steels himself, reeling his own nerves in, “I know. And I am, too. Believe me, if there were any other angle to take this from then I’d be going for it without a second thought. But, Liv, I’m at a loss. I really don’t think there’s any other way to bait them out than by playing their own game. And… Frankly? With all the things we’ve done, I think we of all people are the ones who really can do this. For real this time.”
He emphasizes his words by confidently matching the gaze of each and every single one standing around him. He can tell it emboldens most of them, even Olivia, as she stands ahead of him with her hands clasped tightly at her front.
“... You’re saying that you want us ready to fight the Enderdragon?”
Well. When she puts it that way. Jesse rolls his lips.
“Yes. I think that’s our way out.”
Instead of a cacophony of noise and disagreements, Jesse’s met with nothing more than a nervous silence. Olivia steps back into her spot amongst the circle of them all. A jittery stillness fills the air, cut through only by the wind pushing more dust and littler through the rubble around them. It’s an eerie scene matched by an eerie plan. But even as the seconds drag on into minutes, and everyone gets their time to look between one another, nobody harkens to bite back. Even Ivor remains put, just thoughtfully combing through his beard with his brow thoroughly wrinkled.
Jesse’s not even sure if they’re on board or rather just in shock. It’s no small thing to ask of them, as flippant as he made it sound. It’s the dragon. The beast that killed his uncle, that lured his father away from their home to begin with, the thing that their childhood heroes built their legacy upon “killing.” But it’s something that will certainly need just a little more time to prepare for. With that thought in mind, Jesse leans in again.
“Guys, they’re nervous. More nervous than ever before—there’s no way they meant to kill Odin. They’re too smart to take on and take out a man like that with no recourse. And that’s making them more desperate and skittish and is why they’re pushing so hard right now! If we play this little game their way and lull them back into that sense of confidence and security, then not only will they probably chill out and just wait, but that turns the advantage of surprise in our favor.”
Silence greets him again as the others mull over his words slowly and carefully. It’s here that his nerves start to make themselves known again. He’s at a loss for any other plan, for anything else to do. It’s not like he can just evacuate the whole city and expect their perp to stay behind all prim and proper. They have to draw them out somehow without putting everyone else in harm’s way—what other options are there?
“... Hey, Jesse, you still have that address to the city tomorrow, right?” Lukas asks, being the first to break the silence. Jesse blinks. He looks to Radar who nods readily.
“At ten o’clock, yes. I-I mean… If you still want to do it, that is. I mean with…” Radar looks around rather defeatedly, “Well… everything, we could always push it back.”
Jesse considers him, rubbing his mouth deep in thought, “Hmm… That’s—”
“Don’t.” Lukas speaks again, interrupting any deliberation he had.
“What?”
“Jesse, you could use that. I mean, you’re getting up in front of the entire city after all this chaos. There’s not a soul around who won’t be listening with avid interest.” He pauses, glancing amongst them all as he speaks, “We could even take it a step further and say that we caught our guy. Play like we’ve got everything figured out. Like we’re safe—like it’s over.”
Petra crosses her arms and blows out a pessimistic sigh, “Lukas, that’s what I said was a problem earlier. If all we do is bluff, or if we catch the wrong guy, what’s gonna stop them from just blowing something else up to make a point?”
“... Unless we bring the End up in the speech.” Olivia quietly adds. The others look at her, a little surprised but expectant. She presses her mouth into a thin line but continues in spite of the worry creased in her brow, “It’d work, wouldn’t it? If we say ‘Hey, we caught them, by the way we’re going off on an adventure!’ then they’d figure they could easily catch us off-guard, right? That’s what we’re aiming for, isn’t it?”
Petra pauses to think but then seems to lighten up at that. With that, Olivia gets a chorus of agreements save for Ivor, who merely scowls.
“I hate to burst your bubble, but wouldn’t that sound just a tad too convenient? If they’re as clever as they seem then they’ll see right through that.”
Lukas steps up, a little more confident now, “Not if we present it the right way!” He snaps back to Jesse, a hint of a smile on his face now and the look just gives him butterflies, “Jesse, do you remember the idea you posed after we finished reading…? The legacy project you mentioned?”
Jesse lights up, practically feeling his heart skip a beat as the pieces start falling together. He nods readily and Lukas matches it, jabbing a finger at him pointedly before he turns back to Ivor.
“We say we’re doing a legacy project! One to map out the End dimension—something to honor the people we’ve lost and countless others. I mean, that sounds right up Jesse’s alley to begin with, and if we word it the right way I’m sure it’ll sound like it’s something only natural.”
Ivor’s brows shoot up and he hums, much more pleasantly this time, “That could work… If it remains grounded and as long as you’re able to get up there and sell it, it could work. Do you think you can do that, Jesse?”
“That’s the easy part, Ivor. I just might need some help writing it, but I think we can workshop that no problem.” He says and glances between the others, getting ready nods from Lukas, Radar, and Olivia.
“Sooo… This is the plan?” Axel asks and everyone briefly pauses to actually think. They got caught up in the how. But, quietly, they all just start nodding in agreement. This is the plan—and as crucial as this next part is going to be, it’s no doubt the easiest of it all. They somehow have to plan to do the impossible—they’ve gotta be ready to slay a dragon.
Petra shifts a little awkwardly where she stands, “So... How soon do you think it’ll be? Like, do you think it’ll spring the moment we step in there? Do we gotta, like, sneak in ahead of time to try and get a lay of the land?”
“No, I doubt it.” Lukas answers before Jesse can even open his mouth, “If everyone’s gonna think that we’re just out exploring the End, then they’re gonna expect us to be gone for a while. Few days to a week—If anything they’re gonna sit there waiting for us to get back. We’ll have time in there before anything happens.” Lukas pauses, glancing over at Jesse at he does, “So… Honestly? Jesse, if we wanna kill two birds with one stone then we might as well. We can start exploring and drafting up some kinda early map. Get to know the place a little better than our opponent, if possible.”
“Lukas, are you sure…? We really don’t have to—I’m already asking a lot of you guys…” Jesse mumbles and Lukas softens.
“Hey, remember what I said. We’re in this together, wherever that may be.”
Jesse smiles, feeling his face heat up a little at the sentiment. He’s surprised him a little, but considering all the talking they did last night, he supposes they’re much more in sync than he anticipated. Like they’ve fallen right back into step with one another. He’s sure the man is still worried out of his wits, but it’s as he said, they’re in this together no matter what. Olivia clears her throat a little and Jesse turns his gaze her way. She’s obviously still rather reserved, but he knows her—always curious in spite of that.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to doing a little exploring while we’re there. Not many people have, and if it’s something you’d like to set up in time anyways Jesse, then we might as well get a head-start, right?”
“Exactly. Say, Ivor, do you think Soren has anything of use in that mansion of his?”
“Feh!” Ivor scoffs, waving the thought off.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
Radar perks up, interrupting them, “Um, pardon me, but could you describe what exactly it is you want to do out there Jesse? I could get a headstart on some sort of official draft you could use as well.”
“Sure—Essentially, I want to see if we can’t set up some more infrastructure in the End like what we’ve got going for the Nether. At the very least a map. Something to make it a little easier for folks like my dad to find their way back home in case they get lost. I mean, if it happened to him then there’s gotta be others…”
Radars' brows furrow as he quickly scribbles away, “I see, that makes sense…! Perilous—frankly this entire thing sounds like a total nightmare scenario—but, hey, so were Romeo’s zombie mines and the whole Underneath, so,” He shrugs and waves a hand, “Pshhh, what’s a little dragon fight?”
He gets some laughs for that and Jesse reaches out to ruffle the teen’s hair. Axel leans to read over Radar’s shoulder, letting out a thoughtful hum as he does. Slowly, he sucks in a big breath before shifting his hands to rest on his hips.
“So, we gotta have some time before we leave to get all ready and whatever. What do you wanna say, Jesse? I’on’t mean to offend you but…” Axel rubs the back of his neck, “Do you think you’ll be able to handle runnin’ into a whole dimension of Endermen already…? I mean, you’re still all scabby and shit on top of the mental gunk.”
Jesse’s confidence falters there and it must be clear on his face as the others now all turn their gazes his way. It leaves his cheeks burning, both in embarrassment and utter frustration. He presses his lips into a tight line and clenches his jaw before glancing at them from the corners of his eyes.
“I’ve gotta be. Maybe… Maybe I could talk to Soren or something…?” He mumbles, rubbing his mouth in deep thought, “He’s worked with them for years and is pretty confident. I dunno, maybe he has some advice. I’d like to ask him questions about the dragon and dimension in general anyways.”
Ivor hums, “That’s a start. This may sound… outlandish, but perhaps you could try a form of exposure therapy—Soren had a few Endermen that he favored, and the creatures are quite neutral unless provoked.” Ivor scowls, “Save for our little exception your family just seems to keep encountering.”
Jesse nods and looks at the others sternly, “I can’t let this stop us, guys. I’ll get a handle on it come hell or high water, and I think just having you guys there with me is gonna help. I’ve fought Endermen plenty of times before—this’ll be no different. I just— I gotta separate them from that one in my head.”
Olivia looks like she’s about to say something right alongside Lukas, only for Axel to interrupt him.
“We’ll keep you safe, buddy. Sounds like a good enough plan as any, considering. Whatever goes down in there, we’ll have your back just like you’ve had ours.”
Petra nods, reaching over to bump Jesse as she does, “Yeah. Look, there’s gonna be so much else going on, I bet you won’t even think about it half the time.”
Jesse huffs, “That’s… optimistic, but hell I’ll take it!” He pauses and takes a breath, “We should give ourselves a few days at least to get ourselves together. But I think a week begins pushing it.”
“It gives us some time to clean up the town before leaving though—it’ll make it seem a little less like we’re abandoning everyone in their time of need. With all the work everyone’s doing, I think it’ll be in a much better spot then, too.” Olivia adds and, unfortunately, she makes a good point. He concedes at that and nods.
“Then a week it is. We’ll have a lot to do, but I think we can handle it.”
“Jesse,” Lukas starts, voice quiet.
“Hm?”
“Who else do we tell?”
Jesse stalls at that, a weight returning to him as he soaks in the question. Who do they tell…? Who will they have to tell? Obviously all of them are a given, but outside of that…? Jesse blows out a sigh and crosses his arms in deep thought.
“The moment Soren hears we’re going to the End, he’s gonna wanna come. And, whether I like it or not, his expertise will be invaluable not just about the End but the dragon as well. He’s a smart man, he’s going to put the pieces together the moment we start questioning him. But he can keep a secret and I don’t really distrust him at this point. Harper as well, on top of supplies, she may have some advice or tricks up her sleeve from her time with the other Old Builders.” He sucks in a breath, “My uncle… He’s gonna know. He already knows the deep shit we’re in with the accusations we threw his way over the artifacts to begin with. But he’s safe. Past that, I… I dunno.”
“Aiden knows about the missing artifacts. He’ll probably know.” Lukas adds quietly and Jesse’s brows shoot up amongst a few others.
“Woah, Lukas?!” Petra scowls and the man just sighs and waves her off with a shake of his head.
“Look, it’s a long story—he broke into my house and I yelled at him a lot but really I don’t think that’ll be much of a problem.” He prattles off, more hurried to stop talking about the man than anything. It certainly has the opposite effect however.
“Broke into your house?” Olivia asks, her tone rising in something close to outrage. It’s there that Lukas seems to realize just how he came across. He pops his lips and holds up a finger.
“I… Did not word that well. I let him in but was just really mad about it—my bad.”
Ivor speaks quietly, “Well, from here on out and in the interest of ensuring our little plan doesn’t reach unintended ears ahead of time, my advice is that we keep it strictly to that circle of people.” He points between Petra and him, “No sisters, no other uncles, I don’t believe even Jack or Nurm should be clued in. This stays quiet.”
Everyone agrees. Looking around the lot of them, you’d find nothing but battered and serious faces—even the more lighthearted of them like Axel and Ivor have deepset scowls painting their features. It’s all hands on deck for this one.
“Good… That’s settled then. Jesse,” Ivor reaches over and presses a hand into his back to get his attention, “for the sake of fairness, meet me later tonight and I’ll have a potion at the ready to wipe out the last of your injuries. We must put this on the fast-track now.” He pauses with a grimace, “And… As an apology for our underhandedness with you as of late.”
An awkward smile finds its way onto his face, “Water under the bridge, I certainly can’t hold it against you guys after everything I’ve up and put you through. And, apparently still am…” He laughs breathlessly in utter disbelief and it at least gets some soft chuckles with him, “Thank you though.”
“Of course.”
“Hey, on that note actually…” In spite of the weight still lingering with the idea, a grin pulls at Petra’s mouth and she jerks her chin at Ivor, “Ivor! Whaddaya think?”
“... What do I think?”
“Yeah! You want a chance to show that flying lizard what the Order of the Stone can really do? I can’t imagine you’d turn down the chance for a quest like this.”
“... Had you asked me that question just seven years ago, I’d call you an utter lunatic with nothing more than a death wish and a pipe dream.”
The man glances amongst them all, seemingly quite thoroughly unimpressed. But Jesse spies the way his mouth twitches and that slightly crazy sparkle in his eyes. Ivor steps forward, more in line with the circle the group is crowding in and he reaches up to rest his hands on Jesse and Axel on either side of him, shaking them slightly.
“But, if a fool is what it makes me, then damn it all so BE it!” He utterly beams and slaps both men heartily on the arms, before he leans right in with a boisterous guffaw, “That scaly old rat won’t know what hit it until it’s brittle and ROTTED! Now what are we still standing around here for?! If we’re going to be hunting dragons then we’ve got to get a move on!”
A few members shush him on instinct, quickly glancing around them whilst those like Petra and Axel whoop and holler right alongside him. Ultimately, the air dissipates into laughter—nervous as all hell with adrenaline at the mere thought of it all pumping through their veins, but joyous nonetheless.
So be it, they have a dragon fight to prepare for.
Notes:
HI AGAIN ! Thank you for reading first off, it's so incredibly appreciated and I never would've made it this far without the incredible kindness and support from my readers, so thank you all so genuinely.
So what's happened since March after i uploaded 42. girl. Well I quit my job after a horrible crazy series of events that is, unfortunately, par for the course with the company but hey at least it's crashing out (its corpo so it's really funny). Dealt with a brief stalking stint at the end of that job that got into shady territory (but we chill and safe!), had some major upheavals in summer after some loss and a lot of moving, and I injured my main hand which has kinda stopped me from doing a lot of writing and drawing and gaming for most of the year. also stomach flus got hands. So those are all bummers. BUT IM ALSO SO THRILLED because I've finally returned to school with a major and line of education I am utterly ecstatic and excited for!! and not only that but I got into Honor's College for it! It's so refreshing to be back to say the very least and I'm over the moon about it, but understandably, especially since im a STEM major, that is where a lot of my fall and winter thus far has gone LMAO, but--and not to jinx it--I'm feeling really good about where I am and my ability to create and write again!
My attention has admittedly been pulled all over the place this year with so much going on, but all in ways that really bolstered my creativity I feel, and I'm very excited about all of my projects! I'm very happy to be able to return to this one as well with full excitement and not feel like I'm just hitting some roadblock in front of me---thanks for your guys' patience with me. On top of updating this fic, a resolution I have for myself this year is to upload a few new fic ideas (both in this fandom and out) as well as revisit some old ones, including one whose last update was literally the day before I uploaded chapter 1 of Answers way back in 2018 😭🫶 Maybe I'll even upload some OC/Original Works because they have been another huge part of my year. We'll see!
Regardless, I'm excited for what's to come in 2025, and thank you guys for reading and sticking with me! I know Jesse seems to be shifting focus a little here but, trust me, the fic isn't called Answers for nothing :]
Chapter 44: Hit the Ground Running
Summary:
With a lot to do now, Jesse is off and running catching people up to speed, getting himself into shape, and setting the bait for their own trap in front of the city.
Notes:
Okay it's not the next week like I wanted but hey! Next month isn't bad! I'll set my sights for a chapter a month since school ripped the rug out from under me so quickly LMAO but also i'm blaming on the fact that Jesse gave a whole speech in this one and I was treating it mildly like it's own assignment LOL if u see my academic voice peeping through his words erm. hiiiiii <3 It's a bit of a longer one/more of my usual pace just over 10k so enjoy!!
Also, while I'm not quite bold enough to have a discord server, a lot of folk were asking me about the potential for a community space for Answers! So, given I know a lot of people here crossover from tumblr, there's now a dedicated Answers Community space using that new-ish community feature they implemented! Check it out if you're interested! Would love to chat with yall and hear your thoughts!
https://www.tumblr.com/communities/mcsm-answers-communityThanks again for reading yall !!! I hope February and Valentine's Day was lovely! 💖💖💖 :]
Chapter Text
With Ivor’s insistence, the group dissipated in what felt like record-time. With so much ground to cover now, everyone has places to be, things to prep, and people to talk to—so off they all ran.
Jesse already feels his head spinning with ideas for his speech, and damn him if he doesn’t stop every few seconds to jot notes down. But before he can get together with Radar, Olivia, and Lukas for the writing session of the century, he’s got one more person to talk to—and one more person to get in the loop. Where to find him? Honestly, Jesse isn’t quite sure. But, hell, the man’s got spotlights for eyes so he can’t imagine it’ll be hard.
And it isn’t, especially once he spots Gabriel—the rest of the remaining Order doesn’t stray far behind and his uncle is right in tow, like he mentioned. Though he’s got more company than he anticipated to see, and in spite of the grime and utter dishevelment of him, he’s beaming. Considering the company? He can’t say he’s too surprised. Right across him and mirroring his own practically bouncy energy is none other than Alex, and Bruce with them sporting a look that has the man beaming from ear to ear.
It has Jesse stalling in his stride for a moment. Seems he missed the reunion—his heart aches a little for that, but it quickly passes and instead a smile finds a way onto his own face. That was their moment to have, he’ll surely hear plenty more to come. Hurrying on ahead, Bruce catches sight of him first and waves him over.
“Hey kid! You’re late to the family reunion.”
Jesse laughs as he reaches them, “Fashionably late, you mean.”
“Ohhh so that’s how you see yourself, eh?” The man hums and Jesse flashes a charming grin.
Alex shoves Bruce out of her way and quickly traps Jesse in a sudden bear hug. It nearly knocks the wind out of him and yet it’s over before it begins with the woman bouncing back to shake him by the shoulders.
“Jesse, you’re not going to BELIEVE all the things we’ve already figured out! It’s utterly crazy! Oh, I’m so sorry you or Petra couldn’t do the honors of reintroducing us but—” She loses her words for a moment, sputtering as she takes in the mess of a city around her, “With everything going on, and the cleanup— We just ran into each other. Hell, we didn’t even get to speak until hours after! But things were just moving so fast.”
He sweeps her hands down and clasps them in his own, beaming, “You don’t have to apologize for that! It’s a relief and a thrill to see you guys so happy. I was worried, admittedly.”
Alex laughs out something almost sheepish as she just shakes her head, “Admittedly, I think I have you beat there. I was scared out of my wits, not sure who I’d be meeting.” She smiles over at Hiro then, “But that didn’t last long. I’d say our second reunion went much better.”
Jesse smiles, “I’m glad. There may be hope for him yet!” He says, eyeing his uncle.
“Ha! Perhaps—we’ll just have to keep a close eye on him!” She hums and Hiro scoffs at their right. Not that he has anything to add. After a moment though, Alex’s eyes widen and she practically pops up in place, “Oh! Before I even forget to tell you in all this mess, you won’t believe this! You remember my friends that I mentioned, right? Well, we all—”
Hiro grins and interrupts, seemingly just as excited now, “Jesse! As grim as it is, do you remember what I mentioned about a real ruckus going on in that old boss of mine’s side of the world? The old Nameless fella?”
Jesse pauses a moment to dig through all the new information he’s processed. That’s going back even before he and Lukas’ stint in the Stronghold and has him blowing out a heavy breath for it—but he snags that little memory still. The Nameless One, the ancient necromancer who pulled his uncle out from the dragon’s purgatory. Pop-quiz passed. Jesse finally nods, garnering him a small chuckle and pat on the arm.
Hiro opens his mouth to speak again but Alex rams her shoulder into his chest and knocks him aside, pointing to her own face with a picture-perfect smile, “Guess whose name starts with R and ends in —uckus!”
Bruce utterly cringes behind her, “Oh c’mon Al. Are you twelve?”
She deadpans and whips around, “Don’t you have to go be a smart-ass somewhere else?”
“Not until three.”
“Choose your next words very carefully.” She says, waving a warning finger down at the shorter man. He simply smiles a dazzling smile in turn. Waving him off, she continues, “My crew is based out of Squid Coast, Jesse!” She quickly points between herself and Hiro, “That was us!”
Jesse’s brows shoot up, “Woah! Talk about a small world!”
“Isn’t it bizarre? Now, that adventure is a whole story in and of itself—Archie and that stupid Orb were…” She scrunches up her nose and shakes her head, “Well, it was a difficult year, but damn if it didn’t take us all over! Suffice to say, Archie had sought out The Nameless One and his acolytes to help grow his army. And, well, the old mage got in our way. We had to stop him.”
Hiro crosses his arms with a smile, “I’m holding you to that promise of meeting them—I have to thank them myself.”
Bruce snorts, “For killin’ your boss?”
“Sure! He got me outta the dragon’s purgatory, yes, but that doesn’t mean I liked the old codger. He put a lotta thoughts and ideas into my head. Can’t say I’m a fan in hindsight.”
Jesse lets them talk for a while more, just happy to listen in. They’re all rather rugged looking messes still, covered in grime with dark circles under their eyes. Save his uncle, of course. But it’s good to see them all just… talking. Casually, like pieces falling back into place amongst each other. It’s funny what a little wanton destruction can do for frayed tensions. Maybe it’s a temporary high, but even so, he’ll surely take it over the constant strain that’s been felt around here for weeks. Perhaps there’s hope for them all yet, in spite of their many messes.
Speaking of, Bruce reaches out to tap Jesse on the shoulder with a smile.
“So kid, what brings you by? You look like a man on a mission.”
He sucks in a breath and nods towards Hiro, “Yep. I need to borrow him for a few.”
“Uh oh, someone’s in trouble.” Alex hums as she toes Hiro’s boot.
“Haha. Funny.” Casually, Hiro crosses his arms and leans down to Jesse’s ear with his voice quite low, “I’m… not, right?”
“No.” Jesse laughs. Hiro whistles out a breath in relief then swings back upright as confident as ever.
“Well, you heard him! I’m off—let the others know where I up and disappeared to!”
“Still leaving others to do your dirty work at your grown age? Noted!” Bruce hums and Hiro shoots him a sour look. The man laughs and just nods, “We’ll pass it along. See you guys around!”
With that, the two groups part. Alex and Bruce disappear deeper into the town commotion while Hiro and Jesse start walking… Well, frankly Jesse isn’t quite sure where he wants to have this conversation. So he lets his feet take the lead. Thankfully, Hiro doesn’t jump him with thoughts or questions, seemingly waiting quite patiently for Jesse to say something first. It’s a little jarring still to see how quiet the man can be, he supposes he just ended up that way though after everything. A lot of time alone. As they move, Jesse quickly tries to rehash everything he wants and needs to discuss with the man. By the time he has it all in order once more, he finds that they’ve ended up along the dock.
Sucking in a deep breath of air, the salt almost burns his lungs. He reaches up with both hands to shove his hair back and out of his face before finally stopping and dropping his hands to his hips. His eyes wander out across the horizon, following the delta’s winding channels out to the sea not too far ahead. Gulls squall overhead and it’s a welcome sound. Behind him, he’s greeted with a supportive pat on the back that shifts to a comforting hand on his shoulder. Clearing his throat, Jesse greets his uncle with a smile.
“Sorry. Guess I’m figuring out what to open with.”
“I’ll start. How’d you and Lukas do last night? Everything sorted?”
The question stuns him for a moment. Recomposing himself, he nods with a bashful bow of his head, “Yeah. Yeah, we got it all hashed out. It’s… A total relief.”
Hiro smiles a little, “That’s good. I figured as much, you seem… More sturdy? Probably not the right word, but hopefully you know what I mean.”
“You mean like I actually have a brain again? Thanks, I like to think so.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Jesse laughs and just shakes his head, “Seriously though, I do feel a lot better. I… I think I’ve figured a lot of things out. Or at least, come to the conclusions I needed to. There’s a plan forward, daunting as it may be. But I can work with that. I mean I—” He pauses, searching for the words as the wind whips his bangs around. He presses his hands into his chest absentmindedly as he speaks, almost as if for emphasis to himself, “I’m me. I slayed the witherstorm. I’ve run through world after world in the Old Builder’s Portal Hall. I-I’ve fostered this city! I beat an Admin!” He bounces his fists in front of him, rolling his lips a little, “I’ve got this… This is my city. My life. And I’m ready to do whatever it takes to take it back.”
Hiro hums, arms crossed, but he has an easygoing smile on his face.
“I like the sound of that, Jesse.”
He smiles, “I do too.”
The words start to more easily flow out from there. They have a lot of personal catching up to do, starting way back from after the cave expedition went awry. There was the wait for the journal, the beginning of the missing items, getting that little message from Romeo about Hiro. Explaining where his head started spiraling out of control with ideas until it led him and Lukas right into the trap of that Stronghold. Then the Stronghold itself… He does his damndest to recount everything he can in spite of himself—he relies heavily on Lukas’ times recounting the info more than anything. But he remembers the feelings that utterly corrupted his mind. And that Enderman. How could he forget the creature that still sends a chill down his spine and has his side throbbing in phantom pains? They have to put a pin in that topic at the moment for the sake of Jesse finishing his little recap—though the way the man leans forward and those blaring eyes of him practically flare, he knows his mind races with thoughts over the ordeal.
Then the Deep Dark… A whole different sort of beast. Like a place out of a horror novel—he can still hardly comprehend it even happened. The chill can still be felt seeping into his bones if he thinks about it. Then the utter helplessness that poisoned the whole ordeal. But that won’t happen again. And they made it out, even if it was by the skin of their teeth. He can’t help his honesty when speaking of it, and something tells him that Hiro’s already growing respect for Lukas is tripled by the time he’s done. Jesse’s always been impressed by the man, that’s a given, but his gratefulness and adoration for him by now is simply unable to be summed into words. He’s always trusted Lukas without a second thought—he’s saved his life more times than he can count. But god, he never realized that all those feelings he had for him could grow beyond that—but maybe it’s just because he gained the courage to actually speak and act on them. Open the floodgates so to speak.
But he gets himself back on track from there and jumps right into all the things that have been happening in town from his perspective. The bombings, seeing Alex, his suspicions and blowups with everyone from Petra, to Lukas, to Olivia all leading up to the chaotic culmination Hiro found them all in. And now they’re down a Hall and left with the city’s shattered morale. It’s a lot to recount, and from the sheer look on the man’s face, a lot for Hiro to take in. As Jesse finishes spinning his tale with his little visit back to their ransacked home—save for Hiro’s oddly clean room—Hiro stays where he is for a long minute with his brow furrowed so tightly that his forehead wrinkles. But he comes out of it nodding. It’s a lot to know that he missed, but he’s all caught up to speed now.
Well, save for one more detail. But Jesse holds out on that announcement for just a little longer. With everything else now out on the table, Jesse isn’t quite sure where to jump back in. There’s a few topics they have to discuss, he just has to pick and choose.
“Lukas um… He mentioned you’ve seen that Enderman that I saw? What can you tell me about that?”
Hiro almost has to shake himself back to the present but quickly nods, “I don’t understand it fully myself Jesse. In my waking life? I’ve never seen it. But I had this… This nightmare that seemed to correspond to the time while you and Lukas were down there. And we obviously can’t compare times or anything too closely but… After I woke up from it I swear I heard your voice calling for Lukas. Like you were yelling in warning of something—alert, alarmed. But obviously you weren’t anywhere near the Nether. Coulda been a hallucination, but it’s odd… There’s no reason for my mind to have conjured that… And the fact that my nightmare right before had me seeing that very Enderman you and Lukas are now describing?” He taps his lips incessantly, almost nervously, “I can’t help but think it’s not a coincidence. But I dunno how that’d even be possible. I’ve never done that sorta thing with my powers.”
“What happened in the nightmare exactly? Like, where were you?”
“Nowhere underground, that’s for certain. It was like… Like another one of the nightmares I’d described to you previously. The ones where I’m partially Ender myself.” He scowls as he thinks hard to recall every beat of the experience, “It started rough—I hit the endstone hard. I was dressed in somethin’... Kinda similar to how I used to when out adventuring with Steven, but I also had a red wrap that kinda reminded me of the Nether.” He huffs and waves the thought off, “But that’s not important, what’s important is I felt like I was being chased. And as I got up in this panic, I was looking all over for something. The thing that was hunting me. A-And I caught a glimpse outta the corner of my eye of these wings! Dragon wings, I think! I dunno for sure, but they looked like them from the brief flash I got. But there was no dragon to be found. Couldn’t see it, couldn’t hear it. It was just barren End islands all around. Then finally I whipped around and caught sight of that damn Enderman. Exactly as you described it, Jesse.”
Jesse blows out a shuddering breath, unable to wrap his head around it, “Same scars? Same missing mouthguard? Same claws? Same height?”
“If I could somehow impart the vision I saw into my head, or vice versa, Jesse I swear we will have seen the same thing. It’s a gut feeling—I know it sounds crazy but I know I’m right on this. You don’t find an enderman like that just every day, especially not with such unique features. It was so…”
“Jagged…?”
“That’s a good word for it. Jagged. Rugged. I’d almost feel bad for the sonuvabitch if it weren’t such an unabashed killing machine! Certainly been around the block.”
“So, what’d it do next in your dream?”
“Well, first I wanna note something else that was weird. You know I don’t like endermen. I have good reason to, obviously. They… They scare me. I don’t cower around them with my power, but they freak me out to say the very least. So usually my first reaction to seeing one is something along the lines of wanting to retreat or just avoid them. Leave them be, mind my own business. But that wasn’t what I felt in that dream, no matter how lucid I was.”
“Is that normal…?”
“No. But the emotion was just so strong—I don’t understand where it came from. The moment I saw that Enderman, I was flooded with this blinding white-hot rage. And, with my own clawed hand, I attacked it first.” He scoffs next, waving the ridiculous notion off, “Not that it got me anywhere. The damn thing caught my arm like it was nothing! My hand was totally like that of an Enderman’s—claws and all, and my fingers were just twitching trying to get closer to make some kinda dent on the thing. Didn’t do shit of course. After that I finally got the right idea and tried pulling back but it had a vice grip on me. Last thing I remember before I woke up was it screeching right in my face—up close and personal.”
Hiro lets his arms fall awkwardly at his sides there, “I… I don’t really know what context that adds to this whole mess, if any, but… It seemed too weird not to mention in hindsight.”
“No, no, I’m glad you did. That’s… Bizarre. I wonder what that head of yours was trying to tell you…”
Hiro shrugs, “I think at best we can assume it was just a kind of warning. Why or how it even happened I don’t really have a clue. Xara and Romeo have been turning their own memories practically inside out to try and remember if they had anything like that, but it’s been so much time for them…”
Jesse frowns, “Right… And especially towards the end with Romeo, it could be hard to really discern what counts… He was so deep in it all.”
“Exactly the issue.” Hiro sighs, “I just wish I had known it meant something serious was up. I dunno, but I can’t help but think just— had I known, I would’ve been able to get you and Lukas out of there like it was nothing. Even if I had to recharge my powers between, I love old cave systems and structures—I lurked down in those depths for years on and off. I know it’s a foolish thought, but I don’t like standing around feeling useless, I suppose.”
Oh.
Jesse blinks a moment, almost huffing out a ghost of a laugh.
So that’s where he gets it.
He reaches up and claps his uncle on the shoulders, “Believe me, I understand, uncle. But those are thoughts and worries best tossed aside. That’s how I got into this whole mess to begin with. You’re here now, we’re back on the same page and, frankly, I think we’re gonna be in even better sync than before. Now we just gotta be ready for our next move.”
Hiro sucks in a big breath, “Right. And you haven’t told me what that is yet.”
“I wanted you to be caught up to speed first. To understand why it’s the choice I’m making, in spite of… y’know, things like logic, fear, and experience.” He can’t help the laugh that escapes him. He drums his arm and briefly glances around, checking to see if there’s any potential eavesdroppers. But it’s a quiet day down by the water—the commotion is all in the center of town. Turning his gaze back to his uncle, he meets him squarely in the eyes, “We’re going to bait our perp out by going to The End.”
Hiro stiffens, his gaze shifting in turn to look down his nose at Jesse. It’s intimidating, but the man means no harm in it past a sheer reaction. He settles again quickly, rolling his lips and just nodding. He doesn’t utter a peep. No pushback, no outrage. Just acceptance. It’s almost jarring—it’s not fully the reaction he was expecting from his uncle who died there.
“Are… Are you okay with that?” He asks, not really sure why he’s asking permission for such a thing. He’s going to do it anyways, but…
Hiro barks out a loud laugh, “Am I okay with that? No! I’d have to be out of my mind to be okay with it. But… I also figured this was a possibility a while ago.” He hums, a bittersweet smile on his face. Jesse’s brows furrow a little but his uncle speaks before he can, “But before I can be fully at peace with it, I just need to know something for certain.”
“What is it?”
“What are you looking for at this point? What are you looking to get out of that dimension…?” He asks, head cocked at a slight angle as those eyes bore into him. It’s a feeling Jesse hasn’t felt under his gaze in a long while now—like what he first felt before this all unraveled. When they were merely obstacles to each other, when he was someone his uncle could hunt. It’s an eerie feeling that settles in his core, like the man’s eyes can see right through the layers of skin, muscle, and sinew into his very core being.
Jesse steadies himself as he takes a moment to consider his answer. His honest answer.
“I want to finish this… I want to find the person behind all this. I want to put the issue to bed.” He pauses, “It’d be a goose chase looking for anything in the End. If anything, maybe our perp and their enderman friend will be able to clear up the last few questions I have.”
Hiro seems to consider his words for a minute before easing up and slowly nodding, “Good. I’m glad to hear that, Jesse. The last thing I wanted for you was to hear you were going to be chasing ghosts.” He says, a smile returning as he blows out a little sigh of relief. Jesse matches the look, just shaking his head a little now.
“No… I think I’m done with that.” He pauses, “You’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would. When did you start considering it an option…?”
Hiro huffs out a laugh, “Romeo and I were talking some days ago before this all happened—I was getting myself worked up after not hearing from you for a while. It got brought up then, and I had a lot of time to mull it over and consider what I was going to do were you to ever propose such a thing.”
“And what’s that…?” Jesse asks tentatively.
“Go with you, of course.”
“Uncle Hiro—”
“Jesse, there’s no way I am just letting you waltz in there without me in tow. Your father would raise himself from the dead just to kill me again! This isn’t debatable. If you’re going in there, so am I. Especially with those End Artifacts missing.”
Jesse looks up at him again, a little surprised at his directness. Hiro’s face is stoney and unreadable, but the message is crystal clear to him. Jesse concedes with a small bowing of his head.
“Do you expect to fight it?” Hiro asks. A simple question with huge implications. Jesse answers readily and honestly.
“I’m hoping for the best, but entirely expecting the worst. And we’re preparing as such.” He sucks in a breath, “With that in mind, you can reconsider, uncle. I understand this is no small request of anyone. Nonetheless someone who already…” His words trail off and his eyes shine with a mix of sympathy and pain. Hiro doesn’t even seem fazed though, merely shaking his head.
“If you’re going, I’m going. It’s the very least I can do after all this time and all the trouble I’ve caused. But understand also that I’m not just doing this to— to relieve some sorta guilty conscience and then fuck off, okay? I do want to make things up to you, of course, but moreso I just…” A small crack in his stoney front finally appears, softening the look a smidge, “You’re my brother’s little boy. My little nephew. Things’ve changed a little—or a lot—but… Like it or not, you’re still you, and I’m still me.”
Jesse can’t help the beaming smile and stinging in his eyes, “Thinking I’d be going in alone is crazy-talk, I suppose.”
“Right on the money, shortstack. Here,” The man chuckles with a smile and open arm. Jesse happily accepts the invitation and gives his uncle a hearty hug, getting a solid clap on the back for it. The man reeks of smoke, fire, and copper, but for the moment it keeps him comfortable, unlike the rest of the city the smell permeates. It’s a safe feeling and a nostalgic one that he’s enveloped in. Something in the air feels heavier still, not necessarily bad, but like this one holds more weight than it has in a while. Jesse struggles to place the feeling for a moment but then finds it—it’s like that very first one he got in the Nether. But the awkwardness is gone, the shock is gone, the nerves are gone. All that’s left is the quiet promise that they’re going to look out for each other, like they were meant to.
They break, back up, and share smiles. But as Jesse moves to step back, Hiro catches his attention by holding onto his shoulders for one more minute.
“Jesse. One more thing.” He steps back a pace to dig in a small—obviously borrowed—hip-bag. Then he pulls out the now familiar sight of his father’s journal, “Here. I’ve done my reading.”
Jesse’s brows furrow then shoot up, “Already? There’s no rush, uncle. We won’t be leaving for another week at best.”
“I’ve already read all of the entries a few times over. Your father was the known bookworm, but I got to be a pretty fast reader myself. ‘Sides, I trust you to keep this safer than my scatter-brained self.” He says and takes Jesse’s hand, planting the journal firmly back in it without another word. Jesse stares down at the battered old cover rather conflicted, but concedes.
“Alright… Still, I think that’s pretty fast… If you change your mind and end up wanting to reread something or even just wanting to read it all over again, I’ll keep it at Lukas’. Just stop by.”
Hiro smiles sadly but nods, “Sure. I couldn’t help but tear through the thing, frankly. I couldn’t wait—I had to know what I’d missed. What my brother was thinking.” His gaze shifts down to his hands there as he awkwardly fiddles with them, “I… I wish I could just talk to him. One last time. To tell him he was crazy just for starters but also just… God, he had to stop taking so many unnecessary responsibilities on his back.”
“I don’t even know what I would say to him at this point…” Jesse huffs with a little shrug as he hugs the journal close. “That I love him. That I miss him. Past that… I dunno.”
“I think those would be more than enough. I think they are more than enough—wherever he is, he knows.” He says and squeezes Jesse’s shoulder comfortingly with that. He smiles and nods, punctuating the conversation with that.
“Well, I’ve still got quite a few places to be. Thank you for talking with me, uncle.”
“Of course, just keep me updated on the details as they’re developed.”
“Of course. Right now, we’re aiming at heading out in a week. But I’m announcing our intentions tomorrow morning at my address to the city. We’re not saying anything about the Dragon or our suspicions though. We’re going to do a mix of bluff and misdirect. We’re going to claim that we got them and announce a Legacy Project that’s ‘been in the works for a while’ of adding infrastructure to the End. As a means to help people and honor those lost. We’re hoping to play their own game and make them feel comfortable—like they have a winning edge again. But that means that nothing can leak. We have to keep the details strictly to ourselves. You can’t discuss details with anybody other than me, Ivor, Lukas, Petra, Olvia, Axel, or Radar. No Alex, no Bruce, no Romeo, nobody. Though, I’m sure Romeo already has more than an idea of what’s going on—like you. But it’s the principle. We need to keep this under wraps as much as possible. I’ll let you know who else is in the loop later.”
Hiro nods, “I see. You have my word, Jesse. I can keep a secret.”
“Thank you, uncle. For everything.”
~~~~~
With the sound of scraping wood, a large and almost funnily casual glass of warm, glowing pink liquid slides across the table. The sound catches Jesse by surprise, interrupting he and Harper’s fervent debate on the urban legend of the Creaking. She can believe the Warden, but she draws the line at a ‘discount inverted enderman.’ Jesse gives up pleading his case there. Glancing up, Jesse spots Ivor slapping the tabletop proudly before marching his way over to join the three.
“There you are, Jesse. Regeneration II of the finest quality! You shall find no other brewery makes it to my caliber! Drink up—you will need it.”
Jesse smiles, “Thank you, Ivor. I, of course, have no doubt in your potion-making prowess.” He says as he picks up the glass. Ivor guffaws loudly and triumphantly, punctuating it with a proud grin towards Harper. The woman snorts. Jesse meanwhile swirls the potion in his glass, watching the sparkling liquid dance and the occasional bubble pop, “Can I ask you one question though?”
“What? What’s there to question? It’s regeneration—you drink and you regenerate.”
“Nah, nah, I get that. But like…” He trails off and chuckles a little, “Not trying to nitpick, of course. You are a professional. But do professionals typically use mason jars to drink out of?”
Ivor glowers at him, “Haha. Very funny. I’ll have you know that those are extremely versatile little containers! Respectable! And are you taking that potion with you?”
“Well, no—”
“Aht! Zip-it! If it’s not travelling with you, then I'm not wasting a perfectly clean bottle of mine! It’s basic sense, Jesse, I mean truly!” He huffs to shake his head as he wipes up a small spill on the table, “‘Why is it in a mason jar?’ Feh!” He rants under his breath. Jesse gets a chuckle out of it and Harper smacks Jesse lightly on the arm then points at the potion.
“I’d hurry before he goes and changes his mind, Jesse. He could any minute now!”
“He wouldn’t.” Jesse says with a laugh. Ivor turns back his direction with quite the raised brow. Jesse remains totally relaxed and casual all the while, an easygoing smile on his face. There’s a very very still beat of silence. And admittedly, the tension starts getting to him. So, when Ivor suddenly reaches out towards the glass, Jesse moves in a snap to yank it defensively close to his chest with a glare. Ivor immediately bursts into loud laughter. Covering his little bout of humbling embarrassment (and to partially make sure he can’t get his hands on it), Jesse starts downing the potion, though that only encourages the older man.
“Oh I wouldn’t, huh? HA!”
He glares at the older man over his glass and treats him with a lovely gesture from his other hand. But Ivor’s laughter is contagious and as that renews the man’s spirit, he can’t help but giggle a little as he drinks.
The potion itself is warm and sweet, with a little bit of what he can only describe as spice to it that leaves his tongue tingling. It warms his whole body from the inside out, and maybe it’s placebo but it’s like he can feel it already working with the way his muscles relax and lighten. A league's better experience than his last run-in with the potion. He’s disappointed when it’s finished, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he checks the glass. Setting it down finally, he clears his throat and smiles.
“Thank you, Ivor. Really. I’m excited to be back.”
The older man nods, “Yes, well, we certainly couldn’t do any of this without you. And touting you around expecting you to perform while you’re still hobbling around with healing lacerations certainly won’t do us any good! You should know the routine—rest well tonight, you’ll need it for more than one reason. You may be a little drowsy but that means it’s working. Go topless, lest you want your scabby peels to roll around with you all night.”
Jesse cringes at the thought, “Eugh, noted.”
“I meant to ask, Jesse. How did that talk with that odd uncle of yours?” Harper asks with a cross of her arms. Ivor meanwhile starts cleaning up his brewing space around them.
“It went well. We had a lot of ground to cover but I think we got it all. At least we got all the big points. He’s even going to be coming with us.”
Ivor makes a surprised sound, “That’s unexpected. I recall him having quite a series of issues with that dimension and the dragon—for good reason, of course, but…”
“He does. And I told him he could back out after spelling things out, but he’s sticking to it. I think he’ll be good to have on our side in terms of power and protection. I don’t know what would happen in the event the dragon really does come back, though… I don’t think he’d get— I dunno— sucked back in or anything, but we shouldn’t rely on his powers just in case something gets disrupted.”
“That’s a good thought to keep in mind. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but the End’s a bizarre ol’ dimension, that’s for certain.” Harper huffs.
“Jesse,” Ivor starts and Jesse swings himself around on the stool to face him next, “I know you were interested in seeing if Soren could assist in easing your panic around Endermen. Why not broach the idea to your uncle as well? We don’t truly know how he will react in the End once we get there. It could be beneficial to you both.”
Jesse hums thoughtfully and nods, “That’s not a bad idea. I’ll have to ask him about it when I see him next.”
Harper perks up and curses under her breath as she checks her watch, “Shoot! I hate to leave you so soon, Jesse, but I’ve gotta go meet with Olivia and Radar right quick before they gotta shoot over to your little brainstorming session. Been a real hassle setting up for that address of yours tomorrow—you sure you don’t wanna swap locations…?”
“Positive. Trust me, it’ll be it’s best right there. And thank you, Harper—we appreciate the help a ton.”
“Don’t thank me yet! Now take care this evening, heaven knows you need it.” She says with a huff and reassuring little slap on the back. She waves to Ivor as she passes, “I’ll be back by nightfall. Hopefully.”
“I’ll come to assist if you’re not.”
“You’re too kind.” She hums and he matches it with a smile. And like that, she’s off. And then there were two.
Jesse really doesn’t have much else left to do here. He’s got his potion, he’s chatted and caught them up for the day, really he should head back and get a headstart on his speech while he still can. But something holds him here. Maybe it’s the quiet. This place is rather serene and he’s in trusted company. A small breather before his mind starts racing again. Or maybe it’s just the fact that he has the feeling Ivor has more to say.
“Jesse,” The man starts, his voice a little more subdued than typical, “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss while you’re here?”
His mind draws a blank. He stares down at the empty jar. Is there anything that hasn’t already been covered? He has all his ducks in a row, he thinks. Everyone’s up to speed who needs to be—or they will be. They know their crew, they know their goal. Though, there is one little thing he wants to know. One last little voice in his head to quell.
“... Do you think we can pull it off?” He asks quietly.
Ivor completely stalls in what he’s doing. He pauses to think, then finally turns around to look at Jesse rather oddly. Jesse leans against the table and just shrugs. There’s nothing else to his question. Ivor hums, his dark brows knitted in deep thought.
“Jesse, why are you doubting yourself?”
“Well—! I’m not lacking confidence so much as… Well, experience. You’ve seen the dragon—I haven’t. I still have confidence, but… Y’know, the fear’s still gonna be there. So, hit me Ivor, do you think this is feasible? Or are we going to have to dig our heels in and pull off another miracle?”
The man actually huffs out a laugh at that. He’s not sure whether to feel complimented or frustrated to be so brushed off. But as Ivor reaches across the table to clap him on the shoulder, he feels his anxieties ease.
“I have an idea—Here’s what you need to do, Jesse.” He quickly walks around the table as he talks, yanking out a stool to sit on across from him that squeals as it's ripped across the floor. Jesse cringes but Ivor sits down all the while, already animated as he reaches up and holds Jesse’s head in his hands, “Now I need you to think back—and think hard! Put yourself back in the shoes of your younger self—before Romeo, before Hadrian, before PAMA and even before Sky City! Remember that utterly brazen confidence!”
“My confidence…?”
“Yes! The very same that had you darting in and out of town nonstop for months merely exploring for treasure and adventure—taking on everything you saw because you simply knew you could! I want you to tap right into that because that is what I want to see out there!”
Jesse snorts, “You mean my overinflated ego? Ivor, I don’t—”
“Overinflated for a reason!” He chides with a smirk, “Jesse, I wouldn’t even entertain such a quest if I didn’t think it was capable of being done. So to answer your question, yes. It won’t be easy, but I think you could’ve even pulled it off as that greenhorn 20 year old if you had needed to put your mind to it. That’s high praise, but you’ve earned high praise, so accept it—now’s your time to use it!”
Jesse smiles at that, nervously, but smiling nonetheless.
“But there’s something else, Jesse. I want you to be thinking of more than that foul beast—this is still a chance at adventure!” He reaches out to shake him by the arms, and admittedly his energy is infectious, “To explore the far reaches of the End Dimension! Now I know it’s a dangerous place but, where have you been that hasn’t been wrought with such foul potentialities? You’re an adventurer, I’d say it might as well be in your blood at this point!” He grins, the action wrinkling his sparkling eyes.
His smile brightens and his heart feels a little lighter as he takes in his words, something about the compliment even stinging his eyes. In his blood. It may not be the life that he’d imagined as a child, but Ivor’s right—he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little excited to see what’s out there. He just has to hang on tight to that ingrained sense of wonder and curiosity. It’s what’s brought him this far, and he’s been fostering it little by little on his own, but this is it. This is where he fans that spark back into the flame and fire it’s supposed to be. It’s who he is.
Taking a deep breath, Jesse pats Ivor’s arms, still outstretched and resting atop his own. But then he pauses to think. The next second, he gets up from his seat and reaches out to clasp Ivor in a hug. The man startles in surprise, but eases up with a hearty chuckle and pat on the back. It’s short and sweet, but exactly what feels right. Standing tall once more, Ivor begins cleaning up now.
“You’d better get a move on, that address isn’t going to write itself, yes?”
“Yeah, they’ll probably be waiting on me soon if I’m not careful.”
“I’ll be there to cheer you on!” He hums, raising the collection of used bottles he’s awkwardly clasping in his hands high in a sort of cheers. Jesse chuckles and nods.
He tries offering to help clean up with him–even just for a few minutes—but Ivor has none of it. So on that note, they exchange their pleasantries and bid each other adieu. Ivor to work on his own tasks and Jesse hurrying back to Lukas’.
~~~~~
The scramble to draft, revise, edit, and revise his address again and again is a hectic one. But it’s fun in its own right. The four of them—Jesse, Lukas, Radar, and Olivia—all sit on the floor of Lukas’ study, pillows, drinks, and papers all scattered about with everyone speaking over each other with ideas, revisions, and opinions. It reminds Jesse of a time years ago, when he, Axel, and Olivia would do something similar in preparation for an upcoming build or school project. Bullshitting and cramming at the last minute was in their nature. But in spite of the constant talking over each other and occasional redirecting on Jesse’s part (thank god he has the pipes to speak over them all), the atmosphere remains fairly light, considering. And there’s a lot of laughs to be had—though the delirium that eventually sets in likely plays a part in that.
Eventually the other three all badger him into going to bed, lest Ivor throw a fit after he went through for that potion. With one less person amongst them, the others work until light returns to the sky and the stars return to their slumber—something they severely neglected. But with a few power naps taken and even more coffee ingested, they’re all able to review with a semi-fresh set of eyes and end up feeling confident enough with what they’ve cranked out. And if Jesse’s good at anything, it’s adlibbing. Throughout the morning he reads the words over dozens of times, burning them into his mind from the moment they finalize it all the way up to the final checks at the address site.
Turnout that morning is beyond what he could’ve imagined. Though, in retrospect, he can’t say he’s surprised. Of course the people want to know what on earth has been happening in their home. And especially why he chose to host it here of all places.
Now’s the big moment for them. It’s time to get his home back.
As he waits under one of the temporary little gazebos off the side of the Order Hall, his nerves settle in. The air is buzzing with conversation and his heart hammers in his chest, his ears practically ringing. He’s gotten better at public speaking over the years, but there’s still moments where it gets to him. At the very least though he knows exactly where everyone is standing and supporting him from. They’re scattered around the perimeter of the crowd, just in case. But in all the time it takes for everyone to meander in, for their final checks to roll in, and for Jesse to be handed the microphone—nothing happens. So, it’s now or never.
Jesse takes a breath, and begins walking out onto the former breezeway of the Order Hall. As he tugs the microphone cable along, silence begins falling over the crowd in a wave. He gets to what’s close enough to consider the middle and gently toes away some rubble of the former overhang. It tumbles down and rolls along, eliciting a few scattered laughs in the large crowd—children. But for the rest of them the tension is palpable and he swallows as he quells the nerves trying to crawl their way back up and choke him out.
Eyeing the crowd and feeling the air, something in him shifts. Fear and anticipation is written on the faces of each person his eyes scan over in that crowd. Rolling his lips, he realizes that he’s going to start ad libbing a little early. At least at the start. He turns his back to the crowd momentarily, resting his spare hand on his hip and standing there staring at the ruins now staining his city. Finally, he blows out a sigh into the mic as he turns around.
“So, it’s been a bad week.”
He manages to get a quiet chorus of chuckles from the crowd as he toes at another piece of debris. Probably more out of a release of tension than anything. He rolls his lips and nods slowly as he drags his gaze from the rubble to his people.
“I have a lot to explain. Not just for this week, but for the past month now. I know things have been… Chaotic, to say the least. Unpredictable. Scary. Not to mention the fact this is all happening not even a full year after ending this city’s hostile takeover from The Admin. And, disappointingly, my presence as a leader has been… lackluster, to say the least.
“So what even happened? I’m going to give you the rundown, let you know where we’re at, and the plan we have moving forward. I’m not standing up here to just whine, apologize, and fearmonger. I do have good news.” He smiles, sucking in a confident little breath, “Today marks the end of this mess.”
“But, let’s review.” He drops the expression back to something serious, pointing westbound now towards the smoldering ruins of Bruce’s shop, “At 8 am on a Sunday morning, right as the bells chimed, Mr. Faulk’s shop was terrorized and destroyed in a series of explosions. We’re lucky the explosions remained as contained as they did, but even so, all the potions, ingredients, gunpowder, and unique mix of items sold there made for a toxic mix of smoke and debris to say the least.” He sighs, his brows furrowing, “Things like that don’t happen in this town. We don’t hurt each other like that. And that sentiment was immediately felt—with every strike of the new hour, the bells tolling would come with a cacophony of anticipation and dread, wondering not just ‘if’, but when the next one would hit. And I can tell you that there was going to be a second one.” He pauses there as a wave of gasps run through the crowd. Rolling his lips, he nods before bringing the mic back up, “Jack’s Adventure Emporium was rigged with a similar device, thankfully discovered by Jack and Nurm themselves and disarmed before… Well, the worst.”
His eyes flick from person to person in the sea of people, trying to meet as many people as he can in the small break while his words settle and the people chatter amongst themselves. From there, he takes in a big breath.
“Then, as if that wasn’t enough, one of our own goes missing. And not just anyone, but Captain Stoddard, a former pillar of our community for years now. A kind man. A strong man. A man whom I’ve owed debts of gratitude time and time again.” He waves a hand around fruitlessly as he speaks, “We think—we hope—that his absence is a misunderstanding. That, maybe, there was just a mistake and he’d come waltzing back in like it was nothing.
“But then we find him maimed.” He swallows, keeping his voice low to keep the shake out of it as the blood boils under his skin. Slowly, as he begins to pace and speak once more, his voice steadily raises back up in volume in step with his own outrage.
“We find him unceremoniously dumped within our own borders in a barbaric, and frankly incomprehensible act of violence. My only solace is knowing, for certainty, that he gave them one hell of a fight. I fully believe his actions that night saved us from another attack like this, meaning he went out doing what he’d dedicated his entire life to doing—protecting his community and the people within it.”
“… But we’re still here for a reason. I had hardly finished saying my own goodbyes to him when I heard the explosions ring out.” He huffs, merely shaking his head in disbelief over it all, “I’m grateful today for getting to say that I do not have to zip anyone else up in a bag, but that doesn’t mean we got out unscathed. The most egregious wound here is the blow to our home’s sanctity. To our confidence. To our trust in one another as the fear seeps in and festers while we stand here silently wondering just who amongst us would engage in such remorseless violence.”
He reaches down and shakes some of the dust off of the mic’s cord as it crackles a little, some of the redstone from within coming off onto his fingers. Guess there’s a cut. Just his luck, he supposes. So he simply hangs onto that bit of the cable for the meantime. The moment allows time for his words to settle with a natural break in his words. From there though, he raises his gaze to the crowd once more.
“You all know how I operate up here, so I’m going to be candid with you.” He steps a little to the side and points back at the wreckage, “This scares me.” He pauses to scan the crowd, getting that eye contact. As he speaks again, he shakes his finger at it for emphasis, “It’s had me scared out of my utter wits since day one. Something that shouldn’t have been more than dusting off some old documents has spun out of control in ways I could never have imagined. I poked my nose in places I didn’t realize someone would go to such foul lengths to keep hidden. And I only realized how deep I’d dug my hole once it started affecting everyone. And for that, I’m sorry. I have a lot to apologize for, but ultimately I’m sorry for letting it get this far. Overnight, our sanctuary was turned back into a place of fear, suspicion, and trepidation. It’s unacceptable.”
He lets out a heavy sigh but quickly replaces it with a big breath, “But, like I said, I’m not just here to complain. First, I need to thank all the volunteers who’ve assisted the cleanup and reconstruction efforts, Christine—our newest Captain of the Guard, and all those working with her for their diligence and determination. With their help, amongst the other members of the Order, and the information we gained from Odin—” He rubs the cable in his off-hand nervously and puts on his brightest smile, hoping it doesn’t betray the incessant pounding of his heart within his chest, “—We got them. It’s done.”
Relief sweeps through the crowd—some people laughing, others sighing, and a mix of questions and chatter lighting up amongst them all. It’s a sound that both leaves him feeling lighter and twisting his gut. This’ll work. It has to work. Gripping the microphone a little tighter, Jesse sucks in a breath, signalling the crowd to simmer as he speaks again.
“I can’t give out much information yet, but the person who’s terrorized us for days and weeks has been stopped. We’ve got a lot to sort out with them still, but this marks our ability to breathe easy again. To trust each other again. And to be able to look forward without any fear or doubt remaining in our hearts!” He says and shoots a sweeping hand out over them all. Nodding along, he raises his voice, speaking with a confidence that rises up from his core, “And forward is where I want to look! Not just for Beacontown. Not just for our neighbors of Champion City, or Redstonia, or Boomtown or even just across the ocean for places like Squid Coast. I want to strive to make a change that, for once, isn’t just keeping our world from getting ripped apart or drowned in darkness. We’re not just going to make our home safer, but some of the far outreaches of our world safer. To inspire others like us to reach higher than before—for the adventurers, the dreamers, and the explorers in us all!”
He settles himself, letting the people chatter as he greets them with a smile. It turns a little nostalgic—a little sad—as he speaks next, “I’ve been doing a lot of reflection in the past month. And admittedly this idea has been in the works for some time now,” he bluffs, “But with the added revelations I’ve had, now seems like the right time to get started. There’s been a lot of changes and discoveries in my personal life lately. But the biggest impact has been the closure I’ve gotten with what happened to my own father—a man who disappeared when I was a child. We discovered he got into a scuffle with an Enderman, which we believe teleported him to the outer End Islands. A random, accidental encounter that changed my life forever.” He says with a small shrug, scanning the looks on the people around him. He can’t help but huff out a sad little laugh before he shrugs, “I know. I can see the same look on every person who learns it—pity founded in hopelessness. Hopelessness because the End has nothing. No maps, no infrastructure, no guides. Just… Nothing. No way home. No chance home.”
He steels himself, a fire in his eyes, “I want to change that. It’s no easy project, and one that will likely take years if not decades to fully implement, but…” He presses his hand into his chest, “In dedication to my father, and the countless others who’ve likely been lost in the same way, I want to at least try. And with the rate things are going in town, I’m honestly shocked at how soon I’ll get to start. The Order and I have plans to visit the End by the end of the week to begin preparations there.
“The response to all of this has been… Astounding.” He shakes his head in disbelief, a beaming smile on his face he just can’t erase, “I can’t begin to describe how proud I am of our community in spite of all that’s happened. We’re tough here in Beacontown, and we always bounce back stronger than we were before. Thank you for reminding me of that. I promise, we are going to bounce back into something incredible. And we will get justice. I’ll run myself ragged if I have to.” He laughs, getting some knowing laughs in return—of course he will. “But I won’t be alone. And neither will any of you. So in the meantime as immediate cleanup continues, be safe, be strong, and hold onto each other—together, we can pull off the impossible. We already have.
“Thank you.” He finishes with a stark nod. Turning his back to the crowd, the noise in the area quickly erupts in a mix of clapping, yelling, and most of all talking. The embarrassment doesn’t even have time to settle in though. The cacophony matches the state of his own head, but it keeps him striding forward, focused, and already thinking on where and who he needs to see next.
He hurries himself back over to cover where Olivia and a few technicians of hers are already there waiting. He passes off his microphone to a techie, mumbling briefly about the cut in the cable before shifting to greet the beaming Olivia with a hug.
“Well done, Jesse!”
“Thank you!” He laughs in relief before dropping his voice by her ear, “Do you think it got ‘em?”
She pauses, biting her lip, but then nods, “It has to. You did good—confident. That’ll carry us a long way. We opened the door for them. We just have to make sure things stay airtight until we get there.”
He nods, “Exactly my thoughts.”
And, almost as if reading his mind, someone else clears their throat as they approach the little covered area. Just the woman he wanted to see. Though she seems nervous if the way her arms are crossed over her middle is anything to go by.
“Jesse! That was… Well done!”
“Christine,” Jesse smiles, quickly hurrying over to her to shake her hand, “Thank you.” He says, not missing for a second the very serious look in her green eyes. He knows exactly what she’s thinking—exactly what she’s worrying about. Casting a quick glance to their surroundings first, Jesse takes her by the arm and leads her away from most of the crowd where she’s the first to speak and speak urgently.
“Jesse, if you caught them, why wasn’t I told?”
“Because we haven’t caught them.” He says quickly. Horror flashes for a second on her face but then settles back into the stern expression she’d been carrying prior. Seems he confirmed her thoughts exactly. He looks her dead in the eyes as he speaks, urging her with every word, “You need to trust me here. We have a plan, but it’s gonna need your help to keep it solid.”
“Jesse, I—”
“We can’t back out of this one Chris. Can I count on you?”
With a hardened look the woman stares at him for a long minute. He almost gets nervous, but only almost. Soon enough she nods and beats a fist over her heart, “... Just tell me what to do and where to be.”
“Thank you.” He smiles and sucks in a quick breath before counting the next part off on his fingers just as urgently, “I need you to help keep our bluff going. If anyone asks—even your closest guards—it was the Order and I who apprehended them and they’re being held in the Underneath under Xara’s eye for the meantime. We’re not risking them being around Beacontown until all the details are sorted and the reconstruction finalized. Don’t give name, age, status, gender, anything. Say that it’s under wraps until we’ve got all of our answers finalized and charges sorted. If people get really pushy, tell them we’re cross-referencing them for another crime. Let people speculate all they want about the who or why—but what needs to stay solid is that someone was caught and that we’re confident this is over. Just for a week—that’s all we’ll need.”
Her brows furrow and she blinks in a frenzy to seemingly catch up, “O— Okay. What happens in a week?”
“We’ll be going to the End, and our perp is going to follow us right in.”
Slowly the young woman nods. Then she eyes him, “Are you ready for that?”
“We will be. In the meantime, there’s still a lot to do.” He smiles up at her and gives her a reassuring pat on the arm, “Thank you—I know this is no small thing to ask of you. But I trust you like I trusted Odin to keep some of the pressure off my back while I handle the insane side of things.” He laughs a little at that and it seems to ease her tension, at least a little. He bounces back a pace at that, clapping his hands together as he glances around for the best path out of the area now. She looks at him curiously, nodding over to him.
“What’s next?”
“Oh, something probably a little bit crazy—as usual!” He waves before dropping his hands down to his hips “I gotta go have a chat with Soren and my uncle.”
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