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acraftedmistake · 4 years ago

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A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 14

HAHAAA BACK IN BUSINESS BABY!

Hope you enjoy this one!!

Jesse sat against the broken column by the shrine’s entrance, a breeze brushing against his face. He brought his eyes up, looking at the clear blue sky through the ravine’s crack and listening to the faint conversations coming from inside the shrine. There was nothing for him here.

No answers to Lukas’ whereabouts, nothing about what The Awakening was planning next, the only thing these past few gatherings have given him was discomfort.

Nell was usually the one to talk him into attending each Gathering, but she was sick today. This was his first time coming here alone, and hopefully his last. Being by himself made him even more aware of how everything felt… Off. Whenever members saw him walk in, they’d stop by his seat to say hi and talk about what’s going on, if he was enjoying his visits, simple small talk. However, something everyone seemed too comfortable with was how close they’d get to him. Jesse was never too big on people being near or putting their hands on him, the only exceptions being a quick handshake, a pat on the back from his friends, or Aiden messing with his hair to annoy him. Those were harmless and only lasted a moment. But whenever Jesse would step into the shrine, he'd see a few people’s faces light up as they’d walk over to him with arms open wide, ready to hug him as if they were best friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. They’d pull him close, place their hand on his shoulder as they spoke about their day, and refused to loosen their grip even when he asked. Some people would look genuinely hurt when he pulled away.

There would be nights where these Awakening individuals, Nell included, would spot Jesse on the streets. Those were the worst days. The way they’d look at him with big, bright smiles that stretched from ear to ear, walking up to him and asking if he was coming to this week’s Gathering made him feel terrible. He didn’t want to keep coming, he already felt like he was betraying his own friends, but he was afraid of how the members would react if he refused to return.

He knew the members meant well and were just trying to be nice, at least, that’s what he believed, but they’re all so unaware of how horrible their leaders actually are.

“No, they aren’t called ‘leaders’,” He remembered Nell telling him before one of the Gatherings, “they’re Visions! They look after us.”

Brenner and Mahlon, the ‘Visions’, the individuals who preached about helping others, the individuals who gave guidance to their members and offered their support during trying times were the same individuals who unleashed their horrific lava creation onto the world. They were the same people who took away lives and watched the world burn with no remorse.

They were terrible.

Jesse had watched the older, white haired Vision--the man who had screamed vile curses at him and his friends--happily play with children outside of the shrine. He’d sit on the grass and tell them stories about The Awakening and The Hero after the Gatherings were over. It was so surreal to witness.

The Visions might’ve fooled these misguided people, but they haven’t fooled Jesse. He was waiting for someone, the leaders, Cecil, anyone to slip up and reveal their next scheme, but nothing’s happened yet. If they haven’t hinted at anything these past few weeks who knows how long it’ll take them. Jesse can’t keep coming here forever. Aiden and Olivia had questioned why he’s been leaving the house more often, and who the blonde woman greeting him every now and then was. He knew the excuses: “I just need to clear my head” and “Someone I kinda know” will only last him so long.

Today was going to be his last visit. There was nothing for him here.

“Is all well?” Jesse heard an older man ask. He brought his head up. Standing over him was one of the Visions. Mahlon. The Vision’s head was tilted down slightly, his foggy eye focused more on the broken column rather than the boy below.

“Yeah--Yes, Vision… Sir.” When Jesse spoke the Vision lowered his head more, ‘staring’ more in the direction from where Jesse’s voice came.

“No need to be so formal.” The old man chuckled, “You can call me by my name.” Mahlon said as he sat besides Jesse.

“You’re Jesse, if I remember correctly? Our newest member?” Mahlon asked.

“Right.” Jesse said through gritted teeth, his body stiff as a board. He tried to lean away from Mahlon. Just the thought of being associated with these people made him sick.

“And how are you liking it here?” Mahlon spoke gently, his voice was slightly hoarse.

Jesse answered with a lie, “It’s nice here.” He was afraid of locking eyes with Mahlon. He was half expecting the man’s blindness to be another deceiving trick, but anytime Jesse glanced at him, he saw a genuine look of curiosity on Mahlon’s face, like he wanted to hear more.

The mixture of Mahlon’s pleasant expression and Jesse’s fear of upsetting him prompted him to keep lying. He lied about the new friends he’s made here, how each Gathering had connected with him, and how much their words meant to him. As he kept lying, Mahlon kept smiling. Jesse couldn’t take his eyes off of Mahlon’s burn scar. Most of the old man’s face had been taken over by this fleshy-pink scar that stretched from the bottom left of his face all the way to the top right in a somewhat diagonal manner. The only remaining visible parts of his white, porcelain skin was a small portion where his right eye was, his mouth--where his long, thin white beard covered bits of the scar--and the upper left part of his forehead. Jesse had also noticed that only one of Mahlon’s eyes could open properly while the left one was melted shut. Jesse, admittingly, felt terrible that he couldn’t take his attention away from Mahlon’s distortions. It’s disrespectful--well, it’s not like the old man would ever know where he’s staring, but it was disrespectful nonetheless. The only other feature that would occasionally distract Jesse from the face was Mahlon’s long, white hair which flowed like a candle’s fire in the wind.

Jesse’s kind words sparked a rambling from the old man. Mahlon began talking about everyone’s first visit, how their family welcomes anyone with open arms, the variety of celebrations they’ll have throughout the year to look forward to… These were more words to ‘help’ Jesse feel more ‘comfortable’ here, no doubt. As Mahlon spoke, he’d gesture with his hands. The long sleeves of his robe would flow along with his movements. His attire was similar to Brenner’s. Both wore robes that were a deep shade of red. The ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the robe itself were aligned with a golden yellow. Unlike Brenner’s, however, where the bottom of his robe--and the collar around his neck--had a small, triangle slit, Mahlon had none. Instead, he had a hood that was quite difficult to spot due to his thick hair covering it. Another element Mahlon’s robe had that Brenner lacked was a thick, V-shaped golden line around his waist that could be mistaken as a belt. If Jesse really concentrated on the golden parts of the robe he could make out a variety of tiny symbols--mostly being odd shapes and dashes--on them. Their color was only slightly darker than the yellow they were sewn into, making them easy to miss.

In all honesty, the robe was elegant. It was clear so much time and effort was put into making sure this wonderful robe fit this horrible man. Someone so vile doesn’t deserve to wear something so graceful.

“So what is troubling you?” Mahlon asked. “If you’ve been enjoying your time here, then why sit out here all alone?”

“How’d you even know I was out here?” Jesse tilted his head slowly, curious and a little disturbed.

“Cecil, the lad. He told me.”

Cecil. Of course. What else has he been telling the Visions? He’s probably been keeping them updated every time Jesse so much as scratched his head, but now wasn’t the time to get upset. Jesse needed to make an excuse. Any excuse, as long as it was believable.

“I’ve been...” Jesse swallowed, “Thinking about a friend I lost.”

That was meant to be a lie, but it struck Jesse that it’s been nearly a year since Lukas had gone missing. He started to feel queasy.

Mahlon’s smile faded and was replaced by a look of sorrow, “I see.” He said in a whisper.

There was a moment of silence. Jesse hugged his knees, and Mahlon faced forward and stroked his beard.

Mahlon turned to Jesse again and spoke carefully, “I’m terribly sorry about your friend.”

“Don’t be,” Jesse had to force his next words out, “it wasn’t your fault.”

“If I may,” Mahlon said, “I had also lost someone close to me.”

“You did?” The sinking feeling in Jesse’s stomach grew.

“Yes, he was our Sense before you came along.” Mahlon began, “He had been a wonderful friend of mine since I was a boy, and I fondly remember the excitement I felt when I heard the news that he had been selected as my and Brenner’s Sense. We were all overjoyed. Even after our ceremony, where we were expected to remain resilient leaders, it truly felt like nothing had changed between us. We were three friends who worked together and achieved our dreams. Frankly, the whole experience felt like a dream.” He let out a pleasant laugh as he rested his head on his hands. “Antonin and Brenner made the last ten years of being a Vision possibly the greatest years of my life.” There was a sparkle of joy in Mahlon’s eye, “You’d be surprised how short a decade feels when you’re my age. Oh, it all went by so fast.”

Mahlon’s mouth twitched and he let out a sigh, “And perhaps I should have been wiser; spend an extra few minutes talking to him during breakfast, join him when he was training with Brenner, ramble with him in the library for a moment longer. I was so certain time was on my side. I truly thought that nothing bad could have ever happened to him.”

Jesse listened to Mahlon, and how his voice would get lower the longer he went on. It'd crack and shake at certain points of his recollection, and that bit of light in his eye began to fade. A part of Jesse wanted to feel bad, the other wondered just how blind Mahlon was.

Antonin, this ‘wonderful’ man, surely couldn’t have been the same man who was running towards Jesse and his friends the night they were fighting the lava beast. The image of the man’s black hair flying in the air as he was rushing to them, his sword held high, his red cloak torn, and nothing but hatred in his eyes as he screamed bloody murder at them under the smoke-filled sky was fresh in Jesse’s mind. Maybe Mahlon never saw this horrible side of his friend. Maybe he refused to see it.

And then there was that word, “Sense”. Jesse had heard Radar mention the word in the past when referencing The Awakening, he’s also heard that word in passing conversations in the shrine. He remembered Nell telling him all about their ‘community’ one day before a Gathering started, and they soon got on the topic of Cecil. “...He’s also a leader,” Nell had said, “...but he mostly protects the Visions. He’s like their own personal guard.” Jesse could hardly contain his disbelief. He couldn’t believe someone like Cecil was now another leader of the Awakening.

‘What a downgrade.’ Jesse thought to himself. To think the Awakening’s past Sense--a broad madman who was dead set on killing Jesse’s friends when the world was falling apart--had been replaced by some skinny, sickly pale blondie who used to flee from a fight when things became a little overwhelming. Even Cecil’s attire felt less-than compared to the Visions’ and Antonin’s. His red cloak went a bit past his waste and had a golden collar with a small, yellow button keeping the cloak together. There were no fancy symbols on it either--at least none which Jesse could see. It was jarring to see such an uptight, boastful man wear something so… Plain.

“Oh look at me, acting like he’s died long ago.” Mahlon chuckled sadly, “It’s only been a year; minutes for me.”

“You’re a fine boy,” Mahlon fixed his posture and faced Jesse’s direction again, “I’m absolutely certain your friend was just as wonderful a person as you.”

“Thank--” Jesse quickly hid his voice crack with a cough, “Thank you. He was… He was the best.”

“Our bodies may die on this earth,” Mahlon slowly rose, “but our spirits live on in The Hero’s hands.” Mahlon offered his hand to Jesse, “Will you be joining our Gathering today?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Olivia woke up. She didn’t remember falling asleep. She did remember talking with Jess about what happened last night. They were on the bed, both worried about what was happening and about each other. Guess she just… dozed off. She felt well rested at least, that’s always important. What time was it though?

She sat up and ran her hand through her tangled hair before getting out of bed. Olivia dragged her feet across the guest room’s floor to the window and opened the curtains just a sliver. She peaked through the crack, hoping to see the sun and get a vague idea of what hour it was, but instead she was greeted with light gray clouds completely covering the sky. She didn’t see anyone roaming the streets, so hopefully it was still morning. That’s technically evening for Aiden and the others, isn’t it?

She still wasn’t used to this time difference. She didn’t want to get used to it. Her sleep schedule was already weird enough, she could only imagine how horrific it would get if she got adjusted to the hours here. And being active at night… The idea didn’t sound appealing to her at all. She thought back to the times she pulled all-nighters on projects, getting headaches from the bright redstone lamps shining down on her because the Sun had set and needing to leave the comfort of her own home and storm over to the nearest cave to find whatever material she ran out of before mobs would hunt her down. Those nights were the most infuriating, and she shuddered at the thought of living every single day like that. That’d be a life full of inconveniences.

“Hm…” Olivia looked around the guest room. Where was Jess? She would’ve definitely spotted him by now, or he would’ve given her a loud ‘Good Morning!’ from behind that’d always scare the socks off of her back when they used to live in the treehouse together.

The only place she could think of was downstairs. Maybe he’s having breakfast already.

Olivia quietly left her room, making sure to open and close the door carefully so she wouldn’t awaken anyone nearby. As she made her way down the stairs, she heard a faint conversation grow louder.

When she finally reached the end, she peeked over the wall and saw Jess and Aiden sitting together on the couch working on the flint and steel. They still didn’t seem too thrilled with each other, but it was much better than the anger and shouting from last night.

“Morning guys.” Olivia said as she began walking over.

Jess waved at her, “Morning!”

Aiden gave her a stiff “Hey.”, while he continued to focus on the tool.

“Is that the appropriate thing to say?” She asked Aiden, “Can I say ‘Good Morning’? Or do you have a special phrase for this specific time?” She sat down beside Jess, sinking into the couch cushion.

“ ‘Morning’’s uncommon, but it’s fine.” Aiden replied, “Most people usually say ‘Good day’ or somethin’ like that.”

She nodded then leaned closer to the table where the items and notes were placed, “Any progress?” She shifted around, trying to get a bit more comfortable, but felt grainy, sand-like particles stuck to her feet. She glanced at the floor to see redstone powder scattered everywhere. It clinged onto the ends of the couch and got stuck in between the cracks of the wooden boards. That powder was an uncomfortable feeling on the feet and a pain to clean up.

“It was kinda rocky at first, but we’ve figured out the notes with Radar’s help!” Jess started. While he wanted to show Olivia what they’ve accomplished, Aiden was still holding onto the flint and steel with one hand, and reading a page of notes in the other, so he decided to let Aiden be. “We coated the fire striker with redstone powder. It actually stuck to the metal pretty well, but we’re still being careful whenever we place it down. We also figured out we need to make this weird mish-mash of a gold and netherrack base? Mold? Something to fit the flint in--” Jess went on to describe their plans on how they were going to create a mold out of such odd materials when suddenly Aiden interrupted.

“Olivia,” He finally spoke up, “I--I’m sorry about last night.” He gripped the flint and steel so tightly he was afraid it was going to break. “I should’ve controlled myself better--I shouldn’t have told Jesse about you. I shouldn’t have even mentioned you.” He shot up from the couch and was fidgeting with the tool now. He kept running his free hand through his hair, not caring about the red powder getting tangled up with the strands. “I put you and Jess in danger when I just wanted to help. I know--” He swallowed, “I know you’re not from this universe, you’re not really my friends, but I still want to protect you. I wanna help get you outta this mess I started.”

Olivia stopped and stared at him for a moment, surprised by this sudden apology. She slowly clasped her hands together and blinked. “Aiden…” She said quietly, “It’s okay. I forgive you.” She didn’t realize how comforting that apology was. Even if the situation was looming over them, things felt a little better.

“We’ll figure a way out of this together.” Jess added in. “And uh…” He glanced at Olivia then at Aiden, “Yeah, I’m sorry about how I acted yesterday too.”

“No, you two don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Aiden pointed at Jess as he placed the tool on top of the papers.

“But I could’ve handled things better.” Jess mumbled and went silent for a moment. “Aiden, I know you want to protect us, but we’re able to help. We don’t need to be locked in here and supervised like children. We’ve saved the world--multiple worlds--multiple times. We can help! Heck, I’m the mayor of an entire town!” He exclaimed.

“I sometimes forget about that unfortunate fact.” Olivia commented, a little smirk on her face.

Jess turned around with his eyebrows raised high. He actually looks a bit offended by her joke. “And what do you mean by ‘unfortunate’?”

“Like I could forget the time you tried to decorate Beacon Town with lava-falls for Halloween.” She kept that playful but devious expression on. She propped one leg up and rested her arm on her knee, “You nearly burnt down a good third of the buildings.”

“I put it out!” Jess felt his face turn a light shade of pink. “Plus I was following Ivor’s advice! So the Halloween Incident was technically his fault!”

“Oh sure, blame the senior citizen.” Olivia chuckled. Aiden snickered along. Jess turned even more red as he tried to think of a witty comeback, but all he could do was give her a light shove then turn away, folding his arms and pouting like a little kid as he struggled to hold back his own laughter.

“Alright, but seriously.” Aiden was finally relaxed, “I was just worked up when I said that. We can take you two outta the house and wherever you need to be as long as you hide your faces well enough.” He went to the kitchen, “I’m gonna make myself some coffee. You two want any?” He looked back at Jess and Olivia.

“Yes please!” Olivia said.

Jess shook his head, “I’m alright, thanks though.”

Aiden took out a small saucepan and placed it under the sink. He turned the faucet on and kept an eye on the water’s level.

“Actually…” Jess perked up, “Speaking of lava, what did that lava monster you guys fought look like? I’ve been thinking about it ever since you’ve brought it up.”

“Now that you mention it,” Olivia said, patting down her frizzy hair, “I’ve been pretty interested as well.”

“Oh jeez.” Aiden sighed as he turned off the water and brought the pan to the stove. He turned the heat to medium high, the knob making faint clicking sounds with each number he passed. “Man, we could only stare at that thing for a couple of seconds or our eyes would’ve melted off.” As the water slowly began to heat up, Aiden turned to a higher cabinet and swung it open.

“I knew it had a couple of eyes and a bunch of arms.” He pushed aside a few items and stopped when he spotted a small, crinkled, light blue bag.

“How many?” Olivia asked.

“Hero if I know.” Aiden let out a laugh, “More than five. It’d drag itself around with them, one arm would merge into another, and then when that thing brought one of it’s limbs back into the air--” He raised one of his arms over his head attempting to recreate the motion, “--you could see the arm split up into two or three more. And when it’s claws would hit the ground it’d send rocks and magma flying everywhere.” He splayed his fingers out, “I know a good chunk of forests burnt down, and some houses in nearby towns too, unfortunately. The library almost got hit too!” He explained while he opened and closed multiple drawers, trying to look for something.

“And the sound. Sweet Hero, the sound. It’s one of those things I’ll probably never forget. I sometimes hear it in my dreams.” He finally spotted what he was searching for--a tablespoon--and closed the drawer. He opened his bag of coffee, scooped up a hefty spoonful of powder, and added it into the pan, getting a bit of the powder on the kitchen counter. “So it’d start off real low, right? Almost sounds like a rumble, but then it’d open it’s mouth more and more until it’d let out this roar that left us deaf for nearly a minute!” He added a few more tablespoons into the water and began mixing the contents together, “Hadrian told us the sound was enough to shake the buildings, and that it’s body was so bright they thought it was day! He and Mevia used to travel the world a ton and they told us they’ve never seen anything like that creature before.”

“That’s insane.” Olivia’s eyes were wide. “That thing sounds just as dangerous as Ivor’s Witherstorm.”

“Tell me about it.” Jess was thinking about what such a beast would look like. Multiple eyes, a giant mouth, enough strength to shake the earth with each step it took. He could only imagine how horrendous the damage must’ve been, the smoke that filled the air with the fires it caused, the ashes flying everywhere, it was probably hot enough to melt a person’s skin off if they were unfortunate enough to stand too close.

“Now,” Aiden said as he tossed the tablespoon into the sink, “how bout that Witherstorm of yours? What was that like?”

Jess thought it was only fair to share their tale now. He went into detail about how the Witherstorm happened in the first place, how it kept following them and destroying everything in it’s path, how they had to travel across the world to create a weapon strong enough to destroy it, only for that plan to fail and leading to Jess having to kill it from the inside. This soon led to Jess going off about Ivor and The Order of the Stone, the Ender Dragon, and how Jess and his friends discovered the truth about them. Every now and then when Jess would mention the names of people he’s met, he’d ask Aiden if he’s ever interacted with them in this universe. Aiden needed their physical appearance to be described to get a good idea of them, but most of his answers were usually: “Don’t know them.” or a “I think we might’ve met ‘em?”. The only names Aiden seemed familiar with were Isa, Harper, and Otto. There was a big maybe on Gabriel and Soren.

“Hadrian and Mevia might’ve known them, honestly.” Aiden said at one point, “They’ve met a ton of people when they were ramblers.”

As Jess and Olivia kept going back and forth talking about the Admins, White Pumpkin, and everything else they’ve experienced, Aiden would listen along and chime in with similar situations he and his friends went through. His reactions were definitely mixed when he learned about their Cassie Rose and what she’s done. There’d be points where all he could do was laugh over how bizarre the situation sounded, and other instances where he couldn’t react at all because of how… Unstable Jess and Olivia’s Cassie Rose seemed. Aiden eventually came back into the living room with two cups of fresh, hot coffee in his hands. He sat beside Jess and placed one of the cups on the table for Olivia. She gave him a quiet thank you as they both continued to listen to Jess’ stories.

Jess was sharing his experiences out of order, but he was finally telling Aiden about Hadrian and Mevia. How they ran these twisted games and how he thought Lukas and Petra were killed right before his eyes--when suddenly Aiden jerked forward and choked on his coffee.

He hurriedly placed his cup down--spilling a bit of his drink--and broke into a coughing fit. Jess patted his back a couple of times to try and help him.

“You--your friends with Lukas in your universe?” Aiden asked between coughs.

“Yeah,” Jess answered, “I thought we--” He froze. Oh no. They never… Did they never tell Aiden that they knew Lukas in their universe? Or maybe they did--but did they never mention that they were all friends?

“And he’s alive?” Aiden said, his voice a touch raspy from the strain.

“Yes--absolutely! He’s still in one piece! We met cause of the Witherstorm and got real close throughout all those adventures.” Jess was speaking so fast, “Argh, I’m sorry, I thought I told you this.” How could he forget to tell Aiden something as major as this? Especially after Aiden had told him all about the struggles he and his friends went through after their Lukas went missing.

“No, don’t be. I probably--” Aiden stopped to cough again, “I probably forgot. I sorta remember you mentioning I kinda sucked in your universe.” He grinned. There was a sad look in his eyes. “But are Lukas and I… Are we friends there?”

Jess didn’t answer for a second. In that second he thought back to Sky City; the hatred and disgust in Lukas’ eyes whenever he had to face or even acknowledge Aiden. He thought about the many letters their Aiden had sent over that Lukas threw away. He remembered Lukas’ curious expression contorting to pure anger when Jess had mentioned Aiden wanting redemption. He doesn’t--

“Oh, absolutely!” Olivia lied. “Sure you guys hit a couple of rough patches here and there, especially after the whole Sky City incident, but you two made up!”

Jess went along, “You two live pretty far away from each other, but I know you and Lukas like to hang out at this one restaurant at least once a month to catch up.”

“The Shulker Spices?” Olivia made up the restaurant’s name on the spot.

Jess snapped his finger, “Yeah, that one! Great stuff.”

“That’s good to hear… That’s probably the best thing I’ve heard in a while.” The soft smile on Aiden’s face faltered for a moment. Sure, he looked relieved, but Jess felt terrible. He hated flat out lying like this, but there was no way he was going to crush Aiden with the truth, and it’s not like he’ll ever know. They did the right thing. Even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Aiden’s body loosened and he let out a long sigh. “It’s been rough ever since he went missing.” He admitted, “Jess, you got a lotta good things back in your universe. Your friends are all still there, you’ve been able to take down any problems comin’ at you… I bet the people there must love ya.”

“But… Your friends love you too, don’t they?” Jess asked, gently placing his hand on Aiden’s back.

“Yeah--I didn’t mean to--of course they do!” Aiden quickly lifted his head back up, “And… You know…” His face got a little red, “I love ‘em too.”

Aiden went to grab his coffee to have another sip, “But you two need to get back to your universe. Once Rose comes back we can finish that flint and steel and get you two home.”

“Cassie’s still gone?” Olivia sounded concerned.

“She’ll be alright.” Aiden said, gesturing with his mug. “I know she can handle herself in extreme places like the Nether, but if she doesn’t come back by the end of tomorrow, we’ll have to hunt her down.”

The three sat on the couch, motionless for a minute, and couldn’t really think of anything else to talk about, so Jess and Olivia decided to finally make themselves breakfast. Jess helped himself to a couple of eggs; preparing a pan to scramble them in while Olivia mostly searched throughout the kitchen for ideas. She didn’t know what she was craving, she just knew she was hungry. As she scanned the contents of the pantry, something struck her.

“Sort of on the topic of questions, or--well, things about other universes…” She fumbled with her words as she reached inside to grab a small container of oatmeal, “I was wondering if there’d be anyway to, uh, see my place of death--my grave. If--if I have one.” She immediately held her breath after asking that question. She knew this was undoubtedly a personal thing to ask, but she’s been wanting to know for some time. She didn’t know when to ask before, and--and this felt like her only chance. She glanced at Aiden to see if he had heard her. He was staring right back at her, frozen in place with his coffee inches away from his face. His mouth was stuck open like he was in disbelief over what Olivia had just asked. Olivia even caught a glimpse of Jess being just as off guard by her question.

“I--We don’t--” Olivia stammered. She quickly turned away from the boys and tried to hide her face behind the pantry door, “We don’t have to! I understand if you don’t want to!” She said, “It might be dangerous to go outside anyways, I don’t mind if you describe it instead--”

“Is that what you wanna do?” Aiden asked, the energy of his voice absent compared to what it sounded like minutes ago. He set his cup aside and headed to the kitchen. To Olivia.

“Only if you think it’s safe.” Olivia’s voice was shaky. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked. She shouldn’t have asked.

“If we go together,” Jess spoke up, “and hide ourselves, we should be alright.” He wanted to try and be supportive, but even he wasn’t too sure about this.

“Right.” Aiden said, focusing on Olivia. He folded his arms, “We’d have to do it soon. Today might be your only chance. If that’s where you want to go, I’ll take you there.”

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm olivia #mcsm aiden #mcsm jesse #mcsm mahlon #APWHNPMCSMWASAMCSM #UH super quick rambles but thank u to all the people who have been patient with this story!!#i was always real used to makin chapters like 10.000 words or more . especially when i was in the zone #and i always tried to put some big ol event to make things interesting #that i kinda gave myself this weird pressure that every chapter HAD to be like that or it'd be boring #or if i didn't reach this certain word amount i'd 'failed'#n writing just kinda became intimidating and i didn't know how to approach it for a while #things got better after some time gfdsfesdfgsf #just took some time to move away from those stupid standards i had set up for myself rip #but now!!!!!#writing again!!!!#thank u for tuning into tags and hope u enjoy story!!

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acraftedmistake · 5 years ago

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A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 13

CHP 13 YEEEE New month new CHAPTER, thanks to everyone who has been very patient with me! <3

If you wanna read it in the Archive of our Own format, click Here!

Enjoy!

‘This is a nightmare.’ Aiden kept telling himself as he pushed past the people in the streets.

This is only a nightmare. He wasn’t rushing back home, he never spoke with Jesse, he’s not holding Olivia’s hat, Olivia’s not even here, she’s gone and he’s in bed. He’s going to wake up in a cold sweat, with the Sun in his eyes, gasping as he forgets whatever it was he was dreaming about. Just like every other nightmare he’s had.

Aiden glanced at the green aviator hat in his hand, holding onto it as if his life depended on it. He could feel bruises forming where Jesse had struck him; they’ll heal.

Aiden looked up, saw the spruce roof of his house, and sped up. He kept his eyes on the roof, not paying attention to anybody who happened to be in his way. He didn’t even pay attention to his friend, Cassie Rose, calling his name through the crowd and running towards him.

“Aiden--AIDEN.” Rose screeched to a halt and stuck her hands out in front of her, afraid she and Aiden were going to crash into each other. She ran all around town trying to hunt him down, and now that she’s finally found him, he was too consumed by his own worries to notice her.

Aiden finally tore his eyes away from the house and faced Rose, slowing down but refusing to stop.

“I messed up. I messed up.” He said shakily, rushing past the redhead. Rose followed him, practically having to jog to remain by his side. Usually she’d crack a joke about how this wasn’t fair, her legs were shorter, he should carry her, but with the way Aiden was behaving, his quickened breath and darting eyes, she knew now wasn’t the time.

“What did you do?” Rose asked. Aiden’s eyes locked with hers for a mere second, but that’s all the time she needed to see the fear.

“You’re gonna hate me.” Cassie Rose heard him say in a horrified whisper. He didn’t answer the question. Maybe he didn’t have to. She was feeling more nervous with each passing second, and she didn’t even know what he did yet.

Aiden could make out Gill and Stella’s heads poking out of the front door and felt his throat tighten. His body tensed when thinking of his friends’ potential reactions to his news. They need to know. He needs to tell them. They’ll hate him but they need to know.

The instant Aiden stepped foot into the house, Stella erupted with frantic questions. “Aiden, what happened?! What was all of THAT about? Oh, and you’re face--!”

Gill started going off, “One second you were goin’ to your room, th’next you were rushin’ outta this house without sayin’ a word.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It--” Aiden started pacing. He couldn’t stay still. He didn’t want to see his friends’ faces. He wanted to calm down. He wanted to think straight. He was still praying that he’d wake up.

Suddenly he heard footsteps racing down the staircase.

“Is everything alright?” A familiar voice asked, “We heard crashing.”

Aiden shot his head up and saw Jess and Olivia getting closer to him, Jess’ worried eyes locked onto him.

Aiden stepped back and pointed at them, “DON’T--”

His sudden shouting towards the two caught everyone off guard.

“Don’t come near me. Don’t look at me. Don’t--Don’t--!” He turned away and shoved his face into his hands. Out of all the times they had to be awake, out of all the times they decided to appear, why now? Why? He can’t look at them. He can’t. He hated glancing at them. Even if it was for a second, he hated it. He hated the memories that would flash by and fill his mind, he hated the hopeful feeling he’d get in that one second, foolishly believing they were actually okay, he hated these reminders of his past friends.

Aiden swallowed and stared at the floor, “Jesse--our Jesse--broke in.”

All talking had stopped.

“He knows Olivia’s here.”

Stella gasped, Gill’s eyes widened, Jess’ mouth hung open. No one said anything. Jess felt Olivia’s hand grab his and squeezed it.

“How did you--” Maya started but was cut off by Cassie.

“You told him?!” Cassie stepped closer to Aiden, clenching her fists.

Aiden stuck his hands out, “No--! Not directly!”

He stared at the green hat and squeezed it again, “He took Olivia’s hat, I told him she needed it back. I never said her name directly but--”

“But Jesse’s not stupid.” Maya finished. Aiden breathed in and nodded.

“Aiden, how could you?” Jess asked, slipping out of Olivia’s grasp as he stormed over to the man.

“Jess, don’t--” Before Aiden could start, Jess snapped at him.

“Don’t what? Don’t get involved in the mess you just got us in? Don’t get upset you put my friend in danger?! Don’t worry about this other Jesse--who sounds like such a wonderful person--and could be searching for Olivia as we speak?!” Jess’ mind kept switching between anger and fear. The image of Radar being carried back, beaten and sobbing, made his hands sweaty. He thought back to everyones reactions when they first met him, and how they treated him before they found out he wasn’t the other Jesse. He thought about Cavern City, and--and--What would Jesse do to Olivia? What would Jesse do to him?

“I didn’t have any other choice!” Aiden shot back.

“Yes you did!” Both Cassie Rose and Jess exclaimed, surprising each other.

Cassie continued, “Why didn’t you punch him? Or throw him, or--or knock him out, or SOMETHING? ANYTHING.”

“Because I didn’t want to make things worse.” Aiden answered through gritted teeth.

Cassie sputtered, “Aiden, I hate to be that person, but punching him would’ve made the situation SIGNIFICANTLY better than what YOU just pulled.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with Cassie, but she’s right.” Jesse joined the red head’s side, “What about when we first saw each other? You thought I was your Jesse, got upset, and grabbed me. Why didn’t you--”

“That was different.” Aiden raised his voice.

“You aren’t our Jesse.” Aiden’s hands were beginning to shake as he stepped closer to Jess, who was now backing away.

Jess opened his mouth, but Maya got between the two before things could get worse. “What’s done is done.” Maya folded her arms. “Aiden messed up. We gotta work on fixing it now.”

“Maya’s right.” Stella started pulling on a strand of her hair while tapping her foot against the wooden floor. “With these two stuck here, The Awakening possibly planning something, and now Jesse knowing about Olivia, we have no time to argue.”

Olivia turned to Aiden, “Where’s Jesse now?”

Aiden shook his head, “I don’t know. He ran the opposite away.”

“That gives us some time to figure out what to do before he comes back.” Maya said. Then the room became quiet again.The only sounds filling the void was Stella’s foot tapping and wooden boards creaking from Aiden’s pacing.

Jess watched everyone think to themselves. No one was communicating or even standing close to each other, and while he wanted to speak up to get people talking, and get the feeling of progress actually being made, he didn’t know what to say. He returned to the stairs where Olivia stood and sat on one of the steps. He rested his head on his hands and sighed.

“You alright?” Jess asked quietly.

“No.” Olivia mumbled, slowly sitting down. ‘I shouldn’t be scared.’ She thought. She really shouldn’t. She survived a Witherstorm, the Admin, and other horrific situations, but in those cases, she knew what to be scared of, she knew what she was working with. What did she know about this universe? That there’s a creepy cult and an unstable version of her friend? She still didn’t know what The Awakening was capable of, nor the other Jesse. What’ll she do when he finds her? She hasn’t met the other Jesse yet--not that she wants to. Would she be able to tell the difference between her’s and the other? What’ll he do when he finds her?

Olivia glanced back at Jess and saw he was brainstorming now. She would love to hear some of his optimism right now. A light hearted joke, a comment poking fun at the situation, or just him telling her it’ll be okay. She needed it.

But she never got it.

“I guess we won’t be able to go out anymore, huh?” Jess muttered.

“No, you won’t.” Aiden approached the two, his arms crossed. “Jesse’s probably gonna start looking for Olivia here. We might need to hide you two somewhere else.”

“Not that I disagree with you, but where could we possibly hide them? Radar’s house?” Stella questioned.

Cassie groaned, “And what’ll Radar do when Jesse breaks in? Flip out again? Cry?”

“Cass--” Maya was about to start but kept her focus on the situation, “I don’t think Radar’s place is the best option either. If someone attacks, he’ll be unprepared. And I don’t think he’d be on board with Jess staying at his place after what’s happened.”

“We can’t do Hadrian and Mevia’s either.” Aiden said.

“Why not?” Gill asked, “They got some pretty good weapons! They could protect ‘em.”

“I know, but I don’t think they’d trust Jess either--” Aiden stopped. A lightbulb went off, “Unless we split these two up!”

“Not happening.” Jess shot the idea down coldly, “First you all treated me like I was some maniac, then you rat out my friend, and NOW you want us to split up?”

“This could be our safest option--” Stella spoke but was cut off by Jess.

“No, here is our safest option. You guys have plenty of weapons, Olivia and I can fight back, there’s plenty of hiding spots,” With each point he listed off, he kept getting closer to Aiden until they were face to face, “and I’ve been through much worse than one crazy person. We’re staying here.” Jess ended, snatching Olivia’s hat from Aiden’s hand.

“Fine.” Aiden said stiffly.

“Glad we… We got that settled.” Stella laughed nervously.

“If they’re staying here we should probably lock… Well… Everything.” Maya pointed out.

Stella jumped, “Right! We don’t know how long these two will be staying here!” She rushed towards the nearest windows and locked them before throwing the curtains over them. “Can’t risk Jesse--or anyone--seeing them!”

Gill sat on a barstool and stroked his beard. He watched Stella go from window to window, repeating the locking and covering process frantically. He watched Jess and Olivia talk quietly to one another, then his eyes drifted over to the table in the living room where the items for the flint and steel and book laid, then something clicked.

“Maybe we don’t gotta worry bout Jesse for long.” Gill said, a small smile forming.

“Hm?” Maya turned her head towards him as she flipped a light switch on. With no street lights or moonlight coming through the windows anymore, their house was beginning to darken.

“Well, I was thinkin’ that if we made th’flint ‘n steel, we’d be able to send those guys home. There’d be no Olivia or Jess for our Jesse to get, then we’d only have to worry bout The Awakenin’!”

Everyone stared at Gill. Stella stopped what she was doing to think about the plan.

“Two birds, one stone.” Maya shrugged, “We could do it.”

“Yeah, that could work!” Jess agreed, feeling a little more hopeful. Olivia nodded.

“Yes, but didn’t Petra tell us she’d take at least a week to find the rest of the materials?” Stella asked, her nails tapping against the glass of the window she had stopped on. Could they keep Jess and Olivia hidden for a week? Could they even stop their Jesse from breaking in after a few days? Locking doors and windows can only do so much.

“I can run over to Petra’s and see if she’s still home.” Cassie Rose spoke up, “I could tell her we need to speed things up and maybe look around her cave. She probably has some of the stuff we need in one of her chests.”

“But what if she ain’t home?” Gill tilted his head.

“And what if she doesn’t have the items.” Maya added.

“Then I’ll mine for the things myself!” Cassie said, already marching to the front door, “I’ll go to the Nether alone if I have to! I’ve done it before!” Cassie said.

Cassie could hear Stella gasp and knew she was about to start lecturing.

“I’ve broken the law a bunch of times. I’ll be fine.” She said.

Stella closed her mouth and clasped her hands together, “I know, I know, but please be safe.”

“I will.” Cassie opened the door, but before she could leave, Stella asked for a favor.

“Since The Awakening is involved in this… Mess, do you think you could ask Radar to come over?”

‘Why me?’ Was the response Cassie wanted to give, but when she looked back at Stella and the rest of her friends, she knew she couldn’t complain.

She gripped the door’s handle, “Yeah, sure.”

And with that being said, she left.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stupid Aiden and his stupid slip ups in front of stupid JESSE. Out of all the nights to do something stupid he does it tonight. Cassie could only imagine what’ll happen in these next few days. Maybe Jesse--or heck, any other Awakening freak--might snatch Olivia and think she’s some weird zombie who’s been resurrected by their amazing ‘Hero’. Or maybe they’ll dig up her body from her memorial and do freaky cult things to it. What if they kill the other Olivia? Then they’ll have TWO dead Olivias.

This wasn’t the first time Aiden’s done something stupid because of Jesse, and it probably won’t be the last.

She wasn’t mad--Actually, that was a lie.

She was very mad. Not just at Aiden, but at everything.

It feels like everything has gotten worse since Jess and Olivia stepped foot into their universe. She and the others had enough problems to deal with before, but now having to deal with two look-alikes of their old friends, the dumb Awakening schemeing something, and now Aiden’s dumb stunt, their stress has been amped up by a thousand.

Maya’s right, though. There’s nothing she can do now to change what’s been done. She needs to focus on getting to Petra. Maybe Petra already found the materials despite it being a couple of hours since they last saw her. Then they could figure out how to make the flint and steel, and then they can send Jess and Olivia home, then they wouldn’t have to worry about their creepy Jesse. Easy!

‘And what if she doesn’t have the items.’ Maya’s voice echoed in her head.

‘Then I’ll get ‘em myself!’ She snapped back at the imaginary Maya. Though she knew if she did that, with or without telling her friends, she’d get an earful from Stella.

Cassie Rose could perfectly imagine what Stella would tell her after she would return from the Nether: “I cannot believe you! Going off on your own to the NETHER of all places, don’t you remember what happened last time? We were barely able to convince the guards to let you go!”

Cassie understood Stella was only looking out for her; she always assumes the worst case scenario will happen, but hopefully she understands stopping The Awakening is far more important than the law. They can’t sit through a bunch of paperwork in some stupid office to get a stupid license so they can hit a few rocks with a pickaxe or explore the Nether when there are caves and a portal close by AND easily accessible. They can’t waste any time.

As she continued moving forward, one yellow house caught her attention. It was the smallest out of all the surrounding buildings, only being a single story, but it was like a beacon under the night sky. The front light was on, but Cassie wondered if it was even necessary, as every light inside was on and were practically illuminating the entire street. The only few things that interrupted the beams of light were the leaves and stems of the many potted plants on the balcony. As she neared the house, her running soon slowed into a walk, and then she came to a full stop.

‘Speaking of wasting time…’ Cassie thought again, staring at the light, dusty yellow home in front of her. It was almost a struggle to stare directly at the house without being blinded. Of course the most obnoxious, unavoidable house belonged to Radar.

‘Radar can wait.’ She told herself, getting ready to move along. ‘Petra has the important stuff.’

‘You told Stella you’d ask him.’ She nagged herself, stopping again.

Yes, she did, but Stella should’ve known better than to ask her. She knew how much she couldn’t stand that little man. Why couldn’t she have sent Gill instead? Gill loves Radar! Stella could’ve sent anyone else BUT her, even Jess would’ve been a better choice.

She stared at the horrible house for another moment.

Maybe she could skip over Radar and claim she forgot.

Yeah, she was soooo caught up on getting to Petra’s, Radar just slipped her mind.

‘Don’t do that.’ Cassie told herself. ‘Stella trusts you.’ And they did need him, whether or not she’d liked to admit it.

The redhead let out a long sigh as she began trudging over to the front door, which shared the same color as the porch and roof. As she grew nearer, she was able to make out more of the plants’ individual leaves, the flowers began looking less like blobs and more like the variety of spherical, funnel, and bell shapes that they were, she could even decipher the different colors of the flowers despite the overpowering yellow light. A long, thin green leaf brushed past her hand, making Cassie flinch and swat at it.

She breathed in, inhaling the overwhelming floral scent which invaded the porch, and gave the walnut-colored door three, hard knocks. She was tempted to break it, but restrained herself.

Her shoulders immediately drooped when she listened to distant footsteps on the other side grow closer. Cassie was imagining the possible responses Radar would have in store for her and found herself getting tired of his voice already, despite him not saying a word to her yet.

The locks started to click and the knob began to turn. She shoved her fists into her hoodie’s pocket.

‘Just get it over with.’ Cassie told herself, ‘For your friends.’

Radar’s head peaked out from behind the door. The caution in his eyes blinked away when he saw it was only her.

“Oh, Ros--Cassie Rose. Good evening. What brings you here so early?” He asked, stepping a foot out of his house, noticeably tense.

Cassie held back her second sigh, “Hey, we’re kinda having some issues right now and Stella was wondering if you could come over and help.” She muttered.

“I don’t know if I could…” Radar’s words trailed off and he thought to himself for a moment, “I… I won’t be able to come over at this mo--”

“Bummer.” Cassie didn’t give Radar the chance to finish. She heard all that she needed to. She turned around and hopped off the porch, giving Radar a stiff wave, “I’ll be sure to let them know, see you.” She said flatly before taking off.

‘There, you did it.’ She told herself as she picked up the pace.

Cassie didn’t know what Stella was expecting. You can’t expect anything good to come from an Awakening member, former or not.

Stupid cult boy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The forest felt different when running through it alone. When she was walking here with her friends earlier, they managed to make this dark, noisy place feel familiar and gave it a sense of security. The same sense of security she felt when they started exploring stranger territories while on their way to collect weapons to destroy The Awakening’s lava beast. The memories of them huddling together as they navigated through the strange, colorful caves whose interior defied logic, or fighting Awakening members who were unfortunate enough to run into them in other chaotic forests far away from town were still fresh in her mind. No matter how bizarre or overwhelming the environments were, they were together, and they made those alien places feel a lot less foreign.

‘Jeez, that was almost five years ago.’ Cassie remembered. It felt like last week.

This was still the same forest with the same thick trees, the same blaring bugs, and the same cracked path, but being alone brought a different sort of familiarity to it. She was reminded of the times before she had met Aiden and the others, when it was just her and Petra. She thought back to the times she’d be rushing to the cave, running through here with the guards on her tail, shouting at her to return the goods she had stolen from the Night Market. She’d take sharp turns every few seconds to throw them off, listening to the men’s voices get quieter and quieter, causing her to smile widely and laugh to herself. The bizarre mixture of fear and enthusiasm--the possibility of getting caught or getting away--it was that combination which motivated her to run even faster.

However, the one thing that remained consistent during her years of going here was how stupidly scary it could be. There wasn’t anything to be scared about, but Cassie’s brain would trick her into thinking the tangled branches were one of those huge, venomous spiders who were about to lunge at her face, or the sound of a branch cracking was actually a monster ready to pounce on her. It was stupid, she knew spiders--though they have attacked her here before--were uncommon, and any other monster was MILES away from Obsidian Town, but that didn’t stop her from doing a double take at any strangely shaped silhouette her eyes would catch.

When she reached the entrance of the cave, she remembered one benefit about coming here alone: Walking along the cave’s path was much easier. On one hand, it didn’t matter if she came here with friends or by herself, she’d still be sandwiched between two cold, wet, stone walls. On the other hand, she wouldn’t be sandwiched between two people while navigating through the tight squeeze.

As Cassie walked deeper into the cave, straying further and further from the light, she realized she forgot to knock. This used to be her home though--technically still is--so does she really have to knock? You wouldn’t knock on your own bedroom door, right? But Petra always wanted people to knock, or at the very least, shout out their name in the cave. One time Aiden forgot to knock during a visit, and he accidentally slammed the door in Petra’s face. She wasn’t too mad about getting hit, but she did go off about the knocking. ‘What if I was dealing with a client?!’ Petra snapped, ‘Or working on something personal? You don’t see me barging into your house unannounced!’. This led to Stella pointing out Petra’s constant law breaking was much worse than forgetting to make their presence known, which led to Petra simply responding: ‘Yeah, but I still have manners.’

Cassie knocked against one of the cave’s walls as she continued walking, “Hey! It’s Rose!” She announced, just in case Petra didn’t hear the knocking.

Cassie kept walking and waited for a response. She waited.

And waited.

She was almost at the door and Petra hadn't responded yet. Petra never takes this long to respond. Cassie sped up, if there was even a chance something bad had happened to Petra, she wasn’t going to take her time. She didn’t want to be too late.

‘Maybe she left already.’ Cassie told herself, not wanting to jump to any wild conclusions yet. She knew if Petra got into any trouble, she could handle herself, and the last thing she needed was another person to worry about. When Cassie got to the door, she kicked it open; the wood collided with the stone wall and made a loud BANG. There'd be no way Petra missed that.

Cassie didn’t see her friend, but what she did see straight ahead of her was an activated Nether portal, confirming her suspicions. Petra was gone. She was a little sad she missed out on saying goodbye to her, but at least she knew she was safe.

‘Better start looking.’ Cassie started for the chests by the stone base where the portals stood. The closer she got to the portal, the louder it’s groans and crackles became, making it nearly impossible to hear herself think. She opened the chest, barely able to hear the wood creak, and knelt down--her legs freezing the moment they touched the cold ground, despite her wearing long pants. She threw her hand in and peered inside to see whatever random items were thrown into the chest.

“Cobblestone, a bunch of sticks, clay, iron, a bell--” She listed aloud, trying to speak over the portal’s racket. Surely ONE of the items she was looking for was in one of the millions of chests scattered around here--

“Thief.” Cassie heard a deep, muffled voice from behind say. She whipped her head around and froze when she saw the Crying Wither looming over. They stared down at her through the eye holes of their wither skull; the white paint coating it had peeled off over time, leaving strips of the skull’s original, charocal-black color visible once again. The strips were thickest under the eyes.

Cassie clutched her chest and breathed in, “Thanks for the second heart attack today.”

“Second?” The Crying Wither tilted their head. They offered their sooty, gloved hand.

Cassie accepted it.

“Yeah, you can thank Aiden for the first one.” Cassie said as she was pulled to her feet. The Crying Wither reeked of smoke, and speckles of the Nether portal were still hanging onto their black, buttoned-up vest and dark gray, long sleeved shirt, which had a few tears in them.

“Oh boy.” Petra took off the skull, “What’d he do this time?”

Cassie ranted about the situation, about how Aiden revealed Olivia--not directly, but that didn’t matter--and now everyone was freaking out. While Petra was listening, she had to remind herself there were now two Jesses. This must’ve happened after they both visited her.

Cassie kept going off for another few minutes, getting everything out of her system, then returning her focus on Petra. “...That’s why I’m back though. That li’l creep is probably gonna be taking Olivia and we need to get her and the other Jess home.”

“Right, I get that.” Petra nodded, “And I get that this is serious, but I’m doing this alone, I’d be lucky if I found any of your supplies in a week.” She said, walking to the edge of the stone base and stepping off.

Cassie watched her friend approach a double chest by the cave’s door. “I know.” She shoved both of her hands into her pocket.

“But…” Petra placed her wither skull on the floor and opened the large chest. She pulled out a neatly folded stack of clothes. Cassie’s eyes lit up when she recognized they were the same dark blue pants and long sleeved shirt she used to wear, topped with her old brown belt and gloves as well.

“The process would definitely be faster if I had an extra set of hands.” Petra smiled as she walked over to Cassie again, “Whaddaya say, White Pumpkin? Just like old times?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“... That’s so weird to think about.” Olivia mumbled, sitting on the guest bed, and hugging her knees with her hat next to her. Lukas is gone. That’s a statement she never wanted to hear. He was a couple of years younger than her when he went missing, too.

“Yeah. It is.” Jess was leaning against the only window in the room, looking away from his friend. One of his hands was gripping the lift of the window, tempted to throw it open and get some fresh air, but he knew it had to stay locked.

Olivia didn’t know what to say. What more could be said after hearing about her close friend’s disappearance? That everything is going to work out? That they’ll find him? That there’s a chance he’s still alive? Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they both knew he was most likely dead. With no knowledge of how he died, Olivia could only hope his passing was painless.

Olivia kept thinking back to the story and what had happened. Her alternate self was involved in the search party, yet Olivia felt a strange sense of grief for not being able to recall memories that weren’t her’s, and she failed a Lukas who wasn’t theirs. Olivia could tell Jess felt a similar way when retelling the story; he’d become so invested his voice would crack and tears would well up in his eyes during certain parts, as if he had experienced it firsthand. He’d pause at some moments to remember what he was told, or to find a way to reword the situation--maybe in an attempt to shine a more hopeful light onto it, to make the blow softer for her or for himself.

“Man, our universe is kinda nice compared to this, huh?” Jess sat next to his friend, laughing a little. He wasn’t sure why he was laughing. This wasn’t funny.

Olivia watched him play with his red suspenders as he continued talking, “Back home, you and Lukas are alive. I’m almost certain Ivor might be dead as well--or heck, the entire Order. We don’t have some crazy cult or a crazy me running around, trying to find you now--”

“Mad at Aiden?” Olivia asked, though she already knew the answer..

“You aren’t?”

“I’m…” Olivia let her mouth hang for a moment, “I don’t really know how to feel right now. So much has been happening, I don’t think I can be mad at one specific person with what’s been going on.”

“I’m not blaming Aiden for this entire mess!” Jess jumped off the bed suddenly and began pacing around the room, “I know these people are supposed to be ‘the good guys’ of this universe, and I want to try to make things better, but being surrounded by these people and the way they’ve treated me--! I was just starting to warm up to them, and maybe we could’ve moved past those bad first impressions but--but--” Jess pulled on a lock of his hair tightly and stared at the ceiling as his pacing became faster, “Aiden slipped up cause of a hat! A stupid…!” He threw his head into his hands, fingers tangling in his hair.

It was quiet for a minute, only the sound of Jess’ heavy breathing filled the room. When he heard Olivia quietly call his name, he peeked at her through his fingers. Worry filled her eyes, but she wasn’t worried about Aiden, about the alternate Jesse, she wasn’t worried about a single thing in this universe right now. She was worried about him.

Jess’ hands slipped off his face and wrapped themselves around his body. “I’m… I’m sorry.” Jess finally said, taking a step closer to his friend.

Olivia scooched to the side, making more room on the bed for him.

“Aiden didn’t mean to.” Olivia mumbled as Jess sat back beside her. “And I know this isn’t the greatest environment to be,” She placed her hand on his shoulder, “but they do want to help us, and they’re trying their best, even if they’re clearly struggling from time to time.”

That got a light chuckle out of Jess. Olivia felt herself grinning as well.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Jess rested his head on his knees. His smile started to fade, “Things are getting worse. I don’t wanna drag you down by being stressed constantly. I want to keep your spirits up, you know?”

“I do know.” Olivia inched closer to Jess, “Do you know how many times I’ve been afraid of being a burden with my constant worrying?”

Jess blinked and lifted his head up, “What? But--You know you’d never be a burden to me or any of our friends!”

“Mhm, it’s because I have you around to remind me that you care, and I can say the same thing to you right now.”

The two pulled each other into what was meant to be a quick hug, but they found themselves holding onto each other for longer than expected. In this moment, the cold world around them grew warmer. In this moment, their worries went away. In this moment, they had each other.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Not their door, the front door on the first floor.

Jess went back to the window and peered down.

“It’s Radar!” A little grin appeared on his face. It was reassuring to see Radar better, especially after the last time they saw him.

“I think I’m gonna head downstairs.” Jess said, watching the front door open and Aiden welcoming their friend in. “They needed him for something and I’m kinda curious about what that something is.”

Before Jess could leave the room, Olivia stopped him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if you accidentally frighten him?”

Jess thought for a moment. Radar knew he wasn’t the same Jesse who attacked him the night before, but the awareness meant nothing when he looked exactly like the other Jesse. “I could… Sit on the steps? He wouldn’t have to worry about looking at me.” Jess suggested.

Olivia nodded in approval and the two headed off. As they neared the staircase, they could make out Radar and Aiden’s voices. Aiden’s voice was much louder compared to Radar’s; they could hear more of Aiden’s explanation of the current situation, while barely being able to understand Radar’s responses. When they reached the bottom, they sat down and made themselves comfortable on the last few steps. Aiden glanced in their direction and gave them a quick wave--he looked stressed--before bringing his full attention back to Radar, while Maya, Stella, and Gill listened.

“Oh, dear…” Radar was fidgeting with his clipboard and pen, “And you’re positive those were Awakening members?” He found himself struggling to maintain eye contact with Aiden, and kept glancing at the papers on his board rather than his friend.

“They didn’t say anything about The Awakening, and I didn’t see them,” Aiden confessed, “but I don’t know any other group of people who wander around underground.”

“We heard voices--well, Aiden heard ‘em, but he wouldn’t lie about this sorta stuff.” Gill added.

“Worst case, Aiden just went crazy for a second and didn’t hear anything.” Maya said the comment in her usual tone, but her bit of humor seemed to do the job at making Radar relax a little.

“But at the very slim chance they were members,” Stella spoke up, not too enthusiastic over this possibility, “do you happen to remember The Awakening ever mentioning portals? I do recall them attempting to summon--or search--for The Hero.”

“Oh yes, that was one of the portals’ purposes.” Radar placed his pen in his pocket to stop himself from clicking it constantly, “However, another important purpose associated with them is their connections to the afterlife.”

All eyes were on him, urging him to go on. He gripped his board tighter and swallowed.

“The… The portals…” Radar started, doing his best to keep his voice steady, “It was believed that those who were loyal to The Hero would have their souls taken to the universe which he was banished to…” Radar continued to avoid any sort of eye contact with his friends, and focused on sharing the information they wanted to hear. As he kept talking, his nervous rambling soon gained confidence, the same confidence he used to feel when he recited what he learned during the gatherings in front of the Visions, in front of Brenner, enthusiastically talking about this wonderful knowledge he had been gifted. It felt like a switch had been flipped in his mind, and that familiar enthusiasm was rushing throughout him as he talked about how the souls kept in this distant universe were protected by The Hero and treated wonderfully as their reward for remaining faithful. How those who turned against The Hero, or doubted his power, would be sent to an eternal abyss. The Awakening had always tried to create the portal which led to this universe of bliss, Radar remembered the elder members sharing stories about how close they were to making it! How they were disappointed in themselves for failing, but content knowing their loved ones were safe, even after death. Those thoughts, those visuals, oh they were all so comforting. Radar, despite knowing how horrible The Awakening’s mindset is, still found comfort in this idea during the nights he’d be wide awake and sobbing. It was like an embraceful hug, arms holding you carefully, paired with a gentle voice who promised you everything was going to be okay. You’ll be safe. Who wouldn’t want such a tale to be true? To know that when those you cared about left, there was a way to bring them back, even if it was nearly impossible.

“... Perhaps--if The Awakening truly is planning on creating a portal--they want to revive their Sense after his demise!” Radar finished boldly, proud of this conclusion he reached and believing everyone was on the same train of thought as him. When he looked back at his friends, he was disheartened to see the lost expressions on everyone.

“The--their Sense.” Radar said again, thinking this was the detail they were stumped on. “The man with black hair? Beard? He was one of the leaders and ran towards us with his sword--”

“No, no, we remember him.” Stella gave him a small smile and clasped her hands together. “It’s just…” She mumbled to herself, trying to figure out the nicest way to word her next phrase without crushing Radar’s spirits.

“Radar, I love ya buddy, but that didn’ make any sense.” Gill said. Maya nodded.

“Yeah, I got a little caught up on everything else you were saying.” Aiden admitted.

“It… It makes sense… To me.” Radar’s voice fumbled into a whisper.

To me. Those words repeated in his head. Of course everything he said made sense to him, but how could people who’ve never stepped foot into a gathering possibly comprehend what Radar was going off about?

“I didn’t really understand it either, but you really got into it.” Another voice spoke up. Radar turned to his left and yelped when he saw Jess sitting there with Olivia.

“Please warn me whenever you’re in the room.” Radar pressed his clipboard against his chest, catching his breath. A twinge of guilt shot through Jess.

“From what I could make out,” Olivia said, “The Awakening might be creating a portal to the afterlife because one of their leaders died?”

“Yes!” Radar exclaimed excitedly. He spun around to face Olivia’s direction, covering his left eye with his clipboard to keep Jess out of his sight. “That’s essentially it!”

After the others finally understood what Radar was talking about, they discussed what should be done next. Everyone still agreed sending Jess and Olivia home was the most important priority, and arguably the easiest task to complete compared to stopping an entire cult. Maya reminded them there was still a chance The Awakening might not be planning this, or involved with anything portal related at all. Nothing was certain yet.

“Thanks for coming over again, ‘preciate it.” Aiden said to Radar, “We’ll be sure to update Rose when she comes back.”

“I’m still surprised she actually went to you.” Maya raised her brows.

“Yes, so am I.” Stella said, “But I’m glad she did! Hopefully she’ll come home soon, even if she returns empty-handed. I just want her in one piece.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Petra shot out of the Nether portal and landed on the stone ground with a loud thud, her sword slipping out of her grasp and landing on the ground with a clatter. She threw her sack of items on the floor and yanked off her wither skull, coughing widely, trying to get the smoke out of her lungs. She had barely escaped a huge fireball that had been shot out from one of those horrifying Ghasts, but had luckily spotted it in time and was close enough to her portal to dive through it. Her only concern now was whether the obsidian portal on the other side had sustained any damage. It shouldn’t have. Hopefully.

Usually Rose would have been on the lookout for any monsters while Petra would gather up the goods they had found that day. The two of them used to get their hands on great items like blazerods, glowstone, quartz, sometimes they’d stumble upon ruined portals and find an entire block of gold! And even though the two of them knew how dangerous the Nether could be, they’d often treat the place as if it were their own personal playground. They’d climb those bizarrely tall crimson trees, hiding in their thick, soft leaves that would get tangled in their hairs, or sometimes nudging and poking the deformed pig-like inhabitants with their swords until one of the creatures would inevitably get angry and they’d have to run away, laughing as they told each other they’d never do that again, knowing full well they’ll do again.

There were also a few Nether Fortresses within walking distance of the portal--some much farther than others--they enjoyed exploring together. With each visit, the three fortresses would be filled with a new assortment of hellish monsters who dropped amazing loot, or they’d find a chest they’ve missed before and find an assortment of items. Their favorite fortress, however, was the one north of the portal. It was the farthest one away, and also the smallest of the three; having only one room with three separate doorways, one being the entrance, the left leading to a platform outside, and the final leading to what remained of a large bridge. About a quarter of the bridge was left, and whether the giant columns which used to hold the rest had collapsed, or monsters tore it apart was unknown, but it didn’t matter. Petra and Rose would sit together at the edge of the bridge, looking over the ocean of lava--Petra could only look down for so long before getting shaky--and in the distance, they could see more land. Land that they’ve yet to explore. They could make out unfamiliar vegetations, crooked structures, large arches and floating land. They still had so much adventuring to do, they hadn’t even finished thoroughly searching the side of the Nether they were currently on yet!

Her and Rose made a pact, promising they’d work to explore the entire Nether together. They’ll leave no stone unturned; they’ll claw their way up every mountain, fight any monsters that stood in their path, and venture through the darkest caves together. That promise was made years ago, and though Rose doesn’t have the time to join Petra like she used to, Petra was still keeping her word. She wasn’t going to explore anymore of the Nether unless Rose was right beside her.

Ever since Rose moved in with Aiden and her other friends a few months ago, rummaging in the Nether has been a whole new level of difficulty. She didn’t mind the extra challenge, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t lonely.

Petra glanced at the sack on the ground and picked it up, it was light. Kind of disappointing when comparing it to her bags in the past. She loosened the rope around it and peeked inside; chunks of soul sand, mushrooms, and a whole bunch of glowstone. It wasn’t much, but it was still something. She placed the bag on top of the chest nearby the portal and let out a long, loud sigh.

“Rough day?” A voice asked, causing Petra to jolt. She immediately grabbed the sword on the ground and spun around, ready to fight the intruder.

“Wait, wait! I’m sorry--!” Jesse yelped, shielding himself with his arms. Petra lowered her sword and let out another sigh, this one out of relief.

“You’re okay,” Petra leaned the sword against the portal, “but why were you hiding behind my portal? You weren’t planning on attacking me, were you?” She raised a brow. It was Jesse’s turn to jump.

“No, no, no, no! I was looking for you, and I couldn’t find you anywhere, so I started walking around, but then I heard the portal making a weird sound and--”

“I was just being mean, I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” Petra chuckled. Jesse relaxed a little. She tilted her head at him, “Come on up.”

Jesse’s face brightened and he stepped onto the platform. As he approached Petra, the purple light and strange sounds coming from the portal grabbed his attention. His walking slowed as he turned his head to get a good look at this amazing structure. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s been this close to a Nether Portal, he doesn’t even know if he has been this close before. It almost didn’t look real.

And he kinda…

Kinda sorta…

Wanted to stick his hand in it. He really wanted to.

Petra must’ve known what he was about to ask, because before he could even pop the question, she said, “You can touch it if you wanna.”

His eyes sparkled and he gave a quick, excited thanks before shoving his hand into the portal’s glistening entrance.

To his surprise, the purple vortex was cold. He had always imagined the gateway that connected their world to the world of lava would’ve been excruciatingly hot. He didn’t mind being wrong, though, it was strangely pleasant. He’d move his fingers individually, able to feel them stir through the substance with no struggle at all. It was almost like… A small stream, one he’d find near the town’s borders, where he’d dip his feet in and watch the water continue to flow and swirl, undisturbed by his presence.

Jesse was almost tempted to shove his head in there, curious if it’d feel just as pleasant on his face, but then he’d risk throwing himself face first into the Nether. And he wasn’t ready for that. Maybe another day.

“So, why were you looking for me again?” Petra asked. Jesse pulled his arm out of the portal.

“I… I just needed to get--” He cleared his throat, “I just wanted to check on you, you know?”

“Not really.” Petra folded her arms, “I appreciate the thought, but you know I can take care of myself.”

“No!” Jesse blurted, “I mean, I do know that, but that’s not what I meant.”

Petra looked at him. He swallowed, “You’re not… Mad at us, are you?”

Petra blinked, “No?” She cocked her head, “Why would I be?”

Jesse crossed his legs and looked away, “I feel like we took Cassie from you.” He held his hands behind his back, “We busted in here one day, said ‘Hey! We’re gonna save the world!’, grabbed her, and next thing we know it, she’s living with us instead of you. And--”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Petra interrupted, “Jesse, first of all, you didn’t ‘take’ Rose from me, she wanted to tag along with you guys, just like how she chose to move in with you. You’re acting like she died or something, but she didn’t, right?” Her brows went up.

“Right. She’s still in one piece.” Jesse forced out a chuckle.

“Exactly. And guess what? Even if she’s off doing her own thing now, she still visits me. She’s allowed to do whatever she likes and I’m not gonna stop her. Besides, what sort of person would I be if I didn’t let my friends grow?” Her words were exactly what Jesse needed to hear. The frown on his face disappeared and he fixed his posture, much more energetic than he was seconds ago.

Petra found herself grinning at Jesse’s reaction, his happiness was rather contagious. She wrapped her arm around him, “And the best part about her visits is her tellin’ me what you and the others have been up to! Like fightin’ off cult members, or almost setting your house on fire--”

“Hey, that was Stella’s fault!” He laughed.

“Oh right, Miss Professional Baker.” The two of them laughed some more.

Petra kept going, “My favorite story from her so far is when you guys chucked one of those cult creeps into lava!” Jesse’s laughing stopped and he went a little pale, Petra kept talking, “Hero, every time I think about it it makes me pumped! Next time you plan on doing that, you gotta invite me.” She smirked.

Jesse’s throat tightened, “That was an accident.”

“Don’t be ashamed of knocking one of those sickos off this planet.” Petra gave him a light punch. “If I was there, you know I’d never shut up about it. Like ‘Hey! You’re talkin’ to the girl who killed a cult leader! You better watch it’!” She stuck her finger out and gritted her teeth, acting out the fake conversation.

When she saw Jesse still wearing an uncomfortable expression, she changed the subject. “How’s everyone doing in Obsidian Town?”

“Oh, good.” Jesse perked up, “Stella, Radar, and Olivia have been helping with the town’s repairs after that little lava monster incident.”

“Yeah, hardly even noticed it.” Petra rolled her eyes playfully.

“Right.” He chuckled a little, “Cassie, Gill, Aiden, Lukas, and I are gonna be heading off to another city to pick up some materials when the sun sets.”

“Sunset? Today?” Petra asked. Jesse nodded.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t stop worrying about you.” He admitted.

“Awh, I’m touched. BUT,” Petra started guiding Jesse to her cave’s door, “there’s no need. Like I said, I appreciate you checkin’ in, but it’s not necessary.”

“I know.” Jesse’s voice dwindled. They reached the door and stood there for a moment. Petra stared at him, he looked crushed.

“Buuuuuuut if you wanna…” Petra spoke up, “You can come over once a week? Every two weeks? Just pop in, say hi, catch up. You know.” She shrugged.

Jesse was back to smiling, “I’d love that! I can think of a specific day where we can hang out so I won’t scare you again!”

“I didn’t get scared!” Petra shot back, face turning slightly red. She opened the door and shoved Jesse out. “Now get OUTTA here, you got a city to go to!”

“Right, right!” Jesse hurriedly made his way to the exit. “I’ll see you next week!” He shouted, his voice bouncing off the cave walls.

“You better knock next time!” Petra hollered back with a big grin on her face.

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm petra #mcsm radar #mcsm cassie rose #mcsm aiden #mcsm stella #mcsm gill #mcsm maya #mcsm jesse #mcsm olivia #APWHNPMCSMWASAMCSM #AU fic #thank u again for being so PATIENT WAAAH #hope u enjoy!!!!!#fic

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