#33 PAGES ON THE DOC BABYYYYY

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 6

YEEEAAAAH CHP. 6 BABY!!

Ended up changing a huge chunk of stuff, especially past the halfway point so it took a bit longer than expected!! As always, thank you guys for being patient with me! Hope you like the chapter! <3 

“So...” Aiden placed his coffee cup on the kitchen table and stood up to finally stretch, “That’s what you know about us, huh?”

“Mm-hm.” Jesse nodded, still seated.

“And Gill and I were a couple of ‘bullies’ huh?” his voice had a sense of relief to it, like he was expecting much worse to come from Jesse’s mouth.

“Yup.”

“And if I asked Olivia about this she’d respond with a similar answer?”

“... More or less?” Jesse avoided eye contact with Aiden and Gill, who still didn’t seem fully convinced.

Gill spoke up “You look like you’re holdin’ somethin’ back.” scanning Jesse as if he expected more information to make itself visible.

Jesse felt himself getting sweaty like he was caught red handed in a lie. His throat got tight but he tried to push away his worries. He didn’t ‘lie’, in fact, he told the truth. Some truth. He had only told the two about the minor harassment that had happened before Jesse became “The New Order of the Stone”.  The name calling, ruining his creation back at Endercon, Jesse believed that was enough for Aiden to paint the whole picture.

‘Besides,’ Jesse thought to himself, ‘If I shared EVERY detail about everyone here, we’d be here for hours.’ he breathed in, reassuring himself.

“Well we can’t necessarily prove him wrong,” Aiden said “And--as vague as he was--everything sounded too specific to be a lie.”

“So what? We’re just gonna believe him till we have more proof?”

“Unless you have any better ideas, yes.” Aiden said, not sounding too fond of the idea either.

The three were still in silence with Aiden thinking to himself once again. He found himself trying to force his mind to believe everything he had been told was all made up. It sounded fake--an ‘Endercon’, being in some silly rival gang--but it didn’t feel like a lie. When Jesse explained his side, there was an odd sense of genuineness to it, and as much as Aiden was waiting for his brain to set off any alarms as the story was being told, they remained untouched and soundless.

‘It couldn’t be the truth.’ Aiden thought, ‘It all sounded like a half baked lie.’ but his gut was saying otherwise.

Jesse, admittedly, was a bit confused and unsettled that neither Aiden nor Gill had uttered a word about what they knew about Jesse. They were very open about their anger towards him, restraining him twice knowing he’d attack and accused him of being crazy. ‘Like Gill said,’ Jesse thought, his face concentrated as it stared in no general direction, ‘It feels like they’re holding something back.’

“What should we do now? I feel bad for standin’ around doin’ nothin’.” Gill spoke up, getting the attention of the others. He talked in a noticeably slower manner; Jesse must have forgotten what Gill and his irritating voice was like. It was like he couldn’t quite grasp what he was told so he spoke close to the pace of a turtle just in case realization struck him half way through.

“Yeah.” Aiden agreed. “I was thinking we could kill two birds with one stone and head over to Hadrian’s now. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow with the risk of not getting anything valuable at all. Especially if there’s a much bigger issue at hand.”

Gill stood up and pushed his chair in, “Sounds good to me. It’ll be a quick trip. But...” he leaned against the dark brown dining table and turned his head to Jesse in an uncomfortable position, “What should we do with him? Lock ‘em here?”  

Aiden made his way to the window in the living room and peered through it, watching the buildings and the people who went in and out of them. He thought about Rose and wondered if she and the others were able to make it to the library.

He sighed and hesitantly said “No. As much as I don’t want to do this, we’ll have to bring Jesse along with us.”

“What--” Gill started but halted as Aiden began his explanation.

“It’d be two of us watching over one of him, plus when we get to Hadrian’s, that’ll be two extra sets of eyes on him. And let’s say he IS lying about all this...” Aiden circled around Jesse like a shark. Gill nodded along.

“If we leave him here, he’d break or steal our items, escape, get himself or other people hurt, a whole bunch of risks I’m not willing to take.”

“Yeah! ‘N we can beat ‘em up if he acts up!” Gill said a little too enthusiastically as he cracked his knuckles.

Jesse peeped, “Can I get a say in where I-”

“No!” Aiden and Gill responded simultaneously.  Jesse jumped by the sudden, angered answer.

“I just don’t want anything stupid to happen that we could’ve prevented.” Aiden ended his explanation on an unnatural note; it seemed like he wanted to say more but decided against it. He left the kitchen, Gill watched on but Jesse remained seated. Just to be safe.

‘Anything stupid… that we could’ve prevented’, those words bounced back and forth in Jesse’s mind.

‘Oh jeez, Olivia!” a surge of realization and panic ran through his body and the need to run out to find his friend had to be repressed. He couldn’t up and leave with Aiden and Gill watching him but an awful, rising feeling of anxiousness kept commanding him to escape.

Because if anything happened to her, it’d be on him for never checking on her, asking if her heading off with three known enemies was a safe idea or okay with her, or heck, even giving her a reassuring thumbs up could’ve made a difference. How could he keep quiet when Olivia volunteered to go along with those girls? Maybe everything was happening too fast and he was so caught up and confused in the mess he didn’t register what Olivia was doing. She can handle herself, they’ve been in worse situations but he felt like an awful friend regardless.

‘She’s gonna be fine.’ he told himself, ‘If she wanted to join them, there had to have been a reason for it.’

“Hey,” Jesse turned to Aiden who held the door open, “Let’s get a move on.” he tilted his head towards the outside world.

Gill grabbed Jesse’s arm with a bone-crushing grip and lifted him off of his chair, causing it to fumble over to the ground. Both Jesse and Aiden seemed a bit off guard by his sudden action.

“Gill! Don’t--That isn’t necessary, thank you.”

Gill took note of Aiden’s tone and let go of Jesse, looking ashamed.

“I know you mean well but we don’t have to attack him unless he starts… Freaking out.”

“Yeah, I can get up myself, thanks.” Jesse hissed as he held his aching arm.

Gill scratched the back of his neck and grinded his teeth before saying “I’m sorry, it’s just the girls always tell me to be more rough ‘n I didn’ know if you wanted th’same...”

Aiden groaned ‘Of course they did.’

He spoke up again, “You know what, that’s alright, misunderstandings happen. Not our biggest concern right now.” he motioned towards Jesse, “If you want to move him along--carefully--you can. Just to make sure he doesn’t run off.”

Gill, without hesitation, shoved Jesse along as he walked and apparently had the strength to push him forward with ease. His large hand on Jesse’s back was enough to move him out of the house and to the front gate in seconds without Jesse needing to take a single step. The second they reached the end of the yard, Gill immediately stopped pushing and let Jesse fall to the cold, stone road with a loud thud. Jesse rubbed his jaw and shook the hair out of his face while glaring at Gill as he continued walking at a slow pace, facing the house and waiting for his friend to catch up.

Jesse sat up and heard footsteps come from behind; definitely Aiden. He didn’t need to turn around, he didn’t even need to glance at Aiden, he could practically feel his mouth open to release a judgemental comment.

“Again,” Jesse said as he pushed himself up, “I can get up myself.” He followed Gill to where their yard ended and the path began, not giving a second of his time to Aiden.

Aiden joined the other two and scanned the street, seeing if there were any individuals or groups of people near their destination. He focused on a small, one story, wooden oak building. Compared to the other taller, more refined buildings with their sturdy bricks, stone, concrete, and obsidian and their bright lights inside that beamed through the windows and illuminated the streets, the tiny structure had vines that started from the roof and ended at the ground and was banged up with chunks missing here and there. It was a miracle that it was still standing.

The little building was nearly hidden by the surrounding ones and the only thing that kept it from completely disappearing was a small, lit lamp that hung from the overhang, swaying gently with the breeze.

‘Is it even open?’ Jesse thought to himself, leaning in slightly to study the building a bit better. It didn’t even have a sign. And maybe it was because it was placed between the--what appeared to be--the giant public library and the blacksmith he caught a glimpse of earlier, but it looked exceptionally tiny. He hadn’t even stepped foot into the place and he already felt cramped in there.

Then a thought crept from the back of Jesse’s head, ‘Will I know Hadrian?’ He wasn’t thinking about it too much before, but it finally clicked with him why that name rang a faint bell: Hadrian from The Games. It had been such a long time. ‘He’s not the only Hadrian in this world, it could be anybody...’

“Hey-!” Jesse felt someone’s hand grab his and squeeze it before dragging him behind them, giving him no other choice but to move his feet, his shoes scraping the pavement with each step.

“Head down and don’t say anything.” Aiden whispered loud enough for Jesse to catch; he took bigger steps which made walking with him feel like a marathon.

As Aiden kept his focus on the little building, Gill kept his on Jesse. Not that he had to, as the brunette did what he was told and wasn’t too fond of starting conflict tonight of all nights. He hated staring at the floor though. If he wasn’t looking at the face of someone that hated him, he was staring at the ground. It didn’t help that the surroundings seemed to tease him with the sounds of people talking, doors closing, or any signs that the world was lived in and he was prohibited from seeing it.

Luckily, the journey only took two minutes at most and the trio came to a stop. Jesse brushed strands of hairs out of his eyes and carefully lifted his head up, unsure he was allowed to do anything without Aiden and Gill’s explicit permission.

Jesse was used to being the “leader” in one way or another, and he didn’t mind listening to other figures in charge as long as it meant he could help, but something about being bossed around by Aiden of all people didn’t sit with him well. He felt that he was being talked down to, given basic commands that you’d give to a dog. It was almost humiliating.

As Gill and Aiden had a quiet exchange, Jesse blocked them out and he scanned the place for a label, sign, anything that’d hint at what this place might be.

The front door of the old building? Well, the door looked like the only decent part of the exterior. The only visible window was a little one on the door that probably allowed people to peek through to see the inside, but it was covered up by the curtains on the other side and an “OPEN” sign with its once bold colors faded from the sun’s light. How welcoming.

“...And hopefully we’ll get something useful. Got it?” Aiden asked, Jesse whirled his head back to them.

“You bet!” Gill gave his friend two thumbs up.

“Jesse?”

“Right!” Jesse responded on command, absolutely unaware of what they were talking about.

Aiden smoothed his hair down and went to zip up his leather jacket; he stopped himself, remembering where it was and huffed to himself, a little embarrassed as the two watched the scene play out.

“Alright,” Aiden shifted their attention onto the more important matter. “I’ll go in first, Jesse...” he stared at the curly haired boy while trying to come up with a quick solution, “You’re between Gill and I.”

Aiden opened the door, a bell tied around the other side of the rusted door knob jingled until it soon hit the wall.

Jesse stepped in, feeling Gill squeeze himself in and closing the door behind him. The cool air was replaced by a muggy one. Two large shelves on both sides of the room that touched the low ceiling gave Jesse the impression that they’ve been boxed in; that if they spent any more than a couple of minutes here, they’d suffocate. Aiden and Gill’s height and broad shoulders squishing against him were not easing out this feeling.

“Who is it?” a raspy yet smooth voice shouted from somewhere.

“Aiden! I brought some friends.” Aiden shouted back as he moved forward.

Jesse was hoping that the rest of the place wasn’t as confined as the entrance and he’d have enough space to look around or even stand comfortably without Gill breathing on the back of his neck. Jesse observed the shelves, noticing the variety of objects that were shoved into them without any thought, looking as cramped as he felt. Nothing about the objects was consistent. Not the sizes, nor purpose or material. You would have an old journal next to a sharpened sword, or a helmet sitting by a lump of coal. Some items had a small strip of paper tied to them with prices scribbled on. ‘Okay, so this is someone’s store.’ Jesse thought to himself. He breathed in and got a noseful of the earthy smell that consumed the area, it sort of reminded him of ‘An antique store?’

“Oh, Aiden!” a cheerful, feminine disembodied voice spoke. “Is Gill with you?”

“Yep. And... Someone else.” Aiden muttered the last part while sucking in his gut to make it through the end of the cluttered barrier of shelves, trying not to knock any of the items over.

“I’ll be there in juuust a second, boy.” the raspy voice said, followed by a loud crashing sound. “Minute.”

Jesse slipped out of the awkward hall and stood on the left of Aiden with Gill on the right. To the left of the three, there was a counter with a cash register that looked relatively cleaned. Jesse scanned the rest of the place and the first thing that caught his attention were the amount of white candles lit and scattered throughout the area. From stubby to slender, their delicate flames danced about and lit the organized chaos surrounding them.

Jesse peered over the end of the right bookshelf and managed to see a decently sized stage that took up a quarter of the already small store, it was made of the dirtied spruce wood as the floor and stood only two feet tall.

There was an oak podium with a candle on top of it. The podium was in fine condition compared to the quality of everything else Jesse’s eyes landed on. The stage was awfully cluttered too; books, swords, and broken remains of statues stood on there. The statues, as fractured as they were, seemed to be based on the same person. A man who wore nothing extravagant but a plain t-shirt, long pants, and battered shoes. Though some statues had bits of variation to them. One of them, which only had the man’s torso, head, and right arm, had him holding a bow high into the air as he looked in the same direction. Another one was just the legs, but there was a sculpted sword that laid beside him.

They looked a bit unnerving, they almost reminded him of the face he saw in that temple earlier. The lack of color didn’t help.

Facing the stage were two rows of several chipped, cushioned chairs set up similarly to a classroom. Some chairs had a pile of books beside or on top of them.

The rest of the place? Nearly impossible to decipher. Walls were covered with papers and post-it notes, any sort of drawers, shelves, and desks that could be made out had been engulfed and surrounded by more... Junk. Could it be classified as junk? Some items are or could be useful, such as armors on stands that could be spotted, pickaxes, but then you’d have rocks. Actual rocks sitting around, abused books, worn boots; if someone sneezed, the whole place could collapse.

The mess was... Worrisome. With all these candles around, it’s a wonder how a fire hasn’t started yet.

The only areas that were actually clean and spacious were the counter and a small clearing on the opposite side of the stage. There were stacked boxes, instead of a mess, that seemed to frame around an older, oak door that was wide open. Jesse was able to make out the end of a bed, ‘Okay, so it’s someone’s house AND a store. Weird.’

Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the doorway and Jesse felt his brain shut down for a moment as the exact person he feared to see appeared. Hadrian. The same long, purple checkered robe with those small, thin, tinted glasses that sat close to the edge of his nose. His white, slightly curled hair contrasted the dreary, brown washed interior of the house-store.

He adjusted his robe to fit comfortably with his bright golden inner dress and began heading towards the counter, picking up a book that sat on top of one of the stacked boxes and flipped through it, skimming the contents and not paying much attention to the walk-ins.

He adjusted his robe to fit comfortably with his bright golden inner dress and began heading towards the counter, picking up a book that sat on top of one of the stacked boxes and flipped through it, skimming the contents and not paying much attention to the walk-ins.

Hadrian glanced at the trio with a smile on his face, “Aiden, Gill--Oh, and Jesse! What brings you fine boys here today?”

He placed the book into the already disorganized bookshelf next to Gill, “Sorry about that little wait, Mevia and I have been tryin’ to clean this old place up for once!” he chuckled to himself.

“Come in, come in! You’re always welcomed here! Mevia will be out with us in a split second.” Hadrian motioned them to come on in, the boys followed behind, still cautious with their surroundings. Jesse couldn’t force himself to be at ease, despite the warmest welcome he’s received all night, his body remained tense. This was going too smooth. Even Gill and Aiden were put off by Hadrian’s reaction, they watched him intensely as they followed, waiting for the eruption.

“The girls aren’t with ya today?” Hadrian asked.

Aiden sat stiffly in the back row of the chairs, resting his elbow on the top slat in an attempt to make himself relax. “Nope, went to the library.”

Gill plopped himself right next to Aiden, his back slouched over as he kept watching Hadrian. Jesse hesitantly sat a few seats away from them and was caught off guard by how uncomfortable and rigid the chairs were. What deceiving cushions.

Hadrian’s mind seemed occupied with everything else BUT the boys, his eyes wouldn’t focus on a set subject and he ran into a chair, knocking it over. He huffed to himself and picked it up, “Gill, you missed our little--our lesso... Our...”

His sentence began to trail off and he stumbled on his words until he fell silent, staring at the chair blankly.

He whirled his head around and scanned the boys again. Aiden, Gill...

Jesse saw the gears turning quickly and the realization hitting in Hadrian’s eyes. He had to do something--anything--to ease the moment!

“Hi?” was all Jesse could manage to say with an awkward wave.

“SWEET STEVE ABOVE US! MEVIA, IT’S JESSE!” Hadrian ran over to the stage then stomped full force into a wooden plank, causing it to flip up and reveal a chest underneath the section of the floor. He opened it and whipped out a loaded crossbow in the blink of an eye and aimed it at Jesse’s head.

All the boys were caught by surprise, Aiden and Gill flinched but remained seated unlike Jesse who shot up and reached behind his back to grab his sword--only to remember Cassie Rose took it from him earlier. He cussed to himself.  

“I’m getting the impression I’m not well liked here.” Jesse whispered, keeping his eyes on the crossbow.

“Good guess.” Gill said.

Rushing footsteps could be heard pounding the ground throughout the building, but the person--Mevia--remained hidden in the shadows. Everyone was on guard.

Aiden stood up and rotated his body to wherever the sound was coming from, still remaining in one place. Sword or no sword, Jesse didn’t want to be a sitting duck. He dug his feet into the ground and curled his hands to fists, head whipping around frantically, readying himself. His senses were in full swing; he became immersed by his surroundings, every rustling paper, every flick of a flame, nothing was missed. Then the steps came to a stop. Jesse thought--no--was certain that they ended right by the counter, she must be hiding behind it. He turned his head carefully towards the counter while still keeping Hadrian’s weapon in sight.

And maybe, maybe he was getting paranoid, but he swore he saw movement.

Should he head towards there, sit back down, talk? Or maybe he could--

“MOVE!” Aiden barked and shoved Jesse to the floor. Olivia’s green hat covered his eyes as he fell but this time Jesse managed to catch himself and didn’t hurt his face for the umpteenth time tonight.

‘I’m starting to feel like I’m getting to know the floor better than anyone else here.’ Jesse grumbled to himself.

A loud crack shot through his ears.

Jesse barely lifted the hat up to see the sharpened blade of a diamond axe centimeters away from his face. Its pronounced shade of blue shined from the candles’ lights, and the axe’s blade was lodged into the wood flooring standing at an angle, its handle inches above Jesse’s head.

“Well, that’s one way to hand out a souvenir.” Jesse attempted to lighten the mood.

Aiden, while not too thrilled with Jesse’s comedic timing, scanned Jesse’s body to make sure he wasn’t hit anywhere then turned to the direction where the axe was thrown and shouted “MEVIA!”

On the far right of the store, where a large, unstable bookshelf stood, a crouched figure shifted and caused it to rattle. “Hi, Aiden!” the cheerful voice greeted him from the top.

The figure leaped off and the weak lighting revealed Mevia herself. Brushing her long, dull blue hair out of her face and patting down her black dress--with the bottom quarter red--to get the dust off of her with one hand, the other holding a second axe.

“I know you mean well, but could you not move him next time? Thank you!”

Jesse rolled away from the axe as the little get together took place, ‘Looks like they’re friendly with each other.’

“You know how I--” Aiden was about to begin when Hadrian cut him off.

“And YOU know how we feel about THAT boy being in OUR house.” Hadrian jabbed his finger into Aiden’s chest while his other hand still held the crossbow with no signs of tiring out.

“Unless you brought him here to settle the issue out ourselves, I’d recommend you put him back in that cell where he belongs!”

“I actually have a reason for bringing him here this time.” Aiden’s vexed tone began mixing with a defensive one.

Hadrian shifted his head up but kept his eyes on Jesse, prompting Aiden to keep going.

“We went to the Shrine Of Eyes, saw him there, he doesn’t seem to remember much except... Well, me.” He kept it short, he didn’t want to keep repeating the same story unless he was asked for more details.

Hadrian let out a scoff, “So you forgot about EVERYTHING?”

Jesse sat up and brushed the hair out of his face, “Not necessarily ‘forgotten’, more like... I don’t know what’s going on.”

The old man chuckled and shook his head, “Well, I do say, this is definitely abnormal. Mevi, what are your thoughts on this?”

Hadrian watched Mevia twirl her axe around playfully, an amused smile on her face. “Very convenient timing!”

She approached Jesse, gripping the handle of her axe. “Almost as convenient as me having my favorite axe in hand while you’re in hitting range!” She threw her arm up and over her head, the smile still on her face. Mevia didn’t have an exact area where she wanted to strike Jesse, she just wanted to hit him.

The second Mevia brought her axe down by a millimeter, Olivia’s hat flew off his head as Jesse’s legs already pushed him off the ground and had him moving in reverse without him realizing. He backed himself against a bookshelf and watched as Mevia struggled to swing her axe down an inch more. She swished her head around, hair flying into her face and she was eye to eye with Aiden, who held onto the blade with a strong grip; unaffected by the edges digging into his fingers.

“We came here for a reason.” Aiden said again, releasing the axe. “If I wanted Jesse chopped up, I would’ve done it myself.”

Mevia lowered her weapon and clicked her tongue, “Oh, I’m sure you would’ve.” She stashed her axe away and grabbed the other on the floor, “But I’ll bite, why?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter if you believe him or not, we saw him near a portal with Olivia and need anything you have about…” Aiden slowed down at the sight of Hadrian and Mevia’s bugged eyes.

The woman raised her axe at Aiden and twirled it as if it were a part of her arm, “I’m sorry sweetie, I must’ve been hearing things. Could you... Repeat that?”

Hadrian had yet to move a muscle. He hadn’t even blinked. His mouth hung open as his body remained frozen.

Aiden attempted to backtrack with a swear leaving his lips, “I was going to tell you about that soon.”

“Olivia was th--” Hadrian began but stopped mid sentence, grabbed Aiden by the arm and dragged him to the bedroom, throwing the crossbow to the ground. He halted at the door frame and turned to the three, “Mevia, Gill, keep an eye on that boy! We’ll be just a moment.”

And with that, he shoved Aiden inside and shut the door.

The group hadn’t the chance to react in that frame of time.

“Wait, you’re going to leave us here and expect them to NOT kill me!?” Jesse shouted to no one in particular. Gill wasn’t too big of an issue, he was more rough than deadly, it was the woman that sat on a chair, sharpening one blade of her axe with the other, that he was worried about.

~ ~ ~

Hadrian began pacing around the bedroom, something he wasn’t able to do in the cluttered store, and stroked his chin. While the room itself was much smaller, it was more spacious. It only had two beds on opposite sides, their sheets were both a dreary shade of marine--which made the white pillows pop--and were neatly done and appeared untouched. One slender, dark oak wardrobe that contrasted the spruce floor with dust bunnies all around it. And at the very end of the room, there was a large portrait.

Aiden had seen it many times before when he had visited. It was a commission--Aiden remembered--a painstakingly detailed painting of Hadrian, Mevia… Oswald? That wasn’t his name, but he was a larger man with a fluffy, white beard, and another woman whose name also slipped his mind. Hadrian loved to share stories about him and the other three when they were younger, but Aiden never met the other two in the portrait. Only heard stories.

“Sit down, sit down.” Hadrian waved towards one of the beds. Aiden sat down and sunk into the mattress. The old man went through another few rounds of pacing about then stopped to adjust his robe, fixing his posture in the process.

“Alright. I want you to tell me what happened--anything you can remember.”

“Did you really have to bring me into a different room for this?”

“Listen, this could all be some big, elaborate story that The Hero’s Awakening could’ve set up. I don’t want to take any chances.” he tapped his foot, “I want to hear your side of the story then I’m gonna talk to Jesse to see how much remains consistent, you understand?”

“Sure?”

Hadrian slid in front of Aiden and crouched down so they were at the same eye level. “Excellent. Now story, go!” he ordered.

“Wait, do you want the short version or the long version--”

“I want a STORY.”

Aiden threw his arms up, “Alright, okay! Radar told US that a guard told HIM that a weird, green light was coming from the shrine. Rose and I decided to check it out to see what’s up.”

He heard Hadrian grumble to himself, “That Radar fellow told ya, huh?”

Aiden rolled his eyes, “He’s just the messenger.” He continued “But that’s when we saw Jesse and Olivia. At first I thought it was only him there, not too big of a deal, right? Well I grabbed him, he called for Olivia, then everything got weird.”

“You think he’s the one that opened it up?”

“No, I--” Aiden leaned back and tried to salvage every event that’s happened tonight, every miniscule detail. “There weren’t any signs of a break in, the guards didn’t spot anything, and Jesse didn’t know where he was.”

The old man pushed his glasses up, “But did you ever SEE him near the portal?”

“Neither of us did.”

Hadrian didn’t have to say another word to show he wasn’t convinced.

“He still doesn’t like me, but he’s been much more cooperative than he usually is. He told me what he remembered, something about building a wool creature at some event--a Blaze? But he said we were rivals, I ruined his build, and he lived in some place called Beacon Town. I’m not saying it’s the truth, but it’s weird, isn’t it?”

“What about Olivia, does she rem--Wait, did you say Beacon Town?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s such a stupid name.”

“I know,” Aiden started, “but that’s the issue! That sounds like a minimum effort, made up name but when he told me about it, it felt like the truth.” While that was a vague explanation, that was the ONLY explanation he could come up with.

“Does that make sense?” he asked the old man, who didn’t look too pleased with what he’s being told.

“Sure it does,” Hadrian said with a cynical sort of happiness in his voice, “Jesse sounds like he’s tellin’ you the truth and that’s all dandy. But to me, it sounds like you’re tryna cover up for your friend.”

Aiden didn’t hide the offense he took, “Hadrian, why would I lie to you? Especially about this?!”

“Because this is Jesse we’re talkin’ bout.” Hadrian shot back with a still expression, not even bothering to lift his eyelids; looking at Aiden past the frame of his glasses.

“Right, right--Better question: When’s the last time I lied to you?”

That’s when Hadrian’s cold aurora faded and his comments came to a stop. He turned away and walked towards the door as if he were about to leave, and stopped. He stared intensely at it like it’d devalue Aiden’s point. He remained speechless and held his hands together, squeezing them tightly.

“You have to have noticed Jesse was off.” Aiden said to the back of Hadrian.

Hadrian massaged his temples and remained still. He didn’t want to respond to that. He started to tap his head, “What about Olivia?”

Aiden clenched the sheets of the bed, he wasn’t too delighted with old man’s reaction, but it may be best to move on. His eyes slowly made their way to the floor. He let out an empty chuckle, “I thought I was finally losing it when I saw her.”

He buried his face into his hands, “I hugged her, I wasn’t thinking, but I wanted to see if she was real and…” he muffled nonsense.

He lifted his head back up, “She remembers Jesse. They were working together in the shrine. That’s it.”

Hadrian ran his fingers through his hair and didn’t say a word. He knew Aiden explained what he could, but Hadrian knew the boy long enough to know not everything would be accurate.

“I should be happy that she’s back.” Aiden spoke up.

“Hm?”

“Olivia. I was happy to see her again, but it felt fake. Does that make sense? I should’ve been overjoyed, the happiest I’ve ever been--she’s alive! I would’ve done anything to bring her or Lukas back and now that she’s here, I don’t know how to feel. It’s like it’s someone who looks like Olivia with nothing that made her herself, you know?” Aiden breathed in and rested his head in his hands. He didn’t expect Hadrian to know the answer but it's been eating him up ever since they left the temple. Maybe he’s overthinking it.

“I feel awful for thinking that. We’re friends but why does it feel so… Empty?” even now, he knew there should be guilt to come with talking--let alone thinking--that he feels little connection towards Olivia. Granted, he still felt bad for speaking about her like this regardless. They’ve known each other for years and nothing should’ve changed that. So why is this happening?

“I’m uh… I don’t…” Hadrian cursed to himself and tried to continue the original conversation, “Blast it, this is where things get tricky.” He stood up and started pacing again. “None of us have ever built or interacted with a portal, except for you and your friends that one time you went to the underground city. So none of us know any of the side effects of reactivating one of those suckers. Who’s to say memory loss ISN’T one of them?”

The pieces of information he was given were big, but there were still parts of the puzzle that prevented the whole picture from coming together.

“Plus, Jesse still doesn’t like you.” he pointed out. “Even if his memories are all screwed up, there’s still a part of him that has that resentment.”

“And as much as I’d love to believe that Olivia was brought back,” he brought his head up to the painting, “Deep down, a part of me knows this is some nasty plot Jesse’s set up. Nothin’s clicking into place. Something IS wrong.”

And with that, there was nothing else to be said. Not from Aiden, anyways.

He got off the now crinkled bed and went to the door.

“Bring Jesse in.” he heard Hadrian order.

Aiden opened the door and was greeted with the sight of Jesse being held down on a seat by Gill, his fingers digging into Jesse’s arms, with Mevia holding one of her axes above Jesse’s head and the other in front of his neck. They didn’t seem to notice him right away; Jesse was too concerned about his life. Something left Aiden’s mouth, not a word, but definitely a sound. The three zipped their heads around.

Aiden stared.

They stared.

“We wanted to make sure he wouldn’t get any ideas!” Mevia said without prompt, stashing the weapons away. “Gill was just helping.” her tone became softer.

Gill’s large eyes were on Aiden as he let go of Jesse instantly.

“... Hadrian wants to see you, Jesse.” was all Aiden said.

“Really?” Both Mevia and Jesse asked. Jesse propped up from the chair and made his way to the door. The thought of escaping was starting to sound better by the second. Maybe when Hadrian isn’t watching, he could jump out of a window and make a run for it. Find Olivia. Get back home.

He could feel everyone looking at him. Especially Mevia, who’s stare was piercing the back of his skull and taunting him to turn around to catch it. Aiden loomed over him as he’d get closer to the room. Seeing Aiden made Jesse’s throat tighten, he wanted to say something but now would be an awful time. He could ask later. When there wasn’t an axe-crazy lady.

Jesse reached towards the knob and his throat managed to get tighter. The closer his hand got, the more it felt like he couldn’t breathe. Practically choking on his unspoken words until--

“Aiden, what are you planning?!’ he zipped his head to Aiden; Jesse asked so fast and so quietly he almost believed he hadn’t said anything.

Aiden flinched with Jesse’s question and waited for a second to see if he’d add onto it. When nothing came to join Jesse’s angry glare, Aiden finally answered with “... Nothing yet?”

Jesse sputtered, “What’s that supposed to mean?!” he struggled to keep his voice at a whisper.

Aiden was about to respond but Mevia spoke up with an intrigued tone, “What are you two talking about?”

Aiden flashed his eyes over to Jesse then to Mevia, “Nothing.” he walked to the seats and left the boy alone.

“Gill, I know you were trying to help out but--” was all Jesse heard Aiden say before he shut the door behind him. The first thing he saw was Hadrian himself, not even close to his warmer, welcoming attitude from when Jesse first stepped in. The second feature of the room--or lack of--was that there were no windows, so escaping was out of the picture.

Standing in the bedroom with Hadrian across from him, all the noises of the world, the talking, people coming and going from surrounding buildings, everything seemed to go mute. Like the room was detached from the rest of the world. There was only Jesse and Hadrian. Was that comforting?

Hadrian took a few steps back and sat down on the ruffled bed behind him.

“I wanted to ask you a few questions, son.”

Jesse held his hands together behind his back as the man went on. “You can answer them however you’d like, I won’t be jumpin’ to any conclusions. I’ve already heard Aiden’s story, things feel sketchy already, but I believe it’s fair to listen to both sides.”

“Wait, you’re listening to what AIDEN’S been telling you?” The boy blurted out.

Hadrian raised a brow, “I don’t see a reason why not to.”

As if being outnumbered by enemies wasn’t bad enough.

“Look, maybe he’s kept it a secret from you, but Aiden managed to manipulate an entire city into thinking he was a hero! Who’s to say he’s not doing it again?!”

Uneasiness, panic, perhaps, was beginning to build up as Hadrian’s lips remained sealed with a face that wasn’t reacting.

“Look, I know we haven’t had the cleanest history but you HAVE to believe me. I think Aiden’s convinced everyone that I’m something much worse than I actually am! I’ve saved the world TWICE! But they’re keeping me hidden from the public like they KNOW people will recognize me. If this isn’t a part of a bigger plan, then this HAS to be a mix up.” Jesse was throwing up whatever popped into his mind, not taking a spare second to stitch any two points together.

“And what’s all this talk about me escaping? Going in a cell? Why would I go to jail? This is a misunderstanding--the wrong person!”

Hadrian had yet to say anything, but the last words that left Jesse’s mouth triggered a reaction. A hollow laugh. The old man stood up and approached Jesse with an expressionless face.“I said it before ‘n I’ll say it again: I won’t jump to no conclusions yet.”

He placed his hand on Jesse’s chest, “But we don’t have the wrong person. I’m sure we all know that. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t be treated the way you are right now. You can bother Aiden with all your little issues ‘n stories because if there’s one thing I do know: I ain’t as patient as he is.”

He ended his speech with a forceful shove and sitting back down on the bed.

Jesse licked his lips, “I know,” he paused trying to think up a coherent thought “I’m acting kind of crazy but after the wither storm and defeating ALL these people I hate, I have no idea what led to all of THIS happening!” Jesse wished he had his sword on him right now. Not even for attacking, he wanted something that’d make him feel protected. Safe.

“Wither st--People you hate?”

“Sorry, that’s a strong word!” he retracted, “But everyone I’ve seen, Cassie Rose, Aiden, Gill, EVERYONE, they’ve all wanted to... “ what’s a nice way of saying ‘Beat me to a bloody pulp and stomp on my remains’?

“... Hurt… Me at one point.” Yeah, that’s a good word.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I thought I’d get pounded, or maybe they forgave and forgot but that doesn’t explain the treatment I’ve been getting… And… And… The whole time I’ve been here, I’ve only learned that everyone here hates me and that this town has… Has two libraries!” Jesse hunched over and had to catch his breath.

He’d take in mouthfuls of air while his eyes were stuck on Hadrian’s concerned expression for Jesse’s mental state, creating an odd, bittersweet atmosphere. Outright admitting all of that to Hadrian of all people was probably the dumbest thing he’s done all night, not that there were better options, but to pour out a portion of the stream of endless problems was like a crater had been lifted off his shoulders. Even if he wouldn’t get direct answers, he was thankful for the opportunity to vent.

Hadrian leaned forward from the bed, “Did you get all that outta your system?” he asked. Jesse didn’t respond, he kept panting, so he took the end of the ramblings as a ‘Yes’.

The old man stood up to fix the sheets, “As… Exciting as that was, I wasn’t going to ask you bout any of that. I was curious about you and Olivia and how you got here.”

“Oh, that.” Jesse fixed his posture, his face reddened “I found a jungle temple, it was glowing green and wanted to bring Olivia along since there were going to be red stone traps and I thought she’d like that. Also to check out the weird green… Glowy thingy.”

“And I take it you aren’t too fond of Aiden?”

Hadrian was gifted with a look of exhaustion from Jesse.

“Could you tell me your history with the boy?” he asked in case another rant was about to surface.

“We were rivals for a short time,” He was still out of breath, “He ruined me and my friends’ build one year at the con. Sure, I was upset but I was too busy trying to stop an entire Wither Storm.”

Hadrian’s glasses slipped down his nose, his lips moved though nothing came out as he rested his head on his hand. Thinking.

Hadrian finally asked “Jesse, does your head hurt?”

Jesse thought about all the times his face was smashed into the ground on this night alone. “A little, sure. Why?”

“No reason, just curious is all.” Hadrian pushed up his glasses and stretched his arms high before a loud crack was let loose, followed by a satisfied sigh.

“I did get much more than I bargained for, I think I got enough to work with. Let’s go, I’m sure the both of us don’t like bein’ in the same room with each other for so long.” He hopped off the bed, reached for the doorknob and with a smile still on his face, he said “Don’t push your luck, son. If somethin’ happens to those boys, I ain’t gonna be merciful.”

He shoved Jesse ahead and out the door.

Back in the main area, Gill and Mevia sat by each other, though Mevia was miraculously balancing herself on the two hind legs of the chair, and Aiden was standing up with his arms crossed. Body facing towards the two while his head turned to Jesse.

“Everything okay? We heard a lot of shouting.” Aiden asked.

“Shoot, was there? Sorry, I hope--” Jesse ruffled his hair but froze, where was Olivia’s hat? His eyes darted around the room. Aiden must’ve known what he was searching for, as he lifted up a hand that held the green, aviator hat with the black goggles. Relief washed over Jesse.

“We didn’t really hear much.” Gill said.

“Gill’s lecture kept getting interrupted.” Mevia added with a smirk, glancing at the man shrinking next to her.

Aiden noticed Jesse’s eyes hadn't looked away from the hat, he squeezed it.

“I can give it back to Olivia.” he insisted before Jesse had the chance to ask for it back.

Jesse blinked, “But what about ‘laying low’?”

“You know to keep your head low. Besides, I haven’t seen too many people out.” he attempted to say with a reassuring tone with his stern face clashing against it.

“... Alright then.” Jesse wasn’t too thrilled with that, especially since Aiden was the one to say people would ‘freak out’ when they saw him. He didn’t want to risk getting caught all because Aiden wanted to be a saint and return Olivia’s hat. If he didn’t, maybe Jesse would snatch it back, or maybe Olivia has a spare back at home and she wouldn’t care too much about missing one.

Hadrian began sorting through a pile of books on one of the many small, cluttered tables, flipping through them rapidly before placing each one on the ground when they didn’t satisfy him. Mevia and Aiden began talking again, but Jesse blocked them out. He was blocking most of the world out. He had yet to move from the spot he stood, too consumed with his own frustration. He hated this stuffy place, he hated being bosses and pushed around, he hated the way he was being treated.

‘Does your head hurt?’ Hadrian’s stupid question rattled in Jesse’s head.

‘Yeah, it does. Your so called ‘friends’ kept pushing me around like a ragdoll all night!’ Jesse snapped back to the imaginative old man in the imaginative conversation. That would’ve been a much better answer.

“I think you’d like this,” Hadrian said to Aiden, holding a journal with a worn leather cover, “I used to be friends with some nutjob who tried t’ convince me to join The Hero’s Awakening.” he gave the journal a few pats. “He’d jot down whatever he learned into this sucker and I remember...” he began flipping through the pages, holding them with the tips of his fingers not wanting to tear the incredibly thin paper.

He stopped roughly in the middle of it and flicked up his glasses, “Yep, right here!” he shoved the journal in Aiden’s face.

“He’s got some pages bout portals here. Real fun read but also a whole bunch of gibberish.” he handed the book to Aiden, who slipped his finger in between the pages to not lose its place.  Hadrian began roaming around his little store, stroking his chin, “I hope that’ll do for now,” he said, “I’ll keep looking for anythin’ else, but that was the first thing that came to mind.”

“It’s much better than nothing.” Aiden reassured. He got up and tapped the inattentive Jesse, bringing him back to reality. “Thanks, Hadrian.”

~ ~ ~

Olivia had been wandering throughout the second floor of the library for some time now, she didn’t want to go to any of the other floors yet in case she’d get lost or they’d have to leave. She wasn’t sure when they were leaving, but she was hoping they would call out for her or announce it.

She heard the footsteps of the girls echoing throughout this place, which was sort of comforting in it’s own weird way, knowing that they hadn’t ditched her. But being quiet in this place proved to be a difficult task, every book she’d pull out, every step she took, heck, even the rustling of Aiden’s jacket she wore would practically boom throughout. Nothing could be done in peace.

‘I wonder if Stella and Maya heard our...’ she didn’t want to call it a fight, ‘... Argument several minutes ago.

As much as Olivia didn’t want to think about the feud from before--or this situation entirely--she had to. If she wanted to get a sliver of an idea of what’s going on, she’d have to work with the information she knows and can work with.

And luckily for her, the second floor was filled to the brim with books about this place.

Most of the shelves on the left side of the floor were dedicated to crafting recipes, from concepts, to failed creations, or creations still used to this day. And while those did pique her interest, she focused on the right side; the books containing the history. Good gracious, were there a lot of history books on this floor. Some spilled and mixed with the crafting ones, but an abundance was much preferred over a limited amount.

Olivia was unsure if all of these books described unique, important events of this world, or if they were retelling the same story with a slightly different lense. She couldn’t go through all of them, she wanted one that was straight to the point, so she looked for the thinnest one that caught her eye.

It was a dark blue, hardcover book that was about the size of her face. There wasn’t any noticeable damage done to it, and when she flipped through the pages, they all seemed to be in good condition. Small text that read “The Pocket Sized History of Our Land.” was printed onto the cover. The author of this book was kind enough to add a table of contents. There was a small, handwritten note scribbled onto the first page that read “For Rowan: Please study!!”

It was small but it made Olivia chuckle.

‘I haven’t had the chance to even read it yet. I know Jesse would like to hear anything about this place.’ Olivia thought to herself as she flipped open the book and skimmed the table of contents, walking slower so she wouldn’t run into any shelves or walls.

‘I hope he’s doing okay.’ Jesse could handle himself, she knew that, but worry would invade her mind no matter what she told herself.

“Hm... Impossibilities... The rise of shrines...” Olivia murmured the listed names to herself.

“‘Is the world ending’? That’s an odd one. ‘Tearing down the Ne-!” she suddenly collided with something--

“Oh, I’m sorry! Are you okay?” a man asked.

Someone.

She lost her balance but the stranger grabbed her hand and kept her standing.

“Sorry again.” the man spoke, his deep voice had familiarity.

“No, no, I should be the one apologizing, I wasn’t looking where I was go-” Olivia almost choked on her own spit when she saw who it was.

‘That’s Axel. That’s Axel. Oh my gosh--’ the same thick, black hair with his bushy unibrow to go with it. He wore the same green jacket she’d always see him in, the tan pants and sandals it match. The familiar friendly giant she’s known for so long but with the eyes of a stranger.

She gripped her book and adjusted her oversized jacket, “I should’ve been paying attention, I didn’t expect anyone else to be here... Sir.”

Olivia had no idea if he recognized her or not. It could be a similar situation with Stella and the others, but she didn’t want to risk making the interaction more awkward than it already was.

Axel let out an obvious forced chuckly, “Yeah, same. I thought I heard someone else come in, but sorta ignored it. Guess I was in the zone.”

He said and brought his head down at the array of open books splayed across the floor and circled around Axel. There was a notebook and a few pens--some broken--on the ground. Whatever he was studying for seemed more important than this encounter, not that Olivia wanted to keep this going on any longer. Cassie Rose and the others were probably waiting for her! They’re her only way back to the house; they might be looking for her at this very moment!

“Mm-hm! I totally understand. No worries.” she began backing away, hugging her small book to her chest. “I need to get going, my friends are probably pretty worried about me. Have a good evening!”

She scurried off, hearing Axel’s “You too!” as she started searching for Cassie Rose. She speed walked, giving her eyes mere seconds to scan one aisle of books before moving to the next; it shouldn’t be too hard to find Cassie, her vibrant, red hair stuck out like a sore thumb in this murky place. Each aisle she passed, a disgusting nervousness--the type that made you want to throw up--began to build up inside her, her hands getting sweaty as her stomach filled with butterflies. Or wasps. Her stomach was aching. Maybe it was that short interaction with Axel, maybe it was because she had yet to spot Cassie Rose, maybe it was this whole situation entirely--who knows!

“EXCUSE ME?!”

Olivia stopped dead in her tracks when she heard that loud, stuck up shout echo throughout the library’s halls. There were other voices but their volume didn’t compare to whoever yelled.

‘That has to be Stella!’ Olivia approached the nearest edge of the second floor and looked down, holding onto the stone railing. And there they were! Stella, Maya, and Cassie were all gathered at the center of the first floor, arms full of books, and--based on their gestures and the scream from before--arguing.

Not waiting for the situation to get any uglier, Olivia hurried to the stairs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“And you just LET her leave?!” Stella yelled but immediately slapped her hands over her mouth when she remembered where they were at.

She continued her bickering in a whisper-shout, “I cannot BELIEVE you. We just got her back and you allowed her to wander off to Hero knows where!”

Cassie Rose grinded her shoe into the floor with her arms crossed, looking away from the lecturer, “She said she needed space, so I gave it to her.”

Stella sputtered, almost dropping the few books she held, as if that was the most absurd concept she’s ever come across, “What if something happened to her?! We can’t lose her again, we haven’t had a proper reunion! I haven’t had the chance to let this whole situation sink in yet--she still doesn’t have her memory. What if she’s lost!? We have to go find her!” Stella was about to blast off when Maya grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked her back.

“Stella.” Maya began, “I get that you’re worried, we all are, but memories or not, Olivia’s an adult. She can take care of herself.” her eyebrows creased slightly.

“Oh I know, but--” Stella didn’t finish her sentence, she threw her arms down and sighed with defeat.

“We’ll find her.” Cassie Rose tried to reassure her friend, she picked up her pile of books that stood beside her and held them close.

She pulled on her hair, “I sorta freaked out back there, I didn’t mean to. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, we heard it.” Maya said, not glancing down on her friend.

“No, no, don’t apologize!” Stella started, “I should be the one apologizing. This whole situation has been pretty crazy for all of us, it’s natural to be confused. But I do know getting upset at you won’t help any.”

“It’s weird having her back.” Maya commented.

Stella fixed the sleeves to her suit, “Oh, definitely. One hundred percent.”

The one off exchange sparked a reaction from Cassie Rose, a bulb lit up, “Speaking of which--and I know I’m going to sound like a terrible person--” she pushed up her glasses, “When I had that little… Outburst, something didn’t click.”

Cassie continued as her friends watched on, “I feel awful about snapping at her, I really do, but not awful like ‘I got upset at Olivia’, more like ‘Awful that I yelled at a stranger’. She didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t feel like Olivia was really there. Maybe she’s been gone for too long and my brain can’t handle having her back?”

There was a lack of connection with Olivia, when they walked together, Cassie had felt the discomfort of being with a total stranger. A stranger who happened to look like her old friend. How do you explain a feeling like that without getting any weird looks?

Maya let her mouth hang for a little bit before saying “It’s a weird gut feeling, but I get it.”

“Everything’s weird. I think this whole situation has thrown all of us off.” Stella said, trying to move past the subject. She tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, “So, I guess one of us can go look for her while the other two can take the books back to Aiden--”

“Sorry for the wait!” Olivia spoke out, hopping down the last few stairs. The three zipped their heads around and Stella sighed with relief. “Let’s go!”

They left the library, recreating the huddle they had on their way to the library. Maya up front, Cassie on the right and Stella on the left, and Olivia smack in the middle. Logan was nowhere to be seen, so they didn’t worry too much about keeping her under cover. This time, Olivia didn’t mind being stuck in between them, it gave her a chance to read that book she checked out. The three other girls were discussing what they’ve found, books about portal making, creations from the past, ancient relics, but Olivia was too caught up in her reading.

Several minutes passed, Olivia had been trying to skim the first section of the book to learn as much as she could, but the words were beginning to blur together and she kept rereading sentences over and over again. She let out a yawn, the realization of how tired she truly was was settling in. Everything began feeling like... Mush.

The girls were still energetic and blabbing away, but it was getting hard to make out any of their conversation. What time was it?

‘We had to have gone through that portal at... 11 PM? Maybe midnight?’ Olivia rubbed her eyes and closed the book, stashing it away in the jacket’s large pocket. ‘Time seems to be the same... Or at least close to the time back at our home.’

“Ugh, look at that.” Stella whispered loudly to Cassie, looking past the red head and at whatever caught her eye.

Cassie turned towards the direction Stella was staring and growled, cursing under her breath.

Cassie placed her books on the ground and walked off, “One second.”

The girls stopped in their tracks, Maya’s body was still facing forward but her head was facing Cassie who was going... Somewhere. Olivia tried to look back at whatever Cassie was heading towards, but all she was was a small, gray structure--that vaguely resembled a tiny house--with a banner. A painting? Who knows. The only other thing she could make out was a few flowers surrounding it.

Olivia, confused, wanted to know what the disapproving tones were for. But before she examine whatever Cassie walked to, Stella suddenly grabbed Olivia by the shoulder and spun her around,

“So, Olivia!” Stella began, “I saw you had a small book, what’s it about?”

“Oh jeez, uh, I wish I could tell you...” Olivia squinted, trying to force her eyes to focus on the girl. Was Stella forcing her to look away? Or was her drowsiness starting to mess with her? Maybe she was getting overwhelmed. “I’m just really, really tired.”

“What? It’s only, like, 3 AM.”

Olivia blinked and didn’t really know what to say, “You’re right, I’m not tired. I’m exhausted.”

“But it’s a history book.” Olivia said, answering Stella’s question.

She heard Cassie’s footsteps coming closer, and an odd crackling sound. Olivia saw she had a redstone torch in her hand, looking at it in a way you would to a rodent. The red flame of the torch was as vibrant as Cassie’s hair, probably more. But just seeing the fire had Olivia feeling even more drowsy, it’s warmth on her skin, and the snaps from the flame brought an odd sense of peace that contrasted the violent shade of red. She wanted to sleep. She really wanted to sleep.

Cassie blew out the fire and tossed the burnt wood to the ground; she smothered it under her shoe and grumbled before returning to her position and grabbing the books once again.

“Ugh, another redstone torch-- Un-be-liev-able!” Stella glared at the remains of the torch.

“Is it even that big of a deal now? Olivia’s right here.” Maya said.

“That may be so, but no matter where it’s placed, it’s still extremely tasteless.” Stella contended, sticking her nose high into the air. Maya rolled her eyes but understood.

Everything was progressively getting more and more confusing. Everyone understood each other, they all knew what one thing meant or the rules of this world, but Olivia felt that she was alone in a crowded world. Almost like a dream. Maybe this was a dream. Olivia would wake up, make breakfast, Jesse would run by and ask if she’d like to join them on another wacky adventure, they’d find treasure, and then they’d go back home. A home where everything made sense, where she was surrounded by people who liked her.

“What was that?” Olivia asked through a yawn, trying to get a better look at the structure again. “Can I see?”

“No, no, you don’t have to see it! Let’s go home!” Stella insisted and moved the group along.

‘But I want to see it.’ her mind was commanding her to march back to that build, but her body was in no . Everything felt far too heavy to control. So she tread on.

“We can show you tomorrow, how does that sound?” Cassie mumbled, leaning close to the girl.

That reminded Olivia of something.

“Are we still gonna talk about that... The thing we were talking about earlier?” Olivia asked.

Despite her vague question, Cassie seemed to understand what she was referring to. “Yep. After we talk with Aiden, we’ll answer any of your questions.”

Olivia bobbed her head then let it hang, watching her feet and the road that moved below them. She wasn’t out right exhausted, just tired, but she hated how sore her eyes would feel, how everything would go too fast or too slow, an overall sour experience. She found that concentrating on a specific topic helped push away that awful feeling, so why not do it now?

‘How about that book…’ the one she tried to read. Actually, she did read the table of contents. What could she remember… ‘It mentioned shrines.’ Plenty of questions and possibilities to brainstorm with that prompt alone. It was high up on the list, so when were they built and how long have they been there? What or who were they built for? The shrine that her and Jesse were at was abandoned, so were all shrines abandoned? But then it wouldn’t make sense for guards to surround the area--but then AGAIN they were keeping an eye out for anyone coming in or out without supervision because someone activated that portal.

Who would activate a portal to an abandoned place?

… Wait, there was also that one chapter name she didn’t read all the way because she ran into Axel, it was about the Nether. While she could only catch “Tearing down the ne…” it wouldn’t make any sense if it was anything BUT the Nether. She’d have to double check but it does make her wonder what happened to cause a whole dimension to be ‘torn down’? Was that even possible?

“Hey Olivia,” she heard Cassie begin. Olivia kept her head down but peeked at Cassie, showing she was paying attention.

“About that little freak out in the library…”

Olivia couldn’t help but frown at the mention of that incident. Not because of Cassie, she didn’t offend her nor hurt her in any way, but the situation itself left a bitter taste in Olivia’s mouth. It created this odd contradiction where she understood what Cassie felt but with so little context, it was devoid of any impact. But it still left her feeling... Unsettled. Cassie Rose was frustrated with Olivia but her words didn’t feel directed at her. More like she was talking to someone else. There was no connection with her words, no emotional impact. And why would there be? She was concerned about Cassie, she looked genuinely hurt but Olivia was genuinely lost.

‘Shoot, I’m not paying attention!’ Olivia had kept her eyes on Cassie but her mind completely tuned out the second the feud was mentioned. ‘She could be saying something important!”

Olivia squeezed her eyes shut then set all her focus on Cassie Rose.

“... And I shouldn’t be making excuses--What I need to say is: I’m sorry.”

Olivia blinked and immediately wished her mind didn’t wander. Completely ignoring Cassie’s build up for her apology, despite it being unintentional, made her feel like a moron put on the spotlight and forgot their lines. She kept staring at Cassie, afraid of looking away and creating a more awkward atmosphere.

Cassie Rose’s face reddened and she faced forward, “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. It was uncalled for and… I’m sorry.”

Though Olivia couldn’t see her face, her words struck her differently than before. The words were for her, about their own past event.

Throughout previous conversations she had taken part in or overheard, she could only describe those moments as “uncomfortable”, a broken thumb on a hand that everyone else was trying to pass off as fine. But now, there was an understanding.

“It’s okay, really. I was more off guard than anything else,” Olivia said, “I appreciate it.” she ended with a smile. Cassie grinned back.

The rest of the walk home was quiet. And that was okay.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Aiden, we’re back!” Cassie announced as she swung open the door with her free hand, holding it open for the other girls to walk in.

“Hi guys!” Gill slid out of the kitchen to greet his friends and a yawning Olivia.

“Hey, Gill.” Cassie responded, a bit worn out, though she was glad to hear Gill’s voice again. “You think you could put these books on the small table, please?” she tilted her head towards the dim living room.

“You got it!” without question, he hoisted the stack from her arms and made his way into the room. Cassie stretched her arms behind her head and heard a loud pop come from them. It always stung a little afterwards but felt satisfying, especially after carrying a whole load of books.

Shaking off the mishmash of sensations, she went into the kitchen “So Gill, where’s Aiden--”

Cassie stopped when she saw the man in question sitting at the kitchen table, face buried into a small book. Jesse sat right across from him. She scowled but pushed any potential comments out of her mind, she walked towards Aiden with her arms folded.

Aiden saw a piece of her out of the corner of his eye and jumped up with a grin on his face. “Rose! What’d you find?”

“Oh, you know, books… More books. Mostly about portal stuff.” she shrugged. Aiden nodded along and set the journal, pages down, on the table to not lose his place.

“Hope things weren’t too chaotic with Jesse.” Cassie sat on the edge of the table. Jesse’s head jolted up with the mention of his name.

“No, he wasn’t too--”

“Hold on.” Cassie Rose interrupted and she turned the upper half of her body towards Jesse.

“Are you still wearing those extra pants I gave you?”

Jesse looked down at the oversized, navy blue pants and stumbled out of the chair, frantically trying to pull them off, “Look, I didn’t have the time to take them off--”

“Whatever, it’s okay, I’ll burn them later.” Cassie shifted back to Aiden, “You were saying?”

“Well, Gill and I went over to Hadrian’s and got this journal as you guys were away.” he patted the worn down item. Cassie looked at him, then the journal, then back to him.

“I thought we were going to Hadrian’s tomorrow?” Cassie blinked a few times as though she misheard.

“Yeah, but we felt bad that we weren’t helping so we wanted to do something.”

“Who watched over Jesse?” Cassie asked, wide eyed.

“He came with us--”

“You brought him WITH YOU?!” she raised her voice, flabbergasted by whatever Aiden’s mind must’ve went through to reach an idea like THAT.

Aiden shot out of his seat, “Nothing got out of hand, he’s still here isn’t here?! I don’t see--”

The two began bickering loudly--though not yelling--and everyone watched for a couple moments. Maya rolled her eyes and locked the door behind them; she leaned against it. Stella tuned the two out and joined Gill, organizing the books by who found what so there’d be no hassle reaching for them.

Jesse flipped back and forth from Cassie to Aiden, unable to comprehend one or the other, much less how they could understand each other with their words constantly colliding.

Jesse spoke up, “I know this is probably a bad time to ask this,” neither of them answered nor glanced at him. It could’ve been because of how invested they were in their argument or not caring for Jesse’s presence at the time being. “But Olivia came back with you, right?”

He was still ignored. Their raised voices might have prevented the others from hearing the question as well.

He was about to check around the house himself when he heard a familiar voice say “Jesse?”

He searched to the source and saw Olivia’s head pop up from behind Maya, who was glaring at him. Olivia’s smile, while small, managed to light up the once dark living room. Jesse forgot about the arguing, he brushed away the nasty looks and ran towards his friend. Olivia stepped up and knew what was coming, her arms already open; Jesse leapt into them and gave her a big squeeze, almost crushing her.

“You’re alive!” Jesse hugged harder.

“What, did you think I was a total goner?” Olivia asked through a struggling gasp for air.

He let go, “No, I--I know you can defend yourself but I let you run off with them and didn’t even--”

“Jesse,” Olivia said, making herself much quieter “I chose to go with them.” she reached into the pocket of the leather jacket and fumbled with the small book, “I thought it’d be a great opportunity to…”

As the two continued, Maya wasn’t sure if she was the only one listening in or not but she kept quiet. She kept her head up to look as though she was paying attention to Aiden and Cassie’s arguing instead.

“Okay, what’s with this?” The three heard Stella coming over, arms on hips with disgust on her face. “Jesse needs to be at least five feet away from Olivia.” she said impatiently to no one specifically. Despite her clear distaste over the situation, she took no action, almost like she was expecting her words to be enough to move Jesse.

“Hey, now wait just a second!” Jesse started, “I know you guys think I’m the worst person to ever walk on this planet but you can’t dictate my relationships with my friends!” He wasn’t planning on starting a fight or a second argument in this house, but he also wasn’t planning on taking every hit these people were swinging at him. Especially so late at night.

It’d be nice to put all of the stupid, seemingly never ending surge of mistreatment or threats on hold. Even for a minute.

“You’re right, I totally have ZERO reasons to be suspicious of you. Cut the act!” Stella paired her rolling eyes with gritted teeth.

Jesse wasn’t going to put up with her ‘I’m Better Than You In Every Aspect’ tone, “It doesn’t matter how ‘suspicious’ I seem to you! I don’t care what you think, I am going to be with my friend--”

“Olivia!” Aiden spoke up, unintentionally finishing Jesse’s sentence. The group’s attention was now on Aiden, who was approaching the woman in question, a frustrated Cassie following behind. “I need to talk to you.”

Olivia’s eyes darted around the room, catching glimpses of everybody watching her. Then she stopped at Jesse, who nodded reassuringly and gave her a thumbs up, not caring about the opposing people surrounding him.

“Right--Okay!” she said.

Stella stepped up, “While you two are chatting, we’ll start discussing what we’ve learned and keep a close eye on Jesse.” her enthusiasm at the start vanished completely at the end. Jesse frowned.

“Sounds good, We shouldn’t be too long.” Aiden began distancing himself away from the group as they all started taking their seats and nabbed a few books from the table in the living room. Olivia followed behind, thinking that they’d be discussing whatever matters in the kitchen, but Aiden led her up the stairs to the second floor. Away from everyone else.

Jesse was told to sit down at the armchair, alone, unlike the rest of the people in this room who all sat in groups at the couches. Except Maya, who was behind the couch her friends were on, leaning on it with one arm. Everyone else besides Jesse held a book, though no one had opened them. No one was paying attention to them. It was all on him.

“Look,” Stella stopped and quickly checked to see if Aiden and Olivia were out of earshot, “This little act of yours has been going on long enough, it’d be best to drop it now that Olivia’s not here and fess up to what you’re doing.”

They waited for Jesse to respond. He could’ve repeated what he told Hadrian, but with Stella, this was different. They went through multiple adventures together, even if they were bitter towards each other, there was more history between them. And while he didn’t know every detail about her, he still knew her.

“How many times are you gonna say that till you believe it?” he asked.

“What are you on about?” Stella lifted her brows.

“Stella I know you don’t like me, but I also know you’re not dumb. I’m being treated like a criminal with no idea as to what crime I’ve committed, you know I wouldn’t do anything malicious.”

Stella, like she had been accused of a crime herself, shot up defensively, “You would--You HAVE. I don’t see--”

“Stella.” Maya interrupted, catching the blonde’s attention, along with everybody else’s. Maya tapped her head a couple of times. The little motion reminded Stella of Cassie’s “amnesia” theory from earlier.

Settling back down, Stella asked “Jesse, could you... Tell me what happened last week?”

Cassie Rose caught on to what Stella was doing, leaving Gill clueless and Jesse hesitant. Stella going from irritated to a strange, invested voice was unnerving.

“I didn’t do much, I was mostly at home except…” he tried to recall any key moments, “I--Actually--Olivia and I were trying to teach Radar how to fight! We were in the middle of this thick jungle and there were monsters everywhere. At one point he--he uhm…” Jesse saw the offput faces of everyone in the room. Stella became more intrigued but was too baffled to ask another question, Cassie and Gill were rattled, and Maya was the most expressive of the bunch for once. Her eyes were wider with her mouth open. She went back to her straight face but was visibly more interested in the discussion than before.

“Radar isn’t a fighter!” Gill stated with a hint of uncertainty.

“Well, not yet, that’s why we’re training.” Jesse answered.

“That… Can’t be right.” Stella said, chin on hands.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Aiden had taken Olivia through a large hallway then to a room on the left side. It was a bedroom, but whether or not it was Aiden’s bedroom was unknown. In the room, there were two beds, one you’d see the second you stepped foot inside, which had covers undone and a dark green blanket sloppily tossed on top to hide the small pile of clothes underneath it with pillows bare. This bed completely contrasted the other, which was on the far left end. The pillows wore a black case that stood out on the neatly done, vibrant red blanket. Beside the bed was, what seemed to be, a white pumpkin. ‘Cassie Rose.’ Olivia thought.

Both beds were held together by sturdy, dark oak wood which popped against the birch walls and spruce floor.

There was another oak door a few feet away from the red bed, which led outside. To a balcony, most likely.

In front of the messy bed, a good distance away, was a writing desk covered in papers torn, crumpled, and terribly stacked. A cup filled with a variety of feathered pens and worn down pencils were beside a black ink bottle left open. A journal was in the center of this messy desk, wide open. Not that Olivia could go over to read it with Aiden here. Also, that’d be a breach of privacy.

By the desk, there was a nice, small bookshelf filled with, well, books, but also items like swords, ores, and empty ink bottles. It didn’t look like something a hoarder would have, more like someone disorganized.

Two large windows were on both sides of the center wall. Olivia could see the tops and fronts of the buildings she caught snippets of earlier, and, surprisingly, there were still people walking around this hour. You could get a wonderful view of the night sky, full moon and all. Olivia folded her arms but stopped when she heard the sound of the jacket’s leather squeak.

“Oh, hey uh, would you like your jacket back?” Olivia didn’t wait for his acceptance, she took the book out of the pocket and was already taking it off. She felt weird wearing it. She didn’t know if it was because of how oversized it was, or the mere fact that it was Aiden’s was what threw her off, but it didn’t matter anymore. The jacket was off.

“Right, thanks. I was feeling naked without it.” he chuckled. As he was slipping into it, Olivia saw an item sheen from the moon’s light. She peeked over Aiden and saw bulky, gray goggles with a thick brown strap which laid on top of the bookshelf. Right next to them was her hat! With her small, black goggles and all! What were they doing here? Would it be a bad time to ask for them back?

“This’ll be quick.” Aiden began.

Guess she’ll have to wait.

“I was talking with Jesse earlier, about past experiences and,” he paused, “Were we rivals?”

Aiden knew it probably looked ridiculous to drag Olivia all the way up here to ask something as basic as that, but with Jesse in the same area, there could be the risk of him stressing or pressuring her. Maybe he’s influenced her in some way. Though that idea seemed a bit shaky at this time.

Olivia herself wasn’t expecting the simple question but was relieved it was only that.

“Yeah, we were! That was so long ago, it was mostly you and Jesse being competitive at Endercon.” Well, there was also Sky City. Could that be considered “rivalry”? It was more “borderline murder”. Rivalry cranked up to 11?

He nodded, “One more question, did you know about the portal in the shrine?”

“No, I wish I did instead of Jesse getting all excited and hopping into it all willy nilly.” she sighed as she brushed the hair out of her eyes, “But I guess I should be thankful we ended up in this town instead of some bizarre world like always.”

“What?” Aiden said suddenly.

“What?”

He didn’t say anything, he stood still clenching and unclenching his hands. “‘Like always’?” Aiden repeated in a whisper, mystified by Olivia’s words.

“... Yes?” she confirmed.

“You shouldn’t… Should’ve never been in another world.”  he began scratching his head, getting more and more fidgety.

“And why’s that--”

“Cause it’s illegal, for starters! And you shouldn’t… I don’t think the portals lead to different... “ he mouthed the word ���Damn!’ to himself and ran out of the room like his life depended on it, his heavy steps down would shake the floor and boom throughout the house.

Olivia, while thrown completely off guard by Aiden’s snippet of an explanation, rushed behind him.

Whatever discussion was happening downstairs stopped. It was hard to ignore an entry like THAT.

Aiden stepped in, and though his eyes were wide and horrified, his voice remained strong and unshaken “I have a question. I don’t care who answers it, I want it answered.”

Stella stood up, “What amazing timing, so do we!” she peered at Jesse. The others, even Jesse, stood up, alarmed by Aiden crashing in unexpectedly. Olivia was jumping down the stairs and would’ve crashed had she not held onto the railings with her dear life.

“Great, but I’m asking first. It’ll be quick and it might answer you-”

“Spit it out, then!” Cassie crossed her arms impatiently.

“Were the portals in the shrines made for accessing other worlds?” he asked them.

A few people relaxed hearing the question, glad knowing nothing too bad had happened. That didn’t make them any less puzzled, however.

“If we’re going by The Hero’s Banishment’s story--along with The Hero’s Awakening’s goals--no.” Stella answered.

Gill’s face lit up a little, “And any of them that can go to other worlds are technically failures. They weren’t made to do that.”

Aiden shook his fist, “I knew it!” he said to himself.

Jesse voiced his confusion, “Sorry for interrupting, but what’s going on?”

“Jesse!” Aiden pointed at the curly haired boy, everyone stepped out of the way, making a clear path between the two. Aiden began getting closer and closer to Jesse, a smile of disbelief on his face, unable to contain whatever idea he conjured up with any longer.

“You and Olivia! You didn’t enter a different world! You’ve entered a different universe!”