Chapter Text
Things have been content in the world of Minecraft for a while. The Witherstorm was long gone, Aiden and his group were making up for their mistake on Sky City, and things have been getting better after the Universe adventure. Ellegaard was back in their world, and ever since that and things started to recover after Sky City, life for Jesse and the New Order of the Stone had been content.
Jesse, Lukas, Petra, Olivia, and Axel were returning back to town after going on another adventure. They went to check out a temple in a dessert, and it was pretty crazy. They found some cool stuff in some treasure chests, but there were many traps set up almost everywhere, so they had to make a run for it.
The New Order of the Stone entered through the front gates, and they saw some people get excited on their arrival.
“Hey everyone! Our heroes have returned!” a fangirl shouted happily.
Jesse and her friends smiled at the townspeople and waved at them. A few wanted to high five with them, so they were nice enough to give them a high five.
After making it through the crowd, the group returned to their temple.
“It’s good to be home,” Petra said with a sigh of relief, as she took off her helmet.
“If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the lab working on a new redstone contraption,” said Olivia. She headed to the lab down the hallway.
“Okay. See you later then, Olivia,” Jesse called to her. She turned to Lukas, Petra, and Axel and said, “I need a snack. You guys hungry to?”
“I’m fine. I’m going to work on finish making my emerald floor in my room, now that I have enough emeralds,” said Axel. He pulled some emeralds out of his pockets and headed to his room.
“Yeah. I could use a snack,” said Lukas.
“Same here. I’m starving,” said Petra.
Jesse headed into the kitchen and crafted a couple cakes for her to share with Lukas and Petra. The three sat down at the kitchen table as Jesse went through their mail.
“I gotta thank Ivor later for watching over the temple while we were away for that adventure,” said Jesse.
She opened up a letter and read it:
Hey Jesse,
I hope things are going well with you and your friends, especially after the whole… Sky City thing. I’m still keeping my word: no more competing with you, making a fresh start, and now I’m showing the people form Sky City that I’m sorry. Maya, Gill, and I have been helping them build their new community, as some community service. Kate came to visit us, and she motivated me to keep pursing to be a writer, and Isa, Reginald, and Milo were interested in her suggestion on letting us help give back to the community.
Things have been improving. Some of the citizens still hate us, and I understand if you guys still hate us to. But I want you to know that I’m still keeping my word, and I promise to do good for others instead of be selfish. Hope you and the Order are having some great adventures.
I know I’ve said this before, but thank you for not leaving me on Sky City. When you took me with you, I finally understood what you meant by doing what’s right. I knew that it was time to start doing the same as you: do what’s right and fair for everyone.
Thank you Jesse,
Aiden
PS- If you can, please tell Lukas that Maya, Gill, and I said “Hi”.
“Who’s it from?” asked Lukas.
“Aiden. He, Maya, and Gill said ‘hi’, and he was just writing to me to tell us what they’ve been up to since they made it their word to not compete with us anymore,” said Jesse.
Lukas was quiet, but he didn’t frown. He remembered Sky City, and he could never forget it. But it still surprised him that Aiden had changed his ways and was keeping his word on making a fresh start and doing what was right instead of what was selfish.
“Well, I still don’t know if I can trust him anymore, but as long as he keeps his word, then I’m neutral for now,” said Petra.
“Yeah. Pretty much the same for me,” said Lukas.
Jesse sighed and put the letter away. She looked through the rest of the mail and found nothing of interest in the pile. Mostly ads and other things that weren’t worth anything.
“Well, other than how we almost died from about twenty traps in that temple, the trip was a bit successful. Axel got the rest of his emeralds he needed, and we found some pretty cool loot there,” said Jesse.
“That temple was pretty crazy. When that trap that started to flow the temple with lava, I did get pretty scared,” said Petra.
“I got scared when you tripped and almost fell. But at least Axel pulled you back up,” said Lukas.
“Yeah…” Petra said. She looked away from Lukas and Jesse and blushed when she remembered Axel saving her from the trap.
Jesse and Lukas knew she was blushing, so they only grinned when they saw her look away.
Jesse sat up and stretched her arms.
“I’m pretty tied out from that adventure, and the walk back here. I’m gonna go take a little nap. If anything happens, just wake me up,” she said.
“Okay. Have a nice nap,” said Lukas.
Jesse let out a yawn as she headed to her room and rested in her bed. It took her only minutes to fall asleep into a peaceful slumber.
Jesse started to drift off into a strange dream.
It was dark outside, and it was raining. A cloaked figure was running through the streets of a town. They were carrying something bundled up, and they panted in exhaustion whenever they stopped running and took a break.
The figure spotted a building up ahead and sighed in relief. They walked up to the front gates of the building and up to the front steps. They began to look at what was bundled up.
A baby girl with black hair was bundled up. She opened her green eyes and looked at the hooded figure. The figure’s face was hidden by their cloak.
“Goodbye my sweet little girl. Until we meet again…” the figure said sadly. It was a girl’s voice.
The figure gently set the baby down on the front step of the door and knocked hard a few times.
The sound of footsteps could be heard from inside. The figure ran off before the door opened up. A young woman with light brown hair opened the door. She gasped when she saw the baby on the front step, crying sadly. She picked up the baby girl and brought her inside.
Jesse woke up from her dream.
“Huh? What?” she asked herself.
She sat up to find herself back in her room.
“What a weird dream…” she whispered to herself.
“Jesse!” Axel’s voice shouted from down the hallway.
Before Jesse could get up, Axel ran into the room.
“There’s some bandits in the town robbing one of the stores! We gotta stop them!” he exclaimed.
“What?!” Jesse shouted. She quickly ran over to her desk and picked up her enchanted diamond sword. “Let’s show them they’ve picked the wrong town to mess with…” she said.
At the farther end of town, a group of bandits dressed in black were robbing a store. Some people were trying to fight back with their weapons, but the bandits were in armor and had the upper hand.
Jesse, Lukas, Axel, Petra, and Olivia came rushing over to stop them as quick as they could.
“Stop right there!” Jesse shouted angrily. She pulled out her weapon, and the rest of her team did the same.
“Our heroes are here to help us!” a man shouted happily.
“Shut up!” one of the bandits said, before punching the man unconscious. He was wearing a pendant with a strange symbol around his neck, and based on how the others didn’t have one like his, he must’ve been the leader of the bandits.
Olivia fired an arrow from her bow at one of the bandits. It didn’t kill him, but it did hurt him hard in the arm. The bandit let out an angry yell, which made the rest of them angry. They pulled out their weapons and started to attack the New Order of the Stone.
Each of them took one bandit on, while Jesse went to fight the leader. The two of them had a duel with enchanted swords, though the bandit had an iron sword instead of a diamond sword. While the others were able to defeat the bandit they fought, Jesse started to struggle beating the leader.
That’s when she got a glimpse of the pendant around the leader’s neck. It looked like the face of a person, but the person didn’t have eyes for some reason. Suddenly, Jesse started to feel dizzy, and an image formed in her mind:
She saw the same hooded figure from her dream fighting off the exact same bandit.
“Just hand over the baby and you’ll live to see another day!” the bandit snapped at the figure.
“You’re not harming my daughter!” the hooded figure said. Like in the dream, it was a woman’s voice.
That’s when another hooded figure rushed in and attacked the bandit.
“We need to run! Now!” the second figure said. It was a man’s voice.
The vision left Jesse’s head, just as she felt the bandit smack her across the head.
“Jesse!” she heard Lukas shout in panic. Lukas quickly ran over and drew his sword on the leader. He hit the bandit and knocked him away.
“Retreat!” the leader shouted at his team.
The bandits dropped everything that they stole from the store and ran away.
“Hey! Get back here!” Petra shouted. She ran after them.
“You big jerks!” Axel shouted at them. He and Olivia ran off to help Petra.
Only Lukas stayed behind, and he helped Jesse stand back up.
“Jesse, are you alright?” he asked her with a worried look.
Jesse didn’t answer him. She was trying to figure out what she just saw, and what it meant.
“Jesse!” Lukas shouted, more worried than before.
“Huh? Lukas?” she asked him. She saw the worried look on his face and said, “I… I saw something…”
“What’s the matter?” he asked her.
Jesse was silent for a minute. She was thinking of what to do about what she saw.
“I’ll be back at the temple later. Can you make sure everyone’s okay?” she asked Lukas.
“But are you alright?” Lukas asked her. “I’m more concerned about you right now.”
“I’m fine Lukas. There’s just something that I need to take care of,” she said.
She quickly rushed off before Lukas could say another word.
Jesse headed over to Ivor’s house. As she did, she pulled something out of her pocket. It was what appeared to be half of an amulet. There was some writing on one side, and a symbol on the other, but because it was only half of an amulet, Jesse couldn’t tell what it was or what it said.
She never knew anything about it. All she knew was that she had it with her as long as she knew. But after having that weird dream and seeing that vision, she had a feeling that they were connected. Connected to her past, and maybe to even who were her parents. Jesse never knew her parents, and the amulet was the only piece she had of her unknown past.
She had questions, but she wanted to talk to Ivor first about it. After the Witherstorm was destroyed, the enchanter from the old Order of the Stone had begun to help Jesse and her friends out more often, and even gave them tips to where to go to next. And with the situation at Sky City, Ivor especially helped out Jesse when she had to stop Aiden and talk sense into him. By that point, the young hero came to see Ivor as a father figure. He was possibly the closest person she would ever consider as a father, especially since Jesse had no idea who her real father was.
A few people greeted her as she made her way to Ivor’s house. Jesse gave them a few friendly waves and said “Hello,” here and there, but she wasn’t in the mood for a high five. She remained friendly to the townsfolk to mask how she was feeling at the moment.
She finally made it to Ivor’s skull house. The townsfolk were still trying to get used to Ivor’s new house, especially with the lava it poured out, but at least they made it so that no one could get hurt by the lava. Jesse climbed up to the door and knocked on it.
“Coming!” she heard Ivor shout from inside.
Ivor opened the door, and he was carrying a book in one hand.
“Jesse! You’re back from the temple! How was it?” he asked with a smile.
“It was fine, but, I actually need advice about something else…” Jesse said. She sounded a little sad when she spoke.
Ivor got the hint that she wasn’t feeling happy. He welcomed her inside and let her sit down in a chair. The enchanter sat in a chair across from her and put his book down on a table.
“I see you’ve started reading The Hunger Games,” Jesse said with a small smile.
“Yeah. After that crazy Universe adventure, Kate’s been letting me borrow some books from her world. I can see why she loves fiction more than history books,” said Ivor. He pushed the book aside and said, “But what’s troubling you? Why did you need to see me?”
Jesse took a deep breath. “It’s just that… after we came back from the temple, I went to take a nap, and I had a strange dream. And after I woke up, we had to deal with some bandits. We stopped them from hurting anyone and they didn’t take what they stole, but they got away. I feel that it’s my fault, because I fought the leader of the bandits, and… I had a strange vision…” she explained.
“Well, it’s not your fault that the bandits escaped, but did you say strange dream and a vision? What did you see Jesse?” asked Ivor.
“In my dream, I saw someone leave a baby girl on a doorstep of a building. And in my vision, I saw the same bandit I was fighting, fighting the same person I saw in my dream. He… he was after the baby girl…” said Jesse.
“What did this person in your dream and vision look like?” asked Ivor.
“I didn’t see their face. They were cloaked, but it was a woman. She spoke a few times, so I know it was her. And that baby… I think… I think it was me…”
Ivor was beginning to feel a little concerned about everything that Jesse was telling him. He could understand that Jesse was confused about everything, but he wasn’t sure if he could help her in anyway.
“So you think that you were having visions about your mother? Do you know anything about your parents?” he asked her.
Jesse shook her head and said, “I was raised in an orphanage. I don’t know anything about my parents.” She pulled out her amulet and showed it to Ivor. “All I have from them is this half of an amulet. The lady who raised me said that it was from my parents, and that they don’t want me to ever part with it.” She put the amulet away and said, “I’m just so confused Ivor. What should I do? I want to know what I saw, but I don’t know who to talk to.”
“And you come to me?” asked Ivor.
“I trust you. To be honest, I… I kinda see you like a father…” said Jesse.
Ivor felt flattered by Jesse’s comment. The enchanter did care about Jesse, but as a friend. He never knew that Jesse saw him as a father, especially since Jesse was only eighteen and Ivor was in his late twenties.
“Well, do you know the person who raised you at the orphanage you lived at? Maybe you can talk to them,” suggested Ivor.
“She still runs the orphanage, but she lives in another town.”
“Maybe we can ask Emerald if we can borrow her horses. She lives only ten minutes of a walk outside town, and her horses can help us get there faster.”
“Yeah. And… are you sure you want to come? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I’m willing to help you out on this Jesse. I’ll come if you want me to.”
Jesse smiled at Ivor. “Thank you,” she said.
In an unknown location, the bandits made it to their hideout. Or more specifically, their master’s hideout.
“Master, we made the new Order come out and attack, just like you planned. Three of them chased us down, but we got away. The leader, she stopped fighting me for some reason,” said the leader of the bandit group.
“Good. And she fought back like I expected?” the master said. He had his back turned to them, and he was in the shadows, so that they wouldn’t see his identity.
“Yes. She fought pretty hard. Do you think she’s the one?” said the leader.
“I’ll say it again, Denton: She’s got the determined spirit and caring nature of her father, and her mother’s green eyes. She’s their daughter. What is her name?”
“Jesse. That’s her name.”
“Bring her too me, now.”
“Yes master,” said Denton. He turned to face his group and said, “You heard him, guys. Capture the girl and bring her back here.
The bandits left the location and headed out. As soon as they were gone, their master let out an evil chuckle as he stared at the sunset.
“When they bring Jesse her, I can finally get my revenge on her stupid parents…” he whispered to himself.