Archive of Our Own ^beta

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.

Chapter Text

Jesse and Ivor left town to go back to the orphanage that Jesse grew up in. They ran into Lukas on the way, and the young architect insisted that he go with them. Jesse knew there was no point in arguing with him, so she told him to come along. They left town and asked Soren’s friend, Emerald if they could borrow three of her horses and head off to another town.

“Just bring them back when you’re done. Be careful with Jet and Storm though. Jet likes to go fast, and Storm has been trying to be an escape artist. Luckily, Wave’s the smartest of these guys, and she won’t disobey you. She’ll help you if these two cause trouble,” said Emerald.

“We’ll bring them back. Thank you,” said Jesse.

She and Lukas got on top of two houses. While Ivor got on his horse, he told Emerald, “So, you and Soren?” with a grin.

“Get on my horse and get going before I make you…” Emerald growled at him.

“Alright, come on Ivor…” Jesse said with a sigh.

She, Lukas, and Ivor set off to head to the next town.  As they headed to the next town, they started to talk.

“When are you going to stop teasing Soren and Emerald, Ivor?” Lukas asked him with an irritated look.

“When they finally admit it. And you were grinning when you first saw them together,” said Ivor.

“Yeah, well, I don’t find it funny anymore…” said Lukas.

Jesse didn’t pay attention to their bickering. She only focused on what she was going to say to the lady who raised her.

“Jesse, you okay?” Lukas asked her.

“Yeah. Just… thinking about things…” she said.

“So… you were raised in an orphanage?” asked Lukas.

“Yes. The lady who ran it, Mrs. Summers, never told me anything about my parents. I don’t even remember when I was dropped off there. She told me I was there since I was a baby, and for some reason, she never let anyone adopt me…” said Jesse.

“Never let anyone adopt you? So you were stuck there for your whole childhood? You never grew up in a real house?” asked Ivor.

"She practically raised me, but I could never see her as a mother. When I was fifteen, I left the orphanage because I couldn’t stand being trapped there. Mrs. Summers tried to stop me, but eventually, she let me go, with a warning to be careful. I left the orphanage and after meeting Reuben, Axel, and Olivia, I built my own tree house. And now, here I am today, as the leader of our group,” said Jesse.

“That’s got to be rough. I wish I understood how you felt. I lived with my parents until I was thirteen. I left them to start being on my own, eventually meeting Aiden, Maya, and Gill,” said Lukas.

“I left my parents as well, when I was the same age as you, Lukas. I couldn’t make any friends because of my growing skills as an enchanter. My parents wanted what was best for me, so they told me to go on a journey, and I eventually met Soren, Magnus, Ellegaard, and Gabriel,” said Ivor.

Jesse felt a little jealous of Lukas and Ivor. They knew their parents and grew up in a home with their parents. Compared to her, she never knew anyone in her family, and had to live in an orphanage with basically no one to call family.

They made it to the town that Jesse used to live in. It looked a little bit older, and some people there at first didn’t recognize Jesse and Lukas from the new Order of the Stone. A few people did put two and two together and greeted them.

Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor said hello back to the people, but they remained focused on heading to the orphanage. It was still there, and Jesse was a little nervous when she knocked on the door. A few minutes after she knocked, a women with light brown hair opened the door.

“Jesse?” she asked.

“Hello Mrs. Summers…” Jesse said with a nervous smile.

“Jesse! My goodness, you’ve grown up! We’ve heard all about it, how you’re in the New Order of the Stone!” she said with a smile. She gave Jesse a hug, which Jesse almost didn’t return.

Mrs. Summers turned to face Ivor and Lukas. “Are you two friends of Jesse?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes. I’m Lukas. I’m the architect in the new order,” Lukas said. He extended his hand out and shook her hand.

“And I’m Ivor. I know the story never mentioned me, but I was in the old Order as an enchanter. I’m a good friend to Jesse,” said Ivor. He also extended his hand out and shook Mrs. Summers’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m so happy that Jesse has grown up into a strong, independent person, and has made some good friends,” said Mrs. Summers. “Come on in. The children are in class right now, but you three can come with me to the dining hall. You must be tired on your trip coming here.”

Mrs. Summers led Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor down the hallway and into the dining hall. She pulled out a plate of cookies and offered them a drink. They all sat down, but only Jesse didn’t want to have a snack.

“Mrs. Summers, I actually came back to talk to you about something,” said Jesse.

“What is it, Jesse?” asked Mrs. Summers.

“I know I’ve asked you plenty of times while I was here, but… do you know anything about my parents?”

Mrs. Summers made a sad look on her face. She became quiet, which worried Jesse.

“Please. I need to find some answers. I just want to know anything you might now,” said Jesse.

Mrs. Summers let out a sad sigh and said, “Jesse, when you first came here to the orphanage, I found a letter with you. And… it’s the only things your parents ever told me about you and them...”

She got up and left the room. A few minutes later, she returned, and handed an old letter to Jesse.

“When I found you on the doorstep, just a small baby who wasn’t even a year old, I found this letter with you…” she said.

Jesse took a look at the letter, while Ivor and Lukas peeked over her shoulder to read it to.

To whoever reads this,

The baby you have found is Jesse. My husband and I cannot take care of her for reasons that are classified. We cannot tell you because we want both you and Jesse to be safe.

If you can, please take care of Jesse. If you can’t, then give her to someone you know you can trust with her, and someone who wouldn’t change the goodness inside of them.

Jesse is precious to me and my husband. We don’t know how or when, but we’ll come for her when it’s time. Please take care of Jesse. And about this broken amulet I’ve left with her, tell her to never part with it. She’ll need it, so she can find someone else who’s important to us.

Thank you.

“That’s it? This is all you know about my parents?” Jesse asked Mrs. Summers. She was more sad than angry.

“I’m afraid so. I’m sorry I can’t provide any more information for you, Jesse. I hope you find the answers to your questions,” said Mrs. Summers.

“No. It’s alright, Mrs. Summers. Thank you for your help,” said Jesse.        

Jesse, Ivor, and Lukas spent an hour at the orphanage, greeting the children and playing with them before they headed back home. They got back on the horses and returned them to Emerald. When they made it back to Emerald’s, they saw her talking with Soren, who came to visit her.

“Hey Emerald. Here are your horses. Storm didn’t run off,” said Jesse.

“Thank you. Did you guys have a safe trip?” said Emerald.

“We did. Thanks again for letting us borrow your horses,” said Lukas.

“It’s not a problem at all.”

“What’s up, Soren?” Ivor said, grinning at his friend.

“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s all stuff and nonsense?! Emerald and I are just friends!” said Soren. He started to blush, and so did Emerald.

“You’re both blushing, and denial is the key!” Ivor said with a chuckle.

“Alright. That’s enough. We’re going back to the temple right now!” said Lukas. He started to push Ivor away from Soren and Emerald.

“We were going to head to town in a little bit. We’ll probably see you later,” said Emerald.

“Okay. Thanks again Emerald. Bye guys,” said Jesse.

She, Lukas, and Ivor started to head back to the temple.

“Are you ever going to stop bothering Soren and Emerald?” Jesse asked Ivor with an annoyed look.

“Never, and I know Magnus and Gabriel won’t either,” Ivor said with a grin.

Lukas shook his head and whispered to himself, “At least Ellegaard doesn’t find it funny…”

As the group headed back into town and were making their way back to the temple, the same group of bandits from before were watching from the shadows.

“Should we act now, Denton?” asked one of them.

“No. Wait until they go back to their temple. When it’s later, and the townsfolk won’t be out. If we strike now, then we’ll get chased by an angry mob of fans…” said Denton.

Chapter Text

Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor went back into the temple. There wasn’t any sign of Petra or Axel, but based on the sounds of machines running in the lab, that meant Olivia was back. The three friends took a walk through the hallway and went into the living room. Ivor continued reading his book while Lukas and Jesse sat down.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get the answers you wanted, Jesse. I wish there was something I could do to help you,” said Lukas.

“It’s fine Lukas. I appreciate you and Ivor coming with me to the orphanage though. You’re one of my most trustworthy friends, and Ivor’s like a father to me, so having you two come with me helped me feel more confident,” said Jesse.

Lukas smiled and blushed at Jesse. He was flattered by the comment she gave him. He hadn’t told her, but he was starting to develop a crush on Jesse. Only problem was, he was too shy to admit his feelings for her.

“Hey guys…” said a voice.

It was Petra and Axel. They looked tied out from chasing after the bandits.

“Did you find those bandits? We’re sorry we didn’t help you…” said Jesse.

“They got away. Next time I see them, I’m not hesitating to actually finish them off…” Petra said, almost growling.

“Well, no one messes with you unless they want to get owned. You’re the toughest person I know,” said Axel.

Petra smiled at Axel’s complement.

“By the way, are you alright Jesse? Olivia told us that she sensed that something must’ve been bothering you,” said Axel.

Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor waited for Olivia to come out of the lab. When she came out, the trio filled Axel, Petra, and Olivia in on what happened after the encounter with the bandits.

“Oh my. We never knew that about you Jesse. We’re sorry…” said Axel.

“It’s not your fault that the bandits got away. The same thing would probably happen to me,” said Olivia.

“You feeling okay?” asked Petra.

“I’m okay now. I still have questions, but… maybe I’ll never have them answered…” said Jesse.         

Ivor gave Jesse a pat on the shoulder and said, “Well, I understand that you don’t like how your life began. But if you think about it what you have now, you should feel lucky. Sure, you didn’t have a happy beginning, but you’ve got your friends, you defeated the Witherstorm, and you’re exploring the world. If anything, you’ve got to be the luckiest person I know.”

Jesse smiled at her friends. “Thanks guys,” she said, almost in a whisper.

Axel, Petra, Olivia, Lukas, and Ivor only smiled back at her.

Suddenly, they heard something break in the treasure room.         

“Notch dang it!” they heard a man’s angry voice shout.

“James! Shut up! You’re gonna get us caught!” shouted another angry voice.

“The same goes for you, Rocky! And… now me I guess…” sand another man’s voice.

“All of you shut up! We can’t fail Denton, and we can’t fail the master!” said a four voice.

Jesse, Lukas, Axel, Petra, Olivia, and Ivor ran over to the treasure room as the voices were arguing. That’s when they saw the bandits from earlier. One of them knocked over something that Jesse and the group found from one of their adventures and broke it.

“You!” Petra shouted angrily. She pulled out her sword and immediately charged for the bandits. “No one messes with me and gets away with it!”

One of them started to fight back at her. Another tried to sneak up on Petra, but Axel quickly grabbed him and pulled him away.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” he shouted at the bandit.

Olivia, Lukas, and Ivor quickly joined in. Jesse started to rush over to help her friends, but that’s when she felt something hit her from behind. Denton had snuck up behind her, and he hit her with a splash potion of weakness.

“Ahh!” Jesse cried in pain.

“Jesse!” Lukas shouted.

He tried to run over, but Denton pulled out a bow and arrow and fired at him. Lukas quickly dodged it, but when he got back on his feet, he saw that Denton had picked up Jesse, who was now unconscious and weak from the potions effects.

“No!” he shouted.

The bandits quickly used splash potions of invisibility to vanish from the rest of the group. Denton jumped out the window and landed on a horse. He rode off, taking Jesse hostage.

“JESSE! JESSE!” Lukas shouted angrily. He jumped out and tried to chase after them, but because he wasn’t fast enough, he lost sight of Denton.

“NO!” he shouted angrily. When there wasn’t any sign of Denton left, he threw his sword on the ground in frustration and anger.

“Lukas!” he heard a voice shout to him.  Petra, Axel, Olivia, and Ivor came running out of the temple.

“We can’t let them get away! We have to save Jesse!” Lukas said, almost angrily.

“Hey, we’re worried to, but don’t be mad at us! We want to save Jesse as much as you do!” Ivor snapped at him.

Lukas took a deep breath in and let it out. It helped him calm down a little bit.

“I’m sorry. I’m just… worried about her. Okay?” he said. He wasn’t going to tell them that he had feelings for Jesse and he was more worried about her than the others because he loved her.

“We know. Come on. If we hurry now, maybe we can pick up their trail,” said Petra.

Meanwhile, at the unknown location, the master of the bandits was staring at the night sky. He remained in the shadows so that if anyone snuck up on him, no one can see him.

“As soon as Jesse is here, I can finally show her parents that I have their precious daughter. I can finally get my revenge…” he whispered to himself as he formed an evil grin.

Chapter Text

Jesse started to regain consciousness. As she did, she realized that she was trapped in a shelter made of stone.

That’s when she remembered: the bandits from before broke into the temple and kidnapped her.

After fully recovering from passing out, Jesse took a look at her surroundings. She was locked up in what must’ve been a hut made of stone. She could hear the sound of snoring outside a small opening, so she took a quick peak. Outside, she saw the five bandits fast asleep. They even had a wolf with them, which was also asleep.

‘They must be taking me somewhere far away. I bet they locked me in here to prevent me from escaping in case I woke up…’ she thought.

Jesse quickly checked her pockets. She no longer had her enchanted diamond sword, but she did have a few torches with her.

‘Hmm… they didn’t think to make a floor to this hut. I bet I can dig my way out under the dirt, but I have to be quiet. I wake them up, especially that wolf, then I’m dead…’ she thought.

Carefully and quietly, Jesse started to dig a hole in the ground. She took care not to go too fast and to make as little noise as possible. She did hear one or two of the bandits stir, but they were snoring pretty loud.

It took a while, but Jesse dug a tunnel under the hut and made a good distance before she finally surfaced from underground. When she got up, she could see the smoke from the fire that the bandits set up in their camp. It wasn’t too far away. She hadn’t put enough distance between her and the bandits.

Jesse quickly ran away, carrying a torch with her for some light. She didn’t have any weapon with her, so she had to put as much distance between herself and the bandits, but she had to be careful to not run into any mobs on the way.

After spending about an hour running away, Jesse stopped to catch her breath. She needed a break, but she couldn’t stop long. Mobs were out on the loose at night, and she didn’t have a weapon.

Suddenly, she could hear a wolf barking. She hadn’t run into any after she escaped, so that could mean only one thing: the bandits woke up and were using their wolf to track her down.

Jesse quickly ran through a river, hoping that it would help wash off her scent. But after she crossed to the other side, she heard, “There she is! Catch her!”

Denton and his men finally caught up to her.

Jesse quickly ran away. She could hear Denton and his group crossing the river to try to catch up to her. She ran as fast as she could, but she was already exhausted from before, and she had no food or water with her to help her regain her energy.           

It felt like she had been running forever and got nowhere. Jesse finally collapsed in exhausted in the middle of an open field. She heard Denton and his group run over to the filed, and she saw the evil smirk on Denton’s face when he spotted her.

“We’ve got you now…” he said with an evil grin.

That’s when an arrow flew from nowhere and shot him on the arm. Denton let out an angry shout. He pulled out his sword.

“Who’s there!?” he shouted angrily.

A skeleton came out with a bow and arrow ready. After it came out, a few other mobs came out.

“Are you freaking kidding me?!” Denton shouted angrily.

Denton and his me started to fight off the mobs. A few creepers came up and scared away their wolf, which ran off into the forest on its own. The mobs didn’t see Jesse, so she took this chance to run away.

“Hey!” shouted one of the bandits.

He fired an arrow and shot Jesse on her leg. Jesse fell on the ground and held her ankle in pain.

Denton and his men were able to kill off the mobs, but they lost their wolf as a result. The bandits started to walk up to her, but that’s when someone snuck up from behind one of the bandits and knocked them out with one swing of a wooden sword.

The bandits turned around, and as they did, Jesse’s unexpected rescuer knocked out another one of the bandits with just a wooden sword. The second bandit dropped his stone sword, so the person picked it up. As he did, Jesse got a good glimpse of her rescuer.

It was a guy, and he looked like he was the same age as her. He was wearing a white shirt with blue pants, and he had brown hair and green eyes.

“Get out of our way, man!” Denton shouted.

The guy used the stone sword he picked up to fight the other two bandits. He was able to knock them out by swinging his wooden sword with his other hand, and that’s when he came to fight Denton.

“You asked for it!” Denton shouted at him.

Denton and the man got into a duel. It lasted for a few moments, until the man’s stone sword broke into two. He gasped, dodging a swipe from Denton. Denton let out an evil laugh, but he heard a groan from behind it. A zombie snuck up from behind him, so he used his iron sword to finish it off. But just as he killed the zombie, Denton’s sword broke.

Taking this chance, the man quickly knocked out Denton with his wooden sword. Now that Denton and all of his men were unconscious, the man took a glimpse to see if Jesse was okay. She was able to stand up, and she just watched her rescuer take down all five bandits.

“Come on. Follow me. I know somewhere safe you can rest up,” he told her.

Jesse followed after him, and as she did, she had the strangest feeling that she knew him from somewhere.

‘I… I feel like I know him from somewhere, but I don’t recognize his face…’ she thought.

The man brought Jesse to his tree house, which was set up outside of a different town.

“Thank you, for saving me,” Jesse thanked him.

“You’re welcome. I was just trying to find my house when I saw them chasing you. Are you okay?” he said.

“I’m fine now. They tried to rob a store in my hometown, and later this evening, they kidnapped me when they attacked my friends,” said Jesse.

“Who are you? What’s your name?” said the man.

“I’m Jesse, and if you didn’t know, I’m the leader of the new Order of the Stone,” said Jesse.

“Oh, I’ve heard about the new Order, but only a little bit. And… kinda funny how your name’s Jesse. My name’s Jesse as well,” the man said, with a chuckle.

Jesse couldn’t help but laugh a bit as well. She did find it funny how her rescuer had the exact same name as her.

“Anyway, it must be an honor rescuing the leader of the new order…” Male Jesse said, blushing a little.

“I believe in doing what’s right, and you did it because it was right, not because I’m a hero,” said Female Jesse.

“Thank you,” said Male Jesse.

“Thanks again for saving me. I need to get back. My friends must be worried sick about me,” said Female Jesse.

“I can escort you back to your home, if you want.”

“Well, after you saved me, I’d like that. Do you have any spare weapons?”

“Uh… only a second wooden sword. I know these things don’t last long…”

“Well, if you’ve got a pickaxe and some sticks, we can quickly craft some stone weapons as we head back.”

“I’ve got those. We can do that. It’s best to arm ourselves in case those guys find us.”

Male Jesse and Female Jesse packed up the supplies that they needed, and they left the tree house. As they headed back to the town, Male Jesse began to feel that he knew Female Jesse, but he couldn’t figure out from where.

‘Her name’s the same as mine. I find it… obvious to something… And her eyes, they’re the exact same as mine. I feel like we’re… connected somehow…’ he thought.

Chapter Text

Back with Lukas and the others, they spent all night searching for Jesse and the bandits, but they couldn’t find them. With no idea on where the bandits went, they called in the rest of the Old Order to help them out.        

“Men in black? We haven’t seen them in Boomtown,” said Magnus.

“Or Redstonia. I haven’t seen them anywhere before either,” said Ellegaard.

“I’ve never seen them before as well. I asked Emerald, and she said she hasn’t seen them anywhere either,” said Soren.

“None of us have heard of them. But we’ll help you find Jesse,” said Gabriel.

The group was worried, but Lukas was the one who was worried the most.

‘I hope she’s okay…’ he thought, forming a sad look on his face.

Petra glared at him as she saw Lukas look sad. She knew that the blonde had a crush on Jesse. She just knew it, and she understood that he was worried about her.

‘He’s really worried about Jesse because he likes her. We’re all worried about her thought…’ thought Petra.

“Those jerks came into town to steal from the townsfolk, yet they succeed in kidnapping our friend!” Axel said angrily.

“Which makes me question why they were here yesterday…” said Olivia.

“What do you mean?” asked Ivor.

“Think about it: they started to rob that store, and after they picked a fight and got a glimpse of Jesse, they drop what they were going to take and bolted. And later today, they came to the temple, but the only thing they were after was Jesse. I have a feeling someone sent them to kidnap her,” said Olivia.

“But who? Who would kidnap Jesse? She doesn’t have any rivals or enemies, and we can cross Aiden off the list of suspects because we know he wouldn’t do that. No. He’s keeping his word to Jesse on making a fresh start and being a writer,” said Petra.

“Why are we wasting time debating this? We have to go and find Jesse!” said Lukas, almost angrily.

“He’s right. We can’t be wasting time,” said Soren.

The group was about to start walking out of the treasure room, but that’s when they saw Jesse walking in. A man with brown hair and green eyes was walking with her.

“Jesse?! Jesse, you’re okay!” Lukas cried. He ran over to her and gave her a tight hug. “Oh I was so worried about you!”

Jesse blushed as she returned the hug. The man next to her watched and smiled. It didn’t take long for the rest of Jesse’s friends to run over and give her a hug as well.

“We’re so happy you’re okay! How did you get away?” asked Lukas.

“I was able to get away from them, but they hunted me down and almost recaptured me because I didn’t have my sword on me. That’s when this guy came to my rescue,” said Female Jesse.

Male Jesse waved nervously to them and said, “Hey. My name’s also Jesse…”

“Cool! You two got the same name!” said Axel.

“Now don’t tell me who you guys are. Jesse told me about you, so I want to see if I know who’s who,” said Male Jesse.

“Okay. Go for it then, Jesse,” said Petra.

“Well, you’re Petra, that’s for sure,” said Male Jesse, as he looked at her. Then he looked at Lukas and Axel and said, “You’re Lukas, and you’re Axel.”

“You got that right, dude,” said Axel.

“Hi…” Lukas said. He was getting a little nervous about Male Jesse. He had a feeling that there was something fishy about him.

“And you’re Olivia,” said Male Jesse, as he turned to her.

Olivia smiled and said, “Yep. That’s me.”

Finally, Male Jesse turned to the old Order and said, “And you guys are Magnus, Ellegaard, Soren, Gabriel, and Ivor.”

“Right you are, man,” said Magnus as he smiled.

“Then again, we are the old order,” Gabriel said with a chuckle.

“Still, it’s nice to meet you all,” said Male Jesse.

“Well Jesse,” said Ivor.

Both Male Jesse and Female Jesse turned to face him. Ivor chuckled and said, “Oops. You both got the same name. Uh… I was talking to Male Jesse. Anyway, is there any way we can repay you, for saving our friend?”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it. I’m kinda in the middle of something right now. I’m trying to look for someone,” said Male Jesse.

“Who are you looking for?” asked Olivia.

Male Jesse pulled something out from his pockets and said, “I’m looking for someone who has the other half of this amulet.”

Female Jesse froze in place when she saw his amulet. She had a feeling that it was the other half to her amulet. She pulled it out and held it up.

“Jesse…” Lukas whispered, as he looked at her.

Male Jesse stared at the amulet, then he stared at Female Jesse. The rest of their friends stared at the two of them as well.

Finally, Female Jesse walked up to Male Jesse. The put the two pieces together to finish it up. The symbol on one side looked like some sort of mountain that was carved in it. On the back side, there was some writing on it:

Until the pieces come together, the twins by the same name shall be separated. When united, the brother and sister shall become a team and stop the evil that separated them.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse stared at each other for a moment.

“Guys… what’s going on here?” asked Petra.

Male Jesse look at Female Jesse and said, “You’re my… my twin sister?”

At the same time, Female Jesse said, “You’re my… my twin brother?”

Chapter Text

“What?! You two are twin siblings?!” Magnus shouted at Male Jesse and Female Jesse.

“This is crazy…” Soren whispered to himself.

“I… I simply don’t believe it! You’ve both got the same name, and you’re twins!?” said Ivor.

“How can we be sure that they’re siblings?” said Petra. She looked at Male Jesse and said, “When’s your birthday? What year were your born? And what do you know about your parents?”

While he was able to answer the first two questions (which had the answers to be the exact same as Female Jesse’s birthday and birth year), Male Jesse couldn’t answer the third question easily.

“I honestly don’t know much about my parents, but these past couple days have been crazy before I met you all…” he said.

“What can you tell us about your past? And what happened these past couple days?” asked Olivia.

Male Jesse wasn’t sure if he could give them the answers they wanted, but since he and Female Jesse were twins and there was no denying this, he might as well provide the group with as much information as he could.

“Okay. I’ll be as honest as possible, but… I honestly thought I didn’t know much about myself until a couple days ago. I was raised in an orphanage that was for all boys. I hated it. The other kids bullied me, and the caretaker did take care of me, but he gave me the cold shoulder often,” he began his story.

Female Jesse realized that he had been left behind in a situation similar like hers. Though, for her, Female Jesse wasn’t treated badly by the caretaker of the orphanage she lived at, and although she struggled to make friends with the other girls, none of them bullied her.

“I lived there for a while, but about a year ago, I left the orphanage. The caretaker told me run away, and there was a look of fear on his face. I didn’t know why, but he told me to run away and never come back. I don’t know why he told me to leave, but I left the town where I was stuck in and found myself a place to build a tree house and call home. Things were pretty calm, until a couple days ago…” said Male Jesse.

“What happened a couple days ago?” asked Axel.

“A couple days ago, that same group of people who kidnapped your friend. They… they came after me. I don’t know why they were after me, but before they could take me away, I was rescued by someone. He knocked them out and left them somewhere far from my home,” said Male Jesse.

“Who was he?” asked Ivor.

“He had darker skin, brown eyes and brown hair. And for some reason, he said that he’s my father. I didn’t believe it because he doesn’t look like he’s related to me, but when he mentioned my half of the amulet, I figured maybe he was someone I could trust. I started to look for whoever had the other half of the amulet, but I didn’t think I’d find out that I have a twin sister,” said Male Jesse.

“And I never thought I’d have a twin brother. I was raised at an orphanage to, and the lady who raised me never let anyone adopt me. She told me to keep that amulet with me at all times, and I never expected that it would help me find my twin brother,” said Female Jesse.

“So this guy, who’s your father. Did he say his name? Did he tell you anything else?” asked Ellegaard.

“He didn’t tell me his name. He just said that he’s my father and to find whoever has the other half of the amulet. And when I find them, I need to meet up with him. He said that the amulet would lead me to the meeting location,” said Male Jesse.

“I bet it’s the symbol on here. It looks like some sort of mountain,” said Olivia.

“I’ve seen that mountain before. It’s about twenty miles away from where I set up my lab in the far lands,” said Ivor.

“You have a lab in the far lands?” asked Male Jesse.

“I certainly do,” said Ivor.

“I think we need to go to that mountain then. If that’s where our father wants us to meet with him, then we need to go there,” said Female Jesse.

“But Jesse…” said Lukas. Both Female Jesse and Male Jesse turned to face him. “Sorry. Uh… Female Jesse. Uh… how can you be sure that this guy is who he says he is? I don’t like this…”

“Lukas, we can’t know until we try. I need to know the truth. I just found out that I have a twin brother, and I’ve never known anything about my parents. I must know if my parents are out there,” said Female Jesse.

Lukas only frowned. This was all so much right now. First he found out that the girl he has a crush on has a twin brother who has the exact same name as hers, and now Female Jesse wants to find her parents. It’s all too much to take in at once.

Male Jesse only looked at Lukas as he frowned. He could sense that the blonde has a crush on Female Jesse.

‘He likes my sister, doesn’t he? I can tell that my sister likes him to, based on how much she talked about him when we were coming here. I just hope he wouldn’t hurt my sister…’ he thought.

“Guess we know what we’re doing next. We’re taking you guys to that mountain,” said Olivia.

“Whoa! Who said that we’re all going? How do we know their parents are fine with some extra guests?” said Axel.

“Because those bandits are out there. They’re hunting down Jesse, well Female Jesse, and if they knew about Male Jesse being her brother, then they might hunt him down to. We’re going with them to help them,” said Olivia.

“We can go on our own. We’re not little kids…” Female Jesse muttered with an annoyed look.

“No. I think Olivia’s right. We shouldn’t go on our own with those guys after you. I think we should go in a group. Strength in numbers,” said Male Jesse.

 “Yeah. Olivia is right about that…” said Female Jesse.

“How many of those bandits were there?” asked Soren.

“Five of them,” said Ivor.

“Well, we’ll certainly have the upper hand if we travel in a group. Nothing could go wrong if we travel in a group,” said Petra.

Denton and his men couldn’t find Female Jesse or Male Jesse after they got ambushed the night before. With no clue where they were, they had no choice but to return to their master empty handed. They had to tell their master how they were defeated and who ambushed them. They expected their master to be angry when they told him that a man with only a wooden sword beat them, but to their surprise, their master was rather pleased to hear about someone.

“Describe him. What did he look like?” the master asked, still remaining in the shadows.

“Uh… brown hair. Green eyes. He was pretty tough, if it took a wooden sword to take us out…” said Denton.

Their master formed an evil grin. “There’s no denying it. He’s related to them…” he whispered.

“Master, what are you saying?” asked another one of the bandits.

“I’m saying, that I now have two targets to kill. Jesse has a twin brother. Very well then. We shall pay them a visit, and then their precious mommy and daddy…”

“But master, if you go out, they’ll know your identity. You can’t hide your identity from them anymore!” said Denton.

“No matter. I will kill them all. Jesse, her brother, and all their friends. The twins will be the first to experience what powers I possess…” the master whispered in a dark tone.

The group started to head off to the mountains. Even after it became dark, they continued anyway. Facing off mobs in the night was nothing compared to getting ambushed by the bandits.  The group had to tame some horses for the trip to the location, since it was located near the far lands.

The group was quiet as they rode on their horses. No one really wanted to talk, because they wanted to stay alert for mobs and the bandits. After riding for a few hours into the night, the group decided to take a break and give the horses time to rest up.

Male Jesse and Olivia sat next to each other while everyone was taking a break from riding on the horses.

“So Olivia, my sister told me that you’re pretty skilled with redstone,” said Male Jesse.

Olivia blushed and said, “I guess I’m pretty good. Your sister and Axel welcomed me to the group because they were impressed with how much I know with redstone.”

Male Jesse smiled at her and said, “I bet you’ve made some cool stuff. I’d like to see the things you’ve made.”

Olivia blushed again. She was speechless. She was flattered by his complement.

Suddenly, the group heard a twig snap. Lukas got up and pulled out a sword, ready in case something was coming out. They could hear something rustling from one of the bushes, and a few moments later, a rabbit came out.

“Lucky that instead of a mob…” said Petra.

“Maybe we should keep going. It’s dark out, and I don’t think we want to deal with any monsters…” said Ellegaard.

“She’s right. We should keep moving,” said Magnus.

The group started to walk over to the horses, but an arrow flew by somewhere. It hit one of the horses, but didn’t kill it. It startled the horse, and all of them ran off in panic.

“Ah! No come back!” shouted Female Jesse.

She tried to run after the horses, but that’s when a fireball zipped right past her, almost hitting her.

“WAHH!” she cried, jumping back.   

“Jesse!” cried Lukas. He ran over to her and helped her stand up.  

“Hands up, or you’ll be burned to death!” shouted a voice.

It was Denton and his gang.

“What is your deal? Leave us alone!” Ivor shouted angrily. 

“Well, lucky for you, we’ll leave you alone if you give us Jesse and her twin brother…” said Denton with an evil grin.

The group was stunned to find out that Denton knew that Male Jesse and Female Jesse were siblings.

“No way! You think I’d ever let you take Jesse away from me!? She’s far more precious and important to me than anyone else!” Lukas shouted. He didn’t care if anyone would make fun of him right now. His only focus was to protect his crush.

“Lukas…” Female Jesse whispered, blushing a little bit.

That’s when an evil laugh came from somewhere.

“You’re in love with Female Jesse? You’re such a fool. Love makes you weak…” said a scary voice.

A figure came from behind Denton and his group. The figure was a man, and he had dark skin, wore a blue shirt with grey pants, and had dark brown hair. The most startling feature of his face was his eyes, because they were glowing white and had no pupils in them.

‘He looks almost like the guy who said he’s my father, though he’s taller, and looks like he wants to rip me to shreds!’ thought Male Jesse.

The group was confused, and a bit startled by this man who was apparently the leader of Denton and his crew, but Soren had a feeling he knew who it was.

“Whatever you do, don’t make him angry…” Soren whispered to the group.           

“Soren, do you know who he is?” Ivor whispered to his friend.

“I’ve heard about him from some dark stories. That man… he’s not a man. He’s a demon, and his name is Herobrine…” whispered Soren.

Chapter Text

The group only put their hands up to surrender, making sure that Herobrine and his goons wouldn’t attack. Only Soren seemed to have a clue on who Herobrine was, so no one wanted to ignore his warning on angering Herobrine.

“What do you want from us? Who are you?!” cried Female Jesse.

“The name’s Herobrine, dear Female Jesse. I can see that you and your brother, Male Jesse, have finally reunited. And you’re both eager to know about your parents…” said Herobrine with an evil smile.

‘How does he know all about this?! He must’ve known us from the past, when we were too young to remember anything!’ thought Male Jesse.

“You don’t know anything about us!” he spat at Herobrine.

Herobrine only chuckled and said, “Don’t pretend I don’t know who you are. I know you’re related. You’ve both got your father’s brave, determined spirit, and the same eyes as your mother. You would both put all of your precious friends before your own safety. I know it.”

Male Jesse only frowned, but he didn’t speak. He wasn’t going to risk making Herobrine angry.

“What’s your deal with hunting down our friends?!” Petra angrily asked.

“Petra, don’t make him angry. I don’t want him to hurt you…” Axel whispered to her.

Herobrine only frowned, but he said, “Your friends are the reason why I can’t have what I want, and if I were to kill someone as brave like them, then I can show the world just how powerful I am…”

Before anyone could question Herobrine just how “powerful” he was, the evil man formed a fireball in his hands and shot a tree. The fireball may have been small, but the entire tree caught on fire and burned down to ash in just seconds.

“What did we ever do to you? We’ve never met you until now!” Female Jesse protested.

By now, Herobrine was starting to look angry, which worried the group.  Even Denton and his group were a little frightened by the growing rage their master was experiencing.

“You… you and your brother should’ve never existed!” he shouted.

“What the heck are you talking about man? We didn’t do anything!” said Male Jesse angrily.

“Uh guys… I don’t think you should be arguing with him…” Soren whispered.

“You didn’t do anything to me, but your father did…” Herobrine said in a dark whisper.

 ‘And he’s taking it out on Male Jesse and Female Jesse? Jeez… this guy’s got some serious anger management issues he needs to sort out…’ thought Magnus.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse were only quiet, and confused. They knew nothing of their parents, and yet, this evil main claimed to know their father. He was aiming to kill them, so they figured it was best not to trust anything Herobrine told them. It could be to manipulate them, and make thing believe some twisted lies.

"You don’t know the rumors, don’t you? I am a god, and I more powerful than any of you. The world doesn’t think I exist, and I chose to hide in the shadows, because I’m bitter at your parents. But the two of you, one of you is the leader of the new Order, and the other has the potential as well. When I kill you both, and your precious friends, then I can show the world I exist, and that I am the one who shall lead everyone…” said Herobrine.

“You don’t know us. You don’t know our parents either!” said Female Jesse.

“Oh I know your parents alright. Alex was rightfully mine, but she had to choose Steve over me…” Herobrine angrily whispered.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse were stunned to hear the names of their parents. They’re heard stories about Steve and Alex, who were famous explorers in their world.

‘Their parents are Steve and Alex?! I’ve heard the stories about those two, but I never knew that they were together, or that they had children! And the story of Herobrine never mentioned him having any kind of connection with them!’ thought Soren.

Female Jesse could sense that her brother was starting to feel confused. She wasn’t going to let anything Herobrine said try to mess up her thoughts.

“You’re making that all up! You’re just trying to screw us up!” she shouted angrily.

She must’ve gone too far, because Herobrine’s eyes started to glow brighter, and he started to form some fireballs in his hands.

“Any last words?” he growled angrily.

Before Female Jesse could come up with anything to buy time for her and the rest of her group, Ivor stepped forward, with his hands up in surrender, and said, “Okay. Okay, you’ve got us. We surrender.”

Herobrine seemed to have calm down a bit. His eyes stopped glowing and he extinguished the flames he formed in his hands.

  “But before you take us away, I have one thing to say,” said Ivor.

The enchanter looked down at the ground, but he quickly shouted, “Catch!” as he threw a splash potion at Herobrine, Denton, and the rest of the bad guys. It hit the bad guys with a direct hit.

“You’re dead to me!” Herobrine shouted. However, he shouted it in a deep, slow voice, because it was from the effects of the potion.

“Run! The potion of slowness won’t last long!” Ivor shouted at the group.

  The group quickly ran away. Just as they were about to get out of sight from Herobrine and his goons, Herobrine suddenly appeared in front of their way.

“You fools! The effects of a potion on me only last for seconds! I will kill you all, starting with the two Jesses!” he shouted.

He shot a blast of energy at the group, but everyone quickly dodged the attack. Gabriel pulled out his sword and charged at Herobrine. He slashed the demon and knocked him back, but Herobrine didn’t look hurt.

“RUN! RUN JESSE! BOTH OF YOU, RUN!” he shouted.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse ran away as fast as they could. Denton and the rest of his group suddenly ambushed the group. The others shouted at the twins to run away and get as far from Herobrine as possible.

With no other choice, Male Jesse and Female Jesse ran as far away as possible, with Olivia and Lukas by their side.

Chapter Text

Female Jesse and Male Jesse felt like they had been running forever. Herobrine was after them, and the only way to keep each other and the rest of their friends safe was to run away. The mad man wanted them dead, and he was aiming to kill the siblings before finishing off anyone else. With no other option, Female Jesse and Male Jesse ran off with no sense of where to go, with Lukas and Olivia by their side.

After hours of running, the siblings, Lukas, and Olivia found themselves lost in a snowy biome. It was bitter cold, but the group kept on moving. They didn’t want to be found by Herobrine, Denton, or the rest of the bandits, so they had to keep moving forward.

Eventually, dawn came, and it was morning. The group found a town on the outskirts of the snowy biome, and with no sign of Herorbine, they decided to rest up. To avoid attention, since Female Jesse, Lukas, and Olivia were in the New Order of the Stone, the group tried to blend in with the townsfolk. The members of the New Order got out of their armor and walked around in their usual attire. A few people did recognize them, but at least they didn’t blow their cover and were able to blend in.

The group found an inn with a restaurant to rest up in real quick. Lukas and Male Jesse had some money with them, so the group got something to eat and took the time to sit down to rest up. They knew they couldn’t stay for long, because Herobrine was still hunting them down.

“What are we going to do? The rest of our friends…” said Female Jesse.

“We can’t go back to them. Herobrine’s after you guys, and as long as you’re out of his grasp, the others will stay alive,” said Lukas.

“He’s right. We can’t go back to the temple, and we have to keep moving to keep the two of you safe,” said Olivia.

"I guess we should keep moving to the Far Lands and go to this mountain. It will be harder without Ivor to guide us, but we can’t go back to the others. We need to keep moving forward,” said Male Jesse.

Female Jesse was quiet. She didn’t like the plan of splitting up with the group and staying that way. She personally didn’t care about her own safety. Her only concern was keeping the others safe. But Lukas and Olivia had a point. Herobrine was after her and Male Jesse, and as long as they weren’t captured, then the others were safe.

“You guys are right. We can’t hang around. We have to keep going…” she said with a sigh.

Lukas could sense the concern in her voice. He understood that Female Jesse was worried about the others, but the young architect only wanted to keep her safe.

“Sis, I know you’re concerned about the others. I am to. But Lukas and Olivia are right. We can’t let Herobrine capture us if we want to keep the others safe,” said Male Jesse.

Female Jesse only nodded at her brother. She was a bit stunned to hear him call her “sis”. They had found out that they were siblings just hours ago, and he was already acknowledging the fact that they were family and related. It made her feel… happy.

The group finished their meal and after paying for their food, they left the inn and set off to continue to the Far Lands.

Elsewhere, Petra and Axel were on their own. They were being chased by James, one of Denton’s bandit friends, but they were able to shake him off their trail. They ran into some mobs while James was chasing them, and they used them as a chance to lose James.

The two spent all night running, and they found themselves hiding in a swamp. There wasn’t any sign of any village nearby, but at least it was day time, so there were no mobs in sight. In addition, there was no sign of Herobrine or the bandits anywhere.

“Okay… I think… we’re safe…” Axel said, panting a bit.

“Axel, are you okay? I mean, you didn’t have to carry me for most of the way…” said Petra.

The griefer carried Petra on his shoulders and gave her a piggy back ride almost the whole time they were trying to get away from James.

“Don’t worry about me, Petra. Honestly, with the group split up, I didn’t want us to get separated. Don’t tell Jesse, Olivia, or even Lukas this, but I feel that I wouldn’t last a day on my own without anyone, especially without you,” he said.

Petra found herself blushing a little bit. She never thought that Axel cared about her that much. She walked over to him and made him sit down against a tree.

“You’ve earned a rest big guy. I’ll get us some food,” she said.

She walked up to an oak tree and started to punch the leaves in the hopes of getting a few apples.

“Petra, can… can I tell you something?” asked Axel.

“What is it?” asked Petra.

“You remember when the Witherstorm was on the loose, and… you got amnesia?”

“’Who’s Petra?’” Petra said with a chuckle and a smile.

Axel made a small smile.

“Sorry, go on,” said Petra.

"Well, when Gabriel said that the Witherstorm got you, I was… devastated. But a part of me convinced me that you were still out there. You’re the toughest person I know, and I know nothing can kill you, not even the Witherstorm.”

Petra started to blush again. 

“Then when the group found you, and you got amnesia, I was so happy that you were still alive. But I felt like a part of me died with your memories. That’s why I tried desperately to help you remember us. I knew that you couldn’t forget us completely just because of the Witherstorm, and I was right. You remembered bits of your memory. And during the final battle against the Witherstorm, when you were getting pulled in, I didn’t want you getting pulled up again. I had to save you.”

Petra smiled at him. Her cheeks turned more pink.

“And when you finally got your memories back, I was so overjoyed. I knew you would never forget everything and stay like that. You’re an important member of our team, and I don’t think things would be the safe without you.”

“Axel… I… I never knew I was so important to you. Thank you… for telling me all this…” Petra said, almost in a whisper.

“Well Petra, there’s… there’s something that I’ve wanted to tell you… and… I’ve wanted to tell you without Jesse, Lukas, or Olivia around…”

 “Axel, if you think Herobrine’s going to kill us and that this is the end, please don’t think that. We’re not going to die.”

“I wouldn’t think like that. Honest. It’s just… I want to tell you something without the others around, and… I can’t hold it back anymore.”

“What is it that you want to tell me, Axel?”

Axel took a deep breath and said, “Petra, I like you a lot.”

Petra became silent. She stared at him with a stunned look, blushing as she did. Axel was quiet to, but he expected Petra to be silent after he told her.

“Petra… I don’t know what you think of me, but… if you don’t like me a lot in return, I understand. I know I’m not the smartest guy around, but I will always remain loyal to you, Jesse, Olivia, and the others. I just hope, if you don’t like me in return, we can still be friends,” he said, almost quietly.

Petra was still quiet, thinking over what she would tell him. As she stood there in silence, Axel didn’t say anything. He knew she was thinking things over before answering to him, and he wasn’t going to bother her for an answer.

“Axel… I need time to think about how I truly feel about you. With what’s going on with Herobrine chasing after Jesse and her brother, I want to remain focused on the issue,” she finally said, breaking the silence.

“I understand, Petra. Our friends are more important, and stopping Herobrine is the first order of business,” he said.

Soren, Magnus, Ellegaard, Gabriel, and Ivor managed to escape from Denton and the rest of his bandits, but they got separated from Jesse and her friends as a result. They hadn’t stopped running through the woods in the night, and they ended up making it back to town. However, they didn’t dare return to the temple, because they figured that Herobrine could be waiting out for anyone to return. The madman could be ready to ambush anyone who dared to step foot into the temple.

Rather than going to the temple, the group set off on foot to hide at Soren’s home in the mountains. It was dawn by the time they made it back to Soren’s fortress, and after making sure that no one followed them, the group quickly took refuge inside and barricaded the entrance. With Herobrine hunting them down to, like a tiger sniffing out prey, they didn’t want to be unprepared and have nothing to arm themselves for defense.

The five friends took time to rest, but Ivor seemed to be eager to go out and find the others.

“Ivor, we’re worried about the others as much as you, but why are you more eager to find our friends than us?” Gabriel asked him.

Ivor sighed and said, “It’s just that Jesse, well Female Jesse… she told me that she sees me as a father, and… after she told me that… I realized that I do care about her as if she was my daughter…”

“And you just want to make sure that she and her brother are safe, don’t you?” said Soren.

Ivor nodded his head sadly.

"Well, we can’t go running off unprepared to fight back or defend ourselves. If what Herobrine said is true, he’ll kill us once he gets Male Jesse and Female Jesse and kills them,” said Soren.

“I’m honestly afraid for Ellie’s safety. I almost lost her to the Witherstorm for good, I don’t want to lose her to Herobrine,” said Magnus. He hugged Ellegaard and held her close to him.

Soren, Ivor, and Gabriel understood Magnus’s fear. The griefer had been in depression after Ellegaard was supposedly killed by the Witherstorm. It was a miracle that they found her in the Dream Universe, especially after she got amnesia and finally regained her memories. Magnus and Ellegaard didn’t want to be separated again, and they even got engaged recently.

 The griefer and the redstone engineer didn’t want anything separating them again, and that included Herobrine.

 “We know Magnus. We know. And you and Ellegaard just got engaged. We don’t want Herobrine finding out about your connection. You heard what he said to Lukas when he thought that he was in love with Female Jesse. He sees love as a weakness. If he found out that you and Ellegaard are engaged, he’ll use that against you two,” said Soren.

Ellegaard looked at her engagement ring as Soren spoke. She hugged Magnus tighter, trying to hold back the tears. She was afraid that she and Magnus might be separated by something that wanted to kill them again. Magnus hugged her, gently stroking her hair as he whispered to her, “I promise Ellie. I won’t let him hurt you. I promise.”

The others looked at them with sad looks.

“We can’t waste time. We need to regroup with the others. Who knows where they’re at?” said Gabriel.

“All I’m hoping for is that no one got captured by Herobrine…” Ivor whispered to himself.

Back with the Jesse siblings, Lukas, and Olivia, the four continued to the Far Lands. They had traveled a long way, and they were getting closer to the Far Lands with every step they took. As they traveled together in a group, they didn’t stop for many breaks, and whenever they did stop to rest, they took shifts, making sure that Herobrine, Denton, and the others hadn’t caught up to them. To the group’s relief, they hadn’t seen any of the bad guys since they split up from the others. Unfortunately, they hadn’t seen their friends along the way either.

The group had reached the swamps that were the last stop before the Far Lands, and it was still daytime when they reached the swamps. There wasn’t any sign of the witch from the first time Female Jesse and her friends were there, and since it was day, no mobs were out. The group decided to take a quick break, but they knew that a break couldn’t last long. With the foggy area, it wouldn’t be wise to stay for a long time.

Lukas and Female Jesse found some potatoes, so they crafted a few furnaces to bake them, while Male Jesse and Olivia went to the lake to catch some fish.

“Jesse, do you think we’ll… find the others before…” Lukas couldn’t even finish his sentence.

“The others are okay. They’re going to be okay, and Herobrine won’t catch them,” Female Jesse insisted. She didn’t want to think of the possibility that their friends were captured, or worse, killed.

“I know. I just... hope they’re alive…” Lukas said, almost in a whisper. He poked at the furnace with a stick.

“Me to. But we’ve faced worse than Herobrine and we lived, right?” said Female Jesse.

Lukas stayed quiet. He had no clue how to respond to that. He wanted to believe that the others were still alive and not captured, but a part of him was trying to convince him otherwise. He didn’t want to tell Jesse that he was at war with his own, conflicting thoughts.

“Jesse… if we don’t make it out alive-”

“Lukas, don’t say that!” Female Jesse cut him off.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to put it like that. I just… I just wanted to tell you something…” he apologized.

Female Jesse took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I just… I just don’t want to think of such a thing. What do you want to tell me?”

Lukas felt nervous now. He finally got her attention, and he was too nervous to finally confess. He wanted to tell Female Jesse that he loves her, especially with Herobrine after them, but he couldn’t do it. Lukas couldn’t tell her how he felt.

“Lukas… is it about what you said, right before we met Herobrine?” Female Jesse asked him, in a whisper.

Lukas felt like he was going to faint, but he finally got the courage to tell her.

“Jesse… I… I think I’m in love with you…” he said in a whisper.

Female Jesse blushed in a deep shade of a red. Though she was blushing, a part of her expected this. It wasn’t just what Lukas said back when they got ambushed, but she knew that the young architect cared about her. She could see it, through the things he’s done for her, and it was why she felt that Lukas liked her a lot.

“Lukas… I… I know…” she whispered.

“You-”

“I just knew it. I noticed by how you’ve always been there to help me. That’s how I knew it.”

Lukas smiled nervously as he blushed.

While they were talking, Male Jesse and Olivia crafted some fishing poles and were trying to catch some fish. Olivia wasn’t doing too good, but Male Jesse caught a few fish.

“It takes patience. I got practice because where I set up my tree house, there were always a bunch of wild pigs. I couldn’t bring myself to kill them for food, so I learned how to fish instead,” said Male Jesse.           

“Your sister is the same. She actually had a pet pig, and she named him Reuben. He’s… he’s not around anymore…” said Olivia.

“What happened?”

“He helped your sister kill the Witherstorm. He landed on the ground mortally wounded. He didn’t make it… we made a memorial for him in town, and we made a shrine for him at the temple.”

Male Jesse looked down at the ground sadly and whispered, “I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do for you guys, especially my sister.”

“It’s alright. We’re doing okay. But Jesse, well, I guess in this case Female Jesse, she’s still trying to cope. Lukas has been there for her the most ever since.”

Olivia felt something tug her fishing pole. She tried to pull out what she caught, but to her disappointment, she fished out some leather boots.

"Man, I can’t catch anything. Redstone is my specialty, not fishing…” she said with a sigh.

“Just give it your best shot, Olivia. All it takes is practice,” said Male Jesse.

Olivia only sighed and sat down.

“Do you think… the others are… alive and not captured?” she asked him.

“Olivia, don’t think such things. Have faith that they’re alive and Herobrine isn’t anywhere near them. Have hope, Olivia,” he told her.

Olivia became silent. Male Jesse was right. She couldn’t doubt their friends and think such horrible things. It would only damper her spirits and make her lose faith in their friends.

“You’re right. I’m sorry… I just… I just end up doubtful sometimes when something bad like this happens…” she apologized.

"You’re the redstone engineer in the New Order of the Stone. You can’t let doubt hold you back from having hope, or doing what’s right for you and your team,” said Male Jesse.

Olivia smiled at him and said, “Thank you.”

Male Jesse smiled back at her. They continued fishing for a little bit more to catch some more fish.

‘Male Jesse sure has been trying to help me feel more hopeful. He… he really cares about the group.  He’s one of us…’ Olivia thought with a smile.

‘Olivia can be doubtful of herself, but she’s still a staple member of the group. Other than my sister, she’s really welcomed me into the group. She’s unique for sure,’ thought Male Jesse.

They finished fishing and returned to Lukas and Female Jesse. The group cooked up the fish and started to eat their cooked fish and baked potatoes. However, as they were eating, they lost track of time, and sunset was approaching pretty quickly.

 After they finished eating, the group decided that it was time to keep moving to the Far Lands. However, as they started to head out, something smacked Olivia from behind.

“Ow!” she cried.

“Olivia!” shouted Male Jesse.

He saw her start to stumble a bit, so he helped her stand up. Lukas and Female Jesse saw the witch from last time standing a few feet away from the group. She was preparing to throw more potions at them.

“Run!” shouted Female Jesse.

She and Lukas were able to run away quickly, while Male Jesse helped Olivia escape from the witch. It took the group a while, but they escaped the swamps and shook off the witch from their trail. When they were out of the swamps and lost sight of the witch, the group decided to stop to check on Olivia.

“Olivia, are you okay?” Male Jesse asked her.

“No… I feel weak because that witch poisoned me…” she said with a cough.

Male Jesse made her lean against a tree and sit down.

“Hold on. I’ve got some extra food. You need to eat and regain your strength,” he whispered to her.

He pulled out what was left of their food and gave it to her.

“No. I can’t eat the last of our food,” she said, pushing it away.

“Take it, Olivia. I insist,” said Male Jesse. He put the food in her hands and stepped back.

Olivia only stared at the food for a minute. After a moment of silence, she finally ate the food that Male Jesse gave her.

“Thank you…” she said to him, almost in a whisper.

“We need to keep moving. It’ll be dark soon,” said Female Jesse.

“And we’re almost there,” said Lukas.

“How can you be sure?” Male Jesse asked him.

“He’s right. Look,” said Female Jesse.

She pulled out their amulet and held it up. In the distance, they could see a mountain that matched the one that was on their amulet. They were almost at the meeting place.

Chapter Text

After Olivia recovered from the effects of the potion, the group continued onward to the mountain. It was getting dark quickly, but luckily, the area was an open field. It would be easy to spot any mobs that would come out from a cave, or even Herobrine if the mad man and his goons followed them.

By the time they reached the base of the mountain, it was dark out .They could see the entrance to a cave, and there were a few redstone torches in the entrance. That meant that someone was in there, or someone set up a base or home inside.

“We have to be careful. There might be traps in there,” said Female Jesse.

“Why would there be traps in a cave?” asked Male Jesse.

“Well, when you go check out temples and ruins in search of adventure and treasure, you have to be careful for traps that’ll trigger if you make the wrong move,” said Female Jesse.

Male Jesse looked at Lukas and Olivia. They only gave him the “you best to listen to her” look at him. He shrugged his shoulders and followed the group into the cave.

The tunnel was dimly lit because of the redstone torches, but luckily, Lukas had some regular torches with him. He handed one to everyone and the four friends continued through the cave.  Some vines and cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling, but there weren’t any signs of mobs inside.

That’s when they came to a door. It was an iron door, which meant it was locked.

“There’s gotta be some way to open it up,” said Male Jesse.

“And I think I found where to open it…” said Olivia.

She pointed to a block that had a weird carving in it.

“Try splitting the amulet into two pieces and placing them into those empty slots,” she told Female Jesse.

 Female Jesse pulled the two amulet pieces apart. She handed one piece to her brother, and the twins walked up to the carving and placed the pieces into the spot. Suddenly, the block slid back into the wall, disappearing, and the iron doors opened.

“That was easy,” said Lukas.

They walked into the next room, but when they got into the next room, there was another set of iron doors, and based on how large the room was, it looked like a puzzle needed to be completed in order to open the doors.

“Oh great. More doors to unlock…” Lukas said with a sigh. “I take back what I said twelve seconds ago…”

“Don’t give up, Lukas. You know how it always is with places like this: figure out the puzzle and see if it’ll get the doors open,” said Female Jesse.

The group looked around the room to see what they had to work with. They could see some pressure plates lying around the floor, and some clay blocks with them.

“Maybe if we place the clay blocks on top of the pressure plates,” Female Jesse suggested.

The group started to pick up the clay blocks and place them onto the pressure plates. They expected the doors to unlock, but strangely, they were still locked.

“Still locked?” asked Male Jesse.

“Maybe we can only activate a certain, specific amount of them,” said Olivia.

“This is going to take a long time to figure out…” Lukas said with a sigh.

While the others were trying to figure out which pressure places are the ones that needed to be activated, Female Jesse took a look at the floor. She could see some strange carvings on the floor in the area around the pressure plates.

She looked around the room and saw a ledge perched above the way they came from. Using the vines on the wall, she climbed up onto the ledge. She could get a better view of what the carvings on the floor were. It was a map of their world.

Female Jesse took a closer look to where the pressure plates were located. She noticed that the pressure plates were at some familiar locations: Boomtown, Redstonia, the town she and the new Order lived at, the Far Lands, where Gabriel’s fortress was located, and even the mountains where Soren’s fortress was.

“Guys, the pressure plates are on a map of the world. Place some clay blocks on places we went to when we were searching for the Order,” she told her friends.

Male Jesse, Olivia, and Lukas followed her instructions on where to place the clay blocks. After they finished placing them down in the spots Female Jesse suggested that they place them, they heard the iron doors unlock.

“Nice eyesight, Jesse,” Lukas complemented her.

Both Male Jesse and Female Jesse turned to look at him.

“Come on, you guys know who I’m talking to,” he said with a smirk.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse only grinned at him and said, “We know…” at the same time.

“You two really are siblings…” Olivia said with a chuckle.

The group continued on for a little bit longer until they made it to a dead end in the tunnel. Once again, there were a set of locked, iron doors. On the right wall of the hallway, there was another puzzle. The wall had some open spaces with no blocks, and a chest was right next to the iron doors. Lukas opened up the chest and pulled out some blocks.

“Another puzzle…” he muttered.

“Fantastic. Give us one break! Give us one break!” Female Jesse said sarcastically.

“Man, your parents sure like puzzles…” said Olivia.

“Probably used them as security to protect themselves against Herobrine…” said Male Jesse.

The group took a look at the blocks that Lukas pulled out of the chest. They were all clay blocks, but each one had a different symbol on one side.

“Maybe we need to place the blocks in the right hole with the corresponding symbol,” said Male Jesse.

“These symbols are materials that you mine in our world: nether quartz, coal, gold, iron, lapis, redstone, diamond, emerald, and obsidian,” said Olivia.

Male Jesse looked at the holes in the wall.

“Maybe we need to place the right symbol in the spot where you can mine it, in terms of depth. Save the nether quartz for last, since you can only find it in the nether,” he suggested.

The group spent a few minutes trying to figure out where to place each of the clay blocks. After spending about fifteen minutes going through the symbols and the open spots, they finally figured out where to place each clay block, and the iron doors unlocked.

“You’re pretty good with puzzles, Jesse,” Olivia told Male Jesse.

Like all the other times, both Male Jesse and Female Jesse turned to face her.

"Seriously? You know who I’m talking to,” Olivia said with a sigh, but she smiled at the same time.

“We know. We know…” said Male Jesse with a smirk.

“We’re just messing around,” said Female Jesse.

The group continued on for a bit until they reached yet another room. This time, when they made it through the doors, they heard something click, and some iron bars popped out from the floor and trapped them in a cage.

“Huh? What?!” said Olivia.

“What the? Hey! Let us out!” shouted Lukas.

That’s when two figures came out of the shadows. They were both wearing some cloaks to hide their faces.

“I see that you’ve returned, Jesse…” said one. He spoke in a guy’s voice.

He took off his cloak and revealed his identity to the group. He had darker skin, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He looked almost like Heorbine, but he was shorter than Herobrine, had pupils in his eyes, and wore a blue shirt and dark blue pants.

“It’s you…” said Male Jesse.

“Is that the guy you said that you ran into before you met all of us?” asked Olivia.

“Yes. And I’m relieved that you brought your sister with you, Male Jesse,” said the man.

“How you do know that we’re siblings?” asked Female Jesse.

“Because he’s your father, and I’m your mother,” said the second figure. This one spoke in a woman’s voice. Female Jesse recognized her as the person from her dream and vision.

That’s when she removed her hood and revealed her identity. She had pale skin and green eyes to make Male Jesse and Female Jesse. However, her hair was orange, and she wore a green shirt and brown pants.

“You’re Steve and Alex, aren’t you?” Female Jesse asked them, almost in a whisper.

“Those are the names we go by, but what you may, or may not know, is that we’re your parents,” said Steve.

“We know. Herobrine told us…” said Male Jesse.

“So you ran into him? He must be bitter about the past still…” said Alex.

She flicked a lever and lifted the cage up, freeing Male Jesse, Female Jesse, Olivia, and Lukas.

“Sorry about the cage. We had to be prepared in case Herobrine and his goons came for us…” she apologized.

“We’ve been chased by them, so we understand,” said Lukas.       

 “By the way, who are the two of you?” asked Alex.

“I’m Lukas, and this is Olivia. We’re friends to Female Jesse and Male Jesse,” said Lukas.

“We were expecting just our children, but it’s nice to know that you two are friends to Male Jesse and Female Jesse,” said Steve.

 “We’re sorry that we left you two at those orphanages, and for splitting you two up,” said Alex.

"You did it to protect us from Herobrine. We’re reunited,” said Male Jesse.

Lukas and Olivia watched as their friends walked up to Steve and Alex. The reunited family embraced in a hug.

While Male Jesse and Female Jesse reunited with their parents, Herobrine was plotting a way to get the family to come out of the shadows and surrender. Denton and his men couldn’t find anyone, but the madman had an idea on getting what he wanted.

“Master, what do you need us to do?” asked Denton.

“I just need you to deliver a message to the brats of my two old friends…” Herobrine said with an evil grin.

Chapter Text

Night arrived, so the group stayed inside Steve and Alex’s fortress until daytime would come. They agreed to set out and find the rest of their friends before Herobrine could track them all down. While they waited out for the night to end, Lukas and Olivia got some sleep, but Male Jesse and Female Jesse stayed up to talk with their parents.

“Why does Herobrine want to kill us? I mean, he told us that he’s angry with you two, but we don’t want to believe anything he said,” said Male Jesse.

“Yeah. We figured that he was trying to mess us up,” said Female Jesse.

Steve took a deep before explaining the story.

"When we were kids, we were friends with Herobrine. But we drifted apart when we were teenagers, because he wanted to be with your mother,” said Steve.

“Your father and I wanted to go on a journey to explore this world, but Herobrine became power hungry and obsessed with being the strongest. He wanted me to go with him, but I chose to go on a journey with Steve instead,” said Alex.

“So… Herobrine wants to kill the two of us, because he wants to extract revenge on not getting what he wanted?” Female Jesse asked with a confused look.

“It’s not just that anymore. Since you are the leader of the New Order of the Stone, and you killed the Witherstorm, he wants to kill you and your brother to prove that he’s stronger than a hero as pure as either of you,” said Alex.

“I wasn’t there for the Witherstorm mess, so I guess he wants me dead for the whole revenge thing…” said Male Jesse.

“You knew about the Witherstorm and the New Order of the Stone?” Female Jesse asked their parents.

“We never ignored either of you. Even after we had to hide you from Herobrine, we were always listening for any word about you two. We’re sorry that we had to give you up,” said Alex.

Male Jesse smiled at his parents, but Female Jesse was quiet. She was feeling a bit conflicted inside.

“Sis, is something wrong?” Male Jesse asked his sister.

 “Can I talk to you, alone?” she asked her brother.

Steve and Alex looked at each other for a moment.

“If you need to step outside, go ahead,” said Steve.

“Just be aware for mobs or anything,” said Alex.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse nodded their heads and headed out of the fortress. When they stepped outside the entrance to the cave, they could see the sun starting to rise. Any mobs outside were running back to where they came from to avoid dying in the sunlight.

 “Sis, what’s wrong?” Male Jesse asked her.

Female Jesse took a deep breath and said, “We have to find the others.”

“I know. Herobrine’s hunting them down-”

“It’s not just that. I… I can’t afford to lose our friends. I know that Steve and Alex are our parents, but… all our friends, Lukas, Olivia, Axel, Petra, and the old Order, they’re not just my friends. They’re family to me as well. And after what we’ve been through. You’re family as well, even if you weren’t my brother,” said Female Jesse.

Male Jesse looked at her in silence. He never thought that his sister had these thoughts.

 “So… you don’t think you could call Steve and Alex our parents because you just reunited with them?” he asked her.

“I… I don’t know… It’s all so confusing. My friends are like family to me, because we’ve been through so much. And I grew up at the orphanage without real friends, which is why I see the friends I have as family to. Even Ivor, he’s like a father to me…” said Female Jesse.

“I… I understand. I never had any real friends until now, and I trust you and your friends. I don’t know if I accept Steve and Alex as our parents either… I don’t know what to decide right now…” he said.

“So… what do we do now?”

“Right now, I think finding the others is our only focus.”

“Lucky for you, we can help you with that…” said a voice.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse pulled out their swords. Denton came out from behind a tree, but to their surprise, he was alone, and he didn’t have a weapon with him.

 “Whoa there. I mean no harm. I just came with a little letter for the two of you,” he said, putting his hands up in a surrender motion.

He was holding onto an envelope while he spoke. Denton tossed it over to the siblings and got down on the ground on his knees.

“Watch him…” Female Jesse told Male Jesse.

Male Jesse didn’t need to hear it a second time. He walked over to Denton, keeping his sword out and pointing it at the bandit. Female Jesse picked up the envelope and opened it up, reading something that was written inside.

You know it was nice of your friends to give you a head start and run away. Too bad they aren’t strong enough to defeat me in battle. Your friends are now mine, and unless you want me to kill them first, best to meet me at my fortress in the dark mountains. Enjoy your walk over here, because it’ll be the last time you see the sunlight before you trade places with all your friends- Herobrine

Female Jesse read the letter out loud to her brother, which stunned him.

“No. No it can’t be!” he whispered to her.

Denton grinned when he saw how horrified the siblings were after they read the letter. With them distracted, he pulled out a splash potion of invisibility. He splashed it onto himself and turned invisible, using the chance to run away.

“Hey!” Male Jesse shouted, when he saw Denton start to disappear. He swung his stone sword to try and hit Denton, but Denton vanished, and he missed.

“I… I don’t know if it’s a trap, but I can’t risk the lives of the others if they’re there. I’m going to save them. They’re the only family I truly have,” said Female Jesse.

“You don’t have to go alone. I’ll go with you sis. He was foolish enough to tell us where he’s at, so we’re going after Herobrine, together,” said Male Jesse.

Female Jesse nodded at her brother. They looked back at the cave entrance, wondering if they should tell Olivia, Lukas, Steve, and Alex what was going on. But after a few, silent minutes of thinking, the siblings both left the cave without going back inside. They didn’t want to bring the others into this mess if Herobrine had captured their friends, so they wanted to go alone.

After they left, Denton watched them leave from behind a tree. He never ran off back to Herobrine when he used the potion. He wanted to see what the siblings thought, and when he heard their last remarks, he was rather stunned by how Male Jesse and Female Jesse cared about their friends.

Which made him recap how he and his men were loyal to Herobrine. Denton and his men were actually scared of Herobrine, and they had been doing his work for him because they were promised a position with him when he took over their world. But with the whole thing with the Jesses and their friends and family, Herobrine had started to show just how dangerous he was, and now, Denton was questioning if Herobrine was going to keep his word and let Denton and his men live.

And after hearing how Male Jesse and Female Jesse were willing to sacrifice themselves to save their friends, Denton was starting to question if he was truly loyal to Herobrine.

He was loyal to Herobrine, but the madman never was loyal in return. All he asked from Denton and his friends was to keep doing more and more dirty work, especially when it came to luring these people in for his plot of revenge. Denton and his men didn’t think that Herobrine had a thirst for blood this badly, especially if he meant killing the children of his former friends.

That’s when he saw Olivia and Lukas rush out of the cave.

“Jesse! Jesse! Where are you?” Lukas shouted.

“No. No! They ran off! You don’t think… they went to find Herobrine on their own?!” said Olivia.

“No! I can’t lose her! I can’t lose Jesse! Olivia, I don’t know if you know this, but… I love her. I love Female Jesse. I told her how I felt, but I don’t know how she feels for me in return…” Lukas said, trying to hold back the tears.

Olivia only looked at him sadly.

Denton couldn’t take it anymore while he watched the whole thing. He couldn’t do anything else for Herobrine. He had reached his breaking point.

“I can’t take this anymore!” he said, coming out.

When Olivia and Lukas spotted him, they pulled out their weapons and aimed at him. However, Denton quickly got on the ground, emptying his pockets, and put his hands up to surrender.

“I surrender! Hurt me all you want, but before you kill me, you need to know where your friends went! Herobrine sent me to manipulate them into going to his base, in the dark mountains! He’s going to kill them on the spot!” he shouted with a worried look.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse made their way to the dark mountains that was mentioned in the note. They found them and spotted some sort of house perched at one of the higher peaks. They suspected that it was Herorbrine’s house, so they kept moving forward. As they made their way up the path, they had their weapons out, ready to attack, and stayed quiet to listen for anything that was sneaking up from behind them, or in case they accidentally triggered something.

The journey up the mountains was a bit uneventful, which they didn’t expect. However, the siblings kept their guard up in case Herorbine was going to jump out from somewhere. They walked up to the house without running into anything, and they noticed that the door was open.

“Be careful…” Male Jesse whispered to his sister.

Female Jesse nodded her head at her brother, and they both cautiously walked into the house. It was dark, dusty, and empty. The doors closed behind them when they entered.

The siblings walked through the room, ready to head upstairs, but that’s when they heard something click. The floor surrounding them suddenly fell down, and they found themselves standing on a small platform. Jumping wasn’t an option, because right below them, were a dozen zombies standing everywhere.

“How touching. You came to save your friends. Too bad your care for them has made you foolish enough to walk right to death. Now that I have you, your deaths will be slow and painful…” they heard Herobrine’s voice speak from somewhere.

 While Female Jesse and Male Jesse were trapped inside Herobrien’s house, no one knew that Olivia and Lukas were rushing up the path with Denton, Steve, and Alex.

“Come on! I hope we’re not too late!” shouted Lukas.

They were all riding on horses, going as fast as they could to reach Herorbrine’s house. They made it up to the front doors, and heard Herobrine’s voice speak to the siblings from the other side.

“You sick bastard! You lied to us! Keep our friends out of this mess! It’s us that you want!” they heard Female Jesse shout angrily.

“Jesse!” Lukas whispered. He ran for the doors without hesitation.

“Lukas wait!” shouted Olivia.

“Don’t stop me!”

"I’m going with you!”

The two ran inside, breaking down the doors.

“Let them go!” Olivia shouted angrily.

Herobrine came from out of the shadows and eyed them angrily.

“You two, the foolish ones Male Jesse and Female Jesse love… you’ll be the first to die after them!” he shouted at them. He shot a huge fire ball at them, but Olivia and Lukas dodged it. However, Lukas almost jumped off the edge and into the pit of the zombies.

“Lukas!” Female Jesse shouted.

Lukas lost his grip on the edge, but Denton ran over and quickly pulled him back up.

“Denton! How dare you betray me!” Heorbrine shouted angrily.

He shout a blast of energy at Denton, and the bandit ended up falling straight into the pit of zombies.

“NO!” shouted Male Jesse. He was shocked along with the others, to witness Herobrine kill one of his own men.

“He can’t be killed, but weakened by a diamond weapon!” they heard Denton shout. After that, they could hear Denton screaming as he was attacked and devoured by the zombies that surrounded him.

No one could bare to see it happen. They all looked away, especially since they had to keep their focus on avoiding any attacks from Herobrine.

“Enough of this! I’m getting my revenge now!” the madman shouted.

Suddenly, and arrow came out from nowhere and hit him on the shoulder.

“That was for Denton!” they heard an angry voice shout.   

The group turned around and saw that the other four bandits had arrived, and they brought Axel, Petra, and the old Order with them.

“All of you, how could you betray me?!” Herobrine shouted angrily.

“Yeah well Denton told us that you don’t give a damn and don’t care about anyone but yourself!” one of the bandits shouted.

“And now that you killed him, we have a new reason to kill you!” another one shouted.

Herobrine formed an evil grin and said, “I would like to see you all try. But you can never kill what can’t be killed…” in a dark tone.

Chapter Text

Everyone pulled out their weapons, ready to fight Herobrine and stop him once and for all. The madman was never going to stop in his goal on killing Male Jesse and Female Jesse, so the group knew that if they wanted the madness to end, they would have to defeat Herobrine.

 Herobrine formed a large fireball in his hands and tried to knock the siblings into the pit with the zombies. It knocked them back, but Lukas and Olivia were able to grab their hands and pull Female Jesse and Male Jesse up before they could come close to falling in.

Angered by this, Herorbrine got up, and started to fly at them. He was about to tackle them into the pit, but another one of the bandits jumped and pushed the siblings, Lukas, and Olivia out of the way. As a result, he ended up being the one falling in. The last thing they could hear from the bandit was his screams as the zombies devoured him down below.

Herobrine let out a frustrated growl. He was angry with his own men betraying him, and if he had to kill them to, then he’ll do it. All he wanted was to kill Male Jesse and Female Jesse, and he was willing to do anything to get that goal, even kill his own men.

Herobrine suddenly waved his hand, and some statues that he had in the room came to life. The statues pulled out some stone swords, but the group wasn’t going to let that stop them. They pulled out their swords and bows and arrows and fought back.

While the group fought back, Herobrine stayed out of the way, floating out of their reach. He scanned the action and looked for the siblings. The first he spotted was Female Jesse, so he rushed over to her. Female Jesse saw him coming, and with perfect timing, she swung her sword and hit Herorbine hard on the head. Her weapon was an enchanted diamond sword, which Denton said could weaken Herorbrine.

The madman let out an angry shout when Female Jesse swiped at him. He punched her hard, making her almost fall into the pit of zombies.

“Jesse!” Lukas shouted. He ran over and helped pull her out.

Herobrine tried to push him off, but Male Jesse and Olivia, who were using bows and arrows, fired some arrows at him and backed him away from Lukas and Female Jesse.

“Get away from Lukas and my sister!” Male Jesse shouted angrily.

One of the statues snuck up behind Olivia and grabbed her by surprise. Male Jesse heard her shout in panic, so he quickly turned around and smacked the statue until it let go of Olivia.

“Get your filthy hands off her!” he shouted, which caused Olivia to blush a little bit.

Herorbine only took this chance to try to attack Male Jesse. He fired a purple fireball and it was heading straight for Male Jesse. However, another one of the bandits took the bullet, and he ended up getting reduced to ash.

“I will kill you all if I have to!” Herobrine shouted.

He started to throw more purple fireballs and tossed them in random directions. A few hit his own statues, but one almost hit Petra.

“Petra! Look out!” cried Axel.

e quickly pulled her out of the way, and just in time. The fireball was just about to hit her, but Axel saved Petra. They both fell back on the floor, and Petra found herself on top of Axel.

“Uh…” she said, blushing. Axel ended up blushing at the same time.

 “Watch out, you two!” shouted a voice.

Gabriel used his diamond sword to knock back another purple fireball that would’ve hit Axel and Petra. The fireball bounced off of his diamond sword, and hit another one of the cursed statues, reducing it to ash.

Magnus, Ellegaard, Soren, and Ivor were fighting some more of the statues. As they were fighting them, they didn’t see Herobrine try to sneak up behind them.

“Leave my friends alone!” Female Jesse shouted, slashing him with her diamond sword.

She knocked Herobrine back, and Male Jesse joined his sister’s side, with his bow and arrow ready to fire.

“You two… You two were never supposed to exist!” Herobrine sneered at them.

He formed a normal fireball at tossed it. Female Jesse quickly pushed her brother (who didn’t have armor on like her) out of the way, and took the shot. She was sent flying into the wall.

“Jesse!” shouted Lukas. He ran over to her and tried to help her stand up.

Herorbrine only formed an evil grin. He shot a few more purple fireballs, trying to take out Lukas and Female Jesse the last of the bandits jumped in and pushed them out of the way. One of them ended up getting reduced to ash, but the other was still okay. However, another statue tried to attack them. The last bandit drew out his sword and was able to knock the statue into the pit of zombies, but he was mortally wounded in the process. He collapsed onto the ground, dead.

“Leave them alone!” Male Jesse shouted at Heorbrine.

He picked up his sister’s enchanted diamond sword and started to rapidly attack Herobrine in frustration and anger. He did seem to hurt Herobrine, but Herobrine wasn’t as weak or exhausted as the others. He formed a normal fireball and used it to knock Male Jesse back. Male Jesse screamed in pain as he fell on the floor. He grabbed his right arm, where he got burned badly.

“No!” cried Olivia. She ran over to him and started to bandage up his wound.

Herobrine was about to strike her, but Steve and Alex knocked him back.

“Stop this madness! You’ve hurt enough people!” Alex shouted.

“This would’ve been all avoided if you chose me instead!” Herobrine shouted at her.

Alex pulled out her bow and arrow and fired at him. “The answer’s still no…” she bitterly said.

Steve slashed at Herorbrine with her sword and knocked the madman into what looked like his own thrown. Something fell off the throne and hit Herobrine hard on the head, making him pass out.

“Is he… dead?” asked Ivor.

“No. Just knocked out. Nothing can kill him...” said Steve with a sigh.

“The second he wakes up, this whole mess is going to start over again…” Ellegaard said with a sigh.

“We can’t kill him, but… there is another way we can stop him from causing damage…” said Alex.

“What is it?” asked Magnus.

“We can’t kill Herobrine, because his powers have made him immortal, but we can seal him away into something. And if we hide the artifact that he’s trapped in, then he can’t cause any trouble anymore,” said Steve.

“But there is a price: whoever seals away someone into an artifact, with the technique we know, has to be sacrificed. They’ll fade away…” said Alex.

There was a short moment of silence among the group. They couldn’t believe that there was a catch to possibly the only way to get rid of Herobrine, and that meant that whoever agreed to do this was going to fade away from existence.

“Maybe we should draw straws…” Soren sadly suggested.

“No. Herobrine has been our problem. We never intended anyone else to get dragged into mess, especially all of you. We’ve been researching how to do this and we know how to do it, so Alex and I are going to seal him away,” said Steve.

Alex pulled out an empty book. “We’ll seal him away into this. After the process is complete, take it somewhere you know no one will ever find it,” she said.

“But wait… we’ll never see you again?” Male Jesse asked her sadly.

“You’re our parents, and we just found you…” said Female Jesse.

Steve and Alex walked up to Male Jesse and Female Jesse. 

"We understand how you both feel about this. And we’re sorry for any pain we’ve caused you both” said Steve.

“But we’re doing this for you and all your friends. We don’t want any of you to fix our mess,” said Alex.

Male Jesse and Female Jesse sadly nodded their heads.

“In order for us to seal away Herobrine in the book, you all need to step outside. You can’t be in here, or else you might either get pulled into the book as well, or you might fade away,” said Steve.

“Give us a few minutes, and then come for the book. Take it and hide somewhere where it can’t be found,” said Alex.

After spending the next few minutes saying some tearful goodbyes, Male Jesse, Female Jesse, and their friends walked outside and closed the doors to Herobrine’s mansion. They could hear Steve and Alex say some sort of incantation, and some glowing lights came from inside through the windows. The group waited for a few minutes, and the glowing lights finally disappeared.

They headed inside, just in time to see Steve and Alex smile at them one last time before they faded away. When Steve and Alex were gone, Female Jesse walked up to the book that was on the floor. She could see Herorbrine’s face carved onto the cover as she picked it up.

“We need to take this somewhere where it can NEVER be found…” she whispered.

“I can take it to my lab in the Far Lands. Remember that pit that you need to cross with the barge in order to get to my house?” said Ivor.

“Don’t remind me…” said Soren. He started to shake as he remembered riding it last time.

“Well, I can take the book and toss it into the pit. It’s bound to be bottomless. I’ve tried to see how far down it was with some sand and gravel, and I’ve never been able to go down there. Nothing comes back from the pit. It’s the perfect place to hide the book,” said Ivor.

Female Jesse nodded her head and handed him the book.

“I’ll take it there right away. I think you should get your brother some medical attention…” said Ivor.

The two of them looked at Male Jesse, who was still holding his arm after getting burned by Herobrine.

“He’s right. We need to get you some help,” said Olivia.

“It doesn’t hurt that bad…” Male Jesse groaned.

 Olivia helped him stand up. “No. You need help. That burn’s going to get worse if we don’t,” she told him in a firm tone.

The two of them started to head out of the hut. Female Jesse, Lukas, Petra, Axel, Magnus, and Ellegaard followed them. Soren and Gabriel decided to go with Ivor to the Far Lands and dispose of the book so that the enchanter didn’t have to take the long journey back to town by himself.      

As he watched the group leave, Ivor picked up the book and turned to Soren and Gabriel.

“Come on. Let’s get rid of this thing. I don’t want Herobrine after them anymore…” he said.

He started to head out, with Soren and Gabriel following him.

“You really do see Female Jesse as a daughter, don’t you?” said Soren.

“I just… feel bad for her and her brother. They met their parents for the first time in years, and their parents had to fade away like that to protect them…” said Ivor.

“It must hurt hard for them. But they’re our friends, and we have to be there for them when they need us,” said Gabriel.

“I know. Come on. We’ve got a long walk ahead of us…” said Ivor, as he sighed.

Chapter Text

About a week later, it was as if the whole thing with Herobrine was nothing but a memory. Ivor had taken the book that Herobrine was trapped in and tossed it into the abyss in the Far Lands, ensuring that Herobrine could never escape and hurt Male Jesse, Female Jesse, or anyone ever again.

During that long week, Male Jesse stayed at the temple as he recovered from his wound. Thankfully, his wound would fade away and be a barely visible scar, and he would still be able to use his right arm as if he never got hurt in the first place. Olivia helped look after Male Jesse as he recovered, while Female Jesse, Lukas, Petra, and Axel entertained him with stories they had to share about their adventures before they met him.

“So… if you found Ellegaard in this other Universe, do you think your pet pig, Reuben, could be alive in another one?” Male Jesse asked Female Jesse.

“I don’t know. I talked to Soren about it, and he said he doesn’t know. Reuben might not be in a different universe since he’s a pig, and it might not apply the same to him…” said Female Jesse. “But… after I met Kate in that universe, she told me how she believes in afterlife. So now, I think of Reuben there, and I know he’s still with me.”

“Well, that’s a positive way to look at it. I wish I got to meet Reuben though. I’m sure he was a great pig,” said Male Jesse.

“You would’ve loved him. He was a tough little ham, though I did have to be the one to carry him if we had to make a quick getaway,” said Axel with a chuckle.

“So… after all that happened with Sky City, you decided to take Aiden with you? And he said he’d take your advice and do good instead of care about himself?’ said Male Jesse.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to send him off the edge or leave him in what was left of Sky City. It’s just not humane to do that to someone, especially if they’re unarmed. Aiden swore that he wouldn’t compete with me anymore, and he’s been working on being a writer. He, Maya, and Gill understand if people can’t forgive them, but they’re still showing the people of Sky City that they’re sorry and want to make up for it,” said Female Jesse.

“Well, I would’ve done the same thing. Leaving him like that or sending him off would’ve made me a really bad person, so I would’ve taken him with me as well,” said Male Jesse.

Female Jesse just smiled at her brother. She never knew that she had a brother, and she was happy to share her stories with him.

 A little while later, Axel and Petra were walking through town on their own. A few people greeted them here and there, and they were nice enough to say hello back. They were busy trying to get some food at the store, especially for some stew for Male Jesse.

“Last week was pretty crazy,” said Petra. She paid for their stuff and they started to head back to the temple.

“Yeah. I’m just glad that Herorbine is gone and that he can’t hurt anyone anymore,” said Axel.

“By the way, Axel… I recall that you told me that you have feelings for me, and I said that I needed time to think about it,” said Petra.

Axel looked around to make sure that none of the townsfolk were around. To his relief, no one was around at the moment. With no one around, he was willing to talk to Petra about this.

“You know what to think about now?” he asked her. He started to blush a little bit.

“Axel, I’ve thought about if after everything you said, and… you’re important to me. I never knew that you thought of me as more than a friend. I never saw how much you cared about me until now. And… now I know you like me a lot. I like you to big guy, and… I think we could try,” she said.

Axel smiled at Petra. “So uh… you wanna give it a test run? Like go on a date sometime?” he asked her.

“Name a time and place, and I’ll be sure to be there,” she said with a smile.

She grabbed his hand and they walked back to the temple holding hands.

As they were walking back, they didn’t notice that the Old Order was actually watching them. They were on their way to the temple to check in on the group and saw Axel and Petra. They didn’t hear anything, but they saw Axel and Petra holding hands as they walked back.

“They like each other. I know it,” Magnus said with a grin.

“Oh come on! First Lukas and Female Jesse, then Aiden and Maya, followed by Soren and Emerald, and now Axel and Petra?” said Gabriel.

“Please don’t bring me up in this…” Soren said with a sigh. He looked away as he formed an embarrassed look on his face.

“You really are a love doctor, aren’t you?” Ellegaard asked her fiancé with a smirk.

“You might as well call me ‘Magnus the Love Doctor’,” Magnus told her with a grin.

Ivor didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about. He was more focused on getting to the temple and seeing how the others were doing.

They made it to the temple just a few minutes after Axel and Petra returned. They made it inside to see that the rest of the group was hanging out in the treasure room.

“It looks much better now,” said Female Jesse, as she examined Male Jesse’s fading wound.

“I don’t feel anything anymore,” said Male Jesse.

Ivor took a look at the wound and said, “At most, it’ll be barely visible. You’re lucky that it wasn’t much worse.”

Male Jesse only smiled. He rolled up his sleeves.

“Well, Herobrine’s gone, and my arm’s all better. I guess I should head back home,” he said.

“Home?” asked Olivia.

“Yeah. I have a tree house that I live in, but it’s pretty far from here,” said Male Jesse.

“Do you really have to go?” asked Lukas.

“Well… I guess I do. I mean, mom and dad are gone, and I’m never going back to that orphanage I was raised at. It was horrible,” said Male Jesse.

“But you’ll be so far from all of us,” said Petra.

“Bro, why don’t you stay? You can be a member of our group,” said Female Jesse.

Male Jesse blinked with a surprised look. Did his sister, who was the leader of the New Order of the Stone, just invite him to be a part of the team?

“She’s got a point. You’ve pretty skilled in combat like your sister, and I’ve got some spare sets of armor. You can take your pick, and we’ll help you craft a strong weapon,” said Ivor.

Male Jesse didn’t need to think it over for long. After all that he had encountered with his sister and new group of friends, he knew he couldn’t throw it all away. He was eager to be a part of the New Order of the Stone. He wanted to be with his friends. He had found a place where he knew he belonged.

He nodded his head and said, “I accept.”

Female Jesse smiled and gave her brother a hug. Male Jesse returned the hug.

“Welcome to the team, bro,” she whispered to him.

A little while later, Male Jesse and Olivia were talking a walk around the temple. Male Jesse was in a set of armor that he picked out, and he had an enchanted diamond sword with him. He and Olivia were walking around the temple, so that Male Jesse could get familiar with the surroundings of his new home.

“And this is my lab. I work on new redstone inventions here,” said Olivia.

“Wow. This is amazing,” said Male Jesse as he looked at something that was a work in progress.

“Thank you. I work on making something that’ll be useful for the team whenever we go scavenging for treasure or explore some place new,” said Olivia.

“You really know how to give the team a power boost. I admire that about you.”

“Thank you,” Olivia said. She started to blush.

Male Jesse blushed and smiled.

‘Oh man. I think I’m starting to like her a lot…’ he thought.

‘My goodness. I… I think I’ve got a crush on him…’ Olivia thought.

While Male Jesse and Olivia were alone, Lukas was looking for Female Jesse. He found her standing outside on a balcony that allowed her to look at the land past their temple. The moon was full and high in the sky, which was the perfect source of light for Lukas to see her.

“Hey Jesse…” Lukas told her with a smile.

Female Jesse turned around and smiled back at him.

“Hey Lukas,” she said. “My brother doing good?”

“Yeah. He’s with Olivia right now,” said Lukas.

Female Jesse grinned and said, “I can tell they’re probably starting to like each other a lot.”

Lukas chuckled and said, “Yeah. Olivia blushes every time he gives her a complement. But… you’re cool with that: your brother and your best friend?”

“Hey, they can like whoever they want to like. And… I find it cute. Besides, did you see Axel and Petra when they returned? They were holding hands. I think they like each other to,” said Female Jesse.

“Petra’s like a sister to me, but I know Axel’s a good guy. If those two want to get together, I trust Axel. I know he would never hurt Petra,” said Lukas.

“See? It’s just like my thoughts on my brother and Olivia.”

Lukas chuckled again and walked over to the balcony. He stood next to Female Jesse and looked up at the moon.

“Man, it’s a nice night out,” he said with a sigh of relief.

Instead of saying anything, Female Jesse grabbed his hand. Lukas blushed as he looked at her. She only smiled at him.

“Jesse…” Lukas whispered.

“I like you a lot to, Lukas. When you first joined us in our crazy adventure, I knew that we could try to be friends. I knew that there was goodness in you, and I knew we could try. And when things got out of hand as we were on our adventure, I knew that you and I were on the same team, and that it shouldn’t be us against one another. It was us against the Witherstorm. And as we kept on moving forward, when you started having my back, I realized that you were a core member of our team, and I don’t think our team can be the same without you,” Female Jesse told him with a smile.

Lukas blushed, but he smiled at her.

“Jesse, do you uh… wanna go… on a date?” he nervously asked her.

Female Jesse smiled at him and said, “Yes.”

“Really? That’s great. Uh… dinner somewhere?”

“Friday night, I’m free.”

“It’s a date.”

The two of them smiled at each other and looked up at the moon, holding hands.

It had been a crazy adventure, and not only did the group become closer than before, but now they had a new member of the New Order of the Stone. With Male Jesse as a permanent addition to their team, and romance between some of the group members, who knew what new adventures would await Female Jesse, Male Jesse, Lukas, Olivia, Petra, and Axel later on in the future?

The end