[Jesse's POV]
(I just wanted to finally get some rest after dozens of attempts, but Axel and Lukas began to argue again.)
(Not only that, but my hunger bar wasn't in great condition either.)
(I wanted to use my sleep to suppress that feeling, even if it's just for a little longer.)
Lukas: "Look, Axel, I'm just trying to get ready for tomorrow."
Axel: "You're the only one wearing that stupid jacket. Don't tell us what to do."
(Axel points at him with a disgusted look.)
(That apparently set off Lukas.)
Lukas: "Take that back."
Axel: "Can't. Wouldn't."
Lukas: "You know what? I get to wear this jacket because I know how to build. That doesn't mean I don't know how to break things."
Axel: "Your threats don't scare me now that we know how you really are."
Lukas: "Jesse, your friend is way out of line!!"
Jesse: "Let's just drop it..."
Axel: "Don't be like that, Jesse."
Jesse: "Just DROP it..."
(Axel does not drop it and continues his assault on Lukas.)
Axel: "Haven't you done enough damage for one day? Maybe if you hadn't gotten 'scared', we could've saved Petra. She could be dead because of YOU."
Olivia: "You're taking this too far, Axel."
Lukas: "I don't have to take this. Listen... why don't I just leave and let you guys hash this out."
(Lukas begins walking towards the exit ladder with the intent of leaving.)
Olivia: "You can't leave. It's dangerous out there."
Lukas: "I can take care of myself. It's what Axel wants, right?"
Axel: "Let him leave if he wants to leave."
(Nuurgh... I burn the last of my energy to stand up.)
Jesse: "No. He's staying."
Axel: "But Jesse-"
Jesse: "That's enough! We're all on the same team now. He's staying."
(I plop down again.)
Jesse: "Please."
(Axel grunts but doesn't decide against it.)
(Lukas looks at me with worried eyes before deciding to stay.)
(He sits down beside me.)
Lukas: "Thanks for keeping me around, Jesse."
Jesse: "No problem... Now can you let me retire for the night...?
Lukas: "Sorry..."
(I just silently nodded in response and just laid down beside him and Reuben.)
(Axel didn't do anything, and no one bothered me after this point.)
(At least this situation is now sorted; now I can finally sleep peacefully.)
(In the meantime, I could hear Lukas and Olivia continuing to talk.)
Lukas: "Zombie-sized chickens. That's what I'd fight."
Olivia: "Why's that?"
Lukas: "'Cause I'm starving."
(I guess the others aren't in a better situation than I am.)
(After that, it began to rain outside.)
(It's a good thing we had a roof.)
(I started feeling warm, probably because of the fire, and even with my hunger annoying me.)
(at least the sound of the rain made it easier for me to drift away from the night.)
(The long, bizarre day was finally over.)
(When I woke up, it was already bright outside, and my hunger came back to me after suppressing it for the entire night.)
(When I opened my eyes, Lukas was gone, Reuben was still sleeping beside me.)
(Olivia was awake, and Axel was snoring.)
(How deep was I sleeping to not notice that?)
Jesse: "Where did Lukas go?"
Olivia: "He said he wanted to find some food and left in the morning."
Jesse: "Ah, that's a smart move. Why didn't I think of that?"
Olivia: "Maybe because you looked like you hadn't slept for seven days straight?"
Jesse: "Yesterday was a long day, okay? By the way, why are you already awake?"
Olivia: "Actually, I couldn't sleep well."
Jesse: "Oh..."
(Lukas interrupts the scene when he climbs up the ladder.)
Lukas: "Hey guys, sorry, I wasn't able to get a lot. Here are some apples for you, Jesse. I know it's not a lot, but this was all I could do."
Jesse: "Wow! Thanks!"
(My stomach was crying, so I ate the apples quite quickly.)
Lukas: "Don't mention it. Think of it as a thank you for that... cookie last night."
(Lukas smiles at me.)
Jesse: "Oh..."
(I was geniously surprised.)
(Did he feel he needed to give me my kindness back, or did he realize I was starving and went out of his way to get something?)
(Either way, I wasn't really used to these kinds of things.)
(I was stuck on how to respond to that, but Lukas had already walked away before I could say anything.)
(Lukas had one left after he gave the other ones to Olivia and Reuben.)
(He turned to Axel, who had just woken up from his nap.)
(Axel didn't seem to appreciate his presence and looked away.)
(Still, Lukas reached out to him.)
Lukas: "I know, yesterday things didn't go well, so I wanted to make up. I didn't like how things turned out, and I wanted that we at least didn't have to hate each other. I picked some apples, so you can have one if you want."
(Axel didn't say a word and was still looking away.)
(He seemed hesitant to make a decision, but eventually reached out for the apple.)
(Axel didn't look at him in the eye, but Lukas was still happy that he at least took it, even if it wasn't for the reason Lukas wanted it to be.)
(They weren't the best of friends, but at least their rivalry had calmed down.)
Olivia: "Is everyone ready?"
(By that point, everyone was wide awake.)
(We would only waste time sitting here, so we decided to head out.)
(After climbing down from the treehouse, we start our search.)
(Axel didn't say anything, but he didn't seem really comfortable being around Lukas.)
(I guess things have to take a while to get fixed. It's kind of sad.)
(I didn't want Lukas to feel left out, so I felt the need to check up on him.)
Jesse: "You doin' okay?"
Lukas: "It was a rough night."
Jesse: "Sorry about all that business last night. It happens... and we were all tired and... I'm just glad you're okay."
Lukas: "Honestly, I'm more embarrassed than anything else."
(Lukas chuckles.)
Jesse: "Well, if you need anything, you can come to me."
Lukas: "I'll remember that."
(I nod in return.)
Jesse: "C'mon, let's catch up to the others."
(Olivia and Axel were on top of a hill looking in that direction.)
Axel: "I think that must be the temple!"
Olivia: "No shit. You don't see a giant building in the middle of nowhere."
Jesse: "Well, let's take a closer look."
(On top of the entrance was a giant symbol made of coloured glass that resembled Gabriel's amulet.)
Jesse: "Now we can certainly say that this is the right place."
Olivia: "Wait, it was this close? You're saying we could've just looked over one small hill and we would've found it!?"
Axel: "Holy crap."
Jesse: "Well, at least we found it sooner rather than later."
Lukas: "Do you think they're in there?"
Jesse: "Well, let's go in and find out."
(We walk through the entrance
Jesse: "If I'm not mistaken, temples are usually booby-trapped. We should be careful."
Olivia: "Okay."
Jesse: "If you spot anything, call it out. We don't have a lot of time."
(Through the entrance was a dark hallway with dispensers sticking out from the walls.)
Axel: "Isn't it weird how dispensers are carved to look like spooky little faces? What do you dispense, little guy?"
Olivia: "Probably arrows, but I don't think we want to find out."
(That just confirms that this was a trap.)
(The only question is, how will it be triggered? The first thing that comes to mind is a trip wire, but even when we scanned the area, we weren't able to find any.)
(Next were pressure plates, but in this lighting, it's hard to tell.)
Jesse: "Get behind me. We're going to walk slowly through this. In case there is something in front of us, I'll surely spot it."
(Everyone does so, and with my strategy, we slowly move forward.)
(The ambience was turning scary.)
(You could almost hear those mysterious, scary noises you hear when you're in a cave.)
(The plan falls apart, however, when Reuben suddenly dashes forward, overwhelmed by the atmosphere.)
Jesse: "Reuben! Come back!"
(Reuben runs over, you guessed it, a stone pressure plate hidden in plain sight.)
(Suddenly, a gate behind us slams down, trapping us in this dark corridor.)
Axel: "That's probably not a good thing."
Olivia: "You don't say?"
(Seconds later, we hear the sound of dispensers loading.)
Axel: "Aw, come on, dispenser faces! I thought we were friends!"
Lukas: "Run!"
(A barrage of arrows fills the room as we frantically run towards the other side.)
(Most of us manage to get away unharmed, but Reuben was slowing down from his injury and got hit by an arrow on the left foot.)
(Damn it! First on the right foot and now on the left!)
(I run over to Reuben to pick him up and bring him to safety before it's too late.)
(In the process, however, another arrow hits me in the left shoulder.)
(We reach a room in the corridor where there were no dispensers, meaning this was a safe spot in the middle of the corridor.)
Lukas: "Jesse! Are you okay!?"
(Lukas hurries over to me.)
Jesse: "Yeah, I hope so."
(I looked at everyone to see how they were doing.)
(Everyone got hit at least once, though Axel got hit more than anyone due to his massive body being an easy target.)
(but don't worry, his layers of fat prevent him from taking any serious damage.)
Axel: "It still hurt, you know!"
Olivia: "We're trapped!"
Lukas: "There's a button on the other side of the room."
(Indeed, further down the corridor, was a wooden button sitting a little bit far away from us.)
(Maybe it's some kind of fail safe, an emergency stop kind of button.)
(like when you build a trap and want to make sure you can safely deactivate it in case you accidentally trigger it?Whatever it is...)
Jesse: "If we can figure out a way to trigger it I'll bet that'll shut 'em off."
Axel: "How about we just wait it out?"
Olivia: "That could take forever and in that time, anything could happen."
Jesse: "Well, we have a lot of arrows stuck to our bodies. Maybe we can craft something to shoot it."
Olivia: "But all of our tools and materials are back home!"
Jesse: "All right, everyone. Empty your pockets. Let's see what we've got to work with."
Lukas: "I've got some sticks from building the shelter last night."
Axel: "All I got were some feathers I collected from that totally-not-a-chicken- torture-device machine, oh and an oak log from last night's shelter."
Olivia: "I have two strings I accidentally collected when a spider died near me when we were running away from the creature."
Jesse: "Let's see, I also have a piece of string left from yesterday. That might just be enough to craft a bow."
Olivia: "We can't craft a bow without a crafting table."
(Axel angrily points out his oak log in his hand.)
Jesse: "Oh..."
[1 oak log = 4 wooden planks. 4 wooden planks = 1 crafting table and 3 sticks + 3 strings = 1 bow.]
(I carefully pull out my own Arrow. Saying it didn't hurt is wrong, but it could've been worse.)
(I use it with the bow, and by carefully aiming, I shoot it across the arrow-filled room.)
(It lands next to the button.)
Axel: "You missed!"
Jesse: "Shush! I don't have very good aim, okay?!"
(I take the arrow out of Lukas's body.)
Lukas: "Ow!!! Be more gentle!"
Jesse: "Sorry..."
(I aim, and with the second shot, I hit the button, and after a moment, the dispensers start deactivating one by one.)
Axel: "Huff! I'm glad that's over with. I didn't want Jesse aggressively pulling out my arrows."
Jesse: "I-I was in a panicked state, okay?! I promise I'll make sure I pull out any future arrows more gently."
Lukas: "Um... ok..."
(After that situation is sorted out, Lukas suddenly turns back to the wall that has been riddled with arrows.)
Olivia: "What are you doing?"
Lukas: "These are a lot of arrows! They could have a lot of potential!"
(Lukas picks up a large chunk of arrows that were stuck on the wall.)
Olivia: "Oh, that's a good move."
(With the new supply of arrows, we head down further into the temple.)
Axel: "I can't believe it, but I think The Dead Enders's luck is finally changing!"
Olivia: "Don't jinx it!"
Axel: "I was just saying!"
(Anyway, continuing on... the end of the corridor leads to a staircase, which leads to a room filled with bookshelves with an enchantment table in the middle.)
Lukas: "I guess this must be their enchantment room."
Axel: "Doesn't this look like Ivor's creepy basement?"
Olivia: "Cuz rooms with bookshelves all look the same."
Axel: "Ah, if you put it that way, then, I guess."
(We split up to search the room.)
(The atmosphere didn't look really lively. I guess no one is around the temple anymore.)
(I check up on Lukas.)
Jesse: "Hey, Lukas, did you find anything useful?"
Lukas: "Not sure about useful, but definitely interesting. There's a lot of history in this room."
(Our attention shifts to that enchantment table in the middle of the room.)
(The others approach the book as well.)
Jesse: "The battle was fierce, but the Order of the Stone emerged triumphant, saving the land and ensuring that peace and prosperity would reign forever."
Lukas: "Well, not exactly forever."
Jesse: "These five members... five friends... Gabriel, Magnus, Ellegaard, Soren, and Ivor, together, would give so much to gain their rightful place... as five heroes. They would author their own end. They would slay a dragon."
Olivia: "Ivor was a member of the Order of the Stone?! The stories never mentioned him. This is so crazy!"
Jesse: "That explains some things; how they knew each other and the possibility that Ivor's grudge against Gabriel had something to do with this."
Olivia: "They lied to us! They lied to the whole world!"
Axel: "Why would they do this?"
Lukas: "This is just so crazy..."
Jesse: "The Order might not be what we thought they were, but Petra is still out there. That monster is still out there."
(Lukas sighs.)
Lukas: "Jesse's right. We need to focus on what we came here to do."
Olivia: "Where do these stairs go?"
(Olivia points to a set of stairs that go even further up.)
Axel: "Well, there's only one way to find out."
(Going up, we reached another room that barely had any walls left, so we were practically on the roof.)
(You have a good view of everything around the temple as well.)
(In the middle was a weird contraption with a pedestal that pointed to a large map on the part of the wall that was still here.)
Axel: "Now, this is cool! What happened to the walls?"
Jesse: "More like, what happened to this whole place?"
Olivia: "This must have been where they met!"
Axel: "So, where are they, then?"
Jesse: "Gabriel said, once we find the temple, the amulet will lead us to the Order of the Stone."
Axel: "Well, what are you waiting for? Pull it out, then."
(I grabbed the amulet from my inventory to see what would happen, but it wasn't shining with a blue light like before at Gabriel's temple.)
Axel: "Well, that was a giant letdown."
Jesse: "There has got to be something we're missing."
Lukas: "Wait."
(Lukas pulls out a book he snatched from the room downstairs.)
Lukas: "It says here that the amulet was used to track the positions of members of the Order."
Jesse: "Well, does it mention how?"
Lukas: "Eh... It's less technical and, well, more historical."
Olivia: "Well, there has to be something here that can make it work! How about that weird contraption there?"
(In the middle was a pedestal, decorated with a banner of the amulet.)
(There was enough room to place the amulet on top of the pedestal.)
(Behind it were five levers and a lamp, but I'm not sure what their use is.)
Axel: "Well? It's worth a try."
(I place it on the pedestal but nothing happens.)
Olivia: "Maybe we need to activate those switches over there?"
(All of us chose a switch, and with a count on 3 we all flicked it simultaneously.)
(The lamp starts to glow and shines a bright beam towards the amulet.)
(On the amulet, the light turns into 2 different red and green beams that both shine on different parts of the map.)
Axel: "Wow! So that's how they track down the members."
Olivia: "It's absolutely incredible!"
Jesse: "I'm guessing it's showing where they are right now."
(The green one is shining towards a desert, while the red one is on an island.)
Lukas: "Wait, we don't know enough about how this thing works. Maybe the amulet only tracks them when they're on the surface. Or maybe it doesn't work when they're in the nether. We have to go off what we do know."
Jesse: "Petra's relying on us. That Wither Storm thing is still out there. We know that Gabriel was trying to tell us something. We've got to find the Order of the Stone."
Axel: "But there are only two lights. There are only two members of the Order left?"
Jesse: "Gabriel said, Soren's been missing."
Lukas: "That leaves Magnus..."
Olivia: "...or Ellegaard."
Jesse: "Well, I guess we should start heading out."
Lukas: "I'm not going with you guys. I have to stay here. If I know Petra, she's probably doing everything she can to find this place. If there's even a small chance she's alive, I have to stay."
(sigh... I guess I won't go against it.)
Jesse: "Fine, if you stay behind, will you take care of Reuben for me? He's pretty injured and I don't want him to get even more injured, at least in this state."
Lukas: "If you want to, then okay."
Jesse: "Thanks, stay safe, okay?"
Lukas: "I will, Go, get help. I'm gonna focus on making this place safe before nightfall. This temple is pretty big, though. If we're gonna have a chance at fortifying it, I'm gonna need help. If, uh, maybe one of you guys can hang back with me?"
Axel: "Sounds like Olivia will have you totally covered while me and Jesse are out finding Magnus."
Olivia: "Finding Magnus? You really think that's how it's going to go? We need Ellegaard. She's the world's greatest engineer. She'll figure out a way to stop that thing."
Axel: "We're trying to DESTROY it! When it comes to 'destruction', Magnus is the master."
Jesse: "Yeah, sorry. I think it's better to go with intelligence in this situation. I and Olivia are going to get Ellegaard. Axel, you stay here with Lukas and get the place ready for when Petra shows up."
Axel: "What? With that guy?"
Lukas: "Umm... I'm right here?"
Jesse: "Oh... right. Just try and get along, okay?"
Olivia: "Come on, Axel. For Petra's sake."
(Axel grunts before sighing.)
Axel: "Fine... I'll do it for Petra..."
Jesse: "I'll take it."
(As we start leaving, a very distant roar is heard.)
(Just barely over the horizon, we could see something that resembled a storm.)
(It was obvious that the Wither Storm was slowly coming.)
(Time was ticking.)
Lukas: "Please hurry."
[To be continued...]