"Lisa!" screamed Olivia as she rushed inside. The other Templar's rushing them inside to get them treated for their injuries, giving them food. But they occasionally glanced at the dryads.
"Olivia, what happened?" shouted Lisa as she gestured to Olivia's torn cloths, and injured and dirty body.
"It was Jess," screamed Olivia. "She destroyed Redstonia!"
----------
About a day ago.
The screams. The terror. The lost. All of these things I brought to the people in Redstonia, who have seem to forgotten with their pride and arrogance with their development of redstone knowledge.
I looked down at the destruction I caused, smiling as my eye shinned with sadistic glee. Even though I only have one eye, and only my left arm, and my body is still horribly burnt, I forgotten it all and only said one word to describe the scene before me.
"Good."
But then the feeling faded away, instantly replaced with hatred as I turned to look at Ellegaard in a metal cage. "You took something precious from me, Ellegaard." I said as I walked up to the cage, the female inside is full of defiance and fear. "And I'm going to make sure you feel the same pain I... but a thousand times worse."
----------
Bailey watched the Templar guard take her final meal away from her, still unable to cope that she's on death row. But none of the Templars who are watching her cared.
In their eyes, she's nothing more than a criminal. They escorted her to a small, narrow platform that's over a deep pit, with a wooden railing above it.
They secured the noose around her neck, and tied the end to the wooden railing. She started to cry, even when they placed a blindfold around her eyes.
It was then she was pushed off the platform, feeling the noose around her neck tighten as she fell into the pit...
----------
Bailey woke up from the nightmare with a yelp, her heart pounding out of her chest. A second later she started to cry about her situation. "I just tried to help," sobbed Bailey.
She looked out through the bars of her cell to see Lisa herself, standing outside and unlocking the bars before stepping in and locking them behind her.
Bailey backed away, intimidated by the woman that imprisoned her. "What do you want now? I already told you," said Bailey. "I don't know where Lukas' body is!"
"I'm not here for that." Said Lisa. "How would you like a clean slate? Clearing your record of any criminal activity; a fresh start."
"I don't need one because I shouldn't even be here!" screamed Bailey.
"Did you not tamper with Lukas' corpse?" asked Lisa.
"I didn't move it!"
"I didn't say 'move'," clarified Lisa. "I said, 'tampered', you know, for example, how you poured potion liquid on his corpse, trying in a futile attempt to bring him back from the dead?"
"I... may have done something like that." Bailey admitted.
"Then you tampered with evidence." Stated Lisa, making Baily flinch from her cold tone. "So not only did you lie to me, the Templar Commander of all people, but you just admitted that you did do something to his corpse, the only evidence we had to incarcerate the person who killed so many people that day."
"Jess," Bailey stated to which Lisa nodded. Who doesn't know the name of the infamous woman these days? "But other than that, I didn't do anything else!"
"Then where is Lukas' corpse?" repeated Lisa.
"I don't know!" Yelled Bailey before the tears and sobbing came again. "I don't know... I'm not a bad girl..."
Lisa looked at the distraught girl. "Then would you like to go and prove it?"
A few hours ago
After Lisa sorted out the mess at the gate. She and Olivia went back to the house to update everyone on the situation. Olivia recalled the whole scene of what happened in Redstonia.
The only problem was that Jess knocked her out, and when she woke up, the kingdom was in chaos. So yeah, not much to go on except that Ellegaard is Jess' prisoner. They wanted to probe for more information, but Olivia has been through enough.
Jesse didn't bother talking, only having a moral debate with himself.
On one hand, he's sadden by what his sister has become, what she can and will do. All of the lives she has taken from her destruction, fueled by her complicated personality, just made her all the more horrifying.
But a dark part of him was glad. With both Boom Town and Redstonia destroyed, the bounty is void. No one can claim the reward, and maybe people will stop going after Jess knowing she wiped out the kingdoms that placed the bounty.
Not to mention Ellegaard and Magnus wasn't exactly the most... pleasant people to be around. Sure, they're heroes that defeated the Ender Dragon, but fame doesn't excuse their actions.
Like putting up a bounty for his sister with no explanation...
But he he'll get answers, maybe, just this once, he can try... talking like his sister would do. Jesse laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. He can be very persuasive.
Jesse looked at his friends to see they and his wife are still talking.
"Well, she did wiped out Boom Town." Said Petra. "I can't say I'm surprised that she moved on to destroy another kingdom."
"But why Boom Town, and then Redstonia?" asked Olivia. "Think about it, if she can easily cause this much destruction, why would she only be attacking these two kingdoms?"
"I think a better question would be, what do these two kingdoms have in common?" Asked Lisa, forming a plan. "If we can find that similarity, maybe we can predict where Jess will strike next."
That was easier said than done. Magnus and Ellegaard are literal opposites. One is a girl, the other is a boy. One is well-mannered, the other is blunt. One likes to use words while the other likes to use violence. One kingdom is full of chaos while the other is full of order.
So what could Redstonia and Boom Town have in common? Then they all realized the answer. "Because both of them are ruled by heroes!" shouted Olivia. "Jess is going after the members of the Order of the Stone!"
"We got to do something!" said Axel.
"But what can we do?" asked Petra. "Warn them, fight against Jess? Magnus can't do magic anymore, Ellegaard is now captured by Jess, no one has seen Soren in forever, and Gabriel is rarely around since he's always traveling."
"But we have to do something." Said Jesse, everyone looking at him as he is finally putting in his opinion. "Sitting by and doing nothing is just as bad."
"But if she can attacked Redstonia, a technologically advanced kingdom, all by herself, that only means she's more powerful than we realized. No, if we are going against her, then we need help," Said Lisa. "From an Old Builder."
Nobody knew what she was talking about. "So we are getting help from an old guy who likes to build?" Asked Axel.
"No, Old Builder is just a name people gave an elite group of geniuses whose science was so advanced that it was called magic." Explained Lisa.
"Oh please, they can't be that smart." Scoffed Olivia.
"Oh they are," defended Lisa. "their prototypes make your golems look like garbage in comparison. I've seen what they can do, and believe me, redstone to them, is nothing more than a kids toy."
"So how are the Old Builders going to help us?" asked Jesse.
"Not Old Builders, just Old Builder." Lisa clarified. "There is only one Old Builder in this dimension."
"One?" asked Petra.
"Just one." Said Lisa. "Old Builders usually stick together, but this guy likes to be alone."
"Doesn't this guy get lonely?" asked Axel "Why would he like being isolated?"
"It's because he hates people." Lisa replied bluntly, surprising them. "Old Builders live for a very long time, and he watched civilizations rise and fall, people fighting and killing over the most stupidest things, and seeing them act with pride and arrogance is..." Lisa paused, trying to find the right word. "disgusting, to him."
Axel glanced at Olivia when Lisa said 'Pride' and 'Arrogance', and she noticed it as Olivia simply rolled her eyes.
"Well, despite his negative look on people," said Petra. "I actually like this plan. If we get him to help us, we can even the playing field against Jess."
"Maybe then we can finally settle this one and for all." Finished Axel. Smiling as everyone else became motivated to do so as well.
"Alright, we'll pack supplies and prepare to head out." Said Jesse. "We need to be ready for the worse possibilities." Everyone nodded at that as he started to give everyone instructions.
Axel went to the market to get food. Petra following to buy other equipment they might need. Olivia went to the library to get maps and other information of the, ever-changing, war-torn land.
Jesse went back home, making sure Reuben is taken care of, and packing anything they could need in their inventories. Lisa went to the prison. There might be someone there that could help. A certain, recently incarcerated, female potion-maker.
Jess makes potions too, so it could never hurt to even things out. They all met back at the gate to the City, looking at its obsidian, diamond-framed intimidation as waited for that girl, Bailey.
"So... who exactly is this guy?" Jesse asked his wife.
"What do you mean?" asked Lisa.
"We understand that he's an Old Builder, and he hates people," Jesse added "but who exactly are we going to see?"
"He's the same person who gave us, the Templars, our power, and the knowledge to use it." Explained Lisa. "We are going to see the first Templar."
A/N: Yep, a new arc will be how they finally get to meet the first Templar as he was mentioned so many times. And, lets not forget, the destruction of Redstonia!
And yes, Bailey will be part of the adventure, I just wanted to set a dire mood for her that fits with the plot! Anyways, love the discussion activity you guys are doing as it makes me glad you actually like my work.
See ya in the next chapter!