THE FINALE IS HERE! (It's short, yes, but WHO EVEN CARES?!) WHY AM I STILL SHOUTING?! JUST READ ON!
Jesse's POV:
Jesse's head was the first to poke out into the biggest room he'd seen in the Order's temple. The midday morning sun shone brightly off to the east. He could see it quite clearly, for the walls of the room had been demolished. The room was decorated with gold, stone brick, and chiseled stone blocks. At least, that's what Jesse collected from the remaining blocks. But the best part of the entire thing was a huge map of the entire world, which had a pedestal positioned in front of it.
"What happened to the walls?" Axel asked when he arrived.
"More like what happened to this whole place?" Nikki corrected, glancing around at the damaged walls.
"This must've been where they met!" Olivia theorized.
"Okay...so now what?" Lukas wondered aloud.
"Gabriel said that the amulet would point the way," Nikki revealed, pulling the amulet out of her pocket. Jesse and the others gathered around her, and she held it up. For a few awkwardly silent moments, nothing happened. And nothing was going to happen.
"It was a dumb idea anyway," Olivia tried to cheer the team up, though Jesse couldn't see how it would do that.
"Let's look around. We're not done yet," Jesse suggested. That put everyone to work. After a bit of poking around, Jesse came to the pedestal in front of the map. It had an amulet banner on it. Maybe...this was where it was supposed to go?
"Hey, sis?" Jesse called out. "Can I see the amulet for a sec?" Nikki handed it over, confused, until Jesse placed it on the pedestal. A perfect fit, but still nothing happened. It looked like Jesse wasn't done with this puzzle. The final answer had to be somewhere...
Then, Jesse saw the levers and redstone lamp behind the pedestal. He gave them an experimental pull. After pulling them in a certain order, all the lights next to the map were alit, and the redstone lamp flickered to life. But that's not all it did. A light beacon light shot out from it, and connected with the amulet. Its colors shone onto the map in two more beams of light, pointing to specific locations.
"Best. Puzzle solver. Ever," Jesse patted himself on the back.
Nikki's POV:
Nikki stared in total bliss as a red and green light flashed over their heads and planted themselves on the map.
"It's absolutely incredible!" Olivia gaped. "How did they build this?"
"It's some sort of tracking system," Jesse realized. "This is what Gabriel wanted us to see!"
"But why?" Lukas wanted to know. Nikki had thought about that herself. She KNEW Gabriel had been trying to tell them something. That's when it hit her. The tracking? The previous story? Gabriel's remembrance of his teammates?
"We've got to find the Order of the Stone," she said aloud.
"But there are only two lights," Axel pointed out. "There are only two members of the Order left?"
"He said Soren was missing," Nikki mentioned.
"That leaves Magnus," Lukas said.
"Or Ellegaard," Olivia added.
"Suit up, you guys," Jesse said. "Let's get the Order back together."
"I'm not going with you guys," Lukas finally said. "I need to work on making this place safe before nightfall."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Jesse asked.
"Someone needs to hold down the fort while you guys are getting the Order. Besides--" Lukas turned to Jesse. "If you really believe Petra's still out there, if she's alive...then I need to be here."
"Back off, pal..." Nikki warned silently. "There's only one man for Petra, and that's Jesse." Lukas wouldn't possibly be a threat to their relationship...right? Oh, well. That's not what mattered right now. They needed to reunite the Order.
"But...I'll have a lot of work to do," Lukas confessed. "Maybe...one of you guys could hang back with me?"
"I can do that," Olivia offered, stepping up to Lukas. "As much as I want to see Ellegaard, I think prepping this place is a bit more important."
"Great! Jesse and I will go find Magnus, then!" Axel said, as if the matter was settled.
"Erm...maybe Jesse and I should go," Nikki objected as she picked the amulet back up. She wanted to keep an eye on her brother to make sure he was unharmed. Besides, if Axel stayed here, he and Olivia had a better chance of strengthening their relationship.
"But I'm the number one Magnus fan! I'll get Jesse through the city better," Axel insisted.
"Do you know Jesse as well as I do? I'm his sister, for Notch's sake! I know his what's and what not to's,"
"What does that even mean?"
"It means I'll be able to watch Jesse without getting too distracted by the surroundings!"
Nikki didn't have time to argue like this. All she was saying was that Jesse needed her to get to Magnus. And, in all honesty, she needed him too. If that Wither Storm caught him, there would be no forgiving herself.
"Nikki..." Jesse said, kneeling in front of her. "Listen. I know you're worried about me, but...I'm worried about you too. You need to stay here, where it's safe. I'll definitely be fine knowing you're okay."
Nikki sighed deeply, but what else could she say? There was no changing his mind, and time was of the essence. To top it off, he had a point. She always did better knowing she was out of danger. But even so...that meant he'd be out of danger, throwing her mind into a tussle of worry.
Before she could reply, Nikki heard a faint growl. The sunlight filtering in the room began to flicker. There, off in the distance, was the Wither Storm, continuing its escapade to eat. Nikki probably would have been tossed out of persuasion had Jesse not said what he did next:
"Trust me on this Nikki. 'Siblings together, family forever,' right?"
That stuck her hard. "Siblings together, family forever" was their family's credo. It meant that near or far, dead or alive, they'd always be related...and together, as it were. With that being said, Nikki knew that Jesse would be alright.
"Okay...go get Magnus. Just...don't be a blockhead. For my sake?" she begged.
"Anything for my little sis," Jesse promised with a smile, closing in for a heartfelt hug. Nikki felt so much like crying. Though she hadn't ever since their parents died, this moment came very close. She hugged him tight, as if was the last time she would ever do so. When they parted, she left the amulet in his hand. He looked from down at the amulet to back up to her again in slight surprise.
"If the amulet can track the Order, you'll need it." she told him, swallowing the waver in her tone. "Good luck."
With a nod and a wave, Jesse stood back up and walked to Axel. "Grab your stuff, Axel. We're going to find Magnus."
Zephyr flapped up to Nikki's ear and squeaked to get her attention, asking to see how he could help.
"Alright, little buddy. Go find help," Nikki ordered, her voice stronger now. "Survivors, un-notified people, whatever. We'll need all the help we can get." Nodding his tiny head once, Zephyr zipped into the sky and off into the distance. As Nikki watched him go, she heard the angry growl of the Storm once more, but it didn't course fear though her body; only steely determination.
"The corruption of Minecraftia has begun," she thought. "But so have the heroes who will fight back to their very last breath. This is only the start."
Aaaaaaaaaaand, scene! DONE AT LAST! For the time-being, anyways. Wonderful first book everyone! Welp, that's it until Book 2! Stay tuned! Hasta la vista!