I, as gently as I possibly can, hoist him on my back and pocket the heart. As nervous as I am about moving him, Jesse can't exactly get help all the way down here. It might be really slow climbing up with only one hand with glass impaled in it and with all this weight, but I won't rush. I won't hurt Jesse even more.
Every time Jesse twitches, every time he takes a deep breath, and every time he utters some intangible mutterings, I instantly stop. Wait there for a few moments to see if it's a problem before continuing. Hopefully the townspeople are doing better than Jesse right now, I've never seen him so weak.
Although there's a growing concern about myself. I'm sure I'm still in shock and still have a lot of adrenaline in my veins. But hot pins and needles dance all over my limbs. Not exactly painful, but after we care for Jesse and ourselves, we should be getting a rest. A really long one after we eat something.
Petra's arm will have to be treated first, it would be devastating to her if it never healed right. It's feels like days since that happened, but it really was only a couple of hours ago. I don't think Ivor has any serve injuries, but he will have to be tended to as well.
"Where's Lukas and Jesse?"
Petra's urgent shout spurs me to climb faster. I'm panting too hard and too fast to stop to say something. A nervous voice floats down, but is drowned out by my heartbeat to properly hear it.
I make sure Jesse is secure on my back before jumping up and grabbing the platform with my hand, the glass shards still embedded in it. I feel the other's footsteps run over, but thanks to adrenaline, I already have my elbow up.
"Ivor, grab Jesse." Petra orders, unable to do it with her broken arm. Harper leans down and hoists me up, and the moment I roll onto the ground, I spring onto my feet again.
The world speckles black, my knees locking in place as I scramble for my balance. Perhaps I need more rest than I thought, but I'll heal quickly. Jesse is the primary concern here, we have to help him.
Ivor is already kneeling next to Jesse, and Petra gets down too. I stumble next to her, whispering pleas under my breath. Now that I'm not completed panicked about his survival or fighting him, I can see he does look different.
In a horrific way. Dark gray bags droop from his eyes, his normally pale skin is ghostly now, and even though he's hasn't hit twenty years of age, Jesse could pass for someone in their thirties. Maybe even older.
"Guys? You should know-"
Petra snarls at her. "Not now Harper!"
My fists curl, yet I still pleadingly stare at Jesse. If P.A.M.A. knew how weak he was, then why did it break him even more? How could he have been lightning fast when chipped but shattered once released?
Jesse groans and his eyes flutter open, only to immediately close. We all hold our breath, anxiously waiting for him to wake up more. Although, his eyes aren't the same. They started as bright emeralds, transformed into lifeless red ones, and now have faded into pasty green ones. The energy sucked right out of them.
"Are you..." Jesse mixes a whimper and a cough, and I plead a litter harder for him. "...all okay?"
"Don't worry about us Jesse." Petra's mouth tightens determinedly. "We need to make sure you're okay. What hurts the most?"
Jesse smiles, but still doesn't open his eyes. "My pride. I can't believe I was some pet to a machine."
He opens his eyes and tries to get up. Before any of us can stop him, Jesse's face twists in pain and falls back, panting heavily. This is... We won't be leaving Crown Mesa for a while, not until Jesse is back at full strength.
"Uh... guys?" We all jump at Harper's sudden voice, I forgot about her. "We need to get the- uh... Jesse out into town, he can be helped there."
Petra grumbles and steps back, her injury causing more distress through its limitations than pain. Ivor moves to Jesse's feet and I wrap my arms under his shoulders. He doesn't react for a moment, but right before we lift Jesse's eyes fly open and he yanks himself out of our grasp.
Mostly crazed, he scrambles away from us and scurries to his feet. Jesse sways a little, his eyes dazed and unfocused. With a quick shake, he straightens himself out and gives a smile. The same smile that has convinced me everything was all right over and over again... but this time I finally see how pained his eyes are.
Ivor reacts first. "Whoa Jesse! You need to calm down, you are much too weak to-"
Jesse waves an arm, the smile never faltering. "I'm perfectly capable of walking, you guys don't need to strain yourself any further for me now. You've already done so much."
His words sound so confident, so easy to nod your head to. But now they make my stomach uneasy. How long have these happy words covered up such darkness? How long has he been convincing himself to go down this path?
"Jesse..." Petra hesitates, going to scratch her head before wincing. Jesse stares at her as his eyes slowly widen, his lips quivering. He turns to me and just crumbles in despair, a tear slipping out of his eye.
"Oh gosh... I-I" His eyes gaze over and more tears start to fall. I look away, not knowing what to, how to help. Jesse must be remembering what he's done when P.A.M.A. was controlling him. And judging by his horrified face, he's probably blaming himself. It's just terrible to see him break down more and not knowing how to do anything to help.
"Hey easy there now." Harper comes up to him and pats his shoulder, but he just flinches away.
"The Creator! Uh..." Jesse actually shrinks, the Wither Slayer shrinks, withdrawing deeper into himself. "Err, I'm sorry about that... So, umm, what's your real name?"
Harper's face crinkles, confused and distraught. A similar expression to the rest of us. "I'm Harper, and I think it's best if we go outside. The whole town must be awake by now."
Jesse scratches the back of his head, clearly unsure and confused. Some of his muscles twitch, and although it's a small detail, his lips tighten in pain. Jesse has never shown any sign to ever being tired, or weak, or hurt. And now, he's hissing quietly every time his weight shifts. How he is still standing?
"Come on Jesse." I walk up next to him, partly so I can have a better eye on him. "I'm sure you don't want to stay in this creepy place."
He nods and shuffles forward at a very slow pace, looking around the cavern with horror in his eyes. I can't imagine what's going through his head, and the pain that it's causing. I really want to help him, but I really have no idea how. Jesse made it clear he does not want to be carried and what in the Nether can I say to ease him? I was the one fighting him.
"I'm so sorry Lukas..."
I'm instantly ready to tell him that none of it is his fault, whatever it is. "Don't be, you did nothing wrong."
He shakes his head, angry and bitter. He walks faster, wincing when doing so. "I-I-I tried to kill you! You... I was going to-to end to your life. I- how can-"
Jesse suddenly stops talking, head completely down. We all glance at each other, worried and terrified. What did P.A.M.A. do? How did Jesse get chipped strong and come out shattered when P.A.M.A. knew he had to have the essentials of life? Like rest, rest is the important one here.
"So uh... Lukas," I know Harper probably isn't comfortable with the silence, but small talk is not appropriate right now. "Do you have the Redstone Heart?"
I roll my eyes, if she wants her precious heart back she can have it. I never want to hear its heartbeat again. Although I hope she learned her lesson with computers.
"Here." I reach back and pull out the heart. "You can-"
Without warning, Jesse lunches over and snatches it right out of my hands. I stare at him and his unaccounted for anger written all over his face. Then he blinks and it washes off, and he jerks the heart out and away from him as if it's trying to kill him.
"What is this thing? I-I..." Jesse tosses the heart to me, twitching uncontrollably and face screwed up in pain. "It's, uhhh, important? Has to be protected at all costs?"
I put the heart away, it's clearly not doing any good. And what in the Nether am I suppose to say that will calm him down? We all stop before exiting the cavern, and none of us knowing what to say.
Ivor clears his throat. "Jesse, don't worry about that. Instead, do you think you can climb out of here?"
Jesse immediately nods, but I don't think he even looked at it. It isn't a very long climb, maybe fifteen blocks, but it's straight up. He hasn't stopped twitching, or maybe those are flinches, and every time he takes a step he gives some tiny sign of pain.
Petra sighs. "Jesse, it's alright if-"
"I can!" My heart jumps, Jesse snapped at Petra. Jesse snapped at Petra. He rarely gets angry, and not once at a friend. Hissing under his breath he jumps up, climbing out. We all quickly follow him, all prepared to catch him should he slip up.
I'm not sure if the others can hear it, seeing how I'm the closest to him, but Jesse is definitely in a lot of pain. Hissing when he lands, quietly snarling when preparing to jump, wincing constantly and muttering 'ow' and 'agh' under his breath.
We make it to the stop, Jesse sways on his feet and slouches but smiles at us. "See? I did it."
"Jesse..." I don't want him to feel worse, but his body is going to collapse under him at this pace. "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should."
"Exactly! You guys don't have to work harder for me, not when you're all kinda beat up too." He turns away, but I don't miss the 'because of me' Jesse mumbled. How do you convince someone so completely selfless and forgiving that it really isn't his fault?
"Okay," Harper walks ahead of us and turns to face us, very nervous. "The townspeople might be a little off, they've been chipped for a long time. But-"
We turn the corner, and see everyone celebrating. All of them smiling as they hug each, some of them even bouncing on the slime blocks Ivor placed.
"Look! It's the saviors!"
Everyone immediately stops and runs over to us. Although I snap my head to Jesse when he emits a soft groan. His face twisted in agony before he holds his head with his hands and covers his face.
The crowd in front of us stops, whispering to each other. "It's the Pet..."
"I thought something really bad was happening to him when P.A.M.A. focus its attention on only one person..."
"I feel bad for the Pet..."
"Wait..." Petra turns to the crowd. "What do you mean by 'the Pet'?"
"No..." Jesse lifts his head, appearing on the brink of death. "It's not important."
The citizens didn't hear his pleading whispers, and a gray hair guy steps forward. "Once he got chipped, we felt and heard P.A.M.A. shift its focus. It called him the Pet, and was-"
"Stop! Stop it! Please..." Jesse's back straighten, and to my absolute shock, he transformed himself. He stood up straight and strong, not showing any pain. He held himself confidently but still at ease. He even smiled, as if nothing was wrong.
But his pale eyes sparkle with tears.
"I'm much more concerned about all of you, is everyone fine?" I narrow my eyes, has Jesse always been so good at covering up his pain?
"Oh well, we are!" And just like that everyone's smiling again. "We're doing great thanks to all of you! We owe you guys everything!"
"That's certainly true." The crowd looks at Harper, noticing her for the first time. "These people truly are heroes, none of this would've happened without them."
"Wait... Harper?!" A dark skinned man pushes his way through the crowd. "It is you!"
"Um... yes, it is I. Hi... Harry."
'Harry' didn't look happy to see her, not one person did. "You built P.A.M.A., you were the one who did this!"
The crowd went from happy to angry in a heartbeat. I suppose it makes sense though. Years of trapped in your own body, withering without your free will, an entire chuck of your life lost and spent in the hands of something else. I would be really mad at the person responsible for that too.
"Well- I mean, hey! It's complicated! You have to understand-"
"No!" A women steps up. "Our homes are destroyed! Everything we built, GONE! All because of the machine you promised would help us!"
Angry bickering sparked up, furious remarks spreading. Jesse can't handle a mob right now, he needs to rest. I turn my head to him, seeing how he's doing. Back to the brink of death, so very bad again. How did I not notice?
"HEY!" The angry glares snap to Ivor. "Harper helped saved you, we wouldn't be having this conversation if it wasn't for her."
The gray haired man speaks again. "And if it wasn't for her this would have never happened!"
The same women yells out. "All the resources have been stripped bare! Do you know how difficult it will be to rebuild now!"
"Look at us!" A blonde pushes himself to the front. "I'm not sure if you read the sign coming in, but before Harper built P.A.M.A., there was a thousand of us! P.A.M.A. worked us to death so we could as useful as possible! And now we need to rebuild?"
I gasp, horrified that my suspicions were correct. P.A.M.A. was very strict on the people, no wonder Jesse is so broken. As its 'pet' he probably was pushed the hardest.
"ENOUGH!" Jesse yelled, he hardly ever does that. He needs to rest, like right now. He's burning whatever strength he has left. "Creat- Harper will help you guys, she will fix this town. Just stop yelling."
The crowds calm down, but I honestly think it's because of what Jesse looks like. Last time he spoke with and stood with confidence. But now, he was pleading with them. His face flushed and sweat dribbling down his forehead.
"Yes. Yes of course I will. After I help these travellers find their way home, I'll come back, help you all find new resources, and help make this world great again!"
"Home?" Jesse glances up at Harper. "You can get us home?"
Petra grabs Jesse's shoulder. "She can, but not now."
"That's right." Harper nods. "The exit portal isn't complete yet, I need an hour to finish it."
"Wait, you guys are leaving already?" The crowd whispers among themselves. A few suspicious glares at Harper, couple of worried glances at Jesse, and then some loud grumblings.
"Just, please, everyone listen." Dozens of eyes suddenly turn on me, and I gulp nervously. "We actually won't be leaving for a few days, if not longer. We really need to rest, and recover."
Jesse opens his mouth, but Ivor lightly smacks his shoulder. "In the meantime, we would really appreciate it if you could gives us a house with some beds in it. And Harper will be out here helping you guys."
I sigh, relieved when the citizens all nod their head. I didn't realize how nerve racking it could be under the eyes of so many people. The Harry guy steps forward to us.
"Here, I'll show you to a good place." He glances over to Harper. "And please Harper, I want to forgive you."
She nods but looks away as she rubs her arm. Harper sheepishly walking towards P.A.M.A.'s screen, pulling out a diamond pick. Harry turns back to us, smiling brightly, and gestures us to follow him.
"Guys, we should just go home. We can-" Jesse's own groan cuts him off and he staggers forward. We all rush to his side, but he waves us off and slowly heaves himself upright again.
"Jesse." Petra can't sound irritated, that's not good for Jesse. "You need help, just accept it."
"No, I'll be finnnnnn..." Jesse's eyes roll to the back his head, before he slumps over and passes out.