*shakes maracas* ive returned you fucking gremlins
forgive me for dialogue-heavy content.
also!! I took inspiration from Rush and am going to start putting music in my chapters cause 1) i wanna share cool shit 2) i fucking can
***
Ivor was a mystery to Lukas, in all aspects.
He did not know where he was from, his past apart from the Old Order, didn't know simple things about him that friends should know: his favorite color, what he liked to do, his favorite book. He trusted him wholeheartedly as Jesse did, because Ivor was a good man, but the mystery surrounding him made Lukas curious.
He'd been steadily opening up as he gained a stronger relationship with the rest of the current Order (Although Ivor and Petra frequently clashed), but seemed content to only have that deeper connection with Jesse. Lukas had often heard them talk through the night, seen Jesse go to him for advice and comfort.
However, it was still jarring to see Ivor fuss over Jesse like a mother hen.
They were in the basement under the Order Hall rather than Ivor's own house-- Jesse couldn't make it that far, he'd taken six steps and then collapsed, much to Ivor's distress. Ivor kept most of his potion supplies there anyways; he had taken to spending equal time in both establishments.
So there Lukas was, forced to sit back on a nearby chest while Ivor poked and prodded at Jesse, wincing every time Jesse winced.
"Ivor-- ow-- that hurts--" Jesse was too much in a haze to do a whole lot more than mumble protests with closed eyes. His legs dangled off the edge of the counter that lined the back of the room, holding himself up with his arms.
The older man sniffed. "That's what you get for being reckless, boy. Shirt off, there was blood all over the flimsy stuff you were wearing as armor. Now Lukas, you need to tell me what happened while I take care of this mess."
Jesse's sickly complexion paled, and as his gaze flicked to Lukas his ears began to flush.
"I won't look," Lukas promised, turning away. Jesse was insecure, and that was fine. He told the story from start to finish while Ivor tended to the various cuts and scrapes with a cloth dipped in a jar half full of a mix of healing potion and probably a few other things Lukas couldn't name. The smaller wounds would take just a few hours to disappear, days to a week for the larger ones although from what he'd seen Lukas knew a few were going to scar. Healing potions couldn't fix that-- Ivor explained the mechanics to him a while ago: healing only reacted to raw tissue, blood, and small bones, not scar tissue or old wounds. Regeneration just helped the healing process go even quicker.
When he finished Ivor stared him down, the shadows dark on his angular face. Lukas was taller than him, but that didn't make Ivor any less imposing when his eyes darkened and he scowled. For a solid minute Lukas thought Ivor was going to cuss him out, then he sighed and glanced worriedly at the puncture marks on Jesse's upper arm.
A tiny vial of blood sat on the counter. He'd taken a sample, which told Lukas the venom was unknown, dangerous enough to be harmful, or both.
"You kids, always scaring the Nether out of me. I'll be right back, need to figure out the basis of the antivenom. Lukas, keep an eye on him, note any changes in behavior, breathing, slurred words, you know the drill." He vanished behind the various bookshelves standing in rows along the basement with a small whirl of his green outer robe.
Jesse was hunched over, arms crossed and turned away from him.
"Are you worried?" Lukas asked softly.
Jesse shifted at the sound of his voice. "I mean, I guess. Giant snakes are new, but apart from feeling a little tired and dizzy I don't exactly feel poisoned. It's not like this is the worst thing we've ever faced."
Lukas had the growing fear that it was, but not for the whole team. Just for Jesse.
He knew he shouldn't underestimate Jesse-- he'd learned his lesson during the Witherstorm adventure, which was a whole other story to think about-- but he also knew Jesse could only handle so much before he broke. So far he'd stayed resilient past the point Lukas thought was possible, but how much more could he take? How many adventures, how many life-threatening situations and how much emotional pain could he handle before he eventually. . . shattered.
Lukas had seen people completely broken by pain and trauma, their spirits gone. He would lose himself if Jesse was turned into one of them.
"It's still stressful, and probably the most intense adventure we've had yet so far since the Portal Hallway."
Jesse nodded, still turned away from him.
"Is this about you attacking me back there?"
Jesse's gaze shot towards him. "What? I remember I pushed you, but. . . I attacked you?" It was clear he was upset, even more upset about the event than Lukas was. "Did I hurt you? What did I do? Was--"
Lukas waved him off. "I'll be fine, it was more of a scare than anything else." He didn't mention the possession or the fact Jesse would've killed him if the serpent hadn't intervened when it did. Those conversations would happen soon enough. Jesse didn't need to hear them while he was poisoned and tired.
"Do you want to show Ivor the artifact when he gets back?"
Jesse took it out of his back pocket, rubbing his thumb over the sharp edges. "No, not yet. He may have answers, but I need to hear what happened at the temple first, need to try and make sense of it. Plus I need to bring Eli home from Nell and Em's place, talk to a group of neighbors about a land dispute with a well, the jail captain wants to talk to me about the consequences for a teen, that place is unorganized and in need of structure so we can have some sort of. . . protection in place as Beacontown's always been so small there's only been two deputies in charge besides us, and before that Gabriel--"
He was spouting out a hundred words a minute and Lukas had trouble keeping up with his pace of mind. "Woah, hang on! That's a lot of things to do."
Jesse raised his eyebrows. "It's my job. I do this stuff daily. I'm on my feet pretty much all the time."
Lukas didn't know much about Jesse's daily going-ons. He knew Jesse was in some sort of awkward half-mayor stage, but wasn't completely sure how it worked, or what it entailed. He'd never asked since Jesse was gone much of the time, Lukas caught up in his own things, and he was starting to realize being mad at Jesse for being gone was becoming a stupid thing to get mad at with what Lukas was learning about his schedule.
"Oh."
He tried to think of something else to say to keep the conversation going, Jesse still turned away from him, facing the wall with his arms around his knees.
"Are you sure that's all that's bothering you?"
Jesse was completely silent for almost a full minute. All Lukas heard was the humming of redstone lamps on the ceiling, Jesse's feet tapping the counter still. Then he said: "Lukas, do you remember the Games?"
Lukas felt a chill go down his spine.
Yes. Yes, he did. Of course he did.
Screaming and death and the pain, the instant scorching pain of every single one of his bones being shattered and crushed before he died. He would have nightmares about it for the rest of his life.
"I know none of us got away unscathed mentally, but. . . not all of us got away physically unscathed, either." He slid off the counter and stood in front of Lukas, letting his arms rest at his sides, the top of his head barely reaching Lukas' nose. It took Lukas a moment to fully grasp what he was seeing.
Twin scars each the width of Lukas' thumb ran down the right side of his chest, directly opposite his heart, shaky and slightly jagged lines several shades paler than the rest of his skin. They began right at his collarbones and ended halfway down his stomach.
Lukas would've been extremely flustered in any other circumstance-- Jesse was never weak to begin with, from all the hours of work, but he'd filled out a little more in the past year or so and-- Lukas made himself not go into further detail. But the sudden reignited anger at the Old Builders made it hard to be embarrassed.
Lukas didn't have any scars from that experience. He supposed being crushed was a one-way ticket, while. . . being axed in the chest was something the laws of logic could pinpoint a little more. Thinking about how the "respawn" concept worked hurt his head.
Jesse shivered. "It hurt. Still does, sometimes, out of nowhere. Like phantom pains." He leaned back and rested his elbows on the counter, a half laugh escaping him as Lukas continued to be at a loss for words. "They're ugly, I know."
Lukas stared. "No! Jesse, no, they're not ugly. The fact that you lived when you should've died is why they're there, that's all. I think you still look. . . uh. . ."
Handsome? Beautiful? Extremely attractive?
"Nice."
Jesse smiled at him. "Thanks, Lukas."
Lukas felt his face heat but said nothing other than, "Can I see the mark on your palm?"
Jesse held his hand out for him to look. It was pure black, as though drawn in coal, the skin around it burned bright red and shiny. He could tell it stung when he touched it. Lukas turned his hand over. Nothing but freckles and a few scars; the mark (thankfully) hadn't burned through.
The mark itself was two moons facing each other, connected by a cross, two circles at the tip of each perpendicular end. Lukas didn't like looking at it, curious as he was; it gave him what was best described as a "bad feeling," like so many others he'd felt recently. Something horrible was going to come of it, he knew. Somehow. Without proof yet. Before Jesse took his hand back Lukas grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper to scribble down a quick likeness and folded it to put in his back pocket.
Ivor's voice cut through his incoming thoughts. "Got it!"
Lukas turned. "The antivenom? That fast?"
"Well, it's the closest to an antivenom we're going to get. For an actual one I'd need a potent sample of the snake's venom, do weeks of testing--"
"Alright, I understand. What can we do for Jesse right now?"
Ivor tugged at his beard a little, in deep thought. "Give the potions we can, as I said, keep an eye on him and take note of anything odd. Snake venom is tricky. Keep him resting. I'm going to speak with a local farmer to see if I can get a team to start working on the antivenom, we're going to need animals for testing. It won't be a great antivenom, but I can work with what I have, try to separate the blood from the poison"
Jesse frowned. "Ivor. . ."
"I'll only be injecting a small amount of the venom into animals; they're supposed to build up a resistance. I'm not going to be slaughtering them. I'm doing this for you."
Jesse closed his eyes for a moment. "Okay, but I don't like the idea of animals being tested on for one person's sake. Try to keep the damage to a minimum as much as possible, please." He carefully stood, leaning on the counter for a few seconds, then sucked in a breath and straightened. Lukas and Ivor watched his every move like hawks, searching for any sign of being unwell.
Jesse huffed. "Don't stand over me like that, I am going to be fine."
He walked past Lukas and Ivor with a slight assuredness in his step. The pair watched him leave the basement, then exchanged worried looks. Ivor's gaze sharpened on Lukas. "Make sure nothing bad happens to him."
Lukas gazed at the stairs where Jesse had been mere seconds ago. "I'd die before I'd let anything even touch him."
***
Em and Nell's home was small, but not plain.
The front yard was decorated with oceanside plants that would grow in the surrounding climate, and oddly colored rocks, some glittering. It was two story, painted blue and yellow-- funky colors-- and stood out against the rest of the homes on the street. A huge brown pitbull lounged on the wooden porch underneath a hammock, a Beware of Dog sign hanging on the front gate.
Unusually, the dog only opened one dark eye as Lukas stepped onto the front porch and knocked on the door. Nell opened it, her hair out of its regular braids and in an unruly bun, an orange shirt with the lettering Far Out reaching past her knees.
Her eyes widened as she recognized him. "Lukas! Dude, it's been a while!"
She gestured for him to come inside. Lukas wiped the dirt off his feet on the welcome mat and went into the living room, which also held a beautiful array of shells, rocks, and other little knickknacks from nature on wood shelves. "Good to see you too, Nell. Is Jesse here?"
"Yeah! He's in the kitchen with Em makin' dinner, come on!" Nell led him through the living room, past a flight of curving stairs and an empty fireplace. They rounded a corner and were met with Em, her hair longer and her aura calmer, and Jesse at the counter mixing something in a bowl with Eli laid faithfully at his bare feet.
He seemed surprised to see Lukas. "I was hoping you wouldn't find me."
"I think we both know at this point I know you well enough." He moved to stand behind Jesse, leaning on his chair. "What are you guys cooking up?"
Nell stood on her tiptoes to kiss her wife's cheek. "I believe biscuits and stew." She washed her hands at the sink, then started helping Em cut vegetables. Lukas began looking around for something to do, and Nell assured him he was fine and that he needed a break, which, after the violent fiasco he'd just been through, he supposed was true.
"You ran off on me. Please don't do that again, especially not right now." he said quietly, so only Jesse could hear him.
Jesse did not look at him. "I can try, but no promises."
Lukas sighed. Maybe Jesse really did need some alone time, to process and make sense of everything, but he could put it off for a little bit, until the poison effects-- whatever they might be-- wore off. Lukas wasn't going to take any chances with him. Not this time.
Em asked him how the past few weeks had been and the four people fell into easy conversation, mostly about Em and Nell as Jesse and Lukas made a silent agreement to avoid lingering too long on the topic of Eli and what they'd found, as well as Jesse's clear wounds. Nell was a definite talker and although Lukas appreciated her as a friend, sometimes she was unsure what was best left unsaid, and the public didn't need to be thrown into a panic about whether Jesse was going to be okay, or whether there was another big danger at hand.
There was a lot left to uncover before Jesse would consider letting the city in on what was going on, and Lukas agreed.
"Also, Stella stopped by. She said she already dropped off the letter in your mailbox, but told us to tell you her situation was real urgent. I don't know what's going on, but it's got to be something bad if she hates you so much," Nell said, glancing across the small table at Jesse.
Stella was the current mayor of a neighboring town called Champion City; small at the moment but quickly gaining population and awareness. She had this rivalry complex with Jesse Lukas didn't understand; and it just seemed to be getting worse. Nell was right-- if she herself had come to Beacontown in need, the situation was probably serious.
Jesse stirred his soup, thinking. "I'll check it out as soon as I get back."
They continued chatting through a quick dinner, until the sun began to draw close to the horizon. Jesse and Lukas thanked Em and Nell for watching Eli and their company and food, then left with Eli trotting at Jesse's heels, the pair watching them go with Em's arm around Nell's waist. The happiness and relationship that they held made Lukas ache for something similar, a little bit.
Lukas and Jesse hadn't walked ten feet when the first person stopped them. Lukas realized he was the jail captain, as Jesse had mentioned earlier.
"Jesse, we have to talk about security--"
Jesse let out a sigh. "Yes, I understand, however we have some urgent matters to attend to, can this wait for a few more days?"
The man nodded curtly, annoyed, and walked away. Lukas watched him go, wary, then followed Jesse back to the Order Hall, being stopped several times by other people with needs, wants to build, problems. Each bringing of news seemed to weigh even heavier on Jesse; he grew increasingly irritable although to most others it wouldn't be noticeable-- it was in his posture, the slight shift in the tone of his voice.
But there were good parts, ones that lifted his spirits once everyone that wanted to let him know something was going wrong had their fill. A small girl with pigtails offered Jesse a handful of uprooted dandelions, which he gently stored in his back pocket. A group of men greeted him enthusiastically and invited him in for a drink, which Jesse politely declined to. Most people said hello or at least waved.
The townspeople really did love Jesse, Lukas realized.
He took care of them, helped them solve their problems, kept them as safe as he could, was eternally patient with them in a way he wasn't with people he'd gotten to know better.
Up until now Lukas hadn't understood how important this town actually was to Jesse, and he better comprehended why Jesse worked all the time, even if it wasn't in his best interests. He felt a unique responsibility to them, and wouldn't abandon them. Lukas admired him for that.
Jesse picked up the letter from his mailbox on the way, and he opened the door to a world of chaos.
Axel, Olivia, and Petra all stood around the largest table-- covered in books and papers of all sizes-- talking with grim expressions on their faces. Ivor was nowhere to be seen. All three were dirty and covered in minor scrapes and cuts.
Olivia beamed at Jesse when she'd noticed him. "Don't worry about us; we're okay. Just a small zombie ambush, nothing we couldn't handle. And look!" She held up an old-looking leather-bound book. "We found all this!"
"It's all in the same language as the map," Petra added. "So they're not of much use unless we can crack the language code."
"With this much information we might be able to," Lukas said, examining the contents laid on the wood surface. "It'll take a while, but if we can find a pattern-- and that's if Ivor doesn't know, because he might-- we can start taking this apart piece by piece."
Jesse nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Axel, unless you're seriously hurt, could you go find Ivor? He's got to be in the city somewhere by now, maybe at his lava house."
Axel saluted with one hand. "Aye-aye, captain." He set down the paper he was holding, put on his shoes, and vanished through the doorway.
"Olivia, you, me, and Petra will--"
Petra put a hand on his hip. "What makes you think you're doing anything? Nuh-uh. You're going to bed and getting plenty of rest, I see those bandages." Olivia swiveled her head towards Petra. "He's right. Jesse, what happened to you? You look awful, no offense."
Jesse grumbled something about "full offense taken" but briefly explained what he and Lukas had found at the end of the pathway. When he couldn't remember the events, Lukas took over, and Jesse's face went ashen as Lukas explained how something other had appeared to be in control of him. "All I remember was that you were about to stab me, but then the snake must've bit you? Something stopped you, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
Jesse sat down, eyes wide. "I was. . . possessed. But--"
"Only the dead get possessed, that's how we get zombies and husks," Olivia said. "You need to rest, Jesse. You've been through a lot in the past day. Lukas and I will sort all this stuff through in the library; let us do the worrying for right now. You need sleep, especially after that snake bite. It's just coursing through your system more if you stay active. Petra, will you make sure he gets to sleep?"
Petra grinned and helped Jesse up. "Of course. Come on, big hero, I gotta tuck you into bed."
Jesse groaned but got up anyways, giving Lukas one last look before going into his room, Petra right on his heels, saying things like "You have 10 minutes to get your ass into that bed" and "I don't wanna hear a single peep out of you."
Lukas shook his head, trying not to laugh. Olivia started gathering up the papers and books and he followed her lead, exchanging light conversation with her on the way to the Old Order's library, which was huge and would take Lukas at least another few months to filter through. A second story walkway ran along the circumference of the room so you could reach the higher shelves of books, and tables littered the center.
They sorted the papers and books by size, taking quick glances at the pages. It was all scribbled confusion, Lukas couldn't make heads or tails of it. Maybe Ivor would know at least something, or possibly Soren, though Lukas didn't look forwards to seeing him again if he had to.
Once the duo was done they headed to Jesse's room to see if he was resting, and were met with a surprise.
Petra was laying beside him, barely touching, Jesse's breathing even and deep. He was nested in several blankets and pillows, Petra gently patting his back. Petra looked up to greet them, hushing Lukas and Olivia before they could say anything too loud.
"You guys should join us." He winked.
Lukas stared. "No. Petra, uh. . . what are you doing?"
Petra rolled his eyes. "It's just cuddling between best friends, Lukas, is your masculinity so fragile you can't cuddle with your buds?"
"No, it's just-- hell, why are you so cool with it? You rarely like to be hugged."
"1. It's a little different with close friends, 2. Jesse needs some solace right now and I'm here, and 3. You're changing the subject. Get over here, blondie. You're better at comforting than I am anyways."
The thought of cuddling Jesse made his ears burn. "I actually have writing to do--"
Olivia saved him by saying, "Petra, Lukas and I found a few books on languages and things of the like that we're going to look through. Maybe--"
"Bullshit. Get over here, Lukas. We can switch places; you cuddle Jesse while I go through some musty old books with a pretty girl." He felt Petra pull him by the arm and he fell onto the bed, bumping into Jesse, who hardly budged. Petra propped himself up on his arm and looked over him, gesturing for Lukas to get comfy. He clearly wasn't going anywhere, but with Jesse curled up so close Lukas didn't want to.
Olivia shrugged, as if to say Well, I tried. "We'll stay in the room. I don't like the idea of leaving Jesse."
Lukas turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, which Jesse had painted constellations on a few months prior. He recognized a few of them, although some of them seemed to be entirely made-up. "Olivia, are you superstitious?"
"I'd like to call myself open-minded. Why do you ask?"
"The symbol on Jesse's hand and the snake and the ghost-possessor-thing. . . it doesn't add up. Maybe that's the sort of thing we're looking for. Doesn't mean it's real, but. . . I don't know. It's worth checking out. There's a book all about it on Jesse's desk that I left there last time I was in here." Lukas didn't mention how he'd seen a symbol in the book that looked the same as the one on the house wall where he and Jesse had found Eli.
The dog was laying at the foot of the bed, eyes open and attentive. Petra reached over to scratch her behind the ears. "It's worth a shot at this point."
Lukas heard the sound of Olivia flipping through the pages. "What does the symbol on Jesse's hand look like?"
Rather than disturb Jesse, Lukas took the paper he'd scribbled on out of his jeans and passed it to her. Olivia opened it up, then sat down and slid the book onto her lap, beginning to flip through the many yellowed pages.
Petra, at the edge of the bed, patted his foot. "You should sleep, Lukas. You got battered around too."
Too exhausted to argue with him, Lukas laid his head down, his hand way too close to Jesse's, and closed his eyes.
He was soon shaken awake by Olivia, her face glowing in the lamp light and her eyes alight with alarm. It took a few seconds to understand that Jesse had turned around and was sleeping with one leg thrown around Lukas' knee, his body pressed up against Lukas' back.
Lukas sat up-- or tried to. "What's going on?"
"The symbol," Olivia whispered. Lukas had only seen her in such fear only a few times. He lowered his voice as well. "What does it mean?"
Olivia showed him where she was at in the book, her hands shaking as she held it.
"Stygal. He Who Brings Death."
***
god FINALLY i know this chapter was a bit shitty pls bear with me
feels good to be back
yall got theories 👀