Hey I just want to say since I've found your blog I've enjoyed your writing and the Lukesse one specifically making me want to kick my feet and scream I love them sm keep up the great work I can't wait to see more from your blog<333
Oh my gosh, you are so kind! You have no idea how much it means to know someone is enjoying my little fics still. Especially a fellow shipper, love those dorks. Seriously thank you so much, your message and seeing all the notes on my posts has absolutely made my day.
I just wanna come by and say: I love your stuff! I just recently got into MCSM again and your blog is amazing! I just binge read all the stories and fangirl about the Lukesse ones as well. So well written and beautifully descriptive!🤩 I hardly see any blogs that continue the fandoms I enjoy and when I found yours I literally couldn't stop smiling! Your so talented! Keep up the good work, dear fanfiction writer! Have a great day and stay safe ❤
Excuse me while I scream over your wonderfully sweet message! It always warms my little heart when someone says they’ve enjoyed something I wrote, thank you so much! Thank you for the encouragement, lovely anon. It’s been hard to do much writing lately for health reasons, but I have no intention of stopping, even it takes me extra long. Anyway THANK YOU and I hope you have a lovely week, dear.
Well this has been a long time coming, hasn’t it? But finally! I kicked myself into gear and finally finished chapter one of the Swan Princess AU! I can’t promise speedy updates, but I am at least going to do better about writing a little bit every day so I can at least ensure it gets finished.
Anyway, please enjoy!
Jesse knew that many people thought the life of a royal was something like living in a fairy tale. They expected it to be grand balls and magic and romance. But at seven years old and being shipped away from her home, her friends, and her family to spend an entire summer with a boy she was expected to marry, it was decidedly nothing at all like a fairy tale.
She’d never even met the prince, three years her senior, but somehow she already disliked him. It was his fault after all that she was to be uprooted from her like for the next three years and every summer after that, wasn’t it? At least that’s what she told herself, despite somewhere in the back of her mind knowing that he had just as little choice in the matter as she did.
Jesse’s only solace was Reuben. The little pig on her lap was the only friend allowed to accompany her for the summer, and probably the only reason Isa had managed to drag her this far.
To say Jesse was unhappy with the arrangement was an understatement to say the least and while she said nothing, it was clear to her mother from her expression that Jesse was anything but pleased. Isa let out a tired sigh at the sight. “Has it ever occurred to you that you may actual enjoy your time here, Jesse? It will be much more likely that you do if you don’t decide to hate it before you’re even there.” She punctuated the comment with a pointed look at her daughter, which was only met with the same grumpy expression turned pouting out the carriage window. It was going to be a very long summer, and Isa wasn’t even going to be there for most of it. The queen said a silent prayer that Soren was at least half as patient as he was eccentric.
Ten year old Lukas was in no better spirits about the whole arrangement. Standing outside the palace with his father, he had no idea what to expect. Supposedly he had met Jesse once shortly after she was born, but he barely remembered the encounter, and even if he did have a clear memory, meeting someone as a baby was hardly a good indicator of what her personality would be like now.
Up until now summers had been something to look forward to. There were fewer lessons, more time he could spend with his friends, and the weather was always nice enough to spend outside. Now he’d be spending his summers entertaining a foreign princess who may well end up being the most insufferable person he’d ever met.
Lukas half hoped that they’d change their mind and not come after all, but his hopes were dashed as the long line of horses and carriages came into view. Maybe she won’t be that bad, Lukas told himself, but as the chestnut haired little girl stepped out of the carriage, that hope too was long gone. Princess Jesse looked anything but pleasant with her angry scowl that seemed to be directed in his direction. His own irritation at the situation seemed to double and he adopted a similar expression to match hers.
The two were so absorbed in their impromptu staring match, neither noticed the concerned look shared between their parents. The uncomfortable silence was quickly broken by Soren. “Now Lukas, staring is no way to greet our guests. Remember what we discussed.” He said, urging him forward with a not-quite-gentle pat on the back.
Still scowling, Lukas closed the distance between himself and Jesse and took her hand. “We’re so pleased to have you with us, Princess.” He forced out as coolly as possible before a brief kiss on the back of her hand, abruptly letting go of her as soon as he was finished. Neither of the children looked anywhere near happy about it, both now refusing to even look at each other.
A long summer indeed, Isa thought to herself as they were led inside.
At the point that everyone present thought that things couldn’t be going any worse was the point Lukas’s three young friends decided to make themselves known. Soren couldn’t say he’d ever been fond of the trio of children that his son had chosen to be friends with, but their parents were members of his court and Lukas loved them, so he had no choice but to tolerate them.
At this particular moment tolerating them was the hardest it had ever been for Soren as the hopes for Jesse and Lukas warming up to each other were quickly waning each moment Aiden, Maya, and Gill hung around them. Currently the three of them were sneering at Jesse and the piglet in her arms, Aiden at the front of the group, as Lukas hung back and observed.
“Huh, I always knew you foreigners were weird, but man I didn’t realize what freaks you could be. I mean who carries around a stinky pig? Pigs are for food, idiot.” He said with a cruel laugh.
“Reuben’s my friend, and if you’re smelling anyone around here, it must be you.” She bit back with a pointed look in his direction. Even if she hadn’t already been in such a foul mood, there was no way she was going to stand for someone insulting her friend.
“Oh yeah? Is that the best you’ve got?” Aiden snorted, getting uncomfortably close to her face. Jesse, though young and small, fixed him with an icy glare reminiscent of her mother as she set Reuben down on the ground with a surprising calm. Then in one smooth motion she straightened herself, pulled back her arm, and connected her first with his face.
The other three gaped at the sudden act while Reuben squealed in a way that sounded suspiciously like laughter. “Why you-! You’re gonna regret that!” Aiden barked when he’d recovered enough to respond, raising his fist to reciprocate.
“And what are you doing? Threatening the princess?” Reginald, the captain of Isa’s guards, was looming over them now with his arms crossed and a very angry frown.
“What, I wasn’t-She started it!” Aiden yelled suddenly, pointing an accusatory finger at Jesse. Gill and Maya nodded enthusiastically in support of the wild claim.
“Is that so? Jesse?” Reggie’s eyebrows shot up as he turned to the young girl to hear her defense.
“Me? Why would I ever do something like that? The last thing I’d want to do is make them angry when I have to spend the whole summer here.” Jesse was innocent, at least of instigating the confrontation, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t playing it up for all it was worth. One of the most valuable skills she’d learned in her short life was that she was cute and that it very often worked in her favor.
“That’s what I thought. Young man I’d better not see or hear about you raising your hand to the princess again, or you’ll be answering to a lot of powerful people.” His eyes narrowed threateningly for good measure. “And people who are very good with a sword.” He added, patting the sword on his belt.
As he walked away Jesse gave the 4 other children the most pleasant, and entirely insincere, smile she was capable of, and without another word, she picked up Reuben and followed after him.
Aiden glared at her as she left. The lines had been drawn now, and he was not going to make things easy for her, and there was no way he was going to let his best friend marry some snotty, brat of a princess.
The next summer Jesse came armed with more friends, and human ones this time, though of course Reuben was there too like her previous trip. If Lukas could have his cronies, she’d argued to her mother, she should at least be able to bring some friends of her own along. Isa hadn’t appreciated her referring to them as his cronies, nor any of the other colorful names she’d come up with for them, but she couldn’t deny the request, especially not if it had the chance to warm Jesse up to the idea of the summer visits.
As it turned out, the only thing Lukas’s friends liked more than taunting Jesse was taunting her friends. They’d made it their mission to annoy and harass them all in whatever way they could without getting themselves into trouble.
Lukas was more indifferent to all of them after the initial displeasure at the situation wore off, even polite and outright kind when his friends weren’t around, much to the confusion of Jesse, but she didn’t often dwell on it, too busy trying to avoid his friends.
And the summers continued on, all more of less the same for several years. Each group of friends content to despise each other, waging their own personal war, much to the frustration of both Soren and Isa. To say their plan wasn’t going the way they’d hoped was an understatement to say the least.
Soren in particular, who was experiencing it all first hand, was growing more impatient, until finally he chose to take matters into his own hands, deciding maybe something a little less subtle might work better.
“Why don’t you take Jesse on a ride around the grounds. I’m sure she’d love to take in some of the scenery.” The king suggested to his son on a sunny day when the two opposing groups were sitting in the garden shooting unpleasant looks at each other across a flower bed and pretending they weren’t.
“Father, she’s been coming here every summer for years. I’m sure she’s seen the scenery by now.” Lukas said, casting an uncertain glance in Jesse’s direction. Despite their initial introduction and how his friends treated her, he’d long ago decided he had no issues with her, though he was sure she felt the opposite. He had a fairly good feeling that being forced to spend time alone with him was the farthest thing from what she’d want.
“No reason she can’t see it again.” Soren pushed, unwilling to accept his refusal. “Besides I’m sure there are at least some places you could ride to that she hasn’t seen before.”
Lukas sighed, knowing his father wasn’t likely to give up the idea any time soon. “Fine. Princess, would you care to join me?” He asked as politely as he could muster through his frustration.
Jesse only nodded curtly in response, wasting no time in making her way towards the stables. Her friends, as well as Lukas’s made to follow, but Soren once again intervened. “Aiden, why don’t you and the others show our other guests the updates made to the east wing. I’m sure it would be much more interesting for them than a ride, don’t you think?” Everyone present knew that it would be anything but interesting, but it was another request that wasn’t really a request at all.
Glaring daggers at Axel and Olivia, both of whom, along with Reuben, looked none too pleased with the idea themselves, Aiden agreed. “Of course, Your Majesty.” Then a wicked smile spread across his face, deciding this was the perfect opportunity to torment them, and even better without Jesse or Lukas around to curb his attempts. “It would be our pleasure.”
Lukas stopped just as he was passing Soren. “She hates me, you know that don’t you? I’m not sure forcing her to spend even more time with me is really going to help that.” And without waiting for a reply Lukas strode off, hurrying to catch up with Jesse, if not to also avoid a lecture from his father.
They prepared their horses in an uncomfortable silence, and rode for what felt like an eternity in a similar manner. Lukas wasn’t sure how many times he thought about saying something, anything really, just to break the silence, only to change his mind when finally he didn’t have to. “I don’t hate you, you know.” Jesse said suddenly, the break of the tense silence surprising Lukas.
His eyebrows lifted curiously at her comment. “I don’t hate you either?” He wasn’t sure if it was more of a surprise that she had finally spoken to him or what she’d chosen to say.
“I heard what you said to your father earlier.” She offered in explanation for the sudden declaration. “I don’t hate you, I just...I hate not having a choice in all this. They say we have a choice, but I think we both know that isn’t true.”
“Yeah...” Lukas responded with a sigh. It had always been the worst part of the arrangement. For all they were told that they would always have a say in how things ended up, how often their parents shoved them at each other and spoke about their marriage as if it were already decided, it felt like the exact opposite.
“And I don’t like your friends.” She added with a dark expression. “They’re bullies, I don’t know why you keep hanging around with them.” Then her face softened. “You don’t seem anything like them.”
Lukas wanted to be angry at her for insulting his friends, but he found that he couldn’t. “They’re my best friends, you just don’t know them like I do.” He halfheartedly argued, though whether it was more for her sake or his, he wasn’t sure.
Jesse bit her tongue, deciding the snarky reply that almost left her lips wasn’t going to get them anywhere except backtracking in a relationship where there wasn’t much farther back to go. “I want us to be friends.” She said finally.
He felt himself grinning in response. “Yeah, I’d like that too.” If they were forced to be in this mess together, it would be much easier on both of them if they actually got along, let alone actually enjoyed each others’ company.
Jesse beamed at him in return. “Good! Friends, then.” Then her expression shifted in a way he couldn’t quite place. “Well, since we’re friends now, why don’t we have some fun? As friends?”
“What do you mean?” He said, giving her a curious look. Jesse had meant what she’d said before, hadn’t she? And yet he couldn’t feel like she was up to something.
Jesse grinned mischievously at him, and suddenly the shift in tone made sense. “Race you! Go Winnie!” Before Lukas could register what was happening, she was urging her horse on, bolting ahead of him, her laughter echoing in her wake. Lukas could only grin as he urged his own horse after her.
Their situation wasn’t ideal, but maybe, just maybe they could do this after all.
I was a bit sad about the amount of these I was actually able to get to, but there will hopefully be a few more. And they, like this one, will probably be set in my domestic dorks verse.
Lukas relished the quiet moments, the peaceful little interludes between all the bursts of chaos that seemed to make up his life. They were more frequent now that things had settled down for the second time, but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate them any less, especially knowing that with their luck things could so easily be thrown back into the chaos of the near world-ending kind instead of the organized chaos that came with living with the leader and hero-in-residence of Beacontown.
For as long as he’d known her, at least as long as he’d really known her, Jesse had never been good at taking a break. She was getting better about it, giving up some of her duties to Radar and generally not running herself into the ground at every given opportunity, but it still took some convincing to get her to stop and relax sometimes, and holiday planning was one of those times. Jesse tended to put every bit of her energy into planning these sorts of events for the city, wanting everything to be perfect, so it really wasn’t surprising when she trudged into the cabin just after sundown looking completely exhausted.
Luckily Lukas had been expecting as much, waiting for her with food and an insistence that she sit down and not worry about making every corner of Beacontown a winter wonderland for at least fifteen minutes while she ate.
How little resistance she gave was more telling to how tired she was than anything else, so after she was finished he managed to convince her that brainstorming while curled up with him in front of the fireplace with him would work just as well as anywhere else. She’d laughed at that, her soft little giggles that he loved so much, and despite how exhausted she looked and sounded, there was also an unmistakable happiness too as she agreed to his not-so-subtle plan to get her to take a break.
It had taken all of two minutes for Jesse to fall asleep after that, curled up on their sofa in Lukas’s arms with the fireplace roaring in front of them and mumbling something about snow. It was a deep sleep, unsurprisingly, just like his arm which she so happened to be laying on top of. Lukas was pretty sure he could wiggle his way free if he really needed to and regain some feeling to his now dead limb without waking Jesse up. He was also pretty sure that the witherstorm and the Admin-colossus could be battling outside their front door and she’d continue to sleep through it, but he wasn’t going to risk it.
Lukas shifted carefully, planting a kiss on the top of her head before lying back down. Yeah, his arm was dead asleep and it would probably be a literal pain later, but he’d dealt with worse, right? It was worth it, seeing Jesse relaxed and peaceful. So he could stay like that for a little while longer. The fireplace would be good for a while, and it was far from the most uncomfortable position he’d ever slept in. He’d sleep on a bed of rocks if it meant he got to experience these quiet moments with Jesse. For just a little while longer Beacontown could wait, his book could wait, the whole world could wait for all he cared. They all deserved their moment of peace after everything, and he wasn’t about to waste this one.
Xara dealt with a lot of crazy things since she and her friends had left their little cabin, and many of those crazy things were the direct result of those friends, sow hen Xara woke up with her entire city surrounded by snow golems, she really shouldn’t have been surprised.
The culprit had clearly been very dedicated in their work, with the city walls being completely encircled by hundreds of the living snowmen, and Xara didn’t really have to think very hard to know who the overzealous prankster was. “Romeo.” She groused. It was far too early to deal with this.
It was moments like these that Xara was glad for things like her ability to teleport because the last thing she wanted to do was wade through a hoard of snowmen who’s sole purpose seemed to be the bumble around and throw the odd snowball at things when the situation called for it. No, it was much easier to go straight to Romeoburg lest she get even more frustrated.
And with one last annoyed look thrown at the golems she did just that, traveling in an instant to the outskirts of her friend’s self-named city. But there was apparently no escape from the snowmen for no sooner than she appeared did was she surrounded by what she’d been trying to avoid in the first place.
She was surprised that it only took her a few seconds to spot Romeo on top of the wall, especially being bumped into by a thousand golems, but judging by the way he was leaning on the blocks grinning at her, he’d probably been waiting for this exact moment.
“Would you care to explain the excessive number of mobs surrounding my city, Romeo? Or are you going to pretend you don’t know anything about it?” She crossed her arms, glaring up at him in annoyance, though her glare was quickly diverted to some snowmen who were getting a bit too close for Xara’s liking.
“What, you mean you don’t like my present, Xara? And after I put so much effort into it! I’m hurt.” He replied, clasping at his chest in mock offense. Xara rolled her eyes. Romeo was always one for unnecessary dramatics, and now was no exception.
She was just about to make a retort when something-a snowball, she realized-hit her square on the side of the head. Whirling in the direction it came from only to find Fred, who she’d wrongly assumed to be innocent in the whole situation whistling innocently. When he spotted her gaze he simply pointed in an accusatory fashion to a stray snow golem that was much too far away to have hit her.
“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” She said scooping up a handful of snow, slowly rolling it together into a ball. Xara looked at for a moment as if contemplating what to do with it. “Is that how we’re doing it now, Fred? Fine, but remember that you asked for this!” And before she had even finished speaking she lobbed the snowball in Fred’s direction.
“Ooh, don’t think you can leave me out of this! What do you think I built all the snow golems for?” And all at once with a cry from Romeo the snowmen started lobbing snowballs of their own; at Xara, at Fred, at Romeo, even at themselves.
In the end it was hard to say who really won at the end, if anyone at all. For the moment all that mattered was that they were together and they were happy.
The memory was one of many that left Xara with bittersweet feelings, sadness and anger most of all. It was moments like those that drove her, that kept her going despite her imprisonment. Someday, somehow, Romeo would pay for he’d done to her, to Fred. She’d find a way to make sure he paid for destroying any happiness they could’ve had, for tainting the memories that had once been so good.
So @new-king-of-boomtown and I have a headcanon that frequently gets revisited of Axel teaching Jesse to knit and well she’s...not the greatest at it.
“I think this brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘Ugly holiday sweaters’.” Olivia deadpanned as she held up the ‘ugly sweater’ in question. A hand-made gift from Jesse, the sweater was very clearly made by someone with less than perfect knitting skills, sporting sleeves of different lengths, a hole for her head that was twice as big as necessary, and an imagine on the front that Olivia was sure was meant to be something, not that she could remotely tell what. “I love Jesse but couldn’t you have helped her at least a little bit, Axel?”
Axel, whose Jesse-sweater was probably the most well put together (if not somewhat lopsided in nature) simply shrugged. “She said she wanted to do it by herself this time and I wasn’t gonna argue that with her. She’s gotten waaaaay better than she used to be.”
“I think I’m with Olivia on this one. This thing is way too big for me. Should I be offended?” Petra chimed in, glaring down at the over-sized sweater that went nearly down to her knees and sleeves nearly as long. “Is this her way of telling me I’m getting fat?”
“It’s better too big than too small, Petra.” Ivor countered. He too was wearing his hand-knit gift from Jesse which looked like an unfortunate new style of sweater that was somewhere in-between a crop top and a normal sweater.
“Come on guys, clearly Jesse worked really hard on all these sweaters so we should try to be nice and wear them, even if they...you know...” Lukas trailed off, trying to find the most polite way of referring to the sweaters.
“Even if they suck?” Petra offered, choosing to be blunt in her opinion rather than dancing around it. It wasn’t like Jesse was in the room to hear it, and in the off chance she’d been close by the room, she’d been hard of hearing since the formidi-bomb explosion so she wasn’t likely to hear it even then. “Yeah yeah, I’ll play nice. I guess it’s not so bad. At least my sweater doesn’t look like it was meant for a child.” Petra said, grinning wolfishly in Ivor’s direction.
“How rude, Petra! I happen to appreciate this sweater and all the work that went into it! I do wish it were a tad larger though, I must admit.” He relented, tugging slightly on the sleeves in a vain attempt to stretch them out.
“What the heck did I just walk in on?” The group turned to see not Jesse in the doorway, but Harper looking both perplexed and highly amused. “Is this another one of your world’s odd traditions?”
“Well, in a sense I suppose. They’re gifts from Jesse. She made them herself, hence the...odd proportions.” Ivor informed her with a sweeping gesture to the rest of the New Order.
“She’s been doing this the past couple years, though this is the first time she’s doing it without Axel’s help.” Olivia also offered in explanation. “But I guess you could kind of call it a tradition at this point.”
“Ooo you all look hilarious, I love it.” Harper said laughing as she looked around at them, taking in Jesse’s various creations.
Before anyone could reply, Jesse poked her head into the room. “Are you guys sure you don’t know where-” She stopped short when her eyes landed on the person she’d been off searching for in the first place. “Harper, there you are! I was looking all over for you, I made you a sweater, too.” She beamed, holding
Harper was quiet for a moment, turning to look at Ivor with her eyebrow quirked in askance before finally shrugging, a slight smile working it’s way onto her face. “Well, who am I to argue with tradition?”
A little fluffy, domestic-y lukesse thing I’ve been stuck on that I decided to write. Not much plot, I just wanted to write some shippy stuff for these two. It took me waaaaaay to long to finish this, but here it is!
When Lukas heard random noises in his home in the morning, he usually just assumed it was Dewey. While he hadn’t tamed him, the ocelot remaining a wild one, Lukas had fed him so often that the cat lived at his little cabin for all intents and purposes. He usually preferred outside, but it wasn’t uncommon for Dewey to come indoors from time to time. By now he was used to being awoken by the odd noise here and there of a small animal getting itself into mischief.
Lukas groggily opened his eyes to see the real cause of the noise. It was not in fact his ocelot friend, but Jesse, rummaging through his chests. He was confused for a moment, but as he watched her he woke up enough that memories of the night before filtered back into his mind.
It wasn’t often the two of them got to spend time alone together without some serious planing, so when Jesse managed to finish enough work in advance to take a rare few days off, neither of them hesitated take advantage of it, even if it meant taking time off working on his latest book for Lukas. Their weekly meetings of the Order were one thing, but it was nearly impossible to steal a moment alone together.
Apparently though, neither of them were really very good at taking time off. In preparation for not being able to work while she was with him, Lukas had used nearly all of this free time the few days before into writing (and frantic cleaning upon the sudden realization of how many cobwebs he had for such a tiny house). And Jesse, wanting to make sure her city and its people were well taken care of had done much the same, putting all her energy into helping and making sure things were in place should anything happen while she was away. By the time Jesse showed up late last night on her horse, they were both so exhausted they hadn’t done much more than change and collapse in each others’ arms in Lukas’s bed.
Which brought him back to the girl looking for something in his stuff. She hadn’t noticed he was awake yet being much too focused on her search, her face scrunched up slightly in concentration. As he watched her, Lukas took in Jesse’s appearance. She wore her usual t-shirt and pair of his pajama pants, folded over several times and the drawstring tied as tight as they’d allow to accommodate her much smaller size and her hair was thrown up in what he was sure was an attempt to tame her bedhead, and a failed one of the random curls escaping here and there were anything to go by. Lukas thought she looked beautiful, but then, he always did.
As much as he was tempted to just lay there and watch her, he figured it would probably be a good idea to figure out what she was up to. “Should I ask what you’re doing or should I just say ‘good morning’ instead?” Lukas asked in amusement, his voice still laced with sleep.
Jesse straightened up and turned to look at him in her surprise, but her face bore a stern expression, and she even went so far as to place her hands in her hips to drive it home as she addressed him. “I know you’re doing the whole ‘house by itself in the middle of nowhere’ thing because you want peace for your writing, but you really need to be better about stocking up on food. I’ve found a loaf of bread and two apples. I mean really, Lukas? Am I going to have to start sending food home with you after we meet every week?”
Lukas chuckled quietly. He really should’ve seen that coming. It wasn’t like he meant to put off things like food shopping and cleaning the way he did, but he often got so absorbed in his work that he didn’t notice they needed done. It was accomplishment enough some days that he managed to feed himself and the animals.
Pulling himself out of bed Lukas came up behind Jesse and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. “Sorry, I guess I got a little caught up in my writing the last couple days and forgot to get some more food.” He admitted sheepishly.
He heard Jesse snort with laughter. “Yeah, and how often do you get ‘a little caught up’?” She questioned, her tone clearly amused, if not a little exasperated.
“Probably about as much as you do in your work.” He countered, knowing how Jesse also had a tendency to get carried away and forget basic needs. “Not all of us have an assistant to keep us in line, you know.” Lukas teased.
“Hey, he does not ‘keep me in line’! I don’t need anyone to keep me in line thank you very much.” Jesse retorted with a huff. Even though Lukas couldn't see her face now, he could almost hear the pout in her voice which only served to make him laugh. Jesse made no reply other than an indignant huff, and Lukas could only guess that she was pouting even more now.
They were both quiet for a while when Jesse spoke again. “We should build you a garden. You have all this space out here by yourself, and it’d make things easier for you.” Lukas was by no means a great gardener, but he knew it was something Jesse loved and it would be a nice peaceful way for them to spend their time together.
“You know, I think that sounds like a great idea.” He told her, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. Besides, doing it together, he knew it’d keep her from worrying about him too, because he knew she would. Yeah, he could handle some gardening.
Jesse twisted around in his arms, grinning up at him. “You think so? I hope you know this means I get to boss you around while we do this, you don’t know anything about gardening.” She teased, her grin only widening.
Lukas rolled his eyes at her in faux annoyance. “What else is new, Miss Not-Mayor. It’s a good thing I have a secret weapon to keep you in line.” He told her, adopting a sly grin.
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” She challenged. In response Lukas leaned down and kissed her square on the lips. As he pulled away he looked at Jesse only to see her with a mischievous smile of her own. “I think you’re gonna have to try a little harder than that.” Then she pushed herself up to the balls of her feet, kissing him slowly. Lukas had a funny feeling it was going to be a while before they got to the garden.
Day 9 of the countdown AKA Season 2 release day. It’s been fun doing all these prompts and since today is just kinda whatever, have some fluff of my brotp. Enjoy the new episode and the rest of the countdown!
“Ah man, it’s starting to get dark. I should probably get going before all the monsters start coming out.” It was a pretty common occurrence for Jesse to have Axel and/or Olivia in her little treehouse, especially during the winter months when there wasn’t much else to do. It’d been a quiet day (or about as quiet as Axel’d let it be) with just Jesse and Axel, and of course Reuben. Despite how simple and uneventful the day had been though, it had apparently gone faster than she’d thought.
Jesse followed his gaze out the window where sure enough, the sun was already setting. There was no way he was going to make it back to his own home before it got completely dark. Looking out she also realized that it was starting to snow again, and in that moment she made up her mind; there was no way she was letting Axel leave tonight.
“Just stay here.” She told him with a shrug. It wasn’t like she’d mind after all. It was only her and Reuben who lived there, and Axel was one of her best friends. Even if it was overnight she wasn’t going to say no to his company, especially in a situation like this. She’d feel better anyway if she knew he was safe instead of wondering if he’d been mauled by a mob he hadn’t seen coming through the dark and snow.
“Nah, it’s not a big deal, I’ll totally be fine.” Axel shrugged nonchalantly, continuing to get ready to leave. Jesse was not going to let that slide.
“It’s late and it’s snowing, you’re staying here tonight.” Jesse told him again, making it clear this time she wasn’t just suggesting it. To further emphasize her point, Jesse sat down on top the trap door, otherwise known as the only exit from the treehouse. “There, now you have to stay.” She said, nodding matter-of-factly.
“Oh yeah? What if I do...this?” From the triumphant grin on his face, Jesse knew what was going to happen before it did. And sure enough, in one quick motion he lifted her from her seat on the door and threw her over his shoulder.
“Hey, put me down!” She was trying to act mad, really she was, but Jesse couldn’t help but laughing despite herself.
“If you say so!” And the next thing Jesse knew she was tossed unceremoniously onto her bed. She’d walked right into that one, she had to admit.
“That’s not fair!” She got out through her laughter, which she heard Reuben joining in on. “It’s not my fault you’re like, a giant, how am I supposed to defend myself?!”
“Yeah, and it’s not my fault you’re a midget.” Axel shot back, grinning down at her. Poking fun at her height, especially compared to his own, was one of his favorite hobbies.
“So are you gonna save us all the trouble and say that you’ll stay, or are we gonna have to do all that again?” Jesse asked, still smiling as she sat up from her landing place.
“I guess I can stay.” Axel relented, still grinning in her direction.
“Good.” She said with a nod before getting up off the bed. Jesse made her way over to one of the chests along the wall, opening it to pull out the few spare pillows and blankets she had. It wasn’t much by any means, but it’d be enough for one night.
Then Jesse made her way to her bed and started throwing all the pillows and blankets in his general direction. “Uh, what are you doing?” Axel asked, quirking his eyebrow questioningly. She wasn’t going to throw all the bedding she owned at him, right?
“Well I’m not gonna lay on the floor all night with nothing.” She replied as if it were supposed to be obvious.
“You don’t have to do that just because I’m here. You and Reuben can just do what you’d normally do, I can sleep on the floor by myself.”
“Where’d the fun in that be?” Jesse replied, moving over to her bedding pile to start arranging it into a makeshift bed.
“Heh, whatever you say buddy. If you wanna make this a sleepover I’m not gonna stop ya, but I draw the line at braiding each other’s hair and talking about boys.” Axel told her jokingly as he started setting out his own pile of blankets.
“There goes my master plan.” Jesse said with a shrug and a grin, settling down on her “bed”. Reuben quickly joined her, laying down so that he was practically on top of her. It was fully dark now, but none of them really felt like sleeping yet.
Laying in the dark, Axel found his eyes wandering around the little one-roomed home, and though he couldn’t make out much in the dark, he found his eyes settling on a poster of Gabriel the Warrior.
“Do you think we could ever be that cool? Like The Order of the Stone?” Axel asked into the darkness. He shifted slightly towards Jesse, unsure if she’d still be awake to reply.
Clearly she was also still awake, as the response was almost immediate. “I bet we’ll be even cooler than Magnus some day, just wait. I mean, we could totally do something awesome like defeat a dragon if we wanted to. And if all else fails there’s always my poster collection.”
“Ha, no way, nobody’s cooler than Magnus! Sorry Jesse, not even you.” He teased, grinning at her in the dark. She couldn’t see it, but Jesse didn’t need to to know it was there. “Fighting a huge monster would be so cool, but I feel like we’re gonna have to go with the posters. I mean, the Ender Dragon was kinda like, THE big monster, and The Order kinda already killed that.”
“Ouch, I’m so hurt.” Jesse replied, mock offended. “Being heroes like The Order would be pretty amazing, but I think I’d settle for winning the building competition for once.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to wipe the smirks off those stupid Ocelot’s face’s one of these days.” Axel agreed. It seemed every year they lost, their rival group of builders just got more and more smug and really he was sick of it.
“We’ll just have to think of something really cool for this year, then there’s no way we can lose.” Jesse said simply. She was always the optimistic one when it came to the building competition, a counter to Olivia’s normal pessimism.
The two fell into a comfortable silence after that, leaving Jesse alone to her thoughts. In truth being a hero seemed awesome, but also daunting. What would it be like to be known by so many people, idolized? She’d probably never find out, and that was okay. Things were good now, the way they were. No matter what came though, as long as she had her friends by her side, Jesse figured she’d be just fine.
Lukas couldn’t sleep, no matter what he tried. He’d thought the night before had been bad, anxious about what sort of “game” Jesse and Ivor would have to go through, but that was nothing compared to what he was feeling right now. Now Jesse was going at it alone, relying only on the other competitors when no one knew if the speech would be enough to get through to them. And to top it all off, Jesse had taken Hadrian’s deal for her freedom in exchange for theirs, which now included the imprisoned Axel and Olivia.
And apparently he wasn’t he only one unable to sleep, not that it was really surprising. When he heard someone get out of their bed, he truthfully expected it to be Jesse, the one who probably had the most to worry about at this point. When he opened his eyes though, he was instead greeted to the sight of Petra, and though it was dark, there was just enough light coming in through the window that he could see in her body language just how tense she was. That or it was the anxious pacing that gave her away.
With a sigh Lukas sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. It wasn’t like he was really going to get much sleep tonight anyway. “Something must really be eating you if you’re not even going to pretend to sleep like I am.” He said quietly as he stood, a shaky attempt at humor.
Petra huffed in annoyance as he approached, though she at least stopped the pacing. “Wow, I wonder what gave you that idea. It’s not like our friends have been kidnapped and another one just sold herself for them and the whole plan for getting us all free relies on a bunch of people we know nothing about.”
“Petra-” Lukas tried to speak, to say something to try and calm her down and ease the situation, but as he was quickly interrupted, which was usually not a good sign when trying to get through to Petra. If she didn’t listen it kinda made things just a little bit harder.
"I just can’t believe she’d take that creep’s deal, what was she thinking?!” Petra whispered, loud and harsh.
Lukas stole a glance at their two sleeping companions, making sure they wouldn’t wake. Once satisfied, he replied as softly as he could manage, grateful she was actually letting him speak this time. “You know what she was thinking, Petra. She was thinking she was saving Axel, Olivia, and the rest of us from being stuck in those mines for the rest of our lives. You don’t honestly think she’d have even considered the other option for a second, do you? And what would you have said if she had?”
“I would’ve said...good for her for not falling for his stupid lies!” Petra hissed, crossing her arms with a sufficiently annoyed expression on her face. The moment she got defensive with her answer, they both knew she didn’t mean it.
“You would’ve been angry no matter what she’d chosen and you know it.” His reply was gentle, no malice present, only soft and knowing. “Cut her some slack, Petra. She’s trying to look out for everyone else, that’s just how she is.”
“Well she should at least try and figure out a way to do it first without signing her life away like it was nothing!” Petra said, throwing her arms up in frustration. Lukas stole another glance at Jesse and Ivor, who still seemed to be unaware.
“And if she’d chosen not to take the deal, to risk Axel and Olivia’s safety? It was kind of a no win situation.” Lukas argued, not unkindly.
“Ugh, stop doing that!” Crossing her arms, Petra glowered halfheartedly at him and Lukas had a feeling he’d gotten his point across.
“What, being right?” He replied with a half smile in another attempt to lighten the mood. He almost wanted to laugh at the expression on her face, now more of a pout than anything else.
“Yes, you know-it-all.” Their eyes met and he could see now that she was smiling slightly now, hesitant though it was. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”
Lukas simply shrugged in response. “I don’t like it either, but she’d give up her freedom, her life, for any one of you in a heartbeat. Sometimes I think she’s a little too eager to put everyone else before her own well-being, but that’s a fight we’ll have to have with her after we get out of here.”
“You too.” Petra said seriously.
“What?” Confused, Lukas quirked an eyebrow at her.
“She’d do the same for you too you know. Like it or not you’re a part of this group and you’re our friend and that includes being her friend. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Jesse’s friends mean way more to her than her own well-being do any day. You’d think after all everything we’ve gone through you’d know how much she cared about you by now.”
Well Lukas hadn’t been expecting that. He’d grown to care about them all after the witherstorm incident, and especially these three during their portal hopping the past few weeks but he didn’t know how much the feelings were reciprocated. Between what had happened with his former best friends and being brought along “to be a buffer” between Petra and Ivor, it was hard to trust that sort of thing.
Both Petra and Lukas whirled in surprise when a new voice entered their conversation. "If you two are quite finished having your little heart to heart, could you please be quiet and go to bed? It’s a wonder you haven’t woken Jesse yet with all your blathering on.” Lukas had a feeling that Ivor wasn’t really all that annoyed by their conversation, but he was putting on a good show of it.
“Yeah yeah, we’re going.” Petra grumbled with a roll of her eyes. She pat Lukas on the shoulder as she mad her way passed him to her bed (a little harder than he would’ve liked, not that he’d admit it).
“Sorry Ivor.” Lukas shook his head, smiling slightly in Ivor’s direction as he followed Petra’s lead and settled himself back into his bed. He wasn’t sure if it’d help either of them sleep any better than before, but it at least felt good to talk about things, even just a little. They’d have plenty of time to talk about anything and everything later, so long as they made it through tomorrow.
Ivor found himself learning a lot about the new order that he hadn’t known before. For instance while none of them particularly like being swarmed by bats, no one in their little group hated them more than Jesse. When they’d found their exit portal from one of the countless world’s they stumbled blindly into, they left pursued by dozens of the fuzzy, winged creatures. While the rest of the group was by no means happy about it, swatting and dodging them, Jesse went one step further than the rest in the most literal fashion. She’d sprinted down the hall as fast as her legs would take her in an attempt to get as far away as possible.
Lukas, he learned, as not a fan of the cold. Their trip into the ice-world hadn’t been a particularly fun one (except of course for the snowballs Ivor’d snatched on the way out), but Lukas seemed to have to worst time of all of them, regularly lamenting on the snow and ice lakes, especially the latter. Ivor would forever be curious about that one; it was as if Lukas were afraid the ice would break beneath him and drop him into the icy water below.
And Petra, despite her previous loner, wanderer lifestyle, had the least patience for all of the portal hopping madness. She grew more and more frustrated with each failed attempt at finding their way home, the final straw finally being the aptly named fire world. It was her subsequent loss of temper that led them to where they were now, hiding from PAMA-controlled mobs while Jesse executed their TNT plan.
“We all want to go home you know.” Ivor said out of nowhere, turning to Petra from where he’d been watching Jesse.
“What?” Petra quirked an eyebrow in mild surprise, not expecting to be having this sort of conversation, especially not while they were in the middle of trying to destroy something like PAMA.
“You’re not the only one who wants to go home, despite how it might seem sometimes. We’re all just trying to make the best of a unfortunate situation. Everyone has their way of coping with this...unexpected turn of events. Like Lukas and his little journal full of terrible world naming. It gives him something to focus on. And Jesse...well she’s trying Petra, the only way she can think of. Systematically going through the portals might be tedious but it’s not a bad plan. In fact it’s quite logical! It just...takes a while.”
“We’ve been at this for weeks and we’ve gotten nowhere, and Jesse’s the only one who’s been deciding which portals we go through and calling all the shots and look where’s its gotten us! At least the portal I picked got us to someone who might actually know how to get us home.” She argued, her arms crossed in annoyance with a scrunched up expression to match.
“So you’re saying you think you should be the leader of the New Order then?Yes, it must be very nice to be in Jesse’s shoes, calling all the shots, don’t you think? She gets to make all the fun decisions like whose armor to take in a crisis, who to save from being eaten by the witherstorm, which of her friends to save from the angry machine.” He said, giving her a pointed look on the last two.
Petra crossed her arms with a huff. “Alright, you’ve made your point, Ivor.” She replied, wincing slightly. Okay, so maybe calling all the shots wasn’t the greatest job, but wasn’t that all the more reason for Jesse to share the burden once in a while? But that wasn’t Jesse’s way, instead choosing to carry those choices so no one else would have to.
“She didn’t go asking to be the leader of your group, you all looked to her during the witherstorm and she’s just doing her best to live up to that all this time.” Ivor said, gentler now. “I know it’s not easy for you either being used to going about things on your own, but everyone’s trying their best, Petra. There’s only so much anyone can do in a mess like this.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of TNT exploding not far off before Petra could reply. Jesse it seems had finished their plan, which meant it was their cue to join her. “Well let’s go. It sounds like Jesse’s ready for some back up.” Ivor looked like he wasn’t quite finished with what he wanted to say but knowing she was right, he nodded seriously and the two of them took off running to what they hoped would be the final fight,t he final showdown before they finally returned home.
So Lukas had thought things couldn’t be much worse after being thrown into the “void” by his former best friend. Now, as he was sitting alone in a closet, accused of several counts of murder, and being guarded by a perfect stranger and Ivor of all people, Lukas realized he was oh so wrong. At least Jesse and Petra were working on uncovering the truth, and if anyone could do it, they could. He just hoped they could do it before everyone else got too anxious and decided to throw him to the zombie hoard outside.
Technically he could probably clear his name, he supposed, but not without making his group the primary targets of the real murderer. So now it was just sitting and waiting, praying there were no crazy death traps in the closet of all places. With how this night had been going so far, it really wouldn’t surprise him.
“Do you think they’re having any luck?” The silence was starting to get to Lukas, the tension between the three of them almost palpable, and he had to say something.
“Worried, blonde guy?” Lukas could only see part of Ivor’s face through the iron door, but he didn’t miss the slight raise of his eyebrows with his response.
“Hey, things look a little different when you’re on the other side of the metal door.” Lukas said, crossing his arms. Could anyone really blame him if he was? He could have all the faith in the world in his friends (which he did) but that didn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to be worried, especially consider how close he’d already come to being zombie food.
“You are many things, Lukas: cocky, understandably bitter, a bit of a coward at times,“ what he could see of Ivor’s face was unreadable then, but there was no judgement in his tone, perhaps because he was remembering his own moments of cowardice, “someone who spends far too much time on his hair, but what you are not is a murderer, and I have no doubt that Petra and Jesse will prove that.” Lukas was sorely tempted to comment on the distinct lack of ‘blonde guy’ or ‘Louis’ in the place of his real name, proving his suspicions that he as messing up his name on purpose, but something in the somber sincerity of Ivor’s word’s stopped him. If that hadn’t, Cassie Rose opening her mouth to rudely interrupt would’ve anyway.
“Will you two be quiet? He’s a prisoner. And for all I know you could be his accomplice.” She snapped, glaring at them both, though Ivor got an especially pointed look with the implication of him also being involved in the murders.
“Neither of us were speaking to you, Cassie, so I think perhaps you’re the one who needs to be quiet.” Cassie’s mouth snapped shut, looking mildly surprised by his fighting back. She didn’t look any less angry of course, but the fact that she refrained from speaking again for the moment, instead standing there with her arms crossed and glowering at no one in particular, seemed enough to satisfy Ivor.
“You know what,” She said after a moment of silence, “you two can have fun with your little love fest, I’m out of here. And you’d better not let him out of the closet.” And with an air of finality and one final warning look at Ivor that didn’t affect him whatsoever, Cassie stalked off with Winslow in tow.
“I don’t trust that girl." Ivor muttered quietly as she disappeared from sight, and Lukas couldn't help but agree. She’d been awfully quick to suggest throwing him to the zombies with the only proof to go on the white pumpkin in his hands.
The two companions fell back into silence, this time a more comfortable one until a short while later Stampy showed up, looking as excitable as usual. “You two should come quickly, we’ve found something!” He waited anxiously, seemingly intending for them to follow him back.
Lukas and Ivor exchanged a glance as he was freed from the closet. “See, I told you those two would figure it out!” Ivor told him more than a little smugly.
“Hey, I wasn’t arguing with you there.” Lukas held up his hands defensively, though he was smiling slightly as they made their way back to where they’d all been together previously. It felt good to no longer be the prime suspect. All that was left now was to hear who the real murderer was and put an end to the plotting before anyone else had to suffer.
So this was how Lukas died: being thrown into the void by a man he’d once called a friend. Maybe it was hubris, thinking he could take on Aiden all by himself, or maybe he was just so blinded by the sting of the knife Aiden had put in his back that his own thirst for vengeance that made him want to put a stop to Aiden’s madness on his own. It didn’t really matter either way now he supposed, he was as good as dead now regardless of what led him to it.
After the initial shock of the fall and rush of falling wore off, it became an uncomfortably strange affair, the endless free fall. How long would he fall for, Lukas wondered. Would he starve to death eventually? Would the void simply swallow him up? There was no way to tell.
No sooner had he started imaging all the terrible ways he’d meet his end that Lukas was met with a shock even greater than his initial shove off Sky City. Below him was not an endless void, as everyone believed, but land. And even better it wasn’t just land, but a lake and it was directly below him. He was going to live.
Lukas was going to find a way back up to Sky City if it killed him and end Aiden’s reign of terror once in for all. Now just for the wounds, physical and otherwise, he’d inflicted on Lukas, for for his friends that Aiden was determined to drag down out of jealousy and spite, not to mention the countless innocents in the city that had no choice but be caught in the middle.
He landed in the world’s most conveniently located lake with a resounding splash, hyped up on adrenaline and more determined than ever, at least until he tried to pull himself out of the water that he realized his grand plans might not be as easy as he thought.
Getting onto dry land was a struggle, mostly because of the number Aiden had done on him. If he could barely get himself out of a little lake, how was he supposed to figure out a way back to Sky City? He may be alive, but that didn’t mean things were good.
Lukas’s only choice now was to find somewhere to heal up and pray he could figure out a way back later. He only hoped that if he did manage to find a way there’d be something to go back to.
Only a few paces from where he’d initially hauled himself out of the water now, a sound met Lukas’s ears that simultaneously made him cringe and filled him with an odd sense of relief. The splashes he heard meant that some other poor souls had been hurled from the city. Turning back towards where he’d come from, Lukas was greeted to the sight of Jesse, The Founder, and an uncaring sheep.
The founder, or Isa as they soon found out, was understandably in a state of shock upon learning that everything she’d believed about the “void” turned out to be wrong the whole time. They did their best to help her deal with the unexpected development, something cut short by mobs raining from the sky, no doubt courtesy of Aiden.
Luckily Jesse was quick to think of plan on how to get then back up to sky city. They’d build their way up, using vast amounts of dirt, something Lukas was unfortunately not in good shape to help collect.
When it came time to start the building, Lukas reluctantly decided to sit it out. Jesse didn’t seem too fond of leaving him alone, but accepted his decision nonetheless. Now he was left waiting, watching Jesse and Isa get smaller and smaller the higher their towers grew. Lukas had no doubt that Jesse and the rest of the group would put a stop to Aiden’s madness and bring the people of Sky City safely to the ground. Now he just couldn’t wait to get his hands on Aiden when they did, if Jesse didn’t end him first.
The first week following the defeat of the witherstorm was a hectic one full of rebuilding and assisting others in finding their lost friends and family. During that time Jesse wasn’t always quite sure what to feel. In public it was easier because she did what she had to. People had deemed her and her friends heroes and like the Order of the Stone before them they were held to very high expectations and so Jesse pushed the turbulence deep inside and keep appearances up.
When she was alone or even just among her friends things were a bit different. She could keep ignoring it and pretending, but some wounds were too fresh, too deep not to mourn. Jesse had lost Reuben after all, one of her best friends. It felt almost wrong not to mourn him properly. He’d been the real hero, at least in Jesse’s eyes. No one else but her now knew what it was really like inside the witherstorm or how truly, without Reuben everything would’ve been lost.
And while nothing could ever hurt as much as Reuben, it wasn’t the only part of their journey that weighed on her. Whether Jesse wore the armor or not now, she’d carry that choice, and all the others she’d made over the course of their journey, with her for the rest of her life.
Jesse wasn’t sure if everyone else knew just how much was eating at her, but the pain that came from Reuben’s death was obvious enough. Keeping busy helped, and luckily there was thankfully plenty to occupy her time. She pushed herself, pouring all her time and energy into helping others rebuild, enough that her nights were mercifully dreamless most of the time.
Her friends were a comfort too. It seemed at least one of them was always close at hand, keeping an eye on her, ready to offer their support or sometimes just a distraction when she needed it. Jesse wasn’t one to want to burden her friends, but she was grateful nonetheless, appreciating their attempts to lessen the pain of her grief.
Whether she liked it or not, Jesse had been changed by this whole mess. Gone was the carefree girl, the nobody who got sideways glances wherever she went and in her place stood a hero, regarded with awe and shaped by her experiences and her losses. But even more so she was a woman who was still full of hope for the world, full of second chances.
“Are you ready for this?” Olivia asked her, mild concern showing. They stood together as a group, Jesse, Olivia, Axel, and Petra, alongside the remaining members of The Order of the Stone. It was time to address the people now, the survivors, a full week after the witherstorm was defeated. They were not going out as just themselves, but as heroes who’d surely be as revered in legend much like The Order of the Stone before them, no small undertaking for people who’d not long ago been considered nobodies by almost all who knew them.
“Yeah, I think I am.” She replied with a smile, small but sure. The world had it’s wounds now, ones that would surely shape what was to come next, but it would heal and maybe, Jesse thought, maybe she would too.
Technically speaking, Axel had the better of the available jobs, but somehow it wasn’t very reassuring when the only two options were to distract the giant, tentacled abomination or to get right in its face with the most powerful bomb to ever come into existence.
The explosives part Axel definitely wouldn’t have minded; he loved explosions. Really any self-respecting Magnus fan would. It was the very real possibility of being pulled up by the creepy purple beams of light and eaten by the monster that he wasn’t particularly fond of. It was still a possibility that it could happen during their distracting, but it still seemed less dangerous than what Jesse was doing.
Although it was clearly with reluctance, Jesse had volunteered to risk her neck with the F-bomb, and who was he to argue? And so he didn’t, and neither did anyone else, despite half the group being The Order of the Stone, a legendary group of heroes. He wouldn’t find out the reason for their seeming lack of heroism until much later, and he had no time to dwell on it now as he was building alongside Magnus, Soren, and Petra as fast as their arms would allow them.
Thing were going well, all things considered, at least until the point when their distractions weren’t enough to keep the focus off Jesse, resulting in her being swept up in one of the monster’s purple beams. In an attempt to pull the attention off her once more, the entire group, unspoken, made the decision to pull together again to work on one build instead the several they’d been doing before. That, too briefly seemed to be going well until one of the many tentacles flailing about the area struck where they were building, sending both Magnus and Ellegaard flying. Axel was incredibly relieved when Magnus quickly got up and rejoined them, not having time to spare a thought about Ellegaard.
Despite being suspended the way she was, Jesse still managed to finish crafting the formidibomb, something Axel’d have to remember to tell her he was impressed by after they saved her life.
Thankfully, Magnus was one step a head of everyone else. No sooner had Jesse finished her crafting did he pull out a fishing rod, casting it in Jesse’s direction. The others needed no prompting, pulling together in a tight group to help him pull their friend to safety. In an instant the bomb went off just as they’d started pulling her back, sending her flying.
Watching Jesse land, Axel decided he really didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened if Magnus hadn’t thought of the fishing rod to pull her away from the blast. As it was, the time she spent face down, un-moving on the ground was nerve-wracking enough, leaving them all uncertain if their rescue mission had even done any good. He wasn’t quite sure how long she stayed like that before she finally started to push herself up. She looked dazed and confused, but she was alive and that was what mattered.
“Oh man, you really had us worried! I mean not me of course, I knew you’d be fine. Everyone else was worried.” He threw out hurriedly. Jesse was a pretty amazing person, it was true, and was able to get herself out of all kinds of scrapes, but truthfully he had been worried for a brief moment that he might lose his best friend. But she was lucky, like she always seemed to be.
“Yeah, sure you did, Axel.” Lukas quipped, but there was no hostility, not from him and not from Axel in return.
“Of course I did, Jesse’s one of the toughest people I know.” And it was true, at least to Axel it was. She may not look like much, but he absolutely believed anyone who underestimated Jesse was making a big mistake, and the events of the past few days only further solidified that belief.
“No arguments here.” There wasn’t time to say much beyond that as their handiwork became more apparent, one of the monster’s giant heads falling to the ground not far from where their group was standing.
“Is that it? Is it over?” Axel asked, turning his attention to the carnage before them. It seemed so unreal that the beast was gone, but the sight of the giant body among the flaming battlefield gave a different impression. It wouldn’t last long, of course, but for the moment it was good, feeling like they’d managed to pull it off, like they didn’t still have so much left to lose.
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