Chapter Text
“I’m here.”
…
That was the last thing he said to Rueben, Jesse stared at the chunk of grass he held tightly on, he tried to sleep but to no avail he didn’t get any ounce of sleep due to the uncomfortable sharp pain in his head from the days prior. It still hadn’t gone away, he was also exhausted from the lack of sleep.
Jesse sat up from his sleeping bag and let out a groggy groan. He rubbed his eyes and wiped the sweat on his face, he spotted Ellegaard’s armor next to him, he sighed and reached for the armor pieces and started to put it on.
The grip on the armor made him uncomfortable and his body soreness intensified, it was the same feeling with the boot pressuring around his swollen ankle, Jesse grunted his teeth and felt the pain begin to rise.
While fighting with the Wither he sprained his ankle in the process along with getting a few bruises from getting tossed around. After he finished putting on his armor he didn't bother with tying up his hair and just grabbed his things and headed out of his tent.
The sun was starting to rise in the light purple-blue sky. Jesse stumbled to last night's fire pit, he took out some logs and his flint n’ steel and set the wood next to the pit, he placed one in and started scraping the flint n’ steel in his hands on the log. A spark of fire was made, he pushed his hair behind his ears before blowing on the flames till they grew, he watched the wood slowly burn and the flames glow bright along with smoke rising in the air.
“Jesse.” A voice was heard behind him, a shadow came over Jesse, he turned his head to see his father standing behind him.
“Is something wrong?” Jesse asked as he stood up quickly
“No, nothing's wrong.” Ivor answered, he walked over next to the fire pit and grabbed one of the logs and threw it in the growing fire.
“Oh.” Jesse said, he relaxed his shoulders and fixed his hair a bit while clearing his throat from the pit in there “What's the number of the injured and sick?" He turned back to the fire and kneeled down to it
“Surprisingly there are only six with mild injuries and none sick.” Ivor responded, Jesse blew on the fire and found a stick next to him and started using it to poked around the fire
“Do we have enough food for everyone?” Jesse asked, Ivor sighed and picked up another log
“Yes we do; we gathered enough to last for a month.” Ivor answered as he threw the log in the fire pit, the flames grew more and began to make a crackling-popping noise
“How many homes have we built?.” Jesse questioned as he poked around the fire a bit more before he threw the stick in the pit, the fire’s heat was making Jesse uncomfortable by the second he was close to it, he began to sweat even more than before.
"We've built about one." Ivor answered, Jesse frowned at that answered
"That isn’t enough.” Jesse sighed, the throbbing pain in his head intensity as his stress levels began to rise, he wiped his sweat away as it began to drip down to his chin
"Jesse, we just arrived here yesterday, and having one done is great." Ivor insisted, truth be told, it didn’t really help as much as Jesse wanted it to but his father was right; they just got here so having a house done was at least good.
"You're right, we only just got here." Jesse agreed, he stood up and his weight made a pain in his ankle unbearable, his mouth tightened and he bit his lip to reduce the pain; Ivor noticed that something was wrong.
"Are you doing alright?" Ivor asked, Jesse felt his body freeze and the pit in his throat becoming bigger, his lips tightened. Only the fire’s cackling was drowning out the silences, Jesse could feel his mouth shaking, he placed a hand on his lips to get them to stop.
He didn’t need anyone to worry about him right now, there were many things to do and there mustn't be a delay because of him.
Jesse faked a smile and took his hand away from his face and wiped the sweat from his face before looking at Ivor with his tired, droopy eyes.
”Everything is okay, I’m just feeling a bit tired.” Jesse yawned, and that was true he hadn’t slept in what seemed like four days and it was getting to him, he was stumbling around more and forgetting things left to right; he was surprised that he managed to do all the tasks that were asked of him, and somewhat keeping up his appearance in total.
”When’s the last time you got any sleep?” Ivor questioned, Jesse took in a sharp quick breath before replying
”Last night.” Jesse lied, he rubbed the back of his head and felt a cold shiver down his spine along with the shortness of breath, he was hoping that Ivor wouldn’t notice his lie because by Notch he would make a big deal out of it. “I just didn’t get that much sleep, that’s all.” Jesse chuckled nervously
”I guess that would explain why.” Ivor sighed, he placed his hand on Jesse’s shoulder pads “Try getting enough sleep tonight, I don’t like worrying about you.”
”I will but– I thought it was your job to be worrying about me all the time.” Jesse smirked, Ivor let out a slight chuckle
“That’s true but don’t worry me too much.” Ivor restated
“I’ll try.” Jesse replied, Ivor took his hand off of Jesse’s shoulder and stepped away
“Your hair has gotten longer.” Ivor mentioned as he eyed Jesse’s hair, Jesse grabbed his hair and took a look at it, his father was right about it being longer now
“I really can’t bring myself to cut you know?” Jesse smiled, Ivor nodded as he softly smiled back at Jesse
“I’ll be tending with the injured if you need me.” Ivor announced as he began to walk to the large tent that was the infirmary. Jesse’s smile soon formed into a frown after Ivor left, a minute had passed as his mind began to wander off, they only had one house and there's sixty-four people minus him, his friends, and dad.
His mind snapped back and saw his friends helping around with the survivors, it looked like they had it under control so that could give Jesse the opportunity to start building more houses. He went over to the chest filled with materials he used when building the first house, there was clay, gravel, and wood.
Jesse stared at the items before taking a reasonable amount of each and made his way to the cleared area where the first house was built, he made sure that the houses would be spaced out so they had more room and not be touching.
As he built the frame of the house he noticed a certain blond coming towards him, Jesse stopped what he was doing as he stared at Lukas coming into view, he had a soft smile plastered on his face.
“Looks like you’re almost done with the house.” Lukas commented
“Yeah, I just need to put in the floor and make the roof.” Jesse clarified, he wiped the sweat dripping down on his forehead and watched as Lukas went inside the home and looked around it.
“That sounds like a lot of hard work, don’t you think?” Lukas chuckled softly as he rubbed the back of his head staring at the walls around him
“A little hard work never hurt anyone.” Jesse replied, he heard Lukas hum as a reply, their eyes soon met.
“Would you like some help?” Lukas offered
“I’m fine, thanks though.” Jesse denied the offer “How’s your friends been doing?”
“They're doing okay I guess, but Maya's been having some nightmare, Gil doesn’t want to be left alone so he’s being clingy, and Aiden..” Lukas paused as he mentioned Aiden, Jesse could make out a slight change in Lukas’s face and tone “He hasn’t really been talking that much, he mostly just stays in his tent.”
“Well I can’t blame them, after everything that happened I wouldn’t be the same.” Jesse stated
“That’s true,” Lukas agreed, it was quiet for a moment before Lukas spoke again “Are you sure you don’t need any help?”
“Nope, I don’t need any help.” Jesse replied quickly
“Are you sure?” Lukas questioned, “You look a bit pale.” Jesse’s eyes widened
“You should probably take a break.” Lukas suggested
“I can’t do that, I need to get these houses before it gets dark.” Jesse insisted, he continued to work on the frame
“Jesse, are you okay?” Lukas asked worried
“I’m fine.” Jesse replied firmly, “I just need to finish building these houses.” Lukas frowned at that answer
“Can I at least get you something to eat?” Lukas asked, Jesse paused and stopped what he was doing. The empty pit in his stomach was wanting food inside it but Jesse couldn’t bring himself to eat at all, he looked at Lukas.
“I already ate so no thanks.” Jesse lied, hopping that nothing gave away his lie
“Okay, what did you eat then?” Lukas questioned
crap…
“I ate… some apples!” Jesse replied, Lukas looked at him for a while before he placed his hand on his neck
“Okay then, make sure you eat something later.” Lukas said, he began to walk away and Jesse let out a sigh of relief, Lukas then stopped and turned his head back around “By the way, I like what you did with your hair.” Lukas then walked off leaving Jesse alone.
Jesse couldn’t but to smile at the compliment, everything around him began to feel fuzzy and his vision was turning blurry; his headache was pressuring more pain onto him. Jesse felt his legs give way and soon everything went dark.
…
Jesse slowly opened his eyes and was met with a white ceiling, he blinked twice before he started to look around, he was in a tent; a big one. Jesse felt something on his head, it was cold and moist, he reached his hand and took whatever it was on his forehead and saw it was a wet washcloth. Jesse saw someone in the room with him, his vision was still blurry but he could make out that the person was his father, he was facing away from him. Jesse saw that he was laying down on a bed, he sat up and looked at his father, Ivor turned around and made eye contact with him.
“What happened– where am I?” Jesse's voice came out weak, it was barely audible to be heard, Ivor walking towards his bed.
“You’re in the infirmary.” Ivor answered “You fell down fourteen feet from the house you were working on.”
“All I remember is talking to Lukas then… blacking out.” Jesse said
“He was the one who brought you here after you fell.” Ivor clarified “He was very worried about you, along with the rest of your friends.”
“Are they here?” Jesse asked
“No they’re not… I told them that you needed to be rested first before they wanted to see you.” Ivor explained “Why did you lie to me?” Jesse froze and stared with wide eyes
“Wh-what?” Jesse blurted, Ivor sat on the edge of the bed still staring at Jesse
“Why did you lie to me?” Ivor repeated “You said you were fine.” Jesse’s lips tighten, he looked away from his father’s gaze
“I didn’t want you to worry.” Jesse answered
“That doesn’t excuse you from keeping this from me.” Ivor stated “Now, how long were you going to keep this away from everyone?”
“It’s not that bad...” Jesse stated
“You’ve sprained your ankle, there’s bruises all over your body, and you have a fever.” Ivor listed “You really didn’t think you could hide this from everyone, did you?”
“I didn’t need everyone to worry about something that wasn’t THAT big of a deal…” Jesse stated
“If it wasn’t a big deal then why hide it?” Ivor questioned, Jesse couldn’t answer that because in truth he knew what he did was a big deal but he didn’t need to put a damper on rebuilding. Ivor sighed “How long have you been like this?” Jesse turned his head and stared into his father’s eyes
“About two days ago…” Jesse answered, he looked down and started fidgeting with his hands “I’m sorry.” Jesse held his breath as he awaited for Ivor to speak, a few seconds had passed and Ivor spoke.
“Listen, I’m not mad at you.” Ivor sighed, that puzzled Jesse.. He wasn’t mad at him? Jesse felt his fathers weight leaving the bed. He looked at him as he stood, “What do you want to eat?”
“I’m not hungry.” Jesse insisted
“It really isn’t up to you, so what would you like?” Ivor restated, Jesse took a moment to have an idea of what he wanted
“Can I have some stew?” Jesse asked, his father nodded his head
“I’ll be right back with it.” Ivor said he was walking to a curtain that divided Jesse with the other people there before he stopped. “Don’t even think of getting out of bed while I’m gone.”
“I couldn’t even if I wanted to, my body’s too tired to move.” Jesse clarified, Ivor then left and Jesse was left alone, he looked at his hand that held the washcloth and placed it on to his head and laid back down on the bed. Jesse’s mind began to wonder as he was left with his thoughts, his body was still sore and he wasn’t kidding with it being tried to move, he wondered how much time had passed; hopefully not too long.
Jesse’s headache was still there so that bothered him, along with how hot he felt but cold at the same time, he tried taking his mind off of how uncomfortable he was by looking around and noticed that on the side was Ellegaard’s armor. His father must’ve taken him out of it when he was brought to the infirmary, that reminded him to thank Lukas for bringing him to the infirmary after he fell unconscious.
Ivor soon returned with a bowl of hot stew, Jesse sat up and was handed the bowl of stew
“Thanks dad.” Jesse said before he started to eat, the stew’s flavor satisfied his taste buds with delight, even with the loss of appetite Jesse was feeling he couldn’t help but want more but he didn’t want to risk throwing up so he pushed that aside. Jesse gave the empty bowl to Ivor and thanked him once more for bringing it to him.
“It’s time for you to go to bed now.” Ivor spoke as he set the empty bowl aside and walked towards the bed, Jesse opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted “No buts, you need to get some sleep if you want to get better.” Jesse closed his mouth and laid back down on his side and felt the covers being placed in him.
He turned his head and saw Ivor tucking him in
“I don’t need to be tucked in.” Jesse stated “I’m not seven.”
“Goodnight.” Ivor said before leaving once again, Jesse sighed and pulled the covers closer to him and started to drift off to sleep.
~~~
Jesse opened his eyes to an all too familiar place, he looked around and saw the insides of the Wither, he held us breath as he now felt a tug on his arm. He looked and saw Rueben who was getting pulled by the Wither’s head, Jesse held on tightly onto Rueben and used the sheer amount of strength he held to pull Rueben out.
Why was he here again he thought, Jesse felt as his grip loosen and Rueben’s face looking at him with sheer worry on his face, then he watched as Rueben was let go and began to fall down in the purple void once again. This time it was much slower, he could take in Rueben’s dreaded face as he was falling to his death, Jesse tried to wake up from this nightmare that made him relive that moment. He didn’t want to see Rueben going into the void again, he shut his eyes and hoped he would wake up, he heard Rueben’s terrified squeal.
…
Jesse shot out of bed and was gasping for air, he looked around him and saw he was still in the infirmary, his breathing was quick and he heard rushing footsteps making their way to him. Ivor the entered looking worried
“What is it! Are you okay?” Ivor asked as he quickly went to Jesse’s side, Jesse he stared at his father’s eyes
“Ye-yeah… I just had a bad dream.” Jesse stammered, he took in deep breath trying to calm himself down, he felt Ivor sitting down next to him
“Do you want to talk about it?” Ivor hesitatingly asked, “It’s alright if you don’t want to.” Jesse took a moment to fix his breathing before answering
“It was about Rueben falling…” Jesse muttered, the tent fell silent “I saw him falling down in the void.” Jesse squeezed the covers as he began to tell his nightmare
“If I just held on more tightly he’d still be here.” Jesse's voice breaks, he could feel his eyes getting watery with tears that were ready to spill, he looked down and saw his body begin to shake. Ivor pulled him into a hug
“It wasn’t your fault.” Ivor softly spoke
“No it is! I was the reason he died.” Jesse stated, he gripped on his father’s rope and tried to push him away but he was too weak to do so “If I hadn’t let go—“ he felt Ivor’s grip on him tightened a bit as well.
“He wouldn’t want you thinking it was your fault.” Ivor insisted as he continued to hold Jesse and began to softly rocked him “Truth be told he would want to see you happy.”
“Remember when he went up on the table and started dancing so you wouldn’t be sad?”
Jesse did remember that, he had come home crying one day and once Rueben saw him he went up on the table and started to dance, or somewhat dance to get him to stop; and it did. His tears had stopped and all he could do was focus on Rueben dancing.
“Yeah.. I do.” Jesse replied
“What about the time where I chased the two of you after you wrecked my precious farm?” Ivor asked
Rueben had run out of the house and went towards his father’s crops and started digging for carrots, once Jesse saw what he was doing he decided to help, Ivor had gone to check on them and that’s how he saw the wreck they made to his farm. He chased them around the yard for an hour.
“They were good carrots.” Jesse smiled
“Oh yes they were.” Ivor chuckled softly, Jesse looked through the memories he made with that piglet and felt a few bits of guilt he was carrying fading away, the tears in his eyes finally began to spill.
“ I miss him…” Jesse quietly sniffed, he felt his dad rubbing his back as he wept
“I miss him too..” Ivor muttered, Jesse continued to let his eyes spill the heavy flow of tears streaming down his face, as his sobs died down his body began to soften as it had begun to relax; he shut his eyes and from all the pain he was feeling and the exhaustion he went back to sleep in a minute.
Ivor laid Jesse down on the bed and cleaned the tears from his face along with ruffling his hair a bit before tucking him back in bed
“Good night, my little lazuli.” Ivor whispered as he stood up from the bed and quietly left..
…
Jesse’s eyes blinked open, he rubbed his eyes to find them a bit wet, he sat up and saw it was morning. He remembered what happened last night and looked around and saw no one in there with him, but he spotted some crutches next to his bedside, his father must’ve left them for him.
Jesse pulled the covers off of him and noticed that his ankle was wrapped with bandages around it, he grabbed one of his shoes and placed them on his foot before grabbing the crutches, Jesse stood up while he lifted his sprained ankle away from the ground.
He noticed a piece of paper on a desk that was in there, he used his crutches to hopped his way there and took a look at the paper
"Getting some material for rebuilding, won’t be gone for long so stay out of trouble and rest.” - Dad
Jesse placed the paper back on the desk and began to make his way out of the infirmary, once he stepped outside the bright light of the sun hit him in the face, he squinted his eyes and hopped away where the sun wasn’t hitting him.
He saw that the house he was working on was finished, and that there were some stands with banners in them around next to them along with another house in the making
“Jesse!” A voice yelled, Jesse looked around and saw it was Petra, he used his crutches to walk over to her.
“Hey Petra.” Jesse greeted “How’ve you been feeling?.”
“I’m doing alright, what about you though?” Petra asked, “Lukas told us what happened.”
“I’m feeling a lot better now,” Jesse replied “You wouldn’t happen to seen Lukas?” Jesse looked around to see if the blond was near
“I want to thank him for bringing me to the infirmary.”
“I haven’t seen him since yesterday.” Petra answered “He was worried about you.” Jesse frowned when Petra mentioned that part, he could help but feel guilty for making him worry.
“So what’s with the new hairdo?” Petra asked, Jesse didn’t realize he didn’t tie it up before leaving the infirmary.
“I forgot to tie it up this morning.” Jesse answered with an awkward smile
“Well I have stuff to do right now but if you need anything then don't be afraid to ask.” Petra said, she stretched her arms while she let out a yawn, she waved Jesse goodbye as she left. Jesse turned his body and began to look for Lukas, as he used his crutches to hop around he noticed Axel and Olivia talking while they were farming the dirt ground, he made it over them.
“Hey guys.” Jesse smiled, the two stopped with their conversation and looked at Jesse for a moment before Olivia lunged at him with an embrace, he almost fell backwards
“Sorry—.” Olivia apologized as she went off him “I didn’t hurt you, did I?
“No you didn’t, but I'm glad to see you two doing fine.” Jesse smiled
“I almost didn’t recognize you with your hair down.” Axel admitted
“Yeah I can’t remember the last time you had it down.” Olivia added “But having your hair down looks great!”
“Really? I haven’t really looked at myself.” Jesse stated
“Well you should once you get the chance.” Olivia smiled, Jesse eyed the stone hoe on the ground and some different kinds of seeds and plants
“What are you guys planting?” Jesse asked, Olivia turned her head and looked at the seeds Jesse was looking at
“Oh! We’re just planting some wheat seeds, some carrots with some potatoes, and we even found some beetroot seeds!” Olivia listed
“That’s great.” Jesse smiled
“Hey Olivia, I think we forgot the water.” Axel mentioned, Olivia looked around and saw that they did in fact forgot to bring more water for the crops
“That means we have to go back to the lake.” Olivia groaned, there was a lake around them but it was a pretty long walk there.
“I can go get it if you want.” Jesse offered
“You dad made sure to tell us that you’re supposed to be resting.” Olivia reminded, her eyes shifted to Axel and began to signal him
“Oh!” Axel blurted once he understood what Olivia ment, he walked over to Jesse and in a quick motion he lifted Jesse up in his arms “Sorry about this buddy— but you are supposed to be resting.” He started to walk while carrying Jesse
“Axel! Put me down! I can use my crutches to go back to the infirmary by myself!” Jesse stated
“Well that means you aren’t resting so I’ll just carry you there instead.” Axel argued with, Jesse pouted and was taken back to the infirmary, Axel placed him down on his bed “You don’t have to worry, we’ve got it covered.” Jesse sighed
“I know, but I want to help out as well.” Jesse exclaimed
“Well… you can help out by staying here and getting better.” Axel stated, he pulled out a book from the inside of his jacket and handed it to Jesse
“What’s this?” Jesse asked as he took the book and examined it
“It’s the story about how the Order defeated the Ender Dragon.” Axel answered “I know that you haven’t heard it before so.. I found a copy of it from the Order’s temple.”
“Just in case you get bored you can read it.”
Jesse knew about the true story of how the Order defeated the dragon, but he reminded himself that they haven’t told Axel or his other friends about it yet.
“Thanks, I’ll make sure to read it.” Jesse smiled, Axel returned the smile back
“I’ll see you later dude.” Axel said, before leaving the infirmary he and Jesse waved goodbye. Jesse stared at the book and analyzed it once more, the title of the book was called: The Order of the Stone. Jesse opened it to reveal the yellow pages that told the tale of the defeat of the Ender Dragon, he started at the first page and saw the book was written by Soren.
Jesse stared at the author's name for a moment before turning the page to the first chapter, he began to read and flipped through the pages, the first chapter was the Order finding the portal and getting prepared going into the end. Even when knowing what really happened Jesse felt compelled to keep reading, he’ll admit that Soren is an excellent writer even if the story wasn’t really the truth. He hadn’t realized that someone came in before he felt their gaze on him, he turned his head and saw his father standing before him.
“Hey dad.” Jesse greeted
“How’s your day been lazuli?” Ivor asked as he ruffled his boy’s hair
“I almost forgot about the nickname,” Jesse groaned as he was reminded of his nickname “But my day been good.”
“That’s lovely, and have you been resting?” Ivor questioned
“Yes I have, don’t worry I’m more shocked then you are.” Jesse joked, he felt his father hand leave his head
“Do you want me to bring you some stew?” Ivor asked, Jesse felt his stomach rumble once his dad had mention some stew
“Yes please, I haven’t eaten anything yet.” Jesse answered
“Okay then I’ll be right back.” Ivor announced, he was about to leave when he stopped and stared at Jesse “By the way, what have you been reading?”
“Oh! Uh.. Axel gave me the story book of the Orders slaying the dragon.” Jesse answered, he saw as a frown appeared on Ivor and his gaze shifted to the ground then back at him
“I’m sorry you had to find it out like that.” Ivor sighed, “I wish I told you soon.”
“It’s fine dad, really.. I probably wouldn’t even believe it anyway.” Jesse insisted
“I suppose that’s true,” Ivor smiled, “I’ll bring back your stew.” Ivor then left, Jesse went back scanning through the pages of the story. He just finished the ninth chapter and began to read the first paragraph on the tenth when he heard footsteps making their way to him. He didn’t take his eye off of the book since he knew it was his dad coming back.
“Hey Jesse…” Lukas's voice said, Jesse’s eyes grew and he shot his head up from the book to find Lukas standing next to him
“Lukas! What are you doing here?” Jesse asked as he fixed his sitting position, Lukas placed his hand on the back of his head
“Sorry- I meant to see you sooner, but are you feeling better?” Lukas replied
“Uh.. I’m feeling better, thanks for asking.” Jesse said, “And thanks for bringing me to the infirmary when I passed out.”
“I really couldn’t leave you laying on the ground unconscious,“ Lukas chuckled softly. “That would make me a bad friend.”
“That’s true… but still, thanks.” Jesse replied
“So is having your hair down a new style or..?” Lukas asked and he sat down on the bed with Jesse
“Uh.. actually it’s not- I just forgot to tie it up this morning.” Jesse answered
“Well it looks good on you.” Lukas complimented, Jesse felt his mouth form a smile and his cheeks getting hot
“What’s with you being such a gentleman?” Jesse questioned as he smiled from ear to ear, he heard Lukas chuckled
“I can’t compliment my friend now or what?” Lukas queried
“You two should really be more observant of your surroundings.” Ivor chimed in, Jesse and Lukas darted their head to Ivor hold a steaming bowl of stew
“ Crap— sorry dad I didn’t hear you come in.” Jesse apologized
“Looks like you're about to eat, I’ll talk to you later then.” Lukas said, he stood up from the bed and waved Jesse goodbye as he left, Ivor handed Jesse the warm bowl of stew.
“You two became good friends now I’m guessing?” Ivor mentioned, Jesse shifted his gaze to his father and softly smiled
“Yeah I guess we have.” Jesse replied as he took a sip of the warm stew before speaking again “It’s nice to have him back.” He felt Ivor sitting next to him while he continued to eat his stew
“The two of you were two peas in a pot when you were younger.” Ivor reminded
“Yeah we were.” Jesse couldn’t help but frown, there was a reason why they stopped being friends when they were younger..
“Sorry about bringing it up.” Ivor apologized
“It’s fine, what happens in the past stays in the past.” Jesse assured
“Yes.. but they still happen, you can’t forget that.” Ivor insisted
“That’s true, but still we were different people when we were younger.” Jesse restated
“I suppose.” Ivor sighed, he stared at the half empty bowl of stew Jesse held in his hands “Make sure you finish it before it gets cold.” Jesse nodded his head and finished the rest of the stew, Ivor took the empty bowl and placed it on the desk.
“Lights out, it’s time for you to go to bed.” Ivor said
“It’s not that late! Plus I’m not tired.” Jesse stated
“You‘re still running a fever so you need to rest up.” Ivor explained, Jesse groan but didn’t want to find it
“Okay, goodnight dad.” Jesse yawned as he laid down on his bed and wrapping himself in the covers
“Goodnight lazuli.” Ivor whispered as he left Jesse to sleep.
~~~
Three days have passed so it’s now been five days since the defeat of the Wither, and they’re on the sixth day and between those days were Jesse’s mandatory resting, he was restless with getting back out there and helping around so once he found out he was all better he was ecstatic.
Jesse placed was putting on Ellegaard armor when he hear Ivor coming in, he started at his dad standing in the entrance of the tent
“What’s up?” Jesse asked as he finished putting on his boot
“Can you come outside?” Ivor requested
“Yeah sure.” Jesse replied, he started to walk when he left Ivor pushing his head down making him look at the floor “Dad! What are you doing?”
“It’s a surprise.” Ivor stated “And no peeking.” Ivor began ledding Jesse out of the tent and walked him somewhere
“When can I look?” Jesse asked, his eyes were kept glued on ground as he was instructed
“We’re almost there.” Ivor clarified, Jesse noticed the change of the path as it shifted to stone instead of the usual grass ground, while he was resting he hadn’t gone outside as much and wasn’t near where the houses were being built. “Okay we’re here but! Keep your eyes closed.” Jesse somewhat nodded his head as it was still down.
He closed his eyes and slowly raised his head back up and waited till his dad told him to open them.
“You can open them… now!” Ivor said, Jesse opened his eyes and saw his friends in front of him
“Hey guys.” Jesse smiled, he noticed something behind them “What’s that behind you?” Jesse’s friends look at each other before moving out of the way revealing a structure that was mostly made out of Quartz and Polished Diorite blocks with some oak saplings along with Azure bluet flowers. In the center was a name plate that had Rueben’s name on there, Jesse eyes widened
“We know how much he meant to you so we built a memorial for the little guy.” Petra clarified
“We also made this.” Olivia pulled out a cyan banner and gave it to Jesse, he looked at it and saw Reuben’s face on there with black vines at the top and bottom “You should be the one who gets to place it.” Jesse gripped on the banner and walked towards the memorial and placed it above the nameplate. He backs away as he looks at the completed memorial, he feels water forming in his eyes and his lip begins to tremble, he looks down at the ground a tear fell.
Jesse’s throat tightens as he begins to cry heavy tears, he tried wiping them away but it didn’t make a change.
“S-sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying but thank you..” Jesse whimpered, he felt an arm wrapped around him, he didn’t bother to look at who it was.
…
Today marks the day of the defeat of the Wither. It was a week ago and it was time to celebrate, there were stands around and the people were around the stage where Jesse and his friends would stand as they got congratulated for defeating the Wither Storm. Before they walked over to the stage Jesse looked at Reuben’s memorial, he felt something apart from him was missing once he stared at the memorial, he turned around to see the people there cheering.
Jesse put on a smile and he and the rest walked towards the stage, once they made it up there Jesse spotted Lukas in the crowd smiling at him and giving him a reinsurance nod, that made him smile more brighter.
“People used to look at ME like that once, Jesse.” Gabriel mentioned, Jesse turned his head to him “Having my memory restored has been both a blessing and a curse.”
Gabriel leans into Jesse’s ear and whispers “Perhaps they deserve to know the truth about the Order.”
“They deserve the truth, this all started over a lie so might as well give them the real story.” Jesse explained, he watched as Gabriel walked forward and waved his hand at the crowd making them stop their cheering.
“We all owe a great debt to Jesse and his friends.” Gabriel announced “But I owe a debt to you people, as well..”
“Which is why… There's something I want to tell you. About the Order.” Gabriel continued, he turned his head to Jesse wanting assurance, Jesse nodded his head and Gabriel turned back towards the crowd “The Order of the Stone… is not what you all believe.”
“We were… frauds.” Gabriel confessed “We used the Command Block to falsify our legacy.” The crowd gasped, Gabriel turned to look at Ivor who nodded in approval.
“We were no heroes.” Gabriel turns to Jesse and his friends “So it is time for the world to celebrate new heroes! Real heroes!” The crowd was murmuring, Jesse walked forward next to Gabriel cueing him and his father and Magnus to walk off the stage. Once they did so the crowd cheered at Jesse
“Thank you! Thank you, everyone.” Jesse spoke, the crowd then shushed “I never thought I’d be here for saving the world or something, it’s crazy to think how far my friends and I came.”
“We visited the weirdest place! I mean come on— we went to the Far Lands!” Jesse exclaimed, the crowd cheered “At the end of the day I couldn’t have done this alone.. I had my friends with me.” Jesse turned to look at his friends
“There’s Olivia, Axel, Petra, and Lukas.” Jesse smiled, “They stuck by my side and made fun of me when I deserved it, that’s how we are.”
“Dang right we are!” Axel chimed in
“We saved the world together!” Jesse exclaimed and the crowd was cheering louder, Magnus walks up to the stage and walked over to Jesse
“Jesse… this is the Nether Star that dropped when the Wither Storm was destroyed.” Magnus announced, he handed the Wither’s purple Withered Nether Star to Jesse “Wanna do the honors?” Magnus showed Jesse the beacons where he would place the star at.
Jesse walked to the beacon with the Withered star in his hand
“Oh man, this is going to be so cool…” Axel smiled, Jesse placed the Withered star on top of the glassed beacon and in a matter of seconds the star began to spin rapidly and out shot the beacon’s lights, the coward cheered louder.
“Wow!” Jesse exclaimed, Gabriel goes up on the stage with the amulet in his hand
“My friends… I am now pleased to introduce you to you…” Gabriel walks over to Jesse and hands him the amulet “The new Order of the Stone!” Gabriel announced, the people clapped and cheered, Jesse walked back down on the stage and he and his friends stood together as they were showered with praise.
They still had more adventures to come but for now it’s time to celebrate.