Chapter Text
The Air hung coldly around them.
“It’s a Witch’s hut,” Ivor stated looking ahead.
Jesse nearly jumped out of His skin as they noticed the Alchemist.
“We should steer clear of it, Nothing good ever happens when Witches are involved.” Ivor continued as Jesse looked back to the Hut and the cake on the windowsill and the Alchemist followed their gaze. “It’s not worth it, they hate trespassers.”
“But we need it,” The Teenager protested.
“I said what I said,” Ivor said stubbornly, bringing his hands to rub against his arms as a chill went through him.
“I’m sure I can take whatever a witch has in store, I got armor afterall,” Jesse persisted.
Ivor Blinked; Brown hair, determined attitude, and the armor . . . Almost a clone of her. It was still hard to accept the reality of what happened, the reality of the consequences. He had to admit if he had foresight of what was to come he would’ve kept his mouth shut much longer, not a doubt about it. But then again how would added years of silence catch up to him? Horribly probably, and given this to to be an almost better scenario of that ladder, then He should've played along.
“Is that a witch?”
The surprise and almost dread awoke the Alchemist from his thoughts, His emotionally and mentally draining thoughts, that he had to admit left him exhausted,
“We should go, I’m telling you we should leave,” He said, keeping his voice even.
The Teenager eventually sighed, giving up.
“Okay, I got some potatoes earlier, I think it’ll be enough.”
Ivor nodded, although absent-mindedly as he turned away, Jesse followed behind, judging from the sound of their footsteps, and it was only that, footsteps, the wind, the water rippling, the squelching mud under their feet, and the cold.
“I’m Sorry about Ellegaard.”
The words shook the old Alchemist to his core, his almost dark lapis eyes closing as he let out a shaky breath that seemingly rattled out of him, he could almost hear his heart beat wearily as it dropped to his stomach.
“I shouldn’t have taken her armor.”
“No.” The words were forced out as he opened his watery eyes, only to notice that he had stopped dead in his tracks. “If you hadn’t taken it, it would’ve been you, you know that.”
The Teenager paused,
“But the World needed the order, they needed Her-”
“I KNOW THAT!” The words were spat out as Ivor found himself shaking, pale hands balling into fists, nails digging into his calloused flesh as he squeezed his eyes shut once again.
“I know that, Jesse. But- we- I-” Words got caught up in his throat as his brain searched for the letters to string together, but none came. He hung his head in defeat, wind blowing his shaggy black hair into his face, hiding his expression as his trembling refused to cease.
“Ivor-”
“Look, I know Jesse, I know I know I know I know, I KNOW.” The words only came out harsher as he quickly forced himself back together, wiping his eyes on his sleeve as he continued forward, Ignoring the Turmoil, Exhaustion, and aching joints.
The Teen wanted to push but didn’t trust it, the guy had tried and threatened to kill him too many times to try and push for details. And given his reaction and the scattered details they had accumulated about the man, he wasn't necessarily having fun in the sun with this whole ordeal either, they could almost have sympathy . . . key word Almost but never the less they followed him.
“Did you find anything?” Olivia Asked as she watched them approach, the others looked up while Magnus kept his eyes to the muddy ground, it was a wonder why he followed at all with how he felt regarding the armor incident.
Jesse Nodded.
“Yeah, but we don’t have time now, there’s a Witch nearby and she seems like bad news, and-”
A glass bottle shattered in the middle of the group.
“SHE’S HERE!”
The witch emerged from the shadows as Jesse drew their sword,
“Watch out for it’s potions!” they warned However it wasn’t long till skeletons came into view.
“Witches and Skeletons, that’s a deadly combination.” Soren muttered as the group ducked for cover. “Her potions combined with their arrows.”
“We need to distract them somehow, or Fight.” Jesse determined. “Maybe we could-”
Ivor interrupted,
“I’ll hold them off, you go, I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Are you sure about that?” Gabriell looked up at him daizilly, pink infected eyes staring right through the Alchemist without intention.
He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded,
“Yes, I’m sure, Once you get to the farlands You’ll be safe and I won’t stay for long, only-”
“OH, Look at big tough Ivor ready to save everyone all of a sudden.” Magnus Growled, glaring a hole through the twig of a man. “I wonder where that attitude was when-”
“We Don’t have time for this!” Olivia scolded the rogue as Jesse looked to Ivor.
“Okay, Just don’t get killed, We need you to help us when-”
“Just Go!” Ivor demanded, as the Teen quickly nodded, quickly getting to their feet and sparing him a final glance before bookin it.
The cold air sat stiffly around The lone Alchemist, he could easily stay put, right where he was and let those pesky skeletons shoot him down, maybe if he stood up he could get a head start to that, it’d be fitting, wouldn’t it? Almost Ironic considering how much trouble he went through before everything to get those skulls.
Ivor stood up with some heasitence, Honestly it felt like his joints were trying to commit some form of suicide as he moved just as shakily, His black hair hung limp as spagetti around his face as he tried to get a move on, but his legs refused to move.
He forced a step forward, and almost immediately payed the price as an Arrow whizzed by him. He reached into the deep pockets of his robe and pulled out the round glass bottle, The potion inside sloshed and gave an odd red aura. Oddly enough it felt warm in his hands, but that was bound to happen regarding how it usually left a burning effect on the skin.
Gripping the long neck of the bottle he quickly moved, running out and throwing it as far as he could. He reached into his pockets again and gripped the neck of another bottle, throwing it just as far only for an arrow to meet it halfway and shatter midair, leaving the potion contained to be showered across both the Alchemist and the monsters in front of him.
The drops hit Ivors skin and easily soaked through the fabric of his clothes, the Burning sensation hit his skin but he kept himself from crying out as he ducked to avoid an arrow. More drops hit the back of his neck as he bit his tongue, he stumbled to try and get to his feet only to fall to the ground, his joints were screaming at him to stay still and stop and the potion didn’t help either, Effects wearing off or not.
The Alchemist looked up, there were too many of them, he needed to retreat, he needed to run.
Arrows soon came raining down as Ivor rolled to the side and stumbled to his feet, forcing his legs to move under him as he ran, Arrows whizzing by his face caused him to break into a sprint.
The further he ran the more solid the ground was beneath his feet, he was getting closer, he knew that. He was close to the others and getting closer.
He stopped to catch his breath as soon as he saw the twisting stone structures of the farlands.
The sun had started to creep up and illuminate his surroundings along with the glowstone, there was no sign of the group. Maybe they had got there before him?
He took some last heavy breaths before starting towards the entrance surrounded by lapis and a path illuminated by lanterns and other glowstone.
Descending into the familiar darkness of the cave he was soon faced with his labyrinth of a maze. He knew the way through of course but-
“IVOR!”
He looked up, to see the group on top of the maze, they probably must’ve climbed the Vine’s or some other method to reach the top.
“What are you doing up there!?”
“Couldn’t find our way around! So we tried to get a better vantage point!” Jesse Explained. “C’mon!”
Ivor entered the Maze, Looking around for the Vines they must’ve climbed up on.
“You're getting colder!”
Ivor glanced up, moving to the side as then Olivia called out,
“Now you’re getting warmer!”
He moved backwards,
“Colder!” Gabriel called, despite memory loss he seemed to have caught on quick enough.
Then forward,
“Hotter! Now hurry up!” Magnus snapped, Unamused by the little game. He was once the one who would’ve started the game, but now, well now things have changed.
Any small form of joy that had started was quickly squashed as Ivor continued to the closest vines, climbing them slowly, knuckles white as he gripped the hanging plant, his boots providing some grip, despite his screaming joints and muscles he kept going.
Reaching the edge of the wall before the vine was ripped from inbetween the stone bricks, he scrambled as he felt himself start to drop before a gloved hand gripped his and then his fall came to a sudden stop.
The Alchemist looked up to notice El- No Jesse, they were Jesse, Soren and Oliva caught them as they almost fell with Him. Ivor reached up and grabbed the edge of the wall, and with some help pulled himself up to the top.
Ivor shakily got to his feet once on stable ground, He stopped himself from swaying as he continued forward,
“Come on, this way.” He said as he moved along.
The small group followed Ivor, his Joints still screamed at him and he was practically dragging his feet across the stone.
“Is that it?” Jesse asked as he could see the edge of the cottage, running ahead slightly, now walking a few strides ahead of him.
Ivor wordlessly nodded, as some of the others moved ahead and clumped further together, all he knew was he wasn’t the one leading anymore.
He couldn’t help but have the sensation that he was simply going through the motions of something, something familiar? No. Something entirely Foreign? No again. But it still felt oddly like Daja Vu of sorts.
“Ivor? IVOR!”
The Alchemist blinked, finally awaking from his thoughts, now noticing the others had started to make it to the ground, no time was wasted on his brain catching up to the implied request though, since he Felt himself got shoved forward and rather quickly met the ground.
The Ground Hurt alot more than it used to, Hitting the ground wasn’t supposed to make your whole body sting, or make you physically recoil or seath in pain, or make it feel like your nervous system commit suicide.
“What The Hell!?” Olivia exclaimed at somebody.
“Don’t give me that look!” Magnus Snapped. “He’s fine! Just overreacting!”
Ivor felt a firm grip on the back of his Collar and some of his hair as he got pulled to his feet.
He stood just fine, however the stinging sensation refused to let go, same with the nervous system suicide, his legs were uneasy and coughing soon wracked his body.
Gabe’s brows furrowed,
“Are you alright?”
“I don’t think so,” Olivia said as Jesse placed a hand on the Alchemist’s shoulder to steady him as he regained his composure.
“I-I’m fine.” Ivor insisted as he pulled away from the Teenager’s hand and pushed forward to the edge of the precipice.
No one looked particularly convinced in the group except for the rogue who still looked just as bitter as before, however they still followed him.
Jesse looked over the edge, looking at the cottage in the middle of a chasm.
“Is there a way across?”
“Course there is,” Ivor said as he looked up and towards a machine behind them.
Olivia looked at it with curiosity and wonder.
“What is that thing?”
“Flying Machine,” Ivor said plainly. “It’s not exactly working right now though.”
“Do you not know how to fix it?” Soren asked, annoyed by the hangup.
“Well it’s not like he’ll have her around to fix it for him,” Magnus Scowled.
The cringing and flinching was mutual all around.
"Olivia, could you maybe look at it?" Jesse asked.
Olivia circled the machine observing it’s mechanics
“It’s . . . Really complicated.”
“You can fix it though, right?”
“I dunno . . .It may be out of my league,” The shorter teen said awkwardly before sighing.
“Why would you think that? You’re plenty bright, I’m sure you could figure it out,” Soren said in an oddly comforting tone.
“I dunno . . . . I just wish I had more time to Study with Ellegaard.” Olivia sighed again, as she circled it a 4th time, oblivious to the tense atmosphere she created between the older members. “But even she said I don’t have what it takes to be a great engineer.”
“Well, That’s just baloney,” Gabe interjected. “I may not remember this Ellegaard person, but she doesn’t sound like she knew what she was talking about.”
Ivor froze, and Magnus growled,
“Watch your mouth.”
“But she was the Greatest engineer of all time, a member of the order of the freakin’ stone!” The female Teen exclaimed.
“So was I, or so I’m told, but I’m just a person, so was she, We’re all just people, just like you.” Gabriel said.
“Right . . . Just like me. Then how am I and the others supposed to save the world if you didn’t have what it took?” The words were hissed and despite the loss of memory of what she could possibly be talking about he still looked a little hurt at the outburst.
“I mean, Soren and Ivor are at eachothers throats, not to mention Magnus, and You don’t even know who you freakin’ are!” Olivia continued. “How am I supposed to have hope in what I can do, if I can’t even trust you four to protect all of us and help!?”
There was silence before there was a sigh,
“You’re . . . right.” Ivor Admitted. “But are you going to let yourself be right?”
“Like you have any fucking leg to stand on.” Magnus scoffed. “You fuckin Killed her, If it weren’t for you Elle would still be alive.”
“Language!” The Architect scolded before the Alchemist spoke
“I know, And it wasn’t remotely fair for anyone to get involved with this, I caused this so I will do what I can to fix it. But Elle . . . She isn’t here, she won’t fix this, you will. You’re letting a dead woman’s words sway you, and if you are going to do nothing to help us fix this, then we can’t do a thing for you. We never did anything on our own, we had help.” Ivor said as Soren rushed to simplify and soften the blow.
“He’s right, from this point onward, no more fights, no more talking about saving the world by yourselves, we’ll all help eachother out, not as the Order, but something better than that.”
Olivia Looked up at them before letting out a breath,
“Right, Something better.” She said before moving to look at the machine. “We’ll need a piston and redstone, Can some of you get on that?”
Jesse nodded with a mock salute,
“Eye- eye, Captain.” He said before proceeding to dig around in a chest that was nearby. “I got a piston, and some redstone.”
“We might need a block and the piston’s gotta be sticky.” Oliva informed as she continued to mess with the machine.
“I got some slime from the Swamp.” Soren said, offering it up as Jesse moved to work on the piston.
“Any of you got any extra redstone?” He asked, looking around, Vaguely reminding Ivor of Elle working on the project in the middle of their old temple’s floor.
Magnus seemingly slipped something into his pocket discreetly, Causing Gabriel to look up at him.
“Do you have anything?”
“Nada, Now mind yer business.” The Rouge scowled.
“Magnus, we don’t have time for this.” Soren scolded.
The Rogue shot a harsh glare,
“Who Cares? Cause I sure fuckin’ Don’t.”
“LANGUAGE!” Soren Exclaimed
“But the world!” Jesse protested.
The Alchemist spoke up,
“Magnus, Do you have the stone or not? We need to get going, we need to end this-”
“NO, you need to end this, I don’t gotta end shit, and if you can’t get past and fix it, so be it! I don’t give a damn as long as you’re going down with it all.”
“Magnus! Now isn’t the time!” Ivor raised his voice as he moved closer only for the Rogue to grip his collar.
“How about I send you over the edge instead?” The words were growled out.
“THAT'S ENOUGH!” Gabe Exclaimed.
“Oh don’t get me started, you don’t even know who this fucker is anymore do you!? Why would you care!?” Magnus challenged.
“Because I know I don’t like watching you two fight! I don’t know why, but I just don’t, So just let him go so I can know why again, so whatever’s going on can be over!” The ‘Warrior’ scolded.
“Fine, Take your shit!” The rogue growled as he forked over the redstone which Gabe took and Gave to the shellshocked Teen who sat with their piston.
“Right, Th- thanks.” Jesse said nervously before moving to give it to Olivia who quickly put the last of the machine together.
“All Aboard.” She said as the group crowded together on the machine as Ivor kept as close the middle as he could as they slowly moved across the chasm and moved closer to the cottage, and soon enough they found themselves at the entrance.
Climbing out of the flying machine they pushed open the doors to reveal a library that was dimly lit by glowstone, lanterns, and lapis lanterns.
“How could one person need this many books?” Gabriel said as he looked up at the towering bookshelves.
“I get bored very easily.” Ivor stated as if it was obvious.
“What about the Enchanting book we need?” Jesse Asked.
“This way.” Ivor said as he led the group through the bookshelves, to which they followed.
Soren squinted at the bookshelves as he walked,
“Did you learn anything from my lectures on organizational methodology?” He asked pointedly.
“To be partially fair I never thought you’d be here to complain about it.” Ivor admitted as he now stood in front of the lava filled fireplace and turned to look to the side as he pulled out a lever and easily connected it to a redstone circuit and then flipped it.
Almost immediately the lava drained to reveal a passageway.
“A secret passage, that’s so cool!” Gabriel said as he followed the others down said passageway.
“Watch your step, there’s a tripwire around the twelfth step and we don’t need to be separated.” The Alchemist warned as they soon reached the bottom and appeared to be in some sort of treasure room, many items were placed on quartz pedestals.
“Are these?” Olivia started as Jesse was almost too stunned as they took it all in.
“The treasures of the order of the stone, yeah.” Magnus said, his voice starting to oddly soften for the first time since the armor incident. They all slowly filtered into the hall as they observed the many treasures.
“I knew we let you keep them, after we split up, but I didn’t think you'd actually would.” Soren admitted.
“Of course I kept them.” Ivor said plainly despite there being a slight lift in his voice. “I dunno what else I would’ve done with them.”
“Maybe burn them, you’re no magnus but you did have a fascination with Lava.” Soren said, his tone lightening aswell.
“Yeah.” the old alchemist said before sighing. “Do you ever just remember little things? Like, that one time Magnus replaced your arrows with sticks? Or how Elle used to just leave her projects scattered around?”
There was a soft exhale and a sad smirk from the Architect,
“Or that one time you burnt your hair on candles and our whole head almost went up in flames cause it was so greasy?” He asked, chuckling before continuing, “There was also that time Gabriel burnt his tongue on tea and swore off drinking it ever since.”
This Brought a chuckle from the Alchemist that almost became laughter before the coughing took over, ragged and sickly as it rattled his entire body
The ginger's brows furrowed as he reached out for Ivor’s shoulder, only for him to wave him away,
“I-I’m alright.” Ivor insisted.
The architect didn’t look convinced as the Alchemist continued forward to slowly take the treasures off their pedestals.
“We need to keep going.” Ivor insisted as he Began to sort the treasures into hoppers, counting them however he was missing one.
“Here.” Gabe offered the Dragon’s egg, for Ivor to place it in the correct hopper, nearby doors swung open and the Group powered forward.
“The Ender Dragon, with fake End crystals.” Soren breathed as he looked up at the model within the dimly lit room.
“What kinda sad Loser keeps and makes all this shit?” Magnus muttered bitterly,
“Language,” Soren hissed.
The others started to look around the Room while Gabriel continued to look up at the model dragon.
“Hey bonehead, what’re you doing?” Magnus asked rudely.
Gabe looked at him before looking back,
“This feels familiar . . . A Dragon . . . We got rid of a dragon didn’t we?”
The Rogue’s expression softened as Ivor looked up from pushing buttons,
“Can you remember anything else?” Mag asked.
“I think, But it’s so blurry,” The ‘Warrior’ said.
“Can you remember specifically how we got rid of it?” Ivor asked.
Gabriel squinted at the Dragon as Magnus shot the Alchemist a glare while Soren looked almost uncomfortable about the subject.
“I- no, I don’t think so.” Gabe said defeatedly, allowing relief to spread to two of the members.
“But I want to remember, Every time I think I have it, I don’t, and it’s frustrating, as soon as I feel like I got a grip it all slips away, and-” He paused, sighing. “I’m sorry, but, what is your name again?”
It hurt, sure he and Gabriel hadn't been exactly friendly with eachother but it was still a punch to the gut for the Alchemist.
“It’s Ivor.” He said as he looked to the now open doors.
“Ivor.” Gabriel repeated as the group filtered through the door. “That’s not a bad name.”
Soon they entered the small room,
“The Book!” Jesse Smiled running up to the book on the table before looking down and noticing the levitating crystals behind it.
“Wait a minute.” They said looking up at Soren. “While we were waiting you told me the story, you told me these things were destroyed.”
The Architect had a guilty look on his face,
“We did, I mean, I’m sure we did.”
“No we didn’t, and you know that.” Ivor said bitterly. “We never fought that thing, we blinked it outta damn exsistence with that stupid block.”
Gabriel’s brows furrowed before his eyes widened at the recollection at events,
“We . . . did do that, I remember that now, and then we-”
“You covered the whole damn thing up!” Ivor snapped, “I wanted to tell them, I wanted to tell everyone, but instead you just left me out, and I’m sure you loved it, pretending I never even existed!”
“Ivor-” Soren started.
“Wait a minute, was this whole thing . . . revenge for that?” Olivia asked.
“Oh, not just that, you want a fucking bullet list!? Point number one:-”
“That's It!” Magnus snapped, shoving Ivor back.
“You’re frauds! Fucking fruads!” The Alchemist snapped as he regained his balance.
“You agreed to stay quiet too in exchange for the Treasure!” Soren interjected.
“Oh and I technically didn’t say anything, did I?” He hissed.
“You tried to destroy the world!? Are you any better!?” Jesse Exclaimed.
“I didn’t know it’d go this far!” Ivor argued.
“CAN WE ALL JUST STOP!” Gabriel Shouted. “We’re all terrible and we did- Fucking shitty things! Lies like this can’t be forgiven and Destroying the world can’t be forgiven, but the least we can goddamn do is act like adults and end it without killing eachother.”
Magnus opened his mouth to speak, only to earn a glare from the 'warrior'
“And don’t say I don’t know what I’m talking about because I don’t remember everything, cause even with limited knowledge I still know that this is Petty, childish, foolishness. So let’s focus on saving the world first, then we can argue afterwards.”
Soren let out a sigh, looking a little ashamed while Ivor looked uncomfortable, but he quickly found his voice,
“Come Jesse, you need to craft a weapon, and then I need to teach you how to enchant.”
Ivor started walking with Jesse in tow, Soren meekly followed as Ivor pushed open the doors to the small armory.
The Architect finally spoke,
“Ivor, I just- I’m sorry . . . About everything.”
“Yes well, none of it matters now,” Ivor said coldly, coughing into his hand which quickly turned into wheezing.
Jesse looked over, worried with furrowed brows, a hand reaching out for his shoulder before Soren shook his head.
“I got him, Try looking in that chest, to enchant just combine the book and whatever you make.” He explained to them as he helped steady the Alchemist.
The Teenager didn’t look too sure about this yet complied, after all they didn’t have time, none of them did.
Ivor’s coughing died down, into ragged gasps as Soren gave him a pointed look.
“Be honest with me now, are you alright?”
The Alchemist opened his mouth again to answer, before simply shaking his head,
“No, not at all.”
“Then what is going on with you?” The Architect asked.
Ivor gave a defeated shrug,
“I- I’m not exactly sure, but I think somehow the storm infected me, and I don’t know how or with what.”
Soren’s brows furrowed,
“How bad is it? Other than the coughing I mean.”
The Alchemist slowly rolled up his sleeve, revealing the many dark purple almost grey splotches that made soren’s eyes widen,
“How long has this been going on?”
“Since my plan went haywire.” Ivor admitted.
The Architect's brows jumped upwards,
“Ivor . . . Ivor you need to tell someone about this, get help, or just something!”
The Alchemist shook his head wearily,
“No, I think . . . “ Well he hoped. “Maybe it’ll all clear up once the storm is out of the picture. I’d rather not make a big deal out of it if it turns out to be a minor thing.”
The Architect would’ve contradicted him but something stopped him as he looked back at Jesse who was busy working away.
“But if it’s not, you’ll tell them. Won’t you?”
Ivor felt himself freeze up before reluctantly nodding.
“Of course.” he muttered, his tone defeated.
Soren Narrowed his eyes slightly,
“You may think being secretive is your greatest strength, but it’s also your biggest weakness” He said, looking over to him again, facial expression softening only slightly.
“But this could be a real problem, and you know that so I need you to promise me You will if things get out of hand.”
The Alchemist nodded but didn’t say anything as Jesse approached them, wearing one of the armor sets from one of the stands,
“Are you alright now?” He asked, voice an expression dripping with concern.
“Of course I am. You got everything?” Ivor asked.
“Yeah, did I do alright?” The Teen asked, pulling out the sword they had made.
“Yes, Quite well done.” The Alchemist nodded approvingly. “Is that one of my armor sets?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, it looked really cool and I thought maybe I could give Elle’s armor to magnus, since he seemed very torn about everything.” Jesse admitted.
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it, you look like a real hero Jesse, better than what we could’ve been.” Soren said while Ivor nodded.
Jesse looked pretty proud of himself,
“Thanks, now let’s put a stop to this whole mess.”
“Agreed.” Ivor said as he and Soren followed him out to meet the others.
It will be okay, The Alchemist determined. He will be ok, they will be ok, the world will be ok.
It was fine, and they were gonna see it through that it’d be better, he was sure of it.
But he couldn't be more sorrowly mistaken