MCSM: Petra's Escape [COMPLETED]

Finally Safe

Petra wasn't sure how much time had passed when she finally lifted her head up, eyes glazed with grief, face smeared with tears. She had to keep moving. Night would fall soon, and she had nowhere to go but the temple. 

She shakily got to her feet and left the empty desolation, numbly continuing forward. The events of the last few days were replaying themselves in her mind. Everything that had happened recently, she was reliving it.

Luckily, she instinctively knew where to go, because she was too overwhelmed and sad to think much.

  It was starting to really get dark when she noticed a purple tinted glow coming from behind a small waterfall. She walked over to investigate, and discovered an activated Nether portal. For the first time all day, Petra allowed herself to hope. This must have been the portal that her friends had come through! Why else would there be a Nether portal in the middle of nowhere?

She looked around and noticed a platform in the trees just a little ways away. It looks a lot like a makeshift treehouse, Petra thought, fighting back the memory of the burning treehouse she had seen earlier.

Petra explored a little further, and there it was. The temple of the Order of the Stone. It was a huge, ancient building, mostly made of gold and quartz, and also mostly falling apart. She ran towards it, anticipation and hope filling her heart to overflowing.

She noticed movement on a cobblestone balcony and ran faster, shouting "Hello! Anyone there?!"

A blonde head peered back onto the balcony, and Lukas stepped out of the shadows, looking down for the voice. He finally saw her through the darkness and grinned.

"Petra?! Is that you?!" Lukas called down, dumbfounded.

She hollered up to him, smiling even wider than he was, she was so glad to see someone she knew. "Yes! It's me! Lukas, I'm back!"

He disappeared from the balcony, and the iron door at the base flew open. Lukas ran out and immediately wrapped her in a relieved hug.

"You're okay! I can't believe it! You're okay!" He let go of her for a second, staring into her eyes, then hugged her again. "We...we thought you were dead."

Petra hugged him back. She felt herself blushing as she remembered what the Ocelots had said. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she disentangled herself from the embrace.

"Yeah, I'm alive. But what about you? Did you guys get through the Nether okay?"

"We're fine. But the Order's not here. Jesse and Olivia went to find Ellegaard, and Axel stayed here with me. They wanted me to go with them, but I wanted to wait for you." He explained, his face reddening slightly.

Petra smiled. "Well, thanks. It's such a relief to see you; you have no idea what I've been through."

Lukas looked concerned. "You are okay, right?" He asked, leading the way back inside the temple.

Petra hesitated for a moment, feeling highly nervous about telling him that she had Wither Sickness. "Kind of. I'm-"

"PETRA!" Axel shouted, running up to her. He pulled her into a bear hug. "You're alive! You're freakin' ALIVE!"

She laughed. "Don't worry about me. You know how tough I am." The word stuck in her throat as she remembered the desolation. Tough. Yeah, right.

"Yeah, that's for sure. How'd you get away from that thing?" Axel asked. Lukas also gave her a curious look.

"It was hard. But it was...distracted. The Storm seemed intent on destroying everything. Everything... it's all gone." Petra told them, fighting to keep her voice even.