MCSM: Ghost of Her Past [COMPLETED]

Playing With Fire

Her feet were aching by the third trial.
Her face was glistening with sweat, her leg muscles pulsing from the physical strain. Behind her was a swarm of zombies, swiping as she got too close. She panted, yelling at the top of her lungs to Amelia on the sidelines. "What does this have to do with anything?!"
Amelia didn't answer, but she gave her a smirk. Jesse had the sinking suspicion that Amelia was enjoying her pain. She didn't understand why Amelia hated her so much. As far as she was concerned, Jesse was a very likeable person.
She glanced up at her friends, her eyes begging for help. They were sitting in the nosebleed section, watching. They all nodded, giving Jesse the sign that she could do it on her own. Lukas gave her that prize winning smile, and Jesse groaned. Dang, he had to smile.
Now she had no choice but to complete the task. The trial seemed simple at first- grab the flint and steel from the chest, light the netherrack, then run back to the finish line. Jesse had to do that and avoid simple obstacles like lava pools. But apparently Amelia "forgot" to mention the zombies that would be chasing her in the process.
"You can do it Jesse!" Olivia encouraged.
"Easy for you to say!"
"Relax! They're zombies! You've dealt with them before haven't you?" Petra reminded her.
"Yeah, with a weapon!!!"
Axel looked like he was going to rebuttal that, but then he winced. "Ooh... yeah... that's gonna be a problem."
"YOU THINK?!"
"Use your brain noob!" Amelia exclaimed, and Jesse jerked her head to her with a glare. "Use your surroundings to your advantage!"
      Use my surroundings. Jesse's eyes darted back and forth. In the arena, there were a few stone pillars that were only about one to three blocks high. Jesse hopped onto one, and leapt as far as she could onto the next one, and the next one, and the next one. The zombies were far behind her, and she grinned as she pulled out the flint and steel and lit the netherrack.
"Nice job, noob," Amelia said sarcastically. She walked over to a lever, and Jesse gulped. This couldn't be good. "Try to avoid this!"
Jesse yelped as lava suddenly poured in front of her, spreading close to her feet. She quickly dodged, it's fire barely scorching her hair. Several more lava falls rained from the ceiling in scattered directions, falling into holes and creating pools. So that's why those holes in the ground were there. Jesse thought.
Zombies blocked every pathway, and Jesse couldn't see a way out. She couldn't go back the way she came- the pillars were too high to reach. She glanced around, and noted the vines on the walls. She grinned and grabbed onto one, climbing up.
"Too easy!" Amelia sniggered, flipping another lever. It opened a passage on the side of the wall Jesse was on, and spiders crawled out. Jesse paled.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" She screeched, punching a spider out of her face and into the lava.
Use your surroundings to your advantage. Jesse recalled, and her eyes brightened. She realized that using your surroundings didn't just mean climbing the walls or jumping off things. It meant literally using them.
A spider crawled towards her, and arched it's back to attack. Jesse waited, the sound of her own heart beat counting down. It launched, hissing, red eyes glowing. Still clutching the vines, Jesse pushed off the wall, spun, and kicked the spider into the lava. It instantly disintegrated.
"Ha! Take that stupid spider- oooh gravel!"
More spiders crawled out, targeting her as their next victim. Jesse growled in frustration, channelling all that anger towards completing her goal. She reared back her fist and thrust it forward.
Then it happened. A burst of light escaped her fist, and blasted all the spiders off the wall. Jesse gasped, examining her hand in awe. "Whoa." She breathed. Taking this as an advantage, she continued to crawl on the vines and finally made it to the other side.
Her friends were already there, their eyes wide with amazement. "Jesse how did you do that?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know," Jesse shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's a hero," Amelia approached them, rolling her eyes. "I'll believe that when I see it."
"Hey, Jesse is a hero!" Axel argued.
"Yeah." The others agreed.
"Don't care." Amelia deadpanned. Jesse sighed impatiently.
"What's your problem?" She demanded. "Why do you hate me so much?"
Amelia scoffed. "Whatever. I've got better things to do than to deal with the likes of you."
She stomped off, leaving the rest of them in her desolation. Meanwhile, Amelia rounded the corner, mumbling under her breath. "Who does she think she is... that little... I'll show her..."
"Be careful, my friend."
Amelia was startled when she saw Soren standing in front of her. She breathed a small sigh of relief, then rolled her eyes at him. "Great, why do you always show up when I'm trying to have fun?
"I was just going to warn you," Soren said. "You're playing with fire."
Amelia scowled. "We'll see about that."
Jesse's next training lesson was with Isa, which was a huge relief since Isa already knew what she could do. Jesse rubbed her aching shoulders as she waited for Isa.
"Training hard?" Isa asked, causing Jesse to jump.
"Yeah, Amelia's really giving me a hard time," Jesse muttered. "I just wish she'd tell me why she hates me so much."
      "She doesn't hate you specifically," Isa said. Jesse's eyes narrowed.
      "Do you know why she's mad?"
      Isa sighed. "See... ever since Milo and I showed them the prophecy, Amelia trained hard, day and night. She wanted to be the one. Then, you came... someone smaller and weaker than her in her mind."
      Jesse nodded. That would make anyone angry. "I guess that makes sense."
      Isa carried on with the lesson. "You're pretty good with a sword, but when you're weaponless against your enemy, that is where you are at a disadvantage. I'm going to be training you in the martial arts."
"Cool," Jesse said enthusiastically. "So... how does this work?"
"Your stance is the most important component in hand to hand combat," Isa explained, getting into a squatting position. She began to fake some punches. "With a proper stance, you can predict any movement and stop any attack."
Jesse examined Isa's position, and copied it. She bent down as if she were sitting on a bench. Her elbows were in, her back was straight, and her legs were steady. She looked at Isa for approval.
"Not bad," Isa remarked. However with a quick swipe to the left at Jesse's hip, Jesse wobbled and fell to he ground. Jesse blew her bangs from her face.
"Your left foot was crooked, which left room for an opening," Isa said. She got into her stance again. "See? If you keep your feet forward, all you have to worry about is what's around you. Try to hit me."
"Ummm... okay?" Jesse paused, then made a jab at Isa's chin. Isa reacted quickly, her hand gripping Jesse's wrist. She twisted Jesse's arm, knocking her to the flood. Jesse groaned with embarrassment.
"You okay?" Isa asked.
"Besides a bruised ego, I'm fine," Jesse replied facetiously. Isa laughed.
      "Let's do it again."

After hours of rigorous training, Jesse finally collapsed in her bed, exhausted. Her muscles ached, her bones creaked, and she probably smelled like a dead fish under all her armour. She planted her face into her pillow, trying to muffle out the world, when Lukas spoke to her.
"How was training?"
Jesse's muffled voice replied to him, but Lukas didn't understand a word she said.
"That bad huh?"
Jesse sat up and rubbed her face, her legs gently folded beneath her. "I'm exhausted. These guys weren't kidding. I don't know if I can do this."
"You have to do this," Lukas said. "All these people here; they're relying on you."
Jesse gave him a weak smile. Her weariness began to overwhelm her, and as soon as her head hit the pillow again, she was out. She didn't toss, she didn't turn, she didn't move a muscle.
That night, no nightmares came.