MCSM: Ghost of Her Past [COMPLETED]

Soren's Plan

A/N: So I was reading through the last chapter, and I just realized there are actually two references. The first one was from Lord of the Rings, the second from the Nickelodeon TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Actually, the whole idea of Jesse being believed dead was inspired by The last Airbender. Anyways, Enjoy!

Jesse knew Lukas was in the room before he even said anything. Her hand was gripping her injury, and she silently cursed it for being a pain in her side... literally. Jesse didn't even look at Lukas as he sat down by her side.
"You doing okay?" He asked. Typical. He was always worried about her, no matter what the circumstance.
Jesse sighed harshly. "Fine."
They sat there for a moment, in silence. "Jesse, about what happened back there-"
"Lukas, please," Jesse interrupted. "I'm tired. Can we please not talk about it right now?"
Lukas shrugged. "I don't mind. What do you wanna talk about instead?"
"Something normal."
"What the heck is normal?"
"A basic question... you know like about each other."
Lukas found himself blushing and avoiding Jesse's eyes. "Okay... what's your favourite colour?"
Jesse chuckled.
"What? You said basic!"
"Okay okay," Jesse pondered on the question for a bit. Then she answered. "Blue."
"Blue?" Lukas asked. He would have assumed it was red, considering she wore it all the time. He laughed playfully. "Why blue?"
"It's the colour of the sky," Jesse explained, a smile on her face. Lukas had a feeling there was some sort of hidden meaning behind that. "What about you?" Jesse asked.
"Green," Lukas said immediately, as he stared into Jesse's eyes. He then blushed, and quickly glanced away. "Uh... green like emeralds..." He stammered. He mentally slapped himself in the forehead when he realized that that was EXACTLY the colour of Jesse's eyes.
"How did you ever end up in the Ocelots anyways?" Jesse asked curiously.
Lukas sighed. "To be honest, the group used to be just me, Maya, and Gill."
Jesse was shocked. Aiden wasn't even an original member? "Really?"
"Yeah, but then at Endercon, Aiden wanted to join the group. He proved his worth and demonstrated his skills. He even helped us get a lot of good loot. That's kind of when he got thrown into the mix." Lukas explained.
"When did he start to... you know... bully everyone?" Jesse asked.
Lukas shrugged. "Aiden was always like that... born that way, I guess. Maya, Gill and I kind of let it slide. We figured that he wasn't much of a people person, or had a rough childhood. It really started getting bad when the rivalry began."
"Why?" Jesse wondered.
"Well... Aiden told me he didn't like the way you acted towards everyone." Lukas explained.
"You're saying that him going bad was because I was being nice?" Jesse frowned.
"I know," Lukas said. "I didn't get it either. Then I figured it out. Aiden was jealous of you."
"Jealous of me?" Jesse was blown away. She shouldn't have been surprised- especially since after the Sky City incident.
"Yeah," Lukas confirmed. "It wasn't that you became the leader of the Order of the Stone. You were so kind, and caring, and brave, and because of those aspects, everyone accepted you immediately. THAT'S what Aiden wanted. To be accepted."
Everything fell into place. That whole delusion about Aiden wanting to rule Sky City... he took it by force. If he wasn't going to be accepted willingly, he was going to make them accept him.
They sat in silence for a bit after that. Jesse pondered on the situation they were in. She was going to need to learn how to control her powers so she could use them properly.
      "Jesse? Lukas?" A voice called. Olivia had come for them. She looked really desperate to get them back. "Hurry! Ivor's trying to break the silence with bad jokes!"
      "Oh, no, we can't have that," Lukas said, giving Jesse a smile. She returned it gladly. Jesse used the wall to prop herself up, then gratefully accepted Lukas and Olivia's help. The three of them trudged back to the others, who had gathered inside in front of the door to the outside. Ivor was indeed in the midst of a joke.
     "Why did the sailor bring iron and gold into his boat? He needed ores!" Ivor said brightly. "Get it?"
      Apparently he was the only one finding this funny. Petra planted her palm on her face and groaned loudly. Soren stared at Ivor, his expression bored. He shook his head. "Friend, no matter how hard you try, you are not funny." Soren said. Ivor pouted.
      "Even 'a-maze-ing' was better than that." Lukas piped up.
      Petra chuckled. "Yeah! That was a good one!"
      "Come on, guys," Jesse said. "Let's figure out our next move."

Compared to the Far Lands, this lab of Ivor's was actually pretty cozy. They entered a large living space with a flickering fireplace. There were cushioned chairs situated all around it. There was one short a chair, but Lukas offered up his for Jesse. Jesse beamed at him and sat down.
      Axel noticed, eyebrows raising skeptically.
      "After Herobrine took HQ, Soren, Milo and I tried to find you, but we figured you'd made your way out," Isa explained, back towards the fireplace as she faced Jesse. "Soren remembered Ivor had a lab somewhere North of the Headquarters and led us there, figuring you'd use it as a safe house. Then we ran into you guys."
     "Things got pretty bad after that," Lukas said, taking over. "When we got you to safety and went into hiding, Herobrine took over. He's keeping everyone as slaves... he forced them to build him a fortress not too far from here."
      "Yeah," Axel confirmed. "Olivia and I went to check it out- you know some super sneaky undercover business- and it was a mess. He's threatening them and starving them: they only get one piece of bread a day! Olivia and I overheard a man saying that his children were taken as hostages. Apparently all the others were as well."
     Jesse was outraged. She pushed herself up angrily, wincing as she did. "What?! NOBODY is allowed to imprison my people and treat them like that."
      "Whoa, let's not do anything rash." Lukas said. Jesse turned on him.
      "Well, we've gotta do something! Look, guys... a final battle is going to happen sooner or later. The faster we can get rid of this guy the faster this war is over."
       "I agree, completely," Ivor said. Jesse once again found everyone looking to her for ideas. "What do you propose we do?"
      Way to put me on the spot, guys. Jesse thought.
      "Actually... I have a suggestion," Soren said.
      "Ugh... not another one of your ideas," Axel groaned. Jesse sighed at her friend's stubbornness.
      "Remember what happened the LAST time you had an idea?" Petra snapped.
      "Okay, that idea may not have worked, but this one just might!" Soren said, voice wavering a bit.
      "That's supposed to make us feel better?" Axel mumbled.
      "Guys, shut it," Jesse demanded, and the others immediately obeyed her. "What's in the past is done, alright? It's all water under the bridge now. Besides, I don't see anybody else coming up with a plan."
      "Thank you, Jesse," Soren said with a polite nod. He cleared his throat, now slightly nervous from the combined glares of Petra and Axel. "Um... sticking with the original idea of the element of surprise, I came up with a plan. The fortress is surrounded by a large cobblestone wall, guarded by possessed citizens. We sneak in from our side of the fortress, climb the walls, and get in undetected."
      "And what would we do next?" Jesse asked.
      "This is where we will have to split up into two groups," Soren explained. Jesse was beginning to feel uneasy. She hated being split up from the others. "Group A-- that's me, Isa, Milo and Ivor. We will make sure the civilians are safe and evacuated."
      "Meanwhile, Group B-- that's Petra, Lukas, Olivia, and Axel-- you all will locate the children and return them to their parents, and Jesse will split off from your group to confront Herobrine."
      "Where are the children?" Olivia asked. Soren cringed.
      Petra rolled her eyes in frustration. "See that's the problem! There's always a flaw in every plan you come up with!"
      "I'm not liking the sound of this plan, either," Lukas piped up. He looked at Jesse worriedly. "What if Herobrine isn't even in the fortress? Or worse... what if Herobrine sees us coming?"
      Jesse sighed. She didn't like where this was going, but what choice did they have? Herobrine had already caused enough suffering as it was. Jesse needed to save her people from a terrible fate. This was the only way. "I hate to admit it... but Soren's plan is the best we've got."
Jesse's old outfit had been ruined, so Olivia took the job of getting Jesse some new clothes. Jesse examined her armour and was pleased to find it repaired, thanks to Ivor. It was so shiny Jesse could see herself in it's reflection.
"Here you go," Olivia arrived, tossing Jesse a shirt. It was a horizontal striped t-shirt the colours of blue and white. She also got a brand new pair of blue overalls. "I figured you'd want to try something new."
"Thanks Liv," Jesse said with a smile. Olivia left to allow Jesse to change.
Jesse braided her hair and used her orange hair pin to get the hair from her eyes. Once she was done, she looked at herself in the mirror. Olivia was right; a change was nice. Jesse smiled. It felt good to get back in the game again.
Let's just hope it's a game we can win. Jesse thought.