Fallen (MCSM Fanfic)

Chapter 8: The Difference

This chapter was written by the original writer @petraXfied 
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Petra was still frozen when she heard the opening of the door.

The first thing she heard was "Quick! Come on! You won't believe who showed up while you were gone!"

And Lukas came through the door, followed by Olivia and Ellegaard and... Aiden?

But only for a millisecond, Petra stared, and the image flickered slightly, and changed into a face that Petra never thought she would see again.

There she was. Her flowing black hair, her tan skin, and Reuben by her side. Reuben stared at Petra with wide eyes and tried to jump up at her. But when Reuben caught Jesse's eyes, they flashed with anger. Reuben whimpered and drew back to Jesse's side again. Even Petra, though very confused, was surprised even more; Jesse was never angry with Reuben.

Jesse flashed a smile. "Petra!" She said in a very familiar voice. Jesse's warbling tone did seem happy and sweet, yet something very minuscule was different. Jesse's voice sounded... strained.

Olivia smiled gaily as well, and walked forward to greet Petra. The greeting was only a simple side hug and a handshake.

Petra looked back and forth between Lukas and Jesse. "H-hey." She choked out.

Jesse seemed to hesitate, then she leaped forward and tackled Petra with a bear hug that felt far too strong to be Jesse. Petra's infected arm did not appreciate that by any means.

"I-" Petra started as Jesse subsided. What was happening.

Jesse blinked as if waiting for something. "Gabriel. Did-Did you see him?"

Petra recalled this conversation, but not her words. So she said something very witty, like, "Um...no."

Ellegaard stared, mouth gaping wide. "I wouldn't have believed anything could take out Gabriel if I hadn't have seen it with my own eyes." She gasped.

"Jesse," Lukas retorted, "There's something you... gotta see." He gestured for her to follow him up a flight of stairs. Jesse, Olivia and Ellegaard followed him.

Petra stayed behind.

"Oink." She heard and turned around. Reuben looked up at Petra with sad eyes that looked on the edge of tears.

Petra sat down and pet his head. Then she slid down against the wall, the remnants of shock still fresh in her veins. She tried to process what she had just seen. Why had Jesse been acting distant? Why did she see Aiden? She felt Reuben nudge her hand and she stood up.

Petra gave Reuben one last pat and headed up the stairs. She appeared in a place she had seen once before. The huge map. The broken ruins of the temple. The levers and the amulet stand. All it was when she last visited. But that was almost a year ago. She had never forgotten the smallest detail, though sometimes she wished she could.

Petra sat down underneath the map, next to Reuben. Now she began to feel...off. Not just the pain in her arm, but sick. Tired, cold and sensitive. The kind of sick where you'd rather sleep and never wake up. But a thousand times worse. Petra was snapped out of her train of thought by loud arguing.

"What is he doing here?" Ellegaard pointed to a green masked man and someone else... Axel.

Jesse waited, as if waiting for someone to say a certain something. "Call this a hunch, but do you guys like, not like each other?"

Petra narrowed her eyes. She... had said that. Or something similar. How could Jesse know this?

Petra stood and joined the group. She purposefully stood right next to Jesse. Petra's suspicion rose with every word Jesse said.

But when all finally retired to bed, Petra sat up against of the temple. Reuben lay down next to her and started to snore, yet Petra could not sleep. She was so exhausted, she wished she could, but her mind refused. When she had almost nodded off, she heard muffled speaking far off, as if beneath her.

Petra slowly stood, and walked toward the noise reluctantly. She stopped at a doorway about 30 feet from the staircase. The room inside was an armoury. Shields and swords decked the walls and lay in dusty piles in the corners. Chests marked with iron, gold and other ores were covered in cobwebs. Most interestingly, in the centre of the room was Jesse, Olivia and Axel, all in a circle. Petra hid in the shadows of the staircase, just in case she wasn't exactly supposed to be here.

"You think you have it bad? I'm a girl!" Petra heard Jesse's voice say exasperatedly.

"You're a girl!" Axel repeated and guffawed loudly.

Jesse growled and punched Axel in the gut. "Shut up, Gill!"

Petra felt as if she had an electric jolt zoom through her body. Gill?

"And you screwed it up majorly earlier!" Olivia exclaimed. "Gabriel-" She said in a shrill high voice, "Is he okay?"

Axel laughed again and received another punch from Jesse. The staggering impact of the punch looked so painful that even in the corner, Petra winched.

"I studied the whole freaking journey for months!" Jesse shrieked. "Time Travel potions don't lie! I memorized every single thing Jesse said!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "And what that redhead said too. Now she'll be onto us us, thanks to you."

Jesse said nothing, but her expression showed clearly what she wanted to say. If looks could kill.

Olivia snickered. "Well, I'm gonna go get some shuteye. See ya later."

Petra slunk around the corner as Olivia walked out and up the stairs, followed by Jesse and Axel. Petra had thousands of thoughts running through her head.

Petra thought with dread that maybe, Jesse hadn't come back after all. Maybe Aiden did.

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There we go, the final amazing chapter by the original author. They did a chapter 9 as well, but specifically asked that I do not copy that one over. So the next chapter, chapter 9, will be my own work!

I'm giving a one week time until I post my first chapter, to give people a chance to read this.

See you all then!