Stonebrook High School

Chapter 55

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~*Ω*~

"Welcome... to the Far Lands."

It had been another day since Jess's reawakening. When she and Axel woke up that morning, Ivor was gone and, with Soren along, they searched for him. For hours they roamed the forest trying to catch a glimpse of the man's olive robes but to no avail. Frustrated, they decided to move on without him.

Here they were. In front of the strangest natural formation she'd ever seen, Jess felt small. She looked to Soren. "Why... why does it look like that?"

The land jutted up from the ground like claws from an animal's paw and clusters of sharp protrusions stuck out from the sides. It almost looked as if the ground was floating in groups, like clouds in the sky.

"This is the edge of the world, in a sense," Soren said. "Underneath the Far Lands is the great San Andreas Fault. Here, the energy of the entire earth is released, forming these anomalies. It's very daring of Ivor to create a base here. That bastard."

Cautiously, they entered through the pathway. Soft blue lights illuminated the dark entrance to reveal a large stone wall covered with vines and signs of weathering.

"Woah. Was not expecting that," Axel said.

"Me neither," Jess gasped.

Soren walked up to the wall and touched it with his hand. "These... These are ruins from the indigenous people that lived here. Ivor hid in this valuable architecture and history?"

"The Mojang built this in the Far Lands?" Axel looked around and spun in a circle. "This place is that old?"

"Mojang...?" The black-haired girl scratched her head. "Is that a native tribe?"

"They were some of the first to live in California," Soren explained. "Tens of thousands of years ago, they arrived via the Bering Strait and settled. They were exceptionally advanced for their time, wielding many gadgets and inventions that the world hadn't even begun to think about yet. It's why they're named Mojang, which is the Swedish term for 'gadget.'"

"Was it a Swedish man who discovered these ruins?"

"He was Swedish. He excavated a large machine-like rock just south from here in 1997, marking the first discovery of the Mojang. Since then, more and more discoveries have been identified. These ruins... it doesn't seem like they've been discovered by the archeology community yet. Ivor had... the nerve... to just live in these timeless remains!"

Jess walked up to the entrance in the stone wall. "Well, what's in here?" She poked her head in and looked around.

In one word, it was a maze. She could see multiple paths down different directions and noticed the light from above shining down on more walls in front of her. "Guys," she called out, "we don't have the time for this."

"What do you mean?" Axel questioned.

"Just look. It's a maze. And by the looks of it, it's a pretty large one."

Soren cursed under his breath. "We'll easily get lost in there without some way of marking previous paths. Damn him...! Why'd he have to leave us so suddenly?"

Jess felt a sudden warmth as rays illuminated a path in front of her. She followed the light trail and arrived in front of the wall, staring at the thick vines that covered it. Her head perked up as she thought of an idea.

"We can climb on top of the maze," she said.

The other two turned to her. "Huh?"

"If we get on top of the wall, we can see where we're going." She yanked the vines to test their stability. "And we can't get lost, either." Jess grunted as she climbed up the vegetation and Soren and Axel nervously watched her.

"It's a solid proposal, yes," coughed Soren, "but are you sure about this?"

She glared back at him. "I didn't travel this many miles while under an emotional coma just to stop here. Don't be a coward."

The three of them climbed onto the top of the maze and looked over the walls. There, in the center - a small, roughly constructed house.

Axel tilted his head as he noticed the wide expanse of maze that stretched into the distance between them and the house. "Yeah, this is gonna take a while. Anyone have food?"

~*Ω*~

Jesse rested on his side, waiting for the nurse to fix the pillow. He now understood why the clock on the wall had numbers in different colors. They were there to mark the amount of time someone should lay on a certain side. Laying down on the same bed for three days definitely gave bed sores.

He didn't realize how burned he had been. All over his torso and legs were open wounds from the shrapnel of the Formidi-Bomb. He had not been in a normal hospital. He was in a burn unit.

The nurse checked his anesthesia. She asked Jesse if he was feeling any pain. He nodded and said he was unable to move. "I'll have the others apply more morphine," she said. "Would you like anything?"

"Can my friends come in?"

"Of course. I'll be right back."

As he laid there, he remembered how Olivia and Petra looked at him when they talked earlier. Pitiful and concerned. They were scouring his wounds and apprehensive to touch him as if he would fall apart upon contact. He shouldn't have let himself follow his friends and volunteer to destroy the Storm. The pain had been seeping in more and more since then and for the past few hours, he had been crying trying to stop himself from screaming. Only now had the consequences of his actions began to show and he regretted it.

Knock, knock.

"Come in," Jesse grunted.

At the foot of the bed, he could spot the red fabric of Olivia's vest. She sat down by the window so he could fully see her. "Hey, Jesse," she said.

He weakly smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"It hurts." He gritted his teeth as he exhaled the words. "It... really hurts." His face scrunched together as he felt his nose run with a sudden warmth and tried to blink away his tears.

Olivia looked at him with distress and rue. "I... I wish I could have been more help." She bit her lip. "I wish you didn't have to get hurt like this; you look like you're in so much pain but I can't do anything for you..." She clutched her hands together. "I can't even hug you because of all the burns. I feel so bad about it all."

"It's okay, Liv," he said, letting the tears run down his face, "it's okay. I shouldn't have done this. I should have stayed put. It hurts so much. It's my fault."

"Jesse, don't make me say this. We shouldn't have to do the whole comforting thing. I could have been braver. I-" she hiccuped, "I could have actually done something for the team."

"Liv, you've done enough. If there's anything you can do now, just keep trying to call the others. Make sure they're safe." He sniffled. "You're one of my best friends. Please don't put yourself down."

She smiled back at him with a bittersweet twinge. "You too. Hold on for just a little bit longer."

"Thank you."

Olivia stood up and was about to leave the room when she stopped suddenly. "Oh, Petra's currently being looked at by another doctor. I know you'll be concerned about her but don't be - she's in good hands. I promise." She wiped her eyes. "Take care of yourself, okay? Don't throw yourself into danger like that ever again. I've cried enough these past nights. I've been so emotional lately and it's embarassing to look like this in front of Ellegaard."

"I love you platonically," Jesse said as she walked out the door behind him.

"... Me too, Jay. Me too."