Chapter Text
A whoosh of air sends dust flying off the book’s cover and into Lukas’ face. The blonde starts coughing and batting at the air as Jesse laughs mischievously. He shakes a finger at him through the dark oak bookcase as his coughing fit fades and a grin creeps across his face—damn Jesse’s infectious charm.
“You know I am volunteering to help you unpack all of this! Keep that shit up and I might make you start paying me!”
“ Wowww! Way to assume the worst!” Jesse gives a lazy grin.
Lukas rolls his eyes, “Jesse, you can’t look me in the eye, grin, suck in a huge breath and then try to play it off.” He chuckles and Jesse laughs.
“ Okay, okay, I suppose you’ve got me there.” He snickers then flips through the book in his hands as Lukas continues placing books onto the shelf. He smiles fondly at the old thing before placing it on the shelf himself. He pauses before looking back over at Lukas, “And I really do appreciate your help Lukas… I hope it doesn’t come off as if I don’t.”
Lukas just smiles, “Of course I know that Jesse. Now don’t start getting all sappy over some help with a bookshelf .” He stacks another book on with a grin. Jesse smiles before finishing up his side and picking up his box as he stands. Unpacking was never something Jesse liked doing, but at least he had some friends around him to help keep him in good spirits.
The apartment is an odd one given where it’s built, but a change of scenery is always nice. It’s certainly modern —when Jesse mentioned that he was moving in here, he had to practically fake his death to get Stella to back off on wanting to decorate. He allowed a compromise and while she didn’t get to furnish it, he did place her in charge of refurbishing his share of the place. She needed a little break from Champion City anyways, having to rebuild everything from the ground up had understandably been getting to her. Frankly, not being able to fix it before beating the powers out of Romeo in a well deserved ass-kicking is one of his recent regrets. While he didn’t agree with how Stella ran her city, it was obvious that she cared about it, and Romeo’s flippant tone when he destroyed it left a lasting scar.
Jesse blows out a breath as he looks around the large room, deciding where to go next. They basically got the little lines of bookshelves —Ivor’s suggestion— done, but he still has plenty more boxes of books and trinkets to tuck away elsewhere. Not to mention all the furniture to actually set up. He glances over at the archway midway through the apartment that leads to the second half. There’s probably going to be more space in there, if not that then upstairs. One thing he certainly loves is the fact that he has spiral staircases in this place. There’s just something about them that makes his inner child light up. With that thought he smiles and starts moving towards the staircase with a skip in his step. Lukas catches sight of him and can’t help but chuckle.
“What are you doing?”
Jesse laughs, spinning around to face him, “I’m walkin’! Yknow, general mode of travel for human beings. Perhaps you’ve tried it yourself?” He bends over a bit as he raises a brow. Lukas rolls his eyes then grins as he grabs another book and aims. Jesse’s eyes widen and he shrieks as Lukas throws the book at him. He uses the box as a shield and laughs as he runs out of Lukas’ range. Note to self: Don’t challenge an archer to a ranged battle. Lukas laughs and leaves Jesse alone once he’s out of his line of sight as he doesn’t feel like standing all the way up yet. He settles back into his routine of organizing and placing books back on the shelf. Jesse smiles as he refocuses. Now, to just —
“ WE’RE BAAAAACK!! ”
The slam of the front door nearly makes Jesse drop the box. It startles Lukas just as much as the two look back at who’s decided to show up. It’s no surprise to see the hulking figure of Axel, stack of boxes in a balancing act and with a grin on his face as he hurries in.
“Hope you two didn’t think we were just abandoning ya!” Axel snarks as he goes to set down his stack amongst a few other boxes in the corner. Hardly half way through and still more to come... The thought grinds Jesse’s patience just on its own. They’re almost done with this half of the apartment, but the other half through the archway is practically untouched. He snaps back to reality as Olivia follows up behind Axel.
“We were gonna grab some bigger things, buuuut the trek here from the treehouse is already a trip, and I don’t think any of us are ready to carry anything too heavy all the way up here just yet…”
“Amen to that!” Lukas pipes up as he throws a now empty box onto the pile. A satisfying sight. Axel slinks to the ground, leaning against all the cardboard with a hefty sigh. Olivia holds back a snicker at the sight, covering her mouth and sharing a grin with Jesse.
“ Yeah, ‘sides if we brought it all here for ya, you’d be missin’ all the fun!” The sarcasm drips from his voice and Jesse playfully rolls his eyes. He sets down his own box and begins sorting through the one Olivia brought in. They all take a minute or so to just catch their breaths. They’ve already been at this for seemingly hours and it feels like they’ve hardly made a dent. Axel watches as Jesse sifts through the box and shakes his head. “Man… Y’know I never realized how much stuff you had Jesse. That tiny treehouse packed a lot in it.”
“I gotta agree with Axel on this one Jess, I can’t believe you never told me about how many old books you had!” Lukas crouches down next to him, pulling one of the leftover books out of Jesse’s box, “They’re all fascinating! Though, not exactly what I expected you to have. No offense.”
“Nah, none taken. Honestly most of these are hand-me-downs…”
“Hand-me-downs...?”
“From older siblings or parents, Axel.” Olivia mumbles and smacks his arm softly, silently scolding him for lingering on the topic. Axel grimaces as realization dawns on him and he nods. Bad subject it seems . Jesse, seemingly, pays them no mind however save for some anxious tapping on the side of his box. If there were any sign of anxiety bubbling up within him, it’s that.
“Oh! Right, right...” A heavy silence hangs as Axel trails off. Jesse bites the inside of his cheek, feeling a few gazes pass over him, though Lukas’ seems to linger the longest. Suppose that would only make sense—any mention Jesse makes of his old home life is next to null outside of his time growing up with Olivia. Any information is new information.
“Feels like the only hand-me-downs I’ve ever gotten are problems the Old Order keep leaving us to clean up.” Lukas changes the subject with a lighthearted chuckle, removing the pressure from Jesse’s chest in a flash. There’s some sympathetic smiles and nods of agreement from the rest of the group—Olivia most pointedly.
“You could say that again. Granted though, I think we’ve gone and managed to make a lot of our own trouble—no thanks to Jesse.” She teases with a smirk and he smiles sheepishly, rubbing his neck.
“Can’t help it! I see a problem, I solve it! Easy as that.”
She snorts, “ ‘Easy’ is a very bold word.”
“Okay so maybe not what I meant.” He shrugs, garnering a few chuckles from around him. He taps on the box again as he thinks—less stressed and more nostalgic, if anything. “Y’know, despite it all I sometimes have a hard time believing that they dealt with that dragon the way they did. Just doesn’t feel real, y’know?”
“‘ Bizarre’ is about the best way I can put it.” Lukas huffs and Jesse nods.
“Yeah. And then to lie to everyone about it? All the families? People who’ve lost so much to that thing?” He mumbles, shaking his head as he glances at the others, “I mean… That’s no small thing considering…” He trails off again and the others nod.
“I can’t even begin to imagine.” Olivia says with a heavy sigh. She shakes her head, “All those people…”
Jesse nods at that, a stern look washing over him. The dragon is always a somber topic—happy to have discovered the reality of the situation, but devastated by the implications. The dragon had always been known as a powerful ancient creature. Unpredictable and extremely dangerous both in life and in death. It’s hard to nail down information about, and even harder to make comparisons for, but there are a few facts that everyone had seemingly agreed on.
Mainly, the dragon has its own pull and control over some rudimentary magic—or at least influence over souls, and its own lifetime seemed to extend the more it took in. Additionally, if the dragon killed someone, their soul would remain stuck and bound to the dragon until someone else finished the job. Purgatory of the worst kind.
There were many popular rumors about that part, namely about what the experience would be for those souls. They always ranged from it being much like a nap, to something much more grueling such as feeling the pain of their death in limbo. They’re chilling to think about, and more often than not the worst ones were the most popular, which certainly didn’t make the Order’s admission of never freeing them any easier.
Jesse sighs, “ Right? Makes me wish we could’ve done something more, almost.”
Olivia snorts at that, “You wanna fight dragons now? Okay, pray tell, what would that brilliant plan look like?”
Jesse chuckles, “I never said that. But if you insist then I’d say Axel and I still got that all figured out.” He half jokes, nodding confidently to Axel who matches the look with a smirk. Olivia raises her brows.
“You are not trying to sell off the crackpot idea you had as teenagers as a genuine plan.”
“Oh c’mon Olivia, we could totally do it!” Axel butts in, “Easy execution! I grab Jesse, I throw him, he does some sick flips or something, then BOOM! Gets the dragon by the neck with a clean cut of that axe! No sweat, no problem.”
Jesse shoots her an easy going smile as he gestures to Axel, “See? Perfect plan.”
Lukas laughs at that and Olivia just smiles as she rolls her eyes, “You two are so full of it.”
Jesse just grins and giggles at that before a quiet settles over them once more. Getting back to what they’re there for, he continues flipping through the contents of this box and absently planning where to put what. His mind lingers on the topic of the dragon however—something he’s done a million times before and will likely do a million times after.
“I’m glad the truth’s all out and we don’t have to really worry about it anymore,” He starts, “but I just can’t help but wonder what happened to the dragon and all the souls with it when they used the command block. Had Romeo been even a fraction more reasonable, I would’ve asked him. We all know how that went, though.” He grumbles and Axel hums in thought from his spot.
“Maybe they all got freed anyways…? I mean, they technically got rid of it, didn’t they?” He mumbles with a slight shrug. Lukas frowns, arms now crossed in hard thought.
“No. If that were the case then why lie? Why the secrecy? The guilt?” He sighs, “No. Ivor wouldn’t have been pushed so far to create the Witherstorm if there was no harm in what they did. Ivor’s just lucky we came along and stopped what happened with the dragon from happening again with the Witherstorm.”
“ Incredibly correct, Lukas.” Olivia adds on, “We oughta remind him of that every now and then.”
“Aw c’mon, we pick on him enough!” Jesse chuckles and Olivia shrugs.
“ I’m still gonna remind him. You don’t have to.” She smiles and before Jesse can get a word in edgewise, she changes subjects again, “I wonder how they’re all doing these days. Ellegaard’s memorial has remained kept up in Redstonia. Then I’m sure we can guess what Magnus has been up to.” She says as she glances over at Axel. He just grins.
“I hear Gabriel’s been helping with a lot of volunteer work all around. Hired-hand type stuff.” Jesse adds with a smile. It suits the man, and hopefully he’s taking advantage of all the opportunities. Humility may not be his strong suit, but he does have a kind heart.
“Soren’s the enigma.” Lukas says, “Ivor said he was gonna try finding him when he left town, but how long ago was that now…? Six months?”
“Thereabouts.” Jesse nods, “I don’t even know how he’d’ve even begun looking for that man. Soren is so far from predictable, and we kinda wrecked his base.”
“Either he’s got a billion other hideouts around or he probably found a way into the Portal Hall and skipped town altogether,” Lukas mumbles, garnering some agreeing hums from the others, “Certainly seems like his type of thing, anyways.”
“Well, if that's the case then Ivor really has his work cut out for him. One world was hard enough to find him in! Though, he did take the amulet. Hopefully that’ll spare him the headache.”
“Did it spare you any headaches?” Lukas asks with a slight chuckle and Jesse presses his mouth into a hard line as he thinks. That look alone is probably more than enough to explain it, but when he breaks into a nervous laugh, it’s another nail in the coffin. Lukas laughs and Jesse waves a hand at him.
“Okay, but to be fair! We were being actively hunted by a huge freakish monster! And Ivor, like, knows what he’s doing. He’s got this!”
“You’re right, you’re right.” Lukas concedes, holding up his hands slightly, “But now we’re just getting completely off-topic. Where’s Jack anyways? I thought he was going to help unload a few of these things?” Lukas asks. Jesse perks up and glances around, the same question echoing in his own blue eyes. Olivia snorts.
“He’s taking his sweet time; played the ‘ I’m an old man’ card as an excuse!” She shakes her head and the small group laughs. “Honestly I think he’s up to something… You know how bad at lying.”
“Yeah! He was totally suspicious. We couldn’t get ‘im to spill anything though surprisingly enough…” Axel pouts and Jesse shrugs, tossing back whatever trinket he’d been poking at and finally picking up the box.
“Whatever he’s doing, I’m sure it’ll be worth it. ‘Sides, I don’t expect us to unpack all of this stuff today.” He walks over and sets down the box next to some more shelves that border the bottom of a ceiling high window.
He stares out of the glass at the city down below. Beacontown. His home. Rebuilding after Romeo dealt his hand was certainly tough to say the least and Jesse is glad he didn’t leave everyone behind to do it themselves. Sure, Radar is capable of leading things these days, but it still would have been overwhelming for the poor kid. Plus, with him staying behind, he was able to get Lukas involved. Lukas, being a fantastic builder already, naturally took to city planning. The place is far more spacious and the community hubs are gorgeous—a stroke of genius on his end.
Not to mention how horrifically homesick he found himself. Defeating Romeo took far longer than he would’ve liked, and those few months both went by in a flash and were agonizingly long. After a second of silence and mulling over how nice everything looks these days, Jesse snorts and shakes his head.
“Remind me. How did I actually let people convince me to live up here? I’m already a clutz as it is, so one wrong step by the edge and I'm gone!” He laughs.
“Oh don’t worry, we’ll make sure to baby-proof everything for you, Jess.” Lukas grins and Jesse rolls his eyes.
“ Ha ha, hilarious.”
“All joking aside, I don’t think it’s too shabby of a place to call home. You certainly have lots of space up here.”
“Yeah I just…” Jesse hesitates, trailing off as he stares back down at Beacontown. The sky base Romeo had built during his tyrannical rule of Beacontown had been completely remodeled and ready for use. A lot of extra space for those more drawn to the skies had opened up, and while Jesse never intended to live up there himself, the people insisted. Their assurance still makes him nervous. He sighs and looks back at the group, “I— I don’t like the feeling of looking down on everything like some ruler o-or dictator.” He shakes his head and paces slowly, “I mean… I don’t know if they genuinely wanted me up here or if maybe they’re too scared to suggest otherwise these days... Don’t you think all this,” He gestures around them, “Is a little much?”
“Jesse…” Olivia starts, voice gentle but with a smile that leaves him feeling even more foolish for asking, “The people here love you, and their faith in you has been proven time and time again.” She walks over and takes him by the hands, looking up at him. “They insisted that you be up here because they trust you, and they know that you will do right by them! Honestly just…” she thinks for a minute as she finds the right words, “Just think of this as like, a bigger treehouse! Friends all around and a comfy place you’re safe with a super cool view!” She wraps an arm around his neck and makes a sweeping gesture with her hand. Jesse cracks a smile and Lukas pipes up again.
“Olivia’s right. And, hey, if you end up getting stressed out all the way up here, I've always got a spare room you can bunk in. You could probably get away with this place sorta acting as a figurehead type thing. If it makes the people feel better to have you ‘living’ up here, then sure thing. But you don’t actually have to live up here, er, you get what I’m saying...?” He shoves his hands in his pockets and offers a sympathetic smile. Jesse nods.
“Thanks Lukas, I’ll consider it.”
Olivia smirks and playfully whispers under her breath to Jesse. “Oh so you thank pretty boy over your best friend huh? Y’know you two have been awfully friendly lately...”
“Liv!” Jesse’s voice cracks with a nervous laugh as he dances out of her grip, his cheeks slightly reddening at the suggestion. Before anyone has the chance to interrogate him anymore, the doors fly open again with a chorus of slams against the walls. The group freezes and merely stares in confusion as a familiar ginger runs in, grinning from ear to ear. Jesse and the others stare, wide-eyed.
“PETRA?! What on Earth are you— GH!” Jesse’s shaken out of his initial shock as his friend runs over and sweeps the shortie into a tight hug.
“Ooooooh! I’ve missed you! I’ve missed you all so much!” Petra backs off momentarily to grin excitedly as Jesse processes everything, slowly raising his hands to her arms as he stares up at her. Same old Petra—tough as nails, high energy, and more than a head higher than him with the ability to sweep him off his feet with ease.
“How did— When did— What are you doing back so soon?”
“Soon? It’s been months since I left Jesse!” She laughs, patting his arm a little as she does. She shrugs a little with a smirk, “ ‘Sides with the weather and seasons changing it’s getting a bit more difficult to just pass the night in caves and stuff… Too muggy .” She crosses her arms and trails off. Lukas grins and walks over, hooking a lazy arm around her neck and leaning on her shoulder.
“Which is Petra-talk for, ‘I was getting bored and summers in Beacontown are way more fun anyways’!”
“Heh! Well, I’m sorry to say the biggest adventure I have planned right now is unpacking this mess.” Jesse smiles apologetically and Petra opens her mouth to argue but is instead yanked into a surprise hug by Axel, Olivia soon joining. She sighs and rolls her eyes.
“Okay, okay, hugging time has passed now guys.”
“Not when Axel or Olivia are around.” Jesse chuckles. “We’re glad to have you back.”
“You better be!” Petra grins as she’s finally let go of, “Though I couldn’t have gotten back without some help...” She grins, holds up a finger, and then hurries back out of the room. Jesse blinks, just glancing between the others who share a few laughs and nervous shrugs. Hell if any of them know. There’s the sound of a few indistinct voices before Petra comes back in, arms slung over the shoulders of Jack and Ivor, both toting grins of themselves and a few boxes in hand.
Jesse’s eyes widen and he can feel his cheeks begin to burn from his grin, “ Ivor?!”
“ Jesse!” The bearded man smiles and sets his stuff down, hurrying over and hugging the young man. Jesse laughs and enthusiastically returns it, burying his face in the older man’s shoulder. Ivor beams, “I am so glad to see you again! I hope this was a good surprise?”
“You kidding? We were just talking about you—I thought it might be years again before we were all together again! It’s great!”
“ Fantastic!!! But, I’m not quite done yet!”
“What do you—?“
“Shush shush shush!!! Listen,” he jerks Jesse aside—much to his surprise—and starts speaking in a more hushed tone, “Remember how I told you I was leaving town to go reconcile with the others? Gabe, Magnus… Soren?” He presses the word and Jesse's eyes widen in realization. Already? He was right—Ivor really did know what he was doing.
“You didn’t…”
“I did and HAVE! Look, I would have waited to surprise you with Gabe and Magnus but I know Soren left on a bad note to say the very least the last time you saw him, so…” He pauses, pursing his lips and clasping his hands as he thinks of the best way to put it. Satisfied, he claps his hands together with a smile, “Well! Best to tell you in advance so you don’t immediately try throwing him through a wall!” Ivor gives Jesse a hearty pat on the back and laughs. Jesse laughs albeit somewhat tensely now. Soren. He’s a man that was certainly off thanks to the isolation but that alone was never a problem. The problem came after. Jesse never liked two types of people: Cowards and Liars. And Soren is both. He slowly shakes his head as he tries wrapping his brain around the fact that he’s going to be speaking to that man again so suddenly.
“Okay… And why did you decide to bring them here now?”
“It’s the first time in ages you’re all in one place without the world ending. They’re all stubborn enough as is, especially Soren. If he can apologize to all of you at once, that’ll make things far easier and loose ends will finally be tied up!” He pauses and notes Jesse’s lack of enthusiasm. He sighs, “Okay, I know you are well past it, but I am unfortunately fond of Soren and if he doesn’t get this done he is just going to end up in the ground before any of his wrongdoings are corrected.” Ivor rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
“That bad huh…?”
“ You wouldn’t believe the condition Harper and I found him in.”
Jesse sighs and looks down while he thinks, hands on his hips. Ivor taps his fingers in anticipation. Honestly, the thing that irks him the most about Soren is the fact that it took him so long to show his face again. Aiden and Romeo, despite both doing awful things—some worse than Soren’s by a long shot—at least faced the repercussions of their actions almost immediately . Then again maybe they’re not great comparisons as Jesse already beat their swelling prides out of them.
Soren’s an interesting one for certain though. Lying alone would’ve been one thing, hell so would running away, but the nature in which he did those things makes it much more complicated. He can’t imagine pulling the wool down over the eyes of the world with the dragon. Then abandoning them at their time of need in the Witherstorm? Leaving them to just die? ‘ Frustrating’ isn’t even the beginning. But, despite what may be his better judgement, he truly does want to hear what that man would have to say for himself. Six years. It’s been six long years since he’s seen him, and it took Harper and Ivor dragging him out here to do it. Not even on his own volition. Jesse rubs his arms a little to try and force the goosebumps from his flush of anger back down. Eventually, he meets Ivor in the eye and manages a half-hearted shrug.
“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll talk to him.”
“ That’s fantastic, Jesse! Utterly fant—”
“ But ,” Jesse cuts him off, leaving Ivor momentarily stumbling over his words.
“— But?”
“I want to talk with him privately. Before he comes in and sees the others.” He says quietly. Ivor blinks a moment then grins and enthusiastically claps his hands together.
“ Done!” He clears his throat slightly and waves a hand towards the apartment’s door, “They’re all just outside. I can escort you to Soren then usher the rest of them back into here so you can straighten things out, if you’d like.” He says and Jesse nods. He pauses a moment then shoots Jesse a scrutinizing look, “But do try not to break him would you? He’s a pain as it is—I don’t need him moping even more. ”
Jesse huffs with a small smile at that, nodding, “Sounds like a plan. Lead the way.” He gestures Ivor forward and gives a brief nod to the others who have been watching, their suspicion growing as Ivor and Jesse begin walking.
“Woah, woah, you guys are just leaving?” Axel blurts out. Jesse tries to stop and briefly explain but Ivor grabs him by the shoulders and keeps him moving, causing Jesse to stumble over his own feet.
“I came with more company! We’re just going to greet and usher them all in! Do not worry!” He yells to the group, waving them off as they hurry out of the room.
“Right… Okay.” Axel shifts a side glance to Lukas and Olivia, who are equally unsure. Petra, still hanging off Jack, waves them off with a smile.
“Lighten up! Ivor’s just full of surprises.”