Petra stood, tapping her foot against the Netherrack in annoyance. She's been in there for way more than two minutes now, and so far nobody has shown their faces.

Probably arguing about who should go in first, as usual. She thought to herself, clicking her tongue.

After a few more minutes of impatiently waiting, followed by an occasional sigh of frustration or a soft curse under her breath, the portal started swaying slightly and Axel came barreling through.

"Hell it's hot in here!" He called out, looking around him. Then he started chuckling and snorting.

"Get that? I said hell, it's hot? Cause the Nether is like, you know, hell?"

Petra face-palmed and rolled her eyes, groaning in frustration.

The portal swayed again and Olivia came through – crashing straight into Axel. He stumbled forward with an exclamation of surprise, Petra quickly sidestepping before she could get caught up in the domino effect. Both Axel and Olivia ended up in a heap on the ground, gasping and coughing in the hot air.

Petra crossed her arms, looking down at them and lifting an eyebrow.

"Remember when you guys agreed that I am in charge when we're in here?" She asked. "Well, my first command is to get up."

Axel and Olivia struggled to their feet, trying not to accidentally knock each other back down again.

"It's so hot!" Olivia groaned, fanning herself with her hand.

"It's the Nether, Olivia." Petra pointed out with a sigh. "What did you expect?"

She turned back to the portal, waiting for Lukas and Jesse to come through. But the purple haze was surprisingly still, signalling that no one was moving through it.

"What are holding up those two?" Petra asked, as she adjusted the heavy bag on her shoulder once more.

Olivia and Axel quieted down, looking over the the portal as well. It was still not moving.

"Why do I have the feeling it's something to do with Jesse?" Olivia asked, looking a bit concerned.

"Meaning?" Petra asked as she and Axel both turned to look at Olivia.

"Olivia's got a point." Axel said. "Jesse seems to be really anxious about coming in here today. She straight up refused to go in first."

They turned back to the portal. Petra frowned to herself, reaching up to push a loose string of hair back in beneath her bandanna.

"Jesse was really supportive of this idea." She pointed out. "I can't see why she would back out all of a sudden."

"Exactly." Olivia added. "It's way too out of character for her."

They were quiet as they waited. Still, the portal didn't move at all, not as minutes started ticking by.

"They're taking way too long for comfort." Petra finally said, her voice starting to sound concerned.

"Should we go back?" Olivia asked, as she started to chew her nails once more.

Petra hesitated, but then nodded. "Yes, let's go back. They wouldn't stall this long if something's not wrong."

She looked back at Axel and Olivia. "Follow behind me, OK? I don't trust leaving you two here to wait for me, not with your amount of Nether experience."

She didn't wait for a response, turning back to the portal and stepping into the purple haze. Petra closed her eyes, feeling her body switch to a different dimension. When she opened them again, was stepping back into the portal room of the Order Hall, cool air rushing over her once more.

Petra turned around on the spot a few times, looking around for Jesse and Lukas. But the room appeared to be completely empty.

The portal swayed and Axel and Olivia came through as well, Olivia muttering something about the dimension changing giving her a headache.

"Where are they?" Axel asked, looking about in confusion.

"I don't know." Petra said, looking back at them. A rare tingle of worry visible in her blue eyes. "They're not here."

----------------------

Jesse's never been a fan of travelling through a portal. A disorientating, dizzying sensation that always left her feeling a bit queasy.

She kept her eyes closed, waiting for a sudden wave of heat to signal that they were in the Nether. All the time, she kept her hand clasped around Lukas's, feeling his presence reassuring her.

Sure enough, it soon felt like someone opened the door to an oven right in front of them, and they stepped out into the choking heat. Sweat broke out on Jesse's tan skin before she had even taken her first breath of the smoky air.

Jesse opened her eyes, the heat pricking her skin. She looked around her, slowly taking in the sight.

They appeared to have entered the Nether through a cave. There was Netherrack walls on three sides, covered by another layer like a roof. A rather safe place to come out in actually.

"Where are the others?" Lukas asked, looking around as well.

Jesse's head jerked slightly up at his words. She turned around on the spot several times, hoping to catch sight of Petra, Axel and Olivia. But no, other than her and Lukas... there was nobody.

Then she realised something else. It immediately felt like her heart dropped to her shoes, as Jesse turned to Lukas with a desperate expression.

"Lukas, where's the portal?"

Lukas turned around to look where they came from. He was greeted by a wall of Netherrack.

Even though he stayed calm, Jesse could see Lukas was slightly panicking as he lifted up both his hands, raking his fingers through his blonde hair. His mouth opened, but he didn't speak any words.

"Lukas?" Jesse asked uncertainly, her voice starting to rise a few pitches higher. A dreaded sound of panic that she did not like hearing from herself

He looked over at her with worry clouding his eyes. His face now also shown obvious fear.

"I can only think of one thing." He said softly, looking back at the wall where the portal was supposed to be.

Jesse was almost sure she knew exactly what that one thing is. She gulped, fear seeping back into her system. But she still asked.

"What?"

Lukas pulled his hand through his hair again, not looking back at Jesse. "I think our Nether Portal malfunctioned."

Jesse closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to keep herself calm.

This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be real.

"So basically, if the portal isn't around here..." She started, looking at Lukas with wide eyes.

"...Then we're trapped in the Nether." Lukas confirmed, walking up to her. "We could be miles from our portal, and our friends."

Trapped.

The word echoed through Jesse's mind. She felt slightly out of breath, whether it was from the excruciating heat or the sudden shock, she wasn't sure.

She felt beads of sweat rolling down her neck and into her clothing. Instinctively she wanted to take her heavy armour off, relief herself from the heat. But she of course knew better than to do that, she was too vulnerable to be walking around unprotected.

Jesse closed her eyes, gulping a few times to try and get rid of the dryness in her throat. Did they bring water? Of course not, it would be in the supply bag which is safely with Petra.

They had nothing on them.

Jesse felt light-headed all of a sudden. She subconsciously put her hand on the wall to keep her balance. The Netherrack felt hot on her palm, even through her gloves. But Jesse didn't even acknowledge it.

"We going to get out of this." She heard Lukas's voice beside her. "Maybe if we just have a look around... we could be close to where we were meant to come out."

Jesse didn't respond to her friend, not even as Lukas put his hand on her shoulder. She just kept staring out in front of her, her heart thudding about inside her chest.

Usually Jesse would be the calm and rational one. She would be the one to tell her friends everything was going to turn out. They would turn to her in a situation like this one.

But not this time.

"Hey." Lukas said, turning Jesse so their gazes met. His expression was serious, his eyes filled with worry. His own face was slightly red from the heat by now.

"Are you feeling OK? You're very pale, Jesse."

Even though Jesse was looking straight at Lukas, she didn't hear his words. All she heard was the sizzling of distant flames, the bubbling of lava.

She was stuck in the place she had come to fear within the past six hours.

Jesse's knees buckled slightly beneath her. If Lukas wasn't holding her she would've fallen.

She felt sick. The continuous throbbing that's been in her head all morning, had increased to the point where she started seeing double.

"Jesse, listen to me."

Jesse looked up slightly, trying to find Lukas's face in the mess of colour in front of her eyes.

"You need to calm down."

Calm down.

Calm down.

Jesse closed her eyes taking a deep, shuddering breath. She gripped onto Lukas's arms tightly. If he wasn't with her at that moment, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to think straight.

"L-Lukas.."

"Don't worry, I'm here... I'm here."

Jesse tightened her grip on Lukas's arms. It felt like she was reliving her dream. She needed to know he was actually there.

"I'm here."

Jesse took another deep breath, trying to breathe out as steady and calmly as possible. She didn't loosen her grip on Lukas's arms.

She opened her eyes, looking up into his blue eyes. They were wide and filled with worry. But most importantly... They were real. This was no vision.

Jesse leaned forward, tightly embracing Lukas in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her in return, allowing her to bury her face in his chest. Her shoulders started shaking.

"Don't worry now.. You're going to be OK." Lukas kept whispering to her, as he ran his hand across Jesse's back in a comforting matter. Whether she felt it through the armour or not, he wasn't sure. Just in case she did, he didn't stop.

Jesse breathed in deeply again, her breaths muffled through Lukas's shirt. She felt herself coming to her senses again, she felt herself regain control over her panicked mind.

She tightened her grip around Lukas slightly, knowing that if he wasn't there, this would've ended a lot worse.

"Thank you." She said, not removing her face from his chest.

"It's OK." Lukas said softly, as he continued to rub her back comfortingly.

There was a tint of utter confusion in his voice. Shock and surprise at this sudden behaviour from Jesse. But he didn't question it just yet, his mind focused on trying to calm her down before anything else.

Jesse closed her eyes, taking more deep breaths, trying to prevent herself from losing it again. She felt slightly drained and exhausted. Her throat felt dry and sore from the hot air, and her head was still filled with dull pain.

But most importantly, she was afraid. 

What was going to happen to them now?

___

So, uh, forgot to post this yesterday. I guess there will only be three days until the next chapter to make up for how behind I am XD

Also... do these chapters ever get longer? Imma start sulking over past self's decisions. 

ANYHOW, at least we're getting into some more action! Jesse and Lukas have managed to get lost in the Nether right upon arrival. (I have a bad history with Nether portals acting up in minecraft, actually gave myself this idea while playing the game once xD)

I feel like we're far enough into the book for me to start asking my usual "ANY THEORIES?" question xD Not that there even is a mysterious villain or anything that needs unmasking-

Anyhow, see you all in three days! Feel free to come yell at me if I forget AGAIN xD