This is what happens when I attempt at being creative with chapter names
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"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Lukas asked softly.

They hadn't spoken much, just sitting there on the rocks, thoughts to themselves. Jesse had her head resting in her hands, but she looked up when Lukas spoke to her.

"I panicked." She said softly. "Do you blame me?"

Lukas bit his lip, hesitating slightly before he spoke. "That bit was obvious, Jesse. What I meant was, why?"

He reached out, putting his hand on hers. "Why don't you tell me what's been bothering you all day now? Why are you so afraid?"

Jesse sighed, clasping her hands together in her lap. What would Lukas think if she told him? It was just a dream, it was ridiculous how much it had her shaken up.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Jesse looked up at him, her gaze meeting his. His blue eyes were filled with worry, but also kindness and sympathy. And Jesse knew, he would understand.

"This is going to sound silly." She said, looking down at her hands again. "But I had a nightmare last night."

"A nightmare?" Lukas asked, shuffling closer so he was sitting beside her. Jesse nodded slightly.

"Want to tell me about it?"

Jesse took a deep breath. "It was just... a really bad dream about the Nether. Everything was going wrong, I was up against a ghast without my bow, I lost my sword, I was... I was alone." She blurted out, as the awful memory came rushing back.

"I was separated from you all, and I was so afraid.." She took a deep breath. "I started seeing hallucinations. I thought you were there, but each time I came closer you would all vanish.

I was so relieved when I woke up and realised it was all just a dream, it didn't really happen... I just never wanted to come here again, ever. But then..." Jesse's voice trailed off. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the memories again.

"Jesse, why didn't you tell us?" Lukas asked softly.

"It was a dream!" Jesse said, unintentionally more harsh than she meant to. "It's stupid, it's not like it meant anything. I mean, what the hell were the chances that we actually got stranded in this place?"

She looked back down at the Netherrack she was sitting on, avoiding eye-contact with Lukas. She felt bad for snapping at him, especially when he was only trying to help her.

Lukas put his arm around Jesse, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Still." He said softly. "We wouldn't have done this if we knew you didn't want to."

Jesse leaned her head onto Lukas's shoulder. "I knew that." She said softly. "But I didn't want to spoil it for you guys. Everybody was so excited and everything..."

"You care too much for your friends, you know that right?" Lukas said, smiling vaguely. "You're always thinking about the rest of us, when there's times like this were you need to focus on what you want and need instead."

Jesse didn't say anything, lowering her head slightly again so her gaze was resting on ground. Lukas sighed softly, shaking his head.

"It's not in your nature, I know." He said, letting out a dry half-hearted chuckle. Jesse smiled vaguely, looking back up at Lukas again. How was he managing to make her cheer up in a situation as bad as that one?

"I'm going to look around." Lukas finally said. "Maybe we're not too far from the others and all this fuss is for nothing. I wouldn't bet on it, but hope for the best right?"

Jesse nodded, starting to get up. To her surprise, Lukas put his hand on her shoulder, signalling for her to stay seated.

"Stay here." He said. "I don't want to push you right now."

Jesse's mouth opened, no words coming out for a second before she found her voice again. "Lukas, I'm fine to come with you. Nothing's physically wrong with me."

"I know." Lukas said, his voice understanding. "But you've had a really hard start to this day already, and I don't want to keep pushing you after what happened ten minutes ago. Just take it easy for a bit, okay?"

He stood up straight again, ready to leave. Jesse got to her feet, grabbing Lukas by his arm and causing him to look back at her. Brown eyes wide and fearful.

"I don't want us to get separated." She said softly. "Please."

Lukas smiled sympathetically, and nodded. "I know. You don't have to worry, I'm not going far. If I can't spot the portal from outside of this cave, I'm coming right back in."

He gently took her hand that had been holding his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You take a moment to relax, okay? You don't have to worry."

With those words he turned around and stepped out of the cave, Jesse reluctantly staring after him.

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It has been twenty minutes. They have been in and out through the portal, they've been all through the Order Hall. Still, there was no sign of Jesse or Lukas. The more minutes passed, the more concern formed for their missing friends.

Olivia finally decided to extract the footage from the security cameras they kept in the Order Hall. One of the cameras had a clear view on the Nether Portal, so they'd be able to know exactly what Jesse and Lukas did after Axel and Olivia went through the portal.

Olivia sat on the office chair, her eyes set on the screen as she scrolled through the clip to find the right spot. Axel and Petra stood on either side of her, their eyes glued to the screen.

Axel was chewing through his nails, occasionally needing to resist the urge to rush Olivia. Petra had her arms crossed, her blue eyes slightly narrowed. A horrible theory about what had happened to their friends lingering withing the redhead, that she refused to bring up until she was certain.

"Here." Olivia said, sitting slightly back in her chair. She pressed one final button, the other two leaning in to see.

They waited, intensely watching as the soundless black and white footage in front of them started moving. The Nether Portal swaying as Olivia went through it.

Lukas hesitated before going in, instead turning around to Jesse. His mouth moving as he spoke to her, but his words unknown.

"Look at the way Jesse's behaving, I told you something wasn't right." Olivia said, gesturing towards the screen.

Jesse had folded her arms and kept her gaze on the ground as Lukas spoke to her. She simply replied with swift nods and short sentences.

Finally she smiled lightly at something Lukas had said. He gestured to the portal in a 'let's go' way. Jesse reached over and took Lukas's hand before they stepped into the portal together.

"I don't get it, they went into the Nether?" Axel said in confusion, exchanging glances with Olivia and Petra.

"But we were in there, we would've seen them coming through." Olivia added softly, her voice puzzled and worrisome.

She reached out a shaky hand and stopped the footage. They all stood there, Olivia sitting, just staring at the frozen screen. Then Petra spoke up for the first time in a while.

"I think I know what might have happened." She said softly, taking her bandanna off and pulling her hand through her hair.

"What?" Olivia and Axel asked in unison, turning to face their friend.

"Long ago, before I even met Jesse-" Petra explained, tapping her fingers on the desk's surface as she spoke. "I once had a pretty weird experience when I came out of the Nether. I used the same portal I used to go in, that was located below the cave I lived in. However, when I left the Nether I came out in the middle of nowhere. I was miles away from my cave, and it took me ages to get back home.

That was the first and only time in my life I ever experienced a portal malfunction. It rarely ever happens, but it's possible. Both when entering and exiting the Nether."

"You think that's what happened to Jesse and Lukas?" Olivia asked anxiously.

Petra's eyebrows furrowed. "I can't think of anything else. They went through the portal, we would have seen them otherwise."

Olivia got up from her chair, raking her fingers through her black hair as she started pacing up and down. Axel let out a long sigh, before promptly sitting down in Olivia's seat.

"What do we do now?" He asked, turning to face Petra.

"They could possibly be miles into the Nether." She said, pulling her bandanna back over her head. "There's nothing else we can do, other than go looking for them."

"What?" Olivia asked in surprise. "But they could be anywhere in there!"

"We don't have much else of a choice." Petra insisted, as she started emptying out some of the supplies from her bag, leaving only the most vital items. "The Nether isn't a place where you can stay for too long, even with food and water. They have nothing. If somebody doesn't find and help those two, they'll die."

She glanced over at Axel and Olivia, before slinging the bag over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but the two of you will only slow me down. I move faster on my own."

"What do you need us to do then?" Axel asked nervously.

"Stay here." Petra instructed. "I used to make a living out of that place, I can handle myself in there."

"But if something happens to you, how would we know?" Olivia asked. "Anything can happen in there, not even you can stay in the Nether forever."

Petra bit her lip as she stopped in front of the purple haze.

"I'll be fine." She replied matter-of-factly. "If I don't do this, Lukas and Jesse won't be."

She looked back over her shoulder. "Twenty-four hours max. If I'm not back by then, feel free to start worrying. But for god's sake don't go in there after me and get yourselves killed."

Petra didn't give Axel and Olivia any time to respond. She simple turned back around and stepped forward. Disappearing through the portal.

___

So Jesse and Lukas haven't really gone places yet, but things are happening on the other side of the team! Petra has now decided to go in and look for them - how will this play out?

This is where the plot will both kind of slow down and pick up... which makes no sense, I know!

Basically, we're slowing down story-wise. The next few chapters will mostly be based on how the characters cope with this situation and how they try to save themselves. (Story will progress faster on Petra's side of the story, but she gets less chapters than Jesse and Lukas, so xD)

But that doesn't mean it's going to be slow and boring, or at least I don't hope so! We'll be seeing some actual drama, instead of just the team preparing for a Nether adventure xD

Soooo, we're at the part in the book I was nervous about, lol.

There's a certain chapter where things change very suddenly, and the story picks back up in pace... you have no idea how excited I am for that xD

Anyhow, enough rambling in this author's note. If it wasn't for my schedule, you have no idea how I'd be procrastinating this XD

See you all in five days - Assuming I don't screw up my schedule again XD