~~~~Lukas's POV~~~~

Panic, pure undeniable panic blasts through me as I feel Jesse fading away. I should have just tried to save him right from the get go. Petra was right, he's going to die if I do nothing. And he might still die if I do something but I have to try.

So I push my energy into him, the expected wave of dizziness and fatigue crashing down on me. To my horror, nothing happens. Jesse fades away even more, not even a twitch of anything. I have to try harder, I have to give it my all or Jesse will die. That- that just can't happen.

With fear hollering inside me, I gather everything I have and shove into Jesse without a second thought. Nausea blows up inside, the world spinning around me like crazy. This feels almost exactly when I respawned all those years ago. Just as crazy and disorientating. My body warping and fizzling away as sensations become a jumbled mess.

"Great, now Lukas faints!"

I groan and blink my eyes, they feel extremely dry for some reason. But nothing must have happened to Jesse. I failed, I tried to save Jesse and failed. If he's not dead already, he will be soon.

"Jesse's waking though! Lukas did it!"

I snap my eyes open at that, relief pounding through me. Jesse's not dead yet, not dead yet. Although I'm shocked when everyone's starring at me. We have to make sure Jesse's okay first.

"Why are-"

I freeze, that's Jesse's voice. I must be hearing things. There's no way that when I speak, I use Jesse's voice. It makes no sense, none at all. It's impossible. That's impossible. This is just all the stress coming down on me.

"Jesse?" My eyes widen at Olivia, she shouldn't be addressing me as Jesse! "Are you okay? Do you still feel cold?"

"I-I'm..." I take a deep breath, so thrown off hearing Jesse's voice when I speak. It shouldn't be like that! "I'm L-Lukas."

The unrealistic hope that Axel would say that I just got pranked dies as they all pale. The same wide eyed open mouth expression on all their faces. I must've fainted, yeah that's it. I've fainted and am now having this super realistic nightmare. I'll wake up soon.

"Dude, are you okay? Lukas is over there, you're Jesse." My eyes immediately snap over to where Axel gestured. And my heart stopped and dropped into my stomach once I saw my own body lying limp on the ground.

Air quickly rushes in and out of my body, not helping at all to calm me down. That's my body! My hair, my skin, my clothes over there! Not on me! This- this isn't right. This is wrong. So wrong, wrong on so many levels.

"Jesse!" Petra snaps in front of my face. "I know you just went through all of that, but calm down. We just checked Lukas, he's fine. Just calm down now."

"But I'm Lukas!" I bring a hand my to my throat. Jesse's voice, still Jesse's voice. Jesse's voice that just reach the highest pitch I've heard from it. Jesse's never panicked enough to let his voice rise so much. Well, sometimes he is but he's really good at controlling it, unlike me.

I sit up, and gasp as all the muscles in my core clench up and throw balls of tight pain at me. I fall back down, just panting. Panting to calm down, panting because that just really hurt. Panting because I don't want to think about anything else right now.

Although my eyes betray me and dart down. Sending my heart into a frenzy when I see the torn remains of Jesse's sweatshirt on me. Jesse's fireball mark on my chest. The only thing different about it now is instead of a gray fireball with black seeping in from the tips, is that now the outline glows a faint white with the middle entirely gray.

"Really?" Petra arches an eyebrow at me. "Prove it then."

A crazed frustration blasts through me, giving me the strength to sit up and glare at Petra. "Seriously? You want me to prove it? Why in all the known worlds would Jesse just say 'I'm Lukas'? He wouldn't because he's Jesse. But I'm Lukas! I'm Lukas! I'm not Jesse!"

I would have said more when my heart clenches. I'm in Jesse's body. How is that possible? It's not possible. This needs to be some twisted nightmare so I can keep my sanity. I just tried to convince my friends I'm Lukas while I was using Jesse's voice. That's insane! Pure insanity!

"This can't be happening... This can't be happening..." I run my hands through my hair, and then instantly whip the out when I feel Jesse's hair instead of mine. I flex my hands that aren't mine, and I'm thinking things in Jesse's head! What's going to happen next? Am I suddenly going to gain power over water or something? Maybe a meteorite will come down and explode into Command Blocks just free for the taking.

"Okay guys, I'm pretty sure that really is Lukas."

"Thank you! I'm not a crazy Jesse, just a freaking out Lukas." I resist the urge to bury my head in my hands after I said that. That truly sounds insane. Something's wrong with me. This whole thing is just crazy stupid wrong.

"Wait, if Lukas really is in Jesse's body-"

"No if about it, I really am Lukas." I'm only Jesse's body using his own voice trying to convince you of that. Nothing insane about that, totally easy to be convinced of that.

Petra gives a light glare at me before continuing. "Then where's Jesse? Is he going to wake up in Lukas's body then?"

Petra's question drives into my heart. Jesse could still be dead. Maybe the only reason I'm in his body is because his soul or life force or whatever is gone and I was able to come in. I've been panicking this whole time about the wrong thing. Jesse comes first.

I close my eyes, Jesse's eyes I guess, and try to see if I can sense Jesse. This is normally what I do when I'm trying to scan out his emotions and hopefully it'll work scanning for any trace of Jesse at all.

And I slouch over and sigh in gratitude when I feel him. It's definitely weird and dreadful to feel someone's else really weak soul in their own body. But it's there, Jesse's still alive. In a very weird way.

"Nope, Jesse's still in me- in him- just at rest I suppose." My eyes flicker back over to my body, my limp body that's lacking my soul in it. "Perhaps I should just leave him to recover then."

"No!" I whip my head to Olivia, instantly dreading what she's about to say from her kinda shocked and kinda horrified face. "He was dying before you pushed your soul into his body. What if he just continues dying when you leave and then now you don't have the strength to do it again?"

I open my mouth, then lower my head when I realize she's right. Even if he doesn't continue to die, I can't take the chance. At least now Jesse's not in pain anymore, but is there a limit of how long someone can be in someone else's body? We still need to find a way to cure Jesse of whatever was plaguing him, and we're still on a time limit.

"Okay, but can we at least move my body onto the couch? I don't want wake up to back pain or any sort of pain when Jesse is healthy enough for me to leave."

Axel nods and gets up. "You got it dude."

I smile at him and try to get up. Which prompts every single muscle in my core and legs to gripe to me that they don't want to move. Ever. For the rest of my life. Or Jesse's life. Whatever, just no muscle in this body wants to be moved.

"Here, let me you." Petra grabs one of my arms, I mean Jesse's arm, and hoists me up. The muscles and bones in the legs aren't very happy about standing though.

I open my mouth to say thank you but let it dangle there when I see Axel carry my limp body. My limbs sagging and lifeless. My head rolling side to side completely subject to gravity. And then a small squeal when Axel just drops it over the couch. I know it's not bad or anything, but it's so weird seeing yourself being treated like that. As if you weren't wake at all. Which is kinda true I guess.

Olivia's nudges my shoulder. "Perhaps we need to leave this room. It's not going to do you any good starring at your own body like that."

And that's when I think of the kitchen, then gasp out in pain when a wave of hunger strikes me down. I grasp my stomach, or Jesse's, I don't think I've ever felt so hungry before. How did I not notice how hungry Jesse was? Was he this hungry before our connection weaken? How was he able to do anything at all with this hunger?

"Food. To the kitchen, right now. I need food." I quickly shuffle out of the library, wanting to move fast but not wanting to anger any more bones or muscles or organs. When I can leave Jesse's body I am going to watch over him like a hawk. If only I knew earlier he was like this.

The climb up the stairs is a lot harder than what it should be. I am well aware of how weak Jesse's body is right now, but I feel like just going up the stairs is life draining. By the time I get to the top I feel as if I could sleep for days.

Despite the serve lack of energy, my stomach urges me to the kitchen. Maybe this is what Jesse meant when he talked about different energies. Jesse's body is obviously very similar to my own, but it's different. Harder to use.

"Je- uhh Lukas? Are you feeling well?"

I don't bother to turn back to Olivia, so close to the kitchen now. "I don't think you want how I honestly feel right now. Let's just leave it at really hungry."

As I walk into the kitchen Axel runs in front of me to the fridge. "Well if you're hungry, me and Petra got a whole bunch of cakes and pies at Stampy's and Stacy's bake store."

I grunt in response as I flop down onto a chair, so relieved to be sitting again. I'm not standing back up until I really desperately need to. It's just not happening. Never ever.

"Thanks Axel." Jesse's voice again! How in the Nether can I get used to that? Part of me just wants to start laughing at this insanity and then just break down crying because I'm right in the middle of that insanity.

I take the cake from Axel and take a bite. I blink in pure amazement as this is the best cake I have ever eaten in my entire life. I wolf it down, not even bothering to chew it. Just basking in wonderful fulfillment of filling the abyss inside of me. Or Jesse.

Once the cake is done, I greedily lick any frosting off my fingers. Just wanting more. More of that incredible pleasure tasting cake that has left my stomach pleading for more.

My eyes dart to fridge, my stomach growling at me to go get more food. How did Jesse ever ignore this? He must have a will stronger than bedrock, and I definitely do not have that.

But just as I'm about to get up, Petra halts me with her hand and keeps me in my chair. "Hold up Lukas, you're in Jesse's body. Don't do anything that he's going to regret."

"Exactly!" I give her a light glare, upset that she's stopping me from eating. "If I was in my body, I wouldn't be so insanely hungry. When was the last time Jesse ate? Days? It feels like years."

That awkward weird feeling pops up and pushes my hunger aside for a moment. I'm referring to Jesse using his own voice while I'm in his body! Does that count as speaking in third person? Or just another insanity to push under the umbrella of totally crazy?

"If you really feel that hungry then you definitely shouldn't eat anymore." My glare transfers over to Olivia. Is it really so bad just to want to cram as much food as possible into me- or Jesse? "You'll get sick if you eat so much so quickly on an empty stomach. In fact, considering you just ate entire cake instantly, you'll probably going to regret that soon anyways."

"Fine." I begrudgingly relax in my chair and Petra takes her hand off me. I suppose a whole cake is a lot, I won't feel so hungry if I just wait a little bit for it to settle. A very long and torturous wait.

"So is like..." We all turn to Axel, who's scratching his head in confusion. "Is this possession then? Like when the nasty yellow fire comes out?"

I quickly inhale, ready to unleash a wave of why that's not right. Only to sigh, when I realize Axel has a point. I AM controlling Jesse's body without his say. It's not like I want to or that he's even aware to say anything, but it is still true.

Rubbing my chin in thought, I gaze up at the ceiling. So the yellow fire must possess Jesse like this too, when he's more awake though. Although I had to do it while directly touching Jesse's mark or whatever. And Jesse isn't resisting me because he's simply doesn't have any strength left.

So how does the yellow fire infect Jesse? There's no physical connection, it isn't connected to Jesse like I am, and Jesse's awake to fight it, something else must be happening. Sadly, there's no way to tell though. It seems to leave to no trace, and if there is one, only Jesse can sense it.

Which leads to another unanswerable question, what are the yellow flames? I never really focus on how they act while they're taking over Jesse since I'm way more concerned on helping Jesse. But there must be some sort of pattern, maybe I can figure it out.

"Ugh!" I glance over to Petra, who's fuming to the air. "This is way too weird! I keep expecting you to say some optimistic junk like Jesse only to remember you're not Jesse! AHG! I just can't wrap my head around this!"

I sigh, rolling Jesse's eyes. "You're not alone. Every time I speak I want to stop because this is Jesse's voice and not mine. And saying Jesse's name with his voice? It's messing me up so much."

Olivia sits down too, also sighing. "This whole situation is crazy and we don't have a clue to fix it. Jesse's 'symptoms' haven't exactly been cured yet we're still sitting here helpless."

"Aww come on Liv." Axel crosses in arms in some sort defiance against the world. "We'll get through this, we always have."

My doubts about that swirl in my head, but I keep it to myself. Jesse's usually the one to raise our spirits. Hearing his voice say something depressing, but realistic, will probably devastate them.

Petra scowls, still fuming to the air. "Well unless Ivor gets here with some gold mine of info, we don't-"

The kitchen door slams open, banging against the wall. "I'M BACK!"

I grin at Petra, relieved that some luck has went our way. "You should complain more often if we ever really need something again."

"Noted."

Ivor gleefully sits down at the table, bouncing in his seat with a smile so big it looks ready to pop off. He gestures to the others seats. "Well come on! Sit! Sit! What I'm about to share will take your breath away! You can't be standing for that!"

Petra shrugs and sits, but Axel takes a minor step back. "Not like, forever though, right?"

"You'll just have to find out!" Ivor's ecstatic smile dips a bit and he looks around, puzzled. "Where's Lukas? He has to be here too!"

"Wow Ivor, I didn't know you actually remember my name. That's nice to hear." That's probably the worst way to explain the, uhh, situation I've gotten myself in. I mentally nod to myself when that statement turns out to be right, Ivor looking at me as if I've gone crazy.

I wouldn't be surprised if I already am.

"Jesse? Have you hit your really hard recently?" Ivor turns to the others. "Is everything alright with him?"

I mutter a no and all of its reasons under my breath, knowing Ivor can't hear me but it makes me feel better. Self reassurance that this is in fact a crazy situation and I'm not the one going crazy, that I'm having a totally reasonable reaction to possessing my best friend. Oh gravel, that really does sound crazy.

"Uhh... that's actually not Jesse." Olivia scratches her head, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Ivor. "There was a problem with Jesse so Lukas accidently possessed while trying to help him."

To my surprise, Ivor doesn't have much of a reaction. He just gives me this sideways look, humming. "So you're Lukas huh? Then how did me and Jesse learn of P.A.M.A.'s weakness to water?"

Petra smacks the table as a memory floats in front of my eyes. "Ivor! Do you think we would be-"

"After swinging at a chipped zombie, it fell into a patch of water. After getting shocked for a few moments, the ch-chip uhh, the chip kinda... ugh..." The memory flickers in my head, distorting and emitting pain. I try to grab it again, but it just pops. Leaving me with a headache, joyful.

"Hmph, trying to play a joke on me you guys? You should know better than try to deceive me."

"But I'm not lying!" I weakly clutch my head as the headache the memory left refuses to fade yet. Although how convincing can I be when I'm using Jesse's voice? "Jesse began to experience these weird symptoms. I was able to help him at first but just awhile ago I couldn't so I panic and now I'm in his body! Which means I also have access to his memories apparently! But I didn't know that a moment ago!"

Axel nods at Ivor, and I'm so glad I don't have to use Jesse's voice anymore. It's still weird. "Lukas is right, if you want to see, his body is currently passed out on the couch downstairs."

"Axel!" Petra snaps her head to him. "Ivor doesn't need to know that. What we need to know is if we can help Jesse so Lukas can get out of him and anything else that's relevant."

Ivor huffs, but thankfully gives me a nod before reaching behind him and pulling out a book. We all lean forward to see it better. Mostly black, smudged with dirt, and very worn down. The corners are all tattered, the pages yellow, and a very unpleasant smell emitting from it. A lot like fire and ash.

Olivia grabs the book, inspecting it. "Myths and Legends, well at least it's direct."

"Can you believe it?" Ivor's early excitement has come back, and he's bouncing in his seat again. "What we're dealing with is so old that even when there was a sky above the Underneath it was considered a myth!"

"Great..." I mumble and lean back into the chair. "More old stories revolving around something extremely powerful. What could go wrong?"

"HEY!" Ivor whips to me, but his face melts into astonishment as his eyes flicker to my- Jesse's- chest. "The mark..."

"Wait a moment..." I look down at the gray fireball mark on Jesse's chest. "You recognize this?"

"Yes! Yes!" Ivor claps his hands and Olivia hands it back towards him. Ivor immediately starts flickering through the pages, muttering something. The rest of us just look at each, shocked. And I'm hoping that there's something that can explain at least the most important parts.

"Here it is!" Ivor spins it around so we can all see it. And it really is old. The yellow pages crinkled making the black ink really stand out. Ivor taps his finger against the inky picture, a fireball mark similar to the one Jesse has.

"It says here that all Feuern, the name to describe what Jesse is, have a mark on their chest. How big it is shows how strong the fire is and the color matches the color of the flames."

Ivor peers at Jesse's mark again, making me feel uncomfortable. "Although gray is definitely not what color it's suppose to be."

"Wait, let's back track." Petra's face is wrinkled in confusion. "A Feuern? Is Jesse no longer human or something?"

I nod my head at Petra, she makes a pretty good point. "And Jesse once called when something when he lost control during his fight with Petra. It was like Ge-something, maybe something with a 'den' in it?"

Ivor flips to another page, this one with a bigger picture. A person with fire surrounding them standing in front of another. "The fire one is a Feuern, a Gebunden is the other and what you are Lukas."

"Aww..." I glare at Axel, but that doesn't stop his tease. "The ocelot needs to be protected, how-"

"Axel, think very carefully about the what you want to say next. I'm not in the mood."

Ivor nods at me. "Actually it's the Gebunden that keeps the Feuern safe. It doesn't have much detail at all about how or why, but it says that whenever someone kills a Gebunden the Feuern it's connected to always dies within a few moments. It makes a point of that if you were to be attacked by one."

Olivia hums thoughtfully. "That must be why Jesse has become overprotective of Lukas. No offense Lukas, but have you seen the way you two act? Very strange, although practically normal considering how messed up everything is right now."

"None taken, but does the book go into more depth about that connection?"

Ivor's mood takes a sudden dip. "Everything in here is kinda vague, since this is in a book of legends. The only thing it says about your connection is that it's super powerful and if anyone has the bad luck to piss off a Feuern and Gebunden then they might as well come to peace with their death."

"Wow."

That's the only reaction given from Petra, the rest of us are just starring at Ivor. I suddenly really want to sleep, preferably for a really long time. Everything's just so heavy. Limited answers, in a body that's not mine but will die if I leave, and becoming confused all over again as new questions spring up.

"Okay Ivor, is there anything about the fire going out or unable to use it?" As long as there's information to help Jesse right now, I'll be satisfied. Just please let there be this part of information.

"Kinda, in an abstract way." Ivor flips to another page, this one a picture of a Nether Fortress that covers the bottom half of two pages. "It first describes Feuern as 'children of fire' it then goes into how no one can even get close to a Nether Fortress because they keep it closely guarded."

Petra huffs, rolling her eyes. "There's no water in the Nether, no human can survive there indefinitely. Otherwise they wouldn't be human at all."

"Well what do you want me to say!" Ivor snaps at Petra, and I sigh. I don't really have the energy to defuse this. "This is what the book says! That Feuern live in the Nether and you better hope that you never encounter them because they're territorial!"

Ivor groans, holding his head by his hands. "In fact, they're described more as animals than anything else. Creatures that can only be studied from afar."

Olivia taps her fingers against the table. "Well if that's the case, is there any section that describes their abilities?"

"It clearly states that there could be many more, but this is the list of seen powers: control over fire, teleportation, an unknown way of looking at objects or people from an undetermined distance, and that's it."

"Teleportation!" Axel grins madly at me. "That's so cool! Why hasn't Jesse done that yet? I really want to see that!"

I roll my eyes, resisting the urge to groan. "I didn't know Jesse can that, Jesse does not know he can do that, and Jesse doesn't know how to completely control his fire. He's only controlled by his complete will a few times and that was when nothing crazy was going on."

"Focus people!" Petra slams her hands on the table and stands. "We can hash this out later and go on and on about the mysteries of Jesse. Right now, why don't we take a trip to the Nether and see if there's anything there that can help Jesse."

"There's no portal in Beacontown." Information I didn't even know about pops up and flows right out of my mouth. "There was situation with zombie pigmen coming out and then dogs attacking them. A lot of screams and panic, so in the end the portal was taken down. There is however plenty of obsidian in the storage to make one."

The memories then explode, painful daggers of Jesse's past clawing into my thoughts. Flashbacks of bubbling lava as a diamond pickaxe glimmers to my right. Cries of frustration as a broken black sword lays in front of me.

"Lukas..." I hold my head in my hands, just trying to wait it out. This one is worse than last time, refusing to go away after a few moments. A constant throb pounding all over my head. Maybe it only hurts so much though because this isn't my head, it's Jesse. Maybe I'm not fit to see his memories. Or maybe I'm not every good with the whole possession thing.

"Dude, are you okay?"

I lift my head to see everyone starring at me with some degree of concern on their faces. I sigh in response and get up, the sore muscles right there to tell me what a terrible action I just took.

"What part of this situation seems okay to you? I'm going grab Jesse's sword and an armor set, you guys go make a portal."

Just as I'm about to walk through the door, Petra's voice stops me. "Uh, where will we build this portal exactly?"

I sigh, again, and continue to walk out the door. "Just build it in the storage room or something."

Then I ignore any other sounds that come out of the kitchen as I walk towards Jesse's room. I figure I should change out of this sweatshirt since it's pretty much torn up and I get the feeling metal armor touching direct skin is pretty uncomfortable.

Although it's going to be really weird using a heavy armor set. Mine's just basically diamond weaved clothes. It's decent armor and really easy to move in, but it can't stop hard blows like the heavy armor.

Rubbing my chin in thought, I pass by the Treasure Hall. Maybe I should just put on my armor then? But I'm not in my body, I'm in Jesse's. It just feels wrong to wear that armor in his body. Whichever armor I pick though won't make a difference, I'm going to be clumsy and uncomfortable.

Besides, it's only a trip to the Nether. We won't go that far away from the portal and the others will have my back. So I'll wear some of Jesse's armor then, his body has been conditioned for that type of armor anyway.

To be honest with myself though, I have no idea what to expect. Will I just enter the Nether and everything feel better? Will I even be able to feel a difference at all? Maybe all Jesse, or me I guess, has to do is eat some nether wart or something and everything will become all sunshine and roses.

Sighing yet again, I head into Jesse's room and towards his chest full of clothes. I take off the sweatshirt and throw it on top of the clothes Jesse took off yesterday. His clothes are all clean again, except for the ones on the floor, thanks to Olivia complaining about the odor they emitted. So now all of his clothes are clean again, maybe Olivia needs to come in here more often to complain about stuff.

I pull out one of the many white shirts that Jesse has and put it on. Then I grab some of his suspenders to put on too, an extremely awkward process. I've never put on suspenders before, and it's incredibly weird to be wearing them. Which just makes the whole thing even weirder since Jesse always wears suspenders and now so am I in his body.

I have to take a moment to breathe and remind myself that I'm not actually going insane.

Unfortunately that moment can't be longer, since when I begin to relax a wave of fatigue crashes over me. I rub my neck, amidst all the craziness I haven't had the time to be tired. And I still don't have the time even though I can feel it now.

Groaning, I head back out of Jesse's room. Once I get back in my body I'm making sure Jesse rests for as long as possible and eats buffets worth of food. This is just terrible, how can I let him drag through in this misery while he's trying to help other people?

That does make me feel a little bad, denying people help, but the rest of me doesn't care. Jesse is a person, not some machine that can do people's every command. He needs rest, and a lot of it, and he needs help too. I'm not going to let myself guilt trip me.

Plus when this whole thing calms down a bit, Petra and Axel will go back outside and help the citizens. Maybe not very much, but they'll help ease their minds. Then Olivia will go back doing some paperwork stuff and then everything, for however long that lasts, will be fine.

I end up sighing again, wondering what's going to be the next hurtle for us. It was kinda nice before everyone else showed up. Jesse and I had no idea that those demon creatures even existed and the yellow fire wasn't a thought in our minds. Sure, we were kinda stressed out not knowing what was happening to Jesse or me, but it wasn't so soul sucking like this. Quite literally.

I shake my head, getting those depressing nostalgic thoughts out of my head. I don't have the energy to keep them up nor do I have the time. I enter the Treasure Room, activating Jesse's armor set display.

Without a thought, I put on the Star Shield. It's always been my favorite, it's the one he wore to defeat the Wither Storms and during the whole portal hallway adventure. I walk over and grab his sword, untouched since I put it there after the night the demons attacked. Man, it hasn't been a week but it feels like forever ago since that happened.

Although I was right, as every single muscle in Jesse's body aches to me, heavy armor is a lot different than my armor. Surprise surprise, it's heavier. Which means all of Jesse's sore bones do not want to hold it up along with his body.

Grumbling to myself about this entire insane situation, I make my way to the storage room. My bow and arrows pop into my mind, but I brush the thought away. I don't need them particularly this time, and we can always retreat back through the portal in case something happens. I'll be fine.

I take out Jesse's sword and swing it around. Grinning, despite not being in my body, at the blade. It really is incredible. Extraordinarily sharp and lightweight, even Petra's Miss Butter isn't as strong as this sword.

Which is surprisingly easy to swing around. I was expecting every muscle in my arm to hurt when I swung it, but no. It didn't cause any more pain. The sword itself also feels different than what I was expecting. Like it's more fluid as it travels through the air, moving more naturally. Almost like an extension of my, Jesse's, arm.

This is what it must be like to be a master swordsman, a body perfectly condition to swing a sword despite its state.

I shrug and sheathe the sword, then try to stretch out a few muscles. Jesse's sore muscles do not like to be stretched, but it does help me wake up a bit more. I do one final stretch before walking into the storage room.

That's when everyone turns to me, shock blasting onto their faces before they all suddenly look away from me. I sheepishly rub my arm, realizing that they all probably thought I was Jesse. Well, I am in Jesse's body but instead of Jesse I'm the one controlling his body...

My goodness this is so weird and wrong.

Ivor loudly clears his throat and then strikes flint and steel in the portal. "Ehem, who would like to go first then?"

"Whoa, me and Axel are staying here. We don't have armor on or anything." Olivia turns to me. "We'll make sure nothing happens to your body while your gone."

Petra just shrugs and walks into the portal. I smile at the both of them and follow her, Ivor coming in behind me. Hopefully only good things happen, we really need good things to happen.

And the moment I enter into the Nether, a place so hot it makes you miserable, I feel refreshed. The blissful heat prickling all over my body, soothing the irritated muscles and bones inside me.

"Ugh, the Nether." I can't help the mad grin as I turn to Ivor. "It's always so hot and blah. I hope we find something soon so we can get out of here."

A gleeful giggle bursts out of my mouth, earning weird looks from Petra and Ivor. I can't help it though! I never knew the Nether to feel so great! The sizzling air so energizing and the ash strangely smelling really pleasant.

"You look better Lukas, are you better?"

Another giggle bubbles out of me as I look at Petra. "Better than I was a few moments ago! There really is-"

A pigman oinks somewhere in the distance, and before I even realize it, I'm running towards the sound. It makes no sense whatsoever, but I feel such a drive to head towards the sound. Is this what Jesse felt when he was trying to warm even though he was already super warm? Unable to control your own body as it leads you somewhere without your conscious consent?

I shake myself out it and force myself to slow down into a walk. I can't do much better than that, the aching muscles suddenly burning with desire to head towards the pigman.

"Hey Lukas, what was that?"

I turn to Petra, not slowing down for a moment. "No clue, it's just this out-of-nowhere drive to head towards that pigman."

The pigman makes another oink before Petra or Ivor can say a word. I snap my head towards it and, for a moment, freeze. My heart slamming in my chest as all the once irritated muscles spring to life and tense up.

Then in the next moment, Jesse's sword is in my hand and I'm running full speed at the mob. I can't comprehend what I'm doing because all that I can hear is my pulse hammering in my head in sync with instincts screaming at me to kill it.

Not knowing what I'm doing, I jump and slash the pigman. As it stumbles back, I dash forward and plunge the sword tip through its body. It gives once last squeal before dying.

Instead of just going up in smoke though, the smoke turns green and flies into me- or Jesse. My gasp of surprise becomes a sigh of pleasure as energy rockets through my body. Maybe I just felt so bad that it makes this extraordinarily amazing, but I'm not complaining.

The other pigmen give enraged shrieks and angrily stagger to me, one thought pushing everything else out of my mind.

KILL!

KILL!

KILL!

I instantly cut through them, one after another with a skilled precision I definitely didn't have before this. In fact, I'm using a lot of Jesse's fighting techniques that I never learned how to do. The armor doesn't feel awkward or clumsy at all anymore either, completely suited for every move I make.

And every single pigman falls dead in a few moments. I don't even pant at all, relishing in energy flowing through my veins. It feels so amazing, as if I wasn't really alive before and now I'm bursting with life. But more, I can have more. I must have more.

The slushy slouchy noise of a magma cream floats into my ear. I grin and hold my sword up, running towards it at once. Another kill, more energy. Another kill, and I'll get more life.

I see it and don't stop, charging at the slime like creature. It jumps up to me and I quickly dodge and stab it. Over and over, so quickly it splits apart before it could jump at me again.

The green smoke washes over me, sending me into a frenzy as I spin around the other smaller cubes. Cutting them up within moments and obliterating the tiny ones in a blink of an eye. Their energy bubbling up inside me like crazy.

A different energy begins to rise, one that stops me in my tracks and even calms the raging need to kill more mobs. It's so similar to what I've been absorbing from the mobs, but different. It has a purpose, a direction.

The cry of a ghast startles me out of trace. I turn to the white tentacle monster, that energy roaring inside of me at the sight of it. Wanting to cut it down just like the other mobs.

The ghast wails, it's bright red eyes snapping open to stare at me. I don't even think. I just raise my hand, the one that's not even holding the sword, and a fireball launches out of my palm. There isn't enough time to be surprised before it goes up into the green smoke. Overwhelming me with more energy.

The fire, Jesse's fire, swirls as a raging inferno inside of me. Clawing to get out, to kill more, to soak up more of these monsters. It's unbearable, trying to contain such massive energy inside of me.

How does Jesse do this? I can always feel his fire powering up and sometimes his panic along with it, but I never knew that this is what it felt like exactly. A powerful storm relentlessly roaring inside of you as it tries to break free. It's exhilarating and terrible all at the same time.

I desperately look around me, trying to find Petra or Ivor. I don't know where I am, I didn't realize where I was running off too. Shoot. Shoot! I'm lost in the Nether while trying to contain an uncontrollable inferno.

Then, haven't decided yet whether this is good or bad, I suddenly feel Jesse's presence or soul or conscious. As if it wasn't crowded enough! I'm glad and everything that Jesse's healthy again, but he should sleep for a few more minutes until I calm down.

Green flames snap off and flicker through my armor. How is that possible? I shrug it off and continue to try to push the swelling fire inside of me.

"PETRA! IVOR!"

"Over here!"

I instantly race to Petra's voice, stumbling as most of my focus is being soaked up by Jesse's fire. Jesse's soul expands more, and I can feel him pushing against me. Not sure if he's aware or just waking up, but I don't want to be kicked out. Not unless I am, or Jesse is, touching my body.

As I'm desperately running across the netherack, a very out of place confusion drifts into me. I panic more and run faster, Jesse's waking up. Jesse's waking up. At least we can call this a success then right?

"Gosh Lukas!" Petra jogs up to me, but I have no intention of slowing down. "Why-"

I grab her arm and start dragging her in the direction I hope where the portal is. "No talk, not now! Where's the portal?"

Another source of panic and an intense confusion slide into me. Petra, thankfully, runs in the direction I was going towards. Judging from Jesse's past experiences with possession, I think he'll start trying to shove me out once he can. And I really want to be next to my body when that happens.

I spot the portal, and for very sore body only a few minutes ago, it somehow goes even faster. Maybe that's because the new sense of alarm has sprung up. Or maybe it's the fire, which is still relentlessly roaring all around inside of me.

What's happening?

And that's when I almost fall flat on my face when Jesse pushes control out of my grasp. I catch myself, mainly due to luck, and burst through the portal. Not stopping for a moment as the world flashes purples and then back into the storage room. Not even the dizziness slowing me down.

The fire suddenly stops roaring when I burst into the hallway, sprinting to the library. I definitely realize it to be a very bad thing when they collect around Jesse's soul or whatever. An incredibly bad thing indeed when both of the energies start pushing against me.

My balance spins out of control and I flail into the library, Jesse must be trying to get his body back. I groan and try to hold my ground as I wobble over to the couch. I don't blame him or anything, but it would be really nice if he stopped doing that for just a few seconds.

He pushes harder, and I get really tired. So tired. I lose the battle and pathetically wither up. I've never felt so drained and exhausted. Earlier I thought I was completely drained, that was just groggy compared to this feeling.

Thankfully, as lucky as I could possibly get, I was close enough to where I stumble onto my body. The moment I touch myself, I could feel it. Like a door opening up. A door that Jesse decides to shove me ruthlessly through.

The world blows up again. Senses and thoughts wildly spinning around me as I can't distort anything from another. Everything's just a crazy mess with emotions everywhere and dizziness all around.

Then it settles and a powerful nausea burbles inside of me. However, that makes me smile. A very insane smile. Nausea, I can handle. Jesse's fire, no way. I never want to deal with that ever again. I think I'll just be the one who helps him with that.

"Lukas?"

I laugh, I can't help it. That's Jesse's voice! Jesse's voice that I didn't just use! That's actually Jesse speaking, using his own mind to say his own words in his own mouth! The voice I've been using that's not actually mine.

"Hey Lukas? Are you alright? What just happened?"

I crack my eyes open, the world a blurry mess of colors. Still though, I turn to Jesse, who's looking really concerned right now, but that's great! It means he is fully back in his body and doesn't have that need to warm up.

"Never better."

And with that, I throw up over the side of the couch.

****

Well, was I right? Weird, long, and important? I definitely hit the weird part right? None of you saw that coming right? It makes plenty sense (when you know everything at least) and conforms to the rules of Jesse's fire and Lukas's abilities.

Long? Definitely nailed. Just a little over 7,000 words. If you wanted longer, well I'm sorry. Not going to happen.

And Ivor's back! YAY! That book, totally uncreative name I know, has more secrets in it. Very important secrets. Plus, y'know, everyone was kinda on a urgent edge. So they couldn't exactly sift through in detail and stuff. But even though it's going to be really vague (it's labeled as a legend in the book) it is still going to be really important.

To be honest, when I first had the idea for this book, there were going to be a lot chapters with Lukas's POV in it. But then I liked it better just in Jesse's, hence why it hasn't been Lukas's POV since all the way back in chapter 8. Goodness that feels so long ago.

But there are a few scenes, this being one of them, where Lukas gets his chance to shine. No way around without completely changing the plot, which is not happening. When I realized I didn't want to write Lukas's POV as much anymore, I accepted the fact it might be a little weird to suddenly switch characters after writing in one for so long.

So now you know. Lukas POV will only be written in only couple more times because the plot says so. I just don't want it to seem strange when the book switches over to Lukas's eyes. Or in this case, Jesse's eyes with Lukas's mind behind them.

Okay, panic, long author's note. So goodbye! Until next week!