(Y/N)'s POV
It all happened so fast—our "intruders" attack us; my friends are pushed to the walls and the ground—until all who's left is me.

"I knew it! I knew you were here to steal from me!" our attacker—the Founder—says, striking some kind of martial arts pose, being followed in by Olivia and Axel, who are cornering my friends.

"Hey! Don't hurt them!" I say. "Can't we just, like, talk this out?"

"I'm not sure there's anything to talk about," she says. {I can't take her seriously when she's doing that little pose xD}

"See? They're here for the Eversource!" Axel says.

"Typical Order," Olivia scoffs.

"I was told you were kleptomaniacs, and here you are, ready to take the thing our City depends on to survive!" Founder says, getting out of her ridiculous pose.

"Well, now that you put it like that, I almost feel bad," Olivia, who apparently has snuck away from my friends—along with Axel—to the creeper spawn egg chest, says. "But, I'm afraid that the Eversource is ours." She pulls out an egg, tossing it up and catching it like a baseball.

"What? This is outrageous!" Founder exclaims, backing away.

"Olivia, Axel, please don't do this!" Jesse pleads. "What ever happened to the Olivia and Axel that I know?"

"What happened to the Jesse we know?" Axel asks. "I don't remember her rolling with such tools."

"She's right here, and they aren't tools!" Jesse says. "They're my friends, just like you two!"

Olivia looks almost ready to back down but quickly regains her powerful stance. "It's too late to apologize." She heaves the egg directly at us; the creeper explodes not even a second after it spawns.

I wish I could say that I make it out of the way in time, but that would be lying—and I only give the facts. I don't exactly know what's happening at this moment, but what I do know is, when it's over, I'm dangling off the edge of Sky City, my fingers digging into the dirt and grass.

"Aiden! Help me!"

"(Y/N)!" He stops fighting Olivia and rushes over to help me.

He grabs my hands, but I am way too terrified to blush. He hauls me back onto the solid ground. I subconsciously wrap my arms around him tightly, fairly close to tears.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Mm-mm," I mumble in a way of saying "no".

"Are you hurt?"

"Mm-mm," I repeat.

"Are you scared?"

"Mm-hm. . . ."

"It's okay, (Y/N). . . ."

I pull back, this time fully blushing, and sigh.

Everything is okay—well, as okay as it can be at this moment—until the Founder, who was fighting Olivia and Axel off, is pushed over the edge. I hoped that when Aiden saved me, I would stay away from the same fate—but I guess hope is for suckers. {I need to stop with the references.} Because, next thing you know, I, too, am sent over the edge—along with Aiden.

*~*~*~*

Aiden's POV
Poor (Y/N) is so terrified, she's crying. I don't know how long we'll be falling or if we'll even stop {or maybe you'll end up in a loop and pop back up to Sky City! Wait—wrong fandom.}, but I really hope it's not long. I don't want (Y/N) to have to suffer through this too long.

I reach out and grab her hand with a reassuring squeeze. She looks at me with a smile and I return with an ever bigger one.

"This is all your fault!" Founder complains.

"Hey! Can't you see (Y/N) is upset?" I say. "You're not making anything better!" {The fact that they're talking while free-falling is so unrealistic it makes me mad.}

"I could not care less about that!" Founder says. "Because of you {I never stray too far from the sidewalk}, we'll actually find out what happens when you fall off the island! I can't decide whether I want our death to be painless for my sake or excruciating for yours."

"Please don't mention death," (Y/N) whispers.

"We're not going to die," I say.

"How can you tell!" Founder says. "We're falling into nothing! What else do you think is going to happen?"

"No, I mean seriously! Look!" I nod towards what's below us—not nothing, but ground. Land.

"Land ho!" (Y/N) laughs through her tears. {Cry baby, cry baby.}

"What? That's impossible!" Founder says.

"Nothing is impossible," (Y/N) says. "'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.'"

"Who said that?" I ask. Though I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she came up with it.

"Helen Keller," she says with a smile. {Did I just reference my own play? I have problems. . . .}

"Who?" Founder asks.

"Never mind," I say. "Look, we should probably aim for that water."

"Think we can make it in time?" she asks.

"Only one way to find out," I say, air-swimming to maneuver myself to be over the water. (Y/N) and the Founder mimic my moves.

As soon as we climb out of the water, (Y/N) attacks me with a hug. She takes me by surprise at first, but I don't mind it and hug her back. I hear her sniffling into my shoulder.

The Founder is staring at everything, looking totally awestruck.

"Founder? Miss Founder?" I call over to her. "You okay?"

"I just . . . I can't believe it," she says. She approaches a cow. "This has been down here the whole time . . . ?"

"Well, this is going to be pretty big for Sky City, huh?" I say.

"Yes . . . ," she says.

"This place is totally untouched," (Y/N) says, picking her head up but not bothering to unwrap her arms from around me. Hey, I'm not complaining. "Well, except for the mini-lavafalls Ivor made."

"Yes, it's . . . all a little overwhelming," Founder says. "What . . . what do I now?"

"Why not bring your people down here?" (Y/N) suggest, laying her head back on my shoulder. "You'll be abundant in resources."

"I suppose you're right!" Founder says.

"We have to go back up and tell them!" I say.

"Getting back up. My word, you're right; we do need to do that," she says. "I hadn't even thought that far ahead yet."

And that's when a skeleton lands next to us, dying on contact with the ground, followed by a bunch more of those and zombies, making (Y/N) spring away from me. She pulls the Founder out of falling-monster-range.

"What's happening up there?" Founder asks.

"Oh no. . . . I have a feeling Olivia and Axel have gotten crazier than before," (Y/N) says.

"If that's possible," I add.

"I never thought that someone as kind as those two . . . could be as horrible as this," she says. "Maybe . . . maybe they're right. Maybe it is our fault."

"What? How could it possibly be?" I ask.

"Exactly how they said. We were jerks. Just as horrible to them before as they are to us now."

"(Y/N), you know that's not true. Not about you, at least. Well, nor Lukas. But I . . . I may have been. And, not to call them out, but Maya and Gill. You? You'd never. I've never met anyone kinder than you."

"If I'm so 'kind', how come I've never cared enough to tell you off? I'm just as bad as everyone else." {I'm on the verge of crying right now and that's really bad since I still have mascara on but oh well.}

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You're an amazing person and we both know that. None of this is your fault. If anything, it's my fault."

"But it's not your fault," she says, crying in hiccups. I pull her back into my arms. I wish she wouldn't blame herself for things like this. . . . I know no one's perfect, but she is in my eyes. If she never changed, I'd still love her hopelessly.

"This is sweet and all, but will you two help me get back there? Save Sky City?" Founder asks, and I silently dislike her for interrupting our little moment.

"Of course we will," I say, happy that (Y/N) doesn't pull away from me. I've mentioned it before, but I never want to leave her arms again.

"Thank you, Aiden. And (Y/N)," Founder says. "And, please, call me Isa." {FINALLY! THE MOMENT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! WHERE I DON'T HAVE TO CALL HER FOUNDER ANYMORE!}

"Okay. First things first, how are we going to get up there?" I ask.

"Build up," (Y/N) squeaks.

"What?" Isa asks.

"She means build a tower of dirt up to Sky City," I say. "Right?"

(Y/N) nods against my shoulder. She—sadly—pulls away from me, her eyes puffy from crying. "We'll need as much dirt as we can carry."

We dig a giant trench, collecting tons of dirt as we go.

"Wait, what is that?" Isa asks, gesturing to a curious arch of gold and iron that seems all-too familiar.

"The portal?" (Y/N) says.

"What portal?" Isa asks.

"The other half of the one that brought us here," I say.

"Once we get the flint and steel back, we can go home!" (Y/N) says hopefully.

We hop out of the hole we created.

"Are we ready?" I ask.

"Not really," (Y/N) says sheepishly.

"Don't worry; I'll be here with you the whole time," I say, holding her hand with a squeeze. {That was so alliterative it makes me happy.}

We start building our tower. (Y/N) holds my hand so tightly, I can barely let go. Though, truth be told, I don't want to. We eventually reach our artificial bridge to find the city half-destroyed.

"We have to get there," I say. "And fast."

"Yep," (Y/N) says.

A ghast fireballs us and we get out in the nick of time, just before part of the bridge is blown to bits.

"Are you two okay?" (Y/N) asks as we reach the city.

"I'm fine, thanks. You?" I say.

"Well, it'd be nice not to be so high up, but you know," she says.

Isa just kind of stands there, gawking at the city. "What have they done?"

Just as I feared most—well, a close second to losing (Y/N)—there are monsters everywhere. Screaming citizens run from ghasts, creepers, skeletons, spiders, zombies.

"Someone! Help me!" a man calls, being attacked by four zombies. (Y/N) and I draw our swords and attack the zombies, followed by Isa dual-wielding iron swords.

"What is going on here?" she asks after slaying the last two zombies.

"The city is under attack by monsters, ma'am! Everywhere!" the guard says. "They seem to be coming from inside the palace itself!"

I glance over at the palace. Standing in the doorway is Axel, throwing spawn eggs everywhere.

"We should probably stop them," I say.

"'Probably'?" (Y/N) says. "Definitely. Come on; let's go."

"I have to save my people," Isa says.

"Stay safe," (Y/N) says.

"You two as well," Isa says.

We start heading to the palace when someone calls our names.

"(Y/N)! Aiden! You're alive!"

I look to see Milo hiding inside one of the buildings. "Come help us!" he says.

"We got you," I say, running towards and killing their skeleton-attackers. A spider jockey comes around the corner. (Y/N) takes care of the skeleton and Milo slaughters the spider.

"You're very quick on your feet," Milo says. "But with all seriousness, how are you alive? I saw you go over the edge!"

(Y/N) glances at me. "You know how all of you thought there was nothing below you but the Void?"

"Well, we found land," I conclude.

"You speak truthfully, my friends?" Milo asks anxiously. A ghast flies over our heads. "Well, I can't wait to hear all about it later!"

"We have to get to the palace," I say.

"Thank you, my friends," he says. "I will see you on the other side."

We dart our way to the castle, finding our other friends, fighting off spiders. Fish's fur is sticking up in every direction as he hisses at no apparent target. Faith is the first to notice us.

"(Y/N), Aiden! You're alive!" she says.

"Oh, my gosh! You're all okay!" (Y/N) says, running to hug Faith. Aw. Bestie moment. "I was so worried."

"You were worried about us?" Jesse asks. "You were the ones who were pushed over the edge!"

"We're just . . . glad you're okay," I say.

A ghast flies overhead, stopping to fireball us—or, rather, fireball (Y/N), considering that's exactly where it's aimed. She manages to dodge it, but two more ghasts join in and shoot all at once. There's no way she can dodge all three, so I do the only thing I can—tackle her out of the way.

Of course, if I'm going to do that, we're going to land in the most cliché way possible—with me on top of her, pinning her down, my face only inches from hers, both our faces bright red. I can't help but want to kiss her. . . .

I again have to resist the temptation and get off her.

Ivor pops up behind me, making both (Y/N) and I jump.

"Olivia is inside the palace, in the throne room, throwing those spawn eggs everywhere!" he says. "No one can get inside!"

"We have to stop them," (Y/N) says.

"I know! One of you can take one of these!" Ivor says, pulling out three potions.

"I'll go," (Y/N) says. "Potion of Swiftness, please."

"No, I'll go," I say. "I'll take Swiftness."

"No, I'm going."

"It's my mess. I have to fix it."

"Well, I'm the leader. If one of us is going down, it should be me."

"Just hurry up and make a decision!" Ivor says.

Before I can do anything else, (Y/N) grabs the potion out of Ivor's hand.

"Gotta go fast!" she says before drinking the potion, dropping the bottle on the ground thereafter. {That Sonic reference though.}

I have to admit; she still looks beautiful, even when all I can see of her is a blur.

(Y/N)'s POV
Ahah! This is exhilarating! Whee! Everything is so slow! Well, actually, I'm just fast, but yeah! Woohoo!

I reach the door to the throne room to find Olivia fighting Reginald.

"Hey! Stop!" I call out, realizing the potion has worn off.

"Wait, what? (Y/N)? But I saw you fall!" Olivia says.

"You're alive! You're alive! Is the Founder with you? I heard—," Reginald starts, but Olivia nails him in the back with a creeper egg. Before he can regain his balance, the creeper explodes, sending him flying backwards.

I start to rush to help him, but I stop dead in my tracks when Olivia speaks.

"Stop . . . right . . . there," she says. I have to admit; she kind of scared me.

"I don't want to fight," I say, putting my hands up in peaceful surrender. "Can't we just, like, talk this out?"

She throws a blaze spawn egg in my direction, a clear rejection of my proposal of pacifism.

I manage to kill the blaze, but Olivia attacks me seconds subsequent.

"This was supposed to be my story! And you took it away from me!" she says.

"Olivia, if you want to be a hero, this isn't the way to go about it," I say. "This is doing the exact opposite!"

She responds by clashing our swords. I fight her back and get the upper hand, but moments later, another blaze is spawned in front of me. It attacks me but ends up outside in the rain, killing itself. Eh, I'm not complaining. Less work on my part.

I corner Olivia onto a ledge of stone precariously hanging in the air.

"You just can't deal with someone else being the main character, can you?" she snarls. {I'm strangely addicted to book metaphors :/} "It always has to be all about you, doesn't it!"

"Olivia, this isn't about who's more important than anyone else," I say. "This is about what's right and what's wrong."

"'What's right'? 'What's wrong'!" she says. "What's wrong is that you're the hero. That's supposed to be me! What's right is that I'm going to be!"

She strikes me, but I parry her attack. We go back and forth until I manage to hit the sword out of her grip, sending it flying over the edge. Oops. Hope I don't hit anything.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, stop! I throw the white flag! I surrender!" she says, and this time it's her throwing her hands up in surrender, dropping to her knees. {Okay but in the freeze frame at the moment, Aiden looks so flipping adorable I can't take it.} "Let's—let's talk about this! Right, that's what you wanted? Please, just— Stop! You—you want the flint and steel? Whatever! Take it!" She tosses the flint and steel at my feet and I scoop it up, dropping it into my inventory.

"(Y/N)! We need to get out of here!" Reginald says from behind me, holding the Eversource. "What do we do with her?"

"Please! Please don't hurt me!" she says.

I look at her for a second before smiling and holding my hand out for her with a kind smile. What? I can't help that I'm a nice person.

She timidly takes my hand and I pull her up, gesturing her to come with me. "Thank you, (Y/N)."

"More than you deserve, frankly," Reginald says as we walk out of the throne room, and eventually out of the palace.

"(Y/N)!" Aiden calls from where he and the others are surrounding Axel.

"You retrieved the Eversource," Isa says, running up to us.

"Yes, ma'am," Reginald says.

"Everyone, stay together!" Milo says, running towards us with a group of citizens.

"(Y/N), there you are!" he says as he reaches me.

"This situation is getting out of hand!" Isa says. "We simply can't stop all the monsters and protect my people! The longer we stay here, the more danger my people will be in!"

"Escape route?" I suggest.

"The waterfall!" Aiden says.

"What! Are you crazy!" a man—the same man we first met when we first arrived—says. "The waterfall will just take us into the Void!"

"There is no Void! There's land below us!" I say.

"Just follow our lead!" Aiden says.

"Wait, I have to fall down there again?" I say.

"(Y/N), it's the only way we'll be safe!" he says. "Just think about it like a waterslide."

"That doesn't make anything better!" I say. "If anything, it makes it worse!"

"(Y/N), I'll be right here the whole time. We have to do it if we're going to persuade others to do it. It's the only way we'll be able to save ourselves and everyone else."

Well, I don't want to be the cause of the deaths of everyone. I sigh and turn towards the waterfall, hand-in-hand with Aiden, ready to cheat out death once again.

*~*~*~*

We land in the pond for the second time.

"Uh, (Y/N)?" Aiden says. "Could you let go of my hand?"

I quickly retreat my hand from his. Huh. History repeats itself many times.

"Sorry," I say, my face beet red.

"No, it's okay," he says. "Just started to lose blood circulation; that's all."

I sheepishly laugh and swim out of the water.

"You weren't lying . . . ," Reginald says. "There's ground everywhere!"

"(Y/N), I cannot thank you enough," Isa says. "You have saved us all."

"So what do we do now?" Reginald asks.

"Just take it slow," Aiden says. "You've been cooped up on that island for so long. You don't want to get overwhelmed by all this 'real world'." {HA. Nailed that pun.}

"And I'm taking a break from heights for a while," I say. "From now on, I am staying at sea-level and nothing more."

"You do realize our house is on a hill, right?" Aiden says.

"I'll make it work."

Axel and Olivia swim to the surface but are stopped by a guard. "Freeze, criminals!"

"I hope they've returned to their normal selves," Jesse says.

"I'm sure they have," I say, placing a reassuring hand on her arm.

The guards lead handcuffed Axel and Olivia over to us.

"(Y/N), we're so sorry," Axel says. "That got way out of hand."

"And, Jesse, I hope you'll still want to be our friend," Olivia says. "And the rest of you, too."

"Of course, Olivia," Jesse says. "You two are my best friends. I could never stay mad at you."

"We'll miss you," Olivia says.

The guards start to walk away with them when I stop them.

"Wait!" I call. "Let them go."

"What? Are you crazy?" one of the guards asks.

"Let them go. And I mean it," I say.

The guard gives in and un-handcuffs Axel and Olivia.

"Thank you so much, (Y/N)," Olivia says. "You're right. . . . You are meant to be the heroes. You're all way kinder than we were today."

"So, are you coming home with us?" Jesse asks excitedly.

"I . . . think I actually want to stay here," Olivia says.

"Yeah, me too," Axel seconds.

"Okay . . . I understand," Jesse says. "We'll visit you, all right?"

"Of course," Olivia says, pulling Jesse into a goodbye hug.

As they break away, we watch them walk into the distance.

{Welp there goes Petralivia, but here's one for all you Axelivia shippers out there.}

"Attention! Attention!" Reginald shouts.

"Hello? Everyone, please? This is your Founder speaking," Isa says. "Now that we're all safe, we need to organize. Start planning our new community."

"Are you listening to yourself? That's insane!" Milo says, pushing through the crowd to join Isa at her metaphorical podium. "We were prisoners long enough on that island in the sky! It is time for us to run free! Build whatever we please!"

"Wow, those two just won't get along!" Aiden whispers to me.

"Okay, okay, break it up!" I cut into the argument. "Fighting won't solve anything!"

"It will if I win!" Milo says.

"Oh, of course you'd think that way," Isa says. "No, you don't understand. It will be night soon, and night is when the monsters come out! If we don't prepare, we'll be in danger!"

"You're just making excuses to control our behavior, just like before!" Milo says. "We must trust in ourselves! Be able to learn from our mistakes!"

"Why don't you just compromise? You don't want to run around with no plan, but you shouldn't schedule and organize everything you do," I reason. "You can try new things, but be safe about it."

"I suppose I still have much to learn . . . ," Milo says. "Thank you, (Y/N)."

"I don't understand yet . . . but I trust you," Isa says. "I suppose the era of Sky City is over."

"We may disagree about how to run this place, but I thank you for everything you have done," Milo says.

"Just try to get along, okay?" I say.

The two of them leave as I am joined by my friends.

"You know something?" Lukas says. "She was a little scary at first . . . but she's all right."

"I'm going to miss that crazy guy," Aiden says.

"We should probably prepare for nightfall, too," Faith says. "Without another portal, we're stuck here."

"Oh, just leave the getting home situation to us," I say, glancing at Aiden.

"We found the portal," Aiden says bluntly.

"And you didn't say anything!" Ivor inquires, annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm going to agree with Ivor on this," Lukas says.

"Guess I never got the chance . . . ?" I shrug innocently.

"Come on!" Aiden says, beckoning to us to follow him.

Our path is cut off when the Eversource runs and trips in front of us, doing a couple somersaults. I have to force myself not to burst out laughing. {IF THIS CHICKEN ISN'T ME THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.} Fish comes running towards her and they start to play.

"Ah! There you are!" Isa says, walking up to the chicken. "So sorry about her."

"It's okay," I say. "She seems to be having fun running around. And Fish seems to like her."

"Yes, I think she took it pretty well when I told her she didn't need to be the Eversource anymore." She kneels down to the chicken. "What are we going to do with you now, huh?"

"Maybe you two could take some time to travel," I suggest. "There's a lot to see now that you're not on the one island."

"Yes, that's . . . a rather nice notion," she says. She looks down at the chicken. "How'd you like to go explore some of those . . . very tall, vertical rocks?"

"Those are mountains," Aiden corrects and I giggle.

"Lovely," Isa says.

"After so long being 'The Founder' and 'The Eversource'," she says, "now we can just be 'Isa' and her best friend . . ." She reaches down to take the crown off the chicken's head. "Benedict."

"That's a boy's name," Ivor scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Ever heard of unisex names?" I ask.

"What a closed-minded attitude," Isa says, glaring at Ivor.

"(Y/N)," she says, handing me the crown. "I would be honored if you would take this . . . as a small token of our gratitude."

"Thank you," I say.

"Come on, Benedict, we have a way to go," she says, walking away with Benedict on her tail.

"Well, there goes the Eversource," Ivor says. "Off to cluck and peck at seeds for the rest of its valuable life."

Fish meows to get my attention and I scoop him into my arms. "I know; I'm going to miss them too," I say to him. "Maybe when we get home you can find another chicken to play with."

He purrs in response and I chuckle and kiss his head, setting him down thereafter.

"So, what're you going to do with that crown?" Aiden asks.

"I don't know," I say. I put the crown on my head. "How do I look?"

"Cute," Aiden says. I smile proudly and we make our way to the portal, the others following behind us.

"Feh. I just can't wait to put this whole world behind us . . . ," Ivor says. "I was just hoping we'd get real treasure. Livestock's no proper treasure. Although I wonder what would happen if you put that tiny crown on a different chicken. . . ."

"Nothing happened when (Y/N) put it on and she's a chicken," Aiden teases.

"Whatever," I say, sticking my tongue out. "Let's just go home."

I pull out the flint and steel and light the portal.

*~*~*~*

We land in some building, but I don't recognize it. It doesn't look like we're back at the temple. . . .

"Uh, (Y/N)?" Aiden grabs my arm and I turn around, noticing something I didn't before.

"Oh . . . my . . . portals."

❤️A/N❤️

Hey! Yeah, it's, you know, it's been a while. It's been, yeah . . . it's been a while.
So, um . . . how've y'all been?
Oh gosh, this is just awkward.
Anyways, I feel super back for making you wait so long. As you can probably see, this is a pretty long chapter. So, uh, yeah. But, hey! We're starting episode six! (My personal favorite episode.) And some of you are in it! I'm excited! :)
I'll also have a surprise for y'all in the next chapter (or maybe a couple chapters later. . . . I don't know). . . .
Okay, it's not going to be a surprise because I'm going to tell you what it is :p
It's my play! You know, from theater camp? Yeah! You can see how badly we messed up at times! XD
Just a warning—if you or your family supports Trump, it may be slightly offensive. And if so you can choose to watch it or not, but I'll ask of you kindly not to comment critically on it :)
Well, I think that's all. . . .
Yeah. . . .
Word count: 4,679