(Y/N)'s POV
"Long time, no see," I say, smiling at the old friends.

{Y'all, Aiden hasn't even finished his first line in the episode and I already hate having to play it again.}

"Since you're all too busy being 'heroes'," Olivia says, air-quoting "heroes".

"'Heroes'?" I ask, mimicking her air-quotes.

"You know, how the group of jerks became known to everyone as 'heroes'?" Axel says, again using air-quotes.

{Yeah, a couple of you called who the villains would be. . . .}

"Hey, at least (Y/N) and Lukas aren't jerks!" Aiden defends. "I can't say the same for me. . . ."

"Aiden, you aren't a jerk and you never have been," I counter. "None of my friends are jerks!" No one can call my friends jerks and get away with it.

"You don't know them like we do," Olivia says bitterly.

No, you don't know them like I do. "Anyways, why are you here?"

"Same reason you are," she says. "To alter reality."

"What is that even supposed to mean?" Maya asks.

"Well, obviously, if the bad people are the heroes," Olivia says, "then the good people are the villains. Like any alternate universe."

"What about Jesse?" Lukas asks.

"She turned on us," Axel says. "If she wants to be friends with you, so be it. We don't need her, anyways."

"We can play along," I say. As long as it doesn't get too out of hand. "As what should we refer to you?"

"The Untamed Wolves," Olivia says proudly. {Because I'm not cool enough to come up with a name as cool as the Blaze Rods and Olivia and Axel aren't cool enough to have a cool name like the "Blaze Rods".}

"Okay then, Untamed Wolves," I say, "what do you even want?"

"Revenge," she says. {Okay, but, seriously, why are there no nice options when talking to Aiden!}

"Revenge for what?" I ask.

"For years and years of ridicule! All you've ever done is tease and bully us!"

"We're sorry, okay? We didn't mean anything!" Aiden says.

"Oh, no, it's too late to apologize," Olivia says. {Cue OneRepublic.}

"Yeah, 'sorry' doesn't help," Axel chimes in.

"Well, what does help?" I ask.

"Drop the act," she says. "No one's buying it, anyways. Or . . ." She draws her sword, followed by Axel drawing his.

My friends pull out their weapons from behind me. I hold my arms out in front of them to both stop them from fighting and protect them. "We're not going to fight you."

"Have it your way. This time," she cackles, putting her sword away then running off into the woods, Axel following suit.

"That was . . . weird," Aiden says once they're out of sight. "I don't think either of them has been that mad before."

"Mad in more ways than one," Maya adds.

"It was almost scary seeing them like that," I say. I shake my head. "Anyways, let's get back to town to talk to Ivor about this flint and steel thing." I lead the way out of the forest, my friends following behind me.

*~*~*~*

The front gates come into view after a long walk.

"Feels good to be almost home," Gill says.

"No kidding," Maya says.

I glance over at Aiden, who's been quiet nearly the whole walk back. He looks deep in thought, but at the same time, sad.

"Aiden? You okay?" I ask.

He sighs. "I just can't stop thinking about what happened back there with Olivia and Axel. . . . I feel like it's my fault they want revenge. After all, I was the one who mainly was a jerk. . . ."

"Aiden, stop; it's not your fault," I say. "You aren't a jerk."

"But I was," he says. "I used to be."

"No you weren't. You did nothing wrong. They just. . . . They aren't thinking straight. It'll be okay. That's probably the last time we'll see them like that, anyways."

"I hope you're right."

I grin. "I always am."

He chuckles and my smile grows wider. His laugh is one of the best things in the world to me.

I'd like to believe the whole adventure was a dream, but it's really hard. And it does kind of bug me. Plus, it wouldn't really be a realistic belief, since the only thing I ever dream about is Aiden kissing me.

We enter through the town gates, and Maya says, "Well, no matter what Olivia and Axel think, there's still one thing. . . ."

"What?" I ask.

"They think we're awesome." She gestures to the townspeople.

"Oh my gosh!" a man exclaims. "They're back!"

"Go tell everyone!" a girl squeals.

Pretty soon, a huge crowd surrounds us.

"Hey, everyone!" I wave. They all cheer. We make our way through the crowd and they clear a path for us.

"We love you!" someone shouts.

"Not as much as we love you!" I say.

A girl—the same girl from earlier—runs up in front of me. "Welcome back!" She holds her hand in the air for a high-five. I high-five her and she squeals, running over to the man from before. "Did you see that? (Y/N) high-fived me! Me!"

I giggle. She's adorable. I mean, not as much as Aiden, but that's hard to beat anyways.

Another scream comes from a different part of town—and it's not a fangirl/fanboy scream. We walk to the back of the town to find a rock, skull-shaped building held up by wooden stilts, vines dangle from it and lava pouring out the front.

"That's new," Lukas remarks.

"You don't say," I say. "It looks pretty epic to me."

"Yeah! With the lava and the skull shape!" Gill says. "Awesome!"

"Gill likes anything having to do with deadly features," Maya says, and I have to agree with her on this one.

A few more cries sound from near the building. "Maybe we should go check it out," I say. We run up to the building.

"Oh, stop your whining!" a familiar voice says from inside the building. "What are you pathetic injuries in comparison to my majestic tower?"

"Ivor?" I call up.

"Who else?" Aiden says.

"Oh, (Y/N)! You're back!" Ivor says. "Don't listen to a word these fools tell you!"

"It's a fire hazard!" a woman complains.

"And you're face is an ugly hazard!" Ivor spits back. {Hands-down best Ivor line ever.}

I stifle a laugh. "Ivor, what is this thing's purpose?"

"It's my new house!" he says. "And also, um, my gift to the community! If anyone's short on lava, this is the place to get more! Haha! You're welcome!" Everyone boos. "(Y/N), all I wanted was what any man wants—a little house of my own . . . with loads of lava pouring off it."

"Ivor, you do realize your house wants to kill people, right?" Maya says.

"Look, I know this isn't exactly the safest," I say, "but he did work hard on this." The crowd groans with annoyance.

"We have to take it down!" the woman says.

Ivor jumps down from his house and runs over to me, harshly grabbing my shoulders. "Please let me keep it! I have just as much a right to build something as all these people, don't I?"

I feel bad for him. "I'm sorry, everyone. I know you don't approve, but it's his house. We can find a way to secure it a bit more."

"Long live my lava house!" Ivor cheers. "Long live lava! Thanks, (Y/N)." He turns to the townspeople. "That's right, keep walking! Keep walking. Keep walking!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," I say.

"Fine. So, what can I do for you, (Y/N)?" he asks.

"We just got back from that temple," I say.

"You did?" His voice turns to a hushed whisper. Then he starts suspiciously laughing. "Hahaha! Yes, great to see you again. Let's do lunch. I'll bring the carrots." He brings his voice back down. "There's no telling who's listening! Meet me in the Treasure Room. Ten minutes. And bring the thing you found!" He shakes me violently before walking off. I just kind of stand there, slightly alarmed, for a few seconds. I shake it off and walk over to the others, standing by the lavafall. {Yes, first stonefall, now lavafall.}

"We can probably encase this in some glass to make it safer," Maya says.

"But, like, not too safe," Gill adds.

Maya rolls her eyes. "Just come with me to get sand and you can make sure that when we make the glass it's the right amount of safe."

"Yay!" he cheers.

"We'll be back soon," she says.

"Stay out of trouble," I say.

"You stay out of trouble," Gill says. {Good one, Gill. (JKJK)}

"Let's head out to the Treasure Room," Lukas says.

"Agreed," I say.

The three of us head to the Treasure Room to meet Ivor, leaving Gill and Maya behind to secure Ivor's house.

I laugh and start singing, "Gill and Maya sitting in a tree—"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Aiden joins me. We both laugh.

"Yeah, you two are the ones to talk," Lukas says.

Aiden and I exchange glances, and if reading each other's minds, sing, "Lukas and Jesse sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Lukas's face turns red as Aiden and I laugh.

*~*~*~*

We enter the treasure hall, looking around at all the treasures from past adventures.

"This place looks amazing," Aiden says.

"Brings back so many memories," I say.

At the front of the treasure hall is two people—and a cat—I never expected to see here.

"Jesse! Faith!" I exclaim.

They turn around. "(Y/N)!" Faith says.

Fish runs over to me. I kneel down to him and pat him to death. So I'm happy to see him! Ever since I put him under Faith's care, I haven't seen him much. I mean, Faith and I hang out all the time, but that's when I'm not off on adventures with the Order—which isn't very often. She's my best friend and the only one who knows my secret—that I like Aiden (she refers to us as "(ship name)"). {(S/N), for future reference.} I have never and will never tell Maya. The last thing I need is her teasing me, and knowing her, she might even tell Aiden. At least with Faith, I know my secret's safe.

"You have some pretty sweet stuff in here!" Jesse says.

"It's so great to see you three!" I say.

"Yeah, we've missed you a lot," Lukas says, looking directly at Jesse. "Both of you," he coyly adds. Fish rubs his head on Lukas's leg, seeking attention. "You too, Fish."

"(Y/N), I actually needed to tell you something," Jesse says. "Something weird happened. I saw Olivia and Axel, but they were different."

"The Untamed Wolves?" I ask jokingly.

"Yeah," she says, looking upset. "They were saying something about getting revenge. It really scared me."

"We saw them too," Aiden says. "They want revenge on 'us jerks'."

"You aren't jerks," Faith says.

"That's what I keep saying," I say. "But, I think they were just trying to get in our heads."

"(Y/N), I think they're serious," Jesse says. "They've never acted like that before. I'm really, really scared."

"Don't worry, Jesse," Lukas says. "We'll find out what they're up to, and hopefully stop them."

We're silent for a few seconds.

"Did you find it!" a voice shouts, making us all jump.

"Ivor, what the heck!" I sigh. "Find what?"

"It! The thing from the temple!" he says, excitedly jumping up and down.

"You mean this?" I pull out the weird flint and steel.

"Whoa, what is that?" Faith asks.

"This is the greatest find of our time!" Ivor says.

"What purpose does it even serve?" I ask.

"That glow . . . ," he says. "That enchantment is the work of a very old group of builders, a group so old that they existed even before the Order of the Stone!" {If you think about it, the two groups are kind of similar—they were both famous, but once the whole group was revealed, it was a real disappointment. The Order was fake, and the Builders turned out to be half jerks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯}

"And what does it do?" I ask.

"Uh, not one hundred percent sure, actually," he says. "But I suspect that it's related to the exciting part! You see, if these builders truly existed, and if you found their temple, that means we're one step closer to finding the Eversource!"

"The Ever-what?" Aiden asks.

"The Eversource!" Ivor repeats.

"Are you, uh, going to actually explain it any more than that?" Lukas asks.

"The Eversource is said to be an object of incredible power possessed by the Old Builders," Ivor explains. "It was some sort of treasure, or artifact, that gave them an endless supply of precious materials! Think about it, (Y/N)! That temple must've been its hiding place! I can't wait to see the temple for myself!" Wow, he's full-on fanboying.

"Old Builders, Eversources, ancient mysteries . . . ," Faith says. "Sounds awesome! Can I join you?"

"Of course! You too, Jesse!" I say. "And Fish, obviously." I hold Fish and he purrs loudly, nestling into my arms.

"Yes! I'll go pack my adventuring stuff!" Ivor says. He runs out of the Treasure Room at full speed, leaving the rest of us to catch up with him.

Oh, Ivor, what mess are you going to get us into now?

❤️A/N❤️

Here's another chapter! Anyways, look at my nails!

Sorry the picture's so dark; it was early in the evening and my bedroom light is terrible ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Once these wear off, I'm doing Gravity Falls nails!
I just wanted to say that I might not be on very much next week, if not at all. I'm going to a music camp, and it starts at, like, seven AM and runs until nine PM, I think. So, it will be a long day, but I'm super excited! I'm doing the musical theater class and we're doing The Little Mermaid. I'm super nervous because my audition is Sunday and I'm singing Part of Your World. So, wish me luck!
Also, sorry about all the mid-chapter author's notes; I'm just really mad. This episode makes me mad. Like, seriously, I feel as if most of the time I'm going to be picking the "..." choice. It really ticks me off how there's no way of being nice to him. I mean, do they not realize that being mean towards someone being mean to you is not how it's supposed to work?
Ugh, I'll stop venting now. . . .
Word count: 2,445