Chapter written by FanfictionalWarrior
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"Petra!" Jesse greeted the redhead excitedly as she came to a skidding stop right beside them. Her eyes flickered slightly to the left. "Lukas!"

"I'm so glad the two of you dropped by!" Olivia said, clasping her hands together, a bright smile resting on her face.

"Yeah!" Axel agreed, grinning broadly.

Lukas glanced over at Petra, giving her a questioning glance. She just shrugged him off, turning to face the three people in front of her.

"Where, uh... where were the three of you heading?" She asked.

"Axel and Olivia are leaving again soon." Jesse said, her smile dimming a bit. "But hey, now that you and Lukas showed up too, we could make the rest of their stay even more worthwhile!" Her face lit back up. "When was the last time the five of us were actually doing something together?"

Petra could feel a delighted smile slinking onto her own face. "Oh, yes! We haven't done anything fun together in ages!"

Jesse turned her head in Lukas's direction, waiting for him to say something as well. For a second he just stood there, opened-mouthed, like he didn't know what to say. His blue eyes darted in Petra's direction like he expected her to say something else.

"Uh, yeah... s-sure I guess." He said uncertainly when she didn't speak up.

Jesse seemed a bit surprised by his hesitant behaviour, before just breaking into a smile again. "Come on then." She said, beckoning for Lukas and Petra to follow her, Axel and Olivia.

Petra took a step towards them, letting out a surprised gasp when something suddenly held her back by her arm.

"One second." Lukas said, pulling Petra back towards him a few more steps. "We'll be with you in a second!"

"The hell?" Petra hissed as they turned away from the other three, voices lowering so their conversation couldn't be overheard. "What's this about?"

"What's this about?" Lukas repeated her question in exasperation. "Petra, aren't you going to stop and question for a moment how this is even happening? You're just going with the flow, as if we weren't inside the Order Hall, in the middle of the night, a few seconds ago."

"And?" Petra asked, making Lukas's face drop. She sighed, shaking her head. "I know, I know. This is bizarre, but even so – we're still here now. Darting around anxiously isn't going to help us figure out what the hell happened. Let's just make the most of it, yeah?"

Lukas let out a long exhale, pulling his hand through his blonde hair. Uncertainty swirling in his eyes.

"You two done chit-chatting?" Axel called over to them. "We don't have forever, you know- Ow!" Jesse gave him a light elbow in the ribs to shut him up.

"Yup, coming!" Petra called back, walking straight past Lukas to join the group again. He let out another sigh, shaking his head again before following Petra over to the others again. After years of experience, he knew by now that there was no point in arguing with the warrior when she has made up her her mind.

"So where are we going?" Petra asked as she fell into step with the other three again, Lukas jogging up from behind to catch up as well.

"Just walking these two to the gates." Jesse replied, much to Petra's surprise.

"Woah now, hold up." She said, jogging to the front of the group and walking backwards to face them. "They're leaving right now? What happened to spending some time together?"

"We are." Olivia said with a shrug. "It's just a small chat as we walk, but hey – it's more time than the five of us has spent together in ages."

Petra felt her heart sink all the way down into her boots. Why did Olivia sound so... so nonchalant? Didn't she even realise the sad truth that just came out of her own mouth? The five of them haven't been together in ages and they all think some small talk for ten minutes could make up for it?

Petra of course refused to let her dismay show on her face, only turning around again and falling back into step with the others.

"We should make an effort to spend some well deserved time together next time you two come over." Jesse said to Axel and Olivia. "You know, the five of us together."

Next time. Petra gritted her teeth slightly. Always next time... She shook her head to herself, forcing out the negative thoughts. Optimism usually wasn't Petra's thing, but she still wanted to try and make an effort to enjoy the small bit of time they had left.

"You've been awfully quiet." Jesse noted, looking back at Lukas. "All good?"

"What? Oh, yeah." Lukas said, giving her quick smile. "Just got lost in thought, you know."

Jesse nodded, not seeming convinced. Petra glanced back at Lukas too, giving him a swift glare. She was having a hard enough time keeping a positive look on the situation, his voice faltering with doubt didn't help.

Lukas awkwardly scratched the back of his head. While he was still baffled about what was even going on, he could see where Petra was coming from. It has been ages since they all been together, and making the most of it might not be a bad idea.

"So, when will we see you two again?" He asked, trying to spark up a conversation.

"You two are talking like you're here all the time." Olivia said with a chuckle. "I'm not sure, however. Busy times coming up in Redstonia. I guess we'll just see."

"Yeah man." Axel agreed, stretching his arms out in front of him and cracking his knuckles. "Life's hectic as the King of Boomtown!"

Petra felt her expression dim a bit. They were right... While she couldn't speak for Lukas, she herself has never made an exceptional effort to be there for the rest of their team. After Axel and Olivia left the first time, she really just stopped trying to hold their cracking group together. Maybe she should try changing her own strategy before tossing the blame on them again...

Petra shook her head to herself, kicking a loose stone out of her path. Stop overthinking. You're wasting the time with your friends! She scolded herself.

Petra raised her head slightly, seeing the gates to Beacontown in sight. Was their time up already? She never realised how short the walk was from the Order Hall to the gates.

"Wait." Petra spoke up, subconsciously looking for a way to stall.

"What's up?" Jesse asked her, turning around. She cocked her head slightly to the side, a string of black hair falling down into her eyes.

"Well..." Petra said, putting out her hand to place it on Jesse's shoulder. "I just-" She cut herself off with a surprised yelp, when her hand all of a sudden went right through Jesse.

The shorter girl's shoulder dissolving in many golden particles as Petra's hand moved through it, before reassembling back the moment her hand was no longer touching Jesse.

Neither Jesse, Axel or Olivia even blinked at what had just happened, almost like it never did. But before Petra could get to the point of saying anything, all three of them began dissolving into the familiar golden particles, their bodies slowly beginning to fade from existence.

The horrified exclamation behind Petra proved that Lukas could see what was happening as well.

And then building began to break down into the golden flecks, Beacontown fading around them. Petra watched with a bewildered expression, her body rooted to the ground, her ears deaf to Lukas calling her name.

Watching in horror as the broad daylight faded away to reveal a familiar dark room.

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Huh... even in collabs I have a tendency to end on a cliffhanger.

This chapter is super, super late, and that is really my fault. I just went through probably one of the worst writer blocks in history, and it was primarily with this specific chapter. I really just pushed myself through most of the chapter, and that's why it's not my best work. 

Thank you so much to my co-write who has patiently waited for me to write this. I'm honestly actually ashamed at how long it took me to write this.

Going to make a point of it to not make you all wait this long for one of my chapters again!