Welcome to round 2 of 'I-can-never-meet-the-wordcount'. This week's prompt was 'They Won' and my immediate thought afterwards was 'but at what cost?' I decided to write my section on the aftermaths of a victory, and that sometimes winning the fight doesn't automatically mean everything goes back to normal. There are consequences to every battle. 

*There will be spoilers for one determinant end of Minecraft Story Mode s2. Read at your own risk.*

>(<>)<

Jesse woke to a gentle ray of sunlight shining in his eyes. One might think this sunlight should be accompanied by the fresh smell of blooming flowers on an outside windowsill, or perhaps the sweet chirping of birds on a bright spring day.

     All Jesse could hear was sawing, the beating of hammers, and shouts echoing above him as people worked.

     He groaned, attempting to roll over in his bed, but only managing to fall off of it.

     The sunlight continued to shine in his eyes, coming through the rather large hole in the roof. Jesse used to have a rather nice room, but he had taken the guest room up for the past few days because his room was being cleared on the Admin's rather creative 'additions.'

     Jesse got up and ready rather quickly, shoving an apple in his mouth before hurrying out of the room. Another hard day of work sat before him; a day of breaking dangerous structures and rebuilding his precious city. A few residents gave him uneasy stares as he passed, which Jesse could only attempt to ignore.

     Only two days ago Jesse had stripped the Admin of his powers and left him in the realm of his own magic to crumble alongside it. Lukas hadn't been very happy with the decision, but Petra assured Jesse it was the right move. Technically, two days ago Jesse and his friends had defeated the Admin, theoretically restoring peace to the land.

     They had won.

     But at what cost? Jesse wondered.

     While a few of the townsfolk knew the whole story, quite a few of them still thought the old and new Jesses were the same person. The Admin had stolen Jesse's face and pretended to be him for weeks while Jesse tried to escape the world below the bedrock. Romeo had everyone convinced he was Jesse, and then proceeded to terrorize the town. Since Jesse hadn't openly faced the all-powerful Admin, most people still couldn't tell anything had changed. They still watched Jesse with frightened glances, waiting for him to strike them for misbehavior.

     Jesse spent the whole morning trying to help Radar get the office back in order. His intern was freaking out over the misplacement of everything, and the mailbox was stuffed so full that letters practically exploded out when Radar touched the handle.

     Later that day, Ivor told Jesse he wanted to find the old members of the Order of the Stone, and Jesse encouraged him to make up with his old friends.

     Since Champion City had been destroyed by the Admin, Stella now had no home to return to. A lot of the survivors of the explosion had come to Beacontown for refuge, and Stella was determined to help rebuild her 'rival' city. Jesse thanked her for that.

     Axel and Oliva needed to return to their towns, and Jesse sadly waved them goodbye. There was a time where they spent all day with him, a simpler time before the Witherstorm changed their lives forever. They had responsibilities now, as did Jesse. Parting ways wouldn't ruin their friendship, it was only a sign of maturity. Jesse was sure both Axel and Olivia would start sending letters again soon.

     It was only when they were gone did it fully sink in that they weren't the only ones leaving.

     Petra had told him she was going to go adventuring for personal growth, but he'd been so distracted by everything that the reality of it hadn't occurred to him yet.

     Petra had always been there.

     Ever since the Witherstorm attacked, she had joined the group and done everything she could to help them all out. She nearly died from wither sickness and still insisted, while literally hacking up a lung, that she could still fight. She had been an invaluable member to the team, always being there for Jesse even when others weren't.

     Now she was going away.

     What if greater threats were the only thing keeping us all together?

     What if we won, but the victory is all we needed to tear apart?

     Lukas laughed at something Petra said, bringing Jesse's attention back to the bittersweet moment. Petra smile turned self-conscious as her attention was brought back to Jesse.

     "Back in the Admin's cabin, I know you promised that we'd always stick together..."

     Jesse faintly remembered that conversation. Petra had been having a mental crisis. She wondered if she was slowly turning into the Admin, seeing as she was just as desperate to keep her friends together as he was. Jesse had promised to be there for her, so that she wouldn't have to fear being alone. It was strange making that promise, especially since not too long ago Petra didn't like being part of a team.

     "But... the invite's still open if you want it. No pressure." She rubbed the back of her head, saluting Lukas before starting to head to the doors.

     Jesse felt a tug towards her; somehow the idea of getting away from Beacontown was way more enticing that staying in it.

     "Wait. You're leaving?" Radar had somehow made his way over, his panicked voice rising in pitch. Jesse could see the intern start to shudder with the horrid thoughts of his boss going away right as the town started to recover from a crisis.

     Lukas shrugged when Jesse looked at him. Lukas had told Jesse that adventuring suited him long ago, before the Admin had become a serious threat. Jesse had ignored it because he had to take care of Beacontown. He was the town's leader; he couldn't afford to leave it behind.

     Yet, now most people still thought he was the Admin-Jesse. Now Stella, Jack, Nurm, Lukas, and Radar were there to help keep it in order. If he stayed in Beacontown, only endless days of work among angry stares would accompany it. The Admin had caused Jesse to lose his title of 'Hero in Residence'. Rather, he was the shameful boy whose power went to his head.

     Jesse took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think Petra and I are going to hit the road for a while."

     Petra's face lit up, while Radar started having a panic attack. Lukas nudged him, and Radar stressed aloud that with Jesse there, no one would be there to run Beacontown.

     There were many things Jesse could say in that moment, but only one sentence mattered. "You will run Beacontown."

     "ME?" Radar shrieked.

     "I hereby promote you to Hero in Residence." Jesse bit back a smile.

     Radar practically had an emotional meltdown with excitement right there while Jesse assured him he would be good for the job. He had watched his intern grow over the past few weeks. He had gone from a nervous boy into someone who was confident in the way they could direct others. With Lukas' help, Radar, and Beacontown, would be just fine. Lukas waved one final time before leading the new leader away.

     When Jesse turned around, apparently Petra had gotten tired of waiting and had moved on ahead. Jesse ran after her, not the least bit concerned that he hadn't even packed for adventuring.

     "There are so many places I want to go," Petra jabbered on once he caught up. "I want to know if anything was left of your old treehouse, or if there were other survivors of the Witherstorm, or maybe we could visit Zara again..."

     Jesse grinned at his friend and her various ideas. He felt so free being outside of the walls, outside of the responsibility, outside of reputation. Out in the wild with Petra, he was just Jesse. Not the Witherstorm slayer. Not the Admin-defeater. Just Jesse.

     And that's all he wanted to be.  

>(<>)<

A/N

Can you believe that only two days ago (December 19th), was the three year anniversary of Above and Beyond? It's hard to believe it's been that long since s2 was wrapped up, and even harder to believe I've been a fan of Minecraft Story Mode for that long. 

Even though the game came out a long time ago, I honestly think it is one of my favorite games that I've ever played. The original had an exciting story with a thousand different ways you could play it out. The sequel was just as good, providing excellent growth to established characters and getting you invested in the new ones. I've played both seasons over and over and still haven't gotten to all the different determinant scenes/sayings/endings. It's amazing how you could play it so much and still have a different story every time. 

This week's prompt had some epic nostalgia for me, and I hoped you enjoyed my take on the ending of s2. 

See you all next week!

~squidneyxd