"Awww yeahhhh! In your faces!" Petra playfully taunted, waving her arms in the air. Jesse gave a sarcastic 'grr'

"PETRA, PETRA!" Petra yelled before breaking down in laughs.

"Maybe we didn't win.. but that still felt awesome" Jesse panted, doubling over. Fishing a water bottle from her pocket, Amy allowed Jesse breif respite.

"Couldn't agree more" Petra beamed, face turning a slight pink again. Jesse stretched "This mystery better live up to all the hype~"

The strange gurgling sounds seemed closer now.

"Here i come, mystery monster.." Jesse hummed, holding his sword up defensively and stepping forward bit by bit. Amy snorted and ran her hand over the hilt of her axe.

Both edged into the narrow stone passageway, and Jesse was taken aback to see the distinct shape of a... Llama?!

"A LLAMA?" he exclaimed, shocked. Amy, however, screamed and let go of her axe, her yells drowning out what Petra was about to say.

Jesse raised a brow at her and she squealed, eyes bright. "I. Love. Llamas" she whispered, and he snorted, the both of them hopping down.

"-Your owner will be so happy to see you!" Petra breathed, clearly happy. Jesse gave her a blank look even as Amy tugged at his sleeve and let out high pitched noises. "Was this trip just to track down a Llama?" he asked, dissapointed. Petra's ears warmed in embarrassment. "It isn't just a Llama! It's, uh, special! Trasure sniffing!"

Amy began to inch towards the animal, eyes wide and in a non threatening position. "Heeeere Llama llama llama" she cooed. The llama gave her a decidedly odd look.

"The Llama's important, ok!" Petra insisted. "Please, trust me?"

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, i trust you... Jeez"

"...Thanks" Petra said weakly.

"WOOHOO!" a yell broke through the somber conversation to see Amy squealing as the Llama rapidly licked her face as she tried to pull it's head off.

"IT'S SO GROSS BUT SO CUTE!" Amy giggled. Jesse let a soft smil wash over him. It was rare that Amy was anything other than a brat, and to see her enjoying herself... Well...

When Jesse tried to go near the Llama, it kicked him in the ribs, poofing his chestplate and sending him flying. Petra send him a teasing look. "S'what ya get for having that dork armour"

"Yeah, I'll just have to craft a new one... Dangit" Jesse mumbled, slightly soured. Amy was busy stroking the llama as it gave her a weary gaze.

Trying to grab it again, Jesse yelped as the llama spat on him and ran.

"UGH! YOU GUYS S U C K!" Amy yelled, indicating a line across her neck. "WHY DYA DO THAT???"

Jesse sighed. "We have to catch it, not pet it. C'mon.."

"Hang on, if we wanna follow it we should make a torch. It's dark" Petra suggested amiably. Jesse nodded and approached a crafting table but was stopped by Amy tugging his sleeve and presenting him a torch. "Booya"

"Thanks" Jesse nodded, and the three silently crept down the narrow walkway the llama had dissapeared into.

Spotting the Llama atop a gravel pile, Jesse sighed and began to remove the gravel to bring it down to their level.

However, behind the animal was a soft blue glow coming from a massive opening. "What the-?" Jesse breathed, intrueged. Petra inhaled, amazed.

It looked like a ravine with the top closed off, but it was blue and foggy, and atop a small sand hill lay a green prismarine gauntlet.

Walling up to the pile, Amy was transfixed.

Something rang in her head.

Mineminemineminemineminemine-

"What's that?" Petra's question broke through the haze in her mind. A burst of hatred ran through Amy for some reason. Why did she always have to ruin EVERYTHING? Huh? And why was she acting so chummy with Jesse all the time? She barely sees him?

Not noticing her turmoil, Jesse stepped up slightly. "Only one way to find out.."

'Jessssseeee..' a noise rang through his head, like a whisper but more sinister. His blood ran cold. "Whaaaat was that creepy whisper?"

"..You heard it too?" Amy asked at the same time as Petra said "Uhhh, i didn't hear anything"

Jesse looked at Amy who shrugged, before looking back at the gauntlet. He felt it calling to him.

'Slayer of the WitherStorm' rang in his ears and he winced at the volume.

Meanwhile Amy's head was pounding, and she felt blood rushing to it. 'Child of the ancient'

Jesse ascended the pile, coming face to face witg the gauntlet. Amy snapped out of her reverie and ran up after him. A dark emotion rose in her when he half reached for the item.

'The Old Builder's Downfall' Was whispered in his ear.

'The Old Builder's Legacy' Was whispered in hers.

Reaching for the gauntlet, a terrible scraping sound rang through his ears and he yelped, stumbling, as the entrance was blocked and the gauntlet shot onto his hand.

Amy felt something very cold wash over her.

While Jesse was stammering, her nails dug into her palms, eyes darkening. She wanted that gauntlet.

Petra climbed up the pile, looking decidedly scared. "It seems like it's not hurting you.." She stammered, visibly frightened. "It looks kinda... It actually looks really cool"

"It's not hurting me, but it keeps making weird whispers" Jesse admitted, eyes transfixed to the gauntlet.

Petra looked more confused. "I haven't heard ANYTHING... Well, here, I'll help you take it off!"

Both tugged but Jesse pulled back with a barely muffled scream. "Okayokayokay that hurts-!"

"That thing is really stuck" Petra breathed. Amy felt her blood boil.

I bet it's his forever.

Take it.

Petra continued on, oblivious to how furious she was making Amy. "I just can't shake the feeling that.. Maybe you were meant to find this. Like... Destiny!"

Jesse just bit his lip, unsure. "I just hope it's not, like, a curse. Those usually leave stuff stuck to you, right?"

"Yeah... Until you die" Petra said ominously. Seeing Jesse's borderline hysterical expression, she quickly took it back. "Which-! Isn't what's happening here! I-i hope!"

The room shook, knocking all of them off of their feet.

×××

All three ran off the pile, yelling their ears off. The sand and gravel collapsed into a large chasm of green energy.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Jesse shouted, eyes wide. "It's like... A huge... Mouth in the ground?"

"Heckmouth?" Petra offered, and Jesse rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure"

Amy looked over the edge and dropped a peice of dirt off the edge. Jesse whistled. "That sure is bottomless"

Amy sighed, frowning at him. "We need to cover this up, and Now" she warned, and Jesse and Petra rushed to gather dirt. Suddenly feeling rather lethargic, Amy sat down as they clogged the opening

Unfamiliar rage tore through her nervous system, shaking her to the core. She felt like a cold hand had grabbed at her throat.

Seeing a dent in the ground glowing green, Jesse stepped over. "I feel like that's gonna be how we fix all this"

"Sounds like... A fair assumption.." Amy hissed, something iron on her tongue. Blood. She bit back the taste and stared at Jesse. "We should leave"

"Yeah, agreed" Jesse nodded, but his gaze lingered on her eyes and she turned away, suddenly feeling rather self conscious.

Petra pointed at an opening in the ceiling. "Let's nerdpole up. C'mon"

With the dirt remaining in their inventory, they made their way out.

---

Breaking the above dirt, Jesse grunted as he climbed out, Amy piggybacking. He dropped her onto the ground and collapsed in exhastion. She frowned in indignation and nailed him in the shin with her foot.

Petra climbed out with a captive llama in tow, and both looked to see Beacontowns entrance only a few hundred meters away. "It's so close.." Jesse breathed, worried.

Petra passed him a sign. "I dunno.. Put up a warning?" she suggested. Jesse blinked. "I have nothing to write with"

"Here.." Amy grumbled, handing him a quill. He smiled and wrote 'WARNING : Heckmouth' before planting it. Petra smiled. "Straight and to the point. Nice"

"Well now that that is done.."Jesse's voice escalated several decibles "WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT ALL THIS?!" he frantically waved his gauntleted arm.

"Well it's made of prismarine. And you only find that in, like, temples at the bottom of the ocean" Petra mused, walking in circles as she talked. "There's a treasure hunter in Beacontown called Jack. Kinda a legend? He knows about adventuring, exploring the ocean.."

"Sounds perfect, can't wait to meet him!" Jesse smiled. Petra nodded. "I'll take you to him as soon as I'm done with the lla-ma--"

Her voice trailed off as she saw Amy desperately trying to nuzzle the poor llama. Snorting, she pried the teenager off of the animal and tried to make it walk with her, to which it adamantly refused.

"B-but what about me, my hand?!" Jesse cried, and Amy glared.

Always has to be about YOU. ALWAYS.

"I- i know! But-" Petra began.

"Why's the llama so dang important?" Jesse hissed, a tone of irritation seeping into his tone. Petra sighed. "Y'know my sword? Gold one? With all the enchantments?"

"Miss Butter?" Jesse confirmed. Petra nodded. "I kinda got tricked.. By this person called Stella. Said she just wanted to display it for a while. And now she won't give it back 'til i do dumb quests for her.."

Amy snorted. "Knew it was stolen"

"I can't beleive you got tricked - that's terrible! And unfair!" Jesse exclaimed. Amy muttered something under her breath.

"Couldn't agree more" Petra nodded, blanking out Amy's background mumbling and creeping toward a rather pissed looking llama.

"So-so yeah. She's called Stella and she's abit obsessed with treasure. Told me this was her treasure sniffing llama or something.." she gave the animal a look of disdain.

Petra then pointed to an outline of a city about a thousand yards off. "She runs Champion city"

Amy grinned, sitting up so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Ooh, that place is so pretty. Beacontown is great and all that crap, but sometimes you miss fine architecture... Can we gooooo? Pleaaaase?" she whined, pulling on Jesse's trouser leg. Jesse sighed with a fond look. "We'll have to go there if we want to get Petra's sword back"

"Be careful with Stella. She's willing to do anything to get her way. Bullying, lying, cheating.." Petra stated, voice full of contempt. Amy shot her a look. "I've done all that and you never act like a douche behind my back.." she faltered. "Uh. Do you?"

"Please stop butting in!" Petra exclaimed, and Amy made a hissing noise, sticking her tongue out.

"C'mon gang... Let's go" Jesse said weakly, and pulled Amy by her hood, trainers scuffing along the floor as she made violent screams in the hope of attracting attention and getting Jesse in trouble.

Facepalming, Petra led a reluctant llama after them.