Watched (a MCSM fanfic)

Chapter 33: Return

I'm posting this from an iPad, so I'm not too sure if everything copy and pasted over ok...tell me if you see any problems
Third Person POV.

Harper stored away the leftover food, as Isa opened up a book labeled with some of the portals they had taken note of.

"There was a group that said they came from the underwater world, right?" she asked, stopping at a page.

"Yeah, I think so," Harper replied.  "But I don't remember which one it was."

"It's mentioned here, but I can't find which portal it was," Isa sighed.  They should've marked these better when the portals were created.  And the Portal Atlas was currently with the group, so they couldn't use that either.

"Hmm... hey, what's this?" Harper had her head in a cabinet, and pulled out what looked like a dusty folded sheet of paper.

Isa unfolded it.  "It looks like...a map?"  Then she realized.  "Wait, look, this is a map of the Hallway!"

"Oh yeah!"  Harper pointed at the pictures.  "Those are the portals, and the labels show which one they are!  I guess they did continue exploring this network after they left.  But why is this map in this cabinet?"

"Maybe they accidently left it there?" Isa suggested.

"I guess."  Harper scanned it.  "Well, now we can return everyone to their worlds."

"Can we help?" Aiden spoke up from the doorway.  "We still owe you, anyways."

"Well........." Isa relented.  "Alright."  They had trusted Aiden and the Blaze Rods enough to let them go, after all they had tried to do repairing the new Ground City.  "We only have three more groups anyways.  The Underwater World, the Snow World, and the Stone World."

"Okay." Aiden picked up the map gingerly, trying not to rip it.  The paper seemed old and wrinkled, and they didn't want to lose their only means of navigation.  "I'll get the rest of the Blaze Rods, and we'll head out."  He walked out of the room.

"Well, that's taken care of," Harper sighed with relief.

Both of them walked out of the kitchen, and took the exit to the surface.  There were multiple entrances and exits, just in case for emergencies.  They sat down on the soft sand.

"It's peaceful here," Isa smiled, slightly closing her eyes, feeling the wind breeze past them.

"Not too much, I hope?" A familiar voice made them jump and whirl around.

Hadrian and Mevia stood behind them, enchanted weapons in their hands.

A little Third Person POV. for everyone's return

Jess, Lukas, Petra #2 and all landed in desert sand.  "Are we here?" Lukas asked as they looked around.

"I think we teleported above it," Petra #2 said.  "Actually, I remember Kitsune mentioning something long ago about teleporting with potions all at once can sometimes sync it together so you all land in the same place, or completely malfunction and send you into China or something."

"China?" I questioned.

"Long story."

"Ok."

"Wait, where's Griffin and Alex?" Jess looked around.  There was no one else in sight.

"Maybe the potions accidently threw them somewhere else," Lukas said nervously.

"We should go find the base, though.  I think all of them together can handle anything that comes at them," Petra #2 said.  "Well, if they don't kill each other first." The last part was added as a mutter.

------

Jesse, Petra, Axel, Olivia, and Ruby landed on the border once more, between the mesa and the forest.

"Oh, we landed in the same place, that's convenient," Olivia remarked.

"Well, at least we know where to go," Jesse remarked.  "It'll kinda be a long walk though."

"You guys want to ride instead then?" Ruby morphed into her dragon form again.  "Just tell me where to go and I'll steer.  I haven't been here in awhile."

"Awesome!" Axel leapt on.  They followed.

Suddenly Jesse realized something.  "Wait, where did Steve and Kitsune go?"

"Maybe the potion threw them somewhere else," Ruby said.  "They'll probably be okay."

"Well, alright."  He couldn't say that they weren't proficient fighters.  They were probably fine.

------

"Oof!" Alex crashed down onto something...soft?  Then she noticed she had landed on someone.  "Aquila?"

"Gerroffme," she muttered, laying face down sprawled on the the ground.  Alex got off.  "And don't call be Aquila."  she added, dusting herself off.

"So, I'm assuming this isn't the base, right?" Alex said, looking around.

"No."

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!" A yell from above made them both look up...just in time to see Steve flatten Griffin again.  Kitsune slowly hovered down, flapping her wings.

"Oops.  Uhhh...sorry," Steve said apologetically, getting off.

"Whyyyy," Griffin hissed.

"You still scream like a little girl," Alex teased the disheveled man.

"Do not." He retorted.

"C'mon, we still have to get back to the base," Kitsune interrupted sharply.  "I know where we are, and it's a decent distance away from it.  It'll take a while."  They could practically feel the irritation, mixed with some resentment, in her voice.

"Wait," Steve began.  "Onyx–Kitsune," he amended as Kitsune turned around and glared at him.  He sighed.  "I know we've said this before, but–we're sorry."

"We know," Griffin said stiffly.  "It's not your fault."

"But it was," Alex murmured softly.  They looked at her in surprise.  "If we had stopped them, and we took their place, then they wouldn't have...died."

"Honestly, it was probably better though," Kitsune reasoned.  "Out of all the mythical creatures, the Phoenix and the Dragon are the leaders.  Successors for them don't come as fast as the others."

"But that doesn't change the fact that we let them die," Steve said.  And they were astonished at the tear that trickled out of his eye.  "And Epona, too.  She saved Alex's life, and yet we still let everyone else die."

"Well, it did hit Celestia pretty hard," Griffin muttered.  "Out of all of us, she took it the worst."

"But it's our fault.  We practically KILLED THEM!" Alex's voice had risen.  "If we had sacrificed ourselves instead, they wouldn't have needed to die.  If I hadn't been distracted, then Epona wouldn't have been killed trying to save me!  If I'd–"

"So what?" Griffin cut her off.  "You don't think we haven't thought those questions before too?  What if we'd stayed?  What if we hadn't taken their amulets?  We can't keep thinking about what would've happened, because we'll never know.  Maybe they would've been saved, maybe they wouldn't.  But it doesn't matter.  It happened already, and there's no changing it."

"And believe me, we've had a lot of time to think it over," Kitsune murmured.

"It's fine, we forgave you a long time ago.  We'll probably never forget it, we wouldn't even if we could, but the past is the past, and we'll have to work together to get rid of Herobrine for good.  So, truce?" She extended her hand.  Steve shook it, as Griffin shook Alex's.  "Now, let's get back."

Whoops, forgot to post this earlier today.  It's a probably a good thing I have writing class the same day I usually post.....Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~Griff Out!ᾦ