Evolved [Book 2 of the Life Hearts Trilogy]

The Battle of the Shadow Tower - Blue

I still couldn't remember the spell when I woke up the next morning. But I could remember that Gem had managed to contact me. I also remembered that almost for sure Grian had something to do with that weird spell memory loss thing.

I didn't cry about it, even though I wanted to. My experiences in Third Life and with Xornoth had hardened me that much. Instead of sulking in bed like I had during Third Life, I forced myself to get up and move.

I headed down the hill to the Scottage to check on my allies and ask them to tell me the spell so that I could use it on Grian. It was too late. He wanted to stay red, at least for now. And I wanted to stop him. It was for the greater good, even if his idiot red-name self didn't understand that.

"Whoa. What's wrong?" Pearl said when she answered the door. I knew I had ugly purple bruises where Grian had pushed me into the wall, but they must have been worse than I thought. That guy was strong for his size.

"I promised Grian a life," I started.

"Okay, sorry, hold up just a sec," Pearl said. "SCOTT!"

He came down the stairs a minute later. "Yeah? Oh, hi, Blue."

"Hi," I said. "Where's Cleo?"

"She's in the mines," Pearl replied. "What were you saying about giving Grian a life?"

"I promised Grian a life," I started again. "But he wanted to get it from Scar. Or, that's what he said. But then he was taking forever, so I went to his base to talk to him."

"He's a red name though! That's not a very smart thing to do," Scott scolded.

"I thought I could trust him. But when I went over to see what he was waiting for, he kept trying to stop me from giving him a life. I started to say the spell, but then he started yelling that he wanted to kill Bdubs first."

"Oh, for the Boogey kill at the very start," Scott remembered. Pearl shushed him.

I continued, "I kept saying the spell, but then, well, I forgot it."

"Forgot the spell?" Pearl asked.

I nodded. "I still can't remember it."

Pearl paled. "Now that I think of it, neither can I."

We turned to Scott. He thought for a minute before shaking his head. He didn't remember either. "What could have happened?"

"I think that it was either Grian or... okay, if I explain, this is going to take a while."

They sat down.

I told them the truth about being a ghost the whole time, not hiding in a bunker. I also backed up even more and told them about my interactions with the Watchers in Third Life. To finish, I told them about my suspicions that the Watchers played some part in the memory loss.

"It makes sense," Scott said. "They're definitely capable of taking memories. Look at Third Life. And I have heard about them, in books and stuff. But those stories are just legends. Or so I thought."

I hadn't thought about that.

"But why do they want Grian to stay red?" Pearl said, rocking nervously in her seat.

I shrugged. "Grian also said something about how he was exiled and something was supposed to be gone."

Pearl tensed.

Scott noticed as well. But he spoke up about it. "What do you know, Pearl?"

"I agreed not to talk about it," she replied, shaking her head.

"Pearl, we might need to know this," I said desperately.

She winced. "Fine, but you can't tell anyone that you know, not even Gem." She looked pointedly at me.