Alone [Book 3 of the Life Hearts Trilogy, previously called Lost Hearts]

Refugees - Gem's POV

The disturbance in the magic was like a ripple, subtle but noticeable. I immediately perked up.

Then I realized what must have happened. Joey had opened a portal to Last Life.

There was no time to find FWhip. I needed to get to the Lost Empire.

At the top of the Temple of Fire was a portal, red with golden swirls. At first, nothing happened, and I was too afraid to approach the portal. But then Joey tumbled out, yelling, "No! It's just for the Emperors!"

I pointed my staff at him. "What have you done?"

But my attention was turned to another person coming out. He had dark skin and darker hair that was partially covered by a mossy green hoodie.

Bdubs glanced around, taking in the Temple, before being pushed over by a flood of escapees, yelling and pushing before realizing that they were through the portal.

I saw Pearl, Jimmy, Scott, Lizzy, and Joel. But Blue was nowhere in sight.

There were fifteen of them in total, sixteen if you counted Joey, all shouting and confused.

"This isn't home!"

"Where'd Grian go? He was right next to me a minute ago!"

"Scar, it's not a good idea to wander off. We don't know where we are."

"This place is amazing!"

"Can I sit on the throne?"

"Everyone be quiet!" I yelled over them.

The group fell silent.

I can do this, I told myself.

"You're not in Last Life anymore," I said. "You're in the Empires now, and I have to say that there's a few more people than I was expecting."

Pearl, Jimmy, Joel, Scott, and Lizzy pushed their way forward. Joel, Pearl, and Lizzy immediately headed down the staircase and went in different directions, probably home. But Jimmy and Scott stayed.

"Allow me to explain what has just happened," Joey said. "You were all trapped in this world. Then Gem and I worked together to get you out."

"We did not!" I said to him. "You imprisoned me, tortured me, stole my spell, and now you say we're working together?"

"Well, that was mostly Sausage, but yeah," Joey said shamelessly.

"Bye, Joey," I said.

"This is my house!"

"Let me talk to them. Then if they decide not to kill you, you can imprison them all you want."

Joey huffed but didn't want to get in a fight with a wizard. He started down the long staircase.

I continued. "I know this is really confusing for most of you, so I'll do my best to explain my side of the story. My name is Gem. I'm a wizard here at the Empires. A few months ago, a demon called Xornoth came into this world and started spreading corruption into all the Empires. Everywhere you go, you will see red tendrils and weird crystals in the sky and stuff. That's all because of the demon."

The Last Lifers exchanged glances of fear, relief, and even recognition.

"Two Emperors decided to help Xornoth," I continued. "One of them was doing it against his will, Sausage. He's fine now. But Joey, the guy who just left, is still working for the demon. About two weeks ago, Sausage and Joey imprisoned me and tried to get information from me about the missing Emperors, the ones in Last Life. I had a device that allowed me to enter people's dreams, and they replicated that spell. Joey also stole my interdimensional travel device. That's how he got the portal to Last Life. It was intended for the Emperors, to bring them home so Joey could use them against their friends. But now all of you are here, which he - and I - did not expect."