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

End Busting

Sunset came too slowly and yet too quickly.

Gem and Scar climbed his tree to get the full light of the moon. I stayed in the treehouse because they wanted to do it alone.

I was incredibly terrified that Scar would push Gem off the tree, she wouldn't spread her elytra fast enough, she would fall to her death, and not respawn because she wasn't in the Empires. I still didn't trust him completely. I didn't really trust anyone completely, except for Gem, FWhip, and maybe a few other Emperors. Third Life, Last Life, and the Grand Crown had made sure of that.

I paced the treehouse that I now knew was Scar's base. Crystals hung on the walls and ceiling, and there were a bunch of shards in the trash can - failed experiments. Random objects and knickknacks lined shelves and counters, including a diamond in an item frame. It was labelled first diamond.

Was it the first diamond Scar had ever mined in his life?

I certainly hoped not, but anything was possible with that guy.

It was another hour before the two wizards came inside. Gem looked tired. Scar looked energetic. Both were excited.

"This guy drains me," Gem muttered as soon as Scar walked into another room. "He doesn't listen, but he says he wants to learn magic. But I needed him there."

I laughed.

Scar bounced back into the room. "Can we go talk to Grian now?"

We nodded.

The three of us took off on our elytra and went to Town Hall, where Grian was talking to Mini and Tomohawk about the Hermits.

"We have the crystal made!" Scar sang as he ran inside.

That was followed by Grian yelling, Mini and Tomohawk laughing, and several feathers drifting out the open doorway.

Gem and I walked into the living room.

Grian was leading another meeting. Scar seemed to have lost control of his powers in his excitement and accidentally thrown the coffee table at Grian with magic. Thankfully, he had dodged, but was eyeing the table like it was a ghost.

We pulled Scar out of the room, apologizing, and waited out in the hall.

Scar was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm pretty sure he's high on magic," I said.

"Yup!" Scar cheered.

"I was excited, too, when I got my powers," Gem said.

"Really? I couldn't tell," I said dryly.

I remembered it all too well: flashes of green and purple light, a bunch of things breaking, FWhip chasing Gem around, brandishing the shovel he had been trying to terraform with. It had been loud. Very loud.

I prefer not to think about that day.

After Mini and Tomohawk left the room, we walked in. Scar held up a blue crystal triumphantly. "We have a way! We've got a magical crystal!"

"Not this again," Grian muttered.

"No, but this one-"

"Scar, I know it's fake, and you're going to try to sell it to me. This isn't the time to give people false hope!"

"It's not false hope," Gem said. "It's real. It's as real as the teleportation crystal."

"It's not," Grian insisted, and suddenly, I realized.

Grian didn't like magic. He may have accepted his Watcher status to an extent, but he still feared it, and therefore all magic. It wasn't that he didn't believe in it. It was that he was afraid of it.