You might cry in this part. I did, and I wrote it.

TW: Permanent death

I'm not very good at these trigger warnings, I should probably read through this book again and write the trigger warnings into the chapters

~~~

We entered a destroyed world.

It looked kind of like the remains of Last Life, with random chunks of land and matter floating in starry void. In the center of it all was a huge circular object. It looked kind of like the moon, except it was way too big.

"I assume this isn't Hermitcraft, either," I said, looking at Grian.

He looked horrified as he touched what looked like a piece of a copper roof. Then he went to a tower that floated in the void: a crafting table with a boat on top, then a bed, then another boat, then a piece of a grindstone. The other half of the tower floated nearby.

"No..." Grian said quietly.

"Is this Hermitcraft?" I asked, knowing the answer but still hoping I was wrong.

"It wasn't like this when we went into Last Life," Grian said. "Where is everyone?"

We spent a while floating around the area, calling out and trying to find someone - anyone. "Hello? Mumbo? Scar? Impulse? Pearl?... Anyone?"

As we floated, we started to see large spheres of water that smelled like salt. We had reached where the ocean had once been.

Grian looked around at hovering spruce trees and hunks of rusty metal. "I think I know where we are."

"Where?" I asked.

Grian pulled a small object out of the air - a clock. "We're at the Bigeyes district. Bdubs, Tango, and Keralis live - lived here."

"Where are they, though?" I asked.

We floated around the Bigeyes area for a while, searching for any signs of life. We found nothing until...

"There," Grian said.

We floated over to the figure of a person in a fuzzy green hoodie. He hovered limply, arms and legs dangling into space. Bdubs looked unconscious... or worse.

"Oh, no..." I whispered.

"Bdubs," Grian said. "Bdubs, wake up."

The Time King did not respond.

I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to... but I knew I had to.

"Bdubs, you have to wake up," Grian said, tears starting to jump to his eyes.

"Grian... he's gone," I said quietly.

"No, he's not gone, he's not... he's not dead," Grian protested.

Bdubs did not respond to any of this.

"He's not dead..." Grian repeated, trying to convince himself.

It hit me pretty hard considering I hadn't spent too much time with him except in Third Life. When he died there, at least I knew that he would be going home.

But his body existed. It hadn't dissolved like the deceased usually did.

Bdubs was gone. Permanently.

Grian let out a sob, and I felt tears coming to my own eyes.

But I had to be strong. I could cry later, when I was alone and safe back at home. For now, though, I had to get Grian through this like a good friend... or whatever we were. I still wasn't sure if we were friends or not.

"We need to go," I said. "There could be people who are still alive. In... in the Nether, maybe. Or the End."

Grian nodded, but he didn't let go of Bdubs.

"We need to go," I said. "We need to let him go."

Grian pulled the ever-present clock off of Bdubs' belt. "He had a family," Grian said. "He had a brother."

Well, great job making things worse, I thought.

"He has a brother?" I asked quietly.

Grian nodded quickly. "Pungence. He's in another world."

I nodded, terrified.

Was Bdubs the only casualty, or had more Hermits been victims of whatever had happened to Hermitcraft?

I immediately imagined the worst: Pearl and Gem had been here when it happened, and they were gone as well, and Cleo and Scar and every one of my friends from Third and Last Life were gone too, and then what if Gem had brought other Emperors here?

I started sweating.

Stay calm, I thought. Grian's got it worse than you. Hold on for him.

My heart slowed down, though my thoughts still raced through my head.

I pulled Grian away from the body. "We need to go. We need to see if anyone survived."

"The Nether?" Grian asked.

I nodded, and then we were falling again.

We fell onto the hot netherrack in a tangle of limbs and feathers. I wriggled out and said, "You really need to work on that landing."

Then I realized we had an audience.

Gem was standing there, next to an unfamiliar guy wearing a green suit and a grey helmet. Gem stared at us, and I was able to count to five before she ran and hugged me. I let her hold on to me for ten seconds before I pushed her away and yelled, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

She replied, "Why did you get yourself captured?" Then she frowned as she noticed the tear tracks on my face.

"Hi, X," Grian said, but his voice had little happiness in it. We had just found the dead body of one of his friends, after all. "Blue, this is Xisuma. Xisuma, Blue."

The guy in the green helmet, Xisuma, stared at us. "How are you..."

Grian winced. "Long story."

I couldn't agree more.

Gem took a closer look at Grian. "Those wings aren't an elytra," she observed.

Grian tucked them behind his back. "Nope."

He sounded miserable, but there was an undertone of pride now that we were on the subject of flight.

"Are you trying to bring back Poultry Man?" Xisuma asked.

I looked at Grian, trying not to laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

He brushed a couple feathers off his sweater, trying to look dignified, and said, "He's retired."

"Poultry Man?" I snickered.

"Have you found anyone else yet?" Gem asked me.

The mood darkened.

I looked at Grian. "Well, we found someone, but..."

Grian hung his head. "Bdubs is dead."

"No!" Xisuma cried.

"Oh, no," Gem gasped.

"He just barely came back!" Xisuma said.

"He didn't deserve to die," Gem said sadly.

"I know that," Grian snapped.

"Don't talk to her that way," I scolded.

"Do you know if anyone else is..." Xisuma said hesitantly.

The word he refused to say hung in the air around us. Dead.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "He was the only one we found."

"Pearl..." Gem choked. "And False. And Stress."

"Beef. Jevin. Etho. Iskall. Wels. Even EX," Xisuma mourned.

"You care about EX?" Gem said, leaning away from Xisuma.

"We don't know for sure," I reminded them. "They could be in the End. Or somewhere in here."

"I would make a crystal to find them, but it won't work in the Nether. I need the power of the moon," Gem said.

"I will hate that smug glowing orb in the sky for the rest of eternity," Xisuma growled.

Gem nodded.

I put the pieces together. "The moon crashed into Hermitcraft and destroyed it."

Gem and Xisuma nodded. "We don't know how anyone else turned out."

"Use the transport crystal you didn't tell me existed," I said to Gem. "Go home."

She shook her head. "I can't. There's something going on that I can't cope with right now."

"Well, we need somewhere to go," I said.

"There's Gateway," Grian supplied.

"True," I said. "But they don't know anyone there."

"Yeah, I guess," Grian said. "Let's go to the Empires."

"There's things going on," Gem repeated sternly. "I'm not going back."

"What's going on?" I asked.

Then I remembered what Watcher One had told me.

All it took was planting the Red Crown among their ranks, and FWhip Tay was inspired. Even now, the Last Lifers prepare to leave, and two Emperors prepare to abandon home with them, to the world they didn't tell you they knew about.

"The Red Crown is in Empires, isn't it?" I asked flatly.

Gem but her lip and nodded quickly.

"You destroyed it," Grian asked. "Remember?"

Everyone ignored him.

"How did you know?" Gem asked.

"I know because Watcher One knew exactly what to say to make me mad," I growled.

"Watcher One?" Xisuma said. I swore I heard recognition in his voice, but I couldn't be sure.

"Nothing," Gem said quickly.

Grian shifted uncomfortably and attempted to hide his wings behind his back.

"Just drop Xisuma off at the Empires," I said. "Send him to the Crystal Goblet Tavern or something. Then come right back."

"I don't even know what the Empires are," Xisuma complained.

"Our home world," I said. "You should be safe there."

"Who is 'our'?" Xisuma asked hesitantly.

"Mine and Gem's," I said.

"Wait, are you two..."

"Sisters, yeah," I said, knowing completely how Gem was going to respond.

"Blue, they don't know..." Gem said.

"Oh, really?" I said, feigning surprise. "So you didn't tell everyone that you're from another world called the Empires where you're a wizard? Your own sister isn't alone in not knowing?"

Gem winced. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I thought I was protecting you from your Third Life enemies and the other way around. Ren, Cleo, Scar, Etho."

The other way around. I was a little bit flattered by this.

"What are you guys talking about?" Xisuma said.

"The reason so many Hermits went missing," Grian explained.

"I still don't get it," Xisuma said.

"You don't need to," Grian said. "And you probably don't want to."

"But I'm Admin! I should know where my friends are. I should know if they're in trouble!"

"We're going to the Empires to find out what's wrong," I said to Gem. "Come if you want. Or stay in the Nether for the rest of eternity. Whatever you want."

Gem looked indecisive for a minute. "Fine," she said. "But I'm coming right back. It's not safe for me there."

"Where's FWhip?" I asked.

"He's part of the problem," Gem growled.

"He's always part of the problem," I sighed. "Can we go now? I want to at least see Spawn again before we come back to find any other survivors."

"We?" Grian said.

I looked at him. "Yes, we. I'm going to help you."

Grian nodded. "After these two go."

Gem held out a crystal she was holding. Then she looked down at a cat at her feet that I hadn't noticed before. "Goose, you're going to meet Gandalf," she said.

"You got another cat who's going to hate me?" I asked, staring at it.

"He's a very nice kitty, aren't you, Goose?" Gem said, bending down to pet him.

Goose meowed and rubbed against her legs. Then the stupid animal shot me a death glare.

"Can we go now?" I asked. "Preferably with your method? Grian's sucks."

"No, it does not!" Grian protested. "You're just saying that because you got knocked unconscious the first time."

"I would have been out in another few minutes," I said, shuddering. "You just helped me along."

Gem looked incredibly disturbed. "Now I want to go," she declared, and held out her crystal again.

A portal appeared, pale purple with streaks of silver shifting, appearing, and fading in the vortex. I strode through with barely a thought.

I exited the portal at Spawn in the Empires. I grinned - then, as Gem, Grian, and Xisuma came out behind me, I realized we had walked into an ambush.

"HA! I knew you'd come back eventually!" The snobby voice of Joey said from a jungle tree. He dropped down, bow drawn.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands on your head," he said, then laughed. "Okay, I know you don't have weapons in your hands, but I've always wanted to say that."

Two others came out of the undergrowth beside him - FWhip and Shubble.

FWhip's eyes lit up when he saw me. He seemed to be trying to decide whether to hug me or kill me, which was fine. I was trying to decide which to do to him.

Shrub, on the other hand, looked like she did not want to be there. She was just there to... well, I didn't really know. Why were they there?

"What's going on?" I asked, instinctively gripping the hilt of my sword. "This isn't a very friendly welcome home committee."

"I don't think they're here to party," Grian agreed. "We can take them." He pulled out the sword he had made at Gateway.

Gem and I both whirled around and yelled. "NO!"

Grian looked confused.

"It's pretty mean to kill your brother," Gem said. "Or your friends, even if they're here to attack."

"Wait, this guy's your brother?" Grian asked, pointing at FWhip.

Gem and I both rolled our eyes. "Yes, and he'll listen to reason. Right, FWhip?"

"If 'reason' means not killing me, then sure," FWhip said.

"No!" Joey said, stomping his foot. "We're supposed to arrest Gem for harboring a fugitive of the law!"

"Law?" I asked. "Since when is there a law?"

"Since FWhip made a stupid crown that lets its wearer rule the world," Gem growled, glaring at her twin.

"We can also take Blue back to Scott and declare that we found her!" Joey said.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Joey, you couldn't seem like more of a bad guy right now."

"Oh, dear," Grian laughed. "That's almost exactly what I said to Scar once. He was putting a bunch of us in prison because we spread mycelium everywhere."

"You deserved it," Xisuma snickered. "Mother Spore."

"We don't talk about that," Grian said.

All the Emperors, including Gem, looked incredibly confused.

"Gem and... those other guys need to take their elytras off," Shubble mumbled. "I don't want to arrest more than one person today."

Her expression said, I don't want to arrest anyone today.

Grian looked offended. "Excuse me, these are not an elytra! They're real, and you'll have to amputate them if you want them off. I will kill you if you try."

"You will not kill them, or I will amputate your head," I threatened him.

"Keep them closed, then," FWhip said, looking tired. "But you two, take them off."

I didn't have an elytra. He was talking to Gem and Xisuma.

Xisuma shrugged and took his elytra off. Gem reluctantly unbuckled hers as well.

"Gem needs to come with us," FWhip said, glaring at Joey. "Blue probably should, too, just so she can learn what's changed around here. And I don't know why you two are here, but if you want to stay, you need to talk to me later. I'm Admin."

Gem sighed. "Fine."

"I'm staying," Xisuma said. "For a while. And hey, I'm an Admin as well! Or, I used to be. But why are you taking Gem? She didn't do anything wrong. Is Realm hopping illegal? Last I checked, it wasn't."

Nobody answered him.

Shubble looked at Grian and me.

I shook my head. "We're going soon."

"What?" FWhip exclaimed. "But you just barely came back!"

"Xisuma's world was destroyed," I argued. "There could be other survivors."

"I have to go with them," Gem was saying to Xisuma. "I'll be killed, but Scott doesn't like killing people. He won't execute me too painfully."

"EXECUTE?" I said, jumping into their conversation with all the energy of a little sister who had just been told her older sister and closest friend was about to be killed.

Gem shrugged. "I helped Pearl, a fugitive, escape," she said. "This is just my punishment." She walked over and let Joey tie her hands together.

When he tried to take her staff, she said, "The staff stays. I don't care what Scott says. It's not like I can use it right now."

When Joey stopped, she smiled wryly. There were a few tricks up her sleeve.

FWhip looked pained. "I don't want to do this," he said. "Why does it have to be my shift?"

"Because you signed up for it," Joey said. "Let's go. You too, strange person."

FWhip and Joey brought Gem out of the Spawn clearing. Xisuma hesitated before following them. "See you later."

"Bye," Grian mumbled.

Shubble was the only one left, and she looked relieved. "Okay, I am very glad that they're gone," she said. "I hate guard duty. We were supposed to wait at Spawn for Gem and Pearl to turn up, and also help anyone who died get back on their feet. It's a lot of sitting in bushes and waiting."

I smiled tightly. "I'd love to hear more, but we really should be going."

Grian nodded, and then I was back in the familiar flashing lights and falling sensation.

We came out back at the remains of Hermitcraft. Grian immediately unfolded his wings and flew away in search of survivors.

I grumbled angrily, still recovering from the dizziness.

I looked around for a chest that contained an elytra. I found one and a bunch of rockets inside a chunk of deepslate structure, then took off on my own search.

Instead of flying through the wreckage like Grian had, I went up. If anyone had been smart and built a rocket or other way out, then they would have gone up. Work smart, not hard.

I searched the area far above the remains of the world, calling out and straining my eyes to see anything but darkness and stars.

"Is anyone there?" I yelled into the void, but unlike my last thousand cries, this one got an answer.

"Hello?"

"I'm coming! Don't move!"

As I got closer to the source of the voice, I saw a person floating there. He wasn't a Last Lifer, so I didn't recognize him, but I was still relieved that it was possible to survive. He had dark brown hair that was dyed bright green, and glasses that kept floating off of his face. He had an elytra, but I assumed he had run out of rockets, because he wasn't using it.

"You're not a Hermit," he realized, wringing his hands nervously.

"I'm not, but I'm friends with a few," I replied. "What's your name?"

"Joe."

"I'm going to get you out of here," I said. "Hermitcraft is safe to go back to, but it's a little... destroyed. I'm Blue, by the way. Do you know if anyone else is up here?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I saw the Boatem people building a rocket, but it was pointing down. I saw a spaceship and a giant eagle, too, but they might have gone too far up to find."

I nodded and handed him some rockets. "Go somewhere where Grian would go a lot. He'll find you."

"What? Grian's alive?"

"Yes, and he's searching for survivors like you."

Even as I flew forward, Joe went down. I hoped he knew what was in store for him.

Eventually, I saw a small floating object - a tiny rocket ship made of slime blocks and pistons. I had never figured out how to make those. Redstone was magic to me.

I got closer and saw someone sitting on the flying machine. As I drifted to a stop and floated near the machine, I realized he was asleep. I guessed even slimes needed rest.

Because that was what he was. He seemed to be made of slime - which of course was fine. I was no stranger to slimes. I lived in a swamp. Next to Jimmy.

Yes, I just called Jimmy a slime.

I didn't want to wake him up, so I rummaged through my pockets and managed to find some sugarcane. I didn't know how that got there, but it would be useful. Placing a crafting table, I made the sugarcane into paper and wrote, It's safe to go down now. I stuck the note to one of the sticky slime blocks. I hoped he would get the message as I flew away.

I had found two people so far, five if you counted Gem, Xisuma, and poor Bdubs. How many Hermits had Grian said there were? Somewhere around twenty or thirty?

Only a whole bunch more to go.

I flew around a while longer and was about to run out of rockets when I saw another person. I flew over, determined to help whoever it was even if I got stuck up here myself.

The guy was wearing a spacesuit and helmet, probably thinking that he wouldn't be able to breathe up here. That was ridiculous. I was fine. Joe had been fine. The spacesuit was charred and had holes in it in places, exposing burnt skin. This person had survived an explosion.

I floated up to the guy and knocked on the glass of the helmet. "Hello?" I asked.

There was no answer. The person did not move.

I didn't want to take off the helmet in case the man had a head injury. But I did want to see who it was.

I found a pad of buttons on a wristband that the person was wearing and pressed some until the visor retracted. Beneath the tinted glass was Tango.

I had never been close friends with Tango in Third or Last Life. Heck, he had betrayed Impulse in Third Life and killed me in Last Life. I was nowhere near trusting him. But he was still a Hermit, and still one of Grian's friends.

He was breathing shallowly. He was badly injured, but at least he was alive.

I pulled Tango through the void back to the slime's rocket. I'm pretty sure it took a few hours, but I got there in the end. When I did get there, the slime guy was awake and staring at my message.

"Hello," I said.

He whirled around, surprised to see not just one person, but two people, one of them unconscious and being supported by the other, who he had never seen before.

"Hi," he said. "Is that Tango?"

I nodded solemnly. "He needs to be taken home."

"Home is destroyed," the slime guy said. "I don't know who you are, but if you're trying to rescue us, you're too late."

I shook my head. "It is destroyed, but we have a way out of this world. Can you reverse this machine?"

He nodded.

"Take Tango back," I said. "Find Joe, then go together and find Grian. He can take you to a safe world."

The slime guy looked puzzled. "But Grian's been missing."

"He's back," I said simply. "Trust me, he's there. But brace yourself. The remains of Hermitcraft are not a pretty sight."

He looked down. "Okay."

I set Tango down on the rocket and watched as the slime guy started to turn observers and pistons around. "I would help you, but I have no idea how redstone works. Sorry."

"You're good," he replied. "Go save some more people."

I flew away - down this time. I wanted to keep searching the skies, but I was running out of rockets too fast. I needed more.

I grabbed some more from the shulker box that I had found the first ones in. The place seemed like it had once been a shop, but it was all free for the taking now.

I found Grian back at the area we had first arrived in, talking with Joe.

"I saw a giant eagle fly by that looked like the one False has," Joe was saying. "And also I saw a spaceship-plane thing. I don't know who owns it. And Cleo was planning to go to the End. That's all I know."

Grian nodded. "Okay. Thanks. I can take you to Gateway now if you want."

"Tango and a slime guy that I don't know are on their way," I said.

"Jevin," Joe said.

Grian nodded. "That makes... let's see, out of twenty-six Hermits, we've found me, Gem, Xisuma, Jevin, Joe, and Tango who are... still alive..." he trailed off and stared into the distance with a tortured expression.

"Who did you find?" I asked quietly.

"Keralis," Grian said. "In the Bigeyes district."

I looked down. I didn't know anything about Keralis, so the news didn't mean much to me. But it did to Joe.

"No," Joe said, looking shocked.

"I'm going to the End to find Cleo," Grian said, visibly fighting back tears. "Stay here, Joe."

"I want to help, though!" Joe protested.

Grian hesitated. "Okay. All three of us, meet back here in six hours."

Joe and I nodded.

Joe took off back to space, where I had been before. I stayed in the remains of Boatem and thought.

I mostly wanted to find Pearl, because I knew her and was friends with her. So I thought, where would Pearl go to escape?

She was... creative to say the least. And very loyal, so she would have stayed with the other Boatem members.

I looked at my surroundings. Among the debris were chunks of copper and iron that looked like pieces of some sort of ship.

Like a rocket ship.

A horrible thought grew in my mind - what if they had tried to build a rocket, but hadn't finished in time?

No. I couldn't afford to think like that.

By chance, I glanced down.

Hadn't Grian said something about a Boatem Hole that went all the way to the void?

The void that I was in now?

That seemed like something Pearl and Scar would do. And Joe had said something about a rocket pointing down.

Praying it would work, I lit a rocket and dove straight down.

I don't know how far I went. But it wasn't long before I found them.

"HI!" I hollered, before I swerved to avoid barreling into them.

Mumbo screamed out loud. Impulse jumped. Scar made his "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh" sound. And Pearl burst out laughing at all of their reactions.

"Hey I found one missing person," Pearl said when she realized who had almost crashed into them. She gave me a quick hug.

"Actually, I found you," I corrected.

"What are you doing in Hermitcraft?" Scar asked, gasping for breath. "Also, I think you gave me a heart attack. That's not a good thing."

I laughed. "Grian and I had a problem. Then we solved it and the Evolutioners are alive and I'm..."

My mood dissolved. "I was in a good mood, until we found Hermitcraft destroyed and Bdubs dead, and then when we went to the Empires Gem got arrested. And now Grian says that Keralis is gone, too."

The Boatem Crew looked horrified. "Gone as in..." Impulse said. "You know... deleted?"

I nodded.

"Not Bdubs!" Scar cried. "We were just becoming friends again!"

"Keralis, too," Pearl said, squeezing her eyes shut to hold back the tears. "No one to steal clocks from and no one to steal clocks with."

We were all silent for a minute.

"Is it safe to go back, then?" Mumbo asked, his voice shaking from grief. "Can we go back and live our lives?"

I shook my head. "It's all void and chunks of matter now," I said. "Hermitcraft is gone."

Pearl sobbed.

"I have rockets for all of you," I said. "Do you have elytra?"

They nodded.

The five of us flew up until we started seeing debris again. The Boatem members looked in horror at the destruction around them.

Joe, Grian, Cleo, Jevin, Tango (still unconscious), and a girl with long blonde hair were already waiting for us when we arrived at the meeting place.

"You're late," Cleo said, grinning, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. I assumed Grian had told her.

Grian and his fellow Boatem members (Sailors? Dockworkers? Boat cultists?) let out cries of excitement and had a big group hug while the rest of us stood awkwardly to the side.

"You've got wings," Scar observed.

"I do have wings," Grian agreed.

Pearl narrowed her eyes. "And grey hair. And that symbol."

Mumbo, Impulse, Scar, and Cleo exchanged glances as they recognized the rune as well.

"Can we not talk about this, please?" Grian complained. "We have an audience."

Pearl shot him a look that said, we will talk about this later.

She knew.

Of course she knew. She was an Evolutionist.

"Guess what? The other Evolutionists are alive. Taurtis. Tomohawk. Netty."

Pearl beamed. "I know! But I'm not telling you how I know. I'll tell you that later."

The "audience" looked disappointed. Except Scar. Scar looked fine.

Suspicious...

"I think we need some official introductions," Joe said. "I don't know who she is." He pointed to me.

Grian shrugged. "Everyone, this is Blue. Blue, this is everyone."

I facepalmed.

"You might know Gem," I said. "Well, she's my sister. She and Pearl have been traveling back and forth between our home world and here without telling me." I glared at Pearl.

She cleared her throat. "I didn't choose not to tell you. It was Gem's idea."

"I know Gem," the unfamiliar blonde girl said. "We were neighbors. I'm False," she added. "I admit I didn't even know she had a sister. She told me about her home world right before the moon... you know. Did its thing."

"She does," I said. "And a twin brother, back at home."

"Who are we missing?" Jevin asked. All the Bigeyes are... accounted for. Boatem is here. Octagon is missing. We have one out of three of the swamp lump girls. Horse head farms are missing. Flower forest is here. Zedaph, Beef, TFC, Wels, Cub, and Xisuma are missing. Etho and Iskall are missing. I'm here."

"Gem, whatever category she falls into, is safe," I said. "Or as safe as she can get in an elven prison. And Xisuma is fine, too."

Jevin nodded, not seeming to hear the part about the elven prison. "That means we need Ren, Doc, Stress, Hypno, XB, Zedaph, Beef, TFC, Wels, Cub, Etho, and Iskall."

"I didn't know Etho was a Hermit," I said. "Does he hate you here, too, Scar?"

Scar chuckled. "Not as much."

"We're missing almost half the Hermits," Grian said, counting on his fingers and looking miserable.

"We need to hope they're alive until we find a body," I said with a lump in my throat. "Deleted people don't dissolve."

Grian nodded.

"Can we go now?" Cleo asked. "I want to get out of this place."

"Get ready to fall," I said.

The assembled Hermits barely had time to look confused before we were gone in a flash of light.

We landed right outside of the big house at Gateway. Most of the Hermits looked kind of queasy as they looked at their new surroundings.

"Mini, what are you doing- oh," Salems said, coming out of the big house. "Hi."

"We brought friends," I said cheerfully.

She cracked a smile. "You certainly did."

Pearl cried, "Salems! Hi!" and ran up the steps to where her friend was. The girls hugged.

"Martyn said you were dead," Pearl said.

Salems looked past her and caught me shaking my head. Don't tell her he's here. Cleo, False, and Scar shot me suspicious glances, narrowing their eyes. Note to self: Avoid talking to them for a while.

"Are you all here?" Pearl asked.

Salems nodded.

"Can you get everyone set up?" Grian asked. "We kind of have a problem to deal with. But it'll only be temporary."

Salems nodded again and waved the refugees into the house - it was plenty big enough for all of them, at least until they got places of their own started up.

Cleo lingered behind. "I saw what happened to the Empires," she said to me. "I know FWhip's your brother and all, but be careful around him. He's the one who introduced the Grand Crown in the first place."

I thanked her, and then Grian and I were off again.