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As Jel made his way through the anti-gravity town, he took a second to stop at the edge of an island and stare at the stars starting to appear around them.

He took off his hood and sighed, looking at every one of the twinkling lights, remembering the night he was with Osbert.

I wonder how he is doing. Jel thought, chuckling to himself. He was in really bad shape the last time I saw him.

Instead of running, Jel decided to walk now, taking his time to get to his destination.

It is still morning in the human world, you can tell by the way the plants shine.

Since it is morning, they are much dimmer, also, the town is mostly asleep so he wasn't too worried about running into anyone and scaring them.

Not like that has happened before. Not at all.

"I am tired," Jel mumbled, feeling the pain on his side again. "Breaking that gem did a number on me. Ugh. How annoying."

All I remembered was that I went to that room to replenish the energy of this place like I always did every month.

But I suddenly felt really tired for some reason and then passed out.

Next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and I was in still in that place with a sharp pain on my side.

It was so painful I didn't think I would even be able to get up from the ground but ... somehow, I was able to get up and make my way to the door.

It took all the strength I had to even get to the door and the moment I opened it, I saw Taio then collapsed.

When I woke up later, the pain had grown worse and I threw up blood all over my bed.

It seems that Taio was there with Lumi and Barrette but I didn't remember hearing or even seeing them.

I just threw up and then was knocked out all over again. The next time I woke up, the same thing happened again.

I don't know how long that went on for, I stopped counting after the fifth time I woke up and threw up.

But, finally, finally, I woke up and didn't immediately throw up, though I was too weak to move and Lumi, who was beside my bed started bawling the moment she saw that I was looking at her.

She called for the others and I was given a large bag of blood that I had a hard time consuming. But Lumi, Taio and Barrette looked after me so well that I knew I had to get better quickly.

Jel paused, scratching the back of his head nervously. I guess I made them unnecessarily worried. I should get something to thank them.

Well, I can worry about that later on.

After that, I laid in bed, unmoving and unable to even speak for the next two days. Then … on the third day, I felt a pull, desperate and on the verge of dying.

I didn't know what that pull was and tried to ignore it. I was in no position to be going to help someone when I can't move out of bed or even eat on my own. Sadly.

But the pull kept coming and, with a little bit of strength, I searched where the pull was coming from. You could imagine my surprise when I realized that it came from Osbert.

He was so close to death that I couldn't stall. I don't know how I did it, but I mustered all my strength and followed the trail of the gem, just in time to help him breathe.

I opened a pathway in my mouth to the outside world so that Osbert could take in as much breath as he needed. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough strength to cover him in an air bubble.

So I had to get him out of there as quickly as possible. Destroying the gem was a risk I took. I did try to tell her to just let us go but she decided to listen to her pride instead of me.

So I had to break it and it threw us to the wall. I regretted not being able to protect him as well as I could have but … I was near collapsing again.

So I gave him another gem, this one specifically made from my blood, and then left. I don't know if he knows what it can do or the level of magic it contains, I don't know it myself.

But I did put him in danger, in some ways, so that one will keep him safer and call me the moment anything happens. Not only that, I can open a portal through the gem, unlike the other one.

So, that is it. I went back and had to lay in bed for some more days but Val gave me, what was known as, Eve's Apple. That fruit was not an apple at all, more like a pear.

It is said to increase the abilities of whoever ate it, so it was kind of a coveted item. I have no idea how she got it but I wasn't complaining.

Almost immediately, I regained my strength. That did not stop everyone from worrying about me though. Not that I could blame them. I would be really worried if any of them got sick like that as well.

But then again, it was me that got sick. Nothing can kill me. Jel paused for a second, looking at the empty, broken and floating pieces of land in front of him. That doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt but … I wish they would stop worrying so much about me.

The world will continue to change, whether we like it or not. They need to learn to accept that.

They also need to accept that … I just might not always be there, as much as they want anyway.

Jel sighed, scratching the back of his head, "When did I become so depressing? Even if I will die, it will take a while before that happens. Maybe another hundred years. That sounds even more depressing."

"Wait." He looked around him, confused. "Have I lost my mind so much that I am talking to myself?? This is so pathetic."

"I agree." Jel turned to see a familiar purple-haired woman standing there, with a cigarette hanging from her lips.

"Lillian Rose," Jel said, grinning at the woman. "I was just looking for you."

"I know." She said, grinning at him. "I could hear you a mile away, you know that?"

"Do you th-"

"No one paid attention enough to listen to what you have to say," Lillian said, blowing out a cloud of smoke.

That was only then that Jel noticed the two children standing on either side of the woman, the two looking at him with bright smiles.

"Hello, Hadley and Tory." He said, grinning at the two. "Do you two still remember me?"

"Of course!" Tory said, running to the man with sparkling eyes. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in forever."

"Sorry," Jel said, picking the boy up in his arms. "Look at how big you have grown. You are going to be taller than me in no time."

"I doubt that." The boy said, raising his eyebrow at the man. "You are so long I feel like I am going to break my neck looking at you."

"But he is not as tall as the other one," Hadley said as she and Lillian began to float down the pathway.

"Other one?" Jel asked, following the two with the boy still in his arms. "Oh, you mean him. Yeah. I have to strain my neck to even look up at him. He is quite buff, don't you think so?"

"He looks so strong," Tory said, eyes glittering. "That time when he rescued Hadley … I didn't even see him transform and he looked so cool."

"I am glad you think that," Jel said as they reached the house, Lillian holding the door open for everyone. "Should you even be smoking in front of children, Lillian Rose?"

"Oh quit being such a stick in the mud." The woman said, closing the door behind her. "They don't mind and I am not telling them to smoke it either."

"Mum always told us not to smoke. No matter how cool it looks." Tory said as his sister nodded in agreement. "We made a promise to her that we would not."

"That's good. You should always keep your promises." Jel said, turning to Lillian, his eyes glowing slightly as he linked their minds.

"Did you tell them?"

"That their mother is dead? Yes. They cried." Lillian answered in her mind as the kids ran around, starting to get breakfast ready by heating up their blood bags in pots. "But … they are strong. I promised that we would hold something of a funeral for her."

"Tell me when you are going to do the funeral. I will come."

"Sure, your highness. So, how's your boy toy?"

"I want to know that too." Jel suddenly flinched, knocking a table on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Lillian almost ran to him as the kids turned to Jel, worry written all over their faces.

"I … I can't feel him. The gem."