The Crystal - Jones M (best novels for students TXT) 📗

parents while they all watched."

"I don't get it. Why would she kill them?"

"Selena's parents were killed to complete the potion and to revive Eva's youthful looks. Susan was murdered just to torture Emery. The erwiches wanted Emery there because she is the crystal. The only person who could kill her was, according to their guesses, Eva. But then, it went the other way around and Eva was killed."

What the hell?

We all walked towards the main study room as we continued talking about the sudden and awful events of the day. I worried about Emery and Selena, especially on how they were going to move on.

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Emery's P.O.V

"You all know about the erboon attacks that occurred here and on earth," the Queen spoke before pausing for a moment. She looked down towards the ground before raising her head back to face the crowd.

We were in the castle's large conference room. The group that I was a part of was forced to stay for a conference meeting as part of Crystalia's customs. The Queen also found it necessary to inform the people of what had occurred instead of having rumors of the events spread around Crystalia.

"Emery Davis, Susan Davis, together with two noble guards, my son Erick, Liam Gray and Ethan Green portrayed bravery in taking part of the quest to find out who brought the erboons to us. Let us congratulate them for that."

Applause sounded through the area. However, it did not seem to make the current matter better. My mother was dead, and there was no way of changing that whatsoever. No amount of gratitude or applause would make things better.

"They found out who was doing this. His name is Tevix, Eva's loyal subject."

People began talking amongst each other.

"The past five years were a distraction. The erwiches sacrificed themselves and pretended to be stupid to hide what they were actually planning, all lead by Tevix. They were trying to bring Eva out of the portal, and they succeeded."

People talked amongst each other with looks of fear etched onto their faces.

"Lucky for us, Emery killed Eva before she could get to us."

Sounds of relief and applause echoed through the room.

"However, there were some losses," the Queen said and remained quiet for a long time.

"My good friend, Susan Davis, and Selena's parents, Evelyn and Mark Trentstone, passed away this afternoon."

Sounds of shock echoed through the room. I had a feeling some of those who gasped didn't know or recall who they were.

"I would want us all to give them a moment of silence."

Everyone did as the Queen requested. She soon continued speaking, a signal for the moment of silence ending.

"Now that Eva had been revived and been killed, we may expect attacks from the erwiches themselves or even war."

People protested, making me frown.

"We may expect the erwiches' attacks to increase in frequency. They wouldn't be holding back now. They know we know what they did, and we should be ready when they come for us."

People continued to protest. The Queen, however, walked away from them.

I did so too but in a quick manner, eager to escape to my room where I would succumb to my misery. 

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Third person's P.O.V

The forest trees that were near Eva's castle swayed. The point where Eva was burnt remained dark with no evidence of a burnt body. The sand on the ground began to pick up, swirling in the air as the grains formed a woman.

Eva groaned and stretched her arms out. She looked around, seeing that no witch was around. She smirked. That was instantly brought down when she heard a commotion coming from her castle.

She took off from the ground, levitating towards the top of one of the roofs of the castle towers. She landed on the roof and observed her surroundings. Many erwiches and erboons, although not the whole population, stood and crouched in alert as they faced someone loudly speaking.

"They killed our Queen, and they shall pay for it!" Sounds of uproar and cheers echoed through the castle. Her eyes focused on the person who spoke those words. It was Tevix.

He had a look of anger. His eyes danced around the crowd, and he sensed a presence on his left. He turned and spotted Eva with a furious look. He had formed his own fireball when he saw his evil queen, and he gasped before distinguishing it.

"Your Majesty!" he shouted. The evil minions stopped what they were doing and turned to face where Tevix was staring. Once they spotted Eva, they bowed in respect.

Eva flew towards Tevix. His eyes widened and a smile came onto his features.

"I thought you were truly dead," Tevix said once the evil woman was standing close to him.

"Oh, please," Eva snorted. "No one can kill me. No one knows how, and no one will ever know."

Then she turned her attention towards the erwiches and erboons who looked ready for war.

"What is this?" Eva asked.

"Oh!" Tevix gasped. "We were preparing to go to war. We were not going to let the miserable witches get away with killing you."

"That's wonderful!" Eva said with a smile.

"What do we do my Queen?" Tevix asked. "Your minions and I are ready to attack Crystalia."

"There is no need for that," the Queen replied. "I have an idea that will blow the witches' minds."

Tevix frowned, but he quickly erased that look.

"What do you have in mind, your Majesty?" Tevix inquired.

Eva looked around before turning to face her minion.

"The crystal is the main focal point for all the witches even though Crystalia is ruled by other people. What we need to do is to get rid of her. Then, we'll rule over the witches and the world without interferences."

"What do you plan to do, my Queen? Are you going to kill her?"

Eva took her time to reply.

"No," she finally said, earning a look of confusion from Tevix.

"I'm going to make her regret burning me. I won't get rid of her quickly. I will make her death slow and painful that even she would want to kill herself just to end the pain."

Then Eva released a cackle. The erboons shrieked in agreement with their wings flapping as the erwiches laughed along Eva.

CHAPTER 20

Logan' P.O.V

My mind was in a state of shock, still trying to process Emery's mother's death. It felt so unreal and unexpected at the time.

How could such a good woman die, and so unexpectedly? I didn't know her that much but I knew enough to know she was a good person. 

I felt bad for Emery. Her father had died, and she had just lost her mother too. I wanted to go check on her and to see if she was alright, but I doubted my presence would do any good to her emotional state.

After the Queen's announcement and everyone's dispersal from the conference room, the five of us headed to the main study room. We had things to talk about, especially things related to our music career. However, there was also the discussion of what happened when they were at Eva's castle.

Liam had filled us in on what had occurred in the castle. The rest of us were curious about what happened after.

"She burned her," Ethan said with his eyes widened. "Emery lit her on fire and watched her burn."

Ethan had just told us about Emery's revenge towards Eva. The rest of us were shaken by what he said. We all had the same thoughts in our minds. 

Was she capable of doing that to us?

"Remind me to never get on Emery's bad side," I said, trying to bring humor to the mood. However, that didn't work.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, taking glances at Ethan. He was slightly shaking, and I guessed it had something to do with the weather. 

"We can't just stand back and let her drown herself in sorrow," Harry continued.

"There is nothing we can do," Zane replied, earning shocked looks from the rest of us.

"What?" he asked with a furrow of his eyebrows. "We were her ex-bullies! As far as we know, she was slowly forgiving and befriending us. Then we made her angry at us because we thought she was going to kill herself. Considering Ethan's story of how she burnt Eva, it would be best to give her space to mourn."

The rest of us thought of what he said, started bickering about it until we later found ourselves nodding to his words.

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Emery's P.O.V

It had been a week ever since I witnessed my mother's passing. My world seemed to crumble around me. I could neither eat nor sleep. My mind was mostly filled with the memories I shared with her. My first day at school, my first birthday that I could recall, my first day at middle school, spending time with her and my dad... all the memories I recalled seemed to bring me sorrow.

She was gone, and there was no way of bringing her back.

Anger rose when the memory of Eva murdering my mother replayed in my mind. At least the evil bitch died in a painful way. I would have so loved to torture her slowly and make her pay for killing my mom.

But then, I backpedaled. There was something I didn't pay any attention to ever since I came back to Crystalia.

I burned her. I freaking burned her!

My heart began to thud quickly. How could I have forgotten about that? I worried that Eva's evilness was airborne. Still, the woman deserved it. It was probably the only way to kill her since she always seemed to regenerate and she hadn't at that moment. Just like that, the anxious thoughts made way to the thoughts of my mother. My sadness returned.

A soft knock sounded on my door. I was in my bedroom in the castle, lying down with my head on a pillow and my eyes staring at the ceiling.

I heard the door creak, signaling someone's entry into the room.

"Emery?" Justin called out to me. "My mother told me to get you. It is almost time for the funeral." He stayed there for a while, expecting a reply, but I did not give him any. With that, he closed the door, leaving the room.

It was the day of my mother's funeral. Tears formed in my eyes, saddened by the reminder that she was dead. I slowly got out of bed and leisurely walked towards the bathroom to prepare for the day.

My whole body was on autopilot, doing things without having them registered in my mind. I was not looking forward to the service. I did not feel prepared to see my mom's body, especially for the last time. Every time I woke up, I kept praying it was a nightmare. However, it was a reality I couldn't alter. Going to see her form lay in a coffin would be a harsh reminder that she was truly gone.

It took me a while to realize I was ready. I had worn a long cotton black dress to show what I felt inside. I didn't even bother to apply makeup because they were bound to be washed away by the tears I would cry.

I got out of my room and slowly descended towards the ground floor of the castle. I met some witches who greeted me and gave me their condolences. I just nodded and gave each a small smile before I was back to my stoic mode.

Once I reached my destination, I looked around. I noticed Selena, Erick, Justin and the Queen standing, seemingly waiting for me. They all had worn black clothing for the funeral. I slowly walked towards them. They heard my footsteps, turning around to face me.

My gaze turned towards each and every one of them. They were all sad, and I noticed tear streaks on the Queen's face. Once I was close to them, I was enveloped into one hug after another.

"How are you holding up, Emery?" Erick asked me while holding my hands. He was the last one to embrace me in a hug. I faced him and gave him a small smile, even though that was not what I was feeling inside.

"Emery..." he trailed off as he stared at me, seeing through my façade. I dropped it, showing my true sorrow-filled emotion.

"I can't do this," I whispered to him. He nodded his head in understanding.

"I know, Emery," he said, "but you have to do this. I--" he cut himself off. 

"I don't know what to say. She was your mother, and she was like an aunt to me. It is painful to watch the people you love leave, I get that Emery. But you need to say goodbye to her."

"I don't