Miracula Luxia C5, P3- "It's In The Hearts"

"It's In The Hearts" is the third Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's fifth Chapter- "The Forgotten". It was released on 06.11.2019.
== Plot ==
The Heroes (And their new friend, Bucky the Gremlin) continued exploring the river and trying to find a way further into the Vahnatai's lands.
Will they succeed?
== Story ==
With a new friend by their side Jared, Aleks, Jason and Annie continued their adventure.
The other islands weren't so interesting. A few snakes on one. A bunch of annoying rats on the other.
However, one of the islands was truly intriguing. It had a small Tower in the middle of it- the biggest landmark our heroes have found in a while.
But... when they tried to explore it, a band of Imps impeded their progress.
The pesky little creatures looked hungry, but interested in trying to find shiny things.
Seeing nothing nearby, they decided to attack the heroes and take their things.
What a bunch of meanies.
Anyway, our heroes managed to dispatch them with ease, their bodies disintegrating almost immediately after hitting the ground.
"Ugh. I'll never see infernal creatures the same way as before."- Annie mumbled.
"Yes. They are... horrible."- Jared added.
The heroes entered the Tower and found a shrine at the other side of where they came from.
Suspecting a trap, Jared carefully approached the shrine, ignoring his father's warnings.
"Jared! There's probably a trap! Be careful!"- His father warned him, but Jared was already blinded by easy riches.
The boy found a shiny blade on top of it. It tried to take it, but stepped back before anything bad happened.
He sat there for a secon, thinking. Finally, he stood up with a plan in mind.
He motioned for his dad to come closer.
"I think there is, indeed a trap. But we must activate it before it destroys the item."
"But how?"
Jared reached into his father's pocket and pulled out an old, rusty sword.
"Why do you need this, anyway?"- Jared's father asked him.
"If we push the sword away and place this one on the shrine, it will destroy this sword instead of the other one."
Aleks was not convinced.
"I-I don't think this is a good idea."
"Don't believe me?"- Jared grinned- "Just watch!"
Jared proudly pushed the sword away and placed the old sword in its place.
Soon, the traps jumped to life. 
It seems like Jared was right, after all!
The destruction trap incinerated the old sword. It seems like whoever placed the new blade here, they didn't want it to be removed. And, if it did happen, they thought that it was better off gone and placed the traps to liberate it from (possibly) enemy hands.
The boy quickly grabbed the sword and headed towards his father.
"Son, watch out!"- Aleks yelled and pointed at a fire Jared was heading towards.
Jared quickly evaded the trap and grinned.
"That was nothing! A true hero is not afraid of such cheap pyrotechnics."
"Come on! Show me more, I dare you! I will take it all."- He taunted whoever was controlling the traps.
"Jared, no!"- His father yelled- "Don't!"
But it was too late. It seems like the ones who were controlling the traps heard Jared's mockery and sprung even more flames.
Jared evaded them with ease and looked back.
"Oh... oh no!"- He gasped as he watched how the rest of the marble floor was engulfed in flames within mere seconds.
"JARED!"- Aleks screamed and tried to reach for him- "Grab by hand!"
Jared tried to grab his father's hand, but a final defense stopped him from doing so.
A Golem spawned behind him and punched him, almost into the fire. This was the last defender of the shrine- the final challenge set for Jared before he tried to reach the exit.
"No! A Golem!"- Annie was afraid for her friend's life- "Don't let it throw you into the fire, Jared!"
Jared nodded and attacked the Golem.
Although the creature looked tough, it was nothing more than a simple stone construct with remarkable height and size. Jared managed to pierce its weak point- the heart with just a single solid blow frm his trusty sword.
The creature fell to the ground, dead. Jared picked up its discarded core, thinking that it might come in handy soon.
Jared continued his desperate run towards the exit, which was getting more and more impposible to reach with every passing second.
As the raging flames tried to engulf Jared, he managed to make one last, desperate move- Jump out of the fire.
Just as the last of the flames engulfed the floor of the Tower, Jared jumped towards the exit, hoping that someone could catch him.
"Dad. Uncle. Annie. Anyone! Please! Save me!"- He screamed in his mind, hoping for salvation.
Luckily, someone was near him and caught him with ease.
Jared sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Dad. That was a close one."
"No. Not your father. It's me, Master!"
Jared looked at his savior and saw his new friend- Bucky the Gremlin.
"Bucky?! But how?"- He wondered.
The little Gremlin was literally holding him in midair! Somehow, despite its small size it was managing to do so.
"Oh. It's nothing, Master. We gremlins have a lot of strength. We are able to hold things heavier than Humans!"
Then it grinned.
"See? I told ya that I'm going to be useful!"
"Thank you, Bucky."- Jared smiled and let his friend drop him and jump on his shoulder.
Such a strong creature. And so light! Jared was very lucky to have one of the Gremlins at his side.
Annie petted Bucky and smiled.
"Bucky, today you definitely proved yourself. Here, have some greens!"
She pulled out two greens from her backpack and gave them to the hungry creature. It devoured them without a second look.
"So, what do you think, Mr. Kaos?"- She turned to Jason, her smile now resembling a smirk, as if to show that even Gremlins- unintelligent and volatile as they are can become great allies as time passes.
Jason sighed.
"Ugh. Fine. Fine. I guess you're not that bad, Gremlin."
"But know that I'm still watching you. Don't cause any mischiefs!"
The Gremlin nodded as it ate the last vegetable.
Then it said:
"Don't ya worry, big frowny man. I will be Grem-fect!"
It laughed and so did Jared, his father and Annie.
Jason frowned, having finally realized that he's in a situation of 4-on-1 now. He headed to the boat without another word.
And so did the others.
As Aleks maneuvered the wheel, Aleks looked at the Tower.
"This one was placed on purpose, that's for sure. But by who? The Vahnatai? Or some other, powerful force?"
As they distanced themselves from the island, two Gremlins jumped out of the Tower, barely surviving the fall and cursed at the adventures for stealing their shiny item.
Bucky laughed at them, in a cute, high-pitched voice.
"Haha! Stupid brothers, thinking they would get us with a few traps. Nothing's gonna stop us, fools!"
"And they curse us because we escaped. Boo! Sore losers! Go back to your Gremlin mamas!"
Jason gasped when he heard the last sentence.
"Bucky! Where did you learn that language?!"
Bucky smiled.
"Sorry, Master. Sometimes, I'm overreacting and I can say bad things. It's a Gremlin's vocabulary, you can't change it!"
Jared smiled as well.
"It's okay, buddy. I don't want to do so. You are forgiven."
Bucky smiled and laughed at the other Gremlins for a few more minutes.
Finally, he stopped and looked ahead.
Suddenly, he pointed at something interesting to the east.
"Bucky thinks that there is a big alien fort that way!"
Before they could reach it, though, the heroes decided to rest on an island which had a small campfire.
Aleks and Jason tried to light the fire while Jared, Annie and Bucky looked at the strange building to the south of it.
They entered it and immediately saw a bunch of pretty paintings.
Those paintings depicted the face of a long-lost hero of the Vahnatai. Somehow they were still intact, after all the neglect and misuse of their people.
Suddenly, Jared felt a sharp jolt force its way into his head.
He tried to ignore it, but it was getting stronger with every passing second.
The jolt tried to make Jared remember something important. But what? And why?
Ah yes! Jared's mother- Seiko and his sister- Marinette.
He lost them during the adventure and never saw them again.
"Mom, Sister, I know I might not see you, but know this! Wherever I go, you will always be on my mind! I will always treasure you in my heart."- He said to himself as Annie watched him put his hand on his heart.
Finally, the pain ended and Jared sighed.
"Are you okay?"- Annie asked him, worried about his health.
"It's alright. It was just a memory. A very painful memory of the ones I love."
Annie gasped.
"I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope you see them again soon!"
"Yes. I hope so, too. Thank you."- Jared said and approached the now fully lit campfire.
The heroes shared some small talk and a little bit of gossip about some of Jared and Annie's friends from Duskwood.
And, last but not least, a small talk about Annie's dream boyfriend.
"Well."- She thought- "It would be great if I could have one, after all that I had to endure. I want him to be a simple man- A simple, loving, caring man. That's all."- She said excitedly while holding Jared's arm and resting on it.
Aleks and Jason smiled, knowing about Annie's "dream boy".
The night passed quickly and soon, our heroes were on their way to the mysterious Fort.
Soon, they reached it and saw that not everything is well.
In fact, not at all.
== Trivia ==
* This Chapter is named "It's In The Hearts", the reason being Jared's "promise" to his mother and sister- to always keep them in his heart, no matter when, why or where.
* The words "Don't believe me? Just watch!" are originally a part of the lyrics from the popular song by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars- "Uptown Funk".