The lost gem

Chapter 22

This is the second last chapter and it's dedicated to Guld007 and molesh because they have supported me throughout writing this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

The 4 quest members were gradually getting tired but they had reached their destination. "We're here!" Charlotte cried excited to get to work of searching for the gem. Thinking of what to do, Charlotte walked around the trees. Lúthien used his extra hearing and sight to make sure they were not being spied on and that no one was coming. Out of nowhere, an idea formed in Alex's head, "Charlotte? Can't you just use magic to find the gem?"
Laughing, Charlotte replied," you're a genius! That might actually work! Now I just need to think of the right spell." Going through different Latin worlds in her word, Charlotte finally came up with the right spell,"invenies gemma!" (Find the gem). Within seconds, a light appeared and flew around the trees. Victoria smiled," it's working! Well done Charlotte! And well done Alex for coming up with the idea!" Both of them smiled at being congratulated. Without warning, the light stopped moving around and hovered above a large tree root. "There!" Lúthien shouted, pointing at the tree. Charlotte rushed over to the tree and lifted the root. The magic had worked. There covered with some soil was the gem! "It's beautiful!" Alex gasped. Slowly, Alex, Lúthien and Victoria reached for the gem. They were being possessed by an urge to grab the gem. "Nuh uh! This one's mine! Get away from it! Look at what it's doing to you!" Charlotte was shocked at how strong the pull apparently was but she felt nothing. All three answered, ashamed of themselves, "sorry Charlotte!"
"You're right. You need to do it!" Lúthien added.
"Yep." Charlotte smiled. She took the gem in her hands and her mouth dropped. The gem felt alive. She could feel all the power pulsing from in the gem. "Now the problem we've been waiting for." Alex said with a glum expression.
"What?" Lúthien asked, curious to hear what Alex meant.
"I know what he means. Charlotte needs to chant some random curse that no one has ever heard of! That was created by ancient rulers that are long dead! Not even Charlotte's grandma has heard it!" Victoria answered for Alex.
"Oh no." Lúthien sighed. Everyone was busy worrying. All except Charlotte. "There's no need to be anxious! I know exactly what to do!"
"How on earth do you know that? Don't tell me, the gem told you that!" Alex questioned.
"No, it didn't. I just...know." Charlotte laughed at how silly that sounded. How could she "just know" something? "If you say so," Alex was excited to see what curse Charlotte had come up with. Suddenly, Lúthien gasped, "uh oh! We have company! Look!" Sure enough, approaching them, were a troop of 10 strong and hungry orcs.
Alex looked at Charlotte and saw that she had to stay with the gem and protect it. "We have to protect Charlotte. We have to do this without her!"
"Agreed," Victoria said gulping in air.
"Hello filthy scums!Ah look at this, a group of two elves, one human and what's this? Some sort of fairy," the orcs laughed and pointed at them. "You have something that I believe belongs to us! Charge!" Screeched an Orc that looked like the leader.
"Go!" Charlotte cried. Quick as a flash, the three battled the orcs. Lúthien got out his bow and nocked two arrows. The arrows pierced one Orc each. Alex sheathed his sword and plunged it into two ugly looking orcs. Victoria, who had shape shifted into a lion, bit off the head off an Orc and pounced on another.

While the others were fighting, Charlotte practiced the incantation. After several minutes, all the orcs were lying dead on the ground. Alex rubbed his hands and pretended to rub off dust,"ah. That wasn't too hard."

Charlotte had practiced enough. She felt ready. "I'm going to do it! I'm going to destroy the gem!"
"It seems a shame to have to destroy such a beautifully powerful thing," Victoria said longingly.
"Sorry but this has got to go!" Charlotte replied, she could see how they looked at the gem. It really did have to go. Closing her eyes, Charlotte picked up the gem and started chanting in Latin, "Gem destruet . Superstitionem mundi huius potentiam. Afflixit laesa interficiam omnes qui." (destroy this gem. Rid the world of this power. Undo all that has been hurt and damaged.) Charlotte continued chanting the incantation and felt the gem slowly disappear in her hands. At the end of the incantation she said, "ne omne belli converterent . Everyone Fac lapis oblivisci umquam." (stop the war and reverse everything. Make everyone forget the gem ever existed!)In the blink of the eye, the gem was gone! It was over! Charlotte felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. "Do you guys remember what happened?" Charlotte wanted to test whether they had forgotten what had happened or not. "Of course not! How could we forget this awesome adventure?" Alex chuckled.
"What about you guys? Lúthien? Victoria?"
"Well I still remember everything! If I had forgotten something, I wouldn't remember you because I met you through the quest." Lúthien answered relieved.
"Victoria?"
"Who are you?" Victoria looked genuinely confused.
"She doesn't remember us!" Alex said realisingly.
"She will. Memento nobis." (Remember us!) Charlotte cast a spell so that Victoria would remember everything that had happened.
"Phew! I remember! That was scary!" Victoria smiled.
"I wonder what the rest of the world looks like now," Alex said.
"Me too,"Lúthien agreed.
Charlotte breathed out a sigh of relief, "let's go home!"
After being away of home for so long, Charlotte longed seeing Chillian but most importantly she longed to see her grandma. Alex stared at Lúthien and asked, "what about you Lúthien? Where are you going?"
Lúthien laughed,"I know you wouldn't mind getting rid of me but if you don't mind, if quite like to see Chillian. And afterwards I'm going home myself." Alex nodded approvingly. After all they had gone through, he had grown to like Lúthien.
"What about you Victoria?"
"Well that's exactly what I wanted to ask. Would it be alright if I go home?"
Charlotte hugged her,"of course it's ok! I'll miss you!"
"Oh don't worry! You'll be seeing me again soon! I'll make sure to come visit Chillian! But for now, goodbye!" With a click of her fingers, she made her wings appear and flew away. Smiling, Charlotte let a tear escape. So much time had passed since she and Alex had left Chillian and she couldn't wait to go home!

I hope you enjoyed that chapter! As you can tell the end is near! There is just one more chapter and then Charlotte's story has come to an end!
By the way, I don't actually think the Latin is correct (I used google translate) 😂