"So...why are you on the research team?"

"Same as you. I want to figure out a way to save our world." Lemur replied easily, pacing about the room, her hands brushing over the stacks of books as she walked past. "Thorn has known for a while that magic here is finite. No one else ever addressed the matter- all they cared about were their revel dances and parties. Even Feather."

Grian bristled at the name of his long-dead queen being dragged through the mud like this. She cared about her people. Smiles were so easy to find in her court. She cared, right?
Or was she just ignoring the larger problem like everyone else?
For the first time, doubt entered Grians mind. Was Feather good? He didn't know.

Still, Lemur kept going, ignoring Grian's obvious discomfort and internal panic. "Naturally when Thorn asked for people to help research the matter, I jumped at the chance. I could fix this, you know? I could do something as amazing as my friend Red always did.
"I envied you, you know. You made it look so easy. Inventing things." She sighed.
"But I guess it's come to me with practise too. I've pinpointed what worlds generate the most magic and the best way to store it for transport. Even Thorn didn't know how to do that- he just stole from impure sources, storing them in inefficient ways. So much magic lost that way." Lemur mused, leaning over Grians shoulder.
"But I have a question for you- why did you join?"

"I was forced to join so my friend wouldn't get killed." Grian said cooly, an absolutely frigid expression on his face.
Whoever Lemur was now...she wasn't the same bouncy, easy-go-lucky friend he had ages ago. She was older and wiser, hardened by circumstance and forged with steel.
She followed Thorn, because logically, he was the only choice for a leader- he was the one who addressed the problem no one else acknowledged.
And Grian could understand why. It wasn't that hard.
But he couldn't accept it, some part in his mind screaming that there was another way from what Lemur found.

~~~~

It felt like months had passed until he got to see Grian. Sure he was treated well and kept alive, but he was bored to tears. His sense of time slipped away, seconds were grains of sand being washed away by the waves and dragged out to sea, swallowed by the ocean and lost forever.
He wondered what the other hermits were up do. Did they know what happened? Did they know that he and Grian weren't in the world anymore?
...Did they care?

Hurried footsteps clattered down a hall, bursting into the room. "Dust! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry it's taken me days and I've been so busy and-"

"Red!" Mumbo perked up at the voice, smiling happily at the familiar face. "I'd hug you if I could." He grinned, carefully twisting a hand between the bars to squeeze Grians hand.
"Thorn wants me to work with you on the whole magic issue. Should I?" Mumbo let go of the faeries hand, lest any of the guards see that he could get close to the enchanted iron.

"Having you there would help. You always were the best at building little contraptions." Grian smiled back, equally as happy to see Mumbo again. "Though we don't use redstone- it's runes that we inscribe onto the components. You used to be really good at it."

"I'm sure you can reteach me."