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Chapter 41: Searching for our Family

It took quite some time for Flash Heart to get his sorrow under control, and with a few sobs he let Love Heart pull him to his feet.

"Will you be OK?" Love Heart asked.

Flash Heart sniffed and rubbed his eyes, "I'll be fine, I just... need time..."

"Alright, then let me welcome you to the Care Bear Family, and Care Bear Magi," Love Heart clapped him on the shoulder then turned to the others. "But we can't stick around here. If those two go back to Soul Heart we could end up swarmed by the rest of your family, Flash."

"You can call us the 'Shadow Magi' if you want," Flash Heart said.

"Then let's go find mom and everyone else!" Sweet Heart bounced on her hooves.

"Yes, but not right now," Love Heart turned to face Care-a-Lot, "There's something that's been bothering me for a while that I need to figure out." He turned back to the group, "Before we search for our family we're going to Big Star Point to talk to the Great Wishing Star."

Crafty folded her arms and glared, "I'm not waiting to find them, for all we know they could have teleported right to Soul Heart's doorstep or into the middle of the desert, or Antarctica!" She threw up her hands, "I'm going to find them with or without you!"

"And where are you going to go?" Love Heart's words stopped Crafty before she had taken three steps.

Crafty turned back, at a loss, "I... don't know."

Love Heart walked over to her and took her hands, "Exactly. I might have a way to find them but we need to get away from here before we're attacked. I promise once we're done with the Great Wishing Star, we'll track down everyone, no matter where they are."

Crafty sighed, "Alright..."

"Then let's go!" Sweet Heart jumped up, flapping her wings as she did so.

Love Heart took to the air and led the way as Indy created a cloud car out of his chest symbol and stepped into the driver's seat.

"Can you show me how to do that?" Flash Heart asked as he got into the back seat.

"You don't know how?" Crafty leaned back over the sear after buckling in.

Flash Heart shook his head, "Mom gave us these symbols but she doesn't have one of her own so she didn't know how to show us."

"Wait... how could she give you chest symbols without one of her own? Wait...I thought I saw one on her outfit," Crafty's head was spinning as she tried to parse through the information.

"That's just a symbol on her bodysuit, but she never told us how she was able to do that, mostly because we never asked," Flash Heart admitted.

"That's strange." Indy mused, "I hope Love Heart knows where he's going."

OoOoO

Soul Heart was in the process of patching up Shatter Heart and Blade Star as they gave their report. Her face changed to one of rage when they told her what Flash Heart had done.

"He did what?!" She had thankfully finished repairing Blade Star's back before she shot up, "Of all the ungrateful little things he could have done! To betray his own mother!" Steam was practically shooting out of her ears, "Send Calm and Passion to Care-a-Lot and find Flash Heart! Bring him to me alive or dead now!"

"Shall I go as well?" Blade Star asked.

"NO!" Soul Heart swept her hand in an arc, "Set the others to track down the rest of the Care Bears and finish them! I will not let my victory be delayed any longer!"

"What about us?" Shatter Heart demanded,

"You two need more power, I need strong enforcers who can act if my pawns break free," Soul Heart replied.

"As you wish," Blade Star and Shatter Heart bowed.

Once they emerged back onto the island, Shatter Heart pointed to Calm Heart Lynx and Passion Heart Wolverine, "You two! Get over here!" They obeyed almost instantly. The orbs on Passion Hearts's body were now the size of golf balls and glowed even brighter; Passion was hunched over, unable to stand up straight. By contrast, the orbs on Calm Heart's body were still the size of cherries and her demeanor didn't seem too degraded.

"Where go?" Passion's voice was mostly a snarl at this point and he twitched uncomfortably, his claws ready to tear into something.

"Yes please, before he goes berserk," Calm Heart said.

"Simple, go to Care-a-Lot and drag Flash Heart back here, dead or alive," Blade Star pointed upwards.

Passion stared up and bared his fangs, "Yes! Fly!" a ball of darkness formed around Passion Heart and he shot off into the sky, too fast for Calm Heart to grab on.

"What is he thinking?!" Calm Heart shouted as he rapidly disappeared into the sky,

Blade Star watched him ascend for a moment then looked back down at the rest of the Shadow Magi, "Very well then. Join the rest and begin your search for the rest of the Care Bear Family!"

OoOoO

Love Heart had never been to Big Star Point before, but he had asked True Heart for the directions months ago, always intending to visit but only now did he actually get around to it. They flew over the canyons, river and desert-like environments until finally the point came into view: a long and narrow cliff that rose higher in the air than it appeared to, somehow. Love Heart and Sweet Heart touched down with the cloud car landing a short distance behind them.

Indy was the first to speak, "So what do we do now?"

"I guess just call for him," Love Heart walked up to the base of the cliff and shouted, "GREAT WISHING STAR! COME DOWN HERE AND TALK TO US!" His voice echoed off the canyon walls then there was silence.

Then a glowing shaft of light appeared from above and massive yellow five pointed star with the face of an elderly appeared before them. It eventually stopped its descent and came to rest just above them.

The Great Wishing Star remained silent for a moment before it spoke in a gently almost fatherly voice. "Care Bears, what bring you here and why do you call on me?"

"Are you the one who created us?" Love Heart pointed at the star.

"In a way. The original heartbound were created by humans but those people and animals all worshipped me as a deity and gave me strength."

Love Heart spread his arms, "No, I mean the Care Bear Magi. Our Parents and the rest of the Magi weren't Heartbound, they were normal animals until they were changed. Did you do that?"

The star remained silent for a moment then sighed, "After paradise valley was destroyed by Dark Heart I knew that the Care Bear Family would need guardians who could protect them from such threats, but their very nature made them unsuited to the violent actions that would be needed. The Care Bear Stare was meant to be a final blow against evil and those who have been corrupted by it and while it is effective I never wanted them to risk their lives as much as they are. I had to create new Care Bears who weren't held back by a pacifistic upbringing and were designed to be warriors so I chose to create you from animals so that you would retain the animal instincts and ability to fight, and kill if necessary, and infused your bodies with greater strength, endurance and affinity for magic. I found the last unicorn, your mother, and changed her both for her protection and to tap into her vast knowledge of magic in order to give you the powers you would need to fight." The star focused on Love Heart and Sweet Heart, "I did not expect you two to be born and I admit, it threw things off as your parents remained on Earth to raise you. And I am sorry about your family, Flash," he turned to the yellow bear, "You were meant to be part of the Magi as well. Sage Heart and Life Heart should have found you and raised all of you together."

"You mean... it's my fault they weren't found?" Sweet Heart was on the verge of tears as the thought dawned on her.

Love Heart turned to her, "Don't think that, Sweet Heart, this isn't your fault and don't even think that," he glared up at the Star, "We have every right to exist!"

The star nodded, "Yes you do. Forgive me for implying otherwise."

Flash Heart stepped forwards, "What about Soul Heart? Where does my mom fit into all of these plans?"

The Star's expression became one of worry, "She...doesn't. I do not know where Soul Heart came from and her rescue of your family, thought fortuitous, was not something I ever foresaw. All I know for certain is that she is neither Heartbound nor Care Bear Magi."

Everyone was stunned by this announcement but the Great Wishing Star continued, "I noticed her compassion for you and in her dreams I taught her the magic she needed to grant you your chest symbols, so that you might join the Care Bear Family someday. I don't know if she remembers me and I am saddened that she chose a path of revenge on No-Heart. Was there anything else?"

Love Heart shook his head, "No. Thank you."

"Very well. Good luck on your mission." The Great Wishing Star ascended upwards until it was lost to sight.

In the silence that followed, Love Heart turned to face the group, "Well, that answers a lot of questions."

"And raised a few more," Flash Heart looked worried, "If mom isn't a Care Bear then what is she?"

"We can solve that later," Love Heart said, "For now we need to find the rest of our family."

Flash Heart nodded and folded her arms, "OK, so how do we do that?"

"Magic," The star on Love Heart's forehead glowed, "I can't locate them exactly but I can contact mom with a simple spell and try to find out where she is."

"Alright, then go to it!" Crafty grinned.

Love Heart smiled then took a deep breath as the star glowed even brighter and he spoke words none of them could recognize. A moment later, an image of Life Heart appeared in front of Love Heart.

"Mom. It's Love Heart, can you hear me? Where are you and the rest of the Care Bear Family. We need to come find you."

Life Heart nodded, "Love Heart, thank goodness you're alright. We've landed in a forest somewhere. I'll try to send you a guidance spell along the ley lines shortly." Then the image vanished.

Everyone just stared at Love Heart until Crafty asked, "Umm... who were you talking to?"

"It's a spell called 'sending', it lets me send a message to someone familiar in 25 words or less, including compounds apparently," Love Heart said, "Only I can see whoever I'm talking."

Crafty sighed, "That's good. For a minute there I thought you had gone crazy. So now what?"

"Now mom's going to use a spell to help guide me to her over the ley lines, but we need to get back to the Kingdom of Caring. The ley lines here don't align with the rest of the ones on Earth, but the Kingdom's do." Love Heart levitated off the ground as Indy conjured another cloud car.

As Love Heart was about to fly off, he noticed that Sweet Heart was still on the ground, staring at her hooves. "Sweet Heart, are you alright?" he called back down.

"I'll be fine, I'll just ride back," Sweet Heart walked to the car and took a seat in the back.

Everyone stared at her and Crafty sat down next to her, "Is something wrong, Sweet?"

Sweet Heart averted her gaze, "No..." everyone could tell she was lying, but for the moment none of them pressed the issue. They could sort out her problems once they were sure everyone was alive and well. Love Heart turned back to Care-a-Lot and took off with the loaded car right behind him.

OoOoO

Life Heart breathed a sigh of relief as the message from Love Heart finished then turned back to the rest of the Care Bear Family, who were gathered in and around a large forest canopy. The cubs had all been crying since the attack started and only now were calming down to sleep, with Wild Heart asleep in Sage Heart's arms and Mild Heart standing next to her and tugging on Life Heart's hoof streams.

"Mommy, what was that?"

Life Heart knelt down and picked her son up, "I just spoke to your big brother. He knows we're alright and he's going to come find us."

Mild Heart's face brightened up, "Big brother and sister are coming?"

Life Heart nodded, "Yes, just as soon as I send the directions."

"So great, what do we do until then?" the voice came from Anger Heart as he leaned up against a tree, "Just stand around and wait to be found?"

"That would be best," Guidance Heart said, "They're probably trying to hunt us down."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Anger Heart's shout woke up Nimble Bear and Forge Heart Lioness, who both started crying.

As Brave Heart and Cheer did their best to calm the cubs down, Guidance Heart shot a serious glance at Anger Heart, "Be quiet, we just got them to stop crying."

"Besides, that's irresponsible," Confidence Heart stepped forwards. "We need to stay together until we're found then we can try to counterattack." She pointed to where Defiant Heart stood quite some distance away, "If you're worried, go take lookout duty with Defiant Heart."

"Fine!" Anger Heart stormed off.

Sage Heart breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Confidence Heart, "Thank you, I was worried he'd wake up everyone with that temper of his."

Confidence nodded, "No problem," She stared up through the tree canopy, "Now we just have to figure out what we're going to do when we are found."

"But found by whom?" Hidden Heart asked. Everyone fell silent. No one wanted to think about the possibility that the Shadow Magi would find them first.

Confidence Heart punched her right hand into her open left palm, "We'll keep them off then. Until we're found we need to hide everyone who can't fight and be ready for anything. Life Heart, once you've sent out the message to Love Heart I need you to find a magic way to hide everyone just in case of emergency."

"I might be able to help," Sage Heart still had a dozing Wild Heart in his arms, "If we can find a wide enough clearing I should be able to dig us underground and around any tree roots we find."

Confidence Heart nodded, "Sounds good," she turned to face Hidden Heart, "Hidden Heart, can you start searching for a place like that?"

"I'll try," Hidden Heart took a deep breath, "I know some magic that can help me search."

"Good, just don't go too far. Guidance Heart, you can turn invisible right?"

Guidance Heart nodded, "Yes."

"Alright. Do that and see if you can find any fresh water or anything to eat out here, or a city or town we can buy food from," Confidence said.

"OK, I will." Guidance Heart vanished from sight as they heard her footsteps receding into the forest. Hidden Heart waited a moment then went off on a slower search for a place to hide.

Confidence Heart watched Hidden go for a moment then sighed, and swiped her forehead, "Ugg, command is not my thing."

"You're doing just fine," Life Heart said as she finished sending the message. "For now this is all we can do."

"Thanks," Confidence gave a brief smile, "Now we just have to sit around and wait," she turned to look at the rest of the Care Bear Family, doing their best to make do with their temporary living space.

Defiant Heart was on lookout duty atop a small rise at the edge of the treeline with Loyal Heart at his side. "Hear or smell anything, Loyal?"

Loyal Heart sniffed at the air then shook his head, "Nothing. I can't hear or smell any animals of the forest."

"Probably because we just burst into being here," Anger Heart approached the couple and sat down with them.

Defiant Heart gave a sideways glare to the fox but sighed, "Are you worried too?"

"That and I can't stand the waiting!" Anger Heart folded his arms, "Seriously, I almost want them to attack just to break the tension!"

"I know how you feel," Loyal Heart looked back over his shoulder to where Proud Heart was rocking their son Valor Heart back to sleep after Anger Heart's outburst.

"I'd rather be the one doing the hunting," Defiant Heart looked back out at the sky, "But to do that we'd need a way to track them down."

"Not gonna argue with that," Anger Heart said.

"The idea has merit," Loyal Heart nodded, "but I don't want to be left here unguarded."

Defiant smiled then gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Relax, I won't leave you."

Anger Heart just rolled his eyes and returned to watching the sky.

OoOoO

Love Heart received the signal from his mother as he flew over the ruined Hall of Hearts. After he sorted out the directions in his head he shouted back over his shoulder, "Follow me! I Can lead you to them!"

"Alright!" Indy shouted back, barely able to hear Love Heart over the roaring wind.

Sweet Heart barely registered what was happening as she stared over the edge of the cloud car at the clouds below, lost in thought. Despite the reassurance of the Star and her brother she was still wondering if her being born was right, would they have found the rest of the Magi and avoided so much pain if she hadn't been born. She was shaken out of her contemplation by a whooshing noise as a section of clouds beneath them piled upwards and something burst out from below.

"DIE!" Passion Heart roared as he rocketed towards the cloud car in his sphere of darkness. While everyone else barely turned in time to see him fly at them, Sweet Heart jumped out of her seat and flew right at him, gauntlets of earth forming on her hands as she threw a punch that knocked him to the ground where his orb burst.

"Sweet Heart!" Love Heart stopped flying and rounded on his sister, ready to fly in and assist her.

"I got this!" Sweet Heart didn't turn to face them, "Go find the others! I'll hold him here!"

"Not alone!" Indy was about to jump out as Passion finally got up.

"Yes! I can do this and they need all of you!" Sweet Heart shot a blast of air down at Passion Heart, "GO!" She gave one last shout as she dove down to fight Passion Heart.

Love Heart grit his teeth then turned back the way he had been flying, "Let's go," he said grimly. Indy sat back down and followed Love Heart as he took off, who had to fight to hold the tears back, but he knew Sweet Heart was right this time. He promised he'd be back for her as soon as they found the rest of the family.

Passion Heart barely had a chance to recover from the wind blast before Sweet Heart dropped down and delivered a vicious hoof-kick to his head. Stars burst in his vision as Sweet Heart flew back and a large fist of molten rock formed on her right arm.

"Molten Meteor!" The magma shot off her arm in large ball, striking Passion Heart dead on. The Wolverine howled in pain as the magma evaporated, something Sweet Heart was grateful for or it would fall to earth below.

Despite the pain, Passion Heart let out a roar and conjured his axe before charging at Sweet Heart, who jumped back to avoid the nasty downward cut that left a gash in the clouds where she had been standing a moment before. Passion Heart wrenched the axe up and out of the ground and nearly struck Sweet Heart on the chin, only missing when she fell backwards.

"DIE!" Passion Heart swung down at her. Sweet Heart created her hoof shoes and kicked up at the axe on reflex, her foot striking the haft and knocking it out of Passion Heart's hands, landing next to her on the clouds.

Despite the pain in his hands, Passion Heart dove on Sweet Heart with his claws outstretched and his mouth open, read to bite down on her neck. Sweet Heart brought her arm up to block the blow with a covering of earth which Passion bit into then immediately spit out and tried to claw at her wings, Sweet Heart barely pushing herself away with a burst of wind in time to avoid.

Sweet Heart finally got up on her feet then jumped into the air to avoid a charging Passion Heart. She turned and brought together a ball of fire and water from her arms, "Steam Jet!" the blast of steam struck Passion Heart right as he turned around, right on the green orb stuck in his chest.

Passion Heart roared in pain as his body seized up for a moment then conjured his axe again, but Sweet Heart was ready and took off into the sky to avoid his next charge. "Try and get me!" She challenged.

"GRAH!" Passion Heart hurled his axe straight up at her, spinning. Sweet Heart was too shocked to dodge in time but thankfully on the handle struck her on the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and almost dropping her to the ground before she righted herself, then saw the dark aura of gravity surrounding the weapons as it straightened out and flew back at her, aiming to chop off one of her wings.

Sweet Heart found herself in a deadly mid-air dance with Passion Heart's axe as it tried to chop her up on every pass, and the wolverine didn't even have to move as she was getting more and more tired dodging up down, left and right. At one point the axe struck her at the tip of her tail and sheared off several strands of hair. Sweet Heart rounded on the axe and shot out her hand "Molten Meteor!" The ball of magma formed and fired off in the same motion, striking the axe and vaporising it.

Sweet Heart barely had time to catch her breath when she was struck by a heavy blast of blunt force and felt herself being pulled downwards. "Down! Down! Down!" Passion Heart shouted as bolts of dark energy shout out of his outstretched arm. Each blast that struck Sweet Heart pulled her closer to ground and shot pain through her body. She tried to turn but the fifth blast that stuck finally pulled her from the sky and smashed her into the clouds. The cushioning feeling of the landing didn't last long as Passion Heart pounced on her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Sweet Heart screamed as Passion Heart bit down on her wing-bone. She kicked out at Passion's stomach, striking him six times before his jaws came loose. She slammed the clouds with her left hand and a pillar of earth shot up and sent Passion Heart flying off her. Sweet Heart felt the pressure pulling her into the clouds and she had drag herself hand over hand along the ground to move. Eventually she found the weight letting up and she forced herself to stand. Blood dripped from her left wing and she couldn't even bring it into a folded position as she stood up.

"GRAAAAAHH!" The earth had struck the orb on Passion Heart's chest which sent pain throughout his entire body; he had landed on one of the hard-packed earth paths of Care-a-Lot, stunning him. Once he came back to his senses, Passion rolled onto his front and was on all fours, right as Sweet Heart got back on her hooves.

Sweet Heart rounded on Passion, ignoring the pain in her wing as the wolverine charged at her. His jaws and claws swiped at her but Sweet Heart hopped back with a sudden burst of air under her hooves, though Passion still sliced the front of her dress from top to bottom.

Sweet Heart shot a blast of water at Passion which pushed him back for a moment, but he charged again and tried to swipe at her. Sweet Heart swung a punch at his claw but missed and hit the orb on his shoulder. Passion Heart howled in pain as his arm seized up.

Time slowed for Sweet Heart as she saw how it hurt him. "That's it!" this time she charged in and struck at the orb in his chest. Despite the pain Passion Heart struck out at Sweet Heart's wing, tearing some feathers out. Sweet Heart grit her teeth and kicked out, striking the orb on his right shoulder, then narrowly avoided a bite from Passion Heart's teeth.

Sweet Heart was losing focus, the pain overwhelming her senses. She glanced down and saw her chest symbol, the wrapped heart-shaped candy. If the stare was their ultimate weapon then maybe...

Her thoughts jolted back to reality when Passion Heart recovered and roared "DIEDIEDIEDIE!" and charged.

Sweet Heart created a shield of earth on her arm and blocked Passion's bite with it. This time he didn't let go despite the taste as his teeth began piercing through the earth and into her arm.

"Care Bears Countdown!" Sweet Heart grit her teeth as Passion reached forwards to tear into her with his claws and her chest symbol lit up bright white, "4, 3, 2, 1, Care Bear Stare!" Sweet Heart's chest symbol glowed even brighter and fired off a bright white beam of light straight ahead.

Passion Heart screamed in pain, letting go of her arm and being driven back as the orbs stuck to his body began to leak out green smoke. Even with most of her energy gone, Sweet Heart held the stare on him as the orbs shrank and the lines between them disappeared. Passion Heart tried to run but felt his strength leave him as the orbs evaporated.

After a full minute of stare energy, the green orbs were gone and Passion Heart fell forwards, unconscious. Sweet Heart smiled, "I did it." Then the pain in her wings and arm overwhelmed her and she teetered backwards and fell to the clouds. She stared up at the clear sky for a moment and was about to fall asleep, until she realized what might happen if she did.

Sweet Heart forced herself to sit up and pulled her left wing up, grimacing at the vicious bite marks and bleeding on the wing. "OK, remember the spells mom taught you." The star on her forehead lit up and she touched the wound. She winced in pain as she saw the flesh mend itself through the healing spell, though it still hurt and was sensitive to the touch. Her other wing's missing feathers weren't a major problem, but she would have to rely more on aerokinetics to stay stable until the grew back.

Despite her exhaustion, Sweet Heart forced herself to walk over to the unconscious Passion Heart and focused on one more spell her mother had taught her. It took ten minutes of concentration and focusing until finally a bright pink sphere of energy formed around Passion Heart.

"Prison sphere." She smiled, "At least he can't get out for a few hours, until I wa-hake up." She yawned then lay down on the clouds with her wings spread wide underneath her, "Gotta call Love Heart and tell him I won." She muttered before she fell asleep.