Of course, the others took a while to persuade.
He stood by, watching in the shadows, as she showed them the journal. And slowly, dawn broke behind their eyes.
"So...what do we do?" The sharpshooter looks at him warily.
He clears his throat, unsure as to what he's supposed to say. He thinks for a long time, before looking up.
"I guess we destroy it."
Eyebrows shot up.
"But she writes...that it's indestructible." The boy looks at him with blaring green eyes. "That it's eternal."
He chuckles wryly. Everyone stares at him, because they've never heard him laugh this quietly before.
He opens his mouth, then closes it. For a moment, he looks a like a fish, gaping. Finally, words spill out.
"If there's one thing I've learned, all these years, it's that nothing is eternal."
The kids look at him, puzzled.
They don't understand.