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Blurring, wet tears ran down my eyes. My tunic was sopping from the waterfall of tears that couldn’t leave me alone. I tried to breathe, but let out a loud, painful cough. I wanted to scream at the world and kick something. My fingers clenched in my hands. I squeezed so tight my veins were visible.I paced around my room, hating how stupid I was. Why had I gotten caught up in this? Why did I agree to this?And why did I want to know more?None of it made sense. Pieces seemed to float around in my mind, none really fitting together. Pieces smashed against each other like celestial bodies, but more and more broke off as tried to push them together.I tore my hands through my hair. My tired eyes scanned the room and landed on an empty notebook. He walked over and opened the book. The scent of fresh paper calmed my racing mind, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I picked up my pencil.
Questions/missing pieces:
No body?
No witnesses?
Source?
I blew out an exasperated breath. A crystal-made lamp was the only thing providing light. A small piece in the corner of the massive room. I banged my head on the table. I felt at my forehead, sure of the purple-blue mark that would appear the next day.
Fitz! Me and Dex are alive! A tree... it has blossoms and leaves and also bare and also orange leaves… Fitz, please!
I wanted to shun the voice, blame it on my grief. But the quiver as it spoke, and how clearly it resembled Sophie wasn’t something my memory, imagination, or even my grief could conjure.My heart leapt. I dashed to my bed and picked up my imparter, clicking it in a frenzy.“Hail Keefe Sencen.” My voice came out low and raspy.“Fitzy? How are you-”“Get here now.”
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I sat on a bench in the crowded museum. People flocked to displays, the constant chatter of children and adults more of an earache than the annoying customer he’d met at McDonalds. I blocked the thoughts echoing in my head and kept my eyes open for any elfy-looking people. Meaning, anyone who looked like they went to the salon every day and used three tubs of foundation for a walk in the park.I opened a newspaper I’d picked up earlier. The sound of the thin paper crinkling was the only thing I wanted to hear. I closed in again in surprise. The front cover… That’s why I had picked it up to begin with.In black and white was a picture of a girl, smiling widely, but her sleepy eyes gave her away. She had straight, smooth light hair that covered the sides of her face. Thinned-out eyelashes framed her dark, reflective eyes. Could she be...The title blared in bold on the page: CHILD PRODIGY CHOOSES CITY COLLEGE OVER IVY LEAGUE – and an obviously placed exclamation mark at the end. I studied the picture. Sophie Foster. The name rang a bell to me, and so did the girl. She might have looked tired now, but I remembered a girl – likely the same – I tracked four years ago. My totally competent twelve-year-old self went back to my father, defeated, after finding out about her brown eyes.I hummed some more, a habit I had picked up from my mother. And look, I’m a lot of things. Smart, kind, modest (though Biana disagrees, but let’s not dwell on that). Skilled telepath fell into that list, but even I couldn't block my own thoughts – though that was on my to-do list, right below finding an elf girl we’re hopeful exists.Being clever was nice and all, sure, but that didn’t mean not going to Foxfire so much didn’t have a toll on me.“It’ll pay off in the end, I promise.” My father insisted. “Just a couple more months. I can feel it this time.” Alden Vacker smiled at me pitifully, and closed his office door, leaving annoyed, thirteen-year-old me bored enough to bake, which was the only thing in my life that had a good payoff.I flipped the page and turned to an article about fires all across San Diego. I hummed and shook my head. Humans and their pollution, I thought. I wondered which angry person let a matchstick do the work.I titled my head up, and leaned back, my back aching from my totally awesome posture, and caught eyes with a girl, a couple years younger than me, staring at me. She had the same shoulder-length hair, the same sleepy eyes, and the same face as the girl in the picture. I smiled at her and pointed to the newspaper cover. My smile dropped momentarily upon noticing her brown eyes, with specks of gold hidden in them – and I hoped that wasn’t the only thing she was hiding.“Is this you?” I spoke. She looked shocked at my question. I smiled wider and straightened up a bit, as if I wasn’t already feeling guilty for my posture.She nodded, a curious expression on her face, as if she were judging my every move. Luckily, I was used to being under scrutiny (though, I phrased it like that to my father, he would have more than a few words to say to me).“I thought so.” I muttered, squinting at her eyes in the picture, then back at the girl. “I didn’t realise your eyes were brown.”Sophie looked confused, squinting her brown eyes at me. My heart dropped to my chest. Had I deterred her away from me?“Uh… yeah,” she said, staring at me with a peculiar expression on her face. “Why?”I shrugged, wishing I hadn’t asked the question. “No reason.” Her every word made me cringe internally. I was used to touring around the world, and meeting people with many accents and languages (Word of advice? Don’t anger an Indian bus driver, the swearing isn’t worth the 10% price decrease), but the American accent was one I’d never get used to.“Are you in this class?” She asked, and flinched as she said the question. No, but I should be in another one, I thought bitterly. I quickly put on a smile.“No.” I said. Sophie looked around the museum and took a step back absentmindedly. I turned from her for a second, so sure I had seen a funky chicken, and locked eyes with a funny creature. With its large mouth, sharp, pointy teeth, and comically short hands, it looked like something straight out of an action-adventure show. “Tell me something,” I said, Sophie latching eyes with mine. “Do you really think that’s what they looked like? It’s a little absurd, don’t you think?”Sophie stared at me, lifting her eyebrow, and tilting her head down slightly. “Not really,”I smiled. I’d never not find it funny how humans stupidly believe everyone with the ability to type on the rectangle brick things – phones if I remembered correctly – and let them dictate their beliefs.“Why?” She asked me, as a second thought. “What do you think they looked like?”I laughed. Completely differently, I thought to myself, and certainly not like they were straight out of visual human literature. The more I looked at Sophie, it seemed less and less like she was an elf. Brown eyes? Really? And I was sure this was the same Sophie I had chased a few years ago (Another newsworthy story, really, but now isn’t the time). I let my mind take a mental image of her and smile at her.“Never mind. I’ll let you get back to your class. It was nice to meet you, Sophie.” I smiled politely got up from my seat and turned to leave. I sighed, and dropped my blocking, not seeing too many people around me. I took a step back, flinching as millions of thoughts, each like a shooting star zipping through space, filled my head, bouncing off the walls of my mind. I groaned. I turned around momentarily, and saw Sophie react too. She rubbed her temples and flinched. I gasped perhaps a little too loudly. My eyes widened in realisation. She locked eyes with me, her mind looking as if it were trying to connect a complicated puzzle.“Who are you?” She whispered, trembling slightly.“You did – Didn’t you?” I took a step toward her, and it felt like a huge burden had been taken off my shoulders. I lowered my voice. “Are you a telepath?”Her eyes blinked a little too fast, and the corners of her mouth moved in a flash. “You are! I can’t believe it!” I smiled so widely that my jaw hurt. My eyes looked to Sophie, and she looked scared. “It’s okay, you don’t have to be afraid. I’m one too.”I stood completely still, and I wondered if I should tap her to make sure she was okay but decided against the idea.“My name is Fitz.” I added, coming closer to her. Her face flashed to one of confusion. She looked me up and down, as if she were Lady Galvin judging… everything.“I’m not joking,” I said softly.Sophie looked dazed. Her eyes looked around the room, but she had no idea what she was looking at. Her arms dropped lazily by her side, and she wobbled on her feet.I grabbed her arm, without thought, gripping as tight as I could. “It’s okay, Sophie.” I smiled a little. “I’m here to help you. We’ve been looking for you for twelve years.” A picture of my father, smiling pitifully, filled my mind. I tried to get the image out of my head.Sophie, on the other hand, looked as if she were going to faint. Her breathing became quicker and shallower. Her feet wobbled again, but I held her steady. She grunted and jerked away from me, bolting for the door.“No, no, no,” I said to myself quietly. “Not after so long.” I ran behind her, blocking the chatter of thoughts from people on the street. My feet were unsteady at first (Being surrounded by toddler humans does that to you). I heaved from the poor air quality and bolted down the tall stairs and wide fountain, only one thing on my mind: Sophie.“Wait!” I panted. “You don’t have to be afraid.”I was about the length of three cars away from her, but I was gaining speed. I kept my eyes on both Sophie and the ground, making sure not to lose sight of her and not to trip over loose pavers.I kept running forward, but gasped as Sophie took a sharp right turn into the road. And I wasn’t too confident on human systems – but I was sure that one had to look right and left before crossing – and Sophie hadn’t. A car, a small, unstable human vehicle, screeched its wheels, and past the reflection of light on the glass front window, I could see a terrified driver leaning all the way back, his hands still gripping on the wheel. I hadn’t read her mind, but I knew we both thought the same thing: Sophie was going to die.
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Now, I’m not too educated on death (or humans), but I’ve learnt, through human movies and such, that it’s usually the ‘worst case scenario’, which was not a scenario I wanted to be in.Sophie stood, there, paralysed, in the middle of the street. A few people had stopped to witness the event, but most people walked along the clean streets of San Diego, surrounded by parks and shops.The car swerved to the right, missing Sophie by hardly a centimetre, then jumped a curb, knocking down the streetlamp, which came hurdling toward Sophie.As soon as I was sure she was going to die, she raised her hands and, to my shock, held up the streetlamp. The metal pole with its light floated above her, as if it were a cloud in the sky. Sophie looked to be in a trance, hardly able to process the sight.“Put it down.” I warned her, my voice taking the authority as Dame Alina during morning orientation. Sophie shrieked loudly, another earache, and let her hand drop. The light dropped down, and time seemed to quicken before them.“Watch out!” I yelled loudly, pulling her shirt and the rest of her out of the way, a millisecond before the light hit the ground. The sound was loud and painful, and the force of the impact pushed us both to the ground. Sophie rolled until my body blocked her. Yup, a girl I had met less than five minutes ago was lying on my chest, staring at me as I were both Batman and the Joker.My eyes stretched wide, not only at Sophie lying on me, but at the event he had just witnessed.“H-how did you do that?” I asked, trembling slightly. My breathing became shallow and quick. I replayed the last few seconds in my mind. Nothing made sense. I shoved that my mental box of things to hopefully get to.“I have no idea.” Sophie said, eyes darting everywhere but me. She sat up on my chest, and scrambled off as soon as she did.My eyes scanned the street, trying to find any witnesses. They landed on the petrified driver, who’s breathing seemed as ragged as mine.“We need to get out of here.” I spoke. The driver stared at us, as if we had descended from the sky (which I have learnt, is not a human thing to do).She let out a gasp. “He saw.” I nodded at her and pulled her up, still feeling unsteady on my feet. I grabbed her arm and walked down the street with her. Her eyes were glazed, and walking seemed like a second thought.“Which way?” I asked her as we reached the end of the street.“North.” She said, her voice not above a whisper. Her finger pointed up, and I nodded, dragging her across the street (this time waiting for the crossing lights).I took off running, tugging Sophie behind me. Her brown eyes scanned everywhere around her, and she seemed to be occupied.Signs with animals were plastered on buildings. Crowds of people milled all around us despite the poor air quality. The trees still held their evergreen colour, and the wind whipped against my face. Sophie slowed to a walk.“What do you want?” Her voice was small, but it had a certain conviction to it.“I’m here to help you, I promise.” I said, and immediately wished I could take the words back. That made me sound even more as if I were trying to kidnap her. She studied me.“Why were you looking for me?” Sophie said. Valid question, I thought. I shouldn’t answer it though.I opened my mouth and looked around. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell you.” Great. As if I didn’t already sound like a secret government agent trying to run experiments on her.“How am I supposed to trust you if you won’t answer my questions?” She snapped at me.I thought about it for a second. “Okay- true, but I don’t know enough to give you all the details. My father sent me here to find a specific girl your age and I was supposed to observe and report back to him, like I’ve been doing. I… wasn’t supposed to talk to you.” I frowned at myself. “I just couldn’t figure you out. You don’t… make sense.” I cringed.“What does that mean?”“It means… you’re different from what I’ve expected. Your eyes really threw me off.”“What’s wrong with my eyes?” She touched her eyelids briefly, her fingers lingering on her lashes.“We all have blue eyes – or well, blueish eyes – so when I saw you first, I figured we had the wrong girl again. But I guess not.” I took a step toward her. “You’re really one of us.”“Whoa, hang on. What do you mean, ‘one of us’?” She took a step back, holding her hands stiff.I looked over behind my shoulder. I suppressed my laughter seeing tourist decked out in the colours of the rainbow. I grabbed her hand once again and tugged her, so we were behind a green minivan.“I- Okay,” I said, wringing my hands. “There’s no easy way to put this, so I’m just going to blurt it and hope you don’t freak out.” Greaaaat. Yet another wonderful line by me, the one, the only, Fitz! “You’re an elf. Like me.”Humans are such confusing creatures. One moment they’re laughing and the next they’re sobbing in front of their entertainment rectangle with a tub of sweetened calories. Sophie’s eyes went wide momentarily, her irises surrounded by white all around. Her cheeks puffed outward, and she bent forward. I reached forward to pat her back, but she shot up before I could, a loud, raucous laugh leaving her lips.“Riiiight.” She said, after a good three minutes. “And let me guess, your dad is Santa, and mine is Rudolph.” I furrow my eyebrows. I had heard of those legends, but I had forgotten our kind’s connection to the myth.“Where are your little pointy ears and green hats? Aren’t you meant to be doing free labour slaving away at Santa’s factory, for a cookie and a thank you card each year?” She said, her eyebrow was raised, and she grinned. “Not too different from America, to be honest.”“Where do you think those legends came from?” I said, before she could mention Mrs Claus and the rest of the St. Nicholas lore. “And for your information,” I said, a little offended at her bashing. “Elves are divine creatures, superior to humans... and St. Nicholas. Our kind has kept the Earth it’s very finest.” I almost laughed. I knew I was lying.Sophie rolled her eyes. “Which is why Earth is melting away thanks to global warming, right? And why there have been fires all around San Diego, right?” I hummed in thought.“The Earth facing global warming is all thanks to humans.” I quipped. “Elves have a much smaller population; it isn’t our job to do damage control for creatures who spend all their time on primitive devices claiming to be knowledgeable.” Yup, I hated humans.She knitted her eyebrows together, as if I were an unsolved mystery. “Okay, fine. I’ll run with your delusions. Keep going about this elf thing. It’s the only interesting thing in my life.”“Well, we’re creatures superior to humans. We have a much higher IQ than humans ever could. We’re special, Sophie, and you’re one of us.” I looked at her, awe in my eyes.“Riiight. Okay, no.” She took a step back, and I took a step forward. “You’re insane, like, crazy sicko insane, and I might also be, for having a conversation with you.”“I’m telling the truth.” I called out. My voice resembled my father’s, taking his authority, but my knees wanted to buckle. “Can humans do this?” I closed my eyes momentarily and willed my body to blink in and out of sight. I opened my eyes and found Sophie looking at me curiously. Her body moved bobbed back and forth, matching the wind. She leaned against a car.“But I can’t do that.” She managed to say. She breathed heavily, eyes blinking too fast.“You have no idea what you can do when you put your mind to it.” I spoke. “Think about what you did with that pole, a few minutes ago.” The image flashed in my mind briefly.“This is crazy.” She held her head in her arms. “I’m crazy. Life is crazy.”“Sophie, no matter how much you try to deny it, I’m telling the truth.” I step forward. “The only thing that’s true is that... you’re an elf.”
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“So, what,” she said, walking around a parked car in circles. “You’re saying that I’m a divine creature... but I’ve been with humans, and you don’t know why, how, or what is happening?”I rub my temples, sighing softly. “I know this is hard to believe-”“Understatement of the century.” She muttered.“You and I haven’t yet lived long enough for that,” I pointed out. She looked at me as I were a headless chicken but said nothing.“We... we...” I trail off. I realised that in all my childhood years I’d spent looking for her, meeting her and talking to her never crossed my mind, likely because I wasn’t meant to. “It’s difficult to explain.”“I see that.”“Elves are creatures similar to humans in physique, well, mostly… We would likely fit the current human beauty standards accurately.” My mind went to images of stars on the internet I’d seen, all gorgeous, but not so much compared to an elf.“So, you’re saying that elves are just really hot humans with magic? I can work with that.” Sophie grinned at me. I rolled my eyes.“We are more than our appearances. And we do not use ‘magic’. Another thing invented by humans.” I sighed. Humans truly were the dumbest intelligent species. And I’d seen two crows fight to the death for a piece of bread, while there was another one there.She looked at me funnily. “Okay, so elves can mind-lift streetlamps, do invisibility, be super-hot, and they do it without magic? Yeah, need more details on that one.”I sighed. “Like I said, magic is something humans created to explain the phenomena that is science misunderstood. Your – I mean, the species you’ve been living with – have gotten many things wrong throughout history. Focussing on numbers and equations so complex they forget the fundamentals.” I flicked my fingers absentmindedly.“While I agree that you don’t need to know cosine to know what 2 + 2 is, that doesn’t change that we do need science, however complex, to explain the world. You said it yourself: misunderstood science phenomena. You going to tell me that the universe isn’t difficult to understand?”“Close.” I said, inspecting an ice-cream that had been dropped on the floor by a child who was now screaming. The pretty pink colour reminded me of my sister. “The universe isn’t difficult to understand-”“Then why wouldn’t humans get it if it were so simple?” Sophie retorted.“Let me finish.” I huffed. “The universe isn’t hard to understand, if you have the right idea to begin with.”“That’s just life in general.”“Okay, true.” I sighed. I ran my hands through my hair, and felt it stick up in spikes. “But the world especially. Humans simply haven’t been recording the planet long enough to know what happened before they polluted it.”“Oh, so elves have been here before the planet. Wow, I think I should write a novel.”“No, I never said that.” I argued. “Elves are much more intelligent than humans. We recorded history when our kind was young, so have a clear outlook on the world. Even if most of it is in hiding” I said the last sentence to myself.Sophie sighed. “This all sounds crazy. A bit too crazy. I think if I hear you talk about elves being basically gods again, I will run into one of the fires happening.”I looked at her and shook my head. I had an idea, and I knew just how stupid it was, but didn’t stop me. “Would it help if I showed you?”She perked up, her eyes stretching wide and a smirk on her face. “This ought to be good.”I laughed slightly and reached into my pocket, pulling out the familiar silver wand with its round crystal sitting on the top. She scoffed.“Is that your magic wand, Tinkerbell?” She looked me up and down, as if she were wondering if I’d pass for the thumb sized fairy.I rolled my eyes. “It’s actually a pathfinder,” I held it up, so the light shone on it gently, reflecting off the crystal and bouncing on to the brick wall behind me. “Okay, this can be dangerous. Do you promise you’ll do exactly what I tell you to?”The smile on her face faded. “Why? What do you need me to do?”“Take my hand and concentrate – and I mean ‘don’t think about anything else’ concentrate – on holding my hand. No matter what happens. Got it?”She studied me, for what was the third time in our single interaction. She bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”I wasn’t happy about her casual tone but had told her I was going to prove something to her, and so I would. I held my hand out and looked at her pointedly. She made a squeaking sound and gripped my hand, her palms clammy. I felt a breeze, a gentle one, fly right through me. I suppressed a shiver. I looked over my shoulder and sighed. “Okay, no one around it seems. One the count of three?”“What happens at three?”I shot her a warning look, not willing to play games. Not with so many risks. She could be difficult any other time. She scowled at me, then looked at our hands. I cleared my throat. I had only now realised what must be going through her head. Elves differ like that. Every touch is platonic, unless you were on their matchmaking lists. Or decided against going that route…“One,” I let out a breath, shutting my eyes momentarily, trying to concentrate. I raised the wand, a beam of light refracting and hitting the ground. Perfect.“Two,” I gripped her tighter, pooling together our concentration.“Three.” I pulled her forward gently, breathing softly as the light passed through us. Everything around us disappeared. Sound, our bodies, our thoughts. The light tingled, as if a million feathers were brushing against me. I felt my body break apart, turn into a million pieces, but a blanket of warmth held the shards of me together. In under a second, the Forbidden Cities disappeared, and I was faced with a wide, glassy river, not a ripple in the waters. Sky-high tress surrounded the sight, Emerald leaves reaching the fluffy clouds above. Crystal castles glittered further off, the sun reflecting off them and making them shine in a million directions, the buildings looking like they’ve never faced weather. My right held a golden path, straight out of a human fairy-tale (Humans can be so uncreative sometimes, copying every pretty thing they see), leading to a rainbow of domed buildings, each one built from jewels bigger than my palm. Mountains tipped with snow surrounded a green valley, which crowded around the city. It was spotless – and it was home.Sophie looked around her, taking in the sight, eyes and wide as they could go. Her breathing became a second thought, and she looked like she was going to buckle at an instant. I smirked.“You can let go of my hand now.” I offered a lopsided smile. She jumped, and snatched her hand away from mine, as if we were opposite poles on magnets.She looked over to the buildings in the distance. They looked like what humans would call castles, with their pale shades of twisted towers. “Where are we?” She murmured to herself, eyes scanning the place.“This is our capital, Eternalia, but humans might know it as Shangri-La.” The human legend was different from the place before me. The creatures had imagined it to be mystical place, where no man or beast would ever set foot, locked away for our minds to do the searching, all while it stood right in front of them.“Shangri-La?” She shook her head and looked at the city. “Shangri-La is real?”After a day of telekinesis and invisibility, plus light leaping, I didn’t think that a place that humans did sort of know would be that strange to her. “Well, yeah, and so are all the Lost Cities, but as humans would imagine – legends hardly get the details right.”“Huh, ‘Every myth you humans have caused is a little of our world leaking into yours’.” She said, looking down at her fingers.“Pretty much – I mean, think of all the ridiculous things you’ve heard about elves – pointy ears? Santa’s slaves?”Sophie let out a short laugh. A small sound, but the expanse of Eternalia echoed it, the trees and buildings bouncing back the outburst. The silence was comforting to me. You might’ve thought that I – being a Vacker and all – would like the attention, the sound, the lights, but in truth, I’ve always appreciated the silence that the outskirts of Eternalia offered me.Sophie took a deep breath and smiled at her surroundings. She peered into the city, eyes scanning the empty streets. She hummed in thought.“Where is everyone?” She stood on her toes, getting a better look at the capital. I lifted my head slightly.“See that blue banner?” I pointed to a gentle blue banner, which I always thought was the wrong shade for such an event. “That means there’s a tribunal right now. Everyone’s gathered to watch the proceedings.“Tribunal?”“When the council – Elven royalty – has a meeting to see if someone’s broken the law.” I wondered which unlucky family had to face our leaders.“Why?” She tilted her head to the side.“Laws are rarely broken. And yes, I’m fully aware of how different humans are – but elves aren’t like that.” I thought back to when I was in the Forbidden Cities, and a dude was pulled over for running a red light (Somehow the pedestrians never got in trouble for doing the same).She stood for a second, mouth agape. I could imagine the thoughts running around her mind.“So, all of this,” She waved her hands in front of her, the sparkling city in front of them. “Is done, without magic?”I laugh. “Yes, magic does not exist, like I said. It’s science.”“Care to explain then, Wonderboy?” She looked me up and down. “How exactly we were in San Diego a second ago, and how, Eternalia?”I sighed and rubbed my temples. “We lightleaped.” I held up the pathfinder to the light, letting the sun reflect its rays onto my hand. “We hitched a ride on a beam of light.”“That’s impossible.” She huffed.“Oh, is it now?”“Yes, it is. You need infinite energy for light travel. Haven’t you heard of the theory of relativity?” She looked like she was going to push her non-existent glasses up her nose.I laughed. A full body laugh, too. I could feel the sound heave through my lungs. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Who came up with that?”“Uh, Albert Einstein.”I thought back to my times in the Forbidden Cities. I hadn’t much dabbled in human myth (I mean – ahem – science), but I vaguely recall ‘Einstein’, but Albert didn’t ring a bell. “Never heard of him.” Sophie looked like I had personally torn apart her favourite science (fiction) book.“Huh. Never heard of him, but he was wrong.” I decided not to include the screaming match with an angry scientist.Sophie’s mouth hung open. She stared at me as if I’d grown another head. I grabbed her hand and gripped it tight.“Concentrate harder this time.” I hold up the pathfinder to the light, the sun’s rays reflecting onto my face. I closed my eyes and focussed on the light. Instead of the warm, fluttery feeling, I was met with the heat of a desert, blowing at me at far-too-many kilometres per hour. I wrapped my concentration around her, the warmth a comforting feeling. A second later, we were met with a chilly ocean breeze. My tunic flapped a bit, and my hair stood up in spikes (more so than normal). Sophie looked at me and everywhere around her. She sniffed the air, her hands falling to her side, and shaking her head. Her blond hair flew behind her in the wind, so I could every millimetre of her panicked face.I pointed to a building, resembling a castle, and turning to Sophie. It was a grey colour – except a little shinier, like it was basking in moonlight. “How do you think we got here?”She stumbled, her feet wobbling on the green grass, almost falling. She opened her mouth several times, even said something, but nothing I could hear.“You look confused.” I offered a lopsided smile. She didn’t notice.“Well, duh, it’s like you’re saying,” She put on a bright voice. “‘Hey Sophie, here’s everything you know, now just toss it out the window!’” She blew out a breath. I smiled reassuringly.“I guess that is what I’m saying.” I looked around and took in the scent of the ocean, the crispy scent ticking my nostrils. I chuckled. "And it’s okay, I get it. Well, I don’t personally get it, but I do feel for you, and your feelings are being felt by me, not literally but-” Sophie glared at me, eyebrows scrunched up angrily. Not helping, I got the message. I sigh. “You believed what you were taught – I've been doing that my whole life. It turns out you had the wrong teachers.”She sighed and sat – well, a better word is fell – onto the grass. I sat down next to her focussing on how the cold grass feels against me.“Humans... do the best they can.” I whispered. She turned to me, eyes glazed and mouth in a thin line. “But they have limited minds – they couldn’t begin to understand reality as is – and yes, it is complex – but not in the way humans think it to be.”“And what,” She snarled at me, as if I’d done something wrong. “Elves’ minds are better?”I nod, a small movement, but she understood. “Yeah, in a way, absolutely. Especially ways that humans strive for – why do you think you’re so ahead in your classes?”She was about to snort back a reply, I was sure, but she stayed silent, trying to process my words.“Even the most uneducated elf could stump a human – which is why you’re so smart naturally. Humans can claim to have brains if they want – but it’s nowhere near as what we have.” I felt proud of my kind, but Sophie, not so much. Her shoulders sagged. I felt awkward in the moment, not knowing what to do, which was, truthfully, something I’ve not much experience with.“So, I’m not a girl, am I?” She said glumly. “I’m an elf.”
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“I mean, you can be both, you know.” I flashed her a smug grin. Sophie sighed. She turned to me with contempt in her eyes. Every speck of gold in her eyes looked like they were aflame. She huffed and folded her arms, turning away from me.I sighed. I always knew that this would be difficult, but it wasn’t a process left up to me. I looked at my hands, which were shaking violently. Why were they shaking? I sure didn’t understand.From beside me, I heard a sniffle. I turned to see Sophie, wiping her nose and rubbing tears on her sleeves. I wanted to pull out a tissue (those allegedly sanitary human scrolls) and hand one to her, but I didn’t have any on me. I opted for a pep talk instead.“It’s okay, Sophie,” I told her. She glared at me. But I knew that I should keep going. “I’m really sorry that you had to live the wrong life. You were put in an awful situation, and you’re expected to change at the drop of a hat. That sucks, big time.”“Oh wow,” She snarled at me. “I feel so much better now.” I shrug.“That wasn’t the point, really. But... doesn’t feeling something fully... help?”She turned to me, mesmerised. “I think,” she said quietly. “You might be right.” She stood up, basking in the afternoon sun. She wasn’t smiling, and her eyes were still red, but progress was progress.From a small distance, I heard the sound of bells chiming, all in time, in harmony. I stood up and yanked her to the side, behind a conveniently large rock, ducking behind it myself.Two people with capes dragging on the floor emerged, followed by at least ten muscular creatures, wearing only black pants, their muscles on display. They were absurdly tall, compared to me, and I wasn’t even that short.“Goblins,” I stared at their skin, the colour (or lack thereof) of human media a century ago. “Probably the most dangerous creatures around. Which makes it an extremely good thing they signed the peace treaty.”Sophie stared at them for a second. “Then why are we hiding?”“We’re dressed like humans. Humans are forbidden in the Lost Cities.” I sniffed the ocean air. “Especially here in Lumenaria, which is where are the worlds come together – Goblins, gnomes, dwarves, ogres…” Admittedly, I wasn’t paying attention my last History lesson (which was far too long back for me to remember).Sophie made a couple of squeaking noises (and a few grunts) before turning her attention back to me. “Why are humans forbidden?”I shrugged as inconspicuously as I could. “They violated the treaty.” I got up after deciding the rock wasn’t good enough for me. I crept to another, motioning Sophie to follow. “The Ancient Councillors offered the same treaty they offered the rest of the intelligent creatures, and humans signed. But then, humans decided they wanted to rule the world – I blame that on Disney – and started planning a war. The Ancient Councillors decided that war wasn’t the way to go and dipped from all humans – hiding themselves away” I hoped my use of modern human language made her trust me more. “Elves aren’t allowed contact, it’s forbidden, and now humans are on their own – which is never a great place to be if you’re human.”Sophie opened her mouth. I tilted my head down and raised my eyebrows, sighing. Her mind flashed through every rebuttal she could say, I’m sure, but she shut her mouth again, and looked at me.“After our kind disappeared,” I continued, giving Sophie a pat on the back. “The humans that did know us must’ve sounded senile – so everything they said turned into myths over the millennia – the same crazy myths you’ve heard. But this is the truth – this is you, Sophie.” I pointed around her, the cold wind licking at my cheek. Her head darted around in almost blocky movements – like she was in a poorly made visual interactive decoding entertaining output game (That is what VIDEO stood for, according to AI – only the most reliable).“This is me.” She parroted.“Yeah. This is where you belong.” I faintly hummed the tune of You Belong with Me, by Taylor Swift. A human auditory classic, or so I’ve heard.Her eyes went wide before she went half-lidded. She smiled, muttering something to herself before turning to me, all trace of joy on her face now vanished. “I’m really an…elf?”“Yes,” I know, not the best idea to sound monotone while someone’s entire life and worldview was changing in front of me, but my head was spinning. What would my father think? Did this compromise anything? How would I explain suddenly coming back to Foxfire? What if he found out I brought Sophie here? What would he do? To me? To her?I shook my head, the thoughts disappearing at the movement. I stared through the rocks at the glowing building. Humans might’ve thought it was a palace worthy of the big screens, but none of those cameras could capture how at home I felt.“Okay,” She dragged out the word. “I… believe you.”Honestly, I was impressed. If I were her, I wouldn’t laughed and called CGI.I heard a loud noise behind me, a loud metal clang, and turned to see the huge gates shutting. I stood up, crouching slightly, and pulled out a pathfinder – a different one than the one I had used to come here – it was sleek and pitch back, the painfully purple-blueness clashing with the colour of my eyes. “Ready to head home?”She blinked and scrambled to her feet, her forehead crinkling as she looked at me. “Uh, sure.” The corners of her mouth turned downward, and I had to resist the urge to ask her what was wrong. The sky was getting dark, and I didn’t want to be in human clothes much longer (no matter how comfy Target clothes are, the ethics bothered me).She grabbed my hand gently. I squeezed tight, offering her a smile. I looked around the scene once more, taking in the beauty of it, before carrying me and Sophie through the light. I cringed as I stepped out of the light, my body forming once again after the light temporarily pulled me apart. The air smelt (and looked) like fireworks show had just happened, minuscule pieces of ash floating around the air. My lungs called for home, but I grit my teeth and stood as Sophie walked next to me.Sophie bit her lip as she looked around her. Plain, square houses with minimal greenery populated the street, and I was surprised they survived through the pollution. I stared at the infuriatingly repetitive sight before me. It looked like a messed-up idea of a utopian world.I coughed loudly and glared at the now dusky sky. “You’d think humans, with their huge ego and allegedly huge brains would be able to stop some fires.” I wasn’t too big on nature, but the way humans treated it made me feel for the gnomes.“They’re… working on it.” We both knew she was lying. “Plus, these aren’t your average fires… the arsonist that started them added some chemical to them – which is why they’re the colour of snow and smell like cotton candy.”I took a whiff. “Arsonist?” I shook my head and let out a bitter laugh. “Why would anyone want to watch the world burn?”“Beats me.” She shrugged, I looked at Sophie, her cinnamon eyes staring at the sight before her. They were glazed and she had the faintest hint of a smile on her face. I sighed, shaking my head to myself. She felt the same way I felt at the Lost Cities – at home.I pulled out a silver pathfinder from my pocket, holding it up so it caught the emerging moonlight.“Are you… leaving already.” She grabbed at my other hand, and I blinked fast. “I’ve gotta find out what my dad wants now, though I doubt he knows himself. Neither of us thought that you’d be the one.”A light blush dusted her cheeks, like smeared – and I don’t say this lightly – blood on her cheek. I shuddered at the very word. She stared at me, head tilted to her side, her face scrunched up. “He’s not gonna be happy that I showed you the Lost Cities. You weren’t supposed to know about us until we fully knew about you.” Strange enough as that sentence sounded, it was completely true. “So please, for the love of all creatures, don’t tell your parents – or anyone about this.”“I won’t, I swear.” She held my gaze a fraction longer than I expected. She hadn’t said anything too big, but I’d have to let it be there.I blew out a breath. “Thanks, Sophie. Maybe act normal so your family doesn’t suspect a thing.”She nodded, biting her lip. “Wait, Fitz, how come I can’t hear your thoughts?” She stared at me as if I had been living with humans for years.The question knocked me a step back. I heaved a laugh. “I still can’t believe you’re a telepath.”“Aren’t all elves telepaths?” I smiled to myself. I pitied future me, as I knew I’d probably be the one to explain what abilities and such are.“Nah, telepathy is actually a rare ability. Only a few manifest as one.” I smile brightly, basking in the moonlight. I looked back at her. “And you’re only twelve, right?”“I’m thirteen in a few months.” I wanted to argue that she conveniently left out that it was six months until she was thirteen.“Still, that’s really young. I was the youngest telepath to manifest, and that happened when I was thirteen.”She frowned at me. “But… I’ve been doing this since I was five.”“Five?” I gasped and stepped backward. My voice echoed through the street. It was my turn to have my world flipped. Five?“Positive?” I paled at the very thought of having telepathy at that age – and what it meant for the Lost Cities.“Positive.”I stumbled back a step, staggering over my words. They were a second thought, the front of my mind focussing on what I’d just heard from Sophie.“Why, is there a problem?” Her eyebrows arched ever so slightly.“No idea.” I sighed. I trained my vision onto Sophie and her brown eyes. I stared at her forehead, concentrating hard to push my mind toward hers, and… nothing.I muttered to myself and pushed harder, my mind gathering all the power it could to hear her mind’s voice echo off the edges of mine.“Are you blocking me?” It was a stupid question, I knew full well, but frustration put everyone in a bad mood.“I have no idea what that is.” She looked me up and down, for likely the billionth time today.I sighed. “It’s a mind technique to keep thoughts from barging into your head all the time – like putting a wall around your mind.”“Is that why I can’t hear you?”“Maybe. What am I thinking right now?” I shoved all my embarrassing thoughts to the back of my mind, just in case.“I told you, I. Can’t. hear. You.” Sophie glared at me. “Your mind isn’t like any other people.”“That’s because humans have weak minds.” I stared at the few people walking around the streets of San Diego. “Try listening for my thoughts.”“I don’t know, I’ve never tried to read a mind before.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of all the times to give up and be sceptical, she chose now? Human and human-influenced minds confused me.“Well, that doesn’t mean much. Concentrate. Try to hear me. Listen.” I emphasised the words annoyingly obviously, causing her to scowl at me.She folded her hands but tilted her head toward me, staring unnervingly at my forehead. I didn’t think I had a bad hairline, but she’d got me to reconsider.“You’ve never heard a mind as quiet as mine?” As soon as she said the words, she wished she could suck them back.“You… you heard me?” I felt the colour drain from my face.“You did ask me to, Wonderboy.” She stared pointedly at me.“It’s that no one else can,” I stressed the word. The idea hung heavy in my mind.She waited a few seconds before speaking. “And you can’t hear mine?”I shake my head and sigh softly, muttering a curse under my breath. “Not even if I try my hardest.” It was a hit to my ego, but I focussed on the implications of the revelation. I swayed on my feet, and Sophie grabbed my arm as soon as she saw.“How come?” She let go of me, her nails leaving five crescent moon-shaped impressions on my forearms.“I have no idea,” I admitted. It wasn’t an easy thing to do but keeping it to myself would’ve been even harder. “But with your eyes, and where you live… nothing about you makes sense… no offense.” I shrunk in my spot. As if I hadn’t said too much already. I shook my head slightly and held up my pathfinder to the moonlight, reflecting off windows.“Wait–” She grabbed my hand. “Will I ever see you again?”I flashed her my signature smoulder (Eugene Fitzherbert is truly an idol) “Oh, definitely. Tomorrow.”“How’ll I find you?” She pressed.“Oh, don’t worry – I’ll find you.”
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I stood for a second, staring at Sophie as she scurried away. Being the good elf-on-assignment I am, I made sure she didn’t run into traffic and use telekinesis to lift a lamppost. I sighed. I knew that the world would become confusing with Sophie in it, but I hadn’t expected... that.I held up the pathfinder to the moonlight and gathered my concentration to leap. The light passing through me was cool, like the night, its small glow a reminder that even in the darkest night, no one can snuff out the lights.I glittered in front of a huge gate, as silver as the rings and jewellery I’d seen people adorn in the Lost Cities, except it was at least fifty times the size. It surrounded the estate completely, no one could see it. I held up my hand to shield my eyes. I lick the DNA strip next to the gate and the giant silver doors move open slowly, completely silently, in front of me. I kept my mouth shut as I walked in.Everglen was everything a human would define as magical. A meadow-sized garden held a beautiful manor in the centre. It was a pale shade of yellow, and the crystals reflected the light off the walls, the beams bouncing all over the place. It had towers that went on for floors and floors, balconies with twists and turns made of other precious metals. Flowers and plants of all kinds grew, the rarest beauty given a chance to bask in the light of the sun. I smiled. To any human, this would be a dream, but for me, this was my reality.My home.I stalked inside, two massive doors opening up, revealing a hallway lined with fountains spouting water in all the colours of the rainbow, over my head, yet not a single drop fell on me. I sauntered to the end of the hallways and was met with a door, double my size, encrusted with a mosaic of precious stones – diamond unicorns prancing around an amethyst field. I pushed the door open gently, and walked into the room, ignoring the pitter-patter of my feet on the marble. Glass walls were draped in long, silky curtains, covering the entirety of the view. A chandelier hung above me, the diamonds and crystals like a rain shower that never hit the ground; forever destined to fall.A large round table of sandalwood sat right in the middle, taking up a fifth of the massive room. Throne-like chairs surrounded it, and the scene looked like it was ready for a human ritual. I sighed and plopped down on one of the chairs, the soft cushions of silk offering comfort to me.I sighed and grabbed a book from my pant pocket (How we created pockets to fit a whole novel inside them is beyond me, but I am sure not complaining). I ran my fingers on the smooth, slightly bent surface of the cover.I smiled. Admittedly, elves never had any fictional pieces. No fantasy, sci-fi, romance stories. Only textbooks, biographies, and notebooks. So, stumbling upon the human realm, I found the best part to be immersing myself in a world not my own.Just as I was about to flip the page, I heard someone clear their throat behind my chair. Me, being the dignified Vacker elf I am, proceeded to shriek and drop my book, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent room.“Hello, Fitz.” The voice spoke with the same accent as mine, except more prominent. Each word was as clear and crisp as I imagined the speaker’s suit to be.“Hello, dad.” I smiled at him, picking up my book and straightening up. He offered me a small smile, silently making his way next to me, dragging out the chair and positioning himself in it. He looked at me, reeking of royal air and Mallowmelt (probably the ones I made earlier, that I had, to no surprise found missing).“Any updates on our girl?” He looked down at my hands which were pulling at my sleeves repeatedly.“Actually,” I forced my hands into my lap. “I think... I know I found her.”Alden Vacker’s eyes went wide, teal rimmed with white. His set of perfect, white teeth made an appearance as his mouth opened wide in shock, but only for a mere second. Soon enough, his excitement had faded and was replaced with the stoic man in front of me.“Before we get too excited,” he paused. “Are you sure she is the girl?”I nodded. “Positive. She was in a museum, and I found her from reading a newspaper article – she was on the front cover. We talked for a bit-”He heaved out a cough. “Fitz, what exactly did I tell you about talking to our mystery girl?”I looked down at my lap. “To not talk to her, and that’s it’s too dangerous.”“No, no,” He tilted his head up, and somehow, basking in the light of the room, shadows settled in his features. “What exactly did I say to you?”I gulped. “’ Fitz do not talk to our mystery girl. She is to be checked and inspected for any secrets before anything.’” The memory was from a few years ago, but it played, fresh in my mind.My father sighed and clicked his tongue. “You said it yourself, son, you were not to talk to her.”“I know, but” I resisted the urge to start screaming. I was sweaty and my eyes met the floor. “I had to – she was the same girl I’d scouted a few years ago - with the brown eyes.”He raised his eyebrow. “Sophie Elizabeth Foster?”I nod. “Her. I talked to her, and as I was about to leave, I realised she could read my thoughts. I told her I could read thoughts too, and she freaked out and ran away. She then used telekinesis to lift a human streetlamp.” My arms instinctively flailed around me as I talked. “Then I...” My cheeks turned pink. I wasn’t looking forward to telling him of my decisions. I didn’t think they were the smartest, but I certainly didn’t regret them.“Continue,” He stared me down. “Or are there other liberties you took that I should be aware of?”I hesitated. “I... brought her here.” I waited for my father to start reprimanding me, to start talking down to me, but he did worse. He stayed silent.He rested his elbow on the take, and head in his palm. His lips pursed together, and I could have sworn he went three shades paler than a moment ago.“And why in all of the cities would you do that, Fitz?” He asked me, but his tone invited no answer.I looked down at my feet. Whatever I had to say was useless when he was upset. I might’ve had the best, most feasible excuse in the world, but nothing would change his mind.“And what exactly did you do here, Fitz?” His tone was more mocking this time. He was the only one who could make me hate my name, simply because of how he said it.“I took her around. Luminara, Eternalia, only, really. We stayed in the shadows.”“Unless you are a slave to the Shadow Arts,” I shivered as he spoke. Shadow Arts was a term I had heard only a few people utter. People bathing in the light to those hiding in the shadows. I had never said the words myself, though I’m ashamed to admit it was the first name for shades that popped into my mind. “You cannot hide in the shadows. I will decide on your giving later.”I shuddered. My ‘Giving’ was my consequence, my sack of rocks for the action of dumping potatoes on his scale. Sometimes, though, the scale always seemed to tip in his favour. I decided not to dwell on the thought.I nodded and mumbled an apology, exiting the room. I would think about Sophie, my father, and all those daunting things later. According to Elwin, “Mallowmelt cures a bad mood. And some minor infections.” So off to the kitchen, I went.
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“Where have you been?” Sophie looked like an angry chimpanzee. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been going through.” chimpanzees were the wrong animal. Sophie seemed like a species of its own.Her arms were at her sides in fists, and her gaze tilted upward. She was red in the face, much like a tomato. An extremely angry, rather short tomato.“Missed me bad, huh?” A cocky smile spread across my face as I ran my hands through my hair.Sophie turned red for a moment, diffusing the joke almost immediately. I clicked my tongue. Humans tend to romanticise everything.She turned away from me and cleared her through. “More like you left me alone with a bunch of unanswered questions, then a dude comes and tries to kidnap me.”I froze. “Woah, woah, slow down,” I stood there for a moment, my mind trying to process what she said. “What guy? Who? Why? What?”Sophie rolled her eyes. “I thought I was panicked.” She shook the hair out of her face. “Some blond guy showed up and tried to trick me into going with him, and when I refused, he was going to grab me and then I tried to hear his thoughts and couldn’t and he might be an elf.”“Okay,” I said, dragging out the word. “Take a breath, slow down. Only my dad and I know we’re here.” My mind replayed the rather awkward conversation, where I stormed out to go make Mallowmelt (top ten ways to walk out of a conversation, trust me).“Then why couldn’t I hear his thoughts?” She demanded as if I knew the answer.“No clue,” I admitted. I let out a sigh. “You sure you couldn’t hear anything?”Sophie paused. I felt guilty. You might think that, as a Vacker, I would be on top of everything, and however true that was, I had a habit of second-guessing. Only a few things escaped my worrying thoughts, and I managed to push away some unwanted ones as well. Sophie bit her lip.“Maybe not,” Sophie’s voice was as low as a whisper.I blew out a shaky breath. “My guess is that he was human and that his mind is on the quieter side.” I saw her shoulders deflate. “But I’ll check will my dad.” I was certainly not looking forward to that conversation. “Let’s leap, but somewhere with fewer people.”I stalked over to an alleyway and looked around, the only person in sight was Sophie. She was slower than me, and she piped up.“Leap?” she squeaked, parroting me. “Fitz, I can’t ditch class. They’ll tell my parents, who will proceed to strangle me” She tugged at her collar.“This is important, Sophie. You’ve got to come.”“Why?” Her voice was venom.“Just trust me.” I cringed. I realised it was not a simple request to trust someone. People from stories had gotten themselves killed trying to get people to trust them (You could say I’m a more emotional bookworm. Patrochilles truly broke me).I tugged her but she stood in place knees knocked, swaying slightly. “Why should I trust you?” She folded her arms as I sighed. Humans could be so difficult, sometimes. I suppose it would’ve been hard for her, but I simply didn’t have the time for shenanigans (a strange human term for ‘crazy stuff’)“You can trust me because I’m here to help you,” I said softly. I knew it wasn’t much, but the words were all I could offer her.She stared at her and squared her shoulders. The emotional intensity in her eyes matched the rich colour of my teal eyes. It felt as if she were piercing glass daggers into my soul, each fleck of golden, a shard reflecting the rising sun.She looked away, and it felt like she’d sucked back a part of my intuition with her. I felt numb and empty, and she hadn’t done a thing. If her eyes held that much power, I could only ponder how much her mind could do.“A test?” She glared at me. “What am I being tested for?”The words knocked me back a step. “You read my mind.” I tugged her deeper into the alley. The shadows didn’t cover my red face and my panicked eyes. “You can’t do that. That’s one of the biggest ‘absolutely nots’ in the Lost Cities. You can’t just listen to someone’s thoughts. There are rules about that.” I could hear the wavering in my voice, my panic flooding through my words more than Atlantis did that one time.She folded her arms. “You’ve tried to read my mind before.”I sigh and tear my hands through my hair, blinking away my desire to yell out at her. “That’s different. I’m on assignment.”“What’s that meant to mean?”I let out a long, drawn-out sigh, and ran my hands through my hair, likely for the millionth time in the last five minutes. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is you invading my mind like that. You could get in huge trouble. It’s a serious offense.” I tried to keep my cool, but anger bubbled in my throat. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to scream at her.“Really?” Her voice was hardly above a whisper. Soft as the blowing wind.“Yeah. So don’t do it again.” I flashed her a cold glare, and I could feel her shrinking from it. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest, but my thoughts took over my focus.She started to nod, but she quickly darted her head to the side. She let out a small gasp and stumbled back, sunlight hitting her irises. They glowed, but the light surrounding us blocked the most of it.“He’s here,” Her voice quavered, and she started blinking rapidly. “The guy who tried to grab me.”My eyes scanned around us, looking at either side of the alley, one bathed in light, facing the road and picket-fenced houses, and one dark as the shadows of the night.I fished out my pathfinder from my pocket, its silver reflecting the sun. “I don’t see anyone, but let’s get out of here anyway. We shouldn’t keep anyone waiting.”“Who’s waiting for us?” She asked, but I could tell her heart wasn’t in the question. She looked away, into the oak nearby, scanning for that jogger, probably.“My parents and a few Councillors. It’s a part of that test you heard about when you broke into my mind.” I gave her a sidelong glare, the ice in my eyes a stark contrast to the warmth of San Diego.Sophie’s cheeks turned the colour of ripe strawberries. “Sorry,”I refused to offer an “It’s okay,” or an “It’s over and done now,” to her. I wanted her to feel my anger as I took her hand and let her into the sunlight.It might be nothing to some. Ordinary elves might think about their grades, what the lunch they had was, and which bracelet looks better on them, but it wasn’t the same for me. My mind held my darkest secrets, and thoughts like an itch nagging to be scratched were at risk of being found out. To open one’s arms and mind fully is a gift that no one should ever take for granted.I held my Pathfinder, some of my anger fizzling with the new thoughts in my mind. Thoughts that required more thinking. Thoughts that needed confrontation. I’ve always hated those thoughts.“Ready?” My voice held little emotion and intonation. The thoughts had carried my presence with the gentle breeze.Sophie offered a quick nod, just as out of herself as I was. “What is this test going to determine.”A cocky smile split my face. “Your future.”
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“We’re here,” My tone held a song-like trill to it. I stepped out of the light, into an even brighter expanse. I stared right at the light (Don’t do that, kids. It’s bad for your eyes) for a few seconds, trying to make out much else. Being here so often, the bright seemed to get less bright.Sophie gasped and took a step back, hurriedly throwing her arms in front of her face, eyelids only allowing a sliver of sight.“Welcome, this is Everglen,” I said. I often greeted Nobility into my home, recycling the same three greetings every time, a gleaming, fake smile the best I could conjure, but bringing Sophie here was different. It struck me that I couldn’t recall the last time I had brought someone my age home. Maybe I had when I was a baby (Elvin two-year-olds always have so much to say). But that sentiment seemed unlikely upon remembering my assignment. Sophie was the first friend I ever brought here.I shook my head. No, she wasn’t, I used to have another friend, a year younger than me, come over when I was a child. But a different thought stood out to me. Was Sophie my friend? I hadn’t the slightest idea. I thought about the friends I made at school. The list seemed pitifully small for a Vacker. I had admirers, sure (some more secretive than others), and I had acquaintances, but friendship was rare for me. Maybe it was because what a friend was meant to be, was a complete mystery to me. The only true friend of mine held a strange obsession for his own hair.I pushed the thought away. “What do you think?”She squinted, eyes scanning the place as best as she could. “It’s very bright.”I laughed airily. “Yeah. My dad works for the council, so he likes his privacy at home.” I hoped she couldn’t sense the unease of my voice.“I guess,” she said, not looking anywhere particular, but I could hear the hesitation in her voice. The bright gates matched the sun in brilliance, blocking out everything. I could understand her fear, I would be suspicious of a home as Everglen.And I was, too. My father had kept many things from me. Knowing him was difficult since he was so hard to predict. I never knew if it was an icy glare or a smile that reached his eyes. The only thing I knew about him was his job and this assignment, and only because he wanted me to take part.I took a step inside, unsurprised to see my father, waiting for us. He had rehearsed this with me several times before.“Sophie, this is my father, Alden.” I took a step to the side, allowing him to bask in the morning light.“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sophie.” His smile reached his eyes, but the twinkle in his teal irises 6[p6[was one of curiosity. I could tell, more than anyone, that he wanted to bombard Sophie with a million questions. “I see Fitz wasn’t joking with the brown eyes. Most unusual.”Sophie’s cheeks turned red. “Uh, yeah, That’s right.”“There is nothing to be embarrassed about. I think the colour is quite pretty. Don’t you?”I nodded, remembering the trance she had put me in earlier. Stuck staring at her irises while she stole a glance at my mind. I doubt it was actual elven science, but the very prospect of her eyes mesmerised me.Sophie looked at the grass, face a flaming red.“Did you tell anyone where Sophie was?” I recalled the morning’s conversation.“Only the council,” my father murmured. “Why?”“Sophie said someone tried to take her today.”My father’s eyes widened. “Are you alright? Did you get hurt?”“I’m doing fine.” Sophie stared right back at Alden. “He just looked like he wanted to pull me away.”“Humans.” My father muttered.“Actually, Sophie thought he might’ve been an elf.” I locked eyes with my father, who hummed in thought.“Kidnapping is a human crime. I’ve never heard of an elf considering such an act – let alone doing it. The toll on their guilt would be far too high. What made you come to that conclusion, Sophie?”Sophie seemed to shrink in her spot. “It might’ve been a mistake. But I don’t remember hearing his thoughts, which has only happened with Fitz – and now you.”“Yes, Fitz did tell me of your marvellous telepathy.” Alden reached his hand out to touch her forehead. “Do you mind?”Sophie took a step back. “Uh,”“I mean no harm, I can tell you,” Alden smiled at her, teal eyes glowing. “I’d love to see the memories of the kidnapper.”Sophie hesitated once more but took a breath and nodded. My father placed two fingers on her temple and shut his eyes. He mouthed words under his breath, ones I couldn’t understand. I stood awkwardly, I’ll admit, in the centre of them.“Well,” Alden said, astonished. “You truly are mysterious.”“You couldn’t hear her either, could you?” I felt a little validated, in that moment, to be honest. Knowing that it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t hear her relieved me.“I could not.” My father’s emotions were unreadable. “I’ll look into this morning's near catastrophe, but for now, know that you are safe here in Everglen. There is no reason to worry.”I opened my mouth to speak, but I was interrupted.“Fitz,” my father said, turning toward me. “Did you leap her without a nexus? I specifically told you not to do that.”I shrunk under his gaze. “Sorry, I forgot. We had to get out of there quickly, and nothing happened to her anyway. I had it covered.”My father glared at me. “Besides the point, Sophie, could you hold out your hand?”Sophie looked between us and slowly extended her hand. My father looked toward my pockets. I fished out a cuff from my pocket and handed it to him. My old one. It was a wide band with a teal jewel set in the middle, sparkling in the sunlight. I handed it to my father, who set it on Sophie’s hand. Sophie stared at it in awe.“What is this?” She held it up in the light.“A safety precautions. When you leap, your body breaks apart into a million different pieces, which are carried by the light. To make sure you don’t lose a part of you, nexuses were made. They keep your body from dissipating fully.”“Fitz doesn’t have one.” Sophie stared pointedly at me.“I got mine off early,” I said, offering an equally icy stare. “My concentration is strong enough for three people. Which is why I took Sophie. She’s not a bit faded, and you know it.”“Only fools underestimate their skills, son. You’ve never had to watch someone lose themselves in the light. Perhaps that would be a good lesson.”I looked to my feet, mumbling an apology. I couldn’t bear to see the look of disappointment in my father’s face.A few agonising seconds passed before Sophie spoke up.“What does it mean to lose yourself in light?” Her voice was gentle, but as she spoke through the dense silence, it sounded cutthroat and harsh.“It’s fading away. It’s when you don’t reform after a leap. Which is why we wear nexuses.” My father stared at Sophie, but his eyes were unfocused as if he were lost in his thoughts.I felt my skin tingle as the air fell silent again.As if on cue, my father cleared his throat. “It’s only happened a few times, and we’d like to keep it that way.”I shrugged. “Alright then, next time I’m sent on a secret mission to get an elf, I’ll make sure to strap on a nexus before I leap her here.”A smile tugged on my father’s lips. I felt a sense of pride. “Come, we shouldn’t keep our guests waiting.”My father turned and walked, gesturing for Sophie and I to follow him.“How does this test determine my future?” Sophie stared at our surroundings, which was Everglen’s front garden. Flowers of all colours took up the space. I had a particular love for the teal one in the corner.“It’ll test to see if you qualify for Foxfire.” My father hummed.Sophie’s face scrunched up. “A glowing fungus?”My father let loose a laugh. I scoffed.“Our most precious academy, you mean.” I huffed.“Which is named after a glowing fungus.”“It represents a glow in a dark world!”“Still a fungus.”“Would you stop saying fungus?” I wanted to pull at my hair. “Only the strongest and best get into Foxfire. And if you don’t, might as well kiss your future goodbye.”“You’ll have to excuse my son.” My father placed a hand on my shoulder, his icy eyes uncomforting to my agitated self. “He’s very proud to attend Foxfire. Don’t let him worry you. The earlier levels are a testing ground, to see if your abilities qualify you to continue.”Being a telepath and a Vacker, I’d have to fight to not continue my later levels in Foxfire. I was always a bit prideful about Foxfire, especially after hearing horrific tales of those who didn’t attend, or worse, were shipped to Exilium.With Sophie’s slouched posture and the green tint on her face, she looked sick to her stomach. Her eyes glazed over, and I resisted the urge to grab her shoulders and shake her.“Is getting in hard?” She pulled at her fingers absentmindedly.My father sighed. “Councillor Bronte will be difficult to impress. He feels your upbringing and lack of proper education is a disqualifier. Truth be told, the council didn’t know you existed until today. They don’t much like surprises.”I was adhering to the rules of telepaths, but I could still feel the gears turning in her mind. I wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but I kept silent.As we walked on, a group of gnomes passed by. They seemed like they were a part of nature themselves, with dark brown skin the colour of soil, grey doe eyes and green thumbs.“Not how you pictured gnomes, huh?” I grinned.“Not exactly.” Sophie admitted. “You have gnomes for servants?”My father stopped in his tracks. “The gnomes are not our servants. We would never do that. They choose to live with us because our world is safe. They tend our gardens because they enjoy it. You’ll be quite impressed with their produce. You’ll get your first taste soon.”I cringed at my father’s tone. Firm and polite, but there was a bitter edge to his smooth voice. I couldn’t listen to him without worrying I’d upset him.We walked to the dining room in silence. Sophie’s eyes went wide at every turn. I blushed. I almost forgot that humans weren’t used to the general elven wealth. I felt a sense of privilege that I knew I should have been more grateful for.Upon entering the room, three people stared at us. Their silvery cloaks and regal posture could tell us only one thing.My father and I dipped in a bow, one that I had practised often in the mirror. Everyone here wanted to be bowed to. I found it standard, but Sophie clearly didn’t. She stood for a second too long, only realising too late that a courtesy was due.“Honoured councillors.” My father spread his arms out. “This is Sophie Foster.” My father then turned toward Sophie. “Sophie, meet Kenric, Oralie and Councillor Bronte.”I knew little about the councillors. I did, though, know how they looked. Kenric was striking, with his bright red hair and athlete build, he looked like an extremely attractive dad in a romance flick.If you’d glanced at Oralie, you might’ve thought she was a mean girl grown up. With her wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and petite figure, she was straight out of a human movie. But her kind eyes would relax every one of your tense muscles in an instant.Bronte stood out in comparison to the other two. He was a short man, with a waxy sheen to his face and sharp features. His cropped brown hair suited his face well, as well as his pointy ears.Sophie let out a small gasp. Everyone in the room except Bronte froze for a moment.“What?” He glared at her.Sophie slouched at his icy tone. “Sorry, you’re ears surprised me.”“My ears?” He sat, dumbfounded.My body shook with laughter. My chest heaved in and out and I had to hide my outburst with a fit of coughs.“I think Sophie is surprised your ears are pointy.” My father tried to hide his smile. “No doubt those are a rarity in the Forbidden Cities.”And silence hung over us again, the air feeling denser than the moment before. The Forbidden Cities, the reason she was here, to begin with. The reason that Bronte would never accept Sophie.“Will I get pointy ears?” Sophie said, and I wanted to slap my forehead. Of course, that’s how she chose to break the silence. With pointy ears.“Not for a very, very long time.” Alden said. My father looked at me, willing my silence. “It takes around a few thousand years to see them.”Sophie stumbled back a step. I clenched my jaw shut, reminding myself not to move. She looked up at Alden.“A few…thousand?” Her eyes darted around the room. “How long do elves live?”My father offered a kind smile. “We don’t know. No one has died of old age yet.”Sophie sucked in a breath. “Are you saying that elves are immortal?”A dark shadow highlighted Bronte’s sharp features. “No. Elves have not died of old age, but they have been killed by other means.”Alden looked down. “Well, elves do stop aging after adulthood. We don’t get the typical human signs of aging – grey hair, wrinkles, debilitating organs – but our ears change in shape. Councillor Bronte is a part of a group we call the Ancients.”Everyone in the room sat down on the table in complete silence. Platters of gnome-cooked food were laid out, their gooey texture a familiar delight. Sophie looked as if she were going to puke.She took a bite and relaxed. “What is this stuff?” She asked, her mouthful.My father tried (and failed) to hide his disgust. “Mashed carnissa root. The black stripes are umber leaves.”Sophie swallowed the food. “Tastes like chicken.”I blanched, appalled by her statement. “You eat meat?”She nodded, and I couldn’t hide my face of disgust. I had been around humans long, but I had forgotten about their diet.“So Sophie,” Bronte said, breaking the silence. “Alden tells me you’re a telepath.”Sophie nodded. “Alden says right. I am.”“Yes,” my father said. “She’s been reading thoughts since she was five.”Everyone in the room had a similar reaction as I did when I found out.“Five?” Bronte said, jaw on the floor. “That’s impossible!”“Next to impossible.” My father corrected. “Sophie is an exception. That was clear from the start.”“The start that was a day ago.” Bronte’s voice increased in volume. “But I digress. Let’s see what this Sophie Foster really can do. Go on then, read my mind.”“He gave you permission,” I said gently, as Sophie stammered.Sophie took and I took a deep breath. Apparently, the test had started.
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Silence took over the room as Sophie concentrated. I shifted my weight from one foot to another awkwardly, waiting for something to happen, and I predicted it to be bad. I knew full well, that no matter how gifted Sophie was, she was no match for Bronte’s grumpiness.I found myself rooting for Sophie over Bronte. It’s not that the councillor had picked on me particularly, but there was a confident air to Sophie. She confused it with arrogance, but when she focused solely on herself, she was one of the best people I knew.“You’re thinking you’re the only one at this table with common sense,” Sophie said, looking up. A shadow of a smirk relaxed her features. “And you’re sick of watching Kenric stare at Oralie.”Oralie promptly burst into a fit of giggles, which she, not so swiftly, covered up with coughs. There was a blush on both of their cheeks, Oralie’s matching the pink of her dress, and Kenric’s the same red as his hair.“I take it that’s right?” Alden said.“How can it be? An Ancient’s mind is almost impenetrable.” Bronte’s voice struck the room.“The key word is almost.” Aldren corrected. “Sophie’s a clear exception. She also breached Fitz’s blocking.”Shame burned in my throat. I swallowed my feelings and nodded. Bronte grinned at my father. “Alden’s Golden Boy isn’t so infallible now, is he?”Guilt tugged at my conscious. I was meant to be the best Vacker. I had no excuse to not beat Sophie. I was raised in Everglen, and my schooling was Foxfire. I had all my chances; how could I fail? I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.Sophie looked at me with pity. The idea alone made the heat in my cheeks spread across my face. I huffed and looked at the floor.“It’s more likely that Sophie’s exceptionally special,” Alden said. “Fitz saw her lift almost ten times her weight in telekinesis.”Kenric’s eyes widened. “At her age? Now that I must see!” He sat, smiling so much it looked like it hurt. I knew the feeling.“It was an accident last time,” Sophie argued. “I’ve got no clue on how to replicate it.”“Tick-tock, Sophie,” Bronte said with a smirk. “We want to end this test today, right?”Before Sophie could lunge at anyone, my father stepped in. “Why don’t you try something small first?” His kind eyes seemed to pull Sophie out of her anger. She focussed on an empty goblet. Sophie raised her arm, looking like a sorceress. The goblet lifted a few feet in the air, before dropping on the table with a bang.Sophie smiled. “I did it.”“Hardly,” Bronte said. “It was a goblet. That isn’t worthy of a pass in my eyes.”“Sophie was just warming up,” Alden said. “Why don’t you try something more?”Sophie glared daggers at Bronte but said nothing. For a moment, she stood in silence. I waited with bated breath for something to happen.Sophie raised both her arms and lifted three chairs. And not any three chairs, three chairs of the councillors. I almost fell to the floor with how much my knees were knocking.“Incredible,” My father breathed.But something in Sophie let lose. Her hand dropped to her sides, and suddenly, three chairs were crashing to the floor.Bronte’s chair was the only one that fell backwards. Kenric and Oralie’s chairs had miraculously landed on their feet, but Bronte fell on his back. The drink he was holding spilt all over his robes and face.For a second, silence enveloped the room. When Bronte hollered for someone to help him up, the entire room burst into a laugh.Sophie was the only one who stayed silent, but a small smile settled on her features. I had a feeling Bronte falling was on purpose.Kenric clapped Sophie on her back. “I’ve never seen such raw talent! You’re even a natural at our language.”“I’m sorry, what?”Kenric smiled. “You haven’t noticed? Your accent is almost as perfect as the Vackers.”“It’s true, Sophie,” Alden said. “You’re speaking Enlightened. It’s instinctive, meaning you’ve been speaking it from birth. You must’ve been an interesting baby.”Sophie suddenly gripped the table. “Is there a word in this language that sounds like ‘soybean’?”“Soybean?” said Alden.“I used to say it as a baby. My parents would tease me all the time about it.” A hint of sadness sparkled in Sophie’s eyes.Kenric shook his head. “Can’t think of anything.”Oralie flashed an easy smile, but Alden looked pale.“What is it?” Bronte brushed some dust off his cape from his fall.“Nothing important.” Alden waved away the question.“I will decide if it is nothing or not,” Bronte said, his face morphing into one of a stern teacher.Alden sighed. “It’s possible she was saying ‘suldreen’, but it’s a stretch.”Bronte’s mouth tightened into a line.“Suldreen? What’s that?” Sophie asked quietly. I wasn’t used to seeing her quiet.“A proper name for a species of bird, usually known as Moonlark.” My father and Bronte exchanged worried glances. I shifted on my feet.“And that’s bad because?” Sophie asked.“Not bad,” Alden said, but the uncertainty in his voice said otherwise. “Just an uncomfortable coincidence. But it most likely you were saying your name. Repetition is normal for a baby.”The way Sophie looked at me, I knew we had the same thoughts: Sophie was far from normal.“Well, I’ve made my decision,” Bronte said. “I find it downright absurd to let her go to Foxfire. It’s a fail from me.”Sophie’s calm demeanour fooled my father, but I didn’t miss the face of worry that everyone else had.“I for one think you’re being ridiculous, Bronte,” Kenric said. “It’s a pass from me.”All eyes fell on Oralie. She reached out her hand. “May I?” she asked Sophie.“Oralie is an empath.” My father explained. “She can feel emotions based on touch.”Sophie nodded and extended her hand. Oralie placed two fingers on her palm.“I feel fear and confusion,” Oralie whispered. “And perhaps a bit of arrogance.” I had to fight a laugh. “But enormous resilience. Enough to raise an army. I vote for a pass.”“Fools,” Bronte stood up from his seat. “I invoke my right as Senior Councillor and demand a probe.”“I planned as much,” Alden sighed. “I’ve arranged for Quinlin to probe her.”Sophie nodded assuredly at the crowd. She then leaned to me and stage-whispered, “I have no idea what that is.”“Just a different way of reading minds,” I explained. I leaned closer to her. “Bronte is a pain. It’s not surprising. Probing is common, especially for telepathy training.”“Well, Fitz, Sophie, you’d better change. Can’t have you wearing human clothes where we’re going.” Alden clapped his hands.“Where?” Sophie said.My father smiled. “How’d you like to see Atlantis?”
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“This is Atlantis?” Sophie said, folding her arms, though I could chalk that up to the strong wind blowing against her face.I understood her sentiment. We stood feverishly on a cluster of grey-black rocks, under a gloomy sky. Seagulls chirped around us, the only other life here. I took a step away from the edge of the rock as the sea crashed against it.“This is how we get to Atlantis,” my father corrected. He stepped on a triangular rock. “Atlantis is far underneath us. Far from the light.”I suppressed a laugh. Sophie struggled across the rocks, her long red gown and ballet-like red shoes sliding across. She had begged my father to let her wear pants, but, as I expected he said that it was a sign of status to wear dresses. A sign that they were a part of the nobility. I found it hilarious how he said this while not wearing a dress.But I bit my tongue from saying it aloud. I wasn’t dressed for comfort either, with an itchy teal tunic with admittedly intricate embroidery. My black pants had pocket at the ankles – which I learnt o my misfortune was not something that humans did – and black shoes completed the look. I had combed my hair to the side, as Alvar did often.Sophie’s shoes finally failed her as she flailed her arms and fell backward. I took a step toward her and caught her with my arms.She cleared her throat, “Sorry,”“Don’t sweat it,” I shrugged. “My sister is clumsy too.”She made a face as if she’d eaten a lemon. “Atlantis really sank?” she followed my father to a ledge, many feet above the roaring sea.“The ancients made sure it did, yes.” My father pressed in a code on the wet rock, and, to Sophie’s shock, it opened a secret compartment with hundreds of tiny glass vials. He took one in his hand. It read: ONE WHIRLPOOL. OPEN WITH CARE.“Step back,” my father said. He took the cork off the vial and tossed it into the ocean. The sound and sight of churning water filled my senses.“Oh my god!” Sophie yelled, taking a step back.“Oh, don’t worry,” my father said. “The cork decomposes easily.”He jumped into the whirlpool, the splash he made pitiful against the sea’s aggressive nature.“Ladies second,” I smirked. Sophie did not appreciate my humour.“You’re joking.” She said. “I know for a fact you’re joking.”“I thought we covered that we needed to get your facts checked.”“Fitz!”“Alright, alright,” I laughed. She stared at the sea. I said, “Just go in,”She took a deep breath and launched herself into the whirlpool, her screams drowned out by the water. I jumped in too.She and I landed on the sponge. I stood up, completely dry. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”Her face turned red with fury. Before she could attack me, my father intervened.“This is Atlantis,” he said, putting a hand on Sophie’s shoulder.The city was wrapped in a blanket of air, fading beyond sight. Crystal towers were twisted, just like in the human fairytales. A glow radiated from above, soft and shifting. To me, it was a familiar view. To her, it was a kingdom.“You guys use crystal a lot,” Sophie said, scanning the buildings.“Crystal stones harness the energy we use to power our word, and it’s easy to cut too.” My father smiled. “They’re perfect to mould and make our own.”“Why did you sink Atlantis, but not the other cities?”“Atlantis was built humans, which is why you know the real name of the city,” he said. He was smiling, but the light faded in his eyes, as if he were teaching an old history lesson for the fiftieth time.I followed Sophie’s eyes in a scan of the area. Elves only a few years older than me walked along, their dainty shoes and heavy clothing no weight at all. I looked at Sophie and tried not to cringe. Human attire had changed significantly. I preferred the sophistries of gowns and dresses, but humans seemed to love their jeans and hoodies.We reached a canal and boarding out vehicle. Sophie’s eyes seemed to stretch, as if every step was showing her something new. I liked seeing her this way, happy and in awe.Until she screamed.Sophie, seeing the creature pulling out vehicle, let out an inhumane shriek. I rolled my eyes.“What is it with girls,” I muttered. I reached and petted the eurypterid. Sophie paled. “See? Harmless.”Sophie tentative hand finally petted the creature. It seemed to relax in her touch, but Sophie did not reciprocate those feelings.“Alright, Sophie,” my father said. The carriage started for Quinlin. “Time to find what’s in that mind of yours.”
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“Who is Quinlin?” Sophie asked. My father smiled.“The best probe I know, and close friend. If anyone can see what’s in your mind, it’s him.”I found the scenery more impressive than the chatter. I had met Quinlin a few times, and he was a nice person. But I wondered if he could slip into Sophie’s mind. She was different. She was more human than elf, in all ways but biological.“Why does he work down here?” She mused. She stared out to Atlantis, the buildings many colours and of varying heights. Like an underwater rainbow. “I can imagine the commute getting annoying.”“Atlantis is our most secure city.” My father paused, carefully thinking about his words. “Anyone who needs protection and privacy comes down here. Including your file.”“I have a file?” She seemed so stunned. It made sense. Getting anything done in the Forbidden Cities was a hassle. It was always ‘wait for us to call you back’ or ‘you’ll receive a text message in two weeks.’“A highly classified one, yes.”“What’s in it?” Sophie asked, starry-eyed.“You’ll see.”Sophie opened her mouth to ask another question, but my father motioned a zipper to his lips and tilted his head to the driver. I tensed. I hadn’t even thought about that.We entered a business district, which was the one Fitz was most familiar with. Elves in long black capes glared as they butted against each other in the crowded streets. Signs in fancy runes read: REGISTRY. TREASURY. INTERSPECIESAL SERVICES. Other signs in the ancient runes glowed as well, but Sophie squinted at them.“What’s with the signs with the random letters?” She pointed at a sign at the top of a tall building written in the ancient runes.My father tried to follow her gaze. “The ancient runes?”“Is that what they are?” She pointed to the writing on her nexus. It seemed pretty clear to me, but once again, it was a mystery for Sophie.“You can’t read it?” My voice came out more surprised than I’d hoped. I put my hands in my pockets.“Should I be worried?” Sophie said, looking between my father and I. “With school and all?”“Don’t be.” I said, assuredly. “They only use it to sound fancy; school uses the type you can read.”“But you can see the letters?” my father stroked his chin. He came in a beat after I finished.“Yeah, but it’s all a jumbled mess of nonsense.” Give Sophie’s description gold medal. “Should I be able to read them?”“Reading is instinctive,” my father admitted. “But it might have something to do with your upbringing.”Sophie tensed at the word. She was just as tired of hearing it as my father was of saying it. I got a strange feeling in my stomach. I knew it was going to be my job to help her fit in at school, but her upbringing was going to make it hard. I was going to have to be her friend. And I didn’t know how to do that.“How–” she started to speak, but my father raised his hand in the air to silence her.“No reason to worry,” he said. I tried not to roll my eyes, but I was sure that he had said that more times than hours he had slept in his life. “We’ll figure it out with further testing.” I could sense his silent ‘maybe’.Sophie didn’t seem so reassured with the idea of testing, which I assumed was a human thing, to fear tests. Humans had a lot of things to fear, to be frank. Car accidents, heart attacks, strokes. I was glad to not be one of them.We turned down a canal so quiet that the buzz of people’s conversations seemed to fizzle out as they reached your ears. Trees of purple lined the canal and the waver dead-ended into a single silver building with no windows.The sea scorpion slowed to a halt, and the driver got out. My father handed the driver a small green cube that he swiped across the cuff – our payment method.Sophie had some trouble getting out, by which I mean she nearly fell flat on her face. She got up, flushed, and the two of us followed my father to the dim reception office.We headed to the only office in back. The small room was a perfect square and felt stuffy, like too much humidity hung in the air. A tall dark-skinned elf with a long beard gave us an elegant bow.“Please, no need for ceremony, dear friend.” My father winked. Quinlin grinned. I tensed at the sight.Our family had a joke that my father and Quinlin were into each other, after they spent one night cuddling in a hotel room bed. My mother did not find it funny.“After all these years, you found her.” His eyes stared out into hers. “And brown eyes?”“Unique for sure.” My father agreed.“Understatement of the century.” He whispered.“Do you have her file?” My father said after a beat of silence.Quinlin nodded. “Right here.” He held up the small silver square and handed it to Sophie.“You lick it,” I said with a grin. Sophie didn’t look so pleased. She gave the file the smallest of licks. She nearly dropped it as a small hologram flashed, and in green glow, said MATCH.Sophie stared at it with shaky hands. I put a hand on her shoulder and grinned. She belonged. It was like watching someone find a family.“So, this is why Prentice sacrificed everything.” Quinlin breathed. He was awestruck. It was clear from the daze he was in. But at the name Prentice, he deflated. I kept quiet.“He had his reasons,” Alden said with a s sigh. “You’ll see after the probe.”Sophie jumped as Alden squeezed her shoulders. She started to squirm from his grasp.“It’s not big deal, Sophie.” I promised. “It won’t even take a minute.”Sophie swallowed and nodded. Quinlin’s cold, slender fingers pressed against her temples. Closing his eyes, I was wrong. It was definitely over a minute.“Thought so,” my father said, his eyes darkening. He paced the room.“You can’t hear anything either, can you?” She said quietly. Quinlin’s jaw was on the floor.“What does it mean?” Quinlin asked no one in particular, but my father chose to answer.“It means she’ll be the greatest Keeper yet.” He said with a small smile.“If she isn’t already.” Quinlin snorted. My father froze mid-step, which Sophie picked up on.“What’s a Keeper?” Sophie asked.A second passed. “Some information is too important to record. So, it’s shared to a Keeper, a trained telepath, to keep it safe for us.”“Why would I already be one?”“Quinlin was joking.” My father’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Sophie frowned.“Perhaps we should talk upstairs.” My father said. He gestured to the foyer, with a nosy receptionist.We reached a small office. Quinlin licked one end to open it up. In it, the fires in Sandiego were projected in holograms on the clear walls.“Why are you watching the Sandiego fires?” She said. She pointed to the aerial view of Southern California.“You know the area?” Quinlin asked.“Yeah, I live there.”Quinlin’s gasp made my ears ring.My father had that look again, the one where I knew I’d be in trouble. “Why didn’t you tell me about the fires?”“I didn’t know they were important.”“I didn’t ask you to tell me what was important. I asked for everything.” He turned to Quinlin. “Why were you looking at them?”“They’re burning white hot – against the wind. As if set by someone who knew what they were doing. Plus . . . doesn’t it look like the sign?”Sophie glanced between them, then at me. I shrugged, feeling the same as her, except, for me, this was a normal feeling.“I’m guessing this is how you found the article you sent to me,” Alden murmured. “I was wondering why you were looking there. We ruled that place out years ago.”“Article?” Quinlin’s voice made my stomach churn.“The one about the child prodigy in San Diego. We wouldn’t have discovered Sophie otherwise.” My father’s tone was plain. “I was wondering why you were looking at that article. We crossed Sophie off the list years ago.”Quinlin’s pale features resembled a vampire. “I didn’t send you an article.”“You were the only one who knew,” My father argued, but it the fear in his voice was hard to mistake.“Not that only one.” Quinlin’s voice hushed the room.“What’s going on?” Sophie said. Well, except for Sophie. I sent her warning eyes and waved my hands below my waist. She did not take the warning. “What sign, What’s with the fires? And what about my family?”As much as I understood the sentiment, I wanted to aggressively put my finger to my lips as say "Shush!” in a far too loud voice.“There’s no reason to worry,” my father’s empty promised echoed through the room. “Everything is under control. I assure you; this is just a bit confusing because you’re new to this world.”Ah. Of course. It was that she was ‘new to this world’ and not because you didn’t explain anything. Sure, dad.My father and Quinlin’s conversations faded into dull chatter. Sophie offered me the same annoyed glance I flashed at her. At least we agreed on that.A few minutes passed before a name caught my attention.“Bronte’s probably not happy about any of this,” Quinlin ran his fingers through his hair.“Why is that?” Sophie’s voice cut through the whispers.Quinlin sighed. “He ordered all search and investigation regarding you to be stopped. He thought you were just a hoax. The council – specifically Bronte – don't like surprises. You are the biggest surprise they’ve faced in recent times.“Well, at least we were right.” My father cracked a smile. “I could practically see steam from his ears.”A cloud of silence hung over us for a minute.“Promise to keep my updated on the fires?” Sophie said. My father nodded.“If there’s something important, you will know.”My father and Quinlin exchanged goodbyes, and we headed out of the building, into the carriage. The ride was quiet, but not silent, with the people’s conversations like a TV show.That was until we left the city. A small blue lagoon surrounded by a lake with a black statue shimmered.“Hold on,” my father said, grabbing Sophie’s and my hands. He levitated, and I scrambled to support him. Sophie’s mouth hung open and flailed her feet.“I don’t even want to know what we’re doing.” Sophie muttered.“You’ll see,” I smirked.A giant bubble encased us and within moments, a geyser shot us up and out of Atlantis.
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“Don’t elves do anything normal?” Sophie huffed. She and I peered at the waves below, crashing against the rocks, defeated and dissipating into a white foam.“And where’s the fun in that?” My father smiled. It was one of those fake smiles, that you cast a child that was on your nerves. I was that child. “There’s fun in being safe.” Sophie’s voice came out a low string of words. She folded her hands and kept her posture straight, but the bead of sweat from her forehead betrayed her.I took her hand. “Ready to go home?”Sophie looked at me with a certain intensity. Her eyes were pouring into mine and studying them. Hers looked like treasure buried deep in the mud, when the setting sun shone on the gold and the light flickered on the metal.Before she could retort, the bubble popped, and the serenity of the sky was replaced by Sophie’s screaming.***“I thought you meant my home,” Sophie said, with an unnecessary amount of sass. She shielded her eyes from the glaring light of the Everglen’s gate, eyes flickering between the ground, the gate and me. “I guess this works too.”Judging by how she untensed, she was happy to not be at her home. I suppressed my questions about how she’d handled this with her family. I didn’t want to be on Sophie’s bad side. Ever.Sophie opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a blinding flash of light. I covered mine too and looked up a moment later to see sir Tiergan.Tiergan was much taller than me, and with his simple black tunic, he looked like a shadow striding toward us. His platinum hair was perfectly slicked back and was a few shades lighter than his olive skin. Something in his aquamarine eyes shone of lost youth.“You’ve got some nerve calling me down here,” Tiergan’s voice was carried to us by the wind. He looked up at my father, who was a few inches taller, and not intimidated in the least. “I’d rather be exiled than be associated with your family.”My fists clenched together in a ball, and I resisted the string of unkind words that came to my mind.“Yes, Tiergan, we’re all very well informed of your opinion of me – no matter how unwarranted it is.” My father stared Tiergan down.“Yes, well, my opinion matters most if you want me to train someone.” Tiergan smoothed out his already crisp tunic.“Well, it would be what Prentice would want.” My father’s words echoed in my mind, because I had never heard him say that, let alone to Tiergan.Tiergan’s expression crumbled so he looked more like a lost and confused puppy. His anger returned in the same speed. “Since when were you concerned about Prentice?”“Who’s Prentice?” Sophie said, eyes darting from Tiergan and Alden. Tiergan spun around and locked eyes with her, letting out a small gasp in the process.“She’s the one, isn’t she?” Tiergan whispered. I took a step back and behind Sophie. I had thought I knew what was going on, but the new pieces scrambled my head. “The one Prentice was hiding?”“Correct.” Alden said, looking at Sophie as if she were his long-lost daughter. Which was a bit weird, since I was his son.“Who is Prentice?” Sophie asked again, this time, her voice carrying more authority. “And what does he have to do with me?”“I’m sorry, but that’s classified information.” Alden sighed. Oh boy. The two of us knew what Sophie was going to react like.“Classified? But it’s about me!” Sophie raised her voice a little too high, and my father sent her a knowing frown. Sophie looked to me with pleading eyes, but I knew well I couldn’t do anything. I shrugged and tilted my head down.“Yes, but this is dangerous information. If anything important comes up, you’ll know.” my father promised.“Unbelievable,” Sophie muttered.“For now, all that anyone needs to know is that you are the greatest telepath I’ve ever seen, and you need a mentor. Which is why I summoned you,” My father turned to Tiergan. “Sophie’s already broke through Fitz’s and Bronte’s blocking, without training. She needs the absolute best training. I know you’re retired, but I thought maybe circumstances might change things.”Tiergan stared down Sophie and my father. His eyes passed right over me, as if I was just his son.“I’ll do it,” Tiergan gritted, anger and resentment fresh in his eyes.“You will?” my father blinked and broke out in a small smile.“Only for this year,” Tiergan warned. “That’s more than enough, and then you will never bother me ever again.”“That’s reasonable,” my father said, weighing the options.“Do I get any say in this?” Sophie interrupted.“Hm?” My father’s eyes flitted toward Sophie, who was furrowing hers.” What do you mean?”She took a deep breath and stood up straight. “I don’t really want to get better at telepathy,” I couldn’t help but let out a small gasp. Sophie continued. “It’s just always been a burden and so hard to control. I mean, I woke up at a hospital when I was five and heard voices. Voices. My parents thought I was insane. Do you have any idea how long it took to realise I was reading minds?”“But think about it,” I interjected. I saw Sophie’s sour expression turn to an angry one, but I persisted. “You have some insane talent, and you want to throw it all away.”“Fitz don’t be that way,” my father’s voice tethered me to the ground. “Sophie, of course you have a choice. But I implore you to think deeply about this.”Tiergan raised his hand at my father. He stepped toward Sophie and stared at her. He didn’t speak until she stared with the same intensity. “Being a telepath around humans is insufferable. But you can learn to control your telepathy and make it an asset to you. But of course, you have a choice, no matter what Alden’s son says.”I felt a pang in my chest. Alden’s son? I might as well have called him ‘Wylie’s adopted dad’, but I doubted the name would’ve stuck.I stared at no one in particular, which happened to be Sophie, who sent me a scowl. My father stood beside me with burning curiosity. I could tell.“I guess,” she shrugged. I couldn’t resist a retort.“You guess?” I guffawed. Sophie rewarded me with a string of words I refuse to repeat. Apologies, reader, but really, you should be thanking me.My father cleared his throat. “Well, that settles that, then. You’ll start school in around a week, but you’ll have to keep your ability secret – an adjustment period, really. It’ll be listed as remedial studies in your timetable.”I saw Sophie’s confident, snarky demeanour crumble before me. Her shoulders sagged down, as if the weight of the world was on it.“Well, come on in, Sophie,” my father said. “Let’s answer those questions in that impenetrable mind of yours.”“Okay,” Sophie’s voice came out flat and soft, which was rare for her. My father turned to Tiergan.“I suppose you don’t want to come in?” my father nodded toward Tiergan. He huffed.“Finally, a correct assumption.” Tiergan had backed a few steps from us and held his pathfinder to the light. “I’ll you next week, Sophie.”With a flash of light, he disappeared. My father led us into Everglen, that was gleaming in the sunlight.My father went on autopilot explaining what her timetable and Foxfire schedule. He took on the rule of student touring student around school, except he was older and wouldn’t be there in Foxfire. Sophie offered the occasional ‘Yeah’ and ‘cool’, which didn’t convince me, but my father seemed to buy it.“What do I tell my parents?” Sophie interrupted. Alden stopped mid-sentence. He bit his lipped and for a split second, made eye contact with me. I felt my heart sink in my chest. I knew exactly what he was going to tell her, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.“About that, Sophie,” he lowered his voice. “We need to talk about that.” my father tried to mask his worry with his smile, but his eyes and suddenly quiet voice betrayed him. If Sophie noticed, she didn’t say anything. “My office is this way, we can-”The sound of overlapping voices cut my father house. The voices didn’t appear to hear the tapping of our footsteps on the marble. We walked into a room with armchair next to each other and pillows with velvet cases stitched with gold thread.My mother appeared in front of us and grinned at my dad. “You’re home.”Sophie let out her millionth scream of the day. My disguised my laugh as a cough. Sophie scowled at me.My father smiled. “My dear, I don’t think our guest is used to vanishers. And Sophie, this is my wife, Della, and our daughter, Biana.”My mother wore a violent dress, her favourite colour, that matched the stones of the rings on the fingers. She was one to always go heavy on the jewellery. I never caught her without a necklace, a few bracelets and her rings. This time she adorned Amythysts in gold and a few Rosegold pieces.“Is that my dress?” Biana piped up. Sophie’s cheeks looked like someone pinched them.“Yes, it is, Biana,” my father’s neutral expression returned. “Sophie needed it, and you haven’t worn it in a while.”“It’s fine,” Biana said after a long silence. “It’s frumpy anyway.”“Oh,” Sophie said, raising her eyebrow. “Thanks.”“Firstly, Alden, Quinlin sent some files over,” Della started. My father nodded and knitted his eyebrows. “And secondly, Sophie, the council sent something for you.”I watched in bored silence as my mother helped Sophie put on her registry pendant. It was thick and purple, and fit around her neck perfectly. I personally found them to be a bit like leashes – uncomfortable and thick, but I kept that comment to myself.“And here,” my mother handed Sophie a green cube the size of her palm. “For anytime you need to use money. The standard five million.“Dollars?”“Lusters,” I corrected. “That’s our elven currency. One luster is equal to a million dollars.”“What’s a dollar?” my sister’s low voice interrupted us.“Human currency,” I answered.She crinkled her nose. “Ew.”Sophie rolled her eyes. “If you have this, why does anyone work?”“Work is fun.” My mother smiled.“Work? Fun?” Sophie laughed. “Yeah, this is the last string.”My mother chuckled. “Well, it’s true. Our society is wildly different from the humans.”“All set?” My father walked into the room, commanding our attention, as per usual. He smoothed out his tunic.“All set,” my mother parroted.“Okay, Sophie,” he sighed. “It’s time we have that talk.”
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I stood outside his office, my foot tapping against the marble as Sophie and my father talked. I heard muffled voices from the other side of the door. I could tell their voices apart easily. Sophie’s voice was high and crackled at the end of every phrase or sentence. My father had an authoritative tone to him. Everyone looked at him, watching his smooth hair and listening to his smooth voice.Sophie came out the door, losing some of her confident posture as she walked. Someone had sucked the joy out of her face, and it showed. But what lingered surprised me, a bit of determination. As much as she annoyed me, I had to admit she was astoundingly stubborn, and it pulled her through tough times.I leaned back. If I were Sophie, I would try and hold composure. I admired how she felt her emotions without any filter, not afraid to show people how she really felt. I felt a twinge of jealously tugging at my heart.“Fitz, you and Sophie will leave immediately. Sophie, you go wait with my wife and Biana, okay?” My father said, coming out of the room. He was the opposite of Sophie, expressionless, but I could tell the conversation was weighing on his shoulders.Sophie nodded and stiffly made her way around the area, lost but too stubborn to say it. Once she was out of sight and earshot, my father turned to me.“There’s been a slight change of plans.” My father said, leaning down so we were around the same height. “Sophie has requested that we have Washers erase their memories of her for good. The plan is still nearly the same: you take Sophie to get her things, she will drug her parents with a safe anaesthetic, and you will come back down here as soon as you’re done. And please try to have some empathy for Sophie. She’s going through enough.”“Okay, I got it,” I nodded to my father. He offered me a small smile and turned away. He let a sigh at the same time I did, and we turned back to face each other. After a brief moment of that awkward silence, we walked away.“Sophie, it’s time to go,” my voice was quiet, but it echoed across the room. Sophie was weary, I could tell from one look. She got up and nodded.“Let’s go,” she said. I lead her outside of Everglen, and the shiny gates couldn’t distract her from the dark time in her life it was going to be.I leaped us to right outside her home, thankfully, with no one noticing. The light dissipated, showing us that it was dusk already, and the colours that the sky were was like a kid ran a paint brush through a paper, streaked and wild.“I’ll wait by the door, and I’ll come in when you drug them,” I promised. “I’ll be able to tell, I swear.”“I really don’t want to do this,” Sophie said, and I could tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. “I can’t drug them. I love them so much,”“I know,” I wanted to pass her a tissue, but I summarised that would be a bit insensitive. I opted for putting my hand on her shoulder. “That's going to make it harder. But I’m going to be here for you, and so will my dad, my mum and the rest of my family. We’re going to do everything we can.”I often said that last phrase, usually to the nobility in stuffy capes and tight jerkins that came by our house to complain about something stupid. But this time, I meant it. I meant it fully and I wanted Sophie to feel that.She nodded and thanked me in a low voice. I crouched down near a fence by the bushes, cursing the bugs that were calling me home, and watched the window.There were blinds that were pulled up, so I was stuck making out what was happening. Sophie entered, and I could her grunts and noises from where I was. The voices got progressively softer, until I heard footsteps and found Sophie’s figure disappearing. She arrived downstairs a few minutes later and looked down. I could tell her father’s loud voice.“Where do you think you’re going?” He boomed, Sophie clutching the bag on her shoulder.She held up a disk and clicked it. A chorus of gasped was heard from the inside, and three figures fell to the floor. Sophie held her breath for thirty seconds before crumpling on the floor. The only way I knew she was unaffected was the strangled sob she let out.I rose from my place in the bushes and unlocked the door. My footsteps were silent due to Sophie’s crying. I knelt down and put my hand on hers. “It’s okay, Sophie, I’m here for you.”She grunted and looked up at me. I kept my face as neutral as possible. Judgement wasn’t going to help anyone right now. “The Washers are going to be here soon; we should probably get going. Do you have all your stuff?”Sophie sat up and wiped her tears, but her the streaks on her cheeks didn’t disappear. “I have all my stuff here.” She pointed to a small backpack.“Are you sure? You won’t have a second chance at this.” I warned. Sophie’s expression changed. Her eyes widened.“I have this stuffed animal that I’ve always had,” she fiddled with her fingers. “She’s an elephant in a Hawaiian shirt.”“I’ll be quick,” I promised. I tore through the air, up the stairs and to a room full of pictures of who had to be a younger Sophie. I saw the elephant sitting on her bed, bathing in the moonlight from the window. I grabbed it and dashed downstairs. Sophie shouldered the bag.I spared a glance at Sophie. She looked back at me with newfound determination. I nodded and led her out the door. It might’ve been a night in Autumn, but it felt like we were watching a house burn down, memories flashing through our minds. I had none.I grabbed Sophie’s hand and held my pathfinder to the light. Her hand barely gripped mine, loosely in place, barely holding on.
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My mother and father stood outside of Everglen, leaning on each other, much like Sophie and I were. They were a shadow in front of Everglen’s glowing gates.As soon as we fizzled into existence, my mother crushed Sophie in a hug. Sophie slunk in her embrace, her confident facade fading with the light.“How are you feeling?” my mother stroked Sophie’s back. Sophie conjured a gentle smile, but her bloodshot eyes weren’t fooling anyone.“Not good,” she wiped tears with her sleeve.“No one saw us.” I promised, turning to my father. He nodded.“Good.” He looked at my mother. “My dear, you might want to let her breathe.”My mother let go of Sophie. She deflated in an instant, her shoulders falling to a slump and every other part of her losing her liveliness.“It gets easier from here,” my mother whispered the promise.“I hope so,” Sophie clutched the elephant. Who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a weird fashion choice, but humans are also weird. “What happens now?”“Me and Della will oversee our relocation. You’ll settle here very well, I should think.” Alden said, not really paying much attention.“Here?” Sophie said, with a flicker of hope.“Oh, Sophie, we would love to, really,” my mother her hands, the jewellery flashing in Sophie’s eyes. “But you’ve been placed with other guardians.”“Oh,” the word was so small, but with it, left Sophie’s only joy.“They’re wonderful, Sophie. We specifically selected them to make sure they’re perfect.” My father assured her.“Okay,” Sophie said, no enthusiasm. She seemed more robot than human.“We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?” My father said to her. “For now, we better get you all settled. Fitz, take Sophie to see Elwin.”I nodded and took Sophie’s hand. I tugged it gently, but her feet stayed planted on the ground. She made no effort to move.“Where are you moving my family to?” Sophie whispered.“I’m afraid that’s classified.” Alden wrung his hands and refused to make eye contact with Sophie.“You think I might see them,” Sophie’s voice wasn’t as sad as it was frustrated.“Temptations are hard to resist.” Alden threw his hands up. “Especially love.”She shook at the sentiment. I moved closer, to catch her, but she didn’t fall. She stood up but looked down, a gentle a nod the only discernible sign she was alive.“Fitz, take Sophie to see Elwin?” He repeated the order. Sophie stood still and faced my father.“My family always wanted a house with a big backyard, for a dog,” her voice wobbled. I put an arm around her shoulder. She didn’t shake it away.“That can be arranged,” Alden mused.“They’ll have everything they could want,” my mother promised. “Money, food, security, except, well . . .”My mother pinked and didn’t finish her sentence.“Me.” Sophie said. “It’s nice to know that they wanted me.”This time, I was able to drag her inside. The glittering hallways couldn’t have brought Sophie from the depths she’d sunk to. She trudged along, and I babbled stories about nonsense to keep her feeling like a person – feeling like anything.“Whose Elwin?” she said suddenly, snapping her neck up to look at me.“Our physician,” I said. Finally, some response. “He’ll do a quick check up.”Sophie stopped. I suppressed a sigh. I was not about to do that whole song and dance again.“I hate doctors,” she muttered. “Like, really hate them.”“Where were you?” Biana emerged from nowhere. “I asked dad, but he wouldn’t tell me.”“That’s because it’s none of your business.” I spoke.“Will you tell me later?”“Drop it, I’m busy.”“I can see that,” Biana sent a pointed glare at Sophie, and Sophie sent one right back. She tried to pull away, and whether it was from her fear of doctors, or Biana’s words, I wasn’t sure.“Oh, don’t even think about it,” I huffed, gripping Sophie. “I’m going to take you to see Elwin.”Sophie’s untensed and let me drag her. Biana turned and walked the other way. The sunlight poured in onto Sophie’s skin, illuminating it. It looked like she was glowing, the way, everything else was a shadow.We arrived at a golden door at the end of the hall when we halted. I spoke. “I’m going to take your stuff, you just stay here and hang onto Ella, okay?”Sophie nodded, squeezing Ella to the point I was sure her plastic eyes were going to pop out. Even with her Hawaiian dressed elephant, I could tell she was reluctant. I leaned toward her.“Tell you what, if anything bad happens in there, I swear, you can punch me in my stomach once. Deal?”“As hard as I can?” Sophie stared at me.“As hard as you can,” I echoed.“Deal.”I pushed Sophie inside, gently, before shutting the door. I caught Biana’s nosy stare and gave her one right back. She scoffed and walked away.I navigated my way through the halls until I reached Sophie’s room and dumped her things there. The room was pristine, and the size of most rooms in the house: big.Sophie wandered into the room after fifteen minutes. She looked more alive now, like someone lit a match in her soul.“And was that so bad?” I began the conversation with a teasing smile. Sophie’s cheeks flared red.“Maybe not so much.” She huffed.I grinned. “What’s with the doctor phobia? You were more terrified of Elwin than you were of the whirlpool.”She snorted. “You don’t know fear till you’ve been jabbed and stabbed with needles.”I shuddered. “I’m glad it isn’t like that.”“Me too.”If Sophie noticed the mansion of the room in front of her, she didn’t say so. Instead, she collapsed on the bed and remained there till the next noon.
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I waited, leaning against my bedroom doorframe. I nearly slipped off the polished crystal the colour of my eyes. I yawned. It was a few hours too early to be awake, which was a weird thought, considering I’m a morning person, but being up at three in the morning is something else, truly.My room was a large room. Crystal of teal and blue made up the walls and blocked out the sunshine and moonlight. My bed was a mess of pillows and blankets that somehow still looked good after a night of tossing and turning.Indeed, Sophie coming over to the Lost Cities threw everyone into a frenzy of panic and disorganisation, including the elven council. I, for one, didn’t actually expect us to find Sophie after all those years, but she was here, in the Lost Cities, snarkiness and all.I didn’t know what personality I expected from a human raised elf, but I did not prepare for admirable cattiness and annoyingly persisting stubbornness. She reminded me of Biana in a sense, but I found her to be less infuriating.I picked up a book from my bookshelf in my room. Generally, I filled it with textbooks from higher levels and scribbled on notebooks, but I did have one hidden away shelf, in the bottom, where no one’s eyes trailed, where I stored all the books I brought from the Forbidden Cities.I held a book I had only finished recently in my hand. It had three people on the cover, two boys and a girl. Magic swirled around them and blurred their image. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the cover read. It must have been a hugely popular book in the Forbidden Cities, since every bookstore carried some edition of it, and around it, were always a load of people swarming around. Having read it, I didn’t understand the hype.Another book I had picked up that I found to be much more interesting was Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It followed a boy’s adventures as the son of Poseidon. I liked how unhinged he was, how he judged others. It made for some of the best monologue I have ever read.“What’s that?” Biana asked, tiptoeing in. I glared at her.“What are you doing here? Don’t you have stuff to do?” I huffed, putting back the book between two others.“I do, but dad wanted me here, so boo hoo,” she followed my gaze at my bookshelves. “What are those?”She pointed down at my human books. Their bright colours stood out from the dull reds and greys of the other books. I quickly stood in front of my collection.“It’s nothing,” I said, but she swooped down and picked one up.“What’s Magnus Chase?” She spoke. I blushed.“Biana, put that down. Now.” I stared her down, but she didn’t budge. She began flipping through the yellowed pages.“What? I didn’t even know this was a thing! Do we go to Valhalla too? Can I shapeshift?” Biana’s eyes scanned the words much faster than I could.“No!” I grunted. I grabbed the book from her hand. “It’s a human book. Humans have fictional books. This is a fantasy book.”“So, it’s not real?” she said. I shook my head. “Ugh, leave it to humans.”I put the book back on the shelf and blushed. When I was in the Forbidden Cities, I went to the bookstores a lot. Once, a girl my age offered to buy me a book and some coffee. We hit it off instantly, but I couldn’t pursue anything with her. Magnus Chase was the book she bought me. I can’t forget her auburn hair and magnetic energy. She always had a smile on her face and infected everyone with it.“Ah, Fitz, Biana, there you are,” my father said. He appeared from a door nearby, and his footsteps were so quiet, I was half convinced he was a vanisher. “We need to talk. Walk with me.”Biana followed with pride in her every step. I tried the same, but I resorted to walking with my hands in my pockets, small steps and my head tilted down. My father might be known for showboating me, but Biana could show herself off anytime.He led us into his office, which was never not messy. Piles of scrolls and files sat atop his desk, some marked as CONFIDENTIAL, and others wrapped in red. I’d always wanted to snoop in them, but it was nearly impossible to do so. He was always here and even when he was not, he always knew where we were.It was probably for the best, though. The only secret he let me in on was Sophie, and that had enough of a toll on my system.“Children,” he said, and in that moment, I felt very childish indeed. “With Sophie’s arrival, a lot of things have changed. Council is panicking. Grady and Edaline are nervous. Sophie is not holding back on anything she says,” I could see distaste flickering in his eyes, but he suppressed it well. “All in all, Sophie will be joining Foxfire soon. She’s going to be the only one joining mid-year. As is, she’s going to stick out. I need the two of you to befriend her and take her in, make her less noticeable.”I thought this was terrible advice, since Biana and I always were seen at school. Not to brag, but we made up the popular people. In Foxfire, popularity was less in groups and far more individual. People cared about people, not the outlook of a group, which I’d learnt was different in the Forbidden Cities through Mean Girls.“You’re kidding me,” Biana muttered. “There’s no way I’m going to be friends with her. I’m going to look so stupid.”“Biana,” my father scolded. “I will not have you talking that way.”“You can drag Fitz into your schemes but leave me out of them.” She folded her arms. A shadow crossed my father’s face. He stood up, looming above Biana, who didn’t seem so confident anymore. The gnomes in the room scampered away from us, and I could only gulp and stand still.Fortunately, Biana realised her predicament and muttered. “Fine. I’ll be friends with her. I’ll need some time to figure out how.”My father sat back down with a pleasant smile. “Great. Fitz? Any issues on your side.”“None whatsoever.” I spoke. He grinned and got up.“You can go now. I’ve got work to do.”
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I leaped into school with an air of confidence I carefully crafted and successfully emulated each day. I learnt the trade from my father, who’s job seemed to be built on putting on niceties even when he was angry. I sported Foxfire’s uniform with an embarrassment you wouldn’t know if you weren’t feeling what I was feeling. Only Keefe could tell, and believe me, he never let me live down what I was feeling, which destroyed the cool guy manner I put on.Biana was my father. She carried herself in the same way, brought everyone’s eyes to her when she walked in the room. She commanded attention with a frown or a glare. The only difference my father and her had been that while my father could be polite, even in the face of abhorrent disrespect, Biana held her stance and drove it into the ground.It was a sunny morning, but it usually was in Foxfire. We entered the pyramidical school. I entered with a pleasant smile and Biana entered with a grace that I couldn’t dream of having.Many, I’ve heard, lament their spot as the popular person of their school, raving about how daunting it can be to uphold expectations. I could not relate. I was used to upholding expectations, from day one. School seemed like preschool when I was smashing my way through college. School was the most relaxed my social life could be.“Fitzy, how’s your day going?” a familiar voice boomed from behind me. I rolled my eyes, turned around, and flashing a grin that reflected against the boy’s eyes.“It’s going alright Keefe,” I said, tearing my hand through my hair. Keefe would never do that. From what I hear (and he so vehemently denies), he spends an hour each morning working on his hair. From five in the morning to when the sun dared to peek through the glass windows at his house. But I also understood that rumours passed in Foxfire just as quickly as the fires in Sandiego.“Well, I’ve been hearing some stuff about a new student.” Keefe wiggled his eyebrows. It was as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. I had half the suspicion that he had a myriad of different abilities, one of them being telepathy.“Oh? A new student?” I said with a veil of curiosity and lack of knowledge about the topic.“Yeah, this girl called Sophie. From the Ruewens too! That’s some Slumberberry tea, right there.”“It sure is, Keefe.” I spoke. A moment after I spoke, he grabbed my arm with haste, catching me by surprise. I instinctively pushed my knuckle to his jaw, pushing him back. He didn’t fall or cry, but he winced.“Ow! Fitzy, you’ve got some crazy skills I tell you. But don’t test those fists on me!” He laughed off the pain as I blabbered a multitude of apologies, spilling one after the other. “But where did you learn that? They definitely don’t teach that here?”“Skills, I suppose.” I lied. Lesson fifty-nine on the Forbidden Cities: You never know who to trust, so prepare to trust nobody. Walking alone on the streets at night prompted some angry people to confront me for no good reasons.“Yeah, Fitz, skills,” Biana stalked up to us when her gang of friends, wearing the same face Biana did. She had her hair loose today, the light reflecting off the million elixirs she put to make it look the way it did, similar to a waxed statue, perfect but in an unearthly way.“Yes, Biana,” I said, glaring at her not so subtly. My eyes were daggers, if daggers were polite people. Keefe picked up on this but didn’t care to comment. Biana shrugged and walked away, chattering and giggling with her friends. She always managed to do that. Say something wrong and walk away with confidence because she had the final word.“I don’t know what’s up with that new girl,” Keefe mused. “But I can’t wait to find out.”I licked my locker. Today it was Elwin’s selection, clearly, as it tasted of vomit mixed with wine, which I certainly have no idea what tastes like, of course.“Oh, ew,” I cringed and bit my tongue. I quickly pushed my bag inside and checked my timetable. “I’ve got Universe studies.”“You love Universe,” Keefe rolled his eyes, which were a very specific shade of blue, something like an ocean. The colour was colder, though, but he only held warmth in them.“And you don’t like any lesson.” I grinned at him. He shook his head in dramatic defiance.“Objection!” He called. “I like lunch, when I don’t have detention.”“How very Keefe of you.”“I appreciate the compliment.”An annoyingly dignified noise cut through the hum of chatter in the halls. Everyone’s voices ceased but their attitude remained. Surprisingly enough, human school evoked the same attitude as Elvin schools. People trudged to class with books in their hands, they complained and gossiped about each other the same way elves did, though, humans did have a far more distinct popular clique than elves did. The jock, the nerd, the anime obsessed kid, and the one girl everyone’s thirsting after. And obviously, the relatable main character who’s not like other girls even when she’s exactly like them. Many movies had taught me this.“Dude, Dame Alina is torturing the new student.” Keefe nudged my arm as a spotlight shone on Sophie, who had this face like she wanted to run away. I sent her a caring glance, but I doubted she saw it as all eyes in the room fell on her, and then fell back to their friends.“I really need to meet this girl,” Keefe murmured. “I even have a nickname for her.”“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I grinned. If Keefe wasn’t Lord Hunkyhair, he was Lord of Nicknames.“I’m thinking, ‘The Mysterious Ms. F’.” He grinned ear to ear. “And now, I really need to meet her.”
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Our school was known for many things. The fact it was named after a fungus, our capes that made us look like snotty human rich boys, and our P.E sessionPhys Ed took place outside on Foxfire’s massive grounds and was a whole school session. All levels, every mascot and student, paraded their way downstairs to engage in a match for the ages.I, not to brag, was a champion of these matches. My telekinesis skills made their way onto the court, and I showed them off like my shiny Vacker crest.I made my way to the locker rooms, boys of all ages laughing and joking with each other. They waved at me and reminded me of my legacy, which I had to uphold. I waved back, sure I was going to do so.My person changing area was as tidy as my room. My uniform hung in the corner, waiting for me to try it on. It was clean, and upon closer inspection, smelt like fizzleberries.The vanity carried numerous hair products. Something I was shocked to learn in the Forbidden Cities is that how sharp the divide between feminine and masculine was. Men never had baby changing stations in the bathrooms; I had often seen mothers carried cranky children into bathrooms, but never the fathers.The field was of purple glass encased in a clear dome, for a reason I couldn’t fathom. Year levels gathered around it, some students ready to knock it out of the park, and some ready to hide behind the shrubs.I stood and faced off against my good friend, Keefe, who was rubbing his hands together maniacally. I focussed my strength on the Splotching match. Despite being the unbeaten champion since I joined, it was good to have a little humility.I picked up the paintball with my mind, floating it in the air with a certain beauty to it. A second after, I felt a pull from my ball, but I held it in place. Keefe’s face strained. His eyes were red, his cheeks were puffed with air, and his nose was red. I could see beads of sweat pouring down from his head. His hair would not stand the battle, I was sure.I grabbed the paintball from him and threw it with my mind. Keefe did his usual by catching it and throwing it right back. I grinned and caught it. This time, I didn’t throw it. I held on to the ball, mentally, even as it touched Keefe, so it was of a slap in the face. Keefe didn’t have a second to react. He looked up and at me and up again, wearing the same tired expression he’d worn the week before, as the paintball came crashing down on him, soaking him in purple paint. He raised his hands in surrender and laughed. I walked over to him and did the not. Of course, after I was announced the winner.“Good game, dude.” I said to him. I helped him get up, even if it costed my cleanliness.“It’s always one when you’re winning, I’m sure.” He grumbled, but I knew more than anyone he was teasing me. His face illuminated with a smirk. “I wonder what the new girl’s doing.”Keefe cleaned up miraculously quickly, his hair, though not as perfect as the morning, still holding some of the perfection. He wiped his face off and his changed back into his usual uniform.“There she is,” Keefe said, leaning forward from the stands. I did the same, squinting at a blonde blob nervously making her way up to the ring. I couldn’t tell who her opponent was, but I knew they weren’t going easy.And I was right. In a few minutes, Sophie was slathered with green paint, not happy but not complaining. She stormed off the field, her opponent laughing behind her. She slammed the locker room entrance when she went in.“I should go check on her,” I mused, but Keefe stared.“You don’t know here,” he said, “What if she just scowls and walks away.” I shrugged.“That’s not a horrible fate, to be honest.” I spoke. Keefe grinned.“Okay, fine, but I’m coming with,” before I could protest, he was up and on his feet. “Nope. You are not making stay here, Fitzy. Let’s go.”We snuck away from the usual commotion that was the splotching matches, into a quieter, emptier P.E. rooms. The door was crystal, so it hurt to knock. Instead, we called for Sophie.“Sophie? Are you in there?” I asked stupidly. Keefe offered a raised eyebrow.Grumbles and words that would get me in trouble for saying were uttered, before a tired Sophie opened the door, her expression as friendly as someone who’s been embarrassed in front of the whole school. Because that’s what happened.“Fitz? What are you doing here?” She spoke. I turned to my side, hoping to let Keefe answer, but he had disappeared. Classic Keefe.“Just came to check up on you.” I said softly. “That match was nasty.”“I’m not usually a sore loser.” She said, leaning against the doorframe and heaving a sigh. “I feel so lost, Fitz. Everyone knows what they’re doing, and I don’t.”“I know,” I said cautiously, scanning the area to make sure Keefe wasn’t listening. “But you’ll catch up. I know you will.”“In time for Bronte?” She whispered.“In time enough.” I smiled. She smiled back, but the joy in her face was minimal.“Thanks for coming to check up on me.” She said, quiet as a mouse. My grin stretched.“No problem, Sophie. You’re always free to talk to me. We’re friends after all.” The lie tasted terrible on my tongue. I hated lying to Sophie, but I wasn’t her friend in the least.“I will, if I need to.” She smiled. “Bye Fitz!” She said, her mood miles higher than it was at the start of the conversation, which I chalked up to a Fitz magic.“Bye, Sophie.” I said, walking away. A few metres ahead, Keefe surprised me by erupting from the bushes.“I got nervous and selkied out.” He groaned. ‘Selkied out’ was equivalent to the human phrase, ‘chickened out’, which somehow rolled off the tongue better.“It’s fine. She’s alright. Feeling good, I think.” I smiled at him, wrapping my arm around his shoulder.“Good, good.” He smiled. “I still want to meet this mysterious girl.”“In time enough, I’m sure.”
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The tale of Sophie and Lady Galvin’s cape spread around the school like the fires in Sophie’s human home. But I was sure there were modifications; I heard at least three retellings of the incident, one being where Sophie turned into a Sasquatch and had to be turned back.“You will never believe what happened.” Keefe said, sneaking up behind me. His face was aglow, and his cheeks were rosy. His smile reached his eyes in a way that I know he had done something stupid.“What is it?” I spoke. My energy didn’t match his, but I tried to emulate the expression.“I met the one and only Sophie Foster! And she had a story to tell.” He grinned. I paused.“How did you meet and what did she tell you?” I asked.“Well, I was ditching class as usual, and she turned up there. I talked to her, got her name, and I asked her what she was doing out of class. She said that she’s splashed something on Lady Galvin’s cape and her hand. And I took her to the healing centre.”I took a step back. “Wait, so you started the rumours?”Keefe’s eyes widened momentarily before answering. “Yeah, I guess I did.”He had quickly lost his cool demeanour and was now avoiding eye contact with me. I, on the other hand, was staring right at him, my lips pressed in a line, and my eyebrows furrowed. “Seriously, Keefe? Rumours? You realise how bad that could be, right?”“Well, it’s just a small one, and what I said is completely true.” He said, dragging the last word, but the both of us knew that technicalities weren’t doing much good. “Alright, I’m sorry.”“I think it’d be more effective if you said that to her,” I sighed. “She’s standing out enough. I think she might just want to blend in.”Keefe squirmed but nodded. I pat his back so he knew that I wasn’t mad at him, but I knew now that embarrassing things should just be kept to myself.“Okay, okay, speaking of me, I need your help, Fitzy.” He said, grinning again. “I think there’s a girl that likes me, which is usual, but it’s someone from the popular girls table.”I cringed. Sometimes Keefe’s language reminded me of a bad high school set movie. But he was my best friend, so I dealt with it. “Wait, my sister’s friends? What do you need me for?”“I need you to spy on them and update me.” Keefe said, as if that were something a sane person would do.“You want me to spy on my sister and her friends on the off chance one of them might like you? Do you realise what you’re asking?”“I realise perfectly well, which is why I asked you, dummy,” he said, grinning. “Will you, do it?”“Yeah, of course-” I started, but Keefe wrapped me in a hug. He sank into my warmth as I hugged him back, burying his head in my shoulder. Keefe was very much a hugger, I learnt from being his friend for years. He often wrapped his arms around me and stayed there longer than I expected. I never failed to notice how sad he was to let go. Or how well he hid it.“I’ll keep an eye on her,” I grinned, patting his shoulder. “Her friends are not the type of people you want to date, by the way.”“I don’t know,” Keefe flashed me a teasing grin. “I hear that Maruca girl is pretty hot.”“Don’t be weird,” I groaned.***Lunch approached us quickly, but this time, Keefe was in detention. I marched up to my sister’s table and sat down there, much to her annoyance.They chattered quietly, bursts of laughter and gossip occasionally, but they kept to themselves when they weren’t eyeing me. I sat back and listened.“Fitz, do you talk to Keefe much?” My sister asked, and she knew well enough that I did.“I do, why?” I spoke. Biana and her friends looked at each other before answering.“You’d know if he was dating someone, right?”“He’s not, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said. Again, looks around the table and spurts of giggling. “Would you like me to put in a good word for someone.”“Just invite him over. Me and a few of us will join you.” Biana said. She had a rosy glow to her cheeks and her friends were grinning at her. All except Yvonne, who was glaring at Biana. Maybe she liked Keefe.“Will do.” I said, finishing my lunch. Honestly, Biana’s friends in particular were annoying. They thought they were better than everyone else because Biana was a Vacker, forgetting that I’m one too.“Okay, bye Fitz.” My sister said, willing me away. I put my hands up in surrender and walked away. I passed Sophie and waved at her. She smiled back and waved. The boy she was talking to, with brown hair and a toothy smile, looked between us, confused, before launching into their next topic.I walked out of the cafeteria and down one of the many hallways of Foxfire. I reached the one Keefe was in: the detention room. It was just like the other rooms in foxfire, but above it loomed an hour of boredom that students felt walking in.I caught Keefe’s eyes, and he waved at me, flashing a brilliant smile. Illuminated by the sunlight, his hair aglow, he looked so pretty. But that was a thought that I’d be better off never thinking again.I waited until the end of lunch and until he came out. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed them.“Any updates?” He asked, as if he were a secret detective.“You’re coming to my house and some of her friends are meeting you there.” I spoke. He grinned.“Thanks, Fitz, you’re the best.” He grinned. He hugged me again, this time, he cheek against mine.
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The greeted me like it did every day. Sunlight poured through the clear windows and lit up the whole room. Dust particles fluttered as I squeezed my pillow. I stretched, the silk sheets hugging my body as I awoke.“Fitz! It’s eleven in the morning! Up!” An annoying, high-pitched voice called from me, holding a teacup. The scent of slumberberry tea wafted through my room.“Coming Biana!” I groaned. I sat up in my bed, vision adjusting to the light, before decidedly flopping back on the mattress.“My friends are coming and so is Keefe!” Biana ran into my room and pulled the covers off my frame. I groaned in protest, but stumbled out of bed, brooding.I stood in front of the mirror and took a blue-black elixir that reminded me of the night skies in the forbidden cities, so bereft of stars. I took another one, this one a Barbie sort of pink, feigning perfection effortlessly. The colour of my teal eyes brightened after I gulped it down.I picked out a simple white shirt, which I wore under a muted green tunic. I opened my jewellery drawer and grabbed a gold necklace with a simple sapphire pendant. I clasped it and began walking out, but I stopped when I almost crossed the mirror. I turned my head to it and winked at it, perhaps the most Keefe-like thing I’ve done in a while.I walked into the dining room. Biana sat there in a summer dress that hugged her body. The sun spilled through the window and lit up her skin, which was a few shades darker now that it was summer. She turned to me with and looked me up and down, before pouring herself another cup of tea.“Where are they?” I looked around the room. The only sign of life was the two of us and our shadows.“Here in three hours,” her voice whispered through the echo of my booming one.“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes, grabbing a chair and crashing down on it. “Three hours? That’s two hours and forty-five minutes of extra sleep I could’ve enjoyed.”“Or it’s two hours forty-five minutes of helping me bake,” she looked at me with thoughtful eyes. I sighed.“Fine. I’ll help.” I said leaning back on the Grenadil wood chair, the sunlight lightening up the right side of my face. “What were you thinking of?”“Sweetberry Swirls were my first thought.” Biana said, twisting a strand of her sunsilk hair around her finger. I bit my lip and allowed a silence to stretch over us for a minute.“Let’s give it a shot,” I stood up and pushed the chair in the table. “Not sure if we’ll finish in time though.”“That’s fine,” she rolled her eyes. “As long as we have the pastries.”I had to guide Biana to the kitchen. She hadn’t seen it for a few years. The label of ‘Baker’ belonged to me. I often surprised my family with baked treats when hunger or boredom hit.The room sparkled from the crystal and clean surfaces. A strange sight for somewhere cooking took place – I thought to myself but paid no attention as I began the recipe. Biana almost jumped in on making the dough, but I stopped her and shook my head.“Wash your hands first,” I told her, which earned me a glare, but she obeyed.***Two hours and forty-five minutes later, I was not done with the pastries. I worked with haste and flour on my fingers, rushing the drizzle that was supposed to be done fifteen minutes ago. Thankfully, that wasn’t the only thing that feel behind in time. I put the rolls in the oven later than I should have, the time slipping away from my reach.I had tackled this with the assumption that Biana would help me, but dear reader, that was the first mistake I made. I sent her to fetch the berries necessary for the recipe. Biana, ever the opportunist, took this as a chance to call her friend Nalini, and converse for ten minutes.So, when the bell rang through the hallways, and the pastries weren’t finished baking, I could only respond to her panic-stricken expression with a knowing one.She ran through Everglen to greet them. I couldn’t hear them at all, being on the opposite side of the estate.I heard footsteps on carpet, a soft sound, but I could pick it up anytime thanks to Biana sneaking up on me in my room for the last ten years she could walk.“Fitz!” Two voices called out for me, strolling into the kitchen. I turned, the oven now dinging and the five people staring at me.I recognised one: Keefe, who was standing with his hands in his pant pockets, turning up the flap of his maroon jerkin.“Hello,” I said, pulling out a tray of Sweetberry Swirls out of the oven, the scent of the sugary scroll wafting through the air. A chorus of “Oohs” echoed each other. “These are nearly done. Biana, why don’t you take everyone to the dining room.”She clicked her tongue. “Oh Fitz, so clueless. You can keep the sweets from the girl, but you can’t keep the girl from the sweets.”“I second that,” Keefe said, staring at the scrolls as if he’d found his Juliet.I snorted and placed the tray on the kitchen counter. It clattered on the tile. “They’ll be done in a second.”Biana led her friends to the dining room, but she couldn’t peel Keefe away from the sweets. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and stared lovingly at the sweets from over my shoulder.“I would kill to see you in an apron now.” He smirked.“I almost wished I’d worn one.” I groaned, flour now on my good clothes. I shook my head. I could wash it off later. “Come to help your best friend in the kitchen.”“Yeah, I can eat them, if you need that job done.”“Not what I had in mind.”He grabbed a bottle filled with the glaze, a soft pink colour, a few shades darker than the berries themselves. Keefe kept glancing at my work, trying to emulate the neat zigzags I made with my drizzle. It was a poor attempt, we both agreed later.I grabbed the tray and brought them to the dining room, Keefe following me. He had his hands behind him back and his chin upward. I was the opposite, cautiously carrying the tray with my eyes on the sweets. Clapping and grunts of approval I heard as I walked into the dining room. I set the tray on the table and heaved a sigh.Keefe grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him. He ran his thumb across my nose and cheek. I noticed a white dust on his thumb and his face inches from mine.The girls gasped and stared at Biana, who was now blushing. A fiery shade of red took over her body.“You had flour on you.” Keefe said and sat down. I sat down next to him and helped myself to a scroll. They tasted just like they were supposed to, but I felt better than if I ate a storebought scroll.“Keefe,” Biana broke the silence. “Are you dating anyone?”
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The question brought me out of my utopia of sweet scrolls and into the reality of why everyone was here to begin with: to see if Keefe was single. Before I could control myself, I rolled my eyes and groaned.“Seriously, Biana?” I dipped my head but fixed my gaze on her. She stared back at me icily, her friends, watching the exchange with short breaths and whispers.“It’s a good question, Fitzy,” Keefe said, flashing a lazy smile at me. He looked at Biana with no interest at all. “No, I’m not dating anyone.”A silence loomed over the table, everyone picking at the scrolls, no one missing the air of discomfort Biana’s question had brought, nor the finality Keefe spoke his answer with.“Do you have anyone in mind?” Yasuda, a girl with hair so reflective, I could see faint silhouettes of objects shine, pressed on. Keefe spared a glance at me before continuing.“Yeah, I do.” This time, he spoke with an intend to ask. “Why do you ask?”Another silence. This time I noticed shifting faces shift to Biana, who was looking everywhere and nowhere all at once. I tilted my head to the side. I then turned to stare at Keefe. The maroon jerkin he wore had intricate patterns weaved in a gold thread. I looked up to his eyes to see a moment of uncertain cross his face, but the shadows that fell on them hid them away when he turned his face to the crowd.“The real question, I think,” Keefe said. “Is Fitz here dating anyone?”The whispers that broke out was the same sort of noise I heard when I sat with Biana’s friends. They were all at the same time, and hearing them individually, every single word made sense. But now, they were a cacophony of what was supposed to be white noise but yet, I could hear one thing through all of them: Fitz.“I’m not dating anyone,” I said, silencing the budding rumours like a conductor on stage. “And I don’t have anyone in mind.”“Aw, that’s a shame,” Keefe said, sliding closer to me and staring at me with no expression at all, but it still felt like he wanted me to know. “I’m sure there are plenty of available people out there.”A chorus of scoffs and grunts echoed the room. I touched my cheeks, and I felt them heating up immediately. I cleared my throat and prayed that the colour didn’t show on my skin. Keefe moved closer to me, the scent of some fruit, one I couldn’t recognise, now strong. He then moved away and cleared his throat, no longer looking at me.“Fitz?” Biana’s right eye twitched, and I knew that couldn’t be good. “Can I talk to you? Alone?”Uh oh. I was in trouble. “Yeah, sure.” I glanced back at the group, Biana’s friends plastering the same confused expression on their faces. Keefe looked at me with a small smile; not his usual smirk, but a soft smile, holding so much more empathy and care than his regular smirks.Biana led to a few rooms away. She slammed the door and stood against it, tilting her head and sucking her teeth.“What is with you and Keefe?” She asked, looking at me like she wanted a specific answer.“I don’t know,” I said, throwing my hands up and looking down at the beige carpet and my knocking knees.“Do you not know, or is it that you won’t tell?” Biana asked, stepping three steps forward. I took a step back and shrugged my shoulders. I straightened my posture. There was absolutely no way I was allowing my little sister to talk to me as if I was deserving of her temper tantrums.“I could ask you that,” I snapped back. “What is with you and your friend’s shady behaviour? You’re all crowding around Keefe as he’s some trophy. Which of your friends has a crush on him? I don’t want them near Keefe.”“Why?” Biana’s face matched mine a few minutes ago, red and embarrassed.“Because Keefe is my friend! It’s weird if one of your friends date him.” I groaned. It couldn’t be that hard to understand.“Keefe doesn’t need you to protect him.” She said, her voice dangerously low, taking a step forward. “This is what I mean. What is with you and Keefe?”I felt weak in my knees as she asked that question. So, I forced myself to think about what the answer was. I didn’t understand why I wanted to move closer when Keefe touched my shoulder. I didn’t understand why I thought he looked so pretty, and how much prettier he’d look sharing the softest, quietest moments with me. I didn’t understand why I always to fill the gap between us.Now that I listed it out, I think I understood. But I still want to.“Let’s just go back outside.” I said, opening the door. Biana stood, red-faced, but she smoothed the crinkles from her dress and walked out the door.We found Biana’s friends and Keefe, not in the dining room, but instead, on the sofa nearby, deep into a conversation lead by Keefe, likely about Keefe too, the girls laughing and chatting absentmindedly, until the two of us entered. Instantaneously, silence cut through, except for Keefe, who kept talking until he read the room. He got up and walked to me.“Guess what? I was giving my hair routine over because everyone deserves the Hunkyhair Hair.” Keefe said, rubbing his neck and looking at me.Now that I had established what I was feeling, I had to decide what to do with it. Either I could look to dating Keefe or look at someone else or no one at all.For the longest time, I was telling myself that my previously unnamed feelings were wrong, and that I had to suppress them. Just because I didn’t understand them. And now, they didn’t feel so wrong. How could something wrong feel so nice?And in that moment, I decided there was nothing wrong with what I felt, and what I planned to do about that feeling. Two problems I realised: Biana clearly had some problem with me liking Keefe in that way, and that Keefe might not reciprocate what I felt at all.But as Keefe brushed his fingers on my shoulder, I didn’t feel the weight of either problem. I was so ready for any challenge there was, because I could so clearly see the end.
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I plonked on the sofa next to Keefe, sinking into the pink cushion like melting butter. Keefe stretched his legs apart and put his hands on my shoulder, continuing his conversation. He blabbered on about his hair routine, Biana’s and her friends absorbing every word and interjecting every few sentences with a few questions. I admit, even though I look undoubtedly fabulous, hair wasn’t something I much cared about. So, to curb my boredom, I leaned my head on Keefe’s shoulder. From my peripheral vision, I could tell his lips turned upward in a smile, but his tone didn’t falter, and he continued his routine. My vision began to chop into pieces, as with my memory. I heard moments of the conversation before sleep hit me.I awoke in my bed, and the first thing I noticed was the pillows all around me and the blanket that was now a heap on my back. The second thing I noticed was Keefe’s earnest eyes staring at me from not even two centimetres.He pulled away as I woke up, and I could see the almost invisible blush that covered his cheeks. He cleared his throat.“Look who’s finally awake!” He pointed finger guns at me and sat on the bed. I felt my left corner sag with the weight. “How was your nap?”“Pretty good after spending almost three hours making sweets you devoured in three minutes.” I said, hitting a pillow to his face. He gasped and ran to check his hair in the mirror.“You did not just mess with the hair.” He ran his hands through his hair in multiple directions. He turned and grinned at me.“I so did.” I laughed. I sat up and faced my ear to the door. I didn’t hear chatter. “Where are Biana’s friends?”“A few rooms down, talking about something.” He said, walking back to my bed and sitting down. “I honestly couldn't care less.”“Do you really have a crush on someone?” I said, masking the hurt. I felt a pang in my chest as the words left my lips.“Yeah, that’s right.” Keefe said, his head now on the pillow and a hair’s breadth away from mine.“Who is it?” I asked, not looking at him. I was afraid I’d see a giddy, giggling Keefe, ready to ask someone out. I was afraid that his someone wasn’t me.“I can’t say that.” He laughed. It was higher than most people expected it, and came in spurts, rather than one deep, echoing one.I rolled my eyes. “Keeping your crush from your best friend. The betrayal. But you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want–”“Okay, since you’re obviously dead set on knowing.” Keefe cut me off with a small giggle. I’d never heard him giggle about anyone. “What to tell . . . Oh, wait, of course. They’re in the house.”I gasped and faced with incredible speed. “You’re kidding, right? That narrows it down a lot.”He laughed again. “Of course it does. Who do you think it is?”I scratched my chin as I mentally pulled up a list of Biana’s friends. In truth, they were exactly the type of Keefe would date, but not the type he’d crush on. “Give me some physical clues, Keefe!”“Hmm.” His eyes rolled upward. He gazed at the smooth ceiling as if it would give him an answer. “They’re shorter than me. They’re the most clueless person. And this person definitely doesn't like me. Not like that, anyway.”“Somebody not liking you? How can it be?” I snorted. He whacked me with a pillow and rolled his eyes. I kept my mouth shut after, plunging us in a tense silence.I knew for a fact that Biana’s friends all liked Keefe. In differing amounts, of course, but they all liked him regardless. I didn’t know them well enough to know if there were any qualities that Keefe admired in them, and I know for a fact that he didn’t either.I gasped aloud, realising hitting me with as much shock as whimsy. “They?”Keefe opened his mouth to speak, but the only sign that he was alive was his reddening cheeks. He has stopped in his tracks, frozen for a second before regained his composure.“Caught me there.” He flashed me a sheepish smile, but his expression morphed into a horrified one. I squeezed his shoulder.“I’m not going to homophobic or transphobic.” I assured him. I felt him relax under my touch. “Tell me more about this person.”“It’s a guy.” He blew out a shallow breath. “I know him pretty well.”My heart pounded like thunder. I remembered his earlier comment about how his crush was in the house. I was dense, but I wasn’t that dense.“And he’s in this house?” I said, raising an eyebrow and doing a terrible job of suppressing a smile. “I’m not stupid, Keefe.”“Well, I don’t know about that–” he said, but I cut him off.“You like me?” My heard was just as loud has Keefe’s voice, which was now much lower. He spoke slowly, as if he were picking every word like they could change everything.“This is what I mean by stupid.”I whacked him with a pillow. “Just confirming.”I saw him gulp a breath of hair and nod, hesitation creeping into his every move. He grabbed my blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders. His head tilted downward, the sunlight bathing his face, and his light eyes clearer now, he looked so different than any girl I’d seen him with.“Well, confirmed.” He sounded as if he were struggling to breath him the air. Both our hearts beat in sync, so I couldn’t tell who’s was louder, but I could guess it was his.“I like you too.” I said, too fast and too shakily. Keefe sucked in a breath and stared at my teal eyes as if he were a doctor.“You do?” Keefe said, tilting his head to the side, a few strands of his blond hair, falling on his cheeks.“Who’s stupid now?” I grinned. He looked down and chuckled.“Just confirming.”Another silence fell upon us, but this one wasn’t awkward. Now, so up close, I could see every movement he made, and I took note of it. His chest heaved with every breath, which was a soft sound that came in a rhythmic pattern. His hair followed his face but was never displaced, even when he shook his head a little too hard.“Does that mean we’re dating?” I felt as if someone had grabbed my throat and was squeezing it shut. My lungs tried to push air out and take it in, but my throat was paralysed, my voice now sounding like a deranged goose.“If you want to be.” Keefe’s face returned to its tanned beauty, absent of the pale, almost blue nature of less than two minutes ago. The only sign he was nervous a blush that darkened his cheeks.“I do.” I said, unable to stop myself when I started giggling. “What about you?”“Of course, I do!” Keefe said, laughing himself. His chest moved up and down, and his mouth was wide open. I could see him wiping tears from his face.“Does that make me your boyfriend?” I asked. He smirked.“I’m certainly not your girlfriend.” He said. I groaned but I couldn't shake the grin off my face.“Oh, and let’s not tell any of my family. Especially Biana. I think one of her friends have a crush on you.”“I get it. I’d have a crush on me too.” I rolled my eyes.“But yeah, I’m not telling anyone I don’t need to. Same thing with my parents. They’ll totally kill the two of us.”He latched a tentative arm around my shoulder and rubbed my forearm. I grinned.“Dying because of our love seems pretty romantic. Sounds like a first date.” He said, kissing my cheek. “Or would you prefer Elven Nights tomorrow at three?”My jaw dropped as I turned to face him. “Keefe Sencen, are you asking me out on a date?”“I’m certainly not asking you to be my girlfriend.”
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Elven Nights was a rundown cafe on the very edge of Mysterium, a place I knew that no one important to me would enter. The sign was too small and too loopy, and was engraved in beryl crystal, blending with the regular blue of the sky overhead. I stepped in feverishly and took a seat on a table for two right against the window.Other than the chatter of employees behind the counter and the infrequent ching of the register, the only sound that filled the room was my tapping foot. I kept my eye out on the window, praying that Keefe wouldn’t forget our date. A girl in a uniform shirt, made of a flimsy material stared at me a few seconds too long. I hoped that she didn’t recognise me.“Why so nervous?” Keefe entered and plopped down on the seat, grinning widely. Dressed in a white T-shirt paired with a patterned purple vest and black earrings reaching to his chin, he looked like the star of a human rock band. I breathed a sigh of relief and stared at him with sparkling eyes.“You came!” I said, huffing out a breath. He stared at me quizzically.“Of course I did.” He stared at the numerous rings on his fingers. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”Ah. There it is again. Keefe making me red in the face. “You dress differently than I would expect outside of school. Not that I’m complaining.”He grinned. “What can I say. I’m a fashion icon. I thought the hair made it obvious.”I rolled my eyes and stared at the menu. “What would you like to eat?”The two of us peered at the neatly printed list of desserts. To my utter shock, on the same list there was Lushberry juice, Mallowmelt and Bottles of Youth was human desserts such as ice-cream, croissants and brownies.“I have no idea what the half of this is?” Keefe squinted at the menu as if it would answer him.“I do, and I think you’d enjoy blondies.” I grinned. “Your choice though.”He smirked. “Blondies it is.”I grabbed his hand, and we went to the counter to order our food. An employee stared at us two would confusion, but she raised no concerns. Holding up the menu with a smile, I placed the order. I decided to get some mint-chocolate chip ice cream, and Keefe ordered his blondies.“I’m curious,” I asked the girl. “How come you have human desserts on the menu?”She stared at me before snapping back into reality. “Oh. This cafe was open when humans and elves still knew about each other. The human food was the attract the elves who wanted new things, and the elven food was to attract humans. The cafe was first called ‘All Desserts’, but rebranding was necessary after elves wanted nothing to do with humans.”I nodded and thanked her. I turned back to walk to our table, but she spoke. “Wait!” I turned around and her face flushed, but she switched her gaze from Keefe and I continuously. “Are you here on a . . . date?”I looked at Keefe and he gave me the smallest nod. I hesitated bit I answered her with a nod myself. She bit her lip and smiled. “Good to know I’m not the only queer person in the Lost Cities.”A grin splayed across my face, cheeking aching from how it wide it was. A quick glance and Keefe told me he wore the same giddy expression. I dipped my head the girl. “Good to know.”I sat back down at the table and held my face in my hands, my eyes on Keefe. He spoke about how he almost got by his mother as he left. I had only met Lady Gisella once, but I knew no matter how eerily similar she looked to her son, they were nothing alike. Nothing about her ice blue eyes were warm. Nothing about her blonde hair was free flowing. Nothing about the expression she wore was loving.“She stopped me and said something about how she has high expectations for me.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Typical. And she won’t tell me what they are! Insane, right?”“For sure.” I nodded. I thought about my father in that moment. My heart sunk in my chest. The weight of all I was and all I was doing was a sudden weight that just fell on me. I couldn’t be queer. Not in my family, not ever. And I sure couldn’t match with Keefe.“Uh oh. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Keefe said, reaching his hand out and squeezing mine.“Only the ghost of my dead body after my family finds out I have a boyfriend.” I muttered, but I shot him a small smile in thanks. His worried expression instantly melted. We both knew the worry was familiar to him.“I get it.” He whispered. “You look up to your parents. You care about what they think. I guess that makes it harder. I mean, I would never tell my parents I’m bi, even I don’t care about what they’d say. It’s terrifying, realising who you are and having to think about people trying to change that.”I looked down at the wooden table, biting my lip. He was now just sitting there, not waiting for me to say something. Not saying anything. The silence was complete.The desserts arrived, the girl from earlier, flashing us a content smile, lifting my spirits instantly. We thanked her and she headed to the counter, wiping it down and doing a poor job of pretending she wasn’t spying on us.Keefe grinned. “A blondie for a blondie.” He took his fork and shoved the large slice into his mouth. He chewed it and swallowed it down before shrugging his shoulders. “Eh. It’s alright, I guess. Not much flavour, but that’s just human food. How your iced cream?”I chuckled. “My ice cream is fine. Just what I thought it’d be. Do you want to try some?”Keefe grinned, grabbing his spoon. “Oh, do I?” He grabbed a small scoop of ice cream, eyes widening it as it touched his tongue.“Oh, it’s cold.” He said, swallowing in one gulp. “Not bad, though. Good choice. It kinda matches your eyes.”“I know, that’s why I picked it.” I spoke. Keefe looked at me, not shooting back with his usual snort or sarcastic comment. Instead, he took my right hand and kissed my knuckles, I laughed, but my laughter was cut short by the sound of footsteps and an imparter clicking.I looked up to a red-faced Biana, in a bright blue gown, diamonds hanging off it, and hair running down her back, seething. She held her imparter, a picture of Keefe kissing my hand and my all too excited expression.“You are so dead.”
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I stood up from my seat scrambled away from Keefe’s touch. He stood up too, his mouth and eyes wide open, turning his head between Biana and I, muttering something that would get him trouble with his parents. I could barely process the window Biana was waving at my face, smugly smiling as if it were an accomplishment.“Biana,” I said slowly when I could compose myself. I took three tentative steps toward her. “Please. Delete that picture. Now.”“Why should I?” She had her head held so high, one arm on her hip and childish mockery written on her face, as if she had no idea what she was doing.“Please, Biana.” My voice was shaky, and I was picking my words carefully, but all I wanted was the hurl the most hurtful things at her. “No one can know about,” I gestured my hands in a flurry at the store and us. “This.”“Why?” She said. “Are you ashamed of what’s going on here?”“No!” I cried out, barely able to hold back tears. “You full well what’ll happen if dad finds out. If anyone finds out. Please, Biana, I’m begging you.”Biana paused for a second. A look of remorse crossed her features, softening every sharp angle of her jaw. But her cold, unfeeling expression returned just as suddenly it left. She reached at my table and grabbed a bottle of youth. She splashed it all over me, my clothes soaked completely. Tears blurred my vision.From behind me, I heard Keefe grunt, as if he suddenly awoke from a slumber. He grabbed the blondie he had ordered and smeared it all over her dress.“I will never like someone like you.” Keefe said coldly. He made a dash for my ice cream, but the girl who worked there had come out. She barred Keefe from the ice cream and glared daggers at Biana.“Please, no violence.” She turned to Keefe and me with sympathy. She turned back to Biana. “If you would like to order something, please head to the counter.”“I’m alright,” she said, smirking at Keefe and I. “I’ve got what I needed to.”She turned around and strutted out the café. Her hair, dress and every aspect of her was perfect from the back. She walked out with no shame, and with a picture of Keefe kissing my hand. A picture of me, Fitz Vacker, being kissed on the hand by Keefe Sencen.The girl turned around and furrowed her eyebrows and bit her lip. “Are you alright?”I nodded, staring down at the bottle of youth all over my clothes. “Mostly.”Keefe put his clean hand on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. I wiped tears off my face and sniffed.“What are we going to do?” I asked quietly to Keefe and the girl. They stared at each other then back at me.“I don’t know.” Keefe murmured.“If you want a place to stay, there’s always the back of the store.” She cracked a small joke, paired with a small smile, but everything had just become so big. I appreciated the effort and showed it with a smile.“I just wonder if my father or mother will find out and what they’d do if they did.” Keefe said, his voice trembling. I hugged him despite my clothes, and he hugged back despite my clothes.“By the way, what did you mean, ‘I’ll never like someone like you’?” I asked. Keefe tilted his head to the side and stared at me puzzled.“You don’t know?” Keefe said quietly. He put both hands on my shoulders as I shook my hand. “Babe, Biana likes me.”“What?!” I said too loudly. I cleared my throat, and suddenly everything she had done made sense. But I couldn’t justify a minute of it.“I figured out after I came over.” He shook his at the thought. “I’d never date her, though. Not when I have such an awesome boyfriend.”I blushed so easily it made him smile wider and chuckle. I spoke after a moment. “Well, I’m not done with us, just because Biana thinks she’s broken us up.”“Me too,” Keefe said. He was a few inches taller, so I was staring right as mouth. We were so close, I was sure for a moment, I thought that our lips would touch, and sparks would fly. But another person walked in the café, and we pulled away from each other, still blushing. Maybe another time.***I walked home, shivering. Snowflakes covered the towers of Everglen like human Christmas trees. They sprinkled on my hair. I stuck my tongue out and caught one, the tiny snowflake melting in an instant. The bottle of Youth Biana had splashed on me froze on my clothes.The Lost Cities always had controlled weather, so likely father was entertaining a Froster and to appease them, had ordered for Everglen to be a snow palace. That’s how I knew it was going to a heated meeting (pun intended).I walked into Everglen and guided myself to my room. I had tidied my room after Keefe left. I straightened the sheets, put the pillows and blankets where they belonged. The only thing I refused to wash away was Keefe’s scent, an exotic mix of every hair product he used.I sat down and buried my head in my knees. I groaned, allowing myself to fall as a pathetic heap onto the bed. I breathed into the pink sheets, watching them move closer and further with every breath. I watched my tears spill onto the sheets. I watched the sheets soak them with ease.I cried into my favourite pillow for solid fifteen minutes. It was the pillow on the furthest right, and it was tougher than most of my pillows, which allowed me to sink into them with no effort. But I hugged my favourite pillow, allowing it to feel all my tears, to hear every curse word I uttered about Biana. I allowed it to hear every cry out for a world where I could date Keefe, a world I could be queer without every person and every system telling me I was selfish, wrong and strange.I wanted to run to Biana, shut the door of her room. Scream at her for every hurt she had caused me by taking one picture. I wanted to cry and crumple into a pile on her floor. I wanted her to justify what she did when faced with my tears.Instead, I got up and sat up in my bed, all the tears I could possibly produce all over my pillow. I sat in the middle of a perfect, waiting for my father to storm through the hall and to me. Waiting, anxiously for him to scream and ridicule me. He didn’t come.So, I got up and ran to my bathroom. It was something I hated doing after crying was seeing my bloodshot eyes and red face. But I stood in front of myself anyway. I looked like a mess. I grabbed a few elixirs and drank them all at once. I saw my eyes return to their normal colours. I saw my skin brighten up, and I felt the lump in throat disappear. I wiped the remaining tears on my face and smiled at myself.I heard a ringing noise from my bed and ran to see what it was. My imparter was buzzing, and a picture of Keefe had appeared on the screen. I smiled genuinely then, and picked up the call, sitting on my bed.“Hey!” I smiled at a palm-sized Keefe. He grinned and waved.“How are you doing?” His face morphed into one of worry. “Did Biana tell your parents yet?”“I don’t think so,” I said quietly. “My father hasn’t said anything.”Keefe blew out a breath, his shoulders relaxing as he did. “That’s something at least. My parents haven’t either.”I checked the time and froze. Keefe must have noticed my panic and stared right at the imparter. “Uh oh, what’s up?”“It’s time for dinner with my family.” I bit my lip. “If I know Biana, which I do, she’ll tell my parents there.”Keefe sucked his teeth and stared at me with sad eyes. “I’m guessing you have to go?”I nodded. “I’ll update you, okay?” He nodded and offered me his signature smirk. Even if it was a bad time, I appreciated the effort. “Bye, Keefe.”“Bye babe.” He blew me a kiss. “Already miss you.”I cut the call and stood up. My vision was failing me again. It felt as if the world was tilted. As if someone had put a filter that made everything a little more magical but a little more nightmarish. It felt as if reality was a dream. But I tiptoed to the dinner table anyways. Biana sat down, smiling like a villain, and my parents wore the same expression they wore always, like they were the kings and queens of the Lost Cities. It was the same expression every member of the Nobility wore.“Welcome Fitz. Take a seat.”
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I gulped and nodded. I took a seat in my usual chair, the velvet cushioning me. I wished I could sink into the throne-like dinner chairs.In front of us was a platter of Elven foods. I didn’t know the name of most of them, but they were all unappealing lumps of food. I grabbed one particularly yellow one and tasted the food. It melted in my mouth instantly. I reminded me of human pasta, if somehow pasta were tangier and more had an elven spin on it. I devoured it.“Fitz, how was your day?” My mother asked, a smile on her face. She had thin smile lines that crinkled anytime she was happy, but only our family knew that she smiled most with her eyes.“It was alright.” I said quietly. Even her kind smile couldn’t coax information out of me.“Really, Fitz?” Biana grinned evilly. “You didn’t seem fine earlier.”I glared at her. She shrugged and continued her dinner. My mother stared at me worriedly and my father hadn’t said anything. He sat watching the exchange. My mother cleared her throat.“If there’s anything wrong, you can always talk to us.” My mother said. I nodded but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I pushed around the food on my plate with my fork.“Yeah, Fitz, we’re listening.” Biana said. Now my mother stared her, sort of confused. “But anyways, I saw Fitz and Keefe go out to a café.”“Oh, that’s great, Fitz.” My mother smiled. “Who else came with you?”I opened my mouth to speak, but Biana cut through. “I took some pictures. I have them–”“Biana, no imparters at the table.” My father said, scrolling through his imparter.She muttered some complaints under her breath but placed her imparter next to her, face down. She glared at me, crinkling her nose as she so.Dinner went by in a similar fashion. Biana and I stared at each other, willing for the other to say something. My mother interjected with a few questions every so often, but Biana could only go back onto the topic of the pictures she took. I looked down at my food until the end of dinner, willing myself not to cry.Biana and I finished dinner first. We both excused ourselves from the table and we ran to her room.“What is your problem?” I screamed, tearing at my short hair. “I’m happy and in a relationship with someone I like! Why is that such a problem?”“I like Keefe! It’s not fair that you get him.” Biana growled at me. She was far from the nice girl she was with her friends. “Besides, you and Keefe are both . . . guys.”“Yeah? And?” I stood forward. I stared at her so intensely, she looked scared. “What about it?”“You know that matchmaking doesn’t even allow that stuff, right?” She said, picking her words carefully. “Also, it’s kind of . . . weird.”“I’m sure for you it is.” I gritted my teeth. “But for me, it’s just so wonderful. And also, it’s totally fair! We both liked him, and he liked me back. How is that not fair?”“I don’t care.” Biana huffed. “I’m telling mom and dad. And after that, you and Keefe are over.”She stomped out of the room with her imparter, her dress flowing behind her. In a fit of panic, I stepped on her floor length dress, so she tripped.When she fell, she let out a high-pitched howl, echoing through the hallways. My father and mother came running to the crime scene.“What happened?” My mother knelt and helped a red-faced Biana up. She pointed to me.“I hate Fitz. He takes everything that’s mine!”I stared her down. “I didn’t take anything, and nothing belonged to you in the first place. Why can’t you understand I’m happy! Just move on, Bia.”Biana looked at me for a second with contempt, but she looked back down at the floor. My parents stared at each other and then back at us. I could see their questions written on their face, but they didn’t dare ask them in case they risked upsetting the balance of this house.My parents left the scene, leaving me and an upset Biana to ourselves. She looked at me.“I still don’t like that you’re dating Keefe.” She sniffed, wiping her runny noise. “But I’m still your sister. I’m not going to tell them anything. As of now.”I conjured a soft smile. “Thank you.”“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “And I’ll try to be openminded about being . . . queer, I guess. No promises, though. And only for Keefe.”I rolled my eyes. “Of course. But still, thank you.”She walked back to her room, her dress trailing behind her. For a moment, I was stunned. I flopped down on the carpeted hallway and wept. My heart was racing, my legs were shaking and my sexuality as too close to being revealed. I picked up my phone and said, “Hail Keefe,”A few minutes later, Keefe picked up, worry all over his beautiful face. “Fitz? Is everything alright? Did your parents find out?”I shook my head. “No, they didn’t. But they almost did. I’ve got so much to fill you in on.”I took myself and the conversation to my room. I nestled into the comfortable sheets and switched off the lights. The perfect atmosphere for a late-night conversation with your boyfriend. I filled him in on the evening’s events.“Woah! She switched up just like that?” Keefe lay down on his sheets. The moon lit up his face. “Any idea why?”“Not a clue. I just asked her, rhetorically, why she couldn’t just be happy for me. Then I swear I saw something in her eyes, and she came up to me and told me she was going to try to be more open minded.”“I’m so happy.” Keefe squealed and lay on his back, holding the imparter up, so I could get a clear view on his cloudy blue eyes. His blond hair fell on the pillow majestically. “I guess we won’t have to as secretive as before.”“Still, we have to be careful.” I said. “If anyone from Foxfire finds anything out, we’re dead.”“Yep, got it,” Keefe playfully saluted at me, grinning. “Are we still meeting Tuesday, after school for our date?”“Definitely.” I said. “I wouldn’t miss it, babe.”He laughed. “That’s good. I’ll be looking forward to it. Bye.”“Bye.” I cut the call, Fitz clicking away instantly. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Today was too eventful for my own good.As I lay down, the memories of the day bounced in my head. Images of my date, Biana being a terrible person, and her finally redeeming herself. I did my best to push the memories away. A few minutes later, I was out cold.
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“Sophie Foster is really interesting, you know that?” Keefe opened our conversation with this question, and I feigned not knowing who Sophie aside from our one encounter with Keefe. “Ah, suppose not, Fitz.”“Yeah. She seems nice enough though.” I spoke. Even without her ready scowl and ever-present glare, I felt the need to speak only good things of her.It was Tuesday morning, which, for every other person crowded in the hallway for announcements, was a regular day. But for me, it was a date with Keefe.As Dame Alina’s voices lulled the students into a half-lidded wake, my mind drifted to what our date would look like. We had chosen a spot near a cliff, overlooking a large expanse of water, with cherry blossoms blooming all around us; thanks to the Lost Cities’ advancements in technology, we were able to keep all the trees flowering, all the time. I hadn’t seen the place myself, but the starry-eyed gaze and dreamlike trance Keefe was in as he flailed his hands, explaining how it was the perfect place for a date made it easy to agree.***Lunchtime arrived fast. It was easy to look forward to it after a mind-numbing session of telepathy – pun intended. I stalked into the cafeteria, turning my head in all directions, looking for a carefully styled blond blob amongst the students.I caught Keefe a moment later. His eyes examined someone intensely, and I only realised who after tapping him on the shoulder. It was Sophie.“Ah. Hello, Sophie.” I said, but I wished I could take it back. I currently sounded like my father trying to greet the working-class citizens. Those conversations also involved much of “You must have some Mallowmelt – or is that not something available in Mysterium?”“Hi, Fitz,” said Sophie. She spoke cautiously, as if saying the name too loud would awaken an evil that she’d have to seal behind a mirror. Keefe glanced at the two of us and jumped in when he decided we’d been quiet too long.“You should sit with us.” Keefe said, throwing his arm around me.“You?”“Yeah.”“With Biana Vacker.”“That’s her name.”“Fine.” She grumbled. She made it a point to show off her dislike toward my sister. As much as I was supposed to be nice, I agreed with Sophie. Biana could be a conniving, life ruining sub-elf, but I didn’t see how Sophie would know that.Sophie took slow, stretched out steps, leaving the canteen to stare at us as she walked by. I turned away my red face. Usually, this sort of attention would be like a fly in the wall, but this time, with me now dating Keefe, the thought of people staring me down made the hairs of my neck stand up.Sophie seated herself away from Biana, failing to hide her disdain. Upon seeing Sophie, Biana moved her tray of pink goo away from her, the food jiggling as she did. I sat next to Biana and Keefe.“I can’t stand Lady Alexine.” Keefe snorted, igniting the spark to a currently dead conversation. “She wants me to fail, I think. Had me turning a baby sasquatch into gold. That poor animal!”“You know, in the Forbidden Cities, we’d call that animal abuse.” Sophie said, a shadow of a smile on her face.Keefe grinned. “Makes sense.” He forked around his food. “How was it like? Living there?”My heart hammered in my ears; similar to how Keefe could make me feel when he flashed me his signature smirk, followed by a smile. But this time, I was keeping something from him, and that felt wrong.“It’s much less glamorous.” She stole a glance at me. “School is different. Houses are different. Transportation is different. Science is different, and that bothers me most.”“How is science different?” Biana asked indignantly, as if somehow, she was the human-stupidity expert.Sophie didn’t look at her once. “We - erm, they – have a different understanding of what everything means. No light leaping, and absolutely no whirlpools. All of this is like magic. It’s like those fantasy books I read as a kid.”“Fantasy books?” Keefe perked up. “What’s that?”Sophie’s mouth was agape. “You don’t know what fantasy is? Percy Jackson, Momo Arashima? Six of Crows? What do you read here?”“Textbooks.” I said, scarfing down the last bite of my lunch.“No novels? No picture books? No graphic novels? Magazines? Anything.” Sophie asked, her eyes nearly popping out of her sockets.“I don’t know what half those words mean.” Keefe mumbled. He looked toward me, and I feigned confusion.“Maybe you should go steal some.” Biana laughed.“Sounds like a date.” Keefe whispered under his breath, but I just heard it.***“Oh, Keefe,” I breathed in the air. “It’s beautiful.”Keefe’s description didn’t do the place justice. Carpeting the ground were petals of cherry blossoms, pink, like stolen kisses. The sky was streaked with clouds, like some has swept their paint-stained hand through the blue. The cliff overlooked bubbling waters, the waves conversing in small crashes against the rocks.Keefe lay out a picnic blanket, the classic red and white plaid, kicking some of the petals and revealing a perfect green underneath. He had leapt home to fetch the picnic basket he was unpacking now. Mallowmelt, lushberry juice and sweetberry scrolls.“I made the scrolls, by the way,” Keefe lay everything out, so we were in the middle of the blanket, knees touching as we sat cross-legged. Everything about him was beautiful. The way he spoke words as if he thought carefully about what he said. The way listened, with his full attention, thigh bobbing and smile on his face, as if he cared about what I said. “They’re probably not as good as yours, but it still doesn’t taste that bad.”“Let’s test that theory.” I said, grabbing a scroll. From the outside, it looked like a slightly messier version of mine. Instead of the neat drizzles in straight lines, Keefe’s were curvy, and some had more than others. And, aside from that, the scrolls themselves were deformed. But one whiff would tell you he had the recipe down. I bit into it, the familiar taste bombarding my mouth. Good.” I said with a mouthful.“That’s there at least,” he took a bite of them himself and exclaimed, “I might just beat you in baking, Fitzy.”I laughed and leaned toward him, our bodies so close I could hear his heartbeat, fast and furious. I could see the wisps of blond hair that blew when the wind played hide and seek. I could see the million shades in his blue eyes.Half-lidded, I pulled him close in a gentle kiss.
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Keefe pushed out a small gasp as I pushed my lips against his. His lips were soft and pink. Leftover frosting framed his lips stuck to my skin. He tasted like Sweetberry Scrolls and felt like heaven. He tilted his lips down and put his hands in my hair, combing his fingers through it, turning it up like a rockstar.I grabbed his other hand and him by surprise. Tugging at it and wrapping it around my waist. I felt cherry blossoms blow into us, but my eyes were closed, so I could only imagine the pink and red of their freshly fallen petals.When we pulled apart, our cheeks matched the colour of sky now, pink and turning red. We breathed gently out of sync, but our hearts thundered together against each other’s chests. I opened my eyes gently, part excited, part scared to see his expression. Pure bliss, etched all over his beautiful face, bringing a childlike joy his strong features.“Was that okay?” I whispered, and the words were almost lost to wind, but Keefe heard me.“More than okay,” he shuddered a laugh. “For Bronte’s sake, that was amazing. Where’d you learn to be such a good kisser? Practicing, eh?”“Human movies,” I muttered, remembering how I’d used to sneak into the theatres to follow a lead for who Sophie was.Keefe raised an eyebrow and one side of his mouth. He brought his thumb to my cheek and stroked my jaw. I willed my face not to twitch, but I couldn’t stop the obnoxious hammering of my heart, trying to escape my chest and be claimed by him. So close, I saw his eyelashes, as blond as his hair and how they framed his blue eyes perfectly. Even by elf standards, Keefe was easily the most beautiful boy who’d walked this earth.I grabbed one of the scrolls and devoured them. I had picked at lunch earlier, and Keefe’s scrolls were delicious.“Fitz?” Keefe said, and it sounded as if his voice weren’t used to speaking, rusty and scratchy, but still as deep as the blue of the waters below us.“Yeah?” I stared into his eyes with an intensity only matched by how I felt for him.“How have you been defining yourself?” Keefe spoke in a hushed tone, as if he were afraid of being heard, but the words still had to be said. I felt my features morph into confusion.“What do you mean?” I spoke. Keefe’s face twisted into one of agony, his lips pressed together and biting hard, his eyes and forehead scrunched together, and he inhaled deeply.“I mean, now that we know we like each other . . . I don’t know what my sexuality is.” He sighed and turned away, like an angry toddler, but this time, I could only see shame and embarrassment dancing across his features. It didn’t suit him at all.I stayed quiet a minute, organising my thoughts like flashcards. Zipping through my mind were sexualities that I’d heard of. Until now, I’d just used the term queer. Was I queer? I mean, yes, I belonged to the queer community, but was that my sexuality?“I know I like women.” I answered, but it was just me thinking aloud. “And I like men.” I gazed affectionately at him, in hopes to heighten his moods, but aside from the dashing smile he offered me, he was still upset. “I think I’m going to label myself as queer for now. I honestly don’t think I’m bi, and I’m certainly not gay, so I think that’s what works best for me. What about you, Keefe?”Keefe turned back to me know, and fresh tears were brimming in his eyes. I put my fingers against his cheek, tears cold against his warm skin.“I don’t even want to think about this.” Keefe sniffed. He wiped away the tears with his sleeve, voice wavering and he kept clearing his throat, as if he were trying to get a hairball out. “But . . . I think I might be bisexual.”I broke out in a wide grin, my cheeks hurting from how far my mouth was stretching. I couldn’t help but let out a giggle. Then a laugh. Then I was lying on the blanket and had pulled Keefe down next to me and my chest and stomach hurt.“I’m glad you were able to come out to your boyfriend.” I teased. Keefe rolled his eyes but the dusting of pink his cheeks had now was impossible to miss.“I’m glad too.”We lie on the picnic blanket as if we were making snow angels on a winter’s noon. Sun shone upon us and right into our eyes. I turned to my side to face Keefe. He merely tilted his head toward me. From the side, I could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest as I breathed and his hair fluttering in the wind. He looked like a Greek God.Suddenly, I heard a chiming from my pocket. I sat up immediately, the air of blissfulness now gone. Keefe sat up too and rubbed his eyes. I saw my father hailing me and picked it up immediately.“Hello?” I spoke softly into the imparter, my father’s face illuminating the screen. “I’m with Keefe.”His expression changed to a more guarded one, eyes half-lidded and lips in a thin line. He let out a breath as he spoke.“It’s late. Get home, Fitz.” He spoke. I gulped and stammered through a reply and cut the call. Keefe stared at me with worried eyes.“Everything good?” He asked hesitantly. He reached a hand and put it on mine.“Probably,” I said, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice. “He probably just wants me home to study or something.”Keefe nodded and got up. In a few minutes, we had tucked the picnic blanket and food neatly in the basket. Keefe took it in his hand. I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek.“Thank you,” I said. “Today was fun. I’ll update you on my dad.”I held my pathfinder into the light and disappeared with it, the beautiful cliff disappearing into the hard, blinding gates of Everglen. I entered as silently as I could, trying to set off my father’s temper.“Ah. Fitz.” He swung around in his chair, as if he were a goofy villain in a Dreamworks movie.“Yeah?” I said, sitting opposite him. “What’s happening?”“Biana has informed me that you have been getting very close to Sophie Foster.” He raised an eyebrow. “Closer than I instructed you to be.”It took everything in me not to sprawl on the floor, gasping in-between fits of laughter. But instead, I sat in stunned silence for a moment before stumbling through a reply.“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”Anger flickered in his eyes for a moment. I could almost see the red in his vision. But his mood settled, shadows sculpting his now weary expression. “Be careful Fitz. Now is not the time to pursue Sophie Foster. Maybe when she isn’t so scrutinised in the public eye. It’s just not worth it.”
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“The Great Splotching Championship?” Keefe’s jaw was on the floor. “How did I forget about that? It’s today!”Keefe said this as the two of us strode into Foxfire. Tired mentors paraded the halls, banners in their hand an assortment of colours and the same text on everyone: THE GREAT SPLOTCHING CHAMPIONSHIP.The bags under Keefe’s eyes ruined his perfect face. He looked miserable now and kept muttering about how his hair would suffer under his breath.“I’m too fruity for this,” he groaned. I shook my head and kept my laugh to myself.From a small distance, huddled behind some prodigies were Sophie and her friend. I believe his name was Deck? What a strange name, but I chose to be accepting anyway. Deck was complaining, I was sure. I could tell from his elaborate arm movements that and sweeping gestures that ended in him slapping his forehead. Sophie stood motionless as he talked.We made our way to our Phys Ed dome, and then we filed into the locker room. From a young age, I was forced to go the prison that is human locker rooms. It smelt like a genetic modification between Mountain Dew and gym socks.Locker rooms in the Lost Cities, however, were equivalent to a five-star hotel by human standards. A vanity, to store all your hair and skincare needs and a personal shower, the colour of freshly fallen snow.I changed quickly into my uniform, and styled my hair so I looked like a retired rockstar. One glance at my steamy mirror and I knew I was ready to go out.Keefe met me outside in his uniform, flaunting his smirk but he reserved his gentle smile for me. He looked different now. It was as if he’d tore his hands through his hair, droplets of water still on his forehead. He was wearing the same uniform as I, but he looked like a football pro with his chiselled jawline and athletic build. I looked like the kid in glasses with a poster of him in my bedroom.The matches began the moment we stepped out. Teachers were for once excited about something, and the energy was infectious. I was paired up with numerous members of my level I hadn’t known. A person named Ain said they’d, and I quote, “Destroy me once and for all.” Reader, he lost.Keefe and I hadn’t yet been paired up with each other. But we nearly were. I paired instead with Estelle. She was a short girl with black hair and bloodshot eyes, no matter what. Many said behind her back, some to her face, that if she’d bothered to clean up a little, she’d be the school’s heartbreaker, only defeated by Keefe.The first of the sentiment was an insult disguised as love. The second was completely true. Keefe in fact was the Foxfire’s designated heartbreaker, no matter what level you were at.Estelle played a good game. She served well, the splotcher nearly flying to my face. But I caught it with my mind, and with an expression of steel, shot it right back at her. Again, she caught it, and waited no time before she shot it back. Ah. Time. That's her weakness, for lacks the knowledge of how to utilise it.I grabbed this opportunity by the horns and caught the splotcher, but I waited before throwing it. I could see veins popping from her face, odourless perspiration trailing down her cheek. And when she least expected it, I threw it at her. Her face covered in bright pink goo; she was escorted off the court.But soon, there was commotion, as the teachers spoke in hushed tones and suddenly, Sophie Foster was moved up to my level, still rocking her younger-level uniform. She was shorter than Estelle and bony, and no one who looked at her expected anything much. Keefe and I tiptoed toward her during a match.“Mysterious Ms. F,” Keefe teased her, then threw an arm around her shoulders. “Somehow, you’re the talk of the town again. Moved up to us cool kids?”“Not as cool as Dex.” She said, in a pitiful attempt to include her friend. Dex, not Deck, apparently.“That's subjective.” Keefe slipped his arm from her and shoved it in his short's pockets. So, I hear you’re versing me next. Good luck. Rumours say I’m good at what I do.”“Rumours are the last place I would go for information,” Sophie snorted, and with that, Keefe and Sophie were called onto the match.They circled each other in a human wrestling-style manor, Keefe constantly slicking his hair back up and Sophie just letting her fair hair hang loose, obscuring her features. Sophie took the splotcher with her mind, face and face contorting as if it were a ball. Keefe stood opposite in his cool demeanour. But, when Sophie splatted the splotcher against Keefe, his mind didn’t stand a chance, and admittedly, he looked pathetic and the goo stuck to his face, clumps of hair and eyelashes. I could see his jaw drop. A mentor grabbed Sophie’s hand and held it to the sky.“Winner!” She said, and the crowd of onlookers gasped, the most comedic gasp I’d ever heard. Sophie looked uncomfortable with all the attention, trying to wriggle away from the mentor’s grasp, but no, the mentor’s periwinkle eyes were glaring down at Sophie when she tried.Soon, I was announced to against Sophie. The final two. Every year level watched in anticipation, every mentor waiting with bated breath. I tried to emit confidence, but I failed, and I scampered onto the court, only equipped with my mind.Sophie looked bored with this now. But I knew she would spare no mercy to me. So, I spared none for her.I was handed the splotcher. Pink, Keefe had screamed from the crowd and Sophie had agreed to it.“Take Fitz down!” Keefe yelled from the sidelines.“Some best friend you are,” I said, but my smile was wide, and I knew “best friend” was a massive lie. Judging from his wry smile, so did he.“Go!” The mentor blew the whistle, and I held the splotcher with my mind, playing around with it, a sure tactic to freak out my opponents.I willed the splotcher forward with my mind. I spoke into my mind, like it was a machine and I controlled it, rather than the mess of emotions and thoughts it truly was.I projected the thoughts in the form of energy into my hands, and my hands transferred the energy into the wind and onto the splotcher. But instead, being met in the middle by a force of the similar kind, it felt as if Sophie’s mind was expanding. Bigger, bigger, bigger until our forces collided. I rebounded hard, hitting my head against the floor, and the world turned dark.
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I’ve always been told darkness is one, unified and a force to be reckoned with. But darkness is the burning out of an unmapped star, the only proof it’s there being what’s now not. Today, the darkness pressed against my face like a million wriggling worms, before crawling away and allowing me to peel my eyes open.“Whermiwhathappened?” My words were a strung together mess of syllables. Light glared at my irises as Elwin peered forward with his glasses.“Right on cue,” he marvelled, checking me over. He squinted and muttered under his breath, but the words were unintelligible. “Some splotching match, huh?”“Will he be, okay?” Sophie’s voice cut through the ringing in my head. It was quivering and soft, like he genuinely meant it.“Of course. If he weren’t, Bullhorn would be freaking out right now. Or worse, lying next to him.” Elwin laughed. “Banshees can sense when someone’s in mortal danger. If Bullhorn is fine, then so is Fitz.”“This is my fault,” Sophie said, even though we didn’t know how true that was. But she was likely right.“What did you do during the match?” Elwin asked, curious eyes dancing behind his glasses.“I don’t know,” Sophie admitted. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but my words came out a garbled mess.“How are you feeling?” Elwin pressed a cold compress against my forehead, causing a sting to pass through my body. He flashed his coloured lights in my eyes.“I’ve been better,” I said softly. “My head is screaming at me and my back hurts.”“Yeah, it was a pretty nasty fall,” Elwin muttered, changing his light from green to a gentle lavender.“Wait, how did you know?” Sophie said sharply. “You would’ve been here.”“News travels fast in Foxfire.” He shrugged but there was a wide, maniacal grin stretching across his face. Sophie flushed completely red, but I could see the smile she was fighting. Sophie Foster, new girl from the Forbidden Cities, beat Fitz Vacker, golden boy of the Vacker family. I could see how people would eat that up.Elwin handed us each a blue vial. “Here. Take these. It’ll ease the pain, but you’ll feel stiff tomorrow.” I drank vial in one gulp, and my pain had vanished. Judging from the colour in Sophie’s cheeks, she felt the same way.“What exactly happened during the match?” Elwin said, as if he were a detective.“I don’t know.” I spoke. “I was pushing my force and then it’s like it hit Sophies and then I woke up here.” That was a very short, much less painful version than the one I’d lived through.“Rebounded?” Elwin said, eyes popping out of his sockets.“I felt that too,” Sophie offered.“Nah. It couldn’t be.” Elwin said, as if his thoughts were a mess in his mind that he was trying to sort out.“Couldn’t be what?” Sophie asked, as if she were part of a horror movie. I half expected a dun-dun-dunnnn!“It sounds like when someone does a brain push,” he said the last words slowly. My eyes widened. A brain push? Impossible. But so was Sophie. “It’s when you use mental energy instead of core energy for telekinesis. Plenty easier but it takes ages to learn. That’s why only the Ancients can pull it off.”Sophie’s face went pale. “Doesn’t telekinesis always use mental energy?”“Telekinesis uses mental control.” Elwin corrected, a strange expression on his face. “Not mental energy. Your consciousness controls the energy. Where it goes, how much you send. But the energy ultimately comes from your core.”“Why would mental energy and core energy rebound?”Elwin shrugged. “It just doesn’t mix. Not meant to be, I guess.”The hairs on my neck stood on end. I opened my mouth to offer my input, but Sophie beat me to it.“Is it something you can do by accident?” She said quietly. Great. Way to be subtle, Sophie.“Not a chance,” Elwin’s reply was quick. “I’m guessing that you and Fitz were just evenly matched – exactly evenly – and that caused you to fly across the room. Which is still weird, don’t get me wrong. You’re extremely young to have energy that matches Fitz. Speaking of which, I think you have something to worry about.” He turned to me, my face flushing red. “You’ve just been beat by a Level Two.”Elwin looked a little too happy, in my eyes, but I plastered a smile. Not that it mattered, because Sophie was looking away with fiery cheeks, matching mine. The more I thought about what Elwin said, the more it worried me. Could it really have been a brain push? I knew I couldn’t do a brain push yet, I’d tried when I was younger and failed spectacularly, but Sophie was the new variable. Something unseen. And given her upbringing. It’s entirely possible.I locked eyes with her, finally, and it seemed she was revelling in her victory. Whatever. It’s not like I use those punishment pardons anyway. Sophie, however, was going to need it. I have a feeling.“You two are cleared for sessions.” He handed us a slip each, a flimsy paper in bright pink. “Take it easy, though.” He locked eyes with Sophie. “I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”***I was quiet the walk from the healing centre all the way to the auditorium. Nothing personal, but I was thinking about the stuff that happened earlier. Sophie, however, was shaking like a leaf the entire walk down, and I was too caught up in my personal problems to care about.“Yes, yes, welcome, Sophie and Fitz,” Sir Caton said, annoyance shadowing his features. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.He tried to call everyone back into an orderly fashion, but he might as well have tried to calm a banshee with anxiety. Everyone got up and crowded around Sophie and me.Biana threw her hands around me and squeezed so much I winced. If I didn’t know better, I’d take it as a death threat. It was a cute moment though, until Keefe did the same, squeezing my bones and nuzzling his face in my neck. I pushed his gently blushing. We can do that later, the gentle thought floated around my mind.“Beat by a level two,” Keefe said, after he blew extremely exaugurated kissy faces at me.“It was a tie,” I said, blushing again.“Please,” Keefe snorted. “She totally kicked your butt.”“True that,” she flashed a grin.“Totally,” Deck smiled. Or was it Dack? Desk? I wondered what the DIzznee parents were thinking, naming their child after furniture. He looked a little too happy at my defeat.“The mentors declared you winner.” Keefe grinned. “That means you get one pardon from punishment. If you don’t want it, I’ll be happy to take it off your hands.” Keefe made several grabby hands motions.“Keefe! Dex! Everyone around Sophie and Fitz! You are not excused from this session.”“Well, that’s our cue to leave,” Keefe said, pouting. “I’ll catch you later, taters.”Keefe blew air kisses at us, causing Sir Caton to yell, again.We both sat in the stands as the Foxfire students practiced with their splotches. Colourful paints were splattered on uniforms that were once pristine.“Why aren’t you and Biana friends?” I said suddenly, surprising both Sophie and I.“We haven’t really talked. She seems busy with her own friends.” Though Sophie said this, it sounded like she meant: Your sister is subhuman. Or should I say, Sub-elf. She’s far too caught up in boy drama and hair curlers to be remotely the type of person I’d hang out with.“Any Level Two that can hold her own against Fitz is the clear winner.” Lady Alexine congratulated me. I grinned at her. I couldn’t be bothered when I was also getting praised. “Do you recall what happened during the match?”“No, we both have no idea.” She spoke. “It’s like we rebounded.”“Interesting.” she said. “I will think on this.”
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“I thought a date might be a good idea after getting totally beat by a Level Two.” Keefe said, when we met up at his house. I’d waltzed in early, sporting a T-shirt that read: LOST MY BRAINCELL. CALL IF FOUND and blue jeans. When I arrived, Keefe was haphazardly styling his hair, which abnormal for him. He considered his hair a ritual of love. To speed it up might as well have said he didn’t care for his hair, and that was far from true. Keefe, as usual, managed to flaunt his signature smirk paired with a tank top and some jean shorts, prominently displaying his athletic build.When I didn’t jam my gaping mouth shut, Keefe pushed my chin to my upper jaw and winked at me. As he did so, the gold chain he wore dangled forward, and I could see a multitude of rings on his fingers, of all colours. Today he had painted his nails black. He didn’t strike me as the type to go for black nails, but it starkly complemented the rainbow that was his nails.“If you wanted me to dress up, you could’ve just said so.” I tried copying his smirk, thinking about how drab I looked in comparison. Keefe took my hand, and realisation burned my cheeks as he read my emotions.“You fine as hell in that.” Keefe said, soothing my racing heart.“Where did you even find this?” I laughed.“Stole from your house.”“Keefe!”I laughed and raced him to the vortinator. As we hopped on, Keefe squeezed my hand. The world around us sped up at least fifty times, but, in a matter of mere seconds, were on the ground floor. But, instead of rushing out the door to leap, we were greeted by a cold face, smiling at us, mock shadowing the features.“Dad.” Keefe said, stiffening with the sentiment. “Fitz and I were just heading off.”“Where are you going, Keefe?” Lord Cassius narrowed his eyes, gaze sharpening. He hadn’t even acknowledged my presence. “And more importantly, when will you be back?”“I’ll be gone the afternoon.” Keefe said, his body relaxing, but his expression remained guarded. With that, he grabbed my hand and pushed me out the door. Him and I nearly collapsed in a heap on the grass. When I turned back to look at him, he regained his usual happy expression, albeit with some cloudiness behind his eyes.Keefe grabbed my hand and muttered into the pathfinder a place I didn’t hear, and soon we were transported into a whole new world.Shrubbery and bushes attacked me as I reformed from the light, and I nearly stumbled on the boulders that we had leaped to. The place looked like an untamed jungle, but as if someone had painted it, so it didn’t really look untamed, just like someone had imitated the nature of a forest. No, this was different kind of beauty, secluded and secret, tucked away from people and overlooking the clearest water body I’d seen in the Forbidden Cities.“Ta da! I thought we could pick a place in the Forbidden Cities. And researching places in the Forbidden Cities is hard because, well you know . . . we’re elves.” Keefe grinned like an excited toddler. “Welcome to Initao National Park, in the Philippines. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Is it said Pill-ip-eins?”I was too awestruck to answer. Keefe had illegally leaped us to the Forbidden Cities. For a date! I was mentally yelling about how I was in love with him, but managed a calm exterior, with softness behind my eyes. “I think it’s Fill-ip-eens, Keefe.”Keefe smiled and sat down on one of the boulders, lodging his foot in-between another two smaller ones. I managed to squeeze in, centimetres away from the edge of the jagged rock. It reminded me of a sword.Keefe pulled around a few treats from his pockets. “I didn’t think we’d effectively fit a whole picnic basket, so I got us some prattles.”“It’s perfect.” I said, blushing as he handed me one. Our fingers touched, and I had to remind myself not to pull back. Even with how much I like Keefe, touching him, while knowing he could know what I feel, felt daunting.I opened the prattle packaging and popped it into my mouth, my tongue relaxing at the sweet sensation that acted as a beacon of hope. “A kraken,” I marvelled, pulling out the pin. “That’s not too bad, is it? How rare is it?”Keefe shrugged. “No idea, but I reckon I think he’s Krakie.”“What?”“That’s his name. Krakie.”“I wouldn’t expect anything less of you.” I said this affectionately, Keefe returning the look in my eyes.A shadow. My peripheral vision, sharp as a knife, caught it flying around us. But it was gone just as it came, and I was left, dumbstruck with a worrying Keefe questioning me.“What’s wrong?” He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and kissing my cheek. I glanced around me, and sighed, resigned, when no shadow appeared.“Nothing. I think I’m seeing things.” I mumbled, picking up another prattle but not opening it. Another shadow, this time I whipped around hard enough to destabilise myself on the boulder. I fell painfully, a sharp rock digging into my lower back. I yelped in pain, and Keefe rushed to me immediately. But this time he caught eyes with what I did. A man, clearly human, evident by the wrinkles that reminded me of brain dissections back when I still looked for Sophie, all over his body. He hadn’t noticed our presence and leaped away, but not before he muttered something.“Florence.” He said this and gone was he, with a flash of blue light. The flash was sharp and pricked my eyes and tickled my brain. I winced and leant on Keefe.“Florence?” Keefe mumbled. “Is that a human name or something?”“I have a feeling that’s not what he’s talking about.” I said, rubbing my temples. “Keefe, I need to go home right now. I need to tell my dad about this. He’ll kill me if I don’t.”I saw a desolate look across Keefe’s features, and only then did I realise I was cutting our date short. I opened my mouth to interject but he was already up and holding the pathfinder with one hand and holding mine with the other.“Everglen.” He whispered and gone were we, with a flash of light.
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We appeared in front of Everglen’s gates, the light blinding us. I hissed in surprise, nearly knocking over Keefe, who was also temporarily impaired due to the estate’s protection measures. Keefe managed to elbow me in the ribs, and then was when we tumbled to the ground crashing into the grass, Keefe on top of me. I flushed a deep shade of red, but Keefe seemed to enjoy this, a sly grin on his face.“I guess you’re falling for me, huh?” He winked, flashing a perfect smile.“Ironic since you fell on top of me.” I snorted, causing him to roll his eyes.I jumped to my feet, pulling Keefe up with me. He ran his hands through his hair, finger combing it to perfection, and adjusted the chains on his neck. Then, we entered Everglen.“It looks the same as ever.” He casually remarked, taking long, confident strides through the hallways. I, however, was a nervous wreck, shivering in my jeans and shaking like a leaf in the rain. My father would be pissed, and that was an understatement.We arrived at a room that Keefe hadn’t been inside before, but I had. Every time I had to report of the mysterious girl we hadn’t found at the time, I was here. Every time I had to skip school to go on missions, it would start here. Keefe knew it as Alden’s office, I knew it as a place where things could go terribly wrong.I raised my fingers to knock, but then turned to Keefe. “Maybe you should stay in my room for now. He’ll only get angrier that I’ve brought someone without permission.”He nodded, not asking for further explanation. He pecked me on the cheek and skittered to my room. After all, he knew the way.This time, I knocked on the floor. Silence for a beat. “Come in,” he said.I entered the room, snapping the door shut gently behind me. The room was a mess of papers and scrolls and folders strewn across the floor and desk. I maneuverered myself carefully. Despite my attempts at being considerate. I managed to trip on a file and plummet to the ground. I groaned as my body made impact with the floor. My father offered only a raised eyebrow and a curious half-smile.I stood up, flushing red and took a seat on the other side of his desk, much like how Dame Alina would position students when they came into her office. I was told this by Keefe, who frequented her office due to (not) his pranks.“Yes, Fitz?” My father said, arching his fingers and tapping them on the table.I took a deep breath, my heart thundering in my chest. “I saw something strange today.”Another silence. “Would you like to elaborate or should I guess.”As if I couldn’t get more pink. “I was in the Forbidden Cities-”“You were where?” Alden’s voice rose in both octave and pitch. “Fitz. What is the one rule elves have about the Forbidden Cities?”“Don’t go there.” I parroted the rules, slinking to myself.“And where did you go?” He said this, eyeing me, and I felt so small, I thought I might’ve have dissipated right then. I didn’t say anything, just hanging my head low so I couldn’t make eye contact with my father.“I don’t understand why you would go there.” I lifted my head as he narrowed his eyes.“I just wanted to see the pretty sights.” I said pathetically. Only half a lie. “When I was there, I saw his wrinkly old human light leap.”My father’s focus was taken off me. With widened eyes, he said. “Give the time and exact location.”I was red in the face with my embarassment. “I don’t know.”“Don’t know what?”“The exact location.”“Then how did you get there?”“Keefe took me.”That evoked a reaction from my father. He looked away and then pointedly back at me. “You snuck out of the Lost Cities . . . with your friend?” He said coldly. I had the urge to correct him to boyfriend, but I glued my mouth shut. “It’s one thing to go there yourself, but to take an elf with you? Fitz, did you think? Better yet, do you have a brain?”Silence. I knew opening my mouth would only result in disaster, and I’d done these enough times so I could control my flighty temper.“What did you do there?” He asked. I gulped.“We were out of human sight-”“Clearly not.” My father interrupted. I hung my head.“Right. Sorry. We took some food with us and just sat on the rocks and ate.” I left out the romantic parts of it, despite them being my favourite. When we looked into each other eyes and his face fit in my view like a key clicking into a lock. “But then I saw this wrinkly man light leap over the water – we were next to a lake – and then he was gone.”Alden stroked his chin. “Are you sure this was a human?”“Absolutely. He looked like an old human person.” What was the word for it? Senior citizen? Grandpa?“I’ll look into it.” Alden said, huffing in his chair. I imagined a new spread of paper of the floor. He showed me out. But before he shut the door he whispered. “I will discuss the punishment with your mother.”And with that, the door was shut and any trace that I was ever inside was left to memory. Instead of standing there and contemplating life again, I skittered to my room, where Keefe was lounging on my bed, winking at a handheld mirror. He turned to me when I entered, cheek squished against the pillow.“How did it go with Daddy Dearest. No wait, that’s my dad’s nickname. Come up with your own.” Keefe said.I sighed. “Oh, how you bully me.”“You know it.” He finger gunned at me.“It went fine,” I said, sitting on the bed. “He’s going to punish me, but that’s a later problem.”Keefe laughed. “Look at you, pushing aside problems. You’re learning. From me.”I grinned.“A problem for tomorrow.”
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A note for past Fitz: Don’t take advice from Keefe.Punishment had taken place in the form of scooping questionable substances, as Grady put it, on his sanctuary. Sophie wasn’t aware that I was even here. Busy studying for Alchemy, Grady had said.I donned my least favourite outfit, which was also a human one. Grady had looked at me funny when I appeared in it but said nothing. Edaline had come out and, after a few minutes of conversation, dragged her husband inside the house. Something about losing a teapot, she said.I held a scoop in my hand and sucked in my breath, trying not to take in the scent. I understood why my father had wanted me to do this job. It was going to make me pass out. Lesson learnt, daddy-o.I was knee deep (yes, literally), in the poop when a light flashed suddenly, just in my periphery. I looked around, eyes darting everywhere. What was it? I didn’t know. The light had appeared too far away. And while elves didn’t need corrective lenses, I would’ve paid for glasses right there just to see what it was.I continued scooping. I decided that, if anyone dangerous was lurking these parts, Verdi poop was enough to scare them away. Just in case, I wielded a scoop. It was unlikely though. I reminded myself that elves were far too moral to engage in such petty crime. As entertaining as it was, it was for humans alone.“Boo!” I voice said, right next to my ear. I didn’t think. My reflexes kicked it, grabbing the scoop and flying it in the direction of the mystery person. They gasped and ducked, a figure just beyond my eyesight. I turned around and saw a very stunned Keefe.“Hello to you too?” He laughed. “What was that Fitz? You’re a real sasquatch. You have the poop to prove it.”I scoffed, bringing down my weapon and loading my sarcasm like a gun. “Ha, ha. You’re hilarious. If nobility doesn’t work out for you, find a career as a comedian in Atlantis, won’t you?”“Only if you’d be my partner in crime.” He smirked.“What crime would you possibly commit?” I snorted. “I mean, if making a fool of yourself was one, you’d be in exile already.”“Pranking the school is one thing. But pranking nobility in the streets of stuffy Atlantis? They’d name a new law after me!”“Definitely normal dreams and aspirations to have, Keefe.”He rolled his eyes and flashed me a winning smile. “So, this is daddy’s punishment, huh? Ah well, sounds like something Cassie would’ve thought of himself! Bravo! Three cheers for neglectful dads!” He cheered so loudly I feared Grady would come and call Cassius down.“What are you doing here?” I shushed him, eyes darting around us. He smirked.“I heard from a little birdie that you’d be here, serving your time.” Keefe said, flicking his half cape. “Of topic, but love the outfit, babe.”I attired a pair of wrinkly pink shorts that were up to my midthigh, which splashes of the runnier poop all over it. My legs were bare and gangly and had drying poop stuck to it. A hot shower was first on my list of things to do when I got home. My top was old and torn and in big blue lettering, read: TALK NERDY TO ME. Keefe kept looking down at it and cracking up, though he not so swiftly covered it with a cough.“Okay, Mr. Freshly-ironed-jerkin-and-suit-pants.” And it was true. He was wearing a hot ironed jerkin and pants that came straight from Atlantis. What I loved most about his fashion sense, however, was how he adorned himself in jewellery. Rings on every finger, some with snakes and some with suns. All different colours. He wore three things on his neck. A chain and two necklaces and they hung at different levels. And his multiple earrings.“You’re a menace.” He huffed, hiding a smile.“Says the one breaking and entering.”“It’s called visiting a friend, ahem, Fitz.” Keefe said, mimicking the action of pushing glasses up his nose. “Perspective.”“Perspective, eh?” Said someone behind us. I only just noticed a shadow, and when Keefe and I turned around, a vein bulging from his face. “Guess what mine is.”Grady. He had probably heard Keefe and come to check out what was happening. I stared wide eyed, fluid gathering in my eyes, and Keefe just smiled and waved.“I’m Keefe Sencen.” Keefe said, and if I could speak, I would’ve asked him if he had a death wish.“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Grady said, humouring Keefe. The blond in question shrugged.“Well, it’s about time.” Keefe said, grinning more. I still couldn’t move, but Grady looked like he might commit a violent crime.“What are you doing in my house?” The air had turned frigid, like his voice, like his eyes. “Answer me, boy.”“I came to visit my friend.” Keefe said, lying through his teeth. “And help him clean the poop sir.”Grady considered this. Ultimately, he shook his head. “I don’t believe you got my permission to.”Keefe shrugged. “We’ve never met, remember?”That made Grady see red. “What’s your name?”“Ben Dover.”I nearly slapped my forehead. I regretted teaching Keefe human jokes more than ever now. Grady wrinkled his forehead. “Don’t disrupt my house again.”Keefe saluted and turned to me. “I’ll see later, bestie.” He leaped away.Grady turned to me and examined me. I had stood there, frozen in shock the entire time. “Don’t invite friends over without asking me first, alright?”“Understood,” I forced out, my lip quivering. He nodded. I only saw it now. His tired eyes. The dark bags under them. It hit me only now. They weren’t used to having visitors over. Not anymore. A wave of sympathy flooded inside me, accompanied by one of regret, even if I hadn’t invited Keefe over directly.“Thanks, Fitz.” He sighed. “Do what you can in the next fifteen minutes. Your father was pretty clear about when he wanted you home.”
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I physically reacted when my tongue was graced with one of Elwin’s choices for a locker, which tasted like my vomit and saliva had a baby with high cholesterol. The taste singed my tongue a tad and had me airing my tongue in the open air when I was sure no one was watching. I fetched my thinking cap from my locker, just in time to catch Keefe. He threw his arm around me and pressed my side against his. He reached for my head and ruffled my hair. I scowled and reached for his, but he grabbed my hand instead, locking me in a position that looked like he was about to press a kiss to my hand. I panicked and slapped him across the face.“Ouch, dude, you suck.” He said emphatically, rubbing his cheek. I saw it going red in real time. I was about to suggest Elwin, but Dame Alina cut me off.“Hello, students. I hope you’ve had a restful night’s sleep because today, midterms commence. If you haven’t already, get your thinking caps from your lockers. Good luck.” Her voice disappeared and the room went back to its lively chatter.“Excited for midterms,” Keefe smirked. “Babe?”He added the last bit so quietly I was unsure if I heard it myself. I blushed. “Not here, Keefe. We’ll get caught.”“Oh, don’t be such a killjoy. I know you enjoy it.”“I won’t enjoy getting caught and skinned alive by my dad.” I hissed. “But I have to go to exams now. I have telepathy first.”“Oh, ew. I have the Universe.” He imitated a fit of puking, but then he turned to me with those heartwarming smiles. “You’re the only star in my universe, babe.”“Please leave.”“Yes, sir.”He skittered down the hallway. I watched him. I knew Keefe liked to think we were popular and the coolest people in Foxfire, complete with the girls paying their kidneys to kiss us, but I simply couldn’t believe it to be true. How could I? I was the weird Vacker kid who missed most of my classes, and Keefe was the ultimate prankster who tried (and failed) to keep secret. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we weren’t popular. We definitely did have our share of fangirls (no fanboys and other fanthems as far as I’m aware, I’m afraid), but it wasn’t comparable to Keefe’s false narrative.I stepped into my Telepathy room, and I felt my heart pick up pace. The room was almost completely dark, and inside it was my beady eyed mentor, who snaked a finger for me to come close. I sat on the seat opposite her, the comfy cushions no comfort.“Welcome, Fitz. Are you ready for your examination?” She spoke. I nodded, unable to control my vocal cords. She smiled. “Good. Today you will be–”A knock on the door. I ripped my eyes from her and watch the door. She laughed.“Perfect timing. Come on in!” She yelled.Three people walked in. Two boys and one girl. The boy on the rightmost had dark skin, with cropped hair and an impossibly chiselled jawline. He had this expression on his face like wanted to do anything but he here. He wore his uniform like a good student. Like a Vacker. If I wasn’t mine myself, I would’ve asked.The boy next to him was the complete opposite of that. I say he walked into the room, but he really strutted in. His arms were in his pockets, and I nearly did a doubletake when I noticed some eyeliner. Yup. I already liked him. He was also insanely handsome, in the beachy surfer dude type of way. Shaggy brown hair hung right below his shoulder, and he had this smug smile on his face like he’d just won a bet.The girl was just tired. She had bags under her eyes, which resembled my colour, but were a few shades bluer, and she had freckles all over. Her uniform was messy, and it looked like she’d woken up and gotten here immediately after. I sympathised.“Ah, yes. You’re here.” My mentor said. “Fitz, I’d like you to meet Wylie Endal,” she pointed to the first boy, “Arden Flinar,” she pointed to the second, “and Ellis Warden.” They all gave a small curt nod as their name was said, and Arden smiled, although it really resembled one of Keefe’s signature smirks.“Wylie, Arden and Ellis are Elite students, and are going to be assisting you in your examination. The task is to read their mind and search for three clues, each different. They have all been given special instructions and help from myself and other telepathy mentors on how to hide information. Wylie Endal is not a telepath. Arden and Ellis are and will be putting up a challenge for you. Wylie, please sit down.”My mentors stood up and Wylie took her place. He closed his eyes.“The clue is star. You may begin” My mentor said. I closed mine as well.Slipping into Wylie’s brain wasn’t a challenge at all. It was as if a clear pathway had been laid out and I just had to follow it, like slipping down a slide. I was there, and I was gazing at all his memories. It wasn’t messy, like I’d imagined. It was as if his thoughts were clothes, and he had thrown them into colour coded piles. Messy, but the distinction was clear. I searched for anything relating to star. I was wracking my brain for my memories of the different stars in the universe, until one shimmering purple memory stood out to me.Wylie and another figure. Out in the grass and staring up at the sky, giggling and naming stars. One dipped their head. and pulled the other in a kiss.I was so invested in the love story, I almost forgot I was searching for stars. And then I remembered. I left his brain and looked right at my mentor.“I have found the memory.” I spoke. My mentor eyed me.“Permission to enter?” She asked. I nodded quickly. She locked eyes with me. If she was in my brain, I wouldn’t know. She was completely silent and slipped out a few seconds later.“Answer registered.” She spoke. Upon on gesturing for them to, Wylie and Arden swapped places. Arden didn’t sit with the same dignity Wylie did. Instead, he spread his legs, leaned back and turned his chin up, still wearing that expression like a mask. My mentor nodded. “Your clue is dance. You may begin.”Getting into Arden’s mind proved to be a challenge. The path was paved with mental obstacles, except, they presented themselves in a form that had to be jumped over. I struggled, spending a good two minutes getting in, and immediately regretting it after.His mind was loud. Multiple noises rung in my mind, and I had to force myself not to wince when I entered. Screaming, scratching of two substances that should not be scratched together, the lecturing of their mentors and the disappointing sigh of someone.He waded through the thoughts, which were more like an ocean, full of fish. No arrangement. He kept his eyes and ears pealed for the mention of dance. He was expecting an image of Arden himself dancing, but instead, he heard the word, but not coming from him.“Ardie, Ardie, watch me dance!” A little girl giggled, leaping onto a marble floor and twisting herself to Elven music. Arden laughed and he looked so genuinely happy, I was about to cry of joy. I waded through and left his mind.“Answer found.” I spoke. My mentor repeated the process and this time, Ellis sat down. She smiled wearily before closing her eyes.“The clue is air. You may begin.”Ellis’s mind was the hardest. I struggled to navigate the part until I reached her thoughts, her mind laughing at me evilly like a textbook villain. I managed to reach her mind, but not without feeling like I was going to cry. That pathway really ripped me to shreds, mentally speaking.The mind inside was so strangely shaped, I was scared I’d managed to get myself in a maze. But no, her mind was just shaped like that. A maze. I stared at the start point and contemplated my life. I stopped doing that, because it made me feel terrible and began attempting to navigate the maze.There were memories everywhere, stuck between the walls of the maze and stashed away in corners. They were all mellow and heavy and didn’t remind me of air one bit. Her mind kept whispering to me, things that wore away my sense of self, but I persisted.I spent at least half an hour in there. I sighed and was about to leave when I caught sight of something so different from the rest of them, it drew me in. I witnessed the memory.It was Ellis, I think. She was spinning around in the sunshine, giggling. She wasn’t wearing the same frames I’d seen her in when she walked into the room. No, this time they were thinner and pushed further up her nose. Her hair was tied prettily in an updo, and she donned a floral dress. A girl next to her kissed her cheek.“I love the dress, baby.” She spoke. “It’s so light and airy and makes you look even prettier than usual.”I was nearly about to physically gasp when I saw a queer couple, another queer couple, but I caught the wording. Airy. Airy? Could it be? I took a deep breath and slipped out of her mind.“I have my answer.”“Are you certain?” My mentor asked. I hesitated but gave her a firm nod. She repeated the process and then waved bye to the three students, whom I thanked. She turned to me, smiling. “You may leave for your next examination.”
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Atlantis air felt cool and crisp to my nostrils. No breezes blew in the underwater city, only the air that was supplied here. The blue landscape was a beautiful paradise that I missed dearly. Last time I was here was when I was with Sophie, taking her to Quinlin. But this time, no secret missions were on my mind. This time, my mission was to find Keefe the perfect midterm gift.My exams after my telepathy felt like a breeze. One was essay writing, which just so happened to be my strong suit. The others were a chore, as all exams usually are, but they felt almost like reward for getting through the arduous telepathy exam.I set out to Atlantis immediately after the day was over, still in my Foxfire uniform. Which looked ridiculous. But I wasn’t the only one sporting the school’s attire. The streets were filled with other prodigies, some older and some younger, a few my age.The stores on display immediately after sliding down the whirlpool are the most popular stores in the city. The population of shoppers were concentrated around the four shops in the entry, all the time. Most fit the theme Atlantis seemed to proudly exude: the ancient, castle appeal, with towers twisting, nearly hitting the bubble of air keeping us alive, and as blue as the waters around us.I was instantly repelled by the crowd and jogged over to a smaller store, which read, in loopy teal script: THE GIFT SHOP. I liked the name. It was direct, and more importantly, the most Vacker shade of teal I’d ever seen.I stepped inside, my ears content with the silence that the store offered. It was like an antique shop, only in this case, instead of ancient books on magic and beasts, it was leather bound notebooks with messages engraved in the front, shelved on every surface. Behind the counter was a lady with auburn curls that framed her round face and wire rimmed glasses. Her age shone in her pale aquamarine eyes, which looked eerily like my eyes if they were diluted.“Oh, hello, I’m afraid I hadn’t seen you enter.” She smiled, her cheeks stretching to accommodate her wide grin. “If there’s anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to shout. I’ll be in the back, organising. If there’s one thing this place needs, it’s organising . . .” The rest of her words were hidden behind her mumble, so I turned my attention to the store.Notebooks. So many notebooks. They were so pretty, and I couldn’t hesitate to pick one up and revel in the scent of fresh pages. Some had more sturdy paper, most likely for art. Keefe likes art. Maybe that was a gift I could get him.But none of the notebooks really read “Keefe” in any form. The messages were the typical inspirational quote, or the type of joke adults thought that teenagers were into.The other half of the store was stationary. Pens, pencils, paintbrushes and mediums of all sorts. Keefe would like that. But it still felt too impersonal.My eye caught a sign at the front that read: WE DO CUSTOMISED ENGRAVINGS! I rushed to the front.“Uh, hi! Excuse me,” I said, my cheeks heating up with my awkwardness. I didn’t know how to address her, and I only realised this after I addressed her.“Ah, yes! Sorry, sorry, OH MY, oh phew,” the woman was juggling an open cardboard box, with more notebooks stacked on top. She set it down on the floor next to her, spilling some books, but she directed her attention to me. “What can I help you with? Have you found your item?”“Not quite yet. Do you do personalised engravings on notebooks?” I asked.“Why, yes we do.” She said, flashing me a crooked smile. “Would you like to place an order for one?”“Hmm, it depends on how long it will take to be finished.” I said.“It should be around three days. We can have it sent over or you can pick it up when it’s ready.” She said. “It’s not like we have many customers here. . .”“Great! I’d like to place an order!” I smiled.“Perfect.” She pulled out a notebook and a pen. “Firstly, what colour would you like the leather cover to be?”“Is it possible to do two colours?” I asked, blushing slightly.She considered for a moment. “I suppose so, sure. What two colours would you like? And would you like them in a half-in-half pattern? Where one half of the cover would be colour one and the other colour two?”“Could I have teal and ice blue? And yes, the half-in-half sounds wonderful, thank you.”“And what message would you like on the cover?”I rattled off possibly the best idea for a title I’ve had in a while. The woman cracked a smile.“This for a special person?” She said, scribbling down the runes so messily I would forget how to read if I tried to.“Yeah, someone really special . . .” My mind conjured the best images of Keefe. Not the ones where he looked attractive (well, I suppose a few of those were in the mix, too) but the ones where he looked happy. Smiling, joyous Keefe, whose face was without the smirks he calculated so well.“Hmm. Keefe? Keefie? Am I saying that right? I’ve never heard the name. Is this a special lady friend?” She asked, a teasing grin on her face.I was so taken aback by the words “Lady friend” I nearly forgot to reply. “Uh yeah. That.”She finished scribbling the order and smiled. “That will be thirty lusters.”I paid her and thanked her for her hospitality.“Oh, don’t worry at all. It’s wonderful getting customers. It’s been so long. You know, my husband and I used to run this shop together. But then he left me for another woman. I believe she plays a significant role in the school Foxfire. I’ve never liked that woman. She’s so vain and she interrupted one of the Vacker family’s weddings. I just wish . . .”Okay. That conversation got weird, so I left with a polite expression of gratitude.
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Foxfire was unrecognisable covered in sparkly tinsel and decorated with every pretty thing in the universe. It was strange to see it so pretty, especially after the terrifying exams that all the students had to sit through. However, I was glad to notice glints of teal here and there, and I took it as a tribute to the Vacker name.Inside was a familiar scene. Lockers and students crowding around them, and thinking caps turned upside down, receiving gifts. Some were filled to the brim with treats and carefully wrapped presents, and some were only halfway full. I cringed. Even though my cap was always overflowing, I’d have to be very emotionally daft to know that it hurt when you didn’t get so many gifts.My locker was full, wrapper tearing as other presents were piled on top. But I didn't stop in front of it. I quickly ran to Keefe’s locker, which was, as usual, as full as ever. He and I had a habit of comparing and competing who was winning each year. Last year had been Keefe, but I was sure mine was going to win this time. I carefully placed my gift to Keefe, wrapped in teal paper with snowflakes on it, right on the top. Keefe would know it was mine.“Miss me, Fitzy?” A voice called from behind me. Ah. Speak of the devil.“Never,” I teased. I bounded over to him. I almost wrapped my hands around his waist and kissed him, before becoming painfully aware of our surroundings. Keefe noticed the sudden change in mood rippling through me and flashed a small smile to compensate.I noticed Sophie out of the corner of my eye, looking like she saw a flaredon fight. I dragged Keefe toward her.“Hey, Sophie.” I greeted. “What do you think?” I gestured at the sparkling halls.“I think it’s fully deserved after the horror that was the midterms.” She grumbled. I was inclined to agree. Telepathy had proven much harder than I’d expected, and it left me drained. Keefe hadn’t looked so energised after his empathy exam. He said when he finished that he had to recognise different people’s emotions, but they were all, as he described it ‘hormonal teenagers gone wild’.I peered over to Sophie’s locker, which was also filled to the brim. Huh. I guess me and Keefe had competition now. Sophie awkwardly waved us goodbye and ran to each of our lockers. She placed a present on top of each.“Well, we can’t let these good presents go to waste, now, can we?” He grinned, grabbing my present from the pile. He held it up, eyeing me with curiosity. “This one looks interesting.”He ripped the paper, tearing the careful wrapping, revealing the book I had brought earlier. Keefe gasped as he clutched it, eyes roaming the cover as if it were a landscape. He read the cover out loud.“‘The Book of Fitz’s Dreams and Keefe’s Chaos’?” He parroted the title, etched in gold.“I thought we could have a book of our very own,” I said, suddenly feeling shy. I stared at my feet, cheeks flushing. “You can write and plan your pranks in there, I could vehemently disagree in pen,” I snorted. “But I thought it’d be fun.”“Thank you,” he said quietly. I was worried he didn’t like it, and when I lifted my head, I noticed tears gathering in his eyes, clouding his sharp blue eyes, but he had this small, gentle smile, and that made me feel like I’d done something right. “This is hands down the best gift I’ve ever received. But don’t focus on me, I want to see your reaction!”Suddenly, Keefe Sencen, lord of smirks and pranks was back. I laughed and picked up his present, which was wrapped in teal with a light blue ribbon tied in the most manufactured bow I’d ever seen.I ripped it open like an animal, gasping when I saw the contents. Three pictures, framed in black, brown and the darkest, richest shade of teal I’d ever seen. But it was the was what was inside the frames that bad me starstruck. Pictures I had taken in the Forbidden Cities of a black and white cat that somehow seemed to find me in my travels.“Butler Vacker!” I couldn’t keep my voice down. “I thought I lost these. How’d you get them?”Keefe rolled his eyes. “You left them on your desk, idiot. I know stealing is wrong, but I think a cool present can justify anything, right?”He didn’t get an answer. Ignoring the students of Foxfire. I wrapped my arms around him, my chin digging into his shoulder. Keefe chuckled against my body, his chest heaving in and out against mine as he did so. We were so content right there, the buzzing of prodigies’ chatter white noise to us, as our bodies clicked like a puzzle piece.We rocked back and forth in place, until I heard someone clear their throat behind us. It was Sophie. I pulled apart from Keefe, my cheeks betraying my stoic manner. Keefe was grinning ear to ear, cheeks balling up to fit his smile.“Are you done?” Sophie asked, a giggle slipping through her words. I nodded stiffly. Dex stood behind her, face contorting every second. Or was it Deck? Or Dax? He looked like a Deck, but I don’t think anyone would want to look like a Deck. Or be named it, for that matter.“I’d love to sit around and do something other than classes, but we don’t have a choice, do we?” Sophie grumbled. She did that a lot.“I’d love to eat lunch right about now.” Keefe said. As if on cue, his stomach groaned. “But it’s not like we’re going to get mallowmelt, so is life even worth living anymore?”I had to agree. Mallowmelt, like sparkles, made everything better.Sophie complained on about everything in the universe, as usual, with Dex and another girl, Marella, engaging in conversation with her. Keefe and I lagged behind, basking in each other. I slipped my hands into Keefe’s, pressing my side close to his so no one would notice. He held my gaze for a moment before letting it go with a smile.
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The best part of midterms was the presents. The second best was the dinner my family hosted every year.It was tradition after all, and the Vackers aren’t anyone if we don’t stick to age old traditions. Thankfully, this one was my top three.My mother and the gnomes had been working tirelessly to make the feast. Every fifteen minutes gnomes would rush in with fruits and vegetables that I’d never seen before. Some were more appetising than others, and each more exquisite than the one before. I offered my hands in the kitchen, but my mother refused to let me near it and shooed me away. I called Keefe over and pulled him to the secluded gardens of Everglen.“Just so you know, I would love to taste your cooking.” Keefe said, lying on the grass, squinting at the evening sun.“Cooking and baking are different.” I pointed out. He guffawed.“Tomato, tom-ah-to,” Keefe said, flicking his wrist. “You measure stuff, put them in a bowl and make it. Basically, the same thing.”I laughed. “Fine then, I’ll cook you something and then you judge.”He smirked. “You’re going to cook for me? So hot.” He fanned himself with his hands. “I’ve always loved a man in an apron.”“You didn’t even know you liked well just a year ago.” I snorted.He shrugged. “Still. Always a dude in an apron. I have taste, you know.”We were cuddling on the grounds, trees shadowing the grass when the shrill ring of my imparter cut the silence. I scrambled to pick it up, flashing a smile as my mother’s face lit the screen.“Ah! There you are. I had the gnomes searching all over the house for you. Where are you?” She squinted at the surroundings, trying to make head or tail of the place.“At the gardens behind Everglen. With Keefe. He wanted to see the garden,” I added quickly, cursing my cheeks for blushing.“Okay, well fine, but Sophie is here, so maybe let her tag along?” My mother said, as a gnome yelled something in gnomish.“Can’t Biana take Sophie?” I complained. It’s not like Sophie was terrible, or anything, but it’s not I want her interrupting my time with Keefe, especially since all she does is complain constantly.“Biana’s too busy getting ready. You know how she cares about her appearance.” My mother shook her head in disapproval, as if she didn’t have the exact same problem. “Besides, Sophie and Biana aren’t exactly close. Just hang out with her, okay?”“Okay,” I said, but I let the word slip through a sigh. “Bye, mum.”She clicked away from view. I glanced up at Keefe, who just shrugged. “Foster’s alright. She’s a bit pessimistic, but she’s also great to tease.”I rolled my eyes and dragged Keefe all the way back to Everglen’s gates, where Sophie was waiting. She donned a simple dress that fell right above her knees. Her hair was the same as usual, though this time it looked like she actually combed it, and she might have been wearing the tiniest bit of lip gloss.“Hi,” I said. I never really knew how to talk to Sophie unless we were having some sort of conflict. “Want to come inside.” Sophie nodded stiffly and joined us in the living room.“Sophie?” My sister said, walking into the room. She was wearing a similar sort of dress to Sophie’s though hers was around fifty times more sparkly. Biana noticed the similarity, eying Sophie’s dress, and I could tell she didn’t like it.“Do you want to play Bramble?” I offered. Keefe, Biana and Sophie glared at me and started laughing.“In these dresses? No way. You’ll win too easily.” Sophie said. Biana dipped her head in agreement.“And in this tunic? This is good stuff, Fitz! It’s not my fault you don’t have a fashion sense.”“No Bramble for any of you,” My mother said. All the tiredness had disappeared from her eyes, and her hair was swept to her side, where it lay perfectly still and pretty. “Dinner is ready.”Calling it a feast would be an understatement. Every inch of Everglen’s huge table was crammed with fine plates and cutlery. The healthy golden glow of the chandelier put all the gnomes and my mum’s hard work on brazen display. Sauces dripped on every dish. Spicy dishes, sweet dishes and savoury dishes were spread out across the table. I found Sophie eyeing every bit of it.My father walked into the room, smiling widely. Upon seeing the feast, he beamed. He thanked the gnomes and sat down, everyone following suit. Then we dug in.I went for the food closest to me. When I put it in my mouth, I felt all the tastes melting into one. It was light and fluffy and tinged my tongue with spice. It was salty and reminded me of the seaweed I had once in the Forbidden Cities. I had to will myself not to just melt of joy in my chair. Keefe noticed my giddy smile and kicked my leg underneath the table.“Sorry I’m late.” A figure tore through, finding his seat near my mother and sinking into a throne-like chair. He was rugged, his gelled hair styled to perfection and pale eyes matching my mothers. My mother laughed, shaking her head. The figure turned to Sophie. “And you must be the famous Sophie Foster.”Keefe snickered at the word famous. I rolled my eyes.“What?” She blurted out. Her face took on a new shade of red.“I’m Alvar. Alvar Vacker.” He smiled. “I see my family talks about me a lot.”“We’ve just been quite busy, Alvar.” Della said, helping herself to another serving of crushed carnissa root.“Yes, yes, I know, but it wouldn’t kill for a mention.” He laughed. I cringed. The joke landed almost perfectly, but he was blinking too much.Alvar and I are amicable with each other. We’re brothers, and we’ve never had a hatred for each other. But we don’t particularly like each other either. He’s just there. Or rather, not there, considering he’s always at the Ogres capital or wherever else. Sometimes I feel betrayed by him, leaving me to carry the Vacker legacy all on my own. Sometimes I wish he was there to look for Sophie instead of me. I wish I didn’t have to pull multiple all nighters just to catch up on homework. And yes, I’m fully aware human children do that (and I classify it torture), but I’m an elf. My homework isn’t basic mathematics. My homework is to memorise all the stars in this far off galaxy for no reason at all. But Alvar’s still my brother in the end, and none of its really his fault. It’s mine for feeling this way.“You’ve been quite busy, too.” My mother pointed out, tilting her gaze toward him.“Yeah, busy with two girlfriends.” Keefe laughed.“Three.” Alvar corrected, grinning like a maniac.“That’s horrible, Alvar.” My mother looked horrified.“It’s awesome.” Keefe interrupted.“I don’t think cheating is very morally correct.” I said, inserting myself into the conversation. Keefe looked over at me, eyes flashing with realisation. He tilted his head downward, guiltily, and mouthed an apology.“Anyways,” my father said, strain in his voice. “How are things with the ogres?”“Drama. They’re upset about the fire and smoke. What am I supposed to do about them? I’m not human. It’s not my fault those snotty humans are just as bad as the pollutants they put out.”“What fires?” Sophie cut in. My father’s gaze hardened. Sophie noticed the change for sure.“Just some wildfires.” He said after a second.“Yeah,” Alvar swallowed his wine in a gulp. “They’re sending emissaries over to investigate. A total waste of time in my opinion.”“Are they burning white hot again?” Sophie said, her lips pulled in a tight line.“Yeah, how’d you know?” said Alvar.“Never mind.” My father said, shooting Alvar an icy glare. “Why have you been keeping an eye on me?”“Wait, do you know about the Black Swan?” Sophie announced. The desperation was thick in her voice. “Or Project Moonlark?”“How do you know about that?” My father’s voice hardened, just like his features.“I saw Grady’s scrolls, and they were written in cipher runes.”“Sophie, I know you aren’t going to want to hear this, but this is classified information. Please stop asking for it. It’s going to result in grave consequences.”“But-”“Please.” Alden looked at Sophie, irritation edging his fearful tone.“Fine.” Sophie said, and the atmosphere the conversation left hung around throughout dinner.
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All bad days start good ones. That’s what I’ve been telling myself.It was a perfectly normal day, and I was walking down Foxfire’s hallways to get something from my locker. There weren’t many people here. Only a few spaced out so they didn’t talk to anyone. I was fine with that. I don’t like most people.If I wasn’t always ready for an emergency, I would have missed the sight in front of me. Dack Dizznee (or was it Deck?), lugging Sophie. Sophie didn’t look like Sophie, though. Her face was all red and her body had these red bumps all over them, and she looked like she was in pain.I rushed over to them, causing Dex to halt, puffing and panting. “I’m fine, thanks.”“I didn’t ask.” I spoke. I wasn’t in the mood to be nice. “Sophie sure isn’t. What happened?”Dex was breathing hard and then he started crying. And by crying, I mean he was sobbing. He was a mess, almost as much as Sophie. His face was red, and his eyes were bloodshot, and tears started running down. “I-I-I made h-her this elixir, and, and she s-started to do this!” He gestured at the Sophie-lump. “I-I swear I d-didn't mean it and-”“Dack, it’s fine,” I said, even though it was definitely not fine. “We have to take her to Elwin.”“What do you think I’m doing.” He blew out a breath.“Not fast enough,” I retorted. “I’m taking her. You can join if you want.”“What? I’m not letting you take her.” He said, and I felt my heart speed up. I didn’t know Dack, and he was already so rude. I pushed aside the shooting pain.“You’re going to kill her.” I snapped. “Please, for Sophie’s sake, just let me carry her.”Dack looked like he was about to burst, what with his red face and strawberry hair, but he relented. I picked Sophie up bridal style and began speed walking to the healing centre. Dack was behind me, fidgeting and panicking as he walked. I was trying to keep him calm, but my worries were just the same as his, I just happened to keep it in my head.Halfway along the walk, Sophie began to make some concerning noises. Her body thrashed and she was half screaming, half crying. Her eyes opened but there was no life behind them, only pupils staring into my teary teal eyes. She looked half dead and then she . . .. . . puked all over me. Vomit drenched my clothes and it stunk more than a gulon in midsummer. I gritted my teeth and continued carrying her. It wasn’t for now. Dack was behind, trying and failing to hide his giggle. I shot him a glare, but it was half-hearted.When we arrived at the healing centre, teh first thing I did was drop Sophie onto a bed. Elwin rushed in and nearly fainted at the sight of her.“What happened?” He demanded. I gestured to Dex.“I gave her this elixir and I thought it was fine and then this.” He was trying to hold back tears. “Right before she passed out, she said, ‘allergy’. What’s an allergy?!”“I’m not quite sure.” Elwin muttered. I perked up.“Oh! An allergy is a human intolerance to some kind of substance.” I spoke. Elwin’s eyes widened.“What was in the elixir, Dex?”“Mostly limbium and . . .” he rattled off a few other names, but Elwin shook his head.“Limbium. Let’s work with that.”He shooed Dex and I out of the room and ordered us to return to lessons. But Dex was adamant, and Elwin sighed, signing us lesson passes. We paced around the healing centre for what felt like hours. But we pasted our ears against the door when we heard Sophie’s voice cut through the silence. The conversation was muffled, so we didn’t hear anything, but Dex started tearing up when he heard her voice.Elwin opened the door, the two of us nearly falling into the floor. Sophie stared, red in the face.“Sophie, I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to.” Dex started, but Sophie shook her head.“It’s not your fault. I know you didn’t mean it.” She then faced me. “I’m sorry, Fitz. I swear I didn’t mean to . . .” she gestured at her vomit-soaked clothes. I laughed.“It’s all good. If it wasn’t so disgusting, it would’ve been epic.” I knew full well Keefe would have a field day with this.Sophie began to apologise again but I shushed her. “Seriously, Soph. It’s fine. I’m just glad I was there to help.”“You didn’t have to be there.” Dack fidgeted with his cape, glowering at the ground. “I would’ve managed just fine on my own.”“If by managed you mean killed, then sure.” I spoke. “Seriously, Dack-”“It’s Dex! It’s not that hard! Three letters, and you Vackers can’t even . . .” The rest of his outburst was lost as he stomped out of the room. What he said, it was a punch to the gut. I stood awkwardly, Sophie and Elwin’s pity-filled eyes boring into mine.“Look, Fitz,” Sophie said, after an uncomfortably long pause. “Dex is just like that. I know it’s not right of him to behave that way, but he has his reasons.”“I know,” I mumbled. “Half the Elvin population loves us Vackers, and the other half think we’re pretentious. Reminds me of that Cheeto guy running for president in the Forbidden Cities.”That coaxed a smile out of Sophie. “Yeah, but you’re way better. Especially compared to Mr. Cheeto.” She crinkled her nose. She shook her head. “Forget politics, Fitz. Dex will warm up to you, I have a feeling.”I smiled. For how pessimistic Sophie could be, she was also kind-hearted. Sometimes I forget to notice that, and I cursed myself for it. “Thanks, Sophie.” I said, leaning back on a spare cot, thinking up the million different ways Keefe Sencen would react.
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“Can I talk to you?” Sophie asked, walking up to me on a very random, run of the mill day. Which had me instantly worried. She was more sulky than usual, but her voice was laced with urgency. I nodded.“Yeah, what’s up?” I glanced around, and upon seeing the usual stream of Foxfire students, I grabbed her arm gently and guided her to a particularly shaded corner. She was breathing fast and hard, which was never a good sign.She seemed dazed, eyes rolling around her head before focussing right back on me. I was tempted to call Elwin but decided that I didn’t want to evoke the wrath of a twelve-year-old child.“Do you know what your dad is investigating right now?” She asked, voice hushed.I scratched my neck. “He’s always investigating a ton of things. Why?”She stumbled on the spot but caught her own balance. “Well, your dad came over to Havenfield yesterday and begged Grady for help. He was really, really begging. Please Fitz, do you know anything?”I tried to suppress all the fears that flashed through my mind. They were the usual worst-case scenarios, the kind that would never happen like, what if a war against another species is on the brim? What if there’s a terrorist organisation out to get my friends and me? What if the people I love get tangled up with said terrorist organisation and makes some objectively bad decisions under the guise it’s all going to turn out, only for their plans to miraculously fail and leave them in depression? But of course, these were purely hypotheticals, and are just a product of my agile mind, and not at all our perfect society.“I’m sure there is no reason to worry,” I parroted, because there usually never was. Sophie shook her head, scowling at me.“You aren’t listening. Something is bad. Please, Fitz, if you know anything, just tell me.”I bit my lip hard. “Fine. It’s something to do with a fire. And I only know because he comes home smelling like smoke. I just hope he’s being careful out there. . .”The hard lines in Sophie’s face softened with my answer. “Well, he did send you to find me, didn’t he? He must trust you with some official matters, at least, right?”I looked down at the ground. “That was an exception. Mostly because it was highly, highly illegal. Besides, I’m about your age and he needed that to find you. You probably wouldn’t want an old creepy man following you around, asking you if you were an elf.”Sophie cringed hard. “Absolutely not. I’d call the cops.”I bit my cheek to stop myself from laughing. Cops, such a funny word. “Exactly. He didn’t really have a choice that one time. But this whatever this is, is clearly different.”Any sign of joy on her face disappeared. “So, you have no idea?”My face betrayed me for a moment. I felt hot in the cheeks, and my heart sped up just a bit. I’ve never been a good liar. Sophie picked up on this immediately and glared.You can trust me, she said into my mind. My eyes widened as her voice bounced around in my head. I rubbed my temples.“I always forget about that.” I mumbled.Please, she transmitted. If it’s affecting Grady and Edaline, it’s big, Fitz. And I should know about these things.My shook my head. “I shouldn’t do this.”Please, Sophie said again. I blew out a breath.“Concentrate.” I said, still bitter that I couldn’t read her mind. She nodded, scrunching up her face as she read my thoughts. I tried to keep them as clear as I could, but they were still fractured at the ends.I heard him talking to Alvar. It isn’t one fire out in the wilderness, it is hundreds of them, and it’s happening in the Forbidden Cities. All of them started on the same day. And the fires are fluorescent yellow, which is really weird, but the council thinks it’s a human arsonist with chemicals. My dad doesn’t share those beliefs. I’m pretty sure that he’s doing this without the council’s permission. I thought, Sophie breathed hard.Are they near my family? Sophie thought. I shook my head.Probably not. My dad was assigned to keep an eye on them. In case their memories came back. But then again, I’m not sure what cities all of this is happening in.Do you know what the Black Swan is up to? Sophie asked. I shook my head.Absolutely no idea. I swear! And besides, I’ve already said far too much. You can’t tell anyone what I told you. I wasn’t even supposed to know. Anyone at all. Promise?I promise, Sophie said, and it sounded sincere enough for me to believe. I sighed.“Now can we head to lunch?” I said, my stomach crying for cafeteria sludge. She shook her head.“You can do that. I need to figure things out.” Sophie muttered to herself.“Seriously, you need food.” I sighed. “But fine, whatever you want. But make sure none of it traces back to me, okay?”She nodded slowly. I blew out a breath and ran my hands through my hair, turning it up in spikes.I was mentally exhausted by the time I sat down to eat, but I couldn’t down the food, despite my hunger. Keefe noticed this immediately, and it’s not like Keefe to not point out what he notices. In that sense, he is a toddler.“What’s wrong?” Keefe asked the moment he sat down, which was next to me, by the way. “And don’t even hide it. There’s something wrong.”I turned away. “I told Sophie some stuff that I probably shouldn’t have.”Keefe’s eyes widened impossibly. “Did... did you tell her about us?”It was my turn to be shocked. “Oh, no, no, no, absolutely not. I would never do that, I know the risks with that.” I shook my head. “I meant the kind of stuff my dad works on that I’m not supposed to know about.He laughed. “Oh. Okay, there’s a silver lining there at least. Also, don’t worry, Foster isn’t stupid, and while she might be a sulk, she cares about you tons.”There was an edge to his voice at the last phrase and I blushed. “Shut up.”“I’m just speaking facts."“Also,” I said, nearly flicking my food. “We’re still on for that... hang out, right? Tonight at six?“Absolutely.”
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I hung around the locker area, collecting my books for the next lessons. The last week or so has been tough. Everything with Sophie’s adoption being cancelled... no one was in their highest spirits.Of course, this makes sense to me. I might not have been adopted, but that feeling of being unwanted rung a little too true. Keefe stood next to me, fiddling with his uniform.“I don’t understand why they make these so uncomfortable.” Keefe groaned. “I’m trying to learn, not model – well, to be fair, I’d prefer the latter, but this isn’t how you do it!”I was inclined to agree. The stuffy necks and the ridiculous half-capes were a mockery of Elvin culture. But somehow, Keefe managed to pull it off. He looked enticing in the several layers of clothes piled on top of him. And maybe I was imagining it, but Keefe was wearing the slightest eyeshadow, the colour palette I’d stolen from the Forbidden Cities. Just a touch darker than his skin tone, but enough to stand out to the observant eye. That’s me, I’m the observant eye.Note about Foxfire: Everybody can hear anything you say. Sound echoed louder and projected more, making every whispered secret the whole school’s gossip. But this time, it wasn’t a whisper being heard, but rather Stian Heks yelling at Sophie and Biana.Ah. Stina Heks. So much potential to be a good person and yet so awful. I cannot stand the bullies. People like her add coal to the fire of gossip. And she was smirking so much it almost looked like Keefe, except she had the sharpest angles to her round face.“You,” Stina snaked a finger at the two of them. “Are very good actors. I’m quite impressed with the performance.”Sophie’s face contorted to reveal her worry. “W-what do you mean?”“Oh, not you, Foster – you suck at everything. I’m talking about Miss Vacker over here.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Biana said, lips pressed thin. She was paling, and I suddenly understood why.Stina laughed, though it was closer to a cackle, the kind witches make in movies. “How impressive, you still want to try and keep up the charade. Well, I’ll tell you right now, Sophie, it’s all fake.”Biana turned quickly to Sophie, shaking her head violently. Her curls blurred her face from my view and settled messily on her shoulders. “Sophie, please just listen, I-”“Oh, Foster, when will you get it? Your Vackers friends? They had to be forced into hanging out with you. They aren’t your friends, they’re a ploy. I hear Alden had to do a whole lot of bargaining to get it to happen, especially with this one.” She kicked her foot at Biana. “Isn’t that right?”Biana’s breaths were short and shallow now, and her teary eyes were watery. I was the same, standing off the corner, trying to ignore the guilt bubbling inside me. Keefe finally turned over and noticed my panicked state. He shifted closer to me, careful of our surroundings. In a quiet whisper he said, “Fitz? What’s wrong?”I couldn’t say a word, but simply tilted my head toward Biana, Sophie and Stina. Keefe followed my gaze until it reached them. He opened his mouth to say something else, but no words came out. He pressed his shoulder against mine, pushing our backs to the locker and grabbed my hand, hiding the gesture behind us.“Biana?” Sophie asked, and it was too calm to be any good. “Is this true?”“It was at first, okay? I didn’t like you and I didn’t want to know you, but it became truer the more we hung out. You’re my friend, Sophie. Please, please, please be my friend. I’m sorry, Sophie, I’m so sorry.”Sophie’s hard eyes softened for a moment, reflective tears clouding them. She turned her head away from Biana and stormed off without a word.I slumped against the locker. The crowd that spectated the show dissipated so it was just Keefe and I alone. I fell to the floor, embarrassed of my sudden outburst. Keefe squatted down beside me, rubbing his hand against my back.“What’s wrong? I didn’t really hear their conversation.” He stared at me with big eyes. I couldn’t bear the intensity of them.“You’re going to hate me.” I said quietly.“That’s pretty hard.” Keefe chuckled. He looked back at me and shook his head, face brimming with sincerity. “And I’m always going to want to hear out your side, okay?”I breathed hard. “When Sophie first arrived here, I was super apprehensive of her. I didn’t really like her as a person, and I didn’t want to hang out with her. So... my dad put me and Biana up to it. It’s wrong I know, but I think he was desperate, and I was stubborn. Now she knows that I never really wanted to be her friend, even though I do. I do want to be her friend.”I stared into Keefe’s eyes, conflict bouncing between the flecks of lighter and darker blue in his eyes. “You know what I think?”“Only if I’m allowed to.”“Ha-ha. But I didn’t mean it like that. No, I was thinking about how this is mostly Alden’s fault.”That piqued my interest. “My father? How so?”“I mean, how is it fair to put you to befriending someone you don’t like? And now that’s it’s gotten out, what’s there for him? No guilt, no sweat off his back, only yours. Don’t get me wrong, I love Alden, but it’s not alright.”I felt tears prick my eyes and then fall onto my palms. Keefe did make a valid point. Who was Alden to put me up to that? To even suggest that? And who was I to accept? To think that was remotely okay?I shook my head. “I don’t think shifting blame is going to fix what’s happened.”Keefe blew out a breath. “Fitz, this is going to sound terrible but... what’s happened has already happened. We can’t sit and wallow in the past, believe me, I’ve tried, but it doesn’t work, okay? What we need now is a plan to move forward. Things have got to change. Starting now.” Keefe got up and pulled me up with his outstretched hand. “Step one: you talk to Sophie and explain what happened. But not immediately. Wait a bit, okay? Let her cool off, let yourself cool off, and then talk.”“Then what?”“We’ll figure it out.”
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“Sophie Foster is dead.”The words didn’t seem real. They didn’t make any sense. They were coherent symbols and sounds individually, but in a sentence, they might as well have been a forgotten, dead language.It was my father who said the words. His voice was gravelly, like his voice box was scraping against hard bitumen in the Forbidden Cities.“Along with Dex Dizznee.” He continued.“What? You’re joking, right?” Biana asked, in disbelief. “That’s some sort of practical joke, isn’t it?”My father turned his head away. “I would never make that sort of joke. There was a letter sent out to everyone in the Lost Cities.”He tossed over the parchment. The runes were practically unreadable with their loopy print, but the message was clear.
Dear residents of the Lost Cities,
It is with much grief that we inform you that Sophie Elizabeth Foster, foster-child of Lord Grady Ruewen and Lady Edaline Ruewen and Dexter Alvin Dizznee, child of Kesler Dizznee and Juline Dizznee, were found dead. To honour their lives, a planting will be held in the Wanderling Woods.
My teardrops formed darkened spots on the paper. “This isn’t real. This isn’t happening.”My father spun toward me and grabbed my shoulders, and I swear I saw my teary teal eyes in his. “My son, I would sooner die than have you face this grief. But I fear that isn’t possible. I’ll be here if you would like to talk to me.” My father sighed. “I’d better inform Della of this.”I sat down on a chaise, shaking. My entire body rattled as if I were possessed. Tears clouded my vision, and I stared at the paintings in Everglen wide-eyed. It was too bright, too loud, and far too much.Air.I needed air.I sprinted toward Everglen’s gardens, taking comfort in the crisp air and lush grass. I took a moment to revel in the beauty of the outside. It was serene, being cushioned by green grass and having the wind blow steadily against my skin. Then the sinking feeling consumed me. How could I revel in the comfort of my home when Sophie Foster was dead? How cruel of me, to worry about my grades and simplistic things like school life and dating when my friend and her friend were dead.I collapsed on the grass, my lungs unable to accommodate the air I was gasping for. I took my imparter out of my pocket with shaking hands and whispered, “Hail Keefe Sencen,”“Fitz, what’s up-” Keefe dropped his easy smile when he saw my tears. “Woah, Fitz, are you okay, what’s up?”“News. Bad news. Can you come to Everglen? It’s urgent.” I tried to keep my voice from faltering, but it didn’t work. It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. Keefe read me like a book and recited every fact about me like a speech.“I’ll be there,” Keefe promised. He looked at me with sad eyes before cutting the call.As he said, Keefe was here a few minutes later, flying through the gardens and tumbling down next to me. He wore a crinkled tunic and dark pants, and his signature hair was completely messed up, a clear sign of how haphazardly he’d come here.“What’s wrong-”“Sophie is dead,” I croaked out. “And Dex Dizznee too.”Keefe’s eyes flew wide, stretching as wide as his body allowed him too. He looked to the grass for a moment, and when he turned back to me, his cheeks were wet. “You’re kidding. Fitz, I know for a fact you’re kidding.”“I’m not,” I said, perhaps a little too loudly. “There was a letter from the council. I haven’t heard all the details, but Sophie and Dex are definitely dead.”“No, no, no,” Keefe whispered. “Not Foster. There’s no way, there’s just...”Keefe let out a sob. It was loud and ungraceful, and came with a hiccup, and it caused Keefe’s entire body to fold in on itself. He hunched over in his lap, and a few seconds later, he was curled up on the grass. I dropped down next to him, so we were facing each other. He wasn’t embarrassed of his tears, not like me. I wished to have that confidence. We didn’t say anything for a while, only lying on the ground, clothes damping with the wet grass.I noticed the sky darken, and pulled Keefe inside, to my room. One quick call to Lord Cassius later, he was officially having a sleepover.I traced a heart on Keefe's cheek. It wasn’t wet now, but his eyes were red, and his breathing was inconsistent. “You know, the humans have a billion ideas of where people go after they die.”Keefe trained his gaze on me. “Oh yeah? Like what?”“Most people say that if you believed in a dude you’d go to a paradise. And if you didn’t, you’d go to a terrible place.”“Oh,”I realised that didn’t help with what happened with Sophie. I shook my head. “Some people also believed, way back in the day, that all good people go to somewhere called Elysium, all the bad people go to Tartarus, and everyone that did nothing important with their life go to Asphodel.”Keefe was silent for a few seconds. “I think Sophie would go to Elysium. I have to believe that.”I put my hand on his shoulder. “I believe that too.”I scooted closer to him and put on the fakest, most Fitzroy-Avery-Vacker smile I could conjure. I was sure Keefe didn’t believe it, but it was better than falling in a heap of tears. Again. I pressed a kiss to his lips, catching us both by surprise.I took his hands in mine, and we just sat there, melting in each other for the time being, because every other state of being just hurt so much. I allowed myself a night’s rest. I allowed it because Keefe was next to me, and my body simply refused not to indulge in the moment. And I told myself it was fine. It’s to prepare for the planting tomorrow, I said. I’ll be okay, I said. Sophie Foster is alive, I said. But none were true.
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I woke up far too early in the morning. Keefe was snoring softly next to me, his blond hair shadowing his eyelids, and his entire face at rest. I’d never seen Keefe like this, mostly because he was always smirking. Although, yesterday, he was crying.But it was nice to see my boyfriend so peaceful. I checked the time. 4:30 A.M. I pressed my head to the pillow, chastising myself for waking at this time. But no matter how long I tossed and turned, or closed my eyes, or tried to think of happy things, I was lying awake, with Sophie’s death on my mind. I hadn’t even learned how she’d died. Curiosity ate at me, but so did my ability to always wander to the worst-case scenarios.What if she drank too much of one of Elwin’s medicines? What if she tripped and fell and glass scratched her body? What if she fell off some massive cliff, and the council found Sophie and Dex’s broken bodies at the bottom? I shivered at the thought. A million awful things ran through my mind, zipping like light as they clawed for my attention.I decided sleep was overrated and decided to invest my time in something more useful. I got out of bed, shivering at the cold temperatures of Everglen mornings, and changed out of my pyjamas. Keefe was still sleeping like a baby, and I decided there was no point to waking him.I brushed my hair and tried for my signature smile, but the dimmed light behind my teal eyes gave away the grief. So chugged down a million elixirs to make myself look more alive.I walked to the other end of Everglen, my footsteps echoing in the silence. I could hear my breathing too loudly. How shallow it was, how unsteady it was, and how it sounded like I’d been crying. When I go the kitchen, I turned on the lights, turning the desolate tiles into a warm, homey palace.I vaguely remembered how to make custard bursts, but I didn’t really care about that. I just needed a way to channel my anger. I decided not to use my voice, in light of Everglen’s sleeping residents, and instead chose to use it through baking.I mixed the batter aggressively, grunting myself as I did so. Some less-than-Vacker-Golden-Boy words were said. I will not be repeating them.The batter took its golden appearance, and that managed to calm me down a bit. It reminded me of Keefe, his golden hair glinting in the sunlight, as he tries to hide how much effort he put into it. His tanned skin when the sun hit it perfectly right. But it also reminded me of Sophie’s hair, long and straight and always in place. It reminded me that I would never see it again.“This is the new normal,” I muttered to myself. “This is life now. The quicker I heal, the better off I’ll be.”But it was impossible to think of a life without Sophie, now that I’d lived it. Even though her pessimistic nature could be dull sometimes, I couldn’t imagine Foxfire without her. I couldn’t imagine her not coming over and destroying us in Bramble. But I didn’t have to imagine it any longer. It was real. And that made it so, so scary.I shoved the batter in the oven, turning it up to just the right temperature and closing it. The oven made its familiar ding, and I was left to sit and wait with my own thoughts. Which is never a good idea.I cleaned all the dishes in record time, mostly because I was aggressively scrubbing the batter off every bowl. I stashed the ingredients back in their respective homes and returned to the main counter. I tapped my fingers against it.Nothing made sense. How did Sophie and Dex die? My worst-case scenarios were bad, granted, but they were highly unlikely. It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. Ah, there I go again, trying to rationalise feelings. I shook my head, scolding myself. Sophie Foster is dead, I thought. There was nothing I could do about it.I pulled the treats out of the oven, ogling at their delicious scent. They looked pretty appetising too, their chocolate batter like heaven to my tastebuds. Just as I was about to delve into one, I heard footsteps.Mind you, hearing footsteps at 5:30 in the morning when everyone is supposed to be sleeping sends a sort of panic alert through you. I grabbed a large metal spoon from the drawer and set down my food. An intruder had no chance against me.They opened the door, and I flung the weapon toward them, unleashing a scream as I did so. The spoon clattered against the tile, leaving a very confused, bedraggled Keefe in his night clothes.“Keefe?” I squinted, making sure I was seeing right. Yup, it was Keefe Sencen, the hottest person in the room. I shook my head. “What are you doing here?”“I heard some noises and was bored,” Keefe said, his morning voice thick. “What about you.”“I woke up early and decided I wanted custard bursts,” I mumbled, only now did I realise how lame that sounded. “I just finished baking some.”Keefe smiled. “Can I have some?”“Of course,”And so, Keefe and I had a picnic, right on the kitchen floor, revelling in the last of custard bursts. The kitchen tile was cold and hard, but we didn’t mind. In fact, it gave me an excuse to wriggle into Keefe’s lap. He didn’t protest, only ruffling my hair when I sat down.“These are delicious,” Keefe paraded, scarfing down most of them.“Thanks. I took my anger out on it.”“Wait, you were angrily stirring in ingredients?” Keefe smiled goofily. “What did the butter ever do to you?”“You suck.”But Keefe knew the joke by the smile on my face. And it was strange to think about, how I was able to smile so easily and so genuinely while I’d heard new of Sophie dying the night before. Keefe Sencen was truly a miracle.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Are you ready?” Keefe called from the other room; his voice thick with emotion. I didn’t point it out, though. I knew full well that I was the same.“Nearly,” I called back, which was only half true. I was a mess, heart beating and tears welling up in my eyes. I blinked them away. I had to be strong. It was the only way to cope with the pity-filled stares.I was wearing a green jerkin, pearls donning the centre piece, doing a poor job of holding up the facade of them being buttons. The entire piece was filled with ruffles and held so many shades of green I’m sure I’d blend in with a bush. I wore dark pants – the kind of dark that would be mistaken for black upon a first glance.I chugged down the fifth elixir that morning. If you didn’t know me, it would seem like I was taking drugs. Ha, I wish I could.But no, they were just elixirs sold in Atlantis, each to make you look prettier in the morning. Admittedly, I did use these a lot, but hey! Eight hours of sleep is impossible when you’re a Vacker.When I stepped out, I was expected to see a beautiful Keefe, adorning green, but I hadn’t expected the elegance he carried. He wore a simple green tunic with a dark green cape and well-fitted pants.“You look good in my clothes.” I teased, but the joke was hollow.“Thanks. I’ll make sure to wear them more often.” He chuckled. He paused for a moment. “Or not at all.”I blushed a deep red, and I had a feeling I looked like a Christmas tree.Biana stepped out into the living room, and, as per my expectations, she looked beautiful. She wore a deep green dress, with the kind of puffiness that would put my tired eyes to shame. She wore a teal hairclip and coiled a strand of loose hair on her finger repeatedly.“Shall we leave?” mother said, clearing her throat. Her makeup didn’t hide her tiredness.“Keefe, are your parents okay with us taking you?” my father asked.“Yeah. I called them earlier and let them know.” He said, stretching the fabric of his clothes. He went quiet for a bit, but then whispered so only I could hear, “They don’t really care about where I am, anyways.”I moved closer to him, so our shoulders were bumping. I couldn’t hold his hand, or kiss him with my parents were around, but I was still going to do everything to make him feel better.My father held the crystal into the light, and a beam of light opened up. We looked at each other one last time, and one by one, let the light carry us away.***The Wanderling Woods had a vacuum to it, like all sound that entered fizzled away. Even footsteps made only a concealed sound, which was strange, given the thousands of people gathered in the woodland.Each tree was a unique representation of the person behind it. Some grew with pretty pink blossoms on brown bark, and some grew up in spikes, like anger was the last thing that ever crossed an elf’s mind before they died. But they were all beautiful.The crowd gathered around two empty spots, the councillors standing in front of them. They all wore the same solemn expression, though some wore it behind their regal manner.“We are gathered here today to celebrate the lives of Sophie Elizabeth Foster and Dexter Alvin Dizznee.” Councillor Emery said to the crowd. “As you know, death is not common in our kind. We are peaceful, eternal creatures. But that doesn’t make us invulnerable to accidents. Because that is what this was. An accident.“Sophie and Dex’s registry pendants were found in the bottom of the ocean, no sign of their body. But the outcome of this tragedy is clear. They are dead.”Many gasped. I held back a sob, but tears still fell from my eyes. Of all the horrible ways that both of them could’ve died, death by drowning had not crossed my mind.“There is much to grieve here today. The lives of those lost. The children they were. The people they were going to be. But we must see this as a sign of hope.”I balled my fists. How dare he talk about hope when two children were dead? How dare he even suggest the idea? And I wasn’t the only one thinking this. Many murmured, scoffing at the councils’ mechanical view of the world.“And I know what you’re thinking,” Bronte said, holding a silencing hand up. “How is there hope in this dire situation? I offer you this: the fact that only two have died in the last sixteen years is sign enough that our world is among the safest in all the territories. We are not invulnerable to death, but we are very protected from it.”“I invite you to offer the Ruewen and Dizznee families your condolences.” Emery said, closing their speech.My clothes were soaked with tears, and my face slick with grease. My family shuffled forward, and I could see Keefe eying the opportunity, but he whispered that his parents wanted him with them and slipped off.When we finally got to the front, I was unable to hold back a sob. Lord and Lady Ruewen stood at the front with shaking hands. They were both crying, and I didn’t blame them one bit. The Dizznees were the same. Even the usual energy of the twins had deflated so they were left with their grief.“I am truly sorry for your loss,” my father whispered to Grady. He sniffed and nodded.“The loss was felt by many,” Grady said. “There is hope in that.”I offered my condolences to the Ruewens and then moved up to the Dizznees. Despite everything, there was an awkwardness to the interaction. I felt guilty, being able to stand here and offer my thoughts, while their son, and likely their whole family, hated me. But it courteous and deserved, so I pushed past the anxiety.When we reached home, no one was able to hold it together. My mother and father broke into a dam, their backs away from us. I had been crying the whole time but fled to my room to cry some more.They were gone. I had to accept that. I had to move on. And I had to do it fast. This feeling was emptying, and I was scared that, if I held onto it too long, it would break me.But something didn’t add up. The pieces floated around in my mind, like magnets, but none of them snapped together. I ran to my desk, flopping onto my seat.When I wrote down the lack of evidence, it was clear something was going on. But I couldn’t make myself believe that. No body, no witnesses, nothing. Sophie and Dex were just gone, and we’d already held a planting for them. That couldn’t be true. It simply couldn’t.Fitz, help, please! A voice called out to me, and it sounded so much like Sophie, I nearly cried. We’re near a tree that has all the four seasons on it. Please Fitz, I need your... the voice cut out. I looked away from the paper. It couldn’t be her, but the lilt of her voice, the desperation tinged with hope in her tone, it wasn’t something my delusion, memory or grief could conjure.I ran to my imparter, muttering, “Hail Keefe Sencen,” with as much conviction as I could muster.“Fitzy? How are you-”“Get here now.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Keefe arrived a few minutes later, fiddling with the clasp of his cape. He was dejected, it was clear. His ice blue eyes were gorgeous but tired, and the air above him might as well have been a grey cloud.“Sophie is alive,” I said, standing up. I grabbed his hand. “We need to go save her.”“Fitz,” Keefe said softly. “Sophie is gone, and so is Dex.”I shook my head violently, trying to push away the idea away. It was too dark, too hard, too painful. And too untrue. “They aren’t. Please, Keefe, you have to believe me.”He looked like he wanted to run away screaming, or crying, or throwing up. I didn’t blame him; I would’ve done the same. But he swallowed and nodded instead, holding my hand with determination.“Where are we going?” He asked.I knitted my eyebrows. “A tree, with all four seasons on it.” I said, remembering Sophie’s words.Keefe seemed to rummage through memories in his mind. He looked up abruptly, sucking in a sharp breath. “The four season’s tree. That’s exactly what you’re saying.”I tried to tamp down the burst of hope that coursed my veins. I quickly nodded. “Let’s go.”“Wait,” Keefe said, pausing. “I know you’re going to disagree, but I think we should bring Biana.”I groaned. “You want to bring my sister along?”“Three is better than two,” Keefe said in a sing-song chant.”I rolled my eyes. I hailed Biana and told her to come to my room. She came in running a few seconds later. “What’s up?”I briefly summarised the revelations and plans of the last few minutes. Her eyes were wide open by the time I finished. She turned away momentarily and when she turned back, there was a noticeable trace of tear tracks.“Now, let’s go.”***The tree was beautiful, with its browning autumn leaves, bare bark and budding cherry blossoms, but I couldn’t focus because Sophie Foster and Dex Dizznee lay there, weak and translucent. I gasped softly and ran to Sophie. I touched her cheek, and my hand could nearly pass through it.“Sophie,” I yelled, tears falling down my cheeks. “Sophie, please wake up. You’re not dead, Sophie. I’m not losing you again.”Sophie remained still. A pulse was there. A weakened, dying one. But it was a pulse, nonetheless.“Sophie!”A voice inundated my mind. Fitz?“Sophie!” I nearly cried tears of joy.Behind me, Keefe lugged Dex on his shoulders. Keefe grunted. “I’m taking him to Everglen. And I’ll get Biana to call Elwin.”I nodded tightly and returned to talking to Sophie. “Sophie, you have to hold on. You’re doing really well. Just please don’t go.” My eyes well up with tears.
What about Dex?
“Keefe took him to Everglen. Biana is calling Elwin for you. Oh Sophie...” I felt her cheek again. It was so cold. If I hadn’t heard Sophie’s mind, I would have thought her a corpse.
Thank you for coming for me.
“There’s no universe where that wouldn’t happen.” I reassured her.“I’m here,” A bright light flashed behind me, and a man with a chiselled jawline and glasses ran forward and kneeled next to Sophie. Biana stood a few steps away awkwardly, coiling her brown locks around her finger. “Fitz, open her mouth.”Carefully, I parted Sophie’s lips. Elwin poured a liquid into her.“Swallow that,” Elwin instructed. I saw Sophie’s throat struggle with the movement. She scrunched her eyes as the liquid slipped into her. “And please don’t fight the medicine, Sophie. It’ll make things worse. And we cannot afford that.”Despite her dying form, she managed to thrash, and in my mind, she kept screaming: No! No sedatives!“It’s okay, Sophie,” I whispered as she lost consciousness, though I wasn’t sure if it would be.***I heard a voice from the healing centre. Not the worried mumblings of Elwin, or my father parroting the ‘there’s no reason to worry’ rhetoric. It was the soft, quiet voice of a nearly-dead, now revived, Sophie Foster.“You up for some visitors?” Elwin asked. Sophie muttered something unintelligible. My father was at my side a second later, telling me I could go visit her. I rushed in, tumbling over my own two feet, to meet her.“Sophie,” I whispered, kneeling at the side. She looked uncomfortable with the attention, or tired; I wasn’t sure.“Thanks for bringing me back,” Sophie said, and she tried for her a hug, but her hands wouldn’t allow it.I shook my head. “Not something you should thank me for. I am obligated to do that, Sophie. I care about you.”My sister rushed into the room next and threw her arms around Sophie. She buried her face into Sophie’s shoulder. Sophie lay down awkwardly, eyes darting toward me in a clear cry for help. Biana pulled apart, sniffling.“I’m sorry, Sophie. My dad wanted us to keep an eye on you, and I didn’t want to at first, but then I grew to like you, and then you were gone...” Biana’s voice broke.“And now I’m back,” Sophie said, abandoning her usual sour attitude. I guess a brush with death does that to you. Though, I’m sure, had it been me, I’d twice as salty as I am now. “And I’m your friend.”“Really?” Biana asked.“Really.”“Okay, okay, enough with the sappy nonsense.” Keefe barrelled in, carrying his usual air of nonchalance. “I was part of the whole rescue mission too, remember? I identified the tree. If I hadn’t then...” Keefe trailed off.“Thank you,” Sophie said. “I appreciate saving me from death.”“All in a day’s work.” Keefe said. “By the way, you’re a telepath?! See, this proves you are the most mysterious girl ever. My dad was so smug when it came out. He always had his suspicions. And now they’re confirmed.”Sophie sent an uneasy glance at my father. My father cleared his throat. “You won’t have to hide your ability no longer, Sophie. In fact, everyone in the Lost Cities seem to know everything about what’s happened with you over the last few months.” My father rubbed his temple and pulled his lips in a thin line. A telltale sign of stress. But for now, you need to rest.” My father said to Sophie.I pulled out the blue elephant stuffed animal I’d so cleverly hid from Sophie. “Here. Every good night’s sleep comes with a stuffed animal.”And you know how to reach me, I slipped into her mind.She gasped. “How?”
I’m not sure. Ever since I found you, I’ve been able to slip in pretty easily. Neat trick, if you ask me.
Can you read my mind?
Not at all. But transmitting is still pretty awesome, I grinned.“No secret conversations, guys,” Keefe said, shaking his head. “Geez. You’ve been awake for a few minutes and you’re already back to being mysterious. Do you ever take a break, Foster?”“Okay, that’s enough,” Elwin commanded. “Sophie needs her rest. The rest of you should leave.”Keefe and I rolled our eyes in unison, because we are far more similar than people would take us for and left the room quietly.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I sat off to the side, squirming on the comfy cushions of the chair. Sophie was the one sitting on a pedestal, high and important, but I was still nervous. Beside me, Keefe fiddled with his cape absentmindedly, occasionally throwing me a sideways glance and a lopsided smile. He was good at shifting my nerves; my heart sped for him instead of the situation.“You shouldn’t worry so much,” Keefe assured me. His voice was low and smooth and buttery. “Foster has this in the bag. You see the look in her eyes? She’s not going down without a fight. And Sophie Foster doesn’t lose a fight.”I peered over, and sure enough, Sophie was radiating confidence. Something in the way she sat, no slouch in her posture, and something in her unwavering gaze made me ease inside. If Sophie Foster, after being kidnapped and tortured and put on trial could be brave, then I could too. The crowd was large but silenced immediately when Bronte started reading out the offenses Sophie had committed. I gritted my teeth. Five major transgressions and eleven minor ones. Sophie Foster, once again, has broken the record. At this point, Sophie herself should’ve been a record.Sophie took a less than perfect curtsey. She lost her footing in the end and Stina’s snicker reverberated off the walls. But Sophie didn’t pay it no mind. She was indifferent as she faced the council.“Ms. Foster,” Councillor Emery said, voice warm. “I, on behalf of the Lost Cities would like to extend our gratitude that you have come home safely. We find it of utmost importance to ensure the safety of our citizens, and to know that you have arrived safely is greatly important to us. But there are many serious charges we must get to.”“Thank you,” Sophie said, and I could tell the strength in her voice.“Breaking into the Forbidden Cities is a serious crime. We-”“Apologies but I must interrupt,” Sophie said. I sucked in a breath. This could go south very easily. “But people were losing their homes. They were dying. As elves, it’s easy to sit back and say it’s out of our control. It’s not. I was among humans. I’ve seen the devastation of death. You saw it recently too. You saw it when Dex and I were kidnapped. And now imagine seeing that every day. I’m sorry if that’s a law, but it had to be broken. I won’t apologise for the lives I’ve saved, only the harm I’ve caused. I’d rather be punished for making the right decision than live with the guilt of making the wrong one for the rest of my life.”Around me, murmurs filled the air. Sophie Foster challenged the crowd. She was good at that. Suddenly, Sophie wasn’t just ‘the girl who got kidnapped’. She was the girl who stood up to the council. The girl who stood up for herself.Emery cleared his throat and rubbed his tired eyes. “Thank you for your honesty, Ms. Foster. Though some of us-” Emery shot a glance at Bronte. “-Find your attitude disrespectful and crass, we cannot ignore the fact that laws were broken. Serious laws.”“Are we also going to ignore that as my leaders, you also failed to protect me and ensure my safety?” Sophie said with a raised eyebrow and a cool tone. “I am someone who is worthy of safety and protection, and the council has been promising that since its creation. Does the council also get punishment for failing to do their job? Do they lose their job?” Sophie flicked her hair away from her face. “Where’s the justice in a kidnapped twelve-year-old girl serving punishment for her actions, but not the experienced, adult council of twelve people?”The murmurs rose again. People agreed with Sophie’s statement. So did I. It made sense, what she said. Even though everyone thought that Sophie was dead, the council shut down any idea of a rebel group with little to no investigation.Emery commanded silence. “You bring up a good point, Ms. Foster. Which is why we’d like to let you go with a full pardon. Now, to the matter of your final exams.”I saw Sophie’s stance falter. The shock on her face was evident.Emery continued. “You were sent to Foxfire on provisional basis. But, seeing as the kidnapping made you miss your final exams, we’re at a bit of a loss of how to continue. We’d like to throw the question to Sophie’s mentors.”All of Sophie’s mentors stood up from their front row seats. Tiergan cleared his throat. “If I may,”Emery gestured to the front. Tiergan shuffled down. “Sophie Foster is the most talented and powerful telepath I’ve ever seen. I have simply no reason to fail her. I give her one hundred percent.”The shock rippled around the room. It was on everyone’s face, including Sophie’s. One by one, Sophie’s mentors each stepped forward, commending her work throughout the year and giving her one hundred percent. Lastly, Lady Galvin stepped forward.“This will not be a popular decision,” she said. “But I simply cannot pass Sophie Foster. Her work in my class has been subpar at most. It would be authentic of me to pass her.”The crowd joined in a collective groan. Lady Galvin dipped her head and shuffled back to her seat, along with the other mentors. Even they were staring daggers at her. I felt the same daggers shoot from my own eyes.“Excuse me,” my father said, rising from his said. “If I may offer a suggestion, Sophie is meant to qualify for eight subjects, not pass them. And recent news is that Sophie has developed a second ability. Why not replace alchemy with a subject she will clearly perform higher in?”Questions about traditions and exceptions rose in the crowd. Emery silenced each one. “That is an interesting choice. Ms. Foster, do you agree to swap out alchemy for an ability session.”Sophie quickly nodded her head. “I do.”“Outrageous,” Bronte said. “I won’t allow it. You may be some inflicting genius, but you will not pass under my authority.”Sophie’s face morphed into shock as she turned to Alden. “Bronte’s my mentor?”“He’s the only registered inflictor,” my father replied. Sophie groaned, and rightfully so.“There is one more matter we must address,” Emery said. I blew out a breath. A lot of things to get through today, it seemed. “You have two adoption requests for you, Ms. Foster. Lord Alden Vacker and Lady Della Vacker, or Lord Grady Ruewen and Lady Edaline Ruewen. The choice is yours.”Sophie looked torn for a moment. I was too. I didn’t know how to feel about the idea of having another sibling. The dark, selfish part of me didn’t want Sophie’s magnet of chaos and hurt to come around my house, but I pushed it away.“I would like to stay with Grady and Edaline,” Sophie said, misty-eyed. My heart relaxed.Emery quickly concluded the tribunal, and Sophie raced down to meet Edaline and Grady – her parents. She wrapped them in a bear hug, and I swore that I saw tears escaping from her eyes.“It was always going to be you,” Sophie said.Keefe waltzed up to me. He stood close and spoke softly. “What a day.”“What a day, indeed.” I sighed.“Does this mean we can tone it down tomorrow with a date?”“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” I smiled.I walked out with Keefe, Sophie and Dex that night. I took a good look at the sky. It was gorgeous. Stars with flecks of brown and blue and a hint of teal there, too. I thought, maybe that’s me. Maybe the place I belong is where I’m happiest. And then I thought: Maybe that’s right here.