Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-44544645-20191211195811/@comment-44544645-20191223031654

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! :) :) (sends you digital mallowmelt)

Ten

“Sophie!”

Sophie turned her head to see Jensi standing next to where she was sitting in study hall.

'''“Can I sit here? And what were you whispering about? Whoa, you have a special cape pin, is that because you’re a Regent now?”'''

'Sophie nodded, scooching over to make room for him and shooting a look at her friends that clearly said Don’t talk about Black Swan stuff''. Jensi was her friend, but he wasn’t in the Black Swan, and he talked like he’d drunk twelve espressos for breakfast. If she shared a secret with him, it would be too easy for him to let something slip.'''

“Have you manifested?” Sophie asked, avoiding the “what were you whispering about” part of his query.

'''Jensi sighed. “I wish. My top pick is probably Phaser, like my brother, because that would be so cool. But both of my parents are Talentless, and when my brother Jax manifested it was a huge suprise, so it’s super unlikely that I’ll manifest. The whole matchmaking thing is really stupid. What’s wrong with Talentless people marrying people with special abilities?”'''

He sounded more dejected than Sophie had ever heard him.

'''“It is stupid,” Sophie agreed. '''

Lady Cassandra, the Mentor overseeing study hall, called for the room to be silent, but as she pretended to review her notes for elvin history, Sophie’s mind was going another direction.

Jensi’s brother was a Phaser, and clearly thought the Council had serious problems.

'''Blur was a Phaser, and had joined the Black Swan for unknown reasons. '''

'''Blur had full lips and round cheeks, just like Jensi. '''

***

'''The minute Sophie got home from school, she pulled out her Imparter. “Show me Jax Babblos,” she said. '''

Jax had full lips, round cheeks, and curly hair just like his brother—and when his face appeared on the screen, Sophie got a good look at his expression.

A flicker of shock and surprise—and then it went neutral.

Sophie also noticed a thin, flesh-colored, nearly invisible cord around his neck—he just might have a Black Swan pendant.

'''“Hello, Sophie,” Jax said. “What’s going on? Is it about my brother? He’s told me a lot about you.” '''

'''Sophie shook her head. “No. I have a question for you.”'''

“Fire away.”

“Are you Blur?” She said the words really fast, to get it over with.

'''Jax laughed like he thought the idea was ridiculous—but it was there. Right there.'''

A tiny bit of shock.

Sophie stared at him, trying to make eye contact.

And then he sighed and admitted, “Okay…...yes.”

'''“Can you tell me why you joined the Black Swan?” she asked, trying to stay on track. This was huge. '''

'''Jax shook his head. “It’ll take too long.”'''

“How about a summary?”

'''“Matchmaking is stupid. Really stupid. And I started noticing other stupid things about the elvin world, too. I joined the Black Swan about twenty years ago, just after I graduated from the elite levels.”'''

“Wait…..but you’re Jensi’s brother.”

'''“Yeah, but elves can have kids whenever. They don’t have a time limit on it like humans.”'''

'''“Oh, right. So does that mean…..you were a part of Project Moonlark?”'''

'''“Yes, but just for some brainstorming. I wanted you to prove prejudices in the elvin world wrong.”'''

'''“Wait. You knew I was going to be unmatchable? You planned it?”'''

'''Had the Black Swan ever considered that she might want to be just a normal teenager? One who could do stuff just like her friends did? Okay, matchmaking was idiotic, but…..'''

'''“Yes. When we were researching who we wanted to have as DNA donors, I suggested that we keep the identities of your parents entirely secret so as to have you prove the prejudice around bad matches wrong. This would also allow your parents to be pretty much anyone. Someone so powerful, with at least three abilities—how could they face so much scorn for no good reason? It’ll show our world that matchmaking doesn’t matter.”'''

“So YOU’RE the reason I’m unmatchable?”

If Jax hadn’t suggested that, she wouldn’t have had all the drama with Fitz, with Oralie, with her parents (biological and adoptive).....

She was tempted to fling something at her Imparter.

'''“Calm down.” Jax smiled, showing his dimples. “Don’t you agree that matchmaking is rigged and messed up?”'''

“I guess so,” she muttered.

“Then why would you want to be a part of something that messes with people’s lives in that way?”

Sophie sighed, hating that he was right.

'''“I’m sorry that all this made you stress out and stuff,” he mumbled. “It’s just…..you can be happy while being a bad match, or while not even getting a match list.”'''

'''“I’m still kinda mad,” she told him. “I get it, but I’m mad.”'''

“I don’t blame you.”

***

“Wait, what?” Marella asked, her tone full of shock and disbelief.

'''Sophie nodded. “I hailed him earlier today.”'''

'''Dex grinned, showing his dimples on the Imparter screen. “All we need to figure out know is Wraith.”'''

'''Biana smiled. “You don’t.”'''

'''“Do you know who Wraith is?” Fitz asked incredulously. '''

'''“Yeah. He’s my Vanishing mentor.”'''

'''The small silver square showing all of Sophie’s friends from the Black Swan erupted with shouts of “WHAT?” and “HOW?”. '''

'''“It actually makes sense when you think about it,” Biana said, grinning broadly. “Why else would the Black Swan have included me for the Everest ambush if they didn't know about my Vanishing skills? And while I was staying in Alleturve, Wraith said that if I worked hard enough, he’d teach me how to partially vanish. Sir Osmond started talking about how we’d be working on that today, and that’s when it clicked.”'''

'''“Wow,” Sophie mumbled, feeling partly impressed and partly overwhelmed. “Why’d he join the Black Swan?”'''

'''“His father was a Pyrokinetic, and he died when Fintain was trying to spark the Everblaze. Plus his younger brother is Talentless, and both of them think all the prejudice around that is really stupid. He didn’t go into much detail, and I can’t really blame him.”'''

“Whoa,” Linh whispered.

'''“Yeah,” Biana said. “It’s pretty intense.”'''

'''They were all silent for a moment, and then Keefe jumped in, “Someone has to break the awkward silence, so I’m going to. Nice detective work, Biana.”'''

'''Biana smiled. “Thanks.”'''

S'omething else ''flickered into Sophie’s mind. '''

Grady was currently out on an assignment about the rebel dwarves, so she needed to talk to Team Valliant about that.

Ugh, why was juggling all this stuff so difficult?

'''Okay. Deep breath. First things first. '''

'''“Can everyone on Team Valliant meet outside by the Panakes tree an hour after school tomorrow?” she asked. “Grady needs to talk to us about what’s going on with the rebel dwarves. Can everyone in Team Valliant make it?”'''

“I can,” Wylie said.

“I can, too,” Biana responded.

'''“I’m free. Also, who’s going to hail Stina?” Dex asked.'''

Sophie hadn’t included Stina and Maruca on this group hail, because they weren’t part of the Black Swan yet—even though Maruca definitely wanted to join.

“I can,” Biana offered.

“Great.”

As her teammates clicked away, Sophie’s head was still spinning.

Could they really have figured out the identities of Blur and Wraith in the same day?

'''Could the Neverseen be only working on one thing? Could taking them down really be this simple?'''

This simple, yet this difficult….

As if the cosmos agreed that this was too simple and she needed more of a challenge, just after her friends clicked away, her Imparter started buzzing.

YOU ARE BEING HAILED BY: COUNCILLOR ORALIE

TAP THE SCREEN TWICE TO ACCEPT

'''Sophie fought the urge to groan and tapped the screen twice. '''

'''“Hello, Sophie,” Oralie said. '''

'''“Hello,” Sophie responded. She could tell that this was probably a formal call, since Oralie was wearing her circlet. '''

She paused, waiting to see what would come next.

“The Council has a request, and I thought it would be best to tell you personally,” Oralie explained.

Just tell me already!

'''“We were talking about probing Luzia’s mind earlier today,” Oralie continued. “We’ve agreed that if it doesn’t yield results, we’ll stop with the Telepath tricks, but if it does, we’ll investigate further. I suggested Magnate Leto and Tiergan, but I was overriden.”'''

“The Council wants someone who’s not in the Black Swan to do it?” 

'''Oralie shook her head. “They want it to be you.”'''