Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-44544645-20191211195811/@comment-44544645-20191222030905

Hi! Sorry it took me so long to update—I'm writing this several chapters in advance and I'm at a difficult point in the plot right now, so updates might slow down a little until I can get a better grip on the plot.

Here's chapter 8:

Nine

'''“Wait, what?” Sophie asked. '''

'''If anything, she’d thought Keefe would be a Conjurer. '''

“Didn’t you make a note about your mother testing you for being a Conjurer, twice?”

'''“Yes….I’m not really sure why either. But I know it somehow. It makes sense. Aren’t all the illusions about light and shadows? And this would explain why Mommy Dearest recruited Vespera. So I’m part Flasher, part Shade, and I can only do illusions.”'''

He looked nervous.

Anxious.

Scared.

'''Sophie wanted to give him a hug and tell him it was okay. But she held back, waiting to see what would happen next.'''

'''“Do you want to test it out?” Dex asked. “Make us see something that isn’t there”'''

'''Keefe shook his head. “No. I can’t...I don’t want to.”'''

'''“Just try,” Sophie advised. “Please?”'''

'''Keefe nodded shakily, stretching out a hand and snapping to create an orb of light. He shot it at the corner, and kept alternating light and shadows until a small medicine bottle took on the appearance of a bottle of Youth.'''

“Whoa,” Fitz gasped.

'''“We need to tell everyone,” Sophie decided, pulling out her Imparter. “I’ll hail Mr. Forkle. He was planning on gathering everyone for a group update anyway.”'''

'''“As the only adult in this room, I advise you to keep this to Black Swan members only,” Elwin jumped in, handing Keefe another elixir. “Just to be on the safe side.”'''

'''“I’ll tell Mr. Forkle to hail the Collective,” Sophie agreed. '''

'''Tam agreed to tell Linh and Wylie, and Biana took on Marella and her parents. '''

'''“What about Oralie?” Fitz asked. “She needs to be in this a well. It’s her cache that has the secret.”'''

'''“And she’s a Black Swan member,” Sophie agred reluctantly. '''

“I’ll talk to her,” Fitz offered.

So there ended up being twenty people crammed into the Healing Center, not counting all their bodyguards (who were waiting outside per Mr. Forkle’s instructions).

'''Elwin, of course. '''

'''Sophie, Dex, Biana, Keefe, Fitz, Tam, Linh, Marella, and Wylie. '''

'''Grady and Edaline. Alden and Della. Mr. Forkle (also Sir Astin, Sophie’s Universe mentor as a Level Two, and Magnate Leto, Foxfire’s principal), Blur, Wraith, Granite (also Sir Tiergan, Sophie’s Telapathy mentor), and Squall (also Juline Dizznee, Dex’s mother). The members of the Collective were all in disguise.'''

And the one person who was sorta behind all this who Sophie didn’t exactly want to think about.

'''After Sophie and her friends had rehashed everything that had happened with stellarlune, and Keefe, and there was the usual shock and suprise, Mr. Forkle and Oralie explained what they had learned. '''

'''“Glimmer finally consented to talk a little about the Neverseen,” Mr. Forkle explained. “Yesterday, she admitted that they had been planning something with every intelligent species, and that it related to Vespera.”'''

'''Oralie nodded. “And we’ve learned a lot about stellarlune. It might have been used to experiment on the trolls at Everglen, so…….what if the Neverseen are planning to use it on other intelligent species?” The last part came out in a bare whisper.'''

The words seemed too heavy, too thick, swarming the room and filling every crack and crevice with dark shadows.

Other intelligent species.

'''“The Neverseen saw what it did at Everglen,” Mr. Forkle continued. “I’m sure they have an intrest in replicating it. To make themselves or their enemies more powerful.”'''

'''“That would also explain why she wanted to collaborate with Vespera,” Oralie added. “Vespera could have used it to experiment on humans—and presumably keep them sedated. After all, it’s clear that activated stellarlune is a powerful sedative.” '''

“So...you’re saying….” Even Grady was having trouble putting words together.

'''“That the Neverseen may be planning to attack some of the intelligent species, or worse, they already have. Taking a few captives to experiment on, to see what stellarlune can do to them.” To her credit, Oralie kept her voice steady as she shared the horrifying hypothesis.'''

'''“There’s one thing I don’t get,” Biana cut in. “The Neverseen doesn’t have a Flasher anymore. Or a Shade. So how could they create stellarlune, or activate it?”'''

“Shadows and light can be bottled, and they could have created stellarlune ahead of time,” Dex reminded her.

'''Keefe nodded. “My mom could have kept stellarlune in these little black bottles, maybe made from magisdan. In the memory my dad found. And when I delivered the letter to London? It had two crescents and a star, probably stellar for star and lune for moon. It was clearly part of her plan. Plus, this is another reason Mommy Dearest recruited Vespera. She needed an illusionist for her plan, and I hadn’t manifested yet.”'''

'''Tam groaned. “While I was with the Neverseen, I got a lot of “send shadows here and here and here” and “bottle these shadows” and “bottle shadowflux.” They were totally plotting this. And maybe they had already done this to some of the intelligent species, too, because Umber’s journals had a lot of weird notes.”'''

'''One thing was becoming increasingly clear to Sophie. “We should meet with Empress Pernille or Luzia Vacker to talk through this.”'''

'''“If we met with Empress Pernille, would it get back to the Council?” Fitz asked, directing his question at Oralie. '''

'''Oralie fiddled with her hair. “I’m not sure, but I know that if you do meet with her, you shouldn’t discuss what you learned from my cache just in case. Please.”'''

“What’s going on with the trolls?” Wylie asked, beating Sophie to the question.

'''“It’s tricky. We’re still trying to negotiate a treaty. There’s going to be another Peace Summit in a few weeks, but the exact date is unclear. Empress Pernille probably won’t be able to meet for at least a month. So I’d say Luzia Vacker is the safer option.”'''

Safer for your own self-protection, Sophie wanted to say.

'''But she knew Oralie was right. Empress Pernille was caught up in all sorts of turmoil, while Luzia seemed to have plenty of spare time.'''

'''“I can hail my dad, and we can try and set up a meeting,” Fitz offered. “We won’t say anything about the cache, though.” '''

'''“There’s another problem,” Mr. Forkle said, looking grim. “How do we share our hypothesis, without sharing that we opened Oralie’s cache? We’re going to be walking a very fine line.”'''

'''“We could probe Luzia’s mind….” Sophie trailed off. '''

'''Oralie smiled. “Luzia’s punishment for the events with the trolls was left undecided at the Tribunal. I might be able to convince my fellow Councillors that we should probe Luzia’s mind to see if she’s hiding anything related to stellarlune. Noland and Liora heard Gisela mention it in Loanmore as well, and if I put it forth as a Black Swan idea, they won’t question the link to my cache, since it was wiped from their memories. In fact, that will probably make the Council support it more, as they’ll see it as another part to our newfound cooperation, that the Black Swan trusts them enough to share secrets and theories with them.”'''

'''“Great. Could you convince them that Magnate Leto would be the best for the job? Or Tiergan?” Mr. Forkle suggested.'''

'''Oralie nodded. “Good idea. Then we’ll have the information as soon as possible.” '''

There were murmurs of agreement all around the room.

'''As weird as Sophie was feeling about all of this, all the secrecy and suspicion, not to mention her biological mother, she had to admit…..this could work. '''

'''This could be their big chance to stop the Neverseen. '''

This time, they finally had the upper hand.

“Also, should we tell the Council that I manifested?” Keefe asked.

'''“I think it would be wise,” Mr. Forkle said. “In the intrest of our cooperation.”'''

“But if we tell them that Keefe manifested, won’t they want to investigate further into stellarlune?” Biana pointed out.

'''Grady shook his head. “None of the Councillors are Flashers, or Shades. They’ll probably just accept that it was the effects of ethertine and magisdan, and leave it at that. We have more pressing problems at the moment.”'''

There were murmurs of consent from everyone in the room, and Mr. Forkle agreed to update the Council, pointing out that the information would mean the most coming from him.

'''“And while that’s going on, I have another announcement,” Mr. Forkle said. “Foxfire will resume on Monday, and in case you’re wondering, yes, it is required that you attend.”'''

The announcement was met with a chorus of groans.

'''“Honestly, this might actually be beneficial,” he continued. “You’ll have a chance to further develop your skills and abilities, and there are plenty of adults who can help out with the Black Swan work. You're teenagers, after all.”'''

'''Nobody looked convinced. '''

'To be this close to figuring out what the Neverseen were doing…….and then to have to go back to school''? '''

Definitely infuriating.