Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-2601:647:4000:5CE0:FC5C:33DA:7CF0:60A-20191024050134/@comment-73.158.79.161-20191030032011

Chapter 7

"You're not alive. You can't be."

Sophie shook her head, trying to get the wooziness out of her brain as she rocked back and forth. "But Brant didn't shatter."

"Because he didn't have the heart to kill me," Jolie said gently. "So he left me to rot in an island far, far away from any of the Black Swan hideouts I knew. So I was left..."

"...until Prentice." Sophie finished, sucking in a breath. "That's it, isn't it? You have some sort of connection. In your journal, you said that Prentice introduced you to the Black Swan."

"There is a rare, special connection elves call a Mind Link," Jolie said, her turquoise eyes staring curiously at Sophie's room. "And Prentice was like a father to me. I'm so glad he's healed. Anyways, once I was healed, I found a way to contact old friends, and they helped me back here."

Sophie stared at her. And stared.

Jolie blinked, coming back into focus. "Oh, and one more thing." She reached for Sophie's hand, and poured three small crystals into it.

One cobalt blue.

One clear.

And one ruby red.

"I snatched this from Brant," Jolie said, nodding. "It may not be of any use, but it's all I know of."

"You were left for years," Sophie said, remembering. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Jolie said, helping Sophie up. "When Mom and Dad hear about this-"

Cue Edaline and Grady bursting in.

"Hey, sweetie," Edaline said to Sophie. "We were hoping your telepathy could help with the new resident, he's a real-"

"Tough one?" Edaline finished weakly, spotting Jolie. "Am I dreaming?"

"No, Mom. Dad." Jolie ran and threw her arms around them, and Sophie stepped to the side, smiling to herself as she watched the family reunion, with much shedding of tears. A voice behind her cleared.

"You kids are always- hold up, am I dreaming?"

Mr. Forkle's jaw dropped as he watched Jolie toss aside her blonde ringlets and her turquoise eyes flashed as she hugged him, despite his ruckleberry scent and bloated form. Tears formed in his eyes as he patted her on the back, then turned to Sophie. "Miss Foster," he said sternly.

"Yes?" Sophie asked definatly.

"I have told you that our telepaths are working on Mr. Song's retrieval," Mr. Forkle said, rubbing his temples.

"Yeah? And what about us? How come we've got so far, faced with five members of the Neverseen, Tam, and a captured Amy, and been able to reach out to Tam when none of your lousy Telepaths could?"

"YOU DID WHAT?" Grady shouted from the other side of the room, breaking out of the embrace and plopping down next to her, an eyebrow raised. "You, kiddo, have a loooooooooooong explanation you owe us."

So Sophie spilt.

And Grady was mad.

"And you can't stop us," Sophie said, holding up the crystals Jolie had given her.

"Is this your doing, Miss Ruewen?" Mr. Forkle said, sighing loudly when Jolie held her head high and nodded. "Of course. I will arrange for you to live in one of our hideouts. And you, Miss Foster? You are coming with me."

Naturally, when everyone was gathered, there was lots of long debate and chaos.

In Everglen's dining room, a total of the Collective, Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, Biana, Dex, Linh, Marella, Grady, Edaline, Della, Alden, Lady Cadence, Physic, Ro, Bo, Sandor, Grizel, Woltzer, Lovise, Flori, Tarina, and possibly even Nubti were gathered, all sinking on the shouting and screaming and yelling.

Eventually, they made three groups.

First, the bodyguards were split. Ro was going to the Forbidden Cities, Sandor and Grizel to the Lost Cities, and Bo to wherever the red stone was going to take them. Then there was Woltzer, Lovise, Flori, and Tarina. Tarina would be going with Ro, partly because she insisted. Lovise would go with Sandor and Grizel, and Woltzer and Flori with Bo, though neither of the three seemed happy about it.

Then the adults. Grady and Edaline were sent to the Forbidden Cities, because of their well-donned power. Alden was a powerful Telepath and an Emissary, and Lady Cadence was also well resepcted, so they'd be going to the clear crystal. Lastly, Della, because she was stealthy, and Physic, because she had medical training, would both be going to the red crystal.

Third, the Collective. Mr. Forkle was to the clear crystal, and Juline and Granite were going to the Lost Cities. That left Blur and Wraith to the red crystal.

Fourth, Sophie and her friends. Sophie would be going to the clear crystal because she was a Polygot. Fitz would be going because they were Cognates. And Keefe would be going because he was the only one who could calm him down. Then Dex, because of his tech skills, and because stealth would be useful, Biana would be going to the Lost Cities. Then Linh and Marella were going to the red crystal, because hopefully their powerful ablities would balance each other out.

And they would be going next week.

So that left Sophie to worry.

And think.

About a pair of green eyes.

''Sophie, please! Stop!''