[WARNING: THIS STARTS AT CHAPTER NINE OF BOOK 4: NEVERSEEN]
Valori had been living with the Black Swan for the majority of her life. She knew each of its members. Not what they actually looked like, of course. But she knew their personalities and how to charm every one of them. She was fine with living with the Black Swan, though she mostly stayed with Physic. She was the Black Swan’s physician, and the only member of the order she knew the identity of. Her real name was Livvi, but the only reason Valori knew that was because Physic didn’t like hiding her identity. She found it a waste of time.
Right now, they were at the Black Swan’s current hideout, Alluveterre. And Valori couldn’t hide her excitement as she waited for Sophie and her friends to arrive.
In the Elvin land known as the Lost Cities, Sophie had once lived there. But that was before the Councillors started to see her as a threat, even though all Sophie and her friends wanted to do was help. So, when the Council placed a circlet on Sophie’s head that they had tricked her friend Dex into making and claimed the Black Swan as their enemy, Sophie and her friends decided to run away. And they were coming here.
Livvi wasn’t here today, she rarely was. She was always busy living her life in the Lost Cities. That was the real reason behind all the Black Swan’s disguises. That way they could still keep their other lives to manage the Lost Cities themselves. So, when she stood by the Collective and waiting for them to arrive, she hid behind Squall. Squall was only her code name, but it was all Valori knew to call the ice-encrusted disguised elf.
But then Mr. Forkle, another code name in a disguise that caused him to be fat and wrinkly and smelly that was caused by ruckleberries, entered the room, followed by Sophie, Fitz, Keefe, Biana, Dex, and Della. Della was the unexpected guest, but she was Fitz and Biana’s mom, so Mrs. Vacker was still welcome in Valori’s eyes.
But she still hid behind Squall.
Then a male voice said, “Okay, I figured you guys were going to be weird, but I wasn’t expecting this weird.”
Valori snickered at his response, who she had now pinpointed as Keefe. And when he looked at her, she squealed and hid deeper behind Squall. She’d never been around kids her own age before. It was… exhilarating. Almost refreshing.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Squall, Blur, Wraith, and Granite.” Mr. Forkle told them. Valori glared at him and softly cleared her throat. “Oh yes,” Mr. Forkle sighed. “And Valori.” But after that she went back to cowering behind Squall.
Squall giggled softly at Valori’s actions as she addressed the rest of the new members of the Black Swan. “I know the title might seem strange,” she told them, “but we’ve found it’s easier to remember code names when they match the disguise.”
“Don’t worry!” Valori couldn’t help but add. “I don’t know who they are either.”
When she earned a couple of smiles, she ducked behind Squall again. She honestly didn’t care that Squall’s ability as a Froster, meaning she could manipulate ice and snow, made Squall really cold. But the newbies clearly thought she was crazy to be hiding behind a big walking and talking ice statue.
Then there was Wraith, who stood next to Squall. Or his hovering silver cloak at least. Wraith was a Vanisher, which meant he could turn himself invisible, and had turned everything of him invisible except for his clothes. “Welcome to Alluveterre.” He said with a somewhat distant voice that sounded hollow. The others looked weirded out, but Valori knew it was just normal Wraith.
Blur introduced himself next, explaining to the newbies that he was a Phaser, and could break down his body to pass through solid objects. But with the right concentration, he could re-form only partially. The effect reduced him to splotches of color and smudged lines and shadows. That got an even more weirded out looks than Wraith.
Even still, Granite got the most weirded out looks yet. It made Valori want to topple over with laughter if she hadn’t stopped herself. Granite explained that he consumed a chalky power called indurate, since his ability as a Telepath couldn’t disguise him. The rare mineral caused his body to crystallize and harden, turning him into a talking, roughly carved statue.
His voice sounded scratchy as it always was in his disguise as he said, “We’re grateful to have all of you here----including you, Mrs. Vacker.”
“Della,” she corrected. “Surely if I have to call you by those crazy code words, you can call me by my familiar name.”
Squall’s face cracked as she smiled. “Della it is.”
“We’ve been informed of your request to officially join our cause,” Granite said, and Valori prepared for the lecture that was awaiting Della. “And… it’s a tricky situation. We realize your husband has clearly shown remorse for what he did to Prentice----and errors occur on both sides of that situation. Still, there are some among our organization that may find you hard to trust, and we cannot damage our community.”
“But you’re accepting us.” Biana said, pointing to herself and her year-older brother Fitz. Valori couldn’t help but acknowledge her bravery to talk to the Collective so boldly.
Even still, “You have proven yourselves,” Wraith reminded her.
“I’m prepared to prove myself as well.” Della promised. “I’ll swear an oath, submit to any test. All I want is a chance to set the past right.”
The Collective turned to each other. Valori could see some confusion on the newbies faces. Looks like they didn’t know the Collective were speaking telepathically. “We believe you,” Mr. Forkle eventually said. “And we’re willing to give this arrangement a try. You can swear fealty tonight with the others.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Sophie asked.
Rushing to say something, Valori told her, “It’s easy! I would explain what it is, but I’m afraid it’s slightly different for each person.” She realized that must have not helped much with their confused faces, so she added, “You’ll receive the package before curfew. Don’t let them fool you when they call it bedtime.” She snickered at the Collective when they shifted their stances.
“So, what your saying is,” Keefe said, “The Collective wants us to think we have a bedtime?”
“Yes, Mr. Sencen, your curfew will be at midnight----and that means lights out.” Mr. Forkle said. “We also expect you to stay in your separate houses for the remainder of the night. Every morning you’ll meet for breakfast, then spend the rest of the day with your lessons.”
“What kinds of lessons?” Biana asked.
“Exercises to better prepare you for the tasks ahead. You’re all very talented, but you’ve only begun to hone your abilities. We will mentor you when we can, and when we’re unavailable, your rooms have been stocked with books and assignments.”
“Or we could, y’know, work on hunting down the Neverseen,” Keefe suggested.
“The Neverseen are not a pressing threat at the moment.” Blur said.
“You’re kidding, right?” Keefe asked. “They’re running around staring fires----”
“One fire,” Granite corrected.
“That you know of,” Fitz countered.
“No, Mr. Vacker, one fire,” Granite insisted. “We have eyes all over the world. If anything burns, we know about it. Just like we were there to extinguish the Florence fire. And now that Gethen has been moved, the Neverseen have disappeared without a trace. We must wait for them to reveal themselves before we take further action.”
“Unless they already did something.” Sophie said.
Mr. Forkle cocked his head at her. “I see you have all kinds of theories.”
Sophie backed away. “Are you reading my mind?”
“Of course.”
“Does that mean I can poke around your head?” Sophie countered.
“By all means, be my guest.”
Sophie obviously didn’t know that there was trick to blocking her Telepathy skills. Valori had also been taught, so when Sophie tried to poke around her head next, she got nothing. Valori couldn’t help but be smug about the accomplishment, but she also felt for Sophie. It wasn’t fair that Mr. Forkle just read her mind whenever.
“I made your Telepathy unstoppable,” Mr. Forkle said, “but that doesn’t mean it can’t be deceived. Once you figure out what that means, you’ll earn the right to hear what I’m thinking.”
“Will you stop it,” Valori grumbled. “If you want her to trust you, don’t go invading her privacy. And don’t go taunting her when she can’t invade ours. You keep saying you want her to have a choice in some of these things, so why not you don’t violate the rules of Telepathy and give her a choice to think what she wants to think without making sure you’re not listening in on her thoughts?”
Mr. Forkle looked shocked at her comment, but Granite placed a rocky hand on his shoulder. “If we maintain the rules of Telepathy,” Granite asked Sophie, “would that make you more comfortable?”
“A little.” Sophie mumbled.
“Then consider our arrangement----and remember that the rules apply to you as well.” Granite told her.
Then everything went quiet as Mr. Forkle and Sophie were obviously having a telepathic conversation.
It was getting annoying when Keefe interrupted, “We know you’re having a secret conversation. Care to share with the rest of us?”
“He was just clarifying something.” Sophie said.
“Was it about Gethen?” Keefe asked. “You promised to tell us about the interrogations.”
“There isn’t much to tell.” Mr. Forkle said. “Each time I’ve probed his mind, he was… unresponsive.”
“So do a memory break.” Keefe pressed, and Valori was beginning to have enough of his stupid determination.
“You don’t get it.” Valori said quietly, but loud enough all heads turned to her.
Keefe especially looked angry. “What do I not get?” he demanded.
“Mr. Forkle told me his mind isn’t responding. Like at all.” Valori said. “There’s no thoughts. No dreams. Not even any memories. How can you do a memory break when there’s nothing to get? It would just ruin a possibility.”
“I could always heal him.” Sophie suggested.
Valori shook her head. “It’s possible that he just wants to trap you in his mind with this new defense. That’s what Fintan tried to do, as well, remember?”
“But Mr. Forkle takes the same risk every time he searches Gethen’s mind too.” Sophie pointed out. “Right?”
“I am far less valuable than you----as we all are.” Mr. Forkle said.
“He’s right,” Squall agreed. “And I’m sorry, but I really must get back or someone will notice I’m missing.” She turned to Valori and whispered in her ear, “Go over to them. The conversation will be over soon, go make some friends.” Then she removed a frosted purple-black crystal from her crackly cloak and leaped away in a flurry of snow.
Valori looked at the ground as she stood in Squall’s place. Then she slowly walked over to the newbies and circled around to the back of them, near Dex and Fitz. Dex waved at her with a smile that showed his dimples and Valori was delighted to wave back. “So, what’s your name?” Dex ended up asking. “I’m Dex.”
“I know, Blur already made sure I knew who you all were.” Valori said. “And my name’s Valori. I’ve lived with the Black Swan for most of my life.”
Fitz looked at her when she said that and his eyes widened. “Wow.” He said. “Do you have a powerful special ability? Is that why?”
She laughed. “Unless you count a Beguiler to be powerful, not really.”
Dex smirked at Fitz and patted Valori on the shoulder. “I think I might get along with you.” He told Valori, causing her to blush out of embarrassment.
They were all brought back to attention when Mr. Forkle addressed them and said, “Now, what was I saying?”
“You were making excuses for why we can’t find the Neverseen.” Keefe told him. “Pretty lame ones, if you ask me.”
“So you feel it’s lame to keep Sophie safe?” Granite asked.
“No----but it’s lame to not use me,” Keefe argued. “We know some of the Neverseen are in Ravagog. Give me a green crystal and I’ll hunt them down.”
“That is the most supremely absurd idea I’ve ever heard.” Mr. Forkle said.
“If they catch you, they’ll kill you.” Sophie whispered to him.
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing breaking into places is my specialty.” Keefe told her.
“This isn’t breaking into the principles office.” Fitz said.
“I can handle it.” Keefe insisted. “And now is the time to make our move. The Neverseen are scrambling. We caught Gethen. Brant’s all charred and burned. And my mom” ----he cringed at the word----“isn’t as tough as she’s pretending to be. She won’t last long with the ogres. She needs gourmet dinners and fancy clothes----and she’s horrible with bad smells.”
“That may be,” Mr. Forkle said, “But you’re forgetting that trespassing on ogre land is a violation of our treaty. We cannot spark a war.”
“Haven’t they already voided the treaty by helping the Neverseen?” Fitz asked.
“King Dimitar is claiming it was done by a band of ogre rebels,” Blur explained. “If they’re acting without his permission, the Council can’t hold him responsible.”
“Does the Council honestly believe him?” Sophie asked.
“Besides, aren’t we rebels too?” Dex added. “If they caught Keefe, wouldn’t the Council be able to give the same excuse?”
“Why is everyone assuming I’m going to get caught?” Keefe asked. “You guys are clearly forgetting how awesome I am!”
“You wouldn’t be so awesome if you died.” Valori couldn’t help but add, making everyone laugh and Keefe glare at her. “What?” she asked Keefe. “I’m just saying, if the ogres killed you for trespassing, and we had already warned you not to go, that wouldn’t be so awesome.”
“Valori has a point.” Dex laughed.
“We cannot be hasty with our efforts.” Granite told them. “We must be strategic.”
“That doesn’t mean we should waste time, either.” Keefe argued.
“Do not fool yourself into believing you are the only one feeling impatient.” Mr. Forkle warned him. “Tell me, do you know the names of the dwarves we lost on Mount Everest? They were Ermete, Irja, and Kun----and Yegor is still in critical condition. They were dear friends and we are anxious to avenge them. But that is not an excuse to take foolhardy actions.”
“I know you’ve all spent months solving clues on your own and disobeying adults,” Granite added. “But you must remember we were the ones guiding you through that.”
“We figured out some stuff on our own.” Fitz argued.
“Indeed, you did,” Granite agreed. “Which is why we’re glad to work with you. But we must be a team.”
“That’d be easier to believe if you guys weren’t keeping so many secrets.” Sophie reminded them.
“The only secrets we have are ours.” Mr. Forkle said.
“And for the record,” Valori added, “I’m not keeping any secrets.”
Sophie smiled at her, but then turned back to Mr. Forkle. “What about the memories you stole from my head?” she asked. Valori knew that Mr. Forkle had taken away two of Sophie’s memories from when Sophie had been living with humans. The only reason that Sophie, an elf, was living with humans was because the Black Swan wanted her to have a different view point on the world. They hoped it make it easier for Sophie to see the flaws. “The memories are mine.” Sophie added. “And you took them and expect me to pretend it’s not a big deal.”
“I say you give them back!” Valori said. “I’ve been with the Black Swan for as long as I can remember, and I know you want Sophie to succeed. So why not give her at least one memory back?”
Mr. Forkle turned to telepathically debate with the Collective. As the silence stretched on, Valori could see Sophie tense up. And when Mr. Forkle finally spoke, he said, “Very well. In the interest of earning your trust, would you like your memory back?”