Neverseen's Puppet

Chapter 14: Forkman appears

Biana's POV

Biana hurried up the stairs to the Leapmaster, careful not to trip with her three-inch heels. Of course, that was hardly the taller pair she had ever worn, but difficult nonetheless. Her face still felt flushed from talking about Dex. If Camilla had been able to tell how she felt about him in such a short time, everyone else must've known. Except maybe Sophie. Her obliviousness was too overpowering.

She hadn't lied when she told Camilla she had to go to a meeting. She may have withheld that information a little longer than necessary, but it wasn't Camilla's business anyway.

Biana's stomach twisted with nerves. After the contingency meeting, where they had learned about the Forkle twin situation, she had immediately requested a private meeting with him. He was surprised, to say the least. Yet not as surprised as Biana was when he accepted. Mr. Forkle told her a time and place, and she had been anxiously awaiting the day ever since. Now that it was here, however, she wished she had some extra time.

Finally, Biana reached the Leapmaster. Her legs burned from the many flights of stairs she just climbed. Why did their primary mean of transportation have to be so annoying to access?

"Solreef," she whispered, and the respective crystal dropped down so it caught the light.

v^v^v^v^v

Biana arrived in front of the tall fortress-like walls that surrounded Tiergan's home. Scanning her surroundings carefully, she spotted Mr. Forkle in the shadows under a tree. Sighing with relief, she jogged over to him.

"Hello, Miss Vacker," he said politely. Biana noticed that he held another crystal in his hand.

"Is this our final destination?" she asked, not wasting time with pleasantries. Mr. Forkle smiled at her eagerness.

"Not quite," he answered. "We're going to leap somewhere slightly more protected."

Biana glanced at the gates-of-terror. They seemed pretty secure. Maybe not as safe as the anti-light leap walls around her own home, but still.

"It's so weird seeing a purple crystal," Biana admitted after a beat of awkward silence. "How do you make them?"

"I'm afraid we have neither the time or privacy to discuss such a detail, in fact, for the security of the organization I think it wouldn't be wise to give out this information so freely." Biana fought the urge to role her eyes. Stupid secretive Black Swan.

"Literally all you had to say was 'now is not the time'," she grumbled. Right as she finished saying that, however, a squinty eyed dwarf popped out of the ground in front of her feet. She yelped.

"Hello, Donovi," Mr. Forkle said, looking entirely unperturbed. "Are we all clear?"

Donovi shook his head. "No sign of activity was reported." Then he promptly hopped back into the hole he just made and disappeared.

"That was weird," Biana commented.

"Other species' cultures and behaviors always seem a little unnatural to our own," Mr. Forkle said airily. "Now I believe it is time to go." He offered her his wrinkled hand, and, after a second of hesitation, she took it.

He lifted the translucent violet crystal in the air and the light swept them away.

^v^v^v^v^

"Woah..." she breathed as she looked around the bare bone room. It had hardly anything in it, and gave off the slightly unnerving feeling of being inside a chicken egg.

"Is this your office?" she asked.

"One of them," he offered her a small smile. "Though this is one of my favorite."

"Why? There's like... nothing in it."

"Your eyes deceive you," he informed her. "Look closer."

She did, and gasped as she saw the frankly obvious holograms showing scenes from the Forbidden Cities.

"You have cameras in the human cities?"

"I have cameras everywhere," he continued, "But as much as I would love to continue this discussion, it is not what we are here to talk about." True. They had gotten extremely off-topic.

"What was it you wanted to meet with me about?" he asked.

"Oh! Umm..." she hesitated, "I wanted to ask you about Camilla."

Mr. Forkle arched an eyebrow. "What specifically?"

Everything. Why, who, when, where, and how? But she had a feeling he was looking for a question more narrowed down than that.

"Who is she?"

He rubbed his temple thoughtfully. "A mistake."

Biana flinched at the harsh words. A mistake? That wasn't the kind of answer she was looking for. Nor did it seem fair to Camilla.

Mr. Forkle must have seen the pain in her expression because then he said, "Not in the way you're thinking. I've done some research, and although she's way above average in terms of abilities, I don't believe she was quite at the high standards of the Neverseen. Consider the fact that they left her outside your estate with no memory and covered with burns."

Biana bit her lip. "So does that mean she was an experiment like Sophie?"

He hesitated. "That is what we are unsure about," he explained. "Although it seems more likely that she is simply the daughter of two very powerful people."

She didn't get much information after that. All of Mr. Forkle's answers were vague and riddled with "I don't knows" and "That information hasn't revealed itself yets". It was very frustrating.

"I'm afraid it's time to go home now, Miss Vacker. We've already stayed far longer than I originally planned," Mr. Forkle said.

"... Fine," she relented, disappointed that she hadn't got more answers. Although he had certainly given her a lot to think about.

Thoughts swirled around her head as they leapt back to Everglen. What would she tell Camilla? It felt wrong to have a meeting about someone and not tell them. But perhaps it was for the best. After all, she didn't know who the Neverseen were. Biana told herself this, but still felt guilty.

"Feel free to tell what we talked about to your friends, but for now, I think it would be wise to keep Miss Romani in the dark," Mr. Forkle said before leaping away.

"...But Camilla is my friend," she whispered to no one, letting her brave face slip away for only a second. Everyone had their own battles, and this was her's.

Ummmm.... so my updating schedule didn't go as planned... sooo... yeah. Sorry. But thank you to all the dedicated readers who still come back after all my inconsistencies! You are all very much appreciated! Also, we're at 400 something reads, courtesy of those dedicated readers.

Question of the Day: Who would be your best friend in the Kotlc world? Mine would probably be Biana.