❝𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲.❞ ― 𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒙 𝑲𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒄

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎.𝟑 ┊ 𝑺𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒆

"Sophie? We're all waiting outside," Grady spoke gently, worry lines creasing his forehead. Sophie blinked back tears. "Um, yeah. I'm coming. Just ... give me a minute." 

"Sure, no problem... Sophie." Grady said, turning to close the door.

It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap.

The door's hinges creaked as it slowly closed.

I have to warn him. Warn him. Warn him.

The door shut behind her, as if making the decision for her.

Wait for me, Keefe. I'm coming.

With that, she sat in silence for a moment, the gears in her head spinning, before heading downstairs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"So, we know that Keefe Sencen, part of the Black Swan, has ... put simply, run off to an unknown destination, because he had a new unknown ability that could not be kept under control yet and can possibly or potentially harm others and is most definitely part of Lady Gisela, Keefe's mother, part of the Neverseen, our Nemesis, and so was fearful and decided to hide until further notice. We have no clue about his whereabouts..." Councilor Emery was saying. Everyone else was trying to politely listen and not disrupt him while not accidentally falling asleep. It had been Grady's idea to lay out all the facts that they knew for sure, first, but he seemed to be regretting it as well.

"... and let's make it simple and fast," Ro cut him off (much to his annoyance). "Basically Hunkyhair runs off again because of that crazy new ability his evil Best-Mom-Of-The-Year gave him and blah blah blah, he tries to protect everyone and all. He made me sleep and woke me up just as he light-leaped to somewhere else, and this whole thing happened. He also wrote Blondie this sappy letter, and clearly he's going off to the Forbidden Cities. Also, Blondie's dad also mentioned the leaping crystal was blue, so that's pretty clear to me, at least. Don't know about you lot of people," Ro finished in one breath as she finished her sparkly pink nail polish and blew it. "Happy now?"

"Yes, Ro, thank you for your ... detailed explanation. We were just getting to that part before you so rudely interrupted," Emery glared at Ro and continued. "So this is the recap of what just happened. Anyone want to add anything?"

No one spoke, so he took it as a no.

"Well, now that's all the facts we know so far. Let's see... what could happen next? Suppose Keefe is unsuccessful in his mission, and the Neverseen find him?"

Everyone starting speaking at once, so he took it as everyone had ... concerns about this particular theory as well.

"This is just a big 'maybe', everyone. It's not confirmed, but it's a possibility. In any case, it's a definite trap, and Keefe might have just walked into it. If so, they'd be expecting us to be desperate to get Keefe back, and we'd go rushing in to save him, and they'd attack all of us and do who knows what," Councilor Emery said after a telepathic discussion with the other eleven councilors, who nodded their heads. 

Sophie frowned. That was exactly what she was planning to do (though she had no idea how she was going to do it). But that made sense. The Neverseen wanted then to go after Keefe, so they could kill two birds with one stone. They could get Sophie, the Moonlark, the one who was most important. She could even be used as a bargaining chip. And Keefe as well, for his stupid legacy... whatever that was. It was a simple but smart plan.

"The only question is... why would Keefe do something like that? Why would he do such a thing at a time like this? We need everyone to defeat the Neverseen. Suppose he goes over to their side again?"

Sophie was having the same questions and worries. She had read the letter and understood... but Keefe should know better to run off again like that. Plus, how would the Neverseen have known that Keefe would go to the Forbidden Cities? How would they have predicted it?

Either way, it was an advantage for them. Of course, they can't immediately go after him, that was clear now. Then what should they do? They couldn't just ... leave him there. He could be in danger any moment. It wasn't like he lived there for his entire life either like Sophie. He didn't know the ways of humans or the way around. And all elves spoke the Enlightened language, while humans used a language called English (usually, from where she lived). The situation seemed worse and worse by the minute.

"Sooooooooo we can't go after Hunkyhair and we leave him there alone?" Ro asked. She was trying to hide it, but even though Sophie wasn't an empath, she could practically see the anger (and a tiny 0.000001% of worry) radiating off her.

"Of course we're going to find him... eventually. That's just not the best course of action at the moment," Councilor Emery said. He was thoughtful for a moment. "You know what, let's listen to what some others have to say."

Immediately, the room exploded into chaos. He held up a hand. "Wait, one voice at a time!"

After some (loud) discussion, it seemed that while some people did want to snatch back Keefe as soon as possible before he did something dumb again, majority agreed that it wasn't safe, with the Neverseen there as well. Even Alden seemed stumped, though he managed a weak, "No reason to worry."

"What if we take the Neverseen by surprise?" Sophie blurted out. All eyes went to her. Blushing, she dipped her head down. "We can be armed and go to the human- I mean, the Forbidden Cities at night, where they'd be waiting, and beat them right then and there." Some people nodded, but in the end she realised her plan had holes. Firstly, they'd have to be non-suspicious and get ready to defeat the Neverseen. That'll take time. Secondly, it wasn't so easy to beat them.. they'd tried dozens of times already, and look how well that turned out. Third, it'll be a whole lot of people who turned up in the Forbidden Cities at night. Even if there wasn't much people on the streets then, it'll still draw unwanted attention. Fourth, the Neverseen won't be waiting so long for them. They'd probably threaten them, or maybe just take Keefe to wherever they were supposed to take him to and they'd be too late to 'save' Keefe.

It wasn't like Keefe would willingly go with them... but it wasn't as if he had a choice. 

This was way harder then Sophie expected... or maybe the logical thinking part was what made them fail all the time? Maybe they should just go with their gut feeling and go there immediately?

No, that was just rash acting. It wouldn't get them anywhere... only get them captured way, way faster.

The Neverseen would totally see it coming.

Silence hung over like a damp towel over everyone in the room. After some time, Grady suggested to have another meeting tomorrow, after some rest. "It's been a tiring day, everyone. We'd meet again tomorrow with our heads clear and make the best decision. If we make a quick one right now, it might not be the best, and that weakness gives the Neverseen more advantages, and we don't want that." Mostly everyone agreed and they all went their separate ways, while Sophie headed to bed to sleep.

But sleep never came, with all the thoughts jumbling in her head like pop corn. Any moment, and Keefe could be gone... possibly forever.