Keeper of The Lost Cities: Book 9: Showdown

Chapter 17 - Sophie's POV

The next morning, I roll out of bed with almost as much negative energy as a toddler who didn't get candy (trust me, you do not want to know how bad a toddler without candy is). I trip on the stairs again, and this time I don't even care. I swipe a blitzenberry muffin from the kitchen and inhale it on the way to the Leapmaster. Foxfire is not in a pandemonium anymore, though kids are still in shock at "that freaky neverseen woman" actually coming to school. I try to hide in the corner, hoping no one will notice me, but on the way there, a few prodigies look at me through the corners of their eyes. I'm too lazy and tired to see what emotions lie in them. Fitz, Tam, Linh, Marella, and for some odd reason even Stina silently appear at my side.

"Are we going to see Elwin today?" Linh asks quietly. "We could go during lunch."

I shrug. "Ok."

Orientation, and two of my four classes whiz by, and before I know it, it's time for lunch. I don't even try to go to the cafeteria, instead I head straight to the Healing Center. Fitz has the samples we collected from the Wanderling, so unfortunately I was left there looking like an idiot until everyone else came.

About ten minutes later, everyone was there and we were allowed to go in. "Here's to hoping Elwin's not at that secret mentor's cafeteria." I said.

"There's a secret mentor's cafeteria?" Linh asked. "I didn't know that."

"Elwin?" Fitz called. Stina scampered over to Elwin's shelf of elixirs and whatnot and stared at them intently.

Bullhorn stares at me from his usual spot underneath Elwin's desk, but Elwin himself is not there.

"He's at the secret mentor's cafeteria." I plop on one of the cots.

"Actually, he's not." Livvy - Livvy? - walks in through the doors of the Healing Center with a huge bag. "He's at the Wanderling Site. Kesler needed a few things and Elwin had them."

"And Elwin needed a few things and you had them?"

"I thought Kesler had everything," Fitz says.

Livvy spread her hands as much as she could without dropping everything she was holding. "I guess not." she set the stuff she was holding down and rubbed her hands together. "Well. What are you guys doing here? Clearly you're not all injured..."

"I hurt my pride yesterday tripping on the stairs," I raise my hand.

"Actually," Tam says, getting down to business, "we wanted to show you something."

Fitz rummages through his bag and comes up with the two vials we collected. "They get cold and then hot, so I wrapped them with some cloth."

Livvy delicately unwraps them and sets them on a light table. "It's unstable," she mutters. "That's why it's still bubbling, and why it's temperature keeps changing."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" Fitz asks.

"Yep." Livvy says. "If we don't find anything that can stabilize it, it might explode."

Everyone winces.

Livvy examines it a little more. "But it's very strange. This elixir has a little bit of all bases in it."

"That's what I thought. But then I thought I was wrong because all the elements would just cancel each other out and we'd have a bunch of nothingness." Stina says.

Livvy nods. "And you'd be right. But, if there is more of one element than its counterpart, then there'd be enough to overtake that and still have enough to be its own thing."