Broken

Everglen

After an entire day of forcing herself to worry about the Neverseen so that she wouldn't be overthinking about Keefe and Fitz and her feelings for the two of them, Sophie was feeling restless. The next morning she light leaped to Everglen, needing to talk to Alden. If Mr. Forkle was busy tomorrow, then she'd talk to someone sooner. Even if it meant potentially running into Fitz...

Luckily, as she walked the familiar path to the aquarium of an office, Fitz was nowhere to be seen.

She knocked on the door. Alden was expecting her, but she felt weird just walking in.

"Come in!" She did. "Sophie, it's so good to see you!"

Sophie was surprised at the warmth in his voice and his smile as he walked around the table to wrap her in a hug. She was even more surprised at how much she had missed him, tears pricking against her eyelids that she forced herself to squeeze back. Alden had helped her through a lot, but now wasn't the time to get emotional over the past. She had a reason for coming here, and she wasn't going to let herself forget about it.

Sitting down across from Alden in a chair he'd pulled out for her, she said, "Thanks for meeting with me so last minute. I just got some intel on the Neverseen from Keefe that I thought you should be aware of." He nodded, gesturing for her to continue with a hand. "They kept talking about the Four Seasons Tree while Keefe was with them. He wasn't sure if they were planning something there, or if they were just trying to throw him on a goose chase, but I think we should send a team there to investigate."

Alden nodded, his teal eyes thoughtful. "I understand the caution, Sophie, but it is highly possible that the Neverseen was tricking Keefe as he suggested. I don't believe they would be so reckless in sharing their plans. But," he continued, holding up his hand to stop Sophie from interjecting a counterargument, "you're right that we should be safe. I'll ask the Council to post some guards around the area to keep an eye on things, okay?"

Sophie knew that it was the best Alden could offer, but it still didn't feel like enough. They had a real lead here, and she felt like they were needlessly passing it up.

But she nodded, giving him a small smile and a hug before leaving the claustrophobic room.

Deep in her thoughts as she was, she didn't pay attention as she walked through the halls of Everglen, her feet finding their way naturally to a room she knew almost as well as her own.

She was about to turn around and light leap home when she processed where she was, but deciding that she needed someone to talk to, she raised her fist and knocked on the door.

No response.

She pushed the handle, slowly opening the door and calling out, "Biana?"

The door opened all the way to reveal a pair of teal eyes. She was happy to see the sight until she realized that they weren't the eyes of her friend, but of her friend's brother.

"Oh, Fitz. Sorry, I was looking for Biana." He shuffled around awkwardly, and Sophie blushed. "Why are you in her room?" she asked to break the silence.

"She told me I could grab something out of here," he said, tucking the said "something" behind his back. She had already seen it, though. It was a picture of her and Biana grinning at a camera, both holding up a peace sign.

"Oh, well..." Sophie trailed off. She shouldn't have opened the door, shouldn't have tried to ask Biana what she thought about the Four Seasons Tree. She should have gotten out of this teal-infested house the second the opportunity presented itself. Instead she was here, forced to awkwardly walk in as Fitz sat down and patted the spot on Biana's bed next to him.