Talentless // Fitz Vacker

// twenty seven//

"What is it you wanted to talk about girls?" Alden looked at them. Adora looked around the room. Fish surrounding. Adora had somehow forgotten that Alden's office was practically a giant aquarium. 

"Is it about Grady and Edaline's decision?" Alden asked softly. Those words snapped Adora back into focus. 

"No—though we are worried about them. They've been acting weird ever since you came over that night." Sophie explained. 

"They're okay right?" Adora added. 

Alden looked away. "They haven't told you?" 

Adora shook her head. "About the fires? No. They don't have to. We already know, or at least we know a little bit." 

"Hundreds of them? We know there are around humans and we know that you think the Black Swan is involved." Sophie said, backing up Adora. 

"And don't say that there isn't a reason to worry because something is going on and I feel like it's very reasonable to worry." Adora  finished. 

"The situation will be under control soon enough. The humans will put out the fires and everything will go back to normal." The look in his eyes said otherwise. 

Sophie tugged out an eyelash. "Not if it's Everblaze." Sophie had told Adora what had happened to her when she was projecting her memory. 

Alden jumped to his feet and was holding Sophie's shoulders before you could blink. "How do you know that word?" 

Adora quickly took out the book from her bag and plopped it onto the table. 

His mouth fell open. "Where did you get that?" 

"Someone put it in my locker today. The chapter on Everblaze was marked." Adora flipped to show the giant dog-ear. She cringed when she saw it. What were they, doing origami? "And when I read the word 'Everblaze' I remembered this." Adora then took out Sophie's memory log and flipped to the newest page. 

Alden rubbed his temples as he analyzed the formula. "Do you know what this is?" 

"Not really." Sophie admitted. "I know it's called Frissyn." 

Adora looked at the memory too. "That's probably Quintessence." She pointed at a Q with an X down the middle. 

"No clue what it does." Sophie remarked, staring at the directions. 

"Frissyn is the only way to extinguish the Everblaze"

"I thought it would be more complicated." Adora squinted at the recipe. If she had like a white board she could probably tell you how to make it. Alden stared at her. "What? Come on, it's the answer of stopping a never-ending flame. I thought it would be a bit more complicated. I could solve this faster than college level mathematics." Adora leaned back in her seat, already thinking about the instructions. 

"The formula is highly classified. I've never even seen the entire directions before." He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the two girls. "Do you know what this means?" 

"Someone planted secret information in my brain." Sophie concluded. Adora handed her her bracelet of worry beads from her bag. Sophie ran her fingers over the smooth surface of beads. "I also found this a few weeks ago." Sophie handed a picture of her and Adora on the beach with the sand castle. 

"I remember that! That was fun." Adora looked over at the sand castle. "Oh my god..." 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alden asked. Sophies face heated up. 

"I'm sorry. I was afraid I would get in trouble. But I also haven't remembered anything else until today. That's why I called you." Sophie looked at Alden. "The fires are Everblaze, aren't they?"