cascade | kotlc

4. The Ultimate Splotching Championship

 "Hey, did you hear?" Marella asked her. "Sir Tiergan's back."

"Who's he?" she asked, relieved she'd remembered to lie. June narrowed her eyes at her, and Sophie gulped, wondering if her lie was too obvious. June noticed her discomfort and turned her attention back to Marella.

"Only like the most famous telepathy Mentor ever. He retired when his friend Prentice ended up in exile. It was like a protest or something."

"Prentice?" She tried not to sound too interested, though she wondered if she could really lie to June without her realizing. June was incredibly perceptive. Sophie wouldn't be surprised if she completely pieced out everything already.

"Yeah. He was this super talented Telepath, but he got exiled like twelve years ago."

June narrowed her eyes again.

"How do you get exiled?"

"You have to break a fundamental law. The Council holds a tribunal, and if you're found guilty, they lock you underground for the rest of eternity. I don't know what he did, but it had to be pretty bad for the Council to ruin his life, and his family's. I don't know how I feel about that," Marella said, frowning.

Wait...

Twelve years ago.

So this is why Prentice sacrificed everything.

Quinlin had also implied she was a Keeper. So if Prentice was a Keeper, could that mean they were... related?

Could he be her father?

The pieces fit. Abandoning a child was legal for humans, and she doubted it was any less of a crime here. And if Prentice was a talented Telepath, he could've been a Washer. He would've been able to alter the minds of two human parents and make them believe the child was theirs.

But why?

"Hey, are you okay?" her sister asked her, concern in her voice. "You blanked out for a bit."

Sophie shook her head to clear her mind. "Sorry, I was thinking. Do you know about Wylie?"

Marella shook her head. "He's in the elite towers. We can't go in there."

Sophie leaned back and sighed. She'd have to figure this out on her own.

"Have you ever heard of something called Project Moonlark?"

Marella frowned. "Is that a Santuary effort to rescue moonlarks?"

"I have no idea. I heard it somewhere and didn't know what it was. I thought you might know." She tried to find outmore, but Grady never brough the scrolls out again, and she was too afraid to search the house. Plus, with June's genius capability, if she started really looking for answers, June would probably get there first and reveal all of Sophie's secrets.

"No, never heard of it. Sorry."

"Good luck in alchemy," June said. "Lady Galvin hates prodigies. Alchemy's not a special ability -- for some reason -- so she has to mentor. I believe you though. I'm sure you'll be able to excel."

Marella burst out in a hysterical fit of giggles.

-

time skip: meeting lady galvin, keefe, elwin (again)

After the Great Cape Destruction spread through the school like wildfire, Sophie was quite happy with Keefe. He'd manage to turn her into a 'popular' girl, and everybody wanted to know her. June was still as protective of her sister as ever, and Sophie found herself appreciating June's presence more and more. June's sisterly vibes were something Sophie's never experienced before. With Amy, it was more frenemies, and Sophie was the older sister. But it felt nice to be protected by someone you could trust.