cascade | kotlc

2. Florence, Italy

Take the Path of the Privileged.

Past eyes that watch eternal, and blood turned precious.

Seek the tower that would not yield for the next steps of your journey.

"Goddamnit, Mr. Forkle," June said. "Just fucking tell us where to go, nobody's going to discover this message!"

"Get anything from that, Foster?" Keefe asked.

"Of course not," Sophie grumbled. "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier so we could've done some research? Or just told Dex, or June, who's literally your girlfriend and much better at this shit than you are?"

"I'm sorry. I guess I messed up."

"It's fine, Fitz," June said quietly, coming to his side and gently kissing his cheek. "I just wish you'd trust us more and tell us more stuff."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Keefe grabbed Fitz's wrist and pressed his fingers against his exposed skin. "Hate to break it to you, but I can tell you're hiding something. Spill. What did you see in the Mysterious Miss F.'s mind?"

Fitz turned to Sophie. "I might have seen some other stuff, but it wasn't really thoughts. It was more like... feelings."

June turned red and grabbed Fitz, shoving her lips onto his, displaying to Sophie he was hers. She wouldn't let anyone take Fitz away from her.

Fitz sank into the kiss, and Biana cooed as Sophie's face flushed a shade of tomato red. June didn't care. This was her boyfriend, and she loved him. Truth be told, June needed Fitz more than anything. He was calm when June was angry, and June was calm when Fitz was. They complemented each other perfectly, and June couldn't imagine fending off her emotions without him by her side.

I'm sorry, sister. But I don't care. He's mine.

"We're wasting time!" Sophie interrupted, and Fitz broke off. "The Council could be here any second, and I still have no idea where we're supposed to be going."

"Okay," Keefe said, following her as she stalked to the edge of the cliff. "So... we still need to go to Florence, right? The Black Swan told you that?" When Fitz nodded, Keefe asked Sophie, "Doesn't your photographic memory have a few pictures of the city tucked away?"

"That doesn't tell us where we go after that."

"We'll figure it out," June said confidently. "That's what we're best at, isn't it? Getting into a bad situation and trying to get out."

Unfortunately, that was incredibly true.

This was a new start. A blank page. With hopefully no mistakes.

"We're doing this thing!" Keefe shouted, grabbing Sophie's hand and yanking them off the cliff.

June and Keefe laughed as everyone screamed and thrashed as they plummeted towards the ocean.

Thunder cracked the sky, sending them crashing into the void, before it clapped again, splitting the backless with blinding light.

They slipped through the glowing crack and tumbled into a crowded courtyard, crashing into a marble wall and collapsing into a pile. June barely caught herself and Fitz with wind.

"Still gotta work out these landings," Keefe groaned as he scooted out from under Fitz.

Fitz rubbed his temples. "Thanks, June. Didn't really want to fall on top of Keefe." He offered her a smile that she tentatively returned.