Lost

Chapter Five

"You're doing what now?" Sophie demanded harshly.

"We're going to bring you to your new guardians, Grady and Edaline Ruewen," Alden said kindly. He had been very tolerant of Sophie being irritable so far, and while Fitz seemed annoyed sometimes, Sophie sweetened up like honey when it was just him and her, and somehow he accepted that.

"Edaline?" Sophie sniffed disdainfully at the name. "She sounds like some kind of stuck up prick!"

Alden froze at that, and Lily realized Edaline and Grady were probably some of his longtime friends.

"It's a really nice name. I'm sure they'll be great parents," Lily responded, smiling.

Sophie shot her a dirty look, for what reason Lily didn't know. Was she determined to hate their new guardians? Shouldn't she be making the best out of it?

"They lost their only daughter, Jolie, a few years ago," Alden went on, a little reluctantly. "Please don't bring her up."

"Ugh, is their home even safe if they lost their daughter?" Sophie asked, still looking disgusted.

"It's perfectly safe," Alden said testily, and Lily decided it was probably time for Sophie to stop insulting Grady and Edaline.

"I'm sure it is! So, are we going now?" Lily asked brightly.

Alden frowned. "Not quite. You're going now. Sophie is coming with me to Atlantis to see Quinlin. Della will take you to Havenfield."

"Oh, okay," Lily said. She hoped Sophie didn't embarrass herself too much in front of Quinlin.

She followed Della out of the house into the Leapmaster. Biana's mother smiled kindly as she clasped a glittering nexus around Lily's wrist. "Keep that," she murmured, "you'll need it."

Then she light leapt Lily to Havenfield.

**

Havenfield was beautiful, with plenty of flora and fauna, making Lily feel right at home. At least until she saw a T-Rex, or at least something that looked like a dinosaur charging her way. Did it have feathers?!

She jumped out of the way but her hand brushed the dinosaur's and she paused, stopping, her hand still brushing its feathers. The dinosaur jerked to a halt as a blonde man ripped a snake out of its neck.

"So that's the culprit," the blonde man said in satisfaction.

He turned away from the dinosaur, but with her palm on its feathers, she could feel it was still in pain, the pain coming off it in waves.

"She's still in pain," Lily spoke softly, unsure of how to act around him - this was Grady, right?

"Is she? Maybe I should treat it." Grady put some disgusting stuff on the dinosaur's wound. "Kelpie dung. Takes the sting out of most bites. Alright, you're free to go, Verdi."

The dinosaur made some noise and ran off, just as a beautiful woman with orangey-red hair came out of the house.

"Grady! You're covered in feathers!" she admonished her husband.

Lily stifled a laugh.

"He just rode a dinosaur, Eda," Della said in amusement.

Edaline started. "Della! Oh... You must be Lily..." She instantly turned nervous, not quite meeting Lily's gaze.

"Yeah...." Lily murmured.

"Well, see you then, Della," Grady waved Della away and she light leapt back to Everglen.

Grady and Edaline took Lily into their house.

"So... You have a twin, right?" Edaline asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, Sophie," Lily answered.

"R...right..." Edaline didn't quite seem to know how to start a conversation.

"Well, it's been a long day. Let's have some dinner and then you can go to sleep, alright?" Grady asked.

"Let her put her things down first," Edaline said, rolling her eyes. "You'll be sharing a room with Sophie, if that's alright?"

"Yeah, sure," Lily wasn't sure if Sophie would like that or not, but she didn't want to cause any more trouble for Grady and Edaline. "Thank you."

Edaline offered her a tiny smile and led her to the third floor. It was beautifully decorated, with stars hanging on the ceiling and two enormous beds.

Lily let out a soft gasp when she saw it. This was about the size of her parents' house.

"I hope it's okay," Edaline said nervously, biting her lip.

"It's awesome. Thanks." Lily regretted not being able to say more, but Edaline was a stranger and it was all too unfamiliar.

She put her things down neatly in a pile next to the bed she seemed smaller and less perfectly made, and then followed Edaline back downstairs for dinner. She didn't complain when Edaline snapped her fingers and made odd looking food appear from nowhere even though it scared the wits out of her, and she ate the meal in silence, occasionally making eye contact with her two guardians and a little bit of small talk with Grady, but Edaline just seemed fairly awkward and Lily's own awkwardness wasn't helping.

That night, she slept in an unfamiliar bed, alone, in a house with strangers, somehow wishing she might've even had Sophie's company before she went to bed.

**

"I'm not sharing this room with her! It's tiny!" someone shouted. 

Lily's eyes flickered open and she saw Sophie in the doorway yelling at Edaline who looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Sophie! Stop!" Lily snapped, her voice cracking from not being used for a little while. What time was it, 6am?

"Don't tell me you think this room is big enough for the both of us," Sophie snarled. "Why don't you go downstairs - you can sleep in that half abandoned room, I saw a bed and it looks pretty fit for a girl, the way it's decorated-"

Edaline choked out a sob, and Lily suddenly remembered Alden's words about Grady and Edaline's deceased daughter, Jolie. That room had probably belonged to her, and now Sophie was talking like it was an available guest room.

"Look, it's fine okay!" Lily shouted. "If you can't even bear to be in the same room as me, I'll sleep on the sofa! There's no need to take it out on Edaline!" She shoved Sophie backwards and almost sent her sister toppling down the stairs.

Sophie yelled something and then ran up the stairs into their supposed shared bedroom and slammed the door.

In tears, Edaline dashed down the stairs, away from the slammed door.

"Edaline! Wait!" Lily cried, dashing after her.

Edaline paused at the bottom of the first flight of stairs, her eyes welling up. "I-I'm sorry, I can... I can send you back to Alden and Della, their house is way bigger... No... No need for you to be cramped-"

"Sophie's a jerk," Lily said flatly. "This..." She gestured around at the cozy home. "This is a wonderful place, Edaline."

Edaline's eyes welled up again, but they weren't sad tears this time. "A-all the same, m-maybe you're better off with the V-Vackers...."

"No! I'm... I'm sorry," Lily began.

"It wasn't even your fault," Edaline whispered.

"I have to apologize for her," Lily murmured, "because she's never going to apologize for herself."

Edaline watched Lily for a moment, before asking, her eyes still a little teary, "Do... Do you want to help feed the animals... I can give you the less gross ones." Her eyes sparkled a little mischievously.

"Yeah, sure! And of course all the gross ones go to you. I'm the newbie," Lily smiled.

Edaline grinned back. "You know, usually we give the gross jobs to the newbies... How about you clean up the kelpie dung?"

"Hey! No!" Lily laughed, running after Edaline as her adoptive guardian ran into Havenfield's grounds and out of sight. "I'm gonna get lost," Lily groaned.