The Aftermath

Chapter 8

Third Person P.O.V.

Sophie's lungs begged for air as she felt her body sink faster and faster into the scratchy sand. Finally, they had all reached the bottom. By bottom, I mean a grey room with sand mounds all over the floor to cushion peoples falls.

Sophie, Keefe, and Fitz's heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard throughout the silent room. There was only one way out and that was the single hallway that split into 2 directions.

Sophie knew it was deja vu from when she and Alden were traveling to Exile. Slowly, they all got back to their feet and devised a plan. Sophie and Keefe would go right while Fitz would go left.

Neither Keefe nor Fitz wanted Sophie alone so they decided it was best for Fitz to be the Lone Ranger since he was training to become an emissary. Before they could step into the hallway, they heard footsteps followed by voices.

"It must be Group 4 we sent out to get the info from Subject H." They heard a male voice say. A grunt was heard as the footsteps came closer. What do we do? Sophie transmitted to both Fitz and Keefe. 'If only Biana was here.' Sophie thought sadly.

Sophie also thought the voice sounded familiar. But she couldn't pinpoint the exact person right now. They were on a time limit. Sophie looked at Keefe and Fitz to find them both with panicked looks.

Sophie started to think while pacing back and forth. But while Sophie was pacing, a light hit and blinded her for a second before she could see again. She looked around to find the source but found nothing. 'That's weird.' She thought.

As Sophie stood there thinking, she heard Keefe suddenly ask,"Wait. Where's Foster?" Sophie looked at Keefe confused before responding,"I'm right here Keefe." Sophie waved her arms but Keefe kept looking around. By now, it had caught Fitz's attention as well.

"What? But I don't see you. Where are you?" Keefe asked again. Sophie walked up and waved her hand in front of Keefe's face. "I'm right here. Can't you see me?" Sophie asked desperately.

She tried walking up to Fitz and doing the same but he showed no sign that he knew where she was. "Wait! I see you now!" Keefe exclaimed. Fitz stumbles back in surprise. "Soph, are you a vanisher?" He asked.

Sophie tried to focus on letting the light pass through her to test Fitz's theory and he was right. Keefe and Fitz gasped. "Wow, another one? Seriously Foster, save us some. But I'm also thankful cause it came right on time." Keefe said before grabbing onto Sophie's hand.

Fitz grabbed the other as the footsteps neared the hallway that led to the room. Sophie let the light pass through her and all 3 of them disappeared. They heard the footsteps stop before the same voice from before spoke again.

"There's no one. Son, get ready." Sophie saw the hallway glow a bright orange as Fintan and his said son walked into the room with Everblaze dancing on the palms of their hands. Son?! When did Fintan have a son?! Sophie transmitted.

None of them knew the answer. Although from far Fintan and his son looked very much alike with their blonde hair and slender features but up close, you could see that they had the different colored eyes. Fintan had sky blue while his son had more of a maya blue.

Still, the trio couldn't believe what they were seeing. Fintan and his son. Both pyrokinetics. Sophie could feel her energy drain as she continued to let the light pass through her body. She didn't know how much longer she could hold it since she never had training as a vanisher.

"Hmm. There's no one here. It could've been an intruder or a false alarm." The son says. "No way it was a false alarm. It must be an intruder. Go and alert everyone. We need to move. Then get the girl. We'll take her for bait." Fintan orders.

His son nods and puts out his flame before running to obey orders. Fintan takes one last look around the room before walking out, flames still dancing in his palm. Sophie stops and all 3 elves appear in sight. Sophie sways a little from feeling light headed as Keefe holds and steadies her.

"Okay, let's continue with the plan. Find Biana then transmit if either of us see an exit on our way. Got it?" Fitz summarized. Sophie and Keefe nodded and they set off in their original directions.

"Could you try an see if you can trace any of Biana's thoughts?" Keefe asked. Sophie nodded and stretched her mind out for any distress signals or thoughts of Biana. Sophie shook her head. "Nothing. They might have her sedated." Sophie explained.

Keefe sighed and nodded. They jogged through the halls as they passed a doorway with a whole community of elves inside the room. There had to be hundreds. 'There's still this many Neverseen supporters?' Sophie wondered.

The elf population was big but that was a lot of people. Shouts could be heard from every corner as people rushed to pack their essentials. There were some sleeping bags and cots in the room and people stuffing bags.

Sophie and Keefe were about to sneak to the other side of the doorway until they saw Fintan's son emerge. "Hey Corbyn, you doing okay?" Someone asked coming up to Fintan's son. 'So his name is Corbyn.'

Corbyn nodded. "Yeah. I just need to get our little friend. Can't forget my future wife's best friend." Corbyn responded. Before Sophie or Keefe could think to stop her, Sophie stepped out from the other side of the doorway and shouted,"WHAT?!"

Everyone in the room stopped and the whole room became quiet. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Corbyn turned to face Sophie as Fintan quietly emerged from the once bustling crowd of elves.

"Why hello, my betrothed."