ɢʀᴇᴇɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ

t h e f e a r o f m e m o r i e s

Biana

Biana's mind was spinning. The world was tilting, whirling, twirling--

"Tam did this?!" Keefe asked in disbelief, crumpling the letter in his fist.

Mr. Forkle blew the air out of his mouth. "It appears so."

"Wait," Linh said, waving her hands as if to keep anyone from saying anything else. "We have to be reasonable about this. I mean, Tam does not talk like that. 'Should you fail to comply'? Seriously, guys, we all know he'd never say that."

The fog in Biana's mind began to clear. Linh was right. Tam didn't talk so formally. "As I am nothing but fair"--right. Like he'd ever say that.

Mr. Forkle nodded. "Which is why I said it appears so."

"Are you suggesting someone signed Tam's name just to throw us off?" Edaline, who looked even more exhausted and worried than usual, asked.

"It's possible," Mr. Forkle agreed.

"Maybe someone forced him to sign his name, but wrote the letter themselves," Sophie said. Biana noticed she'd casually slipped her hand out of Fitz's, which was...odd. But Biana couldn't worry about that now, not when all their loyal bodyguards were missing in action.

"That is also very possible," Mr. Forkle told Sophie. "Actually, that is what I'm leaning towards."

"What are we supposed to do?" Sandor asked gruffly. He was clearly trying to keep all his emotion down, but Biana could tell he was falling apart. And she couldn't blame him. Grizel was one of the missing bodyguards, after all.

The Collective exchanged glances. "As of now," Dex's mom--who was currently in the form of Squall--answered slowly, "we're not sure which course of action to take."

"Um, duh," Dex said. "Go after them!"

"Now, Dex," Blur cautioned. "We're all eager to find and bring back the bodyguards, but acting impulsively will only hurt us."

"Plus, we have no idea where they are," Tiergan, in the form of Granite, added.

"So where should we start?" Biana asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

Sophie swallowed, stepping forward. "Could I go check on the alicorns?" she asked. "Maybe something in Silveny or Greyfell's memory will show a clue we missed. Something that could help lead us to where Gisela went with Tam."

"That's a good idea," Keefe agreed, a bit of his usual smirk appearing on his face. "C'mon, Foster, let's go see Glitterbutt!"

~~~

Sophie

SOPHIE! KEEFE! Silveny transmitted loudly when she saw the two of them walk toward the alicorn's pasture. Everyone else followed behind.

"Hey, Glitterbutt!" Keefe said, winking. "How're the two Glitterbutt juniors?"

Despite everything, Sophie couldn't help but smile a little. She also saw her friends--and even some of the adults--give smiles, too. Leave it to Keefe to make everyone grin when things were at the lowest.

Keefe wants to know how Wynn and Luna are doing, Sophie transmitted to the glittery alicorn.

BABY GOOD! BABY GOOD! Silveny answered, flapping her wings and tossing her head towards the twin alicorns, who were curled on the ground sleeping. Sophie almost gasped at the crazy rush of Silveny's joy and love, and this time, her smile was wider.

Greyfell, who'd been watching everything with quiet, wary eyes, moved closer to Silveny's side. The two new parents nuzzled each other, looking at the other with loving brown eyes.

"Aww, doesn't that just give you the huggy feels?" Keefe asked, grinning at the two sparkly horses.

"'The Huggy Feels,'" Sophie repeated. "I'm going to quote you on that, just so you know. And maybe get it embroidered on a tunic for you. Or even on one of those ugly metal diapers that ogres wear."

"Dude, you know I'd wear it," he told her, at the same time Ro yelled, "I HEARD THAT!"

Sophie couldn't stop her laugh. "Yeah, I know," she said, answering both. Then her grin faded, and she turned back to the two alicorns. "Sorry to interrupt the moment," she told them, "but there's something really important going on right now. Think you could help us?"

She wasn't totally sure if they completely understood her, but Silveny whinnied and nuzzled Sophie's shoulder, so she was going to take that as a yes.

She glanced behind her, her eyes locking with Fitz's. He nodded and moved forward, grasping her hand.

Even if things were awkward--and he still didn't know she was unmatchable--he was still her cognate.

Sophie focused, her consciousness entering Silveny's mind. She felt Fitz follow closely.

Okay, she told Silveny. Fitz and I are going to try to collect some clues from your memory--so could you play the memory of the night Tam left?

Her insides twisted with guilt as she transmitted the words. They were asking Silveny to remember--and relive--one of her most terrifying experiences.

And she felt even worse when Silveny's fear clouded her mind.

Sophie closed her eyes--she couldn't do this to her. She transmitted to Fitz. We can't ask this of Silveny, she told him. We'll just figure out some other way.

Fitz nodded. Of course.

Sophie felt a rush of gratitude for him, shooting him a quick smile. Then she turned back to the frightened alicorn. Shh, it's okay, she reassured her. Forget I said anything, all right? You don't have to remember anything, I promise.

Silveny whinnied, tossing her head.

"There's a lot of fear coming from Glitterbutt right now," Keefe whispered to Sophie. "What's going on?"

"She was scared when I told her to remember the night Tam left," Sophie whispered back. "I'm just going to tell everyone it didn't work."

"I'd be scared, if I got shot with a bunch of soporidine," Keefe said. "And plus, Tam..."

The two exchanged looks, an understanding passing between them. After all, Keefe was the only other person there with her that night.

Sophie moved back, her hand falling from Fitz's.

"Is everything okay?" Della asked.

"Silveny got too scared when we asked her to bring up the memory," Sophie replied. "We can't do that to her--we'll find some other way."

Edaline nodded. "We shouldn't upset her."

"What should we do, then?" Biana asked.

Before anyone could answer her, Sandor, who had been standing afar, ran towards them in a panic.

"Apologies for interrupting," he said, looking panicked. "But I just got a call, and it's extremely important." He turned to face Keefe.

"Your father is missing."

~~~

#thehuggyfeels......