Rising Phoenix - Sequel To Forgotten Power

Chapter 21

Arelyn took a deep breath of fresh air. She was finally allowed to leave the Healing Center after, what, 3 weeks? Technically Elwin didn't want her to leave quite yet, but she'd insisted. She had a job to do.

Pulling out a leaping crystal Val had given her, she stepped into it's beam and let the light carry her away from Foxfire.

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When Arelyn appeared in the Forbidden Cities, she was reminded of how awful the air was. She found herself right on the outskirts of a fairly small looking town, but that wasn't where she was going. Well, yes, it was, but she was mostly looking for a Neverseen base. When she had worked with them, they kept most of her missions in the Forbidden Cities besides a few where her help would come in handy. Of course, she'd mostly been there for backup until they'd decided to hold the demigods hostage in their own camp. They'd been planning that attack in a base hidden near that town.

Carefully, she explored. While it was likely they abandoned the base since she knew where it was, for all she knew, they were holding a meeting there right now. As she made her way to the entrance, her eyes were peeled for any sign of them, but by the time she got there, she hadn't seen anything. The entrance was barely anything; Just a large rock. Luckily for the Neverseen, the city was near the mountain, and a few loose boulders didn't seem out of place. Unfortunately for Arelyn, the Neverseen had somehow found a way to make it that telekinesis couldn't move it, and she wasn't strong enough to push it with brute force.

Arelyn sighed before checking around the boulder for any possible cracks she could slip though. It took her a while, but she managed to find one close to the ground that she could push herself through. When she had worked there, they'd had a different entrance on a higher ledge of the mountain so you'd just have to levitate down, but when a human who was mountain climbing almost fell in, they'd had to collapse the entrance and resort to covering the hole in the mountainside with a rock. After that, Tempest had to rely on some of her co-workers to get her inside. That's why she barely left.

Once she'd managed to get through the crack, she stood and looked around. The cavern she was in was darker than she remembered it being. Maybe that means they're gone, she thought, that, or this is a trap...

As she walked through the dark, she froze when she heard something fall into the floor. Shortly after the same sound echoed through the hall, followed by muttering. Pulling out the knife hidden in her belt, Arelyn stalked forward. There shouldn't be anyone else here!  Turning around the corner, Arelyn saw the back of a figure in a dark cloak sitting on the floor. Scattered across the floor were small things that reminded Arelyn of...fortune cookies? Why would a Neverseen member have this many fortune cookies? Or any for that matter?

The figure chuckled before grabbing something and setting it to the side. Slowly, Arelyn came up behind them. As she approached, she could better see what was happening. The person was breaking the cookies, reading the fortunes, changing them, and then sealing the cookies back together, and setting them to the side. What the- since when was that an elven ability?

Only too late did Arelyn notice that the person had stopped. Taking a few steps back, she tightened her grip on her knife. She watched as the figure stood, brushed the dirt off their legs, and turned around. Arelyn held in a gasp as she saw who was standing before her.

"Lady Gisela?" She asked, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice.

"That's who you see?" Gisela asked, "Interesting."

"What does that mean? And why are you breaking fortune cookies?"

The woman chuckled, "I'm changing their fortunes."