Lᴏɴᴇʟʏ Fᴀʟʟs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tᴡᴏ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ || ʙᴀᴄᴋ

Lizzie

"Get up, we're here!"

"Ugh, I don' wanna..." I groaned, turning over and squashing my face into my pillow.

"I'll knock you off the bed if you don't get up." Someone threatened.

I opened one eye and recognized Lucia. "You wouldn't be able to." I mumbled, closing my eyes again and burying my head back in my pillow.

She giggled, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the floor and my hammock was swinging slowly back and forth.

"Ah~" I rubbed my eyes, "I take that back. You are able too." I narrowed my eyes at her playfully.

Lucia giggled again, then offered me a hand. I graciously accepted and she pulled me up.

"Why'd you wake me, anyway?" I asked as I clipped on my cloak.

"You'll see." The Euran girl replied cryptically, walking out of the cabin.

I followed, intrigued. Tazi greeted me as we emerged onto the deck, but my attention was diverted to the castle that towered ahead of us. It rose from forbidding rocky cliffs, tall enough that the turrets surely brushed the sky.

"That's why I woke you." Lucia said, elbowing me. "Welcome to Greenhaven."

I turned to stare at her. "This is your base?!" I asked, awed. "That's... it's massive!"

"Yeah." Lucia winked.

"It's not only our base, it's yours too," Tazi added. He was beaming.

My face split into a slow smile in response, but it faltered after a moment. "Well, only if the others accept me." I pointed out, biting my lip nervously.

"They'll accept you." Tazi replied confidently, adjusting the talisman around his neck.

"How do you know?" I led him back to my cabin to grab my things.

"I've lived here my entire life, Liz." He said, as if it were obvious.

"Oh." I didn't know that. I thought, deciding not to comment on the nickname. I gathered my things, and followed the stingray summoner off the ship.

The castle was only a little less magnificent up close. Greencloaks rushed around, everyone busy with something or other. I glued my eyes to the back of Tazi's head as we weaved around the people, determined not to lose him in the crowd. Before I knew it, we were inside. I followed Tazi to a huge room, where the others were gathered, along with a burly, bearded man.

"That's Olvan, the leader of the Greencloaks." Tazi whispered.

I held my breath. Olvan was speaking with Tyler, but looked up when we entered.

"I see you've successfully recovered the Silver Wolf." His deep voice rang out in the chamber. "And I would like to congratulate you all. But, I also see that you have not, in fact, retrieved the Copper Falcon."

A woman wearing a colourful scarf but no shoes (weird) stepped up beside him. "I do not think that their attackers brought the other talisman along." She said, her voice gentle. "They are cunning, but they are also cautious. They must be afraid to lose it."

I bit my lip, not saying anything.

"You may go to the dining hall and get something to eat. You've all done well," Olvan said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I must speak with your mentors."

The other Greencloak ushered us out of the room, and we headed to the dining hall.

"So what now?" Niko asked, resting his elbow on the table and propping up his chin. He poked at his food.

No one else was eating, either, so I restrained myself.

"No idea." Lucia sighed.

I looked around at all the faces. We'd all been super excited to get to Greenhaven, but now we were actually here, no one was excited anymore. Odd. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Sabien leapt up.

"Cana!" He called, waving frantically. Two tables away, a tall, black haired girl turned, a smile lighting her face.

"Sabien!" She grabbed her friend by the arm dragging her along as she made her way over to our table.

Sabien embraced her, beaming.

The girl pulled back, "Hey everyone! And— who's this?" She cocked her head at me.

"This is Lizzie. Lizzie, this is my best friend, Cana." Sabien introduced.

I waved shyly, and Cana smiled at me.

"Who's this?" Sabien continued, gesturing to Cana's companion.

"This is Salem, my cousin. You know, the one whose dad..." Cana trailed off, her eyes dropping. Salem placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sabien nodded understandingly. "Salem, I'm Sabien. This is Navia, Sasha, Zay, Lucia, Niko, Tazi and Lizzie." He indicated each of us as he made introductions.

Salem grinned, "hi!"

Sabien sat down beside Navia, patting the bench beside him in a gesture for the two girls to sit. They obliged.

"We have a lot to catch up on, I see." Cana said, raising an eyebrow at Sabien, who blushed bright red.

Salem burst out laughing, and once she calmed, asked, "so where are you all from?"

"I'm from Eura." Lucia answered.

"I'm from Zhong." Sasha replied proudly.

"Here." Tazi added.

"Stetriol." Zay said.

"Nilo." Niko scratched the back of his neck.

"Amaya." I smiled.

"I'm from Arctica." Navia answered last.

"Really!" Salem's eyebrows shot up. "Me too."

The two girls started a conversation, and the others spoke as well.

I slipped away, exiting the dining hall. Walking through countless hallways, I finally reached a big door. It led onto a balcony. I stepped out, walking to the railing, I leaned on it. The wind played with my hair and tugged at my black cloak; I hadn't taken the vows of a Greencloak yet. A smile grew on my face.

This is a place to start over, a place to make new memories. A new family, a new home, a new adventure, I thought.

Somewhere deep inside my mind, a dark presence shifted. It'ssss all going according to plan.

Dun dun dunnnnnnn. Bam! XD I hope you liked ittttttt. Next chapter is the epilogue ;) sooooooo yea. Peace out! ✌️

21/10/23
was I lazy with the edits? yes
am I sad and tired? yes
hope you enjoyed
xx