We Stand United (After Legacy)

Chapter 25

--------------------------------------------------------Sophie's Perspective---------------------------------------------

"Can you help me set up the tent?" Biana asked.

"Sure, I'll be right there," I responded. After petting Silveny one last time and reassuring her that everything would be okay, I walked over to Bianca. She was... struggling, to say the very least, with the tent.

"Is this your first time?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she mumbled sheepishly. I helped her untangle herself from the cloth and assembled the tent in less than five minutes. The Foster family went on camping trips every summer, so I was kind of a pro with this.

The boys were still cooking something by the fire, so we had a little time to kill. "So, how are you holding up?" Biana asked.

"Fine," I lied. The truth was, that after Keefe had gone to the Neverseen... I was worried.

She narrowed her eyes, "Come on Sophie, we're best friends. I know that something's wrong."

"Okay," I sighed, "I'm really worried about Keefe, who knows what creepy plans the Neverseen have for him. And you and I both know that he isn't rational when it comes to his mom or the Neverseen. He's living with both of them."

"Yeah, I don't know what he's going to do without us and what we're going to do without him," she responded, reaching for my hand, "But there's something else you're not telling me..."

"Yeah," I conceded, "When I was passed out-" A headache flared behind my eyes, I paused to pinch the bridge between my nose and forehead.

Biana tightened her grip on my hand comfortingly, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, I should talk about it," I told her, "I heard Gethen's voice again."

Her eyes widened, "Like what happened when you were in the hospital?" she asked, "Are the echoes bothering you again?"

I took a deep breath, "Yeah, I think the voice in my head when I passed out was real though."

"So, that triggered the echoes?" she asked, a little bit confused.

"Yeah," I replied and took a couple deep breaths in an effort to comfort the headache I was experiencing. "Can we talk about something else?" I pleaded.

"Yeah, yeah, anything. What do you want to talk about. Oh yeah, have you seen the recent bramble scores?" She said in one breath.

"Bramble?" I asked, pinching the bridge between my nose again, "No, I haven't seen the scores."

"Oh," Biana looked disappointed with me, "Well let me fill you in. So the teams that were playing this time were the Vicious Vipers and the Amazing-"

"Are we talking about bramble?" Fitz walked over with two bowls in his hands and sat down, "I'm in!"

Dex walked over, looking mildly annoyed and tousled his hair. He handed a bowl of green mush to me and I dove into it hungrily.

Fitz looked over at me. His eyes scanned me and he asked, "Sophie is something wrong?" he asked.

"Yes," I told him and Dex. Biana explained what was happening to me, the echoes, and Keefe while I zoned out. Keefe. His name jolted me back to reality.

"Fitz, do you think we could try transmitting to him?" I asked, hoping he would say yes.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, "Why didn't we think of that before?"

"Probably because of the whole Wynn and Luna thing," I answered, my eyes reflexively found their way to Silveny and Greyfell who were snuggling together. I mentally sighed at their cuteness. I quickly gobbled up my dinner and turned to Fitz. "Wanna try right now?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, putting down his bowl and turning to face me. Our cognate rings snapped together as he entered my conscious. From the corner of my eye I could see Dex and Biana cleaning the bowls and talking.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" I said and started tracking Keefe's thoughts.

(Fitz is bold, Keefe is underlined, and Sophie is italicized)

Keefe. KEEFE!!!

KEEFE!! Fitz mentally shouted with almost as much power as my transmission. He was getting better at telepathy, I mentally noted.

Sophie? Fitz?

Keefe! I've been worried sick. Just hearing his voice made me feel 10 times better.

Yeah... I'm with the Neverseen.

Sophie told us you were captured. Is it true?

Yes. I was training with Fallon two days ago and then the Neverseen appeared by carving a hole through the floor. Before I could do much of anything, they took me.

But what about Ro? I asked. Isn't she supposed to be with you all the time?

Um, yeah... Fallon told her to stay outside that day because I was going to do some lethal practice.

Really? Did he plan this?

I really don't think so...

Do you know where you are? Maybe we can come rescue you!

Aaaw, Foster cares! If I knew where I was, I'd tell you. I have no idea where we are... I think we're underground, but I really don't know.

Oh...

Have you seen Wynn or Luna?

Wynn? Luna? No... Did the Neverseen take them?

Yeah. The night before you went missing, Wynn and Luna were taken by the Neverseen.

Are you sure the Neverseen took th- 

Wait, I think someone's here. Got to go!

Keefe severed their connection. Fitz scooted closer and put an arm around my waist. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I lied. I actually had a lot to think about. What if we had more enemies? What if the Neverseen didn't take Wynn or Luna? And what if the voice inside my head wasn't Gethen's? "I'm kinda tired. I should sleep. Who's going to take first watch?"

Biana and Dex walked over. "We were talking about our watch schedule. We thought that Dex should go first, because he's not that tired, then Fitz, then Sophie, and then me. Does that work?" Biana explained.

I exchanged a glance with Fitz. "Yeah, it's fine with me."

"Same here," Fitz turned to Dex, "Wake me up when you're watch is over."

---------------------------------------------------Tam's Perspective-----------------------------------------------------

Councillor Emery held up his hand in an effort to stop the chanting. After about a minute, the chanting died down. Then he and the Councillors started talking about the things being changed.

Blah. Blah. Blah. Who cares?

Linh nudged me. "Listen, it's important!" she whispered. I came out of my daydream, of having a picnic with butterflies, and sat up straighter.

"The last measure that we are going to take is an interrogation," Emery continued, "The council will interrogate individuals that are affiliated with the Neverseen." The crowd gasped. Interrogation was unheard of in the Lost Cities... but then again, so was crime. "We will give the public a scroll for the timings of the questions on their way out. For now, will Lord Cassius Sencen follow us? We have a few questions..."