what happened after unlocked

chapter forty-three ~ insights

Aurora arrived back at Evarista in the late afternoon, with a new smile on her face, one that was wistful and hopeful.

Instead of Sophie having to explain to her what she wanted to do now, Aurora was already eager to take them all to the Lost Cities, but Abern stayed behind to catch up on sleep, and Inde chose to console Oralie. They both agreed to come and celebrate privately with Aurora if she got the position.

Now that Aurora's ability had been revealed, they could talk about it more easily. Sophie knew that Aurora's ability was concealed as a strange case of Telepathy, so it wasn't documented, but Aurora was permitted to continue to the Elite levels. The only problem was that Aurora now knew about what the ability really was because of Inde, so she was forced to keep hiding it lest she expose Evarista.

"You know, I've been to a lot of places, but this one is hard to beat," Aurora said cheerfully, breathing in the crisp air of Eternalia. "We don't even have Pures in Evarista."

"But your mom has so many jars of...stuff!" Sophie said. "Doesn't she have any seeds for Pures?"

Aurora shook her head. "Anyway...the Councilors have put me in the running for the new position, and there are only ten others who were nominated, so I have a okay chance of winning. I don't know who any of them are but that's probably because I've never interacted with members of the nobility."

"That's great!" Sophie said, feeling a burst of pride from Aurora when their hands brushed. "So when is the voting going to take place?"

"In twenty-four hours," Aurora said matter-of-factly, "They want to hurry it up. And they said since they already permitted me to continue to the Elite levels with my "half-ability" they'll allow me to still continue school if I want to, if I win."

Sophie and Aurora discussed Aurora's hopeful Councilorhood together until they reached the row of Councilor towers. Keefe stared around at the city, which was mostly empty, and Tiergan kept his gaze firmly at his feet.

Aurora looked at Oralie's tower sadly. "That'll be mine in a day..."

"We can help you fix it up," Sophie offered, her memories of the occurrences inside that tower not so favorable. "It's all pink right now, so we can start with the walls and floors and stuff."

"I know," Aurora sighed. "I just...well, Oralie wasn't so great to me, that's all."

Sophie kept silent.

"So, you're not being followed anymore, it seems," Aurora whispered to her. "The stalker is resting for a little while. And I think that organization you're fighting against is too."

"The Neverseen never stops..." There was something very strange about that – the Neverseen was constantly planning attacks, and they'd been stuck on the downlow for so many years that they wouldn't want to hide now. They must have been planning something.

"Yes, I think they are, too," Aurora said, mirroring her thoughts. "I don't know who they are and why they think damage is the answer, but I think what we need to do is start changing things like they want the changes. Well, if I actually become a Councilor. The rest of them are probably a whole lot better than me."

"You'll win," Sophie said defiantly. "People like you. The Council likes you! You're a good person with a lot of fantastic ideas, and you'd make a very good leader alongside the rest of them."

"But they have experience," Aurora pointed out. "I mean, how many years do you suppose they've all been on it for? Hundreds? While I haven't even graduated Foxfire and my own mother is the one who was taken off."