Escapade

ONE - DEX

   Sophie had been hiding out in her room for weeks. She hadn't responded to Imparter hails. Fitz tried talking to her telepathically, but even that wasn't working. Even before she hid away, Sophie had acted weird around Fitz. I had been willing to bet that if Keefe were awake, she would have opened for him.

   I tried too. She didn't answer. Even though it had been months since she rejected me, I couldn't help feeling like that might have to do with it. It stung a bit, that she shut out her best friend.

   I was part of Team Valiant. That should earn some credit. I should be allowed to talk to her. She wasn't being a good team leader. I was planning to refuse to call her Lady Fos Boss, unless she stopped moping in her room. Though I had no idea—at that point—why Sophie was staying away from contact with anyone, in the first place, I couldn't imagine a reason that would keep her in.

   My only theory, had been that Sophie was depressed, because of Keefe's problem. And so far, he was completely unresponsive. Fitz had tried contacting him telepathically, and Sophie had tried before that. Lord Cassius had come to check his emotions. He said that there was a strange sort of blocking keeping him from feeling his son's feelings.

   I'd been thinking about going to the Councillors. They could force Sophie to come out. I had been prepared to do that, but what made me hesitate, was the fact that the Council had been having problems too. Councillor Oralie had recently disappeared. In some ways it was like Sophie. She was not talking with any members of her team. But Oralie hadn't touched base with anyone.

   This meant that the Council was unable to make any decisions, as they needed an equal vote. When all the Councillors were not present, they could not be a whole. I'd heard a few rumours, that they were thinking of filling in her place with a temporary Councillor. Those were just rumours, though, so I couldn't be sure. I'd heard no news from the actual Council.

   At least Edaline could confirm Sophie's presence. She saw Sophie when she brought her meals to her room. Though Edaline supplied little information, she told us that Sophie was fine, but needed space. If Edaline didn't see Sophie, I would have suspected that Sophie had left home, or worse, hurt herself, for whatever reason that she was hiding away.

   If Sophie didn't show herself in the next four days, I had planned to slip a Search Serum in her food, then put a picture of me with it. That should make her come find me. The serum makes you find the first thing you see, until it wears off. Accidental users of it have been known to carry strange items around with them so that they don't get lost. I've never tried to though, to I'd probably have had to test it on someone. But it was a noble cause, so they probably would have agreed.

   The only things that might've been hard to come by for it were the dragon tears and the Pegasus hair. Other than that, I knew that all the rest of the things required for it—Sasquatch saliva, Gorgonop scales, et cetera—were stocked at Dad's shop. The other things weren't too hard to difficult to find. I would have had to go to Physic for the dragon tears. And if dad had used up our last stock, I would have had to pay Sterling Gables a visit, to get more Pegasus hair, and then I might've run into Stina. I'd found out that she could actually be a decent person to talk to, if you had the upper hand in the conversation. Like when we are having meetings for Team Valiant, everyone would defend me there, if she started being a jerk. At her own home, she was more in her comfort zone. And not afraid to be rude. So that was not really worth the extra risk. But if that had been the only way to help Sophie, then I might have bribed Rex or Lex or Bex with prank elixirs to do it for me.

   Though I had been fairly miffed with all of them lately. They had raided my room, and Lex found my level three midterms present for her; a stuffed Jackalope to replace the one Bex destroyed. Though I wasn't happy that he'd found it, I was even more annoyed with the other things they'd taken. A few gadgets I'd been designing had disappeared after they'd come in and stolen other stuff.

   Lex wouldn't let go of the stuffed animal, and he brought it everywhere with him, despite how babyish it made him look. Oh well. I figured I would just have to find something else for him when the time actually came.

   The only thing I had had to force them to give back, were a few projects I'd been working on with Tinker. Mom had helped me to get them back.

   Another thing happened, and it only made my day ten times worse. I was working with Dad in the back of the shop, trying to perfect a nose-growing potion. It sounds stupid, but it was part of a series of serums, that made you look exactly like a goblin. Just when we were talking to each other, happy about the success, a stuffy noble came into the shop. I watched her, as she walked along the shelves, occasionally stopping to check out a bottle. Then, she came to the counter, holding a vial of bone growing serum. Just as Dad was taking it from her to find the price, she knocked his hand back, and the vial smashed down. The bronze liquid hit Dad's hand and the skin popped open, and his bones grew out. She made it look like a mistake, but I could see the amusement in her eyes.

   Dad claimed it didn't hurt, but I could tell from the tightening of his facial features, that he was—in fact—in anguish.