Sophie clapped her hands. "Okay, so teams. Uh, first team: Marella, Dex, Lihn, and Maruca."
Dex raised his hand. "Can we make really cool names, like Team Dex-is-the-best?"
Marella snorted. "Personally, I vote for Team-Marella-is-Awesome. Or Team-Dex-Sucks."
Dex pouted.
She smirked.
"Sure, name your teams, it doesn't matter that much anyways," Sophie continued, "Second team is Fitz, Keefe and Stina."
"See, I don't think that will give us a good team name," Keefe said. "I mean come on, Keefitzina? That sucks." He mouthed to Fitz. "It's the last syllable,"
Fitz snorted, then they both looked at Stina.
"What?" She snapped. "I didn't ask to be put with you two."
Sophie rolled her eyes. Forkle was insane to put those three together. "Third team, me, Biana, Wylie, and Tam."
"Where are we going?" Wylie asked.
Sophie nodded. "Yeah, I was coming to that. Team One, you guys are going to Atlantis. Make sure the Neverseen hideout is closed up completely. Fortify Atlantis; the force field needs to be at full strength. Maruca, can you handle it?"
She nodded.
"If you guys need to help, Forkle and the Collective will be on call."
"Okay, Team Two. Sanctuary, Everglen and Havenfield. Fortify, check for monitors, trackers, anything suspicious. If it's too much ground to cover, get help from the my parents or the Vacker's."
They nodded, while Stina glared at Sophie.
Sophie ignored her.
"'Aight. We're going to Foxfire." Sophie exhaled. "Uh, Sandor, you wanted to say something?"
He stepped forward. "Fighting lessons, every night, everyone is coming. All different techniques, which includes ogre, goblin, and elvish fighting."
"There's elvish fighting?" Dex asked.
"Yeah," Stina said, "I'm not surprised you didn't know."
Dex opened his mouth for an answer, but Sophie stopped him before it could escalate.
They needed to establish something.
"Guys... we're preparing for war. War. This could be our last chance to make things right. Forget your rivalries, your bad blood, your grudges against each other. We all need to trust each other. Because if we don't..." Sophie let her gaze travel around the group. "We don't stand a chance."
Everyone's faces were grim.
"Okay." It was Tam who spoke. "We're ready."
Everyone else nodded in agreement, though Dex and Stina still looked irritated at the other.
The groups split up, Keefe taking one last glance at her before joining Fitz and Stina.
***
"Where do we start?" Wylie asked.
Tam turned in a full circle. "We could split up. Two and two."
"Better not," Sophie decided, "at least not yet. Four sets of eyes are better than two."
Biana blinked in and out as she walked forward. "How about Magnate Leto's office first?"
Sophie nodded. "Might as well. Then once we finish that we can check the rest of the campus. Probably split up after that."
Tam fell in beside her.
"Any luck with Glimmer?"
Tam shook his head. "No. She won't take off her hood. I've tried to read her shadow vapor, but she won't let me."
"Won't let you?"
"Flashers can stop Shades. And, I don't know, Glimmer's insanely strong."
Sophie mused on this.
"Has she agreed to a mind search?"
Tam shook his head, hesitating.
"What?" Sophie asked.
"I don't know." He sighed. "She seems different."
"Different... how?"
"She seems more... hardened. Honestly, different from when we were still with the Neverseen. She was actually really nice then."
He thought about to for a moment, then amended his thought. "Well, for the Neverseen at least."
Sophie thought back to how Glimmer had goaded her, to the point where she blew up the warehouse.
Not that she regretted blowing it up, but she wished Glimmer hadn't gotten under her skin so easily.
"Keep trying with her." She told him quietly.
Tam nodded, falling back to stand by Biana.
Magnate Leto's office was so different from Mr. Forkle's secret hideout, Sophie seriously wondered if they were actually the same person.
Sandor prowled ahead fo them, sniffing the corners for anything suspicious. "All clear," he said.
Sophie stepped inside. "Okay, check everything. Nooks, crannies, the furniture."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Wylie asked.
Sophie ran her fingers over the rim of the desk. "Trackers... anything, really."
They began searching, scattering Reveldust around the room, waiting for the telltale glow.
Sophie frowned at the mirror in the corner of the room. Something about it was off. Biana had already scattered the dust around it, so that wasn't it.
Sophie touched the cool glass. She glanced around. It was the only mirror in the room.
In fact, it was kind of strange that Magnate Leto would have a mirror in there. He didn't seem like that type of person.
Elf.
Whatever.
Tam walked over to her. "You want to check?"
"What?" Sophie asked, confused.
He didn't answer her, instead calling Wylie over. Biana followed.
"Stand back." Tam said. "I don't want to hit you."
"Watch your eyes," Wylie added.
Shadows formed around Tam. Sophie stopped breathing when he formed them into arrows.
She knew her echoes were gone, but it still seemed like the areas they had affected turned cold when she saw the shadow flux.
Tam launched the arrows at the mirror. They dissipating into shadows, clinging to the edges of the mirror. A flash came from Wylie, and Sophie blocked her eyes.
A high pitched screeching noise came into focus. It heightened, until Sophie was covering her ears. One last scream and it was silent.
Tam blinked, rubbing his ears.
"Sorry, I should have warned you. This hasn't been opened in a long time, apparently."
Sophie focused on the now empty frame.
"How'd you do that?" She asked.
Tam shrugged. He said, "Those were the main doors for hiding the leap crystals and pathfinders at the Neverseen hideouts. It was a way to ensure that I didn't escape. A Shade and a Flasher have to work together."
"Huh." Sophie made as if to step forward.
"Stop right there. I'll need to check that before you go in." Sandor pulled his sword out and stuck his head in. Flori stepped forward, squeezing through the entrance. A moments silence, then, "All clear."
Sophie went through, not sure what to expect.
"A bookshelf?"
Biana came in. "What are you talking about?"
Sophie gestured to the object in front of her. A wooden bookshelf took up half the room, coverered in extra Foxfire textbooks.
"Well, that's disappointing."
Biana frowned, taking a closer look at the titles.
"Not as disappointing as you'd think. Look." She pulled a book out. It looked ancient, with rough edged pages and and well used leather cover.
Biana flipped a page open. The inside pages were covered in meaningless symbols, letters and code.
Sophie groaned. "Not this again."
She motioned for Biana to follow her out.
"Well?" Wylie asked.
"Check for yourself."
The boys disappeared in the room.
Tam stuck his head out. "There's a missing book."
Sophie held up the book. "This one."
They reemerged, looking stumped.
"Why would there be a secret room in Magnate Leto's office?" Wylie asked.
Sophie shook her head. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense. Maybe a Black Swan hideout?"
"Or a Neverseen one," Tam said quietly.
"At Foxfire?"
"Maybe." Biana shrugged. "We've already had three people close to us join the Neverseen." She glanced at Tam. "I'm not blaming you guys either, but it's true."
Sophie held up the book. "I'm not so worried about the room, just this. I can't make sense of any of this. This is worse than Jolie's journal."
She ran her finger through the page, focusing on one sertain sentence. "There's one word that I can read. Arcadia. I can't tell if it's a code wordier a place... it could be anything, really."
"We should run it through Dex," Biana suggested. "He might be able to figure it out."
"Yeah," Sophie murmured. "Maybe Keefe too, though I don't know if he can read this stuff."
She shook her head, getting out of her thoughts. "We have work to do, now, though."
"How about we split up?" Tam said. "Cover more ground."
He added, quickly, "I'll stick with Wylie in case we need to open more mirrors like this one."
Biana's gaze landed on him, and Sophie could've sworn she saw disappointment flash through her eyes.
But then it was gone.
"Good idea." She turned to Sophie. "You want team up? I bet we'll win."
"It's not exactly a competition..." Sophie trailed off when she saw Tam and Biana staring at her pointedly.
Wylie met her eyes and smiled wryly.
"It's always a competition," Biana forced a grin.
She walked off rapidly, the bounce in her step from earlier disappearing.
"Uh, just call me if you need us," she said hastily.
Wylie nodded.
Sophie jogged after Biana, who was walking towards the Care Center.
Occasionally, she would punch and kick lockers.
Why?
Who knew?
"Why are you frustrated?"
"Nothing."
"Umm, okay."
"Fine, I'll tell you."
Sophie looked at an imaginary camera like in one of her favorite shows when she was in the Forbidden Cities.
She missed that show.
"So, I know you have a lot on your mind, but I need advice."
"About what?"
Biana slumped against the locker. "Boys."
Sophie almost laughed. "You're asking me about boys?"
"Uh, you've had a boyfriend."
"We broke up. It was a very short relationship."
"Still," Biana insisted.
"Uh, okay, I'll try to help."
"I like Tam, Sophie."
"Kinda figured."
Biana looked surprised. "Really? With everyone else..." she trailed off, as Sophie gave her a confused expression. "Nevermind. Anyways, advice?"
"This is going to sound really basic, but tell him," Sophie said.
"How?"
"Just... blurt it out. Other than that, I don't know. I'm pretty sure he likes you."
"What about Glimmer?" She asked.
Sophie almost laughed. "You really think Tam likes a Neverseen agent?"
"He and Keefe were both part of the Neverseena at one point, Sophie," Biana pointed out.
"Are you saying Keefe likes someone in the Neverseen?" Sophie asked, not sure why her fists were clenching.
Biana scoffed. "Stars, no. I know exactly who he likes."
"You?"
Biana actually laughed that time. "No!"
"Oh."
"You are so oblivious, Soph," Biana looped her arm through Sophie's.
"We were talking about you," Sophie reminded her, changing the subject. "And Tam doesn't like Glimmer."
"For sure?" Biana asked.
"Hey, I'm oblivious, according to everyone, but Tam is pretty obvious." Sophie cleared her throat. "And I hope this doesn't weird you out, but I ship it."
Biana snorted. "Nah, I ship my friends together all the time." She smiled. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now, come on. I've had enough boy talk to last for the rest of my life."
Biana smirked. "Oh, yeah. Boys really orbit around you."
Sophie frowned. "What?"
"Oh nothing." Biana gave her a one armed hug and smiled. "Let's go."
A/N: I didn't realize how much I loved Biana's and Sophie's friendship until I was writing this. Also, yeah, I was supposed to update on Tuesday, but my Wattpad wasn't working. I just now fixed it, and I'm praying it doesn't break again. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!
Updated: 2-9-2021