Riley leads Michelle, Devin, and Max into one of the training rooms, where over fifty other elementals wait patiently. Most of them are only a little older than Devin, so he's surprised to hear nothing but silence.
"What's going on Riley?" Devin whispers.
He doesn't answer. Riley looks ahead at the group of people and leads Devin and the others to three open seats. "Sit here and wait for instruction."
They just listen and sit.
It doesn't take long for the meeting to start, it was almost like they were waiting on Devin, Michelle and Max to get there.
Standing in front of the large group is the whole Council going from seniority left to right: James stands at the furthest left followed by Ryan, Riley, Clare, and Victoria. Devin is stunned to see Riley still in the top three, but he wonders for how long.
James starts the meeting by making an announcement. "All of you are chosen. Now, if you're not ready to hear what you're chosen for, I suggest you leave now so that you're not wasting my time." He waits. When no one leaves, he continues. "Because none of you left, that means you are all officially inducted into our movement. If any of you betray us, or if you decide that what we ask of you is too much for you to handle, you'll be punished accordingly."
A few mumbles sweeps across the room but dies down soon after it starts. Devin isn't really paying attention anyway, instead he's watching Riley.
Riley stands behind James completely calm and seemingly uninterested in this meeting. He avoids eye-contact with the audience completely and looks almost bored.
"...Ryan and Riley will talk to you about your job specifics," James finishes.
In unison, the two men step forward and address the audience.
"Over the next few weeks you will all undergo rigorous training in combat and defense with and without your element," Riley explains.
"You'll also be tested in situations that will force you to make difficult decisions. We'll do this by sending you on jobs, some starting tonight." Ryan looks across the audience of young elementals challengingly. The odd balance between Ryan's aggression and Riley's obvious regret is uncomfortable to Devin. Since when does Riley support things like this?
"We're going to separate you into groups. There you will receive further instruction." Riley looks behind to the other members of the Council and nods.
Clare steps up and starts listing off groups. Devin is in the same group as Max and Michelle with a few others that he's never met before. After the groups are announced, everyone moves to their designated areas with their groups and they wait.
Riley walks over to Devin's group and takes count of the people. They're missing one person, Mallory Stiffe, but he doesn't care. "This group has been selected to act out some of the most intense jobs we have to offer. Each and every single one of you will be asked to go on jobs alone and with another person here. Additionally, you're all starting tonight."
As he talks, Devin realizes that Riley is purposefully avoiding him, but he doesn't know why. He pushes the thought aside as he listens carefully to Riley's instructions: First they will train for individual skills, second they'll map out a plan for their job, third they'll get ready to go.
For their first job, Devin and Max are going to work together. Neither of them mind, but the job itself was going to be tricky. The difficulty isn't Devin's main objection either, it's the job itself and the fact that Max doesn't seem hesitant about it at all.
For the next few hours, Devin and Max plan their job and get everything ready. It wouldn't be until about three o'clock in the morning that they would leave to go to the Toher Mansion.
—-
For the past week or so, Willow's been staying up at unreasonable hours. She's been getting little sleep, and most of that was because of the book that she found in Dr. Toher's office. Every night she's been skimming over the pages, learning more and more about the element of Water. Sometimes she'd even try out miniature tricks from the book, but most of them wouldn't last long; her Water abilities aren't strong enough yet.
Under the small desk lamp on Dr. Toher's desk, Willow sits hunched over the book listening to music. She's taking notes on a small notepad that also has a list of names and elements of everyone in The Group. She's been working for hours now, and it isn't until Waverly walks in does she realize the time.
"Willow? Why are you still up? It's like two-thirty in the morning."
When she looks at her sister, her eyes burn. Looking away from the bluish pages of the book hurts her eyes. "I didn't realize how late it is. Why are you up?"
"Couldn't sleep." Waverly sighs and plops herself onto the red leather couch by the window. She glances under the blinds for a quick surveillance check, then watches her sister work. "You're still working at that?"
"Yeah. There's a lot here, it's really interesting. Plus, the more I learn about it the more I can help train Water elementals." Willow glances at her sister and notices that her mind is clearly somewhere else. She hadn't seen a lot of her sister today, but something has clearly happened. "Hey, you okay?"
Waverly shrugs. "I guess. I mean, not really. Actually, I feel like crap, thanks for asking."
Willow nods and closes the book, putting her pencil between the pages she left off on. She pushes the book aside for the night and rubs her neck. "What happened?"
With a sigh, Waverly explains the conversation between her and Cameron on the beach earlier. Every now and then she'd pause and fiddle with her ring, then she'd continue. "I don't know what to do, I mean I know he's right but that doesn't make it easy."
"No, I get that. I think it's a little clear you both don't want to separate but maybe he was just giving you something to think about."
"But I can't lose him, I need him now more than ever and I feel like he's trying to distance himself to make this easier on the both of us."
Willow thinks about how close her sister and Cameron are. She'd never even imagined the two of them breaking up, but something as heavy as a war is a good way to make people prioritize.
"You know that he'll always be there for you, but I think he's trying to prepare himself more than you. I think he's afraid that if he loses you he won't know how to handle it."
As much sense as Willow's making, Waverly doesn't feel at ease. There's not a lot that Willow could do to help anyway, so at least listening is enough.
Willow stands and sits by her sister. "Look, nothing about the next few months are going to be easy, and even if you and Cameron do split, you will always have me. Understand? No one, nothing will change that. War can be lonely and half the time its soldiers feel like no one else can understand because no one else has lived through that tragedy. But we are going through this together, and if anyone can understand you best, it's me."
Waverly looks at her sister with watery eyes. She hates feeling so hopeless, but she knows that her sister is the best person to go to for help. And she's right: she has always been there for her.
"Thank you, Willow."
She smiles. "Anytime. So, I have a theory about—" Willow gets cut off by a scream up stairs.
Both sisters look at each other and burst out of the room. As they run upstairs they each take a floor: Waverly on second and Willow on third.
"What's going on?" someone asks Willow as she runs by looking for a sign of trouble.
"Over here!" someone yells. As she gets closer, she find Jake in Lacy's room where her nightstand is turned over, blankets are on the floor, and her dresser is knocked over. All of her belongings were still there except for Lacy.
"Waverly!" Willow yells. She catches her breath for a second, then asks, "What happened?"
"Don't know, it was like this when I got here. I searched the floor and found the door on the balcony lock picked."
"Kidnapped?"
"I think so," he says glumly.
"Willow, get down here!" Waverly shouts from the first floor.
Willow looks around for any sign of the kidnapper, but the only people around her are scared kids. "Go to the second floor and get the girls and go to the playroom," she orders.
Everyone shuffled in a mixed confusion then files down the steps.
"Come on," she says to Jake.
The two of them run down to the first floor and find Waverly fighting some guy dressed in black from head-to-toe. Willow and Jake rush over to help her, but the guy ran away before they got close.
Willow rushes to her sister's side. She lowers her to the floor slowly, and grabs her head. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. He was trying to break into the office, but I found him before he could get in. He hits hard though, pretty sure he didn't help my already bruised ribs."
"Lacy's missing, Waverly," Willow says with panic in her voice.
"You think it was them?"
"Oh, I'm positive."
"Where's the rest of them?"
"In the playroom," Jake answers. He must've gone to the kitchen real quick because he's holding an ice-pack with a towel around it. "Here," he says as he hands it to Waverly.
"Thanks," she says. "You guys should've ran after him, I was fine."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Doesn't matter."
"Waverly?" Cameron says. He runs and slides on the ground next to Waverly, and looks at her eye. "Who did this?"
"Probably the same guy who beat us up earlier. Hit the same way, and was just as slow. Big guy probably has some training cause I could barely get a hit on him."
Willow and Cameron help Waverly stand and walk over to the playroom. Even with her sister using her shoulders for support to walk, Willow can't help but think about what she's going to say to the kids. She can't figure out how to explain to them that what happens doesn't jeopardize their safety, or why someone would want to kidnap one of them. They'll ask questions, but she can't tell them about the war. Not yet, it's not the right time...
When they open the doors, the voice of twenty-eight kids talking comes to a complete halt. Every person's attention is set on Waverly's injuries and Willow.
"What's going on, Willow?" Iza asks quietly. The little girl looks terrified holding her pillow to her chest.
"Everything is going to be okay. Lacy's going to be fine because we're going to go find her, and all you are going to be okay. Okay?" Jake says.
The kids look at the nineteen year-old curiously. Jake hasn't lived in the mansion for too long now, only a few days, so not everyone even know who he is. Despite that, they all believed him.
He always did have a way with making everything seem okay, Willow remembers.
"For now," he continues, "You should all get your pillows and blankets if you don't already have them. We're sleeping down here tonight." Jake looks at Willow for a sign of approval, which she finds funny considering that used to go the other way around.
"Jake's right," Willow confirms. "Go get your things."
As the kids leave, Waverly, Cameron, Willow, and Jake go to the office and plan their next move.
"So now what?" Jake asks.
"We go after them. Go find Lacy," Waverly says.
"Um, in case you haven't notice, you're not really going anywhere. You can barely walk at the moment," Willow states.
"Fine, then you guys are going."
"Wait, how are we going to find her? We don't even know who took her," Jake says.
Cameron clears his throat. Being it three o'clock in the morning, he looks exhausted in his flannel pajama pants and white T-shirt. "Actually, we do know who and where they are. The Seekers are at the same location A—er, we found them before."
Jake looks at Cameron curiously. "You guys have dealt with these people before? What are they, bad neighbors?"
Willow sighs. "You could say that." She directs her attention toward Cameron. "Are you sure that that's where they are?"
He nods.
"Okay. Then we're leaving, get your stuff Cameron."
Yawning, Cameron starts to leave but is intercepted by Jake.
"Wait, I'm going with you guys."
"Uh, no you're not," Willow says.
"Uh, yeah I am."
"No, you are not, Jake."
"Willow, you don't have a choice."
Willow stands in front of Jake, but she's a few inches too short to get in his face. "Well, we need you here with Waverly to watch the others. They could be coming back—"
"You and I both know that they wouldn't be that stupid. Plus, Waverly's not completely helpless, she'll be fine."
"Jake—"
"Why don't you want me to come with you?" he asks a little angry.
Busting through the door is the last thing that Waverly, Willow, or Cameron needed in that moment. Red haired woman as angry as a fire-cracker stormed through the office in pajamas and slippers. Just as she opens her mouth to start yelling, Jake turns around.
"What hap—" Alexa stops mid-way through the door and through her sentence. Her eyes are huge and her mouth gapes open, and she goes through a mixture of emotions from anger, happiness, worry, shock, and despair.
Meanwhile, Willow, Waverly, and Cameron wince from the pain they know they set themselves up for. Waverly hides her face in her hand in the hopes that she isn't going to see what's about to happen.
The only real shocking reaction was Jake's. Somehow, a flash of nostalgia and remembrance comes across his face and he looks relieved.
"It's you," they say simultaneously, though in different tones. Alexa sounds more afraid than anything, and Jake, well he sounds downright excited.
"But how—" Alexa turns slowly at Willow and Waverly like those moms on TV when they look at their children as if to say 'What'd you do this time you goofballs?'
"You all know each other?" Jake asks with tears in his eyes.
Alexa, also with tears in her eyes, looks at her supposed-to-be-dead fiance from five years ago in complete astonishment. "Of course we do," she looks at Willow and Waverly, "He...he doesn't?"
Willow's heart breaks as she watches Alexa's shatter. She remembers the first time she realized Jake doesn't remember anything, but somehow he recognized Alexa and not his own sisters.
"I don't what?" he asks quietly, very aware that there's more going on than what the girls are leading on.
Alexa wipes her face with her palm and avoids looking at him. "How long?"
The young elementals look anywhere but at Alexa.
"Well—"
"How long?!" she demands.
"A little over a week now," Cameron spits out.
Alexa stumbles back as if she'd been hit by a log. The look on her face reads betrayal, but she's not quite sure what she feels.
"Alright, what's going on here?" Jake asks.
No one answers.
"Willow, can I talk to you outside?" Alexa asks through sniffles.
She nods slowly and follows the woman who's practically a second sister out into the hallway.
"What the hell, Willow? A week? You hid him from me for a week?"
"I didn't know what to do! There was no good way to tell you, and I barely understood what was happening myself. I mean, come on! Hey Alexa by the way, your supposed-to-be-dead fiance from forever ago who we witnessed get murdered by a group of elementals is now alive and well. But he doesn't remember anything, including his name, so don't bother getting your hopes up like I did. Okay, bye."
Alexa tries to look angry, but she loses it. Every emotion that she's pushed into the very darkest and farthest part of her conscious is resurfacing and all at once. It's so powerful, she literally feels like she's being drowned in her own emotions, and she wants to cry and punch something all at the same time.
Willow stands in front of her friend unsure of what to do. She knows that the situation could've been handled better, but she didn't know what to do. Of course it wouldn't be easy for anyone, but she still wanted to help Alexa.
"So he doesn't remember anything?" Alexa asks.
Willow shakes her head. "Nothing. Not me, Waverly, Cameron, his own name...but he did seem to recognize you for some reason. He hasn't really talked much about what he does remember."
"What else do you know?"
"He stayed at one of the homeless shelters we volunteer for. In fact, the reason why the one burned down is because James went after him. Somehow he found him, and he tried to kill him."
"So does he know what an elemental is?"
"Yup. And James. I don't think he remembers The Uprising, though."
Alexa nods, trying to make logic win over her emotions. "So you haven't told him about anyone? Not even you and Waverly?"
Willow shakes her head glumly. As much as she wants him to know, she stands by her decision of not telling him. It's best that way.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Willow asks.
"Well, yeah. There's nothing we can do right now, there's more important things to worry about. Like what happened tonight."
Willow realizes that she'd completely forgotten about Lacy, and guilt burns the pit of her stomach. "Right. Let's go back in so we can talk about that."
The two elementals walk back into the office where the others waited quietly. Willow and Alexa could feel Jake's stare on their skin, but they tried to ignore the fact that they were basically lying to him.
"So we're under the impression that Lacy was kidnapped by The Seekers, and Cameron says he knows where they're at," Willow says, resuming the conversation before.
"Okay, where are they?" Alexa asks.
"Same place you found them the first time," Cameron answers.
She looks confused. "Okay, but do you not remember what happened the first time? It was a trap, and I'm sure it's a trap this time too." She gives everyone but Jake, who she's avoiding, a warning look like: We can't repeat history.
"Of course we remember, that's why two people are going," Willow says.
"Three," Jake corrects.
Willow sighs as she rubs her head. "Jake, you can't—"
Jake stands and walks up to Willow. The gesture reminds her of the time she stole the remote back in the day and he went after her to get it.
"Willow, I'm going. The only way to keep me here is by tying me up and locking me in the basement, and even then I'll get out and follow your track all the way down to Lacy. You're not leaving me here, and you don't have a choice."
She stares at her brother unable to react. It's literally been years since she's seen her brother so authoritative, and even near the end he never got this angry. Then again, Willow never really gave him a reason to make him angry. She forgot that if he does remember Alexa, this was an equally emotional night for him as well as everyone else.
"Alright, Jake," she says. She looks at Alexa, who's looking at her with a confused expression. She also forgot to mention the fact that Keegan goes by Jake now...
"And you, uh—" he starts.
"Alexa," she finished painfully, still not looking at him. "And no, I'm not going. It's probably best I stay here to keep watch."
Although he didn't seem happy about, he nodded. He didn't know Alexa, or at least he doesn't remember her, but he knows he doesn't want to make her angry. He'd never want to make her angry.
"Okay, let's go get ready. We leave in a half hour," Willow says.
Cameron and Willow help Waverly out of the room and into the playroom, but Jake takes hold of Alexa's arm.
She stops and looks at the ground.
"Alexa?" he says lightly.
"Yes?" she mutters.
"I just...Have we met?"
This time Alexa looks Jake dead in the eyes. She sees her small reflection in the light brown and green flecks on color in his eyes, which only makes this night so much more painful.
"No," she says plainly. "I've never met you before in my life."