Hello everybody! Check out my other series, Forgotten Love, if you haven't already! I really do hope you guys enjoy. I've started to enjoy writing cliffhangers! This one will be uploaded just as frequently as my other story(which is not frequent AT ALL). Hope you guys enjoy!

-Gold 3

Sophie felt her whole body shiver with fear. A chill went up her spine. She forgot how to manipulate her body temperature ever since the Neverseen-she decided she would rather not think about it.

She noticed Tam standing in the darkest corner, tugging on his silver-tipped bangs. He was slowly nodding. He used his head to motion to Keefe's bloodied and beaten body laying next to Silveny and Greyfell's bodies.

"We'll return Keefe, Silveny, and Greyfell only for you, Sophie." Alvar smiled smugly, making sure that Sophie knew there was no other option. "Also, we'll come for all you 'friends' if you dare disobey us."

Sophie looked behind her, where Fitz, Biana, Dex, Linh, Wylie, and Marella were all standing. Biana was looking away, Dex was staring at his feet, Linh was slowly shaking her head, Wylie was fiddling with his thumbs, and Marella was biting her lip. Fitz was the only one who even had a legitimate reaction.

"NO! SOPHIE WILL NEVER JOIN YOU! TAKE ME INSTEAD!-"

Before he could say anymore, Biana pulled him back. "Don't. You'll get all of us killed if you let your temper get the best of you. Also, it's Sophie's choice."

Fitz crossed his arms and looked away, like Biana.

Sophie knew exactly what to do.

"I'll join the Neverseen." Sophie wasn't too sure if it was the right choice long-term, but she already knew it was the right choice right now. "But only if you don't come after my friends one-by-one. Only if it's a full-fledged battle."

"You made the right choice, Sophie." Vespera motioned to Keefe and the alicorns. "Take this useless son of Gisela's and the wimpy alicorns."

Vespera poured a little bit of the sorporidine antidote into Keefe and the alicorns' mouths. The alicorns were still laying on the ground, but Keefe immediately regained consciousness. Keefe struggled against his binds when he saw Sophie standing next to Vespera.

"If you even dare to lay one bony finger on her-"

"Keefe, I made this decision."
"We're still Team Foster-Keefe, right? You're not really Team Foster-Neverseen? It doesn't have the same nice ring to it."
Sophie hated the dejected look on his face, but she still told him what the Neverseen wanted to hear. "Team Foster-Keefe has been over for so long and you still never noticed. Pathetic, just like the boy I've known for almost ten years now."

Sophie looked away, her eyes brimming over with tears. She looked at Keefe, to make sure he understood that she didn't mean it. But he was already leaving.

Sophie stiffened her body posture when she felt Vespera's judging eyeballs on her.

Sophie looked at Tam for relief. Luckily, he looked back at her. He nodded sympathetically when he saw her wet eyes. His body froze in mid-walk and Sophie felt Tam's whispery and soft shadow speaking to her. "You'll get used to eventually. You know, all the loneliness and emptiness. One day, just one day, our friends will defeat the Neverseen and we can go back to our normal lives, whenever that may be."

Sophie nodded reluctantly, because Tam had been with the Neverseen for years and he was still himself. But she wouldn't be alone. She'd be with Tam. The only problem was that he wasn't the mushy and sympathetic type, but it'd be better than having no one.

Thanks.

Sophie knew it was pointless to transmit anything at this point, since Tam was already looking away. She still knew he heard it, and that made her heart warmer.

AT EVERGLEN

Fitz had already been pacing back and forth across the whole length of their newly installed "Meeting Room" for almost an hour now."

"Can you stop that yet? It's so-o annoying" Dex was fidgeting around with Sophie's left-behind Imparter. "I'm trying to retweak this thing so it can track Sophie's Sucker Punch. It's literally the only piece of tech she has on right now that I can trace!"
"It's my fault that Sophie went with the Neverseen. If I-"
Biana interrupted him. "No, your hotheadedness would've gotten ALL of us killed, including Sophie, and the alicorns."
Even Linh's rosy pink cheeks were kind of faded away now. "Actually, I agree with Fitz. We already suffered enough when we lost Tam. Imagine just how much more we will suffer without Sophie. She's the special one. The Moonlark."

"I'll take them all down before they can steal away another one of us." Marella lit up a small spark of Everblaze.

Biana shook her head miserably. "You'll probably fail at that, because they got Fintan back, remember? He's much more experienced than you AND he was the one who tricked you into letting him out of his prison."

Everybody whipped their heads toward Keefe for an opinion.

"It's not your fault, Fitzy-boy." Keefe slumped backwards into his overstuffed chair. "If I told the Neverseen that I would work for them again, they might've taken me instead of Sophie."

"They wouldn't have taken EITHER of you. Neither of you guys are nearly as valuable as Sophie to them." Biana put her hands on her hips.

"I think I'll exchange myself for Sophie." Everybody turned their head towards Wylie when he spoke up. "After all, they think I know something about where Cyrah hid the starstones. I can convince them I know. I'm a good liar. I can get past Vespera's lie-detection."
Linh shook her head quickly. "Nu-uh. That's too risky. You would be putting your life on the line. We need to come up with a safe AND effective plan."

Fitz shook his head at Linh. "There's no such thing as saving Sophie without one of us risking our lives. This isn't like the other times."

"I think I should go." Marella re-sparked Everblaze on the palm of her hand. "After all, I'm the strongest of everyone here."

"No, I should go. After all, it's my fault Sophie is with the Neverseen right now." Fitz placed his hand in the center of the mat they were all sitting around. "Besides, Marella shouldn't go if she is the strongest. If we all die, we still have Marella, and she may be stronger than all of us combined."

Linh placed both of her hands on top of Fitz's hand. "I think we should all go. After all, we're stronger together."

Everybody murmured in agreement.

About a minute later, Keefe reluctantly placed his hand on top of Marella's. Linh whispered something to all of them and they started counting down.

"Three, two, one…." All of them started raising their hands up slowly. "Team Moonlark!"

Despite all this enthusiasm, Keefe still looked dejected and depressed. Unlike the rest of "Team Moonlark," he had other plans. Not to save Sophie, but find his legacy.