Disclaimer:

Me: Hey everyone, Littlemisskigirl here. This is my second fanfiction, from The Keeper of the Lost Cities. My first, was removed a few weeks ago, because I had a writing crisis and it got deleted. The Keeper of the Lost Cities is a really good book, but I decided to put my own twist on a different set of characters, instead of using the actual characters.

Solace: Yeah... That would be us.

Dean: Wait what? I'm totally confused here. What are we taking about?

D'Anna: We aren't supposed to-

Me: Guys! I wasn't done yet!

D'Anna: Told you. *facepalms*

Solace: When were you going to be done then? Your speech sounded long enough.

Brooke: What speech? *walking in*

Me: Oh, gosh- really? K before I get totally off topic, I don't own The Keeper of the Lost Cities. And these are my characters.

Solace: We get it.

Me: Fine fine fine.

D'Anna: Wait. What are we talking about?

Dean: Food?

Brooke: No, not food.

D'Anna: Honestly Dean?

Dean: What? Food is good.

Solace: We are talking about this chapter. By the way Brooke,what is wrong with you in this chapter? If you wanted to be dead, you could have come to me.

Brooke: I was dead? *eyes turn to me*

Me: Nononono-Solace!

Solace: What?

Me: They haven't read the chapter yet.

Solace: Well duh, they're not special enough. *smirking*

Brooke: You read MY chapter? How?

Solace: I have my ways.

Me: More like you threatened me...with a SWORD.

Brooke: What?!

Dean: Wow, I didn't think- you have a sword? Where!? Can I see it?

D'Anna: You are sooo slow.

Dean: Shut up.

Brooke: So back to earth- I DIED!? *flailing arms frantically*

Solace:Yup.

Me: No! *covering Solace's mouth*

D'Anna: Explain. NOW.

Me: You did not die, Brooke. Period. *uncoverong Solace's mouth like nothing happened*

Solace: Mmhmm. *rolls eyes*

Brooke: Solace...enough, you're coming back to the same point over and over again, readers are getting bored.

Solace: I realize. That's the point.

Dean:*facepalms*

D'Anna: Geez.

Dean: Wait we're being read?

Solace: Oh my...you know what, I'm not even-just-oh-my-word-you-are-so-stupid!

Dean: I'm what?

Brooke: Solace...

Me: K, lets be nice everyone.

Solace: Hestartedititshisfault. *pointing an accusing finger*

Dean: What?

Brooke: Why are we even doing this?

Me: People were supposed to get to know you guys.

D'Anna: What an impression we just made. *sighs*

Me:I know right.

Dean: I just had the greatest idea ever!

Solace: Alright, Spill.

Dean: Let's go play BaseTag!

Solace:Sounds cool.

Brooke:Sure, but dinner at my house afterwards.

D'Anna:K

Solace:Isnt your uncle over?

Dean: What uncle?

D'Anna: The senile one.

Solace:Lovely.

Me:Guys. Back to BaseTag.

Brooke:Right.

Me: Ok so the object of the game-

Solace: I know how to play BaseTag! *ready to hit someone*

Me:Not everyone does.

Brooke: I do.

Dean: I do.

D'Anna: I do.

Me: Honestly? I meant the readers.

Solace: What. ever.

Me: K, so as I was saying its basically like capture the flag but in a bigger playing field.

Brooke:K let's play!

Me: Alrighty, the teams are Brooke and D'Anna, Solace and Dean.

Dean: Aww... *shoulders sag*

Solace: Excuse me?

Dean: Um, um,um... *fidget, running hands through hair*

Me:Enough! Save it for the game. But no weapons, maiming or fighting. But powers are allowed.

D'Anna: This ought to be fun.

Solace: Dean. I'll take my anger out on the enemy, but I'll get you later.

Me: Don't worry, Solace is actually very reasonable once you get to know her.

Solace: Excuse me, no I am not!

Me: Honestly? *facepalms*

Solace: Yes.

D'Anna: Can we play now?

Me: Yes, enough rambling. Brook and D'Anna you can quest first. *Questing is when the team puts their base on the field and the other team looks for it. One member of the questing team must guard the base, and the other tries to tag the players*

Solace: This commentary is going to get really annoying.

Brooke: Let's just play.

Dean: Ok.

Me: On your mark.

Solace: I am so going to win.

Me: Get set.

Brooke: In your dreams.

Me: GO!

Chapter 1: The Letter

I ran through the forest, scouring the trees. If I concentrated, I could hear Solace's mischievous laugh tickle the back of my mind, as she advanced towards our base. Stopping, I closed my eyes and pictured our hidden platform with a small mousy girl guarding it. I imagined her black hair and teal eyes, until the image was clear in my mind.

"D'Anna," I thought, transmitting the message towards the fourth quarter of the left quadrant. "Where's Dean?"

The playing field was split into eight sections. The left quadrant had four quarters, so did the right. Each looked the same, but was easier to identify to Telepaths, so they could track the opponents thoughts to a coordinate.
I turned back towards the direction of our base, as her soft voice penetrated through my head.

"Dean's advancing in the right quadrant moving towards the first quarter." D'Anna thought "Solace, she's crossing over to the left, third quarter. She's closer, but I'd go for Dean first. She's um- I'd just watch out."

"Wait- what?" I thought immediately

D'Anna was hesitant with her answer. "Um... She kind of conjured a sword."

I gasped and staggered, almost losing my connection with D'Anna.
"A SWORD!?

I pictured Solace, blond hair, teal eyes, evil grin. I added a sword, and fear rose in my throat. That was a very scary picture. But weapons weren't allowed in base tag. She wasn't going use that sword was she?

"Yeah," D'Anna answered "A sword. I heard her say it while I was listening to her thoughts."

"She does know she can't use it doesn't she?"

D'Anna sighed " Yeah probably, but I wouldn't put it past her."

I groaned, but nodded. I was wasting time. Solace had probably already made it to the fourth quarter already. It wouldn't be long before she found our base, and D'Anna.

D'Anna had been my friend since my first year at school. She wouldn't speak to anyone at first, even me. I soon figured out D'Anna was a mute, and she couldn't actually talk. In our second year, she had discovered she was a Telepath, and could transmit thoughts to other people in a form of speech. I also discovered I was a Telepath too, and we could have secret telepathic conversations without anybody listening. Solace doesn't mind, but Dean finds this extremely annoying. Out of the four of us, he is the only one who has not discovered a special talent. Solace was a Conjurer, so as long as she could picture the item, she could produce it.

D'Anna and Solace had an interesting relationship. D'Anna was small and shy and Solace was tall and mischievous. The two didn't mix, but somehow they got along. But they liked playing pranks on each other. Big pranks that take weeks to clean up. So I was sure that if Solace found our base, she was going to do something bad to D'Anna.
I ran over to the first quarter, tearing through the trees, trying to lock onto Dean's voice. However, this was a very hard skill, and D'Anna had only discovered it a few weeks ago.

He was easy to catch. I heard his clumsy footing and ran towards it. Spotting him, I grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled. Dean stumbled.

"That's not fair," he grumbled " I'm at a disadvantage."

I grinned at his pouting expression. He ran a hand through his disheveled sandy blonde hair, and sighed.

Dean was always really bothered by the fact that he had not discovered his talent. His family was working class, so he was even lucky to be at the school we went to. Nobody seemed to care about his upbringing or that he was undiscovered. D'Anna and I had always been close to him, even before we became a Telepaths. Solace and Dean even lived in the same neighborhood. But come to think about it, I would probably feel envious if I was the only one of my friends that had no special ability.

"I didn't use my telepathy," I sighed "D'Anna did."

He grumbled again.

"For a mute, she sure talks a lot." He sighed "Why does she have to be so good at telepathy?But when I discover my gift, Im sure it will be something else. It's annoying when people tamper with your brain."

I smiled.

"I'm sure you'll find your gift soon enough," I chidled with reassurance.

Then I turned and ran down the alley of trees to try and make it to Solace. But I was too late.

I heard a loud scream, the noise blasting me telepathically. D'Anna's cry was enough to tell me that someone had gotten into our base.

I ran towards the fourth quarter just in time to see Solace finish tying D'Anna up.
She turned to me and gave me a evil grin. Solace held up some remaining rope.

"Looking for me?" She said arching her eyebrows in a evil way.

She broke into a laugh. Solace always seemed to be the mean type, but she was really nice once you knew her. And she never really meant everything she said, but she still had a very mishevious personality.

"I was nice this time, " She said " I had something...better planned."

Solace gestured to D'Anna who was squirming on the floor.

"I'll get you !" D'Anna screamed, shattering the thought barrier I tried to make.
When D'Anna gets mad, you do not want to be there in the aftermath. Even my Telepath mind barriers can't keep her out.

Dean covered his ears as he walked into the quarter.

"Cut it out will you," He moaned "My ears are going to die."

Solace wrapped an arm around Dean gracefully.

"We win," she smiled "Up for another round?"

Solace won again.

Go figure. I wasn't sure she was ever going to let us win.

This time she was teamed up with D'Anna. Dean insisted that we be partners. He said that we could be partners for the next round too, and that we should hide the base in the right quadrant, third quarter. He said that people always pick the corners so the middle would be the safest idea, and I could track voices so he could tag them. I decided not to tell him that to check both corners you had to cross through the middle, and that D'Anna was the only one who could do that.

I took the left quadrant, and Dean took the right. I ran through the trees, crossing into the second quarter searching for their base.

I found their base in the middle of the first and second quarter, and ran to touch it. D'Anna was guarding it. As soon as she saw me, she closed her eyes. I knew she was transmitting. She fingered the base, and nodded. I cocked my head in confusion.
What were they up to?

All of a sudden, the base disappeared, and so did D'Anna.

I fell back a step.

Solace's laughter exploded in my mind.

"Bet you didn't see that coming" I heard her think.

She howled as I understood. She had conjured the base to another location using her abilities. I was pretty sure that was against the rules, but I knew that she would argue if I said anything.

Soon enough, I felt her cold hands gripping my shoulders.

"Caught you," She sang as D'Anna walked in with Dean. "Guess I win again."

Dean sighed.

" You guys still staying for dinner?" I asked, changing the subject.

All three heads nodded.

"We should get going," Dean grinned "Or Caster will eat all the mallowmelt."

Solace and D'Anna grimaced.

"Havenfield!" I cried laughing as we hold hands and disappear into the light.

My house stood on a high hill, a amber glow emitting from the crystal windows. The dark walls shadow the bright lights, as we walk into the house, night crawling into the once bright sky.

My uncle Caster, as expected has his face in our ice cream soaked cake.

"Hey Brooke!" He gurgles his mouth full of cream.

He holds out a handful of squished cake. "I saved you some."

I stared at my senile uncle for a second before politely passing it down. Uncle Caster only stays with us every so often, and I was supposed to be nice.

I looked around the room for my parents, but I didn't see them.

" Where's mom and dad?" I asked

My uncle pointed a sticky finger to the hallway. He was right. I could already hear my parents low whispers.

My friends tried to pry my uncle from the mallowmelt as I approached the hallway.

The whispers got louder.

I walked into the hallway.

My parents look horrible. They looked like someone told them that their house burned down or something. Their eyes were wide, mouths hanging open, ashen expressions.
In their hands was a letter.

A black swan was printed on the back, it's dark neck curving as it spread its wings. The letter was in a language I couldn't read.

I froze. I had seen that picture before, and I knew it meant something bad. Dread immediately washed over me, and I had a sudden urge to run away. An image of a boy screaming as dark ghostly people dragged him away shattered my vision. But I didn't know the boy, or who the people were. I felt as horrified as my mom and dad appeared.

My parents looked up, their eyes filled with tears. The expressions showed terror as they acknowledged whatever they were reading. Scared, I backed back into the kitchen.

My uncle looked at me in concern, then offered me a mug of purple lumpy liquid.
This time I forgot to be polite.

I turned away and ran up to my room, closing the door behind me and blocking the world out.

I lay on my bed in confusion. What was I doing? I didn't know that person, I probably saw that image somewhere, and the letter was probably like a bill or something.
I heard my friends come up and knock on the door, asking me to come out.
I sighed and opened the door. The dinner was almost mindless. My parents and I looked like zombies, silently picking at or food. D'Anna looked at me worriedly, but I turned away.

My friends left directly after dinner, disappearing into the blue light, of our Leapmaster.
As darkness grew, I closed my eyes, hoping that maybe I would be granted a good night sleep. Just as I drifted into unconsciousness, a voice entered my mind.

Four words at the back of my head:
"Help. Please find me."

I gaped, my eyes wide, as I searched for the person that this message had come from. The image of a boy struck my mind. The same one from before, running into the trees, disappearing into darkness. Just as the black overcame him, I realized he was looking right at me.

Brooke: OH I REMEMBER THIS!

Solace: Sigh, took you long enough. Having scary nightmares are we? Ready to admit you were emotionally insane?

Brooke: What? Why you...

Me: Guys, guys...couldn't you have waited 'til I got here?

Solace: Uh, no. We can't wait for you for everything.

Me: Thanks...

Solace: *grins mischievously*

Me: Oh yeah that's what I wanted to do! Thank people!

Solace: Who exactly are you thanking? One of them better be me.

Me: No.

Solace: You suck.

Me: Not my problem. Anyways, I would like to thank Denow, for editing, and Firefrostflare, for supporting.

Solace: Done yet?

Me: Yes.

Brooke: Mm,mm! *struggling with hands tied and mouth duck taped*

Me:Brooke!

Brooke: Mm,mm!

Me: Solace! *accusing glare*

Solace: Something wrong? *innocently batting eyelashes*

Me: Confess!

Solace: Father forgive me for I have sinned.

Me: Not that kind of- Solace! Come'ere NOW!

(CRASH, screaming)

Dean: Hey what I miss? *sees Brooke tied up, and me and Solace strangling each other*

I take it we came at the wrong time.

D'Anna: Talk about it.

Brooke: Can SOMEBODY untie me?

D'Anna: This would be a good time to walk away...

Dean: Yeah,let's...*slowly backing up*

D'Anna: You can review,follow, or favorite while we take a short intermission.

*crashing and screaming in the background* Um, maybe a long intermission, lets go Dean.

Dean: *following D'Anna into the leaping crystals* 'Til next time!