A/N Here is the second chapter! I have to say, this one was really fun to write, and I threw a bit of action in there. I changed the plot line a little, and now I have a plan for this little story, some actual plot. Please R&R this!
Thank you to KOTLC 1 Fan for being my first reviewer and follower and favoriter!
Sophie's POV
Sophie looked around her as humans walked the streets of Paris, knowing that most of them were probably tourists. Dex led them over to the nearest park bench and made a move to turn off the obscurer, but Sophie stopped him. "We can't just appear here. It's too crowded, someone will notice."
Dex slipped the obscurer back into his pocket. "Where should we go then? "
"We can find an alleyway to turn the obscurer off in, then come out and find an ATM," Sophie said.
Dex smiled, showing his adorable dimples."Then let's get going." Dex took her hand and they continued walking, sometimes having to jump out of the way of a passing human.
"Over there!" Dex exclaimed, pointing to an alleyway next to a building with giant red lettering that said Caisse d'Epargne. When Sophie looked closer, her brain automatically switched the letters to Savings Bank. The two veered over to the left and ducked into the dark alley. Dex began to fiddle with the buttons on the obscurer.
"So, what cafe are we actually going to?" Sophie asked, watching as one by one the five blue lights on the obscurer flickered off.
"It's right across the street," he said, not lifting his focus from the black gadget. "I'm not going to say it because, well, let's think about it. I don't know French, and therefore will definitely butcher the name."
True, she thought. Sophie looked behind her and into the street, and sure enough, there was a cute pink themed cafe on the other side. She focused on the glowing sign as her brain switched the pink and purple lettering to English. "For heavens cakes- to die for. That the cafe you're talking about?"
"Yeah. I don't know what the name was about, but it had a ton of reviews saying the cakes were amazing, and I wanted to see if they have anything on mallowmelt," Dex explained. Sophie doubted it. Mallowmelt tasted like chocolate chip cookies and marshmallows, combined in a gooey cake that tasted like pure happiness, and Sophie had fallen in love with the treat the minute she first tasted it.
The lights on the obscurer flashed on and off a couple of times, then stopped. "Hmm. That shouldn't have taken so long."
"What's wrong?" Sophie asked. Dex was usually great with tech, courtesy of being a technopath. If he was having trouble with an obscurer, it meant something was not what it seemed.
Dex flipped the obscurer on it's side, and in one swift move opened the unbolted lid. "This should've been sealed shut," he said, his brows scrunching together in confusion. Realization dawned on his face, and he gasped. "It's been tampered with."
Sophie quickly replied, "By who?"
"I don't know, but one thing's for sure." Dex glanced at the wiring inside the gadget, then back up at Sophie. "We're being tracked."
"Finally," a voice said behind them. Sophie and Dex whipped around to the front of the alley. There was a cloaked figure in black standing there, bearing the Neverseen patch on their left arm. "You figured it out. The Dizznee boy's obscurer served as a perfect tracker, and now you're vulnerable and alone in the Forbidden cities." Sophie could imagine a smirk on the Neverseen member's face.
"What do you want with us? No, better question- how did you get to my obscurer?" Dex asked, effectively distracting the Neverseen member while Sophie built up rage to inflict with, but a pair of hands grabbed hers from behind, breaking her concentration.
"Oh no, we won't have any of that, will we?" the other elf asked, their voice sounding more feminine. It sounded more like a threat than a question, since she was currently holding a melder to her head. "And to answer Dex's question- like we would ever tell you!"
"Yeah! We would never tell you about our spy in Rimeshire, or our plan to wash the moonlark's memories and plant her in the Forbidden cities," the cloaked figure taunted.
"Balke!" The woman hissed.
"What?" From his body language, Sophie could tell the cloaked rebel was genuinely confused.
"You just told them!"
"Told them? No way! I'm the best at keeping secrets," he boasted.
The woman restraining Sophie pocketed the melder and shifted so one hand was holding both of Sophie's hands behind her back. Sophie was willing to bet she had just face palmed at her partner's stupidity.
Sophie looked over at Dex, and caught him snickering. "You just answered their questions and told them our plans, Balke!"
"I did? Oh, I did. Well Kana, now that they know, we'll have to take 'em out," he said, rushing over to Dex and grabbing and restraining him.
"We were going to take them out anyways," Kana said, putting her melder back up to Sophie's head.
"W-wait! You don't want to do this!" Dex exclaimed.
"Uh, I'm pretty sure we do," Kana said, tightening her grip on Sophie hands.
Dex gave Sophie a look that said, At least we tried to negotiate. Immediately after this he mouthed, Sucker Punch.
Sophie realized she was still wearing the black cuff that Dex had given her several months ago to protect herself against the rebels. She wrenched her hands out of Kana's grasp. Sophie punched her in the shoulder, knowing the power of the sucker punch and not wanting to fatally injure her. The cloaked woman crumpled to the ground, and upon seeing that, Balke turned and ran into the street, but immediately turned back after he saw a human turning the corner onto the street. Dex reeled back to punch him, but the rebel whipped out a crystal and leaped away, causing Dex's fist to hit only air.
"Ugh, he got away. What are we going to do with her?" Dex asked, eyeing the unconscious figure on the ground.
"Let's hail Mr. Forkle. He'll know what to do," Sophie said. Dex nodded.
"So, let me recount what happened. You and Dex went on a date, and somehow managed to capture a Neverseen rebel?" Magnate Leto asked, raising an eyebrow at the two over the hail.
"Kind of. They have a spy at my house, and they used them to put a tracker in my obscurer," Dex explained. "I can't believe my family didn't notice... Oh, and they said their plan was to wipe Sophie's memories and place her in the Forbidden cities again, but Sophie sucker punched the girl rebel, Kana."
Sophie had remained silent while Dex was explaining this to Mr. Forkle as Magnate Leto.
"Any comments, Miss Foster?"
"Not really. Can you just tell us a place to bring her and we'll be on our way?" She looked at Dex at this part, "We kind of have somewhere to be."
Dex blushed, probably remembering they were supposed to be on a date.
"Okay then lovebirds, the collective can meet at Havenfield, and I'll inform Sandor of the situation. Goodbye." The screen clicked off, and Sophie and Dex were left to themselves in the dark alley in Paris.
When they arrived at Havenfield, they were greeted by a very angry bodyguard.
"What happened? Where did you go that the Neverseen could reach you? I knew I should've came with you!" Sandor said, pacing circles on the grass. He continued to rant about increasing security and what not, but Sophie stopped listening when she saw all five members of the Black Swan's collective materialize on Havenfield's grounds.
Mr. Forkle stepped forward, now in his wrinkly disguise. Sandor stopped pacing and looked to the current head of the collective. "We can take the member of the Neverseen to our hideout in the sea for questioning," he said, then put his fingers back to his temples and closed his eyes, probably telepathically communicating with the other four members of the collective. Silence for a few seconds, then he opened his eyes and asked, "Did you find out anything else about the Neverseen?"
"Yeah, there is a Neverseen spy in Rimeshire and the name of another one of their members is Balke," Sophie said. Squall, whose alternate identity was Juline Dizznee, gasped, and grabbed her pathfinder.
"Excuse me, but I need to go and... check on a few things," she said.
"Understood. You should probably leave at once."
After Squall had left, Dex pointed to the Neverseen rebel stirring from her unconsciousness. "Uh, guys? She's waking up."
Granite pulled out a vial with a purple liquid in it. He walked over to the cloaked rebel and forced her to down the contents. "That sedative will leave her asleep for a couple hours. Now, we'll leave you two the rest of your day."
Sophie and Dex watched as Blur held onto Kana, and the collective leaped away.
"Does the obscurer still work?" Sophie asked.
"Oh right. No, it won't." Sophie opened her mouth to say something, but Dex cut her off. "But, I have some spare parts that I can make one with."
Dex dug his hands in his right pants pocket and turned it inside out. Sophie's mouth fell open when she saw the plethora of gadgets, wires, and lights that fell out and onto the grass.
"Geez, Sophie. If your mouth goes any lower you'll have to pick it up off the ground," Dex said, smiling with his adorable dimples. He bent down to pick out the parts he needed, and shoveled the rest back into his pocket.
"Sorry, I just didn't know you carried all that with you all the time. It's a lot of gadgets."
"Perks of being a technopath, I guess. I'm always fiddling with wires and tech, so I'm going to have to carry some with me, right?"
"Yeah," Sophie agreed. She watched as Dex bent metal into weird shapes, arranged wires into different patterns, and screwed different pieces together. Soon Dex was holding an obscurer almost identical to the one before.
"We should probably go. The cafe is always busy, and if we don't make our reservation, we may not make it at all."
Sophie nodded, and Dex pulled out the leaping crystal for the second time that day.
They stepped into the light, once again on their way to Paris, the city of love.
A/N Thanks for reading! Break is almost over, so my updating schedule may be thrown out of whack, but I'll try to update as soon as I can! Reviews with gentle criticism are appreciated (: