Sorry guys (yet again). I guess I slacked off. *Huge sigh*. Well it's another short chapter, 'cuz they just seem to end up that way, since I get to the point pretty quickly. This fanfic is moving a lot faster than I'd planned, but oh well. At least it's not boring this way! Also, *SPOILERS FOR THIS CHAPTER* Keefe's narrative voice is kinda dull, but he's not really Keefe anymore. He's like an empty shell of who he used to be *giant sob*. Wow, writing that sentence hurt so badly. Deep inside.

Responses:

Xylia Neo: Thanks 3. Sorry for the slow updates. I'm a pretty big procrastinator...so, well, writing a progressive fanfic isn't really the best thing for me to do. Whatever.

Hi: Hi! Thanks for the review! Love your username! :D

animaljam: No, you're awesome!

Silveny: Sooooorry. I guess I'm just evil. It's funny, I hate it when writers and fanfic authors do this to me. But it's really fun to do it to your readers!

AND FINALLY! HERE IT IS: THE MAJESTICAL (AND LATE) CHAPTER SIX:

Word Count: 1,198)


Chapter Six

THE WORLD SPUN AS SOPHIE FOUGHT TO BALANCE HERSELF.

Possibilities swam through her mind, each one crazier than the last, and she shook her head to clear them away—but one wouldn't leave. It was a far-fetched idea, but...what if Prentice knew something about the Lodestar Initiative?

Nobody seemed to know what it was—and the Neverseen had done an excellent job covering up all information on the subject. Plus, the only "Lodestar" she knew was the special mirror in the Silver Tower at Foxfire. Which was utterly useless besides the important lesson it was supposed to teach prodigies about themselves.

So far, all the Lodestar Initiative seemed to be was one huge secret.

Sophie was done with all the secrets. Her whole life had been secrets—secrets about the Black Swan, secrets about the Neverseen, secrets about herself. She had kept so many secrets, discovered so many secrets, fought for so many secrets. Laid her life on the line for a single secret countless times.

She wouldn't wait anymore.

If she was honest with herself, she was just desperate to find anything she could use to save Keefe. So even though she knew the possibility was slim to nothing, for the first time, she chose to believe. No more worrying, no more watching, just hope.

And before she investigated the symbol, well, she decided it was time to do what she'd be dreading.

It was time to contact Keefe.

"Show me Keefe," she whispered as she dug out her imparter. Her hands felt like lead as she fumbled with the thin silver square. She held her breath for five, ten, fifteen seconds.

Nobody picked up.

She had assumed he wouldn't have his imparter with him, anyway. It would be a stretch for the ultra-secretive Neverseen—if they even trusted him at all after he had left Sophie go.

She wasn't even sure if he was alive.

She pushed the horrible thought out of her head, considering her options. Then she remembered her spyball, but when she went to get it, it wasn't there. Come on. It had to be somewhere. Her clumsy hands worked from wall to wall as she combed every inch of the room from floor to ceiling.

It wasn't there.

Had the Neverseen come while she was gone? She didn't understand, but anger filled her anyway. Rage swirled around her mind in white hot spirals but there was nobody to inflict on and nothing to calm her down. She suppressed a frustrated yell and dropped onto the floor, gathering her courage.

There was only one option left. But it was going to hurt.

She didn't care. She wanted the pain. She needed to drive away the rage and fear and the feeling of the Neverseen watching her every move. So she pushed her consciousness as far as it could go.

Stretching.

Stretching.

Stretching.

And the pain. So much pain. Countless voices filled her head, elves and humans and animals and gnomes. There were too many to distinguish, too many to pay attention to. She fought to keep the scream bubbling from her lips back. She didn't want Edaline to check on her. So she kept fighting. Her mind ached and stung, but the one voice she needed didn't fill her mind.

Just as she was about to give up, the whisper of a sentence tickled her mind. She strained toward the sound, pushing with all her mind, wanting to reach it. Needing to reach it. But it was too far.

Sophie stopped and felt the energy humming in the back of her mind, channeling the extra power. When she had reined in enough, she let it lose, imagining power spiraling out behind her, pushing her forward with its momentum.

The energy turned cold and propelled her straight downward into the earth.

She struggled and flailed as she plummeted through layers of ice, but it was too late to stop. She was falling falling falling, past more mental voices, harsher this time. Cold seeped in through her incapacitated mind.

I'm doing this for you.

The shock of hearing those words pulled Sophie out of her pain. She barely managed to stop before she rushed on past the heartbreakingly familiar voice. The dim connection felt like it could snap at any moment, and she pulled her muscles taut, trying not to move.

You promised. "I'm doing this for you." That's what you said.

Sophie almost gasped out loud as she realized Keefe was repeating what his mom had told him in a note nearly a month ago.

She steadied her breath for a moment before she could tentatively transmit even one word.

Keefe?

Everything stopped. Time seemed frozen in place as his mind whirled and made quick calculations that flashed by too fast to decipher.

Sophie?

Keefe! It's actually you—are you okay? Where did the Neverseen take you—

I'm sorry, he answered, ignoring her rapid-fire questions.

Where are you, she pressed.

I—I can't tell you. I can't—Sophie, I can't talk to you, it's—

I understand. You're one of them now, right?

Keefe's mind cringed.

Fine, Sophie transmitted. At least tell me—did they forgive you?

I—I don't know.

She couldn't help thinking that an "I don't know" was way scarier than a clear 'yes' or 'no'.

Sophie...if you still want to talk to me...tomorrow, meet me at the Room Where Chances Are Lost—

WHAT?

They're coming, Sophie, I have no time...Please consider it.

But how will I—

"Sophie?" a different voice cut in, severing her mental connection.

"No!" she shouted as she sprang up, only to see Edaline.

Concern and fear filled her mother's face as she held out her hand. "Are you okay?"

"I—yes—no—I don't know!" Sophie trembled as she kicked her bed, sending pain flaring up her leg. Her head pulsed and throbbed and she could barely think at all as Edaline rushed over and wrapped her up in a hug.

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Not unless she could snap her fingers and magically fix everything. Sophie knew she was being pouty, but she felt she deserved it after everything she'd been through.

Sophie shook her head, and Edaline pulled away. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Sophie, but your friends are waiting downstairs for you. If you're not feeling up to talking, I could send them away—"

"No," Sophie interrupted. "I'll go see them."

She had promised she was done with secrets. But what she hadn't realized until now was that her vow went both ways. She couldn't keep secrets from her friends. Like it or not, they were all wrapped up in this mess together. They were a team—and a team couldn't function as one if they didn't trust each other. She was worried about Fitz...far more than the others. But she just had to believe that he'd be able to cope.

After all, that seemed to be what they were always doing.

Sophie ignored the worried look in her mother's eyes as she crossed the room and started down the stairs. It was time to face the moment she'd been dreading.

No more hiding.