A/N: Yo! How's it going, people? All good? No? Well, it's certainly been a busy day for me so far- let's just hope I have enough energy to walk through the rest of it. XD
Linharvae008: Thanks back to you, for writing that awesome review! I do hope I can keep up what I have so far, if it's good work. XOXO
WildPegasus7: Ahh, I'm so happy! Or maybe I'm just glad I have someone I can terrorize with loads of cliffhangers.. XD And, of course, I'll be updating in a while, I'm certain! ;)
Rebecca: ILYSM, thanks for being an amazing friend and and equally awesome reviewer. Also, *DUN DUN DUN* one of your guesses is right! *Tries not to spoil the whole thing* Anyway.. So glad you liked it! Hearts from Jade!
Guest: Oh my gosh, thanks! Though, why don't you like Laieen? She's, like, my favorite character! Lol Thanks for reviewing! Love, Foxiee
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! This chapter is partly in Laieen's Point of View. There will be major depression/loss/frustration from the POV of the "outsider", the "watcher", or, if put directly, the "reader". So try to keep calm as you watch Laieen forgetting her past! It's a challenge- you up to it?
INTRODUCING...
"The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom."
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
...
LAIEEN
She stared in shock as the cloaked figure walked up to her. She gasped in realization as he forced the vial into her mouth.
But when the cool liquid slid down her throat, all she could do was hope Sophie wouldn't be mad at her- mad at her for choosing to follow the person's lead. She hoped, with all her heart, that Sophie would understand.
I will die, she thought. And maybe my parents- whoever they are- will finally feel remorse for throwing me away. Leaving me in a human town, in the Forbidden Cities, with no one who could understand me. This is my revenge.
And so she didn't fight back.
Just for a split second, she realized that her best friend would never understand. Sophie had almost no knowledge of the world she had been trapped in for most of her life. She didn't know that this was finally the freedom Laieen had wished for.
Should she refuse the vial? Should she push the man away and fight for her life?
Laieen realized with a pang in her heart that there were more important things in life than sweet, sweet revenge. She might not have a loving family, but she had her foster parents. And Rester. And... she had Sophie.
She had to refuse the vial. She had to push the man away and fight for her life... both their lives...
But it was too late. Darkness clouded her vision and Laieen felt herself slipping into a dark void, never to be seen again.
...
"Subject No. 0891," read the label.
Avikka was glad she was finally part of something. After years of trying to fit in, these people had come to rescue her.
"The Revanche"s. The simplicity of the word awed Avikka. It meant payback, in French. Lyon- a city in France- was where Avikka had lived, supposedly. The word also had become the name of the organization.
Everything made sense now.
"Subject No. 0891, arrived at Center Service," the speaker blared loudly in her ears as Avikka ran over to the door. She knew, after two days of life in this place, that her leader would be waiting for her on the other side.
"Avikka Anouilh?" Avikka eagerly opened the door and stepped inside. Her leader never called her by the numbers that clarified who she was. He was nice, he was kind, he was forgiving.
Happiness filled the girl's heart at that thought.
"Yes?"
"You can come sit down."
"Thank you, sir."
"No need to thank me." The man's expression turned serious as he leaned over the desk to look her in the eyes. "Avikka, you know I trust you."
"Y-yes."
"I need you to trust me back, Avikka."
"I trusted you from the start." Avikka smiled hopefully. "I trust you. And I always will."
"I am glad to hear so." Sruthan Pyren smiled at her. He was the kindest person Avikka ever remembered seeing.
And then her trustworthy leader asked her a question.
"Avikka Anouilh, are you ready to take on a challenge?"
...
"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." ~Napoleon Hill
-9-
"YES."
Sophie stopped abruptly when the word slipped out of Keefe's mouth. "Excuse me?"
"Nothing," Keefe quickly replied. "Really."
"Um.. Okay."
"Really! I meant it! I don't know why I said that."
"I believe you, Keefe."
"Good!" Keefe looked relieved as he leaned back further in his seat. "I was worried you'd think I was psychotic or something."
"No, we don't," Fitz assured him. "But then again, why are we talking about unimportant things?"
"Because I don't want any misunderstandings."
"Keefe!" Sophie snapped, annoyed. "You're not psychotic, insane, mad, deranged, crazed, maniacal, hysterical, any of these things. I get it. We all get it!"
"Ouch," Keefe said, pretending to be hurt. "No need to attack me, people."
"There is a very good need to attack you when you're acting psychotic, insane, mad, deranged, crazed, maniacal, hysterical, and many other things," Tam muttered under his breath.
"What did you say, Bangs Boy?"
"Nothing," Tam told him, hinting a touch of sarcasm. "Really."
"Stop quoting me!"
"Who said I quoted you? And why would I even try to quote you?" Tam asked, incredulous.
"Because-" Keefe stroked The Hair- "I'm awesome!"
Dex pretended to gag.
Keefe glared and said something that Sophie wasn't sure she wanted to know the meaning of.
"Keefe! That's not nice!" Biana warned.
"Biana's right," Fitz agreed. "You shouldn't go around saying things like that."
"As much as I don't want to, I'll have to agree with Wonderboy."
"Who died and put you in charge?" Keefe bellowed, then sprinted out the room.
Silence took over the formerly exciting atmosphere as the remaining members looked at one another.
"What's wrong with him?" Biana whispered to her brother.
"I have no idea," Fitz whispered back. The others nodded in consent.
Sophie felt terrible. "So what are we going to do?"
"Nothing," Tam replied smugly. "Nobody needs that boy. I told you so."
"Actually, I seem to remember you claiming that he should be our pick," Linh told him.
He scowled. "So what?"
"So I should be invited back in!" Keefe grinned as he came back into the room. "How are you doing, dudes?" He seemed to remember nothing about what had just happened.
"Uh, nice?" Sophie asked incredulously, tugging at a loose eyelash. It had been so long since she'd gotten rid of that habit...
"Yeah, right," Keefe snorted. "You all look like you'd been struck by an angry alicorn."
"THAT would be terrifying, but only if you take out the glitter."
"Biana, this isn't the right time."
"Whatever!"
Rester cleared his throat. The other members of the group realized that they were debating about ridiculous things and turned to him again.
"So," Rester started, "Laieen's gone. And-"
"Don't you think it matters that we don't know who Laieen is?" Keefe interrupted.
"It doesn't matter. We're going to rescue Laieen. End of story." Sophie told him. "And I thought you'd do anything for your friends."
"Of course I will!" Keefe smiled in a smug manner. "You should know better than THAT, Sophie."
"Wait..." Sophie peered at her friend. "Did you just call me Sophie?"
"Oops!" Keefe grinned sheepishly. "Foster. I meant Foster."
"Sophie's fine," Sophie told him. "Just.. it was weird."
"Jeez, it was an accident!" Keefe threw his hands up in the air in mock frustration and walked up to Rester. "So, Techie, what's the plan?"
"Easy," Rester replied. "We need to rescue Laieen. But before that, we have to figure out where she is."
"Why do we need to move every two weeks?" Avikka complained as she followed her nameless leader up the hill. "Why can't we just stay in one place?"
"You'll begin to think differently when we actually start moving every two weeks," the man told her, opening the obsidian door. "Let's just hope your brain will be fine with this special treatment."
"What kind of-" Avikka started, worried, when bright, fake, sunlight flooded her eyes. "Ow!" She yelled, glancing up at the fake sky, where the supposed light was coming from-
-And as soon as she did, she fainted.
"Ow," Sophie complained, glaring at the ceiling. "What was that for?"
"Special treatment," Rester told her, fastening the rest of the device on her wrist. "I know it hurts at first, but-"
Sophie shook her head. "No, it was something else. Something... happened." She stared at the roof. "I felt something crashing down on me."
"That was the Examplifier," Rester informed her. "Though the shock when it's first put on should be far lesser than what you felt. It's high-tech, top-secret Commander Techno, which means that you should never lose it."
"What's it for?"
"Spy business. Hardly anyone has it, but I managed to get my hands on one of them and when they found out, I'd already cloned the whole thing and more."
"You cloned it?"
"Ya know, a kinda phrase I made up for my little babies?"
"Your little babies. Yeah, right."
"What? They are kind of dear to me, you know-"
"Agreed."
"Dex, who said you were allowed to barge in on my test subject?"
"Sorry, I just-"
"Test subject? I'm your test subject?" Sophie gaped at the elf sitting in front of her. "I refuse to be someone's test subject!" She tried to get the wristband off, but it wouldn't budge. "How in the world do you get this out?"
"You don't," Rester said smugly. "You keep it on forever unless the maker or the person the maker assigned lets you take it off."
"Rester!"
"That's really cool, you know."
"Yeah, at least Dizznee has a sense of how to appreciate great technology."
"See?"
"Ugh!"
"No comment, Soph?"
"Argh! I'm out of here, guys- just tell me how this thing works, okay?"
"You don't need to do anything. It simply does the opposite of amplifying things- it quietens sounds and others of that sort, like it makes your footsteps really quiet, like reaaaally, like nobody can her it except for someone who's carrying the Central Examplifier Controller, like really really quiet, it's like it makes no sound at all, so it's really good, and so you can see why it's normally used for spies, since they need those, but as I said I got hold of one, and I managed to copy the system- you know, it's, like, really hard to do that, so that means that I'm-"
"Enough with the boasting," Sophie told him. "I have a question, though- why didn't they name it the Quietener, if it does the opposite of amplify? Is there a specific need to call it an Examplifier?"
"That's our Sophie," Biana grinned as she entered Rester's room with a middle-sized teal box monogrammed Biana in swirly gold letters. "Always asking for the logical stuff."
"I was just curious."
"And she has every right to," Fitz said. "Rester did tell me that it was a name that he made up- the actual spies call it Quoranivkar, after the goblin with one arm who, according to the myths, succeeded in walking as quietly as an ant. But he needed something easy and also hard to figure out. So he came up with Examplifier."
"Right," Rester confirmed. "Anyway, that's the thing. And it'll make sure nobody hears you guys. Sophie, you alright?"
"Y-yeah," Sophie answered uneasily, fingering the Examplifier. "Though I'm not sure why this hurts so much."
Rester laughed. "The first time always does."
"The balefire waves pass through the device and it'll hurt a lot when your skin isn't used to it. Eventually, though, it will. So no worries and get on with the preparations." Hirlen agreed.
"Yes!" Biana squealed, jumping up and down. "Come on, Sophie! I've got a special box just for you!" She grabbed Sophie's sore, Examplifier wrist and led her out of the room. "We really need you to get in that outfit... Hirlen and Rester supplied the whole group with special things and we put some on it... you just need to try it!"
"I'll be ready with the rest of you and the preparations!" Rester called after them before he closed the door shut.
...
"Are you alright?" asked Sruthan...
"Yes," Avikka nodded...
They continued up the path...
A/N: Just so you know, Shlim4506 got something right... Haha, not telling you guys exactly what she got right, but she got something right nevertheless. Try to guess! XD
~Love, 4Ever-Foxfire