"What do you mean, you don't know what this means?!" Fitz hollered, ripping the note from Tam's hands.

Tam attempted to grab it back but was blocked by the older boy's hand. "I mean I don't know what it means!"

Sophie grabbed the note from Fitz, rolling her eyes at the two boys' quarrel. "They want something and if we don't give it to them then they'll kill Keefe!"

"What?!" Biana shrieked, shoving Fitz and Sophie apart. "Where does it say that?"

"'Light his pyre', in old human times, pyres would be burned for the fallen," she told them. "The rest is them trying to make us scared. So there's a secret Neverseen member. Great."
They all looked shaken, which made Sophie feel a bit apologetic.

After a long silence, Linh finally spoke up. "Keefe… Keefe's going to die?" A tear slipped down her cheek as she scooted closer to Sophie for support.

"I-I think so," Sophie replied. Biana whimpered, and Sophie caught herself, "Unless… unless we get to him before they do."

Tam looked shell-shocked, his mouth wide open, "Well… what's our plan?"

"Sophie said it was in northern Eurasia. It's not exactly as specific as we'd like, but at least we know the general area," Dex explained. He reached into his pocket and drew out a purple gadget. "If I'm able to obtain the right coordinates, we should be able to find the Neverseen's—"

"Obviously," Fitz muttered.

Dex put the gadget on the table. "Oh, Fitz, I'm sorry, do you wanna explain how this works?" He glared at Fitz.

Fitz met his eyes, but Sophie didn't miss the red that burned in his face. "No, he mumbled, looking away.

"Mhm," he said, continuing on. "Anyway, If I can get the right coordinates than we should be able to find the general location of the Neverseen's hideouts because this bad boy," he tapped the purple gadget. "Can detect so much light particle disruption!"

The confusion in the room was almost tangible. Dex flushed slightly and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahh… It can track light leaping,"

There was an air of relief in the room. "We have finally made some progress in finding Keefe," Tam breathed.

Fitz glared angrily. "You know, we wouldn't have this problem if you hadn't decided to be a jerk!"

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Sophie intervened. "It is not his fault! If you want someone to blame, blame the Neverseen. Blame who actually took him!"

"It is his fault!" Fitz screamed. Sophie didn't fail to notice the tears that welled in his teal eyes.

Sophie held no remorse, though as she hissed out her words. "I get that your best friend is missing because mine is too. But no matter if Tam was the one who brought him out to the forest because the Neverseen took him! So you can whine and make nasty comments all you want, Fitz, but you do not get to try and push my friends past their breaking point. Do you understand?"

To her surprise, Fitz clenched his jaw and nodded. Not to her surprise though, he turned around and walked out the door. Dex sighed. "I'll follow him, y'know, make sure he doesn't hurt anyone. Or himself."

No one objected as Dex slid out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

Fitz yelled in frustration and he plopped on the couch. He was lucky his mom and dad weren't home yet; he didn't really feel like discussing his feelings with them.

Light footsteps pulled him from his thoughts. "Go away," he muttered.

Fitz looked up and saw it was Dex. His heart fluttered and his anger faded slightly as he moved his legs so Dex could sit on the couch if he wished.

He did.

"Please don't come out here and tell me I messed up," Fitz whispered. His eyes burned as he struggled to not cry. "Please don't come out here and tell me how much of a jerk… a bad friend… a terrible person I am." Tears fell from his eyes and he sat up to look at Dex. "Please don't tell me how horrible I am, please don't tell me what a messed up, no-good, worthless idiot I am,"

Dex leaned forward and pulled him close. He wiped a tear from Fitz's cheek. "You are not horrible, and you aren't mean. You didn't mess up," he whispered quietly. "You are not worthless and you never were."

Fitz broke down in Dex's arms. He sobbed, and he was sure he just ruined one of Dex's shirts.

"Shh, it'll be okay," Dex whispered, running his hands through Fitz's hair. "It will be okay. It always turns out okay." As he slowly rose, he outstretched his hand. "We can do this together. Right?"

Fitz nodded.

"Together."

Sophie rolled her eyes for what was probably the ninth time in the last five minutes. She slammed her hands down, catching the attention of her friends. Dex and Fitz were the only two missing. "This is pointless!" she growled. "This note means nothing! What do they desire, huh? Why do they feel the need to tell us about ourselves, why do they-" as she swung her hands around, she knocked over a jar of ink that sat on the desk. It hit the wood with a clink and her heart began to race as the liquid gushed out.

She swore loudly, much to Biana's enjoyment. "Wow, Sophie." Sophie looked down to make sure her pants weren't ruined, but she instead noticed that she got ink all over the note.

"No, no, no, no," she groaned, frantically trying to rub off the ink. But she only spread it further. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

Her heart beat in her chest as Linh came over. "I didn't-"

Linh gasped. "Sophie, look."

Sophie paused for a moment and saw the ink had revealed numbers and a message.

46.221800, 15.310350.

We will be waiting.

Her heart swelled with hope. Closer, they were getting so close- "I'm going to call Dex, he needs to see this," she said, scrambling out of the room.
"DEX, FITZ, GET UP HERE NOW!" She screeched, probably startling everyone.

They must have heard the excitement in her voice because they came crashing up the stairs.

"Did you find anything?" Fitz and Dex asked at the same time. Their faces were flushed slightly, but Sophie paid no mind to that. She nodded her head, shoving the ink covered note in his face. "Coordinates, Dex! We got some!"

Dex took the note from her hands and looked it over. His grin was unmistakable as it grew. He yanked out his gadget from a pocket Sophie didn't realize he had, punching in the numbers.

He was about to hit enter, but Linh suddenly appeared in the hall. "Whatever happens," she whispered. "Whatever we do, it has to be together, because together we are stronger, okay?"

Dex walked into the room and placed the tech on the center desk, holding his hand over it. "Together."

Fitz looked at him, placing his hand over his, "Together."

Biana, Tam, and Linh repeated the actions and looked at Sophie. She smiled slightly.

"Together."

And they pushed the button.