Wow.
This is embarrassing.
Sorry about being, like, four months late or something. Really. I just kinda had writer's block and I wasn't motivated and stuff. And I can't promise the next update will be out soon, especially since we're getting close to the release of the real Neverseen, but I hope I get around to it because I have a LOT of cool stuff planned for the future! Like, I want to just post the scenes I wrote for climax of the fic now. But nope. Patience is a virtue, okay? Maybe?
Anyway, I had this sitting around for a while, so here goes! I'm proud that I did carry out my promise (3,000+ words) even if it took me literally forever.
Oh! And sorry, but I won't be answering comments I got on the last chapter. I tried but it felt weird seeing as it's been a while. BUT I will answer anything that comes my way after this!
Word Count: 3,232 (a personal record! Yay!)
Chapter Ten
KESIA STARED AT THE PENETRATOR LONG AND HARD.
"I don't get it," she finally admitted. "Why didn't the dwarves attack him? They're supposed to be guarding Exile."
"Unless they're Neverseen dwarves," Sophie reminded her. Kesia mumbled a brief "hm" and and tapped the Penetrator's screen, starting the video over again.
"Nope, those are definitely Exile guards. See—they've got red markings on their balefire pendants. If the Council saw a dwarf here without one, they'd immediately recognize them as an intruder."
"The Neverseen could just look at the markings and copy it," Dex pointed out.
"They could try." Kesia grinned. "But what they don't know is that the markings change every day—and there are also some on the back."
"It doesn't feel like the Council's put much thought into this," Dex said.
"Yeah. It seems too simple—even for the Council. That's why I'm trusting they'd have a backup system. These dwarves are real guards. I've even seen them here before."
"When?"
"When I—" Kesia's expression turned sad again. "Never mind. It's not important, and we don't have time for stories."
"Pleaaase?" Dex begged. "The Black Swan doesn't tell us anything."
"Maybe later. First I have to explain Plan B to you guys."
"You said it wasn't going to be pleasant," Sophie remembered.
"We have to do things the way where it always goes wrong. We're going to wait for an opening, then create a distraction."
"Are you going to do some weird terrakinetic thing?" Dex asked.
Kesia laughed. "Nope. Actually, I was thinking we'd use lunchtime."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophie asked as she held the vial of curdleroot extract as far as possible from her face.
"No. But doing stupid things is part of being in the Black Swan," Kesia said.
"But the Collective is so cautious all the time. It seems like you guys never take risks," mumbled Sophie.
"When it comes to you, they don't wanna screw anything up, or give you any information that you probably should know." She added a scowl to the end of the sentence.. "But the rest of us, we're free to do what we want. So long as we get the job done and don't get captured. And if we do…" her tone turned dark as her fingers traced the tiny bottle of poison hanging from a chain on her neck.
Sophie shivered. "Anyway," she said, needing to change the subject. "How is this going to work?"
Kesia held up a dull gray fruit that looked a little like a cherry—if a cherry had rock-hard skin. "This is a bluntberry. It's juice dulls the senses, but it tastes almost as bad as what you're holding. The plan is to get it into the dwarves' food so they can't sense our presence, but as soon as they take a bite they'll know what's up. That's where the curdleroot extract comes in."
"We mix it with the bluntberry juice to disguise the taste, right?" Dex asked.
"Uh-huh. Dwarves aren't known for their sense of smell, so maybe they won't know the extract is there and take a bite. Maybe. And that's pushing it."
"Isn't there a better way?" Sophie asked.
"No. Unless you want to fight all the dwarves in Exile and get banished by the Council again."
"I think I'll pass," Dex jumped in.
"Me two," agreed Sophie.
"Okay, so listen. What we need to do is get these into the dwarves' food before they eat. I know they go to a room closer to the surface when it's not their shift, and I think I know the general direction. So we find where the lunch is, and that's where Dex comes in."
"Not again," he complained.
"Yes again. So you create some cool gadget to get the curdleroot extract and the bluntberry juice into the food, then we watch. When the dwarves react to the curdleroots, we go straight to The Room Where Chances Are Lost. The bluntberries should kick in immediately. If the plan doesn't work, we leave. I don't want the Collective to flip out. Heads up," she said suddenly and pointed at the wall before Sophie could react, causing the dirt tunnel to shift direction and push them onwards.
She didn't lose her balance this time, but that was probably because earth was moving much slower. Almost with a sense of caution. But that wasn't right—dirt wasn't alive.
To her left, Dex had already started messing with a bunch of metal scraps.
"How much stuff can you fit in your pockets?" Sophie asked incredulously.
"A lot, actually. I even have an obscurer somewhere. Hey! Would that hide us from the guards?"
"Sadly, no," Kesia told him. "They don't have to see or hear us to know we're there."
"Aw." Dex sighed and took the obscurer out of one of his pockets, disassembling it and adding pieces to his improvised gadget.
After several minutes, Kesia closed her eyes tight and said, "We're here. I can sense the earth's uncomfort. It's been held off with stone so the room doesn't collapse."
"The earth is alive?" Dex said.
Kesia laughed. "Sort of. Not alive like we are. Obviously it doesn't have a brain. But it does have a kind of powerful rhythm—which we terrakinetics can translate, sorta like empaths."
"I wish I was a terrakinetic," mumbled Dex.
"Aw, don't be like that!" Kesia grinned and put her arm around Dex, who was only slightly shorter. "You're already almost as talented as I am!"
"Almost?" he muttered and shoved her off.
"Sheesh, pouty much?"
"Shouldn't we be serious right now?" Sophie said.
"I am being serious," Kesia said with a huge grin, which didn't help prove her point at all.
"So Dex, we should I put this?" Sophie asked, turning away from the terrakinetic.
"Oh, um, right here." He pointed to a slot in his makeshift gadget, which by now resembled a six-legged blob, almost like a mechanical spider. Sophie fixed the curdleroot extract in the vial-sized slot and turned to Kesia, who handed her the bluntberry.
"You'll need to crack it," she explained. "Just, I don't know, pick up a rock."
"No, I got this." Dex pulled out the same instrument he'd used to chip the purple leaping crystal and stabbed at the berry. "It's—really—hard—there!" A gooey pink liquid dripped from the crack in the hard gray shell, and Dex scrambled to position the drip over a second slot in the gadget. One drop spilled onto his hand, and Dex yelped when the liquid sizzled and burned his skin.
"Sorry!" Kesia said, wide-eyed. "I should've warned you. Do you feel okay?"
"What? Why wouldn't I—" Dex started and then stopped, a dull mist clouding his eyes. "Everything's gray. I can't even smell the curdleroot stuff anymore." His words, usually full of energy, were oddly sluggish and hesitant.
"Dex?" Sophie shook his shoulders, scared when he didn't even seem to notice.
"I am so sorry, Sophie." Kesia's voice was purely self-accusatory. She kicked out at nothing in particular. "It's my fault. The juice affected him before I could do anything. I should've cracked it."
"Is—is he going to be okay?"
"Yeah. Eventually. My sister should be here—she keeps me in check."
"You have a sister?" Sophie stopped shaking Dex and instead focused on Kesia, who for once looked genuinely upset.
"Yeah. The Collective wouldn't want you to know this, but—" A deep breath. "—she's a Pyrokinetic."
"Another one?" Sophie said, then covered her mouth. Kesia smiled sadly and turned away, facing the dirt tunnel.
"I talk too much, huh?" She forced a laugh that sounded more like a strangled choking sound. "Thirty minutes in and I've told you pretty much everything."
"Um, sorry," Sophie whispered. "I just haven't had many good experiences with Pyrokinetics."
"I understand," Kesia said. "But Ea's not like the others. She's vulnerable, soft—she's never tried to summon Everblaze."
"I promise I'll try to keep an open mind."
Kesia turned back to face her. "Now I get why you're the Moonlark," she said with a smile. "You're soft, just like…." her voice trailed off.
Sophie decided not to question who exactly she was being compared to and why it wa so secret.
"Hey!" she said instead and telekinetically threw a clod of dirt at Kesia. The terrakinetic stared at her with a faceful of earth, then cracked up.
"You really wanna do this?" she said and shoved Sophie, causing the entire dirt tunnel to follow her direction. "Whoops," she yelled as the earth groaned and struggled for balance. "Um—this way!"
Sophie covered her head with her arms as Kesia opened up a new passageway to the left, and they ran for their lives. Then Sophie remembered Dex and pulled him along for the ride. Rocks cascaded from the ceiling. They stung as they rained onto Sophie's skin. They must've been hurting Dex too, but the dullness in his eyes made Sophie wonder if he could even feel them.
At least he'd started running on his own. She wasn't sure how much longer she could run with his weight slowing her down.
"See—this is exactly what I meant," Kesia shouted over the roar of the earth. "I don't know why the Collective even let me bring you here. I'm not very—" a large chunk of rock came falling down, nearly hitting Sophie in the head. "—responsible."
Soon the miniature avalanche quieted, and Sophie could get her bearings. Sort of. "Where are we?" she asked.
Kesia ran her fingers through her hair like a comb, brushing out rocks and dirt, and responded, "I don't know—wait." She pressed her ear to the freshly packed earth and closed her eyes in concentration. If Sophie hadn't known dirt wasn't alive, it would've looked like she were listening to the earth's voice.
"This way!" Kesia said, and shifted the balance of the tunnel once again, unbalancing Sophie and Dex.
Sophie reminded herself never to travel underground. Ever. Again.
"What's going on?" Dex asked sleepily.
"Nothing," Kesia insisted. "Just keep up with us, okay?"
They moved onward until Kesia pushed the tunnel into a rock wall.
"Here we are. This is the passageway to the luncheon room. There's only one problem."
"What is it?" Sophie asked.
"We have no idea how to work Dex's gadget. And it doesn't look like he's in any shape to tell us."
Sophie wrestled the gadget from Dex's iron grip, and examined the spider-like contraption. "I think we just have to get it to the other side of this wall."
"And then it activates all by itself?"
"I...don't know."
"Well, let's take it one step at a time. Here—we—go!" Kesia slammed her fist into the wall, passing through it like it was mush. "The gadget?" she inquired.
Sophie passed it to her and she dropped it onto the ground.
"Wasn't there a barrier?" Sophie asked.
"It only blocks non-physical things," explained Kesia. "Like sound. Or noise. But this thing, they don't see a need to block it. Remember, anyone who tries to break into Exile is crazy."
"So we're all crazy," Sophie said.
"Took you this long to figure it out?" The terrakinetic laughed. "No, but, in all seriousness, how does this work?"
She took out Dex's modified Penetrator and sent the light boomerang through the wall. When it came back, the screen lit up with the image of a bleak stone corridor. The spider gadget was on the ground, lifeless. Then a dwarf turned the corner.
"Shhh," Kesia urged as Sophie made a sound.
"Sorry."
"I said, shhh!"
The dwarf was carrying a box in his arms. He was about ten yards from the gadget. Then the video feed blinked away.
Kesia sent the light through the wall again.
Come on come on come on, Sophie silently prayed.
The Penetrator lit up again. The dwarf was nearer now, and the gadget still wasn't doing anything. It was only a matter of time before he noticed the machine or passed by it without it doing anything.
Then the spider gadget whirred to life, nimbly picking itself up and scurrying over to meet the dwarf. It was only about a third of the size of Sophie fist, so it was able to climb the wall and drop onto the side of the box without the dwarf noticing anything suspicious.
The gadget seemed to stick two of its spindly legs through the box. It took a moment before Sophie realized that the liquid in the curdleroot and bluntberry vials were draining. Then the spider dropped to the floor and the Imparter went dark.
"Yes!" Kesia cheered, pumping her fist. "It worked!"
"Are you sure?" Sophie worried.
"Yeah. We can monitor the situation, don't worry. Look." She shot a larger beam of light from the Penetrator. It was gone for at least a hundred seconds before shooting back into the silver square.
The screen showed the dwarf carrying the box enter the room and set down the box, drawing out several packages. There were about five other dwarves in the room—Sophie didn't pay much attention. She and Kesia watched as the dwarf who seemed to be in charge unwrapped his package and took a bite out of whatever food was inside. The actual food item was covering from view by the paper wrapping, but Sophie was certain he'd eaten the food.
"Okay, let's go," Kesia urged, slamming both fists through the wall and parting her arms to create an archway of space for Sophie and Dex to pass through. "They eat quickly then return to their posts."
She practically shoved Sophie and Dex through the hallway. They frantically raced through the circular passageways, alighting in a hexagonal room.
The Room Where Chances Are Lost. But today, Sophie realized, it might also been the place where chances were regained.
Then she spotted a cloaked figure huddled in the corner.
"I'll stand guard," Kesia said quickly and exited, pulling a confused Dex along with her.
Sophie approached the figure gingerly. "Keefe?"
He looked up, his blond hair flat and unstyled. There was a dull look in his eyes that reminded Sophie of the way the bluntberry juice had affected Dex.
"Sophie."
"Where are the dwarves you came with?" she asked suspiciously.
"I told them to search for you upstairs. The Neverseen think this is a trap."
"Is it?"
He looked away. "No."
Sophie stepped closer, hating it when Keefe cringed. "So what did you want to tell me?"
"I can't believe you came," he said, dodging the question. "Why do you still trust me?"
She knelt down and tried to get him to meet her eyes. "Because you're my friend. What did you call me here for?"
Keefe swallowed, a nervous look settling in his eyes. "The Neverseen are planning something."
Sophie didn't miss that fact that he said "the Neverseen" and not "we." Maybe there was still hope.
"This time you won't be the target. Well—not yet. They know you're unstoppable when you have your friends"—he cringed again—"so they're planning to use everyone for a...an experiment."
"What experiment?"
"The Lodestar Initiative."
Sophie couldn't help it. A huge gasp left her mouth and ricocheted around the room. "Is that what you were raised for? Was that what the memories you recovered were about?"
He pressed himself farther back into the corner. "I—I can't tell you."
"Why?" Sophie growled. "Please, Keefe! I came all the way here, I risked banishment again, just to meet you. I want to trust you—but you're making it hard!"
"I want to tell you—I really do, Sophie. But Brant said if I let anything slip, they'll—ugh!" he clutched his head, casting his face in shadows. "I can't say what they threatened me with, but…it involves my mom." The shadows crawled deeper into his features. "Please, Sophie, don't ask questions. The dwarves could be back any second. Please just listen."
"Okay," Sophie reluctantly agreed. "Or you could come back with us, and we could—"
"No!" Keefe interrupted. "I made my decision. I'm not turning back now."
"Turning back from what?"
"You promised you were done asking questions," Keefe reminded her. "Okay, so here's what I can tell you: the Neverseen know where Alluveterre is—I didn't tell them. They—they probed my mind. They know everything. And I don't even know who their leader is. The only thing I was able to find out was that they are planning to visit Alluvettere, and they think Linh and Tam might be useful—they need Shades or something. I can't stop them and the Collective won't be able to, either. They're much more dangerous than I thought, Sophie. Brant and Fintan are the least of your worries. So get Linh and Tam out of Alluvettere, okay?"
"Okay, but I don't understand—"
"Shh!" Keefe covered Sophie's mouth with his cloak's sleeves. Sophie startled, and the shadows veiling Keefe's face weren't enough to completely cover his blush.
Fwump.
A footstep echoed on the stone floor. Sophie's eyes widened and she looked around wildly, heart pounding.
"Sophie, I need to go!" Keefe said, drawing out a black leaping crystal. He bit his lip, looking down. "But if you want to find out more, go to Brackendale. The plague wasn't the only thing the Neverseen were using it for. Just don't go into the—"
"Hey!" a low voice growled, and Keefe disappeared in a beam of light.
Sophie turned to face the passage she'd come from.
Five or six dwarves stood there—including the one she'd watched carry the food parcel and the two dwarves that had accompanied Keefe. Kesia and Dex stood in front of them. Sophie wondered why they weren't moving until she spotted the fissures in the earth stopping right before their feet.
Dex looked angry and confused, but at least seemed back to normal as his eyes stayed transfixed on the fissure threatening to swallow him. Kesia caught Sophie's terrified gaze and winked.
The lead dwarf took a step forward and raised his foot to crack the earth. "I am impressed you four have gotten this far, although you were foolish to think we wouldn't notice your device." He brought from behind his back Dex's device, its many legs smashed and bent at all angles. "The Council will know about this."
"Wait!" Sophie said. "Does the Council know that those two work for the Neverseen?" She pointed at the two dwarves. Their expressions didn't shift."
"Liar," one of them growled.
"No—they were with Keefe! They're spies!"
The tiniest flicker of doubt crossed the face of the dwarf who had spoken. It was only for a second, but it lasted long enough for the dwarf in charge to see it. Without warning, he stomped his foot and Sophie braced for the ground to give way under her feet, but nothing happened. Instead, two more mini-fissures circled the Neverseen dwarves. They tried to redirect the fissures and then to dig into the earth, but the leader's trap held steady.
"Thank you," he said to Sophie. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're here uninvited. You will have to be captured and brought to the Council."
He took a step closer to Sophie and the earth exploded.