"…Miss Foster, Miss Redek, and Miss Song will take up the north side…"

I perk up at my name, realizing with shame that I haven't been paying attention to Mr. Forkle's endgame plans. The members of the Black Swan are gathered around Mr. Forkle, who was explaining the plan. Shadows flicker off of the members' faces as we, well, except for me, listen intently to his instructions.

"Miss Foster will enhance Miss Redek and Miss Song's abilities, and Miss Redek and Miss Song will combine their abilities, as they have been practicing," Mr. Forkle explains, pointing to a specific part in his drawn up plain.

Marella and Linh nod, then look to me, waiting for my approval. I feverishly nod, trying to make up for not paying attention.

Mr. Forkle looks to Keefe and Ro. "You two will be the distraction." He sighs at this, shaking his head. "It should be easy."

Keefe grins widely, prodding Ro. "Yes, sir!" He gives a salute.
"Finally something enjoyable," Ro mutters to Keefe. "We can hit them with the ogre mix."

His smile gets even bigger. "Finally something smart comes out of your mouth," he teases, mimicking her words.

"We can hit you with the ogre mix, too," she warns him.

His hands fly up. "No, no, it's fine."

Mr. Forkle has a small smile on his face from their banter. He glances back down at his notes. "Mrs. Vacker, Miss Vacker, and Mr. Tam. You both will be in charge of the extraction of Granite and Councillor Oralie."

I will myself not to flinch at my biological mother's name.

"Miss Foster." I snap back to attention. "You'll need to find these three to help with the escape after you've finished with Miss Redek and Miss Song."

I nod, tugging on an eyelash.

"Question." Stina lazily lifts a hand up from where she is standing beside her father.

"Yes, Miss Heks?"

"Why can't they break themselves out?" Her bony finger twirls around a curl. "Is there something stopping them?"

I see Mr. Forkle restraining a sigh. "Our resources inform us that they are imprisoned by Psionipath. A telepath and an empath are hardly a match for forcefields. That's where Mr. Tam comes in." He gives him a respectful nod. "Do you understand?"

Stina gives a meek nod, ducking her head.

"If we play this right," Mr. Forkle looks childishly excited. "We might end this war."

He has every right to anticipate the release. The Neverseen has been publicly fighting with the Black Swan and the Council for almost five years, and had been raising an army for about three. The Neverseen's army consists of mostly Waywards from Exillium or the Talentless who have been creating mechanical weapons.

To put it simply, the elven world is in shambles. The Council is split, from those who wholeheartedly support the Black Swan, and those who put their faith in the Neverseen, with promises of the annihilation of humans.

"We've heard intel," Cassius puts in, his voice haughty. "That Vespera has calculated a serum that rids elves of guilt."

The elves quiet. Anyone free of guilt is dangerous, with no ethics or morals to set them apart from animals.

"She's been numb for too long," he continues. "She figured out how to spread it to those in her cause."

I suck in a breath, making eye contact with Keefe. He, like the rest of the Empaths, understood emotions better than I did.

"This is a battle between right and wrong," Fitz says, his eyes hard. "It's not this often things have been categorized into black and white. We have to stop the Neverseen. The fate of the elves depends on it."

One by one, the members of the Black Swan nods, their faces distorted by shadows.

"This has to work," Biana murmurs, wringing her hands. "We're as good as dead if it doesn't."

Mr. Forkle stands up and puts his hands on Biana's shoulders.

"I don't have a doubt that what you say is true," he admits. "This is a turning point of the war. It can all end here and the world can be changed for the good or it can string on with countless more causalities from humans and elves. "

The room seems to grow dimmer as the weight of his words is absorbed. I see Keefe swallow painfully, probably thinking of his mother and the work she's put into the Neverseen.

"We have to win this at all costs," Mr. Forkle sighs. "Mr. Dizznee and Tinker will release the bombs after we free Granite and Oralie. If all goes well, it'll be all over."

"Bombs?" I find myself saying. "That's a bit extreme."

He nods grimly. "This war needs to end. It's the only way."

"We're killing elves now?" I ask. "What if Dex or Tinker break from that?"

"Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle murmurs, running a hand down his face. "It's a risk we're willing to take. Both of our Technopaths have agreed to it."

I look to Dex, disbelief written on my face. "You're okay with this?"

His eyes are heavy as he looks at me. "I want to end this war, Soph. It's necessary."

"You'll kill elves for this?"

"If it's necessary." He runs a hand through his hair. "It's okay."

"Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle interjects. "We're wasting time on this. Can we please continue?"

I dip my head, biting my lip to stop myself from saying anything further.

Boundaries are the only thing that set us apart from the Neverseen.

"Sophie."

I pause, looking back to find the voice. I see Tam striding towards me, his face grim.

"What was that all about?" he snaps. "I figured you of all elves would be the first to want to end this war."

"Yeah, well, I don't want anyone to die!" I cross my arms and glare at him.

"The Neverseen don't care about that. That's why they're taking the guilt pills. They want this war to end just as much as we do, and we need to resort to their rule book."

I stare at him incredulously. "Would Linh be okay with hearing you say that?"

He snorts. "She was in the meeting. At the end of the day, killing hundreds of elves to save thousands of elves is better."

Does he really think that?

"Do the ends really justify the means?" I shoot back, taking a step forward. "This isn't right, Tam. You should know that."

"Of course I know it's not right! It's about what's best," he fires back. "Would you rather kill a hundred elves and save a thousand, or spare the hundred and let the thousands die?"

"It's still not right," I whisper.

Tam tugs on his bangs. "It's war, Sophie. Elves die."

I chew on my lip as his words swim around in my head. Emotions bubble within me as he gives me one final statement to convince me.

"You burned down the Neverseen's storehouse. Would you kill members of the Neverseen to save Grady and Edaline? Or Fitz and Keefe?"

I walk away, hugging myself and hating the truth.

I would.

"It'll end the war, Sophie. I don't know why you're so stubborn about it," he calls after me.

I ignore him and his words ringing around in my head.

It's necessary.

guess who's starting another story instead of finishing the 52,094 other pieces that I need to finish

anyways, if this bombs i'll just delete it. great work ethic, me *thumbs up*

soo, this is an au and sophie and crew are roughly 16-17 years old. unlocked didn't happen- so keefe didn't run away and his powers are still dormant. i have a vague idea of how i'm going to write this, so ig we'll just see :) and i wanted to try out writing in first person, so sorry if it's trash

-moonlark123