Hello again! Can you believe that I found time to update? Me neither!

bianagirl1020: Aww thanks! I'm so glad you liked it :)

Shygirl: Thanks! Here's the next one :) I hope you like it!

DaBeanieGurl: YESSS I ALREADY READ IT! IT WAS FIRE! :)))

melanfoxwrites: Aww that's so sweet! Your comment is what got me started on this chapter - thanks so much for the support :) 3


"How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got?

Everything I went through, you were standing there by my side

And now you gon' be with me for the last ride..."

- See You Again, Wiz Khalifa (feat. Charlie Puth)


The inside of the massive building was just as chaotic as the outside. While on the outside, the block seemed to be separated into five separate buildings, the insides were all connected, forming one huge room with several stories, countless balconies, and rows and rows and rows of shelves filled with bottles and boxes filled with liquids of all colors.
The place was packed with elves browsing the aisles and purchasing items in the front of the store, where at least twenty little machines sat, waiting to receive payment through those weird cube-things that the elves used. Despite the thickness of the crowd, when the people saw that it was Biana Dizznee trying to get through, they parted before her like the Red Sea before Moses. Reese and Aeron had to jog to keep up with her, and received quite a few ugly looks as they pushed their way through the crowd that reformed in Biana's wake.

Due to the crowd, Aeron couldn't get a good look at the things on the shelves, but one huge sign read "Hair Care," which made him think it was a beauty store, until he saw another sign, reading "Parent Deterrent." A bunch of kids had joined around the latter, and when one of them dropped a bottle on the floor, a plume of smoke went up, accompanied by the sound of fifty firecrackers going off at once.

By the time they reached the back of the store, Aeron had spotted multiple sections he was interested in (including "Parent Deterrent," which would be helpful if he ever had to face his uncle again), and he was itching to explore. He hoped there would still be time to browse after Biana finished whatever business she had here.

At the back of the store were multiple doors leading to a large room that was probably storage. The doors were separated from the shop floor by a long counter, completely surrounded by a giant bubble, at which a twelve-year-old boy was playing with beakers filled with suspicious-looking liquids. He poured one into another, then mixed it with a gold wand-like stick. The liquid went absolutely still.

Fascinated, Aeron craned his head to get a better look as the boy took a small box out of his pocket and opened it. He reached inside, and when his hand came back out, a long, reddish hair dangled from his fingers.

He took a deep breath and dropped it into the beaker, crossing his fingers. Clouds of blue-green smoke poured out of the beaker, blossoming over the boy's face. When the plume of smoke disappeared, the boy's face reemerged, covered in painful-looking boils.

Reese jerked away from the counter, accidentally bumping the bubble, which immediately popped, freeing the smoke to go anywhere it pleased.

"STAND BACK!" the boy yelled in a garbled voice, but Reese was too late. She was hit in the face with the same plume of smoke, and by the time she could see (her vision obstructed by the pus-filled boils rising on her skin), the sinister science experiment had left to terrorize the crowd on the main floor. The boy dashed around the counter, nearly knocking Reese over, and screamed, "RUN FOR IT!"

The crowd emptied quickly, chased by the growing blue-green cloud.

"Really, Maverick," Biana tsk-ed.

The boy ignored her and, with a derogatory glance at Reese, jogged off into the rows of shelves.

Biana rolled her eyes, and turned to Reese just in time to see a young man emerge from the back of the lab.

The man was tall, and looked surprisingly like Reese, with curly strawberry-blonde curls. His full mustache was curled at the ends, and the look of contempt he gave Biana was enough to make Aeron's skin crawl.

"Hello, Lex," Biana said pleasantly.

His scrutinous gaze skimmed over Biana as he took in Aeron's presence and Reese.

When he saw the condition of Reese's face, he winced. "What happened?" he asked gruffly.

Biana had always seemed sweet, but Aeron knew from experience that when her children were involved, she turned from sweet girl to fierce momma bear. Now it was her turn to glare at Lex.

"Your son happened," she said disapprovingly. She pointed to the emptied store, then at her daughter's face.
Lex muttered something unpleasant under his breath. "Where is he?" he said shortly.

Biana gestured to the maze of shelves behind them, where bottles were tinkling against each other as the boy sorted through them.

"I'll get him," the man muttered, pushing past Reese and disappearing into the aisles.

"Who was that?" Aeron asked. The man reminded him disturbingly of his uncle, and his growing dislike was a familiar feeling.

Reese mumbled something, but since her mouth was puffed up like a squirrel's, her explanation was incohesive. Aeron turned expectantly to Biana, whose frown made a cute little crease between her eyebrows. "My brother-in-law," she explained.

"But why was he so-"

Biana shushed him as Lex appeared again, his son trailing behind him, carrying several small bottles in his arms.

They brushed past Aeron, who stared at the boy. He held his gaze, defiant.

"Maverick, what were you doing?" Biana asked, touching his shoulder.

He shrugged away, and Aeron quelled the Reese-like urge to kick him in the shin.

Biana rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but Lex cut her off.

"You know exactly what he's doing, and why. Don't pretend to be ignorant in something that you yourself caused."

Biana ignored Maverick's ugly look, addressing Lex. "But surely you, of all people, know how dangerous it is to fool around with such untested ground as tracking elixirs-"

Lex cut her off, his voice rising. "What else will he do, Biana, now that you and your organization have given him no choice?"

"-It's not my organization and it wasn't my decision-"

Lex stood ramrod-straight, arms folded across his chest, eyes narrowed accusingly. "But you supported it, didn't you! Don't pretend you weren't a part of this, my dear sister-in-law - my brother told me how you voted."

Biana's voice quavered when she spoke. "Then he told you how he voted, too. And that he would do anything, were he convinced that Bea had actually been taken-"

Lex slammed his fist on the counter, a thunderstorm of anger erupting in his face. Biana stopped talking.

"Stop. Acting. Like. It's. Her. Fault." He said it quietly, but every nerve in Aeron's body screamed Danger!

Biana just stared at him, her knuckles turning white as her fingernails dug into her palm.

Lex took a deep breath. "I think you should leave," he said quietly.

Biana shook her head. "I need to talk to Bex - I think I might have something…"

She trailed off as Lex's expression twisted, and the thundercloud returned.

"You really think she wants to see you any more than we do?" He snorted. "You might be a Vacker, but if you think you can use your influence to get close to her-"

Biana slammed her fist on the counter, and he flinched. "I am a Dizznee. Just like you."

She grabbed Reese and Aeron's wrists and started toward the exit, but whirled around after a few steps. She marched back up to the counter and grabbed one of the bottles Maverick had brought up. "I will be taking this on the house," she said through gritted teeth, "because it is due to your foolishness that my daughter is ill. Thank you for your time."

Lex didn't look up as Biana marched out of the store, Aeron and Reese trailing behind her.

Reese mumbled something incoherent, and Biana handed her the bottle of clear liquid. "It's not your fault, Mom," she whispered when she had downed the contents and her face returned to normal.

Biana didn't answer, and her hands were shaking when she got her pathfinder out of her pocket. "Hold on tight," she commanded, and, with one backwards look, Aeron grasped her outstretched hand and dissolved into the light.


Aeron didn't fully understand what had happened until later that day, when he found Reese on the roof.

She sat with her knees under her chin, looking dejected as she fed Cyrus treats from a pouch.

Aeron slowly walked over and lowered himself down next to her, folding his long legs up like a pretzel.

"So, what the heck was that?" he asked.

She shook her head, the intensity in her eyes showing her annoyance. "My uncle is a jerk."

"Yeah, I got that… but why? It didn't really seem like… a typical family problem."

Reese rounded on him. "We're in the Lost Cities, Aeron. We don't have 'typical problems!' No, we only have super complex, hard-to-solve problems, because in our world, Aeron, what you do matters. Because every one of us has some super dangerous ability, and every single one of us could change the course of history with the snap of our fingers."

"So…'Bea?' What did she do?"

Reese sighed. "She… kind of disappeared. About two months ago."

"What?" Aeron said, disbelieving.

"And her mom and uncle, my Aunt Bex and Uncle Lex, wanted the Black Swan to go after her. But when they put it to a vote, the almost-unanimous decision was 'No'."

Aeron frowned as he recalled Lex's accusation: "You supported it, didn't you!"

A sudden roiling fear erupted in his mind as he realized how similar Bea's situation was to Keala's. If the Black Swan wouldn't save a family member, why would they care about someone they'd never even seen?

His tone was accusatory, his words driven by fear. "They just don't care about her, then? It would be too dangerous to rescue a seven-year-old girl?"

When he looked up through blurry eyes, Reese was staring at him.

The next moment he was flat on his back, a stinging ache spreading over the right side of his face.

Disoriented, he looked up at Reese, who was clutching her fist. "You jerk," she said angrily, her voice choked with emotion.
"What?" Aeron demanded. "Did it hit too close to home?" He knew he was pushing her too far, but he was angry, and he wasn't thinking.

"No!" Reese shouted. She stood and glared down at Aeron with bloodshot eyes. "Bea has been talking about leaving for years. Years, Aeron! Why chase down a girl who doesn't want to be found?"

Aeron was momentarily speechless.

With one last bitter look, Reese grabbed her satchel and walked past him. Aeron watched her until she dropped down through the skylight.

He groaned and rolled onto his back.

He heard a small squeak by his ear and rolled over, coming face-to-face with Cyrus, Reese's temple. She'd left him on the roof in her hurry to leave.

Aeron held out his hand and Cyrus crawled onto it. He sniffed it, turned around three times, and curled into a sleeping position.

"Ah - okay. Um…" Aeron looked around helplessly, unsure if he could get back through the skylight with only one hand.

It was only a minute before Reese climbed back through the skylight, presumably to retrieve Cyrus.

She stopped when she saw him curled in Aeron's hand. "What'd you do to him?" she demanded.

"I didn't do anything!" Aeron protested. "He just sort of climbed into my hand."

Reese rolled her eyes and took Cyrus from Aeron, nestling him on her shoulder. Without another word, she clambered back down the skylight.

Aeron sighed as his conscience morally prodded him. He would have to apologize at some point, unless he wanted Reese to ignore him forever.

Yesterday, that would've been fine with him, but now… well, she was kind of the only friend he had. He sighed again and stood, holding his cheek, which continued to throb.

He stood there for a moment, staring at his feet, before clambering through the skylight after Reese.