You're playing my game now.
"Cordelia." Standing above her, Ayagi's brow was furrowed, as if lost in deep thought. As she set her book down, Corey raised an eyebrow towards the tall woman from her beanbag.
"Yeah, 'sup?"
"Come." Feeling apprehensive, Corey briskly followed the woman out of the library, and into the hallway, following her up the silver steps, past the fourth floor, up the fifth, where they were met with a dark, whirring, metal door. Her eyes widened.
Why are they here?
The control room—or the Bank, as the Black Swan called it— was a strict, no-access area, not even to the residents of Huldlot.
To the eyes of the ignorant, it seemed like a normal security room, camera feeds flashing across the multiple screens showing different parts of Huldlot. But if one knew what to find, they would realise that their wishes would be fulfilled.
It was a safe room, a bomb shelter, and held more secrets than a Councillor's cache. This, was where the Black Swan was most vulnerable, if fallen into the hands of the wrong people.
On one screen, it showed the elves busying themselves with fixing the piping system. On another screen, it showed Sora standing on her balcony, feeling the wind weave through her hair. Suddenly, she turned and hurried away, seemingly called by some unseen person. Soreas, most likely. Corey felt slightly guilty invading their privacy, but it was essential in ensuring their safety.
Their breached safety.
One screen was filled with nothing but buzzing static, near the bottom right-hand corner, and another somewhere in the second column. It was the cameras that showed the view outside the dining room and Soreas' room respectively. On the table stood an Imparter, with Mr Forkle's frowning face showing on the screen.
She understood. This wasn't a simple malfunction. Someone destroyed these cameras with intent. Something terribly wrong is going on.
"Holy shite," Corey whispered, sinking into the large spinning chair in front of the monitors, a hand clicking furiously at a mouse. "Fucking hell, how is this; how did this-" she quickly spun around, smacking the back of the chair on the table to meet Ayagi's gaze.
"How the fuck did this happen?"
"Language, sweetheart, and we're still checking."
With a hand pressed to his temple, Mr Forkle chimed in. "Our members here are currently checking the databases to determine if any information has been tampered with, but thankfully, nothing has appeared out of the ordinary yet."
"...sorry. Do the dwarves have anything on how the cameras were destroyed? Dammit, I know I should've done something last night…" Corey continued to hunch over the large table, trying to get any semblance of information, vainly hoping that it was a simple malfunction. Next to her, Ayagi pulled up a chair and sat down, rubbing both hands over her face.
It wasn't long before pieces started falling into place. The cameras were destroyed by darts to the screen, and the security feed simply showed a dark figure, too fast to capture. It was painful to admit it, but this person was good. While everyone was busy, with Huldlot being the liveliest in a long while, an intruder broke in to spy on them, but strangely enough, they didn't take anything incriminating, which meant—
"—That someone knew the Heks would be coming and came to spy on them. They're the target."
Aya nodded in agreement, moving to check on the large light-leaping crystal in the centre of the room, their last means of escape. In retrospect, placing the security room on the fifth level was a rather weird move on their part, but they couldn't bear throwing the dwarves out from the basement. Generations have been living there for centuries.
"From what we've gathered, yes. But what kind of person would take pains to break into here and take nothing?"
"Someone who deems the Heks more important than anything…" Corey felt her neck crack as she snapped up to look at Ayagi with wide eyes, a name popping into her head.
"I got someone. Name's Jin Heks, their sister. Renegade of the Black Swan, once called Ispia, now currently working under the enemy as a covert spy and assassin, highly ranked. Sora's identical twin. She's basically the deadlier version of her, the only person I can think of that fits the bill. Rasota's more concerned with information."
Mr Forkle nodded in assent, before suddenly starting in surprise. "Sora is currently calling ...me about the break-in. It seems that Soreas has found out, and informed her. She's very panicky at the moment."
Corey hoped that the Heks siblings would be okay. It's been a rollercoaster ride for the both them these days, hasn't it?
Humming noncommittedly, Aya took a while to process and think of a battle strategy, as Corey tried to look busy fixing the broken camera. From the control centre. She really tried.
"Here's the plan," Ayagi announced suddenly, making Corey jump up in her seat, hands smashing the keyboard. "Get Sora and Soreas, and meet me in my study in five. I'll brief all of you then. Remember-"
"Don't let them know that you know what's going on, and don't tell them who it is." Finished Corey with a roll of her eyes, as she jumped out of her seat to make her way back downstairs, nodding her goodbyes to Mr Forkle. "Aya, I've been doing this for nearly half of my life. I should know what's routine protocol."
"You better!" shouted Aya in response, as Corey locked the door behind her. She hoped that Sora would make the right decision.
She burst into the girl's room, hollering. "Sora!"
The aforementioned girl's head snapped up at her sudden appearance, but she didn't seem that shocked. Not that Corey was surprised-she practically stampeded down the stairs, bare feet slapping against the carpeted floor loudly.
Sora was definitely pissed that Corey burst in without knocking, but didn't say anything as she followed Corey down.
"Aya's got something important to tell us and she looks hella worried. Did something happen?"
Sora's eyes widened comically, as she frantically waved her hands around.
"No— we couldn't— we didn't— what happened—" She blabbered, causing Corey to stop her in the middle of the stairwell.
"Hey, hey! It's okay. No one's blaming you. It's just..." She couldn't seem to find the right words to say.
How about; Hey, it's your homicidal sister who knows that you're both here and broke into your brother's room to spy on you two! Your lives are in danger again!
Yeah right.
Finally, she settled with, "Something's wrong. It's supposed to be a safe place here, and we need to protect everyone here."
Sora didn't look entirely convinced, but her shoulders relaxed by a fraction. "Okay. Lead the way."
And Corey did.
But only to stop in her tracks, seeing Soreas in front of Ayagi's study, a shaky hand raised midair to knock.
"Soreas?" Sora called out, her voice quavering.
The Guster turned to face them, his usually stormy eyes wide and filled with fear. "Sora. Corey. What is going on?"
Corey wanted to reach out to reassure them, but all she could do was shake her head. Staring at their panicked faces, all she wanted to do was to tell them the truth right then and right there, but she knew it would give away her identity.
Her identity must remain a secret.
"Ayagi's probably in there to tell us, I think we better go in." She swallowed back the hidden truth, and choose to only tell a small part, a safe part. The half-lie floated past her lips like air.
"What is going on?" His voice was shaking.
She could only softly reply: "I don't know. I really don't."
"Let's find out."
"Last I checked, there was no mission for today," Avy commented as she watched her best friend climb through the windows of her own bedroom effortlessly. Her black outfit blended perfectly with the night sky outside, her eyes being the only dots of reflected light.
Jin smirked at her as she leapt from the windowsill to land soundlessly on the concrete floor, but knowing Jin for all this time, Avy immediately knew that something was wrong. Her smile looked forced, and her movements weren't as natural as usual.
She was trying to hide something.
Coming home from that terrible day at Exillium, she instantly noticed that her best friend was missing. And now here she was, hours later into the night, dressed in spying gear. Jin was a warrior, rarely ever was she to be sent on missions with objectives to spy on others, and that only served to increase Avy's suspicions.
"Well, my business is for myself to mind," Jin retorted, tossing back her hood and undoing her ponytail, letting her auburn hair cascade in soft waves.
Avy raised her eyebrows. "I suppose you meant to tell me to 'mind my own business'?" she asked, amused at her friend's choice of words. Jin wasn't exactly familiar with the grammar of the Enlightened Language. But Avy was, and she always made it a point to correct the younger Heks twin whenever possible.
"Yes, that's what I said, wasn't it?" Jin raised her eyebrows back at Avy playfully, daring her to correct her.
Normally, Avy would retort to such comments, but she was more concerned over the fact that her best friend had just gone on a mission that undoubtedly was not a mission for the Neverseen.
Plus, she hated it when people tried to change the subject, which Jin had just tried to do. But unlike the countless moments of Jin winning when they sparred, Avy wasn't going down as easily this time.
What was she hiding?
"As much as I would love to continue this lovely conversation about your grammar usage, I only have four words: don't change the subject."
Jin whirled on her. "I wasn't trying to—"
Avy crossed her arms and stared at her coolly. "Don't change the subject."
"What the hell do you want— Ugh, fine, I went to try and find out something about the Black Swan from my siblings, okay?" Jin sighed in defeat, knowing she could never lie to Avy. She seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, falling silent.
Avy thought that Jin had never looked so vulnerable as now.
Avy suddenly became concerned for her best friend, but before she could comment on it, Jin had pushed her out of her room, just like how Avy had done to her that very morning. Avy sighed as she stared at the wooden door that Jin had slammed in her face.
She knew what she meant. Jin had snuck into her brother's room once again. She did it rather frequently, just to see how he and their sister were doing, and to find out if they were doing anything that could put the Neverseen in danger at the same time.
Or was it more because of another reason?
Being in the Neverseen, everyone had things that they kept hidden in the deepest, darkest parts of their souls. Jin had one too. Hers was a past tremendously affiliated with the Black Swan.
The thing was, Jin had once been a member of the Black Swan.
It was one of Avy's first few missions. The Neverseen members were all trained to show no mercy or emotion during their missions, their minds solely focused on the aim of the mission and to accomplish it, and Avy was no different.
For her first four years in the Neverseen, it was simply non-stop torture, constantly training from dawn to dusk. After that, she had lessons to train her intelligence.
They taught her everything, from stealth to observation, to holding her own- then winning- in a fight. But the most important lesson taught Avy how to close off the guilt complex every elf was cursed with. She wasn't as lucky as Fintan, who got his own cache to lock up all the horrible things he'd done. But after all, he had once been a Councillor, sealing up memories in a cache and hiding from the cold hard truth, so he still treated himself like a Councillor. That would be his tragic flaw, Avy thought, regarding Fintan's arrogance.
Avy was treated differently than other Neverseen members, not because she was only a child, but because of her status as the youngest member to be enlisted into the Neverseen, they worked hard to make her the perfect recruit. One who would help to destroy the humans and the Elven Council.
Avy remembered the utterly disgusting compassion and sympathy she used to have.
She was merely ten when she went on the mission to enlist Jin. And when she saw the look of betrayal and hurt reflecting in Jin's twin sister's eyes, and the sadness and pain in their brother's, she was ashamed to admit that she had felt immensely guilty about what she had done— to tear apart a family. Even though her own family had been torn apart and she knew how painful it could be, she had still torn apart another family herself.
For Jin to become part of the Neverseen, it was more than turning her back against her order— it meant that she had to betray her family.
Avy had left the other Neverseen members to work their magic on young Jin, and faced severe consequences when she returned early, having been unable to fulfil her duty properly.
She would remember that day forever. It wasn't just because of Jin. It was also because her punishment made her learn to close off her guilt complex once and for all.
But at that moment, Avy could only remember the two siblings of Jin's. Sora and Soreas Heks, ironically the lovely new Waywards she welcomed that day into Exillium.
She hadn't known what had happened to Jin's family after Jin left, but she could guess enough of it. Heartbroken, maybe. Traumatised for life, maybe. Closed everyone else off from themselves, probably. But again, she could only guess. Jin refused to talk about them— even to Avy, despite their seven, almost-eight-year-long friendship.
Avy only knew of the Heks family legacy. That was the only thing Jin ever talked about. The Heks was an enormous and vast family, and their ancestors were all Black Swan members. Although they were insignificant and took on simple roles like passing messages within the order or supplying resources for the other members, almost every family member had something to do with the Black Swan. The legacy was passed on for generations… until Jin broke off and turned against her own family.
Legacies were important, especially to the Neverseen.
The Heks would have immediately branded her as a traitor for the rest of eternity. It was like banishing someone from the Lost Cities.
For members of the vigilante society, Avy had expected Sora and Soreas Heks to be the perfect pair of siblings—as if a pair of elven boots, perfectly laced up and bejewelled. But now that Sora had proved that she was more than just a carrier of a legacy and got herself and her brother banished from the Lost Cities, it seemed like they weren't such goody-two-shoes after all.
However, watching their performance today, Avy felt herself questioning whether they were really members of the Black Swan, and she wondered how they could ever be related to Jin, the best female fighter here. Other than the bond of blood and their too-similar appearances, they had a severe lack of skills— unlike Jin.
Avy sighed, turning away from the door.
Regardless of whether they were Jin's family or not, Sora and Soreas Heks would pay for the pain they'd caused Jin to go through. They couldn't imagine how much hurt Jin went through, how much she suffered. Jin knew what others, including her supposedly wonderful twin sister, thought of her. And so did Avy.
She vowed to take her vengeance for her best friend.
The unbreakable friendship she had with Jin was a source of her pride, and no human bond could even come close to what the two shared.
And the new Waywards will see that.
Jin's sister's words rang in her mind as she headed outside.
You shouldn't have hurt me. Toyed with me. I'm not a person you can mess with. I let you mess with me once. I'm not going to let you do it again.
"Honey, you don't decide who I mess with," Avy murmured, amused by it all as she swung over the fence that served as a barrier and into the wild.
She was too lost in her thoughts for her own good, and luckily, muscle memory brought her to a specific oak tree every night, climbing it in an attempt to cleanse her thoughts.
By now, I might as well be an expert tree climber. Avy thought to herself jokingly as she found her tree and climbed it to the highest that she could reach.
This oak tree she loved so much rested on the edge of a rocky cliff, where she could look both far across the ocean and the night sky. But the best thing was how the path that led up to the cliff was well-hidden. Few knew of this spot, and fewer dared venture this far into the woods, especially so near to the main Neverseen headquarters. Not that normal elves knew about that.
Resting on the tree branch with her back against the trunk, Avy stared up at the starless night, where the night was just a smooth spread of darkness, void of any tiny sparks of hope and light. A new moon hung in the sky, signalling that her favourite time of the month had just begun.
Avy conjured up a ball of darkness at her fingertips to play around. It was no surprise she turned out to be a Shade.
Her heart was as dark as the night, as black as the umbra of a shadow.
Most elves found light comforting because it allowed them to see clearly, to feel the warmth of the sun on their skin. To them, the light was safety. That was what made Avy different from others. When no one could see her, in the peacefulness, the tranquillity of every night, she relaxed. She sought comfort in the night.
Darkness was an interesting thing. Elves and human alike feared it, for it represented the unknown, and no one liked an unforeseeable future. But Avy loved it. It was mysterious. It was dark, pitch so no one could see through it, and so it hid secrets.
Just like her.
Avy sighed as she recalled about the day that had just whirled past, of the three elves she met, with that disgusting spark of hope in their eyes, and the light in their hearts.
Yet, they still seemed different from the other elves she met before.
Behind that veil of kindness and compassion, she saw fear in the Terrakinetic and the want— no, the animalistic need in the Hydrokinetic.
The three of them were similar. And that was what made her so fascinated. Especially their stealth and intelligence, similar to the members of her group, as well as that of the Black Swan.
Avy jumped off and looked out at the huge ocean which reminded her so much of the icy Hydrokinetic, ironically enough.
She had to confirm that they were still Black Swan members. She didn't want to think of the consequences that she would have to face if she failed.
The Neverseen was never kind towards failures.
She knew what she had to do to gain his trust, and to finally take her revenge. Ideas and strategies started taking form, cold and calculating.
The enormous mirror in her room appeared in her mind, as if calling for her attention. Looks like it's time to put that into good use.
Avy exclaimed boldly, hissing to the darkness, "Do you hear me? I am not going to lose this fight."
Through her panic, Sora heard the snap of fingers, and the door to the study instantly swung open. Cordelia's eyes flickered over to Sora's hesitating figure, then she averted her gaze again, switching to stare right ahead.
But when Sora followed her gaze, she didn't see Ayagi. She saw Verbouge, Ayagi's Black Swan form, her face hidden behind a dramatic masquerade mask, her hair dyed white blond and pulled into a long braid. She didn't look the slightest bit like the Emissary she knew. Even the way she sat behind her desk was completely different— slouching, her head tilted to the side as she fingered her mask, looking at Sora and Soreas questioningly.
"Yo, Verbouge!" Seeing the strange woman, it seemed as if Cordelia lighted up, raising her hand in a two-fingered salute. Sora tilted her head, confused. How would Cordelia know a Black Swan member?
When Verbouge spoke, she alternated between drawl and whisper, her voice deepened, a raspy sound that obscured any signs of Ayagi's voice. "Emissary Larayna is out for a meeting. She instructed me to brief the Heks siblings about the...situation."
Sora cleared her throat. "Can we talk in private, please?" she asked Verbouge and Cordelia, careful not to display any signs of nervousness as she waited for their reply. A looking was exchanged between Verbouge and Cordelia. How would they know each other?
Soreas looked at her, and his expression seemed to be asking her, Do you want me inside too? Sora thought about it, then shook her head, flashing him an apologetic smile. An understanding look flashed across his face, and he nodded, encouraging her in.
"I would like to return to my room to rest first. Sora probably has something to ask you." The thing about Soreas was that he always knew what her boundaries were, and he never once overstepped them.
"Of course," said Verbouge after a moment's hesitation. "Sora, come in, please. Cordelia shut the door— and don't slam it behind you. Emissary Larayna does not like the damage you do to her door."
Cordelia shrugged and left, the door slamming shut behind her. Soreas had followed suit.
It was as if a spell had been broken by the door slam, and something in Verbouge seemed to melt back into Ayagi as she heaved a sigh, the kind where she seemed to be saying, What do I do with her? and nodded at Sora, signalling for her to come closer.
"Hold on," said Sora, and produced a small vial from the inside pocket of her cape. She gulped down the sickly yellow liquid sloshing inside, choking as her hair turned black and her eyes teal. Soft bangs sprouted, sweeping across her forehead, and her skin flushed pink, freckles dotting her cheeks.
Verbouge stared at her from behind the mask, her crimson red lips curling up into a smile. "Well. I'd say that's quite the transformation."
"Yes, it is," agreed Sora, and her voice was now pitched an octave higher, her words spoken in a British accent. It was a disguise she had used since the beginning, when she first joined the Black Swan, a concoction Mr Forkle had given her, since her ability as a Polyglot could only disguise her voice. But now, having manifested as a Terrakinetic, she was wondering whether she should change up her disguise— it would probably give away her identity, though.
Her identity must remain a himitsu.
"You can sit down there, Himitsu," Verbouge said softly, pointing at the pristine couch set in front of the desk, a cup of steaming hot tea resting gently on a low table. "I'll cut straight to the point. Someone broke into this house and entered Espiar's room. I suspect it was—"
"Ipsia."
Verbouge's eyes widened. "So you suspect too."
"I don't just suspect. I know." Sora said simply, playing with the draping fabric of her plaid skirt. "My twin sister's codename for the Black Swan was Ispia. Derived from the Latin word ispum, which means to condescend. That was my opinion of my sister at that time. But she never knew. I never told her."
"Why would you think of her as condescending?" asked Verbouge.
"Jin had always thought of herself as the superior one," Sora explained, thinking back to old memories and a sorrow-ridden past. "She had a tendency to correct whatever I do, as if she knew the difference from right and wrong. That was probably what led to her switch in sides.
"She probably came to gloat about how far she's gotten in comparison to us."
The little voice in her head screamed at her damning statements. No! That's not why she joined them! She was just being Beguiled into joining!
Another voice asserted firmly, that can't be right. No matter how strong the Beguiler was, no one could be beguiled into an evil person. She had been leaning toward the dark side all along. It was in her nature to do evil.
As her mind shifted through memories that she'd once shared with her twin sister, one memory struck her as most scandalous. One year when they were being tested for mid-years, Jin chose to read her alchemy Mentor's mind to find out what she was being tested for. And when Sora tried to stop her from going on this path, she laughed and called her a goody-two-shoes. The insult stung, but her actions were worse.
"Well, then it's no surprise that she turned against us," remarked Verbouge nonchalantly, like she was oblivious to how torn up Sora was feeling right then.
But all Sora said aloud was, "I strongly believe that she was the person that broke in last night."
After Ayagi had given her confirmation, Sora was deeply worried and troubled, but most importantly—
She felt fear.
As Sora staggered into the room, her mind was still reeling.
Someone tried to break into Soreas's room. Someone tried to break into Soreas's room.
And whoever they were, only Estelle saw. But her view was limited, the intruder careful. She had to tell someone.
She contacted Mr Forkle in a daze, only shaking out of her stupor when his wrinkled face appeared.
"Himitsu." Was his way of greeting. "They've already contacted me."
"How can this be?" Sora shouted into her Imparter, her heart palpitating too wildly to calm down. She took a deep breath, looked over her shoulder to check no one was eavesdropping, then turned back to the crystal screen, lowering her voice this time. "We kept it absolutely secret. No one could have known!"
"I feel as troubled as you are now, Himitsu," Mr Forkle sighed, "but it is most definitely true. Somehow, someone knew."
Although she had already heard suspicions from Soreas, hearing it again, hearing confirmation, Sora felt her world start to fade out and spin, so she carried herself shakily onto the cushions of a couch, clutching her Imparter like it was her only thing left in the universe. "Do," she rasped between her shaky breaths, "do we know who it might be?"
When Mr Forkle shook his head no, her mind ran through all the possible culprits she could think of, then all of a sudden, she knew. She knew who it was. How could she not have realised earlier? Her hands curled into angry fists on her Imparter.
"Himitsu?" Mr Forkle's concerned voice rang out over the Imparter's little speaker. "Are you alright?"
"Ispia," she said through gritted teeth. Speaking the words pained her, but she could be stronger than this. She was stronger than this. "Ispia did this." She didn't miss the way Mr Forkle's eyes widened ever so slightly at Jin's former Black Swan codename.
How could it be anyone else? It could only be Jin. It was always Jin. Nobody else would come to visit them.
Nobody else looked almost exactly like Sora.
She was overcome with bittersweet emotion for a second, before she raised her head higher in the air and told Mr Forkle, "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
I'll make sure she doesn't even get to come close to my brother ever again.
Soreas had given away his future for her. She would make sure she returned it back to him.
"Himitsu, I'd suggest you think before you—"
Making up her mind, Sora killed the call and slipped her Imparter back into her cape pocket. She stood up from the couch—a little shakily, but she managed to fully regain her balance—and rushed toward where Ayagi should be.
She never made it past the door.
—
"I agree." This time, Verbouge leaned back in her armchair with crossed arms, her left hand placed on her chin. "Do you have any suggestions on improving Huldlot's security? No doubt, we would all have to be on higher alert after yesterday's events."
This is her fault.
"Dwarven guards are only trained in their sense of sight, Verbouge. I suggest that you hire goblin guards instead," Sora said. "They cannot differentiate Ispia from me, as we are near-identical twins. I'm confident that she was posing as me to successfully break into your house. And she would have been able to hurt Espiar, if not for the fact that he is able to differentiate both of us."
Even hidden by a mask, Verbouge looked positively pale. "If she brings the others in… if they hurt Corey… if they hurt Méfait… or-or Dölja…" Sora wasn't familiar with the code names, but she assumed that one of them was Sevadís.
But who is the other one? She wondered. It could be that one of the dwarves were working for the Black Swan, but a nagging feeling told her that wasn't it.
Méfait. It was French for 'misdemeanour'. It was a strange code name for a Black Swan member, but Sora suspected that it was pure coincidence. No one working for evil would have their intentions so blandly spelt out.
Dölja. Swedish for 'hide'. A classic Black Swan codename. Too classic. Her photographic memory pulled the name down into the depths of her mind, implanting it in her head. She had a feeling that it would be important, somehow.
As the name embedded itself into her mind, Sora bit her lip nervously. Despite not personally knowing these people, she was scared for them too. "I don't know. That's why we have to do something now, before something worse happens."
"Did you go and check to see if Espiar is faring well?" Verbouge asked. "I shall visit him later and give him my deepest apologies. I suspect we would need his mind too, to improve our defence."
"I'll go now," suggested Sora. "If that's okay?"
"Wait." Verbouge's slow words momentarily stopped Sora in her tracks. "Protect yourself. And please, protect her for me. She's… a wild spirit."
Even with her gnawing worry, Sora nodded once. Cordelia was too unpredictable to keep herself safe. Given the choice, Sora would rather not do so, but she was only an innocent civilian. Sora's own pride refused to let her do so.
Verbouge then nodded, an indication for her to leave. Sora stood up, drained the cup of cooling jasmine tea and the potion to return her back to her original state, and rushed out of the room as fast as her feet could carry her. Soreas needed her now, more than ever.
As soon as she heard Sora confirm her suspicions, Corey quickly decided to figure out how she got in by herself. Making a run for the stairs which led back upstairs, she silently sprinted up the spiral staircase and back to her room. Upstairs, she quickly scanned her own implements of the house, and when nothing appeared to be damaged nor tampered with, she slammed the desk with a yell. Yes, she was mad and worried, but at the same time, frustration coursed through her veins.
She was trained to be better than this. She should be better than this. But she wasn't. She's let them down, again. Giving up wasn't an option, she couldn't give up now.
She… couldn't.
There was a leak. No one, not even Jin Heks, would be able to break into Huldlot so seamlessly and effortlessly. Every single trap that she had laid, every single sensor that was hidden wasn't touched. No one would be able to exploit such weaknesses without inside help. But how did she managed to sneak in? How did she find a crack in Huldlot's impenetrable defence?
This was out of her league. Admitting defeat, Corey could only drop an email to a friend requesting assistance.
If the Black Swan was pulling out all the stops, why shouldn't she?
When nothing fruitful bloomed, she changed her plan to come thundering back down, slowing down as she approached Soreas' room, not wanting to make it seem to Soreas that she had been running.
Only after she had evened her breathing did Corey knock on the door and swing it open, walking into the bedroom. She hesitantly smiled at Soreas, who was sitting on his bed, resting after the ordeal outside Ayagi's study. He didn't return the smile back.
Well, her smile had probably looked more like a grimace anyway.
"Are you… okay? We still need to go to Exillium tomorrow." she asked Soreas.
Soreas shrugged halfheartedly. "I'll probably go. Sora needs me."
"Or does she?" she retorted. "She seems like the type who knows how to take care of herself." No kidding— she literally made the ground explode!
"She's manifested a new ability that almost destroyed the entire oasis. I say she can't take care of herself, not with that in consideration. Don't you know the feeling of having an ability that requires optimal concentration and control? You're a Hydrokinetic. An untrained one at that," Soreas countered crossly, folding his arms across his chest and turning away from Corey.
Huffing at the insult, she pursed her lips. "Ya ain't gonna thank me for saving your sister?"
Soreas crossed his arms. "What's there to thank? Anyone could have stepped out to help. Don't get haughty just because you have an oh-so-powerful ability to boast about."
Oh no he didn't! She clenched her fists until crescent-shaped imprints appeared on the surface of her palms. He had no idea how much she has sacrificed, how much more she was planning to. Would he like a taste of that? But then she thought of Sora's grateful eyes silently thanking her through the slits of her Exillium mask, and relaxed slowly, releasing a shaky breath.
Soreas had obviously seen her display of anger, but either he chose to ignore it or he really was completely blind, because his face was completely straight, with no hint of a reaction.
Behind her, the door shifted, almost imperceptible.
Corey took in a deep breath and continued, cocking her head to the right with a scathing smirk on her face. "That's coming from an oh-so-powerful Guster who couldn't use his powers to save his sister when she was stuck in that shadow maze. But considering the fact that you saved me from that Empath asshole, yeah sure, I'll give you that." Corey raised a single eyebrow at Soreas, who merely shrugged in response. "But you can't deny that you were shouting— or should I say begging— the Coaches to let your sister go."
Soreas shuddered just thinking about the shadow maze. "Oh yeah, that Shade sure was horrible."
"No shit, Sherlock." Corey sighed, shaking her head in an exaggerated manner. "That girl has been there for way longer than I was, and she's seriously powerful. The Coaches ask her to conduct the Dividings sometimes just to randomly traumatise people. You guys were just unlucky. By the way; don't you ever dare trust a Shade, especially one that ends up in a place like Exillium."
Even if she'd tried acting nice by shadow-whispering to me and Sora in the healing tent yesterday.
Especially if she tried acting nice, she chided herself. That girl was definitely worthy to be suspicious of.
It was Soreas's turn to raise an eyebrow at her. "Says the girl who also ended up in Exillium. What'd you do, flood something, like how my sis conjured up a massive earthquake?"
Corey hesitated for a while, before shaking her head and telling him, "Nah, I just flunked the Foxfire Entrance Examinations."
Silence fell over them, and Soreas deadpanned, "What."
And that was the exact moment Sora decided to burst through the door, not looking out of breath in the slightest.
"Sora!" exclaimed Soreas, shocked at his sister's sudden entrance.
Calmly, Corey lifted her head to lock gazes with a pair of widened aquamarine eyes, both shocked and confused, and smiled at her. "Sweetheart, would you care to explain why you were eavesdropping?"
"You're one to talk," Sora hissed through gritted teeth. Corey merely shrugged. Well, I suppose she already knows I've been eavesdropping. "Why didn't you tell me all this? Don't I deserve as much right to know as Soreas?"
Corey let out a disbelieving laugh. "Who the hell tells a stranger about their life story the day after they met? No one." No one should, no, could be trusted. What if those two are the ones we should be looking out for?
She shook her head to clear her overactive imagination, and blinked at Sora, who was staring at her strangely.
"Did you even hear what I was talking about for the last minute?" she asked.
"Um..nope," Corey answered, absolutely deadpan as she stared blankly at her.
Sora rolled her eyes and said, "As I was saying, we should find out more about the Shade. You know, get up close and personal with her and stuff."
For a moment, Corey was stunned. Them? Spy on that Shade?
Brilliant.
Pretending to be shocked, she shouted, flailing her arms about."You do realise who we're talking 'bout here...right? Just...why."
Soreas replied in all seriousness, "Of course. Her ability is rarely seen in the Lost Cities, and someone with such a good grip on her ability is even more of a rarity. By learning how she manages to control her ability, we can also apply her attics to our own training, improving our own control."
He sounded absolutely sure if himself, and if Corey didn't know otherwise, she would've been convinced. Behind him, Sora nodded, in a seemingly encouraging manner.
Plastering a grimace on her face, Corey muttered under her breath, just loudly enough for Sora and Soreas to hear. "Besides, I heard rumours that she's a real character. People say that she's been wreaking havoc since she was nine. They've reportedly seen her near the house of that Ruewen girl minutes before it burned down… "
She purposely trailed off, noticing that both Sora and Soreas are pointedly not staring at her, but leaning very close.
"I didn't say anything."
"I didn't say you did," Soreas replied, extremely fixated on his bedpost.
Corey shook her head, secretly smiling to herself. No wonder they weren't part of the co-op team. These type of people were much easier to manipulate. Her job was so much easier now, with them fired up, all ready to research about the Shade.
Time for the next part.
Clearing her throat, she continued, "Well, hopefully, y'all know not to mess with her now, right?"
Sora frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Feigning obliviousness, Corey asked, "Well, don't tell me I've been telling you all that about her and you still want to investigate her? Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you people? Did she mess with your heads during your Dividing or something?" After spitting these harsh words at the Heks, she turned on her heel and flounced (yes, flounced) out of the open door, shutting it behind her with a loud slam. Only to crack open it again when muffled voices came streaming through the gaps of the door, the oiled hinges barely making a sound…
"So what do you think about… this?" That was Soreas's voice, and they were talking about her. And for once, thank goodness, they weren't speaking in some foreign language she couldn't understand. That got old fast.
"I don't trust her." Sora's voice came through crackled and muffled, but clear enough for Corey to hear. "She's just so fake."
Well, nothing new then. Wonder how Kael puts up with her. Oh wait— he doesn't.
"You call everyone fake after she left."
"That's not true. Stop trying to put words in my mouth." A pause. "Are you saying I have no reason to worry about Cordelia?"
"She's just trying to help— a little too much— but she is. She's Ayagi's daughter, after all. Adoptive daughter, but still."
"She's nothing like Ayagi. You wouldn't know. You haven't seen that look on her face yet. She's cold."
Cold? Corey tried hard to keep the snickers from pouring from her mouth. Sora clearly had the wrong idea of who she was. But then she held back a shudder as she thought about the implications. If Sora thought Corey was cold, well...
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep an eye on the Shade. We should. But I don't trust Corey. You shouldn't as well. Take whatever she says with a pinch of salt."
Corey slotted her fingers into the slight gap between the door and the doorframe, trying to widen the opening to catch sight of them.
"You've changed." Soreas's voice was burdened with accusation, and even Corey flinched at his heavy tone. "You weren't like this before she left, and you weren't like this before you became the Black Swan's messenger."
Both of them shifted, and Corey finally saw Sora. Standing in the centre of the room, her face was shadowed, making it impossible to make out her facial expression.
Corey held her breath as she watched Sora turn away from Soreas and whisper, "Yes, I've changed. But there's no use crying about it. Don't you know that nothing gold can stay?"
A/N: Hey guys, this is Audrea, sorry once again for the late update! Anyways, tension is finally starting to rise and the three of them are getting more suspicious of one another. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!