Me: So hey guys! Hope you liked my chapter, and thanks to that's people that have read every chapter of this fanfic.

Kalyn: We appreciate everything you do!

Solace: We do. And Im thanking you, that's saying something.

Dean: Thank you to Denow and Firefrostflare for being the best friends ever and supporting me, and thank you to AwesomeFroster for the continual reviews (POV- point of view).

D'Anna: You guys are the best!

Brooke: Right they are!

Me: Hope everyone's having a great week!

Solace: There's something wrong with me! Take me to the doctor! I dont feel like being sarcastic!

Me: Im sure you'll be fine.

Solace: Im dying.

Dean: And Im laughing.

Solace: I still feel like beating you to a pulp, punk.

Dean: Done laughing.

Brooke: Enjoy.

Chapter 18: What Matters Most

"Am I getting any closer?" I sighed, as I slumped against a park bench.

My brain ached, and my feet were exhausted. My head was spinning, and Kalyn's voice sounded like the bad end of a static connection. I had been walking aimlessly for about six hours.

"I...don't...know..." Kalyn's voice was faint.

I knew that our connection was tiring both of us, but Kalyn especially. Being kidnapped and then staying alive was strenuous, and I knew all about it. If you weren't starving or dehydrated, you were weak and sickly. He sounded like he was going to pass out, and I couldn't blame him.

"I know you're tired," I knew I shouldn't be pushing, but I needed to hurry up "but you need to think harder."

"South..." He whispered, after a while. "I think...we're south."

But the farther south I travelled, I knew it was pointless. Kalyn didn't have a clue where he was. I collapsed on the sidewalk and leaned sleepily against the nearest building. My head was spinning so fast, I was seeing a blur of colours all at once.

"Brooke?" Kalyn croaked, but this time I didn't respond.

My arms went slack, my head fell, and the world went dark.

I woke up chained to a bed. At first, I thought I had been kidnapped too, but then I looked at my surroundings. I was back in the Black Swan complex. I tugged in my restraints. An elder came in.

"Doing some sightseeing?" He asked coldy.

"I'm sorry," I said, but my voice was distant.

"You went to the FORBIDDEN CITIES!" He roared. "You should be exiled! Do you have any idea how serious this is?"

"Yes," I said softly "But I have to save my brother. He's my family too."

"You will do nothing of the sort!"

"Then exile me." I said blankly. "If you rescue my parents, and my friends, but not my brother, then you truly don't understand. I could feel him! I need my brother. I won't loose him again."

"We were planning a rescue mission for your brother as soon as we finished this one. But now, we have reconsidered."

"What!?" I cried "You can't just do that! He'll die!"

"We'll do what we have to do. If it is in their will to kill him, maybe it is for the best."

"Then you're no better than the rest of them! You killers! Let me out!"

"We have sentenced you to house arrest. You are to forbidden to leave this room for three days. Then you will be closely monitored by anklets. The council is disappointed, Brooke."

Then he left me to my misery.

"He'll die..." I sobbed "Please just help him..."

But I realized that the seriousness of my actions were enough for the Black Swan. They were going to let Kalyn die. The Mesmer was in custody. His organization had no order. It was likely that they would have no need for Kalyn, or he would be tortured for his powers. None his members had any restraint. And knowing stupid idiotic Kalyn Matthews for a week, he was going to die rebelling. I was locked here for three days. In three days, they could ship Kalyn off to a foreign island and I would never see him again. In three days, they could torture him to insanity. In three days, they could make my brother join them, and well, if that happened, the Black Swan wouldn't stand a chance. And as far as the mission went, it was complete. Which meant I was no longer a member of the Black Swan anymore, and that I wasnt going anywhere anytime soon.

Three days. Three days. Three days. Three days felt like forever had dropped on my shoulders. I did almost nothing those entire three days. Marta came by every so often to check on me. She told me her dad was in prison, and that his trial was scheduled in two weeks. She said she was allowed to visit whenever she wanted, and she had begun to talk to him. I nodded silently at her, even though most of it went in one ear and out the other. My brain was solid. I couldn't think. Today was the last day. I wanted to see Solace, D'Anna, and Dean. I wanted to see my parents. But I was locked up in a small dark room. I can already tried to use telekinesis to get out, but I couldn't. The Black Swan had used some kind of enchantment of the chains so that they couldn't be broken by force. And the padlock was a fingerprint scan. So unless they programmed it to be my fingerprint- which obviously they didn't- then I was stuck. I closed my eyes and tried to find sleep. When it found me, it was thin, and I had a miserable last night.

When I woke up, Marta was waiting for me. She pressed her finger to the lock and undid my chains. Then she attached the anklet to my leg and helped me up.

"You cannot leave the mansion." She sighed "If you do, the council will be alerted, and you will be exiled."

"He's going to die." I told Marta "And it's going to be my fault."

"It was never your fault." She said "Don't think that way."

"They were going to save him! They had a rescue mission planned out!"

"Or did they?"

"...I don't understand."

"Would it be more effective if they made you think it was your fault, so that the guilt would drown you? Or would it be more effective to say that they were never going to save him in the first place, and what you did might actually have done something noble?"

"So they lied to me."

"They can do whatever they want, Brooke, they're the Black Swan! They separated me from my father! They're evil. What do you expect?"

"I wanted them to be good." I said "Deep down, I wished that they were good people and they would save my friends and family. I wanted them to be good leaders, so I knew my parents had done something good, instead of something bad."

"Well, Im sorry to burst your bubble, but there isn't anyone like that. Not around here."

"I know." There was no good guy here. They all just wanted power. And they wouldn't help you, not without a price.

"I...want to be alone." I mumbled.

Marta nodded, and walked out the door. I curled up in a ball and cried for a very long time.

Two weeks past. After they let me out, I mainly talked to my friends. They were the only things that were real. The Black Swan had insisted that my friends, my parents, and I stay at the facility in case the enemy ambushes again. I thought this was a load of crap, but my parents agreed and we had to stay. I wasn't talking to them. I was so mad and frustrated. Maybe they were too. But between us, I don't think either of them spent every living moment, thinking about Kalyn, and wondering if he was alright. After the two weeks, I didn't have a lot of hope. I knew Kalyn was most likely dead. And I wasn't going anywhere, not unless I could get the anklet off.

I paced my room In the dark. Thinking. Every once and a while, I would slam my leg against the wall, hoping maybe the anklet would come off. It gave a little spark, jolting my ankle, then buzz silent. Latley, I loved to think about how useless I was. I was useless. I flopped onto my bed and sighed. My loose brown hair flung across my pillow, my feet hanging off the bed. This was one of the many ones I wished it wasnt mandatory to wear jewelry.

I was about to fall asleep, a deep trance that would probably be my best sleep in a while, when a hand clamped over my mouth. Of course, I screamed.

"Do you want the world to hear you!? Shut up!"

The hand let go of me, as I squinted my eyes in the dark.

"Who are you?"

"Im your most sarcastic amazing best friend that has come to save you."

"Solace?"

"And us." Two voices whispered.

"Guys what?" I asked "We can't escape. The anklets are enchanted."

"Does enchanted magic beat illegal magic?" Even in the dark, I could still see the faint sparkle of a blue gem.

"You're kidding me."

"Well, if you don't want to be-"

"Ok,ok I'm coming." I hopped off the bed. "Where to?"

"Well, to save your brother of corse, where else?"

I had to smile. We linked arms, and held the pathfinder to the moonlight. It shone in all it's brilliance, and in its light, I saw three beaming faces. For the first time in a while, I had a purpose, and I felt happy. I was going to save Kalyn. It was what mattered most. And I had my friends to watch my back.

"Where's your brother?" Dean asked.

I smiled. "Long story? Who wants to go to New York?"

Then we were whisked away in a blue flash, disappearing into the night.

Me: Aww, that was a good ending to the chapter.

Brooke: Yeah, it'll be good up until the part where the Black Swan catches us and exiles us.

Kalyn: They weren't kidding about that were they?

Solace: No they were not.