Chapter Three

So, I was possibly going to tell some of this from Biana's POV, but I was thinking the other night, as I finished reading Unlocked, that I had the same problem she'd faced in that. In order to tell this story, I might need Keefe's POV too. So tell me if you think that I should do that! For now, though, You're stuck with Kara! *evil laughter commences* Also, tell me what you think I should do for regular publishing days, 'cause I'm still stuck on kind of a random wheel.

'Hmm. I'm already using bronze and iron for some of the other creatures, but I guess I could try stone? Though, I have no idea how stone counts as "technology,"' says Dex, fiddling with the twiggler after we get back from Exilium.

'Makes a pretty good weapon too,' Keefe mutters, and I scoot a little bit closer to him on the floor. 'Just ask my mom.' He rubs his forehead in the spot where great old aunty G-G had given him a gash when she'd tried to kidnap an Alicorn. I still refuse to say her name.

'Just ask my parents too,' I tell him softly, and he leans his head on my shoulder. Nobody says anything, and Dex fiddles with his weird stick gadget for a little bit longer.

'I think that's our que,' Keefe decides, pulling me to my feet and heading towards the door. 'Call us if there's an ogre invasion.'

Dex follows us out, putting the twiggler in his satchel. 'Wanna come with me?' he asks, glancing at Sophie in a not-so-subtle way.

'We really need to work on some cognate exercises. We lost a whole week when I was sick,' Fitz murmurs.

'Yeah-' I hear Dex start before we're fully out of the room. After a few seconds or so, though, Dex and Biana file out. 'What are you guys going to do?' she asks, glancing over at me leaning against the wall.

'I'm going to try to make my cousin read his empathy books,' I tell her, though I can tell she doesn't believe me. We're actually stalling, practising my telepathy, and going through some of his memories. But she doesn't need to know that.

'Okay… We're going rock hunting. Want to read outside?'

'No,' Keefe announces, a little too loudly. 'We're good. Right, Kae?'

'We're good.'

'Kae?' Dex questions.

'I'm the only one allowed to call her that,' Keefe grins, a little too proudly.

'Exactly. Now, come on.' I drag him down the hall, away from the others.

'You do realise you said you'd tell the Forkster, like, two weeks ago at this point,' he mutters to me as we walk to his bedroom.

'Yeah, well, I didn't actually say when I'd tell him.'

'Just tell him at some point.'

'I will.'

'Okay. And, Kae?'

'Yeah?'

'Thanks for helping with my memories.'

I sigh, glancing at my hands. 'Thanks. I just wish I had a memory log to project them into. I would just steal Foster's, but, well, she's Foster. She'd figure out it was missing before I took it.'

Keefe snorted, and opened the door. 'That's true, for sure.'

'What are we doin' first? Memories, telepathy, actually reading the empathy books so we didn't really lie?'

'Fiiiiine. I'll read, you look at my thoughts and learn how much I hate my dad.'

'Wait, his book is there?'

'Yep.' Keefe grumbles something rude, and pulls it out. 'I mean, who does he think he is? Some famous dude?'Cause he's not, he's just my dad, and I doubt he wants to be that. I'll bet mommy dearest wants to be my parent more than h-'

'Don't. We're not going to talk about that right now, unless you really really need to.'

'I don't,' he admits, flopping onto his bed and flicking a crumpled piece of paper onto the floor.

'You know what I noticed last time?' I ask, sitting against the wall facing him.

'What?'

'I don't need physical touch to read your thoughts, and that weird telepathy thing works perfectly for you, but I think it's just you.'

'How come? Did you try your telepathy on someone else?'

'Yeah. On Everest. When my dad took down his cloak, and my mom did, like, three seconds afterwards? I checked both their thoughts, and it was really hard to find them without touch. And it wasn't like they were blocking me. It was like I need practice, but not for reading your thoughts.'

'Maybe it's a Neverseen kid thing?'

'Maybe. I think I do need to tell Forkle at some point, though, so I can test it on someone else.'

'Can I tell him?'

'No.'

'Aw! Why not?'

'Because you suck.'

'I am awesome.'

'Nope. Anyways. Ready?'

'Sure. Go ahead, mighty telepathic cousin of mine.'

'You're an idiot.' I slip my mind into his consciousness, and he grins. This feels so weird, I admit, giving him a weak smile back. I'm so used to you just transmitting at this point.

Honestly? Me too. It's kind nerve wracking, knowing you can see all of what I'm thinking.

Like Sophie?

What!

You started thinking about her, a lot.

I did not!

I'm the telepath here Keefe, not you. But, whatever. Go start reading your dad's boring book.

He snorts again, and flips open the page, immediately groaning. What?

He dedicated it to 'myself, for having the courage to discover more.'

The fudge? I ask, in spite of myself, and he laughs. A real laugh. He hasn't laughed like that for a while, ever since we found out that his mom might be dead.

The fudge indeed, Kae. The fudge indeed.

But as he settles into a rhythm of reading a few lines and getting real snippy 'bout each, my thoughts turn to my parents.

I don't know why I'm thinking about them, I shouldn't be thinking about them. Should I? They're dead, most likely, so why does it matter? Because they were a part of the Neverseen for your whole life, I tell myself. And they were. They'd told me as much, before everything went worse on Everest.

I try to think about something else, and my mind goes directly for the way I was feeling as I stared at the burning archway of dividing. I remember what I'd felt. And now I'm feeling it again, but stronger this time. It's so much stronger.

The want, the need, the pull of the flames. It's growing stronger inside of me, and now Keefe is looking on in concern as I shake my head slowly, back and forth, trying to clear these thoughts out of my head.

But it doesn't work, in fact, it gets worse. And so I stumble out, ignoring his worried looks and questions, and head towards my room, hoping everything will be alright in the morning. But as I wake up in the middle of the night, surrounded by small patches of flames covering every inch of my bed, I know it's not. And my life just got a whole lot worse.