This chapter is basically just the letters Sophie wrote… so enjoy!
-LLF

Sophie's letters lay abandoned on her dresser, along with a small mountain of bronze trackers, a broken nexus, and her registry pendant. Her first letter lay on the bottom of the stack, addressed to her bodyguards.

Dear S & F,

Please don't worry about me. Or hunt me down. If you manage to drag me back, I WILL find some way to escape again. I can't stay here, guys. The Black Swan is manipulating everyone, so please don't trust them. I'm so, so sorry. Keep everyone safe for me, please. Thank you for all you've done to protect me, and I hope I can find you again someday, when this is all over.

Love,

Sophie

Sophie hadn't known what to say in that one. How does someone word gratitude, a plea, a warning, and a beg for forgiveness all in one letter? She sighed and put it down anyways, moving on to the next letter.

To The Council–

You probably have heard that I left the Lost Cities, and you are probably wondering why. I'll share my reasons, in a moment. For now, I want to say (1): Don't attempt to track me down. If something doesn't work out for the better of our world, I will come back and figure something else out. If you try to bring me back too early, I will fight with everything I have to continue for our world. (2): If I ever come back, please don't try to exile me. I truly am just trying to help the world become better. I am going to the Neverseen just for their attitudes, that of which things actually happen. I'm going to change that attitude for the better of our world instead, just you wait and see. (3): Don't trust the Black Swan. They are the reason I had to figure out some other way to help the world. They will try to manipulate you. If you need proof, watch and see them twist and change this into something it's not. If you need to know what it is, here it goes: The Black Swan came to me demanding I do everything they say, a perfect little puppet. I fear that they will do whatever it takes to make me comply. So, for my own safety and the reason that no one else has been doing anything about the cracks in our world, I left. Nothing more to it. Please trust me. Think of all the times I've already risked my life for the better of the world. I promise that hasn't changed, and never ever will.

I hope to see you again with a better world.

Sophie Foster

PS. I have reason to believe that Councillor Oralie might be my biological mother. Please investigate, if only just as a parting gift to me, who has and will help and support you and, most importantly, your world.

Sophie breathed in a sigh of relief about finally being able to write that down. She had been grappling with the possibility ever since she had needed to help Lord Cassius way back on some insignificant project, where he said that she used her Telepathy in the most feeling-oriented way he had ever felt. That had sparked the idea that maybe one of her parents was an Empath, and when her theory that Kenric could've been her father (and then Bronte), she had realized Oralie was an Empath. A blonde Empath. A blonde Empath who had a very good reason for not wanting anyone to know she had a daughter.

Sophie hadn't tested the theory because she couldn't stand the thought of looking into the face of someone she had trusted, who had possibly lied to her in such a huge way. She hoped the news would somehow get back to her if it was true or not.

Sophie then focused all the anger she had felt at that possibility and added it to the ever-growing pile of rage that the traitorous organization she was writing to next had already sparked.

Mr Forkle The Black Swan,

You are manipulative and ever so much more evil than I thought possible for you to ever be. I have warned everyone of your treachery, but I already know that you will twist and tear this to turn it to your advantage. But be warned: I will not ever rest in my efforts to stop you and help the world grow and rebuild.

You built the Moonlark to be your little puppet. To always fly back to you. To do tricks at your beck and call. Well, this Moonlark has been set free. Set on fire. And I will never stop until you have been scorched by my heat, even if it takes me down with you.

I'm NOT your Moonlark. I'm not a Moonlark at all.

I'm a Phoenix. Because I'm not going to let you cast my eggs aside and control me from the sidelines. No, I'll rise from the ashes of our world and burn until it heals again. And you are not going to like the results.

You have been warned.

-The Phoenix

She had left her ruined monocle pendant inside, proud of how strong she sounded. No, how strong she was. She kept that thought in her mind, drawing a fiery bird on the envelope of that one. She really liked her new title. Because it was true. She wasn't a Moonlark. She wasn't some weak, helpless bird who had been taught to do tricks at their master's enjoyment. She was strong, independent, and adaptable. She really did rise from the ashes of the Lost Cities, and she would always come back again and again if that's what it took to grow, change, and rebuild.

Unfortunately, the confident rush the letter had given her faded when she remembered what letters she still had to write. She took a deep breath before beginning.

Dearest Mom Dad,

I'm so, so ,so sorry for this. I can't even express my sorrow and regret at this. I hope you can find it in your extraordinarily big hearts to forgive me for ever running away to the Neverseen. I PROMISE that I won't be lost in the teachings and methods of the Neverseen. I'm going to try to change it, and only channel the actual getting-things-done force that they have. I just can't stay here. The Black Swan is manipulating everything and everyone. YOU CANNOT TRUST THEM. If you ever trusted me, or loved me at all, you HAVE to believe that. I couldn't take it if you got hurt. They want to control everything. In a way, they are worse than the Neverseen. Please, please, please be careful.

I have to change the world. It's what I was created for, even though that's not why I'm doing it.

I told the Black Swan that I'm not their Moonlark anymore, because that's true. I'm a Phoenix. I have

to adapt and help and grow and heal, not just myself, but everything around me. And the terrifying truth is that our world has too many cracks. Soon, water is going to start leaking out of them. That's why I'm doing this. I promise I haven't turned evil. It's the exact opposite of that, actually. I need to do things some would call evil to accomplish good.

I really, really, really hope you can understand and forgive me. If you don't, I'll have to find some way to live with myself.

I love you forever. Thank you so much for all the love and support you gave me, the first real support and whole-hearted love I've ever had. I will never be able to thank you enough for letting me have a chance in your lives and fully accepting me. I hope very much that my chance doesn't end here, because I love you guys so much. I'm going to think about you every second of every day. I'll miss you so, so much.

I'm so, so, so sorry.

I promise I'll return after this entire mess is smoothed over. I just hope you'll have open arms for me when I do.

My love for you guys is as big as the universe.

Your Daughter, sending all her love,

Sophie

Sophie sniffled at that one, and her eyes fully teared up at the sudden, terrible thought of never seeing her parents again; or even worse, coming back and being rejected. She took a couple deep breaths to calm her sorrow-filled heart and left a familiar charm bracelet inside the envelope, except for two charms, which she slid onto a thin chain: an elephant covered in blue diamonds and a golden moonlark that her friends had given to her. She took that as a sign to write the next letter first, though honestly she was just avoiding Keefe's until the last possible second.

Hey guys! It's Soph.

First off, you will think that this is a joke. Unfortunately, it's not. The Black Swan is manipulating everyone. Just watch and see how they twist this. But here's the true story.

The Black Swan already forced me through the Alluveterre Everblaze incident. You all were there when Wraith talked about me. You all heard Edaline's statement. But, to make things worse, Mr Forkle came to me after sending Sandor and Flori on a fake urgent errand. He told me I had to earn back their trust, simply because I was unhappy that he put me in that situation. He told me I had to do everything the Black Swan told me to for 3 months, Like mind control. And he implied that bad things would happen to everyone if I didn't listen to him. Well, I'm not standing for that. So please, please, please be careful, especially around them.

Please forgive me. I'm not trying to turn evil. I'm trying to do something that might seem evil for what is truly good. For the good of everything. I'm going to take away the Neverseen's bad side, and change it to channel their get-things-done attitudes, because THAT is what we need now. Not an organization who manipulates everything they come across, or a Council who can't decide on anything actually helpful or necessary. I'm sorry it came down to this; but can you honestly think of anything else to do? I'm still so, so sorry it had to be this way.

Fitz- I'm sorry. Please don't hate me forever for this. You are such a wonderful friend and I was so lucky to have you in my life. Heck, I was so lucky that you brought me here! You were the best Cognate there ever was, and I hope this doesn't permanently ruin any of our relationships, this one included.

Biana- Keep being your wonderful, sparkly self! I'll never be able to repay you for your wonderful friendship (and I'll never be able to repay you for all the makeovers you did on me :) and I'm sorry it had to pause, and hopefully not end, like this. Love you, girl.

Dex- Thank you so, so, so much. I'm sorry that we didn't hang out as much as we should've lately. I hope you someday will forgive me and I can have the chance to change that, because I really don't want to lose my amazing, talented, creative best friend! I'll miss you SO much!

Linh- Thank you for being such an incredible friend. You always made me smile. I promise to you that I WILL get Tam back to you safely as soon as I possibly can.

Marella- I'm sorry I neglected you sometimes, cuz you really are amazing. Please forgive me for, well, everything, and if you need some payback, Sandor has plenty of rumors you can spread ;) Keep your fire shining, girl!

Wylie- We've had our differences, but that hasn't stopped you from defending and saving me countless times. I truly respect you. Please take care of Prentice, because I don't blame him at all, no matter what I said about the Black Swan earlier. I think that the Black Swan became convoluted over time, and I hope that Prentice recovers quickly. Thank him for me if he does. I'm so, so sorry.

I will miss all of you so, so, so much. You guys are the most incredible friends anyone could ever have. Please don't let this change you at all and keep being unique and amazing. I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness again, though, because I really, really don't deserve it.

You guys are everything to me.

-Sophie

Sophie had wiped a few tears from her eyes, taking some deep breaths as she set a bunch of colorfully wrapped presents by the letter. They were her midterm gifts to them, which she hadn't been able to give because of all the craziness going on. She hoped it helped them remember her, even just a little bit, because they had all really changed her life. Then she slowly opened the last piece of parchment, steeling herself for the hardest letter yet. Hands shaking, she wrote,

Dearest Keefe,

Please don't hate me.

A sob slipped through her lips at the all too-familiar words, and she fought to keep tears from falling out of her blurry, strange brown eyes.

I really, truly love you, Keefe. Nothing will ever change that. I wish I could take you with me, but I fear what your mom would do to you if I did. I just couldn't stay here any longer, Keefe. I really couldn't. The Black Swan is using everything, and they threatened everyone if I didn't disappear or do what they told me to do, and I couldn't do what they told me to do. They told me I had to be their complete puppet for 3 whole months, and who knew what they would make me do? But I'm not disappearing. I'm still trying to help save the world. Like a super-smart guy I know once said, 'sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.' This is my worse, but I promise I will make it better. I need to help the world seal up its cracks, for us, for our friends, for everything. I just can't sit around while nobody does anything. That's why I joined the Neverseen. They're the only ones doing anything at all. But I promise that I'm not actually joining them. I'm going to change them to help our world instead of hurting it. I just really, really, really hope you can forgive me for it.

If you can't, I'll have to find some way to move on and live with myself. But for now, I'm holding out hope for us.

Please, please, please stay safe. Don't do anything dumb. I can't watch you get hurt again. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I need to ask anyway, so PLEASE try to forgive me. I don't think I can do this knowing you hate me.

I'm really, really hoping this whole mess is over soon.

Sending all my love,

Sophie

One stubborn tear fell from Sophie's eyes, splattering right over her name, smearing it out of the letter and out of everyone's lives.

And then she had fled.

I remember this one made me sad to write, cuz I felt bad for Sophie and Keefe and Edaline and Grady… I was very sad for them all, haha. Also, the Phoenix thing: yes or no? I couldn't think of anything else and didn't want to keep Moonlark, so that's what I ended up with, haha. Anyways, thank you!
-LLF out