Chapter Text
Sophie made her way to orientation at the Silver Tower, where she found Linh and Tam.
“Hey Sophie!” Linh said sweetly. “We heard from Biana that you found Keefe. That’s amazing! How is he?”
“So far I think he’s ok,” Sophie replied. “I mean, it’s been a crazy few days and I think he’s pretty overwhelmed. And he was apparently planning to hide forever in the forbidden cities and thought we’d just leave him there, so he has no idea what to do. It hasn’t been easy for him, but all in all he seems okay.”
Sophie glanced at Tam, who just nodded in response.
Sophie knew that Tam wanted to know more, but he would never ask. What was it with stubborn boys! “I told him about what happened with Gisela,” Sophie said, meeting Tam’s gaze. Again, Tam nodded in response.
“Well, Tam, I suppose this will free up your weekends considerably,” Linh said, elbowing her brother. “Maybe it’s time to visit Atlantis this weekend so we can finally visit Horns, Wings, Claws & Things to get a friend for Princess Purryfins. You know you owe me, and you said we’d go as soon as things calmed down.” She looked up at her brother with a sweet, pleading look. He was looking more surly than normal, even for Tam.
Tam rolled his eyes at her. “I guess there’s no more putting it off, is there?” he asked.
“Definitely not! We’re going Saturday morning, first thing,” Linh answered. “Want to come, Sophie? Maybe it’s time for a new pet for you, you know since Iggy betrayed you to go live with Biana,” Linh teased.
It was true that Iggy had, in his own unique and very stinky way, expressed a preference for Biana. The traitor. Sophie suspected it had something to do with the fact that Biana wasn’t always gone all weekend, traipsing around the world on an endless search for her runaway friend.
“I don’t know,” Sophie said. “I’ll think about it. I feel like I might have a lot to be dealing with in the next few months, plus mid-terms are coming up. I’m not sure I need the extra responsibility. Besides, all my past pets have found me in some way and I think I prefer it that way.” It was true. Sophie had rescued Marty, her cat she’d had with her human family. And Iggy, her imp (now Biana’s) had been rescued from being the verminion’s lunch. She had even rescued Silveny, although she didn’t think of the alicorn as a pet. More like an annoying, immature sister.
Soon enough orientation was over and they headed off to their sessions. Sophie hadn’t caught what Magnate Leto had said, probably some cheesy line about education opening doors to their future or something. She hadn’t forgotten his request for a “full update” on Keefe.
Sure enough, as she headed off to her inflicting session, Master Cadence caught up with her and informed her of the principal’s request that she meet him at his office for lunch.
Sophie curtsied awkwardly as she entered her inflicting classroom. She and Councilor Bronte had a much friendlier relationship now than they had when she’d first arrived in the lost cities, but he still insisted on formalities.
“Lady Foster, I hope you came ready to learn and be challenged this morning,” Councilor Bronte said in greeting. “But first, I must ask about the young Mr. Sencen. Lady Biana informed the Council that he had been located. She has, however, been sparing in the details. Please enlighten me in regards to the details.”
Sophie sighed and plopped down in the hard, metal chair. “Keefe was located in a human city called Paris. The Neverseen had a hideout there, and one time Gisela left Keefe a message asking him to meet her there, which he never did. However, the connection was enough for us to consider it a top target so we’ve searched the city numerous times,” Sophie explained.
Sophie hoped filling Bronte in on as many of the background details as possible would deflect from the fact that she planned to spare many of the current, relevant details. The last thing Keefe needed right now was Councilor Alina showing up at Havenfield asking questions and getting involved. She would have to give a little bit of relevant information, though, or otherwise Bronte would get suspicious.
“I visited Paris this past weekend and found evidence that Keefe had been there in a human restaurant called a cafe. Biana then organized a full scale canvass of the area. We re-visited the Neverseen hideout and found evidence that Keefe had been there, but probably not recently. The humans who work in the cafe reached out to me when they saw Keefe and helped me devise a plan to meet him face to face,” Sophie continued with her explanation. “Biana, Dex and I have all spoken with him. His plans are undetermined at the moment but lines of communication have been established.”
“Well, that was certainly a lot of relevant information,” Bronte replied, “but not the information I was hoping to hear. What about his ability? Does he seem stable? What are we looking at in terms of exposure with the humans?”
“There’s no evidence yet that any humans were aware of Keefe being anything other than another human. It honestly seems like he did a very good job maintaining a low profile and interacting as little as possible with the humans around him. The cafe workers I spoke with described him as quiet and said he kept to himself,” Sophie replied.
“Well, that’s unexpected, considering Mr. Sencen’s track record,” Bronte replied. “What is your team planning to do next in order to retrieve him?”
“Well,” Sophie replied, “we’ve made him an offer, which he is considering, but it’s highly unlikely Keefe will return to the lost cities permanently unless the decision is voluntary. We are trying to get a sense of what he needs, in terms of his health and his ability, to feel comfortable with the idea of coming back.”
“I hope you realize, Lady Foster, that the Council did not authorize this mission out of concern for what Mr. Sencen is comfortable with,” Bronte explained sharply. “Mr. Sencen is fortunate we haven’t decided to exile him for breaking one of our fundamental laws. I’ll give you two more weeks to get him back, Lady Foster. After that point the full Council will deliberate to consider our options.”
Sophie shuddered. Of course it had occurred to her that the Council might be less than happy with Keefe if he was ever able to come back to the lost cities, but if he were to face a tribunal and possible exile for leaving in the first place there’s no way he would return. In fact, Sophie might leave with him in protest. There was no way she was going to let the Council scare Keefe off now that he was actually here and actually considering staying.
“Councilor Bronte, I understand your urgency and your concern for the continued secrecy of our people in regards to the humans, but I would expect a little more compassion from the Council in Keefe’s case, especially considering that the Council failed to protect him from the Neverseen in the first place,” Sophie replied.
“Additionally, I will take no part in any operation to bring Keefe back to the lost cities that isn’t entirely peaceful and voluntary. I am the only one on my team with knowledge of Keefe’s exact location in the forbidden cities, and I will not share that information even with the two people who have access to my impenetrable mind. Any resolution to the situation regarding Keefe must be handled with compassion and patience. He has been traumatized, and he has been living essentially in isolation for over four years. This is going to take some time.”
“You may very well be right, Lady Foster, and I am inclined to trust your judgment. You’ve proven yourself a smart judge of character. I cannot stop the Council from their deliberations, however, and now that they are aware that he has been located, it’s unlikely they will be willing to wait longer than two weeks for a resolution. I will try to get you three.”
“Thank you, Councilor Bronte,” Sophie said, glad to be done with that conversation.
“Now that that has been attended to, let’s move onto your lesson.”
“Actually, if you don’t mind, Councilor Bronte, I have a request for our lesson,” Sophie interjected.
“And what is your request?”
“I need to get better at inflicting feelings of calm and tranquility, especially during times when I’m not feeling particularly calm,” Sophie explained. “It came up in my conversation with Keefe regarding his ability, which appears to be activated in some way by the fear response in the brain, like a failsafe for self-protection regulated in the amygdala. I wanted to see if it could be de-activated by my inflicting. The trouble is, at least in the past, I’ve been less consistent with inflicting those kinds of emotions in situations that would trigger a fear response. Do you have any ideas as to how I could get better at that?
Councilor Bronte was more than on board with the idea. He inflicted feelings of fear onto her so that she could attempt to simultaneously attempt to inflict calm onto him while under duress. Sophie suspected that he gained some satisfaction from the exercise but she didn’t care. She did feel like the practice had helped. It wasn’t particularly fun, and at the end of the session Sophie was feeling pretty drained.
Sophie decided to pay Elwin a visit before heading to meet Magnate Leto for lunch. Maybe he would have an elixir that would pep her up and give her the energy she needed to make it through the rest of her day.
“Sophie!” Elwin called out as she entered the Healing Center. “My Number 1 Patient. You know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you and I was almost starting to miss you! What can I do for you today?”
“Awww, thanks Elwin, it’s nice to know I’m missed somewhere!” Sophie replied. “And I was just wondering if you had anything that could help me feel a little more energetic. I haven’t slept well for a couple days and I just had a super-draining inflicting session. I feel like a puddle.”
Elwin chuckled. “Have a seat on your cot and I’ll see what I can do.”
Sophie reclined on her usual cot. She hadn’t needed to come to the Healing Center as much recently, since everything with the Neverseen had died down, and that was nice. But she was just realizing that she had really missed Elwin, and that she should probably fill Elwin in on the news of Keefe.
Elwin came over with a few elixirs and started his usual routine, flashing different colored lights to examine her cells.
“So Elwin, I have some news for you,” Sophie said, tentatively.
“Well, Sophie, you definitely have some pretty tired cells, and I also see some evidence of pollution. Have you been spending a lot of time in the forbidden cities again?”
“Yes, that’s kind of what I wanted to tell you. I found Keefe,” she replied.
Elwin’s colorful lights flashed off and he stopped his exam. “You found him? How is he?”
“He’s okay, Elwin. I mean, physically he’s okay. Emotionally, he’s not great. And he’s still struggling with the commanding ability.”
“I see. Well, that’s great news. I mean that you found him. Have you been able to convince him to come back?” Elwin asked.
“Not yet, but he’s thinking about it,” Sophie replied. “I’m sure he’d love to see you. He could probably also use a check up but I’m sure he’d deny it.”
“Well, I’d love to see him when he’s ready. Regardless, before you leave I’ll give you a few elixirs that will help clear up most of the damage associated with human pollutants,” Elwin said.
“Thanks, Elwin.”
“As for you, take this and don’t ask me what’s in it, you don’t want to know. It doesn’t taste terrible though. And it should help clear up the energy blockages I’m seeing in your system which are likely only temporary and due to your inflicting lesson.”
Sophie reached out and took the elixir from Elwin. It was bright turquoise blue and when she opened the bottle it smelled like a combination of grape flavored cough syrup and teriyaki flavoring. She downed the bottle in one gulp. “Elwin, that’s gross!” Sophie exclaimed, “But I guess I’ve had much worse. I am feeling much better, though, so thanks. I guess I’m off to meet with Leto now!”
Sophie made her way to the principal’s office. Every time she followed this particular path and climbed these particular steps she thought of Keefe. She thought of that day, after he had joined the Neverseen, when he had tricked her into meeting him in the principal’s office, which he then blew up. She had chosen to trust him that day. It had actually been less of a conscious choice and more like just what her heart had decided was right. She was glad. Things might have gone very differently if she had believed him to truly be a traitor.
When Sophie arrived at Magnate Leto’s office, she opened the door and walked in. She plopped down and launched into an explanation of how they found Keefe that was very similar to the account she had given Bronte.
“You’re leaving out quite a few key details, Miss Foster,” Magnate Leto said.
“That’s true,” Sophie replied. “I think Keefe deserves to have the time he needs to process everything before he has to deal with the Council and the Black Swan interrogating him or making demands on him.”
“So you’re protecting him.”
“Yes,” Sophie replied.
“That means you must think he needs protection,” Magnate Leto said in response.
“He doesn’t need my protection. He deserves some space as he decides what he wants to do,” Sophie replied.
“Yes, of course, Miss Foster. It’s just that I have an offer I would like him to consider.”
“Okay?”
“If it’s all the same, I’d prefer to discuss it directly with Mr. Sencen. Would you be willing to set up a meeting?”
“I will let him know your request, and I’ll let you know what he says,” Sophie replied.
“Thank you, Miss Foster. And also, good work. I knew if anyone could find Mr. Sencen, you could.”
“Thanks,” Sophie replied, getting up to head back to the Silver Tower for her remaining session, which was Telepathy with Tiergan. She wondered if today was a cognate-training day. Even though Fitz had graduated, he still attended one or two of her telepathy sessions every month to keep up with their cognate training. Today would not be a fun day to have cognate training, which is why she was 100% not surprised to see Fitz waiting for her with Tiergan when she arrived at Telepathy.
“So sorry I’m late, guys,” Sophie huffed as she walked into the room, hunched over from running as she tried to catch her breath. “Had a meeting with Leto.”
“Perhaps we should add physical education to your schedule. That way you won’t be out of breath from simply running across the courtyard,” Tiergan said, with a small smile on his face and just the hint of a wink in Sophie’s direction.
“Very funny, Tiergan. If you must know, I had a very draining inflicting session with Bronte this morning so if I’m out of breath from a short run, blame him!” Sophie replied with a laugh.
“Well, if you’re ready, why don’t we start your cognate session. We can start with your usual routine. You need to share, and really open up to each other to keep that cognate connection strong. You’ve struggled with that in the past, so just spend the next few minutes sharing telepathically anything of consequence from the last few weeks. Then we’ll take it from there.”
Sophie had a feeling that there would be nothing usual or routine about this cognate session.
AN: I am really not sure if the elite level students go to orientation. I don’t think they do because Sophie would have looked for Wylie if he had ever been there in the early books. The towers were described as being sequestered, so I’m just going to guess that maybe each tower gets th
e orientation projection in their tower instead of in the main atrium.
