𝓟𝐫𝗼𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝓢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐞

Chapter #2 - Fitz

Chapter #2 - Fitz

"What did you learn?" Fitz heard Sophie's voice ask Forkle through the imparter.

"Here," Mr. Forkle said calmly, "It's better if I just show you. Miss Foster, can you leap to Watchward Heath? And it seems you're at Splendor Plains. It would probably be wise to bring Mr. Sencen as well, since the, er, news does involve his mother."

"About Keefe..."

As Sophie explained to the foot-smelling Black Swan member the current situation: with the letter and why Fitz and Biana were there, Fitz was furious. At who? He wasn't sure.

He was angry at Keefe for running away.

He was angry at Sophie for not telling him— instead, he had to hear it from his parents. And the only reason they told him was because Ro would be moving to Everglen.

He was angry at Forkle for, on the tiny imparter screen, looking so calm.

He was even angry at his brother— Alvar— for being part of a group (even if he wasn't part of it currently) who could put his best friend through so much suffering.

If Keefe even was his best friend anymore.

Things between them had gotten... complicated. But that was so not what Fitz should've been focusing on. Instead, he decided, he'd channel his fury at finding out why Forkle seemed so cool and collected.

"That... is most unfortunate," said the bloated collective representative.

"MOST UNFORTUNATE?!" Fitz exclaimed angrily. He didn't care if he seemed like a maniac. "My best friend's GONE and you think it's MOST UNFORTUNATE?!"

Mr. Forkle sighed, "Well, someone's got to keep a clear head. And I understand if you kids are having trouble processing. I would too, if I were your age, and had your friendship with Mr. Sencen." He looked at Sophie for the last few words, which made Fitz want to huff in annoyance.

But he had learned the hard way that doing that wasn't going to change anything.

Because Forkle was right. They were having trouble processing. And they did need someone with a clear head. Biana was sobbing, invisible in the back of the room— she wasn't going to be the calm one.

And Sophie...

Fitz looked into Sophie's worried brown-flecked-with-gold eyes and nearly bald eyelids— from her nervous habit of yanking out eyelashes. He realized he should've comforted her. Should've made sure she was okay. Should've. Should've. Should've.

After all, it's what Keefe would have done.

"Okay, okay," announced Ro, "Quit the dramafest. Forkle The Dorkle didn't call you so you could cry over Hunkyhair. He had some important news, didn't he?"

"Did you just call him... Forkle The Dorkle?"

"It's my new nickname for him. It was either that or Mr. Spoonle." The room became very quiet, and Fitz was pretty sure they were all thinking the same thing— Keefe totally would make a joke about that if he was here.

But he wasn't.

"Anyway, I assume you kids already were planning on calling Dex."

"Yeah," said Sophie shakily, "Don't you think?"

"I do," he agreed, "Miss Vacker, could you hail Mr. Dizznee?" Biana nodded in a way that signified she felt as if any sort of movement would break her.

"Miss Foster, join me at Watchward Heath. You can come too, Fitz."

They nodded as well, and Sophie ended the call and put her leaping crystal up to the light. "Watchward Heath?"

"Watchward Heath," Fitz agreed, interlacing his hand with hers as the bodyguards put their hands on their shoulders. It had been the first time they'd held hands without awkwardness since the breakup. Which was good. There was no time for awkwardness. It was time to go learn what new things Mr. Forkle had uncovered.

And as the light swept them away, he silently decided he was going to be better.

***

Fitz had never actually been to Watchward Heath— Mr. Forkle's office. He just knew a brief description of it that Sophie had mentioned once. Which was basically nothing, considering it's oddness.

It was like being inside a giant egg. With security cameras.

"I guess I should've warned you, Mr. Vacker, that the setup here is a bit odd," Forkle told them heartily. Understatement of the century. They had to bypass so much security to get in here— and this is what they end up in. Mr. Forkle clapped his hands twice, triggering a small, flickering bulb of light above them that was even yellow.

Well, Fitz thought, looks like this egg even has a yolk.

But the thing that didn't match up with what he'd been told was the neatness of the office. Sophie had described it as clean and pristine— too pristine, really. Instead, there were scrolls and such scattered across the ground. There was even a sparkly cat statue.

"I put all the things Miss Foster, Mr. Tam, and Glimmer recovered from the storehouse in here, in case you kids were wondering. I guess it made this place a bit of a mess." He cautiously lifted his foot, preventing himself from tripping on the clutter.

Sophie wasn't as lucky. She tripped and fell as she asked, "Didn't Tiergan say he would take the stuff to his office, though?" That was one thing Fitz liked about her. She was always double-checking things; being a critical thinker.

"We had a bit of a disagreement," Mr. Forkle simply said, "But eventually we decided here was the better place." But something about the way Forkle bit his lip signified that the opinion his office was better may not have really been mutual.

He looked intently at the scrolls and grabbed a specific one. "Most of these were written in code— one that we have not cracked yet. But this one isn't."

"How do you know it's not a trick, then?" Sophie considered.

Fitz had been wondering the same thing, "Yeah— what if the Neverseen knew we'd find those scrolls and fill the only scroll we could read with false information? They knew we had Glimmer and that she could lead us there any day."

"Because they didn't have time to get rid of anything not written in code. If they did, they would've gotten rid of the caches as well. And Tinker has assured me that those are real this time."

He opened up the paper, revealing what was written inside. There was a symbol— one Fitz suddenly recognized from Keefe's memory he and Sophie had found once. The one on the letter Lady Gisela bribed young Keefe to deliver, to the human Ethan Benedict Wright.

He began to read what it said, scrawled underneath the symbol. It was a message that must've been passed between Neverseen members.

To VF

Project Stellarlune is working.

You think my vision is foolish, different than yours. But what you don't realize is just how closely they align.

I gave my son a reading before he embraced the change, and he is ready to manifest the new abilities. He has so much potential.

GS

"VF stands for Vespera Folend, and GS stands for Gisela Sencen," Mr. Forkle explained, "I think the reason Lady Gisela didn't write this in code is that Vespera didn't know the code, so she wouldn't have been able to read it. But the last two sentences were what threw me off. They imply..."

"Lady Gisela is a Descryer," Sophie finished.