𝓟𝐫𝗼𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝓢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐞

Chapter #3 - Dex

Chapter #3 - Dex

"I hope I manifest soon," Rex grumbled sullenly. Dex could hear his own heart beat so loud— he swore, even astronauts in space could hear. It was so hard lying to his brother.

And this was only after a day of knowing.

Of knowing the truth that if his brother found out, would completely break his heart. The truth that would make his family's awful reputation oh-so much worse.

"What happened this time?" Dex decided to ask. Magnate Leto was slowly beginning to reopen Foxfire, starting off with certain classes— including Ability Detecting.

"Ability Detecting was awful today. In between classes, Bex and Lex were teasing me about how they don't have to do ability detecting anymore. And then I did Ability Detecting, and well... I didn't manifest. And it was especially awful because they were testing us if we were Gusters— those wind tunnels are intense!" Rex began weeping softly, then immediately rubbed the tears from his eyes. "A girl in the hall said I would probably end up Talentless— just like my dad." The small whimpering turned into full-fledged sobbing.

Dex was heartbroken. There were no words.

He needed something, anything, to get out of this conversation. He hoped Bex, Lex, or one of his parents would call for him, or a gadget would start beeping, or he would get a call from his—

That's when it happened. His imparter rang.

"I... I gotta take this," Dex told Rex, clutching the device and answering the call. To his surprise, it was from Biana.

"Hey," he said, answering the call. He moved away from the sad triplet and over to his own room. "Is this something for Team Valiant?"

"No."

"Then what's up?" It occurred to him that Biana may have recently been crying. Her eyes were slightly puffed and she wasn't wearing any makeup— and her hair was in a simple ponytail. Certainly not Biana's usual.

"What do you know about Keefe's new ability?" she asked. "That we don't, I mean."

Uh oh. "Why are you asking..."

She slowly, sadly said, "He left."

And that was it. With those two words, Dex knew exactly what had happened.

"But Keefe...he shouldn't have...with Rex...did he really leave?!?!"

Biana tilted her head, "This has to do with Rex?" Oh no. He had said too much. Why— why did this have to happen?

Dex just shook his head, trembling in fear as Biana explained everything. Apparently, Keefe had given Sophie a letter telling her that his ability had gotten too dangerous and he had to run away— to the Forbidden Cities, he even hinted at. He had begged her not to go after him. Heck— she recited the whole letter by heart.

As he listened, Dex realized that a year ago, he would've been awfully jealous that Biana and Fitz— especiallyFitz— had learned about Keefe's departure from Sophie before him. But he wasn't the same pouty guy anymore, the one who focused on the wrong things. Instead, he was going to focus on one single thing: Getting his friend back. Even if that meant revealing stuff about his brother he didn't really want anyone to know yet.

"Well," he said, "I... I do know something." He began explaining. The imparter conversation, the realization that Rex's hand felt the same as Kesler's, the moment that changed everything.

When he was done, all Biana could say was, "...oh. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay."

"No— it isn't. That's a big weight to have on your shoulders."

"Yeah. But I'll be okay."

She smiled sweetly, "Okay, I believe you. Just remember— we're here." Dex nodded, but then what had to be the worst possible thing that could happen, happened.

Rex peeked into the room with a worried glint in his periwinkle eyes.

"I'm going to be Talentless?"