Neverseen's Puppet

Chapter 8: Betrayal

Hey guys! Welcome to the result of my sleep-deprived brain. But nighttime is when I get all of my ideas, so that's when a get the most progress writing. Anyway, enjoy this train wreck of words.

Elwin's POV

He stared at Camilla, not knowing what to think. He had just got off a panicked imparter call with Alden, about Camilla's "betrayal" and how she ran away. She stared right back at him like deer in headlights, holding the stuffed animal he had got her at Dex's request. Elwin had even offered to be a replacement guardian for Camilla.

Honestly, the whole thing was so confusing, because the Neverseen weren't known to utilize children in their plans. Elwin waited for her to respond, negating the elixir that swirled around the ground by his feet.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't-" she chest hitched. He waited. She took a step away from him, "I'm sorry I'm not- not who you think I was." Elwin flinched, remembering how Keefe had said basically the same thing before he had joined the Neverseen. Of course, he hadn't really joined them, it was more of an "I'm going be an angsty teenager trying to pull off the double agent stunt" thing.

Camilla hugged Captain Snarky Butt to her chest. She looked so lost at that moment, he had to fight the urge to give her a hug. "Please don't go," he begged. It crossed his mind that he could call for the goblin patrols that protected Foxfire, but then she would just leap away. He had to convince Camilla that the Lost Cities was the best place for her.

"You don't understand," she looked at him mournfully, "I have to." She lifted her clear pathfinder up a few inches.

"Why?" he asked. At that point, he was just trying to buy time. "You could be safe here, with Dex and Biana and Keefe and Fitz and Sophie," he listed off all of the people Camilla had met. "And Captain Snarky Butt!" he added. Elwin still couldn't believe she had come back for her!

"Thanks, but... I'm going to choose the winning side," she said with more confidence than before, raising the pathfinder farther in the air. She gripped Captain Snarky Butt tighter and said, "Tell Dex I said thank you for the stuffed animal."

Elwin opened his mouth to say something but before he could Camilla stepped into the light and disappeared.

^v^v^v^v^

Dex's POV

"She's really with the Neverseen?" Dex asked, voice cracking. Whatever feelings he had for her didn't matter then. Camilla had probably been laughing at him for being such a fool. They all had been fools.

Elwin had hailed them right away, so now he, Sophie, Keefe, Biana, Fitz, Elwin, and Tiergan were gathered in the cramped Treatment area of the Healing Center.

For several seconds everyone was silent. Sophie's eyes had dark circles under them, and Keefe and Fitz both held one of her hands. Dex realized she was probably still upset about her human parents. And Mr. Forkle. The thought stabbed him in the chest. He had been so upset about Camilla that he'd barely even worried about how Sophie was holding up. What kind of horrible friend was he?

Biana fiddled with the hem of her tunic. Nobody seemed to know what to say.

"She told me to tell you thank you," Elwin whispered, "For the stuffed animal." Captain Snarky Butt. Dex felt a surge of anger that he wasn't prepared for. She came here just to take. Take their trust. Take Biana's dress. Take Captain Snarky Butt. Take their secrets.

Dex couldn't bring himself to answer. He looked at his shoes. The first thing he was going to when he got home was throw away Sir Sneaky Hugs. Or give him to the triplets, either one would work...

Tiergan, who was also Granite, rubbed his eyes. "I know this is very upsetting, but we also can't get too caught up with this." He made eye contact with each of them. "In the light of new events, the Collective has decided to move up the Contingency Plan so we can start figuring out a plan to react to this new information."

Sophie's eyes displayed her panic for all to see. Keefe looked at her, obviously sensing the shift in her emotions, and squeezed her hand tighter. "R-right now?" she asked.

"I'm afraid time is of the essence," Tiergan said. Dex's palms began to sweat. Was the Contingency Plan that much of a game-changer? He supposed that was a good thing, but it still made him nervous. What if they found out someone they didn't like was with the Black Swan? What if they had another dangerous mission to add to their list? What if-

"What are we supposed to do?" Sophie asked, already moving past her fear. She was braver than she would ever realize.

"Everybody link hands. Elwin, I hope you understand when I ask that you sit this one out, right now we are only including members of our order," Tiergan explained. Elwin nodded like he saw it coming and took a step back. "Tam and Linh will be meeting us there," he added. He pulled out a rose pink pathfinder.

Biana grabbed Dex's hand, Dex grabbed Wonderboy's, and Keefe kept his fingers intertwined with Sophie's when he held reached for Tiergan's hand. Together, they braced themselves for what was surely going to be a hard experience and disappeared into the light.

^v^v^v^v^

"I can't believe you didn't tell me what was going to happen today!" Dex shouted at his mom, Juline. Somewhere in his brain he knew it was illogical to be mad at her, but he didn't care. She had KNOWN that Mr. Forkle was alive and she let him believe he was dead. He thought they were done with the ground-breaking secrets.

"You have to understand that-" Juline protested. Dex raised a hand to stop her. He wasn't interested in hearing her excuses.

"I don't really care what your reasons are, you should have told me," he interrupted. Juline's jaw clenched stubbornly. Dex could see why the Black Swan had put her on the Collective; that determination could move mountains. She always did what she thought was right. Even if that meant hiding things from Dex. He scowled.

"Well I hope you change your mind," his mom said finally. Dex stalked past her and went up to his room.

His room was ginormous by human standards, and average by Elvin. Although most bedrooms didn't have an alchemy lab attached to them, so it wasn't exactly normal. The translucent walls imitated a pane of ice, and his queen-sized bed was covered in a dark blue quilt. The Contingency plan had taken much longer than he suspected was planned, therefore it was already past eleven when he finished showering. He slipped on his silk mastodon pajamas and wandered into the lab.

He barely paid attention to what he doing, and carelessly threw ingredients into a bowl. Dex wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish besides taking his mind off everything they had learned today. His eyelids sagged, and he knew he should probably go to sleep. From what Tiergan had said, they had a lot of planning ahead of them. He wouldn't be any use to any of the others if he was trying not to fall asleep. Maybe Sophie could still somehow function without rest, but Sophie could do a lot of things other people couldn't.

These thoughts swirled around his head, and he tried to keep his eyes open, even so, he couldn't fight the heavy waves of fatigue. At last, Lovise, his bodyguard came in and carried him to his bed, where he promptly started snoring, hugging Sir Sneaky Hugs. He had meant to throw him away but... so tired...

Ok, this chapter took forever to write. And not because it's that long or anything. I just was experiencing a serious case of writer's block. But I have the next few chapters planned out in my head so hopefully I'll update semi-fast. Thank you so much if you've stuck around this long!