𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝑶𝒍𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔

13. ~Planning~

-In the Lost Cities-

Fitz:

"Well that's just great," Keefe mutters, rolling his eyes as the door slams behind us

Tam snorts, "Well you know... I'm not really that surprised. Isn't that what the Black Swan is good at? Hiding stuff?"

"And I never asked you to speak, Tammy," Keefe says, as Tam shakes his head, "Anyhow, as I was saying, one minute we're making a plan to save Foster, and then BAM! We're being shoved outside while the adults talk over "important things"."

"It seemed pretty important though... " Biana says quietly, "Like... not just the business kind of important. It was more like the, 'oh no we're about to die' kind of important."

Dex nods in agreement, "Yeah... after the council heard the word, "Apollo", they started freaking out for some reason. And I don't think that this is the Neverseen we're going after this time...."

Then he looks over at me expectantly, and everyone else follows his gase, making all the attention go to me.

"What?" I ask, when they don't stop eyeing me.

"What?" Keefe repeats, "Okay. First off, Dexy is right. And I'm an empath. Your emotions aren't nearly as strong as Foster's, but I'm pretty sure you're hiding something."

I sigh, and sit on the grass of Havenfield. Wynn and Luna come trotting up to me, and I let them trample me to buy time.

"Fine," I finally say, when they don't stop looking at me, "I may have seen something when I was reaching out to Sophie's mind."

"And what was that something you saw?" Ro asks, making Wynn and Luna scramble back.

Keefe looks up at the sudden voice of his bodyguard, and then smirks, "They kicked you out too, huh?"

"Wasn't my fault," Ro tells him. "The Black Swan and Council are being weirdly mysterious for some reason. Oh yeah! I forgot. They do that all the time! Also all of your girl's bodyguards got kicked out as well, so I would wipe that smirk off your face Hunkyhair."

"And we're going to go scan the perimeter to make sure none of that mysterious stuff is getting anywhere near here," Grizel suddenly interrupts, making her way out of the shadows.

Ro cocks her head, "And would you look at that. Everyone got kicked out! So! What was that something you saw, Wonderboy? Maybe you could help us out a little here...?"

I snort sarcastically and run my hands through my hair, "Well if you haven't noticed, I'm doing the best I can--"

"NOPE!" Keefe exclaims, the same time I say, "Could you just keep your mouth shut for once?"

"Sorry Fitzy. Not gonna work," he says, eyeing me, "Stop trying to buy time. Now spill what you saw in Foster's head, or else I could guess, but we all know that probably won't end well," he says with a wink.

I sigh, "Okay, okay... Basically, from what I saw, I.... I think Sophie might be.... "

Biana groans, "Just say it already," she says when I stop.

So finally, I brace myself for the reactions, as I mutter, "In the Forbidden Cities."

And just as I had suspected, lots of gasps and "what?!!" filled the air.

"How do you know?" Linh asks right away, knitting her eyebrows.

I point to my eyes, "Well... I mean... as far as we're concerned Sophie is the only elf without blue eyes, right?"

"Oh... " Linh mutters, "Oh yeah."

Then I turn to Keefe to see what his remarks are this time, but instead he just has a smirk on his face.

"What?" I ask him.

His grin gets even wider, "Well isn't it obvious? Now we have a plan."

We all stare at him confusedly, and then Tam mutters, "Oh no. oh no no no no. We are so not doing that--"

"Aww, since when is Tammy the party pooper?" Keefe teases.

"And since when are you the planner maker?" Tam shoots back.

Keefe rolls his eyes, "Uh... well I obviously am because The Lady Foss-Boss isn't around to do it for us. And if the Black Swan isn't going to let us in on their little secret, I think it's time we try to do things on our own for once."

"So...." Dex drags out, "The plan?" he asks expectantly.

"Right!" Keefe exclaims, "Almost forgot that part."

And so he leans closer, beckoning us to do the same. He looks back behind his shoulder, as if he's afraid someone is going to hear, and then he reaches into his cape pocket....

"What?!" we all exclaim in unison.

"Whoa, hey. Keep the volume down, will you?" Keefe scolds at us, "I stole this from my dad's room a couple months ago. Now, you don't want me to get busted now, do you?"

"Uh... but you do realize what you're holding, right?" I ask, as I wave my hand at the cobalt blue crystal, "You can't just carry that around in your pocket like that. If someone finds it, they might think you're up to something bad--"

Keefe does an exaggerated sigh, and moves a little closer into our little group huddle, "When are you ever going to learn, Fitzy? I'm always up to something bad. It's my specialty!"

"But for this particular specialty," Tam says, an edge to his voice, "We should at least be a little more prepared, don't you think? One, we don't even know the location of where we're going, and two, we should probably ask the Black Swan for help first--"

Keefe holds up his hand to stop Tam from going on, "If the Black Swan is going to keep on hiding things, I think it's time we break some rules. Even if that means having no plan what-so-ever. This is for Foster, isn't it?"

We all glance at each other, passing queasy and uncertain feelings along one another, but then eventually settle for a reluctant nod.

"Someday you guys will thank me," Keefe says with a wink.

"I'm sure we will," Biana tells him.

He grins, "Well, I guess in the meantime then... "

"Who's up for a Foss-Boss rescue to the Forbidden Cities?"