Keeper of the Lost Cities: Rebuild [COMPLETED]

Chapter Thirty-Two - JENSI

Jensi leaped onto Foxfire's purple field hours earlier than usual. He'd managed to avoid his brother and—miraculously—Ulla. He was still smarting over the conversation he and Fernan had had, and he wasn't in the mood for one of his grandma's interrogations.

It was this time of morning, when the sunrise drifted between the clouds and painted the ground in light, that Jensi found a sense of peace. The space between night and morning demanded nothing of him, so he walked the grounds, trying to empty his mind.

It still kept returning to the murder. He hadn't known Navik personally, but he vaguely remembered teaching a Hishia in his class two years ago. Were they related? Did they know each other, or were they distant?

Maybe if he asked Keefe, he could get an old file—he could check up on them, see if they were doing okay.

If they even knew Navik had been murdered.

According to Biana, no one was supposed to know.

Who would do something like this? Jensi knew about some of the Neverseen's darkest deeds, but he'd never been directly involved like Sophie and her friends. He didn't understand what they had been capable of, and if he didn't understand that, how was he supposed to understand what the Purities were capable of?

Again, he felt useless.

Seems to be the story of my life.

An elf glittered into the space in front of him, and he jumped. More kept coming after that, so he waded his way through the crowd. His eyes latched onto a short, curvy girl, her curly brown hair pulled into a ponytail. "Hey, Amy!"

She turned and smiled when she saw him. "Hi." When he got closer, she lowered her voice, the smile unwavering. "Do you have any theories for who the K-I-L-L-E-R might be?"

He flinched and looked to see if anyone was eavesdropping. But Amy had been careful; no one gave them a second glance. "Dex contacted me last night with a theory the Purities' Technopath and, er, K-I-L-L-E-R are related. The first person that comes to mind is Lady Iskra. She's one of the Lost Cities' most powerful Technopaths; she invented a lot of technology you've probably used before. I'm not sure if we'll get the chance to figure out if it's her, though—I looked at a schedule, and there aren't any staff meetings for the next week."

"If it is her, though, she could be the Purities' Technopath?"

"It's only a guess."

"But it's smart," she said, eyes lighting up. "And isn't her classroom in the same wing as ours?"

"So?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, Jensi... haven't you ever heard of spying?"

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Twenty minutes later, Jensi had received a detailed explanation of ninjas and Karate Kid. He was also standing outside Lady Iskra's classroom, hand poised to knock on the shiny silver door. Amy's plan was simple: he would distract Lady Iskra while Amy snuck into her classroom and searched for anything suspicious. Simple, easy, so incredibly stupid. What Amy didn't know was that Jensi had had an irrational fear of the old elf for years. He'd used to dread Ability Detecting classes, terrified he'd learn he was a Technopath and would have to attend her sessions.

Welp, you never were going to manifest at all, so there was no reason to be afraid! the unhelpful side of his brain chirped.

Maybe you could kick it in, the side of his brain that was still mulling over Karate Kid suggested.

JUST KNOCK ALREADY! the obnoxiously brave side of his brain screamed.

He took a deep breath and—