ᴅᴇx ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴꜱ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ 「 ˢᵒʳᵘʸ 」

13//the meeting

Sophie teleported into Alluvettere with a flash. She had run like the wind and teleported when everyone was out of sight and mind, dropping into Alluvettere with a smile on her face.

"Hey guys," She said startling them, "Miss me?"

They all turned to her, mouths gaping, trying to find words then ultimately failing. Tam found his voice first, "Moon!" He grabbed her up in his arms, unsettling her a bit before she hugged him back. Sophie melted into his embrace, it felt so warm to have his affection, she wanted to stay in it forever.

Linh and the rest of her group joined in a beat later though, ruining their couples moment. "Luna," Linh whispered in her ear as she warmly rubbed Sophie's arms.

//

She got one day to relax and spend time with her friends, then it was back to work. She didn't tell them about anything that happened, or why she had a long cut down her arm--they knew not to ask questions about anything.

They hung out on the beach outside of the base for the rest of the day, swimming and laughing and making up for the lost time--though they had so much that it would matter not.

But today was Thursday, the gala was in a day. Forkle had already contacted the Neverseen with the note they left on Prentice when they dropped him off, we were to meet them today. Sophie was skeptical about it even though they helped her get out of there.

We decided to meet at a Neverseen hideout named Valkonian as an act of good faith on their part. We showed up and we were greeted by kids the same age as us, surprisingly--she'd thought they'd be old decrepit hags.

Two of the five people there were easy to tell, Alvar and Glimmer. Sophie hadn't expected an introduction, but she got one. Reynn Maximillian. Ezra Lucas. Trix Redek.

There was a damn Redek in the Neverseen, how in the stars has this been unnoticed, "Actually, it's two Redeks." She blushed when everyone stared at her, she said that out loud. "Sorry," She muttered, looking down and following them into the hideout.

"Glad to see you here, Moon." Glimmer whispered, scaring Sophie. She didn't even see the girl walk up. "After what Brant said, he thought that you didn't make it. It would be sad to lose a friend before actually knowing them first." She said that so warmly that it shook Sophie a bit.

"Well, it was my choice to stay behind. I was looking for something they took for me," She said, she tugged on her lashes, "Something very valuable. Turns out they didn't have it after all." She untucked the pendant from her tunic, letting Glimmer see it, then tucking it back in so that it was safe.

That reminded her of something, her father. Gethan was here on this base and likely going to be there at the meeting, the thought irked her. She really didn't want to see him, even if he wanted to see her.

The Reynn girl led them to a room with a big circle table in the middle with six elves sitting in it. She recognised four out of the five, Fintan, Gisela, Brant...Gethan, the others weren't hard to guess after that. Vespera and the other Redek.

"Welcome to Valkonian," Fintan said.

She didn't bother to look at her father as she sat down, she looked at Brant. And smiled, "I'm back, and all in one piece."

He smiled back at her, "Glad to hear that, kid."

//

"So the plans tomorrow are intact," Gisela said, "Girls, come with me. We need to go shopping for you all tomorrow."

She led them to the leapmaster, "This will take you to my friend's place, Magenta's Magik. My treat, use it well."

We ended up in Mysterium, the store was pretty upbeat for being in an alley. Glimmer held the door open for her, Linh, and Reynn, "Thank you," She muttered, stepping in and was swept off her feet when she saw all the dresses in the shop. This was her own personal hell.