Moonlark Turned Evil

24: Phoenix

End of year tests came and went with little event. Only one or two prodigies dropped out, and Magnate Leto—who had been elected principal after Alina's death—seemed quite happy with the remaining students' results.

The afterparty was held at Dex's, and mostly involved chasing Lex, Bex and Rex around. They ended up tying the triplets to a post in the kitchen.

Sophie also managed to befriend Linh and her brother Tam while they were cleaning Elwin's house, and invited them over to Havenfield. They had accepted, but she was pretty sure it would take some time before they came over.

School officially let out in early October, and it seemed stupid to let an opportunity for a party to go to waste. Despite her earlier prediction, Tam and Linh both came to the party Sophie hosted in Havenfield. They spent the day helping Grady in the pastures, baking with Edaline, and learning about how to celebrate Halloween. 

Because really, it would be a waste to not celebrate Halloween.

Between sparring and rank wars--which she completely smashed--and helping around Havenfield with the new animals, October whizzed by.

It was four days before Halloween that Irily came to visit her.

Grady and Edaline had gone out for the day to go shopping in various elfy places, and Sophie had gone around Havenfield's grounds to make sure the Halloween decorations she had set up were still fine after last night's snow.

Irily had appeared in front of her as she was returning to the house. She was shivering and coughing--Sophie would later learn that shadow traveling took a toll on the body--so Sophie brought her inside and offered her a mug of hot chocolate.

The news she brought was far from festive.

"Gisela is planning to betray you, Ales."

Sophie pushed her words into the back of her mind as Halloween came by.

Since there was no Trick or Treat, it basically just involved dressing up in strange costumes and carving pumpkins. When it got dark, they decided on an impromptu sleepover--and Sophie even managed to convince Tam and Linh to stay. That turned into spooky stories and came a little too close to Spin the Bottle.

They ate candy at midnight and challenged each other to stay up the whole night--but everyone ended up falling asleep before 3, piled in a heap on the makeshift beds in the living room.

Sophie pulled the October page off her calendar.

November was just as fast.

She often found herself wading through the ever-thickening snow drifts to one of the empty pastures in the back.

The thought of Gisela betraying her wasn't too hard to believe. She'd always been ambitious, not the type to shy away from anything she thought would help her achieve her goals.

What Sophie didn't like was that there was nothing she could do about it. Well, that and she had no way to confirm if Irily was telling the truth.

She was restless.

She'd been on this mission for a year now, and she had no idea what Gisela's motive for sending her here had been anyway. She was just sitting duck, undercover, guarding a person that wasn't even in danger.

Sophie sighed, her breath clouding the air in front of her.

Really, the only thing she could do right now was try her best at her current mission and watch her back. She'd already been doing that, actually, ever since the Elys' declaration of war. The Moonlark--or 'Ales' or whatever people called her--was the kind of weapon everyone wanted on their side. Some people might actually resort to killing her to stop her from doing something unpredictable.

So, she did exactly that. She tried to stick by Keefe more than usual, which resulted in no small amount of teasing. She welcomed it, however, trying to block out the doubts nestling in the back of her mind.

Wouldn't it be better to just leave the Neverseen?  some part of her whispered.

If she was being honest with herself, she would love to. Somewhere in her fantasies, she could leave the Neverseen with her friends. Maybe establish her own rebel group, and turn the tide of the war so that it could end before it started properly.

But, even if she left the Neverseen . . .

"I have nowhere else to go," she said to the ceiling one night.

In late November, she gathered up her courage and talked to Glimmer about her worries. To her surprise, the Flasher laughed and hugged her.

December came as Sophie began recruiting. In the space of a mere two days, her army doubled in size. She checked thoroughly through the minds of everyone who joined, and didn't find a single person who seemed like they would betray her.

By the end of four days, she was pretty sure half the Neverseen was on her side.

She also sent a letter to the Black Swan's Collective by way of Tiergan. The reply came back rather quickly, and with the date for their meeting set, Sophie could move on to more mundane things. Namely, Christmas.

The different Guilds in the Neverseen took turns holding the Christmas festivities, and it just so happened that this year was the Guild of Moonlit Shadows' turn.

Normally, Sophie would need to do everything herself, since she was captain. And, normally, she would have. But she was busy right now. It was justifiable.

Right?

Glimmer ended up with the half-finished project, which she finished without complaint.

The meeting with the Collective went a lot smoother than Sophie had imagined. Especially since she had basically just said that the former members of the Neverseen who had formed yet another rebel group were willing to ally themselves with the Black Swan if the latter cut all ties with the Council.

Forkle had promised to think about it.

She also managed to get Irily over onto her side--a huge win, since now it meant there was a mole in the Elys.

By the end of the week, Sophie was backed by a huge army and was feeling pretty satisfied.

She then gathered her executive officers.

"Forkle will take a few days to get back to us, it seems," Sophie reported. "I mean, we did ask him to sever ties with the Council. Glimmer, how are those Christmas preparations going?"

"Fine," the Flasher sighed.

"Sophie, you should be more responsible!" Elen scolded. "Throwing a project that large on your subordinates is not a good way for a leader to conduct themselves."

"Wait, since when is Sophster our leader?" Fayn interrupted.

"What he said," Sophie agreed. "I thought we were going to do, like, some kind of equal management thing."

"Well then, we can make Sophie our leader in title only," Gethen said.

"And is no one going to mention that we don't have a name?" Fintan asked.

"Can we do like, I don't know, Neverseen Reincarnated or something?" Ruy tried.

"That's the best thing you could think of?" Glimmer teased him. "Neverseen Reincarnated."

Alvar raised his hand. Sophie nodded to him.

"What about Phoenix, then?" he asked.

"Should we call a vote?" Sophie asked.

Nine hands stretched into the air. 

Unanimous.

It was the first of many meetings to come between the leaders of Phoenix.