After Stellarlune

Chapter Fourteen

When Sophie headed down the pastures the next morning, thirty minutes before she was supposed to meet with the councilors, she couldn't help feeling an unusual sense of excitement in the pastures. The gnomes were working, but there was a skip to their steps. They always loved work, but instead of being quiet, like they normally did, the gnomes were shouting to each other, and talking excitedly. 

"Is there anything we can help you with?" A shorter than the average 3 foot tall gnome, with long curly hair asked Sophie.

"No, thank you," Sophie said. 

The gnome smiled at her, and waved as she skipped away.

"Hey Foster!"

Sophie turned to see Keefe striding down the pastures from the grove. His hair was just as perfectly styled as always, and his eyes were sparkling, instead of the dark circles Sophie had gotten used to.

"Hi," Sophie said. "Are you ready?"

Keefe shoulders drooped a little bit, but he kept a small smile on his face as he said, "As ready as I'll ever be."

Sophie took his hand. "It's going to be okay."

But she was nervous too. What if knowing who the Neverseen were would cause more problems then it would solve. Part of her just wanted to lock them up, and never reveal their identities. But she knew they had to. So she would do it.

"What time is everyone else coming?" Keefe asked. 

"Everyone should be here in a couple minutes," Sophie said. She had hailed all of her friends that morning, and told them what they were doing, and even though some of them looked scared, no one hesitated to say they were coming.

"Are you going to be okay?" Keefe asked. His eyes had an intense emotion in them that Sophie couldn't name, but she could tell he was more scared then her.

"I'll be able to make it through," she said. "But are you going to be okay?"

Keefe nodded. "Don't worry about me Foster. Worry about you."

"I'll always worry about you," Sophie said, flinching when she realized how sappy that sounded. 

But... they were dating now, so maybe it was okay.

"Hey guys!" Biana and Fitz were walking towards them. Biana had a smile on her face, but Sophie let go of Keefe's hand when she saw Fitz. He was staring at the dirt, and he had an angry shadow over his face.

"Hey Biana, Fitz," Keefe said. 

"Hi," Fitz mumbled. Sophie saw Keefe frown, and she hoped she wasn't tearing apart Keefe and Fitz's friendship. 

Marella came next, and she quickly ran over to the small group. 

"I'm glad I could make it," she said. "My dad is on a long trip, but luckily my mom was having a good day today, so I could come. But I'll probably have to leave after we... you know."

"I'm glad you could come too," Sophie said.

Linh and Tam came with Wylie and Maruca, and Dex and Jensi came next.

"Who invited Stina?" Biana groaned when Stina came strutting down the pastures.

Sophie hadn't wanted to invite her, but Stina was a part of their group now, and Sophie thought she needed to be there.

"Are we ready to get started?" Mr. Forkle asked as the collective flashed into view right at ten.

"I'm here," Rayni said, coming up behind them.

"We're just waiting for the council to show up," Keefe said, grumbling something about the councilors being late to their own meeting.

The councilors shimmered into view a few minutes later, and Emory silently led them to the enclosure where the Neverseen were being held. When they got there, Sophie could see the Neverseen stirring, as they started to wake up.