The Forgotten Sibling

Chapter 15

The phone buzzed in Riley's pocket. Surprised, she fished it out of her pocket. It was an incoming call from Sam. She accepted the call and it turned to a facetime.

"Hey!" Sam said.

"Hi! How's everything going?"

She nodded. "It's going good. Tommy and Marissa are here."

Riley's heart quickened when she heard Tommy's name. For the longest time, she's had a massive crush on Tommy, but she was worried that he wouldn't reflect her feelings.

Sam smirked. "Yeah, I know you're happy to hear about him. He's doing good, everyone is doing good."

"Don't you dare say anything else."

Behind her, Carlos raised his hands innocently. "I'm not saying anything."

Riley narrowed his eyes at him. "Uh huh."

"Anyway, we called because we want to show them something," Sam said.

"Alright." Riley went up to Clauchice and showed her the phone. She nodded with understanding and flicked her tail. A projection flickered into existence, and the facetime soon appeared on the screen.

"Do I still need my phone?" she asked her.

She shook her head. "No need anymore. This basically acts as a second phone, so it will not disconnect if you turn off your phone."

Satisfied that she no longer needed it, she closed the facetime and turned off her phone.

That's when she realized that the background behind Sam was dusty red. She thought it was a filter until she noticed that there was no fuzziness that surrounded Sam.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Uh..." She turned to Carlos. "Carlos?"

"We're.. Down here," he admitted.

"WHAT?"

"What are they doing there?" Clauchice asked, shocked.

"I knew you would react like that," Carlos said. "Which is why we decided to tell you now instead of earlier. Are you mad?"

Riley thought about this. "No," she responded. "More like worried. What are you guys doing down there?"

"A certain Catwing talked to us and told us that we needed to retrieve the gem to stop the control that Jhaufyther has on him," Sam explained.

Jhaufyther. She had her own news to share: that Jhaufyther got worse and was barely hanging on to his life source. If they didn't get the gem, he would dim faster than he was meant to.

"Are you sure it isn't a trap?" Lhrioun asked, who came up behind Clauchice.

Carlos nodded. "Yes, I am. I sensed it down here; the power it gives off is unbelievable."

"Was Star Tail sincere?" Clauchice asked.

"Clauchice... I don't want to make it seem like your brother is bad, but..."

Riley knew what Carlos was about to say, but she didn't stop him. She wanted Clauchice to hear this.

"But what?" Clauchice frowned.

"Star Tail... he sounded like he was being strangled. Like he was being choked by something," Carlos said.

Clauchice took a step back. "I thought... I thought he wouldn't persist," she whispered.

"He is," Sam said. "He's clearly not well. I'm guessing being forgotten does that to your mind."

"He isn't being forgotten," Lhrioun said firmly.