New World

Chapter Twenty-three

"There is good news," Magnate Leto added. "We've found out that Cerulean isn't truly a Hydrokinetic."

"That's good news?" Sophie huffed. "That just means the Neverseen's fooling us again! So, what's his real ability?"

"We don't know!" Magnate Leto snapped. "For all we know, Cerulean is Talentless! We do know that his Hydrokinesis during lessons was nothing more than party tricks. He was never very talented in his ability, anyway, and his teacher, Linh Endal, said that he was never able to perform up to standards, too."

"Oh, Linh's his teacher?" Sophie asked absently, sounding curious. Savi inwardly facepalmed. Why couldn't they discuss something more vital, more important? But she supposed that was what would happen when she spied. She'd probably barge in on Sophie and Keefe kissing all the time too.

"Yes, there weren't many available Hydrokinetics, and they didn't want to train a Tsynis." Magnate Leto sighed. "I keep thinking, if there weren't all that prejudice because of Brant, maybe Cerulean wouldn't have turned out this way."

"He probably wouldn't have," Sophie agreed. "What beats me is why Savi turned."

Oh, so were they doing conspiracy theories about her now? Savi listened with some curiosity this time.

"She was bitter." A new voice joined in the conversation, and Keefe entered the room, his cloak covering his head. He threw back the hood, revealing his perfect blonde hair, and Sophie dashed over to him. They looked like they were going to kiss, but after Keefe glanced up at Magnate Leto eyeing them disapprovingly, he gently pushed Sophie away.

"What do you mean, she was bitter?" Leto asked.

Keefe shrugged. "We kind of neglected her, you know? After the twins. I know some kids are okay with that, but Savi gets all sorts of attention because she's got us as parents. Then, when she started school, Via and Harmony kind of ditched her. You can already see she didn't have a close bond with us, didn't trust us, because she blocked us out instantly. That's not right, for kids Savi's age. She's only eleven; at that age, I was busy confiding into Mommy Dearest, even though she was plain evil! We're clearly not evil, but she didn't even bother telling us what's going on. I guess maybe she was annoyed we only started paying attention to her when she was acting up."

Sophie buried her head in her hands and whispered something unintelligible. Keefe put his arm around her, and Magnate Leto let out a shuddering sigh. Savi sniggered. It was his problem that he'd never fallen in love before. She was used to all these cringe things that Sophie and Keefe did. She didn't like it, exactly, but she'd gotten used to it. Leto clearly needed some pointers.

"She didn't trust you," Leto said eventually.

Keefe spread his arms wide. "Why wouldn't she trust her dad with super awesome hair?"

"This is not a joke!" Magnate Leto shouted, his voice echoing throughout the house.

Keefe shrugged. "Then you picked the wrong person to discuss this with, huh?"

"She is YOUR DAUGHTER!" Leto snarled. "Do you not care?"

"Of course I care!" Keefe snapped. "But she'll come back on her own!"

"I don't think so," Sophie said quietly. Keefe stopped arguing immediately, glancing down at her.

"Why not?" he asked, in a softer tone than he'd used against Leto.