A/N: Hewwo!! Update!!

They landed in the ocean, too far away from human eyes to see the figures falling out of the void, but close enough that some people on the beach thought there was a storm nearby.

But like humans, they waved it off for something else, or Fourth of July fireworks, even though they were illegal in the state of California, and it was nowhere near the Fourth of July.

The group was also lucky, for police sirens had been sounding in their direction, and some more suspicious people figured a gun had gone off.

And they did not care about the potential of human lives being lost, for it wasn't them or anyone they knew, so it must be some criminals that deserved to pay for their crimes, since they weren't cooperating with the police.

No one investigated the strange crack of thunder, or fireworks, or gunshots, and though our group lucked out, the reasoning behind it was saddening.

Sophie came up spurting salt water out of her mouth, treading water like she had been taught in swim school, while the others, except for Linh, were shocked out of their minds.

"Sophie! I thought we were going to Havenfield or Foxfire, or anywhere else BUT THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN?!"

Quickly, Sophie stripped off a glove, grabbing Linh's hand, who gasped and automatically made a nice little water float for the rest of them, drying them off in the process.

Sophie was startled too.

Was that really Fitz she had heard?

Or was her heart just playing tricks on her mind?

"I'm sorry guys. I—I thought I heard something and I guess I accidentally followed it."

Tam scowled at Sophie, but the malicious intent wasn't as concentrated as it might have been before.

There was a shock, but also a need to do something about it in Sophie's eyes, and inwardly sighing, Tam knew that their trip wasn't over yet.

"What do you mean Sophie?"

"I—I...I thought, maybe, I heard Fitz transmitting to me."

Biana gasped at the news, but her face fell immediately.

"Sophie, are you sure? He's—We saw the Neverseen....you know."

Her voice trailed off, and Linh gathered Biana in her arms, and Dex placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Keefe struggled to sit up, the flotation water thing like a water bed, unsteady but firm.

"Sophie. Are you sure?"

She looked at Keefe, and the need to find his best friend looked back at her.

"I—I think so. I hope so."

She had tugged out three eyelashes at this point, and was reaching for a fourth when Tam grabbed her hand, holding it in place.

"Before everyone jumps into action, what's our plan? We have no idea where we are, or where Fitz is, and we're in the middle of the ocean. We need a plan. This might be a trap. You never know."

Sophie nodded sullenly.

Tam's voice softened as he addressed everyone around him.

"I miss Fitz as much as you guys. But we need to think this through. If we're gonna look for Fitz, we need a plan. How are we going to get out of the ocean without attracting attention to ourselves? Sophie, it's been over three years since you last came here. Things change in the human world all the time. We don't know any of that. How will we fit in? Our clothes make us stand out. How will we get human clothes? We can't speak the language. ALso, we have no way of contacting anyone from the Lost Cities. We need to cover the basics first."

Sophie nodded again, Tam's words making sense.

"Well, I can speak English, so I'll translate for all of us, but I have no idea of societal customs today. I guess I can send Biana to take a look around, Enhance her, and take Dex with us to hack into an ATM like last time."

Tam nodded, smiling just a smidge.

"And then what? We need a place to stay."

"I can rent us a motel. Basically, people have a giant home with lots of rooms that you pay to sleep in when you're traveling. And in a motel, they usually accept walk-ins and ask less questions."

Sophie bit her lip.

"You guys have to stay by the beach though. And no abilities."

Linh raised her hand.

"Can I come with you guys too? I don't think I can stay here much longer."

"Then I'm coming too."

Both Dex and Tam spoke at the same time, and the latter sent the former a look.

Sophie just sighed, thinking about the logistics of the plan.

"Biana, do you think you could hold your Vanish over all of us if I Enhance you?"

She thought for a moment, but ultimately shook her head.

"I'm too tired. At most I'll be able to take three other people."

"Okay. Dex, you're coming with me and Linh. We need money."

"Alright."

Sophie turned to Tam.

"You and Keefe can stay out of trouble, right? And just play in the water quietly, or lay out in the sand and wait for us to come back?"

Tam sighed, but knew that he would have to stay behind.

"Yeah. I guess. Just hurry back."

Sophie nodded.

"We will. Stay on the beach where we leave you. The sun is just above our heads, which means noon-ish. We'll be back in two hours."

Linh took the group to shore, and they all stumbled onto the sand, laughing as though they had just been playing in the deeper waters, and Sophie bade Tam and Keefe goodbye.

The boys staying behind quickly looked around, and seeing that the other boys their age didn't have on shirts, they took off their outermost garments.

Well, Keefe did.

Tam took off his cloak, but hesitated over his jerkin.

It was already ripped in some places, but he was a little self conscious about his body, and Keefe saw him pause.

"You don't have to take off your jerkin. Or I won't look. Just lay on the sand."

Tam bit his lip, looking down.

"Not everyone has a glorious body like mine."

Keefe ran his fingers through his matted hair, and Tam scowled.

"It's not that."

He turned away, stripping off his jerkin, and wrapping his cloak around him, but not before Keefe could see the edges of a scar running along his ribs.

The wound had looked deep, and below the scar was a new wound, bright red, and scabbing.

Tam hissed when the cool air met his wound, and tried to pick out bits of sand.

"Do you want some help with that?"

"No. It's your fault I got this AGAIN anyways."

Keefe inwardly flinched at Tam's harsh words, slicing in his heart.

"So it's like that again, huh."

Tam just sighed.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to trust you."

Keefe didn't have to be touching him to feel the bitterness in his heart.

"I get it."

"No. I don't really think you do."

The conversation died there, but after Tam hissed again at his peeling wound, Keefe got up and tapped Tam's shoulder.

"Come on. There has to be some fresh water around here. I've seen people with already wet hair come to the beach."

"They could have already gone in the water."

"I guess so. But they must want to get sand off of their bodies. Let's go."

Grumbling, Tam stood up with Keefe, and they walked towards the top of the beach.

As they passed, some teenagers stopped and stared, and a couple of guys and girls started to talk behind their hands to their friends, pulling out their phones and taking photos.

Causally, two girls came giggling up to the boys, and asked if they could get their Instagram.

Tam started to panic, mostly because he didn't know what the HECK Instagram was, and in halting English, he spoke quietly.

"I'm sorry. I do not know what you are talking about. Bye."

One of the girls scoffed.

"Ugh. You're probably one of those gay Chinese boys that wears a bunch of makeup. You're not worth my time nor the air you breathe."

She walked away in a loud huff, and even though the boys didn't know what she said, the tone still hurt, and Tam pressed his lips together.

Quietly, he stepped away, walking faster, and the people who were talking about how attractive the boys were were now talking about how it was their fault Coronavirus was around, and how they should just shoot the rats they brought with them along with their owners.

Keefe glared at the tittering groups, burning to yell at them, and hurried after Tam.

They walked on in silence, the crunchy sand becoming more rocky as they walked.

Gingerly, Tam held his cloak tightly around him, wincing as the sharp rocks dug into his skin.

Keefe also watched where he stepped, stumbling a few times, as his head still spun if he moved too quickly.

Tam was looking around, and noticed a few people wearing a cloth covering their lower face, though some showed their nose.

"I wonder why they're wearing those cloth things on their face."

Keefe looked up, and finally noticed the scattered handful of people wearing them.

"Strange. Sophie didn't mention this."

Keefe smirked.

"I wonder how much they hate their face."

Tam just rolled his eyes, looking around for something like the things Sophie had described as showers.

By a short building with a metal crest on the top of a slope were some metal poles that people stood by, and water sprayed out of them.

"What's that?"

Tam pointed with his chin, and Keefe brightened.

"I think that's it!"

They walked up the slope, ignoring the passing stares.

Keefe and Tam waited off to the side until enough people had used the showers that the boys had one all to themselves.

Tam had watched the people before him use the metal poles, and it looked like if you pushed a button, water came out of the little spigot.

"Keefe, can you press it for me please?"

"Yeah, sure."

They washed off their toes first, as the sand wasn't as fine as they were used to, but Tam hesitated when his feet were clean.

"I don't want to show everyone here, but you won't make a big fuss, right? You'll look away?"

Tam looked at Keefe, eyes earnest, and Keefe was so honored by this moment of vulnerability that he nodded, and biting his lip, Tam slowly opened up his cloak.

He tried to clean up the angry wound and hold his cloak barely open, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough hands to clean his wound without hurting himself further.

Gritting his teeth, Tam forced himself to swallow his pride and ask Keefe for help.

"Keefe, could you please—"

Tam gritted his teeth.

These were not easy words to say.

But he didn't have to say it.

Keefe just looked up at Tam, bending down and with a piece of cloth he ripped from his cloak, Keefe gently dabbed at Tam's wound.

It hurt, but not as much as it did when he was trying to multitask.

"Thanks."

"It's the least I could do."

They went back to the shoreline, the sun a little lower in the sky and just laid down on the sand.

Sophie came back later with Dex, Biana, and Linh, looking rattled.

"Okay. So I figured out that we're at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. That's a city in North County San Diego, which is located in California, a state of the United States of America on the West Coast. Largest state by population. Also happens to be the city I lived in. Also, everyone is wearing masks. So if Fitz was here, it's going to be so much harder. I've gotten us all masks. You put it on your face, tucking the loops around your ears and have it cover both your nose and mouth."

Sophie handed them out to everyone, and Biana made a face.

"This fabric is so itchy. Remind me why we have to wear these again?"

"So we don't stand out and get in trouble. That would be super bad."

"And cover this gorgeous face?"

But everyone put on the masks.

Tam snatched the black one and Keefe took this awesome pink, green, and blue swirled mask.

Biana had asked for the most fashionable mask, so she got the lavender and silver one.

Linh received a patterned cloud mask, Dex got a plain gray mask, and Sophie picked up a black mask for herself also.

"I also got us some quick tourist t-shirts. Please put these on Tam and Keefe. They were the cheapest I could find. I want to save our money for other things. San Diego can be an expensive place."

Sophie tossed Tam and Keefe matching 'I love San Diego' shirts.

Tam looked incredulous, and Keefe just cackled with delight.

Eagerly, he put it on, and slowly, crying on the inside, Tam put his on also.

Biana and the others were all wearing similar shirts, but Tam looked the most miserable by far.

Grumbling, he tugged his bangs over his eyes, hunching his shoulders, and looking really emo about it.

Linh grinned with delight, and Biana smiled.

"Come on Tammy Boy! We're in the Forbidden Cities!"

Refusing to say anything about the shirt, Tam followed the group as Sophie led them to a motel a few miles into the city.

"Are we there yet?"

Keefe was whining, and Biana wasn't far behind.

It had been an hour, as Sophie kept on getting lost (it had been awhile since she was in the Forbidden Cities and almost got ran over by a car or bike 7 times.)

They were all tired, and exhausted from being on high alert at all times.

Sophie was carrying a shockingly large amount of money on her in gift cards and cash in a backpack, along with a newly purchased Samsung tablet.

Dex had managed to hack into the registry of a hotel through the website, and gotten them two adjoining rooms.

Now, they just had to get there.

"Yes. It's across the street."

Sophie pointed to Rodeway Inn, and everyone sighed with relief.

They hurried across the street, and though the staff gave them a slightly funny look, they got their rooms without much hassle, (Keefe charmed the hotel staff wordlessly, and Biana just existed.)

"I'm going to run over to the supermarket—"

"Supermarket?"

"Uh, it's like a place with food and stuff you can buy and I'll be back. You guys, don't touch anything. Just sit on the beds."

Gratefully, Tam and the others sat down on the beds, resting their tired and over-stimulated bodies.

Sophie went in and out, bringing with her a large amount of vegetarian ramen and microwave dinners for everyone to choose from, along with some fruits and vegetables and snacks, and utensils.

For herself, Sophie got a frozen CPK barbeque chicken pizza, practically drooling at the mere thought of it.

Everyone was a little bit more excited when Sophie came back (they were obedient and hadn't moved in case they broke something), and were excited to try human food.

They were hungry and it was food.

That's all that could be said about their reactions, although Dex seemed to really enjoy the ramen.

Sophie on the other hand, she ate like it was her first meal in eons.

Scarfing down her pizza, and then cleaning up the leftover ramen, eating all the Doritos, and gulping down the spicy Cheetos and washing it down with Caprisun.

It was bliss.

She was so happy, even after a long day, and everyone was happy for Sophie.

It was hard to stay optimistic, and even Linh had a hard time sometimes.

So it was good to see Sophie so happy with just food.

Sophie picked up all the trash, went to brush her teeth, and crashed out on one of the double beds in the girls' room.

She was spread like a sea star, so after tucking her in, Linh and Biana crawled into the second bed, and the boys went to their own room.

This arrangement was significantly more complicated, but Tam and Dex used their telekinesis to move the beds closer to each other, and they slept across the two beds.

It was awkward to some extent, but everyone basically passed out before things could get to a "I can't exist next to you" kind of awkward.

Sophie had purchased some cereal and milk the day before, so that's what the group ate for breakfast the next day.

It wasn't anything like a breakfast in the Lost Cities, but everyone seemed to understand that sometimes, you didn't really go somewhere for the food.

You went to find something.

And that's what they were here for.

So after breakfast, they set out again.

Sophie was desperately trying to recreate the shock and relief she felt when Fitz transmitted to her, but it simply wasn't working.

With all the calls she sent out, she got nothing back.

They spent the whole day looking for him, their feet aching for a rest, but their hearts pressing on.

The sun had gone down hours before when Sophie decided to call it a night.

Exhausted, the team went back to the motel, kicking their feet.

It had been so hard to trek all the streets, looking for a ghost when they had almost forgotten how to hope.

In her room, Sophie scrolled through Google and YouTube, trying to catch up on all that she had missed.

COVID-19 had been one of the biggest shocks, and she couldn't fathom the human world being shut down by a tiny virus.

She also couldn't believe the hate that came with the past years.

Googling "Biggest events from 2012-2021" didn't help at all.

8 years was a long time to be gone, and the results that popped up overwhelmed her.

New presidents, new trends, new pain.

Sophie had forgotten how chaotic and individually life-threatening it had been living here, and her heart ached for so many people.

She turned off the blue light, and closed her eyes.

How was she going to find Fitz in this mess?

Could she even help him if she did?

A/N: I've just read a book called I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman, and WHOOOOO THE FEELS IF Y'ALL WANT TO READ A BOOK FOR FEELS READ IT AND WEEP :D 

Three mains, a hurting (has emo vibes for me) lonely and pretty boy, a girl with a clear heart for people, and a boy who carries the burden of both perfection and shame. Please read it. It's absolutely bomb. 

The feels remind me of this song. There's a certain kind of desperation that simply resonates. 

https://youtu.be/I9QHKxBjnLA

It's the kind of writing that rings, and though I usually don't reread books in the same week, I did it, and it was all encompassing. Please, read it.