a little short, but hope you guys like it :)

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because she awoke to the sound of soft footsteps on the oak floor. Blinking her eyes open blearily, she saw that the fire in the hearth had died down, only a few red embers remaining. Gray daylight filtered through the window in the wall and the skylights up above, casting a pale pallor on the room.

James was making his way towards them, his gaze meeting hers as he approached. He didn't ask how long she had been there, only said, "How is he doing?"

Sophia uncurled herself, noticing the feeling coming back to her legs as she stretched. "He was awake for a while last night," she said to James, patting her hair. It was a mess; she could feel it. Thankfully, there was no drool at the corners of her mouth, at least. Finger-brushing her hair and putting it into a messy bun, she asked, "What time is it?"

"Barely seven."

"Jesus." Sophia rubbed her eyes, pushing herself to her feet. She glanced at James, noting the dark shadows under his eyes and the rumpled state of his clothes. "How are you doing?"

James shrugged, dragging a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I'm fine."

"Pity." The voice was Valentino's, and both Sophia and James turned to look at him. He was blinking sleepy gold eyes at them, a rumpled curl of hair falling onto his forehead.

James immediately went and knelt down beside him, looking Valentino in the eye. "Val, how do you feel? How's the wound?"

Valentino gave him an exasperated look. "You know I've had worse." But he checked anyway, pulling down the collar of his sweatshirt and peeling off the corner of the bandage with a grimace. "It's almost healed." Sitting up, he ripped off the entire bandage, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it at James. "Can you throw that out? Thanks."

James glared at him but got up, tossing the bandage into a small trash can several feet away. "You owe me."

"Sure, sure." Valentino turned to look at her. "Good morning, Sophia. I feel like I had a dream about you last night. Was it a dream?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. Are you sure you didn't hit your head too hard when you were hit?"

He opened his mouth to retort, but then turned his head toward the doors, just as they opened and Kaly came in, the rest of the team trailing behind her. Her expression was grim, mouth set in a straight line. As she came closer, Sophia noticed a folded sheet of paper in her hand, creamy white and thick like stationary. She looked to Sam, but her friend only shrugged, mouthing, Where were you?

Sophia was saved by Kaly, who said, "We all need to talk." And then, noticing Valentino, she asked, "How are you?"

Valentino waved her off. "I'm fine."

Kaly nodded and the turned to look at all of them. "We have been called to a bureau meeting in Palaris, but we have to go through the Wind Kingdom first." Palaris, the capital of Asteri itself, wasn't divided by Element. It was a small island situated in the middle of the ocean, halfway between the Ice Kingdom and Avalon, though the only people who lived there were all in the city. Because it housed the entirety of the Asterian government, the only way to get to Palaris was from somewhere else in Asteri. Sophia had heard that it was beautiful, but then again, which Asterian capital wasn't? "The Principatus sent a letter through the Zephyr this morning," Kaly continued, slipping the sheet of paper into her back pocket. There was a slight frown on her face, as though she wasn't sure what to make of this sudden call to Palaris.

The Zephyr. Sophia had always heard of Elementales using Aeros's North Wind to send messages, but she herself had never used it. In her mind, texting was so much easier and more efficient, but more traditional Elementales, especially older ones like those in the Principatus, often looked down on electronics.

"A bureau meeting?" Adrian said, brows creased. He was standing near the fireplace, his sword strapped to his back like always.

Kaly nodded, worrying at her lower lip. "Both the Principatus and some members of the Senate will be there. The letter didn't specify what the meeting will be about, but it did say we should be there as soon as possible." She glanced at Valentino. "Are you able to go?"

"Yeah." Valentino didn't look particularly concerned, but James looked unconvinced.

Kaly shrugged. "Alright. It's your decision." Valentino only nodded, and Kaly continued, "Prepare whatever you need and be ready to go in fifteen minutes. We'll meet in the lobby."

The six of them exited. Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia could see Valentino just barely leaning on James's shoulder, his gold eyes dark.

"So where were you last night?" Sam asked as they made their way through the open hallways of the academy. "I heard you leaving at midnight, but I didn't hear you come back."

Sophia shrugged. "I couldn't sleep." Her answer was short; for some reason, she didn't want to tell Samantha where she had really been. At least it was the partial truth. She could see Samantha looking at her dubiously out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored her. They had arrived at their room, the door protesting loudly as Sophia pushed it open.

Strapping her swords across her back, Sophia said, "I wonder what the bureau meeting's about." Her eyes widened. "Do you think maybe they're requiring all households have a phone and need our expert opinion? I heard they were planning on doing that once and-"

Samantha cut her off with a look of exasperation. "I think that seems highly unlikely. Highly," she repeated. And then her eyes turned serious. "Actually, though, I think it's probably something to do with the case. I guess we'll see soon."

"Yeah. I guess," Sophia echoed.

Kaly was waiting for them in the lobby as she said, Loren standing beside her. James, Valentino, and Adrian were coming down the stairs behind them, swords strapped to their backs. Taking out her baton, Kaly created a Gateway and the seven of them stepped through it into the Kingdom of Wind. 

A/N: hey guysss! happy december if i haven't said that to you already ;) PLEASE vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter- it truly means so much to me <3

dedication: this one goes to kaylinmerilyn! thank you so much for your votes and i hope you'll continue to enjoy this story :))