Unedited.

"Eliza." Anne said as she looked surprised when Eliza walked into their house with Sandor. "Hey, sorry about today." Sophie apologized. Anne bit her lip, before speaking. "It's fine...I... I talked with my Dad earlier."

Meaning Wylie had talked to Tiergan, and he had told him the plan. "Sorry to lay that all on you." Sophie said as she pulled her boots off, meaning the council work. "It's... It's alright." Anne said. "Oh, this is Sandy, my brother, he'll be staying with us." Sophie said introducing her 'brother' Anne nodded. "Nice to see you again." She told Sandor who nodded to her, as he sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose, remembering he was part elf now. Sophie sat down on the couch with a sigh.

Rubbing her aching head. Fitz wouldn't stop calling to her, and his heartbroken voice was ripping into her heart. "Are you okay?" Anne asked. Sophie nodded, "Just....shocked I guess." She said. "No doubt." Anne said, "Did it hurt?" She asked as she set poured Sophie some water. "Just a tiny bit." Sophie said. Looking at her shaking tan hands, she clenched them to fists to stop it. The truth was seeing herself die in front of her own eyes had shook her up more than she liked to admit. Her nerves couldn't seem to calm. Anne handed the water to Sophie, before sitting down next to her. Sandor went to search the small house.

"Just calm down. It's for the better..." Anne said rubbing a warm hand on Sophie's shoulder. "I sure hope so...I hate putting them through this...again." Sophie said. Anne wrapped her arm around Sophie. "They're strong. They've been through it once they can do it again. You just have to believe in them." Anne said rubbing her shoulder, Sophie nodded. "Okay. You're right. They are strong." She said, not sure if she were trying to convince herself or the dull teal eyes she had seen across the players field.

~

Fitz stared at his wrecked room. Every picture frame was broken, every drawer was ripped out of his dresser.

His clothes were strewn around the room, and more than a few holes were in the walls. His mattress was ripped off his bed, the bed frame was broken and smashed to splinters. The nightstand had been thrown across the room and made a large dent in the wall and fallen to the ground, books splaying out from the drawers, along with pens, pencils and notes.

The closet was disoriented havoc, she couldn't possibly be dead. The hollow feeling in Fitz's chest kept digging, farther and farther into him. Emptying all feeling out of him. Fitz's shaky legs collapsed beneath him and he fell in the middle of the chaos, his insides were in turmoil, and every second it felt like Fitz was going to be sick. The mirror in his bathroom was smashed to shards, and everything else was trashed. Every part of him wanted to throw up the news and act like it had never come.

But he had seen Elwin nod. Fitz managed to get to the bathroom, as everything rushed up. Leaning over the toilet he heaved, his eyesight blurring as his stomach burned as it gave everything up. Wiping his mouth Fitz let out a raspy breath. She couldn't be gone...

Their bond was still there! He had heard her talk after Elwin had nodded. She wasn't supposed to die...not her...

Fitz found himself sitting in the middle of shards of broken mirror, his tears burned his cheeks, why couldn't he have saved her? Why had he invited her to the stupid game?! Why did it have to be her?!

Fitz found himself slamming his foot into the wall, again, and again, and again, until his leg gave out in exhaustion, leaving a massive hole in the wall. Fitz's body shook, whether from anger, exhaustion, or fear he didn't know. Curling his knees to him he clenched every muscle, but the shaking didn't stop. He was cold, freezing, inside was a raging wild fire and outside was a blizzard. Breathing on his numb hands, he heard his door creak open a crack, before hitting the mattress.

A quiet sigh sounded through the room before the door was shoved open, flinging the mattress from the door, Alden walked in. Closing the door behind him, he observed the chaos, before finding his turmoil stricken son, sitting in a defence position, clinging to his knees, his head tucked tightly against them. Alden walked over and sat next to his son. The crunch of glass sounded as he sat down, the glass dug uncomfortably into their pants, and hand. "It shouldn't have been her." Fitz mumbled. Alden had to take a moment to divulge the words into a meaningful sentence.

"No, it shouldn't have." Alden agreed. Fitz shivered "I..h-heard her Dad." He chattered. "Our b-bond is s-still th-there." He said. "What?" Alden asked. "She to-told me 'some dead people don't stay dead' why would she say that?!" Fitz shouted. Alden stood, pulling his son with him, they walked out of the bathroom. Alden shook out the blanket. "I don't know why she would say that." Alden said wrapping the blanket around his son who was going into shock. "You said your bond was still there?" Alden asked, as Fitz held tight to the blanket shivering. "It is. I swear it is. But she's not answering." Fitz said. "Here." Alden said handing Fitz a bottle of youth. "Clear your mind." Alden said.

Fitz angrily drank the sweet water in one gulp, it was sweeter than he had remembered, and thicker...

Fitz stumbled back from his Dad, as he felt a wave of dizziness fall over him, and his eyelids felt heavy. Alden caught his son, as he fell. "Just rest. Everything will be okay Fitzroy." Alden promised.

Picking up Fitz, Alden opened the door where Elwin waited. "He's sedated." He told Elwin as he walked into the guest room. "It looks like he's gone into shock." Elwin said as he opened his bag. Alden sighed as he took the sedative Elwin handed him. "I'll take care of everything. Don't worry." Elwin promised. Alden rested a hand on Elwin's shoulder. "Thank you." He said. Elwin gave a weak smile. "It's what she would have wanted." He said. Alden went to his own room, where Della had already taken a sedative and was sleeping soundly. Crawling next to his wife, Alden drank the sedative before taking his dearest into his arms and letting the sedative take over.

~

Fitz hated those stupid elixirs, that made giddy emotions push forward, however taking one of those was the only way he could remain calm and talk to the others.

He sat in the sitting room, with his sister, who was somewhere, Keefe hung back closer to the shadows, with Linh and Tam. They only waited for Dex to show up. Fitz wasn't sure how Dex would be taking the news. He was her best friend after all, and her cousin. Fitz forced himself to keep the stupid smile that tried to break through, off his face. Their friends had been given immediate access to Everglen, after... Fitz refused to let himself think of Sophie's tree, he along with everyone else had visited only a week ago.

Dex walked into the room his head held high. His hair was fixed, and his clothes unwrinkled. He looked better than any of them did. "Biana, you said Sophie had been here before the game. What time did she and Sandor arrive?" He asked ad he carried in a medium sized box filled with springs, and technopath things. "An...hour before sunrise." Biana said quietly her figure shimmering beside Dex as he set the box on the table. Biana didn't fully appear but at least she had shown a bit of herself.

"An hour before sunrise, so like five right?" Dex asked as he reached in the box. "Yeah." Biana said. "That's impossible..." Dex said nodding with as he marked something in his notebook. "What are you talking about? She was here." Fitz snapped, he hated how his tone sounded so light and careless. Dex didn't look up, as he scratched out on his notebook. "Dex...what are you talking about?" Keefe asked. "Just give me a minute." Dex said as he sat down hurrying through his note book. He flipped back through a couple of pages before stopping, running the edge of his pen over the paper, he tapped on something before flipping back to the page he was at and bending over it.

A smile started forming. "I knew it." He whispered. "Knew what?" Biana asked as the seat next to Dex sank down. "What's a moonlark's biggest weapon?" Dex asked. "Illusion." Fitz answered. He had read up on moonlarks, if moonlarks were threatened by something bigger than themselves, they'd fluff up their feathers to look bigger. "Exactly, and what is the Black Swan's biggest illusion?" When no one answered Dex stood up and started pacing. "Think! Mr. Forkle told us. He told us, he could be in more than one place at once. He could trick the council into believing he was in one place while he was in another."

"What are you getting at Dex?" Fitz asked. Dex took a deep breath. "You told us you still feel the cognate bond right?" Fitz nodded. "That the proof we need. Look, I decided to retrace Sophie's steps and the more I followed her the less sense it made." Dex said. "She had an allergic reaction the day before the game." Dex said. "Someone put libuim all over the jersey." Dex said. "Elwin had to burn the skin off her arms and bandage them. He told her she had to come back and get the bandages off." Dex continued, as he flipped open his notebook. "Elwin told me he clocked in an hour before sunrise." Dex tapped the paper looking at the numbers he had added up.

"Sophie went to see him, ten minutes later." Dex looked around the room. "Sophie was here then." He said, when he looked around at the skeptical looks on the faces around him he flipped another page. "She was supposed to meet with a Harley James Parks a week ago, she was also supposed to meet with a couple who needed wedding forms signed at four o'clock." Dex looked up at them. "I talked to the three of them." He said. "They said she met them. Exactly on time." The room seemed to hold it's breath as the new information was absorbed.

"The more I retraced her steps the more stuff I came across. Sophie has been able to be in two places at once." Dex said. "Hold on. You're saying there ware two Fosters?" Keefe asked. "Was. We just have to figure out if real Sophie or Sophie number two died." Dex said. "What about Sandor?" Linh asked. "I don't know." Dex said quietly. "Honestly, I would like to hope he's alive." Dex said. "But wouldn't Sophie II die if the real Sophie died?" Biana asked. "I don't know. What I do know, is for nearly a week, Sophie hadn't been with us, when we all thought she was." Dex said. "What do you mean?" Tam asked, but Fitz had already met Keefe's eyes.

They had been right.

"I knew something was off with Sophie that week. I just brushed it off as an argument with one of you guys or something. But the more I look at it, the less it adds up. Sophie hardly voluntarily wears dresses, and she wouldn't fallen flat on her face in those heels she wore." Dex said. "Her attitude was different and she was...happier, more like the forced kind of happiness though, like.."

"Like she was trying to be happy when she was being hurt." Fitz said as a cold memory hit. Sophie had been telling Ambra to back off.

'I've faced a wild rampaging pillager, I've wrestled a T-rex, and have even been kidnapped three times and tortured...twice.'

"What is it?" Biana asked. "I can't believe I didn't catch that..." Fitz groaned. "What?" Keefe asked impatiently. "Sophie said it...I should have caught that." Fitz said. "What did she say?" Dex asked. Fitz repeated Sophie's words and tension filled the air. "Three times?" Dex asked. "Twice?" Biana asked.

"First time with Dex, second was when we were at the ball and exploded the building." Fitz said. "But the third? Sandor was with her though." Linh said.
"Unless Sandor knew about Sophie II." Tam said. Nobody spoke for a moment. "Sophie ran out of Foxfire, and was here, with Ruy and Alvar when we got home, an hour later." Fitz told his sister. "Alvar would need more convincing than just a few hours." He said. "And the chains..." Biana said. "Okay so Sophie got kidnapped again, but is she still alive?" Keefe asked. Dex looked at Fitz, taking a deep breath he focused on her mind.

"I know you're still alive, so stop ignoring me."

He transmitted. He felt panic on the other end of the bond, before calm. "She's still alive." He nodded. "Did she say anything?" Dex asked. Fitz shook his head. "But if she's still alive why wouldn't she tell us?" Biana asked. "Better question yet, why would she let herself die?" Keefe asked. "Black Swan, Neverseen, maybe she found some secret on the council, and had to go into hiding..." Dex said, as he nervously tugged at the braid on his sucker punch.  "What else is there?" Biana asked. "While Sophie was at the healing center...or here, wherever she was. Mr. Forkle went to Havenfield. Grady and Edaline only told me Sophie sent him to get her more clothes, but when I went up to get Iggy, her spy ball, memory log, and back pack were gone." He said.

"Did you find her journal?" Keefe asked. Dex shot Keefe a glare. "I found where she kept them. Ella was still there too." He said. "She told me 'some dead people don't stay dead'." Fitz said. "So let's think through this logically." Keefe said seriously.

"There might be a Sophie II running around somewhere...or she's dead, or the real Sophie set this up as one big illusion, or....we're just hanging on to hope." Keefe said. "Sometimes it's better to hang on to hope, than letting go of it." Fitz said. "And sometimes it's better to just cut it all off." Tam said lowly. "If we're wrong we'd just be crushed again." He said. "As of right now, what we know is that Sophie...isn't alive." He said.

"But she's there. I feel her." Fitz said. "And look at you." Tam said. "You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and your barely hanging on." He said, Fitz felt his jaw clench. "I'm saying we need to know what we know right now. What we know, is that Brant guy stabbed her and burned Sandor to ashes. What we know is the Black Swan is trying to track down the Neverseen, we know Wylie is councilor." Tam said. "Wylie. Sophie said Wylie was another key-"

"Stop it!" Tam shouted at Dex. "That's exactly what I'm saying. You guys think everything is a plan, or some giant puzzle. Accidents happen, I don't want to be the pessimistic, but I'll think logically if none of you will. Even if Sophie was alive I'm sure she'd have a reason for making everyone think she was dead, so if she wants to be dead, let her be dead. Sophie is gone. The only thing we can do about that is let her rest in peace." Tam said. Fitz felt like punching the idiot, but the stupid elixir made him want to laugh. Dex sat down, "I'm just trying to think..." He said his chin quivering. "There is nothing wrong with that, but as of now we need to start thinking more about the war." Tam said.

"We made a promise before Keefe even came back. We promised to watch out for each other. We watched out for everyone but Sophie because she was the untouchable, unbreakable one. Well we broke her...more than once and now we can't make up for it. The only thing we can do is put it behind us and move on." Tam said, silencing the hope that had grown, stomping out the light that had started pushing through. Fitz stood, he wanted to punch Tam's teeth out, instead Fitz went to his room, locking the door Fitz slid against the door. His anger faded into a grey blur, and the fog crept over his mind.

Sophie was gone.

She was gone, and he couldn't do anything about it. Tears slipped out of his eyes as Fitz finally accepted the truth and the grey fog just continued to block out all feeling. Making his senses dull, every feeling dulled as his chest just became an empty cavity, his heart became just a organ working out of duty and not out of love. Sophie was gone...

~

The air was cold, as Sophie waited beside Calla's tree. The sky was dark, clouds hid the stars, and moon.

"He's here." Sandor said. Sophie looked around but couldn't seen the elf until he was standing in front of her. His silver tipped hair shining like small stars. "Thank you Tam." Sophie said, as she wrapped her arms around the elf. "You sure you can't just tell them?" Tam asked as he hugged her back. Sophie shook her head. "Not this time." She said. Tam sighed, "I'll make sure they don't suspect a thing." Tam said. Sophie looked back at the house, where Grady and Edaline were sleeping. "Take care of them for me Tam." She said. "I will." Tam promised. "I'll be back." Sophie promised leaning up to give Tam a goodbye kiss on his cheek. "Be careful." Tam said. "You too." She said as she stepped back and pulled up her hood.

She looked at Tam one last time before lifting a pathfinder up, and casting a beam with the small balefire chime on Calla's tree.

She leapt away.

(Mwahahaha you all hated Tam for a minute there didn't you all?)