As she numbly walked back through the hideout beside Ruy, she remembered when it had been hard to transmit to him when she was in the Black Swan hideout, and how she had had to strain to open her mind to his when they had been in the Lodestar Initiative room.

She figured that it was probably because of what the stupid Black Swan had done. What she was experiencing was most likely side effects of the limbium. 

But... she'd had a raging headache before the limbium, and it had been hard to transmit then, too. 

The Neverseen peeled off into the different passageways that led to their respective rooms, and Ruy told Sophie to meet him in the arena for a training session before she was about to slip into hers.

"Don't forget about our deal," he winked.

As soon as she closed her door, Sophie slumped against the wall. She closed her eyes and slowly rolled her neck around, working out the stiffness, kinks, and uprising stress.

Sophie changed back into her regular training outfit, happy to shed the tunic and slip her cloak back on. She geared up, tugged her gloves over her hands, and slipped her boots on.

She took out a plain leaping crystal that she had stolen before she joined the Neverseen. She considered her destination for a second, before steeling herself and raising the pathfinder up to the light.

A scene filled with moonlight that caught the shimmering spires of Foxfire glittered into view. Sophie readjusted her cloak and swiftly started towards the school.

The hallways were almost ghostlike at night, the moonlight flittingly shining through the cut crystal. The combination of shadows and purple-blue light cast mysterious patterns on the floor. Sophie quietly traced her way through the halls, slipping around corners and past doors. 

As far as she could tell, nobody was here. She tried not to look too hard at the rooms, lockers, and decorations, because they brought back so many memories.

Like her first trip to the Healing Center.

The time she met Keefe.

Where she found out she was allergic to limbium.

All the places where she'd faced off against Stina.

The turns Sophie and her friends had made while laughing so hard their stomachs hurt.

Sneaking around and getting detention.

When she and Fitz were healing from the shadowvapor, and they were finally allowed out of bed, and they had walked though the halls in the middle of the night.

And she definitely avoided looking at the Healing Center as she passed it. She hadn't wanted to come this way, but she couldn't remember a different path to the secret desserts room Keefe had shown her not too long ago.

She followed the same steps as the memory, and finally came to the door she recognized. "Bingo," she muttered under her breath, building up energy in her mind to shatter the lock.

Sophie could feel a headache starting to mount. She gritted her teeth, rubbed her temples, and kept going. When she couldn't stand the pain any longer, she shoved the force out of her mind.

Sophie moaned, bending over at the waist and reaching out a flailing hand for the wall. The pain made her vision fuzzy, and the only coherent thoughts she could string together were please go away please go away please go away.

When she could finally stand up straight, she inspected the lock.

Not even a crack, although it was vibrating a little.

Sophie glared and cursed, but not with as much feeling as she probably would have if she wasn't still a bit dizzy. She was more worried about the fact that it hurt to do the majority of her abilities, or even skills. 

She shoved the thought out of her mind, telling herself that she would talk to Ruy about it later. She could still walk, still communicate, and still feel emotions that were hers, so nothing could be that bad. She'd survive.

She pulled out lockpicks from her cloak, sighing. Looks like she'd have to do it the old-fashioned way. She never thought that she'd have to use them, but the Neverseen had warned her that she might not always be able to rely on skills and abilities.

Within a few seconds, she heard a satisfying click. She jarred the door slightly and snuck into the secret dessert room.

As her eyes searched for mallowmelt, keeping as still as possible with a hand poised near her knives, she was reminded of the last time she had come here. It was after she and her friends had fought off the baby trolls. They had all needed something to take their minds off missing Tam and the things they usually worried about. So after the school let out, they snuck into the dessert room and ate about half the supply, laughing and talking until their stomachs were sore and they couldn't do anything but lay on the ground and groan in pain from their stuffed stomachs.

There. Sophie shook thoughts of her old friends away for the second time that night and started towards the mallowmelt. When she reached it, she took note of the angle the gooey cake had already been cut at, and tried to mirror it as she took her own less-than-humble slice. She found some spare shiny material that looked like some sort of wrap, and used it to keep the cake from getting everywhere in her pocket. 

As she made her way back out of Foxfire, Sophie passed the Healing Center again. She prepared to speed up to pass it, but something stopped her in her tracks and made her freeze next to the door. 

Voices.

"There," a warm voice murmured, and Sophie immediately recognized it with a pang as Elwin. She wondered if he had been in on the manipulating plot, too. She didn't know why she hoped he wasn't. 

"Is this better—" a light, smooth voice hit Sophie's ears next. She heard a tiny splashing sound. "Or is this?" Linh.

Sophie didn't allow herself to feel anything when she heard the next voice. "The second," Keefe croaked. "The first. I don't know. Anything makes it feel a little better." Sophie heard a creak, and Keefe groaned in pain. 

"Come on, Hunkyhair, this is nothing. You should've seen me after I got into a wrestling match with my father's elite guard!" Even Ro's tease had an underlying current of worry. Her words landed half-heartedly. 

Sophie's eyes darted down the hall. What? Even when Keefe had been slashed through the stomach by King Dimitar in the sparring match he had stupidly agreed to when Sophie, Lady Cadence and him had went to Ravagog, he'd joked about it. She'd never heard him admit how much pain he was in. He'd always been the first to ask her how she felt, now that she thought about it.

Looking at the ceiling, contemplating, Sophie decided that she couldn't resist. She dropped to the floor and peeked around the frame. What was so bad that Elwin, Linh, Keefe, and Ro would be at Foxfire in the dead of night—and could hurt Keefe so badly that he couldn't joke about it?

Sophie almost wished she hadn't looked as soon as she had. She could only catch a glimpse between her angle, Ro and Elwin's backs facing her, and whatever water healing maneuver Linh was doing.

But she could make out a deep gash in his stomach right above his old scar and and one another one tearing down his leg. Streams of blood mixed with the spheres of water Linh had compacted around Keefe's injuries. His clothes were soaked. Sweat glistened on his forehead, and his breaths were shallow.

Her heart jumped up into her throat when she spotted Bullhorn curled up next to him, as close to his chest as he could get without touching the water.

Elwin slowly lifted Bullhorn up. The Physician's pet gave a growl in protest, but Elwin tucked him against his stomach.

"Keefe," he whispered hesitantly. "It's healing too slowly. Way too slowly. We need... we need to tell someone." his voice got thick, but he cleared it away. He ran his hands through his wild hair. "I hate to say it, but I don't know what else to do." The last part was so quiet Sophie could have imagined hearing it.

She slunk back behind the door away when Linh turned around. "No!" Keefe shouted. He gritted his teeth. "We're not telling anyone." He closed his eyes and sucked in a shuddering breath. "I promised not to tell about your water healing, Linh." He opened his eyes a sliver to look Tam's twin and Elwin in the eyes. "And you promised not to say anything about this. It was my fault."

"Keefe, don't be stubborn," Ro argued. "I'm not an expert, but I really think you should listen to what the dinosaur doc has to say."

Linh and Elwin shared a distressed look. "I'll just keep taking Sandor's pain meds," Keefe murmured, shutting his eyes. "I just..." he winced, and his voice dropped. "I just want her back." It was a breezy whisper now.

Her. As in Sophie. Her face hardened. She was never going back—and definitely not willingly—just to be manipulated all over again. The Neverseen had taught her to be stronger than that.

"I swear it feels like she's here right now. But I'm probably just loopy from the pain meds." He fell back against the cot and rubbed his head and Sophie scooted further from the door. "Yeah... definitely loopy." 

Ro didn't seem to have the energy to make fun of him for that. 

Suddenly, he kicked off the cot. Elwin and Linh both shrieked and reached for him, but he waved them away, sucking in a breath as he steadied himself on the cot. His face was pale, and hair somehow even messier than usual. "I'm fine," he murmured. "I'll make it. I'll deal with the slower healing rate, as long as I'm getting better. I have to."

Sophie didn't hear if he said anything else, because she was gone. She sprinted through the hallways, footsteps silent like the Neverseen had taught her. She didn't look back as she tore around the corners. 

She needed to get out of there.

Outside of Foxfire, Sophie aimed for the nearest cliff. When she reached it, she jumped off, no hesitation.

Fear can be ignored. Pushed down. Only the ones strong enough to succeed will be able to make it through what the future has in store. 

Another thing the Neverseen had taught her.

She closed her eyes, distractedly thankful to slip into the void. Sometimes the void was windy, sometimes overwhelmingly hot, sometimes prickly, and sometimes numbing.

She had a feeling it would be cold tonight.

Thunder clapped and burst, along with her head, and she was smothered indarkness.