"Pstt!" Aeyva hissed, glancing back at Phoenix and Kayleey who were giggling and whispering to each other with flirtatious faces.

Sorry, Kayleey transmitted, not too ashamed, more worried.

It's fine, just keep moving. And remember that we're under a NEVERSEEN base. Aeyva thought back.

They crawled along the underground tunnel with Yuri the gnome leading them, with only the fire Kayleey had sparked on her hand to guide them with light.

On the upside, not being tired made Kayleey quite quirky and fun, but they knew the rise would also come with a drain when she had to put it out, Phoenix even had an ice pack ready. Maybe she had overprotective girlfriend syndrome, but oh well.

The only one of them actually struggling was Faelyn, it was almost like her legs got shakier every step, though Lyana continued to calm her down by stealing other people abilities for a few seconds and doing stupid things with them. This happened to include a bunch of geese made of water almost trampling them when she mimicked Adalea's ability.

"Are we almost there yet- ARGHHH!!!" Adalea yelped as the animals crashed over everyone, drenching them all. All of Aeyva's group turned to glare at Lyana.

"Oops. Sorry," she said sheepishly, trying not to burst out laughing.

Adalea grumbled something under her breath and sucked all the water out of their clothes.

Avilyn's group was the surprise crew, preparing to attack the Neverseen from above, while Aeyva's group snuck in and got Aerin.

Aeyva crawled quickly after Yuri. If they didn't get there in time then the entire plan would be for nothing.

Finally, after a few more minutes that seemed like hours of crawling, Yuri stopped, waiting for everyone to catch up.

"Let's do this!" Kayleey whisper-yelled, smiling brightly.

"Gotta agree there, just wait for the sig- '' Aeyva was cut off by a loud scream. "There it is! Okay, you all know the plan, go through the assigned tunnels, Kayleey, don't put out your fire unless 100% necessary, understand?"

Kayleey and everyone else nodded, the dirt tunnel lighting up a bit more. "Okay, say your goodbyes, we are splitting up."

Kayleey quickly pecked Phoenix on the lips, while Lyana hugged Faelyn as tight as she could, despite muffled protests.

"Maybe we should do that," Adalea did a fake eyelid flutter and puckered her lips.

"In your dreams," Aeyva hissed.

The girl shrugged, wringing her hands. "Good luck hug? In case we die?"

"We are not going to die Adalea... but... okay okay, bring it in," Aeyva opened her arms and the girls hugged quickly.

"Okay, now let's go," Aeyva turned to Yuri. "Thank you so much for the help, we can never repay you."

Yuri gave a quick half bow before running away. "It's nothing. Goodbye everyone; I will see you all soon, I hope."

❤︎

Adalea took a deep breath before pulling herself through the vent into the room above. She desperately wished she didn't have to do this as a solo mission, and that she could believe that she wasn't going to die.

She bounced on the balls of her feet as she landed silently, not bothering to put back on her shoes, they would only make more noise.

"Hall to the left," she whispered to herself, "hall to the left."

The door made a loud creak as Adalea pushed it open, but no one came, only the air vents and the buzz of the bright lights made a sound.

She creeped down the hall, it was getting almost horrific how silent it was, where was everyone? Shouldn't there be Neverseen members all over the place? It was almost as if- the Neverseen couldn't have known they were coming... could they? Something deep red was smeared on the wall, the trail continued into a closet, the door closed, but no breathing sounds came from it.

Adalea's breath caught in her throat and her breakfast threatened to come up. She forced herself to walk over to the wall, and ran her finger along it, felt like blood, looked like blood. Adalea licked her finger hesitantly.

Tasted like blood.

She walked to the closet as fast as she could without making a sound. Her mind went into panic mode.

What if it was Aerin?

Adalea threw the door open and vomited, without even a second of hesitation.

The girl who lay in front of her was not Aerin, and she was definitely not alive. A cut ran all the way from her gut to her neck, her insides all over the floor. And the worst part? She was a child. Adalea would have placed her age at maybe ten or twelve. Her dress might have used to be pink, or yellow or even blue, but it was impossible to tell now, stained blood-red, her blond pigtails spilled across the floor.

"Pretty sight, isn't it?" a voice said from behind her. Adalea forced herself not to turn, clenching her fists.

"How... could you?" she whispered, her voice breaking.

Vespera gave a dry, hollow laugh. "Oh, I didn't. I think that was one of the other kids. They've become significantly more powerful than I expected, but plans can be changed. Whoever it was, they did an amazing job."

Adalea's expression twisted in disgust. "Another kid? A- a child did this?"

"Of course. After all, you are still a child, dear, and think of how many you have killed."

Adalea paused, countless images flashed before her mind, but still, nothing like this. This was grotesque. She would never slice open a child. "Why are there children here Vespera, what cruel plot do you plan to execute next?"

Vespera laughed and her voice echoed down the hall, dripping with insincerity. "Oh, don't worry, it's nothing for you to worry about. Your little investigation ends here."

"What-" Too late, Adalea turned, just as a cold silver dagger slashed through her heart, leaving no chance of healing.

❤︎

Aeyva and Faelyn didn't bother to mask the sound of their steps and they marched down the hall. They knew exactly what room and condition Aerin was in, luckily, having only been here for seventy two hours, she was doing way better than Faelyn had been...that was if the reports were correct.

"Where are we meeting up with Adalea again?" Faelyn whispered, shaking without making any apparent effort to conceal her anxiety.

"We should run into her-" An ear piercing scream echoed through the hall, cutting her off.

The girls spun to each other, both making the same conclusion. They broke into a run, the screaming all too familiar. It was Adalea's, no question about it, but the screams were fading fast.

As they rounded a corner, they saw someone running the other way, away from a scene. Too fast, too insignificant for them to go that way. Adalea, Adalea...

"Addy?" Faelyn didn't have to ask, she could already see her. But she didn't want it to be her, because the girl in front of them... she had a knife in her chest, and blood pooled around where she lay on the floor, right next to a puddle of vomit and a disemboweled child. She didn't even have the energy to come up with a creative nickname. She could practically feel her heart dropping to her feet.

"Fae," Adalea's voice was no more than a whisper, tears spilled down eyes that had never cried in front of the other girls, eyes that had always been full of life and laughter. But those eyes were gone. This girl was sad, this girl cried their heart out every day. She was dying.

"No!" Both the girls lunged forward, Kayleey and Phoenix were still there, they could get Aerin, but there was no way Adalea would be left behind.

Faelyn got there first, grabbed her face, rubbing her cheeks non stop. "No. No no no no no no! Please, stop- stop dying." It was futile, her mind going completely numb; why did it always have to be someone else that got hurt... why couldn't it just be her...?

Adalea just smiled weakly as Aeyva sat on her other side, struggling to maintain a calm front for Adalea's sake. Still, tears were running down Aeyva's face as she squeezed her right hand.

"It's always one life for another..." Adalea murmured. "Remember Delsen, Fae? She died, saving you. We should have seen this coming," Adalea whispered, reaching up to touch Faelyn's hand with her left. Her body started flickering in and out of sight sporadically, unable to control her ability anymore.

"Why is it always everyone I love!?" Faelyn cried, attempting to take deep breaths but failing. "Why c-can I never save you?"

"Because some things can't be prevented, Fae. Some of us have to die so the others can go on and win this war. So they can go on and do great things." Adalea took increasingly shallow breaths. "Now listen to me. Please, before I go, because I am going, and I accepted that the moment this knife hit me, alright? Please, please just tell everyone that I love them, okay?"

"O-okay," Faelyn sobbed.

Adalea turned to Aeyva. "Will you guys bring my body back?"

There were thousands of things that Aeyva wanted to say, hold on a bit more, we're not letting you die, you'll be alright. But there was no time for all of that. Adalea was going to die. And she'd accepted it. "O-of course."

The corners of her mouth struggled to lift up. "And you can tell Lyra that her missing dagger is in the back of the fridge. At Bruxvale. I thought it would be funny."

Faelyn and Aeyva both smiled sadly back at her.

"Okay...pull the knife out, I want it over," she said with a grimace. Faelyn gripped the knife and without warning, yanked it out.

With a gasp, Adalea closed her eyes for the very last time.

❤︎

"Wow, this isn't even that bad," Kayleey hummed, after examining Aerin's leg, cheek and checking her throat.

"I know, right? It doesn't even really hurt anymore." Aerin shrugged as she pulled herself forward more on the vents.

"You are still on at least one day of bed rest though," Lyana chimed in sternly.

"Yes yes, after this there may be a few worse injuries than this though."

"Everyone will be fine," Phoenix grunted.

"Okay, stop here, this is where we wait."

Everyone stopped and Kayleey dulled the flames a bit, her eyes sparkling in the light. "What are we waiting for?"

"Faelyn, Aeyva and Adalea, Fae said they were almost here, and Avilyn's crew is already back where we are going to exit from."

Just as she said it, the sound of someone crawling through the vents came to them. "Fae?"

"Aerin? Aerin!" Faelyn's voice was scratchy, like she'd been crying. Which wasn't a very Faelyn thing to do.

All three of the girls came into view, though Adalea's form was limp...and all three were covered in blood.

"What the- ?"

"Dead," Faelyn said, as emotionless as she could manage. "She's gone."

Lyana's mouth dropped open, and tears formed in her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"No, wait... please say this is some sick joke," Kayleey choked out, griping Phoenix with her free hand.

"It's not a joke," Aeyva said, her voice hard. Tears still fell from Aeyva's eyes, not being as emotionally closed off as Faelyn.

"We need to get back, tell...tell the others," Aerin waved her hand and the void opened in the air. She pulled out a long knife and tucked it into her belt, her eyes wide and unblinking, as if she didn't quite believe it yet.

Tears were already pooling in little clumps on the metal, and Kayleey's fire was almost gone. "Okay, put out the fire Kay, we need to go." Faelyn moved Adalea to her other shoulder.

Darkness surprised them as the fire went out, only little bits of light could be seen through the cracks as Kayleey collapsed onto Phoenix.

Suddenly, the vent opened again, and everyone turned to be on defense, but it was just Celine and Cloud who'd been on watch.

"What happened?" Celine asked as quietly as possible.

Aeyva swallowed hard. "Aerin's fine. But Addy..."

Celine and Cloud gasped in unison as they saw Adalea's body, gripping each other's hands tightly for support. Celine let out so many swear words even Aeyva cringed.

"We can't have mental breakdowns right now," Faelyn said tightly, feeling as if her throat was constricting. "We need to get the hell outta here."

"Okay, let's go Aerin," Aeyva hissed, as the air thickened and then split. Celine, Kayleey, Cloud and Phoenix went first, then Lyana and Aeyva, and finally Faelyn carrying Adalea slipped through. Aerin followed, the void closing silently behind her.

❤︎

"Did they get themselves in trouble or what!?" Avilyn hissed, pacing across the soft wood floors.

"Maybe they are just taking a bit longer?" Lyra said unsurely, though her hands were balled into fists and her nails were digging into her palms.

"Well if they don't get here soon I am storming back- '' She was cut off as the air split, the void opened and four girls tumbled through.

"Hey, ice fairies, we gotta go," Celine said, getting up and dusting herself off, her jaw clenching. Cloud grabbed onto her arm for balance, her eyes fluttering as she tilted her head to the ceiling, shoving down her thoughts and clearing her head.

Kayleey looked up, her eyes rimmed with red. "It's the same as Faelyn's rescue, one life...for another."

Avilyn's eyes went wide. "What... who?" She asked, not sure if she wanted the answer.

"Adalea," Phoenix whispered, her arms wrapped around Kayleey.

Lyra's lips pressed together just as Aeyva and Lyana came through. Lyana jumped up and ran over to Phoenix and Kayleey, grabbing both of them and sobbing into their chests, both sad and angry.

"You know, I guess?"

Avilyn nodded, clutching onto her shirt's hem.

Faelyn tumbled through close after, she held onto Adalea as hard as she could. Everyone lurched forward, crowding around in a mix of tears and attempted straight faces.

"Should we," Avilyn took a deep, shaky breath, "get some of her hair for a Wanderling?"

"Yes," Lyra nodded, grabbing Avilyn's hand and rubbing a few patterns.

Cloud crouched down and placed her hand on Adalea's forehead, murmuring something under her breath before grabbing one of the longer hairs and pulling it out.

"Wait, what about the attack plan?" Avilyn said nervously, remembering they were behind schedule.

"Forget about it, Avilyn!" Aeyva snapped, surprising everyone. "We need to leave."

They started down the hall in the other direction, everyone anxiously glancing around for any signs of danger. Aeyva waved her hand and everyone followed her, trying to figure out where the exit point was. They'd been told it would be underground, but the instructions of where exactly were rather vague. Lyana, in the back of the group, drew in a sharp breath as she felt someone grab her arm while she was following the other girls around a corner.

There was a boy, about her age, whose hair was brown fading to white, and whose skin seemed to be making a similar transition. His eyes appeared to be fogged over, but he looked at her with perfect clarity.

She froze, drawing her arm back and reaching up instinctively to touch her own hair, which naturally had white streaks.

"Who are you? What's going on?" the boy asked quietly.

She opened her mouth and closed it. Why were there kids in a Neverseen hideout? Another boy stepped out of a door in the hall, looking a little older, and with a small patch of white in his hair.

"Hadriel, get back inside. Gethen said- wait, who's that?"

Lyana backpedaled, spun, and ran after the others, skidding across the hall. She didn't hear the rest. Kayleey frowned, turning around. "Lya?"

"Can we get out of here faster? I just saw people."

Kayleey's mouth formed an O. She was about to ask who when Aeyva pressed her foot into the floor and a carved-out spot fell through.

"Perfect. Let's get out of here."

Lyana forced herself not to think about the people she'd just seen as everyone jumped through the hole in the floor. She went last, sliding down the dirt tunnel. Everyone landed gracelessly at the end as they emerged into sunlight once more. Forkle and Yuri were scheduled to meet them soon... although none of them were sure exactly how soon. Cloud helped Faelyn hold up Adalea's body but she refused to look at it. Lyana felt a tingling sensation where the boy had grabbed her.

❤︎

"We should plant her by the river at Alluveterre," Celine said back at Bruxvale. The girls and the Collective were crowded inside Strategizing Central. Forkle looked, possibly, the most grim out of all of them save for the girls who were crying. The door opened, revealing Sophie Foster in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Sophie asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes and frowning at everyone's expressions. She slid into the empty seat next to Celine, grabbing a piece of mallowmelt from the platter sitting in the middle of the table. None of the girls had touched it.

Keefe was already at the table, sitting between Aerin and Avilyn, also stuffing his mouth with goods.

If you squinted you could see Ro in the shadows leaning against the wall.

Sophie noticed Aerin and her face lit up. "Hey, you guys got Aerin back!" There was a chorus of mumbled "yeah"'s and "mhm"'s.

"How are you, after... Well, getting kidnapped by the Neverseen?" Sophie asked, grabbing another piece after devouring the first one.

Aerin looked down, not answering.

Sophie glanced at the other girls for explanation.

There was a moment of silence.

"Adalea's dead." Aerin's voice cracked as Sophie's hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. Are- are you guys planning t-to plant her a-"

"Yeah." Celine turned to her, wringing her hands. "You can go get your friends if you want to come to Alluveterre with us. You don't need to wear green if you don't want to on such short notice."

Sophie nodded and stood up, pulling what was probably her Imparter out of her pocket.

Celine squeezed her eyes shut, tears threatening to fall as she pinched her lips, wishing that for one last time, she could hear Adalea's laughter, or even just one word from her.

But she was gone, never to speak again, joke, fight, even just yell at Fae for the stupid things she did. The word echoed in her head, gone, just like Clare, Garmen, Summer, Reina, Warner... Delsen. All those girls who had been part of their team over the years, all of them gone.

Aeyva didn't really know what to say. "Um, Forkle... do you... have it?"

Forkle nodded, not needing an explanation, and lifted his hand, setting a small seed on the table. Her eyes fluttering open again, Celine gasped at the sight of it and this time she couldn't stop the tears from running down her face.

"Girls," said Mr. Forkle softly, "I know what this is like for you. I know you've felt loss time and time again. But you will stay strong because you stick together. Adalea is-" his breath hitched, none of them were spared the emotions that flooded them in the event of death- "she's somewhere better than she was before. She doesn't have to deal with this war anymore. She doesn't have to feel any more hurt, see any more death. And for that we should be grateful."

The girls all nodded. Celine felt someone grab her hand and glanced to her right, surprised when it was Faelyn, someone she rarely got along with. Then Faelyn took Lyra's hand, who took Avilyn's hand, who took Cloud's hand, who took Kayleey's hand, and soon they were all linked, brought together by love and loss.

"Let's give Addy some peace for once," Cloud murmured.

❤︎

Everyone knelt on the grass as Faelyn dropped the seed into the hole they had all dug, even Sophie and her friends had contributed to it. Gently, Faelyn pushed the soil over it and as slowly as she could, pressed it down.

A small sapling instantly sprouted. "Growth water?" mumbled Faelyn. Avilyn summoned it. As Faelyn poured the water, the tree instantly stretched, its trunk a deep blue, its leaves speckled with black, though the most beautiful thing it had was the smell, amazingly floral with a fruity smell, exactly like the perfume Adalea had worn every day. Faelyn smashed the vial against the trunk, letting the sparkling glass disappear into the soil.

"Goodbye, Adalea," Faelyn said, everyone repeating after her before standing up. Having cried all the tears they could, everyone's faces returned to normal as they separated, going their own ways, even if she would forever rest with them, in their hearts.

❤︎

Whispers traveled across the dormitory like wildfire, and soon there wasn't a single human who didn't know what had happened to December. Granted, there were embellishments, and some of them argued over who had done it, but her fate was obvious. They wouldn't see her again.

Ezra, the dorm's oldest, was entertaining some of the younger children by creating orbs of light and making a sort of show of them in the air. In the corner, fast friends Hadriel, Persephone, and Matteo sat discussing what had been going on for the past few days.

"It's just too crazy. People are developing new powers all of a sudden and you've got... whatever that is going on," Matteo muttered, gesturing to Hadriel, whose hair and skin had gone completely colorless. He himself had developed patches of white here and there, and Persephone had one streak in her hair, but Hadriel definitely had the worst condition out of anyone in their dorm.

"Rumor has it there's more of us," Persephone said, unwrapping a lollipop that had come from the candy stash Selena had snuck into the dorm. Technically the humans were only really supposed to eat at mealtimes, but they weren't watched that closely and Selena liked to bring them things. "Like, in another dormitory."

"This place is huge. We'll probably never see them anyway."

Hadriel had been thinking quietly, staring into space as he did so often, but now he spoke up. "Why is no one talking about the girls who showed up?"

"'Cause no one cares except you," Persephone groaned, sticking the lollipop in her mouth.

"Seriously! A bunch of people disappeared that day, and then girls showed up, we saw them leave... isn't that weird to you? You know how Gethen and Gisela and everyone are always talking about a war?" He looked strangely enthusiastic about this. "What if those people were on the other side? Like, the enemies?"

Matteo frowned. "Hadriel, we know literally nothing about the war. Isn't it a better idea to leave the subject alone? Obviously no one wants to talk about it. We're not supposed to get involved."

"But I can't stop thinking about it."

Persephone shrugged. "Okay. I guess there's nothing else to think about. In all fairness, we were supposed to be relocated a while ago and we're still here. Maybe we will end up as part of it. But we don't have any information."

Hadriel turned to her, his eyes bright although unsettlingly fogged over. "I saw a girl."

Matteo leaned back on the wall. "Not this again."

"Part of her hair was white!" he insisted. "What if she's one of us? Or... or... she could at least know why the fading happens! Something!" He could admit that he sounded kind of desperate. He was just bored out of his mind and really wanted to figure out why he was turning into a snowman.

Persephone made a face. "I don't get how you even see anything; your pupils are turning white."

"Maybe she had highlights," said Matteo exasperatedly. "It doesn't mean anything, Hadriel. Just let it go. You've got an obsession and it's weird."

Hadriel shook his head. "No. I know I'm onto something. I'm going to figure out what's going on if it's the last thing I do."

"Or," Matteo suggested helpfully, "you could invest in something useful, like finding a way to get us better food."

Persephone waved her lollipop around. "Yes. I support that plan."

"Kaz is the worst," agreed Hadriel. But he couldn't get the war-or those girls he'd seen-out of his mind.

❤︎

"This is crazy! How in the world do they go back to their normal lives so quickly?" Tam asked, watching as the girls trained.

"I think they know how to do it from experience," Keefe shrugged, brushing some blond hair out of his eyes.

"Yes, I understand that, but how do you train your mind to do something so unbearable without even flinching? I just don't get it."

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Keefe joked, sticking out his tongue.

"Wow, no need to be mean, yeesh."

"You know, I think you would look really good in eyeshadow," Keefe mused, tapping his chin. "You've already got the attitude- put on some sparkly makeup and you can go over there and join the Bodyguard Babes!"

"Hardy har har."

"Really Tam, I'm not joking, you really should!"

Sophie grinned as she watched the two bicker, no matter what they said, those two were friends. Biana sidled up behind her.

"It's really sad that they can all just move on like that. Actually, it's disgusting."

Sophie's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Look at that." Biana pointed to Cloud and Lyra flinging knives not too far away. "One of their closest friends is dead and never coming back and they're pushing forward. That means it happens often, Sophie. And I don't know these girls that well, but the Neverseen keep taking and destroying lives. Who's next, Soph? What happens when it's me? When it's my family? When it's you? We aren't safe just because you're the moonlark, and sometimes..." Her voice got smaller. "I wish we were."

Sophie averted her eyes to the floor. "I told you all a long time ago not to join the Black Swan."

"And you think that would have stopped the hurt? The death? Councillor Emery didn't even like the Black Swan and he's a goner. I just... I don't know. I guess I'm scared that this... this war is more than we bargained for."

Sophie clenched her jaw, the symbol she'd drawn in the ashes of the Neverseen storage base flashing through her mind. War. That's what this was. Whether she'd caused it or not, she was a pretty big part of it. And maybe Biana was right. Maybe they weren't as prepared as they'd thought they were.

❤︎❤︎❤︎

Hey guys... we know you're pretty mad at us and probably really really sad as well. This might be the most depressing chapter we've written so far.

A few notes. Be prepared for war, of course, and keep the human trio in the back of your mind, because they may be troublemakers in the future. All the girls have stuff they're majorly struggling with... yada yada yada.

Now, since we killed Adalea, we're going to have mercy and double update, so you can have a bit of a lighter chapter when you click the button to advance to the next one. There's still plenty of angst, of course, but it's somewhat less dark. And it's long! So yay! We love you guys and fear not, Adalea is not gone forever. She will appear still in memories.

See you in the next chapter, probably-crying-readers.