Linh P.O.V  

"Let me get this straight. So, I have three younger siblings, triplets that annoy the heck our of me, a Mom who is part of some secret espionage squad named after a bird that wants to stop the Neverseen and a dead Dad who died from an explosion of flames because he wanted to protect your sister, who's name is Biana. But, she's gotten captured and none of us know where she is, and the Neverseen has her and we used to be stuck in a cave after I used a weird fingerprint machine thing, and my mind used to be broken so after the huge fiery explosion in which we all nearly died you guys attempted to fix me by washing away the memories that have cause me pain, and now we are all stuck here and basically have no idea what to do. You are Sophie Foster, aka the Moonlark aka Girl with Brown Eyes aka Crazy DNA girl that I have no idea about and your hobby is annoying the Councillors. And we were all part of the Black Swan, which I don't even want to start talking about, because they are so freaking weird, I mean, a guy made of stone who happens to.. ok I'm just gonna move on from that. And twins who you thought were the same person.... and seriously, How many people have died? I seriously do not know if I wanna get back into this anymore. Ok, so now we are all stuck in a hospital with you, Sophie," he pointed at Sophie. "You're....Keefe?" he pointed at Fitz. 

"I'm Fitz," said Fitz, looking slightly annoyed as being mistaken for Keefe. "Keefe's the one with the Hair." 

"You're Marella," Dex said to Marella, and then he turned to me. "And you're Linh." 

He swiveled his head around like a demented owl. "I swear there was two others. Wasn't there that one dude with the creepy bangs who stares at you like you've murdered his best friend? And wasn't there that one guy who had the strange puffed up, messy hair?" 

"Oh yeah," I said. "The first one's my twin. His name's Tam. And the second one's Keefe." I turned around. "They're right there-" 

I turned around, expecting to see my angsty twin and Keefe bickering in the corner where I had last saw them together, but they were nowhere to be seen. 

"Keefe? Tam?" Sophie asked looking around the room, head swiveling at the same speed as Dex's. Fitz peaked behind the bed, and Marella looked in a plant. 

"Tam? Tam!" I called out for my twin, beginning to feel the same panic building on me when I was dragged to Exilium at the age of 11, and watched Tam getting smaller and smaller until I couldn't see him anymore. I remembered how it felt, being dragged away, crying, seeing my twin slowly disappearing from sight. But at least that time Tam had run up to me, and he had stayed with me, and we went to Exillium together, and while the fright was still there, I had Tam, and all was well. 

But now he wasn't here anymore, and he had left again, and I couldn't do anything again. It was just like him going to the Neverseen, gone again, lost again, and I couldn't get him back. Why did he always have to leave me behind? He always thought that leaving me behind would protect me, keep me safe, but didn't he know that I was much less safe without him, that the fear inside me was much worse then any fear I could experience out there? 

"Linh," somebody said, and I felt Sophie's hand on my shoulder. I realized that I was on the ground, on my knees, arms wrapped around my chest and rocking back and forth slowly. "Linh they'll be fine, please don't overreact again, Keefe and Tam will be all right." 

I tried to stop the tears tumbling down my cheeks. "He left me again," I murmured under my breath to nobody in particular. "He left again...he left again..." 

Keefe P.O.V 

"Oh gosh, oh gosh," I panted under my breath, careful not to let Tam hear me being so pathetically tired. as me and Tam trampled through the forest of leaves like insane dinosaurs. Tam stopped and I skidded to a stop next to him, barely missing a tree trunk to the face. 

Tam was panting, bent over with his hands on his knees, his usually pale face practically glowing pink in the light and his hair dripping with sweat. It was not an attractive look. I was sure that, although I still looked tired, I must have looked better than him. My hair would never become that sweaty. 

We had been running in the same random direction since Foxfire, and although I wasn't sure what Tam's strategy was, I suspected that he was just burning off steam and truly had no idea where we were going and what to do. 

My suspicions were confirmed as Tam glanced up at me and grunted, "Even though I don't trust your judgement at all, I've got no ideas so what do you think?" 

"I don't know," I admitted after some time. "I'm beginning to think that this might have not been one of our better ideas." 

"You think?" Tam said, more as a statement then a question. A moment and then he said, "Should we try to go back?" 

I considered it. "No, we are already out here and I think I know where they might be keeping Biana. We still have our reasons for running off like this, we don't want other people to get hurt. If we go back, they'll just come with us and that defeats the whole purpose of it." 

Tam nodded. "Also, I think I know what you're talking about. Where they are keeping Biana, I mean." 

"The cave base," we said at the same time. 

"And coincidentally," Tam said. "It's the same base that I stayed at during my time at the Neverseen. I'm pretty sure I know where it is, seeing as I escaped from it. I'll light leap us there. Sencen, just grab onto my arm and I'll take us." 

I nodded and gripped onto Tam's sleeve and braced myself as he light-leaped us to wherever that stupid cave base was. 

Linh P.O.V

"I'm going after them," I said firmly. "And if you try to stop me, you will fail." 

"Then I'm coming too," Marella said, just as firm, pushing herself off the bed she was on with Dex. "You need me." 

"Your burned half to death!" Dex said, poking Marella's burned arm. "No way you can go, it's way too dangerous. You escaped once, you might not get out alive the next time" 

It warmed my heart to see Dex and Marella getting on well already. I could tell from the times I visited Rimeshire that they needed each other, and that they helped each other's pain, like Marella's pain with her dad, and Dex's pain with his dad, though the two feelings were totally different. I suddenly realized that now most of our group had "daddy problems"as Keefe and Tam had dubbed it, though in all different ways. 

Thinking about Tam's ways of saying things just made me feel even more pain for him. "I should go," I said, pushing myself of the ground and wobbling a little on the stand up. My tears had already dried, although I could still feel their tracks on my cheeks. "I'm going," I said. "That's final. Now who's going to come with me?" 

"I am," Marella said again as she struggled to her feet with Dex's help. Elwin was making the burns a lot better than the were in the beginning but I could still see black burns over her body, so much that her skin looked ashy and dead. 

"Can you even produce flames anymore?" Fitz asked doubtfully. "I mean you're really tired, and your body is worn out." 

Marella scrunched her nose up in a cute way and snapped her fingers. At first nothing happened, and then Marella made a face of concentration, scrunching up her entire face and tensing her arms and legs. Drops of sweat ran down her brow and her legs began to shake, but finally, a flame so small you had to squint and lean in to see it flickered in Marella's hand for a few seconds before burning out, and Marella collapsing into Dex, who caught her easily, as he was tall, and she was small.  

"See?" Marella called out weakly, but still managed to sound mocking. She waved her hand in Fitz's face. "Flame girl is still here, and I can still burn your face up." 

"Marella, I don't think it's smart for you to go," Sophie said stepping up beside Fitz. "You are really weak, and your body isn't strong enough and I don't think your mind is either yet. You and Dex should stay in the hospital with Elwin. Fitz and I can find Keefe, don't worry. Linh, you should stay here and watch Dex and Marella." 

"I'm coming!" I said. "I'm going too, because I am going to find Tam and I am going to drag him back here, and I am going to set my murcat on him for being so...so...annoyingly protective of me, because I can handle it! I really can and I know you think I can't, but trust me I can handle myself just as much as you, and I hate it when so many people think I can't do things, because I can and I will! Just let me show you!!" 

I was panting and I didn't realize my voice had gotten so loud. "I'm sorry," I said, retreating backwards into my little hidden hole.  

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Marella said to me. She then turned to Sophie and Fitz. "I know you guys think you are "cognates" or whatever you call that fancy stuff, and that you guys are the only one capable of things, but the rest of us are here too! And we can do fancy stuff too, just cause it doesn't get a cool fancy name!"

Sophie tried to open her mouth to say something but Marella didn't give her the chance. 

"So, if Linh says she's coming then she is, and to be honest, she is the one who deserves to come most of all, because that is her twin out there! And, don't you dare say that I can't go, because I'm "weak" or whatever you say, because I'm not, and I bet that if I try I could still beat you in a fight. Any day." 

Fitz still didn't look convinced. "Marella, I know that you feel strong and good, but you took so much strength to produce that little flame, it would be suicide to send you out there-" 

"I burned down that cave!" Marella said loudly. "I saved all of you guys! You wouldn't be here! Roy would have probably taken you all to the Neverseen! I BURNED down a freaking CAVE and you still think I can't do it! I'm strong, and I feel you Linh," she said turning to me. "Because I am always under estimated and I hate it! I HATE IT." 

"She should come," Sophie said quietly. "They both should." She turned to Fitz. "Ok?"

He nodded, and right before we were about to march out the door, another voice said. "Hold up. Wait for me!" 

"Dex is coming?" Fitz asked Sophie, confused. "He has a mental injury! He can't remember a thing!"

Sophie looked shocked as well. "Dex?" she asked him. 

Dex straightened up. "I'm coming. If I could do it before, I can do it now. I need to see the Neverseen for myself." 

"It's decided," I said before Sophie could say anything. "We're all coming. Let's go." I straightened as we walked through the door, and I saw the boys dirty shoe prints littering the halls of the once clean Foxfire. "That way, let's go." 

I felt adrenaline kicking in and we ran down the hall. This time, I would be the one to save him, not the other way around. 

Keefe P.O.V 

We landed in the cave that used to be a cave but is now really a bunch of rubble. Tam gestured toward the giant hole that led into darkness that used to be the entrance to the cave from the Neverseen base, but was now completely exposed. 

We both walked in. The Neverseen really needed to work on their security. A breach in the wall and they still didn't fix it. Wow. That really didn't sound like the Neverseen members that I was used to. They were always high security and very protective. Wait... 

I got a funny feeling down my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Tam seemed to share the same suspicions by the look of his silver eyes. We cautiously stepped forward, and then Tam's eyes widened the same time as mine. 

"Shadows," I said, panicked. 

Tam was already on it, and I realized I shouldn't have said anything, but it was too late. The shadows went up at the exact time Gethen rushed into the room. I could tell it was him, just by the cloak and the way he walked, the haughty way he strolled in. 

"Hello Tam. Keefe, you're here too! What a surprise, I thought we would only get Mr. Song here but you were stupid enough to tag along! How nice!" He laughed to himself. "Did you really think that we would leave that cave door wide open? I thought you two were smarter than that!" 

I tried to control my breathing like Tam did, and we slowly inched toward the door, making sure that the shadows covered us. Gethen chuckled. "None of you, I guess Mr. Song is hiding behind his shadows again. That's what people do when they're scared, I see. I think that Ms. Vacker would very much like to that right now. Oh, she's been in her cell, curled up in a ball all day, on the ground whimpering. We've been torturing her you see, hurting her mind." 

Tam tried to bring the shadows down and throw himself at Gethen but I grabbed his arm and restrained him, though I was trying to restrain myself. "We can't do anything right now," I muttered under my breath. Tam's breathing was totally getting out of control, and his eyes looked insane from inside the shadows, dark and mad, like a swirling silver storm. 

"Well, you guys have improved! That method didn't work this time. I supposed I'll have to sue force. Let's see, Mr. Song's mind is too hard to penetrate because of the shadows, so I guess that means-" 

I screamed and my head erupted into flames it felt. I fell out of the shadows and Gethen chuckled as I fell at his feet. It was getting worse and Gethen laughed manically. "Ah I've wanted to this for a long time, torturing the Sencen boys mind, Gisela would never let me, but now that she's dead..." 

It got worse, and I couldn't handle it anymore. I would rather be dead then this pain. My eyes rolled into my head and I yelled, my hands pressed on my head, trying to dull it but it didn't work. 

"Mr. Songgg," Gethen said in a taunting voice. "I could do this all day, until he's dead and then I'll deal with you. Unless you want Mr. Sencen to get out of here alive, I suggest you unveil yourself."

"Already done," said a cold voice from behind Gethen and a burst of shadows erupted behind him. Gethen swerved to his right, avoiding the shadow vapor and I felt his hold on my mind drop. 

"Nice try Tam," Gethen said. "But not enough. Grab them!" 

One Neverseen member grabbed me, and embarrassingly, I put up no fight. I wanted too, but I was too weak and even a slight movement was painful. However, Tam took five people ganging up on him to grab and restrain him, and even then, he still kicked them and struggled. 

"WHERE IS SHE?!" he screamed at Gethen. "WHERE ARE YOU KEEPING HER?!" 

Gethen laughed at Tam, smirking evilly. "She's dead you poor lovesick fool." 

I watched as all of Tam's fight went out of him, how he slumped down into the people holding him, and how the storm dissipated and a veil of helplessness draped over his eyes instead. He put up no fight as we were directed to our cells. 

"Bangs Boy, look, we can find a way out of this. Let's just put our heads together, and we can get out, take down these stupid guys and find our way back. Maybe he's lying, maybe she's still alive somewhere, maybe-" 

Tam turned his back on me and put his head in his hands. 

"Linh!" I said desperately. "Think about Linh! She'll be so worried about you, she's alive still, you have to get back for her!" 

"Linh...." Tam said slowly. I thought he was going to stand up, give me a typical salty Bangs Boy remark, bust us out of here, defeat everyone, and then rush back to Linh and the others where Biana would hopefully be standing alive and well. But then, he turned his back again and put his head against the cell wall, defeated. 

The others. A pang went through me. Sophie. Was she okay? Was she hurt? What was she doing? Was she going to save me? Was she dealing with Dex? Was she just practicing with Fitz again? Probably the latter. I sighed and slumped down next to Tam. 

What a sight we were. Defeated, miserable. I couldn't think about how this could be worse. The pain overwhelmed me and the exhaustion and I collapsed on the floor, asleep.