"I'm scared for her, Forkle."

What? Savi pressed her ear against the door.

"You shouldn't be," came the voice of Magnate Leto.

Magnate Leto? Hadn't Keefe just said Forkle? Wasn't Mr Forkle the leader of the Black Swan? He couldn't be Magnate Leto... could he?

"But I am. Forkle, she's shoving everyone out."

"I'm worried for you, Keefe. You stopped joking around," came Magnate Leto's voice again.

"My son died two days ago, Forkle. I can't go back to life as normal."

"Sophie needs you," Magnate Leto reminded him.

Suddenly, Savi remembered that Magnate Leto could track her thoughts. But she smiled and used the trick she'd been practicing. She smiled and compressed her thoughts and her consciousness into a box and changed the location of that 'box' to her bedroom. It would mean that Magnate Leto would track her thoughts to her bedroom.

"Careful," Magnate Leto warned. "Savannah just walked past. She's back in her bedroom now, but... you never know. She might get suspicious of why the door's closed."

"We close a lot of doors in Willowtree," Keefe reminded him.

"You don't lock them often, though, do you?"

"She hasn't even tried opening the door yet, Forkle."

"True," Leto mused.

"Forkle... I'm scared. For Savi. For Sophie. For Seri. I know Sophie's hurting, she confides in me, and Seri's pretty obvious about her feelings, but.... I worry the most for Savi. She just blocks everyone out. And though she's talking to Cerulean, I'm pretty sure she doesn't talk to him about this. And if I get him to ask her, she might block him out, too."

Honestly? Savi didn't care that her parents were worried about her. They'd ignored her most of her life, focusing on Will and Seri. She didn't care that they focused on Will because he needed to be focused on. He was sick. And now he was dead. But it was the fact that they treated Seri like a princess that really got to her. Why would they focus on the annoying girl who rambled all day long?

That was one of the reasons she'd stopped talking. Stopped confiding. Stopped letting them know what was happening with her. Maybe if they cared, they'd press it. But they never did. Some would say they respected her. Savi thought they just didn't really want to know what was up with her.

So, she made her 'box' move out of the house to see what would happen.

She could hear Magnate Leto standing up. "Did you allow Savi to leave?"

"She wouldn't do that, Forkle, it's raining."

But Savi had had enough of the conversation. She vaulted out the window and went to the exact place where her 'box' was, letting it reconnect with her and become her again. She was going to let it truly be the real Savi. She sprinted away from home, blinking rain out of her eyes because she didn't care anymore. She needed some time out of that confining box. Time to herself.

"Savi!" She could hear Keefe shouting after her.

I'll be fine! She shouted the words into his head before raising her Pathfinder to the light and disappearing.

She reappeared at Havenfield. She didn't know why she'd chosen her grandmother's place, but she wanted to see the alicorns. They were happily curled up in the grass pastures. Wynn and Luna were full-grown now, cute big alicorns with the usual brown alicorn eyes. Sometimes, Savi wished her eyes had been brown. Maybe if she'd looked a little more like Seri, her parents would have loved her, too. But Seri got the brown eyes, and Savi got the bad looks and ugly blue eyes. Well, not ugly. But... normal. Will had gotten brown eyes too. He'd been special. Like Seri.

Maybe that was why her parents loved the twins so much.

"Luna," she whispered, holding out her hand for the female alicorn.

Luna came closer and nuzzled Savi's palm.

"There's a figure outside!"

Savi heard the shout of Edaline's goblin bodyguard, Cadoc, and instantly raised her palm. "Stop," she said quietly. "It's me. Savannah."

"I don't believe you! Mr Sencen wouldn't have let you out on a rainy day."

Savi laughed softly. "And what makes you think I need my father's permission to do anything?"

"Savi? Savi, come inside." She heard her grandmother's comforting voice and followed it.

"See you later, Luna," Savi called and followed Cadoc into the house.

"Savi, what are you doing here?" Edaline demanded.

"Trying to get away from my family," Savi muttered.

"Did something happen?" Edaline's eyes softened.

"No, nothing did. It's just... I don't want to be with them. Not after Will..." Savi bit back tears, wondering why Will was such a weakness for her.

"Savi." Edaline touched her arm. "My brave girl. Don't cry."

"I'll cry all I want!" Savi shouted. "I... Sorry. I don't know. I don't know what to do anymore. He's gone."

"He wouldn't want you to be sad, Savi."

"If he thought I wouldn't be, then I guess he doesn't know me, either."

"Savi..."

"Maybe," Savi said, holding out the Pathfinder again, "I came to the wrong place."

"Choralmere?" Edaline whispered when she saw what mode Savi had switched to. "You can't seriously want to see Quan and Mai."

"They live near an ocean," Savi reminded her. "I like water."

"Surprising you're not a Hydrokinetic," Edaline murmured.

"My friend is," Savi replied, her thoughts travelling to Cerulean. She hadn't met him after an hour in the end. She'd just... left.

Edaline just watched her quietly as Savi disappeared in a flash of light.

She had been sitting at the ocean for twenty minutes, watching raindrops fall and create ripples on the calm water, before a black-haired woman rushed out of the house.

"Linh? Is that you?" the woman called.

"I look like I've got silver-tipped black hair to you?" Savi called back.

The woman froze in her tracks. "You're not Linh."

"Only just realized?" Savi sneered. It wasn't like the ocean was private property. Besides, she liked it here.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"Let's twist that," Savi said. "Who are you?"

"I... I'm Mai Song," the woman admitted.

Savi froze. Mai Song. Aunt Linh's mother. Uncle Tam's mother.

"You can't be serious," Savi said.

"Why not?" Mai asked. "You're at Choralmere. My home."

"Oh, yeah, that's true," Savi agreed. She wished she wasn't at Choralmere. She should have gone to Shadewarren, to Aunt Linh. Linh had always known how to calm Savi down, but Savi didn't stick around because Wylie and Linh had four children and they were a handful.

"I answered your question. Answer mine," Mai demanded.

"I'm Sakira," Savi made up.

"Are you sure?" Mai's eyes narrowed.

"Sure. Why would I lie to you?"

"Many reasons," Mai breathed.

"You caught me." Savi smirked. "I'm Savannah. Savannah Sencen."

Mai's eyes widened. "It couldn't be... then your mother is Sophie Foster?"

"Of course, who else?" Savi snorted.

Mai shook her head. "No one else. I was just clarifying. You wouldn't by any chance have seen Linh recently, would you?"

"What, want to congratulate her on the baby born three months ago?" Savi snapped. Mai and Quan hadn't been there for the birth of Linh's third daughter, Miranda Lara Endal. In fact, they'd been suspiciously absent for the celebrations of all of Linh and Wylie's four children.

"No, I... need her to get through to Tam. I haven't seen him in years."

"Neither have you seen Linh," Savi retorted.

"Yes, but I've talked to Linh!" Mai said, frustrated. "Tam is decidedly difficult to pin down, and so is his wife. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put a Shade and a Vanisher together? And they weren't even a bad match!"

"So what? Just means they're stealthy," Savi answered. "And it's not like I want to talk to you."

"What? I never accused you of wanting to."

"Yeah, well, you're here."

"Walking around my home residence!"

"You don't have to talk to me," Savi snapped and looked out at the calming ocean. If only it could calm her. It had been nice and peaceful, giving her a feeling of tranquility, before Mai had turned up.

"I don't have to, but... I want to."

"Why would you?" Savi demanded. "I've got twin siblings, remember? Serena and William."

"Yes, but you don't have a twin," Mai pointed out.

Savi closed her eyes, trying not to let the frustration and anger overwhelm her. The last thing she wanted was to Inflict on Mai Song.

Mai stepped away. "I know you probably won't get the message through to Linh, but..."

"Why do you want to see Tam, anyway?" Savi questioned.

"I... I made a mistake. I made them both feel hated, and chased them away, and... I want to rectify that mistake." Mai took a shuddering breath.

"Does Quan feel the same way?" Savi asked innocently. He probably didn't, and that was why Mai was here alone.

"He thinks Tam and Linh are awful children who have besmirched the family name."

"And you don't?" Savi demanded. Hadn't that always been what Mai had said? Linh and Tam had made her seem like an abusive, cruel mother. Same with Quan.

"Well... they're twins. So, naturally, there's a little bit of prejudice."

"A little bit," Savi snorted, wondering why she hadn't light leapt away already. Why was she stuck here dealing with Mai's nonsense? "Look, if you wanted to apologize to them, you should've done so years ago. Want to pin Tam down? Go to his family residence. He moved in to Everglen with Biana twelve years ago."

"And Everglen's got a lot of security!" Mai protested.

"Tam will let you in if he wants to see you. And if he doesn't, I'm pretty sure you won't even be able to force Linh to make him meet with you."

Mai's mouth opened and closed, but she didn't have a response. Instead, her eyes darkened and she looked away.

"Well, I can always force Tam to come," she said and clapped her hands over Savi's mouth. "Don't scream," she murmured softly. "It will be painless." And she pressed a clear vial to Savi's lips.

Savi stared at her, her mouth opening for a final scream that did not come. The fight in her eyes died away as a sudden drowsiness overcame it, and Savi's eyes closed slowly. She tried to transmit to Sophie, to Keefe, to Cerulean even, but fatigue blocked off all her mental power. The last thought she had before she blacked out completely was: Why on earth would Mai want to sedate me?