Savi followed Lady Gisela to her laboratory. She couldn't stop herself from feeling a little apprehensive. She was going to gain a new ability, one that wasn't even in her genetics. Lady Gisela had left Cerulean behind, but she had told Savi that she'd need Cerulean's help to train in Mesmerizing. As a Beguiler, he would have a similar struggle to her trying to fight off the temptation to control everyone and convince them to do anything he wanted to do.

"I'm going to need to inject you with this fluid," Lady Gisela warned, raising a needle connected to a long tube of light blue solution. Savi shuddered upon seeing the needle's sharp tip. It reminded her a lot of Will's repeated treatments from Elwin. "It's completely safe," Lady Gisela soothed. But... wasn't it untested?

"Isn't it"

"It's safe," Lady Gisela repeated. Savi tried her best to trust her grandmother, but it wasn't like her faith was unwavering. She faced Gisela with fear in her eyes. Gisela let out a long sigh. "You want to be a Mesmer, don't you?" she asked impatiently. Savi nodded shakily. "Good. Then take this. You need this, remember?" Savi nodded again, but she couldn't peel her eyes away from the needle. "Look away," Gisela commanded.

Savi couldn't, so she just covered her eyes. Fear shook her body.

"If you continue shaking, it'll hurt more, and I'll have to sedate you," Lady Gisela said dryly. Savi forced herself to stop shaking, making herself meet her grandmother's eyes, a steely determination overcoming her. "Good," Gisela noted, and without warning, she injected the fluid into Savi.

Savi barely had time to blink twice before she passed out.

She woke up in a dimly lit room. Someone was bent over her, cerulean eyes concerned, and she stood up, terrified. She recognized him, but she couldn't place it. Her brain was fuzzy, her memories failing her. "Move," she commanded, and he stepped back, a dazed look overcoming her eyes. Then her brain registered what she'd just done, and she screamed in terror and shock. "No! I didn't mean – I'm sorry!" she cried.

Cerulean stood back up. "Resist it," he whispered.

"Resist what?" she shouted, deranged.

"Resist the temptation to control me. Resist," he whispered, and she was sure he'd used his commands as a Beguiler.

She struggled with herself before calming down ever so slightly. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"It's the hardest when you lose your temper," Cerulean added. "So... try not to, okay?"

"That's going to be hard," Savi admitted, "since we're going to be spying on Keefe and Sophie." She spoke in her own voice again. She didn't dare use Nemesis's.

"Savi... look. It's going to be fine. You're on the right side," Cerulean whispered. "Everything is going to be okay."

She wished she could have his certainty. But she wasn't sure. Was she on the right side?

Spying on Keefe and Sophie began the very next day, and Savi had taken to controlling Keris to stop her red panda from making so much noise. She felt guilty about it, but it had to be done. She just felt worse when Keris stared at her with those sad eyes.

"It's not like I want to do it," Savi muttered regretfully as she packed.

The door swung open and a hooded figure stepped in.

Savi's appearance was concealed and she was hooded as well, so no one could tell who she was. Out of fright, she shouted, "Who are you? Tell me!" The last two words came out as a command, and the hooded figure sucked in a breath before admitting, "I'm Rayni Aria."

"Rayni?" Savi demanded, shocked, managing to keep up Nemesis's voice. "As in," she said, keeping herself controlled, "Glimmer." She forced malice into her voice. "The traitor."

Rayni looked pleasantly surprised. "I'm surprised you even know who I am. I haven't heard of you. And you're a Mesmer." Her eyes widened suddenly, and she stepped back. "Don't tell me... you aren't Jolie, are you?"

Savi concealed her shock and laughed out loud, her laugh an evil sound. "Jolie? Why would I be Jolie?"

"Because... because you're a Mesmer, Jolie's body was never found, and..." Rayni shrugged.

"I am not Jolie," Savi confirmed.

"Then, who are you? You're a Mesmer; are you some relative of Grady's?"

"Perhaps," Savi answered evenly.

"Or a relative of Dark Hearts. But that doesn't make sense, he only got his Mesmerizing through..." Rayni's eyes widened. "Don't tell me Dark Hearts had a child."

"Get out," Savi thundered.

Rayni backed out of the doorway.

"Go to Lady Gisela Minette Sencen," Savi added.

Rayni's eyes filled with horror. "Please, no! I can't see-"

"Stop talking," Savi snarled.

Rayni didn't have a choice. She turned and slowly started walking towards Lady Gisela's office.

Savi sighed and flopped onto her bed. Maybe Rayni had known about this hideout from the beginning, but otherwise, it meant that Keefe and Sophie were onto her.

She turned on her Imparter and texted Harmony: Did Keefe and Sophie send Rayni after me?

Harmony replied instantly: Not that I know of, but I don't know Rayni very well either.

True. Why would Harmony know about Rayni's whereabouts?

Savi found Cerulean at the dining table and grabbed his arm. "We have to go and start the mission now. Rayni Aria has tracked down this hideout."

"What?" His eyes filled with horror.

"Yes, and there's no time to waste, come on!" Savi towed him out, before jumping off a cliff and Teleporting them away.

"Teleporter, Inflictor, Telepath, Empath, Polyglot, Mesmer," Cerulean muttered, and Savi could feel his envy. "Great. You've got all of Sophie's abilities except Pyrokinetic and Enhancer."

"That a problem?"

"No, just... I'm only a Beguiler, you know?"

"You're the second Beguiler in the Lost Cities," Savi said numbly. "Why aren't you happy with that?"

"Well, you're the second Teleporter, third Inflictor, and third Mesmer," he retorted.

"I'm not here to argue," Savi took on Nemesis's voice.

"Please. I don't know what happened to you, but..." Cerulean searched her with his eyes. "I don't know you anymore."

Savi laughed bitterly. "You never did know me, Cerulean."

He was quiet for a moment, but she could've sworn he whispered, "I want to know you."

She didn't respond to him, instead starting a new conversation. "We're quite near Willowtree. Get your disguises up, for goodness' sake. Boy do I wish I was a Vanisher."

"You can feel people's thoughts and emotions. You know when they're nearby," Cerulean snapped.

"And that is the problem," Savi said. "You can't. I can conceal my emotions, you can't. I can hide my thoughts, you can't." She took a deep breath. "I should go alone."

"What? Why? We've been assigned to go together!" Cerulean cried.

"But it's safer if I go alone. I can't be tracked, Cerulean, but you can!"

"Yes, but Lady Gisela told-"

"Lady Gisela makes mistakes, Cerulean. And this is one of them. Go back to a Neverseen hideout." Savi watched him.

He didn't move. Not even an inch. "Go," she commanded.

He gritted his teeth as he resisted the command, and then Beguiled her, "Release me from the command."

"No. Go." It was a sheer battle of willpower that left them shaky and sweaty, but eventually, Savi won, and Cerulean was forced to leave. I don't want to make you suffer, she transmitted, but please, for your own sake and mine as well, just go.

I don't want to go, his mind whispered, his thoughts trickling into hers. She could hear his brain.

You must. You're vulnerable.

So are you.

It hit home. She was still a girl. But the only response she had for him was a cruel one. I'm stronger than you.

He left after that; what else did he have to argue? But his absent presence left her hollow, empty. Had she done the right thing? She panicked then, but soothed herself, hiding away her emotions and thoughts inside that safe box at the back of her mind. It was impossible to track.

"You didn't wait for me." Someone tsked behind her and she jumped. The shadows parted, revealing Fox. "Come on," the Shade urged, "let's go."

Savi and Fox were shrouded in shadow as they entered Willowtree. Savi saw Seri immediately. Her younger sister was playing with human Janga blocks, all on her own, building the most ridiculously complicated and useless castle Savi had ever seen. She couldn't help it. She spied a jar of jam on the table, teetering near the edge. Simple. Quickly, she shoved it off and it hit one of the castle's towers. Seri's entire castle collapsed, and Savi slid back into the shadow.

"That was risky," Fox hissed, "and all because of some petty grudge?"

"She'll never know, and the jam was going to fall on its own anyway."

"True, but what if she saw your hand?" Fox fretted, and continued watching Seri. The six-year-old's eyes welled up and tears leaked over.

"Mom... my tower collapsed!" she whined. Savi rolled her eyes. So stupid. It was just a tower. She could've glued the Janga blocks together.

Sophie came out of her bedroom, sighing as she took her daughter's hand. "We'll rebuild it, Seri."

"Now?" Seri perked up. "You're done?"

"Not right now, sweetie, Magnate Leto is coming over," Sophie answered.

Seri's brow furrowed. "But Savi's gone, so it can't be school stuff. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sophie promised, "important."

Seri nodded, as if she believed Sophie's very transparent lie. "That meeting is what we need to hear," Fox whispered.

"Yes, we"

DING-DONG!

"Leto!" Sophie hurried to the doorway and yanked the door open.

"You do seem eager to meet me," Magnate Leto answered calmly.

"I do."

"Now... don't you think you might want to... move... her away?" he asked evenly.

Seri pouted. "I wanna be there!"

"No," Leto answered. "Where's Keefe?"

"At work," Sophie replied. "I honestly think if Seri stays downstairs..."

"Too risky. I'll call Edaline. Serena, go to Havenfield."

"She'd better be baking mallowmelt!" Seri huffed unhappily before entering the Leapmaster and disappearing. Her black nexus glittered on her arm.

Savi tried to restrain her horror as she realized her own nexus had clattered to the ground. No... no way. The worst possible time for a nexus to fall off...

No one had noticed yet, though. Savi nudged Fox and pointed to her nexus.

"Leave it," Fox murmured.

"Isn't that Savannah's nexus?" Leto pointed.

"Oh," Sophie sighed sadly. "It must've fallen off before she left. Shame. It's rather early for it to fall off, too. Do you have any news about her?" she added, her voice filled with anticipation. She sounded slightly calm, but in reality she was exploding with emotions. Fear, sadness, regret.

And Magnate Leto was anxious, even though he looked calm. Something was up. "Dex hasn't been able to track the Imparter's signal," he fretted. "There's something wrong. Very wrong. It's his own invention! We haven't heard from Rayni, either. I don't even know if she made it there safely."

Savi held back her sniggers. She wondered what Lady Gisela had done with Rayni, but whatever it was, she'd obviously cut off Rayni's registry signal. That was almost comical. Here they were worrying, and Rayni was probably perfectly safe.

"What did you do with Cerulean?" Fox whispered.

"Sent him away. His emotions and thoughts would give us away."

Fox hissed irritably. "I could've shrouded that all in shadow. You need your Beguiler to help. Go back for him."

"After this meeting," Savi snapped.

Fox rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Well, let's see if there's anything actually interesting to listen to."

Word count 1941

I deleted four chapters because I have no clue what happened in them. So yeah. Bye.