Chapter 16 - An Untimely Loss

"I can get to bed on my own, you know," Sophie muttered as Fitz walked with her through their bedroom door.

Fitz grinned and kissed Sophie gently on the lips. "You absolutely certain about that?"

A small smile broke Sophie's lips. "Maybe I need a little help . . ."

Fitz chuckled as he made sure she safely got to their bed. Sophie kissed him again as he was helping her into bed. He lets out a laugh. "As much fun as me 'helping' you is, you really need to rest."

Sophie pouted as she sat up. "I'm pregnant, not nearly dying . . . again."

Fitz kissed Sophie's forehead before mumbling, "And I'm grateful you're not injured. But I just . . . want to make sure you and our baby are good and safe after learning about . . . the break-in."

Sophie sighed. "Fitz, I promise you, I'm fine."

"And I believe you," he said, kissing her for a second. "But you still need to rest."

"Fiiiine," Sophie grumbled, lying down. "I guess I'll rest for our son."

Fitz chuckled as he started leaving the room, allowing some peace and quiet for his wife. "I'm sure our daughter appreciates that."

Sophie rolled her eyes with a wide smile. "I love you."

"I love you."

Fitz had just closed the door, a smile lighting up his face as he was thinking about how lucky he was to have Sophie as his wife, before he heard his sister squeal.

"You two are so adorable!"

Fitz rolled his eyes as he and his sister started walking away from the room. "You don't have to fangirl about every little thing now, you know. Especially since you have Keefe to worry about now."

Biana shrugged. "I guess. But I feel like Keefe and I don't really connect as much as you and Sophie."

Fitz raised an eyebrow inconcern, having no idea his sister felt this way about his best friend/brother-in-law. "Really? You two were all lovey-dovey when you guys were dating."

Biana only sighed. "Yeah. Sophie said something about it being that he's just busy with Emissary work."

"It is really tiring," Fitz admitted. "But with everything going on with the Neverseen—and you know his relationship with the Neverseen—it's probably bring up memories of his mom he doesn't want to deal with again."

"True," Biana mumbled. "I just . . . really want to be there for him, y'know?" She took a seat on one of the couches, sighing, once they reached the living room.

Fitz opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out as shocks convulsed throughout his body.

Before Biana could let out a scream and reach out for her brother, someone already placed a cloth—laced with a sedative—over her mouth. She still thrashed around and tried screaming, but they came out as muffles.

However, it was still loud enough for Red, who was walking towards the living room to get to her own room, to hear and she started running, her heart racing and panicking.

"No, no, no, no!" she mumbled to herself, also silently cursing how huge the mansion-like home was.

By the time she reached them, there was already a beam of light ready for the Neverseen members to escape through and the two who had Biana and Fitz in their arms were already jumping through.

"You lost," said the third member and Red screeched, running after him, but it was too late. He already jumped through the light and disappeared.

"NO!" she screamed, collapsing to the ground, feeling tears stinging her eyes.

She came back for one reason, one moment. But she miscalculated when it was going to happen.

And she failed because of her mistake.

****

Green? she tried transmitting, doubting he'd let her enter his mind.

To her surprise, he responded. Red?

She felt a flood of emotions pour through her as she heard his familiar voice in her mind, like old times. They . . . they took them. Fitz and Biana, they . . .

She didn't want to explain any further, knowing she would break down. Besides, Red knows Green already knew what happened.

She had just spent half an hour explaining what happened to the Black Swan, though her expression was stoic and lifeless as she had to repeat herself over and over again.

It wasn't until she entered her room that she broke down into a mess of tears and silent screams.

You knew this was going to happen regardless of what you did, he reminded her and she had to stifle a forced laugh, closing her eyes.

Of course "he" would say that, "he" is just her subconscious, telling her what she doesn't want to hear but already knew deep down.

I failed.

No, his voice filled her mind. An even that always was meant to happen just happened. You couldn't have done anything to prevent that.

I don't want to believe that.

She turned her head to the side as she slowly opened her eyes. Red wasn't surprised to find her green-eyed elf sitting beside her with his back to the wall.

"I wish you were here," she mumbled quietly, wiping away a tear.

She saw something shift in his eyes.

Guilt.

And she turned away, wanting his comfort, but not the memory of what he did.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Red leaned against him, keeping her focus opposite from him.

"It . . . it was a mistake."

She smiled a small smile, closing her eyes. "You mean one that you made several times?"

He bit his lip. "I'm sorry."

"Words don't reverse mistakes, Kie."

* * *

Chapter 17 - Gazing yet Lacking Emotions

Red's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed the nearest trash can and put it in the way of Sophie's mouth as she threw up.

"I thought elvin pregnancies weren't supposed to be painful," Sophie gasped.

"They're not," Red said. "It's probably just because of all the stress."

Sophie glared at her. "Because losing my husband and best friend is just stress."

Red raised her eyebrows for a quick moment at Sophie's snap. "Well, the physical impact on your body is because of the stress."

Sophie rolled her eyes before puking again. "Ugh. I never want to have another child again."

Red had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Right. . . ."

Red stayed with Sophie for a few more minutes until Sophie felt like she was done throwing up.

"Am I going to have a girl?" Sophie quietly asked as Red walked with her to the living room.

"What?" Red questioned. "Um . . . are you sure you want to know?"

Sophie hesitated before nodding and Red had her actual answer.

"I'll let you know once . . . you give birth." Red almost gave away the pronouns of the child but luckily caught herself.

Sophie rolled her eyes, but Red saw the relief spread throughout her body. "That's really helpful."

Red smiled. "That's my purpose here."

Red and Sophie's smiles grow as they see Dex and Linh sitting on the couch next to each other, quietly talking.

"Do they ever get together?" Sophie loudly whispered to Red, wanting the two to hear.

Immediately, both of their cheeks tint pink as they see Sophie and Red entering.

"I wish I could say," Red "whispers" back with a small chuckle. "But honestly, they're still confusing in the future."

The two start laughing once they realize that Linh and Dex scoot a little further apart—not helping their case at all.

Sophie notices the box package on the glass table in front of the couches and nods towards it. "What's that?"

Red's easy expression fades away once she sees it, knowing exactly what is stored inside.

"I'm not sure," Dex explained. "I saw it at the front gates when I leaped here."

Sophie frowned as she reached for it. "I wonder who left it."

She quickly ripped apart the brown paper wrapping to reveal a small cardboard box. A white piece fell to the floor and Red telekinetically brought it to her subtly, not wanting to draw the others' attention to it.

It looked like a small, blank, white card. It was hard, however, to keep her expression straight once she read the curvy lettering on the back written in green letters.

Red didn't have to look at Sophie pulling out the crystal orb to know what it was.

"What the heck is this?" she asked, examining it from all sides and Dex gasped.

"WHOA! THAT'S THE SEE-ER-THROUGH-ER 3,000!" he shouted excitedly, grabbing it from Sophie. "SeTe's are so expensive! They're not even out to the general public, yet, either. This is so cool!"

Sophie and Linh shared a confused expression.

Dex sighed when he saw their lost looks, shaking his head. "It's basically another way of communicating. Sorta like an imparter but it projects on a bigger scale." He looked around the room and nodded towards the wall that had several paintings on them. "That should work."

He immediately started taking the portraits off the while, creating a blank white space, before setting the orb—or the See-Er Through-Er 3,000—on the table, rotating it in a certain way.

"So it's like a projector?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah," Dex said, still focusing on the orb.

"That's a much more simpler explanation," Linh mumbled to Sophie and she agreed.

The two of them giggled when a light shone into an unexpecting redhead's face, blinding him for a moment.

He groaned before chirping, "It's ready!"

The words on the paper rang through Red's head on a loop, playing backwards, scrambled, upside-down, forwards, any direction really.

"Wait, if it's like an imparter, does that mean someone sent this to communicate with us?" Linh asked and Sophie mumbled a "oh, yeah."

The light on the wall started turning from white to forming random colours blending together.

"Yeah," Dex confirmed. "It's setting itself up right now. But if whoever sent this has their SeTe on, too, then it should show what they're trying to project."

"Who would send us this, though?" Sophie asked before all joy vanished. "Oh. . . ."

Linh and Dex were confused for a second before also realizing. "Oh."

"The Neverseen," Red choked out, confirming their thoughts.

Suddenly an image displayed and the three of them gasped while Red looked away.

"No," Sophie let out, tears welling in her eyes. "NO!"

Fitz and Biana were hanging from chains, blood running down their heads, not moving at all.

"They're still alive for now" was written on a posterboard in between them.

Red left the living room, feeling her heart race and breathing hitch more and more the further the image burned into her head mixing with the note.

watch them suffer again

* * *

Chapter 18 - Babysitter in Red

Red woke up from bed, already dreading the day.

"Are you going to get out of bed anytime soon?" Green asked from beside her.

Red wasn't surprised anymore, her hallucinations of him becoming a new norm.

"I really don't want to," Red told him, continuing to lay on her side and stare out into space.

She felt the bed move as Green shifted his placement to back-hug her. Red didn't flinch as she felt his arm wrap around her.

"Wow," he let out. "You really do hate this day."

Red rolled her eyes. "Unlike you, I don't lie about my feelings."

Green raised an eyebrow, smiling a bit at the fact that he's getting away with basically cuddling with Red. "I'm pretty sure you have lied about them since you've gotten here. I mean, you don't actually hate Fitz and Biana. And you definitely weren't feeling fine every time you said you were."

Red scoffed. "Have you been stalking me this whole time?"

Green grinned. "Just like old times."

Red clenched her jaw. "You need to get out of my head."

Green noticed that she didn't push him off despite what she said, making him smile wider. "Again, just like old times when we were only friends."

"I need to go," Red mumbled, getting out of bed. "She's going to be giving birth soon."

After about an hour of labour and pushing and annoyed remarks, Sophie had finally given birth to her baby.

"Aren't you a cute little one," Red said, wrapping a blanket around the crying newborn.

"Wh—what . . ." Sophie had trouble speaking, feeling extremely tired.

Red smiled as she brought it over to Sophie, Linh holding the new mother's hand and patting her forehead with a dry towel to dry her sweat.

"Say hello to your baby girl."

Sophie let out a happy laugh, reaching out to embrace her daughter. "She's beautiful."

Sophie's tears of joy quickly turned into tears of sorrow. "Fitz would have gotten to name her."

"He's still alive," Linh reminded her, squeezing her arm. "He'll still get to name her."

"Maybe," she whispered, still looking at her daughter's beautiful teal eyes.

Red left the room to go wash up after delivering the child. They wanted to call Elwin but it was too late by the time Sophie started feeling the need to push. Plus, Red had experience with animals giving birth and figured she could still help with Sophie while Elwin was on his way.

She stole one last glance at the crying infant with a whimsical smile before leaving.

"You did a good job," the elf Red had really started getting annoyed by said. "As always."

"When will you leave me alone?" she asked, not sparing him a glance.

"I promised you I'd never leave you, Ren," Green said with a smile and Red rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me that," she warned, picking out clothes from her dresser to change into—which only consisted of red tops and bottoms so it didn't take her too long to figure out.

"Why not?" he asked, walking closer to her. "You loved it when I called you Red Ren."

"Funny, I remember being annoyed by it," she countered.

"But I know you actually loved it."

"And I thought we'd last longer than two seconds," she said with a sigh, turning around to look at him. "Guess we were both wrong."

She started heading for the bathroom after seeing his stunned expression. "Don't be here when I'm back."

* * *

Chapter 19 - Sacrifice for the Truth on the Verge of Death

"Hey, little one," Red said, picking up the baby.

"Hello," she mumbled back, her bright teal eyes looking at Red.

"Are you feeling good?" Red asked, starting to walk back and forth in the nursery with her in her arms.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"That's good," Red whispered. "That's good."

Red walked back and forth with her for a couple more moments, waiting for her to fall asleep, before breaking the silence. "You don't know what being 'happy' means yet," she quietly whispered. "And you won't for a really long time. Not if your auntie and daddy die.

"And I really don't know if it would be better for you to grow up feeling . . . unwanted or the alternative."

Red kept quiet for a couple moments, thinking, before setting her down in her crib. "I wish I had a choice. And maybe . . . nevermind."

Red sighed and walked out of the room before hearing something in the living room.

"What do you want?" Sophie demanded, trying to stay calm.

The Neverseen used the SeTe to talk with them again, this time, actually appearing on the screen to give the message themselves rather than displaying a note.

One of the members sneered and Sophie, as well as the rest of the Black Swan in the room, immediately recognized it. Fintan. "Have I ever given you an answer to that question, Sophie?"

"Better start now." Sophie's voice was filling with a surge of anger, slowly replacing the fear.

He only chuckled. "I'm the one calling the shots here, little Moonlark. I always have been."

"He wants the baby," Red choked out, walking in. "Or he'll torture Fitz and Biana."

"Oh? So this is the future girl?" he questioned, though there was an edge to his tone.

"Uncloak yourself, Fintan," Red commanded, looking at the cloaked figure with the melder in his hand as she walked closer toward the monitor. "I should have ended you when I had the chance."

"Ah, but you didn't," he said with a chuckle. "If you did, that would have solved all of your problems. You would have been successful in your travels back."

Red clenched her jaw.

"Give us the baby and we'll let them go unharmed," he offered.

"No!" Sophie immediately said with a wave of panic spreading across her.

Linh made eye-contact with Sophie and quickly left the room to go find the unnamed baby, making sure she was safe.

"Well then," he grumbled, before nodding at the Neverseen member closest to them.

"NO!" Sophie shrieked, crying, before Tam hugged her, hiding her view of the members using melders against her husband and sister-in-law.

"We'll ask again tomorrow, Sophie," Fintan spat out before the SeTe cut out.

"Wh—where's Keefe?" she asked and Red clenched her jaw.

"With the rest of the Black Swan trying to find their location," she said.

"We'll find them, Sophie," Tam promised, still hugging her. "We'll get them back."

Red looked away. "Yeah," she choked out.

The baby shrieked, tears running down her eyes. Red was already in the entrance way to the living room, but she couldn't bring herself to go comfort the newborn. Sophie and Linh dash into the room, trying to see what was wrong. But they froze when they saw the monitor. When they saw deep gashes in both Fitz and Biana's stomach, both unconscious from the sedatives.

Sophie put a hand over her stomach, unable to do anything at the sight of her husband and sister-in-law in that state. "No . . ."

Linh stayed beside Sophie, not sure of how to proceed.

It felt like the room was heating up, the tension in the air was so thick. Sophie crumbled to her knees, still keeping her eyes on the screen. Just like her daughter, she started to cry.

The baby girl was still screaming, and the room felt hotter and hotter by the second. Red blinked back a tear and ran to the infant. She picks her up and looks into her bright, beautiful, teal eyes.

Red lets out a deep breath before trying to shush and bounce her a little. "Shh. It's okay, it's okay."

She still cried, and Red continued to try and calm her down. Sophie still couldn't do anything, and Linh tried to comfort her. It was a mess in the living room for the Vacker girls.

Quietly, Red whispered into the infant's small ears, "It's okay. I know what you saw is scary and sad. I know you don't really know who the two on the screen are, you just know that they're important to you. I know that you don't know what to do and you're scared. But I need you to stop. You can keep crying, but I can't stop you from burning the room. I need you to stop, please."

She buried her head into Red's shoulder, her little body still shaking with sobs. "I don't know how."

Red rubbed her back gently. "Neither did I. You feel that tug in your tummy?"

Red felt her nod.

Red exhaled. "Okay, you need to just release yourself. Unclench your fists, breathe in and out, and think about Mommy and how happy you like seeing her."

The child does as the elder told her to do. And soon enough, the temperature in the room started dropping, and Red closed her eyes, just thinking about the baby in her arms. "Good job."

Her teal eyes look up at Red, tears staining her cheeks. She focuses in on Red's jaw, and brings up a finger to touch her face. "Your scar. It's not there anymore."

Red smiled sadly. "No, it isn't, huh."

Sophie also started to calm down, and stood up with Linh helping her. She walked over to her daughter and carefully took her from Red's grasp. "Thank you for calming her."

Red nodded, unable to meet Sophie's eyes. "Yeah."

From behind her, Red heard a static, crackling sound. She turned around and saw a cloaked Neverseen member through the monitor screen standing beside Fitz and Biana.

"This is your final chance," he said, holding up a melder to Fitz's temples. He and his sister were starting to wake from the sedatives given to them.

They both groaned and moved their heads a little. Red froze, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Give us the child, and they will not die today," his menacing voice finishes.

Sophie covered her daughters face, not wanting her to see what was about to happen. "That will never happen!"

The member turned the melder on, but it was barely a centimeter away from Fitz.

He's hesitating, Red realized. As he should. Not even I would kill my sibling without a second thought.

"You wouldn't do it," Linh bluffed, trying to buy a little more time. "Your conscience wouldn't handle it."

He laughs. "You'd be surprised. Final chance."

Red blinks, knowing what was about to happen. "Alvar, please don't."

The melder is hardly a couple millimeters away now, but it doesn't go forward. "Well, well, future girl. You know I'll do it."

Red clenches her jaw. "If you do it, I swear I will stop at nothing to kill you."

He brings down his hood, revealing the dark hair and blue eyes that belongs to Alvar Vacker, proving Red was right about who it was. "Then I guess I'm ready to die."

He closes the space. Fitz's body starts to shake with the electricity as he screams.

"No!" Red screams, and runs forward.

But before she could crash into the monitor, she disappears. Only to reappear a second later, this time, in the same cavern as the kidnapped, knocking down Alvar. "I'm here! Just stop."

Alvar pushes her off him. "How did you-"

Red punches him and gets the melder from his hand, only to get zapped from a different one from behind her. She surpasses a scream as her body jolts from the electricity, weakening her.

"Well, well, well," a dark voice pridefully said. "Who do we have here."

Red turned around to see a lot more people in black cloaks hiding around the monitor before using her telekinesis to smash the SeTe against the wall, breaking it. "I'm . . . I'm the one you want. I'm Emalryn Vacker."

~*~ 

Thanks, lovelies
Nuela