(first ever cover made by Oreos)

(new cover made by me)

Prologue - The Old Past

"I should probably get going now," Kieran mumbled, brushing his ashen-blonde hair out of his viridescent eyes.

"You're leaving so soon?" she asked him, pursing her lips and getting up from her bed to show Kieran his way out if he does leave.

"I mean, we've already finished the telepathy project that we were assigned. And I don't want to intrude on your privacy any longer than I need to."

"You're sure you're not just scared of my dad?" Tieanle replied with a teasing smile.

Kieran flashed her a cute smile. "I have no idea why you'd assume that."

"Well, he should be afraid," the young woman in red quietly muttered from the corner.

Tieanle turned to give her an annoyed look. "Really?" she asked with her voice coated in disdain.

Kieran raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Tieanle faced Kieran again and hastily smiles. "Nothing! Maybe it is time for you to leave."

"Okay?" Kieran agreed, confused by her sudden change of decision.

She got up from her bed and lightly shoved Kieran through the door. "I'll see you tomorrow? During school?"

He nodded, still confused, but started to leave nonetheless.

Tieanle shut the door once he left and leaned against it, giving Red a pointed look with her arms crossed.

"What?" Red asked, feigning innocence.

Tieanle didn't do nor say anything, but continued to glare at Red.

It took an awkward moment of silence to pass before Red finally grumbled, "I don't like him, okay?"

"We made a deal, you wouldn't do or say anything while other people are around!" Tieanle reminded her, frustration clear in her voice.

"I can't help it, I just don't like or trust him."

Tieanle gave an exasperated sigh. "Well I trust him. Why won't you tell me what you have against him? You're not telling me anything about yourself! It's only fair."

"I've already told you—"

"That only I can see and hear you because 'you're my conscience' or whatever—that doesn't even make sense, by the way," Tieanle interrupts, repeating what she's heard over and over from Red. "I'm pretty sure your conscience is a voice inside your head, not an actual person."

"See? You already know, I don't see why you need more explanation, and you should listen to your conscience, not question it. Besides, I've already told you that if it really bothers you that you can see me that much, just call me your imaginary friend."

Tieanle clenched her jaw, helping her calm down a little before she loses her temper and explodes at her "imaginary friend."

"I need more explanation because it doesn't make sense! When you explain something to somebody, your goal is to make sure that said person understands everything! And see, you're not answering me about the actual person thing—not that I should be surprised or anything."

Red vanished from the chair in the corner—placed specifically for her—and reappeared sitting on the desk against the wall behind Tieanle, a small smile playing her lips.

"You know, being angry doesn't really suit you, as the self proclaimed 'Miss Sunshine.' "

"One: you're ignoring what I just said. Two: you're trying to change the topic, and three: you're failing miserably at changing the topic," Tieanle pointed out.

Red rolled her eyes and huffed, jumping down from the uncomfortable desk. "Fine." Despite the fact Red only said one word, Tieanle could sense a patchwork quilt knitted from thousands of emotions—even though she wasn't an empath. "You want answers to your questions? Like 'why can only I see you' and 'why do you hate Kieran' and your millions of other questions? Then I'll give you the answers you've been pleading for. But it's not going to be pleasant, and it's going to change your entire life, for the worse possibly, if you even believe me."

"Yes!" Tieanle exclaimed. "That's all I've been wanting know my entire life, and I'm sure whatever you say can't be worse than what I've come up with in my head."

"One, those are interesting theories you've had about me, and two, technically, it wasn't your entire life," Red said, confusing Tieanle even more with only one sentence.

To Red's cryptic message, Tieanle's only response was, "What do you mean?"

Red let out a long, deep sigh. "You might want to sit down on your very comfortable bed, this is going to take a while. All of this . . . it was because of a mistake."

* * *  

Chapter 1 - Newly-Wed Drama

"I mean, I understand why this is happening," Biana rants, her unhappy tone evident through her words, "But another part of me still feels upset about this whole scenario."

Biana gingerly places a large box, with the words "Make-Up" scrawled on the side, onto the floor of her new bedroom with an "oof".

Sophie lifts up a another heavy box from the hallway, and struggles to move it into Biana's bedroom while muttering a few choice words about makeup and heavy boxes under her breath. "Y'know, maybe it isn't as complicated as you're making it out be. He could just be extremely busy, being an emissary is hard work. You yourself should know this, seeing as your own father is an emissary," Sophie points out, trying to help her friend.

"Yeah, maybe. You have a point, I remember seeing my dad spend countless hours in his office, drowning in scrolls. But it's only been three months since we got married! You'd think that the councillors would lay some work off of him and let him be with his wife," Biana replies, lips quirking upward when she said the word wife.

Sophie smiles, remembering how happy she was every time she called Fitz her husband or he called her his wife. It's already been four years since they've gotten married, yet Sophie's just starting to get used to it.

"What was it like for you?" Biana asks her, the latter's voice full of curiosity, "When you and my brother first got married, was he a little distant?"

Sophie finally manages to place the box down on the floor, without smashing her toes — which was more than likely to happen, due to Sophie's clumsiness.

"That's a good question . . ." Sophie muses as she thinks for a few minutes before finishing her reply to Biana. "I'm not 100% percent sure, but I think I was actually the distant one in our marriage at first. I was being suffocated and swamped with school assignments and projects. Having multiple abilities and being in the Silver and Golden Towers is an absolute nightmare . . ." Sophie drifts off, shuddering as she remembers the countless all-nighters and hours studying — even with her photographic memory, the Towers were still immensely difficult to complete.

"Anyway, back to Keefe — I'm sure it's just a phase or something similar. I don't think he's completely used to being around someone who loves him so much. Y'know, with how his dad was rough and didn't really show him affection as he grew up . . . and then with his mom and the Neverseen, that must have been overall terrible for him, and I don't think he's still over that — he may never be completely over it. Maybe, once you two officially move into your new home, he'll be more closer to you. Or it may take more time and skinship on your part. But Keefe is Keefe — he'll come around."

Biana nods, seeming less anxious and frustrated. "You're probably right. You're also good at understanding other people — I'm surprised that you didn't manifest as an empath!"

"I'm always right. And who knows, maybe I am an empath . . ." Sophie responds, with a slight smirk and playful glint in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Your tendency to be 'always right' helps you almost die — multiple times, Miss Empath," Biana retorts with a teasing smile.

"Hey! That was just . . ."

"A phase?" Biana finishes for Sophie, and they both laugh.

Together, the two friends attempt to move some more boxes around the room and begin a light discussion about the gossip that's flying around the Elven world, but they wind up talking about their own lives and friends.

"Okay, that's all great and all —" Biana says, stifling a giggle at Sophie's hilarious story involving Iggy and some of Silveny's glittery poop. "But do you know something that's horrible, terrible, and depressing to watch unfold in front of your eyes?"

"What?" Sophie asked, intrigued by Biana's question.

"It's watching Linh being oblivious to the fact that Dex is falling for her. Hard."

"Yes!" Sophie immediately agrees with Biana, "It's so obvious — I'm sure everybody else, except for the girl in question, can realize that Dex has feelings for her!"

Biana glances at Sophie, smiling slightly with an oh,-what-a-hypocrite look directed at Sophie.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sophie asks, noticing the look on Biana's face.

"Your rant about Linh reminded me of somebody else I know," Biana mumbles.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sophie demanded, confused.

"I mean," Biana responds, emphasising the word "mean," "that it was pretty — no, it was very obvious that you and Fitz were both pining for each other. Yet the two of you were oblivious to the other's feelings until I, being the only one smart enough to see the fact that you both loved each other, dared Fitz to kiss you."

"You technically only dared him to kiss the elf that he wanted to be his number one on his match-making scroll," Sophie retorts, "and you yourself can't be ta—"

"I dared him to do that because I knew that his number one would be you," Biana pokes Sophie as she says the word "you." "Though at first, when he asked the question about 'What if she isn't in the room?', I was a bit confused," Biana admits, interrupting Sophie.

"Wait, if you knew that the person he wanted as him number one was me, why didn't you just tell me, instead of going through all that trouble of daring him?" Sophie asks.

"The answer is simple; you wouldn't have believed me."

True, Sophie thought. That was very true. But she doesn't admit it aloud for Biana to hear.

"Well, what I was going to say before you interrupted me was that you couldn't be talking. You and Keefe were worse than Fitz and I. You obviously liked Keefe and he clearly liked you back — did you ever notice about how he showed more attention and affection? He didn't treat anybody else like that," Sophie says, averting the attention from the fact that Biana was right.

"I wasn't nearly as obvious as you, but I did get jealous pretty easily, huh?"

Sophie nods, agreeing with Biana's statement. "I don't know why you got jealous so easily — it was obvious that you were the only elf he liked and crushed on."

Biana laughs at that, leaving Sophie confused.

"What's so funny?" Sophie asks.

"Once oblivious, always oblivious, I guess," Biana mutters.

"What?"

Biana heaves a loud, frustrated sigh. "You seriously couldn't see it?"

Sophie shakes her head, even more confused than before.

"Keefe had a crush on you!" Biana exclaimed loudly.

"I'm sure he did," Sophie responds, not believing Biana — Biana can be right about quite a few things — and only trying to humor the woman. Besides, Sophie would never think that Keefe liked her as more than just a friend, because it's the truth, or so, Sophie thought.

"Wait . . . maybe that's the reason behind all of this," Biana mumbles, lost in her own thoughts. "Maybe he likes somebody else. But who would he else would he like, if he even likes me?"

Sophie tries to stifle a laugh at how ridiculous Biana was being.

"Biana." She scoots closer to her friend and snaps her fingers to get Biana to pay attention to what she was going to say, "Keefe Sencen married you. He's moving into Vicrella, your new home, with you. He smiles every time he looks at you. Whenever you talk, he's always genuinely interested in whatever you're discussing. There are millions of other small things that show Keefe doesn't just like you, but loves you. What could possibly make you think that he has eyes for someone else, who isn't you, Biana Vacker-Sencen?"

Biana's lost-in-thought expression is replaced by a small smile as she opens her mouth to speak, but before she can say anything, an unfamiliar voice calls out from behind them.

"Empaths are good liars." The voice sounds feminine, though it's slightly muffled, as if the speaker was covering their mouth. Their voice was honey—sweet and persuasive, and the speaker's tone sounded rather relaxed and calm - as if she were a friend that had made an offhand comment about some trivial thing, and not a stranger that had not-so-subtly called Biana's husband a liar, as Sophie was trying to reassure her he wasn't.

The both of them hastily turn to see their uninvited visitor - Biana smoothly gliding while Sophie stumbled and nearly tripped in her hurry. They are greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar young woman, who was very red. Her velvet-like tunic was a vivid carmine, and her leggings and shoes were the same shade as her tunic. She wore a rose-red bandana over her mouth that concealed her lower face and the majority of her cheeks, yet a thin pink line peeked out of the cloth. Her hair was a gorgeous scarlet that dropped down to her shoulders in fluffy waves and also matched with her outfit - or disguise, Sophie wasn't sure which it was. Even her eyes were red - a brilliant ruby color that was slightly unnerving yet Sophie couldn't tear her eyes away from the unnaturally colored eyes.

The woman leaned casually against the doorway, staring both Sophie and Biana down, acting as if this wasn't supposed to be a big deal. Sure, Sophie had seen a lot in her very strange life, yet seeing a red woman in her friend's new house, acting as if this was normal was probably the weirdest thing she's seen yet, out of her 21 years of living.

"W-who are you? How d-did you get here? Why are y-y-you here?" Sophie manages to splutter out amidst her confusion, backing away from this slightly terrifying stranger. Sophie manages to trip while moving back, landing on the wooden floor of the new bedroom Biana shares with her spouse. Biana is completely paralyzed, eyes slightly dilated at the sight of the red lady.

"Me?" the lady in red asks, pointing at herself and sarcastically looking around, as if trying see if there was anyone else the girls would be asking about. Sophie assumes the young woman was smiling - or smirking - by the glint showing in her crimson eyes as they focused on her. "I'm simply an acquaintance of yours, or rather, we're on the same side - well, I will be, in the far future."

* * *

Chapter 2 - The Mysterious Red Lady

"Hello," The woman begins, her voice crisp, yet cheerful as if she were presenting a new proposal to a company or investor. "I'm Red, as you can tell from the disguise. It's nice to meet you all! I'm from the future and I came to your present, which is my past—well not technically my past—with the goal of making sure what happens, doesn't happen. Any questions?" She spoke with a tone of finality, yet she tossed her words out in a way that made Sophie feel like Red had memorized everything she had said.

Sophie glanced at her friends, uneasiness rising up in her gut. She didn't trust Red just yet. She noticed Red looking around at her friends, gauging their reactions, and seeming unsurprised when they all appeared to be apprehensive.

"You know that you can ask questions, right? Even though it may have seemed rhetorical, I actually meant it." Red explained.

At the mention of the word questions, Sophie's mind suddenly went into overdrive and there were now millions of questions racing through her mind. Why Red? How far into the future is she from? How the heck did she even get back from the future? Why should we even believe her? What's with the bandana over her mouth? Did it turn into the mid-west in the future? What happened in the future? Why is she being so peppy and cheerful as if this is a regular occurrence for her? Who is she really? And many, many more questions.

Red stifles a laugh when all seven still are silent, her rocky exterior cracking due to the matching stunned faces of the Keeper Crew.

"Okay, um . . . I can't really answer the questions you all have because you know, it could mess with the future, like how far into the future I'm from, how I got here, the bandana - and no, it doesn't turn into the mid-west - and you should enjoy my happiness and cheerfulness because I'm definitely not usually like this, I think it's a side-effect from traveling back, and like I said, I'm Red, that's all you need to know about my identity."

Sophie's jaw drops when she realized Red had just read her mind at the comment of the mid-west. "Wh—bu—how—bu—d—did you just read my mind? That's not possible."

Red chuckles a little. "On the contrary, it is possible to read your mind if you get passed the barriers. And back to the questions, the ones I can answer is what happens in the future that made me come back. Long story short . . . the Neverseen were never really gone, but now, as we speak, they're starting to get stronger and are joining forces again."

Biana scoffs at that. "And why should we even trust what you're saying?"

Red takes a step towards Biana and Keefe steps in front of his wife, blocking her from Red. Red smirks a bit a Keefe's actions. "Sometime today, you will get a scroll from the council, informing you that some members of the Neverseen have just escaped custody from Exile."

Keefe clenches his jaw. "And how do we know that if we get a scroll like that, you didn't just forge it."

"You of all people should believe me," Red tells him, her voice laced with disdain before holding out her arm. "After all, you can sense my emotions and see if I'm lying."

The two have glare daggers at each other, before Keefe glances at her hand and holds it, grumbling profanities under his breath. "She isn't emitting any emotions that would show she's lying, but that doesn't mean we should trust her."

"Yeah," Red says, a hint of sarcasm clear in her voice. "Because it's totally me that you shouldn't be trusting."

"What do you mean by that?" Fitz asks, speaking for the first time since he's seen Red.

Emotion flashes across Red's eyes so fast, Sophie wasn't sure if she imagined it until Keefe backed away from her. "Whoa, that was . . . intense. Haven't felt anything like that from anyone besides Sophie."

"Well expect to feel it from everyone in the future if you all don't stop questioning me now," Red says, recovering from whatever Keefe felt from her. "And why don't you tell them, Keefe, about what I meant by what I said before?"

"What is she talking about, Keefe?" Biana asks, her tone and expression being worried.

Keefe sighs. "Red . . . wasn't lying . . . about the Neverseen escaping."

"And how do you know that?" Linh asks, her voice gentle and calm in contrast to everyone else.

"Because . . . ," Red looks like she was smirking at Keefe's hesitation. "Because I was on the classified mission that involved the investigation of the escape of some of their members."

Red's eyes hardens and she clenches her jaw. "Right. So as you can see, I was right about the Neverseen—"

"Doesn't mean we should trust you though," Dex interjects, "I mean, how do we know that you aren't one of them?"

Red nods along, agreeing with him and quietly mumbles. "I guess this won't be as hard as I thought," before raising her voice for all of us to hear, "Tam could read the shadow vapor in me, check my true intentions."

Everyone looks at Tam—the only one who hasn't said a word. He shrugs and steps forward towards Red.

His shadow goes over her, and they have a small conversation privately as he looks for vapor in her.

Why are you really here? He asks.

Because what happens in the future . . . I don't want it to happen.

Then why won't you - Tam steps back away from her, dazed before he could finish his sentence. "Whoa . . . that was . . . weird."

"What?" everyone including Red asked, though Red already knew what happened.

"I'm not sure, it was like her mind blocked me," Tam tells them, and Red looks away.

"It's because I have equal amounts of Shadow vapor and and potential, right?" Red asks, already knowing the answer.

"But . . . that was like me," Sophie observes, watching Linh take care of her brother.

"Yeah," Red quietly mumbles, "Just like you."

*~*~*~*

Red looks around the room, exploring the bareness of it save for the one bed and the couple of drawers in it.

"It's not much but you can stay here if you'd like," Sophie tells Red, talking about the guest bedroom of the house at Moonend that Sophie shares with Fitz.

"I used to spend my time here all the time," Red quietly says.

"Really?" Sophie questions, setting down a couple blankets on the empty bed as Red nods. "What for?"

Red doesn't answer, which was to be expected from her.

"So how did you get your scar?" Sophie asks instead, changing the subject and hoping Red will answer at least one of her questions. "I mean, that's what you're hiding behind your bandana, right?"

Red sighs. "I got it from the Neverseen."

Sophie was surprised that she actually got an answer, and decided not to push her luck by asking more questions that Red doesn't seem interested in answering. "How come you were acting . . . different towards Keefe? Like you were accusing him of something."

"Keefe and I . . . we don't really get along in the future," Red answers, setting up her bed with the sheets and blankets Sophie brought. "We just had different opinions on everything and fought a lot."

Sophie wasn't sure if Red was telling the truth, or if there was more behind it what she was saying, like if they spent a lot of time together to actually argue a lot, but Sophie once again, decided not to push her luck, especially since Red started to look annoyed.

"Okay, well . . . I'll just um, go now," Sophie says, sounding a bit awkward. What's so awkward about letting a complete stranger claiming she's from the future and came back to stop her nemesis from rising up again, and having some sort of future grudge with one her best friends, sleep in the guest bedroom down the hall?

Sophie was on her way out the door when Red called out, "Sophie, wait."

She turned around and faced Red. "Yes?"

"Um . . . ," Red stutters, unsure of what or how to phrase her next sentence. "Did you get the scroll? About the Neverseen escaping?"

Sophie could tell that wasn't what Red wanted to say or ask, but she still said, "No, not yet. I think you got your timing a little off."

"Probably," Red says. "I was actually supposed to come a bit earlier."

"How much earlier?" a different and male voice asks.

Sophie turns around and finds her husband leaning against the doorway. She gets up and walks over to him as Red answers.

"About a week before you guys thought you defeated the Neverseen." Sophie noticed how Red was paying a lot more attention to her fingers than before Fitz showed up.

"That makes sense," Fitz says, then looks at Sophie and in a quieter tone, tells her, "I just spoke with the Council, they said that they would like to meet her soon."

"Meet her how? Like them coming here?"

"Like a private mini tribunal," Fitz answers, catching Red's attention.

"A tribunal? Why?" she asks, confusion showing in her eyes.

Fitz shrugs. "Probably to make it more formal."

Red scoffs, playing with her fingers as Sophie says, "Councillors and their formality."

She stops messing with her fingers and looks at the couple. "Speaking of councillors . . ."

"Yes?" Sophie prompted.

"It's Kenric," Red says nervously, "he's alive, but the Neverseen have him."

~*~

Thanks, lovelies
Nuela