After everyone's awake and has changed out of their pajamas, the six of us make our way down to the ground floor. I sigh in relief when I don't see Leila, which most likely means that she's still sleeping.

Mr. Wallace smirks at us as we come downstairs. He gestures for Fitz and me as the others go to the kitchen for breakfast. Fitz raises an eyebrow when Mr. Wallace says, "We aren't getting anywhere with Arien right now. We'll need to speed things up."

"Speed things up? Like last time?" I can't help but ask with some venom.

Mr. Wallace ignores my question. "Actually, I just need to check on how things are proceeding." He then reaches up to touch Fitz's temples.

Fitz steps back before he can. "What are you doing?" Fitz asks, most likely remembering how he passed out for a couple of days.

"I saw that there were some developing memories in your mind when I brought you out," Mr. Wallace explains. "I'm trying to see whether or not they've developed."

Fitz hesitantly nods, confusion written clearly across his face. Silence hangs in the air as Mr. Wallace presses his slightly wrinkled fingers to his temples. A few moments of silence dauntingly pass before Mr. Wallace pulls his hands away as if he was just burned. Fitz and I look at him, confused and worried.

He then presses his fingers to my temples without warning. I tense up, but don't flail in panic as I begin to wonder why he's looking at my memories. I wasn't unconscious for three days. He removes his hands after a few seconds, his face even more pale.

"What?" both of us ask, genuinely curious.

Not answering us, Mr. Wallace says instead, "Tierastine."

Fitz frowns. "What does a crystal have to do with this?"

Mr. Wallace pales. "You're not supposed to know that yet." He points to me. "What color is a tierastine crystal?"

I press my lips together in thought. A moment of silence passes before I say, "Blue. Like the sky."

Color returning to his wrinkled face, he looks at both of us. "Have you two been near each other lately?" Mr. Wallace asks, way too direct to not be suspicious.

Fitz scowls. "Well, yes," he begins sarcastically. "Since we do have rooms next to each other and see each other every day."

Not noticing the sarcasm, Mr. Wallace presses on. "Other than that, have you two been near each other?"

"Fitz saved me from Leila," I mention, blushing slightly when the male Percipient smiles at me.

Mr. Wallace shakes his head. "I doubt you two were with Leila in the middle of the night. The memories were triggered near four in the morning."

Near four..? I tense up when I think of one possibility. Blush spreading across my face before I can try to fight against it, I look over at Fitz. My blush deepens when I notice the blush on his face as well.

Mr. Wallace, unfortunately, catches our looks. Sighing, he asks, "What'd you two do?"

Even worse, Laurel decides to jump into our conversation at that exact moment. Smiling, she says, "I took a picture earlier, Mr. Wallace. I can show you if you want!" She calls for Benen, and he walks over with a camera. Fitz rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as I hold my face, wondering where they got the camera. 

Fitz voices my thoughts when he says, "I thought you didn't have a camera."

Benen smiles. "Just because she didn't have a camera doesn't mean that I don't."

Laurel giggles, whispering at "how cute we are when we sleep". Totally not creepy. But things only become worse when Mr. Wallace smiles. Looking at us, he comments, "You two have an interesting way of sleeping."

Fitz and I look away from each other, blushing profusely. Laurel and Benen burst into hysterics, Mr. Wallace joining in as well. He then raises an eyebrow at us. "Should I be expecting this when we go back?"

I merely cover my face in my hands to stop the blush to no avail. Fitz just stammers, "I- uh, well-" After a minute or so, he shakes his head. "Why are we still talking about this?"

Clearing his throat, Mr. Wallace says, "Because you know have memories that you weren't supposed to have yet, and Sophie has subconsciously transferred the memories she's supposed to have right now."

I frown at how Mr. Wallace talks about these memories as if he has a schedule specifically for these memories. And I ask him exactly that.

Mr. Wallace freezes. "Perhaps I'll tell you later," he says. "But go have some breakfast- we're leaving right after."

"But what-"Laurel begins.

"Right. After," the man says through gritted teeth. At this, the four of us turn around and make our way to the kitchen. I place my hand on Laurel's shoulder, sympathetically looking at her.

Fitz furrows his eyebrows. "When we go back, come to my room," he says. He then tells us to act normal, so we split up- Benen with Fitz and Laurel with me. We then sit down and eat breakfast, making small talk with Leila and the Sovereigns.

And that's when I notice Audrey staring at something else.

Me.

...

When we return home, it's around midnight. The Sovereigns and Mr. Wallace go to sleep as the four of us stand in the main lobby. We wait until a few minutes pass before making our way to our specific rooms. After putting our things away, Fitz and I wait in his room for the Altruistics. I use this time to ask about the memories.

Fitz shrugs. "I could just ask him tomorrow," he offers.

My mind drifts to the time where Mr. Wallace practically forced the male Percipient to stop asking such clever questions, "Absolutely not."

He sighs. "That's what I was expecting." After a moment, he says, "Basically, if our heads are close together, then memories will be transferred from one to the other, correct?"

I press my lips together, replaying his statement. Nodding, I say, "But I never knew that I had those memories. So how did I get them anyways?"

Fitz furrows his eyebrows in thought. Suddenly, he clenches his fists tightly. "Jacob," he seethes.

My eyes widen when I remember the black crystals Jacob had used to make me see him murder his remaining family from his perspective. And then he knocked me out with the same crystals. "He could've used the crystals to insert more memories into my head," I finally breathe in a whisper.

Fitz nods. "Wait- but if you were knocked out by the disclosers, then what happened to Laurel that rendered her unconscious as well?" Fitz asks, bringing up a good point.

"We'll have to ask her about that," I muse to myself. I hear faint knocking in the door and go to open it. I smile gently as I welcome Laurel and Benen inside.

As Benen goes to talk to Fitz, I gently pull Laurel aside. "Laurel," I begin softly. "I need to ask you something about Jacob."

She pales instantaneously, but nods.

"How did you get knocked out on the day Fitz and Benen saved us?"

The female Altruistic taps her chin in thought. "He had some black crystals and put them on my head," she begins, her answer already worrying me. "Did something to me- made my head all fuzzy. And then he smashed them against my head."

My eyes widen. "Were they memories?" I ask, pleading that she says no. She couldn't handle that gruesome memory I saw. It'd break her.

Laurel shakes her head. "No, but now I can do something weird," she says.

"What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, she says, "Close your eyes."

I willingly do so and wait impatiently. When she tells me to open them, I do.

I just don't see her. But I'm sure I heard her voice.

I look around, confusion clearly sketched across my face. "Where did you-" I start.

Laurel's voice rings out, "I'm right here." She then reappears out of thin air, all in one piece. She smiles quite sheepishly, looking at my reaction.

Sure, I'll admit that I shouldn't have done this since I'm able to telepathically communicate.

But I faint, not believing my eyes.