*Above is an old sketch of Keilar, I'm drawing a new version of her though...*

*

Typical.

Moment you teleport to some sparkly meadow and faint, you wake in an even brighter room which tends to give a massive headache.

She'd only opened her eyes a small peak, only to be blinded by the brightness in the room. She was aware of a dull pain in the back of her skull, disorienting and slowing her recognition skills.

Slowly, she returned to her senses. Keilar's hands softly touched the rough, white mattress she was on, and recognized it as the one used for cots in hospitals. The room she was in also seemed white...probably a clinic?

Keilar's memories came back. The girl closed her eyes as she tried sensing any people around her. A tactic she'd use when kidnapped; sense if anybody's near her. She'd act unconscious for some time to get some intel by eavesdropping, then make a run for it. One of the many advantages of being able to strongly sense people's emotions from several meters away.

Keilar heard voices. They seemed to be just a few meters away from her. She focused onto them.

☆

"You're sure he was a Pyrokinetic?" said Alden.

Sophie rubbed where his hands had seared her skin. "Positive."

A deep pucker formed between the teal eyed man's brows. "Then we have an unregistered Pyrokinetic. We're still monitoring every move of the other Pyrokinetics, and it couldn't be Fintan."

"Why not?"

"The sample you collected proved the fires were Everblaze. Fintan was arrested the day you and Dex disappeared, and he's been held in custody ever since, awaiting tribunal."

"That actually makes sense. He asked me if I knew who he was, and when I guessed Fintan, he laughed. Then he burned me again." She shuddered. "

I'm so sorry, Sophie," Alden whispered, choking up. "When I think about what—"

"Don't think about it," she interrupted, hating to see him upset. "It's over. I'm fine. And it's not your fault."

*

Pyroki-what? Wasn't that a word related to fire? Keilar was weak at studies, but she knew a bit about that. She risked to open her eyes a tiny peek.

The girl. The girl was sitting on a cot similar to hers, while some tall, brunette man, addressed as 'Alden', was talking to her. 'Weird name.' thought Keilar, but she shouldn't speak. Her name was pretty weird too. So was her life.

Unfortunately, things got weirder from that point. Scary weirder, and awkward weirder.

Her orbs landed on a grey dude. He looked blurry, but when Keilar's eyes finally adjusted to the light, she saw a...grey...scary...thing....

The thing looked jack. Scales, or whatever those things are, were on the dude's head area, and bicep area. It had pointy ears that made Keilar half-think that the thing was some kind of elf, but she crossed that out due to his looks. She eavesdropped further into the conversation.

☆

"In a way it is. I'm the one who declared your deaths and called off the search. If I hadn't done that, we might've found you sooner." He shook his head. "When they found your pendants in the ocean—and there had clearly been a tidal wave at the cave—I couldn't see how it could be anything other than a tragic accident. I never considered kidnapping. I never thought the Black Swan would sink so low."

"They didn't. I don't know who the kidnappers were, but they weren't the Black Swan. In fact, I think the Black Swan rescued us." said Sophie.

"That's what Dex said. Are you sure?" said Alden.

She nodded, trying to organize her memories—they were a muddled mess from the drugs. "I think the Black Swan are working against the kidnappers, and I think they sent me the notes and clues because they wanted me to stop the Everblaze." She paused, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the next question. "Do you think the kidnappers are the ones who started the Everblaze?"

Alden fiddled with his cloak. "It's possible. Fintan claims innocence. But he also won't submit to a probe—so he's hiding something. And if we have an unregistered Pyrokinetic out there, I have no doubt Fintan knows something about it."

"Why doesn't the Council just order a memory break?"

"They want to give their friend a chance to see the error of his ways—and perhaps this new information will motivate him to confess. If not, they'll order one. They're just trying to avoid condemning him to a life of madness."

"That's his choice, if he won't confess."

*

Huh? Black Swan? Everblaze? Keilar was correct about the two kids getting mugged, but kidnapped? On her watch? Dex was probably the boy with the girl at the bridge. At least she now knows their names.

Pendants? What Pendants? Keilar was losing track of what the heck was happening. Who were these people? What happened when that bright light came and she fainted? Who's Fintan? What's the Council? And what do they mean by 'condemning a life of madness' to a person?

She had sooo many questions racing through her mind, but she kept them back. 'Curiosity killed the cat, like I was taught...' thought Keilar. 'I'm not a cat, but I ain't dumb either.'

☆

"It is. But if you'd ever seen a memory break, you would understand their reluctance." His shoulders trembled. "It's haunting."

Sophie's thoughts flashed to Prentice. She didn't know what he looked like—or even who he was—but he let his mind be broken to protect her, maybe from the same people who'd taken her and Dex. She wasn't sure she deserved that sacrifice. Especially since it had also destroyed the lives of his family.

"I'm sure the memory break will be ordered," Alden said, breaking the silence that had settled over them. "The Council is simply giving their friend every chance to help himself. Plus, they don't want to believe he tried to single-handedly wipe out the human race. In the meantime, if there's anything else you can remember that might help us find the kidnappers, now's the time to tell me."

*

Wait...human race?

So...these guys... aren't human?

WHAT FANTASYLAND HAD SHE BEEN TELEPORTED TO?? Is this the aliens? 'They don't look like aliens...' thought Keilar, but she couldn't be so sure. After all, that big grey...thing...was definitely an alien. That was NOT human!

Mr. Alden and Sophie seemed human though. By looks, at least.
Keilar, internally having a mini-mental breakdown, tried to calm herself down. The scared emotions coming from Sophie weren't helping.

'Okay, enough sleeping. Time to blow this popsicle island.' whispered Keilar to herself. Although listening to this would help her, it would also give her trouble. Intel like this seemed stupid, and a waste of time. Who'd want to know how the human race was about to head to its impending doom? Not this girl!

She was getting tensed up by the conversation anyways. If she squatted there for another couple of minutes, listening to how her life's a lie, the tension would increase to such a level that she'd break down from the emotional overload. It'd happened before, and it had not ended well with her.

Keilar peeked at the table beside her. Standing, were a few colorful glass flasks and bottles. Mysterious liquid floated in them, but her eyes landed on a transparent liquid glass bottle. She lightly felt her skirt pocket and slipped her fingers through the layers. Her fingers touched the cold, metallic box she had and smirked. Keilar had no idea if the transparent liquid was actually water, but hey, experiments should be done to test that, right?

☆

"Well, Mr. Forkle could be . . ." Sophie trailed off.

"Could be what?" Alden asked, when she didn't continue. Her mind was racing in too many directions to answer. She rubbed her temples, trying to think through the chaos of memories. She needed to be really sure of what she was about to say.

But she never could; because just then she heard a thump from beside her.

Both Alden, Sandor's and Sophie's heads turned to the noise to find the cot empty. Sophie was pretty sure a certain blonde was lying on the cot just now.

Her onyx orbs glanced at the stand beside her bed. To find it empty as well.

Uh....

What just happened?

How can an unconscious human girl fall off, stealing all the bottles on the bedside, and hide without Sandor knowing?

She was about to try sense the blonde by telepathy, when the girl popped out from under her cot.

Sophie flinched. So did Alden. Sandor held up his sword in defense over her.

The girl, with slightly disheveled hair and a disoriented look, held a few elixir bottles in one hand and a Bottle of Youth as a gun in the other. Her eyes had a strange mischevious glint, but Sophie wasn't scared of that.

She was scared that she can't read her mind.

She shared a glance with Alden, who also transmitted he had the same luck.

The blonde girl with the faded mauve highlights of her hair swiftly put something in the Bottle of Youth, closed it, shook it and aimed it at the goblin bodyguard behind Sophie. She said, "Put the sword down, or get blasted with a geyser of baking soda, liquid and mint mentos. That's a big threat, I warn you."

'Wait, how is she speaking the enlightened language? Didn't you tell me she was from the lost cities?' Transmitted Alden.

'She is?' Sophie transmitted back.

'Yes. If she was speaking 'french' earlier, then it's likely that she's a polyglot. We couldn't find many files with her name, only plane tickets. She seemed to stay in a city only for a couple of days. Judging from how she's dressed, seems she was heading to the airport again.'

'What does that mean?'

*

'Hey! You just broke a perfectly good geyser-gun!' She exclaimed as Sandor made a sprint towards the girl. He feinted, and the girl somehow sensed what was to come. She tucked and rolled under Sophie's cot. Sandor gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Who are you?" Sophie asked.

"Keilar, the best female troublemaker in the busineeessss!" Replied the sing-song voice underneath the cot. An odour that suspiciously smelled like spoilt cheese wafted out from where the voice came.

"Well, what are you doing?"

"Things that are sacred in the country of Nunya!"

"Where's Nunya?"

"NUNYA BUSINESS!" The voice yelled and something came flying at Sophie's face. It was an elixir; the liquid inside frothy and yellow. She deflected it with telekinesis as the bottle exploded. The liquid spilled onto the floor, and the odour smelt so revolting that even Sandor and Bullhorn scrunched up their faces in disgust.

"Aw! There goes No.1!" Keilar giggled. "Get it? No.1?"

Sandor is now pissed. He grabs the clothing of the girl and pulled her out force-fully out into the light. Keilar shrieked, and before her face was seen, she kicked poor Sandor in the face. Yes, she strectched her foot 160 degrees to make it meet the goblin's jaw.

Keilar, now free from the clutches of the grey dude, sprinted to the exit in a blur of blonde and pink...

...and fell unconscious before her foot went out the door.

☆

Sophie gaped at the fallen body on the ground. Her head turned to Alden, "What did you do?"

"I knocked her unconscious. She was being troublesome, and a nuisance," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If I hadn't, she'd had discovered too much about the elven world. We're going to erase her mind anyways, but just to have no reason to wo-"

He was interrupted by the other empty cot crashing into him.

It completely flattened him to the ground, pinning his body to the cold white floor effectively. Keilar– who was supposed to be knocked out– got up on her hands and laughed. "Yeah, good luck 'erasing my mind' while being a seaweed-eyed pancake!"

Sophie tried grasping her with telekinesis, but she wasn't healed enough to hold her back. She let out a grunt as the needle-like pain returned in her head for a second, allowing Keilar to run.

She took the chance, and the blonde hustled away.