-Beckham-

Laelyn and I were currently waiting with the dropouts to see if anyone would show up to help us. When no one said anything after our speech, we decided to tell them they had an hour to decide, and to pack if they were coming with. A few people seemed very confident- I'm sure we'll get more help than just Alyrica, Mai and Mason.

"So, let me get this straight," Alyrica said, "No one has actually said they're going with us?" I shook my head.

"Not yet, but I'm sure they'll show up!" I replied optimistically.

"So... We're walking straight into a demon's trap, with five people," she mused.

"We don't know how many people will show up, Lyric. There are probably going to be more. Don't make Lyn and Beckham more nervous than they already are," Mason intervened. I silently thanked him, and he turned to me. "You're welcome," he said. I facepalmed. He was still reading my mind.

"Dude, you've gotta stop doing that!" I said.

"Sorry, habit," Mason shrugged, laughing quietly.

"Well sometimes it's creepy!" Laelyn protested.

"I could teach you how to block your mind, but I can still get around it..." Mason trailed off. "I've had a lot of practice."

"I thought you weren't allowed to purposefully practice your magic potential until you graduate," I said. It was illegal, someone could get seriously hurt without the proper training!

"We're dropouts," Mason laughed, "Does it look like we follow the rules?"

"Wait a minute Beck," Laelyn said, "Didn't you practice your magic potential on Earth? On me, no less?" I looked at the ground.

"Yeah... But my dad taught me a lot before then!" I said defensively, "I had a bit of practice before I tried anything with you." Don't bring up the fact that you passed out Laelyn, please don't...

"And how did that turn out?" Mason joked.

"Oh my God, stop reading our minds!" I sighed, exasperated.

"Sorry, it's just that your minds are the only two I can hear right now- I taught Lyric and Mai to block theirs, so I can't hear them until I pass the block. But yours are so easy to focus on and-" Mason stopped and turned towards the front of the alley. "There's another one!" He exclaimed happily. We turned in the same direction and my smile widened as I saw a figure walking into the alleyway. It faltered slightly as I realized it was - Chanson Bennett. I suppose I don't have to like everyone on this trip. It's the thought and help that counts, right?

"Hey guys!" He waved happily. Laelyn smiled and ran over to hug him.

"You came!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I know a few others are coming for sure. Some of us were a little on the fence about it, but they all really do want to help," he explained. Laelyn smiled even wider.

"That's wonderful!" She replied. Chanson came up to me and held out his hand, and I forced a smile and took it.

"How many people did you say were coming?"

"I'm not sure actually, once we were done talking we just told each other that if we didn't show up, we weren't going. No questions asked. They all really want to be here to help you guys, but it's a lot to think about," he explained. I nodded and kept quiet.

"Isaac!" Laelyn called as she saw the blonde boy enter the alleyway. He walked toward us happily, Britta at his side. They both waved hello, Britta much more shyly than normal.

"Do we have a plan yet?" Isaac asked. Laelyn shook her head.

"No, but I'm sure we can figure it out when everyone is here," she replied. I rested my head in my hands- there was no way they would all want to help when we were walking into a trap with no plan. I sat down against the wall next to Mason, who was already giving me a pitying look.

"You guys will figure it out eventually," he said, "Don't worry about not having a plan. This was all very sudden after all." I didn't even care that he read my mind this time, I didn't want to talk about it. I'm sure it'll all work out, I know we'll do everything we can to get Link back, I thought. But depending on how many people show up, and what sort of plan we develop... At what cost? And what will Daeva do when we try to take Link back? Mason shook my shoulder gently. "Listen. I know how you think about things, and I know that this seems like the ends might not justify the means. But Link is very important to Laelyn, to all of us. We need to get him back. Obviously, we want to take Daeva down. But our priority of this mission should be getting Link back, and keeping as many people alive as possible," he explained. "With that goal in mind, we should be okay."

I mentally thanked him and turned my attention back to Laelyn and the growing population of the alleyway. By now, there were quite a few people there, a few of them looking nervous, the others looking quite confident. Laelyn was talking to Brent and Alyrica, and the rest of them formed into little groups: Isaac, Treyden and Britta stood together, each looking very nervous, and Chanson, Cowyn and Tayvis were talking about some sport. Mai had joined Mason and I sitting against the alley wall. When I was sure that no one else was coming, I stood up and stood next to Laelyn.

"We should probably start some sort of meeting or something," I whispered. She nodded. Clearing her throat, she stepped away from Alyrica and Brent and waved to everyone.

"Hey guys!" She said happily, as if she were making a vlog rather than a speech before a journey that didn't guarantee survival. "Okay, so how many of you are willing to come with us to get my brother back?" She fell quiet, as if that's all she wanted to say. A few people voiced their allegiance, but a few of them just looked to their shoes. Seeing as Laelyn was done speaking, I stepped in.

"I know we already said this before, but this will probably be really dangerous," I warned. "We can't guarantee anyone's survival, and you have the choice to leave whenever you feel uncomfortable with helping us. I know this probably sounds like the worst plan in the world, but we are going to do everything we can to make sure we get Link back and don't lose anybody else." I decided to let them think that through, and I started pacing until someone came up to to to me.

"Okay, so there's a chance we could die?" Isaac paraphrased. I nodded grimly. He turned toward Britta and sighed. "You're not going." Britta's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, incredulous.

"If there is even the slightest chance that you could die, I don't want you to go."

"I thought you wanted me to go."

"I don't want you to die!"

"Maybe you shouldn't go either then," Britta reasoned.

"What?" Isaac asked. "How does that make sense?"

"I don't want you to die either," she said, shrugging. I didn't want this to turn into a fight, so I intervened.

"We will do everything we can not to actually put anyone's life in danger, but we can't promise that it won't happen," I explained. "We'll need everyone's magic potential to pull this off."

"Wait! I have a better reason for you to stay," Isaac exclaimed, ignoring me completely.

"And what is that?" Britta wondered.

"We need someone who can warn everyone at school, and fill them in on what's happening in case something goes wrong," Isaac replied. "Everyone listens to you- if one of us stayed back, no one would even believe us."

"That's actually a really good idea," Laelyn piped in from behind me, making me jump. "I don't want anyone else put in danger because of this. We need someone to stay beck and explain what's going on." Britta mulled it over, and (begrudgingly) conceded. I tried to take in everything going on around me. Tayvis wanted to stay because Daniella wouldn't come along, Brent felt that he had nothing to offer but still wanted to help, Treyden was nervous overall and started fidgeting and moving his watch around on his wrist. There was a lot going on, but I felt pretty confident that we would have enough people to at least find Link. Taking him back would be another story altogether. We wouldn't want to upset Daeva, or even let her know what we were up to. If she found out...

Author's Note!

GUYS I DID IT I POSTED I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

GO ME!!!! 

Okay so like I know this probably wasn't the best chapter, but I liked it for some reason. It also took me like a month to finish XD soooo maybe that's it. I hope y'all are still here and liking this story though! I'm so happy that I haven't lost my inspo for it, I was a little scared there for awhile. But thank you guys for sticking with this story ^_^ I love you all!

Savy