Aw. Touchy-feely, and explanation, like Story Teller said. :3 That part where Jasak says something about being with Zoey and Sterling always made me my heart melt. <3 And Sterling and Zoey's relationship feels like one that actual sisters would... experience, or I dunno what the word is. XD You get what I mean. ;)

@Star- XD Okay! Good luck on fixing that plot hole that may-or-may-not need to be fixed!! XD 

Yeah, that's kinda what I meant. I have a similar relationship with my siblings, too. 

@Blue Moon- What do you mean, "Nope, Vyolette, nope?" Nope that they don't act like sisters??  

Chapter 25

I wake up the next morning with a feeling of warm contentment. This time, the reason takes no time in coming-- I have family. I have Sterling. And even if I can’t know the rest of my family, I know who they are. And I feel closer, more connected to them, than I ever have before. That thread in my mind-- the one I imagined connecting me to Sterling-- now links me to so many more people. Even if they remain faceless in my mind, I know their names. Edmund Spenser. Adrienne. Zorinth.

Gosh, Zorinth. I have a twin, a brother who looks like me. How could I not know this? How could I not remember them, my family? As a matter of fact, how could I have not noticed this-- this-- hole in my memory? I think back to what Sterling said last night. She said that the very dirt of Earth repels magic, that it keeps magic suppressed and subdued. Maybe that had something to do with it. If it’s a spell of some sort that keeps these memories away, I wouldn’t have been able to notice it on Earth.

Either way, it’s something I intend to rectify, by asking Sterling as much as possible. I sit up in bed, rubbing blearily at my eyes.

“What time is it?” I mumble to myself, looking around. I’m still in Sterling’s room, which means I spent the night here. I’m assuming it’s morning, though there are no windows for me to definitively tell. I look at the clock-thing that Sterling had looked at last night, but no such luck. I don’t recognize any of the numerals, and there are 4 hands instead of two.

I turn my gaze up to the ceiling, then around the room, trying to convince myself to get out of bed. I finally do, and swing my legs over to the side of the bed and stand up. Someone removed my shoes during the night, so the wood floor is cold beneath my bare feet. I walk towards the door and open it, padding softly down the hallway to the front room. Jasak and Feroc are sitting at the round table in the main room. Jasak’s holding a cup of steaming liquid, and when the aroma hits me, it’s one of herbal sweetness. They both look up when they see me. Feroc breaks out into a grin, raising one muscular arm to wave cheerfully to me.

“Ah, Zo, the youngest princess!” he says. “She awakens.”

“Good morning, heron,” Jasak says, then grimaces.

Feroc laughs. “And you thought my nicknames were bad, Bean! Wow, you need help.”

Jasak shrugs. “I guess I can stop now, though, Zoey. All these birds started because we were trying to find you a last name, and now, you have one. Griffon.”

“Which, you totally didn’t tell us about,” Feroc adds. “That would have been helpful, definitely. You know, starting with ‘Oh hey, by the way, I’m Sterling’s lost little sister and also a princess and probably magic’ would have been a more helpful introduction than ‘Oh hey, I’m Zoey’, know what I mean?” Feroc imitates me speaking, raising his voice and putting on a falsetto.

“Hey, don’t mock her, that’s rude!” Jasak says, and Feroc sticks his tongue out at him.

I finally get a word in. “I didn’t know myself,” I say. “My memory is gone.”

“Gone?” Jasak says, at the same time that Feroc says, “Like magic?” They exchange a glance.

“I don’t know that either,” I say. “It was probably magic, sometime that I don’t remember.”

“That would make sense,” Jasak says thoughtfully. “I mean, if you’re magic, then knowing you’re magic heightens your magical ability, and would make it easier for Fane Zul to find you before you were able to protect yourself. So someone would have taken that from your mind.”

“But what happened to them?” I ask. “And why would they erase everything?”
Jasak shrugs. “It was probably someone in the palace, if not Sterling or Adrienne themselves. Though, if Sterling doesn’t remember, then it was either Adrienne or a palace worker. That means that whoever did it to you is probably dead. Fane Zul left no-one loyal to the Griffons alive in the castle. He’s still hunting down the ones who managed to escape, like Sterling. He doesn’t know she’s alive, specifically-- just that there are still loyalists out there. That’s the reason for our barrier, as Ster probably told you last night.”

“Did either of you know them?” I ask. “The Griffons, I mean. Any of them. Sterling doesn’t really want to talk about them very much.”

Jasak and Feroc exchange another glance. “I don’t know much about them,” Feroc says slowly, “And besides Sterling, there’s only one other person in camp who did know them, who came from the palace, too.”

“Who?” I ask eagerly, but Feroc shakes his head. “If Chief didn’t tell you something, she probably had a reason. You can ask her yourself, but I don’t want me or anyone else to get into trouble because you were asking questions that she doesn’t want answered.”

I sigh. “Okay. I just want to know is all.”

Jasak nods sympathetically. “I know. But all that can be a lot to take in on your second-- now third-- day here. You don’t even have a convocation or a job yet, really.”

“No,” I agree glumly. “I don’t.”

“Do you know what Ster’s plans are for her now?” Jasak asks Feroc, but he shakes his head.

“No. I don’t. I don’t even know where she is right now.”

Jasak sighs, mirroring my own sigh from moments ago. “Probably back in Command Central, honestly. I’ll go find her.” He hops off the chair and chugs the rest of his tea, then waves at me and walks out the door.

Feroc turns back to me, shrugging. “Breakfast is about to begin in a few minutes,” he says. “I could walk you down there, find you a seat? Convocations usually sit together but I’m sure there’s one that could take you in. Maybe you’d like sitting with the other unplaced fledglings?”

I nod. “Any of that sounds fine. I’m not really picky.”

Feroc laughs. “You’ll need that kind of attitude to make it through breakfast, Zo. C’mon, I’ll take you to the Nest.” Feroc, too, hops out of his chair and jokingly offers me his arm. I take it, just as jokingly, and he escorts me out of Save.

As soon as we step out, I’m blinded by the rising sun.

“Ah! Gosh,” I say, bending over and rubbing at my eyes. “That’s bright!”

Feroc chuckles. “Not really, but if you say so, Zo.”

I shake my head and bend back up, my eyes having adjusted. “I’ve just been in a dim room for a little while,” I say ruefully. “It’s not my fault Save’s curtains are so thick!”

“Why were you in Save?” Ty asks, coming up behind us and hugging Feroc from behind. It was quite a feat, as Feroc is tall and massively built and Ty is quite averaged-sized. Feroc leans back into his embrace and smiles.

“I missed you,” he says softly, and Ty breaks out into a smile, almost brighter than the sun.

“I was gone for a day!” he protests teasingly.

“And that’s a day too many,” Feroc counters.

“But, like, seriously, what was the fledgling doing in Save?” Ty asks again. “Even I’m not allowed in there.”

“Just because I like you doesn’t mean you get special privileges,” Feroc chides gently. “She was just running an errand for Chief is all. Nothing special.”

I clamp my mouth shut from where I had been about to answer. For some reason, Feroc doesn’t want Ty to know who I am-- probably on Sterling’s orders.

A deep-throated call rings out over the camp, and Feroc nudges Ty. “Hey, that’s the call for breakfast,” he says. “Why don’t you go on ahead? I need to finish my conversation with Zo. I’ll meet you there, deal?”

“Deal,” Ty says, giving Feroc one last grin before running off. Feroc turns to me, serious once more.

“You can’t tell anyone who you are,” he says, looking me dead in the eye. “No one. If they don’t know already they don’t have the clearance to know.”

“O-okay,” I stutter, taken aback by his seriousness.

Feroc smiles. “Good. Now let’s get the both of us some breakfast.”

He turns and starts walking in the direction Ty ran off to, and I hurry to catch up. “So, you and Ty, huh?” I tease.

Feroc glances at me. “Yeah, maybe. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Uh, no,” I say hastily. “I think it’s kind of cute, actually!”

Feroc grins again. “Okay, good,” he says. “Some fledglings are-- hesitant, let’s say, about my relationship with another guy.”

“Love is love,” I say. “No matter who it’s between.”

“Thank you,” he says sincerely. “For understanding.”

I snort. “I’m just being a decent human being. You don’t need to thank me.”

Feroc shrugs sadly. “Some people just don’t get it, the whole ‘love-is-love’ thing. They think that I’m living in sin or being blasphemous. Those people-- they don’t usually end up staying very long. I’m not the only one like me in camp.”

“Where I come from, we call that being gay,” I say. “Liking another person like you, I mean.”

“Gay,” Feroc says thoughtfully. “Like happiness. I like that, I think.”

Just as he says this, we reach the Nest-- the big gathering hall that I worked in yesterday. He tugs open the door and gestures me inside, much like Ty did only a day ago. I see so many similarities between them. I’m glad they’re together, and they’ve found happiness in each other in their troubled lives. Almost everyone here is an orphan and I’m betting neither of them is an exception.

I step inside the Nest, and as my eyes adjust to the new dimness I can see the layout has changed. Instead of several tables clustered in the center, the tables are spread out throughout the room-- 13 that I can see. I see Jasak sitting at the far table along with Icantre, Melise, Maylene, and two guys I don’t know, one scrawny with big glasses and the other very young, maybe 12 or 10, with big yellow eyes and blond hair. Sterling is noticeably absent.

Ty is at a table close to theirs, and I watch him interact with the other people at his table. I spot Celeise, too, from yesterday, sitting at a table with two other girls and two guys. They’re laughing and talking, and one of the girls is miming out something, making the others laugh.

Feroc clears his throat behind me and I step hastily out of the doorway to let him inside. He steps in and turns to me. “Do you know where to go?” he asks me over the clamor, and I shake my head. Feroc frowns and looks around. “Let’s put you with the other fledglings for the night,” he says. “They’re all new like you, but most of them have been here for a few more months. You’re our latest and greatest.” He takes my hand and tugs me towards one of the back tables, on the wall opposite Jasak’s table. The occupants look up as I approach. There’s a girl that looks almost Asian, with dark brown eyes and shiny straight black hair. Next to her is a guy with shaggy brown hair and turquoise eyes. On the opposite side of the round table sits a huge, hulking guy with the darkest skin I’ve ever seen and a mass of black curls, and beside him is a small girl with wavy blonde hair and mixed hazel and blue eyes. In the middle sits someone that I can’t tell if they’re a guy or a girl. Their hair is choppy and cut just above their shoulders, and their hazel eyes are flecked with brighter green.

The wavy haired blonde girl breaks out into a grin. “Oh, hi!” she says to me. “Everyone’s been talking about you. You must be the new fledgling!”

“Uh, yeah, I am,” I say. “I’m Zoey.”

“I’m Cisi,” the girl says in a bubbly tone of voice, beaming even brighter. She reminds me a bit of a member of the E Squad, but happier and an actually decent human being. “Cisi Duzhdi.”

Cisi nudges the huge dark-skinned guy. He glares at her, but she only smiles.

He sighs. “Zafre Sunbigo,” he mumbles.

Cisi looks expectantly at the other side of the table and the Asian girl pipes up. “Lia Kua,” she says in a businessy type of voice.

“I’m Fehnein Dhunne,” says the guy to her left, the one with the shaggy brown hair. He offers me a smile that I return.

“And today I’m Sofna,” the ambiguous person offers up.

Cisi flicks them across the table. “You dolt! I thought you were Diernor!”

Sofna shakes their head, and Cisi puts her head in her hands. “Ahh! I’m such an idiot! I’ve been calling you the wrong name all day!” she protests. “You need to be more vocal about this!”

Sofna just shrugs.

Fehnein leans over the table and looks at me. “Fluid,” he says in response to my obvious confusion. “Diernor-- er, Sofna today-- doesn’t identify as uniquely a girl or a guy. They feel different day by day and sometimes even hour by hour. Right now they’re a girl and can be addressed by Sofna. Tomorrow, it might be Diernor.”

I nod, and Cisi pipes back in. “Yeah, just spill Sofna’s entire life story out, why don’t you,” she says sarcastically, but Sofna just shrugs.

“I don’t mind,” they say quietly.

Feroc clears his throat. “Heya, Zo, I’m going to go back up to my table, but these five can help you out, alright? When breakfast’s over just come find a member of Save and we’ll tell you where to go. Your schedule’s been changed in light of…”-- he glances at the other people at the table, who are listening in-- “...recent developments.”

“Okay,” I say. “Thanks, Feroc!”

“No problem,” he says with a wink before walking off to join Jasak and the others, stopping to hug Ty on the way.

I turn back to the fledgling table to find five pairs of curious eyes on me.

“Recent developments?” Cisi asks, voicing what they’re doubtless all thinking. “What is that supposed to mean?”

I wave my hand vaguely in the air and say, “Oh, you know… family, and stuff.”

To my surprise, Cisi nods. “Ah, got it. So you still have some, then? Family I mean?”

“Cisi!” Lia hisses. “Inconsiderate!”

I shake my head. “Nah, it’s alright,” I say. “Yeah, I still have family.”

“Lucky,” Fehnein pipes in. “I don’t, not any more.”

Cisi nudges him. “You do too!” she says. “We’re your family. The Eagles. Or have you forgotten us already?” She fake pouts and he laughs.

“Oh, here, have a seat,” Cisi says suddenly. She looks around and bites her lip, thinking. “I think no-one’s come for Or yet,” she says, “So you can borrow one of their chairs.” She points across the room to an empty table.

“No need, I’ll get it,” Fehnein says, getting up and pushing in his chair. He smiles at me as he passes and I feel un uncharacteristic rush of happiness.

“Thanks,” I call after him, and he turns as he walks, shooting me a short salute.

“No prob,” he says, and I turn back to the table.

“Or is one of the convocations, right?” I say, and Cisi nods.

“Yeah, impressive that you know that! You’ve been here what, a few days?” she asks.

“Uh, I kind of lost track of the time,” I say, not wanting her to know exactly how much time I’ve been here already.

She nods sagely. “The Eagles can do that to you,” she says. “But yeah, Or is a convocation that’s currently empty. All the tables in here are convocations. We’re just lumped in here as the ‘new kids’, per say, but I guess this is technically They’s table.”

Fehnein returns with the chair and sets it down between his chair and Cisi’s, causing her to do an ungainly scoot towards Zafre. She doesn’t seem to mind, though, and keeps on chattering in her bubbly way. I sit, wondering how we’re going to get food. My question is answered as Icantre stands up at the table and clears her throat. The Nest falls silent as everyone turns to look at her. “Good morning,” she says. “I see everyone made it through the night.” A few people laugh. Icantre catches my eye and then looks away again.

“A few morning announcements before you all get the food that Arlo has so graciously prepared for us. First off, today’s duties. Raze, you’ll be in the Shaft today with Pieter. Land, you’re on wood-gathering. On, you’re on water, Quill will help out. Finally, Shall is on kitchen cleanup and meal prep, assisted by the fledglings. Then at your regular time you’ll go to training; fledglings, you know where you’re supposed to be.”

“We always get kitchen cleanup,” Cisi grumbles, but Fehnein leans over me to jab her in the side.

Icantre continues. “Leaders, it’s your turn today to get the food for your table.” She sits fluidly back down into her chair and the hall erupts into chattering once more. Fehnein stands up and joins the trickle of people walking over to the kitchen. I follow him with my gaze and then look at Save’s table. Jasak stands up and shrugs at the others before following Fehnein and the others to the kitchen. Sterling is still absent.

I turn back to the table. “I thought you guys didn’t belong to a convocation?”

Cisi laughs. “We’re not. That’s why we’re fledglings, dur.”

“Then how come Fehnein is the leader?” I ask.

Cisi shrugs. “He seems to show an affinity for it. When he gets assigned, he’s probably going to be a leader. That or a stayman.”

I nod. “That makes sense, I guess. He does have a sort of… charisma, I guess. Like Jasak, but bolder.”

“Aww, thank you,” Jasak says from behind me, and I turn, a smile lighting up my face.

“Jasak!” I say. “What are you doing over here?”

He shrugs, readjusting the platter of food he’s carrying. “Just seeing how you’re getting on, I suppose.”

“Well, I’m getting on great,” I say. “Where’s Sterling, by the way?”

Jasak shrugs. “Command Central, getting a head start on the day. I’ll bring her breakfast later-- it’s kind of something she does a lot.”

“Jasak!” Feroc calls from the Save table. “Stop chatting with Zo and come over here! I’m huuungry!”

Jasak laughs. “A literal child,” he mutters to me, but the corners of his mouth turn up. Then, louder, he adds, “Coming, Feroc. I’ll see you around, kay, Zoey?”

“Okay,” I say, and he smiles and turns, still balancing the platter expertly.

I turn back to the table as Fehnein comes up, balancing a similar platter. “What did Jasak want?” he says, setting the platter down on the table.

I wave my hand. “Just to check up on me, nothing major. You can all stop gaping now.”

Cisi smiles. “But none of us have ever had a member of Save stop by ‘just to check up’ on us!”

“It’s no big deal,” I say, laughing a little. “They just thought I was insane for a little while and he’s just checking to make sure I’m not. That’s all.”

Cisi’s eyes widen. “And are you?” she asks.

I look up from the roll I just grabbed, the freshly-baked scent drifting up to my nose. “Am I what?”

“Insane,” she says impatiently.

I nearly choke on the roll and Fehnein pats me on the back.

“No, I’m not insane,” I splutter. “I was just in shock!”

Cisi sits back in her chair, looking disappointed. “That would have been exciting though,” she mutters. “Nothing cool ever happens around here.”

I nearly choke on my roll for the second time in as many minutes, and Fehnein hands me a glass of water, looking concerned. I gulp it down before answering, “You’re sitting in the middle of a magically protected super secret vigilante camp, and you think nothing exciting ever happens?”

Cisi waves her hand. “Besides that! After a few months you don’t even notice the barrier anymore, and we aren’t allowed to go on hunts yet because we’re ‘not part of a convocation’.” She makes air quotes around ‘not part of a convocation’.

“But that’s kind of a valid point,” Lia breaks in. This is obviously an argument they’ve had before. “I mean, we’re not a convocation. We don’t have the specialized training or the bond that a convocation has. We have rudimentary skills and not even one tron. How would going on a hunt be wise, exactly?”

Cisi throws her hands up in the air, exasperated. “I don’t know! I just want to… do something, I guess, sometimes. I dunno. Let’s just drop it. Who’s hungry?”

I startle a little bit at the change of subject but reach for another roll. “Here, try this,” Fehnein says, handing me a clay pot of some jelly-like substance. I raise it to my nose and inhale, taking in the scent of sweet flowers and berries.

“Mmm, what is it?” I ask, taking a spoon and using it to smear some on my roll. I take a bite and delicious sweetness wafts over me.

“Amaryllis Nectar jelly,” he says, watching me eat. “Do you like it?”

“Mhm, it’s delicious!” I say, taking another bite. But my throat won’t swallow it. In fact, it feels rather swollen. I glance down at my arms and almost shriek. My entire left hand, the one that was holding the roll, is black and blistered looking. Fehnein follows my gaze and whitens.

“Oh no,” he whispers. “What do we do, what do we do?”

I try to say something back but my throat still won’t move, only allowing the barest amount of air through. “Ja--” I croak out, but Fehnein gets it anyway. He jumps to his feet, almost knocking his chair over, and sprints to the Save table.

He grabs Jasak’s shoulder and shakes it so hard Jasak’s entire body flops around, and Jasak turns, looking displeased. But then Fehnein says something in a panic and the displeasure fades, replaced with fear. He, too, stands up, but in his hurry he truly does knock his chair over. He runs over to me, attracting the gazes of the other Eagles. They start to murmur but I don’t hear them. The world has gone silent.

Jasak mouths something at me but all I can do is shake my head. I don’t know what he’s saying. He looks down at my hand and at the rapidly spreading wave of black and mouths something that looks like a curse. My vision is starting to fade and fizzle, making Jasak a mere silhouette. The last thing I see before I black out completely are Jasak’s strong arms reaching for me.

Hey guys, it's me, Starseeker! It's been a rough couple of months so I haven't posted anything new lately. So for new readers, welcome! And for old readers, welcome back! Whether you skimmed old parts or binged the whole thing, I appreciate you reading and would love for you to leave a comment with some critique or just to say that you read it. Anything and everything helps. From now on, I'll try to jump into a more regular update schedule. Also know that my characters occasionally swear, and I'll try to catch it before I post it to help the Admins out, but I can't always see it. My writing style has changed a bit, and I know that there are some gaping sections missing from some recent materials. If there's a bunch missing somewhere, I'll post a quick synopsis and go on with the story. Again, I appreciate you all so much, and thanks for being on this journey with me. <3

~Starseeker