Unlocked 8.5 (Keeper of the Lost Cities) Page 10

  THE GIRL WHO SAVED ATLANTIS:

  While the above title has never officially been assigned to Linh, it’s definitely deserved. A few short years after losing control and flooding Atlantis (and ending up banished), Linh found the strength and confidence to stop the Neverseen from destroying the city. Yes, she did need Sophie to enhance her (which, it should be noted, was something that Linh had resisted before, out of fear that she might be overwhelmed by the craving). And Sophie, in turn, needed Keefe Sencen to help her focus. But even with Sophie and Keefe’s assistance, no one can deny that Linh was the true hero of that moment. Not only did she gather enough water to plug the tear that had been slashed into the city’s force field—but she also somehow managed to hold back the force of the ocean until the Council could send Psionipaths to make a permanent repair. Had Linh not been there, the city surely would’ve been lost—as would thousands of lives.

  SEPARATED—BUT STILL CONNECTED:

  After everything Tam and Linh have fought through in order to stay together, it was particularly devastating when the twins recently found themselves ripped apart by the Neverseen. Lady Gisela forced Tam to surrender himself as a hostage in order to protect his sister and the baby alicorns. She also made it painfully clear that if anyone attempted to come after Tam, there would be severe consequences. And while many had doubts as to whether Tam would be able to remain loyal to the Black Swan—and to his principles—in that situation, Linh never doubted her brother for a second. She talked her friends out of planning a risky rescue, assuring them that Tam could handle himself. And when she thought she’d found a way to help him and used her ability to contact him (with Sophie’s help), she wasn’t discouraged by the harsh things Tam said to convince her to abandon her plan. She trusted him so completely that she even followed his order and returned to Choralmere, despite her strained relationship with her parents. And when she snuck into Loamnore to help him escape, the sound of her voice helped Tam resist the bonds on his wrists that had been controlling him.

  FINAL NOTE:

  Linh’s control of her ability remains remarkable—and yet it also seems clear that we still haven’t seen the full extent of her power. Whether that power will lead to salvation (as it did in Atlantis) or widespread destruction (like Ravagog) is yet to be determined. But it’s highly likely that it could be both.

  REGISTRY FILE FOR Wylie Zoran Endal

  KNOWN ABILITIES: Flasher

  RESIDENCE: Solreef (Reports also indicate he’s staying with his father at [LOCATION REDACTED FOR SECURITY].)

  IMMEDIATE FAMILY: Prentice Endal (father), Cyrah Endal (mother)

  ADOPTED BY: Sir Tiergan Alenefar

  MATCH STATUS: Registered with one list received

  EDUCATION: Foxfire graduate (both basic and elite levels)

  NEXUS: No longer required

  PATHFINDER: Assigned

  SPYBALL APPROVAL: Granted

  MEMBER OF THE NOBILITY: Yes

  TITLE: Lord

  NOBLE ASSIGNMENT: Regent; member of Team Valiant

  SIGNIFICANT CONNECTIONS: Works with the Black Swan (unclear whether he’s sworn fealty)

  ASSIGNED BODYGUARD(S): None

  A REBEL IN THE FAMILY:

  When Wylie was seven years old, his father (Prentice Endal) was discovered to be a Keeper for the Black Swan—a rebel organization that, at the time, was believed to have dangerous intentions. With only that limited knowledge to guide their investigation—and Prentice refusing to answer questions after his arrest—the Council had no choice but to order a memory break to discover what Prentice was hiding (before locking him away in Exile). The unsettling task was assigned to Quinlin Sonden and Alden Vacker—and only two pieces of information (a strand of unregistered DNA and the term “Project Moonlark”) were recovered before Prentice’s mind shattered. Given the strength of Prentice’s blocking—and how faithfully he protected the Black Swan—the Council suspected that the information was actually a “hoax” perpetrated by Prentice in a desperate, final attempt to distract the Council and their Emissaries from what the rebels were actually working on. Of course, now it’s well known that both Project Moonlark and the child (Sophie Foster) were real, and that the Black Swan—while working outside the law—was actually intent on helping the Council and stopping the true threat to the Lost Cities (a second rebel group now known as the Neverseen). And such hindsight sadly does suggest that what happened to Prentice was somewhat unjust. (Alden Vacker took the revelation particularly hard.) The Council is naturally remorseful for any pain and suffering that Prentice (and his family) experienced—as well as for the years that Prentice lost to madness in Exile. But it also must be noted that much of what occurred could’ve been avoided if Prentice had been honest with the Council. Our world is in a state of flux, and the Black Swan is presently considered to be a valuable ally. But the path of rebellion is always fraught with misunderstanding and calamity. The Council’s hope is that everyone—themselves included—has learned from what happened to Prentice that the best course for real change is open communication, cooperation, and coordination.

  FURTHER FAMILY TRAGEDY:

  With Prentice in Exile—and their family facing intense judgment and scandal—Wylie’s mom (Cyrah Endal) did her best to bury her grief and step into her role as the sole caretaker of her son. She began designing and selling hair accessories in Mysterium, and life for the Endals appeared to be finding some sort of new normal. Until disaster struck again. Something went wrong while Cyrah was light leaping, and she arrived home dangerously faded. Wylie called for help as soon as he found her, but by the time Elwin Heslege arrived, it was far too late to save her (and had likely been too late even before then). Cyrah had lost too much of herself to be able to recover, and Wylie could do nothing except watch as his mother faded away. A planting was held shortly after, and Cyrah’s Wanderling (a bright red tree with tiny purple flowers) grows strong and proud in the Wanderling Woods, honoring her life and commemorating the loss.

  A NEW HOME:

  Wylie was barely eight years old when his mother died, essentially leaving him an orphan—far too young to live without a guardian. And with death so rare in our world, the Council was at a bit of a loss on how to best proceed. There was talk of Wylie living with Prentice’s cousin (Lesedi Chebota), since he was close with his second cousin (Maruca Chebota). But Lesedi was still struggling with her grief over what happened to Prentice. Grady and Edaline Ruewen were also suggested, but they were still mourning the loss of their daughter, Jolie (who’d died a few years earlier). Thankfully, Prentice’s close friend (Sir Tiergan Alenefar) offered to let Wylie live at his estate (Solreef). The offer was somewhat unexpected, given Tiergan’s relationship with the Council at the time. He’d been Prentice’s best friend and resigned from the nobility (quite angrily) to protest Prentice’s memory break and exile. (As an aside: It’s interesting to consider that Tiergan is now known to be Granite, a member of the Black Swan’s Collective. Definitely casts new light on his anger over the injustice.) But even with that noted tension, the Council agreed that Tiergan was the best choice for Wylie as a guardian. Adoption proceedings began soon after. And while little has been recorded about Wylie’s life at Solreef (Tiergan was particularly protective of their privacy), the fact that Wylie has continued to thrive and excel over the years, despite all the tragedies he’s suffered, more than proves that Prentice provided him with a loving home and supplied the care and support he needed.

  HOPE, FURY, AND HEALING:

  Reports indicate that before Prentice’s memory break, he’d somehow assured his family that if something bad happened to him, it might not be permanent. And Wylie (and his mom) interpreted that promise to mean that whomever Prentice was protecting would be his salvation. Thus, when Sophie arrived in the Lost Cities, Wylie’s hope soared—and then turned to anger and resentment when she made no effort to help his father. He confronted Sophie at Alden’s planting—and while the interaction appeared to be quite hostile, it seems what
ever he said helped Sophie to realize that she might have been designed by the Black Swan to be able to heal broken minds. Her abilities first needed to be reset (thanks to damage caused by her own near-fading). But when Sophie tested the healing process on Alden, it was found to be a tremendous success. Wylie naturally assumed that his father would be next, but sadly, that was not the case. With Prentice locked away in Exile, Sophie was unable to reach him without the Council’s permission. And the Council opted to focus on healing former Councillor Fintan Pyren. His case was simpler than Prentice’s, since he would be healed strictly to recover what he’d hidden during his memory break, and no one would have to answer the question of “What do we do with him now?” And when Fintan’s healing led to disaster (including the fire that destroyed half of Eternalia and killed Councillor Kenric), the Council seemed reluctant to allow any further healings. The Black Swan took matters into their own hands—and while their attempted prison break into Exile was a failure, Sophie did manage to barter a deal with the Council for Prentice’s release. He was then handed over to the Black Swan, and everyone (including Wylie) assumed he’d be healed soon after. But when Sophie tried (with Fitz Vacker’s help), Prentice was found to be unresponsive. All hope seemed to be lost—until Tam Song tried lifting the veils of shadowvapor in Prentice’s mind and Prentice showed hints of improvement. The Black Swan discovered soon after that Prentice had been drugged with the Neverseen’s dangerous sedative (soporidine), presumably by dwarves working with the Neverseen. But they still chose to have Sophie attempt the healing again—though it was an incredibly delicate process. Prentice would be waking up to devastating news about his wife (as well as the knowledge that he’d missed most of his son’s childhood), and Sophie had to ensure that those revelations wouldn’t shatter his mind all over again. But somehow, she managed to make it work, and Prentice has not only returned to consciousness, but also seems mostly like his old self. The main difference—aside from natural signs of trauma and grief from his experiences—is that Sophie was unable to recover any of his damaged memories. Perhaps with time, a way will be found to recover something useful, but for the moment, Prentice seems grateful to be alive and free and focusing on the future instead of the past.

  THE NEVERSEEN’S NEXT TARGET:

  Despite his father’s affiliation with the Black Swan, Wylie has kept mostly separate from their activities (except those related to Prentice’s healing). So it came as a shock to everyone when the Neverseen abducted him from his room at the Silver Tower at Foxfire and brought him to one of their hideouts, where he was interrogated for an unknown number of hours before managing to escape. And while his physical injuries were healed, the greater challenge has been the mental toll. It’s honestly quite incredible—given the number of traumas Wylie has endured—that he’s managed to hold himself together so well. He’s gained some solace from his recent companionship with Linh Song. But what truly appears to be driving him is focusing on figuring out why the Neverseen came after him and what actually happened to his mom.

  DEADLY STARSTONES:

  Our investigation into this topic is incomplete and ongoing—and it’s highly possible that certain information is still being held back by either Wylie or the Black Swan (or both). But reports indicate that the Neverseen did not question Wylie about his father while they held him captive (as might be expected). Instead, their interrogation focused on his mother. Cyrah’s death has long been viewed as simply a tragic light leaping accident, but the Neverseen’s questions suggested something much darker. Wylie evidently begged Sophie Foster to look into it for him, and from what little she’s gleaned, it appears that Cyrah might have been murdered by the Neverseen. Cyrah was a talented Flasher—much like her son—and that apparently made her a target for Lady Gisela, who tried to trick her into using her ability to manufacture a series of special blue-flashing starstones. The starstones were supposedly for the Black Swan (but were really meant to provide transport to certain of the Neverseen’s most secret facilities), and Cyrah knew enough about her husband’s order to spot the lie. She tried to resist—until Lady Gisela threatened Wylie’s safety. Gisela also promised to kill the Black Swan’s moonlark if Cyrah didn’t cooperate—and while Cyrah had no personal attachment to Sophie, she knew the moonlark was the only hope for healing her husband’s shattered mind. So Cyrah did her best to cooperate. But Fintan decided she should be terminated when the project was completed, because she knew too much. It then appears that Fintan enlisted Gethen (another known member of the Neverseen) to use his ability as a Telepath to break Cyrah’s concentration before she leaped home, causing her to fade away. But much of that story was provided by Lady Gisela, who could easily be fabricating certain details to cover her own involvement. Without proof, it’s hard to say for certain. What is known is that one of the starstones Cyrah made is still missing, and given the drastic measures they took to interrogate Wylie, the Neverseen seem desperate to find it.

  PROTECTING WHAT LITTLE FAMILY HE HAS LEFT:

  Wylie’s second cousin (Maruca) recently manifested as a Psionipath—an ability that could prove to be invaluable to Sophie and her friends. The Neverseen’s strategies tend to rely heavily on their Psionipath (Ruy Ignis), so having a Psionipath helping the Black Swan would be a game changer (particularly since Ruy’s power seems to have been affected by one of Tam Song’s shadowflux attacks). But Wylie begged Sophie not to let Maruca swear fealty to the order. Sophie definitely understood why he might not want Maruca to put her life in danger after losing so many members of his family—but she also knew the decision was up to Maruca. And Maruca is every bit as strong-willed as Wylie. She refused to sit by when she could be helping save lives—and Wylie has begrudgingly respected her decision.

  A VALIANT FIGHTER:

  Since his abduction, Wylie has begun working much more closely with the Black Swan. It’s unclear whether or not he’s sworn fealty, but he’s definitely been involved in many of their recent activities, including coming to Sophie and Fitz’s aid during a brutal ambush arranged by the Neverseen. Those who witnessed the battle testified to the incredible power Wylie displayed, both as a Flasher and a fighter, which is one of the reasons the Council offered to appoint him as a Regent to serve as a member of Team Valiant. Wylie accepted the appointment readily, and didn’t even protest when he wasn’t selected as leader, despite the fact that he’s the eldest member of the team and the only one to complete his elite Foxfire training.

  FINAL NOTE:

  The greatest measure of Wylie’s character may be his relationship with Sophie Foster—the girl who was inadvertently the cause of so many of the tragedies in his life. There have clearly been times when he’s blamed her—even resented her. But over time, he’s come to accept that she’s not responsible for what happened. More than that, it appears he’s even come to understand why his father sacrificed so much to protect Sophie, and seems to be determined to stand by her side. Whether he’ll ever consider her accomplishments to be “worth it” will likely depend on what she achieves. But he seems ready and willing to follow her lead.

  REGISTRY FILE FOR Stina Destry Heks

  KNOWN ABILITIES: Empath

  RESIDENCE: Sterling Gables

  IMMEDIATE FAMILY: Timkin Heks (father), Vika Heks (mother)

  MATCH STATUS: Unregistered

  EDUCATION: Current Foxfire prodigy

  NEXUS: No longer required

  PATHFINDER: Not assigned. Restricted to Leapmasters and home crystals.

  SPYBALL APPROVAL: Granted

  MEMBER OF THE NOBILITY: Yes

  TITLE: Lady

  NOBLE ASSIGNMENT: Regent; member of Team Valiant

  SIGNIFICANT CONNECTIONS: Works with the Black Swan (but hasn’t sworn fealty); trained caretaker at the Heks unicorn preserve

  ASSIGNED BODYGUARD(S): None

  A CHALLENGING FAMILY:

  The Hekses are known for many things in the Lost Cities—but one that’s rarely discussed (and yet seems to be incredibly defining) is t
his: They can be difficult. It’s unclear whether there’s something fundamentally unlikable about their personalities, or whether they’re simply misunderstood. Either way, they’re a family with few friends, and many who—while not willing to classify themselves as enemies—would prefer to have as little to do with the Hekses as possible. And yet, the Hekses remain part of our world—a valuable part, even. Just oftentimes a less enjoyable part. And Stina seems to be a particularly strong example of her family’s take-me-or-leave-me attitude, regularly causing drama with other prodigies at Foxfire—especially Dex Dizznee and Sophie Foster.

  A GIFT WITH EQUINES:

  Before the Heks women got involved, unicorns were dangerously close to becoming extinct as a result of their isolating behavior and sporadic breeding (and of course the threat humans posed to the species). The caretakers at the Sanctuary tried everything they could think of to repopulate the species, but the numbers continued declining—until Pelipa Heks (Stina’s great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother) paid a visit to the Sanctuary and discovered that her ability as an Empath provided her with a unique understanding of the unicorns’ needs. She petitioned the Council to move one male and one female unicorn to her property to test some of her theories, and months later—after the unicorn couple delivered their first foal—several more unicorns were assigned to her care. Thus began the Heks family’s most vital contribution to the Lost Cities: unicorn caretaking—a task that Stina and her mother (Vika Heks) are heavily involved in. Stina’s been working at Sterling Gables since she was old enough to walk the pastures, and now that she’s manifested as an Empath, her training has reached a whole new level—which proved to be valuable when the female alicorn’s pregnancy turned out to be twins. Vika and Stina may have been bitter that Silveny hadn’t been entrusted to their care (particularly since Silla Heks—Stina’s grandmother—had been the one to rehabilitate Greyfell before he was placed at the Sanctuary). But they readily put their frustrations aside and stepped in when Sophie teleported to their property begging for help because Silveny had gone into early labor. With Vika and Stina’s guidance—as well as some special aid from the trolls—both Silveny and her babies (Wynn and Luna) are currently healthy and thriving.