In Which Marella Thinks Very Hard

Marella lay in her bed, thinking about what Fintan had said during their training earlier that day. Not about Linh being ruthless, but about the Black Swan not doing anything.

Is he right? What has the Black Swan done?

Fintan was right about the Black Swan and the Council not doing anything about the plague, but surely there were things the Black Swan had done?

They saved Atlantis. No, Linh, Keefe, and Sophie saved Atlantis.

The Black Swan rescued Dex and Sophie. There, that was something. Although the way Dex had described it to her, it didn't sound like they did a very good job, but she was counting it anyway.

They saved the alicorns. Well, that was more Sophie than the Black Swan, so Marella wasn't putting it on her mental list.

Both the Council and the Black Swan decided to have Sophie heal a murderer's broken mind, which ended up getting a Councilor killed, so that definitely wasn't going on her list.

Alright, one thing so far. But what has the Neverseen done?

Pyrokinesis was still illegal, so their attempts to change that clearly hadn't worked. Elves still hated multiple births and the Talentless. The Matchmaking system was still messed up.

So, not a lot of progress on either side. Well, at least not a lot that I know of.

And that was what bothered Marella the most.

Marella and Linh showed up to training at the same time, like they had been for the past week. The two girls greeted each other and walked inside, where Fintan was waiting for them.

He smirked. "Have you thought at all about what I told you?"

Marella paused and looked at Linh, not wanting to admit that she had. Linh, on the other hand, looked right at Fintan. "As a matter of fact, we have." Then she blushed. "Well, I have, anyway."

"And…?" Fintan smiled a bit.

Marella walked over to the blanket on the ground and sat down, eager to hear what Linh had to say.

"If the Neverseen is as great as you claim it is, why are you locked up? I mean, I get why you allowed Gethen to be captured, and later on Brant and Ruy, even though it didn't turn out that well for Brant, with him getting, you know, killed and all."

Fintan smiled brighter. "You are smart, I'll give you that. As for my… situation. Well," Fintan looked uncomfortable now, the smile gone, "I wasn't supposed to be captured. But I've made some lovely new friends, and that quite makes up for it, don't you think?"

Linh walked over and sat down next to Marella.

Marella frowned. "You keep mentioning how great the Neverseen is, but you've never told us why we should join, specifically."

Fintan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "No, I suppose I haven't. Well, you remember Excillium, don't you, Linh? How terrible it was, how hungry you were. You remember what it was like to be Banished, cast away from your family and friends, how your parents could have saved you, but didn't?"

Linh looked at the ground and nodded. "Yeah. Yes. I remember."

"And Marella, do you remember when you found out you had Pyrokinesis, and how frightened you were? Frightened and scared because you could be Exiled, or even sent to prison, all because of your ability."

Marella stared at him and blinked. That was all true.

"I've heard it all too many times," he continued. "Brant wasn't the first or the only Pyrokinetic that I trained. But the Council found out, and sent them to Exile. I was only able to escape because the Neverseen was able to rescue me."

Marella froze. "They were Exiled.. Just for being trained by you?"

"I'm not sure if they were Exiled because I'd trained them or if it was because they were Pyrokinetics, but both options don't sound too good for you, do they?"

Linh spoke up, "They were Exiled because of their abilities? That's terrible."

"It happens more than you would think." Fintan replied. "After all, you were Banished because of yours. If you were any older, it's likely you would've been Exiled instead."

"Really?" Linh looked shocked.

"Yes. We live in a flawed society, even though it may not appear like it on the outside. But if you know things…" He trailed off.

"What things?" Marella asked, unable to get control of her curiosity.

"Elves are not capable of violence, but they can do many other horrible things without the guilt breaking them. Stealing. Verbal abuse and bullying. Lying. All kinds of things."

"But how?" Linh asked.

"Simple. They just need to train their brains enough, and soon they might even be capable of coldblooded murder."

"Like you?" Marellla smirked. Linh looked at her in surprise.

"Yes. All members of the Neverseen have the option to take that kind of training." Fintan answered, looking casually at his nails.

"Option? So it's not required?" Linh asked.

Fintan smiled a little bit. "If they want to go on missions, then yes, it is required, but otherwise, they're free to do as they please."

"Really? But you're…" Linh's voice trailed off, embarrassed.

"Evil? Yes, I suppose we are. But we have to be. Don't you understand?"

"I do, I guess." Marella said. Linh turned to her in shock. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you guys have done some pretty bad stuff, but you have to. I get that."

Marella's face turned red. She couldn't believe what she was saying. Did she really just agree with Fintan, of all people?

Fintan smirked. "Glad you see things my way. Our way. The Neverseen's way."

"Yeah…"

"What about people who don't choose to use violence? Is there some sort of peaceful way to protest and fight for what we stand for?" Linh interrupted.

"Of course there is, my dear. We have members doing all kinds of things, peaceful protests, marches, parades, anything they can to change the Council's mind."

"When's the next one of those? Any of those, I don't care which one." Linh asked in the most demanding voice Marella had ever heard her use.

Fintan looked surprised. "I don't know. There's one every few weeks, but seeing as how I've been in prison, I wouldn't know."

Linh turned to Marella and grabbed her arm. "Well? What do you say? Do you want to come with me to one of them?"

Marella blinked. Linh was smiling, and she was blushing a little bit, in a way that made her look like the most beautiful person in the world, and Marella couldn't help saying yes. "Sure."

"Awesome!" Linh smiled even brighter. Then her face fell. "Wait.. can we go, even if we're not Neverseen members?"

"Of course you can." Fintan reassured her.

"Awesome!" She said again. "Now, come on! Let's get to training!"

The next march was in one week. Both Marella and Linh planned on attending. Marella's father was rarely ever home, and her mother wouldn't notice if she was gone or not, so she was clear. Linh, on the other hand, was a different story.

She could get away from Sir Tiergan easily. He trusted her and would let her leave. Tam, however, would probably ask her a million questions. So Marella was to pick Linh up at around 10 in the morning, under the lie of more training. Not even Tam could argue with that.

Marella was able to escape easily, but things took a turn for the worse when Tam asked if he could go with them.

"You want to train with us?" Marella asked, glancing at Linh.

"No, I want to go wherever you're going that's not training." Tam replied.

"What do you mean? We are going to go train." Linh raised her eyebrow slightly.

"No, you're not. You aren't wearing your training clothes. Plus, whenever you go training, you never ask me, you just leave."

"Fine. We're going to go protest with the Neverseen." Linh rolled her eyes, and Marella got what she was trying to do.

"Cool. I'm coming with you." Tam said.

"What?" Marella practically yelled.

"Interesting. So that's actually where you're going. Well, I'm still coming with you. I mean, I was going anyway, so might as well go with you too."

"Wait, what?" Marella yelled again while Linh just kind of stood there opening and closing her mouth.

Tam sighed. "Dex and I were already planning on going, and since this is your first time, I figured it'd be better if you stayed with us."

"Dex?" Marella exploded. "Why would he… oh."

"Yeah. I saw Dex at one of the marches a while ago, and we've been going together ever since."

"Well, let's go, I guess. Are we picking Dex up, or is he meeting us there?" Linh said, snapping out of her trance.

"We're picking him up. It's way too easy to get lost there."

And that is how Marella and Linh unofficially joined the Neverseen.