TREATMENT:

More medicine. Also hoping Lady Zillah finds a solution to this echo thing.

NOTES:

Kinda looked like Sophie and Fitz were “together.” Huh. My little girl is growing up!

UPDATE:

I wasn’t there when it happened, but I just got word from Flori that she learned a song that finally made Sophie’s echoes fade away.

INCIDENT: Emergency House Call to Havenfield

DETAILS:

Sophie agreed to reset her inflicting—which means taking limbium and hoping Livvy and I can stop her allergy before it kills her. No pressure.

SYMPTOMS/INJURIES:

Sophie went with the stronger, more dangerous dose (Is anyone shocked by this?), so the reaction was severe—and her heart stopped.

TREATMENT:

Chest compressions, plus the allergy remedy Livvy and I designed (and a booster shot Livvy made), followed by a tiny dose of sedative.

NOTES:

This definitely didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.

UPDATE:

Sophie was knocked out for three days. And it’s not safe to give her any elixirs or pain medicine for at least another day. Flori made her a Panakes blossom broth that may help, though.

SECOND UPDATE:

She still needs a little more bed rest. But it was safe to give her some painkillers.

THIRD UPDATE:

Took Sophie five days to get out of bed and six before she made it outside. So this definitely took a toll. But she’s through the worst of it, and it does seem to have worked.

INCIDENT: Thirteenth Healing Center Visit

DETAILS:

Sophie rushed Keefe to me. He’s unconscious, and his cells are going through some sort of “transformation.” So it looks like his mom got what she wanted.

SYMPTOMS/INJURIES:

Checked Sophie, too, and she’s exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed and banged up from the battle. But nothing major.

TREATMENT:

Mostly, she just needed a pep talk—which I’m bad at. But I did my best.

NOTES:

I guess she discovered she can teleport without needing to free-fall now. The girl just keeps getting more and more amazing.

REGISTRY FILE FOR Fitzroy Avery Vacker

KNOWN ABILITIES: Telepath

RESIDENCE: Everglen

IMMEDIATE FAMILY: Alden Vacker (father), Della Vacker (mother), Alvar Vacker (brother), Biana Vacker (sister)

MATCH STATUS: Registered with zero lists received

EDUCATION: Current Foxfire prodigy

NEXUS: No longer required

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

SPYBALL APPROVAL: None

MEMBER OF THE NOBILITY: No

TITLE: None

NOBLE ASSIGNMENT: None

SIGNIFICANT CONNECTIONS: Cognate to Sophie Foster; fealty-sworn member of the Black Swan; former Exillium Wayward; part of the Vacker family

ASSIGNED BODYGUARD(S): Grizel (goblin)

PREFERRED NAME:

For reasons not disclosed, Fitzroy is most commonly identified by a nickname. In fact, few of his peers even realize his full name is Fitzroy. So to avoid confusion, the rest of this file shall refer to him by his more recognizable, shortened name: Fitz.

A LEGENDARY LINEAGE:

As made obvious by his last name, Fitz is a Vacker—a member of one of the most prominent families in the Lost Cities. Which means that he—and his siblings—have more relatives holding powerful positions in the nobility than any of their peers do. It would be far too tedious to include a full list of all the prominent Vackers and their accomplishments, but a few of note are as follows: Fallon Vacker, who was one of the three founding members of the Council and served for a thousand years as a Councillor; Orem Vacker, who is an extremely talented Flasher and puts on the impressive light show seen at the Celestial Festival; Luzia Vacker, Orem’s mother, who is also a Flasher and created many of the illusions that keep the Lost Cities hidden; and, of course, Fitz’s father, Alden, who is a renowned Telepath and an Emissary for the Council with the highest level of clearance, and is often given their most important assignments.

THE GOLDEN BOY:

Fitz manifested as a Telepath when he was thirteen, setting the record for “youngest to manifest as a Telepath”—until Sophie Foster revealed that she’d manifested when she was five human years old. Some people occasionally get confused and think that Fitz was actually “the youngest to manifest an ability—period.” But that is simply not accurate. His own sister (Biana) manifested younger than that—as have several others. Nevertheless, Fitz’s youth, and the strength of his telepathy, earned him the title “Alden’s Golden Boy” (which is occasionally used less-than-kindly, particularly by Councillor Bronte). Fitz’s academic record at Foxfire is also considered exemplary (despite his brief attendance at Exillium—and a somewhat suspicious number of absences during his first few years at the academy). And when he was descried by Councillor Terik, the reading was incredibly promising. Fitz excels in all areas of study, often receiving the highest grades out of everyone in his level. And he was the reigning Foxfire splotching champion until Sophie beat him with a brain push during her first time competing—though many consider that match to have been a tie, since both of them were thrown backward against the wall and knocked unconscious.

HIS FATHER’S UNAUTHORIZED QUEST:

Alden Vacker has long had a reputation for occasionally pursuing investigations without the Council’s approval, and the largest proven example is the twelve years he spent secretly searching for the source of a strand of unregistered DNA. The Council had deemed the DNA to be a hoax after it was recovered during a memory break performed on Prentice Endal (a convicted rebel). But Alden was convinced the DNA belonged to a female child created by the Black Swan (an organization no one believed existed at the time) who’d been hidden somewhere among the Forbidden Cities. And in order to avoid the Council’s suspicion or interference, Alden enlisted the help of both of his sons (who were also better able to approach the children that Alden was investigating without frightening them). Alvar—the elder of Alden’s sons—was the first to assist with the project, but he was replaced by Fitz as soon as Fitz was old enough to take over, presumably because Fitz was closer to the girl’s estimated age. Little is known about how Alden chose which “leads” to investigate or where he got his information from, or how many places his sons visited (though rumor has it that Fitz collected small souvenirs from each of the Forbidden locations he was sent to). But eventually all the searching paid off, and Fitz located Sophie Foster and brought her to the Lost Cities—technically twice. The first time was the day he met her—which was not what his father had instructed him to do. He was only supposed to observe and report back. But Sophie’s eye color confused him, so he approached her to investigate further and realized she was definitely the girl he’d been looking for. And when she refused to believe what he was telling her, he brought her to the Lost Cities as proof—then took her back to her human home and made her promise not to tell anyone about anything she’d seen. (He’s very lucky that she kept her word.) The next day, after the Council had been properly updated, Fitz was sent to retrieve Sophie and bring her to the Lost Cities permanently.