Reversed

xxx. thirty

They made two more stops before actually leaping—one for Trix, and one for Ruy.

When the light pulled itself back together again and Sophie could clearly see her surroundings, she gasped.

They were in San Diego, California.

Right across the street from where Sophie grew up. She could see her old house.

Lady Gisela smiled again. "Let's go back to where it all began, shall we?"

Sophie didn't reply.

They wandered down the streets, Lady Gisela apparently looking for a specific spot, the others clueless as to what it was. Finally, they stopped along the sidewalk, not that far from the museum where Sophie had met Fitz.

"There!" Lady Gisela said triumphantly, pointing at a nondescript bench.

The one side of the metal barring had a pretty nasty chip in it.

Sophie looked at Ruy and Gethen like, has she gone wack?

They both shook their heads like, I have no idea.

There were bushes on either side of the bench, and Lady Gisela crouched down to inspect them. "Yes, these will do," she muttered under her breath and getting back up. She held out her hand to Ruy. "Did you bring the things I asked for from our Technopath?" she asked.

He nodded, and fished through his pockets. After a few seconds, he pulled out a couple sleek, flat discs. Sophie squinted, not sure if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her or not, but she could've sworn they looked see-through where the light hit them.

Lady Gisela took one from Ruy's open hand. "We're going to place this in the bush to the right for. . . safekeeping." Her mouth quirked to the side.

"Ruy—as soon as I hide this, I want you to put a force field around it," she instructed. "Extra shock, pizzazz—whatever it takes to keep nosy people from this—" she rolled the disc around in her palm—"lovely device. Then, Gethen, I want you to sprinkle that powder I gave you over the force field. It should help conceal it. We don't want to give its hiding place away."

Ruy and Gethen obliged. Sophie lounged on the bench, sitting on it so her legs took up the whole thing, picking at a loose thread on her cloak.

When they stepped away, she peeked over, and Sophie couldn't even see a tiny glimmer from the force field. It was practically invisible, and paired with the semi-translucent disc, it would take a very determined person who knew exactly what they were looking for to find it.

Sophie cocked her head, imagining what it would be like if she wasn't on the Neverseen's side.

Her and her old friends figuring out the hiding place weeks, maybe months after the Neverseen planted it—and finding the disc there. Her crouching down, brushing aside the bush stems to inspect the gadget. Picking it up, showing it to everyone, musing about what it could be.

Taking it home. Trying to solve the mystery as to what it was. Spending more weeks, maybe months on it—but by the time they figured out what it was, it would be too late. They had played into the Neverseen's hands all along, always five steps behind them.

But since Sophie had joined the Neverseen, she could see everything a lot clearer now. The little tricks and surprises the Neverseen left for the Black Swan, falsely tipping them off, deceiving them into believing that they had gotten the advantage for once. Sidetracking them from what the Neverseen were really doing—making the next move, progressing the little game of chess the Black Swan had been foolish enough to play with them.

And now that she, the Black Swan's own creation, was on the opposite side, taking part in toying with the opposing rebellion—

It was all quite reversed, wasn't it?

Sophie almost chuckled at how easily someone could get tangled up and turned around if they fell into the twisted net her life had become.

"So what am I here for, exactly?" Sophie asked. "I could be sleeping." Not at all. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to get much sleep for a while, thanks to what the attacks were doing to her.

And. . . there she was again, feeling herself sink into the same familiar, suffocating panic she had been indulged in all night long, whenever she had woken up in a cold sweat, nearly shrieking.

Lady Gisela's sharp reply shook Sophie from her thoughts. "Oh? We don't have time for a moody teenager who wants to sleep all day. You're bigger than that. You'll find out why you're here soon enough." She pulled her blue pathfinder back out, gesturing with her hand for the others to step into the beam of light.

Sophie scowled, biting back a retort of her own. But she forced her feet to move forward. She really wanted to get away from the place that kept pulling so many memories to the surface, anyways.

Sophie was shocked to realize that she recognized their second stop, too. And not just from photos. She had actually been here before.

Paris, France.

The Pont Alexandre III bridge, to be exact.

She locked her gaze onto a faraway lantern, forcing herself not to look over at Lady Gisela.

But she could almost feel her chilling smile burning into the back of her neck.

"Quite a trip down memory lane we're taking today, isn't it?" Lady Gisela asked, coming up beside her.

Sophie didn't respond, her gaze still locked on to something in the distance. She tracked a pedestrian with her eyes.

Lady Gisela turned away, leaving to go look for a spot to hide another disc. Ruy and Gethen followed her, but Sophie stayed where she was.

She was thinking about last time she was here, she was scared out of her mind, panic nipping at her every step. Any shadow could have been her and Dex's kidnappers, jumping out with gleaming smiles, ready to capture them again. Torture them again. Nowhere was safe.

And now, she was on the very same street, but the circumstances were drastically different. Yes, indeed, and shadow could be one of the Neverseen members, except this time, they were on the same side. She was working with them.

She had nothing to be afraid of.

Sophie smiled wryly. Yes, it was all quite reversed, wasn't it?