Chapter Text
Grady huffed, crossing his arms and mumbling something about ‘That Boy’ again.
Edaline sighed. She knew what he meant by that. She knew and understood why he was frustrated. Though she waited for Sophie to be completely out the door with Keefe before she spoke.
“You know, you’re awfully hard on the boy.” Edaline ventured. She continued once Grady didn’t pick up the conversation. “He’s not like..” Edaline didn’t have to say his name. Grady knew who she was talking about. “Him.”
“How can we be sure of that?” Grady asked, turning to face Edaline and uncrossing his arms.
“We can’t. We can’t be sure of anything, but I can tell you this. That boy loves Sophie with all his heart.”
“He loved her too.” Grady replied, barely above a whisper. There was a tremor in his voice, a solemn tone to it. They both missed her dearly. They knew whose fault it was. But burning his hand off just never felt like enough. Grady should’ve burned his entire arm.
It felt as though two situations were repeating themselves. Their daughter was betrayed by someone they held closely. In some circumstances, betrayal could mean death. It did for Jolie. Grady had every right to be suspicious and careful.
But Edaline knew how much Keefe loved Sophie. She could see it in their eyes. See it in the way Keefe smiled and joked with Sophie, how she bubbled with laughter despite her best attempts against it.
“I know. But for them? It’s different. Sophe has us , we’re close with her. I trust our girl to be able to tell right from wrong. She’ll know if it gets too dangerous, but for now, Keefe is one of her best friends. She’s too close to him to be able to lose him the way Jolie did. Don’t tell me you don’t see it. The way he looks at her. The way she smiles, looks away and pretends not to notice? If that isn’t love, then tell me what it is?”
Edaline didn’t have any sort of venom or accusation to her tone. She was actually smiling gently, looking up at Grady with maybe just a hint of challenge to her features.
Grady sighed, eyes locked with the floor before his gaze met Edaline’s.
“I know. I just don’t want to see her hurt. I want her to be careful. Maybe even distance herself, even if it’s only a bit. That Boy’s broken her heart a few times and it rubs me the wrong way.”
“But he’s also pulled her out of bad places.” Edaline pointed out, reaching up and brushing a lock of hair out of Grady’s eyes. “He drew those gorgeous pictures to cheer her up when she was upset. Keefe has it rough, but he is doing the best he can to make everything okay for Sophie. That should count towards something. Though I don’t quite agree with what he’s done most of the time, he’s made up for some of it. We should at least give him that. All he’s done to help our daughter and make sure she stayed safe. Even when she got mad at him for doing it in the most ridiculous ways possible. He’s done it all in what he sees as his way to keep Sophie safe. That’s more than we can say for Brant.”
Grady paused, seeming to debate the topic internally before sighing and looking at Edaline with a small smile. “I guess you’ve got a point. But she still needs to be careful. You know.. Kick him where it hurts if she needs to.”
Edaline huffed, whacking Grady gently in the shoulder. “Next time you suggest something like that, it’ll be the alicorn dung.”
Grady laughed, a smile sitting on his face while he looked at Edaline.
+++
Years later, in the same room as they had that conversation in. Grady was scowling, mumbling things that shouldn’t be repeated by children under his breath.
Edaline was trying to comfort a sobbing Sophie, holding her closely in a hug while she stroked her hair and murmured what she hoped were comforting words.
Sophie was rambling, trying to tell Grady and Edaline the rest of the story. She had already gotten to tell them the gist of it before her words became unintelligible through her tears.
It featured a Neverseen attack at Everglen, where the main friend group was having their annual reunion party, hosted by Biana. One thing that Sophie hadn’t been expecting was for Keefe to show up. He’d been missing for years, Sophie had begun to think.. the most dangerous thoughts a lover could think. He could’ve been dead, for what everyone knew.
But no. Keefe had joined the Neverseen, and worked with them. Not against them this time. Keefe had kept Sophie distracted long enough for their other members to arrive. Alvar was discovered alive, and Ruy’s hands had been fixed. Sophie had been trapped in a force field for long enough for Alvar to sneak away and render her friends unconscious. They’d gotten there, inside of Everglen. All because Keefe had bought them time.
It stung. It hurt Sophie to the core of her soul. What was worse was that Lady Gisela had implied there were traitors among her friends. Sophie had asked everyone after the attack privately, tricking them by claiming she knew they were a part of the Neverseen to gauge their loyalty to their reaction.
So far, everyone seemed vaguely trustworthy. Well. Everyone except for Keefe. But Keefe had left with the Neverseen.
Somewhere deep inside, Sophie knew that Keefe wouldn’t have joined the Neverseen of his own free will.
He just couldn’t have.
+++
Sophie walked into her bedroom a few days after, having just gotten back from doing her chores with the animals. There was a strange piece of paper lying on her bed. She rushed over, some childish part of her hoping it was from Keefe with a long explanation as to why he had run off and let everyone think he had died.
It wasn’t. It was a simple, stupid poem, like what the Black Swan used to leave her when she had first arrived in the Lost Cities.
Those who you’ve dismissed first,
Turn out to be the worst.
Nothing else. Just a stupid poem that made Sophie’s eyelashes itch. She tugged one off, feeling very little relief from doing so.
Great. Alright, now she had to focus on deciphering it. ‘Those who you’ve dismissed first.’ That probably meant who she had first thought wouldn’t be a part of the Neverseen… was. That hurt to think about. The people she’d dismissed first..
Well, Fitz had been bleeding out so Sophie kind of had to dismiss him. He hadn’t been questioned like the others. That puts one person on the Check-For-Traitors list.
She had questioned Marella and Tam first, but neither of them had said anything noteworthy. That’s two more people. She’d go to Tam first, since if she had to choose anyone, he had seemed the most suspicious out of the three.
+++
Tam rolled over on his side and groaned. He dug through the pile of bags that Biana had packed, yanking his Imparter from one of the bags embroidered with the words ‘Happy Shadow Thoughts’. He answered the call, putting an end to the basically infuriating ringing sound it had been making. He was met with a frantic brown eyed female.
“Hey.. Tam. Uh, where are you?” Sophie asked.
Tam raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why do you want to know?”
“Uhm, no reason. Could you show me your room?” Sophie asked, practically out of the blue.
“Uh……. sure?” Tam raised his Imparter up, slowly turning it in a 360 degree motion. It showcased a door, another door, walls, a bookcase, and the rest of the bed he was laying on.
“Alright got it.” Sophie said, laying her Imparter on her desk and running out of the frame. Soon, there was a loud thunder clap sound and Tam saw a particularly disheveled Sophie standing in front of the footboard of his bed.
“What are you doing here?!” Tam exclaimed in a whisper yell. He threw the covers off of himself, standing up in his shorts and tunic. “So that’s why you asked to see my surroundings– okay, whatever, but you’re not supposed to be here.” he said rather rudely.
“I know, I know. But, uh. Can I look into your memories? Please?” Sophie asked.
“Uh, no. I don’t want you in my head.” Tam declined saltily with his
arms crossed.
“Please Tam, I really don’t want to have to do this.” Sophie begged. She was prepared to do what she needed to read his mind. But she really didn’t want to.
“I said no. No means no.”
“Tam, I have to, and I’ll do what I need to if I have to.” Sophie warned.
“So you’re allowed to break the law and poke through people’s memories and heads without permission, but you’re the one that gets onto my case for reading someone’s shadowvapor without their permission?” Tam asked, a look of betrayal in his silvery blue eyes
“Tam, please, I have to do this.” Sophie begged again.
“I said no , Sophie.” Tam replied defensively.
“I’m sorry about this.” Sophie said solemnly, before following through with her readied right hook, promptly knocking Tam out. Sophie put her fingers to his temples, entering his mind.
I told you you weren’t allowed in here. A particularly angry voice said. Sophie turned to look at Tam, or at least who she assumed was Tam. He was in his Exillium uniform, his hood up as well as his mask. The only distinguishing feature was his Ability pin, which had the outward stretching black hand to represent a Shade.
That’s the form you choose for yourself? Sophie asked, caught somewhat off guard by his appearance. His immediate thoughts were swirling around his head as well, because Sophie had just barely scraped the surface of his consciousness. Though one thought stuck out the most to her.
Wait, Biana’s pregnant?!
I- yes, to both of your questions, but you weren’t supposed to know that! Tam hissed, his arms crossed in front of his chest. What’s so important that you barged in here without my permission?
I can’t tell you right now but I know that was wrong but I really need to do this. Sophie apologized, then dove past his immediate thoughts into the deeper scape of his memories.
She was met with a lot of memories, most of them recent. One of the ones Sophie managed to get a glimpse of was the most recent memory his brain had stored, of Sophie’s fist hurtling towards his face and the world going black.
She would definitely have a lot of apologies to get to after this.
She sighed, seeking out key words and shouting them in his memories to search.
NEVERSEEN!! she shouted. She was met with memories of Tam’s time during the Neverseen that she knew of, the experiment he was involved with when Keefe had to sit on the magsidian throne in Loamnore. Something she didn’t expect to see, though probably should’ve expected, was other parts of Tam’s time with the Neverseen. Meeting Rayni, when the ethertine light bonds were strapped to his wrists. Pages of Umber’s books. It unsettled her when she noticed Tam must’ve been somewhat excited or terrified by the possibilities of shadowflux. She could only hope it was the latter.
Nothing else useful here. She’d try a different word. TRAITOR! she shouted, again into the void of memories that was Tam’s head. She was met with images of Keefe, of course somewhat distorted and blurry. And from a long time ago, considering that was probably the last time Tam had seen Keefe. She could’ve sworn she saw another face though, trying to get Tam’s mind to draw the other image back. But his mind was resistant, not liking to obey the bossy Telepath.
She frowned, sighing and turning away from those sets of images and instead shouting another word into the void.
HIDDEN MEMORIES!! she searched. She was met with a few memories, about three or four. But they were big memories. She could tell. They had to be for long periods of time. The only problem was that they were wrapped in layers of shadowflux.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to float her way through the shadowflux. It was too dark, and quickly got too cold for her consciousness to try and burst her way through.
She sighed, frowning at the memories before she exited Tam’s mind and let go of his temples in the physical world. It just so happened that Tam decided to wake up at that very moment too.
His mouth was set in a thin angry line, and he was avoiding Sophie’s gaze. “You weren’t supposed to be in there.”
“But I had to check.” Sophie countered in a plea. “Where’s Biana?” she asked, looking around the room.
“She’s sleeping.” was the only answer she got from Tam. “You won’t check her memories without her permission.” he added hastily, as if he could read her thoughts.
“I won’t. We can just wake her up.” Sophie said.
“Uh, no, we can't. She’s sleeping as long as she needs to, I’ll hail you when she wakes up.” Tam said, his voice rising with a bit of venom.
“How do I know that? I can just wake her up and then I won’t bother you guys again- trust me.”
“And how can I do that? ‘Trust me.’” Tam scoffed. “Sophie, you realize how hard that is to do now, right?”
“I know. I know better than anyone what it feels like to be expected to trust someone when they won’t tell you anything.”
Tam was quiet. Sophie had struggled with that longer than anyone, and Tam knew that. “So why did you do it to someone else?” he asked after a long while. He didn’t sound angry this time. Just tired and betrayed.
“Because, I’ll explain as soon as I’m done making sure Biana is who I think she is.” Sophie said ominously.
Tam narrowed his eyes at Sophie, then looked off to the side. “Fine.” he dragged out with a sigh. “But only if she gives you permission.”
He made Sophie swear on it before he walked through one of the doors that opened to another bedroom. Biana was laying down on the lavish bed, seeming way too comfortable and way too beautiful to be pregnant.
But it was Biana. Beauty was to be expected.
Sophie gently tried shaking her awake. “Biana!” she whispered. “Biana, wake up!”
“Sophie?” Biana murmured, tilting her head and propping herself up on her elbow to look her friend in the eye. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi Biana- sorry for the sudden appearance but could I check your memories?” Sophie asked hastily, not entirely sure she enjoyed the death glare that Tam was giving her.
“I promise I’ll explain right after” Sophie’s eyes nervously flicked to Tam, then looked back at Biana. “I look through your memories.”
“Uhm. Okay.” It sounded more like a question than an answer, but Sophie would take it. She put her hands to Biana’s temples, gently pushing herself into Biana’s consciousness.
Her immediate thoughts were questions about what was going on, definitely highlighting the nervous glance that Sophie had at Tam. Though the thing that drew Sophie’s eye the most was how Biana’s brain preferred to portray itself as.
Biana was the age she was now, but so much more regal. She was wearing fancy and sparkly clothes, though looked like she could fight a dragon from human fairy tales in them at the same time. Like a warrior princess, almost.
Wow… Sophie breathed out, mesmerized by the way the outfit seemed to capture Biana’s essence all in one.
You like it? Biana’s projected said with a smile, swishing her hips side to side and the outfit glimmered and looked like it was practically glowing. She bit her lip in the nervous but giddy way Biana did in the physical world. I tried sewing a while back. I grew out of it though, and I’ve always imagined wearing this again. The projection explained.
You look.. great, Sophie admitted, smiling at the mental projection. She almost regretted that she had to keep going further.
But she had to continue.
Sophie dove deep into Biana’s memories, not wanting to spend too much time in the dreams she might have been having before Sophie woke her up.
NEVERSEEN! Sophie shouted into Biana’s consciousness, and she was met with multiple memories. Memories of when she was attacked in Nightfall, when Vespera had given her the scars she now wore like trophies. Sophie quickly looked away from that specific memory and moved on.
TRAITOR!
This time, Sophie was met with pictures of Keefe and Alvar, and a few memories of the two. Sophie had never felt more like she needed to hug her friend when she glanced at one of the memories involving Alvar. It was from Biana’s point of view in the accident that happened when Fitz stopped pressing buttons in the troll hive, when Alvar was trapped in one of the pods.
Sophie tore her gaze away from the gruesome scene, wishing more than ever that she could comfort her friend in that moment.
But she had to keep going.
Sophie couldn’t help the sour feeling that filled her mouth when she had to shout, HIDDEN MEMORIES!! No memories seemed to show up. Sophie let out a sigh of relief, smiling as she pulled her hands away from Biana’s temples.
“Well, you’re clear.” Sophie smiled.
“Okayyyy.” Biana drawled skeptically. “So, do we get an explanation now?”
Sophie was confused by the use of ‘we’ until the other voice in the room spoke up.
“Yeah, that’d be appreciated.” Tam snarled, a venom in his tone obviously directed at Sophie. He’d gotten really good at staying quiet and still, Sophie had forgotten he was there.
“Oh. Yeah, sorry.” Sophie tugged out an itchy eyelash, silently cursing her bad habit. “Well, basically, I found a note on my bed this morning that was some kind of messed up riddle. ‘Those who you’ve dismissed first turn out to be the worst.’” Sophie repeated, keeping an eye on Tam for suspicious behavior.
If he’d been a part of the Neverseen, then he would have to have been a really good liar.
“Well that doesn’t sound too good.”
“Yeah…. Sorry. Are we good?” Sophie asked, gesturing between herself and Tam unsure.
“Not really. It might change though. Just— give me a bit.” Tam sighed.
“Oooooooookay, cool.” Sophie said with a slightly forced smile as she turned away from Tam and Biana. She sprinted out of the room, focusing her mind on a single image.
Everglen.
Before she even opened her eyes, she knew where she probably was. A hallway, probably the exact same hallway where she had first met Biana. She felt a smile tug on her lips as her mind gladly played a flashback of the event.
“Is that my dress?” Sophie heard Biana’s voice clearly echoing in her mind, chuckling to herself as she walked down the hallway. Though more clearly than the mental voice, Sophie heard arguing.
She raised an eyebrow, continuing to creep down the hallways until she found the source of the arguing. But the closer she got, the more she realized the arguing wasn’t legitimate. It seemed more like playing or teasing.
“– And I can cook perfectly well!”
“Of course you can, sweetheart, say that to the dozens of gnomes who had to keep the kitchen from burning down the last time you tried to cook.”
Sophie entered the kitchen, where she was met with Stina cooking over was she
assumed was the elvin equivalent of a stove and Fitz pouting behind her.
“Uhhhh, sorry to interrupt— is this a bad time?” Sophie asked, looking between Fitz and Stina.
“What are you doing here?” Fitz asked, stopping his pouting and straightening up as his cheeks glowed red.
“Could I read your memories?” Sophie asked, using Keefe’s tried and true tactic of answering a question with another question to change the topic.
“Uh, no.” Fitz immediately answered, crossing his arms.
“Please? I really don’t want to do what I had to do to Tam.” Sophie begged.
“What’d you do to him?” Fitz’s arms were still crossed, and his gaze was skeptical. This was already heading down a bad path.
“I.. might have punched him and knocked him out when he wouldn’t let me read his memories.” Sophie admitted, some part of her relieved to get the weight of that truth off of her chest.
Fitz immediately moved into a defensive position that still seemed somewhat casual. “Uh, yeah no , that’s not happening.” he said with a glare.
“But we’re Cognates?” Sophie said, more of a question for permission than a reason he should trust her.
Stina had to stifle her laugh to sound like a cough, and Fitz didn’t seem to know who to glare at, decidedly glaring at Stina first, then Sophie. Stina rolled her eyes.
“I don’t care right now. You’re not searching my memories.” Fitz said, his arms crossed while holding his glare on Sophie.
“Fitz please, I really don’t want to do this to you.” Sophie said.
Fitz sighed, closing his eyes and when enough time had passed that Sophie thought he wouldn’t answer, he opened his eyes and said, “Fine. Go ahead.”
“Did you just hide some of your memories?” Sophie asked, guessing what Fitz had been doing that handful of seconds.
“That’s none of your business.” he answered curtly.
“Okay……. Sure.” Sophie sounded suspicious, though that didn’t stop her from putting her fingers to Fitz’s temples and searching his mind.
His immediate thoughts were interrupted by Sophie’s entrance, sending a few scattering back to where they had come from.
His mental projection of himself wasn’t too far off from the current version. Sophie hadn’t seen Fitz in the tunic and pants he was wearing, but they did look extremely regal. A comfortable gray undershirt with a golden jeweled tunic and dark blue crystals peppering the front and the sleeves. It had probably been what he was wearing for his most recent Winnowing Gala, where all the drama had occurred between Biana, himself, Tam, and Stina.
Sophie found herself staring. It wasn’t like she liked him though. No, that had ended a while ago.
He just looked so much.. Like Fitz in all honesty. Sweet and kind, but with hidden rough edges. He reminded her a lot of the ocean. How sweet, calm and gentle it could seem at first all the while being dangerous, lethal, and angry.
The Fitz projection huffed, crossing his arms as impatient thoughts swirled.
Just go already .
Sophie could feel her welcome dwindling with each passing second, deciding to press further into Fitz’s consciousness.
She was starting to drift through some of his memories, sighing and shouting a keyword.
TRAITOR!!
Memories and pictures of Alvar sprung up angrily, particularly with a few memories of Fitz attempting to murder him, specifically at Everglen when they had just arrived from the Celestial Festival. Glimpses of conversation here and there, some with his parents when Alvar was being moved back to Everglen by the Council. The thoughts were with an angry and venomous undertone. While thinking of Alvar’s expected demise, while he was trapped in the pod, Fitz’s emotions were all mixed up.
There was guilt, a surprising and overwhelming amount of it. Anger, remorse and sadness tied in all together in the threads of the memory.
Sophie quickly shoved the memory back away from herself so she didn’t have to intrude any further.
HIDDEN MEMORIES!!
Dozens of memories sprung up, each of them with their own mental barricade. He must have been working on the barricades for a while, or at least he had practiced for a long while. The barricades were strong enough for Sophie to struggle just a bit trying to burst them open. She managed to burst open one memory though.
Fitz was looking in a mirror, or at least that was what Sophie had to assume while staring at her– no, Fitz’s reflection. Elvin mirrors were weird.
He took in a deep breath, smiling a reassuring smile to himself in the mirror. Fitz smoothed back his hair, turning away to exit the bathroom. He went to the Leapmaster, saying the name of a foreign residence before leaping there.
“I didn’t think you were coming!” A relative of his exclaimed, whom Sophie briefly recognized as one of the dozens of Vackers that had filed in at Alvar’s tribunal when Sophie had been scanning the waves of Vackers for Fallon.
“Well it’s my little sister, of course I was coming.” Fitz stated simply as if it was strange to think otherwise.
“Mm, alright.” his relative hummed. “Though— I hate to admit, but a few of us have heard.. What's the word I’m looking for? Rumors. About you and your sister having a falling out at your most recent Winnowing Gala. Am I correct?” The relative inquired.
“Yes, you are correct.” Fitz sighed. “But we’re siblings. We’re meant to bicker and argue from time to time. It is all resolved now, I can assure you.” Fitz nodded.
Sophie had been at the wedding, and was positively sure that it had not been resolved by the time Fitz had gotten there. Biana hadn’t even been sure that he was going to show up. So why was he lying? Sophie had an answer to that before she had even asked the question.
To preserve his status .
She watched the memory continue, but it ended a few seconds after the relative of his had walked away. Weird. Sophie gently backed away from the memory, looking at the rest of the barricades. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, determined to look through them all. She found herself pushing aggressively against the barriers, until her eyes opened back up to reality.
Stina was pulling Sophie away from Fitz, who was leaning against the counter and cradling his head.
“What was that for? You could’ve hurt him!” Stina glared at Sophie. Fitz was still cradling his head and rubbing his temples. “I was monitoring his emotions, same with yours while you were in there. They both started spiking and I figured something was wrong.”
Oh. Well that explained why Sophie had been pulled away.
“I’m sorry— really, and I hope that you’ll forgive me.” Sophie turned to Fitz with a frown.
But her business wasn’t finished here yet. Sophie turned around to look at Stina again. “Could I by any chance look through your memories?”
“No.” Stina scoffed.
“It’ll only take a few minutes, I promise.”
“........... Fine. But don’t touch any of the purple ones.”
“Uhm. Okay?” Sophie raised an eyebrow but Stina refused to comment further. She put her fingers to Stina’s temples and entered her consciousness.
Stina’s projection of herself was honestly somewhat dazzling. A younger version of herself in the Elite levels. Though she was wearing her circlet, cloak, and pin from when she was a part of Team Valiant. The combination Stina seemed to have chosen was the gold circlet, the silver cloak, and lumenite pin.
But Sophie quickly turned to look away, not bothering to question the appearance as she dove deeper into the consciousness.
TRAITOR!! Sophie shot the word like a bolt of lightning through Stina’s consciousness, beckoning it forward.
There were a lot of memories involving Fitz. Sophie was confused, pushing her mind into the memory that had Fitz dressed in the same tunic she’d seen his projection wearing.
“Well… what about Alvar?” Stina asked, then felt a surge of anger and another deeper feeling rush through Fitz’s hand to hers. Sophie was surprised that Stina hadn’t yelped or at least flinched at it.
“I’d rather not talk about Alvar at my Winnowing Gala.” Fitz glared at the ground as if it had something to do with his traitorous older brother. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, placing a hand on his chest.
“Alright. Then we don’t have to talk about him.” Stina nodded, looking away from Fitz and surveying the entire room. Sophie couldn’t help but notice the smugness in Stina’s memory when she noticed all the girls glaring and gritting their teeth as their eyes locked on Fitz and Stina’s joined hands. Wel, it made sense why that memory had the word ‘traitor’ tied to it but Sophie could tell something was missing. The memory soon faded after a few moments of silence between the two. Sophie tried again, something in her gut telling her that the memories she’d witnessed hadn’t been all of it.
TRAITOR!!! Sophie shouted again, though with lots of emotion poured into it instead of just her mental energy. Mostly distress, seeing if that emotion would trigger anything in an Empath’s mind to reveal more.
She was met with the same memories as before, though they were organized differently. A few that had been in the back were now drawn to the front. Sophie caught a glimpse of Maruca in one of them, curious. She dived in.
Stina was upset, wiping her eyes as if they had tears in them. It was now clear that she was talking to Maruca at a cafe—probably somewhere in Atlantis given the decor and what she could see out of the corner of her eye in the window.
“What if…” Stina started, her voice low and hoarse. “someone wasn't who you thought they were?” Sophie’s heart panged with the familiarity of the comment, before her mind aided her with realization.
Jolie.
That was the exact wording that Jolie had used when she started catching on to Brant and had told Edaline. Edaline hadn’t thought of it much before Sophie showed up in the Lost Cities.
Stina couldn’t have possibly known she said word for word what Jolie said all those years ago, but she did. Which only made Sophie curiouser and curiouser.
Wonder how deep this rabbit hole will go, Sophie thought saltily to herself as she continued to watch the memory.
Stina reached for a butterblast that was laid in a shimmering cut-from-crystal carrier off to the side of the table, a place where restaurants in the human world would often hold salt and pepper shakers. She cupped the butterblast in her hand while staring down at it. Stina pondered for a moment before eating it.
“Well…” Maruca drawled. “I’d probably try to talk to them about it.” she answered after a few moments, taking a swig of her drink before putting it back down on the table. “Ask why they did what they did. What good reason there was or might’ve been. Since you’re an Empath, you’d be able to see if they’re lying too, right?” She quirked her eyebrows up, prompting an answer from Stina.
A small blossom of confidence rose up inside Stina’s chest. “Yeah. Yeah I would, I guess.” Stina nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you.” she sighed tiredly. “I really needed a break.” she admitted, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles.
“Yeah, no problem.” Maruca answered, closing one eye to peek into her cup to check if there was anything left before chugging it, then setting the empty glass back down on the table.
The memory faded out a few moments later, and Sophie was rather confused. She made a mental note to ask Maruca about that later. She sighed, readying more mental energy before shouting another keyword to search for.
HIDDEN MEMORIES!!
She should have been expecting this. But every single one of them were tinted with a purple sheen. Sophie bit her lip, knowing she had to press on either way. Soon enough, after pressing through one of the memories, she found herself in Stina’s point of view.
It was a dark room, and Sophie felt unbelievably cold but Stina just grinned and beared it. Fitz walked into the room—
Okay, no, definitely staying away from that memory.
Sophie felt all different kinds of disgust as she backed out of that memory and went into a different one—still tinted a purple color. She found herself witnessing a baby unicorn birth. It was slimy—and all sorts of other things— and made Sophie glad she was closer to Silveny’s front end when Wynn and Luna were born.
As adorable as Sophie knew it would turn out to be, Sophie was still disgusted and decided to immediately leave Stina’s consciousness.
“I warned you.” Stina seethed, arms crossed with her face turned facing another direction.
“Yep– that you did.” Sophie nodded. “Yeah, I’m really sorry you guys. I think I’m just gonna go.” she jerked her thumb towards where she came from, not waiting for an answer before sprinting away.
She rounded a corner once she remembered she didn’t actually have a destination set in mind. She’d rather not find out what happens when she gets stuck in the void, going over the list of options in her head.
Solreef would be pretty easy to knock out, maybe she’d even catch Marella hanging out with Linh there. Even if not, she’d still find Wylie at the very least. And so it was decided. She sprinted down the long crystalline hallway, letting the void lap at her ankles and ingest her fully. She locked eyes with an image of Solreef, dashing through it.