Chapter Text
Sophie leaned on the railing, and glared out over the water. Apologizing wasn’t something she was great at to begin with. Now, Rufus told her to wait before doing it, out of respect for Asano’s alleged feelings. It sucked. Her entire life lately had just been a long series of staying in one place and not doing anything. She could feel the inaction like an itchy slime that coated every part of her. She wanted nothing more than to shake it off with a good run. Maybe then she would be able to think.
She could do that now, couldn’t she? She had essences. She was already serving out her sentence. It wasn’t like anyone could claim she was trying to flee, not with a tracking bracelet on her wrist and her best friend in the hands of the most powerful people in the city. She could go out for a run if she wanted. She’d probably be back before anyone even noticed she was gone.
She could even go for a flight.
Her face split into a grin at the thought, and she leapt into the air. Instantly, she felt like herself again. The wind roared in her ears, stinging her eyes and rippling over her skin in a way that felt instinctively right. It was like being home, a sensation she hadn’t experienced since she was sixteen years old. She hit an updraft and soared even higher, letting out a joyous whoop before twisting into a steep dive. Just as she was about to hit the water, she pulled herself level and switched to sprinting across the surface.
She was intending to do one quick loop around the bay and then go back. She really was. But the rushing wind was finally starting to clear the accumulated gunk of the past few days. She felt truly clean in a way that even crystal wash couldn’t replicate.
Just a little bit further, she thought to herself. She wouldn’t be too long. Maybe ten minutes at the most. She let herself follow the sound of the wind, and amazingly, she actually could think. Her thoughts drifted to Clive’s outburst earlier. It didn’t piss her off so much, anymore. All the energy that would have been spent on anger was redirected into her legs.
Sophie was initially suspicious of Clive. He seemed like an easy mark, but that could all be an act. For one thing, he was friends with Asano. Anyone who could tolerate that manipulative liar for an extended period of time had to have something in common with the guy. For another, she had never once caught him checking her out. Everyone she had ever met got hung up on the way she looked. It wasn’t something she enjoyed, but she had come to expect it. Even Jory, who was so in love with Belinda it made her want to gag, had an occasional case of wandering eyes. The fact that she had never seen even a hint of that from the nerd raised a few alarm bells. And, most unsettling of all, he was taking up all Belinda’s time.
The two of them had agreed. They were going to find a way to escape, get out of the city, and start fresh in a new place. And then Clive went and offered Belinda a job, and suddenly it was all “oh, the cloud palace is so nice” and “You can totally trust this guy to make you an adventurer.”
It made her want to punch something.
Not Clive, though. He was off limits, apparently. The only time she so much as suggested he was exactly the kind of weakling with a plethora of valuables they typically looked for, Lindy made her sleep in her own room.
She ran up to the edge of a rocky cliff face, leaping off briefly before turning back around and landing hard. She felt the shock ripple through her bones, and imagined the impact was from kicking Clive in his smug face. That helped, so she turned around and did it again.
At least the feeling was mutual. Clive never hesitated to deride her intelligence, and now he’d just gone off on a sanctimonious lecture about how grateful she should be to his weasel of a best friend. Dear gods, the two of them could drown in their own self-righteousness. At least it answered the question of what they had in common.
But as she soared over the edge of the cliff for a third time, she realized that answer only raised a new question. He made a whole speech about how Asano specifically picked out an awakening stone that would make it easier to fight him, as though picking the power wouldn’t also give him ample opportunity to find the best counter-measures. But why had Clive given her one as well? Sure, it made sense for Asano. He was an independent operator, swimming in coin, and whatever long con he had planned clearly hinged on her having a specific power build. But Lindy said Clive had a family. Surely, the smart move for him would have been to sell the stone, or send it back home.
“Yes. That would be you. Flying. With your flight power. That makes you fly. Am I over complicating this?”
That was the part that kept throwing her off. It was the only explanation she could think of, but the two pieces didn’t fit together. Mocking someone for being bad at the thing you were good at was a concept she was familiar with. But then, why go to so much trouble to make sure she got her wish?
She did one more circuit over the cliff, and reflected on how excited he acted when she got this ability. The clarity she got from being in the sky meant that, try as she might, she couldn’t pretend he came off as anything other than painfully genuine in everything he did. For good or for bad, Clive wasn’t one for hiding his emotions. That left only one possibility.
“Dammit,” she muttered. She had one more apology to make. At least this one she wouldn’t have to wait around for. She turned around, and sprinted back towards the cloud palace.