Elysian (After Stellarlune)

31. Sophie's POV

"Of course it's on Earth; how else would we be able to leap there with the starstone?" Biana said, and everyone else muttered their agreements.

"Well, has anyone ever actually tested whether or not we can leap to places outside of Earth with starstones and leaping crystals?" Maruca brought up an interesting point, but Sophie wasn't convinced. Just because they hadn't tested something doesn't mean they could or couldn't do it. They needed more evidence than that.

"Sorry guys. Just trying to help." Maruca looked down.

"It's okay; you're right, it's a very valid point, and we can look into it when the time arises." Dex's voice sounded calm and gentle, and seemed to make Maruca feel better.

"Anyways," Marella said, putting them back on track. "I agree with Linh's theory about Elysian having another secret power. We don't know how old she is, only that she's been alive since before Greek myths were invented, which was around 1500 BC. She's had all of that time to come up with different concoctions, or experiments, or something like that that she may be able to use to give herself new powers. Like what Mr. Forkle and the rest of the Black Swan did with you, Sophie, except she would have done it to herself while she was alive."

A few in the group visibly shuddered. Sophie understood. Doing that to herself, if she did, must have been incredibly painful for Elysian. And she was doing it all for the sake of erasing the human race. The thought made Sophie want to puke.

"Alright, well, I hate to end on a bad note, but Lex and Bex are getting crazy and Rex is sulking, so I should probably go. I'll update with any good news. Bye."

Dex clicked off, and others said their goodbyes as well. As Sophie did the same, she went through the whole conversation in her head. Elysian is near an ocean, it might not be on Earth, and Elysian may be doing experiments on herself to gain new powers? For a five minute conversation, a lot was said and theorized.

Sophie walked to her bed and flopped down. She was already tired from talking to Edaline and checking on her friends, but there were things to be done. Even if they were boring.

So, extremely boring.

As begrudgingly as possible, Sophie sat up from her already-comfortable spot on her bed and walked back over to her desk to retrieve some papers. It was copies of Liora and Ramira's Registry files. The Council hadn't wanted to give them up, but at Dex's not-so-subtle hint that he could do it anyways, they handed the paperwork over.

It hadn't made much of a difference. Everyone in their group, plus the Collective and the ex-Councilors' parents and relations, had been given copies of these files, to find something that didn't look right or that may have given any hint as to why either woman may have joined an opposing side.

Nothing had been found.

Ramira's relatives mentioned Ramira dating someone named Zilyana Genzumin, but nothing else. Zilyana was an elvin zoologist, so she wasn't always available. She'd be coming in within the next week to tell them about Ramira and provide insight on her, but the exact date was unknown.

Sophie had to admit that she felt bad for both Zilyana and Ramira. She herself now had to live as a Bad Match, and it wasn't even as much of a big deal for her as it was for Ramira, because Sophie hadn't grown up as an elf. She didn't care about their rules and prejudices as much.

Still, Ramira could have accepted being a Bad Match, instead of switching sides and playing for the bad guys.

This is not a game. Sophie felt the need to remind herself. No one is playing anything. This is a war, and I started it. I have to accept that.

And, Sophie realized, she'd finally accepted it. She'd come to terms with the fact that this was a war of her origin. It was her fault. And that wasn't the worst thing.

It would have happened anyways. And it was almost poetic that she, the one who started the war, would probably be the one to ultimately end it.

Shaking herself to be rid of the both comforting and terrifying thoughts, Sophie scoured for something less boring to do on her desk. When she didn't find anything, she picked up her Imparter to call someone, anyone, to give her information about something. Since she'd just checked on her friends, she called the only other person available, all of her thoughts screaming at her not to.

"Councilor Oralie." she whispered into the device.

A beat, then the screen lit up. "Sophie?" Oralie asked. "What do you need?"

Still hesitant to speak to her biological mother, Sophie faltered.

"You called me, you know." Oralie said, turning away.

"Sorry. I, um... got sidetracked. I was looking for news. Is Zilyana coming in anytime soon?"

"Tomorrow. And no, we were not keeping this from you. We just found out less than an hour ago."

Oralie knew her biological daughter too well for Sophie's liking.

"I'll be there." It wasn't a question. Sophie knew that she should be more respectful, be less rude, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. When she looked at Oralie, she did not see sadness, or anger, or even indifference. She saw pity. That enraged Sophie more than any other emotion that Oralie may have felt.

How dare she pity her daughter, when most of Sophie's worry and grief were caused by her.

Sophie felt anger rise to the surface, threatening to claw its way out, but Sophie stuffed it back down into that knot in her stomach.

Her lack of control was worrisome to Sophie. Lately, with all of her stress and worry, keeping her emotions in check had been getting harder and harder. They had been so bad that when Sophie had inflicted on not one, but two people, she'd still had more to spare. She could have inflicted on another three people without problem, and at least five before it became hazardous to her health.

She needed to do something about it. The only time when she'd felt the emotions ebb was when she was with someone she loved. Keefe, her parents, and sometimes even her whole friend group. She was lucky to have them, because they would keep her anchored.

Oralie was still on the screen, watching Sophie intently. She must have known the effect that her presence had on Sophie, as she said quietly, "We'll discuss the details tomorrow. Be here by 10."

Sophie nodded, and Oralie clicked off.

All thoughts of work or research vanished from Sophie's mind. She needed to put a check on her anger, and soon.

She knew one way to do it, and it happened to involve her favorite person.

"Show me Keefe Sencen."

Whew. That's finally over. That was a lot. Not necessarily a lot of words, but a lot of emotions. I mean, dang Sophie, when did you become so angry?

Well, she's probably angry in the story because right now, I'm reading a book series and in the book I'm on, the main character is super sad and depressed and angry (The series is Throne of Glass; great series, 100% recommend) Anyways, I can sometimes see my writing affected by whatever I'm reading while I'm writing that part or even while I'm writing a whole story. So there's an explanation for Sophie's sudden burst of negative emotions.

Question: Who's ur fav mythical animal in KOTLC so far? Again, huge thx to @thatswild- for the question, which I find to be very interesting. There are so many great creatures. Alicorns, Iggy (I forgot what animal he is 😅), those little puffy things in Tinker's office, and others that  most certainly forgot. My fav is definitely Silveny, Greyfell, Wynn, and Luna, aka the alicorns, because they r cute and they r smart and also KEEFE KEEFE KEEFE!!! JERK JERK JERK!!! Those r my fav lines from the alicorns. Also, Silveny helps Sophie sleep, which is super nice, and they can teleport, which is awesome, and Sophie might not even be where she is right now without them (because, you know, she's part alicorn)

Keep on reading, and Bookworm OUT!