𝓟𝐫𝗼𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝓢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐞

Chapter #12 - Sophie

Chapter #12 - Sophie

"NO!" Sophie shouted, watching her sister and the blonde elf glitter away through the screen. Then it went staticy from a human stepping on the imparter.

Keefe was gone. Again.

He was such an idiot!

She felt like flinging something across the room. Anything. Even her most invaluable items seemed pointless in comparison to Keefe.

That Boy.

Finally, she understood why Grady called him that.

It was fitting, really.

And she was furious.

At least Amy was there with him, so there was a chance at finding him. Only— that was probably foolish too. Amy's imparter had been smashed, and Sophie couldn't communicate telepathically without knowing exactly where they were, so she didn't have any way to contact her.

If Amy was even okay after the leap.

That was another detail Sophie had neglected in the split-second decision. Amy was human— making her concentration awfully low— and she wasn't even wearing a nexus. She might've faded a bit, gotten light poisoning, or...

She really didn't want to think of the worst case scenario.

Sophie curled up into a little ball on her canopy bed, so undeservingly sparkly. She wished she was a Shade so she could suck all the light out of the room— then maybe it would match her current mood.

Edaline rushed in frantically, "Is everything okay??? I heard screaming."

Sophie curled up her ball tighter. "No. But... I'd rather not talk about it right now. Let's just say Amy found Keefe and... things didn't go well."

Her mom rubbed her back, "I'm sorry. If you wanna talk about it, I'm here." Sophie nodded sullenly.

Edaline made a guilty face, "This might not be the best time but... Glimmer wants to talk to you."

"She does?" asked Sophie, uncurling from her ball to pull out an itchy eyelash. She had honestly forgotten about the Glimmer these last few days. There was too much going on. "I'll go now."

"Are you sure? I don't think it's urgent."

"Might as well get it over with." Suddenly, Sophie felt a swell of energy. She would have to move on— or else, she wasn't going to get anywhere.

She was going to try as hard as she could to find Keefe. But she wasn't going to let it sidetrack her from anything else going on.

"Take me to Glimmer."

***

"Hello?" Sophie asked, words echoing into the bare bones room where Glimmer had been staying at Solreef. The walls were nearly bare and all she had was a wooden desk— with a sparkly cat statue— and a simple bed. Clearly the ex-Neverseen member wasn't getting the best accommodations.

Glimmer looked up— or Sophie assumed she did, as it was hard to tell with the hood— and Bo, who was standing next to her, stalked closer. "Hello," she said coldly to Sophie, "You're here earlier than I expected. Tam?" The surly Shade came out from the corner of the room, where Sophie hadn't realized he'd been. He waved quickly.

Sophie swore she could hear Glimmer's eyes roll as she pointed to Tam, "He came even quicker than you did. But we're still waiting on Forkle."

"Why did you invite us here?" Sophie asked.

"Because I have something I have to tell you guys— and you and Tam are the only people here I trust. But the Mr. Forkle guy insisted he'd come too."

Sophie did a double-take, "You trust me?" Tam seemed surprised at the prospect as well— maybe even a bit happy.

"Well, you are the only one who had enough sense to know burning down the storehouse was the right move."

"If you trust us," Sophie snapped back, "Why won't you tell us who you are?"

"That's what I'm here to talk about."

Tam's eyes widened, "You're gonna reveal your identity?"

"Not exactly."

It was that very moment when the bloated Collective member rushed inside. He said, "Sorry I'm late. Tiergan and I had a... conversation."

Glimmer sighed theatrically, "Ugh, you adults think I know nothing. Tiergan's been ranting constantly about how the scrolls and caches would be better stored in his office than at yours. It's honestly kind of dumb." Sophie almost felt like giggling at the use of the phrase "you adults"— it was an opposite version of Forkle's trademark phrase, "you kids". But now was not the time.

"Tiergan's just frustrated at me about the talk I had with Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle sighed, "He thinks that considering the storehouse burning as a victory is being too optimistic." He seemed eager to change the subject. "Now, the reason we're here?"

Glimmer said, "I heard you mention something about a code in the scrolls. I might know how to solve it. But, if I tell you, I have to make sure I can really trust you."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I need you to show me what's in the caches."

***

"Both of the caches?" Forkle clarified, "Kenric's and Fintan's?"

Glimmer nodded, revealing a small strand of black hair sticking out of her hood, "All the forgotten secrets, too. There's something I need to know."

Mr. Forkle seemed reluctant, and Sophie was too.

But... they had to prove to Glimmer that they trusted her.

Even if they didn't. Not totally.

"We can do that," Mr. Forkle said slowly, "We're still working on getting them open, though. Tinker and Dex have both verified the caches are real this time— but they're still having trouble cracking the security. So since there isn't really anyone who could help us open Fintan's, it may take a while. But, there is somebody who may be able to help with Kenric's."

Sophie gulped. It was the person she had been planning on avoiding for a while.

Looks like they'd be calling Lyingcurls.