𝓟𝐫𝗼𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝓢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐞

Chapter #21 - Sophie

Chapter #21 - Sophie

Sophie and Glimmer sharply sucked in a breath. Again.

What was Vespera going to ask them?

What information did the Council know that she would care for?

Both councillors in the memory paled. Oralie tried to pull away again, but clearly, Vespera's grip was too strong.

Kenric asked, "What do you want to know?"

The ancient Neverseen member smirked, and Sophie went into fist-clenching hate. Vespera had done so many awful things. It wasn't fair she got her way. None of this was fair.

"Simple. I'd like to know the location of the unmapped stars. Specifically Marquisier." Sophie's jaw dropped, shocked that Vespera even knew the name. Only the Councillors were supposed to know the names of the unmapped stars— though Fintan was an ex-councillor, and Vespera knew him, so maybe that was it.

"Why?" Kenric and Oralie said simultaneously.

"Because you Councillors have known the locations of those stars for centuries, yet you never put them to good use. Meanwhile, I have something actually useful to do."

That... wasn't an answer.

But as she tightened her grab on Oralie's wrist— harder than Sophie knew was possible— it was clear that was all they were going to get.

"It's towards the northeast quadrant of the sky, between Gildere and Peacerene!" Oralie announced.

Vespera smiled and let go.

Kenric took a deep breath, "We should go now." He turned to Oralie. "I'm sorry, Ora."

"For what?" she asked— though she seemed like she knew.

"Well... many things," he said, and Sophie pretended not to notice those were words Oralie had said to her in the past. "But mostly because I can't let you keep this memory in your cache. The less places we have it, the less likely it is for the rest of the Council to find out."

She scrunched up her eyebrows disapprovingly and turned away. "I knew it." The scene was so saddening, Sophie was tempted to try to yank Kenric from the memory so he'd still be alive.

Then the projection ended, the image of the prison fading away to darkness.

***

Sophie needed to breathe. It wasn't even lunchtime, and far too much had happened that day.

She leaned against one of the Pures in Solreef. It didn't have the same calming effect as the Panakes, she thought as she gazed up at the fan-like leaves, but it was something. Something to lean on.

It wasn't like they had really learned anything important from the memory. Well— they did, but it was kind of like having half the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Sure, you could try to fit together what you have, but no matter what you tried, you weren't going to get the full picture.

And with Keefe gone...

She didn't even feel like trying.

Even though she knew she had to.

"Forgot I was here?"

Sophie looked up, suddenly feeling embarrassed. She had forgotten that Glimmer was still there.

"...yeah," she admitted, "Did you find what you were looking for in the cache?"

For the first time in forever, Glimmer looked... nervous. Though it was hard to tell without seeing her face. "I think so." Something about Glimmer's tone and the information they had learned set off an inkling in Sophie's brain. One that she couldn't quite place.

"Are you gonna tell me how to solve the code in the scrolls now?" she asked.

"No offense but... you look way too exhausted to look at those right now."

"I can handle it."

"If you say so." Glimmer sighed, "I only know a few words in the code that I picked up from my time with Gisela."

Sophie looked up, "You only know a few words?! You could've told us that when we were making the deal!"

"And here I thought you were good at taking advantage of the knowledge and talents you have."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a Polyglot. Doesn't that mean that you can understand languages instinctively after hearing a few words? Well, the code is kind of like a language, right?" The reminder felt like a slap in the face.

"I guess you're right."

"But there's still no way I'm gonna teach you the code right now. We'll do it tomorrow. You look like you could barely handle a millisecond more of revelations."

This time, she didn't deny it.

And with that, Glimmer leaped away.

That's when something Glimmer had said gave Sophie an idea. And here I thought you were good at taking advantage of the knowledge and talents you have, she had told her. Maybe Sophie could use the knowledge she already had to find Keefe and Amy.

She just had to find Keefe's notebooks.

So she slowly sat up and set the facets of her leaping crystal to the Shores Of Solace.