[ COMPLETED ]
BOOK 2 of the ORPHIC series
MONACHOPSIS
/ˈmənˌāˌkōpˌsis/
the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.
~~~~~
Lucille "Lucy" Opal Baker might be the unluckiest person...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
???, Indonesia January, 2013
FOR THE FIRST TIME SHE dreamed in her cryogenic state. She didn't realize it at first, her eyes fluttering open, her back pressed into something far too soft to be real. It jarred her for a second. She'd never dreamed in cryostasis before, why was she dreaming now? She shut her eyes. It didn't matter. As long as she remained quiet and tried to sleep in her dream she'd disappear again.
She was so close to letting her mind drift again when she heard the shuffling of feet. She pursed her lips. She wasn't a weapon in her mind–she was. . .she was Verfall, maybe; definitely not Lucy. But that didn't matter; dreams were still dreams, no matter how much she didn't think them efficient.
She felt a hand press against her forehead, as if checking whether or not she was sick. Her eyes flicked open again. She blinked profusely as familiar green eyes stared down at her, head tilted with curiosity, a smirk playing on his lips.
"You are awake." He smiled, before taking an exaggerated bow. "Welcome to my humble abode."
She stared at the green–eyed man, trying her best to recognize him. It shouldn't have been this difficult, she just needed to comb through memories she wanted to lock away. Whatever. This was a dream. She dug through the files she'd thrown from her brain, before her gaze snapped to him.
Loki.
Why was Loki–
"I felt, ah, awful, yes that's what it was. I felt awful for being unable to help you last year. I couldn't merely forget you, my lady." He smiled, his eyes softening slightly. "After what you did for me. It was a valiant effort, trying to prove my innocence. I fear my stepfather Odin doesn't believe my brother and I. He thinks it yet another scheme. So my magic has been. . .weakened; it was hard to reach you."
Verfall slowly sat up, her eyes flicking over the golden room. There was no door to the room, only a thin shield rippling with hexagons. She slowly shifted off the bed, stepping towards it curiously. She reached her hand out—
Loki grasped her wrist.
"Don't touch it. It shocks you."
She swallowed anxiously.
"How—how am I—"
"Here?" Loki nodded thoughtfully. "Well, you're not physically here. We are in a. . .mindscape, if you will, but I have no strength to conjure an illusion of my prior living space. So we are here, through the link the tesseract granted us."
