what happened after unlocked

chapter thirty-seven ~ something fatal

For the rest of the winter break, Sophie and her friends were mostly just briefed on their duties as Regents by the Council, and were given new devices to help them with their missions that they didn't even know would happen.

The only thing she was genuinely glad to have was the blue pathfinder. Because that meant...well, that meant Sophie could visit the Forbidden Cities.

Which reminded her of the fires she was supposed to be focusing on.

She'd been so busy with Neverseen stuff and Council stuff and recovery stuff that she'd barely remembered that she should be checking on her family.

So as soon as she arrived back home from the very last Council briefing, she spent the rest her day in Watchward Heath, zoomed in on San Diego.

And no more fires had sprung up – but that was only as far as she could tell.

She was soon becoming paranoid again, and the only time she saw her friends or family was late at night or very, very early in the morning. Flori had introduced to her the gnomish equivalent to coffee, which made staying awake much easier – the fruit was addictive and Sophie wasn't even worried about the slight health effects it might have on her sanity.

While it kept her conscious, it didn't stop her from feeling tired or hopeless, or doubtful, or paranoid, or overly dramatic. Everyone she knew had to treat her with the highest amount of respect otherwise she'd bite their heads off.

Her bodyguards had gotten so sick of it that the Council had given them permission to take a few days off from guarding her, which Sophie could tell they were glad about. Ro and Flori were often found together, having warm, therapeutic conversations, and Sandor and Grizel regularly took long walks around Havenfield and Everglen.

But Sophie's friends...well, they were always trying to help her, to talk to her, to let her have some sleep, but Sophie blatantly refused every time. After every offering, every encouraging comment, she pushed them away even further.

"Sophie!" Grady yelled from the lounge room. "Before you leave again, we need to talk."

It was five o'clock in the morning and Sophie was literally running everywhere she went, but her brain felt like a cold, sticky lump of glue – only one of the side effects to the gnomish fruit. Flori had warned her of this, but Sophie pushed it away like everything else.

Sophie groaned and walked in, rubbing her eyes as she went. It had taken her two hours to fall asleep and even then, she'd only gotten two more. "Yes?"

"Sophie, you're going insane," Edaline said sharply. "You're constantly paranoid, dismissive, tired, rude, and cruel. And no matter how hard we try to get you to have more than a few hours of sleep and to switch to a drug that would work better, you don't listen. You're stuck in another world. Your own world."

Sophie's jaw fell open as she tried to process her mom's words. "How could you say that?"

"It's the truth," Grady said, sighing. "And you need to listen to us."

Sophie's brow furrowed and she fought back a yawn. "I guess I should eat breakfast anyway...but it'll only be quick, and then I'm going back to Forkle's office."

"Good," Edaline said, obviously relieved. The family hadn't eaten a meal together in days. "I'll make pancakes – I stole some ingredients off Della when we had that party a little while ago."

Grady smiled at her softly and followed his wife into the kitchen, leaving Sophie to slump down on a chair with her sore eyes wide open. All she could think about was her human family, who could potentially be in grave danger.