Mrs Sophie Foster-Sencen (Sokeefe Tale of Two Times) - KOTLC

Crossed Stars, Collided Stars

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~ Future Sophie's POV ~

Time was edging closer and closer to the deadline. Everything was prepared, two elixirs, pure, chemical green Emerinda Priscium nectar in two separate small, wooden bowls, each containing one flowers worth of nectar, and the gentle zephyr from beneath Calla's Panakes tree, lit with the oncoming twinkling stars glittering in the evening-approaching-dusk sky. It was almost in a cavorting manner.
This would be perfect.
Everything was going to go perfect.
And no one can convince me otherwise.

~ Past Sophie's POV ~

First, I felt nothing. Then, I felt a falling sensation and tumbling onto ground, which was somehow both soft and at the same time felt like painless spiky daggers cutting into my back.
I squeezed my eyes open, finding that the soft daggers, contradictory terms, I am aware, were blades of green grass.
We had made it!
Albeit some sidetracking, we had made it back into the normal world again!
Well...our world again, which was far from normal.
Keefe and I panted heavily, not out of exertion, but rather out of still trying to find our bearings and still trying to wrap our heads around what on Earth had happened.
I was rolled on my back, but upon our arrival, Keefe and I had landed atop each other.
Breathing in with a soft sigh, i splayed my body out on the grass in a manner similar to a starfish, my arms gravitating to reach for Keefe who was right beside me, and my legs spread slightly to nudge his ankle.
The sky had darkened, and I sincerely hoped only hours, not days, had passed.
I should get up and make sure, but the whole weird-portal thing had drained me.
But we need to get home.
As I sifted through my internal squall, Keefe reached for me, our finger's entwining and providing me with a sense of calm and safety.
It was like some sort of mind controlled command, the peace.
The battle in my mind dimmed and quieted.
I wanted to fall victim to the knees of my kid tranquility forever, wracking nerves that constantly graze at my brain slowing to a stop and dissipating.
I wish.
I wish.
I wish.
But I know that such things cannot happen to ensure our survival.
I know.
I know.
I know.
But that doesn't abolish out hope.
Hope, know, hope, know, it was a volatile, dangerous game to play, teetering between knowledge and feelings.
But what else could I know?
What else could I do?
I'd be heartless like the Neverseen if only logical thinking invaded my brain.
Yes, they may always be ahead, but they are ahead not in morals, only in their inhumane actions to progress their lives.
And what was the point of existence if only to live for the good of your own being?
What was the point if, by disservice, you build yourself up to gain material goods, only to destroy everything that makes your life whole.
The help of the people.
Maybe I'm to much of an optimist, which is strange coming from a huge worrier and often pessimist.
A soft sigh escaped my lips once more as I blinked my eyes back into focus.
Both Keefe and I had long stopped panting, probably realizing that we were never going to hit a depthful realization of what had actually just happened.
His thumb brushed the soft padding between my thumb and index finger repeatedly, and instinctively my breathing began to follow that pattern.
I knew we had to rise, to figure this out.
But I didn't want to.
I would rather the grass swallowed me whole.
Maybe I would re-form into a tree.
Elves only really 'transformed' into trees when they died, but that's not what I was thinking of.
I would more rather the earth just let me rest against it's comforting soil for eternity if that makes sense.
Essentially, I'd like to become the Earth.
Is that too much for a girl to ask?
I just wanna be a tree.
What type of tree though?
Oak? Cherry Blossom? I remember from human-land (for lack of better words) that they were very pretty. Maybe Acacia? Pures? Or-
"We should probably try to figure this out now."
I barely refrained from startling when Keefe's voice hit my ears.
I was doing such a good job of tuning out the world.
If only I could do this more often.
His voice had more of a mutter tone, not a whisper, but now loud.
"I can see those brain wheels spinning, Foster. You're brain is probably spinning through hundreds of plans right now."
He teased.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was actually thinking of the kind of tree I would like to be right now.
Not that it matters too much anyway.
This can be dwelled on later, I suppose.
With a sigh, I braced myself to get up.
"I guess you're right."
I said softly, sitting up slowly to prevent the blood from rushing to my head.
Once in a sitting position, I perched my hands backwards behind me, the backs of my palms facing my back and the tips of my fingers pointing outwards to the vast area behind me, my arms acting as the hypotenuse level to my spine and the ground to hold me in place.
Keefe got up quicker, getting to his feet without the struggle of feeling faint apparently.
He bent a little and offered me a hand to get up.
I removed my right hand from the slant behind me and put my hand in his.
He hauled me to my feet, and I winced as the blood immediately rushed to my head, tilting it downwards as to avoid fainting.
"Where are we going to go?"
I asked him once I had recovered.
The pink sky was starting to darken but my bit, turning from pink to a lilac purple, light violet kind of color.
"I'm not sure."
He admitted.
Great.
Very helpful.
I scrunched my nose like I had tasted something bitter.
"Hey! No need to be such a pessimist Foster! We'll figure it out."
He tried to assure me, noticing the sour look that had twisted onto my face.
I sighed.
"I guess we should probably ask someone. All of this is really weird."
I said quietly.
His hands were still holding mine, and we stood eye to eye, completely alone, but never lonely.
We were two halves of a whole.
Without him, I am alone.
Without him, I am only half of a whole.
And how is half a person supposed to function?
Without the other half of their heart, that beat in the steady rhythm of life, written in red along their arteries.
Without the other half of their brain, that cams them down and cheers them up while they are frantic in thought and anxious.
I stared at him, and he stared right back.
Neither of us said anything, but we didn't need words to express anything.
Alone, but not lonely.
Not two, but one.
Merged, like stars who tried to cross paths, but instead beelined straight for each other.
No matter the strong gravitational pull of the moon, no matter how the planets try to separate us, we would always find a way back to each other.
Two stars had collided, and on that day a love had been born.
A love that couldn't be magnetically forced a way, a love that couldn't be pulled from the pounding hearts that carried it, arteries and valves pumping a message that ascended into the twilights and into the brightest starts within the night sky.
No words had to be spoken between us, we both calculated what each other was going to do.
Keefe's hand gently came to my cheek and his other arm dropped to my waist.
My hand came to his artfully messy hair, as I tilted on my toes.
He leaned in.
Time seemed to stop, creating a pocket just for the two of us.
A pocket where we were safe, where neither of us had to carry the burden of the world falling apart, because we had each other.
And here, upon this grassy meadow, our lips touched with the softest impact.
Kissing Keefe was a divine feeling, white hot like drinking from the sun, but cool and refreshing, like a cool breeze in the pink evening sky.
I tousled his hair softly.
This love was sweet.
This love was pure.
This love is what I need.
Gently, we pulled back, taking soft breaths.
"I love you, Foster."
He whispered seriously, as we both hadn't already admitted this days prior.
I laughed softly, as I ran my hand through his hair.
"I know. I love you too."
To be honest, my initial admittance went smoothly in my opinion, albeit some tripping.
Ok...so maybe not super smoothly.
But it still worked, apparently.
I wish we could stay like this forever, away from danger, away from anxiety, away from worrying about what mess ups might cause the world to end.
I wish.
I wish.
I wish.
But wishing doesn't change anything does it?
"We have to go. We have to figure this out."
I whisper softly, sinking into the touch of his hand on my cheek.
"I know."
He responds quietly.
"We will, Foster. Okay? I know I might not be acting like I'm taking this super seriously sometimes, but I am. I just want you to know that we will figure this out. We always do."
His words steal my breath. I'm not sure if it's just the words or his proximity.
"But-"
I start to say.
He brings his finger to my lips, moving his hand from off my cheek.
"Don't argue. Trust me."
He withdraws just his hand back to his side and drops the other one on his waist.
At the same time I pull my hand back out of his hair.
We both know we have to go now.
But I don't want to, and he doesn't seem to want to either.
I want to sink into the grass and watch the stars.
Maybe I'll see a large glowing star of two collided ones.
I know I can't, though.
Who else will make a change if not for me, for us, for my friends?
No one is willing to take the first step unless and until it affects them.
And by then, it'll be too late.
Wordlessly, I hold up a leaping crystal to the darkening sky.
Together, hand in hand, we leap off to Splendor Plains.
———————————————————————
I knocked on the door to Elwin's residence.
I heard footsteps padding around inside, and then three minutes later the door swung open; illuminating the darker sky and casting Keefe and I in light.
Elwin was wearing a set of pajamas patterned with cute, beady-eyes Sasquatches that looked like Biana's stuffed one (not telling when or where I saw that) and a pair of slippers.
His eyes were wide with surprise once it kicked in who was pounding at his front door.
"Sophie and Keefe? Wha-"
"What do you know about the Emerinda Priscium?"
I interrupted, not bothering with exchanging pleasantries.
His eyes widened further.
Swiftly, he peaked his head out of the doorframe and looked to either side, checking for eavesdroppers, before he beckoned Keefe and I in with a sigh.
I really didn't understand why he was being so secretive.
He led us into the foyer, to two simple armchairs.
They were simple, yet sleek and modern.
Elegant, yet oddly normal.
I sat down heavily, Keefe beside me doing the same thing.
Elwin remained standing pacing for a few minutes to gather his thoughts.
His eyes were distant, lost in thought, as though this were something he had to recall from a long time ago.
His mouth was set into a grim line and a serious wrinkle appeared within his eyebrows.
A minute passed, two.
I was starting to get impatient.
I was going to interrupt his though, up until he walked towards the glass coffee table in front of Keefe and I, and placed his hands on it, leaning into them.
His head was bowed down, staring at the glass, bracing.
After a few more seconds, he lifted his head and looked at us.
"Who told you about that?"
He asked, his eyes wider with bewilderment.
He had been running his hands through his hair during his desperate pacing, causing it to be messed up and jutting in all different directions.
Shadows were cast along his face, darkening the area beneath his eyes and hollowing his cheeks.
If I hadn't known any better, I would've though him to be some madman, or even better, a mad scientist.
Why was he reacting like this?
"Is it dangerous?"
I ask in lieu of answering, not in the mood to elaborate and re-explain that story for what felt like the billionth time. I just hoped he wouldn't catch that I had avoided the question.
He tilted his head back down again to stare at the glass, and stayed like that, unspeaking for a while.
"Yes."
He said finally
"Far beyond you know."
The room fell silent.
If he was telling the truth, did that mean that placing my trust in the flower at the time of saving Keefe was a bad idea?
What if it somehow came back for a debt repayment?
No.
No no no no no.
I can't let myself believe this.
I can't let myself think about it.
I saved Keefe.
That was the only option.
Or...had I saved him?
Did the flower just help me leave?
Or did it force me out?
I forced the thought away.
No. I tell myself. It was a good idea at the time. The only idea at the time.
But, I didn't even have a choice at the time the, did I?
It wasn't me, I was controlled by the flower.
Don't think about it. It happened, it's the past now. No regrets.
I took a steadying breath.
Elwin pushed off the table as I blinked back into focus, my eyes blurry from thought now sharpening.
"Wait."
I started frowning.
A thought had just formed in my head.
"How do you know it's dangerous?"
Keefe asked, his eyes wide too.
He probably was wondering about the cave full of the flowering vines. Or what happened with the portal malfunction...
"How do you even know what it is?"
From what I remember, no one seems to know what it is.
Elwin resumed pacing.
"There was an...an incident... a while ago..."
He explained, wincing while he spoke.
His voice was slightly shaky.
"What kind of incident?"
I pressed, noting that he had manage to answer and her not at all answer the questions.
He paused his back and forth pacing and merely shook his head.
"The Emerinda Priscium is notorious for the ability to do supernatural things. Things no elf, no matter how powerful, cannot do."
He was dancing around an actual answer, I could tell.
I just didn't know why.
What was so important that he had to avoid talking about it?
Had something bad happened to him, to someone he knew, to someone he had loved?
"Like what?"
I simply asked, not wanting to push the subject unless I had to.
He stopped pacing again.
A shudder ran through him, as if he were freezing, and he was so close that I could see goose bumps along his arm.
The foyer was nice and toasty.
I tensed in my chair, leaning forward.
"Awful, awful things..."
His voices dropped to a whisper, and his eyes were distant, looking ahead at particularly nothing.
He momentarily continued his stride, as if this was the only way to work off all of his nervous energy.
What hurt him?
"Elwin."
I was growing worried, as my voice became quiet.
"What happened?"
He froze.
During his pace, he had made it directly to the middle of the room, right in front of the coffee table, so he was now stood directly in front of Keefe and I.
He swiveled on his heel and began to shake.
"It was awful."
He spoke, his voice cracking.
He was vibrating uncontrollably.
"It was...I can't believe...she..I should've..."
He trailed off every sentence, unable to finish them.
A single year tracked down his cheek.
I could feel my heart breaking, cracking into two, like an eggshell after impact with a fork.
"What happened?"
I asked again.
"Elwin, what happened?"
Something occurred to me from his voice.
Guilt.
He was feeling guilty.
"If you can't say it's ok...but it's just...it's important we need-"
"No."
He said, abruptly cutting me off.
His throat bobbed up and down and he swallowed hard.
"No...it's...I'll...I'll explain. It was long ago."
He supplied, sinking down into the floor and folding his arms and legs into a criss-cross position.
His elbows rested in his thighs and he placed his forehead on his hands, staring at the ground.
A deep inhale.
A deep exhale.
He looked up, meeting my eyes.
Trails of tears were streaming down his cheeks.
"Long ago,"
He began, his voice trembling.
"Long ago, I applied for a match list. I got my lists, and on the third one, a name caught my eye. Her name was..."
He began hesitantly.
"I...it doesn't matter. I don't want to say it. Can't say it. It'll bring back...nevermind."
He took a steadying breath.
"When we meet, we...well she was so bright and amazing and beautiful that naturally, we..."
Gulp.
"We fell in love. I loved her. I was interested in medicine, her in botany, so she would often help me with finding things for new elixirs. Back then, I used to help Kesler in his shop. Well one day, she started experimenting with a flower...it was called...well I'm sure you can guess it..."
I could, the Emerinda Priscium.
"I warned her not to. I told her it was dangerous. I should've done more, I should've..."
"Elwin."
I cut him off firmly.
"Whatever happened wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault. Blaming yourself will break you. Please. I need to know what happened, but if it's too painful for you, it's fine."
"No."
His voice quivered, but held steady enough, more audible than before.
"She began to run tests on it, read about it, understand it. Back then, not many people knew about it. Those who knew of it, mostly gnomes, thought it was due to the aversion of the appearance. But that's not true. The real reason was lost through time. It was a dangerous flower. She...she began to talk to the flower. That's normal for a gnome, but not for an elf. She was obsessed with it. At first I just thought it was due to her natural love for plant life, but this one was different. Whenever she was around it, the glint in her eyes left and she began to become dazed, as if she were being...being controlled. And I swear...I swear I saw the flower glint. I don't know how to describe it, but it would have a slight white glare on the black petals. And then it would be gone. I think...I think the flower was stealing the glint from her eye. Controlling her soul and body. It might seem crazy and far-fetched, and you may think I'm crazy, but I swear..."
He trailed off, blinking hard to regain himself and explain the rest of the story.
I barely stifled my gasp.
Controlled?
Glint?
That's what happened to me...
"Anyway..."
He swallowed hard.
"One day, when we awoke in the morning, she woke up confused and scared. Of course I was scared too. I didn't know what was wrong. She kept asking where she was and what had happened. Every time I came close to her, she would begin thrashing wildly, like she was terrified. She called for her parents, repeatedly. At first I thought she fell ill, because sometimes that causes memory issues. I tried to give her various elixirs, and at first she resisted them, but then eventually she took down. And they did nothing. I was confused, until I remembered that she had taken the nectar the previous night, and prior to that she had taken a simple elixir for cut and wounds, since she had been working with some particularly thorny plants at the time. So I assumed the nectar had made her ill. I decided to go out and see if I could get some more elixirs to help her from Kesler's store. I told her to rest. She obeyed and I left. When I returned a few hours later, she want there and the house was in clutter, like it had been searched. But nothing was taken. Thinking it was an intruder, I was alarmed and had goblins come over and inspect the area. After hours of searching by various different goblins, they all came to the same conclusion. There was no other smell besides me, her, and bullhorn. So she must've run away. It had already been so long, and I wasn't sure what had happened to her. It hurt that she was gone, and I couldn't function for weeks, unsure of what had caused her to run like that. For a year, I was bedridden. And then eventually I'd decided to take her research upon myself. It was like reopening a freshly healed wound, but I fought to try to understand the flower. What I uncovered was awful. The flower was long lost down the lines, and since not many people knew of it, it took a long time to find anything about it. But eventually I learned that the reason the flower was forgotten was because it had the capability to control people and mess with timelines. It was created by the ancient council, like the Noxflare, but it was a secret experiment, concealed to everyone expect very and very trusted gnomes. They did not want elves exploiting the flower. But, when she was younger, she had known about it. I managed to locate one of the ancient gnomes after a long time, and he had worked on her family's property at the time. When she was young, he had caught her pinching the nectar out of the flower and drinking it, and he hadn't gotten there fast enough to stop her. Later that night, her parents had given her an elixir for cuts and scratches since she had been gotten wounds from wading through the thorny bushes again. Shortly after he told me this, the gnome decided to pass and become one with the ground. That essentially explained her obsession with the flower. She had drank the nectar when she was younger and wanted to know about some of the long-term affects. But when I went through her research, she had never uncovered what I had. She was simply curious, and wanted to see what the flower could do. So she took a dosage of the nectar and some of the cuts and wound elixir shortly after one night. That night, there was a lunar eclipse. I wanted to see it, but she was feeling rather unwell. My research found that if a biochemical reaction were to happen between the Emerinda Priscium and an elixir with certain ingredients, the very fabrics of time could be folded and swapped, causing timelines to change. A person has twenty-four hours after the change happens to fix this, before all of their memories are removed and they start anew in their timeline. It's like the threads that tied them between timelines were severed. But by the time I found this out, it had been already well over two years. I was too late. And she's gone because of it..."
My own tears began to fall the ground, and I began to shake too, my heart clenched in my chest with sorrow.
I hadn't known this.
Had it taken place after my present timeline?
Keefe, too, had tears streaming down his cheeks.
"How does someone reverse the affects in the twenty-four hours?"
He asked, his voice hoarse.
Like a waterfall, salty tears washed down Elwin's face rapidly.
Albeit some cracking, he managed to keep his voice steady.
"In order to fix it, they must do what they did at the same time in the new timeline, except reverse. So, if the elixir was taken first, which it usually is because the nectar leaves the digestive system quick, the person must reverse those steps. They have to take the nectar first and then quickly take the elixir. And it must happen while there is a lunar eclipse, since that is when nectar production is at its highest. Then, they will be presented with a wormhole to their timeline and they will be able to go back to the correct time, forgetting everything that happened the morning when they wake up. Everything will be normal to them and everyone else. No one will recall the events."
He informed us.
So that was it?
Find out when we did all of these steps, do them at the same time in reverse order, and then get taken home by a wormhole?
Why did it sound so easy?
There had to be something else.
Also, we had to get the flower.
We had left them behind in the portal.
Maybe I could ask Flori to get us one, since maybe she could borough there through the trees.
But then again, it was through an portal and in illusions.
We'll see.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you..."
I whispered, blinking hard to stop my tears.
"It was long ago..."
He whispered, probably trying to reassure us, but he couldn't even seem to reassure himself.
"Thank you for telling us this...for everything...we really appreciate you Elwin..."
My eyes were glassy as I stood.
I could tell Keefe was also combating more tears.
Elwin led us back into the hallway and to the front door.
"Of course...it was long ago...so long ago..."
He repeated, his eyes becoming distant again.
Keefe and I stepped outside into chilly air.
The sky has already darkened, but luckily it wasn't time yet.
We still had enough time to prepare.
Elwin just stood in the doorway, so silently I reached for the door handle and slowly began pulling it closed.
It was halfway closed before he suddenly he stuck his hand through the doorway and stopped me from pulling it closed anymore.
"Wait."
He whispered, his eyes focused again.
"Her name..."
His voice was hoarse.
"Lotus. Her name was Lotus."
And without another word, his pushed the door closed, and left Keefe and I in the swirling wind and icy night sky.
In shock, both of us just stood there, staring at the door.
My lips were parted and pinked from the raw air, and I swear I've never been colder.
Even in the battle on Mount Everest.
Keefe reached for my hand, supplying me with warmth through the biting cold.
His hands provided me a sense of comfort, even though I know he was equally as shocked as me.
And suddenly, without any rhyme or reason, I blinked and looked up at the twinkling night sky.
Thinking about Elwin's story, I can't think of anything other than two crossed stars, who met and then unfortunately passed each other, crossing paths.
That can't be Keefe and I.
We will merge and stay merged.
I won't let this flower break us.
As if it were on queue, two stars quickly hurtled into the night sky.
Right beneath the round full moon they met in the same path.
Some would call it fate.
But it was meant to be.
And then they collided, creating one large star that seemed to glow brighter than everything else in the sky, the moon included.

~ I'm sorry this chapter is super late, but it's done! It just took forever to make. I hope you all enjoy though! Thank you so much for reading. The next chapter will be the Finale! I love you all so much and I hope you enjoyed reading!
- Your Author 💕 ~

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