The Neverseen's Last Resort

67

Sophie

... Or maybe, into consciousness? Sophie opened her eyes to find herself facing the silks draped above her bed and a worried Edaline at her side. Though relief replaced her mother's worried expression as soon as Sophie came to life, groggily sitting up. The smoke was gone from her lungs, as though it'd never existed in the first place and even gravity seemed to have lightened. She was no longer sore, nor weak---those feelings must've only existed in the memories. Sophie wondered if that meant she'd experienced almost exactly what Mr. Forkle had gone through in that time.

"Sophie," Edaline said, pulling her into the tightest hug.

"I'm fine," Sophie promised, thankful it wasn't even a lie this time.

"Good," Mr. Forkle stepped in. "Because you have somewhere to be. Be dressed and downstairs within fifteen minutes."

"'Dressed'?" Sophie echoed, and Mr. Forkle nodded.

"In green," he clarified, and Sophie swallowed. Was she wearing green for the person she'd seen in that memory? Or was there more than one person who had...

"Don't take your time," Mr. Forkle warned, before shutting the door behind him. Edaline gave a hopeful smile before following him out, leaving Sophie alone---

"You haven't changed a bit."

Sophie squealed, jumping back a step from the mirror where she'd planned to change. On a second thought, that was a huge mistake. 

"What are you doing in my mirror?" Sophie demanded, eyes narrowed on the girl in the mirror that was definitely not her reflection. The girl smirked at that, tossing her black hair past her shoulder and seeming as though she were leaning in towards Sophie.

"Huh," was all she said. 

"'Huh'?" Sophie said, face twisting into what might've been a mix between shock and irritation. "You were about to watch me change and all you say is 'huh'? Huh?" 

"'Huh' as in: you really did lose your memory, didn't you?" 

"So what?" Sophie barked. 

"Edaline warned me but... I'm just shocked. Anyway, I guess I have to reintroduce myself, so... I'm Vertina, Jolie's old spectral mirror---"

"Jolie?"

"Questions later. Didn't Mr-Old-Dude say you have somewhere to be?"

"You heard that?" Sophie asked.

"I hear anything and everything that's worth hearing." She sighed, followed by a grumbled, "Jolie always knew that. Anyways, yeah, Edaline was rambling about how worried she was about you meeting your friends or something---"

"Sophie?" Sophie stepped away from the mirror for the door, and to her surprise, Vertina vanished. 

"Yes?" Sophie called through the door. 

"Mr. Forkle is giving a three minute warning," Edaline told her. 

"Okay," Sophie said, now digging through her closet for something green that didn't have frills. If this was her old room what was with the frills? Sophie despised frills. And ruffles. And anything sparkly that would make her stand out. 

In the end, she'd settled on a silky dress that fell down to her knees---she was clumsy enough without having layers of silk trailing behind her ankle constantly. Her waist was tied with a white ribbon, followed by white embroidery sprinkled across the top and she wore her brown ankle boots because heels were... just. no. 

"Sophie!" Edaline squealed as Sophie entered the kitchen where she found Edaline, Mr. Forkle, and Grady who must have returned sometime while Sophie had been changing. "You look..."