Mesmerizing: A Sokeefe Fanfiction

The Cache Part 2

Sophie pulled out several eyelashes and took a few deep breaths. Yet again, the fate of their world depended on her.

She could do it, right? It worked for a few seconds.

They were doomed. 

Sophie summoned all her courage and looked her mother in the eye. Oralie looked as if she would collapse at any minute. 

She whispered to herself, "This . . . should never have been discovered."

Sophie swallowed. She was starting to wonder if she should just not ask but she already began saying the words, "Okay. What do I need to know?"

Oralie sighed. "We like to think of our world as comprised of a few simple elements." 

"Fire, water, earth, wind, quintessence, and shadowflux," Sophie confirmed.

"Unfortunately, that's not true. There are many elements. Stellarlune is one of them. So it Everblaze. Both are powerful forms of energy," she paused, giving Sophie time to process what she was saying.

Oralie fidgeted before continuing, "Two highly accomplished talented are needed to produce Stellarlune: a Shade and a Flasher. It can be used to force transformations."

"If we could make people transform, then why are there talentless?" Sophie asked.

"It forces transformations. It's an incredibly unstable and dangerous process since it's so unnatural. You saw what happened to Keefe. He almost died. That's one reason why the Council kept it a secret."

"What are the other reasons?"

Oralie paled and looked away.

"Sophie, you don't want to know."

"I have to! I don't have a choice!"

The Councillor looked at her, evidently afraid.

"I know it must be bad, but I can take it."

She took a deep breath. 

"It's . . . not something that should be widely known," Oralie whispered, eyes wide with fear. "But, stellarlune isn't just limited to forcing abilities on people. It . . . can," she dropped her voice so quiet that it was barely audible. "take abilities away."

"What?!" Sophie was shocked. 

Abilities meant everything in the elvin world. To be Talentless was the biggest disgrace in their world. 

But to take abilities away, wasn't just disgraceful, it was . . . 

Unthinkable.

Absolutely unthinkable.

Sophie looked up. Oralie looked deep in thought.

Immediately, she knew that she wasn't telling Sophie everything.

"Tell. Me. Everything," Sophie said, firmly.

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"Just like stellarlune's transformations aren't natural and are extremely dangerous, so is the process of taking away abilities. It can have similar effects as breaking a mind."

She started feeling uncomfortable but it was too late to have Oralie stop.

"Enough quantities of stellarlune can knock someone unconscious, give or take an ability, and even kill them. The issue is we have no real way to fight back against stellarlune."

"What ability would stellarlune give elves?"

"Anything in the area of illusions."

"Of course," Sophie whispered. How could she have been so stupid? Tam, Keefe, the note. It was all part of an elaborate plan.

Gisela probably heard rumors of stellarlune. She needed a skilled Shade to help her create it. Keefe would be experiment number one. If he failed, it would be hard but she could replace him. If he lived, Keefe would be a game changer. Especially if he joined the Neverseen. 

He could help them control people. Gisela knew Tam wasn't loyal. She had always suspected it. If Keefe was a Mesmer, she could have vast armies of Shades and Flashers. More people to produce stellarlune. 

Unleashing the stellarlune would cause widespread panic for all species. In that panic, Gisela would be able to have Keefe create illusions and control people, forcing them to obey her. 

But Keefe was needed in all those hypotheticals and he wasn't going to join the Neverseen. The thought gave Sophie a brief period of elation.

But Gisela would plan for that. She had a backup. She always did.

Sophie felt sick.

It didn't really matter if Keefe and Tam didn't want to cooperate as long as Gisela found another Shade.

For so long, they'd thought that the Neverseen would rely on them to win in the end. But they didn't.

Everyone was just a pawn.

Everyone was expendable.

It didn't look like there was any way they could win.