Ethereal

19- Backstory Time

(Y/N) walked beside Sophie as they followed Fitz to their rooms. The slightly sweet taste of the 'Bottle of Youth' still resting on (Y/N)'s tongue. She looked around the hall, running her fingers down the glittery walls.

'I can't believe Elwin works at Foxfire. And that he sleeps with a toy stegosaurus named Stinky- actually, maybe I can believe that last part.'

(Y/N) held back a laugh.

"So, you gonna punch me?"

(Y/N) looked at Sophie intently, hoping with every fibre of her being that she would say the right answer. " I guess not-"

"WHAT SHE MEANS is that she was in horrible, horrible pain, and that she wants to punch your face in."

"No, no I do not." Sophie resisted, sending (Y/N) a sidelong glance. (Y/N) huffed.

"So what's with the 'doctor phobia' thing? You were more afraid of Elwin than you were of jumping in that whirlpool."

Sophie sighed. "Well, I'd rather not have a bunch of needles stuck into my arm, or be strapped to a bunch of machines."

Fitz shuddered. "You're right about that. Why'd they do that to you?"

Sophie's eyes went downcast, as she started to explain about how she had an allergic reaction to thank for the shots, and hit her head when she was five.

"How'd you do that?"

"I guess I passed out and cracked my head on the concrete. The only thing I know is that I woke up in a hospital with my parents freaking out, saying that my neighbor had called nine-one-one and that I had been unconscious for hours."

"That happened when you were five?"

Sophie nodded.

"Before or after your telepathy started?"

"The same time. I started reading minds in the hospital."

Fitz looked down, his brows furrowing. "Telepathy can't start at that age. Something would've had to trigger it. But not many things can trigger an ability- and none of them exist in the Forbidden Cities. My dad will have to look into it."

It was quiet for a bit as (Y/N), Sophie, and Fitz silently walked down the hallway, the only sound being their feet tapping against the pristine floors.

Fitz took a deep breath, before looking at (Y/N). "I'm guessing you've had a similar experience, since you also started at five."

(Y/N) shrugged. "Not exactly. I was walking back home from school when some teenagers from another school came and started to bully me.

"Really? Why you of all people?"

(Y/N) sent him an exasperated look. "I seriously thought you'd realize this by now. Look, I'm an orphan. Always have been and always will be, 'kay? Humans find orphans weak. Since they don't have any parental figures to lean on, they're forced to find someone new to depend on. And it didn't help that I never was that close with people. Anyway, they came over, and started to taunt me. I don't know exactly what happened then, but I got angry. Really angry. And then, the electricity came. I never saw those people ever again."

Silence. No one said a thing until we finally made it to the bedrooms.

Fitz pulled open two doors, revealing nearly identical rooms, each with their own canopied bed, glass chandeliers, and glass walls overlooking a glistening lake.

And they just had to own a lake.

Fitz cleared his throat. "Well, this is it. If any of you need anything, my bedroom's right down the hall."

(Y/N) nodded, before murmuring a small 'thank you'. She walked towards the door on the right, just about to walk inside when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

(Y/N) looked at Fitz, her eyes asking what he wanted. Fitz looked like he didn't know why he did it in the first place, but spoke anyway. "I-I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry. I seriously didn't know that you were a... you know, before all of this."

(Y/N) looked at him, before heaving a sigh. "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault that you're so annoyingly oblivious."

(Y/N) gave him a smile, before walking inside her room and closing the door behind her. She flopped onto her bed, staring up at the canopied top of the bed, before pulling the covers over her and looking out the glass walls.

Little did she know that Fitz was doing the same down the hall, her smile burned into his mind.