UNLOCKED, kotlc

Chapter 29

As soon as the bitter elixir hit her tongue, the world faded to black, but something was different about it.

She could still feel her heart beating, her thoughts drumming in the back of her own subconscious.  Was she.... in her own mind?

Sophie looked around.  Memories floated around aimlessly, every one of them crisp and clear thanks to her photographic memory.  But Sophie realized that they were all tinted... black?  It looked like a dark wedding veil swaying over each memory, almost like the memories of an elf without a photographic memory.

"Sophie?"  Glimmers's  voice echoed through her mind.  "Can you hear me?"

Her voice didn't sound like she was transmitting, which would've been impossible, given that she wasn't a Telepath.  It sounded like she was talking normally?  But that couldn't be possible.  Sophie was sedated.... probably.

"Yeah,"  Sophie's mental voice quivered.  Her mind caught a whirlwind of stray thoughts, pinning them back.  "Do you know what you're doing?"

"I'm pretty sure.  Adela told me I was capable of creating stellarlune because it's emotional, and my range of emotions is huge."

Sophie felt her consciousness slipping, as the sedative started to kick in.  "Do it quickly," she managed shakily.  "I'm losing myself."

"It's okay," Glimmer assured her.  "You can go.  It might be better that way."

"Okay,"  Sophie said, and let the sedative pull her into the darkness.

———————

Quiet.

That was one word for it.

Sophie's mind swam in the darkness, waiting, waiting, waiting for the light.  For Glimmer.

She must've waited for an hour until someone's voice filled her head.  It wasn't Glimmer.  It was....

"Adela," Sophie's mental voice snarled.  That must've been a side effect of them both being part of Project Moonlark.  And maybe part of the shadowflux too?  They could.... communicate?

"Get out of my head,"  Sophie said, forcing a handful of bitterness into her tone.  

"Oh I don't need anything from you,"  Adela assured her.  "Just wanted to let you know I can always talk to you.  I can always find you.  And the shadowflux will always be a part of you no matter what tricks your little Flasher does."

And then the wisps of Adela vanished.

So Sophie waited. And she waited. And waited.

Until someone's voice, sounding strained, yelled, "Sophie hold on!"

And then there was light.  Blissful, glorious light, taking her up and out and far away, as a tingling sensation coursed through every vein and bone, soaking into her lungs and lifting her far away from reality....

Too far?  The darkness pulled her back, but not far enough.  The light lifted her high away, on a plank where no one, no worries, no concerns, no dangers could hurt her.

There was hope.

And with that thought, her eyes snapped open as the lights of the Healing Center entered her mind instead.

"Did it work?"

That was the first question that she heard as her blurry eyes adjusted to the new light.

"I don't know."  That was Elwin.  He flashed a few orbs of light in front of her eyes and towards her hand.

She spotted Glimmer sitting on a nearby cot looking exhausted, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.  Tam sat next to her, talking into her ear, and Biana looked so jealous Sophie was afraid she might explode.  Linh was saying something that she couldn't hear, but sounded suspiciously like "Welcome to my world."

Sophie mouthed "Thank you" in Glimmer's direction.  She nodded, and went back to listening to Tam's pep talk.

"I think it worked," Sophie lied as she grabbed for her Bottle of Youth and gulped down the whole thing in one sip.

She didn't mention that Adela could talk to her.

Because they both had shadowflux inside of them?  Because they were both part of Project Moonlark?

Sophie's mind was impenetrable, and the only people who could find a way in were the Telepath's she trusted with her life( or in Keefe's case, technically he wasn't a Telepath  but Sophie certainly trusted him. ).  Neither of the requirements applied to her- though it might've had something to do with the fact that one of those Telepaths was her brother.

Either way, she sat quietly and obediently downed all of the elixirs Elwin told her too.  She didn't argue.  She just sat, soaked up in her own thoughts.

She should've known that the two boys that were closest to her in life would've realized something was wrong.  And she picked that moment to realize that she'd never told Fitz that Keefe could get past her blocking.

So she cringed extra hard when they both transmitted at the same time:

Spill.