𝘚𝘛𝘖𝘗 || ᴋᴏᴛʟᴄ

f i f t e e n

our favorite technopath, dex dizznee by @/daceymaeart on instagram

~

The sun woke Sophie up early the next morning, for a moment, one blissful moment, she didn't remember Fitz, or Linh, or Dex, or the night before.

Linh.

Soft spoken Linh, the nicest person Sophie had ever known and one of her closest friends.

The bastard deserved what was coming to him.

Sophie took a deep, shaking breath that rattled through her chest.

She should have been there for Linh.

As much as Sophie hated herself for it, some small, cruel part of herself liked it. Someone else, someone had gone through something similar to her. There were people all over the globe, but she was here. Right here in the lost cities.

She hated herself for it, loathed herself for it. But she wanted to tell her friends now more than ever. Linh would understand why she had kept it secret for so long, and why she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone.

Right?

She forced herself out of bed, forced herself to get ready and then forced herself to eat.

She chose not to think, she chose not to feel. She was constantly moving, constantly forcing herself to work—even going as far as cleaning Verdi's cage.

It was well over midday when Biana called, inviting her to Everglen.

And Everglen had been as beautiful as ever, just as stunning as it had been the night before when she had arrived to get ready for the party.

Biana wore a teal tunic and leggings, white caught the edges of Sophie's vision. Her hand was set in bandages, Sophie winced.

"Biana," she murmured. "What happened?"

She looked down, shrugging as if it were insignificant. "Split my knuckles a little, but it's alright."

"Are you alright?"

Biana looked up, flashing Sophie a smile before she took Sophie's hand, pulling her towards the lake on the other side of the clearing.

"Fitz is pissed at me by the way." She huffed. "Which I could never understand why, but,"

"Is he. . . upset about what happened to Linh?" She didn't know why she had asked, why she needed to know at all.

"Oh yeah, super angry. He almost leaped to Eternalia to find him and beat him to a pulp. One of the hallway walls now has a significant dent in it."—Sophie couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the irony—"We almost had to tie him down."

Before Sophie could respond, a soft, "Hey," came from behind them.

Marella seemed to be holding onto Linh's arm as if her life depended on it. The both took a step forward.

"Oh Biana," Linh whispered. "Your hand."

Biana stretched out her bandaged fingers, the only sign of the stretching pain it caused her was the slightest crease in her eyebrows, "I was just talking to Sophie about it, I'm fine, I promise."

"Does it hurt?"

"Barely," she shrugged. "Dad says it'll be all better by tomorrow, the bandages are only there because he's dramatic."

"Are you sure?" Linh asked, "Maybe we should ask Livvy to take a look at it-"

"I'm okay." Biana shrugged again, curling and uncurling her fingers.