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Schedule for Updates, there is none. I'm a 22 year old female who got dragged back to this fandom against my will with the release of "Unravled" and had to go back and re-read the entire series beforehand to do it.I'm supposed to be working on my ACTUAL book I'm trying to publish, but instead, here I am! Twiddling away what little time I have to rewrite a series that could have been phenomenal if not for the constant back tracking of personal growth and power ups, random plotlines that pop up and are never brought up again, and the truly mind boggling half-way flattened personality of Sophie, who could be a total badass, but is a total dumbass half the time.So I'm fixing it.If you don't like it, don't read it. I'm too sleep deprived to care, enjoy the emotional shit show I'm about to put all of you brave enough to stay through, though. Cause Satan is jealous of how cruel I can be.

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I am writing this after reading up to “Unraveled” so if you haven’t read up to that point (Or at least Stellarlune), then please leave now. Also, you have to be 18 or older to read past this point. Sorry, I don’t make the rules- wait, actually… I do. And me - the rule maker - says that no one under 18 shall pass. So run along little minors, and protect those innocent baby eyes before this story gets super angsty and depressing and you have to get therapy for the emotional trauma this fanfic will inflict.
PERSPECTIVE: The POV for this story is going to be alternating 3rd Person Limited. This way we get more information on not only how I think the other characters think/feel about our favorite blonde telepath, but also what events happen outside of Sophie’s sight and knowledge. That being said, most of the “books” will still be predominantly Sophie’s POV, I personally just think this will help flush out the story some more.
LEARNING: Sophie - the know it all child genius who read an encyclopedia for fun at five years old - will be doing research when she gets to the lost cities so that she isn’t so confused all the time. And she will also start practicing her elven skills more because her just constantly forgetting she can lift things with her mind or track minds is infuriating. And later on, when she learns she can do brain pushes and communicate with animals telepathically (not just alicorns), she will practice these as well.

At school, she will still have a lot of trouble adjusting her instincts and perception of what is/isn’t possible, starting off as being terrible at alchemy, elementalism, and P.E., and will spend an obscene amount of time outside of school still studying for the first few months.

FOXFIRE: Will not be called FoxFire. I thought about it - solely because I love the “but it’s fungus” scene, but like… are we really supposed to believe that a race living in crystal palaces lets their future nobility attend a place named after a mushroom? Yeah right. In this fic, the school will be named Soteria (Latin for safety/salvation, because the salvation of the future comes from the young minds molded in the school’s noble halls.)
SOTERIA: The school will have a completely different structure than a giant glass pyramid with some towers, but still have color coded uniforms, halls, buildings, ect… based on their levels. The colors will be in a different order, and the grade levels' mascots will be based on constellations instead of animals. Also, First Years have to be 12 at the start of the school year.

Year 1: Black/Corvus, Crow; Wisdom.
Year 2: Amber Brown/Leonis, Lion; Bravery.
Year 3: Maroon/Vulpecula, Fox; Cleverness.
Year 4: Indigo/Lupus, Wolf; Teamwork/Loyalty.
Year 5: Royal Blue/Pegasus, Pegasus; Adventure.
Year 6: Forest Green/Phoenix, Phoenix; Perseverance and Strength.
Year 7 & 8: Silver/Monoceros, Unicorn; Hope and Power.
Year 9 & 10: Gold/Draco, Dragon; Courageous and Protective.
Year 11 & 12: Pure White/Suldrine, Moonlark; Enlightenment.

(This one will be one of the forgotten constellations because a star in its shape is an “Unmapped Star”)

SOTERIA GRADUATES: The titles the graduates are given based on how far they get through the curriculum.

Levels 1-6 are Lux. These are the common levels, and for graduates of this class to move on to elite levels, they need to have a talent. Those who are talentless, don’t want to move further, or don't meet the other criteria graduate with the Titles of “Lux” and are allowed to wear green half capes and hair combs made of Ethrine - a green, common ore stone that glows slightly. (Guys typically grow out their hair.)
Levels 7-8 are Sidus. Graduates of this course wear Silver star diadems.
Levels 9-10 are Solis. Graduates of this course wear Gold sun diadems.
Levels 11-12 are Asterum. Graduates of this course wear circlets of Luminite with the symbol of the triple moon.

NOBILITY VS. COMMON ELF: Common elfs, who never became nobility in their youth, can only live in either the Lost Cities or Shrouded Villages in houses with neighbors, or apartments. Nobles own whole, individual territories (Like Everglen and Havenfield), are able to access way more spots, and travel to noble cities like Atlantis, or other intelligent species territory with permission.
OTHER SPECIES: There will be 13 total intelligent species instead of seven, there is in depth information on them in the next chapter.
ELVEN “SKILLS”: I don’t know about you guys, but the lack of explanation in the differentiation between talents and skills, and the skills lack of use always bugged me, so here you are. In this fic, “elven skills” are something all elves have access to, but are seen as inferior to talents that only the talentless typically use and practice frequently - those with talents see it as beneath them after officially manifesting. Skills are things one can do with a heightened mental capacity that allows them to use their natural “core energy” to regulate body temperature, make themselves stronger, faster, lift things with their mind, and defy gravity (Wicked is a favorite musical of mine and I LOVE the movie!) as well as a myriad of other things.
ABILITIES/TALENTS: Stem from genetics and cannot be altered. Some can only be activated via exposure or distress during the years of 12-16, but will remain dormant forever if they don’t surface before them. Most occur naturally with hobbies/interests and natural talents (Ex: Dex is naturally good at operating, changing, and manipulating technology, so he didn’t need a trigger to activate it.). These can include technopathy, sculpting, designing, ect… Their personality and natural interests are both impacted and reflected in their talents. Those without “talents” are not given an innate calling towards something in particular and struggle to achieve mastery at any skill.
STRENGTH OF TALENTS: While the talents themselves are based on genetics, the strength/power of them is determined by which of the prime sources (Sun, moon, and stars) the elf in questions is connected to, how much of a connection they have with that source, and if they are inherently compatible with what that source rules over. A mark symbolizing whichever source they are connected to appears on their skin when they truly manifest a talent - which is how most with less flashy abilities know they aren’t talentless. Some elves are marked by more than one source, but it’s only about 12%

Sun: Represents and signifies logic, integrity, pride, and truth. Nearly 40% of elves are chosen by the sun.
Moon: Represents and signifies balance, fate, and justice. Exceedingly rare, only  .003% are marked by the moon. Most councillors have the mark of the moon. The phase shown in the mark often correlates with how connected they are to it.
Stars: Represents and signifies emotion, adaptability, and valor. 70% of elves are marked by at least one star. Some are chosen by an entire constellation; each star or constellation represents something slightly different.

MENTAL POWER LEVELS: I don’t care what Shannon wrote about the elven mental power levels thing in Stellarlune - there is no freaking way a girl who can telepathically reach out halfway around the world at like 13 has mental energy that is only a few dozen degrees more powerful than the average telepath. Not only that, but later on in this, Fitz will not be able to just magically communicate with her from hundreds of miles away when in the first book Tiergan says Sophie transmitting to Fitz across the school campus is practically unheard of. His skill will grow (quite a bit), but he will never be able to truly clear the power gap between them; even after Sophie becomes an enhancer and her friends start to slowly become stronger.
DEALING WITH FITZ: I do not like Fitz. I hate him, actually, and have since he said that he knew she wouldn’t see her family again, but he didn’t think Sophie would be so upset about leaving her family in the first book. That being said, I will respect his character, give him consistent, on page, growth and still integrate Sophie’s crush on him. I will also still - reluctantly - add the Fitzphie moments and even the blip of a kind of relationship he has with Sophie in Legacy. But he won’t end up with Sophie, and all of their “relationship” stuff happens much sooner.
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS: I already have a pretty solid idea of what ships I want to be apart of this story, and while I won’t be making romance the biggest point in this fic, I will be occasionally giving some page time to some adorable fluffy moments; inbetween all the emotional torture, of course.

Heads up: Dex will still have a small crush on Sophie at the start, but she genuinely won’t notice and they won’t kiss. It’ll honestly be more like when Nico told Percy that he used to have a crush on him and Percy was like “.... wait, what now?” Not because I don’t think that they didn’t handle it pretty well, but because Dex deserves to have a better first kiss than her only doing it to prove a point. You know?
Biana will also have a crush on Keefe, but they’ll have a discussion about it and end things on a good note.
Tam and Sophie will not have any crushes/romantic feelings for one another, EVER. They are like siblings and will have more page time together in this fic because I said so.

SOKEEFE: SoKeefe will be the endgame. I won’t take out Keefe leaving for the Neverseen or him running away to the human cities, or his other character flaws, but SoKeefe WILL happen - much sooner - and they won’t get together less than a month after Sophie and Fitz break up.
JOLIE, BRANTE and PRENTICE: In this fic, Jolie died 11 years ago, not 16. This will make it much more believable when Sophie is worried about her being the female donor to Project Moonlark. And Brant is not the one who kills her. (That was such a messed up thing to do to Edaline and Grady.)

Jolie died at 23 years old in a house fire, but joined as part of the Black Swan when she was 16 and saw how messed up the matchmaking system was. She actually went deep undercover in the Neverseen (instead of just almost being initiated). Someone in the Neverseen found out she was a traitor and killed her. Important: She died a year after Prentice was exiled.
Brant is still a pyrokinetic, but a registered one who was secretly a member of the Black Swan before the fire(Jolie knew and still accepted him). But because he was registered, the council informed him that he could never have biological children.
Prentice was broken and exiled 10 years before the story starts instead of 12; meaning Wylie was about 9

FAMILIES: The parents and grandparents are actually mentioned and occasionally around. Not just, I don’t even know, floating about in the unseen part of the world or something?

Keefe and Marella are second cousins.
Dex and Jensie are first cousins, with Kelser and Jensie’s dad being brothers.
Stina is Alina’s niece. (this is solely because I need there to be a logical reason that she gets away with so much crap and hadn’t been “dethroned” until Sophie got to FoxFire.)

SOPHIE’S LIFE BEFORE FITZ: I know that in the book she has this really tragic past of being super lonely and having no friends, and while I can see some merit in that… I, personally, think that her having a few friends that she loves, but never truly feeling like she belongs with, and being privy to every single thought they have (especially about her) is much more interesting. Especially because once she gets to the Lost Cities and can’t just read people's minds automatically, she’ll be constantly second guessing everything she does, and not fully trusting everything others say.

School: Attends a fancy school on scholarship where she is under constant mental harassment, and even endures some actual bullying. A lot of people hate her, most try to befriend her to get better grades  or brownie points with the faculty, but some are genuinely nice. Has three assigned school buddies to make sure nothing bad happens to her.
Hobbies: In this, I’m also setting it up so that Sophie was forced into a few hobbies outside of reading in hopes of getting her to make real friends. Musical prodigy since she was 4. She started ballet and gymnastics at 5 after she cracked her skull on the steps of her house and Mr. Forkle subtly convinced her parents that if she didn’t learn how to walk in a straight line, then she’d just do it again, and there’s no guarantee that someone would be there to help. Discovered a love for ice dancing at 8 years old.
Friends: She has them. Please go to “Original Characters Info.” Chapter for details.
Family: Complicated, but she loves them. Her dad, William, is a historian who is most fascinated by the creation and evolution of art and music in ancient times, and often wonders how bread came about when it’s such a complex process to complete. Her mom, Emily, is a lawyer who specializes in assisting victims of abuse and rape get free from their abuser and often succeeds in putting them in prison; at least for a time. Her sister is a brat who simultaneously envies and admires Sophie.

NOTABLE CHARACTER CHANGES:

SOPHIE: Her middle name will be Iris, and she will be 13 at the start of the story to avoid the whole “Elves and humans start counting age at different times” thing, because that math would give me a freaking brain hemorrhage. Also, she got a scar on her forehead when she cracked her skull open, and now uses curtain bangs to hide it. She is and always has been a little sassy queen, but she kept it internal in the Lost Cities due to her being on a tightrope of expectations and terrified of failing; but in the human cities - before she’s forced to leave - she’s outwardly a grumpy, sarcastic, coffee obsessed teen.
KEEFE: When Sophie arrives at FoxFire, he has already naturally manifested as a powerful empath and polyglot. He will also have white-blonde hair (because I’ve always imagined him as basically Jack Frost from ROTG).
SILVENY: Will not be the alicorn Sophie finds. She comes in later though (Hehehe).
KESLER: (Dex’s dad) I know he’s described as tall and slender in the books, but I’ve always imagined him as a lumberjack…. So that’s how he’s going to be.
JULINE: (Dex’s mom) She’s not involved with the Black Swan. I get Shannon wanting to add something to Dex’s family or something, but it was brought up for the span of like ten pages and literally did next to nothing. She will be related to a member of the collective though.
RAYNI: We meet her in the second “Book” of this rewrite series, she gets redeemed and will basically be adopted by Grady and Edaline too, and become hella protective of Sophie. I love her. Also, I don’t know if anyone else did research on her ethnicity, but given that her name stems from an Arabic name “Raha” and her parents' names originate from parts of India, in this fic, I am SAYING that she is indian. So when she comes up, keep that in mind.
DELLA: She knows Alden is a little problematic and is more involved with her kids' lives - especially Alvar’s - and is around Sophie more when she first arrives in the Lost Cities.
CYRA: I 100% believe the girl Alden said he once had feelings for was Cyra, and I’m sticking with that. I think he did get over her, but he had a lingering resentment for Prentice that he tried to keep buried, but pushed him into digging when he learned Prentice was hiding something.
LADY GALVIN: Will grow a reluctant fondness for Sophie and become a good teacher.
ELWIN: I’m like 90% sure he’s supposed to be Sophie’s bio dad…. I thought about incorperating that into the fic, but my HC was always that it was like the never-named third founding councillor. So I'm gonna go with that.

REASON FOR THIS HC: Forkle once mentions that BOTH of Sophie's bio parents identities can't be shared because the information would shake the foundation of their world. I love Elwin, and while I can see how it would shake SOPHIE'S world, it's not going to affect the Lost Cities as a whole that much. So my guess was either Terik or the last founding Councillor; and I'm going to go with the later just cause it opens a LOT more possibilities.

CALLA: Will be at HavenField when Sophie first moves in, just so that when she dies, you all get to suffer so much more. I know, how kind of me.
FORKLES: There will be three instead of two. There is a reason, but you’ll have to read the fic to find out what it is. Hehehe.
AMY: Her name will originally be Amy-Rose Stella Foster, and her new name (after her memories are erased) is Amelia Rosett Freeman. She will be eight when the story begins.
ELLA: Will be a red fox squishmallow with a rose on her tummy because I said so. There is actually a really cute reason, but it’s a surprise.
KENRIC: Will not die. You’re welcome.
FORKLE(S): In case you missed it earlier, they will be triplets, not twins. Their main individual identities will be Sir Astin, Sir Conley, and Magnate Leto. One will die, but only one.

ELVEN TECH:

IMPARTER/OBSCURER/PATHFINDER/LEAPING CRYSTAL: Are incorporated into a device called an “Orarie” that is built similarly to a pocket watch. Most boys wear it as such, and most girls wear it as a necklace, but it’s up to the individual. This is essentially the elven version of a phone, that has a timekeeper, map, path finder for light, and has other special functions that can only be accessed or permitted by those of a certain rank.
NEXUS/REGISTRY PENDANT/DNA STRIP/TREASURY CUPE: Are combined into a bracelet that seals onto their skin and can change color on command. They lick the DNA strip to key it to them, and it can only be taken off by their DNA being applied again after saying a special password. The “Nexus” NEVER comes off, because that is freaking stupid for them to have ever allowed it. But the younger elves still brag about who gets their concentration meter full the fastest. (Some nobles who go to certain intelligent specie’s kingdoms, or exile, ect… take them off, which is the only reason why the meter is even there.)
SPYBALL: Does not exist. Sophie literally has an object that can spy on ANYONE (with the use of their real name if registered) and NO ONE thought to use it on literally ANY confirmed member of the Neverseen? I’m calling bull.

ELVEN HOLIDAYS: The holiday names may - possibly - be HEAVILY inspired by some shows I watch with my little sister.

Hearts Warming Eve: Christmas eve, where families and friends gather together, and place their hand on a special orb that reveals their most precious memory. They stay up late into the night eating SwizzleSpice Swirls and DewBerry Blooms, trading stories and gifts with those they care about.
True Hearts Day: Basically valentines day, a popular day for people to confess their feelings, and there are usually a few parties to go to.
NoxNix(Night Snow): The only day it snows in the Elven cities.
Wynterwood Ball: Winter Solstice, and a huge event
Lightfall: An annual night where elves gather together to collect multiple types of light.
Wanderling Lights: The elves create lanterns from some of the light gathered at the Lightfall gathering, and go to the lake at the wanderling woods, where they mourn the loss of those who have passed on, and celebrate the life of those still here.
DewBerry Dawn: Summer Solstice Celebration, to welcome a new Year.

REWRITE BOOK TITLES: There will be thirteen total, and they have actual new (ish) names, instead of just adding “Exile” or “Everblaze” to it. Again, in this fic, I will be slowing things down, adding more details, splitting some books and combining others. All of these will be separate “Works” that I’ll put in order for you guys in the same “Series” here on AO3.

Chronicles of the Lost Keeper
Keeper of the Solar Flame
Keeper of the Gilded Wings
Keeper of the Cinder Circlet
Keeper of the Forsaken Souls
Keeper of the Brave Hearts
Keeper of the Shattered Kingdom
Keeper of the Stellar Reef 
Keeper of the Umber Moon 
Keeper of the Cursed Crown
Keeper of the Astral Gate
Keeper of the Hollow Thrones
Keepers of the Lost

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Elves: Same as in the KOTLC books. They age at the same rate as humans until they reach maturity(25-35), and then only their ears keep growing after a few centuries (not millenia in this fic.)

They can all fade naturally after 3,000 years, and most choose to, but a rare few thousand stay and they are known as, "The Ancients"; They’re able to have kids from 20-300 years old(but only on purpose, I’ll explain that later.), manifest abilities/talents from 12-16, and any offspring with a human is usually a normal elf and given the same rights as them - but procreating with humans has always been EXTREMELY frowned upon, and thought to be why some elves are talentless. 
Half breeds with any creature other than humans usually take physical features from the non-elf parent, and either endure ridicule in the Elven Cities, or live in the non-elf parents territory (Way less scrutiny.)
Are Self-Appointed Rulers of the world and everyone just goes along with it (You’ll find out why later, mwahahaha)

Gnomes: Exact same as in the books, but in this version, they have created a “Cluster” home where many gnomes go to relax and reconnect to one another for their own holidays.
Trolls: In this fic, they will be based on the “Tales of Arcadia” show, meaning made from rocks, and have a deep connection with the earth, and they basically take the place of dwarves in the OG KOTLC series. 
Goblins: Exact same as in the books.
Ogres: Same personality and microbiology wise, but their build will be more like Shrek.
Dwarves: 100% more DnD, snow white style. And many have crafters jobs within the territories of other creatures, but there is a Dwarven Colony.
Beast Kin: Centaur, satyr, fawn, harpies, minotaur, etc... Typically a half human, half animal mix, they are scattered throughout the world in individual herds, flocks, ect…
LaMoors: Basically the moors creatures in Maleficent, or the people in that one cartoon movie Epic
Nature Sprites: Sprites, Nymphs, Dryads, etc… They can live in isolation or in groups, some like to live in populated areas.
Pyxin: imps, pixies, etc… mischievous creatures who like to cause problems, but are loyal to a fault to those they swear fealty to.
Merfolk: Sirens, mermaids, mermen, cecaelia(what ursula is), etc… Some feel that they should be included in the Beast Kin category but both creatures are adamantly against it.
Fae: Very little is known about them, but they were once considered the most powerful of all the creatures and had a profound love for and connection to nature and all her creations. (Extinct, but honored)
Humans: Let's be honest, we kind of suck. Have you seen the crap going on in America? The laws about prohibiting mention of global warming in schools? The School shootings? The EGG PRICES!!! Yeah, as an American, I say we suck. But like… Some of us are cool. Not me, by the end of this fic, more than half of you will wish for me to die a terrible death. But that’s okay, it just means I’m one step closer to being a real author.
Mythic Beasts: They are a hybrid born between a Nature Sprite or Pyxin and a normal animal (think of pokemon) . While not considered an intelligent species, they are regarded highly and often form life-bonds with Elves - and occasionally another intelligent creature is lucky enough to encounter and bond with one.

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Randall Fenrier Daniels: 18, is Errol Forkle’s “Nephew” who was taken in by Forkle when he was a baby, after his parents died in a car accident. At least, that's the story he’s always told Sophie. He has known Sophie since she was a baby.Sera Melody Daniels: 17, is Errol Forkle’s “Niece” who was taken in by Forkle when she was a baby, after her parents died in a car accident. At least, that's the story she’s always told Sophie. She has known Sophie since she was a baby.Jezmina Klarke: 16, super freaking rich and an incredible dancer. Meets Sophie when the blonde is 5 and she is 8 and they’re both put into ballet lessons and both rank in the talented division.Tessa Hensley: 16, super poor and going to a fancy school on scholarship as a gymnast. Met Sophie when the blonde was 9 and she was 13 their freshman year of high school in gymnastics and have been after school practice buddies ever since.Easton Hensley: 14, super poor and going to a fancy school on scholarship as an advanced science and engineering prospect. Met Sophie through his older sister Tessa when he was 10.Celia Carter: 15, fashionista with a lot of siblings to look after, a barista at her family’s cafe, and way too busy to pursue her dream of creating her own label. Met Sophie when she and Jezmina started going to her family cafe after ballet practice.Ren Long: 16, rich with crummy parents, ice dancing and ballet are his thing, met Sophie at lunch in the library his freshman year when she was 10 and he was 13.Hana Long: 16, rich with crummy parents, music and poetry are her thing, met Sophie at lunch in the library her freshman year when the blonde was 10 and she was 13.Archer Hayes: 14, quiet bookworm who loves chess, nature, and music. Met Sophie when he saw her being bullied by some other kids at the park after music class and stopped them when she was 5 and he was 6.Clarissa Willows: Died at 11 from semi-natural causes - two years prior to the start of the story - but was Sophie’s best friend from ages 3-11 and they met by having the same babysitter, and did almost everything together after they met.

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Chronicles of the Lost Keeper: This book is really just about Sophie learning she’s an elf, saying goodbye to her human life, and then adjusting to the world of the Lost Cities.
Early September, Sophie is living a busy, but decent life in the human cities with the minor complication of being a telepath unable to shut out the mental voices around her at all. Fitz comes along, tells her she’s an elf, and then Alden sets up a meeting with half of the council (not just three) to decide if she is worthy of joining Soteria Academy (FoxFire’s new name); she passes with flying freaking colors.
When the council, Alden, Della, and Fitz all tell Sophie that she has to leave the human cities forever, she argues with them and buys herself one week to say goodbye to her old life (with someone agreeing to go with her and make sure she doesn’t try to run or tell any of the humans about the Lost Cities).
Sophie’s last week with her friends and family in the human cities; she gets a little more out of her comfort zone, has super sappy moments with everyone and even skips school for a day. During this time she has to decide if her entire family will forget her and have their lives started over, or if she’ll let the elves just fake her death. Two days before the deadline, she chooses to have them forget her, and then she goes to the Lost Cities.
She spends two days at Everglen while her new, official gaurdian’s prepare for her. Biana is a brat, Fitz is teasing and doesn’t see how sad she is, and Alden and Della keep looking at her with pity.
She goes to Havenfield and meets Grady and Edaline and gets settled in. Then spends the next week doing research and practicing her newly discovered Elven skills. Aside from telekinesis and levitation… She kind of sucks.
Meets Dex at Slurps and Burps, and then starts school.
She meets Keefe (YAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!)
Lots of trial and error and adjusting, but she figures it out.
Splotching, Biana becomes her friend, Sleepover at Everglen, Fitz starts to see how much he hurt Sophie by taking her from her old life, limbium incident, midterms, some Elfie holidays while Sophie mourns her family holidays and traditions and sings happy birthday to the wind for her little sister. Some cute, fluffy moments, Sophie develops her polyglot ability, another sleepover, the fallout of Fitz's pride, more school stuff, the quintessence catching debacle, Sophie develops her inflicting, more elfie holidays, and then school finals.
Sophie’s tribunal to decide if she’ll be able to continue at Soteria Academy, she obviously is; but inflicting will be added to her classes, as well as advanced multi-special studies and decorum.
She and her friends go to Everglen to celebrate, since Grady and Edaline don’t do well with big crowds for long periods of time, and while there, Sophie overhears Alden talking to tbd character about Sophie being project moonlark and that’s why she has so many abilities and brown eyes, and could locate an unmapped star.
END.
Keeper of the Solar Flame: This book is where the everblaze in the human cities and the kidnapping happened. I'll also be giving WAY more detail because a lot is different, and by the time you start reading this one, you'll likely forget 90% of what's written here.
Opens pretty much where the last one left off, and Sophie starts to look for clues to her past, and searching her memory for anything else that may not actually be hers. About two weeks after this later, Biana pops in and drags Sophie with her to accompany Keefe and Fitz to the Mythic Isles, where fifth years with talents are allowed to go to see if a Mythic Beast will bond with them at the start of summer break; letting them have a few months to train it before school starts up.
Each fifth year is allowed to bring one guest and Keefe and Fitz both agreed that it should be Biana and Sophie they brought. While there, both boys get a mythic beast and - surprise surprise - so does Sophie (not an alicorn).
While she’s looking for clues about the Black Swan, they start sending her notes and clues about the fires in the human cities, and after noticing how distant she’s become Keefe tries to confront her about it, but she lashes out at him - then immediately apologizes and leaves.
The next morning she meets up with her friends in Mysterium to get some school supplies, and apologizes to Keefe, he forgives her on the condition that he gets a Foster Favor for a rainy day (with the stipulation that he can’t involve her in any pranks).
While there, she’s exposed to limbium accidentally at Slurs and Burps, and is barely able to take the medicine Elwin gave her in time. The medicine buys them enough time to have Elwin get there and help.
Two weeks later, Alden comes by smelling like smoke and asking Grady for help, while Edaline becomes increasingly smothering and protective and then that night is when Gildy (the flaredon) shows up, they fight, and then Grady and Edaline start disappearing and acting extremely strange.
While going to pick up her costume for Soteria’s Opening Celebration, Sophie confronts Fitz, asking about what Alden is doing - everyone just assumes that she confessed to liking him and starts teasing them about it, no one believes that she didn’t.
Out of anger, Sophie goes back to HavenField early and then sees a pile of scrolls lying open on the dining room table, and goes over to see if they might be the scrolls on Project Moonlark, and learns that Grady and Edaline canceled the adoption process. She doesn’t get angry, instead, she goes numb. Blocking out every emotion and pushing it deep, deep down.
When Grady and Edaline ask what's wrong, she just tells them blankly that she came back to Havenfield early and found the papers canceling her adoption, then tells them that they don’t need to pretend to care about her anymore, and that she’ll start packing for when new guardians are found for her.
She thinks that they canceled the adoption process because she’s an experiment and a freak, and starts to wonder if her friends will leave her when they find out; then starts shoving them all away before they can leave her behind too.
After a few weeks of this, and finding the new article about humans dying, Keefe uses his favor to make her let him stay at Havenfield in her room, and holds her hand when she starts silently crying (he has NO CLUE why, but just offers her a quiet comfort.)
Biana and Fitz tell her that they’ve known for a few weeks, because their parents want to apply for adoption, and she goes to Everglen to ask about her human family being in danger. 
At the Soteria Academy Opening performance practice, she and Dex fight, Marella siding with Dex (Jensie goes too, reluctantly, because - in this fic - he’s Dex’s paternal cousin.) and they leave Sophie because they think Sophie is just pulling away from them, and not Keefe and the Vackers.
Calla brings Sophie a strawberry swirl cake - her old favorite - and tells Sophie that she knows humans often celebrate the anniversary of their birth with treats and gifts. Sophie lets herself hope that maybe, just maybe, things will eventually get better.
Three days later, a week before the Soteria Opening Celebration, all students have to go and pick up their packets, which is when Stina does the whole “Biana’s not really your friend” bit and Sophie feels her emotions start to overwhelm her; thinking her entire friendship with Biana, Fitz, and probably even Keefe was all a lie. She runs out, and when she gets to Havenfield, she starts to “realize” that Alden and Della never wanted to adopt her because they cared about her, or even liked her, they only wanted to be her guardians because she was an experiment that needed to be reported on.

Grady comes to check on her, but her emotions are going crazy and she accidentally hurts him, then runs down to the caves - Edaline calling after her but Sophie just screams at her to stop pretending she cares.
Late that night, Sophie goes back to the house to find the spyball and final letter from the Black Swan on her bed, with Grady and Edaline gone. Again. She gets the Everblaze, comes back and gets in trouble.

Confined to Havenfield until the Tribunal decides her fate, in order to avoid Grady and Edaline she chooses to practice her night vision in the cave, even handing over her orarie so she can’t leap anywhere without coming back to the house.
Sophie is kidnapped.

Dex does come to the cave right as Sophie gets kidnapped(Edaline asked him to), but when she first wakes up she hears them talking about killing Dex since he has no use, and she uses her inflicting and telepathy to… convince them to let him go, and erase/rewrite his memories since it’s been less than a full day. They let him go after she rips into a few peoples minds.

Then she is a tortured prisoner for two weeks (keeps trying to reach out to different people she’s met, but it’s mainly Fitz and Teirgan, since that’s who she practices on/with the most) before trying to escape (With Rayni, but it’s a surprise how/why she’s involved.) Another week passes before she’s rescued, and Sophie insists that they save Rayni too.

Rayni takes Dex’s place in being hit by the melder, having Sophie focus her concentration around Rayni for light-leaping, and making her fade to a dangerous level.

Dex’s memories were altered to believe that Sophie’s head had been hit and was bleeding profusely before he blacked out, so everyone thinks she died after a week of not being able to find her, and hold a planting.

When Sophie sends the image of the tree to Fitz, it’s when Alden meddles and invites Keefe over for him, Fitz, and Biana to reconcile.

Stina’s personality and popularity/influence at school is altered drastically after this and she actually gets some large, on-page growth (but is still snippy, outspoken, and often disagrees with Sophie later on).
Marella becomes self-isolated again, but even worse than before.
Fitz lashes out at Keefe for stopping him from going after Sophie the day she “died”.
Which makes Keefe spiral into the fringes of guilt and isolate himself from everyone while relying on drugs to sleep. 
Biana clings to her family and starts being bratty to everyone… again.

Once they get to Sophie, I will be alternating perspectives to show how everyone deals with learning the truth of what happened to her, and to better let you guys what happens to Rayni.

Sophie wakes up, talks with the Vacker’s and her other friends, then with Grady and Edaline. Once that’s done, Sophie goes to trial, and Rayni gets assigned to live with Tiergan for a year, and is forced to attend the elite levels with the intention of becoming a low-ranking noble who will serve the people. Sophie calls out the council for letting innocent people, children die when they try to publicly humiliate and punish her for going to the Forbidden Cities illegally. And reminds them that she has just endured three weeks of torture and captivity because they’ve chosen to ignore the signs of rebellion of two groups, both the Black Swan and those who took her.

Her punishment is marked as already served, and she is assigned a bodyguard(Sandor, love the squeaky guy) to protect her from then on.

She chooses Grady and Edaline to be her adoptive family and goes home, where she realizes the people who rescued her - people from the Black Swan - were Mr. Forkle and his nephew, who was her best friend in the human cities (he’s an OC).
I hope this helps elaborate on what I mean by big changes, but same plot. So without further adieu, let’s begin the fic!!!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alden
“Enough, Teirgan!” Alden’s deep voice boomed through the cavernous crystal halls, “We’ve been through this. Prentice was found guilty of treason and refused to cooperate, I was given an order; I had no choice." His voice was thick with a crisp accent and heavy with a storm of thunderous rage and striking grief.The man he spoke to was tall and lean, his shoulder length blonde hair - usually tucked back neatly - was unkempt and disheveled with tangled, unwashed strands; Tiergan, one of his oldest friends. One of his greatest confidants.A man he considered a brother in every way but blood, who was now staring at Alden as if he were the most vile, disgusting person on the planet, and - in truth - Alden couldn’t fully deny him that right.Even now, when Alden knew his theory of Prentice’s treason was real, when he knew his fears were well-founded, and had even found physical proof of what he had dragged from Prentice’s mind, Alden still couldn’t help the sickening guilt of what he had just done to Cyra and her seven year old son, Wylie. Just thinking of that small, devastated boy broke something in Alden’s heart, the guilt seeping into his bones and chipping away at the anger and reasoning he’d been clinging to these past few days.The echoes of Cyra’s guttural sobs when she learned that Prentice had not only been exiled, but broken too. The image of Wylie’s trembling hands, and confused eyes made Alden feel sick. He was vile. Cruel.He had torn apart a family.He and his cognate - Quinlan - had burrowed into the mind of one the most powerful, beloved Keepers in all of the Lost Cities. A man who had dedicated his life to protecting others and even guiding the next generation by taking up the title, the honor of “Beacon” at Soteria Academy’s silver tower. All because three weeks ago, Alden’s eldest son, Alvar, had come to his office with uncertainty swarming his thoughts as he told Alden that there was a rumor going around the 5th and 6th years. One he had heard by chance while invisibly roaming the school's halls after hours - his skill as a vanisher allowing him to navigate his way into rooms filled with hushed whispers about the Silver Towers Beacon.According to the whispers, Prentice - a man trusted with the lives and hope and safety of the students within the Silver Tower of Soteria - had been abusing his position to whisper words of rebellion and treason into the ears of the young. Had been luring them to an organization acting against the council's laws and wishes.And now, as Alden watched one of his dearest friend’s eyes fill with a seething, conflicted rage, Tiergan’s voice hissing curses of vitriol as he turned away and thundered through the grand corridor of Tribunal Hall, Alden had to remind himself again and again - the words a prayer and plead of reasoning playing on loop - that it was not his fault things had turned out this way.It was because of Prentice’s own stubbornness and deceit, his own vile choices that he was now a drooling husk of who he had been just hours ago.Alden clung to the truth in those words as his teal eyes stayed locked upon the shrinking form of the most outstanding telepathy mentor in Soteria Academy’s history. He held on to that fragment of reasoning as he watched one of his best friend’s turn his back on his title, his job, his rank, and Alden himself, forever.He fought back a surge of bile as he replayed Tiergan’s plea for Alden to have a conversation with Prentice before bringing his claims to the councillor’s, to let the Beacon have a chance to offer an explanation before he was sentenced to a mind break. Part of him would likely forever wonder if Tiergan had been right, if there truly was a reason for what Prentice had been doing.Alden shook off the notion, because even if Prentice had a reason, or an explanation of some sort, nothing could justify the only fragment of secrecy gleaned from the mind break.The instant the interrogation started, after Prentice swore Alden to an oath to ensure his family’s safety, the Beacon began shattering his own consciousness. In the rush of splintering fragments, bits and pieces of all Prentice was slowly eroding away, the only thing that Alden and Quinlan had been able to reach just before vanishing, was a single, miniscule clue.A shadowed wisp of a memory tucked into the depths of his mind, his most precious secret: A single image of a file tucked into a false panel in Prentice’s office at the school.Less than a second after seeing the shrouded image, even that memory splintered into insanity. The only things left untouched in Prentice’s mind as he destroyed all he was to save his secrets were the day he was married, the day his son was born, and the fresh, crystal clear image of Alden’s vow to keep Cyra and Wylie safe.Not even a full minute passed after the traitor's mind had been subjected to such brutal self destruction, Alden had raced from the room, intent on tracking down the file shown in that fragment of a memory before there was even a chance it could be moved. When he had found it, devastation and relief had warred with him as what he could scrape together in the mish mash of scrambled runes told him he was right to have gone to the Council.Because according to the file; the Black Swan - the group of rebels Prentice worked for - had experimented with elven DNA, and created a new life to be raised somewhere in the human cities.They had genetically manipulated an innocent, unprotected babe to be carried in the womb of a vulgar human - creatures known for their uncanny ability to abandon their young and mindless slaughter of one another on a whim - and if that wasn’t a clear sign of immoral wrongdoing, then Alden had no clue what might constitute such a title.Unfortunately, the entire council refused to even entertain the idea that an elf would allow such a heartless crime to be committed, let alone participate and condone such an atrocity. He couldn’t really blame them though, even Alden might not believe it if he hadn’t found the files; that being said, he had shown them the files. He had brought them evidence of an innocent, unregistered elfs DNA, though, and they still refused to believe it. Meaning Alden and Quinlan were on their own in a search to find the elven child - a girl, if the DNA sample was accurate. He had hoped Tiergan might come to see reason once he was presented with evidence of Prentice’s crimes, his cruelty - instead, the stubborn man had glared at Alden with all the unyielding wrath in the world, and called him an ignorant fool.An echo of massive, crystal door slamming shut shuddered all around him as Alden clenched fists, intent on forcing Tiergan see the truth. Rallying himself to push through the pain of losing not one, but two of his dearest friends -three, actually. There was no way Cyra would ever be able to forgive him for this.Not until he proved his actions were justified, that is. The only way to do that, though, was to find the poor elven child the Black Swan had sequestered away in the vile, toxic human cities.And in that moment, as the last reverberations of Tiergan’s rage ebbed away, Alden vowed that no matter what it took, he would do anything to find this… Project Moonlark .

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Fitz
Fitz sat in his Father’s office, watching as he tapped his finger on a large paper neatly folded on his desk, the teen's nerves settling within him as he waited for his Father’s eyes to leave whatever was inked upon the page to have the older elf so equally conflicted and enraptured.Alden let out a deep, deflating sigh before asking, eyes still fixated on the document before him, “Have you ever heard of New York City?”Fitz furrowed his brows in consideration, his own right hand index finger tap, tap, tapping as he thought through all of the places he had seen and heard about in the Forbidden Cities over the years before he shook his head slightly, “No, I-I don’t believe so, Father.”He watched Alden nod as he looked up and stared at Fiz, the teen attempting to casually straighten his posture as he forced his hands to still under the weight of his Father’s intense teal gaze, “That’s what I thought. It’s a busier, more populated and polluted area in the human country known as ‘The United States of America’ -”“That’s where the Main Herd of Centaurs live, right?” Fitz interrupted. He knew it wasn’t technically polite, but his Father had long ago taught him that having an understanding of the base of geological location he was being sent to was far more important than the etiquette his Mother and Lady Mavros had instilled in him for all types of formal occasions.A lesson he took great pains to avoid ever mentioning - or practicing - in his Mother’s presence. He valued his life just a bit too much to risk such a gamble with his Mother’s quiet wrath. Another lesson Alden had imparted years ago; one that had no doubt saved the teenager on many occasions.Alden nodded, “The Main Centurian Herd lives in that country, yes. But in a large, obscured territory of untouched plains and forestry in a state known as, ‘Oklahoma’ . You will be going to a state called, ‘New York’ , and it’s closer to where the northern cluster of Imps and Trolls congregate in Summer.”“Ah, understood.” Fitz said with a firm, singular nod.“As I was saying,” His Father began, “It’s more densely populated, and far more polluted than many of the other human cities you’ve gone to. Much louder, too. But Quinlan has delivered an article to me that mentions an extremely talented, and certifiably genius girl - by human standards - that is about the age of the elven girl we’re looking for.” He let out a long sigh, “I know the human cities can take a physical toll, though, so while I might like you to be the one to look into it, I understand if you aren’t comfortable putting yourself through that kind of strain.”As much as Fitz wanted to roll his eyes and accept the assignment immediately, he didn’t want to look immature and impulsive, so he schooled his expression into one of deep contemplation, and counted to twenty before meeting his Father’s gaze once more. He was careful to control the pace and tone of his voice as declared, “I’ll go to the human city to investigate this girl for you, Father.”Alden smiled slightly, “Thank you, Fitz. In that case,” He slid the paper he’d been staring at when Fitz arrived across the desk, then moved to grab something tucked away in the left side drawer, “Here is the article Quinlan sent me, and here-” He pulled out a thick manilla file that was practically spewing out papers, and set it down gently, “Is everything I was able to gather about this girls schedule and day-to-day life.”Fitz felt his brows lift slightly in surprise as he eyed the outpour of information before looking back to his Father as Alden said, “If it’s alright with you, I’ll arrange for you to be given a leave of absence tomorrow at school-”“Tomorrow?” Fitz had to fight to keep his composure as a nagging fear began squirming inside him. Usually he had at least three days to do research and start planning for these reconnaissance jobs, having less than twenty-four hours was extremely concerning.His Father nodded, slightly solemn as he said, “Because of her innate talents and high level of intellect, her parents have gone to great lengths to try and make her as safe as possible. Her school has security guards, camera’s, motion sensors, and even some false locks that activate silent alarms. She is accompanied by at least two older teens, and/or an adult from the instant she leaves her home, the second she returns to it. And she is involved in a great deal of activities that have her in the constant presence of at least one adult.”Fitz blinked at the influx of information then took a deep breath, “Alright, that is… a lot.”Alden nodded, “Not a lot of opportunities for you to maneuver around her - even with your orarie’s obscura function activated - and even less for you to get clear access to her mind while during her activities. She has a reputation for having very few academic errors, and is known to be exceptional in nearly all of her other hobbies. If she is the elf we’re looking for, I have no doubt she’ll be quick to adjust to our curriculum and culture.”“And… if she isn’t?” Fitz ventured carefully.“Then she truly is one of the few exceptional humans left in the world.” Alden answered earnestly.Fitz nearly scoffed at that. Humans were barbaric creatures who have used the gifts of knowledge elves had given them to create mass weapons of destruction. They polluted everything, the earth, air, the light . They were… monsters, in every sense of the word. Fitz picked up the messy stack of papers all but crammed into the manila folder, and prayed to the sun and stars that this time, this girl, would be the elven girl he and most of his family had been searching for for over a decade.Brows furrowing, he looked up to his Father’s eyes once more, “Why am I going tomorrow if she’s so well guarded, then? Won’t I need more time to make a plan?”His Father chuckled, “Usually, yes. But as it turns out, she and a few dozen other students will be going on a trip to a popular museum tomorrow, and from my understanding, these trips usually result in the students being left to wander about for at least an hour or so. That should be more than enough time for you to make a connection to her mind and see if she’s human or elf.”Fitz nodded, “Alright then, I better get reading.”With that, the teen stood, manilla folder in hand as he turned to leave, only for his Father to say, “You forgot this.” Fitz whirled around, seeing the paper Alden had been inspecting so intently earlier.“Oh, sorry Father.” he murmured, flushing slightly as he went back to the desk and picked up the page with the article.At the very top, in big bold letters, Fitz read the title, ‘Has The Ivy Lost Its Luster?’ with the subtitle, ‘Child Prodigy Student Rejects Multiple Ivy League Universities’ printed underneath in smaller bold letters. He snickered at the vulgar pettiness the tone of the overall article had taken on while writing about a thirteen year old girl choosing practicality over prestige when selecting a school.He adjusted the page slightly, careful not to let any of the papers in the manilla folder slip out as he stared at the fuzzy, black and white image of the girl in question, with her name printed neatly underneath.Fitz hummed slightly, then turned to his Father and said, “I’ll be in my room, if you need me, Father.” Then he left, not waiting for a response. Especially because he knew his Father wasn’t likely to give one; not when they finally had a lead this solid. He felt a giddy speed overtake his steps as he thought about everything he’d skimmed over in the article. This girl was the best candidate they’d had in years during their search. A smile creeped onto Fitz’s lips as an excited warmth flooded his system; because something in him said their seemingly endless search would finally come to a close as soon as he found this, ‘Sophie Iris Foster’ .
Sophie
Sometimes, Sophie would dream up a world composed of glittering light. The people were always faceless sculptures forged from an endless array of crystal or precious stones, their minds silent and calming as the creatures guided her to and fro with little regard for logic.Sometimes she dreamed of a calculating girl made of diamonds dyed the hue of deep violet and shimmering teal. This girl was almost always at a vanity; one piled high with every product of beauty imaginable. The powders and creams appeared unbidden, consuming the entire space of the massive room, until the only thing left of the indigo and teal girl was a single, clear diamond tear.Sometimes Sophie would see a boy built of emeralds and strawberry amber sitting on a bed of ice, the space shrouded in a haze of silence - one so palpable, that she often felt as though she were still suffocating from it when she finally pulled herself free from visions of the boy surrounded by beakers and gadgets as he slowly curled in on himself.Sometimes she would hear the cries of a girl coated in topaz, see her small crystal form curled in a corner of a dark room filled with every luxury one could wish for; so long as they could withstand the screams of rage and fear and love. The tonal shifts were so jarring that even in sleep, Sophie felt the trepidation of a response freeze on her tongue as she fought to drown out the horrific female shrieks.Sometimes she could make out the jittering edges of a boy forged from electric blue zirconia. His body moving so fast she could barely make out the labored breathing through the dual whispers of pride and reprimand twisting together to create a symphony of suffrage.Sometimes Sophie was able to piece together the form of a tall, lean girl drenched in liquid grey garnet, the weight of the heated stone searing into her skin of sapphire as glittering white unicorns circled around. Their massive, majestic forms inching closer and closer, until their whinnies began to echo a single hiss of a word over and over; Liar. Liar. Liar. Sometimes she would be trapped in a room of golden mirrors with a boy fashioned from tourmaline and azurite, the reflections of himself growing taller by the second, his form becoming increasingly distorted in proportion to the size of the mirrors. Many of the golden ovals even shattered under the weight of his warped image, the solid gold of the looking glass growing too large, too heavy to sustain as they toppled over and destroyed everything in their wake.Sometimes, Sophie would be forced to watch a boy of crumbling onyx drown in an ocean of sound. Her mind's eyes refusing to turn away as she watched him suffocate on melodies of wave and wind.Sometimes she was locked in a cage of gleaming gold and twinkling rubies with a girl cobbled together by the remains of pearlescent porcelain; threads of sea glass and obsidian woven throughout the cracks of her skin, their presence the only thing keeping her from falling apart.Sometimes she would watch a family of turquoise and opal under a gleaming chandelier fracture. The bile always stung her throat after seeing the way three beaming, buoyant people fell away, leaving only a girl of clouded jade sobbing on the floor.Sometimes Sophie could see a boy of citrine sit at a desk in a cold, dark room - a key of gleaming light burning beside him as he scribbled on page after page; his gaze only ever leaving his work to peak at a flower carved from amethyst, or the silver ring on his thumb.Sometimes, she would walk with a girl of lapis lazuli who wandered in an endless line forward; forever ignoring the scenery and people she passed by. No matter how welcoming, or bright, or brutal they may be. The girl simply walked forward, keeping her head down, as she took carefully measured steps.Sometimes Sophie would dream of a boy trapped in a tower of ice. He was composed of moonstone with two types of strange energy swirling inside the crystal. The pulsating white light and devouring darkness clashed together as they ripped and tore and shredded their opposite apart within the boy; creating a storm of utterly unearthly power.Most of the time, though, Sophie would dream of memories, and she savored those moments. When she could live in the past without fearing the future. Where a girl with chestnut hair and bright hazel green eyes held her hand, the infectious laugh she had always making Sophie’s life just a little bit brighter.A little bit better.But those were just memories trapped within a dream, in a past she could never return to. So when the dawn crept into the peaceful night sky, and Sophie’s soft alarm of twittering birds and soft piano pulled her from sleep, she often chose to ignore the ever-present ache in her chest caused by the absence of that light. Chose to pretend as though the echoes of pain thrumming through her had nothing to do with the laughter she would never be able to hear outside of a dream.If for no other reason, than to keep the promise Sophie had made to the girl that the brutally brilliant laugh once belonged to.After all, an oath sworn in someone’s last moments of life, was one of the most sacred promises one could make.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie

The quiet hum of birdsong and piano pulled Sophie from sleep with its delicate melody, and she groaned at the wretched sound. She was way too tired to be awake!She had stayed up until just after three in the morning to finish reading the last book in the Heroes of Olympus series, and the lack of sleep, mixed with the less than satisfactory ending, and the mind boggling book hangover from the series overall was not something she was ready to deal with. Alas, woe was she, and the life she lead; because not even a minute after she had begun to entertain the extremely tempting idea of remaining under her dark blue covers and curling into a Sophie-rito of blankets and bed head, she heard the muffled, errant thoughts of her neighbors, Randy and Sera Daniels, pour straight through the stone walls, and into her skull as they, too, were ripped from slumbers sweet embrace.It was too late, she’d never get back to sleep now. Stupid telepathy and all the stupid downsides that came with it.With a sigh, Sophie grabbed a pillow and pressed it against her face as she let out a low groan of regret. She should not have stayed up so late, especially for a book that had so much build up and tension and amazing powers included, only to have that three page let down of a final battle. Though, she had to admit that the scene with Octavion getting catapulted was pretty awesome.Once she was done letting an audible noise of complaint echo out and into the universe, Sophie wriggled free from her cocoon of blankets and begrudgingly got to her feet. As soon as she stood, Sophie went through a short series of stretches, pointedly ignoring the disgruntled thoughts of both Randy and Sera as they too began their morning routine.Once she was done stretching her arms and spine, Sophie shook out her body before grabbing the light blue tin bottle filled with water on her nightstand and taking a long drink to clear out the taste of morning breath. Then she quickly began tidying up her bed, pulling and folding the dark blue duvet after fluffing and redistributing her pillows.As soon as that was done, Sophie grabbed her five favorite and most precious stuffed animals, and put them in their assigned seats. On the ends sat a duo of glittery winged alicorns Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Luna - the pair of alicorns were each gifts from two of her closest friends, Ren and Hana, who were twins and often got people corresponding gifts. Mostly because Ren had no clue how to shop for people, and Hana was insistent that they both gave people gifts - meaning Ren essentially copied whatever his twin sister had picked out.Next to Twilight sat a large stuffed Toothless the dragon, a gift from her Dad when he won a carnival game a few years ago, and opposite of him was Plagg the kwami, who had been given to her by Jez, a girl in her dance class she had met years ago and shared in Sophie’s love/hate relationship with Miraculous Ladybug. And in the very middle, Sophie gently placed Ella in her place of honor.Ella was a pinkish-red and white, head sized squishmallow fox, with a small pink rose embroidered into its white belly. And Sophie’s most beloved stuffed animal, for the sole fact that it was one of the last things Amy-Rose, Sophie’s little sister, had ever given to her.Smiling softly, the petite blonde stroked the soft fabric of the plushy as she recalled the way Amy-Rose had come bounding into Sophie’s hospital room nearly four years ago, with two regular sized stuffed animals looking gargantuan in her small, five year old arms. Her heart ached with the memory of Amy-Rose's crooked toothed grin as she declared that she had found the perfect set of plushies for the Foster sisters.A pair of foxes; one a pinkish red with a rose sewn on, and the other a frost blue decorated with an iris. You would think the fox that was one of Sophie’s favorite colors and had the flower her middle name was inspired by would be the one she got, but nope. According to the brilliance that was Amy-Rose’s five year old self, Sophie would get the one with rose and the youngest Foster sister would keep the one with an iris - so they could always have a piece of each other by their sides to keep the bad dreams away.Sophie had been annoyed at the time, especially since the pinkish red plush stood out violently in her room of midnight blue, sage green, and gold, but now - with Amy-Rose hating Sophie more and more with each passing day - the little fox was one of her most beloved possessions.Sighing, Sophie shook herself free from the encroaching pang of sadness that always seemed to accompany the truth, and grabbed the outfit she had laid out for herself the night before and quickly began changing out of her soft Garfield pajamas and into a pair of black leggings, a black sports bra, and grey long sleeve, athletic shirt. Double checking that she had her phone, smart watch, and socks, Sophie gently opened her door and crept into the halls - pulling her door closed until there was just a small sliver of space left, and then turning to go into the bathroom she shared with her sister.Walking with slow, careful steps to avoid disturbing her family, Sophie kept careful track of Randy and Sera’s thoughts as she quietly walked into the bathroom covered in decorations of pink and blue, and slowly turned on the light. After preparing her toothbrush, Sophie flipped the little blue hourglass and began brushing her teeth. Once the last grain of sand fell to the bottom, Sophie spat out the minty froth and rinsed her mouth with wintergreen mouthwash. After spitting out the sharp minty liquid, she immediately freed her sandy blonde hair from the confines of her night braid, letting the frizzy mass fly free as Sophie shook it out like a dog.Her hair wasn’t wavy, per say, it was more that the sandy locks hated her and loved to leave themselves in tangles so complex, she wasn’t certain even a skilled girl scout director could ever fully replicate the intricate knots Sophie’s hair often found itself in. Even now, with her hair pulled into a braid at night, it still managed to always end up twisted one way or another as she slept. Sighing, Sophie grabbed the detangling spray and accompanying brush as she began wrangling the blonde hair into a functional form, before carefully brushing it back into a low ponytail.Once that was done, Sophie carefully splashed warm water onto her face and patted it dry with a soft cloth and then put on some strawberry flavored chapstick; her mom had insisted that the thirteen year old was ready for the tinted version, so it even added a light pink tone to her lips. Sophie then reached for the thin chain of an oval locket and slipped it over her head before tucking it under her shirt.The simple necklace was a family heirloom, passed down to Sophie from her mom on her tenth birthday, and the only design it held was an engraved eight pointed star with a single diamond set in the ovals center. Given how busy Sophie’s schedule was, and how often she had to change because of it, the blonde had never really taken an interest in accessories, but since the locket was such an important heirloom, she made a point of wearing it every day whenever she could.Gently turning off the light, Sophie left the bathroom and walked to the spiral staircase slowly, immediately taking a series of quick steps down the stairs of the brickstone house until she reached the ground level.  Then made her way over to the shoe rack next to the front door, where she grabbed a pair of black running shoes.Walking over to the couch, Sophie pulled on her socks and shoes, plucked an apple from the fruit bowl at the center of the coffee table - which her mom had only placed there so that healthy snacks were readily available while anyone was watching television. Roughly translated to: “now no one has an excuse to eat junk food.” Then she waited, keeping tabs on her neighbors thoughts as she fiddled with the long chain of her necklace and thought about the ending of Blood of Olympus. She was livid at the way Jason had been nearly unphased by what happened to someone who was supposed to be his best friend. And seriously, what the heck was up with that three page final battle? And naming a book something as ominous as, “Blood of Olympus” only to have the supposed end of the world begin with a nose bleed? And not having ANY of the chapters in Percy or Annabeth perspectives after fighting through tartarus?Seriously, what was up with that? Sophie was half-tempted to write a letter of complaint to ‘Uncle Rick’ for robbing her of sleep by leaving her in suspense, only for him to end the series in such a crummy manner.It was through this haze of mental meanderings that Sophie heard the tell-tale sign of Randy and Sera’s impending approach; Sera’s thoughts echoing her words as she waited for her older brother to hurry up and stop worrying about his hair.Sophie let out a light laugh as she stood up and made her way to the bright red front door, grabbing a bottle of water from the mini fridge beside it - placed there for the Fosters to have quick access to hydration, without tracking mud or muck on the polished wood floor her mom was exceedingly protective of.As she waited for the message from Sera or Randy that would let her know they were waiting outside, Sophie plucked her bronze house key from the hook by the door, and fastened it to her owl necklace before tucking the long chain under her grey shirt.A small vibration buzzed in her pocket, and Sophie took a quick peak to check that it was Randy’s message coming through before entering the alarm systems passcode in the keypad by the door, and then unlocking the barrel bolt, deadbolt, and basic tumbler pin with a press of her thumb to the scanner. As soon as all three were safely unlocked, Sophie pulled open the bright red door, and stepped out of her warm livingroom and into the crisp September air, where two familiar faces smiled up at her.Sera, a tall, muscled girl who excelled in multiple martial arts often intimidated people with her bluntness and overall mass, but Sophie had only ever seen her as powerful and lovely. Even with the bulk most bodybuilders would envy, Sera was incredibly beautiful. She had black, fade-cut coils often sporting intricate designs of curling waves and stars, and startling seafoam green eyes that were accentuated by her long lashes. The soft color contrasting harmoniously with her warm caramel skin covered in freckles.And Sera’s beauty was matched evenly by her older brother's brutal handsomeness. He was an inch or so taller than Sera, and chose to let his dark curls grow into what he called a “twist out”. He also had light green eyes, though his were closer to sage than seafoam. And while Sera had plump cheeks and wore smiles so bright Sophie often wondered if the sun was jealous, Randy was all sharp angles and subtle expressions. Not to mention how much leaner his muscles were in comparison to Sera’s.Because while she focused on maintaining bulk and practicing the more grappling based fighting techniques, Randy trained his body relentlessly to keep a steady amount of lean muscle on his body, since it made the older teens maneuverability much more controllable when he was on the ice while playing hockey.Both body types though, included running.And lots of it.As did Sophie’s, though hers was less for aesthetics and maintaining muscle than it was strengthening her endurance and muscle control. As both an ice dancer and ballerina, Sophie needed to remain constantly aware of her body's health and strength, and being able to endure at least three hours of practice a day required far more energy than many would think.Not to mention the fact that her parents had insisted on Sophie attending at least two hours of a martial art of her choice once she finished her basic self defense course at eight years old. After a lot of research and a few trial sessions, Sophie had decided that tai chi would be the best choice for her; as it had many different forms to explore and included various methods of meditation.And the extraneous yoga forms used to build muscle memory definitely helped Sophie keep a constant awareness for her body’s strengths and weaknesses.All of that being said, Sophie’s extensive level of activeness also demanded quite a bit of cardio; hence these morning runs.A smile tugged onto Sophie’s lips as she looked down at the Daniels siblings standing a foot away from the stairs of the Foster residence. Closing the door behind her and relocking the security system with her fingerprint, Sophie turned and trudged down the four steps to the ground, nearly tripping with her heavy steps. She’d caught herself quickly, but that didn’t stop Randy’s snicker of judgement from passing his lips.Sera shot her brother a look, who promptly gave a half hearted shrug before turning to the short blonde, whose 4 '9 stature was almost comically juxtaposed next to the 6 foot plus siblings standing before her.“Hey, Soph!” Sera chirped cheerily, “Ready to go?”Shooting a small glare at Randy, Sophie muttered a polite, “Yep.” to the tall girl who plopped an arm over her slender shoulders.Randy laughed, “Stayed up all night again, Princess?”Sophie rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Not all night.” As she began walking down the sidewalk.“What book were you reading again? House of… Hayton?” Sera tried.“House of Hades.” Sophie corrected, “And no, I finished that one around nine last night, and started the last book in the series right after.”Randy groaned from behind the two girls, “How can you read that much and not go insane?”Sera snorted, “Saying that implies that you think Sophie is still sane.”“Hey!” Sophie barked, trying to pull away from Sera’s grasp - and failing miserably, “I am too sane!”The small blonde could feel the looks of skepticism from both siblings as Randy deadpanned, “You created a stink bomb in lab class our sophomore year because the teacher annoyed you.”“Nope.” Sophie declared, “According to all official statements, the teacher was distracting me with her pointed and humiliating comments, and I mixed up a chemical during the lecture and that’s what caused the stink bomb.” She let a sly grin creep onto her lips as she recalled the way her teacher had gone from sneering at the ten year old in her class, to hacking on putrid green fumes.“And how much of that is true?” Sera teased.“According to all official documents? All of it.” Sophie responded with a bright, innocent smile.“Menace.” Randy commented, walking up to Sophie’s left side.“Only to those who deserve it.” Sophie agreed.Sera nodded sagely to the blondes right, “Hell hath no fury.”“Heer heer.” Sophie chuckled, happily walking down the sidewalks of Brooklyn with her friends in tow as they made their way to a park a few blocks away for their morning run; completely unaware of the cold, steel blue eyes following her every move.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie
When the trio reached the park, Sera and Randy were still mercilessly mocking Sophie for her decision to stay up so late reading, there were already four others waiting for them. Two blonde’s stepped forward and joined in on the fun.“Hey guys, what are we mocking Princess Perfect for this time?” Easton teased with a grin, his green eyes gleaming in the yellowed light of the lamp post above them.Sera snickered as she said, “Our resident Golden Girl decided to stay up past midnight to read a book last night.”“So, the usual then?” Tessa chimed in, a coy smile tugging on her lips.Tessa and Easton Hensely were perhaps two of the kindest people Sophie had ever met, especially given all that they dealt with at home. How a raging alcoholic of a mother and borderline abusive father had created such warm and brilliant people, she would likely never know.That being said, as the two sets of siblings tag-teamed the teasing on Sophie’s sleep schedule - or lack thereof - the short blonde couldn’t help but imagine all the ways to punish them. Currently, she was leaning towards supergluing their zipper bags shut; some might think that was a bit mild, but Sophie knew it was the little inconveniences that really got to people.Like stepping on legos. Or stubbing a toe. Or, the cruelest inconvenience of them all: Losing your keys while running late.Ignoring the quartet now nit-picking Sophie’s terrible habits, the blonde walked over to Adam Reagan and Lilian Reed; friends from the Hensley’s apartment buildings with equally good reasoning to avoid their homes as often as possible.They never really talked with Sophie, Sera, or Randy, but the blonde knew their histories well enough to understand why the two of them were so hesitant to speak to those they didn’t know well. And given the fact that the seven of them only ran together for about thirty minutes every morning - an activity not that didn't typically allow for much conversation - Sophie couldn’t really blame the two of them for staying so reserved.Besides, they weren’t rude or anything, they both offered a slight smile and wave as the four people behind Sophie kept taunting and teasing the thirteen year old. She gave a polite return of their small greeting and asked, “Did you two already stretch?”Lilian nodded as she whispered, “As soon as we got here. And you?”“Before I left the house while I waited for those two to stop being so lazy.” Sophie said with a grin.“Hey!” Sera and Randy both called out.“It’s his fault for being so obsessed with his hair!” Sera defended.Randy gawked, “You’d be careful about your hair too, if it weren’t always so short!”“Hence why I keep it short.”  Sera explained with a grin.Rolling her eyes, Sophie checked her watch, “Okay, enough hair talk, we need to get going if we want to finish the path and grab coffee on the way home.”“You know,” Easton began, “You don’t really need five cups of coffee a day to survive.” his crooked smile gleaned slightly with the words, and Sophie plastered on a bright grin of her own.“And you don’t need all ten toes to walk, you know that, right?” Lilian and Adam snickered at Sophie’s joke, and she shook her head at Easton’s quick retreat from her, “Now let’s go if you want to keep all ten attached.”She pretended not to hear Easton’s muttered curses as she turned from the group and began her light jog. It took less than thirty seconds for the others to catch up to her slow pace, and she let Randy and Tessa take the lead as their steady speed picked up pace. Until their jog had grown into a full on sprint. Sophie tried to keep her thoughts focused on the buzzing minds being pulled from sleep in the apartments and businesses surrounding her; as she often felt a bit cruel when she heard her friends thoughts without their knowledge.Unfortunately, the small blonde was still made all too aware of Tessa’s less than appropriate thoughts about Randy, and the budding romantic inclinations Adam and Lilian had been not so subtly dancing around for well over a year, as well as Easton’s own slight crush on her.Which was perhaps the worst one of all.Not that the fourteen year old boy wasn’t attractive and sweet, but Sophie knew far better than most how quickly admiration could morph into resentment. Love to hate. Kindness to cruelty.She’d grown up hearing the bitter thoughts of spouses mentally shredding each other to bits. Been forced to endure the sting of impending betrayal as men and women alike sought comfort in the arms of those who were not their significant other. And because of that, the very idea of a romantic relationship terrified her.Which is why she had stopped playing into Easton’s games of taunts and teasing, trying to end conversations as quickly as possible; because eventually he would stop seeing her as amazingly talented, or cool, or worthy of regard. He would come to hate her for always being just a little bit better at most things, get angry when she didn’t give it her all and let him win, or become enraged when she never stopped being smarter or more athletic.Because, eventually, that’s how it always went.Even if only for a flicker of a moment, eventually everyone around Sophie had whispered thoughts of hatred about her at least once.Her parents, her sister, her neighbors, even her best friends.The thought of giving her heart to someone, only to hear the echoes of truth in their resentful minds crushed her. And if that’s how she felt with just a brief glimpse of imagination, she couldn’t even begin to understand the sort of grief she might endure if such a moment actually came to pass.Meaning that slowly letting Easton’s feelings for her fade away was the best option for both of them. Even if it really sucked to stay away from one of the few people who somehow always managed to make her days just a little less stressful.Especially because accomplishing such a feat wasn’t exactly an easy task, Sophie’s life was so hectic and busy she rarely had to breathe without it being scheduled. Even so, Easton made sure to remind the small blonde that even “Princess Perfect” needed to take a few deep breaths every now and then. So, even if it would only take a few weeks to let the budding feelings fade, they would not be an easy few weeks.As the group kept running in intervals of varying speeds, Sophie stayed in the center and let her mind drift to the thoughts of the street vendors pulling out their carts for the day. To the shop owners wishing for cheaper taxes on the property of their building. To the sweet old woman on the fourth floor of an apartment building a little more than a block away who was tending to her plants with soft, diligent eyes.And far away from Easton’s mental rambles about how cute he thought Sophie was with her ponytail low.Yep, definitely super, extremely, tremendously far far faaaar away from those thoughts. And she was absolutely not blushing! She was just… getting a little warm from running a few miles in the cool, September morning air when she had once run more than seven miles without breaking a sweat. Yeah, that was it. Just the running and the heat and the blood circulation doing its thing. The red in her cheeks was most certainly not because Easton’s thoughts kept wandering to how pretty he thought she was when she was studying. And had nothing to do with the way he absently wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked.Nope.Not. At. All.When the seven of them came to a stop at the spot they had first started running from, Sophie all but shoved Sera and Randy through the park gates and made a very vague - yet partially true - excuse about needing to get to their usual coffee cart before the line got crazy long. And such actions were in no way influenced by the way Easton was contemplating the simple action of asking Sophie if he could take a drink from her water bottle.Because, really, she was far too mature to be embarrassed - or borderline petrified - about the idea of an… indirect kiss.And as the thirteen year old bolted from the park, practically dragging Sera and Randy as she sped down the sidewalks, Sophie’s face was assuredly not a vibrant cherry pink from embarrassment.No, Sophie Foster’s face was not cherry pink at all… it was flaming tomato red. She could even imagine puffs of smoke stemming from her skull, as she unwillingly heard Easton think about how adorable Sophie was when she was in a rush for her coffee.The small blonde had no clue how she would ever survive the next few weeks if these were his thoughts after just a few days of wondering about the possibility of pursuing a romantic relationship with her. She might die from overexposure to the unabashed truths he was accidentally hurling at her. She could see the headstone now: “Here lies Sophie Iris Foster, beloved daughter and friend, who died due to embarrassing boy thoughts.” Most would assume the words meant her thoughts about boys, which was how she needed it to be - Sophie had exactly zero inclination to have her brain sawed out of her body and studied on the lab table of some mad scientist. Because as nice as helping science advance sounded… she liked her brain in her body, thank you very much.Even if - at this precise moment - Sophie wanted to rip the organ from her head and chuck it across state lines so she could stop hearing Easton’s rosily tinted perception of her.Unfortunately, that wasn’t a plausible option, so she stuck with running as fast and as far away as possible while reminding herself over and over again that he was just romanticizing everything Sophie did at the moment because she was one of his few friends and happened to be a part of the gender he was attracted to. Not to mention that she was one of the first people he often called if he needed to get away from his parents. She was just someone he trusted, who wasn’t ugly - even if she would never really be beautiful - and who he spent a lot of time with.Sophie had read enough psychology books to understand all of that. And looping the logic in her mind usually allowed her to tamp down any embarrassment or… fluttery feelings the occasional crush geared towards her might evoke. But no matter how much she thought the words or sorted through the logic, her heart refused to settle back to its normal beat.Even after grabbing her morning cappuccino and making it home, her thoughts kept settling on the sweet words that had stemmed from Easton's unfiltered thoughts.A block away from her house, Sophie became acutely aware of the soft hum of her parents' thoughts buzzing with worries of the impending day, and all the stresses that came with having two daughters in a world as cruel as theirs could sometimes be.As soon as Sophie walked through the red door of her house, Sera and Randy waited until she was inside with the door locked before going to their own house, the scent of scrambled eggs and slightly burned sausage assaulted Sophie’s senses, and she set aside all thoughts of cute boys and crushes. Smiling brightly at the sight of her Mom flailing in the kitchen while trying to handle the complexities of cooking eggs and sausage at the same time.“Hi Mom.” Sophie called while taking off her shoes at the door, “Need some help?”The usually serious brunette woman startled at the sound of Sophie’s voice and swiveled around, her hand clutching her heart, “No. Thank you, Sweetie. Just don’t scare me like that when I’m handling hot pans.”“Sorry, Mom.” The blonde said, walking around the entry room's furniture and making her way to the kitchen island, where she pressed a quick kiss to her Mom’s cheek - the tall woman kneeling slightly to accommodate Sophie’s gesture.“It’s fine, Sophie. How was your run?”“Same as usual.” Sophie shrugged, very proud of herself for not blushing at the sudden rush of words she’d heard emanating from Easton’s mind, “Randy said that he’ll be back to pick me up in thirty minutes.”Emma Foster’s brows scrunched together in confusion, and Sophie could hear her mind spin through information before settling on the correct memory, “Your trip to the museum is today.”“Yep.” Sophie nodded.Her Mom hummed, opening her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of the smoke alarm blaring. “Damn it!” Emma barked, whirling to face the forgotten food, pulling it off the oven and trying to salvage the charred chunks of sausage. Sophie quickly climbed onto a stool and grabbed the smoke detector to rip out its batteries, but not before the screaming siren had summoned the rest of her family. Amy-Rose bolted down in her fuzzy pink pajamas, their Dad following not far behind, his green eyes wild as he pulled his blue robe closed.“What happened?” He said, looking around at the scene frantically. As soon as he saw Sophie’s Mom in the kitchen, and the burnt patties in the pan she still held, his fear turned to understanding. His soft, round features morphed into a sweet smile. As her Mom blushed sheepishly - not so subtly turning off the stovetop - Sophie’s Mom began stuttering out an explanation, “I uh, I know you have that big meeting today with the head of funding and wanted to um- I just wanted to take something off your plate.” The brunette woman looked to the floor as she set down the pan of inedible lumps, “Clearly, I overestimated my skill at cooking and conversing at the same time.”It was a rare occasion for Sophie to see her Mother uncertain and bashful. She always seemed larger than life to the blonde. Even Emma's tightly coiled curls remained neat and tame under her Mom’s careful command, a feat Sophie couldn’t accomplish with her naturally straight hair. Emma Foster was a force of unyielding determination, with eyeliner sharp enough to cut down the most entitled of assholes and an intellect so respected she had clawed her way up the ladder of legality to become one of the most well known lawyers in the State.An accomplishment made even more incredible because of the type of law her Mom had decided to pursue decades ago; Domestic Violence. Specializing in assisting women with children escape from abusive partners, retain custody, and rebuild their lives.So to see such a brilliant, put-together woman become so shy and ashamed due to her inability to cook more than scrambled eggs and toast without setting the house on fire, was a rare sight indeed.Her Dad agreed too, his thoughts swelling with love and warmth and endearment while he walked over to his wife and kissed her cheek before he whispered, “Thank you for thinking of me, Em.”Sophie’s Mom sighed, shoulders slumping as she pulled hugged her husband, “I’m sorry for-” “No,” he interrupted, “you thought of me. That’s more than enough. Why don’t you help Little Rosie get ready for school while I finish breakfast?”Sophie watched her Mom smile slightly as Emma nodded, pulling away from the hug just enough to press a kiss to her husband's lips.“ Ewwww! ” Amy-Rose squealed, “Mom and Dad are sharing cooties!”Sophie laughed, and so did their parents, their Dad pulling away from the hug with his wife to swoop Amy up into spin, “That’s right, and only husbands and wives can share cooties, so no kissing any boys until he gets you a solid gold ring with lots of diamonds.”“ Dad !” Sophie chided, “You’re going to make her think money is everything. Amy-Rose, you can only kiss boys if they get you a solid gold ring with lots of diamonds, and know how to make your favorite dessert.” The blonde proclaimed.“You two are ridiculous!” Sophie’s Mom said sternly, “Amy, Sweetie, the only boys you’re allowed to kiss have to get you the gold ring with diamonds, cook your favorite dessert, and like animals.”“Ugh! You guys are so annoying!” Amy-Rose shouted, trying to wriggle free from their Dad’s grasp.Sophie laughed at the nine year old's antics, shaking her head as she left her family in the kitchen and made her way up stairs to the floor she and her sister shared. She quickly went into their bathroom, turned on the warm water and let it run as she took off her sweaty clothes and pulled down her hair from its messy ponytail of sweaty tangles.Sophie gently removed her locket, quickly ripped a brush through her tangled, sweaty hair, and then hopped into the shower to begin washing her body with strawberry scented soap on a sponge. Sophie tried to concentrate on her own thoughts as she bathed. Blocking out the increasingly clear voices as her neighbors awoke and the city slowly began to awaken with the rising sun. When she was done scrubbing the feel of dried sweat from her skin, Sophie grabbed her rose scented shampoo and began to rub the sudsy liquid onto her scalp.Once that was finished, she let the warm water rid her hair of the bubbles and froth before turning off the water and grabbing her own dark blue robe and wrapping it around herself. Then she stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and flipped her hair over her head before wrapping the stringy strands with the towel and twisting it up into a towel-nado.After flipping the twisted bundle over her head, Sophie walked over to the slightly fogged mirror and went through the skin routine her Mom had insisted the blonde start and maintain in exchange for a new book. ‘A Winner’s Curse’ was well worth the sacrifice.Especially because the routine was extremely simple.All the blonde had to do was use an aloe pad to nourish her skin, rub in a cleansing toner that smelled like sweet flowers, and then massage some unscented SPF into her face and neck. Once that was done, Sophie freed her mass of hair from its confinement and sprayed strawberry scented leave-in conditioner onto the damp tangles before slowly running a brush through the dark blonde strands.She then put her locket back on, grabbed her phone and smartwatch - which she had set on the left side of the sink - and left the bathroom. Sophie was quick to walk to her bedroom, flipping on the light and closing the door before taking off her robe and tugging on her outfit for the day.Usually the blonde would just get dressed in her school uniform, but today she was going on a trip to the Natural History Museum with some classmates, and they were given strict orders to not wear their uniforms. It was supposed to let the students blend in with tourists and not gain too much attention, but Sophie’s telepathy had queued her in on the truth: The school didn’t want to risk idiot teens giving their prestigious academy a bad reputation.Meaning Sophie now faced the dilemma of choosing an outfit. Or it would, if Sophie’s Mom hadn’t sat with her for three hours yesterday trying to figure out something simultaneously cute, comfortable, and school appropriate while not looking like she had just rolled out of bed.All to settle on dark blue jeans, a light grey sports turtleneck, and a dark purple cardigan her mom was forcing letting her borrow to semi-match the purple, Twilight Sparkle backpack Sophie was finally going to use.Since her school satchel had the rose and quill crest of Ariston Preparatory Academy embroidered on it, the bag counted as part of her uniform, so she - and all other students going on this trip - had to bring a different bag.Sophie had been dying to use her new bag since she got it from her parents for her birthday nearly a month ago. She wasn’t usually one to like things that would draw an unnecessary amount of attention to herself, especially with all of the wonderfully, not jealous or hateful students that totally didn’t glare at the blonde for just existing in the same space as them, but she had learned long ago that fandoms had a tendency to breed fondness between peers. And even if the more intense wave of “bronies” was almost a decade ago, nearly every girl - and a good chunk of boys - at Sophie’s school had at least some interest in the famous cartoon series.Sophie beamed as she picked up the backpack showcasing a sparkling purple alicorn princess, and tugged it onto her shoulders as she left her room, closing the door behind her, and headed back downstairs. Where the scent of burnt breakfast had been replaced with that of freshly made pancakes and sweet syrup.Sophie checked her watch, seeing that she only had ten minutes till Randy came to get her for their early subway ride to the school, and bolted down the rest of the spiral steps.When she got downstairs, she saw her Dad dancing to a Bon Jovi song blaring from the speakers in the kitchen, still clad in his blue robe. He was having a full on concert, using the spatula as a microphone while he belted out the lyrics to, ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ beckoning Sophie to join him in the sacred act of silliness when he saw her giggling at his dance moves.She joined in immediately, dropping her backpack on the couch and singing off key as loud as she could while making up her own crazy dance moves.When Amy-Rose came down a few moments later, ‘I’ll Make a Man Out Of You’   had begun playing, and the nine year old jumped in on the fun - though Sophie was only humming, since she was busy scarfing down pancakes drowned in syrup. By the time their Mom entered the fray, ‘Wannabe’ by The Spice Girls had started playing, and the lawyer - dressed in a navy pants suit and baby blue blouse with nude heels and her thick chocolate brown hair bouncy and flawless - stared at the three goofballs in the kitchen with a deadpan expression.Completely serious and unfazed.Until the second repetition of the chorus hit, then Emma Foster began wobbling her shoulders in an embarrassing wiggly dance, and singing the words so loudly, Sophie could hear their neighbors down the street think about how noisy the family with the red door was.Sophie’s Mom made her way over to the short blonde, wiggle dancing the whole way there as the thirteen year old set her dishes in the sink, and began singing just as loudly again.The four of them danced in twirls and loops and very strangely coordinated steps to the song, and Sophie only stopped when she felt a buzz in her back pocket, and became acutely aware of Randy’s thoughts echoing from outside their front door. She giggled, said goodbye to her family, and grabbed her backpack.“Wait!” Her Dad called, and she spun around to face him, watching as he raised a brow and quieted the music, “Safety check?”Grinning, Sophie flashed her wrist, “Smart watch, phone, charging pack, cord, and block. $20 cash, subway card, and mini medical kit. School approved earbuds, student ID, my migraine medication, and two emergency fun-reading books.”Amy-Rose rolled her eyes, “Weirdo.” at the look of disapproval their parents sent the nine year old, she raised her hands with a shrug, “What? It’s true. Who needs one emergency book to read in case of boredom? Let alone two ?”Sophie pretended not to hear her Mom’s thoughts agree with the youngest Foster, as she tugged on a pair of gray running shoes, and tried to focus on their Dad’s gasp of horror instead as he proclaimed, “How could my own blood say such things?” The theatrically dramatic rasping voice really sold his next declaration , “Betrayal, be thy name for such treacherous words spoken against me!” Then he fell to his seat with a plop and feigned the most extraordinarily unrealistic death in the history of ever, tongue hanging from his lips, head pulled to one side, with wheezing deep breaths added for effect.All three girls rolled their eyes, but Sophie could hear Randy’s thoughts of growing impatience from the other side of the door, so she just waved to the trio still in the kitchen and called, “Bye guys, love you!” and pulled the red door open.A small echo of her words followed Sophie outside, as she shut the door behind her, locked it with her fingerprint, and all but leapt down the stairs.Randy chuckled from his place on the sidewalk, where he leaned against the brick wall to the left of the brickstone's staircase, “Excited for the trip, Golden Girl?”Sophie rolled her brown eyes at the nickname, readjusted her hold on the straps of her purple Twilight Sparkle backpack, and beamed up at him, “Yep! Now hurry up slowpoke, or we’ll be late.”She pretended not to hear him say that he was the one waiting on her , as she passed him and began walking down the sidewalk.The same way she pretended not to hear her sister's venomous and spiteful thoughts. Or her Mom’s stress filled meanderings as she wished for the trillionth time that her eldest daughter wasn’t so different from other girls her age. Or her Dad’s worrying concern about how the paper published three days ago might make Sophie’s few interactions with the other students even more hostile and limited.The same way she pretended not to notice her own doubt and fear slowly crawling along her skin and sinking into her blood as she thought of all the ways her peers were already reacting to “Freakazoid Foster” being written about in such a public paper. The same way she pretended her smile was uninhibited and true as she chatted with her guard dog of a neighbor and ignored his thoughts of irritation at having to go on this trip with her.The same way she pretended she was completely unbothered, unbroken by it all every. Single. Day.Because Sophie knew that if she didn’t pretend, if she truly acknowledged the aching pain of being so different from everyone she loved, and causing them near countless problems because of it; then the tears she shed in the silence of starlight, wouldn’t stop when she turned to written worlds to escape her cruel reality.And if the tears didn’t stop when she was lost in a tale of fantasy and fun, then they would likely never stop again.So Sophie smiled, and laughed. She played the dutiful role of “Princess Perfect”, and pretended everything was okay - even as the swarming thoughts around her invaded every crevice of her mind, and she had to turn to music in order to block out the suffocating noise of the world slowly drowning her.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie

Sophie watched the city go by in a mix of hazy blurs and picture perfect precision as she pressed her forehead against the cool window of the school charter bus, trying to immerse herself into another world through the deafening intensity of drums, guitar, and emotional lyrics. But even the masterful melodies made by Lincoln Park were nowhere near enough to drown out the invading thoughts of nearly three dozen people currently pouring into her.And that wasn’t including the people in cars or surrounding buildings near enough for Sophie’s mind to hear muffled thoughts from.The blonde sighed, and closed her eyes as she ignored the bitter thoughts from half the girls on the bus currently seething some variation about the fact that ‘the Randy Daniels’ was sitting next to the ‘freaky genius kid’. Her ploy to have her backpack spark conversation with her peers had worked perfectly; for about ten minutes.Some of the girls had looked back fondly on the equestrian cartoon, even looking up some of their old favorite songs and spiraling into talks about other old shows they liked as kids. But somewhere along the riveting recollections of Avatar the Last Airbender and Jenny the Teenage Robot, a few girls had begun discussing shows like Teen Wolf, Vampire Diaries, and Once Upon a Time - and while Sophie was well acquainted with those shows due in large part to her access to her peers minds, not many of the older girls were willing to discuss super cute guys, gore, and plot holes with a thirteen year old.A fact made so irrevocably stupid by the sole fact that there were multiple freshmen girls - who were fourteen - that had signed up for the trip, and were welcomed into the conversation.Like, seriously! Sophie had eyes just as functional as theirs! She could contribute just as much to a conversation revolving around hot guys as any of them. Even if she hadn’t actually known what they were talking about - which she did - Sophie could easily google a character to get an opinion.The situation was made even more irritating when the gaggle of girls began playing “Here me out” with characters like Beast, Kovu, and Cyborg from Teen Titans - the original cartoon, not the ‘Go’ remake.And as soon as the bus seating chart was known to everyone, any and all sense of kindness most of the girls had found for Sophie in the moments they’d bonded over a shared love of animated characters and underrated songs vanished. Replaced with vehement irritation at the thirteen year old freak sitting next to one of the schools star athletes.So it was back to ignoring the world, and falling into a realm of sound and darkness as she tried muffling the errant thoughts all around her and fighting back the urge to scream at her female peers that it wasn’t her fault Randy was one of her school assigned, “buddies” .Well… maybe it was a little her fault.But only because Sophie had desperately wanted to be around people whose intellect would be closer to hers after her parents finally had her tested when she was eight. She hadn’t understood that older kids would hate her, reject her, ridicule her for simply existing because she was so much smarter than people her age - and many much older.Her parents had known, though. So they had created a very strict set of rules and regulations for their eldest daughter to follow when they enrolled Sophie into the prestigious academy four years ago.Sophie had already been enrolled in her music, ballet, and ice skating lessons, but with her school not offering dance or ice skating as an active elective, her Mom had demanded Sophie take gymnastics.Her reasoning had been that it would help Sophie advance in her the activities she was actually interested in while building up her balance; but her thoughts had revealed that Emma Foster had hoped the coaches would find a way to somehow help the blonde walk down a sidewalk without tripping every few feet.They had no such luck.Dancing, flips, and moving on knife shoes? Easy.Walking in a straight line with nothing in her way? Level: Impossible to achieve.It had gotten better, sure. In fact, most paths Sophie walked daily were easy enough to navigate without faltering. But irregular patterns or area’s? She was a walking disaster.Literally.Her Dad’s main academic condition for Sophie skipping nearly six years in her educational journey was that she take as many advanced history and literature classes as possible.That one was easy enough to appease.But the self defense classes? The martial arts? The safety procedures? She felt they were just a little bit overkill.Now, to be fair to her parents, Sophie knew they believed nine out of ten people wanted to snatch Sophie off the streets; but her being privy to private thoughts had queued her in on the fact that most people were not psycho killers or kidnappers. Thieves and vandals? Sure. But most of those people only did such things because they either had no decent alternative choice, or were artists who enjoyed provoking the patrons of corrupt capitalism.There were definitely some messed up people in the world, and Sophie often tried to help their victims, or alert the authorities, but the ratio was far less than her parents believed.But still, the blonde girl respected their rules.Had her tracker turned on at all times, always carried emergency equipment, took the martial arts classes, and spent the hours of daylight flitting about from one activity to the next with at least two people with or near her at all times.Sophie thought it was paranoid, but she knew it made her parents feel more secure when she was away from them, so she could deal with it. After all, her being a genius had screwed up their lives so many times, in so many ways; making them feel a little more relaxed with her not being by them was the least she could do.Sophie opened her eyes, pulling herself from the soft comfort of the music blasting her eardrums as Randy elbowed her.She knew from the thoughts of Randy - and the rest of the students and chaperones - that they had arrived at the museum, but when she pulled out her earbud she still asked, “What?”He sighed, “We’re here, Girl Genius. Grab your bag, we’re about to get off the bus.”As he spoke, Randy’s thoughts remained steady and exasperated, but there was something sad… almost scared shining in his sage green eyes as he looked at Sophie. She was tempted to ask what was wrong, but before she could get the first word out, Mr. Sweeney - the history teacher heading this trip - stood up and began going over the rules and expectations for this educational excursion.Again.Still, as the stout man with piercing blue eyes and a comb over of greying hair spoke, Sophie peered at Randy in her periphery. Noticing how each word spoken seemed to add weight to the terrified grief filling the teens sage green gaze.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Randall
Randall hated this.Hated this sickening, horrible plan his ‘Uncle’ and that goddamn Collective had thought up. He knew, logically, that it was necessary. Knew it was to keep her safe and protect Sophie from the dangers surrounding the innocent, forgiving girl sitting beside him.She was too young, too sweet, too good to be faced with the path laid out before her.Still, Randy had felt the elven minds following them for weeks now, waiting for just the slightest opportunity to grab Sophie and spirit her away into the world of hidden truths and dark reality. He could feel the Vacker boy now, too.Watching Sophie, looking for a chance to connect to her mind and determine if she was the girl he and his family had been looking for. And today he would get that chance.It was all planned out, all mapped and ready, and it made him sick.Randy was going to kill the fucking Collective for this, he swore to the damn Sun and Stars that he would. It was going to break Sophie’s heart when she learned that she was an elf, because he was certain that as soon as she learned what she was, it would take less than an hour for her to draw the correct conclusion of what she was not .Sera had lucked out with not being the telepath between them. The fierce bodybuilder usually hated her ability as a beguiler; had wished for most of their lives that she had been the one designed to eventually be Sophie’s cognate. When they had learned about this plan, though? She had cried at the situation they were caged into, and thanked the Moon for her gift. Because she wasn’t needed for this part. Wasn’t the one who would be responsible for the fallout of what was to come.Randy’s fists clenched at the sorrowful wrath building within him, clawing against all rational thought and demanding he protect Sophie’s peace of mind and happiness; but he fought the instinct. Denied the wild beast scraping against his sanity.He took one minute to close his eyes, and accept the rage, the grief, before relenting to the reality of their situation.Sophie was in danger here, the rebels had found her; they were actively stalking her.He was certain that if it weren’t for the trolls stationed underneath her house, and the countless shield’s his ‘Uncle’ placed around the Foster’s home every night, then they would have snatched her up in her sleep the day they discovered who - what she was.When Randy opened his eyes, they locked with the elf currently disguised as a pudgy, balding, human history teacher, and gave the slightest of nods - the only signal they would risk with so many elves nearby.He hated himself for it. Despised every breath he’d ever taken to bring him to this moment.There was no going back now. Soon, the Vacker boy would have the perfect opportunity to approach Sophie, and her entire world would fall apart because of it.Because of him.The beast within him writhed at the knowledge; For a moment Randy wondered, vaguely, if it was actually a part of him raging at the days to come, or the instincts that had been etched into his own genetic coding. After all, while Sophie Foster - Project Moonlark - had been designed to fix their shattering world, made to meld the broken bits back together… Project Fenrir had been created to protect her at all costs.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie
Sophie briefly considered claiming insanity as the class's tour guide droned on, and on, and on about the exhibits in the museum while somehow mixing up all of the information! Seriously, why was this guy guiding a group of young, malleable minds through this place if he couldn’t recall the difference between the Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods?The worst part was that Mr. Sweeney had forbidden the small blonde from wearing her earbuds all day long , so she was stuck fixating on the incorrect facts this jamoke was spewing in slanderous segments of speech!And the thoughts from the other students surrounding her were just as bored, randomized, and confused, and Sophie was about ready to explode from her seething rage as this absolute baboon brained boy tried telling the class that the megalodon species was nothing but a myth . Sophie’s mind flashed with images of the various textbooks and even plaques in this building which very clearly stated otherwise.Sophie had contemplated reminding Mr. Sweeney that she had been given permission to wear her earbuds whenever she felt over-stimulated or extremely uncomfortable due to both her high functioning brain, and the age gap between the blonde and her peers. But even just passing shifts of focus to the old man’s grumbling thoughts let the thirteen year old know that she would not be getting any “special privileges” from him all day long.And he did mean all day.Because while most of the other students got to go travel the various exhibits in groups of three to five students, Sophie - the Perfect Prodigy - had the absolutely delightful honor of enjoying Mr. Sweeney’s company for the last two hours of this trip. And based on the flitting thoughts she caught whenever his mind wandered to how he was going to, ‘Finally show that snotty little know-it-all brat her place.’ Sophie had a feeling those last two hours were going to be miserable.Oh well, two hours of personalized torture from the balding, blue eyed man was better than withstanding the barrage of spiteful, cutting thoughts from an entire school.  No matter the target of the cruel mental commentary - be it her or another student - Sophie could always feel the venomous wrath of those hurtful thoughts pulse within her blood. She endured the sting of bitterness and fear, the hollow hum of shallow joys and numbing sorrow, the cold prickle of isolation and envy.She could hear it all, feel the echoes of emotion etched into the unbidden thoughts, sometimes clouding over her own sense of self.Sophie was usually able to force herself past the raging storm of centripetal concerns from her peers; her go-to tactic was to drown out the sound of intruding mental voices with music and melodies. Seeing as that wasn’t an option today, though, the short blonde went with her next best course of coping; focus on one person's thoughts.Sometimes she could do this with her own flitter of mental musings, but since Sophie’s own mind was consumed by the utter idiocy of her classes tour guide, doing that would only serve to further agitate the brown eyed girl. With that in mind, Sophie let herself listen in on the many thoughts surrounding her; the blonde scattering pieces of her mind amongst her fellow students, until she landed on the least annoying stream of consciousness available - that also wasn’t plagued with personal dilemmas or sensitive situations.She knew the intricate inner workings of her classmates' relationships and homelives were none of her business.So she zeroed in on the thoughts of Maria Salas, a sophomore who was currently debating how to spend her time after this field trip was over. Maria was a tall, curvy teen, with caramel skin and lush, dark waves that she carefully styled everyday to frame her face just so in order to enhance what she thought of as ‘plain features’ . Personally, Sophie had always found the teen to be quite beautiful, but the blonde understood that as a girl with her heart set on becoming an actress, Maria was only so critical of her appearance because she wished to succeed in the cut throat world of costumes and cameras.Which is why the sophomore was debating between practicing various accents and expressions, or finishing a science project early and easing the stress of last minute cramming and creation for her future self. Sophie had a feeling the former would be the option that won out, given the fact that most teens often selected procrastination.Even Sophie indulged in the bad habit every now and then.Like last night, for example, when she had delayed going to bed in an effort to finish a series that had an ultimately befuddling end and let down of a final battle.And just like that, Sophie’s own thoughts were pulled away from the annoyance of her classes tour guide, and into a spiral of endless alternate endings for the series she had all but devoured this past week. Briefly, the blonde even contemplated creating her own fanfiction for the last book, giving it a more satisfying final battle would most definitely do wonders for her sense of sanity.A small smile crept onto her lips as she decided to add more Percabeth scenes in this fanfiction - if she decided to actually write it.Sophie’s heart fluttered slightly as she recalled the way Percy had emerged from the waves in Mark of Athena, Annabeth's dagger in hand and casually commented, “I think you dropped this.” while handing the blade back to his girlfriend. When she had first read that scene, it had taken all of her willpower to keep from squealing at the adorability of it; and even then, Sophie had to keep reminding herself that her whole family was asleep in order to stave off the urge to start jumping around her room at two in the morning.Fleetingly, Sophie wondered if her… slight obsession with fictional characters was something to be concerned about. After all, it probably wasn’t a good thing that she preferred the company of people conjured by words inked upon pages over actual, in person interactions with her fellow, real people.This concern lasted all of two seconds before the whispering thoughts of her peers slithered through her mind, and Sophie recalled just how utterly annoying real people could be. Who cares if it wasn’t considered, “the norm” , fictional characters made from imagination were far more interesting - and exceedingly more tolerable - than those made from flesh and bone. Because, seriously, who would choose a sixteen year old boy contemplating how to best cheat on his girlfriend this weekend, over a guy who literally decided to fall into and walk through the grecian equivalent of hell with the girl he loved?And even beyond Percy Jackson, there were guys like Conner Bailey from ‘Land of Stories’ who somehow thought a yawn from the girl he liked was cool. A yawn !Sophie’s mind sifted through a list of fictional guys who were a trillion times better than most of the guys existing beyond a book or screen or script. And the blonde felt a slight blush creep across her cheeks, hands unconsciously reaching up to her hair to twine little braids through the sandy locks, as she realized how many of them had characteristics similar to Easton.Not that she liked Easton, obviously. Well, she liked him, of course. But only as a friend! She didn’t like-like him.Sure, he was cute and sweet, and sarcastic in a way that made for comforting witty banter between them. And his smile certainly made her happy. And his eyes were ridiculously beautiful. And that gleam of arrogant, well-earned pride that shined in his bright green eyes whenever he was writing chemical formulas and blueprints for improving various forms of energy efficiency was super cute, especially when- NOPE!Sophie shook her head slightly, hands moving to the other side of her face to twist another braid into place. Clearly, the blush inducing thoughts Easton had been emanating for the past few days was messing with her head. She did not have feelings for him.His feelings were just… causing her to have crazy ideas. And sure, Easton shared some base characteristics of some of her favorite fictional characters, but so did most guys.She liked witty banter and thought that slightly messy hair was attractive; sue her !Those were very ambiguous, broad things that a majority of girls her age had a fondness for. And, yeah, maybe Easton was also good at keeping track of Sophie’s physical tells for when she felt frustrated or otherwise negative emotions, but so were the rest of her friends!“s Fos-”And, really, it wasn’t like she hadn’t heard Easton have the occasional cruel thought about her, “iss F0-” just a few weeks ago, the green eyed boy had been bitter about her outsmarting him in three different types of strategic games, “ MISS FOSTER! ”Sophie jumped at the much too close, much too loud, nasally voice of Mr. Sweeney, who was currently standing less than three feet away from her. His relatively short frame was still half a foot taller than the petite blonde, and those six inches made him seem all the more daunting as he seethed, his piercing blue eyes burning with irritation as he looked down at her. It took Sophie a moment to sort through the surrounding thoughts of her snickering classmates to realize that Mr. Sweeney had been trying to get her attention for at least a few minutes now.She winced under the weight of her teacher’s raging thoughts; she hadn’t meant to ignore him for so long. Or at all, actually.The blonde was just so used to tuning out the mental voices that his own audible words had simply gotten lost in the white noise Sophie so often ignored whenever her own thoughts began tumbling together. She flushed, eyes focusing on the ground at her feet as she decided, once and for all, that these weird, fluttery musings about Easton and his crush on her were nothing but trouble, and needed to come to an end.Quickly.“Oh, good.” Mr. Sweeney sneered, “It seems our star student has decided to actually pay attention for once.”A wave of quiet chuckles rustled through the students, and Sophie took a steadying breath, willing the blush away from her cheeks as she lifted her head; her expression completely unbothered as she looked up at her blue eyed teacher. His agitation only grew at the mask of neutrality Sophie wore as he asked, “So, Miss Foster, since you’ve finally chosen to participate in this conversation, why don’t you go ahead and answer my question?”The balding teacher wore a tight lipped smile as he spoke, and Sophie knew he wanted her to ask what the question was - since she had clearly missed it - but thanks to her telepathy, the blonde quickly gleaned the question from the minds of her peers. Once she knew what her pudgy teacher had asked, Sophie’s mind flashed with a picture perfect rendering of a plaque she had briefly glanced at while letting her thoughts wander.The blonde had to fight the urge to fiddle with her hair as she recited its text word for word, “While it is speculated that the albertosaurus may have lived, and died earlier than the tyrannosaurus, it is believed that the two creatures did exist at the same time. But once the tyrannosaurus had become a steady constant in the environment, and both creatures lived in the same relative area, it is believed that they often competed for food. This would have made it nearly impossible for full herds of the albertosaurus - the smaller and less powerful tyrannosaurid of the two - to find and eat enough food for the species to survive more than a few decades after a new prime predator had claimed their territory.”Sophie wanted to cry under the suffocating hatred behind nearly all of her classmates' scoffs, Mr. Sweeney’s boiling rage, and blatant pity shining in the eyes of Tessa and Randy, her only two friends in the entire group..But she held it together, pushing down her own fury, humiliation, and unease as Mr. Sweeney begrudgingly conceded to Sophie being correct, and turned the groups attention back to their idiotic tour guide. Once everyone’s eyes were off of her, Sophie released a slow, steady breath as she forced the swelling emotions boiling inside of her to quiet.Then Sophie quickly undid the braids she hadn’t even realized she’d begun weaving in her hair before Mr. Sweeney’s humiliating display, berating herself for the trillionth time for allowing the stupid habit to happen without her notice.Randy was next to her, while walking Sophie had vaguely felt the older teen maneuvering her around randomly placed objects throughout their tour; such as benches, trash cans, and even an irritating stone pillar or two. The older boy leaned down slightly and whispered, “You okay?”In a blink, Sophie painted a small smile onto her lips, pulling her hands from her braid free hair as she let out a soft laugh and said, “Yeah, I’m good.”Then she took three quick steps forward, staying just ahead of her dutiful guard dog as she ensured the smile stayed plastered on her face; idly trying to convince herself that if she said those words enough, maybe one day, even she would believe they were true.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Astin

Mr. Sweeney was perhaps the most simultaneously entertaining, and infuriating persona for any of the telepathic triplets to play.

On one hand, the pudgy, balding mask of a hubristic human teacher allowed for many opportunities to subtly assist humans while remaining focused on their objective to guide the Moonlark. All three of the triplets had a well-known soft spot for the short-lived creatures; though the fascination Astin’s brothers, Leto and Conley, had developed was heavily based on their fascination with observing and understanding the species that resembled the elves in so many ways, yet were so intrinsically different on a fundamental level.

Astin, meanwhile, found joy in the simple interactions with the endlessly complex creatures. Which is why he was often the triplet who took on the more interactive personalities; aka, most of the characters created to look after their Project Moonlark since her inception nearly fourteen years ago.

He and both of his brother’s always made sure to rotate the roles in regular intervals, of course. They had all agreed doing so would create the best chances of minimizing personal attachments before even selecting a human family to host their Moonlark. And yet, Astin knew better than any of them just how wrong they had been.

While it certainly

helped

, there was no stopping the fondness each of the brothers felt for the child they had so carefully created and brought into the world. The triplets knew the small blonde was not - in any way -

their

child; but that didn’t stop the way Leto subtly hoped for Miss Foster’s victory in competition and concerts. Nor the joy Conley found whenever she succeeded in creating a new baked treat.

And Astin was all too aware of the pride

he

felt whenever the brown eyed girl showed her strength with both selfless acts, and standing against something she knew was wrong.

It was no secret that Astin was the most soft hearted and idealistic of the telepathic triplets, and though Sophie Foster was nothing like the collective had envisioned all those decades ago when

“Mr. Forkle”

had first suggested the plan to the seven ruling members of the Black Swan, in Astin’s opinion, she was everything they hadn’t known they needed.

Sophie Foster was brilliant and brave and kind - as they had hoped she would be - but in ways none of them had ever anticipated.

Her brilliance was not something based upon just her skill at reading and retaining information, but born within her ability to think critically and use her wits and ingenuity to solve problems with seemingly little effort. Like just a few minutes ago, when he - as Mr. Sweeney - had interrupted her spiraling train of thought, and she had utilized her telepathy to not only glean what question she missed, but also plan and execute the best way to quickly divert attention from her.

And the bravery she displayed was not in any grandiose capacity, but in the subtle ways Miss Foster stood by her friends and supported them, despite any hurtful truths they might send her way. The same could be said about how she withstood her family's true thoughts with a small smile and unshaking demeanor.

Her kindness, though, was perhaps Astin’s most treasured attribute the small blonde had developed throughout her life. Sophie Foster had every right in all the world to despise those surrounding her, but instead, she chose to understand those who hurt her. She forgave and accepted the emotions and thoughts of others with ease, and looked beyond their actions; to the depths of their reasoning.

She did not focus on the negligence of her peers, but on the envy and confliction conveyed in their minds as they let their jealousy grow to resentment, before it eventually bloomed into full blown hatred. And the young girl searched for this truth, and found the courage and strength to forgive those who hurt her. Something most elves centuries old could never truly accomplish.

He only hoped that one day she would find it in her heart to forgive him - along with his brothers, Sera, Randy, and fellow leaders of the Collective - for everything they had done to her. For everything they would one day present to her as a path of action.

For the life they were about to rip her away from with so little warning.

But as the lunches were passed out, Sophie dutifully took her seat by Astin’s “Mr. Sweeney” disguise, and he fought the urge to just scoop the girl up right then and leap her to Brumvale - the home carved out at the top of a gusting mountain where he, Leto, and Conley had researched genetics and concocted the crazy scheme of Project Moonlark.

He let out a long sigh, making sure to project thoughts of annoyance as he stood from his seat and announced that he had to use the restroom, but would be right back; creating a perfect opening for Fitzroy Vacker to approach the small blonde without fear of being caught.

Every step he took broke a piece of his heart, the effect doubling when his piercing blue eyes locked with Randall’s sage green gaze; a silent sorrow passed between them, as they peered at the small blonde from a distance. The pair watched as their careful plan fell into place and the elven boy with bright teal eyes approached Sophie.

A small wave of somber laughter rolled through Astin as - at long last - Fitzroy Vacker found the lost elf he’d spent over half his life searching for.

The fragile mirth faded quickly, as Astin found himself grateful for the plan he and his brothers had schemed up for today’s events including the safety measures of having a pair of trolls and dwarves waiting underground. Ready to maneuver unseen and unimpeded by using their innate connection with the earth in case of an unforeseen reaction.

It was a good thing, too.

Because not even three minutes after the teal eyed boy had begun speaking with Sophie, Astin heard the waves of panicked thoughts pouring out of the blonde’s mind in jagged, terrified waves of fear and uncertainty. An instant later, Sophie dropped her purple backpack to the ground and began running through the museum.

Once again, Randall and Astin - in his Mr. Sweeney mask - locked eyes, and Astin knew they were both fighting back tears at the reality that would soon come crashing down around them. It was a heartbreaking truth that would have come eventually, they all knew that.

Still, Astin couldn’t imagine how much this would crush Randall and Sera, who had been protecting Sophie since the day she was born; their instincts kicking in violently the instant the two of them met the brown eyed babe over a decade ago. Astin could still recall having to forcibly hold the two elven halflings back from attacking the humans interacting with the new born Moonlark; even her own human family.

The telepathic triplets had attempted to separate the halflings from Sophie’s presence many times over the first few years - failing spectacularly each time until they raised the white flag of defeat and created false identities for the two. Which is how Project’s Fenrir and Melody became Randall and Sera Daniels, the neighbors and dear friends of Sophie Foster.

Astin hoped the two of them would be able to help each other through the coming struggles from separating from Sophie so suddenly. He could only hope that the two would be able to withstand the wait; if only because it would be the best way to keep their beloved Moonlark safe.

His piercing blue eyes moved from the teenage boy with silent tears streaming down his cheeks, and toward the exit Sophie had just ran through, the Vacker boy quickly following after the blonde.

With a heavy conscience, Astin sent a silent plea to the Stars and Moon for their plan to work.

And another prayer to the Sun, for strength. Strength to endure whatever trials the Black Swan would soon face in the coming days. Strength to keep their beloved Moonlark, their final gambit and greatest hope, safe, alive, and far from the war within the shadows until she was old enough to take on the role they all hoped she would one day choose.

A lone, silent tear stung the cheek of Astin’s hubristic human disguise, as he mourned for the frail remains of peace and comfort lingering within Sophie’s soul. Mourned, because he better than anyone, knew that the truth she was about to learn, would shatter every tenuous shard of hope the poor girl had long since clung to, the instant she learned both what she was, and what she was not.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie

-Thirty Minutes Before Sophie Runs-
Sophie wanted to slam her head against the wall as seven of her classmates took on the challenge of figuring out the most infuriating, idiotic questions they could think up, and voicing their ridiculous inquiries to the stupendously stupid tour guide. Honestly, if Sophie weren’t privy to his thoughts, she would have sworn the nasally, long limbed boy had to be joking with the class.Seriously, who didn’t know that Antarchtica was located at the bottom of the world?Okay, probably a fair few people, but a person being paid to know such information should know that information!Shaking her head, Sophie tried to slip back into her own world of imagination, trying to block out the noisy clutter of thoughts slowly growing more and more desperate for her attention. The best way to do that right now - seeing as nearly everyone in this building was thinking of nothing but facts and extremely personal matters - was to fall back into random musings of fictional worlds.The small blonde didn’t hate this world, or even the people in it - despite their often cruel or duplicitous thoughts. In fact, as they meandered through the museum, Sophie couldn’t help but think back on all of the people whose thoughts revealed their own heartbreaking realities. In a way, her curse of unfiltered mind reading allowed Sophie to become more understanding and empathetic to her peers. To other humans in general, really. Helped her understand the elusive “why” behind everyone’s actions.That being said, just because she could understand that the seven students still competing over who could be the most obnoxious were only doing it to try and impress their friends, didn’t make Sophie any less annoyed with them.It also did nothing to make her find the idea of real boys too appealing; especially when compared to sweethearts like Connor Bailey, from The Land of Stories, who may have been brash and impatient, but never abandoned his family and always stood up for his friends. She even thought the fictional boy's habit of falling asleep in class to be a little silly and endearing.Yet another reason she could never- would never be able to date Easton. Or ever truly develop romantic feelings for him. He might be sweet, and even fairly cute, but Easton would never be able to measure up to the fictional boys Sophie had read about for nearly her entire life.Especially when she allowed herself to remember all the times he had truly, unapologetically hated her.The way everyone in her life had at one point or another.Her mind began tumbling through every awful thought those she loved had ever secretly held themselves back from voicing. If Sophie were being completely honest with herself, it was those horrible, painful truths hidden behind forced smiles and short words that had driven the blonde to immerse herself in worlds of fantasy and endless possibilities.Realities so far estranged from her own that fanciful dreams of a handsome boy whisking her away to a land full of fairy tales, magic, and mystery didn’t seem so impossible. Dreams of learning that every oddity about herself could be explained by learning she was secretly a demigod or wizard, or even a mutant like in X-Men. Dreams of someone promising they could open up an entirely unforeseen world to Sophie.One where she might finally belong.Following her class to the final room of their tour, Sophie tried to ignore the growing ache of wishes and what-ifs in her heart.Tried to quell the longing for a world where she wasn’t the only one with freaky abilities. Where she could tell her friends her deepest truth. Where she would fit in easily, and find people who understood and truly accepted her. A place where everyone around didn’t secretly despise her for simply existing.But as their tour came to a close, so too did Sophie’s fanciful thoughts of worlds and futures filled with dragons, alicorns, and every other impossible thing.Those only existed in fairytales; and unfortunately, Sophie was 99% sure that the Land of Stories was not a real place she could one day visit.And she was 100% certain that she would never find a group of friends who would ever truly accept what a weird freak she was. Because much as her family might like to tease Sophie about being their “Little Twilight” due to her antisocial tendencies and love of books, the odds of her ever meeting her own version of the “Mane Six” was statistically infinitesimal.A sharp jag on the back of her shoulder had Sophie’s mind flying from her own saddening thoughts, and into the spiraling storm of voices before she narrowed in on the one who had elbowed her: Randy Daniels. The tall, curly haired teen took her death glare in stride and simply nodded his a bit, motioning for her to look forward. When she did, Sophie noticed their classmates dispersing into their preassigned groups for lunch, with Mr. Sweeney’s piercing blue eyes locked on her as he sent the small blonde a fake, overblown smile as he held up a brown paper sack: Her lunch for the day.She deflated a bit as she adjusted the straps of her purple backpack and gave a small wave to Randy as she made her way to the pudgy teacher. Halfway there, Sophie gave into her ridiculous habit of twisting braids into her sandy blonde hair, the familiar pattern and movement easing a bit of the sour tension coiling in her gut.She didn’t know why, but something about the way Mr. Sweeney looked at her, made Sophie feel as though he was about to cry - even though his thoughts indicated nothing of the sort.If anything, the balding man’s mental voice was petty and agitated, conjuring up plan after plan on how to make the school’s “Golden Girl” slip up and reveal what an idiot she was in comparison to a former historian of the state. As if he weren’t fired for fudging records and accounts to get more time on his own personal projects when working for the state.When she reached her teacher, Sophie tried to puzzle out the urge to be kind to the teacher who had done nothing but ridicule her for weeks. His thoughts were so angry and irate, the whisper of concern in her own mind made absolutely no sense.Especially as the balding man gave her a sickly sweet smile and handed her the paper sack containing her lunch. She pulled her hands from her hair, and thanked him quietly.A wave of disgruntled thoughts washed over her from his mind, he was clearly upset that the small blonde wasn’t upset by the fact that she - and all of her peers - would be eating basic meat and cheese sandwiches with a piece of fruit, and a cheese stick.Likely because a good chunk of her class was whining about the inedible meal handed to them. But they were mostly spoiled rich kids with connections to the school, she was a kid genius who got in on nothing but skill.Not to mention that, as a kid, cheese flavored squares of plastic and dry turkey had been her school lunch on a good day. Mostly because it was the only thing her mom could make without burning the house down, and Sophie’s Dad didn’t want to insult his wife by offering to make their daughters lunches. And her parents refused to let Sophie eat the food provided by the school; seeing at it was the same food prisoners ate.Meaning that this meal was nothing but nostalgia for the petite girl, and the pudgy teacher glowered as he saw her small smile upon seeing the food inside the paper sack.With a huff, he grumbled, “Come on.” before turning away from her and walking over to a metal bench. Sophie rolled her eyes as he kept on mumbling idle, irritated thoughts once they sat down, the blonde plopping her school bag between her feet as she . Even through his large bites of his own ham and cheese sandwich, spewing bits of bread and cheese as he grumbled on and on about the stupid know-it-all.What made all of this even stranger, was that Sophie still felt some unknown instinct telling her to be kind with the grumpy old man. She didn’t see the point in that though, he wasn’t exactly subtle with his hatred for the child prodigy; even mocking her openly when the news article about her had been published. She had nearly started crying right then and there, only her years of experience shoving down her emotions helped to quell the burning humiliation his blatant display had summoned.Her lack of reaction only served to further irritate him.The same way it always angered everyone around her. As she munched on the apple from her paper bag, Sophie thought over some of the many occasions she had shoved every single emotion so deep inside her heart, she nearly felt numb from the absence of them.But on so many occasions, it was the only way for her to survive the overwhelming grief or pain or rage burrowed so deeply into her soul, some part of her knew she would never truly escape it.About halfway through their meal, nearly every other group of students had left the common area they had been released from, and Mr. Sweeney causally ordered her to stay put while he used the restroom. Sophie rolled her eyes, watching as he waddled away from her and turned a corner.She had already finished her sandwich and the apple core was all that remained of the bright red fruit, so she took out the string cheese and cookie packet she receive before chucking the core of her apple and the zip-lock baggie that had held her sandwich into the paper sack and stuffed them into her purple school bag for later.She was especially excited about the E.L.Fudges she had gotten.Sophie loved Oreo’s a bit more, but the elf shaped treats were always a yummy treat. And a rare one, at that. Given the way Sophie’s Mom had always been picky about sugar loaded snacks.Deciding to brave the possibility of her balding teacher's return, Sophie plucked her earbuds and phone from the pocket within her sparkly purple backpack - while leaving her smartwatch in its place.She double tapped the screen and popped in her earbuds, selecting the icon for her music app, and pressing play. Instantly, she relaxed into the soft hum of Lana Del Rea, and let the world around her drift away. Losing her concerns to the tempered beat and soft vocals of the song, Sophie rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes as she sank into the somber melody of ‘Summertime Sadness’ ; trying her best to ignore the ever present buzz of thoughts from all those around her.This lasted all of ten seconds before a soft nudge on her shoulder dragged Sophie from her rare found semblance of peace. When she opened her eyes, Sophie was expecting to meet the sharp blue gaze of Mr. Sweeney, or perhaps the concerned eyes of a security guard. Instead, as her brown orbs blinked open and peered up, she found herself staring into two pools of the most beautiful shade teal she could ever imagine. The boy they belonged to was far too handsome to be real. He looked like a teen version of Zac Eferon, Chris Hemsworth, and Daniel Gillies all fused together - with only their best attributes dominating his genetics.With beautiful, impossibly vibrant teal eyes gleaming in the museum's light.So beautiful, in fact, that it took a moment for Sophie to register that they were blown wide with shock, and his lips were forming seemingly silent words.Her brows furrowed, and she was about to begin signing to him - a habit she’d built up over the years due to her friendship with a girl named Hana Long, who was mute. Just before she began to move her hands to ask what it was he wanted, Sophie’s brain caught up with her, and the blonde quickly pulled out her earbuds and said, “I’m sorry, what?”The boy's smile shrinked a bit as he eyed the small device still balaring the alternative style music. Blushing slightly, Sophie began stuffing both her phone and her infernal earbuds back into her bag. While she did this, the handsome stranger asked, his voice soft and polite, coated in a crisp - almost British accent, “Is this you?”Something about his voice… bothered her. Sophie whipped her head up to look at him, suspicion no doubt etched into her features as the newspaper in his hand registered, and she nodded slightly. A smile of melancholy pulled onto his lips, and he seemed almost… disappointed that she was the girl in the news article. It stung a bit, but she could imagine many believed the grainy, black and white image was simply unflattering for the subject.Unfortunately, Sophie Foster was just as plain and boring in real life as she was on paper. Aside from her brain’s informational capacity, Sophie was nothing special - so far as everyone else was concerned.Shoving those thoughts aside, the small blonde sat up straight and asked, a brow raised, “Why?” He laughed, the sound of it velvety and melodic, as he scratched the back of his neck and confessed, “I saw you from over there-” He motioned to another bench across the room with a hand, “And thought you might be the same girl. Turns out I was right.”Sophie narrowed her eyes slightly, looking the strange - albeit handsome - boy up and down. He looked like was a year or two older than she was, and while he was practically flawless in appearance, something about his voice seemed… off. Not because of his accent, living in one of the more famous cities in the U.S. meant there were an abundance of tourists every other week from all over the world. The blonde couldn’t quite place it, but something about the sound of his smooth, crisp voice made her want to itch her brain from all of the crawling wrongness of it.There was something else, too.He looked almost disheartened at the knowledge that she was the girl in the image. Disappointment, she could accept, anticipate even. But he seemed so genuinely let down by this information, that it bordered on creepy.Just as she was about to ask why he looked so sad, the boy before her looked over at the tyrannosaurus rex in the center of the room and asked, “Do you honestly think that’s what they look like?” His words were layered with a tone of arrogance and disbelief, almost as if he was half a second away from scoffing at the idea.Raising a brow, Sophie followed his gaze and shrugged, “How would I know? It’s not like I’ve ever met a dinosaur before. But my teacher once said that, supposedly, chickens are some really distant descendants of dinosaurs, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they had feathers or something.”His head whipped to her, “Really?”Sophie frowned, still trying to figure out why his voice bothered her so much as she said, “I mean, lots of people have hypothesized it, but like I said, it’s not like I’ve ever met one, so who’s to say?” He tilted his head at her, squinting his eyes as if trying to figure out a puzzle, making Sophie squirm uncomfortably as she asked, “What?”“Nothing.” He said, drawing out the word as his eyes looked between hers, “I just… your eyes really… threw me.” He finished lamely.Sophie felt her brows crinkle together in confusion as she asked, “My eyes?”He nodded, not meeting her gaze, “I just- I had thought they were blue, and well… they’re not.” The handsome boy seemed to deflate with the final words. He let out a long, defeated sigh, shoulders slumping slightly in the process, before he straightened back up, met her gaze once more with his brilliant teal eyes, and said, “Well, it was nice to meet you, Sophie. Have a good day.”He began to turn, then, and Sophie was still processing how it was he’d known her name as he lifted his hand to wave.But before he could take one full step, a group of elementary students swarmed into the room, and their thoughts hit Sophie’s mind like a tidal wave. Pulling her focus under the borage of squealing and screeching words as images flashed in spirals all around her; the children’s minds overwhelming her own.An eternity passed in the hellish minute it took to regain control of her own mind, and the world was still spinning, spinning, spinning when she realized she was curling in on herself with a hand pressed to her head.With heavy, uneven breaths, Sophie straightened, blinking rapidly as her brown eyes darted around the room in a mad panic.It was unlikely that someone would see her curled up in pain and jump straight to the “You’re a telepath!” conclusion, but it wasn’t something Sophie was willing to risk.She already had a major fear of doctors and hospitals due to all of the needles and beeping machines and prodding fingers; something she'd endured all four times she’d wound up at a hospital over the years.The last thing she needed was to be carted off in an ambulance for a brain scan due to a major headache. That situation would definitely increase the probability of someone finding out about her secret; and as nice as informing a government official about her abilities and having them ship her off to a mad scientist to study her brain might sound, Sophie would have to pass.Visions of her ending up as a test subject with her brain laid out on an operating table sent a rush of bile up her throat.When she choked it back down, shuddering at the worries still plaguing her mind, Sophie’s brown eyes met the startling teal gaze of the boy, who was clutching his own head, and staring at her with wide eyes. His mouth was gaping as he tried to form five different words before settling on, “Are you…?” His words drifted in the air between them, the sound of them soft and crisp.It clicked, then; The reason Sophie had felt an irritable itch of uncomfortability each time he spoke.She could hear every single voice in the room, every mental influx within a three block radius, except for his. Her eyes stretched wide, and breathing became nearly impossible as the air grew thick in her lungs. Sophie could feel herself pressing into the wall at her back, her body instinctively reacting to the fear churning in her heart at the realization.Meanwhile, the boy standing before her leaned in slightly, not noticing the way she curled in her shoulders, as he lowered his crisply accented voice to ask, the words barely above a whisper, “Are you… a telepath?”His teal eyes gleamed with hope and wonder and a million other emotions Sophie couldn’t process or name while the world around her fuzzed. The outer rim of her vision fading to black, the other bodies in the room morphing to blurs of motion as her mind became a mess of fear and panic. She was too hot, too cold, too suffocated to exist.So, as the impossibly handsome boy with incredibly teal eyes stared down at her with a smile tugging on his lips, the only thing Sophie could think to do… was run.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Fitz
Fitzroy Avery Vacker was many things.First and foremost, he was a Vacker. A member of the most prominent, prestigious, and influential families in the whole of the Lost Cities.He was the youngest elf to ever have the concentration crystal on his registry band reach completion, and to ever develop an elven talent at just past twelve years old. Not to mention he was predicted to be the strongest telepath in the known world; according to Councillor Terik.Fitz was also a fairly handsome boy, if he did say so himself. Top of his class all four years he’d been attending the prestigious Soteria Academy - the only noble school in all of the Lost Cities - and the undefeated splotching champion.But none of that mattered in the Forbidden Cities.  Well, perhaps the handsome bit helped. Fitz  couldn’t count the number of times a dazzling smile had gotten him out of some difficult situations in the nine years he’d been searching for the lost elven girl his dad had been trying to track down for over a decade. That being said, his social skills and popularity - which were practically unparalleled in the Lost Cities after his first two years at Soteria - were not quite up to snuff when interacting with humans.Over the years, Fitz had thought he’d improved quite a bit, but he clearly needed some more work; because a dazzling smile was absolutely useless when a girl was running away from him.Which is what the girl, Sophie Foster, was currently doing.And that was… really bad.He had been observing her from afar all day. Watching for any signs that she might be the girl he, Alvar, and even his parents had been searching for, for nearly twelve years. Searching for signs that she might be an elf.And there were plenty.She was in a class of much older humans, for one.Meaning she must be smart, and every elf knew that even below average elves were much smarter than the most brilliant of humans. And she was prettier than them, too, her features soft and lovely. Hair slightly frizzed, and wearing muted colors, yes, but something about her drew the eye of nearly every passerby. Not to mention the fact that she was keeping herself just slightly separate from her classmates, only letting one touch her when she tripped or stumbled.Fitz had to keep himself from helping her each time it happened, because if she was the girl he’d been looking for, then she would be coming to live at Everglen, and become his little sister. And no human had any right to touch Biana, so if this ‘Sophie Foster’ was the girl most of his family had been searching for, then the greedy, disgusting creatures polluting their planet had no right to touch her either.But the pretty blonde seemed comfortable, even used to the boy’s assistants and proximity. At least, that’s what Fitz had thought until he’d seen the boy leave the girl alone to eat with a grumpy old man who’d tried to humiliate her, which he had observed ruefully from his place on a rather uncomfortable metal bench from a level above them. It made FItz wonder if the boy wasn’t her friend, so much as a type of assigned companion for the child prodigy. Fitz was pretty sure he’d seen something like that in a human movie once, but he couldn’t quite recall.The thought had made him think of Keefe, his best friend, and the way he would undoubtedly shove his photographic memory in Fitz’s face if he had been there. A small smile had pulled onto his lips when he’d thought about it. It had only grown wider when Fitz had imagined how jealous Keefe would be when he found out that he had been going on classified, slightly illegal, trips to the Forbidden Cities for nearly a decade. He had just thought up some ways to gloat about it, when he noticed the grumpy elderly human waddling away from the blonde girl. It was the opening he had been looking for all day, but as he had drawn closer to the pretty girl, she began fiddling with some strange human technology and just as she layed her head back against a wall behind her, Fitz caught a glimpse of her eyes.He had stood there, frozen in shock for a moment as he processed that her eyes… were brown ?He’d squinted, brows shooting up as he wondered if he’d been following the wrong girl all day. He began looking between her image in the newspaper, and the girl sitting a little over twenty feet away from him. He was… pretty sure they were the same. But, just in case, he decided to break two of his Dad’s most important rules.Never approach the girl.Never talk to the girl.It was a risk, a really big one, but Fitz was almost certain Sophie Foster wasn’t human, so he had to be sure her eyes were actually brown, and it wasn’t some trick of the light, or even those weird colored contacts he’d seen some humans wear over the years. Which he couldn’t do if her eyes were closed.When he approached her, mind closed off to the thoughts around him to shield from the blaring human minds, he didn’t exactly have a plan. But it took less than a second to see that her eyes were, in fact, brown. It only took a few more to learn that she was indeed the girl from the article.Meaning she couldn’t be the girl they were looking for.He made casual conversation with her, not wanting to be rude, asking about her opinion on the ridiculous way humans seemed to think dinosaurs looked. Fitz had been taken aback to learn that some humans were aware that dinosaurs might have feathers, part of him wishing she had known this because she was an elf - the elf - and that he had finally found the girl his family had been looking for.But her eyes were brown, so he had let out a slight sigh, and decided to head home. To scratch another name off the list.The six hundred and seventy-fourth name.But, just in case, just to be absolutely sure, Fitz had opened his mind to the punishing thoughts of those around him, and listened for her soft, suspicious voice.Listened for her thoughts to fill his mind with the same intensity of a human as he raised a hand and turned away slightly. Not realizing until it was too late that the instant he’d opened his mind, a group of over thirty children had come barreling into the room, their thoughts stinging and brash.Messy images and imaginings filled Fitz’s head, and he felt himself double over in pain. It took him a moment to close off the mental torment, shutting off the thoughts around him before he could find the girl's mental voice. But it didn’t matter, humans were concerned, suspicious creatures, and seeing a boy clutching his head in pain was definitely something they would find odd enough to ask about.Sophie had brown eyes, elves had blue eyes; so she couldn't be the lost elven girl.End. Of. Story.He shook off the echoes of torment, and stood tall, pressing a hand to his still throbbing skull, but when he did, he caught sight of Sophie. Her blonde hair covered part of her face as she, too, held her head.Tentatively, Fitz opened his mind again, this time focusing only on her.But when he tried to read her thoughts?Absolute silence.Hope bubbled within him as he stared down at the girl, his heart swelling with pride and joy. Humans couldn’t block his telepathy, and only one ability could give someone so young a way to shield their minds from his mental power, but when he finally forced the words out- finally let the girl he had been searching for for over half his life - the last thing he had expected her to do, was run.She hadn’t even blinked.Sophie had bolted from her seat, leaving the sparling purple bag on the floor as she raced out the door.Fitz stood there, stunned. His mind went a million miles an hour and crawled with a snail's speed as he looked at the bag with some type of glittering purple alicorn on it, and was completely at a loss. It took no more than five seconds to process everything he’d just done wrong, before he chased after the blonde, screaming her name as he went.But she was fast, ducking and weaving through the herds of humans with little effort. Her small frame letting her maneuver with ease, while Fitz was left trying to fight his way around the inconsiderate crowds.He was falling behind quickly, and it was only when he had made it out of the museum that Fitz was able to move uninhibited. Unfortunately, he first had to find Sophie again, and it took more than a minute to spot her small frame. He blinked twice, squinting at the blonde head dipping in and out of crowds to make sure it was her, because she had taken off the dark purple sweater she’d been wearing, and pulled her hair into a ponytail.If he hadn’t been an elf, able to enhance his vision, Fitz would have lost her in the crowd. But he was an elf, so he was also able to use his core energy to make himself run faster, while keeping his focus on the blonde girl bolting through the streets and crowds.She may know the area, and might be quick on her feet, but he doubted she was properly trained in using her core energy. And since he now knew Sophie was the girl they’d been looking for, the lost elven girl - who just so happened to have brown eyes - Fitz refused to lose her ever again.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie

Sophie would never complain about the drills, exercises, safety procedures, and martial arts lessons her parents had forced upon her

ever

again. As soon as she knew she was in danger, instinct took over.

She left behind all unnecessary weight, only her Twilight Sparkle backpack in this case, and ran out of the closest door. Threading through the crowds, using her small size to her advantage to get away from her larger attacker as quickly as possible.

Once she was through the crowded halls, Sophie ripped off her Mom’s cardigan, and used the hair tie on her wrist to put her hair into a ponytail. Both things altered her appearance enough that it should make it much harder to identify her in a crowd.

With that done, Sophie slowed her pace, making sure to match the brisk walk of most residents, while avoiding the idle tourists stopping every four or five steps to snap pictures.

After nearly two blocks of this, all while weaving in and out of the groups huddling together on the crosswalks. Sophie was certain that she had bought herself enough time to safely contact the police - not go to the police station though. Most attackers of any kind - but especially those who showed their face in public, easily recorded area’s - would go somewhere near the closest police station to wait for their intended target.

Sophie tried to calm down, to keep her head clear of every horrible, monstrous thought she had ever heard. Tried to shove down the memories of murderous intent, kidnappers, and rapists.

Panic swelled inside of her, and the small blonde felt so small and helpless as she fought back the tremors building in her body, and choked down the bile stinging her throat.

Ever since she was a child, Sophie tried to ignore those awful realities when she could. She would offer anonymous calls, or point random strangers with kindness in their minds towards a situation they could help with; but there were so many situations she could never stop. So many minds full of rage and cruelty, but had yet to commit any crimes.

Sophie buried those fears, those memories, those terrifying truths down, down, down into the darkness of her mind, feeling a knot of fear twist tighter as she pressed a hand to the spot just beneath her sternum. She had to focus. She had to follow the rules set in place for this situation.

She had bought herself time, and she needed to calm down and stop wasting it on panic and fear.

Reaching into her back pocket to grab her phone, Sophie - Her brows crinkled in confusion, and she reached for her other back pocket.

Nothing.

She patted down her thighs, as if the dark jeans she was wearing would suddenly sprout more pockets and one would miraculously have her phone hidden within it. But… she didn’t understand, her Mom’s cardiga didn’t have any pockets so Sophie would have had her phone in her back pocket.

That’s when she remembered Mr. Sweeney’s sneer of smile and the way he had made Sophie keep her phone and earbuds in her backpack for the entire trip. But… hadn’t she pulled them out when he went to the bathroom?

Her eyes widened with recollection; when she saw that stupid, creepy cute boy, she had stupidly put both items back into her bag!

Gah! She was an idiot!

Okay, it was fine. This was okay, she still had her smartwatch, she could just press the emergency alert button and-  aaaaaannnnd she had been forced to take off her watch at the start of the trip too.

Great. Juuuuust great.

Shaking her head in an effort to ignore the terror re-emerging within her, Sophie had just decided to listen to the thoughts of those around her to find out who would let her borrow their phone, when a hand gripped her shoulder and a now all-too-familiar crisp voice declared, “Gotcha!”

The hand on her shoulder whipped her around, and Sophie made a mental note to thank Sifu Zhou for drilling her on how to use her own momentum from a spin to throw someone over her shoulder and to the ground.

The boy let out a loud groan of pain, but Sophie didn’t care. She just ran again, faster this time. Focusing on distance instead of blending in. As she did, the blonde heard the boy shouting for her to wait; as if she would listen!

Not even a full two minutes passed before the teal eyed boy caught up to her, calling out her name as she ran in a blind panic. Sophie kept herself hyper aware of his footsteps, the world around them fading as her body took over the rapid escape, and her mind focused on the heavy footfalls of the teal eyed stranger.

It was… strange, everything around her seemed to slow, and Sophie could swear she heard his every breath, his very heartbeat. Her mind clouded over, and she was vaguely aware of her mind and body working in perfect harmony as her photographic memory pulled up the detailed maps and construction information, while her body took the clearest routes and avoided all heavily damaged areas.

The only problem was that the boy following her seemed to have no trouble keeping up.

She veered left? He followed.

She ducked into a crowd of people? He kept pace with her on the outskirts of the group.

She dipped into a rancid alley? He was less than four steps behind her.

It was then that she guided him into what looked like a dead end alley, but Sophie knew how to use her momentum to jump off a side building and vault over a ten foot wall. When she landed - arms and legs aching from the exertion - Sophie took two deep breaths before going to the other side of a garbage can, just in case he could jump a wall too.

The only downside about this plan was that if the boy could jump a wall, then the alley she’d chosen went on for five connected buildings and the only other route out were the fire escapes. So, hopefully, the stranger wouldn’t be able to make it up the wall and would be forced to either walk around the entire block to the other side, or simply give up.

Aften eighty-four seconds passed, Sophie let out a breath of relief, and began walking down the long alleyway.

She should have waited twenty seconds more.

There was a loud grunt and heavy thud when the boy made Sophie assume it was a less than graceful landing, but she didn’t look back. She just swallowed down a cry of frustration and ran once more.

The small, disgusting space was slimy and rancid, Sophie only paused once to turn in an effort to make him lose his balance, but that slight pause had cost her. He had taken the opportunity to grip her wrist - even using it to keep himself upright as he shouted, “Sophie, please! I’m not going to hurt you!”

She wrenched her hand free, unwilling to listen and ran in a blind panic. Her adrenaline pushing, pushing,

pushing

her forward as she ran out of the alley and into the street; without looking both ways.

A horn sounded from her left and she turned to look, but the blonde tripped over her own foot in the process, and fell onto the hard, cracked road. Car lights burned her eyes as dozens of thoughts began flooding her brain, the panic finally taking over. She was going to die.

Fear swelled in her chest, and she saw a flash of fading hazel light as the car jerked to the left, missing Sophie by inches before slamming straight into a street lamp.

The black pole teetered as she lay frozen on the ground, too terrified to push herself up as her mind screamed for Sophie to move, move, move before the street light caved to gravity's command, and fell to the earth. It came hurtling towards Sophie with a promise to pulverize her entire body, and pure instinct took over.

Flinging her arms out to cover her face, Sophie felt a foreign force deep within her mind thrum to life. A wave of the unknown energy pulsed through her entire body, before it pushed out of her skin, somehow wrapping around the street lamp. The light froze, hovering mere feet from Sophie’s body as she lay in the street, staring at her own hands in complete horror.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Fitz
Fitz had no idea what to do as the elf he’d been searching for for over half his life lay helpless on the humans filthy street, a light of some sort hovering above her. He inched closer towards her, terrified that he might break her concentration as she lifted something ten times her weight. Fitz had thought the blonde girl wasn’t trained in using elven skills, but apparently he was wrong.In fact, something told him he was wrong about quite a few things when it came to what he’d always imagined when thinking of what the lost elf would look and act like. Some part of him had always thought that the girl would just know he was an elf, and there to save her from her terrible life with the humans.He shook his head, dispelling those thoughts as he focused on helping the blonde girl. She still hadn’t put the large human light down, and she was looking at her own hands as if they were the appendages of a monster. Taking a breath, Fitz reached out a hand- half terrified she might flip him again as he placed it on her shoulder - and whispered, “Put it down, Sophie.”She whipped her head towards him and he flinched slightly, but the look of pure horror and all consuming fear let him know he was okay as he kneeled next to her. Fitz looked between her and the light she was holding, eyes darting around at all of the on-looking humans now pulling out their devices. Some seemed to be recording the scene before them, other were calling human authorities in a panic. Even the man who had been controlling the death machine human’s called “cars” was staring at the two teens in the street with enraptured awe.When his teal eyes turned to Sophie, he repeated his command, slightly louder this time,“Put it down, Sophie.”The girl still sat there, seemingly frozen in place; save for the arms now trembling in place. Terror began crawling on his skin as Fitz began, “Sophie,” his accented voice shaking- trembling with the breath of a word, “You need to put it down.”Tears glassed over the girl's brown eyes and she choked out, “I-I don’t know how.”He looked between her and the massive light poised to crush the both of them now, his jaw clenched as he swallowed, then he licked his lips and whispered, “Okay. Okay, just take a breath, close your eyes, and drop your arms.”“But-”“Now Sophie!” He ordered, and this time, the girl obeyed.Fitz readied himself as he watched the small blonde squeeze her eyes shut, take a breath, and let her trembling arms fall to the road beneath her.Immediately, Fitz launched himself at Sophie, plowing into her left side, and rolling them both to the side, using the momentum to move their bodies as far as possible before a thunderous CRASH shook the earth beneath them. Fitz kept his eyes on the girl as she trembled beneath him, her eyes still squeezed tight. He noticed tears trickling down her cheeks as she shook with silent sobs.As much as Fitz wanted to comfort the clearly terrified girl, the humans still had their technology focused on the pair, and he needed to get them both far, far away from those recording devices. So he stood up, pulling her with him - thanks in no small part to using his telekinesis to partially lift her from the ground. When he stood, his teal eyes looked over at the shrapnel and shattered glass sprawled on the ground just inches from where they had been. It made Fitz shudder at just imagining the pain the objects could have inflicted if he hadn’t saved her.Thankfully, even though she was still crying quietly, she didn’t fight Fitz as he gripped her wrist and pulled her away from the scene and through the crowd of humans. Something told him it was likely only due to shock that the girl had gone from speeding away from Fitz to letting him guide her. Whatever the reason, though, Fitz was just grateful for it.
Sophie
Sophie’s mind was scrambling to catch up with and process everything that had just happened. So much so that she barely even noticed when the teal eyed boy had shot to his feet and pulled her up with him as if weighed nothing before gripping her wrist so hard she was almost certain it would bruise.He didn’t seem to notice, though, and Sophie was too dazed to even attempt resisting as the teal eyed boy pulled her along, tugging her through the crowds of tourists and pedestrians; witnesses to the impossible things she had just done.Sophie’s heart hammered in her chest as they ran, her thoughts fumbling through a thousand questions and possibilities. The most prominent being, ‘What the heck just happened?’ and ‘Why the heck am I following this boy?’ As she was about to ask where they were going, the boy turned his head back to her and shouted over his shoulder, “Where should we go?”Sophie blinked, nearly tripping on a crack in the sidewalk as she stared at him, befuddled. Then she shook off her confusion and called, “Left!”It didn’t matter that he didn’t have a specific place in mind to take Sophie. In fact, it probably meant that he wasn’t planning on kidnapping her. But just in case, “Right!” She called out, recalling a map of New York City perfectly with her photographic memory, guiding them to a park; where there would be lots of people if she ended up being wrong about him not wanting to kidnap her.Sophie had always hated her telepathy, but at least it had alerted her to others intentions. She was so curious to know what this boy with handsome features and vibrant teal eyes knew. Because he obviously knew something if he was able to just guess she was a telepath after less than five minutes of talking to her.Not to mention the way he’d known how to get her to free the huge metal lamppost from that strange energy she’d felt rush from the back of her mind, through her body, and into the air. But Sophie was cautious, and admittedly terrified, because this boy knew her secret, and no matter how much she tried to focus her scattering concentration, she couldn’t hear a single thought in his crisp, accented voice.And it was terrifying.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Fitz

Fitz was hysterical on the inside, his thoughts swimming and swirling into a mess of muddled nothingness because he found the girl his family had been searching for.

The lost elven girl; who had brown eyes.

His heart swelled with pride, then plummeted as soon as reality sank in and he realized that he was going to have to explain a

lot

of things to his Father when he got back to Everglen. Squatting slightly, Fitz focused on his breath while sorting through the millions of mistakes he had just made. He then tried to think of a way to share all of that information with his Father

without

being grounded for eternity.

When he couldn’t find one, Fitz was half pleading with the sun to have the earth swallow him whole to spare the teal eyed boy from the incomparable punishments his parents could come up with.

Because he was so enraptured with the pros and cons of running away from home to avoid the repercussions he was sure to face, it took him a minute to notice Sophie - the lost elf he’d been searching for for over half his life - was still staring at him with suspicion in her eyes.

She, too, was breathing hard. But she was also standing up straight and had her body angled in a way that made it clear she would run the second he gave her reason to. Fitz stood tall, trying to slow his breath as he realized that he was nearly a foot taller than Sophie. He looked her up and down, reassessing the girl he had been watching from afar all day.

Without the purple sweater, Fitz could clearly see the lean muscle of her arms and torso beneath the strange grey shirt. His teal eyes hitched on her hands as he noticed the way her sleeves somehow looped around the blondes thumbs. He also noted that she was no where near as winded as he was, and Fitz had been using his core energy and concentration to boost his speed and endurance, not to mention the way he had been forced to levitate over the wall this girl had casually lept over after practically running up a wall!

When his eyes finally locked on hers again, Fitz became captivated by the curiosity of her brown eyes once more. The look he wore must have made her uncomfortable though, because not even ten seconds later, she began to hug herself. Her small shoulders curled in slightly as the blonde lowered her brown eyed gaze to the ground, cheeks reddening as she asked, “Who are you?”

Fitz, finally able to put his good looks to use, flashed a brilliant smile as he took a step closer, placed a hand on her shoulder and said - with all the confidence his bloodline allotted - “I’m Fitz.”

Sophie looked up at him, the blush on her face evident for a moment before she shook her head and jerked her shoulder from his grip, as she looked away and muttered something about

“Dumb boys”

. Then she cleared her throat, looked at Fitz’s eyes again and huffed, “Let me rephrase that.” as she squared her shoulders, brown eyes burning with intensity, “How do you know I’m telepath, and why did you chase me?”

Fitz froze for a second, unsure how much he was allowed to tell her, then remembered he wasn’t even supposed to be talking to her in the first place. He groaned, combing a hand through his dark hair before saying, “I’m not… really

allowed

to tell you. I wasn’t even supposed to talk to you!” Sophie looked like she was going to say something, but Fitz cut her off, and began pacing as he rambled, “But we’ve been looking for you for almost twelve years, and I was so sure you were the girl, and-and, then I saw your eyes! So I figured that I must be wrong. Then you reacted the same way I did when those kids came in and I just thought you might be! But you ran off and so I obviously had to chase you-”

Sophie flung out her hands and waved them in a

‘hold on just a minute

’ motion, cutting him off mid-rant as she asked, “Wait, what? What’s wrong with my eyes? Why have you been looking for me?

Who else

has been looking for me? And seriously wha-”

Fitz grabbed her hand, quieting Sophie’s increasingly loud questions and looked around at the crowd of people before whispering, “I really don’t know how much I can tell you, but, I knew you were a telepath, because I’m one too.”

Sophie

Her heart stopped at the words.

He was a telepath.

The boy with teal eyes, who had chased her over two miles, and had practically saved her life was a telepath.

He was… he was like her.

Hours later, Sophie would see that her life would never have been in danger if the teal eyed boy standing before her hadn’t chased the blonde out into the street; but for the moment, her mind was too focused on the pretty eyes looking into own with enraptured awe, and the fact that…

He. Was. A. TELEPATH!

How long had she dreamed of this moment? Of finding someone who would understand her? Who she could talk to about every painful, horrible truth she had endured through the years? Share each complicated situation she’d been unwittingly privy to?

Sophie had wished for this moment for so long, that it was somewhat terrifying that the only thing she felt was fear and confusion swelling inside her heart. Sophie trembled, taking a step back from the boy - Fitz - and whispered in a voice barely louder than the wind, “What?”

Fitz moved forward, his teal gaze boring into as he declared, “I’m a telepath too, Sophie.”

Her knees buckled, mind reeling from the infinite questions now thrumming through her skull. Questions he might very well be able to hear, even if

she

couldn’t hear

his

thoughts. That thought had her looking up suddenly, which made him jump a bit, but Sophie barely notices as she asked, eyes narrowed, “Can you- Are you reading my thoughts right now?”

He laughed.

Laughed!

Shaking his head, he wiped an imaginary tear and said, “I’ve been trying to, but your blocking is

really

good.”

Brows scrunching together, Sophie tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Blocking?”

Fitz blinked at her, speaking slowly as he elaborated, “You know, when you put a mental wall around your thoughts?”

Sophie raised a brow, shaking her head at the unbelievably handsome boy, “I have no clue what you’re talking about.” His gaze became so intense, Sophie had to look away to keep from blushing as she asked, “What?”

He shook his head, ignoring her question to ask his own, “You… really aren’t blocking me right now?”

“No! I don’t even know what that is!” Her yell got the attention of some people walking by, but thankfully, most of them ignored the two teenagers.

Fitz still grabbed her wrist again, though, and dragged her to a less public spot before hissing, “Then how are you blocking all of these human’s thoughts?”

He leaned in closer as he spoke, and his unnervingly teal eyes made Sophie’s breath hitch. Taking a deep breath while mentally reminding herself of what he had actually said, Sophie’s brows furrowed as his words caught up with her brain and pittering heart, “Human thoughts? What, are you saying you can read like… animals' minds or something?”

He tilted his head slowly, then burst into another fit of laughter, releasing her wrist to clutch his stomach, “Of course not! That’s ridiculous!”

“Then why did you specify ‘human thoughts’ ?” Sophie demanded.

Her question hung in the air for a moment, stretching between them before Fitz answered slowly, “Because… Well, there’s really no easy way to say this, so I’ll just put it plainly.” He took a breath, straightened his shoulders and with his teal eyes boring into hers Fitz declared, unshakingly, “Sophie, you’re not human.”

This time, it was her turn to laugh.

Fitz

Fitz Vacker had never considered that the long lost elf he’d spent nearly a decade searching for, would start laughing so hard at the thought of not being a vile, arrogant human, that she fell to her knees wheezing.

But there she was, Sophie Iris Foster, holding her stomach as she cackled in disbelief. Through her laughter, Fitz was able to hear her say, “What, so I’m an alien? Ha!” Before she fell into a snorting fit of giggles. This continued on as he stood there, gaping at the blonde girl who not only truly believed she was human, but seemed to think

he

might be the crazy one.

A full minute passed before Fitz huffed, “Alright, alright, I get it. You clearly don’t know anything.”

He hadn’t meant it to come out so bitter, or to say it in a way to imply she was stupid, but at least his snippy comment had made her stop laughing at him, so that was good. The girl now sat up, legs criss-crossed on the ground as she looked up at him and said, “I know plenty.” Then she stood, stepping very close to Fitz as she shoved a finger against his chest, “I know that you’re crazy, and I’m crazy for trusting you. Have a nice life, Fitz .” She spat his name like it was more revolting than the muck on her shoes from the city streets.

Then she turned to walk away.

Fitz stumbled back a step as he blinked at the spot she had just been standing in before the situation caught up to him and Fitz raced to get in front of her, “Wait!” He called out. Sophie paused, ever so slightly, and Fitz took the chance. Catching up to her and lowering his voice to assure her the second his teal eyes met her oakwood gaze, “I’m telling the truth Sophie. You’re not human.”

Uncertainty flashed in her brown eyes, then she rolled them, shaking her head and crossing her arms to say, “So, what am I then?” Her tone carried an air of mocking disbelief, but Fitz knew that even if she didn’t

know

what she was, the girl standing before him

must

know she was different from everyone around her.

Closing his eyes, Fitz sent a silent prayer to the stars for his Father not to kill him for this later as he whispered, “No. I’m saying… you’re an elf.”

Sophie

Sophie blinked, processing his statement before raising a brow to ask, “Seriously? An elf?”

The strange, unfairly gorgeous boy nodded, astoundingly assured as he repeated, “An elf.”

He said it with such finality, such certainty, that Sophie wanted to burst out laughing again. He couldn’t be serious! He-he had to be joking! Or crazy! Maybe him being a telepath had broken some part of his sanity? Or, perhaps it was just his way of processing how he got the ability to read minds?

A scoff of whispery disbelief passed her lips before Fitz said, “Come on, you

have

to know, on some level, that you’re not like everyone else. That you are

fundamentally

different.”

His teal eyes were pleading, desperate for Sophie to acknowledge the truth in his words. She wanted to laugh. Wanted to ignore his words and turn away.

Fitz took her hand in his as he stepped closer and whispered, “Some part of you must know. Must

feel

it. The… the otherness.”

Sophie wanted to pretend not to feel the rightness of what he was saying. Pretend they didn’t hold some shard of truth. Pretend she was completely normal, and perfectly fine and absolutely, undoubtedly human. But she was so

tired.

Sophie was

tired

of pretending.

Tired

of being perfect.

Tired

of slowly numbing out the world around her.

Tired

of staying put together while parts of herself fell away bit by bit.

She studied the sincerity in his beautiful teal eyes, then looked away. Tearing her hands from his grasp to pull them around herself in a hug - as if the movement could protect her from the painful, agonizing truth in his words.

But her mind wouldn’t stop replaying his words, even as the thoughts of everyone around her flooded her mind, the accented voice of the boy standing before her drowned it all out; because she did know.

Sophie felt it everyday at breakfast with her family of tall, light-eyed brunettes. Felt it at school, where nearly everyone went out of their way to avoid her. Or torment her. Felt it when she was with her friends, no matter what they were doing.

But… that was just because she was a child prodigy, not because she wasn’t

human

. Not because she was an…

elf

. Right?

Sophie gnawed on her lip, taking a small section of hair and spinning the dirty blonde stands into a tight braid as she felt the word reverberate in her mind. The single syllable spun around and around, until it settled within her heart, fluttering and warm. Sophie shook her head, scoffing as she shoved the sensation of truth down, down, down to the depths of her mind pulling her hands from the small braid she’d woven, as she crossed her arms and teased, “So, what? Am I supposed to go to the North Pole and help Santa with his gifts? Or- oh! Assist Frodo in saving Middle Earth?”

Fitz looked at her, his face scrunching in confusion as he shook his head and spoke slowly, “I… don’t know what that means, but I’m gonna assume you don’t believe me?”

Sophie gave the seriously unfairly handsome boy a deadpanned look and raised a brow, “You think?” His teal gaze was so intense though, she had to blink and turn away from their mesmerizing depths before asking, “Did you seriously expect me to?”

Huffing, Fitz ran a hand through his perfect, dark brown hair - which only made it look fabulously disheveled - and turned, his teal eyes searching the area before he muttered a disgruntled, “No, I guess not.” Sophie watched the boy before her close his beautiful teal eyes, and pinch the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath in.

Licking his lips, Fitz turned to Sophie abruptly, startling her from the very embarrassing thoughts about how pretty his eyelashes are - making her very glad that he, apparently, couldn’t read her thoughts. When his eyes met hers again, Sophie had to gulp before hugging herself slightly and asking, “What?”

His gaze only intensified, and when he spoke again, his words came out slow. Almost timid and unsure, “What if… What if I could… prove it?”

‘Prove it?’

Sophie thought, her brows scrunching together, and her self hug turned to defiantly crossed arms as she squared her shoulders and reminded him, “You can’t even tell me what I’m thinking to prove you’re a telepath , how exactly do you plan on proving you’re an elf ?”

He smiled warily, “That

we’re

elves, Sophie.”

The correction sent a wave of trepidation through the blonde, and she bristled, “Riiight, you can’t even prove

you’re

a telepath, how do you plan on proving to me that

I’m

an entirely different species?”

The realization hit then; Fitz had only claimed to be a telepath, he hadn’t actually

proven

it.

Beyond her not hearing his thoughts, this boy had done nothing to show what he was saying was true, and the truth of it knocked her back a step. A rush of distrust flooded Sophie’s system, as she forced her arms down, angling her body slightly to ensure she was ready to run at the first sign of anything sketchy.

Though, if Sophie was being honest with herself, this entire situation was

‘sketchy’

.

And she probably should have kept running from Fitz the second she was safe from the falling streetlight.

But she was only

so

strong, and his eyes were

very

pretty, so what was a thirteen year old to do but entertain a handsome -

possibly

delusional - boy in a relatively safe, public place? Because seriously, if he tried to grab her again, she could just run. There was a police station less than two blocks away, and her morning runs with her friends, paired with over seven years of ballet, gymnastics, and martial arts training made Sophie fairly confident that she could outrun the obviously winded boy in order to get to safety.

Nodding her head once at the silent plan, Sophie looked back to Fitz’s unfairly beautiful eyes, and arched a brow before prompting, “Well?”

He looked around again, then pointed to an elderly couple sitting on a bench together and said, “I can prove I’m a telepath by telling you what the couple over there is thinking.” Sophie took a breath, and focused her mind on the thoughts echoing from the couples minds, genuinely startled as Fitz said, “

She’s

thinking about how much work she’ll have to do for a family dinner this Saturday, and

he’s

thinking that they’re too old to still be the ones hosting family dinner’s.”

Sophie turned to him, mouth agape, her eyes darting between his as she stared in utter disbelief. Taking a stumbling step back, Sophie drew in an uneven breath, “You… You really

are

a telepath.”

He flashed a brilliant, albeit arrogant, smile as he said, “And so are you.” The arrogance in his grin faded with the words, as a soft expression took hold of his chiseled features.

Swallowing back the bile of unease, for an entirely new reason now, Sophie shook her head, clenched her jaw, and eyes narrowed, “That still doesn’t prove you’re an elf.”

“We.” Fitz corrected.

Sophie blinked, “What?”

Huffing, Fitz shook his head, and closed his eyes in exasperation; as if she were the one being difficult and causing him problems. When their eyes met again, Fitz said gently, “

We

are elves, Sophie. Not just me.”

Sophie could feel her face contort into an expression of unbelievability, “You seriously think you’re an elf, don’t you?”

“Noooo,” Fitz drew out the word, closing his eyes to take a breath before staring directly into her eyes and declaring with all the conviction and certainty in the universe, “I

know

that

we

are elves.”

He took a step closer to her, closing the distance Sophie had unwittingly made with each frightened step back, and grasped her hands in his. Fitz’s teal eyes remained fixated on her watery brown gaze, as he whispered “I know it might be difficult to accept. To acknowledge that your entire life isn’t… what you believed it to be.” He spoke slowly, each word in his accented voice thought out and gentle, “But you

have

to feel it.

Know

it, in some part of your mind, that you

aren’t

like everyone else, Sophie. That you’re not…

human

.” He said the last part with a fearful, almost timid tone.

As if he was afraid the words would frighten her. And if that’s what he thought - which Sophie couldn’t tell - then he’d be right.

The words terrified her. Chilled Sophie to the very marrow in her bones.

Because he

was

right.

The more he insisted that they- that

she

was an elf, the more the word rekindled and resonated with the energy thrumming to life inside of her mind. Sophie swallowed, shaking her head in rejection as she forced the feeling of rightness away again.

Thinking through her next words, Sophie searched for some way to dispel the thought, the bubble of trembling hope that if he was right, if she

wasn’t

human, was something…

other

, then she would

finally

have an explanation.

Sophie would

finally

know why she felt so different from everyone else. Why she never quite fit with her peers on even the most basic of levels. Why she never fell into step with her family. A family of light eyed, freckle-faced brunettes.

Hands clutching onto his, Sophie looked to the ground beneath her feet and asked - with all the fearful, tender vulnerability she could allow in her soft whisper, “Can you prove it?”

He remained silent for a moment.

She counted the seconds, her hoped filled eyes never leaving his. When she reached four hundred and twenty-seven Sophie’s shoulders slumped, and she pulled away from him.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she looked up at Fitz again - half expecting to find him vanished, like a mere figment of her imagination. Which wouldn’t have surprised her, given his physical perfection and absurd claims. But as she looked up, Sophie still saw his unnervingly teal gaze focus on her as he gnawed on his bottom lip, obviously conflicted.

She counted another one hundred and twelve seconds before shaking her head with a deflated sigh, Sophie’s arms curled around herself. Pretending the small bit of warmth they made could somehow erase the bitter, hollow wreck of her soul as she said, “That’s what I thought.”

Then Sophie turned her back on the handsome boy with beautiful teal eyes, and walked away.

Content to pretend Fitz was - in fact - nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Fitz
Fitz stood there, frozen as he watched Sophie walk away. Panic welled in him with each careful step the blonde took to maneuver through the people meandering along the trampled grass of what Fitz had assumed was the human’s version of a garden.He gulped, at a loss as to what to do as he clenched his fists and rationalized that his dad could definitely fix this situation if he were made aware. But that meant explaining to his Father that he not only broke multiple rules - including the most important two - but also informing him that Fitz had practically scared the girl away, and made her think he was delusional in the process.Not to mention the fact that Fitz had stupidly told her about elves! Which meant that she could now tell anyone she wished.As he watched Sophie make her way through the crowd, inching further and further away from him, Fitz groaned in defeat and ran to her again, yanking her shoulder slightly when it was within reach. Her oakwood eyes were wide and frightened, her body tensing in the seconds before Sophie registered who had grabbed her, then her entire form relaxed as she huffed out a biting, “What?”Looking around at the crowd, Fitz leaned in and whispered, “I can prove it, Sophie. I just… I’m not exactly supposed to- I can’t,” Groaning, Fitz closed his eyes, and felt a familiar tick in his jaw as he whispered, “What I have to do to prove it could get me in a lot of trouble. So if I do this, you can’t tell anyone. Ever .”Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, “What exactly would you be doing?”Fitz gulped, tearing a hand through his hair as he muttered, “Something that could land me in Exile.” Then, louder, he declared, “Nothing you’ll get in trouble for, and nothing that will hurt anyone.”Sophie looked at him skeptically and drawled, “That’s not vague at all.”He smiled wryly, and her cheeks flamed as she turned away from him, so he added, “I can’t really get into the specifics with so many people around, and you aren’t likely to believe me until I show you anyways.”Fitz took her answering nod  as her conceding to his point.Gulping, he lowered his voice, leaning in a bit more to whisper, “I can’t do it here, but if you can take us to a less crowded place, I swear I can prove it.” He willed the sincerity into his voice, despising the fact that he couldn’t read her mind, no matter how much he tried. And he apparently couldn’t transmit to her either.Which was extremely odd, and definitely something he’d have to tell his dad.Sophie seemed to be considering his words though, and after scanning the area, she gave a sigh and nodded, “Okay, but we won’t be completely alone, so if you try to kidnap me or something, I can still scream for help.”Fitz laughed, “Trust me, you won’t be ‘kidnapped’ . That’s a human thing.”She looked at him like he was crazy - and Fitz had to remind himself that she likely did, in fact, believe he was crazy.Sophie didn’t comment though, simply nodded her head in a gesture to indicate he should follow her, and began walking towards a large hedge. Fitz looked at the massive bush curiously, it was tall enough to hide them from anyone who wasn’t inside, and when they passed through the arching iron gate, he saw that there was no one playing on the small, plastic and metal equipment. They were completely alone.“Ummm…” Fitz began, “I thought you said we wouldn’t be completely alone?”Sophie turned to him and said, “We’re not. If I screamed right now, people would assume a kid got hurt and come running. Just because no one can see us, doesn’t mean no one can hear us.” She spoke to him as if explaining this to a child, and the tone made him bristle.“I know that!” Fitz declared, “I just- Well- I mean- ugh, nevermind.” He raked a hand through his hair and huffed, “Hold my hand.”He held out his left hand while unbuttoning the compartment in his sleeve with his right, letting his orarie slip into his grasp. When he noticed that Sophie wasn’t holding his hand, he turned to her, finding her cheeks blazing as she stared at his outstretched palm. Fitz sighed and rolled his eyes.He knew he was handsome, even by elven standards, but come on, she was asking him to prove she was an elf and she was freaking out about holding his hand? Fitz wanted to scoff.Sophie shook her head, likely thinking the same thing, before she glanced up to meet Fitz’s expectant gaze and asked, “Why do we need to hold hands?”Fitz grinned at the question, “You said you wanted proof, so I’m giving you proof.”He knew the answer was vague, but she seemed to mull it over as her hands began creating another small braid in the waves of honey blonde hair. Fitz tilted his head, a small smile tugging on his lips as he watched her braid her hair nervously.They really didn’t have time for her to contemplate this, though, so he offered his hand again and said, “It’s now or never, Sophie.”His words seemed to pull her from her thoughts, and she forced her hands down, took a deep breath and grabbed his hand. Fitz grinned, “Alright, now concentrate on holding my hand. And by concentrate, I mean, really concentrate. Try not to let anything else distract you.”Fitz knew she likely had no idea how to actually ‘concentrate’ by elven standards, but he was strong enough to light leap with three extra people, so he wasn’t worried. And it was kind of cute how she blushed as she stared at their entwined fingers, but then she blinked, eyes flitting to the circular device in Fitz’s hand before she asked, “What’s that? Your Voyager’s Omni?”Fitz raised a brow in confusion, “Um, no idea what that is, but this is an orarie.” he stated proudly.She blinked at him.Fitz sighed, “Nevermind, you’ll get it in a second. So just, focus on holding my hand, alright?”He watched as Sophie’s cheeks flamed, her eyes sliding back to their hands, lips pressed together as she furrowed her brows in concentration. With a smug smile creeping onto his lips, Fitz used his thumb to scroll through the sets of light leaping coordinates available to him in the pathfinding system. His smile grew as Fitz clicked on his selection and blanketed them both in veil of his mental energy as he said, "Get ready to see something amazing."Fitz noticed Sophie's look of confusion as she glanced between him and the glittering beam of light created by the crystal on his orarie, but before she could say anything, the teal eyed elf pulled Sophie forward, and stepped into the light.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Astin

Astin watched by Randall’s side as the young Vacker boy brought Sophie into the light of his orarie’s crystal. He and his brothers hadn’t thought the young elf would be so foolish as to leap the blonde while she was without a registry band to keep her atoms from flying apart in the glittering light. But at least Fitz Vacker was famed for both his strong mind and record breaking completion of the concentration crystal, so there was little chance Sophie would return faded.

So long as she did return. While the chances were slim, there was a possibility that Fitz would simply take Sophie to Everglen and Alden would never allow her to return - even for a brief time.

Astin shook off the thought.

Not even Alden despised humans so much that he wouldn't allow a young girl to say her goodbye's. Astin just hoped she would have more than a few hurried hours - or even minutes - to offer a final farewell.

Still, that did nothing to quell his own anger at the foolish, arrogant boy for leaping a girl who had no conscious mental strength training to who knew where without a registry band to protect her from fading! Meaning there was no way Astin was in the proper mindset to soothe Randall’s seething vitriol, as the sage eyed teen no doubt plotted all the ways to shred the young elf apart for such reckless actions.

Sighing, Astin sent a small thanks to Sun that Leto would be the one dealing with the ramifications of today's plan.

Grateful that he would be spared Emily Foster's wrath, Randall and Sera’s hatred, and what would no doubt be the absolutely heartbroken thoughts of young Sophie Foster; whose entire world was about to change.

Randall

‘This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety. This is for her safety.’

Emily Foster

“Miss Foster?” Emily heard Judge Rohana ask, pulling the curly haired brunette from her daze. The fierce lawyer shook her head, pulling her gaze from the large window to her left, where she could see the famed Natural History Museum her eldest daughter was currently at just a few dozen miles away.

“Sorry, your honor, I thought I saw a wasp in the window. My client is deathly allergic, I’m afraid.” Emily lied, turning to her client's husband and abuser of over a decade, “Something you know well, don’t you Mr. Ridley? After all, we have access to multiple reports from your local ER stating that my client made at least a bi-monthly appearance in their halls mid-anaphylactic shock. Their records show that this was a result of wasp stings nearly every time.”

The putrid excuse for a monster masked in a man’s skin gave Emily an oily grin, “Well, my wife likes gardening. Clumsy little doll never notices the damn things till it stung her at least twice. I’ve tried to stop her, obviously,” The well-dressed abuser claimed, locking eyes with part of the jury, “But it just makes her so damn happy, I can never bring myself to take away one of the few things she loves. Especially after our daughter- I-I’m sorry.” The vile pig blubbered, eyes pooling with crocodile tears as he turned away.

Exactly the way Emily had hoped he would play this card.

Keeping her features neutral as she took a small step closer to the stand, Emily said, letting a saccharine smile pull on her lips, “Yes, Mr. Ridley, let’s not forget that your seven year old daughter - Natalie May Ridley - died of her own allergy to wasp stings not even two years ago. In the very garden you claim my client loves so much she allows herself to be stung multiple times before going to the ER, at least twice a month.”

Instantly, the mask of tears and grief slipped to rage, and she pressed forward, “Did you know, Mr. Ridley, that some abusers like to subject their victims to near death experiences before saving them? Interestingly enough, those cases usually begin with or develop to using an allergy to put their loved ones in life threatening peril. It comes from a deeply seeded need to be a savior in controlled situations - usually it develops in males who feel that they are inadequate when compared to their mother, wife, sister, daughter, any female relation at all really. Now, I know-”

“The fuck did you just say about me bitch?” Mr. Ridley hissed.

Emily smiled sweetly, “About you? Nothing.” she gave a slight tilt of her head, “About abusers who use their loved ones allergies as a way to covertly cripple or harm them in order to later be viewed as a savior? I said their condition typically stems from feeling inadequate when compared to the women in their lives."

Her heels clicked on the polished wood floor as she stepped even closer, “Do you feel like that describes you? Inadequate in comparison to your wife?”

“Shut up.” Mr. Ridley growled.

“To your daughter?”

“Shut up.” He demanded.

“To your mother, who died by… what was it again?” Emily asked, making a show of returning to her corner of the courtroom and grabbing the top file from inside her manilla folder.

“SHUT UP!” Mr. Ridley roared, a cat cornered with nothing but claws and teeth dulled by domestication against a grinning panther in heels.

“Ah, yes, your mother, Nichole Theodora Ridley, died by-”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!”

“Anaphylactic shock caused by an allergic reaction toooooo… peanut butter.”

Emily kept a sweet smile painted on her lips, as she watched the monster before her shed it’s mask of humanity and decency, watching it decay into rotting reality. A man to a monster in the blink of an eye. All in front of the court who would decide her clients fate.

Emily glanced out the window to her left once more, a quiet, nagging instinct telling her that something was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Her heart faltered at the horrid possibilities. The endless “what if’s” stampeded across her mind as she imagined what monster could one day come after her own children. Emily shook it off, focusing her mind on the case before her, and her goal that lay just a few words away.

Sophie was a smart girl, and had every safety procedure completely memorized, she was fine. Emily was just… stressed. That was all.

Looking back at the wailing beast before her, Emily Foster squared her shoulders and marched into a battle of wits with her opponent unarmed. She could call Sophie after this case was closed, and based on the monster's belligerent screams and promises of violence, it was going to be a quick break for the ruling.

She just hoped that as she spent this time saving an innocent, broken woman, someone wasn’t in the process of breaking her own daughter too.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sophie

Up until that

exact

moment, Sophie would have claimed that she had excellent control of both her emotions, and her reactions to them. Largely due to her hearing an endless menagerie of unwanted secrets and unstoppable truths.

Which meant that in the centuries to come in her life, every time she caved to the children begging her to recount the story of how she had been brought to the Lost Cities, Sophie would make a firm point of telling those listening to her tale, that she had never once light leaped before that day. And that she had been all but stolen away from the only world she’d known with absolutely no information as to what the mysterious boy’s so-called

“proof”

would entail.

And as she was coerced into sharing her gift of story spinning and weaving words time and again throughout her life, Sophie would slowly develop a rhythm. One which included the habit of telling any of the children who had never heard her story, that they should

always

ask for specific information before taking the hand of a stranger - no matter how cute they might be.

Because if they didn’t, they might end up in a situation similar to the one she had.

Year after year, century after century, Sophie would hope that the warning would somehow dull the raucous laughter brought on by all ears tuned to her words, when she went on to tell the gaggles of goblins and ogres and elves - and all other manner of creature - that when the most famed elf in all of history, Sophie Iris Foster, was first brought to the Lost Cities, her instinctual reaction, was to scream.