ʟᴀᴅʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʟʏᴄᴀɴs : ᴋᴀʀʟ ʜᴇɪꜱᴇɴʙᴇʀɢ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

Sophia held a confused stare with the man, blinking a few times in response. Never in the seventy years of her mutant life has Karl Heisenberg or any Lord for that matter, come to her and "talk." They barely spoke to each other outside of those ridiculous gatherings Miranda creates. They each had their parts of the village, and they stayed in them. That is how it's always been.

"What could you possibly need to talk to me about?" she asked. With no respect for simple courtesies, Karl forced his way inside the door. "Please, come inside," she said sarcastically.

"I'm building an army," Karl blurted out.

"An army?" Sophia repeated with confusion as she turned to face him. His features were serious which she thought was unusual. It was unlike him to be "serious" about something – normally everything felt like a joke. She shook away her thoughts and brought herself back to the topic at hand. "Why would you need to be building an army?"

"Sophia, you know better than all of us what that child means – what Miranda will do when she has it."

The woman couldn't believe what she was hearing, and if she was understanding what Karl was trying to imply. He couldn't possibly be thinking of attacking Miranda. He would be an idiot to even try.

"Karl, please, don't say what I think you're going to say."

His jaw tightened, and he tore his gaze from hers, contemplating. "We can't talk here," he said after a few moments, then his head snapped back up. "Come to the factory. Tonight."

"What? No, I will not –"

"Please, Sophia – "

"If Miranda saw me –"

Karl took one step forward closing the gap between them, removing the glasses from his face, forcing her to look into his orange eyes. The volume of his voice dropped being so close to her. "She won't."

"You don't know that," she argued, matching the volume. They continued to stare at each other, and Sophia realized just how intimate the moment was. There was an overwhelming smell of rust and metal that filled her nostrils, but some odd reason, she didn't mind it. And she wanted to step back, her brain was screaming at her to put space between them, but her feet wouldn't budge.

"I won't risk my head for you, Heisenberg."

He sighed, "Will you just trust me?"

"When have you ever given me a reason to trust you, Karl?" she asked, thinking back to many occasions when she has caught him going back on his word.

Somehow, he managed another step forward, and Sophia visibly gulped by their closeness. She felt his breath on her bottom lip, she sensed the electricity that surges through him. It's like it radiated off him.

"You know that I would never hurt you. Maybe you don't want to believe it, but deep down – you know." He stared at her, waiting for some kind of response or reaction, but she gave him nothing. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. "Factory. Tonight," he said firmly.

He stepped around her and a rush of cold air was let into the small space as the door opened. Sophia jumped as it was slammed closed. She slumps down into the closest chair, her head falling into her hands.

He was planning on overthrowing Miranda. Killing her. And for what? Freedom? For someone like Karl it would be for more power. That would only cause more people to get hurt. Sophia didn't want that to happen. She wasn't looking for more power – she didn't even want the power she has now. She wanted peace, and she wanted to be far, far away from here.

You know that I would never hurt you. Maybe you don't want to believe it, but deep down – you know it's true.

Did she? Did she know that he would never hurt her? She wasn't sure, and even so, what did that mean to him? Is he trying to help her? If he is, why? Why her out of everyone? What made her so special to him. She's been nothing but self-fish, stubborn, brat ever since they've met. And rightfully so since he's been no sort of gentleman around her. He didn't deserve her kindness.

She spent the last few hours of sunlight nibbling at her stew that she lost her appetite for and tapping her slender fingers along the wooden table. There was an underlying curiousness tugging at her, telling her just to find out. If she knew, maybe she could stop him from making a stupid mistake and making matters worse than they already are. It could go terribly, and she could be left with consequences.

She doesn't know what led her to her final decision, but she stood from her seat and took her cloak wrapping around her shoulders. "I better not regret this," she whispered to herself as she brought her hood over her head.

She used the tunnels, and she moved quickly. The chances of Miranda seeing her at this time would be very slim, but Miranda was unpredictable in most cases. Sophia could use her power to find out where she was, but she fears that because of how powerful Miranda is, somehow, she would know. Sophia has never tried, and she swore she never would.

The factory is in the south-west corner of the village, the opposite of her. It took her some time, but she came up just before the perimeter of the fence that surrounded it. The same smell that he carries with him settled in the air. It was much stronger, which made it a slightly more difficult to bear.

When she approached the gates, they opened automatically – Karl was standing on the other side. "I knew you would come," he said with that familiar smirk on his lips.

She rolled her eyes. "I almost didn't."

"So why did you?" he questioned.

She didn't have answer to his question, so instead, she said, "Can we get this over with?"

"Of course..." He extended his hand out, pointing her in the right direction, and she strutted forward with him by her side. They stopped at a set of barn doors which Karl opened. "Follow me."

He led her inside, and her eyes wandered, studying the interior. It's exactly how she imagined it – dark and musty. She was likely inhaling exhaust and gasoline. And the temperature – it was hot. She felt sweat collecting on her skin already, and she just arrived.

"What do you think?" Karl asked her.

"It's you," she replied, and he chuckled. It was the most genuine sound she's ever heard from him, and that nearly made her smile.

They stopped in a room lit dimly by work lamps. She froze just before a curtain and watched him carefully. He moved swiftly around the space moving things around on a work bench. She looked forward and noticed a wall with photographs pinned to it. Photographs of herself, Donna, Alcina, and Moreau then right in the middle was Miranda. What stuck out to her the most was a photo of the woman that Miranda needed her to find.

"What is all this?" Sophia asked with concern.

Karl stopped what he was doing to look over his shoulder. He saw how fixated her eyes were on the wall.

"That's what we need to talk about."