Without a Trace | KotLC AU

Chapter One - Sophie

Everything was black.

Completely dark.

Until it wasn't.

Sophie gasped, her eyes flying open. She cringed at the bright sunlight after what felt like years in darkness.

First things first. Where was she?

She sat up and looked around. There were purple, pink, and blue flowers on the ground, and the braided bark of the Panakes tree was right beside her. Good. She was at Havenfield.

But something was very wrong. Everything was quiet. Way too quiet.

She slowly stood up and was about to make her way back to the house, until she saw Havenfield.

It was practically crumbling to the ground, with shattered windows and weathered roofs. It looked like it had been left alone for a long time.

Even worse, none of the animals were where they should have been. No Silveny, no Verdi. Just her.

Sophie took off running towards the building, praying that someone was there. She couldn't be all alone. How did this happen?

She cautiously approached the door. Or rather, the doorframe. "Hello?" She called inside. No response.

Slowly, Sophie made her way to her room. The usually bright flowery carpet was faded, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Her window was in shards all over the floor. She carefully picked up one of the larger pieces.

But it didn't really look like a piece of glass or crystal. It looked more like... a mirror.

"Sophie?"

Sophie yelped, dropping the shard. And then she realized that the voice had come from the shard. Tentatively, she picked it back up. She could just barely make out the fuzzy outline of a familiar face.

"Vertina!" Sophie gasped.

"You look like a mess," Vertina informed her. "And how-how-how—" her face twitched, blinking on and off. "—how the heck are you here?"

"What happened to Havenfield?" Sophie asked.

"It's been like this for a long time," Vertina sighed. "Edaline told me you were d-d-d-dead over a hundred years ago."

"WHAT?!" Sophie shouted. "A hundred years?"

Vertina nodded, her face glitching again. "I don't know exactly how l-long I've been here alone. But they at-at-at—"

She was cut off by the mirror suddenly going blank.

"Vertina!" Sophie shook the mirror desperately. "Please don't leave!"

Obviously the spectral mirror wasn't in perfect working order, seeing as it was smashed to pieces. But she really needed to know what was going on.

"Come on," she muttered. Vertina's face flashed on the screen for only a split second, but Sophie was able to catch a few words.

"Tam and Biana—"

And then she cut off again.

"No!" Sophie huffed.

She waited about five minutes, tapping and shaking the shard of the mirror until she ended up cutting herself on the edge. She let herself swear under her breath, sticking her injured thumb in her mouth in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Sophie sighed and stuck Vertina in her pocket. She was on her own.

Time to put the pieces together, she thought.

Tam and Biana had something to do with this. That was a start. Maybe she should go find one of them.

Starting with Biana.

Sophie was going to use the Leapmaster, but the stairs to the top floor seemed quite unstable, and she decided she would be better off teleporting.

And... Everglen was just as bad as Havenfield.

It looked like it hadn't been touched in years. And like Havenfield, it was silent.

Or it was, until Sophie heard someone making noise— from inside.

"Biana?" Sophie called, carefully walking up to the house.

She heard someone shout her name from somewhere above her. She craned her neck and saw Biana waving to her from a broken window.

"Biana!" Sophie ran closer.

"Sophie!" Biana smiled, but it quickly faded. "You look... different."

"You too," Sophie responded. But she couldn't exactly place what it was.

"I would come down and see you, but I'm kinda trapped," she glanced behind her.

"Need help?"

Biana stepped away from the window. "Yeah, I'd appreciate—"

Suddenly, Biana screamed and dropped out of view.

"Biana!" Sophie shouted. She ran inside, continuing to call her name. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Biana said from somewhere close, on the ground floor this time. "The floor wasn't very stable, I guess."

Sophie hurried over to where Biana was. She held out her arm to help her stand up.

"Thank— augh!" Biana groaned, sinking back to her knees.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked for the second time.

Biana pulled back her skirt to reveal a large gash in her right calf, and it looked pretty deep, too. "Great, another scar," she mumbled.

"That looks painful," Sophie worried.

Biana winced. "It is. But I'll be okay."

Sophie helped her slowly stand up. "You sure?" She asked.

Biana smiled slightly. "For someone who almost dies every day and acts like it's nothing, you worry a lot about a scrape."

"You're limping, Biana," Sophie sighed.

"How did you know I was here?" Biana changed the subject. "I was sitting in the remains of my room for what felt like forever, trying to get out."

"Vertina said something about you and Tam. So I figured you would be at Everglen."

"We should find Tam!" Biana suggested. "He's probably just as confused as we are!"

"Yeah, I was planning on going to Solreef next," Sophie told her. "But we have to do something about your leg."

"I told you I—"

Sophie shook her head. "Sit," she ordered, kneeling on the grass now that they were outside. Biana reluctantly sat down.

Sophie didn't know much about treating injuries, but she knew she had to stop the bleeding. So she unpinned her Ruewen crest and took off her cape. It took a few tries, but eventually, she tore off a piece and tied it around Biana's leg.

"How does that feel?" She asked.

"Look at you, doctor Sophie," Biana teased. "But you really didn't have to tear up your cape for that."

"Capes are overrated," Sophie decided. "I asked you a question."

"It's fine. I'm fine," Biana laughed. "You seriously need to stop fretting."

"Sorry," Sophie ripped out a clump of grass, needing something to do with her hands. "It's just... with Havenfield and Everglen in ruins or whatever, I'm scared for Grady and Edaline. And..." she trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence.

"Yeah," Biana bit her lip. "I don't know what could have happened."

"Well... let's find Tam," Sophie sighed. "Ready?" She held out her hand and Biana shakily stood up, still leaning on her left leg.

"Let's go," she cringed again.

Sophie knew there was no point asking if she was okay once more. "Come on. We'll levitate."

"Okay."

Let's figure this out, Sophie thought.