Twilight Amidst Lanterns

Prologue - Sophie

A prison of reflections. But not all were of her. Some she recognized, her family and friends.

Some of the enemies.

Some were happy. Smiles plastered on their faces with cheerful expressions.

But the majority of them were of negative emotions. She tried to focus on the ones that seemed to encourage her, but her eyes always seemed to come back to a negative one.

A tear fell as she saw each one.

She saw herself, huddled in a corner hugging her legs against her stomach, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, shivering as if she were afraid.

She saw Fitz, his fists and teeth clenched in an angry scowl. Her heart panged with sympathy and fear watching the rage ruin his face. She wished she could calm him down, slow down his anger.

She saw Keefe. His expression was one drained of hope, his hand reaching out as if he were trying to touch something that he could never grab ahold of. Sophie desperately wanted to grab his hand and tell him that everything would be okay.

She saw Biana, her scars clearly visible as she cried, hugging herself tightly. Sophie wanted to embrace and comfort her.

She saw Dex. He appeared quizzical, a sophisticated gadget gripped in his hands. His periwinkle eyes were narrowed at three of the buttons, as if his life depended on which one he chose. Sophie didn't understand what was happening.

She saw Tam. His reflection hit her the hardest. She couldn't see the silver in his bangs, and they seemed almost misty, seeming as if shadows concealed the metallic glimmer. But he was being held in a dark, deserted, empty room, the only source of light being the glowing cuffs on his wrists. Shadows seemed to crawl and shiver, spreading throughout the room. There were faded and new, bloody scrapes across his face. But that's not what made him different from the ones before. The others expressed emotions clearly. But Tam's pale-blue eyes seemed broken, desperate and even more hopeless than Keefe's. Sophie felt the need to snap those cuffs out of existence and haul him over to Elwin. Her chest felt heavy knowing her boyfriend was imprisoned by the Neverseen.

She saw Linh, and her heart almost broke looking at her empty expression, staring at a wall, her face seeming vacant of emotion. Sophie yearned to reassure her.

She saw Marella, an expression of jealousy and loneliness clouded her face. A small spark laid in her hand, seeming to die out. Sophie wanted to apologize for ignoring her in the past.

She saw Wylie sitting on a bed. His eyes were filled with worry, but Sophie wasn't sure what the cause of it was. Sophie wished she could shower him with encouragement and boldness.

She saw Stina, her face buried in her hands and pain etched across her features. Sophie wanted to go back in the past and change the way things had resulted in between her and Stina.

Why was she seeing all of her friends this way? It was repeated over and over again, the images stabbing into her mind thanks to her photographic memory.

Sophie sprinted in the maze of mirrors, her footsteps making a pitter-patter sound as she darted from hallway to hallway.

Her eyes widened as she came into a room filled with pure... chaos. The definition of the room was pandemonium.

The room spread out to separate hallways, and at the end of each one there seemed to be an element. Fire, wind, water, earth, quintessence and... shadowflux. Sophie made sure to steer clear of that one in fear of her echoes stirring.

Then a shining, glowing ball seemed to descend from the ceiling, just a mere two meters in front of her. She gazed at the swirling rainbow colors in awe.

Why was she here? Why had she seen her friends in all of these painful ways?

Her heart thudded hard in her chest.

Breathe.

In. Out.

Then the ground felt like it was shaking, cracks spreading through the marble floor. Sophie shrieked, doing her best to avoid the fissures like a game of Hot Lava.

She tried to run back into the hallway she'd come through, but giant boulders crashed to the ground, blocking the exit. She was trapped.

Sophie ran to the nearest hallway, which ended up being the shadowflux hallway.

Her echoes stirred.

BREATHE.

IN. OUT.

She bit her lip, tasting the copper of blood.

Then the darkness swallowed her whole.

A/N Short chapter, but it's the prologue so *shrug*