( On Hold) The Moonlark's Sister (KotLC)

Chapter 3

After getting used to the crispy air of Lumenaria, the smoky ash stung my lungs. I looked around to find where we were, and surprisingly, we were only a block away from where Soph and I lived. We both decided not to question it.

Fitz coughed and glaredat the sky. "You'd think humans could put out a few fires before they pollute the whole world."

"They're working on it," Sophie said. "The arsonists just did something to the flames, so they're burning white hot."

She wasn't wrong. The fires were unnaturally hot and smelled like melting cotton candy instead of the usual barbecue smell. It was better than regular fire at least. Well, when it wasn't raining ash in our eyes and mouth.

I noticed Fitz pull out his pathfinder and start to lock the crystal on top of it into place.

"Are you leaving?" Sophie asked, and I could hear the hitch in her voice. I just rolled my eyes.

"I have to find out what my dad wants to do. Neither of us thought you would be the girl, and we definitely didn't expect to find another elf with you. We only knew about you, Sophie."

That managed to make me feel better and worse at the same time.

Fitz was about to leave when Sophie said. "Fitz? Why can't I hear your thoughts?"

The question visibly knocked him back a step. "I still can't believe you're a Telepath," he told her.

"Aren't all elves Telepaths?" She asked.

Fitz shook his head. "No, it's one of the rarer abilities. Not as rare as your sister's ability, though."

"What's my ability called, like Phaser or something?" I had to ask. I was curious, alright?

Fitz nodded. "You nailed it. It's almost as rare as being a Mesmer."

Neither of us asked what a Mesmer was, but it sounded cool to me. Maybe they could put someone in a trance or something. Ooh, or maybe-

My thoughts were cut off by Fitz telling us,"Anyways, I have to go now. Can you promise that you won't tell anyone about what you saw or where you've been today?"

When we both nodded, Fitz gave us both a thumbs up and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Elaine and I alone on the empty street.

Sophie coughed. "Soo.. that happened."

"Yeah, that it did," I agreed. I wanted to talk with her about what happened more, but our mom was probably getting more worried by the second, so I decided to hold off on that for now.

"Let's get home," is all I said as I motioned for her to follow me. I knew she was following me because I could hear her footsteps behind me.

After about five minutes of walking, we finally made it back to our house. When we made it to the front door, I froze for a second when I reached for the handle. I was nervous for the chewing out we were about to get, but Sophie didn't seem to share the same thoughts I did and ripped the door open.

"There you are!" Our mother exclaimed, turning towards us. "Yes, they're home now. I'll be sure to have a long talk with them."

My heart tightened when I realized something. If Sophie and I are both elves, then they can't be our real parents.

But if they aren't, then who are? I decided that I didn't care right now. Right now I just need to survive this conversation. I saw my mom hang the phone up and look at us. "That was Mr. Sweeney calling after he couldn't find you at the museum." Uh oh, I forgot about that. "What were you thinking, running off like that without telling anyone? Especially with these fires making everyone nervous. He thought you guys were kidnapped!"

"I'm sorry Mom. There was.." Sophie trailed off, trying to think of a lie probably. She's a terrible liar and I'm not, so I decided to take it from there.

"There was this guy at the museum who was looking at our paper," I explained. The best lies are based on the truth, so I think you can see where I'm going with this. "He was asking all these weird probing questions, trying to get to know us in a weird way, so we both sprinted off and decided to shop around a bit." I pulled out a sandwich I had "borrowed" from someone and showed it to her.

When Mom looked at Sophie, I just explained that she had already eaten hers. She looked mostly convinced, but there was that one tiny part of her that must not have been convinced, because she was about to ask me something when our dad walked through the door.

"Hey, hey! How's my little Soybean?" He said to Sophie, making her scowl while I laughed. "Don't think I forgot you, Spirit." I scowled. Okay, I was watching a cartoon and there was a spirit named Elaine too and I got really obsessed with it so I told my parents I was a spirit and now it's a nickname that I hate deeply.

Mental deep breaths, El. Mental deep breaths.

"Soybean, it's your turn to set the table for dinner," our dad told Sophie.

"Yeah, Soybean," a voice I knew well said from upstairs. "Get crackin'."

My twin sister Amy came down from her room upstairs and walked over. Her brown hair bounced with every step and her eyes were focused on me.

"Hey, Amy," I said to her as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I was taller than her by a good bit, so I was mostly resting my head on her head.

Sophie had finished setting the table by then, so we all sat down to eat. I could tell Sophie didn't feel good, but neither of us said anything as that would just make our parents worry more.

The second our dad set his fork down, which marked the end of our dinner every time, Sophie stood up and put her dishes into the sink.

"Dinner was great, Mom," Sophie said. "I'm gonna go up to my room and study now." She sprinted off up the stairs before any of us said anything.

I looked at Amy and my parents before I said, "I'm gonna go check on her." None of them stopped me as I went up there.

When I made it up the stairs to Sophie's room, I made sure nobody followed me or could see me before I phased through Sophie's door. I found her crying on her bed and I walked over to her, putting my arm around her shoulders and letting her cry on my shoulder.

"Everything is gonna be okay, Soph. We're going to get through this together. That's what sisters do for each other after all."
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Woo, 1150 words! I'm sorry this chapter took a LOT longer than the others did, but school has been an absolute pain and I've been really busy. A week long break is coming up soon though, so hopefully I can get a chapter out during that!

-Eri