Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 6

Wake up. 

The word grew in intensity as it echoed through Sophie's consciousness. Piercing through her mental barriers. Shattering her defense mechanisms. 

Sophie withdrew her consciousness from deep within herself and sensed a presence. 

Elysian's mind. Great and vast. 

With so many memories tucked away, like a gigantic library filled with books.

Wake up, Sophie! 

Where am I? Sophie transmitted back. The last thing she remembered was endless darkness. And cold water surrounding her. Binding her. 

Calling her. 

As if the water had a consciousness, it spoke to her. 

Come. 

But Sophie had been too numb to respond. 

Now... she was conscious and aware. Somewhere, voices were speaking. One of them was calling her name.

Something told her she should wake up to see what was going on, and she opened her eyes and was suddenly in Physical Sophie again. 

"Foster's awake, guys, I told you she was!" Only someone used that nickname, so the person with artfully mussed blond hair whose ice-blue eyes were staring at her face was... 

"Keefe," she whispered, not able to be more glad to see him. She wanted to tackle him, wrap her arms around him, and tell him how glad she was that he was alive and well. 

But the word caused her to be thrown into a fit of unstoppable coughing, and then she hacked up a bunch of water into a basin that Elysian was holding. 

Elysian was staring at her, concerned, and Flori was standing next to the couch she was lying on. Keefe was curled into a ball at the other end of the couch, looking uneasy.

She was lying on the sofa in Elysian's living room with a blanket and pillow. She glanced outside at the beautiful scenery, and it was already morning. 

Great.

Another one of her near-death experiences caused her to lose valuable time. 

"Are you okay, Sophie?" Flori asked. "I should have been down there with you when you needed me. Elysian said that-" 

The warning look in Elysian's eyes caused Flori to promptly close her mouth and back away. 

Flori wouldn't look at Sophie. Her eyes were filled with bitterness, regret, and guilt.

Sophie was concerned, but Keefe recognized it quickly and bent to console her.

"It's fine, Flori," Keefe insisted, making her look into his eyes. "See? We're all fine! Sophie's the one that deserves the most praise. She Fostered it once again!"

The withering glare that he received from Elysian made him shut up. "Oops... I guess maybe... not the time."

"Uh, for the last time, could someone please tell us we found all four of you missing, why you brought Sophie here unconscious, and why none of you would say anything?" Maruca demanded, and Sophie winced when she saw that she had quite the crowd gathered in the living room staring at her. 

Fitz, Maruca, Marella, and Sandor all had identical glares and crossed arms. If the situation wasn't so tense, Sophie would have laughed at how in sync they were. 

"And for the last time, Miss Chebota, you may kindly show yourself out," Elysian said wearily as if she had repeated the same words a couple of times already. "Sophie, Keefe, Flori, and I have things to discuss promptly."