Mrs Sophie Foster-Sencen (Sokeefe Tale of Two Times) - KOTLC

Dire

~ Future Sophie's POV ~

My face, alike to Elwin's, became a ghostly sheen of pale white, the blood draining from my cheeks and leaving me with a glowing tint of dipped moonlight.
Keefe, too, had gone extremely pale, a cold sweat slicking at the base of his forehead.
"So...so you're saying the Emerinda Priscium is responsible for this?"
He asked in almost an accusatory intonation, searching for clarification.
"I-it is highly possible, yes."
Elwin spoke uncertainly, his usual fluid spur of words becoming shaky and no longer present.
"But- but that wouldn't be possible!
I spluttered, bewilderment crossing my face.
"We drank the nectar and nothing happened!"
"Well, it wasn't the lunar festival. The nectar wasn't at its highest peak. Plus something else had to have mixed in with it. I'm just not sure how. Surely the medicine is not a coincidence."
"The instances did coincide just in different years. When did you say you took the medicine again?"
Kesler queried, swiveling in his chair to retrieve a sheet of paper for notes.
"Before...before we went to bed."
Keefe answered.
"Do you know what time that was?"
Kesler began to write, his pen moving swiftly against the loose leaf.
"Sometime at around 9:30 or so."
I responded, tapping my foot nervously.
Kesler and Elwin exchanged glances, and their lips parted.
"That's the time you were given the medicine here..."
Elwin spoke slowly, as if he was assiduously considering his words.
"So that would make sense then. It fits uncoincidentally."
Keefe decided.
I frowned.
"It would seem that it does."
Kesler agreed.
"So now we just have to figure out-"
"Wait."
I blurted, watching every figure turn to me.
They seem to have forgotten my presence caught up in their revelations.
"What about the Emerinda Priscium?"
I asked, immediately realizing that I had completely formatted the question wrong.
"What about it?"
Elwin asked.
"We know it caused this reaction-"
"Sorry,"
I cut him off.
"What I meant was, when did we have the nectar here?"
"...during dinner most likely?..."
Kesler formatted the answer in question form, shrugging as if it were obvious.
I sighed.
"No, like did we eat it before or after we took the medicine?"
I asked, then immediately realized that they probably had no idea.
Kesler and Elwin shrugged.
"Is there any way we can call Flori here?"
I suggested.
"I suppose I could call Grady and ask him to send Flori over."
I nodded, showing that I agreed with their plan.
Around five minutes later, there was a knock on the laboratory door.
"Come in."
Kesler's voice boomed across the vast space, addressing the visitor, who I knew was Flori.
The small gnome pushed then doors open, how, I'm not sure. I could've sworn she was too small to reach the doorknob.
Flori waddled in, her small steps padding along the carpeted floor.
"I heard I was summoned by the moonlark."
She stated matter-of-factly, as if it were an indifferent topic.
It took a second for me to realize her formalities were gestured towards me.
"Uh...yeah..."
I said awkwardly.
"What is it my summons for?"
"We just wanted to know whether you gave Sophie and I the nectar of the flower before or after we took the elixirs."
Keefe voiced for me.
The little gnome's hands shot to her weaved hair, as she tapped her foot in thought while humming slightly.
The motion was almost rhythmic, as she ran her fingers gently through her hair and tapped her foot.
Tap, beat, wait, tousle, tap, beat, wait, tousle.
The soft humming fell into synchronization with the beat.
I was almost hypnotized by the motion, until Flori cut in.
"I believe it was after. What's the concern?"
She asked, her large, innocent eyes curving in worry. The only way I can describe her eyes are like puppy eyes. The sight could certainly have caused a crowd to gush, and my heart wrenched and filled with sadness when I saw her expression.
Luckily for me, I didn't have to explain to her what happened, as Elwin and Kesler jumped in for me.
Her fair skin was bleached of its color by the time the explanation had passed, and she sat in utter silence and bewilderment after.
The glimmer of happiness that was once in her eyes disappeared.
I could tell what was plaguing her without even her words.
Guilt.
If an elf is touched by guilt, their mind may shatter, and how glad was I the same didn't happen to gnomes.
"Hey."
My tone was soft as I reached my arm out to the small gnome's shoulder.
When she still didn't respond, I knelt down in front of her on my knees, removed my arm from her shoulder, and placed both my palms face down atop her face up palms.
"It's not your fault."
I whispered, my own eyes beginning to shimmer with tears.
"But...but, I should've known...I- I grew them... I-it's..."
Her voice trembled and her lips quivered. Even her lithe frame began to shake, as if an earthquake was upon her figure alone.
"I should've known."
She finally got out.
"Hey, listen."
I whispered to her.
"It's not your fault, ok? Hindsight is a dangerous game to play. What happened, happened. Now we just have to reverse it and everything will be ok."
I wish I could believe my own words. My stomach soured as I realized that we had to figure out how to reverse it.
Flori's eyes were still distant, and she clearly seems to not believe me, as a tears began dripping down her cheeks like a leaky faucet.
"Please."
I begged, my own voice slightly cracking, as tears of my own began to spill, leaving dark spots on the carpeted floor.
I knew her mind couldn't break, but I couldn't handle another person bearing guilt.
Especially after...
No. I commanded myself. Don't think of it. It was long ago. Plus you saved them. It's ok now. I tried to reassure myself.
But, oh, how I'd witnessed guilt. It tore me in two just to see it. Some might say that was because it reminded me of the weight I still held and made me feel guilty, but it was actually because I couldn't stand to watch the people I loved break.
I felt Keefe come up behind me and kneel down, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He knew what I was thinking. He could sense the turbulence in my head.
Upon seeing my tears, the little gnome gave a small nod and swallowed.
"I'll help you. No matter what it takes, I'll help you."
Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke, but her tone had loosened up and her tears were coming to a stop.
"Thank you."
I whispered back, and slowly moved my hands away from her palms, just to wipe my tears.
Keefe caught my hand midway and wiped my tears away with his hand instead.
I gave him a small smile and spun to face Kesler and Elwin again, getting up carefully.
Elwin was scratching his chin in thought.
"Well I'm sure Kesler and I can run some test, but I have a theory as to why you had to have drank the nectar after the elixir instead of before."
"Why?"
I asked, scrunching my eyebrows together in focus.
"Well it's most likely because the Emerinda Priscium is known to have smooth nectar that goes down quickly. It leaves the digestive tract extremely quickly as well. But elixirs take their time out, working along the way before they completely leave. So drinking the nectar after was the only way the two would be able to mix and create some sort of a biochemical reaction from within your stomach to travel to your brain, which can cause rips in the fabric of time with your very power, especially if high amounts of the Emerinda Priscium nectar were concentrated in the one specific area in your head, nearest to memories."
His hypothesis flowed out of his mouth smoothly, returning back to his normal fluid speech.
"Wait, does that mean that we were thinking about this time period and that contributed to the cause of us coming here?"
Keefe asked, his head tilting in curiosity.
"Not necessarily, but because of the connection between the two instances through the elixir and the biochemical reaction from one ending point, it must've provoked your future thoughts to be on this time period, as your two bodies had found a connection."
When I gave him a confused expression, Elwin sighed.
"Ok, think of it like this. Our bodies are connected between every time period and time line we travel along through tiny threads. When we tug on those threads, we reminisce on them through the form of memories. However, when a connection is present with the help of independent variables, the two threads will tug at one another, essentially causing each other to gravitate towards each other and meet in the middle, through some sort of wormhole, and then overlap and cross one another."
He explained.
"Here, let me demonstrate. Do you have thread, Kesler?"
Kesler nodded and pulled a drawer open in his desk, snatching out a few yards of string.
"Why do you just randomly have those?"
Keefe asked, and I was wondering the same.
He shrugged.
"Helps to tie up bagged ingredients that don't come in satchels."
He said.
"Alright. Sophie grab one end of the string and Keefe grab the other."
Obediently, we conformed, though I had to admit it was completely random as to why we were doing this.
"Alright Sophie, tug. Good. Now stop. Keefe now you tug- no, softer, you don't want to cause Sophie to crash to the floor- good. Ok, stop. Now, both of you tug at the string at the same time on my cue- on my cue! Keefe! Stop tugging! KEEFE! Thank you, goodness. Alright, ready now? 3...2...1...tug. Don't be so harsh! One of you is going to fall over! Good...now tug at the thread in intervals so that one of you is moving closer to the other and then the other is moving you towards them. Normally, this would take hours with the inching steps your taking, so for that sake, please step forward a little to move towards the other. Good. Ok a few more times...and...great! Now you're next to each other! Alright now keep tugging, but cross around one another. So- no, don't both try to cross around each other, one of you move in a straight trajectory and the other curve. Can you seriously not figure this out? Ok, Sophie- go around him. Good, keep tugging in intervals, Sophie first and then Keefe next. Ok, cross...and...there! You got it!"
Elwin pumped his fist in the air.
In front of him, Keefe and I were on opposite sides from where we originally were, facing away from one another, and essentially starting to go the other way. The problem was, one kept pulling and the other kept resisting. And we kept going until we had reached the thread's max length.
"Great! So now you see? You can drop the thread now."
He informed us.
We did as told, and pivoted on our heel to face him again.
"So then theoretically, we'd be fine staying in opposite time zones as this...thread...only goes so far?"
I asked him.
"What do you mean?"
He frowned.
"Like, I'm not saying I want to stay, but, hypothetically, say we never return, then we'd technically be connected with our past self and be ok."
I clarified my question.
Elwin was quiet for a second.
"Well I suppose it's highly possible."
He said hesitantly.
"But the thing about the threads is...they are not as finite as these ones are. They are made of no sustainable material. They can snap and break, sliver and cleave, tear and crack. And if they stretch and cross too far within the folds of time, they may entirely separate. Then, you will be lost forever, and will have no memory of before."
The situation was growing more dire by the minute.

~ Hey guys! Slightly longer chapter! Over 2000 words! Hope you enjoy this! Love you all and thanks for almost 40 followers! You guys are awesome!
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- your author 💕 ~