𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍,kotlc| Hiatus

Chapter 7

After an abundance of squealing from Marella and a truckload of teasing from Keefe, both of them had finally retreated, Marella whispering much too loudly about how to break the news to others.
Sophie hadn't told her about Fitz.
It just felt too private right now,and she wasn't in the mood.
She just felt the humidity making her eyes droop lower, lower...
"You know,teasing you about drooling doesn't feel fun anymore."
The voice sounded familiar, but Sophie wasn't exactly in the mood to reply.She grunted and stumbled to her feet in her usual clumsy, two-left-footed manner.
(IDK if that's a phrase...tell me if it is or isn't!)
"What's going on?" she asked, swiping at her chin and making a mental note to strangle Keefe later for bringing everybody out.
"Actually, he didn't," Elysian announced, "and before you ask, no, I'm not a Telepath.I'm just... familiar... with your thoughts.
She stole a meaningful glance at Keefe.
As the world blurred into focus, Sophie saw everybody dressed and ready. Azzie and Rogan seemed to have borrowed clothes.
Meanwhile, she...
Looked like someone who'd collapsed into sleep wearing her day clothes,without showering or brushing, and suffered a rude awakening.
And as glad as she was to see Sandor's gray form perfectly healed,he felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment.
"Aww, there's the Foster blush we all know!" said Keefe with a smirk, and Sophie strangely didn't feel the need to get mad at him anymore.
"What are you guys doing?" She asked, knowing that it definitely wasn't the time to think about their relationship.
"Get showered and changed first."
Sophie scowled, but... she did look like a half-asleep verminon.
So she showered as fast as possible, threw on the clothes Elysian had provided for her without really looking at them,and pulled her hair into a ponytail as she threw on her boots and rushed out.
Elysian looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected her to rush through.
"Spill," she demanded,folding her arms.
Elysian sighed,but she cut to the chase. "It isn't safe for you to hide with me anymore. You have to go home."
Home.
Where was home, anyway?
It wasn't like Havenfield didn't count, but...
"Wait a minute," she said sharply. "You're kicking us out?"
"No,no," Elysian assured her. "I'm not doing anything like that. I've long since discovered that I don't belong in your world.But you can't hide from Gisela forever. You're going to have to face her sooner or later. And... you need as much information as possible to do that.Which you'll gain when you get home." She stared at the floor. "I do know it was my fault Ethan and Eleanor died. I'd love to help more than I'm offering now, but... you don't know who I am. How I'm here. How my star watches us. I also know I'm too dangerous to pick sides."
"You realise each of those sentences is more confusing than the last, right?" Maruca jumped in.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: You aren't meant to understand. This secret was born with me. And when I leave the earth, it will depart with me."
The words appeared to send static in everybody's brains.
"We've barely been here," said Fitz, apparently finding his voice.
Sophie agreed that they shouldn't ask anymore questions, lest they get off track.
"I know. I needed to keep a low profile for all of you until..." She trailed off, and her green eyes flashed with a warning that told Sophie not to ask anything else. "I will be able to guide you from time to time."
"How?" Everybody demanded at the same time.
"And where would we stay?" Rogan added. "It's not like we have a lot of family embracing us with open arms."
"That," Elysian said, "I will leave for your organization to decide."
"So," Keefe said slowly, "you're basically telling us, 'Okay, I've done my job and since  you have to face your creepy psychopath of a mother soon anyway, you might as well go home with two others?'"
"Not missing a beat, I see," Elysian said  with a flicker of a grin. "But, like I said, I will help you." She waved her hand to create a tunnel of wind, which whipped Sophie's face and pushed her clothes, but Elysian somehow managed to make it look as though the dark red strands were weaving through the sunlight , catching the winds.
Sophie glanced at her friends,and her voice flooded their minds-except Sandro. Fr all his I go where you go, he'd been surprisingly silent so far.
Maybe he'd accepted it was time for her to step up and decide things without him.
Are you sure you want to do this? She said.
Marella grinned. You really think we have the power to go against the wishes of our Fearless Lady Fos-Boss? She countered.
Stina told-
Yes,she did, as you hadn't thought to make it a priority.
I didn't want you to tease me, she argued,feeling her cheeks redden or the second time that day.
She needed to figure out how to stop doing it- though this might be justified.
In the Friends category, Marella definitely won the prize for  Ambushes Me for Not Hanging Out With Everybody Equally.
Yeah, for her it's bad enough that I'm doing it along with Team Fancypants, Keefe added.
Sophie jumped, wondering how she could have forgotten that her mind was open to other people's thoughts as well.
She rolled her eyes, and he smirked back.
Fitz's jaw seemed to have tightened. Clearly, any goodwill he'd been feeling the night before had vanished.
Sophie shook herself. Ready or not? She asked everyone.
I'm in, they all replied together.
Sophie took one last glance at the ethereal area.
The winds.
The trees.
The stream.
The butterflies.
All of it had felt so real.
But it was like the night in the Grove.
Reality was out there.
This wasn't a game anymore.
This was war.
And she had to fight her battles- not hide in fairylands.
"Will you be okay?" She whispered to Elysian.
She smiled, though it was sad. "I've survived before. And I will, again. However long this takes."
This would take long.
But Sophie had realised something. It had been decided since the day she burnt the storehouse.
Nothing would be short. Nothing would be easy anymore.
And nothing would be the same.
And so, with a final farewell to Elysian, Sophie let the wind tunnel sweep her and her friends away,hair blowing in the soft breeze,into the world they belonged in.
                                                                            ****************************
Sophie had countless memories of Havenfield.
The first place she'd ever felt at home, parents who understood her.
But none was quite like this.
The elegant gold-and-glass manor was as tall as ever,and seemed to be even shinier when it shimmered in the breeze.
'Sparkle overload,' as Ro would have said.
How strange it was she could think about something like that at a time like this.
But maybe her brain had sent it to her as a warning.Because honestly? She'd never thought of Havenfield as 'sparkle overload' before.
There was always some noise, Edaline rushing to tame the creatures, the gorgodon busting out, Silveny's transmissions...
Something.
The something that took the sparkly effect away.
A quick look at her friends told her they shared her suspicions,
"I don't like how quiet this place is," she decided. "It's not right. Do you think we should-"
Her words died in her moth as a figure stumbled closer.
A beautiful woman.
Her amber hair was rumpled, her turquoise eyes shadowed in purplish bruises. And her once rosy cheeks were pale,as though all her energy had been sucked away.
It was a look Sophie had never seen before.
But she would have recognized her adoptive mother anywhere.
"Edaline?" she whispered.
A/N:So, I'm writing Chapter 8 now (sadly not a double update) and sorry if this chapter was kinda short. I had to stop here, because the next chapter is kinda complex to write.You'll see! It'll be entertaining,I promise! I'm sorry again it isn't a double update, I keep telling myself I'll be able to do it, but I didn't want to keep you waiting too long for the next chapter, because what's the point of a double update if you'll have to wait the same amount of time, right?
Eh, anyways, Happy Monday (maybe?) hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next update!