Sophie Foster at Malory Towers

Chapter 9- We Screwed Up

Biana

Biana stared at Mr Forkle's weak form, her brother by her side. Keefe was the first to react. He knelt down next to Mr Forkle and said, "Forkle, what happened?"

Mr Forkle, blood pumping from his arm and sporting horrendous burns on his body, as well as a long, deep cut on his throat, just wheezed, "I was called by the the headmistress at Malory Towers. Apparently Sophie was badly injured and refusing to let herself be examined. She asked me to come and see if I could get her to come out-" Forkle stopped as he winced in pain, the skin on his body stretching from the burns as he struggled to sit up.

Biana shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She said. "We need to get Forkle and Sophie to Elwin or Livvy- where are they?" 

Blur, a member of the Collective whose body was was a literal blur, spoke up. "Livvy's with Elwin- they're working on some elixirs together at Foxfire." 

Wraith, another member of the Collective, nodded. "Blur, Squall and I will go inform the rest of the Black Swan what has happened. We will trust you to get Forkle and Sophie to them."

Beside her, Fitz nodded. "We'll make sure of that. Who has a pathfinder to Foxfire? Or leaping crystal?" 

Tam spoke up, his dark eyes unreadable behind his silver bangs. "I do. Tiergan gave it to me on our first day." Linh nodded in confirmation. 

As Tam held up his pathfinder to the light, they all linked hands, Biana holding Forkle's hand, as he had lost too much blood to stand up himself, and Keefe cradled Sophie's unmoving body in his arms. Then they all glittered away, leaving the Collective behind.

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When they appeared in the Healing Centre at Foxfire, they nearly gave Elwin a heart attack. 

"What the-" He cried, clutching his chest. Then he saw Sophie and Forkle and his expression turned grim. "Put them down on these cots. LIVVY!"

Livvy came out of Elwin's office at Elwin's shout, and saw the two invalids. "I'll go get the elixirs." She said immediately. 

Elwin checked Mr Forkle's pulse. By now, he had passed out from the blood loss. Elwin glanced up. "Who did this?" He asked, beginning to apply a poultice to Forkle's burns. They began to heal, but it was taking a long time. Much longer than normal. 

Everyone glanced at each other, but it ended up in Dex saying reluctantly, "It was Sophie."

Elwin's head shot up, and Livvy, who had overheard, went pale. "No..." Elwin murmured.

Livvy ran over to Sophie's side, calling, "Fitz! Come here, will you?"

Fitz immediately rushed from Biana's side to Sophie's, asking Livvy, "What do you want me to do?"

"You can read Sophie's mind, right?" Livvy asked. When Fitz nodded, she continued, "If she is truly the one who did that to Mr Forkle, the guy who literally helped create her, then there is something seriously wrong. Maybe her mind is shattered? I don't know. But I need you to check."

Biana found herself holding her breath as her brother put his fingers on the unconscious Sophie's temples, and entered her mind.

Fitz

Wow. Sophie's mind was chaotic. 

That was all Fitz could think of to describe it. Fragments and pieces of memories were everywhere. Bright colours and shapes jumped out at him, and he struggled to remain focused throughout the overall chaos. 

As Fitz ploughed through Sophie's mind, the memories slowly faded and a noise almost like static appeared in the background.

That was strange. Sophie had a photographic memory. He knew Forkle had taken her memories in order to be able to send her to the human world, as she had refused to hide, but now that Sophie appeared to remember them, shouldn't all her memories be back to normal?

Fitz tried to enter one of the faded memories, with... cracks along it. Instantly, pain erupted in every nerve in his body. He struggled to escape, and Fitz felt people in the real world shaking him, calling his name. Then, a strong force pushed him out of Sophie's mind.

In the real world, Fitz sat straight upright, groaning as a terrible headache erupted in his skull. He shut his eyes and massaged his temples, his body aching. 

"What happened?" Livvy's voice asked from far away. "Fitz? Fitz!" 

A bright light erupted in Fitz's vision, and his eyes shot open. Elwin had shaped his fingers and an orb of coloured light was floating before Fitz's eyes. 

"What the hell, Elwin." Fitz grumbled as everything slowly came back into focus. A whole lot of concerned faces were very close to him. "Back off a bit, will you?" Fitz snapped. 

Everyone backed up hurriedly, and Fitz slowly stood up, falling to the ground again when a dizzy spell hit him. "Shoot." Fitz said, as Elwin came to his side, flashing lights around him. He handed Fitz a vial and, without questions, Fitz uncorked it and drank the contents, feeling instantly better afterwards. 

"What happened?" Biana asked, breaking the silence.

Fitz rose to his feet, standing steadily this time. Instead of responding to Biana's question, Fitz walked straight to Livvy and whispered in her ear, "I need a sedative."

Livvy, without asking questions, got a dark green bottle from the shelf, and gave it to Fitz. Immediately, he walked to Sophie, and tipped the contents down her throat.

Sophie immediately sat up, choking and hacking. "What the hell?!" She yelled. "I literally just saved your sanity and you try to DRUG me?!" 

Fitz glared back at her. "You tried to shatter my sanity before saving me!"

Sophie, having calmed down a little, waved a hand airily and said lightly, "That's irrelevant. What MATTERS is that you tried to drug me!"

"You nearly killed Mr Forkle!" Fitz shouted.

Sophie, leaping up, returned, "He deserved it! You all deserve it, you traitors! You took my memories, made me think the Neverseen were the ones in the wrong! Gethen gave me back my real memories- I remember now! I was best friends with them, had so many happy moments with them, and you took all that away! I should have shattered your sanity- but again, you'll be useful later." She whipped out a dagger and began advancing on Fitz.

Suddenly, Elwin shouted out, "Hold your breath!" Everyone except Sophie obeyed, who turned to Elwin, rolling her eyes. She immediately got a lungful of the pink, sedative gas Elwin had released, and collapsed to the ground.

Everyone else waited for the gas to clear before releasing their breath. 

"Good thinking, Elwin." Dex huffed. 

Biana hugged herself, staring at Sophie's limp form. "We really screwed up, didn't we?" She said, speaking for everyone in the room.

"Yeah." Keefe replied. "We really did."

Elwin didn't react to this, instead turning to Fitz with a grim look on his face. "What did you see in Sophie's mind, Fitz?"

Fitz took a deep breath and released the burden that was already weighing heavy on his shoulders. "Sophie's- Sophie's mind is shattering."