Operation Infiltration (Kotlc Fanfic)

Chapter 12 • When Darkness Spoke

The bitter cold didn't bother her anymore. She supposed she should be grateful, but instead, it was the heat that kept her awake. Every waking moment, it begged to be awakened, to be called into existence.

Hot tears leaked from her eyes as sleep continued to elude her. She wondered why she had manifested as a pyrokinetic. Escaping had crossed her mind daily, especially now, but then, who would train her in pyrokinesis? Marella? She was a student, too.

Sophie didn't realize the bedsheets were burning until they were reduced to ashes. Well, it's not like I needed blankets anyway. Sophie sniffed, the smell of smoke making her cough. She barely prevented the mattress from catching fire, leaving scorch marks.

Why had I foolishly believed it would be so easy to control? Sophie was thinking as she flopped back onto the bed. Holding her hand up, fire danced between her fingers.

Unable to bear the thoughts and silence any longer, she got out of bed and went to the courtyard in the middle of the night, not caring if she got into trouble.

The moonlight basked everything in its pale blue glow as she wandered the broken paths, her footsteps echoing. Eventually, she found her way to the lake from yesterday.

Sophie sat and removed her hood, turned off her Addler, and stared hard at her reflection, running her fingers through her long blonde hair, just like Fintan's. Her hands burst into flames at the mere idea of them possibly being related. The thought of Fintan being her biological father made her gag.

There's no way I'll become like Fintan, right? As Sophie's emotions flared up, the fire called louder to her, spiraling out of control. Pulling her under its influence. Flames spread to the rest of her body, engulfing her and seeming to dance in sync with the emotions swirling within her.

I would never hurt my friends with my abilities! But hadn't Fintan believed that at one point, too? Overwhelmed by the thought of her friends suffering, she clawed at her hair, ripping out a few chunks, trying to ease the overflowing rush of emotions coursing through her veins.

In the moonlit water, the shimmering flames distorted her reflection. Her sobs and blood orange flames shattered the once serene atmosphere. The soothing waves drowned out by the noise.

Despite her best efforts to ignore the heat, she knew deep down that she would have to live with being a pyrokinetic forever. If I had been near my friends when I'd manifested... no, don't think about that.

In her agony, Sophie's eyes locked onto her reflection, her troubled eyes searching for answers in the flickering flames. As much as Sophie hated it, the fire's beauty entranced a part of her. She plunged her hands in the water, the hiss of mist and brief relief calming her.

Sniffles escaped as she retrieved her dagger from training, grabbed a fistful of hair, and was about to cut it when the sound of crunching leaves interrupted her.

"Life in the Neverseen sucks, huh? You really shouldn't have joined." The boyish voice sounded familiar. Sophie stifled a scream, scrambling to turn the Addler back on.

"I knew that," Sophie snapped, suspicion and annoyance in her tone.

"Planning to cut your hair? That's not the way to do it." He shrugged, as if stating the obvious.

Sophie released her hair and directed her gaze toward them. His hood cast his face in shadows.

He stiffened. "Are you the new pyrokinetic?"