The Second Moonlark: A KotLC Fanfic

Chapter Nine (Dead Elves Are Apparently Preferable to Insane Elves)

The week passed in a blur.

Sonia followed her normal routine, with a few exceptions: Clothes shopping with Biana, staying over at the Song twins' house, and a Black Swan meeting at Lumentide. Otherwise, she was doing fine.

Until Fintan decided to update her about the meeting she'd missed.

"Seriously? Carnage, this early?" She hadn't been given any time at all! Sure, they expected a lot from her, but the Black Swan operated on a very need-to-know basis. She hadn't had much intel since the first visit to Lumentide.

"Yes. You'd better disappear quickly, or else he's going to break some rules. Gisela specifically said to get everyone involved with Keefe Sencen." Sonia nodded. She was in danger, but...

Her dream echoed in her mind again.

Every time Linh had smiled at her, she had thought of the voices saying that they'd never trust her again. Every time she tried to write with the fake pen, she thought of Ruy, her best friend and confidante, telling her that everything she'd been told was true.

It was driving her insane with guilt.

"Sonia? We can arrange for a pickup if you say that your parents don't want you in Foxfire anymore. All you have to say is yes." Her thoughts spiraled faster and faster. Worst elf I've ever- Congratulations, Codename Silvia- Dreadful- Career- They kept going on and on, until she knew exactly what she needed to say.

"No."

*****

Sonia collapsed on the couch. Ruy was sitting on the armchair in the corner, inspecting some sort of file, but she knew he would listen to her. He always had.

"What if everything we've ever been told is a lie?" He looked up, startled. He obviously didn't expect the conversation to take such a dark turn.

"I mean, what if, right now, we're working for the bad guys and not the 'morally subtle' people we've always believed in?" Ruy's eyes clouded as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why do you think that?" Sonia paused. She wasn't sure how to get her words out straight.

"Were you in the cell that kidnapped the Moonlark?" He nodded.

"Do you think that an organization that is morally correct would hold a 16-year-old girl against her will? And for that matter, no one has reported hearing transmissions either." That was troubling. Obviously Ruy wasn't supposed to tell her something, but knowing him, he still would.

"She's in a coma," he blurted.

That wasn't what she had been expecting. But to be honest, the other option was much worse.

"I don't even know why we had to do it, but... we were ordered to lock her into the Whiteout." Sonia inhaled sharply. She only knew of one time that it had been used in the Carnage experiment- and there were rumors that it might be part of the Stellarlune project. However, it was used as a joke by most of the Neverseen members. Like, 'Stop that right now or you're going to the Whiteout'. It was definitely real, and it was definitely a threat, and no one who got put in it ever remembered that they had been.

It erased memories.

"What would they want from her memories?" He shrugged.

"They might want to keep her out of the game."

"Maybe... Oh. Oh, this is very, very bad." Sonia buried her face in her hands- not before checking her watch, though. She had forty-five minutes to convince Ruy to go rogue, thirty because she had to change.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they're calling in Carnage, and I know when they're going to sic him on every single person in Keefe's friend group- including me." His eyes widened.

"At the dance." He sat forward.

"I'm with you, wherever you go after surviving this." She nodded, thankful for his support.

"I'm going to save as many of the group as I can, which will probably be all of them. I'm packing throwing stars, as well as some elixirs for if things get hairy. Please keep the route open." She stood up to go get changed, and he mirrored her movement. He strode over and wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders, and her heartbeat picked up. How did this feel so... Right? His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered in it.

"Remember."

*****

"Hi, Soni!" It was Linh and Tam, over by the refreshment table. As soon as she spotted them, she almost ran towards them. Tam glanced at her outfit.

"You look great." It was true, she thought, as she looked down at the short dress she had chosen. It was a deep indigo blue matching her eyes, and it was chosen for both beauty and utility. She could move easily in the flowing fabric, and it was woven with filaments that made it weapon proof.

"Thanks!" Sonia grabbed a glass for some punch, but the music started before she could fill it. She glanced up to see Tam, still standing there. He rubbed his neck.

"Do you want to dance?"

*****

The dance was exhausting.

Or maybe, as Ruy put it, exhaustion was just Sonia's normal state of mind. She had danced and danced and danced a little more, until she was sure that Carnage would collapse from exhaustion due to the time of night instead of attacking her friends. But she was proved wrong right before she stepped into the Leapmaster.

Klunk. Klunk. Klunk.

Her heart stopped. That was Carnage. He always insisted on wearing boots that sounded like they were made out of concrete, and they made that exact same noise. The one she was hearing right now. The rest of the group must've noticed the terror in her eyes, because they asked her what was wrong.

"Run," she whispered.

They looked at each other strangely. She could tell they didn't believe her. They were going to die if she didn't drag them into the light right now.

"Why?" Keefe asked. He was looking at her, not at the hallway like he should be, and any second now...

Carnage stepped around the corner.

He was a hulking, muscular elf with jet-black dreadlocks. His back bent naturally so that his knuckles almost dragged on the floor. But Sonia knew that the real power in him was his mind, because Carnage was a Telepath. He broke down every wall that his victims could throw up, forcing his way in, breaking the victim's mind in the process. And then he killed them, making sure that they could never be saved.

And he terrified everyone.

Linh and Maruca were the only ones facing the hall when it happened. They immediately stopped chatting and just stood there, the exact wrong reaction that any sane person should have when faced with Carnage- otherwise they wouldn't be sane for long. Sonia grabbed their arms in a death grip, dragging them towards the Leapmaster.

"Get in, everyone," she whispered hoarsely. "You're going to die if you don't." They obeyed now. And with the figure of her nightmares still stalking towards them, she pulled her friends into the beam of light.