Elysian- After Stellarlune

Chapter Five- Sophie

Sophie woke slowly.

She didn't have any dreams the past night, for once. And, it was without the help of Silveny.

Sophie heard faint, muffled voices. One of which she recognised as Elwin's. Not wanting to get up, she rolled over, but was met only with a sharp pain in her side. She grunted and heard the voices stop immediately.

She felt a whiff of air brush against her arm and the blankets being shifted. Sophie opened her eyes a little, squinting in the bright ceiling lights. A blurry face descended into her vision, one with dark curly hair and funny looking spectacles. Then another, with messy blonde hair.

Sophie groaned, moving to slowly sit up.

"Woah there, hold on Sophie." Elwin carefully moved the pillows to accommodate for Sophie's new position.

"Hey Foster! Told yah I'd see you bright and early." Sophie turned to face Keefe, who was standing right next to her.

"Oh, hi." She blinked drowsily, still waking up.

As Elwin went to retrieve some elixirs, Sophie surveyed the room. To her surprise, Mr. Forkle was standing off to the side. He must've been the other voice she heard, because it certainly hadn't sounded like Keefe.

"Mr. Forkle? What are you doing here?" Sophie watched as he made his way over to her other side.

"Just discussing certain things with Elwin. I will inform you when everyone gets here." He looked stressed, and not the normal amount.

"When who all gets here?" Keefe asked before Sophie could.

"Well-"

The door opened behind him, and all her friends flooded into the small room again, much like yesterday. Behind them, three councillors entered as well; Bronte, Oralie, and Emery.

"What is so important we were called here for?" Emery asked, a hint of disdain tracing his voice.

Elwin burst through the swarm of people, practically shoving everyone out of the way to get to Sophie. "Here, take these, it'll help with pain, and the other one will help maintain steady emotions."

"Uh, why do I have to take one for my emotions?" Sophie pointed to the dull pink coloured liquid filling one of the vials.

Elwin gave her a look of sympathy. "You'll see. Just take it."

Sophie nervously took the vials Elwin handed her, batting away Keefe's hand when he tried to take them from her. "I can do it."

Keefe threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Don't say I didn't try to help."

Sophie rolled her eyes and downed the elixirs as Emery repeated his question.

"Well, there has been a very recent update of the Neverseen." Forkle was about to continue but was interrupted by the multiple outbursts and questions.

"Guys!" Sophie tried to get everyone's attention, failing thanks to her inability to yell.

Stupid injury. Stupid rock.

Keefe, noticing her attempt, let loose an impressive whistle, which quieted everyone down instantaneously.

He gestured to Sophie. "She's trying to talk."

"Mr. Forkle was about to tell us. So if you stopped yelling we would all know what's going on." Everyone turned back to Forkle sheepishly, staying silent.

Sophie tapped Keefe's arm, waiting until he bent down to whisper to him. "Thank you."

He nodded, standing back upright and turning his attention back to Mr. Forkle.

"One of my identities in the Forbidden Cities-yes, the Forbidden Cities," He added when Emery gave him a dubious look.

Forkle continued. "Has caught wind of a Neverseen experiment of their own. Supposedly, the Neverseen captured Elysian through some means of their own writhing the past week, and have been using humans to experiment her power on."

He paused, waiting for everyone to digest the information. "And, from what I have heard, one attempt was successful. Currently, there is a human around Sophie's age, traipsing around the Forbidden Cities, with powers she has no idea about."

Everyone gasped, except for Sophie, who physically couldn't. Instead, her eyes widened as she stared at Forkle. "Why were they experimenting on a human?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Elysian might've been uncooperative, and a Neverseen member might've refused to be used for a possibly fatal experiment. One thing I'm almost entirely sure of though, is that now they know how to transfer an ability from an extremely powerful being into a human.

"They could quite possibly use that knowledge and alter it for elves, and they could use the human unknowingly to cause chaos in the Forbidden Cities. That would only lead to the possible discovery of us and the Lost Cities, leading to the Neverseen getting what they want. The obliteration of the human race."

After Forkle's explanation, the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. And one did. All eyes turned to Biana, who shamelessly picked a hair pin off the ground and continued to fidget with it.

Sophie was conflicted. She felt like there had to be something else, that this being all the Neverseen had done was too passive. Still horrible, yes, but normally the Neverseen did something drastic in the Lost Cities too.

"Is that all?" Dex broke the heavy silence, voicing Sophie's concerns.

The wrinkles on Forkle's face multiplied by two, which Sophie had never thought possible. "No."

That one word confirmed Sophie's fears. Panic started to set in, even with the emotion-dulling elixir. Who had they hurt this time? Or did they kill someone? First Sandor, who was next? Not to mention all the other people the Neverseen have killed before.

A blue breeze blew through Sophie's mind, brushing the onslaught of thoughts away. She took a deep breath, her vision clearing as she looked back at Forkle, ignoring the worried looks from her friends.

"What else?" Sophie asked quietly, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Miss Foster? We can leave you out of this if you're not ready." Mr. Forkle looked genuinely concerned.

Not knowing would only drive her crazy, no thanks to her imagination. Sophie let out a shuddering breath. "I need to know."

"Very well. There were several attacks in Lumenaria, Eternalia, and Atlantis, all fairly minor. A few building were destroyed, and there were many non-fatal casualties, as I'm sure you know." Mr. Forkle gestured at the three councillors in the back of the room.

"And in the rubble," Mr. Forkle continued. "Was the mark of the Neverseen. Many people could've died, but were instead kept alive to deliver threats, or they would otherwise be attacked. Among those victims were Quinlin and Livvy, along with Alina, who was staying in Atlantis for a night with a friend of hers.

"The threats were... harsh, and directed mostly at 'the Moonlark', though some were also aimed for every person in this room, except for Elwin. The councillors were only mentioned as a whole. So, the collective has decided to move all of you kids to safer location, while giving you an alternate mission." Forkle paused, seemingly out of breath.

Sophie didn't blame him, he had been doing a lot of talking. Though Sophie was still panicked after hearing about Quinlin and Livvy (and Alina), she was glad they were okay. She was curious what the threats had been to make Forkle so worried, but he didn't seem intent on sharing.

Forkle finished, eliminating the feeling of anticipation. "We will have you all staying at one of our hideouts in the Forbidden Cities, while we send you to a human school to find the human the Neverseen experimented on."

Sorry, this one was kinda choppy, not my best work. Hope you guys still enjoyed it! If you see any errors, or have any suggestions, please comment!

Word count: 1277

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