Mirrored Conflicts (a Sokeefe story)

Chapter 8: The Discoveries

Sophie surged through the blackness of Prentice's mind. It was dark, and thick, and if this was what it was like after Tam had lifted two heavy layers of shadowvapor, Sophie didn't even want to know what it would have been like before. Shattered memories flung themselves past her as the blackness faded to gray, and then to white, and then to...

Something.

Some kind of pure, all-encompassing light that could blend with any color in the world.

And then the figure appeared—a familiar woman in a pale purple gown, with long blonde hair and a dazzling smile. "Hello, Sophie," her melodic voice said. "I knew you'd come back to see me."

It would never stop being weird talking to Prentice through an image of Jolie, especially since she'd been dead before Sophie had even come to the Lost Cities. And the projection was very real.

"I thought your mind would feel more familiar," she said, "but you seem stronger, somehow."

My powers were broken last time I was in your mind, Sophie explained. I had to get them back. And... then you were gone.

"I had to go away," said Jolie. "I don't remember why this time. Everything is relative. But I'm back, and it's so much brighter this time!"

Is there a reason you use Jolie to communicate with me? Sophie transmitted.

"You're still looking for a reason. But often, in the mind, things aren't made of logic, they're made of feelings. I make you feel safe, don't I?"

Yes.

"You remind me of her," Jolie said, which was something Sophie had heard before on numerous occasions—and not something she was entirely opposed to, though it sometimes felt strange resembling her adoptive parents' dead daughter. "And it's so hard to be myself. I've so lost track of who I am."

But... I am talking to Prentice right now?

Jolie's smile dimmed. "Prentice is everywhere and nowhere. He can't help you. But perhaps you can help him."

I can. One day. It's not safe yet.

"You're looking for something," Jolie mused. "That's what the voice in the shadows said..."

Oh, you mean Tam. He's a friend.

"Good. I'm glad I didn't drag him under then."

...Well, that was unsettling. But Sophie had a mission, and she didn't know how much longer Prentice would be stable enough to communicate. The memory we're looking for contains an image. She transmitted the portion that Mr. Forkle had seen in Prentice's mind before. We think it might be part of the reason you called swan song.

The phrase triggered something, and the nothingness seemed to shift. "I haven't seen the image before," Jolie murmured, "but that phrase has... an anchor, it seems, pulling me towards..."

Sophie caught the full image right before Jolie's projection vanished. Everything was blindingly bright and impossibly dark all at once, and she summoned just enough strength to call for Fitz's help as she committed the symbol to her photographic memory. Fitz sent a wave of heat that launched her up through the layers of Prentice's consciousness until she was safe in her own body, wrapped up in arms that weren't about to let her fall.

"Shh," Fitz whispered as Sophie caught her breath. "You're back. You're safe."

Sophie gave him a tight hug before she let go. "How is he?" she wondered.

"Same as before," Fitz told her, which was a relief. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Well... I got the memory of the symbol we were looking for," she explained. "Does anyone have something I can project it on?"