Mirrored Conflicts (a Sokeefe story)

Chapter 17: The Captures

Atlantis was a very big city, but Sophie wasn't willing to wait. She didn't care if she was grounded or if the Black Swan wanted to think things through.

So she hailed every person she could possibly think of who wasn't already occupied with other things and divvied up the city. Everyone was to overturn every stone looking for secret entrances to Neverseen facilities and check behind every wall and door for possible secret apartments where her parents might be kept in the meantime. Everyone was in pairs, and Sophie had partnered with Linh, since they were searching near the Unity Fountain and her ability might come in handy.

They combed through every inch, inspecting every crevice in the ground, even. Sophie was determined not to miss a single thing.

"OH MY GOODNESS IT'S FATE!" a young voice squealed loudly in a way that reminded Sophie of being at the Dizznee's house. Sophie looked instinctively towards the source of the voice, only to find two slightly younger girls staring directly at her.

"...Can I help you?" Sophie asked slowly when they didn't break eye contact.

"Yes. Um." One of the girls cleared her throat. "I'm Sheina. And I have..." She lowered her voice significantly, which must have been very difficult for her considering the volume of her initial exclamation upon seeing Sophie. "I have a secret message from the Black Swan humans," she whispered.

Sophie and Linh blinked.

She most definitely did not. Perhaps there were Black Swan humans, perhaps there were not—but whoever this girl was, she had no traces of any trait that might cause the Black Swan to ask her to deliver a message. But she wasn't sure exactly how to say that.

She and Linh shared a look. Was this the latest trend? If you see Sophie Foster in the wild, pull this prank?

Linh turned back to the girls. "What's the message?" She asked warily.

"It's not for you, it's for Sophie Foster," the other girl stressed.

"I'm pretty sure the message was explicitly for Sophie or one of her friends, Tayline," Sheina corrected, rolling her eyes. "She's the one who flooded Ravagog, remember?"

Linh's cheeks flushed.

Tayline's eyes widened in realization. "Ohhhhhh. Okay. So the message was—"

"I'm the one who translated! I'll tell the message!" Sheina cleared her throat. "'Contact your sister as soon as possible.' She said sister was a code word that only you would understand."

Linh turned to Sophie, a question in her eyes.

Sheina and Tayline watched her intently, waiting for her reaction.

They must have seen the moment the realization dawned on her, because somehow, these random girls must have gotten in contact with Amy, and both girls giggled slightly as they realized they'd successfully done a Black Swan thing.

She wondered how much they knew, and if it might be slightly too much.

"So what does it mean?" Sheina asked eagerly.

"I am sure she can't tell us." Tayline rolled her eyes.

"She's right, I can't, thank you so much for your help," Sophie rushed, pulling Linh along to separate them from the two young elves. "Somehow, they've gotten in contact with Amy," she explained to Linh, watching the realization dawn. "I have no idea how, but she'll explain. Our search is officially paused." Linh looked over her shoulder as Sophie dug her imparter our of her pocket and said, "Show me Amy Foster."