Becoming Cognates||Sophitz

Chapter One

"I don't want to be relocated!" Amy said, slamming her hand down on the table at Everglen. The council had chosen me to be the one to say to Amy, who had grown accustom to the Elven world, that she would be relocated back into the Forbidden Cities. She was 18 now, and the only reason she stayed this long was because the elves refused to put a minor back in the Forbidden Cities without parents. In our attempt to save them, the Neverseen had simply blown the hideout up, killing them and my family. The explosion had rattled the rebel group, and it was easy to find and capture their leaders. 

"Amy." I began. "While I love you, humans belong in the Forbidden Cities....uh...human cities." I said, scratching the back of my neck. 

"Why am I any different than you!" She accused, narrowing her eyes at me. "I'm here aren't I? If I supposedly belong in the 'Forbidden Cities' then how come I am here? Shouldn't I be dead or something?" 

"It's not because you can't physically live here...Well you can't physically live here. It's not the way things work, Amy. The elves have their cities, the ogres have theirs, the trolls have theirs, the gnomes have theirs, the goblins have theirs, and the humans have theirs. We stay in our own cities. Most of the time." I paused. "My point is, if you stay here you won't be able to do half the things you can do in the human world. Elves don't have cars, you can't get around without leaping with someone. You can't get a birth fund because you're not an elf. You're stranded. In the human cities, you can get around so much easier, you can afford everything. You don't need a birth fund, or money to go to college because that's what the elves are willing to provide. They're going to pay for your college tuition.  They've already got you a beautiful house. I helped pick it out. And you'll always have a reminder of this world. I planted a Panakes tree in your backyard." I said gently.

"Can't you come with me?" She pleaded. I shook my head.

"My place is here, Amy."

"Then why can't my place be here?" She demanded, crossing her arms. 

"I've been homeschooling you! The stuff we learn at Foxfire is useless for you! You'd learn nothing here! I can only teach you up until the end of highschool, and then I'm out. I can't teach you how to splotch, that requires telekinesis. I can't teach you how to bottle a tornado, how to do alchemy with substances that can kill when you touch them. I can't teach you how to speak dwarvish because I don't know how I do it, it's because of my ability. I can't teach you how to have 'ESP', and I can't teach you how inflict. You can't get a job, as they're all specialized and require what we learn at Foxfire, which I repeat, you cannot learn. I'm not saying you wouldn't be willing to learn that stuff, I'm saying that you literally cannot learn the material. You cannot understand the language! Heck, Fitz and I have to translate!" 

"Can't you teach me how to speak the 'Enlightened Language'?"

"I've tried. You don't remember the times where I've said a word in english then in the enlightened language and you can't say it? Can't pronounce it?"

"I don't want to leave!" 

"Amy you have to! Your place is in the human cities!"

"COME WITH ME!" She shouted. 

"I CAN'T!" I yelled back.

"WHY NOT?"

"I TOLD YOU! I'M NOT HUMAN, AMY! I NEVER WAS!" 

"What about when you were living with us?" She whispered.

"I started to hear thoughts when I was 5. I woke up in the hospital and could hear everyone's thoughts. I head every single unfinished sentence from our parent's mouths. It was always, 'I wish you could be normal...Like amy." I paused. "That was always the ending to the sentence they trailed off on. When I was 8 I saw a boy. He disappeared. When I was 10, somebody tried to kidnap me. When I was 12, I held up a light post with my mind.  I wasn't normal, Amy. I belong here. You belong in the human cities." I said.