Sentry of the Arcane: Befall

Chapter Twenty-Five: Sophie

Currently, Fitz and I are sitting on the ground in his room. Both of us silently look between the picture of the open locket when it was in Arien's possession compared to Isabella. Our eyes weren't deceiving us. Isabella had the necklace without the inscription while Arien did.

And to make things more confusing, only Fitz could translate it.

Fitz frowns. "Is there a possibility that Fitton bought two separate necklaces?" he asks. "And they just look the same?"

I ponder about it for a moment. I then flip between the two images before catching one similar detail that contradicts his question. Pointing to the edge of the locket, I say, "There's a small chip on the side of the locket, around the rim. Both of them have it in the exact same spot." When Fitz raises an eyebrow at me, I beckon him to come see it for himself.

Fitz quickly sees it after I point it out. His teal eyes widening, he whispers, "I stand corrected." Sitting up straight, Fitz furrows his eyebrows in silent thought. Suddenly, he ponders out loud, "Do you think that more of Fitton's belongings have those inscriptions that are on Arien's locket?"

I look away from the computer screen, my mind already trying to piece together an answer for the proposed question. I frown and say, "There may be. I'd... actually didn't think of that..." I then lean over the computer and scroll through the images. I see Fitton's belongings coming into view and click on the first image.

I then continue to scroll through the images, looking for any sort of runes that look similar to the ones we just saw. I see a pile of books, and Fitton studying profusely. And then a picture of him and Arien dancing in the kitchen. Then there's a picture of Arien cooking happily while Fitton watches her.

I shake my head. "They look like the average couple right here," I remark. "Happy, truly in love...'

Fitz then raises an eyebrow. "And then Fitton left Arien unofficially after they were married for ten years for a job. Then they never saw each other for twenty years," Fitz points out. "Fitton was supposed to be dead, Arien is actually dead, and the only witness of their wedding-"

"That we know of," I interject.

"Is also dead," he finishes, smirking at me for my intervention.

I shrug. Poking him teasingly, I whine, "Don't weigh every happy thing down, Fitzie."

Fitz rolls his eyes. "I haven't heard that nickname since when, last year?" he asks, chuckling.

"Well, I think 'Fitzie' is a better nickname than Ms. Sophie," I complain. I then groan when Fitz smirks mischievously. "You are not going to call me that, right?" I ask in a pouty whine.

Fitz leans back, raising an eyebrow. "Depends," he says vaguely. "If you keep calling me 'Fitzie', then I'll call you Ms. Sophie."

"Fitzie."

"Ms. Sophie," he retorts, smirking.

I can't help but smile at him. "We'll agree to disagree," I say, earning an amused smirk from the male Percipient. When I look at the next photo, my smile falls completely. My face pales so much that I begin to think that my blood circulation. I begin swaying between staying conscious and passing out from my light-headedness.

Fitz places a hand on my forehead to feel my temperature, another hand on my back to stabilize me. His expression full of concern, Fitz asks, "Sophie..? Are you alright?" He then glances at the computer screen, his eyes widening considerably. "Oh..." he finally mumbles after a minute. "That's why..."

In front of us, there's a picture of Fitton in the getup of a chemist. He's wearing safety goggles as he carefully pours some familiar green liquid into a small bottle. More of the same liquid is being created in a glass machine adjacent to the "scientist".