Sentry of the Arcane: Engulfed

Chapter Thirty-Five: Sophie

It's the middle of the night, and I'm still up. I can't tell whether it's out of fear or frustration that my mind's refusing me to rest properly. Sitting up, I review the facts while staring blankly at the darkness in front of me. Jacob has does unforgivable things to us, something that I'll never forget. But there are also people who are capable of doing worse and have done worse already. I shudder, thinking back to Fitz, Donovan, and their infiltration and encounter with Fitton.

I grit my teeth, angry at myself for being unable to bring back the memories we all needed for this trial from Fitz's mind. I'm sure that he feels guilty in some way, but it's all Fitton's fault; he and this Nixsift are the reasons why the six of us are wrapped up in this mess. Even still, I shake my head, clearly disappointed in myself for allowing the two of us to become so sidetracked while in the male Percipient's head.

Realising that I won't be able to sleep at this rate, I swing my legs over the side of my bed, already feeling the effects of sleep deprivation as the back of my mind desperately beckons me to go back to the bed. Shaking my head, I try to get ready as quietly as I can, making sure that I don't accidentally wake up Fitz. Before I leave my room, however, I check for his thoughts; although happy that he's deep asleep, I'm a bit confused as to why a teal dragon is in his dreams.

Paying no further heed, I exit and am almost immediately blinded by the light in the hallway. Wondering how Fitz managed to sneak out so many times like this, I shake my head and walk down to the elevator. Do I really know where I'm going? No, but I still press the button to the ground floor, which is basically the default for anyone.

The doors open, so I carry myself out with no more of an idea of where to go than in the elevator. Now fully awake, I decide to head to the laboratory instead of the conference room, clearly not in the mood to see Mr. Wallace again. With every twist and turn, I think of a proper reason for being awake so early or so late, depending on whether they're asleep or awake. I sigh, shaking my head; I should probably turn back.

"Sophie?" Caroline asks, opening the laboratory door befor I can even knock. "What are you doing here?"

At the sound of her voice, I immediately clamp a hand to not shriek whilst jumping. Turning around to her, the chemist smiles apologetically for scaring me. Grinning back, I explain, "I couldn't sleep. I keep hitting dead ends on how to incriminate Jacob." I sigh, rubbing my eye with one hand, "I don't want him to walk as a free man, but he's also not the problem itself, only a part of it."

Nodding, Caroline beckons me to follow her inside. "It looks like you have evidence to put Fitton in jail instead of Jacob, but..."

"...We don't know where he is," I finish, feeling frustrated all over again. "There's the scar from Fitz, his and Donovan's testimonies, Steven could testify too, the picture we have from Susan's death, and we could prove that Arien was killed by him as well." I furrow my eyebrows in thought, "But we don't even know where Leila is."

The chemist shakes her head, "The entire thing's a mess. We don't even know how Jacob was caught in the first place."

At that, I frown even more, "He could've easily hidden and gotten away with it... wait, how did people know that he did something wrong?"

"Didn't he kill his brother and sister-in-law?" Caroline asks, looking at me in confusion.

I shake my head, "Yeah, but only he and I know it because he showed me the memories. No one else would've known for certain that he's a murderer or that he tortured us before escaping." My eyes widen when I realise that him being acquitted of any charges is now a very real possibility. "No one can prove anything, especially him being involved with Nixsift. Oh my god." My vision swarms as the possibility of him winning this battle- this wretched, painful battle- becomes very real.