Reversed

xxxi. thirty-one

She had a feeling she should be extremely mad at the Neverseen for bringing her here. After all, wasn't it the place where she'd experienced so much trauma at their hands?

But as she tried to remember what exactly they had done to her, she couldn't remember the specifics. It was like seeing something in her peripheral, knowing it was there, but it blinking out of sight as soon as she turned her head to face it directly.

Sophie sighed. Maybe it would be better if she focused on the task at hand.

Gathering herself, she looked around at her surroundings. The Neverseen had walked a little ways off, but she spotted them quickly enough.

She headed back towards them, looking at the crowds of people she passed. She distractedly listened to drifts of conversation.

She almost envied all the teens her age going about their normal lives, not a care in the world except whether or not their hair looked okay for a picture in front of a lantern.

She couldn't be more different.

She reached the Neverseen, and Lady Gisela looked up. "Oh, perfect. I was just wondering where you were. We need you to do your job."

"And what's that?" Sophie asked warily.

Gethen held out a round, small, clear object. It was completely see-through, making its purpose unimaginable.

"Another thing?"

"This one is different than the discs from before," Ruy said.

"More special," Gethen added. "Or, it will be."

"It just needs one last thing to make it that way," Lady Gisela told her.

"And what's that?" Sophie asked.

"The Moonlark's blood," she said simply. She said Moonlark with the same amount of mocking disdain as everyone in the Neverseen did. Like it was an annoying nickname Sophie was stuck with. "If you're comfortable."

On the outside, it sounded like a friendly, concerned thought. But Sophie heard the underlying taunt in her tone: If you're not too scared.

Sophie stared Lady Gisela right in the eye as she pulled out one of her moon daggers. She tugged off a glove and steadily dragged the glowy blade across her palm.

Blood pooled almost immediately, and the sight was almost as ominous as Lady Gisela's smile.

"Perfect," she said. Sophie realized her lips were the same bloodred as the drops spilling out onto the ground. She took the orb from Gethen and held out her hand to Sophie, the glass orb rolling around before settling in the center.

Lady Gisela's lip twisted when Sophie got some blood on her hand, and Sophie almost smiled. But she didn't.

She fisted her hand round the orb, covering it in blood. Instead of drying on the outside, the blood seemed to soak into the orb, keeping its clear composition, just tinted red. When it was completely stained, she handed it back.

"Now this," Lady Gisela said, dropping it into its hiding place, "is the thing that will turn the tide in an irreversible way." She wiped hand on her cloak.

"Against who?" Sophie asked.

"Everyone fighting us. The Council. The Black Swan. The humans, even though they don't know it." She paused. "Your old friends."

Sophie didn't reply.

"Don't worry, you'll get to see them soon enough," Lady Gisela said, her eyes glinting.