Reversed

xxxii. thirty-two

Sophie's eyes sprung wide open and her head lolled back as a reformed memory hit her brain like a jackhammer.

Her, Biana, Fitz, Dex, and Mr. Forkle, gathered in Alden's office at Everglen. After Keefe had told them that his mom had escaped her prison.

"—I've been wondering if I've prepared the four of you as well as I should have," Mr. Forkle was saying.

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked. Mr. Forkle looked out the window at the moonlarks floating on Everglen's glassy lake.

"I mean perhaps it's time to stop holding back. I've hinted before that you might have another ability waiting to manifest—"

"I knew it!" Fitz interrupted, sporting a superbly smug grin.

"Is it cool?" Dex asked as Biana said, "Are you going to trigger it?"

"That is a decision I leave up to Miss Foster."

Sophie had gripped the arms of the plush chair she was sitting in, processing this news.

Mr. Forkle went on when she remained silent. "All abilities come with responsibility," he said quietly. "But some are heavier than others. I told you earlier that your abilities were not all hand selected. Some were a natural result of the various tweaks I made to your genes. And this one gave me a serious moment of pause when I realized that it would be part of your makeup—not because there's anything wrong with the ability. It's an incredibly valuable asset. But it's also one that could be taken advantage of."

He handed a wrapped parcel to Sophie and told her that he had been carrying them around since the day he triggered her abilities. He'd wanted to be safe if it broke through—but so far it had remained dormant.

He told her that it could continue to stay that way, and never manifest on its own. If they left it alone, she might never have to face the responsibility.

But it was ultimately her choice.

She unwrapped the parcel, finding two wrist-length black silken gloves.

Everyone was just as confused as her.

"Wait—I'm not going to be like Rouge, right?" Sophie asked, referring to a human comic character. She explained who Rouge was.

"Humans and their wild imaginations," Mr. Forkle said with a small smile. "No, you'll be nothing like this Rouge. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Nothing will affect you. But you'll be able to empower others with the touch of your hands. It's a rare ability called being an Enhancer."

Sophie saw the conversation continuing, her being torn, but eventually deciding to accept the ability—and its responsibility—as a new part of her life.

Then everything flashed forward to a more recent memory. A little more than seven months ago, by the looks of it—some time right before she left to join the Neverseen.

Sophie had tears streaming down her face. "You don't get it, Fitz! I can't shake the feeling. Something big is happening soon. They'll come for me sooner or later. I need—" she looked away, choking on a sob. He was gripping her shoulders, his eyes concerned and warm behind the stubborn iron in them. His mouth was drawn into a tight, straight, unhappy line. "—I need to forget that I'm an Enhancer. The Neverseen can never know."

"Sophie. . ." he started, warning in his tone.

"No!" she screamed, wrenching herself out of his hold. "Don't pretend it's not going to happen! I n-need you t-to do this! Tell me you will!" Her voice was getting louder and louder. The fat tears were streaming faster and angrier than they'd ever had in a while.

Sophie saw the iron will in his eyes from before slowly start to break. But his face stayed the same—tight and locked off.

"Please," she sobbed, quietly now.

Fitz looked away, pressing on his mouth with his hand. A single tear rolled down his cheeks.

He looked back at her. "Fine."

He said it so quietly that she wasn't sure that she'd heard him.

He stepped closer, taking her hands. He squeezed them, and she squeezed back. Both their knuckles turned white.

"They're not going to take you," he said confidently. More tears slipped out of his eyes. He tried to wipe them away.

Sophie smiled sadly. "You can't control everything. None of us can. Sometimes the good guys suffer loses, too." Tears were streaming in earnest down his face now.

"I can't. . ." he choked, not finishing whatever he was going to say. He pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing.

Sophie cried silently onto his shoulder, wishing selfishly that she could stay here forever. But she had to be strong.

She pulled away just enough to tilt her head up and kiss him. Their tears mixed on their lips, making everything taste salty.

Fitz took a deep breath and leaned her forehead against his. Sophie steadied herself before freeing her hands and tapping her fingertips five times to trigger her Enhancing.

She held his hands as he touched her temples. She closed her eyes. They inhaled together, and let the breath out.

"I'll bring everything to do with Enhancing to the front," she whispered. Fitz nodded, unable to speak.

"Make me forget," she said.

Sophie blinked and looked around. Only a few seconds had passed since the memories came back to her, but a lot had changed in that short time.

Expect now that she remembered about her ability, and she knew that Ruy knew about it, something felt weird. Like it was ll wrong, laced with underlying panic.

She turned her body towards Ruy, looking at him head-on. She wanted him to know that she was serious.

"Please don't tell anyone," she whispered.

He blinked, taken aback. "Sure," he said slowly.

"Promise," she pressed.

He nodded, closing his eyes and facing straight ahead. "I promise." Sophie let out a breath.

A silence fell between them, and Sophie started pouring the liquid from the small vial onto her hands. She wrapped them up with strips of cloth.

"Did you just manifest?" Ruy asked after a while.

Sophie focused on her split palm, tracing the fresh bandages. "Not exactly," she said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I manifested a few months ago. When I was still with them." She paused. "But my memories of being an Enhancer were erased before I came here. I didn't remember until now, when you said I was. It must have triggered something."

He nodded, not saying anything else.

"We should probably head back," Sophie said, sanding up.

He nodded again.

"Here," he said. He fished another small bottle out of his pocket. The elixir was white. "This should speed up the healing by a lot."

She knocked the bottle out in one sip. She handed the glass vial back slowly, starting to feel a little weird.

Ruy cocked his head at her. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned.

She felt her tongue start to grow fat, her head start to spin.

"Guess I should've asked if there was limbium in it first," she choked. Her legs hot and cold and numb and tingly. They gave out, and she collapsed onto her knees.

Ruy's grim face grew blurry in Sophie's eyes as her consciousness slowly ebbed. She blinked, struggling to breathe, but she couldn't. Everything hurt more and more by the second.

  She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her before everything was submerged in darkness, like a candle being snuffed out.