A beam of light hit Elizabeth's face as she woke up, her cheek pressed into her pillow. She groaned as she grasped for her glasses.
Last night was terrible, she thought as the world came into clearer focus. She stumbled off her bed and got dressed absentmindedly. Now that the shock and fear of the discovery had worn off, she was feeling a little better. Keefe had roped her into a long talk about how her parents or where she came from didn't matter, and how her intentions and actions mattered more.
Eliza had felt just a little better after that. She decided she wasn't going to mope over the truth anymore. If she could cry her creation story away, she would gladly do it for a day, a whole week even. But that wouldn't work.
Might as well do some research... Elizabeth finished washing up and crammed in a few protein bars before heading to one of the expansive libraries in the Shores of Solaces.
A few hours later, Keefe found her cramped between two bookshelves, no further than where she had started.
"I didn't know you could read," Keefe remarked, leaning against one of them. Eliza, who was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice him, yelped a little, clutching the book closer to her chest.
"Woah, no need for theatrics, it's just me," Keefe swept his cape aside and sat down next to her. "Watcha reading?"
Eliza groaned, and flipped the book back to its cover. "Chronicles on all criminal activity in the Lost Cities in the past century." Keefe scrunched his face up in disgust.
"What?" Eliza protested, "It may be heavily-worded but it's good research."
"Heavily-worded is a great way to say useless," Keefe said, putting mocking air-quotes around "heavily-worded". "I don't suppose you found anything actually useful?"
Eliza drooped in defeat and shook her head. Keefe barked out a laugh.
"Are you planning on spending the rest of the day like this or are you going to be a normal person?" Keefe teased.
Eliza considered slapping him with the heavy hardcover but decided that it wasn't worth the effort.
"Says you, you-" She started but suddenly, Keefe's imparter started vibrating and made a small beep.
"Hold on," he fished it out of his pocket, "Foster's hailing me. Be right back."
Eliza made ooooh-ing noises to his back as he turned around with the imparter. Within a few minutes, he returned, looking troubled.
"Hey. Wanna go fight a criminal organization?" He asked, almost tentatively.
"The one that created me? Heck yeah. Let's see how well they like being drop-kicked," she grinned back, despite her heart jackhammering in her chest.
It would be leagues better than reading a stuffy book anyway, she thought to herself.
YOU ARE READING
Project Shooting Star
FanfictionWhen a group of orphaned girls arrived at the Lost Cities, they were quickly adopted by the families of Sophie's friends. They remembered almost nothing from their past, yet were more powerful than ordinary elves, even if they didn't know how to use...
