Hold your breath, count to ten
There's so little fanfic written about Pandora's Box in my opinion – especially Sophia's character who I've probably become more invested in than even the developers. So I decided I would try and fill that small void. :)
Please don't be afraid to call me out on any inaccuracies or give constructive criticism - What I want most from writing is enjoyment and to improve, and I'm already enjoying myself. I'm not a confrontational person so I won't bite!
It was a pleasant day outside, well as pleasant as it seemed to get in Folsense nowadays. With her daughter Arina practicing her violin and Anton taking care of business in his study, Sophia found herself with some time to herself.
Her plans were to go into the village and meet some friends for a light lunch in the sole restaurant, but her usual route from the manor had been blocked by a fallen tree, no doubt the product of the increasingly stormy weather they had been experiencing. The other paths had been neglected these past years making the beaten trail indiscernible from the rest of the forest.
It wasn't until she almost fell into a remote and disused back entrance to the mines that she realised she was truly lost. Sighing in exasperation she turned back knowing she couldn't be too far from the right route. As she walked, she felt the temperature drop although no wind had picked up. In the distance she noticed some birds flocking over. . . something.
Any other day she may have avoided investigating further but something had put her at unease; not just now, she'd been feeling it for months now. It was as if there was creature looming over the village, waiting, just waiting. She made her way to the gathering of crows, stumbling over the gnarled roots obscured from view by the overgrown shrubbery that had swarmed what remained of the trail.
As she drew nearer, the sounds of life in the village heightened, she even caught the faint scent of cooking meat amongst the damp smells of the forest. Her next step landed on a twig, snapping it in two and causing the birds to take flight, cackling as they flew into the surrounding trees to seek refuge from her intrusion. In their place was a mass of clothing (no, a person). She gathered her skirts to hurry towards the person although, and she cringed at the thought, it didn't look like they were going anywhere fast.
She fell on her knees next to them, immediately regretting her decision as their pungent smell hit her. She scrambled back slightly, pulling out a handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth, before examining it more closely.
The clothes were a woman's but Sophia didn't recognize them, not least because they had been pulled and torn by the birds and were crawling with maggots. The shoes had remained almost untouched save for small holes spaced uniformly along the strap, presumably the imprints of small jewels the birds had taken. They were wide with a low heel leading Sophia to assume they belonged to a much older woman. She breathed in deeply, holding the breath as she moved in closer. Gingerly, she tried to turn the body towards her, trying her best not to touch any of the pests crowding the body. She couldn't explain why she hadn't fled by now, ran into the village to pass this burden to someone else. She felt that there was more to this, though she didn't know what.
The scene swam before her; she blamed it on the strong odour and the fact she was refraining from breathing to deeply. Her hand was supporting her weight, but it couldn't be her hand. It was more wrinkled and her nails were chipped and tinged with blue. She gasped and jumped to her feet, shaking slightly; when she looked back at her hand it was as it always had been.
"Must just be the shock. . ." she thought, glancing at the body once more. She hesitated only a moment before taking off down a path to find help in the village. In her flustered state she didn't notice that as she was walking the sounds and smells of Folsense grew fainter.
When her heart finally slowed and her mind had cleared she realised her mistake. Laughing at her absent-mindedness she looked around, hoping for a clue as to what track she should return along. She decided on a decidedly well-worn path, assuming it would lead to any village if not Folsense. She tried not to worry as the light faded, assuring herself it was only due to the thick growth of leaves overhead. It made her uneasy all the same and she found herself jumping at the smallest of things; a small animal, likely a squirrel, scurrying across the path just in front of her, a bird taking flight from a nearby tree and even the almost indistinguishable bubbling sound of a small spring by the trail.
After getting over the initial shock she realised just how thirsty she was. She crouched beside it, disturbing a few loose stones on the edge. An opening in the trees allowed enough light to shine in to determine there was no animal life in the water. She leaned down to drink but stopped abruptly, noticing a figure standing behind her. Her head whipped round, the stranger had approached noiselessly, had that been the intention? But there was no one there. She looked back, telling herself she was seeing the worst.
The woman was still there in the reflection, but now Sophia realised she was not. She reached down to disturb the water, thinking perhaps it was some sort of trick, and was shocked to see the woman's hand reaching too. Suddenly she felt very cold, her hands (her. . . slightly wrinkled hands n-NO!) shook as she raised them to touch her own face. But it wasn't her own face, it couldn't be! This face was showing evidence of age; her own was smooth, she had looked in the mirror this morning before going out, her friends had always commented on her youthful skin. In fact, no one in Folsense had ever showed signs of increasing age. . .
She felt a tear slip down her cheek (her horrid, horrid, lined cheek). Then another fell, and another, and before long she was sobbing profusely in a crumpled heap. Alone in her misery, alone with the discovery that her life was (was a lie).