Yay! The second chapter is here, and the third is coming soon… We love the reviews that we're getting! Thank you so so so so so much for reading.
ProjectMoonlark101: I'm sorry, but we're just too evil. There will be many, many more. Worse ones too! ;) (Muah ha ha ha *evilly cackles*)
ExplodingBananas: Thank you, and we'll try to get those sentences longer.
2
Alvar's mind was like the gritty water when Sophie, Fitz, Dex, Biana, and Keefe first went to Alluveterre, a now-abandoned Black Swan hideout when they first joined the Black Swan. To Sophie, Alvar's mental defenses felt like one of the ekodons that they rode on at the bottom of the ocean.
I'll keep you steady, Fitz transmitted.
Thanks, Sophie responded. This feels weird. Her heart fluttered, feeling Fitz's mental energy. Even though they were Cognates, a rare telepathic connection helping them be stronger together, Sophie still hadn't yet admitted that she liked him. She'd been crushing on him since the beginning, with that field trip. She worried that if she admitted it, it would ruin their Cognate connection, even though with Cognates, the ultimate goal was no secrets.
Together, Fitz and Sophie slipped past Alvar's defenses and into his memories. It's different, to see yourself in someone else's memories, Fitz transmitted as they drifted past memories of himself, Alvar and Biana playing together, Fitz as a kid looking up to Alvar… Sophie couldn't help but wonder if the right decision could be to continue on her own, without the added risk of putting her friends in danger.
All of a sudden, Alvar's mind shook, bringing Sophie back from her thoughts. The memories swirled around her, making Sophie dizzy. What was that?
I think his unconsciousness is trying to hide something. We should follow the memories. Fitz took Sophie's hand as they bounded into the whirlpool of images that was quickly forming and dove to the center. Sophie's heart fluttered again, but now was no time for that. She had to focus.
Fitz sent a rush of warmth through Sophie's mind, calming her nerves. She brushed past moving images of Fintan and Brant. Sophie felt Fitz shiver as a picture of Fintan calling the unstoppable flame, Everblaze, down from the sky flashed by them.
He's remembering, Sophie transmitted. She squeezed his hand a little tighter. We're getting close. We're almost there.
And suddenly, there they were - with angry red memories flashing around them like a hurricane. A squeeze on the shoulder, what seemed like far, far away, told them that Alvar's emotions were getting crazy. Keefe had done the same thing with Prentice when Sophie searched and healed his memories. Prentice had gone through a memory break, hiding Sophie from the rest of the Elvin world, and they had only recently healed him, a thing that only Sophie could do.
Is this… something we're looking for? Fitz asked as a memory flew by.
I don't know what we're looking for. Near the time of his torture, right? answered Sophie. They watched Alvar try on his Neverseen cape for the first time. Midnight black, like an abyss. A white eye on the sleeve that had given Sophie nightmares many times. They felt his pride. Sophie pushed it away. We should look at all of them, she commented.
Alright, you're the boss, Fitz answered. He and Sophie dove into the swirling memories. They saw The Boy Who Disappeared from Alvar's perspective. They saw him eating the horrid Neverseen food that Keefe described. They saw him torturing Sophie and Dex, fighting Keefe and Sophie with a trapped Alicorn, killing dwarves on Mount Everest. They saw Ravagog destroyed and Keefe's recruitment from Alvar's perspective. They saw Luminara, crashing and burning. They saw Alvar meet Vespera, the evil woman who tortured humans for research. They felt his awe and replaced it with disgust. Then, they hit a hard, black wall.
Push through, said Sophie, three… two… one… go! They pushed through the barrier, to see a bright white light, then blackness, as they were unexpectedly pulled out of Alvar's mind.
Oooooooh! Why were they pulled out? How did Alvar remember? How could Alvar shove Sophie of all elves out of his mind? Also, sorry about it being kinda short, on Google docs it looks longer.
