Author's Disclaimer: Most things in this story belong to Shannon Messenger
Yay! I updated on time. I just wanted to say that I messed up the timeline. It's actually ten years from now. Oh, and Carin. If you can, please review. It makes me motivated and happy when you do.
Anyway, Enjoy!
At first, there was nothing. Then, came the needles. They poked and scraped at Evanneś consciousness, barley exerting damage. They were merely a headache for the girl. And yet, the fucking worst was yet to come.
The hatchet of pain was swung and brought down on her mind, shattering through her skull. Evanne screamed and writhed in agony, but the weapon continued itś assault. It was as if it broke through marrow and bone- clawed at her brain. Each strike was a flame lapping against her consciousness. There was also a pounding in the girls ears, not from the infliction she realized, rather than the blood gushing from the lobes canal. It muffled the conversation the brown eyed girl and the blonde man were having.
"Dammit. I didn't realize she was an inflictor!" Chara screamed in her mind, in between screams.
"A what?" Evanne asked, a cry escaping from her lips. Why the hell does her head hurt so much!
"I don't have time to explain. Sheś distracted, now's our chance." Chara told her, Evanne's hand-in the other girls control- reaching forward to grasp for the small, patchings of grass.
Once her fingers closed on it, Chara used the patchings to pull herself forward. "She must have… a Light Leaper... somewhere...Thatś the only way… to save… Karma… we have to… take it….."
Suddenly, Charaś avatar flickered in Eva's mind, before disappearing completely. Evanne's heart clenched in panic.
"CHARA! CHARA!" She screamed to the surrounding darkness. She could hear her pulse thrumming in her ear; she was starting to hyperventilate. There was no fucking way she could defeat these people without the girls help. She didn't know what they were capable of.
"CHARA!" The brunette yelled one more time.
"Here." Chara called back. Her voice was muffled, crackling, like a scratched up record player. The outline of her figure reappeared in the darkness, but large, glowing eyes were the only thing truly visible.
"Go... get the…. Light leaper…. Without… me… it's a…pelucid...crystal…. Go… and save…"
Then, she vanished once more. Frantically, Evanne reached out her consciousness to find something- anything- of Chara's rements, but she couldn't find a trace of her partner in crime like before. It seemed as if she was gone completely.
Eva, who had again gained control of her body once Chara vanished, was now lead on the forest floor. She gritted her teeth against the ache of her physique.
Not only did her brain hurt, her body did too-every single part of her was exhausted. The girl shook her head.
Are you some kind of wuss, Eva? she thought. You didn't need Chara before, you don't need her now. Whatś important is that you rescue Karma. And with that thought, she continued crawling towards her adversaries.
For every five or so movements, the brunette was forced stop, taking deep, steadying breaths, despite the action sending a sharp pain through her lungs. Only thinking of Karma kept her moving: Of the time when she had accidently fallen into the lake by her old home, and Karma-being the little shit he is- laughed hysterically, until she dragged him in with her. When she had first met him-bloodied and covered head to toe in dirt- as he ran towards her and pulled her into a hug.
She halted her thoughts on the photo commemorating a certain memory, that had made her heart perform that shitty fluttery feeling. It had been after the red-head had confessed his love for her outside the school-after she realized she loved him back. But both had decided they weren't ready for dating, so they continued being just friends.
In the photo, her friends mouth was quirked into a grin with her beside him, her dorky, eight year old self in braces and short pigtails. The memory alone was a source of strength for the brunette.
About five inches away from the blonde, black began to speckle Evanne's vision. 'Sleep. You already fought so hard. Karma can take care of himself. Give in. SLEEP.' it seemed to say, tempting her, drawing her in so she could feel the sweet sweet release of a snooze. She was very enticed by the offer; the girl was so tired. But when she realized what would happen if she allowed herself to rest, Eva bit down on her tongue.
Though the metallic flavor of blood rushed through her taste buds, it brought her out of her trance. And so, reaching forward, slowly, shakingly, she grabbed for the blue crystal at the older womens side.
Then everything went black…
Sophie's POV.
"NO!" Sophie cried, as the brunette grabbed for the transparent Light Leaper at her side. The familiar warm feeling shot through her, like the blonde elf was being tickled from the inside by feathers. Her insides felt like goo-the only thing keeping her body together was the blanket of warmth wrapping around her, Keefe, and the girl.
One minute she was broken down into tiny particles, the next, Sophie was once again in Eternalia, with it's bustling noble elves and picture perfect scenery.
Since the city had been mostly destroyed by a raging everblaze ten years ago, the place had long since been rebuilt into something even more gorgeous. Trees-once simply towering oaks- fanned out leaves dotted with cherry blossoms of all shapes and colors. Across a glassy river, was one, towering crystal castle that caught the light in the such a way that rainbows glittered on evenly cut turrets, with a garden of roses, violets, and lilies surrounding it. To her right, was a path made of gold that led into a sprawling city of jewels and crystal buildings. The air was crisp; it smelled of flowers and cinnamon.
"Foster, quick. Hide." Keefe said, taking Sophie hand and leading her behind a tree. In human clothing of sweatshirts and baggy jeans, they definitely looked suspicious. Plus, Keefe was carrying a sleeping girl in his other arm.
"She broke both Light Leapers. We can't take her back to the Forbidden Cities. Foster, we might as well get a DNA testing to see if she is an elf."
Sophie nodded. That's when she noticed the young- might be elf's- state. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty dark red; her breathing heavy. Long, soft strands of hair stuck to her face from the budding sweat on her forward. She looked absolutely dreadful.
Her husband must have noticed the girls condition to, as he placed a hand on her forehead, before immediately retracting it.
"Gosh, Foster! She's burning up. What did you do to her? She's almost as hot as you are." Keefe exclaimed with his trademark smirk.
The female elf attempted to ignore that last comment, but she could feel her cheeks were betraying her as she said,
"I don't know. All I did was inflict on her, but it's supposed to hurt the mind not the body. We might want to call Elwin." Sophie grabbed her imparter from her pocket.
"Wow, Foster. Never thought I'd see the day you did something so dangerous again. I guess I really am influencing you." The blonde said. Foster rolled her eyes.
While calling Elwin was threatening-if the council found out they had brought the brunette here, they wouldn't take kindly to having a might be human in their midst- she had a feeling the girl would die if she didn't get treatment soon. So, taking a steadying breath in order to calm her hammering heart, Sophie whispered 'Show me Elwin' into the thin, crystal square.
Immediately, a face with a wide smile that lit it up and more grey than blue eyes appeared on the screen: Foxfire's resident physician, Elwin.
"It's only been a year and you find yourself in need of a housecall? Really, Sophie. I thought we were behind this." The Doctor answered, grinning cheekily. The moonlark couldn't return it. She looked over grimly to Keefe for confirmation. He nodded, mouth set in a straight line.
"It's not me that needs help, it's her." She moved over to show Elwin the girl. She looked even worse now than before. "We think she might be an elf. But when I tried to convince her, she attacked us so I inflicted on her. She needs medical treatment, now."
Keefe put a hand to his privates. "Yeah, that was insane."
Sophie had to agree. She could still feel the whipping of air as Karma's friend slashed upwards, remembered how that knife had formed from practically nothing. How her eyes were so dark Sophie couldn't tell where the color ended and the pupils began. The blonde had never seen an ability like hers.
Elwins face turned to stone. " Bring her over, quick."
"SOPHIE!" A melodic voice cried out, as she light leaped into Elwins infirmary. The girl was taken aback when Biana flickered into sight, wrapping her hands around Sophie's neck in an almost strangling hold.
Biana was a vanisher, meaning she could let light pass through her body to turn invisible. The elf was dressed in a simple pink tunic embroidered with butterflies; with a jewel encrusted belt wrapped around narrow hips. That, coupled with naturally stunning looks: Long, soft brown hair, large teal eyes, heart shaped lips, blushing cheeks, and a straight nose…. well, it was no wonder there was horde of crying boys at her wedding.
Beside her, was her husband-Dex- looking quite fetching himself in a tunic that matched his periwinkle eyes, and showed off newly obtained, harsh muscle lines. Fitz stood behind him, glaring at Sophie so angrily she wished that the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
"We were so worried when Fitz told us you left for the Forbidden Cities. Be sure to include us in on your plans next time, kay?" Her only female friend said, pouting.
"Yeah, she wouldn't shut up all day about how worried she was. It was a pain to deal with." Dex commented, to which Biana shot him a glare.
Sophie laughed.
"Okay, okay. Will do." It had been a while since she saw her old friends. She was glad to see them alive and well. But the image was ruined when she turned back to Fitz and his stone stare. He sighed.
"Why did you go?! Dad told you he would discuss it with the council, and we would all go together!" Fitz exclaimed. Foster winced. Keefe grinned.
"Hey, we both know my wife and I are no sticklers to the rules. Foster and I have a knack for finding trouble." He said, and Sophie dearly wished it wasn't true. Sadly, it was.
"That doesn't change the fact you deliberately disobeyed father. KARMA TRIED TO KILL YOU SOPHIE! That could have gone a lot worse than it did. If we had lost you…" The teal-eyed elf trailed off at that. He shook his head. "Nevermind. What did you find out?"
"Well, for starters, Karma isn't involved with the missing elves." Sophie began. Fitz's eyes widened in surprise.
"Really! But it seemed too much of a coincidence." Her old crush said thoughtfully, hand to his chin.
"Uhhh, care to fill us in?" Dex cut in. Sophie quickly explained the situation to them, and by the end of her elucidation, their eyes were downcast.
"That's so weird. It really DOES seem like too much of a coincidence." Biana whispered.
"I think what's even more weird, is the fact that Karma hates his own species and prefers humans. I mean, we're a lot better than them." Dex remarked.
"There's more…. When we inflicted on him, the girl Keefe is carrying went berserk. She…" Sophie's voice halted. She didn't want to tell of her experience with the brunette-it was far too terrifying. Though, it seemed, her husband couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"She created a knife out of thin air! And when she talked afterwards, it was like someone else was speaking. Not her. I've never seen an ability like her's. Imagine all the stuff I could do with a power like that. We wouldn't have had to put up with the crap we did ten years ago-eh, Foster?" Sophie couldn't respond.
At this new information, everyone's shock transformed into horror, except for Dex. He just seemed intrigued.
"THAT'S SO SCARY!" Biana cried, holding herself.
"I could look in the records to see if such an ability existed back then. Though it may take a while-" He looked away bashfully. "The twiggler is on the fritz. Let's just say Kendric, the twiggler, a whole lot of apple juice, and a toilet don't mix."
"Alright, alright. Enough chatting. I have work to do." A familiar head of wild black hair peeked from the doorway.
"ELWIN!" Sophie exclaimed.
Yeah, I'm ending it there. Too tired. I'll explain what happened with Chara next Chapter.