Chapter 12
"Your mom is alive."
He said, and everything she was hoping to convey the moment before was lost in an ocean of questions, her brain trying to process what he had meant to say. Her heart raced and she felt the familiar sluggish breathing, like a weight on her chest.
"Wuh...what?" She managed, suddenly standing up although she didn't feel her legs and pushing the small table clumsily, realizing that she could not remain so close to her friend at that moment. His closeness felt oppressive all of a sudden.
"Daryl lied to you...I don't know why but I think I can guess, only, you deserve to know." Said Carl with some strange resolution.
"Are you playing with me? Why would you say that?" She asked in disbelief at the boy's statement, she felt her blood rushing through her body and heard the window panes tremble on their own.
Carl looked around nervously but continued. "It's true. She was part of the outpost raid but left sometime after, actually, she left the day before you caught up to us. I know she left a note to Toby, they were together I think." He added hastily at the signs of her losing her composure.
"Where is she now?" She simply asked him.
"I don't know anything after she left, but she is the strongest woman I know. She is alive, I know it!"
Sophia huffed frustrated and walked up to the boy. "She left and no one went after her!? Someone has to know more, Carl, you are telling me no one saw her leave?" She insisted, looming over him on the couch and placing her metal arm on his shoulder.
"My...my dad went after her with someone else but only he came back, I don't know anything else, I swear." He finished a bit scared of her reaction, but Sophia was too lost in thought to notice.
Mom...to think that we were so close… The surprising news was becoming almost too much for her to process right there, and she didn't know what to think.
"What was she like?" She found herself asking.
"She...she is a born survivor, she saved us many times. We wouldn't have made it here without her, I think she is a lot like you only...more in control..."
More in control...Heh... She laughed shaking her head.
Mom is alive, and she found her own strength...like me...Mom, how far we have come...
"I need to find her." She just said out loud.
"You should ask Daryl then, the two of them are close and he is the best tracker we have. I bet he wants to find her too."
They were interrupted by a few knocks on the door, and then it opened, showing a flustered fat Joey. He seemed to be caught by surprise at the sight of her unmasked face, so he respectfully directed his sight straight to the floor before talking.
"I'm so sorry Ms. Harpy, I didn't know you were here." He said shyly. Sophia looked at the man, then calmly turned around, giving her back to Carl and the man.
"It's fine Joey, can I help you with something?." She said as she fell back on her cooler, calmer persona of the Harpy, and casually placed the mask back on her face. Immediately she felt more level headed, behind the mask, feeling her altered feelings find balance again and after glancing back again she noticed the way Carl looked to be interested in her interaction with the Savior.
"The boss says to get the boy, he is taking him back home. Will you be joining him, Miss?" He asked her now more comfortable with the masked Harpy.
"No...I have something to do." She just said and gestured for Carl to join the man.
"Thanks, Carl. Oh and think about what I said, please." She urged him, then offered him a handshake.
The boy seemed to want to say something for a second, but then he shook her hand meaningfully and then walked away with a shared nod.
She sat down for a few minutes alone in the room, thinking about her mom alone. If she had to guess then she was running away from something, considering she had a partner and safety, people don't just leave that behind if they are fine.
I'll have a talk with Daryl and get whatever he knows. She resolved and walked purposefully towards his detaining box.
"Ms. Harpy!" Someone called from behind her, further down the hallway. She saw that it was Dr. Carson, who was pushing someone in a wheelchair in front of him.
"I don't know if I should call it good news or bad news, but he survived, if a bit unresponsive." Quietly told her the doctor, she didn't understand at first what he was talking about and then she recognized the man. Slumped on the wheelchair was the one she had tortured in Alexandria, Dave. Or something.
The man looked like a dull drooling baby. "Oh, this shit…" She said to herself as she thought about what she should do with it.
Coming in front of it, Sophia couldn't help but admit she felt off about using it for practice.
"Would you like me to get rid of him?" He offered at the sign of her indecision.
"Oh fuck it, I'll take it to my place and deal with it later." She told the doc and placed a hand on the unresponsive man's shoulder.
"Thanks, Doc, you can keep the chair." She added and with that, she apparated to her place at the top of the Sanctuary along with the man she had thoroughly ruined.
Once in her spacious room she looked at the man sprawled on the floor and thought about how she should handle it, she wanted to use it as legilimency practice but now it wasn't the time. So after some thinking about it and making up her mind, she decided to tie it with some rope and see to it later, right now she had to have a talk with Daryl.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she apparated straight back to the room where Daryl's box was but to her surprise, the door was ajar. She guessed that he could be on duty with Negan or the fence, but it was bothering her that both doors were open.
Feeling uneasy, Sophia walked out of the room and looked to each side of the hallway, she couldn't help but notice how there was no one in sight.
Something is not right... She thought and continued walking down the hallway until she came across two other Saviors moving towards her.
"Do any of you know what happened to prisoner A?" She asked them, it seemed that the hadn't noticed her in the poorly lit hallway and were shocked to hear her voice suddenly, making them both jump a little in surprise.
"Ms. Harpy! We didn't see you there, please forgive us!" Said the two Saviors nervously and bowed their heads.
What is up with these two? Are people getting more scared of me now?. She wondered.
"Do you know where is A? Daryl? He was in the box over there." She asked again, ignoring their antics and pointed to where she came from.
"He was in fence duty, but Negan sent him back to isolation for something. I'm just coming from the fence too, so I was there when it happened." He gladly offered, the two of them looked to her like two somewhat fresh young men, maybe in their twenties. They were taller than her but their postures and attitudes told her that they were very excited to talk to her.
"Who are you two? I can't recall your name." She asked the two young men.
"Oh, I'm Louie." Said the taller and lankier of the two, he was over a head taller than her and his skin looked paste white, but she could make the lines and shapes of a healthy amount of muscles.
"And this dork is Pat." Louie said pointing with his thumb. Pat was a slightly shorter young man of heavier build but leaning towards the chubby side, Pat did nothing more than nod his head stiffly.
"Well you know my name, do any of you know who was to lock that prisoner back? Because there is no one in that cell." She asked them, the two of them suddenly became more concerned with the news.
"I think it was Dwight, he should be around...I'll go check at his quarters." Offered Louie and jogged down the hallway towards Dwight's room, it was the closest to Daryl's.
It only took the gangly young man a second to call back. "Ms. Harpy come and see!" He shouted. They jogged towards the opened door, and inside Dwight's room, they saw what looked to be the leftovers of a robbery. Someone had gone through his stuff and there was half-eaten food on the floor and everything clicked when she saw the dirty cloth with the highly recognizable spray paint on it.
After a few expletives, she didn't think twice about it. "Pat, can I see your radio?" She asked the silent young man, and he obediently handed him his handy.
Sophia clicked the radio on. "This is the Harpy, a prisoner has escaped in the Sanctuary. Close shut every exit, no one gets in or out until we checked every corner of this place. And send a search party around the area." She commanded without leaving room for doubt and as soon as she did she could already hear the sound of the alarm going off, and the people moving in search.
"You two, find Dwight and keep him locked in his room until we find out what happened here. That's an order." She commanded the two young men as she threw the radio back at Pat, and they both nodded in unison and headed out to do their jobs, highly motivated.
She didn't waste any time and apparated back to the roof, where she silently summoned her broom and as soon as it landed on her palm, she was rocketing up in the air.
Just my fucking luck! Sophia raged inside, as she darted from side to side around the Area of the Sanctuary, Daryl was slipping through her fingers and she couldn't do anything other than frantically search about like a blind person.
Where is the fucking spell to solve this shit!. Was it irony? That the one spell that would help her find Daryl, probably the best person to look for her mother, could also help her find her mother without Daryl?
Sophia didn't know, but most importantly, she knew of no spell that could help her locate her mother or Daryl right now, save for trying her hand at divination. A branch of magic she never even attempted in the past.
Sophia hovered high over the Sanctuary, it couldn't be much later than midday so she knew they had time before daylight ran out, she rested on her broom and considered where to start the search.
Alexandria is the closest and most obvious target, but Negan should be there right now and he generally moves with a good amount of Saviors as back up... She thought.
Maybe he could go somewhere nearby Alexandria, and wait for everything to blow out… She thought, but that would be stupid, it would never blow out and he should know that Alexandria would pay if they helped him.
On the ground, she could see her people moving about with purpose, two vehicles sped out of the Sanctuary in different directions and started circling the area.
They are searching nearby. She said to herself, then another movement caught her attention.
Near one of the sides of the main factory building, some Saviors were gathered where the motorcycles were parked, there was a big body of a dead man on the floor.
Shit, he probably has a vehicle, but where is he going?... She thought, then it came to her.
The Hilltop, of course!… They've been there before, maybe even my mum has been there. Maggie went there so why wouldn't Daryl?... She thought, trying to analyze the situation.
She made up her mind and started heading west and south, trying to keep an eye on the ground, looking for any hints. She didn't know how long he must have been gone, but it couldn't have been too long, so she was sure that if she went fast she could get there before him.
Even in a vehicle, there is no chance he can get there before me, I can catch him I'm sure.
The new world's landscape throughout their territories was dominated by the slow pace of nature consuming most structures long dead and abandoned, even the territory surrounding the Sanctuary was at parts so filled with rows and rows of abandoned housing and nature unchecked, it was perfect for hiding. But at the same time, it made it difficult to travel fast on the ground in unused routes.
The way to the Hilltop was no different, it made her want to burn down anything and try to smoke him out, the must be somewhere down there. But if she wanted to play it smart she had to bet on the Hilltop and hope she gets there before him, she didn't know how much of a head start he had, but she had the air advantage.
Soon the community came in sight and there had been no sign of a speeding vehicle or sight of Daryl, she slowed down to get a good look around. People inside were moving about like any other day, there were no signs of a disturbance of anything.
Sophia waited up high over the Hilltop, hoping to catch him riding into the place, but as time passed she was getting less and less sure about her bet.
Should I wait and see if I outpaced him?... Fucking hell... She thought, her patience running out.
I have to get a better way of finding people… The day was running out and she wouldn't find him at night.
What should I do?... She thought, breathing in and out, trying to calm herself and think things through…Negan had told her once to state things as simple and as true as they were in her mind whenever she was lost.
I want to find Daryl because he escaped, it's not just to find mom. If it was about that I could just talk to Rick and get what he knows, but Daryl running away can be disastrous to the fragile relations we have with Alexandria and the Hilltop. She thought.
The two communities actually conspired against us recently...they can do it again...and if the Hilltop helps Daryl and we find out, they will have to pay the price again. Something that would make things even worse.
But what about mom?... I just found out she was in the area, she could still be in the area. Should I just drop this and focus on finding mom?... Fuck I do want to, but I'm worried about what we have been working for here…
Sigh...
I'm starting to think that I should have just killed Jesus and left Gregory alive, why am I such an Idiot...Maggie and Sasha being there now it's ten times worse if Jesus is in charge… Gods, all of this is going to shit and I just feel it, should we do this whole thing differently? Maybe straight up taking control of the communities, would that turn them into slave camps?...No, Negan has the right answer, they have to work for us themselves to the point they convince themselves that it's for the best.
There was no sign anywhere of Daryl or a vehicle arriving at the Hilltop and she knew he should have done it by then.
For now, I just have to keep moving like this, and later on, I'll talk to Negan about reviewing how we deal with this. It's all about the Alexandrians, Maggie is sure to be a leader of this community by the way she handled herself, a hundred times better than Jesus by the way, who never wanted to be in charge. So if we keep Maggie and Jesus in place and maintain Alexandria as it is, then we can make this work.
What would Negan do? I am just about to drop there and hold everyone hostage until I take a good look at every nook and cranny inside the Hilltop, but that's not what he would do, he would just keep calm and deal with it in such a way that all of it is seems like business as usual.
That's right, I just let Jesus know what would happen if we find out he is helping Daryl and follow through. It would make things even tenser but if it comes to it we can remove Jesus and Maggie then place someone like Simon temporarily as their leader.
Fine. She decided as the afternoon still had some time left and headed down towards the Hilltop in search for Jesus, she hovered close to the ground looking between faces and ignored people's reaction when they noticed her and began to panic and hide.
Then she saw Enid heading towards the trailer near where she had talked with Maggie and get inside, judging by the way she briskly walked inside and how hard she slammed the door, Sophia guessed the girl had seen her.
She dropped in front of the trailer and checked herself before knocking on the door, her mask in place, her hat comfortably resting on her head and the sword hanging from her side as well as her two holstered wands. Then with a deep breath and getting in the confident persona of the Harpy, she lightly tapped on the door with her right arm.
It was Enid who opened the door, and she wished she could show her smile through the mask.
"Eeh...Hi, again." She said a bit awkwardly. Sophia saw behind the girl and noticed they were setting up to eat, Sasha, Maggie, and Enid. They were all staring at the door and looking at her as if she had just crashed on their quinceañera.
"Hello, Enid." She just said amicably and walked up to Enid, who quickly moved out of her way to let her in.
"Maggie, Sasha. I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, it smells wonderful." She commented. Sasha stood up fast, a scowl on her face and looking ready to jump at her.
"You just keep dropping by whenever you wish, I'll make sure to give you a nice welcoming." She threatened.
"Yeah, I'd like to see that." She answered dismissively and rolling her eyes.
No one said anything about Sasha's threat, but Maggie placed her hand on the woman's arm and pulled her down gently.
It didn't escape Sophia the way Sasha easily complied with the woman's silent command.
"Enid, close the door." Maggie ordered her and Enid obediently did as she was told then got back to her seat, now everyone was looking at her from the small round table they shared.
"You can eat with us if you want, Enid already told us who you say you are. Is it true you are Carol's daughter?" Started Maggie.
"Yeah, and I also know she is alive. Don't worry, I'll find her soon enough, that is not why I came here though." She said, and considered if it would be too much to sit and eat, they were eating some steamed vegetables and it smelled amazing. But instead, she chose to lean against the wall, her arms folded over her chest, besides she wouldn't take her mask in such a tense situation.
"Carl went and got himself caught sneaking into our headquarters by the way." She added giving Enid a glare. "Killed two of my people." She finished and watched them all go blank and scared. Enid stood up, and with watery eyes tried to talk.
"Is...is he.." She managed to say with a shaky voice.
"He would be dead if it wasn't up to Negan or me to decide, but we are better than that. We are better than him it seems, some of you too I think." She said giving Sasha a pointed look.
"No, they took him back to Alexandria where I imagine someone else will pay for his mistakes, sadly...it's not like we want it to go that way. Calm down, Enid." She added with a tired sigh.
"Then why are you here for?" Asked her Sasha, she almost spat the question at her.
"Just came here looking for Jesus." She commented, placing a thoughtful finger on her mask's chin.
"It's Paul for you." Maggie corrected her. "And he is not around at the moment, you can talk to me instead."
"And you are what, his second? Because let me tell you, Maggie. The one with the final voice on that will be Simon, maybe if he finds you agreeable..." Sophia answered with spite, everything about the pregnant woman rubbed her wrong.
"Well, then you are just going to have to wait." Sasha said with a challenging smile, surely feeling like Maggie and she had the upper hand on her.
"So where is Jesus? Seems to me a little late for the leader of Hilltop to be out and about, is he alone?" She asked, looking between Sasha and Maggie, both of them remained silent. And the sudden quiet inside the trailer made extra evident the tension in the air, especially because Sophia could see clearly that Sasha had more to say about that than what she let on.
"I just hope he is not doing something stupid, you know?... Daryl escaped from our headquarters. I came here to make sure he knows what to do if any of you see him and what will happen if you don't." Sophia said, leaving behind the shallow friendly tone and making sure they knew without a doubt that it was a threat.
"What are we supposed to do if he comes here?" Asked Maggie with a serious face, her eyes telling her that she already knew what she was about to say.
"You give him to us, of course. Dead or alive, at this point is the same. But more important still is what will happen if you help him in any way."
"You will torture someone here until they die and then take off their head?" Said Maggie darkly, keeping her eyes on hers and her fist tight around the fork she was holding. "You'll have Negan bash their heads for fun?"
"If it's me who has to yes, or maybe I'll get creative. Negan is beyond your bullshit, Maggie." She informed her, counting with her fingers.
"If it's Simon, he will probably kill more than one. He has a record of going overboard. But whichever it is won't change the fact that it will be just anyone in the Hilltop, innocent or otherwise. That is how it works, I thought you should know if he comes here or if he is already here, it's worse for everyone if you help him." She finished, and everyone remained silent at her declaration, almost awkwardly so.
"That's all I have to say, I didn't mean to interrupt but it was this or forcefully search the whole place for Daryl, thought I would just make it easier for everyone… Enjoy your meal." She said and made to grab the door and get out.
"Hold on, don't you want to talk about your mother?" Asked Maggie casually, taking a bite from her plate innocently.
Sophia stopped in her tracks and turned around to stare at Maggie's innocently defiant eyes. Of course, She caught the jab at her earlier discussion with the woman.
"That's funny Maggie, but there are bigger things at stake here than my mom. I willfind her eventually, but I'm not the little girl she knew, am I? I have other responsibilities now, like yours and your friends fuck ups." Sophia just knew the woman managed to get to her all too easily and it pissed her off, although if she was honest, Maggie was a breath of fresh air when it came to women she dealt with at the communities.
Maggie was not affected by her threatening tone, instead, she continued as if they were having a friendly conversation.
"Do you think she would agree with what you are doing?" She said and Sophia almost seethed now.
It was very sly of Maggie to go that way, but she couldn't let herself be provoked.
No more anger outbursts. She had to remember herself, instead, she tried to stay in the cool and clawing Harpy persona.
"I think we've both grown to be better than the way we used to be, but any change is better when you start at the bottom. I also know she was at the attack on our outpost, you know the one Maggie?" She asked her in her sweetest voice.
"Where more than thirty men and women were massacred? Many of them in their sleep? The one massacre that lead to your husband's current condition? You know what I think Maggie?" She asked her again, walking up to her and leaning a little to get more on her sitting level and smiled when she saw the slightest waver in the woman's face at the mention of Glenn.
"I think she couldn't take all that killing that you and your people made her do. She had a great place to live, apparently even a partner but she left you all, she left her friends. So Why? Why did your dear friend abandon you?" She said and then got very close to her face.
"I think she couldn't live with the shit that you put her through." She said looking straight through Maggie's eyes and noticing the lack of fear in the pregnant woman.
"So don't give me your farm-raised good girl bullshit, you are all murderers too." She held her eyes on Maggies, she thought for a second that they could actually be pretty if they weren't filled with contempt for her.
"Mom and I have lived in hell since before the apocalypse, I'mgoing to save her. Not you, or Rick, I'mgoing to take her away from all this bullshit that you have put her through and give her the best life that anyone can get in this world. I'll save her and then I'll save you, and when you are old and peacefully dying on your bed, you will think -I hope the Harpy can look after my grandchildren when I'm gone-" Sophia could feel her eyes begin to heat at the thought of giving her mom the help and support that she needed, that she dreamed of doing ever since she got her powers, so she just turned away and exited the trailer without saying another word.
Once outside, Sophia sighed, letting her anger simmer down and silently summoned her broom. That woman really got under her skin, like a prissy older sister that thought she was so much better than her.
She wondered how were things being handled at the Sanctuary, Negan would arrive at some shitshow probably, but she was not finished for the day.
Now that the message was passed along and confident that Daryl would be caught soon enough, she couldn't help to worry about what happened with Carl in Alexandria. Besides, she had to talk to Rick about her mother too.
Sophia remembered at that moment that she still had the radio from Pat on her, so taking it out from where she had clipped it on one of the leather straps she used for her sword, she selected the lieutenant's channel and clicked the button.
"Laura? Arat?" She called.
Her broom was waiting for her right above her head now, so she reached it and hopped on.
"Ms. Harpy? This is new, I thought you had a thing against radios." Answered Laura's voice.
Sophia ignored the comment, she was not in the mood for idle chat and she did have a thing against radios too.
"Did you hear about Daryl?" She asked as she flew away from Hilltop and towards Sanctuary.
"Yeah, I have some people here outside Alexandria keeping an eye out for him."
"You guys are still there?"
"Yup, waiting for Prick. Boss is having a laugh, shooting some pool."
"I'm dropping by, over." She said and clipped the radio back on the strap, then without giving it a second thought, she willed the broom to accelerate and shoot west as fast as she could.
Nothing could top her speed on a broom, just moving above everyone else gave her such an advantage when it came to moving between places fast. It was largely what allowed her to be so involved with the Savior's activities without having to apparate all the time, she often avoided apparating long distances if she could.
When Sophia arrived at Alexandria, she hovered high above the settlement and took in the scene from above. Within the walls of Alexandria, there was clearly more activity than one could usually see from a birds-eye view.
While generally the people of Alexandria hardly gathered outside as a community, today most of its citizens gathered around a pool table where she could distinctly make out Negan's frame and distinguished cocky attitude.
By the gate looking east, she could identify the trucks they generally used for pickups. There were armed Saviors spread out all over the place, Negan liked to move in big groups to impose total control.
Then a few sudden cries and scared screams were heard from Negan's direction and when Sophia looked back, there was already a man bleeding out on the floor next to the pool table.
And that's my cue to drop in. She said hoping the situation wouldn't go too much out of hand, after all, it was in their interest to keep things calm between them for now.
But as she prepared to drop on them in her usual dramatic fashion, she caught the movement of someone right in front and close to Negan, they were reaching for something on their back. So without thinking it twice, Sophia apparated straight in front of the man.
Everything happened in a few seconds.
"Protego totalum!" She shouted as soon as she materialized in front of the man, while at the same time and as if in slow motion, the woman in front of her raised a gun and pulled the trigger.
BLAM! The report of the gun echoed within the walls of Alexandria.
Her shield shimmered into existence just a second too late and something hit Sophia so hard over her left eye, that it sent her sprawling over the pool table.
"What the fuck!" She heard Negan rage, there was commotion all around her, but she was still recovering from the strong shock and deafening sound of the bullet ricochetting off her iron mask.
There was a loud ring in her ears and the head was killing her. Sophia grabbed her head and face looking for any sign of blood, but all she felt was the streak of a bullet over the left brow of the scowling mask of the Harpy.
"My head…" She said complaining, the ringing in her ears was quickly going away and with it, the sound was coming back, but she was experiencing a terrible headache.
"WHAT THE SHIT! YOU SHOT THE HARPY?" Negan shouted at a woman being held harshly on the floor. Sophia knew this was Negan as angry as she would ever see him.
"She got in the way." Spat back the woman trying to look tough.
"I'm fine!" Sophia tried to reassure him and slowly got back on her feet. "Calm down, it takes more than that to kill me." The situation was completely changed once she stood again and looked around.
All the Saviors standing watch over the area had converged on them and put all the Alexandrians on their knees and under the sight of their rifles, they looked terrified and more than one was already crying.
Save for Rick's close-knit group, most people from Alexandria seemed to be as civilian as they came, at least people from Hilltop spent their days farming and producing. These people spent the past years living in luxury like the end of the world never happened.
Negan was pacing and fuming until he saw her standing again. "You alright sweet pea?" He asked concerned.
It dawned on Sophia that she recognized the tiniest, almost imperceptible, slurring in his speech and immediately looked back at the glasses of liquor on the pool table.
"Yeah, just a wicked headache." She said, trying to reassure the man and looking at her men holding their rifles onto the Alexandrians, no Savior lowered their rifles even if things were calming down, they knew that this was far from over.
"Where the fuck did she get ammo?" She asked holding her head tenderly.
Negan crouched and picked the spent casing of the bullet that was shot, then cursed.
"What is this?" He asked the woman. "This little fuck was made from scratch, homemade. You are on thin fucking ice already, darling, so make yourself a favor and tell me. Who made this?" Negan asked the woman, shoving the spent casing on the woman's face.
"Fuck you." Was all the defiant woman answered to him but Negan, who already was falling back on his cooler self, smiled amusedly and looked back at Sophia.
She understood exactly what he was thinking.
"Arat, put her on her knees for me?" He ordered.
The lieutenant, who had a gun strongly pressed on the woman's face the whole time, gave both of them a questioning glance and Sophia nodded in agreement.
So Arat grabbed a handful of the woman's hair and pulled up brutally, forcing the woman to her feet as the rest of her body tried to keep up and lessen the pain, then with a hard push and a kick she dropped the Alexandrian woman on her knees painfully.
"What's your name?" She asked the woman on her knees.
The woman gave her a scowl to rival her mask's, "Rosita." She said reluctantly.
"Well, Rosita… weapons are a big deal for us, you gotta earn the privilege to have weapons and ammo, and you don't have that right now with us. So you'll either answer the question, or I'll make you suffer until you do." Sophia said darkly, she walked up to the kneeling woman and placed the tip of her wand on her chest.
"Go fuck yourself puta!" She spat.
Sophia looked back at Negan, who was now sporting a predatory smile and nodding.
Reaching back with her wand Sophia focused. "Crucio!" She intoned as she jabbed the long wand on the woman's chest with force.
"AAAAAAAAHH" Rosita screamed. Sophia only held it a little more than a second, but Rosita shook violently and fell on her back, her muscles locking up and choking on her own vomit.
"Again!?" Asked Sophia, knowing it usually took just the thought of feeling the curse another time to have someone talking.
"Noo! Please noo!" Rosita pleaded weakly from the floor, on her side a Savior had to bash the head of a black man who tried to move towards the woman, bringing him to the ground too.
"Hahahaha." Negan laughed cheerfully when he heard the woman plead. "It always amazes me how fast that spell can make someone change their tune!"
"What the hell is going on here!" Suddenly someone roared from behind them, making her and Negan turn in mild surprise.
It was Rick, who looked tired, dirty and was holding on his shoulder a very beat up man that Sophia recognized as Aaron.
"Rick! Welcome back! Look who's here Ms. Harpy!" Negan greeted the man, if anything, it seemed to Sophia that the arrival of the Alexandrian leader was a source of entertainment for Negan.
Rick left Aaron sitting on the pool table and walked up to them, taking his time to observe the dead man on the floor and the state of his friends. Then, before even saying anything else, he crouched next to the dead man on the floor and stuck a knife on his skull.
"I thought we had a deal." He said standing up and looking at both of them.
"I thought so too, Rick. What happened with openness and cooperation? Now, not only did I found out Maggie is alive, but I come here and get a shot in the face by one of your people. So what happened with the deal, Rick?" She accused, Sophia never wanted things to get like this, but she couldn't hold herself back when the man was judging them like that.
"What's this I hear about a previously thought dead preggo?" Negan asked, walking to her side and facing Rick, Lucille resting comfortably on his shoulder.
"That's right, I found Maggie alive and living at Hilltop today. Rick here, lied to us." She informed, this too was her fault, she should have told Negan on their earlier meeting but the news about Carl being at the Sanctuary made her forget.
Now Negan was there, apparently a little drunk and already with blood on his hands, hearing about the lie for the first time in front of everyone. Sophia just hoped she could keep things under control, there was already a dead man on the ground.
Negan gave Rick a long look, his humor all but gone. "Well, then I guess we have some work to do."
Rick paled and his whole attitude changed, suddenly realizing the mess he was in.
"Listen, I brought a big load and you can take it all, just let us be. I lied yes, now you killed someone already, let's move on from this." He argued.
"This man was trying to back-stab you, you fucking clown. What kind of fucking circus are you running here?" Negan said, his face all too close to Ricks and Lucille right next to them. "I'll give you that favor for free, but that bitch over there shot my girl so first, we are going to find out who made that bullet and then the Harpy is going to get what she's owed."
Sophia sighed. She was already tired of the day but turned back to Rosita, who was already being placed on her knees again by an always sharp Arat.
"Who made the bullet?" She asked again, her long wand ready.
Rosita was still recovering from the curse and was not able to speak, Sophia knew it was supposed to be harder on women so she understood, but the woman needed to answer to her questions.
"Fine. Crucii-" She started.
"It was mee!" A man cried, interrupting her spell. It was a pudgy man that was openly crying and trembling, he stood up as soon as he started talking, despite the guns on his head.
Negan came up to him at once, Lucille on the ready.
"Is he telling the truth?" Sophia asked Negan, he was better at reading people than her, after all.
"Who are you?" Negan asked the man menacingly.
"Eug…. My name is Eugene Hermann Porter, it was me, I made the round." He confessed, his hands on his face as he cried. "It required one spent casing, one four-holed turret reloader, power, one funnel for the power-"
"That's enough." Negan said stopping him, then looked at Rick. "We'll be relieving you of smarty pants Porter, Rick." He informed him.
Rick was stuck in place, not being able to do anything with all his people under the threat of guns and rifles, yet again from them. He just watched them with a serious look, which Sophia noticed, he was being careful not to cross into a glare.
"Good, next order of business. Arat." Negan ordered and he didn't need to say anything, Arat was already taking out her gun ready to kill someone.
Sophia liked Arat, she was such a great soldier, but sometimes it surprised her how she could do it without a second thought. Not in anger or revenge, just cold duty.
"No!" Sophia stopped her, knowing what she was going to do, the woman stopped in place and gave her a questioning look. Another second more and someone else would have been shot.
"I got shot, I decide what to do." Sophia informed her, then looked at Negan, who after a second conceded with a nod.
Sophia considered what to do, she didn't want anyone else to die, the visit was already a mess, to begin with.
"This is...old school, but effective." She said, walking up to Rosita and placing the tip of her wand on the right side of the woman's face, then held her head with the other hand.
"I swear upon my magic, if you Rosita, ever try to kill me it will be the last thing you do." She said loudly and with strength in her voice, trying to make it echo in her chest, Sophia felt the magic pull and saw as tendrils of blue electricity burst from her wand and crawled over the right side of the woman's face, leaving behind black spiderlike streaks and turned the right eye completely white.
"It burns! AARHG! My eye! What did you do?" Cried Rosita cried clawing at her face, trailing the magical burns she left with her curse.
"I cursed you, that's all. Consider yourself lucky."
"That's it? The bitch shot you!" Negan complained a little deflated.
"A little gun like that cannot kill me anyway." She lied. "I'm the Harpy."
"If that's it then just go." Insisted Rick. Sophia turned to him and watching carefully, she wondered if the man thought he got off easy, it did make her reconsider her punishment but she knew the whole point was that him and his people needed to understand they could be at least a little reasonable.
"Hold up there, officer friendly, I'm not done yet." Negan called from where he stood and moved towards Rick, who was standing in front of the pool table.
Sigh...what now? Wondered Sophia, she wanted to be over with it, and she still needed to have a talk with Rick about her mother.
"I think there is a lesson to be learned here and I don't want to miss the opportunity…" Started Negan, looking at the Alexandrians being held there. "You see people, your leader Rick lied to us to protect his friend, he decided to put you in risk for the sake of his preggo girlfriend."
Everyone remained silent when the man spoke, Sophia didn't really know if he was about to do something to Rick or to the people and she wasn't sure if she should stop him in front of everyone else.
"Negan." She called, trying to get the man's attention, but Negan purposely ignored her.
"You, you are the creepy preacher from the other time." He said to the black man on the ground that one of their men had bashed on the head earlier, and he offered his hand to help him up.
The preacher looked up painfully from his position, there was a thin stream of blood flowing from above his right eye, after a few seconds he decided to take the hand and painfully stood up with the help of Negan.
Everyone looked quietly, the scene hiding a deadly edge on a fake pretense of friendliness.
"What's your name?" Negan asked.
"Gabriel." The preacher said, his face was pale with fear, sweat, and blood.
"Tell me, Gabriel, is there something about lying in one of those holy laws?"
Gabriel swallowed hard, sparing a glance at Rosita, who was looking helplessly on her knees. "You mean… the ten commandments?"
"What does the law says about those who break the ten commandments?" Negan asked. Sophia was sure now what was coming.
"Negan, can we have a word in private?" She asked, but the man ignored her again, the air was getting heavier and heavier with tension.
"Th...th… the ten commandments… are a set of principles, not laws." He tried to explain, Negan had none of that.
"What is the punishment for lying, Gabriel?" He asked. His face and tone not leaving any room for negotiation.
Gabriel swallowed hard again, looking around in fear. "The Lord's grace-" He started, but Negan interrupted him.
"Well I'm not the Lord, am I?" He said with a terrifying grin, and as quickly as it was practiced, he swung Lucille back and high over his head then brought her down over the bald head of Gabriel with the full force of his strong body.
The sick crunch of the skull bones breaking was heard by everyone, Sophia had no time to react and even if she did, she would never challenge his authority in front of the communities like that.
People screamed and cried, Rick moved to stop him but Arat's gun was quickly on his head holding him back. The evening had crept on them and painted the sky red, as Negan repeatedly bashed the head of the now-dead Gabriel against the pavement, the blood being splattered all around and on Negan seemed blacker than it was read.
Sophia watched him in silence. It wasn't what she hoped, but in the end, Negan had been right more often than not, she owed him the benefit of the doubt.
When Negan was done, the head of the priest was a lumpy paste of flesh and bones, and Gabriel's body was left on the ground, occasionally twitching.
Negan let out a sigh filled with relief and satisfaction as he watched the way Lucille was covered in flesh, brain matter and blood.
"Now we are done." He said. "Now we are even, Rick."
He turned to the man and held his eyes with a challenge. "Your boy killed two of my men today, you actually got off easy, but now we are even."
Rick was trembling in place, his anger barely contained, but his eyes remained to show any contempt or challenge. "Your shit is on the gate, just fucking leave." He said tiredly.
"After you say what I want to hear, Rick." Negan insisted, closing his face to Rick's, tired and sweaty.
It took a second for Rick to say it… "Thank you." He said, the words sounding as hollow as Sophia could imagine was possible.
"Pack up boys, let's go home." Nega said after smiling like he had won a prize. "Oh, and I'm taking the pool table."
And with that, the man walked away. Sophia watched the whole exchange from where she stood by the wailing Rosita and was surprised by how Negan walked away without even sparing a glance at her.
If he thinks he is annoyed with me, he has another thing coming. She thought.
"Rick, we need to talk." She told Rick, there was still the subject of her mother.
"Not now, just go." Rick said and walked off in the other direction, his mood too much for him to handle.
"Fine, later then."
People walked away, some kneeled next to the bodies and tried to cope with their loss.
Sophia glanced at her right and saw Carl was looking at her from the porch of a house with a look she didn't understand completely. There was no hate there, but she saw sadness and something else.
I'm sorry Carl… you invited this to your home.
It was getting late already. Sophia had a long day and now she was finishing with setting everything up so that they wouldn't be bothered, but now everything was in place and she could have a nice chat with Rick in peace and then she would have gained her well deserved rest, tomorrow with any luck she would start looking for her mother.
Just wait for me mom, I'll find you. She thought as she tiredly sat on a nice wooden chair she had set in front of Rick and Michone's bed. The couple was sleeping, unaware of their company.
"Rick." Sophia whispered. She held her wand pointed at them at the ready and carefully wrapped her fingers around the small throat of the little body she held on her lap, so fragile under her dark silvery hand. Judith was sleeping soundly against her, resting comfortably, innocently in her warm and dangerous embrace.
"Rick, Michonne...Wake up." She spoke, this time in a bit louder. The older couple stirred on their bed, slowly becoming aware, processing their situation. Sophia saw them go through all the emotions from her chair in front of their bed.
First a jolt of awareness, a tired sigh and a drowsy glance around the room then they both sprung to action in a flash, both rolling out of their bed and reaching for their weapons to defend themselves. Of course, she had their stuff by her side, a beautiful katana and a weathered hatchet, so she just sat there unmoving and unmoved by their sudden fear once they saw who she held in her arms.
"You are going to wake up Judith." She warned them, a white lie.
Sophia had arrived at Alexandria in the middle of the night and wandered the place at her own pace, walking into each house and looking around, looking for anything that could belong to her mother. Any sign of her time there, she had searched through everyone's belongings, and finally headed over to Rick's house. Where she had picked up Judith and taken her towards their room.
"Judith!" Shouted Michone in horror dismissing her request, of course, Judith would not actually wake up without her magic. Which brought more horror and desperation on the faces of the couple.
"She's fine, but you two need to calm down. I only brought her to show you." She just said with a tired half-smile, looking at Rick and Michonne, she could tell their hearts were racing and they were on the verge of jumping on her.
"The room is sealed shut by magic, no sound will get out and anyone who comes close to the door will suddenly feel like they have something more important to do. I took your weapons too, so all you two can do right now is sit down and talk with me."
Michonne was clearly thinking of fighting even unarmed, but it was Rick who convinced her, by holding his arm towards her and sitting back down on the bed. Michonne followed.
"Good. You are not rejecting again, Rick." She said and with her wand, she pointed it at the little girl and whispered. "Rennervate." and after a soft golden light shone from the tip of her wand, the little girl started to move and wake up.
"Daddy?" She said half asleep, that was enough to bring Rick close to tears and he couldn't stop himself from reaching up to her.
"Judith baby, Daddy is here." He said sadly, everything strong about the man leaving his body.
The little girl sat down on her lap and innocently looked up at her, the person who was holding her in place. She still had her mask on, but her pointy hat was resting on the ear of the chair. Sophia just held her eyes, the little girl was brave.
"Judith baby, come to mama." Called Michonne trying to sound pleasant as to not scare the confused little girl.
"Go Judith." She said calmly and released her from her hold. The confused and scared little girl slid down from her legs and walked over to her parents, not needing any more prodding. Once she climbed up the bed, the older couple hugged her tightly, letting go a bit of their fear in quiet sobs.
"Tonight, I walked into Alexandria and went into most of the homes here, free as a breeze, I looked around...I walked into Judith's bedroom and picked her up, I came here and took your weapons, worked my magic in this whole room and no one could stop me. I could have done any number of things to anyone in this place." She stated calmly, almost to herself and taking in the shock on their faces.
"Is it true? Is that you, Sophia?" Rick called almost in disbelief.
"Oh, I guess Carl told you, did he?" She said removing her mask from her face and turning it around to study its hard face. The beautiful Iron mask, which looked like a ghost in the light of the bluebell flames she had conjured to illuminate the place, was now marked with the clear streak of a bullet over the left eye.
Then Sophia looked up to Rick and saw his tired eyes trying to match his memory of her, Michonne seemed to understand what they were talking about but she had never met her before.
"I'm sorry, for whatever happened to you." Rick finally said, trying to sound concerned.
Heh...
"It's funny, Maggie said the same thing" She started, thinking of the pregnant woman that she had met earlier that day , then reached in her pocket to take a white paper letter written by her mother. Recognizing the handwriting had been cathartic for Sophia, her mother had written that letter not long ago.
"I found this on Toby's belongings. It's a letter from my mom, she seems sad and conflicted to me… What do you know about that, Rick?" She asked him, getting to the point.
Rick understood what she was talking about, surely he was starting to see the point of her visit.
"You know? I thought it actually made sense when Carl told me who you were...you and your mother, both of you are a force of nature…" He said and gave her a small almost complicit smile, she couldn't help but smile back at the description.
"Who would have thought, back then… The McBride women, if they knew us when everything started. Right, Rick? Do you remember? About Ed?" She said to the man, holding back tears and looking at him sadly.
Rick swallowed hard and nodded.
"What ever happened to Shane?" She asked.
"He lost it." Answered Rick gravely.
"Oh, It happens to the best of us, I guess…"
Rick nodded again, then swallowed hard before talking. "Carol was devastated when she lost you, I thought she would die to be honest, but to my great surprise, she kept struggling, fighting, pushing to survive and eventually became the strongest among us. We all became family over time, and she protected us so many times on the way here...the things we all had to do to protect each other, we all have our troubles dealing with that." Rick continued.
Sophia thought about what he was saying, the struggling part resonated deeply with her.
"I thought that she had trouble living with what she had done, but the things she says here are a bit confusing, she doesn't mention the past here. It's more about things she thinks will happen." She said confused, looking at both of them for answers.
It was Michonne the one who answered this time, she had Judith in tightly wrapped and asleep. "She doesn't want to kill anymore, and it has been making her doubt and hold back, but she knew she would have to kill again to protect us if she stayed with us. So she left because she thought the doubt in her heart would put us in danger and most of all, she doesn't want to lose more of her family." Michonne said, giving her great insight into her mother.
"Over time and on the way here, Carol got close to other children who looked up to her. But they would not survive and she kept having to live with that, to keep surviving while people she loved kept dying" Added Rick calmer now.
"You mean like… survivor's guilt?" She asked. She understood something about that by experience.
"Yes, and it all started with your death. Or what we thought was your death…" He finished, placing a hand tenderly on the little girl's head.
"I had no choice in the matter, but I'm going to rectify that now. I'm sorry Rick, I did this tonight because I want you to think twice about it if you get the idea of using my mom against me or something...I mostly play around, you know? So don't make me get serious Rick. I don't want to get angry and lose it again." She threatened the small family, bringing back the tension in the air. She grabbed her hat on the floor and from the inside, she took a foldable paper map and threw it at Rick along with a red marker.
"I know today was a heavy day for both of us, but you went after her when she left, so now I want you to mark there all you know about her path after leaving Alexandria, where you think she would go and about the other person that went after her." She ordered the man, pointing her wand at them.
Author note:
This chapter ended up being almost double the size I generally intend for a chapter, I hope it's not too heavy.
I wanted to say thank you for the comments and thank you to anyone reading this, I hope you like it.
I also wanted to say that I have an AO3 account where I also post this fic. You can find me there as "Disposablerag" I know, the name sucks. You can also find this story by the same name, "Flight of the Harpy".
