Chapter 24
The scene at Carol's house was very much a standoff, the group from the Kingdom all stood on one end of the table watching tensely, Benjamin slept unknowing of the blade Sophia held on his throat while Carol watched helplessly from the side of the table where the boy was laid.
"It was my-" Started Richard, but Sophia had no patience for him.
"Silencio!" She yelled with her wand, making a quick up and down motion, the next they knew was that the man's mouth kept moving but no sound came out, giving him a shock. The man looked very battered like he had been beaten heavily and his eyes were red and puffy, he looked a pitiful mess.
"I said you will only speak when spoken to." She reminded them, waving her wand from face to face as a warning, then finally leaving it leveled to Ezekiel's face. He swallowed hard and spared a worried glance at Benjamin.
"It started this morning when we found out the Kingdom had been robbed of almost every bullet or magazine we possessed." He started telling her, her mother looked at her worriedly, but Sophia ignored her.
"So what? Do you think it was us? You think we would go back on our deal when it has kept the peace between us for almost two years?" She asked, trying to sound indignant. Of course, she had stolen the bullets herself. "You underestimate us and our goals, we are the Saviors." She reminded him.
Ezekiel had to look away, his face showed deep pain and frustration. "No matter what I think, all evidence points to Richard, who might have been working with other people." He said, then continued. "We locked him up while the investigation continued, and headed to the drop like usual."
Sophia glanced at the silenced man while the King retold the events, he was in tears and couldn't keep his eyes away from the floor.
"It seems he followed us and stole the very few rounds we had left, then attacked Gavin while we were delivering the quota. He was almost responsible for the life of Benjamin." The king finished, the last part spat at the man with disdain.
"Who did he shoot? Did he kill one of our guys?" Sophia asked calmly.
"He shot Jared, I don't know if he died, but he was lively enough to shoot poor Benjamin." The king informed her.
Sophia sighed a little disappointed with the mess she had inadvertently caused Gavin. He could have died because of her little greedy improvisation. She reached to the new strap tied to her thigh, where she carried the radio Negan had given her for taking over Alexandria, annoyed that it was actually useful for once.
"Gavin? You there? It's the Harpy." She called through the radio while pressing the button. Everyone waited silently for a few seconds, then the sound of someone clicking into the radio.
"Miss Harpy, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" Answered the voice of the lieutenant. Sophia couldn't help to perk up a little hearing the man through the radio.
"Yeah, it's a new thing. Listen, I'm sorry to bother you, but I just found out about what happened with the Kingdom." She told the man on the radio.
"Well damn, that's fast…a sure shit show, if you ask me. Over." Commented the man.
"Is Jared dead?" She asked Gavin.
"No, lucky bastard. The doc says he is going to ."
So Jared is alive and no one died. She thought, giving a glance at the boy on the table.
"Gavin, did you order Jared to shoot Benjamin?" Sophia asked, a little worried about the answer. Surely Gavin would have chosen an older victim.
"No, I ordered him to shoot Richard. I don't know what went through his mind, the sick bastard, poor kid, I don't think he is going to make it. Over." Came the voice of Gavin through the radio.
"I just saved Benjamin's life… I can kill Richard in his place, or leave it up to you to decide. Whatever you want. Over." She informed the man, the next response took a few very tense seconds where everyone looked at each other. The fate of the man was being decided right then, Sophia took the pause to look at her mother and it pained her a little to see the hurt and disappointment she saw in her eyes.
"I'll follow your lead and take a rational approach. Ezekiel and I can hash it out, we agreed to meet later before they left." Sophia smiled, Gavin was a good man who was at peace with the thing he sometimes had to do, but he sure preferred to leave the violence for last.
"Thank you, Gavin, I appreciate it. Over" She said honestly.
"And we appreciate you, Miss Harpy." He answered, then the radio went quiet.
"One last thing, Gavin. Have you or any of your guys been dealing with someone from inside the Kingdom? Like contraband or something?" She asked to make a show. The good thing was that Gavin had no idea of her doings.
"What? No! I would have their necks if I found out something like that. Is that what this was about?" He asked with indignation.
"Yeah, you can talk it out with Ezekiel. But just in case, keep an eye out for unknown groups moving in the area." Sophia asked her, she would have to put Gavin up to date soon or he would needlessly waste people for nothing. But all be it to help the deceit.
"Sure will, Miss. Over and out." Gavin answered and then the radio went quiet again. Sophia sighed again and placed the radio back in it's strap, giving the group another look.
"Well, there you go." She said, and with a wave of her wand, the silencing charm was lifted from Richard. "Got anything to say for yourself old man? Did you want to ditch your King or something?"
The man looked up from the floor for the first time since he tried to talk, his face a base of sadness and desperation, now marred with anger. "This was a setup. Someone is framing me, I'd never betray my friends!" He snarled then spat at her.
"This was you wasn't it?" Said the seething man. "You somehow did this, only you people benefit from this!"
Sophia merely watched him without a hint of a reaction to his accusation.
"See!? She is not even denying it! Your Grace, it was her, I just know it!" He shouted, pleading with the King, who could hardly look at him.
"Why should I defend myself from a desperate man who can't deal with his mistakes? It's not like you would believe me either way." Sopha said, dismissing the man's arguments.
"She was with me yesterday and stayed with me all night until morning." There it was, her mother playing her part perfectly. Sophia felt a little bit guilty for feeding her mother a sleeping potion and deceiving her, but it just worked so well she had to thank the mask for hiding her grin.
The king looked at her mother and then at her, his mind beginning to come to a resolution. "As I said, an investigation will take place tomorrow." He declared.
"I can read his mind if you want, I'll give you all his secrets. I'm a novice at it, so it might hurt him badly... for a while." She informed, the smile behind her mask threatening to reach her eyes.
"No." The king said at once, a knee jerk reaction poorly disguised.
"No? But your Grace." She started in her mocking way. "Surely you can see the benefit of my offer, what if the man is innocent? If you let me in his mind, it might save his life." She argued, then looked at Richard, his eyes were wide and his face pale. "Don't you want your innocence proven, old man?" She asked the man.
They all were speechless, a telltale sign that she had them effectively cornered.
That's right, you can't let me see because you are all hiding something. She thought, feeling the triumph of her manipulations. Truth was, she was confident that her legilimency as it was would leave any man or woman in a vegetative state, much like Rapey. So she didn't dare use it carelessly yet.
"No." Came the almost whispered answer from Richard, he said it like he was accepting a bullet in his brain.
"No? You don't want me to prove your innocence?" She asked, maybe pushing it a little too far, but she was enjoying having complete control of the situation too much.
"I'll take any punishment I deserve." Richard said, defeated. His voice a raspy whisper.
"There it is, your grace. That's a confession in my book. I'm sorry things had to get so out of control." Sophia finally said, lifting the sword from the throat of Benjamin and placing it back in its scabbard.
As soon as she did, everyone relaxed visibly. Morgan and the King walked over to the side of Benjamin and Ezekiel tried to wake him up.
The boy looked tired, but his cheeks were flushed with young, warm blood that gave him a healthy shine that was accentuated by the evening waning light of the sun.
"He should be dead, he had one step in the grave and you brought him back." Morgan said astonished, giving her an intense look.
Sophia honestly felt the same, she nodded and looked at the boy slowly beginning to wake up. "It certainly is one of my better healing achievements."
"What you said, about your goals." Said Morgan looking at her with new eyes. "Do you really believe in keeping the peace? Avoiding conflict?" He asked her.
Sophia gave the man a once over, he was taller than her and that closely she had to look up, like it happened with many. The way his face was and with his wide, intense eyes, she had the feeling that the man was a little out of his mind.
"We believe in saving people. From others and themselves. If you believe in that, then you might have a place with us if you want, but keeping order takes cracking a few skulls from time to time." She warned him, the man watched her silently and never answered. Instead, the rough and tired voice of Benjamin interrupted her.
He had sat up on the table and had listened to their conversation. "To injure your opponent is to injure yourself." He said out of nowhere while looking at her.
Sophia gave him a look, a little surprised by his cryptic comment. "You shouldn't be afraid of getting hurt. No one achieves anything without sacrifice."
"You saved my life." He said earnestly, placing a hand on his chest. "What did you sacrifice for it?"
Sophia didn't have an answer for the boy.
"Thank you." Said the boy, and in fact, he was the only one to thank her, the rest of the people from the Kingdom were eager to leave. It was a bittersweet mood in the room.
She nodded at the boy and the men helped him towards the pickup truck, he was in pain and it troubled him for walking, but she knew that he would be fine.
By the time the truck left from their front, the evening sun was close to the horizon. It's light warmer yet the air felt colder. Her mother was glaring at her, she seemed to be fuming and wanting to say something, but Sophia chose to sit at the table without acknowledging it.
Soon enough she started. "How could you be like that? I saw your eyes, you really were going to kill him if you thought you had to." She berated her.
Sophia sighed and reluctantly answered. "Of course, it doesn't work if I don't mean it." She argued, her arms crossed over her chest and holding her eyes on her mother's.
"Did you steal from the Kingdom? Did you frame that man?" Her mother asked her and she couldn't help but feel offended that her mother would think she could. Even though she did.
"No! I'm not to blame for every fucking shit that happens in the fucking east coast." She defended herself, her mother regarded her with wide-open eyes filled with concern.
"Why can't you stay out of it? Why do you have to try and take control of everything?" Her mother continued with the chastising.
She huffed, annoyed. "It's my job, mom!" She yelled. Her mother came up to her and grabbed a chair, then placed it right next to her.
"Sophia." She started, then grabbed her hand and slowly brought it up to her mask. Sophia took a second to understand what she was doing but when she did, she let her.
The mask started to lose it's grip around her head with the palm fully coming into contact with the face. It's feathers treating and transfiguring into the very carvings of the metallic plate. Then she was bare-faced with her mother very close to her.
"No, it's not, you don't have to do all this. We can pick all our stuff and go anywhere, live free, and happy without having to put ourselves in these situations. Without having to keep taking lives and making enemies. We could be freer and happier than we've ever been." Her mother explained.
"You just don't get it, this is me, mom!. I'm the Harpy, yes, I am entirely free to do whatever I want and this is it." Sophia tried to explain to her mother.
"Honey, please, listen to your mother." Carol started, with tears in her eyes, her hands on Sophia's shoulders. "This ambition for power, this obsession for control, it will only bring you pain. You can't control life that way, you will forever be fighting against the universe."
Her mother's words made her throat feel tight and hot, why did she have to keep bringing that up?
"It's not an obsession, mom. You just don't get it, I'm different now. I am a witch." Sophia tried to explain sadly and her mother nodded.
"I know, Honey. You are growing to be powerful, intelligent, and beautiful. You are becoming an amazing woman. But the path you are taking it's filled with enemies and pain, it's lonely and it never ends." Her mother said, then continued.
"You are young yet, at least for a couple of years, please. Come with your mother and let us live in peace, away from it all, you can come back into it when you are older.
Sophia huffed annoyed, resting her face on her palms.
She just doesn't get it, it's my responsibility. For all I know there could be a handful of witches or wizards in an entire world that's being slowly consumed by the magical world, they stand no chance without me. It's what I was meant to be, the reason I've kept fighting for survival when everything in my world was death. She thought.
"When I was alone." She started, she wanted her mother to understand. "Every day and night was a fight for my life. I was alone and had almost nothing, all around me was death and the dying, mom." She explained.
Her mother grabbed her hands in hers and held them on her lap, but she kept silent.
"Mom I had nothing to live for, no reason to fight, nowhere to go. And I couldn't understand...I couldn't understand why I just kept fighting, struggling to survive. Every time I thought it was surely over, I just kept moving. I couldn't kill myself even if I wanted…." She said, her mother's eyes filled with tears, but she kept listening.
"This is why mom. I was meant to come here, I think it was my destiny and look, we are together now. Isn't that a sign of fate? I was in hell and kept walking because unknowingly there was a purpose, and this is it, I'm sure of it." She finished with her eyes closed. It was the first time she admitted that feeling, that unconscious realization about her experiences and life. That she was meant to lead everyone there.
Her mother shook her head sadly, tears falling from her eyes. "No Sophia…You are not destined for anything like that, it's all in your mind, Honey. Your fate is not decided, you are free to have any kind of life you want. This responsibility you feel doesn't exist."
Sophia stood up abruptly, offended. "That's not true! You just can't see things as I do! No one here can except Negan!" It hurt that her mother would think her confused rather than accept what she believed.
"Sophia!" Her mother called as she moved to grab her mask and placed it back on her face.
"It's just too early for you all to see. But you will see when I take over, you will all see that it wasn't for nothing." She said turning from her mother and walking towards her broom which she had left it, leaning on a wall.
"Sophia wait!" Her mother called. "Don't go."
Sophia stopped at the door and looked back at her mother, her Harpy mask safely against her face. "I fucking love you mom, but you have to start accepting me for who I am. I can't be whatever you want me to be."
Carol stood and they shared a sad silence for a few seconds. "I just want what's best for you, I want to see you happy and safe. I don't want anything to happen to you and...with everything going on here…"
Sophia sighed tiredly and walked back to her mother, then they shared a tender hug that served to calm emotions. "Have some faith in me, have some faith in the Harpy." She told her. "I'm not about to let my home descend into chaos, I'll save them. And I promise that I'll be fine, mom. Worry more about you living here alone and think about joining me at the Sanctuary." She finished and hugged her again.
They said meek goodbyes and Sophia left her mother as the sun started to set, her stomach felt uneasy and she couldn't get the feeling of constraint in her chest.
Which was pissing her off because she wasn't finished with her day, she had said to herself that she would check on Alexandria and now she was already regretting not doing it earlier.
Fucking Rick, he better be there or I'm going to be pissed off. She thought, her sad mood now turned to bitter.
She sped up on her broom as fast as she could, which was a lot, and quickly saw the Sanctuary pass by on her way to Alexandria.
Nothing like passing through home but not being able to stay. She thought. Soon the walls of Alexandria became visible on the ground, the night was just starting but the streets were empty and only the watch could be seen outside.
She recklessly dropped from her broom and apparated mid-air, re-apparating on the ground within the walls harshly and skidding with her boots leaving a mark on the asphalt, knowing from experience that she had to use her metal arm on the ground to keep her balance. She would feel it on her knees later but she couldn't be bothered to care at the moment. Such was her pissed off mood.
The two poor souls who were on guard duty, watching over the wall, nearly fell from the scare and the sudden sound of metal scraping on the ground.
"Who's there!" Shouted a man from above on the wall, it took her a little to recognize but as he lowered himself down from his perch, she saw that it was Tobin.
"Who else? Fucking Santa? It's the Harpy." She said annoyed, the other man on guard duty was someone she vaguely recognized as one of Tobin's construction crew. "Where is Rick?" She asked Tobin, giving the man her mother had dated a very critical look.
At least he doesn't give me creep vibes, good for mom. She thought bitterly.
The other guard approached her wearily, his face said he clearly could tell she was in no mood for chit chat. "They haven't arrived yet." He said reluctantly, stiffening up when she sighed strongly through her nose unconsciously.
"Who's out? Names, all." She ordered both of them, taking out her wand just to accentuate the order.
Tobin lifted his hands in a show of cooperation and Sophia couldn't help thinking how weak and useless he looked. "Rick, Michonne was one group, Aaron and Tara were another. This time they are taking is normal, most of the surrounding area is picked clean." He tried to explain, but Sophia slashed with her wand and pure intent. It was like an invisible hand smashed on his side and threw him on the ground, his mouth and nose suddenly bleeding.
"You have forty-eight hours! If they are not here by then I will take someone with me and you won't see them until I'm well and done with them." She threatened.
"What's going on!?" Someone shouted from nearby and footsteps followed Rosita, who arrived to see Tobin on the floor spitting blood. She knelt before him and tried to help him worriedly.
"You better fucking hope your leaders get their shit together soon or I'll see to it myself." She warned them.
Rosita looked around at Tobin's friend, who was paralyzed with fear, at her friend on the floor recovering from an invisible bash on his head and then finally at her, who looked at them from above like they were children. They basically were in Sophia's eyes sometimes.
"Get the fuck out of here!" Rosita raged, her anger enough to outmatch Sophia's, but she didn't care. The Latina wouldn't dare do shit about it. "You said what you wanted, now get your fucking ugly ass out or you'll see what I can do."
Hahaha. Sophia laughed mockingly.
"Apparently you can't even shoot a man point-blank without fucking up! By the way, Eugene is very well and happy, so happy, might I say that I don't think he has mentioned any of you in all this time. He has been helping me so much lately, such a valuable man, I should thank you." She continued, digging the finger deeper into the wound.
Rosita was basically seething when she heard that. She stood up menacingly, but Tobin grabbed her hand and pulled from the ground, the two friends shared a silent conversation and in the end, it seemed like the man had won. Because the woman huffed frustratingly and turned her back on them, her arms folded over her chest and spitting insults in Spanish.
"That's fucking right, Bitch. Don't forget your place." Sophia said, then turned to the man on the floor.
"One last thing, Tobin. The day after tomorrow is a full moon, you will get in my house here and recover the cauldron I left there. You better pray no one touched that shit by the way, and then take it up on the roof, make sure it's fully under the light of the moon. Don't fuck up, It should be easy enough for your bunch." Sophia finished.
Then, calling her broom with her hand, she hopped on it and left without saying anything else.
She tried to calm herself as she flew back to the Sanctuary, the cold night air giving her a cleansing sensation on her chest as she breathed in. Handling Alexandria was starting to worry her, these people were nowhere to be found, and doing who knows what, just thinking about it made her blood itch.
If only I had a way to track them all. She thought. She was sure it was possible but she had no idea how. It made her wish they would report to her directly, but it was beyond what they generally expected from the communities. Not really part of the deal.
Sophia arrived at the Sanctuary and spent a minute in her room weighing if she should practice legilimency with Rapey or just go to sleep, but she didn't feel like doing either. In the end, feeling restless, she apparated in front of Negan's door and hesitated for a second before knocking on the door.
The door opened soon after, she saw Negan holding it open, looking like he was trying to guess why she was there. He had his clothes on, but he was just wearing the white singlet shirt he used under his normal clothes.
"Were you busy?" She asked the man, the question took him out of his thoughts and he moved aside.
"Nope, I was about to hit the sack." He commented.
Sophia pushed him aside, entering the room and it was a bit of a surprise that no one of his wived were with him, but she ignored the detail and headed for the armchairs, where she plopped down tiredly. Soon after taking off her mask and hat and throwing them at the chair by her side with a huff.
Negan closed the door and sat in the armchair in front of her, the little glass table between them and Sophia saw that on it there were a couple of the lieutenant's notebooks where they kept a registry of everything.
"Everything alright?" He asked tentatively as if trying to test the waters.
"Yup." She just said, not feeling like talking about it.
Negan got this from her response, so he relaxed a little on his chair and changed the subject.
"I heard about the Kingdom thing. You think it worked?" He asked her, he was talking about the deceit.
"Yeah I'm pretty sure it worked, there's a couple of loose ends about it that I'll tie up soon enough." She said. Sophia was already feeling like she was relaxing, at last, she reclined on the armchair, placed her boots on the table, and her hands on her stomach.
"Congratulations then sweetpea, that little ruse might have saved a lot of people." Negan told her, she knew, of course. If the communities were working together behind their backs, and they already assumed they were, then taking the firepower from the biggest of them was a crippling strike.
"It might just have, all we have to do is keep our eyes open now." She said thoughtfully.
"Those numbers going up sure feel good too." Negan said, giving the notebooks a nod. He was talking about their stock of ammo.
"Yeah, did you see Eugene's bullet factory? We set it up today." Sophia said perking up a little, her mood already improving.
"Oh yeah, I shot the first few too. It's a bit of a small operation yet and we have to work on materials. But oh dear, does it changes every fucking thing." Negan said with a predatory smile. "Next is monopolizing production, meaning, ensuring no one else can produce them."
Sophia smiled at seeing the man looking satisfied with their progress, what they did today was yet another point of strength for the Saviors.
"You know…" She started, sitting up now. "Eugene and I were talking today and,"
"Oh boy." Said Negan, putting on an act of preparing himself.
"Shut it, asshole!" She told him, laughing a little at his antics. "Anyway...he was telling me about this quarry that's nearby, and he says we can make a fucking ton of concrete from there."
Negan quietly looked at her like she had lost her mind for a minute. "Concrete?... Oh, don't tell me. This is about a fucking wall again, am I right?" He asked, he wasn't bothered by the subject but it seemed to amuse him that she was always bothering him about that.
"But don't you see it? Imagine a fucking massive, fifty feet tall fucking concrete blocks wall, fucking watch towers or whatever. It would be badass and people will see it from far and go -what the fuck I wanna live in there-" She tried to explain, admittedly in a way that would appeal to Negan.
"I swear, you have such a boner for walls. Yes, it sounds good, but the amount of workforce that it would take just to make the blocks is massive. Because I'm assuming you are not making it from scratch." He argued.
"I mean, the size could be revised, yeah. Eugene said the same." She admitted sheepishly. "But it could be worth it, think about it. Eugene says we could start small, just the Sanctuary plus the open plots behind, we could expand the farming without so much worry for worker protection and there would be enough room for most people to spread out within the walls too."
"Hey, if we ever have enough workers, go for it. I know I'm just being stubborn about the fence. But the real trouble is people." Negan conceded.
"Yeah, I wish we had more people...If we had that quarry I would make a huge tower for myself here, much better than the shitty one I have at the bay." She commented, thinking about the refuge that she built there for her full moon nights
"Aren't towers like a wizard thing? I thought huts were all the rage for witches." Negan asked trying to mess with her but she ignored the joke and stood up to search for food. He often had fruits or enough to make a sandwich in his room.
"Naa, towers are the best. They have different levels, I can make them so that the only way in is flying or apparition, there are lots of benefits. " Sophia explained to the man, as she picked an apple from a bowl and played with it before taking a big bite out of it. "It could be like a beacon."
"I can't believe you built a tower at the bay. Does it look badass?" Negan asked her.
"Nah, it's all crooked and uneven, it ended up a little lanky and the roof is not level. It looks like a picture from a children's book. Plus I used rocks to make it so...yeah, it's rough to the eyes. But with concrete I can make something way better, I could make it so tall It would watch over everything and no one could touch me there." She explained happily and took another bite from the apple while she watched the man regard her from the armchair.
"What?" She asked him, a little annoyed that he was staring at her. Especially because she had her mask off.
"Nothing." Just said Negan. "Did you meet your mother today?" He asked her and like that, her good mood was almost ruined again.
She walked back to the armchair and sat again. "Yeah…" She said, sighing.
"Is that what's been bothering you?"
"She keeps asking me to drop everything and run off with her. Says that I shouldn't be doing this and I'll regret it or something." She told him.
"Well... I gotta say I agree with her a little bit. I warned you that you didn't have to be that involved. We can deal with it, even now, even if I have been asking a lot from you lately." Negan told her.
"Yeah but you get that I do it for myself right?" Sophia asked the man, she had the idea that her mother thought she was doing it for Negan or something.
"Yeah sure, you do prefer to be on top of things, generally speaking." He said, his tone made it seem like he was saying something else though.
"What? What does that mean?" She asked the man.
"Just that you like to be in control, it's not something bad, I know you are smart enough not to obsess about it." He explained and now he sounded so much like her mother that Sophia almost stood up.
She sighed hard. "That sounds a lot like my mother. She keeps going on about me being obsessed with control and I don't know, drunk in power or something?" She explained. "She just doesn't get me."
"Can you blame her? Her little daughter turned into a magic hurling woman with some pretty big ambitions. She's worried, all she wants is the best for you." He explained to her, it was true that she could have tried to get in her mother's shoes more.
"You never questioned what I wanted or what I did like she was doing. You understand me and even help me with it." Sophia complained.
"I'm not your father, sweetpea and that's not a bad thing. Growing up, it's so beneficial for a child to have adult role models other than their fathers. A coach, a teacher, and uncle, a brother or sister. You had some fucking shitty male role models before you met me, but luckily for you I dealt with many kids as a coach and handled it like a champ. I was never meant to act like your father or mother, I was meant to prepare you for the world." He explained.
Sophia thought that it might have been the first time they openly talked about their relationship, although she always knew she was very lucky that Negan found her, it made her feel better that he had considered all that when they met because she really needed the support at the time.
"Don't let it get to your head, it's big enough as it is." She joked and the man laughed at her comment. After that, they spent a while more talking about their situation and the future they wanted, how close they were to achieving it. It was a good time for Sophia and she felt that it re-centered her and her views on everything.
Her mother would be her mother no matter what Sophia did and that was just a fact of life.