Chapter 26
It was late at night and they were about to arrive at Alexandria, and just as Rick hoped, they would be under the cover of the night. It had been a few days since they had left and as planned, there was no communication at all with the community, all to protect the real reason for their absence and they agreed that it would be best if they arrived whenever the Saviors were less likely to be present.
Someone opened the gate as soon as they approached it, it was Rosita, judging by the silhouette that he could see under the light of the moon. He drove in the RV lent to them by Oceanside and Rosita closed the gate, then stood there looking at them with worry in her face, her arms close to her chest in a defensive position.
"What? Something happened?" Asked Michonne when she saw the woman's expression.
"You guys should see this." Rosita said, her voice sounded tired and conflicted, then walked off, with them following behind.
She took them to the prison cell that Morgan had built for Alexandria, and what Rick found in there left him reeling. Inside the iron-barred cell, the scar-faced man he knew as Dwight was standing in wait, looking like a lion in a cage.
It didn't surprise Rick when Tara lost it, her eyes filled with tears and rage, she took out her knife and fumbled with the cell door. Fully intent to kill the man and Rick had no reason to stop her, except for Rosita's word.
"He says he can help us!" Rosita said loudly, holding Tara back with her arms.
That got Rick's attention. He observed the man closely and saw a hint of desperation in his eyes, maybe there was a chance. "Is that true?" He asked the man holding his eyes.
"I wanna help." Dwight said with a nod, the man was not someone who would show any sign of remorse or even try to fake interest in their well being. Yet Rick thought he was being honest when he said that, which meant that he probably had his own reasons.
He took out his revolver recovered by Daryl, a risk to have on him but also a reminder and a silent declaration of defiance that helped him sleep better at night, and aimed it point-blank at the man's head. "Kneel." He ordered Dwight.
The burned man showed no sign of complaint or objection to the revolver in his face, more like he accepted it. "No." He answered with his eyes closed, surely expecting the bullet, but he didn't know he had said exactly what Rick was hoping to hear.
"Why?" He continued. The question relating just as much to his unwillingness to kneel than to his willingness to betray his people.
Dwight was nevertheless starting to battle with his emotions, judging by his agitated breath. "I want them dead, I want Negan dead." He declared but Rick had to wonder who he meant when he said them.
At that moment Tara broke free from Rosita and charged the man with her knife in hand, pushing him against the wall and holding it to his neck, it was worth noticing the man never struggled with her. Allowing it to happen.
"That woman you killed, her name was Denise. She was a good woman, a doctor, she didn't deserve to be killed. If I ever cared for Denise, I should slit your throat right here." She said seething.
Her words did get to Dwight, finally cracking through the rough exterior and revealing the tired, failed, and defeated man behind. "Do it then, I deserve it, I've done worse." He said catching the woman by surprise. "I did it because he owned me because there was someone important for me too that, in turn, he took from me." He explained, trying to give reason to his actions. Then Dwight turned to Rick, who was observing the situation from behind Tara, he trusted the woman.
"That person is gone now, there is nothing there for me, so now I'm here." He finished, a broken man, victim of Negan's manipulations. He knew Tara understood this too, and his assumption was confirmed when the woman roughly let the man free with a frustrated curse, then retreated to the back.
"It's up to you Rick." Tara said.
"It could be a trap." He said thinking out loud. "It could be some trick from the Harpy."
"I risked coming today because I know the Harpy is wounded in the infirmary."
Dwight explained, his first piece of information that left everyone shocked and alerted.
"She's out of the game?" Rick asked instantly, it all depended on the severity of her wounds.
"You'd wish you were that lucky. The Harpy I know will be up and about by tomorrow...I heard it over the radio earlier on, some crazy idiot blew himself up trying to kill her. The bitch took a bomb to the face and then flew back home to report, that's your biggest obstacle down the road Rick, a monster child that can shrug off bombs and I came here to give you the one and only way you will have the opportunity to get rid of the Saviors without her on your back." Dwight explained, his desperation was returning and it was visible, Rick thought the man was obsessed with taking Negan down. But he had just spilled even more news, he looked around the room to register the faces of his companions, they were shocked too by the recent events.
Who tried to kill the Harpy? We had an agreement to lay low for the time. He thought.
All of them were shocked except for Rosita, who held herself in a vulnerable self embrace and tried and failed to contain the tears.
"That would be Jesus, I think. I didn't know he would go so far as to kill himself." She said sadly. Rick turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"How do you know? What happened Rosita?" He asked her and she broke up even more.
"They have Sasha…" She finally confessed. "Jesus gave us a map and helped us plan an assassination on Negan, but they caught us. Sasha told me today that Jesus was planning on going for the Harpy too."
Shit. Rick thought. All this waiting to strike is going to get us all killed by the time we get our chance if we continue like this.
The situation was heavy on his shoulders, those three had chosen to risk everything just to take a shot at them, and it was all because the leaders chose to take the patient route.
"I didn't see her, but I know they caught her alive." Dwight informed her.
"Then we can use him to bargain for Sasha!" Tara called from the back, Rick saw that Rosita's hope grew, but they were being naive. He suspected it was already late for Sasha.
"Negan will come here with her tomorrow. They have been pretty much sure for a while, that all of you were up to something, Negan is really pissed about the attempt on the Harpy and he blames you for the weapons and the bombs that made the attempts possible." The scarred man explained, his tone devout of hope and filled with defeat.
"I'm sorry but it doesn't matter if you take me to them, he will get his way and besides, they played their hand before you even knew. We all know there is nothing you or the other leaders can do now." He was giving him a look that told Rick there was an implication there, he thought he understood him at first but then it hit him.
They were already preparing. He thought, amazed.
"The Kingdom." Rick said in shock.
"You don't mean that they…" Michonne asked, catching up to his reasoning.
"What?" Rosita said worriedly.
"You heard about it, right? How The Kingdom was disarmed recently? The fact that you already heard about it tells me they were correct, now all the communities have been disarmed, no one can stop what's coming tomorrow." Dwight said bitterly.
What had happened with the Kingdom had set them back a few months of preparation, but what was worse, if anything happened now then their biggest ally was already toothless.
"They think it was sabotage." He said in disbelief.
Dwight laughed bitterly and spat on the floor. "You really thought it wasn't the Harpy? she framed specifically the right hand of the King too, beyond all doubt. There are witnesses that saw him and everything."
Then Dwight continued, his tone somber. "Tomorrow Negan will come to make a point about what happened today and none of you can do anything about it, I wish you could, but it's too late already. But most importantly, you have to bear with it if you don't want to ruin the best chance you will have to defeat them."
Tired and angry about the awful situation that they were in, Rick came up to the man and pushed him against the wall with his hand. "Then start talking! And you better give us something useful because until now you've been doing a shitty job at convincing me not to kill you." He threatened, smashing him hard against the wall.
"The Harpy! you can't defeat her but you can maneuver around her." He revealed and Rick stopped, now that sounded like a chance.
"She has a curse on her, you might have seen the tattoo on her arm, every month on the full moon it becomes alive and calls towards her position hordes of undead. It turns them into real fucking monsters, they go crazy and become extremely dangerous, so much that she has to go far away from here while it's on" He explained quickly, with his eyes closed.
"What...what does that mean?" Tara asked confused, Michonne ran to the door and looked outside at the moon and Rosita cursed in Spanish.
"It's tomorrow, can we get ready for tomorrow?" Rosita asked Rick and he saw there that she already knew the answer.
Rick looked at her with pain in his eyes and shook his head slowly.
"It means, Tara, that we have less than thirty days to prepare for the next full moon and we have a window of opportunity of at least a night. We could attack them while she is gone and attempt to take them before she comes back." Rick explained. It was true that it only was the closest they could get to defeating them, it didn't even solve the issue of the Harpy entirely, once she came back she would rage and they would pay anyway. But it would really put them a step closer, in his heart, Rick still held hope that she could be reasoned with if they cornered her.
"That's right, I give you the go as soon as she leaves and you start. I will call a meeting that day and move all the leaders to the Sanctuary, I can also sabotage the communication system. You will have to take down all the outposts and defeat Negan before they can take the reins of the situation. We can work on the details by then." Dwight continued, now more confident that they were getting on board.
"The full moon lasts about a night, but depending on how are things she sometimes leaves for longer or she leaves earlier, it's like she goes on fuckin vacation. That is why tomorrow you will have to swallow your pride and take the dick so well that they'll believe you are entirely on board, then keep it up until the next full moon, if you do that she will lower her guard and give you all more time." Dwight explained to everyone.
"But what about Sasha? Can't we do something about her?" Tara asked sadly from the back.
The silence was deafening, all of them knew what they needed to do, so they lowered their guard, they needed to comply and Negan would surely kill Sasha.
"He might have her killed here in front of you, she might not even be the only one that's killed tomorrow. Sasha killed some Saviors before she was captured." Dwight explained somberly.
"What is the point if, in the end, the Harpy will come to us for revenge?" Michonne asked. "Whatever we do might mean everyone dies, not just the Saviors. Once she finds out what happened."
Rick sighed. "I don't know what she could do but I know this is the first time I can think of that we could actually achieve something. Maybe we could talk to Carol, she could try to control her...Besides, there is still the detail of the people from the Sanctuary, Daryl said there are a lot of workers and that many in there look up to her much like they do Negan." He asked the man, he was sure Dwight had been trying to avoid that detail.
Dwight's face soured and he almost reluctantly answered. "What of them? You should see the way they look up to her, in a few years it wouldn't surprise me if they worship her. We can try to turn them to our side, but if not… they might be better off dead." He spat out with barely contained hate. "Or we can also try to use them against the Harpy, keep her under control if her people have no defense other than just herself."
"What exactly is your beef with her? she's on your side, after all, is she not?" Michonne asked the man, Rick knew that she was having a similar train of thought.
The question really bristled the man, here was the real spine on his side. "The fuck? Are you really that stupid? She will rule all of this! It's almost definitely granted and every year she grows in power it will cement that fact…" He snarled.
"And you don't know her, you don't know the way she looks at me…" He continued seething. "Like I'm some kind of shit beneath her feet, some deplorable thing that needs to be culled. I know if it wasn't for Negan she would have killed me...or worse."
"What do you mean worse?" Rick asked, picking up the important bits.
"Before I became a lieutenant it was just a rumor that started sometime soon after we arrived here. Some said that she took people to her place, somewhere no one but her can reach and that they never come back." He said looking at all of them.
Rosita perked up at this. "We saw her place, she has a little box house on top of the factory, is that it?" She asked the man.
"Yeah, the only way in is from the air or teleporting in. That's where your friend Glenn is, by the way. Anyway, remember that asshole she tortured here at that time? I got confirmation from the doc, he was alive and she took him there. No one's ever seen him again, not that anyone cares. Fucking fanatics." Told them, Dwight.
"What if you tell the people, can we try to get them against her somehow?" Asked Michonne.
"You think they'll care? She's a champion for them, and she fucking loves it. You should see her prancing her flat ass through the compound, healing them, helping them, acting like her shit smells like roses." He growled.
By now Rick realized where his motivations came, the man was in a tirade of hate towards the Harpy and he wasn't about to stop him, he was very forthcoming in that state.
"There is no one in the Sanctuary that is further removed from the system than her, but she acts as she believes in it more than the people suffering it does and they fucking lap it up like good dogs!. One time she took a punishment for defending someone who was accused of treason, can you believe some people cried for her? Like she was some kind of saint, like she was one of them." The man continued, completely lost in his hate. Rick shot a look at Michonne, she shared the sentiment, the way she looked at Dwight like some kind of deranged man.
"Oh but I've read books about her kind, their history. Those freaks are not like us, you would do well to remember Rick, your boy will die and she will have at least a century left to live. Some of them live twice that! Some of them cheat death entirely in all kinds of fucked up ways. Remember this Rick, as long as she lives, there will come a time when your children or their children will kneel before her and worship her. Because that is what everyone will do. I can die happy if Negan is dead, but as long as she lives, you will never be free." Finished the man, the last part of his speech bringing him to his reality, that of a man on his last strides.
"I'm sorry for Carol, but I think we should kill her too. If we ever get the chance." Rosita said, Tara and Michonne nodding with her. But Rick was not entirely convinced, he still wanted to think there was more to the kid, he had seen it in Carl.
He had seen the way his son had changed his attitude towards her, Rick hoped that maybe Carl had seen something in Sophia worth rescuing.
"You might be right...But you are also too filled with hate to see straight when it comes to her. We can kill the fighters and make a deal with her. If she cares about her people she will take it."
Dwight smiled like he was looking at a child when he said that. "Well good luck with that, I don't care as long as you promise me Negan's head."
Sophia woke up in the infirmary, she recognized the smell of it before opening her eyes. Panicking for a second when she realized her face was bare and that she had been laying semi-naked, and completely vulnerable in a public place. But it passed soon after opening her eyes and noticing the level of privacy that they had given her.
She had been laid on one of the better beds from the infirmary on a corner and surrounded her with curtains. When she gingerly moved her head to search for her stuff, she found someone had placed a glass of water and her wand on the little bedside table.
Sophia noticed her left arm was completely covered in bandages and when she tried to move it the pain was almost unbearable. But she tried to reach for her wand anyway, it was the first thing that crossed her mind as soon as she saw it, and the movement made the pain in her flare back.
"Ooow." She said, cursing her clumsiness. But she had managed to pick up the small wand.
"Miss Harpy, are you awake?" Came the voice of Doctor Carson from somewhere nearby.
"Hey, doc." She said, her voice low and raspy. Suddenly she realized her throat felt dry. She felt in general like shit, her whole body hurt like she had run a marathon, it made her feel lethargic.
"May I approach?" Asked the doc.
"Yes, doc." She said after making sure she was properly covered. The doc crossed the curtains as soon as she gave permission. He had a tray with some things, a file that she recognized as the notes he sometimes kept about her and her mask which he held up to her, his eyes looking down to the floor in a respectful manner.
Sophia silently thanked the doctor for his consideration and for knowing her that well, her cheeks flushed a bit at the attention.
She carefully reached the mask and after giving it and herself a good cleanup with her wand, she placed the mask back on her face, immediately feeling safer.
"How are we feeling Miss Harpy?" Asked the doctor as he sat down on a small chair next to the bed.
"Like I fell from my broom and hit the cement." She said.
"Understandable. I'm told you suffered… an explosion?" He asked, keeping his focus on the clipboard where he held her file. "Would you like to hear it then?" He asked, clearly talking about her injuries.
"Knock yourself out, Doc." She said relaxing on the bed. The sun was strong even through the white curtains and going by the sound she heard from outside, it was surely sometime late in the morning at least.
"You have a sternal fracture, that's the breastbone, but simple enough that it will heal if you take care and rest." The doctor started, Sophia went pale at the first point, the doctor sounded like it was nothing but it didn't really sound like nothing to her.
"Two fractured ribs, also very small. I've administered anti-inflammatory for now and pain relievers. If you can't heal them with your magic, I advise repose for both." He continued.
"Your left arm suffered first and second-degree burns, for now, I gave them the minimal treatment since I know you have something for that."
"Your back has severe abrasions and hematoma. You must have suffered some heavy blows, the injury made pressure on your nerves and made it difficult for you to walk, but that should pass with the swelling" He explained. "Finally, you had a panic attack." He finished, matter of factly, leaving Sophia perplexed at the last point.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"I said you had a panic attack. Was it your first one then?" Asked the doctor. He got up and placed the stethoscope on his ears, then gently showed her the diaphragm as if asking permission.
She nodded, honestly lost for words. Sophia hadn't thought about what happened before she passed out, but it did make sense, even though she never had one that she remembered.
The doctor took the diaphragm and placed it mechanically against her side and asked her to breathe, which she did and he listened carefully. Then he took it to her chest and listened to her heart for a bit while watching his wristwatch. Finally, he sat down again and wrote more on his clipboard.
"I told the others it was the chest wound, but Negan didn't buy it." Said Dr. Carson without taking his eyes from the file.
Sigh…
"No, he wouldn't." She said, disappointed with herself for her weakness.
"Just so you know, while you were having the attack your magic went a bit crazy, it gave the others a scare. You should read up on that. If it's something that can affect your power it would be wise to study preventive measures." The doctor finished.
Sophia agreed, she had no idea it had happened, her memories of the last moments were blurry. "Thanks, doc." She said tiredly. "Where are my clothes?"
"There was little left, your jeans and shirt are gone. I'll bring what was left." He said and stood up, leaving the tray with gauze and other things on the bedside table.
Sophia took the opportunity to heal her ribs and chest, the feeling that her sternum gave her as it repaired itself was terribly itchy, while she barely even felt the ribs fix themselves. Save for the sudden ease while breathing.
When the doctor came back, he had brought her dragon hide corset, hat, boots, and straps, along with the sword and some cheap drawstring pants.
As soon as she had her hat, she reached inside and grabbed from the storage some Murtlap essence and burn-healing paste. "Will you help me with this Doc?" She said trying not to be too bothered by the intimacy with the doctor, after all, it was his job and she really wanted to be on her feet again.
"Sure, it's for your back right?" He asked, already donning some blue sterile gloves on and preparing the gauze.
"Yes, it's just applied on the abrasions." She explained and handed the essence to the man, who carefully and patiently soaked the gauze in it and then helped her sit up slowly, revealing her very sore bareback.
"Would you like to talk about the panic attack?" He asked her as he patted the wet gauze along her back, the fresh spots began to feel better and less tense as soon as the liquid was applied, and she sighed in relief.
"Not really." She said honestly, which made the doctor tsk, seemingly frustrated by it.
"Well, since you are not interested in understanding what's going on in your mind, allow me to give you advice regarding your bones." He said annoyed. "Next time you suffer injuries like this, try to prioritize healing, your sternal fracture was mild enough but your negligence could have made it worse than I believe you can heal. Your back as well, take care of it, it's not fun to go through life with a weak back due to injury. You will suffer your back with age soon enough, enjoy it while you are young." He said as he healed her back.
By the time he was done, her back was already feeling much better, the pain that came with each movement gone but she still felt it weak. The doctor reassured her it would feel normal soon. Finally, after healing her arm with the burn-healing paste, she was much closer to normal.
"I would like you to rest some more, even if you feel like you can stand up. You need the rest, and I would like to keep an eye on you." He informed her, she didn't really feel like arguing anyway so she just nodded.
Sophia did feel tired, her muscles were still sore, and deep inside, she was not feeling very motivated to do anything anyway.
"Negan arrived a little before you woke up, I just informed him that you are awake, so you can wait for him here." He said, and walked out of the curtains.
Sophia sighed again, tiredly. It was like she was sad about what happened with her mother the day before, but there was a numbness as well, it prevented her from getting too down. Yet, it left her feeling rather apathetic and...off.
It was as she contemplated her mood after putting the clothes on, that Negan walked in through the curtain, a big smile on his face, and not even bothering to ask if she was decent.
"How's the patient?" He asked. He was chipper than she expected, that cocky grin, the neatly combed back hair and his black leather jacket. The fact that he was wearing his red scarf reminded her that the doctor had mentioned him just arriving.
Negan set Lucille against the foot of the bed and, turning the small chair around, he sat leaning into the backrest.
"Almost new." She tried to say in a similar upbeat as the man was and showed him the newly healed arm. The arm's skin had returned to normal, but with the pink sheen of new skin and its tenderness to the touch.
"You look ridiculous, by the way. Like a lonely single Xena." He commented, grabbing the glass of water and taking a big gulp from it.
"Thanks." She answered in her most sarcastic tone. "Are we going to deal with Sasha today?" She asked, trying to get back on track.
"Uuuh, yeah about that. We already took care of it, Sweetpea." Negan said like he was enjoying her having to catch up.
"What? What did you do?" She asked, surprised.
"Simon and I each went to Hilltop and Alexandria, respectively, and dealt with the appropriate punishment for what happened yesterday." He answered, this time taking things a little more seriously.
"No! How could you go without me? I had to be there, at least for Hilltop." She said frustrated.
How could they leave me out of it!? Sophia thought a little wounded for getting left behind.
"They fucking sent someone to kill me!, I had to be there so they saw me uninjured!. Now they'll think I'm vulnerable and that I need you two to deal with my shit. How could you leave me out like that?" She complained, her shock pushing her to sit up straight.
It was depressing in an uncertain way, to have such a scene inside a public infirmary. With its sterile floors, walls, the impersonal touch of the sheets.
"I'm really sorry if you feel left out. But, frankly, I would do it again…" Said Negan, not a drop of the playful attitude left. "You know I always advocated for you to do whatever you want, and I still do, that's why I came to ask you to please consider taking a step back for a time."
Sophia's jaw dropped at the request, her first reaction was feeling hurt when she heard the man asking her to step down, which settled quickly into guilt, as she blamed her weakness for it.
This is about the panic attack. She thought.
"No. Sorry but it's not something I'm prepared to do, you know I don't trust Simon about the punishments." She said pleading.
Negan sighed and nodded in understanding. "That's why I was perfectly clear to Simon about how he had to deal with them. Each of us had Rick and Maggie choose someone to kill. In fact, Rick killed Sasha himself, I think he is beginning to fold for real now." He explained.
Sophia huffed frustrated and plopped down on the bed again. "That's not how I would have dealt with it... Besides, Alexandria is mine to handle, I had to be the one. You just undermined me." She couldn't help the wounded tone, the sadness of the situation only adding to her previous mood, Sophia felt like balling up in her bed and just staying there for a while.
"Sophia...From the start, I was supposed to secure the area for you, not the other way. I shouldn't have given you Alexandria." He said, the statement hitting Sophia hard on her ego, she hadn't felt like such a child in forever.
"Not because I don't believe you could handle it, you can, it's just that I would like you to relax a little and let us handle it. We can do it too, you have helped us tremendously lately, now focus on something else. Things are settling down now, go spend some days with your mom, or focus on your studies and training." He urged her, reaching with his big hand and placing it on her arm.
"I don't think mom wants to see me." Sophia confessed, the knot in her throat swelling with each word.
"What happened?"
"I wrecked her house fighting Paul, she blamed me for what happened too, brought up what I did to Gregory... and she said…" Sophia swallowed hard. "That I was being like my dad, that I raped Paul's mind, and pushed him to the edge just like my old master did to me."
She did end up balling up in bed after that confession, just saying it aloud brought tears to her eyes, tears she didn't want the man to see.
"Oh Sweetpea, those are some harsh fucking words from mom...Kinda true though." He said, and continued. "But you are smart enough to know that there's never a single truth to anything. Those fucks didn't have an ounce of the purpose you have, your conviction, your direction...Baby, you are nothing like them, don't let them question your freedom with their ideas of morality, her own moral standpoint is entirely of her own making. It has little to do with you."
Negan always had a way with words and they certainly reached her, she always thought that the two of them were very similar.
Sophia remained silent, thinking about Negan's point of view, she thought he had a measure of truth to it. It was unfair of her mother to compare her to those two, and the more she thought about the more it angered her for equating her with two of the lowest of characters she had ever met, for comparing her with the abusive perverted worm she had chosen to marry in the first place. To think that there was a chance of that slob having a magical ancestor.
"I'm not booting you, Sophia, you know damn well that in the end, you will do whatever you want to do and that I support that. I'm just saying, you had a panic attack, Sweetpea, maybe you could benefit from taking it a little easy. Focus on other stuff until you feel better...What do you say?" He finished.
With a resigned sigh, Sophia sat up again and gazed at Negan. "I guess...I can try, but-" She started, but Negan interrupted her.
"Great! Just so you know, I'll be handling Alexandria, you are welcome to help but you can leave it to me." He said and stood up. When he picked up Lucille, Sophia noticed that it was still covered in blood and even some hairs.
"Fuck, Negan. Clean up Lucille at least before bringing her into the infirmary." She complained, solely because she felt annoyed by the man at the moment.
Negan though, happily ignored her accusation and was already on his way out. "When are you leaving for the bay?"
"Soon…" She said sourly.
The man watched her from his position and then came up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Chin up, doll. Once you get back let's do something alright? And before I forget…" He said, reaching to his back pocket. "Here's your new radio."
Sophia reluctantly took the radio from the man's hand, feeling like she wanted to kick something and make a tantrum.
"I fucking hate bombs." She declared, bringing out a hearty laugh from the man.
Not long after her talk with Negan, and after some last few minutes of the doctor listening to her heart and her lungs, Sophia found herself in her own little home on top of the sanctuary.
The silence and solitude of her tiny home leaving her a little lost, she sat down on her couch and glanced around her room.
She had to get a new change of clothes, but she sat there quietly anyway. The only sounds around her were the slow-paced clacking sound of the charmed skull she held to from her experiments with undead and the occasional shuffle of the living man she kept there, connected to the monstrous artifact she had put together, Rapey.
Turning her head to it, Sophia watched it. The wooden contraption with leather straps and plastic tubes, the jars of potions, and auto cleaning wastes. Like a nightmare throne on top of which sat the ever far eyed, drooling king of nothing who did nothing and thought of nothing, ever. Breaching his mind was like plunging in a bottomless pool of endless black, there was nothing to do, only the faintest memories to be interpreted when gazing at the pitch black.
Sophia had contemplated killing it before, but there was nothing there, no one to feel sorry about. She had created a soulless husk that felt lesser than a plant, part of her wanted to kill it because she knew it was wrong, but the other side of her had trouble deciding if she thought it was wrong because she cared or because it was what others would expect of her. Then there was the prospect of what she could do with it once she started fabricating memories, the kind of curiosity that she generally found so tempting.
She stood up and walked up to it, his eyes trying to follow her but clearly out of focus, always a little off to the side and up.
"Avada Kedavra." She whispered when she realized her wand was on her hand. Sophia half expected the curse not to work, either because of her apathy or because of his lack of self, but the green flash almost enveloped the body for a fraction of a second and the thing went limp.
She let the body sit there for the time, not worried about it being able to get up from the contraption when he turned and instead went over to her bed and calmly undressed, mask and all. Then started checking her closet for new attire.
She decided she wanted to wear robes for a change. So after searching through her robe collection, she chose to wear a body-hugging black robe with long sleeves, which slightly widened at the wrists and was opened in the front, right at the hipline, leaving her front legs uncovered and showing black leggings with a grey scaly pattern and ankle-height boots with block heels and pointy toes. The slim fit robe had a high neckline and reached past her knees at the back. Sophia decided she liked the way the fabric hugged her body and arms, which still had signs of recently healed injuries.
Since she dressed without her armor, she picked up and examined the dragon hide, she noticed the bullets had left no dent in it. The article that had recently saved her life was a Hebridean black dragonhide corset used by female Aurors for protection, it was flexible and hardly bulky despite the rough scales of the breed.
You saved my life, old friend. She thought but meanwhile, she wore it on top of her robe for anyone to see and once she donned her mask and hat, she apparated downstairs with her broom in hand. There were a few things she wanted to do before heading to the bay.