When my vision clears from leaping, I see the pyramid-shaped building that I'll be spending the next few hours in. I sigh. It's going to be a llllloooooonnnnngggggg day.

I walk towards the school, and I can hear people whispering to their friends; most likely about me. Even though I have the ability to read minds, I now think that it's a burden, because you have the ability to read minds, but there are hundreds of laws that go with it, and if you break one then you'll be in consideration for Exile.

I shake off that people are whispering about me, and enter the building. I don't go straight to my locker like I normally would, but I trail away from the stampeding kids, trying to get to their lockers while talking with their friends; and start heading towards the Healing Center.

I knock on the door, and I can hear Elwin call, "Come in!" I carefully open the door, because he sometimes has things piling up behind the door, and some of them become a huge mess to clean up.

"Oh Fitz, it's you. How are you today?" He asks, a concerned expression on his face. "There's nothing wrong with me. I just sort of wanted to ask how Sophie's doing?" My voice fails me at the end, cracking and trailing off.

"Fitz. I'm so so so sorry to tell you this, but she's worse than your dad was. The sedatives work for a fraction of a second that they worked for your dad. Even with the restraints we put on her, she still finds a way to claw at her brain, as if she was trying to get rid of the pain. But the worst thing that I've seen from her, is that when she opens her eyes, because the sedatives wore off, she had no emotion in her eyes. As if… As if she gave up.

And when your father woke up when his mind was broken, he still had some emotion. Whether it was pain, or when his eyes landed on Della or you or Biana, he looked at you with love and adoration."

My face turned slack. When I entered the Healing Center, I was hoping for some good news, even the slightest thing, like the sedatives are working better, but instead I found out the worst possible news.

Sophie was giving up. She didn't care what happened to her anymore. She just wanted the pain to stop, even if it would kill her.

That's the difference between her and my dad. My dad had something to fight for. He had a family. He had a wife and children. But Sophie has practically nobody.

Sure, she had Grady and Edaline, but she, like everyone else, knows that they don't love her as much as they would love Jolie if she was still alive. Hell, they even tried to get rid of her. Sure, it was because they weren't really ready, but they were willing to give her up.

And where would she go? The council would most likely decline our request again, and I don't think that there would be anyone else that would take her in. She would be practically the first homeless elf.

Sophie basically only has a few friends, Dex, Keefe, Biana, and I, but she probably thought that once she was gone, we would forget about her in an instant. I know her. She's self-conscious, and has no good views about herself.

I was brought out of my thoughts but a light was shone in my face. I immediately cringed away, blocking my eyes from the blinding light. "What the heck, Elwin!" I yelled.

"What? You were spaced out for a good 20 minutes. I had to find some way to get you to move. Also, it's the middle of the first period, so you can stay here until it's over. I can write you a doctor's note, and you can give it to Sir Conley. I'm sure he won't mind. Now, what were you so deep in thought about?"

I looked him dead in the eyes, trying to get him to get the message on what I was obviously thinking about. He seemed to get the message, even though I wasn't transmitting to him telepathically. He pulled me into a hug.

"She's going to be okay, Fitz. If you can't heal her, I'm sure that we can get Sir Tiergan to try, or you and your friends could try contacting the Black Swan. If your dad was healed, I'm sure that we can get her mind healed too," he patted my back.

I immediately blew up at him. "BUT SHE WAS THE ONE THAT HEALED HIM! SHE WAS THE ONE THAT MADE SURE HE WAS OK BEFORE SHE GOT LOST. AND SHE HAD TO PAY THE PRICE FOR MY DAD'S ACTIONS! SHE'S LYING ON A STUPID BED NOT GETTING BETTER, BUT IS GETTING WORSE AND AND WORSE! AT THIS RATE THERE WILL BE NOTHING OF HER MIND LEFT TO SALVAGE! AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT THAT SHE'S SITTING ON THE BED, BECAUSE I WOULDN'T HELP HER! I WASN'T THERE TO MAKE SURE SHE WAS OK! I WASN'T THERE TO SEE HER BEFORE SHE ENTERED HIS MIND! I WASN'T THERE TO TELL HER GOOD LUCK, OR ANYTHING! THE LAST THING I DID TO HER WAS THAT I WAS RUDE TO HER! I WAS RUDE TO HER, AND I MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO APOLOGIZE! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

I fell to my knees, making myself into a ball, sobbing into my knees. I don't like seeming vulnerable in front of other people, but at this point, I don't really care.

Elwin squatted down next to me, and wrapped his arms around me.

"Fitz. You have to promise me that you won't ever say that Sophie's situation was your fault. I don't want you to ever say or even think that! That's called guilt, and that's one of the components as to why your father's mind broke. It was guilt."

I looked up from my knees, and nodded.

"This won't make you very happy, but did you know that Sophie's mind almost broke before she healed your dad? She was passed out on her usual bed, because I forced a sedative down her throat. She was saying and thinking guilty thoughts, saying that Alden's mind breaking was her fault. She was yelling and screaming that it was her fault, almost exactly like you were just doing. I had to put her to sleep because it seemed like she was going to hurt herself. She was screaming and crying," he said solemnly.

"Now you can't say that it was your fault, or think that it was your fault, because you'll end up like your father or Sophie. And what good would that do? We would lose another talented Telepath that could potentially heal Sophie. But if your mind breaks, then you'll just add up to my pile of broken minds," he laughed dryly.

He was about to say something else, but then the bells cut him off. I get up from the floor, and dust myself off. "I should go. I need to clean up, and get my books for my next class." Elwin nodded, getting up as well.

Right before I was about to leave he started speaking.

"Now Fitz, you need to tell me, or someone you trust immediately if you're having guilty thoughts, and we'll get you help. Do you promise that you'll do that?"

I nod, placing a hand over my heart. "I promise." Elwin smiled at me, and said, "Good, now get out of here and get to class. Have a nice day." I nodded at him, and started walking out of the Healing Center, to my locker.

I was about to reach my locker, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and I see Keefe. He looked slightly panicked, but hid it well with his smile. "Hey Fitz. Do you know where Foster is? She told me that she would talk to me after the healing, but she wasn't at her locker. I was waiting there for ten straight minutes, until a teacher yelled at me to get out of there," he laughed. "So seriously. Where's Foster?"

"Well… uhhh… Keefe you see…" I was cut off by a tardy bell. "Sorry Keefe, I gotta run. I'm late for class."

I practically ran out of there. Looks like I'm going to have to spend my next bell trying to think about how to tell Keefe about the "Sophie Situation."

Why is this so complicated?

AN: Hey everyone! Sorry for the random updating schedule. When it's winter break for my school, I'll try to update a few times. (Key word: TRY) But, I basically had an emotional break down, because I heard that my best friend got into a car accident, and is in surgery as I'm posting this. I'm panicking like crap, so I tried to write, because writing is my calming zone. So, I poured all my emotions into Fitz's breakdown. I wanted to add some "no no words" but then I remembered that elves don't curse. Well... I hope you like this story, and if you can, pray for my friend. According to my mom, she looks very beat up. Well... her name is Camilla, if you wanted to know. Well I love you guys 3