Volume I: Ant. 8: Sophia's Remorse:
Sophia felt helpless. She didn't know what do. Where to go. Who to turn to. There was seemingly no way out for her.
She pushed away the only family she had left. And no one else would lift a finger to help her. Now, she had no one left to rely on, except herself.
"What am I gonna do?" She thought. "There is absolutely no way I can pay off what I owe her. It's impossible!
"Best thing I can do is run. I know for certain I could just sneak around and hide and wait it out until the heat dies down. But I can't just head back home. This is Mistral's organized crime we're talking about. If I head home before the week is up, they might fan out and track me down easily. And I may as well be inviting them to my front door and getting my siblings involved. And I will not allow them to get caught up in this! Everything I did was to help support them and if my decisions are going to be the end of anyone, I'd rather it be me. Well... I'd rather it be the end of those thugs, but let's assume they're not one of the options. I just need to evade them for the time being. They'll start looking for me after four days, and that gives me three days where I actually need to avoid them. So I can spend the first four days lying low and planning on how I'll hide. Then hopefully another idiot like me will get involved in the same mess and they'll just forget about me. And then I can head back home on my hands and knees and beg for my siblings' forgiveness. That is... if they even want to forgive me..."
Sophia shook the thought out of her head. After what she did, she didn't blame them for being angry at her. But the thought of them not forgiving her was one she did not want to entertain.
Her attention then diverted to a piece of broken glass on the wall opposite to her, her reflection looking back. Her nose was bloodied. The red liquid smeared onto her cheek and faded slightly. She had a bit of blood on her chin and lower lip and a bit that had seeped out from the cut near her eye. Unable to bear the thought of looking at herself anymore, she grabs a stone near her. She hurled it at the glass A direct shot as she shatters it to pieces.
"You really fucked up this time, Sophia... And now you're the one getting fucked. Royally fucked... by the queen herself, no less." She let out a sigh. "You gotta make this right. Next time your sister tells you something, you better listen to her. That is, if I live long enough to hear it."
As the negative thoughts entered Sophia's head once again, she banged the back of her head against the wall exasperatedly.
"Ugh! I need to stop thinking so negative. I'm not gonna live long with that attitude."
With that, Sophia pulled herself up to her feet. She then headed off into the grimy, dark alleyways where she would spend the next few days hiding and planning. She did her best to stay isolated and out of the open. She also avoided establishments, believing the Hearts would likely have some of their own planted in there. Anytime a mugger or anyone with other ill intentions would approach her, she would easily ward them off by showing them her wound. It almost functioned like a charm would against a demon or other malevolent spirit.
For the most part, Sophia's days of living in isolation and stealth were generally successful. As far as she knew, no one was aware of her or her whereabouts. But unfortunately, 'no one' included her siblings as well. And they were increasingly worried as she had been gone for a few days without a trace since she ran away. And Sophia did not take that into account.
As Sophia kept herself hidden, she gradually made her way out of the area she was in to get herself out of the reach of the Hearts. She believed that if she was far enough, it could increase her chances of survival and lessen her chances of being discovered by the gang.
However, she did have a few close calls.
On day 5, when they started looking for her, she was caught a little off-guard by how many were looking for her scanning the perimeter. She had to jump into a trash can and wait for a few people hunting her to pass by. They almost discovered her when she hopped in. The only thing that saved her was a rat that she grabbed to get it to start squeaking and trick them into moving on.
On day 6, she camped out on one of the rooftops to get a viewpoint of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, other Heart gang members had the same idea. So she made a hasty getaway by jumping off and crashed through an awning. She was mostly fine though aside from a couple scrapes and bruises. She used the cloth from the broken awning to cover herself and sleep on.
Day 7, surprisingly, had little to no searching. People were still looking for her, but it wasn't as intense as she expected it to be. She was a bit confused by it, but she took advantage and camped out in a corner in an alley for the night with a few homeless.
Those seven days were the most anxiety-inducing, fearful, stress-filled time of her entire life. Every day, Sophia feared for her life and the possibility of it ending at any moment. She was afraid of being alive one second and dead the next as a result of bullet to the chest or head. The only thing she feared more was the possibility of them kidnapping her and being sold to never see the light of day or her family again. But so long as her family weren't in danger, then she'd be able to live with the consequences of her actions. Even if the consequences meant she wouldn't be living much longer.
And once the week was over and the day of July 29th came around, Sophia felt it was safe for her to return home. She was careful to take note of her surroundings. Sophia went out of her way to go around the Heart's territory and steered as clear as possible as she made her way home.
Once she reached an area she recognized, the girl grew more relaxed. However, as she got closer to her home, Sophia's relaxation grew back into anxiety. The last time she saw her siblings, she broke her sister's nose and was yelled at by her irate younger brother. She wondered if they would even take her back and accept her. She wondered if she was still their family. Sophia wanted to take everything back and apologize to them for everything. Even if it meant literally crawling on her hands and knees. She just wanted things to go back to how they were. She missed them. But she was scared if she was too late. Too late for sorry. Too late to take it back. Deep down, she was expecting to be immediately kicked out the moment she entered the front door. She wondered if she would be able to even get a word out.
As she saw the corner her house was just around, the girl took a deep breath, her chest gently heaving. She closed her hazel eyes for a moment before turning the corner and opening. Her house was now in view. She didn't expect to see her brother or sister greeting her since she would be at work anyway and her brother would either be out or in the house at his own devices.
As Sophia approached her house, she noticed something strange on the door. It was something she had not seen before. As she got closer, she could see it was a piece of paper with a red mark on it. Some sort of notice maybe? Along with this, she noticed the door was left ajar. It was as if Lucius had forgotten to close it, which was abnormal for him.
The girl furrowed her brow. This was a strange sight for her. And this would be accompanied by a strange feeling crawling up her back. Once she got close enough to make out what was on the paper, she immediately froze in place as it felt like her heart leapt to her throat. She also saw that the paper was stabbed to the door with a familiar looking knife.
Sophia stood frozen in front of her own front door. It felt like a weight attached to her heart and was heavy enough to pin her whole body down. It was unknown how long she stood in front of that door trying to muster up the courage to enter her own home. A few minutes? A half hour? An hour? Two hours? It was as if she lost all perception of time. Eventually, Sophia swallowed her anxieties for a brief moment and took the opening to enter before she could have second thoughts.
Sophia pressed her hand against the wooden door and slowly pushed it open as the dim interior lighting was flooded by the natural outdoor light. The living room was completely ransacked. Broken glass from a picture frame. A broken table with the leg splintered. The sofa torn and turned over with stuffing poking out from one of the disemboweled cushions. A hole in the wall as if someone had punched through it. But most importantly, opposite the room, facing Sophia and laying against the wall, there was Lucius. Dead.
"L-LUCIUS!" She fumbled. She almost choked on her words as she cupped her hands over her mouth and collapsed to the corpse's side.
Sophia inspected his body. Lucius was covered in head to toe with cuts and bruises. Instinctively, Sophia tried to clean his wounds as if that would do anything.
"Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods...!" The girl helplessly repeated as she eventually gave up and started to cradle his body. She held her brother's body close to her chest as her arms wrapped around his body like vices.
"Not you! Not Lucius. I-I'm so sorry, L-Lu..." She sobbed. "I never wanted this to happen. I didn't want this. I tried to keep you safe. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so, so sorry..."
It was like walking in on their mother's corpse when she was 15, only this time she didn't have her sister to cover her eyes. In this moment, to say Sophia hated herself was an understatement.
For a number of minutes, Sophia's mind grew blank as she was still wrestling with the reality in her arms. But eventually, Sophia's mind would focus on something else. The paper that was posted to her door. More importantly, what was on the paper. In big, red letter, the paper was marked with the word 'PAYMENT', the 'A' being replaced by a heart. And the heart was in a dark red shade. It was if it had been traced onto the paper with someone's finger.
They were here. She was here.
And Sophia was too late.
. . .
Sophia was absolutely distraught over the death of her younger brother. But soon, her mind wandered to her sister. She was nowhere to be seen. Sophia would get up and frantically search around the house for her older sibling. She called her name as she checked every room. But Sophia found no sign of her anywhere.
Before Sophia could finish her search, she was soon interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching her house. They seemed to move with a purpose. The girl took a look out her window. Outside, she saw two intimidating looking individuals, both of which appeared armed. As they got a little closer, she recognized them both as two of Sonya's enforcers.
"Shhhit..." She whispered to herself. Sophia had walked into a trap.
She wondered if they had been staking out her house, waiting for her to come back. Sophia thought about running out the back, but she figured that would be a reckless move on her part. If they were staking out the house, then they likely have taken measures for if she tried to bolt. Sophia had to lose their trail by hiding in the house.
The girl sprinted up the stairs and stopped right by the attic. Her attic wasn't the type where you pulled down a foldable set of stairs and climb up. But rather, this one was simply just a hole cut into the ceiling. It was covered up by a light, thin piece of drywall almost like a trapdoor or manhole cover. It would be difficult to get up there without making anyone suspicious since she would need to use a step ladder to get high enough to move the drywall out of the way and climb in.
Hearing the steps getting closer, Sophia began to panic. She didn't know what to do. Suddenly she hatched an idea and opened the closet door right beside her.
"Okay." The girl said quietly. "This is either going to go exactly how I think it'll go,... or this is going to go really well."
She had little confidence in her plan, but it was the only one she had. Sophia would proceed to hop up onto the door, her hands grasping to the top and her feet perched onto the knob. She struggled to gain control as the door swung and swayed, but she only needed a little to pull it off. She would let go with one hand and push the opening to the attic and hoist herself up. Before she pulled her leg in she pushed the closet door closed with her foot to cover her tracks and proceeded to pull her leg in just as she heard the heavy footsteps make contact with the hardwood of her living room floor. Before they got close to her position, Sophia covered the hole with the piece of drywall and remained quiet and still as she listened to them roam.
Just the idea of having her home be invaded made her stomach churn. And the reality of it only made it worse. In addition, the fact that her brother's body was down there with them made her sick. But she needed to remain calm and still so she wouldn't be found. The steps would go back and forth, back and forth downstairs. They grew quieter and louder as they searched for the girl, occasionally tipping over a piece of furniture to locate her. Soon, the footsteps would make their way upstairs. The closer they got, the faster her heart would race.
"I know I saw her go in!" She heard one of them say with frustration. They were right below her.
"We'll find her." His partner told him. "There's no way she got out. She's still here."
She heard them begin to roam the upstairs section of her home as they tried to sniff her out. She heard them open the bathroom door and enter the room where her mother committed suicide. They made their way to the room where her mother would spend most of her time when she was sick. Then they searched around her and her siblings' room. To her, it was like she was being violated having them search her home and the rooms that had very personal meaning to her. And there was nothing she could do but wait for them to finish and leave. Eventually, after a few more minutes of their search, the two would reconvene under the attic again.
"She's not here!" One of them exclaimed.
"She's gotta be. She never left."
"We searched this entire damn place and there isn't a single sign. We checked downstairs multiple times and up here! The only place she could be is the attic, but there's no way someone can get up there on their own without using a stepladder. And even then, they wouldn't be able to bring it up with them. Let's face it. She got away."
"Thank the gods they sent the dumbasses!" The girl thought as she hid, just a mere few feet above her hunters. The only barrier between them was just a few inches of wood.
"Well, I guess Sonya's just going to have to settle with two outta three."
"Seems like it. Why do you think she kept the older girl alive anyway? Why didn't she just kill them both if she wanted to send a message?"
"Damn, Sonya wasn't kidding when she said you were new."
"Just answer the damn question, will ya!" The inexperienced enforcer responded annoyed.
"Because why waste a good moneymaker?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I mean... have you seen her? Sonya knows what she's doing."
"What're you ta-... ohhh... I gotcha now." He laughed at his density. "But what's Sonya gonna do once the girl's made all that money up?"
"Likely Sonya will just keep her around if she's satisfied with what she brings in. That is unless someone just waltzes up with a shit ton of lien on them and buys her out. Either that or kill her. Depends on what mood she's in." The other enforcer chuckled. His partner shared in the laugh.
"We should probably go now." The man continued after a moment of silence.
"Quick question," The newer one asked. "We're not gonna be in for it if we return empty-handed, right?" His voice grew fainter as their footsteps made their way down the stair.
"Let's just make sure we catch her in a good mood."
As their voices and footsteps finally disappeared from the house, Sophia eventually couldn't hear them anymore. She could feel her heartbeat ease itself just a little bit. Sophia had found her answer as to what happened to her sister. The Hearts had kidnapped her and was being forced to pay the remainder of her debt under them. The very thought of her sister having to pay for someone else's mistakes- her mistakes- ate Sophia alive. And in that moment, Sophia had a new goal.
"I need to make this right!" The girl thought to herself with determination. "I'm need to get my sister out of there, no matter what."
But there was one problem. Sophia hadn't the slightest clue as to how she would even do that. From the sound of it, if Sophia were to get her back, she would need to simply buy her sister's freedom. But to start, how would she even get that money?
Getting a job in Mistral in the slums wouldn't get her anywhere because of the circumstances and situation. On top of that, she practically managed to get herself put on a hitlist. Nowhere in Mistral would be safe for her and there was no one she could fully trust. Law enforcement don't care about the slums. And even if she were to run into a huntsman or huntress, she would have to be incredibly cautious as huntsman spotted in the slums of Mistral were generally more corrupt these days and sometimes had loose ties to Mistral's criminal underground. There are good huntsmen and huntresses in Mistral, but it's hard to sort the good from the bad until they show you their true colors. But at that point, it would already be too late. Nowhere was safe and no one was trustworthy. She would sooner trust a bandit not to rob her than anyone in Mistral, including law enforcement.
She knew what the only real choice for her would be. But she also knew what it would mean. If Sophia were to get her sister back, she would have to temporarily leave Mistral, thus leaving her sister alone in the kingdom with the Hearts.
Sophia knew that from her sister's point of view, she probably wouldn't be considered her sister anymore. Getting involved in gambling. Getting in trouble with organized crime and going into hiding. Her own family paying for it with her brother's murder and her sister's capture. And then proceeding to flee the kingdom, temporarily leaving her sister behind. She could think of every reason to not be forgiven. But she needed to do this. Everything she did was for her family. She always knew what her goal was and that never changed once. Outside of Mistral, she would be out of the reach of their organized crime. And once out, she should be able to try and make up the money to free her sister and even hire a rogue huntsman or huntress in case things went awry. She caused this mess, and now she has every intention on fixing it.
Sophia had her plan set. But she felt uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her sister behind, even if she was fully intending on returning. She wanted to leave some sort of letter in hopes that she could explain herself and give her some hope.
Sophia grabbed a pen that was lying in the living room and retrieved the piece of paper stabbed to the front door. She then proceeded to divide the paper into three pieces. She was originally going to go with the one letter to her sister, but she also wanted to write two more. One for the people looking for her and the other to Sonya herself just to stick it to them on her way out. As Sophia uncapped her pen, she laid the paper out on a table and wrote each of them down. The first letter was addressed to her pursuers:
1. "Hey, dumbasses,
"In case your stupid bitch of a boss sent you back to try and look for me again because you're so shit at your jobs that you can't even find a vulnerable teenage girl in her own home- you know, literally the first place she would go-, I thought I'd leave this here for you to pass on. Can you do that for me? That is, assuming you have enough brains to read and understand directions. I wrote two more letters with this one. What I want you to do is give one letter to your boss and the other to my sister. Can you do that? You should know which one goes to who.
-Sincerely, the one that got away~
"P.S. I'm taking your knife ;p"
2. "To Sonya,
"Go fuck yourself! Sincerely, Go fuck yourself!
-Someone who really doesn't like you (a.k.a. Someone you will be seeing again)
"P.S. Next time you want someone killed, do it when you get the chance. I know you took my sister and I'm going to get her back no matter what. By the time you get this, I'll be out of Mistral. But I will be back, and I will get her out whether you like it or not. But until then, you're just going to have to wait. So in the meantime, you can go fuck yourself!"
3. "To my sister,
I'm so sorry things turned out this way. I never meant for any of this. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to help and I got desperate. I should have listened. It's my fault this whole mess happened. I should have listened to you. But I didn't and I accidentally got involved with a Mistral gang. They forced a deal on me that I couldn't meet. I tried to isolate myself in hopes that they wouldn't get to you. I thought worst-case scenario, they would just get me and leave you two alone. Everything I did was to help out all of us and all I ever wanted was to keep you and Lu safe. But all I did was dig myself into a hole and pulled you and Lu in. This is my fault and I'm sorry. I know the rest of Mistral doesn't care for people like us, meaning it's always up to us to get ourselves out of the holes we dig ourselves into. I'm going to get you out of mine no matter what. I promise I'll get you out of there! But in order to do that, I'm going to have to leave Mistral so I can make the money outside the reach of Mistral's criminal underground. Just please promise me that you'll hold on. I don't know how long it'll take and it's going to be hard, but I'll get you out. Just please don't give up!
-Love, Sophia"
As soon as she finished her letters, Sophia took the three pieces of paper and taped them back to the door. She then pocketed the knife that was initially used to tack the knife to said door. Sophia then turned back to her deceased brother. She knew what she needed to do next. But she needed to be quick.
She went to the back room to grab a shovel and proceeded to dig a shallow grave in the yard. The same yard she and her siblings would like to play around in. The same yard she fell in dog feces in. The same yard where she declared to her brother that she'd keep him safe no matter what.
Once the sun started to set, Sophia bent down to her brother's corpse and kissed him on the forehead before taking a blanket and covering his body with it. She then placed him in before filling the grave with soil. Sophia wasn't sure how long she stood in front of the grave once she was finished. She wanted to say some words before she got ready to leave. But she struggled to find them. Eventually she would know what to say.
"I'm gonna try to keep this short. I don't know how much time I have left here..." She muttered as she tried to fight her tears again before taking a brief pause. "I know I messed up, Lu. But I'm gonna do everything I can to make things right. I'm gonna get our sister out no matter what. I just... I just wish this wasn't what it took for me to see what I was getting myself into. I could have learned the easy way. But I guess I'm just a stubborn idiot that just couldn't listen to the only people that cared about me. I just wanted to help, and all I did was hurt. I hurt our sister. And I hurt you." Sophia paused for a moment.
"I... I'm..."
She was trying to say that she was sorry. But she struggled to get the words out. She wondered to herself what the point even was. She could scream it at the top of her lungs if she wanted and he would never hear her. She would get no response. In her mind, it was too late for apologies. She could say sorry all she wanted, but the dead don't forgive (or do much of anything).
"Fuck, Lu...! You really won big with me as a sister, huh?" She sadly laughed at herself. Sophia pushed her hair back and scratched at her scalp. "You deserved better. You really did. You never did anything wrong. I was the one that made all the fuckups. I should be in that hole right now, not you! I wish I listened. I wish I was a better big sister to you. I wish I kept my promise. I promised I would keep you safe, and here I am burying you. I wish I could take it all back. I just..." She sighed as she paused again. "I just wish things were different. But... I guess different is too good for us. But I tried. I really did. tried to make that push. I wanted to make that wish into a reality. It was all for you. For all of us. I just hope that deep down, you at least knew that."
Sophia briefly paused another moment as she folded her hands in front of her, tightly gripping them.
"You were a good brother, Lucius. Even when we were at each other's throats or getting under each other's skin, we all still stuck together. Even during highs and lows, good and bad, we always had each other. And even during the lows and the bads, it was always a bit bearable with you and sis around. But now... now it's gone. Goodbye, Lu. I love you."
. . .
Sophia wiped her eyes. Having nothing else left to say, she then headed back into their home and packed her bag. She grabbed things such as food, valuables, clothes, etc. Once packed, Sophia reluctantly made her way to the outskirts of the Mistral slums, giving her home and Lucius' resting place a final look before leaving. Over the course of a few days, the girl scrounged for lien on her way out. She also made sure to cover up the scar on her arm with a sleeve she found in case anyone recognized it outside the Black Widow district. Once she got far enough to the kingdom's border, with the money she found, she was able to smuggle herself out on August 5th of that year. Once in the clear, Sophia headed toward the nearest village.
Once reaching the village, Sophia was able to work a few jobs and earn some money for herself. However, she wanted to get her sister out as soon as possible. With the amount she needed to make to hire a huntsman and free her sister, it would take almost a lifetime. So because of that, with the money she made, she would fall back into gambling. Only this time it was legal and without the worry of Mistral's criminal underground over her shoulder. The results were mixed due to her mental state, but it did give her a bit of a boost to her earnings. In addition, it also helped get her mind off things and served as a bit of a stress reliever so she wouldn't fall apart completely.
As Sophia continued this method, she would eventually find some momentum. But that momentum would be halted as the village was attacked by grimm. The girl would make a beeline out of there before it was too late for her. Once safe, she simply settled in the next village where she repeated the same process and found her momentum again. She was able to last longer at this village; however, just like the last one, this village would fall on October 6th of that year. This time it was bandits.
The village was cleaned out of both valuable items and people. The ruthless crew spared practically no one. Before Sophia was about to escape, she suddenly stopped herself. She had the idea of potentially swiping some of what the bandits stole. Whether it was money or valuables. Sophia would sneak into their travelling circle and followed them for a few hours. Her sneaking skills from living in the slums improved so much that she was completely undetected for the time being.
As she followed along, she heard the bandits conversing. Whomever was talking sounded like the leader just from the authority she carried in her voice.
"We'll rest here for a bit. Judging from where we are, we'll make it back to camp in just a couple more hours. In the meantime, I want you to take inventory of what we have. Maybe make yourselves something to eat in the meantime once you're done. We're moving again in about twenty-five minutes."
Once she gave her orders, the bandit leader made her way to the back of the group. Sophia was able to get a good look at her. She wore a white mask with red markings and had long black hair. The leader also wore a red and black dress and a pair of black heels and thigh-high leggings. She also appeared to be carrying a sword that sat in what looked to a be a very bulky scabbard. It was Raven Branwen. Though Sophia wouldn't know that yet.
She appeared to be communicating with the guards in the back of the travelling circle before casually speaking up.
"Does anyone mind grabbing the unwanted guest over there? She's been following us for quite a while."
The guards hesitated for a moment. They were surprised at first by her. They weren't even aware anyone got through.
Sophia, in the meantime, was sweating bullets. As the woman pointed out Sophia's position, she knew she was a sitting duck. Sophia didn't move from her spot, frozen and afraid to reveal herself even though she had already been found out. Once the guards reached her, they were able to easily spot her.
"Heeey...~" Sophia nervously laughed as she wore the most anxiety-filled smile. "Do, uh... Do you mind giving me directions to the nearest village...~?" She nervously gulped.
The guards simply looked at each other. They were bewildered as to how she was able to sneak into their perimeter and last this long without being found. Their bewilderment was quickly put aside for the most part as they then seized her.
"Get up!" One guard ordered as he grabbed her by the arm, the other guard following suit.
Sophia had sweat so much that she could have slipped from their grips had she tried. Her revealed presence in the area turned every bandits head to her. And she soon had barrels pointed at her from every direction. They would toss her at the feet of their leader and left the girl's fate up to her. Sophia didn't know what was about to happen to her and was almost fully resigned to death right then and there.
"The rest of you can leave us." Raven ordered. "I can handle it from here."
Almost immediately, every barrel pointed at Sophia was lowered. The bandits would continue ahead for a small distance, leaving just Raven and Sophia, as they rested.
"You're from that village we attacked, aren't you?" The woman asked the girl as she stood over her.
Sophia was too nervous to speak and opted for a simple nod.
"Speak when you answer someone, girl!" She told her firmly.
The most Sophia could muster was a shaky, "Y-yeah..."
"You know," The bandit leader spoke up again. "I'm honestly impressed you were able to follow us this far without getting detected by them. But I found you out the second you started following us."
"Wait, you knew I was following you the whole time?! Why didn't you call me out from the start, then?" Sophia asked with a puzzled look.
"I was curious." Raven bluntly answered her. This caused Sophia to raise a questioning eyebrow. "I was surprised that you were somehow able to evade my people when they were sweeping the village. So, when I noticed you following us on our way out, I was curious to see how far you'd get and see how long it would take for them to find you. Eventually it was just starting to get embarrassing, so I gave up and had to point you out to them. And I'm confident when I say that if I hadn't done so, you probably would have gotten away with it."
"So, what are you gonna do to me now?" Sophia asked.
"I'm going to let you go."
"...Wait, what?" Sophia was completely shocked. But when she thought about it, she probably wasn't worth the kill and didn't have too much of value on her anyway.
Raven ignored Sophia's reaction and turned around to catch up to her tribe. But as she did, Sophia began to think to herself once the shock of being spared subsided.
"First village I arrived at was sacked by grimm after trying to establish myself and get money. So when I got to the next village, I lasted a bit longer, but then it just got sacked again, this time by bandits. If I just go to another village, it's only a matter of time before the next one just gets sacked like the rest. It's clear to me at this point that the villages can't really take care of themselves when threats arise. I need an insurance policy. Something or someone that can ensure my safety or at least I know will increase my chances of giving me a place to stay that doesn't fall apart when the slightest breeze hits it. I don't wanna admit it, but I might actually need this lady. I don't like how they do things, but if I can stay with them, I might have a more secure place and footing for me to do my thing and get what I need. Maybe I can convince this lady to let me join her."
"Hey, lady!" The girl called out. "Wait!"
Raven continued to ignore the girl as she continued walking.
"I said wait!" Sophia picked up a nearby rock and proceeded to hurl it at the woman. She aimed at her center back to get her attention.
Raven stopped in her tracks and caught the small stone, not bothering to face the direction it was coming from.
"I want to join your tribe." She demanded.
Raven's body language looked almost bewildered. She turned to face Sophia and cocked her head to the side for a moment.
"You want to join my tribe?" She began to chuckle as if she couldn't believe what she heard.
"Sounds like a good idea, right?"
"No." Raven answered with no hesitation.
"Wait, 'no', as in 'No, I can't join your tribe'? Or 'No, that sdoesn't sound like a good idea'?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes." Sophia said definitively. "If it's the other thing, I might still be able to convince you."
Raven sighed.
"Why on Remnant would I let you join?"
"Well you kinda sacked the place I was crashing, so you kinda...-"
"Then go find another place." Raven shut her down.
"Well, I think I might already have." She grinned.
There was a bit of an awkward silene between the two. Raven was dumbfounded at the boldness of this girl.
"So, what do you sa-?"
"No." Raven bluntly cut her off and turned to walk again.
But Sophia was not one to take 'no' for an answer and continued to push.
"Hey!"
Raven kept walking.
"I said I want-!"
Sophia suddenly got cut off as Raven turned back around and chucked the stone back at Sophia. It connected with a tree just inches from her head. It was like a bullet in her hand as it embedded itself into the bark. This prompted a startled squeak from her. To Sophia, this was the equivalent of getting a rejection letter and being told to 'Fuck off!'. But the girl remained undeterred. She knew what she was pushing for at the end of the day and was not going to give up. Sophia took a deep breath and resolutely stormed up to the bandit as she was turning to walk away again.
The moment Sophia was close enough, she reached out her hand to grab Raven's shoulder and turn her around to face her again. But as she did so, Raven whipped herself around. She quickly drew her sword and held the tip of the blade against the girl's chest.
"...Who do you think you are?" Raven raised her voice. She carried a firm authority in her voice.
"I'm Sophia. And you are?"
"Someone about to fulfill your death wish if you keep pushing me."
"Look, maybe I wasn't clear enough." Sophia tried to adopt a stern demeanor in the face of Raven. She tried to gently lower Raven's sword by pushing the blade aside, but Raven's blade did not budge in her hand. Not one to easily be intimidated, she remained unshaken by Raven's threat. "I want. To join. Your tribe."
"And you think trying to annoy me is going to get you what you want?"
"Well, I'm not trying to annoy you, but-" I muttered.
"Well, you are!" Raven interrupted.
"Look, just please let me join your tribe? I promise I'll carry my weight. Plus you kinda owe me after what you did earlier with that village. I had a good thing going there." Sophia muttered the last part under her breath, but Raven decided to ignore it.
"Kid, I can tell just by looking at you that you're not cut out for the life you're trying to enter." She coldly stated. "When I said it was a bad idea to bring you along, I didn't mean for me."
"I can adapt!" She pressed.
Raven chuckled in response.
"You're not very bright, are you?"
"Hey!"
"I'll ask you again. Why on Remnant would someone like you want to join my tribe?"
"I..." Sophia was apprehensive on telling Raven her true reason. "Look, I screwed up with something and I need a place to stay. I screwed up and I need help."
"You're damn right you need help." Raven jabbed with a scoff. "If you want help, you could have gotten that from anyone. A huntsman or huntress. Law enforcement. A charity. A kind civilian. Yet, I'm the one you ask. And you think you'll get that from me?" Raven asked her.
Sophia had no answer.
"You must be very desperate or out of your mind if we are what you're resorting to. Someone from the main kingdom such as yourself, which I can tell just from looking at you, would never last in any of our shoes- regardless of whether you're from the cushier areas or the slums. People like you aren't built to last in these conditions. And besides, I already just took in a kid from the kingdom a few months back and I can barely tolerate her. And frankly, I don't feel like signing up for another migraine. So give me one good reason why I should let you in. Just one."
Sophia's mind raced for a reason. She knew the woman was already annoyed by her. Sophia tried to quickly come up with a reason. It was only a couple seconds before her mind settled on one.
"I-I'm good at sneaking and stealing and stuff! You said it yourself. You were impressed. Didn't you say that? And you also said that if you weren't there to reveal my position, you're confident that I would've gotten away with it. I've already impressed you. And the fact that came from you has to count for something, right?"
Sophia wasn't sure what the response would be. So she patiently, waited for Raven's response.
"Okay, that's actually a pretty good reason." She admitted.
"Weeell?" Sophia anticipated her answer.
"I'll tell you what. I'll make you a deal. And this will determine if I think you're good enough to join my tribe and what position I might give you. I want you to scout for me. You'll essentially be staking out a caravan and pointing out weak spots and vantage points and other things of the sort that might be useful for us to know. If you can do that, then consider yourself part of the tribe. Do you think you can do that?"
"'I… uh..." Sophia immediately felt uncomfortable with what Raven was asking of her.
"That's not a problem for you, is it?"
"Nope! No, no problems for me! I can do that!" She said it with a fake enthusiastic voice.
It was very much a problem for her. She was essentially being asked to set up innocent people to be subjected to bandit raids where they would most likely be killed. But she didn't know what else to do. She could either take her chances in another village until that one would fall like the others. Or she can join Raven's tribe where she'll be able to be a bit more stable, but likely have to do highly questionable deeds. But Sophia said she would get her sister out no matter what. And she meant it. She was going to have to bite the bullet and put her morals aside for the time being. In order to save her sister, Sophia was going to take a detour.
"Well in that case... I can't believe I'm about to do this..." She muttered that last part to herself. "You can come with." Raven then extended her hand. Sophia looked at it for a second. She knew what taking her hand meant. But she put her thoughts aside and took Raven's hand in hers.
With that, Raven, with some reluctance, would agree to bring Sophia along with her where she would live with her tribe up to the present day.
. . .
Present Day:
"And that's how I ended up here." Sophia says as the story returns to the present day. "Eventually I would tell her the whole reason as to how and why I ended up out here. But now that I'm part of the tribe, that means now I have protection to be able to do my thing without worrying about grimm attacks. Well for the most part..." She gestures to her injuries.
"Bandit attacks are no longer a worry either for obvious reasons. But there was still one big problem. Now that I'm part of the tribe, getting money was going to be more difficult since it would be kinda hard to get a day job under the risk someone would eventually find me out and trace me back to Raven. So my gambling was kinda the only method I had left. I just felt... stuck you know? No matter how much progress I made, it would get reset by a debt I had to pay and it was back to square one. Like rolling a boulder up a hill only for it to break before you reach the top and it rolls back down just for you to start all over again."
As Sophia continued, a noticeable amount of emotion began to enter her voice.
"So I just kept gambling and gambling and gambling whether it was with you or someone else. And I would keep making crazy bets with you or someone else and that only landed me into more debts because I'm getting more and more desperate and frustrated. And I don't know what to do anymore! And I'm scared I'm never going to see my sister again because of something that I did! I'm a mess, Vernal. I'm a hot fucking mess. I never really considered myself a good person. But I always tried to do good things. I always tried to do what I felt was the right thing the only way I knew how. But I always ended up making things worse. Marcus, 'Lu', my sister, it was all my fault. And even though I don't know what went on with Simin when I asked him to help me out, I can't help but feel I got him hurt too. I just keep getting people I care about hurt...!"
As Sophia breaks down, Vernal decides to put an arm around her friend. She was a stranger to this kind of position. Comforting another human being. Vernal didn't know what to do or say and opts to stay silent as her friend continues to speak her mind.
"And look at where I am now!" Sophia continues. "I'm living in the woods with... bandits! No offense."
"I'll let it slide..."
"I don't even like being a bandit! I don't like doing things that get innocent people hurt! My old life sucked, but I lived in the kingdom in an actual home. I had a family. An actual family. A mother, a father, a little brother, an older sister, a best friend. I don't have any of that anymore except this... stupid deck of cards! This is all I have now."
There was a second of silence before Sophia spoke up again.
"Vernal, be honest with me. Is it too late?" Sophia asks as if she is asking for assurance.
"Too late?" Vernal asks, not exactly following.
"You know. Too late to fix things? Too late to save my sister? Too late for change?"
Vernal isn't exactly sure how to answer. She never considered herself the best in these kinds of situations. As far as she was concerned, Mari was the one who handled these situations. But Mari is not available. So Vernal tries to answer the best she can.
"Personally, I don't think so. No. But you shouldn't care about what I think. What matters is what you think. I don't think it's too late for you. But what's more important is if you think that. You should know yourself better than anyone. But just know that the fact you're opening up about this is the first real step to it. And I think that answers the question on its own. Now you just need to work on the rest and commit to it."
"I see." Sophia says quietly. "Thank you." She sniffles and wipes her eyes as it seems her spirits lifted a bit hearing that.
"Sorry if I'm not as good at this kind of stuff as Mari. Emotional support and pep talks are more her thing."
"No, no. It's good. You were alright. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I have someone to listen and hear me out as I got this off my chest. And like I said, I thought your answer was decent."
"Really?" Vernal says a little surprised.
"Yeah."
"Well then, if you need help or someone to listen, I guess you know who to ask next time."
"Yeah. Mari is better at this stuff anyway."
"What? No!" Vernal sounds offended.
"But you just said emotional support is more her thing."
"I wasn't talking about her."
"Raven?" Sophia guesses.
"I wasn't talking about her either." Vernal grumbles a bit slowly.
"Simin?"
"Okay, now you're just doing this on purpose."
"Doing what~?" A mischievous grin creeped across Sophia's face.
Vernal throws a roll of spare bandages. It bounces off Sophia's forehead before softly hitting the ground.
"Hey! You're lucky I'm injured." Sophia teased her friend.
"Oh, bite me." Vernal jabs back. She maintained a bit of a lighthearted demeanor.
The two girls share a laugh as the tone becomes a bit more lighthearted. Even though Vernal doesn't think it, she does have a knack for cheering up Sophia. After a second or two of laughter, the tent gradually fades to a lingering silence.
"So anyway," Vernal speaks up again. "... like I said, if you need to talk or if you need help with your situation, just know that I'm willing to help."
"Thank you, Vernal." Sophia struggles to hug her friend.
"Yeah, yeah…," Vernal relents as she allows Sophia to hug her. "Speaking of which, for starters, if we want to help you with your situation, you need to stop gambling with your money because it's clearly not getting you anywhere."
"Yeah, I've gathered that by now... But how else am I-?"
"We'll think of something." Vernal cuts her off to assure her. "You don't have to worry about that. First thing's first, we need to make sure you don't go back to gambling. You get impatient too quickly and get desperate for quick results and it's only going to make it take longer."
"A-alright… In that case, I think that gives me an idea." Sophia says with not much confidence. She fishes around behind her and then turns back to Vernal. She stretches her arm with a bag of lien in her hand.
"What are you doing?" Vernal asks.
"I'm putting you in possession of my money. I want you to keep it and guard it. I feel that if I don't have my money on me, I won't be able to gamble with it. So I'm trusting it with you."
Vernal is taken aback by the faith Sophia was putting in her.
"You're really trusting me with this?"
"Am I wrong to trust you?" Sophia asks.
"N-no!" She wants to challenge Sophia's gesture. But knowing better, she decides not to and goes along with it as she accepts the bag as she puts it away. Moved by Sophia's faith in her, Vernal decides to return the favor.
"Hey, Phi, you remember that really big debt that you owed me that you paid off a couple months ago?"
"Yeah?" Sophia leans forward.
"I'm deciding to let go of that and add that money to the amount of lien you just gave me."
"Really?!" Sophia's face lights up with excitement before she goes to an unsure demeanor. "Wait, Vernal you don't have to do that."
"I know. But I feel like it." Verbal tries to brush aside her good deed. "Just consider it thanks for the faith you're putting in me."
"Thank you so much, Vernal. You can be pretty nice, you know that?" Sophia teased her again.
"This stays between you and me, got it? If Mari finds out, I won't hear the end of it." She turns her head in contempt as she imagines herself being patronized by the girl.
"Alright, you got yourself a deal." Sophia accepts.
"Anyway," Vernal moves on. "I think I got an idea that might help you make money alternatively."
"Really? That was fast. Lay it on me." Sophia says eagerly, ready to listen.
"There's a couple villages not too far from here that we've been watching called Shionne and a growing one called Higanbana. They're both about a few days away each from where we are. Every other week, how about you head over there as a 'merchant' of sorts? You can sell a surplus portion of what we get in our raids to make your money."
Vernal's suggestion surprises Sophia. But she immediately feels skeptical about it.
"I don't know..." Sophia looks away.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Vernal is surprised at Sophia's skepticism.
"I mean, I'd basically be selling things that we've taken from places we've attacked. Isn't that a bit-"
"Phi, I'm sorry to say it, but when the stakes are high, you can never get too low. I know you don't like doing this stuff, but in life, you're going to have to do things you don't want to do. You know what you're working toward. And I'm sure you know the levels you might have to stoop to to reach it."
"...Fine..." Sophia relents. "But Vernal, you do know that what you're suggesting is something Raven would likely never allow, right?" She wears an unconfident face.
"Yeah, but you're forgetting I'm basically her right-hand person. I'm sure I can convince her. I'll try to get her to make Shionne temporarily off limits for raids for the duration that you're a part of the tribe or at least something along those lines. I don't have to convince her about Higanbana since we don't go after growing villages. Not much use going after someplace that's not established yet. Anyway, during that time, you can take a surplus of what we get from our other raids and sell it in Shionne and Higanbana over time to help make up the remainder. And besides, she already knows about your situation as well. So I'm sure she'll be alright with it. So like I said, I can convince her to mark the village as off limits temporarily until you're done doing your thing. Deal?"
"Do you think that'll work? What if she doesn't really care and just shrugs you off?"
"Phi, just trust me." Vernal tries to assure her. "Raven is one of those people that cares, but she'll never say it to your face. You're a part of her tribe, which means you're family in her eyes. I can get her to work something out." Vernal puts her hand on Sophia's shoulder. "I'll work something out. That's a promise."
"Alright. I'll trust you." Sophia feels a bit at ease.
"And now," Vernal claps her hands together. "...we need to focus on you getting protection. When it comes to that, let's face it. You're not gonna be able to get a huntsman to help you out. And even if you did run into a huntsman, they'd likely be your enemy more than anything if they figure out who you're associated with, so let's try to avoid that problem altogether."
"Yeah. I, uh… I kinda figured that by now. So I take it that crosses off Raven by default?"
"Pretty much." Vernal says bluntly. "She's basically the most wanted person in Mistral that isn't in the main kingdom. And besides, she has enough on her plate already, so I highly doubt she would even if she wanted to."
"Damn…! Well what about you?"
"I'd need to get Raven's permission. And considering where I stand right now with her, I highly doubt she'd let me go anywhere far from the camp anytime soon- especially after that fiasco a few days ago... It's gonna be a while before I earn that right. So consider me off the table until further notice."
"Hm…" Sophia then thinks to herself for a bit as if she were brainstorming for an idea, her face strained with thought. After some time she thinks of something she normally wouldn't even consider as she grows sure of herself.
"I think I might have an idea..." She speaks up.
"What is it?"
"It might be a bit of an outlandish one considering my... track record, but… what if… you know… maybe you could…maybe possibly-"
"Just say it." Vernal cuts her off.
"Hold on! I was getting to that. Gods, you're impatient sometimes. Anyway, I was thinking... Maybe you could… toughen me up?" She said in a way as if she was aware of what she was proposing She was bracing herself for a rejection.
"Toughen you up? What? Like train you to protect yourself?" Vernal gives a slight chuckle mostly out of surprise.
"Hey, don't laugh! I really mean it… This isn't a joke."
"Don't worry, Phi. I'm sorry. Look, I'm sorry." Vernal tries to assure her friend. "I'm not laughing because I'm amused. I'm just surprised is all. I never would have expected you to ask me that."
"Well, I'm serious..."
"You really want to do this, don't you?" Vernal asks.
"She's the only family I have left, Vernal." She answers firmly. "I promise I won't complain. And I'll work hard. I want to at least be able to hold my own and defend myself when I get her out."
Vernal turns her head a bit to think about Sophia's proposal.
"Am I really going to do this?" She thought. Vernal knew that Sophia was aware of her lack of skill, strength, and experience in combat. And despite Vernal's own strength, skill, and experience, she had never trained someone before. She isn't very confident in herself as a teacher. This would be a difficult experience for the both of them.
She could ask Raven to help train her, But Sophia would likely be intimidated by how demanding of a teacher Raven is. On top of that, Raven already has to deal with Vernal, Mari, and Simin, making the chances of her bringing in Sophia to be slim. Vernal is the only one available. If she doesn't help Sophia, then who will?
"Alright, Sophia." Vernal sighs. "I'll train you."
"Oh my gods! Thank you, Vernal!" Sophia yells as she leans over to hug her again. But Vernal shuts her down this time.
"You already got your free hug in. Just keep your promise and don't complain."
"I solemnly swear~" Sophia says with a giddy look as she puts her hand on her heart.
"Just know this. And I want you to listen close." Vernal's voice grows stern.
"Okay. I'm all ears." Sophia quickly shifts her demeanor like flipping a switch.
"Don't expect things to be easy, otherwise you're in for a very rude awakening. I am going to make you struggle and I mean that in the nicest way possible. You wanna get stronger to be able to hold your own? You gotta struggle first." Vernal tells her as bluntly as possible. "And don't expect to become some fighting beast within no time. Because one: it's a lot harder than we make it look. And two: it takes years to get to that level."
"What about you and Simin though? You're all younger than me and you're all badasses. And then there's Mari. You said that she's the strongest one here and she's like what? 16 or turning 16?"
"She's turning 16." Vernal answers. "And I've been training with Raven since I was 12 years old and I'm almost 17, which shows how long I've been in it with her. And as for Simin, the only reason that kid's improved so much so fast is because he's clearly had some training prior to being trained by Raven and is a quick learner. And as for Mari, she's a completely different case altogether."
"Oh…" Sophia says a little disappointed. But she was not discouraged.
"You still wanna do this though, right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sophia confirms, determined.
"Good. Just making sure."
"So when do we start?" Sophia asks eagerly.
"Assuming Raven okays my idea, I think the best time to start would be when you're healed up and whenever you're available after your little selling excursions. Then once you've made enough money, we can go full-time."
"Alright. I guess that sounds fair. I just don't want it to take long though."
"It's going to take long regardless." Vernal responds, leaning back on her palms. "At this point, it's about making sure it doesn't take too long. It's a game of patience. You can't force things at this point."
"Well… alright… I really appreciate you doing all this for me, you know."
"It's nothing." Vernal dismisses.
"It really isn't." She gives her friend a thankful smile. Vernal felt awkward as she is not used to getting recognized for trying to help someone. Especially since she is not exactly the "good deeds" type.
"Hey, uh, Sophia. Something just came to mind." Vernal changes the subject, "Can you answer a question for me?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Sophia leans back.
"How is it that you impressed Raven when first meeting her and you weren't even part of her tribe, but I've been working my ass of for years and haven't gotten any acknowledgement yet? Even Simin gets more acknowledgement!"
"I'm sure you'll wow her sooner or later." Sophia smiles puts a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder. "But speaking of Simin, since you brought him up, there's something I need to ask you."
"What is it?" Vernal says. She already sounds reluctant to whatever Sophia is about to ask of her.
"Can you do me a favor and not hold what happened a few days ago against him? Just put it behind you is all I'm asking."
Vernal sighs.
"You're asking a lot from me here, Phi…" Vernal says unsurely.
"Look, I know you don't like the kid and I can't change that. I'm just asking that you put it behind you and not be petty toward the kid or hold onto some grudge against him for it or whatever. I'm just saying. If I- you know, the one who almost died and got put in the shape I'm in- can put it behind me, then you can too. Besides, we all share the blame for what happened anyway."
"Sophia…" Vernal sighs.
"Come ooon. Pleeeaase?" She begs.
Vernal hesitates with her answer as she lets out a sigh and acquiesces to Sophia's request.
"Fiiine…" She groaned. "I won't hold a grudge about it…"
"Aaand?" Sophia prods.
"And I'll put it behind me…"
"Good…" She responds, satisfied.
"Anyway, I think I've had enough talking for one night." Vernal stands up and arches her back. "I'm going to bed."
"Alrighty. I'll stop holding you hostage." Sophia joked. "Good night, Vernal."
"Good night, Phi." Vernal replied. "And remember the painkillers are right next to you. Don't use them unless the pain starts to become unbearable." Vernal advises.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll do that."
"Sleep well, Phi." Vernal wishes her friend as she ducks out of her tent.
"You do the same."
And with that, the injured girl lays back, but she doesn't fall asleep just yet. Instead, she spends most of her time pondering what will be the next few weeks, months, or perhaps even years of her life as she prepares to get back on her feet and resume the personal journey to right the biggest wrong of her life.
**Chapter End**
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Hey, everyone!
Sorry this chapter took a while to come out. I was out of the country for a couple weeks and my power went out due to a storm when I got back, which delayed it another week. But all is good now. I would have gotten it done and posted it from my phone while I was gone, but the mobile version is... well... yeah... limited to say the least. Anyway, I'm going to be out of the country again in a couple weeks. But the next chapter shouldn't be too long to release since that one is already revised due to me accidentally revising it before Sophia's backstory.
The next chapter I will work on is going to set up the final act of this volume. These next two chapters are going to pivot the focus from Sophia back to Raven, Simin, and Mari. And the next chapter specifically will be primarily a Mari and Raven focused chapter.
But anyway, let's talk about this chapter!
So with this chapter, we finally conclude Sophia's backstory. Looking back, I am so glad that I cut this backstory into multiple chapters. Because if this ended up being posted as one big mega chapter,... Holy shit! Can you imagine how insanely long of a read that would be? Anyway, with the end to this backstory, I hope I fleshed out Sophia's character enough. Even though she's a side character, I want to flesh the side characters out as well and make them feel important or have people care about them and I hope I at least did a decent job with that.
Regarding her character, Sophia is a very flawed person. She's the kind of person who genuinely wants to do the right thing and tries to, but ends up making things worse or just doing the wrong thing, usually on accident. She's impulsive, impatient, stubborn, reckless, and not the brightest person in the room. But with her flaws, she's also very loyal, courageous, genuine, and caring (albeit a bit too caring) and I would say she can be pretty brave. No matter what she does, she always tries to put in an honest effort because everything she did was for her family and she wanted the best for them. It's just how she was going about it wasn't the best and it blew up in her face in the worst way possible.
Eventually Sophia does get the wakeup call she needs. And it's actually Simin that gives it to her when he yelled at her at the end of chapter 15. When Simin joined the tribe and first met Sophia, Sophia instinctively saw Simin as a little brother figure and associated him with Lucius. That's why Sophia called him Lu and was overbearing toward him a bit. It was a coping mechanism for when she lost Lucius, who she blames herself for indirectly causing his death. And when Simin finally tells her off in chapter 15, it was like a moment of clarity to her because she was going down the same path again. And as far as she was aware, she almost made the same mistake again with Simin. Now obviously we know Simin was hurt for different reasons, but Sophia doesn't know that. That's why she then tried to keep her distance from him because she didn't want to do anything that got him hurt again. And that's why they decided to start over in Anthology chapter 2.
At the end of the day, all Sophia ever wanted was the best for those she cared about. And now, she's finally taking steps to figuring out how to break her cycle and reach her goal. So, with this chapter, we also set up Sophia's arc as a character. In addition, we also set up a future main arc in a much later volume. I won't say too much about the arc, but Lycan and Ragora will be heavily involved in it.
One last thing about Sophia. Remember when I said in "Anthology chapter 4: the Marksman" that my oc's have their own themes/songs that I associate to them? Well, Sophia actually has multiple themes and that's mainly because I could not pick which one I thought as the best for her, so I chose all of them. The themes/songs I associate with Sophia are 1. Shots by Imagine Dragons, 2. Wrecked by Imagine Dragons, 3. Human by Rag 'n' Bone Man, and 4. Crimin4 by Two Steps From Hell.
Another thing I want to bring up is how Sonya and her gang were able to track down Sophia's family. Remember what I stated at the end of Sonya's semblance breakdown in the previous chapter? That was a hint as to how she found them. At the start of this chapter, it implies that Sophia's siblings went looking for her and entered Sonya's range when they did so. And Sonya, due to having established her "bond" with Sophia, put Sophia aside for the moment and tracked down her family.
Which reminds me. Speaking of Sonya, I never told you what Sonya Coral's them is. Her theme is You Should See Me in a Crown by Billie Eillish.
Anyway, with all that said, while I proofread the next chapter, here is fun fact #25:
Fun fact #25: Sophia is based off of two things. The first is the Greek mythology character, Sisyphus. This is what her name is loosely inspired from. The gambling where she would constantly make progress and lose it and have to start over again is basically the "boulder" for her. The other thing Sophia is based off of is the Biblical parable, the Prodigal Son. So she is a combination of both Sisyphus and the Prodigal Son.
Unofficial Bonus Fact:Originally, in the anthology chapter, "Belly of the Beast", I was going to kill off Sophia. At the last minute, I decided not to for two reason. The first reason is that I still wanted more from her character and wanted to keep pushing with her. The other reason is that if she did die, I think it would have really done a number on the character dynamics and damage it, especially Simin and Vernal. I'll elaborate in chapter 16, what I mean exactly.