"Sit down, child." The driver repeated, his eyes shifting from their brown to a deep purple, the skin around turning cracked and charred. "We're taking you home."
Sofia sunk down in her seat, the not-knitting-older woman sitting behind her. "So, is this like a one-way trip to the dark dimension, or can we stop for ice-cream or something?" Sofia said, glancing between them.
She couldn't take them on. Not like this. Fighting was near-out of the question. Flight was a viable option, if she made it that far. She glanced out the window. "Like a last supper before doom?" she continued.
There were so many people. She didn't want anyone to get hurt on her expense. She also didn't want to die and get swallowed up either. She linked her lips, hoping it would work.
The bus stopped again, people crossed the street. Children skipping by, holding tightly onto their mothers hands, woman with headphones plugged in and bright coats, some men in suits and some in sweatpants went across.
She almost had it, one eye was trained on the not-knitting-old-woman behind her, the other on the street outside. Some of the cars next to the bus, turned on the other side and out of site. Almost. Others moved forwards, the bus lurched forward.
Now.
The bus imploded, the top half cut in half, throwing them all off their feet. She slammed onto the pavement, hands stinging, ears ringing. She did her best to contain what she did, but she could still see the stampede of feet and the screams all around her. She was really going to regret this later…
Sofia crawled forwards, pulling herself to feet, hissing as a sting shot up her chest. It was a miracle she hadn't broken all her bones at this point. She dug into her pocket for the sling ring, her heart hammering, when she felt the torn fabric of her jeans. Where the hell was it?
A sharp whistle rang out, cutting though the chaos around her. Sofia whipping around, staring at the bus driver and the rest of the Zealot passengers standing behind him. He waved, a glinting gold object.
"Damn it." Sofia mumbled, watching him crush it in his hands, reducing the ring to dust. 'I'm screwed.'
The room was not what he expected. Maybe he watched too many movies, but he expected a teen's room to have more…life.
There was no posters, no pictures of friends, or brightly coloured walls. No notes or reminders, no calendars or artwork, no plastered achievements or goals on the walls. Besides the purple flowered bedspread, and a pale pink lamp on her side desk, there was nothing of personality. Nothing of Sofia.
"Anything?" Zelma asked, poking her head into the bedroom. Stephen blinked. "No," he said, looking around Sofia's room, setting down one of her books back in its place on her side desk. "No one's been here before us. She definitely didn't decide to come back."
"What's wrong?" Zelma said gently, stepping inside, gazing around the room.
"We walked here." Stephen said quietly. "It look us less than 15 minutes to walk here. She was less than 15 minutes away from the academy for god knows how long. She probably walked past. I might have seen her on the street. My daughter was 15 minutes away from me and I never knew." he mused, shaking his head. Stephen took a breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect this to…"
"It's a lot for anybody to take in." Zelma said after a few seconds of silence. "Especially if it's all at once, and it's okay to feel the way you do. But I'm sure, that everything that happened however, messy and complicated. Was out of love."
He nodded. "I know. Clea did what was logical, but, she still should have told me. She should have told me, about this." Stephen said giving the room another look, spotting a small blue bag tucked away in a corner.
Picking it up, he unzipped it, revealing a few books, some clothes, money, a few maps and an ID book. "Sofia Sanders." he read, handing Zelma the bag.
"I'll see if Stark or someone can find her online. She's bound to have some sort of Internet presence." he said, tucking it into his pocket.
"This is a go bag, if she was attacked near here, she would have taken it." Zelma said, biting her lower lip. "This doesn't make any sense, Wanda and I found her running from this direction into the woods, so why not take it?"
"Sofia and Vesper weren't attacked here." Stephen said, looked over at the bookshelf. Every book looked well-read and worn, and if pattern maintained from the last one he saw, her own notes and annotations in the magical books. "Advanced reading material." he said lightly.
"She was home-schooled. I saw all the books downstairs," Zelma said, zipping up the bag. "I don't get it, Vesper home-schooled her, there's no pictures of friends or pets. She was completely isolated. If Vesper was so cautious, wouldn't she have had a plan? Or-?"
"She did." Stephen said, taking another look around the room. "I'll get some of the Mindless Ones to pack this place up, if we can find this place then anyone can. We need to get all traces of her out. We should keep looking, did you check on Wanda and Jericho?" he said turning on his heel, walking out of the room.
"Yeah," Zelma said, setting the bag down next to Sofia's bed. "They were hoping she went back to where we found her, maybe they could get her magic aura around there, but it's gone-"
"Good spell." Stephen said.
"So their looking at all the past places Vesper took her. I found scrapbook of it in Vesper's room under a creaky floorboard, some pictures, I guessed she was keeping it for Clea." Zelma continued, looking pointedly at Strange; who nodded. "Which cities are they looking in?" he asked.
"Their checking San Francisco and Los Angeles. Wong's checking from Dibrugarh to Bangkok, he wanted to ask if you wanted Agatha or Illyana to help."
Stephen paused, shaking his head. "Not yet, we need to try and be subtle about this, if Sofia's spell is cracking, it's too dangerous to bring all the attention to her. What's the other cities?"
"Chicago, Dhaka, Cairo and New York, but that's just the start."
"Okay, you take Chicago I'll try Dhaka, an-" Stephen froze, ice dripping into his veins, there was a warm feeling in his chest, a pull that was not his own.
"She's in danger." he said instantly, dragging Zelma though a portal, before she could even open her mouth.
~
"Seriously?!" Sofia squealed, sliding down, ducking behind an up-turned car. Another flying past her, slamming hard, glass littering the road. People had scattered everywhere, screams and yells all around, police sirens in the distance.
She was trying to focus on the Zealots', but the noises around her were clouding her brain.
"I can't get one second." Sofia hissed, pushing her hand forwards, throwing the car at them. The two men-looking Zealot's slide out of the way, Sofia pulling her hands apart, breaking the car in pieces, sending them flying in their direction, trapping them into the walls.
"To even get a donut," she grumbled, creating a shields, the mother-son Zealot's throwing strong blasts of energy at her. Sofia using her shield to absorb the blasts, sending it in their direction.
"Or a cup of hot chocolate." she continued, the old-knitting-lady throwing blasts of fire at her, sending a car from behind her. Sofia scattered the blasts, throwing herself on the ground, taking hold of the car, slamming into the old-knitting woman.
"I mean, come on." Sofia said, meeting the eyes of bus-driver Zealot who remained still, watching the fight. "What do you want from me?"
The bus-driver Zealot squinted its eyes. "To see if its true." he said slowly, glancing it the side. "Get her."
The mother and son, edging towards her, the two men tearing the binds off the wall, and the old-knitting lady lifting the car off her.
The mother and son, took each other's hands, their bodies, turning into a sludge of red, white and an off-white colour, merging together in some freaky, mother-son, half and half attachment. Sofia having the realisation that the sludge was in fact their flesh, blood and bone.
"That has to be right outta of Stephen King novel or something." Sofia mumbled to herself, stepping back, clenching her fists, feeling the bubbling surge of energy beneath her skin.
They surrounded her, Sofia letting out a burst of energy, purple flames surrounding the Zealots, knocking them off their feet. Sofia sent a blast of the fire towards the bus-driver, with one hand, lifting the car from behind him, tossing it at the mother-son combo.
Creating a shield just as a blast came from the knitting-lady and the two men Zealot's sending her crashing to the floor. Sofia raised her hand, throwing the old woman into a bus, creating bands that wrapped around the two men, lifting them above the ground, throwing them into a wall, at the old woman Zealot, sending them into an abandoned alley. Sofia squeezing her fist, making the bricks explode.
Sofia turned to run, when something pierced her collarbone, the bus-driver sliding out a golden dagger. Grabbing her by her jacket collar, he threw her into the car, sending it toppling on her, Sofia skidded out of the way, throwing her hand out—nothing happening.
Sofia paused, looking down at her hand. Being swept off her feet, thrown into a wall, Sofia falling down on the pavement. Golden bands wrapping around her arms, forcing her to her knees.
Sofia struggled against the bonds, the bands tightening around her, traveling from her arms, to the rest of her, one tightening around her neck. "Come on." she hissed, squeezing her hands, in hopes of feeling the surge of power beneath her fingertips.
Nothing.
"Take her." the bus driver said, the old woman and the mother-son combo yanking her by the bands, the other flanking them, the bus driver turned around—it happened so fast, her mind barely registered it-the bus driver flew through the air, slamming into abandoned truck.
Two more blasts of power sent the old woman and the mother-son combo flying back to, Sofia looking up, seeing the woman from the night of the attack and the man she stole the sling ring from.
Oh, he's not getting that back…She hope he didn't mind too much.
The bands around her instantly disappeared, making her stumble, landing on the road. The flanking Zealot's behind her already on the offensive against the newcomers. She'd got up, something red slamming into her.
"Hey!" Sofia shrieked, the red cloak wrapped around her abdomen pulling her into the air. Pulling on the fabric, struggling and kicking like a screaming toddler, the cloak paying no mind to her abuse, flying her far away from the battle below, gently setting her down on a building, unravelling from her, before turning around.
"Put m-No, wait!" Sofia said, grabbing the end of it. The cloak freezing. "Take me back down there!" Sofia cried. The cloak made a movement, like a shaking head, patting her head, before zooming back down.
"No, come back!" Sofia shouted, running to the edge of the building, slamming her hands against the ledge. "Ugh!" she groaned, turning around looking for some sort of exit.
She nearly missed him completely, but Vesper's words of trusting her instincts had been drilled into her since she could walk. She threw herself to the right, just as the Zealot appeared behind her about to grab her.
Sofia crawled back, throwing her hand forward-nothing, happening-the Zealot blinked at her, Sofia licking her lips. "This is embarrassing." she mumbled.
The Zealot throwing his hand out, the golden linked lines, the bands from before, binding her again. "Really? No other spell you know?" Sofia asked, the bind wrapping around her mouth. "Rufe."
The Zealot grabbed her, but the cloak seemed stronger, the flash of red streaking before her eyes, wrapping around the Zealot's body, smacking the Zealot's head continuously with one side.
The binds vanished, Sofia jumping to her feet, doing possibly the second thing that would earn a spot on: SOFIA'S LIST OF TERRIBLE DECISIONS, taking at least placement number four.
Well, she always wanted to see if it worked.
Running to the edge of the building, she jumped clean off the ledge.
Gravity works fast.
Honestly, she kinda expected to hang in the air for a second, like in Looney Tunes. Nope, she just fell.
The air rushed past her ears, her heart feeling like it was flying high above her instead of hammering in her chest. 'Please work.'
And it stopped. Sofia touching her golden coloured linked circle that kept her floating in the air. "Yay." she said to herself, a small smile gracing her face. First time. Least her magic was still there, just being irritating. She had to admit, first time for a spell working, was great, usually they—
Damn.
The golden lines vanished, sending her falling again. Typical.
Expecting the next thing to was her tasting the pavement littered with glass. Sofia was whisked back into the air, the cloak throwing her high, before catching her again, sending her tumbling back onto the street, the cloak zipping off again.
She barely been there a second, when a car came flying at her. "Oh, crap," Sofia cursed, making a move to dodge it, when the car sliced in half, landing on either end of her with a loud crash.
The man from standing next to her, glancing at her, before looking back at the sky, yelling: "I told you to get her out of here!" The cloak zipped back, giving what Sofia could only describe as a 'WTF-do-you-think-I'm-trying-to-do-?'
The man sighed, what was his name? Strange? "Zelma!" he shouted, the woman from before running towards him. "Get her out of here." he ordered, the woman nodding, taking Sofia's hand, the man looking at her, with a nod before running back into the fray of Zealot's that definitely weren't just consisting of her mad bus drivers. Where had the rest of them come from?
The two ran, Zelma opening a portal, they jumped.
Sofia slamming onto the road, everything going silent. She looked up, staring at the tall buildings, the street behind her, shattered glass and upturned cars. Something was wrong. She could feel it. She see it. Everything around her was refracted, and cracked like pieces of a mirror. Sofia glanced at herself in the reflection, watching as the building above her began to turn in on themselves.
"Zelma? What's happening?" Sofia mumbled, the woman getting up, looking around. "No." Zelma said, grabbing Sofia's arm. "We gotta get out of here."
"Where is here?"
"The mirror dimension." The Zealot-bus-driver said, appearing before their eyes. "Where we are in control." it said, more Zealots appearing by his side.
"Seriously? You guys aren't tired yet?" Sofia said, watching the world, quite literally shift before her eyes. "Oh, this is getting scary."
"Give us the girl, Miss Stanton." The Zealot-bus-driver said, his darkened eyes trained on them. "And you will not be perished by our hands."
"I'd rather die." Zelma said, standing in front of Sofia. "I'd rather you not, if that's okay." Sofia mumbled. She didn't need any people dying for her. Zelma gave her a look, Sofia shrugging lightly in response.
"Very well." The Zealot said, a large golden chain with a daggered edge appearing. "An inevitable in anycase."
"Get out of here." Zelma said lightly pushing Sofia away. The Zealot swung at Zelma, Sofia hearing the sounds of spells and shields, running in the direction Zelma pushed her in.
She barely taken two steps, when the ground disappeared from beneath her. Sofia falling through the air, crashing through the buildings, touching the edge in some attempt to stop, before it shattered and multiplied in front of her eyes, smashing though it, falling though the ever-changing, ever-moving sky.
She read about the mirror dimension, a portal was the only way out. Unfortunately, her body and the Zealots were making that difficult. She slammed though the road, falling back though the sky. A portal opening beneath her…the dark hollowness of it, the instant soul-sucking darkness: The dark dimension.
"Shit!" she cursed, clapping her hands, throwing them out. "Come on, come on, you useless piece of-!"
A red cloak wrapped around her, pulling her away from it. The portal pulled back, Sofia throwing her hand out towards it, letting out a burst of energy. The added push giving the cloak the extra energy to zip in the other direction. Weaving and winding though the toppling buildings and inverted trees, slamming her back onto the road at the feet of newcomers.
"I'm getting really sick of this!" Sofia seethed, the cloak pulling her to her feet, in front of Strange and the red-haired woman that was with Zelma before this all started. "Hi." she greeted.
"Where's Zelma?" Strange asked, glancing over her, before gazing around. "I saw her here, but she maybe anywhere." Sofia replied, gazing around the weaving tumbling mirrored version of New York.
Strange nodded, a strange (sigh) expression on his face on his face. She instantly felt like she was being scanned and scolded. He and Zelma must be close.
"You need to get out of here." Wanda (she really hoped her name was Wanda) started, raising her hand to open a portal. "Wow, didn't think of that." Sofia blurted out. "I'm not leaving, this is my problem, if Zelma-"
"No it's not." Strange snapped. "Listen to Wanda and get out of here. Voodoo's dealing with the other Zealots. Go to him, he'll keep you safe."
This plan, realistically made sense, but she owed Zelma her life twice now, she couldn't let her die here. "No." she said firmly, meeting the goatee-guy's eyes.
"Sofia-" Strange started, but she didn't hear the end of his build up to a lecture, the road cracking in three. Sofia flying high into to the air. Wanda (thank god that was her name) and Strange disappearing from site.
"SOFIA!"
Sofia ducked down, shutting her eyes, unable to handle the racing mirrored scattered shards of the sky, the distorted buildings and tress that came for her, spiked out, ready to swallow-
And it stopped.
The entire world froze again.
She didn't like it. She stood up, there was no breeze, everything was paused, like time itself had stopped.
"Sofia! Run!" Zelma screamed, the sound making her turn, the Zealot-bus-driver holding Zelma in a chokehold. The cloak snapped at her heels, nearly doing that for her, but Sofia dug her heels in forcing herself to remain there.
"Sofia, run!" Vesper shouted, the creatures vine like arms, squeezing her neck. The older woman drew back blasting the creature's had grabbed her from behind. The bonds on her wrists vanished. She ran-
"Let her go." Sofia said, dropping her hands. "Please." she said quietly, ignoring Zelma and the cloak's plea. She couldn't run, not again. "I'll go with you." she continued, the cloak pulling her back. Sofia nearly skidding back, she squeezed her fist, her magic finally deciding to cooperate, helping her remain tethered. The clock was strong, but she couldn't move. She wouldn't. "Please just let her go."
"Alright," the Zealot said, throwing Zelma off the floating rock. "Get her!" Sofia shouted, the cloak flying off her shoulders, zipping down after her.
The Zealot throwing a blast of energy, Sofia creating a shield, the blast knocking her off her feet, but kept her from being completely knocked off, or worse, knocked out.
The Zealot created his weapon again, swinging it at her, Sofia scrambling out of the way, throwing a blast of energy at him, the Zealot scattered it out of the way, swinging his weapon again, Sofia narrowly dodging it.
The road shifted again, moving around like a carousel, splintering upwards, shards of mirrored glass trapping her. "I would love to play this game with you, child." the Zealot's voice echoed, Sofia glancing around at her reflections.
"However, that is not what is ordered."
The blast came. Sofia creating a shield using it to entrap the blast, sending it in the direction it had came from. The blast shattered the mirrors around her, the shards falling at her feet. Where was it?
The weapon curled around her arm, yanking her across the mirrored surfaces, slamming her into the side of the rotating road. Throwing her again against the other side, finally slamming her back down on the moving platform, the shards around her cracking even further.
"Ah…" Sofia whimpered, forcing herself up, her eyes landing on one of the mirrored shards, the shard sliding forward towards her.
"A great threat, he said." The Zealot continued, walking closer and closer to her.
Sofia blinked, slowly moving her hand, watching the shard move towards her. She could feel it. She could feel the power of the mirror dimension, she could feel the pull. Focus.
She shut her eyes.
"I must say, I am unimpres-" the shard flew through the air, slamming into his left eye. The Zealot tumbled backwards, the building behind him, slamming into him, throwing him clean off the floating piece of road.
"You talk too much." Sofia mumbled, standing up, shutting her eyes, trying to feel the vibrations, the surge and pull of power. She moved her fingers around, the purple/pink energy surging stronger than it had before, sending a small wave rippling out along the dimension. There. She did want to rip something apart today. She squeezed her hands into fist, pulling sharply.
Shattering sounds. Shards broke around her, Sofia slamming onto the road, yet again, the pieces of the mirror dimension long gone. The Zealots and the sorcerer's were still having it out, further away from her.
Sofia crawling into an alley, hiding next to a few empty boxes. She was finished, the power that she felt for the first time, in a long time, completely fizzing out.
The sound of an incantation and demonic yells and screams of the Zealots echoed out, then silence. They must have banished them.
Sofia pulled her legs to her chest, curling herself into a small ball. Shutting her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the burning behind her eyes, the sting of her body, the shaking in her hands.
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
The dust settled, Stephen letting out a sigh, glancing at Wanda, Zelma and Jericho, before pausing. "Sofia?" he called, the silence of the street making his words louder.
No answer.
"Sofia?" he called, the three sharing looks. Zelma looking around, for the familiar blue converse next to her. "Sofia?" Wanda called; the street was empty, the sound of police sirens approaching them in the background. "Sofia?!" Stephen shouted, gesturing to the three to spread out, calling for her.
"Sofia!"
"Sofia?"
"Sofia? Can you hear us?"
"Sofia!"
"SOFIA!"
Wanda paused, catching a glimpse of blue converse. "Sofia?" she said quietly, the girl looking up at her. Wanda's face softened, edging towards her. She looked so, small…so child-like and young…too young for what she's seen.
"Hey," Wanda said, slowly lowering herself down. "You okay?"
The girl didn't answer, Wanda paused, feeling against her mental shields. "Please don't." Sofia whispered, tucking her head back down into her knees.
Wanda blinked. She sensed that fast, even strong sorcerer's couldn't usually detect her as she did. "Okay." she said gently, withdrawing herself from Sofia's mind. She licked her lips. "I know, this is all, overwhelming and…terrifying, but I promise. We only want to help you."
"People who help me, end up dead. Or trying to kill me." Sofia said quietly. "Which one is more likely with you?"
Wanda paused. "Neither. I can you promise you we'll keep you safe. Really safe. No more running or hiding. I can promise that we can really help you, Sofia."
"You're pretty confident." Sofia said, looking at her with curiosity. Wanda smiled. "The some of best and strongest sorcerers are out there. I trust them with my life, and I have no doubt in my mind, we can help you."
"What's the catch?" Sofia asked. "Just that you come with us." Wanda said, her eyes scanning over her; she understood why Clea had placed the spell, now that she had a good look at Sofia, she was sure anyone who even glanced Stephen Strange or Clea would know she was their daughter.
Dark hair, with natural white in streaks and underneath, soft grey eyes, with warm skin. She had an almost soft look about her, but there was this look, one of thought that really put any doubt of her not being their child to rest aside. Not everyone had that look, but Stephen Strange did. And so did Sofia, too it seemed.
Sofia bit her lower lip, nodding. "If you can help me…does that mean you can help Vesper too?" she mumbled. Wanda nodded. "We'll help Vesper too, I promise." she said slowly holding her hand out. Sofia looked at her shoes, before reaching out and sliding her hand into hers. Wanda pulling her up, guiding her to the rest of them.
Stephen and Wanda shared a look. Wanda giving him a small tight smile, one arm wrapped securely around Sofia's shoulders. Jericho opening a portal. "Where are we going?" Sofia asked, glancing at them, Zelma and Jericho already stepping though.
Wanda pausing half-way, glancing at Stephen, hoping he wouldn't tell her, she didn't need more stress and shock. He met her eyes, understanding, her unvoiced thoughts.
"Somewhere safe."
Thoughts?
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