Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-37824398-20191127220126/@comment-37824398-20191207174219

This changed everything.

Sophie’s head was spinning, and she craved a seat more than anything as she tried to process the revelation.

'''If the Council had known about the Neverseen that long ago? (Sophie wasn’t exactly sure quite how long ago the memory was from. She knew it was before Lady Gisela had married Lord Cassius, because Emery had used a surname other than Sencen when referring to her.) They hadn’t just been working against the Black Swan all that time.'''

'''They had been working with the Neverseen. '''

'''At the very least, they had been allowing them to continue with their work. Which was much, much more than they could say for the Black Swan.'''

'''A wave of horror overcame Sophie as she realized what that meant. When Oralie had volunteered to be her biological mother, for the Black Swan…'''

'''She had known about the Neverseen. She had known Lady Gisela was a traitor. She had allowed it to continue, allowed the hunt for the Black Swan to continue. Allowed the hunt for her daughter to continue.'''

'''A surge of hatred, pure and black, fueled Sophie’s thoughts. How could anyone be quite that evil? Sophie might have had a close second on Keefe’s Worst Mom Ever.'''

'''Which reminded her. Keefe.'''

'''She might never look Oralie in the eye again. She might never speak another word to her. But right now? She had to pay attention.'''

'''When Sophie tuned back into the memory, Emery was still speaking. “We need to make the decision to allow this Neverseen group to continue. As we have other projects going on, I’ll need to place one of you in charge of this.”'''

“I’ll do it.”

'''The soft, sweetly stated words slipped from Sophie/Oralie’s lips, and although she knew she was unable to stop them—and they weren’t even hers—that didn’t make Sophie any less regretful. This was a Forgotten Secret, Oralie’s only Forgotten Secret. Whatever came next wouldn’t be good.'''

'''“Are you sure, swee—Oralie?” Kenric asked from beside her. Oralie’s whole body turned to face him, and Sophie was caught off guard by how much it hurt to look at the kind Councilor. She had always thought that locking away dangerous memories was a foolish way to govern, but it had never made as much sense to her as it did in this moment.'''

'''“Yes,” Oralie said. Her voice was soft yet strong. “I need to do this.”'''

'''Emery cleared his throat, breaking up the moment. “Great! Now that that’s done with, we’ll move on to our next order of business…”'''

And with that, the memory distorted, blurred, until Sophie was back in her own time, back in her own body, sitting under the Panakes tree next to Oralie.

'''For a moment, Sophie was dazed. And then she jumped up, determined to get as far away from Oralie as possible.'''

'''“Sophie, wait,” Oralie said. She stood up as well, looking too small to have as much power over Sophie as she did. “I—”'''

'''Sophie shook her head vigorously, backing away. “No. No! Nope! You don’t get to say that. You don’t get to try and explain yourself. You don’t get to be my mom. Too little, too late.”'''

'''Oralie opened her mouth to respond, but then her eyes settled on someone behind Sophie. '''

'''With a sense of foreboding in her gut, Sophie turned around to see Edaline, holding a plate of custard bursts. Her eyes were switching from Sophie to Oralie to Sophie to Oralie, and Sophie could just see her connecting all the pieces. Blond...she always supported the Black Swan...she—'''

'''“You?” Edaline uttered the word quietly. She snapped her hand, and the plate of custard bursts was gone.'''

'''Oralie’s face blushed pink. “I should go.”'''

'''Edaline’s eyes settled on Oralie, and they stayed there for too long. Try as she could, Sophie could not read the expression on her adoptive mother’s face. Finally, she said, “You should.”'''

'''Oralie’s eyes seemed to overflow with emotion—remorse, maybe? She deserved it. Finally, she nodded and walked away, disappearing into the distance. '''(Yeah, I know elves don’t walk, they light leap, but I forget exactly how that works (don’t they need a Leapmaster or something?) and my books are downstairs and I’m lazy so I’m just keeping it as this for now. I might change it at some point but idk​​​​​.)

'''For what seemed like forever, Edaline was silent. Then she said, “We should go inside.”'''

'''“Yeah,” said Sophie, voice weak. She felt as if she had to say something else, but didn’t know what. Finally, she managed, “You’ll always be my mom. No matter what. Okay?”'''

'''The corners of Edaline’s mouth tugged upward. “Okay.”'''