Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-2601:647:4000:5CE0:AC31:BC7E:22A3:ABCB-20191122034325

"Stellarlune," Oraile whispered into the cache. The words seemed so soft and harmless, yet made such a big impact.

Click.

The tiny inner crystal popped open and into Oraile's hand. It twitched, and then, to Sophie's amazement, it began to grow until it was as large as a child's fist. Suddenly the crystal flashed clear and a scene began to play.

Out of the thick fog swirled the shape of a tall, immaculate woman with raven black hair and dusty blue eyes. Her hair was in a severe bun, and she wore dark blue clothes that covered every inch of her body. The woman was walking towards some figure sitting on a pink crystal table, and Sophie was pretty sure about who the other figure was.

"Oraile, my friend." The strange woman embraced the pink Councillor. The Oraile in the crystal image was wearing a bright pink gown that reminded Sophie of an enormous rose, and she was wearing a rose-shaped circlet. Her soft blonde girls cascaded down her face, and her pink lips were pulled into a sweet smile.

"It is good to see you, Rayana," Oraile told the woman. "Why are you here today?"

Rayana's smile faded, and her features tightened. "Because of this." With a flourish, she removed the glove from her right hand. From the wrist to the tips of her fingers, Rayana's hand was stark white, with black and silver veins patterning the skin.

Just. Like. Keefe.

"What caused this?" Oraile wondered as she gently touched the hand.

"Stellarlune," Rayana replied. "A substance too great, so great... the power, Oraile. You should have seen the power. It is a whole other thing, not an element, more of a... dark source."

"Like the Primal Sources?"

"Exactly like them, except darker."

"Like shadows," Oraile guessed. Rayana nodded.

"I experimented by melting some of my stock of ethertine, and shadows, and acquired a flasher to poison this vial of water." Rayana brought out a bottle of inky darkness, which occasionally flashed a color of the spectrum.

"Amazing," Oraile whispered. "May I show it to the other Councillors?"

Rayana hesitated. "I have a gut feeling I should wait a while," she finally answered. "And so should you."

"Of course," Oraile promised. "But... what does Stellarlune do?"

Rayana held her gaze. "The power it contains," she said in a quiet voice. "Is enough to maybe create a new ability. Using a Source. A prime source. But this time? The ability will not be pure. It will have shadows mixed in light. And the result will change everything."

The crystal scene ended, and the jewel turned black and crumbled to dust. The ashes whipped around in the breeze, drifting away. The two stared at Oraile's empty palm for a moment.

"That just happened," Sophie finally said as she looked away. "That's what's Lady Gisela's planning for Keefe. She wants to use a Prime Source to create a new ability for him- and that will change his legacy."

"I hate that word," Sandor grumbled from the shadows behind them, making them both jump and realize that he had been listening and watching the entire time. "Would you like to go back to the Healing Center, Miss Foster?"

"I should hail my teammates and update them," Sophie realized. "And I should seriously consider getting a notebook for writing things down."

"Would... this help?" Oraile hesitantly pulled out a scarlet red notebook with the familiar black patch of a dire wolf sewn on the cover. "I was going to give it to you... but there was no time before."

"Um... thanks." Sophie hesitantly took the book.

"Anytime- Sophie." Oraile offered only a sad smile as she held her crystal into the light and let the rush carry her away.

A few minutes later, Sophie had all her friends settled in her room. She had used the spare time to scribble every previous thing that had happened down in her notebook. And none of them seemed that good... but it was nice to have everything organized, right?

"So... we were supposed to wear our circlets and pins and cloaks, right?" Wylie asked, nervously fidgeting with his starlight pin as he adjusted his position on the floor.

"Yep." Sophie tapped her moonlight circlet, along with her own starlight pin and sunlight cloak. "And I got you here all today to explain about Stellarlune." She pointed at the enormous section of the wall that had papers, signs, pieces of string, drawings, and formulas scribbled all over it, interconnecting with pins. "It's complicated, I know."

And she told them the story.

Dex was... understanding.

Biana was... skeptical.

Stina was... nervous.

But Wylie was... terrified.

"How's Keefe?" he asked instead.

"Fitz is with him," Sophie said, regretting the words when Biana turned green.

"If you want to talk," her teal eyed friend said in a low voice, flashing a sad smile. "I'm here at any time."

"Thanks," Sophie whispered back, smiling at Biana. "That means a lot. And... I've missed you. We haven't hung out in a long time."

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. At the Healing Center, though- I'll probably be staying there again."

"Do I hear that you're staying in the Healing Center again- with Keefe?" Stina asked, smirking widely.

"He's unconscious!" Sophie argued, flushing red. "And I've been sleeping there since Loanmore. Oh, whoops."

"YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING THERE SINCE LOANMORE?" Biana squealed. "SO. CUTE!"

"Fitz would kill you for saying that," Dex added, but he was grinning hugely. Sophie blushed redder, ducking her face behind her hair- which had gotten pretty long, almost at chest length.

"HAHAHAHHA- OH MY GOD, WE NEED A SHIP NAME!" Stina yelled, snatching a paper and pencil from Sophie's desk.

"Is this really necessary?" Sophie whined. "Stop it!"

"Quit your whining, Lady Fos Boss," Dex chuckled and added 'Team Foster-Keefe' to the list. Then Biana wrote 'Keephie' and 'Sokeefe', and by then Sophie wanted to kill them all. But what really ticked her off was when Wylie added 'The Snarky Moonlark' to it, and then she tackled him and tried to kill them all. But her teammates were already killing themselves with laughter, so she didn't really need to do that much.

"I hate you guys so much," Sophie grumbled as Biana flicked a tear from her eye, unable to stop laughing. The rest probably looked like their ribs would crack from laughter. Sophie hoped they did.

"Your welcome," Stina said, way too smugly. Her frizzy curls had been shaken loose from her braid after rolling around on the floor so much. "I am so amazing."

"So, let's see," Wylie said, snatching the list. "We have... Team Foster-Keefe, Keephie, Sokeefe, the Snarky Moonlark, Fearless Snarky Fosters, and The Sassy Swans."

"I personally vote for the Snarky Moonlarks, the Fearless Snarky Fosters, and the Sassy Swans," Biana chimed in.

A chorus of 'YES!' ran through the room.

"Can I die in peace now?" Sophie groaned.

"You may," Dex said, patting her back. "I should go. BUT DON'T THINK WE'LL FORGET ABOUT THE SNAKRY MOONLARKS BECAUSE WE'RE COMING BACK TO TAUNT YOU TOMORROW! RIGHT, GUYS?"

"NO!" Sophie encouraged them.

"YES!" everyone but Sophie answered.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Sophie told Biana as she hugged her friend good-bye. The rest of her team had already glittered away.

"Yeah. Don't forget," Biana answered with a smile as she pulled herself into the light. She was about to disappear completely when Sophie whispered something she doubted Biana could hear.

"I won't." 