Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-44907704-20200201232939/@comment-44907704-20200206013619

"Do I have permission to enter your mind?" Earning a scowl from Lord Cassius, she refused to back down from the challenge as she clenched her jaw with determination and some part of her brain wondered, ''Why? ''

She needed to know the truth. For Keefe and, even though she hated to admit it, Lord Cassius. The Black Swan had made her in part to gain perspective, and it was a different type of skill than everything she'd learned — but just like her abilities, it could be enhanced.

Sophie was ready to retort as Lord Cassius's lips quirked up, and it was hard not to ignore the blink of surprise and astonishment and recognition mixed into a bland stew — even more surprisingly, after snorting and eyeing her for a few moments, he squeezed his eyes shut without arguing.

Even though the only obvious sign of defiance was the contempt in his raised eyebrows, Sophie knew he was up to something. Help and truth didn't come free, a valuable lesson she'd learned from Gisela and several You-Need-To-Be-More-Aware-of-Your-Constant-Lack-of-Security lectures from Sandor; really, they were both right.

But how could she demand for compensation from the people who'd created her and given her life? It was a sign of distrust and dishonesty, but she couldn't just...

"Will you promise me that everything you show me is the truth?" She winced from the sudden twitch Lord Cassius made, a good indicator that her tone was too sharp and she was lowering her chances of seeing what she actually wanted to see.

She could almost feel Lord Cassius's smirk as his expression blazed and he responded in a just as metallic tone, "Only if you agree to the conditions I made you earlier, Miss Foster — that any information we share here stays between us. Not even my son shall be included," he continued, throwing her a pointed look as Sophie opened her mouth ever so slightly to debate. "Being subtle has never been one of your many strengths, I'm afraid," he spoke slowly and in a superior tone, causing Sophie to grit her teeth.

She pressed the edge of her thumbs against Lord Cassius's temple as hard as she could and focused on his face, now blank and devoid of emotion — as if his expression had just been wiped

When Sophie entered his mind, she found it hard to not be impressed. Everything around her glowed a hot neon white and felt scorching to the touch; it felt like being held in a prison cell at the core of a flaring star, so full of light that shadows blinked in and out of sight like the wisps of a blaze that made her wonder if she was delusional. The endless room gave off an aura that screamed a piercing ''Save Yourself! ''as she scrambled to find a save haven where she could wait until it was over...

And found, at the center of the disclike room, a memory. She wanted to push past the walls so badly it hurt... but he would know. And all of his memories he was willing to share with her would be veiled.

She entered and immediately found no relief. A younger, wide-eyed Cassius stood in the center of a bedroom the size of hers at her human residence — there were no carved statues of him but rather bouncing orbs that appeared to be floating mid-air, drooping from and dancing free about the ceiling. Each one was a different hue from one angle and the same tint from another as the boy glanced at himself in a puddle of water he'd spilled...

He looked like a slightly older version of Keefe when she'd first met him but was wearing a blue half-cape — the color for a Level Two prodigy attending Foxfire. His somewhat sandy blonde hair swept and drooped over the right side of his face, embarassingly covering the top part of his shallow-pooled light blue eyes that made him seem studious while the rest of his complexion suggested that he was quite... fair. Friendly, even. Sophie managed to sneak another glance at his reflection before he turned away — the left side of his hair was slightly darker and carved the shape of his face perfectly with a few short strands left over, giving the appearance that they'd been cut off. They barely reached down to his shoulders when the sunlight shone through the window, making Lord Cassius shrink as if... as if he belonged in the nature.

But there was something eerie about his demeanor that foreshadowed what he would turn into, and another edge to his eyes that seemed almost sympathetic. Mysterious. Enigmatic.

And very purely Elvin.

"Cassius? Cassius!" A shout came from downstairs and echoed throughout the house. His bottom lip quivered as he smoothened out his cape, like he was trying to make himself seem presentable. He forced his grimace into a tight-lipped smile as he trudged down the steps — Sophie noticed that he was mostly used to looking down instead of paying attention to his surroundings.

It was only until he stepped off the stairway that he averted his glimpse to an elegant robed figure dressed in a bright green, and he looked mildly uncomfortable by the thought as he held on to the railing with a sweaty palm. "What is it, mom?"

"You haven't manifested," she said coolly, which seemed to aggrivate Cassius more than it dissappointed her as he rattled off a string of curses under his breath. "And all this time I thought we'd been training you to be something better."

He clenched his jaw and held his gaze firmly, looking like he would very much like to hurl the elvin equivalent of a tomahawk at his mother — Sophie shuddered at the thought of what could've happened if Sucker Punches existed back then.

Which brought up a very valid point... How old was Lord Cassius?

''"I MANIFESTED!" ''He screamed angrily, somehow reminding her of Councillor Bronte throwing a tantrum. "LOOK AT THIS!"

He grabbed ahold of his mother's hand surprisingly swiftly and laced his fingers with hers, allowing his mother to stare intently into his eyes with a wicked look of exasperation and anticipation.

"You're dissappointed," he murmured to himself snarkily, as if this was news to him.

His mother heaved a loud sigh and pressed into Cassius's knuckles. "And you're still a dissappointment. All that work for nothing. I hope you'll stay out of your sister's way for long enough that she can complete the elite levels."

​​​​And there was a moment of admiration as he ripped the cape off his shoulders — and smiled smugly at his mother, standing staggeredly with a withering look of shock that made him seem like he could be Keefe's brother. ​​​​​ ​​​​Followed by an icy blue wall of flame descending on her that shoved her consciousness out of his mind.