Sophie

Inhaling a shaky breath, Sophie mocked a smile, her lips curling into a grin Gisela would be proud of. Her fingers curled around the hilt of Fintan's dagger, as she tried to imagine how she'd do this. On one hand, she could dive straight for him before they even battle, and drive it straight through him as Fintan had instructed. Or, she could give him a chance to fight for his life, before she would so brutally take it away. He deserved that at least, didn't he? A chance? No, it wouldn't be a chance for him to fight, but a chance for Sophie to torture him. Give him the pain he deserved after betraying Fintan.  

"Keefe Sencen," Sophie hissed through her teeth, eyes boring into his. The Traitor straightened, his eyes darkening with a strange fire she felt she'd never seen before. But she had. Hadn't she? He'd battled her back at the storehouse, and he'd worn the same expression then. Right? 

"Who are you?" He growled, and Sophie's smile widened. This time, it wasn't forced. She didn't have to kill him. Well, she did. But not yet. First, they would fight. She wondered how good he would truly be. Because, despite having fought him before, this felt different somehow. More real? 

"Keeper," Sophie said, giving Keefe the nickname Gisela had dubbed her. The Traitor growled at that, edging closer to her with his own sword in hand. 

"You wanna fight me?" Sophie asked. The Traitor thought he could really fight her and live? She laughed. She'd lost to him before, but facing him now, she felt losing to him would be harder than winning. 

"I don't," he answered. "But I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want." Sophie laughed.

"The Black Swan... always going to the extreme for their own, selfish desires. Revolting." Sophie's grip on Fintan's dagger tightened, squeezing so tight her muscles cramped. It was the very reason her family was dead. The very reason Amy was dead. The Black Swan had wanted something-- and when Sophie had refused to be their weapon, they'd killed her family. 

The anger brought her power back to her fingers, buzzing with excitement as her anger bubbled up. 

"What kind of nonsense are you talking?" The Traitor asked. "The Neverseen are literally murderers." Sophie rolled her eyes.

"Only when it's necessary. Sadly, the same can't be said for you." 

"I've never killed," The Traitor said. Sophie cocked her head, quickly scanning his mind for his deepest, darkest secrets. Bingo. 

"It runs in the family, though. Right? So, it's only a matter of time." The Traitor flinched, his icy eyes glossing over for a brief moment as the words shoved themself into his head. To Sophie's amusement, he straightened, his eyes turning dark as he readjusted his grip on his sword. Mocking The Traitor's infamous smirk, she unsheathed her dagger. 

Holding it out to face him, The Traitor let out a small gasp. Of course, Sophie realized. Fintan had been his mentor at one point, so it made sense he'd recognize Fintan's special prize. She laughed at the irony. Keefe Sencen, killed by his own mentors dagger after a brutal betrayal.

"You recognize it, then?" Sophie asked, and The Traitor growled in response. Without warning, The Traitor lunged for Sophie, his sword aimed at her heart. Sophie smiled.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she taunted. "I admire your bravery. And insanity." Sophie dodged, ducking under him, jumping over him, moving out of his sword's way in the last second. All to tease him. Lies. Let him think he's so close. Then, prove he never had a chance by killing his life in a single attempt. She thought the words in Fintan's voice, knowing they'd have more of an impact on her if she did. She loved Fintan, but he just scared her.

"I told you it was only a matter of time!" She called back as The Traitor swung at her, missing by centimeters. "Now you're trying to kill me! Sorry, but I can't be your first kill. That would be an honor, wouldn't it?" 

"Shut up!" The Traitor roared, giving up on tactic and resorting to random swings. Sophie laughed at his pettiness. 

"Ooh, you're mom yelled at me just like that the other day! Family's great, isn't it?" Sophie braved a smile, fighting back the tears as she said it. Family was great. Her family was great. Had been. They'd been amazing, actually. But now, thanks to the Black Swan, she'd never get to tell them. 

Sophie turned back to watch Traitor's reaction, but froze up for a brief second when she found he had disappeared. Turning back forward, she skidded to a stop on the concrete of the city. Around her, buildings burned. But now, she saw that all the people had gone, and the battle had moved to a more open area in the fields. It was just the two of them now. 

The Traitor, and the Keeper. 

To Sophie's surprise, the Traitor had changed tactics while she'd been distracted. He was smarter than she'd thought. She smiled. 

"Impressive." He lunged, and Sophie moved to dodge, when a wave of Deja Vu hit her. 

"NUMB!"  

A wave of familiarity crashed into Sophie, but just as fast, it disappeared. That, and every other sense Sophie had felt only seconds ago. She fell, not fast enough to brace for impact as the ground rushed up to greet her. In an instant, all desire to fight was ripped away. She no longer cared whether the Black Swan got what they deserved for killing her family. She didn't even care they'd killed her family. Just like she didn't care whether or not they killed her. 

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, and despite her brain screaming for her to get up-- to run-- she didn't. Because, it just didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Footsteps tapped their way over, and Sophie could feel a pair of sturdy hands pin her down. Sophie's eyes followed the hands as they neared her face, ready to rip the hood from her face. Closing her eyes, she prepared. 

The hands were edges from her face, her breath caught. Alarms blared from inside her head, screaming at her to jump to her feet and drop kick him far away. However, she just couldn't make herself care. 

"I'm not a killer," the boy said as his hands creeped closer. It seemed as though everything was moving in slow motion as he reached for her hood. "Neither are the Black Swan. But we will defeat you." 

The hood lifted, but before the boy could see her eyes, another force tackled both of them. 

"GET OFF HER!" a voice shouted, the power in the voice piercing the air. Sophie's brow crunched as she strained to recall where she'd heard the voice before. It had a strange accent to it. Sophie's head, without the boy's support, rolled to the left where she saw to men, one brunette, one blonde, fighting. 

At the same time they were fighting, another voice entered the mix. But unlike the men before her, this one was different. Quiet. Discrete. As though it were projecting straight into her head. 

Sophie, a voice called. Sophie, where are you?

Sophie found she couldn't open her mouth, so she listened. 

I'm coming. I promise. Please don't be dead. Then, the voice cut out, while Sophie's mind lingered on his words. Something hummed, and she realized they were coming from her fingertips, buzzing with excitement. Like puppies waiting for a walk, tails wagging. She focused for a minute, solely on the hums of her power, tugging at her to fight. While she focused, she turned her gaze back to the men. Currently, the brunette seemed to be winning. Alvar. 

Sophie's mind clicked. That's right. The brunette was Alvar. And she... She was Sophie. And the other blonde, her power spiked. Because the blonde, that was Keefe Sencen. The Traitor. With a sudden burst of energy, the power inside Sophie sparked, and it was felt as though she were being dumped into a bucket of ice water, waking from a long sleep. 

Sophie jumped to her feet, winding her shoulder. Her entire body ached, her head throbbed, and her emotions were spiraling. But she was back. And so were her powers. It was time to end things. She bent to grab the dagger, but someone cut her off. 

"Hey, Keeper," Alvar said, using her code name. It was strange, hearing her own nickname coming from Alvar and not Gisela, but Sophie had to get used to it. "We're skipping to the final phase. Find Fintan, he'll explain." Sophie shook her head. 

"He paralyzed me. Let me help." She took a step closer as the two fought, but flinched when Alvar snapped back, "Find Fintan, now!"

Sophie flinched. She'd heard Gisela yell at her like that. Even Fintan had done it once. But, had she ever heard Alvar yell at her? Scold her? No. He'd always been gentle with her. Kind. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back as Fintan's words echoed in her mind. 

"There's no crying on the battlefield. You'd do good to get that in your head." 

With a curt nod, she ran off in the direction she'd last seen Fintan. However, when she'd returned, he wasn't there. Sophie groaned. Another inconvenience. Luckily, this one was an easy fix. Using her telepathy to track his thoughts, she found he wasn't actually far from where Alvar had been, just a few blocks farther down.

"Fintan!" Sophie called when she'd arrived. He stood in the center of the rubble that was left after all the Everblaze. 

"Keeper," Fintan said. Sophie twitched, the name still strange to her. "There's been a change in plans. Apparently, the Black Swan's decided to play unfair. Again." 

"We're losing," Sophie realized, and Fintan confirmed it with a slight nod. 

"It's time you put that power to good use." 

Sophie froze. This was it. The moment she'd been working towards for her entire life. Ever since her family had been taken from her. This was all she'd ever wanted. And not only was it for her, but Fintan and Alvar as well. This was her chance to prove to the world that she wasn't someone to mess with. So, why was she hesitating? Her mind was torn into two, and her heart and mind no longer felt in sync. If she went through with this, millions would die. Families would be torn apart, lives ruined. But, Sophie's family had been torn apart. Sophie's life had been ruined. All because of the Black Swan. 

This was revenge, wasn't it? No, Sophie realized. Her fight was with the Black Swan, no one else. Her revenge didn't involve the council, nor the citizens of the Lost Cities. She'd help the Neverseen fix the government, sure. That was something that had to be done. But to kill millions just to make a statement? That wasn't revenge. That was cold blooded murder. 

Sophie looked back to Fintan, and though the word 'no' was at the tip of her tongue, the pain she found in his eyes were what finalized her decision. 

"Let's burn this place to the ground."