Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 13

Sophie's head felt like it was underwater.

It was swimming in a murky ocean. A haze of confusion and darkness.

Everything was blurred and distorted.

Sophie didn't feel anything.

She wasn't aware of anything happening around Physical Sophie.

Mental Sophie was shattered and lifeless.

It seemed like an eternity before she felt something in the endless void.

A whisper in her consciousness. Sophie...

Somehow, Mental Sophie could sense it. The consciousness felt familiar.

Something made her have the strength to sense the transmission and respond.

Who are you? She whispered back.

She could almost hear the relief in the person's mental voice. It's me, Fitz. Hang on.

Sophie suddenly felt a warm trickle of energy flow through her consciousness. Then, it became a brilliant light that filled every fiber of her being.

The energy enveloped her with fervor.

It was calming. Healing.

Every piece of her hazy consciousness drifted back into place.

Sophie's senses sharpened, and everything became solid and tangible.

Then, she was back into Physical Sophie.

Light came at her. It was overwhelming, and Sophie winced as she opened her eyes.

"Easy there, Foster," a voice next to her said.

Sophie saw Keefe's face on her left as her eyes focused. As well as the pale and concerned faces of Fitz and Elysian.

"What happened?" Sophie whispered, sitting up and feeling the bark of a tree against her back.

Her brain took a moment to process her surroundings.

Judging by the sun's location, it was almost midday. She was sitting under the same tree where she had slept the previous night.

"Wait... how long have I been out?" Sophie asked frantically.

A long, uncomfortable silence later, Fitz whispered, "About ten hours."

"You started thrashing and flailing after you fell asleep," Keefe said. "I read your emotions, but I just got pain and fear. I couldn't calm you, though. You wouldn't rise."

"And then Keefe asked us to check your mind," Fitz mumbled, tearing a hand through his perfect hair. "It was..."

"Horrible," Elysian finished grimly. "Even with the broken minds I've seen."

"I-" Sophie didn't know why she suddenly felt so cold. "My mind was broken?"

Keefe wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.

"Yes," Elysian whispered. "Someone used brute force because everything in your head was a dark mess. Even though you have an impenetrable mind, this person broke through. So they must be an incredibly powerful Telepath."

"Then, we performed a healing on you," Fitz said. "Elysian enhanced me, and we went together into your brain. It's a good thing we chose to do that. Otherwise, we would have succumbed to the pull of the void."

"I always monitor the island and I didn't sense any Telepaths," Elysian said slowly. "So whoever's doing this should be doing it at an incredible distance. Do you know who it was?"