The Neverseen's Last Resort

59

"I was fine without your help." He responded with half a smirk, the other half somewhat sad. Longing. She raised an eyebrow when she caught him staring again, and he looked to the stars--or, where the stars should've been.

"How long was I out?" she asked, and the boy flinched before answering. The tension in the air was intoxicating as he spoke, as though he were hiding something. And he probably was, but Sophie didn't care enough to pry. Instead, she waited for an answer, until the boy finally answered.

"Almost an entire day," he choked out, his eyes glossed over with tears. Something inside Sophie told her she should be freaking, upset for losing so much time. But... What else did she have to do? Obviously, she was hurt. Though most of it had been cleaned off, Sophie could still see her skin was tainted red from what she assumed was blood. She also had a couple cuts that would become scars, one piercing her left eyebrow.

Anyway, she needed rest, and it wasn't like she had many visitors. So maybe whatever had been going on wasn't that big?--wouldn't her family, more friends, and maybe others be there waiting for her if her wounds were big enough to inform family about? Though, she was sure amnesia was pretty big, so maybe she needed to inform someone.

"You're... not freaking out." Sophie looked back to the boy, who looked equally confused. His words hadn't been a question, but a statement. An observation. And he was right. Though she felt she should be screaming or something, she felt nothing. In fact, she felt... numb.

"Should I be?" she asked him, and he met her with a shrug, mumbling something Sophie couldn't make out.

"What was that?" He shrugged her off, and this time, she wasn't "freaking out". She was freaking pissed. Why wasn't he talking? What was he hiding? Why had she been covered in blood? Why did she have scars? Her brain scoured itself in search of answers, desperately trying to piece things together. What wasn't this boy telling her? Her mind was straining to come up with answers to these questions when an image flashed in her mind, too quick to clearly tell what it was. But as she looked back, begging her mind to cooperate, she found a strangely familiar symbol: a black figure with a curved neck and graceful body. A swan.

Sophie clung on to the image, not daring to let it slip from her mind even once. This symbol was important enough for her to remember, despite forgetting her family, friends, and even whatever had happened to leave her so banged up. This swan was all she had left of her old life, and she had to figure out what it meant.

The sound of approaching footsteps pulled Sophie from her thoughts, and she looked to see a woman with dark locks decorated with beads, wearing a relieved smile and blood-stained clothes.

"Glad you're okay," she said, before glancing to the blonde boy. "You really stayed here all day?" Sophie straightened, turning to look at the boy. He'd stayed with her the entire time? Why? Right then she wished she could remember him. Maybe that would explain things. But it still didn't change the fact that he was hiding something from her, and she didn't like secrets.

The boy's cheeks turned pink and his eyes fell to the floor, avoiding looking at either of them as he nodded.

"I had to. No one else...," he trailed off, and the woman nodded her head in understanding. Sophie looked at both of them, trying her hardest to read between the lines.

"Drink this," the woman then ordered, pushing a bottle labeled "Youth" into her hands. The woman seemed innocent enough, and from the looks of it, she was a doctor. So, Sophie drank without question, chugging it down in one go. Sophie wanted to ask for the woman's name, but she didn't want to spark chaos if they figured out she had amnesia. Or maybe they already knew, and were leaving her in the dark on purpose? She grumbled at that, ignoring the curious glance the boy sent her way. His eyes were questioning, but Sophie shook her head, silently informing him it was nothing to worry about.

He seemed to care for her, despite her prickly attitude towards him so far. Was this normal? And how did he know her? Sophie straightened as the woman pulled a set of different-colored candles from her bag, muttering how she envied Flashers. Looking through a special glass, Sophie watched the woman examine her with different colored lights. Red, purple, yellow...

"Where's Elwin?" the boy asked, and Sophie saw his face pale as the words left him. Who was Elwin? And why had the woman just-- "No one's told you?" The woman had spoke, and even when Sophie thought his face couldn't be any whiter, he paled again, nearly resembling a ghost.

"Told me what?" The boy asked. Sophie's fists balled. She wanted answers, not more questions! Who was Elwin? What had happened to him? Who were these people and why was Sophie being treated? Who had given her these fresh scars? These wounds? Why were... She glanced down to her fingers, which glowed a yellow-ish hue, her tips turning purple. It felt as though her blood was buzzing inside her--something Sophie wasn't sure could be considered "normal" or not.

A pained expression flashed across the woman's face as she asked for the boy to follow her, muttering something about the council trying to protect people from the truth in a mocking tone. Sophie watched as they walked off into the nights, the candles still flickering. Sophie narrowed her eyes, squinting to see through the darkness. But they were gone. And Sophie was alone. Without any answers, and no memories.