Sentry of the Arcane: Engulfed

Chapter One: Sophie

Mr. Wallace told us to check how far our memories have developed, right? Fitz asks me telepathically as we sit on Donovan's bed. The male Percipient glances over at Donovan as he works on his gadgets before staring at me again.

That is what he said to do, so... I gesture for him to begin.

I'll start. What's Amortia? he asks. Fitz must've seen the evident frown of thought on my face because he then transmits, Amortia is the largest pink aceis known to exist currently. No one knows where it is, even after about thirty years. So that mean that like last time, you don't have that memory completely.

I nod. And on that note, what's aceis? I transmit to the male Percipient.

Um, Fitz furrow his eyebrows in thought. Isn't it a bright green stone that is used for aromatherapy?

I find myself shrugging because I can't truly remember. I guess so, I say after a moment of thinking. As we continue these exercises, I find myself beginning to worry about the fact that I'm losing my memories. Well, it's more like transferring, but I'm still losing those memories nonetheless.

I'm snapped out of my worried trance when Fitz suddenly transmits, If you want, I can send you some memories back... once I learn how to do that, that is.

I smile and giggle, earning a grin from the male Percipient. That's sweet, I tell him honestly. But I'll stick to remembering what you say when you define them.

Before Fitz can say anything, we both hear obnoxiously loud gagging near us. Both of us look over to see Donovan bending over and gagging, some of his tools on the ground. Clearing his throat just as loudly, the male Sovereign picks up his tools and says, "Sorry, I was just getting nauseous over the obvious mental flirting."

I feel my face beginning to warm as I manage to say without stuttering, "We weren't doing that..!"

Donovan raises an eyebrow, and I can see Fitz's cheeks turning a bit red. Shaking his head, Fitz turn to me. "By the way, do you know why Mr. Wallace wants us to dress formally tonight?"

"Wait- I have to wear a tie again?!" Donovan whines, groaning loudly. He purposely falls from his chair and onto the floor. "Someone- kill me now!"

Laughing at the male Sovereign's antics, I look at Fitz and shrug. "I don't know," I admit. "I think it has to do with the fact that he said that he has some 'news' for the six of us." I then sigh and roll my eyes. "Laurel's most likely going to giving me a makeover before we go down there again."

Donovan shrugs. "Well, I don't see how that's a bad thing," he comments, looking over at the male Percipient. "Besides, I don't think that Fitzie over here would mind either." And on cue, Fitz and I blush again, making the male Sovereign crack up yet again.

...

After I come out of my closet wearing my dress, Laurel squeals excitedly. The female Altruistic then gets up and spins around in her pale green dress, her long, flowing sleeves and skirt billowing around her. Gently brushing a strand of her auburn hair away from her smiling face, Laurel looks at me. "You look amazing!" she exclaims as I go near my vanity desk.

I smile and do a small twirl myself, the crimson silk gently flowing with me. I had decided to wear a sleeveless, V-neck dress in a nice crimson color for the evening. "Thank you, Laurel," I say politely, sitting down. Furrowing my eyebrows as I begin to brush my hair, I say, "Personally, I think that we shouldn't be dressing up so elegantly just so Mr. Wallace can talk to us."

Laurel playfully smacks my arm, making me chuckle. "But we get to dress up!" Laurel says. "This means that I have an actual reason to give you a makeover..!"

I sigh as I braid my hair into a nice fishtail braid. "That's true..." I admit begrudgingly. After I put my brush and comb away, I reach over to open a drawer with makeup. Secretly, I only planned on wearing some red lipstick. And I don't really need blush since Fitz will be there as well.

I don't realize that I said the part about blush out loud because I hear Laurel laughing. When I turn to her, she says, "If I ruin my makeup from laughing, I'm blaming it on you! And don't worry- I wasn't planning on making you wear blush anyways." She then opens the drawer I was going for and takes out some gold eyeshadow and some dark red lipstick. "Today, I'll be nice and go easy on you," she says as she begins to apply the lipstick.

Once the female Altruistic moves onto the gold eyeshadow, I say, "Thank you so much." Knowing her, I know that she could change her mind if she wanted to. Surprisingly, she didn't take nearly as long as she did the last time we had to dress elegantly. That is, until she says, "And after an hour and a half, my masterpiece is finished!" She hums happily as I stare at myself in the mirror. And when a smile forms on m face, she squeals, "Mission accomplished!

"You do wonders," I compliment the female Altruistic genuinely. She smiles, her smile growing even more when I ask, "What do you think the boys are doing?"

Instead of teasing me for my curiousity, the female Altruistic shrugs. "I don't know," she says. "But why don't we go check on them? Fitz's room is next-door, right?"

Standing up, I nod in confirmation. I then walk over to the connecting door and open it, revealing a suited Fitz and Benen. The two of us enter the room and watch as Fitz finishes tying Benen's light green bowtie. "And... there!" Fitz exclaims, stepping back. I then notice that Fitz is wearing a black suit, accompanied with a dark red, button-down shirt and a black tie... what a coincidence.

Looking down at his newly tied bowtie, Benen sighs. "I really need to learn how to do this," the male Altruistic says. "It's been what- three years?"

Chuckling softly, Fitz shrugs. "It'll take some time," he says gently, making me smile. "But you'll get the hang of it- promise."

Benen's about to say to say something when I hear Audrey's voice in my ear, "Like what you see?"

I scream and jump to the side, making Laurel scream as well. The male Percipient and Altruistic look at us with surprised faces as Audrey looks like she's going to die from laughter. After wiping a tear away, the female Sovereign looks at the boys and at us. "Wow," she finally says after a moment of silence. "Did you guys plan this or..?"

All four of us shake our heads. "Not at all," Fitz and I say simultaneously. We both look at each other before looking away, blushing slightly.

Laurel, on the other hand, giggles. "It's like we were meant for each other!" she exclaims, hugging Benen happily. The two Altruistics then laugh more when they see the two of us blushing even more.

Finally, the male Percipient shakes his head. "What time are we supposed to be downstairs?" he asks, looking at me.

"7:45," I say, raising an eyebrow. "Why- what time is it?"

"It's 7:35," Fitz replies. "We should probably be going downstairs, though."

Audrey suddenly frowns. "Wait- where's Donovan?" she asks, making me realize that the male Sovereign is nowhere to be seen.

Fitz closes his eyes for a moment. After opening them again, the male Percipient says, "He's in his room, Audrey. I can go get him while the four of you go down to the conference room."

The female Sovereign shakes her head. "Why would I try to break the two lovey-dovey nerds up?" she asks, making my face burn and Fitz raise an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'll get him." She then proceeds to kick the four of us out of Fitz's room. "Go face Wallace's wrath before we come. Then none of us will be wasting any time."

I roll my eyes. "Thanks for thinking about us," I mutter sarcastically as we may our way to the elevator. So kind of her.