It was the night before they were going to storm the castle. And Noah and Whitney were arguing.
"What the fuck does that mean?"
"It means I am Sophie!"
"Let me rephrase. How?"
"Okay." Whitney motioned with her hands. "The black swirl on the side of my face? That's my Artifact." She crossed one arm over her chest. "There was a scientific study of injecting pieces of Artifacts into someone's bloodstream, and I volunteered." Noah raised an eyebrow. "The original Artifact is sitting somewhere in the castle. Should I die, or it gets injured in some way, or if the Artifact is given to someone else, the power fades and gets reabsorbed back into the Artifact."
"Your point being?"
"The original Artifact let me split into multiple versions of myself, with the original having the black tattoo. It also let me transfer - or switch, really - my mind to other versions already out. That's why the original Sophie was talking to you yesterday." She thought for a second. "She can also temporarily read my mind and see or hear what I'm seeing, but she doesn't do that often."
"Alright." Noah shook his head. "Then why did you split originally?"
"I had seen some people sneaking around the castle that morning. Sophie sent me to stay with you and April to make sure you were okay. She had a bad feeling about that day."
"So do we call you Whitney or Sophie?"
"Either. I don't mind. But Whitney is my mother's name, so it might get a bit confusing."
"Sophie it is." Noah looked to April. "Now I feel dumb because I hadn't noticed before."
"It's fine. The Artifact is the most recognizable, but no one knows about it; or at least what it's for. Without it, and especially since I didn't talk, I don't blame you."
"So were you lying about the tracking device thing?"
"No. I didn't know if my dad was corrupted or not, and didn't want to risk it."
"Makes sense. Are you still coming with us tomorrow?"
"Of course." She looked down. "Sorry I lied to you before."
Noah shook his head. "No, it's fine, I get it. I'm a bit mad, but I get it." Noah looked around at the other four and Jason, who had been discussing how they were going to split up. "Okay, teams?"
Koko stepped forward. "We were aware that it's possible for all of us to be caught. So it's probably not the best idea for you and April to go together, since you two seem to be who they're after."
Noah nodded. "What did you guys decide?"
"Whitney and I, you and Cooper, and Jason, Sean, and April."
YOU ARE READING
Shadowstruck
FantasyA girl wakes up in a forest with her memory wiped. Now they have to figure out who's behind The Uprising and, more importantly, how to stop them. If they can stop them. They're losing time. And the gods aren't on their side.
