Edaline was sitting at the counter when she heard the silent alarm trigger--it's a human thing that she convinced her husband to get. She always had faith her adopted daughter would return. She ran to where the device said the motion came from and gasped, there was a small body on the ground in front of her on the shore.
"Grady!" Edaline yelled and ran to the body, she had so much hope. Without a second thought, Grady dropped what he was doing and ran to his wife. He didn't know how to break it to her, but that couldn't be Sophie. Even if Sophie was alive--which she's not--why would she ever come back. All they'd done was make her feel like she had a home here and then rip it away.
"Eda, step away from the body. Whoever it is might not be alive and I don't want you to be the person to discover that." His wife was in another world though, she kept inching closer and closer till the body became more clear. They gasped at the same time, Edaline shoved her face into his chest and started sobbing.
"Hey Elwin," He started, talking into his imparter. "We are going to need some help here."
//
Alden heard his imparted ringing and answered in a heartbeat. Alden was told what Edaline saw and was interested despite knowing the truth, it couldn't be either kid--they drowned. They didn't deserve to die, and Alden didn't have it in himself to tell Grady that it's probably a fake. So he told his children and really hated himself when he saw the hope in their eyes.
Biana really hoped her father wasn't lying when he said Grady and Edaline found someone at Havenfield. It had to be Sophie. Who else would wash up? No offense but it really couldn't be Deck--Sophie has way more will than him. Plus Biana owed her a major apology, her father told her before they'd both drowned, that if she apologized to Sophie she'd be forgiven. Sophie was the first real friend Biana ever had--everyone else used her.
If his father was right and it truly was Sophie then he needed to apologize. Fitz heard Sophie trying to tell him to find her, but he didn't tell anyone. Plus the deep shit Biana got herself into, nobody deserves to have it plopped down on them that a friend faked their friendship--and it was told to her by her enemy.
Della could basically call Sophie her daughter, and she was really hopeful. She wanted to apologize so deeply for her family's stupidity, but if she could go back to the past she wouldn't change a thing. Biana was happy when she was with Sophie, just like Della had said she would be.
//
All Keefe could think was, Foster could be alive. He chanted that over and over again, this was the girl who changed his heart, a person who knew him better than his own best friend. The last time Keefe saw her she was a mess, so he sent Dex after her. While her 'would be death' wasn't his fault, Dex's was his. He sent him after her--he manipulated Dex's feelings for Sophie and made him go to her. If he hadn't...he wasn't going down that path, he didn't need his mind to break.
Elwin was about to head to bed when he was hailed by none other than Grady Ruewen, "Geez, slow down. I'll be there as soon as I can." All he could think was Grady said some kid washed up, hope immediately swelled in his chest. If either of the children were alive then it would be an absolute miracle.
//
He was alive, Who was he? He thought, Where am I? He didn't get to finish his thoughts before he heard footsteps. He was pushed back into his hellscape, slow footsteps and a cocky whistle, but these steps were fast. Do I know these people? Do they know me?
"It's Dex!" Said a woman who picked me up and cradled me in her arms, she had red hair and turquoise eyes. Then it all came back, he was Dex Dizznee, the technopath, child of a bad match, best friend to Sophie Foster, he was aliv—but she wasn't.
Sophie Foster is dead, his best friend is dead. That was all he could say, "She's dead?"
Everyone was quiet as he kept yelling, but he knew they knew. Sophie Foster, the bright young girl with so much potential, kindness, and much more. She was dead.
//
The words repeated in Edaline's head over and over again, but she couldn't accept them. Even though a sliver of her knew that if the girl was alive she'd never come back here, and why would Dex lie? He was her best friend.
She lost not one, but two daughters in the span of twenty years, how is such misfortune possible. She couldn't help but envy her sister, she thought we were so much alike, but Edaline was wrong. Her sister has four kids and she had none, she only had Grady and Iggy now. How can she have all her kids and Edaline have none.
His daughter was dead, Grady just lost two daughters—if he could even call Sophie his daughter. He loved her like one, but it was just difficult. She knows how we lost Jolie and yet she does all these dangerous things and comes back hurt. How was he supposed to stand by, especially when she looked so much like Jolie. He failed them both.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Edaline go stiff. He moved to catch her—she'd been through so much. He couldn't blame her for glaring at Dex, she was jealous. And he was too.
//
Things escalated in everyone's minds, everyone feeling bad for Dex, themselves, Sophie. But everyone knew for a fact that nothing could go back to how it was before
Alden blamed himself for all of this, he set his children up with Sophie. If he hadn't Sophie would be alive and Dex wouldn't be traumatized. He promised his daughter she'd get to apologize, that made him a liar and a horrible person.
Biana couldn't apologize. She was supposed to be forgiven and they could be friends again. In her own selfishness and grief she couldn't think of Deck, he saw her dead body—he watched her die.
Fitz's mind was a mess, all of her potential gone. She had so much of it. They weren't that close, but he would miss her. He couldn't even think about what Deck was feeling, he was her best friend and Fitz knew he had a crush on her.
//
She was dead? Gone? How could this be, she was a bright light in all that was going on, she was the smartest and the strongest out of all of them, if anyone could have escaped it would have been her. He feared that when the dark that took her came, none of them would stand a chance.
Keefe moved to comfort Dex, he deserved it. He was her best friend, and he had to see her dead body. He is the only person here who deserves comfort.
Elwin thought all of this was heartbreaking. Sophie Foster, deceased. She was reckless, but he never thought he would have to write that down on his papers.
All they could do now is comfort Dex, the poor kid was on the verge of a mind break if he didn't calm down soon. Then he'd basically be as alive as Sophie.
//
His best friend is dead. His best friend is dead! HIS BEST FRIEND IS DEAD!
"Hello, Dexter, my name is Mr. Forkle. Mr. Dizznee I need you to cooperate with me now, I am trying to get you and Miss Foster out of here alive, we need to go!" He picked him up--he was strong for an old man. Dex was grateful for that, he would have collapsed if the old man hadn't picked him up.
Once they got down the hall he heard a cry out, then a loud crack. Mr. Forkle picks up his pace, running to where I hope Sophie is. After the crack no more sounds were made. The old man suddenly stopped, then he gasped, breathing in deeply.
There, right in front of his damned eyes, was his best friend. Dead, no light in her honey brown eyes. The warmth leaving her body, he fainted.
"No," He said softly, "She can't...she can't be dead."
//
Marella looked at Jensi when all of them were called to meet in the cafeteria. They both didn't understand what was going on, but she figured it out when Keefe Sencen and Fitz and Biana Vacker walked through the corridor with someone behind them.
She gasped, as did many others. They must have thought it was her friend, a person who knew her better than most, a sympathetic, caring, and generous person. She thought wrong though, it wasn't a girl at all walking behind them. It was Dex Dizznee, he had puffy eyes, and she knew what this assembly was about.
Her friend was truly dead.
Jensi saw Marella crying and looked up, he knew what she was crying about.
HIs friend Dex Dizznee just walked in, he too knew what was going to be said.
He didn't know Sophie that well, but her death was unjust. He knew she was sweet and innocent, if not a bit sad. She was always so kind and never judged him for who he hung out with, she cared.
Now the one spark in the Lost Cities was dead.
//
Alina pondered what to say for a while, how was she going to say that the sweet Sophie Foster was dead? She had changed so many lives, including her own. This was going to be a tragic show, but she mustered everything she had and started speaking.
"Students of Foxfire," She took a deep breath, "If you may have seen already, we have to welcome a student back from the grave, Dexter Dizznee. But while he has returned, it is tra-tragic to say that S-S-Sophie F-Foster has not."
She wiped her eyes and had to keep strong. She didn't want her son coming to this school next year and rumors were going around that she lost it. He was finally stable after losing his best friends, not that she even liked those annoying kids.
"That's it, you may return to your classes now." She said calmly and walked away.
//
Stina never got the chance to really know Sophie Foster, but seeing how much people her death affected when Dame Alina said she died, was truly heartbreaking. Even the bitch of a Dame got soppy about it.
Biana had deserved what Stina told Sophie, but Sophie didn't. Because of her selfishness she went down to the caves where the sea took her out. It was bad enough when they thought Sophie drowned, but the reality was much worse. Sophie didn't drown, she died being tortured, Stina caused that. How would she ever forgive herself, how would Sophie's friends ever forgive her.
If she manages to still be alive--despite what Dex said, she would pray and beg to the gods and Sophie that they'd forgive her. She wanted to be able to sleep at night.
//
Oralie was a mess, she cleared her desk with an arm. Her daughter can't be dead, she just can't. Oralie sacrificed way too much for her to be dead, Forkle promised that she would be safe.
She had an idea, she needed to get in contact with the Black Swan.
Kenric knew, he knew what Oralie was involved in. It must be so heart wrenching for Oralie to go through this, she didn't know that he knew. He knew that she was Sophie's biological mother, and he felt so sorry for her.
If Oralie needs help, he would be there. She'd never be the same, but nor would he. Kenric loved her with all of his heart, he would do anything to make her feel better.