No one on here guessed her father's identity correctly, muahaha.
Anyway.
Be prepared, this chapter is FRICKIN' LONG! 2500 or something. Too many.
Crowd: Even one would be too many, if it was from an author as awful as you!
Me: Wow, thanks.
Okay, anyway, enjoy!
Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. "Alright. Do you remember the memory that you and Mr. Dizznee saw in Councillor Oralie's cache?"
Sophie nodded slowly. "Yes...?"
"Your father is the... former elf, Mr. Laron Wainright. Ethan Benedict Wright."
Sophie felt nothing more than mild surprise. Her world was not flipped upside down. She hadn't expected it, certainly- nor had she suspected her father to be a dead criminal- but she didn't particularly care. "Why?"
"For one thing, we thought it would be beneficial to remove the stigma surrounding talentless elves if the most powerful elf had a talentless parent. He had also been 'turned' human, and part of your role as moonlark was to establish a connection between humans and elves- though of course, his DNA matches elvin DNA, so you are still one hundred percent elf."
"And alicorn," Sophie couldn't resist muttering.
"Not actually," Mr. Forkle corrected. "But hopefully that answer satisfied your curiosity."
"It did. Yes. Thank you."
"Please don't make me regret this, Sophie. And now you see why we didn't want people knowing, I presume?"
"Yes." The world would definitely be in turmoil had it gotten out that a criminal- one of the worst non-exiled elves- was related to the moonlark, and he was talentless, and human. Three strikes against him. Though Sophie did see the Black Swan's reasoning as well.
She was definitely not as upset as she was after finding out who her biological mother was. That was definitely, in part, because she had never met Ethan Benedict Wright, he hadn't lied to her face for years and years and years, she had never trusted him, and- Sophie shut that thought. This was not the time to repeat the reasons she was mad at the councillor that shall not be named. But the newfound information didn't bother her because, after finally, finally winning against the Neverseen (a fact that still completely overwhelmed her, one she still couldn't quite believe), not much could spoil her mood.
Except, of course, for remembering that Linh was nearly killed and might already be-
"Is Linh okay?" Sophie blurted, the victory crashing down around her.
Mr. Forkle's eyebrows raised. Evidently, he was expecting more questions about Sophie's parentage. But that had almost completely vanished from Sophie's mind when she started worrying about one of her best friends. "Yes, actually- I was planning to tell you that next. Elwin wants her in the Healing Center for a few more days, and she'll have some permanent scarring, but she's already conscious and will almost certainly survive."
Sophie puffed out a sigh of relief, flicking a few eyelashes off of her fingertips. She hadn't even realized she'd pulled them. "How about Keefe? And Biana?"
"Both are insisting that they don't need medical attention. They do, but it's not serious."
Sophie nodded, a stupid smile rising to her face. They were okay. No one else had gotten badly injured, out of her friends. All of her friends were okay. They'd be okay.
"Is that all?" she asked, itching to go visit them anyway.
"Not quite, Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle said. "This may be a bit soon, and you definitely don't have to start worrying about this now... but when we created you-" Sophie flinched slightly at the phrasing. "-you were meant to be a way to right some of the wrongs in our worlds, to rid it of its injustices. Not necessarily to defeat the Neverseen. When the threat of the Neverseen appeared, you handled it far better than we could have ever predicted, and we cannot thank you enough. And you are under no obligation to fulfill your intended purpose- you are a person, not a tool- but from what I know of you, Miss Foster, you are the kind of person who would want to start fixing the world. And you don't have to start now, of course, so soon after your victory against the Neverseen, but just try to think about it."
Sophie nodded, resisting the urge to pull out her eyelashes. Being told what she was quite literally made to do, seeing that responsibility put on her shoulders, was a little overwhelming. More than a little. "Okay."
"Thank you again, Sophie. You are free to go."
Sophie blushed, never knowing quite what to do with compliments. "Thanks. Bye."
As soon as she left the office, she leapt over to the Healing Center. To her delight, she only tripped three times on her way, rather than her usual six or seven. Mental high five!
Elwin greeted her outside the door to the Healing Center, bags under his eyes and a cup of coffee in his hand. (Do elves have coffee? Just go with it.) "Hi, Sophie! Rare that you're not the patient, huh? Anyway, most of your friends are inside already. They're debating about whether or not Tam should get a stuffed animal."
"Um, yes!" Sophie said. She guessed that everyone agreed with her, except for Tam, that is.
"-but I don't want a stuffed animal!" Tam protested, slumped over in a chair, his bangs covering his eyes.
"Come on, Bangs Boy!" Keefe argued. "Yes you do!"
"Tammy, your injured sister would like you to get one!"
"I am aware, Linh, you've tried playing that card like fifteen different times in the last two minutes."
"Yes, because I'm right!"
"No you're not."
"Don't disagree with my girlfriend!"
Sophie laughed, shaking her head slightly at the madness. She had the craziest and most wonderful friends in the Lost Cities. "I agree with Linh. You need a stuffed animal. A bat, maybe?"
"Sounds good!" Dex agreed. "And we'd name it...?"
"Mr. Shadowmaster?" Biana suggested.
"Mr. Saltlord?" Fitz added.
Tam groaned. "I hate you all."
"Don't say that, Tammy, that's mean!" Linh exclaimed.
"Anyway, Sophie, what have you been doing?" Wylie asked in a valiant attempt to bring the conversation away from Mr. Shadowmaster or Mr. Saltlord or whatever they were calling Tam's stuffed bat. It worked.
"Sleeping. Eating mallowmelt. Talking to Mr. Forkle."
"Ooh, what'd the Fork Man say?" Keefe asked, barely looking up whatever he was doodling on the cast covering his left arm."
Sophie tugged at an eyelash. These are my friends, she reminded herself. I can trust them not to tell anyone. I can trust them. "He told me who my biological father was."
"Really?" said Fitz, his teal eyes meeting hers. Sophie flicked her eyes away, not wanting to remember their argument after she found out about Oralie. She failed.
"Yeah."
"Who is it?" Dex asked eagerly. "Only if you want to tell us, that is."
Another eyelash. It's fine. It's okay. They can know. You can trust them. "Ethan Benedict Wright."
Biana's brow furrowed. "Isn't he, like, a human?"
"It's kind of a long story..." Sophie mumbled.
"I'll tell it," Dex offered. "We found this in Oralie's cache. Wright used to be a Talentless elf. Then he discovered Stellarlune and developed the ability to steal abilities, like Keefe has. The council was not happy. Which is very obviously an understatement. They basically stripped away all of his elfiness, in technical terms, and sent him to live as a human. Then Gisela murdered him. The end."
"That's not that long of a story," Marella said.
"That was the very paraphrased version," said Dex.
Biana cleared her throat. "Do you know who your mom is?"
"Biological mom," Sophie corrected automatically. Edaline was her real mom, and no DNA would ever change that. "And yes. I'll tell you guys, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Like, ever. Because she could get in a lot of trouble if anyone found out." Everyone in the room nodded. "It's, um, Councillor Oralie," she almost whispered.
Everyone reacted with various gasps and shocked expressions. Linh was the first to notice that a few people did not look very surprised- namely Fitz, Keefe, and Dex.
"They already knew," Sophie admitted. "I told Fitz right after I found out, and Dex figured it out on his own, and I told Keefe after we started... dating..."
"Is this why you started acting really weird around Oralie?" Wylie asked. Sophie tugged an eyelash, realizing just how very subtle she'd been with her annoyance.
Tam nodded. "Yeah, you've started acting like you hate her, which is weird, because she used to be your favorite councillor."
"Yeah."
"I think you should talk to Oralie," Dex nagged.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"I agree with Dex," Linh cut in before the bickering could continue any longer. "If the timeline I've figured out is correct- from just before you and Fitz broke up- you've known for months and months. That's kind of a long time to be bitter. Just talk to Oralie, what's the worst that could happen?"
Sophie didn't really have an answer to that, so she mumbled "Fine."
She stayed a while, talking and laughing with her friends about nothing in particular, until Elwin kicked everyone except for Keefe, Linh, and Biana out, and Sophie decided that she couldn't really stall much longer. She leapt to Eternalia, just outside Oralie's council.
Deep breaths, Sophie reminder herself, tugging an eyelash.
She knocked.
Oralie opened the door, eyes widening almost comically when she saw Sophie. "Didn't expect you here," she mumbled, running a hand through her previously flawless hair. "What brings you...?"
"Can I come in?" Sophie mumbled, eyes on the floor. More and more, she was regretting caving in to Linh and Dex. This was incredibly awkward. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to strangle Oralie or sink into a hole.
"Um... yeah. Yeah, sure," Oralie stammered.
Determined to look everywhere but the Councillor Who Shall- Oralie, Sophie busied herself by looking around Oralie's castle. The walls were pink. Vases filled with flowers covered pretty much every available surface. The walls were mostly bare, but- Sophie noticed with a twinge of pity- Oralie had a few pictures of her and Kenric hanging up. Oralie led Sophie to a kitchen table, offering her a seat and a plate of custard bursts. Despite the fact that Sophie's stomach was twisting with knots, she took one.
"So what brings you here?" Oralie asked.
"I, um..." Sophie started eloquently. "Well, I..." She pulled out an eyelash. And another. And another. "I've mostly been ignoring the fact that..." Eyelash. "That I have your DNA, but my idiot friends forced me to maybe face my problems and stuff?"
Oralie nodded, looking at her high heeled shoes. "I see."
"So, I guess when I first found out, I felt kind of... betrayed?" Sophie squeaked. "That I used to really like you, but then I found out you'd been lying the entire time we've known each other."
Oralie exhaled, cheeks puffing out the exact same way that Sophie's did. Every time she noticed any similar traits between them, it was disconcerting. We share DNA, it seemed to scream. No matter how much you want to, you can never escape that. "I guess I have," she muttered. "I can't really deny that."
This was the worst defense ever.
"But Sophie, I never lied to you for the sake of lying. You know that, right?"
"I guess?" Sophie mumbled, though she already knew Oralie was a great liar. Who said she was telling the truth now?
"I know you don't believe me," Oralie said. "Empath, remember?"
"Right," Sophie said. Since she didn't have Empathy, she touched her hand to Oralie's wrist and checked for her lying tell.
"But I'm very sorry I broke your trust," Oralie continued. "I knew it was for the right reasons, but every time I looked into your eyes and didn't tell you, I felt awful. That's probably not enough, and you have every right to be mad, but I'm sorry." Oralie's pulse remained normal. She wasn't lying.
Sophie took a deep breath. And another. And another. Oralie didn't want to lie to her. She was sorry. She had always wanted to tell Sophie the truth.
Sophie was still mad, definitely. She didn't know if she would ever stop being mad. And Sophie seriously doubted that her relationship with Oralie would ever go back to the trust she'd had before. But for now... Sophie was done with hating Oralie. Sophie was done with refusing to speak Oralie's name. Sophie was done with going out of her way to avoid speaking to her biological mother. Sophie was done with holding a grudge.
"Okay," she said, unsure what else to say. Oralie's Empathy seemed to figure out the rest, and the councillor nodded, a small smile coming to her face.
"I know I'm not your mom, Sophie," Oralie said. "You have my DNA, but Grady and Edaline are your real parents. And I am okay with that. But for what it's worth, I'm glad to have played a part in creating such an amazing girl."
Sophie's face burned- she even felt tears prick her eyes. "Thank you."
Oralie nodded, not saying anything else. Sophie wasn't sure what else to say, but even if she knew, she didn't really think she would say anything else. So she just nodded back and stood, waving goodbye before walking out.
Dex and Linh were right, to Sophie's mild annoyance. Talking to Oralie was the right thing to do. It felt cheesy to think, but after letting go of that stupid grudge, Sophie felt a bit lighter. Happier.
Oralie wasn't her favorite councillor. She wasn't the Councillor That Shall Not Be Named. She was just a person that Sophie happened to share DNA with. Not a person that Sophie had to particularly care about one way or another.
She leapt away from her biological mother's house and back to Havenfield, where the only parents she would ever need greeted her with hugs and desserts.
Okay, soo... lotta stuff happened. I know this isn't the main idea of the chapter, but seriously, Tam with a stuffed bat? Yes or no? If yes, shadowmaster? Or saltlord? Or something else? Tam's stuffed animal is the new main idea of the series. I need input on this! --->
Other than that, what'd you think of the Oralie/Sophie talk? It was one of the scenes I've been planning since basically the beginning, so I hope I did a good job on it! Lol. --->
And, of course, Ethan Benedict Wright is her father! Feel free to react to that if you haven't already. --->
Since I've been pretty subtle about it so far, now's a good time to remind you that I'd love comments! --->