03-23-2010, 06:29 PM
Sophia felt bad upon realizing what she had actually said to Kaden, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it at the time. She just needed to spend some time away from people, to collect her thoughts, to actually calm down a little bit, but fate had something else in mind. Juno, perhaps the last person she wanted to see considering past experiences with the man, felt it necessary to impose himself into the situation, and she had done everything from chiding to slapping him in the face to fend him off. To his credit, though, he stuck with her until his portal appeared. He disappeared within it, the distortion closing as soon as he disappeared from sight.
The healer was about to do the same, until another call came her way.
“Hey! Sophia!” Every conversation started the same way, and they all ended with her steaming. She found herself surprisingly cordial as hi dialogue progressed, however. “Who was your friend?”
She was actually surprised by the question, tilting her head to the side. “You mean Juno?”
Kaden wrenched his face in contemplation—was he serious? Sophia was too dead to know most of what had gone on after Friend or Foe, but he was pretty sure that they had at least met during the game that led to her actual demise. That little tidbit, however, meant very little in the long run, and she found herself drowning in and out of thought, replying to any question or statement almost unconsciously. Besides, she was too busy focusing on trying not to cry, instead drawing her heavily practiced smile on her face. In some ways, she was hoping to avoid talking about what was actually on both of their minds.
Unfortunately, the courier pressed the issue. “Ok, Sophia, we need to talk. We both know it…”
Yeah…we do, Sophia thought. But I don’t know what else to say.
“I think… in some ways… I owe you an apology.” Sophia was struck by the comment, opening her mouth slightly though nothing but air came out. “You’ve been through… some shit. And… I dunno. I’m not saying I should have been, like, reading your mind or anything, but I could’ve been more... what? Supportive? Or at least sensitive. But yeah, so there’s that.”
Sophia couldn’t believe her ears. Kaden had always been so…removed from the situation before then that she almost thought that he was just toying with her. Such a stunt would have ruined their friendship for good, she thought, but he started talking more before she could dwell on that notion any further. “More importantly – well, maybe it’s not more important… I dunno – you kind of left at a bad time. I mean… ok… I understand how you feel – I really do – but…”
Is…is he really…? Her thoughts were hopeful for the first time in years.
Then, as it seemed, fate suddenly remembered its purpose in the healer’s life. Before Kaden could speak any more on the matter, and in consequence, on what was “more important” as the jaws of his event portal opened right under his feet, the sight accompanied by the loud beeping and blooping of his PAGER. His eyes widened and fixed themselves nearly in the same instant as realization dawned upon his features. Before Sophia could match any such revelation, the courier was gone from her sight.
The healer, along with the strange girl who had tagged along with Kaden, stared at the spot that the courier had previously occupied with wide eyes and open jaws. Sophia’s own PAGER made a piercing sound a few seconds later, the same concept as if a person cleared his throat to gain another person’s attention, providing a brand new timer on the screen. There were no signs as to what it was actually counting down to, but if it provided the same kind of surprises that Gamer had shown capable of handing out, she had no reason to stick around to find out.
“Well…I should go,” Sophia found herself saying, though she had no obligations to speak to this stranger.
“Wait! You…you know who I am, right? Right!?” the girl started to panic. “We know each other! Well….kind of. I mean, we’ve never hung out or anything, but I at least know your name I think. It’s, uh, Soapie, or something, am I right? Hey!”
“I don’t have time for this,” the former priestess sighed and turned towards her portal, stepping through it without so much as a glance over her shoulder.
“I’m not actually a girl!” she heard the stranger scream right before she progressed through.
*
“What the heck? Gamer did that on purpose!” Sophia fumed as she stepped through the portal, finding herself in some sort of garage. “At the most important part!”
The rest of her rant didn’t come in words, but rather by a series of sounds and grunts as she stomped onward. She made it far to the other side of the massive complex, in fact, before she even realized that she had no idea where it was that she had landed. Taking a quick glance at the PAGER display, she gathered that she was supposed to pick a vehicle and drive it in a race. Point-to-point, it was fairly straight forward, something that she was surprisingly grateful for. This only extended so far, both in that she hated the teenager for what he had done to her and that she struggled to focus on anything other than her problems with Kaden.
“Why did…that of all things have to happen?” she sighed. “Now I have to wait until I finish the event to…to…”
With each “to,” a loud engine noise cut her off. The healer twitched with every time she was cut off, eventually to the point where she turned towards the center of the room, the origin of such a noise, ready to yell in its direction. When she turned, however, she was met with the sight of Kaden riding a motorcycle. She raced towards him, waving her hand, hoping to finish their conversation, but he drove off before she could even distract him. Sighing, she lowered her head and paced back to where she had been standing.
“Men and their toys,” she groaned. He might not have stopped even if he had noticed him. Looking up, her eyes seemed to flare. “Alright, then. I’ll just have to catch up to him and make him notice me.”
She glanced around the garage area to try to find a vehicle. It seemed like there was little to pick from at that point—the other participants likely didn’t wait to enter their respective portals. The only thing she could find, in fact, didn’t look like a vehicle at all. She had no idea what the device even did, from the looks of it. It was shaped largely like a metal big with giant wings. Her best guess was that it hovered and she was supposed to ride on top of it. Inching closer to it, she inspected the machine closely, leaning over to examine the finer details. There didn’t appear to be any buttons or switches to press on the top, so she reached underneath to feel around for something to pull. When she found her something, she flashed a toothy grin and flipped the switch.
A high whine filled the air, and the vehicle began to light up. Slowly, it lifted itself off the air, but only a few inches. Sucking in a deep breath, she prepared herself to step onto the machine, but before she could, it burst upward like a geyser, catching her body as it was bent over and carrying the healer with it. It shot towards the ceiling and cracked her frame against the concrete before it slowly made its descent. Sophia groaned and rolled off the metallic beast as soon as it stopped moving, gasping breaths as she gazed into the cracks that her body had made on the ceiling.
A sting in her chest caused her to wince as she sat back up, a second-long process that easily cost her ten extra. She shook her head free from the cobwebs that seemed to consume her, glaring at the glider sitting next to her. She would get on this contraption and win with it, even if she broke every bone in her body in the process. Hesitantly, she pushed herself to her feet and crawled onto the vehicle once again. It whined again, something that forced Sophia to brace herself on the sides, but instead of shooting upwards, it raced forward. All she could do to stay on was to grasp the front edges and lay on her stomach, just letting the machine carry her in a random direction until she figured out how to maneuver it. The glider, along with Sophia, zoomed out of the garage and towards the track as if it had been thrown from a slingshot.
As she faced the city ahead, she could only pray that Kaden didn’t see her until her moment of glory.
The healer was about to do the same, until another call came her way.
“Hey! Sophia!” Every conversation started the same way, and they all ended with her steaming. She found herself surprisingly cordial as hi dialogue progressed, however. “Who was your friend?”
She was actually surprised by the question, tilting her head to the side. “You mean Juno?”
Kaden wrenched his face in contemplation—was he serious? Sophia was too dead to know most of what had gone on after Friend or Foe, but he was pretty sure that they had at least met during the game that led to her actual demise. That little tidbit, however, meant very little in the long run, and she found herself drowning in and out of thought, replying to any question or statement almost unconsciously. Besides, she was too busy focusing on trying not to cry, instead drawing her heavily practiced smile on her face. In some ways, she was hoping to avoid talking about what was actually on both of their minds.
Unfortunately, the courier pressed the issue. “Ok, Sophia, we need to talk. We both know it…”
Yeah…we do, Sophia thought. But I don’t know what else to say.
“I think… in some ways… I owe you an apology.” Sophia was struck by the comment, opening her mouth slightly though nothing but air came out. “You’ve been through… some shit. And… I dunno. I’m not saying I should have been, like, reading your mind or anything, but I could’ve been more... what? Supportive? Or at least sensitive. But yeah, so there’s that.”
Sophia couldn’t believe her ears. Kaden had always been so…removed from the situation before then that she almost thought that he was just toying with her. Such a stunt would have ruined their friendship for good, she thought, but he started talking more before she could dwell on that notion any further. “More importantly – well, maybe it’s not more important… I dunno – you kind of left at a bad time. I mean… ok… I understand how you feel – I really do – but…”
Is…is he really…? Her thoughts were hopeful for the first time in years.
Then, as it seemed, fate suddenly remembered its purpose in the healer’s life. Before Kaden could speak any more on the matter, and in consequence, on what was “more important” as the jaws of his event portal opened right under his feet, the sight accompanied by the loud beeping and blooping of his PAGER. His eyes widened and fixed themselves nearly in the same instant as realization dawned upon his features. Before Sophia could match any such revelation, the courier was gone from her sight.
The healer, along with the strange girl who had tagged along with Kaden, stared at the spot that the courier had previously occupied with wide eyes and open jaws. Sophia’s own PAGER made a piercing sound a few seconds later, the same concept as if a person cleared his throat to gain another person’s attention, providing a brand new timer on the screen. There were no signs as to what it was actually counting down to, but if it provided the same kind of surprises that Gamer had shown capable of handing out, she had no reason to stick around to find out.
“Well…I should go,” Sophia found herself saying, though she had no obligations to speak to this stranger.
“Wait! You…you know who I am, right? Right!?” the girl started to panic. “We know each other! Well….kind of. I mean, we’ve never hung out or anything, but I at least know your name I think. It’s, uh, Soapie, or something, am I right? Hey!”
“I don’t have time for this,” the former priestess sighed and turned towards her portal, stepping through it without so much as a glance over her shoulder.
“I’m not actually a girl!” she heard the stranger scream right before she progressed through.
*
“What the heck? Gamer did that on purpose!” Sophia fumed as she stepped through the portal, finding herself in some sort of garage. “At the most important part!”
The rest of her rant didn’t come in words, but rather by a series of sounds and grunts as she stomped onward. She made it far to the other side of the massive complex, in fact, before she even realized that she had no idea where it was that she had landed. Taking a quick glance at the PAGER display, she gathered that she was supposed to pick a vehicle and drive it in a race. Point-to-point, it was fairly straight forward, something that she was surprisingly grateful for. This only extended so far, both in that she hated the teenager for what he had done to her and that she struggled to focus on anything other than her problems with Kaden.
“Why did…that of all things have to happen?” she sighed. “Now I have to wait until I finish the event to…to…”
With each “to,” a loud engine noise cut her off. The healer twitched with every time she was cut off, eventually to the point where she turned towards the center of the room, the origin of such a noise, ready to yell in its direction. When she turned, however, she was met with the sight of Kaden riding a motorcycle. She raced towards him, waving her hand, hoping to finish their conversation, but he drove off before she could even distract him. Sighing, she lowered her head and paced back to where she had been standing.
“Men and their toys,” she groaned. He might not have stopped even if he had noticed him. Looking up, her eyes seemed to flare. “Alright, then. I’ll just have to catch up to him and make him notice me.”
She glanced around the garage area to try to find a vehicle. It seemed like there was little to pick from at that point—the other participants likely didn’t wait to enter their respective portals. The only thing she could find, in fact, didn’t look like a vehicle at all. She had no idea what the device even did, from the looks of it. It was shaped largely like a metal big with giant wings. Her best guess was that it hovered and she was supposed to ride on top of it. Inching closer to it, she inspected the machine closely, leaning over to examine the finer details. There didn’t appear to be any buttons or switches to press on the top, so she reached underneath to feel around for something to pull. When she found her something, she flashed a toothy grin and flipped the switch.
A high whine filled the air, and the vehicle began to light up. Slowly, it lifted itself off the air, but only a few inches. Sucking in a deep breath, she prepared herself to step onto the machine, but before she could, it burst upward like a geyser, catching her body as it was bent over and carrying the healer with it. It shot towards the ceiling and cracked her frame against the concrete before it slowly made its descent. Sophia groaned and rolled off the metallic beast as soon as it stopped moving, gasping breaths as she gazed into the cracks that her body had made on the ceiling.
A sting in her chest caused her to wince as she sat back up, a second-long process that easily cost her ten extra. She shook her head free from the cobwebs that seemed to consume her, glaring at the glider sitting next to her. She would get on this contraption and win with it, even if she broke every bone in her body in the process. Hesitantly, she pushed herself to her feet and crawled onto the vehicle once again. It whined again, something that forced Sophia to brace herself on the sides, but instead of shooting upwards, it raced forward. All she could do to stay on was to grasp the front edges and lay on her stomach, just letting the machine carry her in a random direction until she figured out how to maneuver it. The glider, along with Sophia, zoomed out of the garage and towards the track as if it had been thrown from a slingshot.
As she faced the city ahead, she could only pray that Kaden didn’t see her until her moment of glory.