Unedited.

The atmosphere was smoky and filled wafting with perfume. As Sophie opened her eyes, she found herself laying on a soft mint green carpet.

"She wakes." Iver. Sophie thought menacingly at the cheerful voice, that hurt her head. Sophie raised her head, and found herself staring at a red velvet couch, with gold threading through the fabric, lacing onto flowers, leaves and other designs.

In a black suit with a white fedora tilted slightly, Iver smiled down at her. Next to him his brother sat in a white suit with a black fedora. Both looked like 1920's gangsters, with polished shoes, tailored clothes and neatly kept hair. "I was wondering when you would wake up Sophie." Iver smiled, what Sophie meant to do, was stand up, punch them both in the face and say 'shame on you!' What came out was a very embarrassing groan, and her flopping on the ground like a seal.

Beside her, Myth moved his nose into her shoulder, giving a quiet huff of encouragement. In Alaska the cold had numbed Sophie's pain, but in the warm air, every sense was alive and burning with pain. She moved her arm which felt as heavy as lead and wrapped it around Myth. "Don't worry you're pet will be with you at all times." Iver said. "H-e's  not a pet!" Sophie managed through gritted teeth. In her mind she heard Fitz transmitting, his voice sounded far away, but he was asking if she was okay.

Sophie was weaker then she thought she ever could have been. But she reached out, snagging the thread, she spoke to Iver. "What is going too happen to me?" She asked.

'Fitz...' She transmitted weakly. His transmission became stronger and louder.

'Sophie?! Are you okay? Where are you?'

"Well, as of right now, we are going to send you to an island where you can suffer through solitude confinement." Iver smiled widely. Sophie's eyes scanned over to the brother. He didn't quite meet her eyes, but instead seemed to stare at her eyebrow. "Why?" She asked, as her stomach churned as her mind felt like it was stretching to reach Fitz.

'Fitz...help...' She managed to transmit before letting out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in pain. "Why? Tsk tsk tsk...I thought I told you at the cabin." Iver said. "We, are going to make you become our weapon." Iver said. "Never." Sophie spat. "Tsk tsk tsk...you aren't very civil are you?" He asked. "Not to people who try to kill me." Sophie said pulling herself closer to Myth, as she tried to wrap her head around the pain and shove it out of her mind, and onto the head of the Neverseen.

But the pain was moving from one place to the next, to fast for Sophie's mind to catch up to. Fitz was trying to reach her, but the bond had been stretched to far apart. Iver threw his head back and laughed, "Yes, Yes, I suppose that all good and fair." Sophie let out loud breaths as she tried to hide her pain. "Nothing is good and fair about burning, killing, and fighting elves." Sophie growled. "Hhhmmm...I suppose -from your point a view- it is not fair." Iver agreed. "Of course, you are on the floor, writhing in pain, and I and my brother of course are up here, on the comfortable couch, staring: Down. At. You."

Iver's smile was to sweet, to be innocent and to perfect to be honest. "You have to admit Sophie." He said as he leaned back in his seats, his arms stretching out across the back he crossed one leg over, so his foot rested on his knee.

"Since this war started, you've always gotten the short end of the stick. You got Prentice, but he's mad and his mind is shattered. You got Keefe but what use is he? He's only playing a victim, he's acting like he isn't as bad as he really is. You got a catche which can't be opened, which ultimately leads to a dead end. You have Silveny and Greyfell, but let them go, again a dead end.

You got a vanisher, but what good is she? She isn't brave enough to go behind enemy lines to spy, you got a weak technopath, twins who would betray you if it meant saving the other, and then of course you got Fitz. I'll admit Fitz is one of the strongest of you all...but what good can he do? You two haven't finished your training, you can't reach him and yet he's to weak to reach you. What makes you so... So confident that you can win this?"

"We have faith." Sophie as the pain bounced around through her body. Iver laughed louder then he ever had. It echoed through the small room that they were in, colliding against the cherry wood walls. "Faith in what?" Iver asked. "Each other...ourselves, our people, and our strengths." Sophie said as she managed to push her shoulders up, slowly rising up. For once Iver's face was expressionless. He stared at Sophie with something between admiration and pity, then his lips tugged upward.

"But wouldn't you rather be on the winning side? The side that can give you what you've always wanted? The side that will be victorious, join us Sophie, it's the only way you can get what you want. You want your family back, you want to belong, you want to be loved, you can have that. You just have to join us." Iver sat forward again, this time reaching his slender hand out. "You can belong at the Neverseen. You can become part of my family, you can have everything to your heart's desire." Iver promised.

Sophie reached up towards his hand, her muscles aching with pain, her mind foggy and clouded, her body burning with fever, she stared up at Iver's eyes that were soft with a welcoming kindness.

Sophie, slapped his hand away as hard as she could. "I'd rather die!" She sneered. Iver rubbed his hand, flexing his muscles. His face darkening, "That can be arranged." He looked at his brother who slowly raised his massive hand, ready to snap her away to some unknown location, to wash her memories away. "Sophie Foster. You have made a mistake now, you'll have time to think it over, I'll offer you one last chance next time I see you." Iver said, his words were heavy, but Sophie had a reason to fight against them, too fight the pain, to fight the folding up anguish, she had every reason to fight for what's he believed in. But as she wrapped herself around Myth, she could feel herself being pulled and snagged to another place.

She looked at the brother of Iver, who was watching her with sad watery blue eyes, as she was whisked away.

~
When Sophie awoke, the first thing she realized was that she remembered. She knew what happened, the second thing was that her lungs were filled with water. Coughing, salt water burned her throat as it came up, underneath her she felt sand grains sticking to her clothes and the sweltering sun burning down on her. Sophie finished coughing out the water, before she realized another thing.

Silence.

Silence that weighed down like an anvil on her chest, no human thoughts, no talking, nothing. Only the sound of water lapping at her soaked boots and leaves blowing in a warm breeze. Jerking her aching head up, Sophie stared around the beach.

Myth lay in a wet sandy trail he had dragged himself in the shade of a coconut tree, and was panting. The silence was deafening to Sophie's ears, as she stared around, a empty tropical beach, no monkeys, no birds, no sounds of crickets or bugs of any kind, not even the buzzing of a fly. She was weary with exhaustion, but she managed to pull her feet out of the water, she pulled off her water filled boots and set them down, before digging in her damp leather jacket, she found her journal. It was unharmed, though the ink was only a bit smeared it was still legible.

The key chain was ruined though. Sophie decided to leave it on anyways, as she wrote down everything. The Neverseen, Grady and Edaline, the Black Swan, Iver and his brother, Mr. Forkle the collective, Keefe, Fitz, Biana, Dex, Stina, Foxfire, the councilors, Alvar and his earring that was still in her ear. She explained how it worked. She told the journal every secret she had. Her crush on Fitz, her homesickness for her human family.

She explained every single thing she had ever hidden, she had ever done, not leaving a single detail out. Not holding back Keefe and Alvar's double betrayals, against the Lost Cities and the Neverseen. She explained about Lady Gisella, she scribbled down Biana's and Marella's boy craziness. She told about Rowan, and how she read so much into his every action how she had felt so...hurt when he had told her he liked Marella, she wrote about Melody, Calla, Delia and her betrayal, Brosh, Myth, Sandor. Every person she had come into contact with, every thought she had, had. Every feeling she could describe.

Everything went into the journal, she didn't hold anything back. She wrote about how her heart hammered in her chest, waking up the butterflies in her stomach every time she saw Fitz, she explained how she was self conscious of her brown eyes, she penned down, how she hoped every bit of her wished her hands never sweated when Fitz offered her his hand. How one look at Fitz made her weak in the knees. Everything.

The sun was setting by the time, looking up Sophie found a golden orange and red sunset, that made the blue waters look royal purple. White capped waves kissed her toes, as it wiped out the marks she had left. Sophie snapped her journal closed, which had one page left. Placing it in it's pocket Sophie went to Myth who had fallen asleep in the blistering heat, Sophie hadn't noticed while writing. "Wait here big guy, I'm going to get us some coconuts." Sophie as she placed her jacket, boots, socks, and bag down besides him. He grunted, as Sophie had never been good at climbing trees, but she tried.

No matter how sore she tried and tried again until she managed to get nearly an armful down. Sitting beside Myth she pulled out her knife, and hacked open the coconut open with the blade that slice through it with ease. The juice inside soothed her burning throat, and Myth even drank some. "Looks like we're going to be stuck here a while." Sophie told him, as she looked at the darkening beach. "We'll have to make a shelter or something." She said. Myth let out a whining groan and Sophie smiled. "Tomorrow." She promised. Tonight...tonight the rested.