•Sector 5
Hunter sat outside the med bay as Skylar attended to Sophia. The stone blue-skinned girl had passed out shortly after the eclipse which prompted the sprite to take the dark mystic to Sector 5 and for Skylar's examination.
'Did the solar eclipse trigger her transition?'
[I believe so. That coupled with the fact that she killed someone.]
'You think that was a factor?'
[It has to be. There's a werewolf pack that only starts to hear their wolf a full moon after killing someone.]
Just then, the door slid open and Skylar walked out of the room. Hunter quickly jumped up from the bench and approached the aqua-blue-haired woman. "How is she?" He asked.
"See for yourself."
Hunter walked into the room while Skylar waited outside. He found the redhead on the bed, she had now discarded her blindfold.
Her hair was now navy blue and her skin was now cerulean in the front and indigo at the back and looked rough. Her eyes had no iris and her sclera were a vibrant light blue color that shined.
Several lines on her body glowed sky blue. The first were two lines on her face, each running from each of her eyebrows up to her hairline.
Her body had several lines: six were above her chest, three on either side, and each much thicker than the one on her forehead. The first ones ran in a titled horizontal form from her shoulder blade to her sternum, and the other two pairs followed the same pattern directly below the first, they were visible even through her clothes thanks to the glow. There were more lines below her chest but those weren't as thick as the ones on her chest and thus not as bright. More lines ran vertically tilted from her waist down to her skirt where it wasn't visible.
"You want me to turn around so you'll see the back?" Sophia said teasingly, the dark-haired boy had lost his sense of reality as he took in his best friend's new look.
"Yes actually," Hunter nodded.
Sophia giggles. "Okay doctor," she said, with more than a little pep as she jumped out of bed and turned for the teal-green-eyed boy.
She had more thick, glowing, lines on her back. The longest of which was one that followed the pattern of the vertebral column. On each of her backbones were a left and right angle triangle respectively and below each of the aforementioned shapes was a tilted horizontal line.
"Cool right?"
"Yeah."
"Feel it," said Sophia as she extended her hand toward the dark-haired boy. Hunter placed his hand over the dark mystic's skin. Despite its appearance, it felt smooth and soft, and warm. "Wow," he said. "Definitely didn't expect this," he admitted.
"I know right?"
Hunter looked the navy blue-haired woman in the eyes. "Now it's time for the most important question," he said.
"If there are any glowing lines on my butt," Sophia completed the sprite's question for him.
"I was going to ask how you were feeling but ... Is there?"
"Thankfully no," she shook her head. "And to answer your question, I feel great, it's like I found a part of myself I've been missing for so long."
"I thought I was the part you were missing?" Hunter said.
"'Course you are!" She exclaimed, pinching and pulling the sprite's cheek.
Hunter frowns. "I see your eyes no longer emit light," said Hunter.
"Yes, but I'm still going to keep wearing my blindfold. Many would find it weird to keep eye contact with how my eyes look now," she said.
"It's up to you but I think you'll look cool either way." Hunter turned to the door. "Someone's here to see you."
The door slides open and Chelsea walks through.
"Chelsea!" Sophia exclaimed.
"Sophia!" Chelsea exclaimed.
The duo rushed towards each other and hugged each other tightly. When they break apart, Sophia punches Chelsea on the shoulder. "Don't scare me like that again!" She said.
Chelsea returned the favor. "You too!"
Hunter smiled and left the duo to catch up while he exited the room. He found Skylar waiting outside.
"You're still here?" He asked.
"I wanted to ask you some questions," she said. "What happened to her?"
'There's a joke to be made here about her asking me this question when she's the doctor but I'll keep it to myself.'
"What do you mean?"
"I obviously saw her on the five before but I always thought she was a hybrid moon elf. Seeing as she just transitioned, that isn't the case, is it?"
'What do I even say?'
[Don't mention me.]
"No," Hunter shook his head. "She was a non-mystic who turned after receiving a fatal injury," the sprite stated.
"Did she have vampire blood in her system?" Skylar asked, Hunter responded by shaking his head. "No connection whatsoever with any mystical being as far as know."
"Then this is unprecedented. If she died, the only way to bring her back to life as a different being has to be through black magic," she thought out loud. "But even that would only last so long before she loses her mind and goes out of control. No, this has to be something even more unexplainable ... Something like chaos m --" Skylar turned to Hunter, a dreadful look in her eyes. "You didn't do anything did you?"
"No! I swear, I wouldn't even know what to do," the sprite exclaimed.
"Hm. I don't know how chaos magic works but I'm certain someone placed a spell on her that only activates when she dies ... That wouldn't explain her transitioning but chaos magic is unpredictable so it may be why that happened."
"Does she have any witch relatives?" Skylar asks.
"No," Hunter shook his head. "I don't know, she grew up with her uncle and aunt and they were both non-mystics."
"What about her parents?"
"No idea. Sof doesn't like to talk about them and I've learned to avoid asking about them. All I know is they weren't the best role model for her growing up."
"Well, at least I have something to follow up on."
'I feel bad for telling her half-truths.'
[We can't go around trusting everyone with our secrets. I hate to bring it up but remember Circe?]
'Circe was going to happen whether or not I'd trusted her, she had specter eyes remember?'
[And René?]
"You'll be going up to the surface as soon as possible. Sophia would be staying on the five so I can examine her further. Luciana has already joined Camille and the others, Diana will be coming with you, and Sydney too, I know you two were on the same group in your school's study tour and have no doubts about your ability to work together as a team. Your new friends, Aislinn and Hachimura will also be with you. It's not something I'd normally sanction but they have unique abilities that could prove useful throughout the mission."
"Have you told Diana yet?"
Skylar shook her head. "You want to do it?"
...
Diana was scrolling through her tablet when the door to her cabin beeped and slid open. "What the --" she turned towards the door.
"No, your door isn't malfunctioning, Skylar overrode the lock."
Hunter walked into the room with Skylar following closely behind him.
"Skylar, what the hell? I told you I don't want to see anyone!" The snow-white-haired woman exclaimed.
"Oh, I'm Skylar now? I must be in trouble," the aqua-blue-haired woman said with a slight smile.
"I'm being serious ..."
"You're going back to the field," Skylar revealed.
"Wh --"
"Before you say anything know that my decision is final."
"I can't go," Diana said. "I'm a fraud, you saw what happened at Dreieck."
Hunter stepped in. "That wasn't your fault --"
"I challenged Trinity to a one-on-one after claiming for weeks how I'll easily take her and her twin only to not be able to land a hit when it mattered the most."
"That doesn't mean you're a fraud, that just means she bested you back then. I too went up against Trinity and couldn't land a hit either."
"Mom said you landed one."
"Skylar was exaggerating. Closing yourself from the rest of the world isn't going to help, our fight with the Archaeons isn't over yet ... What you need to be doing is training and trying to get better so that the next time you meet the twins, you don't just land a strike, you beat them."
A smile flickers on Diana's lips. "It would feel nice to beat them the next time we meet," she admitted before shifting her gaze to the aqua-blue-eyed woman. "Where are we going?"
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