I stood there, looking at Sophia like a fool. Despite the bandages, she looked good. Physically she had not changed all that much, that I had seen the day before, but now that she was no longer as exhausted has she had been, she looked better. Gone was a lot of the harrowing, sorrowful look that made it seem as if the world was pressing down on her. It was then that I realised that maybe I should not try to draw her back to my side, even if there was a part of me that had desperately missed her.

“You look good.” I managed to force out, causing her to smile. I had not seen such a smile on her for a long time, it was the slightly sardonic smile she had sometimes worn in school, when something the teacher said amused her, or she disagreed with them but did not want to stir up trouble.

“Certainly, I’m sure I could make Bandages Monthly, or maybe some collection of the best-looking traffic-victims.” she answered, her smile turning slightly sad.

“But both of us know that I look like I was run over by a truck, before said truck dropped a load of bricks on me. I certainly feel like it.”

I stepped into the room and was about to open my mouth in protest, but she was faster.

“Would you take off your mask? I was hardly awake yesterday, but I think I remember you looking different than you looked before.” she asked and before I could really think about it, I had made sure the door was closed and my hands went to my mask, disengaging the lock. There was a soft noise and I had the mask in my hands, looking at Sophia through my own eyes.

“You cut your hair.” was her first reaction and I had to laugh at that. Certainly, I had cut my hair, but the changes were much deeper than that.

“Yes, quite some time ago. There are other changes, but those were less pleasant.” I answered, now grinning a little, being drawn in by the remembered closeness, even as a part of me was screaming for caution. While I was certain, wanted to be certain, that she was still the Sophia I knew, still my Sophia, I could not be. Not only had we been separated for almost a year, she had been together with someone of unknown purpose, Isleen, someone who seemed to be a skillful manipulator. And that was without the even scarier idea of some psion forcing their power into her mind.

“Oh? I think you mentioned once that you wanted to change yourself, strengthening your body, but I don’t know if you ever went through with it.”

I tried to gauge her interest, if it was motivated by some ulterior motive or merely part of the interest I hoped that she still had in me.

“That was another project. No, the changes I meant were not voluntary. Well, they were, but were forced upon me at the same time.” I took a deep breath, before explaining it in one hurried word-stream.

“Clark, he went after me first, just, what, a bit over a week ago. I was careless or maybe I relied too much on a good, faked identity. He came far too close to killing me, you know. But he cannot come after either of us, not any longer. I made sure of that.”

She blinked a few times before raising an eyebrow.. “You made sure of that? Do I want to know how?”

“Well, given that he was shot yesterday, I am quite certain that he will not try to harm you again.” I answered, giving a non-answer. But a sad look went over Sophia’s face, a small grimace of discomfort.

“Oh. Would you mind telling me what happened? I remember you beginning but I must have nodded off at some place. I think I remember you telling me that you were injured by Clark and Technica made you her apprentice but is also your mother.”

I sighed and began to tell the story again, describing how Clark had kidnapped her and how Technica had stormed the building with me as fire-support.

“You learned a few new tricks, didn’t you?” she asked, shaking her head a little. I had not exactly explained how I knew what had happened or how we had found her but did not ask for clarification.

“There was some luck involved, or deliberate misinterpretation on Galatea’s part. She kept an eye on you after I left…” I started but the words choked me.

“And we need to talk about that. I, I just want to understand, I want to understand what happened. I tried to explain to Isleen, the older one, who’s here, what went on, but I just don’t understand.”

“I... “ I started but could not form the words, when suddenly, someone else started in.

“Mother did not want to drag you away from your brother, that was one of the reasons. But at the same time, what we learned in the compound meant that she could not stay.” Galatea spoke, using her own voice. It had changed a little, due to the fact that she was not using a normal speaker but the system we had constructed to replace my destroyed voice-box, making it seem as if I was using ventriloquism.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Galatea, was that you?” Sophia asked, looking a little surprised.

“Indeed, it was. Part of the changes in Mother.” Galatea answered, while I was still trying to compose the words to explain what was going on in my mind. Part of me was grateful for Galatea, who knew me better than anyone, maybe even better than I knew myself, trying to explain.

“But why did she simply take off? I was just coming out of the strange mind-effect when she suddenly blasted off with barely a word. Why not explain?!” Sophia was getting agitated and just moments later, there was a knock on the door, causing me to quickly raise my mask again, and a nurse entered.

“Please don’t agitate the patient, or I will have to ask you to leave, Apprentice or not.” she ordered, giving me a glare.

“I will try.” I told the nurse before looking back at Sophia. “Sophia, we will talk about that when you are better, please.”

She let herself sink back into the bed, wincing a little as it must have put extra pressure on her wounds. The nurse heard my question and looked a little more pleased, closing the door again.

“Fine.” Sophia mumbled, looking a little sulky. “So, what do you want to talk about?” she asked.

“Would you tell me about your last year?” I asked, trying to get my thoughts back into order.

“Mhm, I will, if you promise that you will explain why you left me.” her voice was little more heated, but not by much.

“I can try, I am not sure I fully understand myself.” I answered, smiling sadly.

She snorted at that admission but nodded.

“So, the last year. I guess I’ll start after you left.” she gave me a bit of a glare.

“It didn’t take long for the Heroes Association to turn up and they were a little displeased, to put it mildly. We had, after all, just broken a slew of laws but by doing so, we had uncovered a steaming pile of trouble. While the other heroes started to secure the area and go through the facility, Isleen, still the older, approached me to find out what happened from my point of view.” there was a bit of a smile on her face, while I kept quiet, letting her speak.

“At least that was the official version. She got me to talking, not only about the raid but about me. That’s how we met. When she learned that my mother had vanished and I had come to the facility because of my brother, who had been held, she was sympathetic. I thought she was joking when she asked if I wanted to call her mother, but somehow, it stuck.

“Over the next few days, Felix, the younger Isleen and I were questioned by the Association and they managed to classify our raid as an authorised operation using some rather dodgy legal tricks, making it seem as if the younger Isleen was acting on an anonymous tip that panned out. If there hadn’t been the huge amount of evidence, allowing for some quiet backroom dealings, we would have been in a huge mess. But I only learned about that later.

“Honestly, I was a mess. The older Isleen, she’s a psychiatrist, you know, she talked to me every day, for hours, helping me to get my thoughts back into a semblance of order. It took me over a month to get out of the hole I had hidden in.”

I flinched at that, I had known that she had been depressive before we had gone there, but I had been powerless to help her. I remembered how I had hated the feeling of helplessness but learning that someone else had been able to help her, where I had been so useless? I had mixed feelings about that. Not that I did not want her to get better, but I wanted to be the cause for her to being better. But I had failed.

“Anyway, she managed to get me back to the point that I could function in society and helped to get me tested into school, so I could finish high school. I had to work quite hard but I managed to get my degree with good grades while living with Isleen and her husband. Felix, he was a bit of a disappointment. I think he had no idea how to help me and when the older Isleen managed to do so, he was happy to let her take responsibility, doing something for the Association with the younger Isleen, trying to combine their powers to allow precognitive warnings or something like that.

“The time I lived with Isleen, she became more than just a therapist, she turned into a strange mixture of mentor, friend and therapist. I think she was feeling a bit of empty-nest syndrome, so she was happy to have me call her mother. And it helped me, especially when Felix and the younger Isleen went to New Burnsburg for something and found out that my real mother had been found murdered.”

I managed to keep my poker face, but only barely.

“It was a little strange, you know? Part of me had hated her, hated my own mother. I hated the fights, I hated the screaming and the drinking. But I didn’t want her dead.” she shook her head sadly.

“You know what I felt first when I heard that she was dead? For a moment, I was relieved.”

I noticed the monitors slowly ticking up again but I had no idea how to calm her. Part of me wanted to hug her, but not only was she injured, I was not sure if she wanted to be close to me. I settled on reaching out, softly caressing her face and wiping away the tears.

She took another deep breath to settle things in herself.

“Anyway, after I got my diploma, I managed to get into University, using a scholarship from the Heroes’ Association. They fund my degree and I work for a few years for them.”

I blinked at that, wondering if that strange thought about her being a hero, hunting me, would become reality.

“While a history degree might not be the most marketable, I always loved history. And I planned my degree in such a way that I had enough credits to get my teacher’s certification as well.”

I grinned at that, trying to imagine Sophia, in her Anath-garb, standing in front of a class, lecturing about some ancient war.

“The classes had been quite good, to be honest, I’ll have to see how to go on. I doubt that the University would be happy to have a Powered attending that was already targeted by what amounts to a terror-attack. And unless Clark took someone else, it is obvious who was the target isn’t it?” she asked, making me realise that more problems were on the horizon.