sophie didn't need as much time as wolf: she could teleport at will, "flying" across the fabric of space and time by focusing her intent. to her, it's just a matter of willpower. despite being blind, she didn't have much trouble figuring out who's around her, as all she needed to do what to tune into a specific frequency that let her listen to thoughts.
she glided through the rest of the RAMSTEAD, leaving blooming poppies in her wake. she could feel another presence... saint, crouching on the floor. she heard her scratch the ground with one hand, mumbling to herself. with a bit of focus, sophie saw patterns trace themselves in saint's mind: she was drawing on the ground what looked to be a map. sophie nodded to herself. it made sense, saint rarely comes around these parts, she's usually stuck in LIMBO.
sophie could sense that saint was worried about bel and crow, but more complex emotions were bubbling to the top...
this also made sense, the three used to be in a constant state of warfare, not too long ago.
sophie moved on to the CROWHOUSE. she expected it to be empty without crow, but someone was there.
she stood still as the stranger moved hastily around the place, pushing things around. at some point, sophie heard an engine. a bus engine?
she recognised the stranger as mikhail at first, but fine-tuning led her to conclude that it was francis - or franz, as jacin calls him.
he seemed preoccupied with making space to study. the CROWHOUSE was a cluttered place of plants and electronics, and crow mainly spent time in an abandoned bus that she had refurbished for fun.
interestingly, francis seemed to know about bel's predicament. in fact, he seemed to have seen her, not too long ago. she focused on the vision: oddly enough, francis wasn't in it at all, it's as if he had somehow been given one of crow's memories about bel. was this a dream that he had? did he dream that he was crow? sophie willed herself to enter this dream.
in dreams, sophie could see outlines. she saw bel and crow on the ground, bel clawing crow's arms, her eyes open wide in terror behind her sunglasses. crow had cables that went from her head upwards, and were seemingly infinite.
CROW: I don't get it, of course you remember stuff, you're the archivist, isn't that your job?
BEL: You don't understand...
CROW: So you had a couple of years missing and you remember them now, so what? You're spos' to be able to deal with memories, your whole job is to-
BEL: But I feel... I can feel...
sophie saw lines grow brighter as bel gripped crow tighter.
BEL: I can feel how much I loved them. How much they loved me. My friends...
CROW: What? The outsiders? You're talking about the dickheads who lied to you, who just wanted to use you? The literal garbage you used to hang out with-
BEL: I remember the good and the bad.
CROW: YOU'RE the one who left them!
BEL: NO! I was cast out! Half of them still believe I'm a monster!
CROW: WHO CARES? Let go, Bel. We... YOU put an end to Saint because she kept forgiving these... these bastards... scum of the world... you helped me take Saint down because she kept going back to them... outside... and for what? Do you regret it now? Do you agree with her? Let go. Let them think whatever they want. If they're your friends, they'll ask you for the truth. Let. Go.
BEL: I'm trying. I don't know why I can't. I don't know what's wrong with me. I can feel every blade of betrayal, every arrow of slander, every...
CROW: ... Bel... it doesn't matter what outsiders think.
BEL: I don't understand... why I care so much... it's like a parasite digging through my skull... Crow... Kill me, Crow. I'm asking you to kill me. The more this goes on, the more I put everyone else at risk with my... feelings... please. There's this hate... in my heart... I can't bear it...
sophie could sense that crow made a mental note of where bel's axe had fallen. bel's shape seemed to glow brighter and brighter.
CROW: What, like when Saint tried to kill me? When I got stabbed through the jaw with my own spear and thrown off a cliff? It was a fate worse than Hell-
BEL: You have to. You have to. I need to disappear before I cause problems-
CROW: No. Listen, maybe you're sick- I think we can fix you-
suddenly, bel jerked away from crow, and before she had time to say anything, bel pleaded:
BEL: Baltasar. Baltasar. Baltasar, if you can hear me, please... please. I want to forget. I want to forget. I want to forget. I want to forget. I want to forget.
and then, a bright light flooded the vision. sophie's vision was pure white, and she could almost feel her eyes adjust to it.
and just like that, it was over.
she needed to see if wolf had made it to where baltasar dwells.
she left francis to his affairs.