Vein of Moonfire chapter 1— Sophia or No
The way Sonia used her name had always been soft, like she was careful not to break it.
"Yes?" Sophia answered, lying on her back, staring at the ceiling of the small room they shared as girls.
"You're doing it again."
Sophia turned her head. "Doing what?"
"Thinking too loud," Sonia said. "Your face gives you away."
Sophia smiled faintly. "You're the only one who notices."
"That's because I look," Sonia replied, rolling onto her side to face her.
"Everyone else just sees what they want."
Sophia studied her.
Sonia's hair was loose, slightly wild, her eyes sharp even in rest.
Sonia always looked like she was ready to move, to fight, to prove something.
"What do you see when you look at me?" Sophia asked quietly.
Sonia didn't answer right away.
"That's not fair," Sonia said instead.
Sophia laughed softly. "You always say that when you don't want to answer."
Sonia sighed. "I see someone who never has to reach."such powers but has it.
Sophia frowned. "That's not true."
"It is," Sonia insisted.
"You don't chase power. It comes to you."
Sophia turned fully toward her. "You think that makes it easy?"
"It makes it different," Sonia said.
"And difference becomes distance if you're not careful."
Sophia reached out, brushing Sonia's fingers. "I don't want distance."
Sonia's hand tightened around hers. "Then don't leave me behind." we both can share same praises and be who we want to be with all this powers you have.
"I wouldn't."
"You say that now."
Sophia hesitated.
Sonia felt it immediately.
"See?" Sonia said quietly. "That pause.
You feel it too."
Years later, Sophia still remembered that pause.
She stood alone now, fire burning low beside her, whispering instead of roaring.
"I didn't leave you," Sophia said to the flame. "You walked away first."
The fire flickered.
"You were angry," Sophia continued. "And I was afraid. We both chose silence."
The flame bent inward, as if it listening.
"I worked harder than you," Sonia had said one night, voice sharp with exhaustion.
Sophia looked up from the pages in her lap. "I never asked you to compete."
"But I am," Sonia replied. "Every day." I want to be the version of what the world sees in you.
Sophia closed the book. "With who?"
Sonia laughed bitterly. "With destiny."
"That's not something you can beat."
"Watch me," Sonia snapped.
Sophia stood. "Why does it matter so much?"
"Because I want to be seen," Sonia said, eyes burning.
"Not as your shadow. Not as your other half. As myself."as my own uniqueness,I really don't care what it will take or how long it will take.
Sophia reached for her. "You are seen. By me."
Sonia pulled away. "That's not enough anymore."
The words stayed with Sophia long after Sonia left the room.
Now, standing near the river village, Sophia felt that same distance again.
"You keep watching me," the man said, arms crossed, voice cautious.
"I'm sorry," Sophia replied. "I don't mean to."
"Then why do you?"
Sophia searched his face.
"Because you feel familiar."
He scoffed.
"That's not comforting."
"I know."
He studied her. "You speak like someone who's lost something."
"I have," Sophia said. "Someone."
He hesitated. "Does it hurt?"
"Yes."
"Still?"
"More than before."
He nodded slowly. "I get that."
Sophia's heart tightened. "You do?"
"I wake up angry," he admitted. "And I don't know why. I feel like I'm missing a part of myself."
Sophia swallowed. "
Does the fire answer you?"
He frowned.
"How did you—"
"Does it?" she pressed.
"Yes," he said reluctantly. "But it doesn't feel gentle."
"It never was," Sophia said softly.
He watched her closely. "You talk like you know me."
"I know what you carry," she replied.
He stepped closer. "And what is that?"
She hesitated. "A past that hasn't finished with you."
Silence stretched.
"That's a heavy thing to say to a stranger," he murmured.
"You don't feel like one," Sophia answered.
His breath caught slightly. "You shouldn't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because I believe you," he said.
Sophia's chest tightened painfully.
"Sophia," Sonia had said once, late at night, voice low.
"If the world asked you to choose… would you choose me?"
Sophia hadn't answered fast enough.
"I didn't mean it like that," Sophia said then, panic rising. "I don't believe in choosing."
Sonia smiled sadly. "The world does."
"You're quiet," the man said now.
"I'm remembering," Sophia replied.
"Am I part
of it?"
"Yes."
He laughed nervously. "That doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't have to," Sophia said. "Not yet."
He shook his head. "You're dangerous."
Sophia smiled faintly. "So they tell me."
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
Sophia met his eyes. "The truth."
"And if I don't have it?"
"Then we find it together."
He hesitated. "You talk like we're connected."
"We are," Sophia said.
"Even if you don't remember why."
His jaw tightened. "Say her name again."
Sophia froze.
"Why?"
"Because it feels like it belongs to me," he said.
"And that scares me."
Sophia's voice trembled. "Sonia."
The fire flared.
He staggered back, hand to his chest. "
That— that hurt."
"I know," Sophia whispered. "It did the first time too."
"What are you not telling me?" he demanded
"That you loved me," Sophia said quietly. "And I loved you."
He stared at her, breath uneven. "That's impossible."
"Love doesn't disappear," she replied. "It waits."
His voice dropped. "If I was her… would you forgive me?"
Sophia's eyes burned. "I never stopped."
Silence fell between them, thick with things unsaid.
He turned away first. "I need time."
Sophia nodded. "Take it."
He paused.
"Will you come back?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because," Sophia said softly, "we always do."
The fire pulsed once, steady and patient.
And somewhere between who he was and who he had been, something stirred—unfinished, aching, alive.