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Hello! I’m Loopy Luna FossBoss, and I originally came from Quotev, but I’m very happy to be here! This story is the first one I ever published, and I’m pretty sentimental about it, so… I hope you enjoy it! Thank you!
-Loopy Luna FossBoss

Sophie Foster waited impatiently underneath the Panakes tree in Havenfield’s highest pasture, letting the silky blue, purple, and pink petals drift lazily around her head. She tried to calm down by listening to the soothing songs about peace and comfort that the tree was whispering to the wind, but her clenched fists suggested how well that was working. 

Finally, a wrinkly figure glittered rather ungracefully into sight and caused Sophie to draw in a quick breath. Mr Forkle stood up and dusted off his crumpled tunic, eyes searching the fields for his Moonlark. Sophie walked towards him, letting the wispy songs fade away. “So, where are we going to talk?” she asked as his dusty blue eyes settled on her. “My office,” he replied, fumbling to pull out a clear crystal flecked with gold and cut at a severe angle. His pudgy fingers grasped Sophie’s hand as he held it up to the light. 

The leap was warmer than most others, and Sophie savored the warm tingly sensation  until the glitter and sparkles faded away to reveal… a sunny, flower dotted meadow surrounding a small, gilded door set into a hill. Definitely not Magnate Leto’s shimmering Foxfire office, like she’d assumed he meant.  “You look confused,” said Mr Forkle, hints of a smile gathering in his voice. Sophie ignored the sudden thought that the round door looked like a hobbit hole, and turned to ask, “I thought you were taking me to your office.” 

Mr Forkle smiled. “I did.” 

“So this is your secret office,” Sophie said, raising an eyebrow and studying the hobbit-like door again. “One of them,” Mr Forkle agreed, shuffling forward in his ruckleberry disguise and licking a small DNA panel on the left side of the door. The sensor sparkled in the sun, processing something, before a neat row of five spinning cogs sprang out of the center of the odd door. “Did Tinker design this place?” Sophie queried as she studied the copper, iron, silver, bronze, and steel cogs whirring in a row. Then she turned to face Mr Forkle again. “And why are we here?” 

Mr Forkle ignored her question as he twisted and tugged at the gears, entering some sort of intricate password. Once the cogs started to click, he spoke again. “You said we needed to talk. Isn’t that why you called this meeting?” “Yes, but…” Sophie’s attention was once again caught on the gilded door as the last gear clicked and made the golden door sink into the ground, letting a chill seep out of the dark room beyond. She counted, and right on que, a squeaky voice yelled out from behind her and yanked her back. “Stop!” Sander yelled, making Sophie sigh as Bo and Flori joined him. “This office is perfectly safe,” Mr Forkle reassured them, adding, “Watchward Heath is protected by five different kinds of security, and only six people in the world know how to find it.” He glanced at Sophie. “Well, seven now, given Miss Foster’s knack for teleporting.” He amended. 

Sophie tuned out Sandor’s reply, trying to squint through the murky blackness from within the doorway, only to be blocked by Sandor’s hulking frame as he marched inside. Flori and Bo followed, and Sophie couldn’t help but compare the tiny gnome to the giant ogre. Her thoughts strayed back to the recent brutal attack with shadowflux, and she couldn’t help feeling… a little impressed. Of course, she was also appalled by the attack, but she couldn’t deny how in control Umber had been of her unique ability. Of course, Umber was dead now, which prompted more flashbacks of the Everglen incident. She shivered as she remembered the squished, lifeless form of the Neverseen’s shade. 

“Shall we?” Mr Forkle said, breaking her out of her thoughts. She wandered inside, peering at all the details hidden by shadows. She listened as he explained his worries about the dwarves and Loamnore, only really talking back when he talked about the humans. His gaze had settled on Sophie as he talked of a solution, and she couldn’t help from bursting out, “THAT’S what Project Moonlark’s about? I supposed to…” she didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Save the world? Protect the humans? 

Be the only solution to everything?

“Project Moonlark was about gaining a valuable new perspective,” Mr Forkle corrected, but there was a glint in his eye that didn’t match those words. She had a horrible feeling that she was right. That thought consumed most of the rest of the talk, and she only snapped back to focus when he tried to leap away. “Wait,” she said, watching as he twisted the silver pathfinder in his hand. “None of this is why I said we needed to talk.” His eyebrows lifted as he turned to stare at her. “Well,  surely you can agree this is far more important.” Sophie’s temper flared at that. Why was it always that his problems were more important than what she had to say? She took a deep breath and continued, tucking the thought away. “This will only take a minute,” she promised. 

“I know you haven’t wanted to tell me certain things about… well, anything, but I need to know this. And I know you think you are protecting me, but honestly, it’s ruined a lot of things for me, as the Moonlark and as a person. So I think it’s high time that we solve those mysteries.” She sucked in another shaky breath as he scrutinized her, and her heart dropped as he sighed. “I’m sorry, Miss Foster. I can’t give you the information that you want to know.” 

“You don’t even know what I want to know!” She said, but she had a sinking suspicion that maybe he did know. And he wasn’t ever going to tell her. “Actually, I do. You want to know who your biological parents are. And I’m sorry, I cannot tell you. And yes, I know that you deserve to know, but I can’t let you know because it doesn’t only affect you. The ramifications are too huge. There’s nothing I can do.” Sophie growled at that. Yes, actually there is something you can do, she thought. “I’m Unmatchable,” she said softly, hoping he’d understand these ramifications. “Please,” she begged. He didn’t look at her, and she realized that he hadn’t flinched at all when she’d said it. “You knew, didn’t you? And you didn’t think to tell me?” she said, staring at him as he finally did flinch at that. 

“What is this? Another way that Project Moonlark is manipulating my PERSPECTIVE so that I’ll see the follies of our world? Am I supposed to be the POSTER GIRL for the DARK SIDE OF MATCHMAKING?!?!?!” She yelled at him. “Of course not!” There. There was another look in his eye. Sophie’s brain put up a red flag, and waves of mistrust spread throughout her body. “Though, as I recall, you’ve had quite a few problems with the system yourself! You even considered not participating.” He said, still holding up his pathfinder. Sophie sighed. She had considered that, but only because it was so unromantic, and unfair if you didn’t love anyone on her lists. Plus, that was before… a pair of ice blue eyes jumped into Sophie’s mind, making her pause. Wait, didn’t she love Fitz? Why were Keefe’s eyes there? She pushed away that prickly thought as Mr Forkle sighed again. “I realize at your age, dating and relationships feel like everything. But it’s truly a small fraction of your life. Perhaps in a few hundred years, after Project Moonlark-” Sophie’s brain flashed red in anger. “A few hundred years,” she repeated, softly, trying to keep the venom out of her voice. By then, everyone she knew would already be matched up. Again, a pair of ice blue eyes flashed brilliantly at the thought, and she tried forcing them away again, but they lingered at the corners of her thoughts. “Time is relative,” Mr Forkle said, holding his crystal up higher to catch a ray of light. “Things can feel so urgent when they are really so small in the grand scheme. I realize that’s a difficult concept to grasp- especially at your age and with your upbringing.” “The upbringing that you forced on me!” She said, and this time she couldn't keep the tint of rage out of her voice. Mr Forkle glanced cautiously at her. “Yes. I suppose that’s true,” he said. “Yet, I suspect you wouldn’t trade the time that you spent-” “Don’t go there,” Sophie warned. “And please, just tell me what I need to know. Especially since not knowing ruins everything. Don’t do this to me,” she begged again. Mr Forkle dragged a palm down his face. “I’m not doing anything,” He said softly. And then he leaped away in a shower of silvery sparks. She stared in silence as the cold glitter landed in her outstretched palm, and felt her bodyguards behind her suck in a sharp breath at the disappearance of the Black Swan’s wrinkly leader. Sophie curled her hand into a fist and sucked in an angry breath, letting her blonde hair cover her face as she stared at it. 

She was going to find out who her genetic parents were. She was not going to let the Black Swan control her anymore. She had risked her life over and over, and had given up so much for them. She had basically handed her life over to them. And no matter how many times they said that she could go on and be a normal person, when she tried to get ONE DETAIL that would finally let some aspect of her life be regular, they turned her down. 

They had trained their Moonlark to always fly back to them. 

But this time, she wasn’t going to. 

So… chapter one! Yay! I hope you enjoyed it! I remember that when I read the chapter this was based on in Legacy, I got so mad- like, HOW DARE YOU, Mr Forkle?! So in this chapter I channeled that through Sophie and finally let her say what she shoulda been able to say and feel. Anyways, thank you! 
-Loopy Luna 

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Hello again! I’ve got ten chapters to catch you guys up on, so lucky you! Enjoy! 
-LLF

Sophie was shaky as she grabbed Sandor and Flori's hands, and she was sure Bo could feel it as he clutched her shoulder. She held up her smooth home crystal to the light and hoped the feathery feeling it gave her would calm her anger and sorrow. 

Grady and Edaline were both near the triceratops pasture when she glittered into view, and she tried her best to plaster a real-ish looking smile on her face. She would revisit the angry Mr Forkle thoughts later. After all, she'd like to think she wasn't some sulky teenager who pouted at the first sign of disappointment and rebelled against her parents. That thought made a strange ping sound in her heart. She really had thought of Mr Forkle as a father figure. She remembered how back in the human world, everyone had agreed that teenagers would have fights with their loved ones. Is that what this was? A petty fight with Mr Forkle? 

        "So, how'd it go?" Grady asked with a smile, startling Sophie back to the present. She gave him a half smile, but when she saw the little bundle of joy bounding around his legs, it grew into a full beam. Wynn had his adorable little blue-tipped wings up in a happy little baby alicorn dance, and Grady tried not to trip over him as Wynn bounced happily between his legs. Only then did Sophie notice the large spool of golden, luminescent wire that Grady was holding, and the large bulky burlap sack slung over Edaline's shoulders. "What's all that for?" Sophie asked, the last wisps of her anger fading into curiosity and a little bit of worry. Sophie really did love her parents, and when Grady gave her a lopsided smile, she felt her heart warm from the casual way he talked to her now, as if she really were their daughter. She knew that they had adopted her, but it was still nice to feel like part of the family, especially after all the new things they had learned about Jolie. 

        Grady tipped his chin toward the tiny mischievous alicorn, who was now chewing the end of the wire, which dangled from the spool. "The gnomes are helping to baby-alicorn proof the gorgodon enclosure, since this guy seems to think the gorgodon is his new best friend- and it turns out he's scrawny enough to slip through the bars." Wynn nickered in agreement. "I nearly had a heart attack when I found him in there this morning," Edaline added as Wynn trotted off to the faint shape of Luna in the background. "Is he ok?" Sophie asked, rushing over to the miracle baby to check for any signs of burns or scrapes, but the opalescent alicorn was perfectly fine. "He's fine," Edaline assured her, coming over to stroke the troublesome creature. He rubbed his nubby horn against her palm. "Don't ask me how, but he didn't get a scratch on him." Sophie was also incredulous about that fact. The gorgodon was the most vicious creature she had ever faced, and she had faced giant scorpions and hamster-zillas. Its gleaming grey feathers screamed grace and deadliness, and its barb-like tail was always poised to strike. Whenever anyone came near it, it would bare its hideous fangs and flare its bat-like wings. Sophie shuddered just thinking about it. 

        "Will that really be strong enough?" she asked, wondering how the thin wire could keep such a mischievous little alicorn away from the terrifying beast. It looked like a strong enough gust of wind could bend the glowing metal. "Oh yeah," Grady said, showing her the un-dented end of the wire, even though Wynn had been gnashing on it.  When it moved, the metal clinked together with a sound like hundreds of high church bells ringing. "This is iron tempered with luminite. Even an angry T-rex couldn't break it." Sophie glanced at it again, and still couldn't believe that Verdi, their permanent resident (as Grady liked to call her), wouldn't be able to break through it. Especially if she was unhappy about her vegetarian diet. 

        "But you might want to let Silveny know about  what her son's been up to," Edaline suggested with her warm, wispy laugh. "Wynn's already tried to sneak back to the gorgodon three times after I lured him out of there, and I think a nice long mama lecture will put some proper fear into him." Sophie couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or groan. Silveny's unique way of communicating with Sophie through her advanced telepathy could get a little annoying sometimes, because the exuberant alicorn always talked in excited groups of threes, and Sophie was already drained from the Mr Forkle conversation.

        A crease must have formed between her brows at the reminder of their fight, because Edaline asked only a second after, "Everything ok?" Sophie tried her best to look happy and like nothing happened, but one of Edaline's eyebrows raised anyways. "You didn't answer Grady's question about how it went with Mr Forkle," She reminded her gently. "It was Mr Forkle, how do you think it went?" Sophie couldn't help the bit of anger and frustration that leaked into the words. Grady must've picked up on it, because his next comment was, "That bad, huh? Wanna talk about it?" Sophie reeeeeally didn't want to say anything, but she figured they would need to know what he had said about Loamnore. So, with a sigh, she filled them in on everything he'd said, excluding their fight. "That's more information than he normally gives you!" Edaline said optimistically. Sophie sighed again, and it sounded more like a groan than she wanted it to. "I know... I guess I just feel like we've narrowed it down from a million possibilities to a thousand- and he's dumping all of this on us while he sits in his office at Foxfire," she said grumpily. Edaline shared a look with Grady. "Is there something you're not telling us?" Edaline asked gently. "No!" Sophie said, probably too quickly and with a squeak in her voice. Edaline sighed. 

        Luckily, Sophie was saved by an exuberant Wynn streaking off into the distance... blinking out of sight so fast and so far that it made Sophie's mind pause. "Did he just... teleport?" she asked incredulously. That idea had a strange prickle to it, because as far as Sophie knew, you could only teleport while free-falling. But that brought up another memory.

        Once, at Everglen, while she and her friends had played base quest, she had run down a hill and jumped, somehow landing almost twenty feet away.... while blinking. And now that she thought about it, it had felt an awful lot like teleporting. Could you teleport while running fast enough? That sure would simplify things. Or maybe it was something you could do only when you were learning to harness the ability? "I...I think so! How is that possible?" Edaline said, stunned. "I think if you run fast enough, you can teleport," Sophie said, still puzzled. She made a mental note to test that theory later. Grady sighed. "Well that explains how he got into the gorgodon enclosure. How do we keep him out, then?" he said, and Edaline groaned. "That definitely makes things more challenging." She conjured away the glowing wire and the lumpy sack and stared at the racing baby alicorns in the distance, and then sighed again. Sophie giggled a bit, and Edaline turned back to her. "Why don't you go take a shower and hail your friends with an update? Take a little break from being the Moonlark."  Sophie smiled and nodded, then walked inside Havenfield's glistening crystal walls. She slowly trudged upstairs, too many things on her mind, but finally settling on a certain problem she couldn't figure out. 

        Why had Keefe's eyes shown up instead of Fitz's? She didn't... like him, did she? But while she thought about it while taking the hottest, soapiest shower yet, the possibility became more and more likely. But what would she tell Fitz? They were kinda together. Sophie sighed as she brushed her hair, dripping water all down the ruby encrusted tunic she had chosen. She set aside her boy problems as she reached for the imparter still resting on her dresser. 

        But right as she picked it up, it buzzed with a hail. 

        From Mr Forkle. 

DUN DUN DUUUUUN! Cliffhanger! Lucky for you, you get the next chapter immediately. (And also, I’d like to add, wouldn’t it be so convenient if Sophie figured out how to teleport like this? Ah, one could only wish…)

Anyways, thank you!
-LLF out ✨✨

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This chapter is where things stray from the main plot line… so enjoy!
-LLF

Sophie hesitated for a second, then pushed the screen and let Mr Forkle’s face appear with a flash. 

“Sophie!” He exclaimed, clearly panicked. “Come to Alluveterre immediately!!!” Sophie had never seen him this upset. “What is i-” Before she could finish her question, Mr Forkle had disconnected the call. Sophie raced into the pastures and found Grady and Edaline both standing at the alicorn enclosure with a puzzled expression, though that changed once they saw her sprinting towards them. “Sophie? What’s wrong?” Edaline called out, running over to her daughter. “Mr Forkle called me in a panic, insisting I come to Alluveterre!” Sophie cried, legs shaky with fear and anger and sadness. Edaline hugged her daughter, turning to Grady. “Call Alden and Juline. Ask if they know anything, or if any of Sophie’s friends are missing!” She said shakily. Grady nodded, and raced towards the house. “Come on, Sophie. We’re going to get through this,” said Edaline, standing and helping Sophie wobble towards the cliffs. They held each other as they leaped off, and Sophie concentrated through blurry eyes on the glittering underground caves. When they arrived, Alluveterre was up in flames. Mr Forkle sprinted over to them as gnomes dug tunnels to escape the blaze. Burning yellow Everblaze consumed the two treehouses, and Sophie watched as the bridge fell into the river in a crumbling pile of ash. 

“What happened? Is everyone out? What can I do?” Sophie sobbed, collapsing to her knees as Mr Forkle came to her. “Fintan managed to escape his cell and leap here to destroy the hideout. We’re not sure-”  Sophie sucked in a smoke-filled gasp, because she did know how the Neverseeen knew. Something she should have figured out much earlier. “Tam,” she mumbled, and Edaline and Mr Forkle gasped. “Gethen must have searched his memories,” Sophie realized, and Mr Forkle turned pale. “That means they know… about everything,” he said in shock. Edaline took charge then, making them all focus back on the burning hideout. “We can figure that out later! Right now, we need to focus on this!” She said, helping Sophie back to trembling feet. “Right. Everyone escaped, and we need you to stop the fire. You’re the Moonlark, after all,” Mr Forkle gasped. Sophie blinked. “You want me to stop the fire? BY MYSELF?” She yelled at him. Mr Forkle nodded, and Edaline squeezed Sophie’s shoulder. “You can’t expect that of her!” She shouted at the wrinkly figure, who was already holding a crystal. “I can, and I will,” He said, which prompted Edaline to push Sophie behind her protectively and stand up to face the several inches shorter Mr Forkle. “Now if you think I’m going to leave my dau-” Before Edaline could finish that sentence, Mr Forkle grabbed her wrist and leaped them away. Sophie cried out as Edaline screamed in rage. Mr Forkle, with the last of his fading body, threw the last leaping crystal to Alluveterre into the fire. “Go, Moonlark. Save Alluveterre!” 

Sophie stood in shock as the last silvery wisps of glitter faded away, leaving her in the smoke filled cavern. She fell to her knees, coughing in the smoke, and watched as the fire made its way closer and closer with a hungry pace. How am I supposed to stop the fire? I’m not a Pyrokinetic, or a Hydrokinetic, or have any Fryssin on hand!!! Sophie desperately grasped at straws, bending over in a hacking fit of coughs. As her palms sank into the muddy ground, something inside her clicked into place. 

A long, writing vine burst out of the ground, wrapping itself around Sophie and placing her on a higher ledge in the cliffside. Then thousands more shot towards the fire, smothering the unstoppable flame in millions of writhing tendrils. One vine came snaking out of the ground towards Sophie, holding something small and glittering, and with a gasp she realized it was one of the bottles of reserve Fryssin. She dumped the ashy powder of the vine and sent it shooting towards the others, dusting it on all of them and extinguishing the yellow flame. Sophie’s triumph and wonder at this new power only lasted a second before the smoke made her head fuzzy and she collapsed. The last thing she saw before blackness consumed her was all the green vines holding her steady and a rushing motion made the hairs on her arms blow up in the sudden wind. 

Then, Sophie Foster passed out. 

Sorry this chapter is on the shorter side… but it’s action packed! New power! I always felt it was weird there was no earth elemental, haha. Thanks for reading! 
-LLF out ✨✨

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Hi! Now THIS is the fun chapter! Mr Forkle gets a scolding and all our ship dreams come true!! Enjoy! 
-LLF

Sophie woke up in singed clothes, tangled in a ball of limp vines covered in ashy powder, in the middle of a pile of rubble in the center of an empty field with wildflowers waving in the breeze. A field that she immediately recognised. She gasped as she saw the collapsed hill and the melted, twisted golden door.

Sophie was in Watchward Heath. 

She scrambled up, thinking that the vines had broken through the ground and up to outside, but why would Mr Forkle put his private office over Alluveterre? Then if something like this happened, something like this would… happen! 

Mr Forkle. Sophie’s brain overloaded with anger. How dare he leave her alone to fight a dangerous fire? How DARE he make her solve the problem with NO HELP or SUGGESTIONS?!?!? And paired with all the times he had pulled the same stunt?!?! Sophie was over it. 

The vines twitched, breaking her out of her fury. That brought back the crazy powers she could now use. Was she… a nature… kinetic? Naturekinetic? The name needed work, but… she raised her hands, focusing on the new green-tinged thrum at the edge of her vision, and watched as a new, thick vine sprang up and out of the ground, bending to her will. She stared in wonder as all of the other vines laying on the floor started to slither around, and when her instincts told her to sweep her hand, all of the dirt and dust on her gathered into a compact little ball hovering in front of her, which she flicked away with her wrist. She didn’t know how to get back to Havenfield, because she hadn’t put her home crystal on, but an idea occurred to her. She tried to picture what Flori did to travel around in the roots, and in her head, she hummed a melody as the ground parted and vines carried her to the emerald pastures of her home.

Even before the soil moved above her, she could hear the frantic voices of Edaline, Grady, Fitz, Biana, Linh, Sandor, Bo, Flori, Nubiti, Wylie, Stina, Dex, Marella, and Keefe. That last one made her heart race, even if she wished it wouldn’t.

When she appeared, even more people than she’d realized were there, including all twelve Councillors, Juline, Wraith, Blur, Tiergan, and Mr Forkle. Sophie pulled herself up, using vines to propel her to the top. She swept her hand again, making another compact dirt ball, and flicked it to the ground with a satisfying crack, letting the vines sink back into the ground and the hole she’d made disappear. Everyone gaped at her, including Mr Forkle, and she smirked a bit as she nonchalantly walked over to them and folded her arms. Edaline ran over first, followed by Grady, and she sobbed as she clutched her daughter. “I thought I lost another daughter to that fire! I slapped Mr Forkle and kicked him in a special place when we appeared here!” she cried. “I almost sent him off a cliff,” Grady agreed, glaring at the wrinkly figure standing to the side. Mr Forkle grimaced and opened his mouth to reply, but Sophie held out her hand and made 3 vines of ivy snake up and cover his mouth. 

“Soooo… that’s new,” Keefe said, and Sophie’s silly heart fluttered as she faced him. “Yeah, apparently I’m a… Geokinetic,” She said, making up the first name that came to her head for her new talent. She knew that there was no other Geokinetic alive, because in the chance that the Black Swan had given her an elemental power, she had researched them all. She also knew that Mr Forkle hadn’t been expecting this power, which made her wonder what he’d thought she would do to put out the flames. 

“What exactly does that mean?” Councillor Emery asked, distracting her from the disturbing thought. “It means I can do this,” she said, letting her instincts take over. Vines of every size, shape, and color burst from the ground as every tree at Havenfield grew three times larger. The grass turned a brilliant peridot color, and big clumps of soil, moss, grass, and flowers rose up and orbited Sophie in a round rotation, all from a few waves of her arms and flicks of her wrists. Using this ability was effortless, and all of this took no energy at all. Even her telepathy wasn't this easy. 

“Wow,” everyone breathed, and Marella stepped forward, gaping.  “Can I… try something?” She asked, turning a starry-eyed gaze to Sophie. Sophie nodded, bracing and shifting her stance in a fluid motion. Marella sent purple tongues of flame towards the earth-balls and towering vines, making her recently dyed red hair flutter around her huge ice blue eyes. Sophie tried to focus on the fire instead of the other pair of ice blue eyes in her life, and watched as the fire interacted with her power. The fire tried to surround Sophie’s vines and burn through the balls of soil and plant, but they both lashed out, the balls separating and trapping the fires inside, and the vines coiling around the violet flames and smothering them. Linh’s Hydrokinesis had no effect, and none of Dex’s gadgets could harm the powerful nature. 

Mr Forkle had struggled out of the ivy while Sophie was distracted, and now he exclaimed, “Why, this is incredible! An invaluable resource! I trust you extinguished the Everblaze at Alluveterre?’ Sophie turned toward him, anger blazing in her eyes. The grass withered around him, and her vines twisted in rage as the massive earth balls expanded and compacted with every furious step. “You don’t get to say anything,” she seethed. Biana, who had missed most of the ‘who what where’ conversation that everyone else had been having to sneak to the alicorns, wondered, “Why?”

Sophie turned back to the group, leaving her vines to clasp themselves around Mr Forkle’s bloated body in a fist and lift him a foot off the ground, making him wriggle in discomfort. “Mr Forkle,” she said venomously,”called me in a panic, convincing me to go to Alluvetarre. When I got there with Edaline, there was a huge storm of Everblaze consuming it. Mr Forkle then LEFT ME THERE to figure it out BY MYSELF with NO WAY OUT, literally DRAGGING Edaline away, all because ‘I’m the Moonlark’!” Everyone glared daggers and throwing stars at the Black Swan’s captive leader, except Alden, who looked confused, and Wraith and Blur, who nodded as if Mr Forkle’s actions were justified. Tiergan spoke first, breaking his death stare to look apologetically at Sophie. “On behalf of the Black Swan, I sincerely apologize,” he said, but Wraith shook his head. “Well, I do not. We created Sophie, so she has to do what we tell her. Mr Forkle needed her to do something, so he left her to finish the task,” He said. Blur nodded. Grady spun on his heel to look at them. “Sophie is not your puppet,” he said, dangerously low and quiet. Juline agreed. “We made Sophie to help be an influence in the world, through her choices. We simply gave her the tools,” she said, raising an angry eyebrow at Wraith. The disembodied cloak sighed. “Well, you are misinformed, then, Squall,” He said, shaking his head in disappointment. Juline gasped in rage, and Sandor’s eyes were hard as steel as he grabbed where the man underneath the cloak’s throat would be, visibly lifting him off the ground. “If you think I’m going to let you get away with trying to harm my charge, you will be fatally wrong,” he growled, his voice deepening from its squeaky pitch. Blur’s hand solidified and punched him in a pressure point, making Sandor squeak and drop his accomplice. Wraith completely vanished before Sandor could grab him again. 

Suddenly, Fitz’s crisp accent filled Sophie’s head, making her jump. Luckily, no one noticed. So it really is that bad, huh? He said.  Yep, she thought, grimacing as he replayed the memories. He watched as she pulled herself from the rubble and vines of the hillside and was about to appear in Havenfields’s- Wait, do you like Keefe?!? Fitz shouted in her mind. Sophie blushed, and glanced over to him, where he was staring at her like he’d never seen her before. …Yes? She thought, cringing. I’m so sorry you found out this way. I was going to tell you, but… Fitz finished the thought for her, sounding less angry than she would have thought, and more… relieved? You almost died. Sophie laughed a bit. Yes. You aren’t… angry? His mind paused, seemingly finding the words, then he said: I mean, a little bit. You are pretty special, Sophie. I just… I don’t think I can handle a relationship right now. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but I want to train and prepare and make sure I can get my temper under control first. So, yeah, I’m not really angry. I actually think… as much as this stings to say… you and Keefe will be better together. Sophie’s eyes welled up. Thanks, Fitz. Your support means the world to me. Still friends? Fitz smiled. Always. 

Linh snapped them both back to the present. “Wait… how did the Neverseen even know about Alluveterre?” she asked in her sweet, lilting voice. Sophie cringed. “Well… Gethen searched Tam’s memories. The Neverseen…” she trailed off, knowing everyone got the gist. “Oh,” Linh said, sinking to the dewy grass and staring at her hands, as if in a trance. Wylie rushed over, and Biana clung to Dex. Sophie was too worried to congratulate them on finally admitting their feelings, but she gave Biana a sad smile as she leaned on Dex’s shoulder. 

Mr Forkle broke the moment by shouting from his vine-fist. “ Yes, we need to secure everything immediately!” Sophie growled, turning back to the infuriating elf. “We will, later. Now, I need to rest and test my powers.” And then Sophie walked away. 

But not before she kissed Keefe on the cheek, leaving everyone gasping and cheering, and Grady yelling something intelligible. 

Keefe’s stares followed her all the way up. 

HWA HWA HWA 

I hope you enjoyed that angsty chapter! See you next time! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hi! Chapter 5!! This one is by far the sappiest chapter I have ever written. It’s basically pure fluff! But we all need a little fluff in our lives, don’t we? :D 

-LLF 

Sophie glued her eyes to the glittering house she was walking towards, trying not to blush or listen to the shouted conversation behind her, but she couldn’t help peeking back towards the Panakes as she climbed the glinting front steps. Keefe stared at her, a red glow painted across his slightly freckled face, and she was pretty sure her head exploded into a ball of fire. She rushed inside and sprinted up the spiral stairs, only tripping twice. Too badly. 

She shut herself in the bathroom, sliding against the door to the tiled ground and putting her face in her hands. She let the flood of emotions surge through her: rage, fear, but mostly grief. Grief for the trust she had lost. Grief for the allies she didn’t actually have. She let the warm, wet tears trickle through the gaps in her fingers, knees pulled close to her shaking chest. 

“Sophie?” a muffled voice said, thumps indicating the person’s movement. She quieted her sobs, but she felt the bathroom door shift, sliding open and pushing her body a few inches across the floor. A full head of  tousled blonde hair peek in, ice-blue eyes filled with concern and care. Sophie sniffled as Keefe shrugged inside, pushing the door closed behind him and sitting next to Sophie. 

“You ok, Foster?” He asked, arms slung across his knees. Sophie sniffled again, and wrapped her arms tightly around herself and let her head fit into her knee, her hair draping across her curled-up body, like a short blonde curtain. Keefe muttered something that sounded an awful lot like ‘screw it’ and scooted closer, wrapping a comforting arm around her Sophie-ball. “What Mr Forkle did was unfair. It’s not ok to use you, no matter what anyone says.” Sophie looked up at him, eyes blurry from the tears still in her eyes. She wiped them with the palm of her hand and looked back at Keefe again. 

“Really?” She asked, staring into his concerned, beautiful ice blue eyes. She noticed little flecks of lighter, almost white blue in them. He laughed a bit as he looked at her. “Yes, Sophie, yes! You are a normal elf. A NORMAL ELF! No, don’t shake your head. Listen to me. You can do extraordinary things, and in ways that only make everybody more impressed and inspired. But you don’t naturally have super-energy. You can’t not sleep. You don’t have future sight. You can’t predict everything. You can’t always get everything right. No one can. You can’t not eat. You can’t not drink water. And as much as certain members of the Black Swan hate it, you can’t not make your own decisions. You have to. You can’t be mind controlled.” He took her hands. “You can’t be mind controlled. So don’t let them control you anyways. You hear me, Foster?” Sophie sniffled again, grateful for the reassurance. “Thank you, Keefe. Really, thanks.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, causing a faint blush to settle comfortably on his cheeks. Sophie retreated, balling back up, embarrassed and blushing. The gesture had just been so… natural. “Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to make things awkward, it was just Fitz said-” Keefe put his index finger softly against her lips, silencing her rant and intensifying her blush. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. For one thing, you didn’t make things awkward. It was actually… kind of nice. Two, are you and Fitz broken up? If he hurt you, I swear..” he stared off, letting Sophie pull his finger down and convert it to grasp her hand. “No. I told Fitz that.. I… like you,” Sophie said, glancing away as her face turned a furious crimson color that covered her entire face. She continued anyway, trying to distract Keefe, who was now squeezing her hand. “...and he said that he was fine and actually didn’t want a relationship right now because he wanted to train and get his temper under control. It was actually… kind of sweet.” She risked a glance at Keefe, who.. She couldn’t read his expression. 

“Sophie, I…” Sophie braced for rejection. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but… I have liked you, for, like, forever. Ever since I saw you wandering the halls, covered in Alchemy gunk and hopelessly lost. I knew that you were someone incredibly special. Not just that, but just… incredible. Amazingly, wonderfully, fantastically incredible. And I started to really appreciate you and, well, care about you more and more as you proved how true that was. And this is exactly what I want. What I’ve always wanted, actually. Don’t think that I’m some creepy stalker who loves someone the first time they see them! But… I really believe that you are the bravest, most caring person in the world. And… I love you, Foster. I really, really do.” Sophie’s eyes welled up again, and she hugged Keefe, burying her face in his shoulder. “Thank you, Keefe. I really, truly thank you. I… think that my heart always loved you, but my brain deluded me into loving Fitz.” Keefe snickered. “Wow, it ‘dElUdEd’ you? Fitz would be offended that he is that hard to love!” He giggled. Sophie laugh-cried, smiling and laughing as her eyes cried uncertain but happy tears. 

The happy, sad, overly emotional couple stayed there for a long, long time. 

Short but sweet. I wish I could say the same for the next chapter….. *eh ehm* Anyways, thank you! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hey guys! I’m excited for yall to read this chapter… it was both really fun and especially hard to write, so you know it’s gotta be good. Enjoy! 
-LLF

Keefe sat with her until late after the stars came shining through her still-open windows. They seemed to be smiling, though that could’ve been Sophie’s imagination. She felt like she had a glowing aura around her, a bubble no one could pop. A dreamy, happy grin still settled on her face. It remained there, getting comfortable, as she showed and changed into fuzzy fuchsia pajamas and while she climbed into bed. It even stayed when Grady and Edaline came in, even though Edaline smiled sappily and Grady scowled the entire time. She was pretty sure that it was even still there when she first woke up.

But it fell right after that. 

Mr Forkle was sitting at her desk chair, and Sandor and Flori were nowhere to be seen. Sophie jolted up, anger flooding her previously peaceful and happy mindspace. It shook and splashed, like a stormy sea, only intensified by the thunderstorm of panic for whatever was happening and Flori and Sandor. All of the flowers and vines on her canopy twisted to face the bloated figure, wriggling uneasily in time with the tempest in Sophie’s head. 

“Ah, Miss Foster. You’re awake,” Mr Forkle said, an unconvincing smile on his wrinkly face. “What do you want? Where are Sandor and Flori?” Sophie interrogated him, rather angrily. Mr Forkle chuckled. “You kids and your silly questions,” he said, a humorous smirk on his thin lips. Sophie wasn’t comforted by the familiar phrase. “Was there another fire? Is someone hurt? Answer my question!” she shouted desperately. Mr Forkle raised an eyebrow. “No and no. Your bodyguards are simply distracted by an errand I set up.” Sophie grumbled under her breath. “So what do you want?” She said again. Mr Forkle sighed dramatically, and stood up to pace. Iggy, sensing the tension in the room, flitted over to Sophie’s lap. She absent-mindedly played with his soft fur, vaguely noticing how much curlier and stretchier it was. Her fingers grazed a note and she looked down to read it. 

Soph, 

I know you had a hard day yesterday, so hopefully Iggy’s fur will be a nice little cheer up! Sorry, I slipped into your room this morning. I Promise I didn’t watch you sleep, unlike some people *glares at Mr Forkle* 

-Dex :) 

Sophie smiled at the note, and noticed Iggy’s opalescent fur for the first time. It was the prettiest style Dex had ever done, white and swirly with shimmering neon glimmers whenever the mischievous imp moved. It was also very long and curly, with big loops; when she pulled it to its full length, one strand was about one foot long. It always bounced back, though, making it very comforting and entertaining to play with. Iggy seemed to love it as much as Sophie did, and she giggled as she watched him pull on his fur. 

“Yes, yes, Mr Dizznee stopped by an hour ago. But I came here to discuss something more…serious.” That caught Sophie’s attention, and she accidentally yanked Iggy’s curly fur. He squeaked in annoyance and fluttered to the top of her canopy, his wings almost covered by the abundance of shimmering fur. He glared down at them both. 

“Serious discussion? What happened? Did something bad happen?” Sophie said, the panic building in her chest. Mr Forkle stared long and hard at her, his gaze scrutinizing, then shook his head. Sophie breathed a sigh of relief, tying the thread of panic away under her ribs for later. “What is it, then?” She asked, taking a calming breath. Mr Forkle pulled the desk chair to the side of her bed, and sat heavily on it, steepling his fingers. “Miss Foster. Your blatant lack of respect yesterday was unacceptable. We must control that, especially in front of our new Councillor allies.” Sophie laughed, almost hysterical. “THAT'S what this is about?” She giggled, doubling over. Iggy looked down at her, confused. “Yes, Miss Foster. So we have constructed a test, of sorts. You have to complete it to earn our trust.” Sophie’s eyes widened, and her mind didn’t flash to anger. It went to shocked, blatant pity. They really expected her to believe that? To do a test after all she’d done for them? She tried to hide it, nodding seriously as Mr Forkle outlined the basics of the test: She had to do whatever the Black Swan said for 3 months. Juline, Tiergan, and her friends weren’t allowed to participate because they were halfway through quitting the order, so that left a whole lot of people Sophie didn’t know. And they could make her do anything. The whole time that Sophie listened to him, a voice sounded in the back of her head. Only after he left did it come into focus. 

It was something Keefe had told her the night before. “You can’t be mind controlled,” he had said. “So don’t let them control you anyways.” Sophie sucked in a breath, realizing that Keefe had been right. What Mr Forkle was attempting was basically mind control. Keefe’s words repeated, a motto this time. “You CAN’T be mind controlled! SO DON’T LET THEM CONTROL YOU ANYWAYS!” This time, he added a plea, something that Sophie had nearly forgotten about. “You hear that, Foster?” Keefe’s mental voice faded, but it left Sophie still reeling. “I hear you, Keefe,” she breathed. She had found a wisp of determination, and was craving more. She was not going to let the Black Swan use her as their little puppet.

She quickly scanned the house, using her growling stomach as an excuse to be walking around. Sandor and Flori were still gone, Grady was away on assignment, and Sophie found a note from Edaline saying she had gone to Everglen to make ripplefluffs with Della. She was completely alone. 

Sophie sat on the edge of her bed, thinking. The vines on her canopy grew and tightened around the pole, and the flowers closed, even in full daylight. She knew she had to do something drastic here. She couldn’t stay here, with the Black Swan controlling her. She had to get out. She had to somehow also solve the problems in their world, simply because, well, who else would?
An idea came to Sophie. She sucked in a breath, but then got to work. She scribbled 6 hasty notes- one to her bodyguards, one to the Council, one to Mr Forkle and his Black Swan, one to her parents, one to her friends, and one for Keefe. Once she had sealed the last envelope and written who each one was going to, the plan had completely come together. She picked out a couple outfits, and pulled out a small dagger from inside a box in her closet. She ripped open the seam of every single piece of fabric, fishing around and eventually pulling a bronze disk from all of them. She left each one on the dresser next to her letters. Once that was done, she scoured the floor, spotting the sharp trimmers lying on the floor by her bed, where Flori had been pruning her flowers. She grabbed them, studying their sharp edges. 

She clipped off the thick band of the nexus Elwin still insisted she wear easily. 

Then she snapped off the registry pendant around her neck. 

And she crushed the Black Swan pendant with her outward channeling, and slipped it into the Black Swan’s envelope before sealing it. 

Sophie then slipped on a dark, unassuming outfit: A black tunic with a mini skirt, long grey leggings, tall brown boots, a pair of dark gloves and her fingernail gadgets (she still needed to figure out how to control that) and a midnight colored hooded cloak. The rest of the de-trackerfied clothes went into 2 small brown satchels. She also packed up some food, her IPod, her scrapbook, her Spyball, and Iggy, slipping him into his cage and holding him against her chest. “Shh, ok, buddy?” she whispered gently to the curious imp. He seemed to understand, and settled into his cage. 

Sophie put up the dark hood of her cloak, walked outside, and took a deep breath, preparing to run. If her theory was right, if she could run fast enough, she would be able to Teleport. 

She started to sprint, channeling energy to her legs to run faster and faster. Iggy let out a terrified squeak, but she didn’t slow down. Soon, it felt like she was almost flying, and the adrenaline built up so high that it overflowed. A much more quiet, much smaller rift in the sky appeared right in front of her, and she charged into it. 

Sophie Foster had officially run away to the Neverseen. 

DUN DUN DUUUUUN! Plot twist! I didn’t see that coming 😉 anyways, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hey guys! This chapter is just all the letters that Sophie wrote and left on her dresser in the most dramatic way possible. So, enjoy!
-LLF

Sophie’s letters lay abandoned on her dresser, along with a small mountain of bronze trackers, a broken nexus, and her registry pendant. Her first letter lay on the bottom of the stack, addressed to her bodyguards. 

”Dear S & F, 

Please don’t worry about me. Or hunt me down. If you manage to drag me back, I WILL find some way to escape again. I can’t stay here, guys. The Black Swan is manipulating everyone, so please don’t trust them. I’m so, so sorry. Keep everyone safe for me, please. Thank you for all you’ve done to protect me, and I hope I can find you again someday, when this is all over. 

Love, 

Sophie”

  Sophie hadn’t known what to say in that one. How does someone word gratitude, a plea, a warning, and a beg for forgiveness all in one letter? She sighed and put it down anyways, moving on to the next letter. 

“To The Council–

You probably have heard that I left the Lost Cities, and you are probably wondering why. I’ll share my reasons, in a moment. For now, I want to say (1): Don’t attempt to track me down. If something doesn’t work out for the better of our world, I will come back and figure something else out. If you try to bring me back too early, I will fight with everything I  have to continue for our world. (2): If I ever come back, please don’t try to exile me. I truly am just trying to help the world become better. I am going to the Neverseen just for their attitudes, that of which things actually happen. I’m going to change that attitude for the better of our world instead, just you wait and see. (3): Don’t trust the Black Swan. They are the reason I had to figure out some other way to help the world. They will try to manipulate you. If you need proof, watch and see them twist and change this into something it’s not. If you need to know what it is, here it goes: The Black Swan came to me demanding I do everything they say, a perfect little puppet. I fear that they will do whatever it takes to make me comply. So, for my own safety and the reason that no one else has been doing anything about the cracks in our world, I left. Nothing more to it. Please trust me. Think of all the times I’ve already risked my life for the better of the world. I promise that hasn't changed, and never ever will. 

I hope to see you again with a better world. 

Sophie Foster 

PS. I have reason to believe that Councillor Oralie might be my biological mother. Please investigate, if only just as a parting gift to me, who has and will help and support you and, most importantly, your world.”

Sophie breathed in a sigh of relief about finally being able to write that down. She had been grappling with the possibility ever since she had needed to help Lord Cassius way back on some insignificant project, where he said that she used her Telepathy in the most feeling-oriented way he had ever felt. That had sparked the idea that maybe one of her parents was an Empath, and when her theory that Kenric could’ve been her father (and then Bronte), she had realized Oralie was an Empath. A blonde Empath. A blonde Empath who had a very good reason for not wanting anyone to know she had a daughter. 

Sophie hadn’t tested the theory because she couldn’t stand the thought of looking into the face of someone she had trusted, who had possibly lied to her in such a huge way. She hoped the news would somehow get back to her if it was true or not. 

Sophie then focused all the anger she had felt at that possibility and added it to the ever-growing pile of rage that the traitorous organization she was writing to next had already sparked. 

“Mr Forkle + The Black Swan, 

You are manipulative and ever so much more evil than I thought possible for you to ever be. I have warned everyone of your treachery, but I already know that you will twist and tear this to turn it to your advantage. But be warned: I will not ever rest in my efforts to stop you and help the world grow and rebuild. 

You built the Moonlark to be your little puppet. To always fly back to you. To do tricks at your beck and call. Well, this Moonlark has been set free. Set on fire. And I will never stop until you have been scorched by my heat, even if it takes me down with you. 

I’m NOT your Moonlark. I’m not a Moonlark at all. 

I’m a Phoenix. Because I’m not going to let you cast my eggs aside and control me from the sidelines. No, I’ll rise from the ashes of our world and burn until it heals again. And you are not going to like the results. 

You have been warned. 

-The Phoenix”

She had left her ruined monocle pendant inside, proud of how strong she sounded. No, how strong she was. She kept that thought in her mind, drawing a fiery bird on the envelope of that one. She really liked her new title. Because it was true. She wasn’t a Moonlark. She wasn’t some weak, helpless bird who had been taught to do tricks at their master’s enjoyment. She was strong, independent, and adaptable. She really did rise from the ashes of the Lost Cities, and she would always come back again and again if that’s what it took to grow, change, and rebuild. 

Unfortunately, the confident rush the letter had given her faded when she remembered what letters she still had to write. She took a deep breath before beginning. 

“Dearest Mom + Dad, 

I’m so, so ,so sorry for this. I can’t even express my sorrow and regret at this. I hope you can find it in your extraordinarily big hearts to forgive me for ever running away to the Neverseen. I PROMISE that I won’t be lost in the teachings and methods of the Neverseen. I’m going to try to change it, and only channel the actual getting-things-done force that they have. I just can’t stay here. The Black Swan is manipulating everything and everyone. YOU CANNOT TRUST THEM. If you ever trusted me, or loved me at all, you HAVE to believe that. I couldn’t take it if you got hurt. They want to control everything. In a way, they are worse than the Neverseen. Please, please, please be careful. 

I have to change the world. It’s what I was created for, even though that’s not why I’m doing it. 

I told the Black Swan that I’m not their Moonlark anymore, because that’s true. I’m a Phoenix. I have

to adapt and help and grow and heal, not just myself, but everything around me. And the terrifying truth is that our world has too many cracks. Soon, water is going to start leaking out of them. That’s why I’m doing this. I promise I haven’t turned evil. It’s the exact opposite of that, actually. I need to do things some would call evil to accomplish good. 

I really, really, really hope you can understand and forgive me. If you don’t, I’ll have to find some way to live with myself. 

I love you forever. Thank you so much for all the love and support you gave me, the first real support and whole-hearted love I’ve ever had. I will never be able to thank you enough for letting me have a chance in your lives and fully accepting me. I hope very much that my chance doesn’t end here, because I love you guys so much. I’m going to think about you every second of every day. I’ll miss you so, so much. 

I’m so, so, so sorry. 

I promise I’ll return after this entire mess is smoothed over. I just hope you’ll have open arms for me when I do. 

My love for you guys is as big as the universe. 

Your Daughter, sending all her love, 

Sophie” 

Sophie sniffled at that one, and her eyes fully teared up at the sudden, terrible thought of never seeing her parents again; or even worse, coming back and being rejected. She took a couple deep breaths to calm her sorrow-filled heart and left a familiar charm bracelet inside the envelope, except for two charms, which she slid onto a thin chain: an elephant covered in blue diamonds and a golden moonlark that her friends had given to her. She took that as a sign to write the next letter first, though honestly she was just avoiding Keefe’s until the last possible second. 

”Hey guys! It’s Soph. 

First off, you will think that this is a joke. Unfortunately, it’s not. The Black Swan is manipulating everyone. Just watch and see how they twist this. But here’s the true story. 

The Black Swan already forced me through the Alluveterre Everblaze incident. You all were there when Wraith talked about me. You all heard Edaline’s statement. But, to make things worse, Mr Forkle came to me after sending Sandor and Flori on a fake urgent errand. He told me I had to earn back their trust, simply because I was unhappy that he put me in that situation. He told me I had to do everything the Black Swan told me to for 3 months, Like mind control. And he implied that bad things would happen to everyone if I didn’t listen to him. Well, I’m not standing for that. So please, please, please be careful, especially around them. 

Please forgive me. I’m not trying to turn evil. I’m trying to do something that might seem evil for what is truly good. For the good of everything. I’m going to take away the Neverseen’s bad side, and change it to channel their get-things-done attitudes, because THAT is what we need now. Not an organization who manipulates everything they come across, or a Council who can’t decide on anything actually helpful or necessary. I’m sorry it came down to this; but can you honestly think of anything else to do? I’m still so, so sorry it had to be this way. 

Fitz- I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me forever for this. You are such a wonderful friend and I was so lucky to have you in my life. Heck, I was so lucky that you brought me here!  You were the best Cognate there ever was, and I hope this doesn’t permanently ruin any of our relationships, this one included. 

Biana- Keep being your wonderful, sparkly self! I’ll never be able to repay you for your wonderful friendship (and I’ll never be able to repay you for all the makeovers you did on me :) and I’m sorry it had to pause, and hopefully not end, like this. Love you, girl.

Dex- Thank you so, so, so much. I’m sorry that we didn’t hang out as much as we should’ve lately. I hope you someday will forgive me and I can have the chance to change that, because I really don’t want to lose my amazing, talented, creative best friend! I’ll miss you SO much!

Linh- Thank you for being such an incredible friend. You always made me smile. I promise to you that I WILL get Tam back to you safely as soon as I possibly can. 

Marella- I’m sorry I neglected you sometimes, cuz you really are amazing. Please forgive me for, well, everything, and if you need some payback, Sandor has plenty of rumors you can spread ;) Keep your fire shining, girl!

Wylie- We’ve had our differences, but that hasn’t stopped you from defending and saving me countless times. I  truly respect you. Please take care of Prentice, because I don’t blame him at all, no matter what I said about the Black Swan earlier. I think that the Black Swan became convoluted over time, and I hope that Prentice recovers quickly. Thank him for me if he does. I’m so, so sorry. 

I will miss all of you so, so, so much. You guys are the most incredible friends anyone could ever have. Please don’t let this change you at all and keep being unique and amazing. I’m not going to ask for your forgiveness again, though, because I really, really don’t deserve it. 

You guys are everything to me. 

-Sophie”

Sophie had wiped a few tears from her eyes, taking some deep breaths as she set a bunch of colorfully wrapped presents by the letter. They were her midterm gifts to them, which she hadn’t been able to give because of all the craziness going on. She hoped it helped them remember her, even just a little bit, because they had all really changed her life. Then she slowly opened the last piece of parchment, steeling herself for the hardest letter yet. Hands shaking, she wrote, 

“Dearest Keefe, 

Please don’t hate me.”

A sob slipped through her lips at the all too-familiar words, and she fought to keep tears from falling out of her blurry, strange brown eyes. 

”I really, truly love you, Keefe. Nothing will ever change that. I wish I could take you with me, but I fear what your mom would do to you if I did. I just couldn’t stay here any longer, Keefe. I really couldn’t. The Black Swan is using everything, and they threatened everyone if I didn’t disappear or do what they told me to do, and I couldn’t do what they told me to do. They told me I had to be their complete puppet for 3 whole months, and who knew what they would make me do? But I’m not disappearing. I'm still trying to help save the world. Like a super-smart guy I know once said, ‘sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.’ This is my worse, but I promise I will make it better. I need to help the world seal up its cracks, for us, for our friends, for everything. I just can’t sit around while nobody does anything. That’s why I joined the Neverseen. They’re the only ones doing anything at all. But I promise that I’m not actually joining them. I’m going to change them to help our world instead of hurting it. I just really, really, really hope you can forgive me for it. 

If you can’t, I’ll have to find some way to move on and live with myself. But for now, I’m holding out hope for us. 

Please, please, please stay safe. Don’t do anything dumb. I can’t watch you get hurt again. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I need to ask anyway, so PLEASE try to forgive me. I don’t think I can do this knowing you hate me. 

I’m really, really hoping this whole mess is over soon. 

Sending all my love,

Sophie”

One stubborn tear fell from Sophie’s eyes, splattering right over her name, smearing it out of the letter and out of everyone’s lives. 

And then she had fled. 

Very dramatic and very sad. What did you guys think of the whole Phoenix thing? I remember writing it and thinking I needed to make her not the Moonlark, haha. Anyways, thank you! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hello, guys! You guys are in for a treat… these next two chapters are my favorite. This is a two part piece from Keefe’s POV, and they’re extra long! Be prepared for some extra sulky Funkyhair drama. Enjoy!!

-LLF

Keefe woke up suddenly, thanks to a high pitched ringing sound that seemed to echo around his brain. He groaned, but rolled over to the wrong side and toppled off of his bed in a tangle of sheets. Ro snickered loudly from out of sight. 

“Wow, Lord Funkyhair, real smooth!”

Keefe groaned again, and tried to sit up, but he was too tied up in his blankets to move. Ro giggled maliciously and watched him struggle, twisting and turning and writhing out of the mess of sheets and covers. He had to wriggle out of his T-Rex covered pajama shirt to get all the way out. He stood grumbling, then tripped and fell, feet still tangled in the knot of twisted bedsheets. 

“Seriously, Funkyhair, how is Blondie ever going to admit her feelings in that oblivious little brain if you can’t even stand?” Keefe smirked, untangling his feet and testing them before standing again. “Nah, I’ll just tell her she knocked me off my feet.” Ro rolled her eyes. “Ugh, whatever. And can you STOP that INFERNAL RINGING?!?!?!” 

Keefe’s eyebrows shot up, but he realized that the high pitched ding from when he had woken up was real and still ringing out. He kept his arms out for balance, stepping out of the discarded blankets and hobbling over to the messy nightstand. A couple bottles of Youth, an abandoned plate covered in crumbs, a small clock, all of his notebooks, and several colored pencils were all piled haphazardly on top of it. He rifled through it all, finding the vibrating silver square he was looking for under the brown notebook. 

‘Accept Dex Dizznee?’   it said in loopy letters across the screen. Keefe tapped it, and with a white flash, his technopath buddy’s strawberry blonde head popped into view. 

“Hey Keefe- woah, put a shirt on, dude!” said Dex. Keefe was about to shrug when an accented voice sent him scrambling for his T-shirt. 

“What?!?” Biana said, and Dex’s tousled head was replaced with Biana’s perfect face, perfectly framed with perfect, dark, shoulder-length loopy curls. Keefe tried to change the subject, adjusting his shirt. 

“So, uhm, why’s Biana with you, Dex?” He grasped at the distraction. Biana, blushing slightly, exclaimed, “Well, it is almost 12 pm, but… We’re together!” Keefe blinked, surprised at both revelations. He sent a dirty look at Ro for not waking him up (she shrugged), and then said, “Huh, I thought you liked Mr Salt.” Biana cringed a bit, and Dex’s disembodied voice asked, “Mr Salt?” Keefe rolled his eyes. “Tammy boy. Bangs boy. Shady. Mr Salt.” 

Dex just grumbled something about insufferable frenemies and pulled the imparter out of Biana’s hand. “Well, Tam and my love life is NOT the reason we hailed you. Apparently, Mr Forkle called Sophie to come to Alluvettere and so Grady to hail everyone to see what this is about. We’re all meeting at Havenfield. Can you come?” Ro pitched in, putting the vial of yellow nail polish she was about to open on the mother-of-pearl windowsill. “Yes, he’s coming! We’ll be at Blondie’s sparkly house in 5 minutes! Bye, Techy Boy!” She used a clawed finger to end the call. “Hey, whaddya do that for?!?” Keefe exclaimed, trying to call Dex again. “Nope, sulky boy!” Ro yoinked the imparter out of his grasp and flung it into the mess of blankets still on the floor. “We need to get you ready for your big confession to Miss Oblivious!” Keefe groaned. 

Loudly. 

“Ro! No, I’m not going to make any of this about me. Sophie’s obviously going through something right now and-” “She’ll need someone to lean on! You! I’ll even stay behind, even though I’ll get a scolding from Gigantor later. I am DYING for this to happen! It’s been delayed for TOO. LONG. Deal?” Keefe knew he couldn’t get out of this one. 

“If she needs me- IF- I’ll be there. I’m not going to talk about… anything,” he reluctantly said as he shook her outstretched hand. She grinned snarkily. 

“We’ll see about that.”

* ++**+

4 minutes and 59 seconds later (yes, Keefe counted), Keefe glittered into the shimmering emerald pastures of Havenfields without Ro, among alicorns, Panakes blossoms, and LOTS of people: Grady, Fitz, Biana and Dex, Linh, who looked strangely small without Tam next to her. She had dyed the two strands framing her face a metallic silver to match her highlights, probably in tribute to her lost brother. It made Keefe’s heart give a strange pang as he watched her shrink into herself. There was also Marella, standing next to her, and Stina, Wraith, Blur, Tiergan, Juline as Squall, all twelve councilors, Flori, and a very, very angry Sandor, who gave him the side-eye when he noticed that Ro was not with him. 

All of them were frantically arguing, from what he could tell, about whether they should find Sophie or not (well, besides Wraith and Blur; they stood quietly on the sides) and panickedly speculating on what in the name of gulons was happening. When Keefe got nearer, everyone stopped, and Grady grumbled one of his signature “What’s That Boy doing here” s, with more punch than usual. Keefe could feel he was very frustrated and anxious, and Keefe empathized with him. 

“I invited him. He’s one of our friends, and I thought he should know what’s going on. Well… whatever’s going on,” Dex admitted. Grady rolled his eyes and was about to say something when a flash appeared in the middle of the huddle, and Edaline and Mr Forkle shimmered into view, leaving cold, silver glitter in their wake. And… a smell of smoke. 

Sweet, sickly smoke.
Everblaze smoke. 

“What happened? Where’s Sophie?!?!” Grady said, a dump of cold panic dousing the words. Instead of responding, Edaline shoved Mr Forkle off of her wrist, kicked him, and slapped him across the face so hard that a loud, almost wet-sounding thud rang out over the panicked voices. 

Everyone silenced when Mr Forkle recoiled from Edaline, whose fingers were pressed so tightly in a snap that she couldn’t move her fingers. Grady rushed over, the tears in his eyes reflecting Edaline’s as he hugged his wife, whispering comforts into her red ears. 

Keefe was really, really, really scared. He was terrified for Sophie. Where was she? What would make Edaline slap Mr Forkle like that? It didn’t look like they’d be getting any answers at the moment. Edaline sobbed onto Grady’s shoulder, Mr Forkle stared blankly at her in shock, and everyone else started a loud, lively debate. Keefe had stayed quiet, focusing more on the unsteady ground. Why am I shaking so hard? He wondered, watching as his legs shook and hands trembled. 

It wasn’t until the ground rumbled loudly that he realized that it wasn’t him at all. 

They all stared at the grumbling ground watching as the earth cracked open, dirt and dust falling into the newly made pit, which overfilled with slick green vines. And wrapped up in the emerald tendrils… 

A beautiful, perfect, unscathed blonde girl with striking, angry brown eyes untangled from the mess. Keefe watched in amazement as she swished her hand, sending the vines back to the wet soil and the chasm closing. With another slight tug, all the dust, dirt, and… ash…flew off her in a fist-sized grey ball. She flicked her wrist, making the dirt ball smack into the ground. 

“Wow,” Keefe breathed, and he knew he wasn’t the only one who’d said it. 

So, Foster could…control nature. Her sixth power. Keefe felt a little smug about it. Just a little. Because of course Foster would manifest something completely new! And an elemental power! Well, if there weren’t going to be textbooks about her before, now there definitely would. 

“Soooo… that’s new,” he said, flashing a smirk that clearly stated the appropriate amount of ‘I told you so’. He tried to ignore the waves of… what even was it? Nervousness? Apprehension? Embarrassment? He didn’t look into it. Whatever it was, it was emanating off her like a giant radiator. 

“Yeah, apparently I’m a… Geokinetic,” she said, a little nervously, a little defiantly, and a little proud. He felt her emotions shift as her mind wandered. He tried not to squeeze his eyes shut at the sudden blast of anger, doubt, and worry, but his fists clenched anyways. 

“What does that mean?” Councillor Emery asked, a perfect eyebrow arching. Oralie looked curiously at Sophie, and Keefe could almost hear the blonde girl’s overwhelmed brain clicking something together, but before he could puzzle out what it was, Sophie responded. 

“It means I can do this!” With those words, Sophie began bending and twisting her arms, making thousands- no, millions- of glittering flowers pop up in the suddenly bright peridot fields. All the trees tripled in size, looming over everyone as Sophie flicked her wrist and five gigantic balls rose out of the muddy soil, collecting grass, branches, and flowers and clumping into a perfectly round sphere of earth. They looked like they could do some serious damage. And all with a simple wave of her arm and a few tugs and flicks of her skinny wrists. 

“Wow,” everyone seemed to breathe out that same word. Keefe stood stunned and… actually, he wasn’t stunned. He always knew Foster was special. He was just happy she looked so confident in herself. Marella stepped forward, drawing his attention for the first time to her auburn hair. She must’ve dyed it recently.  

“Can I…try something?” she whispered, awestruck. Keefe could feel astonishment from here. Sophie nodded briskly, elegantly- a word Keefe had seldom used for Sophie- shifting her weight as Marella squinted, fists clenched, and sent a vibrant tongue of purple flame lunging at the vines. Almost instantly, though, the vines and earth-clump-things smothered the sparking fire into a whiff of smoke. When Linh tried to make the clustery-things collapse, they just absorbed the water and grew greener, and the water ignored Linh completely when to call it back. Dex’s gadgets had little effect, and with every try, Keefe became smugger and smugger. 

However, Mr Forkle had struggled out of the ivy bonds Keefe hadn’t even noticed Sophie had placed on him, and wobbled over to them with a joyous clap. “Why, this is incredible! An invaluable resource! I trust you extinguished the Everblaze at Alluvettere?” 

The waves of fury and hatred radiating off of Sophie knocked Keefe back a step as Foster twisted to face the bloated figure, eyebrows scrunched and beautiful- why, he REALLY needed to stop thinking that with so many Telepaths around- brown eyes glittering with a fierce fire. Keefe smiled at her obvious, unconscious control as her vines raged in a storming frenzy and lively grass at Mr Forkle’s feet withered. She clearly didn’t realize how much power and control she was exhibiting. Keefe loved her- seriously, no wonder Biana and everyone else could tell so easily about his crush when he thought that with all the fancy Telepaths around- for how she never seemed to notice or care about her power. She was just so… perfect (he sighed at himself, although everyone seemed to be overwhelmed by her otherworldly display). 

“You don’t get to say anything,” she spat, more fury loaded into each syllable than Keefe thought possible to be held in the small figure before him. Frankly, he was impressed. 

Biana appeared next to him, and from the fading cuddle vibes and the pouty alicorn whines in the distance, he knew she had missed most of the conversation. And Keefe couldn’t even blame her, since none of them knew much anyways. Her emotions were spiraling out of control, though, and Keefe moved away from her, even though he owed her all those crush lessons (no comment from me, he added, in case any nosey Telepath was listening in. Also, he thought a very colorful version of ‘GET OUT OF MY HEAD’!). Biana was confused, worried, befuddled, angry at Mr Forkle because everyone seemed to be, and happy (what else came from snuggling alicorns?). “Why?” She questioned, and Keefe watched as Sophie twirled elegantly- there was that word AGAIN! What happened to clumsy Sophie?- back to face them, hair fluttering gracefully in the wind (he gave up on the Telepath censored thoughts. It just wasn’t working). He admired her passion and, well, her, as she left Mr Forkle struggling a foot off the ground in her leafy vines. Sophie panted, obviously trying not to get too angry. But her next words were startled Keefe, more venomous than he had ever heard her, even when faced with the Neverseen. But he could also feel her inner turmoil. She was angry, sad, betrayed, furious, betrayed, venomous, and… slightly relieved? But that one was buried deep, and Keefe doubted she could even feel it with all the hate bubbling forward. 

“Mr Forkle,” she said, the wrath in her tone laced with betrayal and a tinge of sadness, “called me in a panic, convincing me to go to Alluvettere.” Sophie’s shoulders were shaking as her vines grew furiously, turning so thick and green they looked like trees. Keefe had never heard of anything like this power. 

He had never heard of a lot of things until Sophie came along. 

She didn’t even seem to notice, fists clenched and teeth bared, tears gathering in her eyes as she stalked forward. “When I got there with Edaline, there was a huge storm of Everblaze consuming it.” Rage refined her, Keefe realized, as she gracefully and lethally continued pacing, hands betraying her fury as she waved them around to her words.  He wished he could go and give her a hug, but the way her eyes were glazed, he knew it probably wasn’t a good idea, but he still stepped a little closer so she knew he was there. She had her fists clenched painfully tight, the skin turning white as she continued. “Mr Forkle then LEFT ME THERE, to figure it out BY MYSELF with NO WAY OUT, literally DRAGGING Edaline away, and all because ‘I’m the dang Moonlark’!” 

Keefe had never felt that much fury in his life. 

He (and everyone else) turned to Mr Forkle, and Keefe wished he could inflict on his stupid bloated face for hurting Sophie. He wondered how Sophie WASN’T inflicting on him, but he guessed she was too overwhelmed to remember it. He understood why Edaline had kicked him, and Keefe venomously thought he might do worse. 

Where was Ro when he needed her?!?!

Sophie’s vines twisted tighter and tighter around Mr Forkle, and he squirmed, trying to avoid the hot sparks of soil and mud shooting at him. Keefe hoped he got burned. 

Tiergan broke the tension-filled silence, apologizing profusely for the Black Swan, and giving Mr Forkle some serious death glares Everyone’s wrath and shock and betrayal clouded around them, and it should have been overwhelming for Keefe, but he just added his own fury to the mix and hoped Mr Forkle could feel all of it. 

But Wraith amplified everything tenfold when he next spoke. 

“Well, I do not,” he said, and Keefe could almost feel his smirk. Well, he could, but- “We created Sophie, so she has to do what we tell her,” he reasoned, shrugging like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. Keefe felt the disbelief and hysterical fury wafting off everyone… except Blur. Oh gulons, if he was in on this too… 

Keefe’s own fury increased, and he thought he was more angry than he had ever been in his entire life. Knowing his (terrible) mom had truly been as terrible as Keefe had thought had been bad, but this… there were no words. 

But Sophie’s emotions ebbed into tiredness. He glanced at her, and her slumped shoulders and drooping eyes glazed in fatigue portrayed her state-of-mind pretty well, along with the greyish color her vines were turning, and the tears she didn’t seem to notice drizzling down her cheeks, it felt like she was giving up. She was in shock, and Keefe was about to rush over when Grady’s voice lowered dangerously. “Sophie,” he growled, “is not your puppet.” Juline stepped next to him, head held high as she glared furiously down at Blur and Wraith. Her frozen face could have melted from how much fiery fury was in her eyes. “We made Sophie to help be an influence in the world, through her choices. We simply gave her the tools,” she said, tilting her head as if to dare him to argue with her. And… he accepted. “Well, you are misinformed, then, Squall,” he sneered. 

Suddenly, Sandor was there, hot coals blazing in his eyes and sword glinting maliciously in the sun. “If you think,” Sandor said, voice deepening into a growl that was, quite honestly, the scariest sound Keefe had ever heard. He hoped Wraith peed his pants. “That I’m going to let you get away with trying to harm MY charge, you will be fatally wrong,” with that, Sandor picked up the invisible hooded figure, his meaty hand clenched fiercely as he glared directly into where Wraith’s eyes would be. But before Keefe could cheer for the bodyguard, Blur’s hand solidified and punched him hard, directly into one of his wrist nerves, a sensitive pressure point. With a squeaky growl, Sandor was forced to drop Wraith, who immediately vanished, making Sandor growl in rage. It nearly distracted Keefe from the sudden spike of emotion from Sophie. He glanced over at her, and the sunshiney color drafting off her showed off her surprise and slight joy. When Fitz’s emotions changed just a second later, Keefe looked between them and very closely suppressed an eyeroll. But when Sophie blushed and Fitz’s emotions turned a pale purpley relief, Keefe’s heart dropped. Fitz must have come clean. Sophie giggled and Fitz smiled, and Keefe stopped really paying attention to anything, focusing instead on his own conflicted emotions until Linh’s soft, trickling voice said, “Wait… how did the Neverseen even know about Alluvettere?” Sophie cringed, and Keefe sensed a flare of panic as she glanced around nervously. She shuffled her feet, saying, “Well… Gethen must’ve searched Tam’s memories. The Neverseen…” “Oh,” Linh said dazedly, sinking to the grass, who’s colors were fading slightly from Sophie’s original rush. Linh stared at her hands, and Wylie rushed over as Marella stepped forward, but retreated as Wylie crouched by the silver-tipped girl.

Keefe noticed Dex and Biana leaning against each other, and he remembered their earlier confession to him. They were made for each other, and Keefe’s confused mind was overjoyed for them, but a jealous pang in his heart reminded him of the other couple who were perfect together. If it ever happened. He shook that idea away, and focused back on his fury, which now somehow felt hollow, fake, and sort of shallow as he thought about it. But he didn’t. So he tried not to glance at Sophie and Fitz, because he knew he then probably WOULD think about it, and then he would probably lose it completely. Especially with the way Keefe noticed Fitz smiling to himself.

Keefe pinched himself, forcing the little creature of envy parading around his mind into a box in the very corner of the very back of his brain. It protested, but Keefe knew that he would never, could never, be as perfect as Fitz. And, plus, Sophie wasn’t a toy. She also liked Fitz, so… if things aren’t meant to be, they won’t be. So he shoved all thoughts of pathetic crushes that would never work out in the little box too. And just in time, as well, because Mr Forkle opened his infuriating mouth again. “Yes, we need to secure everything immediately!” Everyone glared at him again, and it was astonishing that he didn’t flinch at all the hatred wafting towards him. Then again, he wasn’t an Empath.  

Sophie heaved a sigh that sounded more like a frustrated growl. “We will, later. Now, I need to rest and test my powers.” Keefe studied Sophie closely. Since when did she need to ‘rest’? Not that she shouldn’t, but with the way she was feeling so…everything? What was goin-

But he didn’t get to ponder for long, because Sophie shuffled over, as awkwardly as ever, and kissed him. 

Really. 

She walked over and her soft lips brushed his. She tasted like vanilla, and he couldn’t do anything because 

It. 

Was. 

Finally.

Happening. 

Hehehe… yes, I know I’m the worst. But you guys are lucky- my Quotev people had to WaIt for the second part! Anyways, thank you so much for reading! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hi! Part two of Keefe’s special chapters, with an extra long name!! Yay! But I do regret to tell you that poor Keefe isn’t gonna have a great day… 

Welp, on that ominous note, enjoy!

-LLF

But right after, she turned, blushing and hurrying away, forgetting about Mr Forkle, who escaped with no one noticing. Everyone started shouting, Biana celebrating, Grady yelling animatedly, saying words in Ogreish that made even Bo blush. 

In addition, Fitz was smiling faintly, Dex was facepalming, all twelve councilors (who had been oddly quiet this entire time) had wide, startled expressions and were taking in the whole scene while simultaneously backing up. Edaline was laughing, Marella was grumbling ‘finally’, and Wylie and Linh smiled at each other. Tiergan had a bemused expression, Juline was softly smiling, and Stina (who had rolled her eyes and walked away when Sophie had shown up) yelled ‘Did Team Foster-Keefe happen?’ When shouts of ‘yes’ in every emotion possible and plenty of ogre cursing reached her, she just rolled her eyes (does this seem to be a habit for her) and huffed an exasperated sigh. 

Keefe just stared after Sophie’s retreating figure. When she reached the front stoop, she peeked back at Keefe, and blushed the brightest red he’d ever seen. He felt her embarrassment loud and clear, but it took him a couple minutes to decipher the suppressed, overwhelming sorrow and exhaustion buried underneath. Worried, he tried to push past everyone, but they all crowded around him. “Please!” he shouted, muscling through the crowd. But Biana, squealing, blocked him, and Grady cornered him, looming over him like Death itself. Luckily, Edaline pulled his arm, distracting him and trying to drag him away. “Please!” he said again, but his words were swallowed up by the still exclaiming crowd. Finally Sandor picked him up and carried him over the mob and to the front door. “Thanks,” Keefe said breathlessly, and raced up the glittering stairs, mentally thanking the god of gulons for the grey bodyguard. Always knew he was a softie, he snickered, but that thought was lost as he opened Sophie’s gilded door. He heard soft sniffling coming from the bathroom. She quieted herself as she heard him walk across the room. 

“Sophie?” he asked. She didn’t say anything, but some more soft sobs came from the closed door. So he pushed it open, not really taking much effort to push her small frame across the tiled floor. He slipped in and shut it again, and she leaned against it. 

“You ok, Foster?” he asked, trying to appear casual by slinging his arms lazily around his legs. His heart ached as the petite blond next to him sniffled quietly again. She couldn’t seem to look him in the eye, and she fit her head into the gap between her knees, blonde hair cascading around her like a golden halo as she held herself together with her skinny arms, which Keefe noticed had a few tiny golden freckles wandering up and down them. 

He scolded himself for focusing on that, and looked at Sophie again. Watching her be so vulnerable and sad, he could care less about Alden’s wishes- even if Sophie had already-

Nope, not thinking about that right now. 

“Screw it,” he said, and scooted closer to her tiny, trembling body, and wrapped an arm around her too, as a way to allow her to let herself go. No need to keep herself all together here. 

“Hey,” he whispered into her downcast ear. “What Mr Forkle did was unfair. It’s not ok to use you, no matter what anyone says.” He put as much determination and comfort into his words as possible, like he could soak all her sadness and betrayed feelings up and replace them with warmness and happiness and comfort. 

It must’ve worked to some degree, because Sophie looked up at him, tears still in her eyes. At least she wasn’t crying anymore. She tried to wipe her eyes on the palm of her hand, and then turned back to Keefe. 

“Really?” she said, and just the reason she had to ask that made Keefe wanna storm out of there and give Mr Forkle a piece of his mind- and his fist. But he had a feeling that everyone else was doing most of that for him. So, instead, he stayed right by Sophie’s side. He laughed a bit so Sophie wouldn't see how angry he was with most of the Black Swan. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before. 

“Yes, Sophie, yes! You are a normal elf.” When she started to shake her head, he held her chin up to face him. “A NORMAL ELF! No, don’t shake your head. Listen to me.” He looked her dead in the eye, serious. He needed to know she understood. “You can do extraordinary things, and in ways that only make everybody more impressed and inspired. But you don;t naturally have super-energy. You can’t not sleep. You don’t have future sight. You can’t predict everything. You can’t always get everything right. No one can.” he laughed again at her slightly scandalized expression. “You can’t not eat. You can’t not drink water. And as much as certain members of the Black Swan hate it, you can’t not make your own decisions. You have to. You can’t be mind controlled.” Keefe shifted his hands to hers, grasping her cold, slightly damp fingers in his own. “You can’t be mind controlled,” he emphasized. “So don’t let them control you anyways. You hear me, Foster?” he smiled at her, and she sniffled again, gratitude pouring into Keefe through their clasped hands. 

“Thank you, Keefe. Really, thanks.” Tiredness still radiated off her, but at least there was some peace and comfort in the mix too. And then… 

…Sophie rested her head against his shoulder, and he felt his face warm up. It took Sophie a second to realize what had happened, and then, face flaming, she retreated back into a Sophie-ball. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to make things awkward, it was just Fitz said-” Before she could continue her rapid-fire rant. Keefe cut her off with his finger, which made her blush even harder than she already was. 

“Woah, woah, woah. For one thing, you didn’t make things awkward. It was actually…kind of nice.” He hoped she didn’t see how hard he was blushing. After all, when did The Keefe Sencen ever blush? 

“Two, are you and Fitz broken up?” Keefe was suspicious. From the way Sophie talked… but outside… “If he hurt you, I swear…” Very nasty things and some words he probably shouldn’t say flew into his head. Sophie grabbed his hand again, melting the various ways that Fitz could die (in the most painful ways, of course) from his mind. 

“No.” She was whispering now, face adorably painted red. “I told Fitz…that…I like you,” she said, staring at the floor like it held the secrets of the universe. Keefe’s thoughts mysteriously disappeared, and he barely noticed as he started squeezing Sophie’s small hand. He tried to loosen his grip, not wanting to hurt her, but his empty brain didn’t respond. “...and he said that he was fine and actually didn’t want a relationship right now because he wanted to train and get his temper under control. It was actually… kind of sweet.” It took Keefe’s mind another second to regain control and pick apart that astonishingly fast-spoken sentence . 

He noticed Sophie glancing at him, but he was too shocked to do anything. Was this a dream? This seemed like something out of the romance novels Biana had lent him (as a way to convince him to ask Sophie out). And it had…worked? Was this too good to be true? 

“Sophie, I…” he could feel Sophie hardening herself, so he squeezed her hand again, quickly. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but… I have liked you, for, like, ever.” He felt himself sweating. Wow, what was it about telling adorable girls how he loved them that made him so nervous?
He hoped Sophie wasn’t listening to his thoughts. 

“Ever since I saw you wandering the halls, covered in alchemy gunk and hopelessly lost. I knew that you were someone incredibly special. Not just that, but just…incredible. Amazingly, wonderfully, fantastically incredible.” He cringed at how cheesy he sounded. “And I really started to appreciate you and, well, care about you more and more as you proved how true that was. And this is exactly what I want. What I’ve always wanted, actually. DOn’t think that I;m some creepy stalker that loves someone the first time they see them! But… I really believe that you are the bravest, most caring person in the world.” 

What was it with him and long, cheesy speeches today?
His dumb mouth fumbled on. 

“And… I love you, Foster. I really, really do.” He had gone too fast. All the emotions rolling off Sophie were way too overwhelming to read. 

Crap. 

He always messed things up. 

Sophie’s teary eyes sparkled, and she hugged him tight, cutting off all his worries. 

“Thank you, Keefe. I really, truly thank you.” Keefe guessed that gratitude was her immediate reaction to anything too shocking, and honestly, he couldn’t blame her. It was nice to be able to place love on someone else, especially if you’re not feeling too good about yourself. 

He hoped that Sophie felt good about herself. He certainly admired her. 

“I…” Sophie’s voice brought him back. “I think that my heart always loved you, but my brain deluded me into loving Fitz.” Keefe snickered at her fearless choice of words. 

“Wow, it ‘dElUdEd’ you? Fitz would be offended that he’s that hard to love!” Sophie snorted adorably, also crying tears of confused joy. THey stayed there until past midnight, just enjoying each other's company and leaning on the other’s shoulder for support in their shaky lives. 

* ++**+

Keefe had to sneak into the Shores of Solace that night, but Ro waited on his still messy bed. 

“So, why were you out until,” she checked a small clock by his bed. “2:27 in the morning?” she asked, checking her nails, eyebrows raised. Keefe winced, stepping into the shadowy room completely. Ro looked at him skeptically. “Hello? Funkyhair?” Keefe scoffed at the nickname, and threw off his shirt, pulling on a ratty gulon PJ top with lots of room to twist in (he was NOT going to risk another escape-then-call in the morning again). Ro rolled her eyes, stood up, lifted him off the ground by the collar of his new shirt, and looked him in the eye. “Updates? What had you out so late?” Keee looked back at her, unimpressed. “Hm, we’re guessing, then?” said Ro, lifting an eyebrow and tossing him on the bed, passively handing him a brush. When Keefe accepted it and didn’t say anything, Ro held to her threat: She started guessing, tapping a bright yellow claw on her chin. 

“Mommy Dearest strikes again?” Keefe tilted his head side to side, as if saying ‘maybe’. Ro raised her eyebrow. “Silent Keefie boy! Fine. The Neverseen?” He made the same head motion. 

“Mr Forkle?” she pivoted. Now Keefe raised an eyebrow, and broke his silence. 

“Why did you come to that?” he said incredulously. Ro shrugged nonchalantly.

“Techy Boy called you about him and Blondie, no? I just assumed as much.” Keefe settled back into the bed, his fears of her silently stalking him eased. 

“Mhm, that’s actually how it started,” he said casually. Ro’s raised eyebrow traveled higher up her face, and a smug smile curled on her thin, red-painted lips. 

“So, you and Blondie together, then?” The sudden change of subject made Keefe sit up, a blush on his face. 

Dang. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Ro said, satisfied and smirking widely. “Finally! So, how’d it happen? Spill,” she said, pulling the creme chaise over to the bed and sitting with her arms propped on her crisscrossed knees and face settled into her clawed hands with a smile like a Cheshire cat. When Keefe only stuttered, Ro rolled her eyes again, still smiling. 

“Please, like I wouldn’t notice that blush you had when you came in! And that lovely crimson painting on your face at the moment only confirms it.” Keefe glared at her and rolled over to face the wall until she poked him, hard, with her sharp talon. 

“Ow! Do you, like, sharpen your nails?” Keefe grumbled, reluctantly sitting up. He knew the second he told her, it would be public knowledge, and he knew Sophie wouldn’t like that. At all. 

And she always came first. 

So he stayed silent. 

He barely slept all night. 

* ++**+

When Keefe woke up late in the morning, Ro was still glaring. 

“Ready to talk yet?” she growled, annoyed. 

“Nope!” he said, and jumped out of the blanket-less bed, changing into a wrinkled tunic. He was oddly excited to see Sophie, and that thought brought both a smile and a blush to his face. 

“Going to see Blondie?” Ro grumbled. “Maybe she’ll tell me the drama.”
Keefe seriously doubted that. 

When he arrived at Havenfield, the house was strangely silent. He looked around, then walked into the house. 

“Uhm… Hello? Grady? Edaline?” he called into the empty house, but a tray of treats and a note on the counter caught his attention. 

Sophie, We had an urgent errand to run. Left treats for you. Love you! Have a great afternoon! See you tonight! 

-Love Edaline  and Grady 

Ro immediately quit her plans of going upstairs when she saw the tray of Sweetberry Swirls. 

“Blondie won’t miss a few, right?” she said, devouring the puffy pastries. Keefe just rolled his eyes and bounded up the stairs. When he reached Sophie’s room, it took him a second to notice the stack of papers and pile of trackers on the dresser. 

When he did, his heart stopped. 

No, he was being silly. Sandor surely must have changed her tracers. And the paper… just spare parchment, surely. 

Surely. 

But when he reached the desk, he found an envelope inscribed with his name. 

Surely. 

He opened it. 

Surely. 

He read it. 

Surely… she wouldn’t…

Surely. 

He passed out. 

The only thought in his head was  that this was surely a joke. Because she wouldn’t. 

Surely. 

Surely there’s a limit to how many times a person can say surely, right? 😉 also, I would like to add that Keefe TOTALLY reads the romance novels Biana lends him. They’re style besties, you can’t tell me otherwise- they’ll be sitting in chairs in Biana’s room reading romance novels and fixing their hair. I think we need to make it cannon, haha. 
Also, yall are lucky- next chapter is a seven thousand read special I posted on Quotev, but since I am the most generous author, I’m giving it to you for free. Only this once, though!! ;) 
Anyways, thank you for reading! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hello! Welcome to the special! This alternate timeline happens right after Sophie gets back and Wraith reveals his evil-ness. This is what happened if Fitz was a not nice person… Enjoy! 
-LLF 

As Sophie watched Sandor grapple with the invisible Wraith, Fitz’s crisp voice invaded her mind. She jumped slightly, not expecting the company in her mind. So it is really that bad, huh? Fitz said. Yep, she thought, grimacing as he watched her replay the memories of the fire. She was- Wait, do you like KEEFE? Fitz shouted in her mind. Sophie blushed, eyes wide, a spike of panic shooting through her thoughts. Fitz looked at her, staring like he’d never seen her before- and didn’t like what he saw. …yes? She thought slowly, cringing hard. I-I’m so sorry you found out this way- I promise I was going to tell you, but… Fitz’s face slowly grew harsh. How could you? Was I just not good enough for you? Now you want my BEST FRIEND instead?!? Sophie felt her eyes widen further. Fitz, it’s not like that-! Fitz’s expression grew dark. Sophie, stop. Stop lying. You’re so flipping selfish! I can’t with you! Fitz cursed a couple of times, making Sophie scowl. Fitz, stop it right now. She sent the words with authority. NO, Sophie, you don’t get to tell me what to do! I am SO SICK of you, you little- 

Sophie stood up. “I’m not dealing with this right now!” She said fiercely. Everyone looked at her, and then looked at Fitz, and then looked at her. Keefe stepped forward, hesitantly. 

“Uh… Sophie? I’m not a telepath, but I think I can tell that something’s wrong…” 

“Stay out of this, Sencen!” Fitz screeched like a toddler put in time-out. 

“Woah, woah, if you’re threatening Foster…” Keefe said, putting his hands out cautiously.

“I’m fine, Keefe.” Sophie said strongly. “Please step back, I fear Fitz is going to do something irrational, and when he does, I do believe a vine might swallow him whole.”

“Just SHUT UP!” Fitz whined angrily. Suddenly, from under his feet, a giant chasm opened, and swallowed the teal-eyed boy whole. Everyone, except Mr Forkle of course, scrambled to the edge of the giant pit. Fitz groaned inside, surrounded by dark black vines that sparked something in Sophie’s mind. 

“Wait a second,” she said, grinning slowly. “That’s Devil’s Snare! From Harry Potter!” The thought made her laugh incredulously. “What, am I a witch now?” She continued laughing a bit, while everyone else stared at her in confusion. 

“Uh… what’s a ‘Harry Potter’?” Dex asked, and Sophie looked at him again, smiling. 

“Oh, you’d LOVE Harry Potter,” she grinned. Dex smiled unsurely at her. Biana brought them all back to the situation, peering into the pit. 

“Uh, Sophie? The plant-thing is strangling him…” Everyone looked back down into the pit, where, indeed, the black vines of Devil’s Snare were causing Fitz to choke. Everyone just peered for a second, before Sandor broke the silence. 

“Hmm. I say we leave him there AT LEAST until he passes out.” Everyone spun to look at Sandor, who shrugged. “He was about to attack my charge and her crush.” Both Keefe and Sophie blushed hard at that statement, but everyone else shrugged, then peered back down into the pit, where Fitz’s face was turning blue. 

“Anyone got popcorn?” Marella asked, causing Linh to laugh for the first time after the revelation Sophie had dropped on her earlier. Marella smiled, satisfied, a light blush covering her face and then subsequently Linh’s. No one seemed to notice the two girls. 

Fitz seemed to be trying to yell something; Sophie guessed it was something along the lines of “I’ll get you for this!” or “Save me, I’m dying!” or simply what it sounded like: “Gahrhhrhhsshrhrhrh!!!” 

Everyone watched for a minute longer, then turned their backs to Fitz, Sophie linking arms with Keefe, making them both look at each other and blush.

They were ready for whatever came ahead. 

Hehehe, what an epic little interaction. 
Anyways, the next chapter is the last one before you guys are caught up… thanks for sticking with me! :D

-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hello! This chapter is on the shorter side… but very, VERY dramatic, so I hope you enjoy. 
-LLF

Sophie took a gasping breath, appearing on a specific bridge in France that she was well acquainted too. This new kind of teleporting was exhilarating, but also terrifying. For a second in the void, the doubt had grasped her and nearly trapped her in the swirling expanse of nothingness that was the void. She shook off the thoughts of the dark arms that seemed to greedily grab her from in the void, hurriedly glancing around for humans. 

She turned on the Obscurer hidden in one of her pockets, hood drawn, brown eyes glinting cunningly in the dim light of the lanterns she’d scoured only a couple years before in a desperate attempt to escape the people she was now trying to find. 

She walked with purpose in the foggy evening, eyes seeming to glow from under the shadows of her thick cloak. 

She seemed graceful, even, like an antique polaroid picture, at that moment. She almost wished Keefe was there. 

She refused to think about him. 

She pushed some power down into the cobblestones beneath her, where small tendrils of moss peeked out from beneath the mortor. 

Where is the Neverseen? She whispered to the presence of the moss, like a radar in her mind, acting on instinct. To her utter shock, the moss replied, in a hushed, almost wispy sounding voice, echoing from the roots of her mind. I don’t know who you are talking about… but if it is the whispers that live beneath my roots, they are beneath the column in the center of the pavilion… near all the other roots… Stunned, Sophie let go of the strange link that tied her to the moss, and headed the way that it had seemed to urge her. 

Soon, she saw a marble pillar rising from an obscure park. It was filled with garden beds, teeming with greenery- the roots the moss had mentioned. She walked right up to the pillar, blonde hair falling out of her hood slightly as she looked around, then examining the column. She ran her fingertips over it, trying to see if there was anything to open a secret passageway, or anything… her fingers grazed over a small nick in the pillar. To her shock, it slowly grew bigger, light peeking out from the crack in the pillar, making her fall onto her butt on the concrete below the pillar, hood falling off her blonde head, eyes wide as a doorway appeared out of the pillar. 

“Ah,” said a voice from inside the blinding white doorframe. “Sophie Foster. What a surprise.”

* ++**+

Sophie gasped up at the figure looming over her, a mixed red-and-green tinge taking over the corners of her vision in her adrenaline, both her inflicting and geokinetic abilities ready to use in the blink of an eye. 

“Calm down, little Moonlark,” said the voice, almost haughtily. 

“That’s not my name,” Sophie managed to stumble out, still sitting, looking up at the illuminated figure. 

“Oh?”

“My name,” she said, picking herself up off the ground to look in the face of who she knew was Fintan Pyren, a psycho pyrokinetic famous for starting Everblaze. She looked him dead in his shadowy face, eyes glinting proudly. “Is the Phoenix.” 

“My, how dramatic,” Fintain, moving so the light didn’t cast its harsh shadow on his angled face. “May I inquire what caused this little outburst, hmm? Finally figured out your precious operation?” Sophie’s ears flushed in shame, but she didn’t back down. 

“Yes, actually,” she said. “I’ve discovered their treachery. I’ve also discovered that Moonlarks are weak, docile creatures- exactly what those turncoats want from me. I’ve realized,” she said slowly, improvising. She couldn’t very well get into the order if she announced that she wanted to take it over and completely restructure it. “To rebuild this world, we have to watch it burn, first.” She might’ve been imagining it, but she thought she saw a spark of greed and pride flash in Fintan’s ice blue eyes. 

“Ah,” he said softly. “So, therefore, you are a Phoenix, rising from the ashes, eh?” Sophie nodded slowly, and Fintan smiled. “The Moonlark’s gotten wize, finally. Welcome, Sophie Foster.” He moved aside to let her through the glowing pillar portalway. “To your legacy.”

Le gasp! Fintan! Would have never expected it. Anyways… thanks for reading these ten chapters! I will update this story sometime next week. Until then, have a lovely week! Thank you! 
-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hi!! New chapter!! This one has a fun new OC… I hope you like them! Enjoy the chapter! 
-LLF 

Long story short, Sophie had walked through the doorway, then instantly been taken for questioning. As soon as she’d cleared the light, a rag had been pressed to her nose, filled with a sweet smelling sedative, and her trials had begun. 

She’d passed numerous of the tests… proven her ability to channel outwards, let a Neverseen member - who wasn’t Gethen, they’d found a new Telepath- into her mind, which she did quite reluctantly, and many more that Sophie was too tired to think about. 

The one trial that stuck with her, though, was when she’d been ordered to hurt Fintan. A shiny dagger had been forced into her hands as he’d stood there, taunting her, grinning cockily as he stared her down. She really hadn’t wanted to do it. She really didn’t want to hurt anyone, especially not with a dagger. But she had to do what she had to do to save the world. To Fintan’s utmost shock, she darted forwards gracefully, propelling herself with channeling, nicking his shoulder with the silver dagger. 

He’d stared, open-mouthed, as she’d returned to her starting position with deadly agility, the edge of the silver dagger slightly stained crimson. Sophie didn’t have to read his mind to know he was impressed. 

“Well, Miss Foster,” he’d said brashly. “We’ll keep a close eye on you, surely, but… Welcome to the Neverseen.”

So here Sophie was, in a slightly damp, barren cave deep underground, shivering in a skin-hugging navy bodysuit that had been given to her, trying to pull her thick black cloak over her curled-up body to trap in some heat.

The Neverseen were working on finding her some bedding, but for now, she lay sleeplessly, shivering on a cold alcove of rock carved into a wall. Her golden locks lay around her head, bag tucked under her head as a pillow, staring at the ceiling on the topmost alcove of the cavern. 

The room was barren, covered only in small, round balls of light made by a Flasher, which activated when snapped, a small lavatory and dresser, and a couple of books, belonging to Sophie’s roommate.  

Sophie’s roommate was an interesting person. They hadn’t taken off their hood yet, but Sophie assumed that they probably would soon, given all the times Sophie had seen them almost remove it. 

Sophie didn’t wear her hood around them; it’s not like it mattered- they already knew who she was anyways. No use hiding it. 

Her roommate’s name was Crescent, and they were mysterious. They had two abilities: they were a Charger and a Shade, though it seemed like they mostly relied on their electric ability. 

Right now, Crescent slept silently underneath Sophie in their own alcove. That was another thing about them; they moved silently, as quietly as a mouse, but they had a loud personality when they wanted to- sarcastic and snarky, quick witted, and quite intelligent, but so far, they’d been kind to Sophie. She was grateful for that. 

Sophie almost drifted off without noticing, thoughts drifting to Keefe, when suddenly, she felt her mind reaching across space and time, connecting to something. She sat straight up, expecting to be in Keefe’s mind, but instead… 

She felt the moonlight trickle across her cells, not giving the same rush of photosynthesis as when the sun shone… In the distance, the ocean sighed, tides pulling away as the wind made the window creak and swept sand away in its gentle arms. 

She heard voices approaching. Keefe, there was Keefe! His voice filled her mindspace, echoing, making everything swirl in simplistic joy, pure happiness spiraling down to her roots. 

“I- I… how? Ro, what do I do?” Keefe was saying. Her joy faded slightly as she listened in. 

“Hunkyhair, we need to wait. Yes, Blondie can be dumb, but I think she’s got it covered this time.” That was Ro! “That, or she’s as stupid as you!” She heard Ro snicker and ruffle Keefe’s hair. She couldn’t see anything, but she could hear it happening; it was something she couldn’t quite explain. She heard Keefe flopping onto his bed, and then heard pages turning in a well loved notebook. Somehow, she could sense that the covers of the book Keefe was looking at was brown. 

“Aw, Hunkyhair, I know you love her.” Ro sounded… sympathetic? 

“I- I just had her here, and now… I wish I could reach her… I wish she would reach out…” 

Oh, she did too! She wanted to cry out to him. ‘Keefe! Keefe! I’m right here! Don’t cry!’ For she could now hear him crying into Ro’s armor. Her heart broke. 

Sophie jolted back into her body, connection snapping. She panted heavily, trying to regain her senses. What in the world was that?! It was almost as if… 

As if… 

She was a plant. 

She was the plant on Keefe’s windowsill. 

Something was going on with this new power. She knew it. She knew she needed to figure it out… but how? 

Magicality! Sophie now not only has Alicorn dna, now she’s  also✨plants✨. In general.  You’re welcome. 

Anyways, Crescent is my favorite sassy Neverseen member. And yes, they/them pronouns, if you couldn’t tell. :) 

I hope you have enjoyed the chapter, and see you next week! Have a lovely time! Byeeeee! 

-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

Hi! It’s me! With an update! Aren’t you proud of me :3

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter- even if it’s on the shorter side. Thanks! 
-LLF

Sophie awoke the next morning with an awful headache and a bunch of flowers sprouting in her hair. She bolted up, brushing the petals out of her tangled mess of golden hair, groaning at the early hour. 

“Morning, sunshine,” said Crescent, pulling on a pair of fingerless black gloves over brown, tanned, calloused hands. They sheathed a dagger in their boot and in their belt. 

“Uh- morning?” she said blearily, rubbing her eyes. 

“Are you coming?” Crescent asked. Sophie could practically hear their eyeroll. 

“Uhm… where?” she said stupidly. 

“Well, I was GOING to give you a mini tour, but since breakfast is closing soon…” 

Sophie leapt out of bed, stumbling to tame her mass of tangled hair into a neat, slick ponytail, adjusting her bodysuit and fist wrappings (which Crescent had given to her- they said she’d need them?). She pulled on the thick black cloak from her makeshift bed. 

Crescent was tapping their foot by the crude doorway while Sophie scrambled to put on a pair of sturdy black combat boots. 

“Sorry,” she muttered apologetically. Crescent didn’t even turn their head. 

“There are no apologies here, Phoenix,” they said smoothly. 

“You can call me Soph-”

“If you cannot call me by my real name, I won’t call you by yours. Besides, it would give you away to all of the others; if we need you in combat, or if you hurt someone here, you won’t want people to know your real name.” Embarrassed and slightly scared at the prospect, Sophie nodded. “Now put on your hood!” Crescent scolded. Sophie blushed a bit, then covered her head with the thick cloth, casting deep shadows across her face. 

“Be careful not to upset anyone,” Crescent muttered quietly under their breath, and then pushed open two heavy doors into a cavern. They maneuvered Sophie inti a long line, which seemed to be for a glop of slimy gruel that the Neverseen considered edible. 

Sophie’s fingers (and stomach) itched to make more appetizing fruit and vegetables, but she knew that would draw too much attention.  

Noticing Sophie’s balled fists, Crescent whispered in her ear again. “Yes, we would LOVE to have fresh food. It will have to be given to the chefs anonymously.” Sophie nodded gratefully to Crescent. “Dang fancy powers!” Crescent grumbled under their breath, somewhat affectionately- if Sophie was reading her mysterious roommate right. 

After a long day of rigorous training and two slimy meals, Sophie was ready to sleep. Her eyes drifted shut, but her mind stretched out again, and suddenly, she was a flower clinging to a canopy- HER canopy, back at Havenfield. She was overlooking Edaline, sleeping quietly on top of Sophie’s covers. She could see tears staining the pillow and her adoptive mother’s tired face. 

Grady came into the room to turn off the lights, leaning against the doorframe, staring at his wife. Sophie noticed the note she’d left clutched tightly in his hand. 

“If only you knew how much we miss you, Sophie,” he whispered. “Why must you be so brave?”
With that, seemingly talking to no one, Grady shut off the lights in her old bedroom and walked away. 

Sophie slept quite fitfully. 

The same routine happened every day, until a week went by- the only exception being the improved food, thanks to Sophie’s skill. Then she would go to training in her abilities, overseen by Fintan himself, then coming back to the cavern with Crescent and connecting with many different plants near her loved ones. 

She connected to a plant in Tam’s cavern once, but Crescent had woken her up before she could glean anything useful from the glimmer she sensed. 

Today, she stood in the breakfast line, hot cornbread waiting for her ahead, when the cafeteria cavern went completely silent. Sophie turned to see what had happened, and there Fintan and Gethen stood, looking regal and imposing as they looked out across the sea of hooded faces, like two kings gazing out over their subjects. 

“Hello, Neverseen!” Gethen said. “Today, we need Rainestorm, Soundclap, Crescent, and… “ 

“Phoenix,” Fintan finished for him with a smirk. 

“...yes, Phoenix. Come to the High Cavern immediately.” 

“Cmon,” Crescent said, taking Sophie’s arm and dragging her along. 

“Where are we going? What’s happening?” 

“You’re going on your first mission,” Crescent said grimly. “Whether you like it or not.” 

Hehe cliffhanger 

Anyways, thanks for reading! I am most sad to inform you that I won’t be able to update next week, as I will be out of town. So enjoy a whole two weeks freaking out about Sophie’s first mission! 😉

-LLF out ✨✨

Chapter Text

HELLO! It tis I, Loopy Luna, your amazing disappearing author!! I am really so very pleased to be back. I probably (definitely) will not have a regular updating schedule, so I guess you’ll just be here for the ride!!

Happy Pride, by the way!!! You are valid and loved. Stay safe! ✨🏳️‍🌈

Anyways, enjoy this chapter >:3 I know it’s kinda really short, but uhhhh *sprints away* 

ENJOY 

-LLF ✨

        Sophie was shuffling along a dark stone hallway, Crescent and a group of about four other Neverseen members surrounding her. In front of the pack was Fintan, head held high as he lead them to an old door… Sophie studied it. It was a dull silver, worn from years of dirt and water running down it. A thin circle was carved into the center, looking similar to the Lodestar symbol Sophie had seen so many times before, but… different. Ancient. It sparked something in her, like a whisper echoing through her head. Something… angry lived in that door. She almost missed Fintan’s instructions as she studied the door. 

           “Ah, yes. The mission today is a fun one.” He smirked, and Crescent sucked in a breath. What? Sophie transmitted into their head. Whenever Fintan says something is ‘fun’… it’s definitely not. Prepare yourself, hon. Sophie retreated from Crescent’s mind, unsettled. The whispers from the door were getting louder. 

           “Inside this door… there’s something we need you to protect. This… being, is the reason why we built this hideout where we did. It’s an ancient artifact, and we finally have the… resources to do something with it.” His cerulean eyes gleamed at Sophie, and under her thick cowl, she grimaced. He looked over the squad. 

           “Soundclap, you’ll need to make a force field for us when we enter the room. Make sure it’s stable. Rainestorm, prepare a water orb. It has to be big enough to cause a flood. Crescent, be ready to jump into action, especially with your shade abilities. And Phoenix… heh. You’ll know what to do.” The crew nodded solemnly. The one Sophie assumed was Soundclap made a crackling blue shield, hands outstretched, making sure it covered everyone before Fintan nodded at Gethen, and he did some sort of ritual that Sophie couldn‘t see. 

           Sophie clutched her head as the door opened, the whispering of whatever was in that chamber turning into a scream in her mind, blocking out all senses of… anything. Suddenly, Crescent was at her side. “Pheonix! PHEONIX! Sophie!” Shaking, shaking, shaking. Sophie’s world was shaking. 

           “Rainestorm! WATER!” 

           The internal yelling dimmed, and as through a haze, Sophie saw… a tree. 

           A tree? 

…yeah that was really short, but hopefully the suspense was there *eyebrow wiggle* anyways, will try to update soon, I have an idea for the next chapter heheh 

Anyways, thank you so much for reading and supporting this novel, and see you soon! Have a lovely day/night!!! 

-Loopy Luna FossBoss out  ✨✨

Chapter Text

       Hello friends!! Back with another chapter. This one is one of my favorites, and it stars our favorite hydrokinetic!!! I’m sure you’ve been wondering what happened when Sophie’s friends found their letters…. Heheheheheh 

        Anyways, this chapter is extra long to make up for the shortness of the last one, so I hope you enjoy it, hehe. There are some inaccuracies I’m sure, but uh…. It’s an AU, so that’s kinda the point (lol). 

         I hope you enjoy this chapter!! Thanks for reading!! 

         -LLF ✨🏳️‍🌈

            Linh Song was a strong girl. A soft girl. A calm girl. 

            Linh  Song knew she could face anything- and she did. She handled everything with grace and an elegance that drew people to her. She knew she could face anything- even when the one steady thing in her life was taken from her. At least, she told herself that. 

           Tam was gone. And she didn’t know when she’d see him again. IF she ever saw him again.

           She stood at the edge of Biana’s window at Everglen, thinking all these sullen things, a rain cloud forming above the estate. She missed her brother so badly. All these new emotions had been toying with her powers, and she breathed a bit now to get them in check.

           She was in control. She was in control. She was in control. 

           The water calmed at this adamant statement, and the rain clouds dissipated as she breathed. This was the third time this had happened today. She ruminated at the fact that she used to have enough control summon a rain cloud only once a week, let alone the three or four times a day! She sighed as Marella tapped her on the shoulder, startling her. 

           “Linh! You stuck in thought again?” The pyrokinetic teased. Linh smiled at the girl, albeit weakly. Sometimes Linh felt like only her best friend could get her to smile. 

           She, Marella, and Biana were hanging out at Everglen, doing makeovers and… girly things. Really, Linh and Marella just wanted to dye their hair, and Biana offered to help. Linh blew the new silver strands out of her face, where she’d melted down a silver comb her parents had given her. Marella, once a blonde, now proudly sported auburn hair, a vibrant red hue that had emerged from the fiery embrace of the red dye. It suited her. Linh realized she was staring, and she and Marella both blushed. 

           “Sorry, I’m just… distracted.” Linh murmured, moving past Marella, who seemed to be trying to get her blush under control. Linh didn’t give it a second thought, but Biana definitely noticed- and sent the pyrokinetic a couple of eyebrow wiggles. Marella rolled her eyes. 

           “No kidding, Linh! What’s on your mind?” 

           “…” Linh didn’t want to respond. She was luckily saved from an interrogation when Biana’s importer rang from her product-covered vanity. 

           “Oh!” She grabbed it, and looked at the name on screen. “Keefe’s hailing.” She informed the girls. She answered it, and Ro’s face popped up on screen. Linh and Marella saw Biana’s face morph into concern, and rushed over. The ogre princess was white as a sheet- or at least, as pale as an ogre could go. 

           “What’s wrong?” Biana asked. Who’s been taken? Linh wondered, a shock of fright flooding through her. 

           “You all need to come to Havenfield. Now.” Ro said, and she ended the call. The three girls looked at each other, and then immediately sprinted to the Leapmaster. 

           “Havenfield!” Biana cried, and they arrived in the sparkling pastures after the rush of sparkling warmth had ran its course. Nothing appeared to be wrong… but Linh knew too much about water to not know that looks can be deceiving. They entered the house, filled with trepidation, only to hear something coming from Sophie’s room. 

           Sobbing. 

           They were about to walk up the stairs when the rest of the crew minus Keefe showed up behind them. Dex, Fitz, and Wylie all looked as concerned as Linh felt. 

           “What’s going on?” Fitz asked, and the girls just shook their heads. Slowly, frightened, the group walked up the shimmering staircases and into Sophie’s room. The agonized sobbing grew louder, and Linh realized it was Edaline. Linh closed her eyes as she entered, half expecting to see Sophie bleeding out on the carpet, or- or- something like that. But when she pushed open the door, all she saw… 

           …was a stack of papers. And some trackers. Edaline was bent over a crumpled sheet, Grady blank-faced behind her. Keefe was curled up in the corner, and Linh couldn’t tell if he was crying of just plain passed out.

           “What…?” Biana breathed, taking in the scene. Marella held her hands to her mouth, Dex teared up at seeing his aunt cry, Fitz stared dumbly, and Wylie’s eyebrows were scrunched together. 

           “Blondie ditched,” said a gravely voice. Ro appeared from behind the door where she’d been leaning. She was still pale, arms crossed in front of her. She looked like she was trying to be tough, but really… she just looked sad. And shaken. And when the ogre princess looked shaken at something… another wave of fright passed through Linh. She moved closer to Marella for support. 

           “What?” Biana repeated. Ro just pointed at the stack of papers. Nobody moved, so Linh crept forwards with shaking hands. She recognized Sophie’s curved handwriting and picked up the last letter left on her desk- addressed to the group of them. A collection of colored parcels lurked in the shadows behind it. 

           Tremling, she unfolded the letter. 

           “Hey guys, it’s Soph,” she started, the shaking in her voice not matching the bubbly words. “First off, you will think that this is a joke. Unfortunately, it’s not. The Black Swan is manipulating everyone. Just watch and see how they twist this. But here’s the true story.” Everyone sat enraptured, nothing but shock painted on their faces. Dex’s tears spilled over, and Biana clutched his hand. Linh continued. 

           “The Black Swan already forced me through the Alluveterre Everblaze incident. You all were there when Wraith talked about me. You all heard Edaline’s statement.” Edaline continued to cry in the corner, seeming oblivious to Linh reading. A numb spread through the hydrokinetic’s body, and she knew her face was as blank as Grady’s, whose eyes had flicked up to watch her read his daughter’s letter. “But, to make things worse, Mr Forkle came to me after sending Sandor and Flori on a fake urgent errand. He told me I had to earn back their trust, simply because I was unhappy that he put me in that situation. He told me I had to do everything the Black Swan told me to for 3 months, like mind control.” As Linh kept reading, everyone’s faces got slacker and slacker. Linh couldn’t believe it herself. Sophie? Turn to the Neverseen? She knew Sophie wasn’t evil. She knew, in her heart, that Sophie wasn’t trying to join, but change. But she was still mad. A leak cracked through the numb. 

           “Fitz, I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me forever for this. You are such a wonderful friend and I was so lucky to have you in my life. Heck, I was so lucky that you brought me here! You were the best cognate that ever was, and I hope this doesn’t permanently ruin any of our relationships, this one included.” Fitz let out a cry and punched the wall, then slid to the floor, a spiderweb of cracks left in his wake. His panting quickly turned into sobs as Linh continued. She felt like she was floating, the disbelief starting to drown in her anger. Her sadness. As she read, Biana’s tears slipped out as if they were unnoticed from her teal eyes, and Dex kept repeating “no, no, no” under his breath. Wylie’s brows scrunched together more and more, and clenched his fists tightly. Linh tried to keep moving on, but… 

           “Linh.” She said. Stopped. Tried again. “Linh- thank you for being such an incredible friend.” Her voice broke, and her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Wylie was suddenly in front of her, and he gently eased the letter from her. Marella held her hand as Linh sat down dumbly. 

           “Linh, thank you for being such an incredible friend. You always made me smile.” Wylie’s soft voice continued reading the awful letter. “I promise you that I WILL get Tam back to you safely as soon as I possibly can.” Tam’s name echoed around in Linh’s mind. The flood of emotions continued to push against the dam of numbness inside her mind. 

           “…From Sophie.” Wylie finished reading the note, and passed out the attached parcels, and everyone sat in the empty silence that followed. The whole room felt hollow. Fitz was still on the floor, though he’d punched the walls a few more times- his knuckles were bleeding, clutching the stuffed dinosaur Sophie had given him, and the wall looked as if it was about to fall apart. Linh thought it was a pretty good representation of everyone’s mental state. Dex had gotten over his stupor a while ago, and Biana leaned into his shoulder, looking dead to the world as they stared at their unopened gifts. Her mascara ran in waves down her face. Keefe apparently had slipped out a while ago, and Ro just looked out the window, betraying nothing on her ashen face. Wylie stared at the note, and Edaline and Grady were quietly embracing on Sophie’s bed. And Marella… Marella looked at her. Linh unwrapped her package, and… a Happy Shadow Thoughts tunic stared up at her. 

           The silence seemed to envelop her, increasing the rushing in her ears, and suddenly- she was out the door. 

           “Linh!” Wylie called, and as she fled, she heard Marella. “Stay here! I’ll go after her!” The pyrokinetic said. Linh didn’t care. She ran outside and collapsed under Calla’s Panakes tree. She hadn’t been as close to the gnome, but it reminded her of her home in the neutral territories. Before all this. This was all… too much. How many more people would go missing? How many more people would leave? 

           She had it under control. She had it under control. She had it under control. 

           She didn’t have it under control. 

           Tears spilled over, and floated around her like they could somehow protect her. She wished she could go back. Back when, she didn’t know. 

           Before Sophie had found them? Before Tam had been taken? Before Sophie had left? 

           She was so… angry! And sad! And betrayed, and shaken, and shocked, and…and… 

           Lonely. 

           For such a small word, it carried such a heavy burden. One that was just too heavy for Linh Song right now. Big, ugly sobs racked her body until she heard someone approach. She kept her head down, not wanting Marella to see her like this. 

           “Hey,” her best friend’s voice cut through the ache in her chest. 

           “…Hi.” It was a tiny word, but it broke some of her barriers down. She could trust Marella. Marella wouldn’t leave. 

           “You know you don’t have to be okay around me, right?” Linh sniffed. 

           “Yeah, I guess.” She lifted her head a bit, wiping away some of the tears blurring her vision to look into Marella’s blue eyes. They held so much concern, so much love. Yeah, Marella wasn’t about to leave. The thought comforted her. She leaned over and put her head on Marella’s shoulder. It felt natural, but caused Marella to tense a bit. She quickly relaxed, though, and nestled her messy auburn curls down onto Linh’s dark silky curtains. 

           “I’m always here for you, Linh, okay? No bullshit with me. I’m only a hail and a leap away.” She paused. “I’m here.” Her hand slowly settled over Linh’s, and Linh weaved her fingers through the pyrokinetic’s. They both sensed the shift, but to Linh, it felt… natural. She didn’t feel as if she needed to elaborate, or say anything. 

           “I know.” 

           And Linh Song felt at peace, for the first time in a while. 

            …okay I have no excuses. It’s Pride Month and high time for this amazing ship to happen 🤣🤣 honestly would kill to have Shannon confirm these two!! 

              Though, especially with Unravelled, I question if LGBTQ is a thing in the Lost Cities. Like, with the matchmakers and stuff… I might explore that new angle in future chapters. What do you guys think? I’m conflicted whether being queer is completely foreign or completely normal in the Lost Cities, and would homophobia exist? Bad Matches are a big deal, so perhaps there is. *is in deep thought over here*

             Other than Marellinh, how did you like the chapter? Hopefully I captured the right shock wave of just absolute sadness as I completely wrecked the lives of these poor, poor characters. 😇 Jokes aside, POOR GANG. I might check in with them over the next couple chapters… guess you’ll have to see!! 

             Thanks so much for reading this chapter, and have a lovely day/night!! HAPPY PRIDE!! 

             -LLF ✨🏳️‍🌈✨

Chapter Text

Okay… school started again…. And all my inspiration dried up TvT 

im really bad at updating schedules so likely when I do come back they’ll be random, but my new goal is at least once a month for each story (managing 3 stories consistently, 3 chapters a month is probably the best I can do, unfortunately). But I promise I am working on them now and I’m so thankful to all the people who have stuck with me and my stories even though I am very very bad at updating! Haha. 

THANK YOU GUYS!! Keep an eye out!! 

-your very favorite but unreliable author Loopy Luna ✨