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Chapter 18

Fitz leaped away in a flurry, and Biana and Arina rushed outside.

"What happened? I thought I heard Fitz."

"You did. He was just here."

"What happened?" Biana asked worriedly.

"He did this to my face." Keefe said, turning towards her, wincing. Biana was shocked, and stammered. 

"I-I'll call Elwin," she ran inside and returned quickly. "He's on his way." 

"Let's go inside." Sophie said, and ushered everyone into Biana's house. She guided Keefe to the couch while Biana, Arina and Linh stood by him. Elwin came and knocked on the door a few minutes later, and Sophie opened the door to the very familiar physician. "Hey, Elwin." she muttered.

"Why hello, Sophie! What happened this time?"

"Fitz happened," she replied, pointing at Keefe's bloodied face. Elwin rubbed his temples, and walked to Keefe's side. Flashing different colors of the spectrum, he examined Keefe's face.

"Does this hurt?" he asked, poking Keefe's face.

"Ow! And yeah, it does," he said.

"Okay then, here. Drink up." Elwin handed him a vial, and Keefe consumed it in one fluid motion. "You might need this salve too. Apply it for a few days if it still hurts. If not, you could probably give it to Sophie." Everyone laughed at that, except Sophie. He got up to leave soon after that, saying, "It would be great to stay and chat, but I'm a little busy for Foxfire reopening soon. Oh, and Keefe?"

"Yeah?"

"Lay off on the Fitz for now, alright?"

"But I- okay." he stopped mid sentence and obliged. 

After Elwin had left, Sophie turned back to the other blonde in the room. "Do you know how stupid that was?"

"I know. I'm sorry. But I thought he just wanted to talk."

"You know Fitz is almost always looking for a fight, Keefe." Biana said. "I hate to say it, but Alvar was right. Fitz did add to the 'Vacker Legacy.'"

Linh seemed to be the only one who remembered that Keefe had been injured, and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. But man, that guy can hit hard. I think I'm one of the reason he's always so mad."

"Don't do that again, okay? I don't want you getting hurt. Especially not for my sake." Sophie mumbled.

"Sophie, like I said when Dimintar almost killed me and I totally Fostered it, 'If I can make it so I'm the one in bandages and you're not-"

"Then you will. I know. Just don't do it again. And you're not even in a bandage anyways."

"So we're on a first name basis now, are we?" Biana asked slyly. 

"Biana, not now." Sophie sighed. 

"Sorry." she said sheepishly. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

"Well, I guess I better start your training, Arina. Let's go." Linh said, traveling outside.

"Okay." Arina replied, and followed her temporary mentor outside.

"I sadly have to go to work now, so bye Sophie! Bye Keefe! I hope you feel better soon."

"I already feel better."

"I know you do. But can't you give a girl credit for showing concern?" she asked as she ran upstairs.

"Well, isn't Biana so nice? I wish my girlfriend was caring enough to ask how I am." he turned to Sophie, and saw her tearing up. "Foster? What's wrong? I was just kidding about Biana."

She touched his cheek gingerly. "Seeing you like that did not give me the best memories."

"I'm sorry. I really am. I'll try not to do it again."

"I would make you say you won't do it again, but I think that's the best I'm going to get out of you." After saying it, she kissed him, startling him a bit, but he grabbed her waist and pulled her onto the couch with him. Entangling his fingers in her long blonde locks, he deepened the kiss, causing Sophie to blush harder than she thought was even possible. He pulled away after a few moments and stared into her eyes. 

Sophie touched her lips unconsciously, causing Keefe to say, "Want to continue?" he asked, winking.

"Keefe!"

"Sorry," he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she snuggled into his shoulder. Her imparter rang loudly, scaring both of them.

"I'm actually thinking about asking Dex to silence this thing, or at least lower its volume." she said, opening the pocket sized square. "It's ring is so loud."

"I'm with you on that." Keefe agreed. "Why don't you accept it?"

"Oh, right." Sophie accepted the hail, not even looking at who was calling her.

"Sophie?" A certain blond-ringleted Councillor's voice rang.

"Oralie? What do you need me for?"

"You must come to the Tribunal hall tomorrow."

"For what?" she eyed Keefe. "I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

"Of course not. It's more about Arina's situation."

"What about it?"

"We came into contact with the Amitrynes, and we have confirmed that she is their daughter."

"The Amitrynes? Are you sure they're her parents?"

"Yes. We spoke with their daughter Novaline, and their less reluctant daughter, Melanie." Keefe looked surprised. Right. Sophie hadn't told him yet. I'll tell you later. She mouthed silently. "Melanie seemed to have more information, and said that the age Arina is currently and the year her younger sister went missing do line up."

"So what does that mean? Why do we need to come to the Tribunal hall?"

"Because the Amitrynes want back custody of Arina." Oralie replied, and Sophie's blood ran cold.

(A/N): Hey everyone. Sorry that my release schedule has been a bit messed up recently. I used to update every other day, and I would say that the chapters are relatively long. I just feel a bit unmotivated since I don't get very many reads, but it doesn't matter very much I guess. I'll see if I can fix that up. Also, the story will probably end at around 30 chapters or a little before that. Thanks for the few people who have kept on continuing to read my new chapters.