KOTLC Fanfic ~ (Book Nine) Forbidden

XIII - Keefe

"Hey, Fitzipoo." "That's still a thing?" "Of course!" "Ugh." Keefe grinned.

"Hey, it's your fault you have so many hilarious nicknames."

"And it's your fault for making them up." "Hmm... I'm not buying it." "You should."

Keefe just grinned.

"Anyways... um, I was wondering if we could talk." "Yeah, sure, what about?"

"Um, first off, do you know where Biana is?" "She's in her room, last I checked." "Nope. I'm right here."

A figure in a Neverseen cloak appeared in front of them, her long brown hair swishing behind her, teal eyes glistening. "Say hello to the real Biana Vacker, Fitzipoo."

Fitz had to be held back by Keefe to keep him from attacking Biana. His best friend's emotional state slid from rage to shock as he mumbled to himself. "It has to be a dream..."

"Oh, trust me, that was not a dream."

"ALVAR?!"

"Who do you think, Fitz?" "You-" Fitz ran towards him. "YOU CAN'T TAKE HER!"

"She came willingly. You're probably not going to come to your senses and join the winning team, but she did. Believe me, don't believe me. But she's in."

Fitz's expression turned, again, from anger to shock. "She wouldn't." "She did." Keefe decided to speak.

"Fitz-" "STAY OUT OF THIS!"

Fitz was met with silence, and Keefe ran into Everglen. "Alden! Della! We need help!"

Della rushed down. "What's going-" "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" "Fitz, Biana isn't with us because she is a valuable ally- though that is part of it. She's with us because she wants to win." Keefe turned to Della.

"I think you can guess."

"Oh my gosh! She- you're joking..." "I'm not. But we need help."

Keefe rushed outside to find Fitz on the ground and Alvar vanishing into a black pathfinder's light.

Della and Keefe both rushed to Fitz, covering their mouths. "We have to get him to Elwin!"

Keefe had already held up a crystal. He and the unconsciousness that was Fitz disappeared into the light.

"Elwin! Help!" "What ha- oh, goodness." Flashes of purple, yellow, pink, orange, and green were already surrounding  him. "Where did..." "Biana... she... and Alvar..."

"...is she... dead?" "No, no, goodness, no. She... she's with the Neverseen. For real." Elwin gasped. "You're- you're kidding- are you actually... really?"

"Yes. And Sophie and I- that's even more complicated, and she doesn't know yet, and nobody else does, besides Della, but Fitz and Alvar fought, and he said Biana joined out of will, and that Fitz never would, and-"

He paused to breathe. "That sounds... bad." "Yeah, it was. Went from the best day of my life to the worst. In less than an hour." "How so? Well, I mean, I know why it's the worst, but... oh, never mind."

"Um... I can't say. I don't know if Foster would be okay with people knowing. And Fitz- oh my gosh, if Fitz found out..."

"Okay. That's cool. You should probably go tell everyone about... well. This... predicament."

Keefe had already put his crystal up to the light (again) and he vanished with a second to spare. "Hi, Grady. Is Foster home?" "She is. Come on in." Grady gave Keefe a warm smile.

...for Keefe, anyway. "Sophie? Keefe is here!" "He is?" There were noises upstairs, and Keefe saw black informal flats stepping down the staircase.

On the feet of the most beautiful girl in the world.

Sophie's regular style again: grey, with pockets. Lots of pockets. "Hey!" "Hi, Foster..." "What's up?"

"A lot."