Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Second Moonlark (a KOTLC/MLB crossover)

Chapter One: Keefe

Glimmers of cobalt blue light began to fade as Keefe felt the hard concrete form beneath his feet. He quickly shoved the blue pathfinder into his pocket and ducked behind a small pocket of space between two buildings, trying to recollect his breath. The sunlight glared down at him, his nose filled with a disgusting scent, and he found himself staring at the people holding up strange gadgets up at the large metal structure in the shape of an 'A.' He squeezed his eyes shut as the reality sank in.

He'd just ran away from the Lost Cities.

Keefe may have been known for regularly ditching class (mostly Universe) and once ran away to join the Neverseen, he'd never really thought about leaving the Lost Cities as a whole.

Not to mention forever.

He remembered the letter he'd sent Sophie.

He never said anything about coming back.

Because he wasn't coming back.

Ever.

Keefe pursed his lips together.

This was all Mommy Dearest's fault.

He undid his Sencen crest pin, eyeing the two hands around the green candle, surrounded by intricate silver framing. His eyes filling with angry tears, he flung it against the side of the building across from him, watching as a single fine crack formed down the middle of the pin. He felt the stuffy fabric of his cape fall off his shoulders, falling into a heap on the ground. He slipped out his pathfinder and threw it against the wall as well, along with his home crystal leading to Candleshade, the one to the Shores of Solace, and his registry pendant. Nothing but the pin had been successful with a break.

No more.

The Lost Cities weren't his home anymore.

He didn't need all that elvin junk.

He was now going to play the part of a human.

And the whole "pointy ears" thing?

He had a few thousand years before having to deal with that.

Keefe buried his head into his knees.

It was all because of Mommy Dearest.

His mother.

Lady Gisela.

He could still remember every single horrifying moment from when Tam had done "the thing." He could still feel the sticky magsidian seeping into every pore of his skin. He could feel the pounding battle in his head as he tried to protect the raw, ragged part of his consciousness, but had failed.

And now he was stuck with a new ability, allowing him to command anyone with just a word and the tone of his voice. In fact, it took Keefe a ton of courage to even say one letter out loud. He was afraid to say anything.

And poor Sophie...

She was forced to watch the whole thing.

Every second of it.

And Tam had no choice.

Glimmer had no choice.

His own mother looked on in triumph during what Keefe could see of the moment.

Sophie had been pinned down by a dwarf, thick cords binding her wrists and ankles, and Keefe had seen the blood from her trying to wrestle free. Everyone else had been knocked out unconscious. King Enki had run away from the whole thing as Keefe had been shoved onto the magsidian throne and the ethertine crown shoved onto his head. Lady Gisela had spent a good while explaining what Tam and Glimmer were about to do, with Tam shooting shadowflux at the throne and Glimmer blasting Quintessence at the crown to try and balance the reaction the magsidian would have.

Not to mention all of her plan was completely untested, so there was the chance Keefe could've died.

And yes, he did try to lighten things up with a joke, but truth be told, even he knew that the moment wasn't the time for it. But he wanted to try and keep things even a little lighthearted, despite the heavy gloom that had hung in the air.

And that's when he heard a familiar voice, telling him to try and resist whatever Lady Gisela was about to do to him.

And that was when Keefe had known.

Mommy Dearest had kept Sophie conscious.

Because she wanted Sophie to see what was about to happen.

It was like a sign for Sophie. That the game was about to change thanks to the Neverseen's newest move.

Doing whatever they were gonna do to Keefe.

And it was in that moment that Keefe realized why the Neverseen wanted him for his "legacy" so badly.

Whatever was gonna happen was supposed to stop the moonlark for good.

Keefe had sucked in a final breath before Tam blasted the throne with shadows, letting himself know that he was going to choose what was best for their world.

He wasn't gonna side with the Neverseen.

He was going to keep fighting, no matter what happened.

But he could feel the sticky glops of the throne melting into him, sweeping across all parts of him and weaving through The Hair (he still hadn't forgiven his mom about that). And just as the goo covered his face, he could feel his mental self trying to protect the deepest part of his consciousness, which was cracked a little from his early years to his erased memories and patchwork of somewhat restored memories to the moments he wasn't proud of.

But hidden amongst the mistakes were memories of him and Sophie.

And he vowed to protect them to the very end.

He could feel Sophie's mental self in there as well, but sadly, their efforts were in vain as the darkness spread across that pocket in his mind, sealed in place with a flash of light.

Keefe had felt himself getting tired, ready to give up fighting. Sophie kept telling him to sleep, that once he woke up, it would be like this was all a bad dream.

So he had listened.

He'd shut his mind off seconds before the darkness and light completely tore away at himself.

He didn't know what had happened until he woke up a few days later, according to Fitz and Sophie.

It was then he had used his new ability for the first time, robbing everyone of their emotions and feelings, turning them into things that simply existed.

Seeing Sophie's blank stare was horrifying.

Keefe had resolved to a vow of silence until he could control the ability, which wasn't gonna happen anytime soon. Dex even tried to think of ways to protect people from the power, but nothing worked, and Keefe had realized that there was only one solution to protect Sophie and the rest of the Lost Cities.

Hide like the Black Swan hid Foster.

Run away to the Forbidden Cities.

Just forget them, he mentally told himself. Say goodbye to your friends and then forget them.

He allowed himself to think one last time about his friends before shoving them deep into his mind.

Only Sophie remained.

He suddenly could remember every moment they had together, from their first meeting when she burned her hand and exploded a serum on Lady Galvin's cape, to their detention "dates," to riding Silveny to heal Sophie's abilities, to trying to figure out her biological parents, to the last time they saw each other in the Healing Center, when he'd numbed her, but she had said that she would try and help him.

He smiled a little.

Team Foster-Keefe had been a good one.

But even he knew it was time to let Team Foster-Keefe go.

So he shoved it down as well with the rest of his friends, allowing his mind to try and clear before beginning his new life.