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

Chapter Seven: Sophie

Sophie and Councillor Oralie stared at the glittering Forgotten Secrets.

"Moonlark" had worked.

Kenric's cache was now opened.

Seven crucial secrets.

One of them could help with Keefe. Explain what stellarlune was. Explain the Elysian thing. Help them win the fight.

Only problem...

They had no idea which one was the secret they needed.

"So... which one do we need to access?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure," Oralie said. "But I remember Kenric left me a message the night before Fintan's healing. He said that if I ever needed to find the truth, that 'the answer is in the amethyst.' I'm not sure what he meant by that, though."

Sophie's eyes darted to the violet crystal.

"It's that one," she said.

And, as if responding to her voice, the crystal revealed itself.

Sophie and Oralie watched as a projection of Kenric walked up to Mr. Forkle.

Strange.

"Is it done?" Mr. Forkle asked.

"Well, one of them will remember given the right trigger," Kenric said. "It'll just be harder to remember, that's all. The other won't remember a thing because I accidentally messed up."

"Either way, you did your job well," Mr. Forkle said. "Once the time comes, the moonlarks will be ready."

The projection faded away, and Oralie gasped.

It took Sophie a second.

Mr. Forkle had said moonlarks, plural.

"Miss Foster, I hardly think--" Mr. Forkle began over the Imparter.

"Tell me why you said moonlarks," Sophie demanded. "You hid from me that you had a twin brother. You're not hiding this from me anymore."

Mr. Forkle didn't say anything for a while.

"Well, if you must know," he confessed. "Yes. There is another moonlark hidden in the Forbidden Cities."

Sophie gripped the Imparter so tight that her knuckles turned white.

"So why did you hide it from me?" she asked. "I was found two years ago; we could get the other moonlark and win this!"

"Miss Foster, do you remember when Mr. Vacker first introduced you to being an elf?" Mr. Forkle asked, and Sophie nodded. "You hardly believed him, and didn't know what he was talking about, and leaving your human family was certainly difficult. Besides, you spent a good while adjusting to our world and you still learn things everyday about the Lost Cities. Imagine what would happen if this other moonlark was forced into that situation in the middle of war?"

Sophie didn't know how to respond.

But she did remember Kenric in the memory saying that one of them still had a chance of remembering.

"When we looked into that Forgotten Secret," she said. "Kenric said that one of us completely lost the memories and information, yet the other will begin to if there's a trigger. What does that mean?"

"Originally," Mr. Forkle explained. "You and the other moonlark had information about the Lost Cities stored in your brain, along with memories about our history, should you be discovered ahead of when we wanted you two to be. But then I realized that it would be dangerous if you two held that information. So I asked Kenric to wash your memories. Only, something happened, and you two got very different results. You forgot everything about the Lost Cities, even the emotions tied to certain things. The other moonlark, on the other hand, still has the chance of remembering the information, so long as a very specific trigger comes into play. You see, Miss Foster, like with you, they don't know their biological parents, either. But if they come into contact, or someone who's a direct descendant, or is the other moonlark, like you, they'll begin to remember. Only their brain will also shut it down, trying to say that they shouldn't know what you're talking about. It will be a hard process, but it was the only way to ensure that our world stayed away from humans as much as possible."

Sophie didn't know what to do with the new information. Her head was spinning.

"Sophie? Something's wrong."

Sophie and Oralie turned to see Fitz, Tam, Linh, and Squall in the room, Mr. Forkle even beginning to grow concerned since there was no Keefe with them.

"We searched everywhere," Fitz said. "And he's not in San Diego."

Sophie took a step back.

"Then he has to be in Paris," she breathed.

A/N: Again, sorry for the super short chapter, Idk what I was gonna put in this other than the "other moonlark" reveal. Any guesses on who it might be? I mean, y'all probably know by this point, but still.