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

Chapter Thirty-One: Sophie

Neither Sophie nor Adrien could speak to each other after session.

Sophie could barely eat her lunch. Every bite of the pink noodles glued to her mouth, and her stomach flip-flopped every time she swallowed lushberry juice.

How could she be fine, if she had just learned that the Neverseen had tried to kill her?

And that they weren't going to be satisfied until she was dead?

She swallowed the lump in her throat the best she could.

Adrien had at least begun to try and be brave about it.

It was her turn now.

Although, she did notice that Biana was acting a little more giddy than usual.

"What's keeping you excited?" Marella finally asked.

"Oh, I've just got some news," Biana said, tucking part of her curly brown hair behind her ear. "I've... um..."

Biana pulled out a thick packet, and Sophie understood in an instant.

Biana had gone to the matchmakers.

"You're registering?" Sophie gasped. "Why?"

"I guess I just wanted to do it, ya know?" Biana shrugged. "Isn't there the thrill of knowing that your crush may end up on your lists?"

Sophie barely noticed Biana give Dex a side glance.

No. She would never know the thrill.

And as she stared at Adrien, she realized he wouldn't know either.

Possibly not even Marinette.

Sophie was unmatchable. And she knew Adrien would get the same fate, since he didn't know who his biological parents were, either (well, Sophie knew Oralie was her mother, but she wasn't gonna tell the matchmakers or else Oralie would have to step down from being a Councillor). And Marinette probably couldn't either, since the devices there could leak that she was really human.

It was unfair for all three of them.

"I've been trying to convince Marinette to try for it for ages," Biana continued. "She keeps saying no."

"Because I don't want them knowing that I'm not an elf," Marinette shrugged.

"Just say that Alden and Della are your parents," Tam suggested.

"Would that even work?" Sophie asked. "They'll probably discover that she's really human."

"They didn't check to see if I was really an elf," Biana shrugged. "The main thing they do is ask a couple questions regarding parentage, abilities, and other basic stuff. It's mostly to get the last bit of info in once you go to register. Then they hand you this packet and then you answer it and turn it in and then you just wait for your first list."

"Sounds like a lot," Marinette said, twirling a ribbon around her finger again (she did it as often as Sophie ripped out eyelashes, which was saying something; it was probably the girl's nervous habit).

"And that's not even the biggest news," Biana said, and Sophie saw Biana staring at her brother.

Sophie felt a sour taste in her mouth.

"He got his list, didn't he?" she muttered. "Sure. Sounds fun to know that he's gonna choose a wife from a piece of paper."

Keefe snorted for half a second before stopping.

"What makes you so angry about it?" Fitz asked. "It's not like you can expect to be on it."

"Even if I did, I might not even live to see your choice," Sophie rolled her eyes. Everyone but Adrien was confused. In fact, Adrien suddenly began curling into a fetal position.

"Might... not live?" Linh stammered.

Sophie sighed a little.

"It's a long story; we shouldn't be talking about it right now with a bunch of other prodigies around," she said, making sure to give Fitz a large glare as he toyed with a large scroll.

She was certain that was the scroll containing the names of 100 girls who could potentially marry Fitz in the future.

Stinking matchmaking system.

She would never get any of her lists.

Curse being unmatchable.

Curse Oralie being her mother.

Curse everything about matchmaking and being the moonlark and having unknown parents.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Keefe said, gently rubbing Sophie's back. "Things are gonna work out in their own little way."

Sophie didn't want to admit it, but he was probably right.

"So any other news?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Other than the world falling apart, things haven't changed much," Marella shrugged. "I mean, we're in the middle of a major war between us and the Neverseen right now; I don't expect a lot of new things happening."

Sophie tugged out more loose lashes.

Yeah, the rest of today wasn't gonna be fun for her.

Bonus POV: Alya

"Well, this does seem like a problem," Master Fu said.

"You think?" Alya groaned. "It's not every day that you learn that Adrien's life is on the line. And then BAM!--his human father is the one who seems the most excited doing the work."

She nervously twisted her fingers together. It had been less than a week since she discovered everything, but during that time, she had been trying to get the courage to tell Master Fu about what she'd found. And just in case, she had made sure that they were hiding out behind a building so no one found the Miracle Box.

Now, as to getting the courage to tell Adrien, Alya had none.

"The main issue right now is how to tell Adrien this," Master Fu said.

"That's the thing," Alya said. "I don't exactly know how to tell him that Gabriel is Hawkmoth, and he's part of the Neverseen, and in exchange for bringing back his wife, he's going to help them kill Adrien and Sophie. There's... some plan they want, and they need to destroy both of those two in order to get something. And all I know is that whatever they want, it's not going to be good for any of us."

"Then we have to make sure that they are defeated," Master Fu said. "The four of us have to make sure that the Neverseen don't get any information out of us."

"Funny, considering that was our plan."

Alya didn't have time to scream as a cloth was shoved onto her face, and a sickeningly sweet scent overrode her nostrils as she felt herself begin to fade to unconsciousness.

The last thing she registered was one of the Neverseen members creating an orb of neon yellow flame.

i know, short chapter. i didn't know what to do. but on the sorta bright side, it looks like there's a chance marinette and adrien may visit paris! you know... because alya's been... attacked... and stuff...