How Did We Get Into This Mess - KOTLC Oneshots

The Girl That Disappeared | Part One

( What if Alvar successfully found Sophie? )

Sophie ignored the stinging of her knee, stubby fingers smoothing out her sparkly band aid as she re-read the dictionary.

"You're quiet," she observed without looking up. Air hissed through the gap where one of her front teeth was sure to grow in. "Everyone else is so, so loud. Even when they're quiet."

The boy put down the pink crystal he was holding, studying Sophie in a way that made her wiggle. 

"What do you mean," he asked, sitting down on the sidewalk. 

"I mean everyone else talks all the time. They might not move their mouths, but they're still talking." Sophie turned her page. "But not you."

The boy scrunched his eyebrows, a lightbulb going off in his head.

"Can you understand me? My name is Alvar."

She looked at him like he was crazy, and he started to stand up-

"You have a weird name."

"You have weird eyes."

"They're just brown," she stated, shrugging.

"Want to go on an adventure? I've got a present for you first," Alvar said, handing her a thick bracelet. 

"Sure."

He pulled out a different crystal, took her hand, and they stepped into the light.

~  *  ~

"Can you carry me? My knee hurts."

"I don't know, kid," Alvar said, chuckling as he hoisted her into his arms. "You seem pretty heavy."

"I'm only six," Sophie informed him. "My grandma is ninety," she said, because it was absolutely relevant to the conversation.

"Oh yeah? I have a grandpa who's three million," Alvar told her dramatically. 

"That's impossible."

"It's true!"

Sophie's eyes widened, chapped lips forming in o in surprise.

"Woah. If you were my brother, he could be my grandpa too! I want a brother, but my parents got me a baby sister and she can't do anything with me cause she's only four. I'm six. Older," Sophie repeated.

"Mhmm."

"I'm so glad you aren't like everyone. They're so mean. My parents love me, but sometimes they say mean things when they think I can't hear them when they talk without talking. Which I guess is fair, because nobody else can."

"Not being like other people makes you special."

"What if I don't want to be special?"

Her new brother paused for a second.

"Then we can figure it out together."

Sophie mulled over the idea, moving on.

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost. I just have to call my dad first," Alvar explained. "You're going to have to be very quiet, ok?"

"Does your dad say mean things about you too?"

Alvar's smile fell for a moment.

"Quiet, remember?"

Sophie nodded, plopping onto the roots of a tree to watch as he pulled out a silver square.

"Hail Alden Vacker."

Huh. They both had five letter names starting with Al. Sophie had an Uncle Al.

"Did you find her, son?"

"No, dad. Just like every other time, I didn't."

"I have a meeting in five. See you at dinner."

"See you-"

With a click, the call ended.

"Let's keep walking," Alvar said, pushing his hair away from his cobalt eyes.

Sophie rushed up to hug him, tiny arms squeezing as much as they could.

"You're supposed to hug back," she whispered.

Alvar complied, and he melted inside. Who was this kid to go and make him feel so conflicted! 

"Pick me up again?"

"Ok."

Sophie hummed offtune as they went, singing softly about a favorite rocket ship, stopping as Alvar came to a clearing.

"This is kind of anticlimactic," she huffed. "I learned that word in the dictionary."

"I'm about to do something weird."

"Ok!"

He started to dance- it was definitely weird. Heavy stomping and complicated footwork, Alvar held Sophie up to the sky, beaming as she laughed.

When he stopped, the ground shook. Sophie's giggles faded out, and she clutched at the sports jersey Alvar wore. Her eyes started to fill with tears.

"Oh, don't worry! I'm just making stairs."

"Stairs?"

"Yup. Boring, right?"

She nodded, sniffling.

Dirt bagan to fall away at their feet, revealing exactly what Alvar said there would be. Stairs.

"It's dark down there."

"Only for a bit. You're so brave, I won't even have to keep you safe!"

"You will protect me though, right?"

"I promise."

And when they reached the light, there were people like her. People who could make the dark go away and come back, who could make fire, and control the wind.

And even though she didn't want to at first, she stayed. Because all these people like her? They were quiet. Because she had a big brother, and a friend named Glimmer who liked cats, got to choose her name, and didn't take off her hood.

Sophie stayed because she wanted to. And she did.

( Tag some friends you think would like my version of a Neverseen Sophie, and I'll release part two! On a side note, how was is seeing a different side of Alvar? Do you think Sophie will change his personality from how it is canonically? )