KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Aftermath

Kenric.

Sophie and Fitz, with one last effort, pulled themselves from Gisela's wasted mind before it could pull them under.

And as she looked at him, her own shock and disbelief was mirrored on his face.

For a moment, all they could do was stare at each other. Finally, Fitz weakly asked her was that who I think it was?

It can't be, she answered. It is, but it can't be. What does this mean?

I have no idea. We don't know how long ago that was or what they did to him after that memory. What do we do?

The thought of giving Oralie any shred of hope was not a pleasant one. The only thing Sophie thought could have happened was that he hadn't died in the fire, only to be held captive, tortured and murdered at a later date.

We can't tell them, she told him. We can't get Oralie's hopes up.

But we have to look into it, Fitz argued. If there's even the slightest chance he's still alive we have to look into it.

I agree. But I think this is a job for the Black Swan, at least for now. Only involve the Council if it becomes necessary.

Before Fitz could respond, they both felt Keefe gently shaking them.

"Not that I'm not loving watching you two stare into each other's eyes for about the millionth time, but we'd really like to know what's going on."

So Sophie and Fitz snapped out of it and looked around. Grady and Oralie looked relieved that the memory break had been completed without any fight from Gisela.

Keefe looked...off. Pale. Like he felt slightly sick. He was trying to smirk at Sophie, but he didn't quite manage it.

But his face softened when he felt her concern. "I'm fine, Foster. But...I'd love to leave this room." His eyes kept darting to where Gisela sat, now babbling incoherently.

The others agreed, so they quietly left the room, Sophie taking Keefe's hand.

Once outside, Oralie turned to look at them. "Please tell me you found something useful."

Fitz cleared his throat. "From all we can tell, everything we learned is stuff we already knew, or at least assumed. There was also evidence that she allowed some memories to be washed from her own mind—and she admitted that they did that sometimes so no one person would have too much information—but we found nothing useful. If you want, I could transmit what we learned directly to you?"

An edited version, I promise, he added to Sophie.

"It might be more beneficial for you to show Councilor Emery, as he could then share with the rest of the Council more easily. He is waiting on an update if you're free to come to Eternalia now?"

Fitz looked at Keefe, then back at Oralie. "Could I do this one without Sophie? I think she should get Keefe home."

Oralie took one look at Keefe and nodded, face full of compassion. "Of course."

As they made their way back towards the Entrance to Exile, Sophie opened up communication between her, Fitz and Keefe.

Fitz immediately said why don't you two go on home and Sophie can fill Keefe in on what we actually learned? Once I'm done maybe I can come to Aeternum so we can discuss what to do?

Sounds good, Sophie agreed. She squeezed Keefe's hand. If you're up to it?

I think I'm going to have to be. Even Keefe's thoughts sounded pale, quiet, withdrawn. The shock I felt from both of you tells me something major is happening.

So with that, they parted ways at the Gateway to Exile. Fitz left with Oralie to Eternalia and after quick hugs all around, Grady left for Havenfield and Sophie and Keefe home to Aeternum.

Keefe was every bit as shocked as they had been.

"Are you telling me," he breathed, "that all this time...he survived the fire? And we did nothing because we all believed him dead?"

Sophie wrung her hands. "Apparently."

Keefe sighed. "Worst. Mother. Ever."

Sophie stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry." She hardly knew what else to say.

"So...now what?" Keefe's arms tightened around her waist. "What do we do? I'm guessing you chose not to tell the Council and upset Oralie?"

Sophie nodded against his chest. "We agreed it'd be better to go to the Collective first. See what they think we should do."

"Makes sense," Keefe mumbled. "So we wait for Fitz?"

"We wait for Fitz. I wouldn't think it would take that long to debrief Emery on the memory break."

Keefe took a shaky breath. "Yeah. The memory break." He pulled away from Sophie and stumbled to the couch, putting his head in his hands. "That was...an intense thing to witness."

Sophie sat next to him and placed one arm across his shoulders, the other softly resting on his knee. "Do you regret being in there?"

He shook his head. "No. I ended up sending you several mental breezes—I'm not sure you were even aware of all of them, but I could tell they were helping—and seeing it gave me some closure. If I hadn't gone...I don't know. I would've wondered what was happening and what it would be like to be there. It's better that I went. But hard. And not just because it's my mom, even if it were a stranger it would've been a heavy thing to witness." Then his face hardened. "But she deserved it. The more I learn about everything she's done, the more glad I am we are done with her."

"I don't blame you," she whispered.

Keefe turned to face her. "Out of curiosity, what made you mad right at the beginning? I was getting flickers of annoyance—and who could blame you?—but then suddenly there was rage."

"Oh, that. She asked me how long we've been married and I basically told her she didn't have a right to know."

Keefe rolled his eyes. "Seriously? Too little, too late. Probably just trying to distract you. Hoping one of you would break her mind before getting anything important."

"Yes, that's what we thought too."

"But look," Keefe whispered. "It's over and done, and I'm still here. I still love you just as much as ever—maybe even more." He hooked a finger under her chin and drew her close, kissing her sweetly.

Long before Sophie was ready to stop relishing the kiss, the chimes rang, announcing Fitz's arrival.

Keefe went to let him in, and they immediately began discussing their discovery.

"Did they suspect anything?" Keefe asked. "I was a little worried when you leaped away with Oralie and she felt your emotions that she'd know something was up."

Fitz shook his head. "She told me I felt shocked and confused, but assumed it was seeing Gisela broken, given the relationship complications."

"Thank goodness for that," Sophie said. Then after a short pause, "do you think there's any chance he's still alive?"

"Its hard to say," Fitz said. Those fragments of conversation we got sort of implied that they debated on killing him after torturing him for information on the Council, but also wanted to keep him alive in case they needed to try again. Didn't it sound like they were going to wash his memories and give him new ones?"

"That's what I thought after Sophie showed me what you saw," Keefe agreed. "But did he stay that way? Is he somewhere in the Forbidden Cities thinking he's some random human? Or did they go back eventually and...?"

All three of them shuddered.

Then Sophie said what they'd all been thinking.

"I think it's time to reach out to Mr. Forkle."