Kotlc Oneshots!

Shattered (sokeefe)

(Sophie pov)

Sophie dodged the blade. They were in the battle with the neverseen. At the moment, she was head to head with Lady Giselle.

Giselle swiped with the sword at her. She blocked it with her own blade. Giselle pushed her down to the ground. When she was about to stab into the dirt, Sophie rolled out of the way.

Sophie got back to her feet. She took a jab at Giselle. She dodged. Mostly. Part of her sleeve was now shredded.

Giselle came back at her. Sophie hissed as pain shot through her side. Thankfully, she was only grazed. She could work through the pain.

Finally, at last, Sophie had the perfect opportunity. Giselle had dropped her weapon. Sophie leaped and imbeded Hope into Lady Giselle's neck.

She had struck the artery. Blood immediately started squirting out. Lady Giselle fell to the ground.

Sophie had blood on her now. She was shaky, but overall, her sanity seemed to be intact. She bent down and retrieved Hope. She couldn’t help yelling out and stabbing the evil woman a few more times in rage of everything she had done.

She had no doubt she probably looked like a serial killer. But she didn't care. It felt... good.

When she got it out of her system, she sheathed Hope back in its holster. She turned around, ready to walk off and find her friends to tell them the news, when she saw Keefe staring wide-eyed.

She ran over to him. He still stared at his mother.

"Hey," she murmured. "She's gone now. She can't hurt you anymore. You're safe."

He barely registered her taking his hands in her own. He still stared. Sophie wiped the tears off his face.

A throwing star whizzed by them. Gethen was a few feet back. She went to go take care of him.

In the corner of her eye, she could see Keefe only growing paler and paler. Something wasn't right.

Her heart dropped when he started to sway on his feet. She needed to get to him, but she was still actively fighting Gethen.

Gethen, thankfully, fled when Sophie managed a gash in his shoulder. She ran over to where Keefe unsteadily stood.

She took him by his shoulders to make sure he didn't fall over. When she did, she could feel him trembling.

The pieces started to click together in her mind. The trembling. His palor. The blank stare. The swaying. No. No, it couldn't be.

She shoved her way into his mind. It was chaos. Even more so than usual. Memories fractured around her. His mind was almost muted. A static like hum was in the background.

'Keefe,' she called to him. 'Keefe, come back!'

Only one memory was still intact. It was from just a few minutes ago. Sophie saw herself through his eyes, attacking his mother. When it was over, it started again. And repeated. And repeated. And repeated.

With each repetition, more memories cracked. His mind grew louder. It started to feel like it was screaming at her. Wait-

Sophie pulled herself free from the chaos. He was screaming.

Keefe was pulling at his hair. The distressed noises escaping his throat were raw and primal.

Oh no.

She held his face in his hands. It was her fault. This was because of having to watch his mother be killed.

"Hey, hey, hey," she told him. "It'll be ok. Please," her voice broke. "Come on. Don't break now. We've gotten this far. Not after everything that's happened."

A sob bubbled up her chest. If he broke, it would be all her fault.

She went back into his mind. She sent warmth, happiness, and love. It didn't make a dent.

Was she too late? No, it couldn't be. She healed Prentice after thirteen years. She had to be able to do it. Maybe it was because he hadn't broken completely yet? Or was he just that far gone?

She pulled away when Keefe collapsed against her. She held his deadweight as he screamed and clutched at his head.

She lowered him to the ground. He was thrashing around now. She pinned his arms to the grass so he wouldn't hurt himself.

The rest of her friends must've heard the screaming. They appeared from below the hill.

They shouted their questions and concerns until they got close enough to see the scene before them. A dead Lady Giselle. A Sophie covered in blood. And a, seemingly unharmed, Keefe, thrashing and screaming.

When Sophie looked up at them with tears in her eyes, it all clicked together for them.