Sokeefe - After Neverseen

Chapter 18

When Sophie reached home, all she could hear was the gorgodon's loud roars, so it must be feeding time. She climbed up the hill overlooking the pasture, the furthest part from the monster's cage, and sat down.

She felt the braided bark against her back and the saw the delicate blue, pink, and purple petals fall on her lap.

There was no way to bring Calla back.

Not at all.

She volunteered to sacrifice herself as a cure to the plague the Neverseen unleashed a few years ago.

If only she was here-

"Sophie?"

The earthy voice came from Flori.

"Hey."

The tiny gnome was holding a basket of the Panakes petals.

"What are you doing?" Sophie said, trying to fill the silence so that Flori wouldn't ask what happened.

"Oh, I wanted to decorate Ranfor's nursery. He's coming this week!" Flori squealed excitedly, picking up more petals.

"And Ranfor is..." Sophie prompted.

"Lur and Mitya's son. You didn't hear?"

Sophie shook her head, feeling a little guilty she wasn't keeping up with all those things.

"Hey, you have a lot of things you're juggling, moonlark, you can't keep up with them." Flori said, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

But I should be.

"Want to tell me what's going on between you and your parents?"

Her stomach soured at the reminder.

"I'm fine, Flori," Sophie lied. But she took one look at the gnomes big gray eyes and caved in. "Well, you see, Jolie's alive."

Flori's eyes darted toward the Panakes tree behind Sophie, as if Calla was peeking over.

"I can see why that will startle Lord and Lady Ruewen."

Startle was an understatement.

Sophie blurted out everything about Jolie after she stumbled down the tall hill to the glittering manor, where Grady and Edaline was enjoying some custard bursts.

When she filled them in on everything, they looked like they were going to hurl the sweet treats all over the shining marble.

"Are you alright?" Sophie asked.

"I don't know what to feel anymore." Edaline said blankly.

"You're not the only one." Grady put an arm around her wife and she leaned onto him.

"In case you're wondering, Sophie, we will never leave you if Jolie do decide to come back. We'll have to merge our current life with the past. We'll always love you."

The words were like strong arms lifting a weight that was rested on top of Sophie.

"Thank you." That seemed like the end of their conversation, and Sophie went upstairs and into her room.

Or she thought it was her room.

Sophie looked twice through the large door, rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming, walked to the stairs and back again, and finally accepted that her room was different.

It was unrecognizable.

The walls were covered with sketches of all the moments she'd had with her friends, parents, the Black Swan, and the alicorns.

And not surprisingly, Keefe was in most of them.

Sophie turned her head to take in every corner of her room, when she spotted an ice blue letter on one of her pillows.

She walked over to her bed and ripped open the envelope.

Hello the Troubled Lady Foster,

Stop being so grumpy! I bet you look cute with your pouty little mouth right now while reading this letter - don't even try to deny it! You can't lie to an Empath! And also, please don't smack me with your mind or zap me with a lightning again! This is why I decorated your room with my glamorous drawing!

Not as beautiful as my gorgeous hair, of course!

Don't you roll your eyes at me Foster.

I did this because number one, I feel a cloud of anxiety all the way from the Shores of Sadness, and number two, your room need some SERIOUS decorations. You've been here for how long Foster? Six years? And you still haven't put a single thing that is personal to you anywhere.

Except for your stuffed elephant and my first gift for you, of course.

So TA-DAAAAAA!

-The King of Good Hair Land aka the Keefester

P.S. Do not even try to take them down, because you will have to tear down the walls to do so. And because they are pretty.

Sophie smiled at the letter.

She wasn't going to take them down.

She wanted them.

And she was ready to face the future now.