Keeper of the Lost Secrets

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Look! A Pretty Tree!

Keefe arrived a few minutes later, fiddling with the clasp of his cape. He was dejected, it was clear. His ice blue eyes were gorgeous but tired, and the air above him might as well have been a grey cloud.

"Sophie is alive," I said, standing up. I grabbed his hand. "We need to go save her."

"Fitz," Keefe said softly. "Sophie is gone, and so is Dex."

I shook my head violently, trying to push away the idea away. It was too dark, too hard, too painful. And too untrue. "They aren't. Please, Keefe, you have to believe me."

He looked like he wanted to run away screaming, or crying, or throwing up. I didn't blame him; I would've done the same. But he swallowed and nodded instead, holding my hand with determination.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

I knitted my eyebrows. "A tree, with all four seasons on it." I said, remembering Sophie's words.

Keefe seemed to rummage through memories in his mind. He looked up abruptly, sucking in a sharp breath. "The four season's tree. That's exactly what you're saying."

I tried to tamp down the burst of hope that coursed my veins. I quickly nodded. "Let's go."

"Wait," Keefe said, pausing. "I know you're going to disagree, but I think we should bring Biana."

I groaned. "You want to bring my sister along?"

"Three is better than two," Keefe said in a sing-song chant."

I rolled my eyes. I hailed Biana and told her to come to my room. She came in running a few seconds later. "What's up?"

I briefly summarised the revelations and plans of the last few minutes. Her eyes were wide open by the time I finished. She turned away momentarily and when she turned back, there was a noticeable trace of tear tracks.

"Now, let's go."

***

The tree was beautiful, with its browning autumn leaves, bare bark and budding cherry blossoms, but I couldn't focus because Sophie Foster and Dex Dizznee lay there, weak and translucent. I gasped softly and ran to Sophie. I touched her cheek, and my hand could nearly pass through it.

"Sophie," I yelled, tears falling down my cheeks. "Sophie, please wake up. You're not dead, Sophie. I'm not losing you again."

Sophie remained still. A pulse was there. A weakened, dying one. But it was a pulse, nonetheless.

"Sophie!"

A voice inundated my mind. Fitz?

"Sophie!" I nearly cried tears of joy.

Behind me, Keefe lugged Dex on his shoulders. Keefe grunted. "I'm taking him to Everglen. And I'll get Biana to call Elwin."

I nodded tightly and returned to talking to Sophie. "Sophie, you have to hold on. You're doing really well. Just please don't go." My eyes well up with tears.

What about Dex?

"Keefe took him to Everglen. Biana is calling Elwin for you. Oh Sophie..." I felt her cheek again. It was so cold. If I hadn't heard Sophie's mind, I would have thought her a corpse.

Thank you for coming for me.

"There's no universe where that wouldn't happen." I reassured her.

"I'm here," A bright light flashed behind me, and a man with a chiselled jawline and glasses ran forward and kneeled next to Sophie. Biana stood a few steps away awkwardly, coiling her brown locks around her finger. "Fitz, open her mouth."

Carefully, I parted Sophie's lips. Elwin poured a liquid into her.

"Swallow that," Elwin instructed. I saw Sophie's throat struggle with the movement. She scrunched her eyes as the liquid slipped into her. "And please don't fight the medicine, Sophie. It'll make things worse. And we cannot afford that."

Despite her dying form, she managed to thrash, and in my mind, she kept screaming: No! No sedatives!

"It's okay, Sophie," I whispered as she lost consciousness, though I wasn't sure if it would be.

***

I heard a voice from the healing centre. Not the worried mumblings of Elwin, or my father parroting the 'there's no reason to worry' rhetoric. It was the soft, quiet voice of a nearly-dead, now revived, Sophie Foster.

"You up for some visitors?" Elwin asked. Sophie muttered something unintelligible. My father was at my side a second later, telling me I could go visit her. I rushed in, tumbling over my own two feet, to meet her.

"Sophie," I whispered, kneeling at the side. She looked uncomfortable with the attention, or tired; I wasn't sure.

"Thanks for bringing me back," Sophie said, and she tried for her a hug, but her hands wouldn't allow it.

I shook my head. "Not something you should thank me for. I am obligated to do that, Sophie. I care about you."

My sister rushed into the room next and threw her arms around Sophie. She buried her face into Sophie's shoulder. Sophie lay down awkwardly, eyes darting toward me in a clear cry for help. Biana pulled apart, sniffling.

"I'm sorry, Sophie. My dad wanted us to keep an eye on you, and I didn't want to at first, but then I grew to like you, and then you were gone..." Biana's voice broke.

"And now I'm back," Sophie said, abandoning her usual sour attitude. I guess a brush with death does that to you. Though, I'm sure, had it been me, I'd twice as salty as I am now. "And I'm your friend."

"Really?" Biana asked.

"Really."

"Okay, okay, enough with the sappy nonsense." Keefe barrelled in, carrying his usual air of nonchalance. "I was part of the whole rescue mission too, remember? I identified the tree. If I hadn't then..." Keefe trailed off.

"Thank you," Sophie said. "I appreciate saving me from death."

"All in a day's work." Keefe said. "By the way, you're a telepath?! See, this proves you are the most mysterious girl ever. My dad was so smug when it came out. He always had his suspicions. And now they're confirmed."

Sophie sent an uneasy glance at my father. My father cleared his throat. "You won't have to hide your ability no longer, Sophie. In fact, everyone in the Lost Cities seem to know everything about what's happened with you over the last few months." My father rubbed his temple and pulled his lips in a thin line. A telltale sign of stress. But for now, you need to rest." My father said to Sophie.

I pulled out the blue elephant stuffed animal I'd so cleverly hid from Sophie. "Here. Every good night's sleep comes with a stuffed animal."

And you know how to reach me, I slipped into her mind.

She gasped. "How?"

I'm not sure. Ever since I found you, I've been able to slip in pretty easily. Neat trick, if you ask me.

Can you read my mind?

Not at all. But transmitting is still pretty awesome, I grinned.

"No secret conversations, guys," Keefe said, shaking his head. "Geez. You've been awake for a few minutes and you're already back to being mysterious. Do you ever take a break, Foster?"

"Okay, that's enough," Elwin commanded. "Sophie needs her rest. The rest of you should leave."

Keefe and I rolled our eyes in unison, because we are far more similar than people would take us for and left the room quietly.