You Fall, I Fall

eleven (pt.2)

WARNING- Depicts low-moderate intense violence (not gory or anything, but a little irk-y)
~Fitz's head made a loud cracking sound as he hit the wall, bringing stars into his vision and a shooting pain throughout his body. Through his daze, he thought he saw the face of a random goon, whose features were twisted with maniacal rage, so much so that he had thought the figure pinning him to the wall a stranger; like those six years of friendship had never happened.

Keefe's eyes looked like oil was being poured into them, starting from under his top eyelid and dribbling into the base of his iris like a jar, though the jar was so full that there was very little blue left, and the oil was overflowing the sides. His once best friend's pupils were slowly turning white, resembling two waxing moons in an inky black sky. Thin cuts laid on his face like he had run through a thorn bush, and his breath smelled so foul, that it was nowhere near his friend's usual level of cleanliness, since it was more out of place than the dirt that seemed to float around him like he had fallen down a sand dune. His "uniform" was wrinkled and torn in places, like someone had done it on purpose, as there were always five closely parallel to one another. He looked as though he had been driven to complete, feral madness.

This wasn't Keefe. It couldn't be. Whoever was in Keefe's body was doing something to him, controlling him, something, because even after everything, Fitz knew that the real Keefe would never look at him like he was now. He knew that the real Keefe wouldn't have his hands around Fitz's throat like he did now.

Fitz tried to push Keefe's hands away with telekinesis, but Keefe kept fighting. They were locked in a mental vs. physical battle of strength until Keefe's body was thrown aside with a desperate swish of Sophie's hand.  It hit the wall like a limp doll and Fitz couldn't help but feel remorse. He had been friends with the soul that use to inhabit that body, it was familiar, though now, it was only a vessel for evil.

For a moment, he stood there in shock, staring at his cognate as if he were seeing her in a new light, even though it wasn't really new to him. She was sweaty, her hair frazzled and a few strands were stuck to her face. Her dress, the one she had been so excited to get so they could match, was ripped; but then again, he didn't look any better.

In perfect time, Fitz and Sophie started to run towards one another, the world feeling like slow motion. They were stronger together, and only their outstretched hands were almost close enough to grasp one another when a Neverseen member took a shot at one of them. It missed, but they were stuck on opposite sides of the blast, and were pulled into different segments of the battle, apart.

Fitz shoved goons aside as best he could and as fast as he could to get to Sophie. He had to be with his cognate, they were stronger together. It felt like there was an ocean between them, an ocean that couldn't drain away. At one point he had to stop and fight, because the goons were trying to pile over him. He could hear Sophie cry out for him to turn around, and when he did, he saw a bolt of a melder shooting towards him. In the knick of time, he ducked, and the blast knocked down a cluster of goons, giving Fitz the perfect chance to make a mad dash out of the sea of ugly to his pearl.

Their cognate rings snapped together comfortingly as soon as he was close enough, he transmitted, "Combine our telekinesis...?"

Sophie nodded shortly, and closed her eyes. Fitz followed suit, and together they concentrated on their energy. They built it up, strengthened it, intertwined it, and then released it in one massive burst, directing it to the goons as best they could. Rows upon rows of Neverseen warriors fell like dominoes, and the defenders watched the phenomenon in shock.

There was a loud clomping noise, and goblin soldiers came marching in. The Neverseen rebels saw this, and one by one light leaped away in retreat, knowing that now, they were most certainly outnumbered. Fitz watched as goblins grabbed the closest Neverseen elves before they could light leap away, then turned his attention to the other side of the room where he saw a goon grab Keefe and light leap him away.

The following moments were a blur- families ran to find all of their members, or called on their importers to see if they had made it out alright while goblins and councilmen worked to organize the situation as well as the people. There were many injured, and physicians attended to them accordingly, but no one had died, so that was a good thing. It was mostly quiet, save for the occasional faint chatter here and there, but the weight of the confusion of what the heck had just happened settled around the room like a thick, dense fog, leaving everyone not only in the dark- but in shock. Poor Sophie, this was easily the worst Winnowing Gala they had all ever been to, and the most dangerous, but Fitz supposed that was part of being Sophie's friend, so he wasn't too bothered by it.

Speaking of Sophie, she was sitting next to him on the floor against the wall, her nails digging into the fabric of the blanket Elwin had draped around their shoulders a few minutes ago, and was either staring into space, or watching everyone bustle about the room- Fitz wasn't sure. He would ask, but he was too busy trying to process what had happened and remember not to grit his teeth so hard. His cognate's head leaned against his shoulder, and he rested his own [head] on hers.

They were quiet until out of the blue, she asked, "Do you think they'll mess up our cognate trials?"

"What?" Asked Fitz, blinking.

"The Neverseen. They've already ruined the Gala, and the cognate trials are only a few days away. Will they take that from me too?" Aha, so she was getting lost in the labyrinth otherwise known as her head.

Shrugged a little, he replied, "No, I don't think so. They wouldn't plan an attack like that on a place where they know we'll be our strongest and that we could totally kick their butt. Besides, they probably don't have enough goons to pull anything anyways"

She didn't say anything for a few moments, but when she looked over at him (almost looking past him), she said, "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Yeah..." The silence returned.

Moments, later, he was about to say something when he heard Dex call out, "B?" Even from a distance, Fitz could tell that the strawberry blonde's eyes were wild, and that his hair was even wilder. He was covered in dirt, blood, and rips, and inventions of his- some of which Fitz recognized- were strewn across the floor. "B! Where are you?" His voice was laced with worry, but soon, he turned to see Biana shimmer into existence with a tired smile.

Dex didn't waste a second, walking up to her with something Fitz couldn't pin shining in his eyes- it was almost... romantic- no, it was loving. It was loving. Biana eagerly met the freckled Dizznee halfway and when she did, she took his face in her hands, while one of Dex's hands found it's way to her upper back, while the second wrapped tightly around the youngest Wacker's torso. Without any hesitation or warning... much to everyone's surprise.... They kissed, not only shocking their families, but everyone in the room-none of which had seen this coming.

Under the cover of the blanket, Sophie grabbed one of his hands to hold, sort of cradling it firmly. This was definitely going to cause some melodrama, and not only were they stronger together, Fitz soon began to realize, they were strongest together.

In these moments, right now, in all honesty, Fitz just wanted to curl up and try to keep the visions of Keefe evilly laughing or smiling from haunting not only his dreams, but his waking thoughts. ...But he was here for Sophie, so being with Sophie was exactly what they'd do... even if his sister just kissed Sophie's best friend. It took him another second for it to set in again. Biana and Dex were together.

Super short, I know, but I divided the plot points as best I could. 

It's it's awful I'll fix it? It's 11:46 At night rn