Keeper of the Lost Cities: Somewhere [Completed]

Three

Disclaimer: I do not own anything KOTLC-related.

A/N: Please please comment! Eight views and they could be all me, I have no idea! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Spoilers for Nightfall; if you have yet to read KOTLC, don't read this. Hope you like it! -Jade

Alvar was still in his stinky prison, but he was no longer strapped in. He sat silently on the edge of his bed, seemingly engrossed in a book. The peaceful scene was almost enough to make Sophie feel sorry for Alvar. Almost. She reached out and squeezed Fitz's hand.

"Are you ready?" Wrinkly Mr. Forkle stood beside Alvar, watching the boy sadly. Alvar seemed not to notice Sophie, Mr. Forkle, Fitz, Biana, Alden, Della, Sandor, or Grizel, all of whom were currently present.

"Yeah," Sophie mumbled, her stomach twisting in knots when Alvar's lips quirked at something in his book. Was this really the traitor she had come to despise?

"Is he ready?" Della asked, staring at her son. She seemed conflicted between strangling him to death and strangling him in a hug.

"Alvar?" Mr. Forkle tried.

"Don't call me that!" Alvar whirled, his eyes crazed as he shouted. He curled up in a ball and Sophie had an awful memory of Brant.

"He isn't...broken, is he?" Sophie asked, barely daring to. Della flinched and Alden gritted his teeth.

"No, but I worry that he is on that track," Mr. Forkle admitted. To Alvar, he said, "What should we call you, then?"

"I don't know." Alvar threw his book to the ground and sat on his bed, unmoving. Mr. Forkle sighed and rubbed his temples.

"We're going to search your memories," he warned gently. "So-"

"NO!" Alvar jumped to his feet, causing Sandor to step forward, one hand on the pommel of his sword. Sophie shook her head at her bodyguard. "I don't want to know!"

He fell back on his bed, exhausted with that one small effort. Sophie let out a small, involuntary squeak. To her surprise, Fitz squeezed her hand.

Livvy walked in then, her eyes tired as she watched Alvar.

"I think you can go ahead," she said, without her usual cheer. Sophie met Fitz's sad, teal eyes.

"Ready?" Fitz nodded gravely. Still clutching his hand, Sophie moved toward the unresisting Alvar and extracted her hand from Fitz.

Della whispered something just as Sophie placed her hands on Alvar's temples...and plunged in.

It was...dark. And muddy. At least, it seemed to be muddy.

And empty.

All that there was were a few coils of random thoughts. Most of the thoughts were emotions--a jolt of fear and panic, a rush of ecstatic joy, crestfallen disappointment, and, above all...guilt.

Forkle's right, she transmitted to Fitz. He might be on track for a broken mind.

I can't see anything, he responded. What do you see?

Sophie explained what she felt. Fitz's mind darkened. What do we do? he asked. Wordlessly, Sophie reached out and touched a thought.

It was a memory of when Alvar first woke up. He had been terrified and confused, and his only solace was the kind girl with the brown eyes that had given him a drink. The others were accusing him of something. Alvar wasn't sure what. When they had left, a sparkly woman had offered him help for his wounds. Alvar didn't know how he had got the wounds.

Sophie pulled away, pushing through the coils of thought, and selected another one.

Faces.

Biana, staring at him with betrayal written across her beautiful features. Keefe, lying in a rickety bed, his ice-blue eyes distant. Fitz, his teal eyes full of boiling rage as he glowered at Alvar through a force field.

Sophie thought them through. Biana's face must've been during the trip to Ravagog, in which Alvar revealed that he was part of the Neverseen. Keefe's was probably when they'd been living together with the Neverseen--maybe Sophie had been transmitting to Keefe in that particular vision. Fitz...that was when she, Tam, and Fitz had ventured to the Neverseen hideout! She sent the information to Fitz. He didn't respond.

Sophie pushed deeper still, determined to find something, anything. She reached out to touch a coil that seemed to blaze red.

It didn't show her. Rather, it felt as though there was a curtain draped over it. Sophie concentrated and pushed through it.

It was a memory.

Alvar's hands shook as he broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. He was in Fintan's office, and he wasn't supposed to be. His breath quickened as he read the short letter.

Gisela is the last piece. I need her alive.

The letter wasn't signed.

"What are you doing here!?!" a voice raged. Alvar whirled, throwing the letter beneath the desk. Brant stood there, fury written across his lumpy, scarred face. His stump waved around a ball of fire.

Alvar swallowed his fear, standing defiantly before the Pyrokinetic.

"None of your business," he said, but his voice shook. Brant didn't miss it.

"I'll say it's my business, when you go snooping around Fintan's office like you have in that bloated head of yours that you're someone important," Brant snarled. (A/N: Does that sound anything like Brant? I dunno)

Alvar barely dared to breathe as Brant moved closer. He knew he would be punished for this.

At least he'd seen the scroll. Now he could-

"SOPHIE!"

Sophie gasped, reeling. She found herself on the ground, Fitz leaning over her, his brows knitted together in concern. Worried faces surrounded her.

"I-I'm okay," she mumbled. Sandor helped her up. She swayed dizzily on her feet. "W-what happened?"

"You stood there for almost an hour," Biana answered, voice shaky.

"And then you just fell over, breaking my concentration," Fitz added, his face chalky white.

"Are you alright?" Della asked, pulling them all into a hug. Sophie nodded, glancing sidelong at Alvar. He still sat contentedly on the edge of his bed, not moving a muscle.

"I learned something," Sophie told Mr. Forkle. "Can we talk...alone?"

She glanced again to Alvar, but he didn't seem to be listening. She still wanted to be careful, though.

Also...she didn't think Alden and Della were ready for the next blow.

A/N: How was that? Please comment! And if you liked it, I'm writing another story about the two of the best characters EVER: Tam and Linh! (Tam and Linh don't play much of a role here...yet.) It's called Shaking Hands. Anyway, thanks for reading!!!!! ~Jade