Keeper of the Lost Cities: Somewhere [Completed]

Nine

A/N: Me again. Here's a long chapter. WARNING: It is SUPER weird. Like, weirder than weird.

Sophie

Frustration weaved through Sophie's brain like red sparks. The tension of the last few minutes were wearing on her, and her patience was all but gone. She glared at Keefe's dad, almost yelling at him for interrupting.

But she couldn't, not when Lord Cassius ignored them all, striding straight to Keefe and gripping the edge of the cot with white-knuckled hands.

"Why," he gritted out, "does everything always happen to my boy?"

"Your boy?" Sophie exploded. "How can you--why are you even here anyway!?"

"Sophie, calm down." Magnate Leto laid a hand on her shoulder. "I sent for him."

"But--why--how--" Sophie was barely aware of Fitz taking her hand, trying to calm her. But it did nothing. It was Keefe who could calm her down, send that wave of peace through her mind.

But it was Keefe who lay in the cot, mind broken.

Lord Cassius's hand hovered over Keefe's forehead before dropping down to his side. He sighed, sending a sideways glance at his wife.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice shaky. No one answered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tam's words cut through the tension in the room like a knife. "Look--Keefe was found with a goblin star. So was Gisela. And Gisela's halfway to dead--if she isn't already." Everyone stared at him in silence. He shook his head at them. "Can't you see? Keefe killed his mom, and now he's broken because of it."

The thought was heartbreaking. Sophie had known it, somewhere inside of her, but she hadn't wanted to come to terms with it. Putting it into words, like Tam just did, seemed to...confirm it.

He definitely hadn't pulled back the punch at all. Lord Cassius's lips tightened, and he turned his face away from the other elves. Finally, he stepped away from Keefe and moved to the corner of the room.

"Proceed," he said roughly. Sophie met Fitz's pained teal eyes. They nodded to each other.

Time to save our Keefe, she transmitted to Fitz, and together they plunged into Keefe's head.

* * *

Like the other broken minds she'd ventured into, Keefe's mind was sharp. And cold. But it had hints of what used to be Keefe's mind. Vivid, bright memories flickering in a loud mess. But now they were sharper, and when Sophie tried to look at them, they shrank away into nothing.

It was like she was standing in a dark hole with Fitz, and the broken shards of memory were whirling around and around, getting farther and farther away from them.

Sophie struggled to make sense of it all. Fitz seemed to recover first.

How do you want to do this? he asked.

We have to--um, find the nook, she transmitted back.

The nook. Right.

(A/N: I don't remember how they found the "nook" in Alden's mind, so sorry if this is inaccurate. Also I was a little confused at how to write a brain so...it's REALLY weird. Sorry XD)

So...what is Keefe's safe place? Sophie inquired.

What...?

His safe place, Sophie repeated. What makes him happy? What keeps him positive? She made sure she used present-tense for Keefe.

Oh. Fitz hesitated for a beat. You.

Sophie was startled, but she realized with shock that Fitz was right. She made Keefe...happy.

All of us, she told Fitz. Us. His friends. We make him happy.

Sure. Fitz sounded disbelieving, but he continued anyway. Just maybe not Tam.

Yeah...not Tam, Sophie agreed. Finally, she conjured up an image of the face she saw in mirrors and sent it into the colourful expanse that was Keefe's mind.

And waited.

She then threw out an image of Fitz's face. Then Biana's. Dex's.

Suddenly, the vortex of Keefe's mind seemed to suck all the memories into darkness, and Sophie and Fitz were left in an empty black hole. There was nothing--no memories, or thoughts, or emotions. Nothing.

Uh, what the heck just happened? Fitz transmitted.

A light flickered on, like a stage. And in the middle of the stage, a little ways in front of Sophie and Fitz, there was a desk. Sitting on the desk, quill scratching against parchment, was Keefe.

Sophie and Fitz each flanked him, but Brain-Keefe didn't acknowledge them. His head was lowered, eyes trained on the parchment he wrote on.

Sophie glanced at it. He was sketching. Sketching...them. He drew a box. In the box were Sophie and Fitz, standing near the left side. And then he drew himself, a familiar smirk on his face, opposite of Sophie and Fitz.

Keefe? Sophie tried. Is that you? Are you there?

Brain-Keefe drew a speech bubble from the sketch of himself. He wrote in the bubble, Hi Foster. Hi Fitzer.

Oh my gosh, Fitz marvelled. It is him.

How is this possible? Sophie asked Brain-Keefe. He sketched another box, and drew a super-fast sketch of himself looking perplexed. In a speech bubble he wrote, I don't really know...

Keefe, Sophie began. Keefe, please, you have to come back to us. You have to heal.

Brain-Keefe drew another speech bubble beside his perplexed face. No, I don't.

Keefe! Fitz transmitted angrily. Yes, you do! You're our best friend!

Brain-Keefe drew a small tear at the corner of his eye in the sketch. In another bubble, he wrote, I deserve this. I deserve to stay trapped here, forever.

Sophie reached out, trying to grab Brain-Keefe's arm, but she passed right through it. Like a hologram. Like a ghost.

Don't say that, she told him. You deserve so much more, Keefe.

Brain-Keefe drew yet another speech bubble. Stop hurting me even more.

Sophie was sure she was crying. I'm not trying to hurt you, Keefe!

Brain-Keefe drew another bubble, and in it he drew himself, watching Sophie and Fitz staring at each other in the distance. He wrote a thinking bubble beside his head: That's what makes it hurt.

The strange space started to dim, but Sophie stood her ground.

No! she cried. Don't go! What about your mom?

Brain-Keefe flipped the parchment over. He drew himself thinking, That's why I'm here, Foster. And that's why you need to leave me here.

Keefe's head flashed black, and Sophie and Fitz were thrown out of his head and back into the Healing Centre.

A/N: Oh wow, that was SO weird. Did you like it, though? I know it's very different to Shannon Messenger's stuff, but I didn't know how to write it so...TA DA. And I'm starting to make this story worryingly dark. Ah well, hope you liked it!