KOTLC "Choose em'" Oneshots

Sokeefe 13

Prompt (I changed it a little in the actual story because I had to make it work in dialogue better)

: are you crying? You? I dont cry, im tough as hell.

Oh shut up we all have our weaknesses

       Sophie lay on her too pillowy bed and thought about how things in the Lost Cities were often disguised as comfortable and how people displayed an "everyone-loves-everyone persona," although, since Sophie's arrival it had been quite the opposite. All of the things that she had faced since arriving in the Lost Cities; plenty of tribunals, the death of Kenric, the Everblaze, the healings, the death of Mr. Forkles other half. It seemed that the list was endless, almost too big for her mind to comprehend.

     In less than 3 years, she faced multiple near death experiences, had her first kiss with a technopath, discovered that nothing was as it seemed, been betrayed by an empath, had to rescue her old family (the not-biological-but-who-she-grew-up-with parents), and plenty of other things, but those constantly and relentlessly rolled through her brain.

     She wanted it to stop. The memories to disappear so she could be normal. But normal was not a part of Sophies vocabulary. Neither was school, she was adulting now. She was part of the Nobility, but she still resented all of the things that made her hated among everyone. Even Fitz had abandoned her, left her for Linh, left her for beautiful water tricks and a hairstyle that no one else had. Sophie was too "troublesome" and made him feel terrible about himself fore someone reason, and then didn't want to leave Linh.

      Dex secluded himself, after that ONE kiss, and became one with his inventions. Biana became invisible to Sophie's eye, disappearing with Tam into a homestead. And Marella, being a pyrokinetic she had her own private lessons to attend to. Sophie was alone. Except for Keefe, although he didn't really talk to Sophie mich anymore. She felt utterly abandoned and alone.

      As she over thought and blamed herself for everything she had no control over, she felt her mind slipping. Into darkness. Into the void, absent of color as if it was leeched from the very essence of her mind. Into the place of no return. Brokenness. A broken mind cannot be healed by ones own broken mind, but her mind was the only one strong enough to save those who had lost too much of themselves.

       She cried herself into oblivion, her thoughts and memories swirling into a fragmented pile of nothing. Some shattered, while others disintegrated, and then others just became glazed over and inaccessible. She could faintly hear the rush of Grady and Edaline by her bedside, but nothing other than that. Her heart beat echoed around her body, thumping louder and louder, slower and slower. Until there was silence.

       No echoes. No sound. Darkness became overwhelming, the void became wider and more consuming to any remaining consciousness. Then there was light. Ice blue and white, light and pale. Cold, but enough warmth to thaw the thickening veil of darkness. It blew through like a north wind, dissolving any uncertainty, gracing the neverending black with light. The endless fissures sealed, the cracks became filled with glue, the memories pieced back together, and Sophie woke.

      She shivered in someones arms while they held her up before her legs failed. Sophie was on the verge of collapsing after her restless encounter with the darkness, but somehow she found the strength to turn around to see who was around her. The one embracing her was her knight in shining armor, Keefe. He smirked sorrowfully, a well known face to Sophie before he left for thr Neverseen.

       There was no sign of Fitz, or Linh, or Biana, or Tam, or Dex. She had never felt so empty, except that she was being held up by the one person who actually cared. She shivered again, and this time, she could stand on her own. She turned to her saving grace. Or saving Keefe. She whimpered as she realized that he cared enough to come amd save her. Then the flood gates burst, her tears shed in a waterfall down her pale cheeks.

        "Are YOU crying? You, the great Sophie... Crying?!" Keefe asked, a hint of his comical whim becoming very attractive.

         Wait, what? Sophie thought. Keefe is adorable. No. Stop. He's a friend. Throughout her  "Battle of the Brain," Sophie could only conjure one sentence, "no, I'm super tough." Even though she knew that her mind JUST broken. She still was independent.

         "Oh, shut up Sophie. We all have our weaknesses. And yours seems to have just been confirmed. Its either self-esteem, or you think too much." Keefe reached up and wiped a fallen tear off her face. He said lightly, "Do you love me?"

          Sophie sighed and whispered something that he would only learn and hear on their wedding day, "I do."

That was rough, guys. It was terrible and absolutely sucked. I will try to post again soon, but I am also working on something to enter into the Wattys.
-your fellow KOTLC fan and writer