Gone but not Forgotten

Chapter 1

                        .-=Sophie's POV=-.

                  I blinked my eyes open slowly, not sure where I was. I remebered letting go and dying, so why could I still think? Once my eyes came into focus, I saw a red haired figure leaning over me with black tips on his hair. He reminded me of Kenric, and when he gave me a toothy grin, I realized why.

                                                                       It was Kenric.

                   "K--K--KENRIC?!!" I shouted, leaping to my feet, I tackled him with a hug and he laughed. "I still need to breathe Sophie," he reminded me and I released him. It occured to me that if Kenric was here then I must be in some sort of After-life thingy. So I decided to ask Kenric.

                   "What is this place, Kenric? And what's up with your hair?" I questioned, and his grin faded. "Let me explain. And as for my hair, I didn't do anything, and you have it to y'know." He answered and I looked down, surprised to see that he was right. The tips of my hair were black. Weird. "Your dead. I'm guessing you probably knew that, but just to confirm, you ARE dead. As am I. 

        "This is the place where someone goes if they die, but still have a purpose in the physical world. In other ways, it's just the dead members of the Black Swan, or people who support it, and dead members of the Neverseen continuing the battle even though we're dead." Kenric shrugged. "It's a confusing concept, I know. But think, Jolie's here. As is Mr.Forkles twin. And other members of the order who died for the cause."

        "Wow, give me time to process this!" Sophie laughed, but it quickly faded. "So, we can die, even though we're already dead? How does that even work?"

          "Well, we don't die, we just fade from the battle."

           "..."

           "Yeah I guess we die."

           "Huh." Was all Sophie said. "So, does everybody have this?" She asked, pointing to her black tips. Kenric nodded. "Well, the Black Swan seems to be black, but the Neverseen appear to be dark green..."

               "Hold on, if you said Jolie and Mr.Forkle is alive, then where are they?" I asked Kenric. I used the moment to start looking at my surroundings. Surprisingly, I was in the same garden I died in. "They're not here." Kenric said simply. "Focus and imagine Havenfield in your mind." I did as I was asked and felt a slight change in my gut.

"You can open your eyes now," Kenric informed me. I opened my eyes and gasped, as Havenfield was standing right in front of me. "If Grady and Edaline are here.... Will they see me?" I asked softly. Kenric shook his head. so I ran into my home and saw a flash of light as Grady and Edaline leaped back to Havenfield. They were crying. "I can't believe she's gone..." Edaline whispered and it absolutely broke my heart. I wanted to comfort them, but was unable to.

"Forkle is upstairs and Jolie is in her room." Kenric informed me. I just nodded and kept watching my adoptive parents. Kenric gave me some privacy and after a moment I went to my bedroom. Sandor, Bo, Flori, and Tarina were all there. I didn't know if I could walk right through them so I tried sliding through against the wall. I got to my bedroom and opened the door.

Everything was exactly how I left it. Bed unmade, journal open on my desk. I stopped looking around when I saw the journal and picked up the pen.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said softly, and I recognized it. I whipped around and raced to Mr.Forkle, giving him a hug before standing back.

"WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM???!!"

"I figured you would come up here. Now, I wouldn't write in your journal." Forkle stated. "Why not?" I asked back. "I want to leave them a note. Don't worry, I'll write it as if I were still alive when I wrote it." With that, I went back to the journal, picked up the pen, and started writing.

'The Neverseen are getting stronger. I fear one of these days we're going to lose someone on our side. I have made up my mind that should I have a chance to prevent that, I will take it. If I'm still breathing I won't let the Neverseen touch ANYBODY. Especially Fitz. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he was not here beside me helping me fight. If this happens I don't want anyone to grieve for me. I would want them to accept that this was my choice, and my choice alone. I sure hope it doesn't come to that but am prepared to act to keep my friends, and the Black Swan, and everyone else I love, alive.'

I stopped writing and turned away, leaving the pen in the exact same spot. Mr.Forkle had joined me as I wrote my letter and now guided my out of my room. "Let's go meet Jolie..."

.-=Fitz's POV=-.

How did this happen? I thought as I sat in the living room, everyone, All twelve Councilors, the Collective, and... yeah. Everyone. All waiting for his explanation. I was unsure if I would be able to just explain it out there so I motioned my dad to come and sit by me. "I don't trust myself to explain it," he said softly. "So I'll show you the memory and you can." Dad nodded. (A/N WOW it feels weird writing Alden down as 'Dad') I placed my fingers on his temple and transmitted the memory before walking upstairs and leaving Alden to explain.

.-=No ones POV=-.

"We should go clear out her stuff..." Grady whispered, trailing off as he and Edaline Cried. Edaline shook her head. 'We... Need... To... Tell.... Her... Bodyguards..." She said between sobs. Grady nodded. "Sandor, come down here." He only called for Sandor because he could explain it to the other bodyguards. Sandor come down to the living room and frowned.

"Is something wrong? Where's Sophie?" Hearing her name made Edaline cry harder. "That's just the thing. Sophie....." Grady began trailing off, before he shook his head and continued. "Sophie and Fitz were encountered by Gethen, and it appears the Neverseen are using human technology, as they shot at Fitz. Sophie took the bullet for him." Grady whispered the last part and Sandor stood there shocked.

"I'll go tell the others. We'll begin cleaning up her stuff." Grady and Edaline nodded and followed, entering her bedroom to begin packing. Edaline picked up her journal and read the entry.

'The Neverseen are getting stronger. I fear one of these days we're going to lose someone on our side. I have made up my mind that should I have a chance to prevent that, I will take it. If I'm still breathing I won't let the Neverseen touch ANYBODY. Especially Fitz. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he was not here beside me helping me fight. If this happens I don't want anyone to grieve for me. I would want them to accept that this was my choice, and my choice alone. I sure hope it doesn't come to that but am prepared to act to keep my friends,the Black Swan, and everyone else I love, alive.'

"Grady," Edaline whispered and Grady padded over and read the entry, more tears gathering in his eyes. The rest of Sophie's Bodyguards came in, Flori even crying. They all cleaned up her stuff, but Edaline kept Sophie's journal. Her entry kept floating up on Edaline's mind. I wonder what else she wrote...