The Sencen Solution (Keefex)

The Plan

That Thursday began like many-a-day before it.
  Keefe woke up late and barely made it to his lesson on time, Fitz shot him disapproving glances throughout said lesson, and Dex, Sophie, and Biana would no doubt roll their eyes when they heard about it later.
   So, yeah, just like any other day; except...
  "Where's Sophie?" Fitz inquired as he and Keefe approached their usual table.
  Biana and Dex, already seated, looked up, perplexed.
  "I thought she was with you guys, Fitz being her cognate and all," Biana reasoned.
  Fitz shook his head. "Nope, we didn't have a lesson today."
"Do you think she's okay?" Dex asked, concern lacing his voice.
  Keefe felt a familiar pang of jealousy at the younger boy's words, but tried to dismiss the feeling out right. After all, he was getting worried too.
  "I- I don't know," he heard Fitz stammer out. "What if something happened?"
  At this point Keefe could feel the anxiety coming off his friend in waves, and decided to try and calm him down. He opened his mouth to do so, but before he could get a word out,  Sophie rounded the corner, face grim, mouth pulled into a tight line.
  Keefe spun his panicked friend around to face her, and Fitz sagged with relief the moment he layed eyes on his girlfriend. Keefe would think it was sweet, if he wasn't so jealous.
"Where were you?"
"Are you okay?"
"What happened?"
Sophie smiled a tight smile, but Keefe could see it didn't reach her eyes. He could also feel the dread emanating from her, causing his own heart to grow heavy as he prepared for the bad news.
Sophie took a deep breath.
"So, the Black Swan left a message. I'm not sure what it means yet, but it can't be good."
She held out yellowed piece of parchment that Keefe hadn't noticed she'd been holding until that very moment. On the parchment there seemed to be a drawing of a star, though the drawing, and the writing accompanying it, was too small to be seen at his angle.
"Does the word Glacialis mean anything to you?" Sophie asked, holding up the drawing for all to see.
Keefe felt himself gasp. He knew that star! It was one his mom showed to him a lot when he was little. See that star up there, Keefe? She would say. Glacialis, my love. This star has big plans for you. He would be confused. He'd ask what she meant. She'd just shake her head. You'll know soon enough.
'Stop filling his head with stars, Gisela,' his dad would shout from inside. She'd tuck his curly hair behind his ear and sigh. Then she'd get up and that would be that.
They didn't look at stars anymore, and Keefe had almost completely forgotten it.
Glacialis. The word rang strangely in his head.
He then realized he'd gone silent, the expectant looks of his friends shaking him from his reverie.
"I uh," he cleared his throat. "I know that star. It's a solo star, and, for all I know, completely useless."
Sophie frowned at that.
"Well, it sounds like they want me to find it, but I have no idea what for."
It was at this point Dex, who'd been silent until now, spoke up.
"Do you know where it is?" He asked, turning to Keefe, who tried not to blush under his gaze.
Keefe sought through his memory, the clear image in his mind of those many nights seeming to get hazy whenever he tried to focus on the star itself.
"No, but I think I might have an idea on how to find out," he answered, remembering the maps and astrological figures that he would draw to ease the swirling thoughts in his head on nights when he couldn't sleep. He never told his parents about them because he wasn't supposed to draw, especially when he should be sleeping instead, but he seemed to remember hiding them in the loose floor panel underneath his bed.
   "I might have a map at my house. I can look for it after school. My dad won't be home 'til late, and my mom won't be home for a couple more days."
  Sophie nodded.
  "Okay, I still need to talk to Alden about all of this, so I can do that while you look."
  "I'll go with you," Fitz assured, reaching out to clasp their hands together.
  "Me too," Biana added, making a show of pretending to gag at their display.
  "Okay, then I'm with Keefe," Dex piped up. He glanced at the other boy with a grin. "After all, who knows when you'll need a technopath handy."
  Keefe tried in vain to calm his fluttering heart, and threw back his best nonchalant "Okay, sounds good."
  The group jumped as they heard the bell ring for the next class.
  Sophie clapped her hands together as they started packing up.
  "Okay, we'll meet outside the gates after school and go from there, alright?"
  Everyone nodded in confirmation and dispersed to their various lessons.
  Keefe made his way to his next class with a bounce in his step, already looking forward to an evening alone with Dex, his grin a mile wide... that is until he saw the lesson plan.
Ugh, he hated Ruckleberries.

Authors note: as always, any corrections are much appreciated. Also, as stated in the description, the timeline is super weird and most of this story is completely made up. Also Glacialis isn't a real star, I made that up too haha.
Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed! :)
-L