Torment-A KOTLC Fanfic

Chapter 48

Hey guys! I hope you all are doing well with all this Quarintene stuff. School was just canceled for me for the rest of the year, so looks like I'm gonna be finishing out online. But hey, it could be worse. Sorry it's been a second since I've updated. I'm trying to do better with that but I still dont have much time to write. I know that seems like just an excuse, but I really dont. I've been surprisingly busy at home, and writing time doesnt come up very often. Anyways, I hope you guys are doing well and staying healthy. I love all of you. Here's a really, honestly really sad chapter. Sorry about that, but hey, it's an update. As always, Enjoy!
_____________________________________________

       At least she didn’t have nightmares. Not uniform ones anyway. It felt like she was floating in a vat of tar, and she could hear faint whispers of insults blow across. Not that she could make sense of them. She did catch little bits and pieces, all of which hurt. The sentence fragments she caught were somewhere along the lines of “You failed...”, “Broken Moonlark...”, “Science experiment gone wrong…”. But there was one she caught the full version of, one that hurt the most:

       Her friends were gathered around a tree that was pale and scrawny, with golden star-shaped leaves and brown pea pods. The tree was her’s. Everyone was wearing green dresses and tunics. The color elves would wear to plantings.  There weren’t many people, just her friends; All of which looked older. Years older. Her tree had grown full-sized by now; which meant the planting must’ve taken place a while before. Long enough for the tree to grow. Fitz knelt at the base and put his hand on the trunk as the others stood behind him.

       “This is how she wanted it to happen, Fitz,” Biana said while placing a hand on FItz’s shoulder. “She died a hero.”

       “I know.” Through just the two words it was abundantly clear how broken he was. “It’s been seven years. You’d think it would hurt less by now, but it’s just as bad as the...as the day…” His eyes welled with tears as he choked up on emotions while trying to end his sentence. Keefe slowly walked over and knelt beside him, putting a hand on Fitz’s knee. 

       “I know man,” He said. Everything was somber, no one spoke for a moment. The only noise was Fitz sniffling. Fitz shook his head and stood up. He reached for something under his cape, and when he pulled his hand back out he was holding a bottle. He poured to contents onto the tree roots and then smashed the bottle against the trunk and let the pieces fall to the ground. He put his hand against the bark again and took a deep breath.

       “Could I have a moment?” He asked. The group backed off and Fitz sank to the ground, leaning against the tree. “I miss you Sophie. I know you can’t hear me, but I miss you. It’s been hard without you. The group looked to me to lead after you...you know. I joined the Collective in your place. I don’t know how you did it,” He smiled slightly to himself. “I love you Sophie. I always have and I always will.” He stood  and reached into the branches before plucking off a single golden leaf. He was about to leave when he heard slow-clapping coming from behind him. 

       “Great job Fitz. So touching.” Fintian said as he stepped out from behind a Wanderling. He had a sickening smirk on his face that seemed like he was about to do something that would change everything, but nobody knew yet. Fitz had seen him wear that smirk a lot.

       “Fintian? I thought you were-”
   
       “In Exile? With a broken mind?” He laughed. “You’re a smart kid. I assumed you would have expected this. Honestly, did you think that little trick you and your girlfriend pulled would keep my mind shattered for long? You didn’t see this coming? Apparently not. What a shame.”

       “What do you want?” Fitz asked, getting irritated. Fintian’s eyes turned as cold as steel.

       “She,” He said while pointing in disgust as Sophie tree. “Is the reason the Neverseen fell. She is the reason I’m the only one left.” His words practically dripped with venom, and Fitz wasn’t a fan of where this was going. “So I’m here to destroy her memory, like she did mine.” Fitz had wanted to make some remark, but Fintan acted too quickly.

       In less then a second the balls of Everblaze flew from his hands and onto the Wanderling. Within moments Sophie’s tree was up in flames. Fintan continued his fire frenzy until all of the surrounding Wanderlings caught fire. “If you love her so much, Join her!” Fintain yelled before hurdling a fireball directly at Fitz. Fitz went flying back and hit his head against the trunk of Sophie’s Wanderling. Spots danced across his eyes as he struggled to stay awake. He saw Fintain leap away, then took in the carnage. Everything around him was on fire. He was on fire. No matter how hard he could try, there would be no escaping this time. 

       I’m sorry. He sent the transmission as far as he could with as much force as he could muster, hoping Biana or any of his friends would hear him. I love you guys.

       He closed his eyes and smiled.

       “I’ll see you soon, Sophie.”  

       Those were the last words he ever said.