Swan Song

Chapter 20 - Keefe

This day just kept getting better and better. First, I saw Fitz and Sophie kissing. Then I found out they weren't actually together and admitted my feelings to Sophie quite possibly ruining the one thing I had with her, our friendship. Now, I found out I might have a power that could make me lose all my guilt therefore making me lose mercy and possibly making me kill a bunch of people. Oh yeah, and my mom probably has one of those too! Oh, what a wonderful life I had.

Sophie reached over and grabbed my hand, I flinched. I was surprised she would still grab my hand after my little blowout confession. I looked away but relaxed my hand in her grip. 

"It's okay, this isn't the worst news we've had. And we don't even know if she has them yet. She would have to do the same thing to herself that she did to me." I shrugged, trying to play nonchalance. 

"I think..." I was surprised to find it was Glimmer who had spoken. She hesitated a moment before continuing. "I think she did. It wasn't quite the same... but she had me do something very similar with Umber. She was knocked out for a few days though, not weeks. 

"Okay, fine. So its a big possibility she has one of the forgotten powers. But that doesn't matter, we've fought her before and she probably had those powers back then to. Maybe its just one of the less dangerous ones."

"Or maybe she's been hiding it to catch us unprepared." Tam said, stepping forward to stand by Glimmer. 

"Whatever the case, we should be prepared." Sophie said, "If we could maybe find a way to prepare for whatever power she has, we could finally get the advantage. And we could try to help Keefe with whatever his is." She trailed off, and released my hand to rub her temples. 

We all fell silent, trying to process everything.

It would be real nice if I could simply manifest already and figure out how to control it. But at the same time it scared me. If I were to lose myself in the power... I shuddered to think of what I might do to my friends. Would I lose myself so much that I would hurt Foster? I knew I didn't want to... but what if I did? I couldn't bare it if she got hurt because of some stupid power and me not being able to control it.

I wanted to scold myself for being so scared. But I couldn't make myself do it. I was just the scared little boy my mother had made me to be. I was scared of her. Scared of my father. Scared of everything and everyone. 

And hurt. The pain in my heart was like nothing else. I didn't even know how to describe it. My father had always been disappointed in me, and my mother was a murderer. The one girl who I felt could help me fell in love with someone else. 

At the end of the day, I was just a scared, broken boy.

***

Half an hour later, the councilors left. 

Unfortunately, Alden didn't. Instead, he had asked me for a moment. Yay. The last time he had wanted to chat he asked me to back away from Sophie. Now that Sophie and Fitz were fighting he would probably ask it of me again. Alden brought me into one of the rooms in Havenfield, closing the door. 

"If your going to tell me to back off again, I'm gonna stop you right there. I can't. I already tried it once, but I'm done with it. I am not going to try to change her mind about which of us she picks, thats her choice. I'm not going to try and change that, I would hope you wouldn't either. She is the one who has to make her own decisions Alden, not us. Not me, not Fitz and certainly not you. She is her own person with her own feelings. We can't change that, and I don't want to try. I just want her to be the happiest she could be. If that means she's with Fitz, so be it. But if she chooses me, I will do everything in my power to make her feel like the most important person in the world. Because to me she is, and her happiness is all that matters."

Before Alden could respond, the door burst open. Sophie fell in, stumbling over herself. It was obvious from her expression that she had heard everything.