Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unlocked: A Fan-fiction

Chapter Three - Sophie - Part Two

The man looked up at Lady Gisela with utter hatred in his eyes. "You did this to me. And I will never help you."

It said a lot about the strength of his power that Lady Gisela let him leave without a word.

The memory ended.

Sophie was pulled back to the present by someone calling her name, a worried tone in their voice. As her mind was dragged out of Oralie's, she felt tears streaming down her cheeks. How could Vespera and Lady Gisela have done something so horrible and been able to live with the guilt? What they had done was absolutely despicable. And now Sophie knew practically every detail of it.

"Sophie! Are you alright?" a crisp, accented, worried voice cut through her thoughts. Fitz. Sophie looked up, wiping her tears away.

"Fitz," her voice broke.

"What is it?" he asked, a deep crease between his brows, lowering himself to the ground in front of her. He glanced at Oralie. Sophie had completely forgotten about her. Her biological mother was also wiping tears away from her cheeks.

"I can't believe..." Oralie said, squinting her eyes shut, tears glimmering on her long lashes. "The Counsel... we..." She didn't finish the sentence. If the Counsel had known enough about what had happened to be able to lock it away in a cache, they had... well, known. Known what Vespera and Gisela were doing. They might have been able to fix it. But they had been too worried about their reputation.

Just like that, every good thought Sophie had ever had about the Elven Counsel flew out the window. And she was filled with a burning anger.

"You guys knew!" she cried, jumping to her feet and pointing a trembling finger at Oralie. "You knew what was going on! And you didn't care to fix it! You cared more for your own reputation than... than..." she couldn't finish the thought. Bile rose in her throat. She dropped her finger. It was trembling too much. She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to clam her emotions. No matter how mad she was, it was never a good idea to inflict on a Councilor.

"Sophie, please tell me what happened," Fitz said, more urgently.

She couldn't speak, couldn't tell him what had happened; didn't even know if she was allowed to. She glanced at Oralie, who seemed to know what she was thinking. She nodded gently.

Sophie gulped, then closed her eyes.

I'm going to just transmit the memory. It's too... painful to say aloud. I'm sorry. He probably thought her such a baby.

Of course I don't, Sophie. You can tell me anything. And I will never think you're a baby. Just think of what you've gone through so far! So many amazing things. So just give me the memory. Everything will be alright. Remember, you're my friend, and friends help each other through things.

Sophie took another deep breath. Fitz was right. This should be easy. At least she didn't have to speak any physical words. She took a minute to appreciate how good his thoughts had felt. They were friends. That was so important. And no drama was going to break that.

Sophie shared the memory with Fitz, wincing as she re-watched every tiny detail she had missed the first time. His eyes were widened in remorse and horror when the memory finally ended, and when he finally shook himself and looked around, he was angry. At Lady Gisela. At Oralie. At the Council.

When he had finally finished shouting at Oralie and calmed down enough for Sophie to talk to him, he was breathing heavily.

"Fitz, I know. I felt the same way," Sophie said, wincing. "But... there's nothing we can do. Yelling won't help, will it?"

"...No. I suppose not," Fitz said, looking very unconvinced.

"The other thing is... Can you leave now?" Sophie said, turning to Oralie, who nodded. She seemed to know she was unwanted.

"I'm so sorry. For everything," Oralie whispered, looking straight at Sophie as she leapt away.

Sophie shook herself. She did not need to feel bad for the Councilor. She would be going back to her glittering castle and relaxing while Sophie and her friends dealt with... everything. She turned back to Fitz, who had been watching the conversation with narrowed eyes.

"The other thing is," Sophie said, hoping to distract him, "I don't think we can tell anyone about this. If the news gets out about the Council, there'll be a major uproar. And while at this point I don't care for the turmoil it might cause for the Council, the people would freak out, too. So, I don't think we can tell anyone but our closest friends. There's a reason this was called a forgotten secret," Sophie said, trying to crowd her brain with logic to push the anger and fear and disgust away. She rubbed the spot under her ribs again.

"I agree, and I won't tell anyone. You can trust me, Sophie. And... I'm sorry I can't give you a mental boost of emotional clarity," Fitz said apologetically when he noticed. "I'm not an Empath, like-" he stopped. It didn't matter. He didn't have to finish for Sophie to know what he was going to say.

Not like Keefe.

And that was it. The reason Sophie had been willing to risk her and Oralie's safety for the cache's secret, the reason she had spent the past week or more sitting in a room in Foxfire's healing center, the reason Sophie had cried herself to sleep every night since the pale, blond-haired boy had first slipped into the coma. It was tearing her apart from the inside out. And there was nothing she could do about it.

"Are you alright?" Fitz asked, pulling Sophie into a hug when she didn't respond. "I know what you're thinking. Believe me, Sophie, I know what you're going through. It's hard for me, too. Keefe was my 'best dude', as he said." Fitz's voice cracked.

But though the words he was saying were so sweet and comforting, Sophie could only focus on one thing as she pulled away from him with wide eyes.

She was just now noticing his tired, puffy, red eyes.

His mind that had been whirling so fast when she had transmitted to him. More so than usual?

And his chest. His chest was shaking when he'd pulled her into a hug.

"Was?" Sophie asked softly.

Fitz cleared his throat. "Actually, that's why I came here to talk to you. Everyone figured, since we're kind of, closest, you know, that I should be the one... This is really hard, Sophie. I don't-"

"I don't care!" Sophie cried, not even ashamed of her outburst. She reached closer, taking Fitz by the collar of his tunic and shaking him hard. She didn't even care that her eyes, staring desperately into his, were filling with tears once again.

"I don't care if it's hard, Fitz," she whispered, going deathly still, "for me or you. Please. I need to know. What did you mean by 'was'?"

Fitz dragged a shaking hand down his face.

"Sophie, there's no easy way to say this. I'm so sorry. Believe me when I say that. You know Keefe and I... you know what we..."

"Fitz, please," Sophie was desperate. She needed to know what was going on. Now.

"I'm sorry, Sophie. You have no idea how much." Fitz blew out a breath and looked down at her, his own eyes filling with tears now.

"There's no heartbeat. Keefe's gone."

Moment of somber silence and...

Hi! I always think it's strange when a story leaves on a sad note and then the author's all chipper in the author's note, but that's what I'm doing! Anyways, for the few of you who are reading this story as I update, I'm really sorry I had to leave you on this cliffhanger. For those of you who are reading this later on, I hope you at least have to watch an ad before you get to the next chapter! Mwahaha! Author Power!

Anyways, sorry again. Please vote and comment! I love to hear from people!