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

Chapter Eleven - Sophie

"Why?" Sophie challenged, throwing open the door of the Healing Center for the second time that week. She stood there for a second with her arms spread wide offensively, then sheepishly lowered her them, conscious of how many people were in the room. But she was too excited and stunned to care for long.

In the room were Grady and Edaline, Elwin, Lord Cassius, and a black-cloaked figure who freaked Sophie out for a moment before she realized it was Glimmer. Keefe's familiar figure lying out on the bed like he had for the past week tugged at Sophie's heartstrings. Sandor and Tam were right behind her, entering the room with similar solemn expressions.

"Miss Foster, you need to stop running off like that!" Sandor's squeaky voice patronized sternly. "It is getting harder and harder to keep up with you!"

Sophie tucked that piece of knowledge away in the "will be important later pile", and spoke to Glimmer.

"Why do you want to tell us now?"

Wow. She sounded like Wylie had an hour before.

Glimmer moved away from Lord Cassius and Elwin, who were both leaning over Keefe, and came to stand in front of Sophie. "You'll understand once you figure out what I just figured out. What I'm about to tell you all is something I've only ever told one person." She glanced at Tam, "and not even he knows everything."

Glimmer sat on a cot, her shoulders sagging. Everyone else sat as well, Tam next to Glimmer, Sophie across from them.

"It's a long story, so I hope you'll be patient with me as I tell it," she said softly. Glimmer sat up straighter and looked into Sophie's eyes.

"The first thing I can remember in my life is Lady Gisela. She was the one who raised me, she was the one who took care of me – she brought me up in a small cottage in the woods. I know that sounds cheesy, but bear with me. She was the only one I knew, the only one I was allowed to know. I knew hardly anything about the outside world, hardly anything about people in general. I was told that the outside world was cruel, and that she was protecting me because she had been a close friend of my mother's before she died. And I believed her.

(A/N: Anybody getting some Disney vibes here? Comment if you know what I mean!)

"Lady Gisela was never really cruel to me, but she was never kind. At first, she was extremely secretive about her life. When I was ten, though, she shared her true work with me. She told me she was working to make a horrible world better. Though I couldn't exactly see how what we were doing was helping, I went along with it because that was what I had been taught, and that was all I knew.

"Also, by the way, I never knew how far her plans were going. I never knew she was actually attempting murder. Things went this way for a long time – until Tam showed up. He taught me a new way of looking at things. And... so many things.

"You know pretty much what happened from then on out. The Shadowflux and Etherine, the bonds. And finally, my return to the Lost Cites, thanks to you." Glimmer looked at Sophie. "I want to know how truly sorry I am for all the things the Neverseen – and, regretfully, I – made you go through. I'm really, really grateful for everything everyone has done for me here, and I know it's finally time to show you that. To trust me as much as you've trusted me."

Sophie wasn't so sure about the trust on her part. She'd been really doubtful about Glimmer's motives, but the sincerity she now saw in Glimmer's eyes (the only part of her face Sophie could see,) convinced her.

"What do you want to know?" Glimmer asked, shifting her gaze between Sophie and Tam.

"Um," Sophie cleared her throat, "can we get a name? Like, a real one? Not a codename?"