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

Chapter Twelve - Sophie

For the second – or was it third? – time that day, Sophie froze in shock. What? Just... what? But that was impossible! Keefe was an only child. He didn't have any siblings. Stella must be lying.

"Lord Cassius?" Sophie said, looking at his pale face that still hadn't turned from his son's body. He turned at her words.

"She's telling the truth," he said wearily. "We hoped no one would ever know."

"She's telling the truth?" Sophie said dumbly. "You hoped no one would ever know?"

"Yes. Gisela always said it was because she was deformed. She must have used a potion on our child, because she is clearly not deformed. That's why Gisela raised her elsewhere, where no one could see our child. I myself have not seen her until now."

Sophie gasped, righteous anger rising in her so fast and so furious she almost inflicted it. She pushed it down, and Tam beat her to speaking.

"How dare you?" he spat, and Sophie had only seen him so angry when someone was threatening Linh. "You threw your daughter out – like a piece of garbage, just because you thought she was ugly? No one deserves that. NO ONE! Trust me, I would know," he finished, pulling Stella into a hug. Stella herself seemed unaffected by Lord Cassius's words.

Sophie decided the silent treatment was the only thing Cassius was going to get right then, because if Sophie spoke she might say some things she would regret. She'd known Keefe's parents were horrible, especially his mother, but this was a whole other level of horror and abuse.

She pulled Stella away from Tam. She had some questions for her.

"You're really Keefe's sister?" She whispered. Stella nodded, but didn't seem to have anything to say. Sophie nodded. Her looks confirmed it. That was where Sophie had recognized her. Keefe. They looked so alike, Sophie was surprised she hadn't noticed it before.

"Are you older or younger than Keefe?" Sophie asked, leading Tam and Stella away from Cassius. The other grownups, when Sophie spared a glance at them, were stunned, but now that they were recovering from their shock, let's just say Cassius was getting what he deserved.

"From what I understand, younger. I'm fourteen," Stella said. Same age as Sophie. "Are you mad?" Stella asked Tam. He looked surprised.

"That your parents threw you away like nothing? Yeah. At you? No way. Why would I be mad because of that?"

Stella bit her lip. "I don't know. I just... I know you aren't a fan of my... brother. So I thought you might not be a fan of me, either."

Tam shook his head in amazement. "Keefe has a fan club for his – for Sophie," he said, with the widest grin Sophie had ever seen on him. "And I'm always trying to outdo him. Might as well get ahead while he's out. Time to make the Stella fan club! There's no way I'm calling it the Sencen fan club."

Sophie's jaw dropped. "Who are you and what have you done with Tam Song?" she joked when she recovered herself.

Tam shrugged. "I can be funny when I want to," he said, but when Sophie saw the smile on Stella's face, she knew what had really spurred him to action.

That was really nice of you, she transmitted to him quietly. He jumped, then his shadow crossed over hers.

It was nothing. I'm just trying to... cheer her up. This is a crazy hard thing to go through, and I have experience cheering up those in this type of situation. Though he didn't say it, Sophie knew he was thinking of Linh, and she hated how true his words were.

Well, I can tell she appreciates it. She's already smiling, Sophie said with a grin. She looked at Stella, who was, unfortunately, frowning. At them.

"I can tell you're transmitting," she said. "I remember how Gethen and Lady Gisela used to look whenever they had their telepathic conversations. What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," Sophie said hurriedly. "I mean, Linh." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, though they were true. Stella's frown was wider. Sophie only understood the slight animosity between the two girls a little, but she didn't want to be stuck in the middle of a conversation about that.

"Um, I should probably go," Sophie said quickly. "Do you... are you okay with the rest of our friends knowing?" she asked.

"I would rather n... yes. Yes, that's alright, just, please don't let them telling everyone. Only the ones you really trust," Stella said.

"Okay. I'd better go... do that... big news, you know, and lots of people to tell... I mean, only the ones we trust of course, but that's still a lot of... you know what? I'm going to go now. Bye!" Sophie bumbled, hoping her burning cheeks weren't as visible as it felt like they were.

She walked quickly over to a very angry Grady, Edaline, and even Sandor, stuck her tongue out at Cassius (who, in her mind, had long past lost the title of "Lord"), and leapt home as fast as she could.

Once there, she flopped onto her bed. It was night, and another day of surprises had passed. She sighed. Would it never end? Well, at least they were learning things. Maybe Stella had information about the Neverseen they could use.

She sat up and called her friends, one by one, to let them know what other revelations the day had brought. Their reactions varied, but were overall shock, disbelief, and anger at Gisela and Cassius. Then finally, it was time for bed. She went through her nightly routine, then snuggled into bed next to Ella, hoping that for once the nightmares would go on vacation and visit one of the bad guys. Like Cassius. Grady and Edaline tucked her in, kissed her cheek, and told her they loved her, like they always did.

Sophie drifted off into sleep, and the last thing she saw was a pair of ice-blue eyes. This shouldn't have been surprising, given the day' events.

The only thing was, they weren't female.

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- Total_KOTLC_Fan