All rights to Shannon Messenger.
Prologue
The adult life did not serve Sophie well. In fact it was probably the worst thing she had ever experienced. At first it was great, Sophie and her friends would hangout, catch up on all the teenagering they missed when battling the many corrupt things in the Lost Cities, but after a couple years everything got... normal. The twins started a "practical class" at Foxfire, training prodigies to use not only their special abilities, but also their universal gifts, such as telekinesis. Marella also taught at Foxfire, giving help to those who had too much power and not enough control. Dex sorta became the MacGyver of the new age, working on highly classified missions for the UER (United Elvish Realms) and turned out to be quite the celebrity among young teenage girls, what with his roguish rusty blonde hair and dimpled smile. But Dex never took up all those invitations to the Foxfire formal with crazy love sick girls, instead landing the much desired title of; Biana's Boyfriend.
Biana eventually worked for the UER as Dex's partner in the field, but not after designing a whole fashion line of military grade garb with Ro and Grizel. Keefe worked at the Sanctuary, and in his free time made and sold art, after much pressure from Sophie herself. Fitz left the UER immediately after the elite towers, to become a emissary to the goblin and troll realms to solidify peace and communication between them. Sophie, after much debate, followed his carrier choice. She became the lead ambassador from the UER to all the Lost Cities. Which would seem like the type of job that would keep someone busy—and it did keep her out of boredom, don't get me wrong—but it just... wasn't the same. Of course it wasn't the same, who am I kidding? Yet, on clear moon lit nights Sophie couldn't help but think of Silveny and her twins. Or when warm sunsets painted the sky under calla's tree, her thoughts couldn't help turning to her adventures with the mother-like Noam. The worst flashback was when she was visiting Elwin in the healing center, because the moment she stepped through the threshold she was thrown back to all the time she had spent there. And her friends. Especially one. She could never take a elixir again without thinking of him—not like that, if that's what you're thinking. But more along the lines of, what would her life look like today? If he hadn't pulled that stunt which led to the end of what hadn't even begun, where would she be?
Oh, sorry—my bad. Did I not mention that Sophie is over a hundred years old? Well she is, and if you wanted to know she doesn't look a day over 23, so stop looking at me like that! And close that mouth, you're going to catch flies.
This is where we end our, er, introduction. Wooohoooo. If you desire, please continue reading the story gets very interesting, I assure you. So please! Sit back and enjoy your glimpse of Sophie's world post Neverseen.
chapter one
"If there was any doubt, this would surly set the record clean." Sophie murmured to her self as she paced her apartment floor. She hadn't been to the mini home in over 6 months, her job demanded it, so when her visit to Greenwood (the Noam's new capital city) ended abruptly, she came home. To a cold room. And no food.
Her "home" was really a permanent hotel room checked out to her. She only stayed there a rare handful of months out of a year, actually Sophie hadn't been to the Lost Cities for any length of time in over 81 years. Which would seem like a long time, right? It really wasn't. On the contrary, to Sophie it was a mere blink of an eye. Work made her busy, with no time for holidays, friends or family—which greatly depressed her. Sophie's entire childhood revolved around her company, whether they be related by blood or not, because she would be alone. And for Sophie, alone was a dangerous place. So for the past 74 years—and more—she didn't let herself sit idle to wallow in her "aloneness" but instead threw herself into work. Her life revolved around the ambassador title, and while she sometimes saw friends coincidentally in the same territory at the same time, she had yet to find a life of real meaning. Sophie's teenage years were awful, no doubt about it, but her existence had lost life.
So now Ambassador Sophie Ruewen wears a rut in the floor, worrying over the serious discovery in Greenwood, and cursing Prime Minister Tiergan for pulling her out of the investigation.
"Stupid leaders and their stupid executive decisions!" She yelled, smashing a custom blown glass vase against the wall. That was another thing that had changed, Sophie found her self destroying things more often.
She groaned and covered her face with cold hands. "I hate my life."
Atlantis was always beautiful this time of year. Well, to be more accurate, it was the glowing albino jelly fish illuminating the ocean just beyond the dome were beautiful.
But the glowing jellies weren't the reason Sophie adventured out of her apartment. In fact, if it weren't for the need of life sustaining products (such as food), she wouldn't be out here at all. Yet she was, so when the commotion started Sophie was not in the lightest mood. She had just arrived at the bubble station to go to the surface, when screaming erupted in the middle of the city.
Sophie immediately went into panic/determination-to-stop-the-mounting-chaos-mode, and rushed back into the metropolis. She had been imagining buildings on fire, terrorists attacking innocents, and children wailing for their parents. What she found was quite the opposite.
Remember how I mentioned earlier that Dex kinda became a celebrity? Well there are certain struggles that come with fame, and Sophie's dearest cousin, Dex, was suffering from a particular symptom known as: Fans. Or more specificity, Fangirls. Teenage Fangirls.
In all rights, the scene was hilarious. Dex attempted to squeeze through the crowd, keeping a hold on Biana's hand, as he made his way out of the mob of adoring fans. The teenagers would reach out to him, squeal when he shoved them out of the way because oh my stars, Dexter Dizznee just touched my arm! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. No words. Actually no wait, there are some words, PLEASE SIGN MY FOREHEAD WITH A TATTOO NEEDLE IN BOLD PERIWINKLE TO MATCH YOUR EYES. OOOOooOOOoOOooooH AND PUT SOME GLITTERY HARTS AROUND IT...
Yeah, I know. So glad I wasn't one of those girls back in my teenage years. Oh, what am I talking about, whenever anyone mentions Grant Gustin I melt.
But back to the story...
Dex hailed Sophie later that evening. She was sitting in her empty apartment reading Truly Devious when her imparter chimed, glowing with his profile. "Accept." She said aloud, and closed her book.
"Sophie is that you?" Dex cried. "Oh stars, I haven't herd from you in forever, what's going on? Is there no time for you to come visit, or even hail a old friend? Stars Sophie—"
She giggled. "Dex, I've missed you too. But time flies, you must know that what with all you're adventures—oh, and don't tell me we haven't seen each other in so long. Don't you remember the Monarch opp? You, Biana and I worked together for months!"
"That doesn't change the fact that I haven't seen or herd from you in two years."
"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her toes.
"Yeah, you'd better be," said a laughing voice. Biana sauntered into view, and placed a hand on Dex's shoulder, kissing him on the cheek. "I guess somethings never change. You over work yourself," she pointed to Sophie. "And we yell at you."
"Hey," Dex's eyes brightened with an idea. "We should get together and catch up."
Biana sighed. "Restaurants are definitely out of the picture." Sophie nodded, as Images of Fangirls screaming at them momentarily danced through her head, until one other filtered through.
"Actually," She said, sitting up straight. "I might know a place. What's your preference on foreign cuisine?"
...
"KEEFE! GET DOWN!" Fitz shouted as he dropped and rolled to avoid the green explosion to his left. He heard a thump behind him, and dared to glance back at Keefe, who was now on all fours crawling next to him.
"Dude, it's just like the old days!" Keefe said with a grin. "I'm so regretting not taking this career path, we could have been partners like Biana and Dex!"
Fitz took aim and fired. "Yeah, no thank you. You do know they're dating, right?"
"Fitz, that's not what I meant," Keefe activated a grenade, and briefly stood to chuck it at the enemy trolls. "But my question is, how in the blazes did you know? No one has seen or heard from you in—"
"Keefe! Shut up, and get down!" Fitz took Keefe by the forearm and pulled them both behind the mossy log. "Okay, so the original plan was to spy on the trolls, not start a shoot out with them, as we've clearly done."
"Oh, nice change of subject." Keefe muttered, as he checked his weapons.
Fitz rolled his eyes. "Keefe, not the time. The moment we step beyond this log, we have to make a run for it."
"No way, really?"
Fitz just glared, "yes really, and the problem is—"
"Yeah, yeah, the only way out of these blasted woods is to where the trolls are standing." Keefe cut him off with a glare of his own. "And it would be suicide to attempt getting there, so are there any other options?"
"No."
"Then we're done for, all hope is lost!" Keefe sniffed and whipped a fake tear from his cheek. "Might as well wave our flag of truce!"
"Dude, I've got a plan, if you would just let me finish—"
"I knew that brilliant mind of yours would come through," Keefe sighed, pressing a hand to his chest. "So what's the plan."
"You go left, I go right, and we encircle them. There's eight of them, and two of us, so here we have to play this right, got it?" Fitz checked his ammunition then clicked the magazine back into place.
"Yup, what do we do when we get there?"
"Jump off the cliff then use levitation to get to the ground."
"Smart."
"Thanks." Fitz started to rise from his crouch, but Keefe pulled him down again whispering, "so where to after we get to the ground?"
"Second star to the right and straight on till morning," Fitz deadpanned.
"Wait. Really?"
"No idiot, home. We're heading to my place in Illinois, you good with that?"
Keefe shrugged. "Sure."
"Do you have any other burning questions, or can we go before we get eaten?"
"Nope, that's it."
...
While the boys where playing war games with the trolls, Sophie and her newly found friends ordered a cheap dinner at a nondescript Denny's in a place Sophie called, Chicago. Well technically, it was on the out skirts of Chicago, but close enough for our story telling purposes.
She had ordered a seasonal bowl of pumpkin soup, along with a thick slice of Marion Berry pie—just for the childhood memories. The others had ordered the Vegan Salad, which was just fine with Sophie, and she almost got it herself, but thought if it's Autumn, why waste the opportunity to get a steaming seasonal classic?
A seasonal classic, yeah that brought back more memories then a measly bowl of soup was worth, but just the thought of Autumn sent Sophie to gloom vill. Suddenly, just like that, she was in a different place at a different time.
Eighty-three years ago, almost to the day, Sophie lost a fundamental piece of her foundation in the Lost Cities. Fitz. She had been nineteen at the time, and they'd been dating for a few happy years, well almost nothing about those years was happy, but her relationship with Fitz defiantly became a bright spot.
It had been a particularly chilly mid October day, and Sophie couldn't ask for a better time to hang out with her boyfriend on a trip to a forbidden City. Portland, Oregon. The red, brown, and gold leaves swirled in the wind, and the cold nipped at their noses and cheeks, turning them a rosy red.
They walked side by side, hand in hand, sometimes stopping to look into the shop windows, sometimes going into them to buy a coffee.
FLASH BACK WITHIN FLASH BACK
Ha, funny story. About a year before this event Sophie had taken Fitz to the Forbidden Cities for his graduation present, right?
So, at one point she asked, "If you could try any food or drink from the Forbidden Cities, what would you try?"
He smiled and choked out one of his breathy laughs that made her stomach flop, and replied, "what would you suggest?"
"Uh, well," she laughed and glanced at their surroundings. A few blocks down she could see a green sign with a white face on it, and knew it was the perfect place for a warm drink and bakery goods. "How," she began, "would you feel about coffee?"
"Coffee?" Fitz's features took on a perplexed look. "What in the world is that?"
"Oh trust me," she said leading him by the hand down the street. "You're going to love it." Sophie rethought about her statement for a moment. "Hopefully," she decided to add.
Fitz barked a sharp laugh, "Hopefully?"
Her lips streched into a mischievous grin. "Yeah, Hopefully."
As it turned out, Fitz adored the drink, to the point of buying his very own coffee machine. And until their brake up, they would have Saturday morning coffee together, talking and sometimes snuggling. But mostly talking, and that is what she missed most about him; his words igniting ideas in her own brain, and his opinions that always clashed with her's. But unfortunately, that is what eventually drove them apart.
Okay, so we got waaay off track, it's like I just told a mini story inside a mini story, inside a main story. Where were we again?
. . . Oh right, I remember, Portland, October, celebration date, end of Sophitz. Got it.
As I was saying before, the happy couple was on a picture perfect date, blah, blah, blah, use that imagination of your's, and they had just ordered coffee for Fitz, and cider for Sophie from a small cafe on Tenth near Powell's book store.
Fog was beginning to creep up the street, and the combination between that, the chilly breeze, and the leafless trees, gave the city almost an eerie appearance. The mood between the two young adults had mellowed, and now they were just sitting side by side on a bench over looking the water front. Dusk was setting in, and Sophie huddled closer to Fitz for warmth as he put his arm around her.
That was the moment everything changed. Permanently. And it wasn't really either person's fault, but sometimes things are bound for disaster, ya know?
The end of the beginning started with the simplest and sweetest of gestures; a kiss on the forehead from Fitz. Once—when their relationship was still in infancy—the action would have sent flutters soaring up her throat, but now it seemed to calm her.
She sighed and leaned into him.
"Penny for your thoughts?" He murmured into her hair.
"Oh you know, the future, madness," she leaned back to look up at his shadowed face. "Oblivion."
"Oblivion? That's deep."
"Yeah."
He twined their fingers together, his cold, her's feverish. "Does the future seem like madness to you?" He asked.
She smiled softly, "How could it not?"
"Answering my questions with your own, hmm?" Fitz's lips pulled into a fond smile, his teal eyes twinkling.
"Someone has to keep you on your toes." They both shared a small laugh before lapsing into a comfortable silence again.
"I uh, need your opinion on something," Fitz said breaking the quiet, the words hesitant. He was clearly nervous, and usually that wouldn't bother Sophie, but a feeling was rising in her gut, anticipation? No, dread. Or maybe a combination of both. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not like that," he squeezed her hand. "Well maybe, it depends on what you think." Her stomach dropped, and all of a sudden it was hard to swallow.
"What do you mean?" But she already had guessed what he was about to say, she'd been expecting it for weeks. You see, at the beginning of September Fitz got tapped by Tiergan to go though intensive emissary training, and in theory the opportunity sounded great. . . But the training took twenty years, and it didn't happen anywhere near the lost cities.
Aka it didn't happen anywhere near Sophie, which is why Fitz agreed to wait on the decision, and it seemed he was done waiting. Sophie felt her world spinning, and she could already see the direction the conversation would go, yet she already wanted it to be over. Nausea rose up her throat. This is it, he's leaving me, she thought.
"Well," Fitz began, "yesterday my dad hailed me."
"Um hum." She hummed, her vision started to swim.
"And he had a proposition for me. Us."
Sophie's eyebrows scrunched together, those words weren't what she was expecting. Hope started to bloom in her chest. "Us?"
Fitz broke into one of his bashful smiles, one that made Sophie's worries melt, along with her heart.
"Yeah, us." He bit his lip. "How would you feel about becoming an Ambassador?" She tried to cut in, but he stopped her with a squeeze of her hand. "I know you haven't been ready to make a career choice yet, and you kinda just want to float for a bit to get used to this weird adult thing." His eyes crinkled at the edges. "But I think ambassador would be a perfect position for you, and us. If I become a Emissary," Fitz cleared his throat and lowered his gaze. "The point is, my Dad says because Forkle has passed," fresh tears welled in Sophie's eyes at the mention of Mr. Forkel's death, and Fitz cupped her cheek. "There's an opening for an Ambassador, and while we wouldn't be training at the same place, we would see more of each other, and—"
"Wait. Just wait." Sophie closed her eyes and sucked in a long breath. "You want me to become an Ambassador, so you can be a Emissary, so we can still be together?"
Fitz started to smile again, "yes, exactly, and it'll be great—"
"What if I don't want to be an Ambassador?"
It was Fitz's turn to look confused. "What do you mean? I thought you were looking into that position anyway."
"Yes, I was looking into it. That doesn't mean its what I want to do." Fitz pulled away, not letting go of her hand, but still. "Plus I thought we'd agreed to wait to decide this, its not like there's a time line."
"Sophie, this is a once in a life time opportunity, you should take it."
"Take it? For who, you or me?"
Fitz looked incredulous."Us! Sophie," he pulled her hand against his chest. "Us."
Sophie barely heard him over the rushing in her ears. Images of pain and loneliness flashed in mind. Fitz being held hostage by Neverseen, finding him unconscious, him not coming home. All of these were possible with the job of Emissary, especially with the last name of Vacker. The storm of thoughts burbled up her throat, rolling off her tongue.
"So what happens when you get injured, Fitz? What happens when you come home in a cast? What do I do when I hear nothing from you for months? Fitz," her eyes searched his. "What happens if you don't come home?"
Fitz took her face in his hands, "Sophie, you're overthinking it. I'm only going to be gone a few years."
"A few years!"
"Sophie we have forever together. If you become an Ambassador, we might even collaborate on cases."
Sophie brushed off his hands. "I don't want to be an Ambassador."
"Since when? Two seconds ago you thought it could work."
"Since it meant you would be an Emissary."
"Sophie it won't be that bad, you'll see."
In that moment something occurred to her, Fitz wasn't trying to convince her to let him be an Emissary, he was convincing her it's a good idea. Which meant he already took the job. A numb calm started to cease her chest, but not a good numb. Sophie dropped her eyes. "You already took the position, didn't you?" She murmured.
Fitz didn't say anything, and the silence was all she had to hear. Sophie's eyes started to swell, and her voice wobbled when she whispered, "So I guess this is it."
Fitz's head snapped up, panic lacing his handsome features. "No, no Sophie, I can cancel the position, we can make this work." She started to stand. "Sophie, wait stop," he reached for her, but she took a step back, tears streaming freely.
"I think you should follow your dreams, Fitz. You deserve it."
His voice got thick, "You're my dreams."
"No Fitz, I can't be. I'm only holding you back."
"Sophie, please, we'll make it work. Don't give up on me!"
"You already did that by taking the job," her voice was as cold ice, and still freezing over, completely detached. "I guess we were doomed from the start."
His voice shook as he stood, "How can you say that?" She turned away. Fitz's hand pressed into her shoulder as he spun her around saying, "Sophie please hear me out I. . ." He continued to speak but Sophie was deft to him. He must have known she wouldn't have agreed with his decision right? Fitz tried to reach for her hand again, but she danced out of his reach. The heartbreak on his face was evident when she told him softly, "It'll be okay, Fitz. Sometimes it's just not written in the stars, you know? Maybe its for the best."
"How can this be for the best?"
"I don't know fitz, maybe you should have thought of me when you accepted the position." She snapped.
His voice broke when he told her, "I was thinking of you, didn't you hear me about the Ambassador opening?" She just shook her head, bitterness lacing her words, "you don't get it, Fitz. The situation isn't the problem, its this relationship." Shock froze the sentence coming up his throat. "We need a break, a damned long one."
He shook his head. "I can't let you go," he whispered.
"Well you have to because, this," Sophie motioned between the two of them. "Is over."
The moment Sophie said, "Is over," a invisible tether that held them together somehow snapped. Neither of them knew it was there until it was gone, and each of them felt the effects. For Sophie at least, it was like someone had scrapped the inside of her chest with a knife, cutting off a life line that had always been there. Fitz.
The rings sitting on her thumbs that were normally warm, a gentle kiss from the giver himself, went cold. Icicles crept over the surface of them. Sophie ripped them off, like ridding a disease from one's flesh, and threw them at Fitz's feet, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "Goodbye, Fitz. I wish you all the luck in the world." She rose the leaping crystal around her neck and stepped into the light, but not fast enough to miss the heartbroken cry Fitz chocked on as she glittered away.
...
Snapping fingers pulled Sophie from her mindless stare out of the foggy window, and towards Biana who was trying in vain to get Sophie's attention. "Sophie? Sophie, hello, anyone there?"
"Hmm?" Sophie broke her gaze from the outside to look at her friend who's face was scrunched with worry. "Are you okay, Sophie? You checked out on me," Biana studied her. "Where'd you just go?" She ignored the question and glanced around, noticing their group had shrunk. "Where's Dex?"
"In the restroom, but nice try. What's wrong, Soph?"
Sophie plastered her best smile on, her cheeks hurting from the effort. "Oh you know, this and that. I have a lot on my mind is all."
Biana nodded her head, clearly not satisfied with the lame dodge. "Okay," she reached out her hand to rest it on Sophie's. "I'm here if you ever need to talk."
Sophie felt her eyes begin to fill and forced down the thickness in her voice when she answered, "Thanks, I might take you up on that some time."
Biana smiled warmly. "Good. I'm looking forward to it."
An: I hope you enjoyed, yada, yada, yada. All the Sophitz shippers out there must be like, I hate this story, YOU MADE SOPHITZ BREAK UP, HOW COULD YOU. And the team foster Keefe people are all like, THIS IS A SOPHITZ STORY, THERE IS NO FREAKING WAY I AM READING THIS. What if I told you its both?
Don't think its either one of the extremes, sophie isn't with anyone in the books, so she isn't with anyone in my story. So don't give up hope.
Thanks for reading
Ps this is my first story on FanFiction, and I'm as new as you can get, so please give me helpful feed back, don't hate.