watch?v=KlDHbX7aUIM
02/22/18
This is Chapter One of Fix Me, Foster. Enjoy!
All Sophie could feel was anger. She wasn't distraught, she didn't feel helpless, and she didn't even feel as if she would slip back into her Sophie Shell. Sophie was angry. Angry about why she was created, angry about the fact that she kept dragging her friends into this mess and ruining so many families. But most of all, Sophie was angry at the Neverseen, angry at Vespera, angry at Lady Gisela.
The Neverseen seemed to have only one goal in mind: ruin Sophie and her friends' lives. Sophie didn't care how selfish this thought was, she knew that it was a side-effect of the Neverseen's so-called plan to make the Lost Cities a better place.
If they were trying to make things better, why would they free the forgotten prisoner, the emotionless empath, Vespera? She had no remorse torturing humans and elves alike, she only had her own goal in sight – whatever the goal was. Sophie and her friends barely escaped her wrath recently, Biana and Ro suffering most of all.
Now, after everything Sophie had to go through just to be alive today, the Neverseen had given the Black Swan another impossible problem to solve, while the members of the Neverseen were probably frolicking off to go cause their next act of evil.
So yes, Sophie was angry. Rage would probably be a better adjective to use. Could the Neverseen not give her one week to be a normal, teenage girl. All she wanted was a taste of normal, where she would be worrying about grades and boys – well, maybe not boys, she worried about them way too much anyway. Sophie was now stuck worrying about an evil group of murderers.
Keefe, being an empath, was feeling all of Sophie's rage, it was evident on his face. His eyebrows had been drawn closer together, and his eyes conveyed the look of anger. Keefe, as much for himself as Sophie, sent one of his calming, mental breezes to Sophie. Sophie immediately felt the rage fade away, being quickly filled by a different emotion. To send mental breezes, Keefe had to hold Sophie's hand, and he still hadn't let go. From the look on his face, Sophie knew he didn't intend on letting go any time soon. She dropped her gaze from his face and blushed at her feet.
"I think," said Dex, breaking the silence, "the… thing only messed with one part of Alvar's brain." Over the course of a few weeks, ever since Alvar had failed to remember who he was, Dex was proving that he could contribute to the team. He had been building gadgets and making observations on a notepad, monitoring any changes to his health or state of mind. Dex would also make the occasional suggestion of what Sophie, Fitz, Mr. Forkle, and Tiergan should be searching for when they enter his mind. Sophie was starting to wonder if Dex was the most important person on their team.
Despite the suggestions from Dex and the moral support from everyone else, the Black Swan was getting nowhere with Alvar. Sophie had been allowed to invade Alvar's mind several times looking for something – anything – that could help Alvar remember who he was. She was having no luck; how could she heal a mind that wasn't broken? Alvar's conscience was completely intact, and he was forming perfect thoughts. Sophie was made to heal broken minds, and Alvar's mind was not broken. Sophie felt nervous every time she had to read Alvar's mind – she was worried the Vackers, especially Fitz and Biana, would blame her – so she tried to limit how often she invaded Alvar's mind.
With Keefe holding her hand, feeling her enhanced emotions, Sophie risked a glance at Fitz and Biana. They were sitting across from everyone in Alvar's old room, on his old bed, telling them stories and old memories they had with him, trying to get him to remember even the slightest detail of his past. Sophie was immediately ridden with guilt, and she looked away.
Her eyes wandered to the masses of goblins patrolling the halls of Everglen, protecting it from threats. Most of the Collective was here, including Mr. Forkle, Tiergan, Dex's mom, Blur, and Wraith, accompanied by Physic. Not only were they there, but there was always a Councilor – usually Brant, Oralie, or Terik – in Everglen, and of course, there was Sophie and her friends. If the Neverseen managed to attack, they would have a field day. There were too many important people the Neverseen would be happy to get their hands on.
"The rest of his brain is functioning perfectly, right?"
"What do you mean?" Sophie asks. She wasn't sure exactly what Dex was looking for, and she knew that when it came to the brain, there were different things to look at. Sophie had picked up that much from being an advanced high school senior at the age of twelve, it was one of the only lessons she found interesting. Sophie stayed conscious of the complexities of the brain, knowing that she had to focus on every miniscule detail when she broke into Alvar's mind. To Sophie's displeasure, she was never informed on exactly what she should be looking for, and she wasn't educated thoroughly on the different parts of the brain and what their function was.
Stupid human education.
"Are his thoughts whole? Is he storing new memories?" Dex launched into a lengthy list of factors that could contribute to his new theory, a theory that was developing rapidly.
"Well, yeah, I guess his thoughts are normal, or as normal as they can be for a person who can't remember any part of his past. He seems to be storing memories he just made, like he remembers all of the Vackers trying to get him to remember things."
Sophie, Keefe, Dex, and Mr. Forkle turned in synchronization towards the Vackers. "He doesn't seem to enjoy their Memory Sessions," Sophie added in a whisper, only loud enough for the other three to hear. They all knew the Vackers were doing their best to help, and they were trying to hold it together for the time being. They were doing well about not going back into the downward spiral they underwent before, but they were doing nothing to help Alvar's situation.
Mr. Forkle nodded in understanding, and Keefe looked sorry for the Vackers. Keefe had been spending a lot of time in their house, wanting to get away from Lord Cassius, so he knew exactly how much pain they were really going through, his empathy picking up their emotions whenever he came in contact with one of them. Sophie tried to get him to stay at Havenfield several times, but Keefe always replied with, "Nah, Foster. Grady would try and kill me for breathing to close to you."
Sophie knew that could be a possibility with the way Grady had been acting lately. Grady had gotten extra protective over Sophie whenever Keefe came over to Havenfield, and had even put a new rule in play. Do Not Flirt With My Daughter. Keefe, being Keefe, ignored this rule daily, which Sophie was secretly glad about. Keefe refrained from flirting with her at Havenfield – within earshot of Grady, of course – and it made Sophie feel like something was off. There was more tension than usual, as if Keefe had something he wanted to say to Sophie when he wasn't flirting, and Sophie wasn't having nearly as much fun. Keefe complained frequently about how he couldn't see Sophie's cute blush as often. Sophie tried to ignore those comments.
"Thanks, Sophie," started Dex in response to the information Sophie gave him, "I have an idea that might make sense.
Sophie, Keefe, and Mr. Forkle all motioned for Dex to continue, hoping he had finally came up with an idea that would help. So far, every idea had come out to nothing. "I believe it – whatever they had used to take away his memories – had to have attacked the medial temporal lobe, attacking his long-term memories. I have a feeling the attacked areas were most likely declarative and episodic memory; his semantic memory. From what I can tell, it took a large toll on the hippocampus."
"Why don't you try explaining that again, but this time in terms the rest of us can vaguely understand?" Keefe suggested, just as confused as Sophie was.
Mr. Forkle was not as lost, his eyes had widened and he clenched his fist, showing that he was understanding. "Yes, Mr. Dizznee. Short-term memory, new memories, no older long-term memories, hippocampus...," Mr. Forkle mumbled to himself, nodding.
"Well, see, Alvar is storing short-term memories, and he seems to be on the track to store new memories long-term. The hippocampus stores memories, experiences, etcetera, but its most common use is storing memory."
Dex stopped explaining, leaving a very confused Sophie, who still could not piece the information together. "Why are these facts so important? You're acting like this changes the whole game."
Dex looked taken aback at Sophie's lack of ability to comprehend what Dex was sharing. "Sophie, this does change the whole game."
All the Vackers stopped mid-sentence at Dex's statement. Now everyone was involved in the conversation.
"Foster?" Keefe whispers into Sophie's ear. "Do you understand any of this?"
Sophie was glad she wasn't the only one who wasn't catching on and nodded, hoping one nod conveyed all her confusion. Immediately, Sophie felt stupid for her hope, remembering Keefe was a powerful empath, and always felt Sophie's emotions more than others'. Sophie had yet another change of emotion, feeling horrible about the fact that Keefe shared some of her confusion. Keefe never let go of Sophie's hand.
Mr. Forkle, sensing Dex was not open to elaborating any more than he already had, simplified the information for them. "To attack one specific – and when I say specific, I mean utterly specific – part of the brain, the Neverseen had to have been desperate to hide something. They wanted to hide something extremely carefully."
"Wait," said Sophie, still confused, "are you saying that it wasn't a Washer that erased Alvar's memory?"
"No, Sophie. If a Washer had done it, a keyword or a skilled telepath could have recovered his memory. This is the work of something else – something much more dangerous, and much more effective. From what I know, there is no possible way to recover Alvar's memories," Mr. Forkle replied solemnly.
Sophie felt Keefe's body tense beside her, and she squeezed his hand, trying to feel calm for Keefe's benefit. Alvar was Keefe's hero, like an older brother to Keefe before they had discovered Alvar was part of the Neverseen. Keefe was trying to seem strong, acting like Alvar's predicament didn't concern him in the least. Sophie knew, despite Keefe's efforts to act indifferent, he was hurting. Keefe had the same relationship with Alvar that Fitz had.
"Are you sure?" Sophie managed to squeak out. Maybe Sophie didn't have a close relationship with Alvar – or even one that didn't involve dislike – but she wanted to do everything she could to try to save him.
Mr. Forkle and Dex both nodded their heads, looking almost guilty.
"That's a whole ton of crap," spat Fitz, reminding Sophie of the painful days Alden – Fitz's dad – was broken, "there's always a way to retrieve memories." Fitz looked Sophie directly in the eye, urging her to agree with him. He wanted her to discard Dex's valuable information and continue the battle they had no chance of winning. If Dex and Mr. Forkle were correct – which they usually were – there was no way to get Alvar to remember.
Sophie dropped her gaze from Fitz's eyes to the floor, knowing she could never agree with him. It's hard to ignore solid facts, and the Neverseen was sure to throw another issue at the Black Swan. They couldn't just ignore the rest of the world to help Alvar, who was previously involved in the Neverseen.
"There's got to be a way to return his memories – we can't just have some sort of echo of Alvar here. It doesn't matter how much information we feed him about his past, he won't return to normal," Fitz seemed to be pleading now, and Sophie felt horrible.
"Maybe that's not so bad," Keefe murmured solemnly, only loud enough for Sophie to hear. Despite herself, Sophie couldn't help but agree. Alvar was – or used to be – part of the Neverseen, the organization that constantly tried to take her life, Keefe's life, and the rest of her friends' lives. Maybe it would be better if Alvar wasn't himself.
Fitz shot Sophie a look of hurt and distaste. "But Sophie, we're cognates," he begged.
Sophie shook her head, feeling like the worst person on the planet, yet still sticking to her opinion. "Yes, Fitz, we are cognates. Being your cognate, I'm telling you it's a bad idea."
Keefe wrapped his arm around Sophie's shoulders, reassuring her that she made the right choice, and that she said the right things. Fitz didn't look nearly as hurt, he seemed to have seen the logic behind her words and decision.
"Sorry, Fitz," Dex apologized, "once his memories are gone, they're gone forever."
Fitz turned to scowl at Dex, the look in his eyes carrying more venom than Sophie ever thought possible. "You're not sorry, Dex. You just love seeing my whole world crumble down-"
"Are you kidding me?" Dex roared, startling everyone in the room. "Do you not understand how much I have done for you and your family? I have saved your life on so many occasions. And can't you tell I like your family? Especially your sister? Why would I want your family to suffer?" Although Dex had lowered his voice to some degree, he was panting hard.
Fitz froze in shock, looking threatened and defeated. Sophie's mouth was hanging open, she was astonished at how Dex admitted he cared about Fitz. Biana was blushing a deep shade of pink, her eyes raking around the room, trying to focus on anything other than Dex.
The whole room seemed to be holding its breath, everyone wondering whether or not Fitz would attack Dex – verbally or physically. Grizel stepped in between the two boys, breaking their eye contact and providing a physical barrier.
Sophie hoped neither of them would get physical, but she would never put anything past Fitz, who was unpredictable. Fitz, despite how red his face was, seemed to have calmed down, his stance was not as tense and his eyes had lost some of their fire.
Sophie let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, glad the threat of a fight had disappeared.
"Dex," Sophie said, wanting to change the topic, "how – why – did you get so familiar with the brain?"
Dex, although he tried very hard to suppress it, had a strong look of pride on his face. Dex loved being praised for his accomplishments, and Sophie suspected it was because he needed to feel important in the group. Sophie made a mental note to help Dex realize he had one of the most important roles in their group.
"The brain reminds me of technology – very advanced technology – and the way it works is just as fascinating as any piece of technology I've ever encountered. Of course I had to study the brain, and I'm thinking of designing a gadget to work like the brain." Dex went on and on about his new gadget, giving Sophie a wide array of new vocabulary she had no idea how to use in a sentence, let alone how the words would ever fit into a casual conversation.
Once Dex was finished explaining the complexities of the idea for his new gadget, Alden spoke up from the corner where he was still sitting with Alvar. "What are we going to do with Alvar if he can't regain his memory? I doubt he could just continue to live here, it wouldn't be fair – to him or to us."
There were many puzzled faces, revealing that not a single person had thought that far ahead, or even had the faintest sliver of an idea.
"Wait," said Ro, Keefe's ogre bodyguard, who had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout their entire conversation, "we should be asking the real question, the big question." She glanced around the room, hoping someone would catch on. No one had any idea what "The Big Question" was.
Sophie motioned for Ro to continue with her proposition.
"What is it they had hidden in Alvar's mind?"
Now, the whole room was eerily silent.
"And why are they going to such great lengths to hide it?"
A/N Did you guys like it? I really hope you did, I redid this chapter about seven times, and this was the version I decided on. This story is posted almost everywhere, including Wattpad, FictionPad, FictionPress, and, on February 26th, AO3, so feel free to check it out there! The song at the top is "Lost It All" by Black Veil Brides, I've decided I'll attach a song to every chapter to introduce you guys to good music, which doesn't necessarily mean it has anything to do with the chapter. Comments and upvotes are always appreciated, and I would love if you all would pass this fanfiction on to some of your friends. Chapter Two will be out by March seventh (or possibly later, depending on when I compile a draft I actually enjoy), so just hold on for a little while... Thank you so much for reading!
