Hey! New update! Yes, this is a slightly Sophitz story. And once you read this chapter, and Sokeefe will have sunk. There are some Neverseen spoilers, . But thanks for reading. Hope you like this chapter!
I don't own KOTLC.
She reappeared in front of the Vacker's gleaming front gates. Keefe was there, apparently waiting for her. When he noticed her shimmery attire, he smirked,
"Edaline?"
"Edaline." She confirmed.
Still smirking, he half led her, half carried her, up to Biana's glittery pink bedroom. In all her years living with Edaline, and hanging out with Biana, Linh, and Della, who were constantly giving out -or forcing on- makeovers, Sophie had never learned how to properly walk in high heels. She was fairly certain that her whole foot would be one huge blister by the time they were done, but first she had to worry about other things. Like her approaching doom. The Matchmakers Office. Keefe fanned the air between them.
"Sheesh, Foster. Lighten up. It's not that awful."
"You notice that the that in that sentence is NOT reassuring?" They opened the door to Biana's bedroom and saw Biana, Linh, and Marella on the bed, braiding each other's hair, while the boys, Dex, Jensi, Fitz, and Tam, sat dejectedly on the floor, apparently banished from the luxurious, pink, canopied bed. They all gaped as Sophie and Keefe entered the room. What was wrong? Had she torn her dress? Edaline would die if she had. Sophie glanced down at her outfit, but all seemed well, so she looked back at the others. Tam had recovered first.
"Oh, Hi, Sophie. Uh, you look… nice." he mumbled. Keefe smirked again.
"Are you kidding? She looks awesome! Edaline really did a good job. Though I think she should have chosen some different footwear." They both looked down at her red shoes, which had, as Sophie expected, given her four separate welts, as well as taken away all her dignity when she tripped thirteen times in the hallway.
Biana finished the intricate braid she was doing in Linh's glossy black hair, twisting it away from her face to reveal the silver dyed ends. Marella's poufy blonde hair was pulled back in a complicated half-ponytail, while Biana's chocolate-colored locks were french-braided so that they wrapped around her head. They each wore one of Biana's gorgeous gowns, covered in glitter and sparkles, and had matching makeup and hair accessories.
The boys all wore similar dark tunics. They hadn't really dressed up, though Dex's strawberry-blond hair had been slicked back. Probably by his mother, Juline.
For a few minutes they all just sat where they were, fingers fiddling with random doodads, or, in the girl's case, the hems of dresses. Until Jensi broke the overwhelming silence.
"So are we gonna go or what? Not that I'm excited about this or anything -my brother said that the questionnaire was torture- but I think it would be better than just waiting here. Doing nothing."
"He's right!" Biana told everyone. "Let's! Go! I! Can't! Wait! Any! Longer!" she exclaimed.
She bustled around the room, getting everyone on their feet and shoving them the out the door. On they trudged. Like an army marching to D-day. It was their duty. No matter how much they hated it, they had to go. Or face the wrath of several very unhappy, way over enthusiastic moms. They continued their dreary march right up to the Leapmaster, where Biana conducted a speech about how the Matchmaking scrolls would change their future, tell them who they would be spending the rest of their life with.
Finally, almost as in slow motion, they stepped into the Leapmaster and before anyone could run away or back out, Fitz whispered, "the Matchmaker's Office," and they reformed in front of an enormous building, even by elf standards. It seemed to shine as the bright morning sun gleamed of its white marble walls. Ten sets of double doors lined it, and Sophie took a few steps back, intimidated by the hugeness of the place. She couldn't actually go in there, could she? Keefe didn't let her decide. He tugged her through a pair of double doors and into a tiny space, barely more than a closet, where he shoved her into a tiny chair and told her to wait for someone to call her name.
She sat there for only a few minutes before a deep, rumbly voice yelled "Sophie Elizabeth Foster-Ruewen!" A little window opened in the wall facing her and a grumpy, wrinkled face peered through at her. "Please exit through the door on you're right!" then he disappeared. Sophie looked to her right. Just as he said, the outline of a door was there. She hadn't noticed it at first. For a few seconds she scrambled for a knob, but there wasn't any. Finally, she shoved it open and stepped into the weirdest room Sophie had ever seen.
The walls appeared to be made from moving water, and beautiful fish species she hadn't known existed swam before her eyes. The only furnishings were two blue cushions. One was empty, but the other contained a tiny woman. She wore a simple blue tunic and her raven black hair hung freely down her back, making Sophie very conscious of her conspicuous red dress. The woman introduced herself as Mavis and gestured for Sophie to sit in the other cushion. Sophie obliged, and suddenly the tiny figure sprang into action, causing Sophie to jump.
"Hello, my dear! I have been awaiting your arrival. When I was told that I would be the Matchmaker for the famous Sophie Foster, I was so excited. We are going to get along SO well!" Mavis exclaimed. She had seemed so serious at first, and Sophie was glad that she was excited about this. It would make up for her own lack of enthusiasm. She was about to tell Mavis this, but the woman might have been a little too excited. She began bouncing up and down in her seat.
"I adjusted the questionnaire a bit to fit your multiple abilities, but I think we should start with the Friends List." she handed Sophie a sheet of paper and a pen. "Fill this out. It will help us to discover what types of personalities you enjoy being with."
Sophie glanced down at the paper. Apparently, she was supposed to make a list of all her friends. She was also supposed to write down any crushes she'd had and what ability she would have if she could choose. She filled it out, and Mavis gave her another paper. This one seemed to be all of her personal information. Her name, hair color, eye color, skin tone, weight, height, inception date and special abilities. She had to list any hobbies. Favorite subject in school. Worst subject in school.
Only one stumped her.
Near the end of the lengthy form was an entire section on her family. Her parents. Her parent's abilities. Her parent's hair, eye and skin colors. Her siblings. Sophie couldn't answer any of them. The closest thing she had to biological family was Mr. Forkle/Sir Asten/Magnate Leto Kerlof, and even he had assured her that he wasn't her father. She glanced nervously at Mavis. When Mavis noticed Sophie's worried expression, she rushed to her side.
"What's wrong, my dear?" then she saw the questions on the form. "Oh, dear. I forgot about this part. You don't know who your biological parents are." Sophie nodded gloomily.
"I have suspicions, but I can't know for sure and I don't think I really want to know. It would kill Grady and Edaline." Mavis nodded as if she understood
"Well, we will take a DNA sample and make sure that you aren't related to anyone on your list." She had Sophie lick a little white card and then escorted her out to where she had first arrived, instructing her to come back the next day to collect her scroll.
Sophie only had to wait a few minutes before Dex came out of one of the closet-rooms to stand with her.
"Well that was torture. I can't believe they need that much information about every. Single. Thing." He looked at her, and Sophie realized he wanted her to tell him what happened.
"It actually wasn't bad." she told him, "my Matchmaker was super nice. Though I'm supposed to come back tomorrow to complete the stuff about my parents." He looked surprised.
"You have to come back? I got my scroll after only half an hour. The rest of it was them lecturing me about bad matches and how the system works."
Before Sophie could say anything, Tam and Fitz walked out of the building, laughing hysterically about something that must have happened. Eventually, the only person missing was Keefe. Everyone stood there for twenty minutes, talking about their Matchmaker and all the questions they'd been asked. Apparently Sophie was the only one who hadn't endured a torture session. Sophie tried to get Fitz and Tam to tell her why they had decided to renew their scrolls, but they said that their lips were locked. She also attempted to see the other's scrolls, but Biana said that they should open them together, in front of the parents. She was probably right, but that meant they would have to wait until Sophie got hers. Sophie was wondering about her parents when Keefe arrived. He looked so upset.
"What's wrong, Keefe?" Biana asked, genuinely concerned. He didn't look at her, his gaze settling on Sophie and staying there.
"I-I had to answer a lot of questions for my parents and relatives, and-and they compared my DNA with others in the system and they said that they think… they think…" Sophie took his hand, wanting to comfort him, and Biana glared at her. Sophie ignored that and focused on Keefe.
"Keefe. You don't have to tell us if you're not ready, but we're here for you, in case you need it. Don't push us away." His confused eyes locked with hers, and she saw hurt, betrayal, confusion, but most of all, hopefulness. So it couldn't be that awful. He had hope. But with his next words, Sophie realized just how earth-shattering in was.
"They believe that I have a half-sister. They think that my mother was part of Project Moonlark before she joined the Neverseen." At first, Sophie wasn't sure why it was so bad. Keefe had a relative, a sister that he could confide in and rely on. Then the second part of what he said sank in.
"Wait! You mean me? That I… that you...that we're…"
"Siblings." Biana finished for her, a slow smile spreading across her beautiful face. "But that's wonderful! Why are you guys looking so sad?" Sophie shot a meaningful look in Fitz's direction and he pulled Biana away to lead the others to a little shady tree, leaving only Sophie and Keefe.
Lady Gisela is my mother?" she asked. He nodded. "But you don't know who my father is." It wasn't a question, but he answered anyway.
"Not for sure."
"Keefe. What's actually wrong? This doesn't really change anything. You're already like an older brother to me, this just makes it official. Besides, it doesn't matter who your biological parents are, or who they want you to be. It's who you are that counts." He sighed.
"Sophie," he was using her first name, she thought, this is really serious, "I never told you about the memories that I discovered before I joined the Neverseen. One of them included Oralie. She and my–our mom were having a big fight. I must have been four. Then my mom changed, like, literally changed. She changed into a black Alicorn. She changed shape! I think that our mother was a failed Moonlark. Like her abilities went haywire or something and she became a Shapeshifter. I don't know why Oralie's never told anyone. Maybe her mind was wiped, but Sophie, there's something else. Something Mr. Forkle has kept from us. That he doesn't want us to know."
Sophie's mind was stretching. Trying and failing to absorb all of this new information. Keefe was her older half-brother. Her mother was Lady Gisela, the first ever Shapeshifter. She had some connection to Oralie, which led her to believe that her suspicions about her father were true. And then she learned that her mentor and creator was hiding something big from her, something about her family. Sophie needed to rest. She needed to think. She needed help.
"Keefe. I need to go home to process this. Will you meet me at Everglen tomorrow? Then we can come and pick up my scroll here before we go and beat some information out of Magnate Leto." She was relieved to see him give her a weak smile.
"Sure thing, sis. That actually works, since I have to sleep on this. Tomorrow we will go to the Forkle's place and we will get! Some! Answers!" He raised his fist in the air dramatically, and Sophie realized that she would enjoy having him as a brother. A lot.
I don't like this chapter much. I hate writing Keefe when he isn't being his normal prankster self. I am a Sophitz shipper even though Keefe is my favorite character in KOTLC. But Keefe and Sophie have such a brother-sister bond that really shows in Neverseen. Anyway, til next chappie!