Even though the sky promised a harsh-looking rain and the ground was releasing as much dust as possible, the Neverseen guards stood outside their hideout, hiding behind the tree illusions. Vespera had done her math when she created the blueprints for the hideout. It was disguised to look as if a giant cliff was emerging from the left, right, and front. If you took a wrong step, you'd fall off the real cliff. Cordelia had discovered that the hard way and they still had yet to find her corpse. If you stepped with one foot in front of another (exactly, or you'd break the path and it would crumble) in the perfect north-west direction, then you'd reach the base hidden in a disguised hill.
Alistair, the good-turned-bad Neverseen agent, was on his daily route around making sure no one had trespassed. Of course, it wasn't like anyone ever did trespass. Gisela had picked the spot so deviously that only the most genius of a person could find their way, and they would even most likely die.
Or the stupidest.
Truth was, Alistair never really wanted to be a Neverseen agent. His brother had joined though, and he felt it was his responsibility to protect Barnaby, the precious and prized little baby of his family. With his average 103 in grading and his over-the-top achievements in being the best Telepath around, Barnaby had easily won everyone's protection. His wicked friends had convinced him to join the Neverseen, as he was super gullible in his youth, so Alistair had stepped up to protect him. It didn't matter Alistair was abused and mistreated. It didn't matter that he didn't stand for what the Neverseen did. If Barnaby was going to be kidnapped and enslaved into torture for trying to defect, Alistair was going to try and protect him as long as he could before finally escaping.
And, the other day, when Alistair snuck into his baby brother's hidden room, Barnaby had told him of the other prisoner at the prison. His mother had abused him too, lying and mistreating the poor guy his whole life. His father's emotional and verbal abuse didn't help either. He was constantly told he was nothing and a disappointment to his family's name. Alistair had felt for the guy. It hurt even more when Barnaby told him why the guy was imprisoned.
The guy, whose name started with either a K or an S, was yet 15, and yet was treated a top-criminal, with top-security and full-imprisonment. The girl he'd been crushing on for years had finally fallen for him, and on the night they got together, they ran out in a forest finding some dude in their house from the Neverseen. Alistair had rolled his eyes, knowing it was stupid Philo again. After getting caught in a wild human wildfire they somehow got Fintan to take them in, and the guy's girlfriend was allowed to escape at the cost of his life. Alistair had asked if he knew who the guy's madly-loved girl was.
He was shocked to hear it was the prized Moonlark.
So when later that day he saw the Moonlark leading her friends across the forest, he only pulled her over to ask she would do everything in her power to save Barnaby and the guy.
She had already planned to save as many as possible.
Sophie:
Tam, Biana, and Sophie snuck around the left side of the hill, leaning against the hill to get into formation. Fitz, Dex, and Linh were at the opposite side. Sophie transmitted to Fitz, you guys ready?
We're ready, are you? Was her reply.
On my count to 3, blow it open.
1.
2.
3!
Sophie signaled to Biana to press the button on Dex's invention. Biana smacked the green button before smashing the blue button and throwing it onto the roof. Dex's return with his other box landed next to Biana's, and thirty-four seconds a small hole silently erupted, just wide enough for everyone to lower into the base. Biana went first, levitating her way in. Tam went after, leaving Sophie to check around quickly and bring herself up. She saw Linh lower herself, and waited for four beats before jumping in her hole with Fitz. They landed with such a soft impact that no one could've heard them. Dex and Biana had run off in the left wing, running to find the guards. Linh and Tam had run into the right wing to find Fintan, Vespera, and Lady Gisela, who would still be sleeping if they were still partially sane. That left Fitz and Sophie, the power-duo, to head straight and search for the prisoners. Sophie signaled to Fitz to follow her. They ran two more lefts and a right before ducking behind a wall, watching the patrol of black-cloaked men walk past.
Sophie looked at Fitz and moved her two front fingers forward in motion, signaling to walk. She pointed to the guards and put her pointer finger to her mouth before turning the other way and tip-toeing. Fitz soon came after, slightly behind to check for threats. Grey cell after grey room, Sophie searched, desperate, broken, and slightly insane from the need to hold Keefe again. It had been three months. She so hoped he was still alive. She had hope. The one day she had broken through telepathically, she had only managed to transmit one message before he fell unconscious from wounds. She had told him, hold out, my love. We're coming, and if you're still alive, I'm never going to let you go.
But day after day had passed. Endless training with Sandor, painful session when learning the costs in battle, and of course training from distraught Ro, who had all their bodyguards lined up ready to fight when they returned. Sophie had trained with daggers, with goblin throwing stars, even with channeling her energy to the point of blasting someone across the line of life over to death. But she couldn't lose anyone else. She'd already lost Mr. Forkle's brother. She'd lost Calla. She'd lost her human family. But she couldn't lose Keefe.
So when she reached a path of blood on the floor leading down the hall, she ran.
The sound of coughing came from next to her, and the gurgling of blood also resounded. Sophie followed it, allowing her heart to try and hope, just this once. Today she couldn't stop trying. She had to keep going. It didn't matter that all her friends were caught mid-battle. It didn't matter Fitz was in pursuit of the guards who were chasing her. If Keefe was down this way, she would find him.
"Moonlark?" A young boy's scared voice asked. She turned to the side and leaned down beside the shaking boy's cell.
"Barnaby?" She asked, reaching her hand out to show she was a friend.
"Y-yea. If you're look-looking for K-Kee-Keefe, he's do-down that wa-way." Barnaby pointed to the cell four rooms down from his. Sophie memorized the spot and got up.
"I'll get you out next, Barnaby! I'll be right back!" She promised, looking back once more before bursting into a full-on sprint. She came to a sliding-stop next to Keefe's supposed cell. She tried to use that night-vision skill she'd been perfecting.
Inside the dimly-lit cell, there was a very clearly man-figure-y guy sprawled across the floor. His jaw was clearly broken and his right eye was purple. Both wrists were disfigured and his ankle was all swollen. Blood stained his clothes and lie in a puddle on the floor. Sophie gasped before channeling her energy into the cell's lock and broke it open. She raced in, grabbing Keefe and holding his head in her arms.
"Keefe!" She said panicked, shaking his limp body. She couldn't see his chest rising at all. She shook him harder.
"Keefe!" She screamed louder, trying to get him to wake.
"Please!" She pleaded.
"I need you."
Keefe
It was like there was no hope. Three, maybe four months had passed since Sophie left. Heck, for all he knew, it could've been a year and she could've forgotten him, finally deciding he was too much work to try and not hate. She could've finally made FItzphie official, leaving him forever to smooch Fitz and bear his children…
Stop thinking like that! He told himself.
Sophie HAD to come back. If she didn't, he would actually die.
There wasn't much life left in his body now. Day after day they tried to break him. Burns covered him from their pyromaniac friend. Broken limbs and bones scattered across him. The pain was his only friend here. And he was fed only meager feedings, just enough to keep him going.
But he had to keep hoping.
So as he lay barely conscious, he could weakly feel someone holding him. They were screaming his name, shaking him, and sounded so scared he almost woke himself up. The pain was so tempting to give into. He struggled to see which one to obey. He felt the overwhelming fear and the hope fade from this person's emotion set. They cried his name. Their tears hit his face.
Come to us, the pain soothed. If you give in now, you won't ever have to suffer again.
That promise was tempting. Very tempting. In fact, he made his choice.
But that was before Sophie's tears stopped and she lightly kissed him once more.
NOOOOOOO! The pain screamed as he tried to open his eyes.
Sophie
She would cry forever. He was gone. She had slipped into his consciousness to see if he was there. But the pain that spoke made her lose all hope. Her precious Keefe, her beloved, and her ray of light and hope in the world had made his choice to give into the pain. Another was lost to the Neverseen's evil plot. Her final tear of hope slipped down her cheek and onto his damaged cheek as she looked at him one last time before leaning down and ever-so-gently kissing him. She started to get up, losing all hope, when his eyes started twitching and his hand lightly fell over hers.
"Hey there, beautiful," Keefe whispered so softly. His ice-blue eyes were bloodshot and were badly swollen, but Sophie didn't care.
"Hey there, Mr. Sencen," She whispered with a soft laugh. "Shouldn't you be in class?"
Keefe lightly shrugged before wincing. "I think I might have to miss a few days," he murmured before closing his eyes again. Sophie squeezed his hand, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Oh my gosh, you two just need to separate!" Lady Gisela's wicked voice said behind her. Sophie stood up and faced Lady Gisela, Vespera, and Fintan.
"Leave me alone or I'll make you," Sophie told them, hand brandishing her dagger.
"What can YOU do, little weakling?" Vespera smiled and grabbed her dagger.
"Well, for one, this." Sophie whistled.
And twenty seconds later, Vespera, Lady Gisela, and Fintan were laying in handcuffs of shadowflux. Her friends stood around them, guarding them, waving to Sophie triumphantly. Sophie didn't notice. She was too busy trying to keep Keefe's pulse stable enough for when Elwin arrived.
Keefe's eyes twitched again.
"Did you get them?" He whispered, his lungs barely consuming the air.
Sophie smiled. "We stopped the Neverseen now." She told him, moving his hair to across his cheek.
"Good, because it's been too long since I've done this." He reached up and softly brushed her lips. Sophie smiled in the kiss, finally having Keefe back. She just had to hope he survived the next few minutes.
(A/N Ooops sorry well I hope that's good. Just because Shannon Messenger killed Sokeefe in Flashback doesn't mean I can't write y'all your favorite ship story HERE HAHAHAHA!)
