*rises from the grave like the keeper fandom every fall**kicks open the door* WHAT'S UP KEEPERS?
Advice to new fanfic writers; keep all your notes well organized so that when you go on an 8-month hiatus you're not scrambling to figure out what the sparkily alicorn poop is supposed to happen next.
Crumbling (Chapter 22)
"Why did we have to have the party here?" Keefe grumbled as the two of them walked the path to the Shores of Solace, which gleamed white against the sunset. Keefe didn't seem to appreciate the beauty of the scene, but neither did Sophie, really. She also thought this was a bad idea.
"Because who are we to refuse such a generous offer?" Sophie said mockingly, repeating what Evan had told her after Sophie and Keefe had stopped by the Shores of Solace to get a change of clothes. He'd been joking, but it didn't curb the ridiculousness of it. They had plenty of perfectly good places to have the party, but he'd gotten it in his head that a beach house Halloween party was the only option.
Keefe barely cracked a smile. Sophie couldn't blame him. She had offered to call Lord Cassius herself, but he wouldn't let her. She did stay to squeezed his hand as Lord Cassius's smug face appeared over the Imparter. Neither of them knew what he wanted, or what he would get out of it, but doubted it was out of the goodness of his heart.
Sophie smoothed some of the wrinkles out of her sparkly skirt. Once again, the beauty of it struck her speechless. She and Keefe had decided she would be an alicorn. She got compared to one enough, might as well take it all the way. She loved to twirl in pleated skirts, and the one she wore had swatches of pink blending into the pure white. She also wore a blouse of different colored pastel ribbons.
The true stars of the costume, though, were the wings. Wings she and Keefe made themselves out of hundreds of the softest white feathers she had ever felt. They wings trailed a bit beyond her, like an alicorn lifting its wings to fly, the sparkles Keefe insisted they add catching all of the day's remaining light.
She felt beautiful, free. They'd poured their hearts out into making the costume, Keefe probably more than her. She loved seeing the heated passion in his eyes whenever he drew. Sometimes she wished he could see it for himself because it proved, beyond a doubt, how talented and amazing Keefe truly was.
Sophie bumped hips with him, hoping to hype his spirits back to at least half-Keefe capacity. "It'll be okay. We look great, and we all did an amazing job on the decorations."
"You look great," Keefe corrected. "I look like I'm going to a Planting. I really didn't think this costume through."
Keefe had, much to Sophie's amusement, agreed to dress up like a Gulon.
"A sexy Gulon," he had clarified.
What he meant by a "sexy" Gulon, apparently, was to wear all green instead of the full-body suit Sophie had expected (and hoped for).
Sophie ruffled his hair, which he'd dyed green. "Don't worry, you don't. No offence, but this green is way too obnoxious to ever wear at a Planting."
"Full offence taken! I'm absolutely dashing, Foster. The trees themselves would swoon before me."
Sophie snorted. "Whatever you need to tell yourself."
They could hear the boom of music before they'd even reached the back porch. The sound was nostalgic, Sophie realized, but there was something about the music (very human music) that made her stomach clench. The electric tinge of pop didn't fit in with this place, or with the rest of the Lost Cities.
It took Keefe a few moments to realize she had stopped, enough for him to take a few steps before twisting his head over his shoulder to look back at her.
"Foster?"
It felt like the music had sucked every good feeling straight from her bones, leaving her dry and breathless. She felt ridiculous, standing there in the near-dark, trying to breathe normally again, only to work herself up more.
"I really don't think…I can do this," she struggled to say as her throat tightened up. Each beat of the distant song knocked against her skull. Darkness flooded her brain; she was beginning to lose her sense of reality.
"Sophie! Sophie, you're okay. Sophie, breathe."
She felt like crumpling. She wanted to shut the music out, but it just got louder, a grim background to the memories of her family flashing in her mind. Memories of her mom kissing her forehead and making her promise to get back before ten. Of her and Amy laughing and running from house to house, ringing doorbells and competing to see who could yell "trick-or-treat!" louder. When she used to dump her candy on the floor back at home and swat her dad's hand away as she tried to count it.
Simple. Boring, even. But the ever-present longing in her heart to live those days again, just for a moment, refused to be silenced.
Why did she have to feel this way? She erased their memories, said her goodbyes, got closure. She had a new life, and as crazy and dangerous as it may be, she had more people who loved and cared for her than ever before. So why?
"Sophie!"
Arms were around her. Someone's arms. Keefe's?
"Sophie, it's going to be okay. Just breathe."
She couldn't. But his voice cut through the music and started breaking up the power it held over her.
"Look at me, Sophie. I'm here. You can see me, right? You can feel me?"
His hold wasn't unbearably tight; just tight enough to let her know she wasn't alone. She looked up into his perfect face, etched with worry.
"You're coming back to me, right?" He pushed a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes. "We don't have to go anywhere you don't want to go, Foster, okay? How about we just go back to Havenfield?"
"But…the party…"
"You're barely breathing," he said, calmer than Sophie had expected. "And I think that…if you go in there, this might just happen again. But if you really want to, especially since everyone's there, I'll help you there."
Sophie mulled it over. The music still blared; a different song this time, but at this point, they all sounded the same. She'd been able to force the memories back under the curtain fog in her head, invisible, but always at the surface.
"Let's go to the Panake's tree," she answered finally.
Keefe nodded and helped her to her feet. "Do you want me to hail everyone?"
"Could you just hail my par-Grady and Edaline?"
She'd rather not hail anyone, but she knew that if she and Keefe simply didn't show up to the party, people would worry.
Well, Grady and Edaline worried anyway when Keefe hailed them. He calmly promised them Sophie didn't need any immediate medical attention, that they were going to the Panake's tree, and that the two of them were completely safe. They hung up after a quick goodbye and promised to let the rest of their friends know they were okay if any of them asked.
"Thank you," Sophie whispered to Keefe later, her head resting against the trunk of the Panake's tree. She'd ditched the wings a while ago, and Keefe had reassured her that clothes could be washed. The soothing sound of the wind rustling the branches and the coolness of her fingers buried in the grass brought her back from her panic. It also helped that Keefe, who sat next to her, sang soft elvin melodies for her under his breath.
He sat a good distance apart from her, which she appreciated. She wanted to get her bearings again, breathe again.
"Not a problem, Foster."
Now that she could think clearly again, there were a lot of questions she wanted to ask him. How were you so calm? How did you know what to do? What have you been doing when you're not here? She was starting to worry again. She worried about Keefe in a way that felt unique. Maybe because he got into nearly as much trouble as she did.
"Are you okay?" was what she asked instead.
Keefe's POV
Was he okay?
Keefe always had two answers for everything; the truth, and the almost truth. Telling the truth is not always easier; for him, it rarely was. The truth got a range of reactions, a range of emotions, none of which ever helped him.
Except when it came to Sophie.
"No."
Silence, but no change in feelings.
Then, after what seemed like a whole elvin lifetime, "Me neither."
"Pft," Keefe laughed, completely caught off guard. Well, she was right. They were in the same boat, as always, huh? A couple of miserable teenagers, trying to stop Neverseen Armageddon while juggling their fantastic private lives. What a story this could make.
Sophie had opened her eyes and was smiling at him. A bright, trusting smile, one that had become his rock in these past years. In fact, something he usually recalled when he himself couldn't breathe, along with those sparkling eyes.
"That happens to me sometimes," he admitted. "Those attacks. Usually when I'm alone in my room at night."
"Usually?"
Keefe recalled the one time, the worst time, while he was sitting with his father in one of the spacious living rooms at their old home. He hadn't been expecting it, especially while he was alone. He couldn't remember what he'd done wrong, but he could remember the tension in the room. His father was giving him the silent treatment while Keefe silently begged him in his mind to just get his yelling over with so he could escape to his room.
Panic. The desperation to breathe again, to be grounded again.
"Usually," he repeated. "I know it's scary. You just have to grip onto something, don't let go, and remember that you will be able to breathe again."
"Have you asked Elwin about it?"
"No…but I probably should."
"We could do it together."
Her hand found her ways to his, and when she squeezed it, he felt newfound confidence. In himself, and in her. "I wouldn't mind that."
"Keefe, I-
"So this is where you guys went. I guess I should have known."
A figure, dressed in black, stood just out of reach of the canopy of branches. Fear prickled through every vein in Keefe's body as he jumped to his feet, Sophie coming up with him. They both stood their ground as the figure walked closer, preparing for the worst.
"Relax," he said, holding out his hands. "It's just me."
"Evan!" Sophie cried, breathing with relief. "You scared us."
Evan grinned. "Sorry about that. But you gotta admit; I look great as an evil Disney prince."
"You do," Sophie agreed, making Keefe stiffen.
Just as fast as Evan's grin appeared, it was gone. "So…why aren't you guys at the party?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sophie blanch. "Well…we…"
"We ditched," Keefe jumped in. Delivering one of his famous almost truths. It didn't seem to appease Evan.
"We worked so hard setting everything up, though." Sizzling anger laced his voice, making the hair on Keefe's arms prick up.
"Evan?" Sophie asked, voice full of concern, "Is everything alright?"
"NO!" he yelled. The both of them jumped, but while Keefe took a step back, Sophie took a step forward.
"Evan, seriously, what's going on? You're scaring me."
"I know you're an Enhancer," he blurted out.
Keefe felt another wave of fear, but Sophie seemed unsurprised.
"And I know everyone else knows. But me."
"Evan, they just weren't sure they could trust you. But it's okay, because I-"
"Maybe you shouldn't trust me," Evan said, barely above a whisper.
Sophie floundered for a bit "What?"
The ground started to rumble dangerously, something both Keefe and Sophie were familiar with. Dwarves.
"Sophie!" Keefe cried, reaching out to grab her hand, but a large crack ran between their feet.
No. He wouldn't let this happen, whatever was happening. He braced himself, then took a flying leap toward her as the ground forced them further apart. Sophie held an arm out for him and grabbed his hand, successfully pulling him upright. Again, though, another crack ran between them. This time, though, his body seized up. He tried to move, but it felt like he was stuck in ice.
"I suppose this is easier than doing it at the party," Evan said, completely unfazed by the world crumbling around them. "At lot less fun though."
"Stop it!" Sophie screamed, her eyes flickering between Evan and Keefe's frozen form. "Whatever you're doing, stop it!"
"Aw, Sophie." He walked over to her, stepping over the cracks with ease.
"You stay away from her!" Keefe shouted. He fumbled for his throwing stars, but before he could, the hand yanked him to the ground.
Evan gripped Sophie's chin, not even paying attention to Keefe. "Weren't you going to say you trusted me?" He sighed, like a parent disappointed in a misbehaving child. "Why don't we get out of here."
Sophie kicked and screamed as an arm wrapped around her waist.
"I'll let you live," Evan told Keefe. "But if you look for her, I can't promise I'll feel the same again." He stomped the ground three consecutive times, and before Keefe could blink, they had disappeared into the ground.
Good BW: Let's end the chapter where Keefe says "I wouldn't mind that."
Bad BW: Good idea, yes, but let me raise you; a cliffhanger.
Good BW: Why are you like this