I have some explaining to do.

Some serious explaining.

Essentially I had to go on vacation and they didn't have reliable internet access.

Okay, it wasn't that complicated.

I'm really sorry that I kept you guys waiting for so long and I am determined to complete wanderling before Unlocked comes out.

The GT skit will happen next chapter.

Comments!

MidnightBunnyy: Please stop assuming things, no matter how obvious, considering how I like to write. That's all I'm going to say. As for your other question, no.

Abubble124: Never assume anything.

A very obsessed fangirl: CAN PEOPLE PLEASE STOP ASSUMING THINGS?! PLEASE?

thereisaredeemer(1): Me is you, as in the person who is writing it. GT is short for GTATemp guy.

thereisaredeemer(2): I never said it was a Sokeefe fanfic I just said it was possible for Sokeefe to be the otp. And it still is. Don't assume things, and read the chapter.

Lilac: Thank you for your extremely helpful comment! Indeed, I am discovering my writing style and I will definitely check out that book! Thanks!

bookish-things(1): It had been a couple months since the events of Legacy and they had worked things out. I probably should have clarified that, thanks for noticing.

bookish-things(2): You have a point, but I admittedly just really like Fitz-bashing. Had to get it out of my system and get some laughs along the way. Okay, those were all jokes. It's fine if you don't get them, but having to explain sort of takes the fun out them when you do get them.

Guest: Thank you!

Please stop assuming things.

Now, on with the story!

Twenty-Two

"Yeehaw!"

Keefe pulled up the reins on Verdi as she crashed and rumbled through the Foxfire hallway.

Keefe looked like he was having the time of his life. "Take that, empathy lessons! Who's invading people's privacy now?" Keefe gleefully yelled at the top of his lungs as he barreled through the empathy classroom. "I am the freaking god of destruction!"

Sophie sighed. Grady was going to go nuts over this. And Mr. Forkle, or Magnate Leto, would probably have a fit. She didn't exactly know why she had agreed to let him do this.

Keefe swerved Verdi dangerously close to Elwin's office before stopping next to Sophie. "I can't believe you don't want to get in on this, Foster!"

Sophie looked up at him with his cute, stupid grin on his face, and couldn't help but smile herself. "I would get lynched by Grady if he caught me doing this with you. Especially considering that you're riding Verdi, who I still don't know how you got them out of their cage. The only reason I'm letting you do this is because-"

"Of my dashing good looks, obviously." Keefe wickedly grinned.

Sophie blushed, unsure of how to respond after what had just happened.

I think he still likes you.

Obviously. Logic never stopped anyone from shipping anything, AM I RIGHT KOTLC FANDOM?!

Please stop breaking the fourth wall. Fine. But seriously, what should we do about it? I mean, we literally told him that we don't like him.

Or did we?

We very much did.

Okay, so why is he flirting with us?

I think it's because he wants to try to get things back to normal, where it wasn't as awkward.

Yeah, he probably feels more safe doing it as a joke, now that he knows and Sophie has a boyfriend.

But what about his feelings for us? It's nearly impossible to completely eradicate someone's feelings for someone. You see,-

NO! DO NOT GO DOWN THAT BIOLOGICAL RABBIT HOLE! YOU KNOW FULLY WELL THAT -

Relax, I know how low the age of the demographic reading this can be.

So... We just ignore it?

Yep. And maybe in the future, we'll deal with it properly.

I feel like what we just did was dealing with it properly, and wrapping it up.

I'm going to let you think about the past books- sorry, events.

Fine, I suppose so.

Keefe looked at her concerned. "Sophie? Are you okay? You've been standing there mumbling and arguing with yourself for a while. Should I get Elwin?"

Sophie rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine. Just go and cause some more chaos. Have fun."

Keefe leaped back onto Verdi's back. "You don't have to tell me twice." He gleefully set off, the building shaking with every step Verdi made.

Sophie shook her head, grinning. At this point, she was fairly certain that nothing could break Keefe's spirit, not even a coma.

As Keefe finished up spitting and madly dancing on the last of the wreckage, Sophie started to walk towards the exit, wondering how much trouble she was going to get into for this. Keefe rode up to her, and slid down from Verdi, pulling the T-Rex along with them. "So, that was fun."

"I hope it was. We're going to have a lot of explaining to do."

As they walked outside, a soot-covered Tam immediately appeared in front of them in a flash of light. He coughed and wheezed, and said the four most terrifying words Sophie could've heard at that point in her life. "Wanderling Woods." He clutched his chest. "On fire." He them promptly collapsed on the ground, the ash from him spreading in the air.

Sophie and Keefe immediately rushed to Tam. Keefe put his hand on Tam's neck. "He's alive, but he inhaled a lot of smoke."

Sophie was panicking. This was bad. Very bad.

Nice descriptors-

SHUT UP!

She grabbed Keefe and looked him in the eyes. "Keefe, I need you to look after Tam. I need to go to the woods."

Keefe looked confused and scare. "What? Foster, why? You're not a hydrokinetic, why would you want to go there? You'd die! There would be nothing you could do!"

"Keefe, it's life or death important."

"Why?"

Sophie tensed her fists. She was wasting time. "Listen, it had to do with what I saw in the cache, alright?"

Keefe looked at her apprehensively. "I hope you know what you're doing, Sophie."

Sophie grabbed her leaping crystal, and leaped away to the fiery woods.

She found herself right in front of the biggest blaze she had ever seen in her life. Every single wanderling was enveloped in a malicious fire that she recognized immediately. "Everblaze." she muttered to herself. The Neverseen finally made their move, and it was just as they had described.

She saw Linh and several other hydrokinetics shooting blasts of the main supply of Frissyn at the fire, which only seemed to be growing bigger.

Linh noticed her, and yelled out to her. "SOPHIE! GET OUT OF HERE! THE FIRE WON'T STOP UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO BURN! WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FRISSYN TO STOP IT! GO!"

Sophie balked. She could not let it all burn down, but it seemed that might have been the case.

Oralie ran up to her. "I came as soon I heard. Do you think they know?"

Sophie looked at the trees mournfully. "They know at least part of it. Enough to know how to hurt us."

"That cache was only supposed to be known by me and you. Nobody else. Yet, somehow they know."

"So what should we do?"

Oralie shook her head. "To be completely honest, I have no idea."

They sat there for hours, watching their last hope burn away. They didn't know what to say, so they just stared, until the fire was out.

The entire forest was gone. All of it, from the trees to the grass was burned away, only leaving a charred landscape. Linh and the Hydrokinetics emerged from the fire. Linh approached her, with tears in her eyes.

Sophie took her hand sadly. "I know, it's a tragedy."

Linh looked at her with the most sorrowful expression Sophie had ever seen. "Sophie, it's not that. About an hour ago, Fitz took a visit into the center of the woods, to pay respects to a dead relative. He hasn't come out since."

Sophie's heart stopped. "You don't mean-"

Linh mournfully shook her head yes. "I'm sorry Sophie. We found his body among the ruins. He's gone."

In the smoke-filled sky, above a sobbing girl, a powerful secret destroyed, and defeated hope flew a scrap of paper, with a symbol of the Neverseen eye on it. On the back of it carried a rune, a single rune that held a name that held unimaginable amounts of power, with a veil of mystery.

Caravel.