Hello, dear readers! Yes, I am actually updating early! Mostly because I wrote this chapter a month ago! Anyway, this kind of thing will actually be normal for quite a bit!

Crowd: Oh, huzzah. More chapters. More torture.

Me: You know you could just not read it.

Crowd: Don't you force us to?

Me: Oh yeah... right.

Anyway...

(Whoo! 3000 views!)

(Plus 75 whole reviews!)

(Now to respond to reviews...)

Cary Swirls: Hello! Mallowmelt IS amazing... and I'm always hungry for mallowmelt lol. Fitz's anger problems don't bother me as much as they bother the rest of the (sokeefe) fandom, but yes, I still don't like him. And no, it's NOT because he's breaking apart my otp! It's because he is, yes, superficial, and also arrogant, jealous, controlling, a terrible best friend to Keefe, and just irrationally gets on my nerves. (Woah, this turned into an anti-chandelier head rant XD.) But anyway, you didn't hear this from me, but... (whispers) he will wake up soon enough. I'M TRYINGGGGGG! If lols become too frequent, try mixing it up with a few XDs. Anyway thank you! :D

Keefsterforever: Thank you! i'M tRyInG! ! !

Eva L (Ch. 11): Because I am evil. :). Thank you! Don't worry... I'm a tad bit angry with myself. (Plus, Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™!) And honestly, don't we all?

Eva L (Ch. 10): Idkkkkk. Yes, sokeefe is life. Me too! Oh wait... I'm the one torturing him. Whoops!

ArrowOfTheMoonlark: LoL yEs ThE cLiFfIeS! :) Filler chapters actually are necessary, so... You'll see! I KNOWWWW! But there is other stuff (including Unlocked) to get us through these tough times! Thank you! :)

MeeIsFarrow101: I reply to everyone who reviews! :P Don't worry, I will definitely continue typing stuff blindly. Oh no... guess I'm a drug dealer now. Thank you!

FlowerGirl15: Yay! (Definitely, but I personally am way too obsessed with the "normal" lives of the Keepers Crew (school, just hanging out, base quest, etc.) (Yes I did just use parenthesis inside parenthesis)) Anyway, I am excited too! And yeah, definitely... I doubt I'll even survive until Unlocked.

The siren song: Yes! Good cliffhanger! {I personally liked your old username, but it's your choice! And yay percabeth!} No problem! Weird is my life, so, um, yeah. Thanks!

Anyway, would anyone like a sneak peak at my notes for Swan Song? Of course you do.

Here are some examples of the bullet points I wrote, just the ones I felt wouldn't give anything away.

And just saying, if you thought I was actually a good writer, rest assured: This will change your mind.

~Sophie is sad

~Sophie and Fitz use cognate power

~AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHASDFGHJKLFANGIRLATTACKKKKKKK

~Incomprehensible sobbing noises

~Big BATTTLEEEEEEEE THINGYYYYYYYYYYY

~Council stuff, blah blah blah...

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

"Dex?" Sophie said, running into Dex's room as if there was a fire behind her. (Technically, it was more likely that there would be a fire in Dex's room, but now was not the time to get into that.) Now was the time to get into the 35438957 questions spewing from Sophie's mouth incomprehensibly fast.

"Dexwhat'sgoingonwhydidyouhailmeisitsomethingbadohmallowmeltpleasedon'tbesomethingbadwaitOMGOHMYMALLOWMELThaveyoufiguredoutthecachearewefinallygoingtobeabletoopenthecacheDEXWHAT'SGOINGONAREWEGOINGTOLEARNTHEFORGOTTENSECRETWHATISSTELLARLUNEWE'REGONNAFINDOUTWHATSTELLARLUNEISKEEFE'SGONNAWAKEUPISTHISREALLYHAPPENINGDEXXXXXXXXXXXX!" (Lol, sorry 'bout that. Good luck reading it XD.)

Dex took a deep breath and rubbed his temples like he felt a headache coming on. "Sophie. Please. Slow down. I have absolutely no idea what the mallowmelt you are saying."

"Dex-what's-going-on-why-did-you-hail-me-did-you-open-the-cache?" Sophie repeated. Or, at least summarized. Slightly slower than before, but still mostly too fast for a human being (or elf) to understand. For weeks, months, she'd been waiting for something- anything- that could help them wake up Keefe. Anything. And now that it was finally, finally happening... could she be blamed, if she was overly excited and impatient? He was one of her... best friends... yeah, one of her best friends. She missed him, so much it physically hurt. He'd been in a coma for too long- any amount of time was too long, honestly, but now? It'd been so long she was starting to wonder if he might not...

No. She refused to let herself think that. Not now, when there was finally a chance! A chance wasn't a perfect guarantee- but it was better than what they'd had before. A chance returned to Sophie what she was starting to give up on- hope. A chance was a tiny glimmer of light in the bleak, pitch-black darkness of missing Keefe. And Sophie was going to focus on that chance like it was a lifeline.

These deep reflective musings gave Sophie the opportunity she needed to calm down. "Dex... is it... it has to do with the cache, right?" Dex nodded. "Did you... did you open it?"

"No." At Sophie's look of dismay, her entire world of hope crashing down around her, he added "But, we'll know the forgotten secret really soon! All we need is for Oralie to come. I hailed her, so she should be coming by in three... two... one..."

Both of their heads turned towards the door. Nothing.

Dex cleared his throat. "Um... three... two... one... three quarters... one half... Um. Um, hang on, I'm waiting for the perfect moment, uh... three... two..."

The door opened and Oralie walked in briskly. Similarly to Sophie, she had a rushed, panicked look on her face- though probably on a lower scale than The Panicky Miss Foster.

"One!" Dex yelled quickly, the second he saw her. Throwing a falsely smug glance at Sophie, he added "Whoo! First try! I'm so smart, aren't I?"

Sophie grinned back at him, somewhat contradictory to the fact that she was rapidly losing eyelashes. "Yes Dex, you are. Of course." Under her breath, she added "Keeeep telling yourself that."

Dex opened his mouth to send back a (very witty, naturally) retort, but before he could, Oralie cleared her throat.

"So, um, Dex, I presume this has something to do with the cache I gave you?" When Dex nodded, she continued with "In that case, would it be too much to ask that we try to do this as quickly as possible?"

"Why? Do you have important council stuff to do?" Sophie asked, with a salty tone that would have made Tam proud. "Far, far more important than one of the kids that saved the elvin world- and you- like 948753 times?"

Dex gave her an inquisitive look, and the message it sent was clear: Didn't you used to like Oralie? What happened?

Sophie had almost forgotten, she hadn't told anyone but EBWSATBJFWBSMSLSNS that Oralie was her biological mother- not a mom, just a DNA donor.

"No, actually," Oralie responded, seemingly unaffected by Sophie's conflicting emotions toward her (none of them were particularly good.) Sophie knew she could feel them- Oralie was a powerful empath, after all, and according to Keefe Sophie did have really strong emotion vibes. And maybe Sophie was just a tiny bit impressed and grateful that Oralie was putting the important things first and not suggested that they "talk it out" or something. "I don't have anything else to do. But this whole remembering-a-forgotten-secret-thing has gotten me somewhat anxious, as you can understand, and I'd prefer to get it over with as soon as possible."

Sophie's jaw almost dropped- it just seemed like such a her thing to say. Probably, she had said it, on multiple occasions (with the exception of the specific remembering-a-forgotten-secret part).

"What?" Oralie asked. "Surely it can't come as a shock that we're similar in that respect. After all, you are-" her voice cut off as she remembered Dex was right there.

Recognition began to dawn on Dex's face. As he turned to Sophie, she didn't need to be a telepath to know he was going to ask about the (correct) suspicions he obviously had- so she furiously mouthed at him LATER!

For a few seconds longer, Dex stared between the two of them in shock, before he gave his head a little shake and cleared his throat. "Um. Yes. Yeah, I figured out the password- it is a password, by the way." After rummaging around in his pockets for a bit, he held out the cache. "The password is Purity." When he said the words, the little crystal in the cache glowed.

"That's how I knew it was the right word," Dex clarified. "Because it glowed. Presumably, it has to be in Oralie's voice." He passed the cache to Sophie. Clearly, he expected her to pass it over to Oralie- smart not to risk throwing it- but Sophie was frozen. A million thoughts had begun rushing through her head.

Sophie stared at the cache between her fingertips. It looked almost like the marbles she'd play with as a kid. A harmless object used for a child's amusement.

It looked so tiny.

So insignificant.

Such a small thing to hold secret that could destroy their world.

They were about to learn a forgotten secret.

They were about to learn a forgotten secret.

Suddenly, all of Dex's and her parents' and the council's and Oralie's warnings about how this could go wrong hit her. And she started worrying.

Worried that the secret would destroy Oralie's fragile sanity.

Worried that the knowledge could completely change the Elvin world- and not in a good way.

Worried that whatever they found wouldn't be enough.

Worried that it would confirm her fears about what stellarlune could have done to Keefe.

Sophie shook her head. The risk would be worth it.

The risk would be worth it.

Anything would be worth it if it could save Keefe.

She couldn't back out now, not when she was so close.

Sophie gave the cache one last look before handing it to Oralie.

Oralie held it close to her lips and whispered the words that would change everything.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHACLIFFHANGERSAREFUN! Hehe. Don't kill me, please?

If you're observant (don't feel bad if you aren't, neither am I) you probably noticed- the end part of this is the prologue. Good job! As a prize for coming to this realization, you win virtual mallowmelt!

Wanna know how else you can win some more virtual mallowmelt?

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'Kay, I'll stop.

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...soon...

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BY REVIEWING!

Please review! :D