This chapter was hard to write: I had no idea what to do with Gisela's death, I just knew that I wanted her dead. So Keefe's reaction was a bit of a challenge: But oh well! It's written now!
Lady Kiddo: No problem, my slow updates mean that most people will notice before the next chapter comes out. Lol. SOKEEFE! Yayyyy! I have, actually, but thank you so much!
KotLCfan: Well, she is. I hate her.
MarellaIsTheBest: Indeed it is. No problem! Man, I can't even keep track of everything in my own story. I keep having to go back and check! Definitely a positive event.
Siren: Ahh yes! Elwin is amazing, as is Dex and Marella and- hmm. I'm just frequently bored, have a lot of time on my hands, love writing, and the death threats probably help. Lol. Oh mallowmelt, that is terrifying. I would probably die if my parents read anything I wrote. And that actually sounds really interesting. 80,000 words is pretty good. And also I love love love proofreading things so... hint hint hint. No problem! If I had any confidence whatsoever in my ability to write original works I would brag about it as well. Lol. The heart thing is annoying.
Princess Book: Yayyyyyy! Scream all you want! Thanks! AND CAPS ARE AMAZING! Glad I'm (kinda) redeemed. Hmm... maybe. *Winks back*
Elizabethornton: Yay! Both are very positive events, and fangirls are totally creepy. I can't believe you're comparing my fanfic to the real book, ahh! Thank you!
kotlc pj dam fan: OOOOOOOOOO! I'll try, thank you! And by the way I love your dam username.
SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Because I am an evil author muahahahaha.
MeeIsFarrow101: Well... I'm forbidden to talk much about it, but I am in solitary confinement because everyone is during the pandemic. I originally wasn't allowed to bring anything, but after explaining that I had an entire fan base, I was allowed this chromebook.
MidnightBunnyy: Thank you! Hmm... anyway, yay! Gisela goes bye bye! Huzzah! Chandelier cracker... ugh, there are so many good nicknames for Fitz! Ritz Cracker, Chandelier Head, and Wonderboy. I can't choose, so I occasionally combine them. Personally, Wondercracker is a great nickname. Thanks! It is far too early.
Mallowmelt: Thanks!
Swiftie: Best quote, right up there with "Team Foster Keefe will always be cooler," and "WOAH, BACK THE T REX UP!" Lol. Thanks!
all i see is sky: She totally is. I'm kind of excited too... even though I don't quite know. But rest assured, he will not be joining the Neverseen again! Sokeefe 'tis amazing. Elwin is kind of a mood. And yes, it was! Bad Fitzy! Bad! Lol. I probably will prove you wrong though... oh well. I'll try! -A. Fan.
Enjoy!
Sophie's first reaction was to celebrate. Internally, at least. One of their enemies was dead! Huzzah! Yay! One less thing to worry about! One less psychopath to kill them!
Her second reaction was to worry about Keefe.
With reason. The last time (he thought) his mother was dead, he freaked out, sank into a depression, became obsessed with sorting through memories, joined the Neverseen, and worst of all, forgot to style his hair. Excuse her, Hair.
"Keefe?" she said quietly, turning to look at him.
Keefe was breathing slowly and heavily, fists clenched. He was staring straight ahead, seemingly at nothing.
Elwin nudged Mr. Forkle. "Let's give them a moment," he muttered, dragging Mr. Forkle into his office.
"Keefe?" Sophie repeated.
"I'm fine," Keefe said finally. "It's fine. This is fine. I'm fine."
"Usually, when someone says they're fine, it means they're not," Sophie pointed out.
"I'm fine!" Keefe shouted. He took another deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm not mad at you. I'm just... mad."
"At?" Sophie prompted.
"What are you, a therapist?" Keefe joked, rolling his eyes slightly.
"No," Sophie corrected. She tried out the words. "I'm your girlfriend." It felt amazing to say that. "And as your girlfriend, it's my job to make sure you're okay."
Keefe smiled at the label. "I'm... okay? I guess? I'm a lot more okay than I was last time, in case you were worried about that."
"I was, actually," Sophie said, her mind returning to how awful it felt when Keefe joined the Neverseen. She knew that the guilt had made him reckless, and she wasn't mad at him... she just really didn't want to lose him like that again.
"Wow, I must be a telepath," Keefe joked. "That means we can be cognates! The Foster Keefe cognates will triumph over the Fitzphies! Come, let me stare into you eyes for hours and hours..." Sophie smiled. If Keefe was making Fitzphie cognate jokes, then it couldn't be too bad. Then again, he usually told jokes to cope with things...
"You know it's okay to be sad about her dying," Sophie said. "She was an evil murderous psychopath, but she was also your mom."
"I know," Keefe sighed. "But it's good that she's dead, right? Like, she deserved it. It's her fault Gigantor's- her fault Sandor's dead. It's her fault I was in a coma for months. It's her fault Tam was kidnapped a while ago. It's her fault that a lot of the bad stuff that's happened to us happened, so we should celebrate."
(Requiem from Dear Evan Hansen starts playing.)
"You're still allowed to be upset," Sophie told him.
"I'm not," Keefe argues. Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I am. I just... I don't know. I mean, she kind of died when we found out that she was evil. She hasn't been in my life as a mother since then, or even really before then. And, like... she would either be dead or in Exile when all this is over, and neither option is really good, so I guess... now I don't really have to think about her anymore."
"Okay," Sophie said.
(Maybe okay will be our always... fine, I'll stop with the references.)
"Honestly, I don't know how I feel," Keefe said. He laughed, but his amusement didn't sound genuine. "I'm an Empath and I have no idea how I feel. That's kind of ironic."
"Yeah." Sophie didn't really know what else to say, so, deciding that actions spoke louder than words, gathered enough courage to kiss him. Keefe's eyes widened in surprise, but he smiled.
"Sorry about making you listen to me ramble."
"I'm your girlfriend," Sophie said again. "It's my job to listen whenever you want to talk."
"Okay. So, um, thank you. For listening." Keefe ran his hand through his Hair- at least he wasn't leaving it unstyled again. Oh, that was horrifying. "I should probably go let Lord- I should probably go tell Dad about... yeah. You're sure you're okay from your electrocution?" Sophie nodded. "Okay. Don't die while I'm gone."
"Noted. Hail me if you need anything."
"Okay," Keefe said. He thanked her again before kissing her forehead and leaping away.
"ARE YOU KIDS DONE WITH YOUR ROMANCEY STUFF?" Mr. Forkle called. Sophie's lips twitched up.
"Yeah!" she called back.
Mr. Forkle emerged from Elwin's office. "Okay, so, I also need to talk to you about getting a new bodyguard."
Sophie felt like she had just been sucker punched by Biana, a fate worse than death. "No," she said.
"Sophie, we need to keep you safe-"
"I am not getting a replacement for Sandor!" Sophie yelled, tears rushing to her eyes. "We can't replace Sandor!"
"Sophie, I get that, but please be reasonable about this," Mr. Forkle argued.
"No," she repeated.
Mr. Forkle sighed. "All right, Sophie. If you're going to refuse a bodyguard, then we will need to insist that you stay safe. If you're not at home or at school, you must be with someone else who has a bodyguard- one of your friends. And I know that you definitely like breaking rules, but you cannot break this one."
"Okay," Sophie relented. She could live with those restrictions. She couldn't live with trying to replace Sandor, because nothing could ever do that.
"Okay. Elwin's going to make sure you're okay, and then you can go home."
"Great," Sophie sighed. She really did want to go home and see her parents. Elwin walked over and and did some weird Flasher stuff before declaring her "as fine as she ever is." Sophie took out her home crystal and leapt to Havenfield. Her mom and dad greeted her with tears, hugs, and mallowmelt before having the same argument about bodyguards that she had just had with Mr. Forkle.
It was nice to be with her parents, but the house felt wrong without seeing Sandor stand guard. Without hearing him stomp around and lecture Sophie in his squeaky voice. Nothing felt right now that Sandor, the annoying goblins constant in her life, was de- gone.
Eventually, Sophie decided that even though she had spent nearly a full day unconscious, she was exhausted, both mentally and physically. After eating a final piece of mallowmelt and telling her parents that she loved them, Sophie went to bed.
Despite being tired, Sophie found that she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the two battles that she had just been through. Over and over again. And she especially kept seeing Sandor crumpled on the ground, and the blood-
Yeah. Sleep wasn't going to happen.
If Sophie wasn't going to sleep, she was at least going to be productive, she decided. She threw off her covers and got a piece of paper and a pencil.
Neverseen Members, she wrote, underlining it as the title.
Fintan: Still a threat.
Gisela: Dead.
Ruy: Powers not working, but still an active member, so threat.
Vespera: Threat.
Gethen: Threat.
Trix: Threat.
Sophie thought about the members that Blur and Axel had mentioned during their interrogation. Other than the Mesmer Gemma, who was arrested, Sophie had no idea if any of them were alive or not, or if they were arrested. She hailed Mr. Forkle- honestly, it wouldn't surprise her if he was up this late as well.
As it turned out, he was, and gave her all of the information she needed- and corrected her on Trix's status: he had been arrested after the battle at Gildingham.
Mesmer (Gemma): Arrested.
Conjurer: Dead
Voiciforater: Dead
Guster #1: Threat
Guster: #2: Arrested.
Beguiler: Arrested.
Charger: Threat.
Fluctuator: Threat.
Vanisher: Dead.
There was also Alvar, but if he wasn't dead yet, he probably would be soon. Definitely not one of the threats. Sophie counted up everyone that she had listed as a threat: Fintan, Ruy, Vespera, Gethen, one of the Gusters, a Charger, and a Fluctuator. Seven. Plus whatever members they had that were of another species or that Blur and Axel didn't know about- but still. Seven wasn't a very big number.
They could do this.
They could survive this.
They could win this.
But can they? Guess you'll have to wait for a lot of incredibly slow updates before you find out!
In honor of Pride month, I am ordering you to go read some Uncanonical Gay Fanfiction (copyright Abubble123, 2020).
Please review!