I just wanted to start by saying sorry I haven't updated lately. I have been exhausted from swim practice. Also, a lot of people have been commenting on how I misspelled Forkle. I want to apologize. Sometimes I write on my phone and it automatically changes some names to what it thinks is right. *la sigh* Sometimes I don't catch the auto corrections when I edit so sorry about that. Oh and sorry if this is inaccurate to how Shannonhas them heal minds, I tried to keep it relatively realistic to her story though.

Disclaimer: I am not Shannon Messenger and I never will be, consequently, I do not nor will I ever own Keeper of the Lost Cities

It could be poison.

Though he could not think of a reason why Mr. Forkle/Leto would want to kill him. If he did, he could have just let Fitz try to save Sophie without backup. He stared at the thick, dark blue liquid. He had no idea what it was that had been mixed in with the limbium. But if he was right about what it would do than he didn't really need to know. He just had to drink.

Fitz was kneeling by Sophie's deteriorating form at Havenfield. He was surrounded by Keefe, Alden, Grady, Edaline, Elwin, and Tiergan. None of them had invited the council, though more people were downstairs, including Biana and Dex.

Fitz had not been too happy about that. If he had had his way then Dex would be as far away from Sophie as possible, but his parents were there for Grady and Edaline. It was out of his hands.

He looked around them room once more. All of them were counting on him. Sophie was counting on him. It was like Alden's healing in reverse. Like some cruel joke on Fitz for how he had acted towards Sophie when his father had been in her position. It wasn't fair though, for her to be hurt because the universe had a sick sense of humor. Some love for the tragic irony.

Alden placed he hand on Fitz's shoulder. Fitz could see how terrified his father was, but he just looked at Fitz and whispered, "Are you ready?"

He nodded. Alden had volunteered to be his guide. His hand was shaking and he could feel his heart speeding up, the beads of sweat trickling down his face, the tense grip of his dad's hand, but he never faltered. With a deep breath he pulled the chain from his neck and pulled out the cork from the tiny bottle. He lifted it to his lips, and swallowed.

Immediately, the world around him began to spin and blur. He vaguely noticed Alden gripping him tighter, keeping him from falling over, and urgently asking if he was okay.

It felt like his entire body was being pulled towards the ground at the same time a force greater than gravity was pushing to escape every part of inside of him. As though he was being pulled underwater but the pressure was pressing to escape from within rather than crush him from without.

Fitz remembered how Magnate Leto (he decided to just call him that from now on) had said he would need to stay aware of what he was fighting for, to focus not only on his mind but his heart. This would be this first and easiest barrier to overcome. There was no way he was going to fail, especially this early.

Focusing on his heart more than his mind he felt the pressure ease and focus around his mind. After a moment the pain eased too, leaving just a strange extra weight in his mind. A barrier. He had been right. The limbium had formed a wall of sorts to protect his consciousness from Sophie's shatters thoughts. The limbium would be like a repellant to her, and whatever else Leto had added would change its form to protect Fitz.

Once again able to move he placed his hands on Sophie's temples, and, without a moments hesitation, entered her mind.

….

Her mind was cold.

The sharp edges of her memories tried to break him. But the limbium shield held steady, protecting Fitz from the worst of them. To hold the barrier up he had to stay focused. To constantly remind himself why he was there.

Without the overwhelming pain he easily found his way back to the stone path and followed it to the cave where he had last "spoken" to Sophie.

Fitz knew there was more. Somewhere there was a way hidden in the small cave that would lead him to Sophie's nook. He began to search for a hidden path, a trap door, anything, looking in every crevice of the damp rock walls, but found nothing.

Frustrated he kicked at the many human object discarded on the floor. He kicked and saw a small stuffed animal among a pile of human books, blankets, and flowers. Wadding over Fitz realized what he had seen was Ella, Sophie's stuffed elephant. Knowing how close to her heart the childhood toy was Fitz gingerly picked it up, causing everything around him to shift. As he did, he noticed how strangely they moved, like a ripple in the water. He dug deeper, discovering water beneath the collection of mundane objects.

Setting aside the elephant Fitz dove in, surprised by how warm the water was, and how deep. It seemed endless, no bottom in sight. But he swam, further than he would have ever been able to hold his breath had it been real, until he reached what appeared to be, a puddle at the bottom.

It was clear and he could see the moon on the other side. Fitz reached his hand in and was surprised to find it was dry on the other side. He swam down into the puddle only to surface in a lake, upright, no sign of the tunnel but the moon clear in the sky.

Fitz looked around at the lake. There was a willow tree in the center on the water, its braches grazing the water. The water itself was almost glowing with Sophie's power. Fitz knew then, it was time to start healing her mind. He had arrived.

Again I know this does not really follow how KOTLC has broken minds portrayed but I really wanted to capture the complexity and depth of her mind. Water seems to represent this accurately because of the mixture of clarity and mystery, depth and beauty.