Things have been SO hectic lately! I'm so happy to have the next chapter up! Yay! Thank you guys as always for being patient, and now that I'm not as sick I plan on doing a lot more writing! :D I hope you guys enjoy! 3

When the world stopped spinning, and the warmth dissipated, a disoriented Izzy found herself standing on a cliff overlooking a sharp, grey ocean. Large waves crashed along the rocky edge like angry guards attempting to pull the 'trespassers' in. The wind had a knife-like chill to it, causing tiny bumps to form on Izzy's skin as she shivered and pulled her arms and cloak around her. She had pushed Keefe away the second they arrived, grumbling to herself as she looked for an opportunity to take the wand and chuck it off the cliff.

"Where are we?" She half snapped half sighed.

"Not Atlantis, if that's what you're asking." He replied, seemingly unaware of her frosty attitude. "Hang on a sec. This is going to be good." Keefe walked up to a large, slightly raised, triangle shaped stone set into the cliff. His blonde hair danced wildly in the wind and his cloak billowed out behind him like batman. He banged a closed fist on the one side, flashing a smirk over his shoulder and looking cool to the point it sort of bugged her. A strange, painful tinge flew through her heart, distracting her from whatever he was trying to show off. She tried to shake the sudden feeling out of her head, a mixture of nostalgia and longing, like she had been here before. It wasn't easy; especially since she couldn't understand it. The icy wind burned her cheeks and kicked at her bones, making her feel even colder and emptier inside. It was the same feeling she used to get when she would sit in the dark waiting for Aunt Cassy to come home. A half cooked microwave dinner resting on her knee as she watched perfect, happy families on tv sitting down for a giant feast, all homecooked of course. Or the times Maria and Izzy would stay up, giggling under the covers by the glow of a flashlight as they made plans to run away and find Maria's Mom. Obviously she would adopt Izzy, and they would officially be sisters, and life would be perfect. At least that's what Maria always said. Now she wasn't sure if that was even true… She had her real parents, and it had only been a few days, but her life still felt stalled, like she should be happy now. She had everything… Almost. She looked away from the wind, determined to not give her eyes even the slightest excuse to cry. She had to be brave, what other option was there. Maria would want her to be strong.

Izzy forced herself to focus on Keefe as he reached his hand into a hole in the stone, bottles sitting tightly on the rock shelves inside. He glanced back at her, smiled, and went back to choosing a bottle. It felt weird, being alone with this guy on a cliff in the middle of nowhere. He could kill her and no one would hear her scream. And yet, something told her he was safe, and unlike she had with Fitz, she was going to listen to her intuition this time. It also helped that the thought that constantly flowed under the surface of her consciousness, forcing her forward, breached it's head once again. Maria was out there by herself, maybe because of her. If she could do this, so could Izzy.

He stood up, turned around, and began walking towards her, snapping her out of her own lead weighted thoughts. He held the bottle's flute between two fingers like he had at that strange melty store, but this time he didn't shake it. Of course that only caused more worry. What could possibly be inside that Keefe would be cautious? She hadn't known him long at all, but she already knew that wasn't a good sign. And then there was the wicked ear to ear smile that made her heart do a somersault in anticipation. Somehow his smile looked even more cocky and excited than when he pulled her into light of that wand… And suddenly she was very much regretting her decision.

"I have a very bad feeling about this…" She muttered.

His smile changed, and somehow it wasn't crooked or wicked, just a smile. She was so taken aback by the sudden change that it took her a second to realize he had taken a few too many steps, leaving him much closer to her than she was comfortable with. A blush flew up her cheeks as his warm breath hit her face. His smile was more crooked than before.

If he tries to kiss me, I'm going to punch him. She thought, her head spinning. It was bad enough that Fitz was accidentally causing her heart to do flips to the point it might detach; at least he didn't mean it. But as Keefe began to chuckle, she was thrown somewhere between punching him or throwing her ankle length cloak over her face. She wasn't used to guys, at all. Besides her uncles, she didn't have much experience in dealing with them. They all seemed to look right through her, not that she could blame them. She always hid in the shadowy corners of the classrooms, with dark, baggy clothes all but hiding her from sight, and her headphones shoved in so tight her brain reverberated the screams from her phone. But now there was a guy not only in kissing distance, but who was very, incredible annoying and really deserved a good Maria punch. And he knew it, it was obvious the way his eyes lit up as she stumbled over her words to try to speak.

She should have said something smart mouthed back, or shoved him, or flat out ask him what he thought he was doing, but no. She had to lose control over her body at that exact moment in time and burst out crying.

"Woah!" Keefe jumped back a step. "Sorry! I, I didn't mean- I was just messing with you! Because, you know you're face is so expressive and I'm an empath and it's fun and I'm sorry! Please don't cry! I'll do anything! I'll- I'll, kiss a gulon! Or, or-"

"It's not you." Izzy sobbed, letting herself drop onto the cold, mossy stone. "I mean, it is. What were you thinking?! I don't want to kiss anyone! I don't even have a real name, or a family, or my own clothes, or, or a house. I don't need another person to worry about or more drama, and I should have punched you! Probably, but you would fall off the cliff and people would hate me more and then I would end up back in Venice probably and-"

"Wooooooah." Keefe put his hands up, partly to stop her and partly to defend himself. He had chosen a particularly mossy spot with an acceptable amount of distance between them, like he was suddenly very aware of boundaries. "Geez Foster, one thing at a time. First, you have a family and a home and everything. And even if you didn't, I know the Vackers would take care of you. As annoying as most of them are, they do care a lot. And I know Della will take care of clothes. Also, I totally wasn't going to kiss you. I just, I've always teased you. I figured it would be easier to pick things up where we left off. Which means me being incredibly handsome and charming and you falling madly in love with my hair and blushing like a school girl." He flipped his hair in a dramatic way before sending Izzy a hesitant smile.

"Not, funny!" She glared through sobs. "I don't even know, my name, or, if me is me. And, and you all could be taking care of me, thinking, she's Sophie, but I'm not! What if I'm not?! Then, what happens to me?" Her voice came out loud, calling over the crashing waves like the seagulls overhead, but when she came to the last sentence, it dropped, nearly lost among the seafoam. "I don't need to try to sift through fake things too." She muttered over the silence that fell between them. Her face shoved against her knees now, she knew she had made a mistake. It was all just falling on her, like she was stuck in an hourglass. Every minute it became harder to breath, and as much as she tried to hold it in, or be strong for everyone else, Keefe just had the misfortune of being that last grain of sand that caused her to erupt. But still, she shouldn't have burst. She should have kept it in. He didn't deserve to try and pick up the pieces.

Keefe frowned, crossing his arms like he was very uncomfortable, though for some reason a quiet fury seemed to flow through him, under the skin. "If that happens, you'll live the way you've created here. Nothing will change, I promise. Either way, you're an elf, and so far in our history, of those who haven't been exiled, we've only ever lost two. And you're one of them. So believe me when I say I'm certain you're Foster, Foster.

Izzy's eyes grew, shock and something like nausea running through her veins as a thought burst through her head. "The other elf," She whispered, looking up but not meeting his eyes. "could they be Sophie?"

Keefe gave a cold laugh. "Unless Sophie turned into a dude, I don't think so."

She wiped at her face with her cloak. "How did he-"

"It's classified. Sorry. I'm sure Wonderboy will slip and tell you eventually though. He seems to have a knack for breaking rules, more so than me."

As she frowned with disappointment Izzy doubted that claim. She wanted to know. If there was someone else out there like her, maybe she wouldn't feel so empty. But a sickening thought entered her brain. Two, in their whole history they had lost two. And if she was one of them- She shook her head so hard it rattled. The odds pointed to a scary answer, but she was too full to deal with more, so she shoved it into a dark corner of her brain where she could think about it later, when things made more sense.

"Sorry. I didn't mean, to start crying. I just, everything. It's all happening so fast, and I can't keep up. If I didn't have Fitz to keep me sane, I would have drown with information days ago."

Keefe snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure he's a huge help. He does benefit from it after all. Just don't rely on him too much. He'll only let you down." His eyes met her, a sadness and intensity to them. "Stick with me, I will never abandon you. I promise." He smiled, but it barely moved his cheeks, let alone break through his icy eyes.

She wanted to ask so many questions, but the more they swirled around her head the less she could say until the words formed into a massive blob, too large and heavy to escape through her fragile lips.

Keefe scooted closer, causing her to jump when he took her hand, the warmth from his fingers seeping into hers. He pressed something more chilling than the wind into her palm before clasping her hand around it and letting go. As the warmth dissipated and he made his way back to his spot, she could feel a small swirling from the bottle, like it was alive. She opened her fingers, staring at the tiny, miniature whirlpool that spun around and around, turning up seafoam and breaking through the dark water. It seemed impossible that so much could be contained in such a breakable glass bottle.

"Sorry." Keefe interrupted. She looked up, meeting his eyes. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just, I used to always tease you. I thought we could go back to the way things were, you know? Like I said, it should have been easier. It worked out so much better in my head. And, I know you weren't completely upset at me, but I was the last straw. I never thought about how much you're going through, or how much they would keep a secret. I guess, I was just happy you were back." His smile was dripping with sadness, like if it disappeared a thunderous storm cloud would overtake his head and rain for eternity.

Izzy sighed, wiping her eyes again as they burned from the salt of her own tears. "I…. I'm not Sophie, or Foster, or anyone else. I'm me. Maybe, if we just, try to let our personalities direct our relationship… it would be easier? But," She started to whisper. "We could try… And Keefe," She added. "Thank you. That means a lot." She pressed her fingers tighter against the bottle, using it as an anchor.

"It's just, hard." Keefe started, sighing and running a hand down the side of his face. "I feel like I know you, I did know you. But now, you're different. But you're the same, and- I don't know how to act around you." He smiled sadly. "I'm no good without humor."

She fiddled with the bottles cork, click clicking her fingers on the lip of the glass.. "Well, I'm just me. And, I…, I don't know how to act with everyone. They look at me and see some girl, and even if I am her, I don't remember any of it. They put these high expectations on my shoulders that I could never live up to. But at the same time they're constantly running around to make sure I don't have to lift a finger, so that my transition to whatever this is, "she motioned around them, "is easier; and to make up for past mistakes. It's… I hate it. It's exactly the way it was in Venice for the first few years. I just want to be normal for once."

Keefe rested his head on his knee, turning his face to better look at her. His ice blue eyes seemed to stare into her soul, like he could read her mind. "How do you want me to treat you?"

Izzy sighed, her eyes too dry to do anything but ache. She swiped at them with a sleeve a few times anyway as she tried to come up with words. Her brain felt like it had been over taken by a cloud of fog, too hazy to really do much but crave sleep.

"H-hey" Keefe squeaked. "I, umm- Are you crying? Because, umm, I can ask another thing, like-"

"No one's ever asked me that." She interrupted him. "Not here, not in Venice, nowhere. Thank you. I think I've been waiting for someone to ask me that."

"Yeah..." He said after a while, watching her as if he was unsure how to react.

Izzy wiped her face off with her cloak for good measure before standing up. "Let's go." She mumbled, before repeating it once more, stronger so he could hear it over the wind.

He furrowed his brows. "I, but- Don't you want to talk about it? I mean, you never gave me an answer..."

Izzy smiled, though it had a thread of sadness flowing through it. "Just, treat me like I'm me. Don't make assumptions based on someone from the past. I just want to be my own person. Izzy. If you think you would tease the me, now" she put a hand on her chest. "then go ahead I guess. But, if you're teasing me because of Sophie, then, don't. I'm sorry, but she's gone. That's not what you want to hear, I know, but I'm not her."

Keefe didn't meet her eyes, just silently nodded, sitting on the smooth rock and looking much smaller. "I guess… I can see what you're saying. …I'll try, but yeah, that's not what I ever wanted to hear."

His eyes locked onto hers for a second, something strange and sad passing through them.

"After years of thinking you were dead… I think everyone wanted to think you were still alive. Especially Fitz." He almost snapped the last part, like his name on his tongue was as disgusting as hot sauce and cantaloupe mixed with beef jerky.

Izzy rubbed her arm, wondering how deep into her life the scars actually went. "What do you mean especially Fitz?"

Keefe growl-sighed before standing up and brushing off his pants. "I mean everything's always about him. Always. Because he's a Vacker. They're practically royalty, and he knows it. You'll see what I mean eventually." He added when she gave him a look.

"I don't think I will." Izzy started as she tugged on an itchy eyelash. "I may have only known him for a week, but I think I know what kind of person he is. And he is selfless, and caring, and-"

"You think." Keefe sighed." I thought too, for a long time. But that's not what we should be focusing on today. I'm not going to let him ruin anything else, especially since he isn't even here! Let's just agree that we feel differently about him. I won't talk about him in front of you, and when you have problems with him, you can always come talk to me." A crooked smile crept up his face. "But more importantly right now, you wanna see that something awesome?"

The way he talked about Fitz more than annoyed her. Fitz was the one who brought her here, who kept looking for her, who found her family. …But Keefe had been in this world for years longer than her. What if she really did miss something about him? Was that possible? His teal eyes shone in her mind's eye, the emotions flooding them as she ran from him during her last few seconds in her home city. Emotions towards her. That couldn't be faked, right? But Keefe was willing to not talk about him, which did say a lot about his character... She still couldn't help but feel irritated that he said 'in front of,' like she wouldn't catch it.

He held a hand out, standing at the edge of the cliff as his hair began to plaster it's self to his cheekbones and jaw as the ocean sprayed them with icy salt water. "Come on Foster. You trusted him, why not me?"

She wanted to add that she hadn't, that she had been kidnapped to the Lost Cities, but as images of Fitz filled her head she couldn't argue with it, because if he had reached her first, she probably would have gone with him. She did trust him, without a doubt. But the fear of the chaos around her always got in the way. Her lack of trust in herself always pulled her in the wrong direction.

Izzy took a few hesitant steps towards Keefe, slowly putting her hand in his. His smirk spread across his face.

"Relax." He fanned the air around his face. He smiled as she looked at him with confusion at the strange gesture, the emotion only growing as he took a step behind her. She started turning towards him, suddenly aware of how high up they were, and how close to falling she was.

He put a hand on her shoulder, as if to keep her from running as he reassured her. "Like I said, relax. This is going to be awesome!" He bent over slightly, pointing to a spot in the sea not too far off from them. "Throw the bottle right there. Don't worry if you miss. As long as it's close, it'll be fine." A shiver ran up her spine as the heat from his breath hit her ear.

Too close.

She took a step forward, a few pebbles plummeting down from under her feet.

Keefe laughed. "Geez Foster, I don't bite! But you are fun to tease though. I guess that can stay, huh."

He looked so proud of himself, with his bright smile that lit up his eyes.

"Izzy. Not Foster, not Sophie, Izzy."

"Right." He smiled. "Izzy. Sorry, I'll keep working on that."

She nodded her head before turning her attention back to the swirling bottle in her hand. Somehow she was supposed to throw this in the ocean and, then what? She had an idea formed, like a half light lightbulb hanging over her head. It wasn't hard to figure out, but it was insane. Absolutely crazy, and it destroyed every piece of information and science she knew, which as a Biology major was definitely not what she wanted... But, so many other things she had seen in the past few days were unexplainable, and what did she really have to lose besides a whirlpool in a bottle? She held her hand up slightly, letting the weight of the bottle pull down on her palm. How would this really bring her to Atlantis?

"You wont regret trusting me on this Izzy." Keefe interrupted with a quiet whisper between the roar of the ocean waves.

"I hope not." She sighed, her body shaking slightly from the nerves of whatever was about to come next. It couldn't be a coincidence that they were standing on the edge of a towering cliff… And she had seen the Little Mermaid 2 enough times to know in her hand was basically a mammoth tube of destruction and probably death. Then a thought crossed her brain, just shocking enough to distract her from the horror that was unfolding. Izzy quickly looked back up, a smile splitting her lips. "You said my name."

Keefe just rolled his eyes like it was no big deal, but he gave off an air of pride. "Yeah, well, I have no idea what your last name is now sooo…"

"Esposito." Izzy nodded.

A disgusted look covered his face. "What?! That's no fun to say!"

Rolling her eyes, she just sighed. "It doesn't have to be. It's a name."

"Boooooring. We'll have to come up with some new, not Sophie, not boring nicknames for you."

"How about Izzy." She turned, about to point out that that was a nickname, but her foot slipped, threatening to send her tumbling to what was all but definitely her death.

She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but before she could Keefe had wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her back up. Unable to from words, she stared at him with wide eyes, gasping for breath.

"Like I said, you can trust me Foster." He gave a wink that made her heart jump a bit, though it was probably from the fact she almost died. He glanced down at the waves, a loud, crashing sound like thunder filled the air and echoing through her head. "Oh hey, that works."

That was the last thing she heard Keefe say before everything went into slow motion. He gave her another wicked grin, then without a thought or any signs of sane emotion, he threw her over the edge. She flailed, as is if she would suddenly learn how to swim through the air. Her scream filled her ears, blocking out the sounds of the ocean and causing flocks of birds to screech away. Time seemed to slow down more and more as a massive whirlpool in the rocky patch of inky water came closer and closer, threatening to swallow her whole. The last thing she saw as she fell in was a large, billowing black cloak, blonde hair gleaming in the sun as Keefe did an Olympic style dive towards her.

"JERONIMO!"

She screamed louder. It was official. He was insane, and she was going to die. She screamed within her mind, wishing she hadn't been so stupid, wishing she had just waited for Fitz. Logical, sane, not deadly Fitz. Somehow she knew that if he was here, none of this would have ever happened. If only she could go back she would have run away screaming as soon as she saw Keefe's cocky grin in the kitchen, and woken up Fitz.

Then the swirling blue walls, with occasional splashes of color as fish flew by, began to curve, and darkness filled the tunnel like a death trap. She could feel her lungs burning as she struggled for air, but it was useless. She was stuck in a whirlpool with a maniac who threw her off a cliff. As black spots filled her vision of an even darker ocean walls, she realized that of all of the ways she could have gone, this was definitely the strangest.