Eden: Hey readers! Eden here. I'd like to thank TeamSSSFan257 for the amazing help I've been given! I'm grateful for all those who like reading this story! Without readers what are we?
Eden: Anyways, I've had the privilege of writing most of this chapter. I didn't have much time because life can sometimes become busy, but here you go. Enjoy the second chapter!
Keefe: And while you're at it, enjoy this new nickname for Sonic! The Wereshocker! It takes my original nickname and merges it with the super cool wolf form I found out he has!
Sonic Just quit it already!
Keefe: Not until I find the right one.
Eden: You two are so annoying.
...
Possibilities of what Fitz could say to her whirled through her mind like a tempestuous wave crashing against a massive ship. Figuring out what he was going to say was exactly like cracking a very difficult case.
"Sophie, you're an elf." Sophie shook her head, a confused expression on her face.
'Did I hear him right?' She pondered, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her.
"What did you say?" Sophie questioned.
"You're an elf, like me," Fitz replied, giving her a charming smile. Butterflies erupted in her stomach. Was that from being nervous from what he just told her or was her stomach reacting to his smile? Sophie couldn't tell the difference. Maybe it was a mix of both?
As the word elf popped into her mind, a light feeling entered her chest. A bubble of laughter escaped Sophie before she could cover her mouth. Her laughter rang throughout the hall but vanished as soon as she noticed Fitz wasn't going to join her. Did he not find it funny? She studied his expression before she realized he wasn't joking at all.
"Wait, you're serious?" Sophie raised her voice, shocked that Fitz would even say such a thing.
"I'm telling the truth. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it all out. I have to admit, your eyes are what threw me off." Fitz gave a small grin.
"What's wrong with my eyes?" Sophie folded her arms, slightly offended. Fitz widened his eyes at Sophie's interpretation of his words.
"Nothing is wrong with your eyes. What I meant was that your eyes are different than I expected. You see all elves have blue eyes."
"But I don't have blue eyes." Sophie pointed out.
"That's because you're special."
"But what about my ears? They're not even pointy." Sophie explained, tracing her ear, proving to him that she wasn't an elf.
"I have round ears too, you know. They grow pointy when you start to become ancient. I can explain more later. First, I want to show you where we elves live." Fitz turned and started walking, but he stopped after several feet when he realized he wasn't being followed. He spun back around to see Sophie in the same spot as before.
"Well, aren't you coming?"
"What if what you're saying isn't true?"
"Even if I lied about the whole thing, wouldn't it be better to be stuck with me than in a school hallway or with an obnoxiously loud auditorium crowded with people?"
Sophie thought for a moment considering his words. When had he ever given her a reason not to trust him. She nodded. "Okay, lead the way."
Sophie followed Fitz out of the school, down a couple of streets, and through a creepy alleyway. Where was he going? Sophie wondered, puzzled at where he was leading her.
"Here we are," Fitz spoke, breaking the silence. Sophie took in her surroundings and then looked at Fitz.
"The elves live in a park? How fascinating," Sophie remarked sarcastically. Fitz laughed lightly, then brought something out of his sleeve.
"This," he said waving around what looked like a clear crystal atop a long, thin stick, "is what will bring us to our destination."
"A stick is going to bring us to the elven world?"
"Actually it's a pathfinder. It helps us light leap."
"Don't know what any of that means, but I am curious as to why you led us into a park."
"I've taken us here so we would be hidden from the humans view."
"Why would we need to be hidden from view?"
"Let me just show you," Fitz whispered, holding out his hand. Sophie glanced at his hand unmoving. "You're gonna have to hold my hand and concentrate on holding on in order for this to work. I promise I won't bite." Fitz gave her a genuine smile. More than anything, Sophie wanted answers. Before she could back out, she willed herself to grab his hand and hold on tight.
"Alright, now close your eyes."
"What! Why?"
"For the element of surprise, of course."
"That's too bad because I don't like surprises."
"Well, you'll love this one. Just trust me." Sophie finally closed her eyes. As Fitz pulled her forward, her whole body tingled with warmth like no other. Quickly as the warmth came it vanished.
"You can open your eyes now," Fitz said, letting go of her hand. Sophie slowly opened her eyes, ready to tell Fitz that he was wrong about elves, but gasped as she took in her surroundings. Magnificent trees with leaves like crystalized emeralds stood tall near a radiant blue river flowing gracefully to the north. Glittering castles that would put Disney castles to shame could be seen down below. Nothing should be that beautiful, Sophie thought.
"Welcome to Eternalia," Fitz proclaimed.
"Why can't I see anyone down there?" Sophie asked, observing the vacant streets.
"A tribunal is happening."
"What's a tribunal?"
"It's basically like a-" Fitz stopped speaking mid-sentence and pulled something from his pocket. "Oh, it's my dad." Fitz returned the thing to his pocket. "I should take you back home." Fitz grabbed Sophie's hand and before she could blink she was back in the park. Fitz let go of her hand and started to walk away when Sophie's voice made him stop.
"When will I see you again?"
Fitz turned his head and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Then with a wave of his stick wand, he was gone. After the shock of seeing Fitz disappear, Sophie ran all the way back home, knowing her mom would be worried. Out of breath, Sophie opened the door to reveal her mom on the phone.
Her mom glanced at her and on the phone said, "She's home." She slammed the phone down, ran to Sophie, and gave her a hug. Taking her by the shoulders, her mom looked at her.
"Where were you? I was worried sick!" Her mom said frantically.
"I'm sorry Mom. I missed the bus and so I ran home. It won't happen again, I promise." Sophie declared.
"That's good to hear. Now, please go to your room. It's past your bedtime." Sophie nodded and trailed up the stairs into her bedroom.
She plopped on her bed, exhausted from today's events. Her mind wouldn't leave her alone, no matter how hard Sophie tried to sleep. Her thoughts kept asking her questions. Am I really an elf? Have I always known I was different from humans? Who are my real parents? Is Eternalia real or was it a figment of my imagination? After hours of trying to answer the complicated questions, she finally closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
...
"You're absolutely certain you closed the path behind you?" The stern elf with the pointy ears asked the red echidna.
"We went back and checked right after we found him; it was shut tight."
'Him' being the black hedgehog sitting in a red cushioned chair, listening intently to the conversation and wishing everyone would stop talking about him like he wasn't there. The others lounged on similar chairs. The room was simply furnished, with white walls and a red carpet.
The 7 mobians had transported him to this room using a stick with a crystal at the tip; and shortly after, a group of 12 people had joined them. They all had fancy clothing, capes, and jeweled circlets on their foreheads. The mobians had referred to them as the "Elvin Council," which is what the echidna must have meant earlier by "We should contact the Elvin Council."
The two groups had been discussing Shadow and what had happened for at least an hour now. From what he could gather; he'd suddenly appeared somewhere important, and possibly forbidden, and the council were trying to figure out how and whether this was a problem.
They weren't making any progress though; cause every time they tried to talk to him, he'd shoot them a venomous glance and scowl. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't trust any of them in the slightest. Especially the elves.
"And it was safe?" The blond elf in a pink dress asked.
"It hadn't been touched." The purple cat assured her.
"And he truly doesn't remember anything?" The red-head guy who kept glancing at the blond elf inquired.
"We were actually hoping you'd tell us." The grey wolf answered. "None of us are telepaths."
"And if he has lost his memory?" The dark-skinned elf asked.
Aleena spoke up from the chair nearest Shadow. "If Shadow doesn't remember anything, there's nothing more we can do and he shouldn't be held accountable."
"I agree." The plant lady said. "We can keep tabs on him just in case, but I don't see how anyone so young could be a threat."
"Besides his glare." The red-head tried to joke, earning him another one of those glares.
"And if he was lying?" The stern elf asked.
"We will address that if and when we come to it." Aleena answered.
"But first things first." The red-head said; coming to kneel in front of Shadow. "I'm gonna be nice, and ask your permission first before I shove my way in."
"You want to enter my mind?" Shadow checked; scowling when the elf nodded. "No."
"If you really have lost your memories, you have nothing to hide and this will be over quickly." The elf assured him.
"I'm not letting a complete stranger into my head, memory or not. Especially when you all talked about me for an hour like I wasn't in the room."
The elf held back a smile, "My apologies."
When Shadow didn't respond, he said. "I'm assuming you're not going to give permission?"
"You assume correctly."
The elf sighed in resignation. "Alright. I hate to do this, but..."
His face took on an expression of concentration as he gazed at Shadow, who frantically tried to push him out. Even though he had no idea how to do that...and he didn't even feel anything different in his head.
The elf furrowed his brow and moved two fingers up to the hedgehog's forehead. Shadow flinched at the touch, resisting the urge to slap the hand away. Why was this necessary?
After what felt like forever, but was actually two minutes, the elf moved his hand back and stood up; a curious frown gracing his features.
"What is it?" The stern elf with the pointy ears asked.
The red-head didn't take his eyes off Shadow when he said, "His mind is shielded."
As the rest of the room started buzzing over this development; Shadow didn't know whether to breath a sigh of relief, or be worried.
"What does that mean, Kenric?" Aleena asked.
"It means, he has something to hide." The stern elf answered almost triumphantly.
"Not necessarily." The elf, Kenric, answered with a thoughtful expression. He rubbed his chin. "We already know mobian minds are stronger, and generally more chaotic, than Elvin minds; the shield could simply be an involuntary reflex of some kind."
"You've broken through the shields of older, more experienced mobians." The echidna argued.
The green hawk leaned back in his chair and waved a hand, "So Shadow's unique, not like weird stuff hasn't happened to young mobians before. Just look at Aleena's nephew."
Aleena smile grew strained, "Unique is a bit of an understatement."
"But you make a good point." The plant lady told the hawk. "No harm was done, and this squabbling is getting us nowhere. We should move on and help Shadow find his family."
Shadow blinked; he hadn't even thought about the fact that he probably had a family somewhere.
A strange noise suddenly filled the air. Kenric quickly pulled out a silver square, "It's Alden."
He tapped the square and adopted a bright smile. "Alden! To what do I owe this pleasure?"
~I found her~
"Found who?"
~The elf with the unregistered DNA~
The stern elf stood up, looking furious. "I thought I told you..!"
~I know, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was real. I found a girl named Sophie in one of the forbidden cities, who's many grades ahead of her peers and can read minds. The strange thing, though, is that she has brown eyes instead of blue~
"An elf with brown eyes." One of the other Elvin councilors murmured in surprise.
"This girl is not an elf." The stern councilor argued. "Plenty of humans claim to read minds, or see the future, or other nonsense. Doesn't make them elves."
~Fitz seemed sure. He also told me her mind was unusually silent~
"Some humans have quiet thoughts." The echidna shrugged off.
~ She's an elf, I'm certain of it. And she can't keep living with the humans, she needs a proper home and education~
"You're not actually suggesting..." The pointy-eared elf trailed off in disbelief. "Foxfire is our most prestigious school, we can't and won't let just anyone in."
~Then test her. Fitz is going to meet with Sophie tomorrow, he can bring her to Everglen and you can send a small committee to see if she's worthy of Foxfire~
The stern elf looked like he wanted to break something; but before he could say anything, Kenric intervened.
"We'll be there."
~Thank you. I'll see you then~
Kenric put the device away and turned his attention back to the room. Everyone stared at him with varying expressions of disbelief.
"First Shadow, now this new elf." He tried to joke. "What's next, an interspecies hybrid?"
"Kenric, this is no laughing matter." The stern elf rebuked. "This has never happened before; and worse, you expect us to meet with her tomorrow."
"We'll still have time." Kenric said, "And whoever goes can rush straight there afterward, no big deal."
"Very well," The stern elf huffed, "But I'm on the committee."
"Naturally," Kenric said with a hint of sarcasm.
"And bring Shadow." The echidna ordered.
"Why?" Aleena protested, "No harm was done, the secret is still safe, and he probably has someone looking for him."
Once again, Shadow felt invisible; and he really wanted to shout at the pointy-eared elf and echidna to get off his case.
"I won't be satisfied until someone can confirm his memory loss." The echidna answered, "And I'm sure Bronte agrees with me."
"Fine." Aleena agreed. "But if Alden can't get through..."
"I'll back off." The echidna bargained.
Kenric clapped his hands, "Well, now that that's settled; we should all get some rest. Really big day tomorrow, one that might even go down in history."
As everyone rose from their seats to leave, Shadow felt a hand touch his shoulder. On instinct, he grabbed the hand and twisted. Then he saw who it belonged to.
Aleena winced at him, "Shadow, can you please..."
He let go, but scooted to the opposite end of the large chair from her.
The purple hedgehog rubbed her wrist, "I was just wondering if you wanted to spend the night at my place."
Shadow considered this; he didn't trust her, but it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. And she was nicer to him than any of the others.
The black hedgehog finally nodded hesitantly, and Aleena light-leaped them away from the room.
Tomorrow was going to be a big day; but whether that was good or bad, remained to be seen.
...
Sonic: Before we end this chapter, I just got a text from TeamSSSFan257.
Eden: You have her number?
Sonic: Yeah, she edits my story, remember? Anyway, she says that she's not here because she has a special surprise coming tomorrow.
Keefe: What surprise?!
Sonic: Don't interrupt. She also says that if Shadow seems a little off, that's on purpose and will be resolved as soon as the story allows. Nah, she should leave him like this, it's funny seeing him so shy and unsure.
Sonic: Finally, if we get anything wrong on the Keeper of the Lost Cities side of things, just comment and she'll fix it as soon as possible. And review to let us know this story is loved!
Eden: That's it?
Sonic: That's it.
Eden: Then I guess it's time to say goodbye to all you wonderful readers!
Sonic and Keefe: Bye!