Hello! I'm Loopy Luna FossBoss, and I was originally on Quotev before I migrated here. So… hi! This story is very special to me. It's the first novel I ever published.
This alternate AU happens immediately after Flashback in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, so keep that in mind! Enjoy!

Sophie Foster waited impatiently underneath the Panakes tree in Havenfield's highest pasture, letting the silky blue, purple, and pink petals drift lazily around her head. She tried to calm down by listening to the soothing songs about peace and comfort that the tree was whispering to the wind, but her clenched fists suggested how well that was working.

Finally, a wrinkly figure glittered rather ungracefully into sight and caused Sophie to draw in a quick breath. Mr Forkle stood up and dusted off his crumpled tunic, eyes searching the fields for his Moonlark. Sophie walked towards him, letting the wispy songs fade away. "So, where are we going to talk?" she asked as his dusty blue eyes settled on her. "My office," he replied, fumbling to pull out a clear crystal flecked with gold and cut at a severe angle. His pudgy fingers grasped Sophie's hand as he held it up to the light.

The leap was warmer than most others, and Sophie savored the warm tingly sensation until the glitter and sparkles faded away to reveal… a sunny, flower dotted meadow surrounding a small, gilded door set into a hill. Definitely not Magnate Leto's shimmering Foxfire office, like she'd assumed he meant. "You look confused," said Mr Forkle, hints of a smile gathering in his voice. Sophie ignored the sudden thought that the round door looked like a hobbit hole, and turned to ask, "I thought you were taking me to your office."

Mr Forkle smiled. "I did."

"So this is your secret office," Sophie said, raising an eyebrow and studying the hobbit-like door again. "One of them," Mr Forkle agreed, shuffling forward in his ruckleberry disguise and licking a small DNA panel on the left side of the door. The sensor sparkled in the sun, processing something, before a neat row of five spinning cogs sprang out of the center of the odd door. "Did Tinker design this place?" Sophie queried as she studied the copper, iron, silver, bronze, and steel cogs whirring in a row. Then she turned to face Mr Forkle again. "And why are we here?"

Mr Forkle ignored her question as he twisted and tugged at the gears, entering some sort of intricate password. Once the cogs started to click, he spoke again. "You said we needed to talk. Isn't that why you called this meeting?" "Yes, but…" Sophie's attention was once again caught on the gilded door as the last gear clicked and made the golden door sink into the ground, letting a chill seep out of the dark room beyond. She counted, and right on que, a squeaky voice yelled out from behind her and yanked her back. "Stop!" Sander yelled, making Sophie sigh as Bo and Flori joined him. "This office is perfectly safe," Mr Forkle reassured them, adding, "Watchward Heath is protected by five different kinds of security, and only six people in the world know how to find it." He glanced at Sophie. "Well, seven now, given Miss Foster's knack for teleporting." He amended.

Sophie tuned out Sandor's reply, trying to squint through the murky blackness from within the doorway, only to be blocked by Sandor's hulking frame as he marched inside. Flori and Bo followed, and Sophie couldn't help but compare the tiny gnome to the giant ogre. Her thoughts strayed back to the recent brutal attack with shadowflux, and she couldn't help feeling… a little impressed. Of course, she was also appalled by the attack, but she couldn't deny how in control Umber had been of her unique ability. Of course, Umber was dead now, which prompted more flashbacks of the Everglen incident. She shivered as she remembered the squished, lifeless form of the Neverseen's shade.

"Shall we?" Mr Forkle said, breaking her out of her thoughts. She wandered inside, peering at all the details hidden by shadows. She listened as he explained his worries about the dwarves and Loamnore, only really talking back when he talked about the humans. His gaze had settled on Sophie as he talked of a solution, and she couldn't help from bursting out, "THAT'S what Project Moonlark's about? I supposed to…" she didn't know how to finish that sentence. Save the world? Protect the humans?

Be the only solution to everything?

"Project Moonlark was about gaining a valuable new perspective," Mr Forkle corrected, but there was a glint in his eye that didn't match those words. She had a horrible feeling that she was right. That thought consumed most of the rest of the talk, and she only snapped back to focus when he tried to leap away. "Wait," she said, watching as he twisted the silver pathfinder in his hand. "None of this is why I said we needed to talk." His eyebrows lifted as he turned to stare at her. "Well, surely you can agree this is far more important." Sophie's temper flared at that. Why was it always that his problems were more important than what she had to say? She took a deep breath and continued, tucking the thought away. "This will only take a minute," she promised.

"I know you haven't wanted to tell me certain things about… well, anything, but I need to know this. And I know you think you are protecting me, but honestly, it's ruined a lot of things for me, as the Moonlark and as a person. So I think it's high time that we solve those mysteries." She sucked in another shaky breath as he scrutinized her, and her heart dropped as he sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss Foster. I can't give you the information that you want to know."

"You don't even know what I want to know!" She said, but she had a sinking suspicion that maybe he did know. And he wasn't ever going to tell her. "Actually, I do. You want to know who your biological parents are. And I'm sorry, I cannot tell you. And yes, I know that you deserve to know, but I can't let you know because it doesn't only affect you. The ramifications are too huge. There's nothing I can do." Sophie growled at that. Yes, actually there is something you can do, she thought. "I'm Unmatchable," she said softly, hoping he'd understand these ramifications. "Please," she begged. He didn't look at her, and she realized that he hadn't flinched at all when she'd said it. "You knew, didn't you? And you didn't think to tell me?" she said, staring at him as he finally did flinch at that.

"What is this? Another way that Project Moonlark is manipulating my PERSPECTIVE so that I'll see the follies of our world? Am I supposed to be the POSTER GIRL for the DARK SIDE OF MATCHMAKING?!" She yelled at him. "Of course not!" There. There was another look in his eye. Sophie's brain put up a red flag, and waves of mistrust spread throughout her body. "Though, as I recall, you've had quite a few problems with the system yourself! You even considered not participating." He said, still holding up his pathfinder. Sophie sighed. She had considered that, but only because it was so unromantic, and unfair if you didn't love anyone on her lists. Plus, that was before… a pair of ice blue eyes jumped into Sophie's mind, making her pause. Wait, didn't she love Fitz? Why were Keefe's eyes there? She pushed away that prickly thought as Mr Forkle sighed again. "I realize at your age, dating and relationships feel like everything. But it's truly a small fraction of your life. Perhaps in a few hundred years, after Project Moonlark-" Sophie's brain flashed red in anger. "A few hundred years," she repeated, softly, trying to keep the venom out of her voice. By then, everyone she knew would already be matched up. Again, a pair of ice blue eyes flashed brilliantly at the thought, and she tried forcing them away again, but they lingered at the corners of her thoughts. "Time is relative," Mr Forkle said, holding his crystal up higher to catch a ray of light. "Things can feel so urgent when they are really so small in the grand scheme. I realize that's a difficult concept to grasp- especially at your age and with your upbringing." "The upbringing that you forced on me!" She said, and this time she couldn't keep the tint of rage out of her voice. Mr Forkle glanced cautiously at her. "Yes. I suppose that's true," he said. "Yet, I suspect you wouldn't trade the time that you spent-" "Don't go there," Sophie warned. "And please, just tell me what I need to know. Especially since not knowing ruins everything. Don't do this to me," she begged again. Mr Forkle dragged a palm down his face. "I'm not doing anything," He said softly. And then he leaped away in a shower of silvery sparks. She stared in silence as the cold glitter landed in her outstretched palm, and felt her bodyguards behind her suck in a sharp breath at the disappearance of the Black Swan's wrinkly leader. Sophie curled her hand into a fist and sucked in an angry breath, letting her blonde hair cover her face as she stared at it.

She was going to find out who her genetic parents were. She was not going to let the Black Swan control her anymore. She had risked her life over and over, and had given up so much for them. She had basically handed her life over to them. And no matter how many times they said that she could go on and be a normal person, when she tried to get ONE DETAIL that would finally let some aspect of her life be regular, they turned her down.

They had trained their Moonlark to always fly back to them.

But this time, she wasn't going to.

Hello again! I hope you liked this chapter. Personally, whenever I read the chapter in Legacy that this was based off of, I get SO ANGRY at Mr Forkle. I hope this portrays those feelings as Sophie finally gets to speak her mind.

Toodleoo for now,

-Loopy Luna FossBoss