HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a good start to the upcoming year.

These are my first reviews! Thank you to Ponytime49 and L'Oracle de Delphe for the kind words; I appreciate it.

L'Orcale de Delphe: To answer your question, it will be this chapter. It was supposed to be the last chapter at the very end, but as I said, I lost inspiration, and then I didn't want to add it on afterward to make people who've read that chapter have to go back. So it's going to be the very first part of this chapter!

One last note: the only characters going forward who have POVs are Ashlynn, Keefe, and Sophie. It will be indicated, or that character will have the whole chapter, etc.

With that, enjoy the story!

KOTLC is owned by Shannon Messenger.

My OC's belong to me.

There are only two reasons why you leave someone you're still in love with - either it's the right thing to do, or it's the only thing to do.

-Tiffany Reisz

Bar Harbor, Maine

12:30 - 1 am

Keefe Sencen

Numbness. That's all Keefe felt as he walked through the sandy beach. It was freezing out; the wind howled as it whipped around his blonde hair, making it even more of a mess than it was. Keefe stumbled as his feet struggled through the rough sand, his vision blurred from the sand, and tears stung his eyes, so much so that he had to stop and crouch down to relieve his burning eyes.

It was like the wind was alive, howling in his ears and throwing sand all around him. Keefe figured he was not in London, from the previous memory that Sophie and him recovered looked nothing like the area he was in now. Could the pathfinder have been tampered with? Anything was possible when his mother was involved. He was proof. His stomach rumbled, and it wasn't from fear. Pushing the hunger down is another thing he learned in the Neverseen; he was grateful for that.

He couldn't believe what he had done. Running away to the Neverseen was one thing. But this, going to the Forbidden Cities on his own was something entirely different. Both times before this one he had been with Sophie, she helped him and the rest of their group navigate through different human cities. His heart ached as he thought about what she would think of him once she found out he was gone. But he needed to get to London, he needed to find out why his mother needed him to visit the human that lived at the green door.

All of a sudden the wind stopped. The air around him felt completely still as he took in his surroundings, even though it was dark out he focused on the light of the moon and spread it over the area like a blanket.

Everything seemed to glow as the ocean alongside him crashed against the shoreline, drowning out any noise around him. It was calming, soothing even. He took a step forward still weary of humans that might be around. He didn't feel anything so he assumed it was safe to find some kind of shelter for the night.

After what felt like hours, Keefe spotted a small mall house next to a taller tower. He was closest to the house so he made his way over. The house itself looked overgrown but it looked like there wasn't anyone inside so Keefe quickly headed towards the building.

Creak!

Keefe winced as he looked down, he had stepped on what looked like a rotted board of wood. He carefully felt the air and nothing. A second later he felt the wind again. It was around him, almost like it was feeling him out. The wind was ice cold, the kind that gets into your bones so he quickly hurried to the door. Opening it was easy, the wood was so rotted he just leaned against it and the door busted open.

The house itself was small, the furniture was dusty and everything else was covered in cobwebs. The wind howled again rattling the fixtures hanging from the ceiling and Keefe was quick to shut the door, but it didn't stop. It was almost like the wind was...angry with him. He shook his head, he wasn't in the Lost Cities, there were no Elf's around. He dashed into one of the rooms and then shut that door just in case.

With a sigh, he sat down on the floor and leaned against the wooden closet door. He was cold, exhausted, hungry, sad, but most of all angry. He hated the fact that it came to this. He hated the fact that his mother is an extremely manipulative person, using guilt-tripping to get what she wanted. Most of all he still hated that he still cared for her.

A headache started to form the more and more Keefe started to think about those things. Keefe pulled out some things his father gave him before he left and stared at the odd-colored paper money and the ID. Maybe he could use this somehow to get him to London. He did know how this would help him but he would have to use his new ability to manipulate some humans into helping him. Keefe finally laid down on the floor, curling up against the wall and instead of letting the memories of the day bring him down he used it as fuel so he could finally tear down his mother's plans and reject the legacy that she wanted for him.