Keefe

Keefe collapsed to his knees as Sophie fell limp in his arms, covered in warm blood that stained her clothes. Behind him, chatter blared loudly. Councillors were screaming orders to clean up the area, while Keefe's friends helped the Collective somewhere safer. The dome had collapsed and elves had already started filling the streets with countless questions and worries. Emissaries were sent out in search of any bodies or sign of the Neverseen. During the entire large battle, seventeen bodies had been recovered, three elves and two goblins were reported missing, and fifty-two were severely injured.

Keefe pulled Sophie closer to his chest, relieved when he heard she was still breathing. He'd used her enhancing to assist him in calming her emotions, but whether it was something the Neverseen had done or not, Sophie's enhancing was much stronger than before, and she'd fallen asleep when he'd only meant to help her calm a little.

"Sophie..." His grip on her tightened as rage boiled inside him. He forced it down, knowing that this feeling is what had motivated Fitz to end Alvar in the first place.

"Mr. Sencen."

Keefe turned at the mention of his name, and found councillors Bronte, Emery, and Alina. It was Emery who had spoken, Keefe realized, and his grip on Sophie tightened more. Sophie, no matter what damage she might have caused, was a good person. They couldn't take her away. No. The Neverseen were the enemy, and they needed to remember that. But before Keefe could voice these thoughts, Alina spoke, her voice surprisingly genuine when she asked, "Is she okay?"

Keefe paused a moment, confused, before glancing at the limp girl in his arms. "She's unconscious, but alive. I think we should take her to Elwin to be sure."

The councillors shared a look that sent prickles down Keefe's spine. Emery sighed, bending down to Keefe's level, and Keefe took that opportunity to grab the councillor's hand. A series of emotions flowed into him, and when he took a moment to read into them, he found fear, uncertainty, reluctance, and regret. Keefe pulled his hand away, studying the councillor's expression in search of an explanation.

"What happened?" Keefe asked, his blood turning cold. The councillor opened his mouth to speak, but with a second thought, he closed it and looked to Councillor Bronte. Alina spoke instead.

"I'm not sure now's the time to discuss this. Let's get the girl to a medic and we can come back to this later."

Keefe wanted to argue, but at the same time he knew Sophie's health was more important at the moment. So he followed the councillors until they found a wounded Livvy, still rushing around and healing as many as she could.

"Mrs. Sonden," Councillor Emery addressed, and Livvy whipped her head up from one of her patients. She smiled as her eyes found Keefe, but it was replaced at the sight of the limp Sophie.

"Call me Livvy," she told the councillors as she took Sophie from Keefe, much to his reluctance. Though he knew she could be trusted, he worried she'd wake without him. He stayed close just in case, as Livvy laid her on the grass as comfortably as possible.

"She's not dead," Keefe promised, grateful she hadn't been there to see the destruction caused by Sophie. He wondered if Livvy would still heal her after learning she'd joined the Neverseen in almost killing the Collective and destroying half the city.

"What happened?" Livvy asked as she placed a vial of youth to Sophie's lips. The liquid poured into her mouth, a drop dripping past her chin. Keefe watched as Livvy continued to work, hesitant to say anything in fear it would give away even the slightest notion that Sophie was... he couldn't bring himself to admit it, even in his own head.

"The Neverseen had her. They trapped us in shields and almost killed the Collective until..." He didn't want to lie, but if Sophie were to be waking up soon, would she want the world to know she'd committed the ultimate betrayal? No, but at the same time...

"I understand the difficulties of going through these things over again, and I won't force you to tell me. But I will tell you that the more I know, the easier it is for me to help her. And anything you feel you'd rather keep quiet, I can promise they'll remain secret." It was as if she'd read his mind. Sighing, Keefe knew she was right.

"They did something to Sophie," he explained. "She was working with the Neverseen." The faintest of gasps escaped Livvy, but she said nothing more as she continued to work at restoring color to Sophie's face.

"I think they also triggered another ability, and enhanced all her other ones, too. Maybe even her skills. I watched her smash Fitz into a wall with more force than any other elf I've seen." Livvy nodded.

"I'll look into the new ability thing, though I'm not sure I'll be able to detect anything that has to do with her skills. I'll try." Keefe nodded, his heart still pounding in his head as he watched her work with anticipation. If Sophie had been brainwashed... A dot of fear wedged its way into his mind. What if it was permanent? Her abilities, whatever he should call them, never disappeared? What if they got too strong? Would the council banish her? Would she be sent to Exile with the rest of the crazed elves? Would her mind break once she learned of Biana's condition?

Day turned to night and Livvy had left hours ago to aide some other patients. Meanwhile, Keefe had remained at Sophie's side, sending her more "colors" as she'd once called it, every time she stirred. He hated to see her so weak, and though she wasn't being sedated, per say, it felt close enough that it made Keefe's insides squirm every time he had to do it.

In that time, no one visited. Not their friends, not Livvy, not the councillors, and not Mr. Forkle. It made sense, as they were all still probably recovering from the shock, wounds, and more. Still, it felt as though Sophie should have an audience surrounding her, praying for her to be okay, to wake. It made him almost wonder... He shoved the thoughts before they could form. Before him, Sophie stirred again, her eyes fluttering groggily. Keefe reached for her hand, ready to send her back into whatever dream she'd been having. But... It hurt too much to do that again, especially when Sophie hated sedatives. He couldn't do that to her. Not again.

So, he let her wake. Her lips opened to take in the cool, night air. Her eyes fluttered open, staring into the blackened sky above them, not a cloud in sight. And he watched her eyes wandered, inspecting her surroundings. And then... her eyes found Keefe.

//

Sophie's heavy eyes pried themselves open, and she found herself staring up into a black, starless sky. The moon provided the only light, shining down on her as if a spotlight. Her lips were chapped, her throat was dry. Water. The thought of it alone made her mouth water, but that wasn't her concern at the moment. Time had obviously passed since... She couldn't remember. How long had she been out? What had happened?

Frantic, her eyes darted around the area in search of answers. Instead, she found a pair of ice blue eyes, watching her with regret, it seemed. And relief. His eyes watered as they locked eyes, and Sophie's stomach tickled as she examined him. Where did she know him from? Why was he watching her? Sophie moved to sit up, before falling back down again. The boy with ice eyes rushed to catch her, but too late. She grunted as her head slammed into the ground beneath her, and she cursed.

"Where am I?" she demanded, though it didn't sound as threatening as she'd wanted, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"Just outside of Atlantis," the boy answered, frowning as he studied her. Sophie tried a second time to sit up, but before she could fall again, the blonde boy placed a hand on her back and raised her into a sit. She glared at him.

"I was fine without your help." He responded with half a smirk, the other half somewhat sad. Longing. She raised an eyebrow when she caught him staring again, and he looked to the stars--or, where the stars should've been.

"How long was I out?" she asked, and the boy flinched before answering. The tension in the air was intoxicating as he spoke, as though he were hiding something. And he probably was, but Sophie didn't care enough to pry. Instead, she waited for an answer, until the boy finally answered.

"Almost an entire day," he choked out, his eyes glossed over with tears. Something inside Sophie told her she should be freaking, upset for losing so much time. But... What else did she have to do? Obviously, she was hurt. Though most of it had been cleaned off, Sophie could still see her skin was tainted red from what she assumed was blood. She also had a couple cuts that would become scars, one piercing her left eyebrow.

Anyway, she needed rest, and it wasn't like she had many visitors. So maybe whatever had been going on wasn't that big?--wouldn't her family, more friends, and maybe others be there waiting for her if her wounds were big enough to inform family about? Though, she was sure amnesia was pretty big, so maybe she needed to inform someone.

"You're... not freaking out." Sophie looked back to the boy, who looked equally confused. His words hadn't been a question, but a statement. An observation. And he was right. Though she felt she should be screaming or something, she felt nothing. In fact, she felt... numb.

"Should I be?" she asked him, and he met her with a shrug, mumbling something Sophie couldn't make out.

"What was that?" He shrugged her off, and this time, she wasn't "freaking out". She was freaking pissed. Why wasn't he talking? What was he hiding? Why had she been covered in blood? Why did she have scars? Her brain scoured itself in search of answers, desperately trying to piece things together. What wasn't this boy telling her? Her mind was straining to come up with answers to these questions when an image flashed in her mind, too quick to clearly tell what it was. But as she looked back, begging her mind to cooperate, she found a strangely familiar symbol: a black figure with a curved neck and graceful body. A swan.

Sophie clung on to the image, not daring to let it slip from her mind even once. This symbol was important enough for her to remember, despite forgetting her family, friends, and even whatever had happened to leave her so banged up. This swan was all she had left of her old life, and she had to figure out what it meant.

The sound of approaching footsteps pulled Sophie from her thoughts, and she looked to see a woman with dark locks decorated with beads, wearing a relieved smile and blood-stained clothes.

"Glad you're okay," she said, before glancing to the blonde boy. "You really stayed here all day?" Sophie straightened, turning to look at the boy. He'd stayed with her the entire time? Why? Right then she wished she could remember him. Maybe that would explain things. But it still didn't change the fact that he was hiding something from her, and she didn't like secrets.

The boy's cheeks turned pink and his eyes fell to the floor, avoiding looking at either of them as he nodded.

"I had to. No one else...," he trailed off, and the woman nodded her head in understanding. Sophie looked at both of them, trying her hardest to read between the lines.

"Drink this," the woman then ordered, pushing a bottle labeled "Youth" into her hands. The woman seemed innocent enough, and from the looks of it, she was a doctor. So, Sophie drank without question, chugging it down in one go. Sophie wanted to ask for the woman's name, but she didn't want to spark chaos if they figured out she had amnesia. Or maybe they already knew, and were leaving her in the dark on purpose? She grumbled at that, ignoring the curious glance the boy sent her way. His eyes were questioning, but Sophie shook her head, silently informing him it was nothing to worry about.

He seemed to care for her, despite her prickly attitude towards him so far. Was this normal? And how did he know her? Sophie straightened as the woman pulled a set of different-colored candles from her bag, muttering how she envied Flashers. Looking through a special glass, Sophie watched the woman examine her with different colored lights. Red, purple, yellow...

"Where's Elwin?" the boy asked, and Sophie saw his face pale as the words left him. Who was Elwin? And why had the woman just-- "No one's told you?" The woman had spoke, and even when Sophie thought his face couldn't be any whiter, he paled again, nearly resembling a ghost.

"Told me what?" The boy asked. Sophie's fists balled. She wanted answers, not more questions! Who was Elwin? What had happened to him? Who were these people and why was Sophie being treated? Who had given her these fresh scars? These wounds? Why were... She glanced down to her fingers, which glowed a yellow-ish hue, her tips turning purple. It felt as though her blood was buzzing inside her--something Sophie wasn't sure could be considered "normal" or not.

A pained expression flashed across the woman's face as she asked for the boy to follow her, muttering something about the council trying to protect people from the truth in a mocking tone. Sophie watched as they walked off into the nights, the candles still flickering. Sophie narrowed her eyes, squinting to see through the darkness. But they were gone. And Sophie was alone. Without any answers, and no memories.