A/N: Yay! Finished writing this chapter which took me forever by the way. I think I've decided most of this will be Fitz POV. It's actually not too bad to write. Anyways, here's the chapter!

"What do you think I should do?" Fitz asked, tapping his fingers on the table which he and Mr. Forkle sat at.

"I honestly don't know," Mr. Forkle answered, looking more stressed out than Fitz had ever seen him. "I've never seen a connection like yours before."

"So you've said," Fitz grumbled. He always told them they had a "connection," but what in the world did that mean?

Mr. Forkle gave him an amused smile. "You kids and your impatience. Don't you worry, we will find a way to fix Sophie."

Fitz nodded. "We have to," he murmured under his breath. "I can't- the Black Swan can't-"

The tapping quickened and Mr. Forkle grabbed Fitz's hands to stop him. "We will fix her, Fitz. No matter what it takes."

*~*~*~*

As usual, all the elves had to go to school, except Sophie obviously. Despite being back in Foxfire, nobody was in the mood to celebrate.

"Hey Fitz!" Jensi called, running up to him. "Congrats on making it back to Foxfire!" He gave Biana and Dex and slight wave.

Fitz tried to smile, but couldn't manage it. "Thanks Jensi," he whispered.

Jensi frowned. "What happened?" he asked, sensing their mood. "Where are Sophie and Keefe?"

Slowly, Biana left the crowded hallway, her eyes never flickering from the floor. By now, a crowd had gathered to see what was going on with the elves who had come back from Exillium.

"They're not here," Fitz choked out. "I... Can't."

He ran down the corridor, leaving the whole group behind him. He didn't care what they thought. Caring about what they thought wouldn't bring Sophie and Keefe back.

Working towards it would. He would train and work and-

"Oomph!" Fitz exclaimed, running straight into a teacher. "I'm sorry...

"Sir Tiergan?"

The teacher gave Fitz a sad smile. "How are you doing Fitz?" he asked with a wink. "Glad to hear you all made it back from Exillium."

Right. Sir Tiergan was Granite. Fitz had almost forgotten. He sighed.

"I don't know how I'm doing," he admitted, tearing his hands through his hair. "Sophie's broken and everyone's relying on me to fix her and I can't do anything. I don't know what to even do in the first place."

Tiergan opened his mouth in realization. "Ah, so that's the problem," he understood. "How about you save working on that for our Telepathy lesson today?"

That was another thing. How could he have his Telepathy session without Sophie? "What are we doing if Sophie's not here?" he asked, as if acting like she was just absent would make it true.

Tiergan gave him a determined smile. "Why we're going to find out how to fix her of course."

*~*~*~*

"Okay, what do we do first?" Fitz eagerly asked the minute he entered the Telepathy classroom.

Tiergan laughed. "Rather eager to get started, aren't you?"

Fitz's face fell. "I just want her to be fixed. I want everything to be back to normal," he looked out the mosaic window. "But that's not going to happen, is it?"

Tiergan shook his head. "Not yet. But... Maybe someday." He clapped his hands. "Shall we get started?"

Fitz nodded, leaning forward.

"Your mind wasn't built to heal broken minds," Tiergan stated. "So we need to strengthen it. If we don't, you will get pulled under."

Fitz frowned. "But won't I get pulled under regardless?"

Tiergan shook his head. "If my predictions are right, and they usually are, Sophie's mind trusts you enough to let her guard down. You just have to be able to survive the grief until then.

"To start off, I'm going to give you an exilir that amplifies negative emotions," he warned. "But if you start getting pulled under, hold up two fingers. The last thing I want is for you to be broken too.

"Focus on the positive emotions. Try to escape the pull. It will take a while, but it's the first step to surviving Sophie's mind," he instructed. "Are you ready?"

He pulled out a tiny vial, no bigger than the size of Fitz's smallest finger and held it out. The jet black liquid sloshed around in the container as Fitz unstoppered it. The pungent odor hit his nose immediately, smelling of rotten garbage and dead animals. If hopelessness had a smell, this would be it.

Fitz wrinkled his nose. "How many times will I have to drink this?" he tentatively asked, holding the vial as far from his nose as possible.

Tiergan laughed. "I'll try to get Dex or his dad to modify the smell and taste at Slurps and Burps," he consoled. "But, as long as it will take you to overcome the negative emotions."

"Got it." Pinching his nose, Fitz slowly tipped the vial into his mouth, letting the ice cold liquid flow over his tongue. The truckload of emotions hit him out of nowhere, barely letting him swallow the elixir. A lump of sadness and guilt grew in his throat as voices whispered in his head.

It's all your fault.

You could have fixed her or talked to her.

You're a horrible friend. If not for you, Keefe wouldn't have left.

All your fault... All your fault... All your fault.

If not for you, Alvar wouldn't have left.

If not for you, Keefe wouldn't have left.

If not for you, Sophie wouldn't have broken.

All your fault... All your fault... All your fault.

The memories went back further, reminding him of other things that were all his fault.

You could have sensed the Everblaze before. Kenric died because of you.

You could have been kinder to Sophie when Alden was broken.

All your fault... All your fault... All your fault.

The darkness enveloped him, coaxing him to give in... To let go.

Needles began pressing into his mind. The harder he fought, the further the needles dug in, pricking him one by one.

He couldn't take it anymore.

In a last ditch effort, he held up two fingers.

A/N: Ooh cliffhanger! Yeah sorry about that but... It was fun. Exams are coming up, next week actually, so noooo!!! Anyone with me?