Knock knock.

Sophie listened to the hollow sound of her knock on Candeshade's door.

The door opened, but it wasn't Keefe.

"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Miss Foster?" Lord Cassius says.

"Where is Keefe?" 

"He hasn't come here in years. He isn't staying at one of your guys's houses? I thought he was staying with Dex at Rimeshire?"

Keefe was in fact drying at Rimeshire with Dez — as they both liked to experiment with chemistry and whatnot — but Sophie knew Keefe hadn't been there in days because she had hailed Dex earlier.

"Umm, yeah, I mean he is still staying at Rimeshire. I just couldn't find him there that's all. I was just wondering if he was here."

Sophie knew Keefe wouldn't want his father concerned about him or involved in his life.

"Oh, okay then. Well, if you will excuse me Miss Foster, I must get going."

"Of course," Sophie answered politely. After their conversation, Sophie was starting to think Keefe had run away.

The last time he ran away he turned to the Neverseen. But that didn't last long. He ended up coming right back.

Wait...

The last time Keefe ran away he hid in Alvar's old hideout! Keefe better be there, Sophie thought.

Sophie quickly leapt there and heard rustling from inside the treehouse. Sophie climbed the ladder and found herself inside an Amazon treehouse. It was still a mansion by human standards, but in a tree! It was spectacular.

"Keefe?" Sophie calmed out.

Keefe rounded a corner and stopped when he saw Sophie.

"What....? What are you doing here?"

He was a mess. Disheveled, flat hair and large bags under his eyes consumed him.

"We need to talk."

Keefe looked at his feet but nodded and led Sophie to a couch where they sat down.

"Look Sophie. I am so, so incredibly sorry.i know what I did was wrong and immoral and absolutely awful. I know I screwed up big time. I heard about Fitz. How is he doing?"

"He is back to normal. He was unconscious for a couple hours after I healed him, but he is his normal self now."

Keefe nodded. "That's good."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Sophie spoke. "Keefe, about what I said-"

"It's okay," Keefe interrupted. "I deserved it. All of it."

"And I agree that you deserved to be yelled at. Truly. But what I said wasn't true and therefore unfair. I know you have struggled for some years to feel wanted, accepted. I know that. And I purposefully opened that wound back up and humiliated you in front of everyone. I am so, so sorry Keefe."

"It's okay, I really did deserve it. I am so selfish. I am sorry I ruined your night, Sophie."

"It brought Fitz and I closer together. No apologies needed."

Keefe nodded again.

"How are you doing?" Sophie asked.

"I've been better. I feel awful about what I did. It was stupid anyway."

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Well... when you first came into the Lost Cities four years ago, I thought you were so brave. And cute. You were really cute. A year later and you knew my biggest secrets that no one else did. I felt a connection with you, one that I haven't had with anyone. Ever. I thought you were 'the one.' I knew you had feelings for Fitz though so I simply ignored mine and didn't act on my feelings. And then you and Fitz became a couple and I knew it was over. You wanted to be Matches and I knew I didn't have a chance. So I decided on Linh. I felt like she was the only one who could really understand me, next to you of course. So I gave it a shot with her: we kissed and it felt like nothing I've ever felt before. Ever. I was so sure if Linh when we kissed. I never thought  about you. I told Linh about how I felt about you and she was mad that I told her AFTER we kissed. She told me she couldn't be with me until I sorted out who I liked. I really wanted to be with her, but I needed confirmation I didn't like you anymore. So... I kissed you. I didn't feel anything super special, so I told Linh I could be with her. She told me that she was fine, as long as I talked with you first. I was scared you would hate me so I  decided to hide here."

"Wait..." Sophie said processing the heaping amount of new information. "You liked me?"

"Well, now that I am with someone I know I love — don't tell Linh I said that — I think I was drawn to you because I felt a need to compete with Fitz. Not only was he my best friend, but I wanted something of my own. Something that I had that he didn't. The closer I got to you I couldn't help but spill my secrets and the more you understood me, the greater bond we shared.  It just felt good to have someone that understood me in a way no one else did. I counted out to that for years instead of letting myself explore other possibilities such as Linh. When I kissed her, I was... I don't know, but it was amazing. When I kissed you, some of my old feelings arose, but kissing you wasn't the same. When I kissed you, I felt desperate. I felt like I needed to feel like I was wanted but when I kiss Linh, I KNOW I am wanted and I don't feel bad about myself."

"A little TMI on the whole kissing Linh thing. Save that for when you two are alone," Sophie did with a wink. Keefe turned crimson red. "Anyway, it is... refreshing to finally understand all of this. I will admit that it is a lot of... stuff — for lack of better word — to comprehend, but I understand, I do. I just wish you would've told me before."

"I don't," Keefe said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"If I still thought you were 'the one' for me, and I told you that, maybe things would've gone differently. Maybe I wouldn't have kissed Linh. Maybe you wouldn't be Matched with Fitz. You never know. As long as we are still friends, I wouldn't change a thing. But... are we still friends?"

Sophie thought for a minute. Did she want a friendly relationship with Keefe? Yes, she enjoyed his playful, teasing remarks. 

Is Fitz okay from his heartbreak? Yes. Are they still together? Yes. So there want really any problems in their relationship due to Keefe.

The answer was clear to Sophie. "Yes. Yes we are still friends." Sophie grubbed.

So did Keefe. "I knew you couldn't resist me," he said coolly, kicking his feet up in the coffee table and putting his hands behind his head.

Sophie laughed. "You're a handful, don't get too full of yourself."

"Nah. I don't think anymore could get too much of the Keefster."

————————————

"So... you're still friends with him? Even after all of that?!?!" Fitz asked, upset.

"Yes Fitz. I know it's a lot to process, but he loves Linh and doesn't have feelings for me. Plus, he explained and apologized for everything. Your and I's relationship isn't ruined — if anything it was made stronger — plus, it would make things complicated if he wasn't our friend because we are friends with Linh. I don't see a reason not to be friends with Keefe again. Plus, he is our best friend. Don't ditch him because he is elvin and made a mistake."

Fitz stared at Sophie for a minutes before sitting down in defeat. "You're right. You're always right."

"Yep!" Sophie smiled proudly. "Remember that."

Fitz laughed and rolled his eyes before crashing his lips into hers.

Their mouths moved in sync and Fitz brought his hand to the back of Sophie's head bringing them impossibly closer.

"I love you," Fitz whispered.

"I love you too."

—————————

Fitz and Sophie were in the Havenfield kitchen enjoying Ripplepuffs when Gray and Alden Alden.

"Due to recent events," Alden started, "we were not able to start your Emissary training when we were supposed to. Are you free now?"

Sophie looked at Fitz and Fitz nodded. Sophie grinned and looked back at Alden. "Yes!"

"Then you two better get changed into some clothes you don't mind getting dirty.

Sophie and Fitz ran up the stairs two at a time. Sophie Locke's the bathroom door and changed into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt that said "sleep now, talk to you later."  Sophie our her hair into a ponytail and left the bathroom.

Fitz was already changed into a pair shorts and fitted grey shirt.

They ran down the stair and met Alden and Grady outside.

"Lesson One: teamwork," Grady said. "Your teammate is your most value able partner, resource, and tool. There will be three tasks we will put you through and you will learn theee different things. Alden will show you the first task."

Alden stepped out of the way to reveal an obstacle course. Only, it wasn't your typical obstacle course.

The first obstacle was a tunnel. The second obstacle  was a bunch of sharp, metal sticks in the ground pointing up in a seemingly random order. The next obstacle was a ladder leading up to a giant pool in the middle of the field. The pool had a lot of giant lily pads scattered across. The final obstacle was a giant maze made of fire.

Well crap. This is going to be hard. Especially since Sophie still has a fear of fire.

"We know you are afraid of fire, Sophie," Alden  said gently.

Flashbacks of Kenric burning to death vividly, violently, and clearly played through Sophie mind.

"But you never know when you are going to encounter fire in real life, so you have to be prepared. Do you think you can handle it?"

I will be right there. If you need me, I will help you. I think you should try it though. 

Thank you, Fitz. But... I am scared. This is dangerous. And hard.

You are the most stubborn person I know. You are so strong and you have me. You can do this. But if you don't want to, we can do the other two tasks instead.

Fire. Pain. Darkness. 

Fire, pain, darkness.

FIRE PAIN DARKNESS!!

Those three words were in constant repeat in her mind. And so was a flashback to the final battle; the Battle of the Dead.

There was fire everywhere, slowly spreading. Smoke clogged everyone's lungs, and yet, they fought. It was night and dark outside. Everyone had gashing wounds and ugly bruises. Powers were being used, but so was physical combat.

Al Sophie could see and small was fire. All she could feel and hear were pain. And it was all in the mysterious cloak of dark.

Fire, pain, darkness.

Her three worst enemies.

Sophie was always told how strong she was, how brave she was. 

People had told her over and over how incredibly strong she was.

And yet, she couldn't handle all the fire, pain, and darkness.

She needed to fight. To protect her friends, her family. She need to be strong for them. A blade sank deep into the flesh of Sophie's arm, causing her too stumble backwards and fall, hitting her chin on the ground. Sophie coughed up blood and winced at the immense pain in her arm. 

"Look at you," a voice spit out. Lovely. A top member of the Neverseen. 

Her name was Exiduces (pronounced: Ex-a-deuce-uhs). Vespera's twin sister. It wasn't until a couple months ago that the Black Swan finally figured this out. 

"So weak," Exiduces said sharply. "Stand up! Prove yourself worthy of fighting me!"

Sophie stood up. She thought if all of her wrath, but just as she was about to inflict, Exiduces spoke again, completely shattering the wall of wrath Sophie was going to unleash.

"You are so weak, so predictable, so vulnerable. You have too much that can be taken away from you  to mess with your head. You are bit mentally prepared for war or death, but are you physically prepared for it. You trust blindly and lead the Black Swan into trap after trap. You are no leader, not even a moonlark. You struggle, yes. But you don't learn from them. You think you know better than everyone but you don't. You are weak and pathetic and don't have and strength."

"You're... you're wrong! You are lying! I am stronger than you will ever be! You are just jealous!"

Exiduces' statement hit was too close to home. What if she was weak? Was she? Of course she was. Sophie wasn't strong; she was just the face of a revolution. A person to look up too when, in reality, more important people made the big decisions, research and planning. She was just a prop.

"You are realizing I am right, little one."

Driven by anger and fear, panic and passion, Sophie took her goblin star and whipped it out at Exiduces. The blade wedged itself into her shoulder, throwing her backwards into the flames. The fire consumed her and Sophie listened to the horrifying screams of Exiduces dying.

She was weak, she couldn't even kill herself. Sophie had to push someone into the fire. Sophie couldn't just do what everyone else did — bloodshed. She was weak, just like the Neverseen had told her for so many years.

Sophie traces over the scar on her arm, marked the blade of Exiduces' sword. She didn't want to be weak. She wanted to be strong. She needed to prove to herself and everyone else she was the person they could count on.

"Okay," Sophie said breathing out. "Okay, I will do it."

Wow. Long time no see. I got caught up reading other amazing Wattpad books that I forgot about my own!!! Hopefully I will update before the 9th. Happy October you guys!!!

Sophie finally talked to Keefe. What did you guys think? Is Keefe lying? Is he being honest? 

And what about that ridiculous obstacle course? 

Ooohhh, and of got to meet Exiduces. What did you think of her? And... Vespers has a twin???

And he flashback. What did you guys think ? Did you like seeing part of the Battle of the Dead?

Love you guys. Stay strong. You are beautiful. God saw that out of millions of people, there need to be a YOU. Remain true to who you are. Stand up for what is right. Remember you're not alone.

You are loved.

-Biana ❤️