Chapter Text
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Candleshade
This isn’t happening.
That thought played on loop in Keefe’s head.
This can’t be happening.
He doesn’t have a sister. He knows this. There’s no possible way.
Then again, he of all people should know how easily Washers could make you forget something so important. Just look at Sophie’s family. Washers made them forget their entire identities. Twice! They were even able to make them forget about their daughter-but-also-not-really-their-daughter-but-still-she-lived-with-them-for-twelve-years-so-they-really-should-have-been-able-to-remember-her-somehow. As much as that stung, he had to admit that it was impressive. And yeah, they were humans, their minds aren’t as strong as elvin ones, but his mom was able to do it.
Ew. Remembering turned his saliva to acid in his mouth, leaving a sour taste on his tongue. But still. If someone that his mom convinced to wash his memories, his mom , one of the most unpleasant people in the world to work with, was able to shatter certain memories beyond repair, who’s to say this weirdo standing on his doorstep couldn’t perform a simple washing?
Wait. Why is he even considering this? This isn’t happening.
And now he’s realizing this girl is waving her hand in front of his face, quite literally snapping him back to reality as she snapped her fingers in front of his face.
“Keefe? You with us?” she asked as he just blinked numbly.
“Huh?” he asked, sounding almost like he just woke up.
She looked past him at who he assumed was Sophie and Dex. “I think I broke him,” she deadpanned, gesturing to Keefe before turning her attention back to him. “Well, at least it was your dear older sister who took the pleasure in doing something Mom had tried and failed to do our whole lives. I mean, sixteen years! You had a good run, little bro,” she teased. Keefe clenched his fists.
“Do not call me that. You're not my sister. That’s impossible,” he growled. He felt vulnerable, exposed almost. He didn’t know what was going on, he was caught off guard, and worse yet, they had an audience.
The girl, Adaya, she’d said her name was, sighed as her ocean eyes softened. “Look, Keefe, I know this is a lot to process. Trust me, I know what that’s like. But you remember me. I know you do. Deep deep down you know that I’m telling the truth.”
Keefe searched her eyes, those eyes that felt so familiar, though it pained him to admit it, for any sign she might be lying. Used his empathy to track her emotions. However, taking in all the evidence, she wasn’t giving him any reason not to trust her. Her emotions were steady. But he of all people knew how years of practice could fool even the best empaths (he just vomited in his mouth admitting that his father was one of them).
“Okay,” Adaya sighed exasperatedly. “For some reason, even after doing a reading, which I know you’re doing based on how hard you’re staring at me, you’re still ignoring your gut feeling and choosing not to trust me. Look, I’m an Empath. Just feel for my tells,” she explained, holding out her left wrist. Keefe eyed it skeptically before turning to Sophie, looking for a reaction. The blonde just nodded, even though she looked just as freaked as he felt.
I think she’s telling the truth, Sophie transmitted, her voice filling his brain. If she really is an Empath, she can’t hide her tells, right?
Keefe hesitated, but nonetheless he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Are you my sister?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, smirking smugly. Keefe was about to ask her What the hell she was talking about when he felt it.
Three skipped beats.
“Wait, what?” he heard Dex ask from behind him.
“Anyone could say they’re an Empath and not have any tells at all. So, to prove I’m telling the truth, I started off with a lie so that Keefe could feel the tells for himself. And you felt the three skipped beats, didn’t you, Hunkyhair?” she asked while Ro snorted a laugh behind him. He hoped the withering glare he sent her got the message across that some epic pranks were in store for later.
“Nevermind. The fact that your confusion levels went off the charts five seconds before your bodyguard decided to offer her two cents worth,” she explained before shooting an unimpressed stare at Ro while raising an eyebrow. “…proves that you felt my tell, right?”
Keefe looked away, not being able to handle the storm brewing inside him when he looked at this girl. In his peripheral vision, he could see her smile.
“Wait, shouldn’t his memories come back by now? Now that you’re standing right in front of him?” Sophie asked.
“Not exactly. I didn’t know if I’d run into him unintentionally after erasing myself, so I prepared for that. That’s why he didn’t recognize me in Atlantis, and that’s why he doesn’t recognize me now,” Adaya explained.
“What do you mean? What happened in Atlantis?” Keefe asked. All of this was happening too fast. It was too much. What else in his life had been a lie?
“Okay, no offense, Keefester, but you are not in the best mental place for this. Getting all your memories back today is only going to send you into a spiral and I don’t want to risk you going numb. Can I just come in, we’ll sit, we’ll talk, and we’ll figure this out like civilized elvin beings. Okay?”
Every voice of reason screamed at him to close the door. That this person couldn’t be trusted and he should turn her away before something really bad happens and the people he cares about get hurt.
But he never listened to voices of reason anyway. Why start now?
He was the guy who acted purely on instinct. And his instincts were telling him to let her in.
So he stepped aside and motioned for the others to do the same. Even Sandor did it without protest. It was time for him to do what he did best.
Trust his instincts and hope it didn’t blow up in his face.