DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THEY ARE ALL BY SHANNON MESSENGER FROM KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES.
A/N: 111 VIEWS??? REALLY??? I LOVE YOU WHOEVER YOU ALL ARE 🥺
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SOPHIE'S POV
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Sophie and Fitz were drawing near the leapmaster when their friends have caught up on them.
"Sophie! You're still up going to our house, right?" Biana said, stopping just before them.
"Yep, I'm going home to change first and tell Grady and Edaline though." She said. "Linh's gonna be with us, right?" Lihn nodded, confirming her attendance.
"We're gonna be there too, though we'll be at Fitz's room." Tam said, eyeing Fitz and Keefe. Sophie looked at them curiously but decided to shrug it off.
"Well then, I'll be going first." Sophie said, before shouting "HAVENFIELD." She stepped into the light together with her bodyguard and reached the field in no time.
She rushed home and immediately hugged her parents the moment she saw them. "We decided to meet up at Everglen today, can I go?" Sophie asked with pleading eyes.
"Sure. We were planning to send you there tonight because we need to go back to our mission- the one we went to when we suddenly had to go back." Edaline said, running through Sophie's hair with her fingers.
"Is that so?" Sophie said, patting down her clothes. "When will you get home?"
"Probably in 2 days. Until then, Sandor will be with us and you'll be under the Vacker's protection." Grady chimed in. "Don't worry. We already hailed them, so there won't be any problems." He added.
"I see. Take care then! I'll miss you two." Sophie said as she went in for another hug before going upstairs.
Sophie closed the door behind her before taking her imparter out. "Show me Biana Vacker" she whispered to it, and it only took 3 seconds before Biana's face appeared.
"Sophie!" She said excitedly. "I'm taking it that you know already?" Sophie asked, looking amused at her friend's face.
"Of course!" Biana clapped her hands together. "You were actually with us too, before all of this happened." She said, waving her arms around pertaining to the situation they're in.
"I'll try hailing the rest if they could stay with us, too!" She added. "I'll hail Linh and Tam, you get Keefe and Dex."
"Okay, sure! I'll be there in 30, I think." she mumbled. She just learned that she was never the earliest person before, so she wasn't sure about it.
"I'll be waiting!" Biana exclaimed before disappearing from the screen.
Sophie opened her closet to get her human bagpack out and tried sorting out her clothes.
Of course I need my sleepwear, my uniform and my cape because we have school tomorrow, so I just need to look for 2 more clothes. She thought.
She was basically throwing everything out of the closet, looking for clothes to wear.
"I never see you look so serious about what you're going to wear." Vertina's face appeared from the mirror. She unknowingly ended up in the mirror's range, so hearing her voice made her jump.
"You scared me." She whispered, looking at the mirror.
"Well, you scared me." Vertina said. "I never thought the day would come that you'll be thrashing your closet looking for clothes." She added, looking interested.
"Well I'm sorry, I suddenly feel like a girl now, so would you help me? I still need to hail Dex and Keefe." She said sarcastically.
"Okay, only if you let me fix you up later." Vertina said, which left Sophie no choice but to groan and agree.
She took her Imparter and whispered "Show me Dex Dizznee." The screen blinked for a few times before she could see the strawberry blonde haired boy. "What's up?" He said, with some type sandwhich in his hands.
"Biana was wondering if you could spend 2 nights at Everglen? I'm supposed to stay there for 2 days and well, we want company." Sophie said sheepishly.
"2 days with the Vackers are bad enough, but I'll go because you're there." Dex said, still eating. "When you get there, tell them I'll be running late, thought. I still have to finish something here."
"Sure, see you!" she said as Dex waved at her before disappearing. "Okay, next. Show me Keefe Sencen." She whispered.
After whispering, Keefe's face popped out instantly which made Sophie back off a bit. "Foster! Miss me already?" He said, with his famous smirk. "Oh, were you surprised by this handsome face?" He added, ruffling his hair.
"Err no, you answered too fast, that's why." Sophie muttered. "Anyways, are you up for a 2 day stay at Everglen? I'm staying there and Biana said we could all just stay there together." She said, not looking at the Imparter.
Keefe was silent for some seconds which made her look, and saw a frown on his face. "You.. don't want to?" Sophie said, with a hint of sadness in her tone.
Keefe must have felt it, suddenly blurting out 'No! I mean- I do want to. I'm just disappointed. I thought you were gonna ask me on a date, Foster." He said jokingly, but there was a hint of seriousness in his tone.
"For now, it's a group date. See you there!" Sophie winked before cutting of the call. She's pretty sure she saw Keefe's face turn to red but she just ignored it.
"Okay girl, you made me pick out your clothes because you need to hail your boyfriends? What a player." Vertina said, rolling her eyes.
Sophie looked back and realized she had little time left so she scrambled back to her closet, listening to the description of the clothes Vertina chose.
After what seemed like a decade, she put all her essentials into her bag and ran to her bathroom to change.
She-more like Vertina picked a black and white dress for her and a matching black leather boots. She wore the necklace Keefe gave her (she remembered about it recently) together with the Elixirs always hanging around her neck. She also checked if her cognate ring and panic ring is still intact.
She took one last look at the mirror, deciding that letting her hair down is the best option to go for.
She sprayed some of the Panake perfume, which became her instant favorite before putting in her bag.
She was about to go down when she remembered to pick the matchmaking scroll and bring it with her.
She hasn't been able to see if something did change, and she plans to tell her friends anyway so she just brought it along.
She rushed down the stairs and ate some snacks Edaline prepared before they all go to their destinations.
"Take care of yourself, kiddo. Hail us when there's a problem." Grady said, hugging Sophie.
Sophie next hugged Edaline, who whispered "we love you" to her. She waved at them and shouted "EVERGLEN", and stepped into the blinding light of the leapmaster.
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She saw the humongous gates of Everglen and backed off a little, amazed by its mere appearance.
She saw Keefe and the twins also standing in front of the gates from a distance and decided to walk near.
Linh looked back and saw her, waving at her direction. This made Tam and Keefe look back as well, but with Keefe saying "Hey Foster!" while raising a hand.
They saw Biana running up to them and opening their gate "You all made it!" Biana exclaimed, scanning their faces.
Before she was able to ask, Sophie said "Dex will be a little late." as to which Biana smiled. "Then, come in." She told them.
"I didn't know you lived in a mansion." Sophie said, admiring the view. "Well, you obviously haven't seen Keefe's house yet. It's a freaking tower!" She exclaimed, spreading her arms in the air. "I mean you already saw it and-"
"Yeah, I know. Let's pretend I haven't." She said, which made them both giggle.
"Oh, right. I forgot some stuff. Can you go without me? I need these guys with me." She said, tugging the three's arms and dashed to their house. "The room's the one with a hanging ornament. It's a leaf!" She said while running. She swore she saw her smirk, but whatever.
When she entered, she saw an older version of Fitz, which she immediately guessed was their father.
"I'll be staying here, again, if you don't mind." Sophie said.
"Oh, Sophie! Good to see you again." Alden said. "Do you rememeber me?" He asked, pointing to herself.
"Not yet." Sophie said, shaking her head. "But I do know you're Alden." She smiled.
"Okay, I hope you enjoy your stay here, like usual." Alden said, giving her a reassuring smile. After that, they both went their separate ways, and she regretted that...
...She regretted not asking Alden for the directions in their house.
This house is way too huge! She thought, not that her house wasn't large enough. Apparently, Elvin houses are almost as grand as a mansion, or even a palace, or even a skyscraper as Biana described, but she just can't get used to it that fast.
She was walking on circles, walking through every hallway, going up and down the stairs trying to find for the door with the leaf ornament.
Her eyes saw something dangling from one of the doors, she then decided to walk closer to kt. "Oh, good." She whispered to herself as she confirmed the ornament. She knocked 9n the door three times, waiting for a response, or open the door.
She was expecting a Vacker to open the door, but she wasn't expecting a guy. Worse, he's half naked.
Sophie turned red, reflexively covering her face with her hands while turning away. "I'm sorry! Wrong room!" Sophie said.
Fitz, on the other hand, took more time to realize what was happening before he closed the door. Some more seconds later, he opened it and thankfully was now wearing a white shirt.
His cheeks were still as red as Sophie's face, and he can't even look straight at her. "I'm... sorry about that." He said nervously.
Sophie slowly turned to look at him, but still hides her face with her hands. "No, I'm sorry. Biana said it's the room with the leaf ornament." She whispered.
As if on cue, Biana came running to Sophie's side and said "Sophie! I was actually telling you to fetch Fitz, but I forgot you don't remember that this was his room." She looked apologetically, but her eyes showed mischief in every way.
Fitz glared at her sister, only for Biana to smirk back at him. "So, let's go!" She said, dragging Sophie to the right room.
"What was that scream?" Tam asked, pausing the game they were playing as he noticed the girls enter the room.
"It was hilarious!" Biana answered. "Sophie knocked at Fitz's room, and Fitz answered it HALF NAKED!" She was laughing so hard that some tears were visible in her eyes.
"Now I won't see my stupid brother half naked at home for some days starting now." She snickered.
"That was your plan all along?" Sophie looked at her with disbelief and betrayal in her eyes.
"No, there was another plan. That was just one of the results I could get." She smiled. "Okay boys! Vacate this room first. We'll call you when we're done." Biana said, clapping her hands to tell them to hurry up.
"Why do you always need to disrupt us at the crucial moment." Keefe said, picking up his things. They both left, which left Sophie, Linh, and Biana inside.
Without any words exchanged, Sophie sighed, knowing that Linh and Biana are giving her the 'start-talking' look at her.
"Okay, so it went like this..."
She was explaining why Keefe was there the first night she lost her memories, how he comforted her and how she remembered their first meeting detention sessions.
Then, she told about their coincidental meeting with Fitz, and what they talked about during that time. She also included their telepathy session in the story.
The girls kept grinning and looking at each other, sometimes squealing, but most of the time, fangirling.
"Okay, so who's getting the upper hand right now?" Biana asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I don't know. I think Fitz, because I remember more about him as of the moment." She answered.
"But, to whom does your heart beat?" Linh asked. There was a moment of silence before Sophie said "both."
The girls gasped, but instantly recovered. "Well that was kinda expected. We wouldn't be talking about this if that was not the case." Biana said.
"That's right. Well, you have a lot of time, you know. You're an elf. Eternity is way too long for you." Linh said, holding Sophie's hands.
"Oh, that's right. Speaking of eternity..." she paused and took the scroll from her bag.
"I'm going to say something confidential, can you promise me not to tell anyone? I might be getting a tribunal if this secret gets exposed." Sophie joked, but it's true. Leaking the council's secrets can land you a tribunal, depending on the severity.
They gulped and nodded at the same time. Sophie let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, and opened her mouth to say "Okay, here goes nothing."