Talk:Keefe and Sophie/@comment-37582711-20191116005006

Hi!!! So this was something I have been thinking of for a while!!! Its basically about like a few years into the future when the war is over and like the Neverseen have been defeated (it's my imagination of what would happen, at least :)), and how Keefe fits into like the elven world after it. Its a little sad...

Anyways, sorry that it's long, but enjoy!

The smile falls from his face in time with his dropping heart.

'''Keefe doesn’t know how it came to this. '''

Well, no that’s a lie.

He does know, he just wants to pretend he has no idea.

Because if he acknowledges it, then he has to remember his mother, the Neverseen, about all the monsters he had haunting him.

'''He watches in mild horror as Candleshade burns, the jagged, blackened word ‘traitor’ carved over and over into the melting door. '''

'''The war is over, but there is so much anger, so many unanswered questions, that sometimes the hate bubbles over into the real world, and Keefe is standing in front of one of the direct results of this. He doesn’t know who did it. He doesn’t really want to.'''

'''Truth be told, he hated that house, hated everything it represented. '''

'But his father is a wanderling tree, his moth- no- Lady Gisela ''is also, thankfully, dead (he doesn’t think he could bear to see her face anymore. Not after what she’d done), and Keefe is the only one left of the cursed Sencen line. He’s the only one left to hate. Which means this burning house? That’s for him. '''

'''He sees the household gnomes scurrying about, trying to frantically put out the fire, trying to save the wretched place. Keefe calls them off, tells them to get to safety. One by one, they go, until Keefe is left alone, warming his hands on the remains of his childhood.'''

It’s half an hour before one of the Councillors shows up with a ragtag team of gnomes and elves to work on the fire.

'''Keefe leaves, avoiding the pity in their eyes. '''

'''It isn’t a big deal, he supposes. After all, his dad had all those other places to escape to. He can just go to one of those.'''

'''But he doesn’t really want to. '''

'''Instead, Keefe finds himself wandering the streets of Atlantis. It's filled with elves from all sorts of walks of life, from small shop owners to the highest nobility, from ex-Exilium goers to young Foxfire prodigies. In this sort of massive city, it shouldn’t be hard to go unrecognized. '''

Yet Keefe, even in his plain tunic and simple cape cuts through the crowd.

'''He wishes it was as simple as it was for the others- when people step out of the way for Dex, for Sophie (oh, Sophie), for Fitz, for Biana, for Tam, for Linh, it's out of respect, out of admiration. '''

'''It makes sense- Dex is the brilliant technopath behind the Black Swan’s victory. Fitz and Biana are of the venerable Vackers, and they fought for a better world when no one else would (no one talks about Alvar- he was one mistake out of many. Luzia and her trolls are overlooked). The Song twins were once banished, but they’re welcomed back with open arms, seeing as Tam brought down the Neverseen from the inside, Linh saved Atlantis, saved the Lost cities, saved everyone.'''

'''And Sophie, she’s a walking legend. Sure, there was a time where she was thought to be a danger, but after she essentially won the war singlehandedly, that’s all been forgiven. She’s got the hearts of everyone in their world. She’s the moonlark, and she’ll go down in history. '''

(Sometimes she shines so bright it hurts Keefe to look because he doesn’t know how much more he can fall for her)

'''Keefe is one of the seven heroes, one of the select few who have been directly credited with bringing down the Neverseen. '''

'''He has the hurt to prove it. He has shattered ice blue eyes, red lines crisscrossing his chest, and a broken smile that seems too sad for a nineteen-year-old.'''

'''Yet, when Keefe walks down the street, he’s recognized first as The Murderer’s son (they call his mother that. ‘The Murderer’. He thinks she would’ve liked it) and second as the boy who sacrificed everything he had for his world. '''

'''Keefe finds his way to the fountain in the center of Atlantis and plops down in front of it. Suddenly he’s eight and all alone, waiting for parents who’ll never come.'''

He shakes away the memory.

He leans his head against the cool metal of the statue (it’s of himself, Linh, and Sophie- there’s no escape from the past), and he watches as the sky darkens, and the sun sets, and the stars shine.

He wonders what the morning will bring.

He doesn’t want to know.

It's okay, he supposes faintly, as he drifts off to sleep, right there in the middle of the bustling city.

It’s okay because he’ll be fine.

'''The war’s over, he’s safe, his friends are safe, the world’s safe, and everything is alright. Not great, but alright.'''

So he’ll be fine.

'''He has to be. '''

--

'''Keefe is shaken awake by caring hands and loving voices. '''

'''He blinks and is greeted with the sight of a beaming Sophie. Dex is by her side, laughing at something Keefe can’t see. Behind her, Linh and Fitz are holding stacks of treats, and Tam and Biana are balancing bags of clothes, shoes, and god-knows-what.'''

'''“What’re you doing here, all alone?” Sophie giggles. Her grin dims momentarily as she mutters, “I mean, I hear about… Candleshade, but...” she’s smiling again, “but, you’re always welcome at Havenfield. Or Everglen. Or anywhere, really.”'''

Keefe thinks they must be quite the spectacle- what, the seven heroes of the Lost Cities, loitering around in the middle of Atlantis.

'''Fitz pushes a tray of cherry custard bursts into his hands. “They're you’re favorite, I heard.”'''

'''Biana titters. “They’re overbaked, actually, I think.”'''

'''He hears Tam muffle a snort as Dex openly snickers. Linh has the decency to cover her growing grin with a hand.'''

Sophie’s smiling at him again, her eyes so brilliant he thinks he sees the stars in them.

And suddenly, it's like yesterday doesn’t matter anymore.

Keefe pushes himself off the ground, joining the group with a curling smirk.

He doesn’t need to worry about what the rest of the world thinks, because surrounded by his closest friends, his family, Keefe is better than fine.

He’s happy.