Fitzroy Avery Vacker

Fitz Vacker (Fits Vack-er) known as "Wonderboy" to Dex a "Fitzy/Fitzter" to Keefe is a seventeen-year-old elf, as of Flashback. He is one of many Vackers and lives at Everglen. He was a skilled Level Four prodigy at Foxfire in Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities. In Book 2: Exile, he became a Level Five prodigy. In Book 5: Lodestar, Fitz reveals to Sophie that his name is short for Fitzroy. Along with his sister Biana Vacker, he is said to be the first Vacker to attend Exillium, during his banishment period in Neverseen. He joins the Black Swan during this time.

Fitzroy means "son of the king/seeker of wisdom". Avery means elf, counselor, or ruler of the elves.

Physical Appearance
Fitz has teal eyes with dark hair and a pale complexion. Sophie Foster mentions he looks like a younger version of Alden, his dad. He is also often described to have a "movie star-worthy smile." (Very cute and strikingly handsome). It is also pointed out throughout the books that he is very fit and muscular.

He has broad shoulders.

He is described to be strong-featured with prominent cheekbones, similar to Alden.

He is also much taller than Sophie, as noted in Everblaze''. ''He says that Sophie is even shorter than Biana, and she replies by pointing out that Biana always wears heels.

Studious
Fitz is good at his studies, nicknamed 'Wonderboy' by Dex because of this. He is 'perfect' and a 'golden child' in some character's perspectives also since he performs so well in studies.

Caring
Fitz is also caring towards his friends and those he likes, especially Sophie. He tries to protect them and feels that he must take care of his younger sister, Biana. Despite these traits, he can get angry and upset. When Fitz is angry, he does not think straight, and can shut others out.

Telepathy
Fitz is a Telepath, the youngest elf to naturally manifest before Dex and Biana, and before Sophie came. He is Sophie's cognate, allowing the two to increase their abilities when working together. They have a pair of matching rings that snap together when their minds connect. He has a lot of potential and is proud of his talent.

Blinking
Fitz can allow light to pass through him and disappear for a short period of time, as demonstrated in Book 1.

Telekinesis
Fitz is very good at telekinesis. In Foxfire splotching competitions, he almost always wins. He also demonstrates this skill throughout the series. For example, when Dex tosses him a gadget in Neverseen, Fitz catches it with his mind, spinning it in the air a few times.

Levitation
Fitz is also capable of levitating. Prior to attending Exillium, he is able to levitate up or down. At Exillium, he learns to levitate in multiple directions, which he struggles with at first, until he jumps off a cliff after Sophie and quickly learns on the spot. Fitz also demonstrates levitation in Flashback when he levitates Sophie and himself high enough so Sophie can teleport multiple times.

Biography
Fitz has one little sister, Biana, and one older brother, Alvar, who was later discovered to be a member of the Neverseen. His best friend is Keefe. He and Keefe drifted apart when Keefe joined the Neverseen, but their relationship slowly mended itself afterwards. His parents are Alden Vacker, a Telepath, and Della Vacker, a Vanisher.

Fitz was the second-youngest elf to get his nexus off, until his sister, Biana, broke his record. He was also the third youngest ever to manifest an ability, behind Sophie, Biana and Dex. He used to be the Splotching champion before Sophie beat him by accidentally using a Brain Push.

When writing the first version of Keeper Of The Lost Cities, Shannon Messenger created Fitz as the first character. He was originally created to look for Sophie and quickly find out she's an elf. This was not the final product, seeing as it was a short story with the ending being Sophie finding out she is an elf, and now there is an entire series.

''Photo 1: Fitz in Neverseen by Courtney Godbey Photo 2: Fitz in Neverseen by Shannon Messenger Photo 3: Fitz in Lodestar by Laura Hollingsworth Photo 4: Fitz in Nightfall by Laura Hollingsworth Photo 5: Fitz in Nightfall by Shannon Messenger Photo 6: Fitz after Exile by Laura Hollingsworth Photo 7: Fitz in Flashback by Laura Hollingsworth''

Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities
In Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities, Fitz is the one who located and took Sophie to the Elvin world. Fitz was sent by his dad Alden to go search for Sophie, Fitz is also the one Sophie transmits to when she and Dex are kidnapped by the Neverseen. Along with Keefe and Biana, he finds Sophie by the Four Seasons Tree. He also helps her get through having to leave her human family behind.

Book 2: Exile
In Exile, Fitz accuses Sophie of being damaged and the reason why his father, Alden, ends up with a broken mind after taking Sophie with him to Exile to perform a memory break on Fintan. Fitz and Sophie's friendship breaks until Sophie comes back to fix Alden's mind after she has healed from her own problem. Before Sophie heals Alden, Fitz takes her aside and apologizes for his rude behavior to her. He said that Keefe told him all about what happened the day before, which made him realize how his actions and words caused Sophie to be in the Neverseen's reach. He also explained that his anger was a way of coping with the grief of losing his father. Fitz also said that, whether or not Sophie could heal Alden, he would stop blaming Sophie for Alden's loss. Sophie manages to heal Alden in the end.

Book 3: Everblaze
In Everblaze, Fitz and Sophie have telepathy lessons together and learn to truly trust each other in order to heal Fintan's broken mind. They have trust exercises which consist of sharing secrets about themselves that they haven't ever told anyone else. In the end, their trust is so strong that Sophie lets Fitz into her impenetrable mind. One of the secrets Fitz shares with Sophie is Mr. Snuggles, a sparkly red dragon given to him by Elwin to help him cope with the grief of losing his father when Alden's mind was broken. Fitz is very patient throughout this process, even though Sophie keeps blocking him out of her mind in instinctual self-protection. Together they develop code words to keep what they are doing during the mind-healing a secret from Fintan. They perform the healing, but the whole process is a disaster because Fintan sparks Everblaze, killing Councillor Kenric and faking his own death. Fitz saves Sophie from burning by yanking her away from Fintan. Sophie then teleports Fitz and Oralie away from the burning tower. Together Sophie and Fitz collect Quintessence (after a special moment under the stars) to create Frissyn and stop the Everblaze.

Book 4: Neverseen
During Neverseen, Fitz joins the Black Swan along with Keefe, Dex, Biana, Sophie, and his mother, Della Vacker. There he and Sophie work on becoming Cognates. They finally try to go save Prentice in Exile. Fitz gets seriously injured in Exile by being thrown back onto an arthropleura's antennae after throwing one of Dex's gadgets in the hall to stop it from exploding from Councillor Zarina’s lightning. Dex takes him back to the Black Swan's hideout to get treated by Physic, the Black Swan's physician. Fitz takes a week to heal by drinking "vile tea". When Keefe visits his room he finds Fitz cuddling with Mr. Snuggles. They are then sent to Exillium. Fitz gets off of the Arch of Dividing, the way of putting the students in the hemisphere fitting for them, by doing what Sophie called "a gold medal worthy flip" to the top of the arch, then untying the knot and levitating to the ground. Fitz goes with Sophie to save a gnome that is infected by the plague. He and Sophie try to read King Dimitar's mind. Fitz backs away from Alvar when he finds out that he was with the Neverseen. Fitz also cries when Keefe joined the Neverseen.

Book 5: Lodestar
At the beginning of Lodestar, Fitz gave Sophie two Cognate rings, telling her his full name is Fitzroy Avery Vacker. Fitz said he didn't trust Keefe after he left for the Neverseen. Fitz and Sophie went to try to pry a few more things out of Prentice's mind. Fitz, Biana, Sophie, Dex, Linh, Tam, and their bodyguards went to Keefe's room to see if there was anything related to the Neverseen, playing Boys vs. Girls to see who could find more things. The girls won, and Fitz noted that he owed Sophie a favor. He said if Sophie didn't use the favor in a month it became his. They find a leaping crystal in an envelope that Keefe had not seen yet. It leaps them to Paris.

Fitz, Biana, and Sophie have a sleepover at Dex's house. Fitz and Sophie visit Wylie to read his mind. Sophie and Fitz leap to Eternalia and ask Oralie to help them visit Gethen. After coming back, they found a note from Keefe on Sophie's bed. It had a leaping crystal in it and said: "meet now". The crystal took them to a beach. Fitz didn't seem very happy to see Keefe. Alden, Sandor, Grizel, and Grady eventually found them and Keefe leaped away. Alden banned Fitz from leaving the house until he finished his matchmaking packet, but he finished right away the next day. After the summit, Sophie sent Fitz a message saying that she was okay. After the destruction, Fitz visited Sophie regularly. Near the end of Lodestar, Fitz reminded Sophie of the favor she owed him, but recommend that they "skip the talking." When Sophie and Fitz were about to kiss, Keefe interrupted. They then went to the Fosters' new house with Alden, only to find Sophie's little sister Amy.

Book 6: Nightfall
Throughout Nightfall, Fitz gives Sophie small gifts and visits her a lot. He goes with everyone else when they invade the original Nightfall in Atlantis.

Book 7: Flashback
In Flashback, Fitz breaks his home crystal and says he is leaving Everglen because his brother, Alvar Vacker, was sentenced to live there. Sophie attempted to change his mind, which turned out to be pointless. They are ambushed by the Neverseen. Umber attacks them with shadowflux leaving echoes in Fitz's chest and Sophie's arm and head. Fitz's echoes are in his heart, affecting his emotions. He spends time in the healing center with Sophie, much of which he spends unconscious cuddling with Mr. Snuggles. After Fitz begs Sophie to try once more to search Alvar's mind to be sure his memories are gone, Sophie agrees to cognate train and check Alvar's mind with him. After they search Alvar's mind and fail Fitz brings Sophie to the override for Everglen and shows her how to use it. Afterwards, they go to the reception hall and Fitz confesses wanting Sophie to be the only one on his matchmaking list and Sophie reveals to Fitz that she's had a crush on Fitz since the first time she met him. When Fitz was about to kiss her, they were interrupted by Silveny's call for help. Fitz repeatedly levitates Sophie and her bodyguard Tarina enabling her to teleport to various locations in an effort to help Silveny. Fitz also provides emotional support for Sophie.

In the Flashback Barnes and Noble Exclusive version Fitz has a short story in his point of view. He and Biana have multiple conversations, Biana appears to know about this crush and it's revealed he first had a crush on Sophie when he was impaled by the Arthropleura. It is also revealed that Fitz has to transmit the words "It's me" to get into Sophie's mind.

Relationships
Fitz first meets Sophie at a museum in the Forbidden Cities when he was on the mission to look for her. Sophie immediately takes notice of his attractiveness and begins to develop a crush on him. When Sophie is first introduced to the Councillors, Alden compliments Sophie several times, and Fitz agrees with him. When they are entering Atlantis, Sophie slips on the rocks, and Fitz catches her. Sophie's first Nexus is Fitz's old one that he doesn't need, and even though Della offers Sophie a new one, she likes that one more than she wants to admit because it used to be Fitz's. The two become friends and frequently play Base Quest with Biana and Keefe. When Sophie is kidnapped, she transmits to Fitz, who eventually helps rescue her at the Four Seasons Tree. It has also been said that Fitz cried at Sophie's funeral/Wanderling planting.
 * SOPHIE (cognate)

In Exile, Fitz constantly helps Sophie, even saving her when she teleports and ends up dangling from a tree. Later in the book Fitz gets mad at her because Alden's mind breaks, and Sophie didn't tell him that she and Alden were going to Exile. At Alden's funeral, Fitz and Biana are very upset with her and don't want her visiting Everglen. Sophie visits anyway in an attempt to talk to the siblings, and Fitz gets mad and yells at her. Sophie blames herself for this and tries as hard as ever to heal Alden. Sophie also recognizes that Fitz isn't mad at her, but mad at himself. Before Sophie heals Alden's mind, Fitz sincerely apologizes to her and confesses that he was mad at himself, and scared that his father's mind would never be healed. She forgives him and Alvar interrupts, prompting Sophie to heal Alden.

In Everblaze, Sophie and Fitz find an extremely unique telepathic connection. The two are put into telepathy lessons together with Sir Tiergan to try and figure out why Fitz was able to pass Sophie's blocking. The two go through many trust exercises, and Sophie chooses him to be her guide for Fintan's memory healing because of her unequivocal trust for him. Fitz saves Sophie from being killed by Fintan, by pulling her away. They then have to go bottle to quintessence to make frissyn for the Everblaze spreading through Eternalia. Because of Sophie's previous incident of star bottling where she burnt her hands, Fitz tears up his cloak and wraps up Sophie's hands. When the telescope slips because of her new "gloves," Fitz wraps up his own and stands behind her, cradling her arms for support. When Sophie gets tired, she and Fitz switch positions, and Fitz teases her about how short she is. Later in the book, the two try to recreate the moment in order to bring back some of Sophie's old memories. They do trust exercises, including having Sophie do things such as falling off of a chair into Fitz's arms.

In Neverseen, Fitz is shown to begin to have romantic feelings for Sophie, and the two are trained as Cognates. They share many secrets with each other during their cognate training and become very good friends. At one point, it is known that when Sophie and Fitz were doing work with their centers of emotion, Keefe or Mr. Forkle did something that made Fitz jealous; alas, no one knows what that "thing" was. Throughout the book, they have lots of physical contacts, and it starts to become apparent that Fitz likes Sophie.

In Lodestar, Fitz has shown to have romantic feelings for Sophie such as frequently holding her hand, usually for things related to the Cognate training, as they have rings that snap their hands together, and almost kissing her, although Keefe, with perfect timing, interrupts. In one of the chapters, Fitz gets his Matchmaking packet and he says he would rather wait for a couple more years to pick up his lists, which is when Sophie will get her packet if she chooses to. Fitz is possibly starting to realize that Sophie may have a crush on him, and by the end of the book, it is very possible that he knows. Throughout the book, Fitz evidently thinks Sophie is beautiful and tells her quite a few times. He constantly watches out for her and wants to protect her. He holds her hand many times to comfort her and constantly tells her things to calm her down and comfort her when she is scared and sad. It is finally starting to seem like Fitz likes Sophie at the end of Lodestar. On page 666 of the book, Fitz mentions the favor that Sophie owes him, and mentions telling her secret. When Keefe, Sophie, and Fitz go to Sophie's human family's house, Fitz says that he is willing to tear the entire house to pieces in order to find Sophie's family.

In Nightfall, Fitz tells Sophie that he hopes that she'll sign up for matchmaking. Fitz also brings Sophie a gift nearly every time he sees her. When Sophie receives her Midterm gifts from her friends, Keefe wants to be named Master Gift-Giver, but Biana says that Fitz's gift is pretty hard to beat.

In Flashback, Fitz and Sophie admit that they like each other and Sophie decides to register for matchmaking. Fitz tells Sophie that she is the only one he trusts. Fitz admits his feelings for her when he said that she was the only one he wanted on his matchmaking lists. They also almost kiss but Silveny interrupts calling for help. Later in the book, Fitz kisses Sophie's cheek, under Calla's Panakes. Although they admit their feelings for each other and act in a more romantic way than before, they make the decision not to date, so they are not yet boyfriend and girlfriend, much to Grady's relief. Mr. Snuggles is Fitz's sparkly red stuffed dragon he sleeps with. Mr. Snuggles was given to Fitz by Elwin (known for his silly gifts) after his father suffered from a mind broken by guilt over Prentice's memory break. Needing the comfort then, Fitz began to rely on his stuffed pal which he can no longer sleep without. He tells no one about Mr. Snuggles except for Sophie, though Keefe finds out about it in Neverseen.
 * MR. SNUGGLES (sparkly friend/comforting stuffed animal)

Alden is Fitz's father. They both have a very strong accent and look alike. When Alden's mind is broken in Exile, Fitz gets furious. It seems Fitz is very close to his father and respects him, for he always knows that Sophie will call Alden if she is in trouble, and cares about him a lot. Fitz becomes aggressive toward everyone except immediate family when Alden's mind breaks and blames everyone for it. Eventually, Alden's mind is healed by Sophie, and Fitz stops acting aggressively. Alden cuts off Sophie, Dex, Keefe, Biana, and Fitz's registry pendants in Neverseen, and allows them to join the Black Swan. Alden seems to have an understanding of Fitz's need to help Sophie on her missions and allows him to go with her willingly. ​Della is Fitz's mother. When Sophie and Fitz fall from a tree while playing Base Quest, she helps them treat their scrapes and bruises. She cares deeply about Fitz as well as her other two children. After Sophie brings Fitz back from being lost, Della goes and hugs him tightly. Della also goes with Sophie, Fitz, Dex, Keefe, and Biana to join the Black Swan, however, only Biana knows before they go underwater. She becomes a powerful asset to the Black Swan in Neverseen. Alvar is Fitz's older brother. He stays and helps out a lot after Alden's mind is broken. When Fitz apologizes to Sophie, Alvar shows up to tell them that the Council is ready for Sophie to heal Alden's mind. Alvar was also Fitz's former role model. When Alvar is helping the Black Swan destroy Ravagog, he proves to be a traitor, who was working with the Neverseen the entire time. When the Vackers find out, they are distraught that their son/brother was lying for so long, and the family goes through a time of anger as well as grief.
 * ALDEN (father)
 * DELLA (mother)
 * ALVAR (villainous brother)

In Nightfall, Alvar's memory was completely wiped away. Fitz never forgave Alvar for his treachery, despite how much Alvar insisted in Flashback he was never going to be that person again. When Alvar gets his memories back, he immediately rejoins the Neverseen. Fitz continues to hate Alvar and almost kills him. ​Biana is Fitz's little sister. She cheers him on when he is splotching against Sophie (most likely because she didn't like Sophie in the first book). She is usually seen playing Base Quest with Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe. In Exile, they're talking to each other in the kitchen and Fitz volunteers to tell Biana the news about Alden's broken mind. The siblings tease each other and have a close relationship. Although they tease each other constantly, Fitz is shown to be very protective of her. In Nightfall, when Biana goes missing after attacking two Neverseen leaders, he yells out in distress and begs Sophie to track her. Biana is found later, but with injuries, making Fitz snap at her sister to be more careful. This shows how much Fitz cares for Biana. Keefe is Fitz's best friend. They often play Base Quest with Biana and Sophie and they play Bramble against each other. During the period of Alden's mind break, Keefe tells Fitz about how his harsh words and actions towards Sophie had affected her, and he humbly apologizes. Keefe often teases Fitz about Mr. Snuggles. After Keefe joins the Neverseen, Fitz stops trusting him and their friendship becomes problematic. During cognate training with Sophie, Keefe probably does something that makes Fitz jealous, and that day does not end well for them. Fitz was obviously angry at Keefe, especially when they met with Sophie, where he teased them. Fitz also starts to dislike Keefe a bit more after interrupting a moment when he and Sophie were about to kiss. Near the end of Book 5: Lodestar, they both go to the Forbidden Cities, but they both did it just for Sophie. Also in Lodestar, Tam says that Sophie and Keefe are close and Fitz disagrees. When Sophie communicates with Keefe several times in Lodestar, Fitz shows jealousy and disappointment. After Keefe gets back their relationship is strained for many reasons, one being Fitz feeling that Keefe might betray them again, but it might also hint that Fitz was also jealous of the relationship Keefe has with Sophie. And slowly, in Book 5: Lodestar and Book 6: Nightfall, it seems that their relationship might be falling apart. Dex used to not like the Vackers because of them being one of the noblest families in the Lost Cities, while Dex is a child of a “bad match”. Evidently, also because Dex is well aware that Sophie could possibly have feelings for Fitz, and most likely does. When they are first in a situation together, although they seem to have met before, Dex says he knows Fitz, but Fitz says he doesn't know Dex, making the conversation extremely awkward. He calls Dex "Deck", by accident. When Sophie is mad because she found out Biana was forced to be her friend, Fitz, wanting to make peace, asks Dex to go talk to her. Dex repeatedly calls Fitz "Wonderboy" in a jealous way. When Fitz and Sophie are splotching he cheers for Sophie. He is shown to be happy when Fitz got slammed into the wall much harder than Sophie. Dex also got upset when he found out she would be having telepathy training with Fitz because he feels that Fitz is hogging Sophie. Finally, though, in Book 4, Dex is the one who leaps Fitz back to Physic, blaming himself for Fitz's injury. They have a conversation, get over their prejudices, and become friends. Fitz meets Linh after being banished to Exillium. When Linh uses her Hydrokinesis he usually says "Wow", either in awe of her powers or her appearance. After she falls while they are escaping Ravagog, Fitz holds her and carries her because Linh's twin, Tam, couldn't hold her at that moment, and was fairly tired himself. In Lodestar, he says "Wow" every time she does something with her amazing and rare ability. It is also implied many times throughout the book that Sophie is jealous of Fitz's interest for Linh, although it is unknown if Fitz actually likes her or is just impressed with her Hydrokinetic abilities. In Nightfall, Linh impresses Fitz many times with her water powers. When Linh suggested that they could work together Fitz seemed happy and Linh blushed. Linh possibly has a crush on Fitz, maybe because he was good-looking, or because of other reasons. In the book, it also reveals that Linh was shy, so possibly it was her personality. Tam and Fitz are mutual friends. Fitz was a little hesitant to be Tam's friend in Book 4: Neverseen but warmed up to him. Orem Vacker is a talented Flasher and performs light shows called the Celestial Festival during a total eclipse. Fallon Vacker is Fitz's ancestor. He is one of the oldest elves alive and was one of the three founding members of the Council. Luzia is Fallon's half-sister. She appears in Book 7: Flashback. She knew Vespera and was involved in a troll project on her former property Everglen before she moved to Dawnheath.
 * BIANA (sister)
 * KEEFE (best friend)
 * DEX (friend/former frenemy)
 * LINH  (friend)
 * Tam  (friend)
 * OREM (Great x18 uncle)
 * FALLON (Great x19 grandfather)
 * LUZIA (Great x20 aunt)

Trivia

 * Fitz is the second-youngest elf to get his nexus off; his sister Biana beat him by five weeks.
 * Councillor Terik took a potential reading and decided that Fitz would be one of the strongest Telepaths, even stronger than his father. Councillor Bronte was surprised when Sophie passed Fitz's telepathic blocking.
 * His name rhymes with Ritz Cracker.
 * He starts wearing a strong-scented cologne in Nightfall that Sophie likes, but Sandor and Biana don't.
 * He searched for Sophie for six years before finding her. Alvar searched six years before him, but Fitz took over when Alvar moved out to take the Elite Levels at Foxfire.
 * Fitz takes a morning run every day.
 * He was the first character created by Shannon Messenger.
 * The series was originally supposed to be about Fitz, but Shannon Messenger changed her mind and made Sophie the main character.
 * Fitz is the first character that Sophie knew was an elf. The actual first elves Sophie met were Alvar, or ‘The Boy Who Disappeared,’ when she was five and Mr. Forkle, posing as her next door neighbor, doctor, etc.
 * In Flashback, there is an exclusive short story from Fitz's point of view, answering a question fans have been asking about, including what he says to get past Sophie's mental blocking, which is "It's me".
 * Fitz has sustained many chest injuries.

Quotes

 * "We could all use a little more weird in our lives." -Fitz Vacker, Exile
 * “You’ve almost died enough times, it my turn now” - Fitz Vacker
 * “Yeah but Sophitz is going to be unstoppable”- Fitz Vacker
 * “I’m still guring out how to make it up to you”- Fitz Vacker

Character Bio by Shannon Messenger
Fitz is the golden boy from the famously important family who spent years secretly helping his dad search for Sophie in the human world. He’s a talented Telepath—though not *quite* as powerful as Sophie is. He’s a loyal brother, a model prodigy, and tends to earn his nickname, “Wonderboy” (despite the fact that Dex meant the name sarcastically). And even though he’s two grade levels ahead of Sophie, Fitz cares about her more than she knows (more than he knows, honestly). Maybe it’s because he saw how hard it was for Sophie to leave her human life behind, or because she’s close in age to his younger sister, but he feels a special connection with Sophie, and does everything he can to keep her happy and safe.

Fitz Vacker