The Neverseen's Last Resort

52

Keefe

Keefe cursed as Alvar vanished from sight, and the weight from his chest lifted. He was no longer pinning Keefe down. Letting out another string of curses, he climbed to his feet. Alvar was gone, and Keefe had no idea where, and Keeper-- stupid name-- had run off to. Wherever Fintan was, but how would that help?

As Keefe bent to catch his breath, he did his best to recall everything that had happened during his fight with Keeper. What had he learned? Nothing. Well, he knew she was an expert at pissing people off. Getting inside their head. Was she a Telepath? No, he realized. She'd broken free from his ability. The one that he'd promised never to use. The one that had caused him to run away in the first place. And while he'd been trying to control his power in the Forbidden Cities, Sophie had been captured. So, technically, leaving to the Forbidden Cities did nothing because he'd still ended up using his powers on another elf. 

At least, Keefe thought, it was a villain and not Sophie. He'd never use it on her again. His fists balled, and he slammed them into the ground, biting through the pain that was his rattled bones. He'd promised never to use his mother's abilities. The ones she'd forcibly given to him. That Keeper person had really gotten on his nerves, however, and he'd lost his temper. 

Screw 'Fostering it'. He'd just 'Fitz'd it'. He shook his head. That didn't sound half as good. 

"I'm nothing like my mom," he told himself, trying to convince himself it wasn't as much of a lie as it felt. "I'm different. Better." 

He cursed as a tear fell to the floor. And, despite just standing up, he fell to his knees, his nails digging into the concrete floor. As his hands held him up, he realized how tired he was. He was tired. Exhausted. Sweat fell past his forehead, falling to the ground beside the tear. He wobbled, dizzy, and collapsed. 

He was so tired. So tired.  He hadn't realized how much energy Keeper had taken from him during the fight. She was strong. Powerful. He'd lost to a Neverseen member before. Many members, actually, however, none he could think of compared to her. 

He was weak compared to her. Little more than a nuisance. So, why had she toyed with him? With Fintan's dagger, she could've ended him in seconds. She could've killed him and moved on to the important things. She could've gone to fix the problem before it had started-- the problem being whatever had caused them to skip ahead to the final phase. 

Final phase. The Neverseen had had a plan. And they were still fighting, even despite the entire Lost Cities fighting back. Why hadn't they retreated? Or... were they confident they could win? Back when they'd fought the troll newborns during the lunar eclipse festival, the Neverseen had retreated-- not bothering to save Umber's body-- because they knew they were outnumbered. They knew there was no chance to win. So, what was Keefe missing? 

He pulled out of his thoughts as a bright light shot into the sky, gathering a huge ocean of dark clouds above their heads. They glitched with golden and purple lightning. Was this a flasher's doing? One of Illusion's illusions? Or a charger?

Either way, it didn't look good. So, despite his exhaustion, he climbed to his feet and tried to shake off the dreadful feeling before racing after the light. Was this Keeper? It had to be. She'd used the same colors of electricity in her blast after breaking free from Keefe's ability. Not even Sophie-- master of impossible-- had managed to do that when he'd accidently used it on her. 

He was tired. So, so tired as he neared the source of the power. The only that kept him going at this point was Sophie-- the one reason he'd ever kill someone, even if it meant turning into his mother. He'd kill if it meant he'd get to see Sophie, alive, again. He'd kill, even just for her location. 

Keefe skidded to a stop. Where was he? Buildings in pieces, the streets. Everything looked so familiar, and yet, different. Something was missing... Then he found it. Lying among the rubble a distance away was the statue. The statue of the elf and human, working together. His heart skipped a beat. This was Atlantis. It wasn't Eternalia, like he'd figured. No. When Oralie had leaped everyone to the Lost Cities, she'd leaped them to Atlantis. Well, Atlantis' entrance. Now, the entrance was gone. No whirlpool. Just dried land. 

Keefe's awe was short- lived, as his eyes found the source of the power. It was Keeper's doing. She stood in the center of the rubble, the electricity crackling around her hands, and beside her, were two cloaked figures. Alvar and Fintan, Keefe guessed, though they wore hoods. 

And-- his stomach lurched. The council. Both faced each other in silence. The council were wearing their silver, glittering cloaks, while Oralie wore a brown tunic with a white undershirt and a grey skirt. And aside from the council, Keefe saw Dex, Marella ,Linh, Tam, and Stina.