Harry Potter and the Lost Cities

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"You ready?" Keefe asked.

"I guess," Sophie agreed. She took a deep breath. "This is so weird. I have no idea how to use this."

"Abilities are instinctive, right? Just do what feels right."

Sophie nodded, focusing on the ground next to the panakes tree. She willed it to move with her mind, and as she did, it was like a light switch appeared. She pulled it, and, to her surprise, the ground jolted.

Sophie jumped back in surprise, and Keefe cheered. But she barely noticed as a stabbing headache hit her hard. Her hand flew up to her forehead.

"Wow― you okay?" Keefe asked.

Sophie took one deep breath, and the pain lessened enough for her to say, "Of course." She passed off her abrupt movement as wiping the hair out of her face. Her eyes flew to Keefe, who was looking at her doubtfully, but he didn't say anything.

"Well... this is good!" Sophie said, hoping for a subject change. "Now maybe we can figure out how to fix your abilities."

Keefe's eyes narrowed at the subject change, but then he relaxed. "Yeah. Now we just have to get everyone else on board."

"On board for what?" A crisply accented voice said behind them.

Sophie turned around, surprised to see Fitz, Dex, and Biana there. She noticed that Dex and Biana were standing awfully close, and she tried not to smile. Judging from the fact that Dex was still alive, she was assuming that Fitz didn't know that Dex and Biana were dating, and she didn't want to ruin that.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sophie asked.

"We came to check on you," Biana replied. "I mean, we heard you kinda collapsed yesterday, so..."

"Oh― yeah," Sophie blushed. "It was nothing, just adjusting to the new ability, I'm sure," she reassured them. Although she was trying not to think of the horrible headache she'd gotten moments before.

"So were the three of you hanging out together?" Sophie asked, curious.

Biana and Dex both noticeably blushed, but Fitz replied easily, "Oh, Dex and Biana were working on some Team Valiant stuff, and when I said I was heading over here, they both said they'd come. But didn't you know they'd be doing that, being the team leader, and all?"
"Oh― Oh, of course, yeah. I just― I forgot," Sophie said lamely, seeing the begging faces of Dex and Biana.

"Anyway," Dex said quickly, changing the subject. "What were you saying about getting us on board?"

"Um..." Sophie tried to figure out the best way to tell them, but before she could, Keefe declared, "Foster figured out a way to heal my abilities."

"WHAT?" Dex, Biana, and Fitz exclaimed at once.

"That's awesome!" Biana added.

"How?" Dex asked.

"Well... we're not positive, but..." Sophie explained the plan, but as she did, the excitement on her three friends' faces gradually abated.

"So... you're just planning on shooting a bunch of random elements at Keefe and seeing if it heals him?" Dex clarified when she'd finished.

Sophie blushed. "Not random... but essentially... yeah."

"And... you don't think that sounds at all dangerous?" Biana asked.

Sophie bit her lip.

"Of course it'll be dangerous!" Keefe joked. "But what's life without a little danger, y'know? It'll be fine, like, who can come the closest to killing Keefe? The Black Swan or the Neverseen? Personally, my money's on Mommy Dearest, but I gotta say, the Black Swan's put together a pretty good team!"