KOTLC different POVs: Keeper of the Lost Cities, as told by Fitz

Chapter 2

"You can let go of my hand now." Fitz told Sophie. She had been staring at the glimmering city of Eternalia a for a whole minute with her eyes wide. Though in her defense the city must have been pretty overwhelming compared to where they had just been. Light leaping would've felt pretty crazy if Fitz had been in her place.

"Where are we?" she asked him.

"Our capital, Eternalia. Though you probably know it as Shangri-la."Fitz answered.

"Shangri-la's real?" Sophie said, shaking her head.

"All the Lost Cities are real, but they're probably really different from what you imagined," Fitz told her. "Think of all the ridiculous stories you've heard about us."

She laughed and looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"See that blue banner that's flying up there?" Fitz asked. Sophie nodded. "That means there's a tribunal going on.  That's when the Council-who are basically the elvin leaders-holds a hearing to decide if someone's broken a law.They're kind of a big deal since people rarely break laws here." Sophie went quiet, probably thinking about what he had just said. Then she turned to him.

"So this is magic?" she asked. Fitz laughed again. Really hard.

"No," he said as he regained control of himself. "Magic's just some stupid thing that humans used to explain what they don't understand."

"Okay, so how did we get here so fast? Five minutes ago we were standing in San Diego!" Sophie wondered.

"Light leaping. We hitched a ride on a beam of light that traveled here." Fitz told her. He couldn't believe humans really thought that was so strange.

"That's impossible." she decided.

"Is it?"

"Haven't you ever heard of the theory of relativity? You need infinite energy to do that."

Fitz just laughed. "Who came up with that?"

"Albert Einstein!"

"Well he's dumb." Fitz said. Sophie seemed shocked. He just pulled out his pathfinder again.

"Concentrate harder now." he instructed, taking her hand again. Fitz raised the crystal to the light and pulled her towards the path. A few seconds later, they were standing in Lumenaria. "How do you think we got here?" Sophie stared.

"You look confused." Fitz noted.

"Well duh! You're basically telling me to forget every single thing that I know about anything!" she exclaimed.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but that is kind of what I'm telling you. Humans try really hard, but they can't always comprehend reality. Even the dumbest elf could still trump a human." At this, her eyes went glassy. Oh no.

"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault, just because you believed what they told you. I would've done the same. But it's time you knew the truth. This is how the world works." Suddenly, the castle bells chimed. Shoot. Fitz yanked Sophie behind a bush. Two elves exited the castle, followed by an army of their bodyguards.

"Goblins." he whispered to her. "They're probably the most dangerous creatures you'll ever meet, which means it's good they signed the treaty."

"Then how come we're hiding?" she asked.

"Because we're dressed like human. They're forbidden in the Lost Cities."

"Why?"

"Because they betrayed us. The Ancient Councillors offered them the same treaty they offered everyone else, but they decided that they wanted to rule the world. So they started plotting war. The Ancient Councillors didn't want violence, so they disappeared and forbade any contact with humans."