after unlocked: a sokeefe fanfic

Chapter 35-Keefe

They stepped through the doors of Foxfire, catching the glares of several students having their break.

"Sophie!"

Keefe stopped teasing Sophie long enough for Linh to run after them.

"You okay?"

Linh shook her head. "It's not me."

Sophie frowned, but obviously noticing all the other prodigies staring at the three of them, she motioned for Linh to follow them.

They made their way to the garden—not Keefe's secret hiding spot though—and stopped. There weren't any gnomes near them, but she still spoke softly. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Linh sat down on the benches, staring off. "It's Marella."

"What about her?" Keefe asked.

"She's... I don't know, acting weird, I guess."

"In what way?"

"I'm not crazy," Linh said, "Dex and Stina have noticed it too." She took a deep breath. "I think Fintan's getting in her head."

"Yesterday, when we went to see him, she told me to wait."

"Did you?" Keefe said quietly. He thought he knew the answer, but he dreaded knowing for sure.

Linh hesitated.

There was the answer.

"I couldn't stop her. I tried, but you know how stubborn she is. She won't talk about it, but I saw them whispering, and she'd look back at me randomly."

Sophie drew in a breath to answer, but Linh forestalled her. "Can you talk to her? Please? She won't listen to me, or Dex."

"I can try," Sophie's expression was a mix of doubtful and concern. "I'll talk to Forkle too. Maybe he can figure something out."

"Thanks," Linh said quietly. "Tam's probably looking for me, so..."

Sophie nodded and turned to Keefe when Linh had disappeared. "Let's go talk to Forkle."

***

"I need you to go back to the Forbidden Cities," Forkle said promptly.

Keefe arched his eyebrows. "We were just there, like, two weeks ago."

"Well, I need you to deliver a package."

"A package," Sophie drawled, "and what is this package?"

A soft shuffling drew Keefe's attention.

Dinla smiled weakly, next to Duncan who looked extremely awkward surrounded by elves, a goblin who had a prejudice against humans, two ogres, one of which was cleaning her nails with a dagger, and a gnome.

"You guys are still here?" The disbelief in his voice was clear.

"We forgot to bring them back," Forkle interjected before the Double D's could answer.

"You forgot," Sophie said. She was unimpressed. Then again, so was Keefe.

Forkle winced. "We have quite a lot going on, Ms. Foster."

"But you forgot two people, er, one people and an elf? In your own order?"

"That's kinda messed up, Forkman," Keefe agreed. "And what did you have to do that was so important?"

"Things," he said, unconvincingly.

Sophie narrowed her eyes, but she didn't question him further, as he said, "Will you do it?"