Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Second Moonlark (a KOTLC/MLB crossover)

Chapter Seventeen: Keefe

Foster's human sister. Right.

Keefe had all but forgotten about her.

But he could feel Marinette grip tighter, a little more worried now that she knew the truth between humans and elves.

"So, what's the best solution?" Mr. Forkle asked.

"I... I don't know," Marinette bit her lip.

"I'll have to talk to the Council about it, but we'll just have to make the Lost Cities believe you're an elf," Mr. Forkle suggested. "You and everyone else here will still be aware that you're really a human, but we'll implant the special abilities, talents, and skills that an elf would have to make sure no one would find any difference."

"Detox alert," Keefe heard Sophie mutter under her breath.

He couldn't help but begin to remember some of the pictures she'd shown him from her old scrapbooks. Indeed, he'd heard of detoxes, but he also had noticed the major effect it had on Sophie's appearance in general.

And Marinette and Adrien were already good-looking right now (but Adrien was still just a friend; Keefe had just noticed that Adrien was a famous model and girls were fangirling over him every day).

Was it possible for someone like Marinette to go through the detox and be even more beautiful than she was?

He shook his head. He really needed to stop thinking like this. Marinette was just a friend.

He could feel Marinette trembling.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright," he said. "At least you get the honor of seeing this perfect face forever."

Hopefully forever...

Wait...

Would Marinette gain the indefinite lifespan elves had with what Mr. Forkle was suggesting?

And why was a small part of him wishing she would?

"Of course, the process to implant the elvin powers will require a ton of Telepaths and Inflictors to be able to handle it, so we can all channel the energy into Marinette," Mr. Forkle continued. "But again, it's all up to the Council to approve of the plan. And then it's Marinette's decision on whether or not she wants to go through with the plan. All I will say, of course, Marinette, is that I highly recommend this option so you don't have to constantly try and work on hiding the fact that you're human."

Marinette stared down at Tikki.

"I'll think about it," she mumbled.

"Either way, you can't be here in Paris anymore," Mr. Forkle said. "Due to the fact that the Council isn't aware of what's going on yet, you guys will have some time to collect any belongings and make sure your families don't know what you're doing. If you need help, use these."

He handed Marinette and Adrien small disks.

"They're sleeping disks. They'll let out a gas that knocks out anyone who breathes it, which actually makes the process of removing memories a lot easier on Washers," he explained.

Marinette could take it much longer and started crying into Keefe again.

All too soon, they were back at the bakery, going with the lie that Keefe and Marinette were partners on an essay in school.

Once they got into her room, it was crunch time.

It was clear Marinette still wanted to hold on to almost every piece of her life, so once Keefe locked the trap door, and they made sure to try and keep quiet, they started grabbing things around the room. He took care of the stuff she would need (extra clothes despite knowing Della would be doing a "little" shopping, small toiletries like a hairbrush and stuff, and that kind of stuff), while she grabbed things she would want to hold on to in the Lost Cities (small trinkets, the small stuffed cat she had on her bed, etc.). Luckily, she had large enough trunks to store everything.