The Neverseen's Last Resort

54

Keeper made her way, slower than she needed, and stopped before the centered masked man. Lips curling, Gisela used telekinesis and ripped the hood away, revealing a tired, and beaten Forkle. Keefe stopped breathing. That's where he'd been, and whatever Keeper was about to do, they'd been working towards it for some time now. 

Mr. Forkle's head barely lifted to acknowledge the girl before him, his eyes dull and hopeless. He'd given up, Keefe realized, his stomach churning. If Mr. Forkle had given up, what chance did they have? His mother ripped away the rest of the hoods, revealing Blur, Wraith, Squall, and Granite. Only, Granite and Squall's disguises had fallen away, leaving only a worn Tiergan and tired Juline. 

"MOM!" Dex called, his voice scraping his throat, and Juline's weary expression changed to fear, her head snapping up to meet her son's gaze. She uttered his name in return, but under the glares of the Neverseen, looked back to the ground. Their feet were shackled and their wrists were chained, each of them propped against the rubble of a fallen building that continued to burn from the inside. 

"Keeper," Gisela sneered, and with a shaking hand, Keeper's abilities resurfaced, spiking around her hands as she reached toward Forkle's face. 

"Don't do it," he heard Linh mutter from her shield beside his. He looked over, and tears were spilling from her eyes. She was trembling from head to toe, terrified. Keefe's eyes skipped further down the row of shields, until he found Tam. Tam was watching his sister with a similar hopeless expression as Mr. Forkle. He was too far from Linh to comfort her, but why they'd been so far apart confused Keefe. 

Still, it was up to him to console her. Not for Bangs Boy's sake, but for Linh's sanity. Guilt was a dangerous thing, he fully understood that now. Even after having scolded Biana a few weeks ago, she'd still managed to shatter her mind. He wasn't going to let it happen again. Not when he could so easily prevent it.  

"Linh," he said. She turned to meet his eyes, blinking through tears. "It'll all work out. It's an act, see? The Forklenator has a plan. He always does, right?" Her lips quivered, eyes trying to believe him. She couldn't.

"But they don't always work," she mumbled, turning back to the Neverseen. Keefe did the same, eyes watching Keeper with curiosity, and hatred. 

"They don't," he agreed. "But it doesn't it always work out in the end?" 

"Not for Calla," Linh reminded, slumping against the shield, before jerking away as it zapped her. Biting through the embarrassment, she continued, "She was Sophie's friend, right?" 

"That was one time. Think of our successes?" 

"You mean our 'not dying'?" Keefe nodded, and Linh let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Yeah. Biana's totally fine, Sophie's waiting for us back home, and Mr. Forkle isn't about to die." Keefe sucked in a breath. She was making a very good point, and was also making it very hard to help her. 

"It'll work out this time. It will." He placed his hand right above the shield's golden surface, not wanting to get zapped. The words seemed to work this time, and maybe that was because they had come from the heart. Not that sappy stuff, but because Keefe was worried too, and the words seemed to have calmed him so far. Calm enough, at least, that he could still think clearly. 

Keefe looked back to Tam, who shot him a grateful smile. Tam Song-- smiling? Keefe Sencen had made the emo, Bangs Boy smile. Keefe returned it with a cocky smirk. The smile faded, and Tam rolled his eyes as he turned back to Keeper. Keefe did the same, watching her trembling hand as she threatened some threat-- an empty one, probably. Keeper seemed too young to have actually killed, no matter what she had said during their battle. She hadn't claimed to have killed, but definitely made it sound that way.