Unlocked: Rewritten

Chapter 16

Sophie

For the rest of the morning, the Collective called a meeting with everyone from the Black Swan, along with the Council. The only people missing were Biana and Dex.

Mr. Forkle said, "The soporidine and its antidote is now being stored in one of the Black Swan's secure vaults. And don't worry, the Council will have full access to it."

"And what about my brother?" Fitz asked.

"He is being taken prisoner, along with Gethen, Vespera, Gisela, and Esme," Terik said.

"Where are they being kept?" Tam asked.

"In Exile," Alina stated simply, as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

"Seriously?" Stina asked. "How come you aren't giving them a Tribunal?"

"They have committed unspeakable crimes against the elven world," Bronte reasoned, "and they have given no reason to be forgiven, unlike Ruy. His heroism is the only reason he isn't in Exile too."

A weighty silence followed. Then Linh spoke. "When are you going to give Glimmer a trial?"

"Yeah," Wylie agreed, "It's been about a week since you said she can't leave the house."

Tam added, "She's getting restless, and she keeps annoying me about when her Tribunal is."

"That is to be decided," Emery replied, his tone final.

"I have a question," Keefe said. "Are you guys gonna give the antidote to my dad and Ro or what?"

"Livvy is looking at the antidote right now, and as soon as she is ready to give it to them, she'll let you know," Mr. Forkle siad.

"Great," Keefe grumbled, "How long is that gonna take?"

"Probably a few hours."

"Wow, you guys are finally learning to do things quickly!" Keefe joked.

"You kids, always so impatient," Mr. Forkle said.

Councillor Oralie cleared her throat. "I should remind you how good a job you did yesterday. Thanks to Team Valiant, and Ruy, we have won a great victory over the Neverseen. This may be the end of the war against the Neverseen!"

Everyone-- Sophie, her friends, the Collective, and even the Council-- cheered.

"Oralie is right," Mr. Forkle said, "We finally have the upper hand. We have all the Neverseen's soporidine and their leaders. All of us have been hurt by the Neverseen; some of us can't be here right now because of it. But it has all been worth it, and..." Mr. Forkle's eyes teared up a little as he looked at each of Sophie's friends, and then at her. "I want you to know that I am very proud of every one of you."

Sophie felt her eyes tear up too, and she looked at all of her friends, who were smiling.

Except for Fitz. He was... scowling.

Keefe

After the Council left the meeting, people from the Black Swan trickled away, but Keefe didn't go anywhere. He was not in a hurry to get back to his empty house.

Soon, only Fitz, Tam, Linh, Wylie, Maruca, Marella, and of course Sophie were left.

"Anyone know how Biana's doing?" Marella asked.

"She's... fine," Fitz answered grumpily, "If you think being sedated because of her burns is fine."

"Woah," Marella said, putting up her hands in defense. "I didn't know you were gonna get all angry about it. Then again, why am I surprised? You get angry about almost everything these days."

"Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about." Fitz's voice was a low growl.

"I think I do, though."

"Guys, calm down," Sophie said wearily, stress radiating off of her.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, SOPHIE!" Fitz burst out.

"Woah, Fitz, chill!" Keefe interjected. His best friend could get angry at a lot of things, but taking it out on Sophie was crossing a line.

And Marella was right. He definitely was acting angrier than usual.

Fitz turned to Keefe, his eyes livid. "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"You're right!" Keefe snapped. "I don't understand why you're being such a jerk for no reason! What's wrong with you?"

"YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT'S WRONG? I'LL TELL YOU! EVERYTHING IS BEING TAKEN FROM ME! I LOST MY BROTHER, AND THEN MY GIRLFRIEND, AND NOW MY BEST FRIEND IS TRYING TO TAKE MY PLACE! THEY EVEN MADE YOU A PART OF TEAM VALIANT! YOU, INSTEAD OF ME! IF ANYONE HAD BOTHERED TO INCLUDE ME, MY SISTER WOULDN'T BE IN THE HEALING CENTER RIGHT NOW!"

The room fell silent, and everyone just stared at Fitz. Ugly tears ran down his red face, and he was shaking. Keefe had the distant thought that he looked like an upset toddler.

Keefe was too shocked at the moment to do anything. Besides, Sophie was giving off enough emotions to cover both of them.

"Do you really believe that?" Keefe asked quietly, once Fitz seemed to have calmed down a little.

"I don't know," Fitz whispered, barely audible even in the silent room.

Keefe hugged his best friend, who was stiff and obviously still mad at him, but thankfully didn't push him away.

You can't lie to an Empath, Keefe thought with sadness as he pulled away, because he knew that Fitz really did believe every word he'd just screamed.

"Fitz, listen," Sophie said, and surprised Keefe with how cold her tone was. "The world doesn't revolve around you. We've all lost things, because that's what happens when you're fighting a war. But we have to face the consequences, instead of blaming everyone else for it. You need to realize that you're not going to always get what you want! And by the way, I think the Council was right to not let you on Team Valiant! You don't deserve to be a member if all you're concerned about is yourself!"

Keefe felt bad for their friends who had to witness this. Wylie looked extremely uncomfortable, Tam was glaring at Fitz, Linh and Maruca looked like they wished they had left with the others, and Marella looked a little proud of Sophie.

While Sophie was speaking, Keefe saw Fitz's expression change from angry to sad, then back to angry again. But now his face had become hollow and emotionless.

Fitz said nothing more as he held up his home crystal and leaped away.

A/N

Oooh what did everyone think of Fitz's rage? I know, I know. It's always extremely annoying. 

This chapter was written by SleepyKeefeMuffin.