Keeper of the Lost Cities: Rebuild [COMPLETED]

Chapter Fifty-Five - SOPHIE

In just a small amount of time, everything had changed.

That was how time worked—it was slippery and unavoidable, kind one moment and feral the next. She looked back on years, and they felt like hours; she lived through hours and it felt like years. One second was one thing, the next another.

One second Dex and Mr. Forkle had been alive, the next...

Gone.

Such a simple word, yet it held so much impact.

Sophie was one of the first at Mr. Forkle's gravesite in the Norwegian mountains, below Trolltunga. So many things were racing through her mind, but the second Mr. Forkle's story of how the massive rock had received its name stuck out.

The twin brothers had a history she'd never had the chance to find out, triumphs and failures and even other identities she'd never discovered. Now that they were both dead, she started to question if she really knew them at all.

Hindsight is a dangerous game to play—words Edaline had once spoken to her over Jolie's murder.

Sophie felt a pang of regret when she realized she hadn't called Edaline "mother" since Oralie's planting.

So much pain. So many people gone. When would it stop?

Was it not the Moonlark's duty to protect this world? Shouldn't she have been able to prevent this needless grief?

Except sometimes protecting an entire world meant sacrificing those she cared about. It was another hard lesson as a leader, but one she couldn't forget. None of this was her fault—but it made her angry. Angry she hadn't been there to save them.

In groups, her friends and family cleared the side of the cliff and gathered around the multivarious sapling of the first Mr. Forkle, leaning in the wind for his brother.

Tiergan came up beside her and murmured, "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

Edaline, close by with Grady and Amy, reached for Sophie's arm to give her support.

"Yeah," Sophie said. "Other than his brother, you were his best friend." Besides, she didn't want the attention to be on her more than it already had been; word of the Moonlark saving the day apparently spread fast—even though she couldn't have done it without her friends.

Tiergan gave her a quick side hug. "Stay strong, Sophie." He stepped in front of everyone and cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming today. I know it's a small crowd, but that was the way Mr. Forkle—or Magnate Leto, if you prefer—liked it. He was a mysterious man, as I'm sure you all can attest to, but he was also caring and loyal and loving. And proud of everyone here, and he'd still be proud of who you've become and are becoming.

"I won't say too much more—I know it's freezing up here—but I want to iterate he was no prouder of anyone but the youth. We all know his catchphrase, 'you kids,' but believe it or not, it was one of endearment. He believed you were the future of this world. Don't let him down."

Sophie couldn't help remembering some of Forkle's last words to her: My work is done.

That was why none of the Black Swan members looked distraught; Forkle had been preparing them for this. He'd made a contingency plan in case he was killed, and that plan rested on her and her friends.

Tiergan dug the hole the same way Mr. Forkle had done it all those years ago, using his bare hands until it was about his finger-length in height. Sophie handed the seed, wrapped in cloth, to him. He mounded dirt over it, and Juline poured the syrupy liquid over it before crushing the green glass in her palm.