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

Chapter Seventeen: Keefe

Keefe remembered Sophie telling him her story of leaving behind her human life.

He remembered her showing the memory from that day.

He remembered watching the past Sophie's tears as she knocked out her parents with the sleeping gas, just as the Washers came in to erase their memories.

But the people who really had memories with Sophie had been her human family.

Marinette...

She was already human. With a normal life. With parents who she was actually the daughter to (Sophie often panicked about who her biological parents were). With friends. Possibly even a boyfriend. And she was just told that her real life was being taken away from her.

And then there was Adrien, who not only was a famous model in Paris, with girls fighting all the time for him, but he had just learned that he was the second moonlark and that he had to leave behind his human life as well.

And they were both clearly important heroes to Paris.

What was Paris going to do without a Ladybug and Cat Noir?

He could feel Marinette's tears staining his tunic. But he still didn't let go. It was clear that she needed someone to help comfort her, and clearly, Adrien was out of the running for that (he was still trying to process the whole "he was the second moonlark" thing).

But Keefe could see Sophie give Adrien a reassuring squeeze.

How quickly things changed.

When he'd started hiding in Paris, he'd wanted nothing to do with anyone, only forcing himself to meet Adrien because he realized complete isolation would cause suspicion. And then he met Marinette and everything changed.

They'd started hanging out more (partially because Adrien had kept staring at them and it was kinda freaking them out).

He'd had the bravery to talk more, though was still choosing his words carefully (one wrong move and she could've been a corpse).

And that ice cream they had yesterday...

Was the ice cream guy a shipper?

But Keefe couldn't help but keep staring at Sophie. He didn't know what was going on; it felt like his heart was being tugged towards two different girls who were similar in personality. But he'd known Sophie for two years. He'd barely known Marinette for a week. They were just friends. Nothing more.

And friends sometimes had to comfort each other.

"However, there's a small chance we may have to delay the move for you two," Mr. Forkle added.

Keefe saw Marinette perk up.

"After all, we will still have to talk to the Council about this," he explained.

Marinette gave Keefe a confused look.

"They rule the Lost Cities," Keefe explained, feeling Marinette nod a little before snuggling back into his arms, letting herself deadweight a little. It was clear she was getting worn out from the long day. He had to admit it. Marinette looked like a cute little toddler when she was tired and scared like this, resting her head on his chest, her hand tugging on her pigtail, her little Kwami lying on her knee. She appeared to feel safer and more comfortable in his grip, especially after trying to deal with the new information about having to leave her human life.

"And besides, how would the public react if they saw a human, and knew that they were in fact human?" Mr. Forkle pointed out, staring right at Marinette. "You see, centuries ago, elves and humans used to be allies. But then they took our gifts to them and turned them into weapons. We had no choice but to sever all ties with them. For a while, we tried to secretly help humans with the Human Assistance Program, but they still didn't use our gifts the way we wanted to, and we cut all ties forever. Since then, we've only had one human aware of the Lost Cities, and she's known as Amy Foster, Natalie Freeman, or another name that I can't reveal just yet."