Keeper of the Lost Cities: a Robin Hood AU

Chapter 19: Fitz Vacker/Robin Hood

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY 2019!!!!!!!! *tosses confetti*

Sorry for not updating for like a month...I needed to focus on my exams and my health issues. As a result, I have a plan of action and a 4.0! Thank you for your patience and all of your support.

Patience yields focus.

I have not watched season 8 yet so no spoilers, please!

What did you guys get for Christmas? I got gloves, CDs, the first Fantastic Beasts movie, a bracelet, lots of books, and new ski poles. To be honest that's all I wanted and I am perfectly content. :)

~ See bottom for important Author's note! ~

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Previously:

The flashback stopped and I reached for Keefe. Tears streamed down my face and Dex joined us on the terrace.

"What happened?" Dex asked.

"Some of my memories...they...t-they came back," I whispered.

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~ Fitz POV ~

I sat in the participant's tent, waiting for my match.

Since Fintan and I held the top two positions, we got to compete last. The officials had laid out the rules for us earlier: no one would know what the battle of wits was going to be like until they stepped into the arena, and there was no cheating. All 20 competitors who were left were paired up and had to go against each other in the arena, one pair at a time. Fintan and I were scheduled to go last.

I wouldn't have minded it, except that it gave me a lot of time to think. And no matter how hard I tried to keep my mind occupied with the upcoming battle of wits, my thoughts kept circling back to her.

Sophie Foster. She lied to me. Betrayed my trust. Yet, my heart still yearned for her gentle presence, her selflessness -

Stop it! Stop thinking about things that shouldn't be thought about!

Keefe was down here too, not-so-subtly glaring at me every so often. I know I messed up when I hit Sophie. In fact, I even told Keefe that. But that didn't stop my best friend from smacking me upside with enough force that my teeth rattled. He said that while he might forgive me, Sophie hadn't - so he was going to glare at him for her.

My warring thoughts continued in an endless loop until I vaguely heard one of the officials calling me over to the entrance.

This was it.

Time to prove that I had wits.

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As I stepped into the arena, I came face to face with a ginormous green wall - and it wasn't just green - it was alive. The wall was made out of plants that moved and hissed - almost as if they were snakes. It wasn't a bunch of snakes, but I recognized it as lurthies, a plant that hissed and lured people into its depths so it could eat them.

I shuddered and stepped back just in time as the plant tried to reach out and grasp my arm. I looked to my right and saw an entrance with a freshly painted sign that said "The Maze."

Wow, they really didn't spare any brains cells on this one.

I shrugged and stepped through the archway. As soon as I crossed the threshold, a hologram of an official appeared in front of me. The official had bright orange hair and a thick handlebar mustache.