Swan Song

Chapter Two

Oh hello peeps. I have returned again. Did you miss me? Of course you did.

Crowd: No we really didn't. Please, disappear again.

Me: Shut up crowd. See I have a small group of fans who support me!

Fans: (Halfheartedly) Whoo hoo. Go Asdfghjkl. Yay.

Me: *Sighs* Just read the chapter.

You guys are all going to hate me so much, I'm sorry. :)

Enjoy the chapter anyway!

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Keefe rolled over and mumbled "Sophie. It's okay." He paused for a while. "I got this."

For a split second, Sophie was hopelessly confused- before she realized.

He was dreaming.

(HEHEHEHEHE YOU ALL HATE ME NOW MUAHAHAHAHAHA)

Don't cry don't cry don't cry don'tycrydon'tcry Sophie told herself, but it really didn't work. Furiously, she swiped at her eyes and stretched her mind out to Keefe's.

His head was filled an enormous cavern, four glowing obelisks illuminating the place. Weapons lined the walls, which Keefe found mildly disturbing- but not entirely surprising.

"Even if I am crawling, I won't be losing." Keefe said, staring defiantly at the ogre king. Despite his confident declaration, a feeling of panic (that for some reason reminded him of vibes he generally got from Sophie) was rising up in him. Why the mallowmelt would I decide to do something so stupid? He asked himself. After throwing a quick glance at Sophie, he remembered. Waves of panic flowed off of her, which made his own nervousness even worse. While he was focusing on breathing normally and convincing himself he'd be fine, he zoned out for a second. Keefe realized this after he noticed Foster staring at him expectantly.

"I'll be fine," Keefe told her, sounding almost like he maybe even believed it. "I'm basically undefeated at tackle bramble." He added, trying to lighten the mood maybe just a little bit. Which was basically what he did all the time.

"This isn't a game, Keefe!" Sophie snapped. She took a deep breath. "And you can't cheat."

Keefe winked at her. "I never cheat." Apparently, again Sophie didn't appreciate his efforts to make jokes. Privately, he sighed. The thought of Sophie mad at him scared him more than the prospect of fighting King Dimitar. He knew it was his own fault, and he knew he had to do this, but... I wish I didn't keep ruining everything with her... Keefe thought.

The image in Keefe's head slowly faded into nothingness. A second later, a new image replaced it.

Keefe was lying in salt, staring up at the ogre king who had him pinned. "Which is why the sparring begins now." Dimitar said in that awful scratchy voice- Keefe's throat hurt just thinking about it.

Before he had time to register the words, Keefe felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, accompanied by a disgusting squish sound. That's not good, is it? Keefe thought, yelling out in pain.

"That's one!" King Dimitar declared gleefully. "I can't decide which I'm enjoying more, beating the boy- or having the girl watch me do it."

The thought of Sophie fueled Keefe with adrenaline. His shoulder was throbbing- and he was sure it would hurt even more if Dimitar managed to get him again- but Sophie was freaking out and he would do anything to make her feel better. So somehow, he got the strength to stand up. "I'm fine." He lied, hating how weak his voice sounded.

The rest of the sparring match was a blur in Keefe's mind- a blur of pain and blood and snarls and shouted insults... and the words he chanted over and over again in his head to keep him going: Sophie. Sophie. Sophie.

The memory became clear again as Sophie shoved a panakes blossom in his mouth. For the first time, his shocked mind managed to register It's over. I won. For all his bravado, Keefe really was not expecting that to happen.

"It looks worse than it is," Keefe promised her, though that was a blatant lie. If anything, it was worse than it looked. But Sophie had already done enough worrying for today- he had already caused her enough pain, and he was determined not to add to it. So he smiled and made jokes and refused to show her the cut on his side- until he noticed she was crying.

"Seriously," he said in a softer voice. "No need to get blood on your gloves- or on Dex's very special cuffs," he added, unable to resist teasing her just a little. Because that was how he dealt with things. Sometimes it sucked, like when a very angry Sophie was glaring at him- but making jokes was how he dealt.

Sophie sighed. "Show me."

"If you wanted to check out my abs-"

"Show me."

Keefe sighed and moved his arm. Vaguely, he heard King Dimitar's voice saying something obnoxious- and then a whole wave of Sophie's ugly emotions crashed over him. Fury. Fear. Darkness. Hate.

"Sophie?"

No response.

Not entirely knowing what the heck he was doing, he tugged at her glove until it came off, and held her hand. The rush of Sophie's enhancing raced through him, and instinct guided him to manipulate her emotions.

Calm.

Steady.

Relax.

Slowly, he started to see Sophie's mind obeying.

A voice snapped Sophie out of her thoughts- or rather, Keefe's thoughts. "Sophie?" Sophie's head whipped around to see Marella and Linh standing by the doorway.

Sophie sighed. "What is it? I was busy checking on Keefe's dreams-"

"Ooooohh..." Marella teased. "Was he dreaming about you? How sweeeeeet!"

Sophie blushed. Keefe was dreaming about her- but it didn't mean anything, right? His mind had just happened to go to a time they were together, and it showed him caring for her a lot. Like a friend should.

Marella nudged Linh. "She's blushing." She stage whispered. "I think that means he was."

Linh gave Marella a disapproving look. "That's not what we came here to talk about."

Marella sighed. "True. But her denial is so cu-"

"What did you come here to talk about?" Sophie interrupted, praying it would spare her from any further embarrassment.

"Um..." Marella said. "Mr. Forkle asked us to come get you. He needs to tell you something important."

"Good important or bad important?" Sophie asked, dreading the answer she knew would come.

"Bad important," Linh said softly, confirming her fears.

Sophie sighed and took one last look at Keefe- still unconscious. Then she followed Linh and Marella out of the Healing Center.

Hellllooooooooo I gave you another cliffhanger lol. But... I hope you don't hate me too much? Like, I know you were expecting Keefe to wake up, but... at least you got to see his cute memory of Sophie? I gave you guys some Sokeefe fluff... please forgive me? (Lol that'll never happen.)

Please vote and comment anyway!