ETERNAL (This is a Sokeefe fanfiction) On Hiatus

Chapter 29

Edaline greeted Sophie, Keefe, Tam and Dex at the door of Havenfield, looking slightly confused. Perfect. Just the person they were looking for.

Her first question was, "Did something happen at the sleepover?" After Tam had told everyone his theory- not including Fitz- They'd decided to split up. Linh and Biana went to find Fitz and calm him down, and the remaining four came to Havenfield to ask Edaline more about conjuring powers.

Wow. It really was impossible for Sophie and her friends to have a normal sleepover.

Sophie gave her mom a small smile. "Actually, can we ask you about your power?" A flash of understanding goes through her eyes. She motions for all of us to come in and conjures up four plates of custard bursts.

"I'm guessing this has to do with your new power?" Edaline asked, looking at Keefe. "Sophie told me how you manifested as a Conjurer."

"Yeah, uh... do you want to tell her the theory? It's kind of all fuzzy in my brain right now."

Tam repeated everything he had told Sophie at first, almost word for word. The crease between Edaline's eyebrows grew deeper with every sentence.

"Well, I have to admit, Keefe seems like a special case. For a Conjurer, it all depends on skill level," Edaline admits. "You start at a stage where you can conjure small objects, maybe not even full ones. I'm guessing you're around that stage?"

Keefe nods, and Dex finally speaks. "How long does it take to develop the level of skill for an—average elf?"

"I'm totally above average!" Keefe argues, leaning back on the couch and throwing an arm around Sophie's shoulder. His plate of custard bursts is on the couch next to him, some of the powder on his fingers.

"Nope, don't touch me with those disgusting hands," Sophie laughed, pushing his hand away. He feigned looking hurt before Sophie turned back to Edaline. "Sorry."

Edaline only gave a knowing smile in their direction. "I'm going to have to agree with Keefe here. His power is above average. Usually, with proper training, it takes a couple of weeks for you to conjure larger objects. By the end of your fifth or sixth month of ability training, you should be okay to teleport objects maybe even the same size as you. But after that, it takes years after that to master exact precision of where you want to conjure something or how long it stays in the 'void.'"

"The void?" Tam's shadows seemed to darken with each line that Edaline spoke, like he was coming to a conclusion already.

"The void is the place where all objects so called 'disappear'. It's just a fold of time and space used to store personal objects. It's actually where Sophie decided to keep Kenric's cache." Keefe looked down at his hands with an ashamed expression.

Sophie tilted his chin up. "Stop feeling guilty, Keefe." He doesn't reply. Instead, she turns back to her mom, who is smiling a little. "But what does the void have to do with anything?"

"It's possible— and this is only a theory, keep in mind— that if certain factors created the conjuring ability in Keefe, he would be able to manipulate the void for his own use."

Dex's expression showed that everything was clicking together in his mind, similar to what Sophie was feeling. Dex opens his mouth a little hesitantly. "So—would Keefe be able to-"

"Yes, he will be able to teleport at the very minimum. It's even possible that he would be able to control parts of time if he really wanted to. Just remember that this takes an extreme amount of skill level that I don't doubt you can accomplish, Keefe, but it's draining. Even after centuries of practicing, no elf has ever reached that level of skill."

"Well I can't wait to be the first!" Keefe said with a huge burst of confidence. Then he swore under his breath. "What if the Neverseen want to use this against me? Against us? I mean, imagine the damage they could do if they could just go back in time! Or if I could teleport like Foster, how much easier will t be for them to track us down or attack places? I mean, manipulating me can't be that hard if they've done it so many times in the past."

Sophie's heart shattered when she noticed a tear forming in his eye. The guilt.

The guilt of it all was finally catching up with him. It was going to drive him insane.

He was going to be like Alden if Sophie didn't do something fast. Sophie snagged his hand and tugged him up off the couch. "We'll be right back, okay?" She tossed her imparter to Tam. "Update Lin, Bianca and Fitz about our problem. Thanks, Mom, for helping us."

Before any of them can reply, she yanked Keefe out the door and slammed it shut behind him. His back was against the doorframe, his eyes glazed over.

The same thing happened to Alden.

Sophie was panicking. This couldn't happen. Alden never fully healed from the guilt overpowering him, and Keefe's would leave am even deeper scar.

She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. "You are in charge of what happens to you, okay? We've outsmarted the Neverseen more times than I can count on one hand. Guess what? You could possibly have these amazing powers and you're worried about betraying us?"

Keefe still hasn't responded, gazing past Sophie to the bright moon ahead.

"I trust you with my life, and I know that you would fight for our side. I was never worried. Even if you suddenly sprouted wings, that doesn't mean you're going to fly off and join the Neverseen, right? It's all up to you."

Keefe's face hardened. "What happens the next time they threaten to kill you, huh? Or Fitz or Bianca or Dex or the twins? I would easily give myself up in a heartbeat, and don't give me that look because you would too. I just want to prove her wrong, but I still want her to be proud of me."

Just like that, Sophie understood he had shifted to talking about his mom.

"I know, I shouldn't care what evil mommy dearest thinks, and I know that I act like she's a piece of trash—which she is— but I want some kind of— I don't know— sign that she's proud of me. Ugh, this is stupid."

"No, it's not." Sophie's arm wrapped around his neck so she could give him a hug. "Don't downplay any of this. You're going through a lot right now. Just talk to me about it."

And he did. They finished the sleepovenrlike everything was normal, but the next day, with Sophie comfortably in his arms, he just talked. It might have been minutes, hours. Sophie couldn't tell. She was too attracted to the sound of his voice, his laugh, his smile.

He was so close to being happy for the first time, and Sophie wasn't going to let Lady Gisela ruin it all for him.

I'm so so so sorry that this took forever to upload. My wattpad has been having issues lately, and I wrote the chapter twice because the first time it got deleted accidentally. Anyway, next Chapter will be fluffy, woohoo. :)