Keeper of the Lost Cities: Unlocked: A Fan-fiction

Chapter Thirteen - Sophie

"Sophie," Edaline said, shaking Sophie gently from her sleep, "wake up."

"Mmmghrubmgbmlemm," Sophie mumbled, turning away from Edaline in a desperate attempt to get back to the dream she had been having. There had been an Alicorn. And an enormous ocean beneath them. And a blond-haired, ice-blue-eyed boy who didn't have any right to be there. But despite that, it had still been an amazing dream. Or maybe because of that. Sophie didn't know, and she knew that when she was fully awake she wouldn't want to inspect it.

"Sophie," Edaline said, shaking her again. "Sophie, please get up. It's already noon, and you have visitors."

"Noon?" Sophie gasped, jerking up in bed and looking at Edaline with wide eyes while slapping herself awake. "How did I sleep for so long?"

"I don't know," Edaline said, a trace of slyness creeping into her voice, "but when I was a teenage girl, my dreams were usually filled with boys, boys, and bo-"

"Mom!" Sophie cried, covering Edaline's mouth with her hand while blushing. She hoped that the sleepiness of her expression would cover it. Edaline giggled behind Sophie's hand, and Sophie dropped it, rolling her eyes and trying not to let Edaline see her face.

She turned away and tried to get out of bed, but somehow, the blankets got tangled around her legs, tripping her. She fell flat on her face on the floor and groaned, rolling over to see Edaline leaning over her with a worried expression.

"I'm fine," Sophie grunted. And that was, of course, when her visitor arrived.

"Wow I cannot believe I've lived an entire week without seeing Miss Blondie trip and fall on her face! It has been torture, let me tell you. But this game sounds fun! Are we talking about boys? Cause, actually, that's what I came here to talk about, too!" Ro smirked, sauntering into Sophie's room with a grin that basically declared, "Danger! Danger! Danger!".

"Um, hi," Sophie said, untangling herself, standing, and hoping her cheeks wouldn't burn up. "How have you been?" She frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Actually, where have you been? I haven't seen you around, like, at all."

Ro shrugged. "Lord Hunkyhair doesn't exactly need me right now, so I've been home. With Daddy-o. He's been oh so happy to see me," she said with an eyeroll.

"Oh," Sophie said uncomfortably. "Well, why are you here now? Did you hear about Keefe and... what happened?"

"Oh, yes. Remind me again of how, during the one week I trust everyone else here to take care of my charge, you all manage to let him die. Like, actually die. Like, dead. No heartbeat. Dead dead."

Sophie lowered her eyes and sat dejectedly on her bed, hating how true her words were.

"Sophie, it's not your fault," Edaline said, hugging her hard, which was awkward considering that Sophie was sitting. Still, it was comforting to hear the words.

"Now, I'm going to let you girls talk, but I want you to know that it is not your fault. Alright?" she whispered, looking in Sophie's eyes.

"Alright," Sophie said softly.

"Good." And she stole away.

"I forgot all about your little elfy guilt," Ro admitted, sitting on the bed next to Sophie and causing it to sink dramatically. "Sorry about that. It isn't actually your fault. It's just... he's my charge. I'm supposed to care for him. And that was... too close."

"I know," Sophie said. She studied Ro closely, then smiled triumphantly. "You care!"

"What?" Ro gasped, her eyes widening to the size of small golf balls. "No, no, no. No. No, I do not care. I couldn't care less what happens to Lord Hunkyhair. I only care what happens when he gets smooshed and I've failed my assignment. That's all. That's all."

"Right," Sophie said with a grin.

"Right," Ro said suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. "Anyways... I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?" Sophie asked, immediately on guard.

Ro rolled her eyes again, which seemed to be her favorite expression. "Stop being so scared. I'm not going to crush you like the little bug you are, though we both I know I could."

She was probably right.

"Ugh. Stop worrying. It's only a little heart-to-heart with Auntie Ro. Nothing wrong with that, right?" She grinned, and Sophie winced.

"I came here because, for one, I'm tired of Miss Oblivious."

"Oblivious of what?"

"Exactly. Two, I think what I have to say might help your boy."

"For real?" Sophie gasped. "You can help Keefe?"

Ro grinned. "Funny you assumed I was talking about Lord Hunkyhair," she chuckled.

Sophie's face burned as she realized what she had said. "I was just... I just... It's just... he's always been my boy. I mean, that's what you've always call him. So I assumed that's what you meant," she bumbled out.

Ro giggled and imitated Sophie's words and tone from earlier. "Right."

Sophie shook her head hard, though what at, she wasn't sure. "Weren't you going to tell me something?" she asked.

"Right," Ro said again, this time on a more serious note. "I think I know how to help your boy."

Sophie bit her lip but didn't interrupt.

"He kind of runs off emotions, right? Cause he has that weird elfy thing you guys are always going on about? And you kind of go off emotions too, with your creepy, killer, painful ability thingy thing. So, what if you did your little inflicting thing on your boy? Wouldn't that help?"

Sophie frowned. "We've already tried that. I tried inflicting happy emotions, and shocked emotions, and even angry emotions. Nothing helps." They had tried a lot of things.

Ro hesitated. "What if you inflicted... a different set of emotions? I don't know, exactly. Just, some stuff you haven't tried yet. Would that work?"

Sophie jumped, then gulped at what she was pretty sure Ro was implying. Then she nodded quickly. She could stand a little – fine, a lot – of embarrassment if it meant Keefe would wake up. "I can try," she said, quickly standing and waving her hands in front of her face. When had the room gotten so hot?

Ro studied Sophie for a second, then grinned for what might have been the fifth time that morning. "I have a feeling I'm going to like non-oblivious Blondie much more than oblivious Blondie."

Sophie gulped again, almost certain about what she was talking about. But as much as she refused to admit it, she might have been developing the slightest crush on a certain ice-blue eyed boy.

Okay, maybe a huge crush. But no one else could ever know. She had already had one relationship go... the wrong way, and she had learned her lesson. She wasn't ready for that stuff yet. But even if she were, it wouldn't matter.

Because there was no way Keefe Sencen would ever like her back.

Remember what I said earlier in the book about second-hand embarrassment? Yeah. Lots of that for me. While this chapter was a pleasure to write, because I got to both embarrass Sophie and re-introduce Ro, there was also a lot of blushing on my part. I'm glad I'm writing in my room and not outside in the rest of the house, because my mom would think I'm like texting my crush or something. (I don't even have my crush's phone number lol, so that's impossible.)

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed! Keep reading! Please vote! Comment on one small thing you want to happen in the next chapter, and I'll do my best to involve it. Thanks, guys!

- Total_KOTLC_Fan