Keeper Of The Lost Cities What If..? 1

Instructions

What If...Elwin gets injured in a Neverseen attack? Sophie races toward Foxfire, the most recent site of the Neverseen's plot. She pushes past the crowds of students. "Let me through!" She demands when Keefe, Ro, Fitz and Grizel block her way. Sandor sneaks a peek around the blockade and shakes his head. Flori covers her mouth and gasps. Fitz shakes his head. "No Sophie...I don't think you should-" "I said let me through!" She shouts. "I can handle it, I wasn't that attached to the school anyways!" "Sophie..it's not the school." Keefe says gently. "W-what? Someone was inside? But I thought...I thought we warned everyone when we figured it out." "We tried." Fitz says. His face looks so grim. Just then, Livvy pushes gently past her with her doctor's equipment. Fitz and Keefe part briefly to let her by, then go back in to place. Sophie sighs. She can take it! She's not a small child! She thinks about what to do to get by. She turns, scanning the crowd, then gasps. "Is that a Neverseen cloak?" She asks, trying to divert their attention. It works, Keefe and Fitz are craning their necks to see and Sandor, Grizel and Ro are pulling out weapons. Sophie runs between Fitz and Keefe, breaking them apart. Keefe involuntary steps back and Fitz lets out a short cry of shock, but she ignores it. She runs down the crater site-like slope where Foxfire used to stand, her mind racing with her feet. Who could it be? Lady Cadence? Tiergan? Her heart stops for a moment. It couldn't be Mr. Forkle, could it? She's already lost him once...she can't lose him again. But when she reaches the bottom, where Livvy is leaning over a prone figure, she realizes it so much worse. "Oh...Hi, Sophie." Elwin coughs out when he notices her. Sophie collapses on her knees next to him. Livvy puts a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be ok, Sophie. You need to let me work, though. Go home. Get some sleep. You can visit him in the morning." She says calmingly. Sophie is in shock. Elwin had done so much for her and her friends...he can't be hurt...she can't lose him...she feels someone gently taking her hand and leading her away, but she doesn't register it. Suddenly, Grady and Edaline are there, comforting her. They light-leap back home, where Sophie stumbles into her room, ignoring Sandor's protests that he and Flori have to check it first. She faceplants onto her bed, grabbing Ella and hugging her. She hears Edaline come in and sit next to her, feels her mom running her hands through her hair and assuring her everything would be fine. She falls asleep, and is plagued with nightmares. She stays in bed for the next few days, with Edaline making her favorite foods to try to cheer her up. A few days later, Fitz, Keefe, Biana, Linh, Dex, Wylie, Marella, Tam, Stina, Maruca, and all their bodyguards are at Calla's tree, waiting for her. She mumbles a hello to them, and they all look at each other. "Sophie, we're worried about you." Biana starts, and Stina mutters "Speak for yourself" and consequently gets glares from, well, everyone. She shrugs. Sophie shakes her head. "Really, guys, I'm fine." "Elwin's doing a bit better. Livvy's been doing a great job taking care of him." Fitz says. "Maybe you could go visit him." She shakes her head, terrified that she'll see him weak, the person who has been strong for her countless times. Marella sighs. "For goodness sake, you're not the only person who he's helped! Everyone feels the same way you do, but we need to focus on figuring out what the Neverseen will do next so we can prevent this from happening again!" Linh nudges Marella slightly. "You promised you wouldn't yell." "What, I'm not yelling. I'm telling her the truth. Elwin has helped all of us. We have proof." "Proof other than the fact that we're still alive, you mean." Keefe says, smirking slightly. Biana shakes her head. "Sophie, we had an idea. What if tonight we all had a sleepover here? That way we could take our minds off of, well, Elwin." Sophie nods slightly. "Ok. I guess." Everyone sighs in relief. That afternoon, everyone shows up in their pajamas and a small bag of essential items. They all set up at Calla's tree, and start having fun. Edaline brings out mallowmelt, Ro brings nail polish, Biana does makeovers, Keefe loses a bet with Ro and has to let Biana give him a girly makeover, Tam sulks in a corner, its just a lot of fun. The boys and girls are sleeping on different sides of the tree, boys on the left and girls on the right, and as everyone sets up their sleeping bags, a light breeze picks up, and Panake flowers start gently breezing down as the sun sets. Everyone sits and watches the sunset, Keefe ends up sitting next to Sophie and gets teased by Ro about the romantic setting, so he goes as far away as possible, blushing and scolding Ro. The sun dips under the horizon, and everyone starts getting in their sleeping bags. Sophie nearly chokes when she sees all the stuffed animals. Even Marella has one. She gets in her sleeping bag, and starts +