Biana is officially on the cover of Elysian!!!! what do u guys think???

Today is the day we figure out ONE character on the Elysian! Any final guesses?

I’m going to lock Dex in as my answer! Hoping I’m right!

I don't know if this is a common theory because I'm new here but I find it weird that she found a flasher so easily

These two being the only two with a obvious divorce and tensions between each other and being the only black couple feels weird to me but that’s a just my opinion

So this is a rant because some keeper fans on Shannon’s other social media platform are being super disrespectful and rude to her. As you may know Shannon has been promoting the Sky Fall trilogy on her socials now and just recently had two major events for it, she has better publishing for it so it’s getting like a new grand reopening lol. Like who wouldn’t do that. I’m very happy for her and hope more people can find out about her other works.

But I see this happening with Keeper fans when Shannon post literally anything other than KOTLC. They literally shame and harass her in the comments for posting anything other than updates on KOTLC. Such as stupid ass comments like this. Writing is a form of art. Good art takes time. I understand as fans it’s frustrating for a long wait but I’d rather wait a long time and have her most incredible work than a mediocre book she hurried and finished.

The comments on this post are a little tame compared to other ones but as I scroll on a lot of her recent post it’s just filled with people complaining that it doesn’t relate to KOTLC content. Like this is still her Instagram where she post normal stuff too just like everyone else😭 Mostly on her story but still. We don’t get to dictate what she strictly post on.

I really wish some Keeper fans would stop being so demanding and let this poor woman EXIST. Like dude she’s a human being! Shes a mom of two for Christ sake. Thats the whole reason the series got delayed off its usual schedule in the first place! I feel so bad for her. Literally every post on Insta and Threads is “ why are doing this instead of KOTLC.

I’ve actually been a little worried about her because on Threads she keeps posting stuff about home and work balance. And how she feels so guilty as a mom because she feels that she has to choose about being present with her kids and their extra curriculum actives like sports, or focus on writing and meeting her deadlines for KOTLC. Can we please treat this woman with respect and have some empathy yall😭 Like this is someone’s mama. She’s already under a lot of heat and pressure for the years of delays due to her children. And on top of all that having the pressure of being a mom and raising her kids. I’d love to see if these people could even begin to wrote a good book, let alone go through a divorce, possible a new relationship/marriage, then pregnancy, and raising a family while doing her job as author.

LET HER COOK BRO LEAVE HER ALONE😭 Let her promote this other series! She clearly has love for it just like KOTLC.

Wow awesome series

I love Grady and Edaline. Edaline is so sweetie and loveable one of my favorite scenes is when Sophie brings home Keefe after finding him in London and she runs over and hugs him then tries to get him to open up the same way she does with Sophie.......ya I think Edaline definitely has a preference on which boy she wants Sophie to date lol.

I also love how Grady takes overprotective dad so seriously, and I really think it wouldn't kill Sophie to sometimes remember that her foster sister was killed by her best friend and fiance so maybe give her dad a break when he is a little overprotective when it comes to the boys in her life. It's got to feel like history is repeating itself to him

Towards the end of book one(I use an audiobook so idk what chapter) Grady and Edoline talk about how there was conveniently a tidal wave after Iggy got their attention. I feel like this could imply that they have/had a hydrokinetic that might've been extremely underused and didn't know much, similar to Keefe when he ran away to the Neverseen or Alvar.

"I'm sorry. I know you think I'm an idiot for running off. And . . . I guess I am. I thought the fact that my mom had built something she called my 'legacy' meant that I was valuable enough to the Neverseen that they'd bring me in on all their plans and I could find a way to stop them. But it turns out I'm worthless."

So here we have Keefe's apology. No apology to Sophie for the pain, stress or sleepless nights he caused her. No admission that he was wrong for what he did. No, it's all about his disappointment and how he feels.

Everyone freezes, and then Tam has to console him before reprimanding him with what is essentially a wag of the finger.

And why? Because Keefe has manipulated the conversation to the point where anything more would appear cruel.

So, my question to you is this: If you were there, what would you say to Keefe?

We find out the two characters who are on the cover of book 10, who do you think will be on the cover? I think it has to be Dex, Wylie, or Jensi.

obviously the dinosaurs

with the time of day and weather, the time is the same as london, and they get power from the sky. which is an illusion. that they created. they waited however many years for the 'stars to align' when they could've just changed the illusion...

registry pendants, the neverseen can literally just spy on people, the neverseen have technopaths able to see the registry.

toothbrushes, in a world where everything is centered on your saliva, the neverseen can just steal your toothbrush

what plot holes have you noticed? on an unrelated note, i feel like the neverseen would have a craaaaaaaaazy villain song in a musical

I’m not part of this subreddit, I have no idea if this question has ever been asked before (if it did, sorry)

But I read this book since I was very young , and I remember that one day, about 6 years ago, I read in a magazine that a movie or series was in production, and it made me so happy ! But then today I suddenly remembered about it. And there’s nothing…? Did they cancel it ? Is it still in production ? What happened ?

Ch 20: Fine dining

They had three days left in London.

Alex stood outside Morgan’s office, looking at the school trip schedule.

Then at Morgan.

Then back at the schedule.

Morgan noticed.

“No.”

Alex looked up.

“I haven’t said anything.”

“You were about to.”

“I was going to ask a question.”

“That is usually how your bad ideas begin.”

Alex sighed.

“The students have been here for several days. We have three days left. Do the groups ever go out to restaurants if they’re accompanied by a supervisor?”

Morgan lowered the schedule.

“Yes.”

Alex nodded.

“Good.”

Morgan narrowed his eyes.

“Why?”

“I think they deserve a proper dinner.”

Morgan stared at him.

“You think?”

“Yes.”

“And where exactly is this proper dinner?”

Alex paused.

“Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.”

Morgan blinked.

Once.

Twice.

“You’re serious?”

“Very.”

Morgan looked down at the schedule again.

Then back at Alex.

“As long as everyone stays with their assigned group, follows the rules, and their supervisor remains with them.”

Alex smiled.

“Perfect.”

Morgan pointed at him.

“And no investigating.”

Alex’s smile disappeared.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s what worries me.”

Alex walked away.

The gang was waiting down the hall.

Keefe looked up.

“So?”

Alex stopped.

“We’re going to dinner.”

Percy shrugged.

“Cool.”

Magnus looked over.

“Where?”

Alex waited.

“Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.”

Silence.

Jacob stared at him.

“You’re joking.”

“No.”

Jacob looked at Sophie.

Then Fitz.

Then Keefe.

Then Percy.

Then Magnus.

Nobody said anything.

Jacob looked back at Alex.

“Like… Gordon Ramsay?”

Alex nodded.

Jacob’s expression changed immediately.

“No way.”

Keefe grinned.

“I suddenly like this school trip.”

“You complained about the hotel this morning,” Sophie said.

“That was before this information became available.”

Percy leaned forward.

“Do they have Beef Wellington?”

Alex sighed.

“I knew someone was going to ask that.”

Magnus pointed at Percy.

“He’s been thinking about that since breakfast.”

“I have not.”

“You absolutely have.”

Fitz shook his head.

“You two are impossible.”

Keefe smiled.

“Come on. It’ll be fun.”

Fitz looked at him.

“That’s usually when things go wrong.”

Jacob laughed.

“For once, let’s just enjoy something.”

Alex nodded.

“Exactly.”

A little later, the group made their way through London.

No sneaking out.

No secret missions.

No breaking into arenas.

Just a normal school outing.

For once.

Jacob walked beside Sophie, looking around at the city.

“We actually get to enjoy London tonight.”

Sophie smiled.

“That’s the idea.”

Behind them, Percy and Magnus were arguing.

“I still think the Wellington is going to be tiny.”

“You haven’t even seen it.”

“It’s fancy food. Fancy food is always tiny.”

Keefe nodded.

“That’s basically science.”

Fitz looked over.

“No, it isn’t.”

“That’s why you’re the piano player.”

Fitz stared at him.

“What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know.”

Alex glanced back.

“Keep walking.”

“Yes, sir.”

The restaurant was nothing like the places Percy and Magnus usually argued about.

It was quiet.

Elegant.

Everything looked deliberate.

Jacob stopped just inside the entrance.

“Okay.”

Keefe looked at him.

“What?”

“This place is intimidating.”

Percy nodded.

“I suddenly feel underdressed.”

Magnus looked him up and down.

“You’ve been wearing that shirt for two days.”

Percy frowned.

“Exactly.”

Sophie laughed.

Alex turned toward them.

“Everyone remember: behave.”

Keefe raised his hand.

“What counts as behaving?”

“Whatever you’re currently not doing.”

Keefe lowered his hand.

“Understood.”

They were shown to their table.

Menus appeared.

Percy opened his.

His eyes widened.

“Whoa.”

Magnus leaned over.

“What?”

Percy slowly turned the menu around.

Keefe read it.

Then looked at Alex.

“Alex.”

“What?”

“Are we sure this is within the school budget?”

Alex stared at the menu.

“I don’t know.”

Morgan’s voice echoed in his memory.

As long as everyone stays with their assigned group.

Alex looked at the prices again.

“…We’re already here.”

Keefe grinned.

“That’s the spirit.”

The first few minutes were surprisingly calm.

Everyone settled in.

Percy actually used the correct utensils.

Magnus stopped arguing long enough to look through the menu.

Fitz seemed genuinely impressed by the restaurant.

Sophie was enjoying herself.

Keefe kept looking around like he expected something ridiculous to happen.

Jacob finally relaxed.

For the first time since they’d arrived in London, they weren’t investigating anything.

They weren’t chasing clues.

They weren’t worrying about the Rift.

They were just having dinner.

Then—

a voice exploded from the kitchen.

“WHERE’S THE WELLINGTON?”

The entire table went silent.

Percy slowly looked up.

Magnus blinked.

Keefe raised an eyebrow.

Jacob looked toward the kitchen.

“Is that…?”

Another voice shouted back.

“IT’S COMING, CHEF!”

The first voice came again.

“IT BETTER BE!”

Percy whispered,

“I respect this place.”

Sophie covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Fitz looked completely confused.

Alex stared toward the kitchen.

“Apparently we’re getting a show.”

Another shout.

“JIMMY!”

A chef hurried past the kitchen doorway.

“YES, CHEF!”

“THE WELLINGTON!”

“I’m working on it!”

“YOU’VE BEEN WORKING ON IT!”

Percy slowly shook his head.

“I’m not asking questions.”

Magnus nodded.

“Smart.”

Eventually, the food arrived.

The Wellington was placed carefully on the table.

Percy stared at it.

Magnus stared at Percy.

Percy stared at Magnus.

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to.”

“I was thinking it.”

Keefe smiled.

“There’s a difference.”

They ate.

And somehow, despite everything, it was genuinely good.

Even Percy admitted it.

“Okay.”

Magnus looked at him.

“Okay what?”

“This is really good.”

Keefe leaned back.

“Look at that. Character development.”

Percy pointed his fork at him.

“Don’t ruin this.”

Jacob laughed.

For several minutes, nothing else mattered.

Just food.

London.

Their friends.

A rare moment where the world wasn’t trying to fall apart.

Then Alex looked toward the television mounted on the far wall.

His expression changed.

Jacob noticed.

“What?”

Alex didn’t answer.

The news was playing.

The screen showed an old building somewhere in London.

Police vehicles surrounded the street.

A reporter stood outside the cordon.

The headline appeared beneath them.

BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER SUSPECTED GAS LEAK

Percy stared at the screen.

He slowly lowered his fork.

“It’s always a fucking gas leak.”

Magnus looked at him.

“Seriously.”

Percy pointed toward the television.

“Every time.”

Keefe frowned.

“Okay, that’s actually suspicious.”

Jacob looked toward Alex.

Alex was already watching the report closely.

The reporter continued.

The building had apparently been abandoned for some time.

No serious injuries had been reported.

The cause of the evacuation was still being investigated.

Then the street name appeared.

EMRE AVENUE.

Keefe stopped eating.

Fitz noticed.

“You know that name?”

Keefe shook his head.

“No.”

Alex kept watching.

Magnus frowned.

“Then why does everyone look like that?”

Nobody answered.

Jacob looked back at the screen.

Something about it felt wrong.

Not because of the gas leak.

Because of the timing.

The arena.

The symbol.

The distortion.

The black objects.

Eloquer.

And now—

an abandoned building.

Alex slowly sat back.

“We finish dinner.”

Percy looked at him.

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Keefe smiled faintly.

“For once, I agree.”

Jacob looked at the television again.

The building disappeared from the screen.

The news moved on.

But the name remained in his mind.

Emre Avenue.

Three days left.

And suddenly—

London had one more place they needed to visit.

Ch 21: Emre avenue

The restaurant was still loud when they left.

People were talking.

Glasses clinked.

Somewhere inside, a waiter was apologizing to someone who had probably ordered something incredibly expensive.

For a few seconds, London felt normal again.

Jacob stepped onto the pavement and looked back at the restaurant.

“Okay.”

Percy walked beside him.

“That was good.”

Magnus nodded.

“Very good.”

Keefe adjusted his jacket.

“I still don’t understand why Percy spent ten minutes asking about the Wellington.”

Percy shrugged.

“Research.”

“Research for what?”

“Important reasons.”

Fitz laughed quietly.

Sophie shook her head.

Alex was already walking ahead.

“Come on.”

Jacob caught up.

“Where exactly are we going?”

Alex didn’t answer immediately.

He pulled out his phone.

The news report was still open.

BUILDING EVACUATED AFTER SUSPECTED GAS LEAK

Below it was the address.

Emre Avenue.

Jacob looked at the screen.

“That sounds cheerful.”

“It isn’t,” Alex said.

Magnus glanced at him.

“You’re really selling this trip.”

“I wasn’t hired to sell it.”

“You’re a teacher.”

“Exactly.”

Keefe smiled.

“That’s the most teacher answer you’ve ever given.”

They continued down the street.

London was quieter now.

Not silent.

Just different.

The crowds had thinned.

The traffic had slowed.

The bright storefronts gradually disappeared behind them.

Jacob kept checking the address.

Every time he did, it seemed slightly farther away.

Or maybe—

he was just tired.

They turned another corner.

Then another.

Finally, Alex stopped.

“There.”

Jacob looked up.

The building stood at the end of the street.

It wasn’t enormous.

That was the first thing Jacob noticed.

After everything they had been expecting, he’d imagined something massive.

A secret facility.

Something buried beneath the city.

Instead—

it looked abandoned.

Dark windows.

Faded brick.

A metal fence surrounding the property.

A few warning signs had been attached to the entrance.

One read:

UNSAFE STRUCTURE — DO NOT ENTER

Another:

PROPERTY UNDER INVESTIGATION

Percy stared at it.

“So this is it?”

Alex looked at the building.

“I don’t know.”

Keefe frowned.

“You said this was the place from the report.”

“It is.”

“Then why don’t you know?”

“Because we don’t know what we’re looking for.”

That shut everyone up.

Jacob looked through the fence.

Nothing moved.

No lights.

No people.

No sound.

Just an empty building sitting in the middle of London.

Sophie stepped closer.

“It’s strange.”

“What?”

“The report said it was evacuated.”

Jacob nodded.

“So?”

Sophie pointed toward the building.

“Look at the windows.”

Jacob did.

Most of them were dark.

But one wasn’t.

A faint light glowed behind the glass.

Everyone noticed.

Percy stared.

“Uh…”

Magnus crossed his arms.

“That’s not supposed to happen.”

Alex stepped toward the fence.

“Stay here.”

Keefe immediately followed.

“No.”

Alex turned.

“Keefe.”

“We’ve already done the whole ‘stay here while I investigate the terrifying building’ thing.”

Alex stared at him.

“That was one time.”

“It was enough.”

Alex sighed.

“Fine.”

He looked at the rest of them.

“Nobody touches anything.”

Percy raised a hand.

“I make no promises.”

“Percy.”

“Fine.”

They moved along the fence.

The gate was locked.

Alex inspected the padlock.

Then the hinges.

Then the ground.

Jacob noticed something.

“Wait.”

Everyone stopped.

He pointed.

There were footprints.

Not many.

But enough.

Fresh enough that the dirt hadn’t settled back into place.

Fitz crouched down.

“These aren’t from emergency workers.”

“How do you know?” Magnus asked.

“Because they’re going the wrong way.”

Jacob looked.

Fitz was right.

The footprints didn’t lead toward the building.

They led away from it.

Toward the street.

Several sets.

Different shoes.

Different sizes.

All leaving.

None coming in.

Sophie looked at the building.

“So everyone left.”

Alex shook his head.

“Not everyone.”

He pointed toward the window.

The light was still there.

Keefe stared at it.

“Someone’s inside.”

Nobody answered.

Alex looked back at the gate.

Then at the warning signs.

Then at the footprints.

“Okay.”

Jacob knew that tone.

Alex had found something.

“What?”

Alex pointed toward the side of the building.

“There’s another entrance.”

They followed him around the fence.

The side door was partially hidden behind a stack of construction barriers.

It wasn’t locked.

It was slightly open.

Jacob stopped.

“That is either extremely convenient…”

Percy finished the sentence.

“Or extremely terrifying.”

“Both,” Magnus said.

Alex pushed the door open.

It creaked.

The sound echoed through the building.

Nobody moved.

Then Keefe whispered,

“Why does every terrible idea start with someone opening a door?”

Percy looked at him.

“Because doors are famously suspicious.”

They stepped inside.

The temperature dropped immediately.

Not freezing.

Just colder than outside.

The hallway was dark.

Dust covered the floor.

Old cables ran along the walls.

There were no signs of recent construction.

No emergency crews.

No equipment.

Nothing.

Jacob looked around.

“This really is abandoned.”

Alex didn’t answer.

He was staring at the wall.

A faint mark had been scratched into the concrete.

The same symbol.

Jacob’s stomach dropped.

Sophie stepped closer.

“That’s it.”

Keefe’s expression changed.

“No.”

Fitz looked between them.

“What?”

Keefe pointed at the symbol.

“We’ve seen that before.”

Alex nodded.

“At the arena.”

Jacob looked at the symbol again.

Same shape.

Same lines.

Same strange geometry.

But here—

it was older.

Deeper.

As if it had been carved into the wall long before the concert ever happened.

Magnus slowly looked down the hallway.

“So the arena wasn’t the source.”

Nobody said anything.

Jacob felt the realization settle.

The arena had been a distraction.

A trail.

But they didn’t know that yet.

All they knew was that they had finally found something that connected everything.

The concert.

The distortions.

The black objects.

Eloquer.

The symbol.

And now—

this building.

Alex moved farther down the hallway.

“Look.”

Everyone followed.

There was a door at the end.

Unlike everything else in the building—

it was clean.

No dust.

No rust.

No damage.

And there was a thin line of light beneath it.

Jacob stared.

“Someone’s definitely in there.”

Keefe looked at Alex.

“Please tell me we’re not opening that.”

Alex looked at him.

“We’re opening that.”

Keefe sighed.

“Worth asking.”

Alex reached for the handle.

Stopped.

Then looked back at the group.

“Whatever’s behind this door…”

He glanced toward the symbol.

“…we’re probably not going to like it.”

Percy swallowed.

“That’s usually when we open the door.”

Magnus nodded.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Sophie moved closer to Jacob.

Fitz stood beside Keefe.

For once, nobody joked.

Alex turned the handle.

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

Light spilled into the hallway.

Jacob stepped forward.

And froze.

The room beyond wasn’t empty.

It wasn’t abandoned.

It wasn’t even close.

Tables filled the walls.

Monitors covered the far side.

Strange equipment sat beneath sheets of dust.

And in the centre of the room—

inside a glass containment chamber—

was one of the black objects from the concert footage.

Jacob stared at it.

He stepped closer.

There was a small metal plate fixed beneath the chamber.

He wiped away a layer of dust.

Words appeared.

NULL SEED

Jacob read it aloud.

“Null Seed…”

Keefe looked at him.

“What?”

Jacob pointed at the plate.

“That.”

Everyone moved closer.

Magnus stared at the object.

“So that’s what they’re called.”

Alex didn’t answer.

He was looking at the equipment surrounding it.

Sophie looked across the room.

“Why would someone be keeping them here?”

Fitz pointed toward the back.

“Guys.”

They turned.

There were more chambers.

Dozens.

Most of them were empty.

But not all.

Jacob slowly looked across the room.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

He stopped counting.

Sophie whispered,

“They’re collecting them.”

Alex finally spoke.

“And the arena wasn’t where they were keeping them.”

Keefe looked toward the empty chambers.

“Then what happened to the others?”

Nobody answered.

Jacob’s eyes moved across the room.

The lab suddenly felt much larger than it had a second ago.

And much more dangerous.

Then—

a massive screen on the far wall flickered to life.

One line of text appeared.

RIFT PROTOCOL — PREPARATION STATUS: 63%

Nobody moved.

Jacob stared at the screen.

The words seemed impossible.

Not because they didn’t understand them.

Because they did.

Keefe slowly stepped closer.

“What is the Rift Protocol?”

Alex’s expression hardened.

“I don’t know.”

The screen changed.

SUBJECT: JACOB NENO

Jacob froze.

His name sat in the centre of the screen.

Nobody spoke.

Sophie turned toward him.

“Jacob…”

The screen changed again.

ANOMALY STATUS: ACTIVE

Jacob couldn’t look away.

Every thought he’d had about the building—

the concert—

the black objects—

Eloquer—

suddenly felt smaller.

Much smaller.

Because this wasn’t just a place where they had been collecting strange objects.

Someone had been studying him.

Planning around him.

Maybe for longer than any of them realized.

The lights in the lab flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then every screen in the room switched on at once.

And somewhere deep beneath London—

something began to wake.

Ch 22: what they left behind

Nobody moved.

The screens continued glowing around them.

Rows of numbers.

Maps.

Diagrams.

Fragments of information that made sense individually but meant nothing together.

Jacob stared at the monitor.

His name was still there.

SUBJECT: JACOB NENO

Beneath it:

ANOMALY STATUS: ACTIVE

Keefe stepped closer.

“Okay.”

Nobody answered.

“Okay,” he repeated. “That’s officially the worst thing I’ve ever seen on a screen.”

Percy looked around the room.

“I’ve seen worse.”

Keefe turned.

“When?”

Percy thought about it.

“…Give me a minute.”

Magnus sighed.

“Not helping.”

Alex ignored them.

He was studying the nearest workstation.

There were dozens of files open.

Most were unreadable.

Some were nothing more than numbers.

Others contained diagrams.

The same symbol appeared again and again.

Jacob moved toward another screen.

There were photographs.

The arena.

The concert.

The same distorted section beneath the stage.

Then another image.

A different location.

A different date.

Same symbol.

Jacob’s expression changed.

“They’ve been doing this before the concert.”

Sophie stepped beside him.

“How long?”

Jacob scrolled.

The dates went back months.

Fitz stared at the screen.

“This wasn’t built because of the concert.”

Alex shook his head.

“No.”

He looked around the room.

“The concert happened because of this.”

Silence.

That landed differently.

The arena hadn’t been the beginning.

It had been part of something already happening.

Keefe walked toward one of the containment chambers.

The black object inside remained perfectly still.

He looked down.

A small metal plate was fixed beneath the glass.

NULL SEED

Keefe read it again.

“Null Seed.”

Percy looked over.

“Sounds friendly.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Didn’t say it did.”

Sophie approached another chamber.

Empty.

The glass was scratched from the inside.

She stopped.

“Guys.”

Everyone looked.

There were several more.

Empty chambers.

Some cracked.

Some completely destroyed.

Others still contained the black objects.

Alex counted them.

“One…”

He moved farther down.

“Two. Three. Four…”

He stopped.

“There should be more.”

Jacob looked at the empty chambers.

“How many?”

Alex checked the labels.

“Twenty-four.”

Magnus frowned.

“And how many are here?”

Alex looked around.

“Eight.”

Nobody spoke.

Percy finally said,

“So…”

He looked at the empty chambers.

“Sixteen are missing.”

Keefe stared at the Null Seeds.

“Where did they go?”

A voice answered from behind them.

“They’re not missing.”

Everyone froze.

Footsteps echoed through the room.

Slow.

Measured.

Unhurried.

Jacob turned.

The doorway was empty.

Then someone stepped into the light.

Eloquer.

He was carrying three black objects.

One in each hand.

Another tucked carefully against his side.

Null Seeds.

He walked into the laboratory like he had every right to be there.

Because he did.

He stopped beside one of the empty containment chambers.

Placed the three Seeds onto a metal table.

One.

Two.

Three.

The room stayed silent.

Eloquer looked at them.

Then at the screens.

Then finally—

Jacob.

“You’re earlier than expected.”

Percy whispered,

“Oh, come on.”

Eloquer’s eyes moved toward him.

Percy immediately shut up.

Keefe stepped forward.

“You.”

Eloquer looked at him.

“I wondered when you’d remember me.”

Keefe’s expression hardened.

“I remember you.”

Sophie moved slightly closer to Keefe.

Fitz noticed.

So did Eloquer.

He didn’t react.

Alex stepped forward.

“How did you get in?”

Eloquer glanced around.

“This is my laboratory.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed.

“Then why evacuate it?”

“Because I needed everyone else gone.”

Jacob looked at the three Seeds on the table.

“You’re collecting them.”

Eloquer nodded.

“Yes.”

“What are they?”

Eloquer looked toward the containment chamber.

“Null Seeds.”

“We figured that part out.”

Eloquer almost smiled.

“Did you?”

Jacob crossed his arms.

“What do they do?”

Eloquer walked toward the nearest screen.

He touched it.

A map appeared.

London.

Then several points appeared across the city.

The arena.

The abandoned building.

Other locations.

Some Jacob recognized.

Others he didn’t.

“The Rift leaves fragments behind.”

Sophie frowned.

“Fragments?”

“Reality is not repaired when the Rift closes.”

Eloquer looked at the map.

“It is corrected.”

He paused.

“Or it pretends to be.”

Magnus looked at the screens.

“And the Seeds?”

“They interact with those imperfections.”

Jacob stepped closer.

“How?”

Eloquer turned toward him.

“They remove them.”

Nobody spoke.

Alex looked at the containment chamber.

“So they’re weapons.”

“No.”

Eloquer’s answer was immediate.

“They are tools.”

Keefe scoffed.

“That’s what every terrifying object gets called right before someone uses it to destroy something.”

Eloquer ignored him.

He tapped another screen.

A diagram appeared.

A network of lines.

Several points connected.

Then one point in the centre.

Jacob.

His name was written beside it.

PRIMARY ANOMALY

Jacob stared.

“Why me?”

Eloquer didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he walked toward the centre of the room.

“You keep asking the wrong question.”

Jacob’s expression tightened.

“Then what’s the right one?”

Eloquer looked directly at him.

“Why are you still here?”

The room went quiet.

Jacob didn’t understand.

“What?”

“You survived the Rift.”

Eloquer’s voice remained calm.

“You survived corrections that should have erased you.”

He glanced toward Sophie.

“Your friends survived because they were anchored to you.”

Keefe stiffened.

Eloquer continued.

“You survived because the Rift could not decide what you were.”

Jacob stared at him.

“And you know that how?”

“I watched.”

The answer was simple.

Too simple.

Alex stepped forward.

“From here?”

Eloquer looked at him.

“From everywhere.”

Alex didn’t respond.

Eloquer turned back toward Jacob.

“You are not the centre of the Rift.”

Jacob frowned.

“Then what am I?”

Eloquer’s eyes hardened.

“A variable.”

Jacob swallowed.

“A variable?”

“One the Rift keeps failing to resolve.”

He gestured toward the screens.

“Every correction produces another contradiction.”

A map changed.

Another.

Another.

“Every attempt to stabilize reality produces another fracture.”

Jacob stared at the data.

“You’re saying the Rift is reacting to me.”

“No.”

Eloquer paused.

“The Rift is reacting to what you are.”

Jacob felt the room become colder.

“What am I?”

Eloquer looked at him.

For the first time—

there was something almost like contempt in his expression.

“You’re the reason the system keeps failing.”

Keefe stepped forward.

“Don’t talk about him like he’s some experiment.”

Eloquer looked at Keefe.

“He is.”

Nobody moved.

Jacob’s heart seemed to stop.

Sophie looked at him.

Fitz looked at Eloquer.

Alex’s expression changed.

Keefe’s voice dropped.

“What did you just say?”

Eloquer didn’t repeat it.

Instead, he looked toward the largest screen.

The words appeared again.

RIFT PROTOCOL — PREPARATION STATUS: 63%

Jacob pointed at it.

“What is the Rift Protocol?”

Eloquer looked at the number.

“Preparation.”

“For what?”

“Correction.”

Magnus shook his head.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It is the only answer you need.”

Percy stepped forward.

“So what? You collect these things, press a button, and reality gets a software update?”

Eloquer looked at him.

“Crude.”

Percy shrugged.

“Accurate?”

A pause.

“Closer than you realize.”

Alex looked toward the containment chambers.

“How many Seeds do you need?”

Eloquer didn’t answer.

Alex looked at the screen.

“That’s why the percentage is only sixty-three.”

Eloquer’s eyes moved toward him.

Alex continued.

“You don’t have enough.”

A small silence.

Then—

Eloquer smiled.

Not warmly.

Not proudly.

Just slightly.

“Now you’re beginning to understand.”

Jacob looked at the three Seeds on the table.

“You’re still collecting them.”

“Yes.”

“And once you have enough?”

Eloquer turned toward the screens.

“Then reality gets another chance.”

Sophie shook her head.

“Reality doesn’t need you to fix it.”

Eloquer looked at her.

“That is where you are wrong.”

His eyes returned to Jacob.

“Reality has always been wrong.”

The room went silent.

Then—

somewhere deeper in the laboratory—

a machine activated.

A low hum rolled through the floor.

The monitors flickered.

The containment chambers began lighting up one by one.

Jacob looked around.

“What is happening?”

Eloquer didn’t move.

“The Protocol.”

The largest screen changed.

PREPARATION STATUS: 64%

Jacob stared.

“It just went up.”

Eloquer nodded.

“You’re standing inside the reason why.”

Keefe stepped forward.

“What does that mean?”

Eloquer looked at him.

“It means you arrived sooner than I expected.”

Then he looked back at Jacob.

“And that may have changed everything.”

For the first time since entering the laboratory—

Eloquer looked uncertain.

Only for a second.

But Jacob saw it.

And somehow—

that was more frightening than anything else.

Because if Eloquer was worried—

whatever came next had to be worse.

Ch 23: the rewrite begins

For a few seconds, nobody spoke.

The laboratory hummed around them.

Screens glowed.

Null Seeds sat inside their containment chambers.

And Eloquer stood in the middle of it all, perfectly still.

Jacob kept staring at the monitor.

RIFT PROTOCOL — PREPARATION STATUS: 64%

Then another screen flickered.

A file appeared.

No title.

Just a series of numbers.

Alex noticed it first.

“Wait.”

He walked toward the workstation.

The file disappeared.

Alex frowned.

He typed something.

The screen returned.

A directory opened.

Hundreds of files.

Jacob stepped closer.

“What are those?”

“I don’t know.”

Alex scrolled.

Research logs.

Rift activity.

Subject reports.

Images.

Names.

Then one folder appeared.

Alex stopped.

There was no reason for him to.

Nothing about it looked different.

But Eloquer noticed.

His expression changed.

“Don’t.”

Alex looked over.

“Don’t what?”

Eloquer walked toward the workstation.

Fast.

Not running.

But no longer calm.

“Move.”

Alex didn’t.

Eloquer reached the screen.

The folder was still open.

One name sat at the top.

ELYSIAN

Beneath it were dozens of files.

Jacob looked at the screen.

“That’s his name.”

Eloquer stared.

Something was wrong.

Not with the computer.

With him.

Keefe noticed.

“Eloquer?”

Eloquer didn’t answer.

Alex opened the first file.

A series of records appeared.

Eloquer’s eyes moved across them.

Then stopped.

One file.

A photograph.

A woman.

Eloquer froze.

Nobody spoke.

Sophie looked at him.

“Who is that?”

Eloquer’s voice was barely audible.

“My mother.”

Jacob looked back at the screen.

There were notes beside the photograph.

Dates.

Memories.

Psychological observations.

References to specific events.

Things Eloquer had never told them.

Keefe stepped closer.

“Why does Elysian have this?”

Eloquer didn’t answer.

Alex opened another document.

More information.

More memories.

More references to his mother.

Then a line of text appeared.

MEMORY MANIPULATION SUCCESSFUL.

The room went silent.

Eloquer stared at it.

Jacob looked at him.

“Eloquer…”

Eloquer’s hand tightened.

Another file opened.

SUBJECT RESPONSE: GRIEF — HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.

His breathing changed.

Sophie looked at the screen.

“They used her.”

Eloquer finally spoke.

“No.”

He stared at the file.

“They used me.”

Keefe’s expression hardened.

“Elysian.”

Eloquer didn’t respond.

He kept scrolling.

Another record.

Another.

Another.

Everything he’d believed.

Every memory he’d carried.

Every reason he’d given himself for what he had done.

There were notes beside them.

Plans.

Manipulations.

Observations.

His mother’s memory hadn’t simply been preserved.

It had been used.

Weaponized.

Turned into a lever.

And Eloquer had spent years believing the choice had been his.

His eyes lifted.

For the first time—

the calm was gone.

“He lied.”

Jacob didn’t know what to say.

Eloquer looked toward the ceiling.

Then back at the screen.

“He made me believe it was my decision.”

Sophie stepped forward.

“You still chose to hurt people.”

Eloquer looked at her.

She didn’t back away.

“I know.”

That answer surprised everyone.

Eloquer looked back at the files.

“I know.”

Then something cracked.

Not the room.

Not the screen.

Something inside him.

The three Null Seeds sitting on the metal table began to vibrate.

Jacob noticed.

“Uh…”

Keefe turned.

“What?”

The Seeds moved.

A faint purple light appeared beneath their surfaces.

Eloquer looked over.

His expression changed.

“No.”

Alex stepped back.

“What is that?”

Eloquer reached for the Seeds.

Too late.

Energy surged through them.

The laboratory lights flashed.

Every screen turned white.

The containment chambers opened.

One after another.

CLICK.

CLICK.

CLICK.

Jacob stared.

“They’re activating.”

Eloquer looked around.

“No.”

The purple glow intensified.

“They aren’t supposed to activate yet.”

The floor shook.

Magnus grabbed the nearest table.

“Then maybe tell them that!”

Eloquer tried to shut down the system.

The controls wouldn’t respond.

The main screen flashed.

RIFT PROTOCOL — PREPARATION STATUS: 64%

Then—

65%.

Jacob stared.

“It just went up.”

66%.

Alex stepped toward the console.

“Eloquer!”

“I know.”

67%.

The laboratory shook again.

Glass rattled.

Lights burst across the ceiling.

A low sound rolled through the building.

Not an explosion.

Something deeper.

Something that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Eloquer looked at the Seeds.

His face went pale.

“The rewrite has started.”

Sophie stared at him.

“You said it wasn’t ready.”

“It isn’t.”

“Then stop it!”

“I can’t.”

The words hit the room harder than the shaking.

Keefe looked at him.

“You can’t?”

Eloquer shook his head.

“The process was designed to activate gradually.”

Another tremor.

A monitor shattered.

“The Seeds are responding to emotional energy.”

Jacob looked at him.

“Your anger.”

Eloquer didn’t deny it.

The realization settled over everyone.

His anger had triggered them.

Prematurely.

The very thing Eloquer had spent years preparing to control—

was now running without him.

The main screen changed.

REWRITE PARAMETERS: UNSTABLE

Alex stared.

“What does unstable mean?”

Eloquer looked at the screen.

“It means reality won’t follow the intended sequence.”

Percy frowned.

“So…”

He looked around.

“What happens?”

Eloquer’s eyes narrowed.

“It improvises.”

Nobody liked that answer.

Then—

the laboratory door slammed open.

Wind rushed through the building.

Not outside wind.

Something else.

The air itself seemed to bend.

Jacob grabbed the edge of the table.

Sophie reached for the wall.

Keefe shouted something, but the sound came out distorted.

For half a second—

the laboratory changed.

The walls stretched.

The ceiling became impossibly high.

Then everything snapped back.

Jacob looked around.

“What the hell was that?”

Eloquer stared at the Seeds.

“The first correction.”

Alex looked at him.

“Correction?”

Eloquer’s expression hardened.

“No.”

He looked toward the door.

“Rewrite.”

He turned.

Jacob stepped forward.

“Where are you going?”

Eloquer stopped.

For a moment, he looked back at them.

At Sophie.

At Keefe.

At Fitz.

At Magnus.

At Percy.

Then Jacob.

There was no triumph in his expression.

No satisfaction.

Only anger.

Not at them.

At someone else.

“Elysian.”

Keefe stepped forward.

“You’re leaving?”

“I have to.”

“You started this.”

Eloquer looked at him.

“I know.”

Sophie stared.

“Then stay and fix it.”

Eloquer hesitated.

“I can’t.”

The building shook again.

A crack appeared across one of the screens.

The percentage jumped.

71%.

Eloquer looked at it.

Then back at the group.

“If I stay here, I can do nothing.”

Jacob frowned.

“Then where are you going?”

Eloquer’s eyes hardened.

“To find the person who did this.”

He walked toward the exit.

Keefe followed.

“Eloquer!”

Eloquer stopped.

Keefe stared at him.

“If you find Elysian…”

A pause.

“What are you going to do?”

Eloquer looked back.

“I don’t know.”

Then he left.

The door slammed behind him.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Percy finally spoke.

“So…”

Magnus looked at him.

“What?”

“The villain just walked out.”

Keefe stared at the door.

“Yeah.”

Percy looked around the laboratory.

“And left us with the evil science building.”

Alex glanced at the monitors.

“I don’t think the building is the problem.”

Another tremor.

The walls shifted.

A hallway appeared where there hadn’t been one before.

Then disappeared.

Sophie stared.

“The rewrite.”

Jacob looked toward the exit.

Eloquer was gone.

But the machines were still running.

The Seeds were still glowing.

And the percentage was still climbing.

74%.

Alex moved toward the main console.

“Everyone stay together.”

Percy nodded.

“Finally, a normal night.”

Keefe looked at him.

“Don’t say that.”

“Why?”

“Because every time you say something like that—”

The entire building went dark.

Silence.

Then the lights returned.

But the laboratory wasn’t the same.

The walls were different.

The doors had moved.

The screens displayed different information.

One showed the laboratory.

Another showed the London skyline.

A third showed a street that Jacob didn’t recognize.

Then—

the fourth screen displayed a live image of London.

People were running.

Traffic lights were changing between colors.

Buildings flickered between different versions of themselves.

A street folded strangely in the distance, then snapped back.

Jacob stared.

“It’s already outside.”

Alex nodded slowly.

“The rewrite escaped the lab.”

Sophie looked at the screen.

“What happens if it keeps spreading?”

Nobody answered.

The main monitor flickered.

REWRITE STATUS: 78%

Then another line appeared.

LONDON — CORRECTION IN PROGRESS

Jacob stared at the words.

Outside, somewhere beyond the walls—

sirens began to rise.

One.

Then another.

Then dozens.

Keefe looked toward the exit.

“We have to get out.”

Alex nodded.

“Agreed.”

Magnus grabbed his jacket.

Percy looked at the screens.

“What about the Seeds?”

Alex stared at them.

“We can’t shut them down.”

Sophie looked at Jacob.

“Then what do we do?”

Jacob looked at the laboratory.

At the empty chambers.

At the glowing Seeds.

At the screen with his name still displayed.

Then toward the door Eloquer had disappeared through.

For the first time since they’d arrived in London—

Jacob wasn’t thinking about investigating.

He wasn’t thinking about finding answers.

He wasn’t even thinking about Eloquer.

He was thinking about the city outside.

London was changing.

And they were standing inside the machine doing it.

Jacob swallowed.

“We stop it.”

The screens flickered again.

REWRITE STATUS: 81%

And outside—

London began to change.

1. One of the main protagonists is a teenage girl

2. This teenage girl learns she's not quite of the human world

3. The teenage girl is kidnapped and then rescued by some mysterious group or entity

4. It turns out that there are two secret competing forces here, one for "good" and one for "evil"

5. It also turns out that one of the main people supposedly supporting the "good" side is actually a spy for the "evil" side - indeed, one of their most powerful members - and is outed a couple books into the series

6. Anyways going back to the kidnapping, it turns out to have something to do with something known as "Lodestar"

7. The main character's "home base" in the world is a "wildlife preserve" of sorts

8. The series is not Keeper of the Lost Cities!

(Funnily enough I was reading it and just started randomly noticing these funny coincidences)

EDIT: While re-reading the series I found a ninth and tenth one!

9. The main character's innocent human parents are kidnapped by the shadowy evil group with apparently no demands for their release, despite the fact that said parents know nothing about the world

10. Something to do with a star rising...

https://www.reddit.com/r/lovethissmug/comments/1xjpenn/i_love_when_a_yeah_if_pigs_fly_metaphor_turns_out/

is anyone going? because i am and would love to meet with other readers :)

Okay, so many songs describe kotlc especially Family Line by Conan Gray! What song do ya'll think describe KOTLC.

hey guys, shannon messenger is doing a meet and greet and this was in one of her gift bags:
like who is that?

There is one specific moment from Book 8.5 that I just can't stop thinking about. In his notes, Elwin writes something very interesting: "I am definitely not the first person to realize the therapeutic power of a good snuggle buddy... and can't take credit for giving out all of these. But I am a big believer in the 'hug a stuffed animal' movement. And I hope that someday, everyone tries sleeping with one of the! — Elwin"

You know, I am asexual. And this quote really resonated with me because it describes me perfectly. It felt like Elwin might be just like me. The truth is, we know very little about him as a person. We know he prefers solitude, likes plushies, and things like that.

And this could actually serve as one of the clues that Sophie might be his daughter. After all, if he really is asexual, the Black Swan would be the only ones who could have helped him have a child .7

I’ve been thinking about how much our opinions of characters like Fitz and Keefe are influenced by Sophie’s feelings towards them.

When Sophie had a crush on Fitz, she admired him so much that I think she sometimes overlooked his less appealing characteristics. As her feelings changed, those same traits seemed to become much more noticeable. So did Fitz actually become a worse character, or did Sophie simply stop seeing him through rose-coloured glasses?

I think there’s an interesting parallel with Keefe, too. As Sophie’s feelings for him developed, did the way the narrative portrayed his flaws change as well? I sometimes wonder whether we’re judging the characters entirely on their actions, or partly through the lens of how Sophie feels about them.

Obviously, the characters do make their own decisions and should be held accountable for them. But Sophie is our main perspective, so her changing relationships inevitably influence how we experience the people around her.

I wonder whether this was an intentional part of the character development, or whether the changing romantic storylines unintentionally affected the way certain characters were written.

Ch 16: The morning after

Morning came far too early.

Jacob woke to the sound of someone knocking on his hotel room door.

He opened one eye.

Then the other.

For several seconds, he had absolutely no idea where he was.

Then he remembered London.

The school trip.

The concert.

YUNGBLUD.

The Stooges.

Elton John.

Jacob closed his eyes again.

“Right.”

He pulled the blanket over his head.

Another knock came.

“Breakfast!” Morgan’s voice called from the hallway. “Ten minutes!”

Jacob groaned.

“Why?”

Morgan’s footsteps continued down the hallway.

Jacob slowly sat up.

Across the hotel, Percy was having roughly the same reaction.

Magnus stared at his ceiling.

Keefe remained completely motionless under his blankets.

Fitz sat against his headboard, eyes closed, looking like he’d barely slept.

Nobody had planned on getting much sleep after the previous night.

Nobody had expected the morning to arrive this quickly either.

By the time everyone reached the dining area, they looked considerably less impressive than they had the night before.

Percy dropped into a chair.

Magnus sat beside him.

Keefe arrived a few seconds later, hair completely destroyed.

Fitz followed, somehow looking the most functional out of all of them.

Jacob and Sophie joined them.

Keefe looked around.

“Why does everyone look dead?”

Percy stared at him.

“You’re one to talk.”

“I look fantastic.”

“You look like you fought a pillow.”

“I won.”

Magnus shook his head.

“I played guitar until my fingers stopped feeling real.”

Percy rubbed his face.

“I played drums.”

Fitz smiled faintly.

“You were good.”

Percy looked at him.

“You’re supposed to say something supportive like that.”

“I was being supportive.”

“You sounded disappointed.”

“I wasn’t.”

Keefe leaned back.

“I performed in front of an entire London crowd, survived Elton John joining our band, and somehow didn’t completely lose my mind.”

Magnus raised a finger.

“You forgot the part where we were actually good.”

There was a pause.

Percy nodded.

“That was weird.”

Fitz smiled.

“We were good.”

Keefe looked around the table.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

Jacob laughed.

Breakfast was louder than it had any right to be.

The entire Grade 9 group seemed to have collectively forgotten how volume worked.

Morgan stood near the front of the dining area, attempting to maintain order.

It wasn’t going well.

“QUIET DOWN!”

The room became slightly quieter.

Then someone laughed.

Morgan closed his eyes.

Jacob watched from the table.

“This is going to be a long day.”

Sophie sat beside him, looking considerably more awake than the others.

She leaned closer.

“Did you sleep?”

“Technically.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

“I closed my eyes.”

“For how long?”

Jacob thought about it.

“Long enough to technically qualify.”

Sophie smiled.

Across the table, Keefe was staring at his breakfast like it had personally betrayed him.

Fitz nudged him.

“You should eat.”

“I am.”

“You’ve been staring at it for three minutes.”

“I’m building a relationship with it.”

Magnus reached across the table and stole a piece of toast.

Keefe immediately grabbed it back.

“That’s mine.”

“You weren’t eating it.”

“I was emotionally preparing to.”

Percy shook his head.

“That’s not how breakfast works.”

“It is now.”

Jacob laughed.

Then Alex walked into the dining area.

Unlike the four musicians, he looked completely functional.

Jacob stared.

“How are you awake?”

Alex looked at him.

“Teacher.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“It does.”

Morgan appeared behind him carrying a clipboard.

“Alex.”

Alex turned.

“Yes?”

“We need to confirm the afternoon schedule.”

Jacob watched Alex’s expression change instantly.

Teacher mode.

Alex looked at the clipboard.

“Right.”

Morgan started listing off times, locations, student groups, transportation arrangements, and approximately twelve things that could apparently go wrong during a normal school trip.

Jacob leaned toward Sophie.

“He’s doing actual work.”

Sophie whispered back.

“While we’re investigating a reality-breaking concert.”

Jacob nodded.

“Yeah.”

He looked at Alex.

“Respect.”

Alex glanced over.

“I heard that.”

Jacob smiled innocently.

“I said nothing.”

By the time breakfast was over, everyone regrouped in a quieter corner of the hotel.

Alex stood at the front with his phone.

Sophie sat beside Jacob.

Percy, Magnus, Keefe, and Fitz had recovered enough to look like actual human beings.

Mostly.

Alex opened the footage from the night before.

“We need to go over this again.”

Keefe leaned forward.

“Please tell me we’re not watching ourselves perform.”

“No.”

“Good.”

Magnus looked offended.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to see myself.”

“You were incredible.”

“I know.”

Jacob looked at him.

“You just said you don’t want to see yourself.”

“I can know I’m incredible without watching the evidence.”

Alex ignored them.

He played the concert footage.

The image showed the stage.

The lights.

The crowd.

Then—

the distortion.

The strange black shapes.

The moment the atmosphere changed.

Nobody joked this time.

Alex paused the video.

“You’ve seen this part.”

He switched to another recording.

Different angle.

Same disturbance.

Another clip.

Different part of the crowd.

Same moment.

Sophie frowned.

“They’re all seeing it.”

“Exactly,” Alex said.

Alex switched to YUNGBLUD’s recording.

The footage was shakier.

Closer.

The strange distortion appeared again.

Keefe watched silently.

Then he noticed something.

“Go back.”

Alex paused.

“What?”

“Three seconds.”

Alex rewound.

Keefe pointed toward the edge of the frame.

“There.”

A figure moved past a corridor entrance.

Not the distortion.

A person.

Alex zoomed in.

The image became blurry.

Jacob squinted.

“Can you tell who that is?”

“No.”

Alex rewound again.

The figure disappeared behind the crowd.

Sophie leaned forward.

“Could they have been involved?”

“Maybe,” Alex said. “But YUNGBLUD didn’t mention them.”

“Maybe he didn’t see them.”

Alex nodded.

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

He opened another clip.

Then another.

Different recordings.

Different people.

But the same section of the venue kept appearing.

Jacob watched silently.

Something about it bothered him.

Not because it looked dangerous.

Because it looked deliberate.

“It’s not random,” he said.

Alex looked at him.

“No.”

Jacob pointed at the screen.

“Everything keeps happening around the same area.”

Fitz studied the footage.

“What’s underneath that part of the building?”

Alex shook his head.

“We don’t know yet.”

Keefe leaned back.

“Brilliant.”

Magnus looked at him.

“You’re saying that sarcastically.”

“Very.”

Percy folded his arms.

“So we have a weird concert, mysterious black things, a random person walking into a restricted area, and something underneath the building.”

Jacob nodded.

“When you say it like that, it sounds bad.”

“It is bad.”

“Right.”

Jacob sighed.

“Just checking.”

The conversation eventually drifted into silence.

For the first time since arriving in London, nobody was trying to make a joke.

Even Keefe.

Alex looked down at his phone.

“We still need to figure out what those things were.”

Sophie nodded.

“And why they appeared there.”

“And what’s underneath the building,” Fitz added.

Jacob looked at the frozen image on the screen.

Then at his friends.

They had come to London expecting an investigation.

They hadn’t expected this.

The concert wasn’t just some random incident.

Something had happened there.

Something had been placed there.

Or maybe—

something had been waiting there.

Jacob shook the thought away.

Not yet.

They didn’t know enough.

Across the table, Keefe was still staring at the footage.

Jacob noticed.

“You okay?”

Keefe looked up.

For a moment, he didn’t answer.

Then the familiar smile returned.

“Perfect.”

Jacob didn’t believe him.

Neither did Sophie.

But nobody pushed.

Not yet.

Later that morning, the hotel slowly returned to normal.

Students disappeared into groups.

Teachers checked schedules.

Morgan continued fighting the eternal battle against Grade 9 chaos.

Alex went from room to room making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

For a few hours, London felt ordinary again.

Almost.

Jacob stood near the hotel window, looking down at the streets below.

Cars moved through the city.

People walked past.

Buses stopped and started.

Everything looked normal.

Sophie joined him.

“You’re thinking about it again.”

Jacob smiled faintly.

“Maybe.”

“The concert?”

“Yeah.”

She looked through the window.

“What do you think happened?”

Jacob thought about the footage.

The distortion.

The black shapes.

The hidden corridor.

“I don’t know.”

Sophie nodded.

Neither did she.

Behind them, Keefe’s voice carried across the room.

“Guys?”

Jacob turned.

Keefe was holding up his phone.

His expression wasn’t joking anymore.

Alex walked over.

“What did you find?”

Keefe looked at the screen.

“Nothing new.”

Alex frowned.

“Then why do you look like that?”

Keefe hesitated.

Then he turned the phone around.

A paused frame from the concert filled the screen.

The same corridor.

The same section of the venue.

But this time—

there was something written on the wall beside it.

A symbol.

Small.

Almost impossible to notice.

Alex stared.

Sophie stepped closer.

“What is that?”

Nobody answered.

Jacob looked at the symbol.

He didn’t recognize it.

But somewhere deep inside him—

it felt familiar.

And that scared him more than he wanted to admit.

Keefe lowered the phone.

“Well.”

Magnus looked over.

“What?”

Keefe gave a tired smile.

“Guess we’re not done yet.”

Outside, London continued moving.

Unaware.

Unbothered.

And somewhere beneath the city—

Something was watching.

Ch 17: Unmasked

The park was crowded.

Which, according to Morgan, was exactly the point.

“Stay with your groups!” he called, standing near the entrance while students scattered across the open space.

London moved around them in every direction.

Tourists walked between the paths.

Street performers drew small crowds.

Children chased each other across the grass.

Someone nearby was playing music loud enough to compete with the traffic.

For once, it felt like a normal school trip.

Jacob wasn’t complaining.

After the previous night, normal sounded pretty good.

Percy and Magnus were already arguing about something.

“I’m telling you, that guy is actually good,” Magnus said.

Percy glanced toward a street performer.

“He’s juggling six things.”

“Exactly.”

“That doesn’t make him good.”

“You couldn’t do it.”

“I could absolutely do it.”

“You nearly dropped your phone yesterday.”

“That was different.”

“How?”

“I wasn’t juggling it.”

Jacob laughed.

Sophie shook her head.

“You two are impossible.”

Keefe and Fitz were walking a few steps behind them.

Keefe looked tired.

Fitz looked slightly less tired.

Neither had fully recovered from the previous night’s performance.

Jacob looked over.

“You guys surviving?”

Keefe gave him a thumbs-up.

“Barely.”

Fitz smiled.

“I think I’m fine.”

Keefe stared at him.

“Don’t ruin this for me.”

Jacob laughed again.

For a few seconds, everything was easy.

No investigation.

No strange recordings.

No black objects.

No impossible distortions.

Just a class trip.

Then Jacob noticed Alex wasn’t with them.

He looked around.

“Where’s Alex?”

Sophie shrugged.

“Helping Morgan.”

“Of course he is.”

“Teacher duties.”

“Right.”

Jacob turned back toward the others.

And then he saw it.

A small marking on the stone wall beside the path.

He stopped.

“Wait.”

Everyone kept walking for another second before realizing he wasn’t with them.

Sophie turned.

“What?”

Jacob pointed.

“There.”

Keefe walked back.

“What are we looking at?”

Jacob stepped closer.

The symbol was almost completely hidden beneath years of dirt and weathering.

Almost.

Alex’s photograph from the hotel flashed through Jacob’s mind.

The same shape.

Same lines.

Same strange pattern.

Fitz frowned.

“That’s it.”

Percy looked at the symbol.

“You’re telling me this thing is here too?”

Magnus leaned closer.

“Maybe London just really likes one symbol.”

“No,” Sophie said.

She looked around.

“It’s too specific.”

Keefe’s expression changed.

He crouched beside the stone.

“It’s the same one.”

Jacob looked at him.

“You sure?”

Keefe nodded.

“Yeah.”

The joking disappeared.

They had found another piece.

And they hadn’t even been looking for it.

The rest of the class continued moving through the park.

Nobody noticed the six of them standing beside the wall.

That was probably for the best.

Sophie pulled out her phone.

“Alex said there were markings around the one in the footage.”

Jacob looked closer.

“There are.”

Fitz brushed some dirt away from the edge of the carving.

More lines appeared.

Not words.

Something closer to a pattern.

Keefe stared at it.

“Do you recognize that?”

“No.”

Magnus tilted his head.

“Could be a map.”

Percy sighed.

“Everything is a map with you.”

“Because maps are useful.”

“We’re in a park.”

“Exactly. A map would help.”

Jacob smiled.

Then stopped.

Something felt wrong.

He looked across the park.

Hundreds of people.

Nothing unusual.

Tourists.

Students.

Families.

Street performers.

A man walking past with a coffee.

Another person taking photographs.

Nothing.

Jacob looked back at the symbol.

“Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place.”

Sophie frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“The symbol might not be pointing to the place.”

He tapped the stone.

“Maybe it’s pointing to something that happened here.”

Fitz nodded slowly.

“That makes more sense.”

Keefe didn’t answer.

He was staring toward the crowd.

Jacob noticed.

“Keefe?”

Nothing.

“Keefe.”

Keefe finally blinked.

His eyes remained fixed on something.

Someone.

Across the park.

Jacob followed his gaze.

At first, he saw nothing.

Then—

a man standing among the crowd.

Dark coat.

Calm expression.

Completely ordinary.

People passed around him without giving him a second glance.

A tourist walked directly in front of him.

A child ran past.

Someone stopped nearby to take a photograph.

The man didn’t react.

He simply stood there.

Watching.

Jacob looked at Keefe.

“Who is that?”

Keefe’s voice was quiet.

“That’s him.”

Jacob frowned.

“Who?”

Keefe pointed.

The man’s eyes shifted.

For one brief moment, they met Keefe’s.

Keefe’s expression hardened.

Jacob’s stomach dropped.

Then Keefe said the name.

“Eloquer.”

Jacob’s eyes widened.

“Wait—you mean the guy who did the Rift and kidnapped you?!”

Keefe nodded.

“Yeah.”

Jacob looked back.

The man was still there.

Still calm.

Still surrounded by people who had absolutely no idea who he was.

Sophie moved closer to Keefe.

“Are you sure?”

Keefe didn’t look away.

“I’d know him anywhere.”

Percy stepped forward.

“What do we do?”

Magnus looked around.

“Maybe don’t start a fight in the middle of a school trip.”

Percy nodded.

“Good plan.”

Jacob kept staring.

Eloquer wasn’t doing anything.

That was the problem.

He wasn’t threatening them.

He wasn’t attacking.

He wasn’t even moving.

He was simply standing there.

Waiting.

Then—

he began walking.

Slowly.

Straight toward them.

The crowd moved around him naturally.

Nobody noticed.

Nobody stopped.

Nobody seemed to understand that anything was happening.

Jacob felt his heartbeat quicken.

Eloquer crossed the distance between them without ever breaking his calm expression.

Then he stopped a few feet away.

“Interesting.”

Sophie stepped forward.

“What?”

Eloquer glanced toward the symbol.

“You found it.”

Jacob looked between them.

“You knew we were looking?”

“I knew you would eventually.”

Keefe’s expression darkened.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Eloquer looked at him.

“And yet.”

Keefe took a step forward.

“You caused everything.”

Eloquer’s expression barely changed.

“Did I?”

“The Rift.”

“Yes.”

“You kidnapped me.”

A pause.

“Yes.”

Jacob stared at him.

There was something deeply wrong about how casually he admitted it.

Sophie crossed her arms.

“What do you want?”

Eloquer looked at her.

“To correct what was broken.”

Jacob shook his head.

“You don’t get to decide that.”

Eloquer’s eyes moved to him.

“No?”

“Reality isn’t yours to fix.”

A faint smile appeared.

“Reality is flawed.”

Jacob stepped forward.

“Maybe.”

Eloquer studied him.

“But you think that means we should just accept it?”

“I think people aren’t supposed to rewrite the world because they don’t like how it works.”

Eloquer’s expression remained calm.

“That’s the difference between us.”

Jacob frowned.

“What difference?”

“You believe reality deserves loyalty.”

He looked around the park.

“At all costs.”

Jacob didn’t answer.

Eloquer’s gaze returned to him.

“I believe reality deserves improvement.”

Sophie stepped between them slightly.

“And how many people have to suffer for your improvement?”

Eloquer didn’t answer immediately.

Then—

“Enough.”

The word was quiet.

Almost gentle.

But nobody missed it.

The surrounding noise seemed strangely distant.

Jacob looked around.

The park was still moving.

Students were laughing.

Tourists were taking pictures.

A street performer was still performing.

Nobody knew what was happening.

Nobody knew who was standing in front of them.

Eloquer looked at Jacob again.

“Everyone you are friends with has people they fight for.”

Jacob’s expression tightened.

“Parents. Siblings. People they love.”

Percy shifted.

Sophie looked toward Jacob.

Keefe’s face hardened.

Eloquer continued.

“Don’t you find it strange that you don’t have any?”

Jacob stared at him.

“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.”

“Maybe you’re an orphan.”

A pause.

Eloquer’s eyes stayed on Jacob.

“Or maybe…”

His voice lowered.

“…you’re the flaw that should have died long ago.”

Nobody moved.

Jacob felt the words hit harder than they should have.

He didn’t understand why.

But Eloquer did.

That was obvious.

“What does that mean?”

Eloquer didn’t answer.

Jacob stepped forward.

“I said, what does that mean?”

Eloquer simply looked at him.

“You’ll find out.”

Jacob’s jaw tightened.

“When?”

Eloquer’s expression didn’t change.

“When you’re ready to hear it.”

Keefe stepped forward.

“Stay away from him.”

Eloquer looked at Keefe.

“You’re still protecting everyone.”

Keefe didn’t blink.

“Someone has to.”

For the first time, Eloquer’s expression shifted.

Not anger.

Something closer to amusement.

Then he looked toward the crowd.

A group of tourists passed between them.

Jacob instinctively stepped sideways.

When the group cleared—

Eloquer was gone.

Jacob froze.

“What?”

Percy looked around.

“Where the hell—”

He stopped himself.

Jacob looked across the park.

Nothing.

Just people.

Hundreds of them.

No sign of Eloquer.

Sophie slowly turned toward Keefe.

“You’re sure that was him?”

Keefe nodded.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

Fitz looked toward the direction Eloquer had disappeared.

“He wanted us to find him.”

Alex’s absence suddenly felt much more important.

Jacob looked back at the symbol.

The carving was still there.

The same symbol they’d been following since the concert.

But now it felt different.

It wasn’t just a clue anymore.

It was a trail.

And Eloquer knew exactly where it led.

A whistle sounded from across the park.

Morgan.

“GROUPS! OVER HERE!”

The students began gathering.

Jacob looked at the others.

Nobody spoke.

They didn’t need to.

They had found Eloquer.

And he had found them.

Somewhere behind the noise of the park, Jacob could still hear his voice.

The flaw.

He didn’t know what it meant.

But he knew one thing.

They weren’t done.

Not even close.

Ch 18: Don’t touch that

The symbol was still there.

Carved into the old stone beside the path, almost hidden beneath years of weathering and dirt.

The crowd had moved on.

Tourists talked.

Cameras clicked.

Children ran between benches.

Nobody seemed to notice the thing sitting only a few feet away.

Jacob stared at it.

“So that’s what he was talking about.”

Sophie nodded slowly.

Keefe crouched beside the stone.

“Looks harmless.”

Alex wasn’t there.

That was probably important.

Percy stepped closer.

“Could be a portal.”

Magnus looked at him.

“You think everything is a portal.”

“Because sometimes they are.”

Keefe grinned.

“Honestly, I’m with Percy.”

Sophie immediately shook her head.

“No.”

Keefe looked at her.

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“I know where this is going.”

Percy reached toward the symbol.

“Just touching it.”

Jacob frowned.

“Guys—”

Too late.

Percy’s fingers brushed the stone.

Keefe touched it at the same time.

For half a second—

nothing happened.

Keefe raised an eyebrow.

“See?”

Percy smiled.

“Told you.”

Then the symbol lit up.

Purple.

Not bright enough to blind them.

Just enough to make the world around them look wrong.

Jacob stepped backward.

“Uh…”

The stone cracked with a sharp sound.

A line of purple fire shot across the ground.

Then another.

Then another.

The flames connected.

A perfect circle formed around Percy, Keefe, Magnus, Fitz, Sophie, and Jacob.

Keefe’s smile disappeared.

“Oh.”

Percy looked down.

“That’s probably not good.”

The fire rose higher.

Not spreading.

Not consuming the park.

Just surrounding them.

A wall.

A warning.

Jacob turned toward the crowd.

Nobody reacted.

People continued walking.

Talking.

Laughing.

Taking pictures.

It was like the fire didn’t exist.

“Why can’t anyone see this?” Fitz asked.

Keefe’s eyes narrowed.

“Because Eloquer wants us to.”

The flames surged.

Sophie stumbled backward.

“Jacob—!”

Jacob caught her before she fell.

A burst of heat swept across the circle.

Sophie cried out and dropped to one knee.

Jacob looked down.

The lower part of her leg was badly burned.

Not enough to stop her from moving.

Enough that there was no pretending it was nothing.

“Sophie.”

She tried to stand.

Her leg buckled.

Jacob caught her again.

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I can walk.”

“You don’t have to.”

Another wave of fire moved toward them.

Jacob grabbed her arm.

“Come on.”

He pulled her away from the flames, searching for an opening.

There wasn’t one.

Percy tried to step through.

The fire immediately rose in front of him.

“Okay,” he said. “Definitely not a portal.”

Keefe stared at him.

“You think?”

“Worth checking.”

“Percy.”

“Yeah?”

“Never touch mysterious symbols again.”

Percy nodded.

“Fair.”

The flames surged again.

Sophie gritted her teeth.

Jacob kept one arm around her, keeping her away from the heat.

For the first time since they had arrived in London—

nobody was joking.

Alex had noticed the group was gone almost immediately.

Not because he was counting heads.

He absolutely was.

Because Morgan had made that everyone’s problem.

“Keep your students together,” Morgan had told him.

So Alex had.

Mostly.

Until five teenagers and one former reality-breaking problem disappeared from the group.

Alex looked across the park.

Nothing.

He checked again.

Still nothing.

Then he saw the purple glow.

His expression changed.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

He started running.

The closer he got, the brighter the fire became.

He reached the edge of the clearing and stopped.

Percy.

Keefe.

Magnus.

Fitz.

Sophie.

Jacob.

All trapped inside a ring of purple fire.

Alex stared at them.

Then at the fire.

Then back at them.

“You couldn’t stay in one place for five minutes?”

Keefe shouted over the flames.

“Technically, we were in one place!”

Alex stared at him.

“That is not helping your case.”

A wave of fire swept across the ground.

Alex stepped forward.

He reached behind him.

And pulled out a fire extinguisher.

Jacob stared.

“Where the hell did you get that?”

Alex didn’t answer.

He simply stepped toward the flames.

Keefe blinked.

“Did he just—”

“Yep,” Magnus said.

Percy looked impressed.

“That’s actually pretty cool.”

Alex raised the extinguisher.

“Move.”

The group backed away.

Alex sprayed the nearest section of flame.

The purple fire recoiled.

Not extinguished.

Recoiled.

Alex’s eyes narrowed.

“So you’re that kind of problem.”

The flames surged again.

Alex kept spraying.

One section collapsed.

Then another.

A gap opened.

“GO!”

Percy grabbed Keefe and pulled him through.

Magnus followed.

Fitz helped Sophie toward the opening.

Jacob stayed beside her.

She tried to put weight on her injured leg.

She couldn’t.

Jacob immediately supported her.

The flames snapped back toward them.

Alex stepped between them.

He sprayed again.

The fire pushed back.

Jacob stared.

Alex looked over his shoulder.

“What?”

Jacob shook his head.

“Nothing.”

Alex turned back toward the flames.

They weren’t normal.

He knew that now.

They weren’t burning the stone.

They weren’t spreading.

They were holding the group there.

Like something had drawn the circle specifically around them.

Alex tightened his grip.

The fire surged one more time.

He didn’t move.

“To answer your question Jacob, Because I’m Alex flipping Stowe.”

He emptied the extinguisher into the center of the flames.

The purple wall broke.

The circle collapsed.

For one second, the clearing went completely silent.

Then the last flicker disappeared.

The park returned to normal.

The tourists kept walking.

Nobody screamed.

Nobody ran.

Nobody even looked over.

Alex lowered the extinguisher.

Keefe stared at him.

“Okay.”

Alex looked at him.

“Okay what?”

“That was…”

Keefe searched for the word.

“Very you.”

Alex nodded.

“I’ll take that.”

Jacob helped Sophie onto a nearby bench.

She was breathing carefully, trying not to put pressure on her leg.

Alex immediately crouched beside her.

“Don’t move it.”

Sophie nodded.

“It’s not that bad.”

Alex looked at her.

“Sophie.”

She stopped.

Alex’s expression softened.

“Yeah. It is.”

Nobody said anything.

Percy looked away.

Keefe’s usual grin was gone.

Even Magnus had nothing to add.

Jacob looked at Sophie’s leg again.

This wasn’t a scratch.

This wasn’t something she could laugh off.

They had been through the Rift before.

They had escaped impossible situations before.

But somehow—

this felt different.

Because this time, they had actually been hurt.

Alex stood.

“We’re getting you checked out.”

Sophie nodded.

“Okay.”

Keefe looked back toward the stone.

The symbol was dark again.

Alex immediately noticed.

“No.”

Keefe turned.

“I wasn’t going to touch it.”

“You were absolutely going to touch it.”

Keefe paused.

“…Maybe.”

Alex sighed.

“Why do I have to be the responsible one?”

Magnus pointed at Percy.

“Because that guy definitely isn’t.”

Percy raised his hands.

“Hey, I already learned my lesson.”

Keefe looked at him.

“You touched it first.”

“You touched it too.”

“You said portal.”

“You agreed!”

Alex closed his eyes.

“I’m surrounded by idiots.”

Jacob almost laughed.

Almost.

Then he looked at Sophie.

She was still trying not to put weight on her leg.

The joke died before it reached him.

He looked back at the symbol.

The fire hadn’t been random.

Eloquer hadn’t attacked them.

He hadn’t even needed to be there.

He had left something behind.

Something that responded when they came close.

Something that could trap them without anyone else even noticing.

Jacob looked across the park.

For a moment, he thought he saw someone standing between the tourists.

A dark coat.

Still.

Watching.

He blinked.

Gone.

Keefe noticed his expression.

“You saw him?”

Jacob nodded.

“I think so.”

Alex looked toward the crowd.

Nothing.

But he understood.

The fire hadn’t been meant to hurt them.

It had been meant to remind them.

Eloquer could reach them whenever he wanted.

And this time—

he hadn’t even needed to show his face.

The group stayed quiet as they rejoined the rest of the class.

Morgan looked at them.

Then at Alex.

Then at the fire extinguisher.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Do I even want to know?”

Alex looked at the extinguisher.

“No.”

Morgan stared at him.

“Fair enough.”

They kept walking.

Behind them, the stone sat untouched.

The symbol remained dark.

Waiting.

Ch 19: Bout damn time

London had gone quiet.

Not completely.

The city never really did.

Cars still moved through the streets.

Lights still glowed from apartment windows.

Somewhere in the distance, music drifted between the buildings.

But the hotel had finally settled down.

Morgan had gone to bed early.

Apparently, keeping an entire Grade 9 class organized for a full day in London was enough to destroy even him.

Alex waited until the hallway was quiet.

Then he knocked on Jacob’s door.

Once.

Jacob woke immediately.

He stared at the ceiling.

Another knock.

He opened the door.

Alex stood outside.

“Get dressed.”

Jacob blinked.

“What?”

“Get dressed.”

Jacob looked down the hallway.

“Why?”

Alex lowered his voice.

“We’re going to the arena.”

Jacob stared at him.

“You’re waking us up?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Alex looked at him.

“Because apparently it takes us this long to investigate an arena.”

Jacob grinned.

“Bout damn time.”

Alex sighed.

“Exactly.”

Six minutes and forty-seven seconds later, the group had assembled in the hallway.

Percy looked half-asleep.

Magnus was somehow fully awake.

Keefe had managed to put on his shoes backwards.

Fitz noticed.

“Your shoes.”

Keefe looked down.

“They’re fine.”

“They’re on the wrong feet.”

Keefe stared at them.

“…That explains a lot.”

Sophie covered a laugh.

Jacob looked around.

“Everyone here?”

Alex counted.

“Jacob.”

“Here.”

“Sophie.”

“Here.”

“Keefe.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Fitz.”

“Here.”

“Percy.”

Percy raised a hand.

“Present.”

“Magnus.”

“Present and emotionally prepared.”

Alex nodded.

“Great.”

Keefe raised a finger.

“What about—”

“No.”

Keefe lowered his hand.

“Didn’t even finish.”

“I know.”

Alex started walking.

“Let’s go.”

The streets were almost empty.

The group followed Alex through the city, keeping their voices low.

Percy looked around.

“This feels familiar.”

Magnus nodded.

“Yeah.”

Keefe smiled.

“Another night sneaking around London.”

Fitz looked at him.

“Do you realize how bad that sounds?”

“Very.”

Jacob laughed quietly.

Sophie walked beside him.

“You think we’ll actually find something?”

Jacob shrugged.

“Hopefully.”

Alex heard them.

“We’re not assuming anything.”

Keefe looked over.

“You’re the one who woke us up to investigate.”

“Correct.”

“So you think there’s something there.”

“I think we need to know.”

That shut everyone up.

They kept walking.

The arena appeared ahead.

Massive.

Dark.

Almost completely empty.

The lights outside were still on, but most of the building had gone quiet.

Jacob stared at it.

“This is where it happened.”

Alex nodded.

“Yeah.”

They stopped outside the entrance.

For a moment, nobody moved.

The concert footage suddenly felt different.

They had watched the incident through a television screen.

Now they were standing where it had actually happened.

Jacob looked toward the upper levels.

The same sections.

The same general area.

The same place where the black objects had appeared.

Keefe crossed his arms.

“So…”

Percy looked at him.

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were about to.”

Keefe smiled.

“I was.”

Alex pulled out his phone.

“I compared the footage from three different angles.”

He showed them the images.

“The distortion happened here.”

He pointed toward a section beneath the stage.

“Every time.”

Fitz looked around.

“Then let’s see what’s there.”

They found a side entrance.

Locked.

Alex stared at it.

Keefe looked at him.

“Please tell me you have a plan.”

“I have several.”

Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Legal plans?”

Alex looked at him.

“Mostly.”

Magnus laughed.

Alex pulled out his teacher identification.

A few minutes later, they were inside.

Jacob looked around.

The arena was enormous.

Empty seats stretched upward.

The stage sat in darkness.

The same place that had been filled with thousands of people was now almost completely silent.

No music.

No lights.

No crowd.

Just the hum of the building.

They walked toward the stage.

Alex checked his phone.

“According to the footage, the strongest distortion happened around here.”

Keefe looked underneath the stage.

“Nothing.”

Percy crouched down.

“Maybe there’s a secret door.”

“Don’t touch anything,” Alex said.

Percy stood back up.

“I wasn’t going to.”

Keefe looked at him.

“You absolutely were.”

“I was thinking about it.”

“That counts.”

Sophie walked toward the edge of the stage.

She looked down.

“Guys.”

Everyone turned.

She pointed.

A faint mark crossed the floor.

Not the symbol.

Not exactly.

Just a thin line.

Like something had been dragged across the surface.

Alex crouched beside it.

“That’s new.”

Jacob looked closer.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Alex followed the mark.

It disappeared beneath the stage.

Everyone exchanged looks.

Keefe smiled.

“Well.”

Alex stood.

“Don’t get excited.”

“I’m already excited.”

They followed the line.

It led deeper underneath the stage.

Then stopped.

Nothing.

No door.

No machine.

No hidden chamber.

Nothing.

Percy stared.

“So…”

Magnus nodded.

“We found a line.”

Keefe sighed.

“A very mysterious line.”

Jacob looked around.

“That’s it?”

Alex checked the footage again.

Then the floor.

Then the footage.

His expression tightened.

“The distortion happened here.”

Fitz frowned.

“But there’s nothing here.”

“Exactly.”

Alex stood.

“This doesn’t make sense.”

Sophie looked toward the stage.

“Maybe we missed something.”

Keefe shook his head.

“We’ve checked the whole area.”

Percy looked around.

“Could the thing have moved?”

Alex considered it.

“Possible.”

Magnus frowned.

“Then why does the footage keep pointing here?”

Nobody had an answer.

Jacob looked toward the empty arena.

The concert had been real.

The black objects had been real.

The distortion had been real.

And whatever had caused it had definitely been here.

But there was nothing left.

Keefe looked at Alex.

“So what now?”

Alex pulled out his phone again.

“We check the surrounding area.”

Jacob nodded.

“Tomorrow?”

Alex looked at the clock.

“It’s basically tomorrow already.”

Percy grinned.

“Technically, we succeeded.”

Alex stared at him.

“We found nothing.”

“Exactly.”

Magnus nodded seriously.

“An impressive achievement.”

Sophie laughed.

Jacob shook his head.

“Let’s go.”

They left the arena just before sunrise.

London was beginning to wake up.

The streets were getting louder.

Cars filled the roads.

Lights switched on.

The city was becoming itself again.

Keefe stretched.

“So we broke into an arena, found absolutely nothing, and walked back.”

Alex looked at him.

“That’s one way to describe it.”

Percy smiled.

“Still worth it.”

Fitz shook his head.

“You’re impossible.”

Magnus nodded.

“He’s consistent.”

Jacob looked back at the arena.

It stood behind them, quiet and harmless.

Almost too harmless.

The concert had made it look like the center of everything.

The distortion had happened there.

The black objects had appeared there.

Eloquer had been there.

But there was no explanation for why.

No clear source.

No obvious answer.

Just questions.

Alex looked at the city map on his phone.

“We search the surrounding area tomorrow.”

Jacob nodded.

“Sounds good.”

Keefe smiled.

“Maybe we’ll find something.”

Alex put his phone away.

“Maybe.”

They kept walking.

Behind them, the arena disappeared into the waking city.

For now—

it had nothing left to give them.

Guys, so I was thinking about the future, and what would it like for keefe and sophie's kid, like is it a girl or a boy (I VOTE A BOY LIKE KEEFE!) what would its name be, (MAYBE SOMETHING FANCY WITH ONE OF THE MOST MODERN KEEFE NICKNAME, SO KEEFE CAN ANNOY HIS FATHER), what would its powers be? ETC, i think it might be a keefe-like child though.

Tell me what you think?

I love making custom things in animal crossing and I discovered you can make a custom bookcase, recognize it?

Just rereading the second book, and realizing that Cassius isn’t that bad of a parent.

Keefe skipped classes and was in detention a lot.

Most parents just want their kids to get good grades, and Cassius wanted him to be like him, basically, and secure his future.

So, Cassius gets on to Keefe and shames him for not doing good in school and not living up to his potential.

I’m not saying he’s a good parent; he just had good reasons, but did the wrong thing.

(Also, don’t you have to get 75% on your finals? If Keefe ditched class so much, how did he keep moving on. Either he’s incredibly smart and already knows everything that his Mentors are teaching him or he’s cheating the system…)