r/KotLCTheories

Hi!! I'm not a regular Reddit user so I might not be doing this right but I've been searching for this specific KOTLC fanfic for YEARS and can't find it anywhere and I'm hoping someone else might know it? It was literally the first fanfic I ever read so it's really nostalgic and it's honestly so stupid but I just want to have it for old times sake, you know? Anyway, here's what I remember

I originally read it on some weird site that definitely wasn't legit and stole it from the og creator but it was also on wattpad. I'm not sure about ao3 or anything else

The cover picture was a Sokeefe fan art and it was a SoKeefe fic

There were somewhere in the 5-15 range of parts/chapters, whatever you would call them, and within them was the first short story and a second one.

The plot of the first one was something along the lines of a KOTLC group sleepover. They decide to play truth or dare and at some point Ro comes up with this huge eccentric plot to get Sophie and Keefe together, I don't remember if Keefe knew what she was plotting. Ro basically ends up daring Sophie to have this like, blind kissing competition. Something along the lines of her being blindfolded and having to kiss each of the boys (Keefe, Fitz, Tam, Dex) who are all assigned numbers to identify them because she doesn't get to know who is who until the end. Then after she kisses all four she has to rank them in order of best to worst kiss. So she kisses them all and I don't remember the exact order they went in but I do remember how each kiss was describe, Dex's was awkward and familiar, Fitz was a terrible kisser (shocker am I right? A sokeefe fic being a complete Fitz hater lol), Tam was like, a really good kisser and they kissed, like, way too long, but Keefe's kiss was like magical or someth like that. Anyway she ranks them and obviously Keefe wins and there is all the shock of omg Fitz actually sucks and drama and scandal but low key they all just go to bed, separated into girls and guys rooms, but Sophie and Keefe end up talking things out yada yada they all live happily ever after.

Honestly I don't really remember the second sub story, but it was incomplete and had Elwin, maybe christmas something? But that could be wrong.

Anyways sorry I know that isn't a ton to go off of and it's a really stupid plot overall but someone let me know if you know it! As embarrassed as I am to ask I really would like to read it one more time. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this and maybe find it 🫶🏻🥹

The Neverseen follow a very simple rule.

As long as you are useful, you are protected.

When you fail—you are punished, abandoned, or left to die.

It happened to Gisela. It happened to Alvar. Ruy also learned how little he meant to his allies when Tam’s attack damaged his ability.

At first glance, these are three separate stories. However, after the events of Unraveled, I am beginning to wonder whether they all lead to the same place.

To the human world.

And to the next stage of Gisela’s experiment.

Gisela Disappears and Returns Changed

After Fintan’s betrayal, Gisela is maimed and imprisoned in an ogre prison. When Sophie and Keefe contact her through a modified Imparter, Gisela refuses to let them see her face.

She is also unaware of many important events.

She does not know that the Neverseen kidnapped Sophie’s human parents. She does not know that Brant died during the attack on Lumenaria. Only during the conversation does she try to determine what happened during her absence and how the balance of power within the organization has changed.

This does not mean that she knows nothing. She still understands the plan she created, can predict Fintan’s actions, and immediately recognizes the significance of the changes taking place within the Neverseen. But she is clearly cut off from current information.

We do not know exactly how she escaped or where she stayed immediately after leaving the prison. When she appears in person again, her appearance has changed in a strange way. The curved scars are gone, but they have been replaced by skin stretched unnaturally tight over her bones.

In Unlocked, Keefe also notes that Gisela somehow got rid of the scars, making her face look “tight” and strange.

Did she undergo some kind of treatment?

Did she spend her absence in the human world and make use of human medicine?

That could explain the condition of her skin. Plastic surgery does not always completely remove signs of injuries, and unnaturally tight skin can be one visible effect of such procedures.

I wonder whether Ethan helped her. Perhaps he knew that she had some kind of tracker, which is why he and his daughter are hiding separately.

If Ethan was not the one who helped her, Gisela may still have had contacts, hideouts, or resources left over from their joint research.

She knew how to reach the human world. She had her own special paths there. For many years, she worked on a secret project with a human.

So perhaps she did not vanish without a trace.

She may simply have moved to a world where the Neverseen could not find her.

Alvar’s “Random” City

Alvar was also deemed expendable by the Neverseen.

After the attack involving the mutated trolls, they blamed him for Umber’s death and the damage to Ruy’s ability. They expelled him from the organization and left him to die from his injuries.

After Sophie convinced Keefe to let Alvar leave Candleshade, Alvar went to Lord Cassius’s home. Cassius would not let him stay, however. He gave him Fade Fuel, made him a path, and gave him five minutes to choose a destination.

Alvar claims that he asked Cassius to choose a random facet on his blue pathfinder.

But we do not know whether that is true.

Remember that Alvar delivered letters for Gisela. Perhaps he knew the location of one of her hideouts and went there for help.

He claimed that humans found him and took him to a hospital. Human medicine saved his life, but he lost all of his abilities. On the other hand, someone must have paid for his treatment. So if Gisela was the one who saved him, Alvar owed her a favor.

According to Alvar, everything was random.

A random facet.

A random city.

A random hospital.

A random library.

And then Keefe walks into that same library.

Was it really only a coincidence?

Was Alvar following a tracker?

Notice that Keefe reaches the library shortly after breakfast and after checking several streets in London. It is definitely morning in London—which follows the same time as the Lost Cities—perhaps sometime between nine and eleven.

Keefe then leaps to the city where the library is located.

So Gisela could have tracked him.

And she could have sent Alvar there.

Alvar Leads Keefe Exactly Where Gisela Would Want Him to Go

From the moment they meet, Alvar behaves in a way that would fit Gisela’s needs perfectly.

First, he tries to convince Keefe that there is no point in continuing to search for information about Ethan and his daughter. He makes Keefe realize that he was only a replacement messenger and that he should stop focusing on the past.

Instead, he encourages him to focus on his own future.

His legacy.

His new abilities.

Keefe notices this shift and directly accuses Alvar of trying to gather information for Gisela. He asks whether the entire speech is merely an attempt to learn about Keefe’s new power and then report back to his mother.

Alvar denies it. He claims that he cannot simply meet Gisela or call her and that he wants nothing more to do with that life.

And yet he does not stop asking questions.

He tells Keefe that his new ability has always been part of him. That its manifestation nearly killed him, so Keefe may not see it that way. He tries to convince Keefe that he should train the ability and learn to use it on his own terms.

Then he reveals his greatest secret.

He is no longer a Vanisher.

He no longer possesses any elvin skills.

He is essentially Talentless.

With that single confession, he transforms from a potential enemy into the perfect test subject.

Australia—An Ordinary Trip or a Planned Test?

One of the most important events is the trip to Australia.

At first, everything appears completely innocent. Alvar wants to escape rainy London, try new foods, and find a place where people speak English. The idea of Australia came from a conversation with an Australian couple he had met several days earlier.

After arriving in a coastal city, Keefe and Alvar ask passersby to recommend a good restaurant. Everyone directs them to a nearby café.

The waitress has a dark ponytail, pale skin, and extraordinarily vivid blue eyes—brighter than the eyes of most elves. When she laughs, pink patches appear on her cheeks.

That description may attract attention, particularly the comparison between her eyes and elvin eyes.

She is the one who directs them to the wildlife park.

She recommends asking about “drop bears.”

She also gives them two yellow packets of Vegemite, supposedly necessary when encountering the creatures.

At the park, they meet a very tan blond man dressed like the other employees. The man begins the drop bear prank. According to him, the plan had only been for him to shout so that Keefe and Alvar would drop to the ground while he covered his own head.

Then an enormous spider falls onto Keefe.

The employee later insists that the spider appeared by chance and was not part of the prank.

Keefe panics. He clenches his jaw to stop himself from issuing an uncontrolled command.

I wonder whether Keefe was deliberately drawn into a situation intended to force him to use his new ability.

Before they return, Keefe holds out his hand to Alvar. Alvar takes it, and a burst of shimmering warmth passes between their hands.

After they return to London, Alvar begins to vanish.

His ability comes back.

At first, it is extremely weak and unstable, and Alvar feels a painful emptiness inside himself. He then convinces Keefe that he is the perfect test subject. He claims that only by using his ability can Keefe discover how it works.

Eventually, Keefe tries to heal him.

He restores not only Alvar’s Vanishing, but also all of his other elvin skills.

During a single trip, Keefe:

• proves that he can control his commands in a moment of extreme fear;
• discovers that he can restore a damaged or lost ability;
• learns to direct energy into another person;
• reveals additional aspects of his new power to Alvar.

That is exactly the kind of information Gisela would need.

Was the Wildlife Park Employee Ruy?

This cannot be ruled out based on appearance alone, since Ruy’s real face remains unknown. Ruy wore an addler that prevented others from focusing on or remembering his face, and all records of his appearance were destroyed.

When Alvar realizes that Keefe may be able to heal abilities, he almost immediately says:

“Ruy needs it.”

He makes it clear that he is not suggesting that Keefe should heal Ruy.

But why is Ruy the first person who comes to mind?

Could they both be helping Gisela carry out her plans?

Both had damaged abilities.

Neither was useful to the Neverseen anymore.

The Visit to the Cemetery and the Meeting with Eleanor

Keefe visits Ethan’s and Eleanor’s graves.

The cemetery groundskeeper behaves in a way that may raise suspicions. He immediately reacts to Ethan’s and Eleanor’s names, knows the way to their graves, and studies Keefe carefully. He wears a dark hat, has streaks of gray hair, and very few wrinkles.

It is also interesting that the man says his parents would not let him take a gap year. He had to begin university immediately.

Since when do cemetery groundskeepers need a university education?

He may not have completed his studies, but if his parents were that strict, I do not know whether they would have allowed him to drop out.

Did Alvar inform Gisela about Keefe’s visit to the cemetery?

Did Gisela plant this man there to steer Keefe? To convince him that he should stop searching for more answers and focus on his own life?

Keefe’s meeting with Eleanor after leaving the cemetery comes as a surprise.

If Gisela did not previously have a tracker revealing Eleanor’s location, she has certainly found her now—provided the man at the cemetery really was planted there by her.

According to one of my earlier theories, Eleanor is, together with Keefe, part of Gisela’s experiment.

I wonder whether Eleanor will appear on Elysian Island when the power of the stones or the sixth star reveals itself.

Will she be needed to complete the experiment?

Are the trolls guarding Eleanor, and will they appear with her on the island if Gisela gives the right command?

Alvar Heard Everything

When Sophie, Dex, and Tam arrive at the hotel, Keefe immediately remembers that Alvar is in the adjoining room. He hopes that Alvar will remain hidden.

Alvar does hide.

But he does not leave.

When Keefe later goes into the bedroom to pack, Alvar speaks to him while remaining invisible. He admits that he watched their reunion. He saw Sophie’s hug and all the sly looks she kept sneaking at Keefe when she thought no one was looking.

Keefe asks him directly:

“I take it you heard everything?”

Alvar answers:

“Yep.”

He explains that he was eavesdropping because he wanted to make sure Sophie, Dex, and Tam had not come to capture him and drag him to an elvin prison.

That means Alvar did not hear only a random fragment of the conversation.

He heard everything.

Alvar learned about the memories found in Kenric’s cache. He heard about Elysian, the possibility of a third step to stellarlune, and the power source hidden behind the illusions. He knew that Wylie was searching for the starstone, that Sophie was convinced they would be able to see through the illusions, and that Dex planned to build a gadget to separate beams of light.

He also heard that Vespera had proposed a temporary alliance against Gisela.

Most importantly, he learned their plan.

Sophie intended to find Elysian without the Neverseen’s help. She wanted to take possession of the power source because she suspected that Keefe might need it. Keefe insisted that she destroy it, but he did not believe her promise.

Alvar therefore knew that Sophie would probably try to preserve the power source for Keefe.

He also knew that Keefe had decided to return to the Lost Cities and personally take part in the search.

That is an almost complete report on the activities of Gisela’s enemies.

Alvar Also Learned Keefe’s Greatest Weakness

The information about Elysian was not the only thing Alvar learned that night.

He saw Sophie throw her arms around Keefe’s neck. He watched her sly glances. He heard that she was willing to risk herself and others to find a power source that Keefe might need.

Alvar understood exactly what that meant.

He tells Keefe that Sophie is beginning to recognize her own feelings and that she would be happier with him than with Fitz. He even jokes that the victory of “Team SoKeefe” is only a matter of time.

For an ordinary friend, this may be nothing more than a romantic observation.

For Gisela, however, it would be priceless information.

Gisela has been exploiting her son’s emotions for years. She knows how to make him feel guilt, fear, and the need to protect others. If she learned that Sophie is the most important person in his life—and that Sophie is willing to risk everything specifically for him—she would have the perfect means of exerting pressure on both of them.

She could use Sophie to force Keefe to cooperate.

Or use Keefe to steer Sophie’s decisions.

Alvar may have given Gisela more than information about Elysian.

He may have told her exactly where to strike.

Summary

Did Gisela really create her own network in the human world?

At first glance, Alvar’s story looks like a series of coincidences. A random facet led him to a random city. There, he randomly ended up in a hospital and later in a library where Keefe randomly appeared.

Then came another series of coincidences.

Alvar began questioning Keefe about his ability. He encouraged him to train. He revealed that he had lost all of his elvin skills, making himself the perfect test subject. During the trip to Australia, Keefe was exposed to extreme fear and then discovered that he could not only control his commands, but also restore lost abilities.

Alvar learned how Keefe’s new power worked.

Later, Keefe visited Ethan’s and Eleanor’s graves, where he met a mysterious cemetery groundskeeper. Shortly afterward, Eleanor found him—a person who, according to my earlier theory, may also be part of Gisela’s experiment.

In the end, Alvar obtained even more information.

He overheard Keefe’s entire conversation with Sophie, Dex, and Tam. He learned about Elysian, the third step to stellarlune, the power source, the starstone, the illusions, Dex’s device, and the planned alliance with Vespera. He also understood how much Sophie means to Keefe and how far she is willing to go to save him.

If Alvar is still working for Gisela, he could have given her almost everything she needed.

He could have told her about Keefe’s new ability.

He could have told her about the plan to find Elysian.

He could have pointed out that Sophie is her son’s greatest emotional weakness.

And perhaps he could also have led her to Eleanor.

We do not know whether Alvar was consciously carrying out Gisela’s orders from the beginning. It is possible that he truly was cast out by the Neverseen and was trying to begin a new life in the human world. But it is also possible that this was precisely what made him so useful.

No one would suspect someone who believed that he had been abandoned.

Perhaps Gisela did not need a loyal member of the Neverseen. She needed someone who would get close to Keefe, earn his trust, encourage him to use his new abilities, and learn his friends’ plans.

Alvar did exactly all of those things.

That is why the most important question is no longer whether the meeting in the library was a coincidence.

The most important question is:

Was Alvar guiding Keefe exactly where his mother wanted him all along?

A link to the theory and the clues supporting it : Theories | Elvin Secrets

I have already written a theory about this before. However, while creating my clues page, organizing the events, and working on more theories, I began to notice details that completely changed the way I viewed the situation.

Today, I believe that Prentice called “swan song” because he saw someone.

He saw a traitor.

Prentice Knew They Were Coming for Him

In Everblaze, we learn that “swan song” was a warning used by the Black Swan when one of its members had to take an enormous risk or make a great sacrifice. Prentice called “swan song” the day before his capture.

Forkle admits that he never understood how Prentice knew that he was going to be captured.

This means that the arrest did not take Prentice by surprise. Before Alden came for him, Prentice must have seen, heard, or discovered something that made him realize that his time was running out.

Another clue appears in Neverseen. Tiergan says that he had been closely following Alden’s actions and that Alden had not suspected Prentice at all before then. And then Prentice called “swan song” and was suddenly arrested.

In Unlocked, in Alden’s Registry File, we learn that the Council instructed him to investigate the growing rumors of rebellion. The Councillors expected him to uncover nothing more than gossip and a misunderstanding. Instead, Alden brought them Prentice, along with evidence of his connection to the Black Swan.

Why Didn’t Prentice Tell Anyone?

The most disturbing clue, however, concerns not the arrest itself, but Prentice’s silence.

The day before his mind was broken, Quinlin met with him privately. Livvy gave Quinlin questions to ask him. Prentice therefore had one final opportunity to reveal what he had discovered.

He did not.

Later in Nightfall, Tam points out something that no one had previously been able to explain. If the Lodestar symbol was so important that it was connected to Prentice calling “swan song,” why did Prentice not tell Alden, Quinlin, or anyone in the Black Swan about it before his mind was broken?

The Lodestar symbol was not a Black Swan secret. Prentice could at least have said enough for someone else to continue his investigation.

Alden admits that he would have followed that lead. Livvy is convinced that Quinlin would also have investigated if he had learned something important during their private conversation.

And yet Prentice remained silent.

In Stellarlune, Sophie returns to this mystery and reaches a terrifying conclusion: Prentice behaved as though he had not known whom he could trust.

And that completely changed the way I viewed his “swan song.”

Prentice was a trained Keeper. His entire life revolved around protecting secrets, assessing risks, and deciding who could be trusted with dangerous knowledge. His silence therefore does not look like the result of panic or ordinary caution.

It looks like a conscious decision.

If Prentice had only been afraid of the Neverseen, he could have warned the Black Swan. But if he had discovered that the Neverseen had an ally on the Council, the situation would have been completely different.

Alden and Quinlin carried out the Council’s orders. The results of their investigations went to the Councillors. Official reports could pass through the hands of the very person Prentice suspected. Anyone he trusted with the truth could be watched—or become the next target.

Prentice may have remained silent not because he did not want to trust anyone.

He may have remained silent because he did not want to condemn another person.

Kenric’s Secret Proposal

Stellarlune adds another extremely important element to this story.

Several years before Prentice’s arrest, Kenric invited him to Hushwood and asked him to become his unofficial Keeper. Kenric did not trust the Councillors’ caches. He wanted to gradually transfer the secrets stored in his cache into Prentice’s mind and later entrust him with new information as well.

Prentice did not say during that conversation whether he accepted the proposal. So we do not know whether he truly became Kenric’s secret Keeper.

But even the proposal itself may have made him a target.

Kenric initially intended to conceal the identity of his Keeper from the other Councillors because he knew how easily information leaked from the Council. If someone learned about his plan, Prentice suddenly became dangerous. He might have been storing secrets in his mind that did not exist in any official documents. He might have learned the truth about events that the Council had erased from memory long ago.

Sophie herself wonders whether Kenric’s proposal somehow contributed to Prentice’s arrest.

And if there truly was a traitor on the Council, Prentice may have been one of the greatest threats to that person.

What Did Prentice See?

I suspect that Prentice’s unknown investigation led him to the Lodestar symbol and then to a meeting of the Neverseen.

Perhaps he saw Gethen.

But Gethen was not alone.

He was accompanied by someone Prentice would never have expected to see on the rebels’ side. Someone who belonged to the very center of elvin power. Someone who had access to classified reports, investigation results, and decisions made by the Council.

One of the Councillors.

Perhaps Gethen noticed Prentice’s presence or tried to enter his mind. He did not have to erase the memory completely. It would have been enough for Prentice to realize that he had been detected.

From that moment on, he knew that the Neverseen would come for him.

He also knew that he could not safely tell anyone what he had seen.

That is why he called “swan song.”

My prime suspect is Councillor Clarette.

In my earlier theories, I wrote that I believe she was the one who punished Gisela with a shamkniv. I also suspect that she belongs to the Vacker family and that she was the one who drew Alvar into the Neverseen by telling him about the family legacy.

Additionally, we can see that Clarette has never openly supported Sophie and usually follows the majority decision of the Council. On its own, that is not evidence of betrayal. But it makes Clarette almost invisible. She rarely stands out, rarely takes a clear position, and can always hide her own decision behind the votes of the other Councillors.

And that is exactly how a traitor hidden on the Council might operate.

She would not have had to personally order Alden to arrest Prentice. It would have been enough to plant the right lead, direct attention toward a specific report, or make sure that a suspicious discrepancy reached Quinlin. Alden would have done the rest, convinced that he had uncovered a member of the rebel organization himself.

We know from Unlocked that Oralie was able to ensure that reports concerning Alden’s and Quinlin’s activities went directly to her, and then remove mentions of Sophie from the official records. This does not prove that Clarette did the same thing. It does, however, show that a Councillor had the ability to control the flow of information and influence what ultimately remained in the records.

Clarette therefore had the position, abilities, and access that would have allowed her to direct the investigation toward Prentice while completely erasing her own involvement from the official story.

Gethen Was Afraid of Prentice’s Memories

The strongest argument for Gethen’s involvement appears near the end of Nightfall.

When Sophie heals Prentice’s mind, Gethen almost immediately tries to determine how much Prentice remembers. He does not ask Wylie about the starstones or his mother.

He asks specifically about his father’s memories.

Wylie deliberately suggests that Prentice remembers enough to give Gethen reason to worry.

Why did Gethen care so much about that information?

The most obvious answer is that he knew there was something in Prentice’s mind that could expose the traitor.

The Neverseen had also made sure that Prentice was poisoned with soporidine before he could leave Exile and remained unconscious. Forkle concludes that they wanted to prevent the Black Swan from discovering why Prentice had called “swan song.”

It was therefore not enough for them that his mind had been broken.

They wanted to make sure that he would never wake up and never reveal what—or whom—he had seen.

The True Meaning of “Swan Song”

That is why I no longer believe that Prentice was merely trying to warn the Black Swan about the Neverseen’s actions.

I think his warning meant something far more terrifying:

The enemy is not coming. The enemy is already inside.

Prentice discovered the Lodestar symbol. He saw the traitor. He realized that someone on the Council was working with the Neverseen and could control the investigation, the reports, and the people Prentice should have turned to for help.

He no longer knew whom he could tell the truth.

He did not know how deep the betrayal went.

And perhaps he also knew that anyone he trusted would become the next victim.

That is why he chose silence.

He called “swan song,” knowing that he was making one final, enormous sacrifice. Not to save himself, but to protect Sophie, the Black Swan, and everyone the traitor might reach through him.

Prentice saw the traitor.

The traitor saw Prentice.

And the next day, the Council came for him.

A link to the theory and the clues supporting it : Theories | Elvin Secrets