First and foremost: I DO NOT OWN KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. I am not Shannon Messenger, I did not build her world, and only a few characters in this fanfiction are original. Sophie Foster, Keefe Sencen, Fitz Vacker, and all of the names that you will probably recognize BELONG TO SHANNON MESSENGER, as well as many of the locations in this book, such as Eternalia, Lumenaria, and the rest of the Lost Cities. THOSE WERE ALL CREATED BY SHANNON MESSENGER. Just like the characters, only a few locations were created by me. 

This is an AU(Alternate Universe) so, yes, there may be moments that are not consistent with the original series. I am trying to keep it as close to Shannon Messenger's series as I can, but if certain characters are still alive, or certain events happen in a different order or on a different timeline than they did in the original series, I am probably aware, as I will have gone through each chapter many times before publishing, so please refrain from commenting on those incidents or pointing out mistakes. That said, if you do want to offer some constructive criticism, or see something that genuinely concerns you, please PM(Private Message) me and I while take your advice into consideration. 

On that note, a very special thank you to @MagicDaydreamer and @behind_the_crown for being my editors! This would not be published without them. They do everything-catch typos and cliches, provide insight, offer ideas, ask the questions that I should be asking myself but somehow never do, help with world-building and character development, all of that. Both of them are absolutely amazing, and I would definitely recommend following them, because they have stunning stories of their own that MUST BE READ. 

This idea formed from a concept that a friend of mine(@yeahistolehissheild) and I talked about. My friend was describing a fanfiction that she had read about a Marvel AU where Peter Parker was raised by Hydra instead of Aunt May(I still haven't read it but it sounds really good and I would love to read it! If I find it, I will credit it here, I promise.) For a while, I put that idea aside, in the pocket of my mind reserved for future story ideas. Somehow, it mixed with KOTLC, and then a new idea was slipped into my mental mailbox. 

What if Sophie had been kidnapped at a young age and raised to be one of the Neverseen? 

Most of you know that many of my friends and I are KOTLC fanatics, and always coming up with theories, head-canons, or arguing about various ships. Well, sometimes we come up with seriously in-depth theories that have a lot of backing evidence. (For example, we think that Terik is probably evil, and Linh will most likely be killed off in Legacy.) One of those theories is that Sophie is somehow going to turn to the dark side in the 8th book, only to come back at the end with some sort of brave heroic act. Several times, various authority figures in the Lost Cities have mentioned that she has a confusing mix of good and bad within her, and so far, we've only seen the good, which means that the bad is going to have to come through eventually, right? And look how fearsome she looks on the Legacy cover! Considering Shannon Messenger has mentioned that the latest installment of the series is going to be all about our three main characters(Sophie, Keefe and Fitz) confronting their buried pasts and what that says about their future, I think it's highly likely that Sophie could be brainwashed. Think about how much damage she could do if she was with the Neverseen! 

That said, what if the order of events was reversed? What if Sophie started as a villain and was somehow forced to change? This was my original thought as I began to write this fanfiction. I have a feeling that it'll come a long way from this idea before it ends, and maybe it'll even branch out into a longer series. I'm not sure yet. I've never started such an ambitious idea before, so I hope that y'all will bear with me as I sail this stormy Wattpad sea. 

I'll stop boring you with all this introduction stuff soon, but I do just want to warn you: From the very first chapter, this book will have EXTREME spoilers. If you haven't read all of the books, then I would NOT recommend reading this fanfiction. Unless you're willing to ruin the series for yourself? Please, just wait until you've finished Flashback. And Legacy, once it comes out, because I'll probably include characters and plot points from that, too. So finish the series, THEN you can read this. 

I'm also not exactly an amazing author. I merely like writing, and have a lot of practice. There'll be some parts that you may think are good, and others that are messy or cliché or maybe just crappy in general. It's not like I'm published or professional. I've never won some huge writing competition like the Wattys. (To be fair, I haven't entered for a while, and the only times I did, I was still really young and inexperienced.) But I am excited to share my work with you, so please, no hate. You don't have to like anything that I write, or me in general, however, I don't want to look through my comments and see drama or cruelty. Of course, this is a guideline that you should probably always abide by, so why not start practicing now? 

Okay, I'm done with the boring introduction stuff. I hope that y'all understand why I had to get all of this information across! The rest of the book will be all about KOTLC, with only a couple of Author's Notes, I promise. And, of course, thank you for reading!