Alvar Soren Vacker (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

### Important Information

Spied on his family for the Neverseen; was The Boy Who Disappeared; presumed deceased.

**Alvar Soren Vacker** is the older sibling of both Fitz and Biana Vacker, and also the first child of Alden and Della Vacker. He's a Vanisher like his mother, Della. He doesn't live with his family anymore and is instead living as a fugitive.

It was revealed in *Neverseen* that he was actually one of the long-standing members of the Neverseen, as well as The Boy Who Disappeared. This sparked tremendous grief among the Vacker family and also a large amount of scandal to the once nearly perfect family.

Alvar's location is currently unknown, but after Keefe and Sophie found him at Candleshade, we can safely assume he is waiting to die or already dead.

## Appearance

Alvar described as an attractive man with dark wavy hair, and pale blue eyes like his mother, Della. He had a build that was described that probably required hours in the gym. In addition, he was mentioned to have a square jaw. It is said in *Flashback* that he had curved red scars on his neck, face, and arms after being cut by a shamkniv. After escaping the hive at the Vacker estate, his appearance became haggard. When meeting Alvar, Sophie wrote: "Same wavy hair, same square jaw - but he had Della's pale eyes. He was also ridiculously good looking, but clearly, he worked hard to look good unlike his younger siblings. Every hair was gelled to perfection, he was built like he went to the gym twice a day, and his ornate cape was immaculate."

## Personality

Alvar is very smug and aloof. He is shown to be a ladies' man, even juggling 3 girlfriends, much to Della's horror and Keefe's amusement. Della often tells the group of how she kept Alvar in line for years. Alvar was also a very good scholar, because it was mentioned by Biana and Fitz that he was awarded the most prestigious award Foxfire could ever give a student, right before they destroyed it.

Alvar also possesses resentment towards his family's supposed legacy and is willing to go through any lengths to defy it. As seen through his active participation in the Neverseen, he is capable of committing violent acts.

## Biography

### Book 1: *Keeper of the Lost Cities*

Alvar makes his first known appearance at a dinner taking place at Everglen after midterms. Sophie was unaware that Fitz and Biana had an older brother. He later told Sophie that the sign on Grady's scrolls was the sign of the swan. He stated that the Black Swan was a hoax.

He later walked in on a confidential meeting between Alden and Sophie.

Alvar was one of the Neverseen members that kidnapped Sophie and Dex using his Vanishing ability in the first book.

Sophie comments that Alvar clearly worked hard to look good, unlike his parents and siblings, who were effortlessly handsome/beautiful.

### Book 2: *Exile*

When Alden's mind broke from grief after seeing Wylie dancing at Foxfire, Alvar was the one who told Biana the news. He seemed calm, helping Della, Fitz, and Biana cope with Alden's condition. He helped Sophie understand why Fitz was reacting the way he was. Alvar seemed to be helpful to Sophie by encouraging Biana and Fitz to understand that it wasn't Sophie's fault his father's mind had broken.

### Book 4: *Neverseen*

Alvar is revealed to have been part of the Neverseen since he was in Foxfire. He has been a spy for them and has been passing along information from his father, Alden. Alvar believes that Fitz is his father's favorite son and that he has to live up to the "Golden Boy."

It was also revealed that Alvar was in fact 'The Boy Who Disappeared', seen by Sophie during her childhood. During this time Alvar was being sent by Alden to search for the moonlark (Sophie) in the Forbidden Cities.

### Book 5: *Lodestar*

In *Lodestar*, Alvar is frequently mentioned by Keefe while the latter was with the Neverseen. Apparently, he had many crazy theories about the identities of Mr. Forkle but Keefe attempts to debunk them by saying he thinks Mr Forkle is actually Councillor Alina. During the confrontation at the Pallidrose hideout, Keefe takes Tam's leaping crystal and brings Alvar to Alluveterre. Alvar was not present at the fall of Lumenaria.

### Book 6: *Nightfall*

In *Nightfall*, Alvar is found unconscious in Lady Gisela's newer Nightfall that is Keefe's Legacy and has been tortured with a shamkniv and has deep cuts. They find out that he is unconscious because he was exposed to soporidine- a natural ogre weapon that makes you have a long, dreamless sleep. At the end of the book, when given the antidote to soporidine, he wakes up with no memory of the fact that he was a member of the Neverseen and that he helped kidnap Sophie, and the book ends with Alvar saying, "Who's Alvar?"

### Book 7: *Flashback*

In *Flashback*, Alvar still has no memory of his past life, confirmed by many telepaths. He is sent by the Council to live at Everglen once again, with a guard, to see if he is telling the truth. He will live in his own apartment on the grounds. Alvar says that he would never rejoin the Neverseen, instead of saying he'll do anything in his power to stop them and shows the scars on his arms, given by the Neverseen as proof. At Everglen, on the eclipse, Alvar gets his memories back. He rejoins the Neverseen. Fitz attempts to knock him out when he sees that he is moving towards the gate, but he is unable to do so due to Sophie's null blocking the Warden. When they get back and see that Alvar is standing by the gate, Fitz once again tries to knock him out but is unable. Gethen, Vespera, Ruy, and Umber eventually traps them, and Alvar groans and slumps to the ground at the sound of Vespera’s voice. He is later seen by the gate holding Fitz’s bandage, having gained his memories back. Finally, he lets the Neverseen in, resulting in them being able to release the trolls, almost killing all of Sophie's friends. They give him multiple chances to leave the Neverseen, but he refuses. He is knocked into one of the hatching pods and Fitz and Biana frantically press buttons to lock him in but stop when the pod starts to fill with liquid. They think he is dead, but later find that he has escaped once again.

### Book 8: *Legacy*

Alvar is found hiding at Candleshade by Keefe and Sophie, and he claims that he's dying after being in the troll goo. They decide to let him go in exchange for information about Lady Gisela.

## Relationships

### Alden Dedrick Vacker

* **Father**

Alden is Alvar's father. Alden and Alvar seemed to disagree on many things on many levels. When Alvar was younger he helped his father by searching for Sophie in the Forbidden Cities. As he aged, Alden replaced him with Fitz since Fitz was closer to Sophie's age and Alvar was having trouble with sneaking out of the Silver Tower. Alvar felt that Fitz was always his father's favorite and needed to live up to "Wonderboy". Their relationship became strained after Alden learned that Alvar was a member of the Neverseen, and again after Alvar betrayed the Vackers a second time by choosing the Neverseen after his memories returned.

### Della Adara Vacker

* **Mother**

Della is Alvar's mother. She is a vanisher, like him. In Keeper, he brags about having three girlfriends, much to Della's distaste. She frequently mentions to the group that she "kept Alvar in line for years". Much like Alden, Della wanted to believe that Alvar was changed after he lost his memories and was both devastated and enraged when he rejoined the Neverseen.

### Fitz Vacker

* **Younger brother**

Fitz is Alvar's younger brother. Alvar has always felt that Fitz was Alden's favorite son (In *Neverseen*, he said Fitz was the Golden Boy). When Alvar was revealed as a member of Neverseen, Fitz was angry beyond words. He is shown to be a little jealous of Fitz in *Neverseen*. Fitz may have nearly killed Alvar in *Flashback*, and never forgave him even during his mind-wiped phase. Fitz's defense for trying to kill Alvar was that "he's a murderer", even though he has only been confirmed to have attempted murder and it has not been specifically stated that he has succeeded. He was, however, responsible for distributing the Gnomish plague that was released in *Neverseen.*

### Biana Vacker

* **Younger sister**

Biana is Alvar's younger sister, and he seems to have a soft spot for her. When she learns that Alvar is part of the Neverseen she says, "How could you?" His expression softens as he explains, showing that he cares for her more than he does for Fitz and the rest of the group. For unknown reasons, he also believed that she would understand the Vacker Legacy.

### Keefe Sencen

* **Former friend/Enemy**

Keefe admires Alvar and later works with him and the Neverseen. Alvar doesn't believe that Keefe needs as much watching as the other members of Neverseen do because he knows Keefe through Fitz and Lady Gisela.

### Brant

* **Former ally**

Brant and Alvar worked together in the Neverseen until Brant's death in *Lodestar*.

### Fintan Pyren

* **Leader**

Works with him in the Neverseen.

### Ruy Ignis

* **Ally/Possible love interest**

Both of them work together in the Neverseen and are roommates. Ruy is one year older than Alvar.

### Sophie Foster

* **Former friend/Enemy**

The target of kidnapping, whom he abducted and tortured. She was acquaintances/friends with him in Neverseen before he was revealed to be a member of the Neverseen. When Alden's mind broke, he helped her when Fitz was being mean to her. Sophie eventually left him seemingly for dead in *Legacy* after he gives her information about Lady Gisela. Alvar was also the first person to look for Sophie before Fitz took over for him when he left for the Elite levels at Foxfire. Sophie saw him when she was five while he was watching her while using an addler that blurred his face. She was frightened and ran, tripped, and fell on her head, causing her to blackout. Alvar thought that Sophie was not the one he was supposed to be looking for because of her brown eyes, so he never said anything about her.

## Trivia

* Alvar is a heavy sleeper.
* The name "Alvar" means elf army, "Soren" means "solemn".

## References

Credits go to the Keeper of the Lost Cities Wiki

1. ↑ Sophie starts calling him this because he used to spy on her when she was in the human world.