★彡[ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴇᴅɪᴛᴇᴅ]彡★

"So, should we split up?" Kayleey asked, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. The team had landed in an empty park, and wherever they were, it was the middle of the day. She could just barely make out the words on a bright green street sign nearby if she squinted. Thankfully, there were no humans around to see the group of elves in mostly black training gear materialize out of nowhere.

Aeyva flipped open Keefe's file, surprised when a slim card fell out. Instinctively she caught it, turning it over. It was a debit card. Smart. She slipped it in her pocket and returned her attention to the rest of the file's contents. There was a list of locations to check and accompanying coordinates. They all had noted explanations.

Kansas City, Kansas. This is the most well-known factory of a cookie production company called Keebler, which, according to Sophie, is something that fascinates Keefe.

Montgomery, New York. A former Neverseen hideout called Valkonian is there that wasn't completely cleared out and Keefe may have gone to see if he can pick up any clues himself about the Neverseen.

North Carolina. Keefe has a close relationship with the Vackers, who live nearby.

McCall, Idaho. Lady Gisela's Nightfall was located there. Again, he may be checking old Neverseen locations for missed clues.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota. Alluveterre used to be here and this was a Black Swan hideout Keefe was aware of.

San Diego, California. This is a connection to Sophie, Keefe's close friend. She used to live there before she moved to the Lost Cities. And on that note, you'd be wise to check the entire California coast. This is close to Havenfield, where Sophie lives now.

"Ugh," said Lyra, peeking over Aeyva's shoulder to get a good look at the list. "I call the cookie factory place. It's the only one that sounds like any fun."

The other girls crowded around. "Can I have California?" someone said. "Can I have New York?" someone else asked. Aeyva's eyes flashed, and she raised her voice.

"Hello? Can we be civilized, please? This is an assignment, not the playground." The other girls backed away, lowering their heads.

She exhaled, reeling in her frustration. "Kayleey is right. This will go significantly faster if we split up. But..." She bit her lip. "We're not supposed to take big risks. And the less of us there are, the more vulnerable we become."

"Then let's just split in half," Avilyn suggested.

Aeyva tapped her nails together, thinking about it. "Well... okay. Fine. Faelyn, Cloud, Phoenix, Kayleey, you're with me. Avilyn and Lya are also Polyglots, so Lyra, Addy, and Aerin, you're with them." She wasn't missing out on a chance to try and figure out what Kayleey's secret was, and she didn't think she could trust Faelyn and Cloud not to run off and do something dumb unsupervised. Phoenix was the responsible outlier she was taking with her. "This is a perfect time to practice English and utilize our human knowledge, everyone!"

The whole team groaned.

Avilyn spoke up again. "Since we're already in New York, we might as well scout it out. I think the Neverseen hideouts are the most likely places for Keefe to be close to. He's always had a thing for trying to figure things out on his own."

Lyra furrowed her brows. "How do you know we're in New York?"

Faelyn gave her a funny look. "I don't know, maybe the GIANT STATUE WITH A FLAMING TORCH gave it away?" She gestured to the Statue of Liberty in the distance, displaying her best duh face.

"Oh." Most of the girls hadn't noticed it. Cloud started popping her lips and skipping around, her mind far elsewhere. Lyana and Phoenix began discussing theories for where Keefe was. Aeyva promised she'd meet Avilyn's group back here in two days. If they hadn't found anything by then, both groups would move on.

"Wait, shouldn't we change our clothes?" Aerin pointed out, fingering one of her yellow earrings. "We look like criminals. Or spies or something. It's just suspicious, and we don't want to draw that much attention."

The other girls murmured their assent. Some of their clothes were semi-normal, like cargo pants and leggings, but fireproof full-body suits and leather training tunics would look out of place in the human world.

"Right..." Aeyva muttered, tapping the card now in her pocket. She very suddenly started moving towards the road. "Let's get to a clothing store and let's make this quick!"

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

"I LOVE skinny jeans; I'm never wearing anything else again."

"Oh my gosh, we look so cute!"

"Addy, I dig the flowers!"

"Ugh, that one is itchy."

"Ooh, try on this jacket."

"All this jewelry is so cheap!"

"THEY HAVE SPARKLY SHOES. SPARKLY ONES. GLITTER BOOTS, GUYS."

The lady manning the dressing room peeked in, looking wary. "Um, are you girls finished trying on⏤"

A skirt flew through the air and landed on her face. The dressing room was a mess, and there was no room for anyone but the elves as they were running back and forth, trying on unfamiliar clothes and swapping out pieces with each other. Forkle may have seen them as a 'well-oiled machine' but right now they looked like a mess of teenage girls with too much cash. They didn't understand what the stalls were for, since they were so used to changing together in one big room, so they just used those to stash the clothes they hadn't tried on yet. Some of the girls were spending most of the time in front of the mirror; Aeyva smoothed out her floral sundress and fluffed her hair before Faelyn shoved her out of the way to adjust her black crop top. A shoe hit her on the back of the head and she spun to retaliate, rushing back into the fray.

Avilyn stood in the corner eyeing the store nervously, in a white crop tee and Nike pants. She seemed uncomfortable, as if she didn't want to be there⏤or didn't like her outfit, but she looked amazing in everything. Lyana was holding herself in a hoodie so big it practically swallowed her. "It's like wearing a hug," she told her with wide eyes, holding out her arms.

"I am buying every single leather jacket in this store," said Faelyn, picking up as many as she could find.

Cloud and Kayleey kept on the cargo pants they had worn to training but were now wearing a cherry-patterned top and a lime green one, respectively, and taking pictures of each other with their Imparters. Everyone was having fun picking out new outfits, but Aeyva clapped her hands to get their attention and they realized they were wasting time.

"This is great," she said, "but could we maybe get a move on? Let's get this mission over with."

The girls piled all the clothes they weren't buying into one stall and left the irritated-looking store employee behind. Avilyn and Aerin snapped their fingers and conjured away all the weapons they couldn't conceal on themselves and easily paid for their items before the entire squad went out back.

"Two days," Aeyva said, pointing her pathfinder towards the ground. A sudden sense of protectiveness washed over her, and she hesitated for a second, afraid to leave the rest of the girls. "Avilyn. You're in charge of your group. I know it ticks you off to play leader, but..."

Avilyn blew a strand of white hair out of her face and nodded. Adalea, Faelyn, and Cloud all made duck faces at each other at the same time, their usual sign of silent communication. Avilyn may have disliked bossing the other girls around but she was certainly good at it.

Aeyva turned to Adalea, who could sometimes be immature but always made the right decisions when it counted. "Addy, if you guys have to split up again you're Avilyn's backup."

Adalea flashed a slightly cocky smile. "Of course."

Aeyva took a deep breath and stepped forward. She took one last look at the other girls, before she reached for Kayleey's hand. Kayleey grabbed's Phoenix's, who blushed slightly and turned to grab Cloud's, and then Cloud took Faelyn's hand.

Avilyn's group watched as Aeyva and her girls glittered away.

*ೃ༄

They shimmered back into existence on an empty sidewalk. Aeyva pulled Keefe's file out of her bag, and pulled out a few folded pieces of paper.

"Maps of the places he listed," she said.

Kayleey, Phoenix and Aeyva flipped through Keefe's file and tried to figure out where they were and where they should go using the map labeled Idaho. Faelyn tapped her foot on the ground, looking bored.

Cloud was idly pacing and spinning on her toes when she noticed the building they were standing in front of. Her face lighting up, she grabbed Faelyn's arm.

"Have you ever seen High School Musical?" she whispered. The defense team shared a cell phone that Aeyva didn't know about because it was very probably illegal for them to have, and sometimes some of the girls took it to listen to music or watch movies. It technically belonged to Adalea, but Cloud had a habit of forgetting to return it to her.

They both grinned at each other.

A few minutes later, Aeyva folded the map and slipped it back into her bag. "Okay," she said, looking up. "I think we should⏤wait, where'd they go?"

Phoenix looked around and noticed the big sign on the building that said MCCALL-DONNELLY HIGH SCHOOL. "Oh no."

"Oh no is right," Aeyva agreed with a grimace.

Inside the building, students were chattering loudly and heading to class. With their human clothes and backpacks, Faelyn and Cloud blended right in. They saw a boy with earbuds in getting books out of his locker, and they blocked his way when he turned to go to class.

Both girls gave fluttery little waves, and he smiled nervously. "Uh, hi?"

"Hi!" Cloud said, switching from the Enlightened Language to English. "I'm Cloud, this is Faelyn."

He looked confused. "I⏤I'm Josh. You know, I don't wanna be late for class⏤"

Cloud cocked her head to the side, and he willingly handed her his phone. "What are you—what's that word, Faelyn?"

"Listening. You're looking for 'listening', you idiot."

"Shut up. Josh, what are you listening to?" Josh's eyes darted back and forth between the two girls, looking increasingly confused and frightened.

"Uh, old stuff. Early 2000s. Not that old, I guess."

Cloud was scrolling down his playlist. "Oh, look, Fae; he's got Justin Timberlake!"

"Justin Timberlake does not have a better falsetto than Adam Levine, and I will die on that hill."

"Yeah you will. You want me to do the honors?"

The human swallowed. "Um, can I go to class—"

"Josh, do you happen to have a speaker?" Faelyn asked, turning to him. He shook his head but jerked a thumb across the hall. "My friend Darren does."

Cloud clapped her hands giddily. "Perfect! You're the best, Josh."

He tried to smile. "I still have no idea who you guys are, but I feel weirdly obligated to help you all of a sudden, so okay."

"Be a doll and get us a speaker, then come out to the courtyard." Josh hurried off to do Cloud's bidding (being a Mesmer was so much fun) and she waved her arms in the air, his phone still in hand.

"Everybody! Out to the courtyard!"

Faelyn's shadow slipped away to tell teachers not to worry if their students were late, and all the kids obediently ran outside.

Faelyn connected the speaker to the phone and set it on the chair someone had brought out. She selected "SexyBack" from Josh's playlist and Cloud parted the crowd.

Her hands moving like a conductor, kids came forward, doing synchronized kicks and footwork. Soon, she had twenty kids doing an on-the-spot dance routine, and they were even in multiple groups, with the front rows doing different moves than the back rows and a person doing solo spins on either side of the formation.

All the other kids were clapping and cheering along, some moving to the beat. One girl from the dance formation came forward, did a front walkover and landed in a split.

Now people were taking videos.

"OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH, CLOUD, YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Aeyva yelled. She, Phoenix and Kayleey were walking across the courtyard, and she looked pissed with a capital P.

Kayleey had a hand over her mouth and was snickering behind it.

Phoenix's whole body was shaking with the effort to not burst out laughing.

"Ignore Captain Bossypants; this is great," Faelyn whispered to Cloud, who nodded. With a twirl of her finger, the formation spread out in a circle and three boys started breakdancing in the middle of it.

"Nice going, Candyland. Didn't know you could do that." She looked genuinely impressed.

"I practiced on some secretary at my dad's work," Cloud replied, trying not to break concentration as she was controlling so many people at once. "I think she regretted volunteering for me to use her after. I wasn't good at it then."

"Well, these guys love it." The students were all clapping and laughing and dancing and having fun. Still, Cloud frowned for a moment.

"D'you ever wonder if your ability just... inherently makes you hurt people?"

Faelyn laughed and clapped her on the back. "Hell yeah. You know you're not supposed to think about it too hard."

Cloud shrugged and finished off the routine. A teacher⏤or possibly the principal—came out to the courtyard just as the song ended, looking furious and horribly red in the face.

"It's time to go," Aeyva hissed, snatching Faelyn and Cloud by their arms. Cloud waved and smiled at everyone as they were practically dragged away. Faelyn stretched her shadow out to the teacher.

Don't be too hard on them. They were just having a little fun.

She winked at Josh, and then the four elves were gone.

The second they reappeared a few blocks away, Aeyva stormed up to Faelyn and Cloud, her eyes flashing murderously.

"What in the world do you think you were doing?" She jabbed Cloud in the chest multiple times, and Faelyn disappeared into the shadows to escape. "FAELYN EINAR!" she shouted. "GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Kayleey stepped forward, resting a hand on Aeyva's shoulder.

Aeyva recoiled.

"Sorry," she mumbled, but she was still glaring at Cloud who still looked rather smug about the whole thing. "It's just that the possibility of something going wrong was so high..." Kayleey nodded in understanding. Phoenix smirked and yanked Faelyn out of the shadows a little more aggressively than necessary.

"Ow!" Faelyn cried indignantly, stumbling forwards. "Watch it, Radio Shack." She tugged out of Phoenix's grip and sighed. "Whatever. We won't do anything stupid again."

Aeyva rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I don't believe that, but okay."

"Fine. We won't do anything stupid until tomorrow. Deal?"

Aeyva eyed both girls with disdain before thrusting the Idaho map into Faelyn's hands. Well-oiled machine—yeah, right. "We're going to explore the area as a whole. If we don't find anything by dark, we'll go someplace to stay the night. Tomorrow, bright and early, we're headed for Gisela's Nightfall."

They all started walking, Faelyn frowning at the map and turning it to examine it from different angles. Everyone fell into silence, Aeyva and Kayleey heading the front and the other three girls following behind.

"I hate having to be the bad guy all the time," Aeyva muttered to Kayleey after a beat of silence.

"I know."

"I just feel obligated to lead everyone, you know? It's like an instinctual thing."

Kayleey nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Someone has to do it," she said quietly.

"Right?" Aeyva rubbed her temples. "Aren't the Black Swan's trained operatives supposed to be responsible?"

"Still teenagers."

"I guess you're right."

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

After several hours of hunting around, Cloud was fed up with finding absolutely zero clues and insisted that they all go to an indoor ice skating rink they'd passed by, not even really knowing what it was.

"It seems fun!" she pleaded, eyes sparkling with mischievousness. The other girls murmured that they were exhausted and Aeyva sighed, grudgingly agreeing with the sentiment.

"Alright, fine. I need to take my mind off this for a while or my brain is going to burst," she told them.

Inside was crowded with humans, and Kayleey took in a sharp breath at the oncoming thoughts, making Phoenix cast a worried glance in her direction.

"Are the thoughts as much of a pain as the emotions are?" she murmured, falling into step next to the taller redhead. Kayleey nodded, reaching up to rub her forehead.

"Give me a second and I can block them out. It just... hurts."

Phoenix reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze and sending a calming breeze through Kayleey's mind—a helpful Empath trick. Kayleey shot her a grateful smile.

The group of girls weaved through crowds of humans to collect rental skates, tugging them on and then lining up to enter the rink.

Cloud was halfway through bragging to Faelyn—who, as well as Aeyva, Phoenix and Kayleey were already in the rink—about how she would be the best ice skater ever, when she got to the front of the line, stepped into the rink, and slipped.

She knocked over Faelyn who yelped and stumbled, crashing into Phoenix. They tumbled down on each other, and Phoenix grabbed Kayleey to steady herself. Unfortunately, Kayleey was already having trouble staying upright, so Phoenix only took Kayleey down with her.

More chaos unfolded, as Kayleey accidentally tripped Aeyva while falling, who proceeded to face plant onto the slippery ice. Cloud tried to save Aeyva as she plummeted down, but didn't know how to stand in her skates on the ice. That ended up with Cloud slipping again and ending up as a mattress for Aeyva, cushioning her fall.

Aeyva stumbled up, nose squashed, and face covered in specks of ice. She turned to Faelyn, Phoenix and Kayleey furiously, deciding to let Cloud off the hook because she tried to help her.

"Didn't you say that you weren't going to do anything stupid anymore?"

"Your anxiety is showing, Captain Bossypants," Faelyn grumbled. Aeyva drew back a bit and then sighed.

"Right, sorry."

"Maybe we should have picked something less impossible for our break," Phoenix huffed, struggling to get back up.

"That would have been less exciting," said Cloud with a shrug. "Come on, you guys need to learn to chill and just have some fun!"

So fun they had.

*ೃ༄

"Ohh, I think I finally get it! Left foot, right foot, left—UMPH!"

Kayleey tried to hold back her laughter, and her whole body shook with the effort.

She'd decided to stop skating when she'd fallen, put her hand on the ice to steady herself, and a circle of ice melted into water around her hand. She had immediately taken her hand off and used her other hand to spread out the water. But when she did that, the pull of the water filled her, and it was so overwhelming that Kayleey was afraid that if she didn't get off the ice, the entire rink would melt and flood. Having conflicting abilities was a never-ending chore.

Phoenix was buying food at a cafe next door, and currently, Kayleey was watching Cloud fail at ice skating for the umpteenth time.

"Come onnnnn, Kayleey!" Cloud's face was covered in little specks of ice, but she was grinning all the while. "It's really fun!"

Kayleey shook her head. "I know it's fun, but if I swear I'm going to fall and break my neck."

Cloud pursed her lips thoughtfully, the expression in her eyes shifting. "You know I could just make you tell me your secret, right?" she said softly, quietly. Kayleey froze and Cloud's mouth twitched upward a bit. "It's so easy to slip into your mind, just like..."

Kayleey scooted further back on the bench, her eyes widening a bit, fighting to put up a quick mental wall.

"...slicing into butter." Cloud was thoroughly enjoying the fear in Kayleey's eyes, and she didn't like it. Kayleey found herself opening her mouth to speak and closed it immediately, recognizing the mind control.

"Don't touch my head," she said through gritted teeth.

"Everyone knows you're hiding something." Cloud's voice remained low. Panic crept up Kayleey's throat, and her mind raced. "None of us are dumb. Not even me, and I've heard what some of you say about me. So why do you try to hide it? Why don't you just—" Kayleey's hand outstretched in front of her, but not of her own free will— "show us your abilities?"

Kayleey's breath hitched and Cloud smirked. Kayleey's arm dropped again.

She knows. She knows. Who else knows?

Kayleey opened her mouth to—to what? Come up with a lie, an excuse?—but a high-pitched scream cut her off.

Both she and Cloud froze. They recognized that scream.

"Faelyn," Cloud whispered.

Cloud took off across the ice, and Kayleey sprinted around, outside the rink.

When they reached the other side, they saw a small group of people crowded around someone.

"Fae," Cloud breathed. Then she said it again, louder. "Fae! Faelyn!" They pushed through the crowd to the front, Cloud mindlessly moving humans with her ability, and found Faelyn sprawled on the ice, breathing in deep heaves.

Aeyva was on her knees at her side, and glanced up with terror in her eyes. Faelyn was hugging her right leg to her chest, refusing to let go. Her skinny jeans were stained with blood, and there was a rip across her right calve.

No, it wasn't a rip in her jeans. It was a slash. Made from the blade of a skate.

Cloud's blood boiled.

There was a young boy, around their age, standing next to Aeyva and frowning down at Faelyn. His skates left a thin trail of blood on the ice. Anger blurred her vision, and Cloud launched herself at him, landing a kick in his stomach, so powerful that he skidded back.

The boy shrieked in pain, and his gray hood fell back, revealing fiery red hair, sharp features, and lips that were curled upwards mischievously. He looked faintly familiar, but it wasn't his handsome face that caught Cloud's attention.

It was his eyes. Strikingly, startlingly blue. And under his hoodie, a dark vest peeked out.

The girls had been taught to identify those types of clothes.

Because that very military-style vest was the one that only the enemy wore.

"Back off."

Cloud didn't realize she was the one who's spoken, until everyone turned to stare at her.

"I said BACK OFF!" she shouted. With a flick of her hand, the crowd disappeared—but not the boy. He stayed exactly where he was, locking eyes with her, looking smug in a way that made her want to rip his heart from his chest.

She wasn't an idiot. She knew only elves could fight an order from a Mesmer—and even then, most couldn't. It required constant training of the strength of the mind, which Cloud knew because she'd practiced it every day back at Foxfire. You had to know specifically how to fight different types of orders, how to shield your mind from manipulation, and there was no way any ordinary elf would train for that.

But the Neverseen did.

"Cloud," Aeyva said in a low voice. "Control yourself. What the hell are you doing?"

Cloud whipped out a knife, stalking closer to the boy. She knelt down, the point of her blade at his neck.

"Cloud!" Aeyva snapped. "Back away from the kid! He's human!"

Cloud ignored her. "You're going to pay for hurting my friend," she hissed. She didn't understand what wasn't clicking for Aeyva. Her paranoia must have been clouding her usual clarity. He was an enemy. It obviously wasn't anyone she knew; not her brother or Ruy or Fintan; but there was no denying this was a rebel elf.

But Aeyva just shook her head. "Put your knife away, Cloud. We aren't supposed to do any damage."

How do I prove it to Aeyva that he's with the enemy? she thought frantically, her breaths becoming shallow. How did Aeyva not see it? And what could she do about it?

The boy shifted slightly, squeezing his eyes shut, and leaning away from her blade as much as he could. Cloud could tell what he was trying to do. It was a method that they learned when they just started training, several years ago.

Phase number one, act scared, Squall and Wraith, their trainers, would say. We know it sounds silly, but you need to lull your enemy into a false sense of security.

Two, build up your energy. If you don't have enough energy during phase four, this entire process will be for nothing.

Three, cause a distraction. Even if you use the traditional 'look over there!' distraction, as long as you can distract them, you'll be fine.

Four, channel outwards. Use telekinesis, and blast everything in front of you away. But you have to be extremely careful, especially if you have a blade at your throat.

Someone cleared their throat, and Cloud blinked back to the present.

It was Kayleey.

You're zoning out again, she transmitted. I think you're right. So focus.

Cloud realized that Kayleey had read her mind. It's okay, she thought.

"Guys!" Aeyva said, cutting off their mental conversation. "Faelyn is bleeding and you guys are just standing there? Let the boy go, Cloud. It was an accident." She turned away, and covered Faelyn's cut with her hand, putting pressure on it.

Faelyn gritted her teeth.

"Aeyva—" Cloud started.

"No."

"Please—"

"No!"

"Aeyva, really—"

"I SAID NO!"

Aeyva's shout echoed around the hall. Cloud realized that everyone had left. They were the only people there.

Aeyva breathed heavily. "Go to the receptionist. Get some bandages. Go. NOW."

Cloud threw down her jagged-tooth knife.

The point impaled in the ice with such force, that three-meter cracks spread out from the knife. Everyone inched back. She kicked off her skates, and the shoes skidded across the ice.

Then she stormed away.

There was a moment of complete silence.

It was if they'd remembered who Cloud really was. That she was powerful. That she had connections to the Neverseen. And that she was off-the-walls insane.

Then Kayleey spoke.

"Well... that was... intense." She was still eyeing the red-haired boy skeptically.

The boy scrambled up.

"Stay." Aeyva ordered.

He sneered. "You don't have any right to order me around."

Aeyva narrowed her eyes, lifting her chin. "I thought it was an accident. You accidentally crashed into us, pushed me aside, and injured Faelyn. Don't make me change my mind." She was already suspicious and Cloud's reaction made her unsure about this kid.

The boy straightened up, putting his hands on his hips with an easy smirk. "And why should I be scared of you?"

Aeyva glanced up at him again, and momentarily her eyes flashed purple. "I'm not who you might think I am." She moved her jacket just enough so the short sword tucked underneath was visible. The boy paused, running his tongue along his teeth. It should have scared him away, but he seemed to be enticed by the challenge. Suddenly Aeyva's eyes fluttered and she saw a brief collection of moving images: Kayleey tied up with shadows, Cloud lifting a knife to someone's face, a room piled with dead bodies, Gisela disappearing in a flash of light. She returned to the present as fast as she'd gone.

She was right. And this doesn't end well.

She barely had time to stand and reach for her knife before the boy gave her a dark smile.

"Sorry, miss, but I'm not who you think I am either."

Shadows poured out of every corner in the room, bruising the white hall to black. They dripped like ink from the ceiling, tendrils forming claws and reaching out to embrace the girls.

Kayleey screamed as shadows surrounded her in a hurricane, wrapping around her feet as bonds. She surprised herself when her first thought was, Phoenix. Phoenix is going to show up and not know what's going on.

She shut her eyes and stretched her concentration out across the building, sweeping past the chattering minds of humans and quickly locating her friend.

Phoenix. The Neverseen is here. We need your help. Don't come unprepared, she transmitted.

Aeyva struggled with her own bonds, but couldn't get hold of the shadows.

The boy stood in the center of the hall, the shadows swirling around him. He ripped off his hoodie. Underneath was a dark, military-style vest, over a black long-sleeved tunic.

They all recognized it.

Aeyva glared him down. She should have listened to—shoot. Cloud. Why wasn't Cloud back yet?

She whipped out her sword, the gold contrasting to the black. It was the only weapon she had on her person. She assessed the situation.

The Neverseen boy was distracted by Kayleey, who was screaming and fighting, while he attempted to convince her to stop struggling. Keeping the shadows around her must be real hard.

Aeyva was behind him. If she could land the hit...

She threw her sword like a Frisbee.

It spiraled through the darkness, spinning, spinning, spinning...

He turned just in time.

Yelping, the boy gathered shadows in front of him, and Aeyva's sword bounced back like a boomerang. The only problem was that Aeyva was too low to reach it. Her sword flew over her head, smashing through the glass window.

Shards of glass rained down everywhere. Several of them impaled in Aeyva's arm, which she brought up to cover her head and face. That was when Phoenix appeared.

"HOLY CRAP!" The boy spun, alarmed by the new arrival, and Phoenix dropped the bags of takeout on the ground, thrusting her hands forward and sending crackling beams of electricity hurtling his way. This resulted in a swirling battle of shadows and light, and soon Phoenix was scrambling back, surrounded by dark monsters closing in on her.

Faelyn breathed heavily on the ground, glancing up at Aeyva. "You okay?"

Aeyva's breaths came shallowly and fast. "Y—yeah." The Neverseen boy was now coming their way, realizing he'd never put bonds on Faelyn. Kayleey was struggling with her own and crying out every time Phoenix hit the ground again. His jaw clenching, the boy sent shadows towards Faelyn and Aeyva.

His first and horribly fatal mistake.

The shadows hit Faelyn with full force, but rather than knocking her further back, her body shook, absorbing them and using them to stand. The enemy's eyes widened and Faelyn smiled darkly.

"You messed with the wrong Shade, rookie." She reached out her hands, and the shadows were sucked away from him and came to her aid. She molded them together, shaping her own monsters and sending them back his way. He tried desperately to control them, but they listened to the stronger Shade. The shadow monsters battled him for them, while Faelyn focused on removing her friends' bonds. Then she laid back down on the floor, taking heaving breaths. She was starting to feel dizzy. Those bandages would be nice right about now.

Aeyva ignored the pain in her bleeding arms and stalked towards the Neverseen member. Realizing it would be smarter to give up than to stay and fight, he used his last bit of energy to shove the shadows away from himself as much as possible, then slid a crystal out of his pocket and held it up. She stopped, dropping her weapon, meeting his eyes once more before he disappeared.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Cloud was collecting bandages from the first-aid kit in the lobby, muttering to herself about insufferable teammates. The receptionist had directed her to where it was and then rushed off to use the restroom, which slightly annoyed her as well.

Then there was a dark chuckle and a familiar voice. "Met the new recruit, have you? Such a pain, they are."

She froze, every muscle in her body tensing.

"I hate having to take him with me everywhere, but we needed somebody to replace Umber. He's done okay with the training so far. An arrogant little bastard, but he gets things done, I guess."

Cloud turned around slowly. Ruy looked too casual, too unconcerned, for her comfort. Last she'd heard of him, he was on bedrest because of the residuals of shadowflux.

But here he was.

She did suppose he'd been gone for long enough. She should have expected him to return eventually. But really—wait. Umber's replacement... that guy the other girls were dealing with right now, he was a Shade.

Cloud swore under her breath.

Ruy smiled, making her wish he didn't wear an addler—it was so unsettling to know a person smiled but be entirely unable to recall what that looked like. And a small part of her was a little bit curious.

They stood there, unsure of what to do. Or at least, Cloud was. She had weapons at the ready but didn't know what Ruy was prepared for or what he had come with.

"If you're here," he mused, "and the other girls are back there... well, where's the rest of your cute little girl band?"

Cloud just stared at him blankly.

"And why would you be here, of all places? I assume you're not just vacationing in the Forbidden Cities to have a good time. Which means—" Ruy's lip curled into a smug smirk— "you're here for the same reason we are."

"Which is?" Cloud said, quiet. She didn't want to give too much information away, and she needed to be on her guard.

"Keefe Sencen."

Cloud nodded, slowly. "Reduced to Gisela's petty errands."

He shrugged. "Could say the same about you, for Forkle."

Don't ask. Don't do it. Don't ask.

"How's my brother?"

Ruy scoffed. "Way better than me. He's practically running everything while Gisela and Vespera argue like a married couple. Meanwhile I've gotta deal with healing Tam's weird shadow infection thing—which means spending a lot of quality time with Kaz and he's insufferable."

Cloud couldn't help but smile, even though she had no idea who that was.

"You're being too civil," said Ruy. "What gives? How many knives have you got in all those pockets?"

"I don't know what you're going to do, so I can't decide what I want to do yet."

"I'm mostly stalling," Ruy admitted. "I'd like your friends out of the way, and the new kid is taking care of it."

"All right." Cloud dropped the bandages. "I really have to deal with you, then."

She had blades out in milliseconds, and she and Ruy lunged for each other. She swung for his shoulder but he dodged, leaping back with a larger knife than she had glinting in his hands. She came forward and he blocked her with a force field, although smaller than usual which meant his ability was still recovering. He spun and sliced her in the leg, making her hiss in pain.

When Ruy started another attack, Cloud grabbed him by the shoulders and flipped him onto the ground. He laughed—actually laughed—and quickly got to his feet, aiming for her again with his knife. She aimed a kick to his stomach and pulled out throwing stars, which immediately went hurtling towards his face.

Ruy ducked again, which gave her the perfect opportunity to punch him.

Ruy swore and grabbed her by the waist, slamming her into the ground on her side.

"Can't you just stay down?" he muttered.

"I'm going to skin you alive, Ignis," Cloud whispered back. She paused for a moment, channeled her energy into her ability, and sent a command into Ruy's mind to back up. He shook with the effort of fighting it. With shuddering movements, he let her go. She rolled onto her back, gasping. Ruy finally moved a step back.

Another step. And another. Cloud couldn't hold on for long. She stood up, ran for him, and slammed him violently into the wall. Their faces were inches apart. Cloud couldn't discern what the feeling at the pit of her stomach meant and she didn't want to.

"Mesmers are the worst," Ruy said, sneering.

"Psionopaths are pathetic," Cloud growled. One arm pinning him to the wall by his chest, she lifted her switchblade to his face. For a moment, Ruy feared she would actually go through with her skinning-alive threat, but she paused to make eye contact and then with three strokes, she carved a smiley face into one side. Ruy hissed in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. Red dripped down his cheek.

Cloud smiled looking at it. It was cute, in a sick way. Ruy wouldn't know what it was until he cleaned it up and looked at it. A message to her brother. To stay the hell out of her and her friends' way. It quickly fuzzed out of her vision, thanks to the addler he never seemed to take off.

"God, woman, you're freaking crazy."

In a moment her smile was gone. "No I'm not. You're the enemy."

"So is Gethen. I've never seen you maul his face."

Cloud released him and he slid down the wall to the floor, exhausted. No. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to. It was funny how your heart could hurt so much more than your wounds, even if you couldn't see any sort of scar.

"Shut up," she said softly. Their eyes met and Ruy swallowed hard.

She backed away suddenly, shaking her head for no clear reason, and put her weapons back in her pockets. She started to walk away but something gave her pause. Glittering on the floor. A leaping crystal. She picked it up, grabbed the bandages, and left.

*ೃ༄

Aeyva heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're okay! What happened?"

Cloud eyed everyone's injuries. "I could ask you the same thing."

She kneeled down next to Faelyn and unwrapped a roll of bandages, tearing off a piece with her teeth. She wrapped her leg while Aeyva passed around the rest of the supplies to the others.

"I should have listened to you," Aeyva said finally, not meeting her eyes.

Cloud took a deep breath. "Ruy is off of bedrest," she said flatly, "the Neverseen are looking for Keefe just like we are, and also I found this leaping crystal." She put it into Aeyva's hand. She wasn't sure she trusted herself with it. She seemed to be doing things rashly today.

Aeyva held the crystal up to the light. It was sort of mauve. Not any color she'd seen before. And its shape... this wasn't just any leaping crystal. It was a starstone.

"Well, shoot," she said.

The girls checked into a nice hotel room for the night with the debit card Aeyva was still carrying. It only had two beds and a pullout sofa, but they'd make it work.

Aeyva went outside on the balcony to call Forkle and report to him everything that had happened. Faelyn didn't talk to anyone and went straight to bed without eating or showering. Kayleey went into the kitchenette and pulled all the food they'd bought out of their bags, moving it to the fridge so it didn't go bad. She and Phoenix quietly discussed the day's events.

Cloud couldn't think straight. She went into the bathroom and shut the door, her mind reeling.

She kept seeing the faces of the Neverseen over and over again.

She sat on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. She kept seeing blood. Tasting it on her tongue. Feeling the weight of a knife in her hand. Smelling iron in the air.

Faelyn's leg. Her cries of pain. Kayleey denying that she was keeping anything from the other girls. Aeyva snapping at Cloud. Go get bandages. Ruy laughing in her face. You're freaking crazy.

Her head was spinning. Her thoughts were so violent. She'd gone straight to putting a blade to the boy's neck, on instinct. Her hunch had been right, but still... that wasn't a good sign.

You're not crazy. You're not crazy. You're not crazy.

You'renotyou'renotyou'renotyou'renot—

And then Ruy. She'd cut up his face. Just because... Cloud dragged her fingers through her hair and squeezed her eyes shut. It's fine it's fine it was just one time—

There was a knock at the bathroom door. "Uh, is anyone in there?"

Cloud started rocking back and forth. Her cheeks felt wet. It's FINE. Everything is FINE. But there was blood on her hands that she just couldn't get off, no matter how hard she scrubbed and scrubbed—

She started hyperventilating, panicked. Blood was pouring off the walls and she was covered in it, she couldn't get it to go away, there was so much blood. She couldn't remember her name or where she was or see anything but red. God, woman, you're freaking crazy. Ruy... Gethen... Gethen...

The doorknob jiggled, and there was an audible sigh from the other side of the door. "Cloud, is that you? We can talk if you want."

She couldn't even tell whose voice it was. She couldn't remember how to breathe. She lifted her hands to her face and they were dripping red. Her head hit the wall.

The lock clicked and the door opened. Must be Aeyva, then. She carried a pick in her bra. Cloud laughed to herself thinking about it. No one would think to check a woman's bra for lockpicks.

"Oh, Cloud, are you okay?"

"We're all in pain," Cloud mumbled in response. "It's in the air. And we won't tell each other about it, but one day we'll figure it out anyway. If you look really really hard, it's choking everyone, slowly, like a snake." She giggled drunkenly. "I'm not crazy. I'm just right."

Everything felt numb. She couldn't remember where she was. Or who she was. Strange images danced across the wall, and she couldn't decipher them or make them leave her alone. A small part of her, in the back of her mind, was rolling its eyes and wishing she would stop making such a fool of herself, but she didn't care. She couldn't just be normal on command. It didn't work like that. My broken freaking mind.

Aeyva finally met her eyes. "I'm... really sorry, Cloud. You were right. I should've listened to you. But I didn't."

She looked sort of... sad. But deeper than that. Cloud just couldn't form the words in her head. She realized Aeyva was holding her hand. "I know," Aeyva said. "I can feel it. We're all hiding things. We're all having a hard time. But it's going to turn out okay."

Cloud closed her eyes again. It was going to be okay.

"Why did he have to leave?" she asked quietly. "Why did he leave me? Doesn't he know I'm lonely?"

"Gethen."

"Yes."

"People change, Cloud. Maybe you knew a different Gethen."

Cloud shook her head. "No. People don't change. Not really." She slid her hand out of Aeyva's and stood up, wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve.

Aeyva paused. "You're right. They don't." She grimaced at her friend. "They just live up to their potential."

Cloud looked at her hands again, expecting to see blood, but they were perfectly clean.

Aeyva walked to the door, lingering in the doorway.

"Good night," Aeyva whispered.

"Good night," Cloud echoed.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

everyone's favorite irresponsible teenage assassins are back for an edited chapter 2! there was actually almost 1000 extra words added onto this version, which feels crazy since it's not even that different from the original. anyway we love u and thanks for reading :)