A/N) HI I'M NOT DEAD THANKS FOR YOUR NONEXISTENT CONCERN. Sorry sorry sorry I've been gone for soooo long! And apologies in advance for the short chapter. But while I was gone, this story's reached sooo many milestones! I feel so honored, and even though there were only three reviews on the last chapter, I'll still answer them . . .

A very obsessed fangirl: YeS eBoNy lEfT tHeM! And you're right, both are likely. Also, I've already seen the ones by Szin. They were really good! Bye!

KotLCWoF: Oh, thanks! And about that favor? UhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhOBVIOUSLY!

Me: *whistles loudly and transmits to the alicorns to come*

*Thunder claps and the alicorn family come down to me*

Me: Hi, guys! *Bends down as the twins run over and pets them* I have a reader who wanted me to say hi to you for them!

Silveny: Who is it?

Me: KotLcWoF! So, they say hi!

Alicorns: HI!

Me: OKAY BYE! *leaves*

L: I've already mentioned that I think your Ryuzaki in my one-shots, so I'll just call you that out of reverence to L . . . from Death Note. I have been waiting to write Umber into this story for SO LONG! I'm so excited to see where I take it. 'Cause . . . I don't really know where I'll take it. And, shhhhhhh . . . that's undecided.

So . . . those were the reviews! Thanks to those who reviewed! I really really appreciate it! And . . . okay okay, MILESTONE TIME!

First off, CHAPTER FIFTY! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Next, TWENTY-SEVEN FAVORITES AND TWENTY-EIGHT FOLLOWERS! THANK YOU!

Lastly, OVER. TWENTY. THOUSAND. FRICKEN. VIEWS!? YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I love you all very much! And I appreciate the non-stop support that I've gotten from all of you so so much! AND IT'S TIME TO CATCH UP TO FLASHBACK! So, that being said, I won't keep you from the next chapter any longer, so I'll wait to introduce the special guest until the end!

Tinker: It's me.

Me: *annoyed* SERIOUSLY?!

Tinker: *shrugs*

Me: *rolls eyes* Whatever. What do we say?

Me and Tinker: ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Chapter **50**

It had been weeks since the big reveal about Ebony's true motives. And so many things had happened since then.

A gruesome attack by the Neverseen when Sophie and Fitz had least suspected, resulting in major injuries done by their extremely powerful Shade named Umber, who used an element called shadowflux. Tam managed to remove it from Sophie and Fitz while they were in the Healing Center, but something known as echoes stayed in them, causing trouble whenever they were riled up. After the whole incident, Tam decided to learn how to control shadowflux, and once they recovered, Sophie decided she wanted to start learning physical combat.

But before she could do anything after her recovery, Sophie knew she needed to deal with the whole Keefe situation first. Sure, he'd come to visit during her stay at the Healing Center, but it was still awkward. Especially with Fitz there.

So she did. And things were resolved. There was a rocky start to getting back on track with their friendship, kind of like what happened between her and Dex, but things were getting better. (A/N: I realize in some of the other chapters I had Sophie say that Keefe had taken her first kiss, but I didn't mean to forget about the kiss with Dex. So in case you all are confused, the kiss with Dex did happen in this universe)

While they had been at the Healing Center, Sophie and Fitz had several opportunities to talk about their . . . pending relationship, much to Sophie's dismay. But, even though they'd decided to put it on hold, hearing Fitz talk about all the different places he would take her for dates and things like that was honestly . . . really, really sweet. He couldn't have possibly been any more adorable. Another thing that was found was a tracker that the Neverseen had on Sophie-the Black Swan pendant Keefe had given her. Also on the topic of Keefe, with Sophie and Fitz's help, a shattered memory was recovered, but it didn't really help with the situation at hand.

After the long recovery period, Sophie finally got to join her friends in training, being taught by her new, additional bodyguards. Having multiple bodyguards rather than just Sandor was the only way for Sophie to convince Sandor to stay with her. And while it was annoying, they were pretty useful. And anything was better than losing Sandor.

But then Tarina, her trollish guard, told Sophie on her queen's behalf that she wanted to form an alliance with the Moonlark, placing extra pressure on the girl-including Silveny's delivery and all the complications that came with that. (Sorry it's such a choppy summary, but all of you should get the gist if you read Flashback, so yee).

Dex began an internship of sorts with the Black Swan's best Technopath, Sophie getting a few new gadgets to help with her Enhancing, as the rest of the team tried to simply get through the following months of the Neverseen's silence.

Training.

That's all I'd been doing ever since officially joining the Neverseen. Training for months as I began to learn more and more about the plan for world domination. We were to become the superiors to all species alike, reducing the numbers of those wretched humans drastically and keeping them confined in their own environment while we elves came out of hiding. While I was uneasy with it at first, they reminded me of how horrible the humans had been to me in my absolute time of need. And they were right. But the first thing that we needed to do was get rid of the Black Swan, making sure they didn't get in the way. I had tried hardening my heart to not feel empathy towards the friendships I'd made during my stay with the Black Swan members, but it was tougher to do than I thought. Once the plan was settled, though, I continued to grow stronger in my abilities and in physical strength and techniques.

Three months in, I was brought to the main building where the Main Three (Gisela, Fintan, and Vespera) were waiting, along with Gethen and Ruy. Alvar and Umber were off somewhere else training. I stood tall in front of my makers, stealing a glance at Ruy, unable to shake off the strange connection I felt towards him. They wouldn't tell me anything about my parents, but I had my suspicions . . .

"It's time, Ebony," Gisela said with a smile. Vespera was staring at me with a stone-cold glare, but then again, she did that with everyone. Fintan seemed like he was anticipating the occasion as well.

"You mean, time for . . ." I couldn't finish. It would be lying to say that I wasn't excited.

Gisela, who had become sort of a mother-figure to me, nodded, stepping forward and beconning Gethen to her side. "Time to unlock your final ability."

"It's been given the title of Grasping," Vespera told me, her jaw stiff and her hands folded in front of her. Ruy pulled up a chair for me to sit in as she spoke.

"So then I would be a Psionipath-Telepath-uh . . . Grasper?" I couldn't help but ask. She scowled at my interruption. I shrugged it off as she gave a curt nod. "Cool. So, what does it do again?"

She rolled her eyes at my forgetfulness, so Gisela answered for her. "This is a Telepathy-based ability, one that we created ourselves, might I add. It will allow you to enter a person's special ability core in their mind, grasping and duplicating their ability and skill-set and applying it to your own mind and body, instantly training you in that ability and having every ounce of experience with said ability without the usual years of training. In other words, it will let you copy other peoples special ability, duplicating how much skill and strength they have in less than a minute."

As I sat down, I couldn't help but think that it was incredible. But . . . "If I take their special ability, does that mean once I grasp it, they'll become Talentless?" As amazing as this new special ability was, I didn't want to rob people of theirs. Thankfully, Gisela shook her head.

"No. Think of it as harvesting the fruit of someone's seed. They've done the growing and cultivating, and you take the finished product-" Seemed a bit unfair, in my opinion "-leaving them with the necessities to continue growing and still with fruit of their own. Luckily, we've created this ability with the function of temporarily shocking the person and giving them a sort of 'brain freeze' so they won't try to attack as you enter their mind."

"That's the only downside to this whole ability," Fintan jumped in. "As you grasp, you're left completely defenseless. Your other abilities shut themselves down, shifting and adjusting positions in your special ability core for room and growing space for the new abilities to come. Once you've completely 'grasped' the ability, then all abilities will lock into new positions, still containing the same amount of skill and strength."

I shook my head. "All this explaining is making my brain hurt. The Elvin mind is so much more complicated than I thought."

"Well, it's about to get much more complicated," Gethen grumbled, rolling up his sleeves. "You're lucky to have such an easy-going ability with such strength. To be honest, I don't know why we're giving it to a rookie like you. Especially if it's going to rob the rest of us of a job."

"Hey, I'll have you know that I've been training as a full-fledged Neverseen member for three months now," I defended.

"And she's not only a member. She's our Flareadon. The key to defeating the Black Swan's precious Moonlark," Gisela reminded him. "With this much power and the extra abilities to come, Ebony will be unstoppable."

A/N) *sarcasm is evident* Oh no, it's the end of the chapter! Whyyyyyyyyyy?

Tinker: I have several objections to this story. For instance: Why am I not in this story?

Me: *rolls eyes* I literally just mentioned you in the Flashback recap. Look, things like catching up to the canon (I think that's the right term) of another book after you've already started one story take time. Be patient, young grasshopper.

Tinker: Excuse me?

Me: Who are you, anyway? *Gets uncomfortably close* What's underneath all that tech?

Tinker: None of your business. *pushes me away* Now, if you'll excuse me *stands abruptly* I should be leaving. Mr. Dizznee's training is coming up within the hour.

Me: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh no you don't. *snaps fingers and room goes dark*

Tinker: Hey! What's going on?

Me: You'll see . . . *snaps fingers again and we appear in a black-and-white interrogation room setting. I have a fedora and a lamp flashing in Tinker's face. I'm also chewing on a piece of liquorice and have an old-timey accent* Alright, hon, all we be needin' is for you to tell us the truth. We know ya lying'.

Tinker: *is thoroughly confused* What?

Me: *smacks lips* COOKIE! GIMME THE FILE!

Biana: *Is playing the role of Cookie and enters the room in a classic secretary costume, complete with a high bun, heels, pencil skirt, and glasses* Here ya go, sir.

(I'm female, it's a joke)

Me: *winks* thanks, doll. And get me a cup of coffee, too. You know how I like it.

Biana: *nods and leaves quickly*

Me: *Looks through the file while chewing on more liquorice* Mhm. Alright. Looks like we've got a few theories of who you are. *Slams palms down on table, leaning in* and we can keep you here all night.

Tinker: *is still thoroughly confused* Deci, are you all right?

Me: *slams palms again on table* THAT'S DETECTIVE TO YOU!

Tinker: *flinches* You are just a child! You have no authority to do this!

Me: *Straightens and smirks* Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea what I have the authority ta do. BOBBY JOE! BRING IN THE WHITEBOARD!

Dex: *is playing the role of Bobby Joe and enters the room, rolling in a whiteboard covered in words and clues and a bunch of other stuff, looking like some sort of intern* Here ya go, boss.

Me: *nods and takes twenty bucks out of wallet* Thanks, Bobby. *hands him the money* Why don't you go buy yourself something nice?

Dex: Thanks, boss. Oh, Johnny wanted to talk to you about joining the investigation.

Me: Ugh, not That Boy.

Keefe: *is playing the role of Johnny and appears at the doorway, a wooden pipe in the corner of his mouth and a fedora on his head. He also has the accent* Oh yes "That Boy." *strolls in like he owns the place* The mayor asked me to join.

Fitz: *is playing the role of mayor and appears nervously at the doorway in a suit and tie* Sorry, Detective, but he's one of the best in the state.

Me: *throws a piece of liquorice at Fitz* I'M THE BEST, YOU STUPID MAYOR!

Sophie: *is playing the role of mayor's assistant and is dressed similarly to Biana* Please don't throw things at the mayor. He'll get a seizure.

Me: *rolls up sleeves and says threateningly* oh, I'll give you a seizure. *starts to stomp over but Keefe holds me back* LET ME GO, JOHNNY! I DON'T EVEN WANT YOU HERE!

Keefe: Some other time, huh? Right now, we have a case to work on. I have two witnesses outside ready for questioning-Sam and Sarah.

Me: *stops struggling* Questioning? *yanks out of his grip* YAY!

Keefe: *rolls eyes* You can leave, Mister Mayor.

Fitz: *nods and leaves*

Sophie: *is about to leave as well but Keefe stops her*

Keefe: Hey, I was wondering . . . Are you free for coffee later?

Me: *gags as Sophie blushes* Oh, wait. Coffee . . . COOKIE, WHERE'S MY COFFEE?

Tinker: *is weirded out by anything and everything and discretely light leaps away*

Biana: *yells from where she is* IT'S COMING, SIR!

Me: *sighs and says to Keefe* Alright, Johnny, let's go question some witnesses.

Dex: Uh, boss? The suspect escaped.

Me: *whips around and sees Tinker's chair is empty* GOSH DARNIT! *storms out of the room* WHERE ARE THOSE WITNESSES!

Tam: *is playing the role of witness Sam and is wearing glasses and a suit* uh . . .

Linh: *is playing the role of witness Sarah and is dressed in a loose knee-length skirt, white blouse, and a high bun* Are we going in for questioning?

Me: Yes. Follow me.

Tam: *frustratedly loosens tie and throws it on the ground* DECI! This has gone on long enough! Tinker isn't even here anymore!

Me: *throws liquorice at Tam and pouts* Oh fine. You're no fun. Let's just take an old-timey photo all together in front of the station and then close the chapter, hm?

Tam: *does his 305th eye roll of the day* Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

Linh: Ooh! A group picture? Yay!

Biana: These costumes are so . . . classy. For humans, at least.

Keefe: Why does this pipe blow out bubbles instead of smoke?

Fitz: I kind of wish I actually had a town to rule over . . .

Sophie: And I kind of wish I was having coffee with Kee-I mean, Johnny, right now-I mean, uh . . . Black Swan?

Dex: Why do I feel like I know that Tinker lady?

Me: *asks camera guy to take a picture of us with one of those old, huge cameras* EVERYONE SAY CHEESE!

Biana, Linh, and Sophie: CHEEEEEEEEESE!

Dex, Keefe, and Fitz: Gosh, now I'm hungry.

Tam: Why cheese?

Me: Ugh, nevermind. Let's just close the chapter as we take the picture instead. Ready, camera man?

Camera man: I have a name, but okay.

Me: What do we say, everyone?

Everyone: UNTIL NEXT TIIIIIIIIIME!

Camera Man: *snaps photo*

Me: Yay! Weird memories!