Chapter Two
She is the girl of nightmares and shadows.
She could hear the screams. They were screams of fear and terror, sounds made by one who knew death was drawing near, and that escaping its clutches was impossible.
Avyela Ellis was perhaps the only wanted elf in at least a good millennia. After all, she was the only elf to have managed to run away from the Lost Cities, and right under the Council's nose too.
She was still young, barely 18 - still a baby in terms of elven years, and certainly too young to be a fugitive in the eyes of society. But her life had always been filled with unbelievable tragedies. At three, in the span of less than half a year, she had lost both her parents and her older brother in two separate incidents. She plunged Eternalia in darkness and terror when she was six, and ran away to join the Neverseen less than a month later. That had been her life since.
Avy jumped from branch to branch, quick to escape from the morbid scene of death and the sirens that were growing louder by the second.
A shadowy figure followed by her side, stumbling a little and quickly grabbing a branch above to steady herself before jumping off.
Following in the lead of her partner, Avy swung off the tree, landing stealthily, unlike her companion who made a loud thud, just like she always did.
Still in silence, the two grabbed their pathfinders and disappeared from the blazing forest.
"I better be reporting success." A voice grumbled as they landed in another forest, one almost identical to the previous, but without the blinding fires that were burning all life away. A figure stood there waiting with crossed arms, frowning at the two figures.
"Have I ever failed, Eltanin ?" Avy replied with a scowl. The nerves of the boy in front of her were much unwelcoming. "Although I do believe that Vega will not be returning to our services. A shame too, I thought she'd be able to handle it."
Ignoring the question, the Neverseen recruit pursed his lips, "I shall tell him then, but I imagined it comes as no surprise. She was too... hesitant to be able to control it."
With that, the boy swiftly returned to the hideout with a confident gait.
"I imagine he won't last long either," Avy remarked to her friend, Jin. The boy's confidence would one day be the death of him. Literally.
Changing the subject, she asked, "Do you think the fires would catch the Councillors' attention?"
"Well, it's your job to find that out isn't it?" Jin replied curtly before walking away.
Avy frowned at the hostility in her friend's tone and the abruptness of her friend's departure. It was unusual for her.
Jin Heks was usually light-hearted, and one for fun. An oddity among most of the Neverseen recruits. She was usually joking around, bringing laughter in what was originally a rather mundane and depressing place.
There were very few things that could unsettle Jin, and one of them was her family. Her pro-Black Swan family.
Jin had grown up in what was technically considered a normal household, with a set of supposedly normal parents and two siblings. She should've been happy, yet it was hatred and jealousy that had brought her into the arms of the Neverseen, although a little persuasion didn't hurt either.
Avy wondered what could have happened to that perfect little family, which they were in the Council's eyes, after their rebellious child had left.
Shaking her head, Avy walked in the opposite direction towards the cliffs. She knew that her friend would never tell her.
Everyone in the Neverseen had their strange quirks, and she was no exception. Avy tended to distance herself, usually hiding away somewhere private like the comforts of her room. Other times, such as that day, Avy found herself wandering through the forest instead, making her way towards her own hiding spot.
The setting sun was casting shadows across the branches, a time she found perfect for clearing her head of all her troubles. It helped her sleep through the night- not that it had been helpful lately.
Avy easily found her way to a clearing in the forest, where there was a cliff looking down to the rough waters of the sea. It was a familiar spot that gave her comfort outside the usual hectic lifestyle she had, working for the Neverseen.
She climbed her way up a lone tree at the very edge of the cliff. It was a simple oak tree, about three times her height, nothing really special, it was a wonder how it had attracted Avy to it. A thin twig snapped beside her, falling into the abysmal ravine below. She perked her ears up trying to catch the sound of the twig landing, but the sound of cicadas and crickets covered up the noise.
Avy leaned back into the tree, letting the shadows wrap around her like a blanket. There was something thrilling about being able to hide in the shadows, about being unseen even when someone stood before her. In all sense, she was technically invisible .
Looking off into the sunset - a sight symbolizing the end of a passing day and the start of another new night - Avy recalled a time long ago, when she had been truly happy and satisfied with her life, back when it was not just her against the world, when it was not just one person for herself.
"Avs! Where did you go!" Avy's then best friend- Ace yelled.
"I'm right here, silly." Avy giggled, hanging upside down on a tree branch.
"My brother says you look like a bat."
"Well, I am one."
"Really?"
The two girls used to constantly play Base Quest with Acylia's siblings. And even as a child, she was always found high up on a tree branch, hiding from the other team so that she could unleash surprise attacks to protect their base.
Those were the few happy memories she had from her childhood living in Aldebaran with Lord and Lady Caverly after her parents died. She did not have many friends as a child either, only Ace and her siblings. She had always preferred to stick to herself. After all, how would she know which friends would betray her?
Everything had been fine, until the shadows around her started acting up, doing peculiar things while she slept at night; messing up the house and bringing nightmares to the elves around her. It never made sense, even now, since she only manifested as a Shade when she was 12.
Yet, everything had gone wrong one night when she was a mere six years old. Screams echoed through the city as garish nightmares invaded the sleep of all elves within the vicinity.
It was a frightening night. Everyone found themselves waking up with cuts and bruises, some even seriously injured. But no elf could remember any of their dreams, not even those with eidetic memories, all except that one elf who was still asleep, screaming her lungs out as shadows surrounded her, the full moon staring in her face, spreading darkness over her despite its silver, eerie glow that lit up the room where she laid.
No one had any recollection of that day anymore, only the Councilors, certain Emissaries, and of course, Avy herself. There were rumours, of course, but the Council did a good job of washing everyone's memories. Too mentally scarring, they said, although apparently not enough to wipe the memories from the child who had started it all.
Avy remembered the Tribunal. It was the scariest thing an elf could ever face, being the focus of the Council's wrath— especially as a six-year-old child waiting for twelve adults to decide her fate. She had been all alone.
She remembered when they were placing their votes to decide whether she should be banished or not.
She remembered when it was all down to the final decision, the one she had been counting on. She thought he would always support her.
That was the first of her many mistakes.
She remembered how she dared to look at Councillor Emery in the eye as he decided. She had hoped and prayed that this old family friend of her biological parents - who had comforted her when they died; held her when her brother had not returned alive - would be merciful.
Yet, he voted to banish her from the Lost Cities. Possibly for forever.
She had felt betrayed, not just by the Council Member she was told to call 'Uncle', but also by the rest of the council who had all known her parents, and her by extension. They were the very people she spent her first few years around, the ones who used to smile at her every day, and find time to talk to that once cheerful little elf despite their busy schedules. Yet most of them had voted to banish her, not even having the decency to look at her with their guilty looks.
Avy let out a frustrated sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, a common habit that appeared when she was thinking of her past.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she suddenly caught a flash of light.
Sticking close to the tree and in the shadows, Avy quickly got back onto the ground and walked in the direction of where she had seen the unnatural glimpse of light.
At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary but at a closer glance, she spotted a handheld mirror hiding between the tall blades of grass.
A sudden overwhelming sense of fear washed over her, and she broke the mirror and threw it as far as she could into the crashing waves below.
Avy clenched her fists tightly, ignoring the streams of blood on her knuckles from where the glass had cut.
She looked around frantically, relieved when she saw no one around. But she still decided to check her surroundings, just in case someone stumbled upon their hideout, or even worse, was looking for it.
By the time she got back to the hideout, the sun had completely set.
" He wants you in his office." The annoying boy from before told her as she walked through the doors of the training room. "Too bad to be you."
Avy rolled her eyes at Eltanin , she didn't understand how he became a Neverseen member. He was rather intolerant of conceited elves. Probably because he was one too. Avy thought to herself.
Ignoring the Neverseen's messenger, Avy turned on her heels and left the smug boy behind.
Avy pondered over why she had been called as she walked deeper into the most secretive wing in their hideout. The walls seemed to change every few hours, at no set timing. If someone didn't know what to look out for, they'd find themselves completely lost and trapped, or so they thought.
His wing was the most secure place in the whole hideout, which was saying something, with the high security their top Technopaths themselves had designed over the years. Only the leaders and few others truly knew their way around here.
She slipped through the slight gap in the door before it slammed shut behind her, finding herself once again in his office. While it wasn't completely normal for her to be in his office, it was not unusual either. She'd had her fair share of 'visits' over the past twelve years.
When Avy went in, she definitely had not expected to see another figure in the room besides him , especially not someone around her age.
The boy's eyes were a bright turquoise colour that reminded her of the ocean. But what really caught her attention was his surprisingly neat, blinding white hair, something that was certainly rarely seen. Perhaps he was a Froster? Avy wondered.
A short cough interrupted her and brought her attention to the dominant figure in the room. Startling sky blue eyes looked at her critically. The man before her had neat blonde hair that did nothing to cover the pointy ears he had. An aura of power and danger surrounded him.
Fintan Pyren. The Leader of the Neverseen.
"A shadow-reading of the boy would be much appreciated, Wendy." He spoke, impatience in his tone. The boy turned to look at her but Avy easily ignored his stare. She was used to it.
She was mildly annoyed that even though he was the only parental figure she had in the last twelve years - not that he was fatherly in the slightest- he still couldn't remember her name.
Yet, she still quickly bowed her head in respect to her leader before nodding at her orders. In the three years that she lived with her adoptive parents, instead of looking after her, they had shoved her into redundant classes like etiquette and things Avy would have later learnt in Foxfire if not for her banishment.
Taking in a deep breath, Avy commanded her shadow to move over the boy, letting the darkness take over and slowly unveil the shadowvapor surrounding his mind.
It wasn't common for Avy to do such administrative work for the Neverseen, shadow-reading usually fell into the duties of the only other Shade they had. Umber was, after all, more powerful than she could ever be.
Of course, shadow-reading still wasn't a foreign concept for Avy, she frequently invaded the minds of those around her, wary of their intentions. The person whose Shadowvapor was being read usually only felt a small blizzard blast through their heads, it was a feeling most were unfamiliar with and hence never thought twice about.
But Avy was no Descryer, only Councillor Terik has that ability. As a Shade, she could only read a person's Shadowvapor, to find out how honest and trustworthy the elf was, as well as read their potential for darkness and discover how secretive they were.
This guy sure has a lot of secrets. Avy thought to herself as she finished the reading and brought her shadow back where it belonged.
"It is unlikely he is a threat to us, although I recommend not counting on his honesty for a while," Avy reported. The boy had a lot to hide, but there was something innocent about him, a lack of darkness that most Neverseen recruit's had a lot of.
Just like you. Her conscious whispered in her head.
"He does not have much of a potential for darkness, which can be taken in two ways. On one hand, he will not do anything against his own morals without some persuasion, but at the same time, he will not betray us, or you." Avy warned.
Avy saw the boy look at her, and she looked right back with an intense stare. She hated it when people stared, it was extremely rude.
But instead of looking away like most people did, his eyes just twinkled in amusement. Avy glared at him before she looked away and turned her attention back to him.
"Well then, looks like we have ourselves a brand new recruit." He spoke, clapping the boy's back.
Avy backed off by a step. He was never this nice to anyone, and it set alarms off in her head.
It was rare enough for Fintan to recruit a Neverseen member, especially not at such a young age. There had been hardly any good news as of late, their plans constantly being ruined one way or another. Nothing was seeming to work for them, and the supposedly "big plans" one of their second-in-command leader - a mysterious blonde woman - was making didn't seem very impressive at all. This had sparked caution in the Neverseen leaders, wary of another mole, not that it was likely, especially after the brutal way the previous had died.
Jolie Ruewen had been a much-needed asset to the Neverseen. While Avy had not been close to her, she had heard many stories. But she was found out to be a double agent for the dreaded Blackswan, and she had to be killed for it.
"Windora, let me introduce Antares , our newest Empath, but most importantly, another Pyrokinetic. " Fintan exclaimed, as a wide smirk appeared on his face.
Avy's eyes widened in realization before narrowing into slits. Not only did he have the only ability that was banned in the Lost Cities, but he was also an Empath. That automatically marked him as dangerous, the perfect trait for a member of their organization.
Pyrokinesis was the ability that had the most cases out of all the troublesome abilities. Most Pyrokinetics also used their abilities against the Councillors' rule, burning things down, not just in the Lost Cities, but the Neutral Territories and the Forbidden Cities as well.
But beyond that, it was a particular ability of theirs that was the greatest fear among most of the elves.
Everblaze. It was a wildfire that only one had been able to control. Fintan had tried many times and often failed, such as in the case of Vega , the pyrokinetic Avy and Jin had brought to the Forbidden Cities, but failed to bring back.
Pyrokinetics were hence the most feared. Most elves saw them as power-hungry elves, elves that were willing to kill, even despite the guilt that would make them go insane. It only got worse when their ability was banned, and those without a second ability were branded Talentless, unable to work in the nobility, or continue with their studies in Foxfire. They were treated as outcasts.
It was no surprise that he would recruit him. A Pyrokinetic. After all, they were famous among their organization, were they not?
The Neverseen. A group of elves who work against the Council, who correct their mistakes, who will always do more than the twelve councillors would ever do. Most elves would probably see them as evildoers, but Avy knew better. The Council was wrong to have banned pyrokinesis. Dangerous or not, in a world where one's ability defined them, it was who Pyrokinetics inherently were, and they should never have been branded terrible and labelled as dangerous for what they had no choice in. Nor should they have slapped a label on the Talentless— they were more useful, more level-headed, and definitely ten times smarter than any other elf.
The Councillors, while Avy would admit were not evil, had still done many terrible things— things they hide from the entirety of the intelligent species. Besides, why should elves have a bunch of more powerful people controlling them? Why have a group of nobles who look down on others? Like Dame Alina and Lord Quan?
Elves should be given the freedom to be who they wanted to be, after all, it is their own life. And that was what the Neverseen believed in, that and giving people a second chance.
They were far better than any other elven group, especially the pathetic group who dared call themselves the Black Swan. They had misused the name of a majestic, graceful creature that they certainly were not even close to being like.
Avy hated them.
Avy was brought back to reality as Fintan spoke once again, either ignoring or blind to Avy's horrified expression. "Our new recruit will be joining you at Exillium next week, I have been informed that there will be two other Waywards joining as well and you will be helping out with the Dividing."
"What?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she could filter them. "I mean, of course, sir. But may I enquire for the reason why he needs to join me in Exillium?"
"You have been on this mission for 5 years already, and you have only came back with one result, who may I remind you that you never caught." He replied, no doubt annoyed at her tone.
"Well, she's dead, is she not?" Avy retorted. Unfortunately, she could hardly remember much from that mission four years ago with how messed up her mind was at that time.
It was her one of her many jobs to try and find any possible Black Swan members who were attending Exillium. However, she had only managed to get close to completing her mission once, and the girl had run away, only to be killed by Everblaze that he had set.
"Of course she is," he said irritably. "That is all for the topic."
Avy nodded her head, giving up on her argument. Very few could push him, and Avy was not going to try her luck again. The ex-Councilor was an impatient man who did not tolerate rudeness and disrespect, and he was not afraid to punish any who defied him in the most scarring and morbid way possible.
Most elves could not even condone the thought of violence. Guilt was the worst emotion an elf could ever feel, it was their biggest weakness, it was what broke them. She had much to feel guilty over, but she had been taught to set aside those feelings, normally resulting in her finding one of the Washers to erase it after she had recorded it down in her own personal safe, similar to the Councillors' caches, and everyone else in the Neverseen had gone through the same process, their leader was no exception at all.
With a nod, Avy swiftly walked out of the office, the new recruit - Antares, his code name, she remembered - following behind her.
"You're the Shade around here." The boy critically stated. Avy ignored his stare, she was used to things like that.
"Last I checked." She replied curtly, her voice betraying her boredom. "You have many secrets, kid. You better make sure no one around here finds out how many." She knew as she turned to look at him in the eyes, so that he could sense her wariness around him.
"Yes, I can sense the lack of trust you have in me." The guy replied, clearly offended. Empaths were another group of elves she despised, they were too invasive for her.
Avy let her intense gaze be seen before she spoke, "I have no reason to trust you."
"What's your name?"
Reaching her room, she went in before replying, "You don't need to know. We're just two elves in the same organization. I don't need to know your name, and you don't need to know mine. End of story."
The guy opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it and closed it, shaking his head as turned to walk away.
Avy hesitated before she closed her door. "My code name is Auva." She told him, not entirely sure what it was that compelled her to say it.
It was only then that Avy realized how familiar the new guy looked. The eye colour, a greener shade of turquoise that seemed to sparkle like crystals in the light. And the shape of his face…
Why? Why did he look so familiar… yet not?
A/N: To clear things up, this is a three-way collaborative fanfic written by Xylia Neo, HazardousDestiny (Yvonne), and AudreaJ.
Sora Heks is Xylia Neo's OC, Avyela Ellis is AudreaJ's OC, and Cordelia Malum is HazardousDestiny's OC.
Chapter One was written by Xylia, Chapter Two was written by Audrea, and the upcoming Chapter Three is written by Yvonne.
—Xylia
Basically, what she meant was: this is the contribution of three girls to the KOTLC fandom. I write in Corey's pov, Audrea writes in Avy's pov, and Sora writes in Sora's pov. There are no chapter rules, no, oh chapter 1,4,7 is Sora's, and so on. Have fun reading! No flames or spoilers too.
~Yvonne
Hey, thanks for reading and all the support! I hope those two cleared any confusion up. We'll be updating roughly three weeks （Yv: ahem.) apart. Can't wait to hear your comments, feel free to send criticism too, thanks.
~Audrea
Updated A/N: Yvonne: We have been doing some serious editing to the chapters (yes, chapter 12 is still happening!) so if you re-read some the chapters, you might notice how some things have changed. Anyways enjoy the new chapters! :)