Chapter 2- POV Jewel

Jewel ran for her life. Away from them. Away from Neverseen. She couldn't remember clearly but she was sure that Neverseen was brought down. In fact, Jewel was there when it happened. But Neverseen wanted to keep her hidden so they left her in that room, drugged, to keep her as their most important secret. Their slave—no, their weapon. All those years that they kept her imprisoned, they messed with her and tortured her. They did something to her, hacked her brain, trying to dig out a secret she couldn't remember. She didn't know exactly what they did or how, she could only remember bits and pieces, none of which really made sense. Where all her memories should have been, there was a blank patch in between. She knew it was Neverseen though. Whatever they did to her, made a glitch in her head. Something that they didn't want her to remember. But she did remember how she was captured.

They caught her when she was young. Too young to defend herself against them. A year after Sophie was born, the Black Swan created Jewel, as the second Moonlark. They realized that Sophie was developed with a soft heart. She was able to feel guilt and so was Jewel, but Sophie could be broken by it, even though the chances were slim. When Black Swan realized that, they couldn't take that risk. So they resorted in a backup plan. That was Jewel. Jewel was born almost with the identical gene and powers as Sophie, yet was given certain powers to withstand the weight of guilt. Something impossible to all elves.

Black Swan never suspected that Neverseen would discover the second Moonlark. So they let her grow up with humans, like Sophie, except in a different forbidden city. Jewel grew up with a French family living in Paris, France. She lived a normal life until she was kidnapped by Neverseen who triggered most of her implanted secrets from Black Swan. While Black Swan was focused on Sophie, they didn't realize that Neverseen had sent spies down to discover Jewel and tracked her.

They planned Jewel's disappearance and contained her in their base. They did experiments on her and tried to break through her impenetrable mind. Once they figured out that they couldn't as to that time, they tried a different approach. Everything following that was blurred and blank in Jewel's mind. All she could recall was the feelings of pain and suffering. She never wanted to feel that way again, but now they were back for her.

Jewel bolted, feeling the muscles in her legs burn with each burst of speed she summoned from them. She had to get away from Neverseen. She never wanted to return to them. She thought that she was finally free again. Thought they were finally gone when Sophie and her friends finished them off. But right before her eyes, they were there. Alive.

They were right behind her, gaining on her. She didn't look back. All she did was run, hoping that somehow she would outrun them. Sadly, that didn't seem possible. Leaves and branches cut through her as she dashed through the trees. From the sound of their footsteps, it seemed as if they were getting farther and farther away. Jewel dared to glance back and found no one following her.

She stopped running and stared off to where her attackers were supposed to be chasing her. Did they give up? It didn't seem likely. Jewel decided it was safer to keep going. Just as she turned around, she saw a faint flicker of a shadow. Suddenly the air was knocked out of her as she was tackled to the ground, pin down. She thrashed around, kicking with all her might to throw off the cloaked figure.

"You're coming back with us." The cloaked person stated with a male-sounding, low voice. Jewel struggled against the man's grasp.

"As if! I'd rather die!" She retorted, kicking him in the groin. He gasped in surprise, leaving his defenses down long enough for her to crawl out of his grasp. She stumbled to her feet as she tried to get away. She didn't notice when he smiled and grabbed something from his pocket.

"Oh, I think coming with us is better than dying. But I'll let you feel the pain you'd be having if I were to kill you." He gave a menacing, cold smile as he took out a meddler. Soon, Jewel was shot to the ground, convoluting due to the stabbing pang. He shot her a couple more times before he seemed satisfied. Jewel laid on the ground, black dots blobbing her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to block out the throbbing sting all over her body. She heard more footsteps approach who she guessed were the other two men.

"Don't go overboard. Remember, we need her alive not dead." One of the men said.

"I was just having my fun. It's not like she would die by this anyways. We trained her well enough to kill." The man who shot her replied. Jewel's blood turned cold. Kill? Trained? What were they talking about? Her heart thumped against her chest as she pretended to be unconscious. It wasn't hard to since she felt like she would faint at any moment anyways. But, she had to take them by surprise if she wanted to escape. When they least expect it, she'll bolt.

"We need her in good shape in order to defeat Black Swan. Can't take any chances on her having side effects of a meddler shot."

"True. The Elvin world won't know what hit them. We'll take down Black Swan, then after that, the council. Neverseen is back for some sweet revenge."

Revenge? Jewel needed to get away. Warn the council. Warn Black Swan. But first she needed to go somewhere safe. While they were discussing on what to do next, Jewel slightly opened her eyes, just enough to sneak a look. And a good thing that she had photographic memory, made it easier to remember the weapons they had with them. All the visible ones were tucked in their belt. The only one in hand was the meddler. Lucky for her, it was just close enough in her reach.

Fighting the dizziness, she quickly pushed herself up from the ground and kicked the meddler out from the man's hand. Then she sprinted. This time, she didn't look back. She heard the yelling from behind her, but ignored it. She pushed her way through the forest till she found herself on the edge of a cliff. She panted hard and her consciousness was quickly fading. She could see the men catching up. She had to jump, no other choice. She could only wish that she had enough energy to teleport. She looked back at them one last time before diving off the cliff, falling towards an everlasting void of darkness that opened in the air below her.

Jewel closed her eyes as a familiar scene filled her mind. It was sunny and green, full of life and laughter. She could see five kids walking together, chattering with smiles on their faces, happy that school was over. The place, Firefox Academy. Someone's memory. A whisper filled her heard. The voice of a girl, repeating a name over and over and over again. One that Jewel recognized.

Sophie.

She heard the whisper say ever so quietly before she was engulfed in the void, thrown into a starry darkness.