"So... you expect me to believe that our mom left this years ago, in hopes that I'd find it... now?"
"No. Our mom left it now, in hopes that you would go back to the house."
"But... the fire..."
Clarity sighed again. "Well, our parents did go missing, except... they're just... not in this town."
"Where are they, then?"
"They live somewhere in Atlantis." Clarity said.
"Atlantis?"
"Yes."
---
"But... Atlantis isn't real." Jess said.
"Oh, it is," Clarity argued, "why don't you just ask Dex?"
"But... it's just a myth..."
"Are you sure?" Clarity asked.
Jess nodded. "I know it is. But... what did she mean you'll know what to do?"
Clarity sighed. "Well, when you were three, mom hid a gift for whenever we had to leave. I just... don't exactly know where it is."
"So... somewhere in the world there is this 'gift' that mom left for us, and you have absolutely no idea where?"
"Well, I have an idea. But we'd have to ask mom. She told me when you were little that if we found a note like this we'd meet up. The only problem with that is we'd have to ask the Black Swan's collective where she'd arranged the meeting for."
"And... who is this Black Swan?"
"It's this group that mom and dad are in."
Jess nodded slowly. "Right. I still don't believe a word you're saying."
Clarity sighed. "Okay, that's fine. We just have to find the Black Swan and show them the note. Got it?"
Jess nodded. "And how do we find this Black Swan?"
Clarity bit her lip. "I'm not sure."
"So not only do you have no idea where we have to meet up, but you also have no idea where to find the only people who do know?"
From the corner of her eye, Jess thought she saw a girl turn into a wolf, and a memory came flooding into her mind, though Jess never took her eyes off of the path the girl took.
"Jessica and Alice were twins, Osiris. Do you know how bad it could have been?" Jess's mom asked her dad in a quiet voice.
"Listen, I understand how bad twins would be, I really do." Osiris replied. "But do you think she'll be okay?"
"Yes, Osiris! Someone will surely take Alice in."
Osiris sighed. "Fine. I trust you. Let's go see Jess. I wonder how she's doing, what with us moving to the Forbidden Cities."
Jess quickly ran back to her room, trying not to be seen.
Jess blinked. She had a twin? Since when?
"Jess?" Clarity asked.
"What?"
"Were you listening?"
"Uh... no, sorry." Jess admitted. "I just... saw someone. I'll be right back."
Jess followed the path the other girl took, shifting into a wolf on the way.
The girl/wolf suddenly stopped and turned to Jess.
After about five minutes, the wolf turned into a human, and she was panting.
Jess shifted to a human too, and both of them froze.
They looked almost exactly alike, except the girl's hair was pulled into a ponytail and her clothes were different--obviously.
"I'm... Alice." She said.
"Alice?" Jess asked. Just like in the flashback...
"Uh... yeah, why?"
Jess laughed awkwardly. "Um, no reason. I'm Jessica--you can call me Jess."
Clarity ran up then. "There you are! Don't run away again, Jess," she told Alice.
Jess and Alice both laughed.
"Clarity, that's Alice."
Clarity looked between the two, eyes growing wide.
"What--how--huh?!"
"Yeah yeah, I know, we look alike. Now can we run?"
"What do you mean?" Alice asked.
"I mean run!" Jess shouted. The Neverseen were literally right behind Clarity.
The tree started running deeper into the woods, until they came up to a cliff.
"So, basically, we either jump and die or get found by the Neverseen." Jess said.
"Or we do this," Alice said, pulling out a round pale pink crystal.
"Not so fast!" Someone shouted, and Jess was pushed by someone invisible off of the cliff.
Surprisingly, she didn't die. In fact, she landed right on top of a glittery alicorn.
Jess still got hurt--obviously--though at least she was okay.
The alicorn landed, and Alice was already at the bottom to help Jess.
Jess couldn't move. Alice picked up Jess, pulled out her pink crystal and held it to the light, pulling Clarity, while still holding Jess, into the beam it created.
Alice put Jess down when the scene glittered into view, and Jess stood up slowly.
"Forkle?" Alice called. "Granite?"
Who were Forkle and Granite?
"Well, nobody's back yet, I guess. I think Forkle should be here soon, though."
"Who's Forkle?" Clarity asked.
"Member of the Black Swan--part of the Collective, along with Granite and a few others. I think Sabre is coming, too, along with Wraith." Alice said.
"Um... who's Sabre?" Jess asked.
"Uh... I can't reveal her identity, but she's one of the longest standing members of the Black Swan--and the best with a sword. She's usually here for the Collective's decision, though with some of our newest members she's missed it. I'm probably saying too much."
"And Wraith is..?"
"Another member of the collective."
A few minutes later, Alice sighed. "This is taking longer than I'd thought," she muttered. "I'd better make sure they're okay."
"What do you mean?" Clarity asked.
"Oh, the others went on a... mission. They're trying to catch the Neverseen."
"Well, they'd better prepare to fail. Trust me, I've tried to find them dozens of times with no luck." Jess said.
"Well, the Black Swan is better prepared than you and your sister. I'm going to see if they need help."
"I'll go," Clarity said. "Will you be okay here, Jess?"
Jess nodded. "I'll be fine. Go ahead."
Alice nodded. "Alright, I guess. Not sure if they'll trust you, though."
Clarity nodded. "I think they might. I have a... relationship with one of the members."
"Really?"
Clarity nodded again, and Alice pulled out a clear crystal.
"Let's go." She said.
"Wait." Clarity said, handing the note to Jess. "I don't want to lose it."
Jess nodded.
Whenever they were gone, Jess looked around.
She was in a small room, and there was a door to her left. To her right there was a hall that led to another room, she assumed.
Suddenly, she heard voices from the end of the hall and she ran to the door, opening it and running inside.
She held her breath as the voices got closer.
"I thought I heard Alice," one of them said, and Jess peeked out a little bit. There were floating clothes, likely a Vanisher, along with a living statue-man. It didn't look like the Neverseen.
"What if that other girl is here--the Project Firestorm?" The statue-man said.
"Oh please. It was obviously Alice." The disembodied voice belonging to the floating clothes argued.
"I don't know. The Project Firestorm could have joined the Neverseen already. She could have snuck in."
Project Firestorm--AKA Jess--, join the Neverseen? The people who attacked her parents? Yeah right. Good luck with that.
"I don't know, Granite. They didn't find her last time--we would have known. Alice is keeping a close eye on her."
Jess couldn't breathe. Alice was watching her?
Jess hadn't realized she still wasn't breathing, and collapsed.
"What was that?" The disembodied voice asked, getting closer.
Then everything went dark, and silent.
When Jess woke up, the Granite guy and the floating clothes were there.
She sat up and stumbled backwards.
"It's okay," the disembodied voice said. "We won't hurt you. I'm Wraith."
"I'm Granite," the other said.
"It's kind of hard to trust you looking like that," Jess muttered.
Jess stood up, ignoring them when they tried to help.
"Are you okay?" Wraith asked.
Jess nodded, starting to walk out the door.
A woman came in then.
She had dark hair like Jess, and pale blue eyes--like Clarity's.
She was also wearing a black outfit, and a mask that covered the bottom half of her face.
"I thought I heard you two." She said, then turned to Jess. "Hey Alice."
"I'm Jess," Jess murmured.
Sabre looked at Granite in shock, who nodded.
"So... you're the Project Firestorm?" Jess could hear the smile in Sabre's voice.
Jess groaned. "Why does everyone call me that?"
She ran out of the room before anyone could stop her--then remembered the note.
Alice had said Granite was with the Black Swan--along with Sabre and 'Forkle'."
Jess groaned.
"What's wrong?" Sabre asked from right behind Jess.
Jess whipped around.
"Surprise," Sabre said.
Jess handed her the note, not wanting to speak.
Sabre read it, surprised.
Then she turned to go back to the room--likely to show Wraith and Granite.
"It's her," Jess heard Sabre say quietly, and she saw Sabre wiping tears away. "It's really her. Alice must have found her."
"I told you," Granite said.
Sabre nodded. "I know. I'm so happy Alice found her. But... where's her sister?"
Granite seemed confused. "Sister?
Sabre nodded.
How did this girl know so much about Jess?
{Sabre's POV}
It was really her.
Sabre couldn't believe it.
Her daughter, she was really here.
It wasn't just another hallucination or dream... right?
This was real?
"Sabre?" Granite asked.
"Uh, sorry. I'm just so... happy. I haven't seen my daughter in eleven years, when I left." Sabre said.
This had to be a dream, or... something.
It couldn't be real.
It just couldn't.
And yet, Sabre couldn't doubt that it was definitely real.
Not another illusion.
Right?
Sabre was doubting a lot of things.
And seeing her daughter was one of them.
{Clarity's POV}
"So, where is everyone?" Clarity asked.
"Ugh, I bet Sabre and Wraith are already where we just left." Alice muttered.
Clarity sighed. "Great." She said.
"Yeah." Alice agreed. "Just great."
"Hey, do you know if there's someone named Jayla Sabatini in the Black Swan?" Clarity asked.
"Uh... I really can't say yes or no."
Clarity sighed. "That's too bad."
"If you don't mind," Alice said, "why do you need to know?"
"Well, you see... she's sort of my mom."
Alice froze. "Really?"
Clarity nodded.
"But she--but I--what?"
"Are... you okay?"
Alice nodded slowly.
"So... if Jess is your sister," she said. "is she Jess's mom, too?"
Clarity nodded.
"So Jess is the Project Firestorm," Alice whispered.
"What?"
"Uh, nothing." Alice said quickly.
Clarity narrowed her eyes. "Sure. What is this Project Firestorm?"
Alice bit her lip. "The Neverseen's version of the Project Moonlark."
"So Jess is this 'project' for her mortal enemies?"
"Not mortal. More like immortal."
Clarity's eyes widened. "What do you mean immortal?"
"Uh... Jess didn't tell you?"
"No, was she supposed to?"
Alice bit her lip. "Uh, I'll let her tell you about it."
Clarity grabbed her arm. "No. Tell me."
"Fine. I'm sort of an elf, I live in this place called the Lost Cities. Along with your parents and many others. Elves never age. Well, I mean, we do age--if we didn't, the Lost Cities would be a world of babies--but we never die of old age."
Clarity blinked. "I knew that. Not the 'elves never age' part, that's weird. But I know about elves."
"Really? So, Jess did tell you?"
"No, my mom did. A long time ago, when I was three."
"Twenty years ago?" Alice asked.
Clarity nodded. "Though, technically twenty-one years ago. My birthday was yesterday. I'm twenty-four now."
"Cool. I'm only sixteen, but I'm turning seventeen in two days."
Clarity frowned. "Jess's birthday is in two days. She's also turning seventeen."
"Cool! Almost like we're twins!" Alice said.
"Yeah. Almost." Clarity muttered. They did look very similar...
{Jess's POV}
"Daughter?!" Jess practically screamed.
Sabre whipped around. "Um, I--"
"So, you're my mom?" Jess asked.
Sabre sighed. "Yes, Jess. I'm--"
"Save it!" Jess shouted. "Nothing you say can change the fact that you left!"
"Jess, listen, I--"
"I was only five years old! If you can't tell, I'm sixteen now. You know what that means? It's been eleven years! Eleven years since I've seen you last!"
"Jess, be nice!" Clarity said from behind her.
Jess ignored her. "I thought you were dead!"
"Jess," Sabre said. "Leaving was the hardest thing I've ever done."
"I wish you were dead!" Jess screamed.
"Jess, you don't mean that." Clarity said.
"Yes, I do!" Jess shouted, finally turning around. Alice was behind Clarity, holding a blue crystal.
Jess ran and grabbed the crystal from her hand, holding it to the dim light and stepping in, not caring where she was going.
She just had to get away from here.
"Jess!" Clarity screamed, but Jess was already gone.
{Alice's POV}
"Where is she going?" Clarity asked.
"Um, the crystal was set for Anchorage, Alaska." Alice mumbled, wishing she had set it for somewhere closer.
"Alaska?!"