T W O   Y E A R S   A G O

   At twelve years old, Rhiannon wasn't prepared to become an orphan. No child was ever prepared to become an orphan. And at nineteen, Lucille wasn't prepared to begin raising her sister.
   But babysitting her was okay, so far. Especially in the summer, when Lucille could just drop her sister off at the public pool for a few hours. Go shopping with friends, go on a date, go fly around — she could do whatever she wanted while Rhia was at the pool.
   Rhia loved the water. She liked the strong scent of chlorine. She liked doing cool tricks to impress the other kids, although her method of performing those tricks might've been considered cheating. But using her powers to get just a teensy bit of air time after jumping off the diving board couldn't be all bad, right?
   The pool was safe, many parents dropped off their kids for a few hours to let them blow off steam and have fun.
   Well, it was safe for the most part.
   Let's just say whoever put the only pool in the city two blocks from the prison was a blasted idiot.
   And it was proven on July 18th.
   The country music playing over the radio halted and was replaced with the frantic words of one of the lifeguards on duty. "This is not a drill. Please make your way to the locker rooms immediately. I repeat, this is not a drill."
   And then Rhia heard the sirens. Not police sirens, not yet. But the sirens of the prison. Sirens from the prison meant a prison break.
   Parents at the pool scrambled to grab their children, and kids without family present made their way to the locker rooms quickly. Rhia initially moved to get there, but hollers and the sounds of clashing metal caused her to turn around.
   It was a nightmare.
   Through the barred gates surrounding the pool, she could see her mother — or rather, Crossbow — doing her best to fend off fifteen inmates. Rhia could barely scream as the color orange engulfed her mother.
   Rhia's father was in the sky, dodging bits of metal being thrown his way. Her eyes followed the shots of metal to see a man wearing a suit and a mask made of metal.
   Locker room forgotten, Rhia shoves the fear down in her throat and leapt over the fence, all eight feet of it. Her strawberry patterned swimsuit clung to her skin as she ran to the suites man, fully intent on taking his legs out from under him.
   "Rhiannon!" Her mother's scream jerked Rhia's head to the left. She had managed to fend off some of her attackers and had seen her daughter running.
   The twelve year old changed course and ran to her mom. There was nothing her little body could do against the men attacking her mother, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.
   Before she could reach her mother, before she could take two steps, a metal bar buried itself in the ground not three inches from her body. A startled scream left her body and she turned.
   The man in the suit and mask was heading her way at a full sprint. Long legs brought him closer to her at surprising speed.
   Rhia's heart dropped to her stomach. Her feet carried her away from him upon instinct. The hot asphalt of the street pricked at her feet with each step.
   She nearly toppled when her feet started ditching the ground completely, bringing her into the air. If panic wasn't already running rampant in her veins, it was a full on elephant rampage in her chest now.
   A gray, gloved hand gripped her elbow, pulling her higher in the sky. Her father's grip was tight and familiar.
   "Rhiannon, the key concept to flying is breathing. Find your breath," he ordered. Rhia struggled to retain air in her lungs for more than five seconds.
Then it was ripped from her.
Her father began falling, a metal bar poking through his chest and blood spilling from his mouth. Rhia screamed, tumbling from the sky with him.
She could hear her mother yelling for her husband and child, but the screams were cut off abruptly along with Rhia's own as she hit the pavement.

a/n: hey pals!! sorry it's a relatively short one and pretty random, but I needed to introduce Rhia's and Lucy's antagonist and give a little bit of background. let me know what you think!!!