Ember swings the door to her room open. I shudder as I stare inside her room. Piles of clothes lie in a crumpled heap on the floor. The bed is unmade, and on it is the biggest fire hazard I have ever seen: a lighter, and a box of matches. Her desk is littered with wool, thread, needles, and unfinished clothes and patterns. The board hanging on the wall is scattered with notes and clothing designs. A pile of mannequin parts lie around, untouched. In short, her room is a complete and total mess.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuj8nUZJsXt
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0ZbxIAUbn
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3zyFd7Dcm
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKlgnIHzb4
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLBcdMp4Ji
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviTdGRaaU7
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXq5XN1tTzV
Savannah facepalms. “What did I tell you about beating around the bush? We want to talk about what happened this morning. You said your day was a disaster, you were thinking about it, and then it started to rain. Right?” I nod. “Well, this morning, I woke up in a really good mood, right? And then a tree appeared out of nowhere. As in, it grew from my bedposts in a matter of seconds.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKUWmU2UQQ
“And this morning, there was an incident with my eggs,” Ember says sadly. “I was just trying to have breakfast. Liam was his usual annoying self, and I got angry. The next thing I know - whoosh! Fire!” She mimes a mini explosion of sorts and makes a fist with one hand. “Then my eggs were gone. Poof.” She releases the fist.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUvOQlMmd4
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1kRmK4NMZ
From what I know, it’s Savannah and Ember’s sixteenth birthday, and it also happens to be mine. This morning, we each had different incidents. I was in a bad mood, and it rained. Savannah was in a good mood, and a tree sprouted and grew from her bedposts within seconds. And Ember was miffed, then her eggs… Um. Whoosh. Fire. Poof. I wonder…208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaCzJizQom
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDwGfNIWPC
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEBawNKl71
“So the rain, the tree, the eggs. They all happened at the exact same time, on the exact same day,” I murmur. “Well, even so, it doesn’t mean we have anything to do with each other. Rain, no matter when it falls, is just rain. Maybe a seed fell near your bedposts.” I turn to Ember. “And maybe the fire was too… fiery.” 208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSbFXCcyoD
Ember snorts as I say this, but Savannah just shakes her head. “It’s like I always say. Once is chance. Twice is a coincidence. And three times?” She looks at Ember and I. “That’s a pattern. There’s something going on here, something supernatural. For whatever reason, the three of us are involved. It’s our job to get to the bottom of this.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JpWyRTqKx
Someone starts to clap. At first, I think it’s Ember, but I turn to the door, where it’s coming from. A boy leans against the door, with the same fiery aura as Ember. His hair, though as flaming as Ember’s, is a duller red, almost brown, but not quite. His eyes, unlike Ember’s, are like pools of molten gold, priceless and coveted by all. His shirt is orange, coupled with a black hoodie, and he’s wearing fingerless gloves, making him seem edgy. Orange headphones hand around his neck, and his humming suggests he used them recently.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcPOAq7J3C
“Now that, Van,” he says, walking towards us. “Is why I always call you a poet. No, a bard.” He raises his hand dramatically and continues in a dramatic voice. “Nay, the greatest bard of them all, worthy of the best lyre money and adoration can buy!”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7dBmOE7DN
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37pFwnvXvm
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaBxjQwNAX
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9pUtTTsor
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpIyOno7ub
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6ToRBrKho
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlurJW3izy
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXczyWq2Kl
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayzFEODaMk
Liam recites, “Three forces elemental thou must seek,
The first the one from the creek.
Her powers still asleep,
She must return to the deep,
There great challenges she must defeat,
Then her powers shall be complete.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuL0n4wvHWZ
The second force is one with the earth,
She must also prove her worth.
Sniff out the traitor in her midst,
And she and earth will coexist.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NFWV7S1KZ
The third and last is of the fire,
The situation is becoming dire.
The traitor’s claims she must dismiss,
Or risk everything tumbling into the abyss.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTP6k9JYE3
The fate of the realms elementals is at stake,
The balance must not break.
The final battle can be won,
If the girls’ challenges are overcome.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUyqVSzG9R
Ember rolls her eyes, and Savannah scoffs. They’ve clearly heard this many times before. I, on the other hand, am just confused. “Sorry, what?”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbbOaKri91
Liam doesn’t answer, his stare blank. Ember starts to mutter in Spanish as she walks over to him and snaps her fingers under his nose. He jolts back to the present. “Huh? Oh, prophecy. Duh. Em here is ‘of the fire’, Van is ‘one with the earth’, which makes you, Cordelia, ‘the one from the creek’.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDBDotlt9s
This is all so ridiculous. Elemental forces? Really? This is based off of three coincidences that probably have nothing to do with each other. I clap slowly. “Wow. Wow. That was great. But… you called me over to show me your play? You could have just told me so.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0J7OuykIVu
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6ZpkGMjhE
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoIh9DY8FZ
“What?”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbbzjvzgkw
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTnAkus26v
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5gAse1cVs
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0y2n84NzA
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9XYENs547
