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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0E4zlhUpiM
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRtIvyagiM
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdMiEK8rw4
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvbaQR30Re
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFHAjVgGZg
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwvHaC1s5v
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUPV4w1hBo
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.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiG6iCBQs3u
“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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGC0ojbWC7v
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjURkcIxUT
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…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTE6dae4lGp
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmujGVsrXet
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDB7i8mgrq
“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.” 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7GadvOGIX
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.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAGPCZTlXx
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuYrT8mB0a
“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!”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoCgdaEkQs
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvr6QcEpyaR
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdH8nKPtYL
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeMMwaxtkD
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAA1EEfZ50
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfinTVgXKG0
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yYTq2n7Fy
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK0L2xYmLE
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNj5qG4Czq
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGu4ZHW8pGp
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wroHb9qSq
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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnODGhOmXLy
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.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDg4okDxwd
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?”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaMeYFtya5
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’.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uVXNCiCdz
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.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHleCkYqYe
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRKMaGoeYI
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWkEfPrHLH
“What?”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UweTM56CE
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxxUAwCBEz
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxb99OY0edS
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SNw1q6HlD
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGi8SuVlIx4
