Scarlett wakes up before dawn, slightly disoriented. What the hell did that little devil do?! she asks herself. She looks around and is shocked: it went from humid to snowy overnight!
Meanwhile, Gabrielle arises a little more late. She creates a little pond in a solitary cave and uses it to see her reflection while she french-braids her hair and gives herself a pep-talk. Out of nowhere, Scarlett appears and smirks. “Well someone needs friends. Maybe then you’ll stop talking to yourself!”
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“Why do you hate me? What did I do to you?” Gabrielle sighs.
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“Good morning to you, too, sweetheart.” Scarlett rolls her eyes. “Besides, my feelings towards a stranger has nothing to do with my hunger.”
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Gabrielle gets a flashback: several bullies in middle school hurting her, torturing her, in so many ways. As she tries to push the thoughts out of her head, Scarlett reads those thoughts. “So let me get this straight: you’re mean because you were pushed around in middle school? Nice. Oh, and I spent all morning thinking of a nickname for you: Cindermermaid! Since you’re some mermaid-thing with your water crap and you have blonde hair and a blue outfit like Cinderella,” Scarlett smirks.
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“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gabrielle denies.
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“Sure you don’t. Apparently you haven’t gotten the memo yet. We,” Scarlett says, motioning to the both of them, “are equal,” she enunciates while making an equal sign with her arms. “I saw what you did in the water. I know you are different. Then I saw the ice. I put two and two together when you took off those gloves. So you. are. a. mutant. I know that already—”
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“I GET IT! NOW LEAVE!”
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Scarlett shakes her head. “Rule number one: you don’t interrupt me. As I was saying before you rudely cut me off, I am a psyro: half psychic, half pyro, which means fire. That’s how I know you were bullied. That’s how I found you. Are we on the same page?”
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Gabrielle responds by blasting her with water, but Scarlett puts up a barrier just in time. “I knew you would do that,” Scarlett teases.
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“Just leave me alone!” Gabrielle’s distress causes rain and snow to fall.
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Scarlett creates a stronger force field and gets inside of Gabrielle’s head. I know you can hear me. I’m in your head. Why are you doing this? What do you gain? Scarlett’s power is draining quickly, and her force field disappears, making her weaker by the second as the rain pounds on her, but she still has the strength to say one more thing to Gabrielle. If I go down, you’re coming with me, she says, causing a terribly strong pain in Gabrielle’s head.
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Gabrielle, clutching her head like a madwoman, decides to jump over a cliff to end it all, but Scarlett gets out of Gabrielle’s head and freezes her in place so that she can’t do anything at all.
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“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I THOUGHT YOU HATE ME! LET ME DIE!” Gabrielle shrieks, growing more and more insane.
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“What if I said… I might need you to survive?”
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“Fine, but can you let me go?”
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“On one condition. You stop using your power against me!”
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The storm gets worse and Scarlett starts withering a little. She’s using so much power to keep Gabrielle in place that she doesn’t have enough to create a shield around her.
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“I can’t stop this storm! I’m too stressed out!” Gabrielle shouts.
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“WELL STOP USING IT WHEN YOU’RE NOT STRESSED! LIKE WHEN YOU BLASTED ME WITH WATER YESTERDAY AND TODAY!”
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“DEAL!”
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Scarlett gets overwhelmed, causing her to fall and Gabrielle crashes into the ground. “Ugh! I’m such a fool,” Gabrielle mutters to herself. “I was cursed with these powers. Why couldn’t I be born normal?” She flies up to where Scar is, and creates a fire for Scar to regain her strength, but at the same time, Gabrielle’s skin is blistering and bubbles are forming on her limbs.
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“Stop that, princess. You’re hurting yourself,” Scarlett teases as she sits up.
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Gabrielle rolls her eyes. “You’re never too tired to be snarky, are you?”
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Scarlett grins. “My little blessing.” Scarlett crosses her leg, warming her hands over a smaller fire. “So what’s your real name, mermaid?
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“Gabrielle. Yours?”
“Scarlett. But you can call me Scar, or freak. Whichever you like best.”
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“Scar. You can call me Gab or Gabby or Snow Girl, or—”
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“I get it,” Scarlett laughs. “Hm. I’m sticking with Snow White,” she says, sticking out her tongue. “So what’s your story?”
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“Well, I was born with these powers, but I found out about them when I was three, and I always wear gloves to keep them hidden. I have two brothers and one sister in England. What about you?”
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“Well not much similarity. When I was a little girl, I heard voices in my head without trying; I didn’t know how to stop it, and I thought it was something everyone could do. Every time my mother would think things like ‘This child is simply unmanageable!’ I’d ask her if she meant it. She freaked out after the 3rd time, realizing I’m not a normal human, and sent me to some lab to be tested on. Ever since then I’ve been on my own, after escaping. No siblings that I know of, no parents that I remember, and no friends that exist.”
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“I'm sorry. My parents died in a plane crash on their way home and ever since then I shout at people because I'm scared they’ll get hurt because of me…”
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“Don’t be sorry or I’ll hurt you. I hate pity.” Scarlett gives her a hard look.
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Gabrielle puts her hands up in surrender. “Okay, I get it.” She gets up, grabbing her bow and arrow.
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“Good thing you’re taking that. I’m hungry,” Scarlett chirps. “So I’ve noticed you’ve had a hard time heating things up. Sure, you can start a fire, but it usually extinguishes soon. Either that or small blisters form on your hands. So here’s a deal: you bring me food, and I’ll cook your food without you getting hurt. How’s that?”
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“Deal. It doesn’t really hurt much, but it’s better I don’t have blisters on my hands. Anyways, I’m off.” She runs to a nearby pond and catches two fish in no time.
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“I’m back,” Gabrielle says.
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Scarlett looks up. “Toss me a fish.”
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After tossing her a fish, Gabrielle dictates, “Ii did my part; now you do yours.”
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Scarlett chuckles. “Easy there, Snow White. I’m not a miracle maker.” She pulls out a knife. “I made it while waiting for your slow self. Do you even know how to scale a fish? Or are you too high-class?” She starts scaling a fish, cutting off its head and tail off, too.
“Listen Scar, if you want me to get you food, I suggest you start being nice to me or you won’t be getting any more food, okay?” Gabrielle says annoyed.
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“And you’ll be eating raw fish, because not only can I create fire, but I can absorb all heat from a specific area. So I could absorb your fire, leaving you to eat raw and sickening fish. So I suggest you keep the threats to a minimum, ‘kay? Kay.”
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Gabrielle walks away, determined to abandon Scarlett. “Enjoy your fish,” she mutters.
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Scarlett, getting irritated, freezes Gabrielle in place psychically. “Think you’re gonna survive on your own?” She laughs mockingly. “Have fun.” She releases Gabrielle and teleports away. A few minutes pass and Scarlett senses movement, but she ignores it and starts cooking her fish. That girl is freaking bipolar, I tell you, she mumbles. Again, she senses swift movement behind her. When she turns around, she sees a beast running full-speed towards her. She screams as loud as she can and teleports to random a place. Panting hard, she looks around and sees Gabrielle nearby, and she grumbles.
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Gabrielle salivates as she chops the fruits she collected and makes a fruit salad. Out of nowhere, the beast jumps from behind a tree, aiming for Gabrielle, but she reacts quickly and freezes its heart, guaranteeing its death. Scarlett comes out of hiding and claps sarcastically as she approaches Gabrielle. “Well done, Snow White. I see you’ve been somewhat trained before.”
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“What’s your deal with me, huh? What do you have against me? Why do you hate me? I don’t understand! I try to be nice to you and help you survive, but you just keep ruining it!”
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“Okay, princess. I don’t know where you’re from, but let me tell you something about human relationships: knocking a person unconscious twice in two days is not nice. It’s—”
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“You caused me to lose control, okay?! And do you think I’m stupid or something? Just because I’m a blonde doesn’t mean that I’m not smart. Who made a bow and arrow out of rocks and a stick? Who caught a fish for you to survive? Who killed the beast? Who made the shelter? Thats right, I did! I don’t see you trying to make something to catch a fish or to kill any threats! You just ran away like the scared, little girl you are!”
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“Oh, go ahead and self-praise yourself, you spoiled brat. You think I couldn’t save my ass if I wanted to?” Scarlett says, clapping sarcastically again. “Yay that you can make a flimsy bow. Yay that you can catch fish. I could catch bigger animals if I wanted to! So don’t—”
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“I dare you to do it.”
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“Hide behind a dare, princess. You’re on. I’ll show you that you aren’t no almighty. My dinner will be a banquet. And you’ll be eating a few fruits. How’s that sound?”
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“Fine by me. Now leave.”
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“Don’t worry. Oh, and by the way, I can see why nobody wanted to be around you in middle school.” With that, Scarlett disappears.
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