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.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6boOJlX4RW
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBXo5Yg4pQ
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOR0Z53IWx2
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPW1ryaOxR
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROe3gxfVXd
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIp4PbiMcC
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0OQbi1sOI
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.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7KKv50KcZ
“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.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37viYBtrbp
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARYsGWS8eT
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…314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdBZVo4dwA
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BbJ0SXy9I
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Z5XUUo4Yh
“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.” 314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWC0hq12eRT
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.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCO1n0juTxE
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.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd59onZUH8z
“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!”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOI68t0IW3
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RrSPZ7wyQ
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfQAhwuIqH
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIB83sy4YS
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9mcxMT3lQ
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeXkZ5xZrE
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRugQaFQTe
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5ZuvDTkSF
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBn4BMIwKc
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.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAjDZu4Trq
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.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVt7Gx0trdW
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.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxe4V7jjow
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.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2JV75OgUg
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?”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQfHwVzohj
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’.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4MP6K0XWm
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.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRW9mgTwnzc
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfk08j1aT0E
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiP9ZW2nkA
“What?”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWN0DtdAIkw
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCs02ge5XtY
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6usZzvDbKY
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuc0L8MZ3Ka
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.314Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lnyQwwEAy
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