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.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPngJxJMEH
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5o0wYULzKM
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW12u6EtUbV
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oNkIMoVs1
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebJKXEDfDu
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xACRRaH6x
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Rjg6tpPhJ
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.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsteE6r0ri4
“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.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSR2w5gSkay
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7G5KPuSrAi
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…328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tfnaw2iSa
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMEQEcYLGi
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOosTGq71Fw
“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.” 328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHj1EffDJW
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.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDooFPZKIZA
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.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJ7Tt1Pq7K
“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!”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Tgj49CB6y
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuM1hY4F35
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JnlEAo3C1
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhFqMNCZwF
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLp4yF5Mfx
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyu4qzuCVM
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQsgC2CzzQ
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDe5pvzdAb
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaplo2O8Tb
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.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SuamTrZxY
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.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUb9ss3ZDIA
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.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzk7cka8YV
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.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOKy0ja6D7
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?”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4S8vr643We
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’.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTriw67eDd1
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.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2IaDDGohP
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodmfUATfzb
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUOjlZw3xH
“What?”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSiRWSBQNr
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp5mIBwSxe
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGAKC6SeFg
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTaup2W9Fy
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.328Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZvM77WuPG
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