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.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfULoyZDot9
“Whoa,” I say. “It looks like a hurricane hit here.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbAGM4ZuqU
Savannah laughs, a sweet melody. “It often does. She says it’s a ‘system’.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmC0WmI79yN
“An effective system, if I do say so myself. And I do.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiZ92OmymH
I pick my way through the mess, carefully shifting the lighter and sitting at the foot of Ember’s bed.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgolTqao3R
“So? What are we talking about?” I ask.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFWhNecJ1D
“You’re very eager to hear this, huh?” Ember says.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnKtr2stFd
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.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPecFP1x5z
“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.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSvCRRN5m0
Savannah smiles. “She’s very expressive.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uHrOhKzxQ
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…312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3krlaqbfW
“Do you know what time this happened? The tree and the, um, eggs?” I ask.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3GrkzTgv7
“Around eight thirty,” Savannah and Ember chorus.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yJxfdh9wF
“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.” 312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PQBDzHMwc
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.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3mrajszja
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.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSAuZNw0lB
“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!”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuwJkTvF8K
Savannah’s cheeks turn red as she says, “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxueWJv1RBM
“Ugh,” Ember says, scrunching her nose.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbjphmRzFE
“So, Em. Ready to admit I’m right, hermanita?”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ntt88KHpP
I’m no Spanish expert, but it makes sense that this boy is Ember’s brother. Older, though? We’ll see, I suppose.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPqvM9RU53
“Never, hermano mio.” She turns away from the boy.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHH3D1WZscm
The boy nods at me. “Quién es ella?”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavmNNRuqQZ
“Um, me llamo Cordelia?” I try.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwp5lISBqi
The boy laughs. “I like her. Me llamo Liam.”
“So, what is all this about?” I ask, slipping comfortably back to English.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQd76cdxjOY
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.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdynaOENi4f
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.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMWGFcwvDL
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.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpKYfeGTHz
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.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEKulPatIR
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?”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5T1ivWatz
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’.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlBLDDIhkX
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.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslhlC8QOMF
All three of them stare at me, mouths hanging open. Finally, Ember speaks. “Ay, ay, ay, who knew she was such a dipshit?”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvICxDTSejV
“Emmy!” Savannah snaps.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nVdQQjeVT
“What?”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91IS6HKSn1
“This is real, Cordelia,” Liam says, leaning against Ember’s desk.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAun0emfq0d
I scoff. “Yeah, okay,” I say, standing. “Call me when you decide you want to be serious.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tRWohiN1f
When I get to the door, Liam calls after me, “Call me when you decide you want to listen.”312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zfFNC9Akh
And I walk out the door, feeling like I’ve made a big mistake.312Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuit1NHxGbx
