Note: This story takes place after the events of Legacy. :D
Marella's POV
The Council had suspended her training.
Marella sat down on a tiny rock overlooking a small pool of water that had gathered under the muggy spring air, trying to process the information. Theorizing and spending all day in her head was the only thing keeping her from losing her cool again, and she would have nothing if she messed up one more time. As her father precisely put it, the Council was merciful for only holding off her training with a murderer until she got her ability under control again.
They could've chosen to banish her, send her off to Exillium. They even could've exiled her. But noooo, they had to show the entire elvin world how superior and kind they were. And her little outburst gave them the perfect opportunity to do that.
Marella felt something tingle at her skin again. Instead of screaming and shaking with anger, she simply scratched her arm until the patch turned red and she no longer had the urge to erupt into flames. It was a good strategy, a strategy only Pyrokinetics had to use in order to keep them from blowing up their entire world.
She hated herself for once hoping that she might be allowed to join the Nobility. She could've been their vital asset. She could've been their moonlark, for all she cared about. That was what her father wanted. He had told her on one of their late-night walks that it would be what her mother wanted, too, if she was sane.
Hope just wasn't enough anymore. She needed action.
As soon as the thought occured to her, the sky ripped and folded into half for a blonde-haired figure to emerge out of the crack. Normally Marella would've expected herself to scream and thrash around while kicking her feet, but she managed to hold all her panic and surprise in at the cost of her lungs burning alive with fear.
Before she could open her mouth to speak, however, a familiar silver-banged boy burst into existence in front of her, coughing and calmly turning back when he realized a certain strawberry-blonde haired boy had his arms hooked through his elbows. Marella imagined his dreamy smirk in her mind as he nudged the boy with his wrist — Dex was momentarily frozen before he detached himself from Tam, mumbling a half-apologetic I'm sorry under his breath.
"What are you doing here?" Marella demanded, bile rising in her throat. How had they shown up in her back garden without Sophie ever being here? "Finally decided that I'm worth something to you now that the Council's suspended my training, huh?"
Sophie winced at the sharp bitterness in her voice, while Dex simply pretended to be surprised as he shifted his weight uncomfortably onto his other foot. Tam, however, stepped in front of them and crossed his arms. When Marella raised an eyebrow to silently ask him what he was doing, he simply put on another one of his trademark smirks.
Snarky enough to beat me? She thought as she wrapped one of her loose strands of hair around her pinkie finger and gritted her teeth. They gaped at each other until Dex finally cut in with an irritated tone, "Are you guys done with your staring competition?"
"We're not having a competition," Marella snapped, "Unless you are — to see who's going to tell me the reason why you're here last," she added, not bothering to hide her disgust.
The three of them exchanged looks at each other that were far too different for Marella's liking until Sophie finally blinked. Tam and Dex stepped back, and she was in awe of how quickly they'd come to a conclusion — and how much of her time they were wasting.
"The Council's suspended your training. That doesn't mean Fintan wants to," Sophie began, eyeing Marella with an intense look that told her not to interrupt as she put her hands up as if it could control her impulse, "And we're here to take you there. Unless if you don't want to, of course."
Marella felt a sudden urge to blast them with a shocking wave and immediately shook her head at the thought. She wasn't all-powerful just because her ability was considered too dangerous — she could only control fire, and she was happy enough with that. Blinking, she stepped forward with a scowl. "How do I know all of this is real?"
Gesturing wildly at her surroundings and, most importantly, them, she took a step back to where she'd been standing all along.
"Marella?" Sophie's voice, confused and oblivious, reminded her of how surreal the whole thing seemed. "Marella, we want to help you," she said as if it should be obvious, "I know we've had a... a rather rocky history. But we would help you under any situation, and this is no exception—"
"Stop!" The guilt in Sophie's voice was too much for her to handle. Every time Marella looked into Sophie's eyes, just looked, she couldn't stand how intimidating and cold she was acting toward her even though their failed friendship had mostly been Sophie's fault. The fierce dark circles under her eyes and how Sophie had swallowed after admitting the truth... ugh, why couldn't anyone see Sophie Foster the way she did?
Sophie kept going as if nothing mattered, not even Marella. "Let us help you, Marella. Let us help you," she repeated firmly.
Marella threw her hands up and formed a protective shield. Her blazing flames hissed and made snakelike noises, causing them to jump back.
"I don't want your help. Not now. Not ever." She turned her back toward them, her shoulder lifted up and touching her cheek coldly and unforgivingly. "I don't need the Council. I don't need Fintan. And I don't need you, either."
The confession made her feel powerful — that was, until Sophie opened her mouth again.
"Marella, please—" she tried, before Tam silenced Sophie with a look of finality. Tilting his head slightly downward at Marella, he wrapped one arm around Sophie's wrist and slung another around Dex's waist, making the small boy flinch away while trying not to squirm.
This was it? They were already giving up?
Marella prepared a sneer as Tam closed his eyes. With a horrifying drop, Marella realized that they weren't teleporting away. What were they doing?
Her answer immediately punched her in the stomach. Tam had shrouded his sister in a dome of shadows that trapped Linh in, almost like a force field. Like he knew her sister's weaknesses and had to do whatever he could to stop Linh from speaking to Marella until all other options had been exhausted.
Without a doubt, Marella knew that Linh was feeling the same kind of anger ripping through her in that moment, just that it was toned down. Everything was gentler for Linh, and that was how she knew that she couldn't hate her. Just the effort of trying was so stupid and reckless that no one, not even the Neverseen, could ever dare to hurt Tam's sister.
They'd die in the process.
"Linh?" Marella's traitorous lips parted, forming her only friend's name. Linh smiled and all the worry that had been there instantly evaporated into the air, like the pool of water next to the rock she had sat down on. The two of them hesitantly approached each other and hugged awkwardly.
Then she realized what it meant and why Linh was here and jumped back, ready to scream and tear down everything she had with rage. "You brought her here for this?"
Marella's voice was deadly calm, the last voice you would hear before imminent doom.
She saw Linh as a different kind of person now — the kind of friend that was meant to be her enemy. Water always defeated fire, and she would always be in her shadow. Linh had been banished, but she hadn't been refused training. She was the lucky one.
"Marella, don't do this," a voice pleaded. She didn't care anymore.
A horrifying tug at her stomach meant that this was over, that there was no reason trying to show restraint anymore. A tiny spark in the ground would grow to an inferno as Marella swished her arm above her head, making her fire a straight line and shooting toward the group of people she once thought were her friends. At the last moment, she curved the dancing flame sideways and stayed still, the very image of calm in a sea of madness.
"Marella, stop!" A scream.
And the next thing she knew, she was being dragged by Dex Dizznee across the ground she had made into a maze and was entering a void so dark the only thing she could do with her fire was let it die.