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This article is part of a series about the Redek family |
Basic Information
Redek
Members
Durand Redek • Caprise Redek • Marella Adene Redek
Residence(s)
Fluttermont
Marella Adene Redek is an elf that attends Foxfire. She is currently a Level Four at Foxfire and was one of the first students to reach out to Sophie in her first few months in the Lost Cities, along with Jensi and Dex. She is also known as the gossip queen of Foxfire.
Appearance
Marella is described as a petite, slender, pixie-like elf with shoulder-length honey-blonde hair (sometimes appearing in art as strawberry-blonde) that "twists in and out of tiny braids." She is also said to have huge, ice-blue eyes—very much like how Keefe's were described. Marella dislikes glitter or sparkles and even criticized her friends Biana and Sophie for talking about dresses at an important time. She often looks disheveled, perhaps stemming from stress at home.
Ability
In Nightfall, it was revealed that Marella is a Pyrokinetic. Pyrokinesis is a currently forbidden, rare, and misunderstood ability to manipulate and create a fire that comes with a strong desire for the heat. It also attracts heat, as shown when the chosen group for exploring the first Nightfall marched up a snowy slope, and Marella was the only one not shivering uncontrollably. She said the reason why she was not cold was that heat nearby was attracted to her.
Her Pyrokinesis was triggered by Mr. Forkle when she told Sophie and her friends that she wanted to manifest as an Empath to help identify and control her mother's unstable emotions, in exchange for information on Cyrah's murder. A few nights after Mr. Forkle triggered her ability, she thought she had a fever, and woke up that night covered in fire. Her mother stepped up and took the blame for setting the fire; everyone believed that story, as Marella's mother was seemingly "crazy", due to a vaguely described accident and incurable head trauma that resulted in her emotional instability.
History
Book 1: Keeper of the Lost Cities
Marella "rescued" Sophie from sitting with Jensi and his friends, saying that it was "social suicide" to sit there. Sophie, Dex, and Marella became friends partly due to their mutual hate of Stina Heks. She and Dex were some of her closest friends in this book.
Book 2: Exile
Marella's and Sophie's friendship weakened when Sophie began hanging out with Biana, Fitz, and Keefe more. She did not make very many appearances in this book.
Book 3: Everblaze
Their friendship fell through the roof completely when Sophie started to neglect Marella. To 'get back' at Sophie, Marella became friends with Stina, her former enemy.
Book 4: Neverseen
Marella was hardly mentioned in Neverseen at all, except during Fitz's and Sophie's cognate training, when Sophie's biggest regret was neglecting Marella. Marella and Sophie met again when Sophie was sent with Timkin/Coiffe to his house, where Sophie said to Marella how she was sorry she said nothing before she left and Marella replied by saying "I thought you were going to say sorry for not inviting me.”
Book 5: Lodestar
Wylie was attacked by the Neverseen and interrogated about the death of his mother, Cyrah Endal. Mr. Forkle came up with a list of people who were present at the marketplace where she died, including Caprise Redek, Marella's mother. Marella provided Sophie the information her mother knew about Cyrah's death. In exchange, Mr. Forkle triggered her special ability. The ability remained unknown at the end of the book. Marella's and Sophie's friendship began to heal, and Marella realized how crazy and dangerous Sophie's life was and why she ended up abandoning her.
Book 6: Nightfall
Marella's special ability was revealed to be pyrokinesis. Because the gorgodons were only vulnerable to fire, she went to both Vespera's Nightfall and Lady Gisela's Nightfall. In Vespera's Nightfall, she joins Grady to capture Fintan. Though she originally stated that she felt as if she "wasn't cut out" for the things Sophie had to deal with, she appeared to become more comfortable when faced with danger in this book.
Book 7: Flashback
Sophie and Biana met with Marella to ask if she wished to train with Fintan to hone her pyrokinesis, and she agreed. She was seen waving her flaming hands to ward off one of the newborn trolls in the end fight scene. This was when her pyrokinesis was revealed to the rest of the world.
Book 8: Legacy
Marella revealed that she had sworn fealty to the Black Swan before her first pyrokinesis lesson with Fintan. Per Keefe's request, she heads out to Loamnore and illuminated the room with flames when Tam is forced to darken it. She was knocked out by a dwarf but woke up later.
Book 8.5: Unlocked
Marella did not have a major role in Unlocked. However, her registry file was included.
Book 9: Stellarlune
Marella appeared on the cover of Stellarlune, holding what appears to be a torch. She worked with Fintan multiple times to help understand the colorful flames that had appeared in a memory Sophie found in Kenric's cache. She, along with the rest of the main characters, searched for Elysian, and Marella could create the flames Fintan used on the Noxflares. Marella also appeared to be sitting near Sophie and her friends again with Maruca and Stina included.
Relationships
Match Status: Registered, zero lists received.
Sophie Foster
- Friend/Possible love interest
Marella sat with Sophie at lunch in her first year, despite also having to sit with the Drooly Boys. Later, Sophie started hanging out with Biana, and Marella felt unwanted. Marella was also angry that all of Sophie's good friends dropped out of school and joined the Black Swan without telling her. She and Sophie made up, though.
Stina Heks
- Friend/Possible love interest
During the first book Stina and Marella seem to be rivals, but when Sophie leaves her behind, she and Stina become close. Later, she is envious of Stina becoming an empath and distances herself which worries Stina. Eventually, the girls make up. Stina is shown to care about Marella quite a lot and vice versa.
Dex Dizznee
- Friend/Possible love interest
When introducing herself to Sophie, she mentioned that she thought Dex was cute - although many people believed he wouldn't manifest, causing his unpopularity. They are friends in the first book but seem to grow apart.
Jensi Babblos
- Friend/Possible love interest
When Sophie sat with Jensi and his friends, whom Marella calls the Drooly Boys (Jensi, Valin, etc.) and Marella took it upon herself to save her from "committing social suicide". Later on in the book, Jensi, Marella, and Dex all sit with Sophie, Keefe, and the Vackers.
Biana Vacker
- Friend/Possible love interest
In the first book, Marella believes Biana to be very snobby, calling her 'Princess Prettypants', but as the books progress, she slowly warms up to her. They seem to be okay friends now.
Fitz Vacker
- Friend/Possible love interest
Marella admitted to having a crush on Fitz in Keeper of the Lost Cities to Sophie. However, in the later books, she seemed to have moved on, even going as far as to constantly use the term Fitzphie when Sophie and Fitz work together.
Keefe Sencen
- Friend/Possible love interest
In Keeper of the Lost Cities, Marella and Keefe loved talking about Sophie’s alchemy failures together. They were a natural team at teasing Sophie.
Caprise Redek
- (Mother)
When Marella was very young, Caprise received a head injury by falling off a balcony at Fluttermont. The accident resulted in permanent brain damage that even Elwin couldn't fix, causing her emotions to be out of control at times. Marella hoped to manifest as an Empath so she could help her mother deal with her precarious emotions. Marella is shown to be bitter towards elves who judge her mother because of her condition.
Durand Redek
- (Father)
Durand Redek was mentioned in Keeper of the Lost Cities books 1 and 6. In the second book, he was mentioned to be a Guster. He was known for adapting very quickly to Marella's manifesting and quickly "fireproofed" Fluttermont. Not much else is known about their relationship, but it seems to be pretty close, seeing as Durand tried to help Marella as much as possible after she manifested.
Tam Song
- (Friend/Possible love interest)
In Lodestar, Marella was caught staring at Tam. In addition, they seemed to be teasing each other in Nightfall. Marella also shot Tam "her flirtiest smile." When Biana complains about girls becoming her friends to get closer to her brother, Fitz, and says she bets Linh feels the same way, Marella agrees. As of Stellarlune, the two have coordinating metallic highlights in their hair; Marella’s gold and Tam’s silver.
Linh Song
- (Friend/Possible love interest)
Linh and Marella train in their abilities together with Fintan and consider each other friends. They have supported each other several times and disagreed with their friends. On another interesting note, the meaning behind Marella's name is related to the sea, and Linh's ability is Hydrokinesis. Shannon Messenger has also admitted that her character's names have significance. Marella and Linh are trying to find a way to merge their abilities, and Linh often helps Marella out with pyrokinesis training by putting out any out-of-control fires. As of Stellarlune, the two have coordinating metallic highlights in their hair; Marella’s gold and Linh’s silver.
Personality
- Kind
Marella was nice enough to sit with Sophie—the new girl—on her first day of school and stop her from "committing social suicide" by sitting with the Drooly Boys. She is also caring towards her mother, Caprise Redek, and hopes to manifest as an Empath to help her mother manage her unstable emotions.
- Bitter
Marella is shown to be bitter—specifically about people's view of her mother's condition, as she hates when people gossip about her family. She notably clenched her fists as she told Sophie how everyone completely believed that "Crazy Caprise Redek" set the fire when it was Marella's unexpected manifestation of pyrokinesis that sparked the flames.
- Feisty
Marella isn't one to back down from a challenge. Throughout the first few books, she defends Sophie from Stina and says she enjoys doing it. She also isn't afraid to say what she means and isn't one to sugarcoat things.
- Sarcastic
Marella seems to have a dry sense of humor, occasionally making sarcastic remarks.
- Blunt
Marella doesn’t exactly filter everything that comes out of her mouth, so some of her remarks may be insensitive. In the first book, she talks about Grady and Edaline isolating themselves from everyone and becoming loners when Jolie died, without seeming to care, and Sophie thinks of it as rude. However, she speaks her mind, which is one of her strongest qualities.
- Funny
Marella is often cracking jokes, and when Sophie notices she is not acting like her usual happy and hyper self, she is concerned. Marella is also outgoing and doesn't care what other people think of her. She always speaks her mind and does not back down. In correspondence to Sophie, the girl of many mysteries who often takes people's words to heart, Marella always has her brave face on and is ready to face any challenge.
Registry File
Known Abilities: Pyrokinetic
Residence: Fluttermont
Immediate Family: Durand Redek (father), Caprise Redek (mother)
Match Status: Registered with zero lists received
Education: Current Foxfire Prodigy
Nexus: No longer required
Pathfinder: Not assigned. Restricted to Leapmasters and home crystals.
Spyball Approval: None
Member of the Nobility: No
Title: None
Noble Assignment: None
Significant Connections: Fealty-sworn member of the Black Swan; training in pyrokinesis with former Councillor Fintan Pyren
Assigned Bodyguard(s): None
Shannon Messenger Character Bio
Marella hates nicknames. Don't even think about calling her Mare or Ella. And don't expect her to like you, because she'll probably think you're annoying. Most people are which is why she's perfectly content sitting by herself at lunch. But sometimes she'll make an exception if someone seems like they might be remotely interesting—like Sophie Foster. Anyone who can cause as much drama and chaos as Sophie can is Marella's style. Especially since Sophie is also friends with some super cute boys. Marella will always make time for super cute boys. She's also excellent at keeping up with the latest gossip—but don't you dare talk about her family!
Quotes
“Wow, you guys are huggers.”
“I understand the whole trying-to-be-who-you’re-expected-to-be-and-still-be-you struggle—and how quickly it all gets into your head and makes you either want to laugh, cry, scream, run away, or just … burn everything.”
“Do I want to know why you have a blood-soaked piece of Keefe’s cape? Or is that, like, a normal thing for you guys to have?”
“Wow, I’ve never seen people fight because they all want to do the crazy, dangerous thing.”
Trivia
- The name Marella means "shining sea," which is somewhat ironic considering she is a Pyrokinetic and her middle name "Adene" means "decoration".
- Some also say her name refers to "warlike", "drop of the sea", "bitter", and "beloved". These versions of her name have Latin, Hebrew, and Egyptian origin.
- Marella was the first person to tell Sophie about Pyrokinesis in Keeper of the Lost Cities, which is ironic since she manifests the ability later in the series.
- Marella isn't shy, but she isn't one to steal the spotlight, especially from Sophie.
- Her last name, "Redek", means "rare" in Slovenian.
- She has a blue-green stuffed kelpie called Sir Splashyhugs, given to her by Elwin, when her mother had her accident.
- Because Marella was so young at the time of her mother’s accident, it is theorized that she may have been the first person to get an Emotional Support Animal from Elwin.
- She was considered a somewhat minor character until Nightfall.
- Her name is pronounced as "Mah-rell-uh Ah-deen Red-eck"