The bell rings and I try to catch up to Lyla, but after going through the door and nearly reaching her I remember that she had asked me to stay away from her. So, with that I turned around and walked away towards my next class. I make a note to remember to tell Michael. I continue to the last period of the day, once again the same announcement.

“I am already involved when I don’t want to be involved, but because I have to be, … if she doesn’t want this then I can understand that…” I thought as I was making my way through the crowd of students. I need to let Michael know of my suspicion though, maybe he can get closer to her to find out and see. Maybe we can help each other, and the sooner I find the actual holder of fire the sooner I can move on to finding him.

I go and try to find Michael before the late bell rings but he isn’t where he usually is. I think back and remember that I am not to be looking for him directly and I breathe a sigh of relief and head inside; I think to myself ‘I hope that was enough to show that I was only looking for him because he had been ‘stalking’ me and not because we are now working together’. The sense of someone watching me passes quickly, like that of a scout sent out to keep an eye. The same feeling, I had the moment before I was attacked. I quickly get into class and once again the announcement rings. Reminding student to walk in pairs.

I take my seat and all that was on my mind leaves my brain, the intense feeling of dread, the very moment I realized what class this is and WHO specifically was in this class. Windy. She dislikes me. Since day 1 and I still don’t know why. ‘Almost like I did something to her in a past life.’ I think to myself and smile at the silly thought.

Windy unfortunately sees me smile and speaks loudly enough to say, “Well apparently something you said about your sick grandma is SOOO funny that Magenta is smiling; (directed at me) how about you mind your own business you heartless…” one of her friends stops her and says, “its ok it’s not like she could have heard what we were talking about…” she turns around and I am left just stupefied. I literally was thinking to myself and she had a whole ass cow. A part of me gets upset, meanwhile another part of me begrudgingly understands her defense of her friend. I let it go with that understanding thought and focus on English class, the teacher says, “here we start the year with reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and I want each of you to play a role.” I can’t believe the teacher wants us to play the roles, I guess this is just High school level expectations. The class visibly groans, but she promises it will be fun, so we try because she is kind.

The bell rings and I am off to the last class for the day. Art, nice and calming art. As soon as we are let inside, I see Michael running fast down a hallway. Something in me, pushes me to run after him.
I leave art class yelling to the student nearest me “I really gotta pee, please let the teacher know I am going to the restroom.” I see him go behind a building where there are no classes being held there since it’s being demolished during the next break with no students. I think to myself, “Seems like a perfect place to go and hide.”

I sneak around the different garden barricades and make it to a point where I can see Michael holding a fireball and throwing it. I poke my head around more and there… There he is! Bullfrog.
The monster that cut my back, tried to eat me, and for a while there I honestly thought that I had made the whole thing up in my head; that is until Michael confirmed that he was one of the evil henchmen he had mentioned before. Here he was, or err…there he was over 6ft tall, reptile skin with a frog like face but a cow like nose with a ring on it, he had black and white spots like a milking cow but with horns and bumps. I turn away and crack a smile at the name that Michael gave him, I guess he does seem like a bull and frog. I turn back around and see that Michael is now on the floor and that Bullfrog is walking menacingly closer to him. He is holding his hand out as if to ask for something and then goes to swipe at him. A quick flashback to the moment when he had swiped at me and the bloody mess he made before Michael was able to heal me; yea he confessed that too. I turn away and think fast…

‘I need an emergency… the fire alarm… but there are no fire alarm pulleys here’, I a matter of a second I focus my hand on the necklace and asked it, “Please, help me. Michael is in trouble and I still don’t really know what I am doing!” Breathing hard and panicking on what to ask or even do. I continue to speak and say, “Please help me start a small fire to set off the fire alarm!”

Instinctively my hand raises and I feel a slight warmth and a small fire sprouts from my hand; I bring my hand down to see the cute little fire before it quickly starts to get really hot, and I let it go. Dropping it into the trash bin. A slight but quick flash of fire sprouts from the trash can making a lot of smoke and sets off the fire alarm. I think to myself ‘Well, I guess that did it.’

I go back out and turn around to see if Michael is ok. It looks as if other students help him up and everyone goes to their emergency spot. Before heading to my spot, I see him deflated, I can tell something bad must have happened when I turned away. And the thought hits me; “Should I have transformed to help him fight Bullfrog here at school?? I find my class and the teacher exclaims “oh thank goodness Magenta, glad to see you join us.” I say “Yea the alarm rang and I just came straight here from the bathroom.”

She accepts the answer and we wait for protocol to be followed. The question continues to ring thru my head, could I have done something? After some time, we get word that we are going back to class. I text Michael before we go inside.

“We need to talk, meet me at the park on Mission Ave after school” and I hit send.

I think ‘Let’s see how this will go’…before I say “I hope I didn’t mess up.” End of Day Announcements, “A reminder to students to please walk in pairs or get picked up by your parents or guardians as we remind you that the first official report of a student from our school has gone missing. If you have any information, please contact the police.”

I peak through the windows hoping to see Saul, I can’t normally get in to this area without being noticed by my past so in a disguise, and a direct route to here is much obliged. Not that I would thank Michael for bringing me here. No sign of Saul.

I exit through a hole in the bush in the back and hide behind a dumpster making sure no one is around. I enter the dumpster and sit down in the neatly decorated inside, 2 steps down and you enter the real property, the Levine Safe House Secret House Number 99. I let out a sigh of relief, and say ” ok necklace I promise I won’t take you off this time. I just… I was told to give it back so that’s what I tried to do. I’m sorry if that would have been bad for you. Or… err me. Now, De-elementasize.”

Magenta returns to her true self and ponders for the next 24hrs while returning to her main residence and preparing for school. She goes to school the next day and meets Michael during lunch.

“Alright Michael I have my ground rules ready for this so-called training.” She says as she sits at his lunch bench away from other students. She notices his lunch and his posture while sitting on the floor arms behind his head as he expected me. “Before you say anything I need to tell you some things first.” He says as he does a reverse pull up from the ground to the bench to sit next to me.

“Look you are in danger; I am not the only one looking for the holder of Fire. The enemy knows you are here, that encounter was not happenstance. A possible trap, and worse yet… I interfered, we sit near each other and now you want to converse with me. That change in behavior is suspicious for those who are keeping watch at anything not typical of human behavior; that choice may have intervened with everything I have been working the last 2 years for. That’s how long I’ve been looking for you, for this; to catch up and do this.”

Magenta’s mind trails momentarily to a flashback of her and Saul running and escaping. Her heart sinks, was this also what Saul meant when he said I was meant for so much more than the life I was living? She collects herself and comes back to Michael talking.

“Please listen to me… the entire story of what this all means will sounds crazy, and will be so much. I won’t be able to tell you everything because not all of my memories have successfully downloaded from the Arriba Zone.” He points up and to his head solemnly. “What you need to know now is what I know as of now. You have a team that is here to help you… ooooor you have to find them. And there are at most 3 enemies in the near vicinity. Major enemies or barely just scouts depending on where their headquarters are located.”

“Headquarters? Major enemies? The Arriba Zone? So,… then why me, is it because of my family? Am I just born this way or did something happen to me to make me this way? You said this necklace would only work for me is that true? If that is true then what happens next?”

“It’s hard to say, the downloads I’ve had, haven’t been the most… clear. Like the signal isn’t quite getting through. We originally thought that the power of the necklace was split amongst more than one person, but the way it reacted to you makes me believe that there can’t be any other person who could have a piece of the power.”

“Wait..WAIT… so that means that there is a chance that I may not be the person you’re looking for? Then I want to continue with my boundary list at this point. I want you to help me find Saul first and foremost, you seem to have powers that may help in the search for him. I have plenty of experience for the type of fight you are wanting to use me for and I am willing to help…” mainly because I can’t take this thing off, “and if I am not the person you are looking for you have to promise to take this thing off and leave me alone to live the rest of my life or as long as it lasts with Saul and uninvolved from what you are doing here, as I move on with my life.”

“I know that I am not wrong, so that’s is a deal. I will help you and we can discuss in detail what you would like me to do when it comes to your missing friend.” He responds and continues, “we can not meet each other at school until I make sure that you are part of my cover story. Otherwise, for now you and I will have to meet a little bit more privately” he reaches across the table to reach for my hand and I panic and cross my arms; and he flips it over and makes a fire in his hand. “Let’s move on to your training, you need to be able to make fire at will like this before we can go over the attacks that existed from ancient tradition. The trainings shouldn’t take very long, it honestly can’t take that long…” He trails off and then turns off the flame and he continues, “lets meet after school today and discuss things further, our cover story and everything moving forward. For now, I must continue to search for the next Holder.”

Surprised I respond, “you already found another one?” I think to myself that maybe this whole thing won’t be so bad if I am not the only one doing this; I say “How many members will this team have?” He says “Maybe, I maybe found another one, only you will be able to tell for sure. As the Holder of Fire you are the chosen and volunteered leader of this team. And, as far as I know.. there are only 5 members…” his voice trails off as his mind wonders to some far off thought, I whisper to him that I am going to go and walk away.

I turn around and look at him sitting there, I think to myself; could he really help me? I can’t be what or who he is looking for, but so long as he can help me look that is the only thing that matters to me. I go to 5th period and see the girls from the Garden, her name is Lyla and she still mad stares at me. We sit in the same seat but in opposite sides of the room, sometimes while passing papers we make eye contact and her face shows her annoyance. Since I’m way in the back I keep trying the flame trick that he mentioned and nothing works, she looks over and I feel a Zap in my hand and smoke start to ignite, in unison from across the room we say ‘Oh shit!’ and we look at each other suspiciously. I point to her and mouth “did you do that?” and she mouths the same thing then continues in a surprised face to our unison that ‘No I didn’t you did.’ The teacher continues to teach and we look forward and we get distracted with that moment for the rest of class. I think back to Michael saying “I maybe found another one…” and look to Lyla; could she be a Holder?

The sensation of his lips still on mine, my heart racing…. No pounding!

My face feels like its burning. My hand goes to touch my lips, my first kiss. With a sad face, I back away and think to run, and he yells “WAIT!!”

I fall from the roof on my third step, completely forgetting that he had jumped us to the roof of this 10-story building.

Shocked and with tears now flowing from my eyes I scream, after the scream my face relaxes as I accept my fate, ‘no one could possibly save me now.”

Falling, I turn face-up and see feathers? So many feathers. Then a shadow. Then last I see, a… fiery bird-man grabbing me. Muttering, “Oh f@#%, she’s heavier than all the times before.” I faint, as today has officially been to much.

I dream a quick flash of a dream or past memory. I find myself and speak to this self, I know its not me but I can see her speaking through me. I ask her what this all means, am I actually trully crazy? She responds “what?? No, not at all. We were meant for something more, and you need to trust in order to be guided.” She turns to the glass and I see my body move in as in to kiss someone. I instantly think of the cute boy and blush.

Suddenly the lights flash red and she yells, but they are still embraced.

I wake up and slowly open my eyes to find Michael kissing me. Omce again my heart racing, the feeling starts as normal and slowly changes to shock and I push him away. I only take one step back and hold my mouth.

How could there ever be a we in this or trust in this if he keeps kissing me without me being conscious…?? As I think this I pull my hands away from my mouth and see that I am wearing Red gloves with a curved edge raised in a cone like shape, with fire loops accenting the curves. I sit down or better yet fall down to my knees on the horror that he may have changed my outfit. Many thoughts running through my head, she said I could trust him…???

My skirt is also red with flames and as I go from shock to horror to anger the flames on the skirt and gloves begin to love.

I look up to him and he smiles and says, “I knew it was you, Magenta you are the holder of the Elemental Earth Power of Fire, you come from a long lineage of fighters and it has come time for you to train for the future war that will begin on your 25th birthday.”

“Is that why Saul left me? Because it’s time for me to train??” I ask. And he pauses, and says “I honestly don’t know a Saul in any of this, I’m sorry. But he won’t be important for what we are going to have to do.”

Shook, I look down and become sad. The flames dim. He ahems and says, “not that he isn’t important at all, it’s just we lost a lot of time already. Is he lost? Kidnapped? Missing?”

I look up and say “I think missing. I’ve been worried is all, I’m sure he will be back soon.”

Let’s talk some more at your place, but first you will have to de-transform. Wait, you didn’t change my clothes??

Michael shocked WWWHHAAAaaaatttttTTTT?? NO, I WOULDNT DO THAT!! The necklace I placed around your neck when we spoke earlier allowed you to transform into the fire elemental heroes training outfit. I guess since you wear something similar to this for school your, mind choose this look for you to fight in. Now let’s have you de-transform, go ahead.

Waits and I look to him for further 9nstructions… then I ask wait is that all that your gonna say…?

Well what else am I supposed to say? You just do it.

I stare blankly at him and think to myself, ok must be that easy, de-transform. I open my eyes and… nothing.

I look up to him confused and he looks back at me with a raised eyebrow. I finally say “I don’t know how to make this go away”

And he responds, “sigh, ok no worries I though that by now your abilities would have some showing but if not that’s ok.” He makes a worried face and continues “come up with a word that for now means that you change back to yourself.”

I nod and say “de-elementasize” I feel a radiance leave my body and soon enough I turn back to myself. I go to take off the necklace and quickly I transform back and an almost animalistic me screams Nnnnnooooo! The emotion is intense, a fear fills my heart as I look down to confirm I’m back in uniform, and look up to him. “What happened? What… what was that?”

“I’m not sure but at this point we’ve probably been exposed too long.” Moves close to Magenta and swiftly with no hiccups picks magenta up and runs and jumps off the building. “Which way is your house? We have much to discuss and plan.”

I point in the direction of my house, the last thing I want is to be exposed and seen in this outfit. As we zoom by the town, I scan the ground to see if maybe I see Saul. I guess he notices that I’m looking around, and changes from carrying me bridal style to arm around and next to him. Oddly enough I didn’t freak out when he did this, it felt familiar and safe.

“Hey are you ok?” I look to him and stare at his brown eyes, my feelings start to bubble, but before being overwhelmed with emotion I say “considering everything I’ve been through, … I don’t know.” My eyes start to water, “it’s been a long day.” He nods and we land at my door step.

I thank him for the lift and proceed to walk inside, I hear a footstep and turn to see him following me inside, “Oh no, I need you to stop right there. I don’t see you coming inside my home.”

He sadly looks to the ground and says, “Oh, ummm. Okay, I thought we were gonna talk…”

I lowly and meekly say “We will but I’m still in this outfit, the necklace wouldn’t come off, you are still a student from class that I just met. And even though I’ve been asked to keep an open mind and told that you can be trusted, this is all too new and different, but most importantly weird. I don’t know what to make of all of this, and I understand that you have answers. But if I really am the girl you are looking for, then please understand that this is too much for one day. If this is training, then we will have to set some ground rules. And for now, I set a temporary rule of no weird shit for the next 49hrs while I try to come to terms with the magical necklace around my neck.”

“Sigh, fine. But this is a waste of time in the grand scheme of things, I will see you Thursday.” He turns around and leaves. I wait until he’s out of sight, and go around to the back of the house. It’s a safe house, and now it’s compromised.