Pronunciations:
Myanna: My- ah-na
Iinaara: In-are-ah
Miisaae: Me-Say
My sister has already gotten used to her magic. I think to myself. I wonder how soon I will get mine. Myaana has water-based magic and so do my parents so I’m sure that’s what I’ll have too. Myaana said that the day she got her powers she felt relaxed and ready to turn into a puddle of water. I’m walking to lunch through the tightly packed halls. Suddenly there is a burning heat in my hands and chest. Whoa! Why are my hands so warm? Maybe running them under cold water will help. I think hurriedly. I walk to the school bathroom and turn on the water. it is doing nothing. I walk back to the place where my friend is sitting and sit down next to her.
“Hey” I say putting my bag on the floor.
“Hey, where were you?” Iinaara asks.
“Washing my hands.”
“Ok…” She says trailing off.
“So Iinaara, how are you doing in magic training?”
“Good, we’re learning how to bend light now. Watch” Iinaara sticks her hand out into the sunlight coming in through the windows behind us. She turns her palm and the light bends to shine on the page of math homework beside her.
“Cool!” I exclaim my mouth half full.
“Has anything happened with your magic?” Iinaara asks, grabbing some crackers out of my lunch box.
“Nope, nothing” I say ducking my head. Because my twin already has her powers it’s odd for me to not have any yet.
“You would think you would have your powers by now because Myaana already has hers.” Iinaara says confused.
“She’s older.” I say trying an excuse I know won’t work.
“By 2 hours” Iinaara retorts.
“Doesn’t matter I’ll get them by the end of the year.” I say confidently. “Anyway, have you heard about the pirates of the ‘Empire’? They sail around the Analtin ocean.”
packing up the rest of my food “come on the bell’s about to ring.”
The last few classes pass in a blur, the heat in my hands, a fuzzy warmth but also a like fire burning my flesh, making it so I don’t remember anything.
I’m walking home with Iinaara, Myaana isn’t with us because she has after school training. We’re about a block from my house when my chest starts to feel tight and the heat inside me flares, it feels like I’m being burned from the inside out. I scream in agony, thankfully the only one who hears my scream is Iinaara.
“Miisaae? Are you ok?” she asks as I fall to my knees. I can see that there are sparks flickering around me then I hear a voice inside my head calling my name.
“Miisaae…” the voice in my head calls
“What? What do you want?” I ask, confused by the voice echoing in my head.
“Fire…” The voice says trailing off.
“What about fire?” I ask the voice.
“It consumes her…”
“Who?”
“The girl of light...the one who stands beside you…”
“Iinaara?!”
“Yes…”
“No!” I scream, opening my eyes and seeing Iinaara backing up against the wall of a nearby building. The fire is reaching towards her in blinding spirals along the ground. She screams in fear, I try to stand but fall back to my knees.
“Iinaara!”
“STOP THIS PLEASE!” she screams as the fire flicks closer to her feet.
“Me?”
“Yes, this is you! It’s your magic!”
“No! It can’t be! There is no fire magic, it’s not a thing! And even if it were, my whole family has water magic how would I have fire magic?!”
“I don’t know! But make it stop!”
“How?!” I cry tears falling as the fire rises.
“Yes let it burn” The voice says.
“NO!” I scream.
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“Miisaae. You need to calm down” Iinaara says softly. She’s pressing herself against the wall so hard she’s barely breathing. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I try to relax and remember what the street looked like before the fire. As I finally start to relax, I hear Iinaara scream in pain. I steady my nerves again and open my eyes. I see that the fire died away, but I see Iinaara crumpled up on the ground. I stand shakily and walk over to her.
“Iinaara? You ok?” I ask softly tapping her shoulder. She doesn’t respond. “IINAARA!”
“Ow…” she said opening her eyes “Fire hurts.”
“Duh! Are you ok?”
“Eh I’ve been better” she answers, sitting up. I reach out my hand to help her up, but when her hand touches mine she yelps and pulls back. “I can get up on my own” she says softly but I can still hear the shake in her voice.
“You should go home” I say after she’s on her feet.
“But what about the homework?” she asks.
“I need to understand what is going on with my magic first.”
---
I found some old leather gloves, they stop me from setting things on fire by accident. I can still feel the fire burning but I don’t let anyone see it. I’ve started calling the voice in my head ‘Her’ because it sounds feminine but there is no shape to this voice. All it has done is make me want to burn things, but I try to ignore it. I spend hours forcing the fire back talking with Her, hoping that she will stop telling me to give into the fire.
It has been a week and a half, and I still won’t go within three feet of Iinaara for fear that I will hurt her again. At lunch I sit by a large fountain and take off my gloves to stick my hands in the water. The cool water running over my hands feels like I’m washing away the heat and fire, but the moment I take my hands out the water evaporates, and my hands are dry.
I have started finding out how to get things to burn but I am still terrified of my fire. The voice continues to try to get me to let loose and give in to the fire. Myaana has asked me why I started wearing gloves even though it is spring. I told her that I am feeling self-conscious. I know that it’s a lie, but I can’t tell her that I have to wear the gloves or everything I touch will burn.
It’s been three weeks since I first heard Her, and I’ve avoided Iinaara the entire time. Myaana has started questioning me. We are sitting on our bedroom floor talking.
“Why have you been avoiding Iinaara?” Myaana asks staring me in the eye.
“I… Don’t.. know” I say softly.
“Really?”
“Yes! Really! I don’t know why I’m still avoiding her!” I say forcing back tears of pain. I can feel the heat inside of me growing begging me to let loose.
“Welcome back,” the voice calls “I have been waiting for something like this.”
“NO!” I scream “NO! I WILL NEVER LET YOU HAVE CONTROL!”
“Miisaae?” Myaana asks. I know that I cannot stop the fire this time, I can’t let Myaana get hurt. I stand up and run out of the room and down the stairs as fast as I can.
We have this stone garden in the backyard, I dash to the door my hands burning hot, when I get outside, I take off my gloves and let the fire pour out. The fire dances at my feet even though I’m standing on a pile of rocks. As the fire dances it rises above my head, towering above me. The fire flowing out of me is so powerful that I scream in pain and terror.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” The voice asks.
“No! NO, IT’S NOT WONDERFUL! IT HURTS! I CAN’T BE NEAR THOSE WHO I LOVE FOR FEAR OF HURTING THEM!”
“But look at the bright color of the flames. Feel the searing heat. Embrace the POWER.”
“HOW?! HOW DO I EMBRACE SOMETHING THAT TEARS ME APART?!”
“Exist with it, let it burn, don’t let it scare you.”
“IT’S FIRE HOW CAN I NOT BE SCARED?!”
“It can't hurt you, you are it’s queen.”
“Queen?”
“Yes, you rule the fire.”
“THAT IS IMPOSIBLE! NO ONE CAN RULE FIRE IT IS A DISTUCTIVE, LIFELESS THING THAT ONLY EXISTS TO BURN!”
“NO. It is something that can be bent to your will and emotions, you only fear fire because it can harm those you love if you aren’t carful but if you warn it to stay away and it will obey, until your emotions get the better of you.” The voice says becoming defensive.
“Miisaae? Is that you?” Iinaara asks from the other side of the wall of fire.
“IINAARA?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET BACK!” I yell over the flaring fire. I hear running footsteps then as the footsteps slow, I hear the voice of my sister.
“Miisaae? What’s happening?” My worried twin asks. I know the expression on her face even though I can’t see her or Iinaara.
“Come on, embrace the fire let it burn.” The voice urges.
“Never!” I scream.
“Miisaae?” Iinaara and Myaana ask together.
“Miisaae, who are you talking with? I hear you at lunch just talking with yourself.” Iinaara asks.
“Not myself, it’s Her, all she ever talks about is fire.” I say in reply, hating the voice in my head more than ever.
“Who?” my sister asks.
“Her, the voice in my head that never goes away!” I say, wishing this wasn’t happening.
“That’s what you call me? Cute.” The voice says sweetly as if she were talking to a small child.
“YOU DON’T HAVE A NAME, DO YOU? YOU INFURIATING VOICE!” I yell at the top of my lungs.
“MIISAAE! WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Myaana yells.
“I have fire magic and there is a voice in my head that is obsessed with it, I call it Her” I answer feeling defeated.
“LET ME HELP, I HAVE WATER MAGIC I SHOULD BE ABLE TO HELP YOU!” Myaana begs.
“NO! I CAN’T RISK YOU GETTING HURT!” I protest.
“I’LL BE FINE! LET ME HELP!” she says trying to convince me, but I stand firm.
“NO!” I scream.
“Myaana, leave her be, this magic terrifies her” Iinaara says calmly.
“Why?” Myaana asks.
“Because when she first got her magic it went wild, and I got hurt.” Iinaara replies.
“WHICH IS WHY I CAN’T LET EITHER OF YOU COME NEAR ME!” I say, nearly in tears from how much I want to see them both.
“Miisaae, please calm down you can’t keep this fire burning forever. I have felt it every time you use your magic to a point where there is light, I feel the light. I’m not scared, I know how carful you are most times and when it gets out of control you push us back, so please calm down, don’t push us away anymore.” Iinaara says gently. I have so little strength left but I relax and let go of the fear, and I feel the warmth of the fire, which is comforting now. I accept the fact that I will never have normal magic and let the fire fade.
Soon there are only sparks left of the blazing fire and I can see my twin and best friend again. I run over the stones and hug them as tight as I can, and the best thing is that I don’t fear hurting them because I know that this magic is mine and that I can control it.
The End… For Now 😊