When Sophie finally woke up, Biana's room was in flames.

Oh no. Oh no.

She'd met Elysian, even if he was just in her dream.

And she'd been triggered.

She had just manifested as a Pyrokinetic.

𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐳'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Sophie's in there! We have to do something!" Fitz cried as Biana's room erupted into flames.

On a normal day, Biana would have complained about the loss of all her hair products. But today, her eyes were hollow.

"Why did Sophie manifest as a Pyrokinetic? She hasn't even had any interaction with the Elysian person," Biana said.

"The Neverseen have their ways," Fitz shook his head. "I don't know..."

"They won't listen to me!" Marella cried. She had been trying to divert the flames, but they wouldn't obey her.

Until water swept through all the corridors and crashed upon Biana's room. The flames were extinguished, and Linh let out a sigh of relief.

Inside Biana's blackened room, Sophie sat on her makeshift bed, eyes staring dully at Biana's destroyed belongings, raising her hand to observe it.

A blue flame kindled there.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

A blue flame kindled in her hand, and Sophie watched it with a sigh.

A cat made entirely of blue fire danced around in her palm, and it didn't burn her. But she had already demolished Biana's room, so it didn't matter that she could control her fire like this.

"Sophie!" Fitz rushed over, his eyes worried.

But Sophie couldn't hurt him, too. "Leave me alone," she choked out as the Teleported away.

She didn't go to Havenfield.

She went to the sea, which happened to be near Choralmere, Tam and Linh's family home. The blue flames in her palm enlarged, flickering with white streaks as they dared her to turn them hotter.

Sophie touched the flame in her palm. It didn't hurt. The fire was cold to her touch. But it singed the grass when she touched it ever so gently.

Sophie extinguished her own flame and buried her head in her hands as she cried.

𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐳'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Leave me alone!" Sophie cried before she Teleported away.

Fitz stared.

"What... why..." he whispered.

"She had fire in her hands, Fitz!" Biana said. "Why did you go up to her?"

Fitz sighed. "Where do you think she went?"

"To a large body of water," Linh said immediately.

"Well, maybe near Choralmere? Isn't there a big lake there?" Marella asked.

"Yeah," Linh agreed.

"Let's go," Fitz said.

"Wait!" Marella exclaimed. "We can't all go! Sophie will think she'll hurt us. I think Linh should be there in case Sophie loses control. Then I'll be there so I can teach Sophie to control her fire. Not Fitz. Not Biana. No one else."

Fitz stared at her. "Please, I have to see if Sophie's alright," he pleaded.

"We'll tell you," Linh responded. She pulled out her Pathfinder and switched it to Choralmere before grabbing Marella, and both of them light leapt away.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

Blinding light flashed from the leapmaster in Choralmere, and Sophie whirled around to see Marella and Linh coming out.

But no Fitz. No Biana. Just a Pyrokinetic who could protect herself from Sophie, and a Hydrokinetic who could put out any flames.

Sophie relaxed. Maybe they understood that she didn't want to burn anyone.

Blue flame rekindled on her palm, the fire cat dancing around.

"How do you do that? That's so cool!" Marella gushed, summoning her own flame, but it was a plain flame, and when she tried to shape it, a wonky ball with four studs flickered on her palm.

Sophie's fire went up to white. "Well... I don't know. I just... Try. And... thanks for just coming with the two of you, I... don't know if I could see anyone else."

The fire in her palm completely extinguished.

"How do you do that? You just manifested!" Marella said. "I had fire with me 24/7 when I first manifested! Doesn't your brain yearn for fire?"

"It does," said Sophie, "but I tucked it away."

"You what?" Marella asked.

"I basically Washed my yearning for fire," Sophie said. "But I couldn't get rid of it completely, so..."

"I wish I was a Telepath," Marella grumbled.

Sophie sighed, feeling a yearning for flame that she hadn't managed to entirely wash away.

But when the white fire changed, it sparked to neon yellow.

And this time Sophie extinguished it faster than she ever had.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sophie whispered. "I can spark Everblaze?"

"That's... cool and disturbing at the same time," Marella admitted.

"I never wanted to be a Pyrokinetic," Sophie mumbled, and then shot an apologetic glance at Marella. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine, I get it. So... are you going to join my sessions with Fintan or what?"

Sophie shrank further back. "I don't know... I can't go back to Havenfield, I..."

"You can come with me to Fluttermont to my fireproof area," Marella offered.

"Thanks, Marella," Sophie whispered.

"I think you should contact Fitz. Telepathically."

"Fine."

𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻?

𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚? 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪?

𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦.

𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚, 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦-𝘵𝘰-𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘖𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦.

𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙙𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚?

𝘕𝘰, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦...

𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚... 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧.

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖? 𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣.

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚?

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵... 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦-𝘵𝘰-𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙩... 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡...

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.

𝙊𝙠𝙖𝙮... 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙗𝙮𝙚, 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚.

It broke Sophie's heart to transmit the single word, bye.

"Okay, everything's good," Sophie said with a heavy sigh.

"Okay," Marella said. "So, now do you want to learn how to be a tame Pyrokinetic?"