Fire (Book 1)

Chapter 1: No- it can't be true

   No
   The word reverberated around Phoenix Fable's mind. It couldn't be true. She was a human....wasn't she?
   "No."
   The words were said, and it took Phoenix a minute to realize they came from her.
A girl with iridescent eyes and raven black hair sitting next to Phoenix in the café wearing black robes took her hand.
   Apparently the girl's name was Lyra, and she was something called an Elemental. Phoenix was with her three best friends, Calypso Brown, Aria Beckett and Briar Finley when Lyra approached them.
   Lyra pretended to have been scared of something so they would want to help her and led them into the café.
When they went inside, Lyra sat them down and told them that she just said that to get their attention. She then explained to them that they were part of these creatures which controlled elements, and were called Elementals.
Of course, Phoenix and her friends were downright shocked and thought it was a prank or a scam or a lie at first. But...soon they believed it and started to understand. Well, at least the rest of them did.
   "No," Phoenix repeated, pulling her hand away from Lyra, burying her face in her hands. "I get that this is a lot to take in right now. If you need some time to digest it, I understand. But you can't deny that this is the truth. All of you need to come with me to Aquaria. I think our Executive will explain more then," Lyra said with a concerned look at Phoenix. The others seemed to be holding up better than her.
Phoenix just...couldn't believe it. To be honest, she didn't know if she wanted to believe it. She was happy with her family and was living a normal life, wasn't she?
   Well, normal except for the fact that she didn't have any friends other than Calypso, Aria and Briar. They were the only ones who didn't think she was this weird girl everyone else thought she was.
   But Phoenix knew, deep down, no matter how much she tried to deny it, that it was true. She knew it since four years ago, when she was seven. When she just touched a matchstick, and it lit up. Somehow, someway, she felt like the fire would listen to her- like the fire was her friend. So she just put all her energy into her thoughts of the fire snuffing out, and it did.
   Phoenix tried not to think of that right now and brought herself back to the present. "So you're saying we just trust you and let us bring you to your...Aqua place?" Calypso asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah. I guess we have to go to Aquaria because the Executive is going to move you," Lyra replied.
   "Move us?" Aria asked, beating Phoenix to the question. Lyra nodded, "You need to be where you belong. Like I said before, we should go as soon as we can. Now would be great, if the four of you want to," she added.
   "What about our families?" Briar asked. "That....is going to be a painful experience. A group of Elementals will have to erase their memories of you from your parents' minds," Lyra said with a dark glance at Phoenix.
   Phoenix didn't realize she was trembling until Calypso took her hand. "It's alright," she whispered gently. "Easy for you to say!" Phoenix snapped back. Calypso's relationship with her parents wasn't always so...loving. Her parents most certainly were not going to win the 'Best Parents Of The Year Award' anytime soon.
   They piled their daughter with tonnes of work, shut her in her room, went out for parties every other day and never gave her any love. It obviously bothered Calypso, but she tried not to show it.
"You might be right. But I know that this can be hard. You're forgetting that no matter how badly my parents treat me, a tiny part of me will always love them," Calypso said quietly.
   "Maybe," Phoenix sighed dejectedly. "I think we should go see the place now, but... I'm still not in for the moving thing," Briar said to Lyra. She replied, "Like I said, it's necessary. But we'll talk about that later. Now let's go to Aquaria."