"I'm a what?" I exclaimed.
"A Fire Nymph," my mother said calmly as she sat on the other side of the dinning room table.
My mother had driven me straight home, refusing to have this 'talk' until we'd arrived home. When we'd gotton there, I'd sat down on one side of the dining table and my mother and father had sat across from me on the other side.
It was then that my mother had told me I was a Fire Nymph as casually as telling me the weather.
"How am I a Fire Nymph? Is Dad one? Are you one?" I questioned.
"Only females are Fire Nymphs," my dad answered.
"And yes, I'm also a Fire Nymph," my mother added.
I blinked, and then blinked again. I wasn't sure how to process this information.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I finally asked.
My mother and father shared a look before answering.
"The gene has to be... triggered," my mother said slowly, "And your gene hadn't been triggered before now."
"Triggered how?" I inquired.
I already knew that my parents were keeping yet another secret from me. The way they looked at each other made it obvious; I had seen that look plenty of times at school between Stiles, Scott, and all their friends.
"That's not important," my mother said.
"Then what is?" I asked, frustrated.
"Learning how to control your abilities," my mother answered.
"Which are?" I prodded.
"A Fire Nymph can control and create fire and is immune to heat and fire. A Fire Nymph can heal with fire, for example, to cauterize a wound, and can also heal minor burns of others, but bigger the burn, the more energy is taken. Using a Fire Nymph's abilities is healthy for them, but using large amounts of fire at once is draining," my mother explained.
My eyes widened at her words. I couldn't believe I was a Fire Nymph, but it did make sense.
"How is it possible?" I asked, still unable to wrap my head around it.
How the hell are Fire Nymphs real? They're from fairy tales and myths and don't belong in the modern world. Or so I thought.
"There are a lot of things you don't know that are possible," my mother said ominously.
"Like Kitsunes?" I asked.
Both my parents seemed surprised that I knew Kitsunes were real.
"How do you know that?" my father asked.
"Kira figured out she was a Thunder Kitsune and told me," I said.
"Is that all you know?" my mother asked.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.
"Yes," I said. "Why? Should I know more?"
"No," was all my mother said.
I decided to ignore her suspicious behaviour and focus on the other thoughts racing through my mind.
"What should I do about this? How do I learn about my abilities?" I asked.
"Tell no one about it and go on like normal," my mother stated simply. "You and I will have training sessions where you will learn how to control your abilities and learn about your species."
I shuddered at the way she said species. It made me feel inhuman, different from everyone else, and I didn't like it.
"Can I tell Kira at least?" I asked hopefully.
My parents shared another look.
"No, not yet," my mother answered.
. . .
Stiles had officially been missing for two days. Apparently, the last time anyone saw him was when he went to get his MRI scan. I often found myself thinking of when I found him talking to Noshiko in the hospital. I'd asked my mother if I should tell the police about it and if Noshiko might have kidnapped him, but my mother firmly told me to keep what I saw to myself, so I did.
Stiles had been so strange then, though. So different. He looked the same, and yet it was so clear that he wasn't.
I hadn't told anyone about it though, just like how I hadn't told anyone about me being a Fire Nymph. Not even Kira, which made me feel a little bad.
In the two days that Stiles had been missing, I had my very first Fire Nymph lesson with my mother. She had taken me to a clearing in the middle of the woods, far away from any prying eyes.
"While you may have had a few accidents with your abilities, they haven't been anything big, correct?" my mother had asked me.
"Yes," I answered.
"That's because your abilities haven't fully manifested," my mother explained. "When you purposely use your powers to an extent, you will unlock your full potential, and they will be immensely difficult to control."
I hadn't liked how she had emphasised immensely.
"A Fire Nymphs powers are connected to her emotions," my mother continued. "Most older Nymphs can control their powers easily and have their emotions under check. Young, new nymphs like yourself have a harder time controlling their powers. Negative emotions like anger or sadness are usually the emotions that make it hardest to control their powers, but feelings like overexcitement and joy can also take away control."
I groaned. I wasn't the best at controlling my emotions as it is, and I was scared that I might accidently set the school on fire if I got a bad grade. My mother seemed to notice my train of thought and smiled.
"Don't worry Sweetheart," my mother said. "There are ways to control your emotions that we will also practise. Like meditation."
I groaned again. Was it possible for me to just quit being a Fire Nymph?
"I think it's time to start training," my mother said. That perked my interest. "What I want you to do is hold out your hand-" she held her hand and motioned for me to do the same. "-and imagine a flame there."
My mother suddenly stopped talking, her face going deadly serious.
"Before you do this though, you need to know that after this you'll never be able to go back. You'll be unlocking your full potential, and from then on you will be a Fire Nymph. Nothing will be able to change that," my mother warned. "Are you ready for that?"
My throat was dry as I nodded my head. It all seemed so scary, but I felt comforted having my mother there.
I held out my hand and closed my eyes, imagining a fire flickering my hand. When I opened my eyes, I was disappointed to find nothing was there. I tried again, this time putting a little pizzazz in my hand movements, but nothing happened.
I felt stupid and embarrassed doing this. I had no idea what I was doing and I was sure I looked like an idiot.
"Try to think of a memory with a strong emotion attached to it," my mother suggested. "It's easier to think of negative emotions and use that to form power, but as I said before it is harder to control than positive emotions."
"Does that mean I have to focus on my feelings every time I want to use my powers?" I asked.
My mother shook her head.
"Not exactly. Its easier to form fire the first few times via emotions because the emotions act as a little push to manifest your powers," my mother explained. "Once you have manifested your powers, its much easier to use your powers because they're open to you, in a way. For example, right now, they're locked, and its hard to form fire because you haven't unlocked them yet. When you do, using your powers is as easy as opening a door, but controlling them is much harder."
I nodded my head in understanding and held out my hand again. I could do this.
I closed my eyes and thought of the fear I'd felt when Kira had been kidnapped by Barrow. I thought of the horrible, suffocating feeling of being able to do nothing and how panicked it made me. I felt the feelings come back in waves, each one more devastating than the last. I remember how scared I was as I watched Barrow nearly electrocute Kira, and how I did nothing but watch.
"Imagine the fire in your hand," my mother reminded me. "Focus your feelings into doing that action."
I took a deep breath and imagined a fire bursting from my hand, the flames vicious and strong. When I opened my eyes, both my hands were covered in flame.
"Woah!" I exclaimed excitedly.
I'd done it! I'd formed fire. I'd manifested my powers, I think.
I moved my hands up and down, watching the flames flicker from the air but no go out. Then a thought crossed my mind.
I tried to make the fire go out, but it wouldn't. I hadn't thought this far forward, and I wasn't sure how to get rid of the flame that was now creeping up my wrist.
I felt myself panic as I continuously attempted to put the fire out. I started shaking my hands frantically, bits of fire falling onto the ground. The fire was now all the way up my arm, an inch short of my elbow.
"Calm down," my mother ordered. "You control the fire, not the other way round."
"But I don't know how to control it!" I cried out, my panic growing.
"To control the fire you need to control your emotions. Calm down. Take deep breaths," my mother said.
I listened to her, closing my eyes, and heaving air into my lungs, attempting to clear my head. When I'd calmed down enough, I opened my eyes and found the fire staying in my hands, my arms flame free.
"Now, visualise the fire diminishing," my mother said.
I did as she said, closing my eyes once again and imagining the fire in my palms waning and finally disappearing. When I opened my eyes the fire was gone.
My mother squeezed my shoulder, a gentle smile on her face.
"You have a lot of power, but that is not always a good thing," she said. "You need to remember that with great power comes great responsibility. You will need to work hard to control your power and emotions now that your power is unlocked."
After that, I had worked hard to gain some control over my emotions, doing meditation everyday with my mother and even getting a mood journal to write what I was feeling in.
It was now in the middle of the day, and I was about to participate in cross country. Normally, I would never even consider participating in any form of exercise that wasn't compulsory, but Kira had been bugging me to do it with her, and I had also been told that exercising helps control your emotions, so I decided to do it.
"Does being a Kitsune also involve having excelled speed?" I asked Kira as we got ready for Cross Country.
Kira just grinned.
"Great," I muttered.
Coach blew his whistle and instantly everyone started running, a boy called Danny in the lead. As I started running, I tripped over a root and fell on my knees. I cursed, getting up and wiping my dirty hands on my clothes.
"You call that running L/n?" Coach yelled at me.
I ignored him and started running again, managing to catch up with the group, though I was behind everyone else. I could just see Kira at the front and Danny a few metres behind her, trying and failing to catch up.
I was panting heavily and slowing down when I heard Stiles' voice yelling at people.
"Stop! Everyone stop!"
Everyone in front of me slowed down and stopped, blocking my view of Stiles. I shoved people out of the way trying to get to the front, feeling excited, panicked, and confused. How was Stiles here? Why was he here? Was he alright? What if he was hurt?
I felt a prick of heat and looked down to find my hands clenched into fists, an orange glow coming from them.
I cursed and stopped walking, closing my eyes and taking a few calming breaths. When I opened my eyes, my hands were back to normal and I continued pushing my way to the front.
When I managed to get to the front, my eyes immediately landed on Stiles. He seemed fine, and I couldn't spot a single scratch or bruise on him. Scott, Coach, and Aiden, who was one of the twins that moved here, were there with him.
I noticed his eyes scanning the crowd before they landed on me and our eyes met. I smiled at him, confused but happy, and he smiled back.
I started to take another step forward, but his expression changed to one of panic and he held his hand out, motioning me to stay there.
His eyes left mine and looked to the ground, scanning it until he seemed to find something. He bent down and rummaged through the leaves before finding one end of a chain. I shifted on two feet uncomfortably and reminded myself to stay calm as Stiles slowly started pulling the rest of the chain from under the leaves.
Everyone there seemed to hold their breath as they silently watched Stiles pull the chain. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I could tell it wasn't good. Stiles gave one last tug, and the other end of the chain was pulled out from under the leaves.
There was nothing attached to it or on it, and I got a bit confused, but I noticed Stiles staring down at the chain with a frown, obviously confused as well.
Coach started clapping, walking towards Stiles.
"Congratulations Stilinski. You found a length of chain," he said, walking towards the rest of the class. "Can somebody now please tell me what the hell's going on?"
"Hey Coach!" Scott yelled, arm outstretched, but it was too late.
I watched with wide eyes as an arrow was shot from somewhere and landed directly in Coach's stomach.
There was a collective gasp from all the students as we stared at the arrow coming out of Coach's stomach, his shirt already stained with blood.
"Oh, crap," Coach whispered, before falling to the floor.
A/N:
Exciting chapter! We finally figured out what Y/n was, and she is now able to use her fire powers!
Please comment and vote if you enjoyed the chapter, and have a good day/night.
:)