Rubi listened to the alien’s explanation intently. She was quick to catch on and accept the situation. In fact, so were most of the others, from what she could tell. If what it said about gathering the people on Earth with the strongest conviction was true, then these subdued reactions supported it, as though they were ready for this day to come. 

 

    “So, any questions?” Before the alien could fully finish that sentence, a loud stomping sound came from behind Rubi, causing her to turn around and see a gargantuan man of Asian descent pushing the crowd aside without a single look towards them. He was almost as tall as the alien, maybe taller. Once he was within range, he dug his foot into the unknown metal making up the ground with great force and reeled back his arm. Whatever the floor was made of, it looked hard, but his foot had managed to crack it a good deal. His fist turned gray, and his arm expanded in size as it swung forward with a gust of wind behind it. Suddenly, his fist froze. A much shorter man stepped in front of him, brushing his hair out of his eyes. Without taking his eyes off of the brute, he walked closer, as though he was confident he wouldn’t be attacked. “Don’t you dare take this opportunity from me,” growled the smaller one. “Your body is beautiful, but if I must sacrifice it, I won’t hesitate.”

    They both stared at each other angrily until the alien pushed them deeper into the crowd with two extended tendrils. “No violence yet, you two. Although, it's lucky you stopped him. I would have turned his arm into paste if it came any closer.”

 

    This caused the big guy’s face to contort into a horrible, angry smile, trying to hold himself back from either laughing or exploding at that remark. Seeing that the situation was under control, the little guy turned away, hair returning to its natural position.

 

    “If I win this thing, can I crush you into a bloody pulp?!” The large man cracked his knuckles, seeming to be no longer restricted.

 

    “I don’t bleed, and you couldn’t touch me anyway, but sure, if that’s part of your wish!” The alien cheerfully answered.

 

    Rubi felt tiny among these monsters, but she stood firm regardless. This was her chance to do what she had wanted to do for as long as she could remember.

 

 

 

    “So, that’s what happened.” Rubi crossed her arms as I watched on in confusion. I didn’t quite get the point of the story, but it did help me imagine the kinds of people I may be fighting soon. I didn’t really want to think about running into any of those freaks, though…

 

    Garald nodded his head repeatedly. “Mhm… So the tall guy with the dark hair is the strongest?”

 

    “The little guy stopped him without touching him, so I dunno.” Barb chimed in, adding a few more sticks to the soon-to-be bonfire that we were sitting around.

 

    What, are you guys comparing your dads or something? I wrung my clothes dry away from the sticks, folding them and laying them down to my side. I tried to get a view of the people atop the walls but it wasn’t much use. All I could see was a few huge buildings. They really did transfer all of civilization onto this ship, didn’t they?

 

    I wondered if now would be a good time to ask Rubi why she hasn’t mentioned surrendering yet, but I couldn’t rid myself of the anxiety that she may be in a situation which I would worsen by asking. The way the alien said it, that the captains wouldn’t be surrendering any time soon, must have been a warning to the more perceptive among the audience that asking about it would be dangerous for the captains. It can’t know them well enough to ascertain their motivations just like that, so it has to be a message.

 

    “So, why aren’t we surrendering?”

 

    My heart stopped, out of both fear and disbelief at how inconsiderate Garald was being of the situation at hand.

 

    “Oh, yeah.” Rubi looked up from her wooden sword to reply to him. “Well, see… All of the other captains agree on this, we believe that it would be irresponsible for us to give up this opportunity to better the world. I don’t agree with Alien’s motivations, but if I may impact the world then I have a duty to. If everyone just believed in love and justice, then I think we would be a lot happier. Not only would crime fall, but the reasons people have to commit crime would cease to exist. No more greedy practices which force people out of their homes, into the streets and then into jail cells… No more manipulating desperate people into situations they can’t get out of… None of it will exist.” 

 

    She paused, eyelids lowering a bit, raising her hand up to stare at it before gripping her fist solemnly. That look in her eyes was threatening.

 

    “Although, some of the captains seem to believe in a false justice, and there lies another reason I cannot quit. Deciding not to improve the world is one thing, but by allowing one of them to win, I would be actively allowing the world to become worse! It’s too heavy a burden. I cannot just ignore it. You all understand, right?”

 

    I was speechless. I didn’t initiate the conversation but I still felt like I should have been able to say something. Was I dumb enough to assume she was a person who would only do this if forced? I should have known there was no chance Rubi would ever quit.

 

    Barb smiled and put her hand on top of Rubi’s clenched fist. “I hear you, sister. I’ve always felt a similar way about unfair systems but I’ve never had the guts to act on it. If I didn’t support you to the end in this, it would be like admitting my feelings were never strong enough in the first place. At least now I can support someone who does have the guts. You better not make me look like an idiot for believing in you.”

 

    Despite my reservations, I enjoyed seeing them share this moment. It was as though we were still back home. Barb was fine with the fact that she wasn’t special like Rubi. I wished I didn’t let it get to me sometimes. At least Barb has those strong feelings in the first place. I agree that the word would be better if such things didn’t exist, but I would never feel so strongly about something so far out of my reach.

 

    Garald abruptly pulled the two of them in for a hug. “You two are so sweet! I’m sorry for suggesting it. I’ll be the pillar that holds us all together! You too, Yu. C’mon, get in here!”

 

    My eyes widened in surprise. I had almost forgotten that I had a say in this. Being spoken to directly, I avoided direct eye contact as I scoured my brain for answers. Arguing with them now would be ignoring what they wanted, but I couldn’t stop myself from considering how selfish Rubi was being with us. Although, on second thought, I seem to be the only one with reservations. All of my instincts were telling me that this was the stupidest idea ever, but when I saw them all in agreement over this, I was only left with the conclusion that I was too weak to do what was good for the world. In the past, I considered Rubi an idiot for dragging me into fights she couldn’t win, but I had to consider how different the stakes were here. Everybody would like to be the one to change the world, but she was among the select few who could do it now. Taking into account how I viewed her as some sort of elitist in the past, it’s funny that a cosmic entity has come along and proven me wrong by choosing her as a captain.

 

    I lowered my head and allowed myself to be absorbed into his massive arms. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough to do something for the sake of mankind, but I’m just weak enough to commit myself to something entirely for the sake of some people I like. This was my friends’ resolve and so it was mine, too. I would make sure to help them in whatever way I could if it meant seeing them happy. A world without sadness may not be possible, but I’d like to see them try. I’d use whatever power I had to push them along that path.

 

    Power. Me. Laughable, like I’d have any. Superhuman or not. People like me don’t just get power. Power goes to people who want it enough, I’ve learned. I’ll just offer my 1 to their 99. It’s better than nothing. Worst case scenario, I can be a pretty good sacrifice.

 

    I know they wouldn’t like to hear me say that, just as I would hate to hear them say the same, but if there’s one thing I can say positively about myself, it’s that I don’t make friends with just anyone. They’re all special. I’m not so altruistic that I would feel bad for random people. They’re the kinds of people who would. Even for someone as selfish as me.

 

    I would be upset if certain people left my life. Not because of what’s best for them, but because it would negatively affect me. Truly the lowest of the low, huh? Well, I can’t change that, or I would have by now. So I’ll do whatever is needed of me. They deserve to be happy and see their goal to its end.

 

    Whatever that end may be, if Rubi succeeds or fails, I’ll be glad I was able to see it through with them.

 

    Before I could open my mouth to ask Rubi a bit more about the previous topic, I felt a ringing in my head, shortly followed by an annoying voice.

 

    “Okay, ladies, gentlemen and everyone in-between… The moment you’ve all been waiting for! Let the killing commence!”

 

    Everyone in our group reacted at the same time. I figured we had all gotten this sent into our brains. Rubi gripped her wooden sword and looked around vigilantly. Barb moved to her back and faced away from her, twirling the knife we had gotten from the box in her hand. She looked like she was used to handling one of those. “I’ll watch your back. You keep your eyes up there.”

 

    Garald looked confused but eventually took up a stance to the left of them with arms outstretched. His face told me he had noticed something approaching but took a bit longer to fully process it. Before he could formulate a sentence, he smacked Rubi’s back and pointed aggressively in front of him. I gazed around with a dumbfounded expression and, before I could figure out where to put myself, a man to the left of us sprung from the bushes. I could tell he was unarmed, but Garald still shot forward and wrapped his arms around the other man’s, just in case he had a weapon. Smart of Garald to plan his retaliation around the fact that his reaction speed isn’t very fast.

 

    The look on the man’s face was one of fear. He was physically imposing, maybe larger than Garald, but he seemed to have exhausted himself running here. Garald easily overpowered him, grunting and pushing him forward in the lock until he fell onto one knee. Barb and Rubi watched but made no immediate action as he didn’t seem to be a considerable threat anymore.

 

    “Ugh! Shit, shit!” The stranger whimpered as he looked around at our camp and tried to pull himself away from Garald’s hold. It did not work. “Rubi, what do we do with him? Wanna tie him up while I hold him?”

 

    “Unnecessary.” The short girl approached the invader and smacked him on the head with her wooden blade, causing him to wince and grunt loudly. “Ow! What’s your…”

 

    “You’re already beaten, that was just a reminder. Go back to your team and tell them to leave us alone!” Rubi’s words were met with a sinking look of despair from him. He started to pull his arms even more frantically. “Hell no, man! I’m not going back! Let me go, I’ll leave!”

 

    Garald looked at her with even more concern now, like he was about to release him but was waiting for confirmation. Rubi sighed and nodded. When Garald’s arms released, he was immediately shoved back as the man ran away in the opposite direction from which he came.

 

    My heartbeat slowed down a bit. That was more tense than it needed to be. If that hadn’t gone so smoothly, I would have been completely unprepared. “That guy was… Shit, I guess the seriousness of our situation hasn’t really set in yet…” I clenched my stomach with one arm and nervously smiled.

 

    Barb gave me a pat on the shoulder with the hand that wasn’t holding a weapon. She had a welcoming expression. “It’s fine, you don’t get into fights a lot, do you? It’s only natural. We’ll help you all the way.”

 

    I smiled at her, feeling a tinge of regret. I’m going to be even more useless here than I anticipated. Barb and Garald fight all the time at school and Rubi is as unwavering as expected.

 

    Garald crossed his arms as he scanned the area while he spoke. “That was super weird, though. Right? Was that guy waiting to bum-rush us? Maybe he was in a panic from the situation. I don’t blame him…”

 

    Rubi glanced around as well before stopping to close her eyes. “Hmm… He was afraid of something, for sure. He did not come at us prepared. Maybe he thought his muscles would carry him through things and was surprised.”

 

    “So, uh…” I raised my voice. “What are we going to do about that? I mean, people attacking us out of nowhere. Is that going to happen a lot? We should have some hidden shelter… Where can we find that?”

 

    Rubi shook her head. “Those walls looked inconceivably massive. I believe we have been separated by enough land to where this won’t happen too often. We must not let our guard down, but sleeping should be fine if we alternate guard duty.”

 

    “I.. still want somewhere safer. For myself. I want to get ready to help you guys…”

 

    The short girl looked back at me with a look of genuine confusion and innocence. “Huh? You aren’t ready right now? You look like how you did when you saved me from those muggers in grade school.”

 

    My reaction to that was one of bewilderment. To think that she thought of me as someone so reliable…

 

    “Like… Wait, you admit that I saved you then? You berated me for stopping you then…”

 

    “I’m not a child anymore. I can handle now what I could not then. I thank you for looking out for me. Now, we’re going to look after each other.”

 

    She seriously thought of me like that. How could she possibly lack the self-awareness to realize how far below her I am? I was a little flattered, at least. “Thank you, Rubi…”

 

    She responded with a wide smile before turning away with a flick of her hair to face the others. “It wouldn’t hurt to teach you guys a few techniques, though. Is there anywhere one of you would like me to begin? Garald, I noticed how you moved to disarm that attacker. Very good! I think we could polish that move up, add some more finesse rather than brute strength. You prefer to fight with your fists, I’ve observed, so you never want to be at a disadvantage against an armed enemy.”

 

    Garald looked at his arm with a conflicted face. “I thought it was pretty effective, but you’re the smart one here, so sure.”

 

    “And Barb, we need to get your ability working as quickly as possible. I believe you’re going to be our strongest asset for the start of this. I’m afraid I’m not the most fit to train you in that regard… However, I’ll teach you what I know about the properties of electricity!”

 

    Barb nodded and pumped her fist. “You got it, boss. It’s my power so I’ll try to, er.. feel it out or something. I won’t let you carry me all the way.”

 

    When Rubi turned to me, I flinched as I expected to feel self-conscious about whatever she was going to tell me I sucked at. “Yu, I want to teach you basic self-defense techniques. We’re going to find your unique strengths.”

 

    That wasn’t as bad as I expected. I nodded and looked away, hand on my hip. “As long as you don’t waste too much time on me. The others are way better than me in a fight.”

 

    I struggled to find a time to ask her more about her motivation, as I had wanted prior. It seemed inappropriate to bring it up now. I got the gist of it, anyway. I just wanted to try and gauge how invested she was in this, if it really was a necessity for her. Now that I’m thinking about it more, trying to make her stop would be pointless, anyway.

 

    “Barb and Garald, follow me. You two will be quick. Do you know how to fish, Yu?”

 

    I stared ahead with a dumb look on my face. “…Yeah, I do.” I lied. Rubi replied with a smile and turned away. Garald gave me a look of concern as though he already knew I wasn’t very good. I remembered when Garald tried to teach me and it didn’t go so well… Thanks, buddy…

 

    I moved to put my dried clothes back on and pick up the rod that Garald had been working on. As I lifted it up, I couldn’t even tell if it was ready to be used or not. It looked enough like the fishing rod I used back on Earth, but it was made with far less materials and craftsmanship so to what extent it was complete was up in the air. I decided to give it a go, reeling it back and tossing it forward, sending the hook into the water. This wasn’t so hard. It didn’t have the spinny thing on the side that I would use to pull the string back to me, so I figured that part would be manual. 

 

    I sat in patience for several minutes. Nothing was biting. Suddenly, a realization struck me at the same time as a great annoyance. 

 

    You’re supposed to put something on the hook… Ugh.

    By the time I heard the three returning, I had caught no fish. Even after I went and grabbed a bunch of worms off the ground… The sun was reaching its lowest visible point in the sky, casting a sunset more beautiful than I had seen in a while. Maybe something about being in nature makes it look nicer. Garald appeared first in a light jog. He took the rod from me as well as a worm from the pile beside me on the knocked over tree. Before I knew it, he had pulled a fat, green fish out of the water and dropped it on me before dashing off to meet with the others again. The way it flopped around startled me, but I held it tight.

 

    Garald came in alongside Rubi and Barb, pretending to be amazed by the fish I was holding. “Woah! You got a big one! Great job, bud.”

 

    I appreciated the effort he was making, but this was quite belittling in my eyes. I sighed and let my eyelids droop. “Yeah, something like that.” 

 

    Garald took the fish from my hands and held it up to Barb and Rubi. “I know how to roast it, but... Barb, you’re good with a knife, so…”

 

    Rubi held her hands out as she awaited the fish to be relayed. “I learned how to prepare fish in a survival setting in a class once. I should be able to cook it. Your help is appreciated, though! May I have the knife, Barb?” 

 

    Barb nodded and handed it to her casually, though Rubi grabbed it with great caution, as though she expected it to explode at any minute. I chuckled. Barb put her hands on her hips once they were empty and walked past me towards the orange river I was just fishing from.

 

    “You done?” She glanced up at me. I nodded and she kneeled down to extend her index finger toward the water. A sudden jolt made her recoil. “Hm… So, I guess it’s constantly coming out of me, but in too low an amount to do anything unless it comes in contact with something conductible.” 

 

    I watched her silently, thinking of something I could add that would be helpful. Not much, it turned out. “So, if you want to use it in combat, you need to carry.. water? Or some kind of conductible weapon…”

 

    “That last part would be helpful, but unlikely. The knife we got has a rubber handle so I couldn’t send my electricity through it to the blade. Maybe we could modify it… That would take a while.” She scratched her chin in deep thought. I pondered for a bit, scraping through my memories of science class for anything that may help. “We could dig in the sand under this water for gold or something, right?”

 

    She shook her head. “Nope. Even if we can find some, to get enough to make anything out of would be impossible.”

 

    I let out an exhausted sigh and let my head fall over into my hands. Knowing that we could be attacked at any moment made me even more stressed about the lack of progress. “So, uh, did your training go well?”

 

    Her eyes were still on the water for a bit before she looked up and stared at me as if she was too deep in thought to hear me. “Oh! Yeah, it did. Pretty good. Garald is good for now, but Rubi wants to practice with me alone to figure out how my ability works and ways we can use it.”

 

    “That’s a good idea. I know it’s a lot of pressure on you, being the first one to awaken to an ability, but…”

 

    She grinned and stood up, dusting off her clothes. “I’ll be fine, this is hardly the most pressure I’ve had put on me. I’ll shock you guys in no time!”

 

    “Haha, hopefully not literally…” I smiled at her and turned back to face the water as she walked away in search of some inspiration, I assumed. I was the same way right about now. I stared into the serene river as if I was waiting for it to tell me what to do. I almost couldn’t believe it managed to flow so calmly in such a situation. I wished to mimic it. If only I didn’t have to care about all of this.

 

    My meditation of sorts was broken by Garald rushing behind me, grabbing my shoulder. “Bro, I heard some people outside the camp. I think a team is surrounding us.” He whispered. My eyes expanded and I gulped as he started to run silently back to the center with the girls, motioning me to come. I was hoping there wouldn’t be any more attackers this soon, but with how large this event was, obviously there would be. I noticed that they had tucked our food in the tent to prevent it from getting dust knocked towards it during a fight.

 

    They had taken on the same position as before, and having had time to think about it prior, I slipped in between Rubi and Garald. I figured they would need help more than Barb, if I could even muster enough strength to help them in the first place.

 

    “If we’re lucky, they’ll notice that their surprise attack failed and flee… They can definitely see us.” Rubi whispered and gripped her sword tighter. “If my assumption is right and everyone got the same starting equipment, one of them will be holding a small knife. Garald or I will disarm them, depending on which direction the knife wielder comes from. Remember Filipino martial arts, Garald. I just taught the basics to you.”

 

    Garald nodded to her, paying extra attention to his surroundings. Suddenly, a woman with a knife jumped out from behind a tree directly at Garald. Rubi was right. The woman wasn’t nearly as big as him, so I surmised that she must be confident in her skills to take him head on. As soon as I noticed this, I gave Garald two pats on the back to signal that I wanted us to take her on together. Garald didn’t turn to look at me, but the way he dashed to her right made it apparent that he understood my signal. I ran towards her mostly as a bluff to make sure she couldn’t focus entirely on Garald. I heard two more jump out behind us, an unarmed man and an unarmed woman charging at Barb and Rubi. 

 

    Garald was clearly the more threatening among the two of us, so the armed woman focused on him, jabbing at him twice and grazing his arm, which he had maneuvered around hers in a lock that straightened out her arm. She struggled and moved her leg back as if to kick him, but he moved his leg closest to her behind it, tripping her onto her back and using the back of his forearm to push against the flat side of her knife, knocking it onto the ground, although cutting his arm a bit in the process as the edge pushed into his skin. It was barely enough to cause bleeding, thankfully. I quickly picked up the knife and turned to see how the others were doing, and I saw Rubi desperately turning back to yell to us, “There’s another member hiding!”

 

    I gasped at this revelation in almost the same instant I heard a footstep behind me, not quite from Garald’s direction but moving towards it. I spun around to confront a fourth member who had thrust a knife towards Garald, which forced him to fall onto his back to avoid it, keeping the woman locked down no matter what. Why not let her go and prepare to fight? Maybe he would rather keep it one on one than one on two. But from this position he’ll be stabbed for sure! Unless.. he expected me to save him? From a guy with a knife? An older and bigger guy, too. Did he really have faith in me to get him out of this situation? No way he’s that stupid!

 

    There was no time to think, he was going for a second attack on the defenseless Garald. To clear my mind of doubts and anxiety, I yelled as loud as I could and tackled the man with my shoulder, knocking him onto the ground along with myself. I looked up to see that he was still holding the knife, but he had been taken well off guard. My shoulder had been hurt a lot by that move, though. I had almost no time to think or prepare for it, and the force required to knock him over with my weak body was more than I was ready to take. As the man pushed himself up, I heard a loud snap and a woman yelling coming from Garald’s direction, followed by him sprinting toward us, throwing his foot towards our attacker’s face as though he were kicking a football. This sent his head flying back into the earth with a thud that would almost certainly rattle his brain. I looked towards the woman and saw that she was holding her arm in pain. I was a little surprised that Garald had it in him.

 

    I noticed Rubi swinging her sword at a much taller woman, gradually doing some visible damage as shown by the assailant’s expression, but almost all to her arms, as she was blocking most attacks. Rubi’s height meant she could only aim so high. I ran to help, assuming that Barb was doing alright, and if not then Garald would help. However, just then, I witnessed Rubi flying above the girl’s head in one leap, swinging her wooden blade down on her head with a loud noise, sending her face forward into the dirt. 

 

    Barb took this chance to thrust her arms forward and push her opponent over, forcing him to trip over his downed teammate and hit his back against the ground. Barb looked at her palms with disappointment. I gathered that she intended to give him a shock but wasn’t able to control it well enough. Rubi pushed her foot down on the man’s chest and pushed the tip of her sword against his throat.

 

    “Leave us, now! Do not bother us again.” She spoke with a booming voice, surprising all of us a little. I surmised this was to instill fear and encourage them to agree, but it could have just been proverbial chest pounding.

 

    “Tch… Are you really going to let us go?” He spoke both skeptically and in disbelief. Rubi nodded without a word. The man scoffed and tried to push her sword away, to which she pressed it harder against his throat, forcing a gag. He coughed and smacked her sword a few times to show that he was giving up.

 

    “Okay, okay!” He looked over at the man with the knife that Garald and I had taken down, presumably their captain. Said captain rubbed the back of his head and slowly stood up, clearly still dazed. “We will leave… We won’t bother you again, assuming you don’t think we’re lying.”

 

    The four of them went on their way, the captain helping the woman with the broken arm by allowing her to lean on him. I turned to my allies to see how they felt about it. Rubi was still watching them with a stern gaze to make sure they truly did leave.

 

    I let out a loud sigh as if I had been holding my breath, dropping down to my knees before setting into a sitting position on the ground. “Holy shit…”

 

    Garald showed me a look of concern, but I waved him off. “I’m fine… Just exhausted… You got cut, though. Are you fine?”

 

    The big oaf looked down at his arms as if he forgot that it even happened. “Oh, right. It just grazed me a few times. I’m good!”

 

    I felt worse about the fact that I wasn’t able to stop him from getting hurt. I probably shouldn't say that, though. Rubi tucked her sword back into her makeshift sheath and rubbed her hands together to ease any tension. “You did great, Garald! You actually are a quick learner in some aspects!”

 

    “I’d be offended if I wasn’t so proud of myself right now!” Garald casually remarked while pumping his fist in the air excitedly.

 

    I rolled up my sleeve and took a stroll over to the river, gathering as much cold water as I could in one hand so that I could splash it on my bruised shoulder. Some got on my shirt. Not a lot, though. Tired of this shirt getting wet. The moon had now become visible in the reflection, though it wasn’t incredibly dark yet. After doing that a few times I went back to see what the others were doing. Notably with the food. The constant anxiety was doing a great job of making me forget, but I was really hungry.

 

    “I know exactly what you’re walking this way for!” Rubi’s face gleamed. “The fish has been cooked to the best of our ability. Garald is a great help.”

 

    I sat down, all but prepared to eat, when she stood up and walked around me to grab my upper arm tight with both hands. “Ow!”

 

    “I knew it. Here, get it closer to the campfire. Heating it will speed up the flow of blood and accelerate recovery.” She pulled me to my feet and walked me back around the fallen tree to sit me down beside said fire. I gulped, unsure about putting my arm so close to it. “I-I can manage…”

 

    “What if we are attacked again? You will be a hindrance! We need your top performance!”

 

    Blunt as ever… I took my shirt off once again just out of fear that the fabric might catch fire. Unlikely, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. I moved my shoulder closer to the flames, arms shaking as they held me just narrowly above the red-hot death pit. The heat intensified, causing me to wince. It stung.

 

    “It’s going to hurt, but this will make it heal faster. The overall pain is lower.”

 

    “I don’t care about overall pain, I care about right now pain..!” I whined but didn’t object to it. I knew this was probably better than splashing some water on it. My heavy breathing and sweating must have weakened the flame, because it was getting much smaller. Rubi tapped my arm and signaled me to get back. She broke off a few twigs from the tree and tossed them into the fire, which immediately exploded into an inferno. I jumped back with a high-pitched yell, then looked around to make sure nobody heard that. Barb and Garald’s attention was pulled towards us in concern. Rubi didn’t seem as worried as us. In fact, her eyes were wide open and sparkling as she watched the fire shoot upwards, spreading its cinders through the air until it was gone with the wind just as quickly as it was born.

 

    “This is.. my power.”

 

    My head slowly turned to her. “W-What? That was? How do you know?” I asked her, but there was no way that was normal. She didn’t even turn to look at me, staring at the empty space in front of her as if she could still see it, something invisible to the rest of us that burned brighter than the sun.

 

    “I know it. This is my passion. This is my strength. This is my purpose.”

 

    I gulped at the seriousness of her words. A familiar expression from back at the park graced her face, one that I knew too well, but this time it carried a different aura to it. It was an expression of raw emotion, an emotion that almost scared me with the child-like pureness of it…

    Excitement.