I’ve been waiting for who knows how long in this godforsaken building. If I didn’t know any better, I would have started to believe that they abandoned me in this stone box. But I’m sure that this hovel holds all their personal belongings, so they probably didn't. I look down at the various items on the kitchen table. It’s not like I’ve been snooping, but I did have a small look around. I surprisingly didn’t find much. I did find some hair dye squirreled away behind a loose brick. I also found some drawings stuffed inside of my temporary bedding. A kid's drawing. It’s just two stick figures with a big brown blob next to them. There is writing, but I can’t read. Hell, I’m surprised that the translator even works on whatever language they speak here. If it wasn’t for this chip in my head, I would’ve been truly lost.

  Ash left almost immediately when the Sun came back up and Maple left not long after. I don’t think Maple likes me. With Ash, I can at least have a simple conversation, but with Maple, she doesn’t say a single word to me. Even when I asked her about some clothes. Speaking of clothes, these clothes are baggy. I should’ve assumed they wouldn’t fit, I mean those tree siblings tower above me, of course, their clothes are going to be too big. I look down at my new clothes. Gray work clothes that are more patches than actual clothes. I had to roll up the sleeves and pants or else I was going to be cleaning the streets with them. I stashed my Thales military uniform under the stove. They won’t burn, just like me, so they should be fine.

  It’s been twelve, maybe ten hours since the Sun rose. It’s hard to tell time since the Sun doesn’t budge past a certain point. For the most part I’ve been practicing weaving after I got bored of snooping and after I put everything back. I’ve noticed that it’s harder to control fire here. It feels like when I had my awakening, everything felt untamed and difficult to control. I was barely able to control the flames last night when I was trying to stab Ash. I look down at my hands as I create a small amber dragon from the fire. I focus as hard as I can, but it looks less like a dragon and more like a squiggly line.

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  I bat the flame away in frustration. The only good thing about this is that I don’t need a source of fire here, it’s so hot here that conjuring flames is as easy as breathing. Now I just need to control it. I sit in the kitchen and start to let my mind wander as I keep trying to mold the flames in my image. I nudge it left and it goes down, I tell it to expand and it shrinks, what a pain.

  I think of home. My small apartment on the fifteenth floor with a view of the beautiful Unity Park and the ever-colorful sky. The smell of the freshly baked bread that my neighbor always made. She’s a sweet old lady. The laughter of kids as they ran down the hallways on their way to school and their mom yelling at them to walk. I know it's only been a day but I wonder if they noticed I’m gone yet. Who will notice first? My neighbors, my family, or will it be my friends at work? A small smile crosses my face before it is replaced with a flash of frustration. I need to get home before too much of a mess is made.

  I huff and puff as the flames continue to ignore my commands. I still don’t believe it. I understand that I’m on Earth, but there shouldn’t be any living thing here. The Elders and stories from old said that the Red Plague swept the land and killed everything it touched. The plants, the animals, and us. It was the end of the world. We could see the writing on the wall and made the ultimate decision. We left our home and searched for a new one. Then they found Primordium. A world of raw untamed elemental power. A new home far away from the Red Plague. With time we conquered the elements and created our new home. But the stories from old were wrong. There is still life here, although from what Ash told me and from what I’ve seen it’s barely holding on. My concentration on the flames in front of me breaks as the front door creaks open. Finally, one of the tree siblings must be home. I need to go to this market as soon as possible.

  Don’t worry. I’ll be home soon.