Chapter 5: The Sun’s Awakening.

  Blood flew through the air in slow motion as Taiyo fell to the floor. His vision was starting to blur as even the frenzied screams of those he held dear were starting to sound more and more distant with every second. He was going to die. He was going to leave this world for good unless his magic helped. A foolish and strong-headed move based on no little more than a hunch. Death was around the corner if his powers didn’t kick in. Luckily for him, they did.

  His heart started to sew itself up as his body slowly steamed. A pure, ghostly-white fire erupted from Tai's hands and forehead to the point where it filled the entire room with flames. Lyra and Kendall screamed as the flames caught them but were utterly surprised to find out that they didn't hurt at all. In fact, it was as if a nice warm wave of water had enveloped and blanketed them. The blood that flew out of Tai burst into a fiery mass as it slowly surrounded him like planets orbiting a star. The hole in his chest filled to the point where it was just a simple scar.

  "Took you long enough..." Taiyo fell back as his own magic made a silhouette of a person, catching him in its arms. The person of fire sat down and rested Taiyo's head in their lap and sighed.

  "God, you're an annoying master. Ugh."

  "First, never do that again! But wow this is amazing!" Kendall yelled over the loud sounds of crackling and whooshing.

  "You never fail to disappoint me, Tai! I knew you would be more interesting than those other dull kids!" Lyra smiled from ear-to-ear.

  "Yeah yeah. To be honest, I didn't even know she existed, I just knew I could finally control her." Taiyo said with his eyes closed.

  "She? When'd you give it a gender? It's just a bunch of fire in the shape of a person," Lyra crossed her arms.

  "Are you dumb, princess? It's my unique ability so don't you think I'd understand it the second it came out? It's definitely a she. And this isn't even her true form."

  "Shut it, Tai. Do you think I would understand something that's been make-believe for my entire life? Me asking a few questions is the calmest reaction I can give right now. At least I'm not screaming my head off like Kendall."

  “MAGIC IS REAL?!?! AND IT CAN TAKE THE FORM OF A GIRL?!" Kendall screamed in the background from across the room as he had moved farther away. "THIS IS AMAZING!!!!"

  "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I think this is enough proof." Taiyo stood up and looked at the mass of fire behind him. It didn't resemble much of anything besides a ball of flames in the shape of a teenage girl his age. It didn't move, it didn't talk, it just sat there obediently. It was hard to believe this same fire was giving him such an attitude earlier.

  "You know it really pisses me off when people act like a different person when they're finally face-to-face with someone. Just act like yourself, it'll save us a lot of time, you know." Tai rolled his eyes.

  Taiyo's fire stood up and got close to where their faces were just inches apart. The flames didn't really have any facial features but it just maintained the body structure of a human girl.

  "I think you made her mad, Tai," Lyra covered her mouth and laughed a bit.

  "Fine in that case..." the fire started to burn hotter as the flames moved in a tornado-like fashion but still maintained their form. With a flash of light and a swirl of white, a girl was revealed in the fire's place. Everything about her was white. Her long white ponytail that fell to the middle of her back. Her white eyebrows and white eyelashes. Even her irises were a milky white color. The only colors that popped out on her were her bright, peach color skin, her soft lips that were red from makeup, and that her sclera, the white outer layer on a normal eye, was a pitch-black color. She even wore a flowing white dress with beautiful flames woven into it.

  "Holy shit man she's insanely pretty!” Kendall shouted.

  "Why are you still yelling? Calm down," said Lyra.

  "So you're my magic huh? Is it normal for you to have a mind of your own or are you just special?" Tai asked while sitting down. “Actually firstly. What even are you? Where’d you come from and just what is magic anyway.”

  "Wait wait wait," she started. "You’re asking a whole lot of questions right now. We aren't just going to skip over the fact that you almost killed me! Do you know how obnoxious and annoying it is to have your life put at risk to protect a master that ignored you your entire life? I could have died! I wake up after 16 years to protect someone who doesn't even care about me!"

  "Oh get over yourself man just be quiet. We're alive, aren't we? So can you calm down a bit and just shut up!" Tai yelled.

  "Don't tell me to shut up! It's to be expected that I'm a little pissed that you almost died!" she shouted back, stamping her foot in protest.

  "Worry about yourself! You should be 'pissed' that your own life was in danger!"

  "I am upset about my life but yours comes first!"

  "Haha! You guys are like the same person! That's amazing! Are you like Tai but as a girl?" Kendall grinned.

  The girl looked over at Kendall with an annoyed expression. She rolled her eyes and gave Tai a weird look who just shook his head sadly and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm like Master Tai, that's to be expected. What's your point?"

  "Let's be friends, emo fire chick!" he smiled.

  "No," she said, already tired of the conversation. "And don't call me emo. I hate that word."

  "Right?!" Tai said with a frown.

  "Okay, so now that we're friends we should introduce each other. This is Lyra, she and I are Tai's only friends."

  Kendall got closer to the fire girl and leaned in in a sort of teasing whisper sort of gesture. “He may look good but his personality is rotten, you know? Toooootal loner at school it’s kind of sad but we love him all the same!”

  Kendall smiled and backed up but the happiness immediately dropped from his face. “Oh wait a second. You and him have the same personality though so wouldn’t that make you rotten too… That sucks. Good thing we’re already friends now though! We’ll get you sorted!”

  "Wait what? I said no." The magic girl took a step back and raised her hands in protest.

  "Hi, I'm Lyra, nice to be your new friend!" she smiled brightly. “I was getting pretty tired of being the only girl in the group but a chick who can control fire is totally badass! Glad you’re here, girl!”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "What's going on here? I don't want to be your friend." The fire girl was starting to sweat a bit.

  "Anyway, we should hang out more if Tai decides to bring you out again!" Kendall grabbed her hand and proceeded to shake it vigorously.

  "A-Are they ignoring me? Are they always like this?" she said, her face contorted into a fearful look. Her eyes opened wide as she looked at Taiyo terrified for help.

  "Yeah pretty much. You get used to it," Tai nodded with a sigh.

  "Hey so how do you work?" Kendall asked. He tilted his head a bit like a confused dog.

  "Excuse me?"

  "You know. How are you able to talk and look like that?"

  "I'd prefer to not tell someone I don't even know. I'll tell Master Tai and it's his choice on whether or not he wants to relay the info back to you."

  "Come ooooooonnn. We're friends goth fire girl! You can talk to us!" Kendall whined.

  "Ugh, you know you’re such a pushy person, right? You need to figure out when to call it quits."

  "I know right," Taiyo nodded in agreement.

  "Is Lyra as unproblematic as she looks? Or is she crazy too?" the girl asked, looking up to Taiyo.

  "No. I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you. She's insane too."

  "You are me,” the girl pointed out.

  "True. You're right."

  The girl sighed and crossed her arms. "You've chosen some interesting personalities to surround yourself with... If we're supposed to have the same way of thinking, you surely must know how I'm feeling after talking with them." She looked up at Tai with an expectant expression.

  "Yeah, I do. Trust me. I know what you're feeling very well..." Taiyo sighed. "You can go back inside of me if you want."

  "Thank you. You may be a jerk, but at least you're somewhat understanding."

  "Hey, while you're gone. I'm going to think of a name for you."

  "Why? I'm just a tool. It's unnecessary,” she said.

  "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. You're the same as me,” Taiyo said.

  The girl's eyes widened in shock. She hid her face and let out a small smile.

  "Because I feel like it," they said in unison. Taiyo grinned and flicked her forehead. "See I knew you'd get it. Next time don’t pretend you’re stupid."

  The girl disappeared into a clump of steam that slowly went back into Tai, entering his body through his skin.

  "That was amazing, bro. I can't believe you had another version of yourself inside you! Not to mention that she's like some kind of fire goddess!"

  "Thanks, I guess but I want to get something clear. Please don't treat her like you treat me. As similar as we may be, she's still a different person so chill out with the assertiveness," Taiyo said. "Also you better not be attracted to magic. We don’t even know what magic is so you’re walking a thin line."

  "If she's like you then she can handle Kendall just as well as you do. Don't underestimate a woman’s strength," Lyra said.

  "That's not what I meant. I'm aware of how strong she is physically but it takes another level of mental strength to not lose your mind dealing with you guys."

  "That's harsh, bro. But fair." Kendall nodded in agreement.

  "So now what? You proved you have magic and stuff but what are you going to do now?" Lyra plopped herself down on the couch in the living room. Some time between the affairs of Taiyo’s magic avatar being created and their extensive conversation, she had made herself a cool drink of iced lemonade and was leisurely sipping it without a care in the world.

  "I'm going to catch that recurring masked nuisance and find out what's her deal." Taiyo yawned as he started packing a backpack with food and clothes.

  "What do you mean? Has she gotten in your way a lot or something?" Lyra asked.

  "Yeah. She was the one who sent me to the hospital and saved that girl I came to school with a few days ago. While she seemed to be doing things with good intentions, her methods of carrying things out are a bit insane."

  "So what do you plan on doing?" Kendall asked.

  "I'm going to find her and beat the answers out of her myself. Her magic seemed to be related to the moon and some kind of ice, the perfect matchup for me, and Fiamma. I'll melt all of her attacks and make her tell me everything."

  "Fiamma? You named her already?" Kendall asked.

  "Yeah, why wouldn't someone have a name? Everyone does," Taiyo said.

  "No no, I get it. You just did it so fast..." Kendall laughed. “Also it’s a bit long don’t you think? To say I mean.”

  “You and her literally have the same amount of letters in your name! And I’m just gonna call her Fia for the most part anyway. Just don’t fret the details. I don't have time to run everything I do by you before I do it!”

  Kendall shrugged and grabbed the gallon of lemonade from Tai’s fridge. He poured himself a glass of the iced beverage and took a seat next to Lyra.

  “Oh there was strawberry in there? Let me try!” she said, her eyes opening wide.

  Kendall held the glass towards her and she proceeded to take a few drinks out of his straw.

  “Anyway sorry I didn’t mean to get on your case like that! It’s a great name, Tai.”

  "Okay you little pyromaniac, let's take a step back to your 'plan' and calm down for a second.” Lyra pulled herself away from Kendall’s drink and pointed her own cylindrical glass towards him in an accusatory manner. “How are you even going to find her? And even if you somehow manage to do it, you can't beat someone who's used their magic abilities way longer than you. You're just outmatched when it comes to sheer experience," Lyra said. "You're my subject of interest so if you and Fiamma die that means life will be boring again."

  "We won't die. You know why...? Cause I got a gun.” Taiyo held up the pistol, his facial expressions not changing at all. “ Even someone like her won't be able to do anything if they get shot." Tai said monotonously.

  "Don't say something like that with a straight face! If you die it's over. No second chances. Look at this carefully and logically. How do you know for sure that a normal gun is going to work on someone with magic? What if it doesn't work? What then? Are you just gonna sit there like a newborn child?"

  "God, you're annoying. And you think too much. If the gun doesn't work I'll use fire. And I'm not worried about my life because she's saved someone before and if she wanted to kill me she's had plenty of chances to."

  "Welp. You're gonna get yourself killed. Poor Fia. I feel bad for her that she has to serve an idiot," Lyra sighed and grabbed Kendall's hand.

  "Yo, what are you doing, princess?" Kendall asked, confused as he got dragged back into the kitchen.

  "Pack things you think are useful around the house. We're going with him."

  "Wait really?! Do I get to fight?" he asked excitedly.

  "No, we only need to focus on defense. If she does challenge you, you must be able to defend yourself."

  "Okay sweet! Hey Tai do you have a kitchen knife somewhere?" he yelled, rummaging through all of the kitchen drawers.

  "Wait, why do you want a knife? Can you even use one in a fight?"

  "My mom owns a dojo that she trained me in since I was little. Me and my dad learned everything we know about fighting with swords from her. While a knife isn't a bamboo kendo sword, I should be able to adjust quickly," Kendall said while tapping the end of a knife he found, testing its sharpness. "This should be sharp enough."

  "Wow, that's actually surprising. I still think someone like you shouldn't be trusted with a weapon but whatever. Lyra, what are you going to use?" Taiyo asked.

  "Well I plan on leaving the fighting to you but if it comes down to it, I'm just going to use your revolver," she said as she walked out of Tai's room, stuffing his shirts and pants into a plastic bag. “Also you got on board surprisingly quickly. What’s up with that?”

  "So you can shoot a gun? I'm not even surprised at this point. Also, why are you packing my clothes? They're like a size too big for you."

  "My mom sends me to New Mexico with my uncle and dad every summer so he could take me to a shooting range. My dad would always say ‘A small girl like you should know how to defend yourself in case any creeps try to do something’ so he and my uncle taught me how to shoot a pistol and an SMG. After that, they said I'd finally become a woman now that I could fight. A revolver is a little different but I'll manage. Also, I may need your clothes if we can't find her right away and we need to sleep overnight."

  "Well, I guess you guys can be somewhat reliable when it comes down to it. Let's give this a try and find that masked freak."