Kiara wondered what gave her away as she returned to the bed with her head hung. She didn’t hesitate when she heard Pialla’s call for help; she was ready to jump into Diana’s fight. She was the one who saved the girl, stopping the final puppet. So where had she gone wrong? Scarlet eyes turned to Pialla waiting patiently for an answer. It had to come, Kiara knew, but she still wondered how she hid it so poorly. Who else knew she was afraid of her magic? Danson? Leyu? Morduunal definitely, his own words gave that much away. Maybe Diana and Keigo were the only ones in the dark, and she only thought that because they seemed like the type to outright ask. She searched Pialla’s citrine eyes, but only found genuine concern. She sighed, and chuckled to herself.

“Is it obvious?” Did she give away something the whole world could see?

“Maybe not for others.” Pialla answered. “But because of how I use magic, I can tell. Even then I didn’t know outright…” The girl flushed, turning away. “But when I kissed you, it was clear.” She looked back, eyes cast down, and Kiara laughed out loud. She shook her head in apology.

“Why did you kiss me anyway?” She asked but could not complain. Pialla was a pretty girl. She caught Kiara’s eyes with magnetic force. If she saw her in passing on the street she knew she’d look back, wondering if they’d ever have the chance to meet. Tristan still easily had her heart, but he and Pialla existed in different worlds. Tristan was a warm presence and bright smile. He was a person to come home to, or welcome with a heartwarming smile. He could easily be apart of her daily life. But Pialla? Pialla was a rare sight she could only find in this magical place. She was a girl who could not exist in any land but one of princesses and noble ladies. She was what Kiara expected princesses to be, so radiant with light she didn’t know darkness. A girl like that kissed her. There wasn’t even a slight complaint on her mind. It suddenly struck her that the kiss was the only thing she could imagine, juxtaposed with kissing Tristan, making her face hot. She shook her head, focusing on the girl, showing her that she was finally back.

“Because of the way I use magic.” Pialla said. “I cannot say more than that because of my parents, but…” She smiled. “I can tell you’re not just a mage, you’re something else entirely, and it’s beautiful!” Kiara’s face heated up again. “When I kissed you though, I felt your fear and regret.” The words hit with arrow precision, draining the heat away. Kiara let out a sigh.

“To be honest, I wish I had a chance to tell my mom and dad about this first.” She said. “Before I start I should tell you, I’m actually from another world.” She made sure to meet Pialla’s eyes as she spoke, and was surprised to see them light up.

“Really? What world are you from?” The girl bounced. Kiara couldn’t help but smile.

“Nandaxia.” She said. Pialla’s smile lit up as she ran over, grabbing Kiara’s hand.

“Are you actually from Nandaxia? I did not think it actually existed! Although my parents always told me that it did! This is incredible! What is your world like?” Pialla’s enthusiasm filled the room. Kiara fought to keep herself from being pulled in.

“Well for one, people on Nandaxia don’t use magic. It’s like how the story goes, right? One world advanced in technology, the other world advanced in magic.” She wished excitement was an option. “Also, on Nandaxia, people don’t have eyes like yours or mine.” Pialla freed her hand, and sat on the bed beside her. “I guess the story starts when I was eight years old. My school threw a welcome back festival, and I was really happy to go because I got a chance to show my little brother around. My mom and dad had just gotten back from overseas, so it was great to have everyone there. I even thought that it’d be the best day of my life.”

Kiara remembered the day vividly. The sun was bright in the sky, and summer was just beginning to calm from an obnoxious heat. The school ground was filled with bright colors, the smell of confectioneries and pastries, and the sound of kids running to and fro. She was one of those kids, and after three chocolate bars and some sort of sweet roll, she had more energy than she could spare. She had been running around, playing games here, riding rides there. The world shone with so much celebration that she felt better than she ever felt before.

“Thinking back, maybe it was bound to happen. I can still remember how different the festival felt. I was starting third grade, and I came to the school in first. I had a chance to go to one of those festivals before and it felt nothing like that.” She closed her eyes and saw herself back then—loud cheering, bouncing everywhere she could. Her love for video games even started there. “Regardless, the day couldn’t stay peaceful, I guess.” She shook the thoughts away. This was not a fun story. “I had to go to the restroom, so I excused myself. When I was done, I ran into Emily.”

“You don’t sound happy when you say her name.” Pialla noted.

“That’s because she’s an awful girl. When I first started going to the school, we didn’t talk. I always thought she was pretty because she had nice clothes and a great smile, but sometimes she came to school with a hurt look on her face. Sometimes I wanted to ask her what happened, but after that time in third grade, I didn’t care anymore.” Kiara thought about it, and realized Emily wore the look that day too.

She didn’t know why the girl was in the school. Maybe she had gone to the restroom as well, but when Kiara bumped into her, she found that she was not alone. Three other girls were in her company. Two of them she recognized from class, Tori and Mina, Emily’s entourage. The third girl was far older though. She was a high school student, or on her way there. Kiara didn’t know her name at the time, but later learned it was Irene. She ignored this girl, waving at Emily. As the girl prepared to wave back, the freshman spoke.

“Is that the girl?” She was tall, although all older people were in grade school. What was not distorted by age was the familiar shape of her face and shade of blue to her eyes. This girl had to be Emily’s sister, and for one reason or another, she absolutely hated Kiara. “She’s the one from your class, right, Emily?” She pushed past her sister, staring defiantly down. Kiara did not know what was happening, but she stared back, eyes saying the same. Irene grimaced. “Look at her,” She pointed, looking over her shoulder to Emily. “She’s so weird looking! I mean, why are her eyes red?” She scoffed and Emily’s friends laughed along.

The words stung. When Kiara looked at Emily, she knew the pain was on her face. Emily stared back with tired and scared eyes. Her friends laughed loudly, but her sister glared. For a moment, as Kiara sat there telling the story, she wondered if Emily had really looked so reluctant. This was the first time she recounted it; she wondered if her memory was off.

“No one in our class thinks they’re weird.” Emily had said and her friends objected. “Everyone calls her pretty, and said that she’s probably a princess where she comes from.”

“Hey weird girl,” Irene barked. “Where are you from?” She hissed. Kiara glared. Another one of the girls answered for her.

“She moved from overseas! Her mom and dad are antropo-something!” She said. The smirk on Irene’s face twisted up to her eyes.

“Oh, I see.” She was like a snake, and she slithered behind Kiara, blocking her path. “You must be one of those demon tribe people I heard about in school. Do you eat people, monster girl?” She pushed Kiara suddenly. When she recovered from the stumble, she glared up.

“Leave me alone!” She blurted out. As the girl’s smirk sharpened she added, “Before you get beat up by a third grader.”

“You’re going to beat me up?” Irene’s smirk melted away at the threat. Her eyes ignited with malice. “Are you really!” She kicked Kiara hard in the stomach, making her crumpled to the floor. “Emily are you going to let her talk to me like that!” She barked. “You’re going to let her threaten your sister? Teach her how to respect your family!” Irene was absolutely livid, jabbing point after point at Kiara.

When Emily said nothing, Irene snatched Kiara up by her hair. She turned the girl toward her classmates, tossing her to the floor at their feet.

“What are you doing?” She snarled. “Make her pay!” She roared. Emily looked down.

“I kind of remember something,” Kiara looked to Pialla. “I think it was like a transformation for her as well. Maybe she’s afraid of her sister, but I remember the look in her eyes.” She looked past Pialla as if she could see the look behind her. “Regret. There was a lot of it... Then she accepted it, and after that I guess she realized she couldn’t go back.”

“What did she do?” Pialla asked.

“She kicked me in my face.” Kiara remembered the pain and the taste of blood. It was from just one kick, but the girl did it with all her strength. The other girls followed suit. Kiara whimpered in pain, and Irene egged them on. “And then…”

And then it happened in a second. There was no build up or thought. There were no words in her head weaving everything together. She did remembered a moment—another second passing between kicks. She held her hand up to stop them and then…

“Fire.” She said, remembering the blaze.

Fire rose from her palm, striking the ceiling. It crawled along the stone, sweeping through the hall around them. No one seemed to notice it came from her. They were too busy screaming, bullies turned victim as they ran from the rage. Who could say Kiara was the cause?

“I didn’t even know I did it, and I hated that they were planning to leave me behind.” The touch of power against her palm was like heat, and she reached out toward them. “Maybe part of me did know; I remember thinking I wanted them to burn.” There came a surge of liquid fire like a flood down the hall. As the girls threw doors open the fire exploded outward.

A great deal of chaos responded to the flames. No one knew where it came from, but it came so fast and hungry that it scorched everything it touched. Stands exploded as they were licked; tents became bonfires. Screams smothered joy, as people fled as far away as they could. No one checked inside. Kiara felt like she was going to die. No one but Emily’s group knew she was there, and the destruction was too much for anyone to look for her.

“I passed out, I think.” Kiara said. “All I know is that I woke up some time later in a hospital. The doctors were surprised that I didn’t suffer smoke inhalation. The news was on my room’s TV, and I saw what the flames had done to the school.” She shook her head. “It was a stone building, but nearly most of it had melted away. No one could guess where the fire came from...”

“I can’t imagine how frightening it must have been to see what happened to the building.” Pialla covered her mouth.

“What was more frightening was hearing what happened to the victims. There were five kids, and three adults. Two of the kids and one of those adults died. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I felt lucky to be alive but then Irene appeared on the screen.”

“I don’t know what happened. I was walking my sister and her friends to the restroom and…” The girl almost looked vulnerable as she teared up. “I feel horrible about what happened to that girl. She was my sister’s friend! If we knew she was stuck inside, we would have saved her!”

“When I saw her, I was mad. I was trapped in there because of her, and she didn’t even have a scratch. I wanted to get back at her…that’s when I felt the magic in my hands. When I looked down, they were on fire. I screamed.

“Eventually, the nurses came and calmed me down. By then the fire had faded, and they told me it was a bad dream when I told them what happened. I knew it wasn’t though. I knew I had caused all of that damage.” Kiara hung her head. Lifting it, she gave Pialla a desperate look. “In my world you can find books and shows about people with special powers. I always thought that I’d tell my friends and parents if I got any, but after the news coverage and the memorial, I couldn’t dare. I didn’t want them to know what I could do.” She felt like she was sinking; holding herself didn’t help.

“Of course you were afraid.” Pialla placed a hand on one of hers. “I can’t blame you at all.” Her sincerity made Kiara look at her, finding a welcoming shine in her citrine eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore though. You can control your magic now, right? And you even used it to save me.”

She did, in fact. Kiara thought about how she flew through the air; how she managed to pull Pialla from the puppet’s grasp. It was the first time she used her magic since the fight with Feline, and even that fight was part of Pialla’s point. She could control her magic. In almost seven years, she hadn’t caused another incident like that. Smiling, she turned to the girl, ready to thank her. Then a purple flash filled the room…