Secrets ~A Marellinh Neverseen AU~

Chapter 6 - Marella's backstory

AN: Ag, sorry this took so long, I just started school so things have been a little hectic lately, updates might be more sparse but I'll try to stay on top of it as much as possible. And on that note; I think I've made you wait long enough after that cliffhanger (If anyone is actually reading this, or Hi! if your someone in the future)

  Marella could tell pretty early on that she wasn't normal, that she would never, could never, fit in. She just pretended that everything was alright, that she didn't think the things she thought or feel the things she felt. Over the years she'd gotten used to it. Marella loved her parents, she really did, but it was hard to ignore all the whispers whenever she walked past in the school hallways, or to come downstairs in the morning, not knowing if her mom was having a good day or a bad one.

Her family wasn't even the worst of it.

There were also the crushes.

Like most kids her age, Marella had had quite a few of them, though, the problem with hers was, they weren't always on boys, well, if she was being honest, the majority of them weren't on boys.

She'd tried to talk about it to her dad before, all he'd told her was she was still young, and she'd grow out of it eventually. Girls weren't supposed to like girls in the elven world, the whole purpose of the match lists, of getting married in the first place, was to create the most powerful next generation, so what did Marella do?

When she found herself staring at a pretty dark-skinned girl during lunch, she switched seats. When she couldn't help thinking about a certain teal-eyed someone, she convinced herself she hated her. She started hanging out with boys more often. Then there had been Sophie, the brown-eyed girl.

The one time Marella convinced herself that maybe, things could be different, but that, unfortunately, had only caused her life to stumble downhill from there.

It didn't take long after becoming friends with Sophie for Marella to realize she didn't like Sophie the way she originally thought (Which was perfectly fine with her, the less crushes she had on her friends the better), though, it also didn't take long after becoming friends with Marella for Sophie to realize that she didn't want Marella as a friend at all, that she would rather hang out with the cool popular kids instead of her.

She told herself she didn't care. Sophie had always been annoying, with her tacky romantic drama and whole "moonlark horse girl" thing , but really, she couldn't help but feel a little bit sad.

But, as time went on Marella had moved on from Sophie, she became friends with Maruca and Stina, who turned out to be a lot more fun than Marella had originally thought. Then, in her normal Sophie ways, she had come back, begging for help only once Marella was useful to her. Something about her mom having something to do with Cyrah Endal, Marella had gotten the information they asked for but asked for something in return, that Mr. Forkle triggered her ability.

That hadn't gone well.

At first Marella wasn't even sure it had worked. She figured she was just doomed to be talentless, but, of course in classic 'Marella's life' fashion, she had woken up one night engulfed in flames, Marella Redek had manifested as a pyrokinetic.

***

Her parents had taken it easier then Marella had expected, thankfully her mom had been having one of her "good days" when it happened and her parents were able to get everything under control fairly quickly, they had also made the decision to not tell the council about their daughter manifesting the banned ability. And as time went on things actually started to develop into a new, strange, kind of normal, but, of course, Sophie and the Black Swan had come crawling back to her once Mr. Forkle received the information.

They had wanted her help storming some place called Nightfall, She'd agreed. Back then she still hoped that maybe the Black Swan could really make a difference, maybe pyrokinesis would become unbanned and she would be able to live her life without hiding... and, despite the whole "almost dying" thing about Nightfall, it had almost been fun. No. Fun wasn't the right word, it had just been nice to feel included for once, even if she knew she was just there for her ability.

After Nightfall things were actually starting to look up for Marella, she still wasn't that close with Sophie any more but she got back in touch with Dex and Biana, she managed not to light anything else on fire, and she was starting to convince herself that maybe she could live with her pyrokinesis after all.

Then the council came.

They didn't even give her a tribunal.

And who was there with the council at Marella's door? Sophie. She didn't say anything, didn't look Marella in the eyes, but that was all the information Marella needed,

Sophie Foster had gotten her banished.

Author's note: OKAy, that one took a while to write, I feel like I should clarify that in this AU Sophie and the rest of the squad haven't met Tam and Linh (oh, plot holes galore). One day I'll probably look back and realize how cringy and overly dramatic this is, but today is not that day! 

(PS: there may or may not be a part 2 to the backstory, but you didn't here that from me...)