Fire Heart

Chapter 7: The Return

Back in Karman...

"We've found her, Devaldo! We've found her!" Merida said to a snake slithering on the floor,
"Are you sssure it wasss her?" Said Devaldo,
Merida stopped looking at him, and instead walked over to a crystal in the middle of the room. She turned the crystal clockwise, and a blurred picture appeared on the wall,
"This was the day of the Earthly Carnival, the day I found her,"
Suddenly the picture cleared up, and there was a  young girl. She walked up to a tent, and pulled three cards out of a deck...A cradle with a small fire inside, a reddish-purple heart, and a blurred picture of a girl surrounded by fire. Merida turned off the crystal,
"See? She is  the fire child."
Devaldo smiled, a wicked smile, "Letsss go. We need to show thisss girl what real power is!"
Devaldo and Merida disappeared in a puff of smoke....

Back in California...  

"What time is it? Adventure Time!!"  Zoey just finished watching her favorite cartoon, Adventure Time, with her flame cat Flambo,
"Come one bud, time for bed," She gently grabbed Flambo's paw, and put him in his bed.
Zoey made the bed so that he wasn't so bright while he was sleeping,.
"Goodnight bud," She said as she got into bed, "
"Night," Flambo said cutely,
Zoey has been teaching him to talk all weekend, and he was getting pretty good at it. 

The skies darkened, and clouds formed, the storm was starting. But this wasn't just any old storm, this is what happens what a banished person travels from one universe to another. Merida and Devaldo appeared outside Zoey's bedroom window,
"Yep. This is her," Said Merida happily,
Devaldo pressed his face up against the glass,
"Let me at her! Let me at her!" He hissed, Merida held him back,
"not just yet, we need to gain her trust first," She smirked, but Devaldo looked confused,
"How are we meant to gain her trussst if clearly," He gestured to Flambo,
"she knowsss about the legendsss, and will obviousssly know who you are,"
Merida just shrugged him off,
"This is where you come in," Merida held her hand over Devaldo's head.
Suddenly her transformed from a snake, into a young boy around the same age as Zoey,
"Now all you have to do is make Zoey trust you enough so we can trap her, and steal her powers once and for all! Mwahahaha!" She laughed menacingly. 

Devaldo started to have second thoughts, he started talking to himself quietly,
"Or we could just leave her alone and let her live her life normally..." Merida frowned,
"What did you say?" She asked,
Devaldo had to think of something quick,
"Well...um...how am i meant to uh...gain her, um, trust?" He asked, hoping that was a good enough lie.
Merida began thinking, then she had an epiphany!
"You're going to join her school, your name will be Dylan. Your mission is to get her to fall in love with you." Merida said to her companion, Devaldo thought this over,
"So, your giving me the chance to live my life as a kid again?" He asked, then muttered to himself again,
"I just hope you can't take this life from me as well..." Merida looked at him again, confused,
"What did you say Dev- I mean, Dylan?" She corrected herself,
Devaldo lied again,
"Nothing mistress, nothing," Merida just looked at him, then shrugged it off,
"Come on, you've got school in the morning," She smiled and led Devaldo up into a tree, and they both fell asleep.

Zoey woke up just before her alarm, mainly because Flambo was floating above her head.
"Flambo," She laughed,
"I've got to get ready for school," Zoey said as she got out of bed and started to get dressed.
She put on her white blouse and her black and white pleated skirt. She decided to wear stockings underneath though, it was pretty chilly outside. Zoey then pulled on her new black converse that she found in her cupboard, 
when did i get these?  She thought to herself.
Zoey headed downstairs with Flambo for some food,
"morning mum," She said cheerily to her mother,
"Morning sweetie," Her mother smiled back as she put a bowl of warm porridge on the table,
"And there's some for you too, Flambo," She said as she put a smaller bowl of what looked like, half porridge, half burned firewood.
Flambo ate it anyway,
"Thanks mum, i'm gonna walk to school with Ashe," Zoey said as she grabbed her bag from upstairs. 
Her mum saw something suspicious, she put her hand in Zoey's bag. Flambo.
"Sweetie, you can't bring him to school, people will see." Said Mrs Croft in a sweet, yet fierce voice. Zoey grabbed her kitten,
"Please mum? He knows the way, so I can send him home at anytime," Zoey said, then she looked at he pet,
"Right bud?" she asked, Flambo nodded.
Zoey's mum though for a while,
"Fine, you can take him, now hurry along," She looked outside,
"Ashe is walking up to the door," Zoey headed straight for the door, with Flambo floating above her shoulder. 

The two friends walked to school, along the way, Zoey told Ashe about the training she had, and about conjuring Flambo. Ashe thought all of this was so interesting, but felt scared at the same time, "What if you're unable to defeat Merida?" She asked,
Zoey stopped smiling, and stared playing with Flambo's tail,
"I'm not too sure, maybe if she defeats me, she might just leave? Knowing her job is done..." Zoey didn't believe her own story, neither did Ashe,
"Don't worry about anything, I believe in you, no matter what. You can crush this witch!" Yelled Ashe, the two friends bumped fists. Little did they know, they were being followed...

"Why do I have to do this?" Dylan asked Merida,
"Why can't you do it?" Merida pushed him into the school gates,
"Because, you were a boy just before I took you under my wing, so I now believe this is my way of repaying you. By letting you go back to the life you once had,"
She said, but she didn't sound sorry for what she did,
"Now run along, Dylan, we can't let the girl see me," Dylan walked into the school, he noticed Zoey, so he began to walk over.
Then he realised she wasn't alone. She was linking arms with someone, clearly her bff, he thought, but they were talking to a girl who was sitting down alone,
"Hey, don't worry, we'll show you around, Maya," Zoey said,
"Yeah, we were once new kids here too," Said Zoey's friend.
Great!  Dylan thought, another new person, maybe you could show us both around the school.  He decided to walk up to the girls.
"Hi, i'm Dylan. I just moved here," He said, Zoey nodded,
"Hey there, would you like us to show you around as well?" She asked, Dylan nodded.
Maya stood up, now she and Dylan were eye-to-eye, he thought she was the most beautiful creature ever to exist. Her wavy dark-brown hair, her little brown eyes, and the glasses top it all off.
"Hi, i'm Dylan" He said, shaking her hand,
"I'm Maya, it's very nice to meet you,"
Yep, Dylan was in love.

It turned out that the four of them were in the same class for almost everything, they had science first, one of Zoey's favorites. They all settled in pretty well, Zoey sat in the chair next to Ashe like usual, Dylan and Maya sat next to each other, and Luke said behind Zoey. They didn't end up using Bunsen burners this lesson, which sucked because everyone loved using them. The rest of the day was boring, Maths, Geography, English, then finally, textiles. Ashe and Zoey loved textiles because the teacher let them sew whatever they wanted to. Zoey tried to finish the dress she was making last lesson, it was similar to Alice's dress in Alice in Wonderland . Ashe had been making a pair of blue and white shorts, with a matching t-shirt. Both girls finished making their outfits before the final bell rang, so they decided to play on Ashe's laptop for 10 minutes, it was just about to boot up when a voice called for Zoey. 

It was Luke,
"Hey," He smiled at her, she smiled back,
"How are you," Zoey asked, Luke sat down,
"Not too bad, how did training go?" Luke asked,
Zoey reached into her back pack and pulled out sleeping little Flambo,
"Wow, you made that?" Luke asked patting the little flame-kitten,
Zoey tucked him back away, she didn't want to wake him up. The bell rang as to stop the conversation,
"See ya tomorrow, Luke, " Luke waved,
"Bye," Zoey and Ashe started to walk home. To their surprise, Dylan, Maya and Luke were walking the same way,
"Oh, hey guys," Zoey said as the others walked up to them.
Luke tried to hold Zoey's had, but then Dylan, remembering his mission, ran in between them. He regretted everything, sometimes he wanted to kill  Merida. Clearly Luke was annoyed, He walked over to the other side of Zoey,
"How has your day been?" He asked her,
"Fine I guess," She shrugged.
Ashe interrupted their conversation,
"Guys, did you realise we all live on the same block? That's so cool!" Ashe smiled at everyone,
Maya started to talk,
"Yeah, it means we can all meat up at almost anytime," Maya seemed so happy, even if she was the quietest person the girls have ever met.
Dylan stared at her,
"That's a great idea..." He said in a sort of love-struck way.

 Zoey had to stop the awkward silence,
"Anyway, this is where I live, see ya tomorrow guys," She mostly aimed that at Luke and Ashe.
As she walked inside, Flambo flew out of her bag and into the fireplace, lighting it up. Jake suddenly ran downstairs,
"Zoey is Ashe here?" He seemed so urgent to want to see her...weird,
"No, she has an assignment due tomorrow morning," Jake's enthusiasm dropped,
"Ok then," He slowly walked upstairs into his room.
Zoey decided to go up there as well, she got out a notebook and pen and started writing down everything strange that happened every time Jake and Ashe were together. Zoey finally came up with a conclusion...Her best friend and her brother...like each other, like like each other.