Fire's Catching

Chapter 3 - Dying birds

"I'm so sick and tired of reading all these books! Can't I just search it up on the internet?" Forrest groans from the corner. He's hurriedly flipping through the pages of a book titled 'Greek Lore and its Mysteries'. Whoever wrote that has one hell of a cool special interest. The cover is green and gold, which proves my point.

"The internet ruins the charm of research!" Grey exclaims. "The reason why we're researching is because of some super cool - probably ancient - powers. Get with the flow, you don't have to read every single word closely. Just skim it, see if you find anything about the symbols."

"Isn't it obvious? The harp is music, the acorn is food, the lion is animals, and the salamander is... also animals," Forrest gets a little unsure at the end of his sentence. Grey sighs. I understand their pain, Forrest isn't the most patient of the bunch.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Well, except for the harp, that one seems to be correct. Especially since Joy clearly gets her healing powers from music," Grey looks at me with a look I can't quite place. Almost sympathetic? I'm not sure. "That must mean that the other symbols have something to do with our powers. The only thing that stumps me is the fact that there are four of them... and three of us."

I look back down at my own book. It's a book about symbolism. Very useful, if I could just find the parts about acorns, lions and salamanders. I the table of contents. There's a nature chapter, and also an animal chapter. How convenient. I go to the pages about animals. Surely, I can find something about at least one of the animals. I out loud. Forrest and Grey at me, excited about a possible answer. The pages are missing. All the pages about animals. Who would rip pages out of a library book? I quickly flip to the nature chapter, both to check it too, but also to make sure no librarians sneaking around will see the missing pages and think I did it. Luckily, the nature pages are there. 'Acorn' is right at the top. The book states that it symbolizes fresh beginnings, but also perseverance over time to reach an end goal. So, something about time? I'm not quite sure.

"I think it has something to do with time. The acorn," I say to the others. They both look confused.

"Wait, does that mean I have... time bending?!" Forrest shrieks. Grey and I both look at him with surprise at the sound that just came out of him. He catches himself and sinks ashamed into his chair. "Never mind, I'm just stupid."

"Wait, Forrest; you might be onto something," Grey ponders. "Though, I don't think you can bend time. If you could do that, we would've noticed it when you developed the power of 'chill'. Maybe that's a hint? The way you got so calm about where the future takes you?"

"Seriously? You think I might be right... kind of? You never agree with me," Forrest says, amazed. "Damn."

"Anyways, we should try to figure that out. And if the acorn is Forrest's emblem, and the harp is Joy's emblem, then either the lion or the salamander is mine. Considering the fact that I have some sort of super-strength, I would put my bet on the lion." My mouth opens wide at Grey's thought process. How can they possibly have a brain this good and still hang out with Forrest? I don't think I'll ever understand that. They're also a lot smarter than me, just for the record. I just like comparing them to Forrest since he's probably below average IQ. I think closer about the statements Grey said. I'm the harp, Forrest's the acorn, and Grey is the lion. That leaves one question: Who's the salamander?

"We were the only ones at the clearing, right? My memory isn't failing me?" Grey asks us, noticing my sudden shift in the chair I'm sitting in. There was someone else. In the shadows. Though, for some reason, it doesn't feel right to spill my secret.

"Yup, just us," I say unconvincingly.

"O-kay," Grey answers, holding the 'o' longer than necessary. I can sense the suspicion from here, but they aren't insisting on knowing more. I appreciate that. Grey also knows that I never lie. And this isn't a lie, the shadow wasn't at the clearing, but outside it. They run their hand through the silver-gray hair covering half their head. The other half is buzzed and black, their original hair color. At the other side of the table, Forrest blushes slightly. Did that... turn him on? Ugh, disgusting. I don't want this to become a third wheel situation. Even if Forrest made a move, he would still not get Grey. They're aro-ace. It's a recipe for disaster.