12

eight

Aimee ~Capricorn

Sitting in the stuffy arena alone wasn't fun. Daniel was in the midst of his training (or fight, whatever he was pulled out to do), and everyone else went back to their rooms to relax. As for me, I sat in the middle of the earth gym, wishing for someone to give me an idea on what I was supposed to do. There was no basketball court, so I couldn't shoot some hoops for entertainment. Instead, the arena was filled with mats, either on pillowy sheets, rocks, or sand. Weapons lined the room and dummies for training sat in the middle of each mat.

I pulled out the glasses I was given earlier, turning them over and over in my hand. They had a thick black frame, like the ones the nerds would wear in movies. No one had bothered to show us how to "use" them, whatever that meant.

I heard a door slam shut, and I straightened, tucking the glasses away. When I turned around to face the gym door, I saw Kaia. She had her brown hair tucked into a high ponytail, the black choker around her neck. When she saw me, she smiled.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" she asked, walking over to me. She took a seat besides me on the mat (one of the soft ones) and folded her hands in her lap.

"I would've watched Daniel in the fight, but I was too scared for him," I admitted. "And I wanted some alone time."

Kaia frowned. "I'd think that if you wanted to be alone, you'd be an Aries. Capricorns usually love to talk to people."

Well, goodie.

I pulled out the glasses and held them out to her. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Kaia's frown turned into a smile, and she took the glasses in her hands. "These may look new, but they have been passed down from generation to generation. Plus, with your situation, you should be very careful on what you touch."

I straightened. "What do you mean?"

She set the glasses down on the mat. "Well, you have an ability, right? Already discovered?"

"By accident."

Kaia nodded. Her smile faded. "Yeah, well, you didn't know about that power. And if I asked you to recreate that power, could you do it?"

I nodded. "I did it today, in front of all of you."

Kaia nodded again. "Right, but what I mean is that you don't know how to properly control it. And, what was your mother? What zodiac sign was she from?"

I huffed a sigh. "Too far."

Kaia gave a quick apology. "Here, let me help you." She stood up and crossed the gym, walking over to a dummy. "Despite being in the earth house," she said, "we all get these jugs of fire-proof liquids. Fire House eats it up." She opened another door across the room, pulling out a big red can. She then took the can over to a dummy and poured it over it.

"Are you trying to get me to blow up a dummy?" I asked, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Not quite. Come over here," she said as she threw the can over her shoulder. She directed me to a spot on the mat. "I don't trust fire hitting sand or the nice mats, so stand on the big rock right here."

I stood in front of the dummy, on the rock that Kaia directed me towards. I watched as she slipped behind me and backed away. I knitted my eyebrows, confused.

"Go on, do your thing," she told me, pointing to the dummy.

"You want me to throw fire towards the dummy?" I asked. "I've only held it, not thrown it at people."

Kaia groaned and walked briskly over towards me. "I wish Chase were here," she muttered under her breath. "He'd know what to do." She stood on a rock next to mine, placing one foot in front of the other, her knees bent. "Copy my stance," she ordered. Her arms went out, like she was some superhero in a movie. I followed in suit, my palms out towards the dummy. "Now, create the fire and push it towards the dummy."

I let my hands fall to my side. Kaia took several steps back, out of the reach of the fire zone. "I have never done that, though."

"Just think about it and try it," she offered.

I sighed and took stance again. I thought about something that made me angry, really angry, and let the fire course through my veins. I watched as my hands lit up in flames, my fingers feeling cold.

"Nice," Kaia said. "Now, imagine you are fighting and the only way for the enemy to die is if it was caught on fire."

"Whatever," I said, and pulled my arms in, the fire still blazing. I shoved my hands out quickly, hoping the fire would leave my hands, but it stayed in place.

I groaned and tried it again. Then again. Then again. But after each try, the fire would not touch the dummy.

"I give up," I cried, letting the fire die down. I bit my lip and turned to Kaia, who had her finger to her lips.

"Bring the fire up again and imagine if it was Justin Bieber who was on fire."

My eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Her gaze turned on me. "What, you actually like Justin Bieber?"

I nodded. "I'm not a huge fan, but I like his more recent stuff."

Her jaw dropped. Shaking her head in disgust, she said, "Then think of someone you hate. Think that you hold a fireball and want to hit him or her in the gut with the fire."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll think about One Direction." I heard her gasp, as if she loved them, and I chuckled. I went back into the stance and lit my hands up again. I looked at the dummy, hard.

I hate you, dummy. I thought. I'm going to let you burn a sweet, sweet death.

I held my right hand up by my ear, as if I was holding a baseball. I let my fingers close around the fire, and I imagined if I was actually holding a ball. Suddenly, my fingers seemed to touch a solid ball. I let out an unnecessary scream, then threw my arm forward, letting go of the fire. I watched in awe as the fireball flew and hit the chest of the dummy, the fire spreading across its chest.

I stopped the fire in my hands and balled my fingers into a fist, raising them above my head. "Hey!" I cried, my eyes watching as the fire took up the entire dummy.

Kaia let out a small cry as she ran for a fire extinguisher and let the foam pour all over the dummy, the fire ceasing. When the fire was completely put out, she turned to me. "Holy shit," she whispered. "That was actually the best thing I have ever seen."

I smiled. My head started to swim, and I felt weak in the knees. I took a deep breath and looked up at Kaia. "It's normal to feel tired, right?" I asked, taking a seat on the edge of the rocky mat.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "I wanted to say that, but I felt like you should probably find out for yourself."

I looked up at her, my eyebrows knitting in confusion. "Are you trying to be a bitch or...?"

"Hah," she said, pointing at me. "That's where you are wrong, I'm just really stubborn. Well at least according to Chase," She winked at me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up. "Nice work. Rest up and I'll see you in the morning. I'll try to bring Chase or Chloe in and see if we can work on anything else."

I nodded. My knees began to shake, and I felt sick in the stomach. I had overworked myself, and I wanted to fall asleep. "Thanks, Kaia. It means a lot."

She nodded, a slight smile came across her face before her choker started to beep,"Speaking of bitches, Chloe's calling, gotta take this," Kaia started towards the door, but quickly turned back around to say,"Hey, you actually got to hit something. You'll improve, and you can start to not get as tired easily and control the fire no matter what. You have a pretty cool power, but also a very dangerous one."

"I know," I said in a small voice. "I killed my own mother with this power." And with that, I left the arena, the giant door banging shut behind me.