The Spirit Within

Chapter Six: Of All People

A twinkling sounded from Cassandra's pocket. She froze. Reina was staring at her, eyes wide. Cassandra whipped her head around to see the ninja glaring at the three. He just stood there menacingly, daring them to move. He took one step forward, and Cassandra leaped for the door. She yanked at the handle, twisting and turning it. It didn't budge.

The stranger was charging towards her, reaching behind him for his canteen. With no time to be confused, she ran into the next room, leaving Reina and Russ to deal with him. She entered what seemed like a dining room, a mahogany table with matching chairs in the center. She heard the ninja behind her and ran to the other side of the room. She stood still, the ninja entering just opposite of her.

He just stood there, staring at her, not knowing what to do. He moved to the left, so Cassandra moved the other. The ninja just reached behind him again, and pulled the canteen in front of him. He thrust his arm out and water shot out of the canteen. Cassandra ducked. She popped back up and looked at the ninja. "Seriously? You just throw water at me?"

The ninja shrugged. Then, as fast as a bullet, he slid across the table. Sadly, he stopped midway from what Cassandra guessed was friction. She took her chance, and crawled under the table out to the other side.

She made another mad dash to the door, but froze in horror. Sitting in front of the door were Russ and Reina encased in a thick layer of ice. Reina had a pure look of terror across her face, standing with her back against the door. Russ was posed like he was going to attack. Cassandra whimpered, and found she couldn't move either. She was just like them, expect without the ice.

She felt arms wrap around her, and she was dragged back to the fire. She thrashed in his grip, screaming and kicking, but it was no use. She wasn't escaping.

The ninja threw her down on the couch. He stared at her, then took out his canteen again. Cassandra backed up, trying to make distance between her and him. She put her hands up, "I wont move if you don't turn me into a icicle. I swear."

He raised an eyebrow, and let go of the canteen. "Stay there, and don't move. I'm going to get your friends." He turned around. "And if you try that little 'stunt' again, I will freeze you." He stalked off towards the front room, when the woman entered the room again.

She looked at her kindly, and set down the tray of steaming mugs she was holding on the coffee table. She glanced at the door, and frowned. "He froze them, didn't he?" Cassandra nodded. She sighed. "I'm sorry, you poor girl. You probably don't know what's going on, do you?" Cassandra gave her a quizzical look.

"You don't," she sighed again, "You might want to drink this before I start." The woman handed me a mug and took a deep breath. I sniffed the tea. It smelled faintly of- "Peppermint. It's mine and Heir's favorite."

"Heir's?" Cassandra asked.

"You can call him Jerome. That's his English name." Cassandra was even more confused. "Oh, his name is in Latin. It's Hieronymus. And you can call me Cheryl."

Cassandra sipped her tea. "Okay, hi Cheryl. I'm Cassandra, but you can call me Cass." The warm liquid calmed her like Cheryl had said.

Cheryl took a deep breath. "Where should I start... Oh, I know. I'll start with what has happened to you so far. So, I see you've met Jerome." She gestured to who Cassandra called the ninja, now dragging an angry Russ, and shivering Reina over to them. "As you saw, he is able to form ice from water, and control it also. Jerome," He paused and looked over to them, "Can you please come over here?"

Jerome left Reina and Russ on one of the couches near the fire. They were both glaring at him and Cassandra, angry that she left them to become human popsicles. Jerome stood by Cheryl.

"Jerome, please take off that silly outfit and show your face." Cheryl put a hand to her forehead. "Honestly, it's not like by them seeing your face is going to kill you." Jerome pulled off the scarf wrapped around his head reluctantly.

He shook his dark brown hair. "I know, I know." He turned and headed for the next room. "I'll be back."

Cheryl looked back at Cassandra. "Where was I? Oh yeah." She yanked back her grey sleeve, uncovering intricate light blue markings. They stretched around her arm, turning a darker shade of blue, gliding like water on her arm.

Cassandra's eyes widened, and she heard Reina gasp in the background. "What are those?"

"They tell my abilities. I can do what you saw Jerome do, but I can't form ice. I'll show you." Cheryl stared at the cup of tea Reina was holding, not blinking. She raised her hand, gently, and Reina gasped again. Blobs of tea were floating in the air, dancing with each other. The swirls of color on her arm were glowing brightly, darkening to a navy color.

"How do you do that?" Reina was poking one of the puddles in a trance.

"I was born with this. Same as Jerome." She set her hand down, making the tea fall back into the cup, splashing in Reina's face. "We are both elementals. Other people can do different things, but it's rare for someone to be an elemental and have a normal power, like us."

"What do you mean, other powers?" Cassandra set her mug down. Reina plopped down on the couch next to her, intrigued by all this.

"Exactly what I said. People can control different things. Some shape shift, have telepathy, teleport, and being able to see the past, present, and future." Cheryl pulled her sleeve down. "But anyway, what you saw back in the forest was a spirit. Spirit of fire to be exact. I don't know why it would want you, or her, but I do know why it would maybe appear around your friend." She gestured towards Russ, who was watching the fire intently, deep in thought.

"Why that idiot?" Reina scoffed. Russ lifted his head, and gave them a puzzled look. "Yes, I was talking about you."

Russ shook his head and went over to them. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me see your arm," Cheryl said. Russ extended his arm to her. His tan skin from being in the sun for so long started to glow when Cheryl touched it. Cheryl muttered a few words under her breath. When she finished, Russ's skin glowed more brightly, and faint orange lines laced up his forearm. Cheryl then let go of his arm.

"Whoa," Russ lifted his am to his eyes. He waved it around, seeing if they would disappear. When he set his arm back down, it flashed brightly. The runes shined, and suddenly ignited in flames.