Equinox (Book One of the Firebird Chronicles) WATTY AWARD HIDDEN GEM WINNER 2015

Chapter Twelve: Run

A/N: Media = Lumina's power?! Music: Fire Meet Gasoline by Sia. Love this song, and feel like it embodies Lumina in this chapter...

Anger gripped me, shame burned within me. Both could not withhold the tears that fled from my eyes, starkly reminding me that I had felt false hope at my new acceptance. I slammed into the door of my room, throwing it open. I locked the door, and for good measure, I slammed the balcony window shut and locked it tight. Neither Fabian nor Scarlett was going to charm me out of this reminder of my situation.

I was here to find Reia, not to play princess in her tower. I had no Power, they were right; but the idea of staying in the tower, unable to move, was unbearable.

And I was not going to gain any respect from doing so.

My heart burned at the thought of how attached I'd grown to Fabian in only a couple of days. Logistically, I knew that if I stayed here, I would fall for him easily. Maybe he, too, could fall for me. But I would always feel a shadow of the former Lumina. He would clutch at me, terrified of losing the ghost of the girl he'd loved.

Unless...

If I proved myself as my own person, would he see me differently?

I had always relied on Reia to make decisions for me, and as soon as I had arrived on Angelica, Fabian and Scarlett had taken over that role. But for the first time, I felt a strange confidence that I should take control of my own situation.

I looked down at my hands. Since waking up I had been too preoccupied to notice, but they felt as though they were vibrating with power. I could hear sounds; sounds I couldn't make out, but the only way I could describe them was like oscillations, sending a buzzing rhythm through my body. I felt excitement. And I felt sure.

Arianna had said to find Fabian, but she hadn't said to stay with him.

I wrenched open my wardrobe, hissing at the sight of ridiculous petticoats and gowns. I located the clothes I had worn the day I had arrived; someone had washed and hung them carefully back for me. The old Lumina had owned several bags, but only one of them seemed suited for travel; a leather satchel, at the bottom of her closet. I pulled it out, and stuffed the clothing into it.

I paused. I needed underwear.

Grimacing, I added the only underwear that Lumina had seemingly owned; frilly. They looked like jellyfish.

I located boots and gloves, and a warm navy cloak, which I tucked around my shoulders. Finally, I turned towards Lumina's dresser, threw in a hairbrush and as an afterthought, some of her expensive-looking jewellery. The thief inside me warned that the following days might not be as comfortable unless I had something to trade.

Next was to locate the weapons that Fabian had mentioned earlier. My eyes narrowed as I appraised where the old, princess Lumina might have taken to hiding her weapons. Maybe, if she were to be attacked, she'd keep them somewhere for quick access. Underneath her bed, perhaps?

There was nothing there. I breathed out, scanning the room again.

A large chest stood looking particularly dusty and out of use, closer to the balcony than the rest of Lumina's things. I noticed it was padlocked, and felt a stirring suspicion that rather than keep her weapons at close hand, the previous Lumina had been the type to pretend fighting didn't exist.

I sighed, and located one of the girl's bobby pins that I had seen whilst searching through her jewellery. After a few moments and with a soft click, the chest was opened.