Chapter 2: A Fire Friend
1997 Words
Tyler's day started pretty ordinarily. A scrumptious breakfast, baffling dream, big scarlet egg, a letter from a flame lady, and a cup of tea. Pretty normal.
In Cardiff, the weather is pretty unpredictable. One moment it's sunny, the next it's rainy.
Tyler wasn't feeling cosy inside their car. His dream was still plaguing him. He reached for his rucksack and untangled his earphones and played Owl City's Be Brave. Perfect Song, he thought. The morning was cold and damp. A brisk wind swept the rain across the concrete road and made Tyler shiver. The placid street lined exactly across the vast field of crops and wild grasses and busy sheepherders. Flimsy fog covered the blue horizon across them, to his right, the sight was cloudless. Soft rain dancing and every drop playfully tackling their window car. Who the heck was that Alyx? He asked. I couldn't believe it. Clive isn't my father? I mean, how? When did it happen? And if he isn't, then who? He tried to gather up his thoughts and reminisced the past. He felt quite dazed and reluctant. What if I'm still dreaming? He thought. No. No. No. The egg is in my room! What in the b****y hell is going on?
Another thing that troubled him: what if last night in his sleep, he fell from his bed and hit his head? Maybe he was in a coma right now, and everything wasn't as real as he thought it was. Most of the time, when uncanny things happen to him, he was just imagining. He knew he was quite an imaginative sixteen-year-old kid, but this thing was too much for him. It almost entirely felt real. On the brighter side, he realised that maybe he could finally ponder at least have a few clarifications about all the unexplainable things that happened to him throughout the years.
His mum was a passionate and gentlewoman. Her eyes were deep brown like a cup of hot chocolate drink. Her brunette straight hair spread across her shoulders, and her voice as calm as a fish pond. She would always think of him. His wellness, his feelings, if he ate, if he felt hungry, or sad, everything. His mum was his best mate and biggest fan of everything he does aside from Amber, of course. But Tyler thought that telling her directly wouldn't be the best bet. He wanted to throw himself out, but the Airport was closing in.
Helmina turned and headed to a car park. Surprisingly, few cars were there. Maybe at that time, traveling through the plane was reduced during the school months. A man in a suitcase just a few feet away from them stepped out of the elevator. A woman in a leather jacket walked toward him and hugged him tightly. To their right, a group of Asian tourists hopped in their car excitedly. One of the girls stopped for a quick selfie before joining them in.
Helmina waved through the rear-view mirror, telling him to get rid of his earphones.
"Let's go? Leave your things. We will pick Amber just in a moment." she said.
"Uh, mom?'' He put his rucksack on his lap and curled his headphones.
"Honey?" she stared at him warily.
"Can I just... stay here?" Tyler said, trying not to sound sick.
"Why? Is there any problem?" she asked worriedly "You okay?"
''Uh, mom, I don't think I'm in the mood for a long walk."
She didn't respond instantly. But she nodded casually anyway.
"Alright, wait for us here then."
Amber Scott Mijares was the childhood friend of Tyler back in London. He was two years older than him, and they had spent almost most of their lives being best friends, but he immediately moved back to Spain after the tragic death of his dad.
But now he's returning for a vacation, which was weird because they still have school ongoing.
Tyler tried to remember their past. From him doing unearthly things like setting his room cabinet on fire because he pulled the eyes of his precious teddy. He had seen him play with the candlelight and turned it into a live, walking, miniature elf. The way how his verdant green eyes turned into a burning woods whenever he got mad and frustrated. He thought all of those for a couple of minutes and thought about his life and safety.
Few moments had passed, and his mind was still bombarded by his dream. He was inside their car with its windows open, starring into the vast nothingness for almost half an hour when his best friend sneaked beside behind him, crouched and hid below the door to surprise him.
"Heyyy Tyler!!!" Amber boomed.
"b****y Hell!" Tyler's heart leapt. He extended his arm and reached for him through the window, hoping he could crumple his face and bellowed: "Do it again, and I won't talk to you anymore! You numpty."
"It's me again, Amber!" He laughed "Haven't you missed me?" He asked with a broad smile. With Amber's intense and vigilant green forest eyes, every dangerous wild animal would love to live there. He kept his mouth smiling revealing his teeth with braces both up and down, and his hair— naturally ash brown in colour— was neatly tucked under his knit cap covering his eyebrows, and long lovely curved eyelashes catching his bangs, preventing it from touching his eyes. The beige spring coat he wore over his shoulders had neatly polished buttons, and the midnight blue scarf around his neck was tied so that the ruffles perfectly filled the space left open by his coat. His jeans perfectly complimented what he's wearing, blue and semi-fitted. Tyler noticed his style improved throughout the years. His brown Chelsea boots seemed to be waterproof. Well, he thought that Amber knew that he'd enter the U.K. so that his attire was like that.
"Err... Um, you okay? How's the trip?" he asked. Tyler's dull blue eyes like frozen stream avoided Amber's stare. He opened the car, and Amber sat beside. His mum followed and sat on the driver's seat, staring at him, a little bit worried.
"It was drastic but fun! Ah, yeah please don't remind me —" he halted and examined Tyler "Hey mate, you okay?"
"Not totally," he answered grumpily.
"Aunt Mina?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Is Tyler ill?"
"No, I think he's not. He's been acting like that since he woke up this morning."
"Mom," Tyler intervened. "I'll tell you later what had just happened, but please don't laugh at me or think that I'm losing my mind," Tyler mumbled, looking even paler.
"You know I wouldn't do that." Looking at Tyler through the rear-view mirror in their car.
"Also, and also I have something to show you," he added.
Helmina didn't respond. She drove silently with a worried look in her face.
Tyler wished he knew what was indeed going on. Only Amber was the one talking throughout their trip, telling them about the time he has spent in Spain, and the Gazpacho his aunt would always cook for him every dinner.
Hours passed, and the whole trip was quiet. Amber slept soundly and made Tyler envious. He wished he could sleep that soundly again after his dream.
-
It's almost lunch, and they arrived on time. Helmina brewed tea, microwaved some left pasta, made prawn sandwiches, and brought out some granola bars for them to consume. They all seemed to be hungry, tired, and bothered. Well, compared to Tyler, they looked less agitated.
Tyler took Amber's travel luggage to put them inside his room. He had only one baggage and a thin long rectangular box. About 6 feet tall. Tyler wondered how many days Amber would stay in Cardiff because he had only one travel luggage and a piece of carton.
"Amber, what's this?" holding the 6 feet tall box.
"Uh, telescope?—" he answered nervously, avoiding Tyler's eyes "— and leave that box here, Tyler. Thanks."
He blinked. A telescope? He thought. He was filled with so much anxiety with what's going on. What's happening? But he couldn't help it, he continued walking upstairs and cleared his mind. Great. He thought again. Best day ever.
He went to their living room as soon as he was done. He saw Amber and his mom sitting, watching B.B.C. about the incoming hail storm. He sat beside her. She was sipping her third cup of tea, not minding his arrival. Whenever his mum was watching the news, she wouldn't notice anything. Not even a cat sneaking in front of her munching her seared steak. Either she was way too hooked with the news, or just randomly thinking about something else while the telly was on.
''Tyler, you are to show me something, aren't you?" she noticed him surprisingly. He stared at Amber and then took something from his pocket and handed his mom the letter. But as soon as Helmina saw the message, her eyes bugged out, and she choked on her tea.
"Oh, Tyler," said Helmina while holding the envelope and exchanging nervous looks with Amber.
"Is that?!" Amber exclaimed.
"It's from..." she stopped. She stared at Tyler, wondering where and how he got the letter. Helmina couldn't finish what she's about to say. Her voice trembled and stuttered. "Tyler,"
"Hey, Hey," Tyler crossed his arms, and his mouth went dry. "Are we guys just gonna exchange looks here? Anyone tell me what's going on?" He wiped his mouth. "Tyler, Son,—" she gulped "— It was from — Olympus. A Place where... listen—"
"Huh?! —'' Tyler couldn't believe what he was hearing "— wait, whoa you guys! Please don't make fun of me. Mum?" he stared at his mum, eyes pleading to cut the stupid prank out. But he thought of his dream too and Amber's fire magical ability from the past.
"Calm down, Tyler. It's okay." Amber comforted "Tyler, do you still remember the treehouse?"
"Yeah? How could I forget?!" he exclaimed. Panic climbed in his throat, and his thoughts went hollow. He couldn't think straight, and his bum felt the heat emitting from his skin underneath. His neck went itchy like small hairs spurred his skin.
"Look, that accident wasn't your fault. I don't want to mess with your thoughts but—" a whiff of burning wood caught Tyler's attention. Amber took out a long red stick straight out from his pocket. Tyler examined it. The slender stick was thin enough to be broken in one snap. The bottom has a gem that produced a very faint glow of red light, like a dying laser. It looked very striking and was saturated with red colour pigments like burning metal.
"Amber," Helmina spoke nervously. "I don't think this is—"
"Parvulus Lamfasea" He chanted. ''I'm not a son of any god or goddess—" A flicker of flame danced over Amber's palm and disappeared "—I'm a son of a — well, a Flame Witch and wizards," he explained.
Tyler's expression went from awe to horror then back to horror. He stared at Amber's ability to create a small ball of flames and made them dance then vanish. "Wait for a second! So, you burned my treehouse?! You mean, you're a demon?!" He asked.
"A WIZARD!" Amber corrected.
"First, the gods and then a demon. —" He gasped and moved away from Amber when he opened his hand, and then a fire elf danced over his palm, he closed it then it vanished, then opened and it reappeared, and it continued dancing "—This is unbelievable. I might be still dreaming!" he slapped himself. "Mum? Are you guys messing with me?" he looked at her. Hoping that they would burst out laughing any second and call it a successful prank. Maybe his mum bought an ostrich egg doubled its size and painted it scarlet and gold and tried on pranking him. Maybe his dad did it, or perhaps that was all Amber's idea after all. His best friend was a huge prankster, after all.
Helmina stood and moved closer to Tyler to calm him down. He looked like he just had a roller coaster ride. Helmina locked eyes with Amber. They had a brief exchange of conversation that went like:
Stop it.
What?
The dancing fire elf.
Okay. Sorry.
"Calm down, honey. I'll explain it all to you. But listen to it tentatively. I'll tell you everything. I'm really sorry."
"So I'm not dreaming?" he asked. Hugging his mum.
"Everything will be all right," Helmina answered.
- Writer
