"Fire is good! I admire its beauty!"
A vision of my youth in my room playing with fire, singing excitedly to my fireplace puffs up.
"They taught us how to write, Mister Fire." My youth says. "When will you reveal yourself, anyway?"
A man's laugh came out.
"Not yet, my lady. Not yet." He replies.
His voice is husky and rough.
"You always had someone to talk with, especially when I am not around." Ina talks on my side then the set changes.
"Then this happened."
It is now my young-self sleeping peacefully in the dark on my own bed. Later on, she releases an almost silent moan. It echoes through my room while a creature is gradually moving on top of her. Her eyes are open and I could feel that the creature is suppressing her as she cannot move. I turn to Ina to check if she is seeing what I could see and she is. Eventually, my young-self closes her eyes then opens them again. This time, her eyes are fierce and fixed at the creature. Then she holds both arms of the creature and resists it as I did. All the lamps in my room lit up, even the fire pit.
"What are you?" The creature weakly says.
"Go away." She replies and the old hag vanished into thin air, as Ina sweeps in.
The same occurrence I had on the nook by my window had happened to me years ago when I was young which obviously, I barely manage to remember.
"At first I thought you were just like any other pyro child but..." Ina speaks but stops and looks at me. "A pyro never used fire as their companion. A pyro could never resist any dark spirit that easy unless you use other magicks. Void magicks. I have never used void magicks before so neither taught you how. You were able to fight it with your own hands, without learning it, Era. That makes you something else."
"I– I have the capability of seeing someone's some memories when I touch them. I visited yours after one incident. These are what I saw that I decided to erase them in your memory. Anything that will link you to being a potential for the initiation or that will gain attention."
From my room, Ina changes the setting to a trail near the waterfall basin at the foot of Lyons Mountains. This is where Dia and I used to play. Where she would practice and learn her magicks while I am watching and most of the time, would let her do tricks on me. I remember this place. I remember myself slipped on one of the rocks down to the stream and the resulted leg injury wouldn't let me swim. I was drowning and Dia saved me. It was a happy ending for me. That time Dia learned her healing power. But after that day, Dia refused to go again near the basin.
"6!5!4!3!2!1!"
We were playing hide and seek that time and I am the seeker.
"Here I go, Dia!"
The young-me starts her search, leaving no trees and bushes be overlooked. Her pace leads her to the waterfall stream and bends to look beyond it as Dia always plays with her tricks that includes hiding beneath the water. I recall that moment I decided to go back. I was disappointed with not instantly finding her so I chose to look near the forest but I tumbled to a rock which led me to slide down to the stream. But what really happened conflicts with my memory.
I still decided to go back and didn't fall over but was called instead.
"Era." It was just a whisper but the young-me heard it.
"Dia?" She asks back but got no words of reply.
"Have you learned new tricks again?" She inquires again then small giggles filled the entire place. She goes back to the stream. Lies down on the bed of rocks and stares at it.
"Dia?"
She saw Dia under the water and seeing the reflection of her best friend, the thought of winning excites her.
"Boom, Dia!" She yells. "Boom!"
Dia smiles as she slowly backing up to the surface of the water when a shout startled the young-me.
"Era!!"
She turns to where the shout came from. Out of the woods, back to where the game started.
"Game is over!!" The voice shouts. It was Dia's voice.
The young-me looks back at the smiling Dia in front of her, confusing her further.
"Who are you?" She asks, recognizing the person she is talking with was a sham.
Dia's impostor draws an impassive expression replacing her friendly smile. Her creepy vacant stare brings horror and freezes the young-me. But not until when the impostor grabs her arm that she screams out loud.
"Shhh." The impostor says then forcibly drags her down under the water.
"This is not the second time that you were attacked by a spirit. But this is the worst that I decided to erase all your memories with them, even if it reached my capacity." Ina speaks.
The real Dia soon comes over and notice her best friend yearning for help below the stream. She dives in, reaches for her drowning best friend and quickly grabs her away from the spirit, as she made the water her fellow and against their enemy. She throws strong current at the spirit that hinders it from catching them but it was able to hold young Era's feet and pulls her down. Right away, Dia creates a small whirl to confuse the spirit's track who then loses its grip on my young self. Dia and Era, due to the escape, swiftly back up. Though both out of breath, the two continuously swim back to the nearest bank. Dia made it first and stretched her arms to help the young-me, but the spirit drags her down again.
This time, however, the young-me starts to resist and fights the spirit. Kicking and forcibly taking out spirit's hold on her by herself while Dia jumps into the water again, releasing strong tides and creates a small maelstrom that eventually pulls the spirit along with my young-self. Both vanished into Dia's eyes. What was left was the small swirl that slowly turns into a massive one. Dia meditates to try to calm it but was too late. The pull of tides prevails to be wild and Dia knew that she has to be onshore now to be safe.
"This convinced me to erase them all, Era."
Ina changes the scene. From Dia's perspective into mine.
I am consistently opposing the spirit every moment that it follows and grabs me down as I get a chance to escape. But it's stronger than me that, eventually, an instant and powerful pull from it cuts my consciousness. Now, the spirit slowly enfolds me in its arms. She embraces me and I take a closer look.
This is the only time when I completely grasp the spirit's physique. It's a child, of age with me and it's a she. Her dress was evidently torn. Shredded. Just like her body with several raw severe flaws and cuts— all evidence of abuse. She has no eyes but she is crying with blood. She's smiling which shows her full black teeth. Her hair floats beautifully against the current as she places her head on my left shoulder and effortlessly, moves me down. But everything stops when strangely, my eyes open up.
My once frail arms grip her head and turn it to my view. The spirit's movements stopped. All ceased but the furious flows. The progressions continuously state its feral around us but I stay still as if I am breathing under the water. I just vacantly stare at the spirit I am holding.
"Dia thought she created that dangerous whirls, but it was you Era," Ina speaks beside me.
The spirit's smile vanishes. Wide mouth opens, she created long pitchy screams. She rebels my hold as she recognizes pieces of her arms slowly fading, associating with the flow. Her uncontrollably head hates my clasp and is shaking. Until she, soon, comes to naught. Her remains that were like silver ashes emerge along the riptides before it stops and goes back to normal. I saw it all and tears run down my cheeks before I go back to my faint state. Then, the set changes back into my room.
"You created that fatal kind of destruction— a power only an advanced initiate can do an attempt and it is not a fire. You can control fire and water. Two elements, Era. No one does that. No one has. It all came naturally. So natural that sometimes it's beyond of your control. From your core. You could diminish a dead, there's no doubt to a living one and that scares me the most." Ina explains.
I am speechless. I blacked out. I am still lost of that young-me crying. It must have been a burden to my youth to know what I am. I kind of relieved Ina erased them.
"I removed just of your memory. Not your magicks." Ina stops and sighs. "It is still there."
"Why didn't you tell me about you?"
I asked her of question I can only deliver.
"Erasing out your memories pushed me near to my limit. I am close to obsolescence. There's no sense of telling after that." She responds.
Tired of everything, I ask no more.
"And now, we need to get some advice."
"To whom?"
"To my friend on North."