"Show me Stina Heks," I said clearly. It buzzed, and I waited, for what felt like an hour. Finally it buzzed again.

   I slumped down in my seat as the screen of my Imparter went a milky golden colour.

   Why was no one answering? This was weird. But weird just happened to be typical of the Black Swan. I guess I would have felt just as wary, if everyone else had replied immediately, with perfectly clear, and easy to understand answers. But even this seem different. I brushed away the thoughts.

   I laid down in bed, and closed my eyes, trying to sleep. If it was going to be midnight when we met up with the Black Swan, and the meeting was a few hours long, it would be early morning by the time I got home. But I was too hyped about the meeting to rest. I got up, and instead I laid on my fluffy carpet. Feeling comfortable on the cushy ground, I rolled around on my flaredon fur carpet, letting flames tickle my finger tips. They sparkled across the flaredon fur, without igniting the fire-proof hide.

   I wondered what I would be doing right now if Mr. Forkle had never activated my ability. Would my life have been as uncertain as it was at that point? Would I have known everything I knew then? Or would I have already manifested naturally? My life would surely be different without my ability. Though I loved fire, and it's beauty and power, I wished I had manifested as an Empath. It would have made my time with Mom, so much easier. Knowing her feelings, and what emotion was prompting them, would have made even just chatting with her, much more enjoyable.

   For a moment, that feeling of crazed anger at the unfairness of the world, washed over me. What would my life have been like if Mom had not fallen. If she had been completely fine. And despite how hard I tried to act like everything was normal, I was angry at how abnormal my life was. Angry at Mom, for hitting her head. Angry at Dad, for not doing something to keep her from falling off the balcony. Angry at the stupid builders of the house, for making the balcony so high.

   But it all passed. And that moment of anger was replaced with guilt. It wasn't Mom's fault. It wasn't Dad's fault. And it definitely wasn't the builder's fault.

   Sobs broke out in the room beside me, and I stood up. Feeling down I rushed out to my mother's room. Dad was already there. Mom was on her bed, hiding under the covers sobbing. Dad pulled back the covers, to reveal my mom, with her face shoved in a pillow, sobbing.

   "Caprise, what's wrong." It wasn't really a question. Like Dad was accepting that both nothing and everything was wrong.

   "I'm sorry," she said into the pillow. "I wish I could be better. I wish I could be a better mother and wife, I just—Marella, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" She took the pillow off of her face, and looked up at Dad.

   "Marella, please go grab the Mallowmelt," he told me wearily, sighing, and sitting down on the bed next to Mom.

   Mallowmelt was our code word for Mom's calming elixir. She doesn't like the elixir, and gets crazy when she knows she's going to have to take it, so we had to make up a code. I nodded, and obediently headed downstairs. I grabbed the vial, and climbed back upstairs. When I came back up, Mom was in Dad's arms, weeping quietly. I handed the elixir to Dad, and he poured it into a glass of water on Mom's bedside table. Swirling it in the cup, he waited a few moments, before giving the bronze-flecked liquid to Mom.

   "Water will help," he murmured soothingly to her, handing her the cup. I watched from the doorway, as she drank it. Her face scrunched up, and her mouth opened—a retort on the tip of her tongue. But they she slackened. She murmured for a few more moments, before drifting off to sleep. Dad and I sighed in unison, and I went back to my room.

   I packed up a bag, as it was only an hour until I had to go. After packing, I closed my eyes one last time, but sleep didn't come. I checked I had everything that I needed, I scrawled a quick note to Dad, saying I was going to hang out with my friends, and grabbed my Leaping Crystal. I wished that it were true. How easy life would have been, if I could have just spent a night talking, and doing stuff with my friends. Like before. Before Sophie came to the Lost Cities. When school, and talking to cute boys were my biggest problems.

   Finally, glancing at the time once more, I pulled out my crystal for Loanmore. When I had informally joined the Black Swan, they gave me crystals for all the capitals, including Loanmore, and I had kept it a secret from my parents.

   I stepped out onto my railed balcony, and held it up to the moon. Stepping forward, I felt the cool, yet reassuring moonlight embrace me, holding onto me, as it pulled me along through the cold night air. I was whisked away.