Maddox's heart plummeted, a sudden pounding shaking and holding him captive at the same time. He couldn't contact his mom. There were too many barriers to cross, too many bridges he had hoped to burn. Internet was only found in a single library and the Squadron Headquarters, and even if it was easy to access, he wouldn't have the courage. All he had was the fire he left behind with her.

Maddox stumbled back, crashing into the balcony railing as excuses raced to escape his lips. "But...I don't have a phone." His words poured like an angry river, more dangerous the longer he was forced to speak. "She's on the other side of the planet!"

"It's okay." Kadri seemed oblivious to his panic, distracted by his own wild thoughts. He never seemed like he was completely there, so lost in his own interpretation of the world, that it was impossible for Maddox to see past his lopsided grin and into his twisted mind. "You don't need either of those. The thing is, I think you've got a gift."

"A gift?" His voice rose to a high pitch, embarrassingly squeaky as he threw the word around in his head. He had been different all his life, an outcast from the moment fiery flames burst from his palms, but at least he was acceptable here. The last thing he wanted was to stand out again. "Can't I just figure out Alfheim before I find out I'm the 'chosen one' or something!?"

"Chosen one?" Kadri's tone drifted through the air like watercolors, swirling on tangents and with no rush to get to the point. "That's not really a thing, or at least not anymore." He smiled the same lopsided grin that drove Maddox insane, his words only twisting the riddles more. Kadri spun to face a flock of leatherbacks on the horizon, each one slowly drifting like leaves to the deck.

Maddox felt his fingers tighten around the rim of the balcony, watching as hundreds of little wings began to flutter down to the space around them. They squeaked like rubber balls, tiny wings mixing up Maddox 's thoughts like a blender. His brain stumbled across the idea of his mom, lifting his eyes to Kadri only a few feet away.

And while Maddox was drowning in an endless sea of wings, Kadri was floating on top of them with a joyful grin. Even Penny had jumped off his ear, chatting with her friends in broken clips of Kadri's laughter.

Maddox slammed his eyelids shut, his fingers shaking against the rusted metal, memories driving the flames he suppressed back to his hands. He just wanted out, out of Alfheim, out of California, out of the world where everyone expected him to be something he wasn't...

"I can't just talk to my mom!" His eyes snapped open as the entire scene came to a halt. Wings fluttered to the ground, flames sputtered dyingly from the tips of his fingers, and Kadri's lopsided grin faded to a stare. The words came across more brutal than he had meant to, dying flames dispersing like his confidence as a heavy breath escaped his lips. He had never meant to offend what little family he had built.

Kadri nodded his head as waves of relief flowed through Maddox. "I know." He mumbled the words, lost in a memory that made Maddox think that he was speaking from experience. Kadri stared down at the crowds of leatherbacks all across his balcony, lost in their silent flutter of wings. "Family can be...difficult, but it's not going to work if it's not a blood relative. Otherwise, it'd be too hard to tell if you have the gift or not."

"What gift even is this?" Maddox heaved a breath as several leatherbacks stirred, a chorus of 'gifts' echoing through the air. Deep in his pocket, he could feel his fingers frantically wrapping around the string of beads that never left his side.

Kadri let the wobbly grin slide onto his face, his eyes brightening with life. "You can read people's minds, Maddox."

Maddox stared blankly, hardly even budging as Penny chirped excitedly. "You can read minds, Maddox."

"Shut up Penny!" His words felt like daggers as he swatted at the dragon. Leatherbacks jumped at his feet, flustered and frantic. "I can't read minds! I can't even control the light inside of me! And why does it have to be my mom?"

Kadri shrugged his shoulders as the whirlwind of dragon wings stirred at his feet. "You could try your dad I guess..."

"No!" His words were falling down a slippery slope as Penny floated over to join her friends, a chorus of no's echoing through the crowd.

                                                                no     no            no       no             no          no

                                                                             no                         no           no                   no

                                                                   no         no           no                             no

                                                                                                                           no

"See!" They all agree with me!" He shot desperately, all his argument fading away. Maddox tightened his fist around the beads, searching for any kind of argument. "Why can't I just talk to my friends from high school, or my teachers, or Rosa..."

Maddox felt the lie well up in a fierce fiery burn, as painful as the fire that tore him apart before. He couldn't care for Rosa. He couldn't care for the old maid who took care of his parents' mansion. In fact, he was supposed to hate her.

He hated every way she tried to protect him and keep him out of trouble. He hated how she was a poor excuse for an absent mother, and he hated how much she tried to fill the role.

But worst of all, he hated how much she loved Alex, how Rosa would spend hours teaching him how to build a garden so he could get outside, or taught him about history and math and everything his parents thought would cause him to burst into flames. He hated how she made sure he always ate or comforted him when he was determined that the scorch marks on the carpet were his fault.

And on their tenth birthday, he hated how Rosa gave them each a handmade rosary and told them God loved them and Alex began to believe in everything Maddox knew was never true.

But she had given Alex hope, and Maddox could never let anyone know that was why he loved her. He may have cared about Rosa, but the Maddox he was supposed to be didn't.

Maddox raised his eyes to Kadri, the flurry of leatherbacks finally settling around him. He just wanted to know Kadri hadn't caught on, hadn't seen through his lies. As Maddox tended to notice, Kadri had a way of bringing the truth out of him.

"Who's Rosa?" Kadri asked as the curiosity of a child settled over him again. Frantically, Maddox threw the name of the maid back and forth in his mind, trying to find the best way to hide his mistake.

"I'll...contact my mom." He mumbled halfheartedly. It was a sick, terrible risk, but one he was willing to take if it drew Kadri's attention away from the truth.

Just as he expected, Kadri's eyes lit up as he straightened his stance, somehow full of energy at the idea. "Okay, first, close your eyes." His voice was tight with excitement as Maddox did as he said. Plunged into darkness, he waited anxiously for the next instruction.

"Now, imagine her face, her voice, just...imagine her." Maddox forced the image of his mother into his mind, every flawless curve of her face, every perfectly straight strand of hair. She looked like an off-brand Barbie doll, her perfection too flawed to even be the slightest bit pretty.

He tried to disguise the bitter taste in his mouth as Kadri's eccentric voice continued. "Deep breaths...."

....Do you see her?