Finding out Hero to be a Blessing was eye-opening, but that? That opened another can of worms. Or existential crisis. Yeah, that worked.

One couldn't just do that. Fire didn't erupt on your skin and bow to one's will. The Sómata's ability didn't work like that. Nothing did.

No, that's a lie. When Synoliká - or Elláda - still believed in them, the gods conjured fire without breaking a sweat. But Hero wasn't a god. She was a mortal. Right?

Hallie peered at her hands, eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to solve her world's greatest mystery.

Miscenus floated in a parallel state of mind, staring at his arms, waiting for them to catch on fire, finally giving him an opportunity to scream. He sat the closest to the fire; he saw it reach and flare and burn. It was small, the fire, but it encompassed everything.

Perialla walked ahead of the group and kept her ashen face down. Not literally ashen, but Hallie got the point. Even she stayed silent after the fire faded and Hero looked to them for approval.

Nikas trailed behind Hallie like an uncertain dog. Every so often he would prod her toward Perialla whenever she got off course. He did a similar thing with Miscenus, dragging him by the arm when his pace slowed to a snail's.

Normally, Hallie would tease him for taking on the role of their personal tour guide, but he was handling the situation better than any of them. Plus, she was too busy solving the greatest mystery ever.

Hallie brought her left hand up to the sky, watching the bright rays of sunlight and dust drift through her fingers.

Could her hand burst into flame? She kind of wanted to. It sounded painful, but the possibilities and risks were too much to ignore.

Her hand warmed in the sun. Hallie chanced a glance back at Nikas. He wasn't paying attention to her, just dragging Miscenus along while he attended a vexatious meeting in his mind.

She held her breath and stared at her hand with such intensity she surprised herself, willing a spark into existence to crackle and pop.

Nothing happened.

Hallie sighed. What did she expect, anyway? Maybe Hero was a god. Or a demigod. Come to think of it, she never talked about her parents, despite still living with them. Odd...

Nikas nudged her, breaking Hallie from her conspiratorial trance. She looked around, spotted Perialla, and righted her path.

She was overthinking this. All of them were. When the Sómata got discovered, everyone panicked and blamed it on a curse or disease. Some still insisted.

What if Hero wasn't a Sóma? What if she was the beginning of a neoteric ability group? It seemed the most likely theory.

Hallie hummed and bounced on the balls of her feet. She skipped after Perialla, forcing Nikas and Miscenus to catch up. It was too much work to care about their now overworked cardiovascular systems, that fact clear by her blossoming grin.

She must appear crazy. It didn't bother her, though.

She just solved the world's greatest mystery.

---

Kirphis and Semele didn't look that different from their Sóma counterparts when they trudged through the door. Taryn, however, was chipper. Well, not chipper, per se, chipper compared to the overall mood of the room. Stoical or calm would be better, unbiased descriptions.

"Boy, do we have a story for you!" Taryn said, collapsing onto her chair. And therefore Perialla.

"Mmm..." Perialla reached out to pet her girlfriend's hair. Taryn preened under the recognition.

Semele, shockingly, wasn't watching Taryn. Instead, her eyes locked on Miscenus the moment he came into her view. He was still having a moment and thus unprepared when his sister hurled herself on top of him.

Huh, maybe she was paying attention to Taryn, after all.

Miscenus let out an involuntary grunt as Semele burrowed into the impromptu hug. "What the-"

"No swearing!"

He just stared at her, too flabbergasted to say anything else.

Kirphis sighed and plopped onto the floor next to the pair of siblings. "Rough day, huh?"

"You could say that again." Miscenus narrowed his eyes at Semele. "What's up with you? I thought I had 'boy cooties'."

Semele looked up at him. "You do. But I'll endure it if it means I can make the most of our time together."

Miscenus laughed, genuine and without strings attached. Hallie wondered when she last heard such a sound. It made her uncomfortable. "What prompted this kinda talk?"

"Oh, well, Laothoe is going to kill you, so-"

For the first time since Hero whipped out her fiery side, Perialla seemed to register outside stimuli.

"I'm sorry, what?" Nikas asked, his head snapping around to face Semele.

Semele continued, either not knowing what she said wrong or not caring. Hallie'd bet money on the second. "-I thought it'd be good to get one last hug. But don't worry about the cooties. Taryn said she has an antiviral medicine I can take."

Miscenus gaped at her. "I- What?"

Taryn winced and got up, leaving Perialla frozen in her seat. "Okay, that last part's on me. Not my most sensible suggestion." She cleared her throat. "And Laothoe isn't trying to kill you, Cenus. Ele's just being dramatic."

"Am not!" Semele pouted like a puppy that just got scolded by its owner. "She's going to kill all of us! Er, them." She jerked her head at Hallie and Nikas sitting on the couch.

"Why... Why us?" Hallie asked.

Once again, Kirphis sighed, though this sigh was tense. "She means Sómata. The Purities have this drug or something they're using to target and... and kill Sómata."

Hallie swallowed, pushing down the steady rhythm of her heart in her throat. What was going on? This became the most disconcerting and confounding and violent day - no, week; month; year - in her entire life way too fast. What did they get themselves into?

Semele hummed and glanced up at Miscenus. "So what happened on your guy's stalking mission?"

He blinked down at her until something clicked in his head. "Oh. Right. Um, it went... well?"

"Keep telling yourself that," Perialla mumbled.

"Aww, it couldn't be that bad!" Taryn said, leaning backward to perform a backbend because, as with everything else she did, "Why the heck not?"

"It actually wasn't that bad," Hallie said, earning a sharp look from Perialla. "Just a little shocking. It was a lot to take in."

Taryn tried to blow a strand of hair from her face. When that didn't work, she held it up with her hand. "What... was so... 'shocking'?" she asked, her body shaking from the strain.

Perialla reached out and grasped Taryn's wrist, lowering the girl to the ground. "You're going to hurt yourself." Taryn huffed in displeasure. "And Hero set her arm hair on fire."

Kirphis raised an eyebrow. "On purpose or...?"

"On purpose. But that's not what Hallie meant by 'shocking'. Hero used some sort of magic to light and control the fire."

Semele gasped and hid behind her hair. Hallie wondered if she was being dramatic to make a point or if she legitimately thought her hair would protect her from the supposed witchcraft.

Perialla wasn't finished. "She obviously didn't have permission to show us, she said so herself. We think she did it to get us to join her cult, but it was unclear if she actually wanted us to."

"That's really something." Kirphis leaned forward. "And she didn't get hurt?"

"No," Miscenus said.

Silence spread like the eye of a hurricane. It wouldn't linger, but for the moment, everything drifted through a quiet and precarious calm.

Hero's face flashed before Hallie's eyes, staring at her spark of creation with awe and elation. It was clear how proud she was of the embers crawling up her arm, jumping from hair to hair.

Hero had to be a mortal. Never mind that they didn't exist, no god would ever view their power with such naïve and unconcealed delight. Another ability group was the only probable explanation.

Unless there was more to a Sóma's ability than anyone knew.

The pieces started clicking together like the most satisfying puzzle ever. Hallie may doubt her answer, but she had yet to check her work.

As a rule, anything could catch on fire if it gets hot enough. All Hero would have to do is concentrate enough thermal energy in one spot, her arm, and a fire would spring forth.

To not burn herself, she would either levitate the fire above her arm, move the fire, or have it in a place where it couldn't hurt her. In other words, Hero intentionally kept the fire on her arm hair.

But how did she move it? Not to mention the sheer volume of energy needed to spark a fire.

Something else was going on here; something dangerous and damaging.

"Isn't this just fine and dandy?" Taryn chuckled darkly from her spot on the floor. "The Purities are dead set - pun strongly intended - on killing off the Sómata, and the Blessings discovered a new way to set themselves on fire! Lovely!"

"But!" she said, sitting up with a snap. "We have no reason to believe they'll use this new ability for evil. I say we worry about the Purities right now."

"'Worry about the Purities'? Taryn-"

"Ryn. You can call me Ryn, Phis."

"-Taryn. What are you planning?"

She sniffed at the blatant disregard of her nickname. "Well, I was going to propose we steal anything we can find on this 'drug' from Laothoe, but you're making me think you won't like that idea. Hmm, Phis?"

Was Hallie here for this? Heck yeah. Nikas must be rubbing off on her. Was that a good thing? Who knew.

"Taryn," Kirphis said. "You can't be seriously thinking about breaking into a serial killer's house and stealing from them."

"Why not?" Taryn stood and glared down at where Kirphis still sat. "We'd be saving a bunch of people from an early grave." She ran her hair through her fingers. "Plus, I can only imagine what the adrenaline rush would feel like."

"Adrenaline rush?- Taryn, this is not a game!"

"I know that!" Taryn snapped, a ruinous look swelling in her eyes. Oddly - terrifyingly? horrifyingly? - it suited her. "That's exactly why we need to do this! They're trying to - succeeding in killing mortals. We can stop this. They'll call us liars if we search for help, even if we get Hallie to do it."

Hallie shivered at the mention of her name. She was only one Kardián looking up at masses of them. No one would stand a chance, least of all her.

"All we need to do is steal their supply and hope they can't receive more. Simple!"

Kirphis pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not simple, nor is it a plan. That's an idea that will only get someone killed."

"Do you have a better idea, then?"

"We leave."

Hallie tensed, and Semele peaked out from behind her hair.

"We'll leave this wretched city behind," Kirphis said. "We'll leave and not turn back. We'll be safe. All of us."

Taryn stared at him in a strained silence. "That's a dumb idea, Phis."

"Yeah, Phis! A dumb idea."

Kirphis glared at her. "I'm starting to think you have a death wish."

"You know it!" Taryn grinned, and the tension defused. For now.

"But seriously, Phis. We're young and determined and reckless." She inched closer to him until she was but an inch away. "It's not an insult, it's biology. Our brains, as teenagers, aren't fully developed. And if you don't consider that I'll take full advantage and dig us all into an inescapable hole every chance I get, then you have no idea who I am."

"And I would sooner sell my soul than defy who I am. Which sounds exactly like something I would do."