Hello, good afternoon (it's 7pm on this side).

So, yeah, bring on the hate. Fuck it. I know this was supposed to come out on Sunday, but it didn't. What are you gonna do about that? Wanna know what went down? Fine. I got sick. I got laryngitis, I barely can speak, and I've been off work for almost a week now. Yeah, sure that give me more time, but who can post a chapter when you just can't stop coughing?!

The next chapter will come out on this Sunday, without a doubt (not gonna promise cuz I don't know what tomorrow has for me) but, if everything goes well, it should come out Sunday. I repeat, THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL COME OUT ON SUNDAY. Thank you for those who've had hope and faith in me, and special thanks to my senpai, for supporting me.

REVIEW ANSWER TIME!

- LadyDiamond92, thanks for being here for me, you really are the best. And I will shortly reply to your PM, lemme just post this. I'm glad you liked last chapter, you are the best, and trust me, there will be plenty of ZanderXMalia moments ;)

- eroticlad11, you were never a pain in the ass, sweetie... I'm glad I can turn you into the huge teddybear that you really are. How tall are you again? Remind me, please.

In this chapter, we're gonna see the meaning of the mysterious words that Malia has been speaking 'the fire has been playing with me'! Read ahead to find out, and that is it for today,

ON THE FIC!


Chapter 7: Blue Fire.


Malia looked around before sitting on an old desk, eyeing her surroundings. It was dark inside, and the only source of light appeared to be a small window and Zander's fire. She took a deep breath and stood up, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. Zander seemed to take notice of such, so he flashed her a smile and told her everything was going to be fine. She seemed to relax, at least in Zander's ears, but an unusual shade of red showed up in her cheeks. She stood up and took a few steps in the mage's direction, nodding.

"So, the first thing that we're going to do is teach you how to not fear your power, okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay. What is it that you fear?" he asked, handling her the cup.

"I don't know. I'm not scared of many things." She said, scratching her head.

"Okay. Just remember. If you get very scared, keep in mind that it's only a dream."

"I'm not a frightened little girl, Zander." Malia smirked, grabbing the cup and drinking it all in one gulp. After a few seconds, she shrugged and said "I'm not feeling any diff-"

She opened her eyes and gasped. She was no longer in the room with Zander. She was in the middle of a deep dark forest, and not even the moon showed itself on the sky that night. The leaves rustled in the soft breeze, making the female shiver at the vision of fear that the forest showed her. She took a step forward, gasping when she stepped on a hole filled with mud. Laughing at her own silliness, she continued to walk forward, wondering why she was taking so short steps.

The cracks of the wood scared her and relaxed her at the same time. It was scary because anyone would feel that small shiver when in a dark forest with no possible light, but relaxed her because it reminded her of home; the dry leaves and pieces of bark laying around, crushing when her foot stepped on it. Out of the sudden, it started raining. Small drops of water fell on her skin, increasing with the passing time. Seconds later, it wasn't just soft drops. It was a heavy rain, drenching her to the bone. And then, a lightening stroke.

A scream escaped her mouth before she could stop it. Right in front of her, for less than a second, the scene was lightened up, showing her human figures that appeared to be walking in her direction. Without a second thought, the woman turned around and started running, trying to escape the figures. But the further she went, the closer the figures seemed to be. But she kept running. Running against the rain, running against the grain, trying to get away. She tripped a few times, getting her clothes and her hair all muddy, but she didn't care. She had to get away.

Eventually, she hid under a tree root and closed her eyes. She could almost hear the crushing of the dry leaves under their feet, the rustle of the bushes against their movement. And she kept her eyes closed. Her heart beat fast, faster than it ever beat, and she found herself admitting 'I'm scared'. It was a dangerous thought, but that at the same time kept her alive. It was no use to act proud right now. She needed all of her to survive. And she sat there, with her eyes closed and forehead against her knees, trying to keep warm.

"Damn it… Why did I had to agree with that stupid moon elf?" she asked herself, squeezing her legs tighter against her chest "I'm so cold."

It came to her mind that she could use her fire to warm herself, but she quickly discarded the thought. The last thing she needed was to burn the entire forest. And then again, that wouldn't be so bad. It could destroy the creatures out there looking for her. 'But it would burn you too, stupid' she though 'You don't wanna die, right?'. It was true. She didn't. But she wasn't seeing any way out. She saw herself as a brave person, but right now, even a child would be braver than her.

Because she had lied. She was scared of something. Something that she thought it was ridiculous, but that was truthful. She was afraid of the dark. Darkness for her was the most terrifying thing ever. If she wasn't alone, then it would be fine. But if she was… Then trouble rose. It was like an invisible hand suffocating her. It kept her from breathing, it kept her from moving, and it dragged her with it towards the darkness. Malia absolutely despised darkness. Taking a deep breath, she decided to open her eyes. But as soon as she did…

"AAAAHHH!"

Right in front of her, peeking from over the root she was hiding under, there was a figure. The lightening illuminated it in a way that clearly showed Malia that the shape was indeed human. Hiding herself again, she started to cry. It was no use. She was going to die. 'It's just a dream, it's just a dream' she chanted in her head, but it didn't work. She could feel the warm breath on her skin, and she was dying of fear. She was going to die. She was sure. But, in one final draw of courage, she decided that she wanted to see the face of the figure over her, ready to kill her. So, taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and lighted her hand on fire.

She gasped. Right in front of her, face inches away from hers, was a fairy. A pale skinned fairy. Her full bright green eyes glowed, with no white zone nor pupil. Her freckles danced on her pointy nose, and her long pointy ears twitched. Her long platinum blond hair was tied in a braided ponytail, reaching the back of her knees, and she was wearing a short pink dress, thigh high white socks and pink flats with cute white pompoms. Her small hand held a blue rose, and she handled it to Malia.

The female took it, amazed and stood up, looking around. Her fire was still burning, allowing her to see in the dark. And she saw. The figures that she once saw as frightening, now she viewed them as they really were. Two little baby centaurs peeking from the each side of a tree, a harpy peeking from the branches, eyeing Malia curiously with her hawk eyes, even a tiny troll snuck a peek under a rock. Malia got up and walked to the troll, patting his head. Flickering her fire off, she gasped, seeing the dark forest again, with the scary shadows, but once her hand was glowing again, she saw what the forest truly hid.

She laughed.

She laughed and walked around, smiling at the beauty that the darkness hid, spinning around with the light bathed pixies, humming with the birds and running with the animals. She jumped with the rabbits, singed with the sirens, moved with the wind. Flew with the jade dragons, rode with the deer, climbed with the minotaur, ran with the kitsunes, watched the clear skies with the harpies. And never, not even once, the fire in her hand was put out. And never, not even once, it hurt.

She opened her eyes to see a grey sky. She sat up on the ground and looked around. She no longer was on that magical forest that brought her heart so much joy. No. She was in what it appeared to be an abandoned village, houses falling apart, decomposing corpses lying around in the main street with no care. She sighed and lit her hand on fire, smiling when she saw the light blue flame caressing her fingers, and feeling no tingle of pain at all. She got up and tried remove the most amount of mud off her clothes, sighing when she realized that such was an impossible task.

"Where am I this time?" she asked herself, watching the corpse of a young girl decompose in front of her eyes, a worm popping up from her eye socket and sliding down to enter again through the nose. "Oh, that's nasty."

She heard the sounds of the vultures flying around, feeding themselves of a dangling corpse, crucified on a metal bar stringed onto a wooden bark, six feet above ground. Malia felt like throwing up, watching the corpse's belly ripped open and the intestines spurting all out. Looking away from the chocking sight, she walked down the muddy road, ignoring the rain that started to pour. She heard her footsteps echoing in the empty village and somehow that scared her. Not to the bone, like darkness, but enough to cause a chill.

"Why does it has to rain in every dream? Damn it!" she exclaimed, kicking a skull.

When she did that, a soft snap was heard. She turned around and saw nothing. Nothing was out of place, nothing moved. She looked down at her feet and she saw only mud, so it could not had been her making the snapping sound. Frowning, she picked up a rock and threw it into the shadows of one house. It made a clanging sound, like it had hit metal, and then nothing more. She was about to admit that she had imagined the sound when another snap was heard. And another. And another. And just like that, the skeletons that were lying around in the dirt started to rise and shape, their empty eye sockets gazing into Malia's eyes.

"Really? Zombies?" she asked out loud "I'm probably the least imaginative person in this world."

Rolling her eyes, Malia chuckled. But soon enough she was letting out an indignant sound when one of the skeletons threw the rock back at her. When the skeletons started to close in on her, Malia started running away. But the more she ran, the more the skeletons advanced towards her. And once again she found herself chanting 'It's just a dream, it's just a dream'. But such didn't allow her to wake up and get away from the undead people that chased her.

"You're dead! How come you're walking?! And if you say Necromancy, I'ma burn you to the ground!" she exclaimed "Wait… That is actually a good idea."

She climbed up the large stairs of a big mansion and entered the main hall, closing the rotting wooden door behind her. She stopped running and lit her hand on fire, hearing the rough sound of bone crashing against the wood. She gulped. She had to be able to do this. It was her only chance. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, allowing her mind to relax and to focus on her gold: to get this to work. Opening her mouth, she spoke, softly:

"I need your help. I know I'm not the best at controlling you, but right now, I need your help. I'm not afraid of you anymore, but I know that I can't control you yet. Can you help me? Help me get rid of all these zombies. Teach me how to control you." Taking a small break, she said "Great. Now I'm talking to the fire. I've officially gone mad! This is just great!"

The door broke down and the skeletons rushed in, tripping in their own pieces of decadent flesh. Malia almost threw up at the loathsome sight, but kept herself and her gut strong. The corpses started surrounding her, closing in her exits until there were no more. Malia felt herself getting sick to the core, the foul smell making her stomach do back flips. The view of the dark putrid flesh made her sick, and the worms coming out of their holes were repulsive. Malia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, ready to face her fate.

But instead of cold she felt warm. She felt warmth spreading through her body, from her heart to her fingertips, to her toes, to the tips of her bronze hairs. And she felt herself rising from the kneeled position that she was. She opened her eyes to see the corpses of the walking undead burning with her fire. She could feel its power running through her veins, spreading the heat. She thought about increasing the size of the flame and it did. The flame grew, involving the ones that were further back. She thought about decreasing it, and the flame obeyed. And, with a smirk, she said:

"Let's blow this thing up."

She woke up lying of a dirty floor. Dusty, but not muddy. She was inside of a house. A really old and big house. She opened her eyes and gazed at the crystal candelabrum above her, covered with spider webs. Malia sighed. Another dream. Great. She was sure that no candelabrum was in the room she and Zander stood. Steps started to be heard, and Malia stood up with a jump. But she saw nothing. So, she lit her hand on fire and threw a punch at the candelabrum, making a small flame shoot from her fist and hit the object, erupting it in blue flames.

"Yes, it works!" she exclaimed "I love you, fire."

"GET HER‼" a female voice shouted, and multiple screams were heard next, making Malia jump.

A dozen of people ran to her, all of them with weapons on their hands, ready to kill her. Malia did nothing, finding nothing wrong with the people, until she gazed into their eyes. Full black eyes, like they were possessed by demons. Malia stretched her arm and launched a flame, forming a line and hitting the ones in the front line. She started to take them down, but one scream tore her out of her dead path. Looking at the direction of the scream, she saw a man, eyes wide open, begging her not to kill him.

"Wait… You're… You're not possessed." She realized, shouting into the air "Are you serious?! You expect me to look into their eyes to know which ones do I have to kill?"

Grabbing the throat of a man that had pushed a dagger down her shoulder, she watched him erupt in flames before her eyes. Grabbing the dagger and pulling it out, she slid open the stomach of another possessed, before throwing the dagger at another man's neck. Malia found a non-possessed one between the others and pulled her behind herself, kicking one in the stomach. The woman thanked her and, once Malia opened a path for her, creating another line of fire, she ran away, screaming a thank you.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? Just kill you all?" she asked, frowning. And then, out of the blue, she heard a child scream.

"A kid?" she asked out loud. "Lemme guess… Protect him."

And she was right. Opening path towards the end of the room, the young woman saw a child guarded by three bulky males, all armed from head to toe. Growling, Malia threw herself at them, kicking and punching until one of them was on the ground. Turning to the other two, she smirked and lit her arms on fire, sighing when she felt a comfortable warmth and not a burning heat. Opening her mouth, she declared:

"You know… Iron melts easily."

And putting her hands on their helmets, she watched them scream in agony while the iron melted against their skins, killing them painfully. Eyeing them when they were on the floor and shaking the melted iron off her hands, she smiled and took a knee in front of the little boy. Giving him a hand for him to take, Malia assured him that nothing would go wrong, that she wouldn't hurt him and that he could trust her. "I'll protect you." She said. And the second their skins touched…

Malia opened her eyes. She was back in Airdan's house. She was lying on the couch. Frowning and sitting up, she saw no one. She tried calling out for anyone, but her voice wouldn't leave her lips. 'Great' the blue eyed girl thought 'I have no voice.' Standing up, she heard the door open and she saw Seena walking in. The second their eyes crossed, the Lith frowned and rolled her blue eyes. Malia was about to ask what happened when she spoke:

"You're still here? I thought you had already left. I means, you do know that no one likes you, right? I means… You're weird. Uncontrollable. Dangerous. Do you still believe that there is still someone that wants you here? I means… No. That's impossible. I can't believe that I wasted Seena's beautiful healing power on you. Maybe I should remove the soothing spell from the incantation and let you suffer what you deserve."

'Seena… No. This isn't Seena. Seena is a nice girl, she would never say this kind of thing to someone…' Malia thought, gasping. And as soon as those words were completed, Seena grew and darkened, turning into Diego.

"Oh. Rogue. Thaga. Malia. What should I call you? I mean, you had more names than a character. Are you unsure about whom you're trying to be? Thaga, the helper? The smooth talker, that seduced children into walking down her path of darkness and thievery?"

'No! They chose where they stood! I never forced them into anything!' Malia tried, but failed. Diego only chuckled and continued:

"Or perhaps Rogue? The cold ass bitch, that didn't care about anyone? The minx, that brought legions of men on their knees with a simple look? The powerful, rebel, outstanding Rogue? The woman that, more than once, I shared my quarters with?"

'Shut up! It was just one time and we were both drunk out of our minds!' Malia gulped 'You promised to never talk about that!'

"Or Malia? The simple, coward Malia? The little girl that I found roaming through the deserts, with half of an arrow on her back, the little girl that I brought home and took care of, the little girl that fell in love with me?"

'I am not in love with you! I care for you! I was just a kid, I didn't know what love was!' the young woman shouted mentally, cringing at the sound of his words. But he didn't speak more. His body started to reshape once more, and Aida smirked at her.

"Hey, twin! That's what you want me to call you, right? Well, you see, I don't think you deserve such title. I mean… Being a rogue is something really unique and you spent your entire life hiding from it!"

'I just wanted to fit in…' Malia murmured.

"You don't deserve to be called a rogue. Potions? Herbs? Medicine? Risky and new interventions? Are you kidding me? Those people are called cowards, not rogues. I never cared that I was different. People like me for being different. But you? You try to melt into someone else, you try to become something that you're not. They're afraid of you? Let them be. Lose control. Kill a couple of thousand. It isn't something I've never done before."

'But… I don't wanna hurt anyone…' the bronze haired girl closed her eyes, opening them when she saw the figure twitching once more. And, short seconds later, the one standing in front of her…

Was Zander.

'Please no.' she begged.

"No? No to what? No to you being an embarrassment for the entire race of mages? No to you being a disgrace for the ones trying hard to reach their academic states in the righteous way? No to you using others for your own benefit? No to you being a liar? Claiming that you don't remember when you have all the answers you need to move on."

'I don't have all the answers I need to move on' Malia assured 'I don't know who I am. I don't know how my parents are. I don't even know my last name! Please stop, Zander.'

"Stop? I'm just getting started! You're a shame for us! Calling yourself a mage. That's just ridiculous. A real mage is powerful. A real mage has presence. A real mage has the strength of spirit to overcome the obstacles in front of him. You? You have to ask for help. To your fire, nevertheless. Can't control your powers? Tche. Pathetic. I've never known anyone like you before. And right now, I'm sorry that I met you."

'Zander…' Malia whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

And she opened her eyes. She was kneeling on a dusty floor, her eyes wide open and wet with tears. Those same ones fell on the ground, creating perfect wet circles, more and more constant. Her hair covered her face, working like a curtain. She felt her fire waving around her, the young woman being right in the middle of the flame. The blue blazes graced her skin, caressed it even, but Malia found no comfort in their touch. Only in…

"Malia? Are you okay?"

The bronze haired female looked up to see Zander looking down to her, concern written all over his face. A good look into his baby blue eyes was enough for Malia to jump and wrap her arms around his neck, shedding all the tears behind her closed eyes. Zander supported his hands on each side of her hips, but when he felt the girl tremble under his hands, he wrapped his arms around her, sighing when he felt her tighten her hold in him. They stood like that for a couple of minutes, Malia calming down little by little. She stood on the tip of her toes, totally leaning onto Zander while the male bowed a little, trying to compensate their height differences. When she finally pulled away, she declared:

"Don't you ever do that to me. Don't you ever break my heart like that…"

"Malia… Your eyes…


A/N: There you have it, folks! Let me know your thoughts on the comments below. I hope you had a good time and lots of love from this weirdo,

LoneeWolf :)