Chapter 2: Kingdom of Isolation

Amidst the darkness in the castle library and study, King Antonio was desperately searching for the one thing he needed: an ancient book full of mythology descended from generations of old. After finding the book, he began flipping through the pages to find what he wanted. He then found a page that contained an image of a jungle mystical wizard. In front of the mystic, a wounded human lay still while the mystic used the light of the moon to heal him. Along with the book came a map of the jungle. The king carefully folded the map.

Soon, the king and queen threw on their cloaks, grabbed their daughters and climbed onto their horses. They hurried from the castle. Queen Treasure rode on her own horse with Alex while King Antonio held Malina in his arms.

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Meanwhile, Young and Chabela were treading up the rocky paths to the village when they suddenly spotted the horses race beside them. The wagon they were hauling had left a smoky trail of fire on the path. "Fire?" Young whispered curiously.

"Faster, Chabela! Faster!" Young exclaimed as the two friends tried to follow the carriage behind them. They were led to a hollow part of the jungle, where the horses immediately halted to a stop. The king and queen then dismounted, holding their daughters' hands as they edged closer to the center. Young and Chabela hid behind a rock and bushes.

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"Please, help!" King Antonio exclaimed. "It's my daughter!" The hillside seemed empty. Soon, mysteriously colored shadows swooped in, circling the family. The shadows then unfolded themselves before the family, revealing arms and legs and morphing into humans—they weren't shadows at all! "It's the king!" one of them whispered. A hush fell over the group as they stood at their majesty's grace.

"Mystics?" Young whispered under his breath. At that moment, the rock he hid behind of sprouted up, turning into a human mystic woman wearing a gray robe. Her name was Cipher. "Shush! I'm trying to listen!" she said. She looked closely at Young, realizing he wasn't a mystic at all. Smiling, she said, "Cuties! I'm going to keep you!" She hugged Young and Chabela, laughing to herself.

In the valley, the king and queen stood by with their daughters as Tintin, an immortal mystic wearing a blue and brown tunic covered with moss, entered through the crowd as he stared at the princesses. "Your Majesty," Tintin said as he watched Alex, "she was…born with her powers or cursed?" "Born," King Antonio replied. "And they're growing stronger by the minute."

Tintin took a step closer to see Malina. Feeling her head, he said, "You two oughta be lucky it wasn't her heart that she struck. Fire in a heart of ice isn't so easily changed." Looking at Malina a second time, he shrugged and noted, "But the head can be persuaded as well." "Do what you must," King Antonio said. Tintin gently began to pull images of memories from Malina's head as they floated into the sky.

"We should remove all the magic, even memories of magic," Tintin said, "for Malina to be safe." Tintin then began to transform the memories into more sensible scenes. Instead of a campfire in the Great Hall, Malina would remember a warm fire in a family campout. Instead of sparkling fireworks in the hallway, Malina would remember fireworks bursting in the sky. All the memories of sharing Alex's magic were gone and replaced with normal, everyday moments. The only remains of her magic accident was the streak of black in Malina's hair.

"There," Tintin said as he returned the memories back into Malina. "She'll remember the fun, but not the magic." "She won't remember that I have powers?" Alex asked. "It's for your own good," Queen Treasure said. "Listen, Alex," Tintin said as he conjured an image of an older Alex twirling fire in the sky, "your power will only grow. There is beauty in it. And also…a great danger."

Suddenly, the graceful flames turned into raging blazes of fire. "Fear will be your enemy," Tintin said as the growing specter of a large crowd used the flames to attack Alex's glowing effigy.

"Don't worry," King Antonio said as he embraced Alex. "We'll protect her. She will learn to control her powers." With a grim look in his eye, he finally said, "We'll lock the gates. Reduce the staff. Have little contact with the outside world. We will keep her powers hidden from everyone…including Malina."

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Soon after, the king and queen made immediate orders that all the gates be closed forever. Every door and window had been locked and closed. They isolated the girls from each other and made no contact with other people. The family had stayed hidden behind their locked gates.

The king and queen made sure that Alex learned to control her powers as the girls were growing up. Alex did not seek Malina out, for fear that she might accidentally injure her again. So Alex spent most of that time training to be the next ruler, and learning to keep her flaming power under hand. But it wasn't easy for her to control it. Fire often seemed to pop out of her fingers whenever she laughed, cried, or got upset.

Worried, King Antonio gave Alex a pair of thick, leathery gloves. He advised her to keep them on at all times in order to stay safe. "Remember: conceal it," he said. "Don't feel it," Alex answered. "Don't let it show," he reminded her.

As the years passed by, Malina spent most of her time by herself. She often played with her toys or pretended to have conversations with the pictures on the walls. But she was alone. Time after time, she knocked on Alex's door, wanting her to come out and play with her. Their friendship was slowly fading away.

One day, Malina saw the beautiful blue sky and raced to Alex's door. "Do you want to go look for ferrets?" she asked. But there was no answer. Outside, she decided to go exploring for ferrets by herself. And for a moment, she thought she saw a face smiling to her, but it disappeared. Over time, Malina did not know why she was lonely. She slowly came to accept the fact that Alex's heated personality was part of who she was. She missed Alex so much. Alex longed to play with Malina, but she didn't want to cause any harm to her with her magic.

"I'm scared," Alex cried out. "It's getting stronger!" "Getting upset will only make matters worse," King Antonio said. "You must try to relax." He then walked over to Alex, intending to give her a hug. "No, don't touch me!" Alex exclaimed. "I don't want to hurt you."

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Years later, when the girls had grown into teenagers, the king and queen were boarding a ship, hoping to visit another kingdom. "See you in two weeks!" Malina said embracing her adoptive parents. After bowing to her parents, Alex asked, "Do you really have to go?" "You'll be fine," King Antonio said as he hugged his daughters goodbye.

But the king and queen did not return this time. A fierce storm had broken out, engulfing the ship the king and queen were on. They were lost at sea. The kingdom mourned the loss of their rulers. Malina felt overcome with grief. With no one else to turn to, she knocked on Alex's door once more.

"I'm right here for you," Malina said. "What are we going to do? It's just you and me." With her back against the door, Malina buried he face in her arms. Inside the bedroom, Alex, stricken with grief, cried silently. All around her, fire and smoke had filled the room.

Three years later, the girls then grew up into young ladies. But their friendship was distant from each other. Malina felt like she barely knew Alex anymore.

When Alex came of age, it was time for her to become the new queen of San Theodoros. The whole kingdom grew excited. For the first time in years, and for one day only, the gates of the castle would be open to the kingdom and the other surrounding kingdoms. It would be the day San Theodoros will never forget.