For half a second, her spirit soared. For half a second, she felt free. For half a second, she felt like a wild flame ready to burn this town to the dust. Her spirit roared with that hungry flame in that half a second, but she was humbled soon enough, and her spirit was not the only thing to come tumbling to the ground.

It was so quick she barely knew anything had happened at all in the first place. A small pinch in her arm and she came plummeting to the dirt and rocks of the road. Her victorious train of thought was halted and instead replaced by a numb, black nothingness.

The last thing her brain could recall before all was lost to the black was a single sentence said by someone above her, "Dia... I think she's the one." And then her mind was gone.

***

Her eyes shot open with the speed of a bullet. Neha remembered the sentence, still fresh in her mind. She could not help but turn the words over in her head, rolling them through her brain trying to understand them.

The one? She is the one? How absurd! All she happened to be was a tiny creature with a habit of losing control. How could she be someone worth worrying about?

"Neha did not strain yourself over such questions. You do not know the answers. But I do..." The words hissed around her like a snake's tongue in the wind. The words hung in the air yet somehow, they found a way to sting.

The girl's head shot up, snapping back and forth, around where she was lying. Her eyes did not find a soul in the large room she was sitting in. She appeared to be sitting in a huge, empty, black place. It had plain black walls and plain black floors. There appeared to be no windows or even doors in the dark room. All was dark except for a skylight a few feet away from her that shone down onto the floor like a spotlight on a stage.

"Who are you?" Neha asked, pulling herself up to her feet and walking around a bit, searching for the voice.

"Ahh, you may have been told my name, but I am something very different to you..." The voice hissed, her voice coming from one wall and then another.

Neha walked around, looking behind roof supports and in the darkest corners, trying to find the voice.

"Well, what's your name, then?"

"Shh don't think... listen..."

Continuing to walk in circles around the large room, Neha was still unable to find the source of the voice. "Gosh darn it, where are you?" she cried, running around frantically in confusion and fear as she felt the breathing of the creature drew nearer.

"I am everywhere..." it hissed once more. Only this time, Neha could have sworn she had detected the noise directly next to her ear. She spun around only to find nothing. "I am the spirit of the Kellestri... Come, Neha, and sit in the light. There is something you must know before I can send your mind back to Merveille."

Her feet stopped her from running and carried her to the light where she sat down, cross-legged, like a young child ready to hear a story, the fear still pounding at her chest. She did not know why she was doing this, but for some reason, she obeyed anyway. It just felt... right. There was an undeniable force that implored her to obey.

"Listen..." it hissed, "before you are able to go to our Kellestri world and train for your mission, there are a few things you must know," the voice said, a little softer this time and less harsh.

"Mission, what is that?"

"Hush. Allow me to finish, girl. You are now a Kellestri, Neha, a warrior creature. Your whole purpose is to save the human race from itself." Its words stung the air, causing Neha to be unable to divert her attention to anything besides the knife-like words of the voice.

"How... do you know my name-"

"Hush, girl... Allow me to finish..." it interrupted. "Your kind have been doing this for millennia. You train here in Merveille and then the Nostro Lumine takes you to your 'assignment.'" Neha's eyes searched up the skylight for the voice, still hanging onto each word not because she wanted to, but instead because the words seemed to stick in her mind without any hope of being forgotten.

"When the Nostro Lumine believes you are prepared, she takes you to a human person. That human person is broken. Its petty soul needs our help to be free from whatever it is that traps their hearts. Whether its bullying, suicide, abuse, or even simply abandonment, it is our job to help the souls put their lives on track." Neha now stood up once again, still listening, but now looking around the room as well.

"In doing this, you will receive your 'litterae.' The litterae are the letters to your human names. Once you have your name, you can go home to your human life."

Neha stared at a wall with a blank expression covering her face. She did not speak but instead thought through what she was being told.

Turning her gaze back toward the light, she asked: "What do the others mean when they say, 'the one'?"

Neha did not know why she asked this, it simply just rolled off her tongue before she could keep it in.

"How do you know about that?" It said, its voice sounding almost fearful as it hissed around Neha's head like an 8D audio.

"Dia mentioned it to Yadiel." Neha said, crossing her legs and folding her hands like an innocent little child as she sat down once more.

"Well... child, you were not supposed to have known of that..." It hissed.

"But what is it?" Neha persisted.

"Well... there is no point in denying it. Neha, when the first of your kind came here, they knew nothing of what they were meant to do. All they knew was that sometimes people would walk into the Nostro Lumine and would be gone forever, and a week later there would be a new Kellestri to take that person's place." Neha's whole attention was now glued on the thing's words, somehow knowing that this story would never be repeated to her again.

"Many years ago, a certain Kellestri was taken by the light and gone, just like the usual. Well, after a week, that girl was not replaced like the custom. They all became nervous as to why the girl had not been replaced.

"Anyway, four weeks later the light turned black and everyone came out of their houses, confused and afraid. When everyone was circling the light, the girl's body appeared on the grass in front of it. As soon as the girl had left the light, it turned white once more. The girl was shaking all over and would not stop screaming and writhing on the grass, her eyes black with hatred. No one dared draw near the wild creature, so she kept screaming like a demon.

"Eventually, someone tried to touch her to calm her. She was insane, but as soon as they touched her, she stopped screaming and instead whispered a prophecy about a Kellestri that would come in the future.

"They quickly wrote it down and have forever had it, waiting and watching for a Kellestri the prophecy speaks of; 'the one' in other words. The girl, well she was intensely questioned and was found to know nothing."

"Is that true that she knows nothing?" Neha said, barely over a whisper, in hopes that the creature would spill.

"We will never know. Anyway, all others, besides me of course, who observed the incident have come and gone through the Nostro Lumine and are now gone so they have no more firsthand witnesses. Neha, it is time to go back."

"Wait!" Neha called, scrambling to her feet again. "Who was the girl?" she shouted, knowing she would be sent back soon.

"That is none of your business. Now, are you ready..." she spoke, her voice returning to its hiss that moved about Neha's head.

"One more question!" Neha said as she heard the creature sigh. "What did... the prophecy say?"

The room was dead silent for what seemed like an eternity. The girl wondered if whatever the voice was had left Neha alone entirely. The darkness of the gray walls held their breath as Neha prayed, she would receive her answer.

"Do you truly wish to know...?"

"Yes ma'am, please." The seconds turned to minutes as it decided whether or not to let the girl know.

"A year from now,you will be endowedwith a child of fire,one that will seek to inspire.She will remember feelings,but not heed the warnings.She will understand the whispers,and will be a great risker.She will know her nameand will not be plain.She will come to savebut won't know how to behave.She will fix what is broken,and will learn to open,the secrets of our world.Beware the girl of fire

She Will Seek to Inspire."