I

My father loved me.
It was a good thing too. He was the only one. Not even my own mother cared for me.
I have some�let's just say�bad habits�that get me into trouble every now and again. I've burned down entire buildings before. My own house, once, with my mother still inside. I didn't understand what was happening � I was only about 5 years old. And fire doesn't harm me like it harms everyone else. When I step into a burning building, the only thing I feel is a beautiful warming sensation. My skin never burns. I can conjure fire with only my thoughts; it has always been a part of me. I didn't understand why she was screaming. She couldn't escape.
A couple of palace guards came over to me and asked me who was inside. I told them my mother, in the kitchen. The rescued her, but when she came out, the first thing she did was slap me across the face � she knew I was the one who had started it. She screamed and screamed at me and told me to control myself � I was dangerous. After that, the guards became my idols. They knew so much, and weren't afraid of anything.
But even they couldn't save my mother, when she decided to leave me. She began walking into the desert, and that was the last I saw of her. As far as I know, the darkness, with its curse, had taken her. After all, the only way to ward the darkness off is with fire.
Fire�a fascinating thing. It's light, heat, and yet one of the most destructive powers known to anyone.
I did try to control myself, because my elder, and a member of my family, ordered me to. But, sometimes, my hate took over, and I would find myself starting another fire.


II

At 14 years of age, a neopet in Sakhmet was eligible to join the palace guard. It was an honor, and I hoped to join. I was strong, I was skilled with weapons. And, as far as I knew, no one had ever failed.
It's alright, you'll do fine," my father told me.
I was dressed for the occasion, with a headdress and assortment of jewelry I would probably never wear again. Finally, my father walked me to the palace.
I had been there a couple times, and it never ceased to amaze me. It was a grand building, taller than any other in Sakhmet, and made out of what seemed to be solid gold.
See you at the celebration," my father whispered in my ear, and then went back to the house. I was alone.
I walked up the stone steps, conscious that every step I took echoed around the empty street. Entering through the double doors taller than our house, I went into a large room empty save for four guards (two at each door) and another neopet my age. I flashed him a smile, and he grinned nervously back at me.
The techo my age obviously didn't know me. Everyone who knew me hated me. I went down and sat in a chair next to him.
Palace guard?" I asked him.
Yup."
Maybe we'll see each other."
Yeah. You nervous?"
Of cou�" I started, but another guard came in and said they were ready for the next person. The techo stood up and walked with the guard through a door, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

III

A few minutes later, he came out, smiling broadly. "See you at our first training session!" he called over his shoulder as he left.
Miss, we're ready for you," the guard said.
I knew a little bit about the process, from hearsay. There was a committee just for doing this. Sometimes, though, a few members of the royalty would join for specific cases, if they were related to the person or if their input was required for the decision.
When I went through the door, I wasn't ready.
Princess Amira was there � the Princess Amira, the one destined to become the sole ruler of Sakhmet, when her father passed away.
I was so awestruck by her presence that I didn't notice the chair I was supposed to sit down in. The guard gently pushed me into it.
So�" Amira began, "Starfire Miria, is that correct?" All Sakhmetians took their mother's name as a second name. I hated my second name Miria.
Just Starfire will do, Princess."
She laughed. "Just Amira will do, Starfire. Now. You've put in a request to join the palace guard, correct?"
Yes, Amira."
We do have a few spots open�however, there is an issue�"
I paled. "What?"
Well, for the past several years, you've had control over fire, am I correct?"
As long as I could remember. "Yes�"
But there have been a number of incidents when you lost control, yes?"
I knew where this was going. "Yes�"
I'm sorry, but we just aren't prepared to let someone who can't control themselves have complete access to the palace."
This was ridiculous. I should never have come. Wooden things around me began to glow with the red-hot heat of embers. A guard nervously threw water on them.
We think the best solution is for you to remain living with your parents for the time being. In the event that they are no longer able to help you, we will take care of your needs." What? Oh, right�
They were offering me a way out. But I'd be in disgrace my whole life. Still, I couldn't see another option. I obeyed my elder and my princess. "Yes, Princess."
Good. We will, however, send someone by every now and then to make sure these powers don't get too out of hand."
Figures.

IV

I walked home dejectedly. There was nothing I could do. I had fallen through the cracks of a system. Just because I was different.
As I walked, I noticed that something near me was catching on fire. A one-person shop, by the looks of it. Just a stall with some fruit. But then I realized that maybe I should be stopped. If this is what I did without thinking�
I blinked. The tchea fruit I had been staring at was gone. Consumed by the flames? No, they hadn't reached that far yet. That's when I noticed the zafara running around the corner. Had he stolen it? No one stole in Sakhmet!
Maybe if I caught the thief, Amira would reconsider! It was a thought, at least. I started running after him.
I was fast, but this zafara was faster. He always managed to stay just a corner ahead of me. Finally, though, he went into a building.
I entered behind him. It was dark, and full of neopets who spoke in hushed voices. No one spotted me. I crouched behind a barrel and peeked around it at the zafara.
As it turned out, he was a she, and she plopped the tchea fruit, and a couple other fruits I hadn't even noticed missing, on an overturned box. Neopets from every side reached for them hungrily.
An aisha walked over to the zafara.
So, how'd it go?"
There was a fruit stand in flames. Most of the fruit had already been burned beyond recognition, but there were a few left."
A fruit stand on fire, huh?"
What, you don't believe me?"
No, I do. It's just�was it a recent fire?"
Probably�It moved pretty fast and would have consumed the entire thing within a minute of its start."
The aisha spoke in a whisper. I had to strain to hear him. "Are you sure you weren't followed?" The zafara cringed.
Uh oh. I tried to make it back to the door, only to discover that two neopets had closed it.
That's when they saw me.

V

Grab her!" the aisha yelled.
Neopets swarmed in from every side; two grabbed my arms and forced me to the middle of the room. They pushed me into a chair, and a couple of them held me down.
So, you think you can just follow us and capture us or something, isn't that it, stupid palace brat," the aisha spat.
That wasn't far from the truth, but that wasn't going to get me out of here. "No, I came to look for you, yes, but only to find out more about you," I said.
Yeah, right. You just came from your meeting with the Court, didn't you?"
I knew I could burn through this chair, but that might spread and flame everyone inside the building.
At this point though, did I have a choice? Would they kill me?
I�I failed," I admitted.
Nonsense. Nobody fails. But us."
Wait�all of you failed?"
In one way or another. Why?"
Who are you, anyway?"
Some of the neopets started to answer, but the aisha cut them off. "First you tell us who you are and why you're really here. We value honesty."
Alright. My name is Starfire Miria, and I just failed at Court. Why? I'm too 'dangerous'. I followed that zafara because she stole. I didn't even know that was possible. It was something I thought I could maybe try." If they didn't know about my powers, I could use them to escape, and give them to the palace guard. Then they'd know how useful someone like me could be.
The aisha considered me, his head tilted to one side. But he obviously wasn't prepared to accept me yet. I didn't blame him.
Look," he said, "you've put us in a rough spot. We obviously can't accept you right in � we still don't know whose side you're on. We can't let you go, you know too much. We can't kill you. It would start a reputation for the Scarabs we don't deserve, and besides, we're thieves, not killers. But we can't just keep you here forever."
I saw his point.
The aisha debated for a while. In fact, all the neopets seemed to regard me as if saying, "Why did you take it upon yourself to do this to us?"
Finally, the aisha made his decision. "Alright. We've been in this camp for a while; it shouldn't be too much longer before the guards find us. When we clear out, we'll leave you here."
What? No! I want to stay with you."
Look. Consider the next few days a trial. You can look at the way we do things. You can maybe even join in sometime. When the guards come, you can go, if you want to, which I'm sure you will," he said with a look of contempt. "However, if you still don't want to go, I'll think about it. Okay?"
Well, great. Just great. Better than nothing, I suppose.

VI

Being with them was much more interesting than I would have thought. They told me much about who they were, and how they got there. They were the Scarabs, and they had nearly all failed, like I had.
The only bad time was at night, when the curse of the darkness seeps in through the cracks in the doors and snuffs out all candles. When you get a shiver down your spine that has nothing to do with the temperature. And there is no one there you can sit and hold off the curse with.
Other than that, however, it was quite interesting.
When you are born," the aisha, Kiro, (some of them didn't have second names) told me once, "you have a certain level of power. Some start off greater than others, but everyone has them. Depending on dedication, family, luck, and environment, people can become to be quite powerful. Some of us discover and refine our powers, or have extremely powerful ones to begin with. However, the royals dislike this, as they have no powers themselves."
Why is that?" I had asked.
The royal bloodline doesn't originate in Sakhmet, or anywhere in the desert for that matter."
There are other worlds?"
The desert doesn't go on forever."
Really?" I never knew that. Goddess, I would have never thought�
Anyway, they come from outside of the desert. And Nuria, Goddess of the Desert, is the giver of power."
Does that mean that no one outside the desert has powers?"
A few blessed do." Kiro said softly. "Anyway, whenever the royals find someone with exceptional power, they turn them away and put them under guard. A lot of them have gone missing in the night, and it has nothing to do with the darkness' curse�That must mean that you have an exceptional power."
I wasn't about to tell him, if I was going to betray him. "I don't know�"
Don't worry," he told me. "We'll find it."
So," I said, changing the subject, "does that mean all of you here have some special power?"
Like I said, everyone has a power. But not everyone was rejected, if that's what you mean. Some of them learned about this and joined. Some of them are petty thieves and just want protection. And some, like me, are orphaned and are not registered at the palace. You know how you take your mother's name as a second name?"
Of course. Starfire Miria. Wait�"Oh. You mean since you don't know who your mother is, you aren't registered? That's kind of unfair." The Scarabs had told me so much that I never would have guessed.
He looked at me sadly. "That's exactly right, Starfire. A glitch, you could say, in their system. But hold. The darkness comes. Come, let us rest."

VII

Amazingly, the guards didn't find us for several days. As they passed, I was included in more and more things. They began to trust me. I still didn't know if I would betray them or not. There was no doubt that stealing was wrong, but it didn't really hurt anyone, and besides, what other choice did they have?
Kiro was the closest thing they had to a leader. And he was the first to trust me.
That time was one of the best of my life, when the Scarabs trusted me, and I could just forget how messed up I was, in the excitement of the hunt, then the flee.
Then one day I saw my father at the market.
He didn't see me, but he had a horrible, sad look on his face. I wondered if he had assumed that the darkness had taken me. It nearly killed me to see what pain I had caused him. I hid my head and walked with the rest of the Scarabs back to camp.
But I knew I would betray them � then I could go back to my father.