Tree of Wishes

Contain the Flame: A Nina Perspective

In a city full of superpowered freaks, it makes sense that Gradmid would have a special place to shove them in if they abused it for their own gain. That place would be Gradmid's Maximum Security Prison, and as the name suggests, it's a heavily guarded facility that tailors each jail cell to suit each prisoner. Whether you've got superspeed or teleportation powers, they have ways to keep you in there using their own superpowered guards against you. Oddly enough, some powers cancel out others, so it's common for prisoners to be paired up with a guard counterpart. Combine that with the latest high tech constantly surveying the area, and the chance of escape is basically zero.

I happen to be one of the lucky folks living in one of these cells. Since my powers are fire based, I get to sit in a cold, concrete cell, strapped to a special, little straitjacket, with everything given to me either inflammable or a liquid. This means I'm limited to a diet of water dense foods like watermelon and cucumbers, which sucks ass. I'd murder a man for a fat slice of pizza right now.

So, what'd I do to get myself in here? Nothing special. I just tried to burn down Lagdrygis, is all. Apparently, that's considered a terrorist attack, resulting in me getting a nice life sentence for my trouble. Now I get to sit and listen to my neighbors scream and cry nonstop while eating shitty food for the rest of my life. Plus, my guard is an ugly, sweaty guy who can summon water even out of thin air, so I could literally drown if I tried anything. Did I really deserve this over trying to burn some dumb tree?

I wasn't always like this. I used to be a good, little girl. I did what I was told, got good grades in school, and never stayed out longer than I needed to. I wore a long, black braid and didn't cover my naturally bronze skin with makeup like some other girls. I had a few friends from my family's inner circle, and hanging out made us all feel a lot less lonely, even if we barely had anything in common. I was ready to accept that my life was going to be ordinary and mundane, just going through the motions until I died a boring, uneventful death.

Then in high school, I heard about the tree and what it could do, and I couldn't stop myself from being curious. Each night I kept imagining the types of powers I might get if I went through with it. Ideas like super strength, flight, and talking to animals all danced in my mind until it drove me insane. I knew the only way to stop thinking about it was to get it over with. I knew my parents wouldn't approve, so for the first time in my life, I snuck out while carrying my offering with me.

My offering had been more useful to my late great-grandfather than it was for me, but since it was the one thing I had hanging in my room to remember him by, I knew it would work. It was a long smoking pipe that he only used for special occasions. I always liked it because I thought the brown and orange feathers dangling from it were really pretty. I didn't know where they came from, but I always imagined it was from something majestic like a hawk or eagle.

After figuring out where I needed to go, I made the long hike up the mountain, clutching the pipe against my chest as I braced myself for what laid at the top. Along the way, I spotted a large, luxurious mansion that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the scenery, as if someone flew in the blue, two-story building and dropped it down in middle of nowhere. I decided to ignore it and continue on. What greeted me at the end of the path was the enormous, golden tree in all its glory, radiating a soft, ivory glow that lit up the night. I was so excited to get a closer look at it, yet there was one problem. The gates were closed.

I sighed, realizing I was going to have to come back in the morning to do this. Yet right when I was about to head on back, a man in green robes made his way up the mountain path and towards me.

"Ah, good. Shiro was right about there being a visitor," he mumbled before let out a huge yawn, probably woken up to come up here. "I'm glad I came in time."