When I was a little girl, I was given a necklace. At the time, I didn't know much about it. I knew it was a pretty thing, an amber-colored phoenix with bits of other colors mixed in.

I knew it was very precious to my family, especially my mother. It had been handed down from mother to daughter for generations before me, and I was to continue with tradition. What I didn't know was its special power.

It possessed the ability to control the inferno that raged within me. It kept my fire from harming others. Only once I knew how to control the amulet could I unleash my flames and learn to control them as well.

My parents wanted me to have a normal childhood. They never told me what the necklace was for, nor what it did. I just assumed it was a present. Plain and simple. Just another pretty little trinket for me to wear.

My parents wanted to wait and see when, if ever, I would be mature enough to be taught the secrets of my amulet. Once they decided that I was old enough, they would teach me about the necklace; its powers and my own.

Unfortunately, that day never came. They were never able to teach me by their own standards, their own way. I never found out.

That is, until I met them.