Marella Redek

## Marella Adene Redek

**Marella Adene Redek** (pronounced Mah-rell-uh Ah-deen Red-eck) is a pyrokinetic that attends foxfire She is currently a prodigy at foxfire, and was one of the first students to reach out to Sophie Foster in her first few months in the lost cities, along with Dex and Fitz. She is also the gossip queen of foxfire.

## Appearance

Marella is described as a very short, slender, pixie-like elf with shoulder-length honey blonde hair (sometimes appearing in art as strawberry-blonde) that "twists in and out of tiny braids." She is also said to have huge, ice blue eyes—very much like how Keefe Sencen's were described. Marella dislikes glitter or sparkles and even criticized her friends Biana Vacker and Sophie Foster for talking about dresses at an important time. She often looks disheveled, perhaps stemming from stress at home.

## Ability

* **Pyrokinetic**

In Book 6, Nightfall, it was revealed that Marella is a Pyrokinetic. Pyrokinesis is a currently forbidden, rare, and misunderstood Ability to manipulate and create a fire that comes with a strong desire for the heat. It also attracts heat, as shown when the chosen group for exploring the first Nightfall marched up a snowy slope, and Marella was the only one not shivering uncontrollably. She said the reason why she was not cold was that heat nearby was attracted to her.

Her Pyrokinesis was triggered by Mr. Forkle when she told Sophie and her friends that she wanted to manifest as an Empath to help identify and control her mother's (Caprise Redek) unstable emotions, in exchange for information on Cyrah's murder. A few nights after Mr. Forkle triggered her ability, she thought she had a fever, and woke up that night covered in fire. Her mother stepped up and took the blame for setting the fire; everyone believed that story, as Marella's mother was seemingly "crazy", due to a vaguely described accident and incurable head trauma that resulted in her emotional instability. In Marella's short story in the paper-back Barnes & Noble special edition however, Fintin hints that her fall was not just an accident...

## History

### Book 1: *Keeper of the Lost Cities*

Marella "rescues" Sophie from sitting with Jensi and his friends, saying it was "social suicide" to sit there. Sophie, Dex, and Marella become friends partly due to their mutual dislike of Stina Heks. She and Dex are some of her closest friends in this book.

### Book 2: *Exile*

Marella's and Sophie's friendship weakens when Sophie starts hanging out with Biana, Fitz, and Keefe more. She does not make very many appearances in this book.

### Book 3: *Everblaze*

Their friendship falls through the roof completely when Sophie starts to neglect Marella. To 'get back' at Sophie, Marella becomes friends with Stina, her former enemy.

### Book 4: *Neverseen*

Marella is hardly mentioned in *Neverseen* at all, except during Fitz's and Sophie's cognate training, when Sophie's biggest regret is neglecting Marella. Marella and Sophie meet again when Sophie is sent with Timkin/Coiffe to his house, where Sophie says to Marella how she was sorry she said nothing before she left and Marella replied by saying "I thought you were going to say sorry for not inviting me.”

### Book 5: *Lodestar*

When Wylie is attacked by the Neverseen and interrogated about the death of his mother, Cyrah Endal, Mr. Forkle comes up with a list of people who were present at the marketplace where she died, including Caprise Redek, Marella's mother. Marella gives Sophie the information her mother knows about Cyrah's death. In exchange, Mr. Forkle triggers her special ability. The ability remains unknown at the end of the book. Marella's and Sophie's friendship begins to heal, and Marella realizes how crazy and dangerous Sophie's life is and why she ended up abandoning her.

### Book 6: *Nightfall*

Marella's special ability is revealed to be pyrokinesis. Because the gorgodons are only vulnerable to fire, she goes to both Vespera's Nightfall and Lady Gisela's Nightfall. In Vespera's Nightfall, she goes with Grady to capture Fintan. Though she originally stated that she felt as if she "wasn't cut out" for the things Sophie had to deal with, she appears to become more comfortable when faced with danger in this book.

### Book 7: *Flashback*

Sophie and Biana meet with Marella to ask if she wishes to train with Fintan to hone her pyrokinesis, and she agrees. She is seen waving her flaming hands to ward off one of the newborn trolls in the end fight scene. This is when her pyrokinesis is revealed to the rest of the world.

### Book 8: *Legacy*

Marella reveals that she swore fealty to the Black Swan before her first pyrokinesis lesson with Fintan. Per Keefe's request, she goes to Loamnore and illuminates the room with flames when Tam is forced to darken it. She is knocked out by a dwarf but wakes up later.

### Book 8.5: Unlocked

Marella does not have a big part in Unlocked. However, her registry file is included.

### Book 9: *Stellarlune*

Marella appears on the cover of Stellarlune, holding what appears to be a torch. She works with Fintan multiple times to help understand the colorful flames that appeared in a memory Sophie found in Kenric's cache. She, along with the rest of the main characters, searches for Elysian, and Marella is able to create the flames Fintan used on the Noxflares. Marella also appears to be sitting near Sophie and her friends again with Maruca and Stina included. In the Barnes & Nobles special editon paper-back, there is a short story form Marella's point of view. The story narrates how Marella was able to convince Fintin to unlock one of his forbidden memories.

## Relationships

**Match Status: Registered, zero lists received.**

### Sophie Foster

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

Marella sat with Sophie at lunch in her first year, despite also having to sit with the Drooly Boys. Later, Sophie started hanging out with Biana, and Marella felt unwanted. Marella was also angry that all of Sophie's good friends dropped out of school and joined the Black Swan without telling her. She and Sophie made up, and now Marella is also an official member of the Black Swan.

### Dex Dizznee

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

When introducing herself to Sophie, she mentioned that she thought Dex was cute - although many people believed he wouldn't manifest, causing his unpopularity. They are friends in the first book, but seem to grow apart.

### Jensi Babblos

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

When Sophie sat with Jensi and his friends, whom Marella calls the Drooly Boys ( Jensi, Valin, etc.) and Marella took it upon herself to save her from "committing social suicide". Later on in the book, Jensi, Marella, and Dex all sit with Sophie, Keefe, and the Vackers.

### Biana Vacker

* **(friend/possible love interest )**

In the first book, Marella believes Biana to be very snobby, but as the books progress, she warms up to her some. They seem to be okay friends now.

### Fitz Vacker

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

Marella admitted to having a crush on Fitz in Book 1: *Keeper of the Lost Cities* to Sophie. However, in the later books, she seemed to have moved on, even going as far as to constantly use the term Fitzphie when Sophie and Fitz work together.

### Keefe Sencen

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

In Book 1: *Keeper of the Lost Cities*, Marella and Keefe loved talking about Sophie’s alchemy failures together. They were a natural team at teasing Sophie.

### Caprise Redek

* **(mother)**

When Marella was very young, Caprise received a head injury by falling off a balcony at the Redek residence. The accident resulted in permanent brain damage that even Elwin couldn't fix, causing her emotions to be out of control at times. Marella hoped to manifest as an Empath so she could help her mother deal with her precarious emotions. Marella is shown to be bitter towards elves who judge her mother because of her condition.

### Durand Redek

* **(father)**

Durand Redek was mentioned in Keeper of the Lost Cities books 1 and 6. In the second book, he was mentioned to be a Guster. He was known for adapting very quickly to Marella's manifesting and quickly "fire-proofed" Fluttermont (the Redek home). Not much else is known about their relationship, but it seems to be pretty close, seeing as Durand tried to help Marella as much as possible after she manifested.

### Tam Song

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

In Book 5: *Lodestar*, Marella was caught staring at Tam. In addition, they seemed to be teasing each other in Book 6: *Nightfall*. Marella also shot Tam "her flirtiest smile." When Biana complains about girls becoming her friend to get closer to her brother, Fitz, and says she bets Linh feels the same way, Marella agrees. As of Book 9: Stellarlune, the two have coordinating metallic highlights in their hair; Marella’s gold and Tam’s silver.

### Linh Song

* **(friend/possible love interest)**

Linh and Marella train in their abilities together with Fintan and consider each other friends. They have supported each other several times and disagreed against their friends together. On another interesting note, the meaning behind Marella's name is related to the sea and Linh's ability is Hydrokinesis. Shannon Messenger has also admitted that her character's names have significance. Marella and Linh are trying to find a way to merge their abilities, and Linh often helps Marella out with pyrokinesis training by putting out any out-of-control fires. As of Book 9: Stellarlune, the two have coordinating metallic highlights in their hair; Marella’s gold and Linh’s silver. In the short story in Stellarlune, Marella thinks "...[Linh] was currently looking all peaceful and pretty and *perfect."*

## Personality

* **Kind**

Marella was nice enough to sit with Sophie—the new girl—on her first day of school and stop her from "committing social suicide" by sitting with the Drooly Boys. She is also caring towards her mother, Caprise Redek, and hoped to manifest as an Empath to help her mother manage her unstable emotions.

* **Bitter**

Marella is shown to be bitter—specifically about people's view of her mother's condition, as she hates when people gossip about her family. She notably clenched her fists as she told Sophie how everyone completely believed that "Crazy Caprise Redek" set the fire when actually it was Marella's unexpected manifestation of pyrokinesis that sparked the flames.

* **Feisty**

Marella isn't one to back down from a challenge. Throughout the first few books, she defends Sophie from Stina and says she enjoys doing it. She also isn't afraid to say what she means and clearly isn't one to sugarcoat things.

* **Sarcastic**

Marella seems to have a dry sense of humor, occasionally making sarcastic remarks.

* **Blunt**

Marella doesn’t exactly filter everything that comes out of her mouth, so some of her remarks may be insensitive. In the first book, she talks about Grady and Edaline isolating themselves from everyone and becoming loners when Jolie died, without seeming to care, and Sophie thinks of it as rude. However, she speaks her mind, which is one of her strongest qualities.

* **Funny**

Marella is often cracking jokes, and when Sophie notices she is not acting like her usual happy and hyper self, she is concerned. Marella is also outgoing and doesn't care what other people think of her. She always speaks her mind and does not back down. In correspondence to Sophie, the girl of many mysteries who often take people's words to heart, Marella always has her brave face on and is ready to face any challenge.

## Registry File

**Known Abilities:** Pyrokinetic

**Residence:** Fluttermont

**Immediate Family:** Durand Redek (father), Caprise Redek (mother)

**Match Status:** Registered with zero lists received

**Education:** Current Foxfire Prodigy

**Nexus:** No longer required

**Pathfinder:** Not assigned. Restricted to Leapmasters and home crystals.

**Spyball Approval:** None

**Member of the Nobility:** No

**Title:** None

**Noble Assignment:** None

**Significant Connections:** Fealty-sworn member of the Black Swan; training in pyrokinesis with former Councillor Fintan Pyren

**Assigned Bodyguard(s):** None

## Shannon Messenger Character Bio

Marella hates nicknames. Don't even *think* about calling her Mare or Ella. And don't expect her to like you, because she'll probably think you're annoying. Most people are which is why she's perfectly content sitting by herself at lunch. But sometimes she'll make an exception if someone seems like they might be remotely interesting—like Sophie Foster. Anyone who can cause as much drama and chaos as Sophie can is definitely Marella's style. Especially since Sophie is also friends with some super cute boys. Marella will *always* make time for super cute boys. She's also excellent at keeping up with the latest gossip—but don't you dare talk about her family!

## Quotes

> Wow, you guys are huggers.
>
> Marella

> I understand the whole trying-to-be-who-you’re-expected-to-be-and-still-be-you struggle—and how quickly it all gets into your head and makes you either want to laugh, cry, scream, run away, or just … burn everything.
>
> Marella

> Do I want to know why you have a blood-soaked piece of Keefe’s cape? Or is that, like, a normal thing for you guys to have?
>
> Marella

> Wow, I’ve never seen people fight because they all want to do the crazy, dangerous thing.
>
> Marella

## Trivia

* The name Marella means "shining sea," which is somewhat ironic considering she is a Pyrokinetic.
* Some also say her name refers to "warlike", "drop of the sea", "bitter", and "beloved". These versions of her name have Latin, Hebrew and Egyptian origin.
* Marella was the first person to tell Sophie about Pyrokinesis in Keeper of the Lost Cities, which is ironic since she manifests the ability later in the series.
* Marella isn't shy, but she isn't one to steal the spotlight, especially from Sophie.
* Her last name, "Redek", means "rare" in Slovenian.
* She has a blue-green stuffed kelpie called Sir Splashyhugs, given to her by Elwin, when her mother had her accident.
	+ Because Marella was so young at the time of her mother’s accident, it is theorized that she may have been the first person to get an Emotional Support Animal from Elwin.
* In Book 5: Lodestar she was described as having ice blue eyes.
* She was considered a somewhat minor character until Nightfall.

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