| Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details from the latest book. |
“My name's Marella. Not Mare. Not Ella. No nicknames.”
Marella Redek is an elf attending Foxfire. She is a Level Four in Foxfire, like Sophie, and was one of Sophie's first friends alongside Jensi and Dex. Sophie and Marella become friends because of their mutual hatred for Stina. Like many other girls, she has a crush on Fitz Vacker but later seems to be considering Tam Song. In the first book, she also describes Dex as cute despite his family being unconventional or a ‘bad match’. She loves collecting Prattles Pins and is always on top of the latest gossip. She hatesStina until Book 3 when Sophie starts neglecting her. She becomes friends with Stina and shows that she dislikes Sophie, but in Lodestar, their friendship begins to heal, as she realizes how crazy absurd Sophie's life is. Her special ability was also triggered by Mr. Forkle in Lodestar, but it remains unknown by the end of the book. The name "Marella" means, "shining sea" which have many fans believing that she will manifest as a Hydrokinetic. It is revealed in Nightfall that Marella is a Pyrokinetic. Some people believe this was on purpose because Marella is not an evil Pyrokinetic. She uses this ability to assist the main Keeper crew at various points of the book. She has kept this ability secret from everyone, except Mr. Forkle, the Keeper crew, and, of course, her parents. However, said parents seem to be accepting of the ability.
Ability
In Nightfall, it was revealed that Marella is a Pyrokinetic, which is a rare and misunderstood ability to control and create fire and comes with a strong desire for the flames. It also attracts heat, as shown when the chosen group, for exploring the first Nightfall, was marching up a snowy slope, Marella was the only one not shivering and pointed out that that was the reason. Her newfound Pyrokinesis was triggered by Mr. Forkle. A few nights later, she thought she had a fever, and woke up that night covered in flames. Her mother stepped up and took the blame for setting the fire; everyone believed that story, as Marella's mother was seemingly "eccentric", due to a vaguely described accident and incurable head trauma that resulted in her emotional instability.
Personality
- Kind
Marella is nice enough to sit with Sophie—the new girl—and stop her from "committing social suicide" by sitting with the Drooly Boys.
- Bitter
Marella is also shown to be bitter—specifically about people's view of her mother's condition. She notably clenches her fists when she tells Sophie how everyone completely believed that "crazy Caprise Redek" set the fire—the fire that was actually caused by Marella's own powers.
Physical Appearance
Marella is described as a short, pixie-like elf with shoulder length blonde hair that "twists in and out of tiny braids". She is also said to have had large icy-blue eyes, very much like Keefe's described to have had at one point.
Relationships
- Sophie Foster (friend)
Marella sat with Sophie at lunch in Sophie's first year. They also sat 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 in the Black Swan.
When introducing herself to Sophie she had mentioned that she thought Dex was cute although many people believed he wouldn't manifest.
- Jensi Babblos (friend/possible love interest)
Sophie sat with Jensi and his friends, of whom Marella calls the Drooly Boys, and Marella took it upon herself to save her from "committing social suicide". Later on in the book, however,Jensi, Marella, and Dex all sit with Sophie, Keefe, and the Vackers.
Marella admits she has a crush on Fitz in Book 1 to Sophie.
- Keefe Sencen (friend)
In the first book, Marella and Keefe love talking about Sophie's alchemy fails.
- Caprise Redek (mother)
Caprise Redek gets a head injury that even Elwin can’t fix while Marella hopes to be an empath so she can help her mother.
In Lodestar, Marella is caught staring at Tam. In addition, they seem to be teasing each other in Nightfall. Marella also shoots Tam "her flirtiest smile."
Trivia
- Marella is an Irish name, meaning "shining sea".
- The fact that her name means "shining sea" could have meant she would be a Hydrokinetic, but instead she is the opposite, a Pyrokinetic.