Elementals [Four Elements Personified]

Chapter 28~ Zen

Yaaaaasssssss. I finally did it :D

Also it's been awhile, let's review: Elementals fighting, Lupe having a fit and running God knows where, aaaand Kaiser [Zen's younger brother] getting taken DUN DUN DUNNNN.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Zen [Allen]

            The afternoon was marked by a head burning migraine caused in all directness by Lupe and her childish display. After she had had her conniption and ran off, I had initially accompanied Cheyda and Jacobi as they searched for her. We started by checking her known preferred places to go to. The three of us hauled out of my house in a half-sprint towards the local donut shop, one of her top favorite hangout spots. We rushed down Main Street and I gulped in large breaths of uncomfortably hot air. I glanced over at Jacobi and Cheyda. Jacobi was taking hurried large strides while panting and Cheyda kept up a quick jog while panting between the two of us. Both of them had beads of sweat forming and rolling down their foreheads. I could feel my own forehead beginning to dampen as well. It seemed that the hotter the sun blazed down, the faster we moved, and the more irritated I became. Lupe was not at the donut shop. We found out with mounting frustration she wasn't at the pet shop, local Mcdonald's, or a handful of other places we thoroughly investigated. We agreed to continue searching the dozen or more other places she loved to frequent as well until we either found her or suffered some form of heat exhaustion. None of us had any idea what Lupe would do to herself or others while in her current mood. It was best to keep her in a secluded place and help her become calm and collected.

                An hour into the search I felt something tickle the back of my neck. I swatted absentmindedly at it only to find my entire neck slathered in sweat. I had already peeled off my gray cardigan earlier and was now sporting a cotton white tee and bermuda shorts. Yet despite the light materials I was still covered in perspiration. Upon coming up empty-handed from the library I realized I had no more patience left. This whole situation had over-capacitated my ability to keep a cool head. I decided it was best to remove myself from this scenario. I knew that seeing Lupe would only increase my anger; I had nothing but harsh words for her. As Jacobi, Cheyda and I rounded the corner between the local coffee house and old diner I bid them a swift goodbye after a small explanation. They seemed to understand and threw two short farewells behind their shoulders before running off once again in the summer heat.

Thankful for a chance at a slower pace I set a deliberate amble home. As I strolled back down Main Street and towards home, I eventually came upon several houses of idealized suburbia. I swept my gaze amongst the various garden displays and yard shrubbery. I evened my breathing and focused on the calmingly vivid flowers. I allowed my thoughts to wander.  It had become apparent to me that the other three had established me as the driving force behind producing solutions for the dissonance of the Elementals. The responsibility of being a figure of leadership was not particularly burdensome, but keeping a cool head while dealing with the onslaught of Lupe's childish games was beyond my rational capabilities.

On one side of my wrath sat Lupe and on the other Kaiser. It was a delicate balance trying not to strangle either one of them. Kaiser pretty much matched Lupe's childish antics and random emotional outbursts, his however consisted more of whining and snobbery, and less of yelling and stomping. His increasing behavioral issues had changed from a usual nuisance into an abominable problem. The longer our parents were gone on their anniversary trip the bigger his head got. His complete disregard for obeying the rules was testing my uppermost limits of tolerance. Even something as small as exchanging a few words with him ignited my head in a fiery headache. It was all I could do to keep from quietly seizing his larynx and not letting go.