Elementals II: Prophecies (DISCONTINUED)

~ Chapter 20 ~

Year: 3205
Military Academy

Ember:
The next couple of days that go by after Breeze left have been strange. There's this sense of awareness that has compressed the atmosphere in the Academy. It feels like a silence before the storm type of thing. Whatever the storm is, it won't be good for me, Blaze...or Rain. Rain. Not a moment goes by where I don't wonder where he is and how he is doing. I haven't seen him since the night his brother left. I've been wanting to go and look for him but the Senior Elementals are much more on alert for suspicious behavior and movement than ever. It's become impossible for me to do anything other than acting like a good Elemental and do my training without asking too many questions – the kind of questions that really bug me.

I want to go look for Rain. I really want to screw the rules, go, and find him. There's this impatience in me that almost makes me do it every time, but at the same time I know I have to be patient, especially these days. At the same time, life is short. We all live by the seconds these days it seems because you rarely see any Elementals around here beyond a certain age, even the Seniors only get to a certain age if they haven't been killed by Martians. What happens to them eventually is a far greater mystery than anyone has ever dared to admit. Whatever the Grand Master is doing to Rain is an equally big mystery, one that I need to solve.

I know I am being watched however. This isn't just about the cameras actively keeping watch of every hallway, but also Blaze. I haven't spoken much to her since she left me in those halls in anger, but I've felt the weight of her presence over my shoulder every now and then. It seems like the Grand Master is gaining quite the grip on her now. She's more and more trusting towards him than she ever trusted Breeze, and it's playing perfectly into the Grand Master's hands. Breeze was the one who knew to put these pieces back together. I was barely inside the golden circle before it went sideways.

"You knew, didn't you?" I suddenly hear a voice ask from behind me. I'm mildly surprised to find Blaze behind me. I wouldn't have been surprised about a month ago, but now I am. "Know what?" I ask. She scoffs sarcastically in response. "Don't start with the Games, Ember. You knew about Senior Pool being dead..." She starts. I'm actually about to admit to that before she says the next part. "...and Breeze's involvement in it." I completely freeze. I almost don't know what to say before I speak. "Breeze killed him, huh?" I let out in wonder. "Come on, don't give me that, you knew all about it! You knew that he killed Senior Pool." She goes on. I try to understand what's gotten into her, but it's impossible to tell. She's become this wall that's impossible to penetrate.

"Who told you that Breeze killed Senior Pool? I mean, I'll admit I knew that Senior Pool was dead, and also that Breeze had known for quite a while, but that was it." I answer. She looks at me for a moment before it dawns upon me. "It was the Grand Master who told you, wasn't it?" The silence grows louder before she manages to say anything. "He has been supporting me since Breeze took off with his favorite Senior. He's going to spend some of his time helping me master my element better than I have since I got here. He's the one who's listening to me, and doesn't keep secrets for me. He talks to me. I can't say the same for any of you." She answers.

The conversation is taking place at the weapon's assembly and she's about to leave me hanging. I want to talk back at her with all of the frustration and fear that I have gathered inside of me, but there is something in her stance that slows me down. There is nothing I can say that's going to make her think anything else about what's happened. She's partly right. The Grand Master is supporting her, but she doesn't know why. She doesn't truly know what the Grand Master is capable of. "He is not who you think he is." She turns back around to face me after just assuming the conversation was over.

"Don't think I'm going to try and convince you of anything because he has got you right where he wants you, wrapped around his little finger. He's not who you think he is, and not who you want him to be. I hope you learn that before it's too late." I manage to say somewhat composed. "It doesn't even matter anymore. Breeze is not what I thought he was either. He killed the one person devoted to protect and help the both of us..." She goes on before I almost snap. "Why?" I let out. She immediately turns insecure. "What?" She asks. "Why would Breeze kill a person like the one you just described?" I ask walking closer to her. "Maybe you should try to connect some dots before assuming that every word the Grand Master says is the real truth."

I may have raised my voice a little bit, but discretely enough for it to remain between the two of us. It's just that her ignorance to what is really going on around her is getting on my nerve. It's not that I'm starting to hate her. I never could go as far as hate her because she's my friend even when she doesn't see me that way. I worry about her and everybody else entangled in this mess. She thinks that I'm trying to be mean to her when in fact I'm trying to protect her. "You don't trust me, you don't trust Breeze, and probably not Rain either. I don't hate you for that, neither do they, I'm sure. I just wish that you would open your eyes a little more. You keep wondering what's going on and you're right in the middle of it without even seeing it."

I'm about to go on when a Senior Elemental appears behind her. "Elemental Blaze..." She turns around to face him. "Grand Master Vulcano has requested you for your session." I take a deep breath as she nods his way before facing me again. "Be careful..." I let out before she leaves me.

On Mars
Senior Fall/Aqú:
We haven't even been here for one Martian day, and his health is declining a lot faster than I anticipated or hoped. The herbs have managed to slow down the infection and fever a little bit, but they are losing their effects fast, which means that there's more metal in his bloodstream. Soon, I'll be left with only one option, cut the damn thing off and hopefully make Breeze capable of moving on his own. It might cost us time, which we might not have. Shelter isn't too far away from where we're at right now. It's just that he'd need to recover...and get over it.

My reasoning for considering such a drastic move is because he's been mostly unconscious. I've been carrying him on my shoulders while also trying to drag with us the necessary supplies to stay alive. I keep telling myself that it'll all be worth it in the end, but right now it's not much of a comfort. There are some solid rocky-mountains ahead of me and I am aiming to get to them and make a decision then. "This would've been so much easier if you could just walk..." I let out to his unconscious face in silent frustration. A gust of wind slaps me in the face. A part of me stops to think it might be Breeze's unconsciousness, but he'd need quite an amount of strength due to the different atmosphere here.

A part of me suspects something far worse and I turn around. I see a big red cloud coming my way – a sandstorm. That's just great. Now I have to pick up the pace with everything that I'm trying to bring along with me. The worst part about trying to pick up the pace walking on air-thin sand, is the way my feet keeps sinking down for every step that I take. Several times I almost lose my balance and I keep dropping things when I do. I'll try to pick it up only to lose something else. Whenever I do this, I lose time. At one point, I stop trying to pick it up again. I have to accept it and move on. There's still quite a distance to go to the mountains and the suffocating dust is approaching faster than I can outrun it.

The wind is really picking up the pace. It continues to beat me down as I try to find all the energy I can to get to some kind of shelter by the rocky mountains up ahead. At the same time, the red cloud behind me is rapidly catching up with us. It's now at the point where we're halfway inside the cloud, halfway in front of it, but it won't last for long. If I stop or even slow down just a little bit, we'll suffocate by the thin sand flying everywhere. If this kills us, it'll be a rather sad fate considering the sacrifices that were made for us to get here. It all comes down to whether or not I can get us to those mountains.

It doesn't look too good though. I can sense my legs give up on me. The further I try to move them, the more they sink into the sand. I know we're close to the safety of a cave, but I'm losing eye-sight more and more because of the tiniest sand-particles entering my eyes. I suddenly hit something with my foot and fall forward, throwing Breeze ahead of me, unprotected of the sand. I immediately crawl forward to him and cover the both of us with my cape, hoping it'll be good enough as we wait out the storm...