Argent Eye

17

"But..." I frowned. "When I was at home, I met another Heir." I began.

"You did?" Ronan asked.

"Yes. My home vicar is an earth Heir, and when I was talking to her, I had another... episode."

Ronan frowned. "You mean a Darkness episode?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But it didn't come out completely- I managed to fight it off. But Stella, she helped by using the earth element. She used it to calm me down. So, surely that would have been an exposure to earth? I didn't feel anything like this lightning thing then."

Ronan rubbed his chin. "Maybe it just wasn't strong enough. I mean, David shocked you quite badly. Well, it would have been bad to anyone else- perhaps even fatal."

I turned to David. "Fatal? Your electric shock could have killed me?"

"Nah." David waved a dismissive hand. "You handled it pretty well."

I narrowed my eyes.

"The important thing is that I think you need a strong exposure to an element to trigger it." Ronan said.

"Are you saying I had a strong exposure to Darkness?" I wondered.

"Well, the sun was setting." David pointed out.

"Yes, and think about it. There is a darkness in everyone. You were surrounded by lots of people, not to mention criminals who you ended up chasing off. And with the darkness came the light. The two come together."

"The fire?" I wasn't so sure about Ronan's theory.

Ronan wasn't so sure, either. "Okay, I don't know. Perhaps it wasn't a literal fire. Maybe it was metaphorical."

"Yeah." I said, very doubtful. His theory made a lot of sense, however it had holes in it. Lots of missing pieces. But, it was something.

"What triggered your episode back home?" David asked.

"Well, Stella was about to teach me how to summon my Black Prometheum, so she showed me how to do it with hers first. Then she let me hold it, and you know it's supposed to change to the colour associated with your element?"

David and Ronan nodded.

"Well, when I held it, it didn't change colour." I continued. "At least, not at first. It stayed green from where she'd been holding it. Then it turned blue, as it should. But then, it turned red, and then all the other colours before finally turning black. And that's when it happened. It was like a reminder, and I felt it inside me. It wanted to come out, but Stella helped me stop it."

"How did she help you?" Ronan asked.

"She told me to think about my element." I paused. "Well, the ice. So I did, and it worked. It drove the darkness away. A bit like the electricity did just now."

"So the darkness is not the strongest element." Ronan said. "Although it makes you feel strong and powerful, and it can control you, your other elements overpower it when you summon them." Ronan seemed happy with this.

"So?" I asked.

"This means you can control it! Far easier than you thought, actually. I have another theory."

David sighed. "Here we go." He muttered.

"Each element drives the darkness away." Ronan ignored David. "And the darkness only wants total control. But, with your other elements emerging, it's finding it hard to stick around when they come. My theory is this. What if with every element you acquire, the darkness becomes weaker? What if, when you manifest all the elements, the darkness is driven away?"

"But... isn't it just like one of the elements?" I wondered. "Surely you can't just drive one of them away- it would be like me saying to David that maybe he could drive his lightning away."

"But the darkness is not one of the elements, Millie. Not really. Just like light. You remember we had that conversation the other day, about the darkness and light being their own selves? Being too strong to be contained in a body?"

I nodded.

"Well, I don't think that's completely wrong. I think that it is inside you because it is waiting for something."

"Waiting for what?" I asked, Ronan having completely lost me.

"I don't know." Ronan sat down, stuck. "But for an Argent to have power over all of the elements, that's something unheard of. I think something is coming, and you've been given this power to stop it."

"No pressure." I muttered. "What do you think it could be?"

"Not sure." Ronan said. "Maybe someone? I guess we can only wait."

There was a moment of silence.

"But, in the mean time, we should expect the worst." Ronan clapped his hands loudly. "I will train you as best I can. If anymore elements emerge, you must tell me. But take your vicar's advice, if you ever feel the darkness return. Think of the ice. Drive it away. Okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

__________