Elementals

Chapter 1

(Picture on the right: Breeze -->)
Earth: year 3204 – Northern academy

Breeze
Sometimes I wonder if this will ever end, this everlasting taunting that I'm being put through every day. Sometimes I even wonder what I'm doing here if I'm never able to control my own element. I'm gonna be stuck as a Junior Elemental because I can never get a handle of myself. The instructors tell me why it happens, and I know it too, but I can't seem to do anything about it. I only have one session a day because I don't have an elemental partner. Poor soul that's gonna be put with me anyways. I'm never gonna get past my level so whoever is put up with me, is gonna be stuck in this academy forever.

We usually discover our element around the age of 14 or 15. If you don't discover it during that age, you won't be allowed in to the academy. You'll be considered too old and too emotionally unstable to enter an academy trying to control an element that you discover too late. I've heard mocking about me being too emotionally unstable because I can't control my element at all. Still, I got in the academy at 15, just at the edge, but I was still within the limit so I passed. Now I've been here for 3 years, without much success.

I should probably tell you that this academy is a special academy on earth. The reason why I point that out is because many hundred years ago, we humans discovered life on the planet of Mars. The story is that they tried to contact us first, and then we responded, but an explosion on the Moon led the world's leaders to believe that they were trying to take over Earth. Our planet is a barren wasteland compared to what it used to be I'm told. I've only seen images of what the planet used to be, but the war has cost us, and the attacks won't stop as far as we've been told.

During these hundreds of years, we have been evolving as well. In the past, humans had no such thing as elemental powers. That used to be fantasy. Of course, before the academies we've all been to school so we know our history quite well. We start and quit early in case we discover our elements early enough to be taken in to the academies. The problem these days is that there are fewer and fewer elements within people. I don't know the story completely, but there's been said that a special Elemental will be the one to stop the war and bring peace to both planets. He or she has got to be here somewhere, or there's no way that this war will ever end.

The elements in question are of course the four basic elements of the earth: fire, water, wind and earth. You will feel a distinct connection to one of them and the moment you realize that you can manipulate one, you are what they call, a rookie elemental. Sometimes I feel like that's what I still am, but the fact is, I've gone beyond the skill of manipulation. I'm at the stage where I can create my element from nothing, which in my case is air. They're not too shabby about code-names in the academies. As long as it fits with your element, that's the name you get.

I'm walking down the hall from where the quarters are. They're all doubles, but if you don't have a partner, you live there on your own. You're stuck in those commodities until they deem you ready to go to the Military-Academy on the Moon where you train even more before going to Mars. Those who deem us ready, are Senior Elementals. They have already been to the field and have either lost their partners at the war, or just finished off their service with no other option than to be instructors. They're good, I'll tell you that much, but they don't soften up to new recruits. They're gonna make your life hell because nothing else will serve you in training. They've seen the war, they've encountered the savaged Martians so they know what we're gonna be facing out there. They want to make us tough so training is pretty darn hard.

Anyways, I'm still making my way through the halls to the major food-hall where the entire academy eats in unison. Each level of elementals eats to themselves, and usually the partners eat together. Those who don't have a partner just sit by themselves, like I do. I even hoped that it would be easier when I knew that I had a brother here, but as I got in, he already had an elemental partner and he was looking down on me. He's still doing that, and adding to that, he taunts me whenever he has the chance. Does it hurt? Yeah, it did. But now I try not to care about it...some of the Seniors have stated that that's the root of my problems with the element.