Elementals

Chapter 9

That story is just getting older and older, I know that. I shouldn’t keep going on saying how I constantly warned them that she wasn’t healthy. She looked different, sick and pale…and then they said she was hot. She must’ve had a fever of some sort…maybe an infection making her weaker. I don’t know…fevers and infections are rare these days, but sometimes they happen. I should’ve felt her forehead before the session. I should’ve broken at least a couple of rules to keep her safe! Instead I didn’t and now I’m here, not knowing what was wrong with her.

I take a deep breath as I’m coming to it. I’m still sitting in the room with the stand, not sure why really. In my head I always keep going back to the Eastern Academy. It’s like I right now don’t even know where to go when I exit this room. I’ll probably walk down the damn stairs and then get lose in the maze of corridors. Sure that’s only what I wish would happen. I do remember how to get back to my quarter. This place is somewhat just too similar to the East. This is just bigger and easier to remember.

Whatever strength I have left from this long first day, I gather as I get up on my feet, get out of the room and down the stairs. I don’t really see anyone. It’s almost as if we’re under lockdown or something or like it’s the middle of the night. Well, it’s getting close to that last one. Damn, it’s still so freaking cold here! I pull up my jacket around my neck. I know they’re gonna take this thing away from me in a couple of days…they’re expecting me to get used to this after a while. I don’t know if I ever will though: the temperature, the people, the seniors…my partner? I don’t know, I guess my issues are just accumulating.

As I’m walking around the corner, I immediately catch sight of that water-elemental from the session I was watching earlier. He’s standing there talking to someone when that someone catches sight of me and nudges her head towards me. He turns around and I can only assume he’s noticing the jacket. Nobody wears a jacket around here, I know that. “You don’t seem to be from around here…at least I know I haven’t seen you around…we don’t wear coats around here.” He then says walking towards me with his partner.

He’s a rather cocky type I figure. “I’m not particularly known to play by the rules so I don’t really care…” I answer back. “…besides I just came here. I’m allowed to wear it a couple of days if I’m not wrong.” I then answer back. I really want to get past him, but he’s blocking my path as I try to move. “Wow, easy there, stranger. You’re that new kid from the East, aren’t you? That elemental that lost control of her element and attacked a senior?” He then asks me. I’m not really too fond of the question, but what the hell, I have to answer it right?

“Losing control is their word for it, not mine. I was just doing what I felt was necessary. I will do it again if you don’t move.” I make sure to let him know I’m not a wimp. “Hey, why are you so eager to leave? We’re just getting started with you.” His female partner says as she has a fireball in her hand. “Vice-versa…” I answer as I manipulate the fire-ball to a size she can’t hope to control. “Can I go now? I’m pretty sure you’ll have another chance at trying to scare me…” I then let out as he shrugs at me. He backs off and I walk past him.

For some reason I don’t think he lets me go because he was actually intimidated or whatever…for some reason his attention was moved to something or someone behind me. I look briefly behind me to see Breeze. Wait, why is he so withdrawn?

“What do you know if it isn’t my little brother Breeze?” Wait, what? Little brother?!

Breeze:
I was actually watching the interaction between Blaze, Rain and Ember, and to say the least, I was impressed by her ability not to falter at his tone, but the minute Ember catches sight of me and nudges towards my brother and he sees me…they let her go. I’m quite sure she heard what he said though. That Rain called me his little brother. I even sense her stopping somewhere in the distance just to catch the interaction. That doesn’t do me much good now though. I’m not gonna get past them anywhere else than walking towards them now.

“Wow, aren’t you glad to see me? I haven’t seen you in ages!” He says rather ironical to say the least. I’m sure he didn’t really miss me, just my failures. “Are you sure you didn’t just get bored that I wasn’t in there to fail like I usually do? You’re always so amused by my failures…” I point out as I catch a slight glimpse of Blaze in the distance. Just what I needed, isn’t it: them humiliating me right in front of my new partner. “I’ll have to admit, little brother. I kinda do miss some entertainment in the sessions. Otherwise it’s just boring.” He answers.

I have to take several deep breaths here to not punch him against the wall with my element. If I still hadn’t gone to meditation sessions, it would’ve happened by now, but not this time. No, this time I’m quite determined to not give in to it. I’m not gonna give Rain that satisfaction anymore. I’m done being manipulated.

“You’re not gonna get to me, Rain. I’m not gonna give you the satisfaction of that anymore.” I let out as he simply shrugs it off. As if my words mean nothing to him. “Come on, little brother…you’re not gonna be able to withstand my words, my taunting. Little by little, you’re gonna lose control. It’s what you always do anyway.” Rain says as we now receive warning that in ten minutes the corridors will be closed down.

“You’re lucky this time, Breeze. We planned to go so much further with you when we finally got to you.” I hear Ember say, but my eyes are only locked at Rain as he shrugs in agreement. “Just you wait little brother. You might think you’re in control with those meditation-sessions, but trust me, you’re not gonna be in control in the corridors when I’m around. I’m gonna make sure you keep ending up back in that containment.” My fist clenches harder and harder for the second. I’m about to lose it, but then he and Ember walks past me.

You know, when you’re making progress at something, like me with my element, you’re feeling so on top of the world…well universe of whatever. You feel so on top that you don’t think anything is going to tip you over. Having finally grasped the sense of mastering my element, I’ve felt that. Not having been around Ember and Rain has helped me, but just as I suspected, meeting them here, just turned everything back to square one. I have to teach myself that control all over again…I remember how good it felt, but now it’s like it’s all just vanished from my memory, like it never happened.

As I take a deep breath and look up in the distance, I see Blaze. She turns away just in time and starts walking away. She must’ve heard everything, I’m sure. Now she knows the coward that is her partner. I always did feel sad for my future partner, and now…well, I hardly think I’m the only one thinking that.

Blaze:
I don’t know what I’ve expected from this Breeze. I mean, when it has been the two of us, he’s seemed rather okay. Okay as in he knows how to speak for himself, but what I just saw, spoke against all of that. It finally comes to mind why he’s been so emotionally unstable. I saw how he fought so hard to keep his element under control just now. Something tells me this was not about that friendly chat…I didn’t hear all of it, but some of it in bits. The way Breeze didn’t handle Rain’s…I mean his brother’s session should’ve been the clue.

Whatever their feud is about, it’s been going on for quite some time. Breeze didn’t seem surprised at all when his brother came up towards him in that taunting manner. Even his brother’s partner has caught on to it, meddling with brothers. They were really trying to provoke him into revealing his element and do something that would get him punished. His restraints were really being tested.

As his brother and Ember leaves, I make sure to start walking as well. I can’t let him know that I’ve seen it all. I mean, he did look at me once in the middle of it, but I hardly think he knows what I’ve made out of it. I don’t even trust him…now, I trust him even less than what I even considered doing in the beginning. If he can’t control his element, if he has to fight like that to stay in control, how am I supposed to trust him?

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A/N: I'm sooo sorry for making you wait so long for this! I really did struggle to find out what this chapter was supposed to be all about so I hope you like what I ended up with. Might be a while between updates as I've got 5 weeks until my first exam and things are getting crazy just before that. Hopefully you awesome people enjoy these chapters while I work on the lucky no. 10 ;-)