Element

Element 4 : Missing

"...okay then, it's your choice..., listen I do not work there anymore, so don't you dare bother me again, goodbye."

There was silence, Razer waited for a few moments, because bursting in the room right after the conversation ended would clearly reveal that he had been eavesdropping.

He then finally opened the door with his key.

The door swung open noiselessly to reveal a young man of about nineteen or twenty with spiky dark brown hair and bright green eyes that looked surprised at the arrival of the newcomer, his eyebrows arched up as took in Razer's face hidden beneath the hood's shadow.

He deliberately took a step towards Razer and raised his hand to shake, "Hello, I am Mark Heartnet."

* * *

Larose Town

"Why are we here?" asked Angel Rippon irritably gazing at the old town of Larose.

"We are here because we have to." replied her twin brother Zachary.

"And why do we have to?" asked Angel now really infuriated as she nearly slipped on the wet ground, "And why are we walking? I hate walking, and this place, it is so eerie sort of, and it is going to rain heavily again I tell you, we should have bought our car, but no, you have to just walk....."

Zachary sighed ignoring her sister's endless complaints and continued on his way.

"At least tell me where we are going." pleaded Angel.

"Fine, we are going to an old friend of Nicolaus, this 'friend' says he got something for us to deliver to him." said Zachary.

"Nicolaus?" repeated Angel surprised.

Nicolaus Rippon was their famous elder brother, the best Fire Element technocrat the world had ever seen.

"Yes, anyway this guy's name is Maxford, I don't remember his first name though, it was something strange, anyway, he's an Element engineer, his laboratory is somewhere here." said Zachary.

It was starting to drizzle now; Angel squinted through the rain trying to find the lab. She spotted a police officer nearby.

"Let's ask him." suggested Angel.

"Good idea." said Zachary and went near the cop, "Hello sir, can you tell us where we can find Maxford's laboratory?"

The stout cop looked carefully at them and said, "Yes of course, but what business do you kids have with him?"

Beside Zachary, Angel snorted, she got irritated when anyone called her a kid, she was eighteen and was about to tell a snappy retort to the cop when Zachary said, "We heard he's a good Elements engineer and wondered if he could make us some Elements, its rather hard to find Elements engineer in a democratic state."

"Ah, well, sorry to disappoint you, but Maxford has been missing since three days, someone burned down his lab too, so that area is out of bounds, you better go home, looks like there'll be a heavy downpour anytime soon." said the cop in a rough voice.

Zachary and Angel stood there gaping. Zachary was actually worried for that Maxford while Angel was irritated again because apparently they came all the way here for nothing and her shoes would be ruined. How different twins could be.

* * *

"Razer Zeller, nice to meet you." said Razer and shook Mark's hand.

"It's such a coincidence that you turn out to be my roommate." , said Mark with a weak smile.

Razer was caught off guard, "Roommate?" he repeated.

"Yes, each room is to be shared by two students." said Mark.

There was a brief flash of annoyance on Razer's face before he composed himself.

Mark didn't miss it, but he didn't say anything. His mobile buzzed.

He looked at its screen and said, "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go."

Saying this, he left the room without a cursory glance at Razer.

Razer stared at Mark as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Oh, well." said Razer to himself, hopefully Mark would prove to be mature and would appreciate Razer's need for privacy.

Razer had never been an extrovert and preferred isolation. He thought about what he would do for the day, from what Madrid had said the Academy was supposed to begin a day after tomorrow, Razer explored the room for his luggage. To say that it was a room was hardly fair, it resembled a penthouse, being located on the topmost floor, there were four bedrooms, a large hall and a balcony.

Razer entered the first bedroom he found and was not surprised to find that all his suitcases were placed neatly on the carpeted floor beside a bed. He headed straight for his leather bag which was on the top and swiftly pulled out his laptop. He powered it on and clicked on Chrome. Up to this point Razer had barely thought about what would be taught and done at the Academy.

He opened the Academy official site and found the prospectus.

Razer quickly read it. He was surprised to find that the Academy had its own Element store in its main building; it also had various other Element labs and research centres.

As for his classes, they included basic subject as Math, Advance Science, Commerce, Arts and many more. Elements subjects included Elemental Engineering, Elemental History, Elements Technology, and Razer was pleased to find Practical Elements.

Then something caught Razer's eyes, it was the list of students in Year 1, he quickly searched for Mark Heartnet's profile.

Indeed, he did have the same flat as Razer.

He also found some other interesting people, Angel Rippon and Zachary Rippon; they too were in Year 1. So was Liam Duffing.

When Razer thought of Duffing he also remembered the black haired girl he had seen with him.

Crimson he typed and instantly in front of him was the singular search result. Razer's grip on his laptop tightened as he read the names below the girl's photo.

Aura Crimson d/o Raymond Crimson

Razer looked away from the laptop's screen.

A Crimson is in the Academy, will she be my inevitable rival?

***

Author's Note: Honestly, this Zeller-Crimson rivalry has got me excited too! :D