Elementals

A month went by. Rosalie, Tyler, and May had been practicing their abilities. Lillian had come back to school the week after the tornado. Tyler already got off his crutches and had his brace taken off in only a third of the time that it was supposed to take him. All was good, and the school year was nearly over.

May could change the speed and direction of the wind, but couldn’t pinpoint it to a specific area. Tyler could make rocks move and roll around, as well as bend a metal pole easily with his mind. He nearly got arrested for that, but it was obvious that he didn’t have the physical strength to do it, and the police officer never expected magic. Rosalie can summon and throw orbs at any time, but force fields were much more difficult to conjure.

It was around 2:00pm on Thursday. Tomorrow would be the last day of school before summer break. Rosalie and Tyler were sitting next to each other in Physical Science, working on a model of the tectonic plates made out of graham crackers and icing. “Hey, have you heard from Samuel?” Tyler asked quietly. “No, not since what happened a month ago,” Rosalie answered. “Oh,” Tyler replied. He paused for a moment, staring at his feet, then continued, “Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that he just tells you your fate then disappears?”

Rosalie hadn’t thought about it, but Tyler had a point. It was pretty strange. As Rosalie thought more, it didn’t seem fair how this responsibility and life were sort of thrown at her. After a bit, she started to get angry about it. It just didn’t make sense, even less now than before.

Rosalie was lost in thought for the next hour, and before she knew it, the bell rang. It was a nice day, so Rosalie had told Jane she rather walk back and forth to school today. She started down the sidewalk, when she heard footsteps coming up behind her, and they were fast. Rosalie tensed up as the person running approached. She listened carefully as the footsteps grew closer and closer, until she hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

Rosalie rammed an elbow into the ribcage of the attacker, sending him to the ground. Rosalie turned to look at him, and saw Tyler. “Rosalie! What the heck?!” “I’m sorry!” she yelled and helped him to his feet. Tyler used her for support for a few minutes, until he could walk on his own.

“Dang, you hit hard,” he said exhaustedly, hiding signs of remaining pain. “Yeah, sorry about that. I was startled,” she explained, “I’ve just been a little paranoid ever since Samuel explained to me that evil monsters and demons might be coming after us.” “Oh, yeah, that’s understandable.” “My house isn’t very far. Do you want an ice pack?” “No, I think I’m fine.” “Well, come over anyway. I have no idea what we’re doing with the tectonic plates.” “Haha, alright,” Tyler laughed.

After walking for nearly twenty minutes, the two got to Rosalie’s house. She opened the door with the key under the flowerpot, and let Tyler and herself inside. “Oh, hey,” Jane said as they stepped through the door. She was sitting on the couch, watching tv. “Oh? Rosa, you can’t be bringing boys home yet,” she joked. “Jane! It’s Tyler! He’s just a friend,” Rosalie argued. “I know that! Can’t I tease you? Geez,” Jane ranted, before remembering something, “Oh! Rosalie, you got a letter.” Jane handed Rosalie a white envelope with a gold, wax seal.

Rosalie took it and looked at the fancy cursive writing, much neater than anything she could so, that spelled out her name is large, swirling letters across the front. She looked at the return address and the name on it was Samuel Carter. Immediately, she thanked Jane and ran straight to her room with Tyler. “Woah, what? Don’t run. What’s going on?” Tyler asked. Rosalie pulled him into the room and closed the door behind them. She held up the letter. “It’s from him,” she answered quietly. “Oh…” Tyler replied.

Rosalie and Tyler sat on the floor of her room, and she opened the letter. She quickly read the contents inside:

Rosalie,

I am very sorry for not contacting you until now. I’ve been busy looking for some answers to your questions. I’ve some across a few ghost sightings, a family massacre with no known culprit, and a demonic possession related to a cult as possible suspects to who and what you may be facing in the future. Unfortunately, I do not have any definite sources, yet there has been an abundance of dark energy surrounding a few nearby towns lately. That is a good place to start. In the meantime, I know that school is about to end for the year, which makes it the perfect time for you and your friends to begin your training. I hope you have been practicing small things, like making rocks move, static shocks, and small breezes, on your own and in solitude, for that helps you learn what emotions and thoughts you need to access your powers.

However, now that you all will not be as busy with your studies, it is time you all learn some more advanced skills. It will be difficult and take a while to master, but as long as you all work for it, it shouldn’t be too grueling of a task. I will be at Soshi Falls Park in three days at exactly noon. I hope the three of you can come and we will begin then.

Please note that there are many bad people who are likely already looking for all of you, so please destroy this letter after reading it and make sure it is illegible before throwing any remaints away. Thank you for taking all of this so well in such dire circumstances.

~S.

Rosalie handed Tyler the letter so he could help her remember the date and time. He read it over, then handed it back. “I’m positive ‘S’ means Samuel, so I guess we’re going to get trained to use our magic,” Rosalie shrugged. “This is gonna be awesome! I’ll let May know,” Tyler cheered. Rosalie laughed at him a bit. “What? We’re basically superheroes now,” he defended. Rosalie paused for a moment. “Huh, I never thought of it that way, but yeah, we sort of are.”

Soon enough, school was out for the summer, and it wasn’t long before Rosalie met up with Tyler and May for their training. Jane drove them to the park, thinking they just wanted to hang out and celebrate summer. The sky was gray and it looked like a storm was coming, so they were told not to stay out in the rain. They agreed, and proceeded to the park.

The park’s land extended to some walking trails through woods. At the entrance to the walking track, on the edge of the trees, stood Samuel. “Hello,” he greeted them kindly. He had a pocket watch in his hand, checking to see if they were late, which they were by a matter of seven minutes. “I see you encountered some traffic?” he asked, placing the watch into his coat pocket. “No, we just had to wait on May to put on makeup,” Tyler explained, annoyed. May glared at him through a mountain of dark, messy eye shadow.

“Alright, it’s time to be off. I ask you three to follow me. Magic must not be practiced out in the open,” Samuel said plainly as he turned and strolled down the trail. The three friends exchanged quick glances to one another, then followed. “You still have a pocket knife on you, right?” Tyler whispered. Rosalie checked her pocket, then nodded in response. She was sure she wouldn’t need it, but she was not about to go into the woods with a strange adult without a weapon.

They walked for a while, until they reached just over a mile down the trail. There was a creek running alongside the gravel, just below a small bank of about four feet. There were many bushes on the edge of the bank, but there was a small gap in one spot that revealed a wide pipe behind it that stretched across the creek, from one back to the other. Samuel stopped at this spot. “Just across here,” he said, gesturing to the pipe. He turned to it and - with arms down by his side, as though it were the easiest thing in the world - he casually strolled across it, stepping onto the other side of the creek.

Rosalie and Tyler approached the pipe. “Does he expect us to walk across this?” Rosalie asked. She looked across to see that Samuel was already heading down another small gravel trail to the left of them, going behind some trees. “I guess so,” Tyler said, confused, “We’re probably going to lose him if we don’t.” Rosalie shrugged. “It looks rather wide, and it’s not that far of a drop. We can do this,” she said optimistically.” “Yeah! I’m an athlete, after all! I’ll see ya when you catch up,” Tyler replied happily before hesitantly stepping onto the pipe.

Rosalie watched as Tyler slowly placed one foot in front of the other. He wobbled and yelped a bit as he swayed back and forth, both arms out for balance and flailing about, trying desperately not to fall. He’d stop for a while, tilting from side to side, then walk on again. It took him almost three minutes to get across the 8’ long pipe. He then turned around, looking triumphant. “I did it! Hurry up, slow poke,” he teased at Rosalie.

Rosalie glanced down at the pipe. She held her arms out by her sides for balance. Then, one foot in front of the other, and carefully strolled across it. She didn’t stop, and wobbled once or twice, but kept a brisk pace so she wouldn’t get distracted. She soon realized it actually wasn’t a very difficult feat. She crossed the pipe in just over twenty seconds. Afterwards, she hopped off on the other side, crossed to arms, and smirked at Tyler. “Who’s the slow poke now?”

“I was just faking it to boost your confidence,” Tyler argued. “Sure, you were,” Rosalie replied sarcastically. Tyler stuck his tongue out at Rosalie like a child, and she did the same to him. Then, their attention was quickly drawn back to May.

“Guys! I can’t get across!” May yelled. She was standing on the other side of the pipe, “I’m not doing this!” Rosalie sighed, turning to Tyler. “You go on ahead. I’ll help May,” she said calmly. Tyler nodded and ran after Samuel.

“May, it’s not that hard! You can do it,” Rosalie called. “No, I’m not! You can’t make me! I’m not doing it,” May yelled. “May! The world is depending on us!” “That’s not my problem!” “May! Just do it! You won’t fall!” “No!” Rosalie grunted and sighed in frustration, then walked back across the pipe.

Rosalie stopped in front of May, still on the pipe, and held out a hand. “I won’t let you fall,” she promised. May looked down at the water, then back at Rosalie. “Fine,” she spat. She cautiously took Rosalie’s hand and Rosalie helped her onto the pipe. Slowly, step by step, Rosalie backed along the pipe, leading May, until they finally reached the other side. Rosalie could finally breathe again out of relief. “You better?” she asked. “Until we have to go back,” May retorted before marching off down the path, leaving the girl who got her there in the dust.

Rosalie, agitated, shrugged off May’s behavior and followed her down the small, unfinished gravel path to find Samuel and Tyler. After a few minutes of walking down that narrow path through a thick wall of trees on both sides, Rosalie came across a decent sized field. It was full of things like targets, frisbees, and many other simple things that Rosalie assumed were for training. May and Tyler were standing in the center of the field. Samuel was setting up the targets. Rosalie joined her friends, glaring at May.

“I walked across the pipe backwards to get you across and you left me! You don’t do that,” Rosalie scoled. “I’ll do what I want,” May replied, defensive. “You went backwards across the pipe? Impressive,” Tyler complemented, trying to prevent an argument. “Yeah, but I went across it, too,” May butted in.

Rosalie opened her mouth to respond to May, but Samuel chimed in before she could. “Tyler,” he started, clapping his hands together once, “You’re going first. I want to assess your powers.” Tyler took a deep breath, preparing himself. “Alright,” he replied. Samuel led him to the three targets, lined up side by side, and made him stand about twenty yards away from them. “Try to hit just the one of the far left,” Samuel instructed. Tyler looked at him, then back at the targets. “Okay, I can do this,” he said, more to himself than to Samuel.

Tyler closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He focused for a minute, a dark brown aura seeming to appear around him, then stomped his foot onto the ground. Rocks shot up from it, as though they were catapulted. Most were mere pebbles, but one was a large rock. It sailed right in between the left and middle targets, hitting the tree behind them. “Dang it!” Tyler shouted in disappointment. “It’s alright,” Samuel reassured him, “Just try again.” Tyler tried four more times, eventually dinging the left target on its very edge. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked, so he was told to take a seat. Samuel had spread out a small blanket on the ground, so Tyler sat there with Rosalie while May was called up.

Samuel grabbed a frisbee, holding it up to show her. It was normal, plastic, looking like it came from the dollar store. “Try and use the wind to control its course,” Samuel instructed, “If you can, make it hit one of the targets.” May nodded. Samuel threw the frisbee into the air, away from the targets. May began to glow with her silver aura once again, then the wind picked up. The frisbee made a turn in the air, heading in the direction of the targets, but did not hit any of them, or even come close. May squealed and threw her hands up in frustration. Samuel began to explain that it was only a first attempt, but she stormed off, plopping angrily onto the blanket.

Samuel sighed, then gestured for Rosalie to step up for power assessment. “Alright, try to hit one of the targets with a spark,” Samuel said, growing tired by May’s attitude. Rosalie remained still. She had never made sparks, only glowing orbs and force fields. She stood there, silent. “Is there a problem?” Samuel asked, concerned. Rosalie took in a breath. “I… I’ve never made sparks. I don’t know how,” she explained. Samuel seemed surprised. “Oh? Well, show me what you can do.”

Rosalie clapped her hands together, a red aura appearing around her, then slowly moved her hands apart but leaving them cupped, as though holding a bug. In her hands was a sphere of bright red light, glowing and pulsing with energy. She kept the bases of her hands together, moving her fingers further apart. She aimed for the center target, then pulled her arms back, before pushing them forward, fast, in a shoving motion. The sphere of light shot through the air like a bullet, hitting and center target just off the bullseye and disappearing. The target was thrown back by the force of the impact, and tipped over, hitting the ground.

Rosalie smiled, proud of her aim, then looked back at Samuel. His face was painted with shock and his jaw was dropped. Did I do something wrong? Rosalie wondered. Samuel brought himself back to attention, then removed his glasses, wiping them on his coat, and placing them back on his head while speaking. “It seems I have miscalculated,” he explained, “Rosalie, your powers are not that of electricity, but rather of light. It’s very impressive, especially your control over it. However, you still have much to learn. You all do. That’s what we will begin now.”

Samuel thought for a moment, his eyes going over Rosalie, then Tyler, then May, then Rosalie again, before he called Tyler back over. Tyler walked over, excited and ready to learn new skills. “Alright, I want you to try to make a small earthquake,” Samuel said as though it was the most normal thing in the world. “What?!” Tyler ask, surprised. “Just a small one. One decent tremor is all, and only in the immediate area,” he explained further. Tyler nodded, then closed his eyes, focusing. He began to glow again, and nearly a minute went by. Nothing happened.

Tyler sighed, looking back up. “I can’t do it,” he said sadly. “Yes, you can,” Samuel persisted, “Just visualize the area you want to affect, mostly the rock beneath it, then imagine the whole thing shaking or growing a bit unstable, like a shock wave moving through it. You can do it.”

Tyler reluctantly nodded, then closed his eyes again. This time, he knelt down and put one hand on the ground, feeling the area beneath mis palm. In his head, he began to see the dirt under the grass, and then the bedrock further down. He tried to feel where the rock was and get a sense of it, as though it had its own mind and he was trying to speak with it. He then commanded it to move, as though asking it a simple favor, and it did. There was a noticeable tremor in the ground, reaching a span of about five yards, just below where Tyler sat. He opened his eyes and stood back up, giddy and victorious, with a huge smile on his face. “Well done,” Samuel praised, giving him a nod of approval. Tyler sat back down, and next, it was Rosalie’s turn.

Samuel smiled kindly. “The fun thing about light,” he began, looking up at the sky, “is that it has no limitations. It can go as far as the imagination and do whatever the user wishes. It has a world of possibilities and is capable of a lot of things. The only obstacle is unlocking those capabilities.” Rosalie sighed. “This is going to be hard, isn’t it?” she asked. “Perhaps,” Samuel answered shortly.

“How did you first discover your power?” Samuel asked. It was a question he hadn’t asked any of the others, but he needed to know what all Rosalie had done with it in the past. “Oh, well, it was during the tornado,” Rosalie recapped, trying to remember the details, “I was almost hit with glass debris. I didn’t even know I had powers, but I made some sort of wall out of light and it stopped the glass and kept it from hitting me.”

Samuel thought for a moment. “Alright, try to do that again,” Samuel said. “Oh, I haven’t been able to recreate that wall since the tornado,” Rosalie explained. Samuel sighed. “Alright,” he replied calmly as he turned away without another word. He knelt down, left a rather large stone from the ground, and turned back to Rosalie, turning the stone over in his hand. He smile gently, then hurled the stone at her like he was pitching a baseball. Rosalie’s eyes widened and she threw her arms up in front of her as a defense, only for the rock to bounce off a wall of red light that was suspended in the air in front of Rosalie like a floating riot-shield.

“Good, now try to hold that there,” Samuel instructed casually, “Try to memorize how it feels and know exactly how to influence the energy in your control to do it again.” Rosalie did so. She closed her eyes. She could feel the light around her as if it were one of her limbs, like an extension of her body. She focused on how it felt to hold it there, then began to try and move it. It worked. She could center it or make it slowly move left or right. That is, until May began to clap for her and she lost concentration and the wall disappeared.

“Good. Good. Well done,” Samuel congratulated once the wall was gone. “You threw a rock at me!” Rosalie scolded. “It was for the good of mankind,” Samuel shrugged sarcastically. Rosalie wanted to yell, but didn’t, since she was a bit grateful that she could now recreate the wall of light. “That was a force field,” Samuel explained, “and the sphere from earlier was an orb. You can do a lot with those kills, controlling their movements, size, speed, shape, and overall purpose.”

Next was May. After over an hour, she could use the wind to blow down a specific target, yet still could not make the frisbee hit it. Samuel decided this was good enough. After that, he told her to try and make a hand-held twister. She said it was impossible. “Just imagine the air in your hands spinning and swirling while staying contained,” he explained calmly, “If you could break up an F4 tornado with no training, you can easily create one the size of a fish bowl.” May glared at him, then gave in and placed her hands in front of her with her palms facing each other. She stayed like this for a minute, then threw her arms back down in frustration. “I can’t do it! It’s impossible!” she whined. Since it had been going on for so long, Samuel let her give up and had them all practice on their own until they had mastered these new skills. Once May stopped getting attention, she suddenly found the talent to make the air between her hands spin and take on the appearance of a cyclone. “That’s very nice,” Samuel acknowledged, and May pridefully agreed.