Elemental Genesis

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Chapter Seventeen: The Scarlet Raven

She's bouncing, he thought disbelievingly to himself. There's no other word for it: my grandmother is bouncing. Bouncing was truly the only way to describe how Sarah was walking down the street, Nuitari in tow. He guessed that they deserved all the staring: they made quite a pair. He was a stranger to a town where practically everyone knew each other while, Gran was, and well she was Gran. He asked her, "Where are we going?"

Still bouncing, she cheerily replied, "Sky Lane, one of the five major business streets in Grey Tower Town. It's on one of our clans boundaries, so other clans can come and do business there, too."

There weren't that many people out this sunny morning on August 9th, but even he had to admit that his grandmother's bright lime green dress shirt was a bit noticeable. Combine that with turquoise slacks and a dandelion yellow kerchief tying back her black-streaked gray hair and...to put it mildly you had to rub your eyes a little and not look at her directly. He himself just pulled on an emerald green t-shirt and black jeans. He chose to wear his contact lenses instead of his glasses. There was nothing too out of place about him unless you counted the fact that he was a stranger.

There's also my scar. I wonder how I got it? It's certainly not normal. He had pondered over this mark for quite a while. After all a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his hardly counted as normal. When he asked his new family about it, Hans immediately proclaimed it the result of a dark curse. Hans, who Nuitari viewed as a kindly but quirky grandfather (the title of 'uncle' sounded horrible and insulting. It certainly didn't befit the elderly man.), steadfastly wouldn't say how he knew this. Gran seemed to know though and she hastily changed the subject. He decided not to push it. At the moment, the scar was hidden under his bangs. He didn't want people noticing it and gawking, for whatever reason. Maybe I can ask Tom somehow. He would probably know.

"You didn't say why we are going to Sky Lane."

"Grocery store. We need some food in the house, child! I have four mouths to feed."

"You said before that Hans owned it?"

"Yep. The Food, Food, and More Food is the only grocery store around here. We don't shop at those supermarkets because their food isn't as good as ours. The vegetables and fruit are on the first floor, while the meat and dairy products are on the cold second floor."

"But if Hans runs the store, why is he never there?"

Gran laughed merrily. "He gets bored! He lets his son, Franz, handles most of it now. And here we are. Welcome to Sky Lane, Night."

Sky Lane was a clean and wide street, straight with nooks or crannies. It was very busy, people bustling to and fro, stopping sometimes to chat with each other shortly before going on their way. The buildings were on only one side of the street; the other side was a wrought iron fence. He recognized it as the park Zylle and Mirabelle had told him about. It was Aiken-Quincy Park, owned and cared for by the Arlen family of the Eikou-Taiyou.

Walking down the street beside Gran, he was struck by how the street was both so ordinary, yet so connected to the magical community. The pottery and art store did not to be disguised that much: it only needed a few kilns that the artists never used. A clothing store here sold not only muggle clothing, but also fighting outfits and even wizard robes. The divination store did not need to be hid: the muggle world had plenty of these already. Those weren't real, but the fact remained that nothing need be done to it. In front of the potions apothecary (which was very cleverly disguised as a store called "Herbs and Spices"), a boy a few years older than he was by probably five years was making an impressive show for some younger kids. He was juggling six flaming sticks while doing what seemed to be a complicated and elaborate tap dance. With a flash of fire that caused excited 'oohs' from the audience around him, he had two pairs of daggers in each hand. Nonplussed, he added them to his act. He did this all while he was dancing, not stopping even once.

"That Pierce Rowan is such a showoff," Gran scoffed. "Granted he does put on a great performance..." Nuitari smirked when he heard her mutter this. He was impressed with this little routine as well and couldn't wait until he learned how to summon a weapon out of his element. Zylle had demonstrated to him weapon summon just yesterday.

<><><>

Just yesterday Gran said that they had the basics of metamorphosis down, so they could move on. She was starting to show him how to control fire, her element. So far, he could summon flames using his hands or make things explode by thinking about it. It was a good start. Gran said that she would teach him her own combat technique: the Inferno's Hellfire. She did however warn him: it caused a lot of damage when used, but at the same time required a lot of energy. He would not be taught it until he could handle the fire element with as much ease as the wind element. Nuitari had some trouble with it, but not a lot. It was getting easier.

He had finally mastered tapping into his elements without major concentration. Zylle was apparently right: with a lot of practice, he could use his element instantly, without thought. Wind was the easiest, which Zylle said was logical. He was strongest in that element, so of course it wasn't hard for him. His lesson in weapon summoning was by far the most interesting he had so far.

Zylle had taken him down to the basement, where Nuitari had to do at least two hours of training a day. The accomplishment in utilizing the wind element showed when he noticed that he now moved a lot faster than a normal person could, with a lot more grace. Not that he was a ballerina or anything. God forbid that. But he could felt that his strides were becoming more like the smooth gait that Zylle possessed. Nuitari now had taken an interest in running to increase his speed, but he hadn't asked Zylle about it yet. As soon as they reached the center of the room, which soon becoming routine, she told him that they were going to learn combat. According to Zylle, this was a skill he had to know. "Elementals follow a strict tradition of learning the fighting arts," she said. "Besides, you never know when you'll need the skill."

"What about the people that wouldn't want to fight? Also what about the kids that are wizards? And I thought I was going to learn how to use my other elements."

"Questions, questions! Every elemental knows how to fight. Even the ones that don't look like they would, they do. As for the children who are wizards and witches, we teach them as well, but with regular weapons. You are going to learn how to use the other elements from Mum. The tournament's approaching fast and in case anyone is going to try anything funny, I want you to be prepared. Take that heavy long sword from the wall." He obliged her. "Now swing it at me."

"I really don't get your training methods."

She smiled cheekily. "But they work, you can't deny that. Now swing! Use everything you have!"

Nuitari swung sideways with all the strength he could muster. Zylle quickly brought up her hand. With a slight breeze and flash of lightning, held a sword in her once empty hand. She just held the blade up in the path of the swing. Before his eyes, his sword was cut in half like butter. The metal clattered noisily on the wooden floor. He couldn't help but just stare in shock at the silver just lying on the ground. She gave him the sword so he could take a better look at it.

It wasn't made of metal. It was different and he knew this instinctively. The blade had the form of silver, with some tints of midnight blue and dark purple faintly swirling in it. The hilt was also made of a similar material, but colored a dull storm gray. It was fairly light despite its metal appearance. "What is this?"

"An elemental sword. In this case, a wind elemental sword."

"This sword is made out of wind?"

"As unbelievable as it sounds, it's true. Remember when I said that those swords don't hold a candle to the ones elementals use? This is one of them."

Nuitari thought about what she said. "So, this sword is wind made in a tangible form? And you can do this with other elements?"

"Exactly. As you can see, it's relatively lightweight." Zylle took back the sword and twirled it around like a baton. "Perfect for us and our speedy moves, while sharper than anything. You'll see that the other elements have heavier weapons. Take Hans for instance. Word of advice, try to avoid getting hit with that broad axe."

"Cool," he enthused. "How do I do it?"

"Oh, you won't be doing it just yet, kiddo."

"What? But you just showed me!"

"I know I did." She made her sword disappear. "But do you know anything about swordsmanship?"

"Not a thing."

"Then you can't summon your weapon. It's not like the element is just going to let you swing a sharp object needlessly. You have to learn."

Nuitari tried to make himself look irresistibly cute and innocent so she would give in. "Please? Teach me?" He blinked languid green eyes behind silver framed glasses for effect.

"Nice try. Grab the sword with the gold handle." Zylle herself took a slightly heavier sword with an iron hilt. "Now we begin."

"It's at these times I think you want to hurt me."

"Trust me, Mum used to be worse." He brought up his sword to parry her vertical slice. "Elementals have an instinct to fight. We know how to fight from the moment we are born, but we need training to use this instinct and perfect it," she said as she added pressure to her assault, forcing Nuitari to use more strength to hold up against it. Out of nowhere and quite suddenly, he just knew what to do. He stepped quickly to the side and then disconnected his sword from hers. Zylle smiled as he brought himself into a defensive stance. She then laughed as she saw evident confusion written across his face. "Don't worry, you'll get it soon."

<><><>

Now he was planning to train harder than ever. He had gotten better when he did some exercises this morning, but he wished he could improve faster. During the past few days while Zylle was gone, he wrote essays (more like short stories, Gran didn't want him bored out of his mind) and math problems. Apparently, Grey Tower High not only went into the magical arts, but also into muggle subjects. He had a lot to catch up on. I swear that if I ever somehow meet the person who made up algebra, I'll kill them! He didn't notice the small girl in the front of the crowd sneeze suddenly right after this thought passed his mind. He was startled out of his reverie by Gran pulling on his arm. "Come on! We can't watch Pierce Rowan all day. To the Food, Food, and More Food!"

They walked a little farther down the avenue where they found themselves in front of a well-kept brick building that was about two-stories high. The large glass window had a sign proclaiming in huge blue-stenciled letters 'Food, Food, and More Food'. A bell jingled as they entered the store.

It was larger than it looked from the outside. Stands of fresh victuals stood against the walls and other goods were stocked neatly on shelves in the middle. Two cashiers to the side were ringing up purchases for customers. One of them was a man with fair blond hair and dark green eyes. Nuitari was distinctly reminded of Hans. That must be Franz Claybourne, Hans' son. He grabbed a shopper's basket from the pile by the door.

Gran was already loading down his basket and giving helpful advice. She was quite the leader. For example, she told him not to touch the pomegranates.

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "No idea. It's just a thing we have around here. Actually, I think they're quite good, but it's a tradition for newcomers not to eat them."

"Let me guess this one," Nuitari said slyly. "Hans had something to do with it."

"Yep. Hey. Is that who I think it is? It is! Derek!"

Nuitari turned to look at whom his grandmother was frantically waving at. It was a man of medium height who was almost completely bald. He looked like a fit man who had just gone slightly to seed. He was talking to another person beside the cheery stand: a woman with light brown hair and eyes in blue witches' robes with an anxious look on her face. The man (Derek?) smiled when he saw them. Motioning to the young woman, they walked towards them. "Hey, Sarah," he said jovially. "How is it going?"

"Long time, no see. I'm doing well. Oh!" She turned to the interested Nuitari. "Night, this is an old friend of mine, Derek Montague-Hillary. He's an earth elemental. Derek, this is my grandson, Nuitari. We call him Night for short. He's a wind elemental."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," he said politely.

"It's all mine," responded Derek. They shook hands. "And this is my niece, Stella. You were adopted, right?"

"Right."

Derek laughed. "You really can't tell, can you?! Messy black hair and gray eyes, you look like a regular Hawking! You could pass for Zylle's son literally! And you're even a wind elemental, as well! Talk about coincidence!"

Stella scrutinized him. "He looks like someone I've seen before...I just can't place the face."

Gran looked at Stella questioningly. "You're a witch, right? What are you doing here? We don't get involved with wizarding affairs and it looks too serious to be just a simple visit."

"There's something up around England. People are saying the Dark Lord is back."

Dark Lord? Who's that? Derek next said scathingly, "Typical wizards. Also their so-called 'savior' is missing. And they can't even say that dark wizard's name!" This sounds very familiar...

"It looked like a demon was involved with the attack in Hilton, though," Stella continued, but not without a mock angry glare at her uncle. "There was a body of a man there, sliced in two if you can believe it."

"Sounds like a demon," Gran admitted.

Derek added, "I know. And when demons are involved, there's always trouble." Note to self: when I get home, go look up demons in the library.

<><><>

Nuitari exhaled his breath loudly. He had just been introduced to about thirty-five people who seemed to want to know every single detail about him. A couple of times, people actually thought he was literally Zylle's son and asked where he had been all this time. He also disliked the fact that everyone seemed to be watching his every move, like he was some celebrity. I don't like it. Why can't they just treat me normally? Right now, he was sitting under a huge beech tree a bit off the main path in Aiken-Quincy Park. Gran let him have a break from the almost continuous interrogations he had just been put through. It felt good not to have eyes on him.

"Who are you?" The question was almost accusatory. Standing above him and a little to the left, stood a boy around his age staring down at him. He had dark red hair that was combed forward, slightly messy. It's nowhere near to this bird's nest on top of my head, though. His face was more or less expressionless, but his dark blue eyes glinted brightly with suspicion. Nuitari blinked. He didn't even notice when this stranger came up to him. "Well?"

"Oh! Sorry about that," he apologized. "I was just wondering how you snuck up on me."

The boy tersely replied, "It's a gift. You didn't answer my question." The redhead leaned against the tree and put his hands in his khakis' pockets.

"Nuitari Hawking, wind elemental of the Arashi-Tenku." He had gone over some of the formalities that elementals used. One of them was the fact that they had to include their element and clan in with their name when introduced. Both he and Zylle decided it would be a lot simpler if they said he was just a wind elemental.

"Hawking? I guess you're all right then. Odd name," was what the boy responded with. The suspicion faded away from his eyes though at the mention of the name 'Hawking'. It was soon replaced by curiosity and a bit of wariness. "Mirabelle?"

"Yep. Just call me 'Night'. It's easier."

"It is easier. There are people with worse nicknames though." The redhead extended his hand. "I'm Bran Ravencroft, fire elemental of the Arashi-Tenku." They shook hands.

"Bran? And you say my name is odd," said Nuitari jokingly.

Bran grinned. "The name 'Bran' is just a shortened form of my middle name, 'Brandon'. My real name is Richard, but I usually don't answer to that."

"Why not?"

"It was all because of a horrible nickname that my cousin Gino came up with. I hate him," Bran said with a scowl.

"You have a big family?"

"Yeah," he said. "Most of them live in Italy, near my grandparents. 'Big' is an understatement. Counting my dad, my grandparents had fifteen kids. Also, all of them had at least nine or ten children of their own. My dad's considered to have the least amount with, including myself, only four. Family reunions are terrible."

"I only have Zylle, Gran, and I guess Hans. They're enough for me. Oh, I think I saw two of your siblings. Phyllis and Caroline?"

"You saw them?"

"Right when I came here with Zylle. They were playing in the street."

Bran sat down next to him against the tree. "Oh, so you're really the one everyone's talking about, then?"

"What?"

"There was this rumor around town that Zylle Hawking adopted some kid who appeared out of nowhere and has a lot of power. I guess you are since you took on her surname."

"Oh." Nuitari paused. "That does describe my situation rather well, I guess. They were talking about me?"

"You're big news. Zylle is pretty famous in the elemental communities since she's so powerful and influential. Let's not forget your mysterious circumstances. Some of the other clan leaders are really upset about it. They said that they should have been informed so they could decide where you should go in 'a fair manner'."

"What's the big deal? I probably would have gone with Zylle anyway. It does explain why everyone was staring at me, though." Abruptly, Nuitari became sarcastic. "Wonderful! I'm a celebrity! And they might remove me from Zylle's care, too!"

Bran laughed again. "Well, you're certainly different. Other people would be reveling in the fact that the Zylle Samara Hawking is training them. I doubt the other leaders would remove you though. It's mostly Crowley of the Rekka-Ki doing all this complaining. Besides, mostly everyone doesn't want to get on Zylle's bad side so they'll leave you be."

"I don't want the attention. Who would want all those people knowing all about you?"

"I can relate. I'm the 'freakish-weirdo'. Simeon Bradley annoys me every single day because I just happen to get good grades. Now there's someone who needs to be removed. From the community, that is."

"Bran? Do you have the time?"

"Sure. It's...5:45."

"Oh no!" Nuitari scrambled to his feet. "I'm late for dinner! Zylle and Gran are going to kill me!"

"You better hurry home then. I know from experience. Every time I'm late to dinner, she throws a huge fit!"

Nervously, Nuitari asked, "Why don't we meet up tomorrow then? Here? I've got nothing better to do." After all, this is the first person I've talked to that's my age around here. I don't want to be stuck here all alone.

Bran looked abashed. "You want to actually hang out with me?"

"Are you busy then? Sorry then-"

"No, it's not that! It's just that I'm mostly on my own a lot. I'm not that used to having friends or anything..."

"So you agree that we're friends, then?"

Bran looked at Nuitari, shocked. Then he worked out what the dark-haired boy meant. "I guess so. Tomorrow around one, here?"

"Great. See you tomorrow then!" Nuitari sped off towards Zephyrus Court, using the wind element to make himself go faster. He was happy that he had a new friend, but he also had other rather urgent thoughts on his mind. I'm so late! They're going to kill me! I wonder what was for dinner...what if they ate it all?! Must run faster!

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