Elemental Genesis

***

Chapter Twenty-Six: Stardust Requiem

Zylle glared at nothing in particular on her way home from work that evening. Work at the station was exhausting on a whole, but with what was currently happening around her made it much more grueling. It seemed like the entire world was now just readying itself for destruction on a large scale.

First, there was Nuitari. Zylle frowned in worry. The boy had nearly frightened her out of her wits showing up the way he did that morning. It wasn't the fact that he was out that early in the morning that scared her, though she did scold him on that. It was what occurred. Her son - yes, her son - was directly challenged by a Phantom elemental, an experienced one at that. It was true that she was immensely proud that he had won the fight, but there was still the fact that he could have been seriously hurt. And heaven help anyone who hurt him. Lavinia had called later in the day. The Blue Dragon just smiled when she heard that her "protégé" had succeeded, but then nearly dragged the boy off to learn more about fighting against water elementals.

Then, there were these Phantom elementals. Now, she knew for certain they had returned. But what did they hope to achieve by taking out those "unworthy" of magic? The Phantoms never made any sense. Her mother was extremely pensive at the moment. Zylle had rarely seen her mother get angry. But now...she assumed that Sarah was preparing herself once more to fight. The fact that her old clan had attacked her grandson made her even more determined. Hans also seemed to be getting ready for the worst. Over the past few days, the wards around Number 12 Zephyrus Court were strengthened quite a bit. Actually, it was happening all over Grey Tower. She was even in discussion with the other leaders about increasing Grey Tower's already impressive ward system. It had been weakened after the wars, but the Black Panther's intrusion into their territory had been an alarm bell for them. Once the new and improved wards were in place, no Phantom would be able to penetrate Grey Tower Town. It was scheduled to be done before the tournament. There was no need to give the enemy an advantage by seeing how they fought.

Sighing, she looked up at the sky, clouded over with the smoke and illuminated with the bright lights that was London. It truly was a pity that the stars could not be seen. Zylle had the feeling that they would help ease her mind. Everything was coming down on her all at once. She had doubts that she could handle it all.

"Well, well. The Black Dragon walking down the street all by her lonesome? Do you by chance need some company, my lady?"

Startled, Zylle turned her attention away from the sky and back to the street. Her gray eyes narrowed. The red cloak and cocky voice was enough to alert her. But the Black Panther tattoo on the man's left arm was a clear sign of who was confronting her. A muscular arm pulled back his hood, showing a proud face with pale features. A long scar ran down a thin cheek and fierce brown eyes glared back at her. Fire elemental, who was an impressive foot taller than she was.

"I feel no need to say which clan I am from, so I'll save you that," he mocked. "I am Keane Glynith-Vartar."

Readying herself in a defensive stance, she replied scathingly, "I'm Zylle Hawking."

"Yes, I met your son just this morning. You've done a marvelous job with him. He beat down one of my clan's best fighters. Though I do have to admit that Ian did not do well to underestimate him." Zylle then heard him mutter under his breath, "Stupid child."

"What do you want?" she challenged.

Keane raised a blond eyebrow. "Other than the cleansing of the magical world? Your demise, of course. You are an insult to the Vartar name."

"Really?" She then countered, "I would think that you taking the name of 'Vartar' was enough to make my ancestors roll in their graves. Just because my wonderfully deceased uncle thought what he thought didn't mean all Vartars do."

Vartar. That name had hung over her for so long. Though she was lucky. Her father's surname lifted most of the weight. It had taken her mother a while to convince the other clan members of the Arashi-Tenku that she wasn't a spy for the Phantoms during the wars. It was common knowledge that the Hawking family originally forbade her father from marrying her mother from that. The Vartar family of Suiko-Tsuki Panthers was among Grindelwald's most loyal supporters. Very few in the family had stood up to this belief, those including her grandmother, her dead aunts, and a few cousins. Sterling Vartar was the worst out of the lot. Her mother's younger brother, he killed many with a vicious ruthlessness. If not for him, the population of the elementals probably would be three times as large now. The Hellfire Inferno, revered as the strongest fire technique, was seen with fear now and only known practioner was her mother. Zylle herself knew it, but rarely used it. But still, the name of Vartar was forever stained with the blood of innocents from the Phantom Wars.

Keane scowled at her, evidently insulted by that. Zylle shrugged it off. She had meant to do that. "You'll pay for that slur on the Vartar name." The fire elemental unsheathed a sword made of gold, a fire weapon. Zylle, in a moment of random thinking, was happy that she decided not to wear her usual business suit for the day and foregone instead for jeans. Actually, it really wasn't much of a decision on her part. She had scolded Night for so long that she was late for work.

"I don't see how I'm slurring it," she quipped. Summoning two wind Japanese wind swords perfect for her, Zylle added, "I thought that there was enough filth on the name already."

It was almost like those American western showdowns. An empty street, the dust swirling around the feet of the two combatants ready to duel. But there were differences. There would be no guns or ammunition. Keane was no ordinary villain and Zylle was no sheriff. And they weren't in the sultry desert town, but in the middle of London's urban sprawl. This wasn't a cliché movie. This was life. And in life, there was no guarantee of the side of good winning.

Zylle made the first move. Summoning her swords was a bluff. Concentrating, she made a huge blast of wind forcefully propel Keane forward, making him lose his balance. It seemed to have worked, but the Phantom quickly regained his composure and rolled out of the way when she sent a slice of wind at him. When he got out of it, he sent a powerful plume of flames her way. It wasn't that hard to dodge for the attack, though immense in its ability to damage, was slow. A wind elemental's greatest advantage was speed and the ability to move and think quickly. Zylle smirked at his underestimation of her.

But that was before she felt the cold edge of a blade at her throat and an arm around her waist, restricting her movement. Keane was standing behind her. She cursed mentally herself. And she was thinking that he was underestimating her?!

She could tell he was satisfied. Why else would he detain killing her? Why not get it over with? He was stupidly giving her time to formulate and enact an escape out this. Keane drawled, "So, this is how the Black Dragon fights? I expected much better from the infamous Zylle Samara Hawking, 6th class wind elemental."

Thanks for buying me time! "No, actually. You see, I thought you just had empty space in between your ears. I wasted my time trying to manipulate the air in there to make your head explode." With that, Zylle head butted him making him lose his grip on her. Then she took advantage of his loosened grip on her to give him a strong electric shock in the stomach before giving him a spin kick to the side. He staggered after the blows, but remained standing. Zylle was pleased to see his nose dripping with blood. And his movements were weak and sloppy. The shock had done its job.

Nevertheless, Keane charged forward with his blade. Zylle immediately brought up her two blades in a cross to counter. But he far surpassed her when it came to physical strength. She was pushed back as he forced more pressure. This was similar to how she trained with Night, but there she was the stronger of the two. Grimly, she saw the gold of his flame blade start to glow a hot red, emitting a sweltering heat. It's a long shot...

"That was a nice trick, I'll give you that," Keane growled. "But I won't let myself be deceived by you again." The heat from his sword increased. It's now or never.

Almost so fast that they seemed like blurs, Zylle's swords spinned in a circular motion in her hands before crossing once more. A tornado of wind began to form around them. Dimly, Zylle registered that they had to move quickly. Lights were coming on in the nearby buildings. Trash bins were rattling and toppling over and a few pets started make a riot. Then she used what control over fire magic that she had to absorb some of Keane's fire attack into her own. A sphere of wind energy formed at the intersection of the three swords, glowing a flame red as fire energy began to seep into it. Zylle then forced the high power energy towards the surprised Keane.

Her opponent was flung backwards with an explosive bang right into the tornado, which added even more damage. Finally, he was sent out of the buffeting winds before landing - in a twist of poetic justice - in a rubbish pile. Keane opened his mouth to speak before cursing. His gaze was not focused on the dark-haired Black Dragon though. No. It was towards some one behind her. Quickly, she made her swords vanish and half-turned so that she could see the newcomers while not keeping her back to the dangerous Phantom elemental. Zylle really didn't need to. With a flash of fire, Keane left the area.

The intruders were wizards. Aurors, if one wanted to be specific. Derek Montague-Hillary's niece was one of them herself, so she knew. Unfortunately, the girl wasn't there. The group looked at her with communal apprehension and...fear? From what she understood of wizards, they would immediately attack and question her. But this group didn't want to even get near her. The hands holding the wands pointed at her were shaking.

"What's going on?!" A handful of wizards (those being in the back of the little cluster) and Zylle were alerted by the authoritative male voice that seared the tense atmosphere. A good-looking man with clear blue eyes and long hair tied in a ponytail pushed his way through the crowd, standing out in flame-red wizard robes. He didn't have to put much effort into it. The wizards made way for him. This new wizard looked a combination of stressed and annoyed. Zylle couldn't blame him. If she were the leader of this Auror squad, she too would be angry.

The one in front and evidently the one most scared of her just stuttered out, "E-el-e-." The man couldn't manage to say what he wanted. The one conclusion that Zylle could draw from this was that wizards weren't especially eloquent or witty in these sorts of situations.

The scarlet wizard growled in exasperation. "Spit it out, already!"

"E-el-elemental!" The cowardly Auror then retreated back to the safety of his group after pointing at her with terror.

Zylle wasn't concerned with his retreat though. He had called her an elemental. He knew that she was an elemental. All of them did, judging from their reactions. But how? How did they know? Elementals hid their abilities well from wizards. Zylle was certain they hadn't seen the duel between Keane and herself. If they had, they probably only saw the Black Panther land in the rubbish pile. So how did they recognize that she was an elemental?

Abruptly, the scarlet wizard interrupted her rapid thinking. He looked her way. Curiously, his eyes widened in shock and he looked to have been momentarily floored. Then, to her surprise, as well as everyone else's, he exclaimed in shock and anger, "It's you!" In a matter of seconds, she found her wrists in a strong hold of an obviously furious wizard. Zylle thought she felt the heat of a fire aura, but it kept flickering away and resurfacing repeatedly, she couldn't pinpoint if it was there or not. She struggled, but he wasn't letting go.

"Where is he?!"

"What are you talking about?!" Gray eyes flashed enraged at an equally livid blue.

"Where's Harry?! What have you done to him?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" She didn't take lightly to being yelled at. Who on Earth was this 'Harry' person? But if he didn't let go soon then she was going to do it for him.

"Yes, you do," he insisted. "I saw you with him!" He then began to drag her forward and Zylle could dimly feel wizarding magic at work. "I'm taking her to be interrogated," the scarlet wizard announced to the shocked squad of Aurors. "Do the necessary memory charms," he then ordered. The blue-robed wizards scattered at the command and soon it was just the two of them. "As for you," he returned back to Zylle.

"Yes, as for me," she said scathingly. He had the nerve to just treat her like she was some worthless criminal when she had absolutely no idea what he was going on about! "Goodbye." Zylle had swiftly used her wind magic. The grip on her wrists loosened in shock of the whirlwind and within moments, Zylle Hawking was gone.

<><><>

"So, Hans. It's beginning again."

"Yes, it is. But this time...this time it's different, Sarah."

The two of them sat in the kitchen of Number 14 Zephyrus Court, thoughtful and worried. This was odd for the two of them. Normally, they were an enthusiastic and energetic pair. Now, their worn faces bore the apprehensive and readied expressions of veterans. Which they were, in actuality. The two of them had survived the wars and managed to make lives out of the misery that it brought. Together, they and the rest of the clan leaders of old helped remake a ravaged and divided town into the beautiful haven it was meant to be. The thought that it could soon be all demolished was not a happy thing to consider.

"Yes," Sarah concurred. "How will the younger generation deal with this? There is much at stake here. And we cannot guide them."

Here, Hans gave a sardonic laugh. "Who guided us, Sarah? We ourselves had no idea what we were doing when it was our time. We were in a jam and chose what seemed to be the best decision at the time. In the end, they must do the same."

"I have faith in Zylle," Sarah sighed. "I know that she will. She's like her father. And that is what worries me."

"Zylle is not completely like Thomas. She is a survivor like you. I doubt that she will die no matter what she faces."

"We thought the same about Thomas. And he-"

"He died a hero," Hans pointed out. "And look what has come out of it. The child of the family he gave his life for is now England's prime minister. Though Thomas' death was tragic, good did come out of it."

The man swirled the tea in his cup distractedly with a small spoon, his expression pained. Sarah clucked sympathetically. "Here I am going on about Thomas. I completely forgot Helenka."

"It's alright," Hans reassured. "It was a long time ago. And I still have my son. So, she is still alive through him." He sighed.

"We will be fine," Sarah said, determined. "The dragons will make it. And I doubt that those four would let themselves be beaten down by Phantoms."

"That may be. But who knows what will happen? Cassandra's prophecies still haven't come to pass yet. This maybe just the beginning of the events she foretold."

"Let us hope that they never do. The prospect of the apocalypse occurring is something I wouldn't wish on any generation."

"It is too bad that she is not among us anymore."

"Yes, and I bet the children she had with that wizard can't see for their lives...what was his name again?"

"Peyton something...Peyton Trelawney."

"Right. It is too bad. Cassandra Morgaine was a fantastic seer. She probably could have helped us."

<><><>

"I know, I know. You don't need to tell me that we're lost."

The cat looked pretty proud at the fact that he finally admitted it. Night and Shadow were heading home after Professor Coulter announced that their session was over. It was a relief. She had made him work and fight harder than he had ever before. The cat could even feel pity radiating from her house from all that he did. Thankfully, he was let out...at the unholy hour of nine in the evening. Not surprisingly, Professor Coulter did not take to "Shadow" too well. It was probably because it had attacked her once she started the session. It took a bit of explaining. Now they just "tolerated" each other.

But this...this was intolerable!

The master wasn't really paying attention to where he was going after he left Professor Coulter's house and had somewhere or another taken a wrong turn. So, here they were. Lost and the only things at his disposal being his elemental magic, a wand, and a very smug feline.

The pair walked on. Night was looking all over for a sign that was familiar to him. The cat could tell that he was trying not to think about the fact that only Grey Tower would be "familiar" to him now since he had no memories from before July 31st. Kardis, unknown to Night, was looking around for any possible threats in the area. Kardis was not a spirit of protection like White Owl was, but it would defend its master. It was going to have a long talk with that bird. It had flown off earlier, squawking something about the master's mother. The white avian would have been very useful right about now.

"Nope...there's absolutely nothing..." Night abruptly stopped in his tracks after he turned the corner. The smells of magic and old spells were everywhere, assaulting his senses in all directions. This was clearly a magical place, even more so than the regular part of town. It was as if a sharp barrier or line had been drawn to separate this location from the rest of Grey Tower. It was curious about this and would have loved to explore further, but it felt the best course of action was to get the master home as fast as possible. Its instincts clearly were against having Night there.

It mewed to get his attention, but the boy walked forward, almost stiffly into the place. He was looking around himself again, with an expression of concentration and confusion. Kardis ran forward on silver paws to keep up with his increased pace. It was worried and it grew more alarmed the deeper they ventured into the area.

The houses in this place were old and dilapidated. They looked like they had once been respectable homes with clean lawns and flowers, but it seemed as if that were ages ago. From what it sensed, some of the houses were like the master's home and were watching them. But it also could tell that it was not the only one. Spirits, unseen, were floating among them. And Kardis did not like them. They whispered of tragedy, of betrayal, and of vengeance. They spoke of a new war brewing on the horizon. Night tripped a couple of times, to the cat's dismay, on the broken sidewalk. The streetlamps were on, but they were leaking. They stopped by one in the middle of Shade Boulevard. Dust was pouring out of the glass in a gold and silver stream and it was clear that it was the source of light. It sparkled and shone as if it were the fragments of a star. Kardis did not like it. The stuff stuck to its paws. Night reached out to touch it himself.

There it was: another flash of intuition. As soon as it had come, the master collapsed to the ground. Immediately, Kardis went over to him, trying to revive him. But the dangerous feeling around them had increased tenfold.

Someone was there. And it was someone with far from friendly intentions. It growled much like its nundu origins. No one was going to harm the master while it was in existence.

Stardust fell and stuck to messy black hair while eyes of pure silver gazed unseeingly into the street.

<><><>

Where was he?

It was like being in Lethe again...except more confusing.

Scenes, images, voices. They all swirled around his head, mixing, showing, and only succeeding in creating bewilderment in his mind.

There were messages, plain and clear that were disguised under a cloak of mystery. They were there and he could not deny it. They cried out in the flames, whispered in the wind, spoke softly in the water, and were carved into the earth. But he couldn't neither hear nor read them. It wasn't time.

Stardust flew around him, a gold and silver storm of powder. With a jolt, a scene appeared before his eyes.

Night was still standing beneath the streetlamp, but this time it was intact. He looked over himself. It was as if he were there, but not there. Like a memory...but this was most definitely not a memory. He knew this instinctively. Night had never been here before. Shade Boulevard was empty of all life except for two individuals.

He disliked the man immediately. He was far too...clean. It probably had to do with the fact that his entire outfit was a blinding white. His dark brown hair was flawless as was his smile. If one looked closely though, you could see the slime that he was under the guise of purity.

The other was a woman, who Night felt immediately intimidated by. Her face was far too strong to be pretty and black eyes glared fiercely at the man in white, her lip curled in a sneer. Night thought this was rather impressive for her, since she looked to be hardly standing. Her black clothing was slashed in many places and her bare arms were covered in blood. Yet she still stood strong. He thought he could see the black shape of a wolf tattoo on her arm.

"It was you," she said plainly, accusing.

"Yes, it was," the man said with pride. "Surprised, Mirage? It's all over."

"Not really," Mirage said disdainfully. "I already knew you were hardly worth trusting. The fact that you sought trust was a signal enough."

Craig's frown faltered, "What do you mean?"

Mirage just laughed sadistically. "What do you think I mean, you imbecilic moron?! We're the Sekai-Kage Wolves! Spying and killing are our specialty! Do you really think that we trust each other with what we know? That's just plain naïve!"

From Craig's shaking shoulders, Night could tell that hit home. "At least I'm not the only Sekai-Kage left, Black Wolf!"

The woman just laughed before smirking. It sent shivers down Night's spine. It wasn't a pleasant laugh or a pleasant smirk. Mirage seemed much like a teacher, an arrogant one with a lot of experience, ready to discipline a particularly dumb student. Though where he had gotten that analogy was beyond him. "Am I really the only Sekai-Kage wolf left? If I may recall..." Night was amazed at what she did next. Mirage flung a dagger and sliced off the left sleeve of Craig's white robe. There, on his now bare arm, was the wolf tattoo of the Sekai-Kage, colored green. Still smirking, Mirage sneered, "No, I am not the only Sekai-Kage wolf yet." She then called up a blue staff, a water element weapon. "But soon," she threatened in a low voice. "I will be."

"You can't! You have nothing left! Everyone is dead and you hardly have the energy to stand! What makes you think you could kill me?!"

"Trust me, I can," Mirage promised. "I ultimately won't be the only person killing you."

Craig's expression became one of disbelief. "You won't be the only one? I don't see the other clans here to help you. What are you going to do? Run to Thomas Hawking or Vashti Akbar? You can't do anything."

"Don't be too sure of that." Mirage pointed her staff at her wolf tattoo. Which started to glow.

Her opponent's eyes widened. "No...you'll kill us all!"

"That really doesn't matter to me, Craig! We're the last ones," pronounced Mirage. "You betrayed us!"

"You're summoning the Wolf!"

"And by summoning the Sekai-Kage Wolf, it will be as you said. It's all over."

The scene exploded with energy, so much that Night had to block his eyes. Dimly he heard the howl of a wolf and the tortured scream of a man in pain. A man that was dying.

<><><>

Night awoke with a start. When had I fallen asleep? That question reminded him of the dark realm of oblivion once more. His vision was clouded...what was this gold and silver dust? Gingerly, he lifted himself off the ground into a sitting position. Night noticed the powder had gotten into his hair. He tried mussing it up to get it off, but to no avail, it stayed. He would have to get it out later. Night still felt groggy and weakened, like he had just run three marathons non-stop.

It then came to his attention that Shadow was growling. In his time with the cat, he had not known it to be feral in any way. Yet, his cat was definitely on the alert. Shadow's black fur was on end; its gold tip tail was lashing and his gold ears were flat against his skull. It was alarmed in some way. There was something wrong about the area.

"Shadow? What's wrong?" It was only then that he noticed the still forms of two teens around his age on the ground. They weren't moving at all, though Night could hear them softly breathing. Their clothing was slashed viciously and they had cuts all over their bodies. Most interesting of all was that the irises of their eyes were dim silver. He didn't think that it was normal and he wondered what happened when he was out. He cautiously moved the still arm of one of them. There was the mark of the vulture, colored red. The other he thought he saw was a blue vulture. But he had never heard of any vulture clans.

"How dare you, you little runt!"

Both Night and Shadow were startled by the malicious voice. A wind elemental cloaked in yellow jumped down in front of them from one of the street's buildings. It was a woman and she quickly checked the state of the two fallen elementals. "Unconscious...psychic shock?"

The woman raised herself to her full height. The effect was even more imposing since he couldn't get up. "I'm Celestine Algernon, Black Vulture of the Tsuta-Zeppeki, and I will make sure you pay for what you have done!" Night tried to get Shadow away from him. But the cat refused to budge, jumping into his lap and yowling angrily at the woman.

The last things Night heard were the hiss of an irate cat, an explosion, and a wolf howling. He heard a woman cry out in pain, but she wasn't dying. He was sure of that.

It was then that he slipped into unconsciousness.

<><><>

"The kid never ceases to amaze me." Déjà vu. Is that Dr. Annie? Vaguely, he registered that he was at home, in his bed so to speak.

"Annie, I don't need to hear praise. I just want to know if he's alright." Mum...Zylle's voice sounded tightened and strained. What had happened to him? Where had that explosion come from?

"He's fine, Zylle. I'm shocked a blast of that magnitude didn't kill him." Yes, it was Doctor Annie, all right.

"What do you think happened?"

"Simple. He was in the middle of it and was somehow shielded."

"Shielded?"

"Yes, I think it was a combination of certain things. I know for certain that two factors were his magic and the presence of stardust around him. The other two, I'm unsure of."

"Well, either way I'm happy that he's alright."

"Just give him a day or two and he should be up and running mad like the other teens. Still," Dr. Annie tsked. Night knew that he was in for an interrogation when Zylle realized he was up. "For one thing, that stardust can't be removed."

"What?"

"Stardust is tricky. When it comes in contact with those who have never been in the light of stardust before, it influences the magic. It's an old bit of elemental magic. Since he was in direct contact, you see what I mean. If you and I touched stardust, we wouldn't be affected since we've known stardust light for a long time. The good thing is that it won't harm him. Actually, it would help his shields and defense immensely." As long as it wasn't going to hurt him in anyway, he was fine. Was Shadow all right? The cat had defended him loyally when that woman attacked.

"Hmm...Annie, do you think we can apply that to the Grey Tower wards?"

There was a short silence here. "It's a possibility. Now, why don't we go downstairs and let Nuitari here rest. I'm certain that cat of yours will be eager to see you."

"No, he isn't. He just wants to get into the room. And he's not at the moment." Their voices started to fade as they descended to the house's first floor.

"I must say that he's a very intelligent cat."

"He's egotistical and protective...and unfortunately, I've come to like it."

Nuitari grinned at Dr. Annie's exuberant laughter.

<><><>

What happened? I leave you alone for a few moments...

It's not my fault! He was the one who got us lost! Wait...why did you leave in the first place?!

The Lady Zylle was attacked. I distracted the wizards from arriving as long as I could. I left because I figured that you - being a supposedly "powerful" and "intelligent" spirit - could bring the young master home safely!

Well, you thought wrong.

I now know that very well, thank you.

Not what I meant. And I defended him from those two upstarts!

You did not take them out.

No...they tried grabbing him. As soon as they touched him, they acted as if they were badly burned before collapsing.

Silver sight.

What?

It's a psychic ability that the master has. Using it, he could see what is usually hidden. But it is not easily controlled. And those without the strength of mind to handle it would suffer 'psychic shock' so to speak.

And why do I get the feeling that this is just the beginning of everything?

Because it is. Get used to it.

Whoop-de-freaking-do.

***