Elements of Life

~ELEMENTS OF LIFE~


Prologue

         O…kay… I thought as I looked around at my weird surroundings. I was in the middle of a wood of some sort. There were luminous blue trees; with grasses and flowers in different hues of blue adorning them, twinkling rhythmically every now and then… I was actually astounded for a few minutes before my sanity alarm rang frantically in my head, warning me that — unless this is a dream — this is just NOT right!

         As far as I could remember, I was walking on my way to school when suddenly a bright, blue orb of light engulfed me; swallowing me into a swirl of a wormhole of multicolour lights. And here I am, trapped in a ‘blue wood’ or so I called…

         I sighed and tried to go find a way out — ignoring the strange, low hums the fireflies-look-alike were emitting from around the blue trees…


Chapter 1
An Unexpected, Reluctant ‘Helper’

         “Dammit!” I cursed silently as I realized that not only didn’t I find a way out from this confusing wood, but I also got LOST further inside it! Great! What could I say? The surroundings were really similar I couldn’t figure out whether I’ve been in some certain places or not! This is just peachy!

         I decided to take a rest near a blue river to ease my sore legs. I lied down on the blue grasses and gazed at the sparkling, bluish, night sky (I’m beginning to feel like suffering from a monochromatic colour blind)… Well, why not enjoy myself as I’m trapped here? I thought matter-of-factly.

         As I was gazing at the night sky in this bizarre world, I heard a tiny splash of water from the river beside me. I rolled my body lazily to face the river and peered curiously inside it. The water was clear, very clear… It was as if the water itself was melted sapphires poured into this river… I continued peering into the hypnotizing river… So pretty… So clear… So…

         “WHOA!!” I shouted loudly, backing away from the river as a pair of eyes suddenly snapped open from inside the river and looked at me fiercely!

         All of the sudden, water splashed everywhere; something sprang out from inside the water! I shielded my face and closed my eyes tightly in fear as I imagined a kind of sea monster preparing to devour me… However…

          “What are you doing here? This is a forbidden forest.” A deep, cool voice asked.

         I opened an eye and looked at the voice owner slowly… It turned out to be a teenage boy — Err… I guess I shouldn’t really call him a ‘boy’, ‘cause he looked more like a merman or something… He had long, straight, bluish-silver hair with a pair of piercing, crystal clear, blue eyes (he had slitted pupils like a reptile’s, by the way). And instead of normal, human ears, he had a pair of bat-like… um… ‘things’ as ears… His upper body was that of a boy (excluding his webbed hands), but his lower part was scaled like a reptile’s skin. I also noticed, in sheer astonishment, that he actually had a snake tail attached to his tailbone!

         He walked closer and bent down to meet my eyes. I could clearly see his smooth chest that was only an inch away from me (he didn’t wear anything except a ragged cloth which he tied around his waist)…

         “Do you understand my language?” he asked again, cocking his head to a side.

         “Oh! Yeah, I — You see, I’m kinda’… lost.” I said bluntly.

         The ‘creature’ stared expressionlessly for a moment before he rose from his kneeling position. “You are not from this world, are you?” He asked, eyes never leaving mine.

         “Well, to tell you the truth, ” I paused to also stood up — brushing away grass blades in an arrogant manner as I did.

         “I was swallowed by a gigantic, blue light ball which took me to a multicolour wormhole that connected my oh-so-boring-yet-it’s-my-home world to this blue-blue-I-see-blue-everywhere world of yours!” I blurted out sarcastically in a long, tiring sentence.

         He silenced for a moment.

         “… You don’t seem the least afraid.” He concluded plainly.

         “Call me a freak, if you like, but get me ‘outta this world and I’ll be awfully grateful.” I spat dryly, getting impatient with this — this — whatever…

         He kept silence again (gosh, must HE do it everytime I finish talking?!) and suddenly turned around and walked away.

         “H-Hey! Where are you going?!” I shouted, half-afraid and half-angrily, and ran after him in haste.

         “I’ll show you the way out from this forest.” He, without stopping, replied shortly — short and to-the-point, as if he didn’t intend to have any conversation (come think about it, maybe he really didn’t).

         “Oh. Um… thanks.”

         No reply.

         Great, I thought. just what I need, a pragmatic, robot-like, half-human…

***

         After walking in utter silence for about 15 minutes, I was beginning to feel awkward, so I decided to open a conversation.

         “By the way, I’m Theodore.” I introduced myself.

         “…” He didn’t reply.

         “He-LLO?! It would be NICE to know yours too!” I half-shouted cynically.

         He hesitated and stated slowly, “…Ayrhelios.”

         “Ay… Ayr — who?!”

         He sighed and repeated, “Ayrhelios. My name.”

         “Oh,” I said sheepishly. “Nice to meet you, Ay… Err…”

         “Ayrhelios.”

         “Yeah… that.”

         Our ‘glorious’ journey ended up in another absolute silence that I didn’t bother to break anymore…

***

         Lios — as I called him since I still couldn’t seem to pronounce his full name properly — stopped walking, as suddenly as he started on, and turned around to face me again; saying something that I could hardly believe…

         “Come again.” I said in an incredulous tone.

         “We’re already outside the Blue Forest. From now on, you’re on your own.” He repeated before turning his back and heading to the forest again.

         “W-WAIT!! How could I find my way home?! I don’t even KNOW this place!” I shouted frantically, trying to reason with him.

         “That’s none of my business.”

         “How could you be so IRRESPONSSIBLE?!” I shouted louder.

         “First you shocked me to death, then you helped me ‘outta the forest, now you want to leave me just like THAT?!”

         He sighed again, more apparent this time. “From this point on, it’s not my territory anymore.” He explained with very slight exasperation.

         “Territory? What do you mean? “ I asked, puzzled.

         “Every spirit has his/her own territory,” he started. “You don’t even know such a simple thing?” He asked so matter-of-factly (oh, the nerves!).

         “Well, *sorry* if I don’t know THAT!” I said sarcastically.

         “Your world doesn’t have spirits and magical creatures?” Lios asked.

         “No, of course not. Why?”

         “You don’t seem to be afraid or surprised, so I thought your world is quite the same as mine — sort of.” He added after a pause.

         “Anyway,” he started before I could give my cynical reply. “this world is ruled by humans and spirits, each with their own governments and rules — the only rule both humans and spirits have to obey is to not trespassing each other’s territory. We, the spirits, are ruled by 2 dominant powers — the light and the dark…” Lios paused. He looked hesitant, as if he’s wondering whether it’s a good thing to tell everything about his world to me…

         “Some spirits and magical creatures are ruled by the light, and the others by the darkness.” He continued. “I, myself, am sired by The Light Mistress, our leader…”

         “Wow, it sounds like the whole angel-demon concept to me…” I commented.

         “Angel and demon? Ah, yes… I’ve heard the mortals talk about it before… But no, it’s not exactly like that… If I’m not wrong, demons are the evil creatures that do evil and wicked things while angels are the good ones, right?”

         I nodded silently.

         “The reason there are light and dark creatures in this world of mine is because the light creatures are active during the day, while the dark ones are active during the night…” Lios explained.

         “Oh, okay… so the dark creatures are nocturnal?” I asked, beginning to understand the whole concept.

         “Yes…” Lios answered.

         “And the dark creatures are not really evil?” I asked again. I think I became interested on this dark-light creatures subject…

         “There are always goodness and evil in every of us — human, light, and dark creatures…” He answered rather solemnly.

         I kept silent for a moment before a big, bright smile appeared on my face — big enough for Lios to notice…

         “What’s so funny?” he asked, irked.

         “This is the first time you talk in long sentences,” I said, smiling even bigger to annoy him more.

         He said nothing, but a look of annoyance clearly showed itself on his face…

         Surprisingly, Lios agreed to help me — saying that the only way he could trespass other territories was when there was something urgent and crucial, which was me (I think there’s a catch in it… There *must* be a catch…)

         So in a second, we resumed our muted journey again…

***

         “So… where are we going again?” I asked for the umpteenth time.

         Lios, as annoyed as ever (oh, yeah, revenge is soooo sweet), glared at me and answered the same answer he had been giving me, “We’re going south to meet another elemental spirit…”

         “And an elemental spirit is…”

         “I told you hundred times already! Is it really hard for your mortal brain to process and memorize my explanations?!” He shouted in anger, eyes glinting dangerous and threateningly…

         I grinned at his sudden burst of anger.

         “Well, maybe it is compared to yours. So if you’ll *kindly* explain it to me *all over again*, I’ll be greatly — ”

         “Enough of this nonsense! I know you’re trying to fool me around!” He snapped.

         “Why, how could you be so prejudice??” I asked in fake astonishment, placing my right hand on my chest to dramatize my act.

         “Grr… Okay, here we go again…” Lios said, finally gave up.

         “An elemental spirit — like what I’ve been trying to explain to you again and again — is a high-level spirit who rank just below our leader and royal guards,” he started exasperatedly. “There are 4 elemental spirits: the air spirit, the water spirit — myself, the fire spirit, and the earth spirit… All with their own power and uniqueness…”

         “Ooh~ So you’re a high-rank spirit, eh…?” I teased him.

         He ignored my comment and continued, “The elemental spirits also have their own territory, like me for example… The one we’ll meet — again, like what I’ve been emphasizing over and over again — is the air spirit who lives in the South…”

         “But we’ve walked what seem like hours! Heck, maybe we actually HAVE BEEN walking for hours! But we never reach the place!” I complained to irritate him more.

         “You should be more patient, then! Mortals… always complaining about everything!!” He shouted again, clenching his fist till I could see veins trailing his scaly, webbed hand. (okay, maybe I should stop teasing him, now…)

         Satisfied with my payback, I kept silence to alleviate the tension…

***

         “We’re almost there… Maybe we should take a rest first.” Lios stated, calmer this time, after we walked for about 2 more hours.

         “Finally…” I muttered grumpily, massaging my poor, tired legs as I sat down for a rest on top of a white, snowy rock.

         That’s strange, I thought as I bent down to grab a handful of snow. how come I don’t feel cold when sitting on this snow-covered rock? Or, must I say, being in this place? I looked at my surroundings in befuddlement. If The Blue Forest had a dominant colour of blue, this grassland had a dominant colour of white… White grasses, white trees, white clouds… you name it. It’s as if this part of the magical world was grassland covered with not-so-cold snow…

         “Something wrong with the snow?” Lios asked, noticing my being confused.

         “Yeah… it’s… not cold.” I said, still examining the handful of snow.

         Lios cocked his head slightly at first, but then nodded understandingly. “Is the snow feels cold in your world?” He asked.

         “Well, duh! You mean… it’s not in this world??” I asked, bewildered.

         “You’ve already felt the snow. It’s not cold, right?”

         I stared at the snow — which slowly melted in my hand — with cocked eyebrow.

         “Yeah… I guess so…”

         Suddenly, a violent gush of wind blew in our directions!

         “Li… Lios! What ha-”

         “Stay back! It’s the Wind Weaver!!” Lios cut and quickly stood in front of me.

         “Wha… What is a Wind Weaver?!” I managed to ask frantically between the roaring wind while covering my eyes and face.

         “It’s… of magi- creatures! I’ll exp… later! …cover yourse- from … wind! …will cut you!!” I heard Lios said vaguely.

         The wind blew at us violently! My hair and dress waving madly around me, hurting my face and hands when they whipped around. I tried covering more of my face, but it was impossible! The wind itself almost dragged me from the ground! I could barely move for fear my next movement would be my last… So I just stood there, in the middle of the wind, waiting for Lios to do whatever he could to save our souls…


Chapter 2
Meeting The Second

         After adjusting my eyes to the harsh wind, I finally saw the true form of the Wind Weaver. It was HUGE, almost as huge as a truck of some sort. It looked like a giant, white rat with sharp, blade-like arms. Its eyes glowed red, and it had a sting on its tail!

         Like Lios isn’t enough… I thought wryly, being scared and sarcastic at the same time. Is it one of the magical creatures Lios mentioned…?

         I ceased my train of thoughts as I saw Lios moved so fast, dodging every attack the rat thingy delivered. After a time, he halted and threw a blue orb from within his palms to the monster, making it shriek and holler in tremendous pain…

         The creature slowly dissipated, leaving nothing but thin air… The harsh wind finally ceased, leaving the place like it was before…

         “Lios!” I called out as I ran towards his direction. “Are you all right?!” I asked worriedly (I may be revengeful, but I still have my concern, thank you).

         “Sure.” He replied shortly like always.

         “Wha… What was THAT?!” I asked, shaken.

         Lios — not looking at me — answered calmly as if it’s a natural occurrence, “It’s a magical creature — air type. The Wind Weavers are aggressive creatures that control wind. They usually attack any creature that cross their way…”

         “Not very social, eh…? Definitely NOT a friendly one either…” I commented.

         “It’s just their nature… They are supposed to act that way, it’s in their instincts.” Lios said, disagreed. “You mortals always judge something from the outside, not trying to understand other aspects…” He continued.

         “Well…” I was baffled for the first time, not expecting him to say such sentimental things. “It seems that you really think that we, humans, always misjudge things!” I replied again in my usual annoying tone, though a pang of guilt and hesitance beginning to seeped into my heart…

         Lios said nothing. He turned to meet my eyes and looked at me with a pair of surprisingly sad and hurt eyes… “You mortals do…” He said. “*I* was misjudged.”

         I didn’t reply anything, not even till we carried on our journey…

***

         By the time we arrived, it was already morning — we had a night journey, by the way. The rays from the 2 suns were hot; yet, it didn’t sting…

         I timidly looked at Lios who walked in front of me, wondering if he was actually angry with me… What kind of misjudgement Lios had, I wonder… Could it be that he was discriminated because he was a spirit? Because he was… ‘different’…?

         Lios suddenly stopped walking.

         “We’re here.” He stated.

         “Ah — I see…” I said awkwardly, perplexed by his sudden halt.

         In the middle of the grassland, I saw a huge, white castle in front of me; adorned with all sort of white flowers and plants… Its crystal white features were very beautiful, so beautiful it almost convinced me that I was, again, dreaming…

         It took me some time before I realized that there was a figure standing not far from where I stood.

         I gasped, but soon distinguished the figure as the other spirit Lios talked about.

         It was a figure of yet another teenage boy, with hair and eyes as black as the midnight sky (is it just me or am I getting poetic?). His ears were also different — wings instead of normal, human ears. He wore an ancient Rome’s robe with a bundle of arrows slung on his back — just beside his enormous, white wings… He smiled warmly at me, catching me off guard which force me to smiled back at him rather gawkily…

         “Good morning, mortal,” he greeted.

         “Eh? Oh! G-Good morning to you too!” Again, I greeted back awkwardly…

         He turned his gaze to Lios.

         “Fancy seeing Ayrhelios here with a girl, let alone being with a human…” He said with a smile, causing Lios to mutter a what-the-hell-do-you-mean to him.

         “Are you also a spirit like Lios?” I asked the winged boy as I noticed Lios’ flinching because of the nickname I gave him.

         “Yes, I am the air spirit; Ryljk is the name.”

         “Err… who…?” I asked after hearing yet another alien name.

         “Ryljk, it is spelt: R-Y-L-J-K. Ryljk.” He repeated.

         “Um… will Ree be all right?” I asked, embarrassed.

         He smiled and nodded. “Certainly, I do notice that my name is rather difficult to pronounce by most creatures.” He half-smiled.

         Okay… so we have Lios and Ree — Talk about giving nicknames…

         “By the way, I’m Theodore.” I said quickly after I realized that I hadn’t introduced myself.

         “Pleased to meet you, Miss Theodore,” Ree said with a slight bow.

         “So, you are the mortal girl from The Outer World Ayrhelios told me about.” Ree said calmly.

         “Eh?! How — When?!” I was taken aback by his seemingly perfect guess.

         “Ayrhelios told me before you took off — telepathically, that’s why I acknowledged your coming here.” He explained.

         “You guys can actually do telepathy…?” I asked, curious.

         “Sure, it will come in handy when we have something private to tell other spirits — usually on urgent matters.”

         “Oh, I see…” It seemed that there were lots of spirits’ abilities that I didn’t know of…

         “So… what are we going to do, now…?” I asked, casting glances from Ree to Lios and to Ree again.

         “I think we have to meet other Elemental Spirits, Ayrhelios and I couldn’t possibly return you to your world…” Ree said.

         “Great! So we’re up to another journey?!” I asked exasperatedly.

         “It seems so.”

         “Peachyyyyy…” I moaned.