Elementals

"Sit down... come on. Doesn't take that long." Master Belinda called out as the 9 teenagers filed into the room. Smiling brightly at her own daughter as this was her first class as an Elemental. "What are we reviewing this stuff for?" Tobias called out and he and his twin Desmond whined about already passing this subject and time table already written on the chalkboard. "Maybe because we now have a Late Bloomer Elemental with us." Belinda narrowed her eyes at the twins and they sighed but sat up. "Desmond... tell me the difference between the four stages of finding an Elemental." "Baby, Toddler, Child, and the Late Bloomers." Desmond called out and as there was a long pause he realized that he had to continue with the differences. "The Late Bloomers are considered the strongest. The Elementals that were discovered as babies are considered the next strongest, and the Toddler Tantrums and the Children that are proved to be Elementals are usually equally matched." "And... Lia, what were the old rules of being an Elemental student?" Belinda moved from one side of the room to the other. Talia gulped hard and blinked rapidly before looking at the board. "The parents of the Elementals would give up all rights to their child." She tapped her pencil and Belinda nodded slowly as she saw her leg start to bounce. "Any other rules?" "A king or queen could not be an Elemental." She added and seemed to blank on everything else. "That rule is still in effect." Belinda sent her a soft smile before moving her eyes around the room and landing on the eldest, who was barely paying attention as he conjured a flame in his hand. "Zachariah?" She caught his attention with his full name and he put the flame out right away and he sat up straight. "Another rule that is no longer in effect?" "Parents can now choose to send their kid away to a 'better' school even though you all teach the same things." He told her and Belinda nodded before looking to Roxy who was a recent transfer. "And of course, we don't have to serve as Maters to the next generation and we don't have to be warriors for our countries king or queens anymore." He added and smirked slightly as he thought about all the possibilities he could have when he was older. "Alright. Moving on to the next thing to happen in history... what else happened the same time as the riots from parents?" She pointed right to Myra and she gulped. "The King of Vatrus, not the new one but the father, King Angelo, he tried to take over the neighboring countries by force and the Elementals of the others started to fight him, but he had made heavy weapons... and he killed a lot, and eventually he died by the hand of a master... and now his son is in power, he has a wife and a daughter. He also signed many peace treaties as he rose to power that basically made it so if he ever turned evil like his dad he would lose his position as a king right away and there would be a council of Master Elementals who would rule over Vatrus until his first born was old enough." Myra took a deep breath in as she finished and then got to writing the few things she didn't already have down on her paper. "Very good. And Emmy, why did we Elemental Masters, still insist on keeping a school program for the next generation?" "Because some of us can't handle our powers on our own. We have to be taught how t control the elements incase we lose our minds and try and kill everyone." Desmond laughed at the sad sardonic tone coming from the girl only to get a glare from her as she heard him laughing. "What?" "It's not funny. If we weren't trained we could really do some damage." Emmy told him and he just smirked and looked away and towards Master Belinda as she asked them to write other things that have changed in their world besides then rules. Something to tell about themselves to the new student. Talia was the first done, but refused to stand and tell the entire class about herself so she started to doodle on the side of the paper. She spaced out as she thought about training later. It was Fire day, and she always had trouble controlling it, it was either too small, or way to big and seemed to have a mind of it's own. The only consolation to her was the fact that it was survival week and not warrior training. Myra didn't know what to write, she tapped her pencil on her lip until she decided to just write stuff that everyone was going to say. How well she has gotten at bending, how good she is at the spiritual side of being an Elemental and how well she knows the history. The only consolation was how well Z was helping her on her forms for bending. Des scribbled something down about how fun it is to be here with a sibling and be better at the written word while Toby turned the tables and wrote about how much better he was at bending than his brother since that was the part that actually mattered. Elijah sat and wrote that nothing is really changing him other than the progress to become a master. He wrote that the only new thing that was happening was his mother coming to the school but he even corrected himself by saying that was actually nothing new. Emmy wrote about how she couldn't wait to advance in Fire training because she was so behind but that she would be willing to train the new girl Roxy, and the newest elemental in their class. Roxy wrote about how she was glad to be able to meet new Elementals closer to her age because she had been the oldest one in her last school, and she was ahead of the kids... but at the same time she was behind all the kids at this one. Z wrote about how he couldn't wait for the da to be over so they could have their free weekend and he can do his own private studying of moves and techniques the ancient Elementals used to use. Joy wrote about how she was nervous to actually be an Elemental, how she really didn't think it would happen despite her parents both being Elemental Masters. And she wrote about how she was nervous for her first Fire lesson. After all of them read aloud from their papers none of them seemed too excited to learn more about history, and Master Belinda already knew that everyone was caught up on the subjects. "Alright, dismissed early for lunch." She clapped her hands as all 9 went their separate ways, all except the twins. Belinda sat at her desk and thought about what she was teaching. It wasn't the history she was taught. It was the history she had taken part in. She knew the boy who committed suicide. He had been going to this school. She remembered the old punishments for not catching onto the teachings as fast as the other kids. She remembered how she felt to be starved because of failing teachings and techniques, and she remembered the only nice boy in her class sneaking her food. Belinda thought back to her wedding, how it had to be done in private, and how she found out her husband was actually a prince. She almost forgot the way it felt to be pregnant in battle against giant war machines, how big she was when the war ended. Though she would never be able to forget how she felt when she got news her husband died from his injuries. However she loved thinking back to living in the castle with Queen Marleen here in Vodina. But it was a short lived happily ever after with only half her family. Being requested by her oldest master that was the only one to ever treat her right, there was an underlying feeling that she could not say no to helping out the next generation, especially if she could make sure none of her childhood punishments were passed down. But now her one and only child, Joy was an Elemental, quickly learning Belinda's best element. She had mastered all four like any Elemental, but Air was the easiest for her to learn. Something she never got in trouble over. A scream startled Belinda into getting up and looking out the window. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Lia at the small fountain, now drenched by her own doing as she held a book on elemental water survival. Flipping through the book Lia tried to find a page about getting the water out of her clothes but came across nothing at first. She felt like crying because she knew that the twins would be coming out of the cafeteria soon and would no doubt make fun of her for not getting something right again. "I got it." She blushed deep at the deep voice behind her. She didn't turn around until she felt dry completely and she sent a shy smile to Z. "Still working on cleaning the water huh?" He asked as he bit into an apple and moved to look at the book before making that dry as well. "I keep thinking about how easy it is, but it's not easy at all. Everyone else knows how to do it... even Joy and she's new." "Joy has an Elemental mother to show her things after class." Zachariah tossed the ball of water that he pulled from the book and her clothes back into the algae infested fountain. "Besides, if you had water out in the world like this to drink all you have to do it boil it for it to be safe." "I guess, but what happens if I don't have firewood, or I don't have enough time to wait for it to boil?" Z was used to Lia's overexaggerated what ifs, but she did have a point. What if there was no time for cleaning the water before they drank it? "Well I guess you should never go into the woods alone unless you know how to do it... not that we really get to leave campus without being Masters." He told her before laughing lightly. "Focus on what you do know. You seem to get most of the Fire and Earth teachings." "I know... but I'm way behind on Air and Water." She shook her head and looked back at the book and seemed to read over each paragraph a couple times before lifting her hand to try again. Z was watching her, even tilted his head a bit as she took at least a cup of water and using her other hand to try and filter it, the water did nothing but burst again. "You're thinking too hard." He told her before taking the book, getting it dry again, before flipping to the beginning of the book. "Read this, it might help you focus on the right things when doing different moves." He told her and she took it, looking for the 'Introduction to Water Basics' chapter. "Look Des, Mommy and Daddy are having a date!" Toby laughed way too hard as he and Desmond walked past Z and Lia. The four had been together since they were all toddlers, Z being the only one in the school as a infant. Growing up it was obvious to everyone that Lia was infatuated with Zachariah, and no matter how old they all got, it was still something that made Des and Toby giggle like little boys. "And here I thought Lia was finally over him." Des shook his head only for both twins to burst out laughing again. "You guys are so immature." Lia stood and glared at the brothers before diving between them, shoulder checking them both as she ran away, her face on fire and heart beating too hard. "What's her problem?" Toby shook his head as he looked over to Z now. "You two have been singing the same song about how she has this giant crush on me forever. Cut it out. It's not that funny or that cute anymore." Z got up, going to opposite way Lia went before heading to the library. "What is the issue? Do you think Z finally likes her back?" Des tapped his brother, shock written on his face at the mere idea of it finally being a concept. "Never. Z is far too complicated to ever actually love anyone. You remember his blow up when we were all 11?" That had been the day none of them would forget. It was their first real history lesson, where they learned that their parents didn't have to give them up, but Z learned that his parents had given him away with no problem. His emotions had gotten the best of him and he ended up burning some trees and creating a large earthquake. "Maybe messing with him isn't the brightest idea." Des thought out loud and looked to his brother. "We aren't messing with him, just Lia. She makes it too easy." Toby moved to sit on a bench and look up at the blue sky. "Yeah... but if we keep bringing her crush up she won't ever get over it. And I remember a little guy who had a crush on Talia a couple years ago." Des smirked as his brother sent him a glare. "Okay... fair enough. No more teasing them about the crush she has on him." Toby conceded and laid back as Des moved to sit beside the bench and eat.