The Elemental Search
Episode 1- The Arrival
Forest. Fire. Spirit. Light. Wind. Ice. Shadow. Water. What do these eight words have in common? For one, it is the fact that they are not just words. That would be a lie, and I do not lie, though that would be another lie. These eight things are what my people would call "elements". They are our source of life, the reason we live. Or, they were and we lived, speaking in the past tense. That was 500 years ago. Much has happened in that large amount of time. The world where we once thrived is reduced to nothing now.
I must travel on my own now, learning new things on the way. Trust. Friendship. Loyalty. Feelings. I know I will be tested on these things and more.
Who am I, you might ask?
My name is Aqua Mist. I was and still am the Princess of Aquatics. The Element of Water chose me to be the Sage of Water, and to be the leader of all the Elements. This is my story, but that again would be a lie.
This is the story of many others as well, the story of those who I love and cherish, and also of those who I hate and don't trust.
Trust. Why did I not know the real meaning of that word sooner? That was my biggest mistake, costing me almost everything.
About 500 Years Ago
The arguing continued throughout the small, dim-lit room. Most of their eyes were becoming droopy, and they were obviously tired. However, the constant yelling kept them awake.
"You know we need a Leader!" the Sage of Forest bellowed in her quiet-sounding voice.
"We cannot have a Leader unless the Pendant and the Ring have chosen someone worthy of being the Sage of Water! Also, another to be the Sage of Shadow!" the Sage of Light shot back.
"It is always about the Pendant and Ring with you! You know for a fact we are in danger if the Leader is not chosen soon! Why do you want to wait, Raiko?"
The Sages of the Elements were gathered around a stone, oval table in the Element Temple, discussing that a Leader was urgent for their safety. However, the eldest always likes to stick to tradition, which usually bothers the two youngest sages.
The rest of the sages stayed quiet, not daring to interrupt the dispute, because the eldest frightened most of them, with his stubborn personality and angry-looking face.
"Roselina, be patient. We will soon have a Leader. Wait." Raiko said softly, which surprised the others. Most of the time throughout the meeting, he was screaming in his old, raspy voice.
Roselina, the youngest sage, had soft, short hair. Being the color of healthy, spring grass, the tips of it were curved to resemble crescent moon shapes. Her dress, with a Persian green color and a hint of harlequin, had a forest vibe to it. The bottom part of the dress had a leafy pattern. She wore copper-brown boots to match.
She always wore a pendant (each sage had one). Hers was a cherry blossom tree, with lavender pink petals made of rose quartz and lawn green leaves made of peridot gems. The tree itself was made of brown-painted silver. A stream of silver twisted around the middle stem, coming its way around to the outer stems. The pendant was the size of a grownup's thumb.
I am sure even Amber agrees with me on this. And says the stubborn, impatient one.
"As sages, we have to be." Raiko added softly.
Raiko's the oldest sage, having a semi-bald head and gray mustache growing across his face, and the most serious. He is tall and large, but his clothes barely fit him. The sleeves of his ancient-looking clothing sagged over his hands and the bottom part dragged on the floor. The outfit was a mix of yellow, amber, and dark saffron. He wears a belt that has the Light Symbol, a golden sun, on it.
He owns a pendant that has a sun shape as the base, three stars in the middle (one was inside a gold-trimmed circle), and a crescent moon taking up the outer edges. The sun was an aureolin yellow color and made of gold. The three stars were made of citrine and the circle was of gold. The crescent moon was made of moonstone and was the color of timberwolf.
Hearing Raiko's remark, Roselina suddenly had the urge to scream, but she didn't. Instead, she replaced the scream with her thought at that moment, "Does that mean I wanted to become a sage?" Roselina blurted.
"Roselina…"
"In fact, why did I have to be chosen to become the Sage of Forest, anyway?" she then stopped because she saw that Raiko had flinched, his face filled with worry.
She saw this, and decided not bring up the subject again. "Sorry…"
Until someone answered her question.
"The same reason as all of us: the Pendant and Ring decided for us." The voice said bitterly.
It was Amber, the Sage of Fire.
Being the second youngest, she had a reputation for causing trouble using her powers. She had an ever-lasting hatred toward Roselina, which was why she did not defend her throughout the meeting, even though she agreed with her on most aspects. Most likely, she would be seen fiddling with her pendant at strange, seemingly pointless moments. The pendant itself had four, diamond-shaped gems on it. One near the bottom tip, one near the top, and two in the middle. The bottom gem was made of garnet, the top was made of fire opal, and the two middle ones were made of rubies. Two layers of amber were stacked on top of each other to form the flame-shaped base. Amber was obsessed with the pendant and the power that it held, so she would never take it off.
She tapped her yellow-brown, swirl-designed boots against the marble floor. While waiting for the response she wanted to hear, she put on her crimson red gloves and brushed a tiny bug off her scarlet, auburn, and flame colored dress.
Amber's bitter tone sounded sharp and clear to Roselina, but the other sages would not complain with the Pendant or Ring, especially not Raiko. If the Pendant told him to do something, he'd do it.
He treated the Pendant like a god, like someone who had a conscience and a mind, instead of treating it like an object.
That's what ticked Amber off. She didn't want anyone or thing choosing her destiny, but she loved the power and position that it gave her. She admired freedom and free-will.
Clutching her pendant, she grinned mischievously. "Why do we not get to decide who should be the leader?" she suggested, but it was about the hundredth time she did.
"No." the Sage of Ice, Frost, said firmly, like they'd had this argument before, and they have.
Amber's cricked smile faded into a large frown. She grunted with annoyance while crossing her arms.
Frost was the third youngest, being a teenager at the age of sixteen. He had short, cool gray hair that partly covered his right eye. He always wore a blue-gray tunic that ended just below his knees, having a brown belt to match. Living on a cold mountain, he had to where a cadet gray cape with a hood. Gray, cotton pants covered his legs and slipped beneath his boots.
His pendant was basically little, diamond-shaped opals and moissanite gems put together to make one, thumb-sized diamond shape. In the center of the pendant, a never-melting snowflake was incased inside a glass base.
Frost wasn't the most serious of the group, but he knew when to be.
"We will end up making the wrong choice. Have you not listened to Raiko?" he added without hesitation.
"I am afraid I have to agree." the Sage of Wind, Celestia, said with firm gentleness. "Amber, please think for a moment. Like Raiko said, be patient. The time will come when a leader is chosen. We, choosing a leader? It is a terrible idea." she looked at Amber with her sympathetic, light blue eyes.
Celestia was an elegant, caring woman. She always dressed formally and modestly, wearing a long, pure white dress and simple brown boots. Her incredibly long, light gray hair flowed across her face as the wind from outside blew upon it. She did not mind being next to the open window on a cool night. Her pendant was made of the gemstones white howlite and white dolomite. The two formed into the cloud-shaped item. Though barely visible, a pair of angel wing were lightly carved into the stone base.
"But Raiko is about as patient as Frost is at supper time when we run out of food." Amber commented quietly, but not as a joke.
"I heard that." Frost called from the other side of the room, clearly angry and slightly embarrassed.
From the corner of the room, a loud sigh could be heard.
It came from Riju, the Sage of Spirit. He was leaning against the wall, staring off into the distance with his carrot orange eyes. They glowed faintly in the shadows, where he currently was.
Being a young man, Riju had a young complexion. He was healthy and charming. He had smooth, tenné orange hair that stopped just above his shoulders, and he also had a dark skin tone. Living in his home, the Kokiri Desert, he wore baggy, atomic tangerine colored patches, with a peach-orange vest shirt. He also wore gamboge orange sandals that were usually covered with sand from a morning walk in the desert.
His pendant was simple. There was a circle, with the Spirit symbol in the center of it, made of some tiger's eye stone to make up the base. Three crescent moons that were slightly bigger than the middle circle (though they almost looked like circles) went clockwise around the perimeter of it. The crescent moons were made of yellow-brown zircon gems and they were outlined with silver.
"You all worry too much." Riju began. "Everything will be fine."
"You always say that. Even when the animals escaped the pen and crushed all of our crops last spring. We could not eat for half a week." Amber muttered.
"Do not remind me of that." Roselina said softly. "It was an accident."
Ignoring Amber's bickering, Riju met everyone's gaze. "Perhaps no one noticed the ring glowing?" he asked nonchalantly.
For a moment, no one spoke. All they could hear were the crickets outside and the fire crackling in the room's fireplace, which was the only source of light in there other than the moonlight coming in through the lone window.
After a while, everyone in the room turned their heads toward the edge of the table. On the table, there was a white pedestal bearing the Element Ring and the Aquatics Pendant, the most powerful items ever known by anyone in the Cosmic Dimension.
The Element Ring was beautiful. It was the size of half your middle finger. Having a pointed-oval shape, the base was made of a cool gray silver. It had swirl designs on the perimeter that shined like stars. There were eight gems that represented the eight sages, each gem having the sages' symbol on it as well.
The forest gem was a gorgeous lime green color. Made of emerald, and as little as the tiniest bug, the Forest Symbol, a single leaf, was incased in the middle of it (all the gems barred the sages' symbols). The fire gem was made of a lava-colored fire opal and the Fire Symbol, a blazing flame, was there, too. The shadow gem had the Shadow Symbol, an eclipsed moon, being made of a lavender-colored amethyst stone. The spirit gem was a tangelo-colored, natural zircon jewel with the Spirit Symbol, a crescent moon, on it. The light gem was made of maize-colored citrine, barring the Light Symbol, a bright sun, on it. Made of a clear-colored diamond, the wind gem had the Wind Symbol, a single wing with a swirl design that made the rest of the symbol. The ice gem was a lovely, slate gray colored opal with the Ice Symbol on it, a six-pointed snowflake. Finally, the water gem was beautiful in its own right. The Water Symbol, a curved, glimmering raindrop, was placed in the center of the Brandeis blue-colored turquoise jewel.
The Pendant of Aquatics was in an entirely different design. The jewel was neatly cut to form a rectangle with points being formed from the two short sides of the gem. A silver trim outlined the jewel, and part of that trim looked like it was clawing at it, like a creature with a three-fingered hand was clawing at a frightened victim. But the gem was pure white, solid white, in fact. No shine or reflection was shown on it. The chain was silver-colored and thin, so was the clasp. The chain was attached to a sort of hoop made of silver. The hoop looked like a ring, and a weird symbol was detailed at its center.
Both of these items were very powerful and very dangerous. Someone with tremendous power had to control them. Someone like the Sage Leader, which had yet to be chosen.
"While you guys kept arguing, I noticed the water gem on the ring was beginning to glow. I think you all know what that means."
Everyone did know what that meant. The ring acted as a tracker to finding the remaining sages that had yet to be pronounced sages.
He added without looking at the ring, "Pay attention to your surroundings. That will get you somewhere."
Everyone except Riju froze at the moment of seeing the ring, their mouths slightly open.
"You all look so surprised." he chuckled lightly.
Just as he said that, the shadow gem started to glow as well.
"They are nearby." Celestia finally said, gasping.
"Yes. We must go to them, then." Riju responded without changing the expression on his face.
"They will come today after all." Roselina was the first to react. She shook off her dumbfounded face, raced to the pedestal, grabbed the ring, and then rushed out the door at what seemed like the speed of a lightning strike.
"Roselina! Bring that ring back here!" Raiko exclaimed in his gruff-sounding voice. He jumped off from his chair as quick as Roselina had left and ran after her, despite his old age.
Riju didn't hesitate to run after Roselina as well, but before he left, he glanced at the others and motioned for them to come along, then he slipped out the door. Everyone else trailed behind to see what was going on.
The airship tilted to the side gently, though it was very distracting.
Blasted robot pilot. I am trying to think.
"Sir, it senses the rings activity. It's in maximum power. Something must have happened down there involving the ring."
"The machine?"
"Yes, Dr. Robotnik. Er…sir, I mean."
Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotmik grinned widely. Finally.
"Excellent! Good job, Snively. At last, something interesting happened."
"Do we land now?" Colin Julian "Snively" Robotnik asked glumly.
"Not yet. We'll land when the rest of the Sages appear." Robotnik answered, walking past Snively to look out the glass window in the right side of the room.
"Yes, sir." Snively bowed down to him slightly, looking very nervous, then silently left the room.
Robotnik, now by himself, glared out the window at the beautiful land down below. It may have been nighttime, but it was a very beautiful nighttime. The moon and stars were shining upon a forest, a volcano, a swamp, a desert, a lake, a snowy mountain, a cliff that reached the sky, a large hill with no trees so light would always shine upon it, and a vast, grassy plain that took up most of this world.
It was all so majestic and beautiful.
And it all makes me sick.
His fleet was big, towering over the land of Aquatics like crows hovering over a dead victim.
Though this world's disgusting beauty will not save it.
"We will seize the ring, the pendant, and the Sage leader." Robotnik said aloud. He moved his way toward the master control panel where multiple camera screens were visible, laid out across the front wall in numerous rows and columns. He followed his gaze to a particular screen that showed a part of the Element Temple's exterior. A river that ran alongside the Sage Council Building, which was one of the four towers of the Element Temple, was clearly noticeable. The water's surface gently swaying from light breezes of air that moved through the night sky. Suddenly, a bright blue glow flashed on the river's surface, displaying a magnificent mix of blues and greens.
"What in the..?"
Another flash of blue light, this one being brighter, blasted through the darkness of night. The flash was so bright even Robotnik had to look away from the screen. He closed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as he whipped his head in the opposite direction. When he looked back, the light had been replaced with two small toddler babies standing in the middle of the small river, one a boy, one a girl.
At first, Robotnik seemed confused, but his confusion changed into delight. He knew what this meant. With a smile on his pale face, he sauntered closer to the screen, then reached his right, metallic hand forward to press a green button on the panel. His hand hovered over it for a few seconds as he stared at this live video footage of the Sages running down a spiral staircase that led to the river. He pressed his index finger against the button. A static noise could be heard along with Snively's monotone voice.
"What is it, sir?"
"Get the SWATbots ready." he ordered with great joy in his voice, along with sinister-sounding tones. "It looks like we will be landing today after all."
"Roselina! What is going on? What did you sense?" Raiko asked, breathing heavily while they were all running down a spiral staircase.
The girls tried the best they could to run down with their long dresses while the boys were trying as hard to keep up. Most of them nearly tripped before even setting their feet on the stairs.
"It is the river, and it is also nighttime. You all know what that means, right?"
"No! " Amber complained, sweat running down her face. "That makes no sense. And my feet are getting tired!"
Rolling his eyes, Frost scoffed at Amber's childish complaint, but the rest merely ignored her.
Instead of turning right at the end of the hallway when she reached the bottom of the stairs, Roselina shifted her direction to the left. She came across an open doorway that advanced outside where the calm, unnamed river was. She skidded to a stop, nearly falling into the river because it was so close to the doorway.
"Wooah!" Roselina tried to balance herself by swinging her arms back behind her. Luckily, Frost grabbed the collar of her dress to pull her back.
"Careful, Roselina. Do not fall in." Frost warned.
"Thank you, Frost." Roselina smiled warmly at him, like she does to any person who helps her in any way.
"Guys. Look at this." Celestia said, her voice containing hints of astonishment.
The others caught up behind Roselina. Once the river was in view to them, their eyes nearly distended out of their sockets. They could not believe what they saw.
"Am I seeing things?" Celestia asked, her face being as white as her dress.
"No, you are not." Frost responded, yet his face showed as much disbelief as everyone else's.
Surprisingly and astoundingly, standing there on top of the water's surface, were two, pale-looking, chubby babies, one a girl, one a boy. They both wore a white-colored clothing that seemed to magically appear on them. The girl had long, wavy hair. It was a brilliant mix of light, celeste, and baby blue, like the color of a faint blue sky. Her eyes looked cheerful, popping out with a beautiful shade of turquoise and powder blue.
The boy looked entirely different. His hair was also long, at least long enough to cover his left eye. His hair was dark purple, almost looking black, with a hint of Byzantium in the lighter parts near his scalp. His eyes were intense and sharp, but when he glanced at the girl's cheerful look, they then softened slightly. When his eyes were intense-looking, they appeared dark plum-colored and wide, but as they softened up, they turned lavender-colored and small. He smiled at the Sages slightly.
"Oh my Elements!" Riju exclaimed.
Even Raiko seemed dumbfounded as much as the others were, but he quickly came to his senses. "Get those two on land!" he ordered, pointing a bony finger at the small children.
Celestia moved her arms in a way that gestured toward her. A gust of wind blew on the Sages' face and the babies were pulled safely on shore.
The two children glanced around in awe as they were being pulled by the wind, yet they seemed attentive and alert. They settled their sight on the Sages, who still stared at them with wide eyes. They all noticed something about the two. They were standing, their eyes were wide open, and…were they talking?
To add to the older ones' amazement, the blue haired girl really did speak. Her voice was so faint and soft, but you could hear her say, "Hello. My name is Aqua Mist. This is my brother, Kiyoshi."
End of Part 1