The Unknown

Chapter two

"Marco right? Yeah, your father called me to get you. It seems like you got yourself in a little trouble there. Better inspect you for toll." My mind is swirling, and I don't understand anything he just said.

"Y-yes sir, I'm m-Marco. C-can I have something warm t-to wear?" I stutter, still shivering.

"Here," He then gives me his big hat, the pom poms on the tussles coming all the way down to my shoulders. "I'm sorry about what happened there. You weren't supposed to witness any of that. And Penn was stupid for going on the battlefield."

Stupid?

"Sir, I don't know exactly what happened, but I know for sure that my dad wasn't stupid." I argue, the man giving me a crazy look.

"Your father was most definitely crazy going out there and not even using his powers," he sighs, and takes me over to a tent. "Just so that you wouldn't know the truth." This all baffles me. My dad died just so I wouldn't know a secret? None of this makes sense.

"Sir, what do you mean, the truth?"

"Geez kid, stop calling me sir. I already feel old enough," and still I feel he was wrong. He didn't look old at all. His long brown hair falling to his mid-neck, with bright green streaks say that he is still at most in his late twenties. "Call me Finn."

"Well Finn, what is this big secret that my parents had to die for?" My mother died in a similar scenario, years ago. She suffocated in walls of sand. The news hurt my father more than anything, and I couldn't get out of the house because I was that depressed.

"I don't understand why really," he sighs. "It's not a big deal. But enough about this, we need to take care of the toll on you. If we don't, you'll be devoured in no time." I give him a blank stare.

"What's a toll?"

"Toll are when an elemental feels too much fear. One of the reasons why your parents died. They'd rather be killed physically than be devoured," he leads me to a Bonfire under the shelter. "It's a rough life, being our species."

"Wha-" before I can say anything, he hushed me.

"Blake! Come quick! We've got more toll!" Finn yells over to another tent, and another man with short black hair and a large coat runs over.

"Oh my gosh, is this Penn's kid?" He crouched down to my height and stares me in the eyes. He stares into my eyes almost penetrating my soul.

"Yeah. He needs to be treated," Finn then lifts my shirt up over my head revealing my skin that has just turned black. "Instantly."

"What the-!" I try to yell, but Finn just covers my mouth.

"Don't talk, or it'll spread all over your body." He says calmingly as the other man reaches his hands into the fire. When he brings his hands out, the most amazing thing happened. This man was holding fire. These people weren't kidding about having powers and what not. There were one-hundred percent serious.

"Okay kid," he says, bringing the fire closer to the growing patch on my back. "This'll hurt a lot. I'm not gonna sugar coat it for you. It hurts. But sadly, it's the only way to get rid of toll that big..."

"Well thanks for making a great first impression." Finn notes, and he's right. At least lie so I think it'll be okay, then telling me it's basically setting me on fire. Blake then comes closer and the fire touched my skin.

"AHHHG!" I screamed, but he wouldn't let go. "STOP, PLEASE!" I kept kicking and screaming, but the two wouldn't let me go. I don't know what they were thinking then, but they seemed totally nuts.

"Okay, okay, okay." Finn says, as Blake let's go of the fire pressed onto my back. I try to look into a mirror that was set up in the tent, but I saw no scars or anything on my skin at all. Just my pale skin still cold from all the snow everywhere.

"Here kid," Blake then hands me a winter coat from a table in the back. "It's too cold to go out in only a warm hat Finn gave you."

"Uh, Sirs?" I say quietly, but loud enough for them to hear me.

"Hm?" Finn and Blake then put their attention towards me.

"Where will I stay now... that everyone... and what even happened? And... I'm so confused..."

"Marco, it's okay. Your father sent us to take care of you." He takes my hand, and we walk out of the shelter and find a woman sitting at a fire outside. She had beautiful long blonde hair, and none on the snow even dared to go near her. She was probably in her mid thirties. All of the snow around her melted, and flowers were growing in the patches of grass. It was surprisingly not the weirdest thing I saw that day.

"I heard the screaming. Marco had a toll, didn't he." She says, her voice almost as golden as her hair.

"Yeah Emma, it was a bad one too." Blake said, patting my back.

"Mhmm, took a good three minutes to cleanse." Finn adds, and she looks onto my eyes, piercing my soul almost.

"I'm Emma," she said, walking towards us, flowers going wherever she stepped. "I'm the plant elemental. Your parents tried to protect you from us three and all of them just so you could be safe. It was a dumb move, them two. But now you know the truth."

"E-Emma, excuse me, but I still am so confused." I stutter. This all made no sense at the time.

"Should we tell him?" Blake asked, and Emma nodded. Finn just sighed.

"Come on Finn, do it." Emma insisted, and he just stared at her.

"Fine. But only because Marco deserves to know the truth." Finn then pushed his hands in front of him, and his hand glowed a bright green light.