The Elementalists

JOHN

   We watch the girl disappear with Liz. There's nothing we can do to stop her; she's gone just like that.

Emma stares at her wrist where the girl had grabbed her, and I know that she's wondering why Liz had decided that Emma was more important than herself. I look over at Emma and take her hand, telling her that it'll be alright, Robin will find a way to get Liz back, and that we have to get to the school. Emma hesitates and then nods slowly.

"That girl," she says slowly, as if thinking her words over, "was Time, wasn't she?"

I nod and reply, "I think so, Emma, and if so, then Robin and the others will get Liz back." I force a smile and tell her, "So don't worry over something you can't change right now, okay? We need to focus on the task at hand, which is getting to the school..."

I trail off as I look up at the object which looms over the giant rock wall that surrounds the town. Emma must notice that I'm distracted, because she looks up in the same direction as me and gasps.

"We need to get to the school now," I say, holding Emma's hand tighter. I turn to our parents and ask, "Will you guys be able to straight-up run that far?"

They all nod, and I hear Emma's dad say, "We have to." And then we break into a run, racing against the giant wave which is about to come crashing down onto the town.

We're almost to the school when the wave finally strikes. Emma screams as water comes cascading from the sky, and I do the only thing I can think to do: I jump in front of her protectively and hold my hands up towards the wave in hopes that I can stop it.

Half of the wave—the half from where I stand to where the school is, thank heavens—stops falling and hangs in the air. The other half crashes onto the town, and I yell at Emma and the others to run. Emma looks at me worriedly, and then she tells our parents to get into the school. They run towards the school, and Emma turns towards me and gives me a big hug before running after them.

I watch them run towards the school, the pain in my arms increasing every second, and finally let out a sigh of relief when I see them enter the building. I struggle to hold the wave up as an idea enters my mind. I wonder if I have enough left in me to do it, but then I realize that I have to at least try.

I close my eyes and think of everything that involves anything cold that I can—anything that will make this wave freeze long enough for Emma to create a force field around the school. And, when I open my eyes, I look up and see that the wave is frozen; it's not frozen solid, and I notice the ice that's starting to crack, but it's a start.

I re-freeze the cracks in the ice as they appear; they begin to appear more frequently and I have to freeze them faster. Just when I think I can't do this anymore I notice a flicker of electricity over at the school. I look closer and see that little crackles of electricity run along the outside of the school in a dome-like shape, and I realize that Emma has successfully put the force field up.

I let out a small sigh of relief and relieve myself from my efforts. I hear the ice beginning to crack, and I know then that I won't be able to make it to the school in time.

I close my eyes and prepare myself for the weight of the wave crashing down upon me; I prepare myself for the freezing-cold water to rush over my body and end my life. But it doesn't happen. In fact, when I open my eyes, I see that I am surrounding by water, yet I am in some sort of protective sphere. I look around, wondering how this could have happened, when I hear a young boy's voice.

"You didn't think you were going to die by your own element, did you?" I hear the boy laugh, and turn to my right to see the transparent figure of a red-haired boy. He looks at me with bright blue eyes and says, "We couldn't protect Lily or ourselves; we couldn't protect each other. But we'll protect our next generation; you all mean a lot to Daemon and Angel, or so Angel says."

"Angel sent you?" I ask, still trying to grasp the fact that I'm talking to the spirit of who must have been the Water Elementalist before me. "He's already helped us so much, and even after death..."

"He is the Spirit Elementalist after all," the boy explains with a laugh. He looks at me with a grin and says, "I have to go now—Angel has a limit as to what he can do with the spirits of others—but I'm glad I got to meet you. I'm Wayne, by the way."

"I'm John...," I say slowly, as I watch the boy—Wayne—begin to fade away. I hear Wayne laugh and say something along the line of, "I know," before he disappears completely. I stare at the spot that he had been standing in a moment before, and the only thing that I can think to do is mumble, "Thank you..."

After one last glance at the spot where Wayne had been standing, I turn around towards the school and begin to walk in that direction. I wonder if I'll be able to get in through the force field, but then those worries are replaced with the thoughts of, Even if I'm not, I have someone protecting me. I'll be fine; I'm not going to die today.

As I walk, the sphere that surrounds me stays in the same place around my body as it was when I was standing still. For some reason, this doesn't surprise me; I knew, somehow, that this would be the case.

When I arrive at the force field—I can tell because water surround the outside of it—I don't have any problem with passing through it. I walk up to the front doors of the school and into the cafeteria, where people sit huddled together. Some are crying, some running around frantically, others are screaming, and some just sit there silently. In the midst of all of the chaos I see Emma standing on the stage, her eyes closed and her palms pressed together as if she's praying.

I want to run up to her and tell her what happened, and that she's amazing for being able to create and maintain a force field this big, but I don't want to distract her. Instead, I just walk up to the stage, pushing through people, and I'm almost there when I hear my mother scream my name.

I wince as she runs up and hugs me. She's talking so fast that I can't understand half of what she's saying; I catch the words "worried" and the phrase "my brave little boy" a lot.

"Mom," I say, pushing her away, "stop. Not now. I have to go help Emma."

My mom looks hurt for a minute before she nods and steps away. "I understand," she says. "Just be careful, alright?"

"I will, Mom," I promise. Then I turn to face the stage and begin to force my way through the crowd towards Emma once more.

When I finally make it to the stage, I notice that Emma is sweating from the effort of maintaining the force field. Without even thinking it over, I reach for her hand—which is hanging by her side now—and lace my fingers through hers. Emma doesn't open her eyes, but I see a small smile cross her lips as she gives my hand a small squeeze.

And I stand there, Emma's hand in mine, feeling nothing but happiness as we wait for Robin to return.

And then, something happens that causes me to cheer out loud.

The water outside of the school begins to recede.