The Elementalists

LIZ

   I was in charge of running into town to gather Emma and John. Well, I was actually supposed to get Cooper as well, but I told Robin what he had done and instantly regretted it when I saw the worry in her eyes deepen.

I wonder if she'll be alright.

Robin had decided to bury Daemon and Time together. Although she plans to write Amser on Time's headstone; I can't help but wonder how Robin can seem to hold no grudge against the girl who caused her...her end.

As I run down the street that leads to the school, I can't help but wonder what will happen to me. Will I be sent to my foster family, or be moved to another one for running away? I've run away numerous times from my foster families—many of them had been abusive, although some of them had been kind people who just couldn't take care of a kid anymore.

Like my legal guardian had been.

I don't want to go back to my foster family, though. I want to stay here with Robin, Mark, Jamal, John, Emma, and especially Cooper. I can't help but wonder what happened to Peter, and I'm thinking about this when I reach the school doors. I pull them open and almost scream—standing there, next to Emma and John, are Agent Ralph and Agent Tu.

Emma immediately starts telling me to calm down, and when I finally stop beating the man with my fists, I hear her give a sigh of relief. I look over at John and ask, "Why are they here? Are you working with them, too?! Like Peter was?!"

Agent Tu tells me to calm down repeatedly before she begins to explain the situation. "Agent Ralph and I knew what was going on because we each had a child who was Elementalist. I used to have a little boy named Wayne," she adds, a look of sadness in her eyes when she mentions the boy's name. "He had a daughter named Alisha. They're both gone now, obviously; we thought they would be safe with that boy...but they weren't."

Agent Ralph clears his throat and continues for her with, "Anyways, we knew about the Prophecy. We knew that if we didn't somehow convince you all to defeat her, then our world would be over. So we tried to kidnap you and use the fear tactic, but that went wrong. The creepy kid I shot wasn't Time—apparently Time is a girl—and I should have interrogated Robin and the Fire Child more on the subject. But I have to admit that I should've listened to Tu, if we had just talked to you, then..."

"Then they would've helped you," I finish for him. "Yeah, they would've helped you. Instead, you killed their friend, broke Mark and Robin for awhile, shot Robin, and seriously messed up all of our lives." I let my glare soften a little as I add, "But, you guys were trying to keep the world from being completely destroyed. And, if Mark hadn't been kidnapped, I wouldn't have met Cooper. So you had good intentions, and some good came out of this."

Agent Tu smiles. "We just thought we should apologize," she explains, "for our rash actions. We know that we can't undo most of the things that we've done, but we're trying our best to help this town heal. We told the people in there," she motions behind her into the school, "that there had been some dangerous earthquake expected and they had been told to evacuate, and they had all run into the school when it began, many of them falling and being knocked unconscious." She chuckles and adds, "People will believe anything if they want an explanation."

That's almost exactly what Robin said, I think but don't say. Instead I turn to face Emma and John and tell them, "We need to get back to the...er, to where the others are. They're waiting for us."

Emma and John nod, and I notice that they're holding hands. I smile and then hear Agent Ralph say, "Tell Robin we're sorry and that we will leave you alone now. For Alisha's—"

"—and Wayne's sake," Agent Tu finishes.

And then the two government agents who had made our lives a living Hell begin to walk off, but not before Tu turns around and adds, "Peter wasn't working for us, by the way. He was working for the more hostile government, who is still trying to figure out whether or not Elementalists exist." She seems to remember something and says, "Oh, Liz, about your foster family...you've been transferred...again. Well, take this."

Agent Tu hands me a folder, which I take carefully in my hands. I'm about to open it to see the contents when I think better of it and decide to wait until we get back to the tree house. I thank Agent Tu, who smiles and pats me on the head before waving good-bye to us all.

And then the two agents walk off, and I watch them walk off, and so do Emma and John, who are still holding hands. After the two agents are out of distance, I pipe up, "They'd be cute together, don't ya think?" I beam and add, "Just like you two are!"

And then I break into a run and dash away from Emma and John, who are yelling at me, fists raised, but they're laughing as well. And I'm laughing, too, because it's finally all over.

We're finally all free from being hunted.

They're all finally free.