The Elementalists

JAMAL

   After a walk that probably wasn't very long but seemed like forever, we arrive at a small cabin—shack, maybe—in the woods. Robin had led us here, and now she leads us around to the side of the house. Gravestones—seven in total—decorate the ground here. Robin walks to a grave that has a picture of a small girl on it and smiles sadly before saying, "We brought your brother back, Lily."

She walks over to a clear spot that's nearly almost exactly next to the small girl's grave, and then she closes her eyes, a single tear slipping out. She makes a swift thrust with the palms of her hands towards the ground and there's a loud—crunch? I don't exactly know how to explain the noise that it makes as the ground is pushed downward to form a rectangle large enough for Daemon's body.

She raises her hand, palm open, and stone begins to fill the bottom of the hole. She clenches her fist in a swift motion and the stone crunches and then makes a sound like nails on a chalkboard as it becomes a stone slab. She does this to each of the four sides of the rectangular grave before she says, "We can put him in now."

Daemon and Time had been floating on air since none of us had wanted to carry either of the dead bodies, and now Robin slowly moves the air to where it lowers him gently into his in-ground stone grave. She makes another stone slab and, with one last look at Daemon, she seems to make a decision. She floats Time's body down in his grave as well, and I realize that Daemon and Time must have had some sort of connection that I'm still unaware of. She connects the stone slab to the others so that Daemon is in a sealed, rectangular stone box. Then she makes another stone slab, except this time it's in the shape of a gravestone.

She puts her finger on the stone and begins to trace letters over it. I'm not surprised when I notice that the letters are being engraved into the stone as she does this. When she's done, one gravestone reads, Amser, Controller of Time who Lost Herself but Found Herself in the End, and Daemon Green, Loving Brother of Lilly, Brave and Caring Friend.

And then Robin crumples to the ground and begins to cry. I walk up to put my hand on one of her shoulders, but Mark holds me back.

"She needs to let it out," he says, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Just let her cry; she needs to let her feelings out."

I look over at the sobbing form of Robin and realize that Mark's right—this is most likely her final moment of letting her grief flow free. I turn to face my cousin, who wears a look of concern, and then turn back towards Robin.

We stand there, Robin sobbing, for about five minutes. Her sniffles are the first to stop, and then she stands up even thought tears are still falling and says that it's time to go. "We should get back to the others before they get worried," is one of the things she says as she begins to walk back towards the tree house without even one glance back at us.

We follow her, walking in silence the entire trip. We finally arrive at the tree house in what seems like hours but I know can't be more than twenty minutes at the very most. Robin uses air to push herself up and then throws the rope ladder down for us to climb up. Mark and I do so, and when we get to the top we see that Robin has already gone inside.

Mark pulls the rope ladder back up and then we both walk inside the tree house. I'm shocked to see everyone standing in front of us—Emma and John (who are holding hands), Liz and Cooper (who are sitting next to each other on beanbags and smiling at each other), and then Robin.

I feel as if someone's missing from the picture before remembering Peter. I wonder what happened to him before deciding that I don't want to know—if he's alive, great, but if he's dead...I don't want to know because I don't want to believe it. I don't want it to be true.

"So that's it then?" I hear Robin ask Liz. "The government came to fix everything in the end? They were trying to help keep Time from...you know."

Liz nods. "Yeah," she replies. She holds up a folder and exclaims, "But, Robin, look at this! Agent Tu gave it to me, and my new foster family lives on Cooper's street! I'm going to be going to your school, Robin, and I'll get to stay with you all! Isn't that great?!"

Robin chuckles. "Yeah," she replies, and I notice how weary her voice sounds, "that's awesome, Liz. I'm really happy for you."

She bends down and gives the little girl a hug before pulling away and announcing, "I'm going to get some sleep. We're staying here one more night, just to be safe, and then tomorrow you can all go home." As she walks down the hallway I swear I hear her mumble something along the lines of, "And I'll be all alone," and wonder if I'm just imagining it.

When Robin's door clicks shut, Mark speaks up. "Where's Robin going to go?" he asks, and by the looks on everyone's faces I can tell that they were wondering the same thing.

"She can't leave," Emma protests. "She's my best friend, and I don't want her to be alone, but... If what Robin was telling us is true...Daemon's gone. And I'm guessing that means she'll be all alone."

Cooper nods and says, "I was worried about Liz having to be sent away, but that issue's over now. I guess I hadn't really thought about where Robin would go...or what would happen to her..."

"It's getting dark," John says. "I suggest we think this over as we get ready to sleep."

I look outside and realize that he's right—the sun has set and it's dark outside. I guess I hadn't been thinking about the time of day when people were dying earlier, or when we were burying our deceased friend and...enemy? I wonder of Time was really an enemy after all, or if she was just someone who had lost everything and had gone crazy. I begin to believe that it's the latter.

"I agree," I say, much to Mark's protest—he wants to discuss this matter now. I finally convince him to catch some sleep after arguing with him for a minute or two, and then everyone heads off to their separate rooms.

As I get ready for bed, I wonder what solution we'll come to. And as I lie down in bed and pull the covers over me, I wonder if we will come to a solution.

And then I close my eyes and let all of my problems fade away.

I'm the last to wake up.

When everyone else is getting ready to go, I'm rushing to get dressed. I run out of my room, shouting them to wait for me, and almost fall on my face. Luckily, Mark catches me by the arm, and then we walk out of the tree house together.

Everyone is on the forest floor waiting for us except Robin. I ask where she is, and Emma replies, "We don't know. She's gone."

"She left a note," Liz says sadly. "It said for us to go home and return to our lives with our families." Liz sniffles and adds, "She signed, 'Be happy for me' above her name."

"So that's it?" I ask. "After all of this...we just...go home?"

"I guess so," Emma says sadly. "I just...it's not like Robin to just leave without a good-bye."

"I didn't leave," a voice says, and I turn to see Robin walking towards us. She's coming from the direction of the cabin, and I realize that she must have gone to visit Daemon's grave. "I left the note in case you guys left before I could say good-bye. I would've come to visit you if you had, though."

"Where are you going to go?" Emma asks. Robin just smiles and shrugs.

"I have places," she says simply, "so I'll be fine. Now let's go home; I'll walk with you all." She looks at Liz and says, "We'll take you home first so that your foster family can meet all of your friends and so that we can meet them." She laughs and adds, "After all, they should be introduces to your boyfriend, right?"

Liz's face turns bright red and she looks over at Cooper, who's blushing but also laughing. "How did you know?" he asks.

"You two aren't very subtle," Emma retorts. "You walk around holding hands all the time. How wouldn't we notice?"

Coopers laughs again and rubs his head with the back of his hand. Liz's red face turns to a light pink and she laughs a little as well. Then Robin says that it's time to go because our families are waiting, and we're walking through the forest, wondering what's going to happen next.

Wondering what's going to happen to Robin...and where she's going to go.