Pretty Little Liar (Aruani Element Shifter AU) ✔️

Thirteen

"Armin, sweetheart? Are you alright?" My mother asked once she heard me coughing.

"Don't come in! I caught a really bad cold, I don't want you to catch anything!"

"Oh my. Do you want some medicine, or some soup?"

"No, I'll be okay. I need some sleep."

"Okay darling. I love you. I'll check on you soon."

"Okay, thank you."

My voice was on the verge of breaking, my breathing heavy and loud. I couldn't stop staring at the emblem pierced into my skin.

This was it. I had reached the brink of insanity. I was going mad. The stress of school was coming to me, and the cold was not helping at all.

I stayed in my bedroom, sitting on my windowsill all day looking out into the world. I fell asleep once, but I quickly woke up afterwards, feeling so much worse, and my eye continued to mutate its weird silver colour.

I was speechless. I didn't know what to think anymore. I was scared and confused, unable to figure things out.

I spent that night re-reading the book, reading through all the symptoms one suffers beforehand, the talents, and most importantly, the history of how the new government set out to kill them many years ago, in a race against crazy scientists, who wanted to experiment on their blood. The book also recalled that with control and stealth, they used to hide among the normal humans, look and act the same, until a very old age. I'm certain there are people that can still do that now. I just need to find them.

But occasionally, I would stop reading and completely change my mind. This was a story book found at the bottom of my dead best friend's box of memories. I had all of my faith on a myth, a story. An old, forgotten history that I had never really heard of before our visit to the library.

There was also another part to the book that caught my eye. I needed answers. And quickly. And the only way to get them, was to do so.

In case of emergencies, or in events in which Shifters are separated, and need to contact each other, legend has it that they would have to do something on their emblem. The owner of the element that corresponds to whichever process has been performed would then receive notice that they are needed and would come to their aid.

If they wish to summon a shifter of water, they would lick their own saliva upon the emblem, blow air onto the emblem to summon the air shifter, and bite their emblem for an earth shifter. How to summon a fire shifter is unknown due to our lack of understanding, and the lacking population of fire shifters.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. The book told me everything I needed to know, and answered everything that was happening to me. All of the symptoms, the emblem, the eye, was all part of what happens to Air Shifters.

Either I was completely crazy, or I was now an Element Shifter. Both seemed possible, somehow, yet one had strong evidence to back it up.

* * *

The next day, as my parents worked yet again, I locked all of the doors and windows, moved furniture in the dining room around, and decided to see what I could do.

I closed my eyes, opening my hand out in front of me. Thinking slowly about what I wanted, I opened them, and wind ripples came flying out, slowly and calmly, through my hand.

My heart started beating truly quickly. I took a deep breath, thinking about my next move, and blew, sending slow wind out of my mouth.

I turned around in a circle. Just as I had assumed, the wind followed me. I continued to twirl until I formed a mini tornado, collapsing into a chair, spinning dizzily.

I tried another thing. I made a pushing notion with my hands, and the flower pot of which I faced rattled when the wind went flying towards it. All in steady pace so that I don't brake anything. I blinked a few times, mesmerized by the work of my own hands.

Obviously, I couldn't do much. I was slow and unsure. I couldn't perform any powerful or dangerous stunts, only send air slowly and pitifully from my body. It was something, at least.

My eye was now light silver, with specks of white. It looked so strange, and abnormal. Just like the one in the book.

I looked down at the emblem again. It had grown clearer, with silver and white wind patterns and a simple cloud behind them. It really was a simple little thing, yet so beautiful and detailed at the same time.

I gulped, hesitating numerous times before I did it.

If I really was one of them, I needed to meet one of them. They might already know that a new member is among them, but I need to know more. I need to see for myself how it is to live with this so-called gift. I needed to speak to other people, find out what happened to them.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, before I licked my emblem, and waited for something to happen.