The Elemental Trials

Marcus

Marcus Pyritsa was a fourteen year old boy living in a modern day New York City. He was a short kid, and was usually teased about his height by others. He had lived most of his childhood as an outcast from all the other children his age, due to his natural unsociable and unapproachableness. Marcus wasn't a bad kid, but he was constantly getting into bother in school due to his strange and unnatural smoky smell, which led many teachers and parents to believe that he actually did smoke since they had no other explanation to it, with Marcus himself not even knowing what the cause of it was until years later. During his first few years at school he had tried his very best to fit in and get along with the people in his classes but never managed to prevail, with his oddly coloured dark blue hair definitely not helping his chances of success. Marcus' mother was a middle aged woman named Gloria, who had raised him since he was born with the help of her own mother, Louisa. Gloria was a tall, slim, and quite frankly beautiful woman. She had travelled to many a places in her earlier years, and had donned a relatively dark tan, which fitted perfectly with her long, wavy, copper brown hair. Louisa could not have been more different. She was short, mostly due to the fact that she had shrunk with old age, and had straight, dark brown hair which didn't reach any lower than her shoulders. The most obvious difference between the two was that Louisa had no tan at all. Instead she was noticeably pale, which grew increasingly noticeable the older she got. Marcus' grandmother unfortunately passed away when he was a young child, five years old to be exact. From that moment forward his life took a sharp turn, and not for the better. Marcus' father had vanished completely from his life shortly after he was born without any explanation. Well, without any explanation that Marcus was old enough to understand. Despite this, his father had gradually began to come back into his life after Louisa's death, which Marcus was painfully aware was not a good thing. His father was named Peter, and his entire demeanour screamed scumbag. He had a very short layer of dark grey hair on his head, which was usually covered by some sort of hat or cap. Marcus had never seen him wear anything other than black and white trainers, baggy, dark blue jeans, a plain white top which was usually stained, and a brown leather jacket which pockets contained God knows what. It started with a few visits every couple of months, then it became twice a month, and before Marcus knew it they had become a regular thing. He never understood why his father never just moved in with his mother until he was older. The truth was that Peter Merendez did not care about Gloria or Marcus Pyritsa. When Marcus realised this, it only lead on to his next question; why was his father paying the two of them regular visits. It was only after his mother was fired from her job and outright told Marcus she had no more money to support either of them that he discovered that each time his father came over he had borrowed money from the poor and naive Gloria. Marcus and his mother were evicted from their large home and had to move in to an apartment in the middle of New York, which seriously took a toll on Gloria's mental health. She no longer had the motivation to work, and spent what little money she had mainly on alcohol in a futile attempt to stop her from feeling well, anything. She also gained quite a bit of weight and hardly ever left the couch, her blank eyes glued to the T.V for hours on end. This forced Marcus to practically fend for himself. Despite the nature of his father, he had never stooped so low as to steal something to benefit himself. Instead, he went around looking for any jobs he could do in order to earn at least a tiny bit of cash. These ranged from sweeping floors to delivering goods, and Marcus was lucky to receive even a few dollars a week for doing these things. Marcus' father still paid him and his mother frequent visits, and with Gloria usually being too out of it to object, he always managed to sweep up any scraps of money they had. When Marcus was thirteen years old he finally decided he couldn't deal with the life he was living any longer, and planned to make a change. He came home one day and confronted his mother about needing things to change, but she simply mumbled something about it all being okay before sending him off with a disinterested wave. Marcus knew it was time for him to take matters into his own hands, with his first plan of action being getting rid of his father. The next time Peter paid them a visit, Marcus attempted to appeal to his mother one last time, asking her why she lets his father steal from them, and urging her to do something about it. Gloria wasn't completely numb at the time, so it actually almost succeeded, but Peter let her know exactly what would happen if she tried stop him, which immediately discouraged her. Marcus then moved on to his last resort, which was taking on his father directly. After trying to demand the money back and getting no more than a cruel laugh from Peter as a response, Marcus punched the man right in the jaw. His father hardly even flinched. That was when Marcus experienced pain like no other, as Peter's fist smashed straight into the side of his head, sending him falling to the ground and almost knocking him unconscious. Gloria didn't try to intervene, simply biting her lip as she watched her son be beaten by his father. After a couple of nasty hits she thought Peter would be finished, but he continued without hesitation. Gloria started screaming for him to stop, shielding her eyes so to try and pretend like the situation wasn't happening. But it was real all right. Marcus could feel that every time he was met with another one of his father's blows. Peter beat him half to death that night, and when he was finished he simply disposed of him by throwing him to the pavement outside the apartment building. Marcus had debated returning to the apartment numerous times, but every possible scenario he imagined up all ended with Peter giving him absolute hell for coming back. So, for almost a year, Marcus was forced to fend for himself, wandering the streets of New York in search of anything, whether that be a job, a place to sleep, food, water or any other possible ways to keep himself alive. That all changed one night when a man approached Marcus seemingly randomly in the middle of the street. Marcus was sat on a small step outside a public library, staring at the pavement as the heavy rainfall thundered against it. He had grown a fair bit though was still considered short in comparison to many others his age, not that he knew anyone to compare himself to. He had no belongings except from the clothes on his back and the vine bracelet around his wrist, which he acquired years before in a different, untold story. His soaking wet blue hair fell in front of his face but he didn't bother moving it, instead continuing to stare blankly at the ground in front of him. It was times like this where he couldn't help but reflect on everything that had happened over the past year or so, but it always usually resulted in him having a miniature break down. Tears began welling up in his eyes as he thought about everything that had happened to him, mixed in with the dread he felt at the realisation of his current situation, and the fact that he had to go on for another day. He pulled the vine bracelet off his wrist and threw it on the ground, wiping his eyes with one hand as he tried to compose himself. It was at that moment that a strange, lonely old man walked past, his head covered by his hood and a walking stick in his hand. His eye caught the bracelet lying in a puddle and he slowly bent over to pick it up, examining it before placing it back in Marcus' hand, much to the young boy's surprise. "Now...wit wood 'at wee lass 'hink if she could see ye now?" The old man said, flashing Marcus a small grin before continuing to walk down the street, disappearing from view shortly afterwards. Marcus sat there, stunned by the man's words. The question had immediately sprung an image into Marcus' head, but there was no possible way the man could have known about it. It was while he was pondering all the possibilities that another man approached Marcus, shrouded by a cloak. "Marcus Pyritsa...?" The cloaked figure said, his head tilted slightly as he waited for a reply. The man's voice made Marcus jumps slightly, and he quickly turned to look at him, snapping out of his thoughts "Y-...yes...?" He said quietly, not sure if he should be talking to such a shifty figure but deciding there wasn't much worse things that could come of it that he hadn't already gone through. The man pulled the hood of the cloak down to reveal relatively long, messy brown hair, emerald green eyes and a small yet definitely excited grin "I'm Alexander Wright. And I've been searching for you."