Born of Water and Flames

Vietnam

Fenzi is beautiful. A house was immediately prepared for me, a novelty. There was a great buzz over the fact that I can actually control water. Most everyone who actually can control elements are dead. And even stranger, the house was not in Nuoc. It was in Yoso, along with 3 other homes, with each home from a different element. Only one other home is occupied. The occupied house is for an earth disciple. In the foyer, there is a small table, an altar. There is incense, a statuette of Shijie, and a long, thin glass box with a scroll inside. I hesitantly open the box, and unroll the scroll. On it is what looks like a mere poem.

When the four arrive,

Who hold Shijie's greatest Power.

To Heaven they journey

To regain her place.

Earth, Air, and Water speed Their way.

Fire keeps the monsters at bay.

The Elements rise from royalty;

And poverty.

To journey to the city of Nature.

Their gifts will be the Downfall of Heaven's Pride

Shijie shall rise again.

Just as I finish reading the poem, a priest opens the door. She turned an awful, sickly shade when she saw the scroll.

"I suppose that putting it in a glass box wasn't the wisest decision," she remarked. "Do you know what that scroll is, Mistress Lien?"

"No, what is it?" I asked her.

"It is a prophecy, a telling of the future. This one was made by a soothsayer, the moment Shijie fell. It speaks of four people who each have a different elemental power. They will come from both royalty and poverty. They will journey to Heaven, to petition the gods to allow Shijie to go back to Heaven. Most normal humans wouldn't be able to make the journey into the sky above the middle of the South China Sea. But the Earth disciple can speed you across the land, and Fire can keep harm from coming to you. When you get to the sea, you can bring them to the middle, and the Air disciple can take you into the sky. The Earth disciple has already arrived, a Thai girl named Apinya. I will set up a meeting once Fire and Air have arrived. For now, you should rest."