Meeting Maia

My Old Life

Charles opened the door and gasped.
"Master Raphael...your here?"
"Charles," I greeted, smiling. I reached out and wrapped my arms around him.
My mother rushed into the hallway and pressed her hands to her mouth. Tears began running down her flawless face. She screeched in excitement. The basement door flew open and my dad rushed out, holding a wooden spoon. He looked at me and took a step towards me, then leapt back, dropping his 'weapon'.
"Son?" He asked, staring at me wide eyed. my mother cried my name and ran at me, her make up dribbling down her face. She hugged me harshly and then began feeling me all over.
"Your not hurt, are you? Oh, your home. You haven't died! Have you seen your siblings? Are they alive? Oh god, where did you go? Why did you go? Look at you, your like a stick!" She was crying and my dad had come over to hug me while I stood in the doorway. I then passed out from fatigue into his arms.
When I finally woke up, there was a meal on the bedside table next to me. I was in my room, my mother sat up, sleeping with her head on my bed next to me. I leaned over, instantly hungry. A large bowl of tomato and basil soup with three bread rolls, and an array of spices and grated cheese next to them. My typical mother who had to go over the top with everything.
I looked at her face. I hadn't noticed before but her eyes were sunken and dark shadows were spreading beneath them. Her hair was greasy at the roots and she had frown lines in her brow. Thin almost unnoticeable streaks of grey were blended into her hair.
I quickly devoured my food and as I clanged the spoon into the bowl, my mother jolted awake. She looked at me and smiled and then cried all over again. I only just had to time to put the tray of food down before she pulled me into another hug.
"Mom, I have to tell you something."
"I know, Raph, I've always known there was something different about you. We, your father and I, have never been completely honest with you and Jonas." My dad emerged from the hole in the flooring, locking the hatch back and sitting beside my mother.
"When you were born, you were 140 degrees and Jonas had this layer of dirt on him. We didn't understand, I mean how can you be born covered in dirt. The doctors didn't know what to think, they tried to clean him but it didn't come off. With you though, they did everything to lower your temperature, I mean, you should have died at 140 degrees! Each minute a new doctor would enter the room but no one could do anything, in theory, all the cells in your body should have died. It was scary, a boy born dirty and one who should have boiled."
"Eventually, a new doctor came in. he touched your head but burnt his fingers and then stroked Jonas. he stayed dirty. The doctor said he knew what the problem was. He said that you would be special, you would be different and we didn't understand but we valued it. It made you, you."
"Then one day, I was bathing Jonas and I rinsed his head with water and all the dirt just peeled off him. I thought I might have peeled off his skin or something but he was fine. Then your dad came in and told me you were a regular temperature. This was when you were about 1. From then on, we'd panic when you had a fever, that you might stay that temperature, and if Jonas was ever in a muddy football game, we'd worry that the dirt wouldn't come off."
"Im sorry." I muttered.
"No, baby, we should have told you. It Defines you."
"I ran away with Maia. I control the fire and she controls the water. I jumped out the hospital window with her."
"That was so high!"
"Yeah, a boy called Klaus who can manipulate air carried us to the floor. Maia controls the water and Jonas controls the earth and I... control fire. Maia calls us the Elementals."
"And Cleo?"
"Nothing, so far, but there's this guy who wants to kill us to become extremely powerful and avenge his dead wife and I left."
"Why, baby? Why did you leave?"
"I think I love Maia but our elements contrast and she doesn't want to hurt me so she left me and I thought I didn't belong with them."
"You belong where your heart is and as much as I want you to stay, I know it's not here."
"I want to stay."
She smiled solemnly and stroked my hair lightly. then she and my father climbed down the hatch and left me to myself.
Klaus would take control, he had to. They needed him. Cleo needed him. Jonas needed him. Maia needed him. I needed him, but I'd left and I had to stop worrying about it all. I was a nobody again. There was no pressure on me, once again I was a normal kid.
Well, apparently I'd never been normal but I had to try. It was the right thing to do. I needed to know that my life wasn't decided for me.
This was my escape to my old life.
If that was really what I wanted.