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Elemental Keepers
If I told you how my friends and I came to be the way we are, you wouldn’t believe us. Most people would lock us in a white room with rubber walls. None the less, our story is one that wishes and needs to be told. I am Ember Flame. This is the story of how my friends and I became who and what we are.

It was an ordinary day. My friends; Rain Storm, Zephyr Breeze, and Thorn Bramble, and I were walking home from our college campus towards the house we rented with Rain’s brother, Wave.
“Guys, I know a shortcut!” Rain said.
“Please tell me it really is a short cut this time.” Zephyr sighed.
“Yes, I am.” Rain said. She turned and headed towards the old nuclear testing facility. We followed her. That was when we heard it. There was a heart-wrenching howl coming from the facility.
“What was that?!?” I said.
“It sounds like an injured animal.” Rain said. A familiar glimmer entered Thorn’s eyes.
“You had to mention animals, didn’t you?” Zephyr sighed. Thorn was a born animal lover and studying to be a veterinarian.  The slight chance to help an animal and Thorn was off. I turned.
“You guys gonna come help me or what?!?” she yelled over her shoulder as she jogged off toward the noise. Her green eyes were shining with excitement and her brown hair was flying out behind her. Her emerald highlights danced in the afternoon sunlight. Rain sighed.
“We better go get her and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.” Rain said. I nodded and Zephyr sighed. We chased after her. We finally caught up with the brunette at the entrance of the facility.
“You do realize it is illegal to enter here, right?” Zephyr said. She twirled some of her bleach blonde hair between her fingers, catching some strands of her silver highlights in the mess.
“I'll stand guard. You guys go rescue the creature.” I said. They nodded. Little did I know that this was the last time I would see them 100% human. They walked into the facility and soon were out of sight. I sat down and leaned against an old nuclear reactor. I pulled out my homework. No one ever said learning pyrotechnics was easy. Next thing I know I was awoken by a burning fire from my inside. I felt like I was flying. Then I blacked out. What happened? I thought when I finally opened my eyes. As I regained my senses, I felt an unfamiliar yet comfortable heat on my back. I then made the mistake of looking down. I soon jumped up onto my feet. I had been sleeping on a bed of flames! I did a mental inventory, checking for aches and pains that should come with being burned. I'm no doctor, that’s Thorn’s job in our little group, but after living with Rain for all 24 years of my life you pick up a few things about burns. She is a little prone to burning herself on a daily basis. I relaxed when I found no major injuries just a few scrapes and bruises. I looked around trying to figure out where the heck I had been thrown. There was no place like this any where in the United States. I had been all over, from four corners to the empire state building. I had never even heard of such a place like the one I was standing in. it was like four corners except, instead of states meeting, there were climates. I was standing on bone dry ground to my left I could see a huge marsh with a large lake in the center. To my right, I could see a vast forest with one gigantic tree in the center. It had to be at least 10 feet taller than any of the other trees. Across from me, I could see a mountain rising up high. It was the tallest thing around. I couldn’t see its peak due to the clouds that started about two miles high.
“Well Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.” I said to myself. Then I heard a familiar voice that I could recognize a mile away.
“We never were to begin with Dorothy.” The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, marine biologist, a.k.a. Rain, said.
“Where are you?” I asked turning my head side to side as I looked desperately for the face I knew so well.
“I'm right here, silly.” Rain said. I nearly fainted when I saw Rain walking towards me across the lake. I started running toward the border between our two climates. Rain was as pale as a sheet after I had took a few steps forward. Her eyes focused on the spot where I had been standing.
“What are you looking at?” I asked. then I turned and looked back there was a deep indentation where I had been standing and then a bunch of my sized footprints marking every step I had took burned into the bone dry ground.
“No way…” I said. I bent down to check the soles of my boots that were hidden under the hem of my flaming cargo pants. “Not a scratch…”
“That is physically impossible…” Rain said.
“So is walking on water.” I reminded her.
“Whatever do you mean?” Rain asked, genuinely confused.
“Look at what you are standing on…” I said pointing towards her feet.
“What…? oh… that’s what you mean.” She said looking down. I sighed. How does someone as smart as Rain not realize that they are walking on water?
“Hey Ember! You found Rain!” another familiar voice called.
“Zephyr! Where are you?” Rain called out.
“Look up.” She said. We did and nearly fainted when we saw the bleach blonde, grey eyed girl floating two feet above our heads.
“Holy smokes! How did you get up there?” I asked.
“I woke up floating on a cloud at the mountain’s peak.” Zephyr said matter-of-factly. “How come Rain is walking on water?”
“I woke up about twenty feet under the surface in the lake and didn’t feel the need to go up for oxygen. That got me swimming to the top as fast as my legs would carry me.” Rain said shy at the thought of actually being scared. “What about you Ember?”
“I woke up sleeping on a bed of flames. Then I realized that I didn’t have a single burn on me.” I said.
“ARGH!!” a clearly frustrated voice yelled from the trees.
“Only one of us is missing.” I said.
“Thorn!” Zephyr said as she ran/floated over towards the trees. As we followed the frustrated growls, mutters, and curses, we reached the base of the gigantic tree. There a slightly humorous sight met our eyes. The normally cool and calm Thorn was throwing a fit over being caught in a few vines.
“Hey Thorn!” Rain called. Thorn looked up and realized we were there. “How did you get caught in these vines?”
“Caught nothing. They won’t let me go! I woke up in a cocoon of these things and had to hack my way out by ripping them into pieces.” She said clearly frustrated. I heard Zephyr stifle a giggle. I can’t blame her. It was ridiculous to see Thorn, a girl who scaled Mount Rushmore at the age of eleven without a second thought, throwing a fit over being caught in a few vines.
“Don’t just stand there help me out! Oh and Rain, you are trailing puddles. Did you take a bath or something?” Thorn said exasperated. I sighed and started forward. As soon as I came near them however, the vines shriveled up and backed off of Thorn like dehydrated plants.
“Well, somebody doesn’t like you.” Zephyr said noticing the plants extreme reaction to me being in their vicinity.
“Forget that. Does anyone know what in the world happened to us?” I asked anxious to figure out why I pretty much burned everything I touched.
“We do.” A feminine voice said. Feminine as in one of those women who would frown upon my group’s tomboyish ways.
“Who’s there? I warn you, I am trained in the ancient art of origami!” Rain said holding up her hands in a mock fighting stance. I rolled my eyes. Rain had watched too many movies. That line had appeared in several of them.
“Chinese paper folding?” another voice, this time distinctly male, said.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t know what that was…” Rain said. I sighed. Suddenly out of nowhere a ball of light and a ball of… I guess you would call it darkness. It was like the opposite of light and was pitch black. The ball of light would have been extremely bright. We were only able to see it thanks to the ball of darkness that sucked up most of its glow. I shrieked and threw my hands up in self defense.
“HEY, watch where you are aiming those fireballs, girl! Someone could get hurt! Namely, ME!” the dark ball shouted.
“What fireballs?” I asked, lowering my hands just a smidge.
“Ember, look at your hands.” Rain said. I looked down.
“AAAHHHHHH!!! My hands are on fire!” I cried, majorly freaked out. But then again, who wouldn’t freak out when their hands were on fire and they didn’t even feel a slight temperature difference?
“Calm down, dear.” The light ball said to me. “Imagine your hands returning to their normal state.” She said. I took a deep breath and held it. After I let it out, I nodded. I noticed there was a large scorch mark on the tree right in front of me. I also noticed how my friends hid behind various trees in case I should throw another fireball. I closed my eyes and pictured my rough, calloused hands in their normal state.
“It worked.” Thorn said, as I opened my odd orange eyes. I let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness,” Rain said, “the heat was really starting to get to me for some reason.”
“Now that we have that under control, we can resume our natural human forms and tell you about what you are.” The ball of light said.
“Thank the elements!” the dark ball said, “I hate being in this form!” The light ball and dark ball began to pulse, growing brighter or darker every time. Soon, we had to look away because our eyes couldn’t handle the extreme contrast. When we were able to look back, we saw a man and woman standing there. They looked to each be no older than 25. The woman had long blonde hair with a bunch of white highlights running through it, much like the two red ones that ran through my black hair. It ran all the way to her knees and went perfectly with the white dress she wore. Her eyes were a dazzling shade of gold. The man was the opposite. He was dressed in black from the long hooded cloak that hid his face to the black army style boots on his feet.
“I'm Star Morning. This here is my husband, Moon Black.” The woman said gesturing towards the hooded man.
“We are each a keeper of an element.” He said, pulling back his hood to reveal midnight black hair, much like my own, with silver ends and silver eyes, which had an unearthly glitter to them and set them off from Zephyr’s stone gray ones. Those eyes must have been where he got his name. His skin was chalk pale yet looked perfectly natural on him.
“By element, do you mean oxygen and hydrogen?” I asked.
“No. I mean nature’s elements; earth, air, water, fire, space, time, light, and dark. I am one of the dark keepers. My twin, Dusk is the other.” Moon said.
“I am a light keeper.” Star said, “My best friend, Flash, is the other one.”
“You have been chosen as the new female keepers of fire, water, earth, and air.” Moon explained. I smiled and looked at my friends it was as plain as day who was which elemental keeper. You could tell just by our names which element we were. Then he continued on, “It is the keepers’ jobs to make sure that nature stays in balance and doesn’t wipe out entire civilizations and species. We maintain the natural balance. If this balance were to become uneven all of nature would be thrown into chaos. There would be no rules. Trees would Start growing out of the sea, deserts would Start appearing in the middle of Rainforests, fog would try to form across a desert, and rivers would flood their banks!” that made me nervous. A lot of lives would be lost if we didn’t keep it together. Even more would be lost if we argued even for a second.
“Now we can start your training.” Star said, “That way, you won’t destroy the castle when you meet the other keepers. They are currently being training with Flash and Dusk.”
“Wait, we have to get home! We have lives, boyfriends, school, and jobs we have to get to! I have to study for a test in animal biology tomorrow!” Thorn shrieked.
“Not any more. You are dead in that world. The nuclear power plant exploded while you were still near by. The authorities found your charred remains scattered among the debris. Everyone on earth thinks you’re dead and knows about it to. That explosion made the front page headlines.” Moon explained.
“Besides, the other elementals are perfect matches for you. You’ll be able to meet the after you finish training.” Star added, “That is how Moon and I met. You will be automatically paired with the opposite element. Rain, you’ll be paired with the fire keeper. Zephyr, you’ll be paired with the earth keeper. Ember, you’ll be paired with the water keeper. Finally, Thorn, you’ll be paired with the air keeper.”
That got Rain’s attention. You see, Thorn had been lying when she said we all had boyfriends. Sure, she, Rain, and Zephyr had boyfriends. I, on the other hand, have never dated. Rain, therefore, enjoyed pointing out guys who are hot, nice, and smart to me, in hope that I will date one of them. Though I would never tell her, the real reason I say ‘no’ is because I have developed a crush on Rain’s brother, Wave. I’d grown up knowing him and Rain, since they had been two of the few other kids understood what it was like to live on the move, never really putting down roots. He’s older than her by a year, good at sports though he doesn’t play competitively, and working on a degree in molecular chemistry. He has blonde hair the exact same shade as Rain’s, except without the two cerulean highlights that Rain has, and sea green eyes that I easily got lost in.
I shrugged, trying not to show the excitement that was bubbling up inside of me at the chance to meet my perfect match. “Well, let’s get started. We might as well get it over with.” I said. I was anxious to learn to control these legendary powers and meet my perfect match. However, that was a long way away. We spent the next two years learning to control our powers, so we didn’t harm anyone accidently. I won’t bore you with the details. The days turned to weeks, the weeks turned to months, and the months turned to years. By the first week we had developed a routine. We got up at 5:00 a.m. we did warm up exercises before training. Then we ate breakfast at 6:00 a.m. We trained with Star until 1:00 p.m. After lunch, we trained with Moon until 7:00 p.m. Later, we ate dinner and then we went to sleep. There were no breaks.
Two years later
“It’s time.” Star said. There was no need for anyone to ask what she meant. We all knew.
“Finally!! I can’t wait to meet my Mr. Perfect!” Rain squealed. She had gotten to know Star and Moon a lot better now and her previously icy attitude had dissipated last year. We had all accepted the fact that we would never see anything from our previous lives. Suddenly, I felt my feet leave the ground. I was glowing.
“What the…?!?” I asked. Me flying? How could this be happening? My powers didn’t include flying and glowing. Only Zephyr could fly. None of us glowed.
“I'm transporting you to the elemental palace.” Star said answering everyone’s unasked questions.
“It would have taken us another year to reach it on foot.” Moon said, flying beside us, glowing a dark purple. He looked completely unfazed by the glowing and the flying. Soon we landed. The majority of us landed gracefully. Thorn however, fell down and kissed the ground.
“Land!!” she yelled. Star shot Thorn a confused look. I sighed. Thorn blushed and got up off the ground.
It was I who whispered to Star, “Her parents died in a plane crash when she was really little. Ever since, she won’t get on anything higher than 50 feet.”
“Welcome! We’ve been waiting for you to arrive! Everyone else is here already!” a voice boomed. Zephyr, Thorn, Rain, and I looked around for the source of this new voice. Our eyes stopped as we saw the enormous palace in front of us. It was made of a stone I could only guess was opal because of its constantly shifting colors. In the large doorway, there was a man. He looked the same age as us. His hair was black and faded down into white ends. As we got closer to him, walking slightly behind Star and Moon, we saw something about him that was even odder than his hair-do, his eyes. They changed colors with the castle.
“Time! How have you been?” Star asked. Time must be the man’s name or element. Element, has to be element, what sane person would name their kid ‘time’?
“Star! How many times do I have to tell you? My name may be ‘time’, but I really prefer ‘Ty’!” the man shouted back. Oh, okay, his name really was ‘time’. He hugged her and Star returned it. Next he hugged Moon, who was a little more reluctant, but eventually hugged back. “These must be the new elementals! Well, they certainly aren’t hard on the eyes.” He exclaimed looking at us. I felt my face heat up and saw that Rain, Zephyr, and Thorn were all blushing just as much at his generous comment. He turned and waved his hand over his shoulder.
“Come on, we’ll walk and talk.” He said proceeding forward.   We followed. I was soon walking beside him because of my subconsciously fast pace. “This is, in case you haven’t guessed, the elemental palace. It is constructed of opal because it flashes all the colors of the elements. We are the tenth generation of keepers. So, what is your name and element?” he asked looking at me.
I looked at the ground, finding his ever shifting eyes unnerving. “I'm Ember. I don’t think you have to guess what element I am. I’ve always had a fascination with fire. I was studying pyrotechnics in college before the accident. I told my deepest secrets to the candles I had dancing by my bedside. They were the ones I didn’t even tell Rain over there.” I said, pointing my finger over my shoulder.
“Dang. How did you know I was sneaking up on you?” Rain said, ducking as my pointing hand turned in to a fist. I just barely missed her.
“I can sense when someone is looking at me or sneaking up on me, Rain. I always could.” I said shrugging.
“So, that’s why Thorn could never scare you. You knew she was there already.” Zephyr said. Thorn looked annoyed.
“What about you miss?” Ty said looking at Rain.
“Water. I was studying to be a marine biologist. My brother, Wave, was studying molecular chemistry. He’s a year older than I am. We practically lived on a boat until we went to college. Our parents were underwater photographers.” She said, sighing. I knew she missed Wave. Who didn’t? He was one of the few we would and could trust our deeper secrets to who wasn’t in our little group. Take that back. He was the only one.
“Thorn, right? What element are you?” Ty said. I guess he was simply trying to make conversation.  He had heard how quiet we could be. If no one talked to us, we didn’t talk to them. We normally only talked among our selves.
“Earth. I was studying to be a veterinarian. My boy friend of a half year had just proposed to me four days before the accident.” Thorn said, sighing. I couldn’t blame her. Briar had been almost as perfect a match as he was. He refers to Sky, her first fiancé and perhaps one true love. He had died a week before their wedding. They had gotten together during Thorn’s first year of college. He had proposed to her at the end of the school year. She had said yes. After he died, Thorn didn’t come out of her room for three months. Until we made her come out, she wouldn’t do anything. It had only been recently, about a year ago, that we had gotten her to come out of her dead shell. She came back from dates with Briar a lot happier. We never call Sky by name, for fear of putting Thorn back into that dead state.
Ty, Star, and Moon looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Over the years of training, when someone’s actions needed explaining, I was the one who took the time to explain them to Moon and Star.
“I can’t tell you. We all made a sacred oath; we would never tell his story to anyone until Thorn died.” I said, once again placing special emphasis on the word his, “Only Thorn could tell you what happened, and that really isn’t the best idea.” Thorn shook her head when they looked at her. Thankfully, Ty let the subject drop.
“So, that leaves you miss, with air. What’s your name?” Ty asked looking at Zephyr.
“The name is Zephyr. I was studying aerodynamics. I wanted to design fighter jets for the US military.” Zephyr said. Ty nodded. I hadn’t noticed how far we had walked until Ty stopped and I looked around. We were in a huge room. I don’t hesitate to say that this must be the main room of castle. It was circular, with large stained glass windows cut and fitted flawlessly into the smooth opal. There were decorations of every color, from vibrant reds and pinks to deep blues and purples. There were seven other occupants in the room. Most of them were boys. There were only two girls. I could tell that the one with long black hair and purple highlights was Moon’s sister, Dusk, by the silver eyes.
“Maya! Darling, I’ve brought the other elemental keepers!” Ty called out towards the other woman. Now my gaze shifted over to her and I saw immediately what element she must be. With her ever-changing highlights and white hair, she must be the keeper of space. That would also explain the darling comment from Ty. When we had crossed the room to where they were gathered, seated on comfortable couches, chairs, and even a few beanbags. I sat down on a bean bag. By the time I was sitting down and comfortable, only Rain was left standing. I looked over at her and saw a dumbstruck look on her face. I looked where she was looking and my jaw dropped to the floor. Among the guys, was a well-remembered and loved face I knew and recognized. The sea green eyes and brown hair with blue ends could only belong to one person on the planet.
“Wave?” Rain said finally able to speak. Ty was off talking to Maya about what we had told him and Thorn and Zephyr were playing twenty questions with Star and Moon. The head turned to look at us and away from the card game he was playing with a red haired guy and a bleach blonde guy. His jaw dropped.
“Rain? Ember?” That familiar voice said. I felt a rush of wind as Rain ran passed me and slung her arms around her brother’s middle. Wave in turn wrapped his arms around her as he picked her up and spun her around. She squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning. He put her down and it was my turn to envelop him in a hug. He must have aimed to kiss my cheek but missed and kissed me on the lips. My brain short circuited the second his lips met my. The last thing I saw was his eyes closing as mine followed suit. Seconds later, my brain came to its senses and I pulled back. My face felt hotter than any fire I had ever felt. His face look just as on fire. I heard Rain snickering behind me. I also heard something else odd, nothing. Besides Rain’s snickering, the room was dead silent.
“So… somebody want to explain what the hell just happened?” the red haired guy asked.
“I was wondering the same thing, Blaze.” Ty said, eyebrows raised into his hair. I turned and saw Thorn’s, Zephyr’s, and Rain’s smirks.
“Uhm……” I said.
“You can let Rain explain.” Wave said. Rain’s jaw dropped as everyone turned to look at her.
“Ah… uh… Wave’s my brother. We’ve known Ember for all of our lives. We contacted one another by email, internet, anything not land based. When we all entered college, Wave lived with us in exchange for paying his fair share of the bills. He confided in me early on, about a year into our stay at college, that he had developed a crush on Ember. Before we came, Wave had been living in a dorm room. Then a few weeks later, Ember came to me and told me the same thing.”
“I did not!” I said, that was when I first started liking him.
“Okay, so you didn’t actually tell me but you made it extremely obvious.” She said back. “Any way, ever since Thorn, Zephyr, and I had taken it upon our selves to get them to go out together. Judging by that kiss, it looks like our work has just been done for us.” She finished.
“Is this true?” Maya asked.
I sighed. “Pretty much. I’ve been crushing on Wave for a while now. I had barely avoided their last attempt to get Wave and I under the mistletoe together.”
“So since you all know Wave, let’s introduce the other half of the elemental keepers.” Dusk said.
“My name’s Blaze flare. I'm a fire keeper. Which one of you is the other fire keeper?” the red head asked. His eyes were an eerie yellow. The end of his hair was dyed black.
“That would be me.” I said, walking forward and extending my hand. “Name’s Ember flame. I was studying pyrotechnics.” He grabbed my hand with a firm grip a shook it twice then dropped it.
“Hey, that means you’re my match!” Rain squealed delightedly. She ran forward and grabbed his hand. “Name’s Rain Storm. Marine biology is my thing. You’ve already met my brother.” She said. Blaze smiled.
“He’s fallin’ hard.” I heard a bright blonde mutter to a blonde. Thorn must have heard too because her head snapped in his direction. Her jaw dropped. I took a closer look and my jaw dropped too. This guy had an uncanny similarity to him. He looked like Sky. But, it was impossible. We had seen his torn, bloody, and mangled corpse after the car crash. His car had been run into by an out of control bus and had tumbled down the hill. It couldn’t be him. Could it?
“Sky?” I heard Thorn softly call out, afraid to get her hopes up. The bright blonde’s head snapped up. This was impossible. The guy had the exact same shade of pale blue eyes as Sky had. The rest of the group heard her, even over Rain’s and Blaze’s constant chatter as they got to know one another. They all looked in Thorn’s direction and then towards the bright blonde.
“How did you know my name? Who are you?” he said. Thorn looked at him, and then moved her hair from where it shadowed her face. His eyes recognized her and his face lit up in a grin.
“Thorn? Is it really you? Am I dreaming?” he said. Thorn ran towards him.
“Sky!!! I can’t believe it! You’re alive!” she said dashing towards him. Sky caught her in his arms and spun her around, the grin on his face radiating happiness. Everyone except Zephyr, Rain, and I sat there dumbfounded and confused. We had looks of amazement on our faces. He had come back from the dead. This was the first time we had seen Thorn smile this wide since he had died. We all jogged forward and enveloped him in a big group hug. Thorn and Sky had tears of joy streaming down their faces. Everyone else sat and looked confused, except Wave who had started to smirk slightly.
“I'm surprised it took you that long to figure out who was who you two.” He said shaking his head.
“Will someone explain to me what in hell just happened?” a previously quiet brown haired boy asked.
“The only ones who can tell you the true story are Sky and Thorn.” I said, going back to pull my bean bag closer to where Wave’s was. Thorn glared at me.
“I met Sky during our first year of college. The very beginning of it, in fact. He and I were in the same history class.” She began, sitting down on Sky’s lap with his arms wrapped around her lovingly as he was afraid to lose her again. “We were seat partners and over time we started seeing each other outside of class. This friendly relationship turned into something more when we got stuck under the mistletoe Rain had hung above the doorway of our house to try and get Wave and ember together. That kiss led to a series of dates. He proposed to me at the end of the year and I said ‘yes’. Then disaster reared its butt-ugly head.” She said, letting Sky take over from there.
“I was driving down the road towards town when my car was grazed on the side by a sliding bus. The bus grazed just so that I was sent tumbling down the twenty foot hill off the side of the road. I lost consciousness after the first spin. It was a few seconds later that I woke up here.” He said.
“We found him an hour later. The bus driver had regained control of the bus and called the local authorities. Thank god it was a small town and the cops knew to call us if anything happened to him. We got the call at 9 a.m. He was declared dead at the scene.” She said starting to tear up.
“She was a wreck for weeks. She wouldn’t even come out of her room to eat. Even after we got her out again, she never fully recovered. We eventually got her to start dating again. She came home smiling more often and seemed to regain what she had lost. At least, that’s what everyone else thought. I’ve known her all my life and I could see that she still hadn’t completely recovered from his death. I swear I saw her smile when she felt the flames burn her to a crisp when the facility blew up. It was common sense what was going through her head. She was thinking that she was going to be with him now, finally at peace.” Zephyr said.
“Okay… is there anyone here you guys don’t know?” Maya asked amused that we had done the work of pairing ourselves up for them.
“That’s about it… I think.” I said.
“I don’t recognize anyone else.” Rain said. I noticed quickly that she and Blaze were already at the ‘holding hands’ stage. Wow, normally it took guys like a week worth of dates to get there, but Blaze had accomplished it in an hour.
“Okay… so my name’s Briar Terra. Expert in geology.” The brown haired guy said. Zephyr went forward and held out her hand.
“Zephyr Breeze, aerodynamics. Apparently, we’re supposed to be perfect match.” She said as he grasped her hand and they walked off talking.
“Name’s Flash shine. I'm Dusk’s husband and an expert in light and everything to do with it.” The blonde said. His bright blonde ends nearly blinding me. Then I noticed his eyes.
“Are you blind? You have white irises.” I asked, and then blushed knowing it must be a sensitive topic for him. He smiled and shook his head.
“No. it is a birth defect. I actually have 20/20 vision. There’s no need to be embarrassed. So many people have asked me, I’ve gotten use to it.” Flash said.
“Well, now that we’re all introduced, we’ll show you your rooms.” Star said. We all turned and started up the stairs. The room we entered into was medium size and decorated to match the elements. Four halls came off of it, one in each direction.
“Ember, Blaze, Rain, and Wave. You’re all down that hall. Your doors have all been labeled with your names. There is a map of the palace on everyone’s beds. Make yourself at home.” Ty said gesturing to the hall on our right.
“Oh, and by the way, the walls and doors are all sound proof on this level. If you get my meaning.” Moon said.
“Ew! Oh great, I have a perv for a brother.” Dusk said. Everyone turned bright red as Moon’s ‘meaning’ clicked in our brains. I saw Rain slip off one of her flip-flops and pull her arm back when Moon’s back was turned.
“Not now, Rain. We’ll settle this later.” I said grabbing her wrist. I exchanged glances with my crew out of the corner of my eyes. Thorn was smirking. Zephyr was trying not to laugh. I felt an evil grin spread across my face. Rain had an evil sparkle in her eye and an innocent smirk on her face. I quickly wiped off my grin as ty turned in our direction.
“Do I want to know what you are planning?” Wave whispered in my ear, making me jump.
“God! Don’t sneak up on me like that! No you don’t want to.” I said turning around to peck him on the lips.
“OOHHHH! Look at the love birds!” flash whistled. I turned around. I had just about to kiss Wave again until someone interrupted. I glared at him.
“Feel like taking that back?” I said letting a little poison leak into my voice. Flash pretended to look scared.
“No… not really.” He said.
“Now, now. Before anything really bad happens to damage something, let’s get everyone else settled in. Thorn, Zephyr, Sky, and Briar. You’re all down that hall.” Maya said gesturing to our left.
“Star, Dusk, flash, and Moon. You’re down that hall.” Ty said, pointing to the one right in front of us.
“Ty and I will be down the last one if you need anything.” Maya said.
“Is there any where fire proof?” I asked innocently.
“There are the two fire training rooms and any of the domes.” Ty said helpfully. I grinned. I walked over to flash grabbed his ear and Rain grabbed Moon’s.
“Where are these ‘domes’?” Rain asked.
“Down on the first floor to the left or to the right hallways off of the main room.” Zephyr said holding a map.
“How did you get that so fast? Oh wait never mind. You’re the wind keeper.” Flash said trailing off.
“Yep. And transport by wind was one of the first things I mastered.” She said grinning.
“Might I ask what ember’s was?” Moon asked suddenly scared.
“Honey, you don’t remember? She nearly fried you with a fire ball before we had even explained their powers to them.” Star said grinning. By now almost everyone except flash and Moon were grinning or stifling giggles and laughter.
“Wave, would you help me with someone’s feet? He keeps trying to escape and run away.” I asked struggling to hold a desperately-trying-to-escape Moon.
“I’ve got that under control.” Thorn said as her hand delved into her pocket. She came out with a handful of vine trimmings. Moon’s eyes widened.
“I thought you took those all away?!?” Moon said scared. Star shrugged.
“I did. She must have restocked.” Thorn walked over and dropped a few of the vine clippings on to Moon. They began to grow and soon they had completely secured Moon’s legs tightly together. Wave came over any way and helped me haul Moon’s butt down the stairs. We moved aside at the bottom to let a just as cooperative Flash come down.
Half an hour later…
“Oh… so that’s where the infirmary is located…” Rain said. Moon and flash were there for minor burns to the legs, rope (or more appropriately vine) burn, and pure exhaustion. I chuckled. Turning around, I nearly crashed into Wave, who was standing right behind me.
“Hey ya beautiful,” he said. I blushed, Rain smiled, Blaze acted as if he was gagging. “Star said dinner’s ready and she’ll be up with Luna to give you two yours.” He said gesturing to Flash and Moon. I followed him down the stairs, Blaze and Rain not far behind.
After a delicious dinner of fish and chips, we headed back to our rooms. No sooner than I had gotten into my pjs, a sports bra and track pants, than a knock came at the door that connected my room to Wave’s. I rushed over and opened it. My sea green eyed knight was waiting for me. Much to my delight, he was topless.
“Well, hello handsome stranger, want to come in?” I asked, deliberately blocking the doorway.
“Only if the door is open.” He said smirking.
“Always is.” I stepped aside. He grabbed my hand. I leaned forward. He closed the gap. My head tilted. His hands drifted and knotted themselves in my hair. Mine were securely wrapped around his neck. Our lips moved together in perfect harmony. Our tongues danced, memorizing the other’s mouth. I hadn’t realized we were moving until we crashed against my bed. Once there our hands roamed everywhere. My hands roamed his body. My body burned for his touch despite his roaming hands. Then as if to ruin the moment, there was a knock at my door. We split apart.
“If we remain quite do you think they will go away?” he asked.
“Ember, I know you are in there!” Rain called.
“Damn her.” I muttered. I pointed under the bed and Wave raised an eyebrow. “If your sister sees us like this you can guess what she will assume.” A look of horror crossed his face and he slipped under. I answered the door.
“You can come out, Wave. I'm not that stupid to not hear the racket you two were making.” She said rolling her eyes. I blushed. Wave stuck his head out. “But, all I have to say is two in one.” My face felt like it would burn off. That was our secret code for when you had s-e-x with someone.
“Rain, you too.” I said. It had the desired result. Rain’s face now looked like a tomato. I smiled. Wave cocked an eyebrow.
“Do I want to know?” he asked. I shook my head. “Didn’t think so.” Rain took off blushing. I closed the door and turned around. Only to run right into Wave’s well sculpted chest.
“So… where were we?” I asked, “I can’t seem to remember.” I pulled him closer by wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I think we were somewhere around here…” he smiled and leaned even closer. It was mere seconds later that our lips met. We hit the bed later. How much later I do not know, my mind shorted out the second his mouth hit mine. We didn’t do IT that night. We did however get far enough that we slept in the same bed with minimal clothing on.
We were woken up by a violent shaking. We literally fell out of bed. Hurriedly getting our pjs back on, we rushed down to the main meeting room. There we were met by Thorn, Rain, Zephyr, Blaze, Briar, and sky.
“What the hell was that?” Blaze asked.
“Anybody hurt?” Thorn called. Just then a very worried looking Maya came in out of nowhere.
“You guys can go back to bed. It’s just a debate in the elemental court that got out of hand.” She said, waving her hand dismissively as she walked down the hallway towards her and Ty’s rooms.
“any chance of an explanation?” blaze inquired.
“in the morning…” Maya muttered as she waved her hand dismissively.
The next morning…
We were gathered ‘round the table each holding a cup of coffee, tea, or in my case cocoa.
“So, we’re kind of like heirs to the throne? And these ‘essence elementals’ are the monarchs.” Zephyr said. The general gist of what it had come down to was that there had been an accusation of one of the essence elementals misusing their power. It turned out it was not the case and now they have decided to make us figure out who or what is behind the disturbances in the elemental balance. There had been unexplained fires in the middle of the water zone. There was a tornado trail in the densely covered earth district. There were shrubs popping up in the fire district, where it should be too hot for anything to survive, let alone plants.
“And it’s our job to find out what is up…” Sky added.
“Pretty much, just try and do it fast. The essences are not the most patient beings around.” Ty said.

Description
Elemental Keepers
If I told you how my friends and I came to be the way we are, you wouldn’t believe us. Most people would lock us in a white room with rubber walls. None the less, our story is one that wishes and needs to be told. I am Ember Flame. This is the story of how my friends and I became who and what we are.

It was an ordinary day. My friends; Rain Storm, Zephyr Breeze, and Thorn Bramble, and I were walking home from our college campus towards the house we rented with Rain’s brother, Wave.
“Guys, I know a shortcut!” Rain said.
“Please tell me it really is a short cut this time.” Zephyr sighed.
“Yes, I am.” Rain said. She turned and headed towards the old nuclear testing facility. We followed her. That was when we heard it. There was a heart-wrenching howl coming from the facility.
“What was that?!?” I said.
“It sounds like an injured animal.” Rain said. A familiar glimmer entered Thorn’s eyes.
“You had to mention animals, didn’t you?” Zephyr sighed. Thorn was a born animal lover and studying to be a veterinarian.  The slight chance to help an animal and Thorn was off. I turned.
“You guys gonna come help me or what?!?” she yelled over her shoulder as she jogged off toward the noise. Her green eyes were shining with excitement and her brown hair was flying out behind her. Her emerald highlights danced in the afternoon sunlight. Rain sighed.
“We better go get her and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.” Rain said. I nodded and Zephyr sighed. We chased after her. We finally caught up with the brunette at the entrance of the facility.
“You do realize it is illegal to enter here, right?” Zephyr said. She twirled some of her bleach blonde hair between her fingers, catching some strands of her silver highlights in the mess.
“I'll stand guard. You guys go rescue the creature.” I said. They nodded. Little did I know that this was the last time I would see them 100% human. They walked into the facility and soon were out of sight. I sat down and leaned against an old nuclear reactor. I pulled out my homework. No one ever said learning pyrotechnics was easy. Next thing I know I was awoken by a burning fire from my inside. I felt like I was flying. Then I blacked out. What happened? I thought when I finally opened my eyes. As I regained my senses, I felt an unfamiliar yet comfortable heat on my back. I then made the mistake of looking down. I soon jumped up onto my feet. I had been sleeping on a bed of flames! I did a mental inventory, checking for aches and pains that should come with being burned. I'm no doctor, that’s Thorn’s job in our little group, but after living with Rain for all 24 years of my life you pick up a few things about burns. She is a little prone to burning herself on a daily basis. I relaxed when I found no major injuries just a few scrapes and bruises. I looked around trying to figure out where the heck I had been thrown. There was no place like this any where in the United States. I had been all over, from four corners to the empire state building. I had never even heard of such a place like the one I was standing in. it was like four corners except, instead of states meeting, there were climates. I was standing on bone dry ground to my left I could see a huge marsh with a large lake in the center. To my right, I could see a vast forest with one gigantic tree in the center. It had to be at least 10 feet taller than any of the other trees. Across from me, I could see a mountain rising up high. It was the tallest thing around. I couldn’t see its peak due to the clouds that started about two miles high.
“Well Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.” I said to myself. Then I heard a familiar voice that I could recognize a mile away.
“We never were to begin with Dorothy.” The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, marine biologist, a.k.a. Rain, said.
“Where are you?” I asked turning my head side to side as I looked desperately for the face I knew so well.
“I'm right here, silly.” Rain said. I nearly fainted when I saw Rain walking towards me across the lake. I started running toward the border between our two climates. Rain was as pale as a sheet after I had took a few steps forward. Her eyes focused on the spot where I had been standing.
“What are you looking at?” I asked. then I turned and looked back there was a deep indentation where I had been standing and then a bunch of my sized footprints marking every step I had took burned into the bone dry ground.
“No way…” I said. I bent down to check the soles of my boots that were hidden under the hem of my flaming cargo pants. “Not a scratch…”
“That is physically impossible…” Rain said.
“So is walking on water.” I reminded her.
“Whatever do you mean?” Rain asked, genuinely confused.
“Look at what you are standing on…” I said pointing towards her feet.
“What…? oh… that’s what you mean.” She said looking down. I sighed. How does someone as smart as Rain not realize that they are walking on water?
“Hey Ember! You found Rain!” another familiar voice called.
“Zephyr! Where are you?” Rain called out.
“Look up.” She said. We did and nearly fainted when we saw the bleach blonde, grey eyed girl floating two feet above our heads.
“Holy smokes! How did you get up there?” I asked.
“I woke up floating on a cloud at the mountain’s peak.” Zephyr said matter-of-factly. “How come Rain is walking on water?”
“I woke up about twenty feet under the surface in the lake and didn’t feel the need to go up for oxygen. That got me swimming to the top as fast as my legs would carry me.” Rain said shy at the thought of actually being scared. “What about you Ember?”
“I woke up sleeping on a bed of flames. Then I realized that I didn’t have a single burn on me.” I said.
“ARGH!!” a clearly frustrated voice yelled from the trees.
“Only one of us is missing.” I said.
“Thorn!” Zephyr said as she ran/floated over towards the trees. As we followed the frustrated growls, mutters, and curses, we reached the base of the gigantic tree. There a slightly humorous sight met our eyes. The normally cool and calm Thorn was throwing a fit over being caught in a few vines.
“Hey Thorn!” Rain called. Thorn looked up and realized we were there. “How did you get caught in these vines?”
“Caught nothing. They won’t let me go! I woke up in a cocoon of these things and had to hack my way out by ripping them into pieces.” She said clearly frustrated. I heard Zephyr stifle a giggle. I can’t blame her. It was ridiculous to see Thorn, a girl who scaled Mount Rushmore at the age of eleven without a second thought, throwing a fit over being caught in a few vines.
“Don’t just stand there help me out! Oh and Rain, you are trailing puddles. Did you take a bath or something?” Thorn said exasperated. I sighed and started forward. As soon as I came near them however, the vines shriveled up and backed off of Thorn like dehydrated plants.
“Well, somebody doesn’t like you.” Zephyr said noticing the plants extreme reaction to me being in their vicinity.
“Forget that. Does anyone know what in the world happened to us?” I asked anxious to figure out why I pretty much burned everything I touched.
“We do.” A feminine voice said. Feminine as in one of those women who would frown upon my group’s tomboyish ways.
“Who’s there? I warn you, I am trained in the ancient art of origami!” Rain said holding up her hands in a mock fighting stance. I rolled my eyes. Rain had watched too many movies. That line had appeared in several of them.
“Chinese paper folding?” another voice, this time distinctly male, said.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t know what that was…” Rain said. I sighed. Suddenly out of nowhere a ball of light and a ball of… I guess you would call it darkness. It was like the opposite of light and was pitch black. The ball of light would have been extremely bright. We were only able to see it thanks to the ball of darkness that sucked up most of its glow. I shrieked and threw my hands up in self defense.
“HEY, watch where you are aiming those fireballs, girl! Someone could get hurt! Namely, ME!” the dark ball shouted.
“What fireballs?” I asked, lowering my hands just a smidge.
“Ember, look at your hands.” Rain said. I looked down.
“AAAHHHHHH!!! My hands are on fire!” I cried, majorly freaked out. But then again, who wouldn’t freak out when their hands were on fire and they didn’t even feel a slight temperature difference?
“Calm down, dear.” The light ball said to me. “Imagine your hands returning to their normal state.” She said. I took a deep breath and held it. After I let it out, I nodded. I noticed there was a large scorch mark on the tree right in front of me. I also noticed how my friends hid behind various trees in case I should throw another fireball. I closed my eyes and pictured my rough, calloused hands in their normal state.
“It worked.” Thorn said, as I opened my odd orange eyes. I let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness,” Rain said, “the heat was really starting to get to me for some reason.”
“Now that we have that under control, we can resume our natural human forms and tell you about what you are.” The ball of light said.
“Thank the elements!” the dark ball said, “I hate being in this form!” The light ball and dark ball began to pulse, growing brighter or darker every time. Soon, we had to look away because our eyes couldn’t handle the extreme contrast. When we were able to look back, we saw a man and woman standing there. They looked to each be no older than 25. The woman had long blonde hair with a bunch of white highlights running through it, much like the two red ones that ran through my black hair. It ran all the way to her knees and went perfectly with the white dress she wore. Her eyes were a dazzling shade of gold. The man was the opposite. He was dressed in black from the long hooded cloak that hid his face to the black army style boots on his feet.
“I'm Star Morning. This here is my husband, Moon Black.” The woman said gesturing towards the hooded man.
“We are each a keeper of an element.” He said, pulling back his hood to reveal midnight black hair, much like my own, with silver ends and silver eyes, which had an unearthly glitter to them and set them off from Zephyr’s stone gray ones. Those eyes must have been where he got his name. His skin was chalk pale yet looked perfectly natural on him.
“By element, do you mean oxygen and hydrogen?” I asked.
“No. I mean nature’s elements; earth, air, water, fire, space, time, light, and dark. I am one of the dark keepers. My twin, Dusk is the other.” Moon said.
“I am a light keeper.” Star said, “My best friend, Flash, is the other one.”
“You have been chosen as the new female keepers of fire, water, earth, and air.” Moon explained. I smiled and looked at my friends it was as plain as day who was which elemental keeper. You could tell just by our names which element we were. Then he continued on, “It is the keepers’ jobs to make sure that nature stays in balance and doesn’t wipe out entire civilizations and species. We maintain the natural balance. If this balance were to become uneven all of nature would be thrown into chaos. There would be no rules. Trees would Start growing out of the sea, deserts would Start appearing in the middle of Rainforests, fog would try to form across a desert, and rivers would flood their banks!” that made me nervous. A lot of lives would be lost if we didn’t keep it together. Even more would be lost if we argued even for a second.
“Now we can start your training.” Star said, “That way, you won’t destroy the castle when you meet the other keepers. They are currently being training with Flash and Dusk.”
“Wait, we have to get home! We have lives, boyfriends, school, and jobs we have to get to! I have to study for a test in animal biology tomorrow!” Thorn shrieked.
“Not any more. You are dead in that world. The nuclear power plant exploded while you were still near by. The authorities found your charred remains scattered among the debris. Everyone on earth thinks you’re dead and knows about it to. That explosion made the front page headlines.” Moon explained.
“Besides, the other elementals are perfect matches for you. You’ll be able to meet the after you finish training.” Star added, “That is how Moon and I met. You will be automatically paired with the opposite element. Rain, you’ll be paired with the fire keeper. Zephyr, you’ll be paired with the earth keeper. Ember, you’ll be paired with the water keeper. Finally, Thorn, you’ll be paired with the air keeper.”
That got Rain’s attention. You see, Thorn had been lying when she said we all had boyfriends. Sure, she, Rain, and Zephyr had boyfriends. I, on the other hand, have never dated. Rain, therefore, enjoyed pointing out guys who are hot, nice, and smart to me, in hope that I will date one of them. Though I would never tell her, the real reason I say ‘no’ is because I have developed a crush on Rain’s brother, Wave. I’d grown up knowing him and Rain, since they had been two of the few other kids understood what it was like to live on the move, never really putting down roots. He’s older than her by a year, good at sports though he doesn’t play competitively, and working on a degree in molecular chemistry. He has blonde hair the exact same shade as Rain’s, except without the two cerulean highlights that Rain has, and sea green eyes that I easily got lost in.
I shrugged, trying not to show the excitement that was bubbling up inside of me at the chance to meet my perfect match. “Well, let’s get started. We might as well get it over with.” I said. I was anxious to learn to control these legendary powers and meet my perfect match. However, that was a long way away. We spent the next two years learning to control our powers, so we didn’t harm anyone accidently. I won’t bore you with the details. The days turned to weeks, the weeks turned to months, and the months turned to years. By the first week we had developed a routine. We got up at 5:00 a.m. we did warm up exercises before training. Then we ate breakfast at 6:00 a.m. We trained with Star until 1:00 p.m. After lunch, we trained with Moon until 7:00 p.m. Later, we ate dinner and then we went to sleep. There were no breaks.
Two years later
“It’s time.” Star said. There was no need for anyone to ask what she meant. We all knew.
“Finally!! I can’t wait to meet my Mr. Perfect!” Rain squealed. She had gotten to know Star and Moon a lot better now and her previously icy attitude had dissipated last year. We had all accepted the fact that we would never see anything from our previous lives. Suddenly, I felt my feet leave the ground. I was glowing.
“What the…?!?” I asked. Me flying? How could this be happening? My powers didn’t include flying and glowing. Only Zephyr could fly. None of us glowed.
“I'm transporting you to the elemental palace.” Star said answering everyone’s unasked questions.
“It would have taken us another year to reach it on foot.” Moon said, flying beside us, glowing a dark purple. He looked completely unfazed by the glowing and the flying. Soon we landed. The majority of us landed gracefully. Thorn however, fell down and kissed the ground.
“Land!!” she yelled. Star shot Thorn a confused look. I sighed. Thorn blushed and got up off the ground.
It was I who whispered to Star, “Her parents died in a plane crash when she was really little. Ever since, she won’t get on anything higher than 50 feet.”
“Welcome! We’ve been waiting for you to arrive! Everyone else is here already!” a voice boomed. Zephyr, Thorn, Rain, and I looked around for the source of this new voice. Our eyes stopped as we saw the enormous palace in front of us. It was made of a stone I could only guess was opal because of its constantly shifting colors. In the large doorway, there was a man. He looked the same age as us. His hair was black and faded down into white ends. As we got closer to him, walking slightly behind Star and Moon, we saw something about him that was even odder than his hair-do, his eyes. They changed colors with the castle.
“Time! How have you been?” Star asked. Time must be the man’s name or element. Element, has to be element, what sane person would name their kid ‘time’?
“Star! How many times do I have to tell you? My name may be ‘time’, but I really prefer ‘Ty’!” the man shouted back. Oh, okay, his name really was ‘time’. He hugged her and Star returned it. Next he hugged Moon, who was a little more reluctant, but eventually hugged back. “These must be the new elementals! Well, they certainly aren’t hard on the eyes.” He exclaimed looking at us. I felt my face heat up and saw that Rain, Zephyr, and Thorn were all blushing just as much at his generous comment. He turned and waved his hand over his shoulder.
“Come on, we’ll walk and talk.” He said proceeding forward.   We followed. I was soon walking beside him because of my subconsciously fast pace. “This is, in case you haven’t guessed, the elemental palace. It is constructed of opal because it flashes all the colors of the elements. We are the tenth generation of keepers. So, what is your name and element?” he asked looking at me.
I looked at the ground, finding his ever shifting eyes unnerving. “I'm Ember. I don’t think you have to guess what element I am. I’ve always had a fascination with fire. I was studying pyrotechnics in college before the accident. I told my deepest secrets to the candles I had dancing by my bedside. They were the ones I didn’t even tell Rain over there.” I said, pointing my finger over my shoulder.
“Dang. How did you know I was sneaking up on you?” Rain said, ducking as my pointing hand turned in to a fist. I just barely missed her.
“I can sense when someone is looking at me or sneaking up on me, Rain. I always could.” I said shrugging.
“So, that’s why Thorn could never scare you. You knew she was there already.” Zephyr said. Thorn looked annoyed.
“What about you miss?” Ty said looking at Rain.
“Water. I was studying to be a marine biologist. My brother, Wave, was studying molecular chemistry. He’s a year older than I am. We practically lived on a boat until we went to college. Our parents were underwater photographers.” She said, sighing. I knew she missed Wave. Who didn’t? He was one of the few we would and could trust our deeper secrets to who wasn’t in our little group. Take that back. He was the only one.
“Thorn, right? What element are you?” Ty said. I guess he was simply trying to make conversation.  He had heard how quiet we could be. If no one talked to us, we didn’t talk to them. We normally only talked among our selves.
“Earth. I was studying to be a veterinarian. My boy friend of a half year had just proposed to me four days before the accident.” Thorn said, sighing. I couldn’t blame her. Briar had been almost as perfect a match as he was. He refers to Sky, her first fiancé and perhaps one true love. He had died a week before their wedding. They had gotten together during Thorn’s first year of college. He had proposed to her at the end of the school year. She had said yes. After he died, Thorn didn’t come out of her room for three months. Until we made her come out, she wouldn’t do anything. It had only been recently, about a year ago, that we had gotten her to come out of her dead shell. She came back from dates with Briar a lot happier. We never call Sky by name, for fear of putting Thorn back into that dead state.
Ty, Star, and Moon looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Over the years of training, when someone’s actions needed explaining, I was the one who took the time to explain them to Moon and Star.
“I can’t tell you. We all made a sacred oath; we would never tell his story to anyone until Thorn died.” I said, once again placing special emphasis on the word his, “Only Thorn could tell you what happened, and that really isn’t the best idea.” Thorn shook her head when they looked at her. Thankfully, Ty let the subject drop.
“So, that leaves you miss, with air. What’s your name?” Ty asked looking at Zephyr.
“The name is Zephyr. I was studying aerodynamics. I wanted to design fighter jets for the US military.” Zephyr said. Ty nodded. I hadn’t noticed how far we had walked until Ty stopped and I looked around. We were in a huge room. I don’t hesitate to say that this must be the main room of castle. It was circular, with large stained glass windows cut and fitted flawlessly into the smooth opal. There were decorations of every color, from vibrant reds and pinks to deep blues and purples. There were seven other occupants in the room. Most of them were boys. There were only two girls. I could tell that the one with long black hair and purple highlights was Moon’s sister, Dusk, by the silver eyes.
“Maya! Darling, I’ve brought the other elemental keepers!” Ty called out towards the other woman. Now my gaze shifted over to her and I saw immediately what element she must be. With her ever-changing highlights and white hair, she must be the keeper of space. That would also explain the darling comment from Ty. When we had crossed the room to where they were gathered, seated on comfortable couches, chairs, and even a few beanbags. I sat down on a bean bag. By the time I was sitting down and comfortable, only Rain was left standing. I looked over at her and saw a dumbstruck look on her face. I looked where she was looking and my jaw dropped to the floor. Among the guys, was a well-remembered and loved face I knew and recognized. The sea green eyes and brown hair with blue ends could only belong to one person on the planet.
“Wave?” Rain said finally able to speak. Ty was off talking to Maya about what we had told him and Thorn and Zephyr were playing twenty questions with Star and Moon. The head turned to look at us and away from the card game he was playing with a red haired guy and a bleach blonde guy. His jaw dropped.
“Rain? Ember?” That familiar voice said. I felt a rush of wind as Rain ran passed me and slung her arms around her brother’s middle. Wave in turn wrapped his arms around her as he picked her up and spun her around. She squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning. He put her down and it was my turn to envelop him in a hug. He must have aimed to kiss my cheek but missed and kissed me on the lips. My brain short circuited the second his lips met my. The last thing I saw was his eyes closing as mine followed suit. Seconds later, my brain came to its senses and I pulled back. My face felt hotter than any fire I had ever felt. His face look just as on fire. I heard Rain snickering behind me. I also heard something else odd, nothing. Besides Rain’s snickering, the room was dead silent.
“So… somebody want to explain what the hell just happened?” the red haired guy asked.
“I was wondering the same thing, Blaze.” Ty said, eyebrows raised into his hair. I turned and saw Thorn’s, Zephyr’s, and Rain’s smirks.
“Uhm……” I said.
“You can let Rain explain.” Wave said. Rain’s jaw dropped as everyone turned to look at her.
“Ah… uh… Wave’s my brother. We’ve known Ember for all of our lives. We contacted one another by email, internet, anything not land based. When we all entered college, Wave lived with us in exchange for paying his fair share of the bills. He confided in me early on, about a year into our stay at college, that he had developed a crush on Ember. Before we came, Wave had been living in a dorm room. Then a few weeks later, Ember came to me and told me the same thing.”
“I did not!” I said, that was when I first started liking him.
“Okay, so you didn’t actually tell me but you made it extremely obvious.” She said back. “Any way, ever since Thorn, Zephyr, and I had taken it upon our selves to get them to go out together. Judging by that kiss, it looks like our work has just been done for us.” She finished.
“Is this true?” Maya asked.
I sighed. “Pretty much. I’ve been crushing on Wave for a while now. I had barely avoided their last attempt to get Wave and I under the mistletoe together.”
“So since you all know Wave, let’s introduce the other half of the elemental keepers.” Dusk said.
“My name’s Blaze flare. I'm a fire keeper. Which one of you is the other fire keeper?” the red head asked. His eyes were an eerie yellow. The end of his hair was dyed black.
“That would be me.” I said, walking forward and extending my hand. “Name’s Ember flame. I was studying pyrotechnics.” He grabbed my hand with a firm grip a shook it twice then dropped it.
“Hey, that means you’re my match!” Rain squealed delightedly. She ran forward and grabbed his hand. “Name’s Rain Storm. Marine biology is my thing. You’ve already met my brother.” She said. Blaze smiled.
“He’s fallin’ hard.” I heard a bright blonde mutter to a blonde. Thorn must have heard too because her head snapped in his direction. Her jaw dropped. I took a closer look and my jaw dropped too. This guy had an uncanny similarity to him. He looked like Sky. But, it was impossible. We had seen his torn, bloody, and mangled corpse after the car crash. His car had been run into by an out of control bus and had tumbled down the hill. It couldn’t be him. Could it?
“Sky?” I heard Thorn softly call out, afraid to get her hopes up. The bright blonde’s head snapped up. This was impossible. The guy had the exact same shade of pale blue eyes as Sky had. The rest of the group heard her, even over Rain’s and Blaze’s constant chatter as they got to know one another. They all looked in Thorn’s direction and then towards the bright blonde.
“How did you know my name? Who are you?” he said. Thorn looked at him, and then moved her hair from where it shadowed her face. His eyes recognized her and his face lit up in a grin.
“Thorn? Is it really you? Am I dreaming?” he said. Thorn ran towards him.
“Sky!!! I can’t believe it! You’re alive!” she said dashing towards him. Sky caught her in his arms and spun her around, the grin on his face radiating happiness. Everyone except Zephyr, Rain, and I sat there dumbfounded and confused. We had looks of amazement on our faces. He had come back from the dead. This was the first time we had seen Thorn smile this wide since he had died. We all jogged forward and enveloped him in a big group hug. Thorn and Sky had tears of joy streaming down their faces. Everyone else sat and looked confused, except Wave who had started to smirk slightly.
“I'm surprised it took you that long to figure out who was who you two.” He said shaking his head.
“Will someone explain to me what in hell just happened?” a previously quiet brown haired boy asked.
“The only ones who can tell you the true story are Sky and Thorn.” I said, going back to pull my bean bag closer to where Wave’s was. Thorn glared at me.
“I met Sky during our first year of college. The very beginning of it, in fact. He and I were in the same history class.” She began, sitting down on Sky’s lap with his arms wrapped around her lovingly as he was afraid to lose her again. “We were seat partners and over time we started seeing each other outside of class. This friendly relationship turned into something more when we got stuck under the mistletoe Rain had hung above the doorway of our house to try and get Wave and ember together. That kiss led to a series of dates. He proposed to me at the end of the year and I said ‘yes’. Then disaster reared its butt-ugly head.” She said, letting Sky take over from there.
“I was driving down the road towards town when my car was grazed on the side by a sliding bus. The bus grazed just so that I was sent tumbling down the twenty foot hill off the side of the road. I lost consciousness after the first spin. It was a few seconds later that I woke up here.” He said.
“We found him an hour later. The bus driver had regained control of the bus and called the local authorities. Thank god it was a small town and the cops knew to call us if anything happened to him. We got the call at 9 a.m. He was declared dead at the scene.” She said starting to tear up.
“She was a wreck for weeks. She wouldn’t even come out of her room to eat. Even after we got her out again, she never fully recovered. We eventually got her to start dating again. She came home smiling more often and seemed to regain what she had lost. At least, that’s what everyone else thought. I’ve known her all my life and I could see that she still hadn’t completely recovered from his death. I swear I saw her smile when she felt the flames burn her to a crisp when the facility blew up. It was common sense what was going through her head. She was thinking that she was going to be with him now, finally at peace.” Zephyr said.
“Okay… is there anyone here you guys don’t know?” Maya asked amused that we had done the work of pairing ourselves up for them.
“That’s about it… I think.” I said.
“I don’t recognize anyone else.” Rain said. I noticed quickly that she and Blaze were already at the ‘holding hands’ stage. Wow, normally it took guys like a week worth of dates to get there, but Blaze had accomplished it in an hour.
“Okay… so my name’s Briar Terra. Expert in geology.” The brown haired guy said. Zephyr went forward and held out her hand.
“Zephyr Breeze, aerodynamics. Apparently, we’re supposed to be perfect match.” She said as he grasped her hand and they walked off talking.
“Name’s Flash shine. I'm Dusk’s husband and an expert in light and everything to do with it.” The blonde said. His bright blonde ends nearly blinding me. Then I noticed his eyes.
“Are you blind? You have white irises.” I asked, and then blushed knowing it must be a sensitive topic for him. He smiled and shook his head.
“No. it is a birth defect. I actually have 20/20 vision. There’s no need to be embarrassed. So many people have asked me, I’ve gotten use to it.” Flash said.
“Well, now that we’re all introduced, we’ll show you your rooms.” Star said. We all turned and started up the stairs. The room we entered into was medium size and decorated to match the elements. Four halls came off of it, one in each direction.
“Ember, Blaze, Rain, and Wave. You’re all down that hall. Your doors have all been labeled with your names. There is a map of the palace on everyone’s beds. Make yourself at home.” Ty said gesturing to the hall on our right.
“Oh, and by the way, the walls and doors are all sound proof on this level. If you get my meaning.” Moon said.
“Ew! Oh great, I have a perv for a brother.” Dusk said. Everyone turned bright red as Moon’s ‘meaning’ clicked in our brains. I saw Rain slip off one of her flip-flops and pull her arm back when Moon’s back was turned.
“Not now, Rain. We’ll settle this later.” I said grabbing her wrist. I exchanged glances with my crew out of the corner of my eyes. Thorn was smirking. Zephyr was trying not to laugh. I felt an evil grin spread across my face. Rain had an evil sparkle in her eye and an innocent smirk on her face. I quickly wiped off my grin as ty turned in our direction.
“Do I want to know what you are planning?” Wave whispered in my ear, making me jump.
“God! Don’t sneak up on me like that! No you don’t want to.” I said turning around to peck him on the lips.
“OOHHHH! Look at the love birds!” flash whistled. I turned around. I had just about to kiss Wave again until someone interrupted. I glared at him.
“Feel like taking that back?” I said letting a little poison leak into my voice. Flash pretended to look scared.
“No… not really.” He said.
“Now, now. Before anything really bad happens to damage something, let’s get everyone else settled in. Thorn, Zephyr, Sky, and Briar. You’re all down that hall.” Maya said gesturing to our left.
“Star, Dusk, flash, and Moon. You’re down that hall.” Ty said, pointing to the one right in front of us.
“Ty and I will be down the last one if you need anything.” Maya said.
“Is there any where fire proof?” I asked innocently.
“There are the two fire training rooms and any of the domes.” Ty said helpfully. I grinned. I walked over to flash grabbed his ear and Rain grabbed Moon’s.
“Where are these ‘domes’?” Rain asked.
“Down on the first floor to the left or to the right hallways off of the main room.” Zephyr said holding a map.
“How did you get that so fast? Oh wait never mind. You’re the wind keeper.” Flash said trailing off.
“Yep. And transport by wind was one of the first things I mastered.” She said grinning.
“Might I ask what ember’s was?” Moon asked suddenly scared.
“Honey, you don’t remember? She nearly fried you with a fire ball before we had even explained their powers to them.” Star said grinning. By now almost everyone except flash and Moon were grinning or stifling giggles and laughter.
“Wave, would you help me with someone’s feet? He keeps trying to escape and run away.” I asked struggling to hold a desperately-trying-to-escape Moon.
“I’ve got that under control.” Thorn said as her hand delved into her pocket. She came out with a handful of vine trimmings. Moon’s eyes widened.
“I thought you took those all away?!?” Moon said scared. Star shrugged.
“I did. She must have restocked.” Thorn walked over and dropped a few of the vine clippings on to Moon. They began to grow and soon they had completely secured Moon’s legs tightly together. Wave came over any way and helped me haul Moon’s butt down the stairs. We moved aside at the bottom to let a just as cooperative Flash come down.
Half an hour later…
“Oh… so that’s where the infirmary is located…” Rain said. Moon and flash were there for minor burns to the legs, rope (or more appropriately vine) burn, and pure exhaustion. I chuckled. Turning around, I nearly crashed into Wave, who was standing right behind me.
“Hey ya beautiful,” he said. I blushed, Rain smiled, Blaze acted as if he was gagging. “Star said dinner’s ready and she’ll be up with Luna to give you two yours.” He said gesturing to Flash and Moon. I followed him down the stairs, Blaze and Rain not far behind.
After a delicious dinner of fish and chips, we headed back to our rooms. No sooner than I had gotten into my pjs, a sports bra and track pants, than a knock came at the door that connected my room to Wave’s. I rushed over and opened it. My sea green eyed knight was waiting for me. Much to my delight, he was topless.
“Well, hello handsome stranger, want to come in?” I asked, deliberately blocking the doorway.
“Only if the door is open.” He said smirking.
“Always is.” I stepped aside. He grabbed my hand. I leaned forward. He closed the gap. My head tilted. His hands drifted and knotted themselves in my hair. Mine were securely wrapped around his neck. Our lips moved together in perfect harmony. Our tongues danced, memorizing the other’s mouth. I hadn’t realized we were moving until we crashed against my bed. Once there our hands roamed everywhere. My hands roamed his body. My body burned for his touch despite his roaming hands. Then as if to ruin the moment, there was a knock at my door. We split apart.
“If we remain quite do you think they will go away?” he asked.
“Ember, I know you are in there!” Rain called.
“Damn her.” I muttered. I pointed under the bed and Wave raised an eyebrow. “If your sister sees us like this you can guess what she will assume.” A look of horror crossed his face and he slipped under. I answered the door.
“You can come out, Wave. I'm not that stupid to not hear the racket you two were making.” She said rolling her eyes. I blushed. Wave stuck his head out. “But, all I have to say is two in one.” My face felt like it would burn off. That was our secret code for when you had s-e-x with someone.
“Rain, you too.” I said. It had the desired result. Rain’s face now looked like a tomato. I smiled. Wave cocked an eyebrow.
“Do I want to know?” he asked. I shook my head. “Didn’t think so.” Rain took off blushing. I closed the door and turned around. Only to run right into Wave’s well sculpted chest.
“So… where were we?” I asked, “I can’t seem to remember.” I pulled him closer by wrapping my arms around his neck.
“I think we were somewhere around here…” he smiled and leaned even closer. It was mere seconds later that our lips met. We hit the bed later. How much later I do not know, my mind shorted out the second his mouth hit mine. We didn’t do IT that night. We did however get far enough that we slept in the same bed with minimal clothing on.
We were woken up by a violent shaking. We literally fell out of bed. Hurriedly getting our pjs back on, we rushed down to the main meeting room. There we were met by Thorn, Rain, Zephyr, Blaze, Briar, and sky.
“What the hell was that?” Blaze asked.
“Anybody hurt?” Thorn called. Just then a very worried looking Maya came in out of nowhere.
“You guys can go back to bed. It’s just a debate in the elemental court that got out of hand.” She said, waving her hand dismissively as she walked down the hallway towards her and Ty’s rooms.
“any chance of an explanation?” blaze inquired.
“in the morning…” Maya muttered as she waved her hand dismissively.
The next morning…
We were gathered ‘round the table each holding a cup of coffee, tea, or in my case cocoa.
“So, we’re kind of like heirs to the throne? And these ‘essence elementals’ are the monarchs.” Zephyr said. The general gist of what it had come down to was that there had been an accusation of one of the essence elementals misusing their power. It turned out it was not the case and now they have decided to make us figure out who or what is behind the disturbances in the elemental balance. There had been unexplained fires in the middle of the water zone. There was a tornado trail in the densely covered earth district. There were shrubs popping up in the fire district, where it should be too hot for anything to survive, let alone plants.
“And it’s our job to find out what is up…” Sky added.
“Pretty much, just try and do it fast. The essences are not the most patient beings around.” Ty said.