The Elemental

by Sara Galadari

  Elara felt out of place in her civilian clothing; she was wearing a fitted blue blouse, and long, white trousers that were cropped at her ankle. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and held Helia’s hand tightly in her own. Helia was dressed in a faded pale green summer dress, which clashed oddly with her winter boots. Given it was only a day since Helia had stumbled into their lives, they hadn’t had much choice with her footwear and opted to use the shoes that Helia came in from the future.

  Miela was right about not worrying about too many questions. Helia received no extra attention aside from a few side glances.

  A soft ding sounded, and the lift’s doors opened. Elara held onto Helia’s hand as they waited for the lift to clear before entering along with Miela and Noiro. Thankfully, they had the lift to themselves; the other officials had caught the adjacent lift that had arrived seconds before.

  “Mama, can I press the button?” Helia asked excitedly. “I know which button to press!”

  “Oh?” said Miela, her interest piqued. “Have you been here before?”

  “Yeah! Lots of times! With you, Mama!” Helia beamed.

  Elara exchanged curious glances with Miela and Noiro. She rarely visited the Guardians’ Headquarters, especially since it was usually restricted to civilians such as herself.

  “We’re going to a different floor today,” Elara admonished gently. Helia nodded, watching Miela press on one of the buttons. She beamed as she felt the elevator begin its ascent.

  The lift doors came to a slow stop at one of the floors, and Elara held onto Helia’s hand again. “Not this floor,” she said softly, feeling the toddler move her body towards the door.

  “But this is—” Helia began, and then stopped. A tall man walked in, joining the four in the lift. He faced the lift’s doors, holding a lieutenant’s hat under his arm as he pressed one of the buttons with a gloved finger.

  “Captain,” the man saluted Miela as he entered.

  Miela nodded in response. “Lieutenant.”

  The Lieutenant’s eyes shifted to Noiro, his eyebrows subtly lifting up in surprise.

  “Argon?” Noiro blurted out, surprised to see a familiar face at the Guardians’ Headquarters. He hadn’t seen the man in years. He felt his stomach churn; Noiro did not know Argon so well, but he was well-acquainted his father. The two did not get along as boys, and often found terrible ways to torment each other during their training. As adults, they were coldly polite towards each other at best. The animosity was passed down to his son, Argon, which was reciprocated right back. Much to Noiro’s disdain, Argon had often extended his sour behavior to Elara, who had frequently interacted with Argon, given their close proximity in age. Noiro sourly pressed his lips together.

  “Funny, I didn’t know they let vermin in here,” said Argon coldly, his back still turned.

  Elara stared incredulously at the man, unimpressed with his unprovoked jab. Miela glared at the man, her eyebrows raised in contempt at her colleague. She was no stranger to his comments as well, having often brawled with him as a child during their school days after tormenting Elara. He managed to put aside his animosity towards Miela during their time training as Guardians, and opted for a more professional relationship with her, but that did not erase their sour past.

  “I could say the same,” replied Noiro, not missing a beat, staring straight ahead.

  Argon scoffed. “Be careful,” said Argon coolly. “You’re addressing a Lieutenant of the Amity Guardians.”

  “Am I?” Noiro sneered. “Whose uniform did you steal?”

  Argon swiftly turned around, his nostrils flared and his lip curled as he faced his childhood nemesis, struggling to keep his cool. “I earned my place here, Noiro. Don’t you dare undermine the efforts I made—”

  “Efforts?” Noiro scorned. “Blackmail and bullying your way in, more like.”

  “Be careful of what you’re accusing me of. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were insinuating I bribed my way into being a Guardian.”

  Noiro folded his arms. “I know who you are.”

  “And I know who you are. Not all of us have their connections to smooth out any bumps on the road,” Argon jeered. “I worked for what I have. And I don’t have time to waste on the likes of you.” He ran a hand through his short, curly black hair. “I’m already—”

  At that moment, Helia turned her attention away from the glowing buttons on the elevator, to the strange man standing before them. Her face twisted into one of confusion, frowning for a moment, before completely melting away into pure delight and excitement. “DAD!”

  Noiro, Miela, and Elara’s mouths fell open as Helia hurtled towards the Lieutenant and wrapped her arms tightly around Argon’s legs. “Dad! Dad! Dad, you’re here! Dad!”

  “Huh? What? Who the hell is this?” Argon exclaimed, wrinkling his nose in disdain at the small child.

  “Dad! ‘M Helia!” the toddler beamed at the man, clutching at his pant leg. “It’s me!” Helia looked almost giddy with joy. “You’re back! Mama, look! Dad’s back! He came back from the sky!”

  “What? Ugh! Move, you little brat,” Argon ordered harshly, roughly pushing the child’s arms away from him.

  “Helia, come here,” ushered Miela. Her voice was calm, yet her eyes raged with fury at the way Argon spoke to the toddler. Elara lifted her hand out towards Helia, requesting her hand. Miela’s cold glare never veered from Argon’s face. Helia moved back towards Elara, tightly clutching at her fingers.

  “This kid’s with you, Captain?” asked Argon, turning to Miela, her title rolling off his tongue in a sneer, brushing the imaginary dirt from his pants.

  “She’s a witness in an ongoing investigation.” Miela nodded curtly, her mind reeling as she raced to connect the dots. What had Helia just called the man?

  Argon visibly shuddered as he eyed the toddler, who was looking at the man with a mixture of excitement, confusion, and hurt.

  “Dad,” Helia began, her voice small. “It’s me—”

  “Keep it away from me,” Argon said coldly.

  Elara stood frozen in her spot, horrified. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

  “Argon?” Noiro uttered in disbelief, shocked as he stared at Helia, who couldn’t tear her eyes away from the angry man. “There’s no way…”

  “Lieutenant Argon,” Miela barked, interrupting him before he could say another word. He automatically snapped his heels together and raised his hand to the side of his temple in a salute to his commanding officer, a force of habit from his years of training. As much as he disliked Miela for being affiliated with his childhood nemesis, he respected her rank, and the rules of the Guardians.

  “Yes, Captain,” replied Argon stiffly.

  “You’re coming with us,” Miela said in a level voice, hiding the incredible speed at which the gears in her heads were turning.

  “What? You’re going to—”

  “I said, you’re coming with us. We need to talk.”

  “Excuse me?” Argon demanded loudly, outraged. Helia gulped and moved to hide herself behind Elara’s legs. Elara’s heart wrenched for the child, and she gently squeezed her hand.

  “Are you defying your Captain, Lieutenant?” Miela challenged. He opened his mouth to protest, and then thought better of it, remaining silent. Miela winced internally. She hated pulling rank on her colleagues to have them follow her orders; she’d much rather their motivation be respect. But she didn’t get to her position by rolling over to insubordinate comrades.

  “No, Captain,” said Argon, knowing full-well that he had crossed a line to make Miela resort to using her rank.

  “Good. You’ve just become a serious part of our case, Lieutenant. Come with us.”

  Ding.

  The lift’s doors opened to Argon’s intended floor. He looked at the open doors and remained in his place, resigning himself to following Miela’s orders.

  The group waited in silence as the lift brought them to Miela’s floor, and they foll
owed her as she led the group down to her office. Helia walked slowly, dejectedly glancing at Argon as they walked down the stark white hallway. Elara sighed sadly as she looked at the distraught toddler and rubbed her hand softly to try and reassure her. Helia squeezed her hand tightly, pouting.

  “Please, sit.” Miela offered the group a seat without looking at them, rummaging through some papers on her desk before pulling out one of the sheets. “I’ll be back. Noiro, Elara, a word?” She pointed her head at the door.

  Elara nodded and turned to the toddler. “Hey,” Elara whispered, rummaging a hand through her satchel. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She attempted to comfort Helia, seeing the toddler’s worried face at the thought of Elara leaving the room. “Why don’t you take this paper and my special pen? Can you draw me a pretty picture?”

  Helia slowly nodded, taking hold of the objects in Elara’s hand and putting them on her lap.

  Elara squeezed her shoulder sympathetically. “Good girl. I’ll be right back, okay?”

  She shot a glare at Argon, who sat with his arms folded and his head turned to the window, and followed Miela and Noiro outside the office.

  “Argon, Elara? Argon? Are you kidding?” Miela whispered harshly.

  “What? I’m just as revolted as you! Even more than you!” Elara snapped, her eyes bulging in fury.

  “I just can’t believe this,” Noiro breathed angrily. “Argon? Out of every living organism on Earth, you chose—”

  “I didn’t choose anything,” Elara interrupted vehemently, furious at the way her friends were reacting. She was just as shocked and horrified as they were at the revelation.

  Noiro pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply. “We can’t fixate on this. We have to focus. We know what’s riding on this.” He adjusted his glasses, his eyes still closed as he tried to calm himself. “Miela? If that man is who Helia says he is, then he is a part of this investigation.”

  Miela nodded firmly. “As much as I don’t like the guy, he’s reliable. He follows rules, and he respects them, even when he doesn’t want to.”

  Noiro scoffed. “That’s hard to believe.”

  “Noiro, you can’t let your grudge on him cloud your judgment,” said Elara quietly. She turned to her friend. “Miela, if you say he’s reliable, then I trust you. Do you believe we can count on him to keep this confidential?”

  Miela nodded again.

  Elara pressed her lips together. “Then that’s enough for me. Norio?”

  Noiro sighed, nodding as well. “Let’s get started.”

  The three headed back into the office. Helia had her head bowed down close to the paper Elara handed her earlier, intently drawing. Argon sat in his seat, glaring at the child.

  “Leaving me alone with the kid is your idea of a proper investigation?” Argon quipped, turning to look at the trio.

  “Why? Are you afraid of her?” Elara shot back.

  Argon glared at her.

  “Everyone, stop it,” Miela ordered, leaning against her desk and folding her arms. “Argon, Helia is an important part of the investigation, which is why she’s here.”

  Helia’s head snapped up at the mention of her name, and she smiled at Miela. Miela smiled back at the toddler, and watched as she went back to her drawing.

  “Okay,” said Argon slowly. “And what do I have to do with your investigation?”

  “We believe that there’s something suspicious going on. Something dangerous.”

  Argon leaned back in his chair, the anger dissipating from his face at Miela’s words. “Something dangerous?”

  “Yes. Before we begin, Lieutenant, you should know that this is strictly confidential. No one outside of this room can know what is about to be said. Your sworn silence is expected, and your cooperation would be appreciated,” advised Miela.

  Argon lifted an eyebrow. “My cooperation?” he echoed uncomfortably. “I have nothing to do with anything dangerous or suspicious, if that’s what you’re accusing me of.”

  “You’re not being accused of anything…yet.” Miela narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his quick move to defend himself.

  Argon glowered at the group.

  “We just need your help.”

  “And if I don’t want to help?”

  “Then we won’t force you,” said Miela. “But whether you like it or not, you’re in the middle of this. So, you have two options, because of where you stand in this case.” Miela held up one finger. “You can either join the investigation as one of our peers, and you’ll be filled in on everything there is to know on this case, our theories, plans of action, and individuals of interest.”

  Argon remained still as a statue, staring at the three of them.

  Miela held up a second finger and continued, “Or, you can remain in the position you are in now, which means I cannot and will not answer any questions you might have, and you’ll be meeting with us at our beck and call to answer any of our questions, then be sent away with no explanation, until this case is marked closed.”

  Argon scowled at his superior officer. “That’s not really much of an option. I’m still stuck in this either way,” he said disdainfully.

  “I’m not giving you these options to please you,” said Miela. “Which will it be?”

  Argon glared at the Captain and finally surrendered. “I’ll help.”

  “You’re agreeing to become an official part of our investigation?” Miela checked, waiting for Argon’s confirmation.

  “I agree.” Argon looked away, his face hard. He did not like being forced. He gritted his teeth.

  Miela looked at Noiro, silently requesting him to fill Argon in.

  Noiro cleared his throat. “The truth is, we don’t know how to tackle this case,” he began.

  Argon stifled a scoff. “Of course you wouldn’t,” he muttered to himself.

  Noiro shot another glare at the man as he continued, “It’s a complicated case.”

  “Well, how about start by telling me who this kid is?” Argon jerked his head towards Helia, who had finished her drawing and was now fiddling with her hair as she quietly hummed to herself.

  Noiro sighed. “Well, she’s actually where all of this begins.” He looked at Elara pointedly, who took her cue.

  “Argon,” she said, looking at the man uncertainly as she placed a hand on Helia’s back. “This… This is Helia.”

  Argon nodded at the child, who stole a glance at Argon and then looked back at Elara, who was still holding her back.

  “Helia… Well, she’s…” Elara paused, uncertain how to explain the peculiarity of it all. She changed her tactics. “How much do you know about the concept of bending time?”

  Argon gave her a strange look.

  “Bending time?”

  “Time travel,” Elara clarified. “Moving through time.”

  “In theory?” Argon paused. “Not much. I’ve heard of the theory of relativity, if that’s what you mean,” said Argon slowly, his demeanor shifting as his confusion began to take over.

  “Beyond that,” pressed Elara.

  Argon shook his head no. “I know there are theories being developed, but I don’t know much,” he admitted, glancing sideways at Noiro. “All I know is that it’s impossible. It’s just a theory.”

  “Well, we believe that it has been successfully carried out. Or rather, it will be successfully carried out,” uttered Elara, gesturing at Helia.

  “You’re telling me that you think this kid is going to crack the theory of bending time?” Argon snorted incredulously. “Is this a joke?”

  Elara shook her head.

  “No. And you’re right, Helia isn’t going to crack the theory of time bending. We believe that her mother helped crack it,” Elara asserted. “When we found Helia, she came with this.” She pulled out the completed research book from her satchel.

  Argon inched closer, curiously taking in the tattered old volume in her hands. “What’s this?” he asked. “An old book?”

  Mi
ela shook her head. “It’s the complete theory of time bending.”

  Argon scoffed. “The complete theory? And it worked?” asked Argon disbelievingly.

  Elara nodded. “It worked. From what we know, Helia comes from at least five years from now.”

  Argon’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes growing wide. “What?”

  “We know how this sounds,” Noiro added. “But it isn’t that far-fetched. You’ve obviously heard of these theories before. You know that this is something scholars have been trying to work on for a long time.”

  Miela continued, “From what we’ve discovered from Helia, she and her mother were running from something.” She glanced at the small child, who was calmly sitting in her seat. It was hard to shake the image of the blood-soaked toddler from the day before. “Something bad.”

  “Something bad?” Argon frowned. “Like what?”

  “We don’t know, exactly. We’re working on a few hunches. But we think it was some sort of a militarized force. We don’t know much, other than that… And they were organized enough to successfully pull off an attack against Polaris,” finished Miela.

  Argon shook his head disbelievingly at this information. “Polaris is one of the most secure kingdoms in the world,” he said apprehensively.

  “Well, whoever they were, they were strong enough to break through the walls, and overthrow the Guardians’ attempts at protecting the city and the castle,” said Miela.

  Argon shook his head again skeptically.

  “Here,” said Elara, pulling out the newspaper clipping from her satchel and handing it over to Argon. He reached for the paper with his hand, hesitantly drawing it closer to him.

  The three of them watched as the color drained from his face while he scanned the piece of paper in his hands.

  “What?” Argon uttered softly, looking back up at the trio in disbelief. “That can’t be true… They breached the castle?”

  “They destroyed it,” Elara corrected. “Five years from now, Helia and her mother were escaping from…whoever these people were. We believe that Helia’s mother sent her back in time here after being badly hurt, possibly fatally injured, to change the future. We think—”