by Jae Vogel
Halfway out of the parking lot, the bus vanished.
“Nymphs,” Dion announced. “They’re nymphs.”
“Really?” Sean said. “Sounds like my lucky day. Ouch!” The exclamation came from Emily punching him in the side.
“Not those kind nymphs,” Dion said. “Water nymphs. As in elementals. These are water elementals and they’ve arrived just in time to get us into the mall.”
They had the same clear skin and ivory teeth as the cheerleaders the day before, but this group seemed light-hearted. The skipped down the walkway, singing and dancing as they went. The security guards neglected their boss who was still in a daze and turned their attention on the young women. On the side of the doors were glass windows and Dion could see men pushing to get a better view of the swim team as they came up to the entrance.
“Naiads I think,” Dion continued as they came closer. “Just be careful. I don’t know whom they are bound to at this moment. They tend to stick with a particular location. If they’ve been brought in here, it’s for a reason. Don’t get to close, if you form any type of attachment to them, they can become very possessive.”
He felt Lilly’s arm around him and noticed Emily pull Sean over to her.
The effect of the Naiads was powerful and neutralized any bad thoughts a person might have. Unlike the sylphs from yesterday, these creatures were already in their natural form. He’d seen them in lakes and on the beach at the ocean with his parents, who warned Dion to avoid them. Countless sailors had learned the hard way it wasn’t a good idea to spend time with the Naiads. If they took a fancy to you, they didn’t like to give you up.
The four friends moved out of the way, as the swim team swarmed around the guards, admiring their uniforms and badges. One took off a guard’s cap and admired herself in its reflection. Another patted the badge on one guard’s uniform. They seemed happy and carefree, which made it hard to avoid starring at them.
At that moment, Karanzen left his cataleptic state and saw two of the young women dance around him. He was speechless. He’d been terrified for his life and now he was facing two of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. Where was he?
The swim team swarmed past the speechless guards and began to flow into the mall on a wave of laughter. Dion realized they had the opportunity needed to get inside.
“Follow them,” he told his friends. “Go in with them; just don’t get taken in by them.”
Dion and his friends joined the mass of the naiad swim team as it swept into the mall as one continuous wave. The security guards had no idea what they encountered as the young women swept past them. Dion and friends managed to position themselves inside the group and avoid any confrontation with the security guards.
It worked. They were inside the mall in seconds, moving with the happy swim team as it continued onward in one mass. The four friends stayed to the middle and bounced along with them. They waited until they were far inside the mall and away from the main entrance until they peeled away from the water elementals. Exhausted, they went to one side of the mall and panted in relief.
The swim team had an instant effect on the shoppers in the mall. Men turned in their direction and looked on in admiration. Young women were impressed, as were the older ones with daughters. Young guys were inclined to find out who they were, what school they attended and did any of them have boyfriends? The elementals stayed together, but for the next few minutes they could have robbed the mall blind and no one would’ve noticed. They shared this with the air elementals that’d been there the day before in the form of cheerleaders.
Dion watched as they found their destination and headed toward it: a temporary store that sold swimwear for people who planned to vacation in the Caribbean. The mall had several of the “pop-up” stores which used spaces not rented out full-time and only needed the location for six months. By August, the store would close and a new place would open in the same location, probably a place that sold Halloween costumes.
Still in their tracksuits, the girls wandered over to and filed inside. As Dion still observed them, the swim team proceeded to strip off their suits. This created another round of interest as a mob of men soon gathered outside the store and watched. Much to their disappointment, and to the relief of their wives, the swim team had swimsuits on underneath the tracksuits. Each of them wore a different one. Most had two-piece bikinis, others had one-piece suits. Each was a different style. As the crowd of curious on-lookers moved into the store, the manager placed a sign in the window, which told those interested in the team who they were.
“I don’t believe it,” Sean said as Emily held on to him. “A bikini team.”
“Not all of them have bikinis on,” Dion said. He watched them take their tracksuits and stack them in the corner.
“I’m not complaining.”
This time Emily stepped on Sean’s foot.
Most of the customers appeared to be guys. Dion watched through the window, as men of all shapes and sizes would go inside the store, see a member of the swim team with a suit on her that he liked, and then ask about the price. This repeated itself over and over until the cash register was running full throttle and the sales staff working hard to keep up with everyone. Soon, a long line ran down from the sales counter to the end of the store. A large group waited outside the store, and private security guard appeared to escort people in and out.
“You have to admit,” Sean said to Dion, “it is an effective way to boost sales.”
“Are you going to go buy me something?” Emily said. “Because I have my eye on one of those.”
Sean took out his wallet and looked at it. “Uh, cash is a little short today.”
“Then don’t go anywhere near it!”
“I’m glad I don’t have to be the one who tells those men the girls aren’t human,” Dion said. “I don’t think they’d like their bubble popped, so it won’t happen.”
“And these are water spirits?” Lilly asked him. She had on a jeans jacket to match Dion’s today, but wore a pair of black pants and heels. Her mother commented before he picked her up that she had to have her eye on a new boy since Lilly was taking so much time to get ready.
“Elementals,” he corrected her. “A spirit is someone who once walked the earth in human form. These have existed as separate intelligences for thousands of years. They may have been here before humanity made an appearance.”
“I’m guessing they come in different forms?”
“Of course. You have the various types. Some never leave the water. The ones over there can exist out of water for long periods of time. Then you have the mermaids, which can never leave the ocean, the Lorelei that only live in mountain streams and the sirens that lure men to their death through song. The sirens are the most dangerous ones, but I don’t even think the sprites, which have very little interaction with humans, are safe. All of them resent the way humanity have manipulated the waterways and ocean to their advantage. I always find a way to warn people away from them if I see any around when I swim or even use a boat. You can’t allow yourself to get too close because they will become infatuated with you and won’t leave. If you spurn one they will find a way to do some harm. Too many people every year become involved with water elementals and fail to realize what they’ve done.”
“Always women?” Lilly asked further. “If they’re supernatural, why couldn’t they assume any form they wanted?”
“One of the great mysteries of the universe. I’ve only seen water elementals manifest as women. Same for the air elementals. Something to do with generative powers, but I don’t really know. I don’t think anyone does. When you work with elementals, there are things you don’t question so long as they give you the results you want. Since you need to be very careful when manipulating them, it doesn’t pay to toss the rule book away.”
“Since we know they’re elementals and not human,” Sean said, “we’ll be safe and not have to worry.”
“Not for the time being… “ Dion said
. “Now we have to figure where the Water Elemental Grandmaster is located in this part of the mall.”
“You sure know a lot about them,” Lilly said.
“I was raised by water elementals until I was five.”
“What? I thought you had normal parents like the rest of us.”
“I did, but they needed help to raise me. Mother was busy typing up all of dad’s material and she didn’t have time to watch me all the time, so she found some water elementals to look after me until I was old enough to leave unsupervised for more than five minutes. At least that’s what they told me.”
“I thought you just said water elementals are dangerous,” Emily spoke up.
“They are to most people. But mother had two elemental manipulation powers: water and fire. She was able to bind some of the higher elementals to work for her for a limited time. When you do that, you have to give them something in return, but I don’t know what she traded to get help. All I remember are three young girls who looked after me day and night. Every time I woke one, would walk me to the bathroom or get whatever I needed. I was in the hospital when my tonsils were removed and they took turns in shifts watching after me. Mother didn’t have them out of the house much because she didn’t want the neighbors to be suspicious. We were in a middle-class suburb and no one had servants. If they saw three young girls supervising me all the time weren’t family, people would have asked questions.
“It was nice because I didn’t have to worry about ever being left alone. There was always one of them on stand-by. I dropped a crayon and one of them would pick it up. They don’t get bored and lose their attention like human girls, so there was never any worry they might ignore me.
“It’s a wonder you ever learned how to do anything on your own,” Sean said. “Did you learn to tie your shoes?”
“Yes. Mother had them show me how to do it over and over again until I got it right. As I said, water elementals don’t get bored. They took one of them to the store a few times and it turned out not to be such a good idea. They would ignore everyone else in the place except me and my parents. For some reason, mother decided they would blend in better if the ones she chose appeared to be cute, tiny little girls about sixteen to eighteen years of age. They had to be careful if they took them out because every young man in the store or restaurant would find a reason to come talk to them. They would ignore the guys, but even then, I can remember how irritated it would make the men. Plus, if I asked for something, they would get it for me. It didn’t matter if my parents had the money or not.”
“You parents took them all out at once?” Lilly asked. “I can imagine the looks all of you got.”
“No. When they did take them out, it was usually one at a time. They had a big pool in the backyard and it was alright to leave them in it. I don’t know where mother found them, but she mentioned one time they were causing a problem in a neighbor’s Olympic-sized pool at one point.
“Did they ever spank you when you did something wrong?” Sean laughed.
“No, discipline was something my mother handled. I couldn’t get away with anything because they would let her know right away.”
“So what ever happened to them?” Lilly asked.
“My parents had to get rid of them when I turned six. They tried to attack me.”
He could see the eyes widen on his friends.
“I was at the beach one day with them, playing just like we always did. Never had much trouble from the locals once they realized they wouldn’t take their attention off me. I was splashing in the water when an older woman came up and talked to them. I thought it was a little odd because even if they acknowledged someone else, one of the three had their attention focused in my direction. This time they all listened intently to what she had to say.”
“When I came out of the water, they turned and started to walk in my direction. I was scared because of the look on their faces, it didn’t seem normal and I ran. They chased after me, but a man driving a delivery truck saw them and called to me. He raced them off and they didn’t follow. He went right away to a pay phone and phoned my dad. I still think he was another element worker who recognized something. My parents came and took me home. The next day mom told me the girls were gone and would not be replaced.
I remember my parents having a big fight over it and I don’t think it was just because of the three water elementals. There was more to it and I’ve always thought it was strange the delivery truck driver, whom I never saw again, was there when it happened.
Anyway, that is my story about being raised by water elementals. I think they are unstable when it comes to humans. Too much unpredictability to make good use of them. They might look to be all happy and free, but they are still wild at heart.”
“That one beat any bad story about growing up I ever had,” Sean said. “My mother was a little nuts, but I never had to worry about a killer babysitter.”
“I’ve carefully worked with water elementals because of what happened. I still don’t know who the woman was that talked to them. I don’t know if she had some way to control them and why she would want them to harm me. I was afraid; certain they were going to kill me.”
Dion pulled the map of his jacket and began to look at it. It should tell him where the elemental grandmaster was located; he only needed a few minutes to consult it. As he began to go over the parchment and look for the location, Emily and Sean went to one side of him, right next to one of the support pillars while Lilly stayed by his side.
They obviously needed to talk.
“I don’t like it when you are looking at other girls,” Emily told Sean. “If we’re going to be together for a long time, and last night you told me you wanted to be with me, you need to give me some respect.”
Sean was silent. He didn’t know what to say. Women were such a mystery to him. Most of the time girls just avoided him. To hear one tell him that they wanted to be with him all the time was a new experience. He tried to remember how his dad met his mother and decided it wasn’t a good way to judge Emily. Instead, he tried to hug her without the rest of the mall starring at them.
Emily couldn’t understand why Sean was acting in the manner he did. She had talked to him the entire night on the way home to his house in the back of Dion’s van. She assumed he was like her dad: suffering for attention. She was ready to give it to him. Having Sean taken away as Dion dropped him off at the house was almost too much. She watched him go inside and felt part of her heart removed. It was a new sensation to be so close to someone. She knew he must feel the same way.
So why had he been so cruel and made those comments about the other girls? All right, maybe she didn’t resemble any of those bikini models, but there was nothing wrong with her body. And none of the boys she’d dated ever complained about her appearance. Emily knew how to look good. Today she’d even worn a pair of white pants because she felt Sean would appreciate it on her with the silver streaked top she’d bought last week. He should appreciate what he had by his side.
What neither of them could see was the whole person they’d melded with for a few hours the day before. Eventually the union would be gone. There would be no memory of the way both of their inner minds merged together for a brief moment when the cheerleader elementals had captured them.
But the memory of yesterday was still strong inside their hearts. Sean could still feel the loss of her mother and she the humiliation from his. They shared some pain, not a lot, but enough to bond. For a few hours after they awoke, they were ready to be married. It faded over night, but not by much. Each still felt the other close and couldn’t put a name to the sensation. So they called it love, which, given what happened, made sense.
Dion looked up from his map and saw Sean and Emily in a deep conversation. He’d expected something like this. They’d been in close proximity to the elementals yesterday and it meant their hearts merged for quite some time. At least he was able to get them away from the sylphs in time. People who were in the same situ
ation for days could go mad as they lost sense of who they were. The ancient Greek and Roman legends were filled with stories of people who spent too much time around elementals and were never the same again. He hoped they would be able to get some perspective on what happened over time.
Poor Sean had to deal with a girl who really cared for him and had no clue how to take care of her. Poor Emily had to work with a boy who had no sense of worth and didn’t understand how she would react to his idle comments. It would be difficult, but in time, they could work it out on their own. In a small way, Dion hoped they would find the strength to stay together. So much dissolution in the world these days and it wasn’t good.
“I’m sorry if I offended you,” Sean told Emily. “I just never seem to be able to say the right thing. How can I make it up to you?”
“You will,” she said and gave him a pinch. “Just don’t do it again. My mother left because she liked the attention from other men better than the home my father provided. I guess she’s doing fine now, but it was hard for me to take. It was hard for my dad to take and he still has me around. I worry about him when I leave for college.”
“I know,” Sean said, “you still can’t get him to consider other women. I saw it yesterday and I know how you want him to get out. I guess he’ll never get back with your mom.”
“Not a chance. Just as if your mother will hound your father until the day he drops dead. I don’t know what the problem is, we seem to have endured bad mothers, but have you ever considered it wasn’t their entire fault? You blame your mother for a lot, but she did raise you to do good the best way she knew how. What do you expect from someone with her background? I’ve come to terms with my mother and her issues, you should do the same.”
The two of them held each other tightly for a while. It seemed to release much of what had happened a few minutes ago.