by Jamie Gray
She didn’t know what to say to him. She felt as though her limbs had been ripped from her. Her friends had betrayed her, lied to her. Did she really mean so little to them? Had their friendship meant so little. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream, but she didn’t. She stood there, her face bright red as she buried her tears deep inside. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Daymian crossed his arms as he sucked in a tight breath. "Look, I don't think this is such a good idea. I mean, telling you about all of this was one thing, but sneaking away together… I don't know." He sounded nervous. She wondered if the whole mysterious, courageous, English sounding hero could be little more than an act? She wondered if she had made the wrong decision. Perhaps, despite what she previously believed, everyone was lying to her. There was something that was being kept from her, and she wanted nothing more than to learn what it was.
She crossed her arms, her expression stone cold as she looked up at him. “Daymian, you told me that you wanted answers, well now I do,” she demanded. “Why are you here? Why did you kidnap me the other night? Why are you even talking to me right now?” Her voice grew louder as she questioned him. “And don’t even think of lying to me.”
He visibly swallowed before answering. “I’m here because of you, Lexi. I’ll admit, I didn’t know you were here when I first arrived in this world, but after we touched, and we both felt that shock, I knew exactly who you were.” He cocked his head. “Or rather what you were.”
His words sounded genuine. His gaze never ventured from hers, and his voice hardly filtered. Although he appeared to be telling the truth, she had an overwhelming drive to dig deeper. “And what exactly is that?”
“A Light Element,”
“What does that mean?”
He let out a quiet sigh. “It means you can control the element of Light. You can morph and project it into whatever you wish, just as long as you have some kind of power source or light to pull from.”
All of what he had told her suddenly felt like a hundred ton weight on her shoulders. She let out a long exhale. How has this become my life? She wondered, imagining what her life would have been like should she had gotten in the car with Kadence and Adrian and got a drive home that night. Her mind struggled to fit the pieces together as she now had to face and accept a reality she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for.
“What’s wrong,” he asked, shocking her out of her own mind as she’d been staring blankly at him that whole time.
She exhaled again, louder this time as she rubbed her cheeks and jaw until they were loose again. “This is all just a lot to take in.”
“Well, then maybe we should just let it go. This is all a bad idea anyway.”
“What?!” she blurted, shaking her head at him. “Why do you keep saying this is such a bad idea?”
“Because it is,” he barked back. “People like you and me-”
“What is with this racist thing?” she groaned. “You, and Kadence and Adrian. You all have some kind of fixed notion on each other without even having met. You’ve barely seen each other, and now you think you know the other's life story.”
“Lexi, you don’t-”
“Do not tell me I don’t understand!” she practically screamed, knowing she’d go crazy if she had to hear that phrase spoken to her again. “I am sick and tired of people telling me I don’t understand, or that I can’t handle the gravity of this situation.” She began to step closer to him, prompting him to slowly step back as her eyes shot searing flaming daggers into him. “Sure, I didn’t grow up in Areaspa or whatever, but at least I know not to discriminate against people, or assume I know someone based purely off the way they look.” Their noses were merely a hair away from touching as Lexi had to lean her head back thanks to his height.
Daymian paused, bringing his steps to a hult as she did the same. He narrowed his stare, pressing his teeth together as he took in a deep breath, before finally speaking to her in a calm voice. “Arespea is different from Earth. It has different rules, different ways of life, as well as far different inhabitants than those here. In Arespea, everyone has power over one of the Elements. And because of this, everyone wants control. Everyone believes they are the strongest, resulting in constant wars over power. People are so quick to jump to treachery as the primary way to gain victory.” His voice still possessed his collectiveness from before, but with his softly spoken voice, his words echoed and vibrated through her like she’d never experienced before. “In a world where one can expect nothing but deception, how can you expect them to trust anyone besides their own kind, or those closest to them.” Daymian took in another breath, trying to keep himself calm and centered as he spoke. “By simply looking at your friends, I can immediately tell that Kadence is a Spirit Element, and Adrian is an Electricity Element. Elements like theirs are different than ours, as they’re controlled physically, rather than emotionally. For them it’s more like working a muscle. Where they receive consequences such as; tiredness or pain from using their abilities, we are affected through stress, anxiety, and recklessness. These effects can vary from person to person, and can result in other negative effects if you take it too far.” She watched as he began to walk back and forth, speaking as though he was her professor. “OUR emotions can make us very powerful, but they can also leave us in a very vulnerable state. To put it simply; more emotion put in will present more power, but typically leads to more consequences. Where restrained emotion will present less power, but leads to less effects that are usually short term.” He stopped, standing now to face her. “Elements like ours can be very difficult to get a handle on.”
His words had shocked her to her core. Her stomach had turned upside down and her throat had grown sore from swallowing. Her voice had fallen, becoming hushed and quiet. “Elements like ours?” she mumbled, feeling scared to ask for more.
He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it as if reconsidering his words. “Light and Dark,” he finally told her.
“So, we’re like… opposite.”
“Yes. That’s why we cannot touch, as you’ve discovered. Our Elements have been split so drastically, that they have become toxic to one another.”
Her face sank as she finally came to grips with the reasoning behind Daymians attitude and actions towards the whole situation. It had all become so obvious to her now, sponding guilt into her as she realized the frustration he must have felt as she relentlessly pushed him to tell her the truth. “That’s why you didn’t want to do this,” she mumbled, staring down at the pavement. Her expression narrowed as she looked back up at him, a question entering her mind. “But if we experience side effects like stress and anxiety from using our abilities, why are you so calm all the time?”
He sighed. “You know how I said you can experience other negative effects.”
She nodded.
“Well, I’ve been using my abilities my whole life, I restrain when I can, but I’ve certainly gone overboard in the past, overdone it more times than I care to admit. And the more I did it, the more I found that I started to become… sensitive, almost overly emotional about certain topics. This led to a lot of ridicule and disappointment from the people around me, and over the years, I learned to better conceal it.”
“So you’re always stressed out, and you just don’t show it?”
“I wouldn’t say, ‘I’m always stressed out’. I just react badly to things like blood, and death.”
“Yeah, I think most people would react badly to those things-”
“But you were raised on Earth. In Arespea killing is taught as second nature in most cultures. Especially when it comes to Dark Elements.”
“Okay, well, I’m pretty emotional as it is. Maybe I’ve already experienced the bad side effects.” She prayed that she had already gone through the worst of it. She couldn’t imagine her emotions getting more out of control than they already were.
“I’m sure your unpredictable emotions are a result of you being a Light Element, bu
t I doubt they’re much of a side effect. I’m sure you just used your abilities for the first time the other night. These kinds of consequences come from consistent emotional over usage of the ability, and the effects can be far worse. I know some who’ve gone crazy, losing their minds, while others have lost their natural emotions all together. And it isn’t always so drastic, sometimes you can find a good middle ground, but that is very rare and takes a lot of skill and discipline to achieve.” He paused, taking a moment to think and breathe before he continued. “The point is, Elements like ours are incredibly unpredictable, and can hypothetically present slightly different side effects for each person who overuses the ability.”
Lexi was quickly realizing that perhaps she had over estimated how much she could really handle. Up until now, everything had only been an idea, but now it had all become so real. This was a part of her life now, and she knew there was no turning back. There was no forgetting this, and going back to her normal life. All she could do was move forward. She nodded to herself and directed her gaze back up at him. “I want to learn,” she stated firmly.
“You want to what?” he replied, blinking rapidly at her demand.
“You said our Elements are similar. I don’t want to go crazy, and I don’t want to lose my emotions. I want to learn to control this thing, find this middle ground. So, teach me.”
“Teach you?”
“What, is there an echo out here,” she smirked. “Yes. I want you to teach me how to manipulate light.”
“I don’t know,” he trailed off, drifting his gaze from her. “It might be hard without your Docio Pendant.”
“Please, Daymian. I want to be better, and I need to understand who I am to do that.” She waited eagerly for him to respond.
He looked back at her for a long moment, then took a few long strides away from her. He lowered his expression until it appeared stern, stiffening his posture as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Let us start with something simple," he began, his voice authoritative as he watched her with a piercing focus. "Your abilities, as you know, are Light-based, and like Dark Elements, your abilities operate off emotions whether you like it or not. The trick is to not become overwhelmed. You must find your spiritual center. Become one with who you are, and open yourself only enough to gain the lights power, NOT enough for it to overpower you. The Element will have more power than you expect, so you must be disciplined enough not to give into it. Which will be very difficult without your Docio Pendent-not to mention you didn’t even know about your abilities until now-”
“It’s okay, Daymian. I got it,” she interrupted. “How hard could it actually be?”
"Incredibly difficult!" His voice was harsher than she expected. “Unlike your friends, your Element is alive. It's consuming and seductive.” He started to pace, but kept his attention locked on her. “You can’t open yourself up too much because that’s when it becomes dangerous, and you risk relying too much on your emotions, which is when consequences occur. It is a very fine line you must walk.” He took a breath. "With Elements like Spirit, Electricity, Ice, and Nature, along with others, you control them, as they're more physically based. But an Element such as Light is far more daunting on your psyche," he explained with his hands clasped behind his back.
She chuckled as her face scrunched together. "Geeze. Whatever happened to Water, Earth, Fire and Air?"
He glared at her while a smile tugged at his lips. "Such practices are ancient. Society has evolved since that time."
"Course," she glared back.
"Where there is Darkness, there is also Light,” he explained, holding out both his palms, face up. “It is all around you, and it will give you a boost in your power.” She watched as he raised one of his hands to gesture to the sky and the area around them. It was only midday, so besides the cloud-covered atmosphere, there were still rays of light casting down from the sun. "Now close your eyes and focus your attention deep into your core."
She nodded, following his instruction.
"Feel its energy. Feel it's strength. Let it guide you. Notice as it passes through you, top to bottom, energizing you while leaving you at peace. Now it will be very seductive. You’ll want to let it grow and build you to be stronger, but you need to block it, pull back on the rains. Keep in control.”
His voice faded as she felt as though she was in the center of the universe. As if nothing could hurt her, and she had nothing to fear. She felt energized and strong, like nothing could tear her down. She wanted to inch a little further. Let her power grow a little stronger. Surely a little more wouldn’t hurt. She had never felt so empowered in her life. She felt as though the energy inside her was vibrating, building up as it expanded. She knew she could handle it. She could handle being a Light Element. She could handle knowing about Arespea. She could handle having these elemental abilities. She could handle the pressure. She could handle the risk. She was strong enough to face it all. She knew she could, if she let a little more of the light in.
“Lexi!”
She gasped, her eyes bursting open as she felt a hand grip her shoulder. Light erupted from her hands like an white explosion, sending Daymian flying back into the air. She didn’t see where he landed as her vision was consumed from the beautiful white lights that were illuminating from her hands. It was like her hands were supercharged flashlights. She had never felt so connected with herself. It was like the Light in her hands was enfusing her core, filling her with energy. She had never felt so powerful, and yet at peace with herself. Nothing felt better at that moment. Through all the bright white Light that had obscured her vision, she could see Daymian hunched down shielding his face with both his arms, trying to block out the light that could blind any ill-fated soul.
She looked down to realize that her hands that hung down at her sides, were pointing her palms towards him. She gasped as she twisted back her wrists, and raised them so that they faced her. She was shocked to find that the blinding light had no effect on her. Her grey eyes never burned or strained no matter how close she shifted her hands to her face. Her face could've been drenched in the bright light, and she would remain completely unfazed. It was beautiful. The light she was creating gave her joy, unlike anything she had ever known, making her feel invincible. This is what she was meant to do. She felt as though she had unlocked a part of her that had been missing for all seventeen years of her life.
"All right! That's enough!"
His voice shocked her back into reality as she had completely forgotten where she was.
"Right… um… how do I stop it?" she called back, her mind beginning to panic. She tried opening and closing her palms, but it did very little to dampen the white light radiating from them. Her heart was pounding, punching against her chest as the brightness of the light only grew. Her eyes never burned from the light shooting from her palms, but instead her panic and fear came from Daymian. She feared what would happen to him if she couldn’t stop herself. What if she hurt him? Killed him? He did say that their Elements were toxic to each other. She would never forgive herself if something terrible happened to him because of her. She was the one who asked him to do this in the first place.
"Stay calm. If you panic, the Element will react as such. It'll act on your emotions and try to defend you.”
She couldn’t tell where his voice was coming from. It was like everyone of her senses had numbed as all she did was stand there wide eyed and scared. "Then maybe I should direct it away," she shouted, extending both her hands to what she believed to be her right.
"Yeah… wait, no!"
She couldn’t see anything through all the bright Light as she tried to turn away from his voice. As she let out a loud scream, she felt all of her emotions shove together, and in the blink of an eye, the light blew from her hands, shooting and striking one of the wooden stand like a missile, causing it to explode and shoot wood shards and pieces of metal flying every which way. She ducked to the ground, shielding her head with her arms.
Once th
e echoing bang had come to a hush, they both straightened back up and turned to each other. He looked at her with a stone-cold expression and stern disapproval as he recrossed his arms. She smiled back sheepishly, shrugging as she chuckled uncomfortably. She knew she’d get hell for this one.
"I gave you an order.”
"Yeah, an unclear order. You can't just say yes, then immediately change your response to no, and not expect it to cause a little confusion," she huffed. This certainly wasn’t all her fault, and things definitely could have gone a lot worse. "Besides, let's focus on the positives. I just directed light into my hands. I'm like a living flashlight," she exclaimed, gesturing to her hands as she held them out to him.
"Well, I'd say you're a little more than that," he scoffed, glaring at the destroyed toy stand. It looked like a small bomb had gone off inside. It was a spine-chilling picture to look at. He looked back to her, his gaze sharpening furiously. “You almost let it in didn’t you.”
She didn’t answer.
“Did you not hear what I just told you?”
“Okay. Yes, you were right. It was way more power than I expected, and was very seductive. I just wanted to prove that I could handle it.”
“Well, you sure handled it,” he barked sarcastically. “I could’ve easily been that stand. You had no discipline to resist, and immediately resorted to panic when things didn’t go according to plan. All signs of relying too heavily on emotion, if you took things any further, things might have ended much differently.”
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to go with the flow of things.”
“See, but that’s not how this works,” he urged. “You summon the light, yes, but once you’ve cracked open that door, it’s going to try and break through in any way it can.”
She crossed her arms and exhaled loudly, tired of being lectured by him. "Well, I guess every superhero has their limits."
He turned around with a not so subtle eye roll, continued down the path as he walked deeper into the park, stepping around any wood shards that now littered the pavement.