~ Gallium ~

-_-_-_-_-

“And, have you found him yet Dregen?” Libor asked somewhat darkly to the air, as he heard the large oaken doors to his personal chambers creek open.

“No, we have not, not yet, Master Libor” said Dregen as he readied himself for the onslaught that would come any minute now as heavy as mud and as sharp as lighting. He was ready for a quick exit.

But only silence followed, along with a few heavy sighs.

“Sir?” Dregen ventured.

“Just go Dregen, I’m tired today” Libor waved his hand vaguely as he sat at his desk, staring at a picture, the sadness was visible in his cold eyes. 

Dregen bowed deeply and made a quick exit, leaving Libor to his thoughts and memories.

The picture showed a large family, dressed in their finery, in an immaculately manicured large garden; there were four older people, one of which was clearly Libor; with five younger people along with four children of varying ages; two girls and two boys. All of the people in the picture had raven-coloured hair, and intense dark eyes, yet they were all holding each other and smiling and laughing in the bright sunshine. 

Libor sighed heavily at the picture, his family, as they were once upon a happy time, but never to be again together. He had let his fears, hatred, greed,  foolishness, and grief run wild.

He had destroyed everything.

Yet a part of him - the part he thought was long dead - missed them all. He was feeling rather overwhelmed and overcome by grief, sadness and guilt.

He kissed the picture softly and whispered ‘Goodnight everyone, I’m sorry for everything’. Leaning down, he placed the picture back into the bottom drawer of his desk, pushed it closed gently and locked it with a golden key from around his neck; the old man got up and decided it was time for bed. The memories and thoughts crushed him as he breathed, he wished his dreams could bring him some respite.

~ Mul ~

-_-_-_-_-

The royal guards appeared from nowhere, seizing Damian as soon as he entered the palace’s grounds. They hauled him into the palace and flung him into his room and locked the doors. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? LET ME OUT!” Damian screamed from behind his ornately carved sky-blue door.

“His and her majesty have arrived, my prince, and all will be known to you” one of the guards calmly said to Damian from the other side of the doors. Damian, in a huff, sat down on his bed. His mind whirring in circles.

Soon, there were voices outside the door and a large bolt was unlocked.

In swept the king and queen as promised; both were draped in their finery, head to toe in Blue and Purple robes. The queen’s matching blue streak in her hair sparkled in the soft light.

“Damian, my darling, we have come to a decision over both your future and your safety” Damian’s mother cut straight to the point.

“We will be keeping you in the palace from now on. You are not to leave the ground of the palace until you have become the prince and leader your mother and I know you can be! And you will begin by changing that awful attire of yours! More importantly, you must give up on Harry, no good will come of it!” his father stated in a commanding voice as he stepped forward and spoke a little softer so that only the Queen and Damian could hear him. 

“My son, we are worried for you, we know what you are and we know what that Harry child is as well. Your mother and I have read the ancient prophecies well and we must protect you at all costs, you are the safest here within these walls.” The king said with more than a hint of worry in his voice.

“Damian, if and when people and gods know what, find out that you are the last water elemental, they will want to get their hands on you, and there is no one to teach nor train you how to use your abilities. This palace, our lands are protected by ancient water magic, put in place by the elementals of years gone by. I’m sorry for the heavy-handedness of it all, but you have been so distant since Harry left…” The queen trailed off softly, worriedly holding Damian’s hand.

“I understand you both want to protect me and want me to pretend to be normal to the world, but, I can’t do that. This is who I am and I will need to be able to take care of myself. I'm sorry, I have already made up my mind to go find Harry. I'm going to Onyx! I know he wouldn’t have abandoned me like this, I know something is wrong! I can feel it, in my heart!”. Damian could feel a sudden swell, a tsunami of emotions welling up inside him as he stood abruptly and continued,  “DON’T YOU SEE!? WE HAVE A CONNECTION! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!!! I-I WON’T LET YOU!” Damian exploded at his parents, he couldn’t help it, he knew they were trying to protect him, but he needed to get to Harry and be beside him, then he knew that he could take on the world with Harry by his side. He knew he was being irrational, but he was feeling all kinds of crazy as if this tidal wave was about to come crashing down.

“CALM DOWN NOW OR WE WILL HAVE YOU RESTRAINED!” the king shouted, which only caused Damian’s eyes to glow; the boy almost looked possessed as he stood up and made his way towards the large double doors, which backed out onto the garden and the palace lake. 

“STOP HIM! HE CAN’T BE ALLOWED TO LOSE CONTROL!” the queen screamed at the guards as they poured into the room and went to create a blockade at the doors.

“DO NOT TRY TO STOP ME!” Damian’s voice boomed loudly, vibrating around the room. Strangely, it felt like the sound was washing over everything. 

A few guards fainted,  a few abandoned their posts but the others stood firm.

“So be it” Damian almost whispered.

Damian pointed his hands at the doors; he breathed in as the air around him condensed into water droplets, drawing together to form a ball of water at his outstretched hands. Flicking his hand, the ball flew towards the doors while turning to ice. He snapped his fingers and at that moment the ice shattered into a billion pieces, sending most of the remaining guards flying backwards and blowing the doors off.

Damian stepped through the debris and flicked his hands, causing the shards of ice to fly at the remaining guards chasing them away. 

Damian almost floated on air towards the serene lake and danced gracefully on the water to the centre. A column of water raised him up, he spun and twisted in a delicate and elaborate dance. Suddenly, he reached into the water, grasped something and pulled it up. 

The king, queen and guards gaped at the scene before them, such a display of enormous power. The king and queen were devastated and crestfallen; this was one of their worst fears. One day Damian could lose control, and with his power, not only could he be dangerous, but there were innumerable dark forces that would want him. 

Damian pulled up a creature made of water and ice; it was a horse. Holding the crystalline reigns tightly he rode the horse towards his parents. Each powerful stride landed silently on what appeared to be nothing but water vapour from the air. Damian’s eyes had stopped glowing. He felt a sense of clarity washed over him.

“I’m sorry it came to this, Mum, Dad. I will be back, do not worry about me. I will be fine. But I need to find Harry, he has my heart and I his, and, I won’t lose control.” Damian said calmly.

The realisation they had been wrong swept over the royal pair and their hearts swelled with pride, “Damian! Be careful! Be safe!!! We love you, son, good luck!” They called after him as he rode off high into the crisp blue sky and out over the waters towards Onyx.

~ Gaia ~

-_-_-_-_-

Michael awoke to the sound of birds chirping and warm sunlight streaming in through a large window, warming his face. The bed he was in was large, soft and comfortable. Looking around the room, he noticed there was a beautifully in bloom orchid growing straight out of the solid wooden desk on the far side of the bedroom.

‘Hmmm, this must be Sabrina’s bedroom, judging by all the wood and plants about the place, but, what happened?’ Michael thought to himself as he climbed out of bed, and then promptly screamed. 

“Ahhh! What the hell!? WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!?” He exclaimed loudly.

Suddenly the door swung open to find Sabrina standing there with a worried face.

“Michael, you’re up! I’m so glad you are okay! What’s wrong?” Sabrina said as she stepped into the room, trying not to sneak a peak at Michael, who only had his black and silver boxer briefs on, realising this, he leapt back under the covers. 

“MY CLOTHES, YOU PERVERT! WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!? WHY DID YOU REMOVE THEM!? HELP! PERVERT!” Michael flailed about somewhat comically until Sabrina grabbed him by her gloved hands and shook him to calm him down.

“Shush, you crazy boy! I thought I was the crazy one, but you are definitely gonna take my crown if you carry on like that, mister! Your clothes were so dirty after everything, so my brother took them to be washed. See! There they are, hanging up on the back of the door, you dummy!”, Sabrina said. The sound of her melodic voice washed over Michael’s ears and was instantly soothed; he turned away in a blush and wriggled free of Sabrina, escaping to his clothes, and got dressed while mumbling a few thank yous. 

“How long was I out for? Actually, no, what the hell happened?” Michael asked as he was led down two floors to the kitchen, where Sam and the rest of the family had just finished plating breakfast.

“You were out for a whole week, Michael, I'm glad you are finally awake!” Sam said as soon as they entered the room. “We were very worried you wouldn’t wake up again...” Sabrina added sadly.

Sam’s mother cooed at the sight of the mysterious stranger that had just entered her kitchen: “Oh my goodness! Aren’t you just PERFECT! Sit here, my boy! You know, Sam’s potions really sorted you out perfectly! AND Sabrina here sat by your bed every day!” She expounded as she led a bemused Michael to a seat next to Grandma Kata, who sat there grinning at him.

“Yeah, like some love-sick puppy! Hahahaha” Grandma Kata cackled as she helped herself to the food.

Mr Kata spoke next: “Nooo! It wasn’t like that at all!” to which the laughing from Grandma and Mrs Kata abated, followed by stares from all, awaiting the next line. 

“It was more like a lovesick teenager! Even more ‘Heart-shaped eyes’, and, she even read stories to you Michael! Buwahahaha” Mr Kata had a knack for making things a million times more embarrassing for Sam and Sabrina, and now, Michael had the pleasure of experiencing it first thing in the morning.

The three sat quietly and awkwardly through breakfast; afterwards, they all headed off to open the shop and decide on a plan of action.

While Sam was tidying the shop, Michael pulled Sabrina aside. “Sabrina, I, I have to say thank you for being by my bedside all that time, it must have been hard, and weird on you, but it was very sweet to hear that. I-I’m not used to being taken care of you know...” Michael trailed off as thoughts of his parents and siblings suddenly drifted through his mind, he was so young and yet, he only remembered certain things about his family, their smiles, always smiling and happy. Somehow, he had cold dark eyes, not happy dark eyes like his family.

Sabrina’s voice broke through his thoughts. “That’s okay! It was my pleasure, I heard that people who are in comas and stuff like that should be talked to while they are out, and it helps to bring them back or something like that…” Sabrina said quietly.

Suddenly Sam appeared out of nowhere, sporting a small smirk at overhearing the conversation. 

‘Oh great! You always know how to ruin my moment!’ Sabrina mentally chided Sam but smiled meekly at her older brother, who shot a knowing smile in return, along with a little eyebrow wiggle.

“Oh, Sam! I must say thank you, thank you for all the help you and Sabrina have given me, your potions truly are amazing! I feel great! And your family are amazing, so funny!” Michael said, a little bit more enthusiastic than he would normally have said it. Perhaps this quirky lot has managed to break through some of his armour. 

“That is totally fine, Michael, oh, I have good news and bad news” Sam stated while holding up a couple of pieces of paper.