Element

by orphan_account

Summary:

Five "regular" humans discover that they have elemental abilities when their other-worldly Guardians come to them after a long slumber. Their mission is to rid the Earth of Corruption for good.

Notes:

This is the first installment of my story, Element! I had originally started this on DeviantArt (MountainHunter), but I will be adding the same chapters here as well. Thanks in advance for reading! This prologue will help set the story and make more sense of chapter one.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Before our present time, there was a war. A war that caused a mass called Corruption to come forth and spread through innocent worlds. The only ones who could stop them were the Elementals; beings that can control two to three basic elements such as earth, stone, air, fire, ice, and water. They, individually, had the strength to be a living barrier to the Corruption that threatened to destroy the ones they loved and even themselves. Together, the Elementals have the strength to eliminate Corruption once and for all.

One day, as all the Elementals had gathered to finish their task, the Corruption created something the Elementals have never encountered. It was powerful enough to force the great beings apart and send both them and Corruption into a long slumber. Peace spread throughout the innocent worlds once more, and they became like they were before the war ravished their lands. The people were able to be themselves and not worry about the future, for there was no danger. There will be a millennium of peace, before the Corruption reawakens to release its wrath again.

Meanwhile, the Elementals had been in hiding, working rapidly to place their powers into amulets, and hide them in special temples that could only be accessed by a future Elemental team. They also created Guardians and placed them in these shrines, for when the new protectors needed them most. They placed themselves inside their shrines, never to be seen again.

Corruption will come again. The Elementals will arise to meet it. Who are they? Where are they? Only they themselves will find out…

~~~

Darkness was what we saw when we came to face what we sought to destroy. We had been preparing for this moment for most of our lives, yet we weren’t ready to see such a huge, black mass that lay ahead. We had originally thought Corruption was just zombified beings, operating individually yet under the same mentality. We were wrong. Corruption is a dark mass, akin to tar, yet it glows with a sickening yellow hue. We could see so many different creatures that were plagued by this “disease.” It was a saddening sight to behold. But, we needed to focus on the task at hand.

I called out to my fellow Elemental brethren, only to see that they were being overcome. I was confused, as we all saw the Corruption many yards ahead of us on the battlefield. How did it spread over to us so quickly? I do not know. I look back ahead while trying to fend off my comrades and see that the enemy has not moved. I’m now frustrated as I try to comprehend what is going on. I fall to my knees, and call out once more. I hear my name called in the distance, as if I was in some sort of… dream. A dream! This was all an illusion! I manage to pull myself out of this nightmare just in time for the enemy to be upon us. This is it. Our moment. We unite as one for the final time and charge through the black gunk. No time to grieve for the innocent lost to the darkness within them. It was all, or nothing.

We fought for hours, then days, until we finally reached the end after what felt like an eternity. We stood face to face with the leader of Corruption itself. It was darker than its minions, and was made up of many different species that had been taken over. We tried to shut out the cries of agony we were met with as we avoided flurries of the tar-like substance thrown at us. We mowed down waves of crystalline monsters, glowing that same sick yellow we’ve seen before. We may have seemed fearless on the outside, but on the inside, we were fearing that we would be overwhelmed. We were feeling buried by all the attacks and waves thrown at us, and all of a sudden, everything disappeared.

We were hesitant, wondering what was going to happen next. I was checking to make sure that this wasn’t another illusion placed on us. This was no illusion. What came out of the Corruption next baffled us. We had to face our most difficult enemy yet - ourselves. It was as if we were looking into a dark mirror. Our copies lunged at us, filled with fury and hatred, each of them containing the flaws and anger that we hold inside. They knew our every movement, our every strategy. They moved as we did, knew as we did. Our blades met in a large choir of clashes. We had to think fast about how we would come to defeat ourselves. We had to find our weaknesses within ourselves and expose them in our clones.

One by one, we shed our armor and weapons, and the Corruption did the same. Now it had become a fight of raw power. We used our elemental abilities to materialize our greatest fears. It worked. The dark clones crumpled and we were able to make our final move. Right as our attacks met our copies, there was a bright flash of light that was followed by a deep darkness. We were thrown far away from the battlefield, as was the Corruption. Right before I lost consciousness, I recall seeing the Corruption fade as it died.

 

~~~

 

“You want us to do what exactly?” I asked the elder, who had just given me and my four younger brothers a certain task. The elder explained, “Morbus, I want you to choose and protect the next five Elementals. We don’t know how much time we have left before we move on to the next life. We also don’t know where they will be or when they will come.”

“So basically, you want us to be Guardians?” My youngest brother, Midus, questioned.

The elder answered, “Yes. That’s exactly what I want you five to be. You will also train them, and you will have a special link with them.”

“Well, let’s get on with it then! Where are these Elementals we are supposed to choose?” Marthus exclaimed. Medius snapped back, “He already said that none of us will know exactly when they’ll show up, genius.”

“Both of you. Shush. We don’t need you two bickering.”

“...Yes Morbus…” my two younger brothers mumbled.

The elder continued. “Morbus, Marthus, Medius, Mordeus, and Midus. You five shall be given the abilities of an Elemental until the next Five are chosen by you. One of your abilities will be to meld physically and mentally with your pupil when needed. It will help strengthen your bonds with them when used for training, and it will make you both very strong during battle when used as a last resort.”

 

The five followed the elder into an underground temple that looked to have been there for centuries.of us followed the elder into an underground temple that looks like it had been there for centuries. We all looked around curiously at the engravings that covered the walls. I interpreted the engravings as a prophecy of some sort. My guess is that it’s a prophecy and a history of the Elementals. The engravings also seemed to be giving off a glow of different colors. The green seemed to jump out at me more than the other colors. I must have been far into my thoughts, because I did not notice the shrine that came into our field of view. Midus nudged me with his elbow gently to pull me out of my mind when the elder turned to speak to us again. I thanked him with a silent nod.

 

“Here is where you will begin your journey. You will be placed into sleep until the right time comes. I do not know where or when you shall wake up, but all that is obvious is that it will be in the future.”

“So we’re going to be time travelling in a way?” Mordeus asked. “Yes, I guess you could see sleep as a form of time travel. I suggest you five tell each other your goodbyes now, as you may not see each other for a long while.”

I looked at my four younger siblings as a sudden tight feeling in my chest presented itself. One by one, I embraced them in my arms and told them to take care of themselves, and that we will see each other again. As I went up to Midus, the feeling in my chest grew even tighter as I tried not to let my emotions show. “I love you, brother.” Midus said to me, his voice cracking. “Do not worry, we will see each other again. Who knows, maybe our Elementals will be in the same place if we’re lucky.” I smile down at my baby brother, trying to lift his spirits a little before walking away to find my resting place. As I lie down, I felt the elder’s enchantment work it’s magic upon me as I slowly drifted off to a deep sleep.

 

~~~

Chapter 2: Matt

Summary:

Our first character, Matt, is introduced and meets Morbus!

I grumbled as I hit the snooze button on my phone’s alarm. I look at the date and grumble again, “I hate A days… at least I don’t have to worry about being late.” After five minutes, I shut my alarm off and get out of bed. I grab my pants and a shirt and head off to the bathroom to put in my contacts. I fix my short, fluffy hair and make it look more presentable, yet slightly messy on the top. I send a “good morning” text to my good Internet friend, Yaroslav, and ask how he’s doing. While I wait for him to respond, I prepare my lunch for the day and fill my water bottle.

 

I go back to my room and grab the little stuffed doll that I made of The Guy, a band called Disturbed’s mascot, and put him in my backpack. I bring him with me because I see him as a protector of some sort. Having him with me does help me keep myself together, especially when the going gets tough. I also sometimes talk to him, as if he were real, because I don’t really have anyone else to talk to all the time when I’m home, and sometimes I don’t trust my friends with all of my personal thoughts. I finally get all my school stuff together in my backpack, and I head out to the car. I toss my stuff in the back seat and ask out loud to my little doll friend, “You ready for another day, Morby?” and I imagine him giving me a “Sure.” in response.

 

About 10 minutes later, I make it to school. I march through the doors of the building, and stride down the hallway to my locker, where I place my lunch box. I look over my shoulder, because I got a sudden feeling that someone was watching me. I check to make sure no one took little Morbus out of my bag when I wasn’t looking. ‘Good. He’s still there.’ I think to myself, when that feeling presents itself again. I look around some more, before heading off to my first class, still checking over my shoulder every so often.

 

Yaroslav finally responds to my text and I tell him about how I keep feeling like someone is following me. He said it was probably nothing, but I’m not so sure… ‘I guess I’m just being paranoid.’ I think, and shrug the feelings off like they’re nothing as I focus in on my class.

 

~~~

I wake up with a start. I rub my eyes groggily as I slowly come to my senses. I’m laying outside on the ground, it looks to be morning, as it’s chilly outside and the sun is slowly rising over the mountains to the east. “Ah. I’m in a mountainous region then.” I think out loud to myself. I try to stay out of sight of other humans as I search for more clues to where I am. I freeze suddenly as this strong presence overcomes me. I see a moving… thing with wheels… with a human enveloped in a green aura controlling it. My gaze follows the strange metal box with wheels as it turns into an area with more of those strange boxes.

 

I follow this human as it gets out of its box and walks into a large building where other humans of its same age are walking into. ‘What is this place? It can’t be a prison…’ I think as I try and keep up with the little human. I skulk from shadow to shadow, trying to stay hidden. This human seems to care about getting to its destination. It’s walking much faster than the others also. It stops at one of the many metal cubicles on the walls of this building and puts a bag inside of it. I shrink back a little as it looks behind its shoulder, as if checking for anyone possibly following them.

 

I let out a breath that I was subconsciously holding in when I saw its head turn back as it started walking away. I squint when I noticed a little humanoid thing peeking its head out of the human’s bag on its back. My eyes widen a little when I realize it looks a lot like me! How could this human know about me already?! In my moment of shock, I lost sight of the human. I curse myself inwardly as I try to grasp that strong feeling I felt earlier, to no avail. I grumble in frustration as I wander the building, trying to figure out where the strange little human went.

 

After walking through the spacious building for a little while, I hear a loud, quick, repeated tone and the halls become flooded with a bunch of humans. I once again slink back to the shadows next to where my human’s metal cubicle was and wait for it to walk past. I get the strong feeling again as I see the green glow move past me. I manage to follow it this time and I trail behind as it walks into a room. ‘I must have slept for a long time!’ When I see more new technology that I haven’t seen before. I watch the human as it interacts with its friends and they begin doing something on the screens that’s beyond me. I sit behind my human and listen in to the conversations it has and I overhear that its name is Matt.

 

I notice they can sense me behind them, as they keep looking over their shoulder. They grab the little humanoid doll from their bag and hug it tight. They’re scared. I felt a familiar tight feeling in my chest when I notice this. I can see that Matt is trying to ignore the feeling of me behind them, but he can’t. I feel guilty for following behind them and begin to leave when they get up and walk out of the room. I follow behind them as they walk out in the hallway and mumble to themselves. Now is my chance to reveal myself. I slowly come out of the shadows I was hiding in when Matt stops and sits against the wall.

 

~~~

The feeling that someone’s following me arises again while I walk to my next class, engineering. This time, the feeling is stronger than it was this morning as if the thing following me is standing right behind me. I gently grasp mini Morbus’s nub hand and tuck him against my chest. I try to ignore the feeling, but it’s too overwhelming. After about 30 minutes since class started, I excuse myself to the restroom and leave. I mumble, “Who could be following me? I doubt anyone would want to stalk me.” I sit down and lean against the wall, frustrated.

 

I put my head in my hands when I hear footsteps walking up to me and a deep, but gentle voice say, “Hello, little human. I like the doll you have in your bag.” My head snaps up. I see a tall, dark, hooded figure standing before me. He’s wearing a very tattered gray-blue hood and cloak, with ripped shorts and black boots that go up to the middle of his shins. I almost cry when I recognize who it is. I know that toothy grin and those red, glowing eyes from my dreams! Morbus! It’s really him! I shakily stand up as he looks at me curiously. I reluctantly ask, “Morbus? Is it really you?” A little bit of shock creeps into his expression before a small smile shows itself. “Yes, Matt. I’m Morbus. I’m your Guardian.” I shyly step forward as I wrap my arms around him, and press my cheek to his chest.

 

He begins to explain why he’s here when I back away a little. He tells me that I’m supposed to be one of the five Elementals, then proceeds to explain what an Elemental is, and what their purpose is. Then he explains his purpose. He tells me that he is my protector, a Guardian. He is going to help me unlock and hone my abilities, and help me with other issues as well. Then he asks, “How did you know me before I showed myself to you?” Now it’s my turn to explain things. I tell him about how he’s showed up in my dreams multiple times, always protecting me in some way. I told him about mini Morbus and how the little guy helps me stay calm. Morbus chuckles when I tell him that I take him everywhere with me. “Well, I better get back to my class. I still can’t believe that you actually exist! I’ll talk to you more during lunch!” I give him another brief hug as I dash back to class. I hear him chuckle again as he sits back underneath the stairs by the engineering hall, waiting patiently for me.

 

~~~

Chapter 3: The Russian

Summary:

This chapter introduces the second Elemental-Guardian pair, Yaroslav and Medius! Medius is the middle child (and sarcastic one) of the Morbus Siblings!

I was on the bus, heading back to my home when the bus came to a sudden stop. Everyone was shaken a little bit when I saw it. There was this dark mass in front of the bus that looked kind of like a person, but it was more fluid. It also held an unsettling glow, like it was corrupted. Then a cloaked figure stepped in and started attacking the mass. All of us started panicking, causing both figures to glimpse at us. The hooded figure barred the door as the mass started trying to break through. I ran to the back window and tried busting it open, but the black mass had somehow started to seep inside. I saw the hooded figure out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t tell what they were doing until I heard gunshots. That’s when I panicked and ducked below the windows as pieces of glass rained down.

I heard many more gunshots before I heard a loud, piercing screech from what I guessed was the dark mass. There was a bright flash and all the black gunk that was seeping through the cracks disappeared. I felt the bus move as the hooded figure stepped inside and started looking over everyone, as if they were searching for someone. They stopped when their eyes landed on me. They briskly walked up to me and asked me if I was alright, offering their hand out to me. I shakily took it and I got to see what the hooded figure looked like up close. They had a dark face, with sharp, pointed teeth, and green glowing slits for eyes. They were dressed in a light gray hoodie, which had been slightly tattered, dark pants, and gray boots. I asked them what their name was, to which they responded, “Medius,” before scooping me up in his arms and dashing off the bus.

We made it to an alley where he could talk to me more privately. “I came to you because you were giving off an aura of an Elemental. I also saved your ass because I didn’t want the Corruption to spread and cause a bigger problem.” I asked, “So that’s what that black gunk is?”
“Yep.”
“And it spreads like a plague?”
“You got it!”
“Huh.”
Medius then explained to me what an Elemental is, and then he tells me about his four brothers, which meant that there are other Elementals. I asked him if he knew where the others were, and he said no. He even said that he doesn’t know what year it is, or where he himself is. I chuckled and told him that he was in Russia, in the year 2018. His eyes widened. “It’s been that long?! Thousands of years I was asleep… I wonder if my brothers have been awoken at this same time. I hope they have, I don’t want to do all this alone.” I watched as he was thinking aloud and pacing back and forth. I waited for him to calm down before introducing myself. “My name is Yaroslav, by the way. I figured you should know that.” I added the last part in sarcastically. Medius chuckled. “Thanks, human.”
“So, what abilities will I have?”
“That’s not for me to decide. That’s all on you, my friend. I can tell you what elements you might control though from what I can sense from you.”
“So that aura you say I radiate, is that how you can sense that?”
“Bingo. If you want, we can try that now. Unless your flat would be a better place to do this.”
“Nah. I don’t live alone, so here would be better.”
“Alright. Well, come closer and we will begin.”

I walked up close to Medius where he could easily reach me. He placed his hands on the sides of my head and suddenly I feel like the world is spinning in multiple directions. I can feel Medius holding me up as he melds with my mind. Then the spinning stops and Medius has disappeared. I look around for him, and realize that I’ve gotten taller. It also feels like there’s another presence inside of my head. ‘So that’s where he went.’ I think, and Medius’ voice echoes in my head, ‘Yep. Don’t mind me rummaging around in here. We are currently sharing a body that’s a combination of our individual bodies. I know it’s weird, but this helps us both. We get to know each other better, and you become stronger. I suggest though that we only do this sparingly.’
‘Well at least we don’t have to worry about someone overhearing our conversation now. So what about my Elemental abilities?’ I ask.
‘From what I can tell, you will control fire, earth, and air. A very hot combination.’
I become slightly confused. ‘Ah. How did you determine that?’
‘Easy. I take into account your personality and a little bit of your physical traits play a small part in it too.’
I had a feeling that is what he was going to tell me.

~~~

Chapter 4: Rockies

Summary:

This chapter goes back to Matt and Morbus, who go on a little adventure through the mountains, Matt's favorite! There is also quite a bit of bonding between Morbus and Matt as well~

“Earth, air, and ice, huh?” I said to Morbus, out of breath, after we had done our meld. Combining with a different being and having him in my thoughts is really exhausting. “Yeah. Your hands are always cold, you hate the heat, and you love the mountains. You were easy to figure out.”
“So I guess the place where I’d be strongest would be in the mountains then!” I laugh. Morbus gives me a gentle hug and chuckles. “So. We need to find the others, but first, there is something else we need to find that will help.”
“Wait. There are others?”
“Yes. I have four brothers, so that means that there are four other Elementals. I have no idea where they are though.”
“Alrighty then. I wonder if they’re anything like you! I bet your youngest brother is a cinnamon roll!” I exclaim excitedly. “So what stuff did we need to find? Is it going to be close by?”
Morbus shrugs. “Well, I bet you and Midus will get along great. The two items we need to find should be in the place where you are strongest, so in that case, we will have to look in the mountains.” I look at him curiously. “What are these two items though?”
“Elementals have armor that fits them perfectly, according to their abilities, physical traits, and personality. They also have weapons that change based off of the same things as the armor, and they can shift into any weapon you can think of.”
“WHOA! That’s so cool! Let’s get started then!” I grin. “Don’t you have school?” Morbus questioned. “Not on the weekends! Besides, it’s a four-day weekend this week! We’ll have plenty of time!” I run into my room excitedly and start packing things for a hike. Morbus chuckles and ruffles my short, dirty blond hair.

~~~

“I’m done packing!” Matt said with a grin after about two hours of running back and forth through the house and their room, grabbing everything they thought they needed to bring, like clothes and snacks. “Are you sure you need to bring all that?” I ask, looking at the black bag sitting on the floor. “It’s not that much. Just the stuff I need!” I start listing off the items that I thought Matt would need. “Shirts and pants?”
“Check.”
“Socks and good hiking shoes?”
“Check!”
“Inhaler and medications?”
“Got ‘em.”
“Flannels?”
“Who wouldn’t bring a flannel on a camping trip?”
“Did you pack a hoodie?”
“Nope.” Matt whips open their closet and looks through their hoodies, decides on a Nebraska Huskers hoodie, and carefully folds it up and places it in the bag. I chuckle at how carefully Matt checks that everything has its place. “You’re so organized, it’s kind of cute, to be honest.”
“I’m not cute!” Matt pouts.
“Mmmhmm.”
“Let’s just continue listing everything off.”
“Alright.” I continue. “Where was I?” I jokingly ask.
“Hoodies.”
“Ah, that’s right. Do you have some snacks?
“Yep! Goldfish, granola bars, and bacon jerky!”
“Mini me?”
“Well duh. I’d never leave the little noodle behind.”
I laugh. “You call mini me a noodle?” Matt shrugs and grabs the little doll. “Well, he’s kinda skinny and floppy, like a noodle, so I call him my little squishy noodle!” and they squeeze the plush’s tummy. I laugh even more. “So I’m a squishy noodle then?” Matt whines and says, “No… you’re a walking space heater!” Now it’s their turn to laugh. “Honestly, that’s why I didn’t pack a hoodie at first, because I figured you’d keep us both warm.”
“Really? You expected me to keep you warm? What if I get cold?”
“That’s why I packed an extra flannel shirt and a hoodie for you to borrow!” Matt beams up at me from the floor. I raise an eyebrow. “You’re sure that they’ll fit me?”
“I grabbed the biggest hoodie and flannel that I have, the hoodie should fit you at least.”
“Alright then. Do we have a tent and something to sleep on?”
“Uhh… not quite. I don’t think a cot would be the best thing to haul up a mountain, and my sleeping bag is kinda bulky.”
“Looks like you’re going to the store then. Do you have enough money to get a tent that will fit both of us?”
“I should have enough. I take it you’re not coming with me into the store?” Matt asks.
“Obviously not. Can you imagine all the weird looks we’d get?”
Matt laughs.

~~~

Matt and I drove northeast to a canyon that Matt knew really well. We decided on this location because we figured we would search a familiar place first before moving on to other places along the “Rockies,” as my little human calls the mountain range by their home turf. I felt relaxed and understood why Matt loves the mountains so much while we traveled. I dozed off a few times before we reached a trailhead where we would begin our search. I grabbed the bag that held our supplies and Matt grabbed the tent. I made sure Matt had their inhaler and an ankle brace just in case they needed them. I knew their asthma would act up during this hike, and they warned me that they get moody when their asthma acts up. I also made sure we had grabbed lots of water bottles, mostly for Matt’s sake. I don’t get dehydrated as easily as a human would.

After we were hiking for a good hour, I told Matt to sit and take a break. I could hear them wheezing, and I could tell that their knee was bothering them. They plop down on the ground with another wheeze, and they lean back against a rock. They flick their wrist and look at their watch. “We’ve been hiking for hours…” Matt sighs breathlessly. “I know, little one. Do you want me to grab a snack from the bag?” I ask with a little bit of concern. “Please.” I get a granola bar, a couple pieces of “bacon jerky,” and Matt’s inhaler and hand the stuff all to them. I also grab a bite for myself and take a couple sips of water before handing the bottle over to my little human. “Here. Drink up. You’ll need it.” I say, as Matt gratefully accepts the bottle from my hand and takes multiple big gulps of water after they scarf down the snacks. I chuckle as Matt lets out a belch and sighs contentedly. “Would you like me to carry you as you take a nap?” I offer. Matt replies sleepily, “Nah. I don’t want you to do all the work. I also don’t want you to hurt yourself doing too much.” ‘Aww. That is really kind of them.’ I think to myself as I offer again, “Are you sure? I’m very willing to carry you until you decide on a place to stop for the night or you get some energy back.”
“I’m okay, Morbus. I appreciate the offer though. I might take you up on it later if I need to.”
“Alright little one. If you get too tired, just let me know.”

I help Matt get back onto their feet, and I gently place the bag on their shoulders. I pick up the tent and we begin our hike again. I stay behind my human just to make sure I’ll be there to catch them if they fall. We hike for another hour or so before we stop because Matt wanted to take pictures of the area and just bask in how beautiful it is. I watch them with interest as they snap multiple pictures and then asks if it’s okay if they have a picture with us in it. I chuckled and said, “One picture shouldn’t hurt. If someone does ask what picture it is, you could tell them that I’m just someone in a costume.” Matt grins as they raise their phone and take a picture of both of us. We begin to continue onward when I say that we should pitch our tent for the night, as the sun is drifting below the horizon. Matt agrees, and they look around the area for a good place to set up the tent and a fire. “I found a fire pit and a flat area!” I hear their voice call out, and I approve of the site. It sits in a little nook of a few trees to the east of the pit, so it’ll be nice and shaded for a little while. It gives me a vibe similar to the vibe that Matt gives me. I smile at that thought as we unpack the tent and stake it into the ground.

I jump when Matt’s excited voice disrupts the peaceful silence of the mountains when they say, “I’ll start the fire!!” and they wander around, trying to find kindling to use before using their pocket knife to shave off thin pieces of wood off the logs nearby. I watch Matt with interest as they place the kindling in the middle and make a little teepee shape with the small pieces of wood before building up around the pile with bigger pieces, “log cabin style.” I dig around in the bag and hand the matches to them. I watch Matt with a small smile as they light the fire and laugh when the kindling catches. “For being an Elemental of ice, I’m surprised you like building fires so much.” I comment with a chuckle.
“Well, it’s fun for one thing, and two, it’s something that is really good to know how to do.”
“Ah. I think we should unpack our sleeping gear, where did you put all of it?”
“In the tent. I put the extra hoodie and a blanket on your sleeping bag too.”
“Thanks, little one. How about you go get into your comfortable clothes, and I’ll start dinner?”
“Okay Morbus. Thank you.” Matt says with a smile before heading into the tent. I dig through the bag and pull out the packet of noodles and the small pot that my human had packed earlier. I find the small metal frame Matt had made and placed the legs of it into the coals of the flame. I pour some water into the pot, and place it over the fire.

I lean back and relax, waiting for the water to come to a boil. I feel Matt come out of the tent and sit down, close to my right side. I hear them sigh and look over at them. I rub their back gently before getting up to put the noodles into the pot, now filled with boiling water. I steal a glance back at the human, who has their knees against their chest, their head resting on their arms. I reach out to them, but hesitate, as I don’t want to startle Matt. They look so peaceful. I direct my attention back to the pot, and decide that the noodles look cooked enough to eat. I pull the pot from the fire and place it on the ground, wincing a little at how hot the handle is. I let it cool a little bit before mixing in the flavoring and then nudging Matt. “Hey. You should eat. It might make you feel a little better.” Matt mumbles, “But I’m tired…” I sigh, and pour them a bowl of noodles. “Please eat, little one. I don’t want your blood sugar to drop.” “Okay..” They reply quietly as they take the bowl from my hands and take a little sip of the broth. I pour myself the rest of the noodles and slowly sip and eat them. “This is really good, Morbus! It’s such a simple meal, but somehow you made it taste better than how I’d make it taste!” Matt says, after they finish their serving with a little burp. I smile at them before taking their dish and cleaning up.

I come back from the little creek by our campsite, to see that Matt had been waiting for me. I take the pot and dump the water inside of it onto the fire, extinguishing it. As an extra measure, Matt tosses some dirt over the coals. “Alright little one. Let’s get to sleep. Did you take your allergy medicine?”
“Yep.” They yawn. We both stand up and head into the tent. I pick up Matt and hold them up as I open up their sleeping bag and I gently set them inside. I grab mini me and tuck him in with Matt. “Is there anything else you need?” I ask. Matt silently reaches their arms out to me and I give them a hug. I feel their face press against my chest and feel them relax. I sit with them until they fall asleep, then I get up, feeling an urge to kiss the little human on the forehead. I stand there, watching their sleeping form for a few minutes before leaning down and pressing my lips to their forehead gently. My heart clenches when I see Matt smile a little in their sleep. “Goodnight little one.” I whisper, before crawling into my sleeping bag. Only a few minutes pass by before I drift off to sleep.

~~~

I slowly wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of Morbus tossing and turning. I squint as I get up and blindly walk over to his side of the tent, and I crouch down next to him. “Morbus?” I ask as I gently nudge him a few times. He suddenly sits up and I fall back on my butt, startled. He quickly looks at me and relaxes. “You’re okay. Thank goodness. I had a nightmare that you got attacked by Corruption.”
“Like the black gunk that you’ve told me about?”
“Yes. Can you give me the extra hoodie you brought?” Morbus runs his fingers through his dark gray hair and sighs, closing his eyes as I grab the hoodie I brought for him. “I decided to let you use the Nebraska hoodie, because it’s the biggest hoodie I have. Plus it’s really warm and comfy, so it should feel like a warm hug from me!” I beam. Morbus chuckles as he puts on the red hoodie. He looks over at me with tired eyes. “Well, it’s about 3 in the morning. We should try and get some more sleep.” I say, checking my watch. “Little one… can you join me?” Morbus asks, reaching out his arms like I do to him. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I, after you had a nightmare like that?” And I wrap my blanket around myself and lay on top of Morbus’s sleeping bag, next to him. I quickly fall back asleep, feeling safer than I have in a long time.

~~~

Chapter 5: The Shrine

Summary:

Matt and Morbus find the shrine that they set out to search for! The two go through a few trials as a test. The trials are not what you'd expect, though.

“Matt, wake up.” I feel Morbus jostle me gently and I squint up at him. “Huh?”
“I think I figured out where the shrine we need to find is.”
“That’s where the weapons and stuff are?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright…” I close my eyes, wanting to fall back asleep. I feel Morbus pick me up and tuck me into his warm sleeping bag before he walks outside. I snooze a bit longer until Morbus comes in and tells me that breakfast is ready. I rub my eyes groggily as I get up and grab my glasses. I come out of the tent to the pleasant smell of oatmeal and bacon. “I decided to bring some bacon along for the trip, because I know you love the stuff.” Morbus says, commenting on the pleasantly surprised look on my face. I sit down by the fire and warm up my hands. I help Morbus finish making breakfast, and we eat. We do our usual morning routine, taking turns on who stays in the tent changing into clothes and who cleans up the area.

After we finally pack up, we set off once again. Morbus told me that the shrine isn’t very far from where we set up camp, so we didn’t hike for very long before we stopped. I felt three things at once, I felt cold, a breeze, and what seemed like a rumble coming from the ground beneath my feet. Soon, snow started to fall from the sky. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel very cold. My hands became cold like usual, but I didn’t feel it. I looked back at Morbus, to see him looking at me with an astounded smile. “We found it, little one. We must keep moving forward though. It’s only going to get colder from here.”
I feel a strength that I have never felt before. It’s like a cold ball of energy, waiting to be released. We continue our march onward, braving the freezing cold blizzard and the unstable ground. It sounds like the mountain itself was howling, like it was scared of the two intruders walking along its surface. I look down at my hands, and I see that they’re faintly glowing. I turn around, and Morbus is far behind me. I see the glow of his red eyes in the distance as I call out to him, beginning to feel terror wrap it’s fingers around me. I try to press forward, but I’m stuck, like my feet are frozen in the snow. I swear I can hear Morbus calling my name, until suddenly I hear loud and clear, “Wake up!!!”

I sit up, startled. I quickly look around to see that we are in some sort of cavern. I see Morbus, crouched next to me with worried look on his face. ‘Was he… crying?!’ I think, seeing what looks to be streaks on his face. I fling my arms around his shoulders and bury my face into his chest. “We made it.” I say with a grin. “We did.” Morbus replies. I stand up, and help Morbus to his feet. We look at the large statue standing in the middle of the circular cavern. It stands tall, like a knight with their sword held in front of them, pointing downward. It seems to be gazing down upon both of us as we walk up to it. I search around the base of the statue to find nothing. Suddenly, an idea surfaces. “Morbus! What if we meld? Do you think that would work?”
“That isn’t a bad idea, little one! Good thinking!”
“Let’s do it!”
I place my hands on the sides of Morbus’s face, and he does the same. I feel shaky, then I feel like I’m being sucked into a vacuum. Suddenly, my vision returns to normal and Morbus is inside my head. We look around again, and find a lever at the base of the statue. We reach out and grasp it, and with our combined strength, we manage to flip it. We hear a mechanism within the cavern begin to click, and we hear a thunk. In unison we think, ‘What was that?’ before we are blinded by a bright green light.

I groan in agony as Morbus and I are forced apart from each other. I reach for his hand, but once again, Morbus is nowhere to be found. I suppose he was placed on the other side of the statue, because I can still feel his presence. I hear a booming voice fill the cavern. “YOU WILL NOW BEGIN THE TRIALS.” My vision goes black as I feel the floor disappear beneath my feet and I plummet for what feels like a half an hour before I land on my back. My vision returns and it looks like I’m back in my room. I look around, confused. I try calling out to Morbus, and feeling around on my bed for mini Morbus, to no avail. They’re nowhere to be found.

All of a sudden, I hear heavy footsteps approaching my room. I become a bit fearful as I hear the footsteps draw closer. What’s strange, is it sounds like my dad. ‘But he’s dead! I don’t get it…’ I begin to formulate plans on what to do in different scenarios, beginning with if he kicks down the door. “Let’s hope this works…” I mumble under my breath. I sit up, prepared to fight and not crumple. I do mentally prepare myself though just in case of the event I do crumple. I dash to the opposite corner of my room from my bed, and hide where I won’t be seen from the door. I hold my breath when the footsteps stop. Mind you, all this thinking didn’t take me that long. I guess fear can be used in a good way. ‘I think Morbus would be proud of me!’ I smirk, before nibbling my lip and closing my eyes. “BANG!” I jump a little when I hear the door go down. I can feel myself begin to shake from the fear of being yelled at. I try my best to push that fear down as I slink out of the doorway, out of sight. I dash out the front door, sensing that someone else is following me. I steal a brief glance behind me as I run down the street before turning east, towards the mountains. I see Chris, my best friend, and only male figure close to me in my life. “Oh no… I hope he isn’t going to yell at me too…” I feel even more fear course through me, making me run faster than I ever have before, my asthma surprisingly not giving me any issues. ‘It’ll probably hit me when I stop, like it always does… stupid asthma.’

Suddenly, I realize that I could just use my elemental abilities to stop the Chris imposter in his tracks. I spin around, and reach inside to try and feel that cold, windy ball of energy I felt earlier. I panic a little when I don’t feel it. ‘What do I do now?!’ I think, as I try to keep running, the shadow almost right on top of me. I stop again and wheel around, flinging myself at the corrupted copy of Chris. I wrap my arms around him, squeezing my eyes shut.

When I open my eyes again, I’m somewhere completely different. It’s a little colder than where I live, and it looks older and more run down. I look around, trying to find some sort of clue to where I am. My thoughts stop short when I see a sign that says “Пермь, Россия.” ‘I’m in Perm?!’ I whip out my phone and pull up a picture of Yaroslav, and using my minimal knowledge of the Russian language, I try to find my way to him, asking people along the way. I finally find the bar that he goes to, and I ask the bartender. I let out a huge sigh of relief when the bartender points to my friend. I run up to Yaroslav and say, “Привет, Ярослав!” With a big grin on my face. He turns around and almost falls out of his seat. “Мэтт!” And we hug each other. He asked me in a thick Russian accent, “How did you find me?”
“I was teleported here. I know it sounds weird, but-“
A figure that looks similar to Morbus steps out of the shadows and looks at me with wide eyes. “You’re another one. Another Elemental.”
“Uhh… yeah. Are you one of Morbus’s brothers?” I ask. “Yes! I’m Medius. Thank goodness I’m not the only one here.” He laughs.
“Quick question. Is this an illusion or am I actually in Russia right now?”
“This is legit. I take it you found your shrine then?”
“Yeah. Looks like I gotta figure a way back home.”
Yaroslav looks at Medius, slightly confused. “I thought this was an illusion too!” I look at him, sharing his confusion. “Our shrines must have teleported us to each other. It’s so good to see you in person!”

I jump with a start when I hear Morbus’s voice enter my thoughts. ‘MATT!! WHERE ARE YOU?!’ I look back over my shoulder and see Morbus walk through the door, a panicked expression on his face. “Brother!!” Medius says with glee. “Medius?!” Morbus responds with disbelief. The two embrace with pats on the back. “You may be sarcastic and kind of annoying, but I am so happy to see you.” Morbus says. I take a seat next to Yaroslav and we talk about life and I learn some more Russian in the process. We exchange a few jokes, have a few laughs and a couple drinks (I chose non-alcoholic, of course), and we decided to spend the night at Yaroslav’s flat.

We didn’t sleep very good because the time zone was the opposite of what the time zone is at home, so we slept for most of the morning and afternoon. Then, we teleported back to the shrine. I woke up back in the cavern, laying next to Morbus. We both sit up and look at each other, confused. “I doubt that was all of the trials.” I say, and right after I said those words, another illusion showed up. This time, Morbus and I were not separated, and we were placed in some kind of floating bubble. I instantly recognize the place we are in. “Oh man… this is the night that my dad walked out on my mom and I..”
“Is this where you spent your first five years of your life?”
“Yes. It wasn’t the best place to start, but it was somewhere to live.”
“I’m so sorry, little one. For all that you’ve had to go through. I wish I was there to protect you when you were younger.”
“It’s not your fault, Morbus. The past is the past, and hey. I would be a completely different person if I didn’t go through what I did.”

At that moment, my dad walked out of the door for the last time. I saw a much younger me asking my mom if dad will come back, to which she said no. I felt the pain once again as I watched, Morbus holding my hand tight. “I feel it too... “ Morbus said to me, his voice breaking. I saw a few tears roll down his face as he watched me and littler me, both of us broken. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, trying to comfort him. “It’ll be okay, Morbus… I’ve got you. I’ve felt this once, I can do it again. I don’t know about you though.”
“I will be alright, little one. You don’t need to do this for me.”
“Well, too bad. I’m helping you anyway. I care about you too much to watch you feel pain that I’ve felt before.”
“Little one…”
“Shush.” I silence Morbus and pull him close to me, no longer watching what’s going on beneath us. ‘I hope this will be done soon… I can’t bear to see Morbus like this.’ I say inwardly.

There’s a bright flash, and a loud clang before we arrive in the cavern once again, hopefully for the final time. Morbus says to me, “I watched you throughout the trials, even when we were separated. The one thing that stuck out to me most is how compassionate and empathetic you are. You hardly tried to fight at all.”
“Well, there weren’t many scenarios where I had to fight, so why try?”
“Why did you hug the Corruption though?”
“Because… I guess it was instinct. It looked like it was one of my best friends.”
“And you miss that friend?”
“Yes.”
We hear the booming voice again.
“THE TRIALS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.” Morbus and I look at each other and shrug. We stand up, and walk up to the statue. There are two pairs of handles on opposite sides from each other. We grab them, and try to figure out which way to pull them. I turn mine inwards, and I push them down and turn them again. A green glow surrounds my hands. Then they turn to rocks, then to ice, and finally to swirling vortices before turning back to normal. I slowly back away from the statue, and see a spirit visualize in front of me. Its voice echoes in my mind, ‘You have the abilities of an Elemental. You completed the trials, and you have earned your weapons and armor. USE THEM WISELY.’ and the spirit dissipates as fast as it had appeared.

I look around for Morbus, to find him wielding two shortened shotguns with a smirk. “It’s good to see these two again!” He laughs with triumph. Then it changes form into a revolver, then a flail with a long chain. He looks at me and asks me where my stuff is, to which I shrug. I try to dig deep within myself again for the cold, howling wad of energy. Nothing. I can sense the energy present, but I don’t perceive anything else. Morbus watches me with concern. “You’ll figure it out in time, little one. Don’t worry.”
“But am I really supposed to be an Elemental? I don’t even really sense my abilities inside.”
“Don’t doubt yourself. Being an Elemental doesn’t happen overnight.”
“What’s funny though, is you showed up outta nowhere.”
“But I did appear in your dreams for a time before, right?”
“True…”
“Exactly. Let’s head back home.” Morbus drapes an arm over my shoulders and we begin our journey home.

~~~

Chapter 6: Stroganoff

Summary:

This chapter is going back to Yaroslav and Medius, and they find their shrine as well. The two’s trials differ quite a bit from Matt’s.

“So… what exactly are we supposed to do?” I ask Medius, who is sitting on my bed, leaned back against the wall, with one leg pulled up to his chest. He was running his fingers through his messy, gray hair when he said nonchalantly, “Find the shrine, go through a trial or two, and boom you have your armor and stuff. Simple.” I raise an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound very simple to me. Especially the trial part.”
“Well, it’ll be easy for me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Medius laughed. “Of course not! I’m going to most likely go through what you’re going through, pain and all. I’ll feel what you feel.”
“That’s good to know. So do you have an idea of where this shrine is?”
“Normally, it’s in an area where you can feel strongest. Like where all your elements reside. But, Russia is cold, and I don’t know where a volcano would be.”
“There are 11 of them. There is what’s called a Ring of Fire in the Pacific ocean, and that’s where most of them are.”
“I hope you know I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
I pull up a map on my phone of the world, and I watch Medius’s eyes widen. He quickly figures out how to work the map and he scrolls around on it for a while, while figuring out how to research the geography in Russia and all the dormant and active volcanoes in the area.

Many hours pass before I get ready for dinner. Medius’s head pops into the kitchen doorway and startles me as he exclaims, “I found one!” I almost spill boiling water on myself. “Medius!”
“What? I didn’t know you were cooking something.”
“Suuuuure you didn’t. I told you I was getting dinner ready about 10 minutes ago.”
“Mmmmmhmmmmm~” Medius smirks sarcastically. I smirk back at him and quickly flick hot water at his face. “AY! What was that for?!” Medius jumps back, wiping off his face as I laugh. One of my cats, Marshmallow, rubbed up against my leg. “Here, have a cat.” I gently nudge Marshmallow over to Medius with my foot. My other cat, Lucifer, rubs up against Medius as he’s holding Marshmallow, leaving hair all over his legs. I proceed to fix dinner, ignoring Medius’s sighs and grumbles. “So, what was the volcano that you researched?” I ask, letting Medius continue with what he was going to say.
“If we do go on this journey, we will most likely have to go to the Kamchatka peninsula, which is very far away from where we are now. I did read an article though about an ancient volcano in Moscow.”
“That’s still pretty far away, though. About 1,432.2 kilometers.”
“Not as far as Eastern Russia, though. We’d almost be to the United States according to the map.”
“I have a friend there, actually. They told me that there’s a supervolcano northeast of them that would destroy almost all of the U.S. if it blew.”
“Is it active?”
“It’s a national park, according to my friend, that has geysers and other geothermal things.”
“Maybe we should go there?”
“No. Too far.”
“Alright. Moscow it is!” Medius walks back to the couch with my cats and flicks on the TV.

I finish making dinner, and walk out to Medius with two steaming bowls. “What is that?” Medius asks, pulling a face. “It’s beef stroganoff. Eat.” I hand a bowl to him, and he sniffs it curiously. “Is all modern Earth food like this?”
“No. Each country has different food.”
“Is it better than this brown slu-”
I smack him on the head with the back of my hand. “Just eat it!” I say with irritation.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll eat!” Medius scoops some into his mouth. I watch him and raise an eyebrow as he at first squints, then his eyes go wide. He shovels more stroganoff into his mouth rapidly as I eat at my own pace. I hear a loud belch and Medius gets up and runs to the kitchen to refill his bowl. I chuckle when Medius thanks me for dinner and gushes about how good it is. All of a sudden, a breaking news report pops up on the TV. Medius and I don’t give it attention until the reporter says that a large sinkhole has opened up in Perm, with lava and Corruption oozing out of it. Medius and I quickly finish our dinner, and run out the door, putting our shoes and jackets on as we go.

We make it to the site of the sinkhole, to see that the Corruption has already gotten hold of some people. “Well, we found our volcano.” I say, but Medius is gone. He runs past the police, despite their yelling, and slams his fist into the gunk trying to overtake an innocent bystander. It stops moving and wiggling once his fist makes impact. He looks at me and begins to run back to me as fast as his legs can carry him, the Corruption beginning to veer towards me. My breath gets knocked out of me once Medius grabs me while running, and he turns back around, dashing towards the hole. I manage to let out a scream when Medius throws me into the hole, jumping in after me. I watch the hole seal up above us, and we hit the ground with an impact that wasn’t as jarring as I thought it would be. “Are you alright, Yaroslav?” I see Medius run up to me, out of breath. “Yeah, I think so.” I manage to say, and Medius helps me to my feet. We look around the cavern we jumped into. There are some torches along the walls and the statue in the middle, giving off a warm light. There is also a warm breeze blowing through, bringing the scent of a campfire with it. In the distance, we hear the flow and bubble of lava, which must be what is the source of heat.

The warm, quiet awe of the cavern was broken by Medius’s voice telling me that we should check out the statue. I nod, relaxed by the calm atmosphere. We walk over to the statue, which stands crouched, one knee on the ground. It wields a large sword, placing its hand on the pommel, and the tip against the ground. It seems like it is alive and looking at us with interest as we approach. Medius and I place our hands on the base of the statue, searching for something like a lever or a button. An idea enters both of our minds simultaneously to meld. We look at each other, and Medius opens his arms up to me with a shrug. My hands press against the sides of his head, as his do mine, and the cavern seems to be spinning. In what feels like a few seconds, Medius and I are one. We quickly find a lever on the back of one of the statue’s legs, and with our combined strength -- mostly Medius’s -- we pull it down. There is a loud thunk, a grinding screech, and a thud. Then a bunch of clicks ring out within the walls, and a square area opens up in the floor in front of the statue. We hear wind howling as we walk to the open floor, feeling it trying to suck us in. “Another hole we have to jump into?” I say out loud, and Medius responds inside our head, ‘Looks like it. I don’t think we’re supposed to go down this hole.’ We look around for some kind of a different passageway. We fight the vacuum of the floor as we walk to the walls of the cavern. ‘Medius, look!’
‘I see it.’
We make our way over to the glowing hall on the opposite side of the cavern from the statue, the suction of the hole in the floor increasing its hold on us. We grip onto the wall, and pull ourselves into the hall. The ground shakes once we make it inside. A bunch of boulders fall from the ceiling and seal the floor shut, followed by the opening to the hall. We look at each other mentally, and begin our march forward. We soon come to a fork in the hall, one cave going left, one going right. ‘I guess this is goodbye for now, my friend.’ Medius thought to me, and we split. I shake the dizziness out of my head, and I walk down the tunnel to the left.

I suddenly feel empty inside, as if my link with Medius and my abilities were just taken from me. I try calling out to him, but my voice is stuck in my throat. I keep moving farther down the tunnel, trying to stay calm. I make it to a little cave, and suddenly my feet are stuck in place by rocks. I feel my legs turning to stone, and that’s when I begin to freak out. I force my legs to move, with only a little bit of success. Adrenaline rushes through my veins as more fear engulfs me. I work even harder to force my feet to move, with a little more success than before. I grin triumphantly when it becomes easier to move. I stomp my feet, breaking the rocky shells around my legs. I jog over to the end of the cave, where a warm glow resides. Further investigation shows that it’s a glowing coal from a fire. I blow on it, making it brighten. I feel the heat radiate off of its surface. It’s as if it were beckoning me to grab hold of it. I place my hand over top of it, not backing away when I feel the ember’s searing heat against my palm. I pick it up, holding it in my fingers, watching the different brightnesses flow around the chunk. I place it next to my ear, listening to what sounds like a howling gust. I squeeze it, to feel resistance, as if the ember was a piece of granite from within the ground. I gaze upon it curiously. I toss it into the air, and let it hit the ground. It doesn’t bounce, it doesn’t hit the ground. It hovers. I grab it again, and throw it as hard as I can against the wall. It hits the wall with a loud “BOOM!” And a wave of fire spreads outward from the impact. The rock is lodged in the wall, now whistling and howling. I sense the gusts contained inside releasing themselves as I check it out. I feel warmth grow inside of me, fanned by the wind coming from the small rock.
‘Fire.’
I touch the rock, feeling a large gust engulf me.
‘Air.’
I step back, feeling the ground quake under my feet.
‘Earth.’

Out of nowhere, I find myself in the streets of Perm. Confused, I walk to my favorite bar to find Medius standing by the door waiting for me. We walk in and grab a drink, while we try to figure the situation out. We both get the feeling that we need to wait. About 30 minutes later, I hear footsteps running up to our table. “Привет Ярослав!” I look over at who said that. “Мэтт!” I exclaim excitedly. I had a feeling it was them, based off of their heavy American accent when they greeted me. I give them a huge hug. “I still need to work on my Russian..” Matt says with an awkward smile.
“I’m still impressed by the fact that you tried!”
“Yeah. Maybe you could teach me some more?”
“Sure! I’ll be happy to.”
During that exchange, Medius sees Morbus. “Brother!!”
“Hello, Medius. It’s been a long time, huh?”
“Yep. It’s good to see you again. I take it Yaroslav and your human are friends?”
“Yeah. Yaroslav has been a good friend to Matt, and they’ve both helped each other out with advice and life in general.”
“Aww. And you two are from America? How did you end up clear over here?”
“We found the shrine. I take it you found yours?”
“We just did. It brought us here.”
“Huh.”
“Morbus?” Matt looks over at Morbus. “Yes, little one?” I glance at them with a smile. Medius tries to stifle a laugh. That laugh turns into an “Aww!” When Matt hugs Morbus. “The kid reminds me so much of our littlest brother, Midus.” Medius says with a smile. He ruffles Matt’s hair. I invite Matt to sit back down next to me and we get a few drinks. Matt decides on something non-alcoholic, which I respect.

After we talk some more and head back to my flat, I’m suddenly transported back to the shrine. I look over at Medius. He shrugs. Then everything goes dark. I flail around, trying to find Medius. I lose the ability to speak as I try to call out to him. I begin to panic. My heart rate increases as my breathing quickens, and I soon find myself against a wall. A hand wraps around my throat and begins to squeeze. I grab tight onto the hand, trying to pull it off. I manage to kick the figure, knocking it back long enough for me to blindly get away. I cry out in my thoughts for Medius. ‘It’s okay Yaroslav. I see you.’
I fall to my knees in relief and exhaustion. A bang echoes through the cavern, followed by a yell. Stomping footsteps follow. They grow closer and grow louder and faster. I quickly get back to my feet and run from the sound, until I slam into another wall. A dead end. I’m trapped. I crouch down and hug my knees to my chest. Light footsteps dash over to my location. I feel a hand press against my face, and my sight returns. ‘I’m here, my friend.’ “Medius! You’re okay!”
‘Of course I am, silly. Let’s get moving.’
I stand up, grasping onto Medius’s arm. I look up at him, and he crouches down in front of me. “Hop on.” He says back to me, and I jump onto his back. He carries me all the way back to the middle of the cavern where we started. I must have fallen asleep along the way, because Medius is jostling me awake when we make it back to the statue. He looks at me with curiosity, and it makes me confused. I look at my hands, which are glowing with a red aura. I sense something in addition to my abilities inside. I mentally grasp it, and suddenly, I’m covered in armor. A large, two-handed axe forms from my hands. Flames curl off of the surface of my forearms, burning a pattern in to the black metal. Green etches itself into wisps all over my armor, blowing the flames along my chest and shins. Rocky cracks form along my shoulders, building them up. My armor looks bulky, yet sleek. A mask forms over my face, wrapping around my head.

Medius looks at me with awe, his mouth hanging open. “Whoa. You look badass.” He says, gawking. I give my axe a couple swings, before slamming it’s blade into the ground, causing the cavern to quake and a crack to form in the floor. “It feels good!” I say, my voice slightly distorted through the mask. Medius finally stops staring at me, and whips out his daggers, changing them into brass knuckles. I hear a whiz as one of his blades flies past my head, hitting the wall behind me with a “thok!” I jump, startled. Medius summons a motorcycle, with a blackish-green smoke trailing from it. He laughs. “Well, I think we should get going, my friend. Hop on!” I jump onto the bike, hanging onto Medius. The cavern collapses behind us as we drive out, causing the ground to shake. Luckily, it is night, so all the reporters and people went home. We ride off, taking less busy roads back to my flat. As we get closer, my armor disappears, and the bike loses its smoke.

~~~

Chapter 7: Fiery Tempers

Summary:

Another new character, Chris, and his Guardian, Marthus, are introduced. Chris is Matt's best friend, and is pretty much like a brother to them.

Tired, I finally come home after a long day of school, tossing my backpack onto the floor in my bedroom. I kick my shoes off and turn on the PlayStation to play some Far Cry 4. I play for an hour or so before I grow tired, so I turn it off and curl up on the couch. Soon, sleep takes over my mind.

I’m running in a forest, something stomping after me. I glance behind me, seeing only a black, tar like figure. It’s gaining on me. Pushing myself to my absolute limits, I sprint until I find a rocky nook to hide under. The catch, though, the nook was bigger than I thought it was, and I fell deep inside a small cave. “At least I got away from that blob..” I mutter under my breath. Suddenly, a small campfire ignites behind me. I flip around, to see another dark figure sitting there, the light reflecting off of its face. It has messy gray hair, and orange, glowing eyes. It’s clothing is shredded, the remains of a hoodie hanging off of its shoulders, and holey pants cover its legs. On its feet are well worn boots, fingerless gloves covering its knuckles. It looks up at me with a sneer, showing its sharp, jagged teeth. “So I’m supposed to be your Guardian? Tch. I’ve seen better. I’m Marthus, by the way.” The figure says, leaning back against the cave wall. “You’re a what?” I ask, still trying to process all that he said.
“Didn’t you hear me the first time? I’m your Guardian, dingus.”
“Some Guardian you are.”
“Ah, I like the attitude! Keep it up, and we might just get along.”
“So you like me now?”
“Somewhat. I thought you’d be more wimpy like my brother, Mordeus. I guess looks aren’t everything.”
“You have a brother?”
“Four. I’m the second oldest.”
“Gotcha. So why am I here? I swear it was just a few minutes ago I was sleeping, and now I’m in this cave.”
“I summoned you here, so it wouldn’t be a huge shock if we met in person. This cave also prevents you from running away from me.” Marthus says with a smirk. I plop down opposite of him by the fire, the warmth enveloping me. “What is your name? I forgot to ask through all this explaining.”
“Chris.”
Marthus scoffs. “Cute.” He says sarcastically.
“Hmm.”
“What? You don’t like my sarcasm? I thought you would be the sarcastic type like Medius.”
“I do.”
“Doesn’t seem like it~ you also don’t seem like a man of many words!”
“Just send me home.” I grumble. Marthus stands up. “All you gotta do is wake up, ya twit.” He gives me a pinch on the neck. “Ow!”

I sit up in a cold sweat. “Guardian?” My eyes widen. ‘I wonder how they would react to this…’ I grab my phone and shoot a message to one of my close friends.
“Hey. You know your obsession with The Guy, right?”
After a few minutes, they respond. “Oh piss off. It’s not an obsession.”
“You made a doll of him.”
“So? He helps with my PTSD and suicidal thoughts.”
“I met one of his brothers in a dream.”
“What. You’re kidding.”
“Nope. He’s kind of a jerk honestly. He also has firey, orange eyes.”
It takes a few minutes for them to respond. “You met Marthus?” My eyes look at the screen in disbelief. “How did you know that?!” They send a picture with them and another figure similar to Marthus next to them. “Morbus.” I fall off the couch in shock. I race to get my shoes on and grab my car keys, flying out the front door to my car. I try my best to not speed as I drive over to Matt’s house.

Morbus is standing outside, waiting for me. His red eyes look to be filled with surprise and concern. He goes to grab Matt, and they both pile into my car, Morbus taking the back seat, and Matt taking shotgun. Morbus guides us to somewhere more private, so we can talk without anyone overhearing us.
“So you met Marthus in a dream?” Morbus asks me. “Yeah.”
“Describe what happened in that dream.” Morbus demands with urgency in his voice. “Hey. Give him some space, Morbus. He just woke up from a nap to have his world change.” Matt pipes in calmly.
“Yeah. I apologize. I’m just excited to hear about another one of my brothers. It tells me that my two youngest could be awake as well.”
“You’re good.” I describe what happened in my dream, starting with the forest chase. Morbus and Matt listen with increasing interest. When I finish, they both look at each other, as if they’re having a telepathic conversation, based off of their facial expressions changing. Morbus asks me if there was any way of knowing where I was specifically, to which I said no. A voice enters my head that makes me jump. ‘Morbus is with you?! Why didn’t you mention that you were friends with someone who knew my older brother?!’ I respond out loud, “I didn’t know that they were a pair! I just thought it was an obsession!”
‘Hmph. Well, we’re like those two. You’re an Elemental. I’m your Guardian.’
Morbus’s voice enters my head, like we’re in a phone call. ‘Marthus. Where are you.’
‘Why should you care, brother?’ Marthus spits. Morbus grumbles. I try to break the mental link from those two, not wanting to hear an argument between two beings I know hardly anything about, but Matt butts in. ‘You two. Shut it. Marthus. Where are you?’
‘Ah, I take it this is your little partner, Morbus?’ He says with some humor in his voice. ‘Yes. I care about them quite a bit.’
Marthus’s laughter fills my mind.
I yell at him, “Where are you?!” Marthus laughs harder. I slam my fist against the dashboard of my car, startling Matt. Morbus grumbles. “Marthus. Tell us where you are.” ‘Nah. I don’t feel like it.’ He responds with sarcasm. ‘Besides, brother. You already know where I am. Come find me with your little Elemental friend.’
‘Fine.’ “Alright, little one. Let’s go find my jerk brother.” He turns his attention to me. “Chris, you said your dream was in a forest, like in the mountains, right?”
“Yeah. I hid under a rock that turned out to be a little cave. That’s where Marthus was sitting.”
“We need something a little more specific. Obviously it’s going to be in this area.” Morbus asks Matt, “Maybe we should go look in the same area we camped out in?”
‘I’m right behind you.’ Marthus says.
We all turn around and jump when we see him standing right behind my car.

I get out of the car, Morbus and Matt following suit. Morbus and Marthus embrace, Morbus saying with a chuckle, “You’re a jerk.”
“Yet you still love me.”
“You’re my brother. I can’t not love you.”
“Aww, cute.” Matt says, and the two turn and look at them, both with an eyebrow raised. We all burst out laughing, this time out of genuine humor. Marthus reaches his hand out, and we shake hands. “I’m not as mean as I seem. I guess you could say all of this was a little test, and you passed. I like you. We’ll make a great team.” He says with a smile. Matt kind of mumbles to Morbus, “They are quite alike if you think about it. Chris messes with me all the time, and he kind of has a temper.”
“You have quite the temper too, little one.”
Marthus overhears the two. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Fiery tempers.” Morbus says simply. Both Marthus and I give him the same exact deadpan look. Morbus and Matt both laugh. “See Morbus? I told you!” “Yes you did.”
“Alright lovebirds. Let’s get moving.” Marthus teases, which instantly shuts Morbus and Matt up. We all pile in my car once again, this time heading home. “So how exactly am I going to hide you from my parents?” I ask Marthus.
“You won’t have to. I’ll explain everything, and if I need to, I can stay out of sight.”
“I have dogs too, you know. They’ll probably find you.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Alright.”

The rest of the car ride was silent for the most part, until Matt flicked Marthus in the ear, dared by Morbus. We all laugh again at Marthus’s reaction, which was him jumping almost a foot out of his seat, and whipping around and flicking both Matt and Morbus on the forehead. After a little while, everyone but me was asleep, Marthus quietly snoring away in the front seat, his face pressed against the window. Watching those three sleep makes me really sleepy. Luckily, I’m pulling off the freeway to head to my street. Still paying attention to the road, I reach behind me and fluff Matt’s hair, their head resting on the back of Marthus’s seat. I continue to run my fingers through their hair as I drive down the final stretch to my home. Just for fun, I drift around the final turn and pull into my driveway. I chuckle to myself before waking everyone up. Matt must have been sleeping the deepest out of the three, because they kinda looked out of it when they woke up. “I’ll get them.” Morbus says to me, picking Matt up and carrying them to the front door. “Morbus has always been the caring one. He may look hard on the outside, and a little mean, but once you get to know him and he warms up to you, he’s really nice.” Marthus says to me, some sleepiness still left in his voice. “What are your other brothers like?” I ask out of curiosity. “Well, Medius is about as sarcastic as I am. We’re both jokesters, just I have more of a temper than he does. Mordeus is very quiet and shy. She only speaks when spoken to. She also has great manners. Midus, oh Midus. He is so innocent compared to us. He has such a kind soul. He kind of does have a temper, but only when he can’t take anything anymore. And if he does snap, he instantly feels remorse for blowing up on someone. It’s adorable.” Marthus smiles. “Midus sounds a lot like Matt!” I say and Morbus replies, “I know, right? I’ve said that too!”

We walk inside my home, my three dogs barking at us as usual. My parents aren’t home, which they usually are by now. ‘They must be out on a date.’ I think to myself as we pile downstairs on the couch. Marthus takes the bean bag, Matt plops on the couch next to me, Morbus next to them. Matt and I play a few games together on the PS2 for a while, letting Morbus and Marthus both watch us until they fell asleep. Soon, Matt and I also grow tired, and we shut the console off. I decide to sleep on my bed, wanting to give everyone more room on the couch. I grab a blanket and drape it over Matt and Morbus, and another for Marthus. I curl up under the warm covers of my bed, and drift off to sleep, hearing Marthus’s snores in the background until I hear a “whump” and a grumble, coming from Morbus smacking his brother with a pillow. I laugh myself out of sleep, and it takes me a little while to actually fall asleep. Morbus carries Matt to my door and asks me if there are any other beds that can be used, and I show him where the guest room is. He nods and walks to that room, I’m guessing to get some more privacy and to not have to listen to Marthus snoring. Suddenly, Marthus crouches down by the side of my bed closest to the door. “Hey. We need to discuss something.” I grumble sleepily. “What?”
“We’re going to go on a journey soon. I don’t know how far we will go, but we need to find a shrine where you can unlock your elemental abilities and other goodies.”
“Like armor and weapons?”
“Yeah! How did you know that already?”
“Morbus and Matt told me about their journey.”
“Oh. Where do you think we would have to look?”
We hear Matt say from the guest room, “Southern Utah.” Marthus says, confused, “Where’s that?”
“South of where we are now, dingus.”
“We are in “Utah”?”
“Yep.” I pull up a map of the state, to show Marthus the area where we are, and the area we will be going. I also show him some pictures of the red rocks and the canyons down there. I also mention how much warmer it is down there than it is up here, especially during the spring and summer. “I like it! Let’s go!” Marthus says, jumping up excitedly and going to walk out the front door. “Matt and I still have school. You need to wait a little while before we go.”
“We don’t have time though. Corruption doesn’t stop for school.”
“Can it wait for me to get some sleep though?”
“Maybe. Get some sleep. I’ll figure out our route and what days we will be gone. I guess Matt and Morbus could get your school stuff unless you wanted them to come with us.”
“That’s up to those two though.”
“I’ll go talk to Morbus once he wakes up.” Marthus pats me on the shoulder and goes back to the couch. We all snooze away until my mom comes home.
“CHRISTOPHER! WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!”
I sigh inwardly. ‘Ah, crap.’

Notes:

Since I have been copying the original story over to here, it has given me the opportunity to re-read and edit the story, clearing up any mistakes I may have made or changes that I didn't implement in the earlier chapters. At some point, I may even add to the first few chapters! I hope to have more and more people reading this in the future. For those who have read this, thank you! It's a bit difficult to get all that's in my imagination through the keyboard, but I'm glad about how this is turning out so far!

Chapter 8: Who's Iron Man?

Summary:

Matt summons their armor and flies home from Chris's house. Chris and Marthus plot their path to the stone temple that suddenly erupted from the ground in a very popular National Park.

“Hey, little one. It’s time to wake up. We need to head home.”
“I don’t want to Morbus…. This is home….”
“I don’t understand.”
“I feel like I actually belong here.”
“Ah. Well, let’s get moving.” Morbus picks me up and places me on my feet. I flick my wrist and check the time. ‘20:15.’ I gather my things and go to ask Chris for a ride, but Morbus stops me. “This would be a good moment to try out your armor.” He whispers to me. I look up at him. “But I haven’t been able to find it.”
“Have you tried?”
“...Not really…”
“You give up too easily, little one.”
“I know…” I sigh.
“Let’s try it. Chris’s parents know about the whole Elemental thing. We could try out in the backyard.”
“Alright, I’ll try again if it makes you happy.”
Chris looks at me funny when we walk out in the backyard. I shrug at him, as if to say, “it wasn’t my idea.” Morbus stands in front of me when we make it out to the lawn. He tells me to feel for something different from my elements. Something more malleable, yet solid. Now that he mentions it, I do feel something different. I try to grasp it, but it’s kind of slippery. Morbus places a hand on my chest. I feel a burning sensation radiating from his hand, making me flinch when it becomes a searing pain. “Morbus, stop!” I cry out. “Make me stop. Use your elements.” He says, sternly, pressing his hand harder against my chest, his hand beginning to glow. Clenching my teeth and breathing hard, I feel anger build up inside of me from the frustration. I feel my power grow with the anger. Focusing on Morbus’s hand, I release the pressure within, causing a large icy rock to jut out of the ground, launching Morbus in the air. Marthus saw his brother go skyward, and he laughed. “So long, brother!” Morbus begins his descent, his speed increasing. I let the pressure build up once again within me, this time not fueled by my frustration. I release a little cushion of air beneath where Morbus’s estimated landing zone would be. While I hold it in place, Morbus hits the cushion, slowing his fall, and he lands on his feet with no damage done.

The rock recedes back into the ground. Morbus laughs and embraces me. “I didn’t think you had that in you!” He exclaims with glee. “Just know, little one, that you can’t let your anger gain control of you. It’s not a healthy place to start with developing your abilities.”
“Anger makes things less precise, right?”
“Yep. Now let’s work on that armor of yours.”
I close my eyes, letting everything I sense on the outside diminish. I bring my focus inward. This time, I clench that little feeling with a tight grip, not letting it slip from my grasp. Ignoring the little gasp that Morbus let out, I bring that feeling in, towards my core. The ground shakes. The wind picks up and becomes cold, feeling like icy daggers against my skin. I yell, from the increasing strength within. The yell sounds like a mix of a wolf’s howl, my voice, and Morbus’s. Breathing deep, I bring the strength inward, as if capturing it within my soul, my body a container. I’m enveloped in a dark cloak of fabric, covering everything but my head. Soon, what feels like metal materializes over everything but my joints, leaving some moving parts over my abdomen and back. A helmet folds out over my head, and a mask slides into place. Finally, the visor folds forward and down, covering my head. White spreads across the surfaces of the metal, and blue and green stripes etch themselves into various places on the armor. I hear the hiss of vents on the sides of my chest. I feel various flaps moving around, and aerodynamic fins forming along parts of my armor. I look up at Morbus with confidence. He nods back at me with a smile. I bring my arms up and flick them downwards. Two long armblades extend from my forearms. I shove my arms forward, then back in a quick motion, making the blades extend well past my hands. In their full length, the blades extend about 14 inches past my hand, and the other ends go almost to my shoulders. I see everyone around me, all of them awestruck. Morbus grins with pride. “I’m so proud of you!” He gives me the biggest hug that he could give me. He suddenly throws me back, and with the help of the armor, I correct myself midair, and drag one of my blades along the ground, slowing me down to a stop. I look up at him, and he runs at me. I launch myself forward, bringing the blades around to take a big swing at Morbus. He throws up a dummy in his place, and I slice it clean in thirds. I whip around and take another slice, “killing” another dummy flying at me. Taking another spin and using my momentum, I shove the end of one of my blades through a dummy’s chest, then fully extend it, folding out the little blades on the end, and tear it out back through the dummy, shredding it. I throw my blade at Morbus when he’s distracted by making more dummies, and he catches it with rock he pulls from the ground. He looks at the blade, then me, then the blade again. It’s point is positioned precariously at his chest, where his heart would be. He grabs the blade, and it soars back to my arm.

The blades and my helmet retract. We both laugh. “That was amazing, little one!” He ruffles my hair. He hops onto my back. I’m surprised at how I don’t collapse under his weight. I shoot a little salute to Chris and Marthus, and my helmet forms back on my head. I crouch down a little, and we blast off, back to where I live, as I hold thin blades in my hands, the points of which are positioned so my arms take on a more aerodynamic shape. We stop a little ways down the street, and my armor disappears. We walk home, Morbus’s arm over my shoulders. “Now I’m kind of like Iron Man!” I laugh. “Who’s Iron Man?” Morbus asks, and I give him a huge lesson on Marvel.

~~~

“Marthus, what did we just watch?”
“You just watched your best friend unlock their Elemental abilities and fly off with their Guardian on their back.”
“Am I supposed to be able to do that?”
“Yes. But you will have different abilities; you control different elements.”
“I don’t think I can. Are you sure I’m the right person for this?”
“I am very sure. I wouldn’t have come to you in a dream if you weren’t one of the Elementals. I can even see your glowing aura. You are one of them.”
Marthus looks at me with concern, and brings me close to him in a hug. “What’s the hug for?” I ask.
“I’m trying to help. You can do this.”
“Thanks for trying, Marthus. But I don’t think I’m the right person for this.”
“Yes you are, Chris. I know school doesn’t worry you that much, since you don’t have any homework it seems. Plus, you don’t even enjoy the current job you have. This will be well worth the time, even if now it doesn’t seem like Corruption is much of a danger.”
“Do you really think I can save the world?”
“Yes. You won’t be alone in this journey, either.”
I sense an emotional tightening in my chest. I gaze out the back door window, zoning out. Doubt fills my mind as I try to process everything that happened today.

~~~

When Chris zones out, I see all the doubt that fills his eyes. Frustrated, I walk back downstairs and flop onto the beanbag. Meditating, I shuffle through my mind, trying to think of what I could do to help my partner out. Chris comes back downstairs while I’m rifling through my thoughts. He sits next to me. Suddenly, the idea comes. I reach out and grab his face, which startles him. I take my other hand and place his hands against my face. Soon, both of us feel like we are spinning quickly, like we are turning in multiple directions while being sucked in to each other. My mind is screaming at me, resisting another presence. I suppress that mental alarm, and after what feels like forever, we are one - mentally and physically. I see with his eyes, he sees with mine. Chris is panicking; I can read it in his thoughts. ‘Hey, hey. Calm down. You’re safe.’
‘What did you do?!’
‘I melded with you. We are one being now.’
Chris’s mental space is filled with confusion and processing. I reach out internally, trying to calm him down and reassure him, but all it does is make the situation worse. Sighing, we stand up. I walk around the house, getting a feel for having stronger senses and strength, letting Chris get used to having me in his head at the same time. He finally stops panicking and thinks, ‘This is kind of like having a symbiote from Venom!’
‘Venom?’
Chris audibly sighs and begins to explain who Venom is, and I begin to understand. ‘So I’m like a symbiote, just more independent?’ I ask, finally getting it. ‘Exactly.’ Chris responds, getting used to us being one. We both relax. ‘By the way, your elements are earth, stone, and fire. It helped that we melded.’
‘Huh. Alright then.’
‘Are you still having doubts?’
‘When I think about it, no.’
‘Good. Let’s go figure out how we are going to go to southern Utah.’

We become separate once more. Chris leans back against the wall, bracing himself. “Dizzy?” I ask, feeling the same way. “Yeah.” He’s all sweaty, as if the meld had exerted him like a long run. The frustration and doubt we both felt finally dissipated. We smile at each other before walking up to the kitchen to use Chris’s dad’s laptop to pull up a map and directions to our destination. We see an article pop up about that area that talks about a weird stone temple showing up out of nowhere, seeming to have come out of the ground. We exchange a look of surprise, as we read further into the article. “Looks like there are lots of tourists around the shrine, so that means we are going to have to sneak around them and security guards somehow.” I say to my partner. “We also need to find a way to get there, since we don’t have the armor yet, and I don’t know if I want to drive for that long. Gas is going to cost us quite a bit.”
“How many hours would it take to get to our destination?” I ask, pulling up a map website, and putting Zion National Park in as the destination. “Almost five hours?!” We both exclaim simultaneously. “So, Marthus. Do you know how to drive legally so we don’t get a ticket? Because I am not driving all five hours.”
“Nope. What about Matt? I bet they’d be willing to help.”
“But they also have school, and they’re more worried about it than I am. Plus, we both have jobs.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “What are we supposed to do then? I doubt your parents will want to take a road trip on such short notice, but we need to get to that shrine before Corruption takes it over. It may seem slow, but it spreads like a plague.”

Suddenly, his mom walks into the kitchen, startling us when she asks, “What are you two talking about?”
“A road trip.” Chris states simply.
“What about school?”
“That’s what I was trying to explain to Marthus.”
They both look at me.
I defend myself. “I can’t control who becomes an Elemental! I can’t control Corruption itself either.”
Chris gets an idea. “Well, I have most of the week off next week. Could we maybe wait until then?”
“Isn’t there a holiday of some sort during that time?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“True. Maybe we could leave Thanksgiving night, or early on Black Friday.”
“Could Matt and Morbus maybe help us out?”
“Matt works on Black Friday for most of the afternoon. I bet Morbus will be going with them to help out if he needs to.”
I grumble some more. Chris’s mom offers to help us out, to which I gladly accept. Chris tries to reject the offer, saying he doesn’t want her to have to drive all the way back by herself, since we would have our mode of transportation. We finally decide on a plan, which consists of Chris driving for as long as he can, then we meld together and I take over, just in case we get pulled over and we have to be identified with Chris’s license. Chris and I high-five each other - after I learn what the heck that is - once we put our plan into place. I help Chris pack his things and load up his car, and we begin our journey the morning after “Thanksgiving.” We decide to just drive the car back from Zion, instead of trying to worry about what we would do with it. “I figure I should tell you some things about what your abilities might be. One thing that is for sure, is that every Elemental has some kind of creature or beast that they can summon and morph into, depending on what elements they possess.” I grab Chris’s attention at the mention of the creatures.
“So, I can shapeshift into any creature I want?”
“Not quite. For example, an Elemental’s animal/creature is set once they discover their abilities and the other goodies.”
“How will I find out what it is?”
“You will feel it inside. Since you have stone, earth, and fire, you’re going to have a stronger, and hotter creature inside of you. Your creature also determines the presence you bring into an area.”
“Whoa. So only I can know what it is?”
“Yup.”
“Huh.”
We continue the trip, playing Disturbed and other music we both enjoy; to my surprise, we have a very similar music taste. I enjoy most of what Chris likes to listen to.

I fall asleep for most of the trip, waking up when Chris is telling me to take over. We meld, this time the dizziness and vacuum feeling isn’t as strong as it was the first time we melded. I take over the wheel, with a little bit of Chris’s help along the way, until I get the hang of it. I drive for about another hour, until we make it to the gate of the national park. Chris helps me out with this part, since I don’t quite understand Earth currency. We make it into the park, and we try to navigate to where the temple is - which isn’t too difficult to find, because it suddenly shoots up a bright, royal blue beam of light in our presence.

Chapter 9: Demons, Cheetahs, and Amphitheres

Summary:

The final two Elementals are introduced in this chapter, and it seems that they were the first to discover their abilities~

I slam my fist into the Corruption threatening to take over my older brother. The cold hurts my bare fist on impact, the Corruption hardening itself like corn starch mixed with water. Wincing, I shake the pain out of my hand. Midus tries his best to assist me, but the Corruption seems stronger than it used to be. Using the most strength that I can muster, I tear the dark gunk off of my brother. Exhausted, I fall down on one knee. Cole, my brother, asks if I’m okay. “I’m fine. We need to figure out why the Corruption is suddenly becoming stronger.”
I let my dark purple armor retract. I build up a stone wall that surrounds us, protecting all four of us. Mordeus says, hushed, “I think the other Elementals have been found. I can sense my older brothers. Two of them are somewhat nearby. One is very far away - possibly on the other side of this planet.”
All of us fall silent and look at Mordeus. “We need to find your brothers.” Cole says urgently.
“Skott, do you think you can navigate us to where we need to go?” Midus asks me.
“I believe so. But, I cannot carry everyone. We would need to go separately.”
Mordeus speaks up again, which is unusual for her. Our eyes widen as Mordeus and Midus tell us about a hidden ability that we did not know we had. Cole and I look at each other, his expression being awe, mine being a grin. I tear down the wall, and we follow our Guardians’ instructions on summoning this ability. Cole seems to have found it in himself before I do, because there’s a bright light before a large amphithere appears before me. Its scales are primarily cobalt blue in color, with some scales teal, and others maroon and white. Its wings are primarily maroon, with the “fingers” covered in teal, fading to blue, scales. The head is sleek and aerodynamic, allowing for less drag whilst flying. Its fins follow the same coloration as its wings. Determined, I allow my power to transform myself into a cheetah. My fur follows the coloration of my armor, primarily white, with some purple and brown spots, according to my elements, air, stone, water, and gravity. I discovered gravity later on, because apparently Elementals can evolve their abilities and gain new elements. Cole’s elements are similar to mine, since we are related. His elements are stone, water, fire, and lightning. Our auras kind of match our elemental colors, mine being purple, and his being teal. Midus and I call Cole “Thor,” ever since he gained his lightning element.

Midus climbs onto my back as Mordeus climbs onto Cole’s, and we set off, following Mordeus’s direction. I keep my eyes on the blue amphithere, staying steady as he weaves back and forth through the sky. We do take breaks every once in a while, as we are travelling from Michigan to what seems like a more mountainous region of the United States. We finally pass through the Rocky Mountains and I instantly recognize the red rocks of southern Utah. Cole lands in front of me and we don our armor after returning to human form. Mordeus’s yellow eyes widen when she sees one of her brothers. Midus follows suit, his blue eyes squinting to see if he’s just hallucinating. They both run over to their orange-eyed brother and hug him. Cole and I watch from a distance, perched on a red rock. We spot another Elemental standing there, watching the interaction. “Looks like those two were just about to find their shrine.” I whisper over to my elder brother. He nods his head in the direction of the newbie Elemental, and we slide down the rock and walk over to him. “Hello there!” Cole says, accidentally startling everyone. Midus pipes up with a large grin, “This is my brother, Marthus! He’s kind of a grump sometimes, but he’s cool!” Marthus nods at us in greeting, his orange eyes glowing intensely from behind the cowl of his tattered hood. His Elemental partner walks up to us, looking us up and down, then tilting his head slightly. We stare right back at him, not saying a word. Cole and I decide to introduce ourselves with nicknames, but keeping our identities secret, just in case. “I am Thor, Elemental of stone, water, fire, and lightning.” Cole begins.
Marthus’s eyes widen in curiosity. “Lightning, huh?”
“We discovered that our elements can evolve. I’m Gravitas, by the way. Elemental of air, stone, water, and gravity.” I add, my mask hiding my smirk.
Mordeus observes everyone silently, as usual. She mumbles something to her older brother. He then turns to us and says that him and his partner need to get going to their shrine. We decide to escort them, Midus using his abilities to make us invisible so the six of us can get to the shrine without being spotted. Once we get there, I float Marthus and his companion up to the roof of the shrine, just behind the top, where no tourists can see them. I hear Marthus’s voice come to me through the mental link I have with Midus.
‘Thank you for your assistance. We will meet again soon. Go find Morbus.’
‘MORBUS?!’ Midus yells mentally, clearly excited. All of us wince. Marthus laughs. ‘You’re too adorable, little brother.’ He and his Elemental disappear into the stony temple, the beam of light from it ceasing. We hear the tourists’ voices raise in curiosity, and we feel the ground rumble before they do. Retreating, the tourists begin to panic as the magnitude of the quake grows, and the temple crumbles. We take on our creature forms again, still shielded by Midus’s mirror effect.

I begin the run forward, trailing behind Cole, the rubble exploding behind us. A mighty, demonic roar bellows out. Midus glances over his shoulder. “Oh wow. There is a giant, flaming demon running after us, with Marthus on its back!”
“They’re going to follow us. Give them some sort of signal.”
“You know they can see us anyway, right? I don’t need to decloak us.”
“Alrighty then.”
The demon veers off in a different direction though. Then a dark gunmetal colored car screeches out, making more tourists panic, and some police officers follow behind. “Uhh, Midus!”
“I got it!” Soon, the car disappears, and the officers’ cars screech to a halt, their drivers stepping out and scratching their heads in confusion.
We continue to run northward, guided by the mountains to the east of us. We run around the large populated areas, just in case. Mordeus lets us know that we are very close to Morbus’s location. We stop when we get to a high school. All six of us feel dread fill our veins when we hear the familiar screech of Corruption. Uncloaking, we ride into the football stadium on the east side of the school, to see Morbus and a white-clad Elemental fighting off the black gunk. Together, we all yell out to Morbus in unison, making the fighting pair and the Corruption halt, and look over in our direction. We march onto the field, our weapons materializing. Cole’s katana crackles with electricity, my bow loaded with a flaming arrow. Marthus and his companion, now nicknamed Demon, stay a few feet behind us. Demon struggles to summon his weapon of choice. Soon, Demon blasts forward, weilding a giant hammer with a yell, his burnt-looking and bulky black and brown armor glowing orange, like it was made out of magma from the ground. We assist Morbus and his Elemental in wiping out the Corruption, but it looks like it keeps coming back with a vengeance. Soon, we are backed into a circle, surrounded. I get to have a closer look at the unknown Elemental next to me. Their armor is primarily white, with a black undersuit. There are green and blue stripes that run angularly along the shins, forearms, shoulders, gloves, chest, and abdomen. I guess that this Elemental controls earth, ice, and air, based off of the angular and blocky components of the armor. The helmet looks to be aerodynamic, with little fins streaking back from the sides, and an angled mask covers the mouth, with a narrow, green visor coming over the top. It also looks somewhat like the helmet of a Titan.

All of us decide to meld. We feel each other’s souls, emotions, and senses. It’s like we all are one. We split off in different directions, running at the Corruption. Cole’s katana turns into a whip, and with a flick of his wrist, it flails around all of us, electrocuting the black gunk and evaporating it. “Just like Thor!” I exclaim to our allies, and they laugh. I dive out of the way as a giant spike of ice and earth shoots out of the ground, impaling and freezing many Corrupted beings. “Whoa! Was that you?!” I ask the white-clad and hooded Elemental, to which they nod in response, not saying a word. Midus rings out in my mind, ‘Morbus is the best big brother ever! I bet he taught them that!’ I chuckle. It seems like we are defeating the Corruption with greater ease now, but they keep coming. It’s like they knew that we would be meeting here. Once again, we are surrounded and backed into a corner. I look up into the sky and see something glowing. I squint up at it while Cole builds up a shield around us. It’s a large, flaming phoenix, with another hooded figure mounted on its back, yelling like a cowboy. The phoenix lands in the middle of the Corruption and takes the form of another Elemental, this time with black armor that has flames moving over the armor, and wisps of wind gust over its surface, before they etch themselves into the black metal and rock. “I didn’t think that we would come together so soon, brother. This is kind of concerning, to be honest.”
My brother responds, “But at least we know our allies are alive, right?”
“True. Let’s go assist him.”
We split from our Guardians, and the four hooded figures run up to their brother. They all embrace. I sense a power and unity coursing through all of us. A Corrupted scout begins to retreat among the mess. I fire an arrow, striking it through the chest, killing it instantly. Morbus says with a smile, “I suggest that we save the introductions and hugging until after the battle.”
His green-eyed brother replies, “Well, duh. Let’s wipe these guys out!”
“Medius wait, we need a strategy-” Morbus tries to tell him, but is interrupted by Medius hooting and zipping around the dark gunk on his motorcycle, firing away at the Corruption with his guns. I hear a long and heavy sigh coming from both Morbus and Marthus, and together, the other four summon their bikes and weapons, and begin to corral Corruption into the middle of the field.

The white-clad Elemental begins a charge into the middle, flicking out a pair of large armblades. Cole and I summon our weapons, the two other fiery Elementals, Demon and Phoenix, whip out a giant hammer and a large axe. We all yell out with a battle cry, as we cut down the black blob, making it disintegrate into nothingness with the help of our Guardians. The last of the sickly, yellow, glowing, tar-like gunk disappears, and all of us sit on the ground, exhausted. We all introduce ourselves, using our nicknames. Midus and his brothers and sister all catch up on lost time with lots of hugs while we converse. When we get around to the unknown ice Elemental, they hesitate. “Have you not summoned your creature yet?” I ask, surprised. They seem to shrink a bit before replying in what sounds like shame a small “no..” Morbus butts in, overhearing his Elemental struggle. “What is it, little one?” He asks them, concern very obvious in his red eyes. He chuckles when they tell him about their situation. He places a hand on their chest, but is stopped short when Demon yells out, “More Corruption incoming!” We all stand back up, weapons at the ready. Morbus and his Elemental stay behind us, his hand still on their chest. His eyes widen. “Little one… you have two beasts inside of you. A titan, and a wolf.” All of us stop for a moment and look back at the pair, shocked. Our attention flicks back to the Corruption threatening to take over the whole high school. “I feel like that dude’s nickname should be “Fenrir.” What do you think, Skott?” Cole asks me, and I agree. Fenrir it is! I can sense the tumult inside of Fenrir, the titan and wolf ready to show their faces, and the anger within them threatening to boil over.

~~~

Chapter 10: Home Run!

Summary:

The team decides to have fun battling the Corruption by turning it into a game. Marthus also doesn't quite understand what non-binary means, and what not to do with Matt. There's also a new foe introduced~

I tell the others to go on without us. I concentrate on the howling roar going on inside of my little human. I pull them close to my chest, trying to calm them down. They look up at me. “Morbus.. they need us. We can’t stay behind! I gotta get in there.” I shake my head. “Not so fast, little one. You don’t quite have the strength yet.” They run off to help everyone anyway, saying, “I don’t care. They need our help; I’m going to give them as much help as I can. I give up too easily on simple things. I can’t do that anymore.”
I let them go, as there’s no point in restraining them further. They’ve been restrained enough in their life. I watch them from a distance, impressed by their movements as they use their momentum to guide their blades into each enemy, flicking, swishing, and slicing away. Shaking my head with a small smile, I finally rush into the battle, whipping out my shotguns. Once again, all of us are back to back, in the heat of battle. All of a sudden, Matt yells, “YEET!” and a screeching, disintegrating, corrupted person flies over my head and hits the ground with a sickening thump. All of us burst out laughing. Medius gives them a high five, and they “yeet” another few corrupted blobs. I assist the two by shooting the Corruption as it soars by. We decide to make this a game. One of us pitches the dark blobs to our fellow Elementals, and they use their weapons to hit them in to the sky. “Home run!!” Matt exclaims after they hit some Corruption really far. They run around us, laughing. Chris manages to do the same with his hammer, making the Corruption he struck explode on impact. Soon, all the Corruption is gone from the area once and for all. Midus comes up to Matt and I with a huge smile. Matt runs up to him and hugs him tight. Midus picks them up happily. I hug both of them. “You two are the only two people that can keep me sane through all this chaos.” Mentally I tell Midus, ‘If the day comes where I pass on, you must take care of my little one. They are a lot like you, so it should be easy to take care of them in my absence. I love you, brother. I’m leaving this order to you, and you only.’
He replies, ‘Anything for you, Morbus!’

We sit down together on the bleachers, discussing how we are going to keep the Corruption at bay. Matt gets an idea that each of us, that are able, should be stationed at different areas of the world. Since Matt and Chris are the youngest and still in school, they will take North and Central America. Yaroslav takes Russia and Europe, Thor takes Asia and Australia, and Gravitas takes the Pacific Islands and South America. “Who’s going to take Africa?” Yaroslav asks. Thor volunteers. “I’ll take Asia and Africa, including the Middle East. Gravitas can take Australia and New Zealand, since he’s already zoned in the Islands.”
Matt shakes their head slightly. “But we should be placed where our abilities are strongest.”
“I already put that into account.”
I chime in, amused, “Well then, little one. Wouldn’t you be zoned in Antarctica?” They laugh. “That area would be too cold for Corruption to survive, right?”
I nod my head in agreement. “Corruption can’t survive in any large extreme. If it’s too cold, it’ll freeze. If it’s too hot, it burns. If it is too dry, it evaporates. But, that doesn’t mean that it can’t corrupt the flora or fauna. It adapts off of the organism’s tolerances. It could corrupt a penguin or a fish in the Antarctic, for example, and survive longer than it would by itself. There’s still a chance it will die off though. It spreads through every living thing for its survival.” I look at everyone’s expressions, making sure they’re all still listening before continuing. “Here’s the catch. Only Elementals and their Guardians can see Corruption within living things. It can manifest itself as anger, depression, insanity, etcetera.”
Everyone looks up at me with varying expressions of surprise.
“People who wage war willy-nilly just for fun are filled with Corruption. People that attack others to create chaos are imbued with Corruption. Those people are kinds that let the Corruption take over their minds, bodies, even their souls. They are very dangerous. Even as an Elemental, you can be taken over by Corruption. When an Elemental lets their anger or other emotions control them and their abilities, that’s Corruption trying to take over.” I turn to Matt. “Little one, that is why I said earlier on that you need to control your anger, and not let it control you. Yes, it is powerful and persuading, but you need to control it now so it cannot control you later. Anger is not precise, it is like a large explosion. Remember when you slammed the ground out of anger and ice and rock sprayed around you in large spikes, erupting out of the ground? Compare that to when you made a controlled attack by essentially throwing a rocky ice spire out of the ground towards the enemy during our last battle.” Marthus chimes in, “You can use your anger to your advantage though, if you do it right. Use the adrenaline to give you that added edge in a battle as a last resort. I emphasize last resort heavily. If you do this too much, you will quickly become worn out. Keep that thought in mind.” Medius nudges me with his elbow. “I think we should be getting out of here.” I agree. Medius slaps me on the upper back before saying goodbye and getting ready to leave. Yaroslav follows suit, giving both Matt and I a hug before changing his form into a phoenix and flying away westward, Medius on his back. Midus and Mordeus both stand up, their Elementals doing the same. Mordeus gently hugs me, and I rub her back. “Until we meet again, sister.”
“It is good to know that you’re okay, brother. See you again.”
She and Thor depart.

Finally, Midus comes up to me, his eyes a little watery. His voice cracks when he speaks. “Morbus… I missed you so much…”
That tight feeling in my chest rears its head again. “I’m not going anywhere this time.” I hug him tight. I hear a little sniffle coming from him before he pulls away. ‘I cannot get over how alike he is to Matt…’ I think, looking between the two. Gravitas backs away, letting us have our privacy. Matt comes up to Midus, and gives him a huge hug. Midus grins, then picks up my human and spins them around in a giant embrace that squeezes the air out of Matt’s lungs. When he finally lets go, Matt wheezes as they try to regain their breath. I chuckle at the both of them. “I wish we could spend more time together, but we have a long road ahead of us to traverse.”
Midus scratches the back of his head, saying, “Maybe once we hit the end of that road then?”
“Definitely.”
Matt chimes in. “Saving the world huh?”
“Yes, little one. We are going to save the world. Or try to, at least.”
“So I would need to save you then?”
“Huh?”
Matt looks up at me with a soft smile. “You’re my world, Morbus.”
“AWWWWWWW!!!” I hear Midus exclaim, startling both Matt and I. “Midus, I thought you left already!” I say to him.
“Nope, I’m still here.” He says smugly.
“I think we should get going, Midus.” Gravitas says, impatience filtering through his tone. Midus whines, “But I haven’t seen my big brother in a bajillion years!” His Elemental raises an eyebrow and chuckles. They both leave, Midus summoning his motorbike and Gravitas summoning his mount. I turn back to Matt. “Did you really mean what you said earlier, little one?”
“Yep. You are more than just a mentor trying to fulfill his role. You are my protector; you are my Guardian. I care about you more than you know. If you died, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Chris and Marthus both clear their throats. “Are you two dorks done?” Marthus says with some attitude. “I thought you two left already as well.” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. Matt sneaks behind Chris, and begins to tickle him. They run off, Chris chasing behind. I see them wrestling in the field, Chris screaming when Matt gets the upper hand. Marthus yells at Chris, egging him on, “COME ON, WEAKLING! DON’T LET THEM TAKE YOU DOWN!” Chris yells back, “But I don’t want to hurt them!”
Marthus takes things too far when he yells, “You don’t want to be beaten by a girl do you?! GET ‘EM!!” My eyes widen when those words leave his mouth. In a split second, the air grows very cold, and Matt moved so fast to Marthus, it looks like they teleported. Their face is only inches away from Marthus’s, a steel cold glare piercing through Marthus’s smug smirk. I accidentally let out a small “oh shit” before Matt grabs Marthus’s collar, brings him so close to their face, the pair’s noses are touching, saying in a very dark tone, “Just because I was born with a uterus does not mean that I am weak, you twit.”
“Prove it.”
A split second later, Marthus is soaring over the field, very high in the sky. Matt yells up at him, “Is that weak enough for ya?!” And barks a laugh. Chris simply goes “huh.” When he looks upwards. Matt suddenly jumps up high in the air, catches Marthus, and throws him into the ground. Chris and I laugh. Matt lands on the ground, light on their feet, next to Marthus. Marthus coughs and says to Matt, “That was pretty strong, for a girl.” I rest my face in one of my hands and let out a long sigh. “Marthus, stop.” I grumble.
“What? It’s fun!”
“Well it’s not fun for Matt, so stop.”
All of a sudden, Matt comes out of nowhere, holding a stop sign. They give me the signal to not say anything as they sneak up behind my younger brother. They yell, “IT’S TIME TO STOP!” And smack Marthus in the back of the head with the stop sign. All of us, except Marthus, were laughing.

 

Marthus grumbles and rubs the back of his head. His fist flicks out and punches Matt in the gut, sending them flying across the field. Gracefully, they flip backwards and catch themselves, dragging one of their arm blades on the ground. Marthus scoffs. “Show off.” Matt’s head snaps up, their helmet sliding into place. Marthus stands tall, arms folded, as Matt dashes ahead at him, arms held behind. Before the two meet in a clash, I step in between them. “Both of you. Stop.” Matt slides to a stop next to me, and Marthus scoffs again. I smack him on the top of my head with the back of my hand; Marthus flinches away from me. “Go home with Chris, Marthus. Matt and I need to talk - alone.” Marthus grumbles and walks away with Chris. “Good thing they don’t have to go very far. Chris’s house isn’t very far from here.” Matt says as they wrap an arm around my waist, pulling me close. “I missed my brothers and sister, but it feels good to be alone again with my favorite little human.” I say, looking down at the white-clad Elemental snuggled up against me. We walk through the school, checking for Corruption. We also check on the students and adults there, making sure that they are okay. They were trapped in the school during the battle, when it began in the afternoon; it is dark outside now. Matt and I begin our venture home. I summon my motorbike, black and red vapors emanating from it. Matt wraps their arms around my waist when they sit down behind me, and away we went.

~~~

I gasp, trying to catch my breath when the Corruption finally lets go of me. Stumbling through the trees, I come out by a busy highway, almost getting hit by a car. Attempting to escape, I run away as fast as I can, trying not to fall into the path of traffic, but the Corruption grabs hold of me again, this time it’s grip even stronger. I cry out before I am engulfed, “BROTHERS! HELP ME!!” And I fall under the darkness’ control once more. Hatred, anger, fury. That’s all I feel building within me. They, my so-called “brothers” left me for dead. The Corruption healed me in its own sick way, making me stronger than I was before. It coursed through my veins, through my very being. It chose me to be one of its leaders, its right hand, its fist. Growling from the raw power, I clench and unclench my fists, and flex the many muscles in my body. I roll my head around, the joints in my neck popping. I sense my brother’s presence, and others. “Hmm… Looks like there are more of them~ Wrath. Come join me as we hunt these nuisances down.” I call out to my pupil, who is also imbued with Corruption’s strength. We let out a maniacal laughter, its sound mixed with our laughter and pure darkness. The plantlife around us withers, and it dies under our feet as we march forward, not caring about the traffic or the chaos that ensues when the humans see us. The Corruption protects us from their moving metal death boxes. The Corruption makes them join us. We are a collective - corrupt, foul, rotten. As we march, a black trail of Corruption stays behind in our wake, as if it was dripping from every pore. With a single scratch, Corruption flows in, like a disease. It feeds off of all kinds of negative emotions and qualities - depression, rage, grief. A loose mountain lion growls at us and pounces, only to be stopped and sucked in by the black tide. It now becomes my mount. It’s fur pale and grey in color, its veins turning dark and its eyes turning yellow as the Corruption takes over. It lets out a yowl, its voice filled with fury. My pupil joins me in summoning another mount, following behind me as we begin the hunt.

~~~

Chapter 11: Visions

Summary:

It has been a year since everyone saw each other last. Now, they all have to come back together after pieces of the same vision are shown to the Elementals and their Guardians.

“Morbus. Wake up.” I shake my protector urgently. He grumbles, “Not now, little one.” I shake him harder. “Morbus. I had a vision.” Mumbling, Morbus says, “Little one, I said not now… let’s get back to sleep. You can tell me about your vision later.”
“It was about Corruption.”
That woke Morbus up. He sat up quickly, almost knocking me off the bed. “Tell me. Now.”
“It was about another one like you, but older. They had a partner as well. Both of them are Corrupted, and they are coming to hunt us down.”
Morbus’s eyes go huge, his jaw dropping. “I didn’t think the king of Corruption himself could be one of my kind.”
“I don’t think he’s the leader of Corruption, he is only a general.”
“The situation was worse than I thought…” Morbus begins to pace back and forth through my room, stuck in his own thoughts. I reach out to him, and place all that I can remember from the vision into Morbus’s mind. He freezes. “There was another Elemental. I wonder if the Corruption somehow made our memories fade. I do not remember having an older brother.”
“I don’t think he’s related in any way except through species, Morbus.”
“That could also be true, little one. We need to let my brothers and sister know.”
Suddenly, my phone goes nuts with notifications from Chris.
‘Matt. Get Morbus over here NOW.’
‘Marthus and I had a vision about Corruption.’
Morbus and I look at each other, and we rush to get our everyday clothes on, Morbus stealing my Nebraska hoodie and putting on the shirt, pants, and boots I bought him. We run out of the door, practically diving into my car. The car jiggles a little as Morbus plops into the passenger seat, and I fumble as I try to put the key in the ignition and start it. Driving as safely as I can, and staying at the speed limit, I drive over to Chris’s home. Ignoring the three barking dogs, Morbus and I stand at the door after we knock. “This is very sudden, for how long it has been since that last battle we had with everyone.” I say to Morbus. “I expected this to happen suddenly. Why do you think I’ve been training you so hard this past year?” He replies.

The door finally opens to Marthus, standing there in his pajamas with very messy hair. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he tells us to head up to the kitchen. We walk in and the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes hit us, making my mouth water. I dash up the stairs, Morbus trailing behind, chuckling. I scare Chris and his family when I appear out of nowhere in the kitchen. Morbus peeks his head from around the corner behind me. I realize I forgot to leave Mini Morbus home when he falls out of my jacket when I whip it off. Morbus laughs. He talks in a high pitched voice when he picks the doll up, shaking its little fist, “You dropped me! How could you?!” I giggle and take the little plush from his hands, hugging it. Morbus pulls out a chair from the table for me, and pushes me back in when I sit down. He grabs a plate of food for both him and I. He gets me a stack of two pancakes, with syrup drizzled on top, with a few pieces of bacon on the side. He kisses the top of my head as he sets the plate in front of me and a glass of milk next to it. Morbus sits down next to me, and I get to see what he got. He took three pancakes, putting bacon and scrambled eggs in between them, topping it off with syrup and a little square of butter. He goes to dig in when I tell him to wait for Marthus, to which he grumbles, followed by his stomach gurgling. Chris and I talk a little bit while we wait for Morbus’s hot-headed little brother to come upstairs. Chris’s parents join in on the conversation, also asking Morbus questions about his kind and the Elementals. Marthus finally joins us, dressed and hair less messy than it was. He sets his plate filled with bacon and eggs mixed together on the table, then sits down. Morbus and Marthus look at each other, both smirking. Chris and I look at them curiously at their mental conversation. Suddenly, they both start shoveling their food into their mouths at a rapid pace. Chris and I shrug at each other and continue eating at a normal, civilized pace. Morbus slams his hands on the table when he finishes his food, Marthus letting out a loud belch when he finishes after Morbus. Marthus high-fives Morbus. “If I tried to eat that fast, I would puke!” I say to the two. After we all finish breakfast, we help clean up the table and the dishes before heading downstairs. Morbus scoops me up and tosses me onto the beanbag, and flops onto it after I land. “I see you two are pretty comfortable with each other~” Marthus teases after seeing Morbus and I huddled up on the beanbag under a blanket. Both of us blush, then Morbus kicks me off of the beanbag and takes the blanket for himself, laughing. I look at him, narrowing my eyes. Smirking, I get an idea. I quickly shove two of my fingers up Morbus’s nose, and freeze them, then pull them out, creating little icicles that were stuck up Morbus’s nose. Morbus screams, “IT’S SO COOOOOOOOOLD!” In the most high-pitched voice I ever heard him speak. I swear I hear Marthus wheeze from laughing so hard. All three of us are on the floor, laughing so hard, my ribs hurt and I can’t breathe. Morbus sneezes, and the two small icicles shoot out from his nostrils. “Ewwwwww!” All of us exclaim, flying onto the couch. Morbus sighs and grabs a tissue to pick up his nose-cicles. Marthus slaps my back and says, “That was a good one! I’m surprised you didn’t do that to me when I called you a girl!”
Sighing, I reply, “It was more fun to throw you into the air though.”
“I bet.”

Morbus comes back after getting rid of his frozen nose junk. “We need to discuss the visions and Corruption. I knew that it would come back with a vengeance. Little one, tell them about your vision. It could either be the same or a different part of the same story.” I nod, telling everyone the details of the vision, focusing on the two strange figures. “It’s like they were a corrupted Guardian/Elemental pair.” I finish, and Chris begins, telling of something similar, but this time it is near our location. Morbus looks at Marthus. “We need to gather the others.”

~~~

Sitting up in a cold sweat, I quickly shake Medius awake. “Morbus is calling for us. It’s urgent.”
“Ugh. Can’t he wait?”
“No. It’s about Corruption.”
Medius grumbles, and finally gets out of bed. Him and I head over to a small local restaurant for breakfast. “I have a feeling this will be the last nice breakfast we will have in a while, my friend.” Medius says to me with a slightly sad tone in his voice. “Eat up, then.” I reply, before ordering our food. It’s been a year since we last saw Morbus and Matt. A year since Medius and I first met. People still give us weird looks, but by now I’ve grown used to it. Medius orders pancakes, with a bowl of various berries on the side. I order the same, because that sounds tasty to me. Medius orders water and orange juice for both of us. We wait for our pancakes to come out as we sip on our water. A strange silence blankets us. Medius looks at me with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just tired.”
“And…?”
“And what?”
“I can sense another feeling inside of you. Is it sadness? Excitement?”
“Anxiety. For what is about to come.”
“Ah.”
Again, silence falls between us. We both listen to the ambient hum of the restaurant and the outside bustle of people. I close my eyes, meditating. Suddenly our plates of food are placed in front of us. The aroma of coffee and bacon fills my nose. Medius immediately digs in; I watch him for a minute or so before starting on my plate. Medius quickly finishes his food with a small burp, covering his mouth with his hand. He looks at me, and with a grin, he says, “That was really good! Could I order some more?” Still slowly eating my breakfast and trying to savor it, I nod. Medius beams with excitement when he flags down the waiter and asks for another plate of pancakes.

~~~

I fall out of my bed, startled awake by the call from Morbus. I quickly don my clothing and grab my sister, and we run over to the next room to wake up our Elementals. Luckily, both of them are awake and already ready to go. We talk about the vision we shared on our way back to the United States. Before we left, we gave a plan to our little army of humans that wanted to help us. ‘Morbus wasn’t kidding about the humans.’ I think to myself, chuckling. Everyone has been saying that I’ve matured a lot since last year, that I’m becoming more and more like Morbus. I always reply to them that he’s my older brother; of course I’m going to become somewhat like him. I guess it’s also because of the responsibility he placed on my shoulders the last time we saw each other. Mordeus snaps her fingers in front of my face, bringing me out of my thoughts. “You okay?” She asks, concern heavy in her voice. “You’ve been acting different lately.”
“I’m just thinking, that’s all sister. Don’t worry.” I reply with a smile. She sighs, concern still written on her expression. We turn our attention back to our journey, Skott running as fast as he can, and Cole zipping through the air next to us. I swerve smoothly around large rocks and other obstacles, revving the motor of my bike. Speeding up, I zoom ahead of my sister to scout ahead. I screech to a halt. Raising my fist to signal everyone behind me to stop. Mordeus gasps. Skott and Cole shift from their beast forms. We peer from afar at the massive spread of Corruption that blocks our path. This time, it gives us a different vibe than before. Mordeus whispers, “The vision. It’s the Corruption from our vision.” My expression grows stern. “We need to stop them or hinder them in some way.” Mordeus looks at me, wide-eyed. “We can’t do that just by ourselves!”
“How will we get around the Corruption then? It’ll throw us way off course.”
“I think that’s Corruption’s strategy. Throw us off course so it can take us out one by one.” Cole says.

I charge forward, plowing through the darkness. Mordeus yells after me, “Midus! WAIT!” She and our Elementals follow after me. I whip out a longsword, slashing at the Corruption that surrounds us and our path. I look upwards briefly, to see a dark cloud floating over our destination. “NO!!” I cry out, pushing my bike to go even faster. For the first time, I feel anger building up within me, as my bike speeds over the enemy, leaving clear land in its wake. I visualize my fear, and send it to my sister and pupil mentally. I hear my sister cry out in agony at the thought. She catches up to me, tears streaking down her face. I blink back the tears that threaten to roll down my own face, trying to stay strong for my sister. We hear a screech echo through the sky, and see a flaming phoenix soar past us. “MEDIUS!” Both Mordeus and I yell. The bird loops around, flying low enough for our older brother to see us. All of us halt once more, standing at a spot where Corruption doesn’t reside. All of us exchange the same expression and feeling. Worry. Concern. We give each other a brief embrace before continuing on, knowing what each other is thinking. We are all fearing for Morbus and Marthus and their Elementals. Cole and Phoenix shift into their forms, letting all of us climb onto their backs. Mordeus and Skott climb on Cole, and I climb onto Phoenix with Medius. We soar over the mountains and dive down into the valley, skidding to a stop in a large field by Morbus’s location.

~~~

I see my younger siblings running up to me from the distance. Midus hugs me tight, tears running down his face. “We saw the dark cloud.” Mordeus says to me. I nod. “Yes. That cloud has just appeared, meaning that this isn’t the normal Corruption we’ve fought before. It will not be easy bringing it down this time.” Grimly, my little human says to my brothers and sister, “It seems like we are facing a Corrupted Elemental and their Guardian.” A dense blanket of emotion and silence befalls us. Medius goes deep into thought. Midus looks at me, shocked. Mordeus stifles a gasp. I hug all of them. “I didn’t want to see you all under these circumstances..” I mumble. I feel more arms wrap around us. I pop my head up and see my human with their Elemental friends hugging us. Despite my little one’s hands being cold most of the time, I feel warmth from them fill my chest. I place my lips against their forehead. All of us release our arms from around each other. We begin to develop a plan as we gaze upon the Corruption moving in our direction. Matt and I decide to go with Medius and Yaroslav to the center, and the others go off in their own direction, towards the edges of the Corruption. Marthus and Chris follow us until we make it to the edge. The two stop there, and we continue. We try to stay light and quick on our feet, avoiding Corruption’s grip. I warn my team that the longer we are exposed to Corruption, the more vulnerable we become to it. “That makes sense.” Matt agrees. “I’m guessing the further into the center of this we get, the stronger Corruption becomes?” They ask.
“Yep.”
“Well, let’s make this quick.” Medius says grimly. Him and I pull our Elemental companions onto our bikes after they change from their beast forms, and continue riding onward. I feel Matt’s arms tighten slightly around my waist as it grows dark, and the air grows more dense. I silently thank my little human when a bubble of air envelops us. I reach behind me and try to rub their back. “It’ll be alright, little one.” I say to them. Medius suddenly screeches to a halt and yells to me to stop. We slide to a stop right in front of our target. It whips around and looks at us with a scowl. Suddenly, the Corrupted Elemental shoots out of the ground and soars towards us. We veer out of the way, the Elemental crashing into the ground and burrowing underneath. Medius and I split and go in opposite directions, circling around to the Corrupted Guardian and coming at it from both sides. I immediately recognize it as a decoy, as it doesn’t move. I frantically tell Medius to dodge it, and he does, but the Elemental soars out of the ground once again and throws the decoy at us. “Hold on little one!!” I say as I flip the motorbike to slide on its side as we jump off of it. It dissipates after sliding a few yards. We stand up and dust ourselves off. Out of nowhere, an explosion rocks the ground, and the last thing I remember hearing before losing consciousness is my little one screaming my name.

“MORBUS!!!”

~~~

Chapter 12: Corrupted

Summary:

Quite a bit of violence in this one. Also, Matt's PTSD gets triggered towards the end of the chapter after the battle. This chapter isn't insanely intense, though, as it mellows down towards the end with a bit of humor.
Corruption seems to be getting stronger...

Notes:

I suppose in a way that there is a trigger warning in this chapter for people similar to me who have been yelled at a lot as a child. Since Matt is my Self-OC, the PTSD mentioned in this chapter kind of describes how I feel when it is triggered.

“MORBUS!!!”
I freeze when I hear Matt’s yell after the explosion. Marthus looks at me, and tells me to stay where I am and keep pushing the Corruption back. He charges forward toward the smoke cloud left behind from the explosion. Creating a wall of lava, I watch his figure shrink as he moves farther away. The Corruption seems to screech when it sizzles from coming into contact with the lava. Fire shoots from my palms, scorching the dark, viscous goo. It may be black, but when it burns, it becomes a gross brown and yellow before drying up and evaporating. I slam my hammer into the ground, causing the ground to shake before it cracks, and the Corruption gets sucked underneath the ground like the crack was a drain. I make it snap shut, causing the gunk to get crushed. I feel myself grow hot from the exertion and the literal heat from the battle. The cooling system in my armor clicks on, making sure that I don’t get too hot; even an Elemental of fire can overheat. Watching the others build blockades and use their abilities to keep the Corruption at bay, I follow suit, building up my lava wall and letting it flow into the darkness, illuminating it briefly. My gaze flicks up from my task when some sort of call rings out from the center of the battlefield. The Corruption begins to recede, and I hear Marthus calling for me telepathically.

I launch myself across the field using spires of earth. The burst jets on my armor carry me for several yards before I launch myself again. The demon inside of me lets out a roar of triumph as I soar through the sky. ‘This is actually kind of fun!’ I say inwardly, before crunching to a stop by Marthus. An evil, dark laugh sounds out behind us, and I look back over my shoulder to see a figure shrouded in pure darkness, as if it was wrapped in Vantablack and is emanating darkness like a fog machine. Marthus looks at me as if he was saying, “What the heck is that?!” The dark figure tilts its head to the side slightly from curiosity. A sickly yellow smile creeps across its face. It flings its arms forward, throwing bands of black at us. Both Marthus and I duck, only for the black ribbons to return to its origin, grabbing us along the way. As I’m lifted up, I see the others being attacked by Corruption, the dark blobs seeming to copy their commander’s movements. The only one I don’t spot is Matt, until I see them kneeling next to Morbus. I’m slammed into the ground, then dragged up and slammed down again. Using my abilities, I create a shield of earth around me when I’m slammed into the ground again, trapping the tar-like ribbon inside. I turn the rubble around me into lava, and silently thank the durability of my armor as the lava falls down over me, scorching the Corruption’s appendage. I am picked up again, this time by a stronger appendage. I feel it squeezing me, the pressure almost crushing my armor. I try to toughen it up, but to no avail. The armor begins to give under the strength of the Corruption, until it finally retracts; I get thrown against the mountain. As a last ditch effort, I stand back up, shakily bringing my fists up in a stance that Matt taught me a while ago. The Corruption laughs, and goes to strike; I dodge it by rolling under the dark ribbon, and it gets stuck in the rocky wall of the mountain behind me. I take this opportunity to smash it with my hammer and scorch it. The Corrupted being screeches in pain before striking out at me even harder with more dark ribbons. Ducking and jumping, I dodge each attack thrown at me, until one manages to catch me off guard, striking me in the chest and slamming me against the ground. It picks me up, grasping me tight. I feel something hit me in the head before I’m thrown. When I hit the ground, I lose consciousness.

I’m jostled awake by Marthus, and right away I notice the cut that travels from his jawline to his ear that is slowly oozing blood. He helps me sit up and I look around at all the carnage. I notice the only ones still putting up a fight are Matt and Morbus. “Morbus is back up!”
“Yeah. We helped him out while you were knocked out.”
I hear Matt grumble.
“Looks like they’re getting pretty frustrated.” I say; Marthus nods. “I can sense something more going on within them. It’s not just their anger.”
As soon as Marthus finished that sentence, Matt gets covered in the dark tendrils. Morbus attempts to shoot the tendrils off, but fails. Suddenly, Morbus jumps back and runs to us. A giant, rocky hand erupts out of the ground, grasping the wad of Corruption encasing Matt. A titan fully erupts from the ground, letting out a loud, bellowing cry. Morbus yells happily, “Yes little one!!! You did it!!”
The rest of us gaze upward in awe as the icy, rocky Titan smashes through the Corruption as if it was nothing. It grasps the commander tight in its fist, crushing it as if it were a small berry. It oozes out of the rocky fist, and the Titan dissipates back into the ground. Morbus runs over to Matt and the crumpled form on the ground. I notice Morbus give us a hand signal to stay back. Matt freezes the Corrupted heap with clear ice so Morbus could examine it. He gasps before looking up at Matt and saying something to them. While Morbus’s attention was elsewhere, the Corruption broke out of the ice and snuck up to attack him. Marthus yells at him, getting his attention before the Corruption could strike. I hear multiple gunshots ring out. The black tar-like gunk still presses on, trying to find the right angle. I fling my hammer at it, but I miss. Morbus shoots me a look like “watch where you’re throwing that!” My hammer returns to my hand when I reach it out. I begin swinging at the Corruption, trying to block its path to Morbus. It veers around me. Frustrated, I angrily swing at the stubborn Corruption, trying to squash it like a bug. Marthus notices this and assists me, with the help of the others. We all corral the blob into a circle, so it can’t get to Morbus. “It’s so persistent!” I grumble, barring it from going between my legs. “It seems to be very resilient as well.” Marthus replies. Medius gets an idea to wrap it in chains, and all of Morbus’s siblings throw out a chain and loop it around the blob, pulling it towards the middle of the circle. It screeches loudly before travelling up the chains like electricity. Everyone drops their chains when the Corruption touches them, making Morbus’s siblings cry out in pain. It speedily slithers over to Morbus before it strikes him in the face, grasping onto it tightly.

~~~

My heart tightens in my chest when I see the Corruption strike Morbus. It clings to his face like a facehugger from the Alien movies. I quickly debate whether or not I should strike, worrying about harming my Guardian. Carefully, yet forcefully, I smack the Corruption with the blunt side of my armblade, knocking Morbus over by accident. The Corrupted worm slithers off, screeching, before it evaporates. I run over to Morbus, who is… crying? My chest tightens even more. I pull him close to my chest, my heart pounding. “I felt the chaos that goes on in Corruption… it’s a hive mind, little one.” Morbus says up to me, weakly. “It’s pure hatred and fury. I have never felt so much fear in my life.”
I wipe the tears off of Morbus’s face, then gently hug him. Suddenly, he jerks in my arms and yells in pain. A little bit of Corruption crawls up his face, as if it was in his veins. Midus cries out, as if he felt his eldest brother’s pain. His hands begin to glow, and he slaps one over Morbus’s face, the other over his chest, where his heart is. “Look away, everyone. Morbus, close your eyes.” Midus says to us, and a blinding light erupts from his hands, burning the darkness away, and leaving a mark on Morbus’s chest and face, which fades after a little while. “It should keep the infection at bay, but I need to keep placing light on it every once in a while.” Midus explains.
“Wait, Midus. One of your elements is light?” I ask him, very curious.
“Yes, little one.”
“Isn’t that unusual for your kind?” I raise an eyebrow, perplexed.
“It’s a rare gene, usually the primary element for my kind is shadow. Haven’t you seen Morbus shuffle through the shadows? My siblings become invisible in shadows.”
“Now that you mention it, I have seen Morbus hide in the shadows. It was when we first met.”
“Exactly. But I’m the opposite. I can go invisible everywhere there’s light.” Midus says with a smile.
“So only in complete darkness, you can’t go invisible?”
“Yep, but my black face helps me out anyway.” He chuckles.
“Little one. We need to get going before the Corruption finds us again. I bet that its dogs are sniffing for us as we speak.” Morbus says with a stern tone. Midus and I fall silent and look at each other. Marthus walks briskly up to his older brother, whispers a question, only to get nudged away. Marthus walks back to us and says, “I think the Corruption is already getting to him. He might be letting his fear get the best of him.”
Midus sighs before going up to his eldest brother and hugging him. “It’ll be alright, brother.” Morbus places his head in his hands. “What about my little one? I’m scared that I’ll accidentally yell at them and trigger their “mental battle scars.””
“That’s why I’m staying here, with you.”
“You don’t need to, Midus. You need to stay at your post. Especially now that Corruption is spreading faster and faster through the world.”
“Morbus, we can’t face Corruption like what we faced today alone. We need to stick together.”
Midus sniffles.
“I can’t lose you again. I won’t lose you again.”
“Midus, stop being such a baby and grow up.” Morbus says harshly, his voice turning to a dark growl, shoving Midus back.

I notice Corruption crawling up Morbus’s face when he turns to face me. I instantly feel fear fill me. I sense myself crumpling from the inside out, as I curl up in a ball on the ground. My breathing grows quick and shallow. Midus’s voice is distant as he tries to comfort me. Morbus’s corrupted voice shouts at me, making me shrink further. My armor becomes thick, and my blades shoot out. I’m encased in a spiky shell, keeping everyone out. Shuddering, I begin to cry. Pulling Mini Morbus out of the little nook I created for him in my armor, I hold him close to my chest.
“I can’t do this anymore…”
I ignore the sounds of Midus and Chris pounding on my shell, trying to get me to open back up. The shell solidifies even more, muffling the pounding sounds of my friends trying to help. I poke little Morbus’s head out from a little opening in my shell, having him peek out. Midus’s voice fills the shell. “Aww. Matt brought Mini Morbus to the battle.”
Smiling a little, I make Mini Morbus squeak and nod. Medius laughs. Mordeus comes up to my shell and gently tries to coax me out. Calmer now, I let her in. She places a kiss to my forehead and tells me that Morbus didn’t mean what he said or did. My shell dissipates. Mordeus helps me to my feet, wipes off my face, and presses Mini Morbus to my chest. Morbus walks up to me with regret very evident in his eyes. “I am so very sorry for making you believe that I was going to hurt you, little one.” He hugs me tighter than he ever has; I have to catch my breath a little bit after he lets go of me. Internally, I’m still terrified for what the future holds. With Morbus now infected with Corruption, all of us have to work hard to adjust and cope, especially Morbus and I. I don’t think I could handle the anxiety that torments me every day because of my protector’s reaction to the enemy. I realize the goal Corruption has by infecting Morbus. “Guys. I think the purpose of this Corruption is to tear us apart.” I speak up. Everyone looks up at me, nodding. Morbus replies grimly, “Well, little one, that means that all of us must strengthen our bonds even more. We must not be torn apart. We must not let the Corruption within ourselves take us over.”
Medius, confident, says, “We’ve got this! It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Marthus scoffs. “Medius, Corruption within ourselves is what our worst qualities are, like my short temper and your overconfidence.”
Medius snarks back at his older brother, “Like your arrogance.”
“Since when am I arrogant?! I think you’re the one that’s arrogant!”
Morbus and I both look at each other before breaking up the small argument.
Morbus says with humor in his tone, “Corruption is like you two arguing almost every time you’re around each other with nothing to do.”
The rest of us laugh.

Chapter 13: Meridian

Summary:

Taking a break after the battle, our heroes build themselves little huts somewhere isolated in the mountains. Morbus and his siblings talk about their past and the history of their planet and kind.

All of us arrive to a safe place where Corruption won’t find us for a while. We decided to avoid the places where Matt and Chris live out of consideration for their families; we don’t want to endanger them or leave their homes in shambles if Corruption were to come. I wrap a spare cloak I have around Matt to keep them warm; they may be an Elemental of ice, but that doesn’t mean that they’re immune to the cold. They’re still human. Chris and Yaroslav set up a small campfire to keep us warm, as the mountains aren’t very warm, especially when it’s becoming closer to winter. “You know, I feel like we should take refuge in a whole ‘nother country if we want to hide.” Matt says to me.
“It would be easiest to start here though, little one. Let’s settle down before we go on the move again.” I reply, an air of calm in my voice. I chuckle at the little humble huts we set up, each one unique based off of each Elementals’ abilities - Matt’s and mine being the most blended in with the environment. It’s like a cute, little tribe. We had placed logs to sit on around the fire, which was in the center of the circle the surrounding huts had created. Matt decides to go lay down on the small bed we shared. It may not be as comfy as a mattress, but it’s better than sleeping on the cold, hard ground. I was impressed by the skills each Elemental had outside of their powers. Who knew that Thor was so good at weaving? He had taken thin layers of wood fibers and grasses and weaved them together in a cushy mat for each of our beds. We used hoodies and clothing items or each other as pillows, cloaks and more woven fibers for blankets. I let my little human use the cloak for reasons mentioned before. We also had put in a little furnace into each hut, to give us extra warmth through the night. I love the unity that building this little refuge built between all of us. It made us feel more like a family than a team. That’s how Matt and I feel at least.

After lunch, we clean up the area and store the leftovers in a clay pot, stuffed in a pile of snow. I gather everyone around the fire. I decide to tell the story of mine and my siblings’ kind. I begin with, “Now, it is obvious that we didn’t come from Earth. We come from a different planet in a solar system not as far away from here as you’d think.” I pause for a brief moment before continuing. “Our planet was called Meridian. There were many districts, each with their own rank in our social caste system. We come from District Zero, the highest ranked district.”
“I take it your planet was destroyed?” Matt asks.
Marthus replies, “Yes. There was a great war between the districts. The lowest district, District Five, decided to try and overthrow District Zero. They grew power hungry, and their leader, Meradus, convinced them by force to fight us. Anyone that defied him was automatically considered on our side, and was executed. The Fives did not want any opposition, and they claimed that Zerons were corrupt. We did not know about any of this until Meradus came to us himself demanding that he have a position on our council, which held a representative of each District. We did not grant him that seat, however, because we saw the craving for power he held inside.”
I nod, then add to Marthus’s part of the story. “Meradus essentially was a toddler compared to us, in age, and in mentality. He threw a huge tantrum, which gave us our first glimpse of Corruption. He turned darker than the night sky, and sickly yellow crystals sprouted from his shoulders and back. His eyes became that same color, as well as his teeth. All of us were scared. In his dark, corrupted voice, he yells at us that he will tear our district down with his two hands.”
All of the Elementals look at us with varying expressions of shock.
“He declared war on us with his army of Corrupted Meridians. Meradus became Corruption. As it spread throughout the streets of the other districts, our world was thrown into chaos. The rest of the other districts tried to help us out the best they could before Corruption got to them. We decided to evacuate the remaining survivors of our war-torn planet, and blow it up. Meridian no longer remains in the universe.”
I notice Midus being hugged by Mordeus.
“Midus was born just before the war had ended and the planet was swarming with Corruption. Our father made us swear to protect him from the Corruption, and that was when we decided to leave. It took a while to prepare and fend off Corruption from the missiles and the ship we will be spending many centuries on.”
Medius cuts in. “It was a really nice ship, though. Midus had matured to an adult by the time we reached the outer reaches of your solar system. The big gas planet is scary!”
“You mean Jupiter?” Matt interjects.
“The one with the stripes and the big red spot?”
“Yeah. That’s Jupiter.”
“Huh. Anyway, the scanners on our ship spotted Earth, and from a distance we could tell that human life had just begun. We decided to leave the ship hidden on an asteroid, and travel to Earth via smaller shuttles. By the time we arrived, human civilization had advanced to the time of the different tribes in the river valleys.”
“Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley?” Matt interjects again with their history knowledge. I chuckle at how much they know about their world like we do ours.
“Medius, I think we arrived more when the Roman Empire was dominant in Europe.” Marthus comments.
“I thought we arrived during the time of the Egyptians.” Mordeus mumbles.
I shake my head. “Whatever. What’s important is that we showed up many centuries before you came into existence.”
Matt raises their hand, as if they were in school.
“Yes, little one?”
“Why did you choose Earth?”
“Well, our scanners had picked up something different with this planet than the others we passed by.”
“The Elementals?” Yaroslav guesses.
“Exactly.” I say with a smile.

I continue our story, going through how we became Guardians, up until our long slumber, then the present. I realize that my story had taken all afternoon, and the sun had just dipped below the horizon. I hear many stomachs grumble from hunger, and a snore from Gravitas. Midus nudges him with an elbow, and I get up to go grab the leftovers from lunch. Matt and Chris run off to gather wood for the fire, and Yaroslav hunts with Medius. I stay behind with Mordeus, Midus, and their Elementals. We keep watch of the camp, when suddenly, a large wolf runs through the site, with Chris on its back, who is holding a large bundle of logs and twigs. He drops the bundle next to his little hut in a neat pile, and Matt changes from their wolf form before plopping down on a log, out of breath. I notice their mask release a brief puff of something into the air, meaning that Matt used their inhalant to help them breathe. I walk up to them and rub their back gently. The mask retracts, and my human wraps the cloak I gave them tight around them. I ruffle their hair, commenting on how long it has gotten. They flick out a comb and a pair of scissors, and hand them to me. They also go inside our hut and place a small bowl filled with snow next to our furnace to melt and warm up. “Would you mind giving it a trim?” They ask me. I laugh, holding the scissors and comb. I place Matt in my lap, gently combing through their hair. I chuckle inwardly at how relaxed my little human becomes at my touch. We decide to head back inside our hut to check on the little bowl of water. I tell my little one to sit on the bed as I grab the pot of water. They pull off their shirt so it doesn’t get wet, and a towel before they sit down by the edge of the bed. I take the towel from them and drape it over my leg when I sit down, my little one nestled between my legs, facing away from me. I again comb through their hair before pouring some of the warm water over their head. “Little one, why do you have to make your hair wet before you trim it?” I ask curiously.
“It makes it easier to cut.”
“Gotcha.”
I take the scissors and begin to trim a little bit of hair off the top, then I trim the sides, making them much shorter than the top. Occasionally, I have to reapply more water, but cutting my little one’s hair came easier to me than I thought, with their help of course. Ruffling their hair, I help them up after I rinse out all the stray hair and brush it off of them. They put their shirt back on, then towel dry their hair. I laugh when I see their hair after they ruffle it like crazy with the towel. “It’s like a spiky ball of fluff!” Matt exclaims with a smile. I help them comb through it and style it a bit after they dry it off. I slap a beanie on their head to keep them warm, as their hair is still a bit damp in the back. I ignore their complaints about how the beanie will make their hair messy. They make a funny noise when I ruffle their hair again.

I hear Yaroslav and Medius finally return from “hunting,” only to find out that they just went to the store and got some steaks and seasonings. The older brother in me wants to flip out on them for going out in public, but I refrain with a sigh. Matt and I go outside to help make dinner. Matt adds wood to the fire, and lets it burn down a little bit before setting up the little grilling frame and cooking tools. Chris, being the most knowledgeable about cooking, takes initiative of cooking the steaks. Medius asks him, “Why don’t you just use your abilities?”
“Because it doesn’t give the same flavor and I don’t think I can control the heat enough to cook something without burning it.”
Medius and Marthus both whine. “But we’re hungry…”
Matt chuckles. “Well, that just means that you’ll have more room for dinner by the time it’s ready.”
Both of them groan.
I admit, though, my mouth watered when I hear the sizzle from the steaks when Chris places them on the pan. I swear I hear everyone’s stomachs grumble in unison when the amazing aroma hits our noses. Matt wanders around, gathering snow and small twigs for the fire, so they could make some kind of beverage for us. Yaroslav helps Matt find things to put in the water so they could make the water a bit more flavorful. The two brew some tea from peppermint leaves that they somehow found to my surprise. They sit off in our little hut boiling the water and the leaves in a pot in the furnace. I see the steam rising from the chimney, and a faint aroma of mint fills the site on top of the savory scent of the steaks. My stomach grumbles again. Marthus watches over Chris’s shoulder intently, his mouth watering. I stifle a laugh when Chris flicks hot water at his Guardian. I think to myself as I observe everyone from a distance, ‘I love the unity everyone has with each other.’ Suddenly, a realization hits me. ‘I feel like a… a father.’ My father’s face appears in my mind. A small smile appears across my face. “Hello, father.” I say under my breath, towards the sky. Now I finally understand the feeling Matt gets when they think of their late relatives. It feels like my father is here physically, giving me a hug. I can see why it makes my little human cry. It is a very overpowering feeling. “Hey, Morbus? Are you okay?” Matt quietly asks me.
“Yes, little one. I’m just in my thoughts.”
“Alright~” Matt turns their attention back to the tea they are brewing for us. Yaroslav must have went off to find more water or snow while I was zoned out. Matt suddenly places a small red fruit in my hand, calling it a strawberry. I tilt my head slightly before watching how they eat one, holding it by the little leaves on the top and biting off most of it; I do the same. A burst of sweetness and slight tanginess fills my mouth as I chew. My eyes widen. “This is really good, little one! Did this come from the store?”
“Yep! I’m surprised you haven’t had a strawberry yet, knowing how long you and I have known each other.”
“It was really sweet, with a little bit of tanginess. Do you have any more?”
Matt chuckles. “Looks like you got a sweet one! Those ones are the best~ anyway. You can’t have any more of them because Yaroslav wanted to save the fruits for the kompot he wanted to make for us.”
“Kompot? What’s that?” I ask, a confused frown on my face.
“It’s a Russian fruit drink, made just from many fruits, lots of sugar, and water.”
“That simple, huh?”
“Yup.”
I walk back to the main fire with my companion, who is now carrying the pot of tea. I catch a whiff of the steak, and my mouth begins to water once again. Matt gives Chris a small hug before setting the tea down by the fire to keep it warm, then plopping down on a log. Unfortunately, they fall backwards, as they sat down a little too far back on the log. I burst out laughing, breaking the silence of our little campsite, soon joined by Chris and Matt. Finally, everyone returns to the fire, as dinner’s preparations are finished. Everyone won’t stop thanking Chris for his talent for cooking; the steaks are perfect. I sip on the mint tea, as Yaroslav’s kompot boils in the center of the circle. “I love all of you.” I say out loud, accidentally voicing my inner thoughts. Everyone replies, “We love you too, Morbus!” We raise our cups as a way of saying, “Cheers to the unity, cheers to this experience we all get to share together.”

Chapter 14: Memories

Summary:

Corruption tries to hunt down the Elemental "family." The gang settles down again after sending a message to the city below them. Morbus and Matt further develop their relationship.

Pain burns through every nerve in my body, every micrometer that exists on the inside and outside of my being feels as though it’s being stabbed and burned. Heavy, constant feelings of fear, anger, hatred, fury, and the like permeate my thoughts constantly. This is Corruption. I am Corruption. My apprentice is by my side, feeling the same burn that I feel. Our minds are one, yet our physical forms are not. Growling, we both sniff out our enemies we followed for centuries. This is the first time, though, that Corruption as a whole has felt urgency. We knew. The Elementals are here. We need to stop them. But, we cannot find them. The names burned into my mind of their pathetic Zeron Guardians. Midus, the weakling; Mordeus, the wimp; Medius, the loser; Marthus, the hothead; and finally, Morbus; the leader of them all; the wisest. The Corruption within me gurgles at the thought of Morbus. I let out a cackle; we must find Morbus if we want to find and destroy them all from the inside. My apprentice, Meradus, had led the attack on the Zerons on his original homeworld. I loved his continual push against them, and laughed when he had told me about their pathetic attempt to destroy Corruption through destroying their own home. Little did they know, Meridian still exists; it is now the kingdom of Corruption. It is our home now. It is mine. It had always been mine, even before Corruption. I hunted down the Meridians myself, tracking them, but not attacking them. I do not know if there are other Meridians besides Morbus and his siblings on Earth, but I know that the one thing that can defeat us exists on this floating rock. My mount growls fiercely, before sniffing around. We are perched on the bench of a mountain, scouting for these Elementals. “Where are they, my pet?” I grumble, reaching down to stroke the head of my mount - a fierce mountain lion, twice the size of a non-Corrupted one, covered in yellowish spines. Soon, I begin to sense the smell of a savory meal. Seasoned steak with a hint of peppermint… We dash up the mountain, but by the time we arrive, there lies an empty campsite, the huts rubble, and the fire extinguished. My mount finds tracks from a wolf. We sense a small hint of Corruption up ahead as well in the direction of those tracks. Grinning wickedly, we speedily dash along the trail of wolf prints, also following the cry of the Corruption. For a while, we ride in silence, concentrating on our task at hand. My mount suddenly stops running. “What do you hear?” The mountain lion huffs before sniffing at the ground and air, slowly prowling forward.

~~~

Raising my hand, I silence everyone. “There is something lurking behind us, following our trail. I can sense it.” Morbus seizes up and falls off my wolf. I stifle a gasp as I calmly pick him back up. Midus gently presses a hand to his eldest brother’s chest, beaming a light into him. “The Corruption within him is trying hard to take him over and force him to the being following us.” Midus says to us in a whisper. I hear a twig snap behind us, and heavy breathing. I keep my attention ahead of me, because I know it’s a diversion. I get an idea; I grab Morbus and create a rocky decoy of him. Nervously, I tell him to try and force the Corruption out of himself and to me. Midus quickly grows overprotective of me and whisper-shouts at me about how bad of an idea it is, and I ignore him. My armblade a guide, I let the Corrupted blob crawl up it, and I fling it to the Morbus decoy. I made the stones somewhat sentient enough to make the Corruption take it over, thinking it is its host. I grab Morbus’s limp body, pulling him back onto the back of my wolf, dashing off; my allies follow behind me, keeping watch. All of us jump a little when we hear a yowl from a cougar falling for my decoy and trap. A bellowing, dark yell follows. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stick up, goosebumps tingling down my arms. We press on, moving as fast as we can in the rough terrain. I feel the mountain air grow cold. Smirking, I sense my strength grow. Quickly twisting behind me, I shoot out a blast of ice behind the group, creating a large wall of ice reinforced with stone blocking our pursuers’ path. I hear Morbus drowsily mumble, “Good thinking, little one..” Surprised, I rub his back gently. “We’ll be safe soon. I love you.” I whisper to him, placing my lips against his forehead. He tries to say something else, but he is too weak. “Save your strength.” I say to him as we ride on.

We finally make it to a clearing after riding south for many miles. Midus gets an idea to send a message in morse code to the people living in the valley, since we are sitting on top of the mountains. Medius asks me, “How are we supposed to get to another country without Corruption finding us?”
“I do not know, my friend. Let’s just take care of Morbus for now.”
Medius silently nods in agreement while watching Midus beam his hands brightly, waving them back and forth to get someone’s attention. “Midus, wait. What if you put some sort of pattern in the sky? Like something similar to stars? That way, we won’t give our location away.” I tell the blue-eyed figure. He snaps his fingers and exclaims, “Great idea! I’ll get started.” Soon, Midus placed an obvious message in the stars that says, “CORRUPTION IS COMING.” Once Midus made sure that the message was visible, we began to migrate once again. Morbus suddenly yelps in pain, startling all of us. I gently rub his back; Morbus groans. He tenses up and lets out another yell, and I see Corruption spreading up his face. Tears begin to streak down his face as he clenches his teeth, breathing heavily. Midus sprints up to us, hands already glowing to get a better view of what’s going on. Morbus sobs when he gains the strength to look down at himself; his hands are shaking. One of them is crawling with the black gunk, his skin is pale and veins are dark. Midus tightly grips his eldest brother and pushes as much light as he can into him. I cringe, covering my ears, trying to muffle Morbus’s scream. It rings out physically, and for me, mentally as well. I feel the searing pain that runs through him, and the scream of the Corruption inside of him as Midus’s light makes contact with it. Finally, the Corrupted blob retreats out of my Guardian’s body, and back the way we came. “It’s going back to its master.” Medius says, and Marthus adds, “They already know that we’re here, let’s get a move on.” I feel Morbus stir in my arms before he slowly sits up, my hand resting on his back just in case he can’t support himself quite yet. I feel his back muscles shifting under my hand, tensing and relaxing, maintaining his balance. Mentally, Morbus weakly says to me, “Is it really gone, little one?”
“Yes, Midus pretty much scorched it out of you. It sounded like he was burning out your soul with the yell you let out.”
Shakily, he chuckles. “It sure felt like it too. I still feel like I have a wound within me that may not heal. I am susceptible to Corruption more than ever now.”
“With time, it will heal. We need to take things slow for a while.”
Morbus says out loud so everyone can hear, “We need to find an area where no one can find us. We need to go into hiding.”

~~~
I growl when a small piece of Corruption comes slithering back to me. “What is it, little pet? What do you have to tell me?” I reach my hand out to it, letting it slither up my arm and into my skin. Smirking, I say, “Ahhhh… So Morbus finally got you out of his body, eh? I take it you left a gaping wound in him as well?”
I receive a gurgle in agreement. Letting out a laugh, my apprentice feels prideful about his little so-called “experiment” to bring down the Elementals from the inside. The little specimen is very weak and scorched. “Hmmmm… interesting. How did they remove you without injuring the host?” Meradus tilts his head in thought with a small smirk. He gasps when the little blob seems to tell him. “The youngest. He is a Meridian of light. That is how Morbus had the Corruption removed without perishing.” My eyes widen. “Of course! Looks like we have another target to destroy now.” Both Meradus and I laugh wickedly. “How about we destroy all of them? Wipe them out so no more Zerons exist?” Meradus says to me, his ego and greed getting in the way of his logic. “No. I know you’ve always wanted to wipe them out, but there would be no point in killing the middle three. They serve no purpose to us.”
“They are about as powerful as Morbus and Midus, sire.”
“Meradus. Do not let your ego get in the way of your thinking. You may be Corrupted, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t go killing willy-nilly based on what your pride tells you.”
“Fine.”

~~~

Morbus has finally gained some of his strength back, and it seems to me that his wound is closing when I look inside of him. When Morbus first let me peer into his core, his soul, it was bright, warm, and caring. It was protective. It was… loving and strong. When I looked into him after the Corruption was torn out of him, the gash was a stark contrast to what his soul had appeared to me as. Dark, screaming, cold - colder than myself. At first, I guessed that we could heal the wound through using the opposite of what that darkness was, but Midus’s light wasn’t effective. It burned the darkness away, but the wound still gaped. It was still cold. It only started to heal when I figured out how to heal it: the warmth that I give Morbus; the warmth that his soul feels when I give him something as simple as an embrace. So every day while we have been hiding, building another little campsite, I’ve been telling Morbus how much I love him and care about him. Cliche, I know. But I am being honest with him. I do love him. If I had a choice, I would spend the rest of my life with him. When I was younger, I had always felt like something - someone - was missing. There was a hole in my heart. It seemed that that hole had only gotten torn open wider when my dad left my life. When I first saw a picture of Disturbed’s mascot, I felt strangely drawn to it. I had made a little doll of him, and just doing that had helped with that hole. It helped me cope with the loneliness that tormented me constantly. Soon, I found out that he existed when Morbus came to me during school. The hole in my heart and soul had been filled in. It healed. Morbus snaps me out of my thoughts when he pulls me close to him. “What are you thinking about, little one?”
“I’m just… going through my memories.”
“What memories?”
“You. What you’ve helped me with. It’s time for me to return the favor.” I look up at him, his kind, tired eyes beaming back down at me.
“You don’t need to do anything for me, little one. I came into your life because it was both of our destinies to meet. I was ordained to be your Guardian.”
“What if you were supposed to be in my life for another reason as well?”
“Explain.”
My heart is pounding. I feel the words gather in my throat, but get stuck. I open my mouth to try and speak my thoughts to him, but they won’t sound out.
“Little one?”
Sighing, I just spit them out. “I love you, Morbus.”
“I know.”
“Not just as a friend, though.”
Morbus tilts his head, confused.
I explain to him the missing feeling in my heart and how he filled it. I tell him my current feelings for him, breaking down the nervous dam; my words just pour out of my mouth. “I want to be with you, Morbus. Not just as your Elemental pupil, and more than just a friend. I love you.”
Morbus seems to freeze. Anxiety quickly fills every nook of my being as he processes what I just said. Fear from every past rejection I’ve had swells.
It feels like an eternity before Morbus’s mouth opens.
“I love you too, little one.”
As he says that, his wound closes more. It closes up all the way when he presses his lips to mine, warmth swelling through both of us. I sense some kind of essence flow into me. We break off the kiss, and press our foreheads together. We gaze out of the window of our shared hut at the beautiful scenery that surrounds us. Our bonding moment was interrupted by Marthus barging in, telling us that we need to look at the valley. We walk out, hand in hand, to gaze at the valley below us. My eyes widen when I see people signaling us with Morse code. Various words are being shone to us. The message that stuck out to me the most, though, was this:
“CORRUPTION IS HERE.”

~~~

Chapter 15: Potential

Summary:

Everyone rides down the mountains to where Corruption is attacking most. Matt may also discover their evolved element~

“Are you ready, my love?” I ask down to my now betrothed little human as we gaze down at the city from atop the mountains. “Heck yeah!” They reply with excitement. I nod to my brothers and sister, and all five of us mount our bikes. Our Elementals follow behind us, summoning mounts of their own. Yaroslav and Thor, who I had found out earlier is named Cole, take to the skies, hovering just above us. When he and his brother Gravitas, named Skott, both showed us their identities, I was surprised at how alike they don’t look to each other. Cole, being older, was an inch or two taller than his brother, with dark brown hair all spiked up. His eyes were gray like a winter sky, his features sharp. Both he and his brother were tall. Standing at 6’4”, they were slightly taller than Midus, who is 6’2”. Skott has light brown hair, much like Matt’s, and had emerald green eyes. They also seemed to have purple flecks in them as well. His features were a bit more round than Cole’s, but still somewhat angled.

Matt rides right behind me on their large, white and gray wolf. All of us are arranged in a vector with two rows, my siblings and I in the front row, our Elementals behind us in the second row. Marthus and Mordeus are to my left; Medius and Midus are to my right. We begin our journey straight down the mountain side and into the city, avoiding any wildlife and homes as we near the bench. I overhear Matt say, “Let’s go save Salt Lake!” as our wheels hit the pavement. I chuckle at the whoops and cheers that come from my family. I remember a question I was going to ask my little one before we set off, but didn’t get the chance. I decide to ask them mentally. ‘Little one, I have a question.’
‘What’s up, Morby?’
‘What did you feel when we created our bond?’
‘I felt something flowing into me, like a piece of your essence.’
I gasp audibly, shocked by the response. Marthus looks at me, confused.
‘Little one… only people of my kind can sense things like that.’
‘I thought that was normal?’
‘No. Humans normally are not perceptive to a bond being formed between them and a Meridian.’
I don’t hear a reply after that.
‘Little one, I think you are part Meridian. That would mean that there was some of my kind here while my siblings and I were asleep.’
The response wasn’t in the tone I had expected. Matt’s tone had a hint of realization, with a dash of anger on top.
‘Meradus.’
My heart dropped at the thought. ‘It can’t be…’
‘It is possible, Morbus. He’s the only other Meridian we know of that’s on Earth.’
‘It could have also been someone who had come to Earth, but passed on, little one.’
‘I wouldn’t know, I must have had my memory wiped or something.’
‘Most likely.’

We hear the cacophony of panic that arises when we find the epicenter of Corruption. We had sensed many large outcroppings of it scattered throughout the city, but the middle of it all was centered at the capitol building. “Of course! It makes sense that Corruption would try to overthrow the legislature and government!” Matt exclaims. We decide to start there. To our surprise, Meradus and his commander aren’t there. “I think they’re still trying to find you, Morbus. They should be catching up pretty soon, now that we’re all out here.” Medius says to me as we ride up the hill to the capitol building, slashing at the outcroppings of Corruption along the way. All of us break off, spreading out in different directions to come into the building on different sides. I smile when I notice Matt giving Mini Me a kiss before stuffing him back in to their armor.
‘For good luck.’ Matt’s voice rings out in my head. I feel warmth fill the little spot that Matt’s essence has taken in my soul. I hover my hand over my heart. The warmth is like a fire, representing the fire than my little one holds inside of themselves. It’s impressive, how they have such a strong fire inside of them, yet they don’t control fire as one of their elements. I guess it could be an ancient power, called the Iceflame? Those are very rare though, both in humans and Meridians. I wouldn’t doubt it, though, that they can control the Iceflame; they are rare to begin with. A human and Meridian hybrid is almost unheard of on Meridian, and I bet that my little one is the only known hybrid on Earth. I have a large hunch that Matt will be the strongest Elemental yet.

We make it to the front steps of the capitol building. Matt and I jump off our mounts as they dissipate on our commands. Marching up the steps, we slash down every Corrupted foe that comes at us with ease, renewed strength pulsing through our veins. I feel my little one’s excitement as we walk through the doors. We quickly embrace before dashing ahead to the governor’s room, meeting my siblings along the way and cutting down more Corruption. Matt and Yaroslav vault off the wall, quickly getting to the second level to scout ahead and clear out any remaining Corruption. Leading my family and the remaining Elementals, we barge into the upper floor, guns blazing. Priming my shotguns, I kick down the door to the governor’s quarters; Medius covers my back. “I’ve got your six, brother.”
“Thank you, Medius.”
The others remain outside, checking the other rooms and cleaning out the Corruption within. “Hello, Morbus.” A gravelly, dark voice greets me from the governor’s seat behind the desk.
“Meradus.”
“Oh, so you do pay attention to the people below you! That’s surprising!”
Medius interjects. “Hey! I’m supposed to be the sarcastic one here!”
“Aww, Morbus. You had to bring your little siblings with you too? That’s so sweet.” Meradus says with such an arrogant tone, it makes me cringe a little, inwardly. Suddenly, Meradus’s Meridian body morphs into what Matt would describe as a Corrupted version of Venom. “I WILL BITE YOUR HEAD OFF!!!” Meradus growls as he leaps over the desk at me. I hear Matt’s voice ring out in my head, ‘Ooooh! Was that Venom?!’ I chuckle as they laugh audibly from the next room over. Meradus growls again at me, bringing my attention back to him. A long, slimy, gray tongue slithers out of his mouth. Thinking quickly, I grab his tongue and hack it off with a dagger, then wheel around and slice his throat. A bunch of gunk gushes out from the wounds, which I’m guessing is blood. I cringe at the rancid scent that fills the room from the dark brownish-black blood. Meradus’s voice gurgles when he speaks to me. “YOU HAVE FORSAKEN THE MERIDIAN KIND FOR TOO LONG, MORBUS. JOIN THE CORRUPTION, OR DIE.”
“But if I join Corruption, do I not die as well?” I inquire, a smirk showing itself on my face. Meradus growls.
“It seems to me that all you want is to kill me and use my corpse for your cause. I know you’re better than this, Meradus. You were once high up in your district. I considered you family, before you turned on your kind.”
“MY NAME IS NO LONGER MERADUS, YOU PATHETIC CRETIN. I AM DARKNESS. I AM CORRUPTION.”
Blood is spat everywhere as Corruption speaks.

A realization hits me. Corruption, by itself, is basically a disease in the form of the tar-like substance that can crystallize. It is like a symbiote. By itself, it isn’t very powerful. When it takes on a host, though, it becomes as strong as the host, and makes the host more powerful in return. It seems to me that the relationship between Corruption and the living being is parasitic, though, as the host is slowly overtaken by Corruption. Some hosts are overtaken faster than others, depending on how aware the host is about the gunk that exists in their body and how much they resist it. I fear that Corruption became too strong for Meradus, and once he was weakened enough, Corruption took over and killed him. My thoughts are interrupted when a chair is flying in my direction, thrown by my assailant. Matt jumps in front of me, slicing the chair in two with one of their armblades. They throw one of the chair halves at Meradus, hitting him in the head, causing a distraction long enough for Matt to slam both of their blades through Corruption’s chest before tearing them back out with the claws extended at the ends. The Corrupted figure falls to the floor before us, shredded from the inside out. The black gunk bubbles away, as if it’s melting off of Meradus’s body. Meradus’s face is a pale, dark gray, because he’s from District Five. Suddenly, he jumps up, lunging at me; his hands are at my throat. Matt swiftly lunges in and knocks Meradus’s hands away from me. Meradus growls fiercely before trying to attack me again. I see the Corruption swirling in his eyes. It’s as if it slithered into every little molecule of Meradus’s being, tore him apart, then stitched him back together as an altered version of him. Corruption seems to be completely ingrained into Meradus; it can’t be torn from him. I’m glad that my siblings and little one helped pull the Corruption within me out before it could take control. I fear, though, that Corruption is still within me. Not the Corruption already within us, but the physical Corruption that had left a wound in my soul. I suppose that there are different kinds of Corruption: the kind that dwells within every one of us from birth, the kind that takes on the tar-like and crystalline appearance, and the kind that is in a humanoid or other physical form after taking over someone completely. It is sad seeing someone allow Corruption to overtake them so easily. I fear that Matt may wind up like that if they let their anger gain control of them.

Snapping out of my thoughts, my focus returns to the confrontation between Corruption and Matt and I. I deflect flying debris from its path towards Matt, followed with a lunge at Meradus with a counterattack. An electrified whip lashes out from behind me, wrapping around Meradus. A few arrows pierce his chest, then a large axe is thrown at his head, followed by a barrage of gunshots from my siblings. It feels like everything is going in slow motion around me: bullet casings raining down, Matt slicing through the air, Cole flailing his whip, his brother pulling back his bow whilst jumping in the air, my family all yelling as they all charge forward in unison. Meradus howls in what seems to be genuine fear. I hear the Corruption within him howl with an opposite emotion, though. I can sense Meradus resisting the Corruption within him. He moves stiffly as he tries to block the attacks coming at him. Corruption forces him to swat Matt out of the air with a large, crystalline club. Crashing to the floor, Matt lets out a grunt before launching one of their armblades at Meradus, hitting him square in the chest with the flat side. I notice Skott use his gravitational abilities to pin Meradus to the floor under Matt’s armblade, slowly crushing him. Midus, sending his cue, marches forward, hands glowing. Meradus screams when Midus shoves his bright hands roughly onto his chest. Everyone shifts into a ready stance to disintegrate the Corruption that may come out. After a few minutes, the Corruption finally exits Meradus’s body and takes a humanoid form. I notice Matt and Mordeus both move in front of me, protecting me from the dark figure. Matt places a hand on the back of my left shoulder. I look at them curiously before feeling a brief searing pain. I quickly realize what Matt just did. “How did you learn about the mark?” I whisper to them urgently.
“Midus taught me. He also told me the meaning of them and what they do.”
“Little one…”
“I love you, Morbus.”
Matt turns their focus back to the battle. Inwardly, I say to myself, ‘They sure don’t want to give up on me… it’s so interesting. I’ve never seen them so devoted and determined as I have now.’

Smiling at that thought, I felt that it was time. Matt has become so proficient with their existing elements, and I can see their untapped potential, primed and ready to burst. Thinking about the elements they already have, I deduced that Matt’s next element would be sound, coming from both earth and air. Yeah, that feels like a perfect fit for them! I knew that they love music, and they will occasionally play some of their favorite songs through their armor while we travel. Something seems to click inside of mine and Matt’s souls. They look up at me, a strange look on their face that says, “What the heck was that?” I walk up to them as they continue to slash away at the Corruption that threatens to overtake more people, then press my hand to their chest from behind them. I reach for the locked up potential within them, and break the lock. We end up melding together, and I attempt to push the new ability outwards. Suddenly, we are surrounded with Corruption; Meradus’s body laying limp on the floor.

Chapter 16: Traitor

Summary:

Matt unlocks their new element. Meradus is pulled from Corruption's grasp before passing on. The capitol building is demolished. Matt has to run Morbus to the hospital.

As I gaze down on the now deceased Meradus, something stirs deep within me. It’s as if something slides and clicks into place. ‘Morbus, are you doing this?’ I ask my Guardian mentally, as he is currently melded with me.
‘No, little one. This is all you.’
Morbus suddenly separates from me and assists his siblings with the Corruption that surrounds us. That strange feeling is still within me. It feels like something is calling out inside my soul. I feel the ground shaking and the wind howling inside. Suddenly, my mind is transported to Meridian. It is infested with Corruption, festering with decay and death. Morbus is on the ground, on his knees, held captive by two minions of Corruption. They begin to speak to him. “WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN HUMANKIND OVER THE MERIDIANS?! TRAITOR!!!!”
My eyes widen. I have to protect him. They’re going to tear him apart! I can’t lose my protector! The pain that Morbus begins to feel as they kick him and club him fills me. When I go to step in and save him, I, too, am restrained by Meridians who felt that Morbus betrayed them. “MORBUS!!!” I scream. I’m thrown on the ground. Raising my arms, I block the punches and beatings that come down upon me. Out of nowhere, my anger and that strange feeling builds with each impact. That weird feeling feels like untapped energy and potential. As that energy builds, the ground quakes; the wind whirls and howls. I begin to glow with a dark green aura. My fist shoots up and hits the Meridians restraining me in the jaw. I’m finally able to run to Morbus. As I run to him, the ground thunders and shakes with each step I take. My voice seems to be amplified and mixed with a Titan’s voice when I bellow a ferocious battle cry. My armor all of a sudden upgrades itself. My shoulder pads become thicker, and the armor next to my head extends. My forearms also bulk up a little, having a few more little wings coming off and swooping up my arms. My armor in general becomes more bulky, but is still sleek and aerodynamic. The extended armor by my head seems to be speakers of some sort. Parts of my armor peel away to a dark gunmetal color instead of white. My helmet transforms itself to look similar to a Titan’s helmet, with a dark green plume, and dark blue cheek guards. My visor is still a part of my helmet, covering my mouth and nose, sitting under the cheek guards. Newfound strength flows through me. My sense of hearing seems to be more sensitive than before, and it was pretty sensitive to begin with. I bring my arms up as if I was going to extend my armblades, but when I flick them down, the energy within me fires out around me, creating a shockwave of sound, kicking back the Corrupted Meridians holding down Morbus. This sudden strength forces a loud roar from my throat, further strengthening the shockwave that reverberates around me. I slam my fist to the ground, causing the ground to quake violently. Standing in front of my betrothed protector, I let out a high-pitched tone that blows out the eardrums of our assailants. Morbus asks me why it didn’t affect him, to which I answered, “I made it so only our enemies are affected.”
“Clever.”
Morbus kisses the forehead crest of my helmet. “I’m proud of you, little one.”

The vision dissipates. My sight returns to the capitol building we were standing in. Everyone is looking at me, shocked. Looking down at myself, my upgraded armor is tangible. Debris is surrounding us, as well as dead remnants of the surrounding Corruption. Morbus is the only one that is looking at me with a huge grin. He almost knocks me over with an excited hug. Breathing heavily, I look down at my shaking hands. They still hold a green glow, that slowly fades. Now that my sense of hearing has been heightened, I feel like all of my senses have increased somehow. What’s strange is I swear I can hear more than just sounds; I can hear the thoughts of the people surrounding me. I hear a lot of the same tidbits of phrases jumping out at me: “...Mountain Sound…” “...The Prophecy…” “...The strongest Elemental...”
I isolate one thought among the tumult. Midus’s voice rings out, as if he notices my presence inside his head. “Matt. You are becoming stronger by the day, it seems. We need to stay cautious, as I have a huge hunch that Corruption knows this as well.’
Morbus chimes in. ‘Everyone needs to start training; we need to be stronger before we run into Corruption again.’
Suddenly, the floor collapses beneath us. Some of us manage to land on our feet, others flop onto their backs. Coughing, I try to catch my breath after it was knocked out of me. The ground rumbles under our feet. All of us start running, trying to escape the collapsing building. A large chunk of the roof begins to cave in on us, but I manage to blow it away before it hits my friends. Morbus tries to get ahead of me to lead the pack, but both Midus and I bar him from getting ahead of us, just to be safe. “We don’t know what is laying ahead of us outside, whether it be more Corruption, or a trap. Heck, it could be both for all we know. Morbus, stay in the middle.” I tell the red-eyed hooded figure somewhat sternly. With a sigh, he takes a couple steps back so he’s surrounded by his siblings and allies. Marthus jokingly elbows him in the arm, his smirk quickly disappearing when he sees Morbus’s unamused glare. Continuing on, we dodge more falling debris and jumping over pitfalls before bursting out the front doors. Midus and Chris work to create an invisible stone force field around us and another around Morbus as extra protection. Morbus tilts his head at the two curiously, furrowing his eyebrows. “I advise you to not let your guard down, everyone. Corruption could still strike us at any moment.” A large Corrupted beast careens towards us up the hill, charging at full speed. Hesitating, I wait for a second before telling everyone what to do. Medius squints. “It seems that the beast may be running past us.”
“So it may seem.” Morbus replies, as we watch the beast dash right past us. Narrowing my eyes, I get into a ready stance. “That beast was obviously running from something. Morbus, get behind me.” Morbus gently clings to my back, crouching down so he can peek over my shoulder.

In the distance, I hear a large explosion of footsteps beginning to come forth. All of us slowly creep down the hill as one. The ghastly sight that comes upon us is something that I doubt could be erased from our minds. “It’s like a Corrupted human centipede!” Chris exclaims with disgust. He was right, for the most part. What was towering before us was made up of a lot of Corrupted humans, animals, and other things, like plantlife and concrete. Each component was tethered together with long ropes of Corruption, large crystals erupted out of its back, creating a spine. There were several pairs of various types of legs that crawled along its sides, most of them appearing insect-like. Its body had many ghastly faces protruding from its surface, a trail of them going up the right side of its chest. The hollow eyes softly glowed yellow, some of the faces are frozen in a petrified scream. The head crests up into a large, toothy maw with yellow glowing eyes along the sides. Its teeth are made of the same crystalline Corrupted substance as its spines. All of us wince at the screeching cry it lets out before charging at us. We all run off in different directions, Morbus still hanging on to my back. The large beast flips around, and begins to charge at Morbus and I. The others leap onto its back, cutting, beating, and bashing it in various places, trying to inflict damage. Morbus’s siblings lasso chains around the creature’s legs and throat, pulling them tight in hopes of slowing the towering beast down. Sadly, the creature’s speed is hardly affected, and the four are now being dragged behind the monsterpede. Bucking back and forth, Morbus’s siblings get shaken off and thrown back. Another screech rings out. Suddenly, an idea hits me. Using my newfound abilities, I replicate the screech using a tone of the same pitch. Blasting it as loud as possible, the creature reels at the sound. I focus the range of the sound, so only the creature is affected. Mentally, I envision the sound vibrating the inside of the beast, slowly tearing it apart from the inside. Roaring and screeching, the creature wiggles about as its innards bubble and churn from the vibrations. “Take cover!!!” I yell, before the creature explodes, spraying Corruption and yellow slime everywhere. I shake off my hands in disgust. All of us are covered in the yellow gunk. “Ech. It’s like snot!” Medius grumbles. Marthus scrapes most of the slime off of himself, Chris and Yaroslav combust, burning it off. I gag a little from the rancid scent of the burnt slime. Cole and I help freeze the slime off of the others while trying to not catch a whiff of the burning gunk. We hear more of the building we escaped collapse behind us, and a dark figure floats upwards from the inside. The body is limp and pale, face dark like Morbus’s. “It’s Meradus..” Morbus says grimly. Meradus then implodes, his body being torn apart by what was keeping him alive.

I freeze when Morbus suddenly collapses to the ground trembling. He stiffens up like a board, his arms and legs twitching rapidly. Even though his face is dark, I can still see his lips turning blue. “He’s seizing!!” Midus yells, fear showing in his voice. The only thing I can think to do is rush him to the nearby hospital. Scooping him up in my arms, I take off soaring. Midus quickly follows behind on his motorbike. Soon, I can see everyone trailing behind me as I fly as fast as I can to the emergency room. Dashing through the doors, the attendant behind the desk ahead of me snaps her head up to look at who burst through the doors. My helmet and armor retracts itself before anyone notices. My arms now tremble from holding up Morbus without the assistance of my gear. Soon, our fellow Elementals and Meridians manage to find us. Morbus is still trembling like crazy. I place a hand on his chest, above his lungs, to try and help him breathe by slowly inflating and deflating his lungs, letting oxygen flow through him. His eyes are glazed over, a little bit of drool pooling at the corner of his mouth. All of us awkwardly stand there as everyone in the waiting room gawks at us, surprised. “Are those… aliens?” One person says to us. Midus, trying to keep his feelings of urgency at bay, says, “I guess you could say that, we are Meridians. The humans with us are Elementals, and we are going to save the world.”
More gawking and blank stares.
Another person asks with realization, “Wait, were you the one to put that message in the sky?!”
“Yes, yes I am.”

 

Corruption bursts through the doors, wailing and screeching. Panic begins to flow through the reception area, but is quickly stomped out by Midus telling me to get Morbus to safety, and rallying the other humans to help us out. The receptionist guides Morbus and I to an empty room, helping me place him onto the bed. Mordeus follows behind us, to help the doctors with her eldest brother. She holds his hand tightly as the doctors quickly get Morbus stabilized. “It’s a good thing Meridians are so similar to humans, huh?” I say lightheartedly to Mordeus. She silently nods, a small frown on her face. Resting her head on Morbus’s chest, she silently begins to cry. I gently place Mini Morbus on her back, realizing I still had him with me throughout the battle. Mordeus snuggles the doll, sniffling and taking a shaky breath. Morbus mumbles as he comes to.
“Sister… do not cry, for I have not left you.”
Mordeus cries some tears of joy as she flings her arms around Morbus. Mini Morbus is squished between them. I can imagine him squeaking out a small “Help!” Chuckling to myself at that thought, I walk over to Morbus’s left side. I can see small bags under his eyes as I place a kiss to his nose.
“That took a lot out of me, little one… I don’t know if I can keep moving without some rest.”
“Then rest, we will be right here next to you.”
“Where are the others?”
“Out in the reception area. Corruption followed us in and Midus told me to get you to safety. You’re safe in here. Corruption can’t get in.”
Morbus lets out a long, growling sigh, closing his eyes. I cuddle up next to him on the hospital bed. Mordeus places a kiss to both of our foreheads before she curls up in the reclining chair on the other side of the room, next to the window. Within a few minutes, Morbus is quietly snoring and his sister is also sound asleep. It takes me a little while, but sleep finally washes over like a gentle wave.

Chapter 17: Hospital

Summary:

Morby's in the hospital, with what seems to be a sliver of Corruption still trying to take him over. He acts very strange after a second seizure until Matt punches him in the nose accidentally.

Once we had cleaned out the room of Corruption, I immediately ask the receptionist what room my brother is in. After hearing many thank yous from everyone, including the receptionist, she leads my brothers, the other Elementals, and I to the room. When we walk in, I see Matt cuddled up to Morbus, their head on his chest, their arms wrapped around both Morbus and Mini Morbus, and Mordeus is curled up in the recliner; all three of them are sound asleep. “You did good, Midus. I’m surprised how fast you took charge of the situation!” Medius says to me with a smile and a gentle hand on my shoulder. Chris squeezes past us and over to Matt. To our surprise, he tells us that him and Matt were together during high school. After placing a kiss to Matt’s forehead, he tells us stories about their adventures and all the little moments he loved. He admits that he still cares about Matt. ‘That explains why they’re so close.’ I say inwardly. Morbus stirs a little, shifting around in bed. All of us decide where we are sleeping, Marthus takes the remaining chair and Chris takes the cushioned window ledge; the rest of us sleep on the floor, trying to stay out of the way of the doctors if they need to check on Morbus. I use my hoodie as a pillow. Before I fall asleep, I hear Morbus quietly tell Matt to go sleep somewhere else, just in case. After that, I hear quiet footsteps moving over to where Chris is sleeping. I smile to myself, thinking about how cute that was. My last thought before I slept was, ‘I bet those two were a really cute couple.’

I wake up to the nurse talking to Morbus and Matt. I hear him say to the two that they don’t need to pay for the services given to us, because we are going to save the world. Morbus then tells the nurse that we could use help dealing with Corruption and that we could help the doctors figure out how to kick it out of someone’s body, but Matt interrupts him by saying something about how Corruption is getting more abundant. Morbus interjects with, “That’s why I am asking for help, little one.”
The discussion between Morbus and the nurse continues, with some input from Matt. I stretch out with a big yawn, then look up to see if anyone is using the restroom. “Good morning, Midus!” I hear Morbus say to me. Sleepily, I mumble “Good morning, Morbus” in reply. I lay back down after checking the restroom, still feeling drowsy. Someone else, I’m guessing Mordeus, since she’s usually one of the first ones awake, is using it. I doze off for about five to ten minutes until I hear the door opening and footsteps padding by. I hear a little bit of shuffling before Mordeus plops down in front of me, legs crossed, with a cheery grin. “Good morning, baby brother!”
“Good morning, sister.”
“So the doctors said that Morbus needs a couple tests done before they can discharge him.”
“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow.
“I’m thankful. I would like to know what’s going on with our brother. I hope it isn’t Corruption.”
“It’s either that or old age.”
Morbus overheard me saying “old age.”
“I may be the oldest, you two, but I’m not dying anytime soon! I have a lot of life left in me!” Morbus retorts jokingly.
Matt joins in the tease-fest by copying what Morbus just said in their “old person voice.” Mordeus and I both burst out laughing. My eyes started to water from how hard I was laughing. My sister was laying on her back, holding her stomach. Medius walks into the room, completely confused. “What did I miss?” He asks, seeing Mordeus and I on the floor, unable to breathe from laughter. Morbus, chuckling, says, “Don’t ask.”
Marthus chuckles and shakes his head, smiling. “Looks like the jokes were made without you, brother!”
Medius frowns. “Who stole the joke?”
Matt slowly crouches down behind Morbus’s bed, out of sight. “I can see you.” Medius says, not amused. Matt squeaks out a little “ah crap” before popping back up. But before anything starts, a nurse comes in to retrieve Morbus for his first test: a scan; technically it was called an MRI. Only a couple of us are given permission to come with as escorts: Matt, Chris, and myself. I suppose another purpose I have is to help the doctors understand Meridian anatomy, even though it is very similar to human anatomy. Mordeus and I had been working to learn medical things like this during our journey to Earth, because we had wanted to help others the best we could. I’m impressed by how much technology humanity has put into their medicine.

Morbus goes into the separate room with the large scanner, the rest of us stand behind the computers and the glass that separates us. My brother lies down on the table, is told to relax, and slowly moves into the middle of the machine. I hear a loud hum when the scan begins. I notice Morbus’s feet flex; he’s tensing up. “It’ll be okay, Morbus. Relax - you’ll be out soon.” I try to comfort my older brother. It seems to work, as I notice the tension in his legs fade. Eventually, the scan concludes. I had been watching the screens throughout while keeping my eyes on my brother still, and explained the blips that showed up to the doctors. The Meridian mind has a few extra bits and pieces compared to humans, so our senses are stronger than the average human’s. But, an unusual blip shows up on the screen. The doctors ask me what it is, but I have no idea. A doctor that specializes in things with the brain tells us that in humans, that little blip could be something that shows up with a mental disorder, like depression. “Morbus is depressed?” I think out loud.
“It could also be something from old age. How old is your brother compared to human years?” The doctor asks.
“He’s the oldest of my siblings, I’m the youngest. I suppose I would be in my 20s in terms of human years, Morbus would maybe be in his 40s or 50s.”
The doctor nods in response, deep in thought. We all walk back to the room Morbus was in, and my siblings and their Elementals look up at us. Marthus, says with a sarcastic, yet snarky tone, “It took ya guys long enough! There’s still some Corruption wandering around outside, waiting for Morbus. I think part of Morby’s issue has to do with Corruption.”
The neurologist agrees. He then says that Corruption could have caused some brain damage from residing in Morbus’s body and during the multiple extractions. The extractions themselves could have put a lot of stress on Morbus’s body.

~~~

We hear a cacophony of loud screeching outside. Marthus and I rush to the window. Corruption. Morbus jerks, tensing up in pain as his body beings to seize again. Fear quickly filling him, Marthus urgently says, “Chris. Go help Matt with Morbus.”
“Yes sir!” I throw him a derpy salute, to which I receive a fiery glare. I quickly rush over to Matt’s side. I notice Medius has pushed the little emergency button by Morbus’s bed. Soon, there are multiple nurses and doctors rushing in, nudging us aside, and surrounding Morbus. Morbus gets injected with a medicine that helps stop the convulsions. I notice his eyes turn yellow for a few seconds before returning to the usual flaming red. Midus squeezes in and grasps his brother’s hand. “Corruption still prevails… but how?”
Matt tells Midus a possible reason. “Maybe there was a little sliver of Corruption still within him that took him over in his weakened state?”
Midus’s eyes widen. “Yes. That is very possible. The Corruption could also have been weakened because of how slowly it’s taking Morbus over.”
Morbus groans in pain after his body relaxes. I see lots of worry in Matt’s expression. I gently pull their hand away from their mouth when they try to bite their already bitten short fingernails.

~~~

After Morbus’s seizure ceases, I begin to nibble at my fingernails out of anxiety. Chris gently moves my hands away from my mouth once he notices. Morbus slowly reaches out for my hand and grabs it, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. Chris gently rubs my back.
“I love you, little one.”
“I love you too, Morbus…”
I try not to cry. The anxiety in the room is too overwhelming. ‘I can’t lose him… I can’t lose another…’ I say inwardly.
Morbus’s voice enters my mind. ‘You’re not losing me, little one. Not now.’
His voice is soft. He presses his forehead to mine. Suddenly, he tenses up again, flopping back down onto the bed. Gasping, his eyes turn yellow like Corruption. Within a split second, he’s leaping off the bed and tackling me to the floor, eyes glowing intensely. “I would plug your ears, everyone!” I warn before blasting out a loud, high-pitched tone that would normally make me cringe. Morbus falls back onto his knees, covering his ears and howling in pain. Now it’s my turn to tackle him. I pull open his shirt, then press my hands hard on his chest over his heart after pinning him to the floor. I then press one of my hands against the side of his head. His back arches underneath me as he grits his teeth. The yellow soon fades from his eyes. Morbus’s eyes are still growing very brightly. I notice Morbus’s siblings looking at me with a very strange expression on their faces. The one word I can describe all of them with is awkward - very awkward. ‘Is that a blush on Midus’s face?’ I think, squinting a little. Looking back down at Morbus, it looks like he’s drooling a bit, a dark look in his eyes. “Uhh… guys? A little help?” I ask sheepishly to everyone in the room. Marthus picks me up, plops me on the bed, and runs out of the room, laughing. Everyone slowly follows him, Midus and Mordeus both looking between me and the door before slowly stepping out awkwardly. “That wasn’t much help, Marthus!” I yell, hoping he’d hear me. Morbus slowly crawls over me on the bed. Flailing off the bed and onto the floor, I repeatedly say “Nope!” As I quickly run out of the room, down the hall, and right to Chris and Marthus.
“Marthus, what did you do?!”
“Heh. To put it simply, Chris, Morby wants some fun~”
Chris’s eyes widen a little as I blush. I groan in despair and embarrassment, placing my face into my hands. I squeak out a little “Why would you do this?” To Marthus.
“To see what would happen, since apparently you two are together~”
I groan again; Marthus laughs. Midus, being serious, tells me that Corruption could have been working off of Morbus’s “carnal needs” to try and get to me.

Suddenly, strong arms wrap around me from behind, startling me and making me punch whatever is grabbing me directly in the face. I instantly realize I accidentally punched Morbus square in the nose, which knocks him out of his weird state. Medius and Marthus both burst out laughing as Morbus pinches his nose to stop the bleeding. Immediately I’m apologizing to him, grabbing tissues for his bloody nose. “It’s alright, little one. I didn’t mean to startle you. I also didn’t expect your startle reflex to be so… violent.” Morbus chuckles. “I apologize for what I did before you punched me; I don’t know what got into me.”
“It’s alright, Morby. I think all of us are pretty worried about you, though. Midus and I think that you still have some Corruption in your system.”
“I think so, too. It feels like it is as injured as I am.”
Medius interrupts our conversation, “Don’t forget that there is a bunch of Corruption waiting for us outside.”
Morbus’s expression falls. “You’re kidding.”
“That’s why that tiny sliver of Corruption in you was able to take such a strong hold on you.”
Morbus’s eyebrows scrunch together. “We have to fight it off, keep it away from this building.”
Marthus pipes up this time. “You know the Corruption is here to fight us, right?”
“Yes, but I know that it will do anything to get to us, even kill all the people here.”
“Morbus. You cannot fight. You are not strong enough.” Mordeus tells her eldest brother sternly.
“I do not care about my strength. I only care about the safety of all the people I care about. Now, let’s get going. I want this hospital safe.”

Morbus strides back to his hospital room, us reluctantly following behind him. He pulls off the sheets and straightens up the room. He changes out of his hospital clothing into his normal clothes. Morbus, being the gentle giant he is, slowly walks up to me and gently wraps his arms around me. He looks down at me with a confident smile, telling me that we should get going. Patting my shoulder, he walks out of the door after leaving a note of thanks to the nurses and doctors that took care of him. He flicks on his cloak with a swish as he walks towards the door. Chuckling to myself, I think, ‘Who knew a punch to the nose would bring him back?’

Chapter 18: Anxiety

Summary:

The Elementals have become better at defeating Corruption. Morbus has an anxiety attack about Chris's and Matt's relationship.

“Perfect. My little minions led me right to him~ It’s a shame how Meradus perished so easily under the hand of my enemies.”
“Uhh, sir? Who are you talking to exactly?” My new right hand, Dismus, asks me sheepishly. “I was thinking out loud, Dismus.” I grumble. Donning our civilian disguises, we march into the hospital. My eyes, covered by sunglasses, scan the reception area. There had been a bit of a scuffle here. Hopefully my identity is shielded enough under this human apparel. My head itches under the blue cap I have on my head. Dismus disguises himself underneath an outfit that a human adolescent would wear. “Demisas, sir, how will we find them?”
“If my intuition is correct, Morbus is managing the Corruption still within him and his team is getting ready to leave and find us.”
As soon as I said that, Morbus and his little friends marched through the doors leading to the hospital rooms within. Trying to sound as friendly and humanlike as possible, I exclaim, “Morbus! Long time no see, bro!” I mentally flick Dismus when he stifles a snicker.
“Who are you? You do not seem familiar to me at all.”
“I was a friend of Meradus, before his demise.”
Morbus’s expression changes rapidly from calm to a dark frown. He whips off my hat and my sunglasses to get a clearer look at my face. His eyes narrow into a glare. “What did you do to him?”
He’s quick to assume things.
“Ah, Morby, I simply brought him to the winning team~” I say with an airy tone. Morbus growls lowly.
“You’re another one; one that let Corruption rule their whole being.”
“That’s right~” I chuckle.
Morbus jerks forward, as if he were faking a lunge at me. I begin to laugh hysterically. “What was that?”
Suddenly, a blade is pierced through my back. My breathing shudders briefly. It seems Dismus has suffered the same fate. As the Corruption in him withers away, his human self gasps back to consciousness before dying from the pain and shock of losing blood. Slowly, I suck in the blade that’s sticking out of my chest, bringing whoever is holding it into me. They seem to have let go before I began to suck them in. “Do you think you could have stopped me?!”
A strong voice rings out from behind me. “Yes, because I know you’re just one of Corruption’s enforcers. You don’t scare me.”
I chuckle. “I don’t think you understand; Corruption permeates all of us. I’m one of its enforcers because I let it rule my every being. Corruption is all knowing, it knows your weaknesses, your strengths.”
Silence. Another chuckle flows from my throat. “You Elementals…” I begin, striking out at the one that pierced me through the chest. I slam them against the wall, getting close to their mask. Grinning, my jagged teeth grow prominent. Using my teeth, I dig them into the Elemental’s ridiculous mask, trying to tear it from their face. Feeling them struggle to escape from my grasp, they suddenly slide out from underneath me, skidding across the floor. Their whole helmet remains in my mouth, my teeth still clinging to the mask. Whipping around, I catch a glimpse of their identity before they’re too close for me to see around the helmet caught in my jaws. Grumbling to myself, I realized I let my excitement get ahead of me and managed to get my jaw stuck.

Another blade pierces my chest, but this time, it is quickly ripped out as fast as it went in. On the way out, it felt much more painful as it went in. I realized that this Elemental’s blades have barbs that slide out before being torn out of whoever got impaled. I hiss loudly at the pain of having a large chunk of me torn off. I already feel my life fading away. Normally, I would have been instantly killed, but Corruption is keeping me alive a little longer. Pain sears through me, slowly burning like a flame across my body. I’m unable to hold the pain within me; a loud howl rips itself from me before I flop to the floor, too weak to function any longer. Soon, death washes over me. I manage to croak out a curse at the Elementals before I’m gone.

~~~

We set fire to the withering Corruption before it spreads. Once the mess has been cleaned up, Morbus puts an arm around my shoulders.
“Hello, Chris.”
“Uhh… hi Morbus.”
“There is something important that I need to tell you about my kind and the whole betrothal process. I take it you and Matt were together for a while, yes?”
“Yeah. To be honest, you were the one that kind of ended our relationship.”
“About that. Your relationship wasn’t supposed to end. I’m sorry.”
My mind reels at what Morbus just told me. “I don’t understand.”
“Meridians have a partner for the rest of their lives. They are held together by an unbreakable bond.”
“But that would mean that both you and I are bonded to Matt. How is that supposed to work itself out?”
Morbus sighs. “I do not know; hopefully time will work things out in the end. All I know for certain was I forced you two apart. I shouldn’t have kissed them….”
“Morbus. It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I do suggest though, that you tell Matt instead of me.”
“I’m not finished though. What I was going to say was if I were to pass on, the bond between you two will strengthen. That’s my hypothesis, anyway.”
A confused look crosses my face. “Has that happened with Meridians before?”
“Yes. A bond that is shared from one person to another is strong, but if a bond is formed between one person to two others separately, that bond is split in a way. Think of it as an incomplete love triangle, where the one person is at the bottom of the “V” shape, and the two recipients are on the other ends.”
I stare at Morbus blankly. “This is so complicated…”
“I know. That’s why I tried to explain it the best I could.”
“So… the point is?”
“You’re the one that’s supposed to be with Matt. Yes, either of us are very compatible with them, but you’ve been with them first.”
“I still don’t understand…”
“You will in time, my friend.”
Morbus pats my shoulder before walking to check on the people in the reception area, seeing if they were injured at all. I sit down, heavy in thought. I contemplate hard for a while, trying to process all that Morbus had told me and more. I’m startled out of my thoughts when Marthus plops down in the chair next to me.
“Yo. Is everything alright?” Marthus asks.
“I’m alright… I’m just... thinking.”
“Tell me what you’re thinking about.”
I tell Marthus what his older brother just spilled to me.
“I had a feeling he would do this... “ Marthus says with a miffed tone. He gets up and goes over to Morbus.

~~~

“Morbus. Why would you tell Chris that?” Marthus questioned me.
“I felt bad for being a wedge in their relationship. I didn’t mean for them to break up, I didn’t even know that they had been together.” Guilt wells up in my chest. Marthus sighs.
“Morbus… you know that you and Matt can’t be separate either. I doubt a permanent bond formed between them.”
“But Marthus… I can sense they’re still attached to Chris. I sense the same feelings within them that they feel for me.”
“I think you’re thinking of the feelings of safety. Chris has told me about all the times he’s protected Matt, and the times that Matt has protected Chris. They may have been together at one point, but that was before Matt was told that they were part Meridian.”
“That doesn’t mean that a bond can still be formed.”
Marthus lets out another big sigh before asking me why I’m so worried about my little one and what will happen if I pass on. I tell him simply, “Because I love them. I don’t want them to suffer through another death of a loved one.”
Marthus’s eyes widen a little. “Wait. Matt’s seen death before?”
“Yes.”
“You know what this means, right?” Marthus asks with intensity.
“They’re more like us than we thought.”

~~~

We have finally left the hospital and found a secure hotel to stay in that’s still within the city. I’ve noticed Morbus being more anxious and agitated than usual since the seizures. Chris and Midus have both told me about what Morbus told them to do if he were to pass on to the next life. I was surprised especially when Chris told me that Morbus felt bad because he thought that he had split Chris and I apart. Midus seemed to be a bit baffled at why Morbus said that. Midus gets up with a sigh and walks to another room where the rest of his siblings are, including Morbus. Soon he comes back in, while asking Morbus why he’s said these things. I immediately notice Morbus shutting down on his younger brother. “Midus, lay off of him. Morby’s depressed. That’s what’s going on. Can’t you tell that he’s shut down on you?”
Midus scrunches his nose up at me. “How can you tell, little one?”
In a smaller voice I say, “Because I myself am and have been depressed. I can see it in others.”
Concern washes across Midus’s face very quickly. He looks down at the floor before shuffling to the couch and plopping down next to Chris. I walk to Morbus, then gently grab his hand.
“Hey, Morby..”
Morbus’s gaze flicks up to me before sinking back to the floor.
“Hey, little one…” A quiet mumble comes from the red-eyed Meridian.
“What’s wrong?” I quietly ask him in a whisper.
I simply get a little head shake in reply. With a sigh, I gently lead Morbus to the bed where I hold him tightly. I notice Chris and Midus observe us in silence before Chris gets up and wraps his arms around both Morbus and I, followed by Midus. Suddenly, Midus jumps up and grabs the rest of his siblings from the other room. Soon, we are in a giant cuddle puddle, with Morbus in the center of it all. All of us sit there in silence until Morbus breaks. He shakes with each sob as his arms tighten around me. Eventually, we are a big, sobbing mess. The others are peeking into the room at us, concern evident on all their faces. Yaroslav brings us a box of tissues. “Are you guys okay?”
I look at Morbus, silently asking him if he’s okay.
“I’m alright, little one.”
Medius chimes in with a sniffle, “We just needed a good cry, that’s all!”

Morbus washes his face off in the bathroom while the rest of us sit around in the room, talking and laughing over silly memories we have. Medius almost spits out his drink when I tell everyone the story of when I was little and I got super frustrated from not being able to grab the phone that was sitting above the couch. “Sounds like you, Marthus!” Medius slaps Marthus on the shoulder jokingly. We hear Morbus chuckle from the bathroom. Mordeus shares stories about Midus when he was a baby. Midus shrinks a little from embarrassment as Mordeus shares a specific memory of when Midus ate some of Marthus’s spicy candies and had explosive farts for a while after that. “He farted so much, he could have been a rocket!” Marthus laughs.
“Wait a minute, Marthus. Did you leave those candies out on purpose?!” Mordeus looks at her older brother skeptically.
“Maybe, maybe not~”
Mordeus simply glares at him, not amused.
Both Marthus and Medius burst out laughing.
Deciding to add to the humor, I mention that I pantsed a kid when I was in second grade in front of the whole class and managed to get away with it somehow. I swear I hear a wheeze come from Medius, and his orange-eyed brother wipes the tears from his eyes from his hard laughter. Morbus comes out of the bathroom. “Little one! Why would you do that?!”
Medius stifles his laughter. “Ooooooooooooo~ Someone’s in trouble~”
I lightly smack the jokester in the chest.
“Little one.”
“What? I was a monkey-see monkey-do kinda kid, it was a funny thing to do back then!”
“Isn’t that how all kids are though?” Chris asks me.
“Chris, you know my past. I didn’t really understand social stuff.”
“So you were a bully and you didn’t really understand that you were?” Morbus raises an eyebrow.
With a sigh, I admit that yes, I had been a bully in the past; just a little bit though. Now the conversation has gone from us telling lighthearted stories about our childhood, to me telling the sad, but true, story of my life. Silence befalls the room once more. “Morbus is a perfect Guardian for you then.” Mordeus says after hearing me explain how my mind sticks onto different masculine figures because I never really had a dad involved in my life. After many hugs from Morbus’s Meridian siblings, Morbus gives me a gentle but firm hug. “You know, little one… hearing your story and getting a good cry out helped my anxiety. I still apologize for the wedge I put between you and Chris.”
“Morby…”
I hug my Guardian tightly. “Morbus… just stop. Please.”
Strangely enough, I can feel myself slightly pulling away from him internally, like the bond between us is fading slightly.

Chapter 19: Father

Summary:

Morbus gets visited by his father and is told shocking news.

‘Morbus…. Morbus….’ I hear a voice calling out to me.
‘Morbus. Listen to me.’ The voice sounds familiar, but I cannot place who it belongs to.
‘Morbus, just listen to your father….’ My mother!?
I try to reach out to them. ‘Mother… father… I need your help…’
‘Son. Corruption is coming. Meridian has been completely overtaken and it’s coming to find you.’
My heart aches. ‘Father…’
‘Morbus. I sense you have a bond with your Elemental partner that is slowly beginning to fade because of your fears.’
‘Yes.. That’s what I needed your assistance with.’
‘Let them be. Don’t worry about your little one.’
‘I’m trying, father.. But-’
‘Let them get back together.’
My heart clenches even more. ‘Father, I love them. I can’t just.. Give up.’
‘I never told you to give up, Morbus. Do you know why your partner has Meridian blood?’
‘A Meridian bonded with a human?’
‘Yes, but do you know who it was?’
‘No, father.’
‘The stasis must have wiped your memories somehow…’
‘Father?’
‘Morbus, the father of your Elemental… was you.’
‘No. I was asleep for many years! How?!’
‘You had a child before you fell into slumber. Sadly, when you fell into your deep slumber, your child disappeared as well. Somehow they came out of slumber when their human family found them and took them in, but the human father was not successful, as he walked out on your little one.’
‘I knew that much. I suppose this makes sense now, why I’ve felt so anxious and protective.’
‘And, that is why your little one is so powerful. They have a heart and inner strength much like yours. I suggest, my son, that you tell your little one this as soon as possible.’ My father says with an air of pride.
‘Yes, father.’
‘I must depart. Goodbye for now, Morbus.’

I awaken with a start, in a cold sweat. That couldn’t have been real, my father is gone- “Unless he visited me in spirit!” I mumble out loud. My little one stirs next to me in my bed at the sound of my voice. “Little one… wake up. I have something I need to tell you.”
“Five more minutes, Morby…” Matt mumbles drowsily.
“Little one, this is important. My father came to me while I was asleep.”
“So in a dream then?” They reply skeptically.
“In spirit, yes. He told me something that I need to tell you.”
“Like what? You’re secretly my father or something?” More awake now, I can hear a hint of snarky sarcasm coming from my little one.
“Yes. I am your father, little one.”
“Wait, what?” They are definitely awake now.
“That’s who your Meridian blood comes from.”
Matt reaches out and buries their head into my chest. Soon, they’re shaking with sobs as tears pour down their face. I hear a small voice whisper, “I finally have a real dad…”
I wrap my arms and cloak around my little one as they press against my chest.
“Oh little one… You have always had a real father, you just didn’t know it yet.”
I press the little doll of myself into my little one’s hands. “You made this little guy to keep you safe, yes?”
“Yeah..” Matt says with a sniffle.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Morby~”

I volunteer to assist my little one and their friends in getting breakfast, but I’m shot down out of fear of us being spotted by Corruption. Skott and Cole stay behind with us while Matt, Chris, and Yaroslav walk out of the room in their normal outfits. Midus keeps glancing at me with concern for a few minutes before walking over to me.
“Hey Morbus. Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard that you and Matt are related.”
“Yes. Father came to me in spirit last night, telling me that Matt is my child.”
Midus’s eyes widen a little. He squeaks out, “Father’s alive?!”
“I don’t think so, brother. He said that we are in danger, that Meridian has been completely overrun with Corruption.”
I swear I hear my baby brother’s heart break. He may not know his home planet or his parents very well, but he still is attached as much as I am to them. Midus’s gaze sinks to the floor as his shoulders slump forward a bit. I feel a presence behind me. Medius is leaning back on the wall by the bed, listening to our conversation.
“So Matt’s your kid, huh?”
“You know, Medius, you could have just told me you were here.”
“True, but I didn’t want to interrupt anything. It was too silent and heavy.”
“Heavy?” Midus asks.
“Yeah. The grief and sadness is overpowering. So Morbus, what are you going to do?”
“Easy. Take care of my little one as best as I can until I die. Besides, I feel like I’m already doing so.”

~~~

Chris calmly drives us to a local fast food restaurant and picks up some egg and sausage sandwiches, loads of hashbrown cakes, a few bowls of oatmeal, and drinks for everyone. Sitting in shotgun, I gaze out the window, letting my thoughts run wild. All of us are silent on the ride back. I feel tension between Chris and I, as if both of us want to say something to each other, but we can’t. All I want to do right now is curl up in a ball and sleep life away. There’s so much going on at once in my mind, I wish it would slow down and stop for just a moment. Chris jostles me out of my daze when we reach the hotel.
“I’ll… just let you two work things out. I’ll go take the food in.” Yaroslav says awkwardly as he gathers as many bags of food in his arms as he can before walking to the main doors where Mordeus is standing.

Chris’s soft hand reaches out and gently rests on my cheek. ‘Oh how I missed this…’ I think as I lean into his touch. All of a sudden, a lump forms in my throat as tears well up in my eyes. I notice the same thing happening to the amazing man in front of me. He was once my protector. He was the one that I had originally looked to for love until Morby came into the picture. A large pit of guilt wells up in my gut. Eventually, the dam breaks and I sob into Chris’s shoulder, his tears soon following. My memory shoots back to the first time I ever saw Chris cry. It was at a Disturbed concert, and David Draiman had been talking about depression and addiction and how we are going to end the suffering that comes with them. I’m brought back out of my memories when I hear Chris telling me how much he’s missed me. My feelings for him break down the wall I stuffed them behind, and the bond between us returns once again, stronger than ever.

Everyone had started to eat by the time we came back in. I look at Morbus and strangely, a little bit of anger fills my heart. I try to shake it away, but his constant worried expression is getting a little annoying.
‘I’m sorry, little one. It is difficult not to worry about you.’
‘I guess I can understand, Morbus.’
I gaze upon his face before Chris hands me a couple hashbrown cakes and a bottle of juice. He pulls out a chair for me before pulling himself a chair. I feel his hand gently glide over my back for a moment while we begin to eat. As usual, Medius scarfs down his food in no time at all, racing with Marthus. Morbus watches, chuckling. Midus and Mordeus eat their food at a more leisurely pace, watching their older siblings chow down.
“You gonna eat, Morbus?” Mordeus asks, concern evident in her voice.
“I will, sister. I just want to make sure all of you are fed first.”
“I doubt any of us want you to go hungry.”
Medius jokingly says, “I do!”
Marthus snorts, stifling a laugh. Both of them quickly go silent when Mordeus shoots a cold glare at the two brothers. In unison, Medius and Marthus both mumble, “Sorry, Mordeus…”
Morbus sighs. “I don’t know what my life would be like without all of you. Thank you, sister.”
The Meridian siblings all stand up and hug their eldest brother. My fellow Elementals look amongst each other before looking back at the figures in a group hug at the head of the table.

Eventually, we all head back to our rooms. Chris flops onto my bed and wraps himself up in the covers, tucking them under his chin.
Laughing, I exclaim, “It’s a Chris Burrito!”
Both of us laugh. I suddenly jump onto the bed next to him and begin to tickle him. I wriggle my fingers into his waist and tummy, making him screech. Morbus walks in, hearing my laughter and Chris’s screeches. Chris tries to flop around to shake me off, but I keep tickling him. I notice Morbus staring at us, very confused. I stop tickling Chris once both him and I get the same idea. With mischievous grins, we lunge at poor Morby, relentlessly poking at his tummy and sides, trying to tickle him. Chris tickles his neck and armpits, I get his tummy and legs. Sadly, Morbus continues to look at us, more confused now than before. “What are you doing, little ones?”
“...Nothing!” Both Chris and I say in unison, before we flop back on to the bed. Morby chuckles as he calmly walks out of the room. A few minutes later, we hear Medius squeal and run down the hallway. “MORBUS!!!” Morbus’s laughter fills the hallway. The red-eyed Meridian peeks his head into our room. “Medius squeals like Chris when I did to him what you tried to do to me!”
“It’s called tickling.” I tell him.
“Ohhhhhhh, that’s what you guys call that?”
“Yep!”
Out of nowhere, Medius comes back and jabs his fingers into Morbus’s sides. Morbus seems to jump a whole foot in the air from being startled. Morbus’s eyes are wide as he whips around to look at Medius.
“What was that?!” Morbus exclaims.
“I just poked your sides with my fingers!” Medius says, laughing.
Morbus quickly covers his waist with his hands and flops onto the other bed in the room. Medius lets out a “pffffff” before popping out of the room to join his siblings.

Morbus suddenly zones out, tensing up a little. Chris and I look at him, worried that he’ll go into another seizure until he relaxes. I shrug at Chris, and we turn our attention back to each other. My guess? Morbus is having another vision or visit from his father. Chris’s forehead rests against mine. Closing my eyes, I relax a bit from his touch. My head is gently pulled into his chest. I must have eventually fallen asleep, because I suddenly woke up to Morbus telling me something urgent. He tells me that his father came to him again.

Corruption is coming with a vengeance.

~~~

Chapter 20: Family

Summary:

Morbus, Matt, Medius, and Yaroslav drive together across the United States to visit family along the way before Corruption comes. After Yaroslav leaves for Russia, Matt visits an old friend in Newburgh, New York.

We race out the door of the hotel we took refuge in. I notice something… different… between Chris and Matt, like they have an unbreakable bond that has been recently restored between them. Sadly, I notice that same bond fading between Morbus and his little one. I suppose because it’s being replaced with a father-child kind of bond. Something I become curious about is if Chris and Matt can meld like us Guardians can with our Elementals. Yaroslav tugs my attention back to our journey. His arms wrapped around me from behind is somehow comforting as we ride on. Morbus suggested that before we head to battle, we head home and tell our families and loved ones farewell for now. So, Yaroslav and I are on a long journey back to Russia. Skott and Cole follow us east until they reach their home state; Matt also has family on the east coast of the United States, so Morbus and Matt follow us to the coast. We decide to follow them southward to Georgia so the pair isn’t alone, since both of us will be going northward. Yaroslav and I watch from a small distance with a smile as Matt hugs his family members. We are on the road again a few minutes later. I can hear Morbus questioning his little one’s music taste over the songs playing through their helmets.
“Whaddya mean you don’t like Kiss?”
“I don’t understand why you like them, little one. I never said I didn’t like Kiss.”
“Their music is catchy? Oooh! I like this song!”
Matt cranks their music up louder despite Morbus warning them not to. Soon, I hear Matt’s voice sing along.
“Loud! I wanna hear it loud! Right between the eyes!!”
Morbus grumbles a little.
“Loud! I wanna hear it loud! Don’t want no compromise!!”
Yaroslav and I chuckle.
Yaroslav comments, “They do have a pretty good voice, I can give them that much!”
Soon the song concludes. An advertisement begins to play, and a groan of agony rings out. Morbus laughs. A song titled “Platypus (I Hate You),” by a band called Green Day comes on after the ad, and Matt laughs maniacally. Again, more singing comes from the high-spirited Elemental. Yaroslav, Morbus, and I laugh at the lyrics. Eventually, we cross the state border into Maryland. A song called “Highway to Hell” comes on, and even I know this song. With a smile, all four of us sing the chorus with glee as we ride up the interstate. I even notice Matt playing some air guitar along with the song! I guess Maryland is much smaller, as it doesn’t take very long before we’re already in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t much longer until Matt pulls off the interstate and we’re riding through the streets of York. I notice people stopping along the sidewalk and staring at us. Through the quiet music playing, we hear mumbles from them along the lines of, “Are those the Elementals?” and “Where’s the rest of them?” We reach an area with a bunch of tall, skinny houses joined together. We pull in front of one of them, and Matt rings the doorbell. A small child runs to the door eagerly. Matt gives him a hug. Their aunt and uncle eventually come to the door and Morby’s little one hugs them as well. They have a small exchange before we hit the road again.
“This is where we part, my friends. Morbus and I have one more friend to visit before we head back to Utah. I suggest you get on your way to Perm.”
“We will. Drive safe.” I say to Matt.
“Fly safe.”
I hug my eldest brother as Matt hugs my Elemental partner. I can feel the strong friendship between those two. I’m surprised they were friends before they became Elementals, because according to time zones, Yaroslav was 12 hours ahead of Matt. We soon go our separate ways, Yaroslav taking on his phoenix form and soaring over the Atlantic Ocean.

~~~

Morbus and I continue northwest through New Jersey, eventually getting to our destination in Newburgh, New York.
“Little one, I didn’t know you had family in New York. Who are we going to visit?” Morbus asks me.
“We’re visiting a friend I wish I had gotten to meet.” I reply solemnly as we pull into a cemetery. We enter the mausoleum and navigate through the halls until I find who I’m looking for. ‘If only I could go back in time…’ I think as I gaze up at the stone with “CARAVELLO” embossed on its face. Morbus notices that I have been here before when he sees the mark I left behind.
“I didn’t know you knew about the Mark, little one.”
“I had figured it out myself when I visited this site before. I had wished that I had a way to say “I will protect you with my life.” I had also left a Mark on the friend I had brought with me as well.”
“Strange. I have no recollection of you departing.” Morbus raises an eyebrow at me.
Turning my gaze back to the gravesite, I place my hand against it. I close my eyes and sense the Mark I had placed. Suddenly, I feel it change; the frequency it gives off fluctuates a little bit. Keeping my eyes closed, I sense an orange aura coming from the stone. I can’t help but smile from the warm, peaceful feeling that penetrates my whole being.
My voice breaks a little as I quietly say, “It’s him…”
Tears well up a little in my eyes.
Morbus looks at me curiously. “You think that Eric Carr’s spirit is visiting you, like you believe that there is an afterlife?”
I look at Morbus with a solemn intensity he’s never seen before.
“Yes, Morbus. He’s here.”
Suddenly it feels as if I’m sucked through a portal. I appear in a small, cozy, room that seems to have that same orange glow with all the warm tones on the walls. On the bed in the corner I see a man about my height with lots of floofy, curly hair. An uncontrollable smile spreads across my face. His dark brown eyes sparkle a little as he looks up at me curiously with a small, kind smile.
“You must be Matt!” He says to me.
“Yeah. Is it really you, Eric?”
“Yep!” He grins.
He stands up off the bed and walks up to me. I can’t help it; I reach out and hug him.
“I have a question.” I begin.
“Go for it.” Eric says with a smirk.
“Can you show me how to play the drums like you do?”
Eric laughs. “Of course! I can give you a place to start!”

After drumming and playing our hearts out, I finally learned how to play I Love It Loud on the drums and guitar! I had impressed Eric with my guitar playing skills, and I had him listen to a couple of my favorite songs, like Knights of Cydonia. As I prepare to depart, I notice Eric slip something into my back pocket. I give him a little token with my Elemental Mark on it and a small fox plush with a green guitar pick necklace around its neck. We hug once more.
“If you need me, all you have to do is ask.” Eric says, and I’m sent back out to the mausoleum. My hand slowly retracts from the tan stone. Drawing a shaky breath, I turn to Morbus. His eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen them.
“You’re incredible, little one.” He says breathlessly.
I look at him curiously. Why did he say that?
“You and Eric must have been friends before you two existed here.”
I’m still perplexed.
“You know how I’ve gotten visions from my father, right?”
“Yeah? Isn’t he dead too?” I ask.
“Yes. You inherited the ability to see auras and vibes from people from me. You also unlocked the ability to communicate with spirits close to you once you saw death for yourself.”
Realization hits me. “So I could communicate with my human father and the rest of my family members that have passed on?!” I ask excitedly.
“Yes, little one.”
“Cool!”
“Also, now that you’ve established a connection with Eric, you can communicate to him from anywhere!”
I can’t help but grin.

We finally turn to head on our way home. I continue to blast my playlist of favorite music, with some songs put in by Morbus. When we grow near to crossing into Nebraska, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” comes on. I let out an uncontrollable giggle.
“Ah, I’ve heard this song before!” Morbus says.
We begin to sing along. The final chorus comes on right after we cross into Nebraska. I howl with excitement and joy, as I finally made it. Since I started high school, I’ve wanted to come here and see the state for myself and not just hear how “ugly” it is from other people trying to discourage my desire. I look up and around in awe at the buildings and busy streets of downtown Omaha. We explore a little bit before heading south to Bellevue. I pull over and send my friend Faith a quick message asking her if she’s home. I flick my wrist and check my watch. “She should be on her way home, unless band took a little longer than expected.” I say, and my phone buzzes.
“She says she’s home, Morby! Let’s go!” Morbus guns the throttle on his bike, and we drive down the private road where my best friend lives. I cloak the sound of Morby’s motorbike as we coast down the road, to keep the element of surprise. I make sure I’m in my normal clothes before going to the door and knocking. Her little brother runs to the door and looks up at me. Eventually, Faith comes to the door. She gives me an excited, bone-crushing hug. Morbus and I are invited inside; I tell her that we don’t have much time, with Corruption’s arrival looming. Her mother insisted, inviting us to stay for dinner. Morby and I accept, hoping dinner doesn’t take too long. I sneak Mini Morbus onto my shoulder.
“You bring that little guy everywhere with you, little one!” Morbus says when he notices the little squishy noodle hanging on my shoulder.

We eventually finish dinner and once again, we are on our way home. To not waste any time, Morbus and I switch off on who’s driving so we could be rested enough to keep going. When it’s my turn to drive, we are traveling through Wyoming, which is probably more dry and ugly than western Nebraska once you pass through Cheyenne and Laramie. I try not to let sleep overtake me as I gaze across the desert landscape. Feeling Morbus flopped against my back isn’t helping much, either. I try to keep going for a few more miles, creating small goals along the way until we get to a small city that’s close to the Utah border. I pull off and make sure Morbus is awake. He groggily shakes his head and we both stand up. Morbus jumps around a little to get his blood flowing a bit more so he’ll wake up. We sit back down on his bike, this time me behind my Guardian. Last thing I remember is falling asleep, my arms wrapped around the hooded Meridian in front of me.

When I wake up, I’m laying on Chris’s bed, my human space heater snuggling me how I snuggle with Mini Morbus. When I shift a little bit, Chris stirs, drawing me even closer to him, whining a little. I press a kiss to his forehead before scratching his head gently. Sleepily, he looks up at me with tired eyes, resting his chin on my chest.
“I missed you.” The cuddly man mumbles.
“I can tell!” I chuckle.
We snuggle for a bit longer, neither of us wanting to let go. I can feel myself begin to fall back asleep from how cozy and safe I feel. I bask in this feeling, as I may not feel it for a while once Corruption arrives. Morbus gently runs his fingers through mine and Chris’s hair before joining his siblings upstairs. Suddenly, I want to cry. The mask I’ve worn for so long of being strong has come off. My chest trembles a little with a stifled sob. Chris immediately takes notice of this. He looks up at me and strokes my cheek. Shifting, my head gently rests into his chest as I break, tears flowing like small rivers down my face. I feel Chris’s warm hand softly rub my back, soothing me.
“I love you, babe.” He says to me.
“I love you too.”

Chapter 21: Bacon

Summary:

The team waits for Corruption to strike. Medius hides bacon strips from Matt.

“Little one, wake up. We gotta go.”
“Just a few more minutes, Morby….”
“Little one. Now. We don’t have time.”
“Alright… alright....”
Morbus pulls me up out of Chris’s bed. I notice that my snuggly man already went upstairs with the others. I yawn, running my fingers through my messy hair. I quickly fix it up in the bathroom and pop in my contacts. With a tired sigh, I trundle up the stairs and into the kitchen. Chris hugs me, kissing my forehead.
“I take it you slept well?” He asks me.
Yawning, I nod sleepily, rubbing my eyes. Chris gently guides me to a chair and sits me down. He places a plate of food in front of me with a glass of water. Resting my chin in my hand, I doze for a few minutes, waiting for the others to sit down. Morbus nudges me awake once he sits down with his siblings. My energy slowly comes to me as I eat the pancakes and bacon on the square plate in front of me. The delicious taste of the bacon snaps me awake. It’s perfect! The perfect midpoint between crispy and chewy! I quickly stand up and grab seconds. Once I get to the plate of bacon, however, there’s just grease and crumbs. I narrow my eyes, looking for who took the last piece. Medius smirks at me, chomping down on the tasty meat strip.
“Ya snooze, ya loose, little one~” He says teasingly.
I simply shoot a little glare at him. I reach out and grab the uneaten half of the bacon hanging from his mouth, snapping it off. Reciprocating Medius’s smirk, I eat the piece, then stick my tongue out at him. Both of us wind up laughing. I feel Morbus’s smile coming from the table. Unbeknownst to me, Medius is hiding more strips of bacon behind his back. I hear the rest of the Meridian sibs stifle some laughter, especially Marthus and Midus. I look at them strangely, thinking that what just happened with the single bacon strip wasn’t that funny. Mordeus subtly points behind Medius’s back with a small grin, signaling me to look behind her older brother. Medius looks away from me, whistling a small tune as he slowly steps away. Shrugging, I walk back to the table, pretending that I don’t know about the hidden bacon. I quickly whip around to the other side of the fridge where the fireplace is, catching Medius in the act of munching on more bacon. He looks up at me, green eyes wide. He slowly opens his mouth and eats another strip, still looking at me.
Morbus whispers, “Get him, little one!”
I slowly walk over to Medius, my cold, resting stare unwavering. The Meridian slowly leans back, eyes still wide, a strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth, the few others being clutched in his hands. I slap the top of the couch when I reach it, leaning over Medius; my cold glare is shooting daggers through his soul. Medius, shrinking, stares back up at me, nervousness filling his gaze. A mischievous grin creeps across my face.
“Okay! Okay! You can have the rest!” Medius says, giving up the intense staring contest. In a high pitched, sweet voice, I reply after taking the bacon strips, “Thank you!~” and kiss Medius’s forehead. He looks at me, completely baffled. Chris bursts out laughing.
“They did the thing that I do sometimes!” He exclaims proudly, giving me a high-five as I walk back to the table, eating my bacon with pride. As I sit down, both Morbus and Chris give me a brief back rub.

Chris and I are snuggled up on the couch together downstairs; we all piled down the stairs after we cleaned up the kitchen.
“What now? Are we just going to wait until Corruption arrives?” I ask Morbus, who’s sitting in front of me on the floor.
“I suppose so, little one. I do not know how long we will be waiting, though. My father did not define how soon Corruption will arrive when him and I last conversed.”
I feel his calm gaze rest upon me before he returns his attention to his siblings. I begin to meditate. Suddenly, I’m sucked inside my being, my mind. It is a blank field of white, with a Titan and a wolf both sitting before me in a cage; both of them are staring down upon me. The wolf tilts its head a little in curiosity. A voice, I’m assuming from the Titan, booms down.
“I assume we have not met yet, human.” The Titan sounds feminine, voice deep like mine.
With a smile, I say proudly, “We have not. And I’m not quite human.”
The Titan raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”
The wolf chimes in, it’s voice masculine. “This one’s Guardian is their father. From my understanding, the two just recently had this information given to them.”
“You’re lucky, small one. Morbus is a strong Meridian, even through his older age.” The Titan smiles.
Curious, I ask them a question.
“How long have you known me?”
Both of them answer in unison, “Since you were born.”
More questions arise within me. “So why did you wait until now to greet me?”
The wolf answers this time. “It wasn’t a matter of us; we were waiting for you to come to us first.”
“I noticed you have a late friend with the spirit of a fox.” The Titan mentions. “I hope you understand how serious this matter is.”
“How serious is this? I just talked to someone who had passed away before I existed.”
The Titan suddenly crouches forward, her face as close as it can get to mine, our eyes locked.
“Exactly. You went to a spiritual realm, visited someone’s grave. You spoke to the dead.”
The wolf then does the same.
“You are not what you think, and you are stronger than you know. Humeridian - I came up with that on the fly - I suggest you choose wisely between us. You must release us from our cages to fully realize the strength you possess.”
Tilting my head, I inquire, “You mean I can only get stronger if I release you?”
“Little one, you were the one that put us here. You felt the turmoil we were raising and separated us without realizing it.” The Titan says.
The wolf adds, “You may have become proficient at assuming our forms, but you are nowhere near your full potential yet. Go. Save the world. We will be right behind you with your fox friend and your Elemental family.”
A red fox materializes in front of me. He looks me up and down, and gives me a little yap. I follow it away from the cages, and out of my mental realm.

I’m brought back to the couch, Chris is looking at me worriedly.
“I thought we lost you!” He cries as he embraces me tightly. The tension that I was subconsciously holding in my shoulders releases. Morbus is rubbing my leg gently from the floor with a small smile.
‘You met the Titan and the Wolf, didn’t you?’ Morbus asks me mentally.
‘Yep. The Titan seems caring, and the Wolf seems protective.’
‘They fit with your personality perfectly. I suppose I could say your heart is big and strong enough to hold two spirits within.’ Morbus thinks with a smile.
‘So Morbus… I’m curious. Can Chris and I meld like we do?’
‘It’s possible. It’ll take some work though. Your bond may be strong, but there are things you have to achieve in your bond before you can fully meld.’
‘Gotcha.’
All of a sudden, Chris butts into the mental conversation.
‘What are you two talking about?’
Morbus and I both look at him, surprised and baffled expressions on our faces.
‘Well, little one, your bond is stronger than I originally thought!’
Chris and I grin at each other. My grin snaps into a sudden frown as I sense the ground shake.
“We gotta go.” My tone comes out more serious and rushed than I expected. I practically launch myself off the couch. Rushing to the door, I check outside. Part of the mountain is clouded in dust and dirt stirred up from the quake. My armor is donned without me even thinking about it. Turning around, I see everyone has done the same.

As we ride down the streets, I swear I can hear my favorite song playing in my head. People stand outside, watching us speed past to the broken mountain. The sprinting steps my wolf takes beats perfectly in rhythm to the song playing in my mind. In the distance, I can hear more motorcycles and other vehicles trailing behind us. Cheering also reaches my ears from the ones watching us fly by. It surprises all of us how many people we won the hearts of. I also notice a peculiar sight: fangirls holding posters of their favorite Elemental or Guardian. I throw a little salute to a particular fan cheering for me; she almost faints. I continue on, chuckling to myself. The Rockies grow ever closer, and the danger becomes more apparent. Corruption is erupting from the mountain’s face and the ground, presenting itself as a tsunami of darkness. Our army screeches to a halt. I stand at the front, stoically waiting for the wave to slither closer. Chris and Yaroslav stand at my sides, waiting for my next action. Raising my hands so my arms are crossed in front of my chest, I focus deeply on the earth below my feet, feeling it become an extension of my body. Crouching down, I slam my palms into the ground, causing an earthen wall to erupt upwards and towards the wave of Corruption crawling to cause destruction. Chris and Yaroslav follow behind me, copying my action, making the wall completely block off Corruption. After what felt like a long time, the wave finally hits the wall with a heavy impact. The darkness gushes up over the wall as it hits, like a large tidal wave impacting a boulder. The blobs that manage to drop past the wall form into various humanoids and creatures that begin to run at us. I duck as Chris’s hammer whizzes over my head, striking multiple warriors in one blow. Swinging my arm outwards, my blade cleanly slides through more Corruption. It seems that Corruption is coming at us like a fire hydrant releasing water; it’s not stopping. Soon, we grow fatigued through all the non-stop fighting.

Chapter 22: Author's Note

Well... a part of my life hit a bit of a bump.
Reading back through Element, it feels like to me it’s not turning out quite the way I’ve wanted it to, and with the bump in life, it’s thrown a bump into Element too.
So...
Element is going on hiatus.
I don’t know for how long, but I’m going to back away from it so I can gather myself and possibly create a new story and also try to push Element onto the path I want it on. I felt that it was going a little too fast and I was kinda slowing down on writing each chapter to the point where days turned to weeks and slowly to a month. I want to make the story better.
I will leave the original story up though, so for those of you who read it, please leave polite comments on what I can improve in my writing.

Thank you,
~MountainSound~