Elements
Chapter 14

I woke up to the sound of birds singing in the trees, and the smell of the morning dew. I sat up, my neck a little sore from sleeping in a tree, but I was happy I was with Leo. He was still sound asleep. I felt a vibration coming from my wrist, and saw that Willow was calling me. I ignored it, but it wouldn’t stop. I finally gave in and answered.

“Yes?” I answered. Leo’s eyes fluttered open, and I mouthed Willow. He nodded.

“Jade, please come back to Mystic Meadows. Let me and Raven explain everything,” she pleaded.

“I’m not sure I want to know. He kept something that big of a secret from me.”

“But let us tell you why Jade. You’ll understand.”

“I’ll think about it. Just not now.”

Willow sighed. “Alright Jade. Just let me know when you’re ready.” The watch went silent.

“You should let her explain,” Leo said, moving a strand of hair away from my face.

“Let’s not think about that right now,” I said dreamily, leaning on his chest.

He softly chuckled and kissed my forehead.

“What is going on here?” I turned and saw Carina standing in the field, crossing her arms. Michael was with her too. I quickly got off of Leo’s chest.

“What do mean?” Leo said, running his hand through his hair.

“Did you guys sleep up there?” Michael said, confused.

I was about to respond, but Carina held up her hand. “That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is you’re being so damn stubborn.”

“Excuse me?” I was shocked.

“You’re so self-absorbed and you think the whole world revolves around you. You act like you’re the only one going through something. Poor Jade,” she mimicked. “Poor Jade is too scared to find out the truth.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said through my teeth, clenching my fists.

“You’re such a little baby. Your brother is heartbroken because you won’t let him explain himself. You only care about yourself you dramatic bitch.”

“I’m the dramatic one? You know what, Kayla’s right. Elijah will never be yours. What psycho would want to be with someone like you?” I shot at her.

She picked me up out of the tree with Air and slammed me into the ground.

“Stop it!” I heard the guys shouting, but Carina kept slamming me into the ground, over and over again. When she brought me back up, I saw Leo and Michael trying to make their way over to her, but there was a windstorm forming around her, making it impossible to get close.

She hurled me into the birch tree. I was in so much pain, and I was pretty sure every bone in my body was broken. I wasn’t wearing my suit, so I didn’t have any protection at all. I couldn’t bear to move.

Carina walked over to me, the whirlwind around her growing stronger. She raised up her hand, but before she could do anything, she was swept away with a blast of water.

“Have you lost your mind?!” Michael said, kneeling down to me. “Are you okay? Do we need to go to the hospital?”

“She’ll be fine,” Carina muttered, picking herself up off the ground and wringing the water out of her long hair.

“We need to take her to Willow,” Leo said. He picked up my hand, and Michael took the other.

Michael looked at Carina. “Well?”

After giving him the death stare for what seemed like forever, she finally gave in. She sloppily took Leo and Michael’s hands, and we all closed our eyes and tried to connect. When we opened them again, we were in Mystic Meadows.

I heard Willow’s worried voice. “Oh my! What happened?”

Leo and Michael explained what went on as Carina walked away. “We need you to heal her,” Michael pleaded.

“Of course.” She began to sing her glorious song.

You will not die today,

May the pain go away.

You will no longer suffer,

You will only be tougher.

May the wound hear my song,

And know that it is doing wrong.

You will not die today,

May the pain go away.

With each verse of her song, I began to feel stronger, until I could no longer feel any pain. I got back onto my feet and saw Raven standing behind Willow.

“Obviously whatever you have to tell me is important,” I said, “or Carina wouldn’t have tried to kill me over the fact I wouldn’t listen.”

Raven inhaled. “So you’ll let me explain?”

I glanced in Carina’s direction. “If I don’t, I might be attacked again, so might as well tell me now before I’m dead.”

“Yes it’s true I rule a kingdom, and yes it’s true I’m married to Willow, but what you don’t understand is I didn’t have a choice. Like what happened to you, one night I was teleported to Mystic Meadows without a warning. I met Acer and Rosemary, the former king and queen. I was also introduced to their daughter, Willow. They gave me my power and taught me how to use it. They needed my help. Toxic Shadow had the elemental items and were abusing them. Remember a few years where we would hear nothing but terrible tsunamis, hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes constantly occurring all over the world? It was because of them.

“My job was to teleport in and out of their base, get the elemental items, and get out, but it was a lot harder than it sounds. It was four against one. It took some time to get a hold of them, but I did in the end. I guess I took too long though, because Acer and Rosemary came to help me fight. They were killed in the process. I returned to Mystic Meadows, and everyone was cheering me on, only to find out their leaders were dead.”

I peeked over to Willow. She had a sad expression on her face, her head hanging low. “Okay, so how did you take their place?”

“I announced the news to the people Willow by my side. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, she took off crying. I went after her. She explained to me how the whole kingdom was going to fall apart because the people didn’t know how to live without a king and queen, and she didn’t know how to rule on her own. She suggested she should marry me, but I told her it probably wasn’t the best idea since I wouldn’t know what I was doing either. She kept bawling, until I finally gave in, and I’m glad I did.” Raven smiled at Willow.

I tried processing the information. “There’s one thing you haven’t answered. Are you guys married? Raven, you’re only seventeen and I thought you had a thing for Marcy?”

“Well, we have to be married if we wanted to be king and queen. We don’t love each other. It’s only for the kingdom.” Raven said.

“And he can have whatever relationship he wants back in your world,” Willow added.

“But Willow, doesn’t that mean you’re married without love?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter much to me. As long as my people are happy and safe, I don’t need love. I just need a king by my side.”

Leo took a step to me. “Do you forgive him?”

Raven had a hopeful look on his face. “Stop it with those puppy eyes,” I said. “I could never be mad for too long at my big bro.”

A grin spread over his face. “Thanks sis.”

“Um, Jade?” Carina was coming back over to me. “I… I’m sor… “

“It’s okay. I forgive you for slamming me into a tree.” I wrapped my arms around her. I could feel her body tense up at first, then relax as she awkwardly returned the hug. She wasn’t used to this soppy stuff.

“So um… what now?” Michael wondered.

I released Carina. “I guess we just continue on with our normal life until something else crazy happens.”

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