“You're joking. This has to be a prank. That's just not possible!”

“Tell me you didn't feel instantly connected to Emily the day you decided to become friends,” Bane challenged calmly.

Andie watched Jessica open her mouth to argue, close it again, and glare at him.

“Explain.” she demanded.

“We're the incarnations of the elements. And the element that chose you will be the one that you dreamed of.” Bane said.

“How do you...” Andie began.

“I had one too. I am the guardian. The protector. Which is why I know these things.”

“Why tell us now? Why not when we first met?”

“We were hoping we wouldn't need to,” said a voice behind Andie.

Looking around, Andie saw an older man, though not by much, wearing black, step into view.

“This is Balon... the former Guardian of Light.” Bane said. “He's the one who taught me everything.”

“As for why we didn't tell you earlier, it was because we were hoping it wouldn't be necessary. We couldn't destroy Zorak entirely, so we locked his powers away. The circle was broken so long as you weren't all in the same place. Now you are, and have had simultaneous contact, the circle is formed... and Zorak's power was restored.”

Jessica gulped, but tried to keep her fear off her face.

“Wait... Zorak as in... the demon who tried to destroy you?” she asked.

“The same,” Balon said bluntly. “And with what happened with Adrianna last night..."

“What?” Emily asked, “what happened?”

“Nothing serious,” Andie said, glancing warningly at Balon.

“A demon attacked her and Bane,” Balon said, ignoring her.

“What?!” Jessica squawked. “And you didn't say anything? Why?”

“Because I didn't know you were involved too,” Andie explained. “But when I saw those notes... it was obvious what they meant...”

“So that's why you took off and how you knew they were from the same person...” Isabelle realized.

Andie looked at her and nodded.

“So, now we are all in the know,” Balon said, the only question remaining is who was chosen by which element.”

He looked at Jessica, who frowned.

“... This is ridiculous. I'm only humoring you, okay?” she warned. “Well... the last thing I remember is... I was standing at the top of a mountain, and looking around, with flowers growing with my every step... I felt peaceful and strong... it was weird but... good at the same time.”

“That sounds like Terra, the protector of earth.” Balon said, with what sounded like a hint of nostalgia in his tone.

It seemed like they'd all experienced the same thing, Andie realized.

“... I had a dream about swimming a few nights ago...” Isabelle said. “And... it felt really good, but weird at the same time... And I could see myself floating underwater...”

“Then you were chosen by River,” Balon said. “She and the water were like one being."

He turned to Emily.

“Uh... I dreamed I was flying... And I could hear singing in the wind... It was beautiful...”

At this, Balon frowned slightly.

“That would be Aera, who mastered the wind, but... she couldn't sing...”

“Oh, I know whose voice it was. It was Andie's.”

“What?” Andie asked, blinking in confusion.

“You have an amazing voice,” Jessica pointed out. “I just wonder why...”

“I could hear you, too, Jess. I could hear your laugh. And Isabelle, too. You were worried about failing a test...”

This definitely sounded like Isabelle. She was a perfectionist at heart.

“Aera always was a lot more receptive to others.” Balon mused. “Which leaves...”

They all turned to Andie."

“... Fire” she whispered.

Balon nodded. There was definitely wistfulness in his eyes, now.

“Ardente.” he nodded.

“But... where are they? If you're here, then shouldn't they?”

“They're in a slumber. We need to awaken them,” Bane explained. “Hold out your hands.”

They did. Andie glanced round and saw she was holding Bane's hand. They exchanged a glance, but before either could say anything, a bright light began shining. Soon, four silhouettes appeared through the light. Eventually, the light faded to reveal four women.

“Behold,” Balon said “the original masters of nature.”

Andie, Jessica, Emily, Isabelle and even Bane stared at the four women. They were like Balon, young and old at the same time. It was easy to tell who was who. Ardente has fiery red hair and vivid green eyes, striking against her white skin. She had a small scar on the side of her face. Andie wondered where that had come from. Probably from the battle with that Zorak character they kept talking about. Next to her was Terra, with deep brown eyes and hair, and tanned skin. She was a little smaller than the rest, but had an aura of power about her. River had long silvery blond hair not unlike Isabelle's, and equally bright electric blue eyes. She was easily the tallest, and yet she radiated a gentleness that people that size rarely did. As for Aera, her eyes were as sparkly as her long black hair. She had a face that Andie would have said that bore Asian features, and yet they looked nothing like it. It was very strange, and yet beautiful. Andie then realised they all had that familiar/unfamiliar look about them. What struck Andie most however, was the look between Balon and Ardente. They were watching each other like they had never met and always know each other at the same time. Then, Ardente closed her eyes, and soon became like Balon, solid. And the second her feet could move, she darted forwards, and threw her arms around him. He caught her and hugged her tightly. There was so much love in that simple gesture that Andie almost felt like she was watching something private. She glanced away, and found herself looking towards Bane, who...

Did he just look away...? Andie thought. No... it was probably just coincidence... right? Yeah... he's just looking at Isabelle... not away from me. Why would he, anyway?

She shook her head.

“So let me see if we got this straight”, Jessica said. “You fought a demon who very nearly beat you, and you chose us to vessel your powers so we fight the demon for you?”

“No, not at all!” Ardente said, shocked. “It was the opposite we wanted to do. We wanted to keep mankind safe because we thought Zorak would never return. When you were all separated, the plan worked. But then... something, I'm not sure what, you would probably call it fate or destiny... brought you together. And... that means one thing...”

“Zorak...” Andie guessed.

“Yes. The circle being broken meant he didn't know where to look. Now it's been formed..."

“So that's why that demon attacked Bane and me, last night.” Andie realised. “It was sent by Zorak... wasn't it?"

“Well, it's certainly among the most likely scenarios.”

“But... why not track us down himself?” Emily asked.

“Oh, come on, you're not actually telling me you believe this?” Jessica scoffed.

“How can you not?” Isabelle said.

“Andie would not make that demon attack up,” Emily said.

“She lied about there being nothing between her and Bane!” Jessica said. “Why wouldn't she lie about something else!”

“Jessica!” Isabelle said, shocked.

“You know her better than that!” Emily added.

“Yeah? Well, clearly I was wrong!”

“Everyone, stop!” Andie said.

There was a silence and everyone looked at her. She looked from one to the other.

“We're all confused. So let's just calm down... and... listen to what they have to say. Okay?”

There was a silence.

“Okay.” Isabelle said, sitting down.

Emily followed suit. Andie glanced at Jessica.

“Okay. Fine.” she said, sitting down too. “Get talking.”

They all sat cross legged on the ground by the bridge as the sun slowly ebbed towards the West, hidden by the trees. The setting sun and golden red sky shone through the leaves, River, Aera and Terra had also taken on their physical form. Andie found herself next to Bane... she wasn't sure how she felt about that. And she couldn't read anything from Bane, either, because he was looking straight ahead, his face unreadable. There was a long silence at first. Then, the woman Andie seemed to remember was called Terra cleared her throat.

“As you know, we possessed the powers you know have.” Terra said. “We used them in a long and difficult battle against Zorak.”

“What did he want?” Emily asked.

“What most demon lords want.” Aera said. “Power. And he has always believed that possessing ours would make him invincible. And he's actually not that far off. With the power of the elements, he would be at least ten times more dangerous. And given that he's already the most powerful demon lord there is, that is not a good idea.”

Andie shuddered.

“So what do you want us to do?”

“Be prepared.” Balon said. “Train as I have Bane."

“... I don't understand... why did you only train him, if you thought this would happen?” Emily asked.

“Because that would have meant forming the circle and we were all hoping to avoid that. But I knew there was still a strong chance it would occur anyway, we couldn't leave you entirely unprepared... and Bane is your guardian, so it made sense to train him.”

Andie glanced at Bane, and realised he had to have found it hard to go through all that alone. She felt a rush of sympathy for him.

“And now that everything is set in motion,” River said, “it is essential you know how to defend yourselves. We'll all be with you, watching over you, but we are powerless in these forms, and even our abilities with the elements are far weaker now we gave all of them to you.”

“Do I look like a fighter?” Jessica demanded, with her hands on her hips. “I like running, playing soccer, not learning Ti Why No!”

“It's Tae Kwon Do,” Andie corrected. “And it's not about just us, Jess. We know about the demons and all this crazy stuff, but our families don't. And I am not going to let them be caught in the crossfire because I couldn't defend them. So I'm in.”

She held out a hand.

“Me too. I couldn't live with myself if someone hurt my sisters because of me...” Isabelle said, shuddering at the very thought as her hand joined Andie's.

They smiled at each other and looked at the others. Emily followed their lead, and Andie didn't need to ask why. She was an only child, but she still loved her parents deeply.

“Count me in,” she said.

Bane didn't need to say anything as he placed his hand on theirs. Andie could tell from the look in his eyes that he would never consider anything else. She couldn't help feeling they made him look far older than she thought they should have. She wondered if she'd look like that now that she was engulfed in this. Then, they all turned to Jessica. She had three brothers, and though they sometimes argued, they were family. Jessica sighed heavily.

“Fine. I'm in.”

And her hand joined the circle.

 ***************************

Yet another circle! I'm wondering if Jessica wasnt right about the cosmic energies!

What would you do in their shoes? How would you react if you were told such a huge secret? Share in the comment box!

What will these new powers be? How will the Fateful Five react? Let's find out!