Julius

At my house...

"Why did I have to get up early today?!" I groaned, eating my breakfast bitterly. "It's Saturday!"

"There's not much time to spare." Stat told me strictly. "You should spend all the free time you've got learning more about your power."

"Besides, it's better for you not to sleep in all the time, bro." Sarah added. "Now shut up and eat your toast!"

"Ugh... I wish this piece of toast was a pillow..." I uttered, still sleepy.

"Well, don't fall asleep on it, bro! You'll get butter all over your face!"

"Hurry up! You still have much to learn!"

"Stat, why does it always have to be me, anyway?" I asked him. "Can't you at least ask another Element Temp user to take care of the monsters for a while?"

"You don't have any grasp on the situation, do you?!" Stat answered angrily. "You were chosen! Only you! There's no one else to do it, so that's why it's so important for me to teach you when we have time!"

"Okay, fine..." I gave in, and shoved the rest of my toast in my mouth.

--

"So, where should we go to train?" I asked, after going outside with Stat.

"I don't know. I don't remember this area well."

"'Remember'?"

"You're not the first element warrior from Tempus, you know."

"Oh, right..."

"Over there in the forest should be good." Sarah cut in. "Anyway, can I watch?"

"No. It might be dangerous."

"It'd be weird if Julius goes into the forest by himself." She explained. "But if I go with you, mom and dad will think we're playing."

"... Very well." Stat allowed. "Does anyone frequent that area?"

"Not really. There's a path leading to the beach, but I haven't seen many people use it."

"Good. That'll be a perfect place, then."

--

We went down the forest path until we reached the middle section of it.

"This should be far enough." Stat stated.

"It'd be easier if we could just tell everyone about all this..."

"Don't be ridiculous, Julius! That's definitely not an option!"

"And why's that?"

"The purpose of your job of destroying monsters is to preserve the peace of this region. So the more people that don't know of them, the better."

"So I can't ever show off or let anyone know I'm saving Tempus for them?"

"Absolutely not. You'll have to be content with only you being aware of the whole situation."

"Well, darn..."

"The more people that don't know, the better. It's bad enough that Sarah knows..."

"Hey!" Sarah cut in, obviously insulted.

"Okay, fine." I reluctantly accepted, deciding instead to ask another question. "So, why can't there ever be more than one Element Temp warrior at once?"

"It's not like it's impossible, but there aren't many people that can use an Element Spirits' power effectively. Besides, most of the spirits that can use the power are busy aiding Master Tansa."

"How many Element Spirits are there?"

"There's a lot; about as many as there are people in this world. However, most of them are still training to use their own power. Like my sister, for example..."

"You have a sister?!" Sarah exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, that's right. Well, technically, all of the Element Spirits are my siblings, since we were all created by Master Tansa. I'm especially close to Statette though, since I'm usually busy watching over her."

"So, Statette is her name, huh? Do you miss her?" Sarah asked.

"I suppose. She can be a handful, though..."

"Heehee, I know exactly how that is!"

"What's that suppose to mean, sis?!"

"Still, knowing your sibling is so far away... It must be lonely..."

"It can't be helped." Stat said, before proceeding to change the subject. "Let's get started. First, I'll teach you about all the available elements you can use."

"All of them? You mean right now?! That seems like such a pain..."

"You'd better take this seriously, understa-..."

"Zzz..."

I dozed off... for a short while. It was interrupted by a very cold feeling on my back.

"EYAHHH! What was that?"

"Heheh!" Sarah laughed, holding up an ice-pack in her hand. "You awake now?"

"D-don't do that!" I exclaimed, rubbing my back to make it warm again.

"Then don't fall asleep when he's talking!" Sarah told me strictly, then turned her attention to Stat. "It's good to have me around for this sort of thing, huh?"

"I suppose." He admitted. "So anywa-..." Stat suddenly went quiet, as if he had noticed something.

"What's the matter, Stat?" I asked, confused by his behavior.

"... Wait, what?!" Stat shouted suddenly. Apparently something else had caught his attention, as he had flown up a bit ahead of us. "What is this?!"

"Is there a monster nearby?"

"No, it's not that... For a minute, I thought I sensed Statette..."

"Aw, so you do miss her, huh?" Sarah teased. "Thinking that she's nearby..."

"You're right. I must be imagining things... There's no way she could be here..."

"STAT!!!" A small, pink thing suddenly flew swifly toward Stat. "BIG BROTHER!!!"

"A-ah, w-what!?" Stat uttered in confusion, being hugged by the pink-thing. "Statette?!"

"I finally found you! Staaat!" Statette said happily, then hugged him tighter.

"Hey, Statette! Don't just fly off without warning like that!" Called out an unfamiliar voice.

The voice came from a orange-haired girl around my age. She ran towards us, with a very familiar-looking staff attached to her back.

"Rei, I found him! My big brother; the one I told you I was looking for!"

"Oh, really?" Rei said, with a softer tone than earlier.

"Hold it!" Stat shouted angrily, forcing his sister off of him. "Explain why exactly you're here, Statette!"

"W-why are you so mad, Stat?" Statette shivered, startled by his sudden temper.

"You left without permission, didn't you?! I told you not to follow me, didn't I?"

"I-I wanted to help you, big brother..."

"Enough! Go home!"

"B-but..." Statette's eyes became teary. "I-I..."

"Hey!" Rei suddenly interjected, with an equally harsh tone as Stat's. "I don't get what's your problem. When I use the power of Element Temp, only I'm the one that can get hurt. Am I right?"

"That's true, but she's inexperienced in this sort of thing. She won't be able to provide the necessary energy t-..."

"Shut up! With her power, I've been more than strong enough! And I'll continue to be!"

"Don't be stupid! Just who do you think you are, anyway?"

"I'm Rei Coolidge. The one who'll destroy every monster in Tempus, as well as their creator!" She turned her focus towards me and Sarah. "And I won't let anyone get in my way, got that?"

"No, Rei!" Statette told her. "That's no-..."

"I already told you, I'm not helping them!"

"B-but..."

"U-um, so your name is Rei?" Sarah asked, a bit nervous. "I'm Sarah Raseac, nice to meet you."

"I see. So I'm assuming you're the other element warrior, then?"

"What? N-no!" Sis pointed to me. "That would be my brother, Julius."

"Hm?" Rei looked at me carefully. "You serious?"

"Uh, yeah..." I responded, half-heartedly.

"You're kidding, right? But you're just a kid!"

Aren't you also a kid...?

"Julius!" Stat told me suddenly.

"What is it?"

"I sense a monster nearby!"

"Me too!" Statette added.

"Really? Where?"

"I'm not sure, but it's definitely somewhere in this forest..."

"I can take care of it!" Rei exclaimed, before running off in a random direction.

"W-wait for me, Rei!" Statette said, flying after her.

"What a troublesome girl she is..." Stat stated. "Anyway, let's go look for that monster, Julius!"

"What about me?" Sarah asked. "Should I go home?"

"No, stick with us. It may be too dangerous for you be by yourself in this place right now."

"Um, alright..."

--

The three of us roamed the forest, looking for the monster.

"Where could it be?" I asked.

"The plant life in this area is making is hard to tell..." Stat answered.

"I'm getting tired, you guys. I'm gonna rest a bit..." Sarah said, sitting next to a tree.

All of a sudden, the tree she was sitting next to began to grow in size.

"Yah!" Sarah ran away from it instantly. "W-what's going on?!"

"That must be..."

"TRAHHH!!!"

"...it's the monster!"

Before we could act, the tree monster grabbed Sarah with one of its roots.

"Gyahhh!" Sarah cried out. "Help me!"

Not again!

"This is bad; we didn't any time to prepare!"

"Stat, is there here I can use with my staff?"

"Not anything that will be very effective against it..."

"Then what do we do?!"

"HIYAHHH!!!" All of a sudden, a wave of fire shot from behind me hit the tree, causing it to drop Sarah.

"Ouch!" Sarah said, hitting her butt on the ground.

"Are you okay, sis?"

"Yeah; thanks bro." She replied, while I helped her up.

"Actually, that wasn't me... Where did that come fro-..."

"So, the monster is a tree this time, huh?" Rei stated, appearing from where the fire was launched earlier. "It definitely shouldn't be a match for my fire power, then."

"That came from you, Rei?!" I asked her in shock.

"Yeah, so? Don't tell me you aren't able to do that much yourself." She replied, not even fazed by my comment.

"I'm surprised you're able to use that much power with only Statette's help." Even Stat was impressed.

"I could care less what you think. Besides, this isn't all I'm capable of..."

"TRAHHHH!!!" The tree roared again.

"... Just stand back and watch."

Rei faced her staff downward, and ran toward the monster. The tip, which I had just noticed looked a lot sharper than mine, started to glow a fiery red, which was quickly brought to the front of the tree's body. It seemed like something she'd done many times before.

"Flame Median!" She proceeded to jam the tip of her staff into the monster's body, which caused fire to shoot out of it.

Wow, how did she do that?!

"W-wait!" Stat shouted suddenly. "If you use that much fire in this area, it'll..."

"TRAHHHH..."

And with that fierce blow from Rei, the tree exploded. Oddly enough, there wasn't any glowing or weird voices like usual.

But neither of those was a concern of mine at all, because...

"Oh no! The forest is on fire!" Sarah cried out.

"It's because she used too much fire power! Now it's spreading all over the place!"

"Darn it! I didn't expect this to happen!" Rei exclaimed, releasing her power.

"What do we do, Rei?!" Statetted added, coming out of the staff.

"If I had water or something, could I use it to stop this fire, Stat?" I asked him.

"Of course, but there isn't any water anywhere nearby..."

"What about this?" Sarah cut in, holding the (terrible) ice pack from earlier. "Can he get water power from it?"

"No, but..." Stat paused for a second. "It'll give you a different power, which may or may not help in this situation..."

"Well, it's better than nothing, right?!" I took the ice pack from Sarah. "Let's do this!"

I inserted the ice pack into my staff, and shouted the usual. My clothes turned a pale-cyan color, and cold mist began to leak out from my weapon.

"Oh, I see! This power must be..."

"... Ice." Stat unneedily finished for me. "You use its power by saying 'Freeze Flow'. But if you use it on the trees, the may freeze or do nothing at all, depending on how much power you use. Still, it is better than doing nothing I suppose..."

"But that means if I focus my power enough, I can stop the fire without freezing the trees, right?"

"Julius, don't bother. You aren't experienced enough t-..."

"Just trust me, okay? I can do this!"

"You really think you can stop the fire with ice? You must be insane." Rei commented harshly.

"I-I know what I'm doing!"

Okay, not really...

"... but here goes! FREEZE FLOW!!!" I shot icy mist at the trees, directing it at the spreading fire.

Gah, I can barely see from this mist... Did I do it right?

"Bro, you did it!" Sarah hugged me suddenly. "And the trees are fine, too!"

"R-really?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm impressed." Stat told me, after releasing my power and coming back out of my staff. "You managed to do what you said you would after all. I should probably have more faith in you from now on."

"Probably...?"

Rei only looked at the trees, seeing the result of the fire. It left a couple burn marks on the leaves and bark, but it wasn't anything major.

"Well, nothing really bad happened after all, so I'm okay with that. I guess." I said, sighing from mild exhaustion.

"I'm not." Stat cut in, with an angry tone. He turned his attention towards his sister. "Statette! This is exactly why I didn't want you to help me! Look what you've done!"

"B-but Stat, Rei's strong. Really strong! She didn't expect the forest to catch fire, but I'm sure she and I can help you a lo-..."

"No; that's enough! Go home!"

"B-bu-..."

"That's enough, both of you." Rei interjected. "I admit I made a small mistake today. But it won't happen again. I will defeat all of the monsters - by myself."

"R-Rei..." Statette said with an quiet, upset voice.

"And you." She turned her attention toward me. "Don't think I'm impressed or anything because of what you just did. I also don't care if you are some 'special chosen' person or whatever. I want absolutely nothing to do with you. Understand?"

"E-eh?" I uttered, speechless from her sudden sharp tone toward me. "B-but I..."

"If we run into each other again, stay out of my way." She turned away from me. "Goodbye, Raseac."

Raseac? Why is she calling me by my last name?!

Without me noticing, she started to walk away.

"W-wait, Rei!" Statette yelled, following the departing Rei.

I wonder what'll happen if I see her again...

"L-lonely... I'm so lonely..."

A strange voice again!? It seems different this time... And why am I hearing it now?

End of Chapter 4

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Writer's Comments:

Finally, chapter 4 is finished! I'm glad, because I finally got introduce Rei! (and Statette)

To be honest, Rei is one of my favorite characters of this series, and she almost didn't exist initally. But you'll see what impact she'll have on this story...

Until next time...

- CS-Masyet