Element Temp
Chapter 1 - Wielder of the Element Temp
Written by: CS-Masyet
Original version: October 23, 2010
Re-written version: April 3, 2016

Julius

"Young lad..." A voice echoed in my head. "Yoouung laaad..."

"H-huh? W-what is it?" I asked the voice.

"Your destiny awaits you..."

"Destiny? What destiny?"

"Julius... You need to wake up..."

"Wake up? Why?"

"Wake up... We'll be late..."

"Late for what?"

"Late for school!" A different voice shouted. "C'mon bro, WAKE UP!!!"

I was pushed out of bed, my sheets wrapping around me as I fell. I looked up, and saw Sarah, my twin sister, standing before me in her school uniform.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?!" She shouted, crossing her arms angrily.

"Uggh..." I groaned, half-asleep, looking at the clock in our room. "7:30... Time for more sleep..."

"It's not vacation anymore, bro! You have to get ready for school!"

"S-school!?" I jolted awake, upon hearing the terrible news. "There's school today?!"

"You promised that if I let you sleep as much as you wanted during spring recess, you'd get ready for school on time today! Don't tell me you forgot!"

"A-are you sure it's not tomorrow...?"

"Let's go, bro..." She said in a huff, dragging me out of the room to the bathroom to wash my face.

Why does a terrible thing like school have to exist? I just want to sleep in...

--

I'm Julius, a 10-year old boy who lives a normal and peaceful life in the region of Tempus. Some people may say they wish their lives were more thrilling, and I can agree with that sometimes. But all in all, I'm perfectly happy with the way things are. I'm totally okay with nothing changing for the rest of my life. Nothing changing at all...

"If you're done monologuing, can I continue from where I left off?"

"Huh? Wha?"

"Oh, sorry, I mean... Ahem!" The voice cleared its throat. "Yoouung laaad! Your destiny awaits you!"

"You already said that."

"Indeed I did! Now look at this..."

All of a sudden, I was in a strange, foggy place. There were these weird emblems, showing things like fire and water, floating all around me.

"W-what the heck is this?"

"You must learn how to control and master the power of the elements... before it is too late!" The voice of unknown origin said to me.

"What do you mean? And why me?"

"It is your destiny, young lad! This region is counting on yooou!"

All of the emblems then flew toward me.

"AHHH!!!"

"... It's time for you to wake up, Julius."

"Ungh..." I lifted my head up a bit, realizing I was now in school, lying on my desk. "Five more minutes..."

"Young man, wake up this instant! Class isn't for sleeping!"

"Ow!" My teacher slammed a dictionary down on my desk, waking me up.

I must've fell asleep in class again...

"It's not vacation anymore! No more falling asleep, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am..." I uttered, wiping my eyes and the drool off my face.

Some of the other students started laughing. I fall asleep in class a lot, actually; so much that I've become famous for it.

"Quiet, all of you!" Our teacher said, then turned her attention back to me. "You fall asleep in class one more time, and I'll give you a detention! Understand?!"

"Y-yes, ma'am..." I sighed, slightly embarrassed.

--

I must've been sleeping for a long time, because school went by fast today.

"Yo, Julius!" Said my best friend, Kene, while walking toward me. "Can I come over today? We can help each other with homework. And I'm sure you missed a lot of stuff. Heh."

"That's not funny, Kene."

Kene has to make fun of me for everything... Although I guess I did kinda deserve it this time.

"Hey, after that let's go play at Destiny Lake."

Kene frowned. "You haven't heard? Some maniac dumped toxic waste in the lake."

"Really? Why?!"

"I dunno. 'cause he's a maniac."

"That's so stupid."

"I said the same thing when my dad told me."

"So I guess we'll have to find somewhere else to go..."

"Ah, watch ou-..."

"Ow!" I said, after getting in the head by something. That "something" being a book Sarah was holding.

"... Never mind." Kene said with a frown.

"I can't believe you!" Sarah said, who was obviously mad at me. "Why do you always have to sleep in class!? So much so that you got a detention, even!"

"Well actually, I almost got a detention..."

"Whatever! And I bet you didn't even pay attention to the lesson today, as usual. Don't expect me to help you with homework!"

"That's okay. Kene said he'd help me, anyways."

Sarah shot a sharp glare at Kene.

"U-um, sorry, gotta go. Bye, Julius!" Kene then ran away as fast as he could.

"Kene! You traitor!"

"Let's go home, bro." Sarah stated, dragging me out of school.

--

"Jeez, you're so embarrassing!" Sarah told me as we walked home, still mad at me.

"I said I was sorry. Can you please help me with homework? I promise I won't fall asleep in class again!"

"... I'll think about it."

"Thanks, sis." I decided to talk about something else. "Speaking of which, I've had some weird dreams today... Both this morning and during class today."

"Oh, really?" She didn't look amused by this news.

"There was someone with a weird voice talking to me, and told me about some destiny or something. I saw all these different-colored emblems, with things like water and fire on them, floating around me. Then a voice told me I had to control them, before it was too late... Or something like that."

"Wow, that is a strange dream..." Sarah admitted. "You think it means anything?"

"Dunno. But it was just a dream, so I'm not going to bother thinking about it!" I said, free from worry.

"Jeez, why are you always like this...?" She sighed. "Oh well. It's not like you of all people would have some grand destiny! Now that would be just silly!"

"I know, right? ... Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

When we reached the middle of the forest path (a shortcut to our house), Sarah stopped for some reason.

"What's wrong, sis?"

"Since we're here, let's stop by somewhere first."

"Where?"

"Destiny Lake."

"Why!? Didn't you hear what Kene said?"

"Yeah, but I want to see it for myself."

"But won't it be dangerous?"

"Stop worrying, we'll be fine. Besides, I love that lake; I want to know if I can help clean it if I can. Don't you?"

"But what can we do?"

"We won't know unless we check it out, right? Let's go, bro!"

"Okay, okay..."

--

We ran to the lake (well, Sarah made me run). When we got there, we saw purple, smelly goop in it.

"Ew, it smells so bad!" Sarah exclaimed, covering her nose. "We shouldn't be here! Let's leave!"

"But you're the one that wanted to come in the first pla-..."

All of a sudden, I saw something fall out of the sky. It landed right next to me, making a mark in the dirt where it ended up.

"W-what the?!" I shouted, my life flashing before my eyes. "I was almost umpaled by that thing!"

"It was so surprising, you pronounced 'impaled' wrong!" Sarah added.

"M-Master... Why did you have to send me here in this fashion..." A voice uttered, from the strange object that fell from up above. "I-I'm still reeling..."

"What is that thing, anyway?" Sis asked in confusion. "And why's it talking?!"

"It looks like a thermometer..."

"Yeah, I can see that, bro!" She yelled. "But we have no idea what it is. So we shouldn't do anything to i-..."

"... I'm gonna touch it."

"Are you crazy?! Don-..."

Before she could finish, I poked it, and it started to glow with a harsh, red light.

Once it stopped glowing, some sort of red blob came out of it. It floated near us, looking at us with a serious expression.

"I am Stat, an Element Spirit." He said, before we could even say anything to it first. "I have been sent here by my Master to assist the hero of destiny in defeating the monsters that have begun to appear in this region of Tempus."

"M-monsters!?" Sarah shouted in surprise. "Like... bad ones?!"

"Wait, does this have to do with the dreams I had...?" I uttered in realization.

"How are you so calm about this, br-..."

"Indeed. That was my Master contacting you. So I'm assuming you have some idea about what must be done?"

"Something about controlling elements or whatever, right?" I said awkwardly, having a hard time remembering what I thought sounded important.

"As I thought; Master didn't explain it very well, did he?" Stat sighed, then cleared his throat. "Alright then. To start, I'll explain the monsters. They are dark beings that feed off the negative emotions of people, and sometimes other living creatures. This region of Tempus is normally a peaceful one so it usually doesn't have to worry about them, but for some reason there's been a dramatic increase in negative energy. It is of course affecting the monsters a great deal, and this negative energy will cause many of them to appear. If nothing is done, it'll cause a lot of problems for the people of Tempus..."

"I see... So that's how it is..." Sarah said, taking in what Stat told us with much interest.

"Did you get all that, boy?"

"U-uh, sure, I guess?"

Not really...

"That's good. That's why I have come here, to help the chosen hero of destiny to defeat the monsters and save this region!"

"So this hero of destiny... it's one of us, isn't it?" Sarah asked Stat.

"Naturally. I wouldn't be speaking to you if that wasn't the case."

"And since your Master talked to Julius in his dreams, that must mean... It was a way to get my attention, wasn't it?"

"... I beg your pardon?" Stat looked at her in confusion.

"I've always wanted to be a magical girl! And now my prayers have finally been answered!" She spun around with glee. "But wow, what an original way of contacting me! I'm kind of impressed!"

"U-um, I apologize. But the hero of destiny is not you, I'm afraid."

"W-whuh?!" Sis stopped spinning around, and looked down sadly. "B-but... why not? I mean, who else could it be?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious? Your brother, Julius, is the chosen hero."

Sarah said nothing, only staring at me in disbelief.

"... What?" I asked her, wondering why she was staring at me like that.

"HahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!!!" She started laughing uncontrollably. "Him, the chosen hero? My brother? Julius?! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!"

"I don't get what's so funny about it..." I uttered.

"He couldn't fulfill any destiny if he tried! Unless maybe if he was the chosen hero of napping! Hahah!" Sarah continued to chuckle to herself.

"... Julius." Stat turned to me, deciding to ignore my sister. "To be honest, I don't know much about you, but I'm sure my Master must've chosen you for a reason. So, will you accept your destiny and fight the monsters to save this region from their chaos?"

Well, considering everything he just told me, my answer should be obvious...

"No way!"

"H-... HUUUHH!?!?" Stat and Sarah exclaimed in unison.

"W-what do you mean?! Why not!?" Stat asked me in disbelief.

"I get that it's important or whatever, but no thanks. I mean, it sounds like sooo much work, y'know?" I answered. "With stupid school having started again, I have almost no time to sleep as it is. Doing this too would be so tiring!"

"B-but... You're the chosen hero... O-of destiny..."

"I know, but... Can't you just get someone else? Or maybe you or your Master can just do it instead? I really don't feel like it..."

"See? What'd I tell you?" Sarah cut in, talking to Stat now. "My bro doesn't even want to do it! That's why the hero of destiny should be m-..."

"ENOUGH!!!" Stat suddenly screamed loudly, which scared the both of us. He looked really angry. "This isn't some kind of game! It's serious, you two! A monster could very well attack any second now!"

"Are you for real...?" I said in disbelief. "I mean, there isn't even one nearby, is ther-..."

"TRAAAHHHH!!!" All of a sudden, a giant goop... thing... arose from the lake behind us. It then took a monstrous form, looking down at the three of us menacingly.

"... Never mind..." I squeaked.

The monster raised one of its arms, and launched some goop toward us.

"Waaah!" Sarah cried, grabbing my arm and running away from the smelly, purple blobs.

We decided to hide behind a big rock nearby, watching the monster continue to fling goop all over the place.

"What do we do?" She asked. "It's making even more of a mess around the lake!"

"If only there were a hero who would come and stop that thing..." I uttered.

"You can be that hero, Julius!" Stat said to me, holding that thermometer from before in his small arms. "Take this staff and defeat that monster!"

"... Do I have to?" I groaned.

"Bro, just do it, would you?!" Sis exclaimed in annoyance. "You're the only one here who has a chance of doing anything!"

"I-I... I'm sure it'll be fine! I mean, it's just throwing a tantrum. For all we know, it could actually be harmless!" I said, trying to come up with an excuse, looking away from Sarah's and Stat's angry stares. "I mean, just what is that goop anyway? Do we even know if it's toxic waste?"

"It is." Stat immediately comfirmed.

"H-how do you know? Have you ever been hit by toxic waste before?! Pssh!"

"Bro, just do it already!"

"Soon, the life near this lake will all but disappear..." Stat said, with a sadder tone of voice.

"TRAAAHHHH!!!" I turned my eyes back to the monster, who was still throwing goop everywhere, unaffected by what we were doing. Some goop landed near the lake, and some goop landed farther away near some trees.

And just then, I actually saw one glob land on a tree branch, destroying it instantly.

"T-that tree!" I cried out. "N-no way!"

"Now do you understand the destructive power of that monster, boy?"

"That tree was my favorite! It was the best napping spot at this lake!" I was so saddened by what happened to it, tears started to form in my eyes.

"I-I see..." Stat uttered.

"Alright, I'll do it." I said, becoming more serious to face this dire situation. "Tell me what I can do to defeat that terrible thing!"

"I-is this seriously what's motivating you, bro?!" Sarah yelled in disbelief.

"So you're finally willing, are you? That's great!" Stat handed the "staff" he had been holding to me. "You'll use this to summon the power of the elements. What element you get is based on your location. However..."

"TRAAAHHHH!!!" One of the goop blobs landed nearby, melting part of the rock that was protecting us.

"... We don't have time to be picky at the moment. So let's summon some power from where we are right now."

"And how do I do that, exactly?"

"First of all, you'll need me..." Stat shrunk down back into the staff, becoming the red part of the thermometer. "Second, hold the staff in the air and shout: Element Temp!"

"Alright, let's do this!" I held up the staff just like he told me, and shouted as loud as I could... "... Element Temp."

"How was that a shout?!" Stat yelled at me angrily from the staff. "You need to be louder!"

"Sheesh, fine..." I took a deep breath, preparing an actual loud shout this time. "ELEMENT TEMP!!!"

All of a sudden, power surged into the staff, shaking the ground beneath my feet, and causing the trees' branches to shake wildly.

Just what kind of element is my staff summoning?!

After a while the shaking finally stopped, the green energy being absorbed into the staff. I felt the warmth of the energy in my hands, and eventually my entire body. Then, both the staff and I began to glow.

"W-what's going on?!" Sarah cried in shock.

When the glowing stopped, my clothes had changed, and I felt a lot stronger. Both my shirt and pants had become green, and it seemed like there were some leaves and vines hanging from them. There were also some leaf patterns on the scarf that had appeared around my neck.

"Well, this is... interesting." I uttered in slight surprise.

"My Master has always been fond of flashy things..."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you so well-dressed, bro!" Sarah then sighed. "Man, I'm sooo jealous! I want a cool transformation, too!"

"So, in case you couldn't already tell, the element you absorbed is Nature Power." Stat explained, ignoring my sister. "The greenery around here is now temporarily under your control."

"Neato. So, how do I use this power?"

"Think up an attack you can use with your current power, then point the staff at the monster."

"Okay, then... Here goes."

Hm, so what kind of attack should I use, exactly? ... Ah whatever, I'll just do whatever pops into my head and see what happens.

"Grass Attack!" The grass around the monster started to grow and wrap around the monster's bottom half, restricting its movement and distracting it.

Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do. Now then...

"Weed Whacker!" Weeds popped out of the ground and spun around in midair like helicopter blades. They then quickly flew at the monster, hurting it.

"T-TRAAHHH..."

"Not bad, Julius." Stat told me. "But I should warn you; use your power wisely. The stronger the technique you perform, the more power units it takes to use it. And of course, your power units are limited."

"W-what?! Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Don't worry, the two techniques you used previously only costed one unit each. And the amount of units you have left is... eight."

"That's all!?"

"How strange, I thought the hero of destiny would have more power than this... Oh well. You should still be fine... hopefully."

I'm starting to get worried now...

"TRAAAHHHH!!!" To make things worse, the monster seemed to be becoming angry at me for what I did to it. Its goopy body eventually ate away at the grass that was trapping it earlier, and it began to make its way toward me.

"Wah!" I noticed the trees the monster was passing by. "Branch Out!"

The trees moved their branches, almost like arms, against the monster wildly. The monster cried out again, almost being knocked over by the sudden assault.

"Good, Julius! Now's your chance to hit it with a strong attack! What'll you do?"

What'll I do? What can I use that can hit it stronger than a tree? I can't think of anything...

"... so I'll just attack with everything! Nature Power!"

The grass; trees; and some bushes began to glow, proceeding to release green energy at the monster. This was enough to knock it over completely this time.

"TRRAAAAHHHHH!!!" It screamed one final time, before it burst into a gazillion goopy pieces.

I-I did it...!

"Hnrggh!" Suddenly, a jolt of pain went through my body. I began to glow again, my power disappearing, along with my fancy clothes changing back to my regular ones.

"Well done, Julius! You used up all of your power with that last move, but it was enough to finish off the monster at least, so all's well in the end!"

"I-is that why I lost my power like that...?"

"Yes. Normally, I would've changed you back myself, but you returned to normal automatically because you ran out of power. Changing back this way is rather painful, so you should obviously avoid this from happening whenever possible."

"But didn't I have eight units left?"

"Indeed. That branch attack was a bit stronger than the weed attack, so it cost two units. And your final attack was very powerful and involved a lot of the plant life around the monster, so it cost six units. Bringing the total to zero."

Nature Power cost me six units?! That's crazy...

"Ugh, I'm so tired..." I dropped to the soft ground on my back, lying down on the grass.

"For once, you deserve to take a nap. Good job, bro." Sarah said to me happily. "The lake's already starting to turn back to normal!"

"It should eventually return to the state it was previously in before the monster arrived here. Now the people of Tempus can visit this area with no worries. Well done, young hero."

Hero...

"Destiny Lake is my favorite place to have fun with everyone! I hope we have fun here forever!"

I continued to lie there peacefully, taking in the smell the breeze brought to my nose. It smelt nice, a lot better than it did when the monster was around...

Maybe... being a hero of destiny won't be so bad after all...

End of Chapter 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writer's Comments:

And this is chapter 1 of the re-written Element Temp! I hope you enjoyed it more than the original (or, at the very least, enjoyed it in general). I bet you weren't expecting this to be March's chapter, huh?

... Yeah, I know. It's not March anymore. This was supposed to be put up for last month though, but I got sick and didn't have time to finish it before April began. I swear, it felt like March went by so fast...

Of course, I'm still counting this as March's chapter and am going to work on another one for April. Maybe even more than that! We'll see. For what series am I going to write for next? Who knows. Even I don't, because I haven't decided yet!

Well, until next time... Enjoy!

- CS-Masyet