Chapter 1

~Kailani~

       When I first found out that I was a water elemental, I was a bit confused and worried. However, the confusion and worry soon turned to excitement. I mean, I could manipulate water to do almost anything I wanted. How cool was that?

       My excitement died down a bit when I was told that there was some sort of dark side after us. We didn't fully know their intentions. Just that they must have wanted our powers or something. After learning they were powerless themselves, we figured as long as we learned to control our powers to the best of our abilities, they was no way they could beat us.

       Then something happened to one of my best friends that made it seem like he was dying. He couldn't be healed. He was barely conscious. It just happened out of the blue. We pretty much came up with the conclusion that the dark side had something to do with it.

       We just didn't know what or how. Or even how we could heal him.

       No how much thinking we did or how many of Simon's books we read, we couldn't find the answer.

       Even Lincoln's dad was trying his best to help out since he was a bit familiar with all the elemental stuff, but he couldn't think of anything. 

       There was a sudden knock on the front door, but no one moved to answer it. Everyone would rather focus on trying to figure out how we could help Heath than to care who was at the door.

       Marvin was the one who answered the door since he was closest to it being in the kitchen to fix up some snacks for us. He opened the door, letting the guest into the house. I looked over, seeing that it was my dad. I hadn't seen him since we stayed at his house for a bit, so I got up and hurried over to him, giving him a hug. We may not have been close since he had to give me up, but after meeting him, I definitely needed a father's comfort right now. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

       "Marvin called me and explained what was going on," Dad said. "He thought that I might have been able to help since I worked with the dark side for a bit years ago before you and your brother were born."

       "Wait, you what?"

       "Ah, sorry, let me rephrase," Dad said. "I worked undercover on the dark side for a bit." He gestured for us to go to the living room where everyone else was sprawled out, reading books or researching online. Dad sat down on one of the available chairs and I sat back down on the floor beside Lincoln. "I'm not sure if you know this, but you all aren't the first elementals."

       "Really?" I asked. "Are we the only ones?"

       Dad nodded. "And before you asked what happened to the others, nothing bad. There could only be one of each at a time for reasons we have yet to find out. New ones are born every seventy-five years."

       "Wait, so what happens to the old ones when the new ones are born if they're still alive?" Wendy asked. "Do they... Do they just die?"

       "No, no," Dad said. "They just lose their powers. But seeing as they're seventy-five at the time if they're still alive, they never seem to care. They all think it's best for new people to develop elemental powers. Anyway, as you can guess, not too many people find out about elementals. It's usually only family members or friends that find out."

       "How did you find out about it before Simon and I were born?" I asked.

       "The previous earth elemental saved my life," Dad said. "Marvin, Heath's dad, and I were on a hike when we were teenagers. There was a cliff that was obstructed by view and I ended up falling down it. The earth elemental was hiking near us and saw it happened. He quickly used his powers to save me. He would rather save a strangers life than to keep his powers hidden."

       "Ever since then, we made it our life's mission to protect them when we found out there's a dark side after them," Marvin said. "We learned everything we could about elementals, and Peter decided to go undercover on the dark side to see what they were planning."

       I sighed. "But I guess you couldn't find out exactly why they wanted to oppose the elementals."

       "Not really, no," Dad said. "They tried to use an excuse saying that the elementals are evil and want to take over the world."

       Lincoln snorted. "Which is why they called themselves the dark side. Because they were the good guys."

       "Uh, you do realize that Keira is the dark elemental, right?" Hailey said. "Would that mean that she's not one of the good guys because she's the dark elemental."

       "You know what I mean."

       "Speaking of, I don't believe I've met the newest two additions," Dad said.

       "Oh, right," I said. "This is Keira, the dark elemental. She was held captive by the dark side, but we were ever to save her. Then this is Jared, the Guardian and the light elemental."

       "No offence, but can you try to figure out what's going on with Heath instead of giving us a long winded backstory?" Simon asked Dad, which was a bit surprising since he was normally a calm person. Then again, it was his boyfriend that was suffering, so I didn't blame him for being impatient.

       Dad didn't seem to be offended or taken back by Simon's snippiness. "Sorry, sorry. Let me take a look." He got off the chair and walked over to the couch, kneeling down beside it to examine Heath. He felt Heath's forehead before quickly pulling his hand back. "He's overheating a lot."

       "Yes, which is why I'm trying to keep him cool," Hailey said, her hands hovering over Heath to try to keep him as cool as possible with her ice abilities. She couldn't be doing it the entire time otherwise she would run out of stamina, so she had been alternating between keeping Heath cool and taking a break. "He's the fire elemental. It's not surprising."

       Dad continued to try to figure out if he knew what was happening to Heath. He seemed to have noticed something before he asked, "Has anyone noticed the back of his neck? It looks like black veins growing."

       "What?" Simon asked, moving to get a closer look. "I can't believe I didn't notice that before."

       "Maybe it started growing after this happened," Hailey said. "And no one noticed because he's lying on his back."

       I looked at Dad. "Do you know what it means?"

       "I think I do," Dad said. "It is a virus created from the dark side. I worked in their lab for a bit and remember seeing this." He sighed. "While there is a cure, I don't remember it."

       "At least there is a cure," Lincoln said. "That's a good thing."

      "But how can we figure out what it is?" Wendy asked.

       "I'll go sneak in their lab if I have to," Simon said.

       "Yeah, that's not going to happen," Hailey said. "You can't keep your powers under control when you're emotional, and you're very emotional right now." Simon scowled, but he didn't object.

       "I... I can try going there," Keira said. "I can try sending my shadow form there. It might be difficult since I've still been having troubles manifesting my powers since I escaped, but... I want to try."

       "Are you sure?" Hailey asked.

       Keira nodded. "I don't want anything bad to happen to Heath and this might be the safest way. I don't think they'll be able to capture me in my shadow form."

       "Okay," Hailey said. "What do you need to send your shadow form there."

       "A dark and cold room," Keira said. "That's it. And mostly quiet, just to help me concentrate me."

       "We can use my bedroom," I offered.

       Keira agreed to it, and so she wouldn't feel overwhelmed, Hailey and I were going to be the only two to be with her in the room. Hailey to help her stay in control since Keira was the closest to Hailey out of all of us, and me so I could write down anything Keira finds just in case she forgot it.

       We got inside my room and I did everything I could to make it dark and cold. I closed my blinds and blackout curtains, turning off the lights. My AC was already on, helping keep the room cold. Keira said it was perfect, so she got to work.

       Keira sat on my bed since it was the comfiest spot for her. Hailey sat across from her, while I sat at my desk with a notepad, telling her I would stay completely silent so I wouldn't bother her. Hailey would be allowed to talk to her to remind Keira that her actual form was in my room just in case she got scared about being in the dark side's base again.

       It took some time but eventually, a dark cloud surrounded the lower half of Keira's body. He eyes were closed, but she said, "My shadow form is there. Kailani's dad said there was a lab there, so I'm going to see if I could find it. It might take some time because I've never fully seen the base."

       "That's okay," Hailey said. "Take your time. As much as we all want to save Heath, we won't be able to do it if you force yourself to rush there and exhaust yourself."

       Keira nodded and stayed silent for a bit. After a few minutes, she announced that she found the lab. There were a lot of papers there, so she was going to have to go through them all until she found the virus that sounded like what Heath had.

       Eventually, she said, "I got it. The cure is here too. You need a five petals of a pearlnivia. Place it in boiling water and let it sit for five minutes. Take it off heat and let it simmer for another five minutes. Then drink it."

       I quickly scribbled down the notes, questioning what a pearlnivia is, but I don't verbally ask. I promised to keep quiet.

       "Okay, good," Hailey said. "You did great. You can come back now."

       Keira furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm... I'm trying. I can't get rid of this form." She started to panic a bit, breathing heavily. "What if someone comes in here before I can leave? They might be able to bring my actual from there too."

       Hailey quickly grabbed Keira's hands. "Hey, it's okay. No one's there yet. You got time. You're with me right now. You're not actually there. Just try to remember what the room looked like before you sent your shadow form there. Remember that I was sitting right in front of you. Just come back to me."

       Keira's breathing slowed down after she took a deep breath. Slowly, the dark cloud around Keira started to disappear. Once it was completely gone, she opened her eyes, then smiled softly at Hailey. "I did it."

       Hailey smiled back, which honestly wasn't something I see often. "You did. Good job."

       Keira looked at me. "Did you write it down?"

       "I did," I said. "Come on, let's go tell the others."

       We left my room and headed back downstairs. Simon immediately looked at us. "So...?"

       "We got it," I said. I looked at the notepad. "We just need a flower, I'm assuming, called pearlnivia. I have no idea what it is." I looked over at Lincoln, since he loved all things nature. "Do you know?"

       "Uh... I actually don't think I do," Lincoln said. He took out his phone and looked it up. "It is a flower. One that only grows in the coldest of weathers. Like we're talking negative fifty degrees celsius. It's extremely rare and not actually found often."

       "You're kidding," I said. "How on earth are we going to get one? Even if we know where it can grow, we won't have time to travel there."

       "I have a simple solution," Hailey said. "It might take time, but I think it's time that we have. I'll just need you." She pointed to Lincoln. "And you." She pointed to Simon.

_______________

here it is! book three! it's starting off intense hee hee. i'm happy i'm getting back into this series though. i still remember starting it in, like, 2016 when i was first attending university. i would have to wake up early to take my siblings to school since my dad had to take my mom to work (she can drive now so i don't have to), but i wouldn't have class until 1, so i would just work on vitality until then.

and now i'm on book three. and still in university lmao.

oh, before i forgot, i made a group chat for my readers a few years ago, but people slowly left and we ended up moving to discord a while ago. then i was like "why not mention it again so more people can join?" so if you like reading my books, writing your own books, and just want to make friends, you can join it! the link is on my profile! you can get in on some inside jokes, learn about books i'm planning, discuss your own book, and just have someone to talk to!

that being said, i hope you enjoy the third book! there will be more romance, more drama, and more heath being heath :D