The Elemental Read online

  “It must be,” Noiro answered, although he sounded doubtful himself. “I mean, I guess we proved that it is possible, because otherwise, Helia wouldn’t be here, would she?”

  Elara blinked at the name. “Helia?” she echoed. “That’s an unusual name…”

  Miela stared at the child. “She does kind of look like you…”

  Elara shook her head again as the two began to fill her in on how they stumbled across the toddler. This was too much to digest in such a short amount of time. She nibbled nervously at her lip.

  “So…Helia is mine…from the future?” Elara’s eyes were wide in disbelief. “Why did her mother—uh, I—send her back, then?”

  “It sounds like you two were running from something—‘bad men,’ as Helia put it,” said Noiro.

  “Her description didn’t give us much to go on, but they definitely sound like bad news,” Miela added, “bad enough to scare you into sending your kid back in time. Alone.”

  The three fell silent.

  “Hold on,” said Noiro suddenly. “Knowing Elara… you must have left us some clues in the bag.” He gestured over to the satchel, which lay forgotten at the foot of the desk.

  Elara’s eyes travelled from the old, dirty satchel that lay on the floor, and then to the one that she had set upon the desk when she arrived.

  That was her bag.

  Could that be her child?

  She felt sick.

  “Where do we start?” asked Noiro, looking to Miela. “This is sort of your area of expertise.”

  Miela scoffed. “Yeah, as a Guardian, I come across time travelling tots all the time.”

  “You know what I mean,” said Noiro. “You deal with criminal cases all the time. This is just one very unusual case.”

  Miela raised an eyebrow at Noiro. It was certainly an unusual case.

  “Okay,” she breathed deeply.

  If she treated this like any other case she helped when tracking suspects…

  “The blood,” Miela said. “The kid’s covered in blood. We can test it to identify its properties, and… well… see who it belongs to.” She avoided Elara’s gaze.

  Noiro nodded and suddenly said, “Not here.”

  The three jumped, realizing that they were in a very public place. If Helia was running from someone, there was no telling who it was. The last thing they needed to do was draw attention to themselves, if they hadn’t already with the toddler’s previous wailing. Fortunately, the library was mostly empty as the day was almost over.

  “We can go over to my place,” offered Noiro.

  The trio nodded, and quickly began to pack up their belongings from the table.

  Noiro shrugged off his outer shirt and wrapped it around Helia’s tiny frame. “The blood,” he explained, quickly fastening the buttons over Helia’s clothes. “We don’t want to draw attention…”

  Miela handed Elara the satchel that came with Helia. “I think you should carry this,” she said.

  Elara nodded, shouldering the bag that was identical to her own, save for the leather being more weathered with age.

  Elara felt queasy as the group followed Noiro out of the library. She had no idea, when she started her day, that being late for a research session with Noiro would result in her suddenly having a toddler and a bag full of mysteries. “How are we going to explain the kid?” she hissed, holding Helia’s hand in hers as they strolled through the pathway of a very prim and neatly kept rose garden.

  “The best excuse I can think of to avoid any questions,” Miela said immediately, “is that she’s a witness in a case I’m handling. I’m sure I can pull that off—the Colonel’s been on my case for taking on more civilian cases for a while now. He’ll be happy about it, if anything.”

  “This way,” said Noiro, turning up another pathway.

  They could see a small stony cottage at the edge of the castle grounds at the end of the pathway. A stone sundial stood at the center of the cottage’s front garden, with an intricate golden dial planted firmly at the sundial’s base. A few feet away were a few vials, which were propped outside on a wooden bench, left to dry in the warm summer air. A soft breeze blew past, and the sound of wind chimes could be heard tinkling in the distance.

  Elara loved the little cottage that she called home. It had been her home for as long as she could remember.

  Often mistaken for Noiro’s younger sibling, Noiro was, in fact, Elara’s guardian. She was told that he found her abandoned at his doorstep as a baby, and couldn’t find it in his heart to turn her away. Noiro, who was only twenty years-old himself at the time, raised her as his own, sacrificing a lot of his own personal endeavors for the sake of being a responsible, caring provider for his new charge.

  Elara began to take after Noiro’s interests as the years flew by. Her childhood was spent on the floor of his laboratory, watching him tinker away at his different research assignments. Being a special Scholar for the Royal Family, Noiro was given the privilege of living within the castle’s grounds, and with it, all the security and provisions that came with it. Elara grew up comfortably under Noiro’s guardianship, and blossomed into a young, erudite, insightful woman.

  As Elara grew more interested in Noiro’s research assignments, he began to include her in some of his work. He started her off with small tasks, like having her measure out the different substances he was examining in vials, or identifying different elements in certain research assignments. He could not help but beam with pride as she soon began to fly through the tasks and come up with her own theories during research assignments. Seeing her love grow for exploring different theories and drawing her own conclusions, Noiro went to great lengths to ensure she received the best education, and supported her with the resources she needed. As she grew more experienced, and even began to take on her own independent research assignments, Noiro sought to work together and push her to pursue more, with some assignments coming straight from the Royal Family themselves.

  Elara looked at Noiro as he fumbled for his keys, stopping momentarily in front of the small, cozy stone cottage. She knew she was privileged to call Noiro’s cottage her home. She was lucky to have Noiro as her guardian. Twenty years had passed since he found her and raised her as his own. To her, they were blissful, happy years. She wondered if he felt the same. Becoming a guardian overnight was certainly no easy feat, and he was only twenty then.

  Did he feel the same, gnawing, unrelenting feeling of anxiety as she felt now, with Helia by their side?

  She watched him, his brow furrowed in his worry as he finally unlocked his front door, eyes nervously darting to the small child that stood between the adults. He’d always had a soft heart, especially for children. She could tell that he was agitated.

  Who wouldn’t be? Elara bit her lip. A bloodied child, her child, appeared from the future. She could only assume that it was her own blood on the child.

  Something terrible must have happened.

  Elara glanced at the child, who was silently watching the man in front of them push the door open. As panicked as she was when she appeared, the toddler seemed to have completely forgotten her fright as soon as she laid eyes on Elara.

  “Inside, make yourselves at home,” said Noiro, ushering the group into his cottage, snapping Elara out of her thoughts. “Just don’t touch anything.”

  He walked over to a nearby cupboard and rummaged through some bottles.

  The group steered into the cozy cottage, standing awkwardly in the center.

  As small as it looked from the outside, it was a rather spacious cottage. The doorway opened up into an airy seating area with comfy armchairs surrounding a dark-stained wooden table. The walls were lined with some old bookshelves that were built-in. Behind the seating area was a small laboratory, with high tables standing in each corner of the room, an organized mess of vials and containers scattered on each one. A book lay open on one of the tables, with a few notes hastily scrawled in.

  “Here,” said Noiro, handing Elara thr
ee thin vials. “You know what to do.”

  Elara glanced at the blood on the child and then back at Noiro, nodding.

  Noiro, obviously flustered, turned quickly to offer Miela and Helia a seat at the seating area. “Please, sit. I’ll get us some tea. And maybe something nutritious for the young lady.” He flashed a small smile at Helia.

  The toddler grinned cheerily back at him. She was about to sink into a plushy arm chair before Miela stopped her. “Hold on, kid.” She gently held the child’s arms. “Let’s get you changed out of those dirty clothes.”

  Noiro nodded, leaving Miela to take care of Helia.

  Elara walked over to the laboratory, setting the vials down. Taking one of the vials, she pricked the tip of her finger and dribbled in some of her blood into the long, thin glass. She was familiar with collecting blood samples from different animals and beings for their research projects, and was no stranger to the pricks and stings of the procedure.

  Elara wrapped her finger with a small strip of gauze, placed the vial into a rack, and prepared the other vial to collect the blood samples from Helia’s cloak and from Helia herself. Whoever’s blood was soaked into Helia’s cloak would help confirm their suspicions. According to Noiro and Miela, that blood was Helia’s mother’s. She needed to compare the blood sample to Helia’s and her own blood to prove their hunch.

  Elara paused for a moment, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. Was she ready to confirm Noiro’s hunch? Was that little child truly her own? She wondered again how Noiro must have felt when he found a wailing baby at his doorstep.

  “Elara? Everything all right in there?” Miela’s voice called out from the sitting room.

  Elara snapped her head towards the voice. “I’m fine! I’ll just be a moment.” Taking another deep breath, Elara walked back into the sitting room.

  Miela and Noiro were sitting solemnly, perched at the edge of their seats. Three mugs of steaming tea were arranged neatly on the table in front of them, untouched, accompanied by a small plate of biscuits. Miela’s leg hopped nervously as she spied the glass vials Elara brought with her, and she glanced at Helia. The little girl sat on the wooden floor, her legs splayed out in front of her as she happily munched on a large apple.

  “I, uh… I moved her to the floor so she wouldn’t stain the rugs or seats,” said Miela. “Getting blood stains out is a pain.” She unconsciously reached a hand to the hilt of her sword, which was fastened tightly to her back with leather straps. “Trust me.”

  Elara nodded silently.

  “I tried to take her cloak, but she said her Mama would.”

  “Oh. Right. Okay, I’ll get it,” said Elara hesitantly, walking over to Helia.

  “Mama! Mama, you hungry?” Helia grinned toothily through another bite of her apple, offering Elara a bite.

  Elara forced a smile as she softly declined. “Helia,” she said, testing the feel of the name on her lips. It seemed to roll off effortlessly, even though it sounded so foreign on her tongue. “Helia, I’ll need to borrow your cloak.”

  Helia lifted her arms up automatically, and she cautiously undid the clasp of her cloak and slid it off her tiny shoulders. The dark material of her cloak hid the bloodstains well, but it soaked through to her pink cotton pajamas underneath, a deep, crimson stain marring the soft fabric. Helia appeared unbothered by the bloodstains, seemingly content now that her mother was back with her.

  Elara, on the other hand, felt her throat close up at the sight of the blood.

  Who knew there could be so much blood?

  What horrors did this child go through?

  “We need to get you cleaned up,” she remarked softly, tucking a tendril of hair, crusted over with drying blood, behind Helia’s ear.

  “I’m sure I can find something for her to change into,” said Noiro, handing Elara a damp cloth to wipe Helia’s face.

  Elara tried to ignore the sheer look of adoration on Helia as she dabbed at the toddler’s face, wiping away some of the blood that had since dried.

  Despite Elara’s discomfort, she couldn’t stop staring at the child. Miela was right; she looked a little bit like her. Helia had her dimpled chin and olive skin. Her wavy hair, a deep brown, curled around her round cheeks. Her almond-shaped eyes crinkled as she cheerily grinned at Elara when she finished wiping her face.

  Elara looked away.

  “Let me take this,” offered Miela, breaking Elara’s deep train of thought and gently taking the bloody cloth from her hand. “I’ll give it to Noiro so he can test it. For the time being, I think it’d be a good idea to get this kid into a bath.”

  “A bath?” Helia piped up distastefully. “But I don’t wanna take a bath,” she folded her arms.

  “Think about how nice you’ll feel in some clean, fresh clothes,” said Noiro, walking back into the room with some clothes in his arms. “They’re some of your old clothes—might be a tad too big for her, but I think they’ll do for the time being.” He smiled apologetically as he set the clothes down onto the couch.

  “They’ll do fine,” Elara assured him gratefully.

  Noiro nodded. “The bathroom’s up the stairs, second door on your right.”

  With the toddler in hand, Miela and Elara trudged up the stairs and into the bathroom. Miela carefully pried off the bloody clothes while Elara began to fill the tub with warm water, dipping her hand into it to test its temperature. Miela sponged the blood off the child before putting her into the tub. Helia sighed contentedly in the warm water, despite her earlier protests against having a bath. Elara softly ran her fingers into Helia’s hair and worked them up into a sudsy mess.

  “See? Having a bath isn’t so bad now, is it?” said Miela, grinning at Helia.

  She nodded vigorously, and happily splashed the water around.

  “Oh wow, you have thick hair,” said Elara, grunting as she tried to avoid the splashes while trying to untangle her fingers from the child’s head.

  “Do you have toys?” She looked up suddenly at the two women. “For the bath!”

  “Uh, um… No, sorry,” Elara answered.

  “Okay.” She shrugged nonchalantly. She was far too preoccupied with playing with the water.

  “What toys do you like?” asked Miela, attempting to make conversation with Helia. She felt sorry for Elara. She could see how uncomfortable she was around the toddler, and couldn’t blame her for feeling that way. Nonetheless, it was clear that Helia was comfortable, ecstatic, even, with Elara’s presence. As far as the toddler was concerned, she was reunited with her mother, and all was well.

  Miela couldn’t help but take an immediate liking to the tot. She wondered if Helia remembered her from the future, somehow. She shuddered internally as she recalled the child just hours ago, bloodied, terrified, and wailing frantically for her mother only a few short hours ago. The toddler certainly seemed to calm down slightly when she began to interact with her. She frowned, dawning on a niggling thought.

  If Helia had calmed down with Miela, why did Noiro not have the same effect?

  “I like swords!” Helia yelled theatrically, pulling Miela out of her thoughts. She watched the toddler thrust her arm forward, brandishing an imaginary sword in her small fist.

  “Oh?” Miela arched an eyebrow, impressed. “I like swords too. Wanna see mine?”

  “YEAH!”

  “Uh, Miela, maybe it’s not a good idea to pull out something sharp near a child… in a place that’s wet… and slippery… and covered in soap…”

  “Good point,” Miela agreed, grinning at Helia. She winked and said, “Later.”

  Helia nodded, winking back.

  They finished up the toddler’s bath and wrapped her up in a towel, drying her thoroughly before she dripped any more water outside of the tub. It seemed that most of the water had escaped the tub already.

  “I think we can get you dressed over here,” Elara said as she picked up the clothes Noiro handed her earlier, and quickly dressed the toddler.

  “Lad
ies,” Noiro greeted them cheerily as he sipped away at his cup of tea. “I hope you don’t mind, I went ahead and drank some of my tea. It was getting cold.”

  “That’s fine,” said Elara, ignoring the knots in her stomach.

  “Drink your tea,” nudged Noiro.

  Elara nodded, setting herself down and reaching for a mug as Noiro walked over to Helia, leading her to the laboratory.

  Miela came in and sat next to her childhood friend, handing Elara the old satchel that Helia was carrying earlier. She said softly, “I put Helia’s necklace in the bag. I didn’t want to pry any further, in case there was something private.”

  Elara pressed her lips together and accepted the satchel. She glanced again at her own identical satchel, looking brand new, lying on one of the tables in Noiro’s research laboratory. She already knew that the satchel she was holding and the satchel in the laboratory were one and the same. She was certain, regardless of the anxiety welling up in her chest, that the toddler happily chatting away to Noiro was hers.

  “No use in hiding what’s in the satchel,” she said finally. She looked up as Noiro walked back into the room. “We need answers. Let’s take a look at what’s inside.” She unfastened the clasp and turned the satchel over, dumping out its contents on the table. The three drew closer to the table, examining the objects that fell out.

  In front of them lay two books: a tattered notebook, and their research journal; a large cloth that was wrapped around a jagged stone; Helia’s necklace; and a ring.

  Elara gingerly picked up the least formidable object to examine first: the ring. She stared at it in awe; it was a beautiful ring. It looked antique, made with platinum and twisted into an intricate floral weave, encircling a brilliant deep cut sapphire stone, set into the center of the ring. As much as she tried to convince herself that the ring could be any insignificant piece of jewelry, she was certain that it was her wedding ring. The wave of emotions made her stomach churn, and she put it back on the table.

  Next, she examined the necklace. It was an unusual necklace; it seemed like it was crudely put together with very little attention to craftsmanship compared to the ring she had just examined. The platinum chain was long and thin, and the heavy, jagged, dark stone pendant had a hole messily carved into the top where the chain looped through it. The stone was warm and felt like it was pulsating in her hand. A shudder traveled through her as she held the stone, and she set it back down. Elara squinted at the stone. It looked as if it was carefully carved with symbols. Three rings of movable stone dials were engraved into the pendant, with small notches etched into the dials.