Resume Part 1
April 14, 2008, Merlin, Oregon, United State of America
Four days ago, about 3,810 days after the last Battle of the Elements ended, it resumed once again. Twenty elementals were chosen once more and now they are the instruments of the new war. In the town of Merlin, the war continues once more. One more chapter of the war will take place, and it is said to be the longest. Many have predicted this war from almost as early as the first war in the year 1000. It has been long awaited by those who have known about the Battle of the Elements, and their wait has finally paid off.
........Now that ten years have passed and the war has finally resumed, new elementals were specially gifted their elements and are now beginning to start up the commotion once again. The elementals have been spread across the United States, most of which are in the war’s fighting location, Merlin.
........In a slightly-larger-than-normal house along a road in Merlin called ‘Camp Joy Road,’ a nineteen-year-old teenager walks out the door on his way to work, but stops half-way out of his driveway as he realizes he forgot to put on his ID tag.
........ ”Crap,” he said as he turns around and walks back into the house, leaving the door open. He emerged from the house only seconds later with an ID tag pinned to the upper left-hand corner of his jacket and he headed to his work at a department store. He exited his driveway and began to walk down the road to his job, finally ready. He would have decided to run, but he wasn’t as late as he thought he would have been after his alarm clock decided to break on him on the first day of the week. He looked at his watch, he had ten minutes to go a quarter-mile, more than enough time for him to walk all the way there. He never drove his car anywhere unless he was going somewhere too far away for him to walk because he wanted to what he could to help the environment as much as he could, and sometimes even tried to get others to follow up his lifestyle.
........After about four minutes of walking down the road to his job, the teenager came face-to-face with somebody. The stranger’s clothes were jet black with red trimming – the same colors as his frosted hair. Everything else the guy was wearing had the same colors.
........The stranger’s eyes narrowed, but he still didn’t speak. He instead just began to walk past him without a word.
........The teenager blinked before he continued on his path once more.
........ ‘Where have I seen that guy before,’ he asked himself in his head, ’He looked familiar.’
........The nineteen-year old continued after that without giving the event much thought. He had more important things to think about at the moment, like his job. If he lost this one, it would be his second this month. He had only been working here a week, and he really didn’t want to lose another job already. He was almost surprised he was able to pay the bills, but his parents chip in every now and again, so it’s not as impressive as it would be if he did it alone.
........Four minutes later, he had finally arrived at his job. There was a big billboard on it that read ‘Kikochi Dept. Store.’ He looked at it as he walked in, where he then headed for the office in the back to check in. He picked up a pen from the side of a clipboard and wrote his name and the time in a box to sign himself in. ‘Chiho Kyushi,’ he signed his name on the paper. He then turned and exited the office and headed for his post on the second of five floors and began to restock some items the store was running low on.
........Chiho started with the bread on aisle one and he would work his way down the store from there like he usually did. He walked down the aisle after he was done. There wasn’t much today that needed restocking, which made his job easier. He turned and walked down the next aisle, restocking everything that needed it, and continued until he had finished nearly two hours later. The second floor was huge, he was just happy he didn’t have to restock the whole store. He would be here for an eternity.
........After his shift restocking the second floor was finished, Chiho switched out with one of his coworkers at the register, where he would end up being for the rest of the day. He pressed a button on the register to turn it on and waited for a customer. Before he had been there three minutes, there was already a line. That’s the way it was every day, even on week days when most people would be at work. Chiho was used to it by now, but it did seem to make each day longer than it should be.
........After six more hours of working at the department store, Chiho’s job had finally been finished for the day. He stepped out of the cash register area and headed for the stairs and climbed down. He turned a corner and headed to the back of the store so he could sign out. He turned back after he was finished and walked out the front door that leads outside. He began to walk back to his house when he caught the site of somebody standing on top of a tree out of the corner of his eye. When he looked, he realized it was the same guy he had run into on his way to work. Something was up with this guy, and the more Chiho looked at him, the more he looked familiar. Chiho just pretended he was seeing things and turned to go on his usual route home.
........Chiho hadn’t been walking long before the mysterious guy in black had showed up again. This time he was on top of somebody’s roof. He seemed to be following Chiho home. This made him uncomfortable. Perhaps he could lead him somewhere and sneak away somehow. This would be a tight squeeze since this guy obviously already knew the route he took to get back, but he had to do something, he didn’t want him to know where he lived. He might end up randomly showing up at his house for some reason.
........Chiho stopped and looked at the roof, then turned back to his usual route home, but turned the opposite direction on the next block. For a little while, it seemed like he had lost him, but he didn’t think it would be just that easy. He stopped and looked around from half-way down the block. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at least not until he turned back to continue in the direction he was leading the mysterious person to. The guy was standing at the end of the road, staring at Chiho. He was getting a little uneasy. This guy was fast. Even if he was running, he still shouldn’t be able to go that distance in such a short amount of time. Chiho turned and began to walk toward his house once again, but the guy was now on the opposite side of the block. He looked behind him to see if the guy was still there, and he wasn’t. Then he looked back in the direction of his house only to see that the mysterious person had disappeared. Something was wrong; nobody has that kind of speed. It was like this guy was using illusions to trick him. He wasn’t going to fall for it. He continued home, getting to the end of the block without anything creepy crazy happening. It was somewhat of a relief for Chiho, but it wasn’t over yet. He carried on toward his house, looking both ways to see if the creep was watching him again, but nothing. Either Chiho was looking in the wrong direction or the guy had actually left him alone. Te first one seemed easier to believe to him. The guy had been following him everywhere, it didn’t seem to Chiho that he would just randomly disappear, but he did seem to just randomly start following him, so it wasn’t completely out of the question.
........As he continued back home, Chiho kept an eye out for the stalker. He looked on the roofs of people’s houses and other places he thought would be good spots to hide as he walked down the street toward his house. The guy wasn’t in sight. Chiho sighed in relief as he started to believe he was left alone and he walked all the way back to his house. He walked down his driveway up to his door. He looked around as he pulled out his keys only to find that the creep following him was right behind him on the porch. Chiho dropped his keys back in his pocket and looked him in the eye.
........”Look,”Chiho said with a slightly angry-sounding voice, ”I don’t know who you think you are, but if you don’t stop following me, I’m going to call the police.”
........The mysterious follower just stared at him. No apparent expression was describing what he was thinking at the moment, just an expression that made him look careless toward others.
........Chiho waited several minutes for him to speak, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.
........”Well?” Chiho said. He still said nothing. Chiho decided it wasn’t worth his time. He soughed angrily and turned around, unlocking the door and stepping in without looking behind him. He slammed the door behind him took off his work coat. After setting the coat on a hat rack, he turned around and looked out the window through the blinds covering it. The creep following Chiho was gone. It seemed he had finally gotten free of him; it would be a little hard to sneak inside his house without making any noise. Chiho made sure of it after he had been burgled a couple years ago. He had his friend Berd set up a sort of ‘silent’ alarm system that, when activated, made an alarm sound that was concentrated to the room Chiho’s genetic signature was detected in. She had all kinds of gadgets set up at his house, and even more at her own home.
........Chiho walked into his living room after he was finished looking out the window for his new potential threat and sat down in his reclining chair. After a moment of silence, his cat came into the room and jumped into his lap. Chiho pet it for a little while, but stopped as it left for some reason or another.
........He sat there for several more minutes watching the TV which he turned on a couple of seconds after his cat left, but eventually got bored since nothing was on ended up turning it off. He sat back in his chair and thought about the events that happened on his way home. He tried to remember where he had seen that guy before. He was so familiar. It wasn’t anybody he knew personally, he was sure of that, but he knew he had seen him before, just not where or even when.
........Before too long, Chiho had figured it out. He was right about the fact that he hadn’t met him personally, but he had seen a picture of him before on the news. It was the elemental of Fire. The one that had won three wars in a row nearly ten years before, but why was he following Chiho? He could have chosen anyone out of his job, but he chose Chiho. Was it at random or was there a reason? Chiho wanted answers, and he knew who might be able to give them to him.
........He turned in his chair and picked up his cell phone from a coffee table and dialed a number. Putting it up to his ear, he waited for an answer. After two rings, Chiho heard a male voice.
........”Chiho, I can’t talk now, I’m on a case,” it said.
........”I know, but I need to ask you something,” Chiho replied, ”It’s important.”
........The person on the phone sighed before he continued, ”Alright, make it quick,” he said.
........Chiho leaned forward in his chair, ”The elemental of Fire followed me home today, I was wondering what you knew about him,” Chiho said.
........”Why didn’t you just call Berd? Look, I’ll give you a call back when I’m done, it shouldn’t take much longer. Just sit tight,” he said before hanging up without another word.
........Chiho closed his phone and fell back into his chair, waiting for his friend to call back.
........Now that ten years have passed and the war has finally resumed, new elementals were specially gifted their elements and are now beginning to start up the commotion once again. The elementals have been spread across the United States, most of which are in the war’s fighting location, Merlin.
........In a slightly-larger-than-normal house along a road in Merlin called ‘Camp Joy Road,’ a nineteen-year-old teenager walks out the door on his way to work, but stops half-way out of his driveway as he realizes he forgot to put on his ID tag.
........ ”Crap,” he said as he turns around and walks back into the house, leaving the door open. He emerged from the house only seconds later with an ID tag pinned to the upper left-hand corner of his jacket and he headed to his work at a department store. He exited his driveway and began to walk down the road to his job, finally ready. He would have decided to run, but he wasn’t as late as he thought he would have been after his alarm clock decided to break on him on the first day of the week. He looked at his watch, he had ten minutes to go a quarter-mile, more than enough time for him to walk all the way there. He never drove his car anywhere unless he was going somewhere too far away for him to walk because he wanted to what he could to help the environment as much as he could, and sometimes even tried to get others to follow up his lifestyle.
........After about four minutes of walking down the road to his job, the teenager came face-to-face with somebody. The stranger’s clothes were jet black with red trimming – the same colors as his frosted hair. Everything else the guy was wearing had the same colors.
........The stranger’s eyes narrowed, but he still didn’t speak. He instead just began to walk past him without a word.
........The teenager blinked before he continued on his path once more.
........ ‘Where have I seen that guy before,’ he asked himself in his head, ’He looked familiar.’
........The nineteen-year old continued after that without giving the event much thought. He had more important things to think about at the moment, like his job. If he lost this one, it would be his second this month. He had only been working here a week, and he really didn’t want to lose another job already. He was almost surprised he was able to pay the bills, but his parents chip in every now and again, so it’s not as impressive as it would be if he did it alone.
........Four minutes later, he had finally arrived at his job. There was a big billboard on it that read ‘Kikochi Dept. Store.’ He looked at it as he walked in, where he then headed for the office in the back to check in. He picked up a pen from the side of a clipboard and wrote his name and the time in a box to sign himself in. ‘Chiho Kyushi,’ he signed his name on the paper. He then turned and exited the office and headed for his post on the second of five floors and began to restock some items the store was running low on.
........Chiho started with the bread on aisle one and he would work his way down the store from there like he usually did. He walked down the aisle after he was done. There wasn’t much today that needed restocking, which made his job easier. He turned and walked down the next aisle, restocking everything that needed it, and continued until he had finished nearly two hours later. The second floor was huge, he was just happy he didn’t have to restock the whole store. He would be here for an eternity.
........After his shift restocking the second floor was finished, Chiho switched out with one of his coworkers at the register, where he would end up being for the rest of the day. He pressed a button on the register to turn it on and waited for a customer. Before he had been there three minutes, there was already a line. That’s the way it was every day, even on week days when most people would be at work. Chiho was used to it by now, but it did seem to make each day longer than it should be.
........After six more hours of working at the department store, Chiho’s job had finally been finished for the day. He stepped out of the cash register area and headed for the stairs and climbed down. He turned a corner and headed to the back of the store so he could sign out. He turned back after he was finished and walked out the front door that leads outside. He began to walk back to his house when he caught the site of somebody standing on top of a tree out of the corner of his eye. When he looked, he realized it was the same guy he had run into on his way to work. Something was up with this guy, and the more Chiho looked at him, the more he looked familiar. Chiho just pretended he was seeing things and turned to go on his usual route home.
........Chiho hadn’t been walking long before the mysterious guy in black had showed up again. This time he was on top of somebody’s roof. He seemed to be following Chiho home. This made him uncomfortable. Perhaps he could lead him somewhere and sneak away somehow. This would be a tight squeeze since this guy obviously already knew the route he took to get back, but he had to do something, he didn’t want him to know where he lived. He might end up randomly showing up at his house for some reason.
........Chiho stopped and looked at the roof, then turned back to his usual route home, but turned the opposite direction on the next block. For a little while, it seemed like he had lost him, but he didn’t think it would be just that easy. He stopped and looked around from half-way down the block. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at least not until he turned back to continue in the direction he was leading the mysterious person to. The guy was standing at the end of the road, staring at Chiho. He was getting a little uneasy. This guy was fast. Even if he was running, he still shouldn’t be able to go that distance in such a short amount of time. Chiho turned and began to walk toward his house once again, but the guy was now on the opposite side of the block. He looked behind him to see if the guy was still there, and he wasn’t. Then he looked back in the direction of his house only to see that the mysterious person had disappeared. Something was wrong; nobody has that kind of speed. It was like this guy was using illusions to trick him. He wasn’t going to fall for it. He continued home, getting to the end of the block without anything creepy crazy happening. It was somewhat of a relief for Chiho, but it wasn’t over yet. He carried on toward his house, looking both ways to see if the creep was watching him again, but nothing. Either Chiho was looking in the wrong direction or the guy had actually left him alone. Te first one seemed easier to believe to him. The guy had been following him everywhere, it didn’t seem to Chiho that he would just randomly disappear, but he did seem to just randomly start following him, so it wasn’t completely out of the question.
........As he continued back home, Chiho kept an eye out for the stalker. He looked on the roofs of people’s houses and other places he thought would be good spots to hide as he walked down the street toward his house. The guy wasn’t in sight. Chiho sighed in relief as he started to believe he was left alone and he walked all the way back to his house. He walked down his driveway up to his door. He looked around as he pulled out his keys only to find that the creep following him was right behind him on the porch. Chiho dropped his keys back in his pocket and looked him in the eye.
........”Look,”Chiho said with a slightly angry-sounding voice, ”I don’t know who you think you are, but if you don’t stop following me, I’m going to call the police.”
........The mysterious follower just stared at him. No apparent expression was describing what he was thinking at the moment, just an expression that made him look careless toward others.
........Chiho waited several minutes for him to speak, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.
........”Well?” Chiho said. He still said nothing. Chiho decided it wasn’t worth his time. He soughed angrily and turned around, unlocking the door and stepping in without looking behind him. He slammed the door behind him took off his work coat. After setting the coat on a hat rack, he turned around and looked out the window through the blinds covering it. The creep following Chiho was gone. It seemed he had finally gotten free of him; it would be a little hard to sneak inside his house without making any noise. Chiho made sure of it after he had been burgled a couple years ago. He had his friend Berd set up a sort of ‘silent’ alarm system that, when activated, made an alarm sound that was concentrated to the room Chiho’s genetic signature was detected in. She had all kinds of gadgets set up at his house, and even more at her own home.
........Chiho walked into his living room after he was finished looking out the window for his new potential threat and sat down in his reclining chair. After a moment of silence, his cat came into the room and jumped into his lap. Chiho pet it for a little while, but stopped as it left for some reason or another.
........He sat there for several more minutes watching the TV which he turned on a couple of seconds after his cat left, but eventually got bored since nothing was on ended up turning it off. He sat back in his chair and thought about the events that happened on his way home. He tried to remember where he had seen that guy before. He was so familiar. It wasn’t anybody he knew personally, he was sure of that, but he knew he had seen him before, just not where or even when.
........Before too long, Chiho had figured it out. He was right about the fact that he hadn’t met him personally, but he had seen a picture of him before on the news. It was the elemental of Fire. The one that had won three wars in a row nearly ten years before, but why was he following Chiho? He could have chosen anyone out of his job, but he chose Chiho. Was it at random or was there a reason? Chiho wanted answers, and he knew who might be able to give them to him.
........He turned in his chair and picked up his cell phone from a coffee table and dialed a number. Putting it up to his ear, he waited for an answer. After two rings, Chiho heard a male voice.
........”Chiho, I can’t talk now, I’m on a case,” it said.
........”I know, but I need to ask you something,” Chiho replied, ”It’s important.”
........The person on the phone sighed before he continued, ”Alright, make it quick,” he said.
........Chiho leaned forward in his chair, ”The elemental of Fire followed me home today, I was wondering what you knew about him,” Chiho said.
........”Why didn’t you just call Berd? Look, I’ll give you a call back when I’m done, it shouldn’t take much longer. Just sit tight,” he said before hanging up without another word.
........Chiho closed his phone and fell back into his chair, waiting for his friend to call back.
© Copyright 2008 Marc Vequinox, Inc. All Rights Reserved
