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Rena was in Sy’s office. She had just had some intense training with Aether on her elements. She had finally mastered all the core elements so they were ready to move on to the stronger combinations. She needed the distraction after learning about her childhood friend’s disappearance.
Sy had stepped out to have Aether and Aviv help her with something so Rena was just taking a break in her office. She was looking around at everything when she noticed a folder on Sy’s computer titled “confidential”.
“Was this what she was worried the hacker was trying to steal?”
Curiosity getting the best of her, she clicked the folder and saw files with people's names. She had a file of everyone, the guardians, Rena, the Fairy Tail members, the heroes, and even one for herself.
“Why would Sy have a file for herself in here?”
Rena clicked on it and began to read.
“ ‘Em., Sybil R.’ Is Em her last name or is it short for something?”
She continued to read..
“Birthday - April 11th, xx18
Mother - **********.”
Rena froze. She just stared at the name on the screen. “Wha–” before she could continue Sy walked back into the office, causing Rena to close the folder in a panic.
“Rena, Aether is ready for you if you want to continue your training.”
“OH! Perfect!” Rena squeaked.
“Are you ok Rena?” Sy looked up, concerned.
“Ah yes, sorry, just excited to learn more elements.” Rena attempted covered her mishap, “Well I better be off, Find the next guardian soon, k?” She said as she quickly left the office, leaving Sy slightly confused at her strange behavior.
As Rena walked away, she continued to think about what she saw on the file. “Is she really…? She must be from the future then. Is that why she knows so much? Wait, who would…? Or is it…?”
She was so lost in thought she didn't realize she had made it back to the training room. Aether was just staring at her in confusion as Rena was mumbling to herself.
“Rena?” She asked softly, breaking her out of her trance.
“Huh? Oh.. OH I'm sorry Aether! I was… Lost in thought.”
“Yes I can see that. Are you ready to continue? The next element is quite dangerous and it will need all your concentration. We will only have you transform into it briefly so you can see how it feels then we will move on. A word of caution, even briefly, is dangerous so you need to clear your mind. Are you able to right now? I know a lot has happened in your home world.”
“Yes. I'm OK. I'm sorry for being distracted.” Rena said as she straightened herself out.
“I'm serious Rena. The dark element is nothing to take lightly. If your emotions are not stable it will take over and you will lose control. It's extremely hard to come back from the darkness once it has taken over completely. That's why for practice we only use it briefly. It can be used for longer periods of time but as a human you are more subjectable to it over taking you. Here I'll show you what it looks like when I wield the dark element.”
Rena watched as Aether's aura changed. She was breathtaking. Her hair turned to a sparkling silver flowing behind her. Her clothes transformed into a dark purple and black corset-like dress. Her skirt fluttered behind her. In one hand was a dark black ball of energy surrounded by dark purple smoke. In her other hand a ball of bright purple. Surrounding her were trails of black and purple.
“Most people assume darkness is the absence of light, but in reality it is everything all together. All the elements merged into one. That’s what makes it so dangerous. If it is not wielded correctly and in a clear state of mind it can consume the wielder. There is almost no coming back once it has completely consumed you. It is when it has taken over that all the light and other elements are cannibalized which is where people perceive it to be the absence of light. Does that make sense?”
”Yes, I understand. So how do I attempt to wield it correctly then?” Rena asked, still staring in amazement.
”The easiest way is to start with one element, then gradually try to add the remaining elements until they are all combined into one. Then once you feel the dark, let it go. We only need you to feel it once. I don’t want you to stay in it for too long.”
”Right.” Rena closed her eyes and began to activate her powers. She started with water. Once she felt it flowing through her she added air. Then earth, fire, and finally light. She felt a sudden rush of something. She could feel it, the darkness, but it wasn’t scary. It felt natural, warm, and easy, almost too easy. Why did the darkness feel so… familiar. Darkness. She was trapped in the darkness once before. How did she escape? Him. He was her light. He helped her out of the darkness. Him. Clark. He was missing. Why was he missing? What happened to him? Suddenly, the darkness didn’t feel right. It started to feel cold. She saw his face, then it was lost behind dark pillars of smoke. He was gone.
“RENA! LET IT GO! QUICKLY!” Aether shouted.
Rena suddenly snapped her eyes open and released her powers, returning her to normal. “Oh… oh no! I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened! I messed up didn’t I?” She said looking down in disappointment.
”No, you actually did amazing. You held it longer than I anticipated but then it started to consume you. Did you see anything? Or were you thinking about something?”
“I…well…yes. I started thinking about my childhood friend. I guess I related him to the darkness.”
“I see. Well, you managed to release it before it got out of hand, however, It did require some distraction from the outside. I suggest you try to avoid using that power. It is fantastic that you were able to use it even for that short amount of time, but I don’t want you being consumed by it completely. Especially if there is no way to reach you or if you cannot escape it by yourself.” Aether explained.
”I understand. It was quite the feeling but I think there are other forms that I would rather use instead anyway. I’m really liking the Storm and Magma forms. They feel so powerful.” Rena said, with a small smile. She was feeling a little exhausted after manifesting all of her powers at once, on top of all the thought running through her mind.
“Do you mind if we call it a day? I’m feeling a little tired.” She said as she stood up.
”Of course. You did very well today. Go rest up.” Aether smiled softly as she released her own dark form, returning to normal.
Rena headed back to her room. She did her nightly routine, thinking about everything that had happened the last few days. As she finally laid in bed, she stared at the ceiling as thoughts flooded her mind.
The lake house is gone. The treehouse is gone. My grandmother is gone. What was my father doing in all of this? Did he really start the fire? What was he doing arguing with Clark? Where is Clark? Will I ever see him again? Will I ever get to tell him that I love him?
She drifted off to sleep as a tear fell down her cheek.
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