The Elements

[DeletedUser28032]

It was early morning and Jack hadn't slept a wink the Hudson had burst its banks around midnight submerging the surrounding area in filthy river water, thankfully though he'd managed to cross the bridge and get well away from the river and onto dry land before this had occurred, Jack walked down the main road, the morning sun drying his drenched clothes, eating the apple he'd packed and realising it was all of his food Jack continued walking following the route he'd planned the night before.

Union City had been deserted as had most of the surrounding area, walking was getting him nowhere fast Jack needed a car up ahead to noticed the start of a small town they'd have cars of that he was certain if he was really lucky there'd even be civilisation though judging from what he'd seen already he doubted this greatly. As drew nearer to the town he noticed that it too was deserted, and it was there right in front of a small library that he saw it.
Taking one last gulp from his water bottle Jack strolled up towards the nearby car, it was a Ford Fiesta not exactly state of the art but it would suffice, Jack quickly glanced left and right before smashing the window with the butt of his gun, the alarm screamed through the silent streets, working quickly he ripped out the panelling around the steering column and proceded to hot wire the small car, the engine roared to life putting the car into gear Jack sped off down the road leaving the library's carpark, Now with a working car all he really needed now was food and water with any luck he'd spot a diner.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

(Johann, we're all still on day one, and the beginning of day two, so your second paragraph effectively immobilizes you until we all catch up...delete if you want, don't if you want...just giving an observation)

An international news broadcast was sent out on every station at the same time, both on the TV stations and radio stations. The time was chosen so that maximum number of people would be awake to hear this news. The message played on every store TV and radios and bar, so that those outside their house would hear as well. A well-dressed man spoke in English to those who heard it, but the appropriate subtitles were given to those outside English-speaking territory for TVs. Translators were listening to the speech and translating it over the radio stations so those with a radio around the world could hear.

"Today, the world possibly experienced the beginning of the apocalypse. Three cities and a rainforest are scoured from the earth. New York City was the first to fall. Unfortunately all we have of this incidence is a grainy cell-phone image." The image of the clean, pure water seemingly wrapping around nothing was displayed on the screen. "Shortly after, Washington D.C. was obliterated. There is once again only one picture of this happening." The image of the collapsing golem was shown (this was taken as the golem's power was withdrawn as the earth element returned to the ground btw.) "Shanghai, China was also destroyed, although this could be pure coincidence, as rather than talk of supernatural forces as the others have garnered, this consisted of a single massive tornado that had a curving path so that not a single city block of Shanghai was spared. Unfortunately, the few survivors of the incidents are not able to tell us anything concrete.

Another issue is the fact that the Amazon Rainforest has been burned to crisps. It seems the fire started in the very center of the forest, and the fire spread amazingly quickly to consume the whole place before any fire rescue crews were able to make it on-scene. There is no explanation so far as to what started the fire.

On a positive note, it seems that the water purification center just outside the former New York city has been blessed. Indeed, the water contained in the center is purified to an extent even our great grandfathers did not have. The cause is unknown, and staff at the center could not explain what had happened.

The bottom line? Millions are without power as several major power plants are down, there is a mass exodus from the areas around the destroyed areas, creating the worst traffic jams in history, and the whole future of the human race is uncertain. Please attempt to keep near a device with which you can hear any updates, and if you have any information that may help us solve this crisis, please relate it to your nearest police station. Good day, good afternoon, or good night depending on where you are, and stay safe." The broadcast ended. Music returned to the radios, and silly soap operas and cartoons to the TVs, betraying the seriousness of the situation.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

The diner was deserted, the till long ago ransacked but that was of no consequence to Jack as he sat alone in the diner eating cold hotdogs watching the news broadcast on his laptop, Shangai and South America were now affected these things were everywhere...Well at least he'd found out what that giant fish had been doing in New York last night, the why however was not quite so clear.
Finishing his meal Jack loaded his stolen car with food, drink and a rain coat that he'd found within the diner before setting off down the road taking a detour down a country road Jack hoped to by-pass all the traffic that had been amassing up ahead according to the news, barring any mishaps along the way Jack would be in Omaha tomorrow he just hoped that Mr Cardinal had made some headway with the book and had found some sort of solution to their problem...

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Crystal turned and began the long journey back to her home. Three times she had to find an alternate route because she either saw an undesirable situation with looters far ahead of her, or due to damage from the earthquake. She made it home just as dusk was settling, and pushed herself up the ramp to her front porch. She unlocked her door and pushed herself inside. She paused at the entrance to her home and frowned throughtfully.

She grinned and shook her head as she recalled one of the few times she'd watched television. It was a program on survival, but more specifically how to handle potential looters if you were stuck in your home. She leaned over and grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa, and set it on her lap. She pushed herself cautiously out onto her porch and looked around. She saw nothing, so turned in place, set the pillow against the glass pane that went up the side of her front door and punched the pillow. She winced at the sound of breaking glass and removed the pillow. She looked at the hole she'd created, and then wheeled back into her house.

She tossed the pillow back onto the couch and moved into her bedroom. She grabbed a handful of clothing and a reading lamp, and set it onto her lap. She pushed herself back to the front door and out onto the porch. She looked around and tossed the clothing and lamp out haphazardly across the porch and into the front lawn of her house. She backed into her house and left the front door open half way. She pushed a tall lamp down across the entryway and jumped as it smashed. She looked at her handiwork, and decided the house looked as if it had been looted and less appealing to the initial bands of hoodlums that might come poking around.

She turned and headed off into the kitchen, grabbed a bunch of non-perishable food and bottles. She moved into the bathroom, took care of business, and filled the bottle with the water from the tub. She paused in her bedroom and grabbed all her flashlights and batteries. She retreated into her library, shut and locked the door, and began to pick books she wanted to study that might help understand more about what was going on.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

It had taken Jack four hours of driving to get to a town five miles down the road, every road hhe had tried was either blocked or so jammed with traffic that he was forced to turn back. With the fuel gauge of his car nearly at empty and the light starting to fade Jack decided that finding somewhere to stop the night and find a new route to try tomorrow would be a good idea. Slowly driving along a row of house Jack found what he was looking for, pulling up to the abandoned house Jack got out and headed for the open front door, stepping over a fallen lamp Jacks shoes crunched loudly on broken glass, something wasn't right....four years in the police meant jack had seen plenty of robberies and looted stores and apart from the lamp this place was too neat. A noise came from down the hall if Jack hadn't been so pumped full of adrenaline he never would of heard it placing his bag on the floor Jack drew the 9mm Automatic from his belt and silently approached the door, thankfull that he hadn't made the rookie mistake of turning on the lights. Gripping the door handle he slowly turned it applying a slight pressure as he did so. Locked. Taking a step back Jack made ready to kick down the door through force of habit more than anything else Jack yelled "Armed Police! get down!" his boot crashed into the door.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

The element of water couldn't believe how much energy it had taken to cleanse just a tiny supply of water. Obviously the pollution had gotten so bad it was ridiculous, and possibly that had hurt its own powers. It felt no animosity towards the humans though...it had always known they were blind to the most important things...those which they needed to survive. It decided the best thing to do was to find a place to rest and recover...and since the other elements hadn't been attacking it or endangering water, it assumed they had all been severely weakened as well. It allowed its form to turn into a single drop of pure water, and fell into the newly cleaned water supply. It fell asleep, knowing it was safe.

The element of fire hadn't felt such weakness in its existence. A few hours after it had destroyed the Amazon, its form had flickered back into a few embers as it felt weakness overcome it. It lay among the wreckage, recovering. Perhaps this had happened to the other elements...it wasn't sure. Another thought struck it...had they not all had genders so long ago? It found this more disconcerting than any other revelation...what had caused so much of them to leave? It almost seemed they were mere shades of their old selves. The spirit of fire attempted to recall what it used to be, but to no avail. It attempted to launch into a rage, angry that it was so stripped, but it failed, and it instead sank into exhaustive sleep.

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Crystal was quite startled by the boot crashing into her library door, which crashed open. She whipped her head up from what she'd been reading to see an armed man standing in the doorway. She'd been so absorbed in what she had been reading, she'd failed to hear him moving through the house toward the room. She pushed herself backward from the desk in reflex and crashed into the bookcase behind her. She leaned forward in her chair, and covered her head as several of her precious books came tumbling down and crashed around her.

She groaned and twisted slightly in place as she straightened and reached behind her back to rub just to the left of her right shoulder blade, where one of the sharp corners of a heavy tome had caught her in the back and caused a cramp. She looked at the man, stopped rubbing her back, and she slowly raised her hands up in front of her face with her fingers spread and said, "I'm not armed or anything. This is my house, but you take whatever it is you're looking for. I'm not looking for any kind of trouble." She looked at the man fearfully, while keeping her trembling hands raised.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Seeing the frightened girl sitting across the room from him Jack instantly felt embarrassed...he'd overeacted, letting adrenaline and nerves get the better of him, putting the gun away Jack raised his own hands slowly "I am sorry I didn't realise anybody was here I thought the place was abandoned" with this the girl seemed to relax slightly "I am sorry i'll find somewhere else to stop the night" turning to leave Jack noticed the book lying on the floor a little way from his foot, slowly bending down to pick it up he examined the title "Ionian elements" it wasn't the same as the book he had sold all those years ago this one somehow seemed ...Older. Turning back to the girl Jack questioned "What do you know about the Ionian elements?" a look of confusion crossed her face, he didn't blame her if she'd kicked down his door then started asking silly questions he'd be confused also. "I only ask because i have...Had... a similar book and those things that have been attacking New York are in that book, Have you any idea what they are?"

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Crystal blinked as the man explained his presence, and more specifically making it known by kicking her door in, with an excuse of believing nobody to be present. She was about to ask why he then shouted a threat before kicking the door in, but instead stayed quiet as he stooped over to pick up one of her books. She frowned as he asked the question. It was simple really, and she mentally kicked herself as her pattern of thinking took a ninety degree turn. She was close with initially thinking about alchemical studies, but not close enough. Classical elements made far more sense in this nonsensical situation, and were the basis for alchemy being studied later in history.

She frowned slightly and nodded as she pushed herself over toward him, stopped and held her hand out for the book. She said, "Yes. I think I do now at least." She laughed, which sounded surprisingly relieved and continued, "You see, I've been trying to figure this out for almost 36 hours now, and was on the wrong track entirely. Well, not so much the wrong track, but more of a parallel track." She laughed again shaking her head as she said, "I started alchemical, and it's far less complicated."

She frowned as she looked at nothing, rolling back and forth in place, obviously in deep thought as she continued, "The Ionian Elements, are kind of a mish mash of the philosophies of several well known Grecians who lived in 6th and 5th century BC. These collected philosophies are more colloquially accepted as the", she raised her fingers tracing imaginary quotation marks in the air, "Ionian School. It was these philosophers' beliefs that all things known were created from four base elements." She ticked each off from the tip of her delicate fingers as she stated each, "Air, Earth, Fire, and Water."

She paused thoughtfully for a moment before she continued, "Now, of course all the philosophers of the Ionian School, there were nine or so I believe, had different thoughts on which element was more important, or where they sprung from, so forth and so on, but it would kind of explain what's going on in the world. If, of course, you don't mind dismissing about 2,700 years of accepted science since then. But, there's that picture I saw on the news yesterday. In my recollection, it showed a tendril of water wrapping itself around an intangible nothingness. Beats the heck out of physics, and demands belief in something that's mostly unbelievable."

She frowned, and stopped the constant moving of her chair as she realized she was doing it, and looked up at Jack. She said, "Most belief of ancient man resulted from the desire to explain the unknown. Some, resulted from trying to explain something otherwise unexplainable. In the case of four classical elements, Fire, Earth, Air, Water? I don't know. I know what the picture showed, and it's an impossibility according to modern physics. If you want to believe it's elemental, I would say it was Water and Air. I think Washington D.C. had a visit from something too. I hadn't followed that story as much, but it could be Earth. Again, only if you're accepting that some tulpa of ancient elemental theory has come alive to wreak havoc upon the world."

Crystal tapped her chin thoughtfully and shook her head, "The only thing missing is Fire. I haven't heard anything about that, and it would certainly support this theory much more strongly." She lifted her eyes toward Jack, seeing she was wrong and said, "Unless I missed it. I've been buried in books since news of the destruction of New York City came, so I may very well have missed something more." She frowned again and blinked as a new realization came to her and asked, "Who are you anyways? I'm sorry, I get so wrapped up in thoughts and musings sometimes, and forget about what's going on around me. I'm Dr. Crystal Peters, and still very curious as to why you kicked in my door."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Sorry, my names Jack Connor as I said I initially thought the house was empty and I intended to stop the night, however once I got past the door the place seemed far too neat to have been abandoned it was then that I heard you in here and I am afraid I kind of overeacted" a few moments of awkward silence followed this confession before he decided to press on "right well just to fill you in on a few details and i am not too sure how to put this but the amazon...its gone, burnt down in the space of a few hours so thats diffinatley your fire element, Shanghai was destroyed by a tornado which i suspect is our wind element and i've seen water in New York in person and trust me it is very real and New Yorks very wet"

Jacks mind flashed back to the previous night as he remembered the giant shimmering being floating serenly over the water purification plant. "Anyway I'll leave you in peace I need to get some rest if I am ever going to meet that guy in Omaha I just hope he's managed to translate the arabic in that book" turning to go Jack got as far as the door before he stopping "Your not here all by yourself are you? Because if you are I'd seriously consider barricading yourself in, I saw a group of guys a few house's down and I don't think your smashed lamp is going to fool them"

 

[DeletedUser25825]

She nodded absently, "Well, it was very odd meeting you Mr. Connor. I didn't realize water might still be in New York City. I have no idea how I'd get there, or if it would be there still." She waved the thought off dismissively. "Doesn't matter really. I guess I am fairly trapped here. I have no means to barricade myself in either." She shakes her head and picks the alchemical book she'd been looking at and sighed. "It's all good I suppose. We're all at the fate that comes to us in all this it seems."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Jack didn't feel right about leaving her alone, things had gone seriously crazy since the elements came he could still remember the bodies floating in the streets of New York and not all of them had drowned.
"Look I have an idea, feel free to say its stupid but I am on my way to meet a man who may have a solution to our elemental problem or at the very least an idea you'd be more than welcome to come with me I am sure between the three of us we would be able to sort this mess out, at the very least I could fix your door for you" Jack waited patiently as she thought over his sugestion becoming ever more self conscious of the fact that he hadn't washed or shaved in two days and that his clothes were covered in filthy water from the Hudson in all he looked and felt pretty scummy at this point in time and having a pretty girl sat in front of him didn't exactly help his self esteem especially after he'd kicked down her door waving a gun around like a maniac, things couldn't get much worse.

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Crystal looked dubious as she rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully. "I... I suppose I can go with. I don't think there's any reason to stay here. Electricity will fail, water will go out, and who knows who's lurking around. I don't want to be victimized." She looked up at the ceiling for a few moments and nodded. "Ok. If you'll have me I'll go with. What's your vehicle like? What are the roadways like? What about food? Water?" She rested her elbows on her knees.

"I don't need too much really. A change of clothes or two, I'll take a couple of books that might be directly pertinent to this situation, as much as it pains me to leave the rest." She shook her head and looked at her library. "I'll get some water in bottles. I've been filling the tub. If you want to check the kitchen for anything you think we might need, gather it up. There should be some bags in the closet in my bedroom." She rolled out passed Jack and into the bathroom.

She coasted to a stop in front of the counter, leaned over and picked up a couple of empty bottles, and dunked them into the sink basin. She set them on the counter and set a larger into the tub to fill. She called out, "I have about ten bottles now. I'll fill the last few and then fill the tub once more. Maybe you want to clean up a bit before the trip?" She finished filling the last bottles, capped them, and turned the tub on again. She sighed and propped her elbow on the counter as she watched the dirty water pouring out of the spigot. She pushed the bottles across the counter and looked at the pooled water that had dripped off of the outsides.

She absently dragged the alchemical symbol for earth, fire, air, and finally water across the dark counter top and sighed thoughtfully.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

The element of water was abruptly awakened by a tugging sensation. Before it could get its bearing, it was sucked down a pipe and sent hurtling across the city. It tried to focus to make a change so that it could burst out, but the speed at which it was moving made it impossible. Finally, it fell into a large basin. It began to focus to make a change, then noticed the human directly above it. It quickly allowed its single drop of pure water form to sink to the bottom, then became fearful as its natural abilities caused the water to become cleaner and cleaner. It noticed the water coming from the tap was almost clear (since it was being drawn from the purified plant...the dirt and sludge is left over from the pipes) so it hoped against hope the human wouldn't think anything of it...but logic dictated that the grime shouldn't just VANISH...it didn't want to resort to violence, but if the human attacked it...it would have no choice but to fight. It mourned the loss of the times where it could talk to a human and have both sides act with respect...in the short time since it had awoken, it was obvious that the new mantra was if it is unknown, it is to be feared. It looked around again...the water was almost crystal clear. With any luck, it decided, the human would determine the influx of cleaner water was what had done this...even though it couldn't have.

The element of fire awoke from its forced nap. It had lost much of its anger while it slept, which it had to admit was a good thing. Anger clouded judgement...and anger was quick to come to it...a side effect from being fire. It looked at the destruction it had caused and felt regret...surely some humans had enjoyed this forest...but it was humans who did this to their planet in the first place, so perhaps not. It would reserve judgement. For now, the best thing to do was to gather information. It shifted form, becoming human-shape. It forced fire into colors that made it appear it had clothes on (it had seen some designs on the human clothes in D.C. when it had been there) and ensured not a bit of normal-looking fire was visible...not even on the face. It now appeared to be wearing a white sweatshirt with a very large hood, red sunglasses, yellow shoes, and blue jeans. In its mind, as long as someone didn't notice the heat it radiated, it was good. It then launched itself back to D.C. and landed where there was no one around. If there were to be answers found, it would likely be where it had been drawn to in the first place. It began to walk north, sensing the call coming from that direction.

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Crystal closed her eyes and rested her head against her hand. She continued to drag her fingers through the pool of water on the counter as she tried to think about anything more about elements in the classical sense. It was, of course, different to think about them in a new way. If her and Jack's theory were true and classical elements were manifesting, why were they doing so now? She shook her head and looked at the tub. She leaned over and turned the spigot off as the water began to lap at the rim of the tub. She picked up the bottle of bleach, and filled her measuring cup as she'd done thousands of times throughout her life.

She looked at the water and was about to pour the bleach into it, but hesitated. She frowned as she looked at the water. It was perfectly clear. She set the measuring cup on the counter and rolled herself closer to the tub. She looked at the water and tried to understand why the water would be this clean. She dipped her delicate fingers into the water, watching her reflection ripple gently, and noting it felt to be near freezing. She pulled her fingers from the water and looked at the droplets clinging to her skin. She hesitantly raised them to her lips, paused for a few moments of indecision, and then overcame the thoughts of thousands of microbes infesting her innards as she inserted her fingers into her mouth.

She tasted nothing. She frowned and looked back at the tub. It shouldn't be. Even the expensive bottled water, which was filtered who knew how many times, still had a taste. She dipped her entire hand into the tub water, cupped her fingers and pulled out a handful. She sipped at the water, smiled at the, until this moment, unknown sensation of drinking tasteless liquid, and dumped the rest into the tub. Her smile slowly faded as she frowned at the water. It shouldn't be, and she was tired of her foundations of acceptance being rocked, if not outright crumbled. She sat back in her chair and ran her hands over her face.

She sighed, and straightened in her chair. She twisted in place and rolled out of the bathroom. She switched the light off, and turned to head down the hallway. She rolled a few feet, paused and slowly backed up. She looked into the bathroom, and confirmed that she had seen a blue glimmer coming from the bottom of the tub. She returned to the washroom, and leaned over the tub to look down at the bottom.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

The spirit of water had just started to relax, deciding it hadn't been spotted when the human returned and looked directly at it. It knew there was no point in attempting to hid itself anymore and slowly (so as not to alarm the human) rose out of the water and turned into a watery dolphin. It spoke to the human in the language of the dolphins, but quickly noticed the futility. It then shifted several times, from whale (miniaturized), fish, octopus...the human...female from the looks of it, didn't understand any of them. What kind of world, it wondered, did people not know the languages of the ocean? It sighed and transformed into a human made purely of water, but without any clear signs as to gender.

"Παρακαλώ μην ανησυχήσετε. Δεν θα σας βλάψει." it said. When it realized there was still no comprehension, it tried again. "commodo operor non exsisto trepidus. ego mos non vulnero vos" It noticed that that got a vague reaction...Latin was close...it knew quite a bit of Latin, although it wondered at its lack of poetry in its words...ancient Egyptian had been its favorite...all so smooth sounding and vibrant. Its voice also gave no clue as to gender...it could have belonged to either a man or a woman. It continued to speak. "EGO sum admiratio vos operor ignoro Cupiditas." It paused, attempting to let the woman grasp what it was saying, then finished. "Iam can vos exsisto sic pius ut interpretor iustus quam orbis terrarum nisus sursum eatenus vulnero utpote EGO permaneo eram suscitatio?" It seemed to have no idea how unusual it was for any human to be having this conversation...indeed, it acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

(Translations for the sentences in Latin are as follows. "Please don't be alarmed. I will not harm you." "I am surprised you do not know Greek." and finally "Now, can you be so kind as to explain just how the world ended up so far hurt since I last was awake?" The greek sentence is the same as the first Latin sentence.)

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"...Cheers you don't know how much a bath means to..." Jack stopped in mid sentence as he stared at the being standing in the bath in front of him although he had never seen it in this guise before in knew instantly that this shimmering being was the water elemental. slowly stepping into the bathroom so as not to alarm it. It spoke in a language he faintly recognised as latin however with no idea of what it was saying in its soft watery voice he didn't know whether it spoke peace or threat, Jack wasn't taking any chances.
Slipping out of his great coat Jack undid his gun belt dropping it on the floor the sound of it hitting the tiled floor causing Crystal to turn around briefly to acknowledge his presence before turning back to the elemental. Jack undoing the cuffs of his bloodstained white shirt rolled up his sleeves and approached the bath, the elemental recoiled away from Jack upon seeing the sigils tattoo'd on the underside of his forearms.

The two large sigils spanned the entire length of Jacks forearms from wrist to elbow and were drawn in dark blue, almost black ink. They were ancient Sumerian cuniform meaning "Strength" and "Protection" he'd had them done several years ago after his "Dabbling" had turned into full blown use of the Occult. He'd travelled the globe in search of books, tomes even those proffessing to be Dark wizards (More often than not they were mere charlatans) for forbidden knowledge. It was whilst in Syria that he met Hayani. Jack quickly learned that Hayani was the real deal and they'd struck up a friendship of sorts, The old man had taught him some of the ancient language and the mythology it was also Hayani that had done Jacks tattoo's in preparation for the summoning. It was decided that they would summon a Djinn, placing a bowl of ink upon the floor Hayani had intoned an incantation however before he'd even said a handfull of words he'd begun to convulse his eyes rolling up into his sockets, bloody foam poured from his lips, before finally dying he spoke "Do not mess with what you do not understand"

Jack was about to do just that ,holding his arms out so that the elemental could see the tattoo's clearly turning to Crystal he spoke "Don't worry it can't approach us while these are visible, Do you understand what its saying? can you translate?"

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Crystal's eyes widened as the tiny blue speck rose on its own volition and emerged into the forms of several aquatic animals. She marveled at its beauty, saying nothing as it chattered in what she assumed to be animal languages. She smiled slightly as it took on the form of a genderless humanoid and frowned slightly as it switched its language to ancient Greek. She didn't recognize any of the words, but felt several tugs as roots sounded tantalizingly familiar. She smiled as it switched to Latin. At first it sounded crude to her, but she quickly realized it was her own short coming. It was probably using a much older dialect than she knew. Luckily, it was similar to trying to read Olde English, and it took only a few tentative moments to realize the vernacular was not all that distant from her own understanding.


She was about to answer the elemental, when she heard a heavy object hit the floor. She jerked her head over to look at Jack as he entered, and noticed he'd dropped his weapon. She was thankful for that, looked curiously at the sigils for a few moments, and then returned her attention to the manifestation. She nodded slowly, while answering in English, "Yes Mr Connor. It's speaking Latin at the moment, albeit an older version than I'm familiar with, but I can understand it well enough to know it doesn't currently intend harm to me, or us hopefully, and it seems to be blaming me for the current state of the world in its absense."


She sat back against her chair, smiling at the elemental as she answered, " Articulus commodo", asking it to wait a moment as she tried to formulate an answer. She looked at Jack, then back at the manifestation, then back at Jack asking, "Those sigils, maybe you should lower them. We saw what this thing did to New York City. I would think that even if it couldn't come directly at you, there's nothing to say it can't just wreck the entire block. Besides, if it was going to attack, it wouldn't wait to talk I would think. Maybe a sign of faith would be in order?" She looked back at the elemental and smiled as she asked, "Operor illa vestigium vulnero vos? Meus amicus opes haud vulero. Is volo protego mihi", asking the elemental if Jack's sigils were hurting it and explaining that they were meant for protection as opposed to be used to harm.


She furrowed her brow, not worrying if Jack had or had not lowered his arms. She needed to get this thing to talk more, and discover why they were destroying the world. However, first she had to make an accounting for almost three millenia of human condition.


____________


(OOC... I do not speak Latin, and it was taken from online translations. If I butchered it I do apologize. Each time I did use Latin, I translated it in the same sentence)

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

(I'm using a translator too lolz...and not all words seem to have a Latin counterpart, so it's a bit saturated with English words...let's go forward on the assumption it's pure Latin)

The element of water had recoiled when the second human had bared its arms, showing the ancient Sumerian symbols. Why, oh WHY had it insisted to the other elements at the time that destroying the knowledge of those symbols would be destroying a large part of their culture? It knew Sumerian, and could speak it fluently...but those words written on flesh or another object that wasn't intended as writing was a curse on all natural things...it was an abomination, and the close proximity made the element feel quite unstable. It turned its attention to the two humans conversing, made a few links in the words to Latin, and thus began to learn English. When the first human, who it felt much more benevolent toward, asked it if the sigils were harming it, and that they were for defense rather than offense. It inwardly scoffed at the second part, but responded evenly, "Illud sigils have nunquam pro been sententia of ut defensabiliter , sic EGO operor non animadverto quare they should exsisto sic iam. Suum voluntas est ut non tantum servo gero tamen ut reddo ullus rectus vis ut a civitas qua is est aut valde pallens , ut is would exsisto pro ullus superus vox , talis ut myself , vel pauper pro misericordia , ut a redactum rectus vis would exsisto. EGO ingenero vos ut loco illud absentis , vel EGO ero vis actio in meus own tutaminis. EGO sum non hic ut vulnero vos , tamen molior intellego quare is has venio ut orbis terrarum." It waited for a response, hoping it wouldn't be too long in coming, as the sigils were increasing in their ferocity.

(the speech is as follows in English: "Those sigils have never before been thought of as defensive, so I do not see why they should be so now. Their purpose is to not only protect the bearer but to render any natural force to a state where it is either very weak, as it would be for any higher power, such as myself, or begging for mercy, as a lesser natural force would be. I implore you to put those away, or I will be forced to act in my own defense. I am not here to harm you, but to attempt to understand why this has happened to the world.")

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Jack listen as the elementals words were translated back to him, relieved to learn that the Sigils were of some use against it. Lowering his arms Jack rolled down his sleeves over the tattoo's though he made no move to redo the cuffs, if it came to a fight Jack wanted them close to hand, as Dr Peters had already stated if the elemental had intended harm towards them then it would merely destroy the street.

The elemental relaxed once the tattoo's were gone turning to Crystal, Jack confessed "I don't speak any latin, tell it I apologise for revealing the sigils and that I didn't realise what their effect on ...him...would be and I was merely defending myself" this was of course a lie but again revealing to a powerful being that he had the means to harm it wasn't a wise move. Jack waited as Crystal in halting latin translated what he hoped was his message before the elemental once again began to talk.