"Awaken, Elementals. Your time has arisen." // 4/4 // CLOSED

Cordelia raised her hand, tilting her head before flinching away when her hair- now a stream of water- fell in her face. "Ma'am, I'm confused. Why were you waiting for us?"

"Well it's been a couple centuries since I last saw you," They smiled again.
"Why should we trust you? We don't even know your name." Dalia asked.
The 'nurse' laughed. "My name is a very long one, and quite hard to pronounce. However, I have gone by the name Memphis for at least five centuries, maybe more. You may call me that."

"Miss Memphis? What do you mean that it's been a couple of centuries since you've last seen a bunch of teenagers?" Cordelia asked, starting to gain some common sense get a bit freaked out.

"Not Miss Memphis, just Memphis. I'm…what do you call it nowadays? Non-binary? At least, I am after my awakening." Memphis suddenly remembered that they'd actually been asked a question. "And no, you're not supposed to be all teenagers. There's normally at least one kid and one old fart…so this is strange. Yet you're all here."

Cordelia apologized, nodding slightly. "But… what are we here for? And what is happening to us?"

Memphis let out a little laugh. "You're all here to fight the great darkness. Whether you live or die is not my problem. Many an Elemental has sacrificed their life for the greater good in the past. That is what you are here for."

"…I'm sorry, what?" She asked, stepping back. "We're here to die?"

"Well, yes and no. You're here to fight. But you may die." Memphis sat down. "My job is to teach you how to fight. Whether you die or not has no ground in my self-conscious: I simply do not care."

Alex blinked. "Uhm…not to be rude, but what the actual fuck?" He said, speaking up for the first time. "You've fucking lost me."

Thalia bit the inside of her lip. "This must be a prank. Unless if you tell us what's really going on," she crossed her arms and glanced at the door. "Consider me gone."

"Does having flame or water for hair seem like a prank? Does your skin changing colour without warning seem like a prank? Does me appearing to be in my early 40s and then my early 20s seem like a prank? You see, you have a much greater purpose than you may have thought."

She sighed, "Then please explain to us what the actual hell is going on! Cut to the chase!" Thalia was starting to lose her patience. Understandable, since most of her skin was turning green.

Alex was silent, arms crossed. Wind snapped and billowed around his head, where his hair should be.

"Mx, sorry, but may you please explain what is happening, from the beginning?" She asked, trying to hide the slight panic setting in.

"My my, aren't you an irritating four," Memphis sighed. "Very well. I shall show you. Hold tight."
"Hold tight? What do you mean?" Dalia asked.
"You'll see." They stood up again. As their eyes started to glow a vibrant purple, the area around the five of them began to warp. In only a few moments, they were out in a forest clearing, a cliff edge a few metres away.

Alex jumped slightly, staying in the air perhaps a touch longer than normal, staring at Memphis. "I-I have homework!" He stammered.

"I haven't finished my school work!" Cordelia said, a bit annoyed. And also scared out of her mind.

"Homework won't matter when you come to save the world from the darkness," Memphis snapped, purple eyes burning. "And you shall return shortly."

Thalia groaned. "Listen, Memphis. Whatever you drugged us with, I just want to let you know I'll be calling the cops when I wake up from…" she looked around her. "This pretty cool place."

Alex was silent again, glaring at Memphis. "So. Who the fuck are you, again? Some mythical shithead or something?" He snapped suddenly.

Cordelia stepped back, chewing her lip. "M-mx, where are we?" She asked, trying to control her nerves.

"Oh, you're awake," Memphis smiled at Thalia. "And the cops won't help you. No, I'm not a mythical shithead, I'm your mentor. And we're in a forest, clearly. Listen, you have a purpose. You can ignore it all you want, but you know deep down for it to be true." Dalia was the only one who remained quiet during this.

"We- we could die. We have lives! We can't just throw everything away for some random mythical person claiming to be our mentor!" Cordelia snapped, wrapping her arms around herself.

Thalia nodded in agreement with Cordelia's statement. "She's right you know. I have a test here pretty soon, now that I think about it…"

Alex nodded. "Yeah." He agreed, crossing his arms.

"Your test won't matter when you're saving the world. Since you won't simply take the information, I shall show you." The space around them warped again, but this time they weren't going anywhere. The space was a deep purple, littered with what seemed to be constellations.
"Many years ago, the elements were formed. There was earth, fire, water and air." They pointed to each of the teenagers in turn. "But there was also two others: time and darkness. There was no light, as the five elements other than darkness were meant to take those positions. From the beginning, there was one person with each element, but no one with darkness. Darkness hovered in empty space, being able to persuade people but never being reincarnated in someone. Since then, there have been many generations of Elementals, each embodying one of the main four elements. The time elemental would only reincarnate when their time had come, when they needed to move on. Their have only been two of these elementals. I am one of these. For the first time ever, darkness has been reincarnated in someone. So you four need to overcome them."

"And…so?" Alex said, cocking an eyebrow. "There literally can't be light without darkness. That's how the world works." He shrugged slightly.

"And what did darkness even do that we need to take them out?" Cordelia asked, voice quiet.

"I don't think that this is worth arguing," Dalia said suddenly. "I mean, we're literally embodying the elements Memphis described. Cordelia's hair is water and my hair is literal fire. Thalia is green and Alex is basically translucent. And the ground beneath my feet is burnt."

"Yeah, but we shouldn't have to die because of it!" Alex said, crossing his arms and trying to seem unbothered by the fact that he was nearly see through.