Chapter 2 ~ The Legend

Alice was taken aback by the question. Why would this stranger be asking about her favorite legend, the one she’d told that morning. “Oh.. um of course I do” She smiled, remembering her grandmother telling her the story. “Really?” The stranger didn’t really sound surprised at all, “Would you mind tell it?” He asked, as if she should’ve known that she was supposed to recite the story. “Okay…” She began to speak, till unsure of why he wanted her to tell him the story, but gradually grew more comfortable as she told the legend she’d received a million times, this time the full one, not the cut version she told the kids.

“Hundreds of years ago. The lands were at peace, harmony was the only thing known to mankind, there was no conflict, there was no war. However there were two men who did know these things. Both masters of their own kind of magic, brothers in fact. The first and oldest, Elias, the master of the light elements, earth, air, water, and memory. The natural and human elements, the ones that aided in the balance of the seasons, the tides, and the peace. While the other brother, the younger of the two, Alastor, the master of the dark elements, ones that were less material more mystical, void, pain, flame, and blood. Both were needed for a balance, Alastor was needed to control the bad in the world, and Elias the good.

They worked in complete cooperation for years, however unbeknownst to Elias, there was a growing discontent in Alastor. He wanted more power, he found it unfair that Elias got all the good and he was stuck with the bad. He didn’t understand that if that happened they’d mix and balance would be thrown off. After a century of this rift growing, he found four women, each with a seed of magic in them, that he could sense, and without his aid it would never be awoken. Alastor took this as a chance to overtake his brother, and take his power as well. He began to train the four women, the called them the cerberi of his elements.

After some time, Elias caught wind of this, after hearing rumors he finally knew it to be true, luckily he’d found himself four as well. Instead of training them to overtake the other group, he trained them to subdue them, to maintain balance. Elias titled his guardians, paladins. They trained for years, though something Elias and Alastor hadn’t realized was that their Paladins and Cerberi aged different then they did. You see, Elias and Alastor weren’t normal people, they didn’t age at all, basically gods while their apprentices were human. Elias, had a plan, he intended on passing on the knowlege down generations each generation born with a portion of the others powers, so eventually they would be strong enough. However Alastor had a different idea, he was getting impatient. So he send his Cerebri into battle prematurely.

Elias reluctantly battled them with the aid of his Paladins and defeated them, pushed Alastor's plans back tremendously. Though this made him smarter, he planned this time, doing the same as Elias except pushing each generation more and more, until they were nearly ready, teaching them himself. On the other hand, Elias cast a spell over his Paladins to give them his lifespan, however it halted their power growth, in fact it shrunk their power, though these consequences were foreseen before the spell was cast. So the original 4 became Elias’s mages, who helped with the training of the new paladins.  His Cerebri were passed down in one family while Elias’s were more estranged. When one of the Paladins was near death, the original mages and Elias would sense who the next Paladin of that element would be and they’d seek them out to begin their training.

However at one time Elias’s situation worsened. He foresaw that with four Paladins each with a separate element, they wouldn’t be strong enough to defeat Alastor again. He saw that the only way to defeat Alastor's Cerebri would be to train a single Paladin in all four of Elias’s elements, backed by the mages. So he began his search for that one lone paladin, while still continuing the training of four. It’s said that when the one destined to become the lone paladin is ready and the last of the previous four paladins is close to death, they’re found and taken away by the four mages and the master, to be trained and become the paladin of all four of the elements, and defeat Alastor and his Cerebri and balance all eight elements, to prevent them from falling to the dark side again. It’s said that the correct person, will be able to handle all eight without them mixing dangerously.” Once Alice had finished the legend there was a pause. “Why did you want me to tell it?” She asked the man, “Who are you?” She was now more curious as she’d watched his expressions fluctuate as she spoke. At the question, she saw him physically sigh, “What would you do if I told you it wasn’t a legend, that it was true, and-” He began before being cut off by Alice, “I would say you're insane, it's just a legend my grandmother tells.” “And,” The mystery man repeated again slower, “That I am Elias. And you are the one destined to be my lone Paladin”

Alice couldn’t help but drop her jaw as she heard the words come out of the man claiming to be the elemental master Elias’s mouth. She couldn’t believe it. She began to feel sick to her stomach, as if she physically couldn’t believe it. “No.. no” She blurted out, “You’re lying, this is just some stupid prank, it’s just a legend. I’m out of here a*****e” She grabbed her coat, which she’d taken off and stalked out of the cafe, ignoring the man's pleas for her to stop. “No! Alice I swear I’m not lying…” She heard him call as he sped after her through the snow. She’d almost made it to her apartment when he caught up to her, grabbing her by her sweater. “I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!” She screamed at him, tears welling in her eyes. That story was special to her and she couldn’t believe someone would pull a joke like this. “I’M NOT LYING” He retorted, “WE NEED YOU! Without you we can’t defeat my brother and life for everyone will be a living hell” He hissed, “If you don’t believe me fine, I can prove it, but that’d just be wasting our time. I don’t care if you have doubts, if you don’t want to live in hell, then come with me”

Author's Note

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