Page 11 of Elemasters

Dustin knew Chris was a smooth liar, but it always unnerved him to hear it in action. He wanted to turn to leave, but he knew that wasn’t an option; they needed to get to the bottom of this, and he couldn’t turn tail and run just because of one terrified library employee.

The woman looked at Chris, and then her gaze shifted to Dustin, and then to the photo on the wall. Chris was grinning at her; that sly, almost seductive smile that he always employed when he was trying to get things to go his way. Dustin personally thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but somehow it always fucking worked… and this wasn’t going to be the exception.

She cleared her throat and locked her eyes on Dustin.

“You. You’re his twin, right?”

“Nah, he’s my cousin,” Dustin replied with an eyeroll. Chris shot him a glare that he heard loud and clear; don’t fucking ruin this. He adjusted his posture and spoke again, “uh I mean, yes. We’re twins,”

“Then I’m making it your responsibility to keep him out of trouble. Even one step out of line and you’ll both be banned for life, understood?”

“Yes, thank you,”

With that, she finally let them pass and they stepped into the library proper; a musty, almost claustrophobic space with a few scattered tables and computer stations here and there.

It didn’t take long for Dustin to spot Bailey; her bright pink hair acting as his personal Bat Signal, directing him to the largest, circular table in the back of the building where she was sitting with Chloe and James. Chloe looked just as frazzled as Dustin on the surface; her eyes wide and staring off into space, nails absentmindedly clacking against the table and her leg bouncing with thinly veiled anxiety. However, her appearance was still on point; purple baby tee and matching miniskirt with knee high boots that looked way too dangerous to walk in. If controlled chaos had a vibe, it was Chloe in that moment.

James on the other hand was grinning ear to ear like he’d just won the lottery, his gaze focused entirely on his ring.

“We’re here, now we can finally figure out what the fuck is going on,” Chris said, pulling up chairs for him and Dustin, “we gotta compare notes,”

“We all remember the palace, we all still have our rings and they don’t fucking COME OFF,” Bailey took a deep breath to calm herself down before continuing, “but it seems like each one of us had a different vision. I was in the rock quarry, Chloe was trapped in a giant metal cage, and James…”

“I got lost in a forest that kept shifting and changing like a living maze. It was wild, but kinda cool as hell,” James said, finally looking up from his ring.

“I just wanna know what the fuck is going on so we can be done with this,” Chloe interjected, impotently pulling at her own ring before sighing in frustration, “I’m already over this shit,”

“I get it, trust me. But we’re in it now, so we might as well find out what we’re dealing with,” Dustin spoke up, information rolling through his mind like rainclouds, “wait… each of our visions. Mine was water, Chris yours was fire, Bailey’s could represent earth, Chloe’s metal and James might be wood,”

“Okay? And?” Chris motioned like he was prompting Dustin to continue.

“We found these rings in a creepy ass Chinese palace, and those five elements aren’t just random. They’re part of the… fuck, I can’t remember the name,”

“Wu Xing, the Five Phases,” James said, snapping his fingers as the information came to him, “I remember that from when I was in Asian Culture Club for like two weeks,”

“Right, that’s it! I saw those images engraved on the wall too; those warriors fighting against that demon looking dude with the antler helmet. It’s gotta all be connected somehow,” Dustin tapped his chin in thought, “there must be information we’re missing,”

“Okay, slow down,” Chloe cut in, “Woo… sheeng? What’s that?”

“My mom said they’re like the five fundamental building blocks of like… everything,” Dustin started, his voice a bit quieter now, “not just elements, but directions, seasons, personality types, body parts. Basically, everything you can think of,”

“Sounds complicated,” Chloe put her head in her hands, “Chinese stuff is always complicated,”

“Not much connection to that side of the family, I’m guessing?” Dustin asked. Chloe scoffed, dripping with bitterness.

“You can say that. My dad must’ve seen sleeping with a Black woman as a novelty, but he clearly didn’t have intentions to stick around for the whole ‘having a kid’ thing,” the words were detached and disaffected, but Dustin had spent enough time pushing his own emotions into the depths to recognize when someone else was doing it.

“The eternal mixed kid struggle,” James chimed in, nodding knowingly, “it’s not exactly the same, but my dad never had any issues marrying a Filipina. My grandparents on the other hand… well, let’s just say they had a lot of opinions about dad bringing home the “wrong kind” of Asian,”

Dustin tensed up a bit at their words. He and Chris weren’t fully Chinese either; their mother was Japanese, but since they were still fully East Asian, it had never really been an issue for either side of the family. Especially with his mother being so professionally interested in Chinese history and culture. Sure, they’d been subjected to plenty of off-color comments from their grandparents and Chinese aunties about their relatively darker skin tone, but he’d never really considered what it must be like for someone like Chloe or James.

“I tried to teach you Mandarin when we were dating, but the offer’s still on the table. Sifu Ying’s office hours are always open, baby girl,” Chris said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Dustin immediately kicked him under the table; now was not the time.

“Dude, stay focused,” Dustin snapped, “we need a game plan,”

“Anyone else think we should maybe go back?” James asked, “maybe if we look around the palace a bit more, we’ll find some answers,”

“You’re so lucky you’re gorgeous because your ideas will not get you very far in life,” Bailey immediately interjected. James looked genuinely wounded, recoiling from her like a kicked puppy. Bailey closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head before continuing, “listen, what I mean is… I understand why you’d think that’s a good plan, but we have no clue how to get back there, and no idea what or who might be waiting for us even if we did pull it off,”