Chapter 7

A Shocking Discovery

It had been nearly two weeks since Flow had gone missing.

Clive and Lily had been driving for awhile and were now in California looking for a lead, but they weren't having much luck. Lily's leg had healed tremendously over the weeks, although it still wasn't fully healed. She mostly sat in the car while Clive talked to his "sources", and she got so bored that she actually started to count the cars that went by.

Finally after all of their long search, they had found out nothing. Absolutely nothing. Clive walked out of the third place of the day that he had contacts in with no more information than he had walked in with. He sat in the car and placed his head on the steering wheel.

"It's okay, Clive. We'll find her," Lily assured him.

He looked up and out the windshield, then pounded his fist on the steering wheel. "It's hopeless! I'm a failure! Ugh, I make myself sick. I am so weak that I couldn't even protect her from—" He stopped.

"From who, Clive? You mean Safire?"

"Yeah... that's what I meant..." He paused. "No, that's not what I meant. I need to be honest with you, Lily. I need to lay down all my cards."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Look, Lily. This isn't easy, but you should know, so I'll tell you." He sighed. "I'm one of the bad guys."

She backed away. "W—What do you mean? Y—You're not like Safire... Are you?"

"No, I'm not like Safire. I don't want to hurt either of you, much less kill you like she does. But my boss, well, he doesn't care what they do to you as long as he gets his information. Okay, Lily. Here's the whole story.

"When I was little, I was orphaned by my parents. I know who they are, though I don't dare mention their names, for fear that someone might hear and take them in for testing. They left me on the steps of this orphanage—I can't even remember it's name now—and watched me closely until they were sure that they were that the people there would take good care of me. It wasn't as though my parents didn't love me. It was quite the opposite, in fact. The were protecting me."

"From what?" asked Lily cautiously.

"From them. They came and took all of the wielder children, from water, to earth, to fire, to air, to lightning, you name it. My parents didn't want them getting a hold of me, so they sent me to the orphanage to protect me. I haven't seen them since."

"That still doesn't explain why you're a bad guy."

"Yeah," Clive told her, "I know. When I was about ten, I was adopted by a mean and abusive family. I ran away, wandering through the Virginia wilderness—I lived in Virginia at the time—when I found the agency. There was a nice man there by the name of Graham, and he took me in. He became my new father.

"I grew up there and got up at five in the morning to train with him every day. By the time I was fifteen, last year, I was a fighting machine. I had honed my abilities to be able to use them as a master would in combat. However, unbeknownst to me, my dad had never told the agency that I was in his possession. When they found out, they were furious. They took my dad and told me that if I ever wanted to see him again, if I wanted them to let him go, that I would have to work for them and do as they wished. I complied, against my father's will, and they sent me right to work. My first task was to hunt down one of more powerful remaining airwielders. He was an old, kindly looking man with gray eyes and a loving smile. He never suspected a thing." Clive looked away with tears in his eyes and continued. "Let's just say, well, I took him back to the agency where they interrogated him and tortured him so much that he ended up dying. I really did love the old man, and it cut me to the core when I realized what they had done. They told me afterward that it was a test. A test to see if I was strong enough and brave enough for the real task that they had in mind for me. They said I was ready. Then they gave me this assignment." He looked at her. "To find all of the most powerful wielders kids." He handed her a manilla folder.

Lily opened the folder tentatively, peeking inside and moving around some things until she gasped. She pulled out some files with pictures attached to them. She held up one and looked at it, then showed it to Clive. There, right before her eyes, was a picture of herself from last years yearbook. "I—I'm one of the m—most powerful wielders kids? You were looking for me? I... I was one of your targets?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. At first, I thought, Perfect. The waterwielder has the earthwielder with her! I thought it was the perfect situation, where I could get you both at one time. But then, when you were gone, I went up to see you and Flow, and, well, even in that blue t-shirt and jeans, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever met." He sighed. "I knew, from that moment, that I couldn't—wouldn't—hurt you or Flow. I knew that I had to protect you with my life. I would have to find another way to get my father back." He looked at her.

She down at the pictures in her hand. There was her, a long, blonde haired girl who looked like an angel, a big, burly, young guy, and a Native American, along with some other people. But one person in particular caught her attention. She held up the picture for Clive to see. "Why is there a picture of Safire in here?"

He sighed again. "Because, not only were her parents the most powerful firewielders ever, but she is also the only remaining firewielder, which also means that she would have to be the strongest."

Lily looked back to the pictures. She went through more people, then finally, at the bottom of the stack, was a picture of Flow. She looked back at Clive. "So, you said you couldn't protect Flow from someone. Was that the agency?"

"Yes. That day when you broke your leg and Safire took Flow, I had gotten a call from my boss. He said that he wanted the two of you at headquarters for testing. I was vehemently opposed to the idea, but he would have none of it. He said that he was my superior, my boss, and that I needed to listen to him. I told him that I wouldn't let him hurt her, but he finally made me say I would bring you guys to him. I made him promise not to hurt either of you, although I kind of doubt that he wouldn't hurt you while testing. He gets what he wants. Anyway, after I got that phone call, I thought I heard something, but I didn't see anything. Now that I think back on it, I am beginning to think that it was Flow that I heard. That she heard me talking on the phone to my boss. That was probably why she said..." His voice trailed off.

She took him by the shoulders, giving him a shake. "What, Clive? What did she say to you?"

Tears slid down his cheeks. "She told me, I would rather be dead than spend another second with you. That was the last thing she told me... before she got hit with that fireball."

"Oh, Clive, I'm sure she didn't mean it."

He shook free of her grasp. "You just don't get it, do you!? You weren't there! You didn't see the anger, the hate, in her eyes." He sobbed. "And it is all my fault that she's gone now."

"Clive..." she began, about to persuade him that it wasn't his fault, when she saw a streak of lightning light up the sky. No, it wasn't strange for her to see lightning, but on a day like this? It was sunny without a cloud in sight. "Clive? Did you see that?" She suddenly doubled over in pain.

"Lily! What's wrong?!" Clive asked in alarm.

"Ohhhh... It's my stomach. It feels like someone just punched me in the gut." She swayed back and forth and fell back into him. "I'm... I'm so dizzy..."

Clive looked into the distance and saw another flash of lightning. "Lily, listen to me. I want you to lay right here until I come back. I'm going to go see what's going on." He had the sneaking suspicion that that flash of lightning was the cause of Lily's pain. He had read about it in his studies, that when a wielder got close to the element opposite to it, that person felt pain. It was usually a pain that felt like whatever the opposite elements power was. For instance, a firewielder and a waterwielder. While the waterwielder would feel extreme heat, usually around the heart, the firewielder would feel extreme cold, also usually around the heart. Lily's opposite was lightning, so there must be a lightningwielder nearby. She probably felt like an electric shock was going through her body. He wondered what the lightningwielder felt.

That fact also stirred up some questions about Flow and Safire. Did they feel any pain from each other? And if not, why? All things he would have to find out later. For right now he would have to see if he could find this lightningwielder. He ran over a hill to see a small but dense grove of trees, the source where the lightning was originating from. He ran towards it and turned invisible, immediately transported to the Realm of the Unseen. Towards the very middle of the tree grove he saw a young kid, probably about fifteen, fighting a man dressed in black. The kid looked as though he had fire in his eyes, and with a growl, lightning erupted from his hands and shot at the figure dressed in black. The figure didn't have enough time to react and, upon impact, was thrown back into a tree. Clive walked over to the man still invisible and couldn't tell if he was dead. Then realization hit him. This man was with his boss. He was one of the trained assassins, probably sent to bring back this kid by force. Clive wondered why, seeing as how there was probably lots of lightning benders. When he looked back at the kid, though, he realized why. This was the lightningwielder that was on his list. His list of the most powerful wielder's kids. This was Shock Johnson.

Clive could feel his powers draining, but didn't realize how fast until he heard the boy speak. To him. "Hey you! Yeah, you, invisible boy. What are you doing here? Or are you with him?" He gestured to the man on the ground, who was, as far as Clive could tell, was still breathing.

Clive turned fully visible now. "My name is Clive Martin, and I am most certainly not with him. But I do know who you are, Mr. Johnson. And I also have to ask you to please stop lightningwielding, because my earthwielding friend is not feeling so well because of it. It's bad enough that you're around, but with you wielding, the pain is even worse for her."

"So that's why I felt suffocated... Anyway, I don't take orders from nobody, so leave me alone, loser." Shock steamed. Clive could tell that he was a, well, a rascal, in polite terms. But in non-polite terms, Clive would say he was a jerk. This kid was not very behaved. Somewhat of a rebel, that much he could tell.

"You know, I know quite a bit about you, Shock. I know that you have a sister, and that she has the power of weather. I also know that her name is Storm. I don't really think you want to make an enemy out of me. I am a good friend, but a bad enemy." Clive glared at him. "I know that you hang around with a group called the Wielders. I want to know who the leader is, because I think he has some information on a friend of mine. So you would do well to answer me."

Shock stood his ground and glared back at Clive. "You're looking at the leader of the Wielders. What do you want so we can never see each other again?"

"I have a friend name Flow Cambridge. She was recently kidnapped by one Safire Flame. I know that you have sources, and that if anyone in Arizona or California were kidnapped, you would know where they were. Now, I want some answers." He raced to Shock and pinned him to a tree. "Now. And don't try to shock me. I'm immune almost everywhere, and the one place I'm not you'll never get to . So spit it out."

Shock spit at the ground by Clive's feet. "I ain't telling you nothin'."

Just then, Clive heard the boom of thunder and felt cold sprinkles dripping on his head. A storm had just broken out, from the sunny day with no clouds, a storm had broken out out of nowhere. "Wow, that's some storm brewing."

"Thank you," said a voice. "I believe it is one of my best yet."

He spun his head around just in time to see a girl with jet black hair step out from behind a tree. "Who are you?"

"I am The Keeper of the Skies, I am the Storm Bearer, I am... Storm Johnson." Ahh, he thought. So that's where I remember her from. She was the powerful weatherwielder.

Clive let go of Shock and walked over to Storm. He took her hand and kissed it. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Johnson."

"Charmed to meet you as well, Mr. Martin. Shock, why are you giving Clive here such a hard time? Why can't you just tell him what he wants to know?" Storm looked at her brother with disapproval.

"Because I don't trust him." He looked stormily at Clive.

"Clive—may I call you that?" she asked.

"Call me whatever you like, Miss. Within reason, of course."

"Okay. Well, Clive, I heard about Flow Cambridge. She and that girl—what did you call her? Oh, right. Safire Flame—were heading here from Arizona. Last I heard they had just crossed the border and were heading to a little town on the west coast where they were going to catch a boat to some island. That's the gist of what I know. Does that help?"

"Yes, I believe it does. I think I know what town they're heading to. Thank you so much for all of your help Miss—"

"Just call me Storm."

"Alright then." He smiled at her. "Thank yo so much for all of your help, Storm. I must be going now. And please..." he looked toward Shock. "Make sure he doesn't use his wielding for awhile unless absolutely necessary. It's making my friend feel pretty beat up. In about twenty minutes we should be far enough way for him to be able to use his wielding again without causing pain for himself and my friend, Lily." He walked back towards the car. "Thanks for your help, Storm," he called back. Then he turned and looked back at Shock, who was still glaring at him. Clive gave him what he thought was an irritatingly smug smile and said, "Nice meeting you too, Shock." Then Clive jogged back to his car where he found Lily sitting up and looking like she was still in quite a bit of pain.

"Oh, good, you're back. I thought you had left me." She playfully punched him and the arm and grimaced. "I think we should get out of here. It's probably something in the air, but I feel like an electrical shock is coursing through my body. It wasn't as bad as when you left, but it still hurts."

"Alright. In a little bit I'll stop again and get us some drinks, but first we might as well get out of here. Next stop, Portland."

"Why there?" she asked.

"Because I have a feeling that's where Safire is. And where Safire is, we're sure to find Flow close by." He proceeded to tell her about what he had stumbled upon while investigating the lightning. She looked ecstatic.

"There was a lightningwielder? A real, live lightningwielder? And a weatherwielder?! THAT IS SO AWESOME! I wish I could have been there..."

"No, believe me, you don't. That pain you were experiencing was from the lightningwielder, Shock. If you had been any closer you two probably would have passed out from the pain. However, if you can train your body to fight the cause of the pain, you might not have to experience it. It will take a lot of painful practice to be able to get the pain to cease. But in the end, you'll find in combat that it's really helpful."

"Sure. Okay. Whatever you say, Albert," she laughed.

"Albert?" he repeated.

"Yeah, as in, you know, Albert Einstein. The famous guy. Who knew all kinds of stuff. That's you, the guy who knows a bunch of stuff." She smiled and laughed.

"Yeah, well this guy who knows stuff knows that our next stop is in Portland. So buckle up, cause I'm about to leave your socks in the dust." And with that he pushed down the gas petal even farther, racing to make up for lost time.