Fate, My Elementals & I (Breaking Borders)

The Pain that keeps on Giving

*** Addanon's Pov ***

As I walked away from the place I once called home, I couldn't help but stew in the set-up that met me. I went through my entrance and packed up what little I owned there. Everything they bought me or was a gift from Josie I left. The memories of each one haunted me.

How happy she was when I had moved in. She took me shopping on my eighteenth birthday. I allowed her to buy me a black leather jacket and black jeans. Humouring her when she asked me to try on shoes, but I didn't let her purchase more. Finally making it to the house, I found everything I had tried on and more that day. All she wanted was my size. Her parents weren't very happy about her spending her pocket money on me, so we sneaked away and headed to a little twenty-four hour dinner just outside their gated community.

After the confrontation, I decided to head there in hopes of calming down, focusing on the good. My mind was flooded with the words she said, how she acted just now, clashing with everything I thought I knew of her. I wish I could blame Rodney, that son-of-a-b!tch. Though it was he that ruined everything. How could she stand there and tell me she believed and loved him? While I was literally fighting my bond, endangering my brothers, my people and my queen, for a girl that couldn't at least hear me out. I am unbelievably stupid.

Ding! Went the overhead bell, as I entered. I found a seat and propped up my elbows on the table, burying my face in my hands, bag still on my back.

"You lied to me all these years! You mentioned that you weren't the best man. That you originally just thought I would be good for you. You said you loved me. It was nothing but lies," I heard her shouting in my memory. She acted like a shrew. Like her mother. That woman had a strong pair of lungs.

The slutty waitress sashayed her way to me and bent over just enough for me to catch a glimpse of her cleavage. Had I not had the pleasure of seeing Evony in, well, just about everything she wears, I may have taken an interest in the peak. I just ordered a coffee and waved her away. Anything to make me forget the disgust I saw in Josie's eyes towards me. I did lie to her, but I wanted her to know it the right way. Explain my reasoning and just what I could about where I was. Let her know I was training, not cheating. To inform her how much her love and friendship meant to me. How much she deserved better. Now, I hope she and that tool get married and he cheats on her with his secretary. Maybe it would wake her up from whatever spiral she's heading down.

That douche! Urgghh!

The girl came back still trying to get my attention, while pouring my coffee, black to match my soul, distracting my inner rage. It was surprisingly slow. There were barely any other customers. One caught my attention though. A beautiful red-head. She had green eyes, a tiny nose and a wicked mouth. I wasn't sure why she thought it was okay to keep glancing at me. I didn't need anyone starting anything and I sure as hell didn't need a reminder that Blazer Fatums were too hot to handle. The next time she looked my way I raised one eyebrow and plastered on my mean face. The impudent fire dweller did not back down, she only grinned.

The few on the Plaine had tempers to match their taste. Kept to themselves, swimming around in the lava pools. From time to time, they do their part to keep the island running. I have never met one so confident and bold. She seemed to have plucked up her courage and made her way to my table.

"Do not sit here. I am in no mood for company," I warned, hoping her temper would lead her away. She only smiled and sat down anyway.

"Hello there, you smell like the rain just fell on freshly cut grass," she said, by way of introducing her reasons for invading my space.

"I don't give a sh!t. Now pis$ off!" I sneered.

"Oh don't be like that, it's only a bit of fun," she giggled, "Where are you from? Haven't met an earthern like you before."

"Please go away, alright. I have no clue what you are talking about. My girlfriend just told me she's been dating my mortal enemy for the last three months, because she believed him when he told her that I was lying to her. So miss, could you kindly f0ck off, so I can nurse my wounded heart, like one nurses a hot cup of coffee?" I begged.

"Playing dumb, huh? Listen, I know what I smell and the only way to get that is if you've used your gifts. Why hide from me? We are kin," she tried to coax. All she got in return was a scowl from me.

"Fine. Be that way. Sorry about your silly mortal problems," was her goodbye as she headed towards the door. Turning right before she walked out, she invited, "There are a few more of us. We created an odd sort of pod, seeing that we aren't the same kind, but as I said, kin. If you've got no where to go, I suggest you pay for that drink and come with me. For some reason, darklings are following you. If you don't know what they are, well..... let's just say, they aren't kin."

Closing my eyes, trying to feel out the aura of those surrounding me, through meditation, I did sense one outside. The chick was light. I contemplated my choices. Cannon was expecting me to go to his penthouse once I had left Josie's, but was it really safe to go there while I was being tailed? There is safety in numbers and she was offering, knowing the dangers. I wrote Cannon's phone number down before I turned off mine to give back to those people.

"I'll come, but why are you helping me hide from the...... darkling you said?" I still wanted to be a bit cautious, make her believe I was the clueless dolt she thought I was.

"Because they feed on unsuspecting halflings, like you. That strong scent of yours, you can't seem to control, must have drawn it to you," she attempted to explain, with a funny look on her face.

"Control? Can I control the way I smell? What do you mean feed?" I continued acting, as I laid down my money and walked towards her. I watched the tramp pout from behind the counter, swearing under my breath, as to why I had come here. The firecracker acted as though I hadn't asked anything, proceeding to stroll down the side walk.

"So Red, where are we headed?" I asked.

"What's your name handsome?" she returned.

"Oh, call me, Dan... Everyone does," giving a part of my name, so that way I would still react when it's used.

"Well, Dan, I am taking you to an abandoned warehouse, where we are going to trap that darkling and kill it," she said, as though she was simply listing stocks needed at the grocery store.

"Urgghhh.... did you say kill?" making sure to sound frightened and weary.

"Don't worry, they're basically dead already. They feed on pure core light. That's what gives you your powers, you see. They need our light to survive. If you look around, whatever plant the darkling touches, has a bit of rot on it. Their smell is pungent. That's how I knew they were following you," she beamed. Weird chick.

"Do you like ....... hunt them or something?" I inquired.

"Not as my day job no. But I watched my mum get sucked dry, along with my little sister. My father caused a ruckus for me to escape. I ran and never looked back, but I vowed, once I had the opportunity to save others from that fate, I would," she confessed.

"Then I sure am glad I met you Red," I sincerely admitted, seeing that I was unable to access my element without Evony.

I could contact Cannon once all is safe. Red seems to know what she's doing.

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The crazy chick was actually worth hanging around. The darkling that was following me was a shape shifter. It took the form of a crow at first, but once we entered the warehouse, it turned into a spider. Apparently, one of her friends was a shifter himself, so they sensed it. Red had told me to act natural and as nightfall approached I confided in them about Josie. At first, I thought why air all my business to strangers? But they were the first Fatum to treat me like one of their own. On the Plaine don't get me wrong, we're like one big family, but to them I'm an Elemental. A guardian of the queen. I belonged to Evony. Here I'm an unknown halfling and they are willing to save me. My mortal life always sucked, maybe this was a sign to embrace my true nature as Cannon advised.

"So, who's the i***t that thought they should break up with you?" asked a masculine voice, but when I looked over I was slightly taken aback to see who it belonged to. When I entered and was introduced, I could have sworn they were a girl.

"Yes darling I'm fabulous," he replied, to my blanked stare.

"Sorry. What are your pronouns or name?" I asked. Making my heart pinch a little tighter, knowing it was because of Josie, I even had the sensitivity to ask. Great, the pain just keeps on giving.

"You can call me Jazz, darling, and he will do just fine. I crossdress. Why should girls get all the pretty things?" he answered.

"Thanks," I smiled, "And to answer your question, well her name is Josie. She was the smartest girl back in high school. I was turning out to be a typical jock. Partying, drugs, drinking, girls and bad grades. Then, out of desperation for my coach not to kick me off the team, I started dating her. She helped me get my sh!t together. I was an orphan. She gave me a place to stay. I was so grateful and we got along great. But there was this girl I met..." stopping when I heard Jazz snicker.

"There's always another girl, darling," he teased.

"NO! Not like that," I shouted. "We were little kids when we met. She was my first crush. I met her again. She introduced me to some people and, well, now I'm training with that team. I gave up college with Josie to go there. I never cheated. I just know that if Josie and I were meant to be together, if I truly loved her, I would set her free. We could always meet again. Imagine my surprise when I got there to explain the situation. She was with my enemigo numero uno, talking about how he told her it was a bet to date her. That I stuck around because she was rich and I used to cheat on her all the time with the cheerleaders. Like, seriously, that's the opposite of what happened. I would admit I did use her to make my coach see me in a different light, but the other stuff. If she thought back long enough, she would remember I took her with me, everywhere. No time to cheat. I refused to let her buy stuff for me. Why, why would she believe him?" I asked no one in particular.

"Because, darling, it was easier to make you out to be the bad guy. She must have been with that guy behind your back more times than you can count. You were easy to manipulate and control. Your gratitude for everything she did for you made you blind to her ugliness," Jazz answered, crossed his legs and filed at his perfectly done nails. The tie-dyed dress fanned out, giving a glimpse of his awesome black combat boots.

"Preach!" shouted Red. Then to me she added, "Don't focus on that girl. Come on, your super hot. If you weren't so much younger than me, I would totally try to hit that. As for now, a word of advice. When you make your own decisions and do what you want or what you think is best for yourself, for once in your damn life, your significant other gets mad, upset or moves on without a heads up. It basically means they only liked the control they had over you. That was it. I'm sure she expected you to grovel or beg her?"

"Actually yeah. She even got mad that I said I had already packed my stuff and she could check the guest house she'll see everything I received from them. That I only came back to explain, and break up. She started shrieking and throwing a tantrum. I looked at Rodney and thought you deserve her. Walked out of there and met Red," I concluded.

"What a touching tale...." a gravelly voice butted in. Across the room, in all its birthsuit glory, was the darkling. It was by far worse than Cannon's mom and the patients we'd seen. The black lines stemmed from where it's chest is supposed to be. It's tongue was forked, as it slithered out of it's mouth, licking it's dry thin lips. The eyes were sunk into it's skull, no nose and it looked like an almost charred skeleton. The putrid smell emanating from it was to me at least the most deadly thing about the creature.

Jazz piped up, "Oh dear, you done messed up your skin care routine. Not even a year of spa days is gonna help you boo boo."

The others giggled. I was freaked the F out and they were laughing. The thing seemed like a walking talking nightmare and made me wish I hadn't taken Fero's training for granted. That I didn't punish myself for someone who didn't appreciate me. I should have made at least a connection to Evony and now these kind people had to fight my battle. It was my scent that it followed and couldn't resist.

The darkling attempted to move towards us, when Jazz opened his mouth and blew, pinning the intruder to the wall. It attempted to fight, but failed. Creed, the shape shifter, whispered, "It's starved. Just kill it please. No need for it to suffer." Red nodded and walked closer. Jazz stopped his attack. As Red set her arm ablaze ready to complete the death that seemed to have been enclosing anyway, the darling spoke once more, "They are coming for you. I was so hungry I did not wait. Your light is so bright. Hungry, hungry." It attempted to rush me again, Red holding it firmly in place. "They're coming to gettt youuuuuu. Aaaahhhh!!!" it sang, as Red put it out of its misery.

"Well, Bubbles, it's your turn to clean up. Don't worry Dan, your safe here. Forget the girl and the threat, you need sleep," she ordered in a tone that brokered no argument. Everyone moved into action, as commanded. Jazz guided me to where I was staying. Creed's sorrowful whimpers could be heard through the walls.

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I spent all Christmas eve cooking and chilling with the Odd Pod, as they called themselves. Learning a few more of their names and generally being my age for the first time since May. There were a total of eleven of them. As twilight approached, so did the demons that were promised. Darklings in all stages, strengths and types, attacked us all at once. I remember being dragged away by Creed, the most passive of the group, to an underground tunnel.

We finally got to the end where he told me to hide inside a large hollowed out tree trunk with him. That the rest would find us. I felt absolutely helpless. All the progress I made in controlling my powers. Learning attacks, meant nothing because I was not connected to my queen. Stupidly enough, I grabbed my bag on the way out, as when they swarmed in, I was just about to contact Cannon. I knew he was at a fancy dinner party with his family, but it was then I remembered. Fishing through the bag's pockets, I found his phone number and dialed it in on Red's phone.

No answer five tries later, with only Red, Jazz and three other survivors meeting us at the hideout. I convinced them that I had someone who could help us. I just needed to contact him. Red snarkily replied, "Oh, so this friend of yours, does he reply to smoke signals, instead of modern technology?" Making me remember how Can could access cameras. He's usually a cautious guy. What if he had his secret hacker guy checking in on me? If I pass by enough surveillance cameras, one ought to spot me and alert them right away.

"Okay, here's the deal. My friend has a penthouse suite I am supposed to be at. Met you and didn't. If he is looking for me, or wants to get to me, that would be the first place he'd look. The catch is, it's pretty far and we need to pass as many monitoring cameras as possible. He uh, he's well connected. I'm sure he'll call back once he notices the missed calls. So, get ready to haul ass and stay public. They won't show themselves to mortals. Can't risk it," I instructed.

"Wait! How come you sound like you actually know what the f0ck your talking about all of a sudden?" Red asked suspiciously.

"The one thing I never denied when I told you guys about my ex-girlfriend," I simply stated. Only to have Creed complete, "You're a liar."

"Correct. I lied to you. I know more about this sh!t than you do. Wasn't sure I could trust you. I'm sorry. Now, I have a way to save our as$es. You coming or not?" I confirmed.

"Lead the way, Delilah," Jazz agreed.

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*** Cannon's Pov ***

After the much needed cry, I took off my scrambler and put on my phone. I saw five missed calls from a strange number. I immediately returned it, praying it was Addy and he was safe.

"Sort of f0cking busy here, what do you want?" an angry feminine voice answered.

Ignoring her tactless attitude, "I received five missed calls from this number."

"Oh s**t, your the dude. Dan, your guy is on the phone, catch.." I heard her say, and then something that sounded like an animal dying.

"Thank Fate. What the hell Can? I need you to get Slade to come pick us up. A bunch of darklings found me and some Fatums who were helping me out. They have a few shifters, disguising themselves to get to us in public," Addanon prattled off quickly.

"Stop, I know where you are, Kronos is following you. I am on my way. Please Addy, you need to calm down and use that strategic dormant brain of yours. Use who you have at your disposal, their powers. I know I sound selfish, but we can't lose you. I will stay on the phone, just place it in your pocket. I need to know that your okay," I pleaded.

Addanon is my brother. I have to get to him.

"Slade, step on it..."

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*** Addanon's Pov ***

"Cannon's coming. He's staying on the phone. His weird tech guy has eyes on us......" I stopped telling the others what was going on when I heard a mechanical buzzing sound. Looking up, I noticed a drone. It got lower and lower. Also, because I never listened and still had the phone by my ear, despite it being on speaker, we heard Cannon's shout so much louder, "Duck!"

Signally for the others to follow me, I saw the drone unleash its tiny fury on the animals that were behind us. The ones not hit, scattered. I heard Cannon on the other side say, "There now run!"

We didn't need to be told twice. Racing in the direction of the building, I made sure to keep Creed next to me, gripping on to his t-shirt. He was the youngest and slowest of the bunch. Red was ahead, followed by a barefooted Jazz and one trailing behind. The others that escaped with us were grabbed right before Cannon called.

Jazz, even in a life-threatening situation, just had to say, "Well, don't you know some pretty powerful people? Air support and everything." As the drone kept circling above us and shooting at any visible bird or dog. I really hoped these were all darklings and not someone's pet.

We rounded a corner and it all happened so fast. An unbearable heat was felt and the drone collected the hit, when it was placed between us and the blast. Jazz, Red and extra ducked, in preparation for another attack. Creed not getting the memo, I pulled him down and protected him with my body. The flames dug into my flesh, making me scream out.

Right before I passed out, I heard the screeching of tires and the smell of burning rubber. I felt the atmosphere chill, along with my skin. I knew Cannon was there.

He would protect us. My brother was going to save me.