Part 1: Return

So...

A normal person's day would have been to wake up, drink orange juice and go to work. Maybe treat yourself by getting some pancakes. For me...

It was to wake up, drink apple juice, go to work, not treat myself to pancakes and then get shot.

Want to know how it happened? Read on.

Right, so it was a completely normal say. I really mean a completely normal day. I woke up and yawned, slowly stretched and then scratched my head. I took a look at the time and got a jump start. I was late! Wait a minute... I can't be late! Scared me there.

I poured myself a cup of apple juice and drank it relaxingly before realising my mistake. I put the glass down, my throat being scorched. I cleared my throat, some steam being coughed out. I muttered to myself, "It's apple juice, they have water in this thing?"

As I observed the carton of apple juice, I could vaguely hear some commotion outside.

Right, so I live on the second floor of a building. Right below my room is the small bakery I work at. It's nothing too fancy, but at least it keeps me occupied. I pushed the window open and looked out to see customers already waiting outside.

"Just a minute!" I shouted at them.

I jumped into the shower, got into my clothes and rushed out of my room. I quickly made my way down the stairs and into my kitchen.

Oh right. That's why I was late.

Didn't wake up early enough to make the bread.

Okay... this could be bad.

I made my way to the door to apologise to my customers. "Yeah, I haven't made anything. You guys could come back in the afternoon though."

There were some groans, but they dispersed soon enough.

Meanwhile, I got to work.

My name is Franklin James. I own a small bakery. I got short black hair and black eyes, nothing really stands out.

While I was busy doing nothing while waiting for my oven to bake the bread, I heard some footsteps. I was looking through the newspaper as I said, "Shop's closed for now."

"I'm not here for the bread," Someone responded.

I looked up. There was a man wearing a brown suit and a red tie. He walked with poise. His right sleeve hung empty though. I set the paper down, asking him, "What is it this time?"

"Creation is preparing something," He told me.

"Creation's been gone for centuries," I shot back. "What would he want with us?"

The man let out a sigh before sitting down on a chair that appeared out of nowhere. I sat up, saying to him, "By the way, did you know that apple juice contains water? Shocking."

He shook his head in disappointment. He continued, "I've been going to every Elemental, you're the last one I'm talking to."

"Best for last, eh?"

An alarm is set off. I excused myself and opened the oven. I removed the trays with my bare hands while telling him, "It better not be for some family reunion. I swear, those are so boring."

"It's a competition," He stated.

I threw in another tray, nodding along with his story so far.

"It has to do with the return of an Elemental."

I slammed the oven a little too hard. The door of the oven hung loosely. I let out a groan before sitting back down, telling him, "See what you made me do!"

He was rather unimpressed. With a wave of his hand, the oven was back in working condition. I reset the alarm before gesturing for him to continue.

"Creation plans for the return of Magic," He continued.

"Just make Magic, what's the problem?" I interrupted. "We all know he can. He just hasn't done it."

"He wants to implant an Elemental into a human."

"Huh?"

There was some silence as I waited for him to say something else. However, he only nodded grimly. I asked, "Wouldn't that kill the human?"

"We don't know," He said honestly. "This will be more of an experiment than anything else."

"Fun," I said sarcastically.

He adjusted his tie for a bit before telling me, "I will be returning soon. Just know that every Elemental excluding myself will be participating. Each Elemental will be assigned a human, just a piece of advice; protect that human."

Okay, with all that information dumped on me, I continued with my everyday life.

After working hours, I was closing up the shop. Doing the usual stuff of sweeping the floor, mopping the floor, wiping the display shelves and throwing leftover bread at birds. While in the process of throwing bread at a rather loyal group of pigeons, a heard noise off to the side. It was dark, and I was outside one of the few lit places along the street.

Heavy footsteps.

I chucked a piece of bread in the general direction of the noise just for fun. What followed was a bunch of cursing and shouting. A person stepped into the light. It was a girl, and she did look rather badly hurt. She made eye contact with me before saying, "Please... help me!"

She then promptly collapsed at my front door.

Well... that's kind of rude to sleep in front of someone's house.

"Hey!" Someone yelled.

I put my hands up, telling whoever was in the darkness, "It is starting to get really annoying that I can't see any of you clearly."

I could make up two figures. I stepped between them and the girl, saying, "Now, let's try to be civilised here, okay? I just gotta k-"

Bang.

I looked down to see a hole in my chest. I glanced back to see liquid metal some distance away, sizzling on the ground. The girl was unharmed. I cleared my throat, saying, "Okay... that was really rude."

Another shot.

The wounds closed themselves.

There was some muttering of confusion between the both of them. I pointed at one of them, asking, "Hey, I think I know you!"

I snapped my fingers and flames erupted along the street, allowing me to see their faces. I observed their panicked expression before apologising, "Sorry, I was mistaken. But could you guys tell me why you were chasing this lady over here?"

I pointed back at the unconscious lady. "I mean, guns? Really? That seems a bit excessive."

They started running in the opposite direction. I turned my entire body into flames and chased them, appearing right in front of them to put a hand on both their shoulders. I turned them around and slung my arms over both their shoulders. I said to them, "If you guys tell me, I could ignore the fact that you shot me twice. I mean, once would have been fine, but twice?"

"No worries," I patted them as they whimpered. "As long as you don't shoot me a third time..."

They shot me a third and fourth time, this time in the head. I inhaled sharply and stepped away from them. I made my way over to the unconscious girl, the fire along the street extinguishing itself. The two men started running, but their bodies soon turned to ash that got swept up by the wind.

What's up with people wanting to shoot me?

Looking at the girl, I was thinking about what I was supposed to do in this scenario.

Considering how injured she was, I dragged her inside to at least treat her wounds. Damn, I hope this doesn't become too large of a problem.

I set her down on a bed in the guest room. I had treated her injuries to the best of my abilities, but who knows? Humans are rather fragile. She had long black hair and a relatively petite frame.

Just to make sure she didn't wake up and start wrecking the place, I sat beside the bed.

A girl being chased, what's up with that? I smacked my forehead. Right! I forgot I had to ask those men questions!

She eventually came to her senses.

The girl had dark eyes like me as she looked around the place, then at me. She sat up suddenly before wincing in pain. I said to her, "Yeah, not the greatest idea to move so suddenly. You were shot twice and have a couple of other injuries."

She stared at me with wide eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm the owner of this bakery," I replied simply. "You dragged your half-dead body to my shop trying to escape from two men with guns. You got shot twice, that's two less than me."

"You got shot?" She exclaimed before wincing again.

"Not a big deal."

She shook her head violently. "God, because of me you got hurt! I shouldn't have gotten you involved like this. I'm sure you're now in so... much... pain...?"

She pointed at me. "You don't seem hurt?"

"I'm not hurt," I confirmed.

She let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me!"

I rolled my eyes before asking her, "So, what were you doing so late out at night?"

I lifted a tag she had been carrying. "Mevis Maze?"

She snatched the tag back.

"I can't risk putting you in more danger," She insisted.

"I just want to know why you were being chased," I continued. "It is an important question since, well, you almost died in front of my shop. Firstly, that's bad for business. Secondly, I'm mostly just curious."

"Curious? That's all?"

I nodded.

"You aren't, like, scared? I mean, they had guns!"

"And?"

"And! Wait... where are they now?" She looked around, probably hurting as she did so.

"Oh, I don't know," I sighed, resting my chin on my palm. "Wherever the wind takes them."

She quickly gathered her stuff. Trust me, her 'stuff' wasn't anything to gawk at. It consisted of an empty backpack, a tag with her name on it and a bottle of water. While she staggered out of the room, I asked, "So you're just going to ignore my questions? You're being kinda rude to someone who just saved you, you know?"

"Thank you for saving me," She turned around just to say. "But I have to leave."

"You would probably want to go to a doctor."

"No."

I watched as she slowly made her way out of the bakery. Just before she left the room, I warned her, "There are stairs just up ahead. Try not to fall."

While she made her valiant effort, I followed behind her, just to see if anything interesting happened. I even tried cheering her on. "You're doing great."

The girl made her way down the stairs. I also stepped down the stairs. She asked, "Why are you following me?"

"You're in my house," I stated. "Who knows what you might try to steal?"

She left.

Well, that was fast. Now, all I have to do is close up shop and go to sleep.