Okay, another AU story here. I donno, this just kinda came into my mind when 
I was reading my fortune telling book. Then it evolved as I typed something 
on to the screen and started to have a plot coming on. Gawddam it!! I never 
get to finish a story before something like this comes on.

C&C very welcome. ^_^
 

Elements of Magic: Prologue
Shamera
sitafire@hotmail.com

	"Is he the one, Sister?"

	Sister Helen looked over her shoulder to see the concerned eyes of 
Father Maxwell as she dipped her head in courtasy. She was worrying one lip 
as she watched the small, sulking boy make his way through the crowds of 
orphans. 

	"Him? No, I really don't think so, Father." She said in a soft tone, 
already back to watching the long-haired boy. "He's close. Very close, but
he's not the one."

	"Is he one of the Five, then?"

	Sister Helen's light blue eyes grew troubled. "Yes."

	Father Maxwell cast the nun a look as he moved to stand besides her. 
"But that is a good thing. To be able to find one of the Five Elements this
early..."

	"I worry, Father," she blurted out. "Although he is not the one that we 
were hoping to find, he seems to be associated with Death more than anyone 
I've known. This could either prove to be a blessing or a problem," her 
voice was grave as she saw how the boy in her vision wove through the crowds
and snapped at the children whom were asking to play with him. 

	"Ah. But if he proves to be strong..." Father Maxwell left the state-
ment off at there. He quickly changed the subject. "We have one of the Five.
We have to make sure to teach him everything that we know. And only you can 
do that now, Helen. I've converted far too much to be able to practise any-
more without damaging my faith in either sides."

	Sister Helen drew her hands into fists by her sides, pulling at some 
of the black cloth that she was wearing. "I wish I had your faith in a God 
who will ensure our future, Father," she whispered harshly. "To be able to 
convert to the submissive side after you've tasted power and magic."

	Father Maxwell did not say anything to that, his eyes following the 
same boy that she was looking at. 

	"But you have my word that Duo will be taught everything that I know."
She continued, "I'll see to his training myself."

	He slid her a grateful smile. "I know."

			~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

	Duo dipped his hand in the precious element as he wrinkled his brow 
comically. He let the water run down and through his fingers, watching as the 
cool liquid hit the surface onto the small bowl. 

	"I can't catch it." He claimed. 

	Sister Helen laughed where she was behind him, her voice musical and 
inviting. She clasped his shoulders gently. "That's because you're not 
trying, Duo. You have to be able to hold your hands together firmly for the 
water not to escape."

	Duo tried again, but like last time, the water ran through his fingers.
He was frowning as the Sister watched him intently. "I don't understand. I 
hold my fingers as hard as possible together. I still can't catch it."

	There was a firm squeeze on his shoulders. "Who said that you had to 
hold it tightly?"

	Duo only looked on quizically. "I don't understand," he repeated.

	Sister Helen gave him a fond smile. "Alright, then. Let's start over. 
Before, you tried to hold water in your hand without it falling through, 
right? To most people, that's impossible. That's because there are cracks 
between your fingers that the water would slip through in, right? You learned
that, I hope."

	Duo nodded, dipping both hands into the water this time and trying to 
bring them up, only to have the water quickly slip through his hands.

	"Good. Now, most people also know how to hold the water for a long 
time, before it starts to seep through your hands. They don't hold it as 
tightly as you do," she pointed the his hands, which were locked in a bone
crushing grip together. "But they can hold the water longer than you can.
How?"

	Duo huffed out a breath. "That's what I don't get."

	Shaking her head, Sister Helen moved her hands from Duo's shoulder to 
his hands. She cupped his hands gently and placed the limp limbs together. 
Then, with her own hand under his, she dipped Duo's hand into the water and 
brought it back up. 

	At first the water seeped out like it always did, then with it stopped 
to where it could fit in Duo's palm, the water slowly started to dripped 
through his fingers where it had been pouring just a few moments ago. 

	"But that doesn't do anything," Duo insisted. "It doesn't stop the 
water flow. It only slows it down."

	Sister Helen shook her head, a smile still gracing her face. "Someday, 
Duo, you'll learn the importance of stalling for time. I hope that you won't
have to learn that for a long ways to come."

	Duo was puzzled, but then ignored the statement. Sister Helen said a 
lot of things that he didn't understand, and if she didn't explain, then he 
wouldn't ask. 

	"But still," he said, "I don't see the difference. I know that I can 
hold water a lot better like that," he tried what Sister Helen guided him 
through, this time able to accomplish that by himself being a fast learner. 
"But it still doesn't change the fact that I can't catch water." He looked 
mournful, "You said that I had to be able to catch water easily."

	Sister Helen rested a slightly wet hand on Duo's chestnut locks. "Don't
worry about that yet, Duo. When the time comes, you'll be able to catch water
easily. This lesson was just to show you that sometimes you don't have to 
concentrate too hard on something. Putting too much effort into something 
doesn't always come out with the best results."

	"Huh?"

	"The water," she explained. "You hold it easily when your hands are 
relaxed. Yet you couldn't keep a drop in your hands with you tried too hard.
Some things... some things cannot be forced through sheer will. You have to 
stop for a moment and think about the best way to go. If you had been 
thinking, you would have known to dry your hands and then try again." Sister 
Helen pointed out. "Water does escape through watery places, after all."

	Then she laughed as Duo tried to stiffle a curse.

			~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

	*This,* Helen thought as she tugged on her hair, a habit that she had 
unconciously picked up from Duo, *Is nerve-wreaking.* 

	She was in normal clothing, although very modest clothing (at least 
compaired to the streets around the Maxwell Church) and had made sure that 
the clothing was all non-shrinkables. 

	It had been two years since she had started teaching little Duo Maxwell
about his element. Two years and that aura of Death still had not left him. 
She was really starting to get worried. If it were a curse, it should have 
run its course long ago. 

	She gave a careful eye as Duo tried to twist the water that he had 
gathered into certain shapes for the younger childrens' enjoyment. He had 
learned so much in the last two years... the young and silent Duo had 
changed into a lively and happy child, whose charisma earned him all the 
friends that he wanted. 

	It was strange to see an aura of Death surrounding such a happy and 
bubbly child. Especially when most of his cheerfulness was genuine. 

	Duo's training in his natural element- water- had gotten to the point 
where Duo was able to take the water and mositure out of the air and earth 
around them. The damper the climate, the easier it was for him to focus. 
Especially when he was near a large body of water. 

	But Helen had made sure that he was able to operate in a desert also. 
Although much weaker there, Duo was able to use powerful gusts of water to 
attack. The only offhand about that was that he'd create a radius of dead 
plants and animals about ten feet everytime he used that spell.

	"So Death still lurks here, ne?"

	Helen turned and tipped her head respectfully to Father Maxwell, still 
in his priest garment. She had long ago left the Sisterhood to be able to 
teach Duo about the darker aspects of the magic that he was born to. 

	"Father Maxwell," she said warmly. "Yes." she looked back to the boy 
that she had been watching before as he drew a circle in the small pot of 
water and had the liquid part in two like the Red Sea. The children laughed 
and cheered. 

	"I'm not sure what this is," she said. "Duo isn't getting worse- he's 
getting better. There's no sign at all that Death even lurks in this boy. 
If we hadn't known what to look for, we wouldn't have known by now."

	"Still, you worry," Father Maxwell pointed out.

	"You do too." Helen replied. "But we have right to worry. Our futures 
will depend on him."

	"It's hard to imagine," Father Maxwell said, "Duo fighting an evil 
unknown to mankind." He was watching the children also. "But he is improving 
better than anyone could have hoped."

	"Yes. I just have this feeling that there's something that Duo isn't
telling us." Helen was troubled. "I'm sure he would tell us if it were 
important... but I have a feeling that it is important, but he just doesn't 
think so..."

	"If it is, he'll tell us." the Father said, "Just like you said. Duo's
old enough to be making decisions like this now. Trust him."

	"Ah. Of course, Father."

			~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

	"...of course there's nothing wrong, sister Helen!" Duo exclaimed, lips
in a tight smile. "I think that one of them might have broken a toy or some-
thing. I'll go check it out. Aren't you supposed to help Hiomei around today?
I heard that she's a tough cookie to break. She's been in the streets for a 
loooong time." Duo offered an innocent look.

	Helen was staring at him with a questionable gleam in her eye, but 
nodded anyway. "Just make sure that if it's glass, to get the children away 
from it. Okay, Duo?"

	"Sure!" he chirped out cheerfully. He gave a small wave that looked 
more like a salute. "I'll be done real quick. Lae-ters!"

	Helen hurried off to where her schedule was still full, and Duo allowed
the smile to drop off instantly. 

	It had been happening in the last few days. Small things, really. But 
still enough to make one suspicious. This was the last one. Duo already knew
what was to happen, and he wasn't going to be able to stop it. 

	Entering the kitchen, he glanced around to make sure no one was 
looking, and then proceeded to a corner where he usually sat to study the 
books that Helen had given him. He took a paper bag with him, and bent down 
at the corner to sweep in the remains of a broken tea cup.

	The third cup that week. Helen had taught him enough about superstition
for him to know that it was a sign of a death to occur. He couldn't ask 
Shinigami for help on something like this. The harbringer had made sure that 
Duo understood he couldn't do anything for those who were destined to die.

	Still, he felt bad. He should tell sister Helen, or Father Maxwell. 
But Shinigami did not want to be known, and if his friend did not want to be
known, Duo couldn't very well reveal him, could he?

	Tying up the top of the bag and dumping it into the trash, Duo reached 
on the countertop for a rag and wet it with water from the sink. He didn't 
want to use his power when he already had easy access to the element. 

	Wringin out the water, he shook the rag open and folded it gently, 
making sure that the cloth was thick enough that the glass shards would not
cut his hands. The third cup had broken, the fifth candle snuffed out. So 
many small things that Duo did not want to try and understand- he already 
knew the reason perfectly. 

	Someone was going to die.

	He wondered if the death would happen while he was here. He was going 
away soon, after all. He did not want to see the person die, and hoped that 
it was someone he barely knew, as selfish as that was. It wasn't that he 
was taking this too lightly- he just knew he wouldn't be able to stop this 
death whatever he did. Prophasied is prophasied. Nothing he could do would 
be able to help, so he didn't want to waste energy feeling guilty over it. 

	Taking one last wipe to make sure the area was clean of all glass and 
that the children who came in would not cut themselves on anything, Duo 
nodded to himself in satisfaction and gathered his rag to clean in the water.
This he did by manipulating the water to scrub out the shards themselves- 
he didn't want to get cut, after all. 

	Next week. Shinigami had told him that next week he was to leave the 
orphanage... He was destined to go to Waynard- where he would meet the other
four elementals like him. He was to leave before the sun was at the highest 
point in the sky. He could either choose to tell the others that he was 
leaving or not- that was his decision. 

	But still, he didn't want to leave them like this... he wanted to tell 
them beforehand- but he couldn't. He would bound by oath to secretcy about 
the things that he knew of. He could only tell them on the last day. 

	Even then, he mused, he would not be able to tell them everything. He 
did want to tell sister Helen and Father Maxwell about it, but that was out 
of his hands. 

	Dying the rag again and placing it back on the countertop, he heard one
of the children come in and helped him to what he wanted. 

	The death... would it be one of the children? He hoped not. Would it be
sister Helen or Father Maxwell? He hoped not. He didn't want there to be 
any deaths in the orphanage, even when he knew he would be powerless to pre-
vent it. 

	Seeing the child out of the kitchen again, Duo went back to his small 
reading corner and closed the spell book that he had been reading. He had to
start packing. Even though he did not have much, he did not want to be left
unoccupied for the next few days. He had too much in his head to think about,
and he didn't really want to think about anything at all. 

	Besides, he *did* have to pack his books. And that would take just 
about forever. 

			~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

	"Why can't I tell them, Shinigami?"

	The black robed figure sitting at the edge of his bed wasn't 
frightening as was said in the fairy tales. In fact, to Duo, he was quite 
warm and inviting, with an aura of friendliness and sadness that attracted 
the boy the him. 

	"You know why, Duo," Shinigami replied, voice low and hoarse. He seemed
very tired today. "I can't stop the deaths that are about to happen. I would
if I could. But even I have a job to do. Guarding someone like you is hard 
enough to end the day."

	"Hey!" Duo cried, mock offension. He was packing away the small amount
of clothing that he owned, one hand to his chest as he exaggerated his shock
and hurt, "What's that supposed to mean?"

	Shinigami gave a soft chuckle from where he sat. His scythe was leaning
against the wall near the window. "Teaching you." he paused for a moment. 
"Actually, teaching you more about your powers isn't hard. It's teaching you 
manners that *is*."

	Duo choked. "I have perfectly good manners, thank you very much! 
Besides, when did you teach me manners?" He scrambled around under his desk
and pulled out another bag. He would only have three bags with him for the 
entire trip, and he wanted to stuff as much as he could in each one. 

	"You *don't* have manners, that's what. You call greeting a lady with 
an affectionate little-sister tone manners?" Shinigami peered at Duo. "Hey. 
Are you sure you need so much for the trip? I say you should grab a spell 
book, two sets of clothes, a bit of money, and you're off."

	Duo huffed as he dragged the bag towards the middle of the room. "Don't
tell me that. I'm capable of packing myself. And anyway," he retorted, 
blowing on his long bangs and running a hand through them, "I don't see 
anything wrong with treating a lady in a respectful manner."

	"By grabbing Hilde into a headlock whenever you see her?" Shinigami 
asked. 

	"She does the same to me!" Duo shot back. 

	Shinigami crossed his arms, snorting as the black robe nearly got 
caught up in itself. "If you call that manners... you've obviously been 
brain-damaged as a child."

	"Yeah. By you." Duo snickered.

	"I resent that! But really, Duo, you need to learn how to treat 
strangers. Just because I got you all warm and friendly doesn't mean that you
should start treating everyone like that. There's some people out in the 
world that you just can't trust."

	"I know that," Duo whined. He was carefully placing his books at the 
bottom of the pack so that it would weigh the most at the bottom. "I'm not 
going to be nice to everyone while I'm on the road. I'll be careful."

	"Yeah. And I'll be dead."

	"Well, you *are* Death."

	"That's besides the point."

	Duo paused in what he was doing and looked over at his friend. Then 
he broke down in chuckles. "You're weird, you know that?"

	Shinigami shook his head. "I was never weird before I met you."

	"Liar."

	"I also don't lie."

	Duo laughed. "You do know that it sounds woefully rediculous?"

	Shinigami scowled. "Well, it's true. I run, I hide, but-"

	"I never lie. Yeah. I know." Duo smiled. "I go by the same rules, 
remember? That's the one thing that you drilled into me." He tapped his head
and grinned. "Besides how to flirt outragously."

	"I never taught you that!"

	There was a very silly grin on Duo's face. "Oh? I kind of learned from 
when you started staring at-"

	"Shut up, shut up!!!"

	Duo would have fallen down laughing had he not already been sitting on
the ground.

			~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

	So it was one week later when Duo Maxwell left the Maxwell Church and 
orphanage twenty minutes before noon- after many tearful goodbyes and 
promises that he would come back and visit. No one tried to stop him from 
leaving, although many wanted him to stay. 

	Helen, who had left the sisterhood to teach Duo, had taken the 
information of Duo's leaving very calmly, but had gotten Duo to accept a 
gift from her before he left. 

	"Don't open this," she had told him, "Not until you have found the one
that you love on this journey. You will know when the time is right for you 
to use this." Then she pressed a fist sized box into his hands. "May God 
bless you, and keep you."

	With those words, she had taken Duo into her arms and given him as 
strong a hug as she could manage. Duo had returned the hug earnestly.

	And as Duo left for the road, he looked back at the small church one 
last time, smiling to himself as he did so, not knowing that this would be 
the last time that he ever saw the church again. 



End Prologue.


*glares at the computer screen* 
*screen blinks back* 
Stupid screen has been flickering for a while... *mutters curses* But still, 
besides that, what do you think about this story? Think it'll make it? Yeah,
I'm very sorry at making this all happen so quickly and without making any 
sense. I just kept skipping years and scenes and whatnot. Sorry- I couldn't 
keep my attention on it for long. I tried to cram and jampack a whole lot of
information here, so I'm sorry if this is very confusing. Basically, Duo's 
an elemental -water- and he's guided by Shinigami. Helen's a magic user and 
teaches Duo how to use magic. He's fifteen now, just like in the series. He 
started here when he was thirteen, although I had thought of him to be a lot
younger. Oh well. That's how my stories are- I donno what's gonna happen.