Why, hello. Have you come to hear a tale from an old soul? That must be it, people do not come up to me to simply talk. I suppose I am a poor conversationalist and far better as a story teller; or perhaps others do not like the sound of their own voices and prefer to listen to mine.

It's all right, I am not upset. Many people have come to me asking for my story and that alone before. No need for false pretenses. These scars do tend to draw some attention. Now, would you care to have a seat? It is a rather long tale. Some tea perhaps?

No? Ah, you must be prey to the control of the coffee bean.

Impatient, aren't we? All right, I shall begin, but I warn you, it is not a pleasant tale. Just be sure to tell me when you want me to stop, or else you can simply run away like that boy did. What was his name? Joh something.

Ah, so you have heard of him. Did he tell everyone that he had escaped some sort of monster when they saw him running? I know that's what you kids think I have in here.

Yes, the story. Sixty years ago, back when things did not make any sense, I was a wind dancer. You probably learned something about those from your school books, about the insane people who thought they could control the elements by dancing. Well, I was one of them.

Of course they were real. And we really could control the wind, though now they tell you otherwise. Something about defying the laws of nature, but we didn't mind. All that religious stuff they threw at us, we didn't care. We would dance and the wind would obey and that was all that mattered.

Actually, wind dancing was our job. We would be hired for various purposes in the late sixties to do things like move the rain clouds so that droughts could be stopped or hired by wealthy families who wanted to know what the future held for them. I did that once, actually. They had this problem with-

My, impatient aren't we? Well, yes, there were other elemental casters. Fire, water and earth all had their own, but the wind was what most knew they needed to keep an eye on. We were the most important in the world back then, the ones who could control the weather in a world where it was the only thing that was unpredictable. Humans have far too much of a desire for control that it scares me some time.

We never thought about it that way when we were young. Why would we? We were doing what we loved, just moving around a couple clouds when it was needed, and glanced into what we weren't supposed to see once or twice a month and then dancing with the wind in our spare time.

No, we couldn't. It would have been nice to fly, though. It felt like it sometimes when we were dancing.

Ah yes, the story. You have to understand that element casters were required to meet once a century, a bit of information they never tell about in the text books because they did not think it was important. It was quite imperative for us, however, to see each other and discuss a few things. This time, it was over the domination of the elements.

I remember that day well. It was a bright April morning, the showers had just cleared away thanks to yours truly and-

My dear child, can't you allow an old woman her reminiscing?

That's better. And I suppose it was a convention of sorts. A mandatory one. Anyway, it was a lovely day and we all met at the same place we had met every year since our leagues formed, a small town called Sortilege in England. Quaint little village, lovely town, friendly open minded people who always loved having company of our variety. They leant us a beautiful hotel, an entire hotel, free of charge for us to conduct our meetings in peace.

Okay, it wasn't quite a hotel. It was more of an inn. Still, it was lovely. We all met in the main hall that morning, expecting our meeting to run long into the night and wanting to get an early start on it so that we would not be too tired the next do to do some sight seeing. We all lined the sides of this enormous square table. Where they managed to get a square table of that size I am still trying to figure out. It seemed old, so perhaps it was just handed down through the generations of innkeepers.

I remember the start, we went around and introduced ourselves, where we were from, all that. From all over the world, all of us under one roof. It was truly amazing to behold, and the longest I have ever sat listening to people introduce themselves and go on about themselves.

No, people never do change. When we did finally get down to business the attention seemed to be on us wind casters. It was as though we had suddenly become responsible for everyone else having bad luck with customers. The water casters complained that we had disrupted the sea somehow and were affecting their business with the sailors, the fire casters claimed we-

That's the kettle. What would you like with your coffee? Cream and sugar?

Cream and sugar it is. How much sugar would you like dear?

Well, if you won't tell me, I'll just have to put it all in. Maybe it'll lessen the point on that tongue of yours.

That's better. Two it is. Here you are.

I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be a fire caster, they have horrible manners. Water casters had mouths on them, though. Comes from spending too much time with sailors.

Yes, and all of the elements had some reason to be angry with us. It was that meeting that the element wars that they teach you in school began. Don't even think to negate me, child. I was there, I was on the receiving end and I know what happened.

It was like that for much of the week. I don't think that people mingled much in any of the meetings, but I doubt if in all the centuries they every had such a harsh division. Fire and water were always avoiding each other like the plague, earth was solitary as always, and we among the wind were avoided when we tried to meet the rest. We're really just about the only social element, but it’s hard to mingle with other casters that are not your own kind. It was like high school all over again.

We returned home a few weeks later. At least, I did. I stuck around and traveled around England in youth hostels for a while. I wonder if that castle is still being used for that or if they decided it was time to tear it down. It would be a shame.

That was when the supposed "Underground war" started. Element war was more like it, but no one really wanted to acknowledge that people like us existed to a Christian based country. They had been protesting our existence enough, telling us that we had no power, that it wasn't real, telling their children that. And my parents were with them. That made for an interesting childhood indeed.

Well, what could they do? They took me out of dance classes, but that didn't stop me from dancing. And I still had my friends, who didn't think anything of it besides coincidence and they knew I was a bit strange to begin with.

That's beside the point though. When I had returned, I found that my house was gone. It had been burned and the ashes of it were flooded and partially sunk into the ground so nothing was left of it at all. Ended up staying at a friends place for a week, trying to call he other wind casters I knew and find out if they knew what was going on.

And then I thought to turn on the television. Yes, that little box tells all, does it not? It told of random attacks of arson all over the country, that there were isolated flash floods appearing at random and that the earth shook, terrifying tremors that scientists had declined to provide explanations to.

Not long after, I had to leave my friend's house in the middle of the night. I felt horrible for not even telling her anything, but I had to leave. You see, I was staring out the window, trying to see… Well I don't remember what, but I was looking and I saw a man I had seen at the meeting. An earth caster. I had to leave, or else she might get pulled into this.

As it turned out, it was exactly the wrong thing for me to do. I had gone out the back way, made my way into this cute little park near her house and started dancing. I don't think I even knew why, I just danced and brought the wind to me. I guess it was to make me feel better, maybe it was just nerves though. I can't remember, but it was a pretty good thing that I did.

Turned out that fire and water were both hanging around. Two fire, three water, and we met there. Actually, they met me, I was lost in the dance, not paying much attention to anything else. I mean, I didn't even flinch when the fires went insane and starting trying to torch me. And then the waters got ma-

Oh, you know fires. They think they can just hurl a fireball or whatever they call it at something that annoys them and make it go away. It just doesn't work like that. Oh and don't even get me started about the waters and their high and mighty-

Of course I wasn't hit. You really know nothing about us, do you? When a wind caster dances, they are in the eye of a tornado. The tornado just comes, it's the form the wind takes when we summon it.

Back to the story, there were other people there too. Five others, not of any of our elements. The earth casters, as it turned out, wanted complete dominance and decided they wanted to get rid of all the other elements and, let me tell you, when earth gets mad you do not want to be there, I'll tell you. Earth just split beneath us all, not even a tremor of warning. I think.

To tell you the truth, I didn't even notice until I lost my footing. I only got a moment to look around to figure out what was going on. Saw the five earth casters drop dead from the effort of opening up a chasm that large. And so deep too, but you look like you're running out of coffee. Let me get you some mo-

All right, I won't. Are you sure you want to hear about this? Only if you're sure.

Don't rush bad memories to the mind of an old woman. All right, after seeing the earths die before my eyes, I fell into the chasm. Luckily, the wind was still there to slow and direct my fall to a hand hold that I hung from for about two hours in shock.

I'm getting to that. You see, the fires and waters weren't so lucky. One of the fires had been working on hurling another flame or whatever and it had gone down instead, right to the bottom of the pit. I watched as they slowly burned to death, heard them scream, and the hardest was the eerie song of one of the water casters, trying so desperately to put the flame out and drawing from a source of water that was not there. Still haunts me.

Are you all right dear? You look a little pale. Don't tell me you see them and hear them to. That's just what that Joh boy said just before he ran away. Are you sure you want me to continue?

When I finally got my nerves back, I tried climbing out. Difficult thing to do when you took off your shoes to dance and all of the surfaces were practically flat and the good hand and foot holds were sharp as hell. My arms were covered in blood from my hands from that climb and my feet weren't doing much better. I went slowly, one hand at a time, most of the time grabbing onto a pebble with one finger and pulling myself up with that. As you can probably imagine, someone as inexperienced as I was did not last long. Especially when the top part of the wall crumbles down and hits you in the face.

The fall was pretty "harsh" indeed. Straight back, but it was only thirty feet or so and I managed to land on my feet. On a charred body too, but I decided not to go into shock over that now. I could remember it later and start screaming about it after I go out of the caves. Then there were the rocks too, that did not help at all.

I did manage to get out eventually. The fire casters were carrying knives and I used those to get out. Cut myself a couple times in the process too, but I was stupid. Kept trying to wipe sweat off my face with the blades in my hands.

When I got out I screamed. And ran. Spent the next three years in hiding wherever I could manage, stealing what I needed to survive, watching casters kill each other, back stab each other, take up arms and stage an all out war where none of the sides could really win. Fire and water hated each other and wind, while earth worked without hatred to lessen the numbers of the other elements, not realizing that every time they opened up a chasm that got rid of enough of us, they ended up losing numbers themselves. It was horrifying.

I met with them while I was hiding. Many times. They would try to do whatever they could to get rid of me; I would do whatever I could to defend myself. I didn't always defend myself enough, though, so I'd get burned, momentarily drowned, hit with shrapnel, whatever they deemed fit. It was a hard time for us all, all of us forced out of our homes and fighting like street gangs with weapons more powerful and unpredictable than guns. Insanity, pure and utter insanity.

Then we found out why the whole meeting years ago had deteriorated to this. What else could it have been but your all seeing government who controls the whole damn world. There was someone missing at the meeting originally, someone very few of us had even heard about. The spirit caster. What in the world he does, I don't even know, but he was supposed to make sure things didn't come to this and it did and all because some secret organization, or maybe the FBI, decided to withhold him from the meeting.

Anyway, the government came in and played hero, picking the casters off one by one. Apparently we were a threat to their power, so we had to go and they had organized it all. And now no one knows anything about the casters at all, the war is only mentioned in a few textbooks and remains now in the memories of those here locked in the land of the living. Like I am.

I think it's time that you should go. It's getting late and I must-

I said, it's time for you to go. You got your story, you know why Crazy Shea is a deformed wreck! You know about the scars, the burns, everything you could possibly want. I think you should leave.

I will tell no more people of this tale, you tell them all that. No more people coming by here. I can't keep doing this, it hurts my heart to keep reliving it. Just forget I'm here.

Let me fade into the darkness with my memories as though I never existed.

I never existed.

~*~

Frederick Killeen returned to Crazy Shea's house the next day, wondering about her last words before she had shut the door. They did not make any sense to him, none at all, but he could not get them out of his mind. What would it accomplish if she was forgotten? Absolutely nothing. The woman was probably just lonely. He could help her with that. Besides, he still had questions, like why the water caster had been singing if dancing was how you casted an element? And why had he seen those people and heard their screams when she had spoken of them?

As he turned the corner, he looked up the hill and found nothing. Her house was gone. He went closer, trying to detect some since of anything, but there was nothing. It was as though she… never existed.