Chapter 70:

Pythia POV:

We decided that it was best I take turns with each carrier instead of throwing myself in to different things all at once. "Are you ready?" Atsila asked. "As ready as I will ever be." I replied. Tye was sitting with Apollo keeping him occupied while I trained. "Open your hand like this, concentrate your anger in to fire, picture it in your head." Atsila said, I watched as his eyes turned a bright red and a little ball of fire appeared in his hand. I took a deep breath and opened my hand, palm up and thought of my burn marks I now have, how angry I felt knowing those damn elders are responsible for it. I could feel my hand start to heat up. Don't put too much thought into this. I can do this. I kept picturing me coming face to face with them and the more I imagined it the hotter my hand was getting and in the blink of an eye a small ball of fire started to appear. "Keep doing what you are doing." Atsila said.

I kept those thoughts in my head except I pictured this little ball getting bigger and it did. I watched in amazement, it quickly vanished when my hand started to actually burn. I jerked my hand back and waved it around until the fire went away. When I looked at my palm there was a slight red tint to it. "Damnit." I muttered. "That is your limit. Don't go any bigger than that for now, this will take practice Pythia." Atsila assured me. "Now your other hand." Atsila said. I didn't have to put much thought into it, this time it came a little more natural but when it became a decent size I could feel my hand start to burn. "Now try this." Atsila said. I watched him create a ball in each hand and then bring his hands together, keeping them both out but letting the fire join together before moving one of his hands. He moved the fire from one hand to the other. 

I looked over my hands to make sure the red went away and it actually did. I raised both of my hands and started off with a small fire in each hand, maybe if I combine them early this will be easier to handle. When I brought my hands together and let the fire touched it combined into the size that started to burn my hands. I took one hand away and could feel it start to burn so I quickly changed hands. I rotated my hand around letting the fire roam around each hand. When I tried to make it bigger it became too hot and I released it. Disappointment filled me. I had hoped I could go a little bit bigger but I guess I was wrong. "Don't be too hard on yourself Pythia. Practice makes perfect." Atsila said. "Is it my turn yet?" Buran asked. He was oddly happy and very energetic. Atsila walked off letting Buran stand in his place. "Wind is my favorite, obviously. You can do many things with it but we need to get you to tap into it first. Have you ever been in a tornado?" Buran asked. 

What an odd question. "I have never been in one but I have been around one if that makes sense." I replied. "It makes perfect sense. That is what we are going to try first. It is the easiest I think." Buran said. He stood nearly shoulder to shoulder with me and I felt the air around me shift. "Think of yourself as a feather, very light weighted, easy to move. Picture the wind bending to move the way you want it to." Buran whispered. I rolled my shoulders a few times, getting myself to relax a bit more. I tried to picture what the wind would look like and I was unsuccessful. I could feel a small breeze against my skin before it went away. "Take your time. Don't push too hard." Buran whispered. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, this time I felt the wind a little better before it started to swirl around. It wasn't too intense and I caught myself breathing a little harder than I should have. 

I can do this, I just need to push a little harder. I could slowly feel the force behind the wind before I started feeling a sharp pain in my chest that made me gasp. I folded my hands over my chest, "Breath, you are fine. Look at me." Buran said. Why did I feel like air was sucked out of my lungs? "That must be your limit for now. Let's try something else." Buran said. "Pythia, are you okay?" Tye asked. "I- I'm fine, just felt like all the air was pulled out of me." I replied, gaining my breath back. "Okay, let's try something else." Buran said. He looked around before he picked up a small stick. "Try pushing this off my hands." Buran said. I looked at the little stick that was laid out in his hands, I pictured myself pushing it back a little. It felt like a rush shot through me before the stick flew off his hands. My mouth fell open. That felt a lot stronger than before and I feel fine. "That was great! Do it again but let me find something a little bigger." Buran said as he looked around.

We practiced this a little longer than we should have and I was perfectly okay with it. Bruan taught me how to use the wind to throw a little fire ball with more force behind it. Although I didn't have anyone to test it on right now I had a feeling that it was going to become very useful later on. "Alright It's my turn with her." Terra said, walking up to us. She was like mother earth, her entire aura screamed peace. She was outstandingly beautiful. "Earth is easier to tap into since you are a witch and use earthly herbs." Terra said. That actually makes sense, we do use herbs like that and we have always respected mother nature because you would be a fool if you didn't. "Let's try to create a wall around us. Focus on the soil, soft and smooth. Gentle to the touch, you must gently pull it upwards, each little dirt molecule breaking apart." Terra said. I did exactly what she said and it came easier to me than I thought it would. I watched as a small square shape foundation started to rise up. It didn't go very far but at least it was a start. "That was very good! How do you feel? We don't want to over push you today." Terra said, looking over me. 

"I feel fine actually. No pain at all." I replied. "Maybe you will have more of a pull to earth than the other elements then." Terra said. I tried again, pulling it a little farther up than the last one and still didn't really feel any pain which made me excited. "Now, use your fire and your wind and surround it with fire." Terra said. "But I don't want to damage it." I replied. "I admire your respect but, as long as you truly don't want to damage it then it won't. The elements listen to those who control them. Remember that." Terra replied. The last thing I wanted to do was damage mother earth. I did as she told me and I started feeling irritations but it wasn't too much for me to handle. When I released the fire I watched as he swirled around the wall, I walked closer to take a better look and saw that it was just surrounding it and nothing more. It didn't touch any of the grass or the roots and that made me very happy. "Now this is where water comes in." Anahita said from beside me.

"Water is easy to manipulate, you don't need very much of it to use it in a powerful way. You already know how to create a ball. Just let the smell of water fill your senses and it'll come to you." Anahita said. Her piercing blue eyes would be intimidating if I didn't actually know her but she was right, water came to me just as easily as earth did. "Just drop them in a line over the wall and it'll drown out the fire." Anahita said as she walked around the little wall. I could feel her eyes on me with every move I made. One by one I dropped a medium sized ball of water in a line from edge to edge, slowly the fire started to go out. To say I was happy about this would be an understatement. I didn't feel tired at all and maybe this means I can use these elements more often than the other two. I have other ways of using fire and wind but not earth and water so maybe this is like a balance between them. 

Davina walked up to me and I was slightly nervous. "I am honestly not sure how much of this element you will be able to use. It is incredibly hard for those who do not carry the element themselves." Davina said. "If I am being honest I don't think I want to try to use it." I replied. "That is your choice. A wise one if I may add." Davina said. "How come?" I asked. "Because those who don't truly have the element have to pull it from their soul, each time they do they lose parts of their soul until it is completely gone along with their life." Davina replied. I felt the blood leave my face. I could understand people using it in extremely dire situations but we had Alley should anything get like that and we have natural ways of healing someone. "What does it feel like?" I asked. "It's like a constant feeling of butterflies in your belly, it is joy. Pure joy." Davina replied. I could see that, when it was used on me I felt very light and happy. I also felt a wave of calm rush through me.

"You are doing better than you think Pythia. This is about learning your limits with this. All of this is just as new to us as it is to you." Davina said. "Earth and water seem to be easier for me to handle." I replied. "That is because you are closer to those already. Fire and wind can be very tricky and dangerous if you are not careful with it. You just need to practice but do not push yourself over what you can handle. You are aware of what can happen if you do, yes?" Davina asked. A shiver ran down my spine. "Yes, I do and that is the last thing that I want to happen." I replied. "Smart girl. We have shown you how to tap in to them now it is up to you to practice with them. You can always summon us if you truly need us." Davina said. "Never be afraid to call on us. We are here to help as much as we can." Atsila said with a smile. "I really appreciate you guys helping me with this. If I feel like I need help then I will call on you, I promise." I replied. One by one they all disappeared leaving me with Tye and a very playful Apollo. 

I walked over and sat beside them and started practicing with fire first. I needed to be closer to it for me to wield it better. "It will be easier as the days go by." Tye said. "I know, I am just afraid that I don't have many days to perfect it.'' I replied. "Even if you don't know enough to do what needs to be done. This isn't falling on just you." Tye said. "I know it's not and I have come to see that asking for help isn't as bad as I thought it was. It took me a while to see that it is okay. I lean on others when it is needed." I replied with a smile remembering how stubborn I used to be when it came to help. Now I know I have such a big family and amazing people that have surrounded me and I couldn't be more thankful for them.