The Cross of the Elements: Prologue

Claudius Ambrozius

I was absolutely drenched running through the pouring rain... How stupid of me not to take my car! Honestly, Alice's house is not that far from mine. It was a lovely day when I left the house and yet now here it is, the flood! Gosh, there's a construction site on the short way round so I suspect the long way is the only option. When I saw that roadblock why didn't I go back to take the car? Really, I was never a man of thinking ahead. Would I get caught in the flood? No, of course not, the sky was clear. And by the time I was halfway up the long way, there comes the rain! Ugh...
I rang the doorbell. A red-haired woman with brown eyes, lovely skin and no freckles answered.
"Whatever took you so long! Golly, you're absolutely drenched!" was Alice's hospitable welcome.
"They roadblocked the short way."
"I get it now. Claudius, why the heck didn't you get the car?!" I shrugged.
"Oops." I had called Alice, Peter, James and Diana to discuss something with them.
"Alright Claudius. What do you want to tell us?" inquired Peter when we all sat down on the couch.
"Your children," I began while taking out a box, "Give them what's inside here when they turn 10 in the form of an accessory and tell them to always keep those accessories with them."
"What's in the box?" asked Diana. At that I took the lid off the box. Four jewels sparkled inside. One shaped like a flame, another shaped like a leaf, another shaped like a drop of water and the last one shaped like a tornado.
"You don't mean..." stammered James.
"Yes I mean," I responded. "The new generation of holders is here!" Of course, Alice, Peter, James and Diana all knew what that meant. By that time, the rain stopped and they all started picking a jewel. Alice picked the flame-shaped, James picked the drop-shaped, Diana picked the tornado-shaped, and Peter took the remaining leaf-shaped. I shut the lid on the empty box and went towards the door.
"I thank you for your hospitality, Alice!" I said facing the door. I put my hand on the knob. "See you all soon."
I turned the knob and went down the street. All of our children were born on the same day, same month, same year. They were all 6-and-a-half. In 3-and-a-half years' time, things were about to take a bend...