Page 15 of Elemasters

Still, he had no choice but to step inside…

He reached for the shower curtain with a trembling hand, pulled it back and stepped into the water. The moment it hit his bare skin, he recoiled like he’d been shot, even though it didn’t hurt at all. Instead of pain, he felt incredibly energized; like he’d just chugged an entire mug of espresso. His skin buzzed, his pulse quickened, and as he focused on the feeling, the veins in his forearms turned as black as tar- just like the Black Tortoise constellation.

The water stopped hitting his skin, and for a moment, Dustin thought the shower shut itself off or something. But as he looked up he realized something far stranger had happened…

The water was… floating around him. Forming an orb like a force field around his entire body. His first instinct was to scream, but he had no idea what the hell would happen if he did that; the shower might literally explode. So instead, he closed his eyes and tried his best to slow his breathing and the rapid beating of his heart. It took a while, but eventually his heart rate returned to normal, his veins lightened to their normal pale blue, scarcely visible beneath his skin, and with that, the orb fell fruitlessly into the bathtub before disappearing down the drain.

He exhaled, quietly relieved that he didn’t accidentally flood the house, but still buzzing with the residual adrenaline. Somehow it felt real now, as if being magically transported to a ghost palace (twice) wasn’t enough to do the trick.

Now it wasn’t abstract constellations, or cryptic omens… now it was tangible. It was liberating. It was fucking terrifying.

It took a while for Dustin to finally calm down and get his shit together enough to head out of the house; he was running a bit late, but if he ran for it, he could still make it to school early enough for a few laps and practice dives.

As he headed into the kitchen, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he stopped at the sight of someone he wasn’t expecting to see…

His mom.

As a curator at a huge museum in Seattle, Charlotte Fujiwara-Ying was like… never home by the time her sons woke up for school. Ever.

Yet there she was, sitting at the kitchen table in her maroon pantsuit, sipping a cup of coffee and looking over a spread of papers and photos of artifacts. She glanced up at him, and nodded as if she already knew what question was coming.

“I know, I’m a bit late getting on the road,” she said in her smooth, somewhat deep voice, “I just needed to organize this portfolio before I head out,”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Dustin replied with a shrug, “it’s nice to see you in professional mode,”

She chuckled.

“Yeah? Well then you and Christian should come to the opening of the exhibit I’m working on in a few months. It’s all about Qin Dynasty artifacts; a new chamber was recently discovered in Qin Shi Huang’s tomb, and I’ve managed to secure some of the new findings for one weekend only,”

Dustin’s throat went uncomfortably dry.

Qin Dynasty artifacts. Qin Shi Huang.

The same era Sima Yao was from… the same emperor he’d once served…

“Y-yeah, that sounds… really cool. I doubt Chris will be into it, but if he won’t let me take the car, I’ll hop on a bus and make sure I’m there for your big night,”

“Nonsense, you’ll ride with me,” she waved him off, “just like you will right now if you want to get to school at your regular time,”

Dustin almost couldn’t believe his ears; she rarely offered him a ride anywhere these days, assured that her 18-year-old boys could handle themselves. But she was right; if he wanted to have time for practice, he couldn’t refuse the offer.

“T-thanks, I really appreciate it,”

“Just be glad I’m not chastising you for leaving the house without eating anything… again,” she shot him an ice-cold look that thawed just as quickly as it hit him, “swimming on an empty stomach can’t be good for you,”

“I’ll grab breakfast at the cafeteria after, I promise,”

His mother nodded, quickly filed all of her paperwork into her briefcase, and grabbed her keys.

“Time to transform and roll out,” she called as she clacked her way across the kitchen tile in her heels.

“Did you just… quote Transformers?” Dustin giggled as he followed her outside. She simply gave a sly wink and hopped into her minivan; a holdover from the era where she was playing taxi for Chris and all his basketball teammates. That felt like a lifetime ago, though it was only Freshman year.

As they rode in silence, Dustin felt something bubbling in his chest. That feeling; the one that was still foolish enough to want his parents’ approval. It always dredged its way up from the depths whenever he was in his mom’s company, but never with his dad; maybe it was some part of him hoping that the bits of warmth she showed him would burst into an open flame of affection someday…

So, against his better judgement, he posed the question.

“Hey, okaasan” he began, as if calling her ‘mom’ in Japanese would somehow soften her up… though it never really worked, “you know that the Regional Swim Meet is this Friday? You should totally come out and watch, if you can get off work I mean. Bailey will be there, and she told me she made a huge sign. Maybe you could make those yummy manju buns for the team?”