Chapter 2: Elemental Properties

Chapter 2: Elemental Properties

Bright sunlight fell in streams between navy colored curtains. The light hit the sleeping Moogle's pink fur and spread throughout the room. The Moogle strained to open its sleepy little eyes, and then squinted in the light under no control of its own, causing it to lose its balance and fall out of its hammock onto the floor. The loud "Plop" noise initiated the new day for the young man laying in his bed.

The blankets rustled a bit, then a yawn was emitted from underneath. Off flew the blankets, and the young man stood up wearing only his under bottoms. The Moogle's wings twitched as it laid on the floor. They began to flutter, carrying the Moogle into the air. The ball of pink fuzz said almost excitedly "Master, would you like me to make some breakfast, kupo?" The young man, still drowsy, opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt. He then replied "I'm not hungry, Moogle. Thanks though." He pulled up his pants and slid his arms into his shirt. The Moogle hovered over to the dresser to push the drawer shut while the young man walked to the bed. He looked down at the puppet that sat on top of the closed box next to the wall near his bed. He snatched up the controller which sat on the floor and walked outside in his bare feet. As the door closed behind him, he began walking down the path from his Mog House and emerged in the city itself. He looked around at the great empire, and wondered "How did I get so far away from my homeland without getting homesick..." He made his way through the alley and into the markets. Walking over to the first shop on his left, he waved to the shop keeper while tightly grasping the remote control in his other hand. The shop keeper waved back and he yelled "Hey there, how are you today?" the young man belted back "I'm great, how about you?", the shop keeper grined to him as the young man walked passed and said "Couldn't be better! -- We just got a whole new variety of stock in this morning!" The young man continued walking as he finished the chat up with "Good, then maybe you can pay me back that fifteen thousand gil you owe me!" with a slight chuckle in his voice. The shop keeper blushed and went back to helping a customer.

The man arrived at the city guard, still barefoot. He walked up to the guard and asked "Excuse me sir, do you know when Raven will be on duty?" the guard looked angry and pushed the young man in the chest, he stumbled back on one foot and the guard shouted "I am no..'sir'..!" the young man laughed and assured the guard "Oh come on, you know I was just playing." The guard removed the wrap of her turban and twirled it around her arm. With the turban gone, her long black hair flowed downward and her green eyes shown so vivid that it made the grass in the great plateau of La Theine look dull. The young man smiled at her, and she smiled back. Then he asked "Raven, I was wondering if you could help me. I have this remote control, but I'm not quite sure how to work it, and I don't want to break it before I even get to use it." Raven looked at him hesitantly, but eventually asked in a soft quiet voice "Aura, is this what I think it is?" she continued to glare, as he answered "Raven... I have to. I promised." She looked down to the sand colored stone ground beneath them and sighs. "Raven... please help me." the man almost begged. Raven then looked up to the sky, trying to avoid eye contact with Aura, but gave in and extended her free hand with a sighful expression on her face. Aura smiled and handed over the controller.

She ran her fingers over the symbols covering each button, and suddenly her head shot up, with her eyes at the sky once more. Her pupils began to dialate, but they didn't stop... they vanished into an endless white abyss, leaving nothing behind. Her radiant eyes, now void of green, glowed of sheer white and the pebbles on the ground around them started to rattle and rumble, signifying what was to come... her hair lost all sense of gravity and each individual strand rose into the air seemingly on its own. The ground shook in the vicinity, and a violet light pulsed from her body with a fiery looking aura of the same hugue around her. Raven's voice whispered, without her lips moving... "I see it... I... see... the divine one... ...destiny... linked... I see... a wheel.... a wheel of power... terrestrial elements... I feel it... two intertwined souls... the greatest power... to ever exist..."

A final pulse of energy was emitted from Ravens glowing body in the form of a violet wave and her vivid green eyes begin to fade back in. The earth calmed, and the light around her body dissipated. Aura looked at her with fear in his eyes, but not fear of her power, only of the power she had spoken of. She looked down at the controller and thrusted it into Aura's hands. "My visions are never wrong. But this time... I... ... ...Even I don't believe in my own power this time. What I saw... it just doesn't seem possible, Aura." He looked at her and then to the controller. "I'm sorry Aura, that is all the help I can give." Raven informed him before he replied with "I understand, thank you Raven. I think you were more help than either of us realize." "Take care of yourself, Brother." Raven said while rewrapping her turban.

Aura continued to stare at the different colored symbols on the controller as he walked down the path to his Mog House. He thought to himself "Wheel of power... Terrestrial elements... why do these words stand out to me?" He came to his Mog House door and began to reach for the knob, but just then, the words made sense, as did the symbols. "Wheel of power... Terrestrial elements... Power of the Elemental Wheel?" He ran his fingers over the symbols again... "Red... Flame... Fire..." he said as he continued to the next button... "Cobalt... Droplet... Water..." It made more and more sense to him as he continued. "Yellow... Bolt... Lightning... I understand now." He slid his finger over the symbol resembling a snowflake. He gently pressed down on the Cyan colored button. Aura smiled and began to turn the Mog House door knob but suddenly stopped... "Why does the knob feel so cold?" He thought to himself before he continued turning it. He pushed the door open, but it got jammed and a frigid gust of air was exhaled through the opening from the small one room Mog House. Squinting his eyes, he forced his way into the tiny opening and finds himself in a foot of snow. The roaring sounds of a blizzard were almost painful to his ears. He shouted for his Moogle, but not even he could hear his own voice. He dug through the snow while fighting against the icy winds being generated from nowhere. Finally he found a bubble of warm air in the middle of the snow. He reaches in the white powder and pulls out his Moogle, curled up in a ball with a sphere of Moogle Magic protecting him from the harsh blizzard swirling about in the Mog House. Aura made his way back to the front door with the Moogle Magic sphere in hand, forcing his way back outside. He fell to the ground shivering with his now sphere-less Moogle in his arms as the door slammed shut behind him. 

Aura opened his eyes and the night had taken over, "How long have I been asleep?" he thought to himself. He looked around and noticed he was no longer shivering. He stood up and looked around and noticed his Moogle and the controller were both no where in sight. He stepped up to his Mog House door, still fearful of whatever had happened earlier that day. Slowly reaching for the door knob, attempting to anticipate what he may find inside... he began to turn the knob, but the door swung open, startling Aura. The Moogle hovered in the doorway with the fireplace flames warmly flickering behind it.

"Master! It's about time you woke up. You've been sleeping out there all day, kupo!" the furry pink mole announced. Aura walked into the Mog House and noticed it looked exactly as it did before he left that morning, or so he thought. The Moogle zipped through the air right passed Aura and landed in front of the fire, it picked up a pan that had been sitting in the flames and began throwing all kinds of food on it, using no apparent recipe. "Master, are you hungry? I'm sure you're starved, kupo." "Maybe a little something. Thanks Moogle." 

He sat on his bed, with his hands covering his face. He ran his fingers over his forehead and through his hair before opening his eyes. Looking down at the floor, he caught something different out of the corner of his eye. "Moogle... where is the puppet?" The Moogle stopped his cooking and floated over to Aura. "Master.." The Moogle began. "Look in the closet, kupo." 

Aura stared at the Moogle, confused. He stood up and walked over to the small closet door, he opened it and there the puppet was, sitting on a small box. "Moogle, why is it in the clos..." Before he could finish, the puppet's head sprang upward, and its body popped up and onto its feet as if controlled by some other force. Aura jumpped backward and looked shocked. The Moogle floated up behind Aura and peaked over his shoulder "It's been doing weird stuff all day. I finally had to use Moogle Magic to lock it in the closet, kupo." The puppet began to take a step forward but Aura slammed the closet door shut and took a step back. "Where is the controller, Moogle?" "I haven't seen it anywhere, Master. Do you think it got lost in the blizzard, kupo?" "If it had gotten lost in the blizzard, it would still be in the house then." "Maybe it is still in the house then, kupo."

Aura started to dig through shelves and drawers, into boxes and under furniture. "I can't find it anywhere, Moogle." "Did you check in the closet, kupo?" Aura turned from looking at the moogle to glaring at the closet door. He thought to himself "It's just a puppet... I should be able to control it, like she did." He stood up and walked over to the closet door. Slowly, he opened the door, and he saw the puppet still standing there with one foot out as if about to take a step. Aura kneeled down and looked at the puppet. Its metallic shell and long stringy arms and legs made it look like anything but a threat. 

Aura reached for it and picked it up. It felt as stiff as a statue to him. He turned to the Moogle but before he could say anything, the puppet started squirming and kicking. In an echoing voice the puppet yelled "Put me down, you... you... YOU! I said get your hands... off me!" Aura held the puppet as far away from himself as possible and took a few steps back as if he were trying to evade the kicks. "Moogle, help me out here!" Aura shouted. The Moogle floated from the fireplace up to the puppet, pulled out a pan and bonked it on the head. Suddenly the puppet fell lifeless. "What is wrong with this thing, Moogle!?" Aura screamed. "Puppets are not supposed to move on their own, are they!?" The Moogle grabbed the puppet from Aura's extended arms and floated over to the bed, carrying it from the metal rings that were conveniently attached to the back of its metal collar. "Master, I believe this is an Automaton, kupo." "What's the difference?" Aura asks. "Marionettes require a puppeteer to control it with strings. I believe Automaton's have a mechanical core and memory chip that allows them their own artificial intelligence, kupo."

The Moogle now on the bed with the puppet in front of it, tapped the metal head of the Automaton with its ear up against it in order to hear the clanking echo inside the puppets frame. Aura walked over and sat on the bed next to it. "Moogle, if they can move and think on their own, why did it come with a controller?" "You got me there, kupo!" Aura walked to the bed and lifted up the Automaton before he shook it a little, its frail looking arms and legs swayed back and forth. "What a curious object. I wonder how people came to build and control something so... mysterious." Aura said while laying the Automaton down on the floor. 

He turned around and walked back to the closet, then began rustling through the boxes on the floor. "Aha!" he exclaims as he pulled something out from between two small boxes. "The Automaton must have grabbed it while I was out cold." He held up the controller in front of him and walked back over to the bed. After sitting down, he looked at the symbols once more. "Master, what if that device you have, gives the Automaton orders much like a General gives his armymen, kupo?" Aura continued off of the Moogles thought "...and it can choose to obey the orders or not, just like a real person. Moogle, you're a genius." The Moogle blushed and floated down to the Automaton on the floor. "Maybe it took the device to prevent anyone from giving it orders again, kupo." Aura looked down at the Automaton, and thought to him silently "I understand how you feel, Automaton."