Countervail

Chapter 6

"Blessed is this, this union. Crying tears of gold, like lemonade"

Foxfire stared up at the massive, hidden home within the thick trees of a mountainous slope. With the darkened cover of rain and overcast clouds, the home had an eerie omniscience about it, and was darkened considerably from view. But this had to be it—where else could her trace have led her? It was too late to turn around and contemplate it for later; she had already knocked on the heavy, wooden door. She was shivering, even through her thick jacket, gloves and scarf. She had yet to get used to actually feeling cold again, ever since she gave up the Element to Meo. But this would be worth it.

Gallissy had never mentioned this place, so Fox figured it had to have come around after her death—she and her sister were very close despite their brother breaking the family apart. It was still a large house, blending into the mountain scenery with wooden beams, structures and walls around the tall windows. What made that such a common sight in places like that?

She was happy that she finally found the place, for she had taken several wrong turns, lost the trace several times and just about quit after she found an abandoned house at the end of her sensory-path. Perhaps she hadn't practiced as much as she should have with sensory-paths, and it was obvious with how much bad luck she had been having. It was something she had heard Torren mention once: the unique ability that any Elemental could do if they worked hard enough at it; being able to find anyone no matter where they were. Of course, you had to have met the person, or at least know who they were in order for it to work.

Foxfire had mostly practiced secretly, using people about the house as her targets without their acknowledgement. Only Torren had noticed and pestered her so much about it until she told him what she was trying to do. He had laughed and then explained how to do it properly, not blinking an eye over why she would want to learn a skill like that—well, figuratively. Torren was actually partially blind, only able to physically see when he made direct eye contact with another human; a side-effect of his Element. Apparently it was a painful, excruciating experience due to the rushing, extreme torrent that would run through his mind about the target, and so he kept his hair nappy and over his eyes to avoid accidentally triggering his Psyche.

She snapped her attention to when the door slowly opened after what seemed like forever, to reveal the exact person she had been looking for. The androgynous person was dressed in a medium-length black dress, oddly considering the cold. Their dark hair matched the blackness of the velvety fabric, and reached down no further than their chin. Chilly blue eyes met hers, sending off an aura of disturbance behind their placid expression.

"Hinekko," Fox whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"What on Earth are you doing here?" the person answered, stepping aside and nearly pulling the girl they hadn't seen in years into the warm terrace. They shut the door promptly, making no hospitable move that was normally expected of a host or hostess to do. It wasn't that Foxfire was an unpleasant sight to them; it was just that it could only mean bad news. They had known each other previously, but like everything else, their relationship fell away after Gallissy's death. Why the Ice Element hadn't gone to the older Hinekko, only the Ice Elemental's family members knew, but Gallissy had always hinted that her brother favored her over their older sibling.

Hinekko had never really interacted with the Element family much, feeling snubbed after her father chose to hand it down to his only son instead of the eldest child: them. Overall they didn't mind; they had learned from watching him that it wasn't some glorious title to hold; especially with such an inner struggle that he had. He and their father never exactly got along. Hinekko knew pretty much everyone's face, and a few names, but knew Elements like the back of their own hand. It was expected of Elemental children to learn about them before ever being handed an Element anyways.