Children of Helen Nature | Teen Ink

Children of Helen Nature

May 21, 2015
By BenFenty BRONZE, Groton, Connecticut
BenFenty BRONZE, Groton, Connecticut
3 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Almost isn't enough." Teen Titans


Part 1: Oh Brother

 

Helen Nature, better known as Mother Nature, has many children; each one given the power to control their element. For example, Kathy has the power to control water and Erik has the power to control sand. The eldest of her children were 2 brothers (born a year apart), Jim Ember, with the power to control fire and Harold Ice, with the power to control ice, snow, hail and cold temperatures.

Jim was the most responsible of his siblings; always did his chores, always helped those in need, and even though he was a kid who barely knew how to use his powers, he always used them to help people, never to harm. Everyone loved Jim because he was such a good kid; everyone that is, except Harold, who envied him because he got all the attention.

They all lived in Helen's house, which has often called the House in the Sky by the people who live around it because it was on top of a mountain. The house was big and green like the leaves on a tree and not many people come to visit, but when they do, they're always greeted by a short old woman with grey hair and dressed like the forest.

Every now and again, Helen would allow her children to test how much they've improved in controlling their powers with various trials, ranging from being very simple to extremely advanced. Quincy Stone once had to lift a bolder twice his size with his mind when he was 8; he only kept it afloat for 3 seconds. When Erik was told to add more sand to the beach at age 5, he rolled his eyes and did it without even trying.

But once in a while, Helen would supervise over duels between the siblings to test their powers in combat. Long story, short, they live in a world were monsters, evil warlocks, and other forces of evil and sin are very common. Anyways, Helen would make sure that her children didn't kill each other and would call each duel to an end when one of them is unable to continue. It wasn't about winning or losing, it was about how much they've improved.

Jim had the most duels out of them because the one who challenged him the most was Harold. Harold was persistent on beating his brother and despite having more control of his powers in his late teens, he still wasn't able to beat Jim in a duel. Take their last duel together; this was the last duel Jim had to take before he became a master of his element.

"You ready, buddy," Jim asked Harold before the duel started.

"I'm always ready," Harold replied with a crossed face.

After Helen gave the word, Harold turned his fingers into ice claws and charged at Jim. Jim swayed to the right, but Harold swung at him upon seeing his maneuver. Jim blocked his attack, along with several more that followed; then Harold summoned and ice sword and swung it a Jim. Jim then blocked the attack with a fire wall. Harold then backed up and blast a gust of snow at him; Jim then blast fire to retaliate, to which Harold raised a wall of ice. Jim then created a massive fire ball, and fired it at the wall, causing Harold to fall back.

"That's enough," Helen said, "Harold's done."

Jim then walked over to Harold and held out his hand to help him up.

"Better luck next time, buddy," he said with a smile.

Harold just glared at him and got up on his own; then he stormed off to his room and slammed the door. 30 minutes later, Jim knocked on his door to check on him.

"Go away and leave me alone!" Harold shouted.

"Come on, Harold," Jim insisted, "what's wrong?"

"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

" Alright, I'll give you some space. If you want to talk, you know where to find me."

3 days passed and Harold still didn't come out of his room. Jim became worried about him and told Helen about it; she then called Harold into the living room. There was no answer; so she went up to his room and stood in front of the door.

"Harold, what is going on?" she asked.

"I'm not good enough!" Harold shouted, "Now leave me alone!"

"Harold, come out that room right now!"

"I don't want too!"

Helen had a key to every door in the house, so she pulled on out and unlocked Harold's door. Upon entering the room, she saw Harold sitting in a corner on the other side of the room. Helen then walked over and bent down to his level.

"Harold, why are you so upset?" she asked him.

"Why are you even talking to me?" he growled, "I'm clearly not your favorite."

"I have no favorites."

"What about Jim? He does his chores, he helps people, he's obedient, and he has the most control of his powers. Not to mention he never gets in trouble."

"That doesn't mean I love him more than any of my other children. If I did, that wouldn't be fair to everyone else. Instead of being jealous of Jim, why don't you look to him for guidance?"

Harold thought about it for a moment; maybe he was being a bit harsh on Jim and should see him as a role model rather than an enemy. So, he understood and nodded to his mother. They then went down stairs to talk things over with Jim; hence forth, they decided to work together in battling evil; that is, until one day...

 

Part 2: The War has Begun

 

Over the past 10 years, Jim and Harold worked together in stopping the forces of evil from taking over or otherwise destroying the planet. Whether it be a serpent dragon 30 miles long or Traxton, the great warlock of the South, Jim and Harold took them down one by one. Once, they even stopped a 5 story high behemoth with claws, fangs and red beady eyes that matched its fur.

Then, when they were in Fantania, they confronted they're sister, Martha Crystals, who was threatening to take over the city and the world because she felt she was above everyone else (even though she one of Helen's youngest daughters). Jim and Harold found her causing destruction to downtown; she was raising diamond pillars from the ground, causing many cars to be destroy and the roads to be cracked open.

"Martha!" Jim called to her, "What are you doing?"

"Making my palace," she said a smirk, "Why? You wanna help?"

"Oh Martha," Harold began, "You're such a pathetic little-"

"Hey now, what she's doing is wrong, but she's still family; and in our family, we don't use harsh words when we talk."

"But she-"

"I know, I know."

Martha then fired shards of quartz at them, to which they evaded. Jim then shot a blast of fire at her, which she blocked with a diamond wall. Harold ran around the wall and summoned an ice sword; he took a swing, but Martha blocked it crystalizing her arms. After several clashes, Martha diamond kicked Harold in the chest, sending him flying into the nearest building.

"Pathetic, huh?" she mocked him, "I prefer most powerful being on Earth, thank you."

Jim saw an opening and launched a fire punch at her; she ducked and diamond kicked at him. He dodged this and tripped her, making her fall on her back. Jim then held a battle pose, hoping that she'd surrender, but instead she kicked him in the shin, and when his guard was lowered, she punched him in the face, hurtling him into a diamond pillar.

"You know, you really shouldn't hold back like that," she said, "You'll get killed like-"

Before she could finish her taunt, she felt the temperature around her drop below zero.

"Wh-Wh-Why is it s-s-so c-c-cold?" she said shivering.

"Ice and cold temperatures are my specialties," Harold said, holding her hands toward her, "if you don't give up now, you'll freeze to death in a matter of minutes."

"P-P-P-P-P-Please...s-s-s-s-stop. I c-c-c-can't f-f-f-feel-"

"Maybe if you weren't so selfish, this wouldn't be happening to you."

"HAROLD, KNOCK IT OFF!!!" Jim shouted from behind him, "You're killing your sister!"

Harold dropped his arms and Martha laid on the ground in a ball, shivering as if she was wearing summer cloths in the middle of winter (it's summer now).

"I was just trying to get her to stop," Harold said.

"She stopped when she begged for you to stop," Jim scolded, "That's your sister, remember?"

Jim then bent down and picked Martha up; because she was so cold, she passed out. Jim then heated his body to keep her warm as he took her home. Harold followed to apologize to her when she woke up; Martha eventually woke up a couple hours later in her room, covered in blankets and a bowl of warm soup next to her.

"What happened?" she asked herself.

"I'm sorry," Harold said from the other side of the room.

As soon as Martha saw him, she scream, "MOM! MOM!!"

Helen rushed in and said, "What is it honey? What's wrong?"

"H-H-Him?" she stuttered, pointing to Harold, "he tried to kill me. He tried to kill me."

"You tried to kill innocent people," Harold mouthed, "just saying."

"Out Harold!" Helen ordered.

"I was just trying to help."

"Trying to kill your sister isn't helping. Look at her! She scared of you now because you couldn't control yourself!"

"I did have-"

"Leave, now!"

Harold stormed out of the room and went back to Fantania where the mayor would present the rewards of heroism to him and Jim. At least one thing good would come out of today, he thought. Harold only showed up in time to see Jim give his acceptance speech.

"I just want to say," Jim began, "I really don't need this reward to tell me that I'm a hero. In fact, I didn't stop my sister by myself; it was my brother Harold that pinned her down. Though he was going a bit over board, I just want to say thank you, buddy; the job couldn't have been done without you. I also want to thank my Mom, Helen Nature, for giving me my gift and guiding me to use it for good. May peace be with you all, good night."

As the crowd cheered, Jim stepped off the stage and met up with Harold, who wasn't looking happy.

"Hey buddy," Jim said, "did you hear my speech?"

"No," Harold growled, "Security wouldn't let me on the stage, even if I was your brother."

Harold then saw Jim's medal and asked, "Where's my medal?"

"Oh, yeah," Jim said, "They said I could give it to you the next time I saw you."

"Then let me have it."

"Nope."

"What?!"

"You almost killed Martha, remember?"

"I apologized to her, didn't I?"

"I don't know, did you?"

"Just give me the medal."

"I can't; not until I know for sure that you apologized."

"I did, now give me the medal or else I'll take it from you."

"Why do you care so much about the medal?"

"I earned it fair and square."

"By almost killing your sister?"

"Yes-no, wait-"

"A true hero doesn't even think about taking another life to save another. You should be a shamed."

"I want that medal now!"

"I thanked you in my speech, isn't that enough?"

"No...it's not."

Harold then stormed off and didn't look back. He walked and walked and walked until he reached the top of Mt. Glacious, where he thought about how much he hated Jim.

"First he shows me up as a child," Harold said to himself, "Then he makes me the bad guy, and now he thinks I don't deserve to be a hero."

Harold then clenched his fists in rage as snow spun around him in a rigorous tornado.

"I'll kill him," he said as the summit shook, "I'll kill him!"

Harold then made his own army of monster and soldiers made of snow and ice as his voice got louder.

"I'LL KILL HIM!!!!" he shouted to the heavens as a storm cloud was created above his head.

Several days passed and Jim hadn't seen Harold anywhere. He was going to ask Helen, but today was the last day of her week long rest; so she couldn't be disturbed, not even for something important. Because she has a lot of responsibility as the protector of all of nature and raising her children, she barely has anytime to take a break; if she is disturbed once during her rest, all of nature would be out of balance.

Jim then decided to find Harold when all of a sudden, it started to snow in the summer. Jim looked up in the sky and saw a dark cloud eclipse the Sun; then he realized why this was happened.

"He can't be serious," he said, eye widen.

Then in the distance, monsters and soldiers made out of snow and ice were marching towards the city, ready for war.

 

Part 3: Jim vs. Harold

 

Jim gathered everyone of his siblings for a family meeting in the living room to discuss the threat at hand.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it," Jim began, "the threat that's coming this way is Harold, our own brother."

They all gasped and murmured to one another; then Peter Lightning asked, "So, we're gonna have to kill him?"

"What? No, he's family," Jim replied, "but we are going to stop him. All we need to do is work together as a team."

Kelly Light, the youngest daughter (age 11) raised her hand to ask a question.

"Yes, Kelly," Jim called on him.

"When is Harold going to get here?" she asked.

"At the pace he's going, we only have about 30 minutes to get ready."

"Alright," Quincy acknowledged, "what's the plan, Jimbo?"

"Okay, here's what we're going to do: Quincy, you, Peter and Saul [Thunder] take the big guys. Kelly, you and Nate [Magma] get the innocent people to safety while Carol [Wind], Andrew [Dirt], and Boris [Dark] form a barricade around the city. Erik, you and Kathy take on the soldiers and as for me, I'll try and convince Harold to stop all this before someone gets killed."

"Wait," Martha interjected, "what about ah-ah-ACHOO! me?"

"You’re still grounded and you have a cold, Martha," Jim told her, "You need to stay here."

"Okay."

"Now let’s move!"

Harold finally arrived in the city with his army, only to be attacked by his brothers and sisters. Quincy launched boulders and stone pillars at the big behemoths while Peter electrocuted them and Saul blast them with sound. The snow minions that reached the city limits were either blown away by Carol, turned into dirty snow because of Andrew, or were just destroyed by shadows courtesy of Boris. Erik slammed the ice soldiers with powerful sand attacks while Kathy wiped them all with water tentacles with the force of a tsunami.

Jim, meanwhile, dashed through the army; melting every snow monster that got in his way. He then reached the center of the army, where Harold was guarded by 4 behemoths of snow. Jim tried to get through, but he was pushed aside by one of the behemoths. Jim then blast them with fire, but they weren't melting fast enough because they were so big; so he jumped a few feet in front of them and launched a huge fire ball at them. After they melted, Jim saw Harold's face; it was full of rage and hate, but despite that, he's still family.

"Harold!" he shouted at him, "Stop acting crazy."

"Crazy?" Harold mocked, "Or maybe in the right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"All my life, I've lived in your shadow, and all I wanted was for everyone to notice me and the things that I've done."

"You plan to get attention by killing innocent people?"

"No! I plan to get respect by killing you!"

Harold then charged and ice punched Jim in the face, sending him hurtling 20 feet away.

"If that's the way it's going to be," he said, whipping the blood off his lips, "then you leave me no choice."

Jim then charged at Harold and launched a fire fist at him; Harold evaded but Jim brought his fist back and punched him in the back of his head. Jim then kneed him in the face, causing him to do a backflip in the air and land flat on his face. Harold then got up and made it hail on Jim; as hail clumps fell on him, Harold then summoned an ice sword and charged at him. Jim jumped to the left and blast Harold with a burst of fire; Harold recovered and blasted Jim with a gust of snow, causing him to be sent flying 30 yards. Harold then raced up to him, and when he got close, he swung his sword at Jim; he tried to evade, but Harold already cut his arm before he had time to get completely out of the way.

"If I came faster," Harold mocked, "you would've been dead."

Jim then got him and charged at Harold, head-butting him before he had time to turn around. Harold was knocked to the ground, but before Jim c*** pin him down, Harold kicked him in the face, giving him a bloody nose in the process. Jim then covered his face because it hurt so much, and Harold just got up and laughed.

"Looks like I win," Harold said, raising his sword, "Now to finish you-"

Before he could finish, Jim slammed his fist into Harold's mouth sending him hurtling 20 feet away. Upon landing, Harold bald in his hands because of the pain; he then got up in rage, with tears in his eyes and charged at Jim. As he got closer, Jim took a deep breath and blasted an explosion of fire from his mouth at Harold, who shielded himself with 3 ice walls; all were in vain as the fire blast right through them and forced Harold to duck before it hit him. While he was safe, half of what was left of his army turned to water and evaporated all at once.

Harold then got up, but as soon as he did, Jim was already closing in to land his fire claws in him. Harold held up his sword in defense, but after several clashes, Jim then kicked him in the gut, skidding him across the ground and landing on his back. Harold then got up, formed and ice fist and charged at Jim as he did the same (but with fire). As they got closer, they drew all their power into their fist; and when they collided, they created a massive explosion of fire and snow. The explosion was so loud it echoed throughout the land; Helen woke up just in time to hear the explosion, and she didn't like it.

She got up and searched the house, but no one was there except Martha, who was watching cartoons on the couch.

"Martha, honey?" Helen asked.

"Oh, hey Mom," she said, "you're awake. I wish everyone could see."

"Yes, but where is everyone?"

"They're all fighting Harold and his army of snow monsters and soldiers on the outskirts of Fantania."

"They're what?!"

"Why are you so freaked out? I'd say Harold deserves it."

Helen then walked over to her and struck her across the face.

"Don't you EVER say that about your brother!" Helen scolded, "Do you hear me? Don't EVER say that!"

"Yes, ma'am," Martha said with tears in her eyes.

"Now come on, we've got to put an end to this senseless violence."

Helen took Martha outside and summoned a cloud. They then hopped on and flew to the battle field where the last of Harold's forces were being destroyed. Before the battle could conclude, Helen struck several lightning bolts on the ground to get everyone's attention.

"ENOUGH!!!" she shouted as she and Martha hopped of her cloud onto the center of the battle field, "EVERYONE COME HERE, NOW!!!!"

"We're so busted," Saul whispered to Peter.

"Word," Peter acknowledged.

After they all gathered around, Helen said, "I'm only going to ask this once: where is Harold?"

No answer.

"All of you are really testing my patience! I just woke up and the last thing I wanted to do after my week's rest was to punish someone."

Quincy then walked up and said as he pointed, "Harold's over there fighting with Jim."

Helen then turned her head and saw in rage her two oldest children fighting each other. She then stormed over there and before either of them landed another punch on each other, Helen gabbed their pressure points with two fingers and brought them to their knees.

"Care to explain why you two are trying to kill each other?" Helen asked.

"I was just trying to stop him from hurting innocent people," Jim said, "I'm sorry, Mom; reason didn't work this time."

"That's alright, Jim. As for you, Harold, didn't you remember what I told you about wanting to be accepted?"

"I know, Mom," Harold said, "but he refused to give me the medal I earned."

"I wasn't sure if you actually said sorry to Martha."

"I DID, SHE DIDN'T FORGIVE ME YOU IDIOT!!!"

Helen then slapped Harold across the face and say, "I do not like that word."

"I'm sorry, but he won't believe me," Harold insisted.

Helen sighed and called for Martha, who tried to hide behind Peter and Saul.

"Martha, you better get over here right now!" Helen shouted.

"But what if Harold tries to kill me again?" Martha ask.

"I will never let that happen; I promise."

Martha then did as she was told and walked to her mother; who then told the rest of her children to go back to the house.

"Now Martha," she said to her, "tell Harold that you forgive him."

"But Mom," Martha insisted, "what if he tries to freeze me to death again?"

"As long as you behave, and use your powers for good, you have nothing to fear. I mean come on; you're 17 years old, you should be more responsible with your powers by now. So please, accept Harold's apology; he really didn't mean it did you?"

"No," Harold said with his head down, "I didn't."

"See. Now go on."

Martha then bent down in front of Harold and said, "I forgive you and I'm sorry for being scared of you; you're my brother and I will always love you."

"I love you, too," Harold said as they hugged.

After releasing her, Harold saw Jim handing his medal to him; Harold then took it and put it over his chest. Harold's punishment was a brief one: doing chores for the next week; and Jim help, not because he received the same punishment, but because he wanted to.


The author's comments:

This is a remastered version of a short story I wrote when I was in high school. It's inspired by the common battle of fire and ice; Jim Ember is named after the attack fire Pokemon use in battle (i.e. Torchic or Chimchar). I'd change it but it wouldn't have that ring to it; enjoy.


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