The Harmony Saga

~ 2 ~-1

The people Owen saw before by the cabins had all disappeared. Logan said that they were the counselors, and they had their own duties to attend to. When asked what those duties were, Logan was frustratingly vague, but he did say it had to do with getting ready for the first day of camp tomorrow. Then he moved right on to talking about the cabins.

They were arranged in two parallel rows, with a flagpole in the center of the path between them. This, Logan explained, was to separate the boys from the girls. However, there was a pair of cabins with red roofs, as well as pairs of yellow, blue, and green. Each of them had a different triangular symbol on them, like the ones on the pillars of the arch. Logan said that they were split up based on “unifying factors,” which Owen assumed meant their elements.

Logan smirked after he said that, turning away to hide a laugh. Owen wasn’t sure he liked having Logan be his guide if he was going to keep being so weird. He was sure that he wasn’t getting the whole story. There was energy in the air, an energy Owen would have liked if he hadn’t felt like he was being misled. He wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to get Logan to tell him the truth, but he figured that he had nothing to lose by simply asking.

“Logan, why are you being so cryptic? What do the colors mean?” Owen asked. “You know I know about the whole elements thing, right?”

Logan stopped in the middle of the path. “You do? But your mother…” Owen raised an eyebrow. “I just mean, we all know about how your father left our world for her and kept you from it as well. I was under the impression that you didn’t know anything about us here at Camp Harmony.” He seemed earnest enough, though it was clear he saw Owen as an outsider.

Owen’s face heated up, but he was determined not to let Logan have the satisfaction of embarrassing him. He was right; Owen knew nothing about Camp Harmony. And so far, he was feeling very unwelcome. “I read the pamphlet,” he said, trying for humor. Logan just stared at him. Owen sighed resignedly. “Sorry for interrupting your tour. You were saying something about ‘unifying factors?’”

Logan ran a hand through his hair, visibly uncomfortable. “Let me just show you.”

Owen was apprehensive, but his curiosity was enough for him to follow Logan as he went into one of the blue cabins. It seemed pretty standard for a summer camp cabin, with rows of bunk beds and corresponding shelves, though it was bigger on the inside than it had appeared. As they exited out the back door, things got more interesting. Owen was pretty sure most summer camps didn’t equip their cabins with giant fountains behind them. The water threw interesting reflections on the wall, making everything feel alive and dancing. The hair on the back of Owen’s neck stood up. Logan walked straight up to the fountain, seemingly unaffected, but Owen felt tingles down his spine in the presence of such magic.

Meanwhile, Logan was looking down into the water, hands extended on either side of his body. He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, he lifted his hands and turned back to Owen.

He had a globe of water the size of a watermelon balanced between his hands.

Owen was floored. He kept glancing from the water to Logan’s face, who didn’t look like he was even concentrating that hard. However, Logan looked more scared than Owen had felt when he arrived.

But now Owen knew what the strange energy was that he felt from this place. It was something stirring inside of him, an important part of who he was, awakening. Owen now knew this was where he belonged.

A grin spread over Owen’s face. Logan’s eyes stopped seeming so terrified as he held the water out to Owen breathlessly. “From the moment I shook your hand, I knew.” Logan took a deep breath as though trying to calm himself down. This was the first hint of emotion he had shown, but he was trying to keep his aloof persona intact. “Only people with Water abilities have hands as cold as mine. To most people, our hands are like ice.” Logan gestured with the water. “Take it.”

“I’ve never tried anything like this before.” Owen was amazed by the display of power. He didn’t want to mention the fact that he didn’t know if he could do anything with the water. His father was the one with those powers, not him.

Owen reached for the water, concentrating intensely on it keeping its shape and keeping it in the air. The instant he touched it, the water burst into a shower of mist. Owen and Logan froze, shocked. “You must balance with Fire,” Logan said after a pause.

Owen wiped his damp face on his sleeve. “What does that mean, balance with fire?”

“Everyone here can control two elements. One is their predominant one, the one that comes most naturally to them and can manifest physically, like cold hands. The other is like their left-hand element. Not as comfortable or easy to use.” Logan gestured outside, and Owen followed him out of the cabin.

“Blue is Water, yellow is Air, red is Fire, and green is Earth,” Logan continued, pointing at the cabins in order, starting with Water and going uphill towards Earth. “Every element has to be balanced with one of the other elements.”

Owen tilted his head. “That seems really complicated.”

Logan led him up the path, past the Air cabin. Owen watched as a tall, rail-thin girl leaped up the steps leading out of the back of her cabin in a single fluid jump and casually walked through the door. “Don’t worry, it’s not so bad,” Logan said, bringing Owen’s attention back to his tour guide. “It’s like rock, paper, scissors.” Owen still felt very lost, and it must have shown on his face because Logan stopped and turned to him. “Okay, let me give you an example. Water is balanced by Fire, like us, or Earth, which is rarer. Does that help?” Logan stared at Owen with his huge, dark eyes, and Owen felt almost like he was being hypnotized. He blinked and took a step back.

“Yeah, that makes more sense. Because you can only control two elements, and they have to balance each other out. Which is why it’s called balancing.” Owen nodded to himself. “Yeah, I think I get it now.” He only did sort of get it, but he was sure he could figure it out later.

Logan smiled, looking very smug for teaching Owen something. It had become apparent to Owen that Logan not only felt like he needed to please the director, but also that Logan had decided to let Owen into his circle, probably because he thought Owen was a Water balancer like himself. Owen was wondering how he was going to break it to Logan that he thought he was more Fire than Water when they made it up to the Fire cabin.

Suddenly Owen felt a force guiding him inside. It was different from the feeling he’d had at the Water cabin, much stronger. Here, with Fire, he felt his senses come alive, and he wasn’t intimidated by the power he felt. His breathing came easier. He didn’t even hear Logan say, “Oh, we don’t really go in there.” Owen stepped inside the cabin and closed his eyes. He felt warm, safe, at home.

Logan went up to the doorway and called out to him. “Owen? Owen, we should go.” He sounded nervous, as though he didn’t want anyone to see him there.

Owen turned, opening his eyes to look at Logan. Logan’s breath hitched, and he backed away. “What? What is it?” Owen asked frantically, looking behind himself to try and find what was giving Logan such a fright. He may not have liked Logan much, but he was the only person that Owen knew so far at this camp.

Finally he realized that it was him that was scaring Logan away, and looked down over himself, unsure of what was happening. He was steaming slightly, and he had little balls of flame in each of his hands. What he couldn’t see was that his eyes were glowing like two tiny suns in his head, and he had tongues of flame l*****g through his dark hair. The energy of the Fire cabin had awakened something within him that manifested itself physically, just like Logan said it could.

Owen shook out his hands, making the fireballs dissipate as he stepped back into the crisp mountain air. Everything seemed cooler outside the Fire cabin. Owen blinked, his eyes returning to their normal green.

Owen looked up at Logan from under his hair. “What just happened to me?” He was scared. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before, except on his birthday. Logan shook his head.

“I can’t help you,” he said. Owen straightened, but before he could say anything in his defense, Logan added, “If you’re a Fire-person, there’s nothing I have to offer.” As he turned away, he paused, as if he had something else to say. But he thought better of it and turned away completely, heading back down the path to the director’s house.

Owen didn’t know what to do. He had lost his guide, the only person he knew at this strange place. And to get back to his father he would have to follow Logan, but there was no way he would do that. He shook his hair out of his face and continued up the path instead. He could see a few larger buildings ahead, and what looked like a soccer field in the distance that he could explore. “Self-guided tour it is, then,” he muttered to himself.

As he approached the Earth cabins, a tall, muscular boy emerged from one of them. Owen had never felt particularly self-conscious of his stature before, but so far at Camp Harmony, everyone seemed to be a lot taller than him. The tall boy saw Owen and jogged over. “Hey, what’s your name?” he said. He had a soft voice, at odds with his size.

“I’m Owen,” Owen replied. He stuck out his hand to shake like Logan had. The other boy hesitated out of shyness, or possibly confusion. Owen didn’t want to be like Logan, so he put his hand down. Both boys tucked their hands into their pockets and stood uncomfortably.

“I’m Cam,” the tall boy said at last. Owen nodded. After another moment of uncomfortable silence, Owen decided to break the ice.

“Cam, would you mind showing me around?” Owen grimaced. He didn’t want to burden anyone else, but it made the most sense to ask for help. “If you’re not too busy, that is. The guy who was showing me everything before sort of left.”

Cam’s eyes widened. “Oh, you’re the kid who’s checking the camp out today! I knew I didn’t recognize you.” At Owen’s confused look, which he had been giving people a lot today, Cam added, “There aren’t a ton of us here, and we all know each other. Besides, camp doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, so the only people here are the counselors and teachers. What element are you?”

Owen was slightly surprised by the landslide of words that had suddenly come out of Cam, but he was glad of it. Talking was something he was good at. “I’m Fire,” he said with certainty, remembering his flaming hands and the sense of peace he felt in the Fire cabin.