The Five Elementals

Chapter 3 - POV Scott

I wake up to sunlight filtering into Mitch and I's dorm room. Immediately, nervousness fills my stomach.

"Scooter, you awake?" I hear from across the room.

I tilt my head to see Mitch sitting up, on his phone, already dressed.

"Yeah," I groan, rubbing my face and running a hand through my hair. "Ugh, I am so not ready for today."

Not ready  is an understatement. I have absolutely no idea what to expect. All I know about students getting their powers is that they are taken, one by one, into Discovery Hall by one of the teachers. Usually some amount of time passes, then the teacher comes out again to get another student. Once you know your element, I guess you're taken straight to your new dorm. Kirstie, Mitch, and I have never been inside of Discovery Hall because it's off-limits to anyone under nineteen.

Every day, Mitch, Kirstie, and I walk past Discovery Hall to get to our classes in the Castle, and there's always a small line of four or five anxious nineteen-year-olds waiting outside to find out what element they can control. Usually the line is gone by afternoon.

"Me neither," says Mitch. "But the sooner we get it over with, the sooner we'll be happy. Hurry up."

I roll my eyes and stand up, grabbing some clothes out of my closet and quickly changing into them. Mitch and I go downstairs and wait in the dorm's lobby for Kirstie. She comes out of the elevator a moment later, running her hands through her hair. She looks tired, but excited. "Let's go!"

Outside, the sun is low in the sky. It's colder than yesterday but still a comfortable temperature. I lead the way to the Dining Hall for a quick breakfast before we go to Discovery Hall. We all eat as quickly as we can, excited to learn what elements we are.

Finally, we're all standing outside Discovery Hall. There's one other person there, a girl, sitting on a bench outside the Hall.

"Has anyone gone in yet?" I ask her, nodding at the Hall's large wooden double doors.

She shakes her head. "No, not yet. One of the professors came by earlier and told me they'll start with us at 9:00 am."

Mitch checks his phone. "That's in five minutes."

I sit down next to the girl and Kirstie sits next to me. Mitch stays standing, keeping an eye on the time with his phone.

"So what's your name?" I ask the girl. She looks mildly familiar - she was probably in my El Ed class this last semester.

"Meredith," she says. "And I know who y'all are - Scott, Kirstin, and Mitchell, part of Pentatonix!" She smiles.

"You know about our group?" I ask her.

Meredith nods. "Yeah, I watch the Talent Show every year. And you guys definitely have the most talent of all the entries! I'm excited to see what you have planned for this year."

Kirstie joins the conversation. "I hope you like it! We wrote a few new songs to preform this year. We hope everyone loves them as much as we do."

We're interrupted by a deep scraping noise as the Hall's wooden doors are slowly pushed open from the inside. An ancient professor walks out, a long white beard flowing down his chest. He pulls a folded piece of paper from his suitcoat and reads from it. "Mitchell, Kristin, Meredith, Scott. Those turning nineteen today, April 1st. You are all here, yes?"

I exchange glances with the others. I'm sweating with nerves, and I can tell everyone else is excited too. "Yes."

"Very well." The professor looks at each of us. Finally, his gaze lands on Mitch. "You're standing, you look ready. Would you like to go first?"

Mitch shrugs, glancing at me. "Sure." He starts to follow the professor into Discovery Hall.

"Good luck!" Kirstie calls out, and Meredith and I echo her. The door slams shut with a deep boom behind Mitch.

*****

I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take to learn which element you can control, but I don't think the answer is two hours.

That's how long Mitch has been in the Hall.

By this point, Meredith, Kirstie, and I have run out of things to talk about. We just sit in nervous silence on the bench, wondering what could possibly take Mitch so long. Avi told me once that it took him only five minutes to figure out his element; Kevin had shrugged, saying it took him twenty.

But it shouldn't take two hours.

To my great relief, the doors finally scrape back open. The professor comes out, his face expressionless. I want to ask him what element Mitch can control, but I don't think he's allowed to answer. "Who is next?" he asks.

Kirstie looks at me, so I stand. "I'll go," I say. The girls shoot me encouraging smiles as I walk into Discovery Hall.

At first glance, there's nothing spectacular about the Hall. It looks like the entryway to the Castle: spacious, with marble floors and walls and pillars supporting the bottom edge of the large dome sprouting up from the middle of the ceiling. Sunlight fills the room, streaming in through large panels of stained glass on either side of the room. There's no sign of Mitch, but I can see another pair of wooden double doors at the other end of the hall, a couple hundred meters away, where he must have exited.

Then I see the bowls in the center of the room. There are four of them, each standing on its own ornate golden pedestal.

"Follow me," says the professor, and walks towards the bowls. I follow. Close up, I can see the contents of each bowl. In the first, a small fire burns merrily. The second is half full of rich black soil. The third bowl is empty - that must be the bowl representing the element air. The fourth bowl is filled with pure, clean water. Each bowl is golden and ornate and decorated with symbols for the element it contains.

"What do I do?" I ask. I've been around these four elements hundreds of times in my life, and yet I have never been able to control any of them. I wonder how things could possibly be any different now.

"Reach within yourself for your inner power," the professor commands.

I raise an eyebrow, but I try to follow his instructions. I don't feel anything special. How is this supposed to work?

"Stop questioning what you're doing," the professor says with a twinkle in his eye. "Let all your questions fall away and just believe. Stretch your hand over the first bowl."

I try not to think too hard and reach my hand out, so that it's hovering over the bowl filled with fire. I can feel the heat from the flames and nothing else. Am I supposed to feel something? Wait - no questions. Right.

The professor lets a few seconds pass before he nods, stroking his beard. "Move your hand to the next bowl," he commands.

Now my hand hovers over the bowl of dirt. I must admit, I feel slightly ridiculous. I open my mouth to complain to the professor, but he cuts me off. "Next bowl," he says.

As soon as my fingers hover over the empty bowl, I start to feel something. It's like a tingling in my hand, my arm, my head. I reach for it, curious, and suddenly it's everywhere. I feel my body buzzing with energy. There's a barrier in my mind, keeping me from reaching it completely; I mentally tear the barrier away.

Suddenly, I'm floating in the air, wind whipping my clothes and my hair. I can't keep a giddy grin off of my face. I've never felt this energetic, this powerful, before.

Below me, the professor snaps his fingers. The sound, like carrots snapping in half, causes the cushion of air holding me up to break. I fall a few feet to the ground, landing on my feet.

"Ah, so you are an Aero," the professor says, smiling and nodding. "Air is a fine element. I am an Aero myself."

I look down at my hands, still jittery. "What do I do now?"

The professor gestures towards the back of Discovery Hall. "Exit through the back doors. There will be someone there to help you."

"Thank you," I say, smiling, and start walking across the room.

Future, here I come.

*