Chapter 8

(Revised Edition)

Roughly a week had passed since the first training session between Harmony, Michael, Maya, and Steven. Now they were going to get together again for another one. Harmony was very much looking forward to it. They just had to get home first.

Throughout the halls there were a couple students, as well as some janitors cleaning the floors with machines. Whenever a machine came by students would move out of its path like it were some dangerous object.

“So we’re going over to your house later today?” Maya asked, trying to confirm some information.

“Yes, and don’t forget that we’re going to be camping this weekend,” Harmony both confirmed and reminded.

Planning for the camping trip had been terribly difficult. Convincing Michael had been the hardest part. Maya and Steven couldn’t do it, but Harmony had some techniques to get Michael to agree. Namely being extremely persistent and annoying.

“I can’t believe you actually managed to drag me into this,” Michael commented as they made their way towards their locker.

Both Maya and Steven had already gotten their bags out of the lockers. Michael and Harmony hadn’t managed to grab their stuff, as they were accompanying Maya and Steven. Once they grabbed their bags they would head home and prepare to meet up again later.

It didn’t take them very long to make it to Harmony’s locker, and Michael’s locker was right beside Harmony’s which saved them some time. Harmony had a few items to pick up, namely her binders, a couple of which were just for art.

Michael only had to pick up his bag, as he already had his sword. For some reason he didn’t like taking his bag to practice. Probably because there are some kleptomaniacs that like stealing things out of others’ bags.

When Harmony went anywhere and had to drop her bag off, she didn’t really care for people stealing. Important items were never stored in her bag. If someone were to steal something from her, then Harmony wouldn’t be too perturbed.

Swinging her locker closed, Harmony said, “we should head out the back doors. They’re a whole lot closer to us than the front doors are.”

“Fine by me, let’s just stay away from the delinquents,” Michael said, “I’d rather not get into another fight with them.”

In the past the delinquents had harassed Harmony, and it took Michael stepping in for them to actually stop bothering her. Harmony didn’t approve of Michael’s intervention, as it meant beating them up to some extent. Harmony had been hoping for a more peaceful approach.

In terms of time it also hadn’t been that long ago. As such the delinquents probably still harbored a grudge against Michael. If they saw him, a situation would start that Harmony didn’t want to be a part of.

“Agreed, we can take the long way around if needed,” Maya suggested, “we don’t have anywhere that we need to be quickly, so we do have the time.”

Harmony slung her bag over her right shoulder and took the front of the group, “come on, let’s go. I for one want to get home so I can get something to eat.”

Michael shook his head and Steven smiled. The dichotomy of both of them was amusing to see.

Walking forward, Harmony started to hum silently to herself. A song had gotten stuck in her mind from earlier in the day. Now it was going to take forever for it to cycle out of her head.

Near the end of the hall, they had to walk by Caleb’s office. He was the only instructor at the school that had both a classroom and an office. Being the Senior Military Officer at the school came with its perks.

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From within the room, Harmony heard people talking. Normally she wasn’t one for eavesdropping, but a couple words from within the room caught her attention.

“We are making progress towards the Shrines, but we are getting pushed back in other places,” Caleb’s voice echoed out of the room, “if we don’t act now then we’ll get pushed back too far.”

“Patience, Sergeant Major,” an unidentified voice followed Caleb’s, “haste won’t win us the war. Besides, plans have already been set into motion for the Shrines, and we can’t afford to reveal our hand so soon.”

Michael, Maya, and Steven walked up on Harmony. She had positioned herself to the side of the door, that way she would be out of view from the window. None of them said anything for a few moments.

“Harmony, stop listening in on our instructor’s,” Michael scolded her in a hushed tone.

“I’m trying to get ahead of the school drama,” Harmony retorted, “or even just world drama.”

Despite not liking to be involved in drama, she always liked to listen to it. It was like a story unfurling before her eyes.

“Even if your plan goes off, how will that help us destroy the Unity,” Caleb said, his tone growing more aggressive, “the longer that the Unity is around the more problems that we are going to face.”

“I agree that we need to handle the Unity, but for now we need them to last,” the other person said, “if we destroy them now they will just rebuild. First we need to ruin their already tarnished reputation. This war is on more than two fronts.”

Harmony let out an audible gasp, and so did Maya. Talking about getting to the Shrines was one thing, but destroying the Unity was another. They might be the enemy, but Harmony recognized that they were an integral part in the balance between the Known and Unknown worlds.

The Unity kept their world hidden, even in this time of war. Even Michael had admitted that the Unity is the only reason why their worlds had remained so separate. Unless the Eclipse could take over that job, disaster only awaited them if the Unity fell.

“Hold on… I think I heard something,” Caleb said, the sound of a chair scraping on the flooring echoed out of the room.

“Caleb, leave it,” the mysterious voice said.

Apparently paying no heed to the voice, footsteps started to get closer to the door. Luckily, Harmony had been in these types of situations before and knew how to play it off.

Moving forward, Harmony acted like she had just started to pass by, and she motioned for Maya to start following her, then for everyone to follow after. This plan would only work if Maya could play along.

“Michael, what do you mean you don’t want to go camping with us,” Harmony said in a louder tone than she normally did.

“You gave us your word,” Maya played along, “we already had it planned a week ago.”

“Hey, if I don’t get this homework done it’s never going to get done,” Michael pulled this argument directly out of his previous excuses.

“Come on Michael,” Steven said, “we know your work ethic, you can probably get that stuff done within an hour if you put your mind to it.”

With their conversation able to be heard throughout the hall, Harmony noted that the door had never opened. It appears that their bluff had worked.

***

On route to their home, Maya and Steven had decided to just travel with Harmony and Michael. No sense for them to return home if they were just going to immediately set out for Harmony and Michael’s house. It would save everyone a considerable amount of time.

Besides, they already had everything that they needed. They already had their equipment. All they needed was food, which Harmony would be happy to provide. The question was should she make.

Should she make sandwiches like before, or should she make something else? Perhaps she would just ask them when they were set up.

Harmony’s thoughts started to wander from her original ponderings. Eventually they wound back on what had happened just before. Some of the same questions started to swirl around in Harmony’s head again.

Who was Caleb talking to? Why did they need to destroy the Unity? What would happen if they succeeded in doing so? If the Unity was gone would the Eclipse be able to take over their jobs?

While she was thinking about it Harmony fiddled with her own hair. All the questions started to stress her out. It might be best not to think about them for now. Later she could ask Michael about it as well. He probably had a better grasp on it than she did.

Luckily, Harmony could focus on other things now. Their house was right in front of them, and it was time to focus on other things.

“Okay everybody you go to the backyard, I’m going to make us some grilled cheese sandwiches,” Harmony said, making up her mind on what to make.