by Lee Morgan
Connor rubbed her back and said gently “It’s alright, Princess. Give them time to tell us themselves.” He turned to look at his surrogate parents who looked even more confused than ever after that little outburst. “Listen, we’ll stay right here and wait all day until you’re all ready to come clean. As long as it takes…” He smiled calmly and reassuringly.
His family looked at each other for some time before Rhoda looked at Jenny and said “We all knew he would learn about this one day. I’m sorry Jenny, but it is time to tell him everything. It will be ok, look at him.” His mom turned her head to see his reassuring smiling. “He’s not upset about it at all. All he wants is the truth and nothing more. Let’s give it to him.” Jenny’s eyes beginning to tear up in defeat.
He spoke in a comforting tone. “Even if you didn’t give birth to me, that doesn’t diminish the fact that you are my mom. You raised me like I was actually your blood and I will never forget it.” It took his mom a minute to find her voice and stop the flowing tears.
She looked him in the eyes weakly as she started her story. “When I was twenty three and Kara was only a year and a half old, I went camping with Mom and Dad. We were celebrating my acceptance at the hospital as a new trauma nurse. Daddy wanted to take me out to an outdoor camping party; like we did when I was still a child. We were about fifty miles from where we are now, if I remember correctly. We were camping out in a heavily forested area so that we could have our peace and quiet. Daddy made up camp ahead of time so that we didn’t have to do much once we got out there. We arrived on a Friday evening and Mom started the campfire. I was grilling some food while Daddy collected more firewood. Kara loved cooking her own marshmallows. Her hands were so tiny and the mess she made...” Jenny looked down to finally smile since she started the story. “I let her eat as many as her little stomach could hold.”
Jenny looked up at Connor again and smiled apologetically. “Saturday night, January tenth, our last night out in the woods, something really weird happened. The ground and trees started shaking and the air itself felt like it was vibrating. Daddy grabbed Kara from her crib and he led us out to an open area so that no trees could fall down and crush us.” From the silence and the look David revealed, Connor knew this was the total, unabridged truth. “That weird event lasted for five minutes or so. Once things finally settled we were on our way back to camp too see if anything had been damaged. I heard something strange out in the darkness and I told my parents that I needed to go check it out. Mom and Dad took Kara back to the shelter so she would calm down and stop crying. I heard weird sounds like stones falling and sticks snapping. Something big was out there with us, but I didn’t see a thing. That was, until I found you.”
His mom wiped more tears from her eyes as she continued. “You stood out in the moonlight in all your naked glory.” She let out a small laugh. “You were filthy from your toes all the way up to your curly white hair. You were very muscular even as a toddler, which was strange... I guessed you to be somewhere to be around four or five years old at the time. For some reason you just stood there, looking at something I couldn’t see in the trees. I’ve never seen any child standing still for that length of time without doing something else. Most kids cannot sit still for more than a minute.
“I hadn’t a clue as to why I picked you up, but I couldn’t allow a toddler to say out in the wilderness or else you might die or get eaten. I walked up and picked you up in my arms. You were heavy then too. When our eyes met you smiled like nothing bothered you about being alone out in the forest. A face that adorable couldn’t be left behind and our camp wasn’t easy to get to so I knew your parents weren’t nearby, even though I did look afterwards. There wasn’t any sign of anyone being in the area for many months, but in that moment when our eyes met I instantly knew that I would find a way to raise you properly.
“I brought you back to show you to Mom and Daddy. They were bewildered as to how a child could be out there without their parents. All the while Kara continued to cry. You struggled in my arms until I finally let you back on the ground. You marched right up to Kara and just stared at her. Then things became a little too weird for us.”
“What became weird? What did I do?” He wanted to hear the rest of his story.
David finally spoke up when Jenny became hesitant. “When you reached into her crib and touched Kara’s head, she stopped crying and looked at you. The truly weird thing is what happened next, and I still can’t explain what I saw but my eyes didn’t lie. As you rubbed Kara’s head, with a gentleness I’ve never seen in a child, your pure white hair began changing colors in the firelight. Soon you had the same sandy blonde hair color that Kara did.” He smiled at Connor weakly. “After Kara finally went to sleep I took you and Jenny to a stream to clean you up. The water was ice cold, but it didn’t phase you at all. Most children would struggle or cry from the frigid temperatures yet you only stood there and watched us like a predator stalking its prey. It was kind of strange for a child to be quiet and just watch me with such intensity. It was a little unsettling, but you had an air of peace around you…
“When we got back to camp I wrapped you in one of my shirts. You quietly watched us as you sat on Jenny’s lap. It’s funny, I thought you were learning our language.”
“I was.” His faded blue eyes bulged. “Before I elaborate on that further, I have just one more question to ask. How did I get my identity?”
“I got it for you.” Jenny said weakly and swallowed dryly. “There was a toddler around your age who had passed away. I used the hospitals computers to change a few things. You have his social security number, but I changed the birth date to the day I found you and kept the birth year the same. I also changed the name to Connor May and some other minor things to create your identity. I know I broke the law, but I was more afraid of losing you to the system.” Her eyes hardened as she said “I swore I would be your mom even if we didn’t share blood. Kara didn’t fuss at the adjustment to her life because you became the protective big brother all little girls dream of having.”
Connor sighed, hung his head and Sarah rubbed his back slowly. “Thank you.” He looked at them and said “Thank you for telling me the truth. I know it was hard after all these years of trying to protect me.” He smiled genuinely and then saw them visibly begin to relax. The heavy burden has been lifted after all these years. He looked at Sarah and said “Now that they told the truth so can we.”
Sarah nodded and smiled. “I agree.” Sarah turned her head and looked at his family. Her voice turned calm and velvety and her facial features showed her beauty and age. “I know what you’ll learn today will be a lot to take in, but I hope you can handle it.” His family had become entranced and listened to her every word. “What you will all learn today cannot be told to anyone else. I know you three can keep a secret because Connor is right here. Unfortunately I still need your word that what you learn here will not be uttered to another.”
David puffed his chest and said “You have our word.” That was good enough if all three of them had said it. “Now will you two knock out the suspense and tell us what’s on your minds.”
Sarah looked back at him with a smile and said “It’s your show.”
Connor smiled back and turned to his family. “In your world you think humans are the most powerful species on the planet, but that is a huge misunderstanding. In fact there are three races of immortals alive today. They are the Keepers, Changers and Balancers.” His family’s had disbelief written on their faces. So he knew that they needed a demonstration. “Sarah, will you tell them about yourself and give them a small demonstration?”
“Certainly.” She sat up straighter and looked his family in their eyes. “Jenny, when I called you a Child I meant that compared to me you really are just a young child. I’m not twenty three. I’m older than you and your parents put together.” His mom’s eyes widened. “In fact I am over three hundred years old.” She smiled at his grandparents. “In fact the two of you should call m
e Grandma since I’ve lived over four of your lifetimes.”
“You can’t honestly be serious, Sarah.” Rhoda said in an exasperated tone.
“It is the honest truth. I am a child of one of the immortal classes, Rhoda. I am a Balancer. There are many aspects of us, but I’ll give you some of the basics. First off all Balancers are born female and require mates to help them balance their power. Connor knew about me for a long time before we finally became mates. Balancers have many supernatural abilities, but what you need to understand is that we can manipulate the elements. This is the element Fire.” Connor felt Sarah’s power growing as she raised her right hand and her palm raised up. She collected the surrounding heat from the air and pulled it to her hand. The heat focused and ignited into an orange fireball.
The May family gasped and fell backwards from the suddenness. It took them a minute to regroup themselves, but their eyes remained focused on Sarah’s flame. She continued saying “We can read minds, see everything around us and many more things.” She grinned.
David was the first to move forward, to get a better look at what she held and controlled. He crawled on his hands and knees. He studied her hand and the flame. He said in an inquisitive voice “I don’t see any fuel. How are you sustaining that fire?”
Sarah closed her fingers and stopped her flow of energy. The flame extinguished. “I used my stored energy to fuel the fire and once I stopped using my energy the flame dies. Most Balancers can only use one element, but Connor and I are a little different.” She looked into David’s eyes and said “Now that you know we aren’t lying, I’ll let Connor finish the story.”
David and the others went back to sitting like before, but this time they were ready to hear the truth. “We lied to you when we said we went to South America for a vacation. We actually went to an immortals gathering called the Mélange. We left so we could find why Sarah and I were so different. You see unlike other Balancers Sarah and I can control the five elements. The five elements are Metal, Terra, Pressure, Fire and Liquid. My armlet is the symbol for the five elements and is the banner for the Balancers.” Connor twisted so they could see the engraving more easily. “Also we have abilities that others of our kind can only dream about.”
He took a deep breath and said “You see while we were there we learned why we were so different. It was actually because of me.” Connor looked directly at his mom and she looked back. “When you found me you said the ground and trees shook and the air vibrated. That was actually me entering the world.” Jenny’s jaw dropped slightly. “The thing is, Mom, I am not entirely human. All those weird and strange things you’ve seen me do is proof that I’m not human. When my hair changed color, I mimicked Kara so that it would be harder for you to let me go. It was my survival instinct to find a protective parent so that I could grow to maturity. Or that time I slammed on the breaks just before that semi-truck almost slammed into us.”
He grabbed his shirt and slid it off. Sarah took it off his hands and laid it on her legs. Connor pointed to the seared tattoo. “When I got this we all wondered how the crossbeam fell. Actually it was my real mother’s fault. You all know that most healthy adults would have died with my kind of injury, but why did a young teenager survive?”
“Connor, what do you mean your mother did it?” David asked. “At the time it was only you and me in the forge. You pushed me out of the way just in time, but you didn’t get out of the way.”
Connor patted the grass in front of him. “What you need to understand is that I’m the biological son of the Hallowed Mother and she tested me. By pushing you away I proved myself worthy to her. Granddaddy, the being you have always called Mother Nature, she is real.” His eyes widened and his mouth became an O. “I’m living proof that she is real. This mark on my chest is the brand she gives to all of her children. I am her sixth child. We children are the strongest creatures on the earth. I am known as a Harmonizer.”
“Harmonizer? Connor what exactly is a Harmonizer?” His mom asked in a quivering voice.
“The simplest way I can explain it is that I’m a guardian for the planet. Do you remember when I was in the hospital and removed everyone in the way to go outside and rest in that old oak?”
“Who could forget that? You fought full grown adults like newborn children. All you wanted was to get outside.”
He raised his hand and she stopped talking. “Mom, you’ve got it wrong. There was more to it than that. As a Harmonizer, I need to be close to nature. If I’m gone for too long I become edgy and even more dangerous than normal. If I didn’t get in that tree I would have killed everyone in my path to get outside.”
“You can’t be serious?” David said thickly.
“He is.” Sarah said, backing him up. “I saw a wild look in his eyes after a week of not seeing any trees or grass. Even his brother was surprised that he didn’t fight his way out.”
“You have a brother?” Jenny asked.
“Woops.” Sarah’s hand came up to her mouth. She looked up at him and said apologetically “Sorry… Too soon?”
“It’s alright, Princess.” He said while rubbing her back. Connor said to his mom “Yes, I have a brother. His name is Sorono and you’ll meet him very soon.” He cleared his throat. “Before Sarah and I became mates we didn’t know what I was at the time. I would have still gotten my powers, but it would have taken me about a hundred years to gain my full abilities.” Rhoda’s lips began to move, but he knew what her next question was. “Yes I would have been immortal by myself, even if Sarah and I had never met. Now before you start asking questions would you like to meet Sarah’s parents?”
“There here?” Rhoda asked.
He smiled and entered everyone’s mind, but he had to hold way back for his mom and grandparents mortal minds. “Jack? Will you and your mate please come over and join us?” Their jaws dropped once they realized that his lips didn’t move and he still spoke in this new way.
“It’s about time, Connor.” Jack said and Connor could hear the bushes across the clearing rustling as they came out of the trees.
“How did you do that? What was that?” Rhoda said with wide eyes.
“He used his telepathy.” Sarah said proudly. “We can enter another’s mind to read their thoughts, speak privately and even share mental images. When you and David caught us looking at each other you were right. We were talking to each other.” Connor saw the recognition slam onto his grandparents faces.
Jenny stood up once she saw his in-laws heading in their direction. Her voice became a whisper, but she still said “It can’t be… is that Jillian?”
When they became closer they all stood. They were walking proudly in their direction and holding hands intimately. Once they stopped under the shade and stood on Sarah’s side, Jillian said to Connor “It seems like they haven’t passed out yet. That’s a good sign.” He smiled.
“Jillian… Are you really…” Jenny began to say until Jillian interrupted her.
“Am I really what? A Balancer? Immortal? Or Sarah’s mother?” Her golden eyes were playful and so was her grin. “Actually I’m all three. I am a Liquid Balancer. Jack and I have been mates for over seven hundred years and Sarah is actually my flesh and blood daughter.”
“This is a lot to take in.” Rhoda said and sat down against the tree’s trunk.
“Get use to it, young lady.” Jack said while smiling and she actually blushed beneath the wrinkles. “There is still more for you to know and understand. Also I am a Fire Balancer if you’re wondering.” Jillian and Jack released their entwined hands and he walked up to Connor’s family. “In my seven hundred years I’ve rarely seen such acts of kindness. I heard your story from a friend and I must say I’m impressed that you raised such a special child, besides Kara.” He chuckled and walked back to Jillian’s side.
“Wait a minute…” Jenny’s eyes widened. “Did you two also go with them to that French word something or another meeting?”
“Yes we did.” Jillian said while smi
ling. “The meeting is called Mélange.”
“Did… Um… Kara and Mark go too?” Jenny asked and Jillian nodded a few times. “Is he a… Balancer too?”
“Mom, we’ll allow them to tell you that story. I must give you fair warning, but Kara is a little different now.” Connor said evenly.
Jenny’s eyes widened even more and her tears started up again. Then she demanded “What happened to your sister!?”
He entered everyone’s minds again. “Mark! Kara! You’re up.”
Connor turned around as the shrubs began moving. Everyone quieted down once they saw Mark and Kara walking across the field. They were both in their normal human forms and wore their normal leather gear. Mark’s black hair was short and spiky while Kara’s hair was longer and sandy blonde. Connor could see her pack of paintings slung over her left shoulder. Once they came within normal ear shot Kara handed her pack to Mark and he took it. Kara grinned and Connor knew what was going to happen next.
“HI MOM!!!” Kara yelled and began running. She ran past her brother and tackled their mom to the ground. “I’m home.” She began laughing.
“Kara…get…off.” Jenny said in a shallow breath.
“Oh, sorry about that. I forgot about my weight.” Connor shook his head at his sister. Kara stood up and helped their mom back to her feet.
Jenny caught her breath and said “Good grief. You’ve packed on some weight…” Connor saw his grandparents eyes widen once they saw it and then their mom stopped cold. “Kara? What happened to your eyes? Are you wearing color contacts?”
Mark now stood at Connor’s side. Kara stepped back and stood beside him. Kara’s voice became quiet as she said “No, Mom, I’m not wearing contacts. My eyes are now silver. I freaked out too once I saw them myself for the first time. You know that they are Balancers.” Kara pointed to Jack and Jillian. She then pointed to herself and Mark. “We’re Changers. Don’t worry Mom, I wasn’t born this way.”
