The Whale

The sounds of rustling pages almost always lulled me to sleep, but this time I would stay up as if my life depended on it, which it did. It was packed in the library today, everyone getting their last minute training in before the Tournament. It was about 8pm, way later than I had ever stayed here. I knew that my brain couldn’t hold any more information so I got my bag and started my walk back home. I looked back at the giant castle that was the library of my city once more before I turned and walked down the street.

“Yo Ty, what’s good my guy,” said KJ, my longtime friend, as his tall, athletic frame came running after him, slowing down to walk home with me.

“What’s good bro, you know I’m just getting ready for tomorrow, how about you?” I asked.

“Shit I’m doing the same. I got to be able to keep up with you,” said KJ with a small laugh.

Yea right. Anyone in the city would call bullshit on that. One look at the two of them and you’d know who would win.

“Yo! Wait up y’all!” said Antoinne, running from the library to catch up with them. His bag was overflowing with books he had checked out.

“Why you got so many books? There ain’t no way you can read all of those by tomorrow,” KJ said.

“I’m pretty sure there’s something in one of these books that will help me make my mirror magic stronger,” answered Antoinne. “I read one story about how this guy used mirrors to put people under a spell, so if I’m able to…”

I tuned out, knowing that Antoinne would go on for a while. He was insanely smart, probably more than even the old heads on the city council. My friends were absolute studs.

Before Antoinne could finish his speech on mirror magic the group arrived at their homes, each very large and right next to each other. 

“Tomorrow’s the big day y’all,” I said.

“Facts, and we’re gonna kill it. The Tournament ain’t ever seen something like us,” said KJ. He extended his fist out towards his friends.

No, they’ve never seen something like you two.

I forced a smile onto my face and held out my fist.

“Let’s kill it tomorrow guys,” Antoinne said, extending his fist out as well. 

Once we had bumped fists, we all went into our respective homes, trying to brace for tomorrow.

“You ready for the tournament tomorrow baby?”asked my mom. She was always in my corner, but I’ve always felt like that’s because she has to be. She’s my mother after all.

“Yes ma’am. I was just with KJ and Antoinne, and they’re fired up about it too,” I said.

“That’s good to hear, but this is about you, not your friends. You go there tomorrow and YOU make me proud. Believe in yourself baby and if you can’t do that, believe in me, cuz I ainn’t push out and raise no sucker.”

“You right mama. Imma go to bed now, I love you.”

“I love you too baby.”

I walked up the stairs going to the bathroom. I poured myself a bath and hopped in, sitting, looking at the water that looked back at me. I could see myself in the water. My decent looking face looked at me, wearing a disappointed look. I washed and dried myself off. 

I kept a scale that could measure height as well as weight in the bathroom, and I used it, hoping for a change but knowing there would be none. Regular height, regular weight.

Music played from my room, which I kept playing at all times thanks to my mother’s teachings of keeping a happy room revolves around keeping music playing.  My books were scattered across my table, my saber lying on top of the mess. 

I ignored the mess and knelt at the small figure of The Holy Mother, praying to her.

I prayed that tomorrow would bring about a change that would differentiate me from the normal. 

My dreams were the most vivid they had ever been. I saw myself, but I wasn’t the same. Sure, I was the same size. But I was confident. I wore a smile that wasn’t forced, but was oddly natural. I wore the robes that were only worn by Seraphs, the winners of the tournament. 

Everyone was proud of me, I could see it in their faces. The weirdest thing was, I was proud of myself.

The next dream was surreal. I was in the ocean, but not the part of the ocean that myself and my city was part of. This was the part that was completely dark, foreign to even the people of his region who had lived there for thousands of years. 

A bloodshot eye with a menacing red pupil that was easily bigger than my entire body stared at me.

I let out a scream, but no sound came out. A deep, almost hypnotic voice echoed not in the ocean, but in my head.

“If you have no faith you should not enter this tournament. You will only end up getting yourself killed, bringing pain to those who love you,” said the voice. 

“What are you talking about! I just prayed to The Holy Mother!” I yelled out.

“Fool, I am not talking about the Holy Mother. I am talking about faith in yourself,” said the voice. 

What? That makes absolutely no sense. You would have to be an idiot to enter the Tournament without believing in yourself.

“You know this, yet you yourself have nothing but disdain for yourself,” the voice echoed in my head.

As I stared into the eye I was transported, immobile as I watched my past.

I was walking with KJ and Antoinne out of school and on the way to train. We had gotten out of our “Heroes of the Past: Illusionary Magic Users” class. I had been extremely excited, me being an illusionary magic user myself. 

I struggled to understand how the past hero had made his enemy relive the most traumatic moment of his life, the slaughter of his entire family, when Antoinne said 

“Man the way that he rewired the synapses of that kid was absolutely ridiculous. Y’all know how quick you have to be to do something like that!”

The scene moved into later that day as I was training with KJ, my saber attempting to pierce through his defenses. KJ easily blocked my moves and in a flash I was looking at his fist as I layed on the ground. 

I remember the exact day this had happened. It was May 14th, 3082, exactly a year ago. This is the day that it finally clicked in my head that everyone was not equal. 

There were the few who were exceptional, whether it be athletically like KJ or intellectually like Antoinne. 

Then there were the people who were average, like me. I’m smart, but not like Antoinne. I’m definitely more athletic than some, but not to the level that KJ was. I was the type of person who did good in school, but wasn’t the valedictorian. The person who was picked for teams, but was never the first pick

It was on this day that I decided that I needed to change. Instead of just training with my friends I trained every single morning before the sun came up. After breakfast I would go to the library, spending my time before school learning to make my magic stronger, to give me a chance to catch up to my friends. Instead of going out to the bars I spent my weekends honing my magical skills. 

In no time my body had gone from athletic with some flab to nothing but muscle. My magic had gotten stronger by magnitudes.

I was snapped back to reality, looking at a reflection of myself in the eye.

“You have put in an incredible amount of work to prepare yourself for the tournament. Yet you discard it from your mind, thinking only of your friends and their success rather than your own. You’ve done everything you needed to, but if you want to truly become “Exceptional” you must believe in the work you have done. One without faith in themselves is one that has no chance of being anything but a shell of what they could be.”

The eye drifted away, the gigantic royal blue body of the Beast of his region, the Whale, swimming away.

I woke, feeling more in my body than I ever had. I got up and put on my clothes, went downstairs and had a final breakfast with my mom. She wished me luck as KJ and Antoinne knocked on the door, yelling at me to go.

A new Ty walked through the door. Out was the Ty who believed that he was destined for mediocrity. In was a Ty that believed in himself and all of the work he put in.

The tournament would be mine, and my region would have another champion.