Michael Blackwood

When I opened my eyes, I saw slight beams of light coming through the curtains hanging over the window. I started to sit up and stretch, and realized just how much the stress from the previous night had made my body ache.

“I wonder what time it is. Does this world even have clocks or tell time the way we do on Earth?” I said aloud.

I slowly got out of bed, and made my way towards the basin. When I got to it, I splashed my face with cold water, which jolted me awake.

“I need to start getting ready. Who knows when they’ll send a steward to fetch us.”

I started to get undressed and walked over to the stone bathtub. When I got in, the water was at a very comfortable temperature and helped to soothe my body even more than the stretch. I let out a relieved sigh.

“God this bath feels amazing. I don’t even remember the last time I took a bath. I always take showers.”

As I was sitting in the water, I decided to relax just a little while longer before actually washing myself. Right as I was fully relaxed, I heard a knock on my door. But before I could answer, the door started to open.

“Um excuse me , I’m in the bath right now! What the hell?!”

“Oh I didn’t realize. Sorry man.”

It was Levi’s voice.

“Levi, you need to be more careful. But come on in I guess. I thought it would’ve been Skylar or one of the attendants. Just try not to look at me too much. I am naked.”

“Wait, Skylar comes into your room without you telling her to ‘come in’?”

“Well it’s kinda known between us that if my door isn’t locked, she can enter at her own discretion. Been that way for a while now.”

“O-oh… I see.”

I glanced at Levi, who seemed both embarrassed and envious, so I let a smirk fall across my face.

“What?” I asked in a teasing manner. “You wish Skylar would come give you nightly visits or something?”

“No, not at all!” He said quickly. “I just didn’t realize that the two of you were so comfortable with each other.”

“Well remember,” I laughed. “We grew up together. We’re going to be close.”

Levi gave me a sheepish look.

“Anyways, I wanted to come check in on you. I know you must be feeling nervous with everything that’s happening. And at dinner last night, you barely ate half of what was served.”

I gave Levi a small smile before answering.

“Yeah and I’d be lying if I said that I still wasn’t a little nervous, but I am feeling a bit better now that I’m focusing on what Skylar told me yesterday before dinner.”

Levi looked confused.

“Oh she was in here yesterday? Wait, that doesn’t matter. What did she say to you?”

“She said ‘You’re one of us, and you always will be. After everything, you deserve so much more.’ And her saying that definitely helps.”

“What she said is true, you know. Even though I can be a little bit of a hothead sometimes…”

“A little bit?” I interrupted him while laughing.

“Yes! A little bit ok! Anyways, even though I can be, I’m going to be there by your side as well.”

I smiled warmly at my friend.

“Thank you Levi. Do you mind leaving now? I’d like to finish my bath.”

Levi suddenly looked embarrassed again.

“Oh right. Of course! Sorry for bothering you.”

“No it’s alright. Just, next time wait for the person on the other side of the door to actually respond before deciding if it’s appropriate or not to enter, yeah?”

“You’re right. I’ll see you later dude.”

“Later,”I replied and gave Levi a small wave as he left my room.

I let myself start to relax again, and after a few minutes, I started washing myself. When I was done, I got out of the tub, dried myself off, and wrapped the towel around my waist. Then, I walked over to the wardrobe to find a set of clothes to wear for the test.

I sighed.

Everything in here looks so regal. Nothing you’d see someone wear while meditating.

I finally settled on a set of clothing which looked more simple than the rest, and got dressed. When I was done, I walked over to the door, but before I could leave, I heard someone speaking out in the hallway.

“I hope everything goes well for Michael today.”

“I do as well. I think I’ll be able to find the strength to tell him how I-”

I opened my door and saw Skylar and Rebecca talking. Rebecca saw me and her mouth snapped shut. She went red with embarrassment and immediately turned around, much to my confusion.

Skylar noticed and turned around to face me.

“Oh good morning Michael! Did you sleep well?” She asked, her voice slightly cheerful.

“Good morning Skylar. And yes I did. Thank you.”

Good morning Michael,” Rebecca said while still turned around. “Did… did you happen to hear our conversation?”

“Only a couple sentences,” I replied while rubbing the back of my neck. “I know y’all are worried about me, but I’ll be fine I promise.”

Rebecca turned around, still slightly red, walked up to me, and gave me a small hug.

I blushed at the unexpected hug and said, “Umm… Rebecca?”

“I just want to let you know that you can always rely on me,” she let go of me, and smiled. “I promise.”

I saw Skylar smirking behind Rebecca and shot her a confused look. Rebecca, noticing my attention on Skylar, turned to look at her as well and quickly backed away from me, her gaze turning towards the floor.

“A-anyways, I’m sure everything will go well for you during your test.” She said softly.

“Thank you Rebecca. I know each of you are gonna get some cool abilities today. I can only hope that I’ll be able to keep up with all of you,” I said in reply, also turning my gaze to the floor.

“Oh don’t you worry about that. You’re going to get something awesome, I just know it!” Levi said, and I just noticed he had been standing there.

“I can only hope.” I chuckled slightly.

Levi walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my neck.

“Don’t worry about this man. You know we’re all here for you.”

We all turned in unison as we heard the door to Dylan and Calvin’s room open. I was shocked to see the both of them looking half-dead.

“Woah, are you guys ok?” Skylar asked. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all.”

“Yeah we pretty much didn’t,” Dylan replied. “There wasn’t a couch for me to sleep on, so Calvin and I fought over who was going to sleep on the floor. He wanted to, so I would have the bed, but I wanted to because I’m the one who forced him to let me stay in his room. We both ended up passing out on the floor. So yeah.”

“Maybe next time, just share the bed.” Levi said.

Dylan opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, an attendant opened the set of doors to the larger hallway. It wasn’t the same attendant as last night, but I recognized him from when we first showed up in this strange world.

“Good morning summoned heroes. I am here to escort you all to the testing chambers. Please, follow me.”

——————

As we followed the attendant to the testing chambers, I started to notice how much closer Rebecca was to me. She was so close that she was practically clinging to me.

She usually isn’t this close to me. Did something happen overnight? Is she just trying to cheer me up?

When Rebecca noticed me looking at her, her cheeks turned a slight shade of red, and turned her head slightly away from me. Skylar was right next to her as well, and I could hear her whisper something to Rebecca, but I couldn’t make out what was being said.

This went on for about a minute or so, before Rebecca hesitantly looked at me and asked, “S-so Michael, what kind of thread are you hoping for?”

I looked at her thoughtfully, and answered.

“Honestly, I would be fine with anything. I simply want to be capable of actually being helpful to you guys.”

I don’t know if she picked up on me still being worried that I wouldn’t be able to help them, but then she spoke again. “Listen, even if you don’t have one, we’re always going to support you.”

I looked away from her, scared to say anything else, but thankful for her being so supportive. I just didn’t want to seem weak.

We came to a set of large metal doors and stopped. Then the attendant spoke.

“Here we are,” he said, opening the doors. “The testing chambers.”

When the doors were fully opened, I saw a large room with a garden inside. In the middle of the garden sat a small lake with a bridge leading to a stone in the middle of it, and had trees that had pink leaves surrounding it. It looked as though we had just entered a sacred grotto in the middle of an enchanted forest.

I looked around the room some more, and saw that along the walls surrounding the garden, were five doors, each of them opening, showcasing a smaller version of the garden that we had just entered.

“Each of you will go to one of the five doors and enter to begin your training,” the attendant started speaking again. “There, you will find the proper clothes to change into for your meditation.” 

He then looked directly at me. “Michael, you will be given a set of clothes to change into as well. Once changed, you will train in the center of the lake here in this main room. Once each of you are in position, you will each receive your own attendant to help you begin your meditation to awaken your threads.”

I saw out of the corner of my eye that Skylar and Rebecca had both looked at me, and when I looked back, they each gave me a small smile.

“Don’t worry. You can do this.” Rebecca said first.

“Yes, I agree with Becca,” Skylar said next. “We’ll support you no matter what happens.”

Then, a second attendant walked up to me and handed me a set of clothes to change into, and I walked towards the center of the lake as instructed.

When I got there, I made sure everybody had entered their own rooms and the attendants had left, then I started to change. I realized that the training garb looked very similar to the type of clothing worn in martial art dojos back on earth.

I think they’re called Gi’s back on earth.

Once I had fully changed, I sat down cross legged in the center of the stone waiting for the attendant to come and assist me.

I wonder how exactly this is going to work.

When I heard footsteps approaching, I turned to face the person walking towards me. To my surprise, I saw the princess walking towards me with a smile on her face, and I quickly stood up.

Wait? The princess? Don’t tell me that she’s going to help me.

“Good morning your majesty!” I said while bowing.

“Good morning Michael. You can just call me Nymeria,” I heard her say. “I know I’m royalty, but there’s no need to be so formal. You were brought here, even if by accident, which makes you quite important yourself. How did you sleep?”

“I slept well… Nymeria…” I said nervously.

The princess chuckled at my obvious nervousness of using her name.

“If you’re so nervous about calling me by my name, then just ‘Princess’ will do,” she said.

“Yes, princess.”

Princess Nymeria tilted her head slightly, and gave me a warm smile.

“Today, instead of having a normal attendant like your friends to help you with your meditation, I will be assisting you instead.”

“Is it really ok for someone of your stature to help me?” I asked.

“Yes it’s completely fine. I’m the one who insisted on it to begin with.”

I gave her a look of surprise, then nodded.

“Thank you for your assistance, princess,” I said in reply.

“Of course Michael,” Princess Nymeria said, still smiling at me. “To start, sit back down how you were before I walked over here. Try and get as comfortable as possible.”

I did as she said, and looked at her, ready for what she was about to say next.

“Now, I’m sure you’re familiar with meditation techniques from your world,” she started to say. “Close your eyes, and steady your breathing as best as you can. Once you do that, start trying to picture the outline of your soul. Most people imagine their souls looking like a translucent version of their physical body. Once you’re able to picture that, you should start to sense a foreign energy that you’ve never felt before.”

As I began my meditation, I did my best to follow along with the princess’s instructions, and I started to see a faint outline behind my closed eyes. Just as she said, this faint outline began to look exactly like a transparent version of myself. I realized that all of my senses, except for my vision, were all enhanced, and I could hear faint noises throughout the garden that I hadn’t picked up before. I could feel the smoothness of my training garb more intensely. And I could also smell the perfume that the princess happened to be wearing.

She smells like… roses. And the ocean.

I could feel myself starting to get hot in the face. I jumped when I heard her laugh.

“I’m guessing by your blushing face, you can smell my perfume?” She asked. “I forgot to mention that once you’re able to see the outline of your soul, your senses are enhanced for a short while. It’s supposed to better help the meditation be successful. That’s why people always awaken their threads in testing chambers similar to these all over the world. Have you begun to sense any energy? Anything you’ve never felt before?”

“I’m not sure. Is there a specific feeling I should be looking for?” I asked in reply, unsure of what I was supposed to feel.

“Each thread has its own energy signature. For fire, it will feel like a hot, burning energy. For something like ice, the energy will feel cold. So on and so forth.”

I kept trying to sense something, anything, but I still wasn’t sure that I could find the energy signature that I was looking for. As I continued picturing the outline of my soul, I began to see a multitude of white lines permeating throughout.

It’s just like that dream I had yesterday. Weird.

“Have you been able to feel anything yet?”

The princess’s sudden words made me jump again.

“No not yet. How long does this normally take for others?” I asked.

“It typically depends on the person. Some people awaken pretty quickly, whereas others could take days. If you’re not feeling anything just yet, it’s possible you’re not looking deep enough.”

I nodded, and continued to try and find what I was looking for.

I cannot be useless to my friends.