The mirror showed mist. Not fog, but mist. I squinted, but it was pointless. I could see nothing. Then a shape emerged, shining almost brighter than the sun itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My eyes flickered groggily. Where was I? This wasn't my room...

My sight rested on Isaac. Oh yeah. That whole thing.

Magic...

I shook my head, sitting up. No. I absolutely was not thinking about that. I swung my legs out of bed and walked to the adjoining bathroom. I turned on the faucet and cupped my hands under the cold stream, splashing water on my face. I accidentally tasted it as it dripped down my face. Yuck. It tasted like beach water. That's another thing I can't stand about North Carolina: the water is terrible.

Well I guess water anywhere that's not where you grew up is going to taste pretty bad.

Then how do water bottles taste normal to everyone? Or do they not?

Sierra Claget is magical too...

No. Nope. Not thinking about. I splashed more water.

She actually saved the entire magic kingdom...

I splashed water more frantically. Stop thinking, Ravi. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

Just then, a ringing exploded from inside the room.

I stumbled backwards and pressed myself against the wall. What the heck?

In the room, all the boys--fully awake--appeared to be having a contest as to who could cover their ears better. I couldn't see Alex, but it looked like someone was under his mattress.

Abruptly, the ringing cut off, leaving a lingering echo in my brain. I massaged my ears.

"What just happened...?" Harrison asked feebly.

Just then, Dr. Smith's voice boomed down from the loudspeakers. "Good morning, boys. Now that you're awake, you can come down to breakfast! But I would suggest getting dressed first. You don't have uniforms: you can thank me for that. But we have provided clothes for you." It turned off.

We all stood there--me pressed against the door, Deynan in the middle of the room, Harrison in a ball on the floor, Isaac on his bed, Alex UNDER his bed--staring at each other and not moving a muscle.

"Well," Alex said, pulling himself out from under his mattress and flopping unceremoniously on the floor, "I heard him say breakfast."

I grinned, in spite of myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Welcome to breakfast," Mr. Marquez said, "everyone's favorite part of the day, minus lunch and dinner."

"True story, bro," Xavier said, digging into his eggs with perhaps over-exaggerated gusto.

My mind suddenly flashed to last night. Mr. Marquez yelling at Dr. Smith...something about a girl...

But had that really happened? Mr. Marquez seemed fine now.

I shrugged it off. If it had happened, it wasn't my business anyways.

"I have a question," Spencer asked, raising his hand. Mr. Marquez nodded. Spencer cleared his throat somewhat obnoxiously. "Dr. Smith said that we are called Legends, and the girls are called Myths, yes?"

Mr. Marquez raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"But technically, the definition of a legend is a story about a real person or event that's supremely over-dramatized, and a myth is a story to explain a natural phenomenon."

Mr. Marquez smiled. "Well kudos to you for catching that. Um," he said, scratching his chin, "you know, I'm not entirely sure. If I had to guess, I'd say that was some idiot teacher who tried to categorize types of stories." He shrugged. "Stories are stories, no need to restrain them to a type."

"But you said Myths and Legends were creatures," Spencer argued.

"Yes," Mr. Marquez said. "People named the stories ABOUT Legends, legends. I guess it wasn't until a lot later that they categorized it."

Spencer frowned, but nodded.

"So, who's ready to transform today?" Mr. Marquez asked.

Liam nearly spit out his food. "What?!" he exclaimed.

Mr. Marquez raised an amused eyebrow. "You alright there, champ?"

"No!" he shouted (or maybe he just said it, not sure. His indoor voice is everyone else's rollercoaster voice). "You didn't say we would be transforming today!"

"Quit stressing," Deynan muttered, "it's not like we can actually transform."

"Explain Dr. Smith then," Isaac said simply. Deynan didn't reply.

Mr. Marquez clapped his hands together. "I know it's shocking, but it's true, today is the day when all your dreams come true!"

We slowly turned and stared at him. He had an overexaggerated smile on his face like a spastic cheerleader or something.

"Um," Alex said.

Mr. Marquez burst into hysterics. "Oh man, your faces right now," he said, gasping for breath.

I cocked an eyebrow, but couldn't stop a grin from slowly spreading across my face. It was like he never grew up.

But then I remembered the shouting, and wondered, what demons was he hiding behind that brilliant smile?

I told myself it wasn't my business, but I couldn't help but wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, welcome to your first transformation lesson. My name is Mr. Zonders and I will be teaching the lesson today."

"Zonders? Is that even a real last name?" Deynan asked skeptically.

"No," Mr. Zonders replied. "Now, you will be transforming into warrior form today."

Deynan gave me a look that said, can you believe this guy? I rolled my eyes. He's no weirder than you, Deynan.

"Now, as Dr. Smith should have told you last night, all forms are based off of a certain virtue. The warrior form is based off of honesty and bravery."

"What the crap is that supposed to mean?" Deynan muttered.

"However, and I do not believe he spoke to you about this, there is another way you can transform into each of the forms. It is through a flaw."

"Oh my gosh," Deynan groaned quietly.

"The flaw for warrior is betrayal, deceit. If you feel this too strongly, you will transform. But it comes with a price. You will lose control of your mind."

There was silence. What did he mean by that?

Deynan was obviously trying to hold back laughter. "What a load of crap."

"Would you shut up?" I hissed, annoyance finally breaking me.

"What's the fun in that?" he whispered. I didn't know how to respond to that.

"Alright. So focus on feelings of honesty. If you remember the second vision you had when you fainted, that should help."

I started. How did he know about that? I could hear the boys around me rumbling softly. Did he mean to say those visions had to do with our...magic powers? I knew they were sign of the condition, but...

"Alrighty then." He giggled: actually giggled. "Go."

"What?!" Liam exclaimed. "That's it? That's the extent of your miraculous instructions?"

Mr. Zonders stared at him. "Yes."

Isaac leaned over to me and whispered, "I bet they have standardized teaching requirements." I bit my lip to keep from laughing because I really do hate standardized teaching.

"Now go."

My mind switched back to the problem at hand. Doing magic...um.

Honesty. Right. Um. I shall not tell a lie...was that Washington or Lincoln? I only remember that it didn't really happen, it was just a story somebody made up. Lincoln did do that thing where he walked like a ton of miles to return 6 cents...I think.

I shook my head. Focus, Ravi.

But focus on what? This was so pointless!

Wait. He had something about the visions we had. I sighed in frustration. That was so long ago! The second vision I had...wasn't it something like...being a point? And being strong? Lifting stuff? But what the heck did that have to do with honesty?

Maybe if I remembered the whole thing it would help. I closed my eyes, feeling a bit silly, and concentrated.

I was a point...a small point...that held a lot of stuff...like the world...

Suddenly, the memory came rushing back to me, almost too easily.

I was a point, one single point in the universe, and everything around me was white space. I held the entire world on my shoulders, and held it strong. I could see everything in the white space with incredible accuracy, as if there was more there, within nothing, than what most people could see. All this strength, all this power, because of the single point I had become, the single point that overflowed with all things that exist in the world.

I gasped. Because suddenly, I could feel the power welling up inside of me. But something was holding it back. The power hit the wall, and fell back. I could feel it falling away. I tried to hold on to it, but it was no use. I began to panic. What would happen if I let it fall? Would I ever get another chance? I had to take down that wall.

I closed my eyes tighter, and reached deep inside me. The wall...where was that wall? What was preventing me from being honest?

And then, I realized with a start: it was a lie. A lie I had been telling myself ever since I heard the words "magical creature" out of Dr. Smith's mouth. I had been telling myself it wasn't possible, despite all the proof I had seen. That I couldn't be magic. Magic couldn't exist.

But the truth? I wanted it to be true. I wanted it to be true so badly it hurt. Magic was the one thing in the world that never made sense, that didn't flow with the natural order of the world, but that was the POINT. It didn't HAVE to make sense; in fact, it wasn't supposed to. And that intrigued me in a way I had never felt before.

With that realization, the wall fell away silently, and the power gushed through me, surging through my arms and legs, filling my chest and flowing up to my head.

I opened my eyes, and the power was unleashed.