Live A Hero
Stories similar to this that you might like too.
a life of consequence and meaning.
so he would know that this was not a dream or fantasy. This was real.
“You are going to live again.”
There it is. The end. I guess it’s time for the big reveal, and what an ending it is! It’s almost too much for me. And then there’s one more line after that…
And his soul? Well, now it had another chance at redemption. A second chance to redeem itself from its past transgressions. A chance to start over, and be reborn as something new and better. To begin anew in this new body…
A hero.
It’s a little weird to think about my soul getting a second chance after all these years, but who am I to question it? If anyone deserves it, it’s me. My sins were just so big and so many that I can’t imagine any soul could ever redeem itself. Even if I do get the opportunity again, it will never change anything. It will still be the same for me. A bad person. Just like before.
But that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is what is written on this parchment. That is what you should be thinking about right now. Not your sins or mine or where we came from or what our purpose was meant to be.
What you need to be thinking about is how to fulfill the terms of this contract. How you will save this city. The good people living here deserve no less. And as for myself, well…
I’m just glad you chose me.
It’s not like I didn’t want to become a hero. In fact, I’ve always wanted that more than anything else in the world. But what happened to me… the things I did… made me realize that it was selfish of me to ask the universe to grant me this wish.
If I have a chance at redemption, then shouldn’t I take it?
Don’t worry. I know it seems like a lot of responsibility for you at such an early age. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’ve got it covered.
I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and help you fulfill your destiny. You’ll see. We’ll go through everything together. Just you and me.
And if you ever need anything, you can count on me.
Just remember one thing:
This is your time. Don’t waste it.
***
The air was warm, and the sunlight shone down with gentle warmth from the high heavens above. It felt so real that it almost made him forget he was standing outside of his old school, which had been destroyed by a giant fire tornado not too long ago.
“You’re going to live again,” the man said to him from atop a nearby hill. “Not just once. Not twice. But many, many times over the course of your life.”
He looked at his soul in that moment. There were so many things that he needed to tell her, but he couldn’t find the words.
Instead, he decided to simply whisper a simple question, his voice barely audible over the wind rustling through the grass around them.
“Why?”
He didn’t have to wait long for the answer. The man smiled. His smile was kind, and there was nothing condescending or malicious behind it. It seemed genuine.
But then his face clouded over for a moment, and he shook his head. He began to speak in a soft, somber tone.
“Because this is your only chance. Your last chance. I’ve been looking for someone like you for so long. You’re exactly what my people need right now. Someone who can save them from their suffering. Someone to show them what it means to be a hero… to live a hero’s life…”
The man let out a long sigh, and he continued. He told the boy how he had lived most of his life as an ordinary person. How he’d always wanted to live a heroic life. He spoke of his love for the city he was born into, and how much he cared about its people. How he wanted to help those in pain.
And when he found that his dreams of becoming a hero would never come true, he did what any sensible person would do. He gave up on them and instead devoted his life to serving the king.
He worked hard, and he made sure no one ever doubted his loyalty. In the end, though, he realized that it wasn’t enough. No matter what he did or how hard he worked, he just couldn’t make a difference. So he resigned himself to being nothing more than a loyal servant who was there for no particular purpose.
That’s when everything changed. A strange man approached him during a rare moment when he was alone in his quarters. He asked him if he had ever heard of the heroes before. And after telling him he hadn’t, the stranger explained that they were a group of individuals who saved the world from many of its greatest threats.
The man then said that the king had summoned a new hero to save the kingdom and that he would soon begin his training. The man explained to the boy that this was his chance to finally live a heroic life. He said the boy had been chosen from all of the candidates in the kingdom because the king believed he was meant to become a hero.
He told the boy not to waste his opportunity by waiting too long to act. That was when the man handed him the parchment containing the terms of their contract. He told the boy to read it over carefully, and then to go out into the city with his soul and use the power granted to him by it to help those who needed it most.
At first, the boy had no idea what was going on. He’d never met this mysterious stranger before, and he certainly had no intention of fulfilling any such strange requests. He figured he was probably being scammed, but he couldn’t find a way to break the contract without admitting that the stranger had conned him.
So instead, he decided to go along with the man’s plan. He knew he couldn’t change it now. But even so, he wondered how anyone could believe that someone as ordinary as himself could become a hero.
But then something strange happened. As he began to walk around town, he began to notice that he was somehow able to heal people just by touching them.
They might have been injured, sick, or tired. It didn’t matter to him. When he touched them, they always felt better afterward.
It made no sense to the boy. Why should he be able to do that? Why was he suddenly blessed with this power? And more importantly, how did he have this power in the first place? He certainly hadn’t earned it. He wasn’t special, gifted, or anything else that would justify his ability.
Eventually, though, he came to understand why he was chosen as the next hero. And when he accepted that he’d been selected for this purpose, his heart finally opened up. His mind stopped overthinking things. He started trusting in his instincts. And he knew that it was time to stop letting himself be afraid of failure. It was time for him to act.
So he returned home and told the king what he’d discovered.
The man had explained that he had only been trying to help the kingdom. That he wanted to make it into a better place to live, just like the boy had hoped to do. The stranger told him to forget about the contract for now because he couldn’t possibly fulfill its requirements at the moment.
But the boy had no intention of waiting around for the right opportunity to come along. If there was something he needed to do, he was going to do it. No matter who got in his way.
That was when the man finally explained that the power granted to him was called Soul Power. And once the boy read the terms of their contract, he realized that he’d been chosen for a very special task.
That the power given to him by this mysterious stranger would only become more useful as time passed. The stranger told him that he could never give him more information than that. And then he handed the boy a new parchment.
This one had a much shorter message. All the stranger said about it was that he had been chosen as the hero’s partner and that he should use his powers to help him. And that was how the boy came to work alongside the hero.
When the king heard what had happened, he decided he couldn’t let such a valuable piece of information get out. So he ordered the stranger to be killed before he could reveal the details.
But the boy didn’t know what that meant. He wasn’t sure how to stop the stranger from talking, and so he had no choice but to obey the king. He set the stranger’s body on fire in an empty field and watched it burn until there was nothing left.
The strange man had saved his life, and so he vowed to protect him as long as he lived. For a while, he had no idea who this mysterious stranger was, and he didn’t care. But the stranger had seen inside him, and he knew that the boy had a strong will, a kind heart, and a noble soul.
The stranger knew the boy was destined to become a great warrior, just like he was. And the stranger told the boy to remember his name: Kai.
***
“Why did you leave? I was waiting for you!”
I stopped in my tracks and looked up.
For the past few months, we’d been spending every day together. We’d gotten used to our routine. I always waited for him by the edge of town and helped him search the woods and the mountains and the swamps for any monsters that might be around.
I thought maybe he didn’t like being in the village as much as me, so I’d gone ahead and told everyone he was my friend and asked them to treat him kindly. They seemed to respect that.
So why hadn’t he shown up today? Why wasn’t he here with me when I arrived?
There was something wrong. He had a reason to be late. He had some bad news to share, or he wanted to tell me about something else altogether, and he didn’t want to put it off until tomorrow.
But instead of saying anything, I heard him laughing behind me.
It was dark, but I could still see his silhouette as he walked towards me. I tried not to look at him too hard, because I didn’t want him to notice how I felt about him. But I couldn’t help myself.
My heart jumped to life when he said: “You’re worried I don’t like spending time with you?”
I kept on walking and pretended to ignore him.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been here lately. I’ve got a lot going on, and I need to do more research before I can reveal what I’m working on. But I promise I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“Sounds good,” I said. I didn’t care anymore.
The stranger grabbed my hand and pulled me back to where I’d been standing earlier. There were only two paths in or out of the village, and they led through the center of town.
We decided to follow one of them, which meant we’d end up near the fountain.
I could feel my face warming up. His arm was warm and comforting against mine, and he squeezed my hand back just a little bit. I closed my eyes and listened to our footsteps, hoping I wouldn’t hear the sound of someone else approaching from behind us.
“Don’t you think that’s pretty?” he asked suddenly.
“Huh?”
He pointed into the distance, at the forest.
The sun was just setting over there, and the trees and grasses glowed gold and crimson. The colors painted the sky, and I could feel their warmth as we approached.
I looked back at the stranger, confused. I hadn’t noticed anything before he mentioned it.
“It’s so beautiful,” the stranger said, his voice hushed. “There are so many shades of green and so many different shapes of trees. It reminds me of home.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. “You’re not from around here, right?”
“No. I’m from a village nearby.”
And then it clicked.
“Oh! So you’re like…” My words were lost in the evening air. I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence.
But the stranger knew exactly how I felt. He didn’t need to say anything.
The End