Magic Discovered

Chapter 13

"Delta. Delta!" Algon yelled as he ran into the staging room. Delta only huffed and turned away to face the wall, ignoring him.

"We saw you compete!" 

Even though Algon was smiling, Delta showed him no sign of listening. He was still looking away with an unreadable expression on his face.

"It was really cool to watch?" Algon tried.

A low chuckle was the response. "Really? Cool? You thought it was cool that I messed up?"

"Well, no. I didn't mean it like that..."

"Well, I did!" Delta spun around furiously and Algon actually fell back a few steps. "Me. I screwed up! I lost my chance to win because of a stupid mistake! And it wasn't even a good one at that!"

"Don't say that! Everyone messes up sometime in their life. No one's perfect."

"But to lose for such a stupid reason. Overconfidence, impulsiveness, thinking I was sooo hot when in reality I had no flipping clue! I screwed everything up for dumb behaviors that I should have recognized and fixed a long time ago."

At this point, James arrived. Algon had, in a very uncharacteristic display, ran the entire way from the stadium to the staging area in his haste to talk with Delta. James had followed behind with a walking pace and had just now arrived to hear the tail end of Delta's rant.

"You know, it's ok. It's much better for you to mess up here than in a real situation where people could be harmed. It's not like the world is ending."

"But that's just it! It is like the world's ending. People will be harmed!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"HIM!" Delta suddenly pointed towards a startled Algon. "His planet! His people! Everything was riding on this tournament; to show them those idiots that Algon was competent. By winning the tournament, he would have completely destroyed any ideas that his planet was lacking in magical ability and by being a part of his team, I ruined that! I'm the one that prevented him from saving his world!"

The other two friends shared a quick glance. They hadn't realized that Delta had found out about Algon's issue, that his species could be relocated to another world. But that didn't matter right now.

James hung back, silent, while Algon sat down next to Delta. "Delta, it's not your fault."

"Yes, it is..."

He was interrupted. "No, it's not. Let me finish. This is so much bigger than you, and while it was a possibility that the tournament could help with my problem, it was never a guarantee. That means there's no reason to beat yourself up over it. We'll find a way to save my race eventually, but for now, I need you to relax. Grow as a person and understand what you failed at, and when I need you most, I know that you'll be by my side. Look at what you did right today. You managed to do so much; don't let your small fall prevent you from climbing higher." He smiled. "Rise above your failures, so you can help others rise above theirs. That's the only way we can get better in this world."

Delta sniffed, just a couple of tears in his eye, and looked up at Algon. "What is that, your inspirational statement of the year or something?"

"No, it was my mother's. She used to tell it to me when I was little and messed something up. I'll never forget it."

There was an underlying sadness to Algon's voice that made both Delta and James pause. Algon hadn't talked about his family much, and when he had he hadn't mentioned his mother at all. But now was not the time to ask, so they filed the question away for later.