2

I was practicing guitar in my room. I had been learning to play guitar almost as long as I had been learning martial arts. I practiced every day. I found music to be soothing. I felt like it gave me class. I had a hard time memorizing facts, which made me feel empty, since there were people I knew who memorized things a lot more easily. Sometimes I thought I was stupid. It was one of the reasons I wanted to be good at martial arts and playing the guitar. I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t empty or stupid.

    I was looking for a job as a professional musician. My instructors always told me I was talented, even though I didn’t have it easier than any other musician. My parents wanted me to nurture my talents.

    I’d been practicing for a long time when Dad told me and Mom to come to the living room.

    “I heard something on the news,” Dad said, when we got there. “The ghoul war might start again.”

    Mom looked scared, which I didn’t see much from her.

    “How do you know?” Mom asked Dad.

    “I heard on the news that the ghoul leader told some civilians he was thinking about starting the war again.”

    “Was it a threat?” I asked.

    “No, he was just sharing what he wanted and he wanted to attack the kingdom. But he didn’t say he will.”

    “Has he made a decision yet?” Mom asked.

    “Not yet.”

    “What will the royal family do?” I asked.

    “They can’t do anything,” Dad answered. “We will have to accept it, if it happens.”

    Millennia ago, there was another war between all of the species in the kingdom; humans, ghouls, vampire and fairies. In order to end the war, everyone agreed that the humans with magic should cast a spell. The spell should make sure that once it had been decided which of the species was the smartest one, that species would be in charge of the kingdom to make sure the kingdom flourished as much as possible. 

    All of the species should decide who was the smartest together. The decision itself was not a part of the spell. Magic couldn’t make decisions like that for people. Once it was decided, everyone would make that species in charge because they would do the best job as leaders. The spell would keep anyone from attacking that species and taking control. This was to make sure that there would be no war. And that the people who should be in charge were in charge.

    After that war, it was decided that species was humans. And for a while, it was. Then, about a century ago, everyone started arguing again and it was possible that someone else would be in charge. 

    The decision should be made based on the individuals who lived at the time, not a species in general. The decision couldn’t last forever because the individuals were different. No species in general was smarter than the others. It depended on the individuals that were currently alive, so the decision would change.  

    They argued for a long time, but humans remained in charge until the ghouls took over when they proved they had a lot more knowledge than humans. That was enough to convince everyone that ghouls were smarter. There was still a human royal family, but ghouls still had more power, despite the fact that the royal family still had power. 

    Because the ghouls were the smarter species for having more knowledge than anybody else, no one was allowed to stop them if they started a war. No one was allowed to fight them, thanks to the spell. But it was possible for individuals to fight in self defense or defending others. We couldn’t have an army of humans, vampires and fairies fight the ghouls. They were the ones in charge. They started a war years ago before Mom knew Dad. Mom fought in that war. The war lasted for a year. Mom was remembering it when she asked if there would be another war.