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Strange is my last name.
“Congratulations your ladyship, a healthy baby boy.” The healer commented as he gave the new born child to his assistant to be cleaned off. Lady Strange was breathing heavily, but her eyes glimmered with happiness. Her husband gently squeezed her shoulders as the healer did his work to make sure her ladyship would not bleed out. Births were hard, even with a kingdom filled with magic people did not everyone make it through. But this healer had never let any of his patients die, and he wasn’t about to start now. Luckily, it had been a relatively easy one, and a little later, when the assistant returned with the baby cleaned and wrapped in a blanket, the lady of the house was healed and eagerly waiting to hold her new child. Lord Strange gestured for a servant to come over to show the healer and the assistant their rooms to stay in for now. They would stay a few days to make sure the lady would not fall ill afterwards. The rest of the servants left the new family alone for now, so they could tend to their new born son alone, in private.
They decided to name him Tenney, as he was born on the tenth day after the harvest festival. Once his hair started growing, they found it to be pitch black, much like his father’s. And when he started growing, it quickly became clear he had a slender frame, like his mother’s family. Yes, they were very happy and proud of their son. Although there was one thing bothering the young family: Tenney did not display any sign of the signature magic the Strange family usually had. Most of them started showing signs from the age of three, but Tenney’s fifth birthday was coming up and still there was no sign of any sort of power. At first, they thought he might have inherited the abilities from his mother’s side instead, but no. His parents tried to stay patient. After all, the age limit was seven, not five. There were still two years left, and it happened that children picked up a whole other ability than what their parents had. Perhaps the young heir of the Strange lands would break with the tradition of duplication. It was a useful ability that helped the lord to get to all of his people quickly whenever there was dispute. It also kept the lands safe, as most of the rivalling lords weren’t all too eager to attack the lands of someone who could literally duplicate himself at will. But if Tenney turned out to have something else entirely, they would be proud of him all the same.
But as the months passed, and lord and lady Strange watched their son stare at his friends shooting flames from their hands, turn small fountains into tidal waves or turned acorns into squirrels, all with a envy in his expression, they did worry. His sixth birthday came and went, and no changes were in sight for the kid. He asked his parents about it a few times. Why could they do all these things that he couldn’t? Why wasn’t he special like them? No matter how many times they assured him he was just as special, Tenney had to sometimes fight tears as he saw a mirror image of his father talk to a soldier while his real father was on a hunting trip, or when his mother fabricated that string out of sunlight like it was nothing. Of course, the boy knew that his seventh birthday would be his last chance, and he tried so many things to make something happen. Anything at all. He asked his grandparents how their abilities worked, he asked his friends what they did when their powers awakened for the first time, but nobody was able to help him. No matter what he tried, no matter how many nights he prayed to whoever was in charge of assigning abilities to humans, his hands did not glow, his body did not shift form, objects did not start floating around him, and he did not manage to turn the stupid rock in front of him into gold.
And then his seventh birthday came. People from all around the domain of the Strange family came to the castle for the party. All of Tenney’s friends were invited, and his parents had asked for the largest birthday cake the kitchen could possibly produce. There were jugglers, jesters, even a tournament, and all this actually managed to let Tenney forget about the pressure, forget about his troubles, and forget about the fact that this day sealed his fate forever; he was a non-wielder. For some reason he was born without magical abilities at all. And that while he lived in Gravity Falls, the kingdom with more magic people than any other kingdom in the entire world. Tenney Strange was truly strange in the weirdest way: he was ordinary in a place where he should not be that way. And there was very little he or his parents could do about it. His friends didn’t really mind it. They were so used to Tenney not being able to join them in their magic adventures that they had started playing other games a long time ago, so he could actually join them in their fun. So, in that way, it didn’t make much of a difference in his life. And with the pressure of his seventh birthday out of the way, he even felt better than before. As if he just needed to get it over with to be able to live his life to the fullest. And to be fair, it had perks to not have to deal with powers. When his classmates headed to class to be taught how to work with their powers, Tenney was free to explore the lands owned by his family. He spent a lot of those free hours at the marketplace, where he talked to merchants and fishermen a lot. Their stories about other kingdoms fascinated him a lot, and he loved listening to them. All in all, not a bad deal. Stories instead of lessons.
But his happiness did not last that much longer. Less than a year after his seventh birthday, his brother was born, and Tenney learned about the harsh reality of being without magic in this kingdom. His father explained that the people would not have faith in a lord who did not have experience with magic of his own, and that rivalling lords would try to take their lands if they found out about his lack of powers. Tenney was confused. His parents had never showed him that he meant less to them because of this before. But now they replaced him for it. Why? Did his lack of magic really mean he was any less capable of making good decisions? He’d been around wielders his entire life; he knew how it worked. He knew what magic was used for which purpose, and he knew where to find certain kinds of wielders. All he could not do was use it himself. But why did that matter? Was it that different to use magic of his own? Tenney asked these questions, but his father was just looking out for his people. His mother assured him that they loved him all the same, and that this decision was only made for the good of the lands. It was all the explanation he got, and when his brother made his first duplicate at the young age of two, his status of heir was revoked. Tenney would not hold the title of Lord.
It didn’t get any easier after that. His friends were starting to have less time to play. They were all starting to focus on their classes, to get stronger. Tenney was left to play by himself more and more, and retreated to the market almost permanently, trying to figure out what was next for him. Perhaps he should seek advice from the council of mages. Surely, he wasn’t the only non-wielder in the entire kingdom. Luckily his rank had ensured he would learn to read and write, and with his parents’ permission, he sent a pigeon to the council to ask what was best for him to do, as most jobs in the kingdom required a form of magic, which he could not do. The reply was not encouraging. The council let him know that his lack of magic in a kingdom where it was the norm would leave him as a second-class citizen for the rest of his life. Unless he found something very specific to do, and they gave him very little hope that he would be able to do that. Their tone was rather condescending through the whole letter, giving Tenney the feeling for the first time in his life that his lack of magic meant there was something wrong with him. That it was his own fault that he wouldn’t inherit his parents’ lands, that he was a burden to his friends and that he was born in the wrong kingdom. That feeling made him lose his faith in his future for a while, and he stayed to himself for months. He didn’t even know that his father, furious as he was, sent his own letters to the council to let them know he did not appreciate their tone. He didn’t know his friends came asking where he had disappeared to.
And he didn’t know that the solution could be found at his favourite place: the market. Because one of the merchants had taken a liking in the kid. At first, he had been so confused to meet someone in this kingdom who did not have some sort of strange irregularity on his body. But after he had gotten to know the kid and found out about his lack of magic, he was more than happy to tell him all about the rest of the world, where people like Tenney were the norm, and everyone else was an exception. Strange, everywhere else, people from Gravity Falls were stared at because of what they could do. Often people didn’t trust the wielders from this kingdom and were hesitant to even speak to them. Gravity Falls was very secluded, mostly for that reason. But Tenney, the kid had such a unique opportunity. He could move freely in both his home kingdom, and the rest of the world. He could go beyond the borders without invoking questions. The merchant had been thinking about that for quite a while when he realized he had not seen the kid for a while.
Then one day lady Strange was at the market with her youngest son, Tenney’s little brother. The child had recently turned three and his mother wanted him to see more than just the inside of the castle. The merchant saw them and called out. “Milady, do you have time for a humble merchant?” She looked up and gave him a smile. “Of course, good man. What is it you require?” She asked, and the merchant hesitated shortly. “Are you Tenney’s mother by any chance?” He then asked, and lady Strange nodded, her expression shifting. “Where is he? He used to come to the market often, but I have not seen him in a while.” The merchant was hesitant when he saw the sadness in the woman’s eyes. “He is in his room most of the time.” She answered and explained what was going on. The merchant’s expression turned dark. “Curse the council. This kingdom has not seen good days since the day our good king died.” He muttered, and the lady didn’t answer. She agreed but could not speak up in fear of repercussions. “May I ask if you could give young Tenney a message from me? I know it is quite bold of me to speak to a Lady like this, but please. Please tell him to go speak to the messenger guild. I think they might find his lack of magic a blessing. Tenney can move in crowds of non-wielders in a way none of them can.” The merchant spoke, and the lady smiled. “I will make sure he gets the message. Thank you.”
And so, it happened that a few weeks later an eleven years old Tenney stood in front of his new teacher, a senior messenger who had agreed to turn the child into a messenger. Tenney was happy with the prospect he would get to travel, the guild was happy they had someone who didn’t have to defend his worth in front of kings who did not wield magic, and lord and lady Strange were happy that their first born son had found his place in life. The only downside of all this was that the more time Tenney spent outside Gravity Falls, the more he started to dislike the way wielders viewed themselves. Their arrogant belief they were better than non-wielders because they were blessed with magic got on his nerves. As a result, Tenney wasn’t home that often anymore. But at least he was happy, had a purpose, and proved the council of mages wrong. He wasn’t a second-class citizen; he was a first-class messenger and Herald.