"Arienne!"

She was floating on gentle waves, her body rocked slowly in a warm, calming embrace. Darkness surrounded her. No pain existed here, no fear, no worry. She wanted to remain like this forever. She never wanted to open her eyes, even though she didn't feel tired.

This was a place of serenity.

"Arienne!"

Except that a voice kept nagging at her for some reason. So annoying. No respect for other people's peace. Can't whoever it is see she's resting…?

"Arienne!"

"Yes?" She managed to sound polite. Manners are important, Mom always said.

"Finally! You need to listen to me!"

"Do I have a choice?"

Okay, being polite apparently took more effort than she could muster at the moment. Not a common problem for her, but she was having a bad day.

"Life's full of choices. Right now you need to make yours. We don't have much time left."

Arienne opened her eyes. Closed her eyes. Opened them again.

The image before her didn't change.

"Oh my gosh, you're a talking animal!"

The animal in question looked unimpressed. "I'm way more than that. I'm your familiar. My appearance isn't important."

It - she? he…? - was really cute, too, sitting on her stomach like it belonged there. Small, but with voluminous silvery fur, sharp attentive ears, a delicate silver nose, and a huge fluffy tail.

"Do you have a name?"

"No, but you can give me one, later. Are you ready to listen?"

"Fine, fine, listening! Wow, you're bossy…"

"I'm influenced by your personality and experience, so don't blame the mirror. I'm only trying to be of service. The guy you stood up to, the one with the attitude? Remember him?"

She did. It wasn't a pleasant memory, and it made her stomach sink.

Arienne nodded, not trusting words.

"He will still be there when you come to. You must decide what to do about that."

"What can I do…?" She glanced around, seeing only darkness, herself, and the silvery… fox? cat? weasel? "And where are we?"

"Until your powers fully awaken, we are…" It was very unusual to see an animal frown in a decidedly human fashion. "I don't actually know. Somewhere. Nowhere. Between places."

"My powers?"

"This is what your choice is about. You're going to have powers. You would be able to hide. You would be able to run. You won't be dead after getting hit by his spikes."

Arienne halfway decided that laughing this whole unreal scene off might be a good solution, but, unfortunately, no laugh came. Not even a little one.

"I'm sensing that I certainly won't like the point you're getting at. No, scratch that, I don't like it already."

"You can also fight. It will be dangerous."

Darkness flowed around her. Soothing. Safe.

"I've already tried that, and it didn't work out so well. I couldn't even touch him!" She turned away.

"Your powers weren't with you, then."

"I don't have any powers!"

It was all too awful. She had been helpless. She went up against a guy thrice her size, and he utterly crushed any delusions she might have had about being invincible. Or protected by any kind of elementary niceness that teachers sometimes appealed to at school. She did what she thought was right, and it amounted to basically nothing.

If there had been any powers, she would have gladly used them!

"Shine, Arienne." Small paw touched her chest.

And as though roused from dreamless slumber encompassing her entire existence, she felt it. The power, radiating from her heart, bathing her with light. In an inexplicable, impossible way, she knew it. She understood its currents and grasped its shape, its strength. She could direct it. She could wield it.

She lifted her hands to her face.

"See? You shine."

Light coated her skin where only darkness stretched infinitely before.

"The choice is yours. What do you want?"