Euthalia saw a strange woman in front of her. The woman was strange mostly because she was floating. The other reason was her clothes. She was wearing a long, flowing dress made out of something that looked like silk, but was much finer. It was colored with vibrant purples, reds, greens, and blues that seemed to be shifting constantly and grew lighter and darker at random.

“Greetings Euthalia. You who have never wielded magic have never tapped into your true potential. Your gift was hidden until the right time. That time is now. The coming journey will be difficult but you are capable of completing it. Take your gift.”

The woman held out her hand and a sphere grew in her hand. The sphere swirled with the same colors as the woman’s dress. Euthalia stretched her hand forward tentatively.

“Do not worry Euthalia. It is your gift to take.”

Euthalia stretched forth her hand, more resolutely, and touched the sphere. The sphere broke apart and Euthalia was surrounded by brilliant, swirling colors and sensations of heat and cold enveloping her body.

Suddenly, she felt her body shaking.

“Goodbye for now Euthalia, but we will see each other again.”

The figure disappeared and Euthalia woke up. Her bed was shaking… and wet…. She was tossed out of it onto the floor. She landed with a thud onto the wooden floor and noticed it was a bit warm. Under the moonlight streaming into her room, she saw the floor was blackened like it was charred. Wait. She looked back at her window and noticed it was lacking glass. There were a few jagged pieces sticking out from the edges like the window had been broken out.

Suddenly, the rest of the Santhos family stepped into her room. Her father held a lantern. Her mother ran to her side.

“Euthalia, are you alright?!”

“Yes, mother, I’m fine. What happened?”

“That’s what we wanted to ask you,” her father said, “We were all woken by the shaking and heard glass shatter from the direction of your room.”

Her brother noticed the dampness of Euthalia’s blankets.

“Did you wet your bed and break your window in anger?”

“I did not!” Euthalia shouted at him indignantly.

“Why are there scorch marks on your floor?” Euthalia’s mother asked, noticing the blackened boards.

“I don’t know. I woke when I was tossed out of bed by shaking and noticed my window was broken and the floor was charred. And my bed had water on it,” she finished shooting a glare at her younger brother.

“Well, as long as you are ok, we can try to figure it out in the morning.” Her father yawned.

“I’ll get you some dry blankets and you can sleep in one of the chairs.”

“Thanks mom.”

As her family went away, her brother lingered for a second longer, furled his eyebrows then unfurled them and walked away. Euthalia shut the door and changed out of her damp pajamas into a dry pair then went out into the living room, settled into a chair, wrapped herself in the blankets and slept. She didn’t dream further that night.