Roxanna

Chapter 1 - Turning 16

Roxanna woke up with a shock. She just had a really weird dream. About a woman and a child... She looked at her hourglass. 5:30. In two hours, her mother and sister would come and wake her up. Her sleepy brain said there was something special today, but she couldn't quite remember what... It took almost a minute for her to realise it was her 16th birthday. 

16 was the age you'd turn over-age in Estrillia, the land where she lived. You'd be taken to a fortune-teller and she would make a prophecy, called an Agatia. The Agatia would be written on a sacred paper and kept in a locket. You'd carry the locket with you untill you died or you thought your Agatia was furfilled. If you thought it was furfilled, you'd go to the same fortune-teller or her successor and the whole ritual would repeat itself. It didn't happen often, but it was always a possibility.

Roxanna's thoughts turned to yesterday, when she asked er sister, Amy, about her 16th birthday and her Agatia. Amy had smiled and said it was a secret. But there was nothing to worry about. The fortune-teller would be very nice to her and Roxanna would get a wonderful Agatia. "And when the fortune-teller is done, you go home and have a nice party!" she had said. "And don't worry, Agatia's are never really bad. Mine was even fantastic!" Roxanna had tried to get Amy to tell her the rituals and her Agatia, but Amy smiled her lovely smile and said it was top-secret. Not that Roxanna really had to ask for Amy's Agatia. It was probably just like Amy, perfect in every way. Tall, slim and beautiful, Amy had long golden hair, eyes like the sky and a lovely smile.  Roxanna was almost the complete opposite of Amy. She had raven-black hair and deep, dark brown eyes and was rather small. But even though the sisters were very different, they loved each other and were very close.

There was even a bigger difference between the two sisters. Their Machi. Everyone in Estrillia knew about them and mastered at least one. The Machi were divided in two groups, the Era and the Vana. The Era were considered the higher powers and the Vana were considered the lower powers. The Era Machi, often called just Era, were Fire, Air, Earth, Water and Lightening. The Vana Machi were Time, Space, Sound, Light and Matter. Most people only mastered two Vana or one Era. Amy was already an exception to this, as she mastered 3 Vana and 1 Era. Roxanna was even more special. She seemed to master them all.

Roxanna tried to fall sleep again, but her mind was too full with all kind of thoughts. What if the fortune-teller did all her special rituals, but couldn't make an Agatia? Or, what if her Agatia was really horrible and predicted only misery and sorrow? "Come on, Roxanna." she said firmly to herself. "This will get you no where. Your Agatia will be fine, just as Amy said it would. You should have some more sleep now. You don't want to fall asleep at the fortune-teller, do you?" And she fell asleep. 

"Happy birthday, Roxanna!" Roxanna woke up and saw her mother and sister standing next to her bed. The two of them were smiling happily. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and smiled back. Her mother and sister really took after each other. Roxanna often wondered whose looks she had inherited. Probably her father's, but as her father had died before she was even born, she couldn't tell for sure. Her mother always had told her that she took after her father, so she consicdered that as the truth.

After her mother and Amy had finished singing and had left the room, Roxanna walked to her closet. She opened it and looked at her different dresses, trying to choose the most appropriate dress to wear to the fortune-teller. She chose a long black dress, which was very elegant, but not very easy to move in, so she didn't wear it often. She put on the matching shoes and jewelry and rushed downstairs where Amy and her mother were waiting for her.

She opened the door of the kitchen and saw an enourmous birthday cake sitting on the table. Amy and her mother were barely visible as they were sitting behind it. "Where is what normal people call breakfast?" Roxanna asked. "This is breakfast!" Amy replied. "And lunch!" her mother added. Great. Just great. Let me guess what we're going to have for dinner... Roxanna sat down, softly protesting. Her mother cut a big slice of cake and gave it to Roxanna. It was a lovely cake, with soft sponge and a nice crispy crust, but it wasn't near to what Roxanna would qualify as breakfast...

After everyone had finished her cake, and everything was cleared up, Roxanna and her mother said it was time to go to the fortune-teller. Amy and her mother kept talking to Roxanna about the fortune-teller and the Agatia, which made Roxanna even more nervous. She learned the fortune-teller's name was Viola and that she was the best in town. Amy said she had been to Viola as well and there was nothing to worry about. She heard her mother telling something about the fortune-teller she had been to, but Roxanna didn't listen anymore. When her mother said, "come Roxie, it's time to go." she stood up and walked outside. 

On their way to Viola, her mother told her some things about the proceedings once Roxanna would be at the fortune-teller's house. "I won't be going with you." she said. "You'll have to do this on your own. Once Viola is finished with your Agatia, she'll give you your locket. When the ceremony is over, you should come home for your birthday party. And lunch will be ready at that time." "Not birthday cake again..." Roxanna groaned. "Really, it's a lovely, delicious cake, but I'm not really keen on having it for lunch..." I hope at least dinner is something else... But I can make a good guess what we're going to have as a desert... 

They stood in front of a large house. On the outside it didn't look any different from all the other houses, except for the fact it was a little bigger than most of the houses. "This is her house, if I remember correctly." "But, this doesn't even look like a fortune-teller's house!" "That's the reason why I know it's here." her mother simply said. Roxanna sighed. As usual, no one could understand her mother's logic, except for Amy maybe. "Now, go in Roxie. All will be fine." Roxanna felt how her mother pushed her soft lips onto her forehead. Roxanna turned around and knocked on the door. "Good luck, Roxie." her mother said, while the door swinged open. Roxanna stepped into the darkness and she heard the door closing behind her.