Magic Thieves

Of Beginnings and Ends

In the magical kingdom of Forestvale, there was a perpetual peace. The last war had been the War of Auras, in which the great warriors Everest and Alice over threw the tyrannical government to create a new kingdom.

Ever since the rule of King Everest and Queen Alice there had been no recorded wars or battles. They had settled down in a castle in the middle of their kingdom and began a family.

Their first child was a daughter, with fair skin and dark grey-blue eyes. She had golden locks that tumbled down her back in waves. She had a brilliant silver aura. They named her Luna, after her maternal grandmother, who also had a silver aura and was known to be a very powerful magician and was able to talk to spirits.

Their second child, a daughter, was just as wonderful as the first. She had tan skin and crystal blue eyes. She too had golden curls that rolled over her shoulders. Her bubbly personality reflected her golden aura. She was named Stella, after her paternal grandmother, who also had a gold aura and was able to contact higher light beings, angels.

Their third and final child was their only boy. He was born with a gorgeous smile and an infectious laugh. Like his older sisters, he had blonde hair, but his was almost as if it were bleached. He had eyes like the bluest oceans and his aura was blue. He was named Hudson, which was a family name from both sides. His aura symbolized his spiritual intuition, and he was very lucky.

Forestvale was a kingdom of peace, until the oldest daughters sixteenth birthday.

~~~

Luna awoke on her birthday in soft grey sheets. Throughout the years she had been working with her gods-given powers, which hadn't yet awoken. Even though she had one of the brightest and most powerful auras, she could not yet use her powers to their full potential.

She stood up and walked over to her mirror to see what she had to work with. Luna was born an adorable baby, but as she had grown, she had lost some of the pudgy baby fat and years of training had given her an athletic build. Her golden waves had slightly darkened and had grown to her waist, but it was usually tied up in a bun or back in a braid or ponytail. The only thing that remained the same was her intellectual blue eyes, which seemed to study everything, from Forestvale history books to the best way to take you down in a fight.

Today a seamstress had designed a beautiful silver sea-silk dress for her to wear, it fell to just above her knees. Today would be the day her parents formally stated that she would be the future queen. She got dressed and added silver gladiator sandals to complete the look. The last piece of her outfit was the silver tiara, which was fitted around the head and laid on the forehead. Looking into the mirror one last time, she saw her gorgeous outfit accompanied by the familiar silver glow of her aura.

She stepped out of her bedroom and into the chaos of party preparation.

~~~

Stella awoke under her quilt in her bedroom. To her it was any other day, but she knew it was a very important day for her family and her kingdom. Stella too had changed throughout the fourteen years she'd been alive. She'd used her abilities and had fine-tuned them. She spoke to her angelic guardian every day, and she knew she still wasn't able to access her entire power yet.

Although her sister Luna was much more powerful magically, a gift from her cosmic guardian, Stella was better at reading people naturally and was much stronger physically. Stella had a face like a cherubs, but her body was lean and athletically fit. She had crystal blue eyes set under dark lashes, and her golden curls had reached to her waist. A seamstress had created a gold dress, identical to her sister's in everything but color. Even with the matching dress, her gold aura was still prominent around her body.

She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and threw on gold gladiator sandals with a gold tiara that was fit the same as Luna's. She wrapped a small, thin belt around the waist and connected a small golden dagger on it with another one strapped against her thigh. After completing her outfit, she stepped out of her room and into the hallway.

~~~

"Ouch!" someone yelped as Luna tumbled to the ground. Looking up dizzily, she saw her sister on the floor across from her. They both looked up and began giggling uncontrollably. Servants and butlers continued to bustle around them. Running from down the hall alerted Luna and Stella to the presence of their seven year old brother, Hudson.

"Cannon ball!" he yelled before joining them in a pile on the floor. All three siblings laughed before getting up and heading down to breakfast.

"Luna! Happy birthday dear!" her mother said as she stepped down from her throne in dark blue robes and a silver crown. Most pictures of her show her with long golden hair from her youth, when she met Luna's father and fought for freedom as a hardened warrior, but more recent portraits show her the way Luna knows her, gentle and kind, with short blonde hair that curls under her chin. Her eyes were dark blue, like the robes she was wearing, and her indigo aura.

She was a psychic, a clairvoyant. She could sense the future, not exactly, but to the point that she had a pretty good idea of what would happen. Queen Alice was the strongest clairvoyant in the kingdom, which was why she was essential to freeing the citizens of Forestvale.

Alice walked across the grand hall to hug her daughter. "Are you excited?" she asked. Luna paused and thought for a moment, "More so nervous than excited, but ready nonetheless."

Stella stood back with her arms crossed, glancing anxiously around the open entry. "Mother, isn't this a bit, unsafe?" she asked. "It's so open, I worry that someone might hurt one of us." Alice stepped away from Luna and looked towards her second child. "Of course not. I have seen nothing but goodness coming for this important day." she answered. "Let's go see your father, shall we?" Alice said as she guided her three children out of the great hall.

Luna first saw her father from behind in dark blue robes like her mothers. He smiled brightly when he turned and saw his children and wife walking towards him. "Luna! Happy birthday!" he congratulated. His once blonde hair had darkened to a brown, but his blue eyes still showed his youth and emotions. Her father had a red aura, which showed his emotional response and physical tendencies.

King Everest was known as the best warrior in the land, conquering anyone who came in his way. However, that didn't mean that he acted that way all the time, but when it was necessary he did.

"I just got word that the guests have all arrived, we must prepare for the ceremony." Everest told his wife and children. Just like that, King Everest, Queen Alice, Luna, Stella, and Hudson were whisked away by artists to begin the process.

Her parents had decided to give up some of their wisdom to her, to make her a better leader. In order to do so there were a few modification that needed to be made to each person involved. With a special seashell paste, temporary tattoos were drawn on Luna and her parents in comforting motions. Each symbol glowed blue before drying to a metallic silver. These were symbols of great power, but they would wash away in water. Stella and Hudson were receiving identical artistry, but in an ordinary grey paste. With moments to spare, they were thrust out into the courtyard filled with Forestvale citizens.

"Citizens of Forestvale," Everest boomed. "We would like to make publicly known our heir to the throne, our oldest child, and first daughter, Princess Luna."

"In order to show you that we intend to share our wisdom with her, we have devised a way to share it telepathically using these symbols." Alice said.

And just as Luna began to feel the power flowing through her veins, she heard a scream followed by a thump to the ground.