The Awakening of Valeria

Chapter 1: The dark shadow of Aldo

Aldo's household was as cold and rigid as the stone walls of their ancestral mansion. The town of Grimmerholm, a place steeped in old-world traditions, mirrored Aldo’s beliefs—a man’s word was law, and a woman’s place was to obey. Every morning, Sofia would rise early, her once-bright eyes dulled by years of subjugation, to prepare breakfast in silence. The table was always set perfectly, but the atmosphere was tense, filled with unspoken resentment. Debíl, their firstborn, would lower her gaze, trying to avoid her father's scrutiny, while the boys, Andres and Alwar, reveled in their father's favoritism, their laughter often cruel and mocking.

Valeria, the youngest, was different. Even as a child, she could sense the wrongness in her father’s rule, the unfairness that seeped into every corner of their lives. Her magic, though untrained, would often flare in moments of intense emotion—a flicker of light in the darkness, a sudden gust of wind that ruffled Aldo’s papers, or a warmth that spread through her body when she felt particularly defiant. These moments were fleeting, and Valeria would quickly suppress them, fearing what would happen if Aldo ever discovered her secret.

Despite the oppressive atmosphere, there was a certain mystique that surrounded Valeria. Her mother, Sofia, noticed the small, almost imperceptible ways in which Valeria's magic manifested. A flower in the garden would bloom out of season, or a sickly bird would suddenly take flight, fully healed. Sofia, recognizing the signs, began to fear for her daughter. She knew all too well the dangers of magic in a world that had forgotten the true power of women. She had once possessed that same power, but it had been locked away, buried deep within her by years of Aldo’s dominance.

But even Aldo, for all his arrogance, could not completely ignore the strangeness surrounding his youngest daughter. There were times when he would catch Valeria’s gaze across the dinner table—a gaze that was not fearful like her siblings, but questioning, almost defiant. Aldo dismissed these thoughts, attributing them to his own paranoia. Yet, a part of him, the part that remembered his own mother’s tales of the old magic, felt a twinge of unease. He would never admit it, but something about Valeria unsettled him, something he could not quite put his finger on.