Magicae

Chapter 1: Magicae

Magicae. That single word was all that Penny Phoeni could recall from the dream. She had been having this dream for months, and still, that was all she could remember.

And yet, this time, there was something else. She remembered fire. And something, something with wings, was rising out of the flames.

Probably need to lay off the Harry Potter before bed, Penny thought jokingly, smiling to herself.

In the bed across the room, Penny's younger sister, Bridget, snored softly, thumb injected in her mouth. Hope she's not having any weird dreams.

Of course, Penny had strange dreams quite often, a result of an overactive imagination and reading books all the time.

Still, this dream felt different. For one, it didn't have any kind of story line, which most of her dreams had. Although the story lines rarely made any sort of sense, they were there. This dream was just a voice saying 'Magicae,' and today the flames.

But she wouldn't let the dream stay with her throughout the day, as it seemed to on the other times she had it.

Resolving to forget about it, the slightly-built, pale-skinned redhead slipped out from under the covers. It was her 13th birthday, and nothing would ruin it, not even strange dreams. Finally, she was a teenager, and she could torment her older brother Jack with that fact.

Penny sprinted down the stairs towards the kitchen, where she could smell french toast baking, pushing a headband in place as she went.

And then things got weird.

***

Alex Dragoni was already awake when his alarm went off, had been awake for hours. For the past several months, his sleep schedule had been completely falling apart. Every night he would stay awake as long as he could, and as soon as the dark-skinned boy returned home from school he would collapse on his bed and fall asleep.

His grades were dropping. His friends were worried.

All because of some stupid dreams.

Alex had frightening dreams of toothed, clawed things attacking out of nowhere, so real he woke up drenched in sweat each day. And yet he could never quite make out the details of the creatures.

He was too old to be scared of dreams. They couldn't hurt him. That's what Alex told himself, after his seventh trip to detention for not doing his homework. He had always been a good kid, average in grades but popular with his peers. Why should a bad dream affect that?

But now, on the morning of his 13th birthday, the day of his Coming, he remembered the dream in more detail— and what was in it.

Dragons.

***

Staring at the drawing pinned to the fridge, Juliette Unni sighed. In the picture was a child's version of happiness, colored by her little sister, Margaret. But in real life, a unicorn and a rainbow couldn't fix things. Things such as a dad who didn't seem to care about her achievements, good grades but no friends, and money being short.

The Hispanic girl sighed and stood up. It was Saturday, so her father would probably sleep late. Brushing a strand of black hair behind her ear, she turned towards the stove. She'd better get started making the eggs.

On impulse, Juliette glanced back at the drawing. A unicorn... it was like the one in her dream.

Juliette pushed the thought of dreams away. They were just distractions, and she didn't have time to mull over them all day. Dreams had no standing on real life. They don't affect me. There's nothing scientific about them.

Even as she cracked eggs into the skillet, the image of the unicorn wouldn't go away. Juliette rolled her eyes. Stop thinking about it. Distract yourself. What is your topic going to be for that biology paper?

But despite Juliette's attempts at planning out the essay, the unicorn would not leave her mind.

Thank you for reading my story Magicae! Any votes and comments are greatly appreciated, and any constructive criticism is as well!

Enjoy!