Ethereal

Prologue

"For the ones who dream of stranger worlds."

It was midnight when her eyes finally slid shut. The storm was still raging outside, the wind wailing against the closed windows as she slowly drifted to sleep.

She'd had countless of dreams in her lifetime, ranging from sweet to scary to passionate to downright ridiculous. Yet, she'd never really encountered one such as the dream she saw that night.

As, in her dreams, she saw a baby.

The infant lay in a crib, positioned just in front of the open windows. A warm breeze fluttered the curtains and the small creature gave a toothless grin, flailing around with its arms

Babies had cute hands. They were delicate and so very tiny. And the way they wrapped their little hands around one of your fingers had always made Emerald happy — like everything in this world wasn't so bad after all.

But this infant's hands were different. This was because they glowed with an ethereal shade of jade. Like fire, the light danced on its fingertips, looking almost alive.

A woman trailed her hands around the crib, her eyes sparkling happily as she leaned over it.

"Alex," Her voice was a hushed whisper, almost like the flames would fade if she spoke too loud. "Come here."

The man who stepped up to the woman had a proud smile on his face as he looked down at the little piece of warmth cocooned underneath the blankets.

"My beautiful baby girl," His deep voice whispered as his hands came up to grip the edges of the crib, holding on to it as he bent down, planting a soft kiss on the infant's forehead.

"Alex, her aura is green." The mother's melodic voice whispered out, still tinged with the satisfactory note.

The child's giggles echoed through the place, being carried away by the wind as both her parents gazed down lovingly at her. Small toy stars hung above her, making a quiet tinkling sound with the breeze, one lightly hitting the other.

They said a fairy was born with the first laugh of a child. What would the first laugh of this child give life to?

"I think I know what we should name our precious angel." Her eyes filled with tears, hand coming up to subdue the sudden rush of breath as her tears fell over.

"Whatever it'll be, I'm sure it will be beautiful." His voice said comfortingly, hands slipping onto his wife's waist, pulling her close.

"Emerald,"

The surprise at hearing her own name almost made her wake up.

And as the dream faded, the father's worlds echoed around the quiet room.

"It'll be a symbolism of her powers. Her name will be her guidance, her strength when she needs it the most and be her hope, when we won't be there to help her along the way."

A strange parental love blanketed the surroundings, more intense than any moment she had ever felt with her own parents.

"Emerald," The father smiled. "My most precious jewel,"

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