Julia

 

Blue-green dragonfly wings. Two wolves, one white and one black. A dark carriage passes through the golden gate of a white wall. White buildings, with bright blue roofs. A sign. Academy for Gifted Witches and Wizards. Forest. Endless forest. A village.

Something rang. Julia turned to the other side. Everything was so warm and soft, only this ringing was annoying. Julia pulled the duvet over her head as she slowly woke up. Stupid alarm clock.  She reached out to the unpleasant object and turned off the alarm clock. Slowly she crawled out from under the covers. Stupid alarm clock.  Shortly afterward there was a knock at the door.

"I'm awake," Julia called and sat down on her bed, yawning. The early morning should be abolished.  She looked at her alarm clock while the servant with the green dragonfly wings came in. She had a serving cart with her on which stood a teapot and a teacup. 10:00 a.m.  Definitely way too soon.

"Your tea, princess." She placed the jug and cup on Juliet's bedside table. "Your mother wishes to have breakfast with you in half an hour. What do you want to wear today?"

"Something." Julia yawned and poured black tea into the tender teacup. "Put something out of me. The main thing is comfortable. Thank you." Julia took the cup into the small bathroom, which was accessed by a nicely decorated door in her room, while the servant walked through another into Julia's dressing room. Julia set the cup down on the sink, scurried into the shower, and brushed her teeth. Then she put on a bathrobe and went to her dressing room to drink tea. The servant was already gone. Super. Now the tea tastes like toothpaste... Maybe I should just pour the tea over the alarm clock? So that the stupid thing never rings again... But then I would be woken up again in the morning by the servants.... Stupid alarm clock!

She put on the clothes that the servant had placed on a small, purple armchair. A yellow summer dress with white embroidery and a light blue, cardigan with half-length sleeves and flower buttons made of light mother-of-pearl. Plus yellow shoes. Way too cheerful for the morning. Stupid alarm clock!

Yawning, Julia went into the dining room. There, her parents and Peter were already sitting at the breakfast table and were involved in a conversation. On the table were a coffee pot and a teapot, rolls, ham, cheese, plenty of fruit, butter, and sweet pastries. "Morning," Julia murmured, sitting down next to Peter. She reached for the coffee pot, ignoring her father's reproachful look.  Coffee is only for adults... Bla, blah, blah... Cheers to the coffee drinkers. Cheers to me!

"Coffee is not for young ladies, miss." Her father, Friedrich, shook his head. I knew it!

"Then I'm not a lady," she replied, sticking her tongue out at her father. Peter laughed. "I prefer to drink tea. Does that mean I'm a young lady? Should I put on a skirt?"

"Yes. And hurry up! Otherwise, your tea will get cold." The queen smiled. "Julia? Have you dreamed something beautiful?"

"Only convoluted. Strangely, it was the same as during the carriage ride. The Academy. A forest. A village. But nothing exactly. Just pictures," she replied as she reached for an apple.

"Pictures?" Her father became perceptive. Her brother and mother also looked at her expectantly.

"Yes. Simply pictures. If I dreamed more, I don't know."

The queen frowned. "Could you move in the dream, or are the images rather ... appeared? Like a movie?"

"Like in the movie?", Peter now took part in the conversation and piled a lot of cheese on one half of the roll, on which there was already a lot of butter. "Like your visions, Mom?"

Julia grimaced as she bit off her apple.  Visions? As in 'seer'?

The queen nodded contentedly. "Yes, exactly. That is what I am talking about. Was it perhaps a vision, dear? Since you've seen the same thing twice? In a dream? Did it feel like it had already happened? Or as if it would still happen?"

As if it would still happen... "I think it was about me. But it was certainly just a dream. No need to get excited. Just a dream."  I don't want to go to the academy, so I dreamed of the academy... Dragonfly wing... Forest... Village... That makes no sense. I don't know anyone with blue-green wings. None of the servants here have such wings. "And? Did anything interesting happen while I was away?" she tried to change the subject.

"There was a fire in the kitchen!" said Peter.  "It must have become too hot oil."

"Exciting? Anything else?"

"I'm a lady from today on and I'm going to wear a skirt," Peter winked at her. "What do you think about lemon yellow? Would it look good on me? Or better pink?"

"Pink," said the queen dryly. "With frills."

"We should test whether Julia is a seer, don't you think?" her father came back to the subject.

"It must have been just a dream!" protested Julia.

"We should still test it," her mother objected. "Why not now. Close your eyes and focus on the future. What could the future hold? What will happen?"

Magic, she had shown herself, could immediately be used instinctively, even if control and other things had to be learned.

Julia rolled her eyes. Just to prove it was a dream!  She closed her eyes.  The future? Is the future set in stone? No. Otherwise, Mother would not have seen the war... What does the future hold? Do I even want to know? ... Yes. I want to know... So dear magic that is not there, show me the future! ...  Ridiculous... I'm just making a fool of myself here... Future... What will happen? Show me!

 

Agathe

 

It had become quiet inside the room. Julia did not move. Agathe looked expectantly at her daughter. And then... At last! Julia opened her eyes. They were snow-white. Misty and not clear and silver, as usual. Magic. She is a seer! My little one is a seer!

"What the hell," her youngest son shouted, shaking Julia's arm.

"Don’t. She has a vision," reprimanded Friedrich. "She doesn't notice any of that now. You can't wake them up!"

"Seriously?" Peter shook Julia's arm again. Then he looked at his mother. Agathe smiled reassuringly at her son. Of course, he had already seen his mother while she had a vision, but he had probably been too young to remember it now. "It's all right. Your sister is a seer."

Slowly Julia's eyes cleared again and the silver came back, she blinked dazedly. "Yikes. That was strange."

"What did you see?", Peter wanted to know and shook Julia's arm again.

"... The future... I think ... I saw one of the hospitals. There were many injured there. And then there was a wedding. I saw Peter with a big bouquet of flowers and a woman in a wedding dress. She cried. And then there were werewolves, packing bags and leaving their homes."

"Okay..." Peter grimaced. "The... Isn't so nice? The poor bride? Have you seen more?"

Julia shook her head. She looked unhappy. "No. That's all." Agathe grabbed a cake and bit into it contentedly. I have a celebration to plan.  "Visions are often a bit unclear. Especially at the beginning. You will learn to understand them better and eventually they will become clearer. Every beginning is difficult."

Julia sighed and reached for the rest of her apple. She should eat more.  "Is everything alright, sparrow? Aren't you happy?" Agathe got up from her seat to hug her daughter. "Congratulations, dear! Your magic has been shown. You are a seer! That means you will be attending the academy soon! I'll sign you up right there. The new school year starts shortly after your birthday! Congratulations!"

 

 

Marie

 

Marie proudly looked at her brand-new suitcase.  He was tall. Really big.  Everything she wanted to take with her would fit in there. She would have loved to pack her suitcase today and leave for the academy. But it was still far too early for that. Unfortunately.

Theo sat on her desk chair leafing through one of her old children's books. "And I really have to go along? To this school? Do I have my own room there?"

"Mom said there are rooms for servants, yes. But whether you have your own room or share it with someone, I don't know. The Academy organizes that."

Theo looked at her worriedly. "Do you think we'll share a room?"

"We?" Marie giggled. "No, stupid. Of course not!"

"Why do I have to go along?"

"Why?" Marie looked over her painting things. What do I take with me? Crayons? Watercolors? All? "You'll probably help out a lot in the kitchen."

Theo grimaced and rubbed his left wrist, where white ornaments tied him to Marie. He had only received the binding spell a few weeks ago. Before that, he had worn the markings of a temporary spell like his sister still wore. "In the kitchen? But I can't cook!"

"What would you like to do there?" I take everything with me! Crayons and watercolors. Then I don't have to buy anything new.

"I want to learn how to fight!"

"Fight?"

"Mom says you'll learn to fight there. That's what I want too."

Marie grinned and threw a pillow at her fourteen-year-old servant. "Sword fighting and fencing, yes. In the first school year, this is mandatory for everyone. Not anymore from the second. Then I can think about whether I want to continue doing this or not. But I don't plan to join the military, even if I can use manipulative magic."

"What do you want to do then?" Theo threw the pillow back. "Do you want to go into politics?"

"What I want to do now is the biggest pillow fight of the century!"