The old man (1)

She didn't know when she fell asleep, she only knew that she was dreaming because she always knew. A side effect to those who open their Third Eye--they were more susceptible to have lucid dreams and/or foresight. Usually, they had a hard time distinguishing the present from the past and/or future. They had to wait until they choose their familiars for that to happen. In the meantime, their mind warped slightly.

It left marks the longer one waited. Using magical trinkets to stabilize them worked for a while, but it also left the psyche in a delicate state. A thing she had the luck to avoid.

After all, while she was a natural with this sixth sense, it was also true that her adoptive parents were wary of her when she started to manifest her powers. She subconsciously put a tight hold on her powers, as to not frighten them. They were a loving couple, but too normal to really accept her.

That was the time when the people in power called for any strange occurrence to be reported. Her old family might have been too normal to keep her, they still weren't cruel to give her to the government for them to do who knows what. That's when a Cuban friend of theirs mentioned having connections with one person of the supernatural world. She met Old Ma and was given to her. Her parents of that time were sad to leave her, but they couldn't hide their relief, either.

She didn't blame them, seeing as how those last months with them were filled with arguments and screams when they thought she slept. She learned to be silent, not wanting to bother them, thinking that if she did that, maybe they would keep her.

It didn't work.

She didn't care about them anymore, but in thanks for the help they had given by not just sending her to the government, she carried the name they given her. She didn't remember the first name she had been given to her as she was too young. She was five when the couple that adopted her changed her name. And then, at eight, almost nine, when she had been given to Old Ma, she decided to keep that name as a memento of the better times. Even if it had only been three years with that name. Still. She liked the name, mostly because they used to call her 'little star'.

She still decided to take Old Ma's last name: Moreno. Now, she was slightly sad to not have it now to accompany her.

"Alula Moreno," she murmured inside her dreams with her eyes still closed. Those seconds before she had said her name, she wanted to say it. But, it didn't sound right in this world, where she occupied the body of a teenager who would never become a woman. "I'm sorry, Old Ma. But I'm Alula Astra, now. I must be."

She felt someone touch her cheek, it was calloused and old, but warm. The palm of someone she knew. She pressed her hand to the one touching her and leaned her face onto it, but still didn't open her eyes. She knew she would wake up as soon as she did so.

That or have a weird vision. Which she didn't know how will work without her familiars to help her through it. She still couldn't help but ask, "Old Ma, are you with me?"

When she felt the thumb caressing her cheek, she couldn't but use the way she only called her when it was just the two of them "... Mamita?" (1)

"It's time to wake up, Alula."

That did wake her up. She opened her eyes and was surprised to find Amycus in front of her, his hand touching her shoulder as he shook her. "Hey, it's time to--"

He fell silent when she sat up.

"Sorry about that. It seems I was more tired than I thought," she said, surprised that her voice came out as calm as it did. She shook her head to erase the lingering feeling of the touch on her cheek and pointed to the clothes on top of their bag. "Those are for you. They don't have any weird holes and while they won't fit perfectly, I will let you choose which suits you better."

He waved a hand at her as he knelt and started choosing the clothes. She went to the river in the meantime, not without saying, "And remember to have the fire lit by the time I'm there."

Without much hurry, she arrived at the river. The water when she touched it was cold, but nothing she couldn't bear. The water was her element, after all. So she washed quickly her hair, before tying it in a sloppy bun as to better wash her body. However, when she saw her reflection in the water, like all the previous times, she couldn't help but feel the weirdness of another seeing another face, instead of the face she was used to. She always spent a couple of minutes in silence, thinking about all the things that differed from what she was before.

With a sigh, she was ready to continue washing but she heard a sound. She turned around to find an old man backpedaling in what seemed surprised. He tried to turn around and flee, saying a quick 'sorry' as he did so, but she stopped him quickly enough with a whip she formed from the river.

Her body was turned around, but she could still see him well enough. She glared at him when he glanced at her in surprise. A quick, but exhausting use of her prana made the water near his neck turn into sharp ice. She used that tip to point his head up.

"Now, who are you and what are you doing here?"