Abby knew something was wrong the moment she woke up the next morning. The sun has barely made itself known, yet the house was loud enough it would seem like it did.

The rain outside sounded like a thousand elephants trying to make their destination, and they were getting closer after each step.

"Great," Abby muttered to herself as the lights in her room flickered on. She pushed her blankets off of herself and sat upright in her bed, mentally preparing herself for the day.

Someone came barging into her room. "Abby!" A voice exclaimed, throwing her door open. The girl gave Nick tired eyes. "Oh," he said quietly. He cleared his throat, "Your mom is calling you downstairs."

Abby nodded with a long and loud yawn. Nick waited at the door for the girl to get dressed, deeming it unsafe to take a seat at her bed and possibly unnerving the girl. It was five in the morning, after all.

"Nicholas Scratch!" Seems like she found out.

•

"Alright, are you ready, sweetie?" David asked his daughter the moment she was visible from the stairs.

Abby gave him an unsure nod. "What am I ready for exactly?" She questioned, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a glass of some sort of smoothie. She took a sip. And almost threw up. Carefully, slowly, Abby set the glass back down on the counter, and disintegrated it.

"To train," her dad replied, giving her a 'duh' look. Abby nodded, still slightly confused, so David elaborated. "You haven't mastered Ut Velit yet, Abby. We're relying on you to win the fight for us."

Abby stared her father down, shocked, and took a gulp. "Right," she said slowly. "Remind me again why I'm being tasked with winning this thing, and not, let's say, Uncle Lucien? Or Cleo?" She asked, rubbing her arm up and down anxiously.

Nick took her hand in his and gave it a small squeeze.

David let out a frustrated sigh. "Because we weren't born with it," he explained quickly. He then grabs a pair of gloves and knee pads from the kitchen counter and told Abby to follow him.

She sent a hesitant look to Nick, who merely gave her a confident nod in return, and followed her dad out to the backyard. David stood by the tree at the other end of the field and signalled for Abby to stay where she was. The girl nodded and readied herself, trying to clear her thought.

"Let's see what you got!" Her dad called from where he stood.

Abby closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let the magic bubbling up inside of her finally break free.

(note!)
eid mubarak to all my muslim readers!!