By: Jenny Zhou

Onyx stepped out of the carriage and into the clearing. It was a cloudy night, and she could hardly see anything. Many royals and leaders were standing around the stone, dripping with jewels. Onyx and her family approached the clearing, descending into the crowd.

A tall, elderly man stood in the center of the clearing, his beard drooping to the ground. “Welcome, leaders. The Blessing has begun.” He forced a tight smile. “Alice of Everwood!”

A young blonde girl dressed in a white dress walked over to the center and stood under the crystal, with its light pulsing weakly. A jet of water shot out of her hands, making the crowd gasp. This must be her power, Onyx thought.

The girl pledged her oath, and she walked back into the crowd, marveling at her powers. This repeated again and again, with the most interesting powers imprinted onto Onyx’s mind. An elfish boy could levitate in the air, another vampire became a telepath, and a seemingly spoiled girl had gotten the gift of beauty.

This carried on for almost an hour before Onyx was called.

“Onyx of Nightleaf!” the old man called, his voice worn and cracked. Onyx walked over to the clearing, and stood under the purple stone. She felt her heart beat faster and faster, until she was gasping for breath.

She closed her eyes, and suddenly found herself in another place entirely. She was on the clouds, and an elegantly dressed vampire was standing in front of her.

“Welcome, Princess Onyx. I have awaited your arrival for a long time,” she smiled sweetly, and put both arms on Onyx’s shoulders. “To you, I give you the gift of Vision.” Suddenly, images swam into Onyx’s mind. She saw a picture of her flying atop a white dragon, pictures of her kingdom in ruins–

“Stop! What are you doing?” Onyx shouted at the vampire.

“The future has many possibilities,” she said.”To see all of them and choose the right path to take isn’t an easy task, for you have received the gift of Vision…”

Onyx felt a sudden force pushing against her, and all of a sudden, she found herself falling off the cloud, into the endless sky below, and back into the clearing.

As she recited her oath, the moon suddenly broke out from under the clouds, shining its dazzling light over her body.

The sudden movement seemed like a message from Calista, goddess of Power, that Onyx would be a fair and rightful leader to her kingdom….

And that’s exactly what she became.