Amy doubled over and fell to her knees. This was not supposed to happen.

Her eyes scanned the room. Shattered glass and crystal littered the floor, cracked plates and bowls strewn among them. Broken furniture was scattered everywhere; the dining table had been destroyed, and most of the chairs had one or two legs ripped off.

Amy panted heavily. She had no idea how she was going to clean this all up before her sister came home. All of it bad been extremely unexpected. Sure, her powers had been growing more volatile recently, and usually fluctuated with her emotions, but never… THIS bad.

She moved shakily to her feet, but then fell again as she heard the keys clicking in the lock on the door.

“Amy?” Calista’s voice called as she walked down the hall towards the dining room. Amy’s heart doubled in speed. No no no no…

“What are you—“ Calista froze in the doorway.

“I-I know it looks bad,” Amy stammered, attempting to get to her feet again. And failing. “But I promise, I have everything under control!”

Her sister moved towards her and wordlessly extended a hand. Amy took it, then pulled herself and leaned on her sister’s shoulder, still not having enough energy to stand.

“This is bad, Amy,” Calista whispered as she took in the mess. “This is really bad.”

“But hey, it’s okay! Because we have brooms and… and glue, right? We can fix it, right?” Amy looked into Calista’s eyes, practically begging her to say yes.

Calista dropped her gaze. “Amy, no. You have to tell them.”

Amy squirmed in her sister’s hold. “That’s crazy talk. We don’t need to tell anybody!” She waved a nervous hand. “No, no. It’s not a big deal. Look, we’ll just go to the cleaning closet, grab a broom and some buckets and—“

“Amy.”

Amy squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t want to.”

Calista sighed and helped her tiptoe around the broken glass and out of the dining room to the hall, then into the living room, where both girls sank into the sofa beside one another.

A beat.

Calista spoke first. “Amy. This is only going to get worse. You can’t keep hiding your powers from our moms like this. You need training.”

“I can handle my powers,” Amy protested. She crossed her arms. “I’ve been fine up until today!”

“And what about what you did to my closet last week after Mama yelled at you? Or two days ago, when you ripped out two trees from the backyard on accident?”

Amy huffed. “We fixed your closet in ten minutes. And the trees were judging me. They deserved it.”

Her sister exhaled. “Look, I know how badly you don’t want to go to the Academy. I know you don’t want to leave home, but clearly, you need to. It’s the best thing for you. You need help, Ame.”

Tears suddenly sprung to Amy’s eyes.

Calista sighed and gently rubbed Amy’s back. “I’m not saying you’re not strong enough or anything. But I think we both know what you are.”

A silent pause.

“I’m a Windmaster,” Amy whispered, the reality of that statement sinking in. “Aren’t I?”

She looked at Calista, who nodded. “Definitely. But in order to maximize those powers and use them for good, you have to go to the Academy. Otherwise, how will we ever know what you’re fully capable of? If you can tear our entire dining room apart,” she said, cracking a smile, “Then imagine what you could do to a dragon or a rogue troll! You have to go, Ame.” She took her sister’s hands in hers. “Don’t you think?”

Amy wiped away some of her tears. She blew out a breath. “How am I going to tell Mama and Mum? What will they say? What if they…” she cleared her throat. “What if they say no?”

Calista smiled. So her sister’s hesitance about telling their moms of her powers wasn’t just because she was scared of leaving home— she was scared of them keeping her from leaving home.

Calista’s smile broadened. “And what if they say yes?”

Amy threw her arms around her sister, squeezing her tight. She cried a little more, letting her tears sink into Calista’s shirt and dampen it. “I’m nervous, Cal.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll let you go. I promise.”

Just then, both girls looked up as they heard the familiar sounds of keys clicking in a lock.

Calista squeezed her sister’s hands. “It’s time.”