Maite panted as she reached the apartment door. She wasn’t sure why, but the steps up to the apartment were always the hardest. She was always tempted to take the elevator but had yet to succumb to that temptation, pushing herself to climb the four flights of stairs up to their floor.

She pushed open the door. “I’m back!” she called as she threw her keys on the table and made her way to the bedroom. The shower at the end of the run was always the best part.

She stopped in her tracks as she passed through the bedroom doorway. Kepa was up on his knees in bed, naked, but that wasn’t the strangest part. The spectre of a woman floated in front of him, seemingly oblivious to his nakedness. Maite could see through her to the bathroom on the other side. The apparition was of a young woman with tanned skin and long blond hair that flowed behind her as if a gentle breeze lifted it up off of her shoulders. She was dressed in a loosely fitting golden, almost metallic gown that also flowed down and across her body, rippling as if some unseen force was pushing at her. As Maite stared in disbelief, the woman’s image shifted. The almost golden hair turned raven black and her skin, almost glowing, turned pale and white. Her gown also changed from bright gold to silver. 

“Kepa…?” squeaked Maite as she just stood there, dumbfounded.

Both Kepa and the floating woman turned to look at her.

Maite pointed at Kepa’s waist. “You’re naked,” she stammered.

Kepa blushed as he pulled the sheets around him. He then turned back to Maite. “Maite, this is Amalur and her daughters Eguzki and Ilargi.”

The woman, who had looked quizically at Kepa as he covered himself, turned back to Maite. “Agur,” said the woman, greeting her formally in Euskara. Maite could understand the woman’s dialect, but it had a flavor of something ancient.

Maite wasn’t sure if she should bow or what, so she simply replied “Agur.” As she did so, the woman shifted again, this time to a somewhat older woman who wore earthy colors. Her hair was long and brown and full of curls which bounced in the unseen force that seemed to buffet her. She was as beautiful as her daughters, but had a sadness in her eyes that betrayed some suffering that her daughters had been spared.

“So,” began Kepa as he stood up off the bed, the sheets clutched in his hand as he tried to cover his nakedness. “I was goofing around, drawing symbols in the air with my magical finger, and she popped in.”

Maite’s brain still seemed to be short circuiting. “Magical finger?” was all she could muster.

Kepa held up his hand, his index finger extended. It began to glow. “The zatia…?” he ventured.

“Ah, bai,” Maite nodded. She shook her head to break the fog. “You drew the Amalur symbol with that finger,” she continued, putting the pieces together.

Kepa nodded. “And then she appeared.”

“I guess I’m glad you didn’t draw some symbol of an evil demon or something,” said Maite as she plopped down on the edge of the bed. She looked up at Amalur, who floated above them.

“Now what?” she asked.

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