Today is Regina's seventh birthday. It is a magical number, and a magical year. Even her mother, normally not a superstitious woman, remarks on its significance, speaking of powers aligning and certain magica being possible. Regina doesn't really understand that much, because to her, being seven means one thing only. The seventh year one anyone's life is considered especially important because it is the year people receive their soulmarks.
These are the tattooed lines that appear on a person's wrist which reveal the name of their soulmate, that one person Fate has magically predetermined for you. Endless stories have been told again and again about soulmarks and the love a soulmate. There is an aura of myth that blends with fact, when it comes to them and their origins, but everyone knows one thing for certain, soulmarks and soulmates are a sacred, highly sought after thing. It is a rite of passage, a coming of age for children all over the world and across all cultures.
Like most, Regina has been looking forward to this day for years, and her excitement is a palpable thing.
Her older sister, Zelena, has been rubbing her soulmark (Hades, in electric blue, on her left wrist) in Regina's face for two years now, acting like she was impossibly grown up for having them even though she was still as much a child as she was. Even now, the nine-year-old kept rolling her eyes and scoffing at all the attention Regina was getting today.
Normally, Regina would pout or whine to Daddy about it, but today, she barely even notices. She is too busy grinning like a fool, heart racing in excitement as she takes periodic glances at her empty wrists, that will soon be not so empty. It's pointless to keep checking, really, because everyone knows they don't show up until midnight, but Regina can't help herself.
All throughout her birthday party, Regina is restless, only half her attention on the usual cake and presents. The real treat of the day will only come at night, when all the guests are gone. For once, she is allowed to stay up late to see her soulmarks. It's one more reason to be excited, and Regina feels just as grown-up as Zelena is always pretending to be as she stays up long past her bedtime. Maybe her sister has a point after all.
Speaking of her sister, Zelena was supposed to go to bed hours ago, but she threw a terrible tantrum that not even their mother's icy glare and harsh words could stop. Only the promise that she could stay up as well, to see Regina's soulmark appear.
Regina doesn't even care. In fact, part of her is eager to rub her own soulmark in her sister's face. It's said that "all soulmarks are equal", that no one is better than the other, but she suspects that's probably not true. At the very least, she is hoping for a mark in purple. It's her favorite color and much better than Zelena's stupid blue.
As the clock inches ever closer, but still so slowly, Regina's eyes stay glued to her wrist, mind conjuring up increasing fancy and ridiculous soulmark scripts. There's no name she has in mind, really, but she hopes it's something nice. Something nicer than Hades, certainly (she doesn't think that will be too hard). Her parents keep trying to get her to do something else, to get her mind off it so the wait won't be so bad, but everything fails. Not even bickering with her sister takes her attention of her wrists for long.
Finally though, after much, much waiting, she find herself counting down the last minute until midnight. She is practically bouncing in excitement, hands held out in front of her, eyes bouncing between in each wrist, because she doesn't know which her mark will show up on. The rest of the household is in a similar state, gathered in a semi-circle around the little girl as the wait.
3…
2…
1...
The clock strikes twelve, and a magical aura seems to envelope Regina. It is warm and soft and soothing all around her. For a moment, she thinks of running wildly through a field on a spring day, of the warm crackle of a fire in winter, of the loud, rushing water of a river. Then, the moment is gone, and the magic fades away.
Opening her eyes, Regina immediately looks towards her hands and is surprised.
Instead of finding a new soulmark on one wrist, she sees two.
Under the watch of four pairs of disbelieving eyes, chestnut brown ink swirls into the name Daniel on her left wrist, while forest green ink spells out Robin on her right.