Tella loves to play pretend and create imaginative scenarios for her adventures while she roams her family’s estate. One day, as she pretends to rescue an elfin prince from a wicked queen, she sneaks into her mother’s room to examine the forbidden jewelry box. She knows the contents well and only plans to investigate the opal ring that never fits her; however, her plans change when she sees a familiar satchel flicker between two different appearances—a satchel and a deck of cards. She opens the deck of cards and reveals two cards with grotesque images. One depicts a woman’s head caged with pearls, while the second shows a prince with bloody tears. She flips over a third card, which seems to be a mirror, but the image seems wrong in a way Tella does not understand.

Before she can investigate the deck further, her mother finds her with the cards and sees the two cards that Tella placed on the floor: the Maiden’s Death and the Prince of Hearts. She does not notice the third card, The Aracle, which is still in Tella’s hand. Her mother takes the deck and the first two cards, then explains to Tella that the Deck of Destiny can write a future for someone before they can write it for themselves.