Alice is in a pretty bad mood. Her dorm doesn't allow pets but she's secretly taking care of a kitten; her mentor Athena is an absolute clutz; and to top it all off, she has decided that her left hand isn't as skilled as her right hand, and is therefore useless. Though Alice certainly does have a strange set of problems, and they all seem separate from each other, she's certain to discover that the answers to each all are connected.

On one bleak winter day, when the clouds are thick and the snow is gently falling, the girls finish their sculling practice to find that Alicia, Aika and Athena are all together at the Aria Company, sitting around the fire. Over cups of hot cocoa, they discuss their younger days, and how it was that they all came to be friends.

Alice has created a new challenge for herself: when she walks home from school, she can only step on shadows. This is an ironclad law for her - but try as she might, she keeps failing. Even worse, Athena interferes by trying to help out. Alice's self-imposed challenge is something that she must conquer alone, or so she thinks; but maybe there's more to success than just doing everything by yourself.

Even though Akari is relatively new to Neo-Venezia, most of her friends have lived in the quiet island town all their lives. One sunny afternoon, as Akari, Akatsuki, Akria and Al are all eating lunch together, Al tells a story about when they were children, and the mysterious young boy who put Akatsuki squarely in his place.

Akari finds herself nervous coaching a new undine as a Prima, until she awakens to find that it is just a dream. To soothe her worries, Alicia recalls stories of her beginnings as a Prima, as well as the memories she made.

Athena and Alicia both have wonderful talents, but what about Akira? For that matter, what about Aika? Aika gets discouraged, thinking that maybe she doesn't have any natural talent, but Akira has an old story to tell that might lift Aika's spirits.

Episode 3 of Aria the Avvenire.