The Prophecy of Atlantis

Anna

   I bolt upright in my bed, my nightgown drenched in sweat. It takes me a minute to remember I'm in the headquarters of The Illusion Reach. My mouth is dry, making me desperately thirsty. "It was just a nightmare," I whisper to myself as I get up in search of water. "Not real."

   I finally find a fridge full of water bottles and gulp down the first bottle with such greed that I don't notice someone is behind me. They cough and I nearly jump out of my skin before I turn around and see that it's only Mark standing behind me, Julian not far behind him.

"Having a nightmare?" Mark asks gently. I nod and Julian reaches out to squeeze my hand.

"I guess it was your turn for the nightmares," Julian says with a wry smile. I try to return the smile but can only manage to squeeze his hand back, lost in my fear that this nightmare is real.

"Does it involve a prophecy about Atlantis?" Mark asks, and my knees nearly give out on me from the shock of hearing that he already knows about this. This is real. Julian catches me before I can fall and I smooth my hair down with my hands, a habit I've always used when I need to gather my thoughts before I speak.

"How did you know?"

"Your mother had the same dream every night when she was training here. She never knew it was about her future daughter until the day you were born. She was so caught up in her happiness with your father she was blinded to the prophecy that had plagued her for all those years. After that, she did everything in her power to protect you from this. And it tore her apart when she realized that she couldn't stop it from happening."

"What does the prophecy say?" Julian asks, his brows furrowed with a mixture of worry and confusion.

   I tell Julian everything that happened in the nightmare, rendering Julian speechless for the first time in his life. I know he's trying to be strong for my sake. I try to communicate with my eyes to tell him I'm scared too. He nods when he reads me, tears forming in his eyes. I want to cry too, but I'm afraid that if I start the tears will never stop coming.

"This is why your mother sent you. You're the girl in the prophecy meant to save Atlantis. I have to train you in magic in order for you to not only defeat the historians, but to restore Atlantis and make the cure for the Atlanteans." Mark speaks to me in the same voice an equestrian uses to calm a panicked horse. Does he really think using that tone will make me feel better about this mess?

    Now my knees do go out and Julian isn't able to catch me this time. "Why me?" I whisper. Then words come pouring out of me before I can stop it. "I've spent my whole life training to be a librarian like Mom and now I'm being told I'm a part of a huge prophecy from over two thousand years ago. It just happens to be the most classified world mystery there is!" I dig my nails into my palms, drawing blood. "And on top of that, I have to create some cure for immortality? How the hell am I supposed to create the cure? I know nothing about science. Why do you think I've been in training to be a librarian for so long? I can't-"

"Slow down, Anna." Mark replies, unfazed at my outburst as he calls the healer over to fix my now bloodied palms. As she works on me, he continues his speech: "No one will expect you to have it done by tomorrow. It will take time. If you weren't able to accomplish this, you wouldn't be in this prophecy at all. You can do this. I promise I'll only send you out to save Atlantis once you've learned everything I can teach you. And Julian will be here to help you. You two will make a great team. Just don't give up yet. This is what you're meant to do. You were always meant for bigger things than becoming a librarian."

   I look over at Julian who gives me a reassuring smile. "You can do anything you put your mind to, Anna. I've seen you do it all our life. And I'll be right here beside you the whole time. I'll help in any way I can. I'll never leave you so long as you still want me."

   Tears well up in my eyes at their words of encouragement. "I'll always want you, Julian. That will never change." Julian smiles and hugs me tight. When we pull away from each other, I look down at my hands and see that the wound is healed up. I turn until I'm facing Mark again and brace myself for whatever is about to come next.

"When do I start training?"