Mariana Nichols and the Cerelian Ring

The Prophecy

I bolted straight to Aunt Wendy's house the moment practice was over, and started flipping through books. Something wasn't adding up. Wendy had mentioned something about a prophecy the day before, but she never told us what it was.

I plucked a random book out of the hundreds which lined the wall, and totally lucked out. The cover read "Magic Jewel Images," although I have no idea how I know that. Rather than words, they were symbols. And it seemed as though I knew all of them by heart. I came back for answers, but it feels like I'm just getting more questions!

The first page of the book stated that there are 270 Cerelian jewels in total. Each page of the first book had a worn out drawing of a piece of jewelry. And underneath each drawing, it reveals what power that jewel grants. There were some truly incredible powers there. So amazing that I was tempted to find the jewels and try them out, but I know I need to find out as much as I can before I go experimenting. What if there's some crazy side effect to wearing more than one of the jewels at the same time? What if I grow a second head or something?

The final four pages held three jewels I recognized, and one I did not. The first of the four, was Riley's brooch. According to this, the golden brooch allows its wearer to transform into any living form, and it was traditionally worn by the queen or king's royal advisor. The next was the obsidian necklace, which I recognized as the one Mr. Foster had been wearing. The book stated the necklace has the power to manipulate the elements- water, fire, air, and earth- and that it was worn by a member of the Cerelian royal family, though it does not say who. Next was the one I did not recognize, the aquamarine bracelet. This was supposedly worn by the Cerelian princess, Lilliana, and just like the brooch and the necklace, it was not in the case. Which I suppose is not good, since the book also says it is one of the most powerful jewels. It grants the power of creation. Creation of what? I don't know. The bottom line was too worn out for me to read. Lastly, the garnet ring. My ring. Apparently, it once belonged to the Cerelian queen, Hadley. The book states that the ring grants the "power of imagination," and its powers only work for those "pure of heart."

Imagination? Pure of heart? Why is my ring different from the other 269 jewels? Does it mean I have the power to do whatever I imagine? I know I wasn't imagining Phoenix talking before the first time he spoke to me, but I do remember wishing I could help him. Is that what it means by "pure of heart?" I wanted to help someone else, rather than myself. But that doesn't apply to when I turned invisible. That time my motives were pure curiosity.

After flipping through the first book, I decided to count the jewels in the case. If three of the most powerful jewels had been missing from the case, how many more are lost?

I was just about finished counting when Riley finally showed up. "Oh my- have you been here all afternoon?" She asked, after seeing my dishevelled state.

"Did you know there are 270 jewels? There are exactly 224 in the case, plus ours and Mr. Foster's, we only know where 227 of them are." I rushed out. "Oh, by the way, I found your brooch in that book over there." I nodded my head towards the wall of books, while I continued to inspect the case.

I glanced at Riley as she pulled a surprisingly clean book off the shelf, barely even taking note that it was not the book I was referring to. We both sat in silence for a moment, while she flipped pages, and I recounted jewelry. "Hey, come look at this." Riley called, lying the open book down on top of the case in front of me.

It took my tired mind a moment to register the fact that Riley was able to read the language too. "You can understand what it says?"

"Yeah, maybe it's like whoever is wearing a jewel can understand it?" We both agreed to just go with that theory for now. One mystery at a time.

I finally began reading the page in front of me. The top read "The Prophecy of the Garnet Ring." "The prophecy....." I mumbled. "How did you find it?"

"It was in the first book I picked up. They titled it 'Future.' Do you think they named everything so literally back then?" One of the jewels had the power to see the future, and another could travel through time, I recalled. But I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I needed to know what the prophecy is. Why is it so important it comes true? I pulled the delicate pages closer to myself, and Riley began to wander the room as I did earlier.

There will come a time when Cerelia will fall, and darkness and negativity will reign. The world will be full of hatred. War will wage, people will go hungry. But this time will not last. There will be one, a descendant of our own Queen Hadley, who will help Cerelia to rise once again. All this one must do to fulfill their destiny is recite these words while wearing the garnet ring in the light of the blue moon.

You are me as I come from you

Now is the time to count our blessings

I ask you to join me, my queen

And bring Cerelia to life forevermore

The words didn't rhyme, at least not in English, which made them that more bizarre.

And then it hit me. "The blue moon.... that's this Friday. But it has to be a descendant of the queen to fulfill the prophecy." I tell Riley. "Wait a second, Aunt Wendy said the jewels were passed down through the family. It was supposed to go to Daisy next, not me. And the ring used to belong to Queen Hadley!"

"So?" Riley dared to question my obvious genius.

"So, we just have to get Daisy to put on the ring and say those words this Friday night, and boom!"

"You make it sound so simple. She'll put the ring on no problem, but how are you gonna get her to recite an ancient scripture?" Okay, maybe Riley has a point.

"She'll do it. I'll just have to tell her."

"Tell her? Everything?"

"Yes! She's going to find out sooner or later, she sleeps right across the hall from me." I pointed out. "Besides, it's better for her to find out now from me, than later any other way."