The Prophecy ( The Replacement Trials #1)

Chapter 17

Aura's POV

          I'd seen some pretty freaky stuff, but the transformation Catarina just underwent was by far the strangest thing I've ever seen. One second she was herself and the next she was the twin to the Goddess of Magic. The biggest question was, how did she do it? She had been asleep and then a fever spiked, now she's glowing and completely different. Shock fills her eyes as she pulls a section of her hair into her field of vision and a whimper sounds from her chest. Hands shaking, she pushes herself even further into the headboard, muttering to herself.

"You're still you. Nothing about your personality or mannerisms has changed. The only difference is your appearance. You're okay." Nimue soothes, scooting across the bed slowly with her hands up.

"But I am different, I can feel her. She's in my head." Her hands go to grip her head and whines echo through the room. I couldn't be sure what she meant by feeling her, but I knew she was scared and confused. When Nimue got close enough, she pulls Cat's hands from her temples and holds them firmly in her own.

The lack of pressure had to have done something because the newly changed witch started screaming and lashing out trying to get away from the friend that was trying to help her. Not being able to bare watching the scene in front of me, I turned around and started to sift through the books and notes we'd made on the legends and facts that had been collected. We hadn't achieved much in terms of information on the gods but what little we'd found was easy to find. It was sitting on the top of our pile of research and flipping through it didn't take as long as I thought it would. The first two books were just about the beginning of the universe, but everyone knew about that and it wasn't difficult to see that they wouldn't be much help. Tossing those on the couch I pick up the last novel we brought with us and flick through the pages, scanning the titles in hopes of finding something helpful. Coming across the words "reincarnation" and "gods" made me pause. Stopping the page from turning over, I run my eyes over the page.

According to legend, one thousand years from the year Druvolain came into existence, the gods need to change places with someone new. Without fresh blood, the gods will fade and as a result our world will be changed forever. Magic will cease to exist and any ability that the races harbour will be terminated.

You have got to be kidding me. This can't possibly be true because if it is, I'm making it my personal mission to track down the gods and give them a piece of my mind. How was it their job to tell us when we were meant to act against enemies or pick who was going to take their places without so much as a warning. I understand that they were all powerful or whatever, but they could give a girl a heads up.

"I know what's happening and it's not just Catarina. We're all screwed." I call out, holding up the book in my hands and reading off the excerpt that holds the information we were looking for. Menidise claps her hands together as though this was the best possible news she could have been given and Collin chucks a pillow at her. He shakes his head and her smile falls slightly. She perks right back up though when she looks over at Reina who just came from the kitchen with plain old chocolate chip cookies. Swiping one, she curls in on herself and eats it with a grin on her face. Nothing a cookie couldn't help, except for maybe finding out that you are now the replacement for a goddess. Catarina was a bit pale and wasn't responding to anything Nimue was telling her. Her body was limp and was being held by the elven girl, her gaze fixed on the wall and eyes glassy.

Setting the book down on the table in front of me I walk over to her and force her to look at me. She was unfocused and I spoke slowly to get through to her.

"This doesn't change who you are. You're Catarina. The most annoying witch I've ever met. Uncoordinated and easily distracted but we love you all the same. So, snap out of it or else I'm going to hit you." Patting her cheek, I feel her shake slightly before she blinks at me.