A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Seventy-Two

"Wait." I wanted to immediately run toward him but I had to process what he'd just said. Without more context, my mind immediately thought that we'd been through the same exact experiences and that maybe, just maybe, he'd literally survived having his powers stolen as well. It'd only been a few days, but I tried to think back to seeing Callisto use magic and nothing was coming to mind. I continued to race through my thoughts; not only did he not show any magical abilities, he walked around with swords as a form of protection. Swords that were imbued with magic, sure, but Est could've imbued them. I let my mind continue to process as I just repeated myself, "Wait."

"Rhea, you've been looking in the wrong places. Come here," Callisto clarified himself as his finger tapped on the same spot in the book he'd been tapping previously.

"Callisto, what have you been through?" I stood up and rushed to where he was, eager to understand what I could be missing.

"Nothing I'd expect a celebrity like you to understand." He smiled when he said it even though the comment was harsh.

Funnily enough, it was similar to sentiments I'd felt about James, and everyone in Silverleaf. I'd assumed that they had little to no life experiences outside of the well-protected Silverleaf, just like myself when I first left. I'd wrongfully assumed James would struggle with his leadership because of that, but he proved me wrong. Now, Callisto was doing the same, and using my own words against me. I didn't think of myself as sheltered, but maybe I was.

"Well, I've obviously seen some things." I laughed off his comment and sat down next to him, leaning over the book to get a better view.

"The process is called Soul Power Transfer. They did it with my people, but they only ever referred to it as SPT. While I try not to remember that time, the curse Celeste left on the bookshelf brought me back."

"She put an illusion-based curse on it?" I questioned aloud but I didn't need him to answer because he already had. The question was more for myself and the thoughts of my mentor. Celeste was powerful, had she known that Callisto would need to be brought back to some past memory in order to help us now? Had she prophesied this moment? It felt silly to question it, especially with Celeste, who, for all I know, hadn't been in contact with anyone since this happened. And yet, there was something about how this perfectly worked in our favor, that made me question it in the moment.

"I'm not from Silverleaf, though you already know that," Callisto opened up further. "I guess someone from Silverleaf had visited my city five years ago. They saw the corruption, greed, and danger the people were in. From what I was told, Celeste was concerned enough that she, Est, and a number of others came to visit in the name of amity. I had been captured that very morning."

"What happened? How is this related to SPT?" I questioned.

I bent down my head as I read the passage from the book, "Soul Power Transfer, or SPT, is the removal of a witch's power while maintaining their life. Conducting SPT is a complex ritual that should be performed with great care. It is the only known form of magical transfer that does not result in death."

The book read like a text book, and I closed my hand in place while flipping it over to find what book I was actually reading. On the front of the book was "Dark Rituals of Power." Such an odd book. I flipped to the front and saw that it was written by Celeste.