TMNT: Shadows of Destiny

Chapter 13: A brief history

Inside the castle building Celeste took them to the second floor which had office flanking either side. Behind one door was Dr. Vangellis private office so she lead them in and flipped on the lights.
It was a small medium sized room filled with book shelves, file cabinets and a large oak study table tucked in the far side corner of the room.

Donnie had to let out an impressive gasp as he looked at all the antiquities the Doctor had managed to collect over the years. On each shelf was object after object of rare, valuable and sometimes unidentifiable artifacts.

"This is like the freaking house of horrors!" Mikey whispered as he stared at a shelf full of shrunken skulls and pickled animals in glass jars.

"Just what kind of Doctor was that guy?" Leo asked.

Celeste fumbled with some files on his desk, searching for something. "I met him about a year ago thanks to the Blue Star Coven in Nevada. They are a sisterhood of sages and healers that practice the Navajo traditions. Most of them are natives themselves but they also take outsiders as well. I studied with them for a year and the head sister knew Dr. Vangelli from his excavations out in the dessert. She referred me to him when she found out what I was." She found a small key and opened the side drawer of the desk.

From its contents she pulled out and book shaped object covered in velvet. Setting down on the desk she unwrapped its delicate covering and motioned for everyone to gather around.

"I will try to tell you everything from the beginning, but it helps if you can see and read this. This is my heritage as a mage. The doctor was gifted with this book by the Blue Star when they discovered me. It's been a tradition that one of the family or loved ones of the chosen mage write down a epitaph of her life since ....well most mages don't live to see old age so we cant write it ourselves."

Donnie made himself comfortable in the doctors leather chair and flipped the first page over. On it was a elaborate symbol done in quill ink, the pages tattered from age and covered in dust.

"This is old..." He announced and touched the edges of the page as gently as he could. "I mean really old....if I had to estimate maybe middle ages."

"That would be correct, this tome was copied from the original around that time because the other was falling apart. A catholic monk who supported Joan of Arc did this in remembrance of her after her execution. You will find her name halfway through, she was the 6th mage." Celeste said simply.

"What?!" Donnie gasped.

"Your going to have to speak plain english for the rest of us back here." Raph scowled.

"Joan Of Arc was female warrior who fought against English occupation of France in the 1400's. She was considered somewhat of a holy woman at the time but she ended up being executed by the very church she was protecting and then later deified as a saint." Donnie explained.

"As I said we don't usually live that long." Celeste said darkly. "but let me take you even further back...to our Ultima as we like to call her, the first mage. No one really knows how or why it happened but a saint named Deborah was the first to be possessed by the spirit. You will find her in the book of Judges in the Old Testament Bible. She was a prophetess, warrior and judge for the Hebrew nation. That is her symbol and story on the front pages of the book. She was possessed by the spirit of god which gave her the power of foresight and wisdom. When she died this spirit found a new host and of course when that mage died another was possessed and another, the collective knowledge of all previous hosts given to the new mage."