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5: Atarah

Dear Reader,

The prophecies used in this passage are real prophecies made by the real Nostradamus. So shoutout to Nostradamus for the prophecies since I did not make them.

After my first and second period, I'm drained from long lectures and spirits disapproving of teachers and students alike. Spirits are very judgy. I head up to the library to do some research about psychics and oracles. I want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. The mythology section is a good place to start considering the oracles in greek mythology. Although in other mythologies there are other equivalents.The whole subject is extremely fascinating. I check the online school library catalog to see where that section is hidden. The library is quite large taking up an entire floor of the school. I visit every day because I love books. It's also beautiful, so many books and so many sections and yet there is a system to the madness. Each genre has its own section and therefore its own place within the library. I walk over to the mythology section and pull out several books all about psychics, oracles, and fortune-tellers. I go to a small table with no one there and open the book titled Oracles Through the Ages. It seems to be the most promising based on the title, but I'll read them all by the end of lunch. As I open the book, I feel a hoard spirit presences enter the room. This is a spectating sport and this must be a big game for them. I must be close to figuring something out.

The first chapter is titled The Starting Lore. My hands are shaking in exhilaration. I have never done anything this exciting before. This might be the key to understanding why I have my powers and who the oracle is. A few spirits start whispering, but not enough for it to become distracting. After reading the first chapter, I learn that there is one oracle per generation. There a few family trees that have multiple oracles, but most oracles don't have any correlation to past oracles. The Greeks believed that oracles were gifts from the gods and more specifically Apollo. Other cultures thought oracles brought the instructions needed for our salvation. The definition of an oracle is a medium by which a god or in rare cases more than one, reveals hidden knowledge. Huh. I thought only people who could see the future where oracles. I guess Moses was an oracle, too based on the definition the book uses. The rest of the chapters are just about specific oracles. Eh, no need to read that. I just need to know who they are. I put that book to the side and pick up another one. This one is titled The Oracle of Delphi. Why did I pick this one up? It is much too specific to answer my questions. I put it to the side to read for later because it sounds like an interesting read. I scan through the rest of the books to make sure they aren't too small in scope. Unfortunately, I have to discard two. One called The Many Predictions of Nostradamus and another called Oracle: Instrumentation In Computer Science. I guess I should have read the second title more closely. I put that one in the reference section where it belongs. I shuffle over to the mythology section, but as I try to put back the book on Nostradamus's predictions something makes me pull my hand back. Not a spirit interference, even though I still feel their presence, I can tell they are just watching. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Last night... It must have to deal with last night. Of course! Nostradamus's prophecy that might be about me. I scamper back to my seat with the book like a mouse who found cheese to bring to his tiny home.

I open the first page. Ugh. A boring preface written by the pompous man who translated this ancient document and made a ton of money. Blah. Blah. Blah. I skip the rest of the preface. Century I is written in dark foreboding letters the heading. Century I? The first century would have been before Nostradamus was born. Look back at the preface for answers. I deserve a slap in the face for my ignorance.

In the middle of the page in medium-sized print it says," Centuries refer not to years, but the number of verses or prophecies in each section." I look back at the table of contents. There are ten centuries included in this edition of the book. One thousand prophecies to read and there are probably more that are not in this book. What if I never find the prophecy? What if I find it, but I don't know if it is the right one? What if... My heart starts to beat quickly.