"Princess Cleopatra."
I looked up at the sound of my name. It was our instructor who'd spoken.
"Yes?" I answered.
"I was simply wondering which Path you've chosen?"
I glared. "I've told you a million times. I haven't chosen."
"Well then, I believe it is high time you began the Path of Isis, like your sisters."
"But I don't want to host Isis! It just- it doesn't feel right."
"Well what does feel right?"
I saw Tryphaena and Arsinoe watching, amused. I sat up a little straighter. "Water magic."
"Wate- you want to be an elementalist? Oh, come on, Cleo, you have to try harder than that." Tryphaena said. It seemed Arsinoe was actually surpressing laughter.
I waited for the instructor to chime in with his own ridicule. Instead he said, "Then let us see if your supposed 'practicing' at the River has paid off."
I was frozen in surprise for a moment. Then I nodded and stood. "Yes. Let us."
And so, minutes later, Tryphaena, Berenice, Arsinoe, our instructor, and myself, were all at the banks of the Nile.
I pulled out my wand and knelt beside the banks. I began to speak divine words, but stopped abruptly when I realized the reflection in the water wasn't my own.
I stared for a moment at the face of the woman in the water. She looked similar to Berenice, except for her eyes. The were the same profound shade of blue as the water.
I lifted my hand, and the woman mirrored me. I lightly touched the surface of the water, and at the spot where my hand touched hers, the surface lit up until it was blinding, and I was thrown backward. When I sat up, there was some of weight around my neck. I touched my throat and found, for some reason, an amulet, of this symbol:
My sisters and my instructor stared at me open-mouthed.
"Impossible." Arsinoe muttered.
"What?" I asked.
The instructor shook his head. "The Lady of the Night.... she hasn't taken a mortal host since the age of the gods. It is impossible.."
Berenice was the only one that, for once, didn't look dumbstruck. "It's true. But she has now." She turned to me. "Hail Nephthys, Lady of the Night, Goddess of the Nile."
I gasped. Nephthys..
Hello, Princess Cleopatra. A voice in my head answered.
"You treacherous little..! You tricked us! You fooled us into coming out here so you could-" Tryphaena started.
"Silence, Tryphaena. You know it is unwise to force a god into your form. Lady Nephthys took Cleopatra as her host of her own accord." Our instructor interrupted.
"I... I don't understand. To take the form of a god you must train for years.. I'm not ready-"
You are ready, Cleopatra. I would not have chosen you if you weren't." A calming woman's voice rang through my head.
TBC