October, Year 483
Outskirts of Auro
North

Seventeen years into the 22nd century, on the first week of July, Mordecai Roya officially ended the world. In his quest for power he divided Old Earth, a catastrophic conclusion for an Armageddon to come. He is the founder of New Earth, and this day is know as Year 0.

As much as Corey wanted to deny his relationship with the man he had always thought of as foolish, he couldn't.

Despite having borne a different surname for the better half of his life, he had never really been a Draekon.

He was a Roya true to his blood. It didn't matter that he was the only one left.

Sometimes he felt that it was unfair that he, of all people, had ended up becoming the minister of North. There was just too much tragedy in his bloodline, from how his ancestor ruined the lives of so many people to the death of his family.

Corey's hands were just as bloody as a coldblooded killer's yet the Book of Revelation had opened for him, of all people.

But the book contained only that one paragraph, nothing else. He had poured over the words for hidden clues, a way to unlock the rest. But there was nothing.

After minutes of pointlessly searching, his gaze left the faded red ink that the words had been written in.

Corey stared at the pocket watch on the table but he wasn't really staring at it. His mind was elsewhere while he made some quick calculations.

After this year, Year 483, humanity will enter the 27th century, that he already knew. But what made that knowledge important?

The papers by his side—jottings filled with a number of scribbles and random sketches littering his desk—only made his head ache more.

He had written it all, every braeking possibility for a future connected to the paragraph but nothing made sense.

Like for all prophecies, the process of interpretation was annoying—especially now when he was given nothing tangible to work with. But he was trained by the Order. He had deciphered many prophecies as a child and he had come out top of his class in Ciphers and Logogriphs.

He wasn't about to be bested by a simple paragraph.

"The significance of seven?" Corey read the words he had written on a page then crossed off the question mark.

The significance of seven, and the paragraph is fifty words long, he completed the sentence.

The world was already at the brink, that much was clear.

Given how often history repeated itself there was bound to be another world war, that too was obvious.

Soon there would be division among the masses and the world would end again to give birth to a fresh generation of thinkers.

Signs of the fog were discovered around Earth's sphere in June. The horde had swept through North in September and right now the capital is under attack. What happened in July?

Prophecies weren't usually this easy to solve but still Corey wrote the thought down. He might be lucky enough to have the solution right under his nose.

Luckily, I'm always lucky. He leaned into his seat and dropped his pen on his notes. Life hadn't always been easy on him but one thing he couldn't deny was that he, of all people, had the luck of the devil himself.

Too focused on elaborating on his deductions, Corey became irritated when the echoes of hurried footsteps hit the air without warning.

The unusually loud sound penetrated his bubble of perfect silence and the unsynchronized fall of feet made his ear twitch. With a reluctant sigh, he shut the book and placed it inside the drawer of his desk.

He had no doubt that the feet outside his door and down the hallway belonged to Alexandria. She was the only one bold enough to disobey his orders for no disturbances.

She had come to disturb him, probably in the company of an Amelia or Esmeralda who followed her around just to brag about it later.

"Corey, Corey." On cue it was her voice that broke the silence.

Corey could have pretended to be pouring over stratagems and tactics but the girl would have seen through that lie. Alexandria had lived with servicemen her entire life, and if not for her father's disapproval she would have applied to join the military.

She was the headache of all the men in her life.

"I do not believe you know the minister!" a shrill voice followed Alexandria's and Corey rolled his eyes. There it was, the Lucie, Katie or Abigail.

The minister itched to call Lord Estell and Maudlin, to demand their presence even though there was no reason to, but instead he got off his seat and walked to the door of his new office.

"Ladies," he pulled the door open and halted his elegant intruders in their tracks, just as they were about to knock, "would you care to be quiet for a bit?"

Alexandria smiled bashfully and turned away to clear her throat—Corey noticed the fixed glare she sent the girl standing by her side.

"I just wanted to see you," she turned back and said.

"Does it have to do with your father?" Corey softened his gaze when he noticed the expression on both girls' faces. For some reason he felt on edge. Was something wrong?

He knew Alex well enough to know that she was well-behaved, she didn't do things just for the sake of fun.

"No, it doesn't." she yelled slightly, then as if realizing that she had raised her voice, took a step back and fiddled with the envelope she held.

"This is Courtney," the twelve year old dragged her friend forward with her free hand.

"Hello Courtney," Corey lowered his voice and opened the door wider, "would you like to come in?"

They both looked at themselves then nodded. Corey let out a sigh. When will it end?

He really needed to get back to deciphering the Book of Revelation.

"You have another package," Alexandria took a seat on the chair opposite his desk and put the envelope on the table, "that's all the information you need to know about our current situation. My father is supervising from the front lines so you don't need to worry about anything. In the event that he doesn't come back you will be the highest ranking officer available so this is just precaution. . . I do not know when he will be coming back."

"Alexandria, I—" Corey suddenly felt bad for the way he acted. He hadn't even considered how she had been feeling.

Because it was unlikely for anyone in North to die young, children usually followed their parents to work, but this time around the situation was dangerous. Both father and daughter could end up dying.

"Have you considered going home, Alex? I'm sure your father wouldn't mind. I can set it up right now."

"Say nothing more about the matter," the girl crossed her arms, her stare almost regal as she glared at him, "I can make my own decisions."

"Yes, I understand."

"Courtney's father runs communications, she happened to be there when a message was intercepted."

At this point Courtney herself piped up—Corey had almost forgotten that she was there, standing right in the center of his office. "It was from a Rhea of some sort, about the Order and something happening at dawn."

Corey blinked in surprise then gave his thigh a discrete pinch to wake himself up. "What?"

"T-the line was breaking. . . I- I didn't hear much," Courtney stuttered at the question, unsure of how to reply, "Sir."

"Why wasn't I informed?"

Alexandria stared at him blankly. "Because it wasn't considered important."

Corey winced at the bitterness in her tone, it was so unnatural and adult, too mature to be part of her daily vocabulary. Then again, he shouldn't have broken her heart a year ago. "Alex, I owe you one."

She paused for a moment as she considered his words, then beamed at him, back to being the child she so often behaved as. "It's a date."

"Come on, Courtney, let's go. Our dear minister has things to do." Alexandria Balfour jumped off her chair and tugged at her friend.

Courtney bowed her head and curtseyed unsteadily as she was pulled away. "Goodbye sir."

"Yes, really Corey. She is pleased to be of service to you." Alex giggled—much to Courtney's horror—and both girls vanished with the click of the shutting door.

Corey gave his forehead a light touch, looked at the closed door then walked back to his chair.

"I really really need a drink," he pulled open the drawer and stared at the plain cover of the book he had thought could solve all his problems.

"What should I do? Tell me."

Now he wished he could destroy it, he wanted to rip out it's pages and burn the binding, but he got a hold of his frustration and lifted it up with the gentleness of a lover.

"Show me something, prove to me that you aren't just a waste of space, time and effort," as expected, the book gave no reply. "Why shouldn't I just give you to The Order in exchange for Dawn? The Code knows she is more important to me."

Corey threw the book to the desk and sunk into his seat.

"Braek it," he pushed both his hands through his hair and desperation seeped into his voice. "Give me anything."

He didn't even know what he was begging for.

Deep down he knew that the Order really wanted nothing to do with Dawn, what they wanted was him.

The Order had decided that he had outlived his usefulness, they wanted him to resign from his position and until he stepped down they would hold Dawn's life over him.

He wasn't afraid that they would kill her, he was scared that they would break her to the point where she wished for death—and he couldn't go through that again.

"I swear, one day I will kill all those religious bastards," Corey said. He itched to call his father and ask him to let Dawn go but he knew he would have to pay a price.

He just didn't understand why no one else could see the change he was trying to achieve. Not every decision he made had to be sanctioned by the Book of Law or Identity. The Order was so narrow-minded that they didn't see that their actions were driving the few devout followers they had to madness.

He hadn't broken many rules, only one.

The Book of Revelation was his crime, according to what was written in the other two books: The Revelation of things not known, in the hands of the glorified infidel, through the eyes of the least amongst us, will be the end of our world (as we know it).

Mordecai Roya had officially ended the world. . . Why use the word 'officially'?

Corey could have slapped himself right then. The answer had been right in front of him.

The world was split in four immediately after the 21st century, so why was it only seventeen years after then that world considered to have ended?

Mordecai Roya must have found the Book of Revelation in July, and with it formed a religion around the Code. The Books of Law and Identity came after.

The division of the world caused by the disagreement between various religions regarding the Apocalypse. The world had ended because things had changed drastically when worship of The Code became dominant.

Don't some people consider endings as new beginnings?

"Kathryn, send me all documents concerning the religious war in Year 0 and the aftermath." Corey activated his bracelet and the walls and furniture in the room was coated in waves of blue.

"Those files have been sealed, Minister."

"By who?"

"Levi Ó Máille, The Order's 12th Cardinal and the archbishop of Alpha Province."

"Another dead end."

Corey picked up his notes and sifted through them in hopes of finding something reasonable.

"Come on," his gaze shifted back to the Book of Revelation. It had been thrown open in his anger.

He reached to to shut it but noticed that something had changed. There was a new set of red in its pages. In fact, the other paragraph had vanished. In its place was another set of words.

Corey blinked twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The book couldn't have been magic, sorcery had been banned by the Order a long time ago. Dawn, what in the Code have you gotten me into?

Possessing an item like this was tantamount to treason, but that didn't stop Corey from eagerly reading the words and etching them into his memory.

"Three families, side by side, watch the passing world and it's changing fate and seasons; they blooded with veins of the dragon, they who bare the crown of royalty, they who live forever young; responsible for it's recreation, rebirth and resurrection as long as the cycle of history remained untarnished."

Corey couldn't believe what he had read, if anyone else saw this. . .

He shut the book and stashed it away in the drawer then locked it.

The minister didn't waste time rushing out of his office. Almost tripping over his feet as he made his to the communication center.

Forget about my position as minister. He needed Dawn. Right now.

†

You guys don't know how long I've been itching to post this chapter. Corey solved the puzzling book of revelations—the first page! Alex is going through something and we have a Courtney!

I love this chapter so much I could marry it. This is practically the entire book's identity condensed into one page. I'm giddy. There will be a double update today since it's New Years (Happy New Year!) I don't know when the next update will be. I'm going to a new school, yikes. Wish me luck, yeah?

Question of the chapter

Who are the three families?