Our train ride wasn't the relaxation I had hoped for in the beginning, and now the silence seemed heavy, strained. Each of us were pondering the prophecy, our potential roles, what some of the more vague verses meant.

Two will be allowed, the first of their kind. Two will be broken, spirit, body, and mind.

Unfortunately, that seemed straightforward enough. The first good Halflings, though 'good' was relative. And breaking didn't seem like anything new, I had already felt all three. From the heals I had received over the past many months, to my bloodline's revelation, to Jevin's poison, and I knew James had experienced even more of each in his own past.

Two halves made whole will survive tides of war, yet each will die new, razed twice before.

First strike against either of us making it out alive. But that wasn't even the part that bothered me, 'razed twice before' was. Looking back, there was one clear destruction in both our pasts - when I learned what James was, when our Clan broke and it subsequently broke James and me as well. Maybe James' time with his father was another razing, the loss of his mother, but then again, maybe it wasn't. Did that mean another was coming? Lurking around the corner of our lives? Just waiting for us to rebuild enough to shatter us again.

That was the true worst of it, of 'knowing' the prophecy without understanding if it was still coming or had already passed.

Forged by blood, both lost and found, new weapons are realized in silver chains bound.

Forged by blood could be a nod to us not just being Halflings, but Blood Twins, and lost and found could be, again, from the past few months. Or from the Collector losing James and then us finding each other. But new weapons and silver chains? I wondered how much was metaphor and how much was literal. I hoped for metaphor.

The price for their lives the greatest yet known, from which where they end, all fates will be thrown.

Again, death seemed the only easily understood theme, and the fact that our fates would direct the fates of others, all others.

Three will change all for high or for low, equally sharing both dark and light in their ghost.

And here Ailech joins. But does that mean everything before the 'three' has already happened? Are prophecies chronological? I knew James and I had darkness in us, I couldn't deny it if I tried, and though I could sense something different about Ailech, something that held him apart from the others at the Vault, I certainly wouldn't call it darkness. He was a healer, which to me eluded to light, only light. Building and healing and light, not destruction and death and darkness, not like James and me. Or maybe the darkness in our ghosts meant darkness in our past? We each certainly had that in abundance.

The battle for worlds, gray tones shall it mark, the winner forever when one chooses dark.

This I thought I understood just as James had said - if one of us went dark, if one of us submitted and chose the Collector, then all would lose. Or maybe it was saying that one of us would choose dark in the end, maybe it was dooming us? Or saying one of us had to choose dark before either side could win? I hated prophecies.

Their power for Heaven or Hell cuts the same, three beings unclean, all before hath forbade.

I did find it frustrating that no matter what we did or who we were, Heaven had already judged us 'unclean'. It hardly seemed fair to live and die for Heaven's side and still burn for the blood in our veins, the blood we didn't choose. And again, it seemed to say that Ailech was dark too, which to me, meant there must be some other interpretation.

Two will fall and one will rise, a sacrifice given of the victorious side.

Again with the riddles. Now only one would die, if one of the two rose. Or maybe two total would die, and one survive? And if the dark one died then that side would win? As a sacrifice for the 'victorious side'? But if two died, would they both have to be the light ones to win? Every part of the prophecy seemed to contradict another.

Twisted and tormented, one shackled and trained. Burning and frozen, one life willingly laid.

None of this sounded positive. Though maybe it was talking about James' childhood, when the beginning had surely been done to him. But little of the prophecy seemed to be that far back, which seemed to mean it was still coming. And again, one would die, sacrificing themselves, though only if it was for light, and they had to be willing.

If dark or death comes for one then shall it take all, for bonds of dust and blood cannot rise what will fall.

Now another contradiction. If one of us dies or goes dark, then we all will? Even though two will fall and one will rise, and one will sacrifice themselves.

All will watch which side may suffice, for no man can predict whether fire or ice.

This one oddly made me think of James and his fire against the frozen immobility his father seemed to be able to wield. Did this mean even the prophecy didn't know who would win? Lovely, so very comforting.

Created and destroyed, they will three be one knife, but for darkness defeated, each must lay down their life.

And now again with the contradictions. We must all die to win, and if one of us dies, we all will, but if we die, we lose. And we all have to be willing, then we win and lose. And two will fall and one will rise. It was giving me a headache. I hated prophecies, and my vain hope that because I had some prophetic powers of my own I would be able to understand this one, was clearly wrong.

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I'd been dreading the prophecy somewhere deep down, hidden and buried, somewhere that was now uncovered, bobbing on the surface of my mind like a bloated body in a river. All the memories of my father mentioning the prophecy in passing, in detail, in anger or triumph, they all came back, slipping into my mind just when I thought I was safe from them, rid of them, of his voice in my head, his words slinking through my mind. Now they circled, digging in deeper, giving me new doubts, new possibilities, none of which were in our favor.

I had always known it would take two 'the first of their kind'. I knew there was a third, mentioned only briefly. I knew they were outmatched, little chance of victory, and I knew they would die, no victory without sacrifice. Once I had fully realized it was me, that I was one of the doomed three, I never felt the need to know more, nothing good could come from it. I had even convinced myself for a great long time that it wasn't me, that I didn't fit the bill, and for the years before Jordan, I didn't.

I did wonder how Abraham had figured Ailech's role so early. What identifiers did he have? What could he do? What even was his purpose? And how long had Abraham known it was me? Clearly not when he had been indentured to my father, probably not for many years after. Maybe not until he learned of Jordan as well.

Two will be allowed, the first of their kind. Two will be broken, spirit, body, and mind.

The main lines my father used to repeat. Quietly to himself, screamed down the empty halls of our home, with worry or joy, it didn't matter, not really, it was already past. We were already born, we had already been destroyed, at least I hoped there wasn't more torment coming, not like the last months had brought, not like my childhood had been.

Two halves made whole will survive tides of war, yet each will die new, razed twice before.

This was new to me, though I suppose two Halves finding their partner and surviving battles still fit with our history. Of course, my father wouldn't have mentioned that the 'two' would be True Pairs, that would have given me much too much hope when I discovered it was me, an emotion he had always kept far from our home.

Dying new struck me as well, sounding like a clue I should be able to figure out. Razed twice before, too. They meant something, just something I couldn't yet understand. Perhaps I could understand the end, at least in part, but I didn't want to admit to myself that a second trial as great as the one my pair and I had just overcome was in our looming future, our second razing. How I hated prophecies.

Forged by blood, both lost and found, new weapons are realized in silver chains bound.

Yet another problem with prophecies - where did one clue end and another begin? Forged by blood both lost and found? Both lost and found, new weapons are realized?

Silver chains seemed to elude to electrum, a weapon I hated as much as guns. A weapon my father had loved to use against me in my punishments. Nothing instilled fear like being stripped of your powers, being little more than a Human. As a Darkling I could endure anything, even the creative cruelties of a monster like my father, but with a collar of electrum or dull gleaming shackles, everything was weakened, my body, my mind, even my resolve.

The price for their lives, the greatest yet known, from which where they end, all fates will be thrown.

And there, my greatest fear. The weight of the world, quite literally, on our shoulders. Someone like me should never have the fates of innocents in my hands, not when I knew I would let the world burn if it would save Jordan, my family, maybe even myself. Someone with such thin connections to the world, barely hidden disdain, hardly half a soul, he shouldn't be the one with the world at his feet.

Three will change all for high or for low, equally sharing both dark and light within their ghost.

And then the third appeared, the wild card - Ailech. What darkness did he hold in his ghost? What was he hiding? It was difficult enough to have a third member of the prophecy, but to have him holding some darkness, something he was keeping a secret, that didn't help me trust in him any more. But Abraham trusted him. I, again, wondered what the old wizard knew that I didn't, and when he would share it.

The battle for worlds, gray tones shall it mark, the winner forever when one chooses dark.

This was also new to me, unfortunately I couldn't tell which way it meant, again. Would one of us choose dark and therefore win for our own side, sacrifice our soul, give into our nature to win? Or would darkness win if one of us chose it, if we did succumb to our nature? The outcomes were opposite, yet the prophecy could mean either just as clearly. What was the point of a prophecy when it gave two opposing answers? Knowing prophecies was the same as knowing nothing in my mind.

Their power for Heaven or Hell cuts the same, three beings unclean, all before hath forbade.

Another new line - three beings unclean. That meant that Jordan and I weren't the only ones that Heaven hated, so was Ailech. Again, I wondered what he was, what he housed that was so stained. Why was he unclean? Why forbidden? And why were Jordan and I forbidden? Two 'good' Halflings might be the first of our kind, but why would that have been forbidden before? It didn't add up, itching at the edge of my understanding, dancing away when I tried to grab hold of it.

Two will fall and one will rise, a sacrifice given of the victorious side.

And the infuriating riddles continued. Would all three of us be defeated, two dying, and one survive? Or would two be defeated, one die and one survive? That seemed to connect with one sacrifice, but then where was the third?

Twisted and tormented, one shackled and trained. Burning and frozen, one life willingly laid.

Twisted, tormented, trained all seemed a place I was already too familiar with, perhaps it pointed to my past. I hoped so. But then again, one life laid - seemed to mean the sacrifice from the previous line. Unless it was another life laid, leaving two of us dead, pointing to the future.

If dark or death comes for one then shall it take all, for bonds of dust and blood cannot rise what will fall.

And if two of us were already fallen in the coming war, then this verse meant the third would die as well. But the darkness is what worried me, as choosing dark earlier could have meant defeat or victory, but now when one chose it we all would? The prophecy was just as helpful as I had expected. Knowing it meant nothing, gained us nothing.

All will watch which side may suffice, for no man can predict whether fire or ice.

Created and destroyed, they will three be one knife, but for darkness defeated, each must lay down their life.

And the final line my father used to repeat. Each must lay down their life. All three will be killed, just for a sliver of victory, just for the chance. No wonder he had always been confident in his own chances. No wonder deep down I didn't truly believe I could defeat him either, I never really had.

I hate writing depressing chapters - but hey, I also wanted to explain more of the prophecy for in case you didn't pick it over with a fine toothed comb like I do with every word I read, or write.

So, what do you think? How many will die? Who will win? And would it really be winning if everyone dies? What twists do I have up my dark little sleeves? What's Ailech's role, secrets, darkness? It's all planned, so there is foreshadowing in every. Single. Line.

Comment your interpretations and I'll reply to all ^^

T