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“For nothing,” Miles snorted. “I can't believe the most influential people in my clan believe this bullshit.”
Larissa snorted as well. “Adrian...”
“He warned me,” Julie confessed, and everyone looked at her in shock. A slight blush rose to her cheeks. “You know... because of the... baby.”
“Damn it, he was supposed stay away from you,” Miles whispered darkly.
I suppressed the urge to turn around and check if his concern was genuine and instead looked at Julie with worry.
Larissa laughed. “Just like I stayed away from Bayla and you stayed away from the Copelands.”
Miles looked at Larissa with annoyance, and I raised an eyebrow.
I couldn't hold back the next words.
“Oh... That worked out well.”
Miles' head snapped back down and he gave me that look I knew all too well from the old Miles. The one you could best argue with.
Bayla redirected our focus back to the prophecy.
“What exactly is this book about?”
She pointed to the thick tome Julie was holding in her lap.
Julie looked down and turned to the page where she had pulled out the prophecy.
“It's an old astronomy book from 1783. According to the Councils, it is one of many unique collections of star maps, including star calendars and symbols of the fourth species, which supposedly existed. This book is said to have been written by the scribes of the Lucillians, the prophet species, whose return the Councils hope for. The Quatura used this book, among other things, to calculate the birth of the chosen one.”
These women really had no better problems...
Also… a fourth species? Were they hallucinating?
“So there are other species?” Bayla asked, a question that seemed to be on everyone’s mind.
“According to the scriptures of the Quatura, the Lucillians, a sacred race of light, are said to live in the clouds, waiting for the Quatura to banish darkness from the Earth. I wouldn’t rule out their existence, but I do doubt it. These Lucillians are probably more of a kind of deity that has been misinterpreted, just like many phenomena in the scriptures. And other species would be known, given the extent of species research and monitoring by organizations like the Councils or the DUIO.”
They spread rumors about us involving drugs, while they themselves seemed to consume plenty of them.
An angelic species in the clouds... Of course.
I wondered how much brainwashing Julie had managed to survive.
Bayla just nodded before looking at me and pointing to the parchment in my hands.
“May I?”
I quickly handed it to her and let her scan the writing before she ran her fingers over the drawings. Her index finger paused and her breath caught.
“What?”
Larissa came to her, leaning over the text.
“VR,” Bayla whispered, lifting her head to the painting on the wall.
“Isn't that the artist who painted all the pictures for the founding families?” Miles laughed in surprise.
“What if he illustrated this prophecy?” Larissa said with a shrug.
