I sat in the passenger’s seat of the RV as Liz anxiously navigated the massive vehicle down the highway. She knew how to drive, but she had never driven such a large vehicle before. For the past few minutes, I had been giving Liz tips on how to handle the RV, but most of those tips were little more than, “You’ll get used to it after some practice.”
There were a few close calls, but any fear I felt was ameliorated by the fact that everyone in the RV had undergone [Draconic Integration], so it would take a Hell of a lot more than an SDC car crash to kill us. Liz got the hang of it eventually, and I began to lean back into the passenger’s seat as we traveled.
“Hey, Vincent,” Liz said, trying her hardest not to let her anxiety show. “How did you learn to drive RVs?”
“Oh, right. I guess I didn’t tell you. When I was an undergraduate, I worked as an Amazon driver for a summer.”
“What was that like?”
“Very physical,” I said with a grimace.
With my thoughts no longer focused on advising Liz, I began to think once more about my conversations with Hellman. According to him, many of the most influential works of literature were essentially written by the Coalition of Light. They must have left clues for us in places that we had taken for granted.
“Do we have a Bible in here?” I asked Liz.
“Yeah,” she said, frowning. “I took one from the supermarket so that I won’t run out of prayers.” She pointed to a shelf in the back.
I retrieved a cheap leather Bible from where it was stowed. As I flipped through the Bible, making sure that it contained both the Old and the New Testament, I whispered to myself, “A stolen Bible, how fitting.”
Once I returned to my seat, I began skimming through the Bible, looking for something that caught my eye. Eventually, I stopped at the beginning of Revelation. I figured that Revelation was the book that would most likely hold information on our current situation. It was called the Revelation System, after all.
I began reading “The Apocalypse, or Revelation to John,” and I was immediately struck by the book’s frequent references to entities coming from the sky and a victor that would emerge. “Behold, he is coming amid the clouds.”
To the victor, who keeps to my ways until the end,
I will give authority over the nations.
He will rule them with an iron rod.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Like clay vessels they will be smashed.
-Revelation 2:27-28
After ten days of tribulation, there would be a victor who would be granted authority over the nations. I did not know who this victor would be. Perhaps there would be one chosen champion among the “Human tribe” who would gain control over the remnants of the world. The passage seemed to indicate that whoever reached the level cap first would be granted some reward.
I read through John’s vision at the throne of the Lord God. Four angels and twenty-four elders stood beside the throne. That number, 24, stood out to me. Hellman mentioned that there were 24 [Greater Dungeons] and, thus, 24 Star Children. Was that the purpose of Revelation? Did they mean to warn us of the Star Children?
Then, I reached the sounding of the seven trumpets, and my suspicions were confirmed.
The seven angels who were holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
When the first one blew his trumpet, there came hail and fire mixed with blood, which was hurled down to the earth. A third of the land was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all green grass.
When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a large burning mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.
-Revelation 8:6-9
The first two trumpets closely described what had already happened. Asteroids fell from the sky, and Genesis (something like a large burning mountain) fell into the sea. I quickly turned my eyes to the mention of the third trumpet. Perhaps I could figure out what would happen next.
When the third angel blew his trumpet, a large star burning like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the river and on the springs of water. The star was called “Wormwood,” and a third of all the water turned to wormwood. Many people died from this water, because it was made bitter.
-Revelation 8:10-11
Wormwood? What was that? I took the phone from my pocket and asked it to define the word. Miraculously, the Internet was still working, and I soon received my answer. “Wormwood” was a naturally occurring bitter herb used in absinthe.
My eyes widened as I realized that wormwood was the herb that gave absinthe its hallucinogenic properties. I tried to connect this prophecy to our current situation and put it into words that I could understand. Basically, something bright would fall from the sky and infect the water supply with a hallucinogenic drug.
It was funny in a strange way, I thought. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that the story of the third trumpet was eerily similar to my new ability, [Grand Reverie]. Naturally, I was not nearly self-centered enough to think that a thousand-year-old prophecy referred to me specifically. Plus, [Grand Reverie] had to be used directly. I couldn’t activate the ability by poisoning the water supply. Not yet, at least.
“Wormwood” was a pretty cool name, though. I’d have to hold onto it for later.
I looked up from the Bible as I felt the RV slow down significantly. There was a man-made checkpoint ahead of us, and several men dressed in military fatigues and carrying laser rifles patrolled the checkpoint.
I wondered why there would be a military presence on this highway, but then I realized where we were. Our RV was approaching Fayetteville from the north, so we were passing through Fort Bragg.
“There are, uh, soldiers ahead,” Liz stuttered. “What should we do, Vincent?”
“Just treat it like it’s a toll booth. We should be fine as long as no one mentions that everything in this RV was stolen.”