Hope in Ruins Book III: The Fountain and the City of Salt

Juliette and the Twelve Prophets

--From, the Journal of Caleb Martin

I thought it best to write down what I remember before it's too late. Who knows, these might be things you will want to know someday. Or not. Either way, it's given me something to do these past few years. To pass the time.

Your mother helped me with some of these entries...

Below is a list of the prophets. I'm not sure why I'm beginning here. There are so many other more important places to begin. Maybe it's because your mother helped me the most with this part. She knew all the prophets by heart... obviously. She should have been one.

The First Prophet, the First Seer, Juliette. I made her, but I didn't know what I had done until it was too late. Juliette was the tenth made and the final. As you know, some of the vessels my brother and I created in the kilns woke up. The Fox, the sixth, was the first to awake. Juliette was the last.

Her story is written elsewhere, and my account of those early days is... painful. I will recount it, just not today. Not here.

After the fire at the lab, Juliette disappeared into the fabric of everyday life. I discovered years later that she had done well for herself, as only a prophet who had cheated death could. She married. Had a family. Died at a good old age surrounded by her family. But Loraine and Rufus had been hunting her.

The Hidden Prophet, Ammon, Juliette's son. I never met Ammon, but I saw him from a distance once. He looked nothing like Juliette, except when he was thinking very hard about something. He tried to discover the truth about his mother, but he found Loraine and Rufus instead. Rufus killed him. They didn't know that Ammon had telekinetic abilities.

The Mountain Prophet, Adan. Ammon's son. Adan learned from his father's mistakes. During the rise of Loraine, Adan was wise. Fearing for his life, he fled with his family and some friends and hid in the mountains. There he established the Unseen. He saved his family from a rockslide by surrounding them with force-fields. On a mission to Nova to assassinate Loraine, he was killed by Rufus.

The Dark Prophet, Isra. Isra was the first generation born under the mountain. Many were fleeing Nova to the Unseen City for safety. Isra established the Seers and their blinding to keep the growing Unseen City safe. She prophesied during the Dark Times while famine and plague swept across the mountain. She brought hope to the dark city. As an old woman, she ventured to Nova to preach but was found and killed by Rufus. She died in a city street, fighting and proclaiming Perseus. Her abilities (mind control and emotion manipulation) were powerful, although she rarely used them to avoid harming innocents. Even as Rufus hunted her down in the street, she would not strike out for fear of injuring civilians. Her son became the Water Prophet.

The Water Prophet, Troy, led the Unseen during politically uncertain times. He brought the Seers and the council together with his gifts, memory sharing, and perception manipulation. Inspired by his mother's death, he ventured out into Nova to preach but was found and killed by Rufus.

The Poet Prophet, Teagan, spent her time preaching and writing. Her works are the most sacred and most beloved of all Unseen literature. Her abilities are a closely guarded secret, and no one knows what they were. She, too, ventured to Nova to preach and was killed by Rufus, the Prophet Killer.

The Prophet Killer is vicious.

Little is known about the Walking Prophet, Odessa. She ventured into the Empty Places and wandered for twenty years. Those who sought the prophet sometimes found her. Sometimes not. After discovering her abilities, electrokinesis, and force-field creation, she never used them. Rufus found her in the Empty Places and murdered her.

Deeply affected by her mother's life and death, the Blind Prophet, Cecelia, turned her focus on the injustices within the Unseen. She fought to have the Seer blindings outlawed and led an army to Nova to free the Watchers. Her mission failed, and Rufus killed her, but not before a truly spectacular battle where she led an army of Unseen with her telekinesis and force-fields. You will not find this battle in any Novan history books, although you can see the consequences of her destruction to this day.

The Sun Prophet, Ciro, is the most beloved of the prophets, although, during his lifetime, he was reviled. His mission to open the Unseen to refugees was shunned during his time but accepted after his death. He alone went to Nova to rescue Burned and bring them safely to the Unseen. However, he and the Burned were killed by Rufus. His abilities were minor and dwarfed by his compassion and martyrdom.

This brings us to the Warrior Prophet, Jonah, your grandfather. I knew him well. I met him when I went to the Unseen to raise an army and finally confront Loraine. I am ashamed that it took me that many generations to come to my senses and find my courage, but that's what happened. He could share memories and manipulate perception. Jonah shared my memories and understood my torment. While the Unseen Council refused to help me, Jonah agreed. He and many supporters journeyed to and led a rebellion in Windrose City. As you know, this led to the Burning of Windrose City.

I escaped the Burning. Jonah did not.

The Unseen Prophet, Seth, participated in the Windrose City Rebellion with Esther, his twin sister. He fled when the Burning began, insistent on saving his sister. The twins thought the Unseen City had been compromised and destroyed. They mourned their people and planned to flee Nova. On their flight from Windrose City, they were separated. Seth was killed.

Here ends the original entry.

This was all Esther knew of her family and her history, and she knew it well. She'd recite the prophets by rote, almost as if she were reciting poetry. And she knew plenty of that as well. She'd recite poems from the Dark Prophet and the Poet Prophet while plucking ripe berries with red and purple-stained fingers. She'd sing the walking songs attributed to the Walking Prophet while wiping dishes dry and dancing barefoot across the kitchen. She'd tell me about the Sun Prophet, her grandfather, Ciro. She told me how he smelled like mint and how he held her steady as she climbed the steep ladders up the Unseen Mountain.

We were happy together.

What follows is what I learned from Seth.

The twins, each believing the other had died, continued on. Seth made his way to West Six where he met Astrid. Viola, Astrid's mother, worked with the Unseen and told Seth the Unseen City had not been compromised. Astrid and Seth escaped together to the Unseen, where they married and had Peter. The Unseen Prophet's abilities are based on memory: memory sharing and memory manipulation.

The Dreamer, Esther. Born twin sister to Seth, and two minutes later, she is not an official prophet, as each generation can only have one prophet, although she too possesses the abilities of a descendant of Juliette. After the Burning of Windrose City, she fled to and remained in West Six, thinking the Unseen was destroyed and her brother dead. She did not know that Seth had just left West Six for the Unseen, and saddened by her daughter's departure with a stranger, Viola shut herself away and took no interest in any more strangers.

By herself, Esther found and helped Eli, the Fox, who had himself been fleeing the Burning of Windrose City. They remained in West Six and had three children: Benjamin, Mica, and Miranda. When they realized who Perseus was, Eli convinced her to leave Nova, but she remained. She lied to him and did not follow him to safety. Eli tried to help them escape from his new country. He sent them money, and he sent them travel papers and instructions. But they never arrived. Esther is a Watcher and can manipulate and share memories. She is trapped under the Eternals' Palace, serving as a Watcher.

The Last Prophet, Peter. Born in the Unseen City, he went with his parents back to West Six to meet his grandmother. They were attacked in West Six, as Rufus searched for the Unseen Prophet, and Astrid was killed when Watchers came to West Six. Peter followed Seth to Windrose and then found his way back to West Six where he found you, Perseus. While he didn't know who you were, he stayed with you and protected you. He may be the bravest and most important prophet of all. While he inherited the title Last Prophet when he was born, he had no abilities to accompany his title. Peter was killed saving Ben in a West Nine factory.

While questions surround his death, his life and legacy remain certain: he was faithful, kind, and unwavering.

Thus ends the line of Juliette and the Twelve Prophets.