The Doomsday Book

Chapter 2

I stepped around the Reapers, following a wide corridor at the end of the Main Hall. Reapers were filing in and out of the many different doors, an estranged web of blurring figures. I turned into the door on my left as it opened inward automatically, revealing a library a few stories high. A marbled staircase led to a lower floor with ladders reaching to the higher shelves filled with scrolls. Old scrolls lined the bottom cubbies while newer scrolls were placed on the top shelves (all categorized in alphabetical and chronological order).

"Whoa. I'm in Heaven," Delta breathed.

"Not exactly," a voice answered.

I jumped, whipping around to see a Reaper holding a rolled up scroll. His gleaming eyes were grinning.

"Hey, don't I know you?" Delta said.

"Indeed. Well, I trust that you've brought an outsider into the Reaper Realm for good reason, Maxwell."

I flushed nervously, but no one could've seen the red in my Reaper form. "Yes, sir."

"Hm." General Fahrr handed me the scroll. "Never saw you, never heard you." He walked off, hands hooked behind his back as the door opened to let him pass then closed behind him again.

"I think he has favorites," Delta suddenly said.

"He shouldn't," I replied, unraveling the scroll he gave me. "Wait, this is... this the scroll on the Fates!"

"See? What'd I tell ya? Favorites."

"It's sealed with a red ribbon. This is from the Elite Section."

"Meaning?"

"I could be thrown in Hell for reading this," I mumbled.

"What?! Why did Fahrr have it then!"

"He's a General. Scrolls from the Elite Section are only accessible to Elders, Generals, and anyone in between. Anyone lower, like me, are forbidden to read them."

"FAVORITES!" Delta accused again.

"That doesn't make any sense to me, though! General Fahrr is fair to everyone, whether he wants to be or not. He's the one that's always against favoritism."

"So what? We got the info, didn't we?"

I sighed. "Yeah, okay, fine. But I'm telling you now, something's funky around here."

"That'd be me."

"Shut up and read the scroll!"

Delta unstuck her body from the floor and grabbed the scroll, looking over it. I peeked around her shoulder to see.

"Okay. 'The Fates represent the Past, Present, and Future. Although they never spoke of such, it is believed that they are triplets, eternal and unyielding. Humans may see the Fates as old women or gossiping teens. Their real faces and body have never been seen before.' This literally tells me nothing I need to know. It's like our high school textbooks."

"That's why we have to research everything for essays," I said bitterly. "But anyways, the scroll is long. Keep reading. It might help later on."

Delta squinted at the paper. "It just talks about their appearances and predicted origin."

"Look here," I told her, pointing near the bottom of the scroll. "'The powers of the Fates have been known to be chronically dangerous. They prophesy the major deaths of mortals (such as plagues) and may even record it to seal the inevitability. One must destroy the recording in order to undo the prophecy.'"

"Great! How do we get rid of the damn thing?" Delta asked.

"It doesn't tell me, but it says that 'The Fates usually keep their recordings buried in a tomb or grave.'"

"How are we gonna destroy the book if we don't even know how!"

The door slid open, and Delta just had enough time to slip into my shadow. I turned and growled as a small group walked through the door.