Ch. 89: Greetings From the Fates
The slund had not come from the machine itself but from behind Hephestus.
I watched as Hephaestus and Hermes turned back, their eyes wide with shock. A black crack had appeared in the air a few feet behind them, as if the very fabric of reality had been torn apart by an unseen force. It shimmered ominously, and for a moment, everything in the workshop felt colder, darker.
“Dammit! Those damn bitches, they’re here!” Hephaestus cursed over the whirring hum of the machine as it charged up.
Hermes staggered, his face pale as if the crack had somehow drained the strength from him. Hephaestus had warned me this might happen— that the Fates would appear if we tried to alter time. That’s why I left behind the only two people I trusted to hold them off long enough for us to travel back.
The crack expanded, and from its shadow stepped three cloaked figures. The air grew thick with an almost suffocating melancholy. For Hephaestus to be this shaken, these beings had to be more than mere deities.
They were the personifications of destiny itself. Three ancient sisters from unknown origins: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inevitable, a metaphor for death). Their Roman equivalent is the Parcae.
The role of the Moirai or fates was to ensure that every being, mortal and divine, lived out their destiny as it was assigned to them by the laws of the universe. For mortals, this destiny spanned their entire lives and was represented as a thread spun from a spindle they controlled. Generally, they were considered to be above even the gods in their role as enforcers of fate, although in some representations of Greek myth, Zeus, the chief of the gods, was able to command them.
The concept of a universal principle of natural order and balance has been established by them.
I would rather not go into the details of their origin but I can say this from what Hephestus told me, something that is different from that I know of them. The youngest sister Clothes held the thread of the future, the middle sister Lachesis commanded the thread of the present, and the oldest Atropos commanded the past. This meant they had power over the entire timeline in the universe and prevented it from being abused by anyone. So clearly we were out stepping our boundaries here.
With my knowledge I knew how to beat them or at least delay them. The three sisters were born without eyes so they had to share one eye they got that granted them the power of sight.
But why would such powerful beings that controlled fate not he able to change theirs? Simple…. They were cursed to lose their sight from their great power. Take their eye and you take their power, Perseus had proved that theory in the myths.
But here posed the problem, under the hoods was pitch black so there was no way to tell which of the three had the eye at the moment.
I could not help but curse under my breath.
One of the sisters spoke, her voice a chilling whisper that clawed at my soul. “You knew you violated our laws, and yet you persisted. The world is in chaos because of the otherworlder who calls himself the chosen one.”
That must have been me— I guess.
“Sister, let us end this banter and purge the threat,” said another, raising a hand toward the time machine.
My heart raced. Could they use their powers even if they didn’t all have the eye? I had banked on the idea that only the sister holding the shared eye had full control of their abilities. But it seemed my plan was flawed. The old me would have panicked, but now I had a team.
“Hephaestus!” I called, trying to urge him into action.
Hephaestus shouted over the chaos, “Hades, don’t forget your vow to me!” With a roar, he hurled a massive anvil at the Fates. He turned to Hermes and said. “Funny little man when the indicator turns green, hit the button. I’ll hold them off as long as I can!”
It was suicide, but Hephaestus knew that when we made the plan. I couldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain. We could change everything once we made it back.
The Fates unleashed a black beam of energy that Hephaestus barely dodged, countering with a powerful strike that seemed to shake the workshop. But the blow stopped in midair, as if an invisible wall had halted its momentum. A blood-curdling scream ripped through the room.
I turned to see Hephaestus unraveling before my eyes. His body was coming apart like threads being pulled from a spool, vanishing into thin air. The sight was too much to process. Just like that a main god of Olympus was defeated!?
“No— no!” Talos screamed, trembling as she watched her father figure dissolve. Her eyes were overflowing with tears. Despite everything, she had cared for him. I could see her urge to run out and help, but she stayed rooted in place, watching Hephaestus disappear entirely. “It hurts… it’s pain, isn’t it?”
She was just feeling pain for the first time and it was a very terrible experience.
The Fates began advancing, and now only Hermes stood between them and us. He was trembling, fear etched across his face. I wondered if he would run or stand his ground and die for us.
“Hey, guys,” Hermes’ voice cracked as he looked over his shoulder, tears streaming down his face. “I just need to buy you thirty seconds, right? I’m scared, but I can’t let all this planning go to waste.”
I smiled, though my heart ached. “You know you’ll die, kid.”
He forced a weak laugh, his back still shaking. “I’ve never really had much to fight for in my whole life. But now… now I have something. Talos deserves to be saved.”
That’s what it was. He was sacrificing himself so I could save Talos from her gruesome future.
“Tally,” he said, his voice breaking as he sprinted toward the Fates, “I really enjoyed our time together.”
Talos dropped her head, her tears spilling faster. “Likewise,” she whispered.
Why was I the only one who wasn’t mourning? Maybe it was because I’d seen this scene play out too many times. I felt the black book throb in my pocket as I sighed. “Look alive, kid!” I called, knowing full well it was a terrible choice of words for someone running toward certain death.
Hermes didn’t hesitate. He darted forward, his speed almost blinding as he clashed with the Fates. For a moment, it looked like he managed to push them back with sheer force, but I knew it wouldn’t last. Thirty seconds suddenly felt like an eternity as we watched Hermes give everything he had. Parts of his body were being erased, one by one, unraveling like Hephaestus before him.
Talos watched the sight in silence, her eyes red and swollen with tears. I couldn’t move. I was helpless, powerless, stuck watching our plans fall apart in front of me. It was all up to Hermes now.
He staggered, his strength fading fast. But then, with the last bit of energy he had, he reached for the button. The indicator had turned green. With a scream, he slammed his fist down on the control, triggering the machine.
Electricity surged through my body, burning me from the inside out. It had begun.
Hermes smiled through his pain, raising his head one last time to look at us. “I guess this is goodbye then,” he said, his voice a quiet whisper.
I clenched my fists against the agony ripping through me. I was done with goodbyes. Talos wrapped her arm around mine, her voice steady despite the chaos. “We’ll get them back. All of them.”
“Right,” I growled through gritted teeth. The Fates were still outside the portal, reaching for us, but it was too late. The machine had already activated.
“I’ll get strong enough to save everyone,” I swore.
Light consumed everything. I saw Talos’ soul take the form of a purple light before vanishing into the swirling pool of energy. Then, nothing. No pain. No light. Just silence.
The RESET had happened.
The next time I opened my eyes, it would be 200 years in the past. The beginning of it all.
If I revive a magic castle I will mass release 10 chapters
