My Soul to Take

by Amy Sumida

  Re traced us all, holding hands in a circle ( I didn't even know it could be done that way), into Fate territory. I had some expectations as to what the home of the famous Fate ladies would be like. They were Greeks after all and most of the Greeks I'd visited had lived pretty closely to their myths. The Underworld, the Cave of Dreams, even Olympus had been fairly close to what humans believed them to be. The only exception so far had been Titan territory, which was literally a giant suburban neighborhood.

  Now I could add Fate territory to my list of exceptions.

  The Moirai lived in a video game. Tron to be exact. We stepped out of the Aether into an entirely white tracing room; walls, floors, and ceiling. All of it was the same shade of white with the shiny look of plastic to it. Like a futuristic hospital room. I stepped through the echoing chamber and gaped at the view through the round, convex window before us.

  The territory was somberly dark, lit only with an eerie turquoise light which emanated from numerous sources. One of these sources was the grid of glowing lines which stretched out before us towards a soaring futuristic castle. The apex of the castle was where the brightest light stemmed from but out from both sides of the grid, a city stretched, outlined and dotted with more of the turquoise light. Bisecting the grid was a monorail, an enclosed sort of train, that went straight to the castle.

  “Oh great,” Re shook his head at the scene. “They've redecorated again.”

  “Again?” Odin came up beside us to stare at the scene in fascination.

  “And they thought Tron was an acceptable style?” I huffed. “I guess we should be thankful it wasn't Super Mario. Although jumping over mushrooms might be fun.”

  “But that Mario music is so damn annoying,” Trevor shook his head.

  “They change their territory so often, it makes my head spin,” Re huffed, ignoring the conversation he probably didn't understand. “Damn fickle females. Oh well, no use standing here lamenting,” he opened a circular door and it made a sort of popping sound.

  “Did he sound like Mary Poppins for a minute or is it just me?” Trevor whispered to me.

  “Come along children,” I imitated Julie Andrews. “No dilly-dallying.”

  “No use standing here lamenting,” Trevor mimicked.

  We giggled as we all followed Re out onto a dangerously slick landing and then down a set of stairs to yet another landing, which was actually more of a dock. The train was waiting for us, its door already open. I peered into another bright interior. It was such a shock against the outside gloom. Again with the white on white, except in the train there were steel poles set at intervals down the center, just like a subway car, and lines of that turquoise light outlining the ceiling.

  “Do you think they know how dangerous these shiny floors are?” I asked Odin, who just grimaced and rolled his eyes. “Oh please, as if you weren't thinking the very same thing.”

  I've been to a few territories that had tracing chambers outside of their main dwellings and I could definitely see the intelligence behind it. Even if an enemy got past your wards, you'd be able to defend yourself. And these slick floors didn't hurt either. It was making me consider moving our tracing chamber outside the palace. Still, this was the first time I'd had to travel what looked to be several miles, just to reach the home of the territory's owner. Again, a good idea for defense but I didn't want to have to take a train to my tracing room every time I wanted to leave the palace.

  A man in jeans and a T-shirt which read; Accept your Fate, stepped out of the train. He startled me; partially because I hadn't seen him in the blindingly white train interior and partially because his attire was so disparate from the environment. I just gaped and blinked at him.

  “Is one of you the Godhunter?” He asked as he tossed his blonde bangs out of his face.

  “Yeah, that's me,” I cast a surprised glance at my men.

  “Well,” he motioned to the train. “Come on then, I don't have all day.”

  “Okay,” I headed for the train but Re rushed forward and jumped up onto the train so he could hold a hand out to me and help me in. “Thanks,” I started to move to a seat but Trevor snuck forward and took my arm, escorting me to a long, padded bench at the back of the train

  “Women,” I heard the blonde mutter as the rest of the men piled in. “Too much damn work.”

  The guy strode to the end of the cabin and slapped a panel there. The side door whooshed closed as a door before him opened. He strode through and the door shut behind him, leaving us alone in the train car. I gave Odin a glance and he shrugged as he sat beside Trevor. Re had already taken the other open seat beside me. Kirill settled in beside Re just as the train began to move.

  Then we were thrown back against the train's wall as it rushed ahead impossibly fast. I was practically plastered to the train, like I was in some G-Force ride at the State Fair. The scenery rushed by us and blurred into a turquoise haze. After a few seconds, we started to slow. Thankfully, it was gradual and by the time we stopped, my stomach was in its proper place again.

  “We're here,” the blonde called as he came back into our train car. He slapped a panel and the side door opened.

  “Alrighty then,” I blinked at my men. “I suppose this is our stop.”

  The guys jumped out and Kirill helped me down the tiny step onto the dock like it was a huge jump. I smiled big, I could get used to this whole Southern-belle-suitors routine they had going on. Don't make that face, you know you'd love it too. What woman doesn't like men vying for her attention? And here I'd thought marriage would have mellowed them. Silly Godhunter, you married gods.

  “This way,” the blonde waved us forward without even glancing back at us.

  “It's like the damn Eye of Sauron,” I murmured as I stared up the impressive height of the castle to its glowing top.

  We followed our guide across a wide swath of black marbled courtyard and up a set of matching steps. He swung open a pair of doors that had to be at least twenty feet high and tapered to a dramatic point at the center. It opened onto an empty foyer with shiny black walls and more of those strange dismal lights. I was getting really sick of the color choices.

  “They're up there,” the blonde indicated the ceiling with a vague wave of his hand as he walked through the room. “Take the elevator to the top.” He flung his hand at a discreet elevator, its doors the same exact enameled black as the walls. Then he kept walking through the only other door in the room. It swooshed shut behind him.

  I looked around the stark room. Evidently the Fates didn't spend a lot of time down there and saw no reason to waste any effort on it. There wasn't so much as a painting on the wall. Not a table or a vase of flowers; nothing. Just the elevator and that door.

  “So I guess we go up,” I went to the elevator but there was no button to push. “What the hell?” I ran my hand down the slick wall right beside the doors and a panel lit up. The doors opened silently. “He couldn't have told us about that?” I grimaced at my men and they shook their heads in commiseration.

  We all stepped into yet another startlingly white interior. My eyes were starting to hurt from the strain of going from dark to light over and over. Tron was a landscape better experienced through a television screen. This wasn't a place to live.

  The back of the elevator was glass and had a view of the courtyard and train. Kirill laid his hand over the wall beside the door and sure enough, another panel lit but this time, numbers were revealed. He tapped the highest number and the elevator whizzed upward as a horrible instrumental rendition of Gaga's Bad Romance started to play. I gaped at Trevor as he started to laugh and then just shook my head at the strangeness of gods as I stared out the window. The video game territory spread out before us as we rose swiftly but it was only moments before a happy ding announced our arrival and the doors opened.

  “It's the damn Ivory Tower from The Neverending Story,” I whispered as we exited the elevator. “Do they have no creative inspiration of their own?”

  “At
least it's not so bright in here,” Odin sighed. “I was beginning to think Re was playing a joke on us and we were actually in his territory.”

  “My territory is perfectly illuminated,” Re sniffed. “How could it not be?”

  I ignored them as I walked forward over cream colored stone. The room was large and circular, with a ceiling that stretched high above us into a point and walls that transitioned smoothly from ceiling to floor without a single seam. It was as if the entire room had been carved of one piece of stone.

  Light seemed to seep from the very walls but it shone softly as opposed to the glaring light in the elevator. It illuminated an oasis of color in the exact center of the room. A collection of silk rugs were laid out and atop them, we found the Fates. Lachesis lounged on a chaise in her gray toga, Clotho posed at a Sleeping Beauty spinning wheel, and Atropos stood, staring us down with stern cop eyes.

  Behind them, a tapered archway, similar to the shape of the front doors, led to a slim balcony. The glowing grid stretched out with its strange city surrounding it. I half expected to see Tron motorcycles zipping down the lines in the grid. But there was nothing, no movement in that alien landscape, and it gave me the willies. I looked away, focusing back on the Fates.

  “Well it's about time,” Atropos grumbled.

  “They're right on schedule,” Clotho chided her.

  Lachesis didn't say anything, just stood up and stared at us with ebony eyes that looked enormous in her gaunt face. Her hand strayed to the golden scissors hanging from her belt, as one might do with an amulet. She was the only one dressed in a toga, the other two wore modern clothes; Clotho had on a full yellow sundress and Atropos wore jeans with a crimson blouse.

  “Hello,” I tried for cordial. “I didn't realize you were expecting us.”

  “Of course we were expecting you. What kind of seers would we be if we didn't see you coming?” Atropos rolled her eyes and then settled her stare on Re. Her frown eased up a little. “Hello, Re.”

  “Attie,” Re smiled wickedly. “You're looking good.”

  I smacked him in the chest. He shrugged, not at all repentant. You could buy a show horse; saddle him and make sure that only you got to ride him, but it wouldn't stop him from prancing about in front of other riders would it? It was simply the nature of the beast. All you could do was let him prance.

  “What's with the...?” Re waved his hand at the scenery beyond the balcony.

  “Atropos watched a SciFi movie,” Clotho huffed. “Something about a son chasing a father into a video game. And then it was her turn to choose the change.”

  “I liked the lines!” Atropos growled. “They suit us.”

  “Called it,” I sang back to my husbands. “Tron.”

  “Yes, Madam Obvious,” Odin rolled his eyes.

  “You know, I think you've been hanging out with Horus too much,” I narrowed my eyes on Odin.

  “My grandson is delightful,” Re said loyally.

  “Oh yes,” now I was the one rolling my eyes. “Delightful is the first word that comes to mind when I think about Horus.”

  “Just couldn't leave the rest of us one hot man, could you, Godhunter?” Atropos grimaced at me.

  “Uh,” I cleared my throat. “I'm not with Horus.”

  “I meant Re,” Atropos growled.

  “Atropos!” Lachesis snapped and the room went quiet. “This is not the time to think with your womanhood. We have a serious matter to discuss. Now come in, Vervain. Come in, all of you, and take a seat,” she waved at the chairs spread out before them; five chairs exactly, all facing the Moirai like chairs in a principal's office.

  We sat.

  “Vervain,” Clotho laid her arms over the top of her spinning wheel and placed her chin on them. “Do you know what our magic is?”

  I nearly jumped up and down with glee. I hadn't expected them to just come out and tell me.

  “No,” I said casually. “Now that you mention it, I don't. I know your myths of course but I also know the truth must be a different story entirely.”

  “You could say that,” Atropos rolled her eyes.

  “Oh will you please get over Re?” Clotho slapped her sister's arm. “You weren't nearly as mad with me when I slept with him.”

  “Well you didn't demand that he be faithful,” Atropos shot back.

  “Sisters!” Lachesis shouted again.

  “Sorry,” they both muttered.

  “Um, you were about to tell me what your magic is,” I prompted them.

  “Oh yes,” Clotho smiled sweetly and brushed back her oak-brown hair with long, elegant fingers. Her suede blue eyes softened on me. “Well, the myths are partially true, of course. We guard the fate of mankind.”

  “We look after the threads,” Atropos added.

  “And help them along when needs be,” Lachesis finished.

  “You actually see threads?” I admit, I was shocked. People's lives were threads? I mean, really?

  “Yes, but that's just a word, a way of helping people understand what fate is,” Clotho shrugged. “We can see the energy that radiates forward from every living being. It does so, generally, in a line.”

  “Within this energy are possibilities,” Lachesis intoned. “All of your choices influence this line and alter it every day.”

  “But, for the most part,” Atropos added, “the energy stays focused on an outcome... your fate.”

  “Most humans have simple fates,” Clotho said gently. “To marry, have children, perhaps invent something important or destroy something important, and then pass on.”

  “But others have complex fates,” Lachesis looked pointedly at me. “These fates, these energies, have a wide area of influence and can affect other fates.”

  “If you mess with such a fate line, it can go very badly for everyone,” Atropos said grimly.

  “Yes, I've discovered that,” I ground out.

  “We know,” Clotho sighed. “You tangled your fate but then you corrected it, so it should have straightened out.”

  “Should have?” Trevor leaned forward.

  “Well, then you went and broke your star, didn't you?” Atropos snapped.

  “She didn't break it on purpose,” Odin said firmly, in a voice which brooked no argument. “She was viciously attacked by his son-in-law,” Odin pointed at Re.

  “That wasn't my fault,” Re huffed. “I didn't order Ptah to attack Vervain. I would never have done so. I love her.”

  “Stop it!” Lachesis slashed her hand through the air. “No one blames Vervain for what happened, least of all we three, who know what she has been through,” Lachesis shot Atropos a quelling look. “What's done is done. The star is shattered and the triple trinity is broken. The three threads of fate that had been woven together by your star have been separated once more. They are spread too far apart and it's just a matter of time before one of them hits another soul's thread and tangles again. This must be rectified and that is why you're here, Godhunter.”

  “You can fix my star?” I sat up straight.

  “No, not as such,” Clotho took over. “Our magic was made to assist fate. We monitor the threads and interfere only when destiny has gone off course.”

  “Then we step in and help... or hurt,” Atropos shrugged, her elaborate red braids shifting around her shoulders. “Whatever is necessary.”

  “Yes, you always do whatever is necessary,” Clotho sighed.

  “We all do,” Lachesis pulled back her long, raven hair into a serviceable bun. “I am the Alotter and I can cut away the obstacles from your threads.”

  “I am the Spinner,” Clotho smiled at me brightly, “and I can spin blessings into your threads.”

  “And I am the Unturnable,” Atropos intoned. “I can straighten you out.”

  “Atropos!” Lachesis snapped.

  “I can take the measure of your threads and add wisdom to them,” Atropos corrected. “I can even lend you the ability to take the measure of others.”

  “And here I thought I w
as just going to talk to you guys about a prophecy,” I snorted.

  “Silenus' prophecy was a means to bring you here,” Clotho winked at me.

  “You could have just texted,” I frowned.

  “The prophecy was valid,” Clotho laughed. “It was meant to be spoken. Your dilemma over the future needed to be solved and you made the right decision, Godhunter.”

  “I did?” I was honestly surprised. That seemed to happen so rarely.

  “You did,” Atropos admitted grudgingly. “Those gods, the rainbows and the bottled water woman... I like that, by the way, very witty.”

  “Thank you,” I smirked.

  “They were meant to live,” Atropos ignored me and went on. “Well, at least for now.”

  “But as much as you've made many valid corrections to the future...” Clotho chewed her lip, looking like a worried doll.

  “There was one big mistake,” Lachesis delivered the harsh news.

  “You mean, besides breaking my star?”

  “Yes, Godhunter,” Atropos rolled her eyes. “Besides that.”

  “The Horsemen,” I whispered as suddenly I knew. I think I'd known all along, since the moment I saw them at my wedding. A shiver coursed through me as all three women went grim and nodded. “They were at our wedding.”

  “When they were needed somewhere else,” Lachesis finished.

  “Like the flutter of a butterfly's wing-”

  “Oh don't start that stupid butterfly crap again,” Atropos growled at Clotho.

  “Well, it's true,” Clotho pouted.

  “Butterfly crap?” Kirill lifted a brow at me.

  “I think my love magic is offended,” I whispered to him.

  “They're referring to how the littlest thing can snowball and make a huge change in the threads,” Lachesis sighed. “You did something in that future... or didn't do something. We don't know, we can't see that thread anymore. It may have been something as seemingly innocuous as waving to a passing stranger. The oddest things can affect fate.”

  “Whatever it was,” Clotho's eyes went somber. “It stopped the Three Horsemen from doing their duty.”