Chapter 44 The Fates

Chapter 44 The Fates

Hades
Michael stares at me with confusion. “The Fates don’t rewrite destiny.”
“They will.”
Michael walks over to me. His steps are purposeful and full of concern. He puts a hand around my shoulder. “Brother, you’ve done your best chasing after this girl, trying to change the inevitable. Isn’t it time to face your fate head-on? Isn’t it time to accept your lot?”
I almost shove him aside. “Never! And if anyone harms a hair on her head, I will burn this entire realm into the fucking ground. I swear it on our father!”
Michael shivers, horrified by the tone of my voice, the thickening of the darkness around us. The light-bulbs shook, flickering dangerously.
“Brother, brother,” Micheal calls, his calm angelic voice soothing me. “You know what you have to do now?”
He pauses. I wait for his next line of words even though I already know what they would be. “You have to see the Fates. You have to visit Olympus.”
I take a deep breath and exhale long and dramatically. I haven’t been to our home, our brother Alexander’s realm, in eons. Not since I was banished to Hell.
“He will not be happy to see you.”
“I don’t care. I have to see the Fates. I have to try and save her.”
“Okay. Say hello to our brother and cousins and uncles for me,” Michael says.
I take a moment to prepare myself. I haven’t spoken to my brother, Alex, in a long time. We not only don’t get along; we hate each other.
“Hey, could you do me a favor?”
I pick a pen from the table and write down the coordinates of the motel where Daphne’s still sleeping. “Could you get her to a hospital please? Protect her until I come back. I’ll find you when I return from Olympus.”
Michael accepts the paper from me. “Sure, I will do my best.”
He hesitates for a second, and then throws his hands over my shoulder. “Be careful.”

I stepped out of the portal into Olympus. A gorgeous, serene, golden, shining piece of heaven. My brother’s domain. Our home. My home before I was cast out. Alex’s temple, a gigantic architectural marvel, stands at the height of Olympus. He sits at his throne at the highest point of heaven, looking down his nose at the rest of us.
The customary thing to do would be to visit Alex, speak to my relatives but I couldn’t give a rat’s ass right now. Not while Daphne’s life is on the line. I march to the home of the Fates located at the foot of Olympus, in the ugliest corner.
The home of the Fates is one of the most ominous. The three sisters stay there day-and-night weaving the fates of every single creature in this known realm and beyond. I’ve always despised the power they hold, the fact that they could control my life for ages, make me lose the only woman I ever cared about.
As I open the door, I hear the low whizz of their churning yarn. I pace slowly into the darkened house. I know they can see me. In fact, they knew I’d be coming long before this night played out. They orchestrated it. I can’t escape from them.
“Show yourselves, sisters!” I call out. I stand in the center of the room, waiting. Soon, a door at the left corner of the room opens up, inviting me in. I take tentative steps in slowly.
As I enter, the sisters reveal themselves. Three shriveled up old women with horrific faces, knitting their yarn. The long yarn flows out of the room. Each of them spins from a different color, different shape, size carrying the faces of their victims. I call them victims because we are all subject to the fates. All of us.
“Ruler of Hell, what brings you to us?” their voices echo, one-after-the-other in slow tempo. It would send chills down anyone’s back but I am Hades. They don’t scare me. In fact, they annoy me.
“She can’t die yet. It’s too early to lose her now.”
“Are you afraid she would not be going to hell?”
“Yes, you know her soul won’t be in Hell if she dies now. I need her on earth. I still have time with her.”
“Time. How much time does any of us really have?”
I step forward. The three women hover ahead of me. “You can’t do this to me.”
“It is her fate that she must die tonight. It is your fate to be alone. In this timeline, you lose her now. Tonight.”
Each word is like a brick to my heart. “What can I do to change that story?”
“Fate cannot be changed.”
“Yes, it can. I need to know what it’d take to change that story. I need time. I’m so sure I can get her to be mine in this timeline but I need time. I don’t want to lose her. Tell me what you want and I will make it happen.”
The sisters consult within themselves. “You must speak with your brother, Alexander,” they say finally. Their words carry a final resolution, a decision that they cannot be bought.
It’s useless appealing to them. Except Alex who can get them to change their minds. But Alex understands the repercussion of changing fates and he hates me so much, he wouldn’t be inclined to help me.
“I can’t speak to my brother. He isn’t going to help me.”
The Fates spread out Daphne’s yarn. It shows her at her funeral, beautiful but dead. Dead.
“Fate cannot be rewritten.”
With that, the fates disappear. The room falls into deep silence. I march out of there, angry and betrayed.
“Hello, brother, what brings you back to Olympus?” Alexander says.
I turn and find my brother standing behind me. The brother I didn’t want to see, the one I have to grovel to for help with the Fates. Ruler of the skies, he looks every inch like the power he welds. He is holding his lightning bolt, the symbol of his power. It shines warningly.
He steps forward. “What brings you to Olympus?”