This time it’s my mouth gnarling into a venomous pout.“It’s you who is ignorant, Interitus.Creativity doesn’t work without restraints, without boundaries and parameters.It’s from within those that we are our most creative.”
We stay motionless, staring at each other, neither willing to give an inch.
“Why are you doing this?”I exhale, already exhausted from fighting.
The curve of a sneer curls like a cat in the corner of her mouth.“Because not everyone is privileged enough to have a fate like yours.Sometimes the fates forsake us, and it needs to change.”
“You’re wrong.We all have a destiny.”
She recoils away from me; a visible shudder passes over her.“This is the line then, dear sister.The one where we part.”
“I won’t let you do this.Our system works.”
Interitus glowers at me.“You only think that because you are part of it, you create possibilities, shape fate.”
“You’re part of the system too…” I take a staggered step towards her, but she backs away.
“You would think that, you’re at the heart of it.Perhaps you’re part of the problem.”
My chest hitches like she’s stabbed me, my shoulders drop.How can she think that?My insides cool, solidifying and hardening.“You truly think you can undo the very fabric of our universe?”
Endless nights and voids filled with violence pool in her eyes.“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.Tear down the walls between all three of our worlds.Let the fabric consume itself and all potential.And when all probabilities, all futures are gone, there will only remain undifferentiated possibility.”
I wipe a hand across my face trying to process her words.It doesn’t make any sense.“What in the name of the gods are you talking about?That’s a paradox.You cannot have no possibility and all possibility exist simultaneously.”
“Of course you can.How else do you think we’re truly supposed to have free will?”
“The universe cannot tolerate that kind of instability.It will implode.”
She waggles a finger at me.“You’re wrong.”
“Please, this won’t work.You’ll fail.”
“No,” she says, and takes a single, definitive step away.The line is drawn in the barren underworld sand.“I won’t.”
I stand a little straighter, my strength replenishing, fuelled by the desire to stop Interitus.“I’ll be on your tail.Every step.Every move.I’ll be there.”
“Then the day I succeed will be a sad day indeed.”She tears her gaze away from mine.“Because I will remove any barrier or obstacle in my way… Even if that’s you.”
She marches into the underworld with her head held high, ignoring the fact she’s limping, carrying damaged wings and probably a dozen injuries.
She never once glances back at me chasing after her one hobbled step at a time.What’s most horrifying, though, is that she moves with the confidence of someone who has already successfully ended the world.
It’s then I realise the enormity of what I’m facing.
Three realms in danger.
Two troubled sisters.
And a fate only one of us can fulfil.
2
Midnight
Afist grabs the scuff of my collar and a sting erupts over my cheek.
“MIDNIGHT!”Ignatius’s voice is shrill.The crack of panic tears through his vocal cords.“You need to run.”
