Page 96 of Can you take it?

The rabbit mask nodded once. Before it could change its mind, I sprinted over to Bexley, giving him a hug and a slap on the back. He looked excited and a little nervous.

“You can do this,” I said. “Just stay strong and remember the reason why you’re doing it, but also, stick up for yourself and don’t let anyone walk all over you. Make your own decisions.”

He nodded.

“And don’t do the hand thing on people if they don’t deserve it,” I added for good measure.

He cracked a smile. “You know you should stay, right?”

I looked down, then back at Anna. “Yeah, I know,” I said. “If I never see you guys again, thank you for everything,” Bexley said.

I sprinted back to the masked creature and my painting as we all watched Bexley step into his painting, becoming an oil portrait as he went to start his new life in the human realm.

“Now it’s your turn,” the rabbit said to Walter, Eletha, and Anna.

“Wait,” I said, not ready for them to go. “Don’t I need them to get past this tier?”

“No. Though your friends and I have helped you along the way, you are the one who decides what you’ve learned or not. You’re the only one who can decide.”

Again, the voice tickled the back of my mind.

“The three may go,” the rabbit said, dismissing them. “Wait!” I shouted again.

The rabbit let out a huff, putting its hand on its hip, causing me to tilt my head—something about that movement seemed familiar. “It’s time for them to go. Once you complete this realm, you too may go to your destination—the Elysian Fields,” it said, waving a hand toward the portrait.

My heart pounded. Decisions swirled in my head. “How do I leave?”

“That’s for you to decide.”

“Pride,” I repeated, though I didn’t need to. I knew exactly what I needed to do.

“Please leave, or I will make you leave,” the rabbit said to the others.

Walter began to step through the painting. “Wait,” I shouted again. “I know who you are.”

The room stilled. In a fit of stupidity and bravery, I snatched the mask off the creature, nearly falling back when I saw who it was. The others gasped in unison.

“You’re one of the sisters,” I said, recognizing the woman as part of the trio that made up the Fates.

She smiled.

“Why are you here?” I asked, confusion racing through me. “You could say I’m everywhere,” she answered, looking at me intently.

“You said you helped me through the tiers. How?”

She undid the clasp of her black cloak, removed it, and unbuttoned something by her leg, jumping to the ground off a pair of stilts that had made her appear much taller.

My mouth dropped open, wondering how this would play out.

“You didn’t possibly think the tiers were so easy on everyone, did you?” she asked.

“Why would you help me?” I asked. “I haven’t done what you asked of me. Are you here to make me give Anna the pendant?” I clutched it tightly.

“I’m here because you helped me in Moirai when you didn’t need to. You helped me when it wasn’t a part of your destiny.”

I recalled when Mendax, not knowing who she was, had beaten the crap out of her and I had taken her to get help, believing the whole time she was just a girl.

We stared at each other for a moment.