Moth flew low above the ground as Doll steered him towards the Pub.
Coincidence sped next to them, with Fate hanging on to dear life and Time silently sitting next to her.
Time glanced out of the window. Their gaze fixed on Doll and Moth.
Time sighed.
"To know I had forgotten all about them... If I had only given them more of myself... If I had only been patient enough..."
Time shook their head. "But I moved on the moment things became tough. I abandoned them and look where they are now! In the only place I can't even go...."
Time gestured at the robots. "Look at them working. Look at how Moth flies. Look at how in synch they are! They're working together. After all these years they're working... Together."
Time remained silent for a moment. They then looked at Fate.
"Don't give up on Hope, Fate. Don't you dare abandon her when things ever get tough.
Don't make the same mistakes I did. Life's too precious to be discarded and you'll always wonder what if. What if I had tried harder? What if I had been more patient?
Find your patience, Fate, and give her your time."
Fate shortly glanced at Time, her fingers dug in her seat and the roof as sheer panic was written all over her face. She quickly stared ahead, watching huge boulders come at them and then zoom passed them.
"Do you really think that I would risk my life to find Hope and then walk away the moment it gets tough?! Even if she doesn't want to come with me, I'm going to drag her arse out off Limbo and I'm going to bring her back to Life."
"Pinky promise?" Time turned towards Fate and held out their pinky.
Fate glanced at Time and then back at the road. She gulped, let go off the roof and shook pinkies. "Heck yeah."
Time smiled. "That's the spirit, Fate. Now all you have to do, is trust Coincidence."
"Heck no!"
Coincidence angrily accelerated.
Fate screeched louder than Coincidence's tires.
🔹🌹🔹
The Pub door opened and Fate stumbled through it. She staggered her way to a chair and sat down, hyperventilating. "No more," she said. "I'm never getting in that car again. Coincidence is mad. Mad! I tell you, she's a maniac behind the wheel."
Time strolled in. "You just have to learn to let go, Fate. You're always in control, so of course it's scary when someone else drives."
"She'll drive me crazy one day, if she already hasn't. How can you stay so calm under such reckless behaviour?!"
Time shrugged. "She's Coincidence, you're Fate and I'm Time. If anything goes wrong one of us would react quickly enough, right? I have faith in us."
Fate stared at Time. "You're just as mad as she is."
"I feel perfectly sane, thank you very much."
Reginald opened his arm as he rushed towards Time and Fate. "Welcome to the Pub," he said. "I hope you found it easily."
Time gestured at Moth and Doll who slipped passed. "We've had some help. They said this is the place to be."
"They weren't wrong." Reginald smiled, showing his golden teeth. He shook Time's hand. "Welcome, welcome," he said. "I'm Reginald, but please call me Uncle Reggie. And you are? Did I hear it right? Are you Thyme and Faith? And where is this other person you've mentioned? The driver?"
Time wanted to correct Reginald, but Doll signed them not to.
Time scraped their throat. "Right," they said. "Thyme and Faith... The driver had to go to the loo. She might be here any second."
"Can I offer you lovely souls something to drink while waiting?"
"That would be great. Look, Faith! Look at that astounding bar. Such craftsmanship. We have to go admire it up close and while we're there we'll ask that handsome bartender to get us a drink.
Thank you, Uncle Reggie." Time winked. "We'll take it from here."
Time helped Fate up and guided her through the crowd towards the bar.
While Fate didn't pay attention, Moth signed Time where Hope sat with her head still lying on the bar.
Time muscled Fate to the seat next to Hope. "You sit here," Time said as they pulled Fate up the barstool, "and I'll go talk to the bartender. Don't hesitate to start some small talk... Perhaps with her?" Time gestured at the old lady with her long, colourless hair draped all over her body.
"Why would I do that? I don't need any old ladies to talk to. I'm here for Hope."
Old Hope lifted her head. She turned to Fate and blinked. "I wouldn't talk to me neither," she said. "I'm just old and useless."
Fate knitted her eyebrows as she looked closer at the old lady next to her. Both confusion and disbelief fought over Fate, but love eventually won.
"Hope? Is that you?"
"I don't know any Hope," Hope said. "I'm Holly, Molly or whatever Moth came up with earlier. Hope is gone."
"What happened to you?"
"You happened to me, Fate. Look at me! Just look at me." Hope wildely gestured at her old body. "I wasn't like this before you betrayed me."
"I didn't have any choice."
"Poeha!"
"It's true. Perception would have excommunicated you either way. At least I gave you a chance to survive. Look around you, Hope. Just look. Do you see any other deities here except for us and that one over there?" She signed at Time.
"I don't, but I can tell you that there have been sent a lot of them to this place through the years. Where are they, Hope? Where are they?"
Hope's eyes widened. She had seen souls that felt familiar, back in the sandy valleys, when the Night had fallen. She even had almost touched one. She gulped.
The Hollow.
Fate continued. "That's right. They were all dead the moment they got here. Are you dead, Hope? Because you look much alive to me. You're welcome, by the way."
Hope stared motionless in front of her as she silently processed everything.
Fate waved her hand in front of the brittle Hope. "Hope? Are you alive? Hope? Please answer me. Hope?"
Hope firmly closed her eyes and waved Fate away. "I'm still here, Destiny - sorry - Fate. I was just thinking... Why would they do that to their own? I mean, excommunication with no chance to survive? It's barbaric, isn't it?"
Fate nodded. "It's indeed cruel-" Fate wanted to add my love, but bit her tongue. She gently bumped against Hope's shoulder. "What do you say, Hope? Shall we get out off here and go teach them a lesson?" She softly bumped against Hope's shoulder. "Let's show them that nobody messes with my Hope."
Hope smiled brightly. My Hope...
Her hair regained colour and her wrinkled features softened. "That doesn't mean I'm no longer angry with you, Fate."
"You can remain angry with me as long as you like, Hope. I just want you by my side."
Hope blushed fiercely. She hid her young face in her golden hair. She softly squeaked. "I hate you."
"I love you too, Hope." Fate gently touched Hope's shoulder. "Now let's go home. Together."
Hope tilted her head up. "How do you plan on going home, Fate? Can you... Can you teleport?"
Fate shook her head. "If I could have, then none of this would have happened. No, we're going home the same way we got here. We'll just use the thing Karma gave us."
Frederick pricked his ears. While he was still drying the glass, he walked over to Hope and Fate. He placed the half dried glass on the counter, swung the towel over his shoulder and leaned on the bar.
"Excuse me, did you just say that Karma gave you something to get here and then go back?"
"Yeah. It's in Coincidence as we speak."
Hope knitted her eyebrow. "In Coincidence? Did she eat it?"
Fate smiled sheepishly. "Not really.... Well, Coincidence... She's... a car now."
"A car?! How? Why?"
Frederick leaned farther towards Fate as she tried to calm Hope down. "And that car is-?"
Time interjected. "Outside. She didn't fit through the door, so we asked her to wait outside for us."
Frederick finger gunned. "I have to go get something... from the back."
He whispered at Doll and Moth. "Keep them busy while I'm out."
A grin appeared on his face. He rubbed his hands and dissappeared through the back door.
Meanwhile, Fate's hand slid through her midnight curles. She ruffled them as she looked at Hope. "Let's say that Perception didn't only feel threatened by you..."
Hope jumped from her barstool. "That's it! We have to stop him."
Fate beamed as she looked at Hope.
Hope had regained her vitality. Her hair shone golden, her body was strong once more and the fire burned passionately in her eyes.
Fate smiled. "Let's go stop him, together."