It was a strange ride, one Sadie never wanted to do again. The Room of Destiny spun around in blurs, everything blending into one turning a deep shade of purple. Sadie squeezed her eyes shut as motion sickness set in the pit of her stomach. She hoped there was nothing she had to do to get out of this vortex. She didn't even know where she was going.
Sadie landed with a thud. She peeled her eyes open realizing she was standing on her own two feet. She patted herself down. She sighed in relief that she was still in one piece.
The room was dark and cold. She was surrounded by deep blue stone walls and flooring with nothing but small torches to light the way. Sadie wrapped her arms around herself shivering. If this place was bringing her to Atropos then there could only be one place she could be.
Sadie looked behind her. The hall seemed to stretch for miles as it did in front of her. She looked straight ahead once more deciding to go the way she landed.
She walked down the hall for what seemed like ages. She had no idea how long she had been down there, no idea how long she had been wandering around aimlessly. Her teeth began to chatter and her legs stiffened with each step as the cold set deep into her skin. If she didn't find Atropos soon, surely she would freeze to death.
"Ah, so you've found me."
Sadie looked up from counting each stone she stepped on. There, directly in front of her was an old woman who resembled Clotho and Lachesis.
"A-Atropos?" Sadie said through chattering teeth.
The woman nodded with a sweet smile. She stepped back and a door appeared on the wall. Sadie narrowed her eyes. She looked all around her but there weren't any doors in sight. She wasn't sure if she had passed this hall before, but she hadn't seen anything for a long time.
Atropos let out a light laugh. "It's okay, darling. You're not going crazy. We keep everything hidden from the human souls down here."
Sadie stared at Atropos with a blank expression.
"Mortals are easily spooked. They're quick to panic. It's a form of punishment to the souls here. Some are doomed to wander these empty halls for all eternity," Atropos explained calmly. She turned away and disappeared into the room.
Sadie hesitated to follow. She looked behind her once more but there still wasn't anyone in sight.
Atropos poked her head back out. "We turn the souls invisible to each other as well. Loneliness is a wonderful torture."
Sadie drew in a deep breath and followed Atropos into the room. She didn't want to hear any more.
The moment she walked through the threshold Sadie felt instantly warmer. She straightened her back and stretched her arms down to her side. She sighed in comfort.
Atropos smiled at her. "Tell me about it. The chill in the hall gets me sometimes too."
Sadie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "I've always thought Hell was supposed to be hot with fire and lava everywhere."
"Oh no, darling." Atropos laughed. "This is the home of dead souls and cold corpses. Welcome to the Underworld."
*
"You were chosen because you had escaped my sisters and I. You had escaped death," Atropos said steadily. "In fact," she continued when Sadie didn't answer, "you escaped death twice."
Sadie remained silent.
"We were supposed to use you as a vessel originally." Atropos sighed. "Meredith was stupid and rewrote your future, thus changing her own. So, that was the second time you escaped. Though I suppose it doesn't matter who we take as a vessel... but it would have been more satisfying if it were you." She smiled at Sadie who pressed her lips together in response.
"Do you remember when you were 5-years-old? You were hit by a car?" Atropos wondered aloud.
Sadie shook her head.
"You went into a coma," the old woman continued. "I tried to cut your thread, but it didn't work. My beautiful perfect shears would not cut through your thin thread. My shears have never failed me. You made me so angry that day."
Sadie cast her gaze down to the ground. She didn't remember that time in her life. Maybe her memory was wiped from being in the coma but her parents had never talked about it either.
"You were being protected by Destiny. We were unable to collect your soul." Atropos spat.
"Why do you want to kill everyone?" Sadie piped up.
"Mortals are stupid and worthless," Atropos said with a venomous tone. "They spend their whole lives on earth being rude to each other, killing each other, and trying to get ahead of everyone else. Then they inevitably die to leave behind nothing but messes for other people to clean up."
"Not all humans are like that." Sadie stood her ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I insult you and your kind?" Atropos commented rolling her eyes. "Destiny found out we were killing her Scribes. She put a protection spell on you when you were born. She protected you all this time biding her time until you would come and defeat my sisters and me."
"I've succeeded so far," Sadie said.
"I know, how lovely. You've almost fulfilled the prophecy... When three Fates become one, One Scribe will become three." She sighed. "I can't say I haven't been waiting for this day. As much as it burns me up, I knew you were going to kill my sisters."
Sadie swallowed a lump in her throat. She had no idea there was a prophecy written about her, let alone a goddess protecting her from the moment she was born.
Atropos walked over to the other side of the room. She waved her arm and part of the wall disappeared revealing something hidden behind it. Sadie got closer but not too close.
There were three long threads hung up. One was a shining gold and the other two were dull silver.
"Immortals cannot die," Atropos stated, "but it's possible to send them away. You see, I was not able to cut my sisters' threads – not that I would want to. So they are in the Underworld somewhere. They just have to find their way out and make their way back to me."
Sadie cleared her throat from nerves. "And how long would that take?"
Atropos shrugged. "Oh, it could take years. Or, it could take a couple days. It depends on how witty they are and, to be honest, I don't have much faith in them."
Something glowed underneath her cloak and Atropos took it out without hesitation. Sadie's eyes grew wide at the object.
Sure enough, it was Atropos's shears. They were rather large, much bigger than scissors. Its point looked so sharp as though it could drill through the stone. Atropos stared at the shears admirably.
"When it glows, it means someone is at the end of their life," she said calmly. A long thread appeared to her right. Absentmindedly, Atropos cut the thread with her shears. The thread went dull and limp, dissolving in midair while the shears stopped glowing.
"And that's how it's done." She smiled. All too quickly the smile faded. "Now that my sisters are dead I must use extra magic. I'm doing three jobs. This is why I haven't killed you yet."
Sadie stiffened. The Fate said that so nonchalantly. It was true, Sadie should have been surprised she wasn't dead yet. In fact, she should have been looking for a way to kill Atropos so she could get out of there. She had stupidly forgotten her quill, so what else was she supposed to do?
Another thread floated in front of Atropos and she cut that one as well.
Sadie stood taller. She had to get the shears away from Atropos. That was where her power was. It certainly wasn't going to be easy though. She was brought out of her thoughts when Atropos chuckled.
"Don't look so frightened. I haven't killed you yet because I want to make you an offer," she said.
Sadie swallowed another lump in her throat. Her mouth was drying out and she was growing tired due to stress and nerves.
Atropos rolled her eyes. "You can speak to me, at least. I know you have a tongue."
Sadie cleared her throat. "What is it you want to ask me?"
"Would you like to be a Fate?" Atropos asked bluntly.
Sadie's jaw dropped. "Um... Excuse me?"
"I am doing the job of three. You are immortal. I would like to remind you Destiny created my sisters and me. She created you to be a Scribe as well. That means you have the potential to become a Fate."
Sadie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Still, Atropos wasn't wrong. Destiny and Fate intertwined as one meaning but broken off into different branches. The Three Fates once had the same job Sadie currently had. They had gone rogue which meant she, and even Meredith and Gerald had the potential to go rogue and become Fates. How could Destiny be certain any more Scribes she created would not go bad? Who was to say this wasn't the Fates' plan all along?
"As you can see," Atropos said wittingly, "I have two openings."
"I thought you said Clotho and Lachesis could return," Sadie commented.
Atropos nodded. "As soon as they find their way out of the Pool of Souls. Once they do it'll be easy to create a fourth thread. You see, if Destiny can build an army of Scribes, why can't I build an army of Fates?"
Sadie found herself nodding just slightly. She didn't know what to say and she knew better than to agree with a Fate, but she needed to buy herself some time. Allowing herself some time to think did not involve making Atropos angry.
"So." Atropos bared her teeth into a grin. "You really want to be a Fate? You're certainly thinking hard about it."
Sadie opened her mouth but no words came out. Atropos assumed Sadie was thinking about whether or not she should be a Fate, not how to kill her and get out of there. She decided to humor the old woman.
Sadie shrugged. "Well, there are two sides to every story, right?"
"Yes!" Atropos said excitedly. "Destiny created us to help the mortals, but no one seems to realize the mortals don't care about their lives. They don't deserve them. They throw their lives away like it's nothing. They don't take care of themselves and they don't even bother to take care of the world. We are helping Destiny by getting rid of the bad humans. Why do they get a chance to live? Who decided mortals should rule when they don't even know what they're doing?"
Sadie nodded along with Atropos's tangent though she had nothing to add to it.
Atropos stood in front of Sadie and looked her in the eyes. Sadie held her breath allowing her mind to wonder what Atropos was thinking, what Atropos was going to do or say next.
The Fate held out her shears to Sadie. Sadie flinched before looking down at them.
"In order to become a Fate, you need to cut a thread ending a human's life," Atropos said ominously.
Reluctantly, Sadie took the shears in her hands but Atropos didn't let go of it right away.
"Don't get used to it," she warned. Sadie nodded and Atropos loosened her grip finally letting go.
Sadie held onto the shears tightly as they began to glow. A thread appeared before her waiting to be cut. Sadie put her finger through the holes and opened the mouth of the shears. She glanced at Atropos who was grinning madly at the shears not paying much attention to Sadie.
Sadie looked at the thread wondering who it belonged to. For all she knew this was a trick and the thread was her own. She looked past Atropos to the three threads hanging against the wall. She drew in a breath of courage. Without thinking any more on it, Sadie dashed away from Atropos running towards Atropos's thread, shears at the ready.