Fate weaver’s convergence

 

 

This is going to be quite the show.

 

What is it now?

 

Sabine found herself in the temple of Nyx, taking the time to ruminate on her thoughts while waiting for the trouble-making Goddess's signal. It was merely a floor above the temple of Solah, saving her from either driving Kiyomi away, and especially saving her from the awkward, question-riddled confrontation if they happened to stumble upon one another.

 

The little web brain is moving on the temple as the crow flies. 

 

Sabine raised her brow as the Kraken appeared in front of her, pacing back and forth.

 

Is there a problem with that? 

 

Nyx stopped a moment, tilting her head to the side as if to acknowledge something to herself.

 

She's going to be in for a harsh wind. Anticipating the heart and mind are not my sister’s greatest strength.

 

Why care now? Were you not excited about whatever it is?

 

Snrrk, do not misunderstand me. It's still funny, to me, but to her?

 

Nyx shook her head.

 

That wind to weather, as exhilarating as it is to witness, is not going to be fun for anyone involved but me. Her heart seems to be dwelling on something more than Solah anticipated. The dull-witted Wyrm she is, she doesn't seem to understand you're going to be in for more than you bargained for.

 

Then I bargained for?

 

Sabine crossed her legs, forcing Nyx to concede as she waved her tentacles back and forth between the two.

 

Okay, than we bargained for.

 

Is it something I should be concerned about?

 

Crossing the roiling water or the calm will result in the same outcome. The girl understands very little of her actual purpose in the world, and with her heart's latent pulls, she may come to a different assumption than initially planned—one that will work to the same end, nonetheless.

 

Would it hurt you to speak in anything but riddles and pompous symbolism?

 

For Pete's sake– the girl's episode may require more help than we thought! She wasn’t meant to dwell on it as she does.

 

So yes.

 

Nyx nodded.

 

To a degree.

 

She paused before continuing, closing her mouth as she nodded to herself once more.

 

While I may be embroiled in my own enjoyment of the comedy, to look from the eyes of someone such as you?

 

Nyx slowly reclined into her tentacles, the limbs forming into the vague shape of a chair.

 

Regardless of your fear of Solah or the detachment and loathing you try to nurture at your father's behest, do you think you could detach yourself from the tug at your heartstrings? It will take a hoard more apathy than you yourself are believed to be capable of displaying. Especially when you suspect you share the same experience, the other half.

 

Sabine's spear shaft tapped against the stone floor of the temple as she stood. 

 

Are you saying I am too weak to keep my place of mind?

 

Nyx shook her head once more, laying back into the chair as it shifted into a bed.

 

Nooo, dear fry, I am saying you will not be able to wield the facade forever, as you wish to do.

 

Nyx waved her hands through the air.

 

As for the webs of Kiyomi that Solah does pluck, I, myself, can see your own… You will be forced to make a decision upon that fate, and you will not like the roads you will be forced to decide upon.

 

I can very well create my own if needed. My father weighs upon me, yes. But it is a responsibility I have to the house. Like it or not, I am a noble lady. Not some wandering child such as–

 

Such as her?

 

Nyx raised her head, a tentacle supporting it.

 

What do you–

 

Nyx raised her brows, expecting Sabine to piece together the larger puzzle.

 

You have my spear, ‘Kraken’s beak,’ whilst the girl wields Solah’s gift. This factor has been missed upon you, it seems. Even with Solah revealing herself?

 

I have pondered as much, but only in the passing month before meeting her here. And not often, at that. If so, it was at the behest of my own frustration. Father expected more of me, and the subsequent lectures said as much.  

 

So it has, it seems. For one to harbor suspicions of the girl, or the danger of manipulating you like the others had? Your theatrical performance of letting a breeding pair of Skulkers take care of the previous ‘problem’ seems strangely out of mind for you.

 

She is a commoner, at least to memory, no? While she may end up being manipulative of me, I am of no mind to take action until the crime is committed.

 

As with the Skulkers?

 

Sabine looked away from Nyx, the Krakens' eyes locking with her own. The gaze was deep, an abyss, peering through her soul.

 

They were of mind to do the same, and I outmaneuvered them. Elimination of their later competition. Had I done nothing greater, the turmoil in Brenton's interior would have worsened, and myself dead alongside it. And with the worries of war? It would crumble not only my father's plans but the city's future as a whole.

 

And it is for that foresight, that I allowed their deaths. Even going so far as to save your playmate, Marissa, at your behest.

 

And for that, I am indebted.

 

Sabine sat once more, feeling meek, feeling for once that she owed someone. Not of faith, but of favor.

 

Come now-

 

The Kraken sat herself up, posting her palms onto the writhing mass.

 

We have established the understanding before and ad nauseum. I am a guardian of you as much as you are yourself. My role is to guide, and yours is not to follow but to heed. 

 

Yet I feel I owe you. Were I someone different in entire, you would not have come to my aid.

 

No, I would not have.

 

I see more than my own plight. I am not blind to reality.

 

But you are blind to yourself, even as you search for answers.

 

In regards to that girl, our talk aside, I am unsure if there ever was anything I could do to get rid of her, even if I wanted to. I have heard the rumors of the wolverines she killed.

…

 

Hmm?

 

Sabine looked up from her knees, searching for the meaning of Nyx's sudden, enraptured expression. She was staring through the floor at something below them, something distant.

 

Go, now!

 

Nyx jumped to her feet, willing Sabine to move, thanks to her own incorporeal presence.

 

What? Now?

 

Kiyomi needs you now. She's entering the temple as we speak. Go now, and you should arrive at the time of her weathering!

---

Sabine found herself running for some reason. She had no need to, nor did she personally care for Kiyomi to necessarily do so. It wasn't of her own emotions that she sprinted through winding caves, the late afternoon crowd of townsfolk. It was the strange tone of concern in Nyx’s incessant rambling. A concern she was uninclined to usually offer. The echo of the massive gears helped maneuver the lifts groaning to life as the scheduled lift time was occurring.

 

Dragon shite! I have only five minutes!

 

She clambered through the crowds, one minute. Climbing the wooden framing of a balcony so as to jump from building to building just below the ceiling of the cave. Another minute saved, but only by the skin of her teeth. The thumps from her landings became harder as she landed between balconies of the now thinning buildings as she approached the mouth of the cave to a more central hub. Jumping down, the odd pedestrians found themselves nearly stumbling out of the way.

 

“Damn outsiders–”

 

“Apologies, in a hurry.”

 

Sabine blurted, not really caring for the inconvenience, the response was reflexive of her manners.

 

It was here, yes? Blast it– damned caves.

 

She looked through felt for the flow of air, through the ambient warmth of the cave for even the slightest breeze of fresh, cool air.

 

This way.

 

Sabine zeroed in on her path, the natural light bouncing off of the cave walls even through the lighting of mana lights and oil lamps. The grinding echo of gears grew louder.

 

I should have a minute left, just barely– there!

 

The lift came into sight.

 

Your pace is brisk, fry, just enough to keep timing. 

 

How gracious of you to mark my pace. Please hush, I am thinking.

 

Wondering if you can get to the lift in time?

 

Hush!

 

The lift came into sight, dust falling as it began to lower itself. Its massive frame only held a handful of passengers, giving Sabine the space she’d need. 

 

It will be close!

 

She sprinted as hard as she could, dropping to the ground and sliding with her momentum.

 

“Holy shit, is she—“

 

Sabine slid past, over the ledge of the stone floor, dropping into the lift’s passenger compartment with only inches to spare. The conductor for the lift turned around in shock.

 

“Are you mad, girl?”

 

Sabine was panting, posting herself with her hands as she rose.

 

“Simply— ah— simply in a hurry.”

 

“Girl, that could have very well killed… you…”

 

The conductor looked over her a moment, taking note that she was nearly pouring sweat. Her panting, though faint, was still audible over the turning of the gears. 

 

“On second thought, a hurry?”

 

“A hurry.”

 

“Be as you were, then, just, please don’t jump from the lift to reach the next floor. I don’t need to hear you somehow plummeting from this height. Dont need that on my shift.”

 

Sabine nodded, gulping at the air.

 

“Understood.”

 

A minute, the gears groaned as they descended a mere twenty feet before the next level came into view. The guilds district, its busiest as everyone was either attempting to head home, and with Adventurers collecting their pay or disembarking.

 

“I saw that look girl, stay put. You can go when the lift stops.”

 

You have my explicit holy permission go kick him in the shin.

 

Will it get us there faster?

 

No.

 

Then no.

 

No fun allowed. Sad.

 

The lift took another minute to come to a Halt, It's iron framing nearly clattering against stone.

 

“Apologies for the scare.”

 

With a nod shared between her and the conductor, Sabine stepped off with a jog. 

 

Still good for time, that was close. 

 

You're keeping good time, nothing’s happened yet.

 

So I can slow my pace?

 

Oh heavens no, I want a front seat!

 

Noted.

 

She continued, the temple of Solah within a much shorter distance between the lift compared to Nyx's veritable den. 

 

It was in sight, and pillars framing its entrance, carved into the likeness of two massive Wyrms, with fires lit inside their mouths. Aside from the Wyrm's themselves, nothing else of note could be said of the temple's exterior. It was sheer rock walls, obscuring the chapel, archives, and its catacombs, reserved for citizens of Krakow. 

 

Where is she, come on.

 

You know, you need only ask. Though, calm yourself. If she hears you panting like an animal she's liable to discover you early.

 

You mean we're on time?

 

Nyx reappeared, walking into view from behind Sabine.

 

As best we could be. She's talked with one of the priesthood. She should be around here somewhere.

 

Nyx seemed to wander, caught up in the wonder of the tapestries and stained glass, back-lit or illuminated by mana stones hidden from view. Weapons, old, and venerable, sat shielded behind foggy, cheaply made glass.

 

Is this the part where you give some symbolic rant?

 

Nyx looked over her shoulder, smirking at Sabine.

 

No, simply letting you catch your breath.

 

The two wandered amidst the halls, Sabine collecting herself, whilst Nyx rambled to herself in an almost incomprehensible language. They eventually found themselves stumbling upon one of the priests, asking him for guidance as they searched.

 

“Further down, near one of the older shrines at the mouth of the catacombs. The girl wanted privacy, so I directed her there. I wasn’t aware she had a friend searching for her, otherwise I would have come to you when I first watched you enter.”

 

“Thank you, regardless. She was not expecting me, but I was feeling unsure of her condition. I came to console her.”

 

Sabine thanked the priest, traveling onward to the lower layers through the rear of the chapel. The air was stale, and the particles of upturned dust did little to help Sabine’s nose as she began to sniffle following a sneezing fit.

 

A lie through your teeth, and that’s why I like you. You made it so believable too. Oh the compassion, the concern of a close friend, worried for a fellow adventurer.

 

Would the concern be misplaced otherwise? You talk as if whatever is about to occur is both bad, good, and necessary all at once.

 

Sabine shook her head, nearly yelling within her mind to the point that she feared she’d actually blurted the words out amongst her echoing footsteps

 

What is it! For ‘your’ sake?! You have yet to tell me a thing, other than to go fetch Beryl afterwards. 

 

The Kraken splayed her tails around herself, flicking them through the air at each step she took, and each word she spoke. 

 

 A mind, a web, one both old yet young, fraught with inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies, will over time, be mended. Made whole once more by time and experience. The girl has as much to come to terms with, just as you. Hers is a case of intrigue for us all. More so myself and my sister, but still, us all. The wind to blow is overdue, and she only has her own hesitance to thank. She will be dazed, as an ewe from its mother. She will be without feet, as a foal, breathing its first breath. It will not be the final one, but it will be enough to keep the wheel of time turning for her.

 

“No- fucking—“

 

The echo of Kiyomi’s voice split the otherwise outward silence, followed by a sudden and abrupt splatter of fluid.

 

“No, not he-“

 

Another splatter of fluid. 

 

Oh, it’s happening! There! See the candlelight?! Sabine, hurry!