The Fates

E P A N A F A Í N O M A I

Faith tried to convince me that confronting the Council about what we knew was "insensitive," but that argument died pretty quickly. Hope agreed that we shouldn't say anything because that would be "reckless." That took a little more effort not to yield my determination. Eventually though, I got them to see reason. We needed answers, and spending the last few weeks going along with the Elders' schedule for us while sneaking off at night to research wasn't providing them. Plus, all of us were exhausted from the lack of sleep and Floak was catching on that something was wrong.

"We need to do it soon. Tomorrow, at the Council meeting. I would prefer to storm in and start making ultimatums, but I have a feeling you're going to veto that." I mumbled the last part with a pointed look at Hope.

"Of course I'm going to veto that," Hope rolled her eyes at me, "but I agree about tomorrow. Tomst asked me what was wrong today. Tomst."

"What if they refuse to tell us anything?" Faith asked, sounding nervous. I knew she wanted an explanation as much as Hope and I did, but I couldn't blame her for her anxiousness.

"We explain what we know and try to reason with them that we're better off not kept in the dark. There's not much else we can do, I think. It's not as if we can take the whole Council in a fight."

I grunted at that, muttering "Not without at least one hostage" but Hope chose to ignore my suggestion.

Faith was wide-eyed at my statement, but she too left it without a response and turned to Hope again. "How do we get in? We can sneak in the same way Destiny does but I have a bad feeling about suddenly appearing and ambushing them—doesn't seem like a good way to start a conversation."

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Hope's brilliant plan to enter the Council chambers was to fucking knock.

Three loud raps on the floor-to-ceiling doors later, we were waiting for someone to answer. I tried to nudge Faith and silently communicate to her to put on a game face, but my message was apparently lost when all she did was stare back at me with a curious expression.

"What are you doing here?" Tomst all but sneered. Of course it was Tomst to answer the door; he's practically the Council's whipping boy with a fancy title.

Hope ignored his icy tone and spoke confidently, "We need to speak with the Council." When the doorman made no movement to let us through, she added "It's important."

That bit made Tomst sigh, but at least he opened the door wide enough for the three of us to file in. Hope led our line with her head held high. Her expression was stoic and regal-looking. Faith was practically shaking behind her. I acted as caboose of our short train and stuck my tongue out at Tomst as we passed before settling on a glare for the rest of the secret-keeping Elders.

Our knocking apparently caught the whole room's attention since it was dead silent when we came to stand at the front. The familiar long tables were laid out as they always were, stretching out to form a square with one side missing in front of the door. All twenty-eight pairs of eyes looked at us with varying emotions. Some looked annoyed that we dared to interrupt, others looked passive, and some looked just plain bewildered.

Elder Ramos broke the tension. "This is a Council meeting. What business do you have to interrupt us?" He was one of the annoyed ones, apparently.

I beat Hope to the punch, earning an angry look that did nothing to stop my words. "We know about the man that is hunting us. We know he's either reincarnating or simply immortal and that he's found us before. We know that he's resurfaced in Scandinavia and probably Sub-Saharan Africa too, although those coven reports were conveniently missing from their record books."

Hope cut me off before I could start accusing people, which was probably for the best but it didn't make me very happy. "What we don't know is why this vital information has been kept a secret. Why train us and not tell us that we're at risk of being assassinated at any moment? Why leave us unprepared for a very real danger that you clearly understand is out there?"

Twenty-seven heads swiveled from us to join our focus on Ramos, not daring to speak without his direction. The man himself sat silently, brewing over how to respond. When he finally spoke, he had to clear his throat first. "Well, this is not what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" Faith asked, her voice small but firm.

Floak, seated to the left of Ramos at the table across from us, cleared her throat as well. "Hope, Faith, Destiny, you must understand that what we do—everything we do—is for your betterment and your protection."

"I don't believe you," I declared. "How would we be protected if we're ignorant? How are we better off not knowing that we could expect an assassin to ambush us at any moment?"

"The intention was to hide you during this cycle," Ramos said, as if it was the most obvious fact. "We have tried training you to fight him. It did not work. We tried moving you around so that he wouldn't catch up, and that did not work either. This is the first time in centuries when he has no idea where you are nor how to find you. It was impertinent that you not know about him."

"That doesn't make any sense!" I yelled.

Losing my temper prompted Hope to brace her arm in front of me as if I were about to lunge at him. Granted, I was about to attack him, but I didn't appreciate being held back. Her voice came out controlled and unwavering. "I agree. I don't think your logic holds much water here, Elder Ramos, and I am beginning to suspect we know much less than we think we do about what has been going on. I suggest you explain before things become any more hostile."

Leave it to Hope to make the best of my outbursts.

"Not here. I will meet you in my office tomorrow morning. For now, we have Council matters to settle." Ramos paused before finishing, "You may leave."

"We're not leaving before we have some answers," I protested, trying and failing to lower my volume.

"You will have your answers tomorrow. Good day."

Hope looked at Floak with a raised eyebrow. Receiving a nod in return, she spun me around and lightly pushed me towards the doors, already held open for us by a smirking Tomst. I glared at him, but he seemed more amused than intimidated.

⸞⸟⸞ ⁂ ⸞⸟⸞

"We need to get back in there."

"You're right." Did Hope just agree with me? Me? "I've been studying teleportation spells. I'm fairly confident that I can get us back in if you two can maintain a cloak."

Faith looked uneasy, so I spoke for her. "How confident is 'fairly confident'? How likely are we to end up on a mountainside or stuck in the door?"

"At worst, we'll lose the cloaking."

"Well, I am an expert at that," I smiled smugly. "Faith, just to be safe though you should probably back me up.

Hope rolled her eyes but just gestured for me to get on with it.

Seconds later we were back in the chambers. I could feel our cloak hold up around us, allowing the Elders to speak freely. Questions were flying left and right, over the heads of some and around others while each Elder spoke their mind. Never had I seen the meetings so chaotic as the one we just appeared in.

Ramos banged his usually ornamental gavel and the room fell to silence. "Clearly, we have underestimated them. This must be handled."

Floak gasped. That's when I knew "handle" meant something bad.

Ramos continued, "Destiny is uncontrollable. Hope is too aspirational. Faith is loyal to her sisters over us. I call for a vote to start over."

The three of us made terrified eye contact. I had a sinking feeling about the weight of his words. We watched in horror as the Elders raised their hands. Floak, I noticed, kept hers down. I also noticed Tomst's go up much too eagerly. Dick.

"It's decided then. A new cycle and a new approach."