takia_numa
Maeve Raines has seen golden strings since her teenage years-thin, luminous threads tied to people's pinkies, binding them through choice, emotion, and consequence. Friendship. Betrayal. Belief. Obsession. Love.
Everyone has them. Some have many.
Having only one is rare.
Having none is impossible.
Except Maeve cannot see her own.
Now in her late twenties, she lives a life that demands silence and observation. Her secret stays hidden, pressed between unanswered questions and the letters she writes to the Fates-quiet confessions meant for powers she isn't sure are listening. Over the years, she has learned every shade of gold that exists and memorized their meanings. There is nothing left about the strings that should surprise her.
To the world, she is someone else entirely. She goes by Juno-a name chosen, not given. A name she wears like armor.
Under that name, she drifts. Watches. Learns how lives knot and unravel.
Until she meets Theo Mercer.
Her neighbor is gentle, reserved, and marked by something she has never encountered before. He has no visible strings. Not one. The absence unsettles her more than any bond ever has-because she knows what every shade should mean, and yet he fits none of them. Theo knows nothing of fate or golden threads-only that being near Juno feels fragile, like something he shouldn't expect to keep.
What unfolds between them is not loud or dramatic. It is slow. Measured. Built from shared glances, half-confessions, and the quiet comfort of being understood without explanation.
And for the first time, Maeve feels something she cannot categorize-a pull, a burn around her own pinkie whenever she turns away from him. Still unable to see her string, she prays-desperately-that if it exists, it will not be the worst kind.
The color of love that never gets to stay.
To the Fates is a quiet, tragic exploration of destiny misunderstood, love interrupted, and the cost of seeing what others cannot.