Chapter 268 - Fate Eater ( Part 1 )

One of its eyes appeared beneath the ice and blinked.

The lake howled.

Fractures spread under Jennie’s feet in all directions, as though the lightning were trapped within the ice, cracking the surface of the lake in all directions. Slabs of ice rose up into the air and then crashed into the black waters underneath with a sound like the apocalypse itself.

Jennie ran.

A crack opened under her feet. She hopped over it. The ice began to tilt underneath her and she fell. The icy winds tore at her clothes and something enormous moved under the waters after her.

A part of the lake collapsed under her feet and she threw herself forward. The ice vanished under her feet and in one second she was falling into darkness.

Her left hand gripped the edge.

Jennie screamed. Pain exploded in her left shoulder, tearing a cry from her throat. She was hanging above the water, her injured right hand dangling helplessly at her side and the enormous eye was watching her.

"A voice entered her mind. It was deep and rich, filled with the wisdom of an existence older than the very stars themselves.

"YOU HAVE WALKED FARTHER THAN MOST."

"Yes, thanks. And can the next guardian, please, at least provide me with some kind of a bridge?"

"YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE HUNT. YOU HAVE REJECTED THE DEAD. YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE."

The ice groaned. Cracks started spreading from the place where she was hanging and they branched like a spider’s web.

"BUT YOU HAVE NOT LEARNED WHAT IT MEANS TO CHOOSE."

"You have to be kidding me," said Jennie. Her fingers slipped on the ice and the strength was draining from her arm.

"BECAUSE YOU STILL BELIEVE YOUR CHOICES MUST LEAD SOMEWHERE."

A wave of water erupted under her. It was not water, it was something darker, and it swallowed all the light.

Jennie dragged herself onto the ice. Something gigantic emerged from the water under her feet.

It was a serpent.

Its body was longer than she could see and it was coiled under the frozen lake, forming infinite spirals leading into the dark. The black scales covered its entire body and each of them reflected the piece of starless sky. Silver markings were moving across its skin like constellations were rearranging themselves—patterns changing and shifting like if the very skin of the creature was writing new futures.

Its head emerged from the water.

Two enormous horns curled back from its skull, reflecting the light of the old powers. Whiskers were floating in the water near its jaws, moving like if they were submerged. There were numerous lights in its eyes, each reflecting a different image, a different future, a different end.

It was magnificent and terrifying. It was watching her like it had seen everything possible.

The serpent opened its mouth.

"My name is Nharos," said its voice and it rolled across the lake like a thunder.

"The Fate-Eater. The Devourer of Possibilities. The Last Witness to Every Ending That Never Came to Pass."

Jennie looked at the creature. Her breath formed mists in the air and her heart was beating calmly and steadily like it understood that she needed to stay calm.

"That is quite a dramatic introduction," she said.

Nharos turned its head slightly. The movement was almost curious like the reaction of a creature which hadn’t been addressed like an equal in a very long time.

"HUMOR. A COMMON DEFENSE AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF INEVITABILITY."

"Maybe I am just tired of monsters who give speeches."

"YOU WILL BE TIRED FOR MUCH LONGER THAN YOU EXPECT."

The creature’s body moved. The lake broke. Jennie jumped from the place where she was standing to a slab of floating ice. She stumbled and fell.

Nharos did not attack again. Instead, its eyes began to glow.

Everything changed.

Jennie found herself in the royal palace of Seraiya.

For a second, she thought that the forest had created yet another illusion. The familiar golden curtains, the shining floor, the sunlight coming through the windows—all of that was identical to what she had seen before. But something was wrong.

The walls were covered with blood.

The chandeliers had fallen down. Broken statues were lying on the floor. Bodies of soldiers covered the corridors—it was men and women whom she knew well and their faces were filled with horror and pain.

At the far end of the hall there was Zuko.

He had Astraeus in his hand. Seven Divine Swords had combined and became one. A blade of absolute darkness was glowing with the golden flames. Zuko’s devil form dominated the whole ruined palace, his wings spread and horns creating long shadows on the floor.

Behind Zuko the sky was burning.

The cities were crumbling under waves of demonic power. Armies disappeared under the black storms. The great kingdoms of humanity were collapsing one after another. Their banners were becoming ashes which were floating in the smoke-filled air.

Zuko lifted Astraeus. The world split.

Jennie saw how a continent collapsed under a single blow of the blade. And then another one and another one.

The vision changed.

She found herself in the Celestial Realm.

There were gods dying there. Their bodies were falling down from the heavens like pieces of light. They were falling upon the desolate world covered by destruction and darkness. The temples were destroyed; the sacred rivers were drying out, and even the stars started disappearing because of the spreading darkness.

Zuko was standing right in the middle of this desolation. His face was blank, not triumphant, not joyous, not cruel. Just empty. He managed to conquer the world, kill the gods and do whatever he had wanted to do for so many years.

However, he didn’t look satisfied. On the contrary, he seemed bored.

The vision changed again.

Jennie saw the last city built by humans.

Its walls were broken now, and demons invaded it, killing anyone who tried to survive. The children were hiding under the upturned wagons; the elders hugged each other trying to stay alive in the collapsing world.

The little girl was running through the debris, carrying a piece of wood with some toy on it. She suddenly stumbled and fell down. Shadow descended to her. It was Astraeus.

The vision went dark.

"NO..." Jennie whispered.

Nharos’s voice echoed in the darkness.

"THESE ARE THE POSSIBLE FUTURES."

Then the darkness cleared, revealing the new vision.

Now Jennie saw herself standing in the middle of battlefield. Her hair turned black, and her golden eyes emitted the crimson glow. There were five swords around her, bloodstained and covered with so many corpses that the blood was dripping from the hilt to the floor.

The ground under Jennie was covered with numerous dead weapons.

Rudy was lying at her feet. Lilia was standing beside her, while Snow was lying far away from them, his nine tails motionless in the pool of blood.

The Jennie in the vision looked down at them and then smiled.

It wasn’t a smile of satisfaction; this smile was showing the complete abandonment of all feelings left after so many losses.

Jennie raised her arm, and the black magic storm appeared around her. The mountains began collapsing and the heaven itself started cracking. And the Jennie in the vision started laughing.

"NO!" Jennie shouted.

This vision broke, leaving her stunned.

"That’s not me!"

"IT IS YOU," the serpent said.

The huge head of Nharos emerged from the darkness.

"A YOU WHO SURVIVED YOUR LOSS BY ABANDONING EVERYTHING THEY HAVE TAUGHT YOU. A YOU WHO MISTOOK REVENGE FOR JUSTICE AND POWER FOR FREEDOM."

Jennie shook her head. "I wouldn’t... "

"YOU WOULD."

The eyes of the snake lit up.

"YOU HAVE ALREADY STARTED."

Jennie stopped moving.

"YOU SEEK THE WEAPON ABLE TO KILL A GOD. YOU DESIRE TO OBTAIN THE POWER TO DESTROY THE BEING WHO STOLE EVERYTHING FROM YOU. YOU CALL IT PROTECTION. YOU CALL IT NECESSITY."

The voice of Nharos deepened.

"BUT TELL ME, JENNIE QUEENS. IF YOU GET THE POWER YOU’RE SEEKING AND EVEN WITH THIS POWER YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SAVE THE WORLD, THEN WHAT WILL BE LEFT FROM YOU?"

Jennie remained silent.

"And WHAT WILL YOU BECOME WHEN YOUR REVENGE WILL FAIL?"

The vision around her disappeared, but Jennie was still standing on the frozen lake. However, this time it wasn’t a whole lake anymore.

The ice surface became broken into thousands of pieces, floating in the dark water. The sky itself was starting twisting, covering the lake with silver threads connected to the body of Nharos.

The snake wrapped its body around the pieces of the lake.

"EVERY FUTURE ENDS IN FAILURE."

Jennie looked at the monster. "Every future?"

"In one you destroy the world. In another one, you kill Zuko and destroy it yourself. In the third one, you refuse to fight and watch everyone dying."

The eyes of the serpent glittered.

"IN EVERY POSSIBLE FUTURE, SOMETHING IS LOST. SOMETHING FAILS. SOMETHING ENDS."

Its huge head lowered until the eyes of Nharos were on the same level with Jennie’s.

"THERE IS NO PERFECT CHOICE. THERE IS NO CERTAIN VICTORY. THERE IS ONLY THE END AWAITS YOU."

Jennie looked at the dark water of the lake. She thought about the people she lost—Lilia, Rudy, Snow. She thought about Zuko standing under the World Tree and possessing all power of the Seven Divine Swords. She thought about the weapon she came here for.

For a moment, words of the serpent sunk deep into her mind. Was Nharos right? Could it be possible that every road leads to yet another tragedy? What if she survives the Celestial Battlefield, finds Godslayer, but fails to kill Zuko? What if the murder of the monster only makes the things worse?

Jennie had no answer to this question. No prophecy to guide her. No divine voice promising success and happiness.

She was just Jennie Queens, standing on the collapsing lake before the creature which claimed to see every future ending.

Jennie took a deep breath.

"Then I’ll choose anyway."

The monster was silent for a moment.

"WHAT?"

"You have heard me."

Jennie raised her head.

"If every choice leads to some failure, then I will face this failure when it comes."

"YOU SPEAK LIKE A FOOL WHO BELIEVES THAT IGNORANCE IS COURAGE."

"No. I speak as someone who got tired of listening to monsters telling me that everything is hopeless."

Nharos roared. The frozen lake exploded.