10
Vinnie

The darkness that shrouded the corridors of the domain now revealed themselves as Atropos led Vinnie along. She didn’t say where she was taking him, only being told to follow her closely. Vinnie knew better than to question it— he didn’t know what kind of things could be lurking around. The hallway they were in was much like the rest of the domain, with wildflowers and ivy growing out of every crack of otherwise perfect marble. Not quite overgrown, but also not quite on purpose either. It all felt very ornate, but at the same time somewhat boring, like it was what a deity’s home was supposed to look like but with nothing that gave it meaning.

“So… where are we going?” Vinnie asked.

“Some place better to talk,” said Atropos before falling silent once more. He waited to see if she would speak anymore, but she kept her eyes forward.

So informative... He was starting to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

The hallway eventually opened up into a canopied garden with large flower heads and vines twisted together to form arches. The small, weedy wildflowers that grew throughout the domain were now replaced by more purposeful plots of plants he recognized being native to Nicaea. In the center of the garden sat a table with a delicate tea set and two chairs with velvet green seats. Light seeped in through the canopy, and he looked up expecting to see the sky but was met with stark white nothingness.

Atropos took a seat in one of the chairs, her rugged demeanor looking out of place with the otherwise delicateness of the garden. “Sit with me, won’t you?”

He cautiously took the seat across from her as Atropos poured him a cup of tea and waited for him to partake in the drink and snacks.

“It won’t kill you, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” she stated. “I made sure to take your chocolate allergy into account.”

That’s… a very specific thing to know. If she really was a deity, that at least gave him some insurance she wouldn’t harm him, but knowing such a personal detail put him on edge nonetheless. He took a cookie with a pale-yellow filling from the tea stand and took a bite.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Vincent Chryis.”

“Vinnie is fine,” he said. He didn’t really like being called Vincent anymore.

“Vinnie then. I’m sorry if I startled you when I woke up,” Atropos said. “It’s quite difficult for me to transport this place when I’m walking around like this.”

“So being a statue was on purpose?”

“It saved my strength and let me wait for you to arrive.”

Vinnie grabbed more cookies to put on his plate. “I don’t know why you were waiting around for me— it was completely by coincidence that I was even at the site.” He paused. “This is the same place that was at the excavation, right?”

“It is, and it’s bold of you to assume that it was coincidence that led you there.” She then took a sip of her glass. She did not have a teacup like he did but rather a glass of wine.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you really think it was by accident that you were the one to open this place? This was something that’s been planned well before you even existed.”

“How grand...” He lifted his teacup to his mouth, pausing momentarily to see if had actually been wine the entire time. “And was this plan of yours to just drink wine and feed me cookies?”

“You will learn why you are here soon enough,” Atropos said, “but for now, yes. I wanted some company.”

Well, at least she was honest.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Vinnie began, “at Janahad, I entered your domain with some friends, and one of them stayed behind to protect me. Is he still here somewhere?”

Atropos paused, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t sense him here. I can only assume that he was taken by the being that attacked you.”

“Then that monster we saw… it wasn’t part of your domain?”

“No, it wasn’t,” said Atropos. “It followed you and your companions inside. I was not yet fully conscious when you found me, so there was little I could do to stop it.”

“Then what was that thing?”

Atropos swirled the contents in her glass. “You are from Nicaea. How familiar are you with the Storm?”

Being from one of the northern islands, his home was far enough from its threshold that they never had an occurrence. But he knew the stories— the waters turn black when the Storm rolls in, and with it comes specters born from its depths. They could look or sound like family lost at sea, but their bodies were now a part of the Storm; all they knew now was to consume anything and everything before they faded. It was an encounter with one of these specters that took his father away.

“I’m familiar with it, but I’ve never seen it firsthand,” he replied.

“A deity’s prime objective is to protect Asheva and the raene from the Storm,” Atropos began. “It has always been the case since the Administrator first created them. The outer edges of Asheva still suffer from its presence, but it was much worse in the millenniums leading up to this one. Entire regions were consumed, and the deities watched time and again as civilizations built themselves up only to be destroyed again when Storm clouds rolled in. The time we live in now is remarkably more peaceful than it has been for your ancestors.

“But at the start of this era of peace, something different emerged from the Storm.” The liquid in Atropos’ glass turned black as it swirled around, white eyes splitting open from each ripple. “They appeared first as silhouettes of people before they grew skin and integrated with the raene. Folktales would remember them as shapeshifters, but they were quickly snuffed out of existence when the Patrons discovered them… at least, that’s how the story goes.”

“Then that thing is one of these shapeshifters?” Vinnie asked. “Why did it attack us?”

“Perhaps that’s a question that could be better answered by your new companion,” Atropos said. She then tipped the glass over, letting its contents spill onto the table. In an instant, the ink blot came alive, skittering off the table and landing with a splat! on the ground. It then picked itself up and stared up at Vinnie expectantly.

“What is that—” When Vinnie looked back up, Atropos was gone. All that remained was a little note next to the empty wine glass that read ‘the little one will lead you out of the domain. Please take the cookies with you’.