Surrender to Fate Pt. 2

"My... story...?"

Chloe shrunk a little, as if her own words embarrassed her. Then, Lana put her hand on Chloe's shoulder, giving her a reassuring look.

She scoffed. "Chloe, you messed it up."

"S-sorry! I just... didn't know how to bring it up."

To my right, Alice took my hand. "What Chloe meant was... We've been thinking about something, Aikami."

"And... what is it?" I asked.

"The Fates can’t have a fate. That's the absolute rule. We spin, measure, and cut threads. But we don't have one of our own."

She softly glanced at me.

"But you… You, Aikami, don't have a thread either. Your existence breaks the very laws that define us. And that makes me wonder—if you can defy fate, then maybe… we're not as bound as we thought we were."

She inched closer to me, that same quiet smile on her face. Not seductive, not teasing. There was no performance, no walls—just her.

Alice.

A girl sitting next to me under the moonlight, no longer a goddess, but someone trying to make sense of feelings she never thought she could have.

"I've always known my role. To observe. To calculate. To cut. That's all I was ever meant to do, and that goes for us all. Chloe is to weave, and Lana is to measure. That is what we are—fate. We're not supposed to want. We're not supposed to feel."

Her voice wavered just slightly, so Lana took the reins.

"But ever since meeting you, Aikami… We've felt it. Bit by bit, we're changing. At first, I thought it was just simple curiosity. Then frustration. Then… confusion. You kept doing things that didn't make sense. Saying things that didn't fit into any pattern. Being kind, even when you didn't have to. Standing beside us, even when you had no thread to bind you."

Lana peered into my eyes as if searching for something—a reasonable answer to an impossible question.

Then, Chloe took a deep breath. "We've known you for a month. Only a month. But to us... it was more fulfilling than this past century. That's strange, though, because we're not supposed to feel fulfillment. Or anything else for that matter. That's why it scared us, Aikami."

Her voice dropped to a whisper as he fiddled with her finger. It made her seem vulnerable... and human. Just an unsure girl, anxious and nervous.

"Because now... We're hopeful. About having our very own threads."

The wind stilled.

My breath caught.

Lana smiled faintly again, but this time, it trembled.

"Stupid, right? The Fates... wanting their fates. Goddesses looking at a human and wondering if… if it's okay to be something more. I don't know what this feeling is yet. None of us do. One thing's for sure, we are not allowed to feel it. To want or to desire. But you... you made us feel that desire. Now, we're panicking a little, because for the first time in all our existence… we weren't sure if we'd be part of someone else's story. Your story."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. My throat tightened.

Alice laughed softly—a breathy, sad sound. "I'm quite ashamed. I told myself I was just keeping an eye on you because you were an anomaly. That was the excuse. But the truth is… we like being around you, Aikami.

Lana smiled affectionately for the first time. "Even when you're annoying. Even when you talk too much. Even when... you never get the hint."

Chloe took my other hand. "So… if one day… some of those threads really do belong to us… Would it be okay for us to keep a page in your story?"

The festival lights flickered in the distance, blurred and far away, like a dream I wasn't ready to wake up from.

They just sat there, waiting. Not pressuring, not expecting. Just waiting.

It was jarring. These goddesses—no... these people, confessing something so delicate. Something they weren't even sure they were allowed to feel. Just a couple of beautiful, maybe overly domineering people, wondering if they could have a place in my boring life.

And deep down, I already knew the answer. I always did. It was buried somewhere in the back of my head, waiting for the right moment.

I never hoped for it to be real, because how could I? I'm already making a huge leap just having them here with me. This is enough. This is all I need.

That's what I always told myself, but the more I saw them—the more I let myself get dragged into their world... the more I felt myself wanting something else. Something totally selfish and beyond reason. Something that I don't deserve to have.

And yet... I couldn't just let it go without at least making an effort.

"You know... I never thought you guys would tell me any of this, but even if you did... I would've passed it off as just another one of your antics. Always teasing, always playing around—dropping just enough hints to drive me insane, but never enough to know if any of it was real. And you were right. I missed all the signs. Or maybe… I just chose not to see them."

I let out a faint chuckle, more to steady myself than anything else.

"Somewhere along the way, I convinced myself it was just your personality. That it didn't mean anything—especially you, Alice. Honestly… I just didn't wanna risk it. Didn't wanna ruin what we had if I read too far into things. Obviously, right? I'm just a normal human with nothing going for me, whereas you... You're all perfect—the best woman any guy could ever ask for."

A nervous, awkward smile crept in as I scratched the back of my neck.

"But how could I not wonder? You were always so in my space—so bold with everything. You leaned into the act so hard that, eventually… I started wanting it to be real. To mean something more. Still, it wasn't my place to decide. I figured if all I ever was to you was a part of your research, that'd be enough."

I paused, feeling my throat tighten. "S-sorry. I've never said anything like this before. To anyone. So it's... a little tough."

Alice squeezed my hands gently, her smile soft and reassuring. "It's okay, Aikami. We want to hear all of it. We'll wait."

"Was that supposed to make this any easier?"

"Pfft. Who knows?"

I breathed in deep. One last push.

"I don't know what it's like for you guys, but… I get it. Wanting something. Wanting to believe something's real. Wanting a fate you can actually hold onto. And for a while... I think I had that. You said you wanted to be part of my story, right? But the truth is that you already are. You all made my life brighter. And nothing's ever going to change that."

I swallowed hard, trying to stop my voice from shaking.

"Maybe someday, I'll find whatever it is I'm looking for. And I hope you do too. But until then..."

I met their eyes. And for the first time, I saw it—an unmistakable glimmer of hope behind each of them. It was fragile and quiet, but it was there.

"I know you, and you exist to me. Maybe that's not enough for a bunch of goddesses... but it's something, right?"

The world seemed to slow. The river behind us kept flowing, steady and sure. Like fate, it bends and twists—sometimes even stalls… but it never truly stops. Not until it finds its way.

And for me, I think I've found where mine is headed.

With them.