Crossroads

I have no idea how to process all of this.
I became a nuclear bomb!? Like, that nuclear bomb!?

When Arthesya sent me here, I absolutely would have liked to have some kind of power, but something this…bad?

It's indeed something that could destroy the world.

But actually, there's even some grim implications from what [TRAVELER] is telling me. The fact that the creature power is to crystallize the cataclysm that kills a world into a person, plus the fact that it's rare for someone to come from a reality that isn't on the cusp of precipice… what's happening in my world now?

"Hey, can you please let me out?" I ask, given we are in this dim cave since…I actually haven't asked how long I was out.

"We're on the run, princess."

"How long hs it been since the mansion?"

"Three days."

"Wha…you're been closed down here for three whole days?"

"Yeah, you're a fugitive, it won't be something that strange from now on."

"Please, go out."

"It's dangerous."

"Humans are not made to live in the darkness of caves you know?"

"In my world society started in caves, princess."

"Well…in mine too kinda. Still, darkness is bad for us! We've been here too long…and I wanto to see the sky."

"there's bound to be someone looking for two Fateless after the incident from the other day, I can't let y…"

"Wait, so you didn't actually see anyone chasing us. You're just assuming we're on the run?"

"Yeah, and I'm right."

"Please let me out. I want to see the sky."

"It's dark outside too you know? If I counted the hours correctly, it's evening by now."

"You…counted."

"Yeah."

"We need to get out, you're going to go crazy. And I will too."

"No."

"I'm gonna punch you."

"I can freeze you."

"Try me."

[TRAVELER] stands there, squatting, for a good minute without saying anything.

"Are you still alive?" I ask

"I'm thinking."

"I'm gonna get out of here."

"Shit, fine. But don't get far."

"Why are you worrying for me?"

"[ECHOES] was after your power for a reason, I can't abandon you until I understand why. And now that I've seen how destructive can you be I'm doubly worried…"

"I'll just..go take a breath of fresh air. I need to think alone."

"You could easily do it here."

I approach him with a raised fist, he assumes a defensive position by raising his hands over his helmet like a child fearing a slipper thrown by his mother.

"Ok, go out, just scream really loudly if something happens."

"I will."

After that, I see [TRAVELER] starting to cook two fishes on the bonfire. That means an exit can't be far... but I was only half right. To exit the cave, I had to walk a lot longer than expected, we were really deep underground, he's really scared someone will find us it seems.

Eventually I see a faint light and follow it, ending up... on the side of a cliff. How exactly should someone find us here?! That guy is a total anxious mess! And he was also very wrong about the time; the sun was already up but from the look of it I'd say that it's a little past dawn.

So, he was wrong, but he could have been more wrong. Meager consolation.

Obviously, I can't go any further. If I take a step outside the cave, I'll end up in the water. The only way I can take a walk outside is to climb to the top. I already know I don't want to do that, but just out of curiosity, I take a look, which helps me realize what a bad idea it is.

I suppose the reason why even a bundle of anxiety like [TRAVELER] eventually gave in to the “risk” of letting me discover it is precisely because I can't really get away. It must have realized how weak I am.

An incompetent girl with the potential to burn the world.

It's so ironic that I have no trouble believing I'm a joke of fate. I sit on the embankment and look at the horizon. I must be close to the place where I was reincarnated because there is a beautiful view of the trapped body of the Goddess.

If I didn't know the meaning of this view, I would be able to better enjoy how breathtaking it is. Honestly, I've never stopped to think about what it means that the Goddess of this world has been sealed away by its inhabitants. In theory, everyone living now should be outside the flow of destiny, if that is what the gods have decided...

However, I seem to understand that Arthesya is not exactly omnipotent and that there is something above her. I wonder if it's the God I believed in before I died.

“It's ironic that I believed when I couldn't bear the weight of the destiny assigned to me,” I mutter to myself.

“Assigned by whom?”

A familiar voice reaches my ears. I react gracefully, jumping to my feet and hissing like a cat threatened by a predator. It takes me a moment to understand what is happening and, above all, who is speaking to me. In front of me, sitting on the same embankment where I was a moment before, was a young, beautiful girl with fox ears and large breasts. The same one who helped me build a life in this world... before helping to destroy it.

“Tama?! What are you doing here?”

“Lower your voice, or that guy will come and disturb us. You know, he doesn't like me.”

“I believe it! He told me the truth! I know you organized everything...”

“Organized is a big word.”

“A...anyway, it's your fault.”

“I won't deny it.”

“Why?! Why did you do it... Tsuki is... Tsuki...”

“I'm sorry you grew fond of her. I tried to put a wedge between you two to make you hate each other. I ran away to make her give you all my homework.”

“...doing that made it easier for me to start hating you.”

“You're breaking my heart.”

The fox girl smiles with a slight surrealism. Three days have passed since the massacre at the mansion, perhaps a long time for her, after all, I am now aware that I don't know her at all. Yet she was also in the middle of that nightmare, not only that, she caused it.

“How can you...”

“Let me correct two misunderstandings.”

“Huh?”

“The first... is that I didn't really organize anything. [MYTHO] was destined to attack the mansion, the holy guards were destined to clash with him and die. After that, [MYTHO] would have swallowed the entire city, engulfed every citizen and killed you too. That was destiny.”

“...How can you say that for sure?”

"The second misunderstanding concerns destiny. The flow of destiny is not decided by the Creator, nor even by the guardians of each reality. Oh, Arthesya is one of these guardians, for example. I suppose you met another one when you died the first time. The idea that superior beings decide destiny is widespread in many realities, but in reality, destiny exists. No one created it. It simply is. And it is not fixed. There are billions of possible crossroads, and each of these is part of destiny."

“I'm losing you...”

“What I'm saying is that stepping out of the flow of destiny is difficult... and temporary. You can do it, but only for a moment, then destiny adapts and engulfs you again.”

“Okay, but all this explanation doesn't tell me anything I want to know. Why did you bring me to the mansion? Did you want to make me Fateless?”

“Exactly, well done, you figured it out. Or did [TRAVELER] tell you?”

“He mentioned it...”

"The point is simple, there was only one way to let you escape the plans of destiny for a moment and kill you at the same time. And the accident at the mansion was the perfect opportunity. Your boyfriend was only there because I put him there, normally he should have been dead a decade ago. You came back because I led you there. You would have been able to find work in the city even without me, but not as a maid at the mansion. You would have passed the inspection and then, half traumatized, you would have been reduced to working on the streets. "

“Wait... what are you saying? How do you know these things?”

“Did [TRAVELER] explain how the powers of us Fateless work?”

“He told me they are the calamities that destroyed our worlds.”

“Exactly. That guy is smarter than expected, I'm not surprised he's a pain in the ass to manipulate...”

“So you have something like that too? You're [ECHOES], aren't you?”

“Yeah... and my power allows me to see destiny. Or rather, I can see which of the infinite branches we are moving towards.”

“So... you really manipulated everything to make me become a Fateless.”

“You would have died otherwise, aren't you happy about that?”

“No! Because of you... I'm... I'm... a monster! This power... you can't understand how destructive it is.”

“Your world has already been destroyed? I'm not surprised, seeing how dangerous it is.”

“No... not really.”

“Oh... well, mine has. My reality has already been annihilated by my power, so trust me, Kaede, just because I don't explode, doesn't mean I don't understand what it means to master something capable of destroying a reality.”

“But you... essentially predict the future! It's not the same thing.”

"Yeah, and you want to know what this ability brought to my world? As soon as the possibility of seeing destiny was discovered, we saw what the end would be... and we gave in. We got everything we could, immortality, immunity from pain, from disease... and the result was a slow decay of our souls. We became empty beings... walking only because we existed. So terrified of the possibility of becoming nothing that we embraced apathy. Do you know how I broke destiny? Do you know why Arthesya was able to choose me? I was the only one who didn't move to another planet when the star near mine exploded. Everyone else decided to flee and continue living their empty lives. Not me. I had seen in destiny what would happen to me if I fled: I would continue living for thousands of years. But that was no life. Our destiny stretched out into infinity... but it didn't change, it was a single straight line. We conquered destiny only to surrender to it without understanding it. And the most ironic thing? Imagine my amazement to discover after death that we actually have a soul! That oblivion does not await us! Dear Kaede, my world had things much more frightening than your power... we are simply destroyed in a much more stupid way, and I have inherited that stupidity."

In Tama's words there was a rage I had never seen before, her pupils had shrunk and the hairs on her ears were standing on end. My first instinct was to apologize... but I didn't want to. I didn't understand her.

“But why use this power to create me! If you see destiny, you must know how dangerous my power is!”

“Because you can break the chain.”

“So... are you on Arthesya's side?”

“I need to free her. And the only possible reality in which that happens is one in which you destroy the first chain. For you to destroy it, you had to become a Fateless, and to become a Fateless, I had to bring you to that exact point, at that exact moment, and make sure you died.”

“You killed me anyway...you shouldn't try to come here and be all friendly.”

“That was inevitable, but I also put a way in place for you to avoid being killed indiscriminately.”

“...Meaning?”

“[TRAVELER]. Like I told you, it's a pain in the ass to manipulate, but I managed it. It was here because I wanted it here. You must have realized... it's your natural counter. Thanks to it, you contained your power and didn't explode.”

“Y...yes, but still.”

“Kaede, I'm here not because I think you should forgive me or because I care about your forgiveness. I'm here because I'm kind and I gave you a choice.”

“Fuck you. I had no choice in becoming... this!”

"I repeat, otherwise you would be dead, and the choice I gave you does not exclude you from dying here and now. I could have simply turned you into Fateless, sent [TRAVELER] away, and had you destroy the chain. You would have killed everyone on the island, but it would have worked. Instead, I wanted to give you a choice. You can return to your original destiny, die, and surrender to whatever the afterlife has in store for you. I can't see that. Or, you could destroy the chain, with the help of [TRAVELER], you could do it without killing anyone. Or else... you can hunt me down. Consider me the villain. The choice is yours, I will act accordingly.“

”It doesn't make sense, why are you giving me a choice, I need you to break the first chain anyway, don't I?“

”My world was destroyed by a fate already known. Simply knowing there was predetermination took everything away from us. I want to create a reality where choice is at the center. And that's why I want to give you one. Everyone I involve in what you might call my plans has a choice. Your boyfriend, for example, could have pretended nothing had happened and continued living as he did before he met me, but he chose to listen to me. “

”...I don't know. I don't know what to do...no matter how you explain it...Tsuki is still dead."

“There was no reality in which she didn't die.”

“Bullshit, you said that fate has billions of branches. There had to be at least one.”

“You have no idea how many variables lead to those branches. There are so many that sometimes there are desires that cannot be fulfilled.”

The fox girl stood up and continued, “You have four days. Then destroying the chain will become much more complicated. Other big shots will arrive to defend it. I can't wait to hear your answer.”

She snapped her fingers, and her body disappeared. I heard noises; she hadn't teleported away, she had probably just become invisible and escaped by climbing up the cliff.

I don't like it.

I've become a weapon of mass destruction and now I don't even know what I'm supposed to do.

After all, my mission is still to break the first chain.

[TRAVELER] is a real jerk sometimes... but he's right.

[ECHOES] is worse.

And what irritates me is that she's probably right.