LOCATION: ????
…
In an empty space, where darkness existed as far as the eyes could see, there was a single white platform at the center.
The platform was made up of a transparent white cube whose edges were barely visible to the naked eye. Though the absence of any other light showed the presence of that platform a bit clearer than it should.
And within that cube, there were threads. Threads of hundreds of colors that connected from one end of the cube to another.
Each thread, like a ray of light, shining a little, floated in slow motion, shifting from the original position with each passing moment.
And while those threads covered the entire cube, there was a space at the center of the cube. Enough to let a single person sit there. It was barely enough for a child to curl up and sit there.
And seated there is a person with black hair, curling up like a child, not making a single move.
From the figure, it was easy to make out that it was a girl. A girl with black hair, wearing a black dress that was sticking to her body like burnt flesh.
"They are moving again," her sonorous voice echoed through the emptiness, as she saw those threads slowly drifting apart. While the effect wasn't even worth noticing, the threads were surely drifting apart.
"Someone is playing with fates… again… this is the third time in 3 months," she kept speaking as she saw those threads with her heads raised a little, as those dark black eyes took a brief glance.
And then, putting her head down again, she smiled a little.
"Fate Weavers…" she mumbled with that same smile.
"Only they are the ones allowed to bend the destiny and change the effects of what is sure to come," she continued as she closed her eyes again.
"But I wonder…. Just which one of them is responsible for the threads to change their direction to this degree…" She then slowly drifted into her slumber again.
-Snap!
And one of the threads snapped, waking her as she looked at those threads again.
-Snap!
-Snap!
-Snap!
One. Two. Three. Those threads began snapping one by one, increasing ever more with each passing second, and while in 10s at first, they soon reached hundreds before finally stopping when less than half of them remained.
And now the space which could have only held a curled child was big enough to fit half a dozen grown adults and more.
"What… happened?" Her eyes widened in distress as she looked at the remaining threads in the air, still moving slowly like before.
And while her eyes were searching for answers, she soon reached a conclusion on her own…
"It can't be… can it?" She mumbled before speaking her thoughts out loud,
"Somebody… defied fate. They changed it from happening… But how… can it be?" That girl was surprised. A bit relieved. A bit terrified. Her eyes were shaken as they now saw the rest of the threads slowly pausing and not moving anymore.
"But if it is really true, then… that means… Can Zarraf be really saved?" She mumbled as a couple of tears entered her eyes.
A ray of hope appeared on her face as she looked at the rest of the surrounding threads.
Threads of Fate.
Something that even the God of Fate won't dare touch and only control from a distance. While most fates won't be worth looking at, some fates are so powerful that even touching them would alter the entire world line.
"I, Equi, the Goddess of Balance, give the blessing of equality to the one who chose to go against the fates. May the blessing of Equality stay with you," she mumbled as she looked at the walls once again. The only thing visible to her other than those threads.
It was a prison.
A prison for the Goddess of Balance, Equi.
The one who turned her face away from the primordials and tried to save this world on her own. Though her powers being restricted, she became trapped within the pesky schemes of the lower gods and mortals.
And now she was paying for the sins she had never committed.
She was sealed in the fate realm, within the highest authority prison, so as to contain her powers and not let her get in the way of the other Gods.
"Hmmm… my chalice… it has been active these days quite a lot," she mumbled as she saw she was still receiving powers from that chalice quite a number of times.
To be direct, whenever Adam used [Chalice of Equilibrium] a small percentage of power was transferred to the Goddess of Balance, Equi. It was one of the ways by which she could still maintain her existence.
"Though the amount of cumulative power I am getting isn't really that much. Seems like the person who has the chalice and this fate severing guy are two different people. Though let's check where the chalice is right now…"
And she raised her hand and tried to find the location of her chalice.
"??" And her eyes got confused as the chalice failed to give any response.
She tried again once more but failed yet again…
Narrowing her eyes, she tried a few more times, but the result was still the same. She couldn't connect with her chalice right now.
"Just… What is the meaning of this?" Her eyes narrowed, she couldn't really figure out what was going on.
Only a primordial or someone directly below them would be able to cut off the connection with her. But the exchanges made using the chalice were rather low in the terms of power level.
These two things didn't go hand in hand… unless…
"It's a new Fate Weaver. Someone who had just taken birth… and a primordial got him my chalice as a reward. That would make sense… Hmmm… "
She then looked at the remaining threads of fate around her and…
"[Sacrifice: Unbalanced Fate]!" She mumbled as both her hands, along with a huge amount of her powers, vanished in an instant… and a path opened up as those threads began moving sideways.
"It better be worth it," she mumbled as she ran through the opening, jumping off into the empty space that was in front of her.
Her destination? Towards the place where Chalice of Equilibrium was last used.
Border Town.