3: AGAIN, YOU CAN F*CKING GO TO HELL!

CELESTE

Present day

I couldn’t believe it.

My heart shattered as I watched her drop, the light in her eyes fading the moment her head hit the ground.

“No! Asa! No!” I screamed, my voice shaking as I felt the weight of her loss, a part of me dying with her.

Asa was my familiar, We had been born on the same night, and our destinies were intertwined by our gifts. Asa was my only family

And now, I just lost her.

I ran to her, and held her close to me, as her body, lifeless lay still in my arms, my fingers trembling as they hovered over her.

The world around me suddenly started to blur. Everything, time, sound, the weight of the Fates’ heavy presence, faded into nothing.

All I could see was her. My Asa.

Her golden scales, once shimmering with life, were dulled with blood, her blood. The heat of it seeped into my palms, too warm, too final. I couldn’t breathe.

A choked sob forced its way out of my throat.

“Please,” I whispered. My hands pressed against her, as if I could force my magic into her, as if I could take it all back.

“Asa, please,” I whispered, my voice breaking, even though I knew she couldn’t hear me.

My fingers trembled as I curled them into the soft part at her neck, the same spot where she’d nudge me when she needed comfort. Now it was cold.

The silence felt like a scream inside my head, she didn't respond.

I’d seen death before. I’d caused death before. But this? This was unbearable. Asa wasn’t just a pet. She was my family.

The only thing that felt solid in my life, something that made this cursed life feel less lonely. She’d been with me for so long. She was a part of me.

And the Fates had ripped her away like she was nothing.

I lifted my head, the familiar burn of rage creeping into my chest. The three sisters, the keepers of every life’s thread, hovered at the edges of my mind, unseen but not unheard. I could still feel them watching, their presence thick like smoke, suffocating me.

I hated them.

They sit above the world, untouched by the chaos they create, weaving destinies and cutting lives short whenever it pleases them. I’ve seen them for what they are, ruthless, calculating, and cruel.

The worst part? They don’t even have the decency to pretend they care.

The three sisters that speak as one voice. Always as one, like a single soul split into three bodies. They don’t just know you. They see you. Everything you are, everything you’ve ever tried to hide.

And they use it against you.

“You’ll come crawling back to us,” their voice echoed, the words cutting through the silence like glass. “Or we’ll make sure you never find peace.”

I stood up, Asa’s body cradled in my arms, and I turned toward the emptiness where I knew they lingered. My voice was steady, but it felt like fire in my throat. “You’ll regret this.”

Their response was laughter. Low, hollow, and cruel. It scraped at my ears, bouncing around the room until it felt like it was coming from inside me.

I clenched my teeth, my hands tightening around Asa. “Go to hell,” I spat, though it didn’t stop them. Nothing ever did.

But I had no time to waste. Asa deserved better than this cursed ground tainted by their shadows.

I wouldn’t let her spirit stay here. I won't let her death be for nothing. She needed peace, and I was the only one who could give it to her, the only one who could give her the befitting burial ritual she deserved.

I summoned the last of my energy, forcing my hands to move.

With a flick of my fingers, I cut through the air, opening the first portal. It shimmered in front of me, glowing faintly with a soft pull as if urging me forward.

One by one, I opened the others, seven in total, glowing with the sharp, white light of the new world. The air around me felt heavy, charged, almost suffocating. The portals hummed louder now like they were waiting for me to move.

The Fates’ words chased me again, their voice still in sync, “You’ll come crawling back to us, Celeste. Or we’ll make sure you never know peace.”

I turned just enough to let them see the smirk pulling at my lips, my middle finger flying up without hesitation.

“Again, you can fucking go to hell.”

Their laughter followed me like a curse as I stepped into the first portal.

I barely made it through the first portal before the roar hit. I turned back, Asa’s body still cradled in my arms, and there it was.

The Fates’ familiar. A massive three-headed beast. The Cerberus.

It stood in the portal’s opening, its massive form barely contained by the tear in the fabric of space. Three heads, each snarling, each bearing glowing red eyes that locked on me like a predator finding its prey.

Of course, they would send their beast after me. They couldn’t let me have this one victory.

“Not now” I hissed under my breath, turning toward the second portal.

I wasn’t in any shape to fight it, not with Asa in my arms and my magic already drained from opening the gates. I had two minutes to get through them all, or I’d be trapped wherever I landed when they closed so I couldn’t stop.

Not now.