Chapter 362 - What awaits
“Scarlett!” Kat’s voice rang out, quickly echoed by the others as they entered the chamber behind her. Their eyes darted between her and the burning scroll hovering in the air.
“I am unharmed,” Scarlett said, glancing at them briefly before turning her attention back to the scroll.
This was, presumably, her side of the ‘trade’ Itris had offered. Payment, in a sense, for venturing deeper into Beld Thylelion to retrieve this so-called ‘remnant of Fate’s fracture’ — and to bring it back.
Her brow furrowed.
She had always thought of Fate as something more abstract. A framework that shaped the world, an invisible hand guiding its course. Everything she’d seen or been told suggested as much. So how did one find a fragment of something intangible? Why would a fracture of Fate even exist here in Beld Thylelion? And more pressingly…what was Fate, truly?
Whatever the answer, she doubted a goddess would appear and offer such a trade without some truth at its core. And while she couldn’t be certain, it felt as though Itris had paid a significant cost to reach her and to grant her this scroll.
Naturally, Scarlett was curious. She wanted to understand what all of this meant, and why Fate, whatever it actually was, lingered in this place. How its essence could saturate the very structure of Beld Thylelion, and how such a thing could be fractured in the first place.
In that sense, she couldn’t dismiss or ignore Itris’ request. Whatever happened, she knew she would have to seek out this ‘fracture’, if only to understand it.
But the real question was: what obligation did she have to uphold her end of the deal?
She raised one hand towards the scroll, stopping just short of its burning surface. The [Embers of Will (Divine)] pulsed with heatless flame, runes twisting and looping in incandescent patterns across it.
It seemed she already had her reward. Perhaps Itris trusted her. Or perhaps the goddess had no other choice but to offer the reward up front and hope Scarlett would follow through. But as far as Scarlett could tell, nothing bound her to do anything. No oath had been sworn, no vow exchanged, and she hadn’t even given her word.
This was her first time making any real degree of contact with Itris. She wasn’t the goddess’ follower. Her strength didn’t come from Itris. Perhaps Itris could sever her access to the [Eternal Flameweaver’s Athame] if she deemed her disloyal, but even that Scarlett wasn’t so sure about.