Moirai's Messenger

Kai stood as caustic and calloused as her rough hands. She glared down as crowds of colorfully attired gentry clogged her poverty-stricken streets.

"I can't believe they actually had the nerve to show their faces here," she seethed. "Why now? They haven't stepped foot here in ages."

"You know why," her drawn, peckishly thin brother, Kain, said.

She did. They all did.

A new Moirai Maker must be chosen. The Moirai was the book that determined the fate of them all. It is what elevated the ornately dressed people below her to riches and damned those like her to destitution. The Maker was given the privilege of petitioning the Moirai with the fates he or she would like to choose. The Moirai always selected the Maker from one of three families. The Clothons, the Lachesiers, and the Atropols were descended from the three fates themselves. The thread of fate bound the Moirai.

Kai knew that this would not be any different from any other day. The new Maker would continue just as the old Maker had done. He or she would write the same type of fates and continue the same kind of doom for her people, the Kataras.

"Come," Kai demanded.

She briskly climbed down the decrepit fire escape to assist Kain. Her frail brother went slowly as the rickety railings rocked. When they finally entered their dim, shabby apartment, they found their grandmother, Ramona, knowingly waiting for them.

Kai resembled her grandmother, small yet strong with an indomitable room-filling presence. Although her grandmother was blind, she always seemed to see what others couldn't.

" Kai, my dear, I spoke to Ms. Abel earlier. She will need help preparing and serving for the Maker's coronation. I told her you'd be able to help," Ramona said.

" Grandmother, I can't. I'll pick up more jobs! The Maker is the reason why we are in this situation. The Maker could make the world better, but generation after generation, they continue to draft fates that leave us further and further behind," Kai exploded.

"The wages pay five times the average rate, and with Kain's treatments, we can't afford for you not to," Ramona calmly stated, " You will be there tomorrow."

Kai knew there wasn't a point in arguing with her grandmother. Ramona spoke with a finality that the fates would fear.

Although Kai and Kain were twins and Kain technically was more senior, Kai always cared for her brother since they were children and their parents died. He was born with a rare blood disease. The guilt of their fates both consumed and fueled her. As the healthy twin, she promised herself that she would cure him fat on her side or not. If she did not, she would die trying. Like the many complex jobs she took for her brother's treatment, She bitingly told herself this time wouldn't be any different.

***

When she arrived, she stared at the grotesquely ornate halls. All specially decorated with the banners of the families. The Clothons had a crest of emerald and gold adorned with Clotho sitting at her spindle. The Lachesiers' crest showed Lachesis measuring life's thread in purple and white. The Atropols crest, perhaps the most striking image of all, revealed Atropos cutting the cord of life with her mighty shears in hues of black and red.

This coronation was the first Moirai Maker ceremony in over 200 years. Usually, Makers try to write fates to extend their longevities; however, fates' writing is equal parts, balance, luck, and desire. In the past, this has backfired for some Makers making their lives tragically short.

As Kai was setting the table and preparing for The Three's first feast, she felt a shiver so deep it felt as if the air had been gutted from the room. While regaining her gait, she bumped into a particularly prickly-looking man draped in black and red robes. He was standing next to his equally severe-looking daughter.

"Wicked wench!" He exclaimed. " Do you have any idea how much this robe costs? It's worth over three of your lifetimes. I should have you beaten."

Kai boiled with anger as she watched and listened to the man's berating. For her brother, she had to prevail silently because her grandmother was right. They desperately needed the money. Just as she about to reach her tipping point, she saw the man and his daughter visibly shrink.

A young man in the most ornate green and gold robes she had ever seen approached behind her, his intensely dark skin was as dazzling as his robes.

"Is there an issue?" he asked as his booming voice resounded through the halls.

"No, your grace," the gaunt man assured.

"Good because we wouldn't want anything to upend such a joyous occasion, would we?" the handsome boy asked.

"No, your grace." They both said in unison.

As if noticing for the first time, he stared at the petite curly-haired beauty.

" Are you ok, miss ? " he asked with a curious smile.

"I'm fine, sir. I better get back to work," she said bitingly.

"Excuse me, miss, is something the matter?" he amusingly asked.

Fed up, Kai replied." Yes, actually, there is a problem. I'm unable to get back to the job that I actually need, so if you'll excuse me, sir,"

She hurriedly rushed. She knew Ms. Abel would be cross once she returned.

***

It had gotten late. The Three had finished their feasts, and the time neared for the Moirai to choose its next Maker. Many thought that the Prince was a clear forerunner as the next Maker. He was the only pupil of the previous Maker, and the Maker put his family into power centuries ago. However, all families hoped that the Moirai would somehow choose them and how deserving they were to be a maker.

The little- black book appeared weathered and downtrodden, hardly the determiner and keeper of destiny.

" How could this measly, meager writing pad be the holder of all of our fates,

As if reading her, the book magically opened, and ink began to appear. The boy she had seen earlier confidently walked onto the stage and puzzledly read the words on the page.

" We have spoken... the new Maker among you shall be Kai Sky. Child step forward."

The families bewilderedly mulled and asked which Kai belonged to each of their families.

Stunned Kai, began to inch forward as if drawn to the book itself.

As she approached, she blackout.

When she awakened, she found herself in a boundless room filled with infinite amounts of lightness and darkness at the same time. Unable to comprehend, she discovered that she was not alone. Just like the crests, the sisters stood completing their tasks, but instead of being haggard, they were all beautiful.

"It has been a long time since we've had a maker like you," They said in unison. " You are undoubtedly the most special."

" How so?" Kai asked.

" That is for us to know and your fate to determine," they said.

" We can only give you a preview once for free,"

" How can I cure my brother?" Kai asked?

" That is simple. Your brother can only be cured by one doctor in the world, and his procedure is $20,000." They said.

" I would like to write this fate," Kai said.

" Well, first, you must see if luck is on your side." They said.

" You must roll your chance. If you roll a six or above, it will commence precisely how you have written it. But with a five or below, you must submit to our conditions, do you accept?

" I do," Kai said.