Chương 1148: Day One Thousand One Hundred And Forty-Six

Dear Diary, Y'know, even though I'm supposedly this big bad thing that everyone's scared of, there are still folks here and now who I feel the need to treat with some amount of respect. I'm not even sure why I feel that need, but I do. Weirdly, while the Moirai are not on that list, the Norns have wound up there. Maybe it's the whole adhering to deals thing, but not in an asshole obstructionist way. Okay, not all of them at least.

Like I totally get why they can't just blab everything they know about everyone to just anyone, but at the same time they weren't all stupidly cagey about them being able to do so for Odin, therefore able to do so for his blood brother, and therefore able to do something for me. They also didn't just blab everything to me, either. They told me the pertinent parts of what they found out. Like, I'm sure they found out shit that I'd like to know, but weren't directly connected to the whole 'every hundred days' thing.

Which kind of speaks to the reason I'd decided to pay them a visit. It also speaks to why I had to, when I realized all of them were watching Aisling and I tag my ladies. But I did at least hold up on hand, asking for patience, "a moment, please?" Urd looked a little cranky, but then I suspected she might just be old school resting bitch face. Skuld smiled and nodded, while Verthandi said, "of course, Goddess." Ladies? I half expected Karen to reply, but instead Saffron thought back, yes, love?

Gonna have to put a raincheck on the Revel tonight. Weird, how emotions came through that mental link so well. I mean, I guess it shouldn't be, but it still took me by surprise sometimes. Like now, when Saffron definitely felt some kind of way about me cancelling tonight. Of course, love. Wait, was there something going on tonight? Ordination or whatever? She just sighed into my brain, the wistful sound like a caress of my brain meats. Something special, yes, but nothing that can't be postponed. Ah, fuck.

I'm sorry, Kitten. Love, I understand you're tracking down potential threats none of us could hope to counter. Do not let my foolish desires impede that. That kinda left me chewing air, uh... Especially since we can just do this next week. She paused, an absolutely deliberate moment. With that note? Should something impede next week's Revel? Yeah, Kitten? Unless it is truly something requiring your time and attention, rush it. What else could I say? Woof.

After that I turned my attention back to the Norns, only to catch Urd of all people making funny faces at me. No, not really at me, not unless she was making them at my tits or something. At Aisling, who'd let out a giggle so quiet I only knew she'd made it because of how the air brushed against my neck, because I'd picked her up and held her against my hip without thinking about it. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Thanks for your patience, ladies," I said, ignoring how Urd tried to pretend she hadn't been making silly faces to amuse my kid. I had a question, kinda related to that whole every hundred days thing I asked you about last time." The three looked at one another for a long moment. Urd was the first to speak, although she didn't turn to me when she did.

"The rules of the agreement are clear. She asked, we answered, she left." Almost like she was the defense attorney to Urd's prosecution, Skuld replied, "ah, but what if we did not answer completely, or answered in a way that was unintentionally deceptive?" I couldn't help it, I muttered, "so intentionally deceptive is okay?" Urd looked a little pissed, and Skuld kinda exasperated, but Verthandi held her hands out, and both of them went still.

"Of course. Beyond our very nature, we are bound not to lie by our contract with the All Father, but that does not mean we will allow that which is our sacred trust to be abused."

"So... Did you deceive me?" Skuld snorted out a laugh, and the other two turned to look at her, Urd glaring, Verthandi doing a picture perfect 'WTF, Skuld'. Been too long since somebody shot me one of those. I kinda missed it.

"Oh, please. you two both know you were too shaken by my return to properly hide anything of note." She turned to me.

"Not that we needed to." I nodded, then thought about what they'd said for a minute. They let me do so, all of them watching me.

"So... If I were to ask you to clarify something, just to make sure you didn't unintentionally deceive me last time, you could answer?" Verthandi just smiled and nodded. So I stood there and thought about it for a minute.

"Okay, the whole thing happening every hundred days is some kind of massive fault running through time and space, possibly connected to someone destroying the Moirai, right?" None of them said anything, but while Verthandi had a poker face and Urd relied on resting bitch face, Skuld maybe kinda sorta nodded.

"You also said that there were, uh, something like cracks running out from the main fault." Again, no response, but Skuld kept on with her encouraging look.

"Just to clarify, so that I don't misunderstand what you'd told me, I've recently noticed a pattern of unfortunate events connected only by the fact that they happen on Tuesday afternoons. Could you confirm or deny that those are part of that same fault?" Yeah, I'd half expected them to tell me yes, tell me no, or maybe just stonewall me, but I did not expect them to look at one another with worried frowns. Then Verthandi looked at me and said, "we would make a pact with you."

"I'm listening." She looked at the other two. Oddly, while Urd looked sour, she nodded, and for the first time today Skuld did not look happy. But she nodded as well. Verthandi continued.

"We will investigate this for you. You must remain until we have completed this task. In the future, you will not return to us on a Tyrsday, nor remain near us on a Tyrsday." It took me a second, but at that point I chuckled.

"Okay, yeah, I get that. I wouldn't want to be near me in interesting times either if I had the option." Then I thought about it a little more.

"But if I'm gonna remain until you're done, but I gotta leave on Tyrsday...?" The three of them all laughed, Verthandi's clear and humorous, Skuld's a nervous giggle, and Urd's maybe a little bit of a nasty snicker.

"No, Goddess. We do not seek to renege on our pact. In fact, we will return with your answer no later than midday tomorrow." I thought about that, then realized that I pretty much had to take the deal unless I wanted to do a bunch of Divination that I really didn't want to do, since some of it involved the future.

"Okay, you got a deal." I held out my hand. The three of them looked a little weirded out by that, at which point I remembered Headmaster Miles and Admiral Pesce's first deal so long ago, on my hundredth day here. So I spat on the palm of my hand and held it out. I did not expect them all to look even more weirded out, but Verthandi smothered that with a chuckle, spat on her hand, and reached out to take mine.

I pumped her hand once, but before she let go first Urd, then Skuld laid their fingers atop our clasped hands, at which point Power flowed through me like a thunderbolt. For what it's worth, all three of them looked just as shocked as I was. Maybe even more so. But nobody keeled over, and a few moments later Verthandi nodded and said, "the pact is sealed. We will return as soon as we are able, no later than midday tomorrow."

At which point Skuld and Urd disappeared, Verthandi turned back to begin examining the bark of the world tree, and I turned to maybe sing some songs to Aisling. Who'd fallen fast asleep.