"I... excuse me? I well... died? I think I have the right to cry and be upset a little," I deadpanned, crossing my legs and meeting Fate's eye, who still leaned and looked down on me.
The little girl tilted her head again, that playful, almost exasperated expression tugging at her tiny features. She folded her arms and straightened herself, the faintest exhale of frustration escaping her lips.
"Nope!"
"Nope?"
"You didn't die, well... not exactly."
Not exactly? Huh?
And for like the millionth time, she leaned back down to my eye level this time with squinted eyes, then she lifted my chin before letting an annoyingly proud smile crack through.
"You're interesting. This is better than I expected."
"Better than what?"
"Thank you, Sora, this has been quite informative, really."
"What are you talking about?!"
She straightened herself... again. Sigh.
Then she wagged her tiny left index finger left and right, taunting me while simultaneously telling me off like I was some toddler.
"Nuh-uh. No yelling at the nice omniscient Princeptus who's trying to help you."
"I'm not yelling!"
"Yes, you are."
"Am not!"
"Mhm."
I groaned and ran a hand over my face. "You're not helping me at all—"
"Mm, mm, mm," she hummed, shaking her finger even faster.
What is wrong with you, lady?
"Nope. You don't get to throw a tantrum without giving me something first. Sora. Sweet, confused, soul‑fractured Sora. You want answers, right?"
"NO SHIT!"
She delightfully clapped.
"Language."
Is she actually serious?!
Again... she leaned in, her nose practically touching mine this time, and our heads butted. I looked into her iridiscent eyes, and they looked back, shimmering like she was having the time of her life.
"Mmmm, you see Sora. Information has weight; it has value. It's not free... especially the kind you're asking for."
"Well, I can't exactly pay you if I'm dead!"
"Again. Not dead."
"DUDE!"
A slow, mischievous grin curled onto her face—too wide for her small body, too knowing for a child.
"So how about we make a deal?"
"A deal...?"
I felt my stomach drop, but I couldn't tell whether that was good or not. A deal with a Princeptus? Am I lucky? I don't even know anymore.
"Yup!" She popped the word like a bubble and hopped back up.
"I'll tell you everything: why your soul cracked, how you wandered into the Realm of Princeps—"
"The realm of what—"
"Why Death's little blessing kept dragging you back from the brink—"
"Death?"
"And how you somehow stole a future‑sight ability from me."
"Stole?!"
She booped my head. "Naughty boy."
"I didn't steal anything!"
"Mhm, sure. Anyway, I'll explain it all. But only if you agree to something in return."
"Uh—ah... hmmm."
"What? Cat got your tongue?"
"I just... I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll be my servant."
"WHAT?!"
Fate looked at me with a blank expression for a second.
After two seconds, she exploded.
After three, she was on the ground.
And after four... well... she was wheezing like a maniac.
"OH—HAHA—THE LOOK—THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE, SORA—!"
Tiny legs kicking up as she lay sprawled on her back, arms on her belly as she tried to but utterly failed to maintain her maniacal cackling, heels kept thumping against the black mist, like a toddler having the time of her life.
I just stared. This was an omniscient being. A divine, ancient deity older than the universe itself.
And somehow, she's more childish than my six-year-old cousin.
"You—pffff—'WHAT?!'"
She mimicked me in a terrible, deep voice that didn't resemble how I sounded at all.
"Are you done?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Nope!" She popped back up to her feet like a spring-loaded doll and dusted off imaginary dust from her pristine white skirt.
She then crossed her arms and lifted her chin in theatrical indignation.
"I'll pause for dramatic effect."
Pardon?
Fate literally paused—dramatically paused. I was starting to wonder whether this was actually Fate or someone's random child that somehow wandered in here.
After a moment of dramatic... more like awkward silence of us staring at each other, she huffed and tapped her foot.
She was about to throw a tantrum, and even I could see it coming.
"Now listen here. Nature has two servants. TWO! Life has four. Space has seven, and ugh, don't even get me started on that show-off. Time has a handful, too. And Chaos—"
She jabbed a finger upward as if poking an imaginary giant.
"Chaos has ten. Ten! Like he's some kind of collection‑hoarding gremlin."
"But—"
"I HAVE ZERO! Do you understand how embarrassing that is, Sora? I HAVE ZERO! ZERO!"
I don't know, dude, I'm not a princeptus.
She stomped again, but this time as the black mist shot outward, I caught a quick glimpse of what was beneath... It was... a black hole?
"I deserve at LEAST one servant! ONE! It's my turn! I've been patient! I've been a good girl! And everyone else is snatching mortals left and right like candy out of a jar!"
"Are you the youngest of the Princeps by the way, Fate?"
Her gaze suddenly sharpened as if insulted by such a stupid question.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Uh—"
"ANYWAY! Don't even get me started on Death. Thinking she can steal you away from me because she gave you some Divine ability. How absurd! I mean, you clearly want me more; you even stole from me."
"Please don't say it like that when you look like a child, it makes me sound like a—"
"'Ooooh, look at me, I'm Death, I gave him self‑resurrection so now he belongs to me!'"
I coughed. "Wait, belongs?"
How did I end up in a tug of war between two Princeps?
Should I be honored?
Fate snapped her gaze back to me, pointing so suddenly I flinched.
"Exactly! She's gonna try to snatch you up! But no. No, no, no. This time, I get first pick. I called dibs. I DESERVE dibs!"
I stared at her.
This was Fate.
Literal Princeptus of Fate.
Throwing a tantrum because she didn't have any servants.
She leaned in, smirk blooming again.
"SO," she declared grandly, "you're going to be my servant."
Before I could respond, she slapped, like actually slapped—and it hurt. She slapped a small finger over my lips.
"Don't you dare say no."
Slowly, she let her finger fall off my lips and raised a golden brow as she eyed me down, waiting for an answer.
"Okay."
And like a puppet whose strings have been cut, Fate flinched into a freeze. The golden brow she so smugly raised started twitching frantically like she was trying to process my answer, but her brain—if she even had one... malfunctioned.
Then she repeated,
"Okay?"
She repeated it in a way that made it sound like I insulted her entire lineage and then some. She clasped her hands behind her back, then calmly stepped to my right before glaring down at me from the corner of her eye.
"How dare you?"
"Wha...?"
Reality itself flickered.
"YOU CAN'T JUST SAY OKAY!!!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HESITATE, OR—OR SOMETHING!"
"DUDE, WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!"
"STOP YELLING, SORA, THE ADULTS ARE TALKING!"
"BUT—"
"SHHH!"
"You're supposed to go, 'Oh Fate, becoming your servant is such a tremendous honor, but I must think about it, I must consider my mortal integrity.' NOT—"
She spun, pointing both hands at me like accusatory daggers.
"'Okay.'"
"'Sure, why not, guess I'll knee‑deep commit my soul to a cosmic force today, lalala.'"
"I don't sound like that."
"YOU DO NOW!"
She gaped at me as if I just slapped her, then she marched right back up to my face before grabbing both my cheeks and slapping me.
"Ow!"
"That's what you get for being arrogant."
"But—"
"Do you even know what being a Servant means? The power that comes with it? The cost? The weight of responsibilities that comes with it?"
"I mean... yeah? Why else would I agree?"
"You... you arrogant fool."
Her eyes softened, shifting to a more ocean-like color before she offered her hand. "Shake it."
It sounded more like a demand than anything else, but still, I complied.
"Welcome to team Fate."
"You make it sound like a cheerleading squad."
"SHUT UP!"
And just like that, I became the first Servant of Fate. I wonder how much more powerful I'll be now. That dumbass Iliam won't know what hit him. Heh.
But why did I have to be stuck with a child of all things?
"You do realize I can read your thoughts, right?"
"P—pardon?!"
"I am a Princeptus, did you really think I couldn't do something as simple as read minds?"
"So like... everything?"
She nodded flatly.
"From even before I showed myself to you."
"Oh."
"Mhm..."
"So like—"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"Even the—?"
"Even that."
We stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before I decided to look down for the first time since I got here.
I decided to glance down to avoid her very judging, unimpressed gaze.
And then I froze.
Oh.
Because like.
Why?
Like.
Not even.
Covered only slightly by the black mist, and only because I was seated...
"Fate... where are my clothes?"