The Dawn of the New World

For a brief moment the white light overtook everything. Ma Jiang, Princess Ceni, and Hao Xuan were lifted into the air as their bodies were wiped away with the torrential force leaving behind nothing more than their naked souls.

The red threads of destiny came into being, wrapping around each one before circling around the whole lot and finally tying themselves off in a closed loop around each of their wrists. From the outside, the threads appeared golden in color and their design a lot more elaborate.

And then with little more than a soundless murmur the pillar of light flickered out of existence, at least down there.

But at the same time in a place hidden somewhere incomprehensibly far away, out of reach of any mortal beings and a great many ancient ones as well, was a great temple carved into the side of a floating mountain.

The mountain was so unfathomably large that one could spend an entire lifetime and still not see what lay on the other side. Beneath the temple was a waterfall that fell directly into the dark of the space.

Orbiting the mountain were eight moons, each one permanently reflecting a different phase.

Numerous beings could be seen moving around on the bottom floor of the temple, creatures of all kinds thought to be long extinct. The second floor held a few beings that could only be defined as godly but the third and final floor remained empty other than one being.

This being had features resembling human females with the only differences being a complete lack of eyes and the immense size.

There was no way to measure exactly how big 'she' was but a normal human would look like an ant in front of her. Her appearance could be defined as 'beautiful' although nothing extraordinary while she appeared to be in her early thirties.

She sat beside a lake that flowed down from the great mountain. Within the lake were a great many red threads, so many in fact that they turned the entire lake red. Her hand hovered over a certain section of the lake while a troubled expression decorated her visage.

The sound of clothes ruffling and footsteps came from behind as two other females materialized. One was a hunched old woman with white eyes that had long lost vision, while the other was a young girl in her early teens.

They both looked ordinary including their size. The young girl helped the old lady walk towards the lake but as they got near their size began to increase until all three looked to be of the same race.

"What has happened?" the old lady asked.

The first lady removed her hand and revealed the section of the lake hidden underneath. Crystal clear water could be seen there as the threads of destiny were slowly receding into one another, and merging or fraying to create a brand new pattern.

"That is not possible," the young girl remarked, obviously astonished by what was happening.

The first lady shook her head, "And yet it has happened."

The young girl stared at it for a long time, watching as the threads changed direction in ways no one previously thought possible.

"We must let them know," she finally commented.

The other two agreed and nodded to show their like-mindedness. The young girl turned around and walked away, turning into moonlight at the edge of the temple before disappearing.

The old lady knelt down and reached into the lake to grab one of the threads. It looked the same as all the others but if examined closely one could see it was a little different in its movements.

She brought the thread close to her lips and whispered to it as if it was her lover, "By the will of the Ten Heavens and the Sisters of Fate, I, Atropos, curse you to a future far worse than any I could bring. May you forever be lost in the deepest trenches of your mind."

And then she released the thread back into the lake without doing anything else. She stood up and turned around to leave but paused for a moment, "Clotho, is this not of your doing?"

The first lady didn't turn to face her and instead kept peering into the lake.

"How could I have done anything without your knowledge, sister?"

Atropos scoffed, "Did you think I would not hear of your exiled daughter? Fear not, I made sure she could not speak of our matters to anyone before she left."

Clotho seemed unperturbed and answered in the same apathetic voice, "Thank you, sister."

Atropos walked a few steps before slowly disappearing into the solid floor. Clotho breathed a sigh of relief when she knew she was alone. She moved her hand over the lake and a white thread that looked much thinner and flimsier than any of the others showed itself.

It was wrapped around the thread Atropos had cursed, trying its best to keep it going in a certain direction.

"I have done all I could, it all depends on you now, my precious."