Considering The Apocalypse As A Thing Unwanted

[Professor Charles]

And that was how I ended up in his court.

Grumpily, moodily and well past irritated, I sat, within the confines of a white, rectangular hall, the peaked roof made up by two lines of marble pillars. No windows were there, but the bleached brick reflected the light of a score of torches set into the walls. Before me, at one of the narrower ends of the building, was a stately pair of doors that were opened and looked onto a vast grassy field, that stretched until it met a summer, cloudless sky. Behind me rose a semi-circular dais, and it was on the steps I had been placed. Upon the dais was an ornate beech-wood throne, emblazoned with gold and laurel leaves, and in this seat Morningstar rigidly perched. He breathed slowly, eyes narrowed and staring at a being who trembled in the centre of the hall.

“What do you mean they have gone?” he hissed.

“They - they were no longer there, my lord!” the young mortal human shook, eyes huge, “They had gone - gone entirely! Packed up their things and gone!”

“I wonder if they heard there was death and destruction coming?” I piped up, lifting my head from where it lay on my arm.

There was a lightly tinkle my chains moved with me - the ones that had me attached to an anchor in the floor. I was much more comfortable than the chair at least, as Morningstar had seemed it fine for me to have more movement. Simply, I had two manacles over my wrists that were attached together, and then a chain went from them to the anchor. No leg limitations, no gag.

It was generous.

“You, shut it,” Morningstar shoved a finger in my direction.

I stared back at him, “Morningstar, they are literally the personifications of destiny. Seeing the future is part of their identity. Their personality, make up. They were there at the Great Calamity, they know exactly what is going to happen.”

“A future dependent on a great many things. Their visions are open to change, they only see what could be,” he seethed back at me, “Not what is. Now, shut up, Charon.”

I could see in his glare he was not amused, and not likely to listen to anything more I had to say. Therefore, I slumped back down, chin on my forearm and continued to watch the display of power Morningstar presented over this wretched human, who had somehow ended up working for him.

Probably some deal had been made, with a promise of the exchange of power. Perhaps this young human had magic now where he had not done before, or a girl on his arm when he was in his hometown. Maybe wealth, given to him by Morningstar pulling the various strings he had in the many cities, attached to many individuals. Even though I had not seen my brother in a millennia, nothing had actually changed about him. He was still, ultimately, the same as he had been when we were infants still.

The Prince of no kingdom stared at the mortal for some time, with no words coming from his mouth. It was clear I had confused his line of thought somehow, and changed the focus of his anger. Also, I had had a point, and that had frustrated him to the extent where he was dumb with his want to shout at the human.

“Bah! Go back and see if there is some clue to where they went. A book, some piece of writing - anything!” Morningstar ordered.

The mortal shivered, glanced at me briefly, before kowtowing until his nose touched the floor. Then, quickly, he stood up and shuffled as fast as he could out of the hall, although backwards, and so it was awkward. After around ten paces he let out a squeal before he turned and ran the rest of the way, his coat snapping in the breeze.

Silence fell, and there was an anxious tension in the atmosphere. I did not move, only watched the wind playing in the grass outside. Around the edge of the hall there were shifts in the shadows, whispers of the servants of Morningstar who brought me the rather delightful meals that were far better than what the university offered. They, however, remained beyond the pillars, away from where Morningstar ground his teeth to dust and I began to fall asleep.

“Right,” he said after a while, and he pushed himself out of his throne.

Lifting my brow I watched him as he rolled back his shoulders, and got rid of any tightness in his muscles. There I remained on his floor, like some forgotten pet, bored out of my skull, now without books entirely and just the random occurances of his court. I had been here for three days now, and my greatest fear was losing my position at the university. For I had arranged leave for a week, and that was all. Not three days more.

“So Klotho, Lakesis and Atropos …” he named the three ladies of fate, three of our sisters, and the ones in question. The spinner, allotter and the shearer, they who could see all the alternative futures, both near and far. Klotho, the spinner, also had an ability to see into the past, and so I imagined that they would know precisely the power of what was coming. The fact they had run was alarming, and gave rise to considerable concern that I was right - that this new apocalypse was going to be as terrible as we all feared.

“Morningstar …” I began.

He threw a hand at me, cutting me off. “I do not want to speak,” he grunted, as he strode down the dias steps. I sat up, blinking and slightly confused. He sounded sorrowful, and full of a strange guilt. Guilt for what? For kidnapping me? For helping me lose my job? For not listening to me? They were all perfectly viable options for feeling guilty.

“Morn,” I sat up fully. But he shook his head and twisted to exit through a gap in the pillars. Likely to go and have rampant sex with some elf queen or princess in a tower. That he had locked there himself.