Page 81 of Zero Happily Ever Afters

She’d possess me until I was old and broken and could no longer contain the glory of The Sisters Three. That was their secret to longevity over the centuries. They always jumped into a new body, a vessel, a new host for their magnificence. But when magic had vanished, when it’d been expelled from this world thesisters slept in silence, waiting for the return of power. Waiting for the Celestial Coven to truly reign.

“Sister, guard yourself better,” the light-lilted voiced one said. No, Clotho said. That was her name. Despite becoming aware of how I sifted through Lachesis’ mind, she lacked the ability to hide her own thoughts either. “I don’t lack anything!”

She pouted, her face forming on the blank head of her silhouette. That made her turn away, shameful and feeling suddenly small for a goddess. They hid their form from those they invaded because the glorious beauty of a divine being was far too spectacular for weak mortal eyes. The way I looked at her face, capturing every detail of her stunned expression, sent a whirl of doubt through Clotho’s head.

“You really do believe you’re gods.” I scoffed. “The arrogance. Literal hubris.”

“We are gods. We are divinity incarnate. We are prophecy. We are infinite,” Atropos shouted, her booming voice rippled through the abyss of darkness. “You hide down here because you’re too weak to face us. You hide down here because you’re pathetic and alone.”

“He’s not alone,” my angry-voiced persona bellowed from the shadows as his rage towered.

“Personas,” Lachesis hissed. “Pathetic. They hold no power except to hide in darkness.”

“Then let us remove the shadows.” Atropos waved a hand.

“Yes. Let’s show him how it feels to look upon someone else without permission.” Clotho uncovered her face, shining brightly beside her sisters as the three unleashed white light across the furthest reaches of my abyss.

Thousands of personas stood as a legion throughout my subconscious. Each was some variation of my emotions, my fantasies, my musings. While their eyes didn’t normally glow, each one radiated with a defensive purple hue. They craved thedarkness, the quiet, and The Sisters Three had dared to disrupt the routine.

The magic of my personas pulled at the shadows that had vanished, seeking to push away the light and replace it with the abyss.

Magic. My magic.

“Give me my magic,” I whispered.

“Personas don’t have magic, you fool,” Clotho said. “They’re simply projections of identity.”

“This one doesn’t understand even the simplest things,” Lachesis said. “Hardly a psychic of any merit. I highly recommend we don’t waste time possessing such a brittle body.”

“You don’t know me.” I stood, shuddering every time a tiny pulse of purple light struck me, infusing me with more of my magic.

“How are you…” Atropos quieted, studying the personas who wilted like flowers past their prime. Those who’d returned my magic went to sleep. “They cannot all possess magic. How did you do that?”

I shrugged. “I guess I’m self-sabotaging. I’ve always had too much power, so I broke off a lot of it and dropped it down here.”

“You can’t do that,” Clotho whined.

“Not possible,” Lachesis hissed.

“Maybe for you.” I waved my arms, washing the abyss in a sea of purple light before returning to the shadows.

The strength of my magic, the full extent of my branch, was incredible. The first thing I did was restore my mind, my memories, my inner core above. The Sisters Three had trashed everything, but it didn’t take long to sort. In fact, even the visions gained from Milo were easy to condense, to bind down so they didn’t float wildly in my head. A few months ago, I couldn’t manage to suppress a few visions and now I handled thousands with grace.

Once I salvaged the mess in my head, I linked to The Sisters Three, grabbing ahold of their thoughts, their minds, their long lifetime of memories. They were so pliable, insignificant when locked in my grasp. In my mind, I ruled with unmatched supremacy. Squeezing the sisters tightly, I snapped the tether that connected each of them to the body of the woman they’d possessed for more than a decade now.

I searched through the memories behind this woman’s crime, the offense she’d struck onto The Sisters Three. A giggle floated in Atropos’ thoughts, carrying with it the voice of the woman who’d wronged them. Debra Anderson had laughed during a palm reading The Sisters Three offered, jokingly adding how she found psychic readings a bit silly since no one could truly control the future. That one comment, one explanation, one chuckle at destiny offended Atropos enough to break Debra’s mind and keep her trapped inside the deepest cellar of her inner core.

They’d done this to countless others, dating back so far that I struggled to hold all the memories. But I wanted them. I wanted to grab every single memory The Sisters Three held. With them, I’d unravel a way to break the four pillars of the Celestial Coven.

The Sisters Three held no individuality. Not really. Their memories were entangled. They’d fused their minds and magics so long ago, even they didn’t recall the days before they weren’t one deity. As such divine witches, they sought greatness and joined the Celestial Coven, becoming the Southern Pillar of the Four Corners thanks to their tremendously potent psychic branch.

Three branches, really, that became forever entwined due to their fusion: retrocognition, telepathy, and clairvoyance. But I had an expertise in those three magics, twisting and turning their power back onto them the same way they’d done to Milo,done to me. I’d shatter their being for daring to touch Milo, but I needed answers first. All the answers.

I demanded them.

To become a pillar of the most powerful organization, a witch required immortality, exceptional skill, and an understanding for shaping reality.

Enchanter Wadsworth likely continued fighting against Lazarus and Grim at the MDC. The Sisters Three held intel on those two pillars, the magic they each possessed, the monikers they held, the legends their existence had sparked.

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