Page 60 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
It was past midnight, and after a few hours of rest, I was feeling marginally better; enough to roll off the bed and read the letter. [Appraise] let me know it was official, and when I cracked it open, nothing exploded, so that was nice.
It was a greeting from the North Sumbrian royals, with a clear schedule laid out for the wedding ceremony and an invitation to participate in a special game unique to the festivities. The grand prize for the most Blackfog spies foiled over the course of the day was a custom-built magical elevator—to be delivered and installed at a destination of choice—with smaller prizes for capturinganyoneout to ruin the wedding. That included but was not limited to assassins, ceremonial disruptions, or anyone otherwise making themselves a nuisance.
“Let’s do this,” I whispered to myself, gripping the letter.
The pep talk helped, and I made myself comfortable on the bed before opening my character sheet.
[Oracle:You are witness to the strings of Fate and her weave. The story unfolds, and the Chosen of each deity mark the way.
You have found 9/12 Chosen.
Impending Scenarios: 5/12 Chosen.
Keeper of Fate - The Royal Wedding
Paladin of Light - The Love Lost
Bringer of Chaos - The Shoals Battle
Guardian of Death - The Final Elite
Heroine of Justice - The Void Duel
Timeline access restricted.
Available Scenarios: All Scenarios within current Domain boundaries available. All Scenarios impending within 6.5 days available.
Oracle timeline: 4 mins 30 seconds.
Please select Chosen.]
Seeing the Keeper of Fate on my list, I put my head in my hands and thanked Luck for yesterday. Getting caught with Julia had been the best possible outcome. I selected her option.
Rage bristled under my skin as another one of my plans fell through, leaving me back at square one. Everything I’d fought for; everything I’d set up—all of it, discovered and destroyed. I would’ve suspected a spy among my spies if it weren’t for that meddling Madame Potts and her abilities to read the future.
She’d ruinedeverything.
The heroine had been deprived of her fate; she was supposed to slaughter the Dark Enchanted Forest, not marry into it! The Dark Lord should’ve perished before the Spring Ball, and the necromancer by the Masquerade.
Even the Bridge Troll had survived to ruin my plans.
It’d been luck, kidnapping Julia. Anyone permitted entry into the sanctuary would’ve sufficed, but using the Paladin of Light to kill the necromancer would’ve returned their weave to its rightful fate.
Until that, too, had failed.
But I wasn’t going to give up. I couldnevergive up Fate. I would return things to the way they were supposed to be, starting with this wedding.
“Princess Contessa la Rouche of Ildsfeld, your seat.” The servant waved me into a pew. Even if it restricted my abilities, [Take Fate] let me steal a captured target’s character sheet to use as my own, and the princess was safely stored out of the way for now. I’d come to witness my efforts in action and ensure there wasn’t any more meddling.
One of my spies, the baron of Tour on Marsh, caught my eye and nodded. At least the paladin going missing had drawn attention away long enough to set more traps. I smiled. Even if they discovered all of my traps before the ceremony, that would only lull them into a false sense of security while my secret weapon planted more from the inside.
Even one life returned to the weave would be worth it.
The fireworks in Peldeep were nothing to the magical surprise I had planted now …
Coming out of the oracle left me shaking uncontrollably, I curled up into a ball and tried to claw the new person out of my head.
The rage. The bloodthirst that coursed through me and made me want to burn everything in my path. Information warred and blended. Hatred for Madame Potts—formyself—made me want to tear at my own flesh. [MentalResistance] saved me. The feelings surged and settled, though the headache remained. Putting myself in a new mind was always taxing.
