?


    "I refuse."


    When she opened her eyes, Nino found herself in an unfamiliar ce. She tried to look around but failed. She couldn''t move any part of her body, not even her eyes. It was as if she waspletely restrained, forced to watch what was happening in front of her without the ability to do anything.


    "Clotho…"


    Another voice spoke and the scene moved to show its owner. For a moment Nino thought she was looking at her reflection in some mirror, but then she understood that the one standing there was Atropos, the Olympian who called her sister.


    "There is no need to be so stubborn." Atropos said, her expression twisted with anger. "Let''s just do as we are told."


    "Since when did we start doing that?"


    A new voice joined the conversation. This one was familiar as well, but a bit weird. It took Nino a while before she realized that it was her own voice, though it still didn''t feel like she was the one talking.


    "Zeus has made his decision." Said Atropos. "Do you intend on defying him?"


    "Again, since when did we start doing that?" Nino, or Lachesis to be more precise, spoke again. Her older sister was ring at her, and it seems she was doing the same. "Since when do we answer to Zeus? I don''t remember swearing our allegiance to him."


    "You think that means anything?" Atropos shot back. "He has already gotten his hands on the first key. That alone should tell you how doomed we are, whether we assist him or not."


    "We should''ve interfered when we had the chance."


    The scene changed again. This time it showed another version of the Asian doll, however she looked quite youngpared to the other two. Nino realized in an instant that she was looking at Clotho, the youngest of the Three Fates.


    "It wouldn''t have done anything." Atropos shook her head. "Thantanos was on his side from the start."


    "Well just turn him into a vegetable, then." Lachesis said.


    "You''re the one who sees the threads, right? Why don''t you tell us where his ends?"


    There was no response. Nino felt a sense of defeat, or maybe it was Lachesis? The Valkyrie understood that she was seeing a dream, one created from a memory of her past life.Sadly she didn''t seem to remember why the three of them are arguing, but it clearly had a great significance since it involved this entity called Zeus.


    ''Doctor mentioned him before…'' she thought. ''The king of good. Right…''


    Her impression of the thunder god was that he was an evil man who does whatever he wants. Lachesis'' feelings seemed to seep into her as the dream went on and from the looks of it she never liked him. Not now and not in her previous life.


    "It''s already toote for this world." Clotho said with a grim expression. "If we want to stop him, our only choice is to stop the same from happening somewhere else."


    "And how do you suggest we do that, my sweet and naive little sister?" Atropos replied in a mocking tone.


    "We might not be able to defy Zeus on our own but we might be able to influence the fate of someone else to do it."


    The older sisters narrowed their eyes as they processed the suggestion. The youngest met their gaze with unchanging resolve, having no intention of backing down.


    "You want to go create heroes in other worlds?" Lachesis said.


    "Zeus will eventually cross to other dimensions in his search for the other keys." Said Clotho. "If we arrive there first, we might be able to lead someone to a path where he could stop that lunatic."


    There was a moment of silence, then a loudughter broke out. Atropos seemed to have lost it. She wasughing uncontrobly, unbothered by the stern looks of her younger sisters.


    "A hero!" She said, covering her eyes and holding her stomach. "You want to create a hero!"


    The other two waited for her to stop, but after a while Clotho grew tired of the mockery.


    "If you have a better solution then I''m all ears."


    "Of course I have one." Atropos wiped the tears from her eyes and said nonchntly. "Give up and work for Zeus."


    "That''s not a solution."


    "Yes. It''s a choice." Lowering her eyes into a sharp gaze, the oldest of the sisters spoke calmly. "The only one you have."


    "You…" Lachesis was silent for a moment, but then her voice returned carrying both fear and anger. "You are already working for him, aren''t you?"


    Hearing that, Clotho''s eyes widened with realization. She felt that it was strange for her to be the only one who was unwilling to go against the tyrant, however it all made sense now.


    "Atropos…" the youngest tried to speak, her thin lips quivering with each attempt. "How could you…"


    "I guess you have exposed me." Atropos shrugged, her smile disappearing the next second. "I have decided to support Zeus, out of my free will, of course." She turned her gaze to Lachesis then continued in the same tone. "I was tasked with convincing you to do the same. Unfortunately I now see that you don''t n."


    As she watched, a storm of emotions raged inside Nino. Anger, hate, betrayal. Those were the things Lachesis felt as she processed the words her sister spoke.


    "I… I can''t believe it…" she said, the anger she felt boiling the blood in her veins. "How could you-"


    "Stop acting as if there is anything wrong with it." Atropos interrupted her saying. "We are free to choose whatever we want to do, and this is my choice."


    "Atropos…" Clotho was still in denial, unable to believe what her sister just said. "You know what he did. How can you say you still follow him after everything…"


    "They were just humans. Why do you care so much?"


    The response the eldest gave wasn''t what her shocked little sisters had expected. They were speechless, staring at her and waiting, a part of them hoped that she would say it was nothing more than a meaningless joke.


    However the silence persisted, confirming that their eldest had indeed betrayed them and joined the mad tyrant.


    Just as she began to wonder what would happen next, Nino realized that she was looking at the blue sky. The dream has ended and her eyes were now open. She pushed herself up and looked around her. She then tried to remember the content of her dream then sighed in relief.


    Having read that humans usually forget everything they dreamed about once they''re awake, she was afraid the same would happen. That dream contained important details about her past life and what happened between her and Atropos. She was happy to finally understand why she felt the way she felt when she saw her the other day, but at the same time she wished she had seen more, though she had a hunch that she already knows how things went from there.


    "I need to tell Doctor…"