Chosen by The Fates: The prophecy

“Are you sure your vision was right?” Epimetheus yelled at the unknown young seer sitting across the room from him. The vision was something they had expected for over two millennia. However, all of them had hoped it would never materialise. That the curse of The Fates had not been activated thus far and so it never will be. Alas, the words that came from the seers’ mouth were as clear as the prophecy was. “Epimetheus, calm down, we all knew this would happen.” Prometheus said, moving protectively in front of the seer, now facing his brother. “We all chose to live in our ignorance, to ignore this threat from The Fates. We know what we need to do. Have a little faith.” he said, trying to calm him down. He looked into Epimetheus’s eyes and could notice the uncharacteristic, but justified fear, before he spoke again: “Aren’t you worried, brother? Have you forgotten what the birth of this child would mean?” Epimetheus never lost his brother’s eye contact and he felt his hand grip his shoulder when he said: “If this is the beginning of the end, then let it be, brother. It’s time. Not even we can change The Fates’ wrath. If we try to stop it, we become them. We cannot become the very thing we liberated ourselves from.” With that, Prometheus released his brother from his hold and walked out of the chamber where the entirety of the Impartial Council was gathered. He wandered off into the Council’s building and was just about to walk out of the front door when he heard Circe’s voice in his mind. “You missed the most important part, come! You need to hear this!” He could hear the urgency in her voice and knew it had to be important, so he started making his way back. When he got there, the room was quiet and everyone seemed to be debating over an important decision. “What is it?” He asked, frustrated when no one said a word. The seer then spoke: “There is another seer that has seen the same vision as I have. She found me… and she approached me to ask for my help in finding out the baby’s identity, said we have a bigger chance at finding out who the child is.” Prometheus arched his eyebrows, not understanding what the seer was alluding to. “She wants to prevent its birth.” the seer concluded, and the room once again fell silent. Prometheus could feel the colour leaving his face and knew they had to act fast to prevent that from happening. The harder he thought, he could not justify why it would be beneficial for a seer to prevent this birth and was starting to think that maybe there were others aware of the Prophecy starting. The rest of The Impartials were also in deep thought, some considering the idea of not acting on the new information they had just received, while others were too busy elaborating plans to save the unborn child. Finally, Prometheus broke the silence, stopping everyone’s train of thought: “We have to find out who this child is, who its parents are, and make sure there is going to be a birth.” “Why? Why must we ensure its survival? This could be the doom of all of us!” His brother’s voice boomed in the room, shocked and enraged that his brother was willing to go to such lengths to protect this child. “You dare ask why? Because we are not Zeus, terrified that someone will steal our power!” He roared with such power laced in his voice that his own brother had no choice but to bow his head in submission. “This is not why we caused The Purge and you f*****g know it! Your selfishness and your fears are turning you into a tyrant, little brother, and I will not stand for it. We knew this would happen ever since The Fates cursed us, but we still did it. Do you really think letting this child die will solve anything? Have you forgotten how a prophecy of The Fates works? No one can stop this prophecy from being fulfilled. No one. Are you that blinded by your fears that you have forgotten reason? Are you all that scared?” The final boom of his voice caused the windows surrounding the Impartial Council to shatter, but not a single person flinched as Prometheus' startling silver eyes zeroed in on each and every one of them. They all looked at him and said nothing, knowing he was right. They had to protect this child at all costs. “We leave at first light. You all better get some sleep because I expect to see each and every one of you here tomorrow morning, unless you would rather never see another sunrise again. I am not going to allow us all to be put in danger because of your petty fears.” He concluded, sparing a final glance at his younger brother who's gaze still met the floor, before walking out of the chamber shaking his head in disbelief. The others remained in the room, discussing Prometheus’ latest threat: “Who died and made him King?” Hephaestus asked, trying to lighten the mood. Metis threw him an angry look and said through gritted teeth: “Your asshole of a father, and it seems that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” “ Interesting you should say that Metis, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even have had an apple.” He replied with a smirk that sent Metis on the same route Prometheus took. “You can’t go more than a couple of hours without pissing someone off, can you? Hecate chastised a chucking Hephaestus, as he followed the others out of the room. Circe had also left shortly after Prometheus in an attempt to calm him down. “What do you all think about this? I think we all know where they stand.” Ambrogio said, referring to the four people now absent from the room. “Heph, as per usual, is only here to antagonize everyone else, but what about the rest of us? Where do we stand?” His words echoed in everyone’s mind. “I don’t know what to think,” Epimetheus started.”but what I know is that my brother has never failed me. Pandora and I will join him in the morning.” he concluded, finally meeting the eyeline of the other council members now that his brother's imposing presence was gone. “I think everyone can agree on that, Prometheus has indeed never let us down. We should give him the same courtesy.” Seline intervened before anyone could say anything. However, on this one rare occasion, they all nodded their heads in agreement. “Are we all on the same page, then? Are we all going to meet here tomorrow morning?” Ambrogio asked, eyeing everyone. “We’ll be here” Heracles answered, and Hebe nodded along. “So will we.” Persephone said, glancing scoldingly at Hades as he was taking too long to answer. Ambrogio was now looking at Helios, who was far too quiet for his liking. “You know I’ll go wherever my girls go, Ambro. It isn’t a matter of question, I thought you would know that by now. Hecate and I will be here.” Helios bit, annoyed by Ambrogio's stare. Ambrogio then turned his gaze to Hephaestus: “What about you, Heph? Do you think you can keep your mouth shut and try not to annoy anyone until we make sure the child is safe?” sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Oh no, that is impossible. I enjoy it too much.” He answered with his characteristic chuckle. Ambrogio let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to maintain his cool.”However, I will join you. Prometheus is right, the prophecy is bound to be fulfilled. We all know this. At least we know the child has been chosen. Soon we might find who the parents are, which means we may have a real chance at maintaining some control over the next Purge. And we all know, we need to have control over it, otherwise all of this was in vain. We lost it all for nothing. If we lose this child, there is no doubt the prophecy will choose another one. And if that happens, we might not find out who the chosen one is until it is too late.” He voiced the very thoughts that were running through all of their minds, the only one with the courage to give the words volume. “We need to protect the very thing that might destroy us all,” No one slept that night, and even though they were all Gods and did not have the same need for sleep as humans, it was still beneficial to keep themselves at the peak of their powers. They all knew this was their only chance at having a say in when, how or if the next Purge would happen. And it all stood in the hands of the child they would meet that very same day. As the first signs of light were threatening to make their way over the horizon, the young seer gazed right through the scene in front of her from the balcony of the room given to her. Her eyes empty, as she desperately replayed in her mind the latest vision, over and over again, attempting to decipher any clue as to who this child might be. The only thing that she knew was that the child was a powerful hybrid. She could feel the mixed blood flowing in the child’s veins but she could not figure out who the parents were. “Come on, Abbie! Think! There has to be something!” Just as she was about to give up and go join the others, as the first beams of the sun’s rays reached the horizon, a stabbing pain suddenly hit her temples, making her drop to her knees, screaming out in pain. Upon hearing the cries, Circe rushed into the room, running to her aid. She quickly understood that she was having another vision as she saw only her reflection in her glazed eyes when she turned Abigail to face her. A couple of seconds that felt like hours passed and Abigail opened her eyes again, panting for air and beads of sweat were now gracing her pale skin. “I know who the child's parents are!”