Bonus Chapter, Part Eight:
The Ghosts of the Sea
Author's Note: As previously mentioned regarding the Norns, it's pretty much impossible for me to imagine or write the three Goddesses of Fate as anything other than the characters from Kōsuke Fujishima's "Ah! My Goddess" manga and anime.
In Greek mythology, the Moirai were the three Goddesses of Fate known as Lachesis (the "allotter"), Clotho (the "spinner") and Atropos (the "cutter"). In Norse Mythology, they are the Norns, with their equivalents being Urd, Verdandi and Skuld.
After a mystified Diana had quickly explained to Urd, the Goddess of the Past, how both herself and Clark had come to be stranded upon her magical shores, the tanned Goddess only nodded as the Amazon spoke. Urd then yelled one loud word to the starry skies above when Diana had completed her tale…
"SKULD!"
As Urd gazed back and saw the quizzical expressions on both Clark and Diana's puzzled faces, she felt that it might be better if she explained her sudden one-word outburst.
"Skuld is my younger sister, the Goddess of the Future. It was she who wrote the Prophecy of Apocalypse for Raven's world. This whole mess is her fault…"
A voice that sounded like an angel interrupted the white-haired Goddess as she attempted to assign blame to her youngest Sister.
"This is indeed true, Sister… But who was it that allotted the son of our friend Raven his length of Black Thread?"
The trio turned to see a stunning and demure Goddess - dressed in flowing gowns of white, blue and gold. She had large, innocent blue eyes with long, gentle brown hair tied into a considerable pony tail. Diana was awestruck by her magnificence and when this Goddess's white feathery wings unfurled, Clark felt his heart skip a beat.
Diana quickly bowed her head in reverence as she realized who this new Goddess must be... the Weaver herself!
"My Lady Clotho!"
Verdandi smiled serenely and then bowed politely before her two mortal visitors.
"Welcome to Yggdrasil, Princess Diana of Themyscira and Kal-El of Krypton… I am glad to finally meet you both. But I am actually named 'Verdandi' in the Realm of the Great Tree, and we three Goddesses are the Norns, as opposed to your Moirai, Princess."
Diana mouthed the word 'Verdandi' to herself, longing for the day when she could recount such a glorious sight to her fellow Amazons while the Goddess continued.
"The Prophecy of Apocalypse my elder sister is referring to is quite old, written nearly two thousand years ago, and would have been conveniently discarded... if someone had not selected the powerful Black Thread for the weave of Raven's unborn child."
Urd nonchalantly cast her eyes upwards, choosing not to meet Verdandi's accusing glance as Clark noticed that Urd's tanned cheeks were actually starting to flush while she gave her defense.
"True, but I have to use it sometimes you know. His father has the Black Thread so it seemed logical…"
Verdandi remained unreadable...
"I see… And the fact that you're sleeping with Raven's poor, tormented step-son had nothing to do with this extraordinary choice of judgment, Urd?"
Clark and Diana watched, eyes raised in stunned astonishment, as the tanned, buxom Goddess curled her long arm gingerly over her head, using its hand to scratch the nape of her neck as her eyes darted in every direction… except the one where her sister waited for a reply.
"I… ahhh… heh heh heh… maybe?"
"Urd! You can't blame Skuld for this catastrophe you played a part in. You must assume responsibility and fix this breach of Fate before the Sea of Oblivion is allowed to overrun even the Great Tree itself."
"I… ahhh…. Ummm… OK… How?"
"It saddens me, but the most direct route would be to end the Fate of Raven's unborn son and then provide the bereaved mother to the Spirit of the Great Sea, whom these mortals know as Nekron. This would fulfill the original contract…"
It was Diana who yelled in protest.
"NOOO! Goddess, you can't…"
Urd placed a reassuring hand upon the warrior's tense shoulder as she also gazed intently into Diana's passionate blue eyes.
"Princess… I swear I would never do such a thing! There must be another way, Verdandi."
The Goddess of the Present bowed her head to the two mortals as she replied, preparing to take her leave.
"Perhaps... It would seem like you are left with nothing more than Hope, Sister... The Lord of the Great Sea has recently amended the Prophecy to suit his own ambitions. May I suggest that you quickly present this document to Raven for her own inspection and consent?…
But I must depart for the Weave and bid you all farewell - until we meet again. As much as you perceive the Lord of Oblivion seeks to upset the balance of Fate, Urd… Do not forget that you are also his obedient Handmaiden, my Sister."
With that, Verdandi suddenly faded from view, becoming nothing more than rolling mists, her cryptic reply mysteriously hanging in the air. A confused Diana turned to ask the remaining Goddess of the Past a question.
"How is it possible that you a Handmaiden of Hades, noble Urd? The Fates are not bound to the Underworld."
Urd drew a deep breath and sighed, looking out across the waters before them.
"Cast your eyes to the Sea before you Princess, and gaze upon Oblivion… It has no true identity, yet its chill waters contain every thought, every life, every memory, every emotion that ever was… Each soul that has ever had a Fate has passed through those dark waters, which stretch far beyond the sight of consciousness.
It is the Past.
These are the same multitudinous waters I am tasked to gather and add to the roots of the Great Tree Yggdrasil, in order to provide the Threads of Fate which nourish its infinite branches to create Existence.
And this entity which you call Hades is the Keeper of this Sea, the Lord of the Unliving... Nekron. Without the Unliving Sea, all life would wither and die. The Past is necessary for the Present and the Present is necessary for the Future.
The Goddess you see before you now is the obedient Handmaiden of the Great Sea. My sister Verdandi is the wise Steward of the Great Tree. And my youngest sister Skuld is the ethereal Guide of the Source...
Past, Present and Future. The eternal wheel of the Sea, the Tree and its Light. These three things I have told you of are Fate and this endless Sea is the first of its three pillars.
It is this Sea which is Nekron.
When you struck at him with your sword Princess, you struck at this immeasurable Sea. That is why you passed into the Realm of Fate and washed up upon my shores. You rail against the culmination of the Past."
Diana cast her forlorn gaze far across a dark Sea which never ended.
"If this is truly our opponent… then we are doomed."
Clark spoke up from behind the Amazon warrior.
"Diana... Right now, we have to have faith in our team, especially Raven. I think Verdandi was trying to give us a clue when she said that all we had left is Hope. She means Raven, the Goddess of Hope… She also said that you should provide the Prophecy to Raven as soon as possible Urd, for her consent… Perhaps there's a loophole there somewhere."
Urd contemplated Clark's reply reflectively for an instant until she suddenly waved her palm in a quick circle, producing a thousand tiny sparkles which transformed into an ancient parchment. From nowhere, a pair of Librarian reading glasses appeared upon the bridge of Urd's nose as she read the ancient Scripture…
"Let's see know now… Written in ancient Greek… Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse… Fire, smoke and brimstone… A star called Wormwood… blah, blah, blah…Oh, crap! I really don't like this part about a woman with the Moon under her feet being with child and crying out in labor and pain to give birth while a dragon stood before the woman waiting to devour her male child as she gave birth…
That could definitely be Raven!
And then the Dragon made war with the Heaven and the Earth and the Offspring of that woman… and then it only gets worse! Basically end of the Universe type of stuff. Pretty far reaching…
OK, let's see now, here's the subcontract for this Prophecy made by Trigon and Nekron twenty-three years ago for the unborn Raven and look… There's the new amendment! The contract states that Nekron shall bequeath his Black Ring of Power to the first-born daughter of Trigon provided…
'… the eternal loyalty and companionship of the first-born daughter of Trigon when she reaches the age of twenty-and-one or the child of that first-born daughter of Trigon.'
So this is the amendment regarding a child of Raven that still needs to be ratified by her... Nekron has also added another subsequent contract for the spirit of Khamett, born of Maltus, which promises the Guardian's immediate resurrection should this Prophecy be fulfilled…
That idiot! He would be only given only a moment of life under those terms. Once the Prophecy is fulfilled, it's the end of life itself!"
Clark sighed while Urd finished reading the Prophecy of Apocalypse and scoffing at Khamett's foolhardiness. Clark knew what Khamett's true inspiration had been…
"I don't think Khamett really cares about his resurrection, Urd… He simply desires revenge against Raven and the League… and he's prepared to go to any lengths to achieve it."
Diana's gaze was still fixed upon the endless black waters before them, wondering - as if aloud.
"But why would Father Hades desire the end of all existence, Goddess? Even before the birth of Raven, the King of the Underworld was prepared to enter into a contract with Nemesis that would end even his own immortal life."
Urd reached down and picked up a flattened stone, skipping it along the black waters of Oblivion with a single toss. She watched it travel for a distance until it spun along the surface and finally sank down into the Sea.
"I believe the years have been hard on him, Princess… He is alone. These dark waters are the culmination of every emotion that has ever been, yet they are simply base elements, distant memories with no true identity. Each drop a separate experience from Time before, but even a billion drops placed together would not constitute a life.
Lord Nekron is… but he is the Keeper of all that was. Over countless millennia, he has become something closer to the Dead than the Living. Perhaps he believes when Life ceases, that the Dead shall inherit Fate itself and Oblivion shall wash away into the stars to reveal new lands…"
Diana angrily skipped a stone across a mile of still water.
"A fool's folly!"
Urd was reverent in her reply.
"I can not say, Princess. Even as a Goddess, Nekron is beyond my reckoning. Should he possess a Black Thread, he would be outside the limits of Fate."
With an almost invisible whip of his arm, Clark skipped a stone beyond their range of sight, creating a sonic boom as it touched down every six miles between skips.
"Then we have to stop him from obtaining one. Are you ready, Urd?"
Urd sadly turned to the two heroes, slowly wiping a falling tear from beneath her purple eye.
"Yes… But let me say how very sorry I am to have placed you all in such a terrible dilemma. As a Goddess of the Past, I am often blind to the future ramifications of my actions, and too often I behave… selfishly.
It was indeed my affection for Richard Grayson which caused me to choose a Black Thread for his unborn step-brother… And now I must face the extreme costs of my indiscretions."
Diana regarded the Goddess with sympathy.
"I believe there are deeper issues at stake than your indiscretions, Goddess. This mad desire of Hades was born long before your quick placement of a Black Thread into Raven's child. Indeed, it was formulated before Raven Wayne or Richard Grayson were even born.
But even if Lord Hades is stopped this time… will he not try again? Shall you pluck out this unwanted Thread from future births? Can the grand Weave of Fate be made without the Black Thread?"
Urd turned and solemnly cast her glance back upon the Great Tree Yggdrasil which spanned across the entire horizon, hanging her head in despair as she answered Diana's most pertinent question...
Could Life continue to exist without the Black Thread of Fate?
"…No."