1 Cursed Fate

A young man is dashing to the mountain top in the dead of night, hand clutching his fresh wounds as he ran. He's breathing heavily and has arrows in his side, yet his emerald eyes still burn with determination. As he inches closer and closer to the top, he begins to see his goal more clearly. At the top of the mountain stands a stone structure of unusual shape. Now filled with excitement, he rushes over to the large doors and forces them open. The man walks through and looks around in awe. Aside from the entrance and a glowing white path up leading up to a golden throne, there is nothing but endless stars.

"Well then." A voice echoes through out the space, seemingly coming from everywhere. "I suppose a 'congratulations' is in order." At the empty throne, a figure of a pale man with black hair and a dark suit forms. He shows no emotion as he speaks. "You are the first in seventy years to make it this far."

The injured man collapses in relief and lets out a very exasperated "Hell yeah!"

"It seems like you've gone through quite a lot since you've been here."

"Yeah no shit! What gave it away? The fact that I'm bleeding to death or the arrows in my side? Can we just get it over with already? I want to go back home!"

"Is that so?"

"Well I sure as hell don't want to stay here!"

"Hmm... Well then," there's a long pause as the dark man gets off his throne and walks towards the injured man. "That leaves me in a predicament."

"Huh? What do you mean? You CAN send me back home, can't you?"

"Well yes I can, but I'm not sure if I should."

"What?!" The injured man stands up suddenly and winces in pain. "That wasn't the deal! You said that if I make up this God forsaken mountain, you'd change my fate!! Whatever the hell that means!"

"That is what I said. However..." The dark man leans in to whisper something. The more he talked the more the injured man's face grew pale. Until there was nothing but fear and regret. After saying everything he wanted to say the dark man walks towards the throne.

"Wait! Isn't there another option? Couldn't you just—"

"If there was another way, I would've already done that." The dark man sits back on his throne and says, "There are only two options. Stay here and do anything I say or..." As his voice trails off the world around them begins to rattle and rumble. The injured man collapses in agonizing pain as the shaking opens his wounds even more. The glowing, white floor beneath him is stained in deep red. The man looks up to see the dark man's eyes glow an unnatural glow.

"STOP THIS! PLEASE!!" His desperate cries echo through the space but they land on deaf ears. The dark man sits there, watching him suffer. The pain grows stronger and stronger, the echo of his screams grow louder and louder, sending vibrations through his skull! His vision is getting darker and darker until it fades to black.

Then everything stops.

There's a few moments of silence as he tries to catch his breath again. The sound of footsteps breaking the silence as the dark man walks forward. He stops at the injured man's head.

"Now." His voice is much more stern and much colder than before. "What is your decision?"

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I'm depressed. Well... I guess more than usual. Despite the cheery landscape and the singing birds, I'm attending a funeral. My girlfriend's funeral. All of her friends and family are around her casket as it's getting lowered down slowly. Tears are flowing everywhere, mine included. As the tears run down my face I can only wonder why. She was the only light in my life! So why did she have to go?

SMACK!! In the midst of my thoughts I got slapped in the face by a grieving mother.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?! YOU COULD'VE DONE SOMETHING!! IF YOU WERE A BETTER BOYFRIEND TO HER, THEN MAYBE SHE WOULDN'T HAVE KILLED HERSELF!"

"Mom!"

"Sabrina, please! He didn't do anything!"

"NO! YOU'RE WRONG! WE ALL KNOW THAT HE IS NOTHING BUT A DEPRESSED, SHITTY, BRAT AND HE DRAGGED MY LUCY DOWN WITH HIM! AND IT BROKE HER!"

"ENOUGH Sabrina! Leave the boy alone! He's got enough on his plate as it is!" Sabrina storms away crying leaving me with her husband Henry, and older daughter Ciara. "I'd like to apologize for my wife. It's hitting us all hard. I'm sure she didn't mean that. She just needs some time to cool off."

"Thanks, Henry. I think… I think I need to cool off too. I'll see you guys around I guess."

"Alright. But if you ever need anything, just call me."

"Sure." I say as I walk away from the crowd and head down the street. I keep walking into the busy city constantly thinking of how I could've prevented any of this. Maybe Sabrina was right. Maybe it was my fault. Misery loves company. I can't help but think back on all the amazing times I had with Lucy. The time I fell into a river, all the video games we played, our first date. And now, I can't make any more memories with her. I can't deal with this anymore. Mom would know what to do.

After walking a bit into town I stop in front of the city hospital. With everything going on and no one else to talk to, I thought to go visit someone I haven't seen in a few weeks. I open the doors and walk up to the check-in desk.

"Hi Daniel! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Hey Kate. Yeah I've been busy with things."

"Well it's good to see you back! Are you checking in on your mom?"

"Yup. How is she doing?"

"Last I heard, there wasn't any improvement. She's still unresponsive."

"Ok. I'll go visit her." I walk down the hall and into a room. My mom is laying lifeless in her bed all hooked up to the machines. I sit in a chair next to her bed. I could never bring myself to talk to her in this state. Not that it mattered anyway, but today I needed to vent. I start to talk about Lucy and all the fun times I've had with her. I talk about how things were getting worse at home. I guess all of the emotions got to me as tears started to well up in my eye.

An hour had passed before the sun started to set. I grabbed my jacket and headed for home. As I approach the rundown house and open the door, the sounds of the TV blared and the stench of beer filled my nostrils. No matter how often I smell it, it always seems to smell worse the next day. The floor littered with empty cans of beer and half-eaten take-out from various restaurants.

"Dan! You finally home you piece of shit?!" Loud shouting came from the kitchen. My dad stumbles into the messy living room in his usual attire, a grey stained tank top and ripped up jeans. He's holding a half empty bottle of liquor in one hand.

"You fucking brat. You better have a good explanation of why you were out so late!"

"It's only 6pm."

"Don't talk back to me!" He rushes towards me to get into my face. "I'm the man of this house! If I don't get respect, then you can just live on the streets for all I care! You should be grateful that I haven't kicked you out yet!!" He chews me out for several minutes, yelling and spitting in my face the whole time. Eventually the game that's playing on the tv takes his attention and he starts yelling and swearing at it. As he became immersed in the game, I took the opportunity to sneak into my room before he started to beat me.

I close and lock my door behind me and just stare at my semi-clean room. All I have in the room is a dresser and a bed. I sit down on my bed, tormented by my thoughts. Today was nothing but a reminder of how screwed up my life is. Nothing I seem to do changes anything. Is this what is supposed to happen? Is this fate? Destiny? Screw that shit. The person who should decide that is me! If this is the "fate" I am to live, then I curse my fate! Why should I have to live this life? I would do anything to get the life I deserve after all these years of abuse and misery.

"You 'deserve'?" A voice of a woman rings all around me, taking me out of my thoughts. I'm no longer in my room. I'm sitting on a stool on a glowing white platform in the middle of the endless void of space. "What makes you think you deserve anything?"

I turn around and see the woman that was speaking to me. She looks like a goddess in robes that shines like the universe that surrounds us. Perfectly white hair flows down to her rather large chest and her emerald eyes seem to sparkle. Clearly there was only one thing on my mind.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I AND WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" What did you think is on my mind?

"I am Destiny, one of the keepers of fate but do not worry Daniel Moore, you are in a safe place at the moment."

"I've got to be dreaming. This is one of those lucid dreams right? It's the only explanation."

"There are many powers in the universe that mankind cannot comprehend. You were brought to this place to be judged for the crime of cursing Fate."

"The hell?"

"Fate brought you to me so that I can ask you a question."

"What question?"

"What would you do to change your fate?"

The question shook me to my core! This is the very question I wanted someone to ask. So without hesitation I utter with determination in my eyes only one word: "Anything!"

Destiny stares into my eyes and emits an intimidating aura and says, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Well then," the goddess sighs, "don't blame me for what happens to you next."

"Huh?" There's a blinding flash and I find myself in the middle of a crowd with more and more people flashing into existence. But that's not the strangest thing either. Some of these people don't look human. Some have horns, tentacles, wings, and even tails! Creatures of different shapes and sizes start to fill up a small grassy plain. A gate stands tall looming over us with the inscription 'Those who defy fate beware'. Behind the gate is a mountain covered in a lush forest and crawling with exotic creatures. The mountain pierces the clouds. The sun was shining brightly overhead but I could still see the ever expansive universe beyond that.

"What the hell is going on?" Someone cries out.

"Where am I?" Another person shouts. More shouts of confusion in different unknown languages rang through the area. It's absolute chaos! Some are running around and attacking other people! I start to push through the crowd to get to safety but I get knocked onto the ground by a man with four arms. The four-armed man winds up for a punch when an unknown force freezes everyone in place. I try to muster the strength to move my limbs but I can't! It's as if my body is frozen in time but I'm still conscious.

"My my. Aren't we a rowdy bunch!" The voice of a man breaks the brief silence. "Now that I have your attention, I must ask that you calm yourselves so that the situation can be explained." The man is now in view as he moves four-arms off of me. He has short, grey hair and is dressed like a catholic priest. He's carrying a glowing pocket watch n his hand as he moves people away from each other. He clicked a button on the watch and it's as if time moves for us again.

"What the hell was that?!" I couldn't help but ask out loud.

"Please be patient. All will be explained when my colleagues arrive." I definitely don't want to argue with the man who can freeze us in place and by the looks of it, I'm not the only one. Many of us are reluctant to make any comments or attack the priest. Some however run towards him only to get frozen in place.

"So uncivilized," he sighs.

A guy who looks about my age wearing a jumpsuit starts to shout, "Uncivilized? Aren't you the one who took us from our homes? And you call us uncivilized?! Why don't you get off your high horse! I'm not going to sit here and wait for your friends to show up! I bet you can't handle someone of my skill without that time stopping thingy!"

"Silence!" A bone chilling voice pierces into our very soul as shadows swirl next to him, forming the silhouette of a tall, thin, cloaked being. He doesn't even look human. "You're so loud you'd wake the dead." The guy in the jumpsuit starts to scream until he faints. To be honest, I don't blame the guy. The giant cloaked man has an aura of terror surrounding him, shadows covering his face and hands.

"Grim, you didn't have to frighten the poor lad to death. We need everyone conscious when the other two arrive."

"And who said you were in charge of me, Father Thyme?!"

Father Thyme and Grim? Could they have picked more obvious names for themselves?! A light shimmers in between the two and Destiny appears between them.

"I see you boys are already here. But where's Kid?"

"He's running late as usual. I swear he has no sense of urgency." Father Thyme scoffs.

"He's slower than death." Grim adds. A bright light shines through the clouds above us. A giant eagle made of light soars through the sky. Laughter rings through the sky. A kid is riding the eagle with a golden spear in hand. Just as the eagle gets overhead it vanishes and the boy drops down on top of Destiny rubbing his face in her breasts.

"Hi Destiny!"

"Get off of me you little creep!" She goes to smack the kid but he runs away laughing.

"Enough foolishness, Kid! Now that the four administrators are here, we need to address the new comers."

"Aww. Come on! Can't we just have some fun?"

"Shut up Kid. We're dead serious."

"Fate himself is about to arrive and we need to address the new Cursors about their unfortunate situation."

"Fine." The four of them turn to us. Such an unusual group. Kid takes his spear and a glowing aura surrounds him. "Welcome Cursors, to the Trials of Fate!"