As he stood before her, John considered what he should do. In his world, kneeling, or at least bowing, would be suitable. But here, he had no idea. He looked back to the door to see if the man who guided him had any advice, but the sight made him forget why he turned around in the first place.

The door was simply floating in the air, while the wall was nowhere to be seen, just like on the other side of the room. This space seemed somehow disconnected from the rest of the world, stretching eternally in all directions.

He turned back to her and noticed her smile had widened further. “This is my personal domain, John. It is separated from the world, a place where I can exert my influence without care. All weavers can make one, but some choose to exert their influence directly on the world they reside in instead.”

Many questions formed in John’s mind, but he was unsure of what he could ask, or if he was even allowed to speak.

Seeing his hesitant curiosity, the Lady chortled. “You’re allowed to speak, John. But we don’t want to keep your group for too long, so I’ll tell you why I asked you to come first.”

‘Could you stop reading my face like that? Serah does that enough already… Are my thoughts really that obvious?’

She gestured to the strings inside the piano, glowing faintly. “As you might have guessed from my title, I can influence fate. It’s not very noticeable, but if I tilt a few things in our favor it could have great results. A letter getting lost, or a missing shoe, or a breeze of wind tilting an arrow ever so slightly… With each note I play, I can cause small changes that might have massive effects on the world.”

She looked back at John with narrowed eyes. “But on some occasions, there are strings I cannot play. Strings that, for whatever reason, are impossible to change. And let me tell you, they make me feel very powerless.”

John felt guilty for some reason, sensing that she was referring to his string. He pointed to himself with a questioning look.

She smiled again but shook her head. “No, not your string. Yours is still malleable, but it’s getting harder to influence. And the reason is your girlfriend. Her string is immovable.”

She held her hands up like she was holding an invisible thread. Then, from the air, a golden string appeared between her fingers. “This is her fate, unbending and strong.”

‘What? So Serah’s fate is already decided?!’

He looked at it in wonder but felt a certain anxiety wash over him. This made it clear she was special in some way, unlike himself. He couldn’t help but fear there would be a chasm between them in the future—one he could never cross with only effort.

“... Then what’s the reason? Why is her fate unchangeable?”

The Lady shook her head. “I only have theories. One cause could be a stronger power than my own, influencing it somehow, but I don’t know how that’s possible. My powers are the strongest on earth, so it would have to be from somewhere else in that case.

A second theory is that some fates simply cannot be changed, but I doubt that. Every string I play should have some form of influence on hers, simply by her being in contact with those people. But even trying to change your fate has had no effect on hers.”

John felt his heart drop. Had she somehow influenced his fate? Was she the reason he even got close to Serah in the first place?

“What… did you do?” he asked, trying to keep his anger hidden.

“Oh, nothing bad. I made sure Captain Dirk was responsible for your testing, and that you were sent out to fight in the attack that day. I’m not sure why, but something changed quite drastically after I did that.”

‘... Because of the golden enchantment? I never would have gotten it if things were slightly different? That’s… well, thank God she did. It might be what I need to keep Serah safe in the future.’

“But… then how much can you see? In the future?” he asked, feeling like little more than a puppet at the moment.

“Almost nothing. Every time I play a note, I see a glimpse of the future. But it’s never enough to make a sound judgment. It’s… extremely frustrating. Can you imagine knowing that a certain sequence of keys would give us the best possible future, without having any idea what it is?”

She stared at the keys on the piano with an anguished look and sighed deeply. “So I can only do my best with the glimpses I see. I don’t know what Serah will become, but I know she might be very important. And that’s why I wanted to speak with you.”

She turned back to John, looking him straight in the eyes. John sensed she was about to say something important, so he bravely met her stare.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Prioritise her over everything else. Even in a situation where you get a choice between her and the rest of the expedition you’re going with, choose her. Keep her safe, whatever might happen. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

‘Ah, so she doesn’t know everything about me, then. That’s good.’

John smiled and tapped his heart with his fist, staring back at her confidently. “I’m very selfish, My Lady. I was never going to prioritize other lives over those I care about. So you have nothing to worry about; that was my intention from the start.”

She smiled down at him again and nodded. “Then follow your heart, John. That’s an order.”

She turned back to the piano and opened the cover, getting ready to play the notes of fate again. “I’ve taken up enough of your precious time, so please find your way back to the expedition. And good luck! It’s going to be a special one.”

Unsure of how to interpret her words, John bowed deeply before walking back to the door hanging in the air. ‘Let’s hope it’s a special one in a good way…’

A short hour later, one hundred breakers stood in front of the head of the expedition, Invoker Hans, and his four assistant aspecters. Behind him was the portal, which stood in stark contrast to the tightly guarded surroundings.

It was standing like a giant window into a different world, with unknown vegetation and geology John had never imagined. Some mountains in the distance seemed almost like claws standing up from the ground, and every tree he could see had giant green leaves stretching into the sky.

A resounding roar brought his attention back to his side of the portal as Hans started his speech. “Breakers! You’re right to take a good look at that landscape because most of you will likely never come back from that portal!”

John thought Hans looked fairly normal considering his status as an invoker, but there was a certain gravity to his presence.

‘Scaring us before entering to keep us on our toes?’

“But those of you that do return will be much stronger, capable of helping humanity in our war against these bastards! I realize that most of you lack the ties to this Earth that might make the fight worth it, but know that the end of humanity means the end of all humanity, regardless of what world they live in.”

John nodded silently, and he could see others doing the same. They all knew the gravity of losing this war, perhaps even more so than the people of this world.

“These missions are essential, and that is because we need more soldiers in this war. Each seed sown here today has the potential to grow into a massive tree, supporting humanity into the future. Is it you?” He pointed to one of the breakers in the front, who seemed to freeze up.

“Is it you?” he asked again, to someone else standing further back. John didn’t see the response, but Hans kept pointing. “Is it you?” he said as he pointed to John.

‘Damn right it’s me!’

John smiled and nodded in response, making Hans nod slightly and stop his pointing.

“You all have potential, and it’s up to us to make it shine. You’ve all been briefed on the program: five-man squads in five-squad formations led by an aspecter, moving through the wilderness and signaling the aspecter if anything unexpected appears.”

This had been said a few times by now, but it was important information, so John didn’t mind the repetition. ‘And the squads will be assigned after reaching the outpost, after which we will be leaving right away to start fighting… Let’s go already!’

“All of you should have received sufficient combat practice by now, but let me be clear; none of you are ready to face a demon at this point. Even in a squad, you will need to steer clear if you meet one. They are the number one cause of death in these missions, so never underestimate them.”

John sort of really wanted to fight a demon, but his inexperience in dealing with any aspect they might have made him accept that they could prove too challenging for him at the moment.

“Everyone, do what you can to survive and grow stronger! Only then can you come back here, only then can you reach your goals, and only then can you help humanity survive! Let’s get going!”

‘Finally, we’re starting!’ John thought. He glanced over at a nervous-looking Serah, patted her on the shoulder, and was rewarded with a nervous smile.

‘I’ve been ordered to protect that smile. The Lady might as well have ordered me to breathe.’

Hans had turned around and started walking into the portal together with the aspecters beside him. Nothing special seemed to happen as he walked through, other than the lighting changing gradually.

All the breakers started following after him, some looking nervous, some looking excited, and some simply looking curious.

As more and more of the sky came into view, John caught himself staring at everything around him. It was magical, walking into an entirely new world separated from Earth by billions of miles.

‘Can you even call those trees? They look more like giant plants, completely green.’

The portal opened up to a great view of the planet, with varied vegetation and geology everywhere. The area around the portal was obviously guarded, so no animals or monsters could be seen yet, but John could hear some roars in the distance.

‘So this is our home for the near future… I could get used to it.’

The group kept walking on the road straight ahead of the portal, eventually escaping its forest-like surroundings. There was still a lot of tall grass on the ground, but they would be able to see any approaching enemies in this terrain.

Out of nowhere, a resounding quake could be heard, stopping everyone in their tracks. It sounded like the planet was breaking apart, bringing sounds of destruction from its core.

John looked around curiously, but he didn’t see any obvious source of the loud noise. He looked over at Hans, hoping this was a normal occurrence here.

But he could not be more wrong. Hans had his hands on his forehead, bent over and kneeling, as if in despair. “This can’t be happening!” he heard him shout.

‘Uh oh…’