“What?” Ever and Zoe blurted in unison.

  Nyx chuckled into the back of her hand. “We’ve been watching you for a long time, Zoe. We think you’re finally ready.”

  “We?” Zoe asked.

  “The Primordials,” Ever said. Zoe looked at him, a question in her eyes. “Do you remember them coming by the Pagoto’s stall at Mid-Summer Nights?”

  “I remember you, of course,” Zoe said. “But not much else. It was so crowded and busy.”

  “Do you remember an old lady next to you? You helped her put her business card into our prize draw.” Zoe scrunched her eyes shut, then nodded. “That was Gaia, Mother Nature.” Ever couldn’t resist a grin as her jaw hit the bed.

  “There was another older man working with me, not sure if you remember him. He’s Chaos, who’s the first god in existence to come from the Void.”

  “Is there anyone here who isn’t a god?” Zoe said, throwing her hands in the air in mock exasperation.

  “I’m not a god,” Ever said.

  “You will be soon,” Nyx said, looking warmly at her son. “Once Thanatos passes his mantle to you at the end of your apprenticeship on Earth.”

  “So why me?” Zoe said. A sliver of hope, something Ever hadn’t heard in her voice in weeks, shone from her innocent question.

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  “It’s not all the time you get an apprentice reaper visiting Earth for work experience,” Nyx said. “It just so happened that the stars aligned and the two of you came together. This sparked your potential to Ascend and you have been nurturing it greatly as a healer of animals of all shapes and sizes. It was no surprise to us when Ever’s skill of conversing with animals organically transposed to you, only further taking you closer to the Cusp of Ascension. Of course, there is the matter of your illness. This is the impediment standing in the way of you becoming a goddess and joining us.”

  Nyx visibly relaxed, as if even she were glad to have finally gotten that off her chest.

  “So,” Ever said slowly, “will the Moirai be able to show us just how long Zoe has to Ascend before she dies?”

  Instead of answering, Nyx looked toward her daughter. The Moirai swept back to the center of the room. In one smooth movement she cast her distaff into the air. It settled onto an invisible bracket and floated horizontally. From there, the spindle spun as the glowing white yarn unwound itself towards her open arms, raised towards the heavens.

  In her right hand a ruler with a seemingly infinitesimal number of notches appeared, while in her left, she clasped a small pair of shears. This hand lashed out frighteningly fast, like a viper, snapping at the yarn, cutting it in two places. As the distaff reeled back the yarn, the thread that had been cut pulled itself taut at Moirai’s chest level. She held the ruler parallel to the thread, where it grew to match its length.

  When she was done measuring, the ruler and the shears disappeared in a puff of dusty, light motes, while the distaff found itself tucked in the crook of her elbow once more. Zoe cringed back slightly as the Moirai glided towards her, pinching the length of light thread in both hands. Drawing courage from Ever's hands on her shoulders, she tentatively extended her hand towards her. The Moirai looped the glowing thread around her left wrist, knotting it, before stepping away.

  In her three voices layered as one, she said: “you have 100 days left to live.”