Death observed the modest gathering in front of him that was growing smaller and smaller by the minute. His gaze soon fell upon the scepter in his right hand, glistening in the cold afternoon, waiting for its power to be unleashed.

By this time all the goddesses had left, but the frail old women of the Ashen Coven stood rooted in their spots, bound by the power of the scepter to their master.

"You three are known as the Fates, or the Norns, caretakers of Yggdrassil, correct?"

"Yes Master," the three chorused in unison.

"You are also known as Past, Present, and Future, correct?"

"Yes Master."

"Urðr, Verðandi, Skuld, come with me."

Death swiveled on his bony heels, walking briskly towards the room in which the brash girl was kept.

His cloak billowed behind him and through a labyrinth of twists and turns Death navigated his way through his fortress until he reached a room with a ordinary door. He turned and observed the three women standing closely behind him, until Verðandi stretched her hand and gestured toward the solid oak door.

Death pounded his scepter once on the floor, and with a slight creak the door gradually opened and halted to a stop. The scene that greeted the four of them was one Death had never seen in all his years of existence.

Amita was tied with glossy black ropes suffocating her body. Raven was hovering over her in an intimidating stance, with her wooden staff clutched tightly in her left hand. She was looking at their assembly with evident animosity, but her eyes quickly glazed over and the black ropes strangling Amita quickly subsided. The ropes binding Amita contracted to form a raven, which flew up to perch on Raven's angular shoulder.

The tall skeletal woman quickly fixed the lion's skin that was draped over her shoulder, tucked flyaways into her tightly knit bun of hair, and smoothed the pleats of her long cotton dress until she looked presentable again.

"Your servant, Amita, was not a very good host. I expected better conduct in Death's castle than the poor treatment I got here."

Death hammered his scepter once more against the smooth marble floor, and the door quickly shut, a draft billowing through the Fates' heavy skirts.

"I reserve my amenities for guests, not intruders."

A muscular hand shot out of his black cloak and a sliver of blue fire shot out of each of his fingers. The blue flames quickly wrapped around each other to form a cage around Raven.

"Is there something you would like to know?" she asked, calmly holding the spirals of blue flames that surrounded her.

Death was perturbed by the ease with which Raven held the cage.

"You're imprisoned by hellfire," Death pointed out while uncovering his head to produce wheat-colored hair, piercing blue eyes, and a face full of freckles.

Raven's pout tilted upwards and in a condescending voice revealed, "I know."

Death's expression did not waver, and instead he instructed, "Sit."

Her wary eyes never left his figure once as she gently sat herself on the ground. Death started to circle the cage like a scavenging vulture, and he began what he came there to do.

"I am going to ask you questions about yourself. Behind me stand three women. Do you know who they are?" Death questioned forcefully.

"I believe they are known as the Fates to the Greeks, and the Norns to the Scandinavians, other cultures have other interpretations of them as well, but this is they're most common occurrence in history or so I believe."

"Correct. By any chance do you know why they're here?"

"Would you like me to fathom a guess?"

"Yes."

"They will verify the story which you are about to interrogate me for."

"Correct. Essentially you are in no position to lie around them."

A crooked smile flitted across her lips, but it left as quickly as it came. Death noted the reaction, but paid it no further attention and carried on with his questions.

"What is your name?"

"Raven."

"Is this your birth name?"

"No."

"What name was given to you at birth?"

"Margaret Scott."

A wisp of a memory tugged at the furthest corner of Death's mind. He quickly turned toward the Norns and demanded, "Is this true?"

They croaked, "Yes Master," in unison.

He turned toward her once again, his coiffed hair still perfectly in place.

His gaze slitted, and with renewed energy he dove once more into the ongoing cross-examination.

"What branch of creatures do you fall under?"

"At one point human, then witch, then demon, now goddess."

In a menacing tone, Death stated, "I am not here to play games."

"She is not, Master," interrupted the eldest of the Norns, Urðr.

"What blasphemy is this? Tell me immediately," Death seethed.

From the depths of their empty eye sockets, a faint blue light appeared and in an eerie, powerful voice the three of them said in unison, "Powers greater than yourself are at work, Death. While we live to serve you, you are not the only master whom we must serve."

It was at that point a deep rumble occurred throughout the room which they stood in, and a deep crack formed in the marble ceiling that hung high above them.

Death clenched his fists and sent blue hellfire running up the lengths of the walls so they formed a makeshift net across the roof.

Death bellowed, "NO ONE LEAVES UNTIL THIS IS OVER!"

He then directed the Fates into securing the walls of his tumbling castle, but all of them stood stock still.

"Well? I AM YOUR MASTER, DO AS I SAY!"

Skuld looked at Death in the eye and cackled, "With Death, comes Life."

His entire form quivered, and Death screamed while his entire being, quite literally, burned his own palace to the ground, blue hellfire imploding from his figure.

But not everyone felt his fury, as a protective bubble shielded the Fates, Raven, and a dark, hunched figure that dropped to the ground from the ceiling she sat upon earlier.

The Fates made their way to Raven, while the roof climber did the same. When they reached Raven, the four of them saw her manipulating the flames that imprisoned her as if it were air, slowly twisting and turning the fire as it turned from a blue to red shade, and eventually, a brown, wispy smoke.

"I think I knocked tha' one inta yo' mighty fine noggin o' yo's don'cha think?"

Raven quickly turned toward the source of the voice and smiled.

"Well of course Aisha, did you think I was taking credit?" she jested.

The old, wrinkled slave in her plain cotton clothes smiled, baring teeth that shone brighter than the Sun. "I don' know what goes on anymo' to tell ya' the truth," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Aisha then turned to the three elderly women who stood near them, and with an agile flick of her wrist, the Fates turned into three fair maidens right before Raven's eyes.

Raven raised an eyebrow at the elderly slave, and looked at her worn hands before looking back up at her face, more specifically her eyes, which shone bright with life.

"A witch's life fo' me, don'cha think?" she said, grinning.

Raven grinned while looking at the three, much younger, women who were patiently watching their entire exchange, almost as if waiting for them to finish.

"I'm so sorry Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos," Aisha said while bowing her head to each, as if with deep regret, "for wasting yo' time o' day."

Atropos, the woman at the end of the line with thick, long black hair murmured, "A master should not apologize to her servants, yet you defy laws countless times. If you deem our time worth wasting, we shall do so, unless a higher power proclaims otherwise."

She had the only eye amongst the three Fates, whirring in her sockets, watching the hellfire burn a path of destruction across Death's open, soulless fields.

"Well, I believe I don't require to waste your time, and instead, I'd like you to tell Raven what you see in her Future," she said pointedly towards Skuld.

And so the woman stated with a lulling voice, "Death is in search of a heart. His heart, specifically. As the tale goes, this... item, is not necessarily one that exists. However, there is proof, hidden within the depths of legends and others tales that there is in fact something that bears resemblance to such an artifact. While he was born," her eyes quickly shifted to Aisha, but with a slight nod from her she continued, "from Life's heart, it appears that a shard of her own heart gave Death his soul."

Raven shot a quizzical glance at Aisha.

Clotho explained, "You must understand, that while Death is in fact a spirit, even spirits have the five essentials of life according to the Egyptians: the heart, shadow, name, personality, and a vital spark. The Egyptians and the Norse have delved deeper than many other cultures into this idea. The Egyptians named them Jb, Sheut, Ren, Bâ, and Ka respectively. Scandinavians have a similar concept, where these ideas can be compared to the Hamr, Lik, Önd, Hugr, and Vördr, however this is not a strict comparison, as their interpretation does include many variations.

"From the region Kali originates, they have a term that differentiates spirits from that of creatures, prana, an idea that they have further separated into the seven chakras. The belief of Mazu's people is similar, and they call this life energy qi. Greeks have the term pneuma, but the idea of the Incas is geared much more towards that of creation, that it is the Sun's energy that is, in essence, a creature's life force.

"While each interpretation is correct, each represents different aspects of each of the nine worlds that branch from the initial Mother Tree; Yggdrasil."

By this point Aisha was getting impatient. Looking at their surroundings and observing the chaos while tapping her bare, muddy toes and fidgeting her fingers were adequate proof of the fact.

Raven interrupted their lecture, "So.. Death's heart?" she prodded.

Atropos took control of the conversation once more, "Right, of course, so essentially, you must travel towards the land of Caliphs, there, find the Djinn and you will barter with him. A word of caution: The Djinn you will encounter is a formidable force because he was created a mere 200 years ago, meaning he will be brash and violent, and you will feel his fury if you do not barter with an open, yet careful mind."

"He will grant you three wishes in return for your exchange; while we cannot tell you what to do, we suggest you ask for 1.) The Norse Prophecy, 2.) The Grecian Prophecy, and 3.) A method of travel to your next destination."

"If you veer from the path we outlined above, help will not save you as readily as Future sees as of now," Lachesis stressed, her tone filled with urgency.

Aisha suddenly grabbed Raven's cold, pointed elbows in her large, warms hands and scolded, "Do ya' hear wha' she said? After we git home, I'm gonna die, I can feel it in ma' bones. That means this quest of your is gonna be on yo' time, and I'm not gonna be able to help."

Suddenly, the roar of the surrounding hellfire ceased, and suddenly, a tall, dark figure stood near them.

"How nice of you lovely ladies to stop by and have some tea."

Aisha created a field of yellow light around their party, and then the five women were gone.