Young Writers Society

"What do you know about his fate?" a woman's voice hissed.

She wasn't seen at first, but then she flashed into view at the middle of the room. She was tall, skinny, pale. Long dark hair and hardened blue eyes. It was the girl and the woman from the projections.

She paused, giving everyone a quick glare. "You will see Elias soon. But right now, I have been called to testify."

Suddenly her eyes softened as if she remembered what it was she was here to do. She let out a bow. "My name is Evaline," she said, head still bowed while her silky hair flowed past her shoulders. "I am Elias's friend. Or... was." She stood up straight, her face darkening. "I was friends with who he was before, but not who he will be. No one is friends with who he will be."

She glanced around the classroom and a small sad smile fell across her face. "It's funny, me being called here. This was the classroom we were in nearly everyday." She gestured to the seat Maggie was next to. "I sat right there, in the middle of our little group. Elias was at the end of the row, but he may have been in the center." Her smile faded as she looked back at the rest of the dark classroom, noticing the disheveled chairs and supplies thrown about. "Of course, this was also the classroom where everything changed as well," she said softly.

Evaline took a slow deep breath before proceeding. "I can understand why you refused last time. I have no idea why Sohiro was called to testify. You were right," she said, nodding to Annabeth. "He was likely trying to manipulate you. That's what he does. He's a manipulator."

She gently extended her hands and the same black knife appeared, glinting in her hands.

"But I am not."

She slowly fell to her knees.

"I am not here to manipulate you or force you to pick an option. I am here to give insight and answer any questions you may have." Her grip around the knife tightened. "But before I do, I just want to say—it's all true. Everything you have seen, it will be true. It cannot be changed through other ways besides this. I've tried. It won't work. He will go on to take the lives of many people." She paused before quietly saying, "And he will go on to take the life of mine, too."

Evaline looked up, making sure to give everyone a brief moment of eye contact. "I want you to carefully think this through before finalizing on your decision," she said blankly before bowing while on her knees, extending the knife out. "Please."

Maggie stared at the knife. A killer of children. His own children. It shouldn't have made a difference, but somehow it did. Irrefutably from the mouth of this woman. Another of his eventual victims.

Do you kill the man before he commits the crime?

Mama had never offered guidance on matters like these. Kronos was scattered and his power was stagnant. The possibility of time travel in any way was never on the table when Maggie was growing up.

But here they were, the future before them.

"Why are we the executioners?" Maggie asked finally. There was a clear reason Maggie might be chosen, given that they knew more about them than tey should, but everyone else? They didn't seem like the types to be chosen for this kind of task. Hades, after all, was on the council of the dead, and would judge the soul once it reached his kingdom anyway. No one else here had anything to do with such foul matters. "No one here signed up for this. This is just involuntary torment."

Evaline slow sat up straight, still holding the knife. "Only you can answer that question," she said in response to Maggie. "But perhaps I can offer guidance."

She looked at everyone as if she were scanning for answers, specifically at the order of Maggie, Kazimir, Annabeth, and Hades. "A hitman. An impulsive killer. A monster hunter. The god of death. The four of you have transcended time and space to come together and experience each other's journey of self-discovery."

Evaline paused. "In Elias's case, this is the only time that his fate can be changed, and so the universe has intervened with this trial. I am sorry if being here is frightening. But please, understand the significance of this case." She bowed her head again. "Discuss if you must. Ask questions if you must. But please, think this through carefully."

"And what if we conclude that we're not going to kill him? It's hardly a fair trial if you're going to force the conclusion."

Maggie ignored what she'd said about them, what she knew. Tey hoped the others would ignore it as well.

Hades wasn't entirely sure which descriptor belonged to which member of their group besides himself, but he decided it was best to put it to the side for now and question it later. Stopping Elias from being killed seemed like a much more pressing issue.

"I agree with Maggie," Hades said. "Even though you say you're not a manipulator like Sohiro, you still are trying to change our original decision."

He thought for a moment.

"...You said that this was the only time to change his fate," Hades added. He looked the woman in the eyes. "There has to be other ways to change it besides deciding to kill him right now. You might have tried changing his fate before, but you never tried changing it with us presenting. That's four other people who could potentially alter it. Killing him seems like an extreme option, especially when you haven't explained why he caused those deaths in the first place."

“Yeah, and Sohiro f***ing, stabbed him,” Kazimir spat, finally able to gather his thoughts enough to pitch in to this jury duty he didn’t sign up for.

“That’ll f*** you up big time, and I would know. My old man stabbed me in the kidney, and I’m f***ed up as hell. My money’s on Sohiro for screwing with the kid.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Kaz. Even Greta didn't swear so much.

"I agree with the others," said Annabeth. She smoothed the wrinkles on her skirt and sat down at one of the desks. "I don't hunt monsters until after they've committed the 'crime.'"

Annabeth stood back up, feeling antsy. "Why is the Elias on the screen killing everyone?"

Evaline slowly stood up, flicking her eyes between everyone as they talked, her eyebrows getting more and more furrowed as her calm and composed demeanor started to unravel.

"Stabbing..?" she repeated, voice trailing off like she had no idea what Kazimir was talking about. "What do you... ugh. Okay." At this point, her face was swirled with irritation as she closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose, trying to think this though. "So clearly, Sohiro told you nothing. Great, okay, of course he didn't."

She sighed and turned to Maggie. "I'm not forcing you to do anything," she said. "And I'm not forcing anything on to Elias, either. As far as I know, no one kills him, because no one can."

"And you," she said, turning to Hades. "That's the whole point." She couldn't help but stare at him like he was a complete idiot. "I want you to change his fate, but I'm telling you, it's impossible—until now." Her hands gripped the knife harder. "If you can figure out another way, be my guest, but you're wasting your time."

She lingered her daggering glare at him before turning to Annabeth, her eyes relaxing. "I once said the same thing as you," she said softly. "I don't go after monsters until after they've committed the crime. I was reactive, not preventative." She paused as a look of hurt flashed across her face. "And I've paid the price."

Silence briefly hung in the room as Evaline closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. "You all want to know why and how Elias killed. Very well."

She looked down at the knife. It should have reflected back her face, but it didn't.

"The simple explanation is..." She paused, her brows scrunched in thought as she tried to think of the words to simplify this as much as possible. "He has this ability to heal himself. Call it magic, if you want. But with this magic, you can't create something out of nothing." Her eyes hardened as she made brief eye contact with everyone, settling on Kazimir. "Healing comes at a cost if you avoid death."

Kaz wasn't sure he was following.

"Well, how the f*** did he end up out there killing people anyway? It's not like the kid woke up one day and was like 'I'm gonna murder people for fun!' Maybe someone should take the kid to f***in' therapy or something before he starts goin' off the rails--"

That's what some people had told him he should've done. But Kazimir was just fed up at this point.

"If you really tried so hard to save him maybe go back in f'in time and sh*t and just stop it where it starts. Hell, you were able to show us his future, can't you go back in time, then? F***in' hell."

Maggie shifted away from Kazimir as he ranted but kept their attention on the woman who played judge.

"Magical abilities aren't cause to sentence someone to death," Maggie said evenly, "They aren't even relevant. Unless you mean to say that he killed, or will kill, those people because of that vague 'cost' you eluded to?"

They couldn't help the frustrated sigh that slipped out. The constant semantics and drama were tiring. Why couldn't they just be given all of the evidence? If they were going to be forced to play jury then they deserved to be given a fair look at all of the evidence. Even then, Maggie doubted this group would move to kill him. Sure, they all dealt in death in one way or another, but it was much, much different when the person you're supposed to be killing is young and already someone you know.

Maggie cut the woman off before she could even begin to respond. "Oh, nevermind. We're not your executioners. No one's killing anyone today and, frankly, what Elias may or may not do in the future has nothing to do with the rest of us. Deal with your own issues, or hire someone properly to take care of it for you. Leave bystanders out of your messy business."

Hades didn't reply to the woman's response. He knew that she would continue to debate him - in all honesty, she reminded him a little of his niece. Once Artemis started up an argument, she wasn't likely to stop until something else came up.

He listened to what the woman had to say. What she described made sense. There was a reason there were few healers among mortals; their souls didn't have the energy to supply to other people.

He didn't have anything else to add to the conversation. He could say that there were alternatives, just like he already had. He could even try listing them. Elias could be shown his future. Elias could visit someone who didn't die whenever he needed to heal - like Hades. Or Sohiro could be punished for his treatment of Elias, seeing that he was probably where it all started.

But Kaz and Maggie had already voiced their objections, and Hades sincerely doubted the woman wouldn't try to refute whatever he added in.

Instead, he softly said, "Bring us back to Elias."

Annabeth twirled her hair around her fingers as tears sprung to her eyes. Through the blurry lines, her finger looked like it was on fire.

She didn't want to kill Elias. She didn't want to kill anyone. Elias had been so sweet, so kind. Sure, he could be a little silly, but he was a kid. She did silly things too.

To have his blood on her hands...

The Monster Hunter was expected to kill to protect their people. But, Annabeth hadn't killed any monsters so far. Nothing bad had come out of that.

It was an ethical dilemma worthy of an Oscar.

Annabeth had seen people get killed in movies. They were fake, of course, but it still felt unnatural.

She didn't want to see the light leave Elias's eyes; she didn't want to hear the gurgles of his dying breath.

Kazimir was cursing up a storm, and Maggie was also protesting.

"Bring us back to Elias," said Hades softly.

Annabeth brushed the tears away before anyone could see them, not wanting to appear weak. She clasped her hands.

"Yes, we want to see our friend," she asked. Annabeth's voice grew stronger. "Evaline, please. We want to hear him speak from his own mouth."

Evaline listened intently to everyone talk, but she had to repress a smile and a laugh the entire time—especially after Kazimir's spiel. And when they all finished with once again another hard 'no,' she couldn't hold it in anymore. She let out a loud, mirthless laugh while shaking her head with a disappointed smile.

"Now that's just precious," she said when finished, but her venomous tone didn't match the airy laughter. "Fine. If it's Elias you want, then it's him you'll see."

Across the room, adult Elias flashed into view, and he was the spitting image of the last projection they saw. He didn't look like he'd be older than his early twenties, but even so, the clear appearance change compared to the teen Elias everyone knew was drastically different. Adult Elias was quite a bit taller and robust with well-kept hair and fitted black clothes, but at the same time, he looked sickly and paranoid, like he hadn't eaten or slept for days.

For a moment, Evaline was still in the room with him, and the both of them made eye contact, with Evaline in particular holding the deadly glare. Her projection disappeared like dust in the wind before either of them could say or do anything.

As she disappeared, Elias shifted his gaze to everyone else in the room. Unlike Sohiro's hostile taunts and Evaline's magnetic assessment, this older Elias didn't seem to know what to say. In fact, he seemed to be in a daze with half-glassed eyes, like he wasn't fully attentive despite the steep consequences.

"You know what I'm capable of doing," he said slowly in a deep dry voice. This was the first time that he could be heard clearly as an adult. "Yet, you still chose to spare my life."

A few tense moments passed before he extended his shaky hands in front of him, the black knife appearing once more.

"But what if..."

He paused, eyebrows lightly furrowed like he was trying to find the right words to say.

"What if I ask you to end my life?"

His grip tightened around the knife, with one finger tightening along the the sharp edge. A perceptive person may notice that a small sliver of blood started to pool on his finger.

He looked up at the each of them with an unexplainable sadness in his eyes that contrasted so differently to the bright and goofy Elias they knew.

"Don't do it for them," he said softly. "Do it for me."

Maggie's expression dulled to one akin to that of an apathetic desk worker. I don't do assisted suicides. The words were right on the tip of their tongue. They only managed to catch them the millisecond before they escaped.

Their present company, the fact that Elias was not a client, and the fact that they weren't being paid for any of this, all returned to them.

They sighed instead. "Elias," they said slowly, "if you want someone to kill you, hire and pay them like a civilized person. No one here quite has the stomach for such a matter. All of us may be killers in some form or another, but we all have our motives. You don't fit the bill."

Hades wanted to object to Maggie's comment on being a killer, but he decided now wasn't the best time to bring it up. He also wanted to object to the Elias that had appeared being the older Elias instead of the younger one. That seemed like it was slightly more pressing to address, but he doubted he would get far if he tried bringing it up.

"Why are you so willing to die?" he asked. "Life isn't something that should be given up so quickly. And even if you do want to die - and if you aren't an illusion of this place - then why do you need us to kill you? Maggie is right. None of us want to kill you. I don't deal death. I never have. I just assist those who have already passed on and have ended up in my domain."