Tachi watched the scene in silence. Verdandi spoke first. "We know that day haunts you," she said mockingly, before Skuld added,
"It all happened so fast, didn't it?"
Suddenly, the ground beneath the three men's feet turned black, so black that no light reflected off it. Filaments of an equally dark energy seeped out of the floor.
The younger Tachi reacted instantly. He straightened up and unleashed an explosion of air with his hands, propelling himself into the air. He turned toward the two other men and shouted,
"Billy! … Do not touch the floor!"
The long-haired man summoned a staff and slammed it into the ground, the impact launching him upward.
The second man rushed toward the nearest wall, extended his arm, and massive golden mineral structures burst out of it. He jumped across them until he reached the rooftop of the house.
Tachi and the long-haired man landed beside him.
"Tachi, what is that?!" he asked.
But he was interrupted by the other man. "Look at that."
He pointed at a dog in the street. The animal collapsed and began losing weight at a terrifying speed. It thrashed and barked in pain until its skin tightened around its bones, and then its body exploded, splattering blood across the walls.
'What the fuck…' the long-haired man thought as he watched the scene.
"Hey, Billy," the other man said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked shaken. "Look at him."
Billy turned his head. Tachi was staring at the ground, breathing heavily, far too heavily. His eyes were filled with terror.
Skuld's sadistic laughter echoed through the air, and the entire scene darkened until it vanished, leaving only Tachi behind. "We're not going to make you relive all of it," she said. "We're going straight to the main act."
The darkness shifted into a red sky. The scenery forming around Tachi was a street surrounded by destroyed houses, almost entirely painted in blood. Tachi didn't move. He didn't say a word.
Billy ran past him, panting, heading in the opposite direction of where Tachi was looking.
"What the hell is this?" Billy murmured as he reached the end of the street. He stepped back when he saw what stood before him.
The younger Tachi, his back turned to him, standing atop a mountain of corpses.
Before everything went dark again, Billy whispered, "What have you done?"
When it all vanished, Tachi still hadn't moved.
The second Norn appeared, a woman with black curly hair, faint wrinkles of a woman in her forties, skin almost red, marked with blood-colored symbols. Verdandi. She spoke. "I know why you are the way you are. Every action you take, every step you make, is guided by the guilt of that day, because you are a murderer."
The last of the three women appeared as Verdandi withdrew into the shadows.
She was the youngest. She wore a long black dress, slit along the sides to reveal her legs. A ring pierced her nose, and a lace veil draped over her dark hair. She stepped closer. "But that's not what interests me."
She slid a finger under Tachi's chin, lifting his face. "Look into my eyes. Look at what's coming," she said, plunging him into the Well.
Their eyes locked. Urd's began to glow, pulling Tachi's mind into new visions.
He found himself standing on grass. 'Where am I this time?' Tachi thought, looking around. He realized he was at the entrance of a cemetery. 'Well, well,' he thought, stepping inside.
He scanned left and right, then noticed a group of people dressed in black a few meters away. He approached them, hands in his pockets. A man sat apart from the group, smoking.
Tachi circled around him to see his face. 'Nicolo?!' Tachi thought. "You okay, man?" he asked, forgetting Nicolo couldn't hear him.
Nicolo was crying alone, staring at the group. Tachi clenched his fists in anger, but moved closer to see what the others were looking at.
Ana was on the ground, crying over a grave. Akyo stood behind her, hair covering his eyes, clearly trying to hide his tears, though Tachi could still see them streaming down his cheeks.
Soren stood behind them, his expression hollow.
Tachi glanced at the gravestone.
"Tachi Ramirez."
Suddenly, everyone vanished. The cemetery disappeared. The sky turned black. The ground became rocky and aflame.
Then someone screamed, "TACHI!!" He turned, and found himself face to face with his own body, lying in a pool of blood. Akyo was bent over him, screaming his name.
"AKYO!" a voice cried from the other side.
Soren arrived, badly injured, and whispered in horror, "This… this can't be happening…"
Suddenly, lightning struck in front of Tachi. 'Shit,' he thought, shielding his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw himself unconscious, hanging limply from Tyr's arm. Tyr spoke softly. "You were a good opponent. May we fight again in another life, god of wind."
Urd snapped her fingers. Everything vanished. Only she remained, standing before Tachi, with her two sisters several meters behind her.
She leaned forward and placed a finger on Tachi's chest. Smiling, she asked, "So, are you sure you want to play with destiny?"
Tachi started laughing, startling Urd. Then he spoke proudly, smiling. "I don't believe in destiny. And I believe even less that it's written by three women alone in a cave. But even if it does exist—"
He bent forward the same way Urd had, gently lifting her chin and looking straight into her eyes. "In the visions you showed me, Akyo and Ana live. So if it's for them, I'll take the risk without hesitation."
Urd froze completely. Suddenly, her cheeks turned red.
She looked up at Tachi, who had just straightened up. When their eyes met, Tachi asked, "You okay?"
Urd's entire face turned crimson. Skuld and Verdandi stared at her from behind. The eldest sister sighed, then gestured for Verdandi to retrieve their youngest.
Verdandi complied, grabbed Urd without a word, and pulled her into the shadows, leaving only the eldest sister facing Tachi.
He asked, "Did I do something wrong?"
Skuld ignored the question. "You're right. We do not write destiny, but it is very real. We work with it, and for it. I don't care whether you believe in it or not. Do as you please. But one day or another, you will pay."
She turned away and vanished into the darkness. "Wow, you really don't like me," Tachi said with a chuckle. 'Whatever makes you happy,' he thought.
The shadows surrounding him since the Norns appeared began to fade. The rocky walls reappeared. He was back in the chamber of the Well, its glowing water reforming before him.
He walked toward Akyo's body, knelt, and took him in his arms. "It's time to get you back up."