With a heavy heart, you make your choice and direct the falling rubble towards the girl. You don’t really know why you picked her to suffer this terrible fate, but you committed yourself to the compulsion. It certainly isn’t fair to the girl whose life is likely about to be snuffed out. It’s not fair to the boy who is about to watch a loved one suffer. And it is not fair to you who is forced to make this unforgiving choice.
Perhaps that is why the committee gave you this assignment, to break you down when your work has only just begun, to prevent you from getting too attached, to make you just as jaded as all the other Fate Sprites. You’re unsure if you really want to watch what’s about to unfold. Yet you must. That is your duty.
Your view shifts ever so slightly to focus on the boy. He is your chosen now, your assignment. You will watch his life until it meets its end or until there is no more of his story left to tell. But then right away, he tried to cut it all short.
The boy lunged forward, crashing into the girl, shoving her out of the way of the debris about to crush her. She’s sent reeling away to safety, entirely out of harm’s way. This is another reason that observing humans is quite tricky—their ability to defy fate.
But the boy wasn’t so lucky. He tried to continue his momentum forward, but the ground was slippery and muddy from the raging storm, and his foot was caught by the muck, causing him to trip where he stood. Fortunately, he fell forward, moving most of his body out of danger, though not all of it.
The falling rubble from the top of the lighthouse crashed into the bottom half of his right leg, crushing and trapping it under the stone. He let out a scream of anguish, and his breathing turned heavy, desperately panting through the pain. Yet his concern was still not for himself. He glanced ahead, and there at the edge of your view you see the girl, or rather, just the top half of her body.
You see her clinging on for dear life, halfway over the side of the cliff. It turns out, she wasn’t as safe as you thought, likely propelled forward with too much force over that same slick ground that betrayed the boy. It could be pure unfortunate coincidence, but it was more likely the work of the universe trying to course correct. Destiny felt like it was owed tragedy, and it was still trying to collect. The sacrifice of the boy’s leg was not enough to sate its endless hunger.
“Myrette!” the boy bellowed the girl’s name. He tried to rush towards her but was caught by the snagging rubble. Yet he didn’t care—didn’t care for his own injury or what further harm he’d be doing to himself. Through pure strength and adrenaline, he ripped himself further and yanked his leg free from the snare. He didn’t even take a moment to look at the damage, only focusing on what was ahead, what was important.
The boy was going to save her no matter the cost, you were certain of that. Maybe that determination is why you’d unconsciously chosen him to live. But it still pained you to watch him struggle and suffer like this. You began to conceive of ways that you could possibly help him.
Unfortunately, the obvious were out of the question. Now that he was your assignment, you could no longer directly save the girl. You could not twist fate to pull her up directly, nor could you magically sprout a sapling in front of them for her to grow hold of right in front of their eyes. Both would go against the guidelines of the Committee of Fate.
The assigned targets were allowed to believe luck was on their side or suspect that they had some sort of being like a guardian angel watching over them. But to create miracles that couldn’t be explained any other way, not even with pure coincidence or the thought of delusion, were deemed out of the committee’s jurisdiction.
As you watched the boy crawl through the slippery mud, inch by inch, desperately trying to make his way to Myrette through the still raging storm, you noticed that he was constantly trying to gain traction with his left leg that was still in good condition. That was a way that you could help. Just beneath his shoe, the ground spontaneously dried, and the boy suddenly had a foothold.
He took that gift for every bit it was worth, using the opportunity to fling himself forward and close the gap, landing on the ground again, right next to the panicking girl. The boy lifted his good leg again and wedged his foot against a surprisingly solid spot of dirt. He then reached out both arms and dug his fingers into the girl's clothes, clawing the back of the girl’s shirt with one, and grabbing the waistband of her pants of the other in a vice-like grip.
With all his might, he pushed down on his leg and hoisted the girl up into the air. He then twisted his body to pull her away from the cliff’s edge, letting go of her garments only when he knew for certain she’d be safe. The girl tumbled away, rolling through the muck. It was likely unpleasant, but she was again on solidish ground.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
However, the boy had not thought his actions through. Out of instinct and habit, he went to stop his momentum from the twist by catching himself with his other leg, his injured leg. Pain surged through him the moment his ravaged foot hit the ground. And with that agonizing yelp, he lost his balance.
The boy tumbled backwards, right over the edge of the cliff. In the blink of an eye, he was already beyond saving. Myrette would be unable to make it over in time, to shoot down her hand to grab him, to return the favor for rescuing her. And his body was flung too far for a convenient branch or protruding stone to be within grasp during his plummet.
That just left his fate: plunging into the sea below, the raging sea thrashing from the storm. Because of the rough waters, if a ship were to be conveniently passing by to catch him, it would likely be instantly wrecked and thrown against the cliff, not to mention the damage that would be done to the boy’s body. And the waters were too shallow for a friendly aquatic creature of significant enough size to be able to rescue him.
But time slowed down for you once more. There was a way to save him, you were certain of it. Though miracles were generally frowned upon, your teacher had mentioned one such extremely rare case where they were begrudgingly deemed acceptable. And that is an instance where the miracle is gargantuan that it can only be conceived of as divine intervention—essentially, to give all credit for the act to the vacationing god that created the committee.
And at that moment, you can feel the possibility of such a miracle—tapping into the dormant divine power from which you yourself were born. But you know immediately that it would come at a cost. Those minor twists of fate you’ve already performed have left you feeling a bit weakened. Each action you take comes at the price of power which steadily returns over time. But such a momentous miracle would require so much of your power that it could kill you.
That is how Fate Sprites ultimately die. They become too attached to one of their charges and use up all of their power, their existence to save them. It’s likely why the committee tries to veer the sprites away from attachment, so they do not become foolish enough to attempt it.
But maybe it’s already too late for you. Just observing the pair all this time has forged a connection, and you have already committed to protecting the boy already. And after watching all of his struggle, would you be willing to leave him to the hands of destiny? Plummeting into the water is not immediate death, but it may as well be. It would require a natural miracle for him to make it out of this situation with his life.
However, you can guarantee his survival. If this world has spurned him, you can send him to another. Three possibilities immediately flood your mind, all of which assure you that he will arrive there alive. You do not know the specifics of each world, but are able to glimmer some important facets.
In the first world, you see an open field of grass with a large stone wall in the distance. Maybe it is some kind of fortress or maybe a wall protecting a town. Either way, based on the construction, you feel as if this world is in a time period even older than the boy’s current society, likely not yet reaching the cusp of technology.
Yet at the same time, you sense an essence in all living things that is unique to that world. Almost as if it’s shrouded in power that is not too dissimilar to your own. It feels fantastical in nature, and it is quite likely the denizens of that world are capable of their own sort of miracles. Perhaps if the boy went to that world, he too would find himself able to harness that essence and carve out his place in their society.
For the second world, you wonder how it passed your requirement of safety. You see a deep jungle shrouded in darkness, also with its own unique source of power. But this one feels far more savage and wild—power that is not learned or innate, but stolen and infused. A world where the only thing that matters is might and adaptability.
Though you are assured of his immediate safety, how long would he last in such a brutal world? But perhaps that is the kind of strength he would need. If he is successful in harnessing it, he could obtain enough might that he would never need to concern himself with the whims of fate ever again, able to supersede it with his own hands. Yet to reach such heights, it would undoubtedly be a perilous journey, one he may not survive.
The third world has no form of extra energy that you can sense, closer in design to his current home. But even still, it would be like a brand new world to him. You see lots of light and metal, moving machinery and feats of science beyond even your imagination. It is a world far more advanced in their society and timeline.
Though the technology of that world would initially be far beyond the boy’s comprehension, he has shown interest and passion in such matters before. While he has barely achieved the level of a tinkerer, he might be able to flourish that natural talent and thrive in the comparatively futuristic setting.
However, you’re still not entirely convinced that you should do anything at all. Is it worth it to risk your life to save a boy you barely know in the grand scheme of things? Your past attempt at twisting fate has already backfired, and who's to say it won’t do so again. Maybe it would be best to see how it all plays out, to let the whims of the universe run their course and reset.
The boy’s death is not assured by plunging into the water, and even if he does die, maybe it would be in best interest to accept your lashings and move on to your next assignment with lessons learned.
So what will you do? Where will you send him? If you choose to send him anywhere at all.
Tags added: Male Lead
Going forward, Polls will run for roughly 2 days instead of 3 for faster turn around time on chapters.
Ch1 Poll Results:
So you guys really disliked the girl, huh? I’m kidding. The poll was actually closer than I expected with 60% choosing the girl as the victim. I had originally thought to have it be a switch where the loser of the poll would be the one falling off the cliff and become the protagonist—the real disaster they faced. But ultimately I decided not to be tricky so early on. And I’m guessing the main reason the girl was picked is because the majority wanted a male lead, and I don’t want to drive you all off by betraying that preference.
Bonus Poll Results:
I’ll only be writing out the winners here. If you want to see the full vote results, check out the .
Poll #1: What is their relationship?
Winner: Adoptive Siblings with 40%
I honestly didn’t expect it to go this way at all, and I only put Adoptive Siblings to have a 4th option. And on the first day, it got no votes for several hours with Friends having a big lead initially, but then it came back like a dark horse and took the whole thing. So that will be the trait going forward. My guess is that people want the MC to have a chance at other romance/relationships as the story progresses.
Poll #2: What are their rough ages?
Winner: 21 with 41%
Congratulations, readers, you have beaten the anime-fan allegations. This one wasn’t really close, with second place being 25, so overall the majority definitely wants older characters. And since that was second, I will skew them slightly older. The boy will be 22, and the girl will stay at 21.
Poll #3: What’s the time period?
Winner: 1850-1900 with 30%
A pretty close one across the board. I had predicted early 1900s to win but was proven wrong again. While this specific setting will only matter depending on the result of this chapter’s vote, the life experience will carry forward regardless of where the boy goes.
Poll #4: Boy’s name
Winner: Wyr with 31%
I personally leaned towards Wyr myself, so I’m glad to see it win, but it was a pretty close poll. You’ll likely see the other names recycled throughout this series.
Poll #5: Girl’s name
Winner: Myrette with 38%
Definitely not as close of a poll. Myrette was my favorite and the first one I came up with, so I guess that shined through. Though I’ve really come to like Notis, will probably use it for an important character in a later series.
With all that though, we have a lot more details for the series. We now have adoptive siblings Wyr, 22, and Myrette, 21, who live in a world that’s roughly equivalent to late 1800s Earth. There will be of course plenty more Bonus Polls to shape this story even further.
Where will you send him? [Poll Closed]
