Chapter 71: Cruel [Twist of Fate]

Zayn twirled the blank golden card in his hand...

[Twist of Fate], the Mythic Relic the man in the suit had ’oh-so graciously’ left behind for him.

Merely possessing it granted Zayn a basic understanding of its ability, but there was more to the Relic than what it could do. When he focused on the card, a translucent screen bearing its description appeared.

And a description it was...

[Twist of Fate] - [Fate is a fickle thing; ever-changing, yet absolute. The end has already been written, though the path leading to it is hidden among countless possibilities. Seers may glimpse its branching threads and attempt to guide them, but every choice and every hesitation has already been woven into fate’s design. All one can do is walk the unseen path and hope it bends to their will, mistaking the illusion of influence for true control.]

Not only was it long, but...

’What does it have to do with the item?’

It seemed more related to the man who’d given him the card than the Relic itself.

After all, the children’s story he’d read to Zayn had felt prophetic.

No... it had been more than a feeling.

’He was conveying some sort of future to me.’

None of it made much sense at the moment, though. That strange story had been practically nonsensical.

As for the philosophical rambling about fate, most of it meant little to Zayn. The only part that struck him was the idea that fate was immutable despite appearing changeable.

That suggested nothing he did truly mattered and that even a Relic capable of manipulating fate had no real effect. If everything would ultimately reach the same destined end, why bother changing any of the steps leading toward it?

Still, the description did reveal one supposed truth.

’Fate has already taken into account my use of this card.’

If Zayn used the card to ’change’ fate, then he had always been fated to make that change. Conversely, if he chose not to use it, fate had already accounted for that decision as well; it had accounted for his inaction or action. If he wanted any chance that the destined end would be good for him, he’d have to actively march for it.

After boiling it down, it was all sophistry wrapped around a layered truth and the harrowing reality beneath it.

Without truly understanding fate as a force, Zayn was already being rather arrogant by attempting to contemplate its immense, inscrutable nature. But...

All that truly mattered was understanding the card’s effect: it allowed him to trade future fortune for present fortune.

By activating the Relic’s sole ability, also named [Twist of Fate], he could draw upon some of his future fortune to improve his current circumstances. The amount he drew would determine both the boon he received and the debt he incurred.

The card conveyed those details through the symbols that appeared across its blank front.

First came the draw’s rank, ranging from two to ace.

At first glance, drawing an ace or face card every time might have seemed ideal. In reality, a high rank only indicated that his circumstances were dire enough to require a large amount of his future fortune.

The drawback itself was easy enough to understand: he sacrificed his natural fortune, although what qualified as ’fortune’ remained somewhat vague...

While Zayn didn’t exactly believe in luck, he did believe in karma. From that perspective, using the card accumulated bad karma that would follow him, gradually dissipating until he returned to a neutral state.

Fortunately, the card provided a clear indication of his outstanding debt.

If the card was gold, his debt had been paid.

That didn’t necessarily mean he would experience good luck, only that he wouldn’t suffer any additional bad luck caused by the card.

If the card was black, his debt remained.

He’d still be able to use the item again, but doing so would only deepen his debt.

If he repeatedly used the Relic to overcome the very misfortunes caused by that debt, he could eventually enter an uncontrollable spiral. Death would become imminent, and no amount of borrowed luck would be enough to escape his doomed fate.

The ability’s most interesting aspect, however, was the color and suit that appeared when he used it.

As with regular playing cards, he could draw a red or black heart, spade, club, or diamond, each of which represented the nature of the fate the card had altered.

The color was simple. Drawing red meant the card had improved Zayn’s personal fortune, while drawing black meant it had improved someone else’s fortune in a way that benefited him.

Then came the suits.

A diamond meant the card had added fortune to an already favorable situation. It was a somewhat needless use of the Relic, but additional luck was hardly a bad thing. Besides, diamonds were usually low-ranked and accumulated little debt, making such draws relatively harmless.

Next in the hierarchy came clubs.

Drawing a club meant the card had altered a nonfatal problem he would have faced. No life would have been at stake, but a secret or relationship might have been.

The category was broad, and its exact boundaries would be determined by Zayn’s subconscious.

It could prevent an altercation with an ally, for instance, or keep that ally from discovering an ugly truth about him.

Above clubs came hearts.

Drawing a heart meant Zayn or another would otherwise have suffered some form of physical or mental harm, whether that meant losing a limb or having their entire worldview shattered.

According to what he learned from possessing it, hearts, when drawn, were mostly red.

Then came spades.

A spade meant Zayn had been approaching a moment of absolute despair: either he or someone he wanted to protect was destined to die or suffer something akin to death.

Being able to avert death in that fashion was a godlike ability, making the Relic worthy of its rank despite its awful drawback.

Well, it didn’t defy death in the truest sense. It merely redirected the path away from an outcome in which someone would have died without the card’s intervention.

Even then, fate had already accounted for that intervention. The death was never truly destined to occur; it had only been inevitable until the card entered the equation.

It seemed paradoxical, yet it wasn’t. The card changed what would have happened without changing what had always been meant to happen.

Beneath that apparent paradox lay the simple truth of cause and effect.

And finally... the joker.

Drawing a joker signified unavoidable, imminent death.

A red joker meant Zayn would die no matter what, while a black joker meant someone else would.

With all of that in mind...

After staring at the card for some time, he activated it.

The card shimmered, then black lines drew themselves upon it, spinning and winding until a number and suit appeared.

’What the fuck...’

On the face of the card was a black nine of spades.

The number scrubbed itself from the face of the card before the golden sheen split apart and bled into a sable black.