Oh my I didn't see you there dear reader. Be much assured Bran's story will continue, I just thought that some more character development would be nice for him and one other character: Atropos. Also I'm having a contest. Cool, huh? Just send all your character art of Bran straight to [email protected] and the top three get a name of their choosing in the story, as long as it's within reason. Now BE WARNED there is a mature tag in this fiction for a reason. This interlude is going to touch on themes of suicide and severe depression. If that bothers you please ignore this interlude. If you do want the full story than feel free to read on as you have been warned.

Being a goddess isn't easy. Being a goddess who happened to be one of the fates was even less so. As Atropos, or "the unturnable" I controlled how a mortal met their end to a certain point. If you ask me my sisters have it easy, one just spins the thread of life, the other measures the length. They don't do any dirty work. They don't feel the mortals cry and beg for their life, or plead for mercy. Those ones aren't the hardest though, the ones that make it really hard are the ones who choose it themselves. The ones who commit suicide.

I control every mortal's end to a certain point and when I say that I mean it. I wouldn't be sitting on this bus stop if I couldn't. Every mortal has to depart from this world at a certain point. I am the one who makes them. So when I reached for my shears, to end this young man's life I got a glimpse through all of his living memories like I always do. Something stuck out to me on this one though, they were all so macabre. He looked at life as if it was the waiting room for death. A unique point of view for most mortals.

Intrigued I decided to take a closer look. It was terrifying the mental anguish he had suffered. Not from his friends or from strangers, but from his family. His step-mother had tried to bring him up right. She was kind at first, but then the fights started, and with them came the mental abuse. He didn't understand what he did wrong, he was too young to understand that his dad doted on him. His step-mother didn't like that. She yelled at him when his father was away, threatening to tell his father how he had used him if the young boy said a word. His world had changed and in a few short years he was the only one not broken by her mental abuse. The other children, two of her own and one of his father's wouldn't speak out, he continued to.

Through the abuse he became emotionally distant. He lost track of what faces he should make when happy, or when sad. He forgot how to laugh and smile. His father saw this change and immediately blamed it on his step-mother. Again he suffered when she asked him what she was trying to do to her and his father. He soon lost interest in the real world. Becoming angry and spiteful at how destiny and fate treated him. The boy became a teen and tried to forget the world. He chose not to invest himself in others and instead read books. When his step-mother asked him why he never went out with friends he told her the truth, the abuse came again.

He was tired now. Sleep was but one of the few things he had left. Dreams took him to the worlds of his fantasy books, worlds where he was needed, wanted even. Another blow came while he visited his real mother, she told him of his conception, of how he was never meant to be. He realised he was unwanted then, his father just felt guilty about not loving him enough. He only caused trouble for them after all. The next blow came out of nowhere, he found someone he felt he could show himself to. What he thought was love. Again fate intervened. She moved away, to a city far from here. He fell into a pit of depression again. High-school became hard and he soon got lost in the work, he forgot his sorrow for a bit and made friends.

He was starting to fall behind in classes now. What once came easily soon became impossible. His grades showed this and hi father and step-mother weren't happy. They asked him why, why was he doing so bad? When he tried to explain they decided that he wasn't trying hard enough. He disconnected once more. High-school ended and he panicked. He had no idea what to do, he couldn't live off of nothing his parents told him. He panicked and chose a career in computers, the structured code made him feel safe.

Once again fate struck him down. He became sick. He had missed a week of classes, and when he returned he understood nothing. He stopped going to college. He had a lifeboat now, his friends on the internet still talked to him, they kept him away from darker thoughts while they played small games and laughed. Life was good for him again. Another blow came soon after. His computer, the window outside, the way to speak to his only connections broke. The darker thoughts filled the newly opened void. They told him that he was worthless, a nobody. They told him that he was going to be forgotten, ignored.

His brother stepped in and saw his pain. He kept him company for awhile. Then disaster struck. He had no job and no one would hire him. The darkness whispered to him, it told him that he was worthless. He started to believe it. A ray of hope shone down then. He was hired. It wasn't much but it let him push back the darkness. He was able to be happy again. His money soon ran out. When he asked his parents for help they refused, he needed to learn how to manage money and they had their own problems. He was scared. He just wanted peace and happiness, why could he not have it? He cursed fate once more. He woke up one morning very tired and left for work. He arrived only to be told that he was laid off. The darkness crept back in. This time he listened to the softly whispering voices and he believed them. Instead of heading home he got on a bus towards downtown. Towards the river. He soon got there. He gave the driver a smile and tipped him generously. He didn't need the money where he was going. He stood on the railing of the bridge and looked down. He didn't blame them. He didn't blame anyone. He would go to a better place, one where he could connect with them. To greener pastures he said and walked off.

Atropos wiped the tears from her eyes. It couldn't end like this for him. She was tired of the looks they gave her when she met them. The way she saw their hopeful stares, waiting for nothingness. She wanted to scream. None of them deserved this, it was wrong. One way or another though they had to leave this world, it kept the world stable and allowed them to keep everything right. There had to be something she could do though. Some small rebellion that would allow her to prove to herself that she was still able to help them.

So she came up with a plan. If this world couldn't hold him any longer then she would find one that could. The only one that fit her needs was quite small in comparison. It's gods told her that the world had to much energy, too much raw power. She told them she could help. She would send mortal souls that had used up all of their time on earth to another world and they would siphon the power out. The gods of the small world thanked her and she left. When she got back her sisters confronted her, it was wrong they said, unnatural. She didn't care. They told her that this could end her divinity and she spoke to them. She was tired of being the reaper. Of being the shepherd. She watched all who died, she made sure they did and tried to make it peaceful. They replied and told her it was not her place to question the way. She walked away sullen.

She was still crying when the boy walked up to her. He was kind to her, in an awkward way. After seeing what would happen if she didn't intervene she knew she had to save him. Order must be upheld though, he could not come back. So she tricked him. She sent him to the other world, and she watched with the other gods as he ran from a giant spider right into a dragon's lair. When he befriended the dragon she knew she had made the right choice. She was one of the goddesses of fate. She made this change, insignificant in the whole tapestry of fate just for one him. He had no almighty powers, no unfathomable strength, only his words and his will to live, peacefully.