Whatever's making all this racket is coming closer and closer.
A cacophony of dissonant and eerie sounds that are somewhat like a mix of humming and incessant droning, start playing off inharmoniously against the other.
Much like an orchestra without a conductor; there's yet another highly unwelcome addition to the already torturous symphony—incoming shrieks that are tinged with considerable despair.
It's getting louder and louder as they're about to reach the entrance.
The distant sound of fluttering makes me believe that these are critters of flight.
I swing my weapon once more to turn it into a staff.
It'd be easier to channel my magic through this, especially when it seems like I might get surrounded by these monsters very soon.
Getting ready, I shift into a stance that's suitable for casting spells - as I await these tiny-winged opponents of mine.
Like a multitude of birds coming to view, some hideous bat-like creatures emerge from the shadows.
'Hideous' is honestly too mild of a description if I had to be honest.
Instead of bats or birds though, they're small-sized chimeras. Their body parts are from different species.
Their abdomen is that of a tarantula, that is about triple or even quadruple the usual size that humans normally have as pets. Every onlooker is privy to a full view of their creepy, furry limbs sprawling out from its sides in all its glory.
But that's not the worst part—no, it truly isn't.
My eyes move upward, to sneak a peek at its head. What's attached there, is not a monster's head, but of a grotesque human face!
Its eyes are bulging out of their sockets and thick red veins sprawl across the white regions. With its mouth wide open, I can clearly see all of its teeth. They're so full of cavities—it's all jagged, yellowed, cracked—and extremely uneven. And as a welcome addition to that lovely imagery, there's even unidentifiable green and black gunk stuck in each and every crevice.
It's probably one of the worst sets of teeth I've ever seen in my entire life.
Severely dry and cracked skin that's covered in a plethora of warts and acne. The damaged skin starts from its jawline; spreading all the way to its cheeks with a few dotting around the sides of its forehead.
Although I can clearly see its ugliness, my face doesn't break out into disgust.
I've never been one to care much about outward appearances. Whether something is ugly or pretty; I merely see them as they are.
If they are my enemies, all I need to do is slash them to bits.
What disturbs me the most, really, is not how they look like. It's that regardless of where I'm looking, a lot of them look like exact clones of the other! Usually, there are always some variances here and there to tell them apart, but...
... Wait, clones? That IS weird.
My shoulders relax and I realize that they're are unlike anything I've ever seen before. Which makes me suspect that...
"Alright. The jig's up!" I stop to see if I'll garner any reaction whatsoever, yet they show no signs of doing so.
"I haven't met you guys in person but please stop messing around with me right now. I could've accidentally attacked you. I do not want to do that at ALL especially when I'll be asking for a favor." With as much boldness as I could muster, I immediately call these creatures out, hoping that they're the fates in disguise—despite the possibility of being dead wrong.
My gut feeling says differently though, and I believe I've bigger chances of being right.
They ignore me and suddenly break out into an almost deafening screech. It's like they're doing their best to do it as loud as possible.
I stand my ground and decide to play this out first as I focus on defense.
Some of them start to swoop in and quickly produce strings of webs as they fly past.
I am quicker than them, though, and have already activated an extremely strong fire barrier that scorches anything it touches.
Unlike what most people believe, however, spider webs are not as flammable as it seems.
As soon as it touches the fiery hot surface, it just melts away like a polyester thread. I grin and see that they're having second thoughts at swooping in on me now.
"Okay, this honestly HASN'T been fun at all for me, so... how about we stop this now and talk?" I try to reason with them once more.
I add, "I've come here to ask you for a favor... Please tell me what you'd like in exchange. I'll make it worth ALL your while!"
...
While thinking about what else I can say to convince them; something odd happens right then.
As if time has frozen, their wings stop moving all of a sudden, while still remaining mid-air. I'm quite creeped out by how every single one ceased moving all at once.
Safe inside the barrier, I don't break eye contact but I swing my magical staff lightly to the left, just to make sure that I'm not under some kind of time manipulation spell.
... Nope. So what the heck is going on?!
In one swift go, several of the bats explode into light. The sound takes me by surprise; and out of reflex, I end up moving backward. The light starts to change shape. They begin to separate and split into three.
Much like a glowing blob, it shifts and pulsates; as it stretches to reach out for the cave floor.
As soon as it touches the ground, they all transmogrify into three illuminated beings.
Ecstatic, I try to hide my small, self-satisfied expression from them, but fail to do so.
Light is no more, and in its place are three old women with grey skin and white silky hair.
To be honest, I'm quite surprised that they look nothing like how they did earlier.
I mean, you know, those bat-like things? They did have human faces, but these women seem a lot more normal in comparison.
That is, except for the fact that their eyes are closed into slits, and one of them is holding up an eye.
"Uhhh, what's going on? Aren't you the Fates? Why are all of you sort of like the Graeae, but... not exactly at the same time?"
With a shrill laugh, one of them speaks up, "Why does it matter? However it is we look like, should be of no concern to you, war goddess Khirelle."
Visibly confused, I continue, "Well, I just don't want to be talking to the wrong people but it seems like you're the real deal after all."
"Tell us already. What the hell do you want? We don't have all day." One of them sighs sharply after cutting me off while looking very annoyed with my mere presence.
The first old lady pipes up and is quite amused, "Now, now, Atropos, you already knew she was coming to see us today. You also know what's going to happen so just sit back and relax."
Grumpily, the other goddess says no more and heads towards the back. As if she wanted nothing more to do with me.
... This is painfully awkward.
I maintain my composure and continue to wait for the other one to speak up.
Thankfully, I breathe a sigh of relief as the friendlier one does the introductions for the three of them.
She starts gesticulating towards each person, extending out her hand as she does so. "As you've already heard, the grumpy one is Atropos, the first one who talked to you is Clotho, and I'm Lachesis; the one who beholds the present. Welcome, to our temporary abode, Khirelle."
She looks back at me and smiles.