Trapped inside Atropos’ Limited Rift, Nino was left with only her Yari.

The blue box was practically a minuscule pocket dimension isolated from the rest of existence. It blocked access to every external dimension that’s required for the use of several runes, including the 23rd dimension from which they draw the Nameless Element and the 45th which is the source of Balder’s Light.

“Great, don’t you think?” Atropos said, raising her sword to shoulder level as she took a stance. “Now no one can interrupt us, and you can’t use your little tricks. It will be a fair duel just like back in the day.”

Nino was in no mood for talk, having already determined herself. One strike was all her sister needed to finish the fight. She, on the other hand, would have to do a lot more.

Nino was aware that she was being underestimated. Despite everything she said, Atropos was going easy on her. If she wanted to kill her she would’ve done it already, but just because she didn’t it doesn’t mean she won’t.

‘lier…’ Nino thought, feeling a weak tingle in her eyes. ‘You have always been like this…’

Without any signal given, the two sisters moved at the same time. Their speed bordered on teleported causing their figures to turn into a blur, and once they met in the middle their clash caused a shower of sparks to explode.

“Clotho believed in you.” Nino said, her voice tinged with anger. “I believed in you!!!”

She thrust her spear only to have it parried. Atropos moved in for a slash, but her Scissors were blocked and redirected. The long blade of the Yari came at her from behind but a blue panel appeared in its way, taking on the slash without a mark left behind on its surface.

“You knew me so well, didn’t you?” Atropos spoke, her voice still as calm. “Are you telling me you didn’t see it coming?”

Dispelling the panel, the Olympian spun around and swung her blade with everything she got, pushing against the spear her sister raised to block.

“I didn’t!” Nino replied, throwing a kick that missed.

She didn’t waste a moment and followed after her opponent, thrusting her weapon while Atropos easily parried or blocked.

“You’re getting emotional.” She said.

“SHUT UP!” The Valkyrie shouted.

The two continued swinging their weapons, but not a single blow landed. In the confines of Atropos’ability, time itself seemed to have halted. Nino kept getting angrier by the second m and her attacks became more daring. That only served to irritate her, confirming that her sister was purposefully trying to not kill her. She never took any of the openings she could’ve used to finish her off, and her attacks felt light at times.

“Why!?” The Valkyrie asked, tears starting to gather in her eyes. “Why did you have to betray us?”

One of her thrusts got through and the blade grazed Atropos’ arm. Seeing the drop of blood, Nino’s mind went blank for a fraction of a second, and the next thing she felt was a heavy blow to her left side and her body bending before she went flying toward the wall.

Coming back to her senses, Nino teleported and tried to regain her balance. Atropos appeared right behind her, but when she raised her spear to block the blow felt much heavier sending her flying once more.

“Why did I have to betray you?” The Olympian spoke. “You speak as if I did anything wrong.”

Their weapons clashed once more, but Nino somehow managed to hold her ground this time. She noticed that Atropos no longer had the same expression as before. Her smile was gone and she was showing her anger both in her eyes and the force behind her blows. It was exactly why Nino wanted, however a part of her faltered in front of that gaze.

“You keep talking and blabbering and you don’t even remember what you did!” Pushing her away, Atropos turned her sword around and swung it down, striding Nino’s shoulder with the blunt back. “You only ever cared about what YOU want. You never stopped to consider how it might affect those around you!”

With a kick to the stomach she sent the Valkyrie flying once more. Following after her, she continued to deliver one strike after the other, using the back of her sword to ensure the deadly aspect of her artifact didn’t end things before she decided to do so.

“I offered you a way out!” The Olympian went on. “All you had to do was shut your mouth and follow orders, but you had to claim the moral high ground and pretend to be the savior of all!”

Nino gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep up. She tried to increase the output of her force field, but the strikes from the Scissors seemed to pass right through.

“You keep talking about how I betrayed you, but aren’t you the ones who chose betrayal?”

“Wha-”

Before she could say anything, the Valkyrie took another strike.

“You two were the ones who left! You were the traitors who chose other worlds instead of your people, your own sister!!!”

Little by little, the rage burning inside the elder sister made it to the surface and a black haze began to gather around her Atropos continued her relentless attacks, no longer holding back her punches. Seeing the black haze, Nino panicked. If she didn’t finish things before the Olympian summoned her Obsidian Armament, her loss would be guaranteed.

Nevertheless, Atropos didn’t give her any openings at all. Whenever she tried to catch her breath, the blunt back of the crimson blade would knock her back, shattering any thought thoughts of resistance before it formed.

That went off for a while, but then the attacks suddenly stopped. Nino looked up, confused by the sudden change. Atropos was flowing a short distance away, her shoulders rising and falling as she panted for air. Eventually, she took a deep breath and straightened her back. Calmness seemed to return to her at that point and the black haze gradually faded showing that she had walked back on summoning her strongest equipment.

“Tell me, dear sister.” She spoke after a moment of silence. “Do you know what happened to our people after you and Clotho decided to abandon your post?”

“… Huh?”

“As I thought. You don’t even remember those we swore to protect.”

A horrifying realization slowly crept onto Nino’s back and she felt her body slowly tremble.

“They were exiled to the Fallen Worlds, forced to fight off the Madness for the rest of their lives.”

Nino didn’t understand. Her mind failed to recognize the words, but for some reason she felt like she knew what they meant.

“They had to pay for your own betrayal while you were out there playing God, trying to create a pawn who can fight in your stead.”

“That’s… that’s not…” Nino couldn’t find the words to reply.

“That’s exactly what you planned to do.” Atropos sighed. “You planned to manipulate the fates of those you chose to make them fight a battle you couldn’t hope to win.” Pausing for a second, the Olympian woman then added. “Wasn’t that why you never tried to take me with you? There was no need for the sister who only knew how to end lives. After all, if you want to manipulate someone’s Thread, cutting it was beside the point, right?”

“N-no… I… we…”

“Say, what did you expect to happen if you managed to defeat Zeus?”

“… What?”

“The heroes you planned to raise, did you think they would go back to their normal lives once the battle ends?”

Nino was lost for words.

“Take Zeus out of the equation. How many others do you think are seeking the Keys? Were you going to make sure that every last one of them never reached their goal.”

At that moment, Nino recalled what the Doctor said during the meeting they had with the Nephilim. Not long after he heard about Akasha, his first conclusion was that they needed to reach it first, stating that it’s the only way to guarantee that no one else gets there.

Nino didn’t think it was anything strange back then, but now she began to wonder, how did he plan on achieving his goal?

“Do you understand now?” Said Atropos. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Zeus or someone else. No matter how much you try, there will always be an idiot with a god complex who would stop at anything to reach that place.”

All of a sudden, Nino felt like she understood everything. Atropos has always looked far ahead; it was only normal for her to see how things would end. That’s why she chose to support Zeus. Even if he’s a narcissistic psychopath, he was still someone they know. That was much better than a psychopath from a completely different dimension than theirs.

“To be honest, I don’t even know why I’m having this conversation with you.” Having regained her composure, Atropos grasped her Scissors with both hands, making sure its blade was facing forward this time. “You said it yourself, didn’t you? Lachesis is dead. The one standing here is someone else.”

“…!”

“Her thread had reached its end, and yours had its own start. Just because you have some of her memories doesn’t mean you’re the same person.”

In the simplest of terms, that was the truth. Lachesis was dead, and though they shared the same Soul, Nino was her own person, a Valkyrie who chose the person she wanted to serve.

“We are soldiers serving two different factions.” Atropos said, her eyes narrowed to a sharp glare. “You said you wanted to end things once and for all, right? Stop playing around and let’s get it done with.”