Marked by misfortune.
Shaped by what follows.

The Goddesses of Fate placed Almost, Backfire, and Mishap inside Pandora’s box with a remarkably simple purpose: bring a little disorder into the universe. Nothing apocalyptic. Just enough chaos to stop destiny from becoming predictable.

When Pandora opened the box, the three slipped into the world with everything else humanity probably should have left sealed. They moved quietly through generations, turning clean plans into strange detours and perfect timing into terrible timing.

Mishap starts the trouble. Almost brings things painfully close without letting them arrive. Backfire makes an action return with the opposite result. Most of the time, that means bad luck. Occasionally, it means the plan that failed also saved someone from what would have happened next.

Centuries later, thirteen people discovered they could see them. At first, they thought they were cursed. Eventually, they noticed something everyone else missed: The Jinx were troublesome, but not simply evil. A ruined plan could prevent a worse outcome. An unwanted delay could change the entire ending.

So the thirteen stopped treating every disaster as the final answer. The Jinx still interfere, tease, and cause trouble whenever fate gets too comfortable. But now, every so often, they stay long enough to see what follows.