Clotho's Scissors

Clotho's Scissors are the long-bladed shears carried by the little bald doctor Clotho, one of the two agents of the Purpose who serve as physicians of last resort. They are the instrument by which he and his partner Lachesis sever the balloon-strings (life-cords) of those whose time has come, performing purposeful death with love and respect. The scissors also become the medium through which a higher power ratifies Ralph Roberts's bargain to trade his life for Natalie Deepneau's, and after Ralph's death, they absorb a remnant of his aura, allowing Clotho and Lachesis to give Lois a final vision of peace.

Appearance and Nature

Clotho's Scissors are described as having very long blades and very sharp points. When Ralph first sees them, on the night of May Locher's death, they are held in the right hand of the little bald doctor he later names Clotho. The scissors are a tool of their office, as essential to Clotho and Lachesis as the scalpel is to Atropos. Unlike Atropos's rusty scalpel, Clotho's scissors are clean and associated with dignity and purpose. When Clotho and Lachesis appear to Ralph and Lois in the hospital, Clotho is holding the scissors, and the blades lie the entire length of his white-clad left forearm. The scissors are not merely a weapon but a symbol of their function: they cut the balloon-strings that connect living beings to their life force, performing what they call "the time of severing."

Function: The Time of Severing

Clotho and Lachesis use the scissors to perform purposeful death. When they come for Jimmy Vandermeer, Clotho leans close, opens his scissors, and slides the long blades forward to hold Jimmy's black balloon-string. As Clotho closes the scissors, Lachesis kisses Jimmy's forehead and says, "Go in peace, friend." There is a small, unimportant snick sound, and the segment of the balloon-string above the scissors drifts up toward the ceiling and disappears. The deathbag in which Jimmy lay turns a momentary bright white, then winks out of existence. This act is performed with love and respect; Clotho and Lachesis are not executioners but physicians of last resort, and the scissors are their surgical instrument.

The Ratification of the Promise

When Ralph Roberts demands that Clotho and Lachesis promise to save Natalie Deepneau's life in exchange for his own, the two little bald doctors initially refuse, saying they cannot. A higher power intervenes. A brilliant white light illuminates the hillside, and a Voice speaks four words: "IT MAY BE SO." The light centers on the scissors Clotho is holding up like a two-pronged lightning-rod. The blades begin to shine, shedding eldritch fairy-glimmers of light in misty droplets. Lachesis looks at the scissors as if he has never seen them before, and they are now transformed, carrying the authority of the higher levels. It is with these sanctified scissors that Clotho then cuts open Ralph's forearm, creating the scar that will serve as the visible sign of their bargain and the weapon that Ralph will later use against the Crimson King.

The Scar and the Weapon

The cut Clotho makes with the scissors is a surgical incision, not a random wound. He opens Ralph's arm from elbow to wrist, severing the Bracelets of Fortune, and the blades leave a thick white ridge of scar-tissue. This scar becomes the conduit through which Ralph can channel the power he needs to confront Ed Deepneau and the Crimson King. When Ralph later uses the scar to trigger the booby-trap planted by Clotho and Lachesis, it is the scissors' work that allows him to defeat the entity. The scar is the physical manifestation of the promise, and it is the scissors that inscribed it.

After Ralph's Death: The Gift of the Aura

After Ralph Roberts dies saving Natalie Deepneau, Clotho and Lachesis stand watching Lois weep over his body. Clotho raises his hand to eye-level and looks at it wonderingly. It glows and blazes with Ralph's aura. Lachesis raises his own right hand, and it too is covered in a blue mitten of Ralph's aura. Clotho asks, "Shall we give him to her?" Lachesis asks, "Can we?" Clotho replies, "There's one way to find out." They approach Lois, and each places the hand Ralph shook on one side of Lois's face. Lois looks up, her grief forgotten as a gorgeous feeling of calmness and peace fills her. For a moment Harris Avenue is gone, and she is in a dark place filled with the sweet smells of hay and cows, a dark place split by a hundred brilliant seams of light. She sees a representation of a universe that Ralph wanted her to see, a universe where there is dazzling light behind the darkness. The scissors, having absorbed Ralph's aura, become the medium through which this final gift is delivered, allowing Lois to feel Ralph's presence and his love one last time.