Keywords: Once Upon A Forever, Prologue, Free Web Novel, Nigerian Story, Reincarnation, Doomed Love, Fated Love, Sliceof Life.
Prologue
“I apologise for calling upon you, the great ones, Fabling and Ekwe. It is with reverence that I beseech you.” Fate bowed, lowering her head more for Fabling than for Ekwe.
Fabling smirked at Ekwe, who rolled his eyes.
Fate looked up, her mouth parting slightly at the sight of Fabling. She had not expected the Writer to heed her summon, much less to arrive in all her stunning presence. Purple afro full as cloud, in a regal gown of cyan and gold.
She glanced at Ekwe. Perhaps it was because she was used seeing to him, but though he looked every bit a god, with his silky short red hair and K-pop idol style, he seemed more like a Kpop Idol than a great god.
“It’s fine,” Fabling said. “You have my full attention. It’s not every day that a lower god dares summon me.”
Her eyes swept Fate’s domain. She paused at the jar holding a dim purple soul, its light flickering as though dying. Then she looked back at Fate. “Will you not offer me a seat?”
“My apologies, my lord!” At once, a throne appeared behind her.
Fabling brushed her fingers over the chair. “Mmm, I don’t like leather.” She snapped her fingers and the throne melted into a couch of cloud. She flopped on it, giddy, and pointed a smile at Ekwe.
Ekwe inhaled, glanced at Fate. Fate shot him an annoyed look, then summoned him a stool.
Fabling laughed.
Ekwe sat.
“I bet it pains you that you’ll never be as powerful as me, Ekwe,” Fabling mocked. “To will things into being so freely.”
“Might I remind you, Fabling, that Fate summoned us for more than your gloating?” Ekwe glared. “Besides, being as strong as you are, it must be terribly lonely.”
Fabling’s smile faltered. She turned to Fate. “So, why did you summon me?”
“I want to make a plea,” Fate began, “but I must tell you a story first.”
“Oh, I love stories.” Fabling shimmied.
“A long time ago,” Fate said, “in Japan, during the Muromachi period, in the year 1336, I was manifest as Konohanasakuya-hime, goddess of blossoms, fertility, life, and family. I made a promise to my priestess. It was a time of war, and her village was fated to be raided. She was destined to die, but her child, a babe of only one year, was meant to survive. I swore to my priestess that not only would her daughter live, but that she would grow prosperous and full of years.”
Ekwe smirked. “Such a promise, in such unrest.”
“I am Fate,” she continued. “I believed I could make it so. Yet the priestess was killed, and her daughter taken, and brought into the household of a great Ashikaga lord, as a servant. The Shogun’s heir took notice of her. They loved one another deeply, so much that they swore a blood pact binding their souls across lifetimes. But the lord’s lawful wife opposed their bond. She accused the girl of bewitching her son and had her executed while the young heir was away at war. When he returned and learned of her death, grief drove him to take his own life.”
Ekwe’s smile widened. “Why tell an abridged story, Fate? We have all the time in the world.”
“You are the two greatest gods in the Fablingverse, second and third only to the Creator. I’m sure you can see the full story if you will.”
“I’m second, right?” Fabling asked.
“Yes, my lord!”
“Continue,” she said, blushing just enough that Ekwe would notice.
Ekwe rolled his eyes.
“However,” Fate went on, “my lord, Fabling, Ekwe granted the maid a wish upon her death: to keep her from ever being with the prince, no matter their reincarnation. They have lived six lives already, this is their seventh. Because of the blood pact, neither soul can be cleansed until it is fulfilled. With each cycle their souls weaken. I fear this is the last life they can endure.”
Fabling snapped her fingers and a book appeared, its title glowing: Once Upon a Forever.
“You’re right,” she said. “This is their final reincarnation. All three of them: the queen, the prince, and the maid. Six life times… how sad.”
“My lord,” Fate pleaded, pointing at the soul flickering in the jar, “as long as Ekwe’s curse remains, they will all die out. Even the priestess bound to me refuses cleansing until her daughter receives what I promised. I beg you, undo his curse.”
Fabling’s smile faded. The book vanished in a puff. Her face grew solemn.
“But Fate, what is done cannot simply be undone. That is the rule that binds everything. The universe does not serve commands. You cannot tell it, spin left, and then demand, spin right. To undo the consequence of its spinning left”
Fate collapsed into a kowtow, forehead pressed to her hands. “Please. I beg you. Do something.”
Ekwe laughed, half in mocking and half in triumph.
Fate glared up at him.
“I warned you against tampering with free will,” he said. “But you fancied yourself equal to the Writer, and greater than me. How amusing. It took six lifetimes for you to admit my powers.”
He crouched, tilting her chin up.
“Such a hateful little glare,” he teased. “We could have had fun. Oh well. Fabling can do nothing Fabling can do. She may be the Creator’s will, but I am the will of the created.”
Fabling shot to her feet. “No, no, no, no! Who said I can’t do anything?”
Ekwe turned, wary now.
“You saw the book,” she proclaimed. “They have a story! I can do something!”
Hope flickered in Fate’s eyes. She shoved Ekwe’s hand away.
“We cannot interfere directly in human lives!” Ekwe snapped.
“Yes,” Fabling agreed, “but I am the Creator’s will. I can still change their story.” She tapped the lantern with a finger. “And right now, my only motivation is slapping the smug off your face, Ekwe.”
Fate leapt to her feet. “My lord, what will you do?”
“I have eternity,” Fabling replied. “I will this court to proceed. Their current story, their past stories, I will see them all. Then I will decide.”
“Thank you, my lord!” Fate cried, relieved, the other gods had warned her that no good cam from involving Fabling in her solution, but right now, she was glad she did.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Fabling warned. “Right now, my plan is simple: fix their souls so the cycle continues endlessly. Let’s see how long it takes Ekwe to break. Whether they find each other in the end…” she smirked, “that’s free will’s problem.”
Next Chapter – Once Upon A Forever: Chapter 1 – OMOLARA
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