Fate
Do your duty. Obey the rules. Stick to the list. Do exactly as you are told, no more, no less. And absolutely no exceptions, no matter what. That was just what it meant to exist as a creation of The Divine Provenance. Work was supposed to be held above all else. Severe consequences would come to whoever broke that rule.
Her two older sisters had branded that set of rules into her brain since her creation a thousand years before. Fortune and Demise were fantastic, of course; they were the best sisters anyone could ask for. They always looked after her and did what was best for the ‘big picture,’ as the mortals called it. But no one can be perfect, and both Aravae and Elasha shared one major fault; they were each a prone to following rules and did not take kindly to those who broke them.
All work was important to some degree, but it could be argued that the work of the Fate Concept was most crucial to humans. For without Infinities interfering with human lives when necessary, their fragile world would fall apart quickly.
Fates were supposed to aspire to be just like their Creator, The Divine Provenance. Her realm was the sky and her principle was order. Fortune had met The Divine Provenance during her Test of Classification, and a thousand years later Demise had done the same. Now it was her turn. Her sisters had told her all about their Creator, how to act and what was expected. So much pressure rested on this one day. And Syviis was not ready in the slightest.
She sort of wanted to run away, hide and never have to deal with her problems. But that wasn’t how Fates were supposed to act. Demise might understand, but Fortune would be so disappointed in her. Also, there was nowhere she could run to. It was against the rules for an Infinity to leave their house before their Test of Classification. Sure, she could hide out in the basement library, but one of her sisters would find her eventually. This was supposed to be the biggest day of her existence so far, she should be excited.
She sighed as she returned to her bedchambers after yet another long lecture about their important job from her sisters. Her room was large enough, each Infinity Concept was granted a generous home from the Creators. A luxurious mansion with only three Infinities to inhabit it, they each had plenty of space. It was rather plain compared to her sisters’ rooms. Where Fortune’s room was decorated in brightly colored fluffy things and Demise had painted her walls black and decorated them with many posters, Syviis had kept the decorating to a minimum. A large window overlooking the gardens casted light over her plain white walls. Her bed (which somehow always seemed to collect useless things underneath), dresser, and desk— all made of fine polished wood— were pushed up against one wall. A lovely carved door led to the hallways and the rest of the mansion on the adjacent wall. But the only wall she cared for was the last one, the one that held a large bookshelf that Demise had helped her build and books Fortune had brought up from their basement.
Syviis was intrigued by the human world. A whole dimension made just for mortals. Ineôcâ, that’s what the Infinities called it anyways. The humans called it Earth, their little brains didn’t even know of the other dimensions or that Infinities existed. The shelf was full of books about humans, written by humans. She learned about their histories and cultures, special days and important people, odd traditions and fascinating beliefs, how they treated and reacted and spoke to each other. Considering she wasn’t allowed to leave her house until after she completed her Test of Classification, it was the most socializing she got on most days. And after a thousand years of studying she had become fluent in all of their languages, except piglatin. Infinities were rather simple in some aspects compared to the humans. For example, Infinities only had the one language, the language of the dimension Òrìsà. Their language was called Kruir, it was spoken by Infinities and Creators alike.
Her sisters told her some facts about humans during her lessons of course, but it was only what was necessary and was never enough. Mostly they just talked about how to do a task in a certain situation. Soon she would be journeying to the human’s dimension frequently. Soon she would be making an impact on their cute short lives. It was only fitting that she wanted to know as much about them as possible. Her curiosity was strictly business, at least that’s what she told her sisters. She had to know what she was dealing with for her Test of Classification. If there was one thing she didn’t want to mess up ... it was that.
The Test of Classification is what would give her Abbaxa — in Kruir that meant essence — a physical human looking body, or in Kruir the body was called a Rouhk.
Now she was just thankful the lesson of the day was over and she could be alone. Hours of her siblings pounding their purpose into her head got tiring after about a hundred years or so, and Syviis always ended up zoning out. She had stopped taking notes a few hundred years back, much to Fortune’s disappointment. Demise didn’t mind all that much, notes wouldn’t help in the long run anyways. She had been listening to the same exact spiel for years upon years, and by now she was beyond tired of hearing it. The way Syviis saw it, it was always the same; the same rules told with different lessons, the same stuff told to her day after day. Do your job and this is the consequence if you fail to do so. In fact, had the youngest Fate been a human, she was most positive that her head would have exploded from a migraine by now. But it just so happened that she had to be an Infinity, and whether that be a blessing or a curse was yet to be decided.
She didn’t blame her sisters, of course. Like any self-respecting Fate, they were just doing their job and following the orders they had been given. Besides, even if she had never really paid attention to her sisters’ rambling, now would be a good time to start. Tomorrow was possibly the most important day of her existence so far. She would be exactly one thousand years old, and all the rule-following Infinities knew what that meant. The moment of truth, the day that would define the rest of her existence. The Test of Classification. Syviis would need all of her sister’s lessons and their advice if she had any hope to get through the Test of Classification. The Divine Provenance herself would oversee the test and pass the judgement. This was the one judge she most definitely did not want to disappoint, considering The Divine Provenance had complete control over her entire future. And seeing as Syviis was an Infinite Fate, that was kind of a big deal. After she (hopefully) completed the task the test made her do successfully, she was to be assigned a given name, a Rouhk, and a permanent job. She already knew the basics of her job, of course; keeping things in order, making sure nothing and no one steps out of line. Just like her sisters before her, her responsibilities would be somewhere along the lines of making sure things fell into place one way or another. All three sisters worked towards the same goal, they were just each in charge of different aspects of it.
Names were a special thing, full of power and meaning. That is what this test was for. Each of the three sisters, like all other Infinities, had an original name, the one they were created with, a secret name. Because of the sacredness of namesakes, the sisters weren’t even supposed to tell each other their original name. Only their Creator, The Divine Provenance herself, was supposed to know of their original names. But keeping secrets from their own Concept was hard enough, not to mention the fact that they were constantly in each other’s heads. Literally.
Once one knows the true name of an Infinity, then they can travel to their home without an escort, and you can communicate with them telepathically.
During Aravae’ test, she had caused a man and woman to meet and fall in love, or so the story goes. Aravae had never gone over it in full detail with Syviis. The Divine Provenance was pleased with this outcome, and saw her as a good thing. She smiled upon Aravae, the eldest Fate. Her original name meant allotter, and her new given name fit her original one perfectly. She was given the name Fortune, something good and prosperous. The newly named Fate’s Abbaxa came together to form the Rouhk of a tall curvy blonde, her curly locks tumbling down to her shoulder blades and to her lower back gracefully. Her face was just as beautiful, with the piercing blue eyes, pouty red lips, and delicate eyebrows. She was always smiling and optimistic, and she had a soft spot for happiness and true love. At least her attitude didn’t change after she received her Rouhk; she was still an overachiever and always willing to blow others away in her attempts to be the best. Her appearance would have made for a lovely Siren, had she been created into the Mythology Concept instead of the Fates.
Elasha, the second eldest of the three Fate sisters, was not so lucky with her test results. Unlike her older sibling, whose blood pumped with gleefulness, Elasha was controlled by her sorrow. During her test she was so overwhelmed by her misery that she called upon liquid fire from the depths of the Earth and released it out of a mountaintop. The entire city she was in had been demolished and thick layers of ash covered the ground for miles and miles. Her shadowy essence — Abbaxa — was trapped for several years, until she at last broke through her earthly prison. To this day she still feared tight dark places. The mortals viewed her as a bad omen, wherever she went, death would follow. The Divine Provenance was not thrilled by this to say the least. An entire city, wiped off the grid because one measly Infinity couldn’t control her emotions. She gave her the name Demise but said nothing else. Demise was derived from depression, disaster, disappointment, and disgrace. Demise was granted a Rouhk, as was traditional, but it was not one to be proud of. Her Rouhk was a bit chunky, which wasn’t bad, but on top of everything else it didn’t help. Greasy and tangled black hair came to the top of her shoulders, a curtain completely covering her face so one wouldn’t be able to tell if her features were pleasant. Occasionally there would be a small gap in her hair, enough to reveal brown eyes so dark they were almost black, deathly pale skin, or thin-pursed lips.
Fortune had known their Creator for two thousand years, the two were great friends. The eldest Fate would take a trip every year or so to visit their Creator in her dimension, Crëwr. It was a big deal to be allowed in the dimension of the Creators; she had to be personally invited. They had what the books described as a mother-daughter relationship. To have a mother, someone who cared for you unconditionally, Syviis couldn’t wait. And if all went well tomorrow, then she would have that. She didn’t want to end up like Demise, who had only seen their Creator that one time.
Once the test was completed and the results were given, there was no going back. Nothing could be changed after the judgment was final. Not the name, or the job, the responsibilities she would be in charge of, or even the Rouhk. So it was understandable that Syviis was terrified of her results, seeing as she would be stuck with them for the rest of forever. An entire eternity, all based on what happened on a single day of her life. It almost seemed unfair, but who was she to argue with The Divine Provenance? She herself was one simple Infinity in a dimension filled with more than possibly imaginable. The Fates, the Coincidences, the Muses, the Sirens, the Graces, the Sins, the Opposites, and so many more. So many Infinity Concepts, she was but one in a dimension full of them. She had no place to argue with one of the four Creators.
Syviis paced back and forth in her chambers, worrying needlessly about the next day’s test. Whatever was supposed to happen would happen. That is what she had been raised to believe, that is what she and her sisters did for a living. So why was she so anxious about her results?
Currently, like all other Infinities in their essence form — Abbaxa — she basically looked like an outline, a silhouette. A thick three-dimensional shadow, not that easy to see through unless one were to concentrate. Like looking through a reflection in a glass door at night with the lights on inside. An Abbaxa was solid, like a Rouhk, but it was slightly transparent. It had no ears or nose popping out of the head, no sockets for eyes, and no cut for a mouth. Most of the senses worked fine — an essence could still see, smell, touch, and hear — but the only way an Abbaxa could communicate verbally was with telepathy.
Her Creator was The Divine Provenance, so the color of her Abbaxa was a light lilac purple. Infinities made by The Compelling Annihilator had a bright fiery orange Abbaxa. Concepts from The Tranquil Sovereign were an earthy chestnut brown. And The Luminary Virtuoso, his creations were white like an unmarked canvass. Other Infinities could see her, but a human would only be able to if it was willed to happen. But once she passed her test and got her Rouhk — became an actual solid form— everything would change.
Would she end up like Aravae? Fortune had always seemed like such a happy-go-lucky girl, a smile plastered on her face everywhere she went. Always trying to make a bad situation have a bright side, always seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It almost seemed fake, like she was just doing what was expected of her. Never once frowning, never once gloomy; it seemed nearly impossible to keep that up full time. One day it was all going to come crashing down. Thousands of years of never showing weakness, one day it was going to crush her from the inside out.
Or would she end up like the middle sister, Elasha? Demise, with her constant dark cloud of depression surrounding her. How was it possible for one to never be happy? Was it even possible for her to smile a real, non-sadistic smirk? Pressured into feeling what she was named after, never changing. Forever practicing that one emotion, so much that by now she was unable to feel happiness?
Of course Syviis loved her sisters very much, she wouldn’t trade them for the world. They were all she had and they had always been there for her. But she did not want to turn into them either. She didn’t want to be doomed because of one small mistake on a rather important day. She didn’t want to be defined by her test results. She didn’t want to only have one emotion.
“Oh little sister?” A singsong voice chirped from the other side of the door as she tapped it lightly. “Won’t you be a darling and allow me inside?”
Entertaining her older sister was the last thing Syviis wanted to do at the moment, but the youngest Fate obliged. She would have much rather remained in her room until The Divine Provenance had arrived and was ready to oversee her Test of Classification. She didn’t need her eldest sister here to rub her perfection in her face. But she obediently stood up and opened her door, allowing Fortune access into her room.
Fortune skipped inside joyfully, her long curls bouncing behind her. “Oh, tomorrow is such a big big day, you simply must be overrun with giddiness! I mean, obviously you are, how could you not be? Why, I remember the day of my test, I just couldn’t wait until I got my results. Anyways, I’m sure you will do just perfect, exactly like me. I mean I was the one who taught you, so obviously you will be lovely darling. I have to go, so much preparations have yet to be done! I will see you soon, sister, can’t wait to see your new Rouhk!”
She bent down and hugged the shadowy form of her younger sister’s Abbaxa before disappearing out the door, humming an upbeat tune as she did so. Fortune was always quick and to the point, always moving from one thing to the next, showing up unexpectedly but never lingering more than what was necessary.
Demise stepped out from behind the door, and Syviis could swear that if she could have seen Elasha ’s eyes, they would be sparkling with amusement. Her sister always found odd things entertaining. Her low raspy voice let out a soft chuckle.
“Far too chipper for my tastes, but you gotta love her, I suppose. A little self-centered and dense, but you know as well as I that Fortune tries hard and means well, no matter how insensitive she may seem.” Demise walked inside without an invitation, not that she needed one. Syviis had always felt closer to this sister, finding Elasha easier to talk to.
The shadowy form of the youngest Fate’s Abbaxa sighed as Syviis leaned back against her bedroom wall.
“She just doesn’t get it. She has always been amazing at everything; I don’t think she has messed up once since she existed. There isn’t a thing that Fortune isn’t absolutely perfect at. The test won’t be as easy for me; I’m not naturally talented like her. And the last thing I want is to end up like—” She stopped her thoughts suddenly, aware of what she was saying and whom she was talking to.
“Like me?” Demise suggested emotionlessly. The youngest Sister shook her Abbaxa where her head would be.
“I didn’t mean it like that, I just wasn’t thinking.” Syviis hung her shadowy head in shame; she really needed to think before she spoke. Demise sighed softly, slumping her shoulders as she did so.
“It’s okay little sister, I get it. It’s no secret, I’m the embarrassment of this Concept. But don’t worry, there is no way you could mess up as badly as I did. You will do fine. Just try and think before you act. I do have to warn you, it will be difficult, more so than what you are led to believe. You have no idea what you are supposed to do. The Divine Provenance just drops you into a situation and you have to figure the rest out yourself. Just think before you act. Trust me, you do not want to end up like me, and I would hate to see you go through what I did.”
Demise always was the more understanding of her two older sisters, always trying to see things from every angle. Apparently her test had changed her and taught her a lesson after all.
“It’s not that bad, really. Sure, you might be stuck looking like that, but after you get through your rough layers and actually get to know you, you aren’t half bad. You’re actually a pretty great sister, Demise, whether you see that or not.” It was a lame attempt at an apology for what she had almost said, but it was better than nothing.
Demise shook her head furiously, enough for her hair to part from her face slightly and reveal a terrified expression. “No, no that is not what I meant. Yeah, it blows that I’m ugly, I can live with that. You know the basic story of my epic failure, how I destroyed Pompeii and all that. It was a stupid mistake, really; I let my emotions control me. You remain in the test until you complete it, and it took me a while to do mine. A few years is nothing though, really a blink of an eye in the long run.”
“Okay… So then what’s the big deal? Why all the panic attacks?” Syviis tilted her head curiously. Ever since Demise’s test, she would randomly get triggered by something and her body would react. Her hand would turn cold to the touch, she would start shaking and sweating. It was terrifying at first, Syviis had no idea what to do to help her sister. But as the years went on she became accustomed to it and Demise waking in the middle of her sleep screaming was almost to be expected. Syviis was always there to help. She never knew what triggered her, nor did she ask. If Demise wanted her to know, she would have said something. Demise took a deep breath, her shoulders lifting and falling slowly.
“Hush, I’ll get there. I’m telling a story; I’ll get there eventually. You have to know I’m not trying to scare you. But your test is tomorrow and you need to know. I have to tell you the whole story, the unedited version.” Syviis mentally prepared herself, taking a moment to contemplate what she had said. If it was enough to give her sister nightmares and mental disorders, did she really want to know?
“Okay. I’m ready to listen.”
“Anyway, while I was there I made a friend. He was a little boy who was scared of the monsters under the bed. I was still just an Abbaxa at the time, obviously, but I could talk and move like you can. I showed him that I wasn’t scary and convinced him I would protect him. I became his friend and he became mine; we were loners together. The day came that his parents told him that he was too old for imaginary friends and he had to grow up. Later that day he told me he had to stop believing in me. He walked away and that was that. I still watched over him, I had made a promise after all. It hurt to be around him and have him ignore me, pretend I didn’t exist, but by then I felt it was my responsibility to protect him. He knew I was there, of course, and one day he called me out on it. He told me I had to go, that I couldn’t stay any longer. So I left, and later that day he died. One of the old buildings was unstable and it collapsed, crushing the life out of him. I let my grief take over, I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean to do it; it was just too much. My emotions were high and I couldn’t control them. And then they just came out. With it came lava from a nearby volcano.”
Syviis could tell this wasn’t an easy story to tell. Demise’s voice was wavering and she had wrapped her arms around herself in a protective hug. Syviis said nothing, there was nothing to say. Sorry wasn’t going to cut it, so she sat and waited. The rest would come out when she was ready.
“As you know, dear sibling Syviis, we Fates are immortal. But we can still hurt, we still feel pain. I wasn’t thinking, I let my emotions take over and didn’t think through my actions. Like the rest of the city, I was buried. While the humans died and turned to husks of themselves from being incinerated and covered in the ash, I survived. I had no physical body, but my essence was trapped. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t see. The pain was blinding, the intensity of the lava scorched me and I burned. But pain is nothing compared to Crëwr Ice.”
“Nexxis.” Syviis remembered from her lessons. In the language of Creators and Infinities, Kruir, Nexxis meant Crëwr Ice. Nexxis was the weapon of the Creators.
Demise nodded. “And then it got cold. So unbearably cold for such a long time. It was horrible. But the pain wasn’t the worst part.”
The youngest Fate sister shuddered from the story. She had guessed that it would have had to be something tragic, but she had never imagined something so gruesome. She was almost scared to ask her question, but she had to know.
“What was the worst part?”
“I was all alone. For many years I was trapped, and no one came to rescue me. Fortune was watching me of course, but it is forbidden to interfere with another’s test. And The Divine Provenance was no help, not that I expected her to be. The only one with the power to free me did nothing but watch as my suffering was prolonged. It was my punishment for messing up so badly. I deserved it.” Demise’s voice shook with rage and fear. She was angry that she had been forgotten under all the debris and telling a story like that from her own history had to bring up so much fear and pain. A single tear dripped into her folded hands before she angrily brought the back of her hand up to wipe it off of her face. The youngest sister brought her hand up to her siblings’ shoulder comfortingly and pulled her into a one-armed hug. She never was much good with handling emotions or helping others deal with their own emotions. Not that she had much practice, she had only ever been around her two sisters for her entire life.
“There, there.”
“Ah, such a comfort you are. Thank you for that encouraging motivational speech. I feel so much better, really I do.” Demise shook her head sarcastically at her little sister’s attempt.
“Yeah, you owe me one big time. That took a lot out of me.”
Demise chuckled slightly. “Whatever. My point is, Syviis; I’m trying to protect my little sister. I don’t want you to go through what I did, I don’t want you to suffer like I did. You deserve more than that. I know it’s nearly impossible to mess up as badly as I did, but do try and pay attention to what you are doing. I love yah sis.”
“Relax, I’ll be fine. And for the record, I would be proud to be like you. Sure, you’re not perfect. But get past all that pent up angst and all, you’re pretty great. I’d be honored to be as great a sister as you.” There, that hopefully made up for her earlier comment. The youngest Fate’s essence seemed to get a little brighter as she attempted to comfort her sister.
Demise sighed, but for once it was a happy one. “Well, on that joyful note I should get going. You need some time to yourself, big day tomorrow and all. You’ll do… well however you’re meant to do I guess.”
Syvvis would have laughed if she had a mouth. “So supportive. Thanks. At least wish me Luck or something.”
“Ah, yes. Almost forgot.” Demise reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope and handed it to her sister. “This came for you ’bout an hour ago.” And with that Demise left the room, closing the door behind her.
Syvvis was almost giddy with excitement, mail was about the only connection she had with the outside world. Demise had been the one who originally suggested the pen pal idea, saying Fortune had set her up before her test with the Muse named Urania. They used to write frequently, even after Demise’s test; though Syvvis couldn’t remember the last time her sister got mail. She hoped she wouldn’t have a falling out with her own pen pal. She was one of Ziarre’s as well; her name was Wisdom, she was a part of the Knowledge Concept. Mostly it was Wisdom who told stories of Ineôcâ and humans while Syvvis asked questions, not having many of her own stories to tell.
Sup Little Fate :)
So a little bird told me you have a special day tomorrow. (The little bird was you, in your last letter. I can’t actually talk to animals, unfortunately. That super cool power (Don’t forget to tell me what cool powers you get after your Test of Classification!) is reserved for the Environment Concept. Still a bit jealous they get that awesome ability.) Anyways, good Luck (do I capitalize that or not? I’m not talking about him as an Infinity (he was fun back in the day, maybe you’ll meet him eventually), but rather what he stands for... Eh, who cares.) on your TOC! Lemme know how it goes and what your name is (I’mma need somehthin’ other than ‘Little Fate’ (even though “Little Fate’ is adorable) to call you), and we’ll get together in Òrìṣà to celebrate!
Sincerely, yours truly, from, regards, best wishes, and any other closer you can think of,
Wisdom
P.S — Say hey to The DP for me! Haven’t seen our Creator since last year’s Divine Day.
