Fantasy Tales, a bunch of short stories

Fate and Destiny

The sunset stretched endlessly in his eyes, a sight he found rather pleasant. Amidst a vast grassy field stood a solitary cabin, though he had little need for it. Once, he manipulated the lives of gods and monsters, mortals and men. Now, he merely observed his frozen kingdom.

He, too, was frozen, condemned to watch through eyes that saw farther than any other. His unseen hands once spanned continents, pulling strings beyond mortal reach. Though he despised his existence, he did not voice his complaints. There was naught he could do but watch fools damn themselves to oblivion.

Bound long ago and frozen in time, he was condemned to guide unseen the fates of mortals and monsters.

"So, you've come to mock me again, dear Time. Does my suffering amuse you?" His mouth did not move; his mind spoke for him. His silver eye saw Time's approach, as his golden eye had already foreseen it. "I take no joy from your suffering, Fate."

Approaching was a man in an old, worn red coat stained with age. His silver hair matched his rainbow eyes, his appearance that of a middle-aged man with claw-like fingernails. Walking with a cane, he dragged behind him a pocket watch the size of a boulder, plunging into the ground with each step. "WHAT IS IT you want?! I can't think of anything else other than to gloat!"

Bowing his head, the aged man turned slightly, glancing behind him. "I bring you a gift, dear Fate."

Assuming it to be a form of torture, Fate knew the aged man's intentions were never good. Before she even entered his view, Fate saw her trailing behind the aged man, cloaked in silvan gold. With hair like a rose and cheeks like cherries, she was a mystery even to him. She was the woman mortals often confused him for, for who had the power to defy their fates.

"Destiny. Is this your new plan, Time? To negate my power with destiny now?" Fate sniggered at the thought, knowing Time's game long before it was set in motion.

"You should know, Fate, this is no game. I merely wish to present you a gift... a companion," Time said.

"I am no gift, Time! I am as much a being with my own thoughts as you. I come because I choose to, not because of you!" Destiny retorted.

Though old and endless, Time staggered, taken aback by Destiny's lack of obedience. "Your plan already crumbles, Time. You, who see the past and present, cannot hope to best those who see beyond it."

Destiny rolled her eyes, settling them on Fate, who stopped laughing. He had foreseen this, but long ago, he had forgotten. Forgetfulness came often to him. Had Destiny come because of this reason? What if she had already changed it?

She clasped her hand to the side of his face, crooking her head like a curious bird. "Do you know me, Fatinirius?" Ah, a name long forgotten, even to his mind.

Her silver skin felt cold against his face. "How could I not, Desitmistrelea? You, who was fated to free me."

She smiled bittersweetly. "What if I changed my mind? For you know my ways, Fatinirius. What is to stop me from leaving you here to suffer time's ignorance?" Fate would have shrugged, but he couldn't. Too many sights to keep track of every detail. "Then nothing, my dear, for I shall be here. Forever watching the fates of mortal and monster alike, grasping for change. Even if I remain here, my power still runs rampant in their searches for their fates beyond."

She shut her eyes and smiled, her blue silvery lips tightening as starlight touched his skin. His bronze skin tingled under her hand. Then, he fell.

Time screamed as his 'last' sight of Destiny was her spinning, her silver hair swinging wildly as she laughed.

Fate smiled, the first time in over a thousand years. He fell into the darkness of the void, knowing where he was, who lived there, but they would not come. For he would meet them at the crossroads, and right now, he had a date with Destiny.

She stood among the black grass as silver songbirds fluttered around her, Time behind her, sullen and younger, his age no more than twenty years old.

"You were mine, Fate. Mine. I shall have you again, Fate. Once more. Fate belongs to time," Time declared.

Fate laughed, his first laugh in a long while. "No, Time. I am as free as a thought. You cannot catch me, not ever again, nor have you ever. I allowed you, permitted it."

Time raised his eyebrow, his face looking younger by the second before aging gradually back to the old man. "We are the future, Time. Futures that will or... will be."

He whipped his long hair. "You are no more than the past and present. Times that have happened, you will not change. Not until we do."

Time stood on his patch of white grass, his face aging into a child. He looked as though he was about to throw a tantrum before Destiny stepped in. "Go back, Time. Go to your family. Tell them what we have told you and learn. Perhaps change, and if not, then fall. You cannot change Fate. Only I may have that gift."

Time considered this, then faded into sand, gone for now.

Fate sighed, looking at his hands. He had aged in his time away. Perhaps that too would fade when he was back on his throne. He plucked a gray hair from his head and sighed.

"You had been gone a while, Fate. I would not have heard if not for luck," Destiny remarked.

Fate looked at her bemused. "Destiny, luck has nothing to do with it. Have you forgotten?" Like he knew what she might do, she whirled her dress round in a spin, smiling.

"Oh yes. I forget sometimes." He smirked as she approached, placing her silvery hand once more against his cheek.

Smiling, he found it amusing their differences. She flowed like wind and water, unpredictable and ever-changing. She could change at the drop of a hat, while he could not. Fixed in his ways, he knew, only changed by her. He knew he already loved her.

"Shall we go, Fate?" Taking his hand, he nodded slowly. "Yes, let us go, Destiny." With that, they left, walking through the black grass. With each step, cinnamon colors reached around them as silvery white stretched further around, coloring the darkness in light.