When humans speak of fate, they often imagine a higher power making decisions for them. Maybe it is a God; maybe it is the Universe. Some don’t believe in fate, especially when they are convinced that there is such a thing as Free Will. How can there be Free Will if everything is predetermined?
Both groups, those who believe and those who don’t, are wrong. There is such a thing as Fate, but it’s not controlled by one Being. It’s several. And things are predetermined, as long as a human doesn’t use their Free Will to change the predetermined path.
Usually, Fate allows humans to make their own decisions – if their Free Will is strong enough. Most humans are happy to just follow along the path that has been laid out before them, only insisting on minor alterations. Fate can carry them through their whole life, and they are content. There are only a few humans who keep defying Fate by breaking out of the patterns. Their Free Will is so strong that the Beings are unable to keep them on a single path of Fate. The more it happens, the more it disturbs the stability of the Universe. It begins to crumble and eventually collapses …
Zuen was watching their assigned human as they had been doing for the past 17 years. Directing Fates was a process that changed with the times as humanity as a whole changed and progressed. There had been so many before this human, and there would be many after, Zuen knew.
There was a tug on the fabric of space and time, and Zuen sighed.
“Again? This is the third time this week alone!” This human’s Free Will was a strong one, he was driven by so much spite that he kept going against everything laid out before him. “What was it this time? Not going to the poetry slam where you will meet your college romance? You’re really not making this easy for me, you know that, right?”
He didn’t know. How could he? He didn’t know Zuen even existed, and he didn’t defy all their attempts of providing him with a great life on purpose. He just had a lot of opinions, and those wanted to be heard.
“Fine. Go grab some Chinese takeout instead. I’ll find a new path for you to go down, as I always do.” They started arranging Fate in a new pattern, determined to find something their human would go along with when suddenly, another Being appeared.
“Zuen”, Ishtar greeted them. “I bring news.”
“News? There is never any news. Has something important happened?”
“It is about your human. You must have noticed that he keeps breaking Fate, over and over again. You must have felt the fractures in the Universe growing bigger.”
Zuen had indeed felt that but had not paid any further attention to it. Humans with a strong Free Will occasionally had this effect, but they always came around eventually. They nodded.
“Your human has been classified as too dangerous to continue. He will be assigned a new Being to ensure he will be removed from Earth soon, to not further endanger everything.”
Too dangerous to continue. A death sentence for any human. Something Zuen had never wanted to hear. They knew it wasn’t their fault, the human had brought that unto himself, but Zuen still felt responsible. Had they not chosen the ideal path? Had there been an alternative they had missed?
“Ishtar, are you sure this is necessary? He is not even an adult yet, maybe he will fall in line like the rest. Maybe …”
“The disturbances are already more serious than anything we have observed so far”, Ishtar interrupted them sharply. “There is nothing that can be done. If we wait much longer, the Universe may suffer fractures that cannot be repaired. I will take over your post to ensure this is handled correctly.”
It was expected that Zuen would step aside to let Ishtar do their job. But something inside them refused. Refused to let this human go that they had cared for. Beings weren’t supposed to love, Zuen knew that. But Zuen also knew that this Emotion they felt could not be anything else.
“No”, they said.
“Zuen, surrender your power over this human’s Fate to me immediately.”
“You cannot force me to.”
“There will be consequences if you don’t, for everyone. What are you doing? You know the rules!”
“I will not give up this human just so you can get him killed.” Zuen tried to seem confident, but on the inside, they were full of fear. What were they doing? This went against everything they believed in, everything they stood for, everything they were.
“The human will die, regardless of what you do.”
“I will prevent that.”
“Other Fates will ensure that he dies. You only have power over his Fate, and he keeps refusing to follow it. How do you plan on protecting him?”
“That doesn’t matter. I will not let you murder him.”
“Murder him!” Ishtar called out. “I’m not going to murder him! I’m sacrificing him so the Universe can keep on going undisturbed.”
“How is that any different?”
Ishtar just stared at Zuen, motionless.
“You will regret this decision”, they said and vanished.
Zuen wondered if they had made the right choice.
Caleb stumbled and had to catch himself by putting a hand against the wall next to him. Something felt off very suddenly. He couldn’t quite explain what it was or why it felt off. It was just an overwhelming feeling of wrongness that he couldn’t shake. He looked around, but there was nobody but him in this dark street.
He pushed himself off the wall, shook his head and straightened his shoulders. The feeling didn’t go away, but it faded to something in the back of his head, no longer affecting his balance. Maybe it was a migraine? Whatever it was, he wouldn’t let it stop him from getting the food he craved. A bit more careful than before, he continued his journey to his favourite Chinese takeout place.
