PRL Serials

The Mother-Father sits on the Lofted Disc.

“We must speak to them,” the Father-Mother says. “We must speak to Lêgba. He has not presented himself since his return to the Fonlands and his return has only upended the peace and the order that the Fonlands was founded on. He brought news of Une…”

“You shouldn’t utter its name,” the Mother-Father said.

“We do not cower at anything and not only will I say its name, but I will use the magic names, pattern magic, to eradicate it myself!”

The Mother-Father chuckled. “If that were possible, it would be dead already.”

“Pattern magic works in its own time. It won’t be the saying of the spell that ends Une, but all the opposition that mounts in opposition according to the pattern, and the pattern has already been cast.”

“And Lêgba was the first piece of that enigmatic puzzle. If this is the case, why are you demanding Lêgba? Why are you pretending to be concerned?”

“Why are you playing blase? You know there are no guarantees in magic, not when there is equal opposition.”

“So you admit that this Une is our equal?” The Mother-Father asks sheepishly. 

“It is impossible to deny. Talj, the Living was our equal and it is no more. Une did that and so much more. But it stops here. The magic may be unpredictable, but nothing has ever wielded it as we do, and there is nothing like the Vodun and the coalition they have formed anywhere in existence.”

“Not even those Pito and the Descendant?”

“Not even that,” the Father-Mother says confidently. “You see what they have made. They organized across realms and identified what we did when our parent gave us the mission of making the Fonlands, that there are naturally occurring magics that make a realm possible, seven magics that an existence capable of producing sentient life required. They don’t completely comprehend, but after the display in the realm known as Talj, Maxx the Superguardian from the other realm, Pultine of the Fonlands, and the Hyperion of the realm that bears her name, they have harnessed the same powers that we did when we gave birth to the Vodun. The collective efforts of the Vodun produced three beings of even greater power. This will be Une’s downfall. I see no reason why the new greater powers can’t do it again if they need to. Une gets more powerful with each existence it consumes but it doesn’t fully trust its minions.”

“You are too careless,” the Mother-Father says. “There is wisdom in your words, so much so that you should be wary of the enemy over hearing.”

“Is this Une even capable of something like that?” the Father-Mother asks with a growing concern as it dawns on them. 

“Xêvioso says that it is capable of finding us if we say its name, how would you imagine that is possible? Power like that only gains strength with frequency. If it wasn’t capable before it most surely is now. Maybe I am being overly cautious, but we shouldn’t get too confident. We may be called to join this fray in order to defend existence. Can we defeat it if the Vodun and their allies cannot?”

“That is a good question. We can keep it out, it will not enter the Fonlands if it is as powerful as it was, or twice as powerful. We can keep it at bay for a while. But it can become more powerful.”

“The only fight we have is a barrier,” the Mother-Father says to the gathered Vodun on the Lofted Disc. “When it comes, and we are sure that it will, we will hold it off for as long as we can and if we are breached, our fight is yours. We are confident in your ability after what we have seen. We will boost your powers and the abilities of your allies. We have decided to take residence in the Smiting Chamber where we will be able to best support and observe. Lastly, we have noticed that the underside of the Disc of Lêgba has been altered.”

Many of the Vodun look angrily at Lêgba. 

“What was done was not our plan, but it comes at a time when an influx of new power is not a bad thing. We welcome the Disc of Death on Lêgba’s underside and we encourage the rest of you to cultivate something similar as we prepare for what comes. We are proud of what you all have become and we know that nothing will threaten the future of the Fonlands if we work together.”

The Vodun are dismissed from the Lofted Disc shortly after and they gather in Xêvioso’s arbitration room. 

“You allowed Owuo to alter the underside of your Disc?” Xêvioso asks in a booming voice. “Is that what you’ve been planning this whole time? The Outsiders in the other realm and Outer Spacetime, the struggle for control in the other realm? Did you bring the Deck of Impending Doom to distract us all while you figured out how to manipulate the structure of the Fonlands?”

“Brother, believe me when I say that the Deck, the Pito and their mother were all thriving before I traveled the multiversal structure,” Lêgba says defensively. “And what happened in Outer Spacetime was not my doing or Owuo’s! It was the Baron Samedi! The Outsiders tried to prevent it, I would have if I wasn’t distracted. I never wanted Deads Town to be more than what it was, and honestly, it was already more than enough for Owuo. The Barons did this, they seized on an opportunity that presented itself. Outer Spacetime reached Deads Town first, not the other way around.”

“It is just incredible chance for all of this to line up as it has?” Agê asks skeptically, but really waiting for an answer. “If you put the Fonlands in danger to make this happen, know that you will pay. I will make the Deep the underside of my Disc and with the new space, and a powerful figure of my choosing at the head, we will easily dwarf your powers. No need to lie little brother. Fess up while you can still garner sympathy. But there is no time for this now,” she says to her other siblings. “We should reconvene soon to continue preparations.”

“Have we designated a powerful overseer of Death Magic?” Jo asks. “Who rules the underside of your Disc Lêgba? They will need to meet with Xêvioso and Agê to ensure they are familiar with washing.”

“We have taken care of that already,” Agê says with a smirk and a knowing glance at Xêvioso. Then the Vodun begin to leave the arbitration room. 

“You shouldn’t have done it,” Jo says sadly. “At least wait until this is over. What we face is too big for distractions.”

“I really didn’t,” Lêgba says with a sheepish smile. “I’m not mad about it, but it wasn’t my plan. Are they gonna get Owuo to do the purple magic washing?”

Jo shrugs as they both leave. 

“Beats me,” she says.