Fate’s Web

Author’s note: This is a fan-fiction tribute to “The Incarnations of Immortality" by Piers Anthony. All his characters belong to him, me sticking in someone suspiciously like me is my fault ...

Much like Bilbo Baggins, my life underwent a big change on my 50th birthday.

Not that my life up till that point had been without its share of adventure. As a woman who was born a boy and transitioned in my forties, “boring” was one thing my life hadn’t been.

But things were finally calmed down, and I had settled into my little “hobbit hole” of an apartment and it seemed like I would stay there until I died.

But Fate had other plans.

But I think I’m getting ahead of myself, maybe being around Chronos so much is rubbing off on me.

To get a better idea where I come from, let me take you back to when I was a boy. I had struggled with my gender for years, then decades, and finally I had to make some harsh choices if I wanted to survive, and one of those was to transition if it was possible to do so. I got some luck almost right away, my mother totally bought in to me being a girl, and I found an okay job that didnt care one wit as long as I did the job, and things began to slowly get better for me.

Then, my mother got sick, and as I was sitting beside her, trying to encourage her to fight to live, a grey figure suddenly appeared, and I realized it was Death.

I didnt know why I could see him, but there he was, in a grey robe, carrying a scythe, and under the hood I could see only a skull.

I was afraid, but realizing he was going to take me mother made me forget my fear long enough to shout, “No! Stay back!”

He paused, and pulled back the hood a bit

“You can see me? Most mortals cannot.”

“Well, I can, and I want you to leave my mother alone!”

“I cannot. She is due to die any moment.”

“She doesnt have to! Please, just a little more time?”

“I ... cannot. Once her body dies, it is my job to take her soul to be weighed. If I did not take her soul now, she would suffer terribly. Is that what you would want for her?”

“I... Alright, just let me say goodbye?”

He nodded, and stepped back, and I gave my mother a kiss and said, “Goodbye, mom.”

She relaxed, and I knew she was ready to go, and so I stepped away so Death could do his job. I said to him, “You said her soul would be weighed. You mean you judge whether she goes to heaven or not?”

Death reached into my mother’s body and pulled out a twinkling globe, and then pulled out a set of scales.

“I do not judge, the scales say where she goes, Heaven, it appears.” He nodded toward the scales.

“Of course heaven! She was a good woman!”

“Yes, a very good woman by the scales. Good enough that it is a mystery for me to have been called at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Normally, a very good soul or a very bad one depart on their own. Usually it is only in cases where there is doubt am I summoned to perform my office.”

“Office?”

“I am the Incarnation of Death. I hold that office until it is my fate to die.”

“Death can die?”

“I am only temporarily immortal mortal Only my successor can kill me and take my place, and only if I am careless enough to allow it. But now I must go. I ..... regret that the pain I cause you, but Death is a necessity. “

“Wait a minute ! I remember from when I was a kid, people stopped dying, was that you?”

“It was, but I cannot explain the reasons to you now. I must go.”

With that, he walked through the walls of the house, and was gone.

I was left with the body of my mother and a bunch of questions that I needed answers to, so after letting my mother’s nurse know she had passed, I went to see if I could find some answers.

However, I found that there was more speculation than facts available, so I put the incident aside and dealt with the fallout of my mother’s death, which led me to renting this small apartment to live in, and essentially, I retreated from the world. I went to work, I went for groceries when i needed them, but otherwise I stayed in my apartment and mourned.

My mother had been my biggest supporter of my transition, but I had promised I would finish what I had started, so when time came, I went to have the surgery done, and was mildly surprised to discover that magic was a part of the process.. Even though everyone knew that magic was real, the line between science and magic seemed too great for me to imagine them working together, but apparently, I was wrong.

So I went home after the surgery in remarkably little pain and not long after I was able to take up my life again, but since I had become little more than a hermit, that life seemed awfully empty.

I drifted for a couple more months, and then, just after my forty-ninth birthday, things began to change for me.

It started with strange dreams.

Dreams in which I was in a spider’s web, but I was not a meal, but the spider itself.

Dreams in which I knew how to spin thread and found myself spinning a strange glowing thread that pulsed and reminded me of what my mother’s soul had looked like.

and dreams of standing with Death, with a man in a white robe carrying an hourglass, with a large man carrying a huge red sword, and a woman dressed in what looked like leaves and bark.

Eventually, after several months, these dreams bothered me enough that I went to see my doctor, who sent me to a man who specialized in dreams, and he used some magic stones to invoke the dreams for me while I was awake, allowing us to see them fully.

After the dreams ended, he sat and looked thoughtful for a while, and then he said, “I don’t know for sure, Alice, but it seems like you will have some strange encounters with the Incarnations in your future.”

“You know about the Incarnations? I could only find rumors and stories, I couldnt find any real evidence of them.”

“Apparently, that’s how they like it, but those of us who know magic know of them,, even if we have never met them, And you have already met one, you told me.”

“Death. So what does that mean?”

“I am not sure, but only one being can perhaps answer your questions, and that is Fate”

“How do I find Fate?”

“You dont. Fate will find you, when the time is right.”

I put my head down, and then realized there was probably nothing more I could do at the moment, and so I thanked him, and went back to my dreary life, and waited for something to happen.

Which it did, a couple of months later, when I was sitting in my quiet apartment “celebrating” my fiftieth birthday.

I had blown out the candles on a tiny cake I had bought for myself, and opened up the present I had bought and wrapped for myself, and was just about to call it a day when a large spider suddenly came down from the ceiling, startling me.

“Do not be afraid.” it said, and moments later it turned into a beautiful woman .

“You ... are Fate?”

“I am an Aspect of Fate. I am Clotho, who spins the thread of Life.”

She shimmered, and suddenly she was replaced by a middle-aged woman .

“And I am Lachesis, who measures the thread of Life, and weave them into the Tapestry.”

Before I could ask what that meant, she shimmered again, and there was standing before me an old black woman.

“And I am Atropos. I cut the threads of Life.”

She shimmered, and once again the beautiful young woman was there.

“Together,we are Fate.”

“And what do you have to do with me? I’m not anyone special.”

She turned back into Lachesis, and said, “I disagree. You have shown great bravery in transitioning, and that is a special quality.”

I shook my head and thought, “Trust Fate to know my history!”

“But come with me, and I can explain a bit better.”

She took my hand, and seemed to throw something with her other, and the next thing I knew I was in a giant spiderweb.

“Don’t be afraid. This is my home, and it will be your home if you join us.”

“First, tell me why me?”

“We have been trying to search for suitable candidates for replacing all the major Incarnations, in the hopes of making sure the best people would get the jobs when we came across your thread. It was .... extremely unusual, and so we consulted Chronos, the Incarnation of Time. He told us you had to be the next person to join us, so we wondered when or how Lachesis would leave us, since normally that Aspect of ourselves is a middle-aged woman. But instead, its Clotho who is leaving first, so we consulted again, and he insisted it must be you, so here we are.”

“But how can I be Clotho if she is supposed to be a young woman?”

“I don’t know. I will consult Gea, the Incarnation of Nature. If anyone would have an idea, she would.”

“Can I come?”

“Of course, my dear. Come!”

She took my hand, threw a thread, and moments later we were outside a giant tree with a door carved into it. The door opened .....

A beautiful woman in a dress that seemed made out of leaves waved us in, and she said, “Come in. Chronos told me you were coming.”

“Chronos?”

“The Incarnation of Time. If you accept the role of Clotho, you will work closely with him.”

“Okay. I’m in, if you can make me fit the part.”

“Give me your hand, dear.”

I held her hand, and felt an amazing flow of power go through me.

When I opened my eyes, I could see I had changed.

“Here hon, take a look at the new you.” Gaia said.

She guided me to a mirror, and I gasped at the beautiful girl staring back at me.

“Wow.”

“Are you ready to join us?”

“Already? I havent even gotten a chance to get used to this!”

“I know, and I’m sorry. But Clotho has to leave right away. Will you join?”

“Yes. I will.”

“Take my hand.”

I shrugged, and took her hand.

There was a sense of dislocation, and then I found myself looking at my former body.

“Let us say goodbye to Karen, the old Clotho, and then we’ll give you the full tour.”

I mentally stood back, and let them say their goodbyes. Finally, we left the old Clotho somewhere she could pick up her life, and it occurred to me to ask why Clotho was leaving now.

Lachesis said, “She met a good man, and wanted to marry him and start a family.”

“Well, what now.”

“First, let’s show you around, and we can go over your duties as Clotho at the same time.”

“Thanks.”

They showed me around, and explained that Clotho took a skein from the void once a month, and wove it. While only one of us could control the body at once, e could flip back and forth when we wished. It was customary to be in charge, then go to sleep, then act as a passenger who could advise the one in charge, but sometimes, all three of us would be awake, or we could all rest here in Fate’s abode if we needed to.

They also told me that Clotho had to go to the Void once a month and get pure Void stuff to bring back to create the threads that made up the Tapestry of Life, which they showed me.

It was at that moment that there was a knock at the door.

“We have visitors?” I asked.

“Take control of the body, and let’s see who is there.”

I opened the door, and there was a middle-aged man in a white cloak, who smiled at me, and said, “Clotho!” and then kissed me.

“What are you doing?” I yelled at him as I pushed him away.

“What? We always ... oh, no. From your perspective, we just met, didn’t we?”

“Yes! So explain yourself!”

He began to weep, and said, “I can’t believe its over, I loved you so much, and now I have to say goodbye...”

Mentally to the others I said, “What is he talking about? Who is he?”

“That’s Chronos, the Incarnation of time. I wonder if this is why he insisted that you were the right one for us?” Lachesis mused.

“But we shouldn’t leave him crying on the doorstep, bring him in, and we’ll try and explain.” Atropos added.

She took the man by the hand and led him into their home, and sat him on a chair.

“All right, how about an explanation?”

“I ... I live backward. The past is my future. We ... when I first became Chronos, you were there for me, helping, me, and ... I came to love you. And now its all over!”

“Is he telling the truth?” I asked the others mentally.

“It seems to be the case. He does live backward. If he remembers you from the future, that’s the case. It would explain why he wanted you in the role of Clotho.” Lachesis replied.

“But what do I do? I dont love him, I can’t give him what he wants.”

“Can’t you?”

I thought about what she was saying to me. I now had the body I always wanted. While I wasn’t sold on men, I suspected the Green Mother would have made sure I could be attracted to men, if the situation allowed.

I took him by the hand, and helped him to stand up.

“I ... I dont feel like you do, not yet. But if you need me, I’ll ...”

“You ... you really want to do this?”

In answer, I took his hand, and led him to the bedroom.

What followed was .... pleasant, to say the least. He obviously knew my body well, and provided me with a great deal of pleasure. What’s more, he clearly loved me totally, both for my body and my soul, and that was a new experience for me.

Once we had finished, I just held him for a while as he mourned for what from his perspective was a loss, and internally blushed as the two women with whom I shared this Incarnation with teased me about what had just happened

As for me, I sighed. I didn’t have the feelings he obviously did, but I could see myself growing fond of him, especially since in our official roles we would be working together closely.

He had fallen asleep, so I got as comfortable as I could beside him and closed my eyes. From what I had learned, this was going to be an ... interesting job, to say the least, and I wondered what Chronos had seen in the future that I was supposed to help with, but I realized that worrying about what I had little control over was a good way to give myself an unnecessary headache.

“Take each day as it comes, even when you’re the incarnation of Fate?” I asked my internal partners.

“Sounds like a good plan.” Said Atropos, and Lachesis agreed, and we went to sleep in the arms of Chronos.

End.