Chapter 11

Lovina and Kasali had been lovers since they began existing. No god or goddess knew when their relationship started or how they could balance their work life and personal life. Still, they managed to keep everything under check.

Her boisterous attitude and his timid demeanour made for the 'opposites attract' phenomenon. In fact, you could say it originated from them. The love between them both shone so brightly that to have them fight against one another was unimaginable to the gods gathered. Even the human, who wasn't aware, felt pity upon seeing Kasali's downturned face.

''Lovina, I'll give myself up for you. Don't make me go through this.'' Kasali muttered as Lovina prepared herself.

''My love, it has to be done. Whoever wins our battle must ensure to destroy the others, not for Anthuina but for us.''

''But rabbi, I don't want to do this. You can't make me do this.''

Lovina turns from her calabash and takes Kasali's hands in hers.

''I also don't want you to soil your hands with the affairs of this world. But it must be done. Think of it this way, should a god or goddess win at the end, we can rewrite the world. Maybe even get created again. If I die, know that I will continue to love you in death.''

Kasali's job as a time god was often confused. Most gods and goddesses would make fun of him because of his small stature and timid personality. It also didn't help his confidence in having Lovina fight his battles for him.

His job was mainly to control the sun rising and setting, the moon, and ensure time was moving as it should. He worked with other gods to ensure their seasons came at the right time and other things. Though necessary, the gods still made fun of him.

And should Kasali let his emotions run free, the world would become unbalanced as was seen in the human realm. We had heard from the mortal realm that the sun rose at different times, and the moon would sometimes come in contact with the sun. Strange things had begun to happen, and people were no longer in sync as they used to.

Kas had destroyed the order of time with his feelings in charge, and when we finally noticed, it was too late to set things right. We had to live with things the way they were. Okay, some were hoping that he died and the order would be restored, but as luck would have it, they were disappointed.

''It's permanent,'' Zadra says while tinkering with his stool.

''We don't know why it is so. It's a working theory that Kasali is favoured of the source. But anyway, why do you think the sun rises and sets at a certain time? It's because Kasali made it that way. He never abused his powers, so there was no reason to stop him. And since there's nothing that can be done to change it, I suggest we all get used to the time difference. I sure have.''

And the humans and gods tried their hardest to get used to it. However, most had a hard time recollecting the fact and often wound up confused whenever they reached their destinations. And as Kas dealt with the news by messing up the world as a whole, Lovina was sulking in her part of their realm.

Soon, as the time for their fight drew closer, Lovina was everywhere partying and getting drunk. It was noticed that she was getting drunk with another god if she wasn't in another realm partying. Most of the festivals never had an order to it, chaos filled the place, but she didn't care. She wanted to die while drinking, and that was all there was to it.

We didn't know what sort of battlefield we were going to witness in three days. If it would be them fighting each other (even though they had no fighting bones in their bodies and neither of them was training) or some psychological mumbo jumbo like that.

And when the day arrived, I was shocked to see luscious green grass, a fully grown tree with dense fruits dangling on each branch. Even though they strangely weren't moving, and the animals that seemed to be stuck grazing on the grass, there were birds in the air. In fact, as I paid closer attention, I realised that everything stood still; nothing was in motion.

'What is going on here? I thought there was supposed to be a fight here. Why do we see trees and birds?' Benauk had spoken what was on everyone's minds.

The likelihood of something growing in the field and frozen seemed very strange until Zadra cleared his throat in the 'I know something that you don't way of his'.

''It was the work of Kasali. As the god of time, he can also call on memories he or anyone else has experienced. They are all frozen in time, so it is possible to do something like this. Even though I am surprised, he was able to do it of this calibre. I was sure his power couldn't hold a memory for this long.''

A sob, a scream and a pounding of hands against the ground. Lovina could not believe her eyes. It was apparent the others didn't know what this serene place meant. But to her, it was the place they had found each other, cared for one another and most importantly, fell in love. Even if she could forget the memories of the first time, they both wandered here; seeing it once again brought them back.

Lovina sometimes hated her job. Being branded as a prankster and an unserious person came responsible for being the goddess of love and laziness.

Whenever there was a party, a celebration of some kind, she was always there. Unfortunately, mixing humans with copious amounts of alcohol was a terrible idea. Today was the worst. Usually, they would drink, and a lot would return to their houses with respective wives. But today…

Today, they decided to forcefully take other women to the bushes and have carnal knowledge. They beat their fellow men to varying states of death. The women beat their husbands and vice-versa. And when they were done being animals to one another, they turned their hatred on me. They couldn't take the guilt of what they had done, so the genius idea was to blame the god who just supported their needs to celebrate.

'I hate humans sometimes, maybe most times, but this time, I definitely hate them. There's a difference between partying and having fun and the acts which you blame me for causing. Hmph!' I might have said a few more words, but nobody needs to know. I hadn't yet noticed that I wasn't alone or where I was until I heard someone let out a chuckle.

''I never thought I'll see you like this. What's the matter? Tell me all about it.''

Kasali had often wandered to the garden where time never worked. It was possible to get lost in the wonders of the place and the animals that were there. Nothing seemed to die or be born, and for the past hundred years that he had been visiting this place, he was yet to figure out how he worked. It was annoying at first, but it was his happy place, so he was fine by it.

He knew what the other gods thought of him; he'd have to have been robbed of his senses not to tell. They never tried to hide how they made fun of his weird stutter and being the only god to ever need glasses. Don't get him started on the fact that he could never look them in the eye. To them, he was the runt, the little one and the baby. Even his sister made fun of him. But it was okay as long as he had the garden.

This was what sparked what would now be broken today. From that moment, Kasali and Lovina met whenever they could, spent so much time far away from other people. She helped him get rid of his fears and grow into a promising god, someone who took control of his actions and let nobody walk over him. He helped her with her problems during her festivals. And they were in love, it was evident to nobody but them, and that was all that mattered.

FLASHBACK ENDS NOW...

Lovina's P.O.V:

Wait...what is going on? Why...why don't I remember what is happening? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Where... where is...where is Kasali? Why do I feel warm all of a sudden and very sleepy? 'Kasali, there you are. Wait! Why can't I move my mouth? Can you hear me? I love you. Please forgive me. I feel very sleepy now. Let me sleep, please. Don't look so sad, my darling, we will see each other soon.