King Dumebi was heartbroken about the death of his wife after a week of becoming the king of a strange kingdom far beyond time, he soliloquizes;
‘I will not accept this reality’, king Dumebi said to himself.
How can I rule without my Asake, we did not discuss it like this.
I must do something about it, he concluded.
He called all the Chiefs and elders of the land for an urgent meet and he started after they greeted him;
I need a sorcerer who can interact, interfere, and revert time and death, he said.
‘My highness, hope it is not because of your wife that is late that borne this time and death issue’, the Chief Priest said.
The king answered, “Why not? I will do whatever it takes to hold Asaka again and make her come back to my life,” he spat with confidence.
Another elder Togbe replied, My king, this is an abomination; why not let the dead be and let the leaving continue? I will advise you, my king, to pray for her, he muttered repeatedly.
No, I am the kingdom's king, and my decision is final as I have made up my mind, King Dumebi replied.
If so, my king, from the beginning, the only one who has such power is Dracula, who lived in the forest of our ancestors. The great Dracula, the chief priest looked up and continued, the man that lived a thousand years and looked as young as ever, the only habitat of the Drumegba dungeon, stated by the chief priest.
In two days, I will be on a journey to our ancestors' forest to search for the Drumegba dungeon to find Dracula. The king affirmed and left his chiefs, and later that day, Prince Bunmi begged his father to reconsider his decision, but the king was adamant.
‘Let mother rest in peace as God knows better, and what if things go out of hand and the unexpected happens?’ the crowned prince Bunmi said, but the king stood his ground by saying, ‘ I am ready to face the consequences and outcome of this.
Prince Bunmi says his father is living in illusion and doesn't want to accept reality, and angrily, his father left feeling insulted by what Prince Bunmi said.
Two days later, the king traveled in search of the Drumegba dungeon, which was in the ancestral forest. He puts on his protective beads, wears his Rifa skirts, and rides his horse straight to the forest.
Getting there, he saw two horned gnomes talking to each other and neglecting the king while engrossed in the talk.
One is male and the other is female and the dialogue goes thus;
The male horned gnome said,’ TUM TUM, will you lose yourself in the process of finding the lost love’ and the female horned gnome replied,’ I won't as with me or without me, life continues and with my love or without my love, life continues’ she said and if I may ask, why are you asking such question BUM BUM as she refers to the male horned gnome this time.
He answered, ‘It is because humans like to do like God in every given opportunity,’ BUM BUM said mockingly, but they are God on land. TUM TUM replied sarcastically, and they both hugged and disappeared.
This triggered the king, but he was too far from his destination and moved further. After a few minutes of riding, a very heavy breeze started blowing in his direction, and it formed a tornado that caught the king and his horse and took them away.
Back in the kingdom, crowned prince Bunmi was given an assignment to stick with his father's life, to always put oil in the oily lamp. The prince stayed awake all day and night praying and oiling the lamp. Whenever the king faces life-threatening challenges in the forest, the oily lamp’s light will fluctuate, and Bunmi will cover it, protecting it from the breeze, and this is how he is living for now. Eating there, sleeping there, bathing there, and brushing as well as it was started. If the king's bloodline is missing in the room, the king is gone, and Bunmi stands to protect his father's life.
After seven days of getting lost without knowing the specific place he was, the king found himself in a valley and saw his horse dead already.
He did not know where to go from here and was confused. Then the two-horned gnomes appeared again and started a dialogue as usual.
‘BUM BUM, humans can be desperate to the prime to search for misery, and perhaps where God hides she said, and TUM TUM answered yes, some will visit the dead realm if given the opportunity, he replied, and they both looked at the king This time, pointed to him and disappeared.
The king had never been afraid like this since his journey here, and his confidence failed him; he ran off the valley but found the dungeon unexpectedly.
He looked at the gigantic building which had a dark stormy cloud above it and as he got to the gate, it opened by itself then he heard a thunderous voice saying to him from afar, ’ Welcome to Drumegba dungeon King Dumebi, I have seen you have suffered and I only let people I want to see get their way here and if not, they will get lost in this forest forever.
I know what you are here for and I will grant your wish. I can't reverse time that is gone but I can send you down to the multiverse. I don't know what you will find there but you have ten minutes to come back with Asake.
The unseen force Dracula continues;
Using more than the given time will get you stuck in the multiverse, and automatically, you will be living with the Dead.
PUU PUU SHAA SHAA, the thunderous voice altered, and King Dumebi found himself on an unknown island. Looking further after the river bank, he saw some sets of people in white gowns and suspected that he had reached his destination.
‘ I only have a few minutes ‘ he muttered to himself and started racing on top of his feet. It was stressful because of the land's Sandy nature, but King Dumebi didn't care. Getting to the river, he dived in and swam relentlessly to cross to the other side.
Getting there, all the people knew he was a living soul and were surprised to see it as it had never happened before; King Dumebi neglected their looks and screamed at the top of his voice, “Asake! Asake !!” …. He saw his wife running towards him and a black sky was coming behind her, she shouted, ‘Dumebi !! , it is time to run for your life as the black sky must not meet you.
The king turned back and didn't have the time to hold his wife, talk to her, or hug her. He ran back to the destination he came from but the cloud got to them while they were swimming in the river.
Back in the kingdom, the oily lamp's light went off at midnight that day, and Prince Bunmi cried heavily, knowing that his father was no more. He cried saying to himself ‘ I wish to talk to you for the last time Father ‘ and he slept sobering, then he heard a dream where his father and mother appeared to him, ‘ I was given this opportunity to come speak to you as you wish’, king Dumebi said to his son as he never left Asake holding to her beside him.
‘Forgive me, son, for I was stuck in the multiverse. I should have let reality take its place and live in the present time, but I held onto the past, and it broke me. Because I didn't want to lose my lost lover, I lost myself in the process and I regretted that decision but life must continue because I was warned severally, please leave your life and please be self-aware much more than this, the past can never be held upon so let leave space for growth’ the king said and prince Bunmi woke up.
Bunmi ruled the strange kingdom for centuries and also told his children about the story of their grandparents.