Babatunde and the Vanished Gate
Babatunde woke up on the forest floor. The golden valley was gone. The gate of Òsun had disappeared too. Only mist and silence surrounded him.
He called out, “Tunji! Prince Adetunji!” but no one answered.
He looked at his hands and saw a small piece of golden dust. It was warm — the last sign that Tunji had been there.
With a heavy heart, Babatunde returned to the palace alone.
When the king saw him, his face turned pale. “Where is my son?”
Babatunde knelt. “Your Majesty, the prince found the Heart of Òsun. He gave his soul to free the spirit woman. The gods took him.”
Queen Olufunke’s Tears
Queen Olufunke cried loudly. “My child! My only son!”
But as she wept, something strange happened. The river outside the city calmed. The water turned clear and beautiful again. The sky became bright, and the air felt peaceful.
The people of Ile-Oro said, “The curse is over.” But in the queen’s heart, there was no peace.
Adetunji and the Spirit World
Far away, deep under the river, Prince Adetunji opened his eyes. Everything around him glowed blue and silver. He could breathe under the water.
“Where am I?” he whispered.
A soft voice answered, “You are in the spirit world, my prince.”
Aramide appeared before him. She was no longer half-human, half-spirit. Now she was completely human, her curse broken.
Tunji smiled with surprise. “You are free.”
Aramide and the Spirit Prince
She nodded, tears in her eyes. “Yes, but you are not. You gave your soul for me.”
Tunji looked at his hands. They were glowing faintly. He could feel the water moving through his body like air. “I am alive, but not as before.”
Aramide touched his face gently. “You are now a spirit prince, guardian of the river.”
He smiled sadly. “Then I belong here with you.”
For a time, they lived together in the quiet world beneath the river. The water around them shone like light, and fish swam peacefully. They spoke, laughed, and remembered the human world.
The Guardian of Ile-Oro
But Tunji often looked up toward the surface. “I miss my people,” he said. “They will think I am gone forever.”
Aramide said softly, “You can still help them. As a guardian, your voice can guide the waters. You can bless their crops, protect their children, and send them rain.”
Tunji nodded. “Then I will do it. Ile-Oro will never suffer while I live.”
He placed his glowing hand into the water. It spread a warm light across the river. From that day, the people of Ile-Oro found peace. Their rivers stayed pure, and their land grew strong.
But sometimes, at night, the queen would stand by the river and hear a soft voice call her name — her son’s voice.
“Mother,” it said, “do not cry. I am watching over you.”
The queen would smile through her tears and whisper, “My son, my prince, my guardian.”
And beneath the shining water, Adetunji and Aramide held hands, their love now part of the river forever.
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