The Oracle of Delphi

Chapter 2

When I awaken, I feel a hand stroking my head. The hand feels rough, masculine...but who's hand could it be? As far as I know, no man has ever cared for me, not even my own father. As for any other man I've met over the years, knowing about my Sight, would never touch me. It feels good, someone taking care of you. I want to stay like that forever, but my curiosity infected brain wouldn't have that.

I open my eyes to a shocking sight. A man with blond hair and the prettiest green eyes I've ever seen, leans over me. His eyes glisten like emeralds floating in a river of milk. He has high cheek bones and full lips that appear to be smiling down at me. I smile back, then catch myself realizing the man caressing my head is lord Apollo. Apollo, the one who wants to make me his personal punching bag, his pet. Jerking upwards, I groan as an intense pain rips through my skull forcing me back down.

"Don't try to get up... you hurt your head during our chariot ride," he says getting off the bed so he can help me sit up. He holds me forwards with one arm while using his other to arrange the pillows for me. I lean back so my spine is resting on the pillows. Due to the pain in my head, it takes me a minute to remember the events of yesterday. The cavern, the fight, the chariot, it all comes rushing back to me.

S uddenly, I panic and look around at my surroundings to try and find a way out. However, then I think, I wouldn't get too far with my head still throbbing like this. Looking around, I gasp as I take in the stark white walls of the room, decorated with golden carvings. There are Doric columns, also decorated with a golden design.

I turn my head, looking past Apollo, to see what else is there. I spot a huge doorway that leads to a beautiful garden bathed in sunlight. A sofa sits near the center of the room along with an ornate glass top table. On the table is a vase of tulips the color of unwatered red wine. Also, on the wall, hangs a quiver full of arrows and a bow that seems to radiate heat.

"Where am I, Apollo? And why am I here?" I ask him, not caring to call him Lord or any of that. He does not deserve to be called that, at least not in my eyes. To me, he's a being that wants to take away what little sanity I have left in my disgusting life.

Apollo gets up from the bed once more and pours some wine from the pitcher that sits on a tiny white stand next to the bed. He empties its content into two goblets. Handing one to me, he resumes his place beside me. His closeness makes me really uncomfortable. After I take the goblet from his hand, he finally replies "We are in my quarters at Mount Olympus, Ryssa, to answer your first question.

"As for why you are here...as I explained to you yesterday, I want you to...no...I will make you my oracle. I need to train you here, at the home of the gods, so the idiotic mortals don't try and kill you," he adds.

A shiver ran down my spine when he uttered those last words. I never imagined that they would kill me, knowing, not because I had the sight but because I was going to be the future oracle. I knew people were cruel, heck I've experienced their cruelty first hand. But killing in the name of god and in cold blood is...I can't even describe it.

"I never agreed to be your oracle!" I shout, staring at him with hatred filled eyes.

"And I never asked your permission now did I?" he shoots back calmly, a smile curling his lips. "Why don't you just accept your destiny, Ryssa? Why do you want to make it so hard for yourself? I understand that everyone has hated you due to your ability to 'see'. However, you can't run from your destiny, your fate. Plus, once you become my oracle, people will fear you, instead of the other way around. They wouldn't dare touch you once you are under my guidance."

"I don't want people to fear me," I confess in a small voice, a tear running down my cheek. "I want them to recognize me as a person, as one of them, rather than as a monster. And...maybe...I want for one of them to love me like my existence actually matters."