Asclepius
The god of medicine, healing, rejuvenation, and physicians.
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Luke repeated the words for the hundredth time.
This time Michael wrote the prophecy down on a scroll and passed it around.
They were all welcomed in the building of Asclepius, the god of medicine, Apollo's son, and weirdly, Calum's half-brother.
After his wounds were tended to, after they had eaten, they sat down and listened to Luke.
It was the middle of the night but none could sleep, this was what they came here for.
"Let's start from the beginning," Ashton suggested and read the first line of prophecy out loud.
To heal the poisoned, you must find the gold.
"That's me," Calum said, "The poisoned."
"What about the gold?" Ashton looked at Luke. "Which god has the connection to gold?"
"Chrysus," Luke said immediately. This is what he was good at, thinking, knowing things. "He is the son of Zeus, but I don't think he has a temple or a place we could visit."
Calum nodded. "What about Plutus?"
"God of wealth," Luke whispered and thought about it. "He was born in Crete. Do you guys think we have to go on an island?"
He then noticed Michael was shaking his head and writing something down. They all waited for him to turn the paper around.
Fleece.
Luke sighed, "How stupid are we? Well, except you," He smiled at Michael who smiled back. "It makes sense, the golden fleece has healing abilities."
"Where could we find it?" Ashton asked.
"Maybe the prophecy says more about that," Calum said so Ashton read another line.
But more than one could be in the death's hold.
"I think that means Calum wasn't the real target," Luke said what he's been thinking off since he heard the prophecy out loud.
"Or maybe we're all in danger," Calum said. "You can't know for sure what that means, read on."
They will be saved with love untold.
But many hearts could be left cold.
"Love," Luke sighed. "It's impossible to say, almost every good and bad thing that happens between the gods is because of love. Could be Aphrodite?"
Ashton groaned. "She does hate my dad's children that aren't her own."
"And her love for your dad does leave her husband Hephaestus with a cold heart. And he is the god of metalworking, which could also mean cold?" Calum looked at Luke to either confirm or deny what he said.
"He is also the god of fire," Luke shrugged with his shoulders. "It could mean many things."
Michael was writing something down for a while and he passed the note to Luke to read.
"It might not be about gods. If it's about jealousy most students back at Athens could be suspected."
"That's true," Luke agreed, "We must not fixate ourselves on gods, not when not but Artemis helped us so far."
"You're on your journey together but at least one will leave soon.
You will get more answers if you'll follow the moon."
Ashton looked through the window, "I don't know if this is about death, if it's about us splitting up, about someone going home?"
"Does anyone want to go home?" Luke asked and they all shook their heads. All but Calum.
"C'mon guys, you all know we'd all rather just have everything back to normal and go home, right?"
"We'll go home when you'll be back to normal," Luke said and nudged Ashton to read on.
"Be aware of the creatures who like to be outside at noon.
You'll know who to trust when you'll see the rune."
Michael started writing again and Luke tried to think about any myths and hero quests that involved runes.
"Michael asked if we should only travel by night from now on?" Calum read his paper. "To avoid the creatures?"
"That's not stupid," Ashton agreed.
It was the first time Ashton agreed with Michael on anything.
"I don't think we can afford that," Luke sighed. "Maybe we can be more careful during midday but... It's summer, there are only six or so hours of complete darkness,"
"Luke," Calum asked. "We don't even know where we're going next? This was the goal. To hear the prophecy, now we need to make a new plan."
"Can we do that after we sleep?" Ashton asked. "My brain hurts, I'm tired."
"Okay," Luke agreed. "Michael, will you help Calum? I need to get my books."
The black-haired boy nodded.
None of them said it out loud but with every day Calum had less energy and strength. The wound wasn't getting worse but it wasn't getting any better either.
Luke walked outside. There weren't any guards in front of the building Delphi like they were in Thebes but a couple of healers were awake if anyone would need their help in the middle of the night.
Luke walked to the horses and gave each of them a treat.
He was just about to turn when he spotted something shiny in the bushes.
His immediate thought was gold.
There were rumors that the fleece would appear when needed, and he was tired but Luke was also nosy.
Luke didn't know what happened next.
There was a voice inside his head telling him to not do it, to turn around. But whatever it was, it sparked again.
When he saw it, he could speak, he wanted to scream but his mouth wouldn't open.
Something, someone grabbed Luke and there was the voice again, telling him to stay calm.
Luke knew the person holding him was Michael, he just didn't know where they were going.
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i hate reading cliffhangers, i love writing them.
thoughts on the prophecy? the explanation?
any theories?
what about the end? what do you think happened there?
Love, Lucija ♡
p.s.: one of you already figured out something in the comments. and sometimes the gods i pick for the chapter names are a clue. and sometimes they are not.