Somewhere on this world, there was a utopia. I hadn't quite figured out where this utopia actually was – but I had faith that it existed. Sometimes it was important to believe in things even though you know it isn't real. Like when my father died, despite being so young I knew he wasn't going to make it. His skin was so pale that it almost seemed transparent and his blood was not bright red, instead it was a mouldy red that was almost black – but I had to believe. Why? Because when you don't have much that's what you have to do – hope. Hope is powerful and it can drive a person away from death. Maybe it didn't work with my father, but if I had the hope that there was a paradise on this world then maybe there would be. A place where everyone was equal and a place where everyone lived in harmony. It was unrealistic to even have a thought of this, the chances of having a utopia were so slim and my mind couldn't help but be so logical. But I wanted to find it so badly because if this Earth was worthy of the Gods, then surely there would be a place that was paradise.
Turns out, I was wrong.
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Despite living in Greece my family originally came from Italy, specifically Sicily and I couldn't understand why they had left. I always knew that I didn't fit in, I was short and my hair was curly and for some reason I still carried a slight accent that I had probably picked up from my parents. Thankfully most people in Eleusis Minor had tanned skin which made me almost appear to be normal. To be honest, I liked being different from everyone else. Sometimes it was an advantage while other times it wasn't my favourite thing in the world.
"Stop breathing so loudly!" a girl across from me growled.
My eyes flickered up, her bright brown eyes were similar to my own except they reflected pure rage. I held my breath for a moment, for an experiment, before I tried to breathe quietly. Something was on her nerves – or maybe she had misophonia.
"Do you have misophonia?" I asked. She glared at me and I regretted asking.
"None of your business!" she huffed and gazed at the view. I doubted that she knew what misophonia was – FYI it was when loud noise, such as chewing or breathing, irritated someone.
Our chariot suddenly bumped to a stop. The girl, Damaris, and I had been selected to go into the Labyrinth. While some part of me was scared, I was quite excited to find out what all the fuss was about. I had only heard rumours about this place and I didn't like to have false evidence – I wanted to find out about the Labyrinth on my own.
A man dressed up in a fancy suit of shining armour gestured for us to hop off. I gave a final look at the two pure black horses which had drawn the chariot from my home of Eleusis Minor, they were Murgese horses which, ironically, were from Italy. I followed the man into a large marble building.
Twin columns acted as a hall to the entrance and, though I knew they were old, they had a grand and elegant look about them as they reflected some of the afternoon sun onto one another. Black lines ran through the marble like veins full of blood and I couldn't help but let my mouth drop as I noticed that on each column was either a God or Goddess and all were carved perfectly, I almost thought they were real. Each one was gazing out and it soon clicked in my head that we were in Olympus – the place of Gods. And this place was definitely worthy of them.
Damaris and I entered the building to find it full of people, at least forty, with a long runner table taking up the majority of the space in the foyer. It was also made of marble but it was whiter rather than the light yellow cream coloured marble that was used for the building. It seemed that we were the last ones to arrive because the doors were closed behind us with a loud click.
"Please be seated." A lady with dark caramel skin and matching chocolate brown hair and eyes spoke with authority, "Welcome to the feast! Please enjoy what Mount Olympus has to offer." She took her place at the head of the table and I barely had enough time to pick a seat. Most of the other people had their own cliques, and I didn't think Damaris would want to sit next to me since she had already left, so I was forced to sit next to an older looking woman who was one of nine around the room. She had olive coloured skin and rich dark hair that fell in curls around her like a bush. Her brown eyes were narrow and wondered around the room like a hawks and her lips were a soft rouge colour.
I wasn't sure whether to introduce myself so I simply sat down beside her and inhaled the scent of the food that was along the table. It was a range of colours, like a rainbow, and each one held a new delicious scent. Fresh breads and fruits mixed with steaming meats and vegetables some of which I had never seen before. Red wine was scattered around the table with more breads and grapes accompanying it. It was like the Gods had set out a platter of every food on Earth just for us.
I began filling my plate with a slice of bread, some meat that had a red sauce dripping down the side and some vegetables of a range of colours. I used the bread to soak up some of the delicious sauce when I noticed the lady next to me staring. She appeared to be knowledgeable; her eyes always seemed to be flickering like they were studying something so tiny that no one else could see it.
She suddenly turned her head upwards and curiosity got the better of me so I tore my gaze away from the food and turned it upwards only to be equally amazed.
The clouds above us were coloured in shades that I rarely noticed before. The sun cast a bright red light at the start of the cloud which then faded to a pastel red followed by a light orange that could only be described as a sunset orange. A beautiful light rose pink followed suit and faded into magenta. The sky was cyan tinged with colours of sunset orange and shades of purple colouring that sky like it was a blank canvas that needed to be splashed in colour. Small stars could be seen peeking out through the last light of the day and they glowed like the beginnings of flames through the radiant colours casting impossibly newer colour around them.
"How can there be so many colours?" I wondered aloud as I admired the beauty.
"Really," the lady said beside me, "There isn't. We can only see three colours with our eyes; red, blue and green. But when we see them all together – our eyes interpret the colours differently."
"And the white light stimulates each of those colours, one, two or three at a time causing new shades." I said fascinated, "How did you know that?"
"I am Ourania, philosopher and astronomer." Ourania smiled and extended her hand.
"I'm Sebastiano, Eleusis Minor citizen. Most people just call me Bas," I added as I shook her hand.
"Pleasure to meet you," she smiled again before turning back up towards the stars.
"How may do you think there are?" I asked her curiously.
Curiosuty was one of my traits that my brothers told me to be careful about, after all – curiosity killed the cat. But I couldn't help it – I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything there was about Earth – I wanted to find that utopia that would mean everything was perfection.
"Millions of billions or trillions." Ourania spoke with awe in her voice, "Some are further away than others, it's impossible to know how many we have missed."
"The ones that are further away aren't as bright as the ones that are closer. Closer ones have a brighter light, right?"
"Correct," Ourania nodded, slightly impressed. I felt my cheeks warm up, "And what affects the colour of their light?"
"Temperature," I answered hiding the pride in my voice.
"What are the colours that match them?" Ourania questioned.
"Hot stars appear to be white or blue, while the cooler stars are red." I said.
"Ah, but the cooler ones aren't actually coloured, it is more of a glow that catches the particles around them – hence the reason why they are colder."
"Space doesn't have particles." I pointed out watching the sky as it turned darker and more stars.
"Nothing's perfect, Bas, just like space isn't the perfect vacuum."
Ourania made my mind wander impossibly more. Nothing's perfect, not even space. But what about the Gods? What about a utopia? Now all I could do was hope to find out. And that would require a little more research. All of a sudden, my body was eager to go into the Labyrinth despite all the rumours I had heard about it.
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