Chapter Thirty-One
"This many gods are making me nervous."
I was alone with Shaw in a very sterile looking room. He told me it was the infirmary when he opened the door and I have to say it certainly looked like one. There weren't many beds, actually there wasn't much of anything. Do gods even get hurt? Maybe their...subjects did? Was that even the right word?
"They all want the same thing from you. You should feel nervous."
He picked up a rather ordinary bottle off the tray he'd put together and uncorked it. I didn't like his tone or the way he said that. I didn't do anything wrong, no one had. They should be thanking us for saving the goddess's life. But I had a feeling, gratitude was far from what they'd be sharing.
"What about Andrzej? They won't hurt him, will they?"
"So concerned about the wolf." He chuckled and his tone was lighter now. "When we last spoke you were also concerned about him. It worked out then..."
"It might not work out this time. Neptune didn't seem too happy to have a wolf running around unchecked. Not that he was running..."
Shaw poured the liquid out of the bottle and into his hand. "Let me tell you a little known fact about your wolf, Epiphany Valens." He looked at me, pausing until I nodded. He rubbed his hands together. "He's a survivor. He's been tested to his limits and has come out on top every time. You shouldn't worry so much about him. He's a fit custodian for you and you shouldn't doubt him."
"I don't doubt him and you make it sound like he's going to mop my floors and take out my trash."
"When the virgin oracle was housed at Delphi, Lycaon wolves were used as guardians. They were often priests, devoting their whole lives to guide, train, and protect the oracles. That is why the wolf is more humane around you. Why he reacts well to you." He squinted at the wound for a moment before continuing. "Sometimes the oracles would be surrounded by false ones for extra protection. I believe you have that, do you not?"
I frowned. "I don't...no one I know pretends to see the future. And even if they did it's mostly about fashion trends and who will be dating who."
"All that doesn't matter. They neither have to pretend or predict correctly, they just have to be. You have a group of friends that surround you. You're never alone. They help mask your identity and keep you safe, even if they are unaware of what they are doing. There is a reason why your friends are your friends."
"It's all predestined, isn't it?"
He nodded as he rubbed the solution into the bite, numbing the pain and swelling. He'd already flushed out the venom and cleaned it up. It was definitely not a pretty sight. There were punctures and tears. From what I could tell he was just prepping it to sew some of the deeper ones up.
"When it comes to virgin oracles, everything must be planned down to the littlest details. No one in particular plans it out, everything just falls into place like dominos. Such as; who her parents will be, where she will live, who her influences will be before she comes into her powers. Even you being Assarion was predestined even though you were given the choice. You must be able to protect yourself at all costs and your ability to mask your Elite lines is a strategic advantage. You're the copulation of two very powerful Elite families and even though they are on opposite sides, your potential is greater than that of any virgin oracle of the past and coming future."
What he was saying rang true for the most part, at least it made sense. But I didn't like to think I was a product of careful planning by someone else. Even if it was multiple someone else's, I didn't like the idea that I wouldn't be the master of my own destiny.
"And what about Cecil?"
Shaw was looking over the lacerations from the wolf's teeth where they cut jagged paths into my skin. He took some time while he prepped the needle and thread to think over my question. I watched the needle slide into my skin but didn't feel it. Whatever he'd used to numb up the skin was phenomenal. Just as he finished the second stitch, he said something that completely blew me away.
"The future time particular would be nothing without the past time particular and vice versa."
He finished patching me up without another word spoken between us and I was almost worried something was said to his disliking. I followed him out of the sterile room quietly and he began telling me how to treat the bite on my own.
"Gently wash it with warm water and soap. The sutures are specifically made for water contact so getting them wet won't be a problem. Make sure to get some ointment from Tina before you head out to see the wolf. They've taken him back to his usual place and this time, when you go, make sure Cyrus is with you."
"Can I ask you a question?"
Shaw kept walking but nodded. "Yes, Epiphany Valens. You may ask me another question."
I thought it over in my head before asking it. "Do you think it will work out?"
"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking."
"Everything. I'm talking about..."
"Your vision." He looked over at me since we were walking side by side. "The Oracle's true visions always come true."
"You said visions."
"Yes I did."
"That's plural."
"Yes it is."
"Are you telling me I'm going to have more than one of these mind splitting visions?"
"I am telling you that in your life time, you will see a great many things. Some will happen, others will not. But the big ones, the ones you can't remember sometimes after, will always come true."
I stayed quiet for a moment. "Then someone is going to die."
He stopped walking and turned his full body so it was facing me. "What do you mean?"
I looked up at him. "I remember...blood soaked hands and a body at my feet. Someone's going to die and I'm going to be the one who kills them."
He frowned. "The Oracle is hardly ever aggressive. What you saw..."
"I saw it out of my own eyes. They had to be my hands."
One of his eyebrows perked up. "What you saw could've been suggestive. Someone may die but not by your hand. Sometimes the images you see need to be interpreted. Remember your vision of the wolf?"
I nodded my head slowly, knowing he'd been in the room the first time I had a vision about Andrzej. "You saw it through his eyes, experienced it through him. All his feelings were yours. But it wasn't you who experienced those things even though it felt that way. Understand?"
I nodded. "I think so."
He looked pensive for a moment before clasping his hands behind his back. "If you were confused about this, why didn't you ask someone?"
"I haven't been able to talk with Cecil since..."
"Then why didn't you call on me? You did say you knew how..."
"I do, I just...I didn't think of it, I guess."
"You should've. You're very new at this and the book Janus wishes you to learn from won't teach you to interpret what you see. The book is facts not actions. If you do not wish to contact me, Epiphany Valens, please call on the god Apollo. He knows the most about these things since he was the original patron of Delphi."
Something occurred to me then, what Andrzej had said in the temple.
"Are they going to lock me up eventually? Am I going to be like the little hermit woman from that story you told my mother?"
"The hermit woman lived high in the mountains. You would never do well at that altitude."
"Shaw..."
"One day." He nodded. "Your powers will progress with age as do many things. Eventually it will get to the point where you can't do much without getting a vision. That is when they'll seclude you but you will always have a choice. No one will force you to do something you do not wish to. But that's the worst case scenario. If you learn to control your particular at a young age it'll be easier on you as you get older."
I nodded again and he tipped his head in the direction we were walking. "Anything else you wish to ask me?"
I started wringing my hands. "Maybe."
"What is it?"
"Apollo said..." I sighed. "Well, he said my particular may..." I looked up at him, hoping he was getting what I was trying to say without having to say it but he looked as confused as an ant with his antenna ripped off. "My vir—vir..."
His eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Yes. It's been known to happen that the power of foresight disappears when the virgin oracle is no longer a virgin. Why are you turning that interesting shade of red?"
That just made me blush more. This was as awkward as talking to Cecil about losing his virginity.
"Because it's not exactly something I'm comfortable talking about."
"You brought it up."
"Yes, well..." This was just great. "Would that happen to me? Would I stop seeing the future?"
"I do not think so."
My head shot up so my eyes met his. "Why?"
"The future time particulars do not work that way. You see, Epiphany Valens, the virgin oracle is usually a non-Sick human. I'm sure someone's mentioned that most future time particulars are male, not female."
"Yes but they also said there was a female..."
"That was different. Times change and with them traditions. By the time she became Elite, she was already married."
My eyebrows shot up. "She was fourteen!"
"Times change. Girls were married off young back then."
"That's very...unsettling. Makes me suddenly glad my father doesn't want me married off at all."
"Indeed."
"Have you ever met my father?"
"That is a very off topic question."
"I ran out of things to ask."
"In that case, I believe we should continue to the throne room. Everyone is already waiting, including Cyrus."
I stood in front of the gathered mass of gods like I was a lamb up for slaughter. They were all looking at me pensively, each thinking what they wanted and drawing their own conclusions. Neptune and Hades sat framing an empty chair, Salacia who was Neptune's wife, sat on his left along with Janus. Logios sat on Hades's right and Kells sat next to him. Apollo stood off to the side watching everything unfold, me most of all. By the set of his mouth and Kells's posture, I knew something was decided before I even stepped foot into the room.
Cecil stood next to me holding my hand even though I had a feeling we weren't supposed to. The only thing I could think of at that second was after this was all over and after I checked on Andrzej, we were going to make out.
A lot.
"You've had quite the evening," Neptune said finally. He glanced at his brother before standing up. "What I want to know is how you came to be here."
Cecil squeezed my hand and before I could tell Neptune I had no idea, Cecil stepped in and said something. "I brought her here."
Neptune's eyebrows skyrocketed. "Is that so?" Cecil nodded and Neptune stepped down off the platform they were all sitting on. "How interesting."
"I told you," Hades said with a bored tone. He hadn't looked at me much, just Cecil, and I briefly wondered if I should be worried about that. "I told you he was the more powerful of the pair. I don't know why you're acting so surprised."
"Yes, yes, brother," Neptune waved him off. "I would say your evening was successful except we have one problem."
Oh no.
"Husband," Salacia said, keeping him from spilling what exactly the problem was.
"Yes, dear?" he said without looking at her.
"They did save me."
"I never said they didn't."
"Just take it into account."
"As I was saying," Neptune said before stopping about a foot in front of us. "We have a problem." He looked from one of us to the other. "That problem being we now have two missing goddesses instead of one."
Shit. I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass. "I..." I started to say but Neptune held up a finger, telling me to wait.
"And you let an un-tethered werewolf into my household. I don't care what anyone thinks but that is inexcusable."
I tensed where I stood and suddenly the idea that Shaw had lied to me made all of this...worse. Images of them doing unspeakable things to the wolf popped into my head and I had to literally bite my tongue so I wouldn't speak out.
"You can't punish him for that," Cecil put in. "I was the one that brought him..."
"Well aren't we the most convenient form of mass transportation," Neptune snapped.
"If you hurt him..." I started but stopped when I saw the cold look Neptune gave me.
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't hurt the beast. My brother is rather fond of him and therefore he's off limits. You two on the other hand...are a completely different story."
I paled and my first instinct was to grab Cecil and run because the only thing they could really do to us at this point was keep us separated permanently with no hope of being together in the future. And I knew, as I ran over exactly who was sitting up there in those chairs, that was exactly what they were about to do.
Cecil clutched my hand as he stepped in front of me as if to protect me from physical harm. But it wasn't physical harm that they would be doing. All the damage would be done on the inside. An unquellable sense of fear and foreboding started in my chest, slowly making its way up.
"It's my fault. Don't punish her."
Neptune's eyes narrowed as he looked Cecil over. "Interesting you would say that..."
"Brother," Hades warned.
Neptune paused before he spoke and I knew it was coming. The feeling had me choked so much I couldn't say anything in objection. So as he spoke the words I knew were coming, I just stared down at Cecil's bracelet he still wore even though mine was lost.
"After this weekend has passed, the two of you will be over. We will not have a repeat performance of Persephone on our hands." My eyelids dropped closed and I literally lost circulation in my fingers as Cecil tightened his hold on my hand. "End of story."
"You can't..." Cecil started to protest but Hades stood up from his chair and Cecil looked at him for help. My eyes didn't need to be open in order to see it. It was instinct. And even though we had saved Salacia's life, we hadn't saved Juno's. Because she was the only goddess they'd be this upset over misplacing. "Hades...please..." his voice was a whisper and it literally made me open my eyes and look up at Hades. He knew this was coming. No matter what happened, he knew they would pry us apart because we were too powerful together. And even though Neptune used to think Cecil and I being together could be used to their advantage, what happened tonight had irrevocably changed his mind. The gods liked control and the two of us together were quite literally uncontrollable.
"It's for the best," Hades said in that even indifferent tone of his as he held my eyes. "For the both of you."
"How can you say that? You of all people?" Cecil pleaded.
Hades' eyes flashed as he finally looked at his ward, for lack of better terms. "I, of all people, understand the consequences of forever, boy. I warned you. I warned you both. You should've listened."
In a more out of bounds manner than I should've been showing in front of these people, I wrapped my injured arm around Cecil and stepped closer to him.
"Let it go," I whispered in a stressed, tear-soaked voice even though no saltwater had fallen down my face. "They've made up their minds and nothing we say..."
"There has to be something." I kept my eyes lowered because I knew if I looked up at him, I wouldn't be able to keep it together. "Tally..."
"She's right," Janus cut in. He didn't even bother to stand up but I did look up to glare at him. If we were laying blame, I really wanted to put it on him. "There are benefits to the two of you working together but the risks outweigh the good."
"How could you possibly say that?" Logios said. "They haven't even been able to do anything..."
"And yet their first attempt has lost us the Queen of the Gods," Janus said. "I don't know about you but that is a grim outlook for any future joint endeavors."
"Our decision stands," Neptune said before a back and forth could start. "All opinions have been noted and taken into account. What's best for the whole outweighs what's best for the few. This matter is closed."
"For now," Apollo added quietly but I don't think anyone heard him but me because even though Neptune declared the matter closed, the hall filled with deafening arguing.
Maybe the wolf picked up on my mood or they really had hurt him because he wouldn't come out from the cave when I got there. I had to give Janus props on the digs they hooked him up with though. I didn't know how big the area was but from where I was standing the place looked huge. It was fenced in with wrought iron that looked to be pounded into the ground a good five feet and the cave I was talking about was placed to the right of the door at the base of a very tall cliff.
I sat in the grass by the door, knees drawn up to my chest, completely alone since Cecil was currently trying to talk Hades and Neptune down. Shaw's words about not coming here alone were completely washed away when I decided waiting for Cecil to fight an already lost battle was pointless. They weren't going to change their minds, they were gods.
Did I want to be separated from the person I was in love with? No, definitely not. But along with how to read a green, my grandfather also taught me how to read people. Granted I wasn't always spectacular at it but I knew when someone wasn't about to change their minds. The look was always the same. The gods weren't necessarily people but they still had that look.
I'd dropped the bag by the door when I got there and plopped down on a patch of grass after. I hadn't moved since. I tried to talk the wolf out but he would only whine from deep within the dark cave, keeping himself hidden away. I gave up after a few minutes and now I sat there in the dark, staring off at nothing as I tried to figure out how this was best for everyone. How was two people's misery for the good? Maybe I was being selfish in what I wanted but...I couldn't see any other reason of how this was a positive other than that they were afraid of us, Cecil and I, for some reason I didn't know. Or maybe I did and I was just overlooking it, making it less important than it was...
Who knew.
A growl from deep within the cave startled me out of my reserve and I looked up and around to see what he could be growling at. But no one was there, at least not that I could see. I thought about digging into the back pack for a flashlight but then it occurred to me he might just be jumping at shadows. Or growling at me.
That was until someone spoke from out of the night.
"The undesirables are always locked away or left to die."
My whole body went ridged as the voice registered in my head and the impossibility measured. With a lantern in his hand, he leisurely stepped out of the bushes and as he approached me, all I could do was stare at him in confusion. That was before it switched over to horror when what was really going on registered.
"Didn't see that one coming, did you, Oracle?"
"Chris..." I said in a barely there whisper.
He hung the lantern on the fence before crouching down in front of me, the look on his face something I'd never seen before.
My vision. It was coming true.
"Hello, Natalie."