Chapter 3: The Temple Priestess and the Envoy of Light
I had finished breakfast. According to Mr. Ioannis, men were not allowed inside the temple—it simply wasn't "proper." So, he gave me directions, I offered my final thanks, and set off alone. Although Vangelis looked at me as if he wanted to come along, he knew better; he understood that staying behind was the right thing to do.
The temple was supposedly located to the left of the statue. Reaching that statue, however, had turned into a total ordeal. I had to weave carefully through a thicket of trees that felt like they were placed there specifically to obstruct me. Once I cleared them, I began to run. “To the left of the statue...” I muttered, slowing down to point my index fingers toward the left. “Right,” I shrugged and picked up the pace again.
The temple slowly drifted into my field of vision. First came the battlements, then the sight of little girls in white dresses wandering about. As I watched a woman carrying a basket disappear inside, the temple's energy warmed my soul. But with every step I took toward the High Priestess, that warmth was replaced by a chill. A searing, icy cold gripped my spirit; my body felt frozen. Reaching the entrance, I felt a sudden urge to touch the inscription carved into the stone.
"A sanctuary for marriage, fertility, and women—The Temple of Goddess Hera."
Reading the words in my mind sent a jolt through me, like an electric shock. I jerked my hand away and slipped through the wide-open double doors. I wandered inward, eyes scanning the architecture while searching for a priestess in charge. My search ended when a loud, deliberate clearing of a throat echoed from my left.
Standing at the head of a wide, doorless corridor was a woman with her hair pulled into a bun. She had pale skin and wore a modest dress and cloak; the mature lines on her face told me immediately that she was the High Priestess. She raised her eyebrows with a cold expression and a thin, tight smile.
“How may I help you?” she asked.
With a nervous, clumsy grin, I asked, “Are you the High Priestess?”
“Yes?”
“I’ve come to become a priestess,” I said, trying to square my shoulders and add a touch of gravity to my expression.
The High Priestess slowly lowered her brows, her eyes narrowing. “Do you have any training?” At that moment, a few priestesses hurried past her and disappeared down the hall, leaving the two of us alone. Stupid me. Of course there was training. You couldn't just walk in and become a priestess on a whim. And I had zero experience. What was I going to do?
“Yes,” I lied, blabbing the first thought that came to mind. I was internally shocked by my own audacity, but I kept my face mask-tight.
“Why do you wish to become a priestess, my child?”
What was I supposed to say? I didn't know how many people came here for this or what their reasons were. I didn't want to sound like everyone else. I took a deep breath and let my thoughts flow aloud:
“I am an orphan. I’ve come to the conclusion that my only salvation lies in faith, and I support this conviction with all my heart. I ask for your indulgence.”
I made sure to stand tall. I felt neither shame nor hesitation. Isn't religion the thing that says, 'Seek refuge in us, and we shall be your home'? Well, I was putting that to the test.
“No.”
The Priestess scanned me from head to toe before finally delivering her verdict. As she turned her back to leave, my temper flared. I raised my chin with a surge of arrogance.
“The High Priestess of the Goddess of Women refusing a woman in need and turning her away from her door... that would make for quite a scandal in the mouths of the locals, wouldn't it?” I smiled haughtily.
I turned toward the exit, and the sudden silence of her footsteps behind me made my smile widen. They say if you corner a cat, it remembers it descended from lions.
“You are playing a gamble by threatening me, you foolish girl,” she said, her voice sharp with irritation.
“I am a 'nobody' with nothing left to lose, Priestess. My courage reaches the realm of the gods,” I said, slowly turning my head back toward her. “They have eternal lives; they can always reclaim what they lose and more.”
I could tell by the way her eyes widened in shock that she viewed my comparison to the gods as heresy.
“But I don't even have a past to lose,” I added, shattering what little was left of my own pride.
“Then go find your life. Feel your past, fill the gaps. This place is not for you. You don’t even have a family; go find them,” she said, her anger fading into a hollow stillness.
“Help me become someone, High Priestess.”
The desperation in my voice seemed to break her resistance, if only slightly.
“Fine,” she sighed wearily. “But a long education lies ahead of you.” She raised her eyebrows pointedly. “I assume you can imagine what that’s like?”
I smiled. She was definitely going to make my life hell. “She’s going to work me to death,” I whispered with a grin.
3 Days Later
“I can’t do this anymore! I can’t feel one of my arms or either of my legs!”
I collapsed onto my bed in the dormitory like a sack of flour. The High Priestess had started my rigorous training immediately, spending the last three days drilling the lore of the most important gods and goddesses into my head.
“I told you not to talk back to Lady Maria, but who am I talking to? You’re no different from a kid! I don’t know if this stubbornness of yours came from a mountain goat or what!”
I had been here for three days and had already won everyone over with my rebellions and antics. My outbursts weren't meant to be funny, but that was the only effect they had. No one asks how the poor are doing, while the rich live in comfort. This talkative girl, the one I had bonded with so quickly, was my new and only close friend, Airla. She talked too much, but she was good-hearted, and that was what mattered most.
“Airla?” I said flatly.
“What?”
“In the name of the gods, end this misery, or I’m going to either choke or cut myself. Then a murder will have been committed in the temple, and my ghost will haunt everyone, whispering that I died because of Airla’s mouth.”
A manic grin spread across my face. Airla’s eyes bugged out as if she were looking at a madwoman.
“Why am I friends with you?” she asked.
My smile vanished, and I forced my eyes to well up with tears—theatrical, but effective. I was like a stray cat, always ready to cry for a place to stay.
“Don't be, if you don't want to,” I said, my chin trembling as I wiped away a tear.
“It was just a joke, I’m sorry!” she said, her face falling as she sat down beside me.
I wanted to snap at her, but instead, I just wiped my eyes and gave her a cute smile. “Mine was a joke, too!”
Airla’s reaction made me burst out laughing. I liked this girl; she had found a fellow lunatic in me. She’d be shocked by my antics for a second, then realize the joke and join in the laughter. As time passed, we sat on the bed gossiping.
“Have you ever been outside the temple?” I asked, taking the mirror she handed me to check my hair.
“No, there’s no need to,” she replied coldly.
I raised my eyebrows, but quickly tried to smooth things over. “I agree, my wise friend.” But her stoic expression told me I had played the wrong card.
“Goodnight, Airla,” I said gloomily, turning away to hide under the covers despite the lamps being lit. I wished I had kept my mouth shut. My cursed tongue... I hated that I had hurt my only friend.
It was a dream, I knew it. But I just stared around blankly, without even a trace of a smile. I was in the middle of a lush green meadow with a single willow tree. The sun hung in the sky, its brilliance nearly blinding me as if it had waited for this exact moment to strike.
“Some dream this is...” No flying carpets, no gods drinking ambrosia. Fine, we don't see the gods in real life, but a person gets curious about their faces. “My subconscious is so empty,” I grumbled, sitting down on the grass. I crawled to the base of the willow tree and leaned against it. The woody, damp aroma of the tree filled my nose, and the scent of fresh rain and earth brought a small smile to my face.
But then, a sudden whisper reached my ears. Frowning, I looked up the trunk of the tree, and my eyes widened in horror. Where the leaves and branches should have been, there were roots. The tree was upside down! I scrambled away in terror, watching it from a distance as the wind began to howl.
“By the Great Gods...” The tree was inverted, and its peaceful energy had died, replaced by a powerful, chaotic aura. It felt like a dead heart, pulsing with a power so heavy I could barely stand. I tried to wake up, but I couldn't.
From behind the long, sharp roots, eagles appeared with piercing eyes and hooked beaks. One of them plummeted from the sky toward me. I tried to run, but the tree’s energy made my soul feel too heavy for my body. I couldn't move. The eagle landed in front of me, its gaze so harsh it made me feel like my soul was hosting the world's greatest sin. It opened its beak and plunged it into my liver.
A scream ripped through the air, tearing between the earth and sky. It struck again and again, tearing through my skin. Blood drained from my body, but my vision wouldn't go dark. Death would not take me.
As I stared into the eagle’s soulless eyes, the weight of the tree began to lift. I slowly raised my hand and grabbed the bird in one motion.
“Time to die...”
I slammed its beak against the ground repeatedly. The pain in my liver faded, the wound closing instantly. A surge of rage and power flooded my veins. The eagle, its beak bloodied, finally went limp. I walked toward the tree, carrying the carcass.
“Inflicting the same pain twice? Even for the gods, time demands its due,” I mocked, hurlng the eagle's body at the trunk. “Let the dogs eat it.”
An idea struck me. I pressed my hand to my mouth in mock surprise. “Actually, even Tartarus might choke on this piece of meat,” I sneered at the bird. A sudden crash of angry thunder echoed through the dream, making me smile.
“We’ll meet again.”