Chapter 5: The Oracle and the Outcast
“Seek in vain for the one who does not wish to be found.” — William Shakespeare
I had finished my chores early in the dormitory and had lost myself in a book.
“El!”
I looked up to see Airla standing at the doorway. Her face was a storm of excitement, anxiety, and curiosity.
“Get ready. We are going to the Temple of Goddess Athena!”
Shock swept over me like a sudden gale. I placed my bookmark and stood up slowly.
“I thought you didn’t want to go anywhere?”
She wagged her finger at me with a playful pout. “The entire temple is going. There’s a special assembly.” Her expression softened into a somber stillness. “Such meetings are only called for emergencies or sacred events. That’s what’s making me nervous.” She sat on the edge of the bed I had just vacated.
“Could it be a festival you forgot?” I asked, trying to be optimistic.
“No. I never forget.”
As she spoke, I saw an orange aura radiate from her, and the symbol of Cancer began to manifest on her cheeks.
“I do not forget; I see what is. I hold the future within me, no matter how many threads there are. I love to see; I feel what I hear. I am the Crab.”
My apprehension transformed into a new shape: curiosity. These visions were strange, but they were the candles lighting my path. And I was a wanderer who could find the right way without a compass.
“Have I ever asked your sign?”
She arched her brows at my question. I was going to test myself; I was going to dissolve this poison that made me feel so helpless.
“No.”
I smiled innocently, keeping the venom of the foxes in my mind from reaching my lips.
“Let me guess... Cancer?”
The word acted like a slow-release toxin. Shock settled on her face like a crown made just for her.
“Correct. How did you know on the first try?”
I reached out and touched her cheek. As my fingers grazed the Cancer symbol, her irises began to glow.
“You touched me,” Airla spoke in a high, melodic, almost haunting voice. “What was your true intent?”
I focused on my own essence. I thought of the Pisces symbol. A sharp ache throbbed in my wrist.
“No intent. No reason. I am merely the work of an impulse,” I replied, my voice now resonant and echoing, as if spoken through water.
Time and space stood still. The old walls of the dormitory faded into nothingness.
“Tell me, Fish,” Airla said, lifting her long fingers, which were now covered in tattoos that hadn't been there before. “What did you feel of what is to come? What did you see in the sea of possibilities?”
“I saw the sun, Crab. I saw the Scales and unpaid penances. I saw emotions to be settled and reckonings to be made. I saw the apocalypse. I saw a burning sea. Dried lands. And then, I saw the water. It was more beautiful than ever before. Isn’t everything more beautiful just before it leaves? Is the water leaving us?”
Airla’s face contorted in dread. My words had shaken her to the core.
“Watch your words, Fish. What you imply is the call of death.” An ironic, sharp smile crossed her tense features.
“We are the omens of the gods, Crab,” I said, tilting my head.
“Do not forget what the Divine said of us,” she emphasized harshly. “The Fish cannot leave; it cannot go far from the water. The Crab wants its home. It adopts its house; it cannot step outside those walls. The Crab is the soul itself. It is the past. The Fish is the one closest to death. Together, they are balance.”
The Omen of the Crows
The magical moment shattered. The symbols on Airla’s cheeks faded, and the tattoos on her fingers vanished like mist. The ache in my wrist remained.
“Did we... faint?” Airla asked with a dazed smile.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but my head is spinning.”
I lied. To understand some things, I had to stop calling myself crazy and accept that I was a player in this game.
“When do we leave?” I asked. Airla was leaning back, eyes closed like a cat.
“At sunset.”
“Why? Night isn’t the best time for travel.”
“Owls are the guardians of the night. Logic works best when everyone thinks the world is asleep.” She turned to me. “I’m warning you, Athena’s temple is far more serious and...” she pursed her lips. “And?”
“And you’ll see.”
Suddenly, the wind howled. My eyes were drawn to the window. Crows. Hundreds of them flying in a frantic swarm. A chill ran down my spine.
“Death,” I whispered.
Suddenly, a dead crow fell from the sky. Then another. Screams erupted from the temple. Airla rushed out to join the others, but I remained frozen, watching the white energy of the crows' souls sinking into the earth.
The Encounter at the Cliff
Later, separated from the group and lost in the rain, I found myself by the churning sea. The world felt empty. I felt abandoned.
Theodoros said I had no future.
I am a burden to the gods.
I approached a young boy on a ship and asked for a dagger. He gave it to me, looking at me as if I were a ghost. I walked toward a great plane tree, the rain soaking me to the bone. I pressed the cold metal of the blade against my throat. I was ready to end the paradox.
But a hand gripped my wrist. A hand pulled the blade away and forced my chin up.
Theodoros.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he roared, his voice thick with an anger he couldn't hide.
“It’s none of your business! I was going to die beautifully!” I screamed back, my fists clenched.
“Beautifully? There is nothing beautiful about death! Do you think Hades has mercy for those who take their own lives?”
“You said it yourself! I have no future! No past! Why should I live through a trial every single second?”
“We will find it!” he shouted.
“Find what? You can’t just find a past!”
“Promise me you won't die—at least not by your own hand—and I swear on my honor, I will lay your entire past before you!”
His anger vanished, replaced by a raw intensity.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why do you care?”
“Because you evoke too much life to die,” he replied, his voice dropping to a whisper.
I stepped closer, closing the distance between us. “I am a three-day guest in this world. Cast me from your mind. Do you want me as a prisoner in your cage, or a guest?” I placed my hand over his heart. “Is this a home, or a cage?”
“It can be neither for you.” He took my finger and pressed it to his temple. “This is your point of occupation. Move out of here, if you can.”
He smiled, a weary, beautiful smile.
“You’ve occupied my mind quite quickly. It’s dangerous, isn't it?”
“Very,” I admitted.
“Do you have a problem with my heart, oh man?” I asked, echoing my own inner thoughts.
“And what is your grievance with my mind, you insolent woman?” he countered.
I smiled. A piece of me was now in him, and a piece of him was in me.