The Sun and the Moon race in circles above the sky. The path called the Sacred Way leading to the Temple transforms, from a muddy path to skillfully paved to ruins, and back in to the mud. People pass it faster than eyes can follow, a glimpse of most extraordinary garments gets caught here and there, before they turn into the all too familiar chitons, himations and peplons. In the middle of the way, two mighty beasts fight each other. This is a dream that has repeated in the seer’s sleeping mind since she was born, blind to everything else but the dreams. People pass the beasts, as if they are hidden from the common eye.
Something has changed. The one with the blue fire in its back is larger than in any previous dreams and as it snarls and prepares for an attack the scenery suddenly changes. A smell of blood, and dirt, and something very foul overwhelm the dreamer’s senses for a while. Then the vision returns.
There is no Sun, and no Moon on the sky anymore. People have been replaced with odd unrecognizable creatures who stare at the combatants, emotionless. Shining fur of the now smaller beast has turned thin and grey. Its many wounds drip with blue blood, and clearly, the wolf-like creature is in great pain. Fire, the only really vivid thing in the environment flashes as the large beast lunges at the small one, and with a snap, bites the neck. The grey beast lets out a howl, like a beautiful secret melody, as the victor drops it to the ground. Suddenly, the fiery ears twitch, and the beast looks right at her with its paler-than-the-moon eyes.
It sees me, she realized, and as the beast begun approaching her, everything turned into a blur.
With a gasp, the seer awoke. Even in the comforts of feeling familiar furniture around her, the little hairs in the neck refused to relax.
”Okay. That was different. Not to worry, just a dream, just a dream...” she mumbled to herself as she reached for her jeweled veil to cover her eyes. The veil was transparent so that she could see sources of light and shadows. A row of gleaming rocks were embroidered into the middle of the veil to act as a focus point for customers’ gazes. She had noted that seeing the jewels and golden thread instead of her own, blind eyes made people more comfortable. Their voices turned from fearful to enchanted. And serving others is her calling as a seer, so no matter how itchy the veil is, she had to comply.
”Eudoxia? Are you awake?” a familiar voice reached the her ears. She attempted to look neutral but the as the voice stepped closer and her shoulder was touched by a warm hand, Eudoxia stopped hiding her expression.
”It’s been long since I’ve seen you rest with your eyes open, dear. You seem fearful. What did you see?”
As Phemonoe took her hand and made her sit back down, Eudoxia’s voice begun to tremble:
”Phem, it… something has changed. It was my dream, the usual one. It is...” she could taste a salty tear beneath the veil.
”Breathe deep, friend. One thing at a time.” Eudoxia was able to calm herself down a little, but the visions of the beasts lingered deep in her memory.
”The fight ended. The fiery beast won. Balance has shifted and-and everything is… The future is…”
Breathe deep.
”It was wrong. Strange.”
Phemonoe patted her hand. ”The future often seems odd, but it doesn’t mean that it’s wrong-”
”No.” Eudoxia pulled her hand away. ”It was wrong. It turned into something completely new. Everything stopped and there- there was no cycle anymore. My visions always dance, starting from here and ending to here, but in this one, everything familiar was wiped out. No people. No streets. No strange inventions, but strange… beings. There was no Sun and no Moon. This is serious, Phem. Something must be done.”
Phemonoe chuckled. This wasn’t the first time Eudoxia was shaken by an odd vision, but it was never before this disturbing. Why doesn’t she take this seriously?
”Very well,” Phemonoe sighed as she noted her friend’s distress and stood up.
”I will consult Apollo. If it truly is so serious, dear, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
The seer grit her teeth, and as the Oracle of Delphi walked away, Eudoxia whispered: ”It saw me.”
The sound of decorated sandals on the marble floor stopped for a moment, then continued with a faster rhythm, until they faded away.
Eudoxia stood up once again and began her morning routine. Every day she was grateful to wake up in the temple, and despite the disturbing dream, this morning was no different. There was always bread and fruit on the table, clean clothes, and safety from the mean spirited people who once mistreated her.
She once was on the verge of being kicked to death when an odd singing girl showed up. If it weren’t for her quick introduction as a newly appointed oracle, the men with rough voices and powerful feet would have surely abused her and her companion as well. Phemonoe told the attackers she had received a message from her father Apollo, that a divine seer must be brought into the temple. Once the men heard this they quickly fell on their knees and started apologizing.
”Do not apologize to me or my father, but to her you have so terribly wounded. You, who are not even worthy of her all-knowing gaze. Know thyself.”
The attention had shifted towards Eudoxia, who was so baffled she could not utter a word. She was then escorted to what would be her home for the remaining of her life, the temple.
Life was never dull here. The priestesses would teach her of symbolism and the gods, and Eudoxia was happy to learn. The one she had grown most attached to was the soul that had once saved her, Phem, as she had fondly nicknamed her. Once she asked a priestess what the oracle looked like, and when she learned her outside was as beautiful as her inside, she realized she had long before become smitten with her. Not that it mattered in a temple, or for that matter with a blind woman such as herself.
Once Eudoxia had reflected enough on the past, eaten breakfast, stuffed her coiled hair in a kekryphalos, and wrapped a woolen himation around her undergarment, she walked the familiar path to the Oracle’s Seat where Phem was waiting for her with the snake – guessing from the tiny hissing sounds she heard now and then.
”Are you ready?” the oracle asked.
”Do it,” the seer answered.
Eudoxia heard Phem yelp a little when the snake bit her, and her heart twinged. In a moment the humming started. At first some syllables were added to the looping humming, then words, and finally the song began in its completeness.
Grim was the Dream seen. True tale painted in blood side in the Seer’s Eyes.
Climb to the cave never lived in the mountains. Find it for future.
Blindness is bless’d for them you will speak to. No danger if you serve.
You must take them. Your power wipes clean dread that the Dream brought.
The eery song-chant repeated over and over, faster and faster, growing each time more intense until the oracle used the last bit of her energy. With a thud, Phem fell to the floor. Eudoxia hurried to her, and helped carry Phem to bed once the snake had been put back in its case.
Drowsily, Phemonoe asked her as she was resting: ”So… get anything out of it?”
Once Eudoxia saw Phem safely gaining consciousness, she answered: ”Well, apparently, I’ve got a mountain to climb.”