DEO ADELPHOS – Resurrection (part one)
By cistakins
PROLOGUE
The sign on the wall above the headboard says:
"The Daughter of Gaea: In her hands shall be the salvation of this Land; in her choices the welfare of her own Mother Gaea."
The man whom they call Grand Counselor lingered on the words a while, immersing himself both in the reverie of the prophecy and the hope of his own prayer. He knew the rest of it, the prophecy. It filled up a whole book. That line was only part of it…but it was the most important. So important in fact, that he had spent his whole life figuring it. Seeking its understanding. Its fulfillment.
'Gaea… Daughter Gaea…,' the woman in bed was shaking, her wrinkled fists up in the air, her teary eyes looking up at heaven, seeing something that isn't there. 'Daughter of Gaea!'
The healers looked at each other. What was there to do? The prophetess was dying, they were sure. No matter how much she calls up to the Acros, even to God, Theos, there was nothing left to do… It was her fate now to be relieved of the body she had worn for over three centuries. They looked up at him, the Grand Counselor. Surely he knew what do…
And yet, he did not stir. He looked and waited, a vague thoughtful look on his vague sea green eyes. He knew something… And what he knew was of outmost importance.
She will die, that he knew well, and the others, too. It was inevitable. She was far too old for any incantations or healings now. But what was important would be found only at the culmination of her death. That culmination which would reveal the most important words yet to be spoken in five million years of waiting. He knew this… After all rigorous studies and exploration, he knew… He could feel it.
'Daughter of Gaea!' The dying woman suddenly sat up, jolting all those around her. She had her arms pointed upwards, her face looking up at heaven with an expression both of fear and ecstasy, as if begging mercy from the Acros, asking one last favor from Theos, the Great God of All. 'Daughter of Gaea!' Abruptly, she became rigid, as if seized by the heart with the cold hand of Hades, her breath becoming rapid and shallow.
The healers gasped and tried to put her back to bed. But they could not. It was as if an invisible power had frozen her body.
'On the last day of the first month… On the first hour at dusk… Within the holy walls of the Royals… In the chamber of the Princess…', she whispered, so softly and calmly as though she was not in a fit. 'The Daughter of Gaea…'
And with those words, her frail body slumped back to the bed. Lifeless…
The man whom they call Grand Counselor lowered his head. For five eons they had all waited… And for ninety years he had searched…asking if his own conclusions would lead him right.
And indeed, it did…
