Yes, once
again someone came right as I was finishing my last entry. It was
Elenni, and she wasn't happy that I was mopping around all weekend.
She said that yesterday (Saturday. Today is Sunday.) she wanted to
take me to the temples. She told… no, she ordered me to go with
her. She said it would be good for me to get out of the house and
stretch out my legs. She also said we have to prey to The Great
Goddess and Mithros to take good care of Christine and Colby, God
bless their soles. I had no choice but to go with her.
Since we
were in remorse, we have to wear black until the burial. (It's later
tonight.) When I told Elenni that I didn't have a black dress, we
went to her room and pulled out the black dress I had seen when I was
cleaning out my room and looking through her old cloths.
When she
pulled the dress from underneath her bed, she looked it over. She
said she hated to wear black because of what it meant. (Death) While
I was putting it on, she told me that this dress was the same one she
wore after George's father's death and the death of her parents. Even
though it was a lovely dress, she said she would never wear it again
because of the memories. She said that for her to even think of is
makes her lose her breath.
We made a few alterations to the dress
and it fit perfectly. We put a little make up on and did our hair and
were ready to leave. I grabbed a little bit of bread while Elenni
picked fresh flowers for the alters for us.
While we were walking,
I saw some people look away from us while others nodded to us with
grave faces.
"Mistress Cooper," I asked. "Why are
they turning their head while others are nodding at us?"
"You
can either call me Elenni or mother now. Don't call me Mistress. I
don't like the formality of it. And they are nodding because they see
us in black. They know that we have suffered a loss." She said
never looking at me; just up the road.
"But I've seen people
wearing black and they seemed very happy and no one nodded to them."
I was trying to figure things out.
"Did they have any other
color on besides black or a dark gray?" I nodded. "That's
why. If they have other colors on, their simply wearing black to wear
black. But if you wearing solid black or black and dark gray, it
means someone has died that was close to that person. The people who
nod are saying that they, too, have suffered a loss. The people who
won't look are the people who don't know what it's like."
"Oh."
I didn't as any more. When we reached the temples, we went to
Mithros' temple first. Before we went in, she told me to lie half of
the flowers on the alter and ask that he accept the children into his
arms and keep them safe on their passage with the black god. We did
so and with in a few minutes we were out of the temple.
We walked
up the road a little and Elenni started to walk to the entrance of
another temple.
"Stay here while I go in here. Don't follow
me, this is a personal thing and no one can hear what I might say.
I've been known to start shouting when I come in here." I nodded
and she walked in leaving me with a woman who was standing out side
of the temple entrance.
I started to look around when I saw people
standing outside out a large temple. They looked like they were
guarding the entrance. Then I realized they were the women that
guarded the Great Goddesses temple. And for some reason I felt
compelled to go in and give my flowers to her alter.
When I
got in to the temple, I laid the flowers at the alter, and changed
the prayer I was told to say a little...well, who am I kidding it was
completely different.
First I said the same thing to her as I did
to Mithros, but then I proceeded to ask a question. I said it in my
mind though, of course but something odd happened
I was praying,
when, in my mind came a voice like the sound of running hounds. It
wasn't a terrible voice, but it was heard to bare hearing the
pureness of the voice.
"So, I finally get to speak with the
girl from another realm." The voice was calm and I looked around
to find where it was coming from. I saw no one in the temple at all,
which was odd because there should have been someone. Anyone.
The
voice spoke again, "Child, you can not see me. Do not try."
I stopped looking around. I instantly remembered that the Great
Goddess spoke to Alanna and she had a hard time listening to her
also. This voice must have been the voice of the goddess.
I spoke
to her through my mind. "Are you the Great Goddess?"
"I
am."
I hesitated to speak but I finally asked the question I
most wanted an answer to. "Goddess, why am I here? I mean, how
am I here?"
"That is a good question, now, isn't it? And
I regret to say I have no answer to your inquiry."
"Why?"
I was going out on a limb and I knew I being very frank, but I wanted
an answer.
"Because we don't know. We find you very
interesting. And I hope you don't mind, but you came here so
mysteriously that my brother, Mithros, and I searched your thought to
see where you had come from. You gave us much to think about." I
felt violated. My most personal thoughts where kept in my head, and
she searched through it. I guess I can't blame her though.
Nonetheless, my face flushed at the idea's that flashed though my
mind that she could have known.
"You see, your life that you
lived before you came here is very different from the realm here.
There is even a different god. And there is only one god. It is most
interesting. But, on behalf of my brothers and sisters, we are
disturbed to say we don't know why you are here or how you got here.
I know you are confused, but trust me, we are as lost in this as you
are."
"So, what can you tell me? What about the innocent
children that just died. Can you tell me why they are gone? Or what
about the people who are trying to kill me or kidnap me or whatever
they want to do with me? Can you tell me about that?" I wasn't
exactly mad, but the thought of the children was still a new wound
and I figured that because someone wants me, whether is dead or
alive, the children died because of me.
"You should know
better then most that gods can not tell anyone something that could
change the course of life. You, too, have to watch what you say about
the future or you risk the change the entire course here. But you
already know that, don't you? What I can tell you is that you need to
watch yourself figure out who is a friend, and who is a foe. With the
way you're living life, there may be friends who are truly foes.
And likewise, there can be foes who are truly good allies and
friends, but you will learn that through out your lifetime. Now be on
your way. Your Mistress is waiting for you." I got up and
started to walk out the door, when the voice came faintly to me, "And
make sure you loyalty remains as it is; loyal. Be true to your
friends and companions and they will be to you, no matter how crooked
they may be. And remember, I am always watching over you. Remember,
you are under my care, my child, and I shall be your mother as I am
with all of my children." Then a pressure in the room I hadn't
noticed before lifted and I somehow knew that She was gone. ( In The
Hands Of The Goddess, indeed. Humgh)
I groaned, "Yea, you and
all the rest of the gods." Then the thought occurred, Even
the death god? Woo-hoo. I thought very unenthusiastically.
When
I emerged from the temple, I saw Elenni standing with her arms
crossed and tapping a foot. "Next time you decide you want to
pay homage to a Goddess, it would be nice if you would tell someone.
I had to ask the deaf mute who stood outside of the healing temple
were you were. That's not the easiest task, I'll have you know."
She wasn't exactly angry, but slightly unnerved that I just walked
away.
"Sorry but I was...curious." I hesitated to say
that I had actually come because the goddess drove me here. I think
she saw through what I was saying because she looked at me funny.
Then she turned to the Goddess' temple then said, "Well, since
you have already payed your respects here, I will pay my own and then
we will leave for lunch."
I found a wall and leaned against
it while I waited for her. When she came out, about five minutes
later, we went home and we started to make a vegetable soup. It only
took about fifteen minutes to make since she had started to boil the
vegetables before we left. All we really had to do was cut some of
the vegetables.
The meal was good because I haven't eaten much in
the last day or two, but right as we were finishing, a frantic knock
came to the door. I went to answer it and in came a woman supporting
a man, who was clearly bleeding from his upper leg. Elenni guided
them into the healing room while I went to start a pot of water that
was already lukewarm from lunch on the hearth. (Elenni told me that
if anyone were to come in bleeding, it was my job to bring hot water
and any herbs she would need. I am, after all, a part of the
household and I did promise I would help her with her healing.)
When
the water was warm enough to work with, I poured some in a bowl and
brought it to Elenni. She had already gone through three rags trying
to keep the man from loosing blood. I took those rags and put them in
the pot of water that we kept in the healing room hearth. (Tonight we
will light the fire a little and boil the rags to 'sanitize'
them.)
Elenni looked to me, "Do you know where the mayvol
plant is?" I thought about it and shock my head. She had taught
me most of the herbs she had, but I never heard of the mayvol
plant.
"Come here and hold this rag down." I held it
firmly in place and she started out the door.
I stopped her to ask, "Is there another rag in here?" She shook her head. "Grab a few. This one won't last." I sounded all professional and stuff. It was crazy.
As I stood there holding the cloth on this man's leg, I could see the woman was in a panic and she was holding the man's hand. I think she was in more of a panic then he was. He seemed to be taking it fine. The woman seemed to think that he needed calming though, and she started to whisper to him saying things like, "It will be okay Marek. You'll be just fine."
But the man was reassuring her by saying, "Yes, Anci, I will be fine. You just calm down, alright?" By this time the rag was dripping with blood and I could see the man starting to get drossy. I finally decided that my hand could hold in the blood better then the rag that was only soaking up blood and spilling it in to a puddle on the floor.
I threw the rag on the floor and pressed my hand on the deep gash in his muscle. "Hey, Marek. Is that your name, Marek?" I was trying to keep him awake for as long as I could. He nodded. "So, who is this woman? Can you tell me about her?"
He looked at Anci (What a name. It must be a nick name.). "She's my woman. I love her." He started to go dose off.
"Hey, Marek, stay awake! Mistress Cooper will kill me if you fall asleep on me now. Stay awake. Come on, wake up. Please. Please wake up." I looked to the window because it got a little darker. It must have been a cloud covering the sun because Anci noticed too. And then he woke up, but I was all of a sudden getting tired and I felt like I wanted to sleep. In fact, I wanted to just stop what I was doing and lay on the floor and sleep; blood and all.
I was starting to dose off when Elenni came in and shoved me away from Marek. "What are you thinking! Do you want to kill your self?" That was the last thing I remembered before my world was flooded in darkness.
When I came to, I was in one of the healing beds. I looked around to see Marek in the other bed with Anci by his side. Elenni came to me and gave me a glass of water. "Is Marek going to be alright?" I asked Elenni.
"He'll be fine thanks to you trying to drain the life out of yourself. You didn't tell me you had magic."
"I don't." I thought she was kidding with me.
"Yea, right. And my son is a respectable citizen." She aid sarcastically, or course.
"I don't have magic. I can't. I would have known."
"Yea, well, some how or another that man is alive because of something you did. Not to mention, Anci over there saw you sparklin'."
"What do you mean 'sparkling'?"
"I mean: she said she saw the room dim and around you, you glowed black with white sparkles around your body, isn't that correct, Anci?" She looked over to the woman who nodded. "See. And if I hadn't coughed you as soon as I did, you probably would be dead by now. You were just letting your gift flow outta ya." I had never thought I would have the gift, and the thought had never actually occurred to me. And then something did occur. I could have saved Colby. I could have healed him. Why didn't I know?
Why?
I almost broke down, but decided to push it awat. To many tears had already flooded my mind, and I couldn't cry anymore.
I didn't have much time to ponder on the question, anyway, before Elenni tried to put me to a magical task. She wanted me to light a candle.
"I don't know how." I really didn't but she told me to try. We argued for a few minutes before it ended with me getting quite frustrated.
"Fine, you want me to show you that I can't light the candle." I looked at a candle and nothing happened. "See, I don't know how." And with that I walked out of the room and in to my room.
After I was cooled off and was just lying on my bed, I started to wonder if I could really do magic. I sat up and looked at the candle that I have on my dresser. I brought it to the bed and started to stair at it. Nothing happened for a minute. I started to convince myself that maybe I really could do it. Then I would doubt myself. And then I thought I almost did it, but thought it was just a figment of my imagination Then, finally, I thought, I really want to light this candle. I concentrated on the candle, and my need for it to light, and poof! It lit. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I lit the candle! And I had magic, real magic! I sat there and did it two more times before I really believed that I could do it.
After I went to Elenni, "Mistress Cooper, I mean Elenni, I mean, mother, I mean, oh, it doesn't matter. I can do it! I can do it!" I held up the candle that was astonishingly still lit after I ran from my room to the kitchen. " I did it! I lit the candle!" I blew out the candle right in front of her and made it light again. "See? See?" (Now that I think about it, I was acting like an excited child.)
She was all smiles, "Yes, I see. That's very good. I'm glad you can do it." She proceeded to congratulate me and told me she would find someone who could teach me how to use my gift properly. But now I have to get ready for the funeral. I'll write later.
I don't really wanna talk about the funeral. It's not much I really want to remember so I'll just give you the gist of what happened. Little family graveyard. Two little head stone. Two little caskets. Tears. Paying my respects and promising them I would get who killed them if I could. I'm going to sleep now. I miss my father. My real one. I haven't seen him since I was nine. That must be, what, seven years. God be with you daddy, er, gods, or whatever.
Good night.
o0o0o0o magical abilities. The story just gets weirder and weirder. Earlier I was trying to figure out if it was the Great goddess or the mother goddess since I haven't read it in a while. ( mumbles under breath) Damn Pagan beliefs. ( gets louder) but anyway there was something I was supposed to write but I forgot. oo0o0o well. umm yea... soon My best friend will have a SOTL and Immortals parody up and there actually good but don't read the one about...well damn...uhhh don't read them because it will spoil the ending of the next story that is going to be after this...so yea I wont tell you her s/n. sorry. besides its not up yet anyway.
!that's what I was going to say...If you don't know who Marek and Anci are ( which I doubt you do) you need to read the last book of SOTL and renew your TP fan licence.!