Sorry this is late, everyone. Moving, stopping school, family issues, job hunting, etc…it can get in the way of fan fiction. :-p This is going in a new direction other than what I originally intended, but I hope you like it. Please Read and Review. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim any part of the Matrix movie trilogy.
The next thing Theo knew, she was standing in an alley at midday. She was wearing leather pants and boots, a black Egyptian cotton shirt, a long coat and shades that would cost a fortune if she had gotten them by normal means. Not something she would usually wear, but she did feel quite stylish. Neo and Morpheus were wearing similar outfits, but of course, she thought, they look a lot cooler in them. "Let's get going," said Morpheus.
They passed to the front of the building, an old, brownstone apartment. They walked inside. Morpheus nodded a greeting to a man whom, Theo later realized, was blind. "Morpheus," she asked him in the elevator, "Did he really see you?" Morpheus gave her a slight smile in response. "Would you be surprised if he did?" Theo knew enough about the matrix by now to know the answer. They arrived at the Oracle's front door. Before Morpheus even knocked, an Asian woman opened it. "Hello, Theophania," she said. Theo didn't notice her own jaw visibly drop. No one had called her by her full name since kindergarten. "You are right on time," the woman said. "Come in. Neo, Morpheus, nice to see you again."
It wasn't what Theo had expected. The apartment was modestly decorated, with a stain on the wall here and there. The air was stuffy and smelled of staleness and cigarettes, battled by the aroma of baking cookies coming from the kitchen. It reminded Theo of her grandmother's house. So much for grandiose and mystery. "Right this way, Theo," said the woman. "She'll see you now."
Theo nervously separated the beaded curtain dividing the kitchen from the living room. A mocha-skinned woman, perhaps somewhere in her early sixties, was busying herself about the kitchen. Theo saw mostly the back of her graying head at first, for the woman did not say anything. She only looked from cupboard to cupboard as if her guest wasn't waiting for her to speak. Theo was already a visible mix of anxiety, nervousness and anticipation. Now she was also frustrated. "Ah, here it is," said the woman at last, pulling a dark bottle from one of the top shelves. She read it as she turned to face Theo. "I can't believe I forgot to add vanilla to these cookies." She gave Theo a smile. Theo feebly returned it. "Ah well," said the woman as she twisted open the bottle and poured a few drops into a bowl of remaining dough. "No use crying over the first batch. The rest will be alright." She mixed the dough well before she finally sat down and lit a cigarette. "Theo, Theo, Theo," she said amusedly. "The newest addition to the cause."
"And you are the fabled Oracle."
"I imagine I'm not what you expected."
"No, ma'am. No long robe and crystal ball."
The Oracle gave a hearty chuckle. "You've got spirit, kid. You're going to need it." She dabbed the end of her cigarette in an ashtray. "You came here expecting me to tell you about yourself." Theo took a deep breath. The words she had in her mind weren't ready to be said just yet. The Oracle added, "Well, what do you want me to tell you?" There was an awkward silence, one that Theo was struggling to fill. The Oracle continued. "What you want me to tell you, Theo, wouldn't be truthful for me to say." Her heart sank. Did the Oracle really know what she was thinking? "You want me to tell you to continue with your agenda, to rejoin your loved-ones in a joyous reunion and maybe, just maybe, things will go back to normal. You'll lie down in your old bed and find that all of this was just a terrible, seemingly endless dream." She rose to take the cookies from the oven. "Safety, stability, self-assurance, a reasonable level of comfort: these are all things that most humans take for granted." She took a spatula from the drawer. "Most go through life never knowing that it can all be snatched away from them in an instant. But you know it, Theo." She turned and gave Theo such an earnest look that it was hard to deny that her words were true, though at the back of her mind there had burned hope of some small restoration of normality. "Everything you've ever known and loved turned out to be an elaborate fairytale. And yet...it's still everything you've ever known and loved. You want to go back. But you're chasing a dream that will always be out of your grasp, no matter how much you want it." At that moment, the foundation of Theo's hope was shaken. "I can still try," she said desperately. "There has to be some way for me to reach them!" The Oracle finished with the first batch of cookies and again sat down at the table. "If you go to them Theo, you'll be putting your life as well as their lives in danger. The agents will use them to find you. And when they do, the odds will be against all of you." The foundation crumbled, and the girl's paradigm came crashing down beneath the weight of the Oracle's words. She would not dare risk anyone's life, and yet...she had never wanted anything so much in her life but to be happy again. How could life be so unfair? How could it expect her to quench her longing? Her eyes welled up with tears, which she quickly blinked away. "It's alright to cry, child. You have nothing to hide from me." Theo nodded as she turned to leave. "Thank you," she said feebly. "Oh, and Theo," said the Oracle. Theo turned around. "The pen is mightier than the sword." Theo got the message. "Your heart will heal in time. In more ways than you know." It wasn't possible, thought Theo. But she guessed the Oracle would know.
She exited through the curtain, walking right past Morpheus and Neo. She couldn't speak to anyone...there was too much in her head to form a logical, spoken thought. "Theo," called Morpheus, but she barely heard him. Her pace quickened as she walked out the door. She began to walk faster until she was running. She threw open the door to the stairwell and ran down, footsteps behind her. She just wanted to get away. She didn't care where to or what would happen when she got there. "Theo!" called Morpheus, his voice distant in her mind. Tears streamed down her face. Images of her family and friends flashed through her mind, a self-torturing montage of things that would never be again. In her frenzy, Theo lost her footing on the last flight of stairs. She tried to steady herself, but it was no use. She pitched forward, her head hitting the railing and spinning her around. She hit her back hard against the stairs and gave a pained yelp as she slid the rest of the way down. Theo saw the spiraling stairs above her, with her companions racing down them like vultures circling overhead. The scene began to fade as they got closer, until all went black in her mind.
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