I know that if these people lived in ancient Rome they would have ya'know…Roman names, unfortunately I could not call Finnius and take myself seriously so they're staying as originals. If that really bothers you I'll send you your own copy with ridiculous name. If its really THAT important to you.
The immediate chamber was carved from heaven, ceiling reaching far beyond her comprehension, columns lined the mosaic walkway in orderly silence and flames were lit against the wall every so often to give the room the eerie feel of flickering. They'd ridden by carriage a good while to reach the temple, carved into the side of one of the first mountains of the Apennine. As they had approached it she'd looked up, amused by its height and the way it looked to be riding ahead of its brothers, the range that spread out behind it. Quinn had made the ride insufferable, requiring to adjust small things, as if the only entertainment she could find in the journey was reminding her of her place as a slave. A fact she detested more with each order.
Now beneath this impossible ceiling she felt like royalty, only those with money were allowed such sights.
"Santana! Keep up!"
She wrinkled her nose at her Domina's continued nagging but obeyed, following them to the steps at the far end of the room. Finn had been abnormally silent, making comments now and then but remaining for the most part in his own mind, probably nervous about the meeting.
Even now his brow was furrowed in worry; Quinn didn't seem to notice.
"Might do them better to have some sort of escort, wouldn't you think?"
Finn shrugged, "Weird places are weird, maybe?"
"Still."
They had reached the stairs and still found no sign of life to greet them.
"The appointment was for today right?"
"You think I'd mess up something like that?"
"That's not what I was saying."
Santana rolled her eyes and went back to admiring the architecture, sure it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world but it was less tired than her Dominus' arguments.
"Yell or something."
"What? I'm not gonna yell, this isn't exactly a yelling place."
"Fine, if I have to do it, I'll do it," Quinn cleared her throat, "Uh, hello! Excuse me!"
There was a kind of scraping thump that drew all of their attentions, followed by a shout in return, "Yeah, just a bit, I'll be right out."
There was a bit of rustling and then the thump again, it repeated itself a few times before a man came into view. His leg was secured inside a brace that caused the noise whenever he took a step, he didn't look like the traditional priest of an oracle, no robes or shaven head, just the brace and thick looking gloves on his hands. He also seemed to be squinting.
"Hey, sorry about that. Napping."
Quinn looked at him with a kind of disgust, Finn only smiled.
"I know how that is," He offered his hand, "I'm Finn Hudson, this is my wife Quinn, we're here to see the oracle, I guess."
"You can come with me to the back chamber, she'll meet you there," The man looked over to Finn's shoulder to Santana, "Who's the legs?"
Santana sneered.
"My wife's attendant."
"Oh, she'll have to wait out here. The divining chambers only for certain people if you know what I mean."
"Shouldn't be a problem, you can entertain yourself right?"
"Sure, I'll make friends with the columns."
Quinn returned her sarcastic grin with equal venom, "Good, then maybe you'll have friends."
She tasted fury in the back of her throat but bit her tongue, recalling the punishment received for the last comment she made in rage. Instead she stayed silent until Quinn departed for her fortune telling, satisfied with victory. Santana allowed a growl to slither from between gritted teeth as she leaned herself rather forcefully against one of the pillars; she thought the entire thing was ridiculous. All of this supernatural idiocy had cost her a day of her life and hours spent in close quarters with a rather cruel Quinn. The oracle of Artemis and all of her predictions could kiss her finely toned, perfectly tan ass.
"You have a glow."
Santana jolted off the column, her loathing interrupted by shock. A girl stood midway between herself and the entrance, blonde waves down past her shoulders, hands clasped behind her back. The skin on her face was freckled and she was smiling in a kind of lost way.
"Excuse me?"
"You glow, kind of like those bugs."
"Try not calling people bugs."
"Did I call you a bug?"
"Is there something wrong with you? You said like a bug."
"Yeah, but not a bug. Bugs aren't beautiful, well some kind of are but you're more goddess beautiful than bug beautiful."
She could not help but allow her mouth to hang open a slight bit and the way the girl had turned such an odd comment so quickly into such a bold compliment, she also could not help but allow the blush.
"And you're gonna fall in love."
Despite the warmth that had taken firm root in her stomach and in her cheeks she reminded herself of her characteristic discomfort at being told things about her, things that she wasn't aware of. Facts from strangers don't sit well with woman who know exactly who it is they want to be, and Santana was one such woman.
"Yeah, I'm sure, handsome rich politicians are just gonna start raining from the sky."
"I hope not, that'd be a mess…"
"And you're Domina? She's keeping a secret, one about a man."
"I'm sure that woman's got a bunch of dirty laundry won't do me any good without details."
She was as yet unimpressed.
"And you're gonna fall in love."
Santana looked at her for a moment before laughing, one quick, bitter laugh.
"I'm gonna fall in love?"
The blonde nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Says who?"
"The oracle of Artemis."
Santana knitted her forehead, confused.
"Why's the oracle telling prophecies about me."
"I don't know, wouldn't you want to know if you were gonna be in love?"
"And who are you?"
"Brittany," She paused, "Wait, you wouldn't want to know?"
Brittany looked suddenly disheartened and frown on her face made Santana feel something almost unheard of: a pang of guilt.
"I-I don't mind, its just strangers don't usually come up to you and say the oracle of Artemis is handing out love prophecies with your name on them."
Brittany looked confused for a moment, her eyes narrow in concentration as she worked over what it was Santana had said, when it was all processed, which took a few seconds, she broke out in a grin.
"Yeah, I guess so, anyway I have to go glowing girl."
She began towards the steps that Quinn and Finn had disappeared up.
"That cripple guy said only 'certain people' were allowed back there during the divining or some bullshit."
"I know, I get distracted if there's too many people."
Santana blinked, "You get…?"
"And my prophecies are all fuzzy when I can't focus."
"Your prophecies?"
"Yeah San, my prophecies. Who else is gonna tell them?"
Santana watched the girl vanish into the raised doorway, seeing only a flash of blonde hair before she was enveloped by the unnatural darkness beyond.
"Wait….I never told you that my name was Santana."
The news was good, or at least that was the general consensus on the journey back, though Quinn seemed more concerned with her opinions of the oracle herself, which was indeed, the girl Santana had spoken with. Finn, now much more relaxed, humored her as long as he could before zoning out, leaving Santana to fend for herself.
"She just seemed really really weird, I mean maybe the gods thought divining powers and good looks would make up for a minus in the mind department."
"Uh-huh."
Santana nodded and threw in a confirming remark here and there but kept her attention mostly on the image in her head of the oracle. She experimented recalling the girl's scent of milk and jasmine only to find her face burning with blush each time without fail, it was baffling.
They'd been staying in the home of Finn's father, a lanista with a sizable estate whose Gladiators earned fame fighting in Verona and Capua. The place was closer to the temple than Rome and allowed Finn time to visit with his family and easier access to the military concerns he'd been facing recently. It didn't bother Santana any; at least at the ludus she was allowed entertainment by the Gladiator's training. She'd been allowed to share company with them more than once and after you got over the smell and the inherent brutishness they were nice enough men. After a few hours with Quinn they were an attractive option.
Her Domina had not always been so grating, she blamed it on Finn, which was an easy excuse, not because he was doing anything wrong, but the pair of them seemed to be in constant conflict as of late. It's the nature of aggression to funnel downwards and Quinn's landed right on her. By the time they approached the gates of the estate she was practically ecstatic to see it. In the chaos of greeting, and Burt's questions regarding the outcome of the visit, Santana found time to slip sideways and through the house into the training area.
The men were in the courtyard, dust covering them up to their ankles as they swung practice swords, despite their apparent lack of lethality she never chose to get too close. That would be a stupid way to die. She picked out Puck immediately, he was darker than the others and moved with a solid fluidity that made it appear as if the sand and clay had piled up to build him, as if he were part of the Earth, edged in violence.
There were other spectators, Kurt and Mercedes were seated under the shade of the open area, whispering to one another.
"Enjoying the view?"
Kurt twisted his neck to look at her, he was Finn's brother and as of yet unmarried with no surprise as to why, he claimed Mercedes, a friend, as his interest but anyone could see the way he drooled over the men in training. Puck saw her and smirked.
"How was my brother's visit to the fortune teller? Any hints on buried treasure."
"Eh, he seemed pleased with himself."
"Well you know Finn, probably got told he was going to rule the world and said, 'that seems nice.'" Santana could see that he'd been shopping; his outfit was new and fit in a particular way.
"Was Quinn unbearable?"
"Completely."
The dottore called a break and the Gladiators headed for the shade, Puck made a beeline to her followed by his friend, a lankier man from the Orient.
"Hey beautiful."
The comment was said in his normal arrogant tone and yet felt incredibly empty, she thought back once again to the oracle and her compliment. Her stomach felt warm.
Before she could summon any sarcasm a guard approached, bulky and slightly unshaven.
"Domina," Santana thought for a moment that the guard was directed towards her only to realize the address had been meant as in insult for Kurt, he swallowed it with only a look of slight indignation.
"Didn't my father speak with you?"
"Dominus, you're brother's received word that he'll have to be headed to the warfront. Your father wants you to come see him off."
Kurt nodded and then looked to Mercedes, "You going to be good?"
"Uh-huh, you know how I like a show, promise I'll be nice and distracted."
She was watching a particular Gladiator towards the back right with sacred concentration. Kurt shoved past the guard and headed towards the villa, the guard remained, "Puck, you're summoned."
A grin possessed his face, even as the guard began to walk away, he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Duty calls."
Santana realized the number of times people had walked away from her today and was not pleased with it, "What the hell was that?"
Mercedes' fixation had finally put down his sword to participate in the break, severing her concentration.
"Kurt's told me a little, kinda like gossip so I don't know, says Puck's always spending time with Quinn if you know what I mean. Not that you heard it from me."
Between the anger and the shock Santana found for a moment an honest infectious laugh that shook her shoulders and required her to sit down beside Mercedes.
"You're kidding me, you've got to be kidding me, she was right."