He got no response from her. She didn't want to know how she might end up in the presence of something that looked like that.
The ladder rolled on and crossed over more sections of books like, "Ancient Greek Battles", "The Royalty of Greece", "Great Heroes of Olympus", and it seemed each of the gods had an entire section of books dedicated to them as well. Chloe didn't see how she could ever be expected to learn it all. But then again, it didn't matter. She wasn't staying.
The ladder made an abrupt stop in front of an endless section of books on Oracles, the Prophetic Ones. "Oracles have been in existence since the beginning of time, Chloe."
"What is an Oracle?" She asked as she ran her fingers across the bindings of a few of the old books labeled with names and years. One book stuck out as it was newer than all of the others. She turned her head to read the name on its binding and gasped with surprise.
"There's a book on me here!" The bind read Chloe (Present).
"Sure there is," L.A. watched her pull the book from the shelf and flip through it. "The pages are blank because there's no story to tell yet, but that will change soon enough. Once you're ready, the pages will fill themselves."
Chloe slid the book back into its space between "Carmen (1902-1927)" and "Charlotte (1734-1771)". "You still haven't told me what an Oracle is yet," She said.
"An Oracle is a prophesier of the future," L.A. said as if she should have already known this. "The Oracle before you is now deceased. You will now be the teller of prophecies, the riddles that hold the answers to the future. You will be the Oracle of Delphi." Chloe thought she must have looked unconvinced, or absolutely bewildered. "Why do you think you have so many crazy dreams, Chloe? Don't look so surprised. I know all about them. This is your destiny, kid. The Fates decided that long ago."
Her heart was practically in her throat. "But I don't see the future. I only hallucinate."
"Ah, hallucinations. One of the Fates many gifts to you. You should thank them."
"Thank them? I'm on like six different meds because of them, whoever they are!"
L.A. chuckled. "And as I'm sure you already know, there's no cure for your particular set of mental…abilities. That's because they're real. Hallucinations and dreams are simply the present projected. What you see is actuality. Always remember that."
There was a pause, then for some weird reason, she laughed. She couldn't hold it in any longer. It all sounded so ridiculous.
But then again, in the deep dark depths of the part of her mind that harbored her ability to reason without interference from annoying voices, crazy visions or medication, it all made plenty of sense. Maybe her dreams did actually mean something, even if they were horrifying. Maybe her hallucinations had a purpose––the boy she'd hallucinated at school and every one before that.
But when she thought about it, she felt silly for even thinking that way. It was more likely that she was dreaming right now and her subconscious was running a muck, only making her think what she was seeing was real. Maybe she was asleep and would wake up any minute now, laughing at the absurdity of it all.
It didn't take her long to realize that she didn't believe that for one second.
L.A. didn't seem concerned with her unwillingness to face reality as he helped her down. "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
"So now you're quoting Winston Churchill?"
L.A. laughed. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice." After sweeping his dreads out of his face again, he leaned against the bookcase. "As I said, I'm the god of the Prophecy as well, and I'm your patron. I govern your gifts and see that they're used the right way. You see, I'm like you in a sense, only better. I can see the future of anyone I want, but only subjectively. When free will enters the equation, my visions change to accommodate one's new course in life. Comes in quite freaking handy sometimes, annoys me all the others. You, however, weren't blessed with such a gift. No biggie though. You have quite a few other things going for you…" He smiled. "Oracles are always female, you know, and always human because humans have minds that are open to accepting almost anything. That's not an insult though. Oracles are revered in my world, and you should be grateful that the Fates picked you to take over the gig. You're in the big time now, Chloe Clever."
Who were these Fates he kept bringing up? What even was a Fate? How could he expect her to be grateful to them if she didn't even know what they were? He had said something earlier about them being goddesses of destiny, but what did that even mean?
"How do I know what you're saying is true?" She asked, "It just doesn't seem possible."
L.A. just smiled. "I've moved you through space and time, and you talk about what isn't possible." He blew at his hand and a ball of fire, a mini sun, appeared there. "Anything is possible."
"A few cool magic tricks isn't enough to convince me," Chloe said, though she knew that last one had pretty much done it.
L.A. tossed the ball of fire into the air and with a poof, it disintegrated into a harmless flutter of ashes. "It's only a matter of time," He said. He struck a chord on his guitar.
The room swirled around them.
*****
VIII. Chloe
Ace was sitting where they had left him and was starting in on his fourth apple. The fruitless cores of the first three were piled in his lap.
"Welcome back!" He said as he took a bite.
Thaleia was still sitting on the floor. She offered up the bowl of grapes to L.A. as he returned to his lounge. Euterpe sat beside her and Mel remained reclined across her own chaise. Her eyes were closed but Chloe got the feeling that the drummer wasn't sleep. She began to wonder, if L.A. was a god, then what were these three women?
"So Chloe," L.A. said, kicking back across his lounge, "It's question time. Ask what you need to. I probably won't give you the chance to do so again." He began to strum his guitar and waited for Chloe to say something. Seconds later, Euterpe joined him.
Chloe couldn't concentrate for listening to the melody. "Why me?" was all she could think to ask.
"Because it's your destiny," L.A. said once again, "Your mind is a vessel. You were born with this power already manifesting inside of you. This is why the Fates chose you. You're more special than you could ever know." He nodded at Euterpe and led them into a new melody. Chloe wished they would just stop talking and she could listen to them play and forget about all of this for a few hours. But she couldn't do that. She had to figure out what was going on.
"So my mind really did save me?" She remembered Ace saying something close to that. She looked at the boy, who shrugged as if to say "I told you so".
"It's true, Chloe. Your mind saved your life. The koma acted like a shield around it, protecting your power. It would not let you go. At times when you find yourself in trouble, your mind's powers will often reach out to protect you. Maybe you'll even learn to control the komas one day. Fates willing, of course."
She shook her head. "I'm so confused." She began to massage her temples, which had been incessant in their throbbing for the past few minutes.
L.A. stopped playing. "Head hurt?" She nodded. He winked at her. "How about now?"
Chloe dropped her hands. "Uh, it's––it's gone." She couldn't believe it. The pain had vanished just like that. "Are you like the god of no-more-headaches or something, too?" L.A. only smiled at the joke, but did not confirm nor deny anything, just resumed his soft playing with Euterpe accompanying him in perfect harmony.
"So does all of this mean that you're...immortal or something?" Chloe asked. She was skeptical of the answer and really wanted her medication right then. Even though it didn't work, there was something comforting about swallowing those little white pills every morning and night. Like keeping alive her belief that there was indeed a cure for her crazy. They just hadn't found it yet.
L.A. grunted. "I would like to think of myself as several steps up from a boring immortal." He looked disgusted by the she
er idea of it. "But, nevertheless, you've got the right idea. Gods are immortals, yes. But I think you'll find that we're a bit more complicated than that. But don't worry about it just yet." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then changed the subject. "I hope you're a fan of sunlight."
She thought of spring and track season. "I love the sun…", and he looked pleased. She shook her head with disbelief. "Is this all for real though? I mean, this isn't just some really well-planned joke, is it?"
L.A. smiled, but not with amusement. "The last thing you should ever consider all of this to be is a joke. A guardian died protecting you. There's nothing funny about that. Never forget it."
Never forget. That's what she was afraid of. That she would never forget watching Summer Pinot die. Or that Ker demon. Or that any of this was happening right now.
She closed her eyes for a long minute. She could be honest with herself and say that she was starting to sense that this was some kind of alternate reality and the sooner she accepted that, the better. She was more curious about L.A.––or Apollo, whatever––than anything. She was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. This wasn't a dream. She had really met a man who turned out to be a Greek god, the Sun god, a deity who did things she thought could only be done in the movies via computer-generated imagery. How could she not believe it all? She'd seen it with her own eyes, hadn't she? He was her favorite rock star for pete's sake! That alone was tempting her to want to know more.
But what about going home? She could still do that, she thought. But besides her family, what else was there for her in Adel? Five months of special education classes? More psychotherapy? More useless medication? She almost felt relief at the prospect of never going back. But then again, she also felt like a magnetic force inside was the only thing keeping her from running out and finding the nearest police officer who could help her get back to Adel. But she couldn't. She needed to learn more about this man, rock star, god, and what an Oracle was first. Deep down, she wanted to know more. She had been chosen for it right? She had wished for this, hadn't she? She could stay just a little while longer, and then she would go home……
When her eyes finally opened, she took a deep breath and said, "So what if I said I believed all of this? What would happen then?"
L.A.'s eyes narrowed with curiosity. He stopped playing again. "Do you finally believe, Chloe?" He asked.
"I might," She said, not willing to concede so easily. "Tell me though, how does this all work?"
"Does this mean you accept?" L.A. asked her instead. It was clear he meant for her to answer his question first.
"Do I have a choice?" Chloe couldn't pretend that this still didn't feel a little bit like a hostage situation.
L.A. chuckled. "Why, of course you do, kid! Life is all about choices and decisions. You make good ones, positive things happen for you. Make bad ones, you suffer for them. Isn't that what life is all about?"
But there was something about the way he said this that made Chloe feel like in truth, she didn't have a choice whatsoever. She was here, wasn't she? They had gone through all of the trouble of taking her away from her home and family for this. They could've just taken her to the Memorial hospital in Adel, or better yet, home, but they didn't. She would be foolish to think that they would just let her walk out, even if L.A. did claim that it was her decision. Chloe had never considered herself to be foolish even if she wasn't the most mentally sound person she knew. Leaving on her own terms was simply not an option……
"I accept," Chloe said, getting a sense of her back slamming up against the wall. Bam!
"Out, you three," L.A. ordered the Daughters, finally setting his guitar aside. Thaleia gave Chloe a kiss on the cheek before she skipped off of the bus, or whatever this place was pretending to be, Euterpe smiled and dashed after her, and Mel grumbled about her nap being disturbed. She heard the noisy crowd outside, then a door closed behind them.
"Give me your hand," L.A. commanded Chloe and Ace shifted on his ottoman. He took a huge bite out of apple number five. Chloe was worried about what L.A. planned to do to her, as if it mattered. She had accepted, she had made her choice to stay and there was no turning back now. Even she knew that.
She extended her arm.
L.A. took her hand and sandwiched it between both of his. One of his hands was tattooed with a raven. It was one of his most loved tattoos, the magazines had said, because ravens were one of his favorite animals. She wondered now if there was a reason why.
"This might hurt a little, kid." He closed his eyes and muttered something in a foreign language she didn't understand.
And then Chloe felt a jolt of adrenaline and power surge through her like she had just been electrocuted. She tried to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth. Her mind went blank, as if it had just been erased. She couldn't remember where she was. She couldn't even remember who she was. Her mind was like a chalkboard that had just been wiped clean. All files of memory had been erased. Delete, delete, delete...
But then she saw her family and remembered them: Beth, red haired and beautiful; and Benjy, eight and skinny. She saw Smurfey and her school, the city she had lived in, Adel, and then she saw her house, small and bricked only in the front. Then foreign words, names, dates and images started moving through her mind so fast she was surprised she could make any of them out. She thought she saw images of animals and a few angelic faces, and maybe even once a castle or two, which changed into ancient ruins, then a giant with one eye…a brutal battle…a flying pig…a fire-breathing lion…a garden where the fruit grew gold…
She felt like her mind was being programmed, for what, she didn't know. It was almost like the images were being uploaded into her memory from an outside source––like making a copy of a hard drive.
And then, she heard a voice start to chant in her head. It was her own voice, she could tell. But it was her years from now, in some future she couldn't comprehend. She wasn't sure how she recognized it, but she did, and her lovely, mature voice said to her:
Beautiful, beautiful, this one must be saved
From a love that is dark, and a heart that's enslaved.
There will be no faint of heart on the road to be braved
For the faint of heart will surely see an early grave
Beautiful, Beautiful, whose heart must be freed
From a battle of centuries and copious measures of greed
The most beautiful heart will sacrifice for one to succeed
For undone, it is written, the two will never concede.
Finally! The cynical voice in her head exclaimed, after keeping silent for so long, I was beginning to wonder if we had given you the wrong string...
Hooray for the new Oracle of Delphi! The giggly one squealed, This is so exciting!
Yes dear, it is very exciting indeed, The mothering voice said, You have accepted. You believe in us. Now our real work can begin.
Everything was a blur in front of Chloe. She couldn't even make out her surroundings. Was she still with Ace? Where was L.A.? She could not hear or see them. She was so dizzy the world around her looked like a kindergartener's finger painting. Her pulse was racing and her head was pounding and just to think made the pain worse.
What do you mean I believe in you? She questioned, her weakened mind barely able to form the words. What's happening to me? Who are you?
Well, have you not figured it out yet, dear? There was a soft chuckle. We are the Fates.
Chloe blacked out.
*****
IX. Chloe
She was back in the room again.
The one she had woken up in before when she had realized that life had begun playing dirty, dirty tricks on her.
Her eyes fluttered to adjust to seeing again. How long had she been out for? Hours? Days? Weeks? Maybe even months this time?
She felt clean and washed. Someone had changed her clothes and brushed her new, beautiful hair. She figured it was one of those sparkly girls. Obvi
ously, a lot of time had passed and she was scared of how much.
She remembered everything. She remembered meeting the greek god, Apollo. A greek god, who turned out to be her favorite rockstar, L.A.
Real or not?
Real, she was pretty freaking sure of it.
He had told her she was the Oracle of Delphi. Her mind was a vessel through which she could prophesy the future. It was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard, yet, she had found herself believing every single word of it.
She remembered hearing a voice inside of her head. Her older self, years from now. She had been chanting something, a rhyme or poem, something about being beautiful…
And then there were the other voices. The last ones she had heard before blacking out.
They had called themselves the Fates.
Apollo had called them "goddesses of destiny", but that couldn't be true. They had been in her head for years, so how could they be goddesses at all?
Staring up at the vaulted ceiling, she took a slow, deep breath, realization kicking in.
Three Greek goddesses live in my head.
Woah.
A bird squawking scared her right out of the trance of her new learned truth. Letting out a squawk of her own, she flung herself against the headboard, gripping her chest in fear.
She found Ace and another teenaged boy sitting in the corner of the room, chill as ever, watching her.
"Sorry about that," The unfamiliar boy said in a thick, rich accent, gesturing to the hawk that was perched on his shoulder. "Bill gets antsy when it's quiet for too long."
She swallowed hard and breathed deep to still her racing heart. "What kind of name is that for a bird?"
The boy shrugged. "It fits him. He's such a middle-aged man sometimes." Bill seemed to understand the reference and squawked. The boy laughed and gave him a piece of beef jerky as a peace offering. Bill accepted with a flutter of his wings.
The boy was pretty good-looking with a head full of natural black ringlets, deep brown eyes, smooth latte colored skin and full lips. He was about Ace's height but leaner, with the long limbs of an athlete. He was wearing an Artful Dodger tee with all kinds of colorful slogans designed into it and a pair of pretty awesome cargo pants that were cinched at the ankle, leaving his brown suede Converse kicks exposed. She loved the look. Urban wear was kind of her thing and she needed one of those graphic tees, like, right away.
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