Book of Panacea

by Tineke Peeters

  I stared at her horrified. Gosh, even she heard my horrendous misstep. I am a talking disaster. I seriously needed to think before I speak, especially with this new god in my presence.

  After wiping the tears from his eyes, he just said, “I think I have an idea, but we need to go to the fresh water waterfall.”

  With no further explanation, he picked up the pup and walked away. I glanced at Lottie, but she only shrugged her shoulders and followed. I shrugged my mine as well and followed him.

  We arrived at the waterfall and I Curiously move closer to the edge to study the pond surface. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the god put the pup gently down and knelt next to the pond.

  “Dear Naiad, we are humbly seeking your advice.”

  He motioned for me to kneel down as well. I frowned but did as he instructed. Suddenly, the smooth surface of the pond appeared to whirl. My eyes widened at this new event, and I nearly squealed out loud as a bluish being appeared out of the water. I looked towards the guy and he motioned agitatedly for me to keep my head down. I gulped, nodded at him, and bowed my head. In my mind, a small voice wondered why a god and goddess should bow for another creature, but I was clueless in this situation and decided it was better safe rather than being sorry.

  “Who wakes me from my slumber?” the bluish creature asked with a beautiful voice. It was difficult to keep my head down, I was so curious. Her voice sounded like tinkling water droplets from a waterfall. It was mesmerizing.

  “It is I, Phatostai, pleading humbly for your aid with this helpless creature.”

  “Ah, a baby Cerberus,” the Naiade said.

  Lottie appeared near my ear and whispered, “This is a Water nymph, but it is one of the ancient ones and you can’t look them in the eyes. Her voice tries to enchant you to look up into their eyes. The myth goes that you either get sucked into the water when looking into their eyes, or you turn into stone. I am not very certain about those because the first myth is supposed to happen when you look at a siren, right? And a siren lives in salt water. The stone turning thing, is alleged to be Medusa, you know the one with the snakes for hair? So, I don’t know what the truth is....”

  I halted her, “But to be safe, just keep my head bowed, huh?”

  She nodded. Gosh, the girl could talk. I shook my head in amusement.

  “And what does this lovely creature need, Phatostai?” The Naiade asked. It was seriously difficult to keep my head bowed; the urge to look up was strong.

  “He needs something to suckle on, My Lady.”

  “Why is he calling her ‘My Lady’?” I whispered to Lottie.

  “If you soothe her with the kneeling, bowing and treating her as a being above you, the power of seduction in her voice is less,” she answered.

  Okay, that was creepy. If this was not her full power, then I would definitely be in trouble if she had used it on me. I was struggling as it is.

  “And I guess you have a suggestion?” The Naiade asked.

  “Yes, My Lady, I thought if You would be so kind as to gift the pup with a sponge, this we could dip in the ambrosia and try to feed him.” Phatostai replied.

  “And what will you give me in return?”

  “I could not bring something as I was in quite a hurry for this little pup. I hope you will still consider our humble request.” I heard a slight hesitation in his voice.

  Lottie whispered in my ear, “Offer her one of your bracelets, My goddess, I am sure she will be pleased by that.”

  I looked down at my bracelets; guess it was worth a try. Taking one of them off my arm, I took a deep steadying breath.

  “Maybe you would consider this bracelet an appropriate gift, My Lady?” I offered in a very unsteady and squeaky voice.

  I held out my hand and held my breath waiting.

  After a minute, I felt the bracelet being taken from my hand.

  “Yes, this will do nicely. Thank you, my dear. And good luck to you with your stay on the island and with all the hurdles that will come your way.” With these parting words, I heard a splash and then silence.

  “Can I look up now?” I asked.

  “Yes you can, she’s gone.” Phatostai replied.

  I got up and looked at a thrilled Phatostai, holding an enormous sponge in his even bigger hands.

  “She was apparently very happy with your gift because this is the biggest sponge I have ever seen!” he exclaimed.

  This woke the pup up, who had been silent until now.

  “Now how do we do this?” I asked him.

  “You dip the sponge in the cup with ambrosia and hold it in front of the snouts.”

  I grabbed the sponge and the cup and sat down on the soft green grass next to the pond. The pup was mewling now. I dipped the sponge into the ambrosia and held it in front of the heads. One head got the idea quite quickly and started sucking on the sponge-like there was no tomorrow, the other two were still frantically searching for the source of the wonderful smell.

  As the one head sucked the whole sponge dry in one go, I dipped it into the ambrosia again and offered it to the other snout. This one got the idea as soon as I dabbed the sponge against his snout and after a few seconds, sucked the sponge dry as well.

  The third one was now whimpering and yelping. I held the sponge in front of him and repeated what I had done with the previous snout, but it was no use. This head was so hungry that he just kept missing the sponge altogether. I had to keep his head still with one hand while squeezing the sponge a little with the other hand into his mouth. Finally, he got it. And with a contented sigh, I watched him finish the sponge. By this time I was thirsty and drank the rest of the cup. I heard a gagging sound behind me.

  I turned my head and asked: “What?”

  Phatostai answered while gagging again, “You just drank from the same cup as the dog!”

  “Yeah, so? It’s ambrosia, it can’t be poisoned, what do you think a pup can do to it that is so bad?” I lifted an eyebrow, challenging him.

  “Nothing, it’s just the idea of drinking from the same cup as a dog,” he answered, still looking green.

  “Oh, get over yourself, will you!” I got up.

  I picked up the pup and struggled to pick up the cup. I wanted to go back to bed, I had only slept a few hours.

  “Here, let me help you with that.” Phatostai took the cup. He gestured with his hand and said, “After you.”

  I inclined my head and walked towards the little temple with a very happy pup in my arms.

  BBUUUUUUURRRRP, I nearly dropped the pup.

  “Goodness gracious, that was some burp!” I grinned. BBUUURP, BBUUUUUUURRRPPPPP. Yep, three heads, three burps.

  “Ugh, that is nasty.” Phatostai wrinkled his nose.

  Arriving at the temple, I saw Maria and Cyriel. It looked like they were in a very heated argument. Nothing unusual, as they have a love-hate relationship. Kind of like my own relationship with Cyriel. It is a loving, but argumentative relationship, as Cyriel has strong opinions.

  “Huhum,” I scraped my throat to get their attention. Both looked up. It seemed like they were going to ask me something... But as soon as they saw who was with me, they shut their mouths, beak, whatever.

  “Managed to get the pup fed. We gave him Ambrosia and fed him using a sponge gifted by a water nymph. Now he is asleep, and I am tired. I am going to take a nap now.”

  And with that, I left everyone behind and went inside the temple. I was too tired to think about introducing everyone. Lottie could explain the situation and Phatostai could try to explain his presence on the island. I was confident in Cyriel’s’ and Maria’s interrogation skills.

  I gently laid the pup down on the bed and laid down next to him. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

  ***

  6

  Phatostai:

  Now what, I thought. I looked towards the temple where the lovely goddess disappeared into. She left me, without so much as an introduction.

  The Dryad was a to
wering, impressive lady, who currently had a frown causing her face to wrinkle.

  She was a sight to behold, at least twice my height, with her upper body covered in leaves and her hair twisted in a complicated bun intertwined with branches. Some pink blossoms and some brown and yellow leaves were woven into her hair. Her upper body was decorated in a similar arrangement as her hair, with leaves and flowers decorating a sleeveless top. Her arms and face had a soft brown tone with what seemed like tattoos of vines running up them, and her lower body was a beautifully shaped tree trunk.

  “How do you do? My name is Phatostai and I am very honored to make your acquaintance.” Making the ‘gods’ bow- one arm across my stomach, the other on my back. I hoped that treating her like a goddess would be in my favor.

  “Are you mocking us? Such a bow is for the gods, not for the likes of us.” The bird said.

  Bloody Olympus, the bird spoke! My eyes widened, and I jacked straight up, to look into the birds-eye.

  “I-I-I d-d-definitely did n-n-not mean any d-d-disrespect. I just w-w-wanted to s-s-show politeness towards you.” Opening my arms, I tried to show that I was harmless.

  I was a god, and I was stuttering when being face to face with a talking bird. Looking over my shoulder, I could see that the goddess had not reappeared from her temple, to see my idiotic behavior.

  “I can see that ya donna wanna disrespect us, but who are ya and where did ya come from, if ya don’t mind me asking?”

  I had to overthink her words twice before realizing she asked me who I was and how I got to be here. Her accent was so strong and unfamiliar.

  “Trying to think of a cover story? Or are you going to tell the truth? I will accept the challenge of extracting the truth if you try to lie to us.” The bird threatened.

  “Uhm, no, I-I just did not u-u-understand the l-l-lady Dryad. I a-a-apologize.” Again. I needed to get my head together or this would be a long and not so friendly stay on Pagonais.

  “I am Phatostai.”

  “Yeah, we kind of got that one already.”

  “Cyriel, let the boy talk.” Maria lifted her shoulder, unbalancing Cyriel, which took all the air out of the birds’ chest, making him look flat. I had to blink twice to make sure I was seeing this right.

  The bird looked crossly at the dryad, straightened himself and blew himself up again. I ignored him and directed myself towards the much friendlier dryad.

  “I am Phatostai, son of Hephaistus, here to train my powers.” I could see the worried glance the two before me threw at each other before they hid it.

  Something was not quite right and if I had to make a guess, it had something to do with the lovely goddess currently sleeping in the temple. I have never really liked goddesses, but this one seemed to be sweet. She was a bit awkward, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and with that, I ignored the worried glance.

  “I arrived about an hour ago and assisted the young lady and her newly born pup, by providing some idea about food.”

  “He did indeed. And he talked to a Nayad to get a sponge so that the pup could suckle the Ambrosia out of it. After that, we all walked here and now the pup is sleeping quietly in the temple.”

  Out of the creation on top of the Dryads head, the fairy appeared. She emerged and flew in front of the bird. “And he was very nice to ...”

  “I am sure he was very nice, but now there are two trainees on the island and only one temple and bed.” Maria quickly interrupted the fairy.

  I guessed that I was not meant to know the name of the goddess, and it was strange that I didn’t know her. I definitely would have remembered the red curly hair reaching below her waist and her lush curves.

  I thought I had been introduced to all the goddesses of the islands when my step mom Aphrodite decided to get rid of me. She had devised a plan by giving some grand ball - supposedly in my honor-, hoping to entice me to marry one of the goddesses present; and there were a lot. I had kept my mouth shut and smiled and nodded.

  Thanks to my dear step mom, I had known from the start that outer beauty didn’t mean inner beauty. I knew her for the ugly witch she really was, and she made me hate all females with a perfect face.

  I, therefore, had absolutely no interest in the opposite sex, turning it into a tiring evening. The only satisfaction: the growing anger on Aphrodite’s face every time I declined a new goddesses’ request to dance. That put aside, I will try to befriend this new goddess. She was refreshing, had a pretty face- but didn’t seem aware of this- and she didn’t act like any goddess I had ever met.

  “I do not mind sleeping outside. I am sure I will find a comfortable spot somewhere nearby.” I decided then and there, to be the utmost gentleman.

  I was happy to please a goddess who inspired such loyalty. They questioned a god after all, and that was not done without repercussions normally.

  “That won’t be necessary, Charlie will get a sheet for ya and I will fashion a hanging bed from the vines here. No sleepin’ on the ground on my watch.” The dryad seemed to have authority over the fairies, as another fairy appeared out of her hairdo. It was fascinating.

  “Good day, god Phatostai.” She bowed. “I will try to assist you with creating a bed. Maria will first fashion the bones of the bed and I will drape it with a sheet. You can maybe make a kind of roof to cover yourself in case of rain?” Her speech made her seem older than Lottie, the other fairy. She was also far more serious.

  “I would be very grateful for the help and will start with the roof immediately. Lady Maria, which spot did you have in mind?” I asked turning towards the dryad. She smiled and pointed towards two trees not too far away from the temple.

  “I think that will be a fine spot for a hanging bed, but you are to call me Maria. No Ladies here!” She was still grinning from ear to ear and even blushing a bit.

  It made me smile, and I was happy with the turn of events. They seemed to like me. The bird was gone, so I wasn’t sure about him. But I decided three out of four was good enough for now.

  Still smiling, I looked for large leaves, trying not to wander too far from the temple. For one, I didn’t want to get lost and the other I didn’t know what other creatures were here.

  Walking around the tree, under which the temple was built, I noticed that the fauna changed quite a bit from the front. The front was a meadow full of flowers, the back, a dense forest with hardly any light to guide my way. I decided against going deeper in that direction. I walked around the tree arriving at the left of the temple. The right side was where the Nayad was located, and they had not passed any leaves on the way back.

  Walking a bit to the left of the temple, the scenery changed quite abruptly again. This time it changed into a field covered in large green plants.

  I saw some leaves as long as my legs. Slowly, I approached the field of leaves. I gently touched one of the leaves, just to make sure they were not the eating or changing kind. A sigh of relief escaped my lips when the plant did not attack me or try to eat me. I plucked as many leaves as I could carry, and after that, walked back to find Maria already putting the finishing touches on my hang bed, complete with a pillow and blanket.

  “Wow, thank you so much! It looks like a real bed, but then off the ground. It is ingenious.”

  Maria frowned, “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

  “He means that you made a very nice bed and find it quite amazing for you to have thought of this way,” Cyriel explained to Maria, who obviously had not understood my compliment.

  “Oh, alright, ya’r welcome!” Her eyes sparkled. “Now let me help ya with those leaves.”

  “You don’t have to do that, you have done already so much, I can do it!”

  “No, no, I will do it, you go look for some food, because ambrosia once a day, is not enough. And our Goddess will be overjoyed if ya could maybe make a meal?” She winked at me and I was sure I was getting redder by the minute.

  “Ok, I will have a look around.” With that, I turned around a
nd started a brisk walk in a different direction than the leaves, as there was nothing food related to be found.

  Crossing the flower covered meadow in front of the temple, I entered a not so dense canopy of trees. Trees of all different kinds.

  Grass, plants, flowers, and bushes were in between the trees. Suddenly I came upon another meadow and saw something glistening in the afternoon sun. This meadow was covered in grass; some tall, some short. Little flying bits of fluff flew up my nose making me sneeze. There might not be any food in the grass, but that glistening had piqued my interest. I could always find something after checking that out.

  I squinted my eyes and cautiously walked forward. The grass in the meadow was up to my knees, and getting higher the closer I got towards the shiny object. The moment I got within reaching distance the sun shone straight onto the object, blinding me for an instant. Rubbing my eyes to try to remove the dots still dancing around my vision, I finally saw what was hidden in the now hip-high grass. I breathed in sharply. I loved books, especially history books, but I only remembered this object from a conversation between my dad and Zeus. And according to them, it was eons ago since this object had last been seen.

  “Dad and Zeus will never believe this.” I was whispering for some reason.

  This was an amazing find and for me to find it, was a blessing. I was the son of a smith after all and would recognize gold anywhere. But the importance of this object in history and for us now was what was most valuable about this. If this was what I thought it was -and I was pretty sure of it- the goddess and I would have a very nice meal indeed.

  ***

  7

  I rolled over and groaned, heard a thud and a yelp, and shot straight up in the bed. Looking around with blurry eyes from sleeping, I saw my pup.

  “Oooh, I am so sorry little one. Come here.” I picked up the pup and put him back on the bed next to me. Next thing I know, I get slobbered all over as the pup decided kisses were in order. Three tongues make for a lot of very wet kisses, and my entire face was covered in slobber before I pushed him away gently.