Book of Panacea

by Tineke Peeters

  My head felt like it would explode any minute now, and I was not even sure if it was the noise or something else causing the pain.

  "Stop!" I screamed and held my hands over my ears. Except for the unicorn, everyone fell silent, and still, I was holding my head. Tears slipped from my eyes as I fell to my knees and rocked back and forward. Phatostai had not managed to get up but crawled over to me. Worried he asked, "What is happening?"

  "I don't know." I was moaning, and the unicorn was still neighing. Maria inched closer to the unicorn and started to pull the unicorn's horn out of the tree. Both the unicorn and I screamed. Maria pulled her hands back! She was shocked, "I am so sorry!"

  "They are connected in the pain." In wonder, Phatostai moved closer still and touched my head with soft circles that gave me some relief. With great effort, he got up on his feet and after swaying for a second, he picked me up. I moaned but did not let go of my ears. He slowly moved towards the unicorn. The pain was so intense that I was having difficulty staying conscious.

  When he arrived at the unicorn, he put me gently next to him. "I believe you will have to try to remove his horn yourself, as you can feel his pain."

  "I don't know how." I was rocking myself again.

  "Touch him, like you did with Apple and maybe something will help him?" The hesitation in his voice told me he was reaching, but I could only try. The pain was splitting my head in half. I put my hand on the unicorns' hoof and tried to concentrate. Nothing happened.

  "Lottie will you stop with the fluttering already! There is dust everywhere and you are making it worse!" Cyriel was looking at her with his beady eyes.

  "But he is in pain and so is our goddess!" She was in a flutter of movement and dust was indeed flying around, with some even ending up in my nose.

  "This is not helping Lottie; please stop." Phatostai tried to wipe the dust away from me, but it was no use. I was going to sneeze, and it was going to be bloody painful! I tried to hold it back, but it was no use.

  "Hatchoe!" With my eyes closed, I did not see what happened.

  ***

  16

  "Wow." Was the only sound to be heard, but from everyone present; they all exclaimed their wonder together. When I finally looked up, I blinked at the sight in front of me. Sparky was sparkling a brilliant blue. When the sparkling lessened, I gasped. He was loose, and my pain was gone. I was stunned. I touched his hoof to make sure he was real as he looked ethereal, and when I touched him, I got dizzy, and everything went dark.

  I woke up in an area that was bright blue. Blinking my eyes, I looked around me, but could not find any edges to the room.

  "Hello?" I asked.

  "Who is there?"

  "Uhm, I am goddess Panacea and you?"

  A cute young boy appeared before me. He was small, maybe 6 years old? His hair was a startling bright blue color, and his eyes opened wide when he saw me. He had beautiful big brown eyes that stared at me in surprise.

  "Lottie calls me Sparky, so I guess that is my name."

  "Where are we? And why can I talk to you all of a sudden?"

  "I went nowhere, it is you goddess Panacea, that entered my mind."

  "Huh." I was so confused right now "So, you are saying I am in your body?" My bewildered expression must have alarmed Sparky as he started a strange hop with his little legs.

  "Your body is still sitting next to me."

  I looked left and there I was, sitting on my knees with my head hanging down and my hands in my lap. Looking around, I noticed that everyone was silent, and gaping at Sparky. With my hands on my hips, I frowned at them.

  "Helloho! Anyone wants to look at my body over there?" I pointed to the left and as the young boy looked left, I was looking straight at my body.

  "Pana?!" Phatostai's voice sounded strange, as he came into view. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the point of view changed every time the boy looked in a particular direction. I saw Phatostai bending down and giving me a shake.

  "Pana, are you all right?" He shook me harder this time.

  "In a minute he will shake me so hard that my head is going to fall off!" The boy snickered behind his hands. I looked at him in amusement, only to realize that Phatostai was moving closer. He seemed wary of the unicorn.

  "Are you all right, Sparky?" As the boy nodded, so did the unicorn, and I felt a little dizzy with the movement. This was so strange. I was in the head of a unicorn, talking to a boy that apparently is the unicorn. What happened to normal?

  "What should I tell Lottie to tell him?" His little hands were clenched together.

  I crossed my arms while I thought about that. "What do you think is happening here?"

  The boy's shoulders went up to his ears. "I have no idea."

  "How come the unicorn moves when you move, but not all the time?" He thought about that and it was adorable to see the frown on his little face.

  "I am the unicorn, but this form is in my head. So I decide if I want to move or if I want to say something."

  "You are the mind of the unicorn?" I was dumbfounded. I do not recall feeling a separate person inside my mind, although I do sometimes talk to myself; so maybe there is another person inside my head.

  The boy was nodding and hopping up and down.

  Looking at Phatostai, I saw that he seemed to be moving up and down. But when I focused, I realized that it was 'us' moving up and down. Phatostai had such a frightened look on his face that I laughed out loud. The boy laughed as well and the noise coming out of the unicorn was neighing.

  "Is Lottie still there?" The boy or rather Sparky nodded.

  "Can you tell her I am stuck in your mind and that she has to tell everyone else?" The boy nodded and neighed his answer to Lottie.

  Lottie squealed in horror.

  "Lottie, what is it? Is Sparky all right? Can you ask him to move so that Phatostai can check on Pana again?" Maria was trying to calm Lottie down enough to start talking. Everyone braced themselves because they knew once Lottie started talking it was fast, very fast. You needed to pay close attention or all you hear is twittering.

  "Pana is in Sparky's head and she is stuck." She squeaked again.

  Everyone waited, but nothing else came out of her mouth. Very slowly Maria asked, "And that is all he said?" Lottie nodded.

  "Pana wake up, the joke is hilarious, hahaha. But if you don't start talking this minute, I will peck you!" Cyriel was flying towards my body.

  I looked at the boy and he hastily told Lottie what I told him.

  "Uhm, Cyriel? Sparky says that Pana says that if you touch one hair on her body, she will dunk you in ambrosia and feed you to Apple." Cyriel stopped mid-flight and hovered stunned in the air. He flew back towards Maria, who had her hands clasped over her mouth.

  "You are kidding me right?" Phatostai was rubbing a hand over his forehead as if trying to get rid of a headache.

  "How on Olympus did you achieve that? Woman, you seem to get all your powers at once and don't even know what to do with them." He looked towards the sky with a deep sigh and his hands on his hips.

  "It is not like I can help it!" Throwing my hands up in frustration, I realized that he could not hear me, so I snapped at the boy to tell Lottie to tell Phatostai, what I said. Gods, this was getting complicated.

  Astonished, Phatostai turned towards me, or rather my body.

  "I know you can't help it, but I only discovered and not even practiced one power and yours are coming all at once, giving me a headache!"

  He took a deep breath, "So what are you supposed to do now? I am sure there is a reason for ending up in the unicorns' head. You took in his pain..."

  Everyone was silent, thinking of a way out or a reason for me being there.

  ***

  18

  "Ya know, with Apple she felt the pain through touch or something, and then she came up with the solution for the pain. Maybe Sparky has some sort of pain...?" Maria was looking expectantly at Sparky.

  "I don't have pain, I just ca
n't remember a thing." The boy shrugged and I nodded. "Tell Lottie to say this to the others."

  Everyone was excited.

  "That must be it! That is his ailment!" Phatostai said.

  Ever the pessimist, Cyriel said: "And how is she going to heal that? It is not as if some herbs or something is going to help."

  The depressing silence continued.

  "Okay, we are going to brainstorm. Sparky can you nod if you understand me?" Sparky nodded at Phatostai.

  I was interested in what was going to happen 'out there,' but I also wanted to get back 'out there.’ So maybe I needed to think of some questions of my own. I looked at the boy, who was watching Phatostai with admiration written on his face. I smiled a little. Looking at Phatostai, I had to admit that he was quite impressive when you saw him in action, so, I understood the admiration.

  Anyways, questions...

  "What is the last thing you remember?" I asked.

  "I do not know!"

  Everyone was thinking about questions to ask that could free the unicorn's memory. Every time someone opened their mouth, the others held their breath in anticipation.

  But the person or creature closed their mouth again, leaving everyone frustrated.

  This happened like four times.

  Suddenly Phatostai jumped in front of my body, scaring Lottie and Charlie who flew towards Maria's hair. Cyriel, not wanting to be outdone by Phatostai, went towards my body and settled himself above the unicorn and my body.

  I looked around to try and see what was happening and elbowed the small boy who scowled at me rubbing his arm.

  "What are they all staring at? Why does everyone seem on high alert?" The boy looked left and right, but all we saw with the unicorns head rotating from side to side was Phatostai.

  He started to shudder before my eyes and through the sight of the unicorn, I saw his shield. He made this shield when I threw a punch at him, but I didn't see it then.

  This time I saw it and it was like a soap bubble. It grew out of him to embrace both him and the others'. My mouth dropped open. Wow, he was powerful! And so soon! In just, what was it, two days? Still marveling over Phatostai, I looked in the direction he was looking.

  Out of the woods next to the temple, a smoky black cloud appeared. The cloud changed shape as it got closer, it looked like a woman. All of a sudden the shape became crystal clear.

  The first thing I noticed was how strange she was dressed. It was as if she had green and black long cloth just hanging from her waist, with some black contraption covering her stomach, but barely her boobs. Her arms were covered in some kind of see-through silk, I think?

  Her hair was a curly mess, on top of which she had a small pointed hat. Her feet were bare except for rings around her toes, with her nails painted black as were her fingernails. Her fingers also had all kinds of rings on them.

  She swayed a bit with the hat balanced precariously on top of her hair.

  "Well, that made me a tad dizzy. I guess I'm a bit rusty." Her eyes focused as she was trying to find her footing. She got closer to Maria and steadied herself with one hand against her trunk. She avoided touching Maria's upper body as if she knew without looking that the tree next to her wasn't a tree at all, but a Dryad.

  "Maria! What are you doing here, old girl?" The woman asked looking up to face Maria.

  Phatostai's arms fell down to his sides and the bubble burst.

  "Ugh, it is ya again? Why can't the training be given by another god or goddess?" Maria asked.

  "Woman let go of my trunk or I will squash ya."

  My mouth dropped open and I think my eyes were about to pop out. Maria never got angry, as in never ever ever.

  "Everything all right Maria?" Cyriel asked.

  "Of course everything is all right, just getting reacquainted, aren't we? And who might you be?" The woman asked.

  "I'm Cyriel." He puffed out his chest.

  "And who are you handsome?" She went closer to Phatostai who seemed to have lost his tongue, I crossed my arms. Come on Phato, stop drooling and answer the stupid woman.

  "I-I-I am Pha-Pha-Phatostai, Milady." I rolled my eyes. I mean seriously, Milady?

  And yes, he did the bow and hand kissing thing.

  "What delightful manners, for one so young. And it is goddess, not Milady, dear boy." Patting his hand, she turned from him towards 'us'.

  "How did you get here my lovely?" She smiled and her eyes lit up, and the boy next to me blushed. I face-palmed myself. Boys!

  He neighed a happy greeting and pushed his head into her hand. She caressed his nose, and then all of a sudden her eyes grew wide.

  "Now, now, now, what do we have here? Another trainee? How is that even possible?" She mumbled to herself, all the while coming closer to my body.

  "Phatostai, snap out of it! Wake up and protect my body from this-this-whatever!" I was waving my arms at him. But both the boy -who got another elbow to his side- and Phatostai were spellbound. They did not react to anything. Even Cyriel was quiet.

  "Maria dear, anything to say? Who of these two are you assisting?"

  "The goddess on the floor." Maria sighed in defeat. She knew this was not good, I heard it in her voice.

  "Young Lady, it is not proper to not get up in the presence of a goddess. Where are your manners?" She tapped my head with one black painted fingernail and stepped away when my body didn't move.

  "Why is she not moving?" She was mumbling to herself again. When she stuck out her foot as if to poke my body from afar, Maria took it upon herself to explain.

  "She is stuck in the head of the unicorn."

  "Say what now?" The goddess stood still as a statue, with her head cocked to the side.

  Then she added in wonder, "Indeed she is. How wonderful having two such powerful gods on my island. This is just delightful!" She was clapping her hands as if she just got a gift from Zeus himself; this woman was a nutcase. Who was she anyway?

  "So Maria, how come I know you but not this goddess?" Hecate asked.

  "Phatostai, I know. His father is the god Hephaestus. I have been notified of his arrival, but this one was not announced."

  "Use your scrying glass to find out the answer yourself!" Crossing her arms, Maria looked smug.

  "You know well enough that bitch of a Nayad doesn't want me to take water from her pond, I need it to scry." Tapping her lips, she looked around. Suddenly, a devious smile came over her face.

  "Let's play a game, shall we? Do you like to play games little one?" She petted Sparky, who pushed his nose into her hand again. I slapped the boy next to me on the back of the head; this only got him to go closer to Hecate when she caressed him. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, waiting for her to continue.

  "Since the last time Maria was here, she accompanied the lovely goddess Physis, so I am thinking this is her daughter. True or false?" She looked the unicorn deep into the eyes. The boy looked to me for the answer, I raised my eyebrow. He seriously thought I would answer her. I smirked when he looked at Hecate again and neighed sadly.

  "I guess she is not answering; that would have been too easy anyway."

  Her gaze went over all of us until it rested on Cyriel. I facepalmed myself again, at this rate, I’ll get a headache from all the facepalming!

  "Aren't you just gorgeous? Such strong and beautiful feathers. And the intelligence in your eyes is just begging me to ask you the question." Cyriel, vain as he was, puffed out his chest and showed off his feather. Maria groaned. This just earned a sneer from both Cyriel and the goddess.

  "Maria, you wouldn't even know beauty if it hit you in the face." Cyriel huffed out. This caused the goddess to gasp.

  "Well now, this just keeps on getting better and better! A beautiful and talking bird." She grinned. "And you are right, Maria would not know to appreciate your intelligence and beauty." Cyriel nodded in agreement.

  "I am guessing you know Maria and goddess Physis? She was beautiful when she was here, I wonder if after giving birth to this
one she still is."

  "Cyriel don't ..." Helplessly Maria and I watched the disaster unfold.

  ***

  19

  "Oh, she definitely still is beautiful, even though Panacea was no small babe. Asclepius told me, he did."

  "He still lives?" She wondered. "Of course, Artemis was always one with a golden heart. She managed to hide the lot of you quite well, I have to say!"

  "Now you know who she is, can you help her?" Phatostai shook whatever spell she had over him.

  "My dear Phatostai, I am the goddess of witchcraft, not of miracles. I need to get the details of the problem first."

  "You know she is in the head of the unicorn, what else do you need to know?" He asked.

  "Why?" She asked. "What do you mean, 'Why?'" Phatostai asked confused.

  "Why did she end up there? The how is something for later, the why is important to get her out." She explained all of this with the utmost patience.

  "She felt the pain of the unicorn when he was stuck with his horn into a tree, next we know, he is free from the tree and she is not in her body anymore."

  "And how are you communicating with the unicorn?" She asked next.

  "That would be through me." Very slowly Lottie came out of Maria's hair.

  "Okay, let's get this rescue party started." The weird woman rubs her hands together and smiles at the unicorn.

  "Sparky, can you let Panacea know I will try and communicate with her directly? Let Lottie know if she understands." The boy looks at me and I just nod.

  Lottie nods towards the Goddess, "She understands and she can hear you just as Sparky can."

  Nodding, Hecate closes her eyes and chants in a language I have never heard before. I can see everyone watching her with fascination. Maria, however, just rolls her eyes; I wonder why. Then Hecate points her open hands towards Sparky suddenly, making the unicorn jump back.

  "Hecate quit it, you are scaring the unicorn and the theatrics are overrated. I know you don't need all the incantations and hand movement." Maria was flapping her hands towards Hecate, making Cyriel laugh. I held my breath thinking the goddess would strike Maria down. Instead, she smiles and winks towards Phatostai, whom until now was staring at her with his mouth open. After this revelation, he crossed his arms.