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“Perhaps not, or perhaps I mean exactly what I say, child.” I thought on this for a moment, not knowing what to say. As it stood, the Oracle had a lot left to say.
“Your mother once had a choice. A journey she chose to make and one that undoubtably changed the course of the future, for not only one realm, but for many unseen. I believe now the Fates are putting that same weight upon your shoulders, my dear.”
“That’s not very reassuring,” I muttered, making her smirk.
“Yes, and like your mother, you can also choose to walk away. You can choose to let the souls of Wraiths spend an eternity locked to the curse of their king and you can be your Vampire’s Queen and live your life in peace… it is your choice,” she told me, making me shake my head and say,
“Well, I can’t do that.” At this she grinned and said,
“I didn’t think so… but in case you change your mind, know this, if you choose that peaceful life, that will be another path the Fates did not account for and therefore it will affect many branches from that journey onwards.” Again, this wasn’t reassuring in the slightest, but I understood it all the same, which was why I replied,
“I understand, you're saying that I will be affecting the Fates of others,” I said, making her nod, before tapping her fingers on the twisted knot of the stick that looked as if it was missing something inside its rooted cage.
“We are all connected one way or another, and your journey where it may be your end, for others it is just the beginning, but that journey cannot start without the completion of your own.” This is when I finally got it, or more to the point, why I was here at all.
“I'm connected to the Elemental realm?” At this her grin grew even bigger.
“You are clever indeed, my girl, but yes, there was a reason that you were led here in the beginning. For if that gate had never opened and you hadn’t been pushed in, finding yourself in these lands, then you would have never been tied to the Wraiths, and in turn, an important branch that leads to this realm would not have been made for another Chosen One to walk its path.” I thought on this and frowned, as I had to say the weight on my shoulders seemed to be growing by the minute.
“Are you saying that by coming here, I've changed the prophecy in the Elemental realms?”
“I'm saying you pulled on a different thread and now you've got to decide whether to leave it be, leaving us to our own Fate, or to keep pulling, and lead us to where it was perhaps always Fated to be.” I swallowed hard, refraining from making jokes or asking how she got the job of being cryptic for a living.
“I know what I must do,” I said instead.
“Then I will give you this, for it will aid you on your journey, an important key, and one I believe you have been searching for…” She said before pulling a rolled-up piece of scroll from her long sleeves.
“Is this really what I think it is?” I asked in awe, as I started to unroll it.
“I now know that it was always Fated to be left in our hands.”
“This is Aristeas’s lost poem… here is his name,” I uttered before I started reading it and making sense of the old text.
“It speaks of a stone tablet, one now broken after the fall of Hyperborea, one with three languages known to mortal man and one of a hidden land, now lost to the madness of its king… But three languages, that must be… Gods, it’s the Rosetta stone, he speaks of the Rosetta stone!” I shouted, getting excited and making the old lady smile.
“Then it is a thread worth pulling?”
“Yes, but the language is obviously on the missing piece but I… well, nobody knows where the missing piece is,” I told her, making her suggest,
“Then maybe you have to work backwards through time.”
“Time…time is the key,”I said before looking back at the door that led to the Janus Temple.
“The past, the key is in the past,” I said again, and she bowed her head for she didn't need to say it for me to figure out myself.
“Then I know where I have to go.”
“I believe you do, but know this, child, the past can be a dangerous place, for those you love today may not be there as you know them in the yester year.” I knew she was talking about Lucius and the thought made me shudder, because the biggest flaw in this plan was my Husband. Someone who would never let me do something this dangerous and crazy.
“I understand. But I need to know, what of the prophecy of this realm, how will I know what I'm looking for in order to help you?” At this she rose from her seat and came over to stand next to mine. Then she patted my shoulder and told me,
“You will know, for those that choose to walk the path of destiny never miss the guiding light…”
“Illuminating their way.”
27
A NEW PATH
