The Argo Goes West

20, Dorothy meets Pan, part 2

Giles suprised and widened his eyes to Dorothy's loud voice.

"I'm sorry..." Dorothy apologized.

"No, don't worry about it. ...but I'm in trouble."

"What?"

"It's my job to surprise. But you surprised me... can you keep it a secret from everyone? "

She didn't know who he was referring to as "everyone", but she replied, "Of course," and held out her hand.

"What?"

"Let's shake hands"

The two shook hands firmly.

Dorothy felt the touch of Giles' palm. A university professor said that people who lie or cheat have sweaty palms. She doesn't know if Giles is human, but his palms are dry. It seems that he is not lying. However, she did not easily accept the existence of Pan. Dorothy calmly examined Giles from head to toe.

She asked in rapid succession whether his feet, horns and eaers were real, whether they had been like this since he was born.

"Yes."

She also examined his horns hairline and tugged at it with her hand. They weren't artificial. It could be a malformation, but it was unlikely that it would look exactly like Pan, including other parts. Ultimately, Dorothy was forced to admit that just as harpies are real, so are Pans. Dorothy, as a rookie newspaper reporter, decides to find out what kind of creature Pan is. She pulled a notebook and pen out of her pocket and asked Giles a question.

"Where were you born?"

"Arcadia."

"Where in America?"

"Where is America?"

"Here."

"I did not know"

"Where did you learn English?"

"English?"

"The Language We Use Now"

"Is this English?"

"You speak Greek because you are a creature from Greek mythology, right?"

"What is Greek? I just speak naturally."

"But the language you speak sounds like English to me."

"It sounds to me like you speak the same language as us."

"Hmm..." thought Dorothy. Giles said. "Is it so important what language I speak? 　Isn't it fine because we can understand each other?"

Dorothy was skeptical, but agreed with Giles and changed the question.

"How old are you?"

"I don't know."

"When were you born? Did you see dinosaurs?"

"Dinosaur?"

"The big lizard."

"You're talking about dragons. Then there was. There were also hydra and python."

Until then, Dorothy had never thought about which era in the history of the earth, not only in Greek mythology, but also in mythological era. Dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Cambrian periods, but she had never heard of any news about fossils of mythical creatures being unearthed in strata from that period.

"Tell me about your family? Do you have parents?"

"Yes, my father is Zeus, my mother is a nymph."

"Is Zeus the greatest god in Greek mythology?"

"Yes."

Dorothy was thrilled to hear the name of a big name she had never expected. Staring into Giles' eyes,

"Can I meet with Zeus?" she asked.

"No," Giles shook his head.

"Why?" Dorothy rushed up to him.

"Because I've never met you."

"Even though you're my father?"

"Yes."

"Is there some way I can meet him?"

"If you speak ill, you may meet."

"OK." Dorothy tried to say that Zeus was a bad father.

Giles panicked and stopped.

"No, don't tell him. You'll be charred by lightning before you see him!"