Quest of the Half Gods

Chapter 11: Γαλάτεια

"Rachel, hey! You're hurting me!" Galatea said in confusion as Rachel pulled her through the forest. The seer paced and wrung her hands. "The seer must die! The seer must die!" Teia recognized the phrase as a line from the prophecy and shook her head, "Rachel what's going on? Talk to me in full sentences please!"

 Rachel looked up wildly, "Delphi must be passed on to the next host for this quest to continue! It's the only way!" Galatea raised her hands, "Whoah, Rachel, in order for Delphi to pass, you have to die! Apollo told me that years ago! There is no 'way,' I don't know what you're talking about."

She began pacing again, her eyes flashing green and back to normal as she walked. "I have to do it," Her voice changed to a much older voice as her eyes turned green and she rasped, "You have to pass on the spirit of Delphi to the girl or the quest will fail." Rachel shook her head, "But I can't! Her mind is not prepared! She isn't meant to be the next pythia!" "She is blessed by the python slayer! Her mind will not wither but the physical consequences of this could be painful. No matter! What must be done must be done!" "What must be done...must be done."

Suddenly, it hit Galatea what Rachel was insinuating as she conversed with Delphi and a wave of nausea hit her like a train. Everything inside of her was telling her to run and get help, and thankfully, her body obeyed. "Rachel, this is crazy, like this is actually insane. I'm going to get Apollo, hold on!" She turned to run when an ice-cold hand latched onto her wrist and held her in place. Rachel's eyes glowed sickly green as she stared directly into Galatea's terrified eyes. "The seer must die." 

Teia struggled against the grip of Delphi, but the spirit was too strong. Green smoke poured from Rachel's eyes as she began to speak in the distorted tone of the oracle.

"Shattered fragments of prophecy foretold,

sealed in the mind of a friend of old,

shall speak forth from a mind unprepared,

bringing warnings for friends to beware.

The seer's greatest sacrifice

shall curse the pythia with the mother's price."

Galatea fought desperately to free herself as Rachel reached into her back pocket with her free hand and pulled out the hilt of what looked like a ceremonial dagger, though there was no blade. "The seer must die." She repeated one more time and stabbed herself with the nonexistent blade until the hilt touched her skin. When she pulled it away, the thick green fog made up where the blade should be and arranged itself into a point. Rachel grit her teeth and stepped forward, stabbing the blade into Galatea's side, though it left no mark. 

Teia cried out in agony and horror as she watched a blissful expression cross Rachel's face before the former seer fell to the ground, dead. Galatea fell to one knee and checked her side for blood, seeing none. Once the pain subsided, she ran to find Apollo and Chiron. 

The pair stood on the hill, in conversation when Teia burst through the tree line and paused, gasping in pain and grief. Chiron looked at her in alarm, "Where's Rachel? We heard shouting." Teia rasped, "She- she kept going on about how the seer must die and Delphi kept possessing her then she stabbed herself with this blade, and then she just- she just died!" Chiron closed his eyes as grief settled over his face. "I knew this would happen." Apollo turned to Chiron, a look of shock and betrayal on his face, "You knew? How could you? You could've stopped this from happening!" Chiron shook his head, "It was in your prophecy Apollo, you should've seen this coming too!" Apollo stared at him clearly at a loss for words. "More of your prophecy has come true! You two have to go right now." The centaur pushed the questers over the boundary and they watched as he galloped to the woods where Rachel had given her final prophecy.

Teia turned away from the camp and looked at the vast world in front of them. They had no idea where to go, they had no plan, and they didn't know what was even killing the gods. Apollo sat with his back to the camp, crying into his hands. Galatea stood, listening, the only sound was Apollo's mournful sobs when suddenly they stopped. "Where did the spirit go?" Teia turned around to see his red eyes looking up at her. "What?" He closed his eyes, "When the oracle dies, the spirit goes into someone else. So I'm asking you, where did it go?" "I- I don't know." She turned and looked back at the camp before she froze. "Apollo." "What." He snapped. "The camp, I can't see it. It's like it's gone." The poet frowned and stood, turning to face where she was looking. Indeed, the camp was gone, and instead, all that they saw was a single pine tree next to them, and below was a large, grass-filled field with a dilapidated fence. Teia stepped forward and crossed the pine tree barrier, expecting the camp to be revealed, with no such luck. "They've sealed us off," Apollo said miserably. Teia nodded, "We have no choice, we have to go now." "It's up to us now," Apollo said with fake enthusiasm. "Yippee."