Calliope - In The Arms Of Morpheus

Chapter 3

"We, who come among the mortals as far-" Calliope's sister Thalia declaimed with wild, clumsy gestures.
"Stop!" Thalia's twin Melepomene grabbed her arm to stop it from hitting her face. "Really? Among the mortals?" Melepomene said across the barrier of her twin's chubby elbow, "come on, you need to chose stronger words, it's 'among the dead', at least!" She let go and turned to Calliope. "What do you think?"
That she should not yell at everyone, as not to disturb their sister Terpsichore, who was practicing her lyre a few feet away.
Calliope pinned her bronze barrette back into her brown curls and looked up from the boulder she sat on. Her twin siblings were always bickering. Usually, the oldest of the nine sister-muses, Polihymnia, would be their judge. But today, Poli sat further away, on her three legged stool in the shade, her hands folded in her lap, her white veiled face staring in to the distance across the glittering banks of the Hippocrene.
"Calliope? You dreaming, again?" Melepomene reminded her.
Maybe. She drew a few meanders with her big toe into the soft sand. Calliope missed the scroll she was currently reading, which Poli had forbidden her to bring to the water. She sighed and leaned back, and let the golden rays of the afternoon sun warm her skin and listened to the song of the crickets.
A few feet away, Melepomene crossed her arms and looked at a raven landing on a nearby tree.
"What about this?" Thalia uncrossed her arms, struck a pose and declaimed, "We, who come among the dead as far, as to the very Goddess, nine girls, maidens, lovely in our dancing..." With her sister, waving her arms in what she must think were dramatic gestures, she looked rather funny with her lopsided wreath of ivy.
Terpsichore's rhythmic music floated around them, inspiring Thalia's next verse. Calliope unfastened her sandals, and dangled her feet, dipping her feet in the refreshing water. Maybe a bath would be nice and distract her from missing her reading time.
Melepomene sat beside Calliope, pushing her mask onto her hair and propped up her cothurned feet, on a smaller boulder. "How was attendance duty with Erato at the temple last night?"
This was not an innocent question at all, given that Calliope knew Melepomene wanted her to mingle with mortals. Calliope hated to be stared at, as if she was fresh meat.
"I heard Marcus, Palladius, and Acheloos came by." Melepomene said.
Ugh, they did, and none of then looked into Calliope's face, when handing over their sacrifices to her breasts.
"Yes." Calliope sighed. "And Idios came too." She could barely keep him from licking her feet.
Melepomne, grabbed her hand. "Have you seen the new one already?"
She slid closer, wile Thaila still declaimed, with grand gestures. "... lovely in our dancing,
in bright loveliness of folded, woven-work, with fine-sawn necklaces..."
"The new one?" Calliope asked.
"Yes," Melepomene sounded weirdly excited, "they say Epithymiae moved here from Athens, for the better climate. Terpsichore told me, he must be unimaginably rich, and Erato said he is quite a looker."
This entire conversation was not like Melepomene. Who had told her to come talk to Calliope? "Are you looking for a husband, Mele?"
"Oh gods, no!" She sighed dramatically, "but you may look for a man."
A shiver crossed Calliope's skin. She was the baby sister, the one, who's privacy was everybody's business. For quite some time, her sisters seemed to try to pick her suitor. Sure, she was already eighteen, practically an old crone. But so far, the pimply town boys with their battered flower bouquets and the cheesy pick up lines were disgusting her. Calliope was perfectly fine on her own, reading in the temple, inventing impossible things, dreaming of mighty ancient beings.
"No. No man for me. I'd rather concentrate on becoming the best Muse. Also, I have to prepare for my inauguration."
In the shade of the pine trees of the sacred grove, Thalia declaimed against the background of Terpsichore's strumming, "...fine-sawn necklaces, of ivory, shine, brilliant, to the living eye in the daylight."
"- dead eye! Forgotten daylight!" Melepomene screamed at her twin.
"..fine-sawn necklaces, of ivory, shine, brilliant to the dead eye as forgotten daylight. - This is sooooo sad!" Thalia's over-dramatically crunched face made Calliope giggle.
Melepomene wrinkled her nose and rose. "As it should be. We need dramatic effect!"
"Poli!" Melepomene yelled over her shoulder, "Tell Calliope, she needs to find a man. She won't listen to me." She turned back to Calliope. "I'll ask Erato to make Epithymae come and visit you at the temple. At least he can make you beautiful presents, and is not a sore in the eye."
When would she ever be free of her sister's meddling in her affairs.
"Calliope. Come." Polihymnia's voice sounded in her head.
Calliope stood and walked over then to her oldest sister, the soft sand caressing her feet, the mixture of salt from oceano and pine from the woods too common, she barely noticed it. In the distance, the raven croaked and spread its wings, taking flight into the depth of the wide sky.
How she wished she was free from all this, the temple duty, her bickering sisters, the pressure to become a good Muse. She just wanted to dream and read, talk to people and learn more about what they were working on, see the world and its people. She did not care about the pomp of the temple, the sacrifice giving, the supplicant picking, and the way she had seen her sisters 'inspire' men.
"Come. Sit." Polihymnia indicated a spot in the sand, beneath her white cloaked figure.
In a way, she was Calliope's favorite sister. She listened. She knew things. She was the wisest.
"You know that you may need to pick a man one day, do you? It is better to choose one, before they make you a goddess."
Calliope nodded. She had watched Erato secretly. She was the easiest to sneak up to, to see what the temple business was all about.
"And you need all the experience you can get, before you start counseling people."
Polihymnia folded her hands in her lap, and lifted her white veiled chin.
"I know. They just... they are so... vile..."
Polihymnia nodded.
"Maybe I'll take a look at this Epi guy." Calliope gave in and leaned against Polihymnia's knee.
Poli's hand touched her hair, and slowly caressed her curls. "Maybe you should."
They watched the twins bicker about how Thalia was for 'the bright eye' and Melepomene for 'the dead eye' for a more dramatic effect.
"Please promise me one thing, Calliope."
Calliope looked up at her sister, more feeling than seeing the seriousness in her veiled face.
"Promise me to pick a mortal man."
"Why?"
"There are things going on in the immortal world. Things beyond our control. Dangerous things. When I visited the oracle of Delphi, last week, they warned me."
"It'll be okay. You know that I can take care of myself."
Polihymnia shook her head. "No. It's too dangerous. Please promise me you'll only meet mortal men."
She'd rather meet no man at all, so that was an easy promise to keep. "I promise."
"Good."
Calliope rested her head back against Polihymnia's knee. "What did the Hecate tell you in Delphi?"
"They told me to beware of the Endless."
Polihymnia shifted her weight and inhaled. Her way of indicating that the subject was over. "Now go and take you bath. Leave your clothes with me. Bathe near the boulders, we will have a visitor shortly."
Calliope's oldest sister Polihymnia knew things, minutes before they happened.

(Hardcore Fans: ready for another Dream and Death in the park moment? Okay, it's not a park but an ancient Greek stream but.... vote and find out what this is all bout.)