An Ineffable History

Chapter Three: What's in a Name?

Athens, Greece, 6 BCE

Aziraphale, to put it plainly, was rather bored. Heaven had been silent for the past few months, and after the Library of Alexandria had been burned down some decades earlier, Aziraphale had found that his taste for the area had left him. Sure, there were little miracles that he did on a daily basis: calming screaming children so the mothers could get a rest, or making fruit bloom just a bit early so families could have something to eat, and those were always nice to do, but they were still minor things. He had decided, after a fair bit of deliberation, that he needed a change in venue. Aziraphale had heard about the city of Athens in Greece, and how it was growing to become one of the most intellectually brilliant cities in the Mediterranean. There had also been a few rumors about a new type of "religious experience" that had Aziraphale wondering what all the fuss was about.

He arrived in Athens after about a week of being stuck on a boat from Egypt, and found himself thrust in the beginning of a giant festival. There were people in the streets carrying vines and large jugs of some liquid or another. He watched as the crowd parted fearfully for a group of serious-looking young women in pale togas, each carrying a glittering pinecone on a stick. Some of them would tap jugs that people were carrying, and the people would nearly collapse thanking them. Aziraphale watched the festivities around him and could not help but feel like he was missing something important. He looked around at the people in the streets, there were merchants in carts selling bread and foods of various sorts. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped in surprise.

"Excuse me sir," a high voice said, Aziraphale turned around, and saw that it was a child carrying a large jug in his hands. "Can I offer you a drink?" The boy smiled, and Aziraphale could see bags underneath his eyes.

"No dear boy, I am quite alright." The boy visibly deflated. Aziraphale miracled a single gold coin into his hand. "I have just arrived here after a long time of traveling, if you could tell me what exactly is going on here, I will give you this in return." The smile was back on the boy's face and his eyes lit up.

"It's the festival of Dionysia!" the boy exclaimed, eagerly taking the coin from Aziraphale's hand. "The harvest just came in, so we have to celebrate and thank Dionysus for blessing our crops."

"Ah, well then. Off you go young one." The boy ran away towards a maze of buildings and huts in the city.

Aziraphale watched the humans from the sidelines for a bit. Officially, he had to disapprove of the whole "worshipping pagan gods" thing, but unofficially, he found that he was rather enjoying the festivities. These types of things reminded Aziraphale why he loved humanity: people just coming together to enjoy themselves not being good, not being bad, but simply being.

A young woman pushed her way through the crowd towards him. As she approached, he saw that it was one of the same young women who he had seen the crowd part for earlier. The pinecone on a stick was facing down now, and she looked far less serious than earlier.

"You look like just the person my friend has been talking about!" She giggled, a lopsided smile on her face.

"Excuse me?"

"My friend- um, αυτός που κουνιέται? Ολίσθημα? Something like that. You look exactly like how he described you. Bright hair and everything." Aziraphale had met many humans over the millennia, but it had never occurred to him that any might remember him as anything other than a passing face, let alone talk about him to strangers.

"Is your friend here? Right now?" Aziraphale had to admit he was curious about who she could be talking about. The woman looked embarrassed.

"No, I don't know where he is right now. But he'll be here tonight. For the party I mean." She paused, "You should come to the party tonight!" She exclaimed after a moment. "I'm sure he'd love to see you."