The night without stars
All were sleeping in Delphi but only the temple was awake. The Oracle of Delphi screamed, not from pain but from terror. Every flame within the temple all died at once. Priests who had spent their entire adult lives interpreting the will of Apollo stumbled back as the darkness swallowed the sanctuary. Outside, thunder rolled across the perfectly clear sky. Then the Oracle spoke, her voice no longer her perfect sweet pitch but a slightly gravely tone that sent shivers down the Priests spines. "When Olympus stands at the height of its glory, a daughter born beneath a starless sky shall walk where no mortals have ever walked before." The Priests froze. "By her hand, the thrones of Olympus shall empty." Another roll of thunder shook the temple walls, "The temples shall fall silent." Far above them, something cracked, "And the ages of the gods shall end." The torches flickered back to life like nothing had happened and the Oracle collapsed. For several heartbeats no one moved to help her. A Priest named Theron approached her and pressed two fingers under her nose. "She lives." No one dared to speak, their eyes turned towards the door of the temple, the sky was clear, but you could tell that the night sky was just a tad bit darker than it had been moments before. The stars were disappearing, not behind clouds. Not beneath a storm forming, they were just simply going out. One after another, until the heavens above Greece became completely black. Theron whispered the only words any of them would think to say. "Zeus preserve us." Thunder is all that answered him.
Hundreds of leagues away in a small village, too small to appear on any maps that the kings have, a woman gave birth to a daughter. The child's first cry echoed through a tiny stone house, her father held her while her mother struggled to remain conscious. "She is beautiful," he whispered to the air. Outside, villagers gathered in the road, they weren't celebrating. They were staring upward
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