Thanks guys!
Part FiveThere were reasons Cassandra had never wanted to be here and amidst the poking, prodding, and odd facial expressions they made her experience, the questions were also not a favorites of hers.
“Have you been under any vigorous exercise lately?”
“No,”
“Pregnant or nursing?”
“No . . .”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Could you be? Any chance at all?”
“No!”
“What has your diet been like lately?”
She paused and could only look at him for a moment and then finally shook her head slightly. “This is pointless . . . do you really have any idea what this could be? I’ve had these for weeks . . . months . . . is the food I eat really going to change anything?”
“Well, it might,” said the doctor slowly, apparently not accustomed to patients such as Cassandra. “Perhaps dairy . . . in your diet . . .”
“Alright,” responded Cassandra skeptically. “And tell me; can this kill me?”
“Well, no . . . at least, no one has ever died before . . .”
“And the lack of visions? Could it cause that?”
“Well, I’m not a . . . a . . . whatever you are, I wouldn’t know.” A long pause settled between them and then meekly, the doctor continued. “Perhaps you’re stressed?”
Cassandra could have screamed and in fact, she almost did. Instead, she bit her lip and looked back up as calm as she could. “On an average day, its no breakfast, perhaps Speedy Pita a couple times a week for lunch and if I’m feeling up to it, some sort of homemade meal for dinner, usually some kind of meat and a salad. Otherwise, it’s leftover night and everything tastes the same. I drink a lot of water and tea. That’s all I got for you, doc, now diagnose me.”
* * *
Outside, Lysandra waited on a hard chair, her tall form erect against the wall behind her as she leaned back and closed her eyes, taking in and spitting out the emotions of the public around her. Children’s terror of seeing the doctor, an old man’s certainty that he wasn’t going to live much longer, a young woman hoping to be an expectant mother . . . all of these filtered through the elder seer. For anyone else, the mass of emotions might have driven them insane, but Lysandra had spent over forty-five years training, learning, and accepting her empathy. Her mind was free to wander.
And wander it did, on thoughts of Cassandra. She hadn’t shown as much fear as she felt to her young friend and though she felt a sense of guilt by it, prayed that today’s appointment would find something wrong. If it was a medical problem, there was more of a chance it could be fixed, that was assuming that Cassandra’s visions had stopped in response to whatever was wrong with her body. The fact that Cassandra’s visions had ceased all together had not exactly sat well with Lysandra, and it made her fret all the more. It was a common thing for her to get close to all her students, but there had been always something different about Cassandra, something that Lysandra did not want to lose. A connection she was not willing to break.
Cassandra was not going to die.
Her head began to swim just then and she grew rigid to the familiar feeling of an oncoming vision. In the next instant, she felt as though her stock still body was being flung through the air and she saw Cassandra standing before the front door of Hercules’s home, pounding mercilessly on the door. She was trying to force the door open but had little luck. In vain, she ran around to a window on the other side and tried desperately to look in, but it was far to dark to see. Frantic now, she started pounding on the glass, finally breaking it and tearing up the skin on her hands in the process.
But she was in now, and the place was dark and forbidding. A murderous air hung about the place and Cassandra was obviously nervous, but she kept going anyway. It was hard to see inside, with everything so dark but Cassandra determinedly set one foot in front of the other.
A scream echoed from the other room, but it was not a scream of fear or terror. Rather, it was one of high strung anger and anxiety. Cassandra reacted quickly and sped towards a dimly lit room, her voice booming loudly, though Lysandra could not hear what was said. Someone had Meg pinned up against the wall, a knife to her throat. Where was Hercules? The attacker had froze, his head half turned towards Cassandra who now stood with a pot in hand, perhaps the only weapon she could find. Meg took her chance, supporting herself against the wall and kicking her attacker back. Whoever it was fell to the ground but in an instant, caught themselves and again took charge towards Meg who quickly sidestepped, though her wrist was caught by a rough, tattooed hand. Cassandra lunged with an irritable cry, raising the pot with every intention of bringing down a death blow . . .
But the attacker swung around at the last moment, throwing his force against Cassandra, knocking her down. The pot flew from her hand and she fought back in vain. She turned to try and see Meg, desperate for any help . . . but Meg was lying on the floor, unmoving. Cassandra screamed at her attacker but her struggle was useless, he was stronger, so much stronger than her. She could do nothing, nothing but surrender . . . if only she could see the face . . . but Cassandra’s body went limp and her eyes drifted shut, her breathing cut short.
Lysandra jerked out of her vision, drawing in a sharp breath. Her eyes came open suddenly, blinded by a heavy amount of light. As her eye sight came clearer to her, she nodded curtly to the people looking curiously around her. A sickening dread filled up inside her as she realized what it was she had Seen . . . Cassandra
had been murdered, and she wasn’t the only one.
As soon as Cassandra appeared around the corner, Lysandra was on her instantly, dragging her to the door.
“It isn’t the headaches that are going to kill you,”
“Great,
now you have another vision . . . I’m pregnant by the way,”
Lysandra fumbled to a stop, her face creating what Cassandra might describe as the world’s best dying fish impression. “You’re . . . you mean . . . really?”
Cassandra laughed, if a little sardonically. “No not really, I just had to see your reaction . . . what do you think Herc would do if I told him that?”
“How was the rest of your visit?” prompted Lysandra, obviously not in the mood for jest.
“I gave him an overview on my diet and got lectured on the things I don’t eat and should stay away from.” Cass shrugged. “Kind of a pointless visit really. So, your vision?”
They climbed into the chariot, Lysandra hesitating noticeably. Cassandra stepped in front of the reins and looked up to Lysandra quizzically.
“Don’t beat around the bush. Tell me,”
Lysandra sighed, gazing down at her sympathetically. What if her telling Cassandra was what killed her in the end? She couldn’t live with that, but then, she was probably supposed to tell her, considering she got a vision about it. It wasn’t dark yet, which meant the vision couldn’t take place until an hour or more had gone by. Perhaps, it could be prevented.
“Lysandra?”
“Grab the reins. Go to Hercules’s home, I’ll explain on the way.”
* * *
“What is it with death suddenly being a popular theme?”
After the vision had been explained, Cassandra sent them into full speed, sending both horse and chariot down a dangerous journey through the packed streets of the city, nearly hitting a variety of innocent bystanders. Cassandra’s mind set was now firm on her destination and Lysandra had no choice but to cling desperately to the side of the speeding chariot.
And how they made it to the gate still alive, Lysandra had never really figured out. But there came a new obstacle . . .
“I can’t let you two enter,” said the guard of the gate.
Cassandra was having none of it. “Listen, I was his best friend all through school, I’m a seer! Cassandra; come on, you have to let us through!”
“I’m sorry miss, but do you know how many young women tell me that a day?”
Cassandra grabbed the guard by his front, jerking him down. “Listen, unless you let me in, Greece’s living legend might just die from heart break tonight, so if you would
kindly let us through,”
“Cass?”
She turned to see Hercules coming towards the gate with Pegasus following. She heaved a sigh of relief and let the guard go, who stumbled back.
“Herc! I need I to talk to you, now.”
“Yeah, I uh . . . heard you explain things . . .” he opened the gate and let her through, offering a smile to Lysandra who came closely after. “Come on, let’s go up to the house.”
They were all positioned at the table, Meg joining them as soon as the door had opened.
“I don’t know where Hercules was,” Lysandra stated after she finished explaining her vision, and then pointed to Cassandra and Meg. “But neither one of you were alive.”
A cold chill went around the room and Meg’s hand clasped Hercules’s arm tightly. A cold look overtook his face and pulled Meg closer to him, looking out the window almost expectantly.
“I was planning on checking on Phil. He said that there was something on the island, destroying all of his things and . . . well, the island in general.” Hercules said slowly. “I promised I would come check it out.”
“You have to stay here,” Cassandra firmly told him, half rising from her seat. “Send a barge after him or something but you will not go on that island!”
All seemed surprised at the tone in Cassandra’s voice and after a moment, she calmed down slightly and slunk back into the chair, resting her head in her hands. “And if you do go, then at least get Meg out of here. She can stay with me.”
Herc looked torn and for the moment, could only grasp Meg’s hand. The thought of her dying was obviously a slap in the face for him but likewise, he couldn’t abandon Phil, but he wasn’t going to leave her here. He felt bad as well, just sending her with Cass . . . what if she thought he didn’t care enough about her to . . .
“Hercules, I’m sure Meg wouldn’t be offended if you left to go get Phil. As long as she isn’t here, I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Lysandra said to him softly.
“Don’t worry Herc,” Meg nudged him gently. “I’m a big tough girl, remember? I’ll be alright with Cass for a while,”
Before anyone else could comment however, Cassandra’s head burst with pain and she dug her fingers into her temple, letting out a low growl of pain. She cursed loudly and Lysandra rushed to her aid, rubbing her head gently. Hercules was on his feet, Meg following after.
“What’s wrong?” Herc asked, fearful of what he was seeing.
“It’s her headaches, isn’t it?” Meg said knowingly, ignoring the confused look that Hercules gave her. “I knew something was wrong that night,”
“Come on,” Lysandra urged Cass to stand. “We need to get her home.”
Cassandra seemed barely able to hold herself, barely able to focus. Herc helped restrain her from clawing her face, not matter how much she spat and cursed at him, and Meg followed after quietly, a thoughtful look on her face.
Something wasn’t right here and her gut feeling told her that she just might know who was behind it. But what would Hades want with a seer’s vision? She wasn’t going to bring this up now though.
Right now, they just had to focus on getting someplace safe.