[Whispers this is a drabble of Din becoming the Oracle. Under the cut for potential length and also unpleasantness.
It was unpleasant at first--spending her birthday sick in bed was never fun, but spending her thirteenth birthday in bed? If it wasn't her brother sneaking her a cupcake it would have been a terrible birthday.
Although the cupcake hadn't made it much better, with the terrible headache that felt like something was trying to claw its way out of her head. It was the third day in a row she'd asked to be excused from class and the priestess who taught them was beyond annoyed to the point where a few hushed slurs drifted down to Helena's ears. She gritted her teeth and ignored it-- had her brother been around they wouldn't have dared.
She stared up at the bed, eyes streaming as she tried to weather out the headache. Why did this have to happen to her? All it did was make the priestesses angry at her for missing class and chores. She didn't want them to be angry at her, it made her life so much harder.
She sniffed loudly, glad that none of the other girls were in the room. It had felt dramatic, but the girl felt like her head could split open at any second.
Please let my headache go away, please Goddesses. I'll do anything--I'll never miss another class again. I won't swear, I won't talk loudly during mass. Please just anything to make it stop.
Praying had done little for her, other than make her cry harder. Did the Goddesses even hear the prayers of people like her? She sniffed and wiped at her face.
She blinked away tears and tried again, just in case. With so many people praying, maybe if she kept on it one might be heard.
I'll never waste food again. She began praying, holding the sides of her painful head. I won't spit at any of the other girls, even if they deserve it.
Her head felt a little better, but she had to wonder if she was just imagining it.
I hear you, my child. Do you wish to listen to me?
She startled so hard the bed squeaked in response as she bolted upright. She narrowed her eyes as she looked around the room, finding it empty still.Ā
"Yes?" She asked the empty room quietly. There was no one there, but who was the voice? It had been so loud and clear.
There will be so much for you to do, my dear little oracle, and it will be difficult.
She stared wide eyed into space, knowing that there was no one in the room, the voice came from seemingly everywhere--or...
She grasped her head, which felt lighter in a way. "What?" She asked the empty room. Oracle? No-- the Oracles were three girls the church had been waiting so long for. She'd watched her two friends rise to those roles--it had been sad to see them disappear from class, from the hall of orphans, but Helena had never for a second thought that she..that she..
"Are you sure?" She whispered, drawing her knees to her chest.
Laughter rang, seemingly all around her and inside her head. It made her blush and feel embarrassed.
I am sure, and for that I hope you forgive me. Confide in one of the members of church and take what is yours by birthright.
The headache ended, as did the voice, and Helena was left feeling empty and a little cold. She was the oracle..and now she had to tell someone. She looked again at the empty room. It was required to report such a thing, she knew that. She remembered when her friends had left after it being reported, and look where they were now- far better than the hall of orphans.
She kicked the covers off of her and slipped her feet into her pair of shoes sitting by her bed. She'd tell sister Erin--the woman had always been kind to her. She haphazardly remade her bed before setting off down the hall. She'd no doubt be with the younger children--the ones too young for classes.
Helena was right of course, and the priestess gave her a warm smile.
"Happy birthday, Helena. Are you feeling better?" She asked, holding an infant.
"Yes, and I was wondering if I could maybe tell you something." She whispered, even thought it seemed a little needless. Who was going to overhear her, infants?
"What is it dear?" She asked, rocking the infant in her arms.
Helena stood for a second, thinking. The conversation she'd had was short and not very helpful, but when she tried to think of it it seemed as information that wasn't there before was whispered into her ear. Who the voice was, what she herself was, what she had to do. It was all planted there like a seed.
"I'm the Oracle of Seasons." She said, saying "I think" quickly afterwards. The priestess lost all color in her face as she stared blankly.
"Helena-- do you know what you're saying? Do you even hear yourself? Do you know what you're saying?" She said, putting the infant in a crib as she repeated herself.
"She-she spoke to me. I think that's why I've been sick, she was trying to-" Din tried to explain before she was cut off.
"You have to stop, if you keep this up, I'll have to report it, and you--and you-- tell me this isn't true, you have to tell me right now you've made it all up." She hissed, grabbing Helena by the shoulders.
Which frankly shocked the teenager into stammering. "A-aren't we supposed to tell someone if it happens? Isn't this a good thing?"
"No, no, no, no, no." Erin spoke, strained and fearful. "You don't understand what's going to happen to you if I do. Just--just go back to your room and don't tell anyone else." She pulled Helena into a hug for a few moments before a female voice called from behind them.
"Don't tell anyone else about what, Sister?" A low female voice called, and if Erin didn't look sick before, she did now.
The Voice stood at the entrance, a guard on each side. She smiled serenely, watching them. Helena felt her eyes bug out--it had been the first time she'd see the woman up close, and intimidating would have been too soft a word for how she felt.
Erin had been shocked in silence, even as the Voice walked to them. She raised a hand, which caused Helena to involuntarily flinch. The Voice frowned slightly as she stroked her hair.
"I dreamed you awakened, my 'little sister'." She spoke sweetly. "Did sister Erin hope to keep you a secret from me?" She asked, giving a harsh glance over to the woman who had backed away.
And then the Voices' attention was completely on Helena. "Now, tell me what you told the sister." She said, continuing to stroke her hair.
"Oh, I-I think I'm the Oracle. Of seasons. To Din, I mean. She spoke to me." She said, slightly put off by the affection the Voice was placing on her. Adults touching her, that didn't involve a ruler of some sort, was completely unheard of.
"You think? Don't be afraid to stand by what you say." The Voice scolded slightly.
Sister Erin had to cover her mouth to keep from saying anything, and Helena still couldn't understand why the woman was so against her saying what she'd just experienced.
"I am the Oracle of Seasons." Helena said, straightening up and attempting to speak with confidence.
"While I believe you--I truly do--it is church law that we have to test you first. Do you understand?" The Voice said softly, taking her hand away from Helena. "We simply cannot announce you without solid proof."
Erin let out a shriek that her hands could not completely muffle, and the Voice looked annoyed for a moment before going back to that serene facade. "Vanora, I think the sister is sick, perhaps you should escort her to the infirmary?" She spoke coldly, and the captain of the guard stepped forward, grabbing the womans' arm and nearly dragging her out of the room. "And please, send Sister Josephine to look after the children here." Vanora nodded before disappearing out of the room.
"Do you understand that we must test you?" The Voice asked, putting an arm around Helena's shoulders and leading her from the room. "It's very special, it will test your very bond with the Goddess Din. There is a maze underneath the church, and somewhere in it is the Rod of Seasons-- your artifact. If you retrieve it, no one could possibly dispute your right."
Truthfully, it was the first time Helena had heard of a maze, or the Rod of Seasons. And the way sister Erin had reacted and been treated for it had made it feel like a block of ice was in her stomach. "I think I understand."
"Good, I'm so glad." She said as she continued to lead Helena further into the church. "I'm sure, if you're worthy, you'll be just fine." The Voice assured her as they approached a large door.
The guards at the door gave a stony glance at the group and opened the door, inky blackness on the other side. The Voice gently pushed her forward, and Helena dug her feet in the ground. "I have to go in there? Do I get a lantern?" She asked, turning to the Voice. "Can't I talk to my brother first?"
"No." The Voice said, her voice turning cold. "Claiming to be an Oracle is a very serious occurrence, and all those claiming such a thing must be tested. Your faith will act as your torch, I'm sure. Goodbye, little one." She said, glancing at a guard.
Both door guards grabbed her by the arms, tossing the slight girl into the darkness. There were only a few seconds of light before the door was shut and locked behind her.
She yelled and yelled at the closed door, pounding her fists into it. She had never been afraid of the dark--she had thought herself brave through most of her childhood. She wasn't afraid of bugs, or mice, or using the toilet in the middle of the night, but this was an entirely different level of fear.
It was clear they weren't going to let her out, not without finding the Rod of Seasons. It was only a maze, wasn't it? A dark one, but nothing bad. Why would there be anything bad below the church?
She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and starting to walk. She would find a way out, somehow.
Five days passed from the time she was thrown into the dungeon to when she emerged out of the side. She had been delirious, bloody, half starved and dehydrated when she stumbled out, scaring the daylights out of the guard who had been posted there 'in case' she survived.Ā
The dungeon had been filled with monsters, and if it wasn't for the most basic of fire spells she had copied from her brother she wouldn't have made it past the first night. The guard had carried her to the infirmary before notifying the Voice--although Helena was in no position to accept any praise.
She had slept for two days afterwards, only waking up to drink. She slept through her side being stitched up, through her brothers' frequent visits.
She slept through the Voice trying twice to take the Rod of Seasons out of her hand, but the girl gripped it like her life depended on it, which for nearly three days it did.
When she finally came to and woke from her glassy eyed stupor she was presented with a fancy dress, and her own room. She was praised and coddled and fawned over before finally being presented to the King as the final Oracle they had all been waiting for.
If it was not for the disconnect she felt, she might have enjoyed the positive attention. But the bedroom was too big, and the King scared her a little and she had to have every lamp in her room on at all times for an entire year after her test.
But she had proven herself, nobody could dispute her right to claim the name Din. If anything, it was encouraged to abandon her birth name.
The Voice had cooed to her-- didn't Helena die in that dungeon? She was reborn anew as Din, and that was just the way things were going to be.
