The hybrid's destiny

*Olympus I*

Looking forward, I was staring at the replica of an ancient Greek temple if not the real thing.

I had to admit, no preparation could have prepared me for the scene in front of me.

Several young girls dressed in white and deep brown passed by me as if I was just another one of the various statuses decorating this vast building, I didn't pay them much heed as I figured out pretty much who they were if this was the real deal and not some movie scene set-up.

What my eyes were focused on, more of who, was the woman standing in front of what looked like an alter to me with arms flayed heaven wards, muttering incantations that seemed more of praises to me, with a long trail of young girls carrying a tray each which contained different types of dead animals on sliver platters.

I watched transfixed as the black skinned woman with designs drawn with chalk, dressed in a colorful African clothing, probably the only thing that didn't look to be from Greece sang heart full praises.

With weird dance steps to an unknown beat, she danced around the stone alter that had a round hole which I couldn't see clearly as I stood farther away from the alter than the trail of young girls.

As time went on I could feel it seeping through my paws, meeting my quivering bones, the presence of a supreme being.

The air grew more tense as the priestess continued with her dance and songs of praises.

It was then that I decided that the hunch I had since I stepped into this temple was right.

I had found Amara.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

After a few minutes of standing immobile staring at the ritual, I went to the closest stone pillar and leaned on it as I felt myself getting usually exhausted.

Shaking off my doubts, I placed the possible reason for my exhaustion on the spell I casted not too long ago.

Dragging my eyes off the alter, I looked around the temple and saw it was lighted by multiple candles. A candle holder with three branches stuck on each stone pillar. You could see the dark shadows behind each pillar as the light from the candle chased them far into the walls.

I was startled when I met Amara's gaze as she was standing directly in front of me, close enough, into my personal space.

"Mmmm...You have exactly her eyes" she stated as she inspected me as though I was an alien form laid out for dissection.

"Mmm!" She exclaimed snapping her head towards the alter she was at just seconds before, her eyes moved frantically as she looked at blank space as if she could see something I could not which she probably could.

"There's no time to waste child, you don't want to keep her waiting for much longer" she stated amid dragging my arm towards the alter she was just performing a ritual on.

I cautiously took my arm off her grasp.

"What do you mean? Who's waiting for me?" I asked standing still with my arms tucked under my breasts.

"Who did you come here to look for?" With a raised left brow as if my question was downright stupid.

Oh .. so I was wrong then, maybe she wasn't Amara.

I didn't bother answering this time around and followed her towards the alter, maybe there was a back stage door that you had to go through to get to her. Amara.

Without wasting more seconds I alighted the stone stairs and headed towards the looming shadow behind the stone pavement, bypassing the alter altogether.

The priestess I mistook for Amara earlier grabbed my arm before I could walk further away from the stone pavement.

"Where are you going? Our holy Mother, Gia, won't wait for much longer. You see time here and there aren't the same. We better set off now." She said and I looked at her trying to get what she said registered in my brain as it seemed unusually slow.

I had many questions to blurt out but I spat the most important one out and pursed my lips holding the rest in.

" Who is Gia?". She looked at me strangely for some time before she seemed to have realized something and frantically took my arm again while speaking.
" We don't have much time, and I have to fulfill my quest of leading you to our Mother earth before the door of Olympus closes." She grabbed a dagger from her clothing and slit my palm catching me off guard as my guards whom I had almost forgotten dashed towards the alter as my lifeline was officially threatened.

The priestess with the flick of her wrist put a barrier blocking them from advancing towards the alter.

I blinked in panic as I felt my self getting weaker by the minute as my wound healed after donating a few drops of blood that went into the hole in the middle of the stone pavement, it was full with water and looked more like a mini well.

While my guards were slamming against the barrier looking for a weak spot to break through, I glared at the priestess.

"What are you doing to me?" I asked my breath already coming out in big huffs. I looked behind her to see the young girls approaching one after the other and dumping their dead sacrifice into the well-like hole. As the water inside it bubbled, the initially transparent water turned darker with each sacrifice thrown at it. It almost seemed as though it devoured and melted the chunks of meat into a puddle as soon as contact was initiated.

"Where's Amara?" I asked as I felt myself self losing the grip I had on my conciousness with every sacrifice being dumped into the well. The priestess turned to me looking a little better than I was but I could see she was going through the same ordeal as I was, just she could disguise it much better than I could.

"I am Amara. I know you have a lot of questions right now but you'll have to wait a little longer and all the confusion would be cleared. I'm going to accompany you through Olympus to the domain of Mother earth." She spoke as I found it harder to make sense of her words as my brain was muddled.
I looked up to see that it only remained two sacrifices in the trail of young girls clad in white and brown for the trail to end.

I somehow knew that it was bad for me.

" You must listen to me. Everyone is to pass a test before reaching Olympus's gate. I won't be there to help you through the test but I will be there from the moment you step into Olympus. It should be easy for you as you are a child of Olympus, solely_" it after the last person dumped their sacrifice into the well I couldn't make sense of what Amara was saying as my ear drums seemed to go numb for a moment and then back to life the very next.

"_Remember not all you see is true, the eyes itself_ decieved." I shook my head in an attempt to clear it a bit as my vision now blurred, occasionally giving me glimpses of Amara sitting beside me equally leaning on the stone pavement.

I felt something cold as a ring was slipped into my finger shortly before I heard clipped praises of Gia from her young priestesses who knelt around the alter, hands in the air and head bowed.

I had almost lost my conciousness before I felt hands on my limps, lifting my sagged weight off the cold cemented ground.

I just gave out a breath of relief before I was dumped into bitting cold water.

It was then that I concluded that finding Amara would be my worst decision in life, if not the best.

Not Edited.

Hello beautiful people!!

How are you all doing??

It's just going to get more intense from here fort😜
Thanking you all for 5k votes

Nice reads🖤

Omachi 🖤🖤