Book of Panacea

by Tineke Peeters

  I looked up at her and saw that she was trying to keep busy and avoid eye contact with Cyriel. Cyriel noticed this too and started to shake his head in denial.

  "Seriously, Maria? I assumed they didn't come, as I haven't seen them yet!"

  "Who is going to help me, now that the baby dog is already out and all the hard work is DONE!?" I nearly shouted at Maria. My voice getting louder by the second. I couldn't believe Maria would keep help from me.

  "Yelp and we help! Scream and we...scram?" Squealed two tiny voices. Cyriel groaned. Maria sniggered.

  Ah, okay, that is why.

  "Ya know well enough Cyriel, where I go they go! And they are too tiny to have been able to help you out earlier, Pana."

  Charlie and Lottie the cute but naughty fairies came along. I sighed.

  I started to get up, only to promptly fall back down. My vision was distorted by two tiny human-like creatures. One in front of each eye, forcing me to close my eyes. This got a giggle out of these two fairies. Yes, indeed, fairies. Tiny, winged, little mischievous, magical creatures.

  I now understood why Cyriel was so annoyed. These particular two loved to tease Cyriel.

  "You tickled us with your eyelashes! That was so much fun! Do it again, do it again, do it again." They both chanted together while clapping their tiny hands together.

  "Charlie and Lottie, behave yourselves and make yourselves useful!" Maria said sternly to the two fairies.

  "We are so sorry, Goddess Panacea." They bowed in midair, while their little wings flapped so fast, they seemed to disappear. "How can we be of service?" Charlie asked with her head bowed.

  I saw Lottie whisper something in Charlie's ear and pointing to the baby dog. In return, Lottie got an elbow to the ribs, after which she bowed her head again and rubbed her tummy with a slight wince of pain.

  "Lottie, is it?" I asked the second fairy. I repeatedly get them mixed up and never really spent much time with them.

  She nodded.

  "What did you just whisper to Charlie?" She glanced at Charlie, who seemed to be the older of the two, and when Charlie sighed and rolled her eyes, Lottie started talking.

  "Your three-headed puppy is cooling down fast! We need to act swiftly to clean and dry him. We have magic and can help with the drying, but you need to take him to the hot spring and get yourself with him in the water." She gasped for breath after having rapidly fired off her advice.

  I sat there stunned into silence, my mouth and eyes wide open.

  "Uhm, Goddess Panacea?" Charlie asked hesitantly, "Are you okay?"

  Cyriel started cackling. Maria turned around with the mommy dog in her arms and walked away with a smile on her face.

  I managed to snap my mouth shut to glare at Cyriel.

  "Anything you want to add Cyriel? Maybe you want to help give a THREE-HEADED PUP a bath? This looks like fun!" I said squinting my eyes.

  That shut him up good. He hates water, even rain. He says his feathers curl up from the moisture and that he loses the shine of the color of his feathers.

  Yes, he is a vain pigeon...

  "I-I-I think I will help Maria." And before I could add anything else, he was gone.

  With a heavy sigh, I got up. I picked up the, apparently three-headed puppy, to go to the hot spring. The fairies were flying ahead of me and kind of looked like little fireflies. They gave off a soft glow, so I could see where I was going.

  ***

  4

  Bathing a newborn three-headed puppy was bound to be a once in a lifetime experience. At the moment I didn’t care. I was cold and shivering as was the pup. Walking away from the temple, I noted the change in the scenery surrounding us. Moss-covered logs were scattered in between giant trees, ferns and more moss blanketed the surrounding ground.

  Looking up, I only saw a few fairy lights appearing in the sky to start a new day. The trees stood so high and were so close together, that it was still dark as night even with the few twinkles awakening in the sky. The ground was soft and mushy from the morning dew, with slime and mud covering my feet and creeping in between my toes. A small branch snagged my hair, forcing on a painful tug when I walked passed. Hearing a crack, I guessed the branch was now stuck in my curls. With a sigh, I hoisted the pup up a bit and fastened my pace. I couldn’t wait to clean my feet- they say it is healthy.

  When you are cold, wet, and covered in slime and blood, you wouldn’t care about the health of the mud covering your feet. Same as me, you would long for clean warm water. I released a sigh of relief when I heard the gentle splatter of a small waterfall.

  My eyes widened when the amazing sight of steam billowing behind a shrub, became unmistakable. Walking through the shrub, I didn’t care about the leaves snagging my hair or scratching my legs, all I cared about was the hot spring. Surrounded by smooth round and oval rocks, it looked like paradise. The water was so clear that when I got closer, I could see the bottom made up of brown sand.

  I crouched down near the edge of the water, the lowest part of the spring seeming like a safe enough place to test it. I squatted down, rearranged the slimy pup in my arms, and used my now free hand to try to sit down.

  Getting into the hot spring with the pup squirming, was a challenge on its own, let alone one covered in slippery slime. Twice the pup nearly slipped out of my arms.

  “Keep still!” I chided, “I can’t hold on to you if you keep squirming!” To my surprise, the pup seemed to understand and quit squirming. His tail the only part staying active, splattering water in my face with every wag that touched the water’s surface.

  I moaned in sheer bliss when the warm water enveloped my cold shivering body all the way up to my neck.

  “Ok, how am I going to get you clean, little one?” I looked around for something to use, to rub the pup clean.

  Nothing to be found.

  “Will this work?” Charlie suggested. She had a cloth 10 times her size floating in front of her.

  “Oh wow! You can do magic?” I had never spent any time with these fairies, for which I was embarrassed right now. I would have known stuff like this... I should have known.

  “Yes, I can, but my magic is restricted to conjuring human material stuff.” She shrugged and blushed as if apologizing.

  Deciding to get back to that later, I shrugged and smiled, “That is perfect!”

  The cloth floated towards me, with a flick of her hand. That must be useful; I hope my powers will allow me to do something like that. Although, now that I thought about it, maybe better not. If I don’t have to lift my butt to get things myself, my butt will become humongous.

  I wet the cloth and got the goo out of the pup’s face, he or she settled down instantly. With a heavy sigh, I took my dress off with one hand, while balancing the pup with my other. Trust me, easy was not a word used to describe the maneuvers I had to make, to make sure the pup did not drown while taking off my dress. Flexibility was not one of my strengths, so it took me quite a while. In the meantime, the pup was fast asleep in my arm and the goo covering his body was almost gone. I finally got my dress off and looked at it floating away in the water with a longing look in my eyes.

  “Don’t worry Goddess Panacea, I will conjure a new dress for you. But first, you need to get dry. The fairy lights are starting the day, so it will start warming up soon. However, I have two large towels ready for you to use on that rock over there.”

  “Thank you so much, you are a true savior. Now I will not have to walk around butt naked, looking for something to cover myself up. It wouldn’t have been a pretty sight, trust me!” I made a face and Charlie giggled.

  “You, my Goddess, could not look bad in anything, even covered in mud!”

  I inclined my head at the compliment. I loved the lavishness of my clothes at our temple, it was something I was already longing for after one day. Yes, I was as vain as Cyriel, so what? As a Goddess, it is implied!

  Getting out of the hot spring I laid out one towel to put the pup on and grabbed the other one for m
yself.

  I turned to the pup and saw that he was rolling around on the towel. Ah yes, it was quite obviously a boy.

  “Are you having fun little one?” I giggled. At my voice, he stilled completely, except for his tail which was wagging. I grabbed the towel I had used and knelt next to him. His eyes were closed, which I thought was strange. Frowning, I dried him.

  Drying his three brown heads, I noticed all three heads had long ears. Aunty Artemis once gave a short description of Cerberus and I had to admit, this pup looked a lot like what she had described.

  Except for the chocolate brown colour with white woven into it, and the extremely large ears, the ears were as long as his little body. His paws were big for such a small thing, and upon looking closer, I saw that each head had different colour arrangements. The one on the left had white in the middle of its face running all the way to its snout. The middle one had two white ears but was completely brown otherwise, and the one on the right had one tiny white spot right in between its eyes.

  His tail kept wagging, and he kept squirming. Charlie was hovering, so I decided to see if she had any experience with pups.

  I stopped rubbing and turned to her. “Is it normal for his eyes to stay closed?” I asked her.

  She shrugged and answered.

  “Animals are Lottie’s ability. Mine is materialistic objects.”

  I looked for Lottie when I felt a bunch of droplets of water on my back. I squealed, surprised at the sudden shower of water. I turned around and saw the pup trying to shake his body. Charlie was laughing so hard, she had to hold her stomach with both hands. I looked sternly at her; no one is supposed to laugh at a Goddess.

  She shook her head, still laughing and pointed at the pup. I looked at the pup and could see nothing odd, then I realized why Charlie was laughing so loud. He was trying to shake the water off and did not manage to do this without bumping his three heads against each other.

  I tried to hide my grin and got on my knees. “Oh, poor baby. Be careful. Having three heads is not easy I guess, but somehow you will get used to it.” He whimpered and sniffed the air, those heads turning my way.

  As I got close enough to him, all three heads landed in my lap. I sat down and started petting him, as all three heads let out a deep sigh which made me smile. A simple dress appeared next to me. I gently lifted the heads off my lap, got up and put the dress on. It was scratchier than my silks, but I decided it was better than nothing.

  I looked up to Charlie, who rested on a branch above my head. Her little legs were crossed, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her tiny hands. She stared contently towards the pup.

  “You’re welcome my Goddess. It tires me to do so much magic, so closely together. I think I will look for Maria and sleep.” She said and turned to leave.

  Before she left I asked, “Where is Lottie? If her magic and power are related to animals, I desperately need her help, because my knowledge is very limited!”

  Charlie turned around and said, “She’s probably sleeping, so she can gather energy for the magic needed to help the pup.”

  “Could you send her to me? I will be near the temple.”

  I put the pup on the ground carefully. He whimpered a little in his sleep as I put my hands on my hips, and looked down towards him.

  “What am I supposed to do now?” I wondered. The pup hearing my voice tried to get up but failed. He dropped onto his tummy, as his ears (all six of them) perked up, and he sniffed the air.

  Again he whimpered, trying to get closer to me. I sat down next to him to pet him and get him to calm down. He kept on whimpering and sniffing my hands, nudging and nuzzling them with all three heads. The whimpering grew louder and I have to admit, I panicked. I was so out of my depth in this situation.

  “Lottie?” I asked. When I received no answer, my voice got louder and started to wobble. “Lottie? Can you come and help me please?!” The pup seemed to sense my anxiety. All three heads whimpering and whining, frantic for something. I was on the verge of tears when I thought I heard Lottie arrive.

  “Oh, thank goodness, you are here. He is whimpering, and he seems to be looking for something, but he can’t see. See? His eyes are all closed. Is that normal? And where is he going to sleep? What is he going to eat?” Ping! A starlight went up in my head.

  “Oh, you are hungry, huh?” I asked gently when that thought dawned on me. I looked up at Lottie for answers, she was not there. However, what was in her place shocked me to almost passing out; quite literally. I sucked in so much air from the fright I got, that I nearly passed out from an overload of oxygen.

  “Yes, goddess, he is hungry.” A male voice acknowledged. “And he is too young to open his eyes. Right now, he is using his noses and ears only. Normally he would rely on his mother for everything.”

  I know, I seriously need my head checked out. Hearing a fairy arrive? I must have been nuts or totally out of it, not to realize that a fairy does not make a noise.

  ***

  5

  Oookaaay, now what? Some stranger was talking to me. I was not good at making conversation with creatures I didn’t know, let alone a god.

  I was not talking about his looks, although he was handsome, but an actual god with the special glow and all. I have led a very sheltered existence and for a good reason.

  Mostly because of granddad burning down Earth, but also because of deciding to keep my presence concealed from Zeus and the others.

  Panic much? Yep, ...

  Tall, handsome, a bit muscled, and a perfect tan. His black hair was long and sleek, making him look dangerous, but his eyes were a warm brown.

  My mouth was wide open, my eyes struggling not to fall out of their sockets, and my heart trying to thump its way out of my chest.

  I closed my mouth and eyes to think of something to say or do.

  What do I do now? Do I introduce myself or keep my parentage hidden? Make small talk? I didn’t even know what small talk was. My parents tried to teach me what to say and do when in the presence of a god or goddess- this was in the event it would ever take place- but seriously, I never paid any attention because I did not realize it would ever happen. Now I wished I had.

  But in the end, I did not have to say anything. The pup did the talking or rather whining for me.

  “He’s hungry.” The God was leaning against a tree. His eyes had this twinkle as if he was laughing at me. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

  The twinkle in his eyes disappeared, and I was sure it was my silence and narrowed eyes that were getting to him.

  Not knowing what to do, I averted my eyes and put my hands on my hips. I concentrated on the pup instead of the extremely hot God still leaning leisurely against a tree.

  I shook my head to clear it.

  “Food, huh. But what kind of food? I mean there is not any meat around for me to hunt...” I looked around me. “I mean, I haven’t really explored far, but I haven’t noticed anything yet. And I don’t know what he eats...” I kept rambling like an idiot.

  He shrugged, “I don’t know what he eats without his mom. Normally she gives milk.” As he spoke, he straightened himself and came closer.

  I stared at the pup, or was it pups with the three heads?

  Turning my back to the God, I crouched next to the pup. I tried to make it clear that I didn’t want his input. Apparently, he was not having any of it as I heard him move closer and crouched down next to me and the pup.

  My cheeks started to heat up. Why was I blushing? His presence was not making the situation any less confusing.

  Where was Lottie anyway?

  Now the pups’ heads appeared to be getting more agitated in the search for food. And I was panicking again because I did not know where to get the proper food.

  “Uhm, hello?” Came the timid question from Lottie. I sighed in relief and asked about food for the pup. Lottie glanced at the god in bewilderment, then she shrugged her shoulders and like me, ignored him.

  �
��I have no idea where to get milk for the pup unless someone can conjure a goat?” she asked that question while looking pointedly at the God. I was shaking my head, ready to pull my hair out. The new guy frowned and tapped his finger on his chin in deep thought. I looked up at him and crossed my fingers.

  Please gods and goddesses, let him have a solution. I promise not to ignore him!

  “I think we could try Ambrosia. I once heard my dad say Hades gave Cerberus Ambrosia and he loved it. So, it is an option I suppose,” he said.

  Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of Hades’ underworld when Earth still existed, would absolutely be a good example to follow.

  “There is Ambrosia in the small temple!” I exclaimed excitedly. Jumping up I ran to look for the little fountain of flowing ambrosia. I picked up a cup and filled it to the rim, ran back outside and knelt next to the pups’ heads.

  The guys' eyes were twinkling again.

  “What?”

  “They need to suckle. They’re not able to lick or chew food for a few weeks yet.”

  I plopped down, with a defeated sigh. I put the cup down and let out another heavy sigh. I couldn’t sit still for long. Getting up, I paced around the puppy, not making the little thing feel better.

  I stopped and pointed towards the god.

  “So now what? You seem to be the expert. Any suggestions? Because my boobs do not leak ambrosia.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized what I had said. I clapped both my hands over my mouth and stared at the guy with wide eyes. He threw his head back and laughed, not a small snicker, but a full belly laugh.

  Lottie was sitting in a tree, watching the whole scene unfold. She tried not to laugh, which resulted in snorting, and almost tumbling off the branch she was sitting on.