Book of Panacea

by Tineke Peeters

  “Yes, yes, I am happy to see you too. But keep your slobber to yourself, will you.” The thumping of his tail gave away his joy at being spoken too. His eyes were still closed, and he was sprawled on his belly, barely able to lift his cute heads. His chocolate brown fur was very soft, but the softest part were his ears. They felt like velvet and were almost as long as his entire little body, which made for a comical sight.

  Ears everywhere. While my hand held one of the heads back, trying to keep the slobbering to a minimum, the other heads were sniffing my dress and decided to suck on it. When nothing happened, they started whimpering. The head near my hand was trying to suckle my fingers, which gave me the -quite obvious- clue that he was hungry. Again.

  “How much do you need to eat in a day?” I wondered. I got up and walked towards the fountain of Ambrosia to fill a cup. “Now, where did I leave the sponge?” I always forget where I put things, but this not being my room, made the search quite easy. I immediately spotted it next to the bed. In my room back home, I would have a difficult time to locate anything. I kept my room in a semi-organized mess. Meaning: I know where most of my stuff is, but when I add something new, it gets lost. And when mom decided a clean-up was in order, she used her magic to store everything away logically! My mind does not work logically. At least not with organizing my own things.

  I got back on the bed and started the process of feeding the pup. “One by one, please! Come now, I cannot feed all of you at once, the sponge does not soak up that much!” I took the sponge away to soak it again in the Ambrosia and saw him bumping his heads and trying to suckle on ears, blanket, pillow, anything really.

  “Okay, I will try this another way, but please do not get my bed wet!” The ears perked up as high as such large ears could go -which is not high...-. Thump, thump, goes the tail.

  “Ok, here we go.” I breathed in and hoped this would work. I took the cup with the sponge in it and quickly brought it in front of his heads. All three heads latched onto the sponge, and with the sponge immersed into the Ambrosia, he sucked on it until the cup was empty and not just the sponge.

  I felt such triumph at this rather small accomplishment. I mean, the idea popped into my head and it worked, but, is that something to feel excited about?

  Shrugging, I decided I didn’t care and was happy all the same. All these happy feelings made me realize how depressed and sad, I had been for the past couple of months. It was as if the first time my powers showed up, I had been feeling moody, depressed, annoyed at anything and anyone. I felt angry all the time. When on my period I get a little moody and snappy, but this was that feeling times a thousand! And now that I was stripped of my powers for not even a whole day, I was happier than I had been in my whole life! I hadn’t even touched dad’s medicine pouches.

  This was bliss, and I had two more days of it if I had to believe Cyriel. Maria might know more about the time before the ‘training’ starts, she’d been here before with mum. Hopefully, this bliss would remain once the training started.

  “Goddess? It is I, Phatostai. I have a meal ready if you are hungry?”

  My stomach growled, I guessed I missed lunch. I put the cup and sponge down and picked up the pup.

  “Goddess? Are you awake?” His voice sounded closer.

  “Yes, just a minute.” I put the pup back down quickly and looked for a mirror and a brush. I took the brush and tried to comb my hair, but after two strokes, the handle broke and the top part got stuck in a knot.

  “Oh come on! Seriously?” I threw the brush handle away. It landed close to the pup who yelped. Then they started a pathetic mini howl.

  “Oh Sweety, I am sorry.” I ran to him and picked him up. With a deep sigh, all the heads burped at the same time and promptly fell asleep.

  “Everything alright in there?” Phatostai asked. Goodness, could the guy give a girl a little time. I briskly walked towards the entrance of the temple carrying my baby (yes I thought of him as my baby now) and my head held high.

  I smelled the aroma of...I don’t know what it was, but it made my mouth water.

  ***

  8

  When I appeared at the small fire, that Phatostai must have built, I sat down slowly. The pup was fast asleep, so I put him down next to me.

  I was so hungry that it was very difficult to keep myself calm. At home, I could just grab the food the moment it came to the table. But I guessed shoving Phatostai aside to grab the wooden spoon and shoving food in my mouth, while growling at anyone that would come close, wasn’t done. I was considering it for a short moment, then shook my head and smiled at him. He looked confused, but then again, I didn’t care.

  My stomach growled as if a beast was hiding inside. This was not ladylike, but to my satisfaction, I managed to keep the drool from coming out of my mind.

  “It smells fantastic, Phatostai. Thank you for inviting me to dinner.” I looked out of the corner of my eye at Maria, who gave a slight nod of approval. At least my conversation skills were coming along.

  “It is my pleasure goddess...? I still do not know your name my Lady, I apologize for not asking earlier.”

  I panicked slightly but did not get any hints from Maria. She shrugged her shoulders, and Cyriel was no help either as he was trying to clean his back feathers and nearly fell off his perch.

  “Uhm, yes, well, we were occupied at that moment and I only learned your name thanks to your introduction to the Nayad; so we never got introduced to each other, or at least, we never introduced each other to each other...” conversation skill points: minus 100. Perfect, he is going to think I am a real nutcase.

  I looked up and to my surprise saw him smiling at me. Is he laughing at me or is he just smiling? I could feel my whole face heating, which I know is not a nice color for a ginger such as myself.

  “Well, I guess that is true.” With that, he stood up and held out his hand. I frowned at it.

  “You are expected to stand for the introductions we make to each other.” When a puzzled look replaced the frown on my face, it was he that frowned. Okay, I am seriously messing this whole thing up; soon he’ll realize that I have never shaken hands, let alone with another god.

  I got up without taking his hand, which by the look on his face, was wrong again. Once up, I straightened my back and tried to remember my lessons.

  I came up blank.

  Well, I will just wing it.

  “My name is goddess Pana, and I am here to discover my powers, without endangering myself and others as I seem to put things on fire.”

  He took my hand in his. “I am god Phatostai. I am here to train my powers, sent by my father, the God Hephaestus. I put his hair on fire, so it was time.” He took in a deep breath. “And I am also very pleased to make your acquaintance goddess Pana.” With that, he bowed and kissed my hand.

  He kissed my hand! I was doing a jiggle and dance in my head. Otherwise, the jiggle would make too much of me jiggle, which was not a pretty picture. Cyriel once informed me that, I would go blind if I did that jiggle move again.

  I got my first kiss!

  I stopped my jiggle -again in my head- as I realized that my first ever kiss from a guy, was on my hand. Not my mouth, not even my cheek but on my hand.

  “Nice to meet you too.” I snatched my hand away and sat my ass down.

  “So, what’s for supper?” My hunger taking the upper hand again.

  “I prepared a vegetable stew, I hope you like it.” He took two bowls and served up a generous portion for both of us. He passed me one of the bowls and a spoon, and immediately, I shoveled a whole spoon into my mouth.

  “Huhum,” I heard Maria behind me. I looked at her with my second heaped spoon halfway to my mouth. I did not like being interrupted during dinner and she knew that, so I must be doing something wrong. Realization dawned when she pointed towards Phatosta. Oh sugar, I am such an ungrateful wench.

  “Uhm, thank you for such a wonderful vegetable stew, it is delicious.” Phatostai smiled at me with a twin
kling in his eyes.

  “You are quite welcome.” He said.

  We enjoyed our stew in companionable silence. Me trying not to shovel the stew in my mouth, but trying to eat at a normal pace.

  Ugh, I am such a pig. Eating as if I was loath to use a spoon instead of my hands. Seriously, of that first spoonful, a troll would have been proud of me. Maria? Not so much.

  “So? How are ya enjoying your meal? Phatostai went in search of it himself and made it all from scratch! Didn’t ya?” Maria came near (not to close to the fire mind you) to where we were sitting.

  “Y-y-yeah, I w-w-went in search f-f-for food and found some nice v-v-vegetables.” He ducked his head and spooned up some more stew.

  Why was he stuttering? He did not stutter before, at least I don’t think so. I thought back on the day and could not come up with a single moment he stuttered. Even before Maria showed up... Ah, maybe he is shy or nervous around her. I can’t imagine why.

  “You did a great job,” I said. “And if you are going to make dinner every evening, I would not mind at all.” I smiled at him, hoping to put him at ease. “I will try my best at making breakfast, although I have no idea what to make except for looking around for some fruit. Was there fruit on the way you went?”

  “Uhm, thank you and n-n-no there was no f-f-fruit in that direction.”

  “Hey Maria, you were here with m..uhm before. Do you know of any food resources, like fruit and I dunno, some small game?” Darn, I nearly gave away that mom was here at some point. That would have led to loads of questions I did not yet know if I wanted to answer.

  “I think Maria walked away in that direction,” he pointed towards the side of the temple.

  “Thank you.” I got up, turned around and heard Phatostai choking. Quickly, I turned back around and walked to the other side of the fire to clap him on the back. I slapped him so hard his hair nearly caught flame. He put up his hand to make me stop, and when his head came up, he was laughing. I frowned, thinking he had gone mad. He kept pointing at my hair, but could not form words as he was laughing too much.

  With my hands on my hips, I asked; “What is so bloody funny?”

  “You...” he gasped for air from laughing, “you have a brush stuck in your hair!” And he started in another fit of laughter. Mortified, I turned around and ran to the side of the temple he had pointed out, to find Maria.

  “What’s all the racket about?” Cyriel was still sitting on Maria’s shoulder.

  “Maria, tell me there is not a brush stuck in my hair!” I turned around and back, just in time to see Cyriel falling off her shoulder with laughter.

  “Yeah, there is sweetpea. But no worries, we will get it out shortly.” Maria said gently while shooing Cyriel away when he tried to land back on her shoulder.

  “Ouch!” Maria tried to get the brush out, but it was stuck in a knot, which brought back the point where I broke the handle, and forgot about it the moment Phatostai called me a second time.

  “Uhm, Charlie; some help please?” Charlie appeared out of Maria’s hair. After 16 years, I still have no idea how to properly care for my own hair. I saw Charlie grinning before she schooled her expression.

  “Lottie? I will need your help with this one.”

  “Why is Lottie needed, she deals with animal stuff,” I asked.

  “Because your hair resembles a lions’ mane, and she might be better equipped to handle the knot. Where I to magic away the brush, there will be a chance that a huge chunk of hair will be magicked away as well.” I nodded, not understanding a thing, except that it was not good to lose a chunk of hair. Magic is complicated, I hope it is not one of my powers. A lot could go wrong if I were to wield magic, I am sure.

  Lottie managed, with a lot of magic, to get the comb out. By the time she was done, my hair was standing up as if it literally had a lions’ mane, as a result of her using different kinds of magic.

  “Now what?” I sighed. It is said gods and goddesses don’t get tired. My ass, I am tired again. Not just from the long day (I took a nap of one little hour, but got up to help the pup get born in the middle of the night!), but also from...well, everything else. It was just too much, I was getting a headache and wanted to be alone.

  “I am going for a walk.” Looking at the ground, I slowly made my way to wherever. I didn’t care. Peace and quiet would do the trick. Phatostai could take care of the pup. I was sure he would be asleep for another hour at least, two hours was the difference between the first and second feeding.

  I ended up in a beautiful open area- green grass and low bushes. Some fruit trees and berries were all filled with ripe fruit; nice for breakfast, I thought. The fairy lights were disappearing fast, and I decided to enjoy it. I sat down in the soft grass, with my back against an apple tree. I let my mind drift, to try to process this past day. My, was it a full day! Except for the one hour nap, I had not had a moments’ rest.

  ***

  9

  I decided to go back before it got too dark. I had no light and a terrible sense of direction, but the fire was still burning and easy to find. I had a few berries, two apples, and a pear with me for breakfast, which made my walking slightly awkward, as I was carrying them in my dress. I held the dress up in the front to create a basket while trying not to show any upper thigh.

  When arriving there, only embers remained in the fire pit. I dropped the fruit near the fire, but not too close.

  I heard snoring a little further away from the temple and the fire. Squinting in the dark, I followed the sound. Arriving at a hanging bed, I found Phatostai fast asleep in it, with the pup asleep on his stomach. Two legs on both sides of his stomach, and three heads in his neck. His noses twitched and as I came closer, and his tail started wagging. Three ears tried to perk up but were still too heavy I guess, to go up more than an inch or two.

  I made a shushing sound and slowly picked him up, and started back to the temple when he moaned. Lifting him higher, I heard bubbles in his stomach. Now he was whimpering.

  Bewildered, I sat him down and his tummy bubbled again. A tummy rumbling for food I know, but churning and bubbling? That did not sound so good.

  “Lottie?” I whispered.

  “Yes, my Lady?”

  Making me jump as she appeared out of the dark suddenly, I put a hand over my heart to stop it from beating out of my chest. Then I asked, “The pups’ tummy is churning and I don’t know what that means.” I hope he is not getting sick because even though I only had him for a day, I was already in love with this little one.

  “Uhm,” Lottie blushed bright red before continuing, “He needs to make a bowel movement.”

  “A what now?”

  “He needs to poo.”

  “Huh. Can’t he do it? Is he constipated? What do I do?” I was looking at the pup who seemed in pain.

  “Stimulate him.” If it were possible, she turned a brighter red. “As in rub his bottom and weewee.”

  “Sorry, what? A weewee?” I frowned and looked at her. The fairy was speaking gibberish.

  “The spot where he wees,” She answered. “Here is a rough tongue -like cloth, you can use that to rub those spots.”

  Magically, the cloth appeared in my hand. Realizing that Lottie only did animal magic, this must be a piece of tongue. I swallowed back the bile in my throat.

  “Is this what I think this is?” I asked. I looked up and saw that Lottie had disappeared.

  “You little mongrel of a fairy,” I grumbled under my breath while rubbing the cloth over the pups’ bottom and weewee. His stomach made strange noises. I stopped and straight away the pee gushed out of the pup, followed by a very smelly poo.

  “Goddesses above, that is absolutely nasty!”

  I decided to bury the poo with sand behind the temple.

  When I picked him up, I heard his tummy rumble. I smiled. Guess I was right about the two-hour interval for his food.

  After feeding him, he yawned, after which I yawned and together we crawled into the bed. Ly
ing on my side, the pup crawled next to me. His heads were on my arm, and his bum was next to my tummy. Quiet little snores were the sounds I fell asleep to.

  Next thing I knew, I woke up to a wet bed and a dark room. The pup was wide awake, and I realized the bed was wet because of him.

  His tail was wagging, his ears tried to perk up and his tongues were hanging out of their mouths.

  “Iieeuw!” Drool was all over my arm and the whole bed was wet in the middle. I jumped up and left the pup on the wet bed, and lighted the torches with a flint. Now what? With my hands on my hips, drool dribbling from my arm and my butt wet, I tried to glare at the pup. But he was just too adorable to get angry at, plus his eyes were still closed.

  After feeding the pup, I went outside to let him poo, with the help of the tongue cloth. Getting back inside, I was too sleepy to do anything about all the pee. It was too early to call for one of the fairies or Maria. Plus, they needed their sleep just as much as I did.

  I took my dress off and freshened up with the water in the small water basin. Somehow there was a new brush lying next to it, but I was not in the mood to use that thing in the middle of the night. Seeing the towels next to the basin, I silently thanked Charlie for thinking ahead. Wrapping a towel around myself, I turned the mattress with a grunt and grabbed the rest of the towels. These I put underneath the pup, who made himself comfortable. He made three circles before settling down, and I curled my body around him and fell asleep.

  ***

  The dinner conversation the next day was quite an eye-opener.

  “So, what did you bring?” I asked Phatostai. Apparently, there was a four-item rule when coming to the island.

  “I brought a piece of metal, that my dad said was very important to my training, I think he hopes that I can bend it with fire like him. A book, a pencil, and a change of clothes. What did you bring?”

  “A healing pouch my dad made, a book, an apple, and a piece of chocolate.” The last two had already disappeared.