"The plague not only infected easily, spreading from house to house by the rats,
but it killed slowly and painfully. Ring shaped rashes began to appear over a victim's skin,
followed by painful swelling near the joints and underneath the jaws. Out physicians treated
as best they could, lancing the swellings in a vain attempt to allow the vapors within the body flow more
freely and to release the poisons within. However, I have not heard of more than a hand's
share of fingers who contracted the disease and did not die. The wise women told the people
to place the wildflowers from outside the city walls inside their clothing to help ward off plague; many
believed them and tried it. This seemed beyond reason to me, and other members of the high
council as well, so we sought out these wise women. Their answer surprised us with it's
veracity and wisdom. 'The people need hope,' they said, 'and when people need hope they are
willing to accept whatever can be given. You and the other elders of the city can offer them
nothing, so we do what we can. You will have riots and despair otherwise.'
"We accepted their wisdom, and took it one step further. 'We are
going to seek the oracle at Delphi, and see if she can tell us the solution to the disaster facing us at this
time' we told the people. Packing what we needed for the five day ride to Delphi, we set out,
fearing that on our return we would find only an empty city. Our fears gave our feet wings,
and the Mars heard the pleas of old soldiers, and gave our horses unusual endurance. Three
days later we arrived, far faster than we could have otherwise hoped.
"We walked quickly through the town until we reached the Oracle's
shrine. The serving girl-priestess of the shrine rose as we approached and greeted
us. 'The Oracle expects you and will see you now, Premier of Athens' she announced in a
high sing-song voice that seemed as otherworldy as the diaphanous white gown and silver torque she
wore. I entered the shrine alone, as had been agreed during the journey, for the responsibility
and the risk should both be mine, as premier.
"The interior of the shrine was dim, with no interior
lighting. However it was not completely dark. The fine white marble of which it
was constructed seemed to bear in light from outside, even while being opaque. I am not a
natural philosopher as is my fellow council member Aristotle however, and such things are beyond my
ken. The precise center of the shrine was pitch black however, and it was from there that the
Oracle spoke. 'Premier of Athens?'
"'Yes lady?' I managed in reply. It was difficult not to
stutter. I realized that there were powers at work here that I could not understand, and
moreover probably did not wish to. Underneath the trappings of purity there seemed an
unease, a wrongness. But I needed the Oracle's answer, and could not afford to listen to such
childish fears.