The Ambassador of Athena

As soon as I fell asleep the weirdest row of dreams I ever had started.
I was sitting in a waiting room, much like one of a doctor or a big company, with pictures of poppy flowers, butterflies, pillows and four-poster beds on the walls. Behind a counter a woman that was slightly transparent sat and looked at a screen in front of her. When she recognised me she smiled and said:
“Ah, right on time. Mr. H. is waiting for you, just go ahead.” I was confused, but I stood up and went through the door next to the counter. Behind it was a bureau.
It was very simple, a desk, a chair in front of it, a bureau chair on the other. The windows showed a skyline at night, a big city like New York or Chicago. On the desk a vase with fresh poppy flowers stood next to a pinned butterfly with pink and blue in a glass case. But the strangest thing in the room was definitely the guy sitting in the bureau chair.
He was handsome, with a well-proportioned face, brown curly hair and green eyes. Out of the sides of his head a pair of butterfly wings sprouted, glittering in every colour you can imagine when they flapped slowly. I was staring at the wings, standing in the door.
The man rose and smiled at me. “Ah, here he is, our latest hero. I expected you earlier. You are quite a night owl, aren’t you?”
I have to admit that I was confused. ”Excuse me?” I asked him.
“Oh, you went to bed later than usually.” He said and gestured me to sit down.
“Yes, we had our victory party; I was one of the last to go to bed.” I said and sat down.
But wait…
“I think I should not know that I am dreaming at the moment…” I asked carefully.
The man shrugged his shoulders, his wings mimicking the motion.
“Normally I would agree with you, but this is a special occasion, not a normal dream.”
I took a deep breath and asked him as polite as I could: “Ok, I understand that, but I have no clue who you are.”
He laughed and folded his hands. “You are a pretty smart; I guess you can figure out who I am if you just look around my office.”
I did as supposed, and I thought about all the gods I knew, since he was definitely a god, just from his behaviour. A picture came up in my mind, from an art gallery I visited years ago, together with a name.
“You must be Hypnos, God of Sleep.” I said.
The god applauded and smiled.
“Great, you are a worthy Ambassador of Athena. But I didn’t invite you here for name-guessing. I invited you here for giving you a choice.”
“What choice?” I asked him carefully.
“To explain you that I have start at different point. You know, I am the god of sleep, but I have three sons that all help me with my task, Phantasos, Phobetor and Morpheus. Phantasos can turn into everything alive, like animals, humans, trees, whatever you can think of. He is in charge of the imagination and phantasies of humans. Phobetor can turn into everything non-alive, like rocks, water, fire, whatever. His task is to deliver bad news, feelings of doubt and premonitions. And finally Morpheus, the god of dreams. He is the special messenger of the gods; he delivers prophetic dreams to demigods directly from the gods. And his business is what brought you here today.”
“With all my respect, Mylord, I don’t understand.”
Hypnos leaned back and continued with his explanation.
“Normally every demigod receives at some point a prophetic dream, especially when they are on a quest. You will go on a quest tomorrow, so you would receive help from Athena on your way to Mount Rushmore. But there is a little problem: You are mortal, and mortals can’t receive prophetic dreams.”
“I see, so Athena can’t help me with dreams.” I said and nodded slowly.
“And I guess you called me here to give me the choice of becoming able to receive such dreams.”
Hypnos laughed and clapped his hands.
“You truly are worth the symbol on your shoulder, Florian.” He said and leaned towards me.
“So, what is your answer, do you accept this offer? But be warned, it can be a blessing and a curse.”
I have already made up my mind, so the warning didn’t make me overthink my choice.
“I guess I have to do it, and I want to do it, besides that. If it will help me with my quest I have to do it.”
“Good, so receive the blessing of prophetic dreams.” The wings at his head suddenly started to flap faster, until a pink dust started to shimmer around them. The cloud of dust floated over to me and when I breathed in the next time I sucked in the dust. It felt like I sucked up fast hardening cement, blocking my airways and filling my lungs. Thankfully after a second the feeling vanished, and I recognised, not without disappointment, that I felt exactly the same.
“Good,” said the god. “But you have your next appointment with the next god, so, behave and have fun, we will meet again.”
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“You know, the proverb, the one that says you always meet twice in life? I believe it’s true.”
And with that he clapped his hands and the office vanished.

Notes

This one is a short chapter, but there will be more soon.
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