The first thing I noticed as I drifted awake was the headache, followed quickly by the fact that I was both hungry and thirsty. Then came the rest of the little aches and pains, and found myself wondering why I spent the night on the floor.
I let out a quiet sigh as I opened my eyes, then felt a pang of surprise and confusion as I stared at the unfamiliar stone wall next to me. The previous day's adventure came back to me all at once, and suddenly my heart was racing as I pulled myself upright.
"It wasn't a dream," I mumbled as I stared down at my small feminine body in the oversized linen dress. "Holy shit all that stuff really happened. I'm really in the ancient past. And I'm really a girl!"
That happy realization led me to flick my long bunny ears, but moving my head like that also clued me in to my new surroundings.
I was in a small alcove-like space a little bigger than a closet. I'd been laying on a thin wool blanket someone had spread out on the stone floor. There was another blanket folded up under my head for a pillow, and my sandals were on the floor next to me. There was no door, just an open doorway beyond my bare feet. And past that was what seemed like a stone hallway, that was lit up with natural daylight.
All that left me frowning in confusion as I asked myself, "How'd I get here? And where exactly is here? What happened last night?"
/The high priest brought us here after you fainted./
I let out a startled squeak then blushed as I remembered the whole 'voice in my head' thing. My cheeks got brighter as I insisted, "I didn't faint! I must have um, passed out from exhaustion or something."
/Exhaustion, of course. As you say,/ Melite responded, but it sure felt like she was smiling when she said it.
I pouted, "Whatever. Good morning Melite. So what about this high priest?"
/Good morning Chloe,/ she replied.
I forgot all about being grumpy when I heard her say that name again, and my pout evaporated into a wide happy smile.
Meanwhile I could feel her smirk as Melite continued, /You let out an adorable little squeak last night when the high priest startled you. Then after you 'collapsed from exhaustion' he carried us in here so we could sleep./
My cheeks warmed up again and my pout returned, "So um, where is he? I guess we should go find him? And hopefully we can get something to eat and drink, or I'm going to pass out again from starvation next."
/Let's go see if we can find him,/ she suggested. /It's daytime now so it shouldn't be too hard./
I took a minute to put my sandals on first, then I double-checked that we still had the little coin purse hidden under our dress. We did, and it didn't look like anything was missing so I figured the strange priest guy probably didn't go digging around under our clothes after I fainted. Or passed out or whatever. With that out of the way I took a tentative step out of the little alcove, but that's as far as I got.
"Oh thank goodness!" I gasped at the gift I found waiting on the floor just outside the doorway.
It was a wooden tray loaded with breakfast. There was a big hunk of crusty bread, a chunk of pale cheese, and a little clay dish of what looked like honey. There was also a clay pitcher full of dark red juice, and an empty clay mug.
I pulled the tray into the alcove then sat back down on the blanket. What I originally thought was juice turned out to be a weak watery wine, but I was thirsty enough I really didn't care. I gulped down two mug-fulls of that before turning my attention towards the food.
The bread's crust was thick and rugged, and without any kind of knife or cutlery I struggled to rip chunks off with my small hands. It was a bit dry and chewy, but dipping it in the honey made it a hundred times better. The cheese was weird, I'd never had anything like it before, but I was hungry enough not to really care about that either. It was pale-yellow and had a hard firm texture, and there was a sort of slick oily coating on one side. And since I didn't have any way to slice it I just broke small chunks off it then ate it with some of the bread.
It didn't take long for me to fill up on the simple but hearty food, in fact it seemed like I'd barely made a dent in any of it before I felt like I'd had enough. I poured myself a third cup of the weak wine, then sat back on the blanket.
"That really hit the spot," I commented with a contented smile on my face. "At least now we're not going to die of thirst, or starvation."
"I'm very glad to hear that."
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the deep masculine voice, then looked up wide-eyed at the figure standing in the doorway of my little alcove.
He was about six feet tall, dressed in a long brown cloak that hung all the way down to his sandalled feet. I was never good at guessing ages, but I figured this guy was probably somewhere in his thirties. Although his clean-shaved face may have made him look younger than he really was. He had medium-length curly dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and an olive complexion.
His eyes flicked up and down over me then added with an amused smile, "I'm also glad to see you're finally awake. Please call me Attis, I'm the high priest here. Perhaps you'd like to tell me your name? Or maybe you would join me for a conversation? I have some additional questions for you, if you're feeling up to it."
"Yes sir," I nodded as I scrambled to my feet.
Then I hesitated for a moment when I realized that my head was barely level with the priest's chest. If he was six feet I was probably only four feet tall at best. That left me with some confusing feelings, but I pushed them aside with a flick of my long bunny ears then tilted my head back to look up at the guy.
"My name is Chloe," I told him. "Thank you for the food this morning Mr. Attis sir, and for letting me sleep here last night. I really appreciate it."
He made a dismissive gesture, "Thank Cybele, not I. We are all here through Her generosity."
"And please," he added, "Attis is my title, there's no need for any additional honourifics."
With that he beckoned me to accompany him, then turned and started strolling down the stone hallway towards the bright daylight outside. And as he walked he asked again, "So tell me Chloe, what brings a rabbit nymph to our humble temple?"
I hurried to follow after him, but didn't answer right away. Partially because I was checking out the other doorways in there. They all led to similar sleeping alcoves though. A few were identical to the one I'd woken up in, but the rest all looked more lived-in. Those ones all had personal items inside, like bundles of clothes folded up in a corner, or personal belongings, or the walls were decorated. Some even had flowers in little grey clay vases.
The other reason I was stalling was to see if Melite would chime in, since this was mostly her idea. And for that matter it was her life, I was just borrowing it. I was still kind of hoping, or at least expecting, that sooner or later I'd get zapped back home again to my aunt and uncle and the modern world. And my own body...
For some reason my ears suddenly drooped and I felt a little nauseous at that thought. Or maybe it was the funky cheese I'd just eaten, I wasn't sure.
Either way the voice in my head kept quiet, and I couldn't exactly talk to her while I had the high priest guy standing there next to me. So I had to try and wing it, based on some of the stuff Melite said yesterday.
"I'm really lost sir," I told him. "And I don't know where else to go. I heard about this temple here, and came hoping for sanctuary. At least for a while."
Attis nodded thoughtfully but didn't respond. In fact he seemed to be waiting for me to continue, like he expected there'd be more to my story. Meanwhile my attention shifted to our surroundings as we emerged from the stone hallway. Apparently the sleeping quarters weren't part of the actual temple, they were accessed through a side entrance. The main entrance was about twenty meters off to my left.
The area immediately around the priest and I seemed like a small vegetable garden, or maybe it was for growing herbs or something. Whatever they were growing it was definitely a garden. And beyond that was more grape vines. I also had a better view of the farm a hundred or so meters away down the slope, that was a simple farmhouse with a couple outbuildings. There were some fields of what I assumed to be wheat, more gardens, and a couple large pens full of sheep and goats. There were people around too, going about their business tending to the animals or the crops or whatever farmers did in the ancient past.
Then Attis cleared his throat as if to remind me he was there, and I grimaced slightly as I focused my attention on him again.
"Sorry," I mumbled. "I was told there's a bigger temple at Pyrrha that's known for giving sanctuary, but that was too far away. So um, yeah. I was hoping maybe I could stay a while, and um, maybe I can help out or something?"
The priest had another thoughtful look on his face as he replied absently, "You're thinking of Messa, although it's closer to Pyrrha than here."
We were still walking, but I wasn't sure if he was taking me anywhere in particular. We didn't seem to be going towards the farm or anything like that. It felt more like we were just wandering around.
He finally spoke up again, "The thing is, I've never heard of a rabbit nymph before. Certainly not in these lands. And I can't help but notice your dress? It's very finely made, but it doesn't appear to have been made for you."
My ears drooped again and I grimaced. I was desperately hoping Melite would speak up, I tried thinking really hard at her to please give me some guidance. Like should I try and lie to a priest? Or should I be honest? She remained strangely silent though, so after another few seconds I decided to try and split the difference and go with a half-truth.
"I don't know what happened or how I got here," I began with a sigh. "I just, suddenly I was in a meadow surrounded by olive trees, wearing a dress and sandals that are too big on me. I'm lost and scared and confused, and I don't have anywhere else to go."
Attis stopped walking at that point, so I stopped too. He seemed to find what I said interesting though, at least judging from his expression.
After another second or two he asked, "You said you found yourself in an olive grove, and your clothes were suddenly too big. Where did you come from? And does that mean you weren't always a rabbit nymph?"
"I don't know," I shook my head. I hoped I sounded convincing enough when I told him, "I can't remember."
The tall priest looked thoughtful again for the next few moments, before reaching a decision.
"Very well Chloe, you may stay with us for now. If you're able, a small contribution to the temple would be most appreciated. And I strongly suggest you take some time to pray to Cybele for guidance and answers. You're welcome to pray at the other altars as well of course. And I'm sure some small sacrifices or contributions to the gods wouldn't hurt either."
"If you wish to make your stay here permanent," he added, "That can also be arranged. You'd be expected to work of course, you'll have to contribute one way or another. But we can talk more about that later, should you decide to remain with us."
I nodded, "Thank you Attis. I really appreciate that. I'll go and give thanks right now if that's ok?"
"Of course Chloe," he smiled. "I'm sure I'll see you again later today."
With that he turned and headed off in another direction, while I made my way back to the temple. And in the bright mid-day sun I could see it looked very different from what I'd imagined. Instead of all gleaming polished white marble, the exterior was decorated with paint in a bunch of different colours.
It gave the place a vibrant and welcoming look, and enough of the sunlight made it in past the entrance that I could see the interior was just as colourful. There were more columns in there too, that I hadn't noticed last night. Along with the other four altars.
Cybele's was the one directly opposite the entrance, which meant it was the easiest to see when you stepped inside. It was the biggest too. The rest were to either side, two on the left and two on the right. They were smaller, but all five of them followed the same basic layout.
There was a statue of the goddess or god set into an alcove. In front of each was an altar, with a couple brass censers on either side burning incense. And in the middle sat a plate and a little pot made of grey clay. Cybele's also had those two little oil lamps, which were still sputtering along with dim orange flames even in the middle of the day.
I moved up to stand before the main one, but kind of hesitated there. I'd never really been in church before, my parents weren't religious and neither were Bruce and Mary. So I wasn't sure what to say or how to do this. In fact if I hadn't just met and been cursed by a real live god the day before I probably would have thought the whole thing was kind of stupid.
That encounter with Apollo was more than enough for me to take it seriously though. So after another second or two I finally sank down to my knees, then looked up at the statue of Cybele. She looked like a kind motherly type of goddess, dressed in loose-flowing robes. She was holding something like a conical basket overflowing with produce, and there was a lion at her feet.
Not knowing what else to do I just sort of winged it from there, "Um, thank you Cybele for allowing Melite and I into your temple, and for giving us sanctuary here. Thank you for the food and the safe place to sleep. I appreciate your generosity, and the generosity of your priests and priestesses. I uh, maybe you can please look out for me? And Melite too? Thank you."
When I was done I fished the little fabric purse out from inside my dress, then opened it up so I could pick out one of the coins. I wasn't sure how much of a sacrifice was necessary, but considering we only had a few dozen and no way to get more it's not like I was made of money. And I wasn't going to risk giving away that big coin that brought me here, incase it was my only way home.
So instead I picked out one of those lumpy oval ones, which were the second heaviest kind I had. They were thick, and the front depicted a kingly archer dude. He was down on one knee as he aimed a bow and arrow, and he had a crown on his head. The back of the coins had nothing but some lumpy indentations.
For a moment I toyed with the idea of leaving two of them, considering Apollo seemed kind of insulted when he thought I was offering him a single coin. It only took a moment though to decide one was enough. I could always leave more later, but couldn't exactly take it back if I left too much now.
I just hoped one chunky silver coin was enough of a sacrifice that Cybele wouldn't get mad at us.
I hope so too