Chocolate Pudding, Silver Spoons &a Quill

I spent my time with the sisters in silence as they enjoyed the treat I brought them, who would have guessed that chocolate pudding with silver spoons would be their favorite treat and best thing to bribe them with. The key I think was the silver spoons. When the three sisters moved into our home and took up a station in the library, I wasn't sure why they would choose to live with us when they had choices all over the planet, they could have chosen any or the realms. When pressed with a reason the sisters always gave the same answer. "We are where we need to be,your family will not be bothered and there are benefits to the sisters of the loom residing under your roof." Was all they ever said. They came to us about a thousand years after we left the settlement. Our library was little more than a reading nook, and had scrolls, tablets, and art from our tribe. We had collected the scrolls and tablets over time, the art was all we had from our people. Our people didn't have a written language until an alphabite was assigned to them by the European settlers who came searching for gold and peddling their religion. To be honest, the art we collected from our people over a thousand years was impressive. The sisters were particularly interested in our art collection. I suppose Eskimo culture is an oddity even among the immortals. As Hecate finished up her last bite she looked up at me, Bridgit followed and raised an eyebrow, Isis asked finally. "We suppose you didn't bring us chocolate and silver for nothing?" With Hecate finishing the last of the sentence as the silver spoons followed down behind the pudding. "No, I thought you all would, and have and will enjoy them.I came to ask you for the first story I left with you?" Who better, to leave the first story with then the sisters of all stories.

"We knew you would come for it one day but we didn't think it would be so soon." They said speaking as one. "When it came to this moment we couldn't see when it would happen, only that it would." They continued, "Though with you seven how could we know." They finished speaking and turned to stare at me. It was that last part. When we were born and created or made immortal it almost seems like we were removed from all oracles' ability to see any further than the moment we were in. It was knowing our future that made us this way, it was a prophecy that caused our condition, so maybe in the long run not knowing is better. "I need the first story to gain perspective on what's happening now. You've heard what has been happening." I spoke and laid my needs at their pond's surface. It flowed out of my mind like steam and vapor, it laid down over the motionless water and formed the pictures my mind held just a moment ago. The chest, the mask, the trolls, and the Mother Tree all took shape and looked back at me expressionless from the water's surface. It always amazed me at how small thoughts looked when reflected from their pond. Maybe it was the water, or the fact that they were reflections, or that the sisters were so powerful compared to the memories that often took their place on its surface.

Looking into the water I felt new weight settle into my hands. The story on the stone came into being with the flare of an expression, air grew denser, then the sand of the stone started to swirl, bits of stone grew out of the sand and finally the story came into being, the tale of Gilgamesh scribed across the bumpy surface. "Thank you sister, as always, it has been, is, and will be a pleasure to speak to you." I said taking the heavy stone, lite in my hand, from the power of my true form and augmented by my essence. As my essence flowed out of me and into the stone the glyphs lit up with a blue glow. With the glow in my face I turned away from the sisters and headed back up the stacks, headed for the front of the library and finally the door. The stories played out around me as I walked by, I didn't notice, the purple door swung closed behind me Henny in the corner was showing signs of recovering from his hangover.

"Does anyone smell frankincense and myrrh? " Steven asked as I walked into the kitchen. The fates loved their classic incense, they swore that no true seer would live without it. My family was gathered around the breakfast table. "Is Pogs up yet?" I asked. I went to the library almost as soon as I had gotten home and thanks to the magic of the sisters almost no time had passed. Near as we have ever been able to figure out, every minute spent with the sisters was a second of normal time. That rule changed from time to time because a day with the sisters could become a week. The time displaced seemed to be based on their mood more than anything else. "Why do you have the story from the sisters?" David asked.``I collected the story ages ago, but I hid something in it for safekeeping." I said, still looking at the stone in my hand. "I need some help getting it out though." I looked around the table. When I placed the expression in the stone I had used most of my essence to do it, and it took a month and a bunch of tales from other creatures to build my strength back up. So this time I was looking for a little assistance, if for no other reason than to stop me from devouring the life stories of all the beings we shared our home with, the hunger last time nearly drove me mad. I set the stone on the table and the wooden surface bowed and moaned under its weight.

I remember finding the expression, I had woken up from a nap. Oddly I found myself in a cave instead of my bed, it was dark and the air smelled like moss and mold. A cold moisture covered me in a blanket of cold and for the first time in a long time I shivered. I called a witch's light in my hand and looked around, I had never been here before but I could smell salt in the air, and reached out to the wall. I felt the slick smooth stones, I brought my hand to my lips, I could taste salt. It was sea water dripping down the face of the rocks. Was I in a well? I couldn't tell, my light only just touched the walls around me; its soft white glow made shadows jump and flinch around the stones. My eyes grew accustomed to the deep, velvety darkness. More of the cave came into view and I was alone, except for the sound of rushing wings and claws on steel. It was coming from down a corridor, it was a cave after all. The stony hall stretched out in front of me not quite tall enough to stand in but wider then it should have been. Aside from being cold and the smell it was a comfortable place, it had a motherly feel to it, like being in the womb of the Earth herself. As I stepped out of the main arch of the cave I came to the mouth of the hall, I could see a clear path to the mouth of the cave and hear the swell of the sea outside. As the waves crashed on the shore outside there was a rush of wind that whistled down the cave and fresh smell of salt came deeper into the hall, the salt grew thick enough that my witches' light reflected back to me like the night sky, each crystal twinkling and sparkling. Down the rocky path there was another light, a red and amber light spilling out of another archway. I stepped over stones and puddles as I walked. I felt the fresh Sea air with every wave crashing, the sound of wings and talons on steel grew louder the closer I came to the second arch. The light was bright enough that I put out my witch's light and could see almost as well as daylight, daylight through rose colored glasses. The second room in the cave was larger and had an oculus at the top. Moonlight fought against the amber light mixing into a silver and purple hue where the two met. The moon's beam would have fallen on a pedestal in the center of the room. The sound of rushing wind over thousands of feathers increased and scraping nails on steel rebounded off the walls, the room was filled with the chaos of sound made worse by the rushing waves crashing on the rocks of the shore. I could only wonder at what force had brought me here, and wonder even more at why. On the pedestal there was what looked like a single floating feather, I felt it pull at me with the strength of a siren's call, the need to hold it, to wield it pressed down on me like a mountain of desire. Before I knew what I was doing I was waking step by step closer to it, my true form emerging in the process. I didn't feel fear, I didn't feel anger or worry, there was just the need to hold the feather in my hand. As I grew closer I noticed a nib at the tip of the feather and realized it was a quill and behind it was a well of ink. It was old pottery and a stopper fashioned from coral and silver sat on its top. The tip of the nib flashed in the light, driving me to step even closer. I looked down and my outstretched hand was reaching into the heart of the amber light, the blue marks on my skin stretching and bending around the feather as my fingers closed around the neck of the quill. As soon as my fingers closed around its neck a choir of voices filled my head, the stone around me shattered and throngs and throngs of men and women, children and the old, all in circles, in a spiral around me were speaking all at once, in languages both known and languages I'd never heard. It brought me to my knees, the sheer force of the wills I felt, the tales and histories that would normally feed my essence passed over and through me, leaving me drained and hungry, stripped of nearly all my essence I was left on the cave floor, the moons light falling on me, the quill in one hand and mysteriously the ink well in the other. Now holding the ink and the quill together, all the faces and voices were gone. The only sound left was my rushed breathing and the swell of the waves.

It was after finding the quill and the ink that I hid it in the stone of the first story, I was weak after being stripped of almost all my essence but what I had was too valuable to keep even in my annex. I still had no clue how I had ended up there, or what force had brought me to it but I knew without a doubt what I had found. It wasn't just an expression, it wasn't a tool to cast essence around, it was the Quill of Destiny. Used by the Elder Gods to transcribe the stories that gave birth to the universe and everything in it. I put it here in the Stone for safe keeping and gave that to the sisters who were the only beings I trusted and knew were strong enough to keep it safe. It has been in their hands for generations of man, for the generations of some fey born creatures as well. The quill slipped into legend and then into myth until I found it. Then I made sure it stayed nothing more than a fairytale even among our kind, only my brothers and my sister knew what was hidden in our library, I hadn't told the sisters three. I only told them that they held something that could unmake even them and to keep it safely hidden, only to let me have the stone should I ever ask for it again. I always supposed that at least Isis knew what I had hidden there. She was the face of ending and the start of a new cycle after all. "I don't know what it has to do with this, but I remember something about it in the first story too." I said grabbing some eggs and toast while I refreshed my coffee."Who's helping?" I asked with more enthusiasm than I should have, making everyone groan into their cups.

"It's not a lot to ask!" I stated as I put my coffee down and looked around, it wasn't so much to ask that they help me get it out. Though it was a lot to ask, there was a reason I put it in the first story. Retrieving it would be like reaching through time itself. I not only tucked it away in the stone but the stone was an expression and as such repeated the story in cycle over and over deep inside the stone the tale played out and the quill was hidden somewhere between the characters, and tucked away in the story line. I doubt that the placement of the quill and ink was ever in the same place more than once or in any place for very long. "Ok, very funny guys."I said as they all walked out of the kitchen leaving a pile of dishes in their wake. I opened the door and yelled into the hall,"I'd do it for any of you!" Just as I gave up hope I saw them one after another coming back down the stairs with smiles. "We wouldn't leave you hanging, brother." Steven said as they all passed by me, picking up their coffees and tea.

I put my hand on the story of Gilgamesh and waited for everyone to join me, all together it would only take a small fraction of our essence and even less concentration, we wouldn't even need to use the flock formation. One hand then another hand, all placed on the stone, with one deep breath we were all pouring essence into the glyphs on the stone, my mind dived into the story and I saw two men standing off against one another, I witnessed a great flood, a boat lost in an ocean, an angry God, a happy God. Horses and sirens, birds , indestructible and powerful men. As I followed the story round and round I saw a feather caught in a tide, then blowing in the wind as a hand comes to Earth to form a man, I saw a quill on a table next to a pot of ink as a lesson was taught, then a mountain with a quill and ink at its top. I raced up to grab them both as the lines of the story passed me by, the flood was coming again. I could feel the cold water at my heels as I raced up the mountain side and with one jump I had them both in my hand and with another breath I was back in my body, my hand still on the rough stone and the light of the glyphs went dark. We took our hands off and in my other hand was the quill and the ink. I had essence left after diving into the story and held the voices of the quill at bay while I set the tools down on the table in front of me. I felt the voices give up their quest for my mind as soon as my fingers let loose the neck of the ancient pen. My essence and my mind were mine again. "That was fast." Robbie said,"I thought you weren't sure where in the story it would be." He wasn't wrong,"I got lucky when you all pushed the door open. I was able to brush through the entire story once and noticed it on a mountain top while the flood was rushing in. I had enough essence to push myself through to get it." I said as I sat down looking at a set of tools that should be at the command of our family. Stories are our bread and butter, so the Quill of the Destiny should be ours but these belong to no one and shouldn't be used by anyone, save the Gods of course. Still, why was I brought to them? Why could I hold them with such a small cost to pay? "More questions than answers right now brothers, sister." I added as I thanked them for their help. Shoulder pats and roughing of my hair were my responses as they filed out of the room leaving me alone with the elements of story, verse , and song. My next task was to translate the story from beginning to end to see what I had seen there. I hoped that I hadn't spent all this energy on a wild goose chase. So while I waited for Pogs to wake up I sat down and tucked into work. I translated throughout the morning and the afternoon until finally I heard the unmistakable creek of Pogs' room door. It was made out of what was left of a hollowed tree and didn't sit at a single right angle. It creaked and banged as the door opened and closed as well as letting in and out a great deal of air. As long as Pogs, is happy with it and that is all that matters. Thinking about it, I'm not sure that I've ever seen inside his room. I imagined it to be a large clear space under the canopy of great beautiful trees. With a stump half rotted as his damp, soft, and smooshy bed.To be honest though I couldn't be sure. Even Gilgemash preferred the comforts of home though. I can only hope that House recreated the Hinterlands in his room, comforts of home for him. So back to my translation.

"You know sir, you could use the internet to find a translation of that." I heard Pogs' gravelly voice. He spoke as he entered the kitchen, then stopped dead in his tracks."What in the hells is that?" He asked, rooted to his place in what looked like horror. He was staring right at the quill and inkwell. The look on his face told me that he knew what it was but I didn't think he was that old. "How do you know what this is?" I asked him."I hid it way before your time and I've had it hidden for over two thousand years." I looked at the set on the table. It did give off a feeling, a vibe of sorts but it wasn't outrightly apparent what it was. "We do have books, and scrolls, and stories about history, you know." Pogs was being sarcastic at this point. "I didn't mean to insult your intelligence, it's only that the Quill of Destiny has been nothing but myth for generations and when I found it it was nothing but stories and legends." I said to him a little taken aback, he had never spoken this way to me before. Maybe his hangover was getting the better of him. "Would you like something for your headache?" I asked him while I reached for my pouch with the silver clasp. I pulled out the cocoa leaf with a pinch of limestone. It will help you with the Billy Weed hangover. "Thanks." Pogs said as he took the leaf and stone from me.

"So you've had the Quill of Destiny all this time?" Pogs added as he sat down in his stool next to the cooker. It was a wood fireplace, then a wood stove now it was a gas range. House had upgraded it over the centuries, though I honestly had no idea where the gas came from. "Yes, I came across it after a nap, do you know who had it before I did?" I had to ask, I've been trying to find the holder before me. The quill had been lost to the Gods after a battle in the heavens. Some say it was the Gods vs. the Titans, others say it was Angels and Demons, still more say it was the Gods and their children. We don't actually know who the war was against, we only know that the Gods fought someone at some point and were afraid to give too many details. Just as Pogs opened his mouth to answer a hungover pixie came into the kitchen, looking much worse for the wear. The pixie half flew and half hovered up to the top shelf above the fridge, pulled out a handful of coffee from the jar and all but fell back to the floor and left the kitchen, all without saying a thing. "It was after the Mother of Trees was created, and after the oceans and the mountains were born. The Gods had just finished their battle. A great deal of things fell to Earth, a Bow, a Hammer, An Axe, A Chariot, the Quill and Ink, and a Tablet of spells." Pogs was saying as he chewed on his leaf before placing it in his lower lip. I knew all of that of course, it was part of all magical education. I hadn't remembered the chariot but the rest of it I knew, the Quill and the Ink were the most powerful of all the items. Many beings would assume the Bow, or Ax or hammer were the most powerful items to have fallen to earth. At most times that assumption would be true but the others were merely weapons the Quill of Destiny on the other hand could destroy the Sisters Three, it could shatter the world or make it start over. The two items together could kill the Gods or recreate them. The Quill with the Ink from the Well had the ability to write anything into being or out of it. "So who had it until I found it?" I asked again. Pogs was still tired, still recovering. "I'm not sure, to be honest. It might be somewhere in the scrolls from my home that might have the answer, that is if you want me to look?" Pogs knew I wanted him to look through and find whatever he might be able to find out,"Of course, if you don't think you can find it I could thumb through it." I looked sideways at him with a small grin. I knew he kept his family secrets and stories very privet. After he came here to the basement's makeshift hospital and healed up enough, and was able to talk and eat, the first thing he asked for was the stories from the Hinterlands. We put together a jump point and asked him to show us where they were stored. When the jump point activated and they came through the makeshift portal, House took them and stored them in what is now Pogs' room. I picked up the Quill of Destiny and left the room, leaving Pogs and the First Story behind. I finished translating it and had what I needed from the story. Still knowing who had the Quill before I did would help fill in the mystery of what was going on.