2.20 The Black Panther

        Eden led Medena, Seton and Malodon down the dormitory hall of the Meden Institute to Athenia's room, unlocked the door and stood back to let the gods inside. The room was a bloody mess, it looked like there had been an Aquillan Massacre inside. There was fresh blood splattered all over the walls, pungent odors of decay billowed out the room, already unbearable. Athenia's body was almost unrecognizable, parts of it lay splayed across the floor, blood was smeared across the whole room indicating there had been a prolonged struggle. Her stomach was torn open, her guts strewn, her hands heavily bloodied, still clutching the infant's skull.

         "Well that settles that then!" Malodon turned to leave. "Onward and upward."

         Medena wasn't impressed. "Does it have to be so messy? Who is supposed to clean that up?" Neither Seton or Malodon would answer, irritating her farther. "Won't there be a lot of wasted Product?"

         A large falcon spiralled down from the sky and landed on the upper branches of the ancient Yew tree that grew outside the Crystal Temple, sending a shower of red berries tumbling to the ground. Mina smiled, eyes closed she could tell it was the falcon simply by the weight on the branch, he often perched in the tree at this time of day. The ancient tree that grew outside the temple was a favourite meditation spot, a place of serenity that her ancestors had used for meditation as long as the Crystal Temple had existed in time. Once upon a time there had been an obsidian wand embedded into the ground, an ancient Solarian artifact which had served as an energy conductor but it had been stolen and all that was left to mark the spot was a spiral of crystal rocks, embedded into the ground. In the wand's place, the Lemurians had crafted a makeshift device allowing them to feel any spiritual presence among them through reflected light; an Obsidian Goblet, filled with mineral-rich water from the river An, charged with the energy of their hearts.

         Mina clutched the goblet tight as she pondered the recent string of events, the latest refugee was no different from the last, or the one before... What was the message? Had illness seriously befallen Atlan? As the light reflected from the goblet danced across her face, she sensed a dark being dashing behind her. Black Panthers weren’t usually good divinations at all. She glanced up toward the clouds moving fast across the sky... The skies only confirmed her divinations were charged with energies surrounding her, there was a time of powerful transition brewing, this was a warning. Could the Archonic forces be flexing their muscles once again?

         She studied the pyramid's shadow against the schoolhouse spire, a degree closer to the solstice mark. The Winter Solstice was special this year, the moon would be full, this was a powerful eclipse accompanying the arrival of this new comet, and so many Black Panthers of late. The rumors of a Coming War ought to perhaps be taken seriously, this was exactly the sort of astrological climate the Archons liked to hijack.

         Unease growing in exponential ways now, Mina realized this could very well be history repeating itself, they would be wise to prepare. They had all seen an eclipse this close to the Solstice, complete with comet and Black Panthers once before, a long time ago when they had no idea what Black Panthers were; the Time they almost lost their whole world forever. To Mina, fear was a stranger, an enemy, but this fear was like an old friend, warning her. Her thoughts shifted back to Zara... Was there some kind of knowledge to be learned from her timely arrival?

         Nulu and Zara found Mina sitting under the yew tree, reflected sunlight from the obsidian goblet dancing across her face, almost glowing with light, immediately reminding Zara of the Unicorn. 

        Sensing their approach, Mina put the goblet down and rose to greet them, pleased by how much better Zara looked already, in spite of her crippling case of Fear, written across her face. "Come inside, I just made some tea."

         Terrified indeed, Zara followed Mina through the temple hall into a quiet candlelit meditation room. There were cozy couches dressed with woven blankets and beaded pillows, a rustic bookcase laden with old books gave the room a musty smell, exotic crystals and ornaments decorated the space everywhere she looked, it was like a miniature museum. The sweet aroma from the pot of tea awaiting them on the table was therapeutic, helping her feel at ease.

         As if a stranger watching her life from another’s body, Zara listened while Nulu recanted her horrific account of Atlan to Mina. Hearing her story being told by another was shocking! It made her question her very own words! Had she really said those things? How could it be true? How could it possibly have been that bad? Was she overreacting? Had she simply malfunctioned? It couldn't be true!

         Mina listened with growing concern, the dreadful account only validated her suspicions of late, she could see all this in Zara's eyes. She was beginning to see that perhaps Zara's arrival wasn't a coincidence at all, that perhaps Zara was a messenger of sorts. She slid a finely carved wooden box towards her and opened the lid. "Would you like to draw an Emerald Tile?"

         Zara examined the emerald green tiles neatly stacked inside the silk-lined box, she had never seen anything like it. "What are they?"

         "Divination tools" Nulu informed. "By selecting the tile which speaks to you, we can better understand your journey" Mina explained. "They are like windows into our Spirit World, our challenge, our path."

         "Windows?" Zara studied the opaque slabs of rock, she had never heard anything so ridiculous in her life, was this the lunacy that Atalon mocked them of? Feeling ridiculous, curiosity won and she reached for a tile of choice, one side was polished smooth the other side rough with lines, some strange design was engraved on the surface, symbols she couldn’t read and a scary looking skeletal character she didn't like. Gently she placed it on the table, stumped.

         Mina and Nulu leaned in to study the tile. "Death" they unanimously chimed.

         For a moment, Zara went into shock again. Nausea, dizziness and a pounding heart were common in Lemuria; were these symptoms of Hellias? What were they implying? "Death?"
         "Don't be afraid" Mina assured, smiling kindly. "The Emerald Tile does not foretell of a physical death!"