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LXXIII

~~ On the Road Again ~~

For a moment the entire caravan was silent, the children gawped at her. Cosine breathed in again, the scents were stronger somehow. She looked down at her arms, her skin was darker than before, browned with a shimmer of green. She flexed her wings, the span larger than before. She felt funny, stronger, whole. More confident and ... something else too. Somewhere a baby cried out for attention.
"I should go and see your parents." She said to Ziya who looked suitably shocked. Cosine turned, put one foot forwards then crumpled to the floor as her legs turned to jelly. She laughed at the stupidity of the action. She was really on her way to true rebirth and she couldn't even walk. Drunk, that's how she felt.

Isra was one of the first to move. As a judge and therefore a tribal elder it was her job to act. She picked up a cloak from the floor next to her and hurried over to the fallen goddess.
"Here." She said, wrapping it around her bare shoulders. "Let me help you."
"Thank you." Cosine replied, leaning on the taller woman a little as she stood, then hugged the cloak around herself. "That was rather unexpected. Do I look very different?"
Isra smirked and nodded. "Yes, quite different, though not unrecognisable."
"I was coming to see you about something, I'm sure that's why I was here."
"We'll get you some tea."

Moments later Cosine was sat in the comfortable surroundings of Isra's home, a blanket wrapped around her and a cup of steaming tea in her hands. A dark haired little girl watched her with interest, her doll forgotten. Cosine smiled at her. Isra's daughter, she had been just an infant when they had met in Baadris.
"I think I'm remembering slowly." She admitted as she sipped the tea. "I'm going on a journey ... with Ankou. Somewhere." Maybe more tea would help, she blew on it and took another sip.
Isra sat down next to her and handed her daughter a cup of tea mixed with water to cool it down.
"A big journey?"
"Hmm, yes. Oh, yes, into the world tree. Infinity found some people and a place that may have been something to do with number. We're going to find it and bring the people back." She laughed and shook her head. "Gosh, imagine forgetting something as important as that. I wanted to borrow some clothes from you. For travelling, if you have any to spare."

Isra smiled at the absurdity of a goddess borrowing clothes from a mortal.
"We really must find you a seamstress. But yes, of course you can borrow some things from me. You'll need a nice thick cloak, I have several, I'll show you how to wear it properly to give yourself a hood too. I'll also give you something to go home in, we can't have you wandering naked through the pantheon."
Cosine giggled at that thought. "Why not? I am a goddess after all." She winked to show she was joking. "Thank you, though Isra, you're very generous."
"No, I just believe in helping. In times like these it's important. Very important. You finish that tea and I will find you some things."
Cosine nodded and sipped her tea happily. She liked being surrounded by the warmth of these people. They had little left yet they were willing to give what they did have to those who needed it. It was just sad the world had to almost be destroyed to bring a sense of community back.

Cosine stood in the long hallway of doors and stared at the one before her. It was large, the same size as Ankou's which stood to her right. This one, however was much different. Ankou's door was sombre, which suited his realm. Hers was a burst of bright colours in repeating spiral patterns in mosaic. The colours twisted and curled into one another, as she stared into them they looked like they might go on forever. The overall effect was much like the inside of a sunflower or the repetitions of a pine cone, the goddess smiled happily. She liked them, the patterns, the organisation of it. The colours suited her rebirth, her life certainly was not written in black and white any more.

This was hers. She did not have much that fully belonged to her. Certainly never her own home. At Echo's the room had been Lien's, then on her morph she had wandered and borrowed before finding refuge with Ankou. She knew his rooms were hers but still, they were made to suit him, his styles which was fine with her. But this, this was a place to let her imagination and her domain roam free.

Gingerly she pushed placed her hand on the door and gave in a push. It opened slowly with a bit of a creak to reveal a bright, colourful passageway. The walls and floor were covered in patterned tiles reminiscent of Islamic mosques and Moroccan courtyards. They reminded her of Baadris. The floor was nicely cool beneath her feet. The goddess followed the passage and found herself in a large, octaganal courtyard. It too was covered in tiles, a different colour and pattern from the hallway. Above, was the new sky, blue and clear through a roof, constructed of triangular panes of glass to form a low dome. The bright light shone off a circular pool of water, the same tiles visible through the ripples caused by a small, trickling fountain. Around the courtyard there were several doors, these were made of wood and carved with intricate geometrical designs and latticework. On the side opposite the passage there were columns that reached to the glass ceiling, between these, gauzy curtains hung, offering a misty glimpse of some rooms beyond. A light breeze blew through the courtyard, stirring the thin material of the curtains. Cosine smiled. It would be the perfect place to relax, and at night she would be able to admire the stars with ease.

It seemed easy to start with what she could see, so she scooped one of the soft, silky curtains back with her hand and stepped through into a large, high ceilinged room. Here the walls were painted an off white, with more patterned tiles covering the floor. It was clearly a living room with comfortable, plain sofas surrounding a low coffee table, beside the sofas a large tiled fireplace with painted alcoves either side. Plenty of room for books on the shelves that sat within them. The ceiling here was also glass, with a lantern or latticed metal hanging from the middle. Also in the room was a chess table and a round table for card games. She smiled running her fingers over the smooth wood and walked towards some more gauze curtains that hung between columns. This time they led to a balcony. It was simple stone and looked out over the gardens of the pantheon. There was a stone bench and a table and chairs with flowers in planters dotted along the edge. She could see herself spending a lot of time sat there, taking in the scents of the Pantheon’s exquisite gardens and enjoying the warmth of the sun, or a cool breeze at night.

The balcony stretched to her left, she followed it and entered back through another set of curtains. This time she was in what looked like a library. There were shelves of books, some comfortable chairs and in the middle a desk with a healthy supply of parchment. She wandered over to it and smiled. On top of the desk was the huge leather bound volume that Lien had found in the library. Her old records. In fact, the shelves around her contained similar volumes all with different labels. Some said Treasury, others Underworld, others offerings, followers, library. They were accounts, catalogues and records linked to various gods and realms. She walked back out into the courtyard and looked at the doors. They were all rather similar. One door was larger, a double door. Deciding that this meant something important lurked behind Cosine pushed it open. Beyond was another large, airy room. The tile patterns in there were pale greens, blues and purples. In the middle of the room was a bed with pale covers. Aside from the light hanging from the glass ceiling it seemed to be the only piece of furniture. She wondered if she would even need to sleep now, or if it were just the underworld brothers that did not need to rejuvenate themselves.

To the left of where the bed was placed was another, smaller door, she opened this and smiled as she found herself in a bathroom. There was a large tiled bath that looked out to another balcony and a door that led to a large dressing room and wardrobe. All rather extravagant she decided, heading back to the bedroom which also opened onto the balcony with only curtains to divide outside from in. Although the rooms were large, the furniture was simple and not ornate like the tiles that covered the floors. She liked that it was open and airy, like being outside almost.

The other, smaller courtyard doors led to various other rooms. For her aoide she imagined. The last door opened into a dining room and a kitchen beyond. Would she need to eat now? That was yet another thought. A soft miaow caught her attention. Cosine looked down and smiled as she spotted Shandar, Lien's cat, looking up at her with a 'who the hell are you' expression.
"Well, I thought I'd lost you." She smirked, crouching down and scratching behind the winged cat's ears. "Welcome home." She said as he purred loudly.

Cosine stepped around the piles of books that covered the library floor. There were people working in the main hall, scribing old books into new. Normally she would have been fascinated but she was on a mission. She knew that before the fading she had kept all sorts of records, in her mind it would make perfect sense to keep a list of locations, temples. Inventories of some kind.

It was dark down the twisting halls of the labyrinthine building. If it even was a building. It seemed impossible to have so many rooms and tunnels within the pantheon. Like the rooms of the Gods it was as though stepping into the library was stepping into another world. She walked down to the level where Lien had found her desk and the book of the Underworld. It was dustier than it had been. She could see clearly that some of the volumes had been damaged. Something would have to be done about that.

She walked to the shelves and reached her hand out, her fingers brushing the spine of one of the large volumes. Written by her perhaps, or scribes. Yes, that would be more likely. Slowly she wandered down the rows, she did not need to read the spines, somehow she knew, like a sixth sense. Nothing resembling locations. Down another row, nothing, another until she came to a door. At first it seemed like any other door, until she looked closer. It had a circular design in the middle like the spokes of a wheel. Between each was a raised number. Buttons. Cosine reached out to touch them lightly, as she ran her fingers over the ornate metal design she found a sequence of numbers pop into her head. A code? This was a safe of some kind perhaps?

There was one way to find out. Slowly she pressed in the numbers as they came to her. The buttons were stiff though thankfully she now had more strength. Once she had pressed the last button in there was a clunking sound, a screeching as gears long since rusted forced themselves to move. One final clunk and a handle appeared.
“Interesting.” she said to herself before reaching out to take it in her hand. She twisted it and pulled slowly.
“Don’t come any closer!” The was unexpected and made her jump. There was someone inside?
“I’m not going to hurt you.” She called out in reply. “I’m Cosine, Goddess of Number.”

Silence followed.
“Truly?”
“Truly.”
Cosine opened the door wider to reveal herself. Light spilled into the room that had once been locked to show a cat woman, stood at the back against some shelves with a large book raised up as if she were about to throw it. She was like Jinx, only calico coloured. Her eyes widened and she lowered the book.
“It is you.” She said softly putting the heavy book down and grinning. “Of course you look different, i think. I can’t remember much.”

Cosine looked around the store room and smiled.
“That makes two of us” She stepped into the room and looked around. It was not how she imagined something associated with her would be. The books were piled everywhere in a chaotic fashion. not really her style. From the looks of things they were ledgers, like the ones on the shelves outside, huge leather bound volumes with marbled patterns on the page edges. it would need to be tidied, though her whole space needed organising. The volumes sorting and decisions made as to whether they were relevant or not. It seemed that perhaps they had been placed there in a hurry.
“Do you remember how you got here?” She asked tracing a finger in the thick dust.

“Um, I remember what I was. I was head scribe, I imagine I was helping move the books here. You ordered us to move them to a safe place when the temple began to crumble. I must have been here since then.
“I seem to have catalogued everything.” She mused, wondering if it were really necessary.
“Oh yes, everything.”
Cosine reached out and touched the spine of one of the large books.
“Ah, she said with a smile. Locations.” If she hadn’t written everything down then her search for location would have been much more difficult. Cosine hauled the volume up and set it heavily on top of another set of books. As she dumped it down the breeze caused by the motion sent a cloud of dust into the air, the candlelight flickered and Cosine coughed as particles hit the back of her throat. The cat girl joining her. They really needed a god of cleaning to be reborn.
“What’s your name?” she asked as she opened the cover carefully, it made a crisp sound as old paper did as she turned the cover page.
“Kleo.”
“A nice name.” Cosine was looking at an astral map, a linking of worlds by lines and symbols. Next to each was a number and a cross reference. A list of her temples in the known worlds. Surely she would find the one she was looking for ... it just might take a while.

She studied the maps for any clues. Some worlds were not inhabited by human species. She could discount those. Some were desert, some mostly ocean. Characteristics that did not match what she could remember from her vision. There had been forest and the buildings had looked like those from Lien’s memories.

Slowly she eliminated factors and fought to remember as much as she could. The priest had been wearing deep blue robes. Was this significant? Had there been symbols? She closed her eyes and tried desperately to remember.

Nothing.

She reached into her pocket and pulled the bead out. It was ordinary, though it carried the essence of the place. She held it tightly and closed her eyes.
“Where are you?” The goddess whispered. There was nothing for a moment. Then, slowly she saw it. That run down temple in what had once been a thriving forest. She could feel the mortals though they were not anywhere she could see. And something else...

Cosine opened her eyes and looked down at the map. She scanned it carefully until she saw them.
“Kurakami.” Next to the name were several numbers. III.362. Volume3. “Kleo, could you find me this?”
Kleo had been watching her patiently. She moved forwards and peered at the number. “Of course.” It did not take her long to locate the volume. She picked it up off the floor with ease and placed it next to the volume they had open.
Cosine opened it carefully and turned the crisp pages to 362. It was ornately transcribed. By aoide she imagined. The name of the world at the top, followed by a map. Several temples marked out in bright green. Only one fitted the description of the one she wanted. Near a town and on a forested hill.

All she had to do would be to work out which door. Though Ankou would know. Just as carefully as she had opened it Cosine closed the book up. She looked the shelves over once more to see if there was anything else that might be of use. Then glanced at Kleo.
“Right, I have found what I was looking for.” She said, gesturing to the book. “But I cannot help but think that this room needs some organisation. You will help me?”
Kleo nodded. “Of course Lady.” She said with an eager smile. “Of course.”
“Good, then I will show you to my rooms, you may take one of the spare rooms as your own.”
Kleo smiled and nodded.
“Thank you, thank you so much. I thought I was going to be trapped in here for eternity.” She glances around the room. “Right, let’s start with these locations.”