Jonas & Rahmatju's Odyssean Quest

The door slammed shut behind me as I walked down the hallway of my childhood home. I could still hear my mother's voice through the thin walls, she was wailing and screaming at my father.

"I'm leaving you with the kid, if you leave her don't expect a penny of my money!"

I looked at my watch; it read: 14th day of Ascendant, year 90 BCE. From the corner of my eye, I saw a woman walking by me. She wore a long blue dress and what appeared to be some sort of veil over her face. The veil was adorned with intricate designs that seemed to glow in an ever changing array of colors. As she walked past me, I noticed that her feet left no print on the dusty ground. She stopped and turned around for a moment. She smiled at me and waved before walking down the street without looking back. I shrugged off my confusion and continued towards my destination.

I finally reached my destination after what felt like hours of walking through the busy streets of Antioch, capital city of Antiochus IV Epipnius, King of Kings and Conqueror of Gods! My destination was a small shop located on the corner between two streets in the city center district. The sign hanging from the front door read "The Temple Of The Wise One".

It looked like an abandoned shop, but when I looked closer at the sign hanging from above the door I noticed a small blinking light above it. There was also what looked like a worn out piece of paper taped to the door which read "closed", yet another note written on it said "please wait". I shrugged it off and knocked on the door. A loud buzzing sound came from inside followed by someone yelling "hold on", followed by some thuds that sounded like they were made by heavy footsteps walking towards the door before it opened up revealing a man standing behind it. He was wearing a gray robe with some kind of strange hood placed over his head and obscuring his face in shadow making it impossible to see his face under it.

"Have you come to learn about enlightenment?" he asked in a deep monotone voice that somehow seemed to echo throughout my entire body, resonating within me for moments after he had stopped speaking.

"Uh yeah" I replied quickly, "I've been having some trouble lately."

"What kind of trouble?" he asked as he stood there motionless, staring at me with two glowing red eyes hidden under his hood.

"Well for starters I'm turning into a dog."

His eyes went wide as he took several steps back from me but then just as quickly returned to his previous state before replying: "the Wise One welcomes all who wish to learn about enlightenment." He turned around and walked into the darkness beyond the entranceway which led into an even darker room filled with what looked like candles or some other kind of light source along with other mysterious equipment that I couldn't identify with my limited knowledge of advanced technology displayed in ancient times before falling into an age where so called wisdom and intelligence were replaced by superstition and ignorance thanks to such things as holy wars waged in the name of one god or another! Thankfully we are now living in an age where people are free to worship whatever gods they wish regardless of their origins or cultures despite what others may say! Now if only everyone else would realize this fact!