Get busy dying, or get busy living.

The temple of the oracles…

Castalia, Calisto and Calliope sat at the center of their fire, their eyes closed as they meditated and breathed in the incenses burning around them. Since Boston had left to deal with their intruder, they had been given a moment of silence to delve into the ether of the future and screen its secrets, like they have for centuries. Their hands held in each other’s as they chanted silently, the three breathed in again in their mantras. Here in this moment, they knew peace. Here in this moment, they were connected to many moments in time.

“LADIES! WE’Z GOT A PROBLEM!”

Broken out of their meditation by the disembodied voice of Boston Brand calling out to them, the three elderly looking women looked up at the ceiling for the ghost.

Looking up from her seat, Calliope called out from the floor. “What is it Boston?”

“Has Derinoe been detoured?” Asked Castalia, hoping for good news.

“She’s dead! And so are the three guys on the island if we don’t find them quick. You gotta help me!”

Looking to each other, the three oracles frowned and shook their heads. Grabbing a handful of the soot she had in a bowl at her feet, Castalia threw it into the fire where the smoke blew up and took shape, molding like a clay sculpture to the oracle’s skilled hands. There, Boston could see the fates of the three on the island. Harper was safe in Diana and Nubia’s embrace, Gary fell to his **** in the woods of the island, and Phin…

“The boy will be spared the wrath of our maddened sisters… But I fear the same cannot be said of his father and elder.”

“Well then we’z gotta save them before that happens!”

Looking to each other again, the oracles lowered their heads.

“What? You gotta know some way to stop this!”

“We are bound not to interfere with the fates of mortals Boston Brand. Our task is to see the strands of fate, not bend them to our desires.”

“I’m not talkin about cheating the lottery or braking the bank at a casino, we’re talkin about two lives on your own home turf!”

“We cannot interfere.”

“But ya helped me with the sails!”

“No one was harmed in the act and life continued; fate had not been altered.” Explained Calisto, sombre in her self-imposed duty. “Their lives are fated to end.”

For a brief moment, the three could hear Boston cry out as if pulling out his hair over their heads. Screaming and raging all the while.

“AWW FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD! WHAT’S THE POINT OF SEEIN THE FUTURE IF YOU HAVE NO SAY IN IT?!” Boston yelled. “That’s it! You ladies are gonna help me save all of’em.”

“We TOLD you Boston Brand, we cannot interfere in their fates.”

“You are gonna help me save them! OR so help me… I’ll sing again!”

The three went stiff at the threat, with Calisto gasping at the prospect of enduring such **** again. “You wouldn’t dare!” There was silence then, leaving the three to look around anxiously for what Boston had planned.

I'm Henery The Eighth, I Am! Henery The Eighth, I Am, I am! I got married to the widow next door, she's been married seven times before. And ev'ryone was a Henery, she wouldn't have Willie or a Sam. I'm her eighth old man named Henery, Henery the Eighth, I Am! Second verse same as the first!... I'm Henery The Eighth, I Am! Henery The Eighth, I Am, I am! I got married to the widow next door, she's been married seven times before. And ev'ryone was a Henery, she wouldn't have Willie or a Sam. I'm her eighth old man named Henery, Henery the Eighth, I…”

“ALRIGHT!” Castalia screamed, she and the others on their backs with their hands to their ears as they rocked back and forth in agony. “ALRIGHT! WE’LL DO IT!”

“Please… No more!”

“Alright girls, lets see if we can put that power of yours to good use.”

*

Making their way out of the mausoleum at the island’s cliffside, the three elderly looking women made their way down the path and head into the woodlands just outside the palace and city. Even though there was no path to follow, the three oracles knew where they were headed as they looked around and squinted from the sunlight overhead. Not used to being outside the mausoleum.

“Well? Are we getting close?” Asked Boston, hovering nearby as he followed them.

“He fell here, by the riverbed.” Pointed Calisto, over at the tree canopy overhead where broken branches could be seen. “His impact was softened by the waters which carried him down stream.”

“Well come ON, let’s find him!”

Stepping out into the bank of the river, the three ran as fast as they could, following the current until they found an outcrop of rocks before the waters crashed down into a waterfall that fed into the ocean. There they found Gary, draped over the rocks as the waters flowed around him and pulled him ever slowly off the outcrop. Heading into the waters until they were waist deep, the three amazons sluggishly made their way through the current until they had reached him, just at the second of him slipping off the rock and nearly falling down the waterfall into the sea.

Slinging his arm over her shoulder, Calliope was soon joined by Castalia who took Gary’s other arm and sung it over her own shoulder, making their way back to the shore where Calisto helped settle Gary into the dry earth of the riverbed. Laying on his back, the man didn’t budge or open his eyes, his skin pale from being in the cold water for so long.

“He is not breathing.”

“Were we too late?”

“He’s probably got water in his lungs, any of you ladies know CPR?” Asked Boston, looking to the three women who looked back to each other in confusion.

“See… Pee…?”

“Oh for the love of…” Wringing his hands over his head and looking back down at the man, Boston dropped his arms to his sides before rubbing his hands together. “Okay then, you can hate me later, but here I come.”

Jumping into Calisto’s body, the woman shuddered and fell to her knees in from of the man on the ground and immediately started turning his head to the side and checking his pulse. To the bewilderment of the other two oracles, their sister bent at the waist and pressed her lips onto his, blowing into his mouth before sitting up again and gently pressing down on his chest while silently counting down each time she done so. Repeating the gesture as she alternated between breathing into his mouth and pressing down on his chest.

“Come ON Gary, stay with me her!” Calisto called out in a thick Brooklyn accent, leaning down to breathe into his mouth again. “Was bein on an island full of gorgeous women so damn hard to deal with? You want yer kid to grow up an orphan in this place? They don’t even know what BASEBALL is up in here.”

Still not getting a reaction after a few seconds, Calisto resorted to slamming her fist into his chest to get his heart going.

“COME ON GARY! BREATHE FOR ME! BREATHE!”

At that moment Gary Thracy arched his back and gurgled as fluid escaped his mouth and he vomited fluids out of his lungs, the woman turning him on his side to help him flush it all out of him, rubbing his back gently as he continued to convulse out **** breathes and coughs.

“That’s right… Breath in, breathe out, nice and slow, nice and…”

“YOU… YOU BREATHED NEW LIFE INTO HIM!” Gasped Castalia, falling to her own knees to help the man now that he wasn’t dying. Calisto shivered as Boston left her body, and she found herself knelt in front of the now breathing man still prone on the ground. A strange sensation came over her as a shiver coursed through her body. Looking down at her frail looking hands, she found they regained their youth and vigor, her skin and muscles regaining their smooth tightness when she brought them to her face and discovered she felt soft cheek and pursed lips.

The three went over his body to check for injuries, seeing him wince when Calliope discovered his arm was broken.

“You got anything to tie that back so we can fix him up?” Boston asked, leading the woman to tear a strip of fabric from her gown to use as a sash to cradle his injured arm. The moment she did, she gasped as she felt her body shift and change. She could hear her bones creak and her muscles twitch as she grew younger, more healthy. Her leathery skin becoming soft and smooth, and her regaining its body and vibrancy as it flowed down her back.

“His leg is broken too.”

“Try lookin for a couple of branches so we can tie his leg back together.

Getting up to her feet, Castalia ran into the brush and looked around, finding a pair of branches and stripping them of leaves, just as she returned to her sisters and pulled strips of fabric from her own robes and tied them around his leg to keep the injury from getting worse. When she was done, Castalia gasped as she felt her body shift, her clothes suddenly filling out as she filled out her robes where once they hung off her loosely, her hair flowing down her shoulders to obscure her now beautiful face as she sat up and pulled it all back to see herself and her sisters.

They had regained their beauty, the prospect still hitting them like a ton of bricks as they heard Gary stir and try to look around. “Wha…?”

The man blinked with renewed clarity, sitting up and looking down at himself to check for any other injuries with his good hand and nodding with approval when he found none more.

“THERE we go.” He spoke in a Brooklyn accent, hinting he was being possessed by Boston. “Now we can bring him back to that purple ray thingamajig and patch him up, AND with me behind the wheel it’ll be a lot faster, now help me get this guy back on his… Mmmph!!”

Boston was caught off guard, with his eyes wide open when a tearful Calliope pulled him in for a passionate kiss. The ghost left speechless as soon as she pulled away he was pressed against another pair of lips, this time Castalia who peppered his lips and chin and nose in kisses as she sobbed. “Uhm… Ladies…” Calisto captured his lips next while the others wept, holding the injured man close as they expressed their gratitude to the man.

“We never knew! We never realised…” Castalia wept, holding Boston close as the three helped him to stand on his good leg.

“So many we could have helped and we sat back and did NOTHING!”

“Never again! NEVER again!”

“Okay ladies… Can we uhm… Get this guy to the purple ray? I may be steering but I’m sure this guy’s aching inside. Come on.”

Nodding and wiping their tears dry, they aided the injured man back to the city, being sure to prevent further injury as they navigated their way out of the forests and back to the city. All the while their appearance continued to change. Hair growing fuller, skin tightening, curves restoring. Stopping to check on his injuries to be sure he wasn’t getting worse and surprising Boston further when they expressed more affection. Whether that affection was towards Gary or him, Boston was unsure.