A Recurring Bliss

"Who's there?" said as he slowly turned back to see where the sound came from.

Hello? Is there anyone here? He asked again, trying to hide the fear in his voice as he spoke, but around him, he only saw trees and the old leaves that glided to the ground in a very odd pattern.

With this, he was now sure that there was indeed someone with him.

For the last three days had Sam been walking through the rough terrains between the Caspian Sea and the Elburz mountains trying to pass the huge peak east. But since last night, he has been noticing unusual events happening around him. It felt like someone or some presence was lurking around him

Just today morning, when he woke up and went outside his worn-out tent, he heard a high-pitched screech, and it was moving! The foul sound was moving through the wind. As this mysterious figure flew he could only make out shades of brown through the thick dense fog.

It was now afternoon when heard another sound, but this time it wasn't a screech or any kind of sound by an animal. This was different. It was of a person and that of a woman.

He thought that it could be a gang of witches, a cult, or even worse and unlikely a spirit lurking for vengeance.

Sam had expected all of these when he decided to come here, moreover, his father had already talked about this place a lot, his father once a renowned researcher said that this was a place where the most important for humanity was found. Reminiscing the past Sam kept going up as he was in a hurry.

Sam took his water from his backpack and gulped it down as he had been walking uphill since morning and the heat had already made him exhausted, but he had to cross the peak of the mountain.

3 days earlier

"Are you sure you want to do this? "

she asked her son who's at the gate to board the flight to Iran.

"Yes, I have to find out whether he was right, said Sam."

"Son, I know how close he was with you and how much you care about his legacy, but don't you think this story is just a dead end." she said with a motherly compassionate voice hoping to make him stay.

"No, mama, it ain't just a story, I know it in my heart. All his life and even on his deathbed he said about it, If it weren't for his illness.. he would've.." His words quivered as his eyes went down.

She held his arm more and said- "Sam, I just want you to be safe, it's only been only a couple of months since he has left us and now you're the only one I have now. I just, hope that you know what you're doing, Sam"

Now

After crossing the mountain, he felt a bit proud of himself, A proud feeling of having persevered all the obstacles. He shouted out - Whoo... The sound of his celebration went through the woods and the whole green valley resonated with it. By this time he had reached a safe spot, it was evening and he saw the sun setting into the horizon.

For the night he decided to rest under Persian ironwood, a tree known for having different shades of leaves throughout the year. It was the fall.

He set up his tent under the small space where it seemed like the roots had parted ways and the fallen leaves of bright orange seem to have made him a cushion of sorts. He patted his fingers through the leaves to check if there was anything underneath it but didn't find any on layers of leaves which felt like a cold mattress of sorts.

Sam was very delighted as he found a good place to fall asleep.

3 months earlier

"Sam, Sam where are you." A frail and weakened voice from upstairs

"Dad, what is it......Dad?"

It's the third time today, Sam said to himself as he was walking upstairs. He was annoyed but tried to hide it as he reaches his father's room.

"Did you call me, dad?"

"ah! Son, come here; sit beside me" Sam slowly walked towards him and sat on a chair beside him. It has not been easy for him in the last few years. Especially after the illness struck him.

Sam's father was a professor and well-known researcher, but that was all before the incident.

"Do you need something? dad"

"No. Come here... I need you to sit here, I think I don't have much time left"

"What are you talking about," he said a bit loudly.

Now

Sam woke up to the same long-pitched screech he heard yesterday. He suddenly jumped out of his camp and saw a barn owl on the branch of the tree.

On the branch sat a ten-inch bird, a creature whose feathers were pure white with little shades of brown whose hue felt like bits of coffee mixing with milk. With its heart-shaped like a head, it bobbed its head looking at Sam.

oy' get away from here.. He started to shoo the bird away.

The bird bobbed his head again and said- "How did you learn about this place?"

as if struck by lightning, Sam was thrown back and fell onto his tent. What is this? Am I hallucinating? No this isn't happening? Sam started to blabber as he has already started to run in the opposite direction.

But she swiftly flew over his head and landed on a branch in front of him- "hey, I asked you a question, answer me"

He fell to the ground and with his eyes open and started shivering even more cause he recognized this voice, it's the same voice of the woman he heard in the woods last day.

"What are you? a spirit, witch tell me what are you?" he shouted at the owl.

"Calm down, human. I not a witch nor a spirit. I'm am Nyctimene, servant of the goddess Athena charged with safeguarding this forest. Now answer me how did you come to know about the secret of this forest."

Sam is still on the ground unable to speak let alone even think properly.

Nyctimene continues " I know why you're here, you're here for the potion; aren't you no men would climb the crystal peak unless they are looking for it.

Countless men have tried." After a pause, she continued " Now tell me, how did you come across this secret."

Sam who's now a bit relaxed said- " My father had entrusted me with the path to the sacred shrine of immortality."

The owl responded-Where did he find about it? There hasn't been anyone in centuries?

I have read something about the texts of Enheduanna and a message inside a diary of his.

Nyctimene said after a pause- " Well then follow me, the sun's up"

"Well aren't you gonna stop me or do something insidious to me" she immediately burst into laughter and her laughter felt strange for it sounded that of a child.

"We owls are wise creatures, we don't hurt anything unless for our food. That's why the god of wisdom choose us to be her companion. I only exist here to guide those through the path"

Sam suddenly got up on his feet and walked reluctantly as she flew and jumped around from one tree to another.

She continued-" What do you plan to do when you acquire it?"

"What, the portion?" said Sam.

He continued- "Well, who wouldn't want to stay immortal, to share the power of being timeless. I lost my father to it, but I could stay forever now."

Nyctimene-"oh, humans. They think it's a blessing."

By hearing this Sam was kinda confused at what she said and also curious to know why she said that. But he kept the questions to himself and tried to switch the topic

"So, you said earlier that only three people have ever won the prize, what did you mean by that"

She replied-"Yes, Three kings- Gilgamesh, Solomon, and Arthur. These men too sought out the prize among many countless others. But after this journey, they were the only ones who've chosen to stay mortal."

"What? staying mortal even after discovering that nothing they've built would go to ashes. Why would they do such a thing." Sam was surprised and a bit furious as he heard these names as his father had told him stories about them.

Well, how do you think the Olympus fell, how the gods fell from their posts and were stripped of their powers, it was their immortality that led them to such a fate.

"What, I don't understand, the gods were real, and why would their greatest gift be their curse. With infinite time you'd have all the time to do everything you want to do, right?" said Sam.

"You really think that a life without end is great, with infinite time you'd see your loved ones die and they get to start again but you only get to experience their loss and live through the centuries with all the pain.

You see, the gods in Olympia were just humans, and after a while, their souls were crushed by the memories throughout the millennia, it took a toll on them and the weight of all the atrocities done by them drove them insane. Even the vilest ones such as Ares and hades were struck by the emotional weight of their actions. After all, they were humans deep inside.

Everyone then cursed their immortality into- ichor the divine potion and stored it here in this forest. But Athena felt that humans would still try to get themselves cursed by this potion so she entrusted her immortality to me and I have been guiding the travelers through these rough terrains.

"No that can't be true, then what does life amount to. Are we just nothingness just banished to the dirt after our days."

Who said that life works like that, do you think life is just once, it repeats again and again, why do you think we age, it is for our souls to leave this body and carry on in a new body with new lives.

Those who choose to continue on this path, start out living happy. Delighted in the fact that they could do anything with no strings of time attached to them. But the notion of our days being numbered is what gives humans a reason to live and strive to find the so-called- 'meaning of life' as your species like to call it.

But as the years pass first the people they know and love move on to new lives with fresh starts. But then after a couple of centuries, they realize they have only gotten into a curse in which there is no escape. After a couple of years, this wears them down, killing them from inside.

This is the basic fabric of all living, and the whole world is just repeating this over and over again.

As they were saying this and walking, they've reached the bottom of the valley, It was a serene environment and a place filled with rocks and thick trees, and in the middle of it was a small stone cave-like and around it flowed two streams.

"Here is the end of your journey, human. May you find what you are looking for." She said this and then flew away into the woods.

He now started thinking and connected the dots. Why, why was Solomon the wisest, Arthur was the bravest, and Gilgamesh a changed man after his quest. He realized that this journey was for him to realize life's most prized lesson.

He realized that this life was not worth the pain of his soul being trapped in this life without an end. He understood what the owl said about life.

It is eternal, but not in a way that is supposed to break us. With this revelation he turned back and decided to leave the place behind.

He packed his stuff and started to walk through the valley as it led to the nearest town.

Seeing that Sam had taken her advice she flew atop of him and said-"na se evlogeí, thnitó" and vanished into the woods once again.