Scylla was on the older side. In fact, she was on the older, older side.  She had seen more winters than anyone else in the city, and was still wise beyond her years. Even though she had gone blind, she had seen more in her lifetime than I would in my next ten.

            Her interpreter Baron stood by her side. Scylla could no longer speak, so she communicated using a series of hand signals that only he could understand.  Her body may have been deserting her, but no one made the argument that her spirit was weakening.

            She waved her hands about wildly, her dead eyes looking through me, like I wasn’t even there. It was unnerving, but I knew she was my only hope to find out what I needed to know.

            “Scylla says she is glad to see you here today,” said Baron. “And that she is glad to see you again.”

            I gave her a confused look, forgetting she couldn’t see me. “But we’ve never met before.”

            Scylla moved her hands around some more, and Baron once again translated.

            “Before. After. It is all the same.”

            “Uh huh.” Spiritual people could be weird.

            “She says you came her today because you are looking for answers.”

            “That’s right.”

            “She says you know the answers. What you are seeking is the question.”

            I was pretty sure I didn’t know the answer, but I went along with what Scylla said. She wasn’t known as the Soothsayer of Sanctuary City for nothing.