Dragon Sitter

 A young adventurer finds a quest spiraling out of control

Lady Minos

I stand proud at one of the many Royal Palaces. I'm not a queen, but all this area may as well be mine. I grew up out of poverty and with my wits and feminine wiles became a highly influential courtesan on this island.

But my deepest secret is that I'm not a native of this land. Not even of this land but of this time. I was once a scientist, an engineer from the far flung future. And most jarringly, a man. It's so far into the future that it almost seems magical compared to this primitive civilization. But I'm thankful I'm here. I definitely died or I would have died had I stayed in the future. 

I get a mild headache and my ample chest feels heavy whenever I think about my past life. I need to walk off my constant, heavy thoughts. And let the warm Mediterranean breeze lift my spirits. As I dig my toes into the sand and gain a brisk pace, I remember what led me to my strange new life...

I was one of the main equasionists of the Temporal Atom Diffusion Sequence. A rudimentary form of time manipulation. My formulas granted a deeper understanding of mass displacement. But at the time my superiors never knew it was time travel. 

They just simply knew it as a way to increase mass and explosive yield to conventional weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear was out and TADS were in. A bomb could me made to 'cook' for a few centuries absorbing all sorts of radical energies and increasing its yield over time. And they could be placed at any time and anywhere. 

I being the one who perfected the formula started by others, grew increasingly paranoid over the decades. I was advancing the technology into unheard of heights. Yet I knew my days were numbered. When I run out of my usefulness to my government, they'll find a way to get rid of me. But with all my years of intellect, my brain could be cloned indefinitely. So I needed to disappear from this time. Wars and destruction were the norm. Humanity was conquering worlds in other star sectors. I had no choice but to escape into the past. 

It took a further twenty years for me to perfect my one way time travel formula. By then I was a crazy old coot. I made sure years ago not to advance the terrible technology I had created. I had new  equations locked in my head, only for getting me to escape this cursed timeline. Nobody could get me to spill my secrets, and I left no paper trail for my peers to copy me. Eventually I had created the  Mother of all TADS. Super compact, super deadly, and built for one. Me. The government was happy and excited to see my final experiment. But they didn't know that it was going to explode in an accidental early detonation. It's going to take out a ten mile chunk of the world. Small indeed. 

My purposeful accident was elegantly orchestrated. I had no qualms exploding it. I wasn't afraid. I was an old man ready to die. The military industrial complex that surrounded me was full of drone clones and arrogant big-shots all who could be easily replaced. Only the top military would mourn the death of the mad scientist who's genius helped conquer the star sector.

Click. Boom.

I became re-aware of my life. I knew my body disintegrated, yet I felt alive again. I was suckling greedily at a breast of a woman. I was being carried by said woman. My mother. It was my earliest memory. As a baby, I had no choice but to be that. a baby. I grew up trying to calculate how such a miracle could happen. I guess I did time travel. But to what time? I couldn't tell. As a scientist, I couldn't comprehend how the miracle of rebirth and reverse reincarnation. I dare not say its faith, since I never was religious to begin with. My only guess is something in my DNA.

As the years went by and I grew up to be a fine dame. I had learned many things. One, no one suspects a prostitutes daughter. Yeah, I had no choice but to learn my mothers profession. The island is peaceful, but you still have to eat and gain wealth somehow. Two, Knowledge is power. No matter what the millennium. Only let out little by little, Otherwise you'll be branded a witch. But at least this island is tolerant and it's civilization seems a little meritocratic. I may have started out a mere slut. But I gained connections and pleased my men. And with my knowledge of the future, I have saved lives and earned political prowess. I'm beloved by the people. And this makes me proud. I was once a man that killed millions. But now I'm a woman who serves and protects her people. 

Third. It took me a few years to figure out where I was, and when I was. Learning the language was easy, but I was out of context to say what part of the world I was in. I was a scientist, not a historian. But I remembered that my ancestors were Greek. So that was a clue. I had learned the island was volcanic as there was eruptions and earthquakes. I got my fame as I helped the citizens escape a bad event and was hailed a hero. It came to me. I had studied it years ago in my youth. I was in the times of the Minoan Civilization. But the people here don't call themselves that. They're simply the people.

I began to worry. This island Thera, is one day is going to blow up! But with no further context, I had to give up. It could be one hundred or one thousand years away. I would be long dead by then. All I can do is live my life and make it comfortable for the rest of my life as a woman. All my futuristic knowledge doesn't mean anything in this simple past. I hope I can impart something to help these peoples succeed. Even my basic know how can greatly improve the lives of others on this island....

In my wandering, I left the beach. I made it to my sheep pens. My dogs happily wagged their tails as they saw me. Soon my slave boys saw me. They have been busy cleaning the pens and maintaining my small farm. I enjoy the simple farm life as well as hanging out in the many palaces with the princes I lay in bed with. It is an uneasy truce, as the three princely brothers fight to court and woo me. I have my fun flirting and toying with each of them. Any one of them would be a fine husband to have. But for now I'll be shared by the three. I don't mind. Such is the life I've carved out for me in this ancient past that is now my current existence.