Chapter twenty nine

Persephone, dressed in her finest royal mantle, A gown made of the finest scarlet silk. She was ready for battle. Something of such was sure to happen. Her soldiers were strategically lined along the ramparts, waiting for their Queen’s order to launch a deadly blow. The hive-minded kingdom stood no chance against the North’s secret weapon. Persephone strutted past the beautiful coral gates, stopping to have a reasonable discussion with the westerners before bloodshed got involved. Before her, the bottom feeders stopped. A golden fist held up in the air in their midst. It was their scheming queen. The western army split in half, making a path in the center of their kill rectangle. Yemoja rode proudly up the center of the streets stirring up a cloud of dust. From a distance, She had tousled spikes for hair which seemed like they were reaching to the heavens. Her skin was a shimmering golden with patches of rubbery black scales. Her eyes had a thousand hues of gold and a small touch of brown hazel radiating in softly swooping arcs.

“Is it not a wonderful morning?” The western queen began, swooping down her horse.

Ignoring the infuriating question, Persephone cut right to the chase. “Why are you here Yemoja?”

Yemoja took great satisfaction in the discomfort of Persephone. She threw her gaze to the queen of the north’s soldiers and grinned wider. “Do not pretend Persephone. Your soldiers are prepared for war and so are mine but it does not have to be that way. The second realm is dying. The west will not sit and watch that happen. If Poseidon’s household cannot wield the trident, Maybe a switch in power is what the second realm needs.”

Persephone scoffed. “You want to wield it?”

“No. I have a household too.” She said and her eyes fell on a young man just behind her. Persephone had not noticed him before but he looked different from the rest of them. He looked more human. He was part human, brown Adonis skin strikingly different from Yemoja’s, and his eyes were metallic yellow. A full-fledged demigod and one that was not in the books.

“Meet my son, Oba.”

“I have no interest in your affairs Yemoja. Turn back and we can all pretend this day never happened.” Persephone gently chipped, managing to sound threatening and polite at the same time.

“But we will not be doing that,” Yemoja said. “The Mareel ritual is upon us and I know very well how important it is to this realm… To you. You would not dare desecrate your only chance of keeping the trident with your family so here I am, daring you to finish us off.”

Persephone wished she could knock the pride the mother of the fish people had right off but sadly, Yemoja was right. She could not fulfill her desires at the time being. Not until the ritual was over. For the time being, It was her obligation to play along.

Persephone gave a false smile. “I guess my hands are tied.”

“They are Persephone. So, what is it going to be?”

Persephone leaned forward, close to the golden goddess, and spoke. “If your troops return, I have no choice but to say welcome to the Northern Kingdom.”
***

Sybil’s hands burst into hot ribbons of light. She screeched, bringing the attention of other practitioners in her direction. It was scary. Talia stepped back unsure of what was happening. Was it her or was something more sinister going on? She turned to the crowd who were just as afraid as her.

“Help her!!”

“We cannot help her.” A panicking voice informed. The speaker was a witch. Talia suspected it was a member of the Gemini coven. So she had to know what was up. “It is her pain. It is consuming her. She will be fine once she can seal it back.”
Talia was not sure if she could just wait for Sybil to conquer her pain She found it impossible to watch. Without thinking, She rushed to Sybil side. There were gasps behind her. Talia mumbled a healing spell but with nothing but shitty magic, Her attempts to heal her failed. Then she thought of using her vita. No, Not after what happened to Solomon. It then hit her. Despite the many eyes on her, Talia put a hand over the flames. It licked at her flesh but they did not burn. They were the epitome of Sybil’s pain after all. An emotion a succubus could absorb. A strange warm feeling suddenly flushed through Talia’s body. It was inviting and unrelenting, not until it had joined the infinite horizons of her soul. Her eyes flickered and she noticed the scenery changed. From her perspective, it was not the Alchemist's room anymore. It looked more like the… academy. Surprised, Talia turned her head around. There, in front of her was a young man speaking. Something about a betrothal and how he was worried about Simon. Sybil’s pain was this memory. Talia was creep-ed. She was in Sybil’s head.

“It is not your fault. Tell him. I know he will understand.” The person whose eyes she was viewing the scenario from said. It sounded a lot like Sybil.

“Okay.” The young man replied, hugging her. Then she watched him leave.
After a few minutes, Sybil followed, exiting her dorm and sprinting around the halls. The next thing she could hear was two males arguing.

“Are you afraid to let the coven know of us?” A voice from inside asked.

“No! But I cannot reject a betrothal. It is for the survival of the Gemini coven.”

“No. You are afraid. You are afraid of what people might say if they see the real you.”

“Simon…” The second voice said.

Simon…The monster everyone had compared her too during her time in the academy. He was Sybil’s brother’s lover. Almost immediately, A loud boom followed and a blinding orange flash made the eyes Talia saw from flutter. The door was forced and Talia saw firsthand what made Sybil such a monster. In front of her was her brother, shrunk charred skin on bones, his remains a wall of deadly heat and he was very much dead. The murderer? Simon Andre.

Sybil jerked her hands away, forcing Talia to return. She was back at the alchemist's room. She looked down at Sybil who drew back in fear. The fire had been put out and her hands were lacking burns. To sum it up, She was fine.

“How did you do that?” Sybil demanded.