Chapter thirty nine

It was dark inside. An enveloping pitch black that managed to trip her of even a hazy sight of whatever was in front of her.

"Talia!" Talia heard Solomon's voice call out to her.

"Yes?" She answered, slowly threading to the path of the light. There was nothing here but darkness after all. As she walked towards the door, the hypnotic whispering her mother returned.

"Talia, Where are you going?" This time, the voice was so close that Talia felt hot air breathed into her skin. In response, she swiftly turned in direction of the voice. The wind caught her hair. No! It was a hand. Talia knew she could not be imagining it. Staring down at her was a woman standing frozen in place. Her skin was pale blue and wrinkly. Her claws were pointed outwards but they seemed to be lifeless just like her. Only the movement of her eyes gave away that she was very much alive whilst her face was passive and cold.

Indecisive and frozen solid, Talia took a step backward and immediately attempted to make a run for it. The door immediately slammed shut, missing her fingers by a few seconds.

"Somebody help!" Talia shrieked as she began pulling and banging on the door while screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Pathetic!" A shrill voice mocked from behind her.

Time ceased to exist as the chilling sound of footsteps approached her. Talia felt her bladder tighten and perhaps take a leak. The cold hands of the hag slowly caressed her shoulders and Talia felt the hag sniff her all over. It stopped then whispered into her ear, "Your father should be disappointed he spawned something like you. How can the daughter of a major God and deceptive succubus turn out to be such a weakling?"

What was this? Talia asked herself. It wasn't like she performed a dangerous spell. Neither did the book warn her she would be the victim of some demon. This was a dream. It had to be. Talia assumed she was trapped in a nightmare of her own making. She managed to convince herself that was the reality of her situation until the hag as if reading her mind pinched her.

"Aw!"

The hag floated in front of Talia laughing hysterically. "You didn't wake up now. Did you?"

Talia considered running but aside from the now shut door, there was nothing but blackness around her. She was trapped. So Talia did the only thing she thought was reasonable. The hag hadn't hurt her. The aura she gave made Talia suspect she planned to do something. Why else would she trap her? So Talia decided to question her.

"Do you want to hurt me?"

"More than you know child." The hag said, stroking her hair ever so slightly. "But your father kept me here for you."

Father? Talia couldn't get around what the haggard creature was spewing out. Did she just mention her father was responsible for this? Before Talia could throw another question, the hag's face twisted into a disregarding frown.

"He trapped me here for eons preparing me for this day. He took me away from my brothers and sisters just to fulfill his desire to make that bitch his. Now, you are going to pay for his sins!"

She had lost it but while she slipped into her monologue of pain, Talia had managed to conjure a ball of light to her palms and at the right moment immediately plunged it into the chest of the hag. It sent the creature flying a few meters away from her. With only seconds to spare, Talia ran to the door and once again banged and pulled, in hopes that whatever hold the hag had on the door was down spanning the time she was out but how wrong she was. It didn't even bulge and as seconds quickly went by, Talia was faced with the terrible truth of being trapped in a realm with a demon she legit just attacked. If one wanted to put it right, It was the one thing Faes could hardly control. Acting out of biological drive and instinct than common sense. It was their greatest asset but  Talia knew this time her guts had put her on the wrong side. She slowly turned in the direction of the hag.

"I see why he punished me for you let sake now." The hag began. "You are more in touch with your Fae side than his. You have the blood of a Titan coursing through your veins, a legacy, and a show of light is all you can manage?" She mocked.

Left with no option, Talia conjures up the powers within her. Two bright orbs of hot light formed in the palms of her hands and she immediately threw one at the hag but she deflected it with ease.

"You do remember you are a succubus right?" The hag questioned, floating at the frightened demigod without fear. "Without a connection to your god abilities and sexual energy, Your abilities will eventually run out. What will save you then?"

"This." Talia retorted rather sarcastically before plunging the second ball of light right at the hag's heart. However, the hag was more than prepared. She caught Talia's arm midair and flung her backward. Talia felt her body slam against the door and tear it open. There was a splash.

Talia's eyes widened as she realized the cold sensation that rushed over her and the splash wasn't her body's way of interpreting fear. She was in water. The last thing she heard was the wicked cackle of the hag.

"Save yourself now."

***
Solomon reached out and took one of Sybil's hands. It was bigger than he thought. Was it the spell? Did Talia make some mistake in her incantation and trap everyone in their sleep. Now that Sybil's sisters were involved, It was a risk telling her Talia might be involved. Sybil could be strong but she was also a volatile being and there was no telling what she could do to Talia who would be powerless to the whims of an angry witch.

"...Calm down..." Solomon tried to say. Tell me what happened. "

"We were working on the potion Queen Persephone instructed us but they got tired... They decided to rest and I continued working. Then... I felt it..."

"Felt what?"

"An energy. A dark and evil one." She mumbled. "I suspected it could be another coven attack so I tried to wake them up. But when I did, they wouldn't budge. Whatever I felt, It got to them and it wasn't only them."

On cue, Roman chipped in a thought into Solomon's collective consciousness. "I don't feel our brothers." Solomon dreaded the thought. He pushed the thought out even before he could register it.

"There are others?" He probed.

"I checked room to room. Many of her colleagues are out cold."

This was bad, Solomon thought. There was no way Talia's little spell was responsible for this. He heard Roman scowl at his blind trust but it did not matter. Now he was certain he could not push Talia predicament to Sybil. It was too risky. But Talia's life was on the line and there was a huge chance everyone fast asleep was at risk too. If there was the slightest chance Talia caused this, Everyone caught under her magic could be trapped in the astral realm permanently.


"We need to do something!" He said at last.

Sybil combed her fingers through the mess of her dark hair as she adjusted the arms of her nightdress. Suddenly, She clicked her fingers.

"Queen Persephone. She is a goddess. Her power transcends ours. She should be able to find the culprit."

Oh, moon goddess! This was bad. As right as Sybil was, If Talia's powers were what caused this much havoc, she would be in a whole new mess and that was what Solomon was trying to avoid in the first place. He immediately made an attempt to dissuade her from such thinking but he was immediately shit back to the road of sensibility by Roman.

"You want to risk the lives of our brothers and even the girl herself in an attempt to keep her secret?"

Roman was unfortunately right. Solomon couldn't phantom what came over him.

"Sure." He eventually managed.

Sybil smiled and hopped down the halls with one thing in her mind for sure. She wanted to save her sisters. There was an unbreakable bond between coven witches. It something sort of like a connection between a shifter and his spirit. Perhaps even stronger. Overhead, they noticed a guard stationed at the quarters of the Queen slumped down and fast asleep. The spell had gotten to him too. Solomon looked over at Sybil before knocking on the coral doors lightly. There was silence. Once again, Solomon pounded on the door. It was louder and faster the second time and just as he attempted to try again for the third time, Sybil pushed the doors open as if sensing something was wrong. She was right. Buried in her duvet lied Persephone calm and unbothered as a dove.

"Your Majesty?" Solomon called out.

Sybil gave him a sideway gaze and slowly crept to the Queen's bedding. "It is of no use." She said, keeping her gaze down on the now defenseless immortal. "I was wrong. This isn't a coven attack. This is a demon's work."