Rise of the Vampire Queen
Chapter Nine
A rumble of thunder loomed above Lydia in the night sky as her eyes remained fixed on the glowing lavender patch in the flower bed in front of the tavern.
"I got an immortal with a breaking hart in my loft, a vampire king who's in the same state and a possible vampire up rising, not to mention their leader is an immortal snake vampire." Lydia said followed with s enormous sigh. "While I knew things were bad, I never dreamed it would get even worse… oh what am I supposed to do now?"
Sitting on the steps, Lydia placed her head in her hands, sighing again.
Up in the loft above the tavern, Grover sighed as he watched Annabeth dunk the washcloth in a bowl, wring it out, and place it back on Celeste's forehead.
After a few moments, Annabeth sat in a chair beside Grover. Both of them remained silent, for neither of them knew what to say let out do. All they could do was watch as Celeste's body jerk more and more as her breathing grew worse.
Adventures are never easy, their hard, stressful and emotional. Right now, both Annabeth and Grover could feel their selves reaching their limit. Where do they go from here? They pondered. From what they saw in the flashback, neither of them couldn't possibly think of how to go about this situation.
Annabeth looked down at her phone. Expecting it to be blank showing her screen saver, she thought it was strange where it said you have a message. Clicking on it open, it said Chiron. That when Annabeth remembered she forgot to call him.
The message said, "Did you find the tavern?" Annabeth typed in a few words, but before she could finish her cellphone rang. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the green dot and held it up to her ear.
"Hey um, I am sorry for not calling when we got here. Things got out of hand." Annabeth said in a sad tone.
"That's okay, but telling from you tone things have gotten worse." Chiron said.
"Yeah," Annabeth said as she stood.
As Annabeth walked over to the window, while still talking to Chiron, Grover noticed Celeste's ears twitched. She turned her head slightly in Annabeth's direction.
Grover turned to Annabeth, waving his hands to get her attention. When that didn't work, he stood up, walked over and tapped Annabeth on the shoulder. Annabeth looked at Grover, who pointed to the couch.
The moment Annabeth looked at the couch, she pushed the speaker button.
"Can you say that part again?" Annabeth asked.
"Oh, about how stubborn Celeste can be," Chiron said over the speaker.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Celeste's lips as her breathing calm down.
I'll be there shortly, and we will have a proper chat." Chiron said.
Celeste nodded a little before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
We'll be here waiting," Annabeth said before hanging up.
Grover sat back down in the chair while Annabeth looked outside at the night sky.
"She's calmed down at least," Grover said.
"Yeah, I hope Chiron gets here soon."
In the woods, Bacchus, Elizabeth, and Percy appeared. The three peeked out from behind a tree, looking at the tavern where a woman was sitting on the steps with her head in her hands.
"Is that the witch?" Elizabeth whispered.
Bacchus nodded.
"She doesn't look so touch," Percy said.
Walking out from behind the tree, Percy was about to continue on toward the tavern until Bacchus and Elizabeth pulled him back.
"Looks can be deceiving," Elizabeth said.
Bacchus nodded. "Could be a trap,"
"Right, so we need to think this through," Elizabeth said.
Percy sighed. "Your right."
Nodding, the three of them huddled back behind the tree. They needed a plan and, like it or not, that would take some time.
Meanwhile, Lydia was still on the steps with head in her hands. She raised her head and looked back at the wilting lavender patch.
"Well, do you have any ideas of wilting lavender because I can't think of anything?" Lydia said to the flower.
The wilting lavender was quiet, but a voice from behind her spoke.
"The patch needs to wilt so a new patch of promise can be made. As for one of the dilemmas that's easy. Well, kind of either way, it can be solved by the trinity."
Slowly turning around, Lydia's eyes widen as she stood up to see a smiling Aphrodite waving back at her. Beside her stood a familiar white fur centaur with brown hair and brown eyes. Wearing a leather armor chest plate with a sword holster on his back, he nodded to Lydia, who bowed back.
Aphrodite touched his shoulder, and he disappeared. Lydia looked at the goddess of love questionably.
"You didn't just," Lydia said, pointing up to her loft.
"Yes, I did," Aphrodite said, followed with a smile.
"Good thing I reinforced the floor." Lydia said. "Hang on, you said trinity."
Aphrodite nodded. "Excuse me while I go get the last piece.
Lydia watches as Aphrodite disappears. Lydia let out a huge breath while she was relief that one issue was being taken care of. But a chill ran up her spine.
"Hmm, something sinister is in the air," Lydia said as she sat back down on the steps.
In the woods, Elizabeth Percy and Bacchus peeked out from behind the tree. The witch was still on the steps.
"Okay, everyone, it's now or never. Stick with the plan and we should be fine now. Let's do this," Elizabeth said.
Percy nodded, but not Bacchus. He sniffed the air.
"What's wrong?"
"I smell strawberries and cherry blossoms,"
Bacchus eyes widen as he turned around, seeing Aphrodite smiling at him. When she looked at Percy and Elizabeth, a hint of sadness in her eyes the moment she looked at the young demigod.
"No plan needed. Just go say hello," Aphrodite said, before looking at Bacchus. "You are needed elsewhere.
Before Bacchus could open his mouth, Aphrodite blew pink dust at Bacchus, and he disappeared.
Looking back at Percy and Elizabeth, Aphrodite noticed Elizabeth bowing her head while Percy looked at her smiling, his eyes filled with fascination.
"Wow, Your Aphrodite, Liz, isn't this amazing?" Percy said.
Smiling while wiping a few stray tears away, Aphrodite gently patted Percy on the head. Looking at his eyes, she noticed a red tint, which caused her to sigh.
"Oh my dear boy, I hope you remember everything when her influence is gone." Aphrodite said..
Percy tilted his head to the sigh, his eyes now riddle with confusion, but Aphrodite pat his head.
"Go on and the lady's name is Lydia." Looking at Elizabeth, she sighed. "I need a chat with your friend here."
Percy nodded. Walking out from behind the tree, he looked back at Elizabeth, who gave him a nod. Turning around, Percy continued on toward the tavern.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth looked at Aphrodite, whose eyes held nothing but anger and fury.
"You took that boy away from everything he has ever known and you let that snake poison him! While you stabbed Chiron, how could you!? While I may not be attached to many on this planet, you have hurt people who are dear to me and I hate you for it!
Elizabeth remained silent and looked straight ahead as Aphrodite continued.
"You snakes are all alike, vile reptiles bent on consuming the world, not caring who you use along the way."
"I wish to help fix this… to fix what I have done," Elizabeth pushed out her lips.
Aphrodite nodded. "If I wasn't the goddess of love, I would strike you down here and now, but okay, prove it to me. Help them end Natalia and her cruel reign and I will think hard about what I said.
"As you wish," Elizabeth said, followed by a bow.
Aphrodite disappeared. Elizabeth blinked away her tears as she swallowed a sob that threaten to rise to the surface. She had no right to cry for what she had done. The goddess words cut her deep as they should. Finding out you're not even human but an Apdroph snake and following a snake vampire queen bent on ruling the world is a lot to take in. But to find out what you did has led to this broke her heart. While she wasn't sure how she would fix this, she wouldn't stop until it was done.
Up in the loft, Chiron appeared Annabeth, and Grover looked at him as smile spread across their faces. He nodded to the both of them before looking back at Celeste on the couch, sleeping.
"Silly girl," Chiron said.
Sensing another presence, Chiron's face grew stern.
"Annabeth, Grover, get behind me,"
Both of them of them did as they were told without question. The moment they were behind Chiron, Bacchus appeared by the window. He growled the moment he saw Chiron. But when looked at the couch and saw Celeste, his eyes went from chrisom red to brown as a light whimper trickled out of his lips.
Aphrodite brought me here sooner than expected and I am glad because the three of us need to have a chat," Chiron said.
Chiron looked behind him at Annabeth and Grover, who nodded and left the room.
Bacchus sat down just as Celeste opened her eyes. Chiron cleared his throat.
"Okay then, everyone, let's talk."
Walking down stairs Annabeth and Grover headed to the door. They Lydia walking to two people. The moment they got closer, and noticed Percy, along with another woman, they remembered seeing her from the carnival.
Taking a deep breath, Annabeth stood beside Lydia as Grover did the same. The woman backed up and looked down. Percy stared at the two newcomers. He winced as he rubbed his head.
"Annabeth and Grover?" He asked.
Annabeth smiled while Grover pat Percy on the back. Annabeth's eyes narrowed as she approached Elizabeth.
The two women locked eyes for a moment Annabeth grit her teeth as anger surged through her body, leading to her slapping Elizabeth hard on both cheeks.
One for kidnapping Percy, and the other is for stabbing Chiron." Annabeth said, pushing Elizabeth. "You should leave before I do more than slap you."
Before Elizabeth could say a word, Percy stood between Annabeth and Elizabeth, his eyes narrowed. Annabeth took a step back.
"She is my friend. She protected me," Percy said.
"Percy…. they have a right to be angry and when your medicine has waned, you'll see." Elizabeth paused she looked at Annabeth. "But right now, we have a problem."
"Huh?" Annabeth said.
Elizabeth pointed behind her. "We need to defeat her and her army.
Everyone turned around and looked to the forest and the massive of red dots. Within moments, out walked a woman in a red and white dress with a matching crown, smiling as dozens upon dozens of vampires followed. Some were big and muscular, others were small and tiny, but they held grins across their faces as they trudged toward the tavern.
"Crap…this is definitely not good," Grover said.
"Yup, we're in trouble," Percy said.
"Get ready everyone, for the real fight begins,"
Still walking toward the tavern, Natalia's reptilian eyes glowed as her smile spread across her face. With her and her loyal followers walk closer to the Tavern and defeat their enemies and when they were done here, they would spread out and consume the world. Howls and cheers escaped the vampires' lips as they continued walking forward. Natalia held her head back as she laughed.
"I hope you're ready for the rise of the vampire queen," Natalia said as her eyes darken. "Because I don't plan to lose."