Sleeping Beauty

Chapter Five


Weeks have passed, and the complaints over Moonlight Serenade have only grown. Seth stared at the message pile along with various TV reports and stocks. His PR department is working overtime and luckily, there's no major damage that has hit the company yet. So, for now, he would enjoy his financial bliss a while longer. But he couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't be long before this bliss would become a nightmare.

A knock on the door interrupted him, sighing Seth looked at his door.

"Come in," Seth said.

The door opened and in walked Vivian with a stack of more phone messages, but this time she held a yellow folder, which caused him to look at her. Because anything in that folder meant trouble.

Setting the messages and the folder down on the desk, she pushed it closer to him before bowing slightly.

"Sir, as you know, the complaints have gotten worse. To top it off, the police have sent a letter asking for us to let them have access to the factory to conduct a search," Vivian said.

"I see ..." Seth said, opening the file and looking over the letter.

"Aren't you worried, sir? This is getting worst not better. The PR department can't keep this up for long, it's only a matter of time before this hits the company. Vivian said, raising her voice.

Seth was taken back. All the years she's been here, Vivian has never raised her voice. Rising to his feet, he noticed his secretary clutching her skirt, along with dark circles and wet, glassy eyes. That's when he wondered if all of his employees felt like this?

Standing in front of Vivian, Seth took a hold of his secretary's hands and squeezed them gently. causing Vivian to take a deep breath.

"To answer your questions, no, I am not worried, but I see that this has brought a lot of stress to you and everyone else at the company," Seth said as he let go of Vivian's hands. "So let everyone know I will be giving them a twenty-five percent raise."

"...Yes, sir," Vivian said as she bowed before leaving his office.

"Nice tactic," a familiar voice said.

Turning around, Seth looks to see Mr. C Standing by the window behind his desk.

"Money always makes people happy," Seth said.

"True, the power of green makes people smile with envy." Mr. C said. "Anyway, I have come here to warn you we may have some trouble….of the mystical kind.

"Oh, how bad?"

"A goddess, hybrid, and possibly a psychic or seer."

"Hm, I doubt they could cause too much trouble. "

"You would be surprised by how much damage one goddess can do."

"Can you handle them?"

"Yes, I have eyes on them as we speak. While they haven't made a move yet, the moment they do, I will know," Mr. C said as his eyes gave off a red glow.

Elsewhere, the door opened, and the bell rang as Percy, Aphrodite, and Yolanda entered a cafe called the Light Flower. A white floor welcomed the three of them in the shape of a large white flower with white tables and chairs, along with a variety of different white flowers painted on the walls. The smell of fresh coffee and baked goods filled the air. It brought a sense of peace to the three of them. Percy even smiled at the customers, who greeted them back. Genuine laughter filled the air. This place truly felt like peace on Earth.

"Yolanda," a voice called out.

Looking at the table close to the back, Yolanda smiled as she pushed Percy and Aphrodite in that direction. The two noticed many customers were nodding at them while others whispered. Aphrodite found it odd that not a single male approached her.

"A cafe of the gifted?" Aphrodite asked.

"Correct. Everyone here has a uniqueness about them, hence why none of them have approached you, also it's not every day a Goddess comes to visit," Yolanda said.

The three of them sat down at a table with a woman with a white shirt and brown jacket. She had ebony skin, green eyes, and long black hair. Sitting beside her staring at Aphrodite was a man with short brown hair and sky blue eyes wearing a black shirt. He smiled the moment Aphrodite flicked her hair.

"These are my friends Tracy Binx and Joseph Andrews. We are known as The Watchers. We monitor any peculiar activity," Yolanda explained.

"I'm Percy Jackson and this is ..." Percy tried to say.

"The goddess of love herself Aphrodite," Joseph said, cutting in as he bowed to the goddess.

Tracy coughed loudly before smacking Joseph upside the head.

"Nice to meet you both. The moment we realized we would be meeting you; this fool here took five hours to pick out the right clothes," Tracy said, glaring at Joseph.

Percy and Yolanda laughed, while Aphrodite winked at Joseph. Tracy averted her eyes. A middle age woman in a white pants and top wearing an apron that read Light Flower interrupted them.

Percy looked at her carefully as she placed down everyone's plate in front of them, but it's when she placed a cup of hot chocolate and buttered croissants down that he remembered who she was.

"Olivia?" Percy asked.

"Bingo! You remember me," the woman said, followed with a smile.

"Whoa, you know my aunt?" Yolanda asked.

"Yeah, when I was overseas during another adventure, I fell on top of her literally." Percy explained before looking back at Olivia. "I wanted to thank you; your advice really came in handy."

"Well, I'm glad. Now don't let me keep you, enjoy your drinks and meals everyone," Olivia said.

"But we didn't order anything," Aphrodite said.

"No worries, it's on the house," Olivia said, before walking away.

Yolanda smiled, shaking her head.

"She loves to do that,"

Percy smiled, but Aphrodite kept staring at Olivia. There was something about her that seemed different that everyone else in this café. Aphrodite looked away when Olivia stared back and gave her a wink.

"Anyway, have you found Selene?" Percy asked.

"Not exactly, but we think we have a lead on where she might be," Joseph said.

"Yeah, we just need someone to confirm it, which means someone needs to go inside this location," Tracy said, pointing to the picture of Dunn Fragrances Factory.

"Hm, I can do that without even setting foot in that place," Aphrodite said.

"Perfect, then part one of our mission is set. Me, Percy, and Aphrodite will scope out the factory," Yolanda said.

"I will work on hacking surveillance, "Joseph said.

"I will keep my ears open for the latest gossip while digging up more info on Dunn Fragrance."

Yolanda nodded while Percy sip on his hot chocolate and took a few bites of his croissant.

"Sounds good. When do we get started," Percy said, after finishing his meal.

Tracy and Joseph stood up. He went to sit back down, but Tracy grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Right away," Tracy said, dragging Joseph away.

"Well, let's go," Yolanda said.

Percy and Aphrodite nodded as they headed toward the door. The moment Yolanda rose to her feet a gentle hand touched her shoulder. Looking back, she noticed it was Olivia. Her eyes held a warm glow but also a sense of seriousness to them.

"Be careful, little one, there are eyes everywhere," Olivia said.

Unsure what to make of what her aunt said, she merely nodded and headed out to join the others. Olivia walked to the door, she watched as everyone got into their cars. She waved to them as they took off, but her eyes narrowed the moment she noticed a black crow following right behind them.

"Please be safe."