Part I: Chapter 3 ( Continue)
1919 Words
Priscilla thought a little about it and then sat idly by, watching the girls dance. I approached my consort awkwardly since I was getting some weird looks from the gals, that I didn’t really like. Ok, maybe I wasn’t the greatest-looking guy back then but I was going through puberty, alright? What do immortal teenage goddesses know about it anyway… Three more of them danced their part before their teacher packed her things. The older woman nodded politely to us before she took her absence. At the same time, some of the girls that were absent were returning from their supper or their “freshening up”. Gathered now, all twelve of them, in the garden, they went on- definitely- gossiping about us, from a safe distance.
«It’s now or never! Brace yourself!» she warned me.
«Oh, no! I don’t like hearing these words from you!» I complained.
The witch stood up and grabbed her stuff. The girls were sharp enough to see through an anticipated trap and tried to escape but Alexander was still lurking around the exit, guarding their only way to safety. Priscilla used the same locking spell as before, yelling the words: “Spellbinding Circle”, putting her hex to the balcony door. The Hours got scarred by our feral comrade and stood tucked together, watching the sorceress’ beast closely.
«No need to be afraid, girls! I just need a moment of your time» she explained, trying not to frighten them any further. Her cheering tone, however, showed that she was happy with that outcome, nonetheless.
«What is it you ask for, witch? You want hostages?» asked Twilla bravely.
«Oh, no! I’m sure I couldn’t face your father even with an advantage like this!» she revealed to them.
«Then you’ll be sad to hear he won’t like this one bit,» Tasha said passionlessly.
«You’ve got it all wrong! I don’t want to involve your father into this! No, it’s you ladies whom I need a helping hand from!».
Priscilla didn’t like women. She couldn’t bring herself to trust them. If someone confronted her for this, she would complain, arguing that they had it all wrong! She loved- and still loves- her mother deeply and, even after her best friend’s betrayal, she forgave her, before closing herself off. But, besides those two people, the witch felt disgusted by them. Girls would go and stub other girls in the back for their fun and then act up like they are the victims in any scenario. Witches would go and curse a man for not giving them d**k or curse them again if he gave d**k to both them and any other girl, instead of standing up to him and spit on his face! Humans felt threatened by witches and vampires only because of these immature outbreaks.
Be as it may, those girls, those immortal goddesses were different than the mortal women she had dealt with in her life. Young and trustful, yet teenagers and rebellious, she believed- no, she knew- they wouldn’t let any chance to do something out of what is expected from them to pass by.
«You are the Hours, correct? The youngest and purest of the goddesses! As the myths go, I mean. I am Lady Priscilla, Mistress of the book of Shadows» she introduced herself properly while bowing to them.
«What do you need from us, “Lady Priscilla”? You don’t have the luxury to sugarcoat us, Miss Satyra will arrive shortly» Twilla said.
«I’ll cut to the point then! You probably don’t know this but the mortal world is suffering from terrible disasters and faces death and peril» the witch recited in an all-worried tone. «We came to see great Chronos, the god of time, asking him for a way to return in the past, for a chance to fix…well, to fix something I’m responsible for. While he cannot help me himself, he gave us permission to stay for as long as we need, granting us the chance to find something on our own».
Twisting the truth ever so slightly, the witch made it sound like Father Time would give them an honor badge if they helped with our predicament.
«We don’t know how to help you with this, Miss Priscilla! We don’t possess that kind of power» Etna said politely.
«You don’t?! Well, maybe you know of some other way then? My friend and I tried searching around but this place is worse than a maze!» she tried, looking at me, with her troubled face harboring a weird glow in her eyes.
«Who exactly is that friend of yours? Your apprentice?» Theris asked with excitement.
«No, not at all! He is a mortal» she informed them.
«A mortal? Not a demigod?! Not even a mage?» Oxia freaked.
«Nope, just a mortal. A mortal courageous enough to search for years to find me and warn me about the crisis that stroke our home. A young man brave enough to accompany me here, riding the Ferryman’s boat along with my wolf and the Herald of death, as well. I owe him this much, owe him to find for us a way to at least try and face those terrors that fell upon us!» she said dramatically.
The way that lying b***h was weaving her story convinced even me for my great accomplishments! Those girls were looking at me like I was some savior of a prophecy or something!
«He’s only human».
«But he’s a hero!».
«Should we..?».
«Of course not! Are you out of your mind?!».
«We are goddesses! It’s, like, our duty to reward heroes».
They were chatting intensively with each other but the witch knew that the girls’ meeting could end without reaching the outcome we desired.
«Oh, no, ladies! Please! He doesn’t have any use for gold or a Laurel wreath! Maybe, just for traditional purposes, a kiss would be enough. Handsome and brave as he is, my friend didn’t have the chance to experience such joy. Gods, perhaps it was fated for him to receive his first kiss from such divine youth and beauty» she realized, acting surprised about the outcome of her elaborate tale.
My face turned instantly red and my eyes popped out of my head when I heard her suggestion! “What the hell is she even thinking?” was the question screaming in my mind!
«You’re saying one of us should kiss him?» Elaina asked while her pale cheeks were turning pink in the thought. I was melting from embarrassment on the inside but, on the exterior, I was cool as a cucumber.
«Well, I mean I wouldn’t mind but only if the girls-THE GIRL!- I mean, one of the girls would be ok with that- I mean, if she’d like it, I mean». Ok, more like cool as a cucumber in a sauna but no matter! My heroic reputation had made them all falling pretty hard for me!
«Alright, which one volunteers?» asked Unna, saving herself from the trouble of being picked.
«I wouldn’t mind!» Elaina offered herself quickly, making my body able to breathe again.
«I want to try too,» Savinna said, less enthusiastically but still counts!
«Really? Why?» Twilla asked, making a weird face towards me.
«It’s the first time a mortal man found his way here! It could be the last! I’m not losing a chance like this!» Savinna said, hurting my confidence more with her every word.
«Unless we help them, I suppose…» Theris reminded them, implying there was a way for them to help! I tried keeping a straight face not to expose the witch’s plan but I was worried about looking like a goof in front of the girls!
«I refuse,» Twilla said, not even contemplating the possibility to contribute to what her sister had proposed.
«Think about the kiss! You don’t want to be left behind, do you?» Dua whispered in her ear, shifting another pale face to a warmer shade.
Getting twelve girls to decide on a matter like this in mere minutes was impossible but, by then, the witch was heavily counting on her winning streak.
«Well, if it’s too much to ask, you don’t have to push yourselves into it. I could just kiss him instead» Priscilla decided. I almost wished for her bluff to be countered because the chance of kissing her made my mind explode!
«No, it is decided, we’ll grant him the honor of sharing a kiss with each of us» opposed the girls, reacting exactly as the witch wanted them to.
Things were looking pretty nice for me!
«What an idea! A reward befitting the noblest of heroes! Let us waste no more time! Which one of you will be his first kiss?» asked the witch, reigniting the arguments.
«I shall do it, obviously. I’m the goddess of the first hour» Unna announced.
«Hey, hold on! I should do it first! I was the one who spoke up before any of you!» Elaina argued!
«I also want to be the first. It’s a one-time experience» Savinna claimed the chance.
«I wouldn’t mind going first!».
«I don’t want to be the last one either!».
«At this point, Miss Satyra will be here before we can have our turn!».
The goddesses were fighting intensely and I thought they would start pulling each other’s hair off but Priscilla had achieved what she was trying to do with perfect success.
«My ladies, please don’t argue like that! I’m sure my friend will cherish each one of your kisses like it was his first!» the witch told them, so as to calm them.
«Or we could all grand him his first kiss» Theris proposed, finding a way to keep everyone satisfied. How thoughtful…
«We don’t want to get your hopes up but, there is a blessing we could give your friend,» Tasha said sleepily.
«A blessing?» asked the witch, acting puzzled.
«It’s not that much. We could bestow on him the power to travel back- rather return to a previous chapter of his life- and start over again» Theris explained.
«Not just to kiss him separately!» Elaina was quick to add.
«With this power, he could travel even further in the past and have the chance to warn you again. But…even if his memories remain intact, his noble actions will be erased» Etna stated further.
«That’s the only way to preserve the balance» Oxia defended her.
By then, I thought we had won this battle. Reaching Priscilla earlier in time and making her trust me could be proven tricky but, still overconfident by the witch’s elaborate woven lies, I felt like I could do it!
«I knew it was fate that led us to you! This second chance is all that we need» she reassured them.
«It’s settled then! A blessing and a kiss, twelve times over» they concluded.
- Writer
