The Hidden World of Gods and Magic

Chapter Three

Persephone heard the sound of someone moving over wooden floors and smiled. “Good morning Anisa. Did you sleep well?” She asked and handed Anisa a cup of coffee. “Good morning Persephone. That’s going to take some time to get use to and it was better than I expected to be honest.” Anisa said and took the seat closest to the window. “I’m glad you could get some rest. What do you mean get used to?” Persephone asked and took the seat opposite Anisa. “Calling you ‘Persephone’ while I’ve known you as Jen for as long as I can remember that’s all.” Anisa said and gulped down the warm and magical contents in her cup.

“What did you put in the coffee?” Anisa asked with a curious smile and eyes big. “Nothing much, I just added some cream instead of coffee creamer. Why? Is there something wrong with it?” Persephone asked nervously. “Not at all. This is the best coffee I’ve ever had. Thank you.” Anisa said with a smile so big no one could resist but feel very happy. “You are most welcome.” Persephone said and smiled back. “Oh! Before I forget, I made you a little something. Hope you will enjoy it.” Persephone said and placed the biggest breakfast Anisa has ever seen in front of her. “Wow! This is massive! You didn’t have to do all this Persephone.” Anisa said feeling guilty.

“Don’t be silly Anisa. You know I will do anything for you. Besides you need your strength for today and I bet you will be howling of hunger by the time you get back.” Persephone said and smiled at Anisa. “Oh ok. On one condition. You help me finish this all ok?” Anisa said and gestured to the plate in front of her. “Fine.” Persephone said and took a piece of bacon.

Sometime later Persephone sat in her car watching as Anisa enter the big building. She couldn’t shake the feeling of worry. Anisa has always been like a daughter to Persephone. ‘Please guide her as she takes on this challenge…’ She prayed silently, willing her power of persuasion onto the girl. Hoping that itself would be enough.

‘Why did Persephone seem so on edge earlier? That’s not like her at all…’ Anisa thought. “So good of you to join us Ms. Valentine, follow me.” The woman gestured towards the left. “Sure.” Anisa said. “Please have a seat; Director Van Sing will be with you shortly.” The woman said and closed the door. ‘What’s up with that woman?’ Anisa thought.

“Good evening Ms. Valentine, you seem refreshed. How was your slumber?” Director Van Sing asked. “Good evening sir. It was all right thank you.” Aanisa said with a small smile. “That doesn’t sound to pleasant. Are you alright?” Director Van Sing asked. “I am sorry I will not boar you with the details. I need to focus on the task at hand if you don’t mind sir.” Anisa said. “Please call me Victor.” He said with a smile. “Very well Victor, if you insist. Please call me Anisa.” She said feeling something about this man is off.

“I am so glad that is settled than. Alright, Anisa, you will start in the office I showed you earlier and make it your own. How you prefer to arrange it is entirely up to you. I bet you good luck. You may start…now.” Victor said and dismissed Anisa. Whit that Anisa walked off to the office she was assigned to re-decorate. “This place is huge! Crap… Ok so I need to make a list of everything I might need to start with…” She said aloud and started scribbling a few items down. After about 20 minutes Anisa looked up and went in search of the items.

While walking down the corridor Anisa noticed one of the other office doors stood open by a crack so she took a look. On closer inspection she saw a few things that brought up a lot of questions. ‘Why would this person have a human skull in a glass display case? And why those symbols panted on the wall? Odd… Om my… Is that a eel even in here? Weird.’ She thought and moved on to where the office supplies are located.

“Right I need a desk, chare and a filling compartment.” She said as she scanned the room. She found the first three items on the list and started moving them to the office space. As she opened the door, the items she gathered appeared right where she wanted them. She turned her head to see if the desk and chare was still in the corridor but nothing was there. “Wow! What just happened?” She asked still in shock.

“The items you choose for your office space will appear with only a thought of where you want them placed…” Said an unfamiliar voice right behind her. She jumped and turned to face whoever was there, but as she turned no one was there, just a shadow. “Never speak to the shadow under any circumstances…” She remembered Victor tell her during the interview. “If you need my services just ask…” Said the shadow.

In a state of confusion she just nodded and rushed out of the office and headed back to the supply room. With shaking hands she held onto her phone and glanced at the time. “It’s only been 35 minutes since the challenge started and she is freaked out. ‘What is happening? This is some kind of illusion right?’ She thought and noticed there is no signal on her phone. “You will only be able to use that thing when your challenge is completed…” Said the shadow and moved from one wall to the next, resting on the wall opposite Anisa.

With those words Anisa got an idea. ‘Victor told me not to speak to the shadow; he never said anything about typing anything and showing the shadow.’ She thought and took the phone out again. She quickly started typing what she wanted to say and pointed to the phone, not sure the shadow would be able to see it or not. “You are quite clever… And the answer to that question is ‘yes I will help you get what you need’ and I will tell you whatever you wish to know about this place.” The shadow said.

Relieved Anisa smiled and let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. ‘I have no idea what else I would need just to get by with all of this madness.’ She thought. She started typing again and for a moment she could feel a pair of eyes on her. She didn’t dare take a look but she could see from the corner of her eye the weird woman from the Victor’s office was watching her. ‘Why would she be watching me?’ She thought and put her phone in her pocket close to her breast and zipped up her jacket keeping her eyes on the floor and pretended to look for some more things. After about 15 minutes; what felt like forever; she walked back to her office and closed the door.

She grabbed hold of a pen and paper and wrote: How long has she been watching me like that?

The shadow replied in a whisper warmer that earlier “She has been standing there right after you calmed down, my apologies for not saying so earlier. They are aware of my presence but they fear what I am, thus why they warned you not to speak to me.”

She wrote: May I ask what you are?

The shadow said: “That is a conversation for a different time I’m afraid, but one thing you need to know right now is that you need to place some charms and symbols in this office if you wish to protect yourself from the monsters in this place.”

She wrote: What monsters? Please tell me so I know what I have gotten myself into.

The shadow said: “You need to be on your guard. Firstly you need to find the blue orb and place it in your deck, keep in mind that the orb will not appear where you want; you will have to bring it in yourself. Do you have a bag big enough for a few items the size of your head?

She wrote: I don’t have it here, wait a minute. You said I need only think of an item and it will appear in this office wherever I wanted it (besides from the orb)

The shadow said: “Yes, anything you wish to have in this office will appear. Do you have something in mind?”

She wrote:  I might have something that will make this a bit easier. I will need your help to pull this off. So I need to ask. Can you take a solid form or grab hold of anything and move it around?

The shadow laughed and said: “Yes, would you like me in solid form or would you rather I take a cloth and move it?”

She wrote:  I think you might need to take my cloths and keep that woman occupied while I search for the blue orb. What else will I need for protection?

The shadow sounded impressed with Anisa’s quick thinking and said: “I knew there was something about you, you are quite the planer. You will need a feather of the phoenix, Golden threads from the hourglass of Nemesis, the arrow of Artemis and a shard of the shield of Athena. Oh and one more thing, you will need to find the rare fire lilies as well as Wolfsbane.”

Anisa looked at the shadow with a confused look on her face and wrote: I was not expecting a list like this. Alright, where would I find these items?