~Witch's Territory~
~Third Person's POV~
It has been quite a day for the witches and just when they think they can settle down for a nice and relaxing evening and maybe even talk about the day's drama, an alarm goes off, indicating a strange presence on their premises. They let out a groan of frustration as they marched out of their castle and to the location of the strange presence. They had a crystal orb with them that directed them towards the place. As they got closer, they grew weary of whatever was intruding. This was not the way to any of the surrounding borders and realizing this placed them on high alert.
"This cannot be good," Lyssa voices out.
"You don't say. There is only one place we are headed and if that were to be true, then..." Electra shook her head, unable to complete her statement.
"Let's hope it isn't what we think it is. " Lyssa adds quickly.
"Just in case it turns out to be as we fear, we need to prepare our minds for a serious fight," Melania says. Her voice is more calm than the other two witches.
"Just so we're clear, we all think it is Athena, right?" Lyssa asks.
"Who else would know about the tunnels more importantly, she just stole the soul of Nancy. She might be coming to collect the body." Electra responds with a bit of terror in her voice. They were the ancient three, but they couldn't deny that she was a formidable witch.
"She should also know that coming here is a death wish," Melania assures her sisters. The last thing that any of them wanted to do was to engage Athena.
The sound of rocks falling not so far away made them quicken their steps. They began chanting spells in preparation for a fight and Lyssa even began to collect roots and herbs along her way just in case they should need to conjure some demon to get rid of her like they had done the last time.
They expected to get face to face with a furious-looking witch, but as soon as they took the last turn leading up to where the sounds came from, they were taken aback.
Vampires. Lots and lots of vampires. Judging from the energy that was coming off of them they were powerful vampires.
"Well, this is unexpected," Lyssa murmurs as the three catch their breath.
"No shit," Melania responds between breaths.
They are quick to recover and go into protective mode. Melania takes threatening steps toward the group of vampires in front of them as she counts them mentally. They were outnumbered for sure but that didn't mean they would go down easily. They were in their territory after all and that gave them a huge advantage.
"Who are you and how dare you come into our territory without a plague?" Melania asks. Her voice was full of authority and confidence.
"I am Lord Jason and you would watch how you speak to me and my men." Lord Jason steps forward and stands right in front of Melania. His words were laced with spite and anger.
"Vampires and your short fuse. You have always been hot-tempered creatures, but I had no idea that you were this thoughtless as well. You break into my territory, vandalize my tunnels and do I need to remind you that your presence here is without the consent of the Elders?" Melania glares at him and he glares right back.
"We are thoughtless? You are the ones who kidnapped my mate from my territory and brought her here. How do you think the elders would take the news? Kidnapping a Luna?"
The three weren't sure of the mate he spoke of, but if he was right then they were royally fucked.
"I have no idea who you speak of," Melania responds with a faltering voice as she tries to think of who the vampire is speaking of. Surely, it couldn't be Nancy, right?
"Oh?"Lord Jason was beginning to get impatient. "You do know that the crime you have committed is now piling up, right? Not only did you take my mate hostage, you broke into my territory to do so. Now I would think carefully before choosing my words if I were you. As you already know, have I a short fuse."
All three of them were dumbfounded. They remember entering a vampire's territory once while trying out a spell and that was where they found Nancy. If the elders find out they have Nancy they would be fucked and not even because they kidnapped a Luna. It would be because of how they got there. Melania and her sister only recently discovered an ancient spell that was forbidden a long time ago. It is the spell of portals. This spell opens a gateway to any place in the universe, physical or spiritual. Sure, it requires a lot of power but the three of them could pull it off just fine. However, this kind of dimensional magic was banned centuries ago even before the borders were put in place by the elders. The spell was known to cause a crack in the linen separating Hell and the heavens and it nearly caused a war between the gods and the supernaturals. Hence, the reason it was forbidden.
"Why don't you come with us? It's clear we have a lot to discuss." Melania gestures for their castle afar off.
"Very well," All the vampire troops following the lead of the witch sisters head to the castle and get settled in. Melania signals to Electra and Lyssa who head into their shrine and emerge from the shrine, each bearing a globe in her hand. One is handed to Melania and the other to Lord Jason.
"This is a crystal globe. It is going to confirm if everything said here is the truth or a lie. I hope you're familiar with it?" Melania says as she and her sisters get comfortable on a cushion across Lord Jason.
"I'm guessing whatever you have to say is going to be hard to believe. Let's get started, shall we?"
"A few weeks back my sister's and I discovered a spell forgotten to time and also forbidden to practice. This spell is called the spell of portals. We found our way into your territory and that was where we found Nancy. There was an instinctive urge to take her with us, so we did." The globe glowed white at the end of her speech and
"Let me get this straight. You came into my land my forbidden and dangerous magic and took what was mine because you felt like?" There was a tone of anger behind his calm voice. He still didn't want to admit his urge to save his mate and be with her.
"Not because we felt like it, because we had to. There is this thing common to ancient witches that has been lost to time. It's called the Guardians. My sisters and I are guardians to Nancy and we have every right to take her with us." The globe again glows white
"So, let's say you're a guardian witch, you came into my territory with the aid of a forbidden spell and took her. You can either give her back peacefully or let the elders get her back for me."
"We can't," Lyssa says and takes the globe from Melania. "A vampire Lord came in just a while ago and claimed her as his pet. He had all the legal documents and a plague of entrance but there was something strange about all of it."
"What do you mean he claimed her for himself?!" His anger was starting to show.
"She is his pet!"
"She is my mate!"
"Well, why don't you go ask him yourself?! It's clear you're not ready to listen to us," Electra yells, getting irritated by the vampire in front of her.
They all went quiet for a while, giving lord Jason a moment to calm down.
"You said there was something strange about all of it. What did you notice?"
"The elders didn't give us a prior notice." Melania took over the conversation.
"I should have come a day earlier." Lord Jason rubs his forehead in frustration and his brain turns wheels to know his first move.
"That won't have made much of a difference. Some witch that is supposed to be dead stole her soul and we still can't find it. Lord Titus only has her body."
"There is so much information to unpack right now. Just tell me everything. From when you got Nancy till when you lost her. Leave nothing out."
One hour later, Lord Jason is pacing the room, livid and agitated.
His mate's body was with some random vampire Lord.
Her soul was missing.
His trusted witch had stabbed him in the back.
"The witch you speak of, Athena, are you sure she's the one?" He asks, unwilling to believe Athena is capable of betrayal.
"Look, every ancient witch has a symbol unique to her. If Nancy's body was still here, I would be able to prove it to you. But little worry, we took care of it." Electra said with a look that made Lord Jason uncomfortable.
"What did you do?"
"What we had to," Melania said. "We summoned a demon to haunt her till she dies." Lord Jason shoots the sisters a murderous look. She might have betrayed him, but her punishment was his to decide.
"Oh, don't worry. He won't take her life. She would die a natural death."
"Send him back to hell. Athena is mine to deal with!"
"Not possible. Demons are easy to summon and nearly impossible to send back. It would take striking a deal with one of the seven princes of hell or Hades himself to get such a demon to return." Lyssa says.
"You should be on your way. Take us to your witch and we'll help you find her soul. Getting her body is up to you." Melania says with seriousness in her voice.
"Why can't you stay here and look for her soul?" Lord Jason was done trusting witches.
"If you don't want to take us with you, we can just come by ourselves." There was a long pause in the room
"What's in it for you?"
"Athena is a sworn enemy of ours. We have a score to settle. Besides that, it would be a lot easier tracing her if we were in the shrine Athena used."
"Let's move,"