Interstellar Ross

Chapter 5 Dark Origins

Witch Pocket Realm

Month of the Hare

As the smoke cleared, I noticed that none of us were standing in the dingy tavern but in sweeping countryside before a humble medieval-styled cottage.

"I own this Realm." The woman announced a little smugly. "And I'm also the only one who can access it."

"This will be perfect, thank you Circe." Dimitri looked to be as in awe as the rest of us at the beautiful landscape.

Circe waved away his thanks. "Oh, I would do anything for Interstellar, I owe her my life." She met my eyes with a grateful smile.

"So, what do we do now?" Bryn was straight to the point, seeming the least fazed by the dazzling scenery.

"I have a lot of potions and Grimoires stored here, which will allow me to find a spell or potion that could help bring back her memories." Circe led the way across a stone path fissured by green moss and red toadstools to the cottage.

"So you're a powerful Witch?" I questioned curiously.

Tiberius scoffed at my question and I sent him a sharp look.

"I am the Greek Goddess of Magic and Metamorphosis." She replied upon unlocking the front door of the cottage. "So to answer your question, yes, I am a powerful Witch."

"You don't look like a Goddess." I spoke frankly, taking in the antique furniture and the abundance of indoor plants.

"Truthfully, I've never really considered myself like the other Gods and Goddesses." Circe made her way into a room that beheld every sized bottle and vial imaginable on shelves that filled every wall bar the small one with a circular stained-glass window. Books of every colour and thickness were stacked in every corner of the room, surrounding a giant black cauldron from every children's book or film ever made.

"I have plenty of scrolls and tablets on the most ancient religions, I suggest you all start researching while I fix a remedy." Circe suggested, dropping the scarves from her head and neck to reveal a river of glossy almond brown hair.

"Can anyone read hieroglyphs?" Bryn plucked a cracked stone tablet from the door.

"I can read a little." Tiberius peered over her shoulder at the tablet in her hands.

I found myself watching Circe's lioness pad about the room in a curious way, only looking away when the feline looked my way with far too intelligent eyes. I walked over to a random stack of scrolls and started unrolling a few, frowning at the flourishes of inked text and symbols that meant nothing to me.

"So, do you have any idea why you would suddenly disappear to the Human Realm and start your life anew?" Circe asked while dumping herbs and liquid mixtures into the cauldron.

"I never really thought about it." I answered honestly. "I was just kind of thinking what the Hell is happening to me and who are these weird arse people."

"Some of us weirder than others." Bryn cast a look at Dimitri and Tiberius.

"I take offense." Tiberius's tone was light.

"I find it rather odd that you would suddenly resort to such drastic measures to hide yourself." Circe's irises began to glow a bioluminescent blue as plumes of pastel coloured smoke and lemony scents wafted from the bubbling cauldron. "I wonder who exactly you were hiding from."

I shared a concerned look with everybody else in the room before picking up a brittle looking stone tablet. I eyed the chiselled symbols and image of what looked to be a giant gate. I couldn't explain how but I could recognise one word, Underworld. I recalled the pointed mountains that pierced the violet skies of the place from my earliest memories.