Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON ONE (Completed!)

Part 2.4

Ariadne. I haven't heard that name in a long time.

"Who was she?" I ask.

Not who. His black eyes are unblinking as he turns his gaze to the night sky. Where.

Addy looks at me, frustrated. Only I can hear Onyx. It's hard to have a three-way conversation with him.

Our home planet, Phaedra. We were not the only planet in our solar system.

I have memories of Phaedra, even though I've never been there. I see the glittering towers of its capital city, Prometheus, in my dreams.

Our sister planet was Ariadne. She was the fire to our ice. We could not have been more different.

"Are you saying..." I scrunch up my nose. "That we're really dealing with an alien?"

The people of this planet have not sailed the stars. There is no way for them to know of Ariadne or its people. His eyes soften. Phaedra was a planet of philosophers. We sought knowledge. Our technology was next to none. We would have been a great universal power, had we survived. But power was not something we sought. The Ariadni were different. Power was all they sought.

They were beings of energy, like us. Their planet was one of scorching deserts, and they were a people of heat and wind. They valued strength above all else. When they set sail past the galaxy, they conquered more than their fair share of worlds. They were feared by many. The Phaedreans sought to keep them in check. They loathed us for it.

This was a problem. This was a real problem. Just when I get my act together, the accursed cat dumps this on me.

"May the Dark Witch swallow your tail," I curse. "Why do you never tell me these things?"

Onyx blinks. You didn't ask.

So now I have an actual alien problem. Great. Good to know that Maya Cerberus is sane and well, but just blithering great.

"Well then," I glare at Onyx. "You seem to be the one with all the answers. So you tell me - what does this thing want with Maya?"

I have no idea.

I throw my hands up. He's full of knowledge, right up to the point where it actually matters. I fill Addy in. She has the good sense not to say "I told you so".

"Maya is famous," Addy says. "It wouldn't be hard to get info on her. But what could he possibly want from her?' Her eyebrows jump up. "The orb!"

I remember now. "He kept asking about it."

What orb? Onyx's fur is bristling. His tail is rigid.

"I don't know what orb," I reply, exasperated. "He thought she had it."

Onyx is silent for a while. Then he lets out a soft meow. The orb of Ariadne. But that is little more than a myth.

"I don't think we're in the realm of myth anymore," I say.

Onyx lowers his tail. Legend has it that before the Ariadni existed, the planet was inhabited by a ferocious fire demon. They were said to have ancient and formidable powers. The Ariadni believed they were descended from this demon. In our time no such creature was in existence, but they say that one still survives, in an orb sealed by an ancient Phaedrean.

This was just wonderful. Now there was a demon involved. This is the assignment that keeps on giving.

I really want to hate Big Boss for this. I want to put the blame squarely on him. But he doesn't know about orbs or demons or witches. To him, this is a stalker assignment.

"What's the orb doing here?" Addy wants to know. "And why would Maya Cerberus, of all people, have it?"

Something clicks. "Maya studied archaeology. You don't think she could've picked up a mysterious artefact on a field trip and kept it to study? Like, say, an orb?"

"And if she mentioned it in one of her shows..."Addy meets my gaze.

We both know what this means. We have to find an ancient demon before his master comes looking. We have to prevent a destructive power from being unleashed upon the world. And we have to do all this without Maya Cerberus suspecting a thing.