The Ghost Queen

Chapter Twelve: Europe's network of magic users

Pomelia Fuentes was a vampire. Odie and Neil were sure of it. Jay and Theresa seemed more uncertain. Several days of research into Cronus's new underlings and this is what they managed to find? Jay had a hard time hiding his disappointment. The video game break seemed to have helped Odie's motivation but Jay hoped for more conclusive information to work with.

"How does this help us?" Jay asked.

"We've dealt with vampires before. So there's weaknesses we can use," Neil countered, reminding his oh so fearless leader, of his own excellence at fighting vampires. Odie agreed, remembering how Neil managed to fight back against Sybaris compared to him with his own movie-based resourcefulness.

"But how do we know she inherited any powers even if she is related to Sybaris?" Theresa countered.

"I mean if we use the same logic of Herry's super strength, it's possible." Odie chimed in. Neil smirked at the jab. Herry was one of their closest friends of course, but he was so fun to mess with.

Herry was a small sample size and the inheritance of superhuman powers was a flawed concept but ever since entering the world of Greek gods and monsters from myth, Odie felt inclined to believe anything was possible at that point.

"So say Pomelia Fuentes was in fact a vampire. Does that mean the others are-?"Jay trailed off.

"Yes,"Odie began scattering some of the research out on the table to show Jay and Theresa. He explained the research he and Neil compiled. The information started, thanks in part to Neil's gossip magazines, with who Pomelia Fuentes was.

The only daughter of Arturo Fuentes, real estate mogul who found his fortune in Spain's ever rising hospitality industry. After decades he now had hotel and resort properties all over the world. Aside from Pomelia he had two sons, Marco and Callisto. Arturo Fuentes was known as an eccentric rich guy who dabbled in the occult in high society circles. Theresa vouched for this because the name rang a bell as one of her own rich father's business associates.

Those occult hobbies come from what an old article Neil had actually found earlier in the day. Arturo Fuentes had done a bunch of genealogy tests in his family to prove his and his family's ancestral connection to Queen Sybaris of Lybia.

The same vampire queen the young heroes fought.

"So what about the others?"

"Historical records show similar stuff actually,"Odie explained. "The others are either related to Lycan or also have a connection to Sybaris."

Theresa chimed in this time, "So how does that explain their powers then?"

Odie had an answer for that. Turns out, most of their families specialize in different forms of magic and alchemy. Odie and Neil managed to find some old textbooks and grimoires about the topics. The family names of Cronus's goons came up often. The Fuentes and Valentino family were two of the most influential families in this community of magical practitioners. But these alchemists and magician families existed all over Europe. So that established the connection between Pomelia and two of the other underlings.

"Wait, "Jay interjected. "That doesn't explain some of them. There were two of Cronus's goons that don't look that European. If this network of magician families is mostly in Europe..."

Theresa grimaced. Was her boyfriend really going to racially profile some of these guys? Even if they worked for Cronus?

"To be fair, Odie doesn't look Greek but here he is." Neil countered Jay. Odie suppressed a chuckle. It was a crass but not incorrect statement.

Theresa smacked Jay on the back of the head.

"Right. Sorry."

Odie continued, "So their powers are likely from studying alchemy or magic growing up".

Theresa connected to the next dot, "So you're saying this..." - what was the right word for this - "community- all have magic powers".

"Yep" Neil replied this time.

"-And they're likely descended from monsters."

The young heroes looked at each other, all realizing the obstacles ahead of them. This new enemy was going to be like nothing they've ever faced before. Jay summed up their thoughts as succinctly as he could:

"Oh boy. This is going to be a lot to deal with."

****************************

Aurelie finally got her cousin to agree to her favor after thirty minutes of arguing. Akira peaked his head into the lobby of the Ariti dormitories. Aurelie and Patrick had been in heated discussion in a little alcove at the front of the building. Two massive uphostered chairs sat facing each other with a engraved marble coffee table in between. Patrick sank deeper into his chair while Aurelie got up from hers. She saw Akira.

"Everything good on your end?"

Akira nodded, he showed the PDA monitor to her.

"Awesome. Well  my sweet cousin here has agreed to help us."

"I hate you," Patrick chimed in.

Akira thanked him for Patrick's willingness to be his and his friends' eyes into Olympus High. Cronus breathing down their collective throats made planning around him difficult.

The God of time may have helped them get out of Tartarus, but he was still a raging lunatic.

Patrick watched Aurelie leave the dorm lobbies to wherever she needed to go. Akira asked if he needed any drink or snack or anything before leaving. 

"No thank you. I need to head out soon anyway."

Akira lingered by Patrick for a minute, eyeing the tiled floor before following Aurelie to monitor the werewolf activity.

Patrick stared up at the ceiling of the Ariti dorms from his upholstered chair. The cute boy he had met a few days ago was his cousin's enemy. From what Aurelie told him, Archie probably thought she was a thief who wanted to watch a tyrannical god take over the world. A voice in the back of Patrick's mind wanted to question the validity of Aurelie's words but he remembered her disappearance.

Aurelie's disappearance had thrust a sense of chaos onto their family. It had looked like a kidnapping. Others thought she had died. Even more of their relatives had said it was an attack on the family. Patrick had just wanted to see his cousin again. Their family didn't have many kids their age growing up so she was the sibling he never had.

Plus Aurelie had helped him deal with an ugly rumor at their old school so he did owe her.

Patrick felt his body sink into the chair too much. He got up. And headed out of the dorms. He went to the one place that relaxed him whenever mental turmoil overcame his psyche.

The library. The Olympus High library for this instance anyway.

Thankfully, Patrick heard the emptiness from the lack of computer typing and footsteps. He sighed in relief walking in. Then the voices finally reached his ears.

Crap.

Patrick recognized one of the voices. Pomelia Fuentes. Aurélie had mentioned she was in charge of their group and was off tutoring someone, but why was she here? She didn't even go to Olympus High. A deeper voice came up.

Patrick snuck closer to the voices, using the high shelves of books to hide. Pomelia sat at one of the tables with some books and notebooks scattered across said table. Next to her was a burly young man in a green shirt, cargo shorts and loafers from what Patrick could see.

Patrick reached into his pockets for his camera phone. Have to make sure it was on silent first. Okay  good.

He positioned the phone and...

Got it.

Patrick put the phone back into his pocket. He sighed. Then walked to the duo occupied with art history tutoring.

Hopefully, Patrick thought, he could figure out if this big guy had any ulterior motive behind this tutoring.