The Ghost Queen

Chapter One: Cronus has new underlings

Seven teenagers adept in various types of magic were now working for Cronus. Their victory against Jay and his friends looked like a guarantee at that point.

Theresa could not predict their movements even with her psychic abilities. She thought they even had their own psychic. Herry's strength couldn't outmatch the brute force of the earth magic used against them by the girl in the purple hat. What did they call her? Oh, right- Pomelia. Archie and Atlanta had both been knocked out. Even Neil's luck could not help them now.

Jay's breath had started getting ragged. He looked around. They ended up in what looked like a plaza. The buildings were spread out around a wide open cobblestone square, with a single tree surrounded by a small patch of grass in the middle. The tree's twisting roots had spread at least fifteen feet in diameter so it had to be at least a few decades old-maybe a century. The open space meant these magicians couldn't ambush them at least.

Hermes had sent the heroes to France to investigate reports about a man in black supposedly behind a series of thefts across several museums. Most of what was stolen were historical artifacts, that individually had little monetary value. Which was weird. The things Cronus stole were either pricey or had to do with at least one of the other gods. But these were mostly old books and old bowls.

Their first stop, the small village of Rennes-le-Chateau. Hermes advised them on checking in with a local museum to make sure all their pieces were intact. The curator had been notified of their arrival. Unfortunately Cronus and his recruits had beaten them to the site. The two red headed girls with the suspicious group pointed their palms to the heroes. For a split second Odie saw the symbol on their gloves, an upright equilateral triangle, the alchemic symbol for fire.

🜂

Flames burst from the gloves. The heroes retreated to cover themselves. Cronus pushed his group of teenagers into the museum. The fires dissipated instantly once Cronus ushered all his recruits in.

"Guys! Let's go!" Jay ordered his friends.

The young heroes stormed the museum.

Cronus had blocked the museum door with heavy chairs and some of his dark magic. The banging against the museum doors grew louder. Pomelia scurried off to find the curator. All the other recruits began searching the artefacts around the room. Some of the valuable pieces had been left untouched. The young recruits gathered artifacts found with hyper-specific symbols on them.

"Hurry up now! I only put that hold on for a few minutes." Cronus bellowed at the young recruits.

The black haired boy in the grey hoodie, Akira, glared at him.

The museum doors finally slammed open. Cronus slashed a portal into the air in front of him. Pomelia came back into the front lobby of the museum followed by a small brunet man in spectacles. Cronus stepped into his portal. The bespectacled curator yelled in a heavy French accent.

"All of you out!"

Cronus's portal disappeared. Pomelia ushered all her friends out. Most of them carried dilapidated leather tomes with them. The heroes got pushed along with the other teenagers.

Once all the teenagers were out of the museum, Jay turned to face the girl he assumed to be the leader of Cronus's new minions.

"All right what are you doing? Why are you guys working for him?" A tone of heavy disgust emphasized the last word.

Pomelia said nothing. She ushered her friends to leave as quickly as possible . Jay puffed at the blatant arrogance of this girl to brush him off. He signaled to Herry. Herry's imposing stature blocked their path. Herry glanced at Pomelia before forcing a glare back at her friends. The young recruits readied themselves for a fight. Pomelia put her hands to her face and scratched at the skin. She sighed her next phrase which infuriated Jay even more.

"Let's do this farther from the museum at least."

***

Pomelia had suggested the move from the museum to avoid damaging the old building. Thankfully, despite Jay's frustration, he obliged. What a weirdly noble suggestion from a minion of Cronus. The heroes scattered across the cobblestone roads. Pomelia signaled to the boy in the grey hoodie.

"Atlanta. Follow Atlanta."

Akira nodded. He touched his bracelet with two of his ringed fingers. The jewelry glowed. He ran towards the fastest of the heroes. His form disappeared as soon as Pomelia blinked.

"The rest of you, get the others. Bring them to my circles."

Jay and Herry ran into the labyrinth of stone buildings of the small town.

"Come on!" Jay raced into a narrow alleyway. Herry followed. The end of the narrow alley ended into what looked like a relatively small wooded area. The trees were packed densely enough to hide its inside ground in shade. Jay took his time to catch his breath. He commented on the surprise at the recruits'skills. Herry looked around. Herry noticed some movement within the shadows of the woods' trees. The low growl came next. Herry kept staring at the shadowy woods. The growl was louder now. It sounded like a dog. Jay listened now too. He signaled Herry. Footsteps. The growling had footsteps following the noise. Pomelia stepped out from the woods with a black dog by her side.

"How did you find us?"Jay drew his sword.

Pomelia ignored him. The dog snarled at the boys. She picked up a stick lying by the tree next to her. She pointed the stick at the boys.

In an instant the stick grew into a branch. Several branches. The branches were now the size of tree trunks.The branches lunged at Herry and Jay. The boys ducked. One of the branches grabbed Herry's ankle. It twisted around his leg. Herry ripped at the wood. Jay glanced at Herry. Then at Pomelia. He crowched to help Herry with the vice-like squeeze of the tree branch. Pomelia let go of her stick and ran off.

***

In the plaza Pomelia clapped her palms together and the ground trembled. Roof tiles fell off the buildings around her. Her eyes burst open, glowing white with hot light. Herry glanced at his surroundings. There were white circles drawn on to the cobblestone around them. They were drawn with chalk. He looked at Jay. Jay's eyes widened.

"They lured us here!"

The ground started cracking. The cracks slithered their way to the heroes. The heroes scattered. Herry ran towards the closest alleyway he could find, lugging Atlanta and Archie's unconscious bodies under each arm. He hid in the shadow. He placed his friends on the ground as gently as he could given the fight with these magician kids. Herry was panting heavily. He leaned against the stone wall behind him. The cold from the ancient walls provided some relief. He glanced at the scratches on his hands. Herry slid down to the ground.

Ugh, How long have we been here? Herry took out his PMR from his pocket. Six hours. They've been there for six hours. Herry peaked out from his alleyway. He didn't see Pomelia or her friends. But he saw Cronus. Cronus strut to the middle of the square just outside the alleyway. He stood near the big tree. He smirked. His greenish giant followed meakly behind. Cronus started gloating. He stretched out his words into sneers against the heroes.

"Come on out children. What do you think of my new underlings?" A few of the recruits gathered around him. Pomelia looked like she was glaring at Cronus.

But the prophecy. Herry trudged as close to the edge of the alleyway as he could. He stopped. There were footsteps behind him. Herry turned around. The blond boy who faught with Pomelia put his gloved palm out towards Herry. A gale burst from his hand and pushed Herry out of the alleyway. Cronus glanced in their direction.

"I'm glad you found one of them."Cronus commented, walking towards Herry and the blond boy. Enrico dragged Atlanta and Archie out by their shirt collars. Herry's limbs felt heavy. He looked up at his assailant. The glare from the midday sun hid most of his face. But the guy, Enrico (he heard that Pomelia girl yell his name a few times), had on similar rings and bracelets to Pomelia. Enrico put his palm to face Herry again.

Enrico spoke slowly, "I'm sorry Herry. But the prophecy can't help you."