The Gentle Maiden and Five Lustful Brothers-Chapter 219: You didn’t need to leave

"Well, hello, Artemasia. It’s good to see you again."

Artemasia felt her skin crawl.

That voice still scratched in her ears like it did the first day she joined the coven.

Arya.

She’s always hated Arya. Arya’s mother was her father’s mistress. The side woman. The whore her father cheated on her mother with.

Arya had everything handed to her because she was so gifted.

Artemasia had to work hard for every bit of knowledge she had and all the strength in her power.

She was a self-made witch.

"Wish I could say the same to you. Why are you trespassing in my territory." Artemasia growled between her teeth.

"Your... Territory...? You are still a member of the coven, are you not?" Arya smirked. Her tone was condescending and laced with mockery.

"What do you want Arya?" Artemasia shut the door to the palace library behind her and glared hard at Arya. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"I’m here for the same reason as the last time we saw each other." Aryas smirk still present on her face. "Princess Odette and Artemis."

"And what about them brings you into these parts?" Artemasia questioned. She’d cut all contact with the coven after she was demoted from being The Maiden of the Three Sisters. Because of Arya she’d lost her spot. How was she to actually believe the crazy story Arya told her?

"I have been working on a way to trap Ezelreth in a stone not of this earth." Arya started. "I’ve collected resources that are currently curing at the coven. I’m hoping they will be a binding element that will trap Ezelreth like before."

Artemasia listened intensely. Despite her dislike of Arya, she knew the importance of this stone.

"What are you using as the binding resource, have you figured out a seal design yet? Because you know a simple bond is not enough to hold a god hostage in a chunk of rock, you need a binding spell or seal. That’s where they went wrong last time. They bonded him to the rock, but they didn’t seal him, that’s why he was able to reach out the way he did to find someone to release him from his prison."

Arya hadn’t even considered that yet. She started to move around the room tapping her chin as she pondered.

"A binding seal. To bond not just his soul, but his powers too." The gears in her brain started reeling. "What if we connected his powers to the strength of the stone? Like the stones durability revolving around his strength. The more powerful he is the more powerful the seal and the stones material properties."

"I think you’re on to something there." Artemasia admitted through her gritted teeth.

She hated to admit and compliment Arya’s good idea, but she wasn’t a fake, she’d give credit where credit is due.

"You think you can design a seal, one like you did with Odette?" Arya asked.

"Yes, I probably can. I need to do some research into making a kind of fusion happen. Maybe a solar fusion. He is the DarkSon, meaning his soul and energy are directly related to darkness. Solar energy could maybe create some kind of seal."

"So... Basically... You need to capture the energy of the sun."

Yeah... Basically..."

"Sounds simple enough." Arya’s tone dripped with sarcasm and Artemasia found a light chuckle escaping from her throat.

However, she quickly silenced it.

"So, a solar fusion binding seal to a stone not of this world that will be bonded to an ancient evil by the blood of his own sons." Arya Shuddered. "Sounds ominous."

"When you put it that way yeah it does." Artemasia agreed.

"So, you’re using the blood of his own sons to bond him to the stone?"

"Yes. I plan to isolate his genomes and split them from Lilith’s. I have samples of both sons, which I think will give me at least a 75% match to him. It’s not as good as it would be if I had his actual blood, but this is what we have now. You have to make the most of it, ya know?"

Artemasia was usually annoyed by Arya’s optimism, but right now, she found it oddly relaxing.

"That’s actually pretty smart, how’d you come up with that?"

"I had help from Lilith. She shared some insight about the first time, one thing led to another and now I’m a phlebotomist, not just a witch." She shrugged laughing at her own joke.

This was the longest conversation they’ve ever had alone. At least one unaccompanied by resentment and arguments that is.

"I heard you’ve been training Odette. How is that going?"

Artemasia was skeptical of Arya’s motive behind the question. Was she genuinely curious? Or was she just fishing to report back to the Sisters?

"Good, she’s powerful, like really powerful, strong beyond your wildest dreams." Artemasia started to brag. If anyone were to hear her now, they wouldn’t dare believe their own ears.

"She’s got some resilience too. Fearless but quick thinking. I think Ash did alright training her most of her life, her physical combat skills have helped her with her power control. What she has in this life that she didn’t have in her last is the fact she was trained for this her whole life and her support team has been here since birth, plus she has me for a teacher." Artemasia said proudly.

"Cocky much?" Arya laughed "How do you know you’re not a reincarnated witch destined to train the MoonChild in every life she’s born?"

"Maybe I am. She’s mastered air and ice and lightening. Fire has been a difficult one to control but she’s getting the hang of it. Water, that’s been a fun one. Great with rain, but not so great with large bodies of waters like lakes..." Artemasia mentioned recalling one of their training sessions they had on the frozen lake. She ended up much colder and wetter than she would have liked.

"I’d love to witness a training session." Arya smiled and she meant every word. Despite Artemasia’s feelings toward Arya. Arya never cared about the problems of their parents. She was always ever focused on her magic. Being from a line of powerful seers was the reason she was able to connect with goddess, or at least so she thinks.

"How long are you here for?"

"Until you finish the seal and I finish the stone." Arya answered "If all things work out, after the gala, I think I’ll move my lab things here, we’ll get more done if we’re not on opposite ends of the world. You know?"

"Don’t tell the coven I’m here. I won’t be a rogue witch, so I won’t dissolve my bond with them. But I think I can go the rest of my life without ever talking or seeing them again." Artemasia answered.

"You know you didn’t have to leave..." Arya said sadly.

"I know. I wanted too. I hate it there. I’m happier here. I’m free to be myself and change anytime I want. You see my real face. And sometimes, they see my real face. But I wear a glamour, so I look different all the time. I don’t want those hags coming here and spoiling my happy life."

"You know The Crone died." Arya sounded even sadder.

"Well, she’s old, it was bound to happen." Artemasia acted like she wasn’t fazed, but Arya wasn’t fooled.

"Why do you pretend to be so cold. You wear sarcasm and aloofness like its armor."

"Because real friends will love me unconditionally and accept me. And that’s the thing I have here that I never had in the Coven." Artemasia admitted the true reason she left. Her deepest secret.

"I hate you. Your mother broke up my family. My father ruined your image in my mind when he decided to cheat on my mother by fucking yours. We can never be friends, and I can never fully trust anyone because of that." Artemasia never talked about this part of her life but found herself opening up like a filleted fish.

"Wow, that’s some pretty intense feelings you got there."

"Yeah, no shit."