TVO Chapter 6
The Vestal Order
Phena had never been the type of girl to join any group or club. She had been a Girl Scout for one year and quit after failing to sell a single box.
I’m not taking you around the neighborhood, her mother had told her, if you want to sell these cookies, you’ll have to learn to go by yourself.
Phena, uninterested in meeting her neighbors, ripped open a box of Trefoils and ate the entire box by the time her mother returned from practice.
But the Girl Scout handbook never said anything about a warehouse at their disposal. And even if they had, it wouldn’t have compared to this.
The girls gawked, open-mouthed, at the size of the warehouse. From her vantage point, Phena could see the rows of cars and vehicles that lined the warehouse floor. To their left, stacked rows of clothing hung on conveyor belts much like the ones at a laundry mat, except they spanned the entire length of the football-field long building.
“What is all this?”
Sun shut the door behind them. “This is one of the supply warehouses. We have them all over the country. All over the world, actually.”
“Wow, this is so cool,” Cal exclaimed.
Phena kept her arms crossed. She didn’t want to gawk at this stuff, she wanted her questions answered. She spun on Sun. “Is this the part where you explain everything?”
Sun didn’t smile, but her eyebrows furrowed for a moment before she nodded. “Why don’t we get you girls set up here for the night. Then I’ll explain anything you want to know.”
Phena looked to Cal, who had wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. “Fine.”
“Calliope,” Sun offered. “Why don’t you take a look around?”
Cal glanced at Phena who nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
Sun waited until Cal had fully descended into the warehouse before turning to Phena. “How are you doing Phena?”
“I’m fine,” she replied. Her limbs were all where they should be, her feet only hurt a little, and her headache had dulled.
“I doubt that.”
Phena refused to face her, watching Cal’s form get smaller.
“If there’s something you want to say without Cal hearing, I suggest you do so quickly.” Phena turned to stare the woman down. She had had a long day and didn’t want any more surprises.
Sun’s eyes softened. “I know how difficult this must be for you. I wasn’t too much younger than you when I was called on by The Order.”
“Called on?”
Sun offered a soft smile. “I have a lot to explain.” Sun led Phena down into the warehouse. “But I did want to talk to you, specially.” She eyed the younger girl, her expression solum but Phena couldn’t guess why. “The Vestal Order has been waiting for you for a long time. Seventeen years, actually.”
“Why me?”
“I’ll explain more later, but please keep Cal close. It’s a difficult journey you’re on and protecting our friendships is like protecting our sanity.”
Phena’s eyebrows furrowed. Of course, she’d look after Cal. Phena heard a warning in Sun’s words but couldn’t quite decipher what she was warning her about. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“There are a few rooms here,” Sun called, speaking louder for Cal to hear. “Our warehouses are separate from our Temples, but they are always a safe place for Vestals.”
“Is that what we are? Vestals?” Phena asked.
“Vestals are girls chosen from across the world who have been offered a chance to protect the Vestal Flame.”
“And how are they chosen?”
“The Goddess decides who is worthy.”
“The Goddess?” Cal asked, coming up beside them.
“The Goddess Vesta, the Roman name of the Greek Goddess Hestia. She decides who gets chosen. The Order is alerted to their presence, and they are sent a guide to help them with their decision.” Sun opened a door to her office, allowing the girls in.
“So, they get a choice?” Phena asked. She didn’t want to be a Vestal and protect some flame. She wanted to get back to her life. She couldn’t imagine a life like this, constantly being chased, being conducive to a writing career. Hell, Phena didn’t see it being much of a life at all.
“Of course. This isn’t a prison sentence.” Sun grinned. She set down three glasses and poured in a deep brown sweet tea. Phena licked her lips, swirling the cold drink before bringing it to her lips.
Phena sipped the tea, letting it coat her tongue and cool her body. It was sickly sweet, just like her mother made it. She could smell it now, wafting upstairs to her bedroom so that when she woke up, it was to the smell of it.
“Vestals are bestowed heightened senses. Strength, speed, hearing, endurance. We can withstand extreme temperatures and we forever have a connection to our Goddess. We can perform spells, brew potions—”
“Like witches?” Cal butted in.
“Not quite, but if that similarity is helpful to your understanding, then sure. But we cannot do either of those things on our own. We offer to the Goddess, and she allows us some of her power.”
Phena waited for Sun to say that Vestals can also expunge fire from their hands, but she never did. Phena shifted in her seat.
“So, we’re Vestals?” Cal grinned, elbowing Phena.
“Well,” Sun began. “The Order was only alerted to one new Vestal.” Sun offered Cal a sad smile before looking to Phena. “Phena, you aren’t just a Vestal, you are the one person who can right The Order’s mistake.”
Phena could feel Cal’s eyes on her, but Phena simply gulped down the rest of her drink. Cal had always been the exceptional one. Conventionally attractive, well-liked, a straight-A student with mostly loving parents in a two-income household. While Phena didn’t like what this new title would entail, a small part of her was pleased to have this one thing over Cal. But the guilt of having dragged her into this extinguished any pleasure Phena felt.
Phena met Sun’s eyes. “What mistake?”
Sun sat down across from them. Now, with her sitting directly in front of them, Phena could see how tired Sun looked. Her skin, smooth and unblemished, didn’t give away her age, but something in her eyes told Phena that Sun had seen a lot in her lifetime.
“I’m sure you’ve heard about the Vestal Virgins?”
The two girls nodded, although Phena bristled at the virgin aspect.
“As Vestals, it is our job to make sure the Vestal Flame doesn’t go out.”
“The Flame that was thought to protect Rome?” asked Cal. Phena suspected Cal had paid a little more attention in their history class than Phena had. Although she did think that many of the Greek and Roman myths were great inspiration for stories and had studied a few closely.
“Yes, but the Flame wasn’t just for Rome’s success and safety. It was for the entire world.”
Phena perked up. “Was?”
Sun frowned, sighing. “This is where things get complicated. Seventeen years ago, a Vestal failed to protect the Flame.”
“It went out?” Cal exclaimed. Phena pinched her and with her eyes told the overexcitable girl to stop interrupting. Cal muttered an apology.
“That’s the thing, if the Flame had gone out, then the world should have been plunged into darkness, allowing Eris’s daemons to infest the world.”
“But we’re still here,” Phena began, putting two and two together, “so the Flame didn’t really go out or your Goddess has been lying to you.”
“Our Goddess is very much right,” Sun corrected. “But yes, we had suspected the Flame hadn’t gone out, but moved to a safe place. The Order hadn’t known about this failsafe, its ability to—”
“Save itself?” Phena finished. “Is it sentient?”
Sun appraised Phena. “We don’t know. Our concern has been to locate it.”
“And you haven’t yet?”
“Until now.” Sun held Phena’s gaze, but Phena refused to play. She didn’t want to say it out loud, fearful that acknowledging it would make this all too real.
Cal looked between the two. “Phena? You think Phena has the Flame?”
Phena pursed her lips. Cal was smart, but even the truth eluded her. Phena knew that if someone was going to say it, it should be her.
She turned to face Cal. “Seventeen years ago the Flame went out.”
“Seventeen….” Cal’s hands clamped over her mouth as she looked to Phena, wide eyed, then at Sun.
Sun nodded. “I have every reason to think that when the Flame relocated, it chose a person to live in. After I was notified that there was a newly risen Vestal, I called on the Goddess to see you. That’s when I saw that you possessed the Flame.”
Sun got up and removed a green bottle from her fridge. “I know you two are a little young for this, but I think you’re gonna need it.”
Phena watched her glass fill up, recognizing the smell as some alcoholic beverage. As soon as Sun filled it, Phena gulped most of the bitter drink down. Phena hated the taste and smell of alcohol, but Sun was right. She did need this.
After she was done, her glass hit the table a little too hard. She faced Sun head-on, the effects of the drink already causing her face and chest to heat. “So, what do you need me to do? How can I return a flame that’s inside of me?”
Sun looked down. “There is a way to remove the Flame, but it is not something I can do here.”
Phena’s eyes narrowed. “What happens if we don’t remove it?”
Sun gulped down her drink, twirling the glass in her fingers, her gaze stony. “Then the safety of the Flame, and thus the world, resides in you without any confirmation that it will last or remain protected. I suspect that if you die, the Flame dies.” Sun’s gaze locked onto Phena’s.
Phena suspected the woman had years of experience hiding her emotions because she could not read what was in her eyes. Or perhaps it was the fact that she saw nothing in them – no emotion – that scared Phena more. “And that’s not something we should have to risk.”
“What about those monsters?” The glowing purple eyes flashed in her head, those sharp talons.…
“The daemons are attracted to the Flame. Their sole purpose is to extinguish the Flame and begin their conquering of Earth. If the Flame goes out, every door between our world and Hades will weaken, allowing daemon hordes and their summoners to rise.”
Cal reached for the bottle and when Sun glanced at her, she froze. Then Sun slid her glass over. Cal poured a new round for them both.
“Their summoners?” Phena asked, ignoring Cal’s offer to fill her glass as well.
“The daemons that attacked you belong to Eris, the goddess of strife. She has every reason to want to pit humanity against her horde. She calls it her best game yet.”
Game? Phena remembered what those daemons had said to her. If you ever want to see your mother …you have until the end of summer....
“Greatest mistake,” Phena whispered. “She wants me to play her game. If I don’t go back, I’ll be cursed. Something about The Order’s greatest mistake.”
Sun frowned but otherwise remained calm. “Did she say why she needed you back by the end of summer?”
Phena fiddled the glass around in her hands.
“Eris took her mother…and our team,” Cal answered. Cal slid her hand across Phena’s thigh, intertwining their fingers. Phena watched the empty glass distort as Cal filled Sun on the specifics.
Sun tsked her tongue, frowning. “The torch will be easiest. Anything lit by the Vestal Flame should suffice—”
“But I can’t control it.”
Sun thought for a moment. “Then you’ll have to learn.” Sun slid a black rectangle to the center of the table. “Vest, show me the map of San Rheasilvia.” The screen lit up like a phone and rose into the air.
Cal gasped and they looked up, watching as a map was projected down onto the table.
Sun pointed to a village and the map zoomed in. “This is the Temple of San Rheasilvia. The dagger is displayed here. It may be tricky since it is on the non-Vestal side of the church. The Vestals made a deal with the church over a century ago allowing them to display it after The Order neutralized it. Previously, it would cause the holder to make others betray their loved ones. It’s recommended no mortal should ever touch it. There’s no telling if the enchantment will control the holder instead of allowing them to control others.”
Phena and Cal shared a look.
“I can delegate with the church allowing us to borrow it,” Sun continued. “It’ll be up to you to receive it without alarming tourists and those unaware of The Vestal Order.” She looked pointedly at the girls.
Cal nodded. “No touchy, I promise.”
Sun continued before Phena could ask if being Vestal meant they weren’t human. “This is the Temple of Venus and Roma.”
Phena leaned forward. The Temple was a large, crumbling building sat on a tall foundation. Phena eyed the hundred or so broken stairs. If this was what all Vestal Temples were like, then maybe they weren’t the safest.
“It’s the original Temple from ancient Rome,” Sun explained. “The Temples that house Vestals today don’t look like this.”
Phena nodded and shared a glance with Cal who laughed.
“You’ll find the Golden Apple there. Despite it being Eris’s apple, it has a tendency to remain with Aphrodite.”
Phena raised an eyebrow. “So, what, we book a tour and steal the apple without anyone noticing?”
“Well, no.” Sun zoomed in more. A green fence surrounded the temple. “It is closed to the public.”
Phena groaned.
“But.” Sun gave Phena a pointed look. “Vestals host a ceremony to honor the Goddess Vesta in Rome. All Temples are closed to the public until later in the day. You’ll have access to the temple then.”
“But I’m not a Vestal….”
Phena perked up. “Yeah, I’m not doing this without Cal.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll notify the Temple. It’s in a small village an hour or so outside of Florence. Risen Vestals go there to train. I’ll book you tickets for tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry what?” Cal sputtered. Phena looked down and noticed her drink was also empty. “Florence? We can’t go to Florence!”
“Where else are you going to go, home?”
Cal looked to Phena. Yes, that’s exactly what Cal thought their next step was. Phena shook her head. “We can’t go home. As long as I’m a homing beacon for daemons, it’s not safe.”
Cal lowered her voice and leaned into Phena. “Are you fully understanding this? Are we actually going to go to Rome?”
“I don’t think we have any other options, Cal.”
“Don’t worry,” Sun reassured. “The Order will handle everything. All you need to do is make it to the airport.”
Phena paled. That sounded like a feat now. But she nodded anyway. The sooner they removed the Flame, the sooner The Order could save her mother, and she could return to her life. Hopefully.
Sun stood in front of them grinning mischievously. “Now, it’s time for the fun part.”
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