Chapter 11: The Willows Brothel Part 1?

“I had no idea...,” Lina remarked. “That angry woman is your mother.”

“Correct,” Helsing coldly replied. He kept his attention on the computer.

“Do you ... still talk to each other?” Lina asked.

“I speak to her. Nothing more needs to be said.”

“That ... didn’t really answer the question. She’s your mother. I never imagined it because of your personality.”

“What are you expecting from it?”

“The way you two talked. Her ... anger seems focused more when she’s with you.”

“Are you trying to be my psychologist?”

Lina shook her head. “I just ... never mind.”

The underground room of the monastery remained mostly quiet. Lina had been listening intently to Helsing’s story. For a second, her gaze looked away from the man to see a gray foot that was sticking from the stairs. However, it quickly vanished back to ground level.

“There...,” Helsing explained. “I have a tainted water report from New York. According to the medical reports, I have two Americans that came to Paris complaining about stomach problems. According to the medical reports, it was claimed that they were suffering food poisoning just before the outbreak.”

“What does that mean?” Lina asked. “Before the outbreaks, I’ve seen tourists get sick of our food. They have poor stomachs.”

“Yes, but not in this case.” Helsing pulled the monitor to show her. Two figures, a man and a woman, were shown. “Their white blood cell count skyrocketed to double the normal figures.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s a sign of the transformation. Their medical reports would end the moment that the outbreak occurred. I’ve been looking for these types of patterns. Annika’s sacrifice was not in vain.”

“How does it help?”

“The couple’s passports claimed that they were born in Santa Monica, California. It’s located in Los Angeles. Cross-referencing the medical reports with the others...” His fingers typed rigorously on his keyboard. “Cross-referencing with medical reports from California. Done ... the couple was one of the first to suffer from the transformations when it broke out.” Helsing turned his head to look at Lina. “They departed on the flight not long after the mutagen outbreak. Some were instant transformations, while others took days. It all depended on the amount of exposure.”

“I still don’t understand.” She had a hint of a smile as she could see Helsing thinking aloud.

“By using these cross-references,” Helsing explained. “I can begin to isolate the approximate location of the last deployment agent.”

“It is in the United States?”

“More likely the city’s water distribution plants,” the doctor continued as he looked at the screen. “Water pumps would push the mutagen to all places of the city ... the location would be perfect because it would result in the highest amount of transformations on the Western side of the United States.”

“Then that is good, oui?”

“Indeed. I will have to notify the US Coalition teams to focus their searches in California and narrow it down to one portion of the city.”

“Excellent..., then we have completed our secondary mission, no?”

“I will still need to run further cross-references, but yes. Now that leads to one final part of the dilemma.”

He stood up from his chair as his gloved hands fiddled with his chin.

“You travel back,” Lina tried to say. “But the perpetrator still lives.”

“Correct. If he or she fails, that person will just try again later ... and we only have one chance to stop it.”

“What about Gaap?”

“Yes ... he mentioned about a hotel in the Vatican City ... run by Galanthis.”

Helsing started to pace slightly, holding his hands behind his back. His head was held low as he was contemplating his next move.

“Who is ... Gala ... tris?” Lina struggled to pronounce.

“You can call her ... an old friend...,” he explained to her. “If one is to use the vernacular. She deals with information ... espionage. There was a time when she and Gaap were a couple.”

“She sounds helpful.”

“I wouldn’t completely count on that. Galanthis can be like Lilith. She is strong-willed, learned to take care of herself, and only looks out for herself. Her history has always involved with gathering intelligence. Most wars, she has used brothels, whore houses, and prostitution to work her magic. Of course, she wasn’t the one giving sex, but her array of workers that served under her. The Coalition of Deities always needed information to accomplish its missions but at the price of looking away from her activities.”

“It sounds like she could help us find the perpetrator.”

Helsing waved his finger. “For a price ... Galanthis never traded her information for free, and neither did she make a habit of providing it. Her hatred towards the Gods drives her well-being.”

“But she might be able to help us. We must go and find her ... talk to her.”

“I agree, but we need a plan. If she is working with the ogres, then a frontal assault to her place would be unwise ... especially with a bunch of sex-starved ogres angered that they aren’t able to relieve themselves.”

Lina tried to imagine a house of prostitution with ogres looming about. The very thought of it disgusted her. However, something didn’t add up on how such a place of an institution could even exist.

“How is she able to conduct a business?” Lina asked. “Does she have ogre prostitutes?”

“I don’t know,” Helsing continued to think. “She may have a few mythics working under her, but most likely, if Gaap knew about it, then she has found her way around that issue.”

“Maybe ... she has humans working for her.”

“That is possible. If it’s true...”

Helsing stopped walking as a plan started to formulate in his head. However, it was Lina that was also thinking about it as well. Her eyes looked at the man.

“I ... think I have an idea,” Lina said. “I know how we can infiltrate her place.”

All of the team gathered in the central hall of the monastery. The table had the familiar disk crystal that projected a layout of the Vatican City. The only person that wasn’t present was Lina.

“We should just launch an assault!” Lilith cried out as she waved her hand at the table.

“We can’t maintain more losses,” Helsing replied to her.

“He’s right,” Theo added. “I don’t want to see any more deaths. Annika was my friend, and so are all of you.”

“This is what I propose.” Helsing waved his hand over the table. The image zoomed in on a street, revealing a 3D projection of a hotel. “Our first attempt will be to teleport to the roof. Viktor and Aritaaku have had a chance to evaluate the layout of this place. Aritaaku will be the one that will teleport us there.”

“Assuming that they don’t have magic dampeners to block my teleportation spell,” Aritaaku added. The anthro hare crossed her arms as she felt Theo’s hand press against her shoulder.

“Correct,” Helsing continued. “If that fails, then we will have to teleport several blocks away and then make a run to the brothel.”

“Hmmm...,” Viktor shook his head as his tail seemed to shudder. “The ogres were able to kill Annika, a dragon, using modern equipment. Helsing, I don’t think this is a wise idea.”

“I believe that Galanthis holds the information we need to solve our prime issue. We are getting closer to solving the last known area where the mutagen was released. However, we need to find out who was responsible for all this. I’ve informed the Greater Ones to focus all their efforts on finding that last dispensing site as we carry on with our mission. The rest of the teams around the world have been instructed on a new set of objectives ... to begin helping all human resistance forces.”

“We will be exposing ourselves to the humans.”

“True, but we are assuming that Theo’s plan will work. She was lucky to make the trip back in time thirty years ago, but it might not happen again. If that’s the case, then we have no choice but to let the humans know about our existence.”

Theo nodded. The minotaur seemed to understand the weight that was going to be pressed against her.

“Our casualties will be high,” Viktor continued. “Is it worth it?”

“The Greater Ones are currently debating it,” Helsing said as he waved his hand over the table. The hotel image spun a little bit as a series of question marks were revealed. “Back to the main topic. We will teleport to the brothel. From there, I will confront Galanthis and question her.”

“She won’t tell you anything,” Lilith replied. “She would expect compensation, and we don’t have anything for her that she would like.”

“Actually, we do...,” Helsing gestured to the stairs. “Lina has offered herself as compensation.”

“What?” Theo asked.

“We will offer a trade ... Lina has agreed to ‘become a prostitute’ to serve under Galanthis. This should lower Galanthis’s guard enough for us to slip in. In exchange, she will offer the information to us.”

“Lina actually agreed to this?”

“It was both of our ideas. Lina knows what’s at stake. However, Galanthis will gain nothing. Once we gain the information, all three of us will teleport away.”

“Brutal,” Mowsen said.

“The whoremonger deserves it,” Lilith said. “Galanthis has always looked after herself. Even when the whole war began, she took off and thought that indulging herself with sex was the way to make things better.”

“But will betraying her work?” Viktor questioned. “We lie to her, and she will never work with us again.”

“We only need to see her once,” Helsing said.

“And if she puts up a resistance? I’ve heard of her. Galanthis isn’t stupid. Her history is proof enough as it is. Not to mention, the ogres now have a way of suppressing our magic. This is extremely risky. If you aren’t able to teleport away...”

“I’m well aware of the risks. There is no path but forward. Without that information, we won’t be able to stop these events from happening again. If Lina is able to put herself in danger, then I will help her as she helps us.”

For a moment, Lilith looked down, almost as if she were really thinking about it. She fell reticent as the others continued. Even Helsing took note of it.

“I will need to talk to Lina after this,” Theo said. “I admire her courage, but I want to make sure she knows what she’s doing.”

“What do you want us to do in the meantime?” Viktor asked.

“During the time I’m away,” Helsing answered. “I want the others not involved to get some rest. Lilith, I will need you to keep convening with the Greater Ones and find out the next set of objectives, assuming the three of us make it. If we don’t return ... you know what to do next.”

“I know enough,” Lilith said with a sigh.

“Then we teleport later this afternoon,” Helsing tapped his knuckle to the table. “Dismissed.”

With that, the others left the table. Theo leaned over to Aritaaku’s long ear. Her snout whispered a few words that seemed to make the hare smile a little bit.

“Thanks,” the hare replied. The minotaur left her and proceeded to head downstairs. As the others left, Helsing noted that Lilith remained. Her gloomy appearance was only followed by the severity of Helsing’s face.

“You want to talk to me?” Helsing asked her.

Lilith took a deep breath as she seemed to refuse to look at him.

“You seemed to gather an affinity towards her, haven’t you?” She asked him.

“I don’t understand,” he replied.

“It takes a lot for you to find a woman that you want. You have a tendency to be ... picky.”

“I don’t see the point of this conversation.”

“No ... there isn’t.”

Helsing nodded. “She won’t be a distraction for me.”

“Actually ... I don’t have as many issues about it as you think.”

“I don’t need your blessing.”

Lilith scuffed as she turned her head to face him. “I heard some of your story ... what you told her ... about me. It ... reminded me of a few things.”

Helsing remained quiet. He turned his head lightly as he gazed a little bit in her direction.

“There are still times I call you my son,” Lilith said. With that, she turned and walked away, almost as if the very sentence she said was the most painful thing ever mentioned. The words, in turn, loomed in Helsing’s mind. Instead, the man remained staring at the hotel image.

On the floor below, Lina was sitting in her chair. Not far from her was a large spider woman. This person had the upper torso of a human woman with a somewhat brown complexion. She wore a set of multicolored jewelry over her yellow shirt. Her black hair was tied up into a bun that also flowed down her shoulders. For her crotch, she wore a yellow underwear strap that wrapped around her back. Her lower body was that of an arachnid. She had eight legs with brown and yellow stripes covering most of her torso and thorax.

From what Lina observed, the spider woman had her abdomen lowered down. Her spinneret was releasing a steady stream of a hard, sticky filament. Her front two legs were busy handling it and moving it forward. In the woman’s hands were two knitting needles. She was taking her silk webbing and turning it into thread, which was being made into a red dress.

Not far from the spider was Theo, who was watching everything unfold.

“It is a shame that my mother isn’t here to make a dress for you,” Theo commented to Lina.

“It’s alright,” Lina remarked. “I never seen a dress made this way.”

“Are you saying Ariadne does a better job than me?” the spider woman said. Her voice and accent were similar to a person born in Pakistan or India.

“No, Uttu,” Theo said. “I just ... haven’t seen my mother in some time.”

“I see,” Uttu replied.

Lina continued to observe as the red dress was slowly starting to shimmer. The silk webbing seemed to turn into the finest threat. Uttu was weaving the clothing like it was nothing.

“It’s so pretty,” Lina said.

“Uttu is one our best tailors,” Theo explained. “A goddess of light, darkness, and weaving. She’s also one of our oldest.”

“Are you saying that I’m turning gray?” Uttu asked.