Taurus, the Stubborn

Taurus, the Stubborn

By Kami Bryant

The Apothecary looked up from where she stood behind the long glass display case, when the bell of the shoppe’s door tinkled gaily with the arrival of the young woman.

“Welcome to the Apothecary Shoppe,” began the Apothecary only to pause and stare at the girl in puzzlement.

“Hello,” said the twenty-something woman. She wore a pair of low-slung hip hugging jeans, a black hoodie with thumb holes zipped half way up, and her long thick hair in cornrows. “I am interested in buying something, but not one of your cursed objects,” laughed the Generation Z woman.

“What?” asked the Apothecary caught off balance by the visitor’s words.

“That’s what you do, right? You curse people? Give them things that ruin their lives?”

“I’m sure that I have no idea what you are talking about. Miss?”

“You can’t read my mind?” she asked. “You can’t pluck my name out of my head?”

“No,” said the Apothecary. “I can’t read you at all.”

“That’s good. I’ve been working on my shields.”

“And you’ve done a good job. Maybe you should just tell me your name.”

“Will that you give you power over me?”

“No.”

“My name is Rhiannon.”

“Nice to meet you, Rhiannon.”

Rhiannon walked closer to the display case that held assorted occult jewelry. She moved down the case and paused at the group of astrological sign necklaces. Rhiannon pointed at the Taurus symbol on a silver chain.

“I like that one,” she said.

“Oh, Taurus the bull,” said the Apothecary, “stubborn,” and she reached into the case and pulled out the necklace. She set the necklace on the glass counter and Rhiannon pulled it up by the chain, unclasped the lobster clasp, with her fingernails and hooked the necklace behind her slender neck. She then walked over to an oval mirror hanging on a nearby wall and admired her reflection.

“Pretty. I like it. Aren’t there three of you?” asked Rhiannon looking around the empty shoppe. “Where are your sisters?” she asked.

Lawful Good with a pop of displaced air, appeared beside Rhiannon. She wore the form of a big, beautiful, black woman. She wore her favorite navy pantsuit and practical shoes.

“What do we have here?” asked L.G.

“I’m not sure,” said the Apothecary. “Can you read her?”

“No, not at all,” answered Lawful Good.

“I don’t think that she is all the way human,” said True Neutral as she popped into existence beside the glass display case. “She doesn’t smell all the way human,” T.N. said with a sniff. True Neutral wore a red, silk Qipao covered in a white cherry blossom design. She wore her hair high up on her head with several jade hair pins sticking out of the bun and eight-inch-high black platform combat boots covered in silver buckles.

“Oh good, you are all here,” said Rhiannon clapping her hands. “Let’s play a game. That’s what you three do, right? You play games with people’s lives?”

“Oh, sounds personal,” said True Neutral. “Who did you piss off this time, Sister?” she asked the Apothecary.

“Who hasn’t she pissed off would be a shorter list,” replied Lawful Good.

“Someone not all the way human,” added T.N.

“Still too long a list,” replied L.G.

“I am looking for something,” continued Rhiannon. “If I find it, I win. And then once I find it, you give it to me,” she said.

“And why would I do that?” asked the Apothecary.

“Because once you give it to me, I will agree to work for you.”

“Really? And why would I want you to work for me?” asked the Apothecary.

“Because I’m special. You can’t read me and your sister,” she said pointing at True Neutral, “is right when she said that I am not fully human. My other half is very special, and I can be very useful to you.”

“You didn’t tell me what it is that you are looking for,” answered the Apothecary.

“No, that’s the game. How about this? I will close my eyes,” said Rhiannon.

“And is it in my shoppe? This object that you are after?” asked the Apothecary.

“Yes,” replied Rhiannon.

“Is it sitting in plain sight?” asked True Neutral. “Or is it hidden?”

“Is it the necklace?” asked Lawful Good joining in.

“No, it isn’t the necklace. And yes, it is hidden,” replied Rhiannon.

“Find it in thirty seconds, with your eyes closed,” said True Neutral.

“Ten seconds,” countered the Apothecary.

“Deal,” said Rhiannon. “Would you please hand me that hair pin?” she asked T.N.

True Neutral pulled out one of her jade handled metal hair pins from her thick, straight, black hair and handed it to Rhiannon.

“Okay, and will you count for me?” asked Rhiannon.

“Sure,” replied T.N.

“Okay, when I say go.” Rhiannon closed her eyes and stabbed the tip of her index finger with the sharp metal hairpin. A bead of bright blood pooled up and Rhiannon shouted, “Go!”

“One,” began T.N.

Rhiannon spun on her heels and pointed with her bleeding finger. Along with True Neutral’s counting was a second sound. A sound almost like a gong was struck, or a Tibetan singing bowl pealed out in the quiet shoppe. Rhiannon, her eyes tightly closed, walked toward the sound. Her bloody left index finger held out, T.N.’s hairpin clutched in her right hand.

“Five,” said T.N. slowly. “Siiiiiixxxxxx,” she continued drawing out the word as Rhiannon, with her seeking bloody finger paused at a cabinet. Rhiannon’s hand blindly moved over the drawers, stopping at a drawer when the sound of the singing got louder.

“Seven,” said True Neutral slowly. “Seven and a half,” she continued.

“You’re cheating,” said the Apothecary to her younger sister.

“Seven and three quarters,” answered T.N. as Rhiannon blindly pulled out a drawer. “Eight,” said True Neutral.

“Nine! Ten!” shouted the Apothecary as Rhiannon pulled out the singing object with her left hand, smearing blood from her pricked finger. Rhiannon opened her eyes triumphantly, clutched in her hand was a dagger. The dagger glowed bright as her blood smeared the blade.

“Oh, that explains it,” said True Neutral. “Atlantean.”

“Rowen?” asked Lawful Good. “Rowen has a living child? I didn’t think Atlanteans could breed with humans?”

“Rhiannon Rowenschild at your service,” said Rhiannon with a bow as she clutched the dagger. “I win!”

“You are very special indeed to survive child,” said the Apothecary. “I think you have had a couple hundred older siblings who died in their infancy, some dying in utero.”

“The only existing half human, half Atlantean,” said True Neutral. “That is interesting.”

The metal of the dagger clutched in Rhiannon’s hand brightened as her blood hit it. The dull metal changed, shone and an engraving of a bull appeared on the blade.

“Taurus, the stubborn,” muttered the Apothecary. “The bull, that should have clued me in.”

“I rally am a Taurus,” answered Rhiannon. “And I am keeping the necklace. Consider it a perk of my employment as your apprentice.”

“Technically,” said T.N. “It is an auroch bull. This was ten thousand years ago. Wasn’t it aurochs that they brought with them to this world? The Atlanteans?”

“Yes, modern bulls are descended from the aurochs that the Atlanteans brought with them. Some of them survived when the Apothecary threw their island into the sea. They swam,” said Lawful Good. “The animals started running and a lot of them escaped the island since the Apothecary first started bringing the city down on all the people, killing everyone and everything in the city. The animals who roamed the island, had time to escape if they could swim. Then the Apothecary threw the island into the sea wiping out all of Atlantis.”

“Except for Rowan,” said the Apothecary. “I cursed him to live forever and alone.”

“And he has for ten thousand years,” said Rhiannon brandishing the blade. “Except for the last twenty-two years he hasn’t been alone. I have been with him.”

“Why do you need the blade?” asked True Neutral.

“To kill her father of course,” answered the Apothecary. “It is the only thing that can kill an Atlantean.”

“The last Atlantean. Seems a shame,” said Lawful Good.

“He made that and gave it to me,” said the Apothecary. “Made of Atlantean steel. It is special and it is all that remains of Atlantis other than Rowan himself.”

“And you kept it this whole time,” answered Rhiannon.

“She loved him,” said Lawful Good. “In her own way. He was the only one she’s ever loved. Then she had a temper tantrum when he spurned her and wiped out his species and an entire civilization.”

***

Later, Rhiannon opened the door to the apartment that she shared with her father. The bronze skinned, shirtless man, sat on a rug on the bare wooden floor. He was a large man, and he wore his hair shorned close to his skull. A side view of a large bull, actually an auroch, was tattooed across his back from waist to left shoulder.

“I wish you could have seen it, my world, it was so beautiful,” said Rowan to his daughter as she walked in the room as he continued sitting on the floor staring into the distance at something only he could see. “But our world was dying. There were only four thousand of us remaining in our city and the three sisters used their power to move our entire island with our animals, crops and trees from our world to this world.” He paused and turned slightly to Rhiannon. “Did you get it?”

“Yes, father I did.”

“I called her Chaos and I loved her,” mused Rowan.

“Then you pissed her off and she threw Atlantis into the sea.”

“Killing everyone and wiping out all existence of our people and leaving me to survive and suffer.”

“Your suffering ends now, Father,” said Rhiannon stabbing the blade through the auroch tattoo, under Rowan’s arm, through his ribs, piercing his heart. Blood poured from the wound, coating Rhiannon’s arm as it pooled onto the floor. “Rest now, Father.”

The End