Poppaea and Juni (part 2)
A month later:
The phone call came to Juni’s hotel room. It was her old friend Pietra, and she was anxious.
“Pietra, what’s wrong?", she asked.
“Juni, you’ve got to leave Rome immediately! You’re in danger!”
“Why?", Juni asked.
“There’s this woman. Her name’s Poppy and she’s looking for you. She asked me where you were, but I didn’t tell her. She asked Gen, Anna and Zelda but they wouldn’t tell her either.”
“Good,” she said, “because she’s deranged.”
As Pietra was talking to her friend, some poppies appeared out of nowhere. The Italian got a whiff of them and grew sleepy. Before she was knocked out Pietra said, “Juni, get out now.”
After that, she was knocked out and the receiver slipped out of her hand.
“Pietra! Pietra!", Juni exclaimed, “are you okay?”
Soon after, another voice answered:
“I see your friend tried to warn you to leave, but I took care of her.”
“Who is this?", Juni angrily asked.
“I’m Poppea, wife of Nero.”
“Poppaea! I remember you!,” Juni exclaimed.
“Of course,” she said, “and I’m quite surprised that you survivived. My husband’s punch obviously wasn’t enough to kill you.”
“No, he took me to a hospital and I recovered,” Juni said.
“I see, well don’t bother leaving Rome, and don’t even think about going to Nero for protection. I will find you, Juni.”
After that, Poppaea hung up the phone and the Eurasian fumed. On the other hand, she was very afraid. It was her first reaction to stay in her hotel room, but she couldn’t let Poppaea control her that way, plus she knew that Nero’s wife could easily posess her again, like that night at the Colosseum.
To calm down, Juni decided to watch some Italian TV, and order room service; that would probably be enough to get her mind off of Poppaea. So she ordered a large pizza and a liter of soda, then turned on the TV. Juni was watching TV when the order came, and the Eurasian paid for and took it. She spent the evening eating in and watching TV, eventually calming down. Pretty soon, Juni was so stuffed that she turned off the TV and went to sleep. For a couple of hours nothing disturbed her, but then the phone rang, waking her up.
She picked it up and sleepily said, “Hello?”
“Juni, are you okay?", the voice asked. It was Gen.
“Oh yeah. I’m fine,” she said.
“J, the girls and I found Pietra. She was on the floor in her bedroom, near the phone.”
“Is she okay?", Juni asked-concerned.
“Yeah. We managed to wake her up, and she told us this crazy story about how some poppies appeared, she got a whiff of one and was knocked out. I guess the poppies disappeared because we didn’t see any.”
“Gen, Pietra was warning me to leave Rome because Poppy is coming after me. Actually, let me explain this to you.”
With that, Juni began to explain the story of her encounter with Poppeae and Nero, where she possessed her and had her assault Nero, and afterwards Poppaea exited her body. She concluded the story with, “Poppaea took the form of poppies and that’s how she got into Pietra’s room.”
Gen was shocked at this account. “Are you serious?", she asked.
“Yes,” Juni said, “Poppy is Poppaea. Tell the others.”
“Okay J,” Gen said, “but I’m glad you’re safe. Just stay in your room okay?”
“Okay,” Juni said.
“Great. Take care and good night.”
“Thanks,” the Eurasian said, “good night.” Then she hung up.
The next day, Juni felt like going out for a pizza and took a taxi to a pizzaria. Once she got there, Juni hurried inside and blended in among the crowd. Ordering a pizza and a large soda, she sat at a table to enjoy her lunch. In a few minutes, an attractive young woman with over-the-shoulder black hair approached her and said, “Can I sit here?”
“Sure,” Juni said brightly.
“Thanks,” the young woman said, “by the way, can I have some pizza?”
“Of course,” Juni said.
The young woman swallowed some of the pizza and said, “By the way, my name’s Octavia.”
“That’s a beautiful name,” she said, “I’m Juni.”
“Thanks and nice to meet you Juni,” Octavia said.
“Same here.”
“So how old are you, Octavia?", Juni asked, “I’m 26.”
Octavia smiled, blushed a little and said, “Let’s just say I’m ancient.”
Juni percieved this as a sense of humor and laughed a little.
“What’s funny?", Octavia asked; curious.
“What you just said,” Juni said-laughing again, “about being ancient.”
Octavia wasn’t amused and though she wasn’t angry, she said, “Umm...Juni, maybe after lunch we can go somewhere and talk.”
The Eurasian had a serious look now and said, “Okay.”
“Good,” Octavia said.
The two continued their lunch and then went to a private place to talk.
“Juni, I was one of Emperor Nero’s wives.”
“Really?” Juni asked-amazed.
“Yes,” Octavia said.
Juni grew nervous and said, “I...I think I should go now.”
“Why?", Octavia asked.
“Well, you’re not going to hurt me are you?". she asked.
“Of course not. Who’s trying to hurt you?", Octavia asked.
“Nero’s other wife Poppaea,” Juni said.
Octavia’s eyes widened and she asked, “Poppaea Sabina?”
“If you say so, yes,” Juni said, “she said that she’s going to find me.”
“Poppaea Sabina-oh how I hate her!", Octavia exclaimed, “Nero divorced me in favor of her, and she was responsible for my execution on an island.”
“Well, I had a sexual relationship with Nero and now I’m scared to death. Help!” Juni exclaimed.
“I understand,” Octavia said, “and I’m willing to protect you. However, I want you to tell me more so I can understand the situation.”
“Okay I will,” Juni said, “but for now could you please accompany me out of here? I’m scared.”
“Okay come on,” Octavia said, and they quickly left the area and went back out into the open. She got into a taxi with Juni and they went back to the hotel, where Octavia accompanied the Eurasian to her hotel room.Once inside Octavia said, “I’ll come back here tomorrow so you can tell me the rest of the story.”
“Okay,” Juni said, “and thanks for everything.”
They hugged and she left the room. Afterwards, Juni even began to feel a little better.
The next morning, Octavia came to Juni’s room and they had breakfast while she explained the situation:
“Octavia, some time ago Poppaea had been secretly watching me with Nero, and used me to get revenge.”
“How did she do that?", Octavia asked.
“She possessed my body and took control of my mind. Under her control, I was assaulting Nero, and it ended when the emperor punched me and I fell unconscious.”
“Then what happened?", she asked.
“I woke up in a hospital which Nero carried me to, and it took me a couple of days to recover from the head blow.”
“I’m glad you survived, but why is Poppaea coming after you now?”
“Because I survived,” Juni said, “incidentally, when one of my friends called and warned me to leave Rome, poppies came up out of nowhere and knocked her out. Then I heard Poppaea’s voice on the phone. She told me not to leave Rome, and not to go to Nero for protection. It’s gotten to the point where I’m afraid to leave my hotel room now.”
“Juni, don’t be afraid,” Octavia gently said, “I’ll try to think of something.”
“Wait,” Juni exclaimed, “I just had an idea. What if my friends and I could subdue her while she’s in the form of poppies?”
“How?", Octavia asked.
“With snow. We could cover the poppies in snow and that should buy some time for you,” Juni said.
“Great idea!", Octavia exclaimed, “keep her busy and I’ll see if I can find something in ancient Rome that will keep Poppaea from possessing you again.”
“Okay,” Juni said, “but now my friends and I gotta find out where to get snow.”
“Well I can’t help you there,” Octavia laughed, “but I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“I hope so,” Juni said.