Humble Pie Isn't So Tasty After All.

Ever since we left the paradise of Mag Mell behind us, I've been reflecting on the words my grandfather said to me.  You didn't come here for my benefit, Rhiannon, you only came here to help yourself first and foremost. The only one you have ever loved is Gentle Annie and you've both got tempers to match. You're my grand daughter and you've got a decent heart in there somewhere but you're not going to trick me into shattering whatever pull Enech still has upon me.

I can write this as my other half rests in a restless slumber, the cold wind, the weight of the task ahead, and Lugh's words keep me from true rest. The soft press of Anna's feathers against our cheek isn't enough to keep the thoughts at bay, nor is the shared dream of Wonderland sweet enough to lull me fully into the world of dreams.

Even here at the mansion in Dublin, tucked between the sprawled, snoring Maiden, and the possessive embrace of the Matron, I can't help but put pen to paper and just work out the jumble of my own thoughts.

Grandda was right. My previous life's path and the path I had easily stumbled back onto after Elysium was simple enough since I took off from Da's ranch more than a thousand years ago. I came first. In everything. After our reconciliation, Anann overtook that. She came first. She still comes first. You can't woo a goddess and not wind up under her spell.

I don't want to lament on my own faults, but Prometheus' warnings against pride weren't just advice. It was a reminder of my own folly since I was visited. It had nearly made me prisoner in Mag Mell for eternity and it set upon me Bres the Beautiful as an enemy who would be happy to see my skull broken under his boot once more. The argument before the Vanir was more than enough of a final nail in the coffin of my arrogance. I may be a lady of the Tuatha. I may be a Queen due to my marriage to Anann. I may be the daughter of Mag Mell's favorite prince … and that means I should never lose Face as I did in that fortress. Not again. I've got my place in the pantheon to start thinking about. I've got my plans to assure that Balor never sees divinity (mine or anyone else's). I've got my daughters to think on. And I've got Wuyi.

Wuyi, who I have offered to join the Tuatha officially. My Grandfather, Lugh, would confirm her bravery and skill, and Anann (though grumbling) would probably support her claim as well.  She asked to think on it, and so I'll let her think, but I'll make the offer again after we're done with meeting Loki.

Anna says to wear red, that the color is his favorite. She teases that she'll have to peck at my ears if he woos me, but I told her not to worry. I had standards when it came to men, after all! Still, I have a feeling between having a daughter of Odin with us now (who I positively adore. She reminds me of Caoihme, an old… old friend) and the fact that I'm alluring enough to have Loki come sniffing around if I start asking for him … we'll have our meeting with the Lie-Smith.

His task will be just as unpleasant as cutting down the Golden Apple trees but his task would not be for the Titans. It would be a trick that would have us looked upon with wariness, but not resentment. One way or the other, we will have Artemis' first strike against us … while we're essentially on Prometheus' task and that should be enough for a strategist amongst the Greeks to use that to get their pantheon back in the war. They all can't be so content with twiddling their thumbs.

Plus, now that we have rescued a daughter of the Vanir, and the daughter of Odin … it would be terrible to go chop down the garden. Not after Vana came in and was the Queen that I should aspire to be. ...but with a little more seduction added in. I'm not a mother hen, after all. Mayhaps the fight between Tal, Benjamin, and myself was meant to be. Without it, we would have continued on battling the Eagle Warriors who were still pinning us down in the fortress and left her behind.

With that fight, we were able to bring rest to the Vanir ghosts, watch their last stand one more time, and bring Vana out of her thousand year slumber. Fate, mysterious ways. I should know, I'm sleeping with her. 

Personal Musing #4

There isn't much to say about the issues going on up north with my other aspect. Not really. Well, minus the attack by the Eagle Warriors that ended in an orgy on their account due to a miscalculated order. I'll make sure next time that I give them orders that will go around their foolish devotion to the Teolt Sun God.

I don't care if Tal says they're attacking on her father's orders ... they're attacking -me- and I'm not too keen on that. If it hadn't been for luck, I'd be dead. Well. A part of me would be dead and that's still not a pleasant ideal. Those Eagle Warriors come back to me again, I'll raise them as servants.

After the battle I got to have a little bit of a talk with the Vanir that led into a blow-up with Tal and Ben. Half of it wasn't even worth anything but finally ranting at them. That done, Wuyi was then possessed by some ancient ghost and Kelly was given amulets that induce true loyalty.

I'm so tired of falling into someone else's plan. I just want to stride out into the open and demand Artemis meets us in fair challenge. It's implausible, but ... a nice thought.

~Rhiannon

Personal Musings #3

The writing in these letters is frantic, almost worried. The loops are loopier, the crossed t's seem to tear through the page, and it's obvious how much force was used when the words were sketched down.


When we were waiting for Tal to pick up a trail to find Prometheus, I asked Fate some answers of my own. I ... Balor scared me  was concerned about the Keepers being at Cairo and so asked why they were there. Namely, I asked about Balor's long-term goals ... and they concern me.

He wants me to succeed. He wants to help me rise to divinity. It is within his best interests for me to achieve apotheosis and by doing so ... he will claim my body and mind for a second time and ask that I had my divinity over to him and ... if Mystery is truthful ... this will succeed if I do nothing to prevent it.

I need to prevent it. I cannot ask Anann's favor in this. She has to stay as... in the dark as she possibly can and it kills her to leave me on my own. Do you know... I . She trusts that I'll do what I can. I have brought Wuyi in on my mission and so while the rest of the Band follows Tal, I will switch Wuyi and Johnathan and let Wuyi come home with me. Then we will head to Dublin and then into Mag Mell where we will rescue my Grandfather, Lugh.

Lugh's my best shot at defeating Balor before he comes for me again. Wuyi's mad that I don't have faith in her but Fate doesn't lie. If I don't ... if Lugh doesn't agree to help... No. I can't think like that. I'll keep a straight, strong facade until I know for sure I'm safe.

I'm terrified.

Letters #4 or Listening to the Voice of Reason

Fiona,

You'll obviously had heard tale of how Wuyi and I snuck into Mag Mell underneath the nose of the Morrigan and Manannan only to be captured by Bres the Beautiful and the Formorians. While the rest of the Band travelled North, Wuyi and I proved our worth. It was... glorious and exciting and I think Anann still refuses to hear it without grumbling.

What this letter is going to address is that one should always, always heed caution when another Bandmate voices a concern. Even if you disagree with their assessment, keep their worries in mind for they may have insight that you lack. Take for example our first meeting with Prometheus. His smug questions about pride and the follies of it fell on the deaf ears of Ben, Tal, Wuyi, and Kelly. They heard and then promptly forgot Prometheus led us to a tomb of the Vanir and offered them power.

Power without an obvious price. Even when I had voiced out loud that Prometheus would attempt to exploit us, they heeded nothing of my words of wisdom and I fear that has signed them into a terrible plot to truly betray the gods. They were given the divinity of the Vanir, and yes, this has increased their legend ... but in return it allows them to wield the relics of the Vanir to proceed with Prometheus' plot: Removing the Gardens of the Vanir. The Greeks call it something else entirely but it is the same place: The Land of the Golden Apples. You would know the lore behind it: It is the Garden where the Aesir pluck the fruit and thus continue staying young and immortal forever.

One wonders if the same applies to the Greeks.

Regardless of the Lore, it is a sacred grove of a pantheon known for their ties to the land. If the Band follows through with the request by Prometheus... well... then they truly have sinned against the Gods and turned two pantheons mortal. Yes, they would have rejoined the fight but at what cost?

The second part of this letter is so I can voice my own internal dilemma. Do I tell the Band of my fears and listen to them scoff and scorn... or do I let them continue down the path of recklessness and thus be as guilty by inaction but the lesson learned in their minds to -listen- when someone gives warning to pay heed?

You already know the choice I made, this being given to you far in the future, when you're ready ... but I envy you that knowledge right now. If I tell them now, they learn nothing, and the lesson does not stick. They will continue to blunder and simply wait for me to right their wrongs without care. But if I do nothing ... they will learn the price of Pride and yet ... condemn the world with their folly.

I hope there is a third option, and my fears are nothing more than speculations upon a never-occuring scenario .. but Fate has never been that kind.

~Rhiannon