Long Strange Trip It's Been!

Off the Coast of Spain!

Well, this year's been pretty interesting! While Rhiann and Rhia get settled back home - Anna and I went off and spent a good five or six months just sailing. Of course, this is Anna we're talking about so a good half of the trip was spent discovering ancient ruins and shipwrecks and who am I kidding, here's some pics!

Same wreck.

It was sheer perfection. Seven years dead was seven years away from my ocean. I know that Anann will never love the sea as much as I do, but  I'm eternally grateful that she is willing to try and accept my fascination with it. Though I wish she'd stop calling it 'That Mistress'.

Rylina ~ off the coast of Bahama

While we sailed, it wasn't all shipwrecks and salvage! Met some mermaids down in the Caribbean and spent a week just goofing off. I couldn't manifest a tail however, so they spent the first day or so teasing me about it.

 Ah, Fabio. He's adjusting to Ireland well and the herd is growing - and fast! He has to deal with the local wild stallions that have been sniffing around the mares. It's not too big a problem .... except that he keeps trying to eat the losers and it's um, difficult to explain to the local horse-watchers as to why he tries to do that.

Why is this even... hmph. Oh. I remember. Wuyi stole my camera not too long after I had the talk with my biological father. I met up with her in Seville as she was doing a favor for Belenos (which translates to picking up the kid he 'accidently' forgot). Wuyi's good with a camera at least.

Little Kennedy.

 I'd gush about the girls but I do that far, far too often as it is. Motherhood is something I thought I'd never want and yet being surrounded by the six little terrors is akin to being the most happy I've felt in a good two millennia. I still dislike someone's else's child - they just don't exude the same bond and coo'ing reaction that my own parasites do. And with Anann's blessing on five of them (Monkey claimed his Grandawesome) they all have personalities emerging quicker than a normal child. Fiona's the quiet and serious eldest - as if she knows what's expected of her. The twins are little bundles of mischief even at their tender age. Siofra is ... she looks a lot like Fand and does she have a set of demanding lungs on her! Xiaomei's a cutey. She'll be walking first, it's already obvious that the tail aids in that (and it's soooo adorable when she holds onto you with it). Liath takes after Anann. She's easily matching Siofra as 'little diva'.

And she still has the nerve to blame me!

 Heh, snapped this shot of Anann after the morning when Da and Monkey decided to visit their grandchildren. Of course they spoiled the babies rotten and then left them awake, wired, and demanding for us to take care of. She couldn't call in another aspect (all were busy) and Rhia and Rhiannon were off on business. Wuyi was in Cambodia at the time so... it was her and me and I think the reality of "completing the set" finally hit her.

Although how she manages to look gorgeous while looking shell-shocked is a trick I need to learn. Anywho! Vana and Kelly will be arriving tonight so I need to go prepare.

Homecoming

"Exactly how long are you going to remain furious at her?" It was weird for either of them to hear the other speak. They had been an only child growing up, and hadn't had a twin to adjust to the same timbre and quality of one's voice coming from another's lips. Still, Anann had practically demanded that they speak openly because watching the silent exchange from outside 'was disturbing'.

So, Rhiannon found herself looking up from her unpacking to find Rhia leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over her petite chest, her hair loose and flowing down to her waist, and startling blue eyes locked on her motions with the suitcase and wrapped little trinkets from the week spent returning to the mansion. She knew what Rhia asked, but decided to leave it alone. She had just calmed down, after all. "Would you prefer the green shawl, or the blue?"

Rhia's eyes narrow much like a displeased cat. There's a fluttering through the innate mental link the two share, but Rhiannon's firm grasp on keeping her thoughts her own for the moment leaves the pixish aspect with a dark glower and an exasperated eyeroll. "All right, all right. You're still bitchy that she's completed the current set. I get it. Can you at least share what happened in Norway?"

"You have the same memories as I do, why are you asking?"

"Oh, just because the memories of fire, burning, giant skeleton dragons, Bellona -- was she really there?"

"Mmhmm. Remembered us too. She's still touchy about the whole 'Romans got their asses handed to them' detail." Rhiannon smirks as she finishes up the first suitcase. She stops for a moment to eyeball the remaining stuff and vows to never let Anna hop around the world as a raven again. She's wound up with far too many shiny trinkets.

"Right. Bellona - and Loki bet Mars in a chess match?" Rhia hops onto the bed, upsetting several papers that skitter down to the floor.

"Now give Benjamin some credit ... he moved the pieces." Rhiannon says, and the two exchange a perfectly partnered grin at the tease. "In all seriousness, Benjamin needed all the help we could give him (though he only thanked Tal - see if I laud his praises ever again -hmph-) to become close to Mars' intellect but once there, Ben took the lead."

"And then Mars... took you on a tour of the garden?" Rhia's tone is dubious but Rhiannon ignores that bit.

"It was the perfect cover for Vana and Kelly to plant the seeds Jord gave us; and when it wrapped up - Tal gave me the perfect cover for the countdown."

"Then everything went to hell?"

"Something like that," Rhiannon says after falling quiet for a minute. If she closes her eyes she can still feel the flames of the Devourer upon her skin, and subconsciously, she shivers at recalling that haunting cradlesong. "The point is, we dealt a stinging blow to Loki's plan. It's not a perfect victory, but it is a victory."

"What about Kelly?" Rhia doesn't speak that question aloud, but it's echoed in the shared space of their mind, as if it were Rhiannon's own doubts bubbling up to plague her. Yes. What about Kelly, indeed.

Comfort

Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, there's the guilt and shame that swirl over Rhiannon's thoughts like oncoming storm clouds eager to unleash their torrent and fury over the roiling ocean below.

That doesn't matter though. It's a simple gesture to throw up the barricade and leave her sulking in silence. Vaguely, she catches glimpses of the flight from the Kindly Ones and there's a roar in the distance as her own failing rise up to engulf her.

It grows to be too much almost, but there's a gentle sigh right beside her ear and the moonlight streams in from the large windows, washing her in the silvery moonbeams until the wave of her emotions ebbs out into that infinite ocean. Soon the water is glass as everything is right for this one moment of existence.

"I hear you thinking and it is far too loud." There's a siblant whisper at her ear, the voice  shivering down her spine. Anann's grasp, even in the drowsy, half-awake state is a steel vice. Rhiannon doesn't answer her beyond a subtle shift within that unrelenting embrace, hoping vainly that Anann will leave it at that. The goddess doesn't, of course. She had to meddle lest it drive her mad and so, after Rhiannon has counted out nine steady heartbeats that rumble like thunder under her cheek; she's tucked and rolled until she's pressed deep into the blankets, a dark shadow falling over her. She tilts her gaze up to meet the midnight black stare of the Morrigan.

"I'm not thinking," she says softly, the tingle of the lie prickling at the base of her neck. She knows Anann can sense the falsehood, for the goddess' perfect cupid's bow mouth curves down into a frown that doesn't break the face that Anann is beauty personified. A thigh glides between her own legs as Anann resettles herself and Rhiannon knows that she'll be awake for a while longer. It's not sexual, not yet-- but it's a sensual closeness as the Matron consoles in the ways that mean most to her.

"All right, so I am thinking."  Rhiannon crooks her knee so that her calf rubs along Anann's own.   Compared to the goddess' ivory skin, Rhiannon's is deathly pale, the anemia turning her already luminous skin near transparent and wane. "Rhiannon's memories of the last few days have filtered in. She finally fell asleep."

There's a poignant silence from Anann as Rhiannon speaks aloud the troubles that plague her mind. She talks about Hammerfest first, and Anann's fingers tickle over her shoulder and trace the line of her collarbone.  When Rhiannon begins to mention the ritual, Anann's tactics change; and Rhiannon's voice catches over a word. Her eyes flutter close and then open again, meeting Anann's gaze questioningly.

"Continue." The goddess commands with a voice as smooth as silk, her expression unreadable as her fingers flex and curl over Rhiannon's body.

Rhiannon's words are a stumble until the rythym's established and she can indulge in a sigh or two without breaking the flow of her thoughts. The conversation dips between bouts of noise and silence, as the crush of their lips together has Rhiannon whispering over the connection of the ring until she's allowed a breath. When Anann's attentions are over her throat, she resumes speaking vocally, the cadence and pitch of her words thrown off by the smile that can't leave her lips now.

By the time Rhiannon's detailing the futile frustration as she's plucked off the battlefield of her unwilling choosing, the words are broken apart by tiny little moans. She gives up the pretense not long afterward and falls into the pleasure that Anann coaxes from her. Like a bird, her spirit soars high and eternity passes by her until reality is gently returned to her. Anann's abyssal gaze glitters with pride as she rolls them until Rhiannon's nestled on her. Nothing's said as they fall into a companionable silence, Anann's touch now soothing and meant to lull Rhiannon back to sleep's cloying embrace, the Vanir fortress nothing more than another footnote in the demigoddess' past.

Interlude I: The First Time...

The moment the midwife had wrapped Rhiannon in the warm swaddling cloth and presented her to Fand, the babe's hazy eyesight stared not up at the golden perfection that was her mother, but toward the dark, fierce woman who stood behind Lugh.

During the early years, when Fand had still been enraptured with the thought of motherhood and thus brought the toddler to every court procession that she could to show off the darling daughter she had birthed, Rhiannon would fidget and fuss until she spotted the shadowy war goddess. On the days that the Morrigan didn't show to Tir Na nOg, Manannan swore that there was no placating Rhiannon's sullen moods.

*****
Rhiannon first meets the Crone the night that Fand presents her before King Conchobar mac Ness. The novelty of motherhood has worn off and Rhiannon's inquistive nature only exasperates Fand now. As the King's grand-niece, she's given over to fosterage and told to behave. Rhiannon twists the bottom hem of her tunic and stares on quietly as the faery queen strides out of the throne room without looking back.

The castle servants had not expected to care for another and so they set the girl-child with the startling blue eyes up in one of the older wings of the castle until more suitable quarters can be located. The night's storm only grows in fervor as time passes. Her fingers and toes are frozen and the fire's nothing more than a memory of dead embers when there's a knock on the door. She struggles with the heavy oak and is terrifed that the shriek of the wind really is a banshee and it's come to collect her. She pulls the door open the rest of the way and rushes back quickly towards the cot, burrowing under the covers and trembling as she hears absolutely nothing.

Minutes pass.  There's naught but the frantic pounding of her heartbeat in her ears and the suffocating stillness underneath the woolen blanket thrown over her head. Her imagination runs wild with thoughts of slaugh and goblins waiting to pounce and when the anxiety overwhelms her, she finally allows herself a peek at the monster at the foot of her bed.

The warmth of the crackling fire in the hearth is as welcome as a summer's breeze on her skin and it instantly chases away the hollow ache in her bones from the autumn frost beyond the room's walls. She watches on in complete silence as a woman who is most definitely not the serving maid assigned to care for her bustles about the room, latching the windows firmly shut and setting another log on the fire from the small stockpile of wood in the corner. When the woman turns about and fixes her with eyes that are darker than the abyss itself, Rhiannon shrinks back into the protection of the blankets and only dares another peek when the bed dips down on her left. Her inquistiveness is rewarded by a shawl draped over her eyes and Rhiannon no longer worries about the storm outside.

***
Rhiannon first meets the Maiden on a hot summer's day the year after Manannan collected her from the castle to spare her from an arranged marriage set up by Conchobar to both secure an alliance and to prevent Rhiannon's growing beauty causing any more infighting amongst the lords that pledged loyalty to him.

She steals away to the bubbling brook while her father courts a Welsh goddess who laughs as gaily as he does and shares the same love of horses and is about to eat the midday meal she had taken with her when a girl about her age passes underneath the low branch Rhiannon uses as her seat. With hair and eyes as black as night, she reminds Rhiannon so much of her caretaker back at Eamhain Mhacha that she finds herself calling out to the passerby and offering to break bread with the girl. Before she knows it, she's laughing and treating the girl who calls herself 'Ann' as if they've known eachother their whole lives.

It's when the sun has sunk low beyond the horizon and the fireflies gleam about her that Rhiannon realizes that she's terribly late in returning to Manannan's ranch. She promises to meet with Ann on the morrow and races back through the shadows of the forest. When Manannan lectures her about missing her chores, Rhiannon finds herself thinking about her friend.

***
Rhiannon's long past the innocent blush of childhood when she finally encounters the Matron. There's no true first meeting; rather more like a series of encounters that have Rhiannon's nerves tightly wound with the anticipation of being cornered by the seductive shadow that lingers in the background of every social event Rhiannon finds herself flitting through.

It grows to the point where Rhiannon can feel that haunting gaze searing into her very dreams and she's watching the crowd for a glimpse of ivory flesh and ebony hair. She winds up obsessed with the woman, ignoring the many suitors in favor of just one more glance through the throng of people. It finally happens one night when her bedchamber is plunged into the solid darkness that only comes during the new moon that the shadows of her room seem to come alive and ensnare her in an embrace that leaves her breathless and yielding underneath the deft, silken touch that plucks a symphony from her body as if she was a finely tuned harp.

White Elephants

There isn’t much to say concerning the events in Hammerfest. Loki was easy enough to sniff out once word got around that we were looking for him. We met up at a gay bar and while Wuyi danced the night away and made the room gravitate towards her, I was turned down by my second ever man. Being two for two, Loki also revealed he was of the ‘preferring the rougher gender’ variant so at least my  rejection shave been consistent. It’s a little bit of an ego-dimmer but I’m not too put out. Regardless, after a deal where we wouldn’t bother him for a full year (of his choosing) he gave us a ring that’ll keep Artemis from properly catching us. It’ll infuriate the Goddess of the Hunt, but it works while we come with a plan.

Well, two plans. The first is a backup ambush set at the fortress. A Do or Die mission that’ll happen when our backs are against the wall. The bait would be one of Artemis’’ favored nymphs or a Scion. But that’s on the backburner. First we talk to Jord and see if the goddess has a less suicidal option for us concerning the garden. I think that would anger Vana, but I’ll do my best to assure the woman that we don’t want the garden destroyed in the slightest. I don’t think any of us do, to be quite honest.

Well, business out of the way, now onto personal matters. For my adventuring self, Kelly’s insistence of rubbing up on Wuyi like a cat in heat kinda tweaked me off. Yes, the relationship’s a little polyamorous. Yes, I don’t mind when Wuyi’s off flirting, but as long as it’s not Kelly. Ever.

 Beyond –that- … wild sex in the hotel room due to my ‘stay-at-home’ self being cheeky with Anann. I was smacked with a willpower-draining retort but really, I brought it on myself and it was all in good fun. I got Anann back a few times too and now I think we’re both plotting our latest ‘attacks’. She’s quite the devious planner when she puts her mind to it.

Speaking of deviousness, I’m concerned. A few nights ago, while the Band had travelled up to the town of Hammerfest, I had a strange dream where Dublin was covered in cloying mist that trapped and ensorcelled the Good Folk to dance and quiver in terror of someone called the Nightmare Lord. When I demanded to speak with this lord (because the pixies and the sprites are distant kin of mine and therefore my family) a Rakshasa approached me and… his voice was so haunting. When I awoke from the dream, I thought nothing of it.

Until the white elephant showed up in the garden.

Anann’s furious because she can’t do anything to the elephant. Commands, physical attacks, nothing that is her doing affects the creature. He likes me though, but I digress. The gift was curious because why would Ganesha send her a white elephant for the relief carved in the mountain? It doesn’t make sense. I mentioned the dream to her and she said she’d have Anna look into it and once again, I put the thought out of mind.

Until just this night. My memories aren’t synched yet so Rhiannon won’t know until the next time she sleeps but I awoke from a dream I don’t remember to seeing the mist over the Liffey river. The faerie lights twinkled in it and I was … I didn’t think twice about it as I left the comfort of my room to wander into that sinister promise. I wanted to go into the heart of the maze and dance. I was just about to cross the border of the mansion’s estate when I bumped into Anann. Well, her and a twinned aspect. They too had been drawn out into the mist. The three of us watched it roll over the town of Dublin and lull the faeries into a trance – it even started to pull at me again when Anann mentioned we should return to the mansion, her touch and voice shaking me out of the spell. Inside, we curled upon the living room couch and promised to never be alone while the mist rolled through the town.

It affected the Good Folk the most, but both Anann and I are closely tied to the faeries and so we’re also a little affected. I’ll start sleeping in her bedroom from now on or perhaps this will have her, Ann, and I all forgo the need to sleep and simply remain together throughout the nights as a precaution.

It’s a sidelong concern in the scheme of things going on, what with the Greeks and Tal’s worries about her father and the Teotl but it’s something I don’t think I can ignore any longer. Still, the Morrigu and the rest of the Tuatha are aware of it now and thanks to my doubled-life, I can keep an eye on this while we concern ourselves with perfecting the final phases of forcing the Greeks’ hands.