Hurried Notes #1

Stuffed into the notebook are pages of elegant longhand writing, some written in odd languages, others merely sketches of half-finished thoughts and drawings. They're bundled with a green ribbon with 'Cairo, 2018' scrawled over the top sheet.


All right, I need to write these down before they're no longer fresh. Some are irrelevant as of the writing, but still... best to have accurate records. The thread of fate that ever-spindles on from the spool Anann gave me has a little of her prophetic powers but as I'm not one for deciphering the future, it helps in the here and now. I asked these questions as we stood in the ritual room blocked by the magical silence.

1.) Signification of the sacrificial room.
A.) A prolonged spell of sacrifice.


Note to self: Direct Tal's next conversation with Fate to further narrow out reasons. Probably should have asked further about sigils but ... hey, earning the favor of Sekhmet? Priceless. Ok, ok. Mystery-Thread. Isis set up that room to keep Sekhmet loyal by keeping her drunk off the blood of sacrifices. Nothing too untoward there, but hey, it's because otherwise Sekhmet's loyalty would revert right back to Ra. So Isis keeps her drunk and gorged on blood and Sekhmet doesn't -- can't -- interfere with her plans.

Wasn't able to get too deep into Isis' plans but I was able to establish that they don't deal with Benjamin or his sigils -- which are, by the way, are being used to lure him back to Cairo to put him on the throne. Fun! Maybe see Hathor again. Sweet girl, terrible situation. Will try and reach out to her, give her a friend to talk to. Can't seduce that one -- would end in heartache as would have to make her fall in love to leave her fatebound role.

Reminder: Ask Kelly if she can help me locate some flawless emerald. Need to begin on physical part of Ann's/Anann's/Anna's wedding gift. Anna's putting a constellation in the sky for me -- I have to find -something- to even touch coming close to that.

Enech's burning for Sekhmet in a way that one shouldn't be lusting after blood-drenched warrior god.... oh who am I kidding? The frenzied, blood-splattered warrior goddess type is completely my type! Any time Anann bites hard enough to bruise, I'm just a puddle. I wonder if I could ask Anann if we can dabble some more and see if I'm related to a redkap - or if she's the basis for them coming into being. Hmmm. Or Ann. Can't ask Anna. She's too sensible for that sort of ... wait. Note: Pass it off as an experiment; she'll be on board.

Note again: Really, really need to talk to Benjamin. If he treats me like a servant one more time I will make sure that he'll regret it. Learn the lesson of the Irish Kings, he will: Never Piss Off The Bard. Reputation? Everything. Gods, don't these cultures know anything about keeping Face?

Nikita seems to be along my way of thinking, and as stubborn as Benjamin but he's more polite about his arrogance. Will make up to him by perhaps dinner and a business venture? He could probably appreciate the fine dining of Cairo where the others can't. Might invite Diao Chan when she needs a break from Wuyi.

Diao Chan. There's a sketch of a harried woman on the left side, but her right side is made up like a Chinese princess. I like her. She's cunning, witty, and she's still brimming with the elegance and culture that the Celestial Bureaucracy tried to shun out of her. She was assigned to Wuyi as a joke, to get both of them out of the C.B's hair much like they do anything to keep Monkey out of their affairs. Wuyi seems to like her; Diao Chan has Wuyi convinced that being a Courtesan is much like 'leveling up' in one of Wuyi's games. Maybe Diao Chan can instill some culture and bearing where I can't.

Reminder: Court Grievances with Anann before the week is out. Get the Band settled and then use the hearthstone to head back home to prepare. Gave the other stone to Wuyi already so transport is secured.

The rest of the jumbled papers are nonsense, or love poems, or sketches of three different poses of what appears to be each of the Morrigan sisters. Other sketches include fashionable dresses or ideas, names of models, names of locations. Dinner plans with investors. 

Letters #2: or Why Phase Cloak Isn't Subtle At All

Fiona,

I have no doubts that by the time you're able to understand a little of what occurred before you were born, everything will have been told and re-told until the truth is a paltry walk in the park compared to the exaggerations being heralded about. This is a side-effect of being someone of legend; if you want to ever amount to anything beyond a mere hero, you'll want to have at least one or two myths being cycled about.

Still, the truth itself isn't that boring to recollect. It started out at JFK International Airport. Your mother, Anann, isn't known publicly for her sentimentalism, but perhaps you'll understand when you find someone to share your life with -- sometimes a week isn't enough time in the world to spend with someone, and you'll, say, purchase three additional first class tickets just so you can see them off. It was one of the few times all three aspects of your mother were in the same area and if it was advantageous circumstances that allowed us another's hour worth of whispered promises and private moments because of last-minute checkups, well ... that's the benefit of marrying a woman who makes the world work for her, not the other way around.

Ask Benjamin what I mean. After all, without knowing a few select knacks, you really can't get away with joining the Mile High Club without interruptions. Also, dear daughter, when you do find that someone and you get the urge to canoodle in public? Be smart enough to realize that drawing attention to yourself by going invisible isn't the way to do it -- not to mention we all had keen enough hearing to pick up on that false start. Your mother and I raised you to some standards one would hope.

The flight sparked one of the few situations where Benjamin's upbringing much like yours will be/has been and my own was a hindrance. When you're raised in an environment and you know pretty much from the beginning that you're so much ...more ... than everyone else around you; you get arrogant. You become blind to your own faults because really, dear, you don't have faults - not when it comes to being compared to mortal excellence. Benjamin's only fault during the flight was that he thought it was a solo job, that none of the rest of us could do anything to aid him. ... Fiona, if you ever bring home a man that prefers you to stay on the sidelines because you're a woman and clearly not capable of doing a man's job ... don't expect your mother or I to even let him live without some PTSD.

Nothing the rest of us could do ... that makes me laugh. One option? It seemed our newest member was someone with a head on his shoulders and as Kelly focused up and buckled down under my command to keep the crowd in control, I overheard that he could fly as well as Benjamin could. Well there you have it. Wuyi could easily keep a hold on the wing while the other two direct her towards the engine. Once there, Nikita's mind could pick out the parts missing or damaged and Wuyi's ability to transform the world would repair it. If they were harassed, I'm sure Tal could have been of some use fighting off whatever Benjamin had saw.

Another option: one of them could have checked on the damned pilots or crew members. Kelly and I were stuck watching the coach crowd and keeping them from flying out of their seats. I had thought that Ben had everything in hand... it was then that I realized that I gave my Band entirely far too much credit as the plane started to list terribly to one side and we started dropping in altitude. Quickly.

Now, Fiona, here's why in the future, I'll be telling your eldest mother why it's perfectly all right to let you learn battle tactics from Ann and video games: I remembered a gooey water tentacle thing in a console game that had Ann and Wuyi up all night with determination to beat it ... it was capable as a liquid to grab items and hold them aloft. Thinking on that reminded me of one of those vague lessons that your eldest mother thinks I don't listen to (I really don't but sometimes they come back to me in flashes. It's not my fault I found chemistry boring) that water was capable of becoming an ... oh, what was the term ... ah yes, amorphous solid. I left Kelly in control of the crowd (give the girl a mission and she'll not let you down. Another thing Ben should realize about our youngest member) and strode back into First Class to bark orders. We had less than five minutes before the plane would hit ground and I was in no mood for second guessing. Nikita grumbled but the man did as told (there was no other plan, and his confidence was as good as mine) ...Ben followed suit quick after. The two took the ropes I weaved and started wrapping them around the airline to add their strength as opposing force to the plane's descent. I had hoped Tal would use her fire to form a backwards jet stream to enable thrust against the plane's momentum but... she sent Cal out to pull up the tail. Wuyi climbed out to use giant wings to bank and catch like a parachute.

It was a sloppy plan and it showed ... but luck and fate smiled on us and we landed the plane ... relatively safely. None of the passengers were hurt from what I could tell and a babe I had lulled to sleep at the beginning of the flight still snoozed away in his mother's arms. I'll go into detail about the later events of Cairo in another letter. I want to address a personal event that occurred away from the Band.

The first is why your mother jokes I nearly got her tossed in as a prisoner of war and why she doesn't like Ra at all. Something about reclaiming stolen rights and 'thinking he could ever match me' ... I don't know, I tune the Matron out when she's on a warpath. Sometimes it's best to just allow her to rant. Less broken priceless artifacts that way. Moving on; after your eldest mother, we call her the Librarigan (do call her that if you want to wind up grounded for a year, dear) visited me through my dreams and after spending the dream state away in her arms, discussing the company's start during the few moments we weren't ... intimate, I brought her through to Cairo proper by waking up. Unfortunately this violated some terms, Ra swooped in and I knew right there where Ben's misogyny came from. After allowing the Librarigan to depart and save face, I paid for my transgression and spoke with Ra concerning the state of succession in Egypt: namely him, Horus, and Benjamin. Ra spoke that unless Benjamin was willing to follow the way of things and marry Hathor, that he wouldn't be ever able to step up as Pharaoh ...but ... we could aid Ra in returning to the throne; gaining us a powerful ally and allowing Hathor to be with the one who truly loves her and Ben with the one he truly loves (Tal).

The next night while the Band recuperated and planned on what to do, I used the ring to visit Ann. She had chartered a boat and I spent an hour on the ocean with the woman I love and we talked about you, and that day was when Ann decided to Visit you as soon as you were born so that you could grow up without fear of anything hurting you. I also learned some things about your mother that were shocking. Namely, that she was born long, long before the Tuatha ever set foot onto Irish soil, and that she herself is an immigrant to the Emerald Isle. If you have questions, ask them of your mother for I'll not betray her secrets more than that.

The rest of the troubles in Cairo deserve their own letters or I might as well just give you a novel to read. I need to prepare to visit the Matron because we had a squabble and well, I can't truly tell you the tale of how your full-blooded sister was conceived without completely destroying any and all innocence that you have. Don't give the letter that look; you marry a fertility goddess and then tell me how long it takes before they've ploughed your fertile soil.

Rhiannon.

Ever After ...for now.

I've erased and started over six times now. I promised that I'd make these entries that I still feel so compelled to do into letters to my daughter, but this one feels more like it's for my benefit. I can't ... ... cram two weeks worth of two thousand years all into one frenzied scribble of thought, but I'll try. I haven't really had a restful night's sleep since I've arrived. I haven't really spoken to anyone in my Band unless they've hunted me down. I haven't really done anything but attempt to make up for two hundred (two thousand) years of getting it wrong when I just want to get it right. I'm wearing so many roles now that demand my upmost attention that I think I'm losing myself. Mother, lover, daughter, queen, wife, advisor ... I've neglected friend enough that when I don that one it's just a confused mask staring back at me from the mirror. 

Rhiannon hasn't always been my name. It was a moniker I donned when I fled from my past last. I changed names like a fashionista changed clothes; constantly. Each name was a new identity for me that I'd bury into to forget everything. And for a while it'd work; until Anann found me and drug me back into destiny whether I wanted to go or not.

Destiny. Tal thinks the issue with Hathor and Horus is bad? At least Ben's father is letting him have that choice. That rebellion. My arranged marriage was sealed the moment I was born. I opened my eyes and locked bleary babe eyes with the ancient stare of my future intended and fast forward two hundred years of fighting and running and sadistic desire to see the other snap.

I need a starting point or I'm just going to erase this one as well. Right. The dinner party. The one that the Morrigan in her Matron guise had been planning for nights. The night I really tapped into my unhealthy desire to push Anann just that step further. She had already burned through my will to make sure that Enech wouldn't have the ability to demand anything of me because every sense would have her imprint branded over it. I ... demanded release from her knowing full well she couldn't deny it because of that dark rapacious need. She did and then promptly took me in a way that made damned sure I remembered why the Morrigu was a goddess that you prayed not to visit you - but to never step into your life. She spoke ritual and claimed me as the mother of her heir and then stalked out to leave me with that knowledge alone.

It took Ann, dear sweet Ann who's been there since the very beginning; from that first innocent kiss to now ... to convince me not to run this time. I could hear cars pulling up and Tal's voice carrying over the wind as she talked to someone in that tone that brooked no compromise and all I really wanted to do was hide. I didn't. I stayed in that room as Ann took on my appearance and covered for me as the Matron returned and apologized. Then, by the laws of the land that she and I both loved so much; she claimed me as her wife. Two hundred years of running away from fate and it finally called for it's due.

The Morrigan and I arrived late to a tense dinner where all sides were just waiting for the sword of Damocles to drop and .... suddenly? Suddenly I didn't care about Ben's childish retorts to his father for some slight or other I didn't understand (to be fair, I still don't; even with knowing the why ... but I respect Ben's decision. After all, I fled from fate.) I didn't care that my reprimand almost cost me that meeting. I didn't care that Rupper attempted to soothe his own conscious by clearing himself of all blame. -He- was the righteous one? Please. If your friends are all jumping off a cliff and you follow ... it's your own fucking fault you dash on the rocks below with them.

The only thing I cared about in that meeting was making sure that the Greeks ddin't get My Band as their fall guys for breaking the oath to protect the Shabti. They lapsed at every turn and when it came time to pay the piper? They were grasping for loans that they couldn't afford. And I succeeded. Partly. At the least, Artemis' deadly attention would be focused on the Shabti and in that I knew my father was the best choice for Kathy.

Oh, that reminds me. When we get the chance, Wuyi and I need to head down to Fruit-Flower Mountain and just spend some time with Wukong. He's a great father to Wuyi, always wanting her to see herself as awesome as he is and ... he's nutters but I can see in him what draws me so to Wuyi. 'course now we have to study on River Dragons and if Sharks can have lasers on their head. Moving on before that distracts me too much...

Then, everything changed. That final week was ... is ...where I can say I finally stopped running. The Morrigu angered my father by refusing the handfasting ceramony when he wanted it (the moment she 'got you heavy with child!' in his opinion) but then held me close under the sprawling oak and welcomed me as a Queen alongside her. She bound me in old contract with spirit and land, and ritually dedicated me to her kingdom and while it was not the unbreakable bonds of Enech, it was enough to tide us over. She gave me a ring, a promise from her to me that she'd crafted as a gift and then we talked for a long... long time.

She told me why she bought my memories and why she was so adamant on forcing the Greeks back into the war; and then when I asked her if she had moved on when I died she went quiet, and then answered. It was to free me, in time, from my duty as Kathy's warden. I ... Anann ...oh what did she say, I know I remember it. Ah:  Seven years and I didn't even touch another out of duty. Oh don't flatter yourself entirely, at some point I would... have to move on, but I didn't. Not while I knew your ghost was still down there performing a duty so vitally important. I could wait. I did wait. I dedicated myself to winning the war in your name so that I could lift the burden from your shoulders and have you join me... even if it was as a spirit. ... 


I'm paraphrasing, but there. Anann's devotion to me and... I bawled like a bloody baby and I realized why Anann couldn't Handfast with me under Enech. Not yet. Not until her vow to pulling the Greeks back into the fight and releasing me from my pact was complete. So that's ... that's why I'm going to suck down my terrible pride and act like the leader I've accused Ben of slacking off as. When a Goddess as ... powerful as Anann vows to win a war to have you back by her side,even if it means fighting it single-handedly ... well, it makes a girl feel like the center of the universe.


Afterwards, we were happy. I was happy. Sure, she kept finding perverse pleasure making sure I'd end the nights without energy; prodding at my will until I'd rebel or snark and then strip it away with a teasing smirk. Any sane person would see this as a little unhealthy, a little too possessive and obsessive and altogether bound for ruin but it's who we are. We fight terribly still but now we make the effort to fix it ... ... ... of course her idea of fixing it was caving into my desire to see her take Wuyi and now we have a lesser Queen-Consort (who am I kidding, Anann'll never let her go past Princess-Consort) and everything's awkward to balance but it's going to work out.

However, if either of them expect me to go along with the very idea that we're having more than one child each? They're fucking insane. Anann even dared to mention thirty. THIRTY! She was joking, that much I could tell through the ring's bond but ... she's a goddess of strife and chaos. And I know her. Evil wenshahariiasdasrq

[The date log of the continued draft is twelve hours after the first draft was saved]

I'm the one labeled as insatiable and she's the one that pounces in the middle of the night. Little Miss Librarian "I Have Planning That Can't Be Disturbed" likes to play that she's above all the shenanigans of her younger 'sisters' but I now have bruises and a torn nighty to prove otherwise! Can't blame her though, Nikita ...something or other arrived today and that tall dark drink of Baron Samedi's son is our contact for getting into Egypt. He doesn't trigger Enech but he's got a command about him that's intriguing -- not appealing, just ... I'd like to see how he meshes in with the band. Also, a blonde lawyer by the name of Chastity isn't  fooling anyone.

Where was I? Oh. Right. Nikita's here because Horus and Ben are so father-and-son that even though they're both dicking the other over, they're still cooperating. It's like being back at court all over again. You can hate your family, but they're still family and all that jazz. We're leaving for Cairo within two days or so to see what we can do to figure out who the hell is fucking around with Ben's sigil. It'll be good to stretch my legs again and the Nile is the perfect backdrop for Mythic's first photo-shoot. Hell, maybe I'll ask Tal to pose in that armor she's prancing around in. We may not be on speaking terms but it's hot enough to melt butter - that's all I'll say without a jealous wife attacking4539sfllasd

[Two hours later, the draft's timestamp is updated]

I'm not going to be able to walk again. Wuyi can piggy-back me everywhere. I don't care if she's knocked up too, she's not the one that's being assaulted injustly every time she turns a corner. Ah well ... I only have a night or two more to spend with my wife. Wives? ...Hah. Wimmens. I'm the pimp, they're my bitches. I should get to my spousal duty of 'shagging the wife(wives) senseless) and wait until the right moment to see if I can convince Anann to reprimand me for that little bit of cheekiness I had during the interview. She comes up with the most delightful punishments.