Hey all, I resubmitted Part 1 as I realized I uploaded an older version. The part where Avinn exclaims that she just buried her family, I fixed the discrepancy there. Her family was cremated and she was heading to go spread their ashes in Scotland. So that has been fixed, plus some grammatical errors as well. Thanks so much for reading FTFH and I welcome all constructive feedback.
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Chapter Six
Avalon
Dagda and Morrigan sat on their terrace. As Dagda sipped his mead, he contemplated this latest development. Turning to his wife, he sighed.
"What do we do about the girl?"
Morrigan looked to her mate, snapping her fingers so that a glass of wine appeared in her hand. "We can't kill her, she is one of ours. While she lives, she gives us an edge over the others." she pointed out. Morrigan was the Goddess of War, so she was always about strategy.
"There is that, but you know the ones above," he said, motioning upwards with his eyes, "they will not allow her to remain for long. They will step in." He stared out across the countryside. "She needs to ascend and fast. Dallying will not help her cause."
"I know." Morrigan answered. "But how do we get her to die, she seems rather determined not to do that? She's stubborn like her grandfather."
"Well, those pesky Fates stepped in once, perhaps they will step in again." Dagda muttered. "In the meantime, we will just have to persuade her that dying is not the end but the beginning."
-
Avinn woke up with an odd feeling. With her eyes still shut, she stretched and then yawned. She blinked looking at the unfamiliar room, confused momentarily. Then she remembered. She was in the mythical Avalon. She stumbled out of bed, wrapping the duvet cover around her as she went to her bag thrown haphazardly on the table. Digging for her cellphone, she needed to call her best friend Tally.
Tally had planned to go with her to Scotland to spread the ashes and then would fly back to New Orleans with her.
Avinn turned on her phone and wrinkled her nose. "Great no signal. So much for the 'world's best coverage.'" she muttered, walking around the room trying to get a signal.
She stepped through the huge floor to ceiling glass doors that opened on to her own private terrace. The terrace had several seating areas and an overabundance of flowers and plants. She had her very own private garden right there. She held her phone up, trying to get a signal.
She wandered to the stone railing that overlooked the sea and blinked. "One bar!"
Leaning over the railing a bit more, she outstretched her arm. She only needed two bars to make a call.
"Damn it. Come on." She complained as the coveted second bar blinked in and out.
Aware that she could fall off, she determined there was just a teeny bit more of space for her to lean further out. Finally, she had two solid bars. Perched on the railing on her belly, she reached out with her other hand to dial the number. The second bar disappeared. Frustrated, she reached out again and the second bar returned. Elated, she forcefully hit the call button and suddenly lost her balance. She dropped the phone and instinctually lurched for her falling phone. It was too late. Before she could correct her balance, she found herself falling after her phone, the duvet cover fluttering behind her.
I'm not ready to die and not naked in the ocean
, was her last thought as she fell to her death, her body breaking on the rocks below.
-
As with all ascending deaths and rebirths, her soul lifted from the lifeless form that lay on the jagged rocks and lifted upwards before settling back where it had started it's descent into death. A copy of her former shell appeared and formed to become the vessel of her soul and life was breathed back into her. While she appeared as she had been, Avinn was now an immortal, a demi-goddess.
"Ouch." She muttered, as her entire body glowed and ached from the power surge running through her. Then she wailed. It felt like her bones were breaking and stretching. Her skin felt like a million needles were pricking her. No one ever said dying bloody well hurt. She fell to the floor as her balance and legs gave way. She ended up in a heap on the cold stone terrace. As soon as she hit the terrace floor, she remembered she was still naked.
Brighid appeared with a huge smile on her face. "Oh my dear, congratulations!"
Avinn glared at her mother. "Was that all necessary?" She asked, wincing as she attempted to stand up straight. She found it highly suspicious that all of a sudden she had fallen to her death right after being told she had to die. She narrowed her eyes at Brighid. "Who was responsible for this?"
"My love, no one was responsible for it. It was your destiny. The Thrones had a special plan for you. They normally don't interfere, but there are certain times they need a particular event to occur so they make it happen." She explained, smoothing back her daughter's luxurious thick hair. Avinn had been beautiful as a mortal, but as a goddess, she was positively stunning! "You definitely have your father's coloring, my love."
Avinn didn't believe it for a minute, it was too convenient. "I was fine as I was. I didn't need to ascend to anything."
Brighid waved a hand and the mess cleared and food appeared on the table. She took a seat, spreading a napkin in her lap. After dying, one was always famished. She made sure to have Avinn's favorites on the table such as pancakes with maple syrup, hot white chocolate, fresh orange juice and hazelnut yogurt. Her daughter stalked back out after grabbing a robe. "Feeling better? That tingling will subside in a bit. Here, have some breakfast, we have a lot to do now."
"I'm not hungry." Avinn stated petulantly. Her traitorous stomach snitched on her by growling loudly. The food proved too tempting and Avinn took a sip of juice. "My god that is good." Reluctantly taking a seat, Avinn continued to glower. "Again, dying was completely unnecessary. I wanted to go back to my normal life as a normal person."
Her mother chatted happily about powers and responsibility's while Avinn ate silently. She had to admit, food had never tasted this good before. She had three helpings of pancakes and two cups of hot white chocolate. She finally put her fork down and leaned back, feeling like she just gained fifty pounds.
"So, what's next?"
During breakfast, she'd come to the conclusion there was not getting out of this. Being somewhat pragmatic, she would just tackle it like she did everything else: with grace and intelligence.
"Well, you have to learn to control your abilities and protect yourself." Brighid said happily as she made lists in her head of what they needed to do. "I'm not sure what abilities you will have, since you're not specifically a Goddess of anything."
Avinn gave her mother a look. "Listen, not that I'm not grateful not to have died on those rocks, but I have a job and responsibilities of my own. I need to be there for them. I also have people waiting for me." Her mother needed to understand that she had her own life and needed to get back to it. All this destiny crap was starting to wear on her nerves. She believed that one created one's own destiny.
"My dear, that is not a problem. Time moves differently here. You can actually return to the moment you left if you choose to." She explained carefully. "My love, I can practically hear that brilliant mind of yours working. You have a lot to think about right now so I would suggest you take it easy."
"Too late." Avinn laughed.
If time were not a problem, then that was one less thing to worry about. Her father would have adored it here. He was one of the world's foremost experts on the Celtic world. He would have been beyond thrilled to visit Avalon.
Brighid saw the look and knew what she was thinking of or better yet whom. "He did know, Avinn. Your father that is. In exchange for his taking care of you, he became the world's most knowledgeable human on the Celts. He was a great human, Avinn."
Avinn gave a melancholy smile. "I'm glad he knew about this place. He so loved all this." She said waving her hand around indicating their surroundings. "I miss him. Is there a way I could see-"
"No, my dear. That is not possible. John Sinclair is at peace. He has returned to the universe." She said softly. "There are things that even we do not dare to do. I'm sorry, my love, but it is for the best." She patted her daughter's hand. "Now, about those abilities. It's not every day that we welcome a new goddess to our fold."
"By all means, let's get to the good stuff."
Her heart lightened for the briefest of moments. At first she was weighed down by such loneliness, but now she knew she wasn't as alone.
Chapter Seven
Aos Si
Siofra stalked to her private quarters. All could tell she was fuming. Astute, the guard quickly stepped aside. She leveled a seething look at him. Right now, everyone would suffer her rage.
"Make sure no one disturbs me."
The second and third assassins had both failed. Currently, they were being tortured out on display in the city square. There were already whisperings going on as to what she was looking for. She did not need more Fae getting ideas on overthrowing her.
She entered an inner sanctum opened only with her personal magic. She waved a hand and a black mirror appeared. Schooling her perfect features, she straightened and spoke the words to activate the portal.
"Oberon, I know you can hear me."
