The Return of Bryn 6
Sinbad and the men of the Nomad could scarcely believe their eyes. While they had no doubt that Maeve could open this portal, their fear for her health, though big, had no bearing on their belief she could do it.
But to simply watch as her fire magic weaved itself into a pinwheel fueled by her will and magic, to condense and cause the water they sailed on to fog up, and then pull away like curtains allowing in the sun was amazing!
Sinbad was uncertain about this. He knew that Maeve and Dermott wanted to go home and see what was happening to their families, but they were heading into a war zone. He had just gotten Maeve back, and now he might lose her forever to her home and family.
Home and family….for a time he had thought they were her home and family. Now that he knew her true past, he was afraid he would not be able to keep her on his ship.
After all, the entire reason she left this magical place was to free Dermott. She has succeeded beyond compare. Her mission in life is done. She should be able to go home once more! His thoughts logically told him this. And to a point he even agreed with those thoughts, and yet….his heart didn't want to listen.
Listening involved letting her go, and he didn't want to do that.
He just got her back! He was finally feeling like his heart and soul were back on track with her return. He didn't want to let her go!
Sinbad came back to himself as Doubar exclaimed, "Lass...you did it! Where….wh...where are we?"
Before Maeve answered, Dermott, who had been standing beside Bryn, clapped Doubar on the shoulder as he walked past his big friend and said in satisfaction, "This is Avalon Doubar. This is where the women of our bloodline go to learn their mystical arts from a young age."
Dermott's head cocked to the right, like his bird self did, but with his human form it was more like he was listening to something only he could hear and said, "The Aunts summon us!"
Sinbad heard the capital letters and asked with a bit of dread in his heart, "Aunts?"
Bryn blinked and said off hand like it was a known fact of life that the crew really should have known about, "The Ladies of Avalon. High Priestess Morgawse, the Lady of the Lake Priestess Isolde, the Priestess of the Gateway Lady Morgana, and the Wandering Priestess Lady Elaine."
She tilted her head and said as she looked at Roslyn, "But...Roslyn is wandering now…?"
Roslyn, who had been gazing at the temple with love and at Maeve with pride, turned to Bryn and answered, "Mother travels far and wide for girls, this is true, as her eldest and heiress to her position, I am allowed to use the same spells she does."
Maeve nodded and said, "it's like me using the magic to open the way. I share the blood and magic of my mother who is the Lady of the Lake who usually opens the portals from her end."
Firouz completed the bridge of thought, "So, the powers of Avalon allow two people to use the same powers then? The current holder of the power and a daughter of the bloodline or the heiress?"
The children of Avalon replied simply, "Yes."
Sinbad felt his heart clenching in fear. Dermott looked like he was home. Maeve looked excited to be there too. Bryn's face was hopeful and optimistic and Roslyn was looking far more at ease than she was not an hour ago.
He knew she would cause him heartache.
"Well…" he stated as firmly as he could, "shall we dock?"
He was positive he wasn't as firm as he hoped he was because Roslyn gave him a gentle smile and Maeve gave him a look of concern.
Dermott answered the unasked question, "Just dock there at the white pier. From there the ship will be taken to the detailing shipyard and given a thorough cleaning and update."
Sinbad barked out, "Cleaning? Update?!"
Dermott smirked and said, "Aye Captain, for free of charge the Nomad will be cleansed outside and in, and it'll get some new updates to it."
Sinbad asked warily, "And what might those be?"
Dermott chuckled and said, "Really Sinbad, if Maeve is going to continue her travels with you, father will demand only the best for his baby girl. That includes updating the ship and cleaning it out!"
"Dermott!" Exclaimed Maeve with heated cheeks.
Sinbad felt a bit of his fear leave him. If Dermott was joking about this, then it must be true...right? Maeve wouldn't leave him for this island...would she?
Maeve glanced at Sinbad and said, "Hurry Sinbad, the Aunts don't like to be kept waiting."
As they disembarked from the Nomad, a group of young women each in long white dresses approached them. The one in front had straight black hair and brown eyes. Her face was heart shaped, like Maeve's, and her eyes were narrow and cat-like. She had a teardrop tattoo under her left eye by her temple, and a smile on her face full of welcome.
"DERMOTT!" She screamed out happily as she threw herself at their friend.
Sinbad watched as Dermott laughed out loud happily and caught the woman as she threw herself at him.
"Little Sister! Boy is it good to see you through human eyes!" Dermott exclaimed excitedly as they spun around hugging each other.
Sinbad felt a jolt of happiness as he watched Dermott hug his sister. This was what he had hoped and feared would happen. He was happy that Dermott was free and human again as it meant that he could do exactly what he was doing now. Interacting with his family and loved ones. He also feared it as it was a hint that his avian morpher might not stay with him. He had always bonded deeply with those on his ships, but the bonds he has created on the Nomad are stronger, and even losing one to a landlocked life was a stab to the heart.
He was NOT ready for it!
Dermott put the young woman down and eagerly hugged the others.
Maeve was quick to take Dermott's place in their, he supposed, little sister's arms. She was beautiful and exotic in the ways Dermott was.
Dark to Maeve's light.
Maeve exclaimed as she hugged the tall woman, "Uiscia! It's been years! How are you?"
Uiscia, now named, smiled at Maeve and said, "I'm well! Getting ready to take my final exam in a week or two!"
Maeve cocked an eyebrow and Uiscia explained, " We can't ALL be prodigy children Maeve! Some of us take longer!"
She snorted lightly and added, " Especially when I take more after daddy than any of our siblings."
Maeve and Roslyn scoffed and Maeve said, "You might take more after Daddy in terms of magical strength Uiscia, but that just means you are a true master of all your skills. We are stronger in magic, that's true, but we aren't nearly as well versed in all the delicate minutiae as you are."
Roslyn added as Bryn stepped forward, "We know a spell inside and out, true, but you know it inside, outside, upside down. Don't talk as if you are less than us sister."
Uiscia blinked back a few tears, nodded, and then gasped out, "Bryn!?"
Bryn smiled lightly and said in an unsure tone, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. You feel familiar to me though. Since you are Maeve and Dermott's sister, you are my cousin then?"
Uiscia's mouth opened and closed a few times before she said, "Yes, but I haven't seen you in two and a half years! What happened? You were supposed to travel to your prince, but he said you never arrived?!"
Dermott, who was glancing at the other women before them, explained, "She fell overboard in a storm, and was summoned by DimDim to help the crew for a time. Let's go, the Aunts are getting impatient."
Sinbad and the crew glanced at one another in mistified surprise. Who were all these women?
Roslyn answered as they began to walk, "These are the sister Apprentices who have yet to take the tests to become full Priestesses. Uiscia here is Dermott and Maeve's younger sister. She is thirteen months younger than Maeve. The woman with blond hair and blue green eyes is Adele and she is a water type Priestess. The black haired Asian woman is Umi and she has magic with plants. Lastly, is Morganna. Bryn, she should feel very familiar to you."
Bryn looked at the young woman. Morganna had straight black hair like hers and snapping emerald green eyes. Her face looked very similar to her own, but with a thinner head shape and higher cheekbones. Bryn let her magic dance over to Morganna's and gasped in shock. The other woman's magic felt eerily similar to her own. Much like Maeve's and Uiscia's did to one another's.
Bryn asked slowly, "Are you my sister!"
Morganna smiled and nodded and greeted, "Welcome home big sister."
Bryn gasped and ran into the arms that had opened up to her. She had known she had siblings, but to be face to face with them was something she had never imagined to feel!
Sinbad and the crew were shocked! Happy but shocked. This young lady could be Bryn's twin sister for all that she was younger than their friend. They were thrilled that Bryn was finally with her blood, but to see such a blood link was a bit jarring. It made the history that Dermott and Maeve had told them all the more real.
Sinbad once again felt her heart break. Bryn was a princess. A princess betrothed to marry. She would not be able to travel with them any longer. In fact, that's the largest part of the reason they had come. To stop the war between Albion and Hibernia!
Sinbad cleared his throat and said kind of awkwardly, "Aren't those Aunts of your waiting?"
Bryn blushed but stepped back from Morganna and nodded.
Morganna stood tall and announced, "These men are friends to Albion, let none block their passage."
The two others nodded and intoned, "As you will."
Morganna, who to Sinbad's eyes looked very much a beautiful young woman very much protected to the truth of the world, turned to the crew and said, "Generally men are not allowed on the island except for special feasts and festivals and holidays, but this is a special event. Please, do not be alarmed when you see some hostility from other Sisters. Some have traumatic events in their lives due to men abusing them, and they blame all men for the actions of a few. We will make sure those Sisters remain as far from you as possible, but please try not to be offended if they bad mouth you all in a misguided way to vent their anger."
Doubar frowned at that. Female trauma due to males abusing them was a worldwide problem. He could never understand those kinds of men. Beating and raping innocent women because they were there was no reason to do such harm. To try and degrade them to make himself feel superior to the female gender, in his mind, just proved that he was not a true male at all but a lowly piece or gutter scum one should scrape off one's shoes and drown in the seas to never be seen again. Perhaps, he could offer these women a target to vent at? It was something he would think about. So long as they didn't harm him seriously, he would not mind helping them vent their frustrations.
Morganna continued, "This way please."
Firouz was watching everything with wide eyes. This was scientifically impossible, and yet, here he was! He had travelled over two months worth of sea travel in an instant. Travelled the world over in less than a quarter of a candle wick!
As they walked along the white and pink marble path, he couldn't help but remember all the tales and myths spoken and written about this island. The isle of Apples if he remembered correctly. The isle of magical women learned in all kinds of arts from Warcraft to witchcraft. From the simple female skills to the skills of highly educated men; though many of his contemporaries disbelieve such tales as their own personal and cultural biases prohibit them from accepting the notion that women can be learned as men in any skill. Women who could wield such magic as to be labeled Goddesses by those who could not. Women who were worshipped by all men who come into their thrall. Women who ensorcel men to do their bidding and then be cast aside when they are no longer needed. Women, much like the Amazons in Greece, who take men into their beds but do not marry them. Causing them to be seen as nothing more than prostitutes in his fellow's eyes.
But here, here he could not speak or believe such nonsense! These women were just those women with a particular skill that needed to be studied and trained. Women, who were learned and not afraid of their talents. These women were the future he was sure!
Rongar was watching everything as they walked through the temple grounds. This might be an island and all, but this island had the feeling of community and kingdom unity. The people walked and worked together in just about anything. As they walked to the white temple just ahead of them at the top of the hill, gleaming so pristinely white in the day's sun, he watched as the women with them seemed to stand straighter and take on a more mature aura.
Sinbad saw it too as Maeve, Roslyn, and Bryn began to straighten out and fight with their clothes to make them look better.
If he didn't know better, he would have thought that they had ants in their pants. Luckily for them, there were no ants, just little boys too curious for their lunches.
Maeve reached for Sinbad's hand and said? "The Aunts are eager to meet you Sinbad."
He glanced at their joined hands and smiled with joy. She loved him and he loved her. There was a lot happening in their lives right now, but right now he also knew Maeve loved him and he she.
He asked, "How do they know me? Surely they could not have any recollection of me as this will be our first meeting."
Maeve said as they entered a five pointed room with a five pointed emblem painted on the floor, "They have contacted me before whilst on the Nomad and when I was stranded with DimDim. Mother is especially eager to meet you."
Sinbad raised an eyebrow at that and she grinned and responded, "For in her mind, any man who could gain my attention away from my studies, is truly an exceptional man, and one she simply MUST get to know."
Sinbad felt a jolt of uncertainty in his gut. He was absolutely confident that he was not so exceptional. In fact, the past two years without Maeve had made it all too clear to him that he was just like any other man. He had vices and darkness within him, so he was not so exceptional.
Maeve's eyebrow rose in challenge as she said, "Do you think I am incapable of finding such an exceptional man? That I am so easily led astray from my assigned path?"
His eyes widened and his head shook side to side in negative. She smiled back and said, "Good, cause we are here."
He glanced up at the tall pale pink marble columns ahead of him.
There seated regally in three thrones made of the same pale pink marble with slight differences, were three mesmerizing older women. Each woman was tall and straight in the back with curves emphasizing their feminine qualities.
The first woman has waist length curly grey blond hair and sparkling, wide baby blue eyes that had yet to gain the white blindness of age. Her face was beautifully rounded with laugh lines around her eyes and mouth and her lips were like the reddest roses of the springtime still. Her Priestess' dress was pure white that hung from two sleeveless white shoulder straps and wrapped securely to her bust and flared the rest of the way to the floor.
The second woman has mid back golden brown hair which was mixed evenly with gray. Her blue eyes were slightly cloudy with blindness, but he was sure she could see all the better with the blindness. Something in those eyes made his hackles rise up in flight or fear instinctual reaction. Her face was pale with laugh lines on her forehead and around her mouth too.
The third woman was the smallest of the three, akin to Bryn or Roslyn in height, and yet he knew she was by far probably the most dangerous of the three.
The Aunts he realized with a nervous tightening in neck muscles.
The third woman's hair was golden chestnut brown, thick and wavy. The err was hints of gray at her temples and towards the hair line along her head. Her eyes were emerald green and gleamed with knowledge. Sinbad knew she could snatch his entire life story out of his head if she so wished, but also knew she was too kind to do so.
As one the Priestess with them, including Maeve and Bryn, Dermott too, all took a knee and intoned, "Ladies."
Sinbad glanced at his crew and nodded minutely. They too went down on their right knees before the High Priestesses and waited.
The center woman raised her hand and said in a voice full of power and authority, and yet also as loving as a mother's, "Arise, arise and let us see you daughters of Caillean."