Overhill and Underhill

Chapter 8

Author's Notes: I started working on this a week ago but it took me this long to finish it up. I'm sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoy and as always if you feel so inclined please let me know. I'm working on several other things at the moment as well as my business but I'll try to get this next chapter posted in a timely fashion. ~ Scarlette

Emma groaned softly as her senses slowly began to come back. One by one until she made the mistake of opening her eyes. The throbbing at the back of her head was horrible. It felt like someone was using a jackhammer to pound out the back of her skull. Her eyes snapped shut before the hazy shapes of wherever she was formed into a cohesive picture. This may be a problem, she thought hazily. She slid her hand along her side, feeling a few bruises and what might have been a broken rib…god she hoped not…then to her pocket. Her phone was tucked inside, somehow managing to stay in place during the fight.

She tensed, remembering suddenly the danger she may still be in. She jerked, eyes snapping open as she forced her likely concussion to the back of her mind and tried to take in the sights around her. She was no longer looking up at the beautiful blue sky out near Dun Aengus. Instead she was staring up at some sort of flowing blue canopy. She frowned as she looked around. Were those vines creeping up the walls? Were those flowers really that pink? She blinked again, trying to refocus but the hazy film that seemed to coat the room remained.

The colors were too bright; the smell of the sweet flowers was too much. She wanted to fall back onto the soft surface she was sitting on and close her eyes and hope she was dreaming when she actually opened her eyes…otherwise she'd had way too much to drink or she'd been drugged. And she didn't want to think about what her strange captor had planned for her. The bed was large and soft stacked high with pillows and soft blankets. The bed itself was a bit of an oddity, curling wood and vines woven together. She'd never seen anything like it before. It too had the same strange hazy film.

"What kind of drug are they pumping me full of?" She whispered aloud, groaning as her head continued to throb.

The bed didn't look like it should be able to hold any weight whatsoever but somehow she remained completely stationary on it. She forced herself into a sitting position, ignoring the way the bruises and her pulsing head continued to try to rule over her instincts to move and figure out where she was and how the hell she was going to get out of this. A click sounded in the quiet room and she jerked, twisting to protect the softer parts of her body.

"You're awake. Aine was afraid you wouldn't wake up but I told her that wasn't possible."

"Ruby?" Emma blinked shocked at the sight of the waitress she'd met her first night in Ireland.

"It's Red actually but Ruby if you feel more comfortable." The leggy brunette grinned brightly. "I'm glad you're awake." She repeated.

"Where am I?"

"You're at Aine's house. My brother brought you here."

"Your…brother?"

"Aye, Graham. He can be a bit of a brute; I hope you'll forgive him for the rough treatment. He didn't mean to hurt you but he's rather stronger than he realizes most of the time."

"So…let me get this straight…your brother kidnapped me and you…want me to forgive him?"

The brunette's smile fell as she shifted, chewing her bottom lip. "We weren't raised in the greatest of environments until our grandmother took us in. She tried to fix a lot of the damage but there was only so much that could be done. Graham's older and he remembers a lot more than me." She frowned, "But he's still my brother and I do love him dearly. He took care of me when no one else would. He was there for me and protected me like I was his own pup."

The blonde swallowed, her brow furrowing as she tried to take in what the younger girl was saying to her. It was confusing and made her head ache even more.

"Where am I?" She decided to cut through everything and find that out first.

"You're in Aine's…"

"I got that much. Where is this house of Aine's at?" She lifted her hand, cutting the girl off effectively.

"Underhill. You're in Underhill. Did you not know that all ready?"

"What is Underhill exactly?" The blonde reached up sliding her hand along her forehead. Great she had a large knot towards the right where she'd been struck. No wonder her head was throbbing like that.

"Underhill is the land of the Sidhe…um…you're not from Ireland so that probably has no meaning."

"Not a bit." Emma agreed pushing her hair behind her ears and feeling for any more knots. So far not another but that didn't mean her brain hadn't taken a hit when she'd hit the ground. Maybe she'd scrambled something on the way down? Or the drugs were seriously good. Would it be smart to give someone with a head injury drugs? There seemed to be something innately wrong with that. Something she'd heard from somewhere a long time ago. Maybe those procedural cop drama shows or the medical shows she sometimes indulged in when the loneliness began to eat at her and she just wanted to curl up in a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey and pretend the fuzzy blanket wrapped around her was actually the warmth of another human being that loved her and that she loved in return? It wasn't like she'd ever given herself much of an opportunity to find anyone. She was so preoccupied with her work that she often forgot the day and they continued to tick past with no thought to her. That was the thing about time; it marched on regardless of whether you wanted it to or not. She shook her head, than moaned when the sensation jarred her back to her suddenly altered reality.

Ruby or Red was watching her with concern. "Are you all right?"

"Oh I'm peachy, just you know your brother might've concussed me but beyond that I'm just fabulous." Emma smarted off, taking a bit of satisfaction in the way the other woman flinched. She took a breath and released it slowly, trying to stop the bile that was rising up in her throat from the movements from projecting out of her mouth. "Look this has been great fun and whatever drug induced dreams I'm having right now are surely fueled by my kidnapping so if you'd be so kind as to oh I don't know wake me up then I'll be good."

The pretty waitress furrowed her brows, "You are awake Emma. Let me go get Aine she'll help you with your head. I'll be right back!" She called over her shoulder, taking off out the door that seemingly faded right back into the earthy walls as soon as it closed.

"What the hell?" Emma muttered as she laid back down, no longer feeling strong enough to support herself. The room was slowly beginning to stop spinning so she'd take that as the small favor it was. "Why's it gotta be so damn bright…looks like an LSD dream or something." She muttered to herself.

"I apologize for the brightness…I'm afraid as a mortal all of Underhill will look like this until you adjust. It will likely take a while though given that you're an adult and the Sidhe usually bring children here for they adapt easier to these types of surroundings."

Emma's eyes snapped open at the lilting soft voice. She jerked back up and glared at the beautiful woman standing just inside the room. The door was closed to the outside she noticed dizzily but unlike when Ruby had been in the room she immediately felt uneasy. Something wasn't right about this woman. There was a timelessness to her beautiful features, something that sparkled and radiated from the very core of her being.

"Then why bring me here at all?"

"For your protection. I am sorry that it resulted in you getting hurt." The woman took a few steps into the room, her gold dress swishing as her hair flashed the same bright gold. Looking at her too long hurt her eyes and caused the throbbing in her head to increase so she looked away.

"Why do I need to be protected? I've not done anything."

"On the contrary you have. My brother is hunting you and he doesn't give up easily. Bringing you here, placing you under my protection is the best way to avoid his wrath until he sets his sights on other more readily available targets for his affections."

"I don't understand, what is going on?"

"You bought a portrait recently didn't you? Of a woman in a garden?"

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"Everything I'm afraid. My daughter was trying in her own way to play matchmaker. It was foolish but stranger things have happened."

"Your daughter?"

"Tink, you met her in the shop. You also met someone else."

"Do you mean Regina? Where is she? Is she safe? Has she been hurt?"

"No, she's just fine. Regina is very special to me and since it was my child that made the mistake, I felt as though I owed you both a way to rectify the situation."

"I don't understand."

"Regina is a rarity even amongst the Gods. She's a Leanan Sidhe. Um…they were known as muses in Greek mythology. They inspired great artistic heights at great peril."

"You can't be serious. You expect me to believe all of this when I'm likely being pumped full of the good shit and I'm hallucinating all this including you and this place? Yeah, wake me up once I'm down from the great high I'm obviously on and then tell me all this."

"What can I do to convince you?" The woman's pretty shaped lips twitched with obvious amusement at Emma's rant.

"Lady I don't think anything can convince me until my head quits spinning like a top and threatening to crack open worse than if I had been hit in the head with an axe."

"Well that's rather easy for me to fix if you'll allow me to lay my hands on you." The woman held her hands out in front of her and damn if they weren't as perfect as the rest of her. Long slender hands with perfectly shaped nails.

The photographer eyed her warily as she approached the bed she had yet to leave. The woman merely offered her a warm smile and she nodded though she kept her eyes sharp. At the first sign of trouble she was outta here…somehow. She'd better figure out how to get that weird damn earth door open so she could bolt if the woman proved not as harmless as she appeared. Looks were always deceiving and though she felt no threat, her instinctual need to run before things could permanently harm her was flaring up in her bones.

"Fine," Emma muttered.

"Will you take my hands? That's all I'll require."

"Uh okay." She reached out slowly, hands vibrating with the effort to stay calm. Finally, they made contact and she gasped. The woman's hands were cool to the touch and softer than silk. She'd never felt skin so soft before. She glanced up, "Now what?"

"Just relax and breathe steadily."

A warm glow seemed to fill the hazy air and then Emma felt it. It started out as a niggling feeling. Something not quite right but not quite wrong; the pain was retreating slowly. The pounding became less and then non-existent. The bruises she could feel forming on her ribs and other parts of her body now that the pounding had disappeared from her head were becoming less painful too and then the woman withdrew her hands and the soft gold glow was no longer there. The room was just as hazy as before that didn't seem like it would ever go away.

"What did you do?"

"I healed you, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah actually. So…you're Aine?"

"I am but you may call me Kathryn if you feel more comfortable with that."

"Why Kathryn?"

"It's the name I go by on the rare excursions I make to Overhill. It's very draining though so I do my best not to go often."

"Right," Emma took a breath and released it slowly.

"I've sent Ruby to retrieve Regina. Perhaps seeing her will help you make sense of things."

"I don't know. This all still looks like a dream."

"I understand. Lay back and rest. I'll bring her to you when she arrives."

"How do I know you won't just kill me in my sleep?"

"I'm not my brother. I'm the goddess of healing and beauty. You're safe here Emma. You have my word."

"I don't trust you."

"You'd be well within your rights not to. I won't try to change your mind."

"Great now that that's established…"

"Aine, what have you done?"

"Regina?" Emma asked wearily watching as the woman in question stepped into the room from the strangely hidden doorway.

She was dressed differently than she'd ever seen her. Her brow furrowed at the strangeness. That same haze seemed that hung around the room and Aine also clung to Regina. She was dressed in a deep purple and silver dress that appeared light as air. Her feet were bare and her hair was pulled back in an intricate set of braids that allowed the back to flow freely down her back.

"Emma, I'm so sorry." Regina took a few steps into the room and paused when Emma tensed and Kathryn's face remained smooth and serene, a mask she wore when things were about to go very bad very quickly.

"Your eyes…they're not green…"

"I…"

"This is what she really looks like Emma. In Overhill we have to hide who we are for fear of being recognized." Aine offered.

"Emma…"

"You're the woman in the portrait, that was you wasn't it?"

Regina hesitated before she dipped her head. "Yes, it is me," She didn't offer an explanation. "Aine, would you excuse us?"

"Of course, call out if you need me. I'll be close by." The goddess floated out of the room leaving the other two occupants.

"Regina, what is going on here. That woman talks in circles and I don't…"

"I know. It's confusing but I'm here and I'll make this right. I promise."

"Why didn't tell me who you were?"

"Would you have believed me?"

Emma's silence said it all. Regina offered her an indulgent smile. "I'm sorry you were brought into this unwillingly on my part. I couldn't stay away and now I've put you in danger."

"I don't…I…This doesn't make any sense Regina."

"I know…and I'll explain it all you have my word."

"When?"

"When what?"

"When will you explain it all?"

"I don't mean to interrupt but Regina you should see this."

"What is it Aine?" Regina twisted looking back in the doorway where the beautiful blonde draped in gold stood.

"I found this when I stepped outside." She took a step into the room and held out her hand. Resting in her upturned palm was a black raven's feather.

"It can't be."

"I'm afraid it is. He's found you."

"Who has found you?" Emma asked, slipping to her feet behind Regina's smaller figure.

"Wōdan."