AN: The accent was really really hard to get right. I modeled it on my friends from Nigeria, so many apologies if i missed something. Beej and Lyds are owned by Geffen, and Oshun is owned by nobody, thank you so much. The best doors are those that don't go where you think they do. Those are also the worst doors.
Lydia found herself on her knee and up to her elbows in a sun-warmed river. She struggled to her feet, feeling water runneling down her thighs and forearms. Bright sunlight and extreme heat blanketed her like hot wet wool, and she had to shield her eyes to see.
Around her was a flat grassy plain, the river she was standing in reaching from horizon to horizon. She sloshed to the shore, her feet sinking into the sucking mud and sand. Tall dry grasses, their tops fuzzy with seedpods, stood still in the stagnant air. It was hard to breathe in the heat and damp. A quiet noise rose above the water, and then a sharp slap. A few feet away, a woman was washing a cloth in the river. The cloth was striped a bright gold, with patterns of blue stars and green fish in alternate rows. The woman was small, her wiry arms flexing as she pressed water out of the fabric. She wiped her forehead with a dainty hand, and only then glanced up at Lydia.
Their eyes met, and Lydia jumped at the electric charge that zapped through her. The woman's eyes were bright hazel rimmed with a gold ring that gave her an otherworldly look. She had a strong, beautiful and a great black head of hair, braided into tiny braids, that sprayed out in all directions. Lydia smiled hesitantly, and the woman smiled back. "Welcome to my river, woman of de city." She stood gracefully, and shook the cloth out over the river. In a shower of green and gold, fish fell out of her cloth and into the river, and stars raced upwards towards the sky, vanishing in the brilliant blue. Astonished, Lydia stammered a thank you. Her brain then caught up with her situation.
"Are you... the ocean?" She paused. "That sounds really dumb, doesn't it?"
The woman laughed a bright laugh. "Woman, I am Oshun. De Spirit of Love. You are in my 'ome, in de great land of Nigeria."
Lydia blushed, confused. Why would Beej send her here? "I'm Lydia. It's nice to meet you?"
Oshun looked at her critically. "You don' mean dat. But it's fine, fine. I see you t'ink dat you are lost. Come to my 'ome, and we will talk an' 'ave tea." She walked away, her ample hips swaying gracefully. Lydia started after her, feeling graceless, an awkward child tagging along in the path of a real woman.
They walked in silence for a moment, around a bend of the river, to a small house that rose from the flat ground. It was made of mud bricks neatly stacked, with cut out windows and a tidy grass roof. The door was the same door Lydia had passed through, with the water pouring from top to bottom without getting the ground wet. Oshun turned and smiled at her. "We like our trappings of magic, we do." She opened the door just like anyone would open a regular door, and stepped through. Lydia followed her into the cool, dim interior.
Oshun beckoned her to sit at a small table. In the middle of the table was a magnificent bowl, made of flowing water. Lydia touched it, and the cool water ran over her finger and back into the shape of the bowl. It glittered from the sun that shone in through the small windows, and as Lydia watched, tiny fish leaped in and out of the surface. "It's beautiful."
"You have not seen dis before?" A puzzled frown marked Oshun's eyes as she turned from making tea.
Lydia shook her head. "Hmm. Because dat rascal your lover t'ought it would be amusing to take de bowl from me, and leave a tiger in its place. He must have lost it before he could show it to you."
Lydia swallowed at this new information. "He... someone kidnapped him."
"Yes, I know dis. Stupid fool. 'E make all de wrong people angry, and den alienate all d' friend who might 'elp 'im." She sighed- a long heartfelt one that Lydia recognized immediately- it was like looking in a mirror.
"So what happened between you two?" Lydia wasn't guessing- she knew something had happened. Her curiosity was coupled with something like jealousy and something like the need for companionship. Oshun was quiet for a moment, occupying her hands with the making of tea. She handed a pretty stone cup full of hot tea and honey to Lydia and then sat down with one of her own, her eyes looking at something far away. Finally, she focused on Lydia.
"Dere is a ceremony, in villages by de river. In dis ceremony, young girls dance to me, an' if I like one or anot'er of dem, I fall upon dem an' bless dem, and dey become wise women, knowledgeable in de art of 'ealing. But on dis particular day, dere was a girl who was wild an' beautiful, an' she danced like no other I 'ave seen. An' when I fell upon 'er, I was caught by de spirit who possessed 'er. It was Ba'u." She contemplated her tea. "You know 'im as Betelgeuse. 'E 'as many names."
"I've met Ahmed." Lydia smiled faintly. Oshun smiled too, a secret, sad smile.
"Ah, I see. Ba'u is much loved in some places. 'E 'as done many good t'ings. But it never lasts. 'E never lasts, Lydia. Always going away, never satisfied, like a raven looking for pretties." She paused, as if gathering her thoughts like strands of thread. "We were toget'er for a while. I loved 'ow 'e laughed, and turned de world upside down. 'E is very mischievous. 'E left a tiger in my bathroom, when 'e took my bowl to show it to you. Scoundrel. But 'e left one day, an' did not come back. I waited for a while, and on dose days, dere was no love in de world."
They were silent. Lydia drank her tea, her heart troubled. Oshun was lost in thought, staring out the window. Neither of them heard a sound.
"Well, here's a couple of sadsacks!" Cry long enough and you both might decide to leave him to fix his own mess." Juno inhaled mightily on a cigarette, and blew plumes of smoke above their heads. Lydia, after recovering from her initial fright, jumped up to hug her, and Juno patted her shoulders. "Now, now; there's no need to worry about the future, or the past. She fixed a glare on Oshun, and Oshun narrowed her eyes.
"De past is de future, Juno. You know dis better den anyone." She got up to make Juno a cup of tea, and they all settled back down at the table. Juno clutched her tea, and fixed them both with a dark look. Without preamble, she rolled right in.
"Here is the situation as I understand it. Betelgeuse has been taken by Barnabas, and Barnabas is planning to use him as a locus to pop a hole in the Wall."
"'Ow can 'e? Ba'u might be strong, but de Wall 'as stood for as long as I know."
"What is the wall, anyway?" Lydia felt like the slow kid. She got up and poured her own tea, to hide her embarrassment.
Juno thought for a moment. "It's a barrier that keeps the Dead and the Living from seeing each other, and it limits the power that the Dead have over the world of the Living, and vice versa. For instance, I can't sit down and have tea with... oh, well maybe that's not such a good example." She smirked. "Present company excepted, most of the Dead can't interact with the Living. We can't just check out a book at the public library, or order coffee at Tony's. And on the flip side, the Living can't communicate with their lost loves ones, unless they use a powerful medium." She took a sip of tea, and inhaled deeply.
"But why can Beej do all those things? And how can I see you?"
Juno frowned. 'Betelgeuse was born with a rare gift—the ability to see the spirit world. After his death, he retained that gift, but over hundreds of years, it's become something else- when he is Called, every time, he grows stronger, with greater ability to manipulate both Worlds. And now, having been Out with you for months...well, I just don't want to think about it. The reason you can see me is that you have the same gift. You cannot pass between the Worlds by yourself, but you can interact with both of them." She sighed. Lydia looked away, thoughtful.
Oshun tilted her head. "Can dis Barnabas do what 'e claims? It seems... unlikely."
Juno considered the other spirit for a moment. "It does seem unlikely. But I think what Barnabas wants is to harness the power of an exploding star. Supercharge everyone with a megadose of Betelgeuses' ability and power. And what he could do with that, I would rather not find out."
They all sat in silence. Lydia was in shock- she couldn't process what they were speaking of. But the phrase kept rolling in her mind...'harness the power of an exploding star.' "What do we do?" she finally managed.
"The entire problem rests on one point- that Barnabas knows Betelgeuse's Name. We have to change that, and if we can, then he is out of Barnabas' power."
"'Ow do you change a Name?" Oshun looked incredulous. "De Name is de essence- if you take dat away, dere is not'ing for de soul to 'ang on."
"He must be Rechristened. That's the only way I know." Juno raised both eyelids, took a long drag on her cigarette, and watched Oshun narrowly for any objections.
"To be Renamed, you must go to your father or your moth... oh. Oh no, Juno, you aren't serious!" Oshun laughed a rich, scornful laugh.
"Who?" Lydia narrowed her eyes in thought. "Is his father also a ghost?"
Juno grimaced, giving Oshun a dirty look. "His adoptive father," she began, laying thick stress on the adjective, "... isn't just any ghost, but I guess you might expect that. That's part of the difficulty. His father is the king of the Welsh Netherworld. And they haven't spoken for centuries!"