Chapter 18
Bridget didn't ask her any questions as they entered their apartment. She watched Bevin throw herself on the couch and sigh. She continued into the kitchen, set their bags down on the kitchen table and made her way to the fridge. She pulled open the door with anger. As she tried to calm herself, she selected two Guinness and closed the fridge. She popped the tops on the wall mounted bottle opener and walked back into their common room. She handed one of the Guinness to Bevin and then sat in her Lay-Z Boy. She watched her roommate as she slowly drank the beer, still not talking and letting her anger and worry flow off of her like waves. Finally, Bridget couldn't take it anymore.
"Say something," Bridget told her.
"Something," Bevin replied with her thick Irish lilt.
"You know that isn't what I meant. Have you calmed down somewhat? You were a little scary there for a minute on the way home," she told her.
"I know. I am sorry for that. I just...I didn't want him to figure it out."
"How Could he? He thought that you were telling him the story as you know it. You never mentioned that you were bearing the marks and such. We were careful. I told you when your hair started showing and you stopped running your fingers through your hair. I mean, I know the guy is brilliant when it comes to history, but do you really think that he understood why we were asking?"
"No, I guess not."
"You still want to color your hair?"
"We got the dye, didn't we? It is better to be safe than sorry. Plus, this will help me."
"How?" Bridget asked clearly confused.
"I can pretend that this isn't happening to me. I need to have some sort of normalcy in my life right now. I just found out that I am some sort of Celtic mythological hero. How do you think that makes me feel? How would you feel?"
"I see your point. Sorry. I...didn't think about it that way. I'm sorry, Bevin. Come on. We'll do your hair and then we'll figure this out somehow."
"I know we will. I have faith in us. It is me that I am worried about."
"Why is that? What's changed? Did something else happen that you didn't tell me?"
"No...no, not yet, but I am sure that there will be more to come. How can there not be? I am supposed to bring about the return of Avalon. There has to be some sort of craziness involved in that, right?"
"I am sure that there is."
"Then let's do this and figure out what it is. Maybe, if I have an idea of what is to come, I won't be so upset about it. Maybe I can do something to help it along or something. We have no idea what the time table is for it. All we know right now is that I am the Sorcha and Avalon will be reborn," Bevin explained, standing up and walking towards the kitchen with her empty beer bottle in hand.
Bridget watched her as she threw the bottle in the recycling. She watched as Bevin turned around, a forced smile on her face, before her eyes rolled hack and she screamed, collapsing on the floor. Bridget was in the kitchen trying to catch her before she hit the floor.
She managed to keep Bevin from hitting her head on the floor. She cradled her head against her lap as she tried assessing her condition. She could see Bevin's erratic breathing, but her heartbeat seemed to be slaying steady. Bridget was a little flustered and she didn't know what to do. The scream had been enough to worry her, but was the fact that Bevin's eyes rolled before she collapsed that worried her greatly. It was the combination of the day and Bevin's condition in the situation that actually frightened her to the point that she wanted to call for help. The only thing was she didn't know who to call. She wondered who she could even call. Who would understand what was going on? No one.
"Bevin" she asked, trying to get her conscious again.
She stirred in Bridget arms. She sat up and stared at the wall. She didn't say anything for a good while, but Bridget was content that she was awake and sitting up. Bevin could feel the worry radiating off of Bridget, but she didn`t acknowledge it.
"I'm okay. I think. Can you get mc some water?"
Bridget was in the cabinet grabbing a glass and filling it from the tap before Bevin finished the question. She took Bevin's hand and placed the glass in it. She downed the glass and then handed it back to Bridget, who filled it again if she wanted more.
Bevin sat on the floor for a minute longer. She knew that she needed to get up. She knew that Bridget was worried about her und she probably had some questions about had happened. She also knew that she didn't know what to tell Bridget. She couldn't explain something that she didn't understand herself.
She figured that it was time to tell Bridget about the dreams. She knew that the dreams caused the headaches and that the headaches caused her to pass out. What she didn't understand about them was how calm she stayed while, during and after having them. It just didn't make any sense.
"Bridget. I am alright. I'll be fine," she told her as she stood up. "It was just a flash headache or I stood up too fast. I promise that I'll be okay. Don't worry about it."
"How can you say that?"
"How can I say what?"
"How can you tell me not to worry? Bevin, you just passed out. I don't care the reason. It isn't normal and we need to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt. We need to figure out what is going on with you. You know, besides being the Celtic hero or whatever." Bridget stated trying to lighten the mood.
"I know."
"What aren't you telling mc now?" Bridget asked, cocking her head.
She could hear it in Bevin's voice. There was something she was hiding something important. She hated the fact that they were so close sometimes. They knew when the other was lying and right now.
Bridget knew that Bevin was hiding something. Normally she wouldn't push, but they didn't have that luxury anymore. If it had to do with the stories, then Bridget knew that she needed to know so she could help Bevin, so she could be ready for what was to come, and so she could understand what was happening. She watched her sit at the kitchen table with the glass of water. Bridget joined her at the table and waited for her to tell her something, anything.
"I need to explain something. And, before you ask, I don't have all the answers. I am going into this as blind as you are as an outsider. I just have stories to base anything on, and they're just lore really."
"Well explain away. I can take it. I was doing research while we were at the library, too, remember?"
"Did you find anything useful?" Bevin asked.
"Uh-uh, you tell me everything that you know first and then, I'll tell you what I found out."
"Bridget!"
"Bevin."
"If you found out something, you should tell me." Bevin told her.
"I am not telling you anything until you tell me what you already know."
"Fine. I'll tell you what I know, just know that is only lore to me. I don't know that I ever believed any of it, well, until now. I never had reason to understand."
"I do. Now, spill it. We need to get it out in the open," Bridget explained.
"I think that I've put together from what Seamus told us that I supposed to be a descendant of Morgan La Fay. I guess that means that I am an heir to Avalon. That is immaterial about the rest. The only thing that it could possibly prove is that I am a legitimate heir to the throne of Avalon, for whatever that is worth. Avalon is gone. It doesn`t exist, if it ever did. But, like I said, that isn't where my stories start. You heard what I told Seamus though, about what my Granddadda told me. It was the short version, but it bore most of the lore." Bevin started.
"Yeah, I remember. A girl with red hair and blue eyes would be marked as the Sorcha and the banshees will tell her of her fate lo Avalon. Do you think that your Granddadda was trying to tell you that you were the Sorcha?"
"I don't know and that worries me. If he was, then I have been a fool. If he wasn't, then I know who the Sorcha is and l would have to serve them as a loyal subject. I think that the tattoos are a good indication to the former rather than the latter, though" Bevin stated.
"I tend agree with you on that. Your hair isn`t helping either. It is getting redder underneath. Are you sure that dying it is the best recourse right now?"
"No. I am not, but I don't feel like I have any other choice at the moment."
"Why is that?"
"Supposedly the new Pendragon is supposed to find mc, when he docs the marks will start to appear."
"Yeah, so?"
"The marks started after we got home from the NCAA Equestrian Championships."
"He was there?"
"He must have been." Bevin stated.
"Who do you think it is?"
"I have no idea. That is the least of my worries. I need to focus on maintaining a low profile. There are still those who want the destruction of Avalon, no matter its form. I can't allow that, not now."
"You're acting as if Avalon is real," Bridget stated.
"I think that my sudden transformation proves that it is in some form. It may not be known as Avalon now, but can we honestly deny what is happening to me isn't related to it? I can't. I won't."
"I am not saying that you should, but I am saying that we should research it more. We need to find out what else you may be facing. I am not saying that this is going to be an easy task, but now. I know more than I should so I am not leaving you to do this on your own."
"I know that."
"Then, let's see what else we can find out."
"I should call my Granddadda."
"I guess you should. He may be able to tell you more and you'll understand it now. I am not trying to push you into it, but we know that he knows more than he told you before. He is our best option."
"I am not doubling that. What I am afraid that he is going to do is try to convince me that I need to come back to Kildaire so he'll tell me what I want to know. I don't think that we have time for that. It seems that there is a time line and it is motion. We need to figure out what that time line is."
"I know."
"Did you find anything else during your research while I was talking to Dr. Seamus?" Bevin asked.
"Not any more than he could tell you. It seems that is a guarded lore of the Irish people. There are hints of it in the mythology, but nothing concrete. It seems that even for the mythology it is mythology."
"Great."
"I know, but I did start to try to research your tattoos."
"Did you get anything with that?"
"A little," Bridget replied.
"Like what?"
"Some of the symbols that you have were in the Book of Kells and could be identified as animal motifs. Some of them were ogham, or early Celtic writings that only the Druids knew how to read. I tried to decipher some of the words, but I didn't get very far before we left."
"What did you get?"
"The Sorcha is the bringer of the light."
"Really?"
"Yes, that's all I got."
"Which arm says that?" Bevin asked.
"Your left arm bears that phrase. Most of the ogham is on your left arm. It also seems to be the one that more heavily covered with the tattoos. Do you want mc to try to find out about the rest?"