Veridia: Interlude III

[eulalia]

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You may wish to revisit this post, this post, and this one to (re)acquaint yourself with what's going on with Arturo & co before reading. Otherwise, enjoy?




Helenet: It's good we got out here before the frost comes. The herb is more effective fresh, or so I've heard. Are you nervous about trying this?

Arturo: No... as your friend said, it's safe enough within the confines of the wards. And I am very good at setting strong wards.




Helenet: Oh, here it is—








Helenet: Arturo? Hello? It's hardly funny to hide from me in the woods. That's more Lune's style...




Helenet: Arturo?


* * *




Helenet: Elmet! Elmet, something's wrong, we were gathering herbs and he just vanished while I was turned around, I don't know what happened—

Elmet: Netty, slow down—who's missing? Not Faolán?




Helenet: No, no, he and the girls are with Eisu. It's Arturo—we were near the pond, we were talking one moment and the next he was gone and I don't know what happened. I looked all around, and he's not at home either! River said that the curse isn't entirely broken… what if he's passed out sick again somewhere?

Elmet: Take me there and we'll look again. If nothing else, I can track him after moonrise. But surely he'll be fine... he's dealt with that sort of thing much longer than we've been helping him, hasn't he?
Helenet: You weren't there. Something is wrong.

Elmet: I believe you, just take a breath first and let's go.


* * *




Elmet: Well, these are both your footprints, but his just... stop.

Helenet: Stop?

Elmet: Those—yours, unless someone else your size came trampling through here after you left—continue that way. This set stops here and doesn't go anywhere. They don't even backtrack.




Helenet: He does know that magical transport trick... maybe he's, I don't know... sulking somewhere.

Elmet: I dunno. You're right, though, this place gives me the heebie-jeebies too. Look, it's not long til moonrise. I think we should backtrack toward home and return after I transform.


* * *




Elmet: Okay. It's sort of faint, like it's just jumped from one place to another instead of moving normally, but I think I can smell something up in the hills across the water… are you sure you want to come with me?

Helenet: Of course. But how will we get there? I certainly don't know Arturo's magical transport trick, and there's no bridge there.

Elmet: There's a passage near the hill road, within the rocks. Kids used to dare each other to run all the way through it. Probably still do, if they're as reckless now as we were then. We should probably bring extra fuel for the lantern... I don't think even I could see in there.




Helenet: Oh, good, a cave. I'm sure that's not a bad omen.

Elmet: You've spent too much time with my brother.

Helenet: Yeah, well, maybe he's right. Have you ever heard a story about a cave that turns out to be perfectly ordinary?


* * *




Elmet: *whispering* Wait. I hear voices. It smells like a couple of... people?




???: When Bel told me you had left our bounds again, Fenrir, I did not expect this.

Fenrir: Bel should find something more useful to do than to tattle.




???: Who is this creature and what are you doing with them?

Fenrir: This has nothing to do with you, Macha.

Macha: It does now.




Helenet: Let him go!

Elmet: *growl*




Fenrir: Wonderful. Why are there always more of them bothering me?

Macha: Enough.




Macha: Someone here will tell me what's happening, now.




Helenet: That man is ours and I insist you give him back!

Fenrir: Oh, these mortals. The attack dog and the useless witch. Leave here, and do not return. Leave this one to rot for his crime.

Elmet: But he hasn't done anything!

Fenrir: You mortals always talk and talk and talk without knowing a single thing!




Macha: That's it! I'm taking all of us home and then someone is explaining! I refuse to do this in a damp cave. *claps hands*






* * *






Inanna: Ooh, sissy's home, and she brought us some entertainment!

Bel: Hush, Inanna.




Macha: Much better. Fenrir, wake him. The bonds may stay for now, but even a mortal is entitled to hear the accusation laid against them.

Helenet: Whatever you think he has done, there must be a misunderstanding—




Fenrir: You wish to know this mortal's wrongs? I will tell you a tale!






Fenrir: Once there were more of us, back when the land was larger
Enough for a city
Enough for a court
Enough to raise great works through magic



But there was one I loved most of all. His smile, his wit
Sharp words and honeyed tongue.
His one great sin was a thirst for knowledge, unslakeable.



We began to fade when humanity came to our shore
And their gods and spirits came with them, anathema to our own;
We could not survive the clash.
But my beloved could not resist the urge to go among them and learn what they knew
Their crude languages and petty creations
And disguised himself as a mortal and descended from the woods that sheltered us, into the vale.
A human man he met, in the bloom of youth, with eyes of green and nut-brown hair
With clever hands, and sharp tongue, and wit to match my beloved's own.



Love soon captured him
An infatuation with the man's mind and mouth and words.
He sought what he named the greatest knowledge of all:
Life as a mortal, wedded to his new love.
Bel warned him that humans perished easily, to fever and famine and flame;
Inanna, who had gone amongst the mortals too, warned him that he would tire of it soon
Plagued by boredom;
And Macha said nothing at all
Preoccupied by a dwindling court.




Inanna: I'm still right.




Macha: You said little either, brother.

Fenrir: And I said little, more the fool me. Perhaps my voice would've been the winning vote! Unlikely.




Elmet: Why are they talking in verse?

Helenet: I don't know.






Fenrir: It was the first blush of autumn, the leaves tinged gold and the sun still warm
A perfect day for a wedding, or a hunt.
Armed with bow and knife, the mortals sought their prey
Hare and deer to glut their appetite.
A stag they saw, tall and proud, and too foolish were they to resist the chase
As the creature led them straight through our wood
Into the path of my beloved.



He sought to warn them off, for within the bounds of our land the creatures are ours and ours alone
But mortals have ears as fickle as your souls. A blade of iron was drawn and met my beloved's throat.
My beloved perished, but the forest and I ensured the mortals did as well
And waiting in the dappled sun for the appointed hour, for my beloved
The man drifted off and slumbered within the woods:
My domain.
The vines and roots obeyed and bound
Under my hand, the forest staked its curse
A weregild hardly worthy of the loss, but sweet nonetheless.





Helenet: So all this time you've been punishing him for something he wasn't even responsible for? That's so—so—cruel!



Macha: That is not the way we do things, brother. I see now why you went behind my back.

Fenrir: It was not the way we did things when we had a court, foolish sister mine. But there is only us now, and I will act as I see fit.




Macha: Not while I retain my power. What am I going to do with you?

Inanna: I think we should eat both of them.

Macha and Fenrir: Shut up, Inanna.

Bel: Not the bloody cannibalism thing again. Give it a rest for once.






Macha: *snaps fingers* I have lifted your binding for now. What have you to say about this, man?




Arturo: I'm not... I do not remember any of this. My memory starts with waking in the forest as... this. And time has rendered my memories after that, between then and returning to the valley, very patchy.




Macha: You left the woods?

Arturo: Yes. I left and traveled for a time, seeking answers.

Fenrir: My attention may have... slipped and let the curse loosen after some time. When he reentered our bounds, the curse-tie called to me again.




Macha: This ends now. You cannot continue to extract revenge against a man who doesn't even remember the crime he committed—a crime that was hardly a crime at all!

Fenrir: Again, sister, there is no longer a court. Your word is no longer law.

Macha: Bel? Inanna?

Bel: I agree with Macha. This has been a foolish endeavor from start to finish, Fen.

Inanna: This is boring now. Let Macha do what she wants so I can go back to my hunt.

Macha: It seems I have a consensus, unless you wish to petition the mortals for their vote too.

Fenrir: *scoffs*




Macha: You will leave the mortals alone from now on, Fenrir, or I'll turn you into a songbird and keep you in my study to sing me pretty little tales.




Macha: And you, man, what is your true name?

Arturo: ...

Macha: I know you creatures have some superstition about giving your true name to our kind, but I cannot remove the curse without it.

Fenrir: *grumbles* Arturo.

Arturo: ...I did not know it was truly my original name.






Macha: There; the curse, and the curse-tie, is broken. Fenrir, if you ever—

Fenrir: Yes, yes, songbird, study, I got it. You never let me have any fun.





* * *




Arturo: I have questions I need answered.

Macha: Ask.




Arturo: Is my magic only an unintentional boon of the curse?

Macha: No; it is yours inherently. And the lycanthropic magic has only been suppressed for a time. It should return with the next moonrise.

Arturo: I see. And... for uncountable years, my body has stayed the same as the people around me grow and age and die. Will that continue? Because I do not think I can watch it happen again.




Macha: You are fully mortal now. Hm... perhaps you will age slightly less quick than the others; curses do tend to leave a mark, and you have been steeped in that one for what even I consider a long time. But make no mistake, you will wither and die like any mortal now.




Arturo: I see. Thank you, Fae Queen.

Macha: Do you not wish to learn again the name of the lover who started all of this? I thought that is what you would ask.




Arturo: I... would like to let the past rest for now. And as I see it, Fenrir started all of this, and I hardly wish to learn anything more of him.

Macha: *laughs* You are a funny mortal. Perhaps I will pay you a visit sometime in the future too. It's only polite to return social calls, after all.




Inanna: Your fur is very pretty. Can I have some? I wish to make a mantle for my daughter.

Elmet: Uh... no.

Inanna: Oh—can I please have some?

Elmet: Still no.