{"id":1029,"date":"2012-01-20T00:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T05:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1029"},"modified":"2012-01-19T09:26:44","modified_gmt":"2012-01-19T14:26:44","slug":"autumn-chapter-2-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1029","title":{"rendered":"Autumn – Chapter 2 – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Gray set down his mug and stood up slowly, tilting his head to study Eva with a careful, measuring gaze.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She met that gaze head-on, anger still smoldering in her eyes.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cFor the love of all that\u2019s holy and sacred,\u201d Gray rumbled after a moment, \u201care you really <\/span>that<\/span><\/em> angry at them?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Wait a second.\u00a0 <\/span>Is he actually buying what she\u2019s selling?<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia blinked, looking between Gray\u2019s back and Eva\u2019s face.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSometimes,\u201d Eva said softly, voice little more than a whisper.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMostly I\u2019m just frustrated.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Do you have any idea how upsetting it is to be called a witch and <\/span>shot<\/span><\/em> at?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019ll tell you what, it\u2019s no picnic and it\u2019s happened twice in four weeks.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m lucky that I haven\u2019t been burned at the stake yet, or tied up outside somewhere for feral dogs to feast on.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She braced herself against the massive hearth for a second, shaking her head slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMost of us haven\u2019t set foot on this plane since we were children, and that was millennia ago.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Now we\u2019re here, in a broken world that even we don\u2019t quite understand, and we\u2019re supposed to show the lot of you how to survive.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>How to keep going on when everything you\u2019ve ever known is gone.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They never thought about how hard it would be for <\/span>us<\/span><\/em> to cope, how hard it would be for <\/span>us<\/span><\/em> to adjust.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s not easy.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s bloody hard, actually, and I think I hate it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I really think I do.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Kess\u2019s fingers dug into Ter\u00e9zia\u2019s arm.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia glanced toward her friend, frowning slightly.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Kess shook her head a little.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe can\u2019t just throw her out there in the cold,\u201d Kess whispered.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cEven if we do think she\u2019s nuts.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd if she\u2019s some kind of sociopathic con artist out to murder us all in our sleep?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia hissed, throwing all the force she could muster behind her words.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her strength, though, was ebbing.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her heart was starting to ache.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What if the girl was telling the truth after all?<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSit down,\u201d Gray said soothingly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHave more of your tea and slow down.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You said you were going to start at the beginning, but you kind of skipped that part and came straight to the end plus editorial commentary.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You mentioned the <\/span>\u00c1es D\u00e1na<\/span><\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What does Irish mythology have to do with anything?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Wat frowned.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI thought she was talking about that weird music group.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Which is it?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eva let out a weak little laugh as she dropped back down onto the bench and let Gray press the mug of tea back into her hands.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She took a long swallow before she shook her head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cNo, no, it\u2019s not about music.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s…we\u2019re…\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She sighed and rubbed a hand across her eyes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIrish mythology.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia tugged on Gray\u2019s sleeve.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He was grinning as he turned to look at her and that momentarily stopped her heart.<\/span>\u00a0 What the hell?<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cGray, clearly you\u2019ve got a better idea of what\u2019s going on here than I do.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Care to explain?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He just kept grinning and shook his head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMythology, Teca.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Remember how we used to talk about it all being based in fact?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIn theory, it\u2019s all based in fact,\u201d she said, blinking rapidly at him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBut only in theory.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Like great heroes have their stories transformed by bards into something more than they actually are.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Brigid becomes a goddess because of her martial prowess.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Hermes was a swift and cunning messenger, he\u2019s remembered as a deity.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He pointed to Eva.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd she\u2019s telling us that there\u2019s more truth to what we <\/span>thought<\/span><\/em> was simply a part of the myth perpetuated by bards for the sake of a good story.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eva froze in the middle of taking another swallow of tea, caught off-guard by suddenly being the center of attention again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She looked at them slowly, swallowed the tea, then set her mug down again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe\u2019s right,\u201d she murmured softly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re both right, in a way.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But heroes like Brigid and Hermes\u2014the figures that became deified for their actions\u2014had added advantages.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What do you know of Otherworlds?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSounds like a comic shop,\u201d Wat said, crossing his arms.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Kess slugged him in the arm.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou mean like Avalon, Olympus, Valhalla?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Like that?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her eyes were shining.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia stopped herself from burying her face in her hands.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have we all suddenly lost all grip with reality?<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, it could be that they\u2019d never really understood reality to begin with.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That struck her like a blow to the head and she sat down slowly again, next to Kess, and groped for her mug.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eva smiled weakly, nodding in response to Kess.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes, like those, though Avalon was…less an Otherworld and more of a liminal space between here and there.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She paused, tilting her head to one side.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDid I use that word right?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s one of Teague\u2019s favorites; he uses it all the time and I\u2019m never sure whether or not I\u2019m using it right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Bloody scholar.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her hands waved like a fluttering bird\u2019s wings.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m getting distracted, forgive me.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What I was saying is that most of those heroes that the storytellers\u2014and by extension, the mythology that\u2019s survived to these modern times\u2014had the advantage of being born elsewhere, many of them in Otherworlds or of Otherworld stock.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Some entities are kinder than others.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You wouldn\u2019t want to run into Hecate in a dark alleyway, for instance.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She\u2019d gut you as soon as she\u2019d look at you and use your entrails to tell the future.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her nose wrinkled.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cOf course, I may be biased.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She\u2019s had a bit of a stranglehold on this world for the past few hundred years, surprisingly enough.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You wouldn\u2019t think a goddess of magic would have a stake in the magicless modern world, but she did.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She and the harpies and a cadre of other forces.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They weren\u2019t happy to see us come back, let me tell you.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She huffed another sigh.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia swallowed hard, staring, unable to speak.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 Either she\u2019s crazy or we really, really had no idea what the world was all about before today.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>She really wasn\u2019t sure which would be worse.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHave you seen them yet?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Eva asked softly, staring at the four of them as she picked up her mug again.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSeen what?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Kess asked.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe creatures.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The monsters, the things that go bump in the night, the things that\u2019ll gut you as soon as look at you.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Have you seen any of them yet?\u201d
\n<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ter\u00e9zia began to shake her head.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gray set down his mug and stood up slowly, tilting his head to study Eva with a careful, measuring gaze.\u00a0 She met that gaze head-on, anger still smoldering in her eyes. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor the love of all that\u2019s holy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,35,40,14,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autumn","category-book-2","category-chapter-2","category-story","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-gB","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1030,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\/revisions\/1030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}