Chapter 9: Caged in a Glass Prison
2133 Words
Chapter 9:
Caged in a Glass Prison
Key for this chapter:
* Rinzen's Thoughts *
// Anyone Else's Thoughts //
'Old dialogues memories, spoken out loud thoughts, the past in general...'
///Memories///
POVs
""Not an Actual Speech or Thought""
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Warning: Alternative POVs
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1-04-2113 (3:00 pm Re-Village of Malahide, Northern Ireland)
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Siobhan Mac Ruaidhrí landed in her kitchen with a painful crash as she slammed into the Kitchen Island. "Máthair Fucker! Ghortaigh sin, cad é an ifreann?" she asked baffled clutching her side.
"You crashed into your kitchen Island", Hikaru laughed softly.
"Cén fath a bhfuil tú ag gaire?" she muttered straightening rubbing her side.
"Because it's hilarious", Hikaru mused smirking at her. "Also I should tell you the translation spell is inactive and you're cursing in your mother-tongue", she stated flicking off a stray bit of dust.
"Tuigeann tú Gaeilge, ar ndóigh a dhéanann tú", they muttered exasperated, "Ach tá tú ag labhairt i mBéarla ..." she wondered idly and with no forthcoming explanation sighed, shaking her head she decided to f**k it and move on.
Straightening fully she looked at the kitchen clock and hummed, "Ba chóir go mbeadh Máthair sa séipéal ag léiriú Nona", she stated, "Ba chóir dúinn teacht ar mo dheirfiúracha agus aintín, ar a laghad rudaí a mhíniú dóibh roimhe seo, tagann mo mháthair amach as an Eaglais, agus téann sí Gaeilge ar do thóin!" she suggested as she walked towards the swinging half-doors of the kitchen
""All dialogue after this will be typed out in English but assume they will be speaking in Irish.""
"So you're telling me, that your aunts are supposedly more calming than your mother?" Hikaru asked, "Also your mother, a bean síth is a believer of Jesus?" she asked curiously.
"Well yeah, just because she's a person that can scream out for the soon to be departed, doesn't mean she doesn't believe in God, I think she's an even firmer believer in God or a higher power because of it", Siobhan muttered as she reached for the handle on the door.
"And your aunts and siblings?" Hikaru asked curiously.
"Well, Aunt Moira is about the most level-headed person I know, even though she seems to be the one who screams for death more than anyone else I know. And my sisters Vivian, Alice, and Kara are about as mortally cheerful as any normal bean-síth could be. Especially for creatures literally associated with death", she retorted amused.
Hikaru snorted, "So basically they're our best bet?" she asked.
"Well they're the only ones that will or can hold dear old mum back if she blows a gasket", Siobhan stated.
The Raijin nodded, "And you think she's likely to?" she asked.
"Probably, but then I don't even pretend to understand what my mother thinks of me", she stated as she pushed the lever down and then the door open.
Hikaru hummed, "And your father?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know I've never met him. I mean I'm the youngest in my family, and besides Kara's husband and Grandfather, we don't have any other male members in the family. And grandfather is in England and Landon, Kara's husband is in New Orleans. They both left this morning through a teleportation gate, to scream the unfortunate incoming death warning to well whoever they're keening for", she stated, "So my aunt and sisters it is", she said cheerfully and walked out of the room, escorting Hikaru out.
"And where is your aunt?" the Raiju asked.
Siobhan hummed contemplatively, turned around and shrugged only to then loudly yell out a single name;
"AUNT MOIRA!!!"
Followed by;
""VIVIAN!!! ALICE!!! KARA?!!!!!"
Hikaru snorted, "Are you trying to gain the attention of every single person in your village?" she asked amused.
"Soundproofing wards, not to mention this is a very large house", Siobhan stated as she cupped her hands around her mouth and continued calling for her relatives.
"For The Love of Tuatha Dé Danann! SHUT UP!!!!"
Someone yelled back, a young melodic voice and then another continued;
"You know for someone who hasn't awakened yet, she certainly sounds like a banshee!!!"
"You said it sister!" someone else yelled inside the house at decibels bats would envy.
Hikaru hummed, "Well you certainly have their attention", she stated, her very clear British accent sassed humorously.
Siobhan shrugged; "At least this way we won't have to scour the entire manor to look for them, they're in the palor", she stated and led the way through the house.
As they made their way through the well-lit manor house, Siobhan tried to come up with the correct way to start a conversation that basically condensed down to, 'Hi Family, I'm going to leave the nest. And you can't stop me!' Oh that would not end well.
//I should have brought someone bigger...//
*
Hikaru followed the redhead at sedately pace as she wandered deeper into the house, with a very odd look on her face.
Turning away from her clearly frazzled charge she looked around the house and hummed at the many glass windows lining the walls. it appeared the path they were taking led to a bell-shaped conservatory.
It was odd to be in a house, littered with glass, when it was owned by a family of banshees. But Hikaru wasn't one to cast aspirations on anyone given she lived in a metal house and had a penchant for lightning escaping her when she was especially frazzled.
"My mother said, 'Because I see death a lot, sometimes having a home with a view other than darkness is refreshing' end quote'", she stated.
"Okay?"
Red shrugged—because at this point even Hikaru agreed that the moniker 'Red' suited her charge better than 'Vani'—and hummed, "It's just you're looking around all confused, it seemed obvious I need to explain why most of the house is made of glass", she informed quietly.
Hikaru nodded, "I wasn't judging, but it is true I was curious. Thank you", she stated softly.
Red nodded, "Mum's always been weird, it's not the screaming she had to worry about, but three rambunctious toddlers who all grew up one after the other and managed to break anything that could be broken, simply by standing next to it", she stated.
"And you aren't a part of this?" Hikaru asked.
"I was kept away from things that could be broken easily, seemly by virtue of having being born different. Or so I was told", she answered taking a left.
"Different how?"
Red paused, and then turned, "There's an old legend about banshees some say is true, some disagree, some believe it to be 'specially true for certain bloodlines", she stated, "It could be all hokum or hocus pocus in the end, a desire for power or just an old fashioned belief that rallied the troops into believing one family was more powerful than the other", she started with an air of someone simply telling a story and not a history lesson of her own family. "When babies are born, they're particularly loud when they scream their way into the world right?" she stated the obvious, "For my family, every single banshee that has been born, man, women, transsexual, they have screamed their way alive. Because it's believed they cried out unconsciously for the death of a family member, a long distant cousin, aunt, uncle. A relative that died in that exact moment for them to live", she explained.
"Continuing the cycle of life", Hikaru hummed agreeing.
"Yes", she stated, "And there have been deaths that coincided with the birth of my sisters and aunt and my mother and my grandfather and everyone I know", she stated.
"Except you", Hikaru noted.
Red nodded, "Yes. See I was initially, during mum's eighth month, an early baby, premature as the medical terms dictate. And since this is a re-village NICUs weren't really an option. Still aren't despite well my own personal touchy medical history", she muttered more than a little bitter, "And being a child pretty much on the edge of death despite being only born a few moments ago. I was placed in a healing circle of magic controlled by my father or so my sisters tell me. Like I said I never knew the man, it could very well have been a different Magick handling the circle", she muttered and then started walking again.
"So you didn't wake up screaming", Hikaru concluded.
"Yup", she popped the 'p' and then added, "I was barely breathing, and if there wasn't a shifter in the room, the den-mother who could hear my fragile beating heart—", she paused, "Thankfully we're a village filled with all kinds of supernaturals, and not just banshees", she muttered dryly. "—I'd have been pronounced Stillborn", she finally stated.
Hikaru felt a surge of motherly over-protectiveness rise up from within her and nodded, "I see", she stated, understanding more about her charge in these last few seconds, than the few moments she'd spent watching her charge be protected by the black locket with a gold Hexagram of Solomon etched onto it. It truly made sense as that young boy had said; 'It suits you', and almost as if he was suddenly standing right beside her, she could hear his explanation all over again;
'"Because of what it represents, it's also known as The Star of David at least since the 20th century and remains largely associated with the number seven. And we all know what the number seven means", he explained cheekily, his words slurring as he drifted between wakefulness and dreamland, "Besides the Seal of Solomon symbolizes the link between science, beauty and metaphysics, with elements of medicine and magic, astronomy and astrology—ironic for someone who was born into a re-village. And given Solomon was known as the magician who could form treaties with demons and control them. For a person to wear it, it basically helps put the user in control of all situations. To have control over your own life again, and make others (people who would disrupt that control) do as you say, make them bend to your will!" he yawned big and hummed, "Red belongs to a bunch of banshees, it's in her bloodline, control is one thing banshees lack", he pointed out, "When the urge to scream takes over, control is about the furthest thing they have", he answered as his breathing evened out.
//The link between science and medicine—definitely ironic for someone who was born into a re-village…//
"We're here", Red announced suddenly causing Hikaru to look up, "So how do we do this?" she asked warily.
Hikaru hummed, "Well it's quite simple, you simply go in there, tell them the truth. And I will be at your back in case anyone tries to cause you harm", she stated simply.
"What if the harm isn't purely physical?" Red asked guardedly.
"I'll still be protecting you", Hikaru promised.
"Okay", Red swallowed audibly and then nodded, "Okay, yeah, I can do this", she agreed with a minor pep-talk and then reached for the handle, she opened the door and stepped into a room, that Hikaru genuinely believed was connected to another realm for a brief second.
"We're here", Red announced suddenly causing Hikaru to look up, "So how do we do this?" she asked warily.
Hikaru hummed, "Well it's quite simple, you simply go in there, tell them the truth. And I will be at your back in case anyone tries to cause you harm", she stated simply.
"What if the harm isn't purely physical?" Red asked guardedly.
"I'll still be protecting you", Hikaru promised.
"Okay", Red swallowed audibly and then nodded, "Okay, yeah, I can do this", she agreed with a minor pep-talk and then reached for the handle, she opened the door and stepped into a room, that Hikaru genuinely believed was connected to another realm for a brief second.
//What the hell?//
*
TBC
Author's Note: I sincerely apologize this chapter is a week late. I got very very, very sick and had to go back into the hospital.
Irish Translations:
Ghortaigh sin, cad é an ifreann? >> That hurt, what in the hell?
Cén fath a bhfuil tú ag gaire? >> Why are you laughing?
Tuigeann tú Gaeilge, ar ndóigh a dhéanann tú >> You understand Irish, of course you do
Ach tá tú ag labhairt i mBéarla ... >> But you're speaking English...
Ba chóir dúinn teacht ar mo dheirfiúracha agus aintín, ar a laghad rudaí a mhíniú dóibh roimhe seo, tagann mo mháthair amach as an Eaglais, agus téann sí Gaeilge ar do thóin! >>> We should find my sisters and aunt, at least explain things to them before, my mother comes out of the Church, and goes all Irish on your a*s!
- Writer
