16.
The tears of true love and all the power with which it may bring, fills my heart with joy, makes all our hearts sing. – oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling.
Ten years ago, there were rumours, apparent sightings of unnatural darkness, spheres of emptiness, portholes or nothing emanating in the most random of places. Theses apparitions were and are so much more arriving holes in thin air. Investigations saw items disappear into these ... black holes. Whether fired towards these holes or gathered into such by proximity or growth, plenty would go missing ... never to be seen again.
The Phantom Queen being one such title for Morgan Fay herself, it first had been thought of as magic, created by her as punishment for those who may go against her or disobey her but no ... it had to be more than that for these apparitions were appearing to loyal subjects, those within her kingdom who never so much as even spoke a word against her ... so why would these people need to be punished? It just would be her way of doing things anyhow ...
It wasn't long before people began being hurt, losing limbs with which they had to amputate themselves with whatever instruments or tool such people had handy so to speak. For when a hand or arm, or anything else for that matter, became consumed by such portholes of nothingness they generally would only stop or slow if a whole person had been taken off completely.
Such phenomenon began as being items of extreme rareness and slowly but steadily at first began to grow and indeed would grow indiscriminately to include wildlife both fantastical and common to those directly under command of The Morrigan herself. Over ten years, a war was vowed to end this plague but indeed there was nothing which could stop this nothingness until research discovered a potential cure and this now is what she seeks.
Can she acquire it? She cannot just ask for it as it has to be real and unrequited and so it is on before this darkness can be all consuming. There is time ... just how much time is unknown and if failure arises ... well such a thing is not worth thinking about unless it becomes something quite imminent.
***
Skin and blisters, the seven mysterious sisters ... of course, the seven mysterious sisters, how could he have ever forgotten? He can't help but remember now, or at least remember something as he stands near to a body of water upon which a stone building rests. He has been here before, not only that, but he remembers being here before with Delia.
What exactly is it that he remembers?
He is on the right track; Samuel is sure of that. He will find the one true love of his life; they will be re-united as sure as the stars shine in the nighttime sky. Sure, as the stars ... those stars have called him once before they will call him again. Will they lead him in the right direction? Or will they lead him astray? There may even be a price to pay.
He had her to find him, rescue him once before, but this time he is alone and will be every bit as much unable to resist now as he had been before. If there are tools and tree trunks to build with, perhaps he would have something to traverse the waters before him to either take rest bite on an island where a stone building waits or take his chances and cross the lake entirely to investigate the land on the far side ... but there is something else.
Music, a vocal harmony, a sirens song, calls to him from out along that body of water. It is beautiful, entrancing and Samuel can do nothing but lose all control. That sound, that allure, he wants it, he needs it, so much so that it takes him slowly forward and into the water.
The celestial beauty on a ground level, or water level, is too strong and before long, the water is chest high. Seven beauties call out, sing out, surely, they are an illusion of some sort. An illusion or not, the Siren's song is powerful, extremely enticing, entrancing enough to attract the attention of any man. And just like before, he indeed cannot resist.
