Children Of Myths, Act One: Scotland

Tir Nan Og

About two weeks had passed since Artica had discovered who was responsible of her parents' disappearance and most of the whole story behind it. But she was just too tired to do something, she had to clear her mind and focus on something else, like tending to their crops.
The people from Fìor Tobar Beinne would see her get up in the morning at the rooster call, spend all day in the field or with the cattle and then go back home in the evening. The only people she would see were her family, Connor and Aidan, all of them concerned about her wellbeing but still understanding the girl's behavior.

"No eighteen-year-old girl should see what she had seen" Arianna had sighed while staring at her niece working relentlessly and silently, taking her anger out on the dirt and weeds because she had nothing else. She felt useless, not knowing what to do, often considering calling for the Banshees again but also scared because Fae Folk was tricky, and they could keep her forever in their realm. She was just a girl with a magic gift but no experience whatsoever, she couldn't fight nor use her powers properly, and these thoughts made her cry in bed at night.

"All right. That's it. I can't bear to see my cousin like this" Safie got out of the house one day, marching through the road towards The White Partridge.
"Connor McFadden, ye and me, out" the wavy redhead announced, gesturing the young innkeeper to come out for a serious talk. Connor looked at his father who told him to go with the young woman, he could handle the guests.

"Let me guess, you want to talk about Artica" he stated once they were outside of the tavern

"Precisely"

"How is she?"

Safie shook her head with a sigh "Bad. She's traumatized, and I don't blame her. I can't even imagine how painful and horrifying her vision was, any normal person with emotions would be at least shocked"

Connor sat on a bench in the square, crossing his arms thoughtfully while listening to what his friend was telling him. His lover was masking all her suffering through hard work because this way she wouldn't think about it, keeping herself busy so she wouldn't burst out crying during the day.

"She can't go on like this... Let's go talk to her" the young man got up, heading up to the Neivers' house up the hill and into the field where Artica was breaking her back by working and working.

"Artica, we need to talk" Safie called "Yer face is a mess, you haven't had proper rest in two weeks, that's enough. Put that shovel down and come with us"

"... Safie, I'm not in the mood"

"That wasn't a suggestion"

"Oh so ye'r ordering me around now?" Artica hissed, turning to face both of them, Connor gazed in shock at how sleep deprived her face was. The eyebags and her behavior were clear signs of how much of a mess she was right now.

"Artica, please" Connor tried to calm her down "You can't go on like this, you're hurting yourself"

"Do ye have any idea of how I'm feeling right now?" Artica replied, looking at her hands "There's a fucking cult of a deity of death and corruption on the loose. They took away my family, they're bringing destruction everywhere they go, and I don't know what to do in order to stop them"

She growled, looking at a thin layer of ice spreading at her feet, tears streaming down her cheeks "I can't control my powers, I can't fight, and right now I'm killing our crops with my useless magic because that's what I am! Useless!"

"ARTICA. For goodness' sake!" Connor shook her shoulders, Safie stomped on a frozen carrot in anger and reached for her cousin "Fuck the crops! I'd rather skip a meal than seeing you like this! Get away from here, let's grab something to eat and get Gigi to make you feel better"