Althea

Crows and Visions

Deidre: broken-hearted
Origin: Celtic

The tunnel I was falling through widened as I broke through a murky film, like scum on a pond. I blinked as I passed through and I found myself standing in a patch of snow. In front of me a tall woman, clothed in nothing but a long red cloth walked purposefully. I couldn't see her face, and the cloth did not cover all it should. I glanced around briefly and seeing nothing else around us besides the forest enclosing the small field, resigned myself to following this mysterious, nearly nude woman. She strode to the very centre of the field and stopped. I peered around her and saw what she was there for. A plain headstone covered in layer after layer of wilted roses sat there, somehow untouched by the snow still slowly waltzing through the air; dancing with every slight breeze.
She laid another rose on the pile, and I could see her shoulders shake with silent tears.
Crows sprang from out of the woods, cawing ominously. They began to circle the grave site in a tornado of greasy black feathers.
"Hello, Deidre." I whirled to face a brown, rotted skeleton. I gasped and stumbled backwards, struggling to keep down my meagre lunch.
"Achan" Deidre breathed, rushing through me like I was a ghost. She embraced the corpse and pressed her lips to it's sick grin. He stepped back and dragged one long, bony finger down her cheek. She shivered, and leaned into the caress.
"When will the ritual be ready?" The skeleton asked, grabbing Deidre's chin and forcing her to stare into its empty eye sockets. His bony fingers dug into her neck, drawing drops of ruby blood. She didn't look away, didn't flinch at the pain.
"Soon, soon. All I need is the girl. That weakling, the Empress, was an easy steal with my Malignant army, but she is not enough. The girl is, for reasons still unknown, a wellspring of Life. I haven't felt anything or met anyone so powerful. We will easily be able to lure her to us if my Malignants cannot capture her. The Empress is the perfect ransom, the perfect bait."
The skeleton removed his hand and let her blood drip onto his teeth. If it had a tongue I'm sure he would have relished the taste. Deidre stepped towards the skeleton and laid a hand on it's ribcage.
"Soon, we will be together again. This time, your damned sister won't be in the way. Nothing will be in the way. You can take your rightful place as emperor."

It was then that I knew. Her burning, intense hatred for the Empress was tended, mothered, fueled carefully by the only emotion stronger: Love.

With that I fell back through the tunnel and ended up in Solomons arms.
"Althea! Are you okay? You passed out when the High Priestess disappeared." Solomon said, worry creasing his forehead.
"Uh, yeah, I think so." I grabbed his bicep for support and stood shakily. I quickly recapped my vision and Solomons face darkened.
"We have to go. We have to get to Brynhildes house."
"What does it matter." A soft, hoarse voice called over to us. We looked to see Brynhilde still sitting at Evanida's side, stroking her mane.
"It matters because we still have Althea. If Deidre doesn't have Althea she can't win, she can't raise Achan. We can save the Empress." Solomon said fiercely.
"We're all going to die eventually anyway. Why not now? Our world is imperfect. Why fight it?"
"We fight for the future. We fight for the people we love. We fight because we're still here." Solomon murmured, staring into my eyes before turning to face Brynhilde.
"I have no future. I have no one left!" Brynhilde yelled, a single tear trickled down her face. Her face showed her agony.
"You have us, Brynhilde. Remember what the High Priestess said? We are your new family." I said, hobbling over to her. I reached out for her, and she drew away.
"I have no family." She whispered. I went for her again and this time she let me. I gathered her into a hug and held her as her tears soaked my dress. She was much smaller than her persona let on, and now she seemed even smaller.
"Brynhilde, what happened to your first family?" Solomon said quietly, hesitantly. She looked at him, eyes rimmed with red.
"I killed them. My coven, my sisters all died. I abandoned them, I fled to save my own sorry ass. We were in a fight we couldn't win against dozens of Malignants. With witches, you die with and for your coven. Ones like me don't exist. To be unbonded to a sisterhood is shameful and unimaginably lonely. Your connection to your coven is stronger than blood. My fear conquered me."
"Don't let it conquer you now. Help us win. For your sisters, for Evanida, and for yourself." She looked at me for one long moment and finally nodded. She staggered weakly to her feet and hefted Evanida's saddlebags onto her shoulder. She dropped a few herbs and a drop of oil onto Evanida's body and it burst into flames. Within seconds all that was left was a pile of ash. Brynhilde scooped some into a vial and stuffed it into the bags. She smiled weakly and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Solomon demanded.
"I have to take care of something. I'll find you again. But first, let me give you this." She handed me a plain piece of paper that she pulled out of one of the saddlebags followed by several oils from her components belt and doused the paper before she mumbled a few Latin words.
"This is a tracking spell. It will lead you to the Empress." She pressed her forehead to mine and clasped Solomon's hand before limping into the forest and out of sight. We watched her go and when she was out of sight I focused back on Solomon.
"How quickly can you get a message to Lady Arethusa?"

We followed our piece of paper through an unfamiliar part of the woods. We tied a strip of fabric from the hem of my dress to it, because it didn't stop for anyone. We, however, needed food and rest. We had sent Cassius off to find Arethusa, and so our going was slow. During a brief rest I folded the sheet into a paper glider, absolutely stunning a dumbfounded Solomon.
By midday, we came across the field I had visited in my vision. Sure enough we met a wall of Malignants that stretched as far as the eye could see. The horde parted and Deidre stepped through, dressed head to toe in crimson red.
"Welcome, Althea! Welcome, to the rebirth of the greatest leader the world has ever seen! Now, because of you, they will get to know their ruler, human and nature alike!" She bowed dramatically, mockingly.
"What do you mean, 'greatest leader?' He was never Emperor." Solomon asked. Deirdre gasped.
"You mean your kind, benevolent Empress has never told the story of how she murdered her own brother because he was a threat to her rule? My, my." Deidre beckoned to her army and a shackled figure was pushed to the front and forced to their knees.
"Tell them, Philena! Tell them how you murdered Achan, tell them how you stabbed my love, your brother, straight through his heart!" Deidre shrieked. The figure lifted their head and I could clearly see the distinctive butterfly tattoos on the Empress's face. Solomon tensed beside me and I placed a warning hand on his chest.
"I did kill Achan. I regret that it was him, but not that I did it." The Empress said, steel in her voice.
"How can you say that? He was your blood! He is my soul!" She wailed.
"You know why I killed him! You know why I had to! He wanted to destroy everything that nature is and that Nature made because he fancied himself a god! He succeeded in turning you, my dearest friend. How can you not see his madness? Please, Dee. We were sisters once too, in all but blood." The Empress pleaded.
"He is no madman. He has a vision for our world. The humans are out of control, they destroy nature. And you, the moths and the butterflies, do nothing but protect them. They are set in their ways; they are killing themselves and us." The sorceress seethed.
"I believe that any heart can change, that any mind can be taught to see the truth." The Empress said strongly, defiance radiating from her. Deidre laughed.
"You are truly foolish. But no matter, Althea is here now. Together, your Life energy will feed the revolution." Deidre stroked the Empress's face, and she shrank back in disgust.
"You're not going to do that, Deidre." She craned her neck to look at me.
"And why not, pray tell? What are you going to do little girl? You are utterly alone."
In response Solomon drew his sword. Deidre gave him some mock applause.
"Very noble young moth."
"He's not alone either." Brynhilde yelled, walking out of the forest followed by a couple hundred other men and women.
"Brynhilde!" I exclaimed, rushing over to her and hugging her tight. The warmth in my stomach spread to my knees and started trickling down to my feet.
"I brought some of my brothers and sisters if you don't mind." She said.
"Of course not! Thank you. One question, how did you catch up to us?" She laughed.
"You guys took literally the longest route possible."
"Hey, it was your tracking spell." I said, raising my hands in defense.
"If you two are done with the cozy reunion, would you like to explain how you expect your small band of witches and druids to defeat my force of thousands?" Deidre said, smiling wickedly. I shrugged.
"A whole lotta luck and even more hope. Something you ran out of." Deidre smirked.
"Come on then, show me your worst."