The Immortals

Chapter 3

Esmae skipped across the tiny hall to the door, identical to her own, on the other side. She didn't bother to knock, but instead opened the door and walked in. Alysa lay --spread eagle-- on her bed, her blonde hair fanned out around her head. Even though she'd kept her eyes closed and her headphones were so loud that Esmae could clearly hear the song from the other end of the room, Esmae somehow knew Alysa wasn't asleep.

"Is it dinner yet?" Alysa asked tiredly. Esmae rolled her eyes. Alysa knew full well it wasn't dinner time yet.

"No, but you knew that," she stated blandly. Alysa sat up and shrugged.

"So?"

"So, you just wanted to avoid the real reason why I'm here," Esmae accused. Alysa shrugged again before lying on her back. "Alysa! Don't just ignore me! This is important," Esmae snapped. She unplugged Alysa's iPod and slipped it into her pocket. Alysa glared at her, but dutifully sat up.

"Fine. But I'm just telling you, I don't need counselling, and I don't need to be told how to mind my manners!" Alysa told her sister indignantly. Esmae raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Oh, really? So why do you always forget the last one?" She countered, hands on her hips.

"Because they were going to throw us out anyway," Alysa muttered bitterly. Esmae didn't say anything. What Alysa had said wasn't completely a lie, and Esmae knew that for a fact. Instead she pulled out a little chain from around her neck. The chain was gold with a gold circle hanging off of it. In the centre of the circle was a silver tree, its long twisting branches reached out and held onto the edges of the circle. From where she stood, Esmae could see Alysa's poking out from her shirt. It was identical to Esmae's, but the colours had been reversed. Silver chain, silver circle, gold tree.

"Do you ever wonder who they were?" Esmae wondered aloud, Alysa sat up, holding onto her chain.

"Our real parents?" Alysa asked.

"Yeah," Esmae replied. Alysa took a moment to consider her question.

"Nope," she answered simply, but Esmae didn't believe her.

"Of course you do, your just mad they didn't keep us," Esmae explained. Alysa made a dismissive gesture with her hand, but didn't deny it either. A long silence followed, only broken by Alysa.

"I just wish I knew why. Did they die? We're we a mistake? Did they love us, but they couldn't keep us?" She wondered desperately. Esmae shook her head sadly. She often wondered the same thing. Both of them had one, faint memory of their mother, and as she thought of it, the rocking melody found its way into her head. And the words, whose meaning she'd never fully understood, forced their way out of her mouth and into the world.

"A naoidhean bhig, duinn mo ghuth,
Mise ri d'thaobh, O mhaighdean bhan,
An righinn oig, fas as faic, do thir dileas fhein,
A ghrain a's a ghealaich, stuir sinn,
Gu uaiv ar cliu s ar gloire,
A naoidhean bhig, An righinn oig, mhaighdean uasal bhan."

They held the last note, and, by now, Alysa had joined in too.

"Do you ever wonder what those words mean?" Alysa asked. Esmae smiled sadly.

"Every day."

***

Merida stiffened, and her body forgot to breathe. Even Dee stared at the Crow Goddess with a look of pure shock. The Morrigan grinned wickedly, enjoying the effect she was having on Dee, the famous Magician, and the so called Champion of the Dark Elders. She would have smiled even wider if she'd known of her secret audience. Seeing Merida of Dunbroch in a state of shock would have been priceless.

"Merida of Dunbroch?"

Dee's voice was oddly strained. He barely managed to choke his words out.

"Yes, that's right. The Brave One, the Wisp Seer and The Bear Slayer. One of the Shadow's greatest students," the Morrigan hissed with disgust. The two warrior women had caused her and her betters more delays and defeats than she cared to count. Now, if Dee could succeed, she make the Scottish Princess pay.

"Why are they in Australia? Why isn't she with them? You'd think something as precious as children would require some kind of protection," Dee inquired subtly. The Morrigan merely stared at him intently.

"That remains to be seen. They're in Australia because Merida gave them up for adoption, don't ask me why- I wouldn't have the faintest clue as to what goes on inside her head," The Morrigan spat. Merida felt her fists tighten, ready to pummel the Morrigan into a thousand sorry pieces. "When they were up for adoption, an Australian woman took care of them. She brought them back home with her and raised them there, until she died eight years ago. Now they're in the foster system."

The Morrigan paused for a moment and smiled. Her eyes were like polished obsidian; glassy, black and deadly.

"Orphans are so easy to recruit. They always want a place to fit in, and the Dark Elders are always a good place to start."

Merida gritted her teeth, resisting the strong urge to attack the Morrigan. Her children, her two darling twins. They were immortals, and powerful immortals at that. Why had she never seen this coming?

"So, my mission is to go to Australia and find these... twins? Well that's easy! Your Aunty fusses too much," Dee commented, shrugging. The Crow Goddess rolled her eyes.

"You have no idea. I will see you in Australia in two days. Meet me in the city of Brisbane," she instructed. Dee looked up and stared at her.

"You're coming with me?" He asked, unable to his his shock and annoyance. The Morrigan raised an eyebrow.

"Will that be a problem, Doctor? My superiors have asked me to supervise you, seeing as you have failed capture the Flamels for... what is it now? Oh, that's right! 450 years!" She snapped. Dee suppressed a flinch, not because of the Crow Goddess' shrill voice, but because of the insult thrown at him. The Flamels continued to elude him. He'd tried his hardest to capture them. He'd thrown fire and monsters and famine at them. He'd left trails of destruction behind him, and yet, he'd still been unable to capture them. How was that possible? Clasping his hands together and smiling at the Morrigan, he regained his composure.

"No problem. See you in two days," he said, leaving the restaurant. Not long after, the Morrigan follows in suite. Merida, on the other hand, pulls out her phone and dials a number. She had some calls to make.