A Psychopomp Anthology

Celtic traversed

Scotland always a beautiful country. When Japan felt just a little too far, Thanatos would find himself in the rolling hills. However, as centuries have passed the world became more industrialized and soon green luscious landscapes became the landmarks of the revolution in industrialism. A grey cloud seemed to now hang over the land and the wisps of smoke filled the air. Except in one spot. A little spot of the wilderness he keeps to himself away from the prying eyes of industrialism.

That's when it happened.

There was a woman sitting near one of the lakes in the live patch of land. Her flame burnt hair reached down to her knees and she was a pale kind of pretty, however, the rest of her wasn't such a sight. Her body was unbelievably out of proportion. Her hips were too large for the skin-tight legs and the impossibly slim sides. Her breasts seemed out of the norm also. One was noticeably larger than the other and from her nearly open shirt one could see that the skin of her shoulders downwards was patchworked before going back to a snow-white cleans on her limbs.

Her arms were dipped in the cool waters and her laboured breaths indicated her pain. Scratches and wounds lay open up to her elbows and were seemingly still bleeding indefinitely. Thanatos landed behind her with a soft thud. His heart pounded slightly in a way he could only describe as painful. It wasn't fear. He knows what fear feels like. When he was trapped by Sisyphus he felt true fear. This wasn't it. Was is anticipation? No.

He leaned down touching the girl's right arm. The wounds nearly instantly closing. She stood up instantly, pulling a sword from thin air and holding it at the height of his head. "Cò th 'annad !? Dè tha thu ag iarraidh?!*" She yelled in a Scottish variant of Gaelic. Her voice was heavily accented and lower than he expected.
Thanatos looked at her with a tilted stare "I don't know Gaelic. I mean you no harm I just saw you were hurt." the incessant beating was back. His face felt warm and his hands jittered. No. It couldn't be that.

She looked him up and down still breathing heavily. "I can't place your accent." She whispered to herself.
Thanatos stepped forward pushing the sword away from him. "Είμαι Έλληνας. Καταλαβαίνετε Ελληνικά?" He said slowly as the sword fell to the floor. She didn't have the strength to keep it up.
"Μόνο ένα μικρό. Αγγλικά παρακαλώ." She growled.

"Works for me." He surged forward touching her arm and the wound on her left sealed. She shoved him down pulling a pistol out this time. "Why didn't you pull the pistol first?"
"What are you? A witch?"

"Those don't exist. Only oracles, magicians and prophets." He started pushing himself off the floor. He looked towards her and noticed that her mismatched shoulders were swirling and blending into her light skin tone. Like when you mix milk in coffee. "I think the real question is what are you?"

Her eyes widened and she pulled her rugged coat from her elbows to around her shoulders quickly. Thanatos noticed her footing was swaying from left to right "Just....tell...me...who..you-" Thanatos caught her as she fell forward. Her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness.
"I guess that's the adrenaline running out." Thanatos lays her down, placing her head in his lap. The patchwork was pulsing on her shoulder.

Thanatos could feel his heartbeat started to slow down as he looked over her. Then he spotted it. An arrow just above her knee. "Eros." He growled.

"So you found her." Thanatos turned and the firebird stood tall.

"This was your plan? To make me fall in love with a skin-changer from Scotland?"
"You'll see the method in my madness."

______
*Translated conversation.

Gaelic:
"Who are you !? What do you want ?!"
Greek:
"I am Greek. Do you understand Greek?"
"Only a small. English please."