Irish Idiots Chapter 7

1

Courtney breathed heavily as she sat on her bed. The images of her dream played like a reel in her mind. She decided to get up and get dressed. As she splashed cold water on her face she looked in the mirror and thought she saw Misty standing behind her. She did a double take and she was gone. 2

'Weird...' she thought.3

She slowly walked out of the bathroom, checking every corner to make sure no one was there to scare her. When she got to the kitchen she saw Misty again, this time she was standing with a dead rose in her hand.4

"Hey, Misty, what's with the dead rose?" she asked.5

"A love unrequited eventually dies, just like this rose."6

"What?"7

Misty repeated herself. "They're coming for you, Courtney." she said in a solemn voice.8

"Who?"9

"You know of whom I speak."10

"Huh?" Courtney asked, confused.11

"Seven days...." she whispered. "Seven days..."12

"Oh! Is this like in "The Ring" where I die in seven days?!" 13

"NO!" Misty yelled. Courtney gasped with realization and Misty rolled her eyes. "Finally..." she murmured under her breath.14

"I know! There are seven days in a week!" Courtney yelled triumphantly.15

"No, you stupid moron!" Misty yelled, "SEVEN FRIGGIN' DAYS! Seven days until they come for you!"16

"Until who come for me?" Courtney asked blankly.17

"You shall see...." she replied, calming herself as her voice faded and Courtney woke up.18

*** ***19

'I thought I'd already woken up...' she mused as she turned sleepily in her bed. 'I guess I'll ask if she visited my dream or something...she IS a witch, so maybe she was just bored or something...'20

She stood up sleepily. That was the first time she'd had a dream like that: a dream of having a dream. It was weird. She felt like it was all real, but that couldn't be. Her friends couldn't have died in that brutal way; it was too horrible to even contemplate! She loved her friends...even Jack. 21

After she'd gotten up she walked into the nook of their talon and found Misty already there with Kay. She was surprised they were up so early, even SHE was up earlier than usual.22

"What time is it?" she asked, expecting them to look at a watch. Instead, Misty stood and went onto the balcony. In a minute she ruturned and announced that it was 10:47.23

"What?! It's that late? And how can you tell what time it is from going outside anyway? Do you judge the time based on where the sun is or something?" Courtney exclaimed.24

"No, it's called a sun dial, Courtney." Misty replied with sarcasm. "You're not in Ireland anymore, remember?"25

"Did you ever take the time to think about how many people lose their lives to keep us safe?" Kay asked, awakening from her heavy thoughts.26

"Yeah, I know. I wish they didn't DO that!" Courtney exclaimed. "I don't want ANYONE to hurt because of me! I mean, I am SO not worth that!"27

"Yes, but they CHOOSE to die to protect you AND others, Kay," Misty said. "That's one of the universal rules of life and death; if you CHOOSE to give your life for a cause or for someone, it can't be altered."28

"But that's stupid!" Kay exclaimed. "What if the person they're dying for dies for them after they're dead? Would that person come back to life or would they just /die/?"29

"I don't know! I don't think it's ever happened before." Misty said slowly, pondering. "Maybe, depending on what TYPE of people they were, BOTH of them would come back?"30

"That would be awesome!" Courtney said happily.31

"DUH!" Kay and Misty exclaimed in unison. "Jinx!" They said, again in unison. They cracked up laughing and Courtney, smiling, watched them. After they regained their poise, Courtney asked Misty about her dream.32

"Um, Misty?" she asked cautiously. "Can you go into people's dreams?"33

"Of COURSE I can!" she said happily, "I'm a witch! Why?"34

"Because I had a dream last night and you were in it...did you go into my dream last night?"35

"No...why? What was your dream?" Misty asked.36

"Oh, it was nothing really...is there anything special going on a week from now?"37

"Yup!" she smiled, "It's gonna be 'Happy God Day!' It's the Elvin equivalent of Christmas."38

"Really?" Kay said, her interest captured. "Do you think we could make the guys dress up as 'Santa's' Elves and give out toys? They could wear Spandex!" she giggled hysterically at the image of Rumil, Orophin and Haldir in Spandex that was playing through her mind. "Ooh! And we could make them wear bells!"39

"Not a good idea, although it would be hilarious!" Misty agreed, "It's just that they might be offended. This is their big holiday of the year and everyone gets together with their families for it. They don't really give out presents, but they spend a lot of time together, and if two people are courting, they bring their families together to get to know each other.  Then they have a big hunting expedition for the men, and when the men get home with their game, the women cook it and prepare a giant feast for the entire family."40

"Aww...that's so sweet!" Kay said. "I can't imagine what their Valentine's Day would be like!"41

"They don't have a Valentine's Day, they have two." Misty said, smiling contently.42

"What?!" Kay and Courtney exclaimed at the same time, their inflection and faces having totally different messages upon them. Kay was apparently happy about this, for she enjoyed Valentine's Day most years with a guy, for many men were interested in her and she had no trouble getting a date for a good time. Courtney, however, didn't celebrate Valentine's Day and had never had a good Valentine's Day in her entire life that she could recall. One Valentine's Day she'd even woken with a temperature of 104.6! 43

"The reason they have two Valentine's Days is because of an ancient elvin tale of two lovers. Ezralda and Sybion are the lovers for which the days are named; they were madly in love and had just been married during the spring solstice. Sybion was coming home from a trip to the local doctor because his lover was too sick to even leave the house. He was attacked by orcs. He escaped with only one wound, but he bled to death anyway." Misty paused for a moment as she noticed that both Kayley and Courtney's eyes were watering. 44

"TELL US WHAT HAPPENED!" they yelled in unison as soon as they realized that she'd paused. Misty started, grinned with amusement and continued.45

"Anyway, a demon-breed found the body..."46

"A what?" Courtney asked, ignoring Kay's urgent requests to shut up so Misty could finish.47

"A demon-breed is a creature that can only live in the dark. That's where its main power comes in; it can possess people with weak or dead bodies in order to live in the light. In fact, that's exactly what this particular demon-breed did. It abducted the body and continued on the path it had found Sybion's body on. On the path it found a dying deer which had apparently been hurt by a wolf or some other predator. He drained the deer of it's blood and ate its organs. fter wiping the blood from his mouth he continued on the path and when he reached the down where Ezralda was a young girl ran up to him. 'Sir! Please, your wife told me to get you as fast as I could! She's dying!' she pleaded with tears running down her face. You see, Ezralda was the young girl's aunt. So the girl led the demon-breed possessing Sybion's body to the house..."48

"NO!" Courtney screamed, bringing her hand to her mouth in shock. "The demon-breed eats her, doesn't he?!"49

"Actually, the demon-breed was still full from the deer so it DIDN'T try to eat Ezralda (which it was extremely grateful for later). If he'd been hungry he would have eaten the girl, though. Anyway, the demon-breed then went into the forest and when Ezralda finally healed a few days later she decided that she would try to find Sybion. She went looking for him in the forest and found him drinking the blood of their neighbor's dog. She was scared, of course, but her love for him was stronger than fear. She pulled him away from the dog and, although he was angry with her for pulling him away, she kissed him." Misty chuckled as she heard a distinctive "Ew..." from Kayley. "According to the legend, the demon-breed's heart was touched by the way a human (elf, technically) could love him although he was, as the humans said, a 'monster'. Then they made love and Ezralda promised to keep Sybion's secret until the day she died."50

"Aww..." Courtney sighed, lost in the story.51

"This is so sweet!" Kay agreed. "Hurry up, Misty!"52

"Alright! Anyway, Ezralda became pregnant with Sybion's baby. They were both overjoyed with the news, even if 'Sybion' didn't really understand what 'having a baby' was. They were SO happy together; Ezralda was teaching Sybion how to talk. She'd realized he was a demon-breed and wanted to help him hide from the down elders who would condemn him to death if they knew of what he was. When the day finally came for the baby, Ezralda died giving birth. Sybion was grief-stricken and took the baby girl, which he named 'I-Love-You'..."53

"AWW! That is so SWEET!" Kay exclaimed as Courtney softly said "aww..." in a cooing voice. "Why did he name her that?"54

"Because it was the only thing he knew HOW to say, aside from 'yes', 'no', and 'Ezralda'. Anyway, he lived alone with I-Love-You in a cave for seven months. He spent that time taking care of her and providing her with the blood of dead animals. One day the little girl who'd first told him about Ezralda was gathering roots near the cave and saw Sybion feeding I-Love-You the blood of a rabbit. She was afraid and told the elders, who found him and killed him. They also killed I-Love-You as a warning to other demon-breeds..." Misty stopped and sniffed. She noticed that Kay and Courtney were also crying and Courtney was shaking her head.55

"Why...Why did they do that?!" Courtney choked.56

"Because...they're humans, and humans are evil." Misty answered. "We ALL are."57

"Yes, but...STILL!" Courtney cried.58

"Courtney, you know that each sin is the same to God. If you lie to someone it's the same as if you'd murdered someone. All sin is the same to Him, but to us there are larger degrees..." Kay said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "We all have to live with it." 59

"Kay's right, Coco." Misty comforted. "Anyway, at least now we have two love holidays!" Courtney glared at Misty and she retreated.60

"How exactly does the holiday work though?" Kay asked, apparently interested in the holiday. Either it was a genuine interest or it was to fool the others into thinking that she didn't really care about the story. Kay didn't like letting people see her weaknesses--not even her sister.61

"Well, on Sybion Day the girls get the guys gifts and on Ezralda Day they guys get the girls gifts." she explained. "It's really simple. They DID have a holiday in honor of I-Love-You's death, but most people, especially the women, don't want to think about things like that so they stopped celebrating it." She noticed that Courtney and Kay looked ready to ask more questions so she hurriedly changed the subject. "Hey, I told Haldir that we'd go to their Talon for breakfast this morning. Let's go."62

"Isn't it a little late for breakfast?" Courtney asked.63

"No, of course not!" Misty said, standing up. "We aren't the only ones who sleep late, you know."64

"Yeah, Courtney! Men are actually a lot lazier than women!" Kay added, standing up as well. "Let's get dressed, unless it's a pajama party for breakfast." she smiled.65

"Erm...let's get dressed, just in case..." Courtney blushed, not wanting anyone to see her in her pajamas.66

"Oh, Courtney, you are WAY too modest!" Misty laughed, walking into Kay's room to find something to wear. Kay followed her and picked out her own outfit. 67

Courtney walked into her room, opened the closet door and picked a violet dress that appeared to be less revealing than most of the others she'd been supplied with. (They'd been given free lodging and clothes because they were goddesses.) She quickly pulled it on over her head and was disappointed to find that it wasn't as modest as she'd expected. She found a lavender handkercheif and folded it into the neckline of the dress so it looked like it was supposed to be there.68

"Hurry up, Kayley! You too, Courtney! What are you two doing in there?" Misty yelled from the living room.69

"Easy for you to say!" Kay yelled back, "You don't have to do anything except snap your fingers and you're the way you want! /We/ can't do that!" 70

"Actually, you can. You're goddesses, and I'm a mere witch! If I can just think of being dressed and be dressed, then, by God, so can you!"71

Courtney wondered about that and thought of her hair being combed and braided and suddenly it was! 'Thank you, God!' she thought. She didn't want to comb out all the tangles because she hadn't brushed it the night before and it was a lot more tangled than usual; it didn't help that it was past her hips.72

She went into the living room and saw Christy there and Kay coming out of her room. Christy was in a black satin dress with gold swirls coming up from the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the dress, swirling up the left side and ending where her heart was in the shape of a decorative heart. Kay was also in black; she wore a gothic style dress over a red dress that matched her hair. The black gothic style dress was held together by black velvet strings and they both looked like fairy tale characters, too beautiful to ever fully describe.73

"Let's go!" Misty said, leading the way to the closet.74

"Um....what are you doing, Misty?" Courtney asked.75

"We're flying, aren't we?" she inquired, pulling forth a broom.76

"No! They live a few trees away, Misty!" Kay exclaimed, laughing. "We don't need to fly there." 77

"Oh. All right." she pouted, reluctantly putting the broom back. "It's just that I haven't flown in so long..."78

"We can fly when we get back, okay?" Courtney suggested.79

"Alright." she agreed.80

****************************** ~ ~ *********************************81

As Kayley knocked on the door, Haldir opened it, quickly stepped outside and closed it. 82

"I thought we were eating inside..." Kay said slowly.83

"Shhh...." Haldir whispered. "We are, Ladies, but I'd like to ask a favor of you. Tomorrow if Orophin's birthday and it's a surprise party. You're all invited, of course, but the problem is that Orophin's the only one of us that can bake...so would you please help us bake a cake for him? We'd greatly appreciate it."84

"Sure! What time should we be here tomorrow?" Courtney asked.85

"And will you need one of us to keep him out of the house while you're preparing the party?" Misty suggested.86

"Yes, that would be wonderful, Misty! If you could take him hunting or something tomorrow that would be wonderful!" Haldir thanked her, kissing her hand. Courtney noticed Misty blush a bit and felt something tugging at her heart, but she pushed it away before she could destinguish what it was.  "And, you'll probably need to be here by 10:30 or 11:00 am. Thank you all, my ladies!" Then he turned and opened the door for them, closing it after himself. 87

"Ahh, ladies! You're here!" Rumil smiled, walking over to greet them. He looked back to the kitchen where they could hear Orophin singing "Shadow-Lover" (By Mercedes Lackey) and then he whispered, "So, will you be helping us tomorrow?"88

"Yes, Courtney and I will help with the cake and Misty will keep Orophin occupied while we prepare for the party." Kay whispered back.89

"Thank you all so much!" he hugged Kayley but she pulled away rather quickly.90

"Good morning!" Orophin said loudly, coming into the room wearing an apron over his trousers and tunic with an oven mitt (made from leaves) on his left hand and a spatula in his right. "How are you? Have you had a good night's sleep?"91

"We're great!" Kay and Misty exclaimed, hugging him. Courtney stayed a bit behind and just smiled at them all. She saw Haldir glance at her but when they made eye contact he turned his head. Courtney saw a glint of sadness in his eyes and worried about him.92

"Well, let's eat!" Orophin said merrily, leading them all to the large dining room table. The table was neatly set with Cherry wooden plates and silverware, along wtih cherry wooden goblets. There was a wooden jug on the table next to a vase of bright yellow and orange flowers. Rumil pulled out a chair for Kay and Haldir did so for Misty, then Courtney. While the men were sitting down Orophin carried in a plate of fresh fruits, a bowl of sausages, what looked like mashed potatoes with spices mixed into them, devilled eggs, and biscuits.93

"Wow! This looks wonderful, Orophin! Here, let me help." Courtney said, starting to stand. 94

"No, no! You sit there; I'll do it." He smiled at her.95

"Courtney's right, you know. It looks wonderful!" Kay agreed.96

"Ditto," Misty added.97

"Yes, Orophin's a very accomplished chef, not to mention a great interior designer." Haldir mentioned. "Thank you, Brother.98

"I do my best!" Orophin grinned proudly, setting the dishes down on the table and sitting down across from Misty. "With these ruffians for brothers I tend to mother them and I always overcook, but they eat it all anyway! You'd think they were still growing boys! Anyway, Let us eat!"99

Everyone passed the dishes around and once everyone had filled their plates Courtney, Kayley and Misty prayed and thanked God for the food while the others ate and curiously watched them.100

"What did you just do?" Rumil asked, addressing Kayley. "Were you using a spell to check for poison or something? You should know better; we'd never poison ladies, especially not you..." he said, resting his hand on her knee under the table.101

"No!" Kay snapped, slapping his hand under the table. "Why would we do that? We were PRAYING! And even if you DID try to poison us, I don't think that goddesses are affected by such things, are they?"102

"Well...no." Rumil admitted, looking down at his food.103

There was an awkward silence for a minute.104

"So...what're you doing tomorrow, Ladies?" Orophin asked, trying to break the silence.105

They looked at each other and burst into laughter. 106

"Oh, nothing, Orophin! We aren't doing anything, really!" Kay said.107

"Well, now that you mention it, I'd like to go hunting or something tomorrow, Orophin..." Misty said, "Would you go with me?"108

"Of course!" He smiled, hiding his confusion about why they'd all laughed when he asked what they were doing.109

"Thank you!" Christy smiled at him from across the table and they finished the meal with normal conversation.110