Swatting her away, I say, “I have no more time for the tricks of you snakes!”

Pouting, she says, “I have no tricks, I would have you know that I just hate waste, and right now you’re wasting your life.”

“It’s none of your business how I live my life.”

“But my Faoláin blood is just commanding me to fix the misalignment in front of me.”

Turning to her, I say, “Faoláin blood?”

Getting close to me again, she says, “My mother was a Faoláin, the wife of Bricriu.”

“That’s impossible all of the Faoláin’s except for Lugh were killed!”

Dancing around like a fairy, “She was a woman named Airmedh a beautiful warrior who despite her gender was poised to be the next head of the Faoláin’s for a time. The Faoláin head at the time cared very little for tradition. He favoured results. and she had many.

Before Medb came there was a good chance she would be the first woman to ever be in charge of one of the four providences, and while many opposed this, many thought it made her the most precious jewel in the empire and sought her hand in marriage.”

“But she and her father died in the battle of Shannon as the story goes, and Lugh’s father her younger brother took the throne of Gorias for a few years before he died.”

“That’s the popular tale. But during the battle of Shannon she and her father were constantly being attacked by humans who seemed to know their every tactic, strange isn’t it?

But what was stranger was the series of venomous wonderbeasts the humans seemed to have, some of the venoms merely hurt, some liquefied your organs, but the one from the Wonderbeast the Fetch had a special property.

The serpent's venom would create illusions so vivid and real that no one could tell them apart. It is considered one of the worst kinds of things a beastkin can experience as the illusion becomes stronger in relation to your innate senses.

With this venom flowing through her veins, Airmedh attacked and killed her father and most of his men, but through her madness, she woke up and there she found herself lying over the bodies of her men and tried to commit suicide.

But almost as if Danu herself planned it a single man showed up to stop her, Bricriu. He saved her life and took her home then using his vast information network, he spread lies and after lies at such a speed, one would think he was already prepared for this.

He kept her in his home and waited for her to mentally recover, but strangely the visions of the woman had never disappeared, or more like more venom kept entering her system.

The distress this put on her mind was great, so great in fact that she had lost all her sense of self and decided to grasp onto the last thing in her life that she cared for, the only one who would stand beside her, Bricriu. And bam I was born.”

Shocked, I say, “Do you even know what you just told me?”

Getting close to me again, she says, “Think of it as a sign of friendship and a warning. My father says many different things but those who he has an interest in will lose agency in their lives, and you’re the one he is most infatuated with at this current moment.”

“Thanks for the warning, but as far as I am concerned this is another manipulation from him just from your mouth now.”

“That does make logical sense, because the way to get to a young man's heart is through a beautiful young lady.”

Staring at Glic who is dressed in a way that makes it impossible to tell she is a woman, I say, “You’re kidding right?”

“I would have you know I inherited my mother's beauty. The Faoláin men are already nymphs themselves, so just imagine what a Faoláin woman would look like.”

Lifting up her pants to show me her ankle, she says, “Here is a little look you pervert.”

“GO AWAY!”

“You really are no fun, but I assure you that I am here just due to personal reasons, and it’s because you are wasting your life.”

Walking past her, I say, “I will never waste my life because I dedicated it to a great man.”

As I start to get my horse prepared, she says, “No matter how hard I try I can never match Setanta, I can never be next to Setanta, I will always be below him, but I am fine with that.

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He will make many new allies who can stand at his side, as Bricriu said this is a generation filled with prodigies, and they will lead us to victory against the east, and usher in an era of beastkin ruling the known world.

I am ok simply standing behind him, and anytime he falls down I will pick him up and push him forward. And if a time ever calls for me to lay down my life for him, I will do it, and I hope it will be in a moment that will scar him forever.”

As she finishes, I freeze, and she says, “That’s your current thought process isn’t it? That’s the future you plan on heading towards.”

I try to swipe her away and I say, “No!”

But she grabs me and brings me close, then says, “The shakiness of your body, the trembling look in your eyes, and the increasing rate of your breathing tell a different story.”

I punch towards her, and say, “Don’t talk to me like that, if I thought like that it would be a betrayal of our promise, and I wouldn’t ever do that!”

“Stop lying, you know in your heart that you’ve already broken it. I was watching the both of you fight, and as you ran off, I saw you smile while no one else was watching. Because in your heart, in your cowardly little brain, that fate is enough for you.”

Pushing her to the ground, I say, “SHUT UP!!!!”

She makes a painful expression which causes me to notice how hard I am pressing her against the ground.

I stare at my hands in horror and try to pull myself back, but she puts her hands on my face and drags it closer. “My father is obsessed with Lugh ó Faoláin and is trying to use you towards his ends. But the idea of someone like you being reduced to mere motivation is criminal.

So, pick me, and I will help you break free from my father, and from yourself. I will accept your anger and hatred, and I promise I will never leave you. Right now, I want you to trust in me.”

She brings my face closer to hers, but I pull back and jump on my horse then start to ride away as fast as possible towards my village.

-Break-

Φ If a paradise is a place where everyone is happy should the empire of Louernia be called such a thing?

I have always had that one thought since I was a child.

Findias is the providence which tries to separate itself from humanity as much as possible. They go on campaign after campaign throughout the world to rediscover our lost history and culture and will reject every form of development that can be seen as steaming from humanity.

This makes the people of Findias take pride in their heritage more than anyone else, but it also makes them fiercer to those who are seen as an affront to that.

So, half half-human, beastkin like myself was treated like trash. Especially after breeding with humans was no longer allowed under the law.

Me and my mother were forced to stay in a raggedy hut by the edge of the city of Findias, and under no circumstances were we allowed to leave during the day.

All I was allowed to do was watch the other kids play from afar and whenever I waved to them, they would throw stones at me which would shake our already rickety house.

I looked essentially identical to a beastkin and bore no more human traits than others, but simply due to the fact that I had a human father during an era when it was unnecessary, I was locked away with my mother.

So, I tried to receive all I couldn’t get from others from her, but she hated me. She pushed me away and glared at me whenever I got close as if I was a parasite who existed the suck away all of her nutrients.

But regardless of that she always fed me, even when her own stomach growled. So, I knew somewhere in her heart she loved me, and that kept me going because someday I knew she would finally be honest with her feelings.

And as I grew older, she started to bathe me thoroughly and take care of my hair. Throughout my days I felt like nothing more than waste, but it was the first time I had felt pretty in any way, that I felt proud of my body that everyone hated.

The days I finally wished for came, but they soon came to an end after Mom brought me to her work.

My mother worked in one of the numerous underground areas within Findias, where those who hated humans more than anything could engage with kept slaves and beastkin who carried their blood.

Seeing all of this I was scared as I felt I knew what was going to happen next, but my mother said, “I have been here for years now providing for us, and now I need you to step up darling. Please repay the love I have shown you.”

With a trembling smile, I look at my mother and say, “I will.”

The nights I worked there were long, and arduous, but the smile my mother had on her face after I returned home each night kept me going, so I kept making more and more money for us to survive on and gained joy that I was finally instrumental to someone, that my life actually mattered, that it was ok for me to be alive.

But soon that came to an end as she vanished with all of the money I had saved.

And my mind went crazy as I thought of why this would happen.

Mother, don’t you love me? Mother, didn’t you want me? Mother, why did you leave me? Mother, I would have gone anywhere with you. Mother, you matter more than anything to me, did I not matter to you? Mother, for what reason am I alive now?

I asked myself countless questions and could come to no answer on anything, so simply returned to work the next day.

The joy I found within my mother was replaced by the feeling of acceptance I got from the men the nights I worked there. In the moments we lay together, these people who hated and despised me were at my mercy and that brought a smile to my face.

But at the end of it all they would still all leave after they satisfied their desire. They had limited my life in countless ways and at the end of it all shaped me into a person who still needed them to feel powerful, to feel like I was alive.

I was truly never in control, just deluded myself that the role they forced onto me was something that gave me power.

But I continued even after I realized this because if I lost that lie my life would end, and I couldn’t deal with that.

Yet it seems Danu, or the Messiah still hadn’t given up on me as one day two men came into our establishment. One was a frequent visitor and the other was his older brother.

The younger introduced me to the older and he said, “Please take care of him.”

Grabbing the elder hands, I say, “My name is Minabród and I will love to look after you tonight.”

The man looked embarrassed then said, “My name is Cambell and I hope I will be enough for a woman such as yourself.”