Trefoil (10 page)

“It would be if the fairies hadn’t started breeding.  Several families aware that the binding of powers would be over with this generation, began having multiple children.  We as a species are not one for huge families.  We tend to live a long time, so usually a couple will only have one child, unless there are multiple births such as you three.  But in the last 20 years, people have been having two or three children.”

Meckenzie’s curiosity was peaked.  “Are there often multiple births among the fairy people?”

“It does
happen;
there are many sets of twins and triplets in your family tree.  It seems that some families, such as in humans, are more prone to multiple births.  The closer you are to royalty in our world, the better chance of a multiple birth.  They are considered the highest blessing given by the Morrigan.”

“Morrigan, like King Arthur?”
  Taggart asked.

“Actually, that is a more recent fictional literary reference.  The Morrigan is the embodiment of the goddess of the Fae.  She blesses one family with the birth of a triplet set of female children who are the chosen ones to lead the religious temples.  Every generation has a Morrigan.  They, much like you three, are blessed with a three-fold power structure; that of the mind, body and soul.  They are renamed upon their sixteenth birthday to reflect their powers.  Dian, the sister of soul, is our goddess of healing.  Brigid, the sister of body, is our goddess of battle.  Morgan, the sister of mind, is our goddess of peace.  They have been without powers for many years, but still function as our Morrigan.  From my understanding, the new Morrigan is taking power right now and should be ruling the temple when you return to Aquanis.”

“What have they been doing all these years without powers?  Wouldn’t their powers be the way that they are named?”  Taggart’s curiosity had been peeked and he was very interested in learning as much as he could about this particular part of his ancestry.

“The Morrigan have another way that their powers manifest themselves.  It is another way we know that they are the Morrigan.  They each have a different hair color.  It is an oddity that triplet sisters would be born with each a unique hair color.  Dian’s hair is blond, Brigid’s hair is red, and Morgan’s hair is black.  Some of the earlier human legends are born because one of the Morrigan, Morgan, crossed into the human world during the time of the Celts and visited one of their tribes.  They wrote her into their legends.”

“Will we meet them?  Where do they live?  How many have there been?”  Taggart’s mind was in overdrive.  He wanted to know everything there was to know about the Morrigan.

Isabel laughed.  “Yes you will meet them.  They will perform your coronation.  I have a book about them.  I’ll loan it to you, it has their history and some stories about certain Morrigan from the past.  Now, we have enough equipment unloaded to start some basic sparring.  I think we should start on the defensive training.  Meckenzie, try calling out to Kellan and ask her to join us.”

Meckenzie was not excited about the prospect of her first conversation with Kellan being a mental one.  She had hoped that she would have time later to sit down with Kellan and just have a sisterly conversation, no talk of powers, no talk of ruling a kingdom, just some nice sisterly conversation.

“Kellan, Isabel would like for you to join us and learn some defense moves.  You might get a chance to hit me.  We are in the gym.” 
Meckenzie didn’t wait for a response; she didn’t necessarily want to hear what Kellan had to say.

Isabel threw some sparring pads at Taggart and what looked like unfinished boxing gloves to Meckenzie. 

“What are these for?” Meckenzie wasn’t sure she could hit anyone, let alone Taggart, but she had an inkling that Isabel was expecting her to do just that.

“You put them on your hands.  They allow you to hit without hurting your knuckles but still have the flexibility to use your hands to deflect as you might have to in hand to hand combat.”  Taggart answered with far more awareness than Meckenzie expected.

“How do you know all this?”

“I am not just a pretty face.”  Taggart smiled back at Meckenzie as he strapped on the defensive pads.

“Okay we are going to try some light combat, no actual punch throwing. 
Though we will simulate in slow motion the proper way to throw a punch.
  Here, both of you need to put in mouthpieces just in case something goes wrong, I don’t want either of you losing a tooth.”  Isabel seemed amused at her last comment, but Meckenzie was more racked with fear than she had expected. 

Meckenzie slid the mouthpiece into her mouth.  This is really not what she expected.  She had been expecting self-defense classes like she had seen on TV where the women learned to step on their attackers toes and knee them in the groin.  Meckenzie had not expected to be throwing actual punches.  She was not in any way a violent person.  Meckenzie had never thrown a punch in all of her life.  In all the fights she had ever been in, and all of them had been with Kellan, she had always run away, hid, or taken a defensive position.  Taking the punches was never her first choice, but she didn’t fight back so sometimes it was the necessary one. 

As Meckenzie and Taggart were taking their positions opposite each other, Kellan came down the stairs to join them.  Isabel didn’t skip a beat with her instruction; she simply nodded towards the equipment and Kellan.  They began their training learning the proper way to throw a body punch.  With Kellan and Meckenzie standing on either side of Taggart, they slowly began punching him in his abdominal pads as he circled between them.  Isabel would bring Meckenzie’s elbow in when she would begin to let her arms get to loose.  Kellan had a real talent for picking up the basics of fighting.  She had always been better at physical activity than her siblings.  Soon, Isabel was instructing Kellan on how to throw different punches and asking Taggart to try to maneuver out of Kellan’s way.  Meckenzie stepped back and watched as Kellan mastered punch after punch.  Taggart had begun to breathe heavily and was looking worse for the wear, as Kellan’s punches began falling with more and more strength. 

Just as Isabel had shouted out new instructions for Kellan’s punch combination, their father descended the stairs calling out their names.  This momentary distraction caused Taggart to drop his arms just as Kellan connected with his lower jaw.  The force of her punch spun him around.  With a thud, Taggart hit the mat, his mouth piece landing a few feet away. 

“Taggart!”
  Meckenzie screamed and ran to his motionless body on the mat.  As she looked up at Kellan, a slight smile of satisfaction faded from Kellan’s face and morphed into a look of horror.  

“Taggart can you hear me.”  Meckenzie dropped to her knees and tried to roll Taggart’s lifeless body over.  Isabel knelt down on his other side and helped Meckenzie roll him face up. 

Their father rushed across the gym.  “What were you thinking Isabel?  Kellan could have killed him.”  As he felt Taggart’s pulse, he knew that Taggart was only unconscious.  “You said that Kellan was getting stronger and faster than the Meckenzie and Taggart, she should not be fighting with them.

“We were doing fine till you distracted him.  He’ll be
fine,
he just got his bell rung.”  Just as Isabel finished her sentence, Taggart began to open his eyes.

Unexpectedly, he smiled.  “Next time I get the gloves and Kellan gets the pads.”

Kellan let out a snort, “See he’s fine.  No harm no foul.”

“I’m fine, let me sit up.”  Taggart pushed himself up on his elbows and reached out a hand in Kellan’s direction.  Kellan held out her hand and pulled Taggart up in one smooth pull.   Kellan seemed to be without emotion regarding the entire situation.  She simply stepped back and started taking off her gloves.

“Hey Dad,” Taggart had decided a change of subject was the best solution for the situation, “I thought it might be a good idea to have some cameras installed around the house for security.  I talked to Jones the security guy you hired, and he called one of his friends who
sets
up surveillance cameras for security companies.  He is going to come by tonight and install some cameras and a recording system.”

“What happened to my family that we need security cameras and self-defense training?”  Lawrence Desmond said to no one in particular.

“Well, for one, Meckenzie has a date.”  Taggart threw Meckenzie under the bus on that one.  He smiled at her and stepped off to the side to take off his pads, knowing that their father would not be particularly happy about the date.

“No!”  Lawrence said to Meckenzie.  “There is too much going on right now.  Why would you want to date?  Why is it that
every time
I come down here someone is hurt or bleeding or unconscious?”

“Okay.”  Meckenzie agreed.  “There is really too much going on right now anyway.  I just thought it would be nice to have some normal teenage activity in my life.  I’ll call him and tell him that he doesn’t need to come by and meet you.”

Meckenzie looked at her siblings and silently sent them a message. 
“Don’t say a word about who he might be.”

Kellan didn’t even acknowledge the communication; she simply turned and headed up the stairs.  Taggart still had his back to the group taking off his pads, but Meckenzie detected a slight raise in his shoulders indicating that he might be laughing.  Isabel just stood and watched the exchange.  Meckenzie could tell that she was interested in the outcome, but not willing to interject any of her concerns.

“Well, I guess if he came by to meet me I could consider letting you go out on a date.  You would have to take the security guy with you.  And I have final say as to whether you can go.”  Lawrence Desmond simply wanted to have some control over his family again.  He knew that there was little possibility of that happening, so he would take a little control over his daughter’s love life for now.

“Thank you Daddy.”  Meckenzie stood up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek.

“What’s for dinner this evening?”  It seemed the men in this family thought that a change of subject would be the best way to get life back to normal.

“I’ve prepared lasagna that just needs to be reheated.  I’ll go do that now and prepare a salad.”  Isabel headed upstairs with their father leaving Meckenzie and Taggart alone.

“Do you think she did it on purpose?”  Taggart asked.

“I think she was mad enough.  The look on her face after you went down was somewhat akin to satisfaction.  I am not sure if she meant to do it, but I’m sure she enjoyed it.”  Meckenzie hated thinking of her sister in this way.  She knew that Kellan was mad and that when her temper got the best of her she could be cruel. 

“How are we going to fix this?” 

“I’m not sure we can.”  Meckenzie responded knowing that Taggart wouldn’t like a problem that he couldn’t solve.  Taggart had always been the problem solver.  Give him something that he could find the answer to and he was at his happiest.

“What do you think we should do?”  He asked Meckenzie.  This wasn’t really a situation that she was ready for.  He tended to be the man with the plan.  Meckenzie was always willing to go along as best as she could to help, but she was never one for devising the plans.  She thought back to her knew attitude towards life, and decided it was time for her to start making the plans.

“Well, I think Kellan needs something to focus on.  She seems to enjoy and excel at the self-defense and combat training.  Maybe we just let her beat the crap out of us a few times.  Maybe Isabel has some ideas of how to train her so that she can get some of this negative energy out.”

“I sure hope so.  I don’t think I can take too many more of her uppercuts.  I felt that one all the way down to my toes.”  He was laughing as he rubbed his jaw, but there was a slight amount of concern in his eyes. 

“Do you think she will do something desperate?”  Meckenzie asked.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.  I just know that she is not thinking clearly right now and it could get her in trouble.  I am afraid Kellan will go after someone.  I mean I can just see her taking a swing at someone and with her new found strength, I’m not sure that it wouldn’t be fatal.”

“Well, we just need to not tick her off.” 

“Easier said than done.”
  Meckenzie really felt a concern for Kellan.  She was so angry that she wasn’t thinking clearly.  Throughout their lives Kellan had not been very forgiving or very level headed.  It seemed that she was somewhat like the Hulk.

“I’m going to go get a shower and get ready for dinner.”  Taggart said as he headed for the stairs.

“Good idea.”  Meckenzie followed him.  As they reached the ground floor they overheard their father speaking with someone in the foyer. 

“Must be the surveillance guy.”
  Taggart said and headed in that direction.

Meckenzie would let Taggart take care of the surveillance stuff, she had no clue as to what to expect or what to ask for in that department.  Though she wouldn’t have minded getting another look at Jones, he seemed to sneak into her mind all day. She headed up to her room to get a shower and to think about what to do about Kellan.  Meckenzie wasn’t sure the
re was any solution right now.

Chapter
13…

When Meckenzie had gotten out of the shower, she could think of nothing that she would like more than to climb into bed and hide for the rest of the night.  She decided she would settle for lying down for a few moments and thinking about all that had happened today.  It seemed that every day since they had found out about their Fae heritage had been some kind of drama.  Her days for wishing for excitement were
over;
she didn’t think she would ever have to do that again.

Kellan was her biggest concern right now.  She couldn’t get the idea out of her head that Kellan was going to do something drastic.  Meckenzie knew she couldn’t stop it.  Kellan had never really let anyone stop her from doing anything.  That is what made her such an incredible athlete.  So that was one problem Meckenzie would just have to put on the back burner for now.

Ty was another problem entirely.  She was starting to regret her decision to go out with him.  She knew that this was their best hope for getting some kind of information about him; she just didn’t know if she was ready for what that my entail.  Meckenzie wasn’t really good spy material.  She had never been good at telling lies.  She wasn’t good at being sneaky and she was a horrible fighter.  Her only hope is that they would get enough information simply from him showing up at the house.  This is when Meckenzie could really use Kellan’s advice on what she should do. 

Meckenzie’s mind drifted to the story of the Morrigan that Isabel had been telling them in the gym.  She had not thought of the Fae having a religion.  Her family, as a whole, had never really been religious.  They had celebrated Christmas and Easter, but never really gone to church.  Meckenzie wondered what the teachings of the Morrigan were.  How long were they expected to rule the temples?  As she thought through what Isabel had told them, she began to drift off to sleep.

Suddenly Meckenzie realized she was sitting in front of her mirror.  There before her the mirror was shimmering silver and changing shape.  What was going on?  She had just been lying in bed, how did she get here?  Then right before her eyes appeared a girl about her age with pitch black hair and deep blue eyes. 

The girl stared back at Meckenzie in amazement; she seemed as surprised as Meckenzie to be sitting here in front of the mirror.  Meckenzie reached out and touched the mirror’s cold surface.  She felt the hardness of it under her fingertips, the coldness of the glass.  The girl on the other side of the mirror was doing the same.  Meckenzie brought her hand back up to touch her face.  She felt the warmth and softness of her skin, she felt real.  She still did not understand what was going on.

Just then the girl opened her mouth and spoke, “What does this mean?” 

Meckenzie was surprised to find that the girl was addressing the question to her.  She wasn’t sure what was going on.  She had no idea what this was supposed to mean.  All of her visions had been silent.  Meckenzie had never spoken to anyone in them.

“I don’t know.”  She responded.  “I thought this was a dream.  Who are you?”

“I’m Morgan of the Morrigan and you are Queen Deidra’s daughter.  You look so much like her.”

“You know my mother.  Is this real?”

“I spoke to your mother only moments ago.  She told us the story of your birth, the story of her escape to New York.”

Could it really be that she was speaking to someone who knew her Mother, someone who was real and alive at this time in another place?

“You are really in Aquanis.  You really know my mother.  How are we communicating?”  Meckenzie asked.

“I don’t know.  I’ve never done this before.  What is your name?  Your mother told us your names, but I don’t know which one you are.”

Meckenzie wasn’t sure if this was a trick.  She thought that this could be the enemy trying to get information.  How would they know if she was really Deidra’s daughter though?

“I am Meckenzie.  I expected the Morrigan to be older.  How old are you?”

“I am sixteen.  Today was our naming day.  Today is my first day as Morgan and our first day as the Morrigan.  I have been training for this day since I was born.  My sisters and I have been in the temple since we were but weeks old.”

Whether it was a trick or not, Meckenzie decided to go along with the conversation and get as much information as possible.
  If this was a trick, then Isabel would be able to send a message to her mother and find out the truth.  A thought hit Meckenzie at that moment about Morgan’s last statement.  She had grown up in a temple without her parents.   She had grown up without a mother.

“So you grew up without a mother too?”

“My mother is the Goddess Morrigan.  She has imbued me with my powers and given me her life essence to guide my people through life.  I have never been without my mother.  My birth mother was but a vessel to bring me into the world with my sisters.” 

Meckenzie realized that Morgan was repeating something that she had been taught her whole life.  Sadness overwhelmed Meckenzie that this girl had never known her real mother, that she had spent her whole life in the service of a Goddess.  Meckenzie’s heart was breaking for Morgan.  She wanted to reach out and give this girl a hug. 

“There must be a reason the Goddess is allowing us to talk in this dream state.  Is there something that you want to tell your mother?  Is there some news from your side that needs to be relayed?”  Morgan said interrupting Meckenzie’s thought process.

“I can think of nothing that has happened that is that important.  I mean we have all gotten our powers.  We are struggling to control them.  Isabel is trying to teach us as much as she can.”  Meckenzie had no idea what she might need to relay.  She had almost completely dismissed the idea that this was some kind of trick. 

“What powers do you possess?  Your mother might be interested in knowing what you have been blessed with.”  Morgan asked.

Meckenzie went back to the idea that this was a trick.  If it was, this was just the sort of information that the enemy would want to have. She had to make a decision as to whether she was going to trust the vision, or hide her sibling’s talents.  She decided that she would trust the vision.  Their powers would be discovered eventually anyways.

“Well, I have visions.  I can also communicate telepathically especially with my siblings, but I have been able to communicate with Isabel as well.  Taggart, my brother, is a healer.  He healed Kellan’s broken arm already.  It was very disgusting and quite miraculous.   Kellan, my sister, is strong, fast and agile.  She also can grow in size.  She got angry today and grew to eight feet tall.  She calls herself She-Hulk.”

“She-Hulk?
  What is that, a nickname?”  Morgan asked confused.

Meckenzie forgot that she was communicating with someone who wasn’t in the human world.  This girl looked so much like a normal human teenager.  It was hard to imagine that she was one third of the Morrigan.

“No, she thinks she is some kind of monster.  The Hulk is a
fictional character that grows
really large and turns green when he is a
ngry.  Do you have powers too?”

“Yes, I’m the only one of my three sisters whose powers
has
manifested.  I have had one vision, a vision of you running in the park.”

“Of me?”
  Meckenzie asked.

“Yes, I think it was a way to let your mom tell us about you.  You are a very big secret here.  No one but my sisters and two of your mom’s advisors know of your existence.”

“Do you think we will be able to do this again?”  Meckenzie was interested in whether she would be able to get messages to her mom.  This would be so much quicker and easier than the currier system that Isabel was using.  Though she had no idea how it was actually working.

“I don’t know.  I don’t actually know how we are doing it now.  I mean I only learned of your existence this afternoon and I was thinking about the three of you as I lay down for my nap.” Morgan said.

Meckenzie realized this must be the key.  She had remembered thinking about the conversation in the gym regarding the Morrigan right before she must have drifted off.

“I was thinking about you before I fell asleep.  We found out about the Morrigan this afternoon.  My brother is very interested in your history and asked lots of questions.  Isabel was telling us about you and as I was lying down before dinner, I was thinking about the things she had told us.  Maybe that is the key.  Maybe we have to be thinking about each other when we are about to go to sleep.”

“Let’s test it out.  I’ll try to contact you tomorrow night.”

Meckenzie hoped that Isabel had an idea as to whether this was really Morgan of the Morrigan.  She really wanted this to work out.  She really wanted this to be an opportunity to use her powers to communicate with her mother.

“Okay.  Do you know how we get out of this?” 

“I guess we just have to wake up.”  No sooner had Morgan spoke the words was Meckenzie awake in her bed.  She sat up quickly to orientate herself.  She looked at the clock and realized only about fifteen minutes had passed since she had gotten out of the shower.  Meckenzie jumped up and threw on some clothes.  She had to talk to Isabel.

Isabel was in the kitchen making a salad.  The look on Meckenzie’s face must have worried her because she sat down the knife she was using to cut the vegetables and came around the island.

“Sit.  What is it?”  Isabel asked.

“I was upstairs taking a shower and when I was done, I decided to lie down for a minute and get my thoughts straight.  I thought about Kellan, and then the date with Ty.  Then I started to the think of the Morrigan and I must have drifted off to sleep.  All of a sudden I was having what I assumed was a dream, it was of a young girl with black hair and blue eyes sitting on the other side of my dressing table mirror.  We had a conversation and she said she was Morgan of the Morrigan.”  Meckenzie paused trying to decide what to say next.

“What did she say?” Isabel interjected.

Meckenzie recapped the whole conversation with Isabel trying not to leave out any detail.  She wanted to make sure that she had the whole conversation so that they could determine whether it was a real vision or something else.

Isabel seemed perplexed.  “I’ve never heard of fairies communicating between the worlds in a dream state.  I’m not even sure it is possible, though your powers may be stronger because they have been dormant for so long.  It may be that both you three and the Morrigan will have powers greater than any we have seen before.  If you both have similar powers then it would make sense that you would be able to communicate telepathically.  I have just never heard of this kind of inter-world communication.”

“Should we send a message to mom?  I mean I don’t think that we could get an answer by tomorrow, but maybe we could set up some code words or something that could be given when the vision starts.”  Meckenzie really wanted this to be part of her new powers.  She wanted to be able to help out in this way.

“That’s a good idea.  I’ll call for a currier and deliver a message to your mom that will give a specific phrase to be said at the beginning of the conversation so that you will know that your mother has giving the okay for this form of communication.”

Isabel went off to make a phone call.  Meckenzie decided to stay busy by finishing the salad for dinner.  So much was going on; she was having a hard time wrapping her head around it.  She couldn’t wait for tomorrow night.