#odyssey

October 21st, 2021

earldebuke 3:21pm

no, definitely not, but this one has come into her life to help her adn her family time and time again "Sorry if I'm late." he says "I had errands to run. Sorry"

earldebuke 3:31pm

She is a bit hurt he cut it so close, but, well, she won't shame him by saying so. he holds her hand. It feels good

earldebuke 3:42pm

"I'm sure you were helping someone" She tells him "And I'm a bit beyond help. " A thought then "Any chance you checked on Maddie?"

earldebuke 3:43pm

"You've ruined my surprise" He rises and calls out "Maddie? Come in , please?"

earldebuke 3:44pm

Her grand daughter, now in her late teens , comes in, also enchanted "Hey grandma? I'm out of rehab. I'm so sorry I missed visiting for the last few years" The younger woman glances over at Angel "Until now, I thought the angel was you being ah..."

earldebuke 3:45pm

"Senile?" She chuckles at her grannd daughter, even as the young woman takes her hand "I can understand that"

earldebuke 3:46pm

"Please" The Angel says "Today, call me Jude"

She jerks back, away. No. NO. THAT she can't stand!

Struggling to escape from these visions, like swimming out of a molasses swamp.

She's seen the monster that lurks under that angelic expression, the results of that twisted mind. Is this all a trick?

Let me go! Whether aloud, or in her head, she screams.

earldebuke 6:11pm

"You're afraid, and that's a true feeling, but he is not the villain in every tale. You don't have to love him, or approve, or think of him highly, but hold your ground if you can. This happened, but you are not actually there. Don't run from a phantom event"

"I'm not afraid of him!" That might be a lie, or maybe a stretch. "I hate him! I hate what he does, what he stands for, what he did to me, the stance that he takes! In my story, he is a monster, and I will never believe otherwise!" Anger now!

earldebuke 6:18pm

"so he's not just another Liam?"

"No! There's no one like... Liams are... they are immortal sidhe, arrogant and powerful and so painful to look at.. but they're also HUMAN. And people... are flawed. Different... individuals."

earldebuke 6:23pm

"Well, yes, Jude is nearly immortal, like that pooka lad you know..other Liam sidhe will fade faster, even with a freehold. Yes. Maybe you can keep Kassedy from becoming like him. or at least trust Siv too. More forgiving, not 'one punishment fits all'... reach in yourself. Do you hate Kassedy anymore?"

"I... did I hate her? I feared her. What she represented... " A blurry, ominous shape, unclear, like a silhouette, looming over her through warped glass, dangerous, predatory.

A wolf over a rabbit- no, that's not right.

A hunter, over a wolf. Or maybe a shepherd, protecting his flock.

earldebuke 6:30pm

"So choose something better for her to represent...the better part of house Liam, the gentle scholar, not the zealot. The tennder, not the avenger. Just think to yourself, and believe 'I am not afraid of you, Kassedy. I don't hate you, Kassedy. I will not punish you for a monster's crimes"

She pushes back that imagery, the idea that... he might not be the monster she envisions. That's more than she can unpack right now. But what the Voice of wisdom offers, that... that she might be able to grasp.

"I... am not afraid of Kassedy. I do not hate her.... I will not punish my once friend for another's crimes."

earldebuke 6:33pm

And she realizes, it's true...