Welland Bonus - Reconciliations pt.2 (Patreon)

=::= Maria's PoV =::=

Dôn was the first to recover from Aeronwy's sudden appearance. 

"Arianrhod meant no disrespect sister," the Goddess said in a conciliatory tone. She added, "You've grown much stronger since We last met, yet there have been no new great wars. What have you been up to sister?"

Aeronwy's glare faded as She lowered Her sword, and just like that Her form shifted back to the young woman who brought me here.

Kat sat down on her sofa again as she replied, "Your three names are known to what, a dozen or so coven members? One of our names is venerated by millions, and that number grows with every passing month."

The three Goddesses exchanged some confused glances with each other, and Ceridwen asked "What name of Aeronwy's is so well known? And why does She insist on hiding within Her vessel while We're here in Her court?"

"We have no vessel," the young woman replied. "Nor are we bound to this court, we now live on the mortal realm. And surely you know what name we mean? She hated being worshipped and idolized, but her work has had a profound impact on many millions of lives."

Kat held her right arm out as she turned it to reveal the inside of her wrist. She had a tattoo there in crisp black ink, similar to the initiation tattoo which myself and everyone else in the coven had. Kat's wasn't the same though. Rather than a single glyph it was three runic letters, that spelled out C-A-T.

The three Goddesses became somewhat agitated when they saw the tattoo, exchanging worried glances between them. I recognized it as well, and my eyes widened in shock.

And for the first time since the three Goddesses got here I finally spoke up. I gasped at the young woman, "You're Cindy?"

"No," she looked slightly pained as she shook her head. "Cindy is gone. Suffice to say, she gave her life for Aeronwy, and Aeronwy gave something up to try and save Cindy. We saved as much of her as we could, her memories, personality, and her soul. There was a sort of fusion, which resulted in the creation of a third whom you have yet to meet. The outcome of all that is us, together we are Kat. That is the name we use collectively."

"That's impossible!" Arianrhod scoffed.

"Seriously?" Kat rolled her eyes and smirked. "You want to argue what's possible while we've got four goddesses and a human in a log cabin with the pacific northwest outside the windows and a front door that opens onto the underworld?"

Now that I was looking for it I could see some of Cindy's attitude in Kat, especially how she refused to take the other Goddesses seriously. I'd never forget seeing the small blonde teen mouthing off and talking back to the Goddess during a coven meeting, while I sat there practically holding my breath for fear of offending Her.

And what she'd said earlier suddenly made sense. The spells Cindy gave to the world touched millions of lives. I couldn't forget the reverential way Iris talked about the small sorceress when she showed up at QSAW two years ago. And Ashley acted like Cindy was some sort of folk hero. Even Tally practically idolized her.

As for our host, I was starting to get an idea of who and what she was. Between what she said about how Cindy and Aeronwy joined together and the way she used plural pronouns for herself, I felt like I understood her situation a little better.

They were a plural system, which contained a Goddess and a sorceress. Aeronwy was a part of them, as was Cindy. Or at least, those aspects of Cindy they were able to save from whatever happened to her. And a mysterious third party who hadn't revealed themselves yet.

After a couple deep breaths to steady myself I decided it was time to start doing my job as mediator. 

"Thank you Kat," I stated in as calm a voice as I could muster. "I'm sure we all appreciate the explanation."

My attention turned to the other three Goddesses and in that same calm voice I suggested, "Why don't the three of you have a seat? We're all here for a reason, I think it's time we got started?"

The Goddesses all exchanged a glance, but they actually relented. The three moved around to the front of the sofa and sat down together.

Dôn addressed Kat and asked, "Who is the third you mentioned?"

Ceridwen added, "We would like to know everyone who is present at this meeting."

Arianrhod grumbled, "And why Aeronwy will not talk to us directly? We wish to meet with our sister, not some stand-in or proxy."

My heart-rate spiked up slightly as I looked to Kat and said, "Dôn and Ceridwen have a fair point, I think they have a right to know who else is attending this reunion. And perhaps you could address Arianrhod's concerns?"

The young woman looked thoughtful for a few moments, then nodded "We understand. To clarify, when you are speaking to one of us you are speaking to all of us. While we present ourselves as Kat and with this body, all of us are present and listening. Having said that, we will properly introduce ourselves. Our full name as we are known on the mortal realm is Katrina Zaitsev. We took Zoe's surname six weeks ago when the two of us were wed."

That was another little shock. We all knew Zoe got married in April, her email said it was a small private ceremony in Melbourne. We didn't know who she married, and we definitely didn't know the catgirl got married to a Goddess. I was surprised at the time that Zoe had moved on so quickly after losing Cindy, but that made sense now too. I could see a lot of Cindy in Kat, now that I was looking.

The young woman continued, "Aeronwy no longer bears the title 'Goddess of War', although she remains very much a warrior goddess. She's taken up Cindy's cause, and her response to violent and dangerous bigots tends to be a lot more immediate and fatal than the methods Cindy used."

That matched the sorts of things I'd been hearing lately. During Cindy's 'Change The World' campaign there'd been rumours of her delivering justice to people who threatened or harmed those who used her spell. Stacey said there were hundreds of stories of people transformed under mysterious circumstances. The reports sounded a lot like what the Goddess originally did to Cindy herself, and to people like Brittany. Certainly there was no ignoring things like the US president being transformed into a weasel-girl on live TV. 

Reports of mysterious transformations tapered off after Cindy's death, replaced by rumours of mysterious violent deaths instead. 

Meanwhile our host announced, "The new Goddess of War is..."

Her voice trailed off as her form shifted again. Like before, it happened so smoothly and subtly it was hard to even realize she was changing until it was over and someone new was sitting in her place.

The new arrival was actually a small child. She looked about the same size and age as Ciara did when we first encountered her. The only difference was this girl's jet-black hair was long and straight rather than short and messy. She had the same bright blue eyes as Aeronwy, Kat, and the other three Goddesses. She was dressed more like Kat, in leggings and a black top, but she was barefoot. She actually looked like she could be the daughter of any of the Goddesses.

The three Goddesses all exchanged glances with each other again. They looked surprised, but there was also some recognition in their expressions.

The child was smiling as she looked at the three Goddess and myself. Then she announced in a happy excited voice, "I'm Aeron! I'm the Goddess of War!"

That was all she had to say before their form shifted yet again, and Kat was once again sitting to my left.

The brunette teen explained, "The main distinction between Aeron and Aeronwy, apart from age, is Aeron doesn't really kill people anymore. Or rarely, anyways. When she's feeling aggressive she usually works that out playing video games with Ciara."

Finally she looked to me and in an apologetic tone she asked, "Maria we're sorry but we do have to ask you to keep what you've learned here to yourself? If people got wind that Cindy's memory lived on in us we'd have no peace. As much as it hurt to lose her, she knew it was impossible for her to have a quiet private life after sharing magic with the world. We and Zoe now have that life together, we'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Of course," I nodded. "And um, congratulations to yourselves and Zoe."

Kat looked at their sisters and asked, "Does that answer your questions regarding our identities? Aeron and Aeronwy are both present, but in general we prefer to exist and act collectively as Kat."

I looked to my right, where the three Goddesses seemed to accept this, albeit grudgingly.

"Very good," I said. "This is already progress."

Addressing the Goddesses I asked, "This meeting was your idea, so perhaps you'd like to let Kat know why you wanted to see her? Was there anything specific you wanted to say to her?"

Dôn responded, though She seemed uncomfortable about it. "We wanted to let Aeronwy, or Kat I suppose, know that She is missed. We invite Her to return to the fold, to rejoin Us. We would welcome Her back among Us."

The teen didn't seem to be the least bit impressed. She rolled her eyes and in a sarcastic tone replied, "Is that so? You think that's what we've been waiting for? To know that you miss us and want us to return to you?"

"Sarcasm is probably not helpful Kat," I commented in a pointed tone. "Nor is passive-aggression. If you have something you wish to say, best to come out and say it. In a calm and level voice, please."

The girl grimaced slightly, then set her expression settled into a frown.

"Very well," she responded in a cool but level tone. "We expect our sisters to apologize, before we're prepared to take this meeting any further."

Kat looked at me and added, "It was Cindy's desire to keep our sisters' transgressions secret, so we shall honour that wish and not elaborate on why they owe us an apology. If they want to argue the point however, we're more than happy to explain in detail what it is we're upset about."

I almost could have predicted it as Arianrhod responded first, and she reacted with anger.

"We owe you nothing Aeronwy, least of all an apology! We've always acted for the greater good, for what was best for all of Us and Our children. We've done nothing wrong and We stand by Our actions."

Kat's expression was impassive as she stared at the angry Goddess for a few seconds. Then she looked at the other two sisters and asked, "Does Arianrhod speak for both of you? Do you agree with her?"

Dôn looked thoughtful, while Ceridwen looked uneasy. 

After a moment the younger of the three shook her head, "Our sister does not speak for me. I offer my apologies to you Kat, for what We did and what We planned to do, to Aeronwy and to Cindy."

I looked back and forth between the three on my right and the one on my left, and it suddenly struck me how alike they were. The triple-Goddesses on the right all appeared separate, and there wasn't as much of an age difference between them. Ceridwen looked to be in her twenties, Dôn in her thirties, and Arianrhod somewhere in between. And even though they appeared separately here, as far as I knew they sort of acted as one. Nikki was vessel to all three of them, and they never actually told us they were separate. They claimed to be one Goddess with many different names.

Meanwhile Kat appeared to be one, but I now knew she was three. She was two Goddesses and a sorceress. And I didn't really know any of them that well, but I could imagine Aeronwy was the angry hot-headed one of the group, while Arianrhod had that position within the other three. 

Our host nodded slightly, "Thank you Ceridwen. That is at least a start. I'd like all three of you to apologize though. Not just for what you did and what you planned for Aeronwy and Cindy, but what you did to Zoe too."

"I apologize for my part in what happened to Zoe," Ceridwen responded without hesitation. "I am truly sorry."

I looked back and forth between them again, and I couldn't help wonder what the Goddess did to Cindy and Zoe. Whatever it was, I was positive I knew roughly when it happened. The two of them quit the coven after that business with the Brotherhood, but they wouldn't say why they were leaving. That was about the same time as when we first learned of Aeronwy. 

"I will not apologize," Arianrhod repeated firmly. 

Dôn finally spoke up, "Let's not be too hasty sister. We know Cindy had strong feelings about...certain events. And Aeronwy was always difficult to work with. Perhaps We should follow Ceridwen's example? After all, Our intention was to reconcile with Our wayward sister."

Arianrhod slowly shook Her head, She didn't seem prepared to budge on that.

"Then I suppose that's as far as we're going to get today," Kat stated. "Without that apology, we're not prepared to continue the conversation."

I looked from Kat back to the other three Goddesses. Ceridwen looked disappointed, Dôn's expression was impassive, and Arianrhod looked slightly angry, as if She didn't like being put on the spot.

"Dôn, you seemed like you were prepared to agree with Ceridwen?" I asked, and I really hoped She wouldn't mind me addressing Her by name like that. "Would you consider apologizing to Kat?"

The mother Goddess frowned slightly, then She looked thoughtful. Finally She replied, "I believe My sisters and I will need to think about the situation, and perhaps discuss it amongst Ourselves."

She got to Her feet, and both Ceridwen and Arianrhod stood up as well. 

"We will be in touch," Dôn stated. "Maria, thank you for your participation and assistance. If it's not too much trouble, We may call upon your help again in the future."

She vanished without another word and before I had a chance to respond. Arianrhod disappeared a moment later.

Ceridwen hesitated, "I'll try and convince the two of them. Dôn isn't as opposed to the idea as Arianrhod, but neither of them are happy about it."

Kat nodded slightly, "Very well."

"Thank you Ceridwen," I told Her. 

She vanished a moment later, and I found myself alone once again with Kat.

The young brunette smiled, "And thank you Maria. We all appreciate your help. We hope this wasn't too stressful for you?"

I grimaced slightly, "I won't say it was the easiest thing I've ever done, but I'm glad I could help. And for what it's worth, I feel like we did make some progress today. Though I obviously don't know the background, so I don't know where either side is coming from."

Kat gave me a sympathetic smile, "As we said, Cindy didn't want the rest of the coven to know the details of what led to the rift between the Goddesses and herself, Zoe, and Aeronwy."

"Of course," I replied. "And just so you know, I'm considering everything that's happened here, everything that was discussed, as privileged client information. It won't be discussed or shared with anyone else."

She smiled, "We appreciate that. May we compensate you for your time? We know this has been a disruption to your day."

I was surprised by the offer, but I shook my head "Thank you but it's really not necessary."

"Then we will owe you a favour Maria," Kat stated. "You may call upon us when you need us. Now if you like, I can return you to your office?"

That surprised me even more, but I decided not to decline that offer. I couldn't really imagine when I might want to call in a divine favour, but it was nice to know I had the option.

Instead I replied, "Yes please. Have a good day Kat, and please give my regards to Zoe."

Kat nodded once, and I found myself back in my office, seated in my leather chair behind my desk once more.

According to the clock on my computer I'd been gone for about an hour, and my half-finished coffee was cold. 

With a quiet sigh I finally started getting caught-up on my day.