Etine picked up an unusual-looking fruit and invited Callan to do the same. Callan hesitated, he took the fruit gingerly as if afraid it will explode in his hands an any moment. She continued, turning to the young man, her voice soft as a gentle melody.
"But as the hundreds of years passed, the Fomorians became more greedy, bloodthirsty, unseemly, vile and covetous. Living among them was no longer possible. The rest of my people moved here, distancing themselves from the locals with the help of a special energy field. Here in Scotland is our place of peace and refuge. This is where we live just as we used to. This is one of our ancient, most wonderful cities, and it is our sunlit ocean. Here are our books, poetry, music, ancient sciences, arts. We rarely meet with the Fomorians. Except, of course, the druids, who, as priests, are determined to care for all mankind and to promote its ascension, yet without revealing to these belligerent, rude creatures anything that could destroy them."
Etine looked out the window with a distant gaze, full of longing. After a brief moment, she turned to Callan and continued. "I met Sir Malcolm once on the shores of Lake Danvegen when I had come out to see what winter looked like. We fell in love with each other, got married, we had a son, Conan. Although I loved my husband, I couldn't live in his cruel time with the uneducated people. I began to yearn for my own more and more and went back."
"But why did you leave your son?" Callan rebuked her. "Didn't you want to be with him at all, to see him grow up?"
"That was the only rule Sir Malcolm allowed me to go with. I couldn't take everything away from him either."
"But my mother? You're too similar!" Callan became more and more impatient.
"My people had found a planet in Anavaka that could become a new homeland for us, and as soon as everything is prepared, we will go there. We each have cells from which our copies are made, for this exact occasion when we are about to leave the Earth forever. The living organisms we created were exiled at different times and possess abilities unusual for the Fomorians. We want to leave some of our knowledge to the Earth, even though we are going to leave it ourselves for good."
She paused, her gaze softening as she looked at Callan. "Say, does your mother have parents?"
"No, I don't know," Callan murmured confusedly. "She's never talked about them..."
"Then you could say I'm your grandmother to some extent," Etine laughed. "Your mom has extraordinary abilities, just obviously she doesn't know how to use them yet."
She rose to her feet and went to sit down with the white cat who had been sleeping peacefully all this time. It opened eyes, waking up from the slumber, and stretched, rubbing against Etine's hand. It started to purr a soothing rhythm in the silence what stretched for a moment.
"I guess you've learned everything now. Do you have any more questions?"
"May I kindly ask for a favour?" Callan sighed solemnly and also stood up from the chair. "Can't you take old Malcolm with you, please, if you can't go to him yourself? You are the only one dear to him, except for Conan, Danvegen, and the clan. But he could do without them, but he couldn't do without you. Conan is all grown up and smart enough to lead McLaughlin clan."
Callan leaned over to Etine and grabbed her hand, staring into her eyes with a serious look. "Etine, take this man to yourself. He's been waiting for you and loved you all his life!"
Sunk in contemplation, Etine pondered.