Maeve lay on the bed for a while, gazing at the stained glass treasure she had bought. Its beauty captivated her; she saw herself in the tree and imagined the water as Lugh.
Though Yggdrasil had once been her prison, that time felt like a distant memory now.
Even knowing Sirius felt like a fading dream she no longer cared about. She realized she hadn't thought of him in days and was surprised by how little it bothered her.
She traced her fingertips along the swirling waves. They twisted like a storm, carrying a greenish hue and shimmered with golden pieces of metal. When light passed through the tree, it cast a prism of colors, creating the effect of a sunrise. It reminded her of this morning.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She sat up and set the artwork down.
"Hello who is it?" She called through the door as she opened it.
Ériu was standing there towering over two boys who were pretty upset.
"Oh Narfi! Vali! I forgot about you guys!" She exclaimed when she saw them.
Vali crossed his arms. "Maeve! How could you just wander off like that? And you went and got an apartment? Like you didn't think to tell us?!"
Maeve looked at her feet sheepishly, "sorry! But I got a good deal and Ériu said I can work for her!"
Narfi was content with this, "Hey, that is a good deal! We found a place to live too, it's not too far, so it looks like this town is going to be perfect for us!"
Vali sighed, "I didn't want to live separately, but at least you're doing productive things instead of trying to jump in the ocean.
Maeve smiled, "should we go to the hotel and get our things?"
The boys nodded and followed her out of the room and then Vali led them out of the werewolf town and they walked past the pier to the hotel.
At the pier, fishermen were finishing selling for the day and Lugh was chatting with Ronan as he helped him clean out his nets when he saw them walk past. He quit listening to what Ronan was saying as he looked past him at the girl he kept seeing and set the net down.
"Hey Lugh!" Ronan said once he realized he wasn't listening anymore, "what is it?" He turned the direction of Lugh's line of sight.
Lugh kept watching her with distant eyes until she turned the corner out of sight.
"Is that the girl who dries flowers?" He asked.
Lugh looked back at the work he was doing and sped up a bit as if he hadn't heard.
"I'd be careful if I were you, she'll steal your coat." He warned.
Lugh continued working with his net and took a minute to respond, "My coat remains mine; as the guardian I cannot relinquish it. However, I am still drawn to her."
He finished cleaning his net and gathered it up, ready to head back to his island. He slung his belongings over his shoulder and bid his friend goodbye. "I'll be back tomorrow." He said and stepped onto the wave seeker.
Lugh sat on the Wave Seeker for a while, watching the direction she had gone. Staying in that hotel was expensive and he knew they had the money, but it made sense that they would be staying elsewhere soon. He hoped that she would lead him to wherever her new place of residence was if he waited patiently.
Then a few hours later, just as he was beginning to think she would spend another night at the hotel, she returned after checking out and packing her backpack.
To his delight, she was alone.
He smiled, waiting to see if she'd glance his way as she often did. Drawing her to the water was beginning to feel like a quest.
She walked past where he was and then she did it, she glanced his way. "Come to me." He whispered in a voice she wouldn't hear. He was wishing.
He had no powers over the heart like sirens did, but the girl turned his direction as he said it.
She began hurrying down the pathway to the ocean as if she wouldn't have much time to escape like this and dropped her things as she made her way there before kicking off her shoes and…
Ronan saw her jump in.
As she did this, he thought to himself, It looks like the guardian of the sea has found a woman, I just hope he makes the right choice.