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| - Carolina breathed fast as she was given support by the doctors for the virus her body was fighting. James and Stephanie Barmms looked over their miserable friend. Stephanie was filled with anger. Stephanie (silently, to James): Oh, if only this happened to me again! James: She knew what she was getting into. Now all we can do is hope she fights it off successfully. In Carolina’s mind, it’s focused on one thing: fighting the virus. She wondered what she had, how to fight it and if she’s survive this whole ordeal. She became anxious, more anxious than she had before. James: Sister, I have to go somewhere. Please, keep Carolina company. So James leaves the room as Stephanie looks over her friend. ~~ Li Ban was brought to shore by Comgall and his crew. Li Ban saw the ground and tried to stand, but fell onto her knees. The monks and Comgall picked her up. Li Ban: Please, bring a currach filled with water, to be drawn by oxen. It would be easier to travel. Comgall orders his men to get water for the merrow. Li Ban slowly crawled back to the water, absorbing it into her skin. As the men wait, it slowly turns into twilight time. One of the monks, Beoan, decides to speak to Li Ban, who is sitting in the water. Beoan: Li Ban. That was you’re name, right? The merrow shook her head. She had her legs back into the tail form. The creature also was dipping her green hair into the water and straining it out. Beoan: You don’t seem Celtic. Are you Gaelic? You must be from somewhere. Li Ban: You are asking pointless questions, mortal. Beoan: What? Li Ban: You need not know who I am. Beoan: You just seem to be a heathen. Li Ban: Is that a bad thing? Being this way, I’ve been able to live for centuries. Now that I’m on land, I’m going to stride the Earth. Beoan: I thought you said you wanted to get baptized? Li Ban: Oh, I do. And then some. Beoan gives Li Ban a suspicious look, but she begins to sing. Beoan starts to grow weary, and eventually sits down, and looks away from Li Ban. Li Ban smiles. The crew sleep overnight while Li Ban stays awake, looking over the stars. Li Ban (to herself): The stars are still in the same position. The waves still move the same. The earth still remains it’s shape. Maybe not much is different at all. In the morning, Comgall returns with the currach and several buckets. He orders the men to fill it with water. Then, a few other men lift Li Ban into the boat, and carefully bring her into the water. She closes her eyes, and gestures with her hands. Li Ban: Now where are we heading? Comgall: Further into town, to the church. The group finds its way into town. The peasantry looks at the creature that is Li Ban and grow very afraid. Li Ban, however, begins to sing her songs, calming the townspeople down. One of the priests from the church comes to Comgall. Priest: What is this thing you have brought into the city? The people grow afraid. Comgall: She requests to be baptized. The Christ told us to go and teach the word to every creature. It applies here. She requested this be done. Priest: Could this not be done at the shore? Comgall: She wanted it done on land. She aspires to look at the creation of God. Why do you question it? She shall be baptized at once! The priests take her into the Church, assisting her with walking. Beoan follows the priests secretly into the church, suspicious. They lay her in a small bit of water. Comgall begins the ceremony. Li Ban closes her eyes. The priests take her by the shoulders and back. Comgall: By the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you have been baptised, O Muirgein! As they take Li Ban out of the water, she had stopped breathing. Her pulse was gone. The priests grow afraid. Comgall: Relax! She told me this would happen. She wanted eternal life. Now she shall have it. The priests begin to chatter. The body of the merrow, meanwhile, begins to change. It turns from a fish-like creature into the body of a natural human woman. Her hair turns from a green color to a black color. Her skin turns into a fair, very white color and her body becomes much more smooth. Li Ban begins to cough, and wakes up to find herself as a normal woman. The priests, amazed, look upon the woman. Li Ban: I… I have been reborn… They step back as the woman rises from the water. Li Ban: ... And have become a goddess! She begins to shine a bright light. The priests cover their eyes. Li Ban raises her head toward the ceiling. This causes the priests to go unconscious from the glory. Beoan, outside the doors, see through a crack under the door the ray of light coming from the room. Beoan: NO! Beoan pushes open the church doors and takes out a long dagger. He lunges at Li Ban and stabs her in the chest. Beoan: Heathen! Li Ban grabs Beoan’s shoulders. Beoan drives the dagger deeper into her chest. Li Ban pushes Beoan slightly away from her, and carefully removes the dagger from her chest. She instantly heals. Then, slowly, she approaches Beoan. Li Ban: You’re brave. I can respect that in you. So I shall spare thee, and Comgall. Beoan tries to flee, but she leaps in the air and lands in front of him. He comes to his knees. Li Ban places her hand on his head. Then, she looks at him in the eyes. His face becomes emotionless. After a solid minute, Li Ban lets go of him, and he falls forward, asleep. She comes to an unconscious Comgall and does the same. She smiles once she lets go of his head. Li Ban: Foolish men. Should have left me in the water. Outside, the townspeople gather together, talking of the bright light coming from the church. Li Ban opens the church doors in front of the crowd. She’s dressed in a saintly gown. Villager #1: Where is that creature we saw coming into the city? Li Ban: ‘Twas me. Some of the villagers pick up their pitch forks. Li Ban: Do not be afraid. I am thy friend! Villager #2: How do we know to trust ye? Li Ban looks around the grass. It’s rather dry. Li Ban: How has your harvest been? Woman: Terrible. We haven’t had enough rain or water to bring health to our crops and animals! Li Ban: Take me to your well. The people bring her to one of the wells. Li Ban inspects it, and discovers barely any water in the well. She smiles, and steps back from the well. Villager #1: Well? What are you going to do? Li Ban begins to sing. She twists her fingers in strange positions, but slowly raises her right arm. She sings louder and louder. The villagers feel the ground below them shaking. Villager #2: She’s causing a quake! Villager #1: She’s come here to doom us all! Li Ban thrusts her right arm high up into the air and screams to her heart’s content. A cyclone of water bursts through the well. Li Ban uses her left arm to make it go in different directions. The villagers are stunned. She brings water to the fields and to a dried-up brook. Water flows down the hill. Villager #1: She’s a savior! Villager #2: She’s a saint, that has been sent to save our lives! Li Ban brings the cyclone slowly down into the well again. The well becomes filled to the brim with water. Li Ban rests and looks back at the crowd. Li Ban: I can bring much more to you people. Now do you trust me? The villagers went to their knees and looked upon her. Villager #3: What shall we call you? Li Ban: Muirgein. Call me Saint Muirgein. Villager #1: Thank you, Muirgein! And thank the Lord of Heaven! Muirgein nods her head in approval of what she had done. And then, raising her arms, she bows. ~~ An old man with a mustache was backed up on a wall. Upon his eyes, the glare of fire sparkled around a silhouette in a hood. Man: You people have done enough! I’ve had enough! All this madness with terrorism and crime. It’s reached too far! The man is grabbed by the shoulders and then pushed down to the ground. The hooded figure reveals a knife. Man: No! The man kicks the knife out of his hands. So instead, the figure wraps his hands around the man’s neck. He squeezes harder and harder the more the man tries to resist. The old man breathes his last. Then, once the hooded figure checks to see if the old man is dead, he walks away in the shadows. The fire burns intensively, but the body of the old man remains untouched. The hooded figure make it out of the room. By the light of the fire, the face of the man is seen. A man with ginger hair a thick mustache. He’s white, tall and strong. The man was James Barmms. Or was it?
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