Destruction was on the horizon as the darkness and the light continued their epic battle. The storm raged on and grew fiercer, with neither side gaining higher ground on the other�until she came.
The woman who had the power to shift the tide to one side or the other.
She looked into the pleading eyes of the blond woman who wielded her medallion with all her remaining strength, and then into the eyes of evil itself.
It was all up to her.
The last thing the dark haired woman saw was the betrayed look on the face of the Protector.
And the world was changed forever.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Marguerite woke up gasping for breath until she realized she was in her room in the treehouse. Her body was still shaking and was covered in a sheen of perspiration. She ran her hand across her brow and took long breaths to steady her ragged breathing. It seemed so real for a dream, the details clearly burned into her mind, the look on Veronica�s face as she betrayed her and destroyed the one place Marguerite had learned to call home.
Marguerite kicked off her sheets in frustration and started pacing the room. It didn�t make sense. The storm that put her and her friends in danger was over. Everything was back to normal, even with Malone returning and settling back in as if he had never left.
But it still seemed so real. She betrayed Veronica and destroyed the plateau, possibly the world. Was she capable of that? Veronica had become closer to her than she ever thought possible. Marguerite had grown to love Veronica and the very thought of betraying her made her sick to her stomach.
As she paced, she tried to calm herself down. Nightmares happened all the time, after all. This wasn�t her first and most certainly wouldn�t be her last. A meaningless dream that would soon be forgotten.
�That�s right, a dream, only a dream, that�s all it was�. boy, do I need a stiff drink.� Marguerite put on her silk robe and headed up the stairs to the common area. As she starting pouring, she kept replaying the dream in her mind. Her hand stilled as suddenly an image flashed in her mind. She put down her glass and moved to a chair and tried to work through the haze that was preventing her from seeing what she needed to see.
It was teetering on the edge of her consciousness. She was close, she knew it. Suddenly, she remembered. Marguerite jumped out of her chair and made her way to the book shelf. �Come on�where is it�..where is it?� She threw book after book behind her on the ground looking for the right one not knowing how much noise she was making. Before she knew it, she had woken up the entire treehouse.
�Marguerite? What are you doing?�
Marguerite turned around and saw Roxton putting away his gun with everyone, sans Finn, gathered behind him. �I�m just doing a little spring cleaning, Roxton. Nothing to be concerned about, you can all go back to bed.�
�In the middle of the night? What�s going on, Marguerite?� Veronica moved over to the large pile of books on the floor and started picking them up.
Marguerite replaced the books on their places on the shelf. �It�s nothing, really, I just had this dream and I wanted to check on something.�
�What kind of dream?� Roxton knew her well enough to see that she was holding something back. Something had to have been bothering her in order to get her so agitated in the middle of the night.
Marguerite sat down at the table where Challenger and Malone were already seated. �It�s nothing worth mentioning, it was just a dream like any other. But I did see some symbols that I thought I recognized and wanted to check them out. Veronica, do you think I could take a look at your parents� journal? The one Malone found for you in the Hollow Earth?�
Veronica looked up from the pile of books and sighed. �Now? It�s the middle of the night. Can�t it wait until morning?�
�Please, Veronica, it�ll only take a moment, I promise.�
�All right, Marguerite. It�s in my room, let me go get it.� Veronica stopped cleaning and headed down the stairs.
�So, what kind of dream was it that you saw these symbols in, Marguerite?� asked Malone as he started a pot of coffee. He figured as long as he was up he should be up entirely.
�I don�t remember, Malone. What does it matter anyways?� Malone frowned and Marguerite saw Roxton raise his eyebrows. He gave her a knowing look and she gave an inward sigh. It was endearing yet irritating that that man could know what she was thinking so easily. Feeling uncomfortable under the gazes of the three men, she got up out of her chair at Veronica�s entrance and could feel them staring a hole into her back.
Veronica placed the book on the table and Marguerite hurriedly flipped to the last couple of pages that held the Celtic runes that she could not translate previously. Her eyes glided across the page until she finally found what she was looking for. She recognized several symbols on the pages that were in her dream. But that didn�t surprise her.
She could understand what the symbols meant now.
�What is it, Marguerite? Why did you want to look at my parents� journal? What did you find? Do you know what it means?� Veronica looked at the journal over Marguerite�s shoulder and tried to see what was keeping Marguerite so focused.
Marguerite looked annoyed as she closed the book. �Veronica, you�ve been spending too much time with Malone. Stop buzzing in my ear and give me a moment to think.� Why all of a sudden could she understand the meaning of certain symbols? She had tried several times before to translate the runes for Veronica without success.
Marguerite was lost in thought when she heard someone shout her name square in her ear. �Bloody hell! What are you shouting for?!� Marguerite grabbed her ear in irritation and shot a cold look at Challenger.
�We called you several times, my dear, but you didn�t answer. Are you all right, Marguerite?� Challenger wore a look of concern which was mirrored by the rest of her friends.
�I�m sorry, Challenger, I was just thinking. I�m sure you all want some answers, but honestly, I�m not sure if I know what�s happening myself.� Marguerite sighed and ran her hands over her tired eyes.
�Why don�t you just start at the beginning, Marguerite?� Roxton seated himself at her side and gave her a smile of encouragement.
�All right. Someone go wake up Finn so I don�t have to repeat myself.� Malone nodded and went down to get Finn while Marguerite poured herself a cup of coffee. She sighed and sat down and stared into her cup wondering how she was going to explain all this.
Roxton saw how she had withdrawn into herself. He was glad that she was willing to share with them but he knew whatever was bothering her was weighing her down. �You know, I�m surprised Finn is sleeping at all considering all that racket you were making.�
Marguerite lifted her face and looked at the smirking face of the hunter. �Excuse me! I was not making a racket!� Roxton grinned as he saw his comment had the desired effect which of course set Marguerite off all the more. �You wipe that look of your face, Lord Roxton or-�
�Hey, what�s goin� on that couldn�t wait till morning? I was sleeping you know.� Malone took his seat as Finn followed rubbing her eyes and hair sticking up in all angles. She sat down and put her face down on the table.
Marguerite forgot the meaningless threat she was going to speak when she saw Finn. She couldn�t help the smile that broke out on her face at Finn�s appearance. She reached over and patted down an area of hair that was sticking up. �I�m sorry, Finn, but everyone here demanded an explanation and I thought you might like to hear it as well.�
Finn picked her head up off the table. �Hmm? What explanation? What�d you do?�
�I didn�t do anything! Why is everyone so quick to assume that I did something wrong?! It�s always Marguerite�s fault isn�t it? It�s always Marguerite who�s causing trouble!�
Marguerite�s tone quickly woke Finn up. �Geez, what�s your problem? I didn�t mean anything by it. I was just wondering what was goin� on.� Finn and the others looked at Marguerite and wondered what had suddenly made her snap.
Marguerite saw the looks and knew she had made a mistake. She sighed and cursed herself for showing her emotions so easily. �I�m sorry, Finn. I�m just a little tired.� Marguerite looked down into her cup of coffee and sighed again.
Roxton reached over and rubbed her back in small, soothing circles. �Marguerite, what�s bothering you?�
She looked up into the eyes of the man she loved and could see that he was worried about her. As she looked at all her friends, she could see the same of them. These people had become her family, the people she loved, though she would not admit it as freely as they might. She trusted each of them with her own life, and she would do anything to make sure they were safe. But it took time for those relationships to be forged, and they could be easily lost.
How would they react if they knew about her dream? A dream was a dream, after all. It didn�t mean she would actually betray Veronica. But what if they didn�t see it that way? What if they saw her as the type of person she was afraid she was her entire life? The type of woman her fantasy mother made her out to be; evil, selfish, capable of many treacherous things. She couldn�t risk them seeing it, couldn�t risk losing them. To lose them now would be unbearable.
Marguerite looked up and met Roxton�s eyes. �Nothing�s bothering me, I�m just thinking.� She saw the look of skepticism on his face and knew she hadn�t fooled him. She never could lie to the man as much as she tried. She quickly changed gears and went to the part of the story she could tell. �As I said before, I had a dream, and in this dream I saw some symbols. These symbols were bothering me because I thought I recognized them, and on a hunch I came up here looking for Veronica�s journal. It turns out I was right, the symbols I saw in my dream were there.�
�So, big whoop, you had a dream about some symbols. What�s the big deal?� Finn wanted this story to be over so she could go back to sleep. Quite frankly, she could care less what Marguerite dreamed about.
�The big deal is, Finn, that I know what those symbols mean.�
Everyone at the table�s jaw dropped while Finn looked confused. �And? It�s not like this is the first time you�ve figured out a language.�
�Finn, when we first found this journal, I found markings in the last few pages that I couldn�t understand. Of course, I thought Marguerite would be able to help me. She tried several times, but she wasn�t able to understand them.� Veronica turned her hopeful eyes to Marguerite. �Are you sure you can understand what it says? Will it help me find my mother?�
Marguerite didn�t want to dash Veronica�s hopes, but the truth was, she still couldn�t read what was written. She could only understand a handful of the symbols now, but that was a far cry from deciphering the entire thing. �I can understand some of the symbols, Veronica, but I�m sorry, I still don�t know what it says.�
Veronica�s face fell, �Oh, I see. Well, what do the symbols you know mean?�
�It�s nonsense. Out of context, they�re just random words, light, dark, three, something about weather�I�ll try to see if I can figure out the rest, Veronica, but I can�t make you any promises. I don�t know why I suddenly know the meanings to these few symbols, but maybe the others will come to me too.�
�Thank you, Marguerite. That�s all I can hope for.� Veronica reached over and hugged her. It wasn�t much, but she had faith in Marguerite. One day, she would find Avalon and she would be reunited with her mother once again.
�Well, it is rather late, and we do have things to do in the morning. There�s no rest for the wicked, they say. And you�ll want to have a clear head for translating, my dear. Come, come, everyone back to bed.� Challenger rose from his seat as did everyone else. �Good night, everyone.�
�Good night, Challenger,� they all chorused.
�Night everyone, I�ve got a date with my pillow.� Finn gladly made her way back to her room to get the sleep she was interrupted from getting. She was glad to be included, but she would prefer it to be in the daytime.
The rest laughed as Finn made her way down the stairs. Malone said good night and made his way back to his room as well.
�Here, Veronica,� Marguerite picked the journal up off the table to hand it to her, �thank you for letting me see it.�
Veronica held up her hands. �Keep it with you, how can you work on the rest of the symbols if you don�t have them in front of you?�
�Well, I don�t need it right this very minute. Don�t you want to hold onto it?� Marguerite asked.
�Why? I trust you.� Veronica smiled and hugged her once more. Marguerite returned the hug but couldn�t help the images that were triggered by her words. Marguerite inwardly cringed every time she saw Veronica�s face. �Good night, Marguerite, and thanks again.�
Veronica turned and headed down the stairs. Marguerite started to clear the table, when she saw that Roxton had not left with the others. He was looking at her with his �I know something is bothering you� look. She smiled at him to reassure him, but she could tell it hadn�t worked. She hadn�t even fooled herself. But she wasn�t going to tell him anything and Roxton knew it. He held out his arm instead. �An escort to your room, milady?�
�Why, thank you, Lord Roxton.� She took his arm and let him walk her to her doorway. �Good night, John.�
�Good night, Marguerite.� He started to leave but turned around. �I know I don�t have to tell you this, but you do know that we are all here for you, Marguerite.� It wasn�t a question, but a fact.
Marguerite smiled. �Yes, I do know. Thank you, John.�
After a quick slight of his head and a smile, he turned and walked in the direction of his own room. Marguerite took off her robe and got back into bed, and tried to ignore the images that wouldn�t stop replaying in her mind, and hoped for a little sleep that night.