The members of the treehouse stopped their conversation and looked in the direction of the elevator as they heard it ascending.
Veronica and Malone came into view and before anyone could shout out a greeting to them, Veronica ran towards them grief stricken.
�They�re gone! They�re all gone!�
Marguerite got out of her chair and stood next to Veronica. �Who�s gone, Veronica?�
�The Zanga! All of them! They�re all gone!� Veronica rarely lost control, but the hysterical tone of her voice started to worry everyone.
�Malone, what does she mean?� Roxton asked.
�Just what she said, Roxton, there�s no sign of the Zanga anywhere. We looked all over the valley for them, but it�s just like they disappeared without a trace!� Malone sighed and sat down in one of the empty chairs. He was exhausted, but Veronica was pacing in front of them.
Challenger walked over to Veronica and steered her towards a chair. �There were no tracks or something in the village to indicate where everyone went, Veronica?�
�Yeah, Vee, maybe you missed something. We can all come back and help you search the entire village.� Finn smiled reassuringly.
�You can�t, Finn.� Veronica took a deep breath and looked up. �When I said the Zanga were gone, I didn�t mean just the people, I mean there�s no Zanga Village, period! There isn�t even a sign to show that someone used to live there.�
�Yeah,� Malone added, �it�s like the Zanga don�t exist.�
�That�s not possible, there has to be a logical explanation for this.� Challenger took the chair next to Veronica and appeared to be lost in thought. �I need to check some things in my lab, but I suggest tomorrow, that all of you go and do a wide spread search of the area surrounding the Zanga Village. Look for anything that seems out of place. For now, there�s nothing more we can do. Veronica,� Challenger reached over and grasped her hand, �you and Malone need to eat something and then rest. You will need your strength for tomorrow.�
Veronica nodded her headed solemnly and started to get out of her seat, but Finn put her arms on her shoulders and pushed her lightly back in her seat. �It�s ok, Vee, you sit down and I�ll fix you and Malone some dinner, the rest of us already ate.� Veronica nodded her thanks and smiled.
�I�m going to go wash up before dinner. Excuse me.� Malone pushed back his chair and walked down the stairs to his room.
�Veronica,� Marguerite began, �I�m really sorry about Assai and the other Zanga, and I hope you do find them soon.�
Veronica looked up from the spot at the table she was staring at and smiled at Marguerite. �Thank you.�
�But if you don�t mind, I want to stay behind tomorrow and try to keep working on these translations. You�ll have Roxton and Finn to help you tomorrow, as well as Malone, and I�m not much of a tracker. I think I can at least try to help you this way.�
Veronica sat quiet for a moment and considered Marguerite�s words. The time had long passed where she might have suspected Marguerite was trying to get out of a hike through the jungle just to sit and relax in the treehouse. She knew that Marguerite was sincere in wanting her to find Assai and the rest of her friends, and that she also wanted to help her find her mother. �That�s fine, Marguerite. I really appreciate you spending so much time trying to translate the journal. It really does mean a lot to me.�
�It�s not a problem, I�m glad to help.� Marguerite smiled and turned back to the journal. Finn had brought two plates to the table as Malone took his seat. Everyone sat there and kept them company while Marguerite continued to think.
She kept finding it harder and harder to be around Veronica and the others while acting as if nothing was bothering her. She felt as if she was slowly losing her sanity. Her dream plagued her incessantly during the day. When she was in the middle of a thought, it would flash in her mind, when she closed her eyes, it was there. The more she kept having her dream, the more and more she felt as if it was not simply a dream.
Marguerite was not one to believe in visions but couldn�t help remember the time when she had a vision of Dame Alice killing Challenger. At the time she dismissed it as coincidence, but how many more times would the same excuse be viable? This was one time where she truly wished that�s simply all it was.
How was it possible for her to feel guilty over something she hadn�t done? No matter how much she dismissed it and told herself she would never betray her family, the dream would return to haunt her. It made her feel helpless that when she closed her eyes she could not stop the images that came to her.
Maybe that was why she felt the strong need to figure out the runes. Would she have put in such an effort if she had not been plagued with the visions she saw? Of course she would have, she told herself. If there was a chance that Veronica could find her mother, she would do what was in her power to help. The past few years she lived in the treehouse with Veronica, she honestly felt there was no hope for her parents to return alive. But with recent events, she was truly happy Veronica learned their true fate. At least one of them had found peace. And while she herself had always wondered about her parents, sometimes she thought she would be better off not knowing the truth for fear it would hurt too much to know. Even though Veronica�s father was dead, she had eleven happy years with him and the hope she would find her mother one day.
She would not be the one to take that hope away from her. These runes held the key to finding Veronica�s mother. She didn�t know how she knew it, but deep down, she knew it somehow. Just like she knew that if she worked hard enough, she would able to figure the language out. She owed it to Veronica to do everything in her power to translating the symbols.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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.
Marguerite tossed and turned in her bed. She knew what was coming, but she had no power to stop it. Each time her dream came back, she fought and fought but had no power against her own actions. It left her feeling helpless, it was her dream and her mind, and damn it, she should be able to control it.
Her mind kept screaming for her to stop, but she couldn�t control her own hands. Once again she looked into those eyes that haunted her day and night and screamed a scream that wasn�t heard. She turned her gaze to the man and couldn�t help the shiver that ran through her body. She heard him speak to her in a language that she hadn�t heard up until that point. It was no new thing to her; she constantly read or heard languages and never had a problem with figuring them out, whether it was a dead language or a new one. This time, her mind was not quick to provide a translation like it almost always would. The words floated on the edge of her consciousness. She was reminded of the sensation she had when she read the language in Veronica�s journal. She recognized the words but couldn�t understand them. She also remembered her frustration of not being able to figure out the language.
She knew the languages were similar but automatically knew they were different. How?-she hadn�t heard the language in the journal spoken aloud, but it was a gut feeling she had, and she knew by now to trust her instincts.
All of this contemplating happened in a mere blink of an eye before Marguerite realized that this had never happened in her other tortured nights. She saw the man who eyes she dared not meet open his mouth to speak again.
�Marguerite��
Marguerite felt the walls around her start to shake and turned to see the Protector fall beneath the crumbling ceiling.
She felt the ground beneath her shake and the man screamed out her name.
�Marguerite! Wake up, damn it!�
Marguerite opened her eyes with a startled gasp and saw Roxton hovering over her and the rest of her friends gathered around her bed. Roxton let out a sigh of relief when she finally woke up. He shook her and cried out her name several times and was just short of slapping her to wake her up.
Marguerite realized Roxton�s hands still had a firm grip on her shoulders and shook them off angrily. �What the hell are you doing?! And what are you all doing in my room?�
�We heard you cry out, my dear,� Challenger began, clearly concerned. �We were worried you were hurt.�
Marguerite quickly realized she must have cried out during her dream and mentally cursed herself. She forced a tight smile on her face and addressed her friends. �Well, as you all can see, I�m perfectly fine. Sorry you had to disturb your sleep for nothing. You should all go back to bed.�
Veronica reached over and touched Marguerite�s arm. �Are you sure you�re all right, Marguerite?�
Marguerite was proud of herself for not letting her smile falter even when Veronica touched her. She nodded and started to shoo them out. �Yes, I am positively sure. Now get out and let me get my beauty sleep or I will be grumpy tomorrow.�
�More than usual? We better hurry out then!� Malone laughed at his own joke but didn�t duck fast enough to avoid the flying pillow as it hit him square in the face. He caught it before it hit the ground and tossed it back on the bed, chuckling. He followed the others out after wishing her a good night and sweet dreams.
Marguerite smiled a true smile at the concern her friends showed her, but when she saw Roxton had not moved from his spot on her bed, she frowned. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. �Well?�
He mimicked her movements and added a raised eyebrow. �Well?�
�As much as I am enjoying your company, Lord Roxton,� Marguerite stated with a very detectable hint of sarcasm, �I would like to go back to sleep and I don�t want to have to get out of bed and cause you bodily harm kicking you out.�
Roxton merely chuckled at her threat which only annoyed Marguerite all the more. She appreciated the fact that her friends were concerned for her, and somewhere deep down, very deep down, she was touched that Roxton was worried about her. But at the moment, that feeling was buried so far beneath the surface, it didn�t register with her. She was still irritated that he had interrupted her dream when she was finally making progress. Mind you, she wasn�t enjoying herself, but through the torment, she was finally on the verge of discovering something which might have even caused an end to the dreams. She wasn�t ready to forgive him for taking the chance away before she could find out what it was.
Roxton quickly sobered and the look of concern was on his face again. �Marguerite,� he began, �we have to talk about this. I know there�s something you�re not telling me and I can see it�s taking its toll on you. I thought I would give you a few days of space, but I can see you�ve gotten even less sleep and are hardly eating.�
�No.�
Roxton wore a look of confusion. �No?�
�I wasn�t aware that I had to share every detail with you, Roxton, and at the moment, I am not feeling like sharing. So I�ll ask you nicely for the last time, can you please leave?�
He looked like he wanted to argue, she could see it plainly in his posture and the look in his eyes, but for some reason, he decided to listen to her. And for that, she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
�Don�t think this is over, Marguerite. As stubborn as you are, I�m not going to let you kill yourself slowly. Good night.� He got up and stalked up the stairs and she snorted at his retreating form.
�If that isn�t the pot calling the kettle black, I don�t know what is.� She sighed and reluctantly tried to get comfortable and get back to sleep.