That morning was a quiet one at the treehouse. After a quick breakfast, Roxton, Malone, Veronica, and Finn set out to search for the Zanga Village again. It was their fifth day searching, and they still had no luck. Their search had widened, but they weren�t going to give up any time soon. Despite the fact that they were Veronica�s friends, the residents of the treehouse knew they owed their lives to the Zanga several times over and wouldn�t give up till they found out what happened to them.
It was a somber morning for Challenger and Marguerite as well. Marguerite continued to work hard on the symbols in front of her, and was still met with no luck. Challenger spent all day in his lab trying to think of a possible reason why the Zanga would have disappeared while at the same time having the scientific puzzle of Arthur in a cocoon laughing in his face day after day.
Just when Marguerite was about to give up and take a break, she heard a shout come from downstairs in Challenger�s lab. Since she couldn�t tell if it was a shout of pain or excitement, she raced down the stairs as quickly as she could.
�Challenger?! Are you all right?�
Challenger turned away from the table and saw Marguerite and hurriedly waved her over. �Come here, Marguerite, you must see this!�
Assured his health wasn�t at risk, Marguerite walked over to stand beside him. �You know, George, the next time you want my attention a simple �Marguerite, could you come here a moment?� would do the trick.�
Challenger looked chagrined before he remembered why he shouted out. �Take a look at this, Marguerite, and tell me what you see!� He gestured over to the glass jar where everyone knew held the cocooned Arthur, but found only an empty husk and no Arthur.
�Where is he, George? What happened to him?� Marguerite looked around the table and didn�t see any sign of the beetle.
Challenger took hold of Marguerite and maneuvered her to another table and couldn�t believe her eyes. �Is that�?�
�Yes! That�s Arthur!� Challenger stepped forward and gestured to the �thing� on the table. �When I saw him at first, I didn�t recognize him. He certainly looked odd, he�d changed colors, he was a gold color and he didn�t look like exactly like a beetle, and he certainly didn�t look alive.� At Marguerite�s skeptical look, Challenger elaborated. �What I mean to say is, he looked like a magnificent creature yes, but he looked like a piece of decoration, a statuette or something of the sort. When I moved to pick it up, it sprang to life.�
�Sprang to life? It, or he, or whatever, doesn�t seem to be moving right now. It looks like one of your contraptions. Certainly doesn�t look like it could have ever been alive.� Marguerite leaned closer and reached out a tentative hand towards it. �Can I?�
Challenger nodded to Marguerite and while she examined �Arthur� for herself, Challenger continued his story. �So after I touched it, it started to open up. On its back, I guess we can call it, several layers started to unfold and spread apart revealing what you see now. I�m not quite sure what �Arthur� is, but I believe I was right in saying that he is not an ordinary beetle.�
�I certainly agree with that.� Marguerite looked at the several layers that Challenger described and noticed that the way they were arranged in a specific pattern. To the untrained eye, it was simply a gorgeous display. The several layers seemed to form wings on either side of the body, and were filled with vivid colors.
Marguerite saw that the wings, while beautiful, were more than that. Each of the separate pieces that opened up to form the wings seemed to have markings on them that came together to create the beautiful effect of the wings. She stepped back and her agile mind quickly pieced together what she saw and her jaw dropped in amazement. �Challenger! Do you know what this is?�
Challenger looked at �Arthur� and back at Marguerite. �Well, I�m not altogether sure, what this is. I�m positive it isn�t a beetle, but other than that, no. I need to run some tests to-�
�That�s not what I mean, Challenger! Look at the wings! What do you see?� Marguerite watched Challenger as he looked and saw it in his eyes the moment he figured it out.
�But that�s impossible!�
�Challenger, in the past weeks, you�ve gone into the future twice, had your body possessed while you were trapped in limbo, talked to a dead man, saw a beetle spin a cocoon, faced the end of the world as we knew it, and you still believe in things being impossible?�
�But, how could Arthur start out as a beetle and open up to hold a map of the plateau? This defies the laws of science.� Challenger looked again and could not deny his eyes. When you put together both wings and looked closely, the landmarks of the plateau were obvious.
Marguerite broke her gaze away from the map and back to Challenger. �Now the obvious question is, George, why in the world did this happen?�
�I don�t know, Marguerite, but I intend to find out.�
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
�What do you mean, he�s a map? How can a beetle turn into a map?� Malone was tired from his day long search coupled with the searches from the previous days and wasn�t ready to accept the story. He�d heard a lot of far fetched things, especially since he started his three year stay on the plateau, but he knew that Marguerite wasn�t above pulling his leg when she could.
�How can a beetle spin a cocoon, Malone? How the bloody hell do I know? But I know what I saw, and so does Challenger. Go take a look for yourself if you don�t believe me.� Marguerite was more than slightly annoyed at having to be the one to explain to the others what happened in the lab, but she had to admit, if she did it, it would definitely be a shorter story in the long run than if Challenger had told it. She was tired, and could tell that the others had been too and they wanted nothing more to do than eat and rest.
�I think I�ll do that.� Malone rose out of his seat and made his way down the stairs and Finn found her curiosity peaked as well and bounded after him.
�You do that,� Marguerite mumbled under her breath and shot an irritated glare at his retreating back. She turned back to the others and saw Veronica�s somber expression and sighed. �Still no sign of them I take it?�
Veronica shook her head. �I don�t know where else to look for them, Marguerite. I�m beginning to think we�ll never find them.�
�Don�t talk like that. I�m sure you�ll find them soon, don�t give up hope, Veronica. It�s one of the things I admire about you. You�re always optimistic even when it grates on my nerves.� Marguerite smiled when she saw that she managed to get Veronica to smile as well.
�Yes, we�ll keep looking until we find them, Veronica. Of that you can be sure.� Roxton smiled reassuringly at Veronica and she nodded. �What�s for dinner? I�m starved.�
�I don�t know,� Marguerite rose out of her chair, �I was so busy today, I didn�t make anything, and I know Challenger didn�t.�
�Well, you can sit down, I�ll find something to cook, after all, we want to be able to eat it afterwards.� Roxton grinned at the look of anger on Marguerite�s face and practically ran into the kitchen.
�You can run, Roxton, but I know where to find you!� Marguerite took her seat with a huff, not altogether minding the slightly higher mood that settled into the treehouse. There was an underlying despondency, but a quiet night at home spent with friends, was always appreciated. Especially after all the things that had befallen this close group of friends lately.