Once Upon a Time in Camelot
Disclaimer: I own none of the previously copywriter materials or characters. Ownership belongs to Disney, BBC, ABC Productions.
Author's Note: I am broke. I work part time and go to school part time. If I see my story on the net under someone else name so halp me I will find you and shame you. Now that that's out of the way I hope you enjoy this because I had balls to the walls fun writing it.
Rating: PG-M
Prologue
An old withered and spotted hand gripped the cane it held tighter. Each step was harder than the last. The wet weather had followed the visitor, even in this sacred spot. The old man muttered something that could barely be heard above the rumbling of the storm. Oddly enough the lightning had popped even louder and more rain fell. The face of the stranger glared up out of his hood and yelled at the sky while shaking his fist.
"…getting too old for this…," he declared in the stone clearing after he had stopped walking. The alter had changed little since the first time he had come here. Instead of being able to use the grounds in the way they were meant to be used, he had been reduced to shedding blood in order to survive. Never again, he had thought as a young man, but as it had happened that was the first of many times. Now he was the sole survivor of those battles and of that time.
He stood up as straight as he could and tapped his staff against the grey stone floor. The temple shuddered a bit in response. The old man twisted his staff so that it was horizontal in his arms and he murmured in a language that hadn't been heard aloud in decades. In an odd but fitting way he was very proud about that. When he was finished blackness spread open before him. The Veil, was what it used be called now it went by another name. He was no longer a part of such discussions. His time of influence was over.
He listened carefully for the sounds that the Veil was releasing. Some of them were voices, very familiar voices. His eyes closed and he held back tears. Those voices belonged to friends and loves who had been long past. His yearning to join them would be fulfilled very quickly, he thought. All he had to do was to keep walking forward into the Veil. Yet he hesitated. There were other sounds. Screaming, screeching, and sounds he could not recognize. He opened his eyes knowing full well that age had dimmed them to be near useless but he peered into the Veil anyway.
He saw…autumn. So many trees that had turned the colors of the season. The winds had them dancing the oldest song nature knew. There were people walking and talking, dressed in ways he had never seen even in all his travels. Huge machines were everywhere. His eyes widened at the sight. He had access to magic beyond the average scope of comprehension yet here was fascinated by the reliance of these metal machines large and small. If only an old friend of his could see this, she would have loved it with a childlike glee.
Within his sight line he saw a rather troubled middle aged man reliant on a cane. He limped along to stand in the back of a crowd that gathered to hear a woman speak. From his view in the crowd he could not see her face, but the man who he could see was not impressed at all. The animosity emanating from him was tangible. The man with a can moved away from the crowd and the old man watching could finally see the woman's face. Her eyes followed the man with a cane and glared at him for just a fraction of time. Short enough to see the change in her face but not long enough for the crowd to notice. The man watching through the Veil noticed on other woman in the crowd looking at the speaker with no enthusiasm and a straight face. Her blond locks waved in the wind partially hiding her shorter friend standing next to her trying in vain to not get hit in the face with her friend's hair. Her demeanor seemed sweet and gentle as her body language was also non-threatening. The hat on her head hid most of her very short hair but not a bright big smile on her face. The old man watching smiled at her.
He wondered why he was seeing all of this. The Veil was supposed to be oblivion, a calming nothingness if one was brave enough to face it as a form of death. He was ready for death and this was the least terrifying way to go, he thought. He was so tired of being brave for other people.
But this scene he was watching was a nothingness. This was something; it was a strange new world. Would it welcome him? Would he be a sorcerer? An old crippled near blind man? Could his life start over?
Would he be alone again?
More importantly, why was the Veil giving him these visions? Most visions were clear and of a very near future. This was something else entirely. This could be a different world and a different time. If that was true, then something is very wrong.
His hesitation granted him more insight on the event taking place. The cheered the stern woman and she smiled widely waving at them. The smile was stiff and shallow. It was completely the opposite of the short woman with even shorter hair. Completely opposite, in fact. The old man wondered about that. Did they know each other?
Any idea of not going through the Veil vanished when a young woman stepped up and walked across the platform. As the crowd dispersed in every direction, the old man got a good look at both of the women and the younger one was instantly recognizable. The long dark as midnight hair was up in a bun but the angular neck the sharp features and the smile that lead to more were all too familiar.
"No…," he whispered. "That's not possible. I killed and burned you myself. You are dead." He knew no one could hear him but it was obvious he was trying to convince himself. He quickly snapped out of it and was glad he did because at that moment the female speaker looked beyond the younger woman's shoulder and directly into his eyes.
She knew he was there.
She knew his identities.
She could see through the Veil.
The old man glared right back at her. He didn't know she was, but he never ever backed down from a challenge.
That was why he proudly stepped through the Veil.