Lady Paige was pensive. While she had to wear a guest robe, stood on the balcony outside of the living room in their suite that Lady Juniper had set aside for her family. Her arms were tight across the front of her chest with her hands holding onto each arm while her left shoulder leaned against the column that ran up this section of the castle. She wasn't sure why she was pensive, whether it was because of all the times she had been exposed to Walter's restoration singing or something else bothering her she didn't know. But even after a long bath with ample play time with Walter and then the massage to her neck and shoulders he gave her, she still hadn't been able to sleep.
She'd finally got out of bed so as not to disturb his sleep. After things had calmed down and their bellies were full from dinner she had become a little upset at Walter for not staying at the hotel after he first regained consciousness following the explosion. He'd taken the brunt of the concussive blast as he covered her body with his. But without him Tim might have gotten away while they had stopped to deal with those who would defend him. She kept going over everything that happened that day. To think their rooms had been ransacked and trapped so that in a split second her family might have been destroyed again.
And poor Ralph had been so scared he lost another Father after the blast. He'd all but clung to Walter during dinner after the effects of Walter's restoration music had worn off him. And then he needed them both to sit with him while Walter told him a story so he would fall asleep. Paige had smiled as she heard the musical component of Walter's story and how it allowed Ralph to relax and then fall into a deep sleep. She'd almost asked Walter to sing her to sleep until she heard his soft snoring. So she turned from their bed and put on the robe and stepped out on the balcony.
She sighed as she heard a soft knock on their door. Paige stepped inside and locked the balcony doors before she stepped on over and opened the door. She saw Happy had started to walk away. "What brings you by at this hour Happy?"
Happy smiled. "I couldn't sleep. I figured you might be having the same issue."
Paige nodded as she stepped back and Happy walked in. "Whoa and I thought our rooms back at the hotel were nice."
"A bit too grandiose for my tastes to be honest but, Lord Beyon is entitled to live however he wishes as long as he stays within the limits of our tenants." Paige told her as she stepped over and poured a couple of brandy glasses.
Happy smiled as she took one and sat down in a chair before the fireplace. "Is Walter okay? You gave him an earful for leaving the hotel when he first woke up."
Paige nodded as she sat down and took a sip. "What with all the physical exertion and all of his playing to heal and restore people he fell off to sleep shortly after giving me a neck and shoulder massage trying to help me relax enough to fall asleep."
Happy smiled. "After all he did, he still gave you a massage? Lucky you, I barely got a kiss before Toby rolled over and fell fast asleep. So I had gone to watch Alicia sleep since I knew I wouldn't go to sleep right away. After a short time I stepped out on our balcony and thought I saw your light on so I thought I'd come check. Is all of this over now?"
Paige shrugged. "If Jacob can be trusted then it is. Everything he said came across as truth so I think so. Still it would be irresponsible of us to let our guard down too far. It would especially be bad to let our guard down when we get back on the road. I'm half of a mind to just return to the Keep and let my parents come to visit us."
Happy frowned. "That isn't like you Paige."
Paige shrugged. "It isn't me I'm worried about. Ralph freaked out so bad after the bomb. He'd seen me coughing and struggling so he knew I was alive. But Walter was knocked out completely and he thought he lost another Father." She downed her glass and filled it again. She offered more to Happy. Happy held out her glass and Paige topped it off.
Happy nodded. "But you know as well as I do that barricading inside of the Keep isn't the answer. Life isn't safe no matter where we are. Besides, the wise Lady will eventually order you on some other mission. Do you really think Walter would let you go off without him?"
Paige took another drink. "He knows it is my authority and if I say he has to stay at the Keep then he will stay at the Keep. As will you all if need be."
"You're authority is it? I thought it was the wise Lady's authority?" Happy asked pointedly.
Paige rolled her eyes as she downed another glass of brandy and filled it again. "You know what I mean."
"No, I don't think I do. So have you become so big for your britches that the wise Lady is taking a back seat to you?" Happy asked her pointedly.
Paige shook her head as she took another drink. "She gives me the authority and power to act in her stead."
"And you think that you are discharging it properly like this?" Happy sat her glass down as she watched Paige down her third glass. Happy stood up and moved out into the center of the room. "Get up Paige."
Paige looked at her even as she reached for the bottle to refill her glass. "Say again?"
Happy looked at her. "I didn't stutter Paige, I said, get up."
Paige's eyes narrowed and she stood up and walked out to where Happy stood. "I'm standing, now what?"
Happy threw a punch and Paige responded instantly and twisted her hips and Happy's fist slipped past her chest. Paige instinctively threw her right elbow up and would have cracked Happy in the nose except Happy's other hand had come up and blocked her elbow before her foot flashed out and kicked the back of Paige's right knee.
Paige went down on her right knee but her right hand went between Happy's knees and her hand grabbed her right leg behind her knee and yanked hard and Happy flipped up and over.
Happy landed on her feet a few steps back and before Paige returned to her feet she'd moved up and her left fist flashed out and caught Paige across her right cheek.
Paige growled as her left hand came down on Happy's wrist and yanked her forward and her right fist flew up and caught Happy under the chin.
Happy's head snapped back and she fell backwards and would have landed on the floor except her left hand pushed back and kept her from going on down but she used it to spring back further and land on her feet.
Happy felt strong hands grab her arms and she was lifted up and tossed across the floor and slammed into the stone wall. As Happy rose up from the floor she saw Walter and Paige standing together and she growled. "This does not concern you Bard. Stand down before you are punished."
Paige looked at Walter puzzled. "Walter, what is going on?"
Walter shook his head. "I know what you are Avelar and had you truly been sent by the wise Lady you would have brought another to fight me. For as the bonds of marriage state we are as one, I could no more stand to the side in any fight than I could stop breathing. So please do, come for us both. You may have copied all of Paige's natural abilities you do not have all of her given abilities from the wise Lady. And I'm willing to bet my life you can't win against us." Walter whispered. "Don't let her out that door."
Happy licked her lips as her eyes darted about the room planning her next move. She charged for the wall closest to Walter. Walter moved to intercept her and her foot struck the wall and she pushed off and up and flipped over and past Walter. As she came down towards the floor she froze in the air about three inches from the floor and she screamed as the white light of Athena pulsed off of Lady Paige as she held her clasped fist out in front of her. "In the name of mighty Athena." Paige said
Walter pushed back from the wall, he almost ran into when she'd flipped over him, as he turned around he smiled. Walter stepped past Happy as she continued to scream. The longer she was held in that light the scream changed more and more into a shriek. Walter smiled at his bride and winked before he reached in and adjusted her robe so it was closed properly again.
Paige returned his smile and then looked back at Happy. "You are not Happy so who sent you?"
"I won't tell you." Happy said and then shrieked again.
The door to their suite pushed in as two guards ran in to investigate the sounds and they both froze looking at the scene before them.
The door to Ralph's bedroom opened as he looked out scared by the sounds. His eyes opened wide and he stood there frozen at the scene before him. Walter's ears had picked up the sound and he looked and seeing Ralph he walked over and picked him up to comfort him.
Paige refocused her will and that bright light of Athena grew stronger. "In the name of the wise Lady Athena, you will answer all the questions we direct to you."
They saw cracks beginning to appear across her body as it began to break down in that white light. "Let me go!" Happy screamed.
Ralph finally looked at Walter. "Why is Mommy hurting Happy?"
Walter smiled and kissed his forehead. "It isn't Happy. It is called an Avelar. They sometimes take the appearance of someone a person knows to get close enough to hurt them."
Lord Beyon followed by Lady Juniper, Happy, Toby, Allie and Cabe ran into the room and they all paused. "What the bloody hell is that thing?" Happy demanded.
"And why does it look like my wife?" Toby asked.
Ignoring them for the moment Walter turned his attention to the form before them. "Answer the Lady Paige's question Avelar, who sent you?" Walter demanded.
Lord Beyon's eyes went wide. "An Avelar? What is it doing here in my castle?"
"Agger, Agger conjured me and sent me here to try and kill this one." The Avelar answered before screaming in pain again.
Walter looked to Paige and back at the Avelar. "Impossible, Ray killed Agger."
The Avelar shook her head even as her form changed from looking like Happy to a featureless humanoid. The cracks were growing deeper and separated further apart. "Agger still lives." It screamed.
Walter stepped over closer to Paige. "You're going to have to be careful love, the stress on its body is growing, and it might not be able to last much longer." Walter whispered.
"Where did this Agger conjure you up at?" Lady Paige demanded.
"It was in the basement, the basement under the Babble Brook." It screamed.
"Be gone!" Lady Paige demanded as she opened her fist and the Avelar screamed before it shattered completely and dissipated into the ether.
Ray stood with his back against the wall by the door and clapped. "This place is better than the theatre."
Walter looked at him and his eyes darkened. "You said you killed this Agger."
Ray held up his hands. "Hey, I thought I did. Typically when a dagger passes through the windpipe it is pretty universal."
Walter glared at him. "Did you bother to check his pulse to ensure he was dead or did you just assume?"
"See, this is what I love about you Walt. You're eye sees right to the heart of the matter. I might have been a little preoccupied in trying to get out of Breuba's alive to ensure he was dead. I'm sorry." Ray said contritely.
Happy walked up closer to Paige. "Why did that thing look like me?"
"So it could get close enough to try to kill me. It probably would have tried to kill Walter next and then Ralph for revenge. Maybe Ray too since he was the one who actually hurt Agger." Paige told her.
Toby walked out to where the Avelar had ceased to exist. He looked back at Walter. "So what exactly is or was this Avelar?"
Walter cleared his voice. "Typically they are messengers of a person's deity. When a person has done something that warrants punishment but they want to give the person a chance to earn a reprieve from their punishment they send an Avelar. Also when it happens only the person who is targeted by the Avelar can see or interact with it. Of course there are ways to assist the person such as healing or shielding. When that happens another Avelar appears to take on the person interfering."
Paige nodded. "Typically when they appear they attack immediately using all of the abilities the person has. And while they can assume any form, they usually take the same form as the person they are there to fight. But since this one wasn't sent by Athena it had to adopt a form I would allow close enough to me."
Walter put his free arm around Paige and hugged her to him. "I'm going to guess it talked with you for a while so it could read your thoughts and learn all your combat skills."
Paige smiled up at Walter and nodded.
Lord Beyon still looked disgruntled. "So how did this thing get into the castle let alone up here? My guards should have known something was wrong."
Walter smiled at Lord Beyon. "It could have simply mimicked another guard and used its telepathy to read what another guard would accept as a reason to come up here and then given them that reason."
"Well, I think I will be speaking to the Master at Arms later regardless. My apologies my Lady Paige, this will not happen again." Lord Beyon said before he turned with Lady Juniper and left for their quarters.
Ray smiled. "Well I'm going back to bed to get some sleep. Try and not start anymore fights Walt."
Walter shook his head as Ray walked out followed by Cabe and Allie.
As Ray got down the hall far enough he looked at Allie before he whispered. "I'm going to the Babble Brook and deal with Agger right now. Do you want in?"
Allie grinned. "Give me ten minutes to get dressed."
Cabe looked at her shocked. "Well then I'm coming with you two."
Allie smiled as she ran her hand down his jaw feeling his short beard and then she nodded.
Greetings! Hope this finds you all well. It has been a bit cooler and we ended up with rain last night and a little today as well. I'm almost cold enough to turn the heat back on! lol
2LawDog - Thank you! Glad you got a chance to catch up!
Railman - Well of course you can! lol Actually Lancaster isn't too far with modern roads and vehicles. Almost 70 miles and a bit over an hour travel time. In my stories it is actually a bit further north and east of where it sits here and Los Angeles is about 40 miles south east of our world's position. Nope, Karl definitely should have waited a few minutes longer before breaking the illusion. He'd have found killing Jacob a lot easier! lol
Lucy - Thank you thank you! Glad to see you back after the little Easter weekend! Yes, their first "victory" was too easy, that should have tipped them off, not good for experienced combatants! And now we see that Agger didn't actually go down as easily as we thought too. lol
Margaret - So happy to see you toughing this out! Not yet sure but I think there is 2 maybe 3 more chapters and we'll shift back to modern day Scorpion again.
Franxine - Aww, thank you!
To the Adventure! Tim