"Listen well to my words and to the words of Simon my daughter, for you have been my greatest care for over an eon as I waited for my countless manipulations of events, followers and those who follow others or no one alike to come to fruition. But since the day I found you eleven years ago your time, the five of you, along with the four of them." Athena pointed to Megan and Sylvester. "And the three of them, have consumed my thoughts." Athena told them looking at Happy and Toby before she reached out and touched the cheeks of both Lord Walter and Lady Paige.
Paige frowned.
"So, if I understand you correctly just now, we won't have anymore children?" Paige asked.
"That is up to you, you've said on a number of occasions that you didn't want anymore. That choice is yours, as your husband and I give unto you the responsibility of that decision, since you have to bear the consequences of that choice. Be it with the demands upon your body or being forced to stay home with your children while your beloved goes out in the world to deal with problems." Athena smiled.
Paige wasn't too sure she liked the idea of Walter going out on adventures without her at all. But she decided not to bring that up at this time.
"So, my Lady, can you explain to me why you were able to chase Toby across the continent to see your plan succeed, but why couldn't you do that to me?" Paige asked almost in desperation.
"Toby refused to acknowledge any powers back then my precious little one, just as he mostly ignores me still to this day. I was free to manipulate and direct him as I wanted. You were still a child of my brother. Until your decision to go to San Francisco and your Mother's anger had been recognized by my brother. Had you gone to Los Angeles against your Mother's wishes, my brother would have cast you aside there instead of San Francisco. And then I could have claimed you and guided you to the tournament to meet Lord Walter and Happy."
"But choosing Drew again for the first time, my plans were already out of balance and so I had to rely on my back up plan to make up for some of that imbalance." The temple Mistress suddenly began coughing and choking as Athena's possession left her.
Lord Walter and Lady Paige both reached out to steady her even as Raynold moved up and taking her arm he helped her to stand until she could move over and sit down.
Paige turned and smiled up at Walter even as a tear ran down her cheek.
"I love you Walter." Paige said even as Walter took her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
"As do I, love you Paige." Walter said softly into her ear.
Paige pulled Happy back into a hug.
"If I had known what the wise Lady had wanted from me that day Happy. I would have happily accepted that placement at the University of Los Angeles. I had no clue of how much that decision would affect not only my life but the lives of people dearer to me than my own life. I'm sorry." Paige told her finally as she broke the hug and kissed her cheek.
Happy nodded.
"I forgive you if you need that my Lady, but you were manipulated by Drew." Happy told her sadly even as she wondered what her life would have been like now.
Paige finally looked at Simon after they broke their hug. Her anger first at Simon and then her heartbreak from Athena's words having finally found a balm, from Happy's forgiveness, to soothe her.
"Okay then, let us get to the end of this, and finish your story Simon." Lady Paige looked from Lord Walter to Simon.
Simon nodded.
"I understand my Lady and if after I'm done if you still feel the need to extract vengeance from me I will make no move to stop you." Simon told her before he continued.
"At this point I had work to do. I had three years to find the perfect man to use to conceive this child within you. The world was vast and I had quickly ran out of men who were not aligned with any powers and so I begin to go through those who had pledged themselves to one deity or another. I was growing a bit desperate as I was running out of time. I didn't choose just any man my Lady. I spent so much time during those three years searching for that perfect man not for the plan I told Drew, but one who would produce with you a child of extraordinary abilities. One that would safeguard your life from Drew, as well as ensure his Father would have no vessel to continue his life with. And it wasn't easy. I was almost ready to give up as the time for you to conceive was almost up. I was about to wake you, alone, up. I was going to tell you the truth of everything. Giving you everything of value Drew had so you could flee with it and go home if such was your desire. I could manipulate Drew's memories within the context of my enslavement so he wouldn't ever remember you." Simon told them before he took another drink of juice.
"It was then that I felt the wise Lady's guidance and I finally located the man that would fulfill both of our designs for your child. I invoked the spell and I smiled as I could feel his essence meeting your egg and then the beginnings of Ralph's life forming within you. It was truly a blessed event to behold." Simon told them even as he reached up and wiped at a tear that escaped his eye.
"The potion ran out and you both woke up. Drew almost immediately passed right back out again. You on the other hand were positively giddy. You and I spoke all night that night if you recall. You bustled with energy until the next evening when you finally went to sleep. I monitored your health along with Ralph's the entire time of your pregnancy. I was disgusted by Drew as the time of Ralph's birth was drawing close. He kept pressuring me to know when it would happen. I finally told him and suddenly he told you he had to go speak with the Ambassador and made me go with him." Simon told them.
"No matter how many times I tried to make him understand you were in labor he silenced me with a command until I told him that Ralph was born. He told the Ambassador who immediately wrote a letter to let his Father know that not only was Drew in San Francisco but that you had just had given birth to a son for him. Three days later when Drew was supposed to free me he lied to you, that he had an opportunity to go earn a lot of gold to support you with and left you. I looked at him once we stepped out of the house but he refused to honor our agreement." Simon told them with anger flashing across his face.
"It had been my intention to stay with you and protect you and Ralph. But the weasel's treachery became apparent when he invoked the same spell his Father had used and bound me utterly to his will. He dragged me off like a dog just as his Father had. I used what little magic I could to provide you with some means of survival, along with some of the wealth he'd taken from his Father." Simon told them.
"Whenever I could manage, I was able to spy upon you and helped once in a while to keep the bounty hunters at bay. But more often than not it was the wise Lady who saw you well protected in that regard. Then the day came that I was able to rest easier as I saw you had finally met our Lord. I knew then that my day of freedom was finally within sight." Simon told them.
"Mahn's desire to find his son was thwarted by my power that Drew forced me to use to protect him from detection. So I knew Mahn's desperation would eventually drive him to confront Lord Walter and I knew Lord Walter would end his cursed existence once and for all. It would then be only a matter of time that I would be free of Drew's control as he finally aged and died. Unless someone's blade was to end it sooner. At this point I knew he wouldn't fulfill our last deal either." Simon told them.
"Then came the day I felt that last vestige of his Father's control over me break and I knew that Mahn had finally been killed. I rejoiced as I saw the scene as I used my power to spy out what happened and I saw the three of you safe and in each other's arms. I smiled even more seeing the twins growing within you. I grinned at the remains of Mahn as they lay on the floor at your feet. Once I felt his soul pass beyond the veil a few days later I told Drew and then we returned from New Orleans. Drew assumed the throne and true to my word I showed him where his Father had always conducted his experiments." Simon told them before draining his juice.
Linda stepped up and refilled the glass.
"I smiled as I could tell that Beyon had dispatched someone to destroy his secret chamber. All of Mahn's sick and perverted research was gone. Drew was livid but he decided he was going to figure out someway to take Ralph back from you. He told me that I would be his weapon against you both. I couldn't allow that so I did something that disgusted me. I was able to use my magic to enthrall one of his slaves and as she shaved him, she cut him quite nicely."
"He was too simple to see the truth behind that cut. The slave brought me his blood that had spilled out. It was enough to break some of that magic he bound me with. I still couldn't do anything against him. But I was able to flee. I could hear his screams of outrage as he realized what had happened. I took the young woman with me so she would be safe. To make up for what I did to her I used my powers to give her a new identity and I left her with a small fortune in Lake Tahoe, safe beyond his power. And I returned home finally after so many centuries and rejoiced with my children." Simon told them before taking another drink.
"Then came the day that I knew Drew had finally met with our Lord as I felt his control over me break and then his soul departed these lands. I smiled as I looked upon the scene and saw you safe with our Lord and not far from the birth of your twins." Simon told them
"Having reconnected with my children and their children I finally left home and made my way here so I could tell you the truth of these matters." Simon told them.
Raynold was beyond shocked at the story told them.
"Are his words true my Lord?" Raynold asked quickly.
Lord Walter and the temple Mistress both nodded.
"He has spoken every word of truth." Lord Walter said.
"Then for the violation of our Lady I am ordering his arrest, guards!" Raynold demanded.
Lord Walter held up his hand.
"You will do no such thing Raynold. And none in my lands will raise a hand against Simon for what has transpired. For we all serve the wise Lady and we will honor what she herself allowed to happen. The only one here that has the right to issue such a decree is my bride. For only she has been harmed by the actions Simon has used to thwart the things set in motion by this Mahn." Lord Walter told them.
"My bride, we but await your decree." Lord Walter looked down at her.
Lady Paige stepped out past Lord Walter and stepped right up to Simon.
"You mentioned your children but not your wife, if that is what you call her. Did you not renew your bonds with her?" Paige asked first.
Simon shook his head in pain.
"My wife died of a broken heart my Lady. Even though we mate for life, some few have fallen out of love with their partners. Because of how long I was gone, because she had been unable to find me, she thought that somehow I had fallen out of love with her and ran off, hiding myself from her. She couldn't live with that possibility. I was forced by Mahn's orders to use my powers to keep anyone from finding me. It took quite a bit to persuade my children of the truth." Simone explained.
"I'm sorry Simon. That is a horrible burden for you to bear." Lady Paige told him even as she took his hand.
"Who is the Father of my son Simon?" Lady Paige asked her eyes probing.
Simon gestured.
"The only one it could ever be my Lady. Master Ralph has the same Father as your twins, our Lord here." Simon told her.
Paige's eyes went wide even as she spun around to look at Walter and saw the surprised expression upon his face with tears welling up in his eyes. She took several quick steps and leaped into his arms.
Simon bowed his head at the raw emotions before him.
Louise's hand flew up to her mouth even as everyone present gasped at the revelation of their Lord being Ralph's true Father.
"Dad?" Ralph said shocked as he stood at the entrance of the great hall with Patty next to him. Even as people looked he took off running across the floor and into Lord Walter's arms.
Happy looked at the family as they hugged each other and then stepped out to stand before Simon.
"I want to thank you for helping to hide my Mother and her parents from this Mahn." Happy told him.
"You are most welcome Happy." Simone nodded.
"If you could have manipulated Drew's memories of Paige, why didn't you just do that when you got to San Francisco and you knew he wanted to kill her?" Happy asked fiercely.
Simone nodded.
"I would have but as I mentioned I had detected a power moving on her and I wasn't sure what or who that power was. I feared as much for her safety from that unknown power as I did from what Drew had wanted to do. But once I knew that power was the wise Lady I also knew she wanted me to carry my plan out." Simon explained.
"D-Did you know what was going to happen to my Mother in childbirth?" Happy asked in a small voice.
She looked back and saw Toby had stepped up and he put his hands on her arms trying to comfort her.
"I did not. I only knew how bad he had hurt your Mother." Simon explained.
Greetings! Hope everyone is doing well! Well what a day this is...it is the 2nd anniversary of when I began writing again. I wrote my first chapter of my first Scorpion fanfiction "Head Space" 2 years ago. Tomorrow will be the 2nd anniversary of posting it on this site. The stories have been a bit quiet lately. I only today started on chapter 7 of this story, I believe it will be the last chapter to this leg of the adventure. After that I'm unsure of what I'm doing. HC hasn't really talked in some time and WUTB isn't close enough for me to consider posting it. So I don't know. I have had a cute future story of this story line that I have written 2 chapters of. I think there might be a 3rd chapter for it but not sure. There is my story Dance, it is currently a 2 chapter continuation of "I Only Stat Facts". I might post it after this is done. Hopefully the stories speak louder and I can get back to writing more.
Lucy - She did do a lot of planning for sure! hehe Looks like it turned out okay.
Railman - Thank you! So glad you are enjoying it!
2LawDog - You're welcome! Thank you! Yeah it isn't the best of places to work but it is the best non-adventure paying job in the lands. lol
Susan - Thank you! Glad you are enjoying them! Yep, that part really broke my heart. Poor Sean, what a guilt to live with. I still hope to do more of a background for Happy and Walter, writing how they originally met and perhaps going more in depth in their adventures together. Finding the merchant, Sir Cabe coming to Scorpion Keep, Walter bringing Sylvester to the Keep as well. I've got a feeling now that Paige knows there is something about Happy's past that Athena wanted her to share with her she's going to do everything she can to bring it out of Happy to help heal her more. hehe Yep, as you've read that story, that twin is going to be a handful and a half! lol Maybe I will post it next...Everyone be on the look out for "A Little Knight" after this story is completed. lol
To the Adventure! -Tim