The Lost World Unofficial Season Four
Disclaimer: Worried about contracting a lawsuit from The Lost World? Symptoms of a lawsuit include, dealing with pissy lawyers, losing all your money, and in serious cases, even being brought before Judge Judy. But disclaimers can help to alleviate these symptoms, so you can get on with your life. So ask your doctor about disclaimers today. You deserve freedom. You deserve disclaimers. Side effects may include writers' block, forgetting what the sotry you meant to write was about because it took you so darn long to come up with a good disclaimer, and making readers mad by making them wait for their story. **************************************************
Episode 6: A War, a Wedding, an Unexpected Guest
The protector of the Plateau sat on her throne, talking cheerily with her handmaiden, Posa who had caught the attention of a young man in Avalon. he was of a lower class than one who dealt with the Protector, Queen, and Priestess, but that was hardly ever an issue in Avalon. After all, the entire society was based on love. And he was not course at all. he was the most sophisticated gentleman Posa knew. The Protector giggled. She had met the man as well, and she assured Posa that she thoroughly approved.
There was loud bang outside the chambers of the Protector. Posa grabbed her sword and headed outside. She was trained to fight, and for the safety of her people, she would do so gladly. The Protector took up her favorite weapo9n and headed outside. Posa tried to stop her, but knew even as she did that it was futile. Traditionally, the Protector was not supposedd to fight; if she died, the society was doomed. She could not go to war - to ensure the safety of the Plateau, and quite possibly the world. She was under strict orders never to risk her life for any reason, for in doing so, she would risk the lives of everyone. But this young Protector was noever one to follow orders. And it wasn't strictly enforced, either. Everyone knew that she was the best fighter among them, and would risk the Plateau greater by NOT fighting. Much like her, the Proctector's weapon was not at all traditional. She refused the swords,m knives, and spears of her people. She had found, wandering by a cave one day, a most unique weapon. To most, it might seem ackward, but it was natural to her. Made of a crude metal alloy, slightly worn. An elegant curve. A deadly flying blade. She unclipped the fllowing tresses of her elegant dress with one swift motion. Couldn't fight with that. In what seemed like less than a second, she was adonrned with the beautifful top of her royal garb, but tight short pants below, suitable for the gymnastics that she used to great effect in her fighting.
She exited her chambers to find a hostile takeover. A local tribe was attacking Avalon. Her mind quickly processed that they wanted the abundand ands near- perfect land , unlike anything on the Plateau. It had to be; Avalon was completely peaceful, and never bothered anyone. Instinctively, without thought, she shot an enemy warrior. He went down. Another. she avoided the thrust of a sword by doing a quick cartwheel, catcher her enemy off guard and hit him with an arrow. She had been told, when she ws younger, that she had inherited her amazing fighting skills from both her great - great grandmothers, who were apparently both pretty amazing, themselves. One had phsyical strenght much greater than most men, but with the agility of a dancer. The other had an aim that put the greatest hunter to shame. Apparently, it ran in the family, especially in the females.
As off balance as he was, the man with the sword was composed enough, as soon as the arrow hit him, to turn and piece Posa, standing beside the Protector in a defensive stance that didn't work.
The Protector nearly fell, but caught herself immediately, knowing that a battle was no place to grieve. that would have to wait, she thought, somewhat detatched.
And that was when the strange man grabbed her by the wrist. she raised her bow to strike, but knowing in advance how she would react to such a situation, his hand went up to stop her weapon. But he did not take it out of her hand as an enemy would. That gave her pause. There was something else about him, some sense that he was no danger. Perhaps just the look of kindness in his eyes. he seemed almost mad with some emotion that she she could have sworn was elation. He dragged her by the wrist out of the fray, and away from Avalon.
"Stop it!" she screamed. "I have to help my people! I am their Protector!"
"I know, and that's exactly why you have to come with me. I assure you everything will be fine."
Once they were far from danger, he tried his best to reassure her. "We're here to make sure that everything in Avalon will be alright, and that can't happen with you here." He touched her face lightly. "You would have died."
Then he did something completely unexpected. he took her, first by the shoulders, then hugged her as if her were a family member who had not seen her for years.
He pulled back, apologizing, he said, for his "rash behavior". "Finn, my name is George. You need to come with me now."
"You're the one my mother told me about."
He nodded. "No time, you have to come with me now." He added with a bit of whimsy, "You've got two weddings to go to."
"Weddings? Noody ever told me anything about that."
"No. Well, it's a surprise. Congradulations. You'll be the first person in history to see both sets of her great - great grandparents' weddings. Now let's go!"
He showed her the diary that he'd grabbed out of her chambers.
"Hey!"
"You'll need it. I won't remember, and neither will you."
They headed for the cave. "Hey, that's the same cave where I found my crossbow!"
No one noticed that George dissapeared and reappeared in an instant. They were looking at the center of the room. Preperations for his jump had taken a year. A year to learn what needed to be done. A year to learn of Finn's liniage. A year to discover that she was not an outsider. And a year to learn what needed to be done. And now that the year was over, he didn't even remember. He would have considered himself luchy for that.
There was a flash of light, and Finn fell to a hard wooden floor. ******************************************
The Next Day
Veronica was all but bursting with excitement. She was just barely short of jumping on her bed like she did when she was happy as a little girl (when her parents were out, of course). Her robes were beautiful, blue mesh with a smooth matte silver bodice. Ned looked exceedingly elegant in a lovely suit of rich ivory.
The Chosen One was adorned in beautiful maroon scares over a rich forest green gown. Roxton thought she looked like a queen. But the queen was here, and he thought that might be an innapropriate compliment, considering their company. Offending royalty at one's best friend's wedding struck him as a bad idea. He settled for telling her she looked perfect. Apparently this was an acceptable comment, for she smiled with as much solemnity as she could muster. She stood on the pedestal where Veronica had stood just two days before. Her grand-daughter moved to her side. the rest of the family showed some surprise. Was this tough and tumble little Finn? She'd always been beautiful, of course. Everyone had known that. But she had never before seemed so . . . classical. There was no other word to describe it. Her hair was laced with flowers, little purple blooms to match her lilac dress, that had lettle bits of yellow strew over parts of it. And she was beaming, either from the attentive, and obviously impressed looks of those around her, or the joy of the wedding; none could tell. Probably both. She also seemed a bit ackward.
Marguerite began. The ceremony was very much like the one two days ago. The vows were recited. The words were changed somewhat, but they were virtually identical. No one seemed to mind. Another celebration took place after the wedding, and at this point, everyone in Avalon was feeling quite spoiled.
Halfway through the celebration, there was knock at the gates, or rather, a sound suggesting that the gates would be trampled if someone was denied entrance. The guards shifted their eyes toward one another and moved forward with their weapons.
"Who are you?" one guard called.
"I wish to see the ascention of the Seven. I am a representative of my people, and I am here to give my regards."
"Throw your weapons over the gate and dismount!" The guard ordered. A sword clanged to the ground before them. Then a boot dagger.
"Armor!" was the next command. A breast plate fell beside the others.
"Is all this really necessary?" On guard nodded to the other, and the bar was lifted.
"It is up to the warrior whether or not our guest stays," Saael informed Roxton.
The visitor entered, walking his horse, and obviously perturbed. The guards held their weapons in his direction, a precaution. "John?" Saael prompted. "Shall this . . ." She looked him over. "gentleman stay?"
John looked up at the man who had just entered. He sighed. "You've got to be kidding."
Tribune stood before them.
Marguerite huffed. "Send him away."
He scowled. "The hideous little lizzard woman."
"Hey!" Roxton stepped toward the green fellow. "That's my wife you're talking to!"
Tribune tilted his head to the side, uncharacteristically placit. "'Bout damn time," he said simply.
Roxton ignored the comment. "Why are you here?"
"News traveled to my kingdom about some big festival to do at Avalon." He gestured. "Something about the new Seven taking their places. Sounded important. I came to represent my good lizard-folk at the proceedings. I've never seen the ascension of the Seven before. Sounded fun." He looked over the treehouse family. "I must admit, I didin't expect to see you."
"Roxton nodded. "He can stay."
"John?!"
"Marguerite, he fought beside me; saved my life."
"And he nearly killed you!" she reminded him.
"I don't go back on an alliance, and I'm not one to give up on someone because of a jaded past." He looked her in the eye. "You of all people must know that." A pause for effect. "He's only here for the ceremony, and we've made peace with him. I stand by what I said. He can stay."
Saael made a quick gesture to dismiss the guards.
Tribune nodded to John in deference, a sight not often seen. "Congratulations, on both your ascent and nuptials."
"Thank you," Roxton replied solemnly. He poked Marguerite.
"Thanks," she said without enthusiasm.
Tribune looked at her in admiration. "Still have that spirit. You'd have made a lovely lizard." Marguerite glared.
Veronica looked skeptically at their guest. "Hello."
"Hello, Miss Layton." He looked around, summed up the situation. "Or is it Malone?"
She nodded tentatively. "I also hear that the Seven at this turnabout have a very . . . interesting family tree. Shall I also congradulate you on the birth of your great-great-granddaughter?"
She folded her arms indigantly. "I wish everyone would stop congradulation me on That one ."
He nodded. "My apologies." He turned. "Mr. Malone."
"Hi," he answered warily.
He turned to Summerlee. "Terribly sorry about that last incident. You know, the one where I killed you."
Summerlee seemed the least perturbed by the presence of the lizard. "It wasn't your fault. I was summoned here by the power of Avalon. If I hadn't been, I would have been found just fine right beside Lord Roxton."
Challenger eyed him with some annoyance. "Come on, come to the festval."
He turned to the gaurds. "May I have my things back now?" he hissed. They returned his armor - not the weapons. He turned to Challenger now with a completely different demeanor. "Thank you so much. It's good to see you again."
"Like -" George started.
Tribune brushed him off with a movement of his arm. "Don't lie, Professor. You loathe me. Understandable."
The natives of Avalon were somewhat ill at ease with the lizard sitting amongst them. They had never seen one before. But he seemed jovial enuogh, and caused no trouble. Perhaps it was his attitude, or perhaps because they were all drunk on dionai, either way, after a while, no one seemed to notice that he was there.
When the festivities were done, Summerlee pulled the others aside. "You know we have a strange family," he began, not knowing exactly what to say. "But you don't know everything yet." He shook his head, almost laughing at the absurdity of it. (That crazy LMR! Where does she get her crazy ideas? Ha, ha! No, really, where does she get them? We all want to destroy the transmitter.) "there are two more pieces to this bizarre puzzle. Saael explained them to me when I came, along with all the others. And now, she has decided that it is time for you to know." He was nearly bursting with excitement. "And she thought I should tell you."
********************************************************
Weird. I know, but we can't end the series with out putting Tribune back in. He's such a cute little arch - villain! ;P
Next week, on The Lost World"
"Something's wrong with Marguerite!" Roxton was not at the point of panic, but was approching it at alarming speed. Veronica put her hand on his shoulder while Ned spouted meaningless comforting little expressions.
Summerlee and Challenger checked her pulse. Seemed okay. But she was pale and sickly looking.
"Is it serious?" Finn asked, worried now.
"Indeed," Challenger replied . . .
It was time for them to say goodbye to one of their own, but this time, it would be forever.
Disclaimer: Worried about contracting a lawsuit from The Lost World? Symptoms of a lawsuit include, dealing with pissy lawyers, losing all your money, and in serious cases, even being brought before Judge Judy. But disclaimers can help to alleviate these symptoms, so you can get on with your life. So ask your doctor about disclaimers today. You deserve freedom. You deserve disclaimers. Side effects may include writers' block, forgetting what the sotry you meant to write was about because it took you so darn long to come up with a good disclaimer, and making readers mad by making them wait for their story. **************************************************
Episode 6: A War, a Wedding, an Unexpected Guest
The protector of the Plateau sat on her throne, talking cheerily with her handmaiden, Posa who had caught the attention of a young man in Avalon. he was of a lower class than one who dealt with the Protector, Queen, and Priestess, but that was hardly ever an issue in Avalon. After all, the entire society was based on love. And he was not course at all. he was the most sophisticated gentleman Posa knew. The Protector giggled. She had met the man as well, and she assured Posa that she thoroughly approved.
There was loud bang outside the chambers of the Protector. Posa grabbed her sword and headed outside. She was trained to fight, and for the safety of her people, she would do so gladly. The Protector took up her favorite weapo9n and headed outside. Posa tried to stop her, but knew even as she did that it was futile. Traditionally, the Protector was not supposedd to fight; if she died, the society was doomed. She could not go to war - to ensure the safety of the Plateau, and quite possibly the world. She was under strict orders never to risk her life for any reason, for in doing so, she would risk the lives of everyone. But this young Protector was noever one to follow orders. And it wasn't strictly enforced, either. Everyone knew that she was the best fighter among them, and would risk the Plateau greater by NOT fighting. Much like her, the Proctector's weapon was not at all traditional. She refused the swords,m knives, and spears of her people. She had found, wandering by a cave one day, a most unique weapon. To most, it might seem ackward, but it was natural to her. Made of a crude metal alloy, slightly worn. An elegant curve. A deadly flying blade. She unclipped the fllowing tresses of her elegant dress with one swift motion. Couldn't fight with that. In what seemed like less than a second, she was adonrned with the beautifful top of her royal garb, but tight short pants below, suitable for the gymnastics that she used to great effect in her fighting.
She exited her chambers to find a hostile takeover. A local tribe was attacking Avalon. Her mind quickly processed that they wanted the abundand ands near- perfect land , unlike anything on the Plateau. It had to be; Avalon was completely peaceful, and never bothered anyone. Instinctively, without thought, she shot an enemy warrior. He went down. Another. she avoided the thrust of a sword by doing a quick cartwheel, catcher her enemy off guard and hit him with an arrow. She had been told, when she ws younger, that she had inherited her amazing fighting skills from both her great - great grandmothers, who were apparently both pretty amazing, themselves. One had phsyical strenght much greater than most men, but with the agility of a dancer. The other had an aim that put the greatest hunter to shame. Apparently, it ran in the family, especially in the females.
As off balance as he was, the man with the sword was composed enough, as soon as the arrow hit him, to turn and piece Posa, standing beside the Protector in a defensive stance that didn't work.
The Protector nearly fell, but caught herself immediately, knowing that a battle was no place to grieve. that would have to wait, she thought, somewhat detatched.
And that was when the strange man grabbed her by the wrist. she raised her bow to strike, but knowing in advance how she would react to such a situation, his hand went up to stop her weapon. But he did not take it out of her hand as an enemy would. That gave her pause. There was something else about him, some sense that he was no danger. Perhaps just the look of kindness in his eyes. he seemed almost mad with some emotion that she she could have sworn was elation. He dragged her by the wrist out of the fray, and away from Avalon.
"Stop it!" she screamed. "I have to help my people! I am their Protector!"
"I know, and that's exactly why you have to come with me. I assure you everything will be fine."
Once they were far from danger, he tried his best to reassure her. "We're here to make sure that everything in Avalon will be alright, and that can't happen with you here." He touched her face lightly. "You would have died."
Then he did something completely unexpected. he took her, first by the shoulders, then hugged her as if her were a family member who had not seen her for years.
He pulled back, apologizing, he said, for his "rash behavior". "Finn, my name is George. You need to come with me now."
"You're the one my mother told me about."
He nodded. "No time, you have to come with me now." He added with a bit of whimsy, "You've got two weddings to go to."
"Weddings? Noody ever told me anything about that."
"No. Well, it's a surprise. Congradulations. You'll be the first person in history to see both sets of her great - great grandparents' weddings. Now let's go!"
He showed her the diary that he'd grabbed out of her chambers.
"Hey!"
"You'll need it. I won't remember, and neither will you."
They headed for the cave. "Hey, that's the same cave where I found my crossbow!"
No one noticed that George dissapeared and reappeared in an instant. They were looking at the center of the room. Preperations for his jump had taken a year. A year to learn what needed to be done. A year to learn of Finn's liniage. A year to discover that she was not an outsider. And a year to learn what needed to be done. And now that the year was over, he didn't even remember. He would have considered himself luchy for that.
There was a flash of light, and Finn fell to a hard wooden floor. ******************************************
The Next Day
Veronica was all but bursting with excitement. She was just barely short of jumping on her bed like she did when she was happy as a little girl (when her parents were out, of course). Her robes were beautiful, blue mesh with a smooth matte silver bodice. Ned looked exceedingly elegant in a lovely suit of rich ivory.
The Chosen One was adorned in beautiful maroon scares over a rich forest green gown. Roxton thought she looked like a queen. But the queen was here, and he thought that might be an innapropriate compliment, considering their company. Offending royalty at one's best friend's wedding struck him as a bad idea. He settled for telling her she looked perfect. Apparently this was an acceptable comment, for she smiled with as much solemnity as she could muster. She stood on the pedestal where Veronica had stood just two days before. Her grand-daughter moved to her side. the rest of the family showed some surprise. Was this tough and tumble little Finn? She'd always been beautiful, of course. Everyone had known that. But she had never before seemed so . . . classical. There was no other word to describe it. Her hair was laced with flowers, little purple blooms to match her lilac dress, that had lettle bits of yellow strew over parts of it. And she was beaming, either from the attentive, and obviously impressed looks of those around her, or the joy of the wedding; none could tell. Probably both. She also seemed a bit ackward.
Marguerite began. The ceremony was very much like the one two days ago. The vows were recited. The words were changed somewhat, but they were virtually identical. No one seemed to mind. Another celebration took place after the wedding, and at this point, everyone in Avalon was feeling quite spoiled.
Halfway through the celebration, there was knock at the gates, or rather, a sound suggesting that the gates would be trampled if someone was denied entrance. The guards shifted their eyes toward one another and moved forward with their weapons.
"Who are you?" one guard called.
"I wish to see the ascention of the Seven. I am a representative of my people, and I am here to give my regards."
"Throw your weapons over the gate and dismount!" The guard ordered. A sword clanged to the ground before them. Then a boot dagger.
"Armor!" was the next command. A breast plate fell beside the others.
"Is all this really necessary?" On guard nodded to the other, and the bar was lifted.
"It is up to the warrior whether or not our guest stays," Saael informed Roxton.
The visitor entered, walking his horse, and obviously perturbed. The guards held their weapons in his direction, a precaution. "John?" Saael prompted. "Shall this . . ." She looked him over. "gentleman stay?"
John looked up at the man who had just entered. He sighed. "You've got to be kidding."
Tribune stood before them.
Marguerite huffed. "Send him away."
He scowled. "The hideous little lizzard woman."
"Hey!" Roxton stepped toward the green fellow. "That's my wife you're talking to!"
Tribune tilted his head to the side, uncharacteristically placit. "'Bout damn time," he said simply.
Roxton ignored the comment. "Why are you here?"
"News traveled to my kingdom about some big festival to do at Avalon." He gestured. "Something about the new Seven taking their places. Sounded important. I came to represent my good lizard-folk at the proceedings. I've never seen the ascension of the Seven before. Sounded fun." He looked over the treehouse family. "I must admit, I didin't expect to see you."
"Roxton nodded. "He can stay."
"John?!"
"Marguerite, he fought beside me; saved my life."
"And he nearly killed you!" she reminded him.
"I don't go back on an alliance, and I'm not one to give up on someone because of a jaded past." He looked her in the eye. "You of all people must know that." A pause for effect. "He's only here for the ceremony, and we've made peace with him. I stand by what I said. He can stay."
Saael made a quick gesture to dismiss the guards.
Tribune nodded to John in deference, a sight not often seen. "Congratulations, on both your ascent and nuptials."
"Thank you," Roxton replied solemnly. He poked Marguerite.
"Thanks," she said without enthusiasm.
Tribune looked at her in admiration. "Still have that spirit. You'd have made a lovely lizard." Marguerite glared.
Veronica looked skeptically at their guest. "Hello."
"Hello, Miss Layton." He looked around, summed up the situation. "Or is it Malone?"
She nodded tentatively. "I also hear that the Seven at this turnabout have a very . . . interesting family tree. Shall I also congradulate you on the birth of your great-great-granddaughter?"
She folded her arms indigantly. "I wish everyone would stop congradulation me on That one ."
He nodded. "My apologies." He turned. "Mr. Malone."
"Hi," he answered warily.
He turned to Summerlee. "Terribly sorry about that last incident. You know, the one where I killed you."
Summerlee seemed the least perturbed by the presence of the lizard. "It wasn't your fault. I was summoned here by the power of Avalon. If I hadn't been, I would have been found just fine right beside Lord Roxton."
Challenger eyed him with some annoyance. "Come on, come to the festval."
He turned to the gaurds. "May I have my things back now?" he hissed. They returned his armor - not the weapons. He turned to Challenger now with a completely different demeanor. "Thank you so much. It's good to see you again."
"Like -" George started.
Tribune brushed him off with a movement of his arm. "Don't lie, Professor. You loathe me. Understandable."
The natives of Avalon were somewhat ill at ease with the lizard sitting amongst them. They had never seen one before. But he seemed jovial enuogh, and caused no trouble. Perhaps it was his attitude, or perhaps because they were all drunk on dionai, either way, after a while, no one seemed to notice that he was there.
When the festivities were done, Summerlee pulled the others aside. "You know we have a strange family," he began, not knowing exactly what to say. "But you don't know everything yet." He shook his head, almost laughing at the absurdity of it. (That crazy LMR! Where does she get her crazy ideas? Ha, ha! No, really, where does she get them? We all want to destroy the transmitter.) "there are two more pieces to this bizarre puzzle. Saael explained them to me when I came, along with all the others. And now, she has decided that it is time for you to know." He was nearly bursting with excitement. "And she thought I should tell you."
********************************************************
Weird. I know, but we can't end the series with out putting Tribune back in. He's such a cute little arch - villain! ;P
Next week, on The Lost World"
"Something's wrong with Marguerite!" Roxton was not at the point of panic, but was approching it at alarming speed. Veronica put her hand on his shoulder while Ned spouted meaningless comforting little expressions.
Summerlee and Challenger checked her pulse. Seemed okay. But she was pale and sickly looking.
"Is it serious?" Finn asked, worried now.
"Indeed," Challenger replied . . .
It was time for them to say goodbye to one of their own, but this time, it would be forever.