Disclaimer: I don't own The Lost World or any of its characters, so don't sue me. I do however own, well why ruin a perfectly good surprise. You will know them when you read them.

Author's note: Thanks to all of you faithful readers who have been writing me from the beginning and to those of you who only just jumped this crazy train I welcome you. I hope you all enjoy the fourth installment of:

Legacy: Marguerite's Turn Chapter 4: Answers by: TheChosenOne

"You know what happened to my parents?" Marguerite was in shock. 'How could this woman just show up and know everything about me? Even the things that I have spent my whole life trying to figure out?'

"Marguerite I have been with you your entire life. I have been that force driving you and the conscience in your head. I know everything that has, is, and will happen to you. This however is the last time you will ever feel my presence. This is my destiny, for this life at least. Now for your parents.it is important that you all know that these two people did what they did out of love. They loved each other with the kind of love that can only be found in fairy tales. They were very passionate, strong- willed people. When they wanted something nothing would stop them."

"Wow that explains so much. Now we now why Marguerite is so stubborn." Finn stated rather bluntly. If Marguerite had not been so distracted she might have had a comeback. As it was Malone and Veronica looked amused, Challenger gave her a reproachful look, and Roxton smiled for the distraction.

"It never ceases to amaze me how right you are about your friends here Marguerite." Morrigan said smiling at the explorers.

"You can read my mind? You know what I don't really care. Can we just get this over with?" Marguerite had been waiting for this her whole life and did not want to wait anymore.

"As I was saying.your parents' names were Richard and Emily Laurence and you are Marguerite Victoria Laurence. This all started when your mother was captured by a man named Tempest."

Morrigan waved her hand and once again images were being shown on the strange light. It showed a woman tied to a wall in a strange room. The room was made of stone. She was bruised and cut, but other than that she didn't look to be too badly injured. Her long curly dark brown hair was trying very hard to remain in the braid that it was in earlier. Her eyes, that was how the explorers identified this woman as Emily Laurence, Marguerite's mother. Her eyes were the same fiery green that Marguerite's eyes were half the time. At that moment Emily was glaring at the man standing in front of her. He was tall and intimidating. He had white hair and abnormally dark eyes. He looked down at the woman struggling on the floor.

"Emily, it is pointless to fight me. I will get what I want."

"You will get nothing from me Tempest. You will go to Hell before I give you a damn thing." Emily spit back, the fire in her eyes never fading. She continued to struggle with her bindings, if only to show Tempest that she was not giving up or giving in.

"We shall see about that. Your husband may have different feelings on the matter. He's on his way you know. I think I shall go greet him. Now don't go away." Emily could hear his laughter as he walked out of the room to meet Richard.

The images changed and now two men were sitting down in a different room. It was also made out of stone, but did not feel as menacing. They were sitting opposite each other. One man was the same man from the last set of images, Tempest. The man sitting across from him had jet-black hair and icy blue eyes. The same icy blue eyes that told the explorers that Marguerite was in her 'mess-with-me-and-die' mood. It was when Marguerite was in those moods that Roxton found teasing her irresistible. And that usually lead to the rest of the treehouse residents throwing the bickering lovebirds out to 'cool off'. That man, Richard Laurence, was giving that same icy glare to Tempest.

"Oh come now Richard, don't look at me like that. This is just business." Tempest was enjoying tormenting this man and his wife. 'But who knew business could be this much fun.'

"No, you have my wife, this is completely personal." Richard responded, his eyes were stone cold and revealed none of the raging emotions he felt in his heart.

"That is true isn't it? And Emily has been such a trooper. She hasn't screamed once when she was beaten."

"You son of a ."

"Richard such language. I'm appalled and offended." Tempest allowed himself a little chuckle at the obvious rage on Richard's face. "Now back to business. I will give you back your precious wife right now. Just say the word."

"And the catch would be."

"Oh no catch. Oh I forgot a small detail. I want your first-born daughter."

"Are you insane?"

"Now that you mention it, I do believe I am a little.crazy. But I don't really see how that is relevant." Tempest answered acting very sincere.

"Do you honestly think that I will give you my first daughter? Emily will never agree to it."

"Well that's fine. I will simply kill Emily. That will solve all of my problems just as well as obtaining your daughter would."

"What are you talking about? Why do you want our first daughter anyways? We are just normal people; we have no power or anything that would be of use to you. There is more to this than robbing us of our non-existent child." Richard knew that he was on to something, he could tell by Tempest's slightly surprised face.

"I didn't give you enough credit Richard. Bravo! If you must know, you may be normal but you're daughter will not be. She will have more power than you can imagine. Now why destroy that power when I can control it?"

Richard stopped arguing with Tempest in order to think of a way to get himself, his wife, and their future daughter, out of this mess. 'But the child is not born yet. We only found out that we were having a child last week. How did Tempest know that Emily was pregnant? That doesn't matter; I just need to find a way to get all THREE of us out of here.' After a few minutes of careful consideration he came up with a plan he hoped would work.

"Fine. You give me Emily and we will give you our daughter." Richard said standing determinedly in front of Tempest.

"Splendid. And don't worry Richard, two young healthy people like you and Emily can have another kid to replace the one that you will give up." Tempest called in some of his men to "go and retrieve Mrs. Laurence from her quarters."

"Oh I enjoyed meeting you both, and I'm sure the feeling's mutual. I hope we will see each other again. How is nine months from now? And to make it convenient for you, how about I come and visit you; no matter where you are I can find you. Good now that that is settled, my guards will escort you home.

Emily and Richard were both taken back to the edge of Avalon, their home. They were both tired and worried. Richard had told Emily the deal he made with Tempest and she would not even look him in the eye when he explained his plan to her. She admitted it was their best shot at keeping their daughter away from Tempest.

The images faded, allowing the explorers a chance to breathe. They were all subconsciously holding their breaths. While Morrigan watched all six of them and observed their reactions. It always amazed her that these people have formed such a strong bond that five of them can feel everything that the sixth is going through. 'And they don't even know how strong their bond actually is, yet.'

Morrigan did not want to give them the story in segments and prolong Marguerite's anxiety, thus prolonging her friends' anxiety. She waved her hand again and the last half of the story appeared in front of the weary adventurers.

This time the now familiar faces of Richard and Emily were joined with two other familiar faces: Thomas and Abigail Layton, Veronica's parents. The four were in the middle of what seemed to be a throne room of sorts. The room was huge and light. It gave one the feel of being in an open meadow. For all of the beauty around them, the couples in the middle did not look happy. Emily and Richard looked pretty much the same as they were what could only have been about eight and a half months ago, judging by the size of Emily's stomach. Tom and Abigail looked just like the picture that Veronica kept in her jewelry box and just like they looked in Veronica's memories.

"It is decided then. When Emily has the baby we will release her into your care and you will take care of her until it is safe for us to reclaim her." Richard said firmly, trying desperately not to let his voice crack. He looked down at Emily who made no attempt to cover her sorrow, not that she could have if she wanted to.

Tom and Abigail looked at their friends with sympathy. Abigail knew what it was like to be wanted for power. She suspected that one day, she and Tom might have to hide their child in order to protect her. For like Richard and Emily, they would have a daughter with abnormally strong powers, even for a Protector of the Plateau. It had been concluded in the first months of Emily's pregnancy that she would be giving birth to a Chosen One, that would explain Tempest's interest in her.

"So have you decided on a name yet? Well, since you already know it's a girl." Abigail said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, it was not a happy time for any of them.

"Yes we have." Emily said drying her tears as best she could. "We are going to name her Marguerite Victoria Laurence." Emily smiled and touched her swelled belly.

"What a beautiful name. I'm sure she will be as beautiful as the name she was given." Abigail pulled her childhood friend into a hug. Abigail, Richard, and Emily had been friends for as long as any of them can remember. Abigail didn't leave the plateau until after Emily and Richard's wedding, in which she was the maid of honor. It was her secret regret that her best friends could not be there for her and Tom's wedding.

"That reminds me, we had this made for her. Would you make sure that she gets this, so she knows that her parents did not forget her and we love her always." Richard pulled out a silver box and opened it to show his friends. In it was a golden heart-shaped locket. When opened, the inscription said, 'Our dearest Marguerite, forever in our hearts.'* He handed it to Tom, Tom carefully put in his pack.

With a few final words of good-bye, Tom and Abigail left their friends to start a life away from Abigail's future responsibilities. Richard and Emily left Abigail's home, the home where generations of Protectors have resided while assuming their duties of course. It was a home that Richard and Emily have always been very comfortable in. It was where the young trio would run around and cause the household servants to practically have breakdowns.

The image of Avalon shimmered and faded into a new image. The four were reunited in Abigail's home. Emily was back to her normal size and rocking a three week old Marguerite in her arms. The atmosphere was very solemn. Marguerite sensed how sad her parents and her Aunt Abby and Uncle Tom were so she decided to start giggling and drew their attention from whatever sad thoughts they were thinking. All four adults looked at the beautiful little girl and each one of them grinned at her.

"I do believe she did that on purpose." Tom said as he looked at the girl he would help raise as his niece.

"Yes she has a gift for sensing people's feelings. It is amazing. She is only three weeks old, but she has the presence of mind of a five year old." Richard said while tickling his darling daughter. He didn't know how he and Emily were going to survive not seeing her grow up. Not being able to experience her first words or steps or other priceless things that once they are gone you can never get back. He knew this would be the hardest thing either of them would ever do.

"Speaking of gifts, I was thinking. Abigail, do you think that you can hide your powers like your mother did to you when you were young. She wanted to give you as normal a childhood as she could and that is what I want for Marguerite. She will already grow up without her parents she shouldn't have to deal with learning to use and control her powers too." Emily shifted her gaze from Abigail to the child in her arms. She didn't like the fact that she would have to hide a part of who her daughter was from her daughter, but it would be safer for Marguerite if she did not have access to her powers. Emily knew that somehow Tempest will be able to sense Marguerite's powers when they grow larger, and given the rate at which Marguerite seems to be developing them , it wouldn't be long.

"Well, I can stun most of them and stop them from developing further, at least until she's ready, but I cannot stun all of them. Marguerite is not just a Chosen One she is the Chosen One. That birthmark on her shoulder blade proves that she will have not only the powers of a Chosen One, but she will also have the powers of the druid priestess Morrigan. She will be more powerful than I am and I cannot tap into some of those powers. Hopefully what I can do will be enough to prevent Tempest from sensing her power."

Emily and Abigail stood in the middle of the room. Abigail placed right hand on the birthmark on baby Marguerite's back, while her left hand held the Trion. Abigail pressed the Trion to Marguerite's chest and closed her eyes. Soon there was a bright silver glow around Marguerite. When the baby saw this she giggled happily. A dimmer, but still bright, gold glow enveloped Abigail. After a few minutes the silver light diminished until it was nothing more than a thin layer around Marguerite, no longer glowing but shimmering. Marguerite went limp in Emily's arms. Abigail removed her hands and lost her balance. Luckily Tom was behind her and steadied her.

"Don't worry. Marguerite is just asleep. She will have to gain strength to replace the power that she no longer has." Abigail explained after Tom helped her sit down.

After Abigail's color returned to normal, Tom and Abigail announced that they should get going because Tempest could arrive at any moment. Richard scooped up his baby girl out of her cradle and looked into her eyes, that right now, looked just like her mother's. She smiled back up at her father.

"I love you so much Marguerite. I am so sorry that I have to put you through this. You are going to grow up into such a beautiful woman and I will miss most of it. But nothing will stop me from walking you down the aisle at your wedding, or holding my first grandchild. I am so sorry Marguerite. There won't be a day that goes by that I won't think of you and hopefully that locket will let you know that no matter where we are your mother and I miss, are thinking about you, but most importantly, love you more than life itself. One day the three of us will be the family that we cannot be now. You will always be my little princess." Richard kissed the top of Marguerite's head. His tears were now flowing from his cheeks to her head. Marguerite stopped smiling, she knew that this was a sad moment, though she couldn't sense why. Richard gave his daughter one last hug and handed her to her mother.

"Oh my precious baby girl how will I ever live without your smiling face and your beautiful eyes. I love you so much. You are my miracle, the miracle I have been praying for my whole life. I know the pain you will have to go through growing up without your parents, but your Aunt Abby and Uncle Tom will take good care of you. And one day they will give you a baby cousin so that you will have a sister. You will be taken care of until the day your father and I will come back for you. Until then I will think of you, miss you, and love you until the day it is safe for us to be a family again. I know that locket will not be able to kiss your boo-boo's or tuck you in at night, but whenever you get lonely you can hold that locket and know that we have not stopped trying to get back to you and we will never stop until you are back in our arms again. Please be happy. And don't close your heart off like I did when I was young. I have one wish for you my darling, I wish that you find where you belong, where you love and are loved. Only when you find that place will you ever be able to be truly happy." Emily hugged her daughter one last time and whispered in her ear, "This is not good-bye, my love, this is until we meet again." She kissed Marguerite's cheek and handed her to Abigail.

After gathering the essentials they would need to take care of their niece, Tom and Abigail left their two very heartbroken friends, promising that they will take care of their treasure as if she was their own.

The image faded on Emily and Richard who were both crying and leaning on each other for support. The small break once again allowed the explorers to let what they had just seen sink in. Marguerite refused to look at anyone. She was staring at nothing and doing her best not to breakdown and give in to the anger, confusion, pain, comfort, happiness, and love that all coursed through her. Not one of her friends' eyes were dry, even the mighty Roxton was crying not only from the touching display but also because he could only guess what Marguerite was feeling. Challenger was looking at Marguerite from over the top of Finn's head, as she was using his shoulder to cry on. What she saw reminded her of her parents' final moments, she knew what Marguerite was going through. Malone was also looking at Marguerite but from over Veronica's head. When she saw her parents she started to cry. Seeing the last moment Marguerite had with her parents made her cry harder.

"There is still more that you have to see." Morrigan said solemnly. 'This part will be the hardest.'

The light shimmered again to show Richard and Emily, they were standing outside of what the Challenger expedition could only assume was their home. It was about the same size as the treehouse, only it was on the ground and was not made of wood and thatch.

"Come on out and show me what a beautiful baby girl I have." A voice called from outside. Richard looked at his wife.

"Stay here." He said and walked out to meet Tempest.

"You will not get her Tempest. She is not here. We gave her up and do not know where she is. Now leave me and my wife alone with our grief." Richard commanded. Tempest looked at Richard and smiled an evil smile.

"That is most unfortunate, especially for you." Tempest did not let a moment pass by before he took a step closer to Richard. The smile never faded as his pupils dilated until they covered his entire eyes. Tempest began to chant some words that no one could hear clearly. Suddenly Richard's body went ridged and he collapsed onto the ground.

Emily picked that moment to come and check on Richard. She screamed and ran to him. Richard looked at her and smiled as best he could. He looked up at the sky and whispered, "I'm sorry my little princess, but Daddy will have to break his promise to you. You will be happy though I promise and that is a promise I will never break." He turned back to Emily and said, "I love you my Emily. I'm sorry and I love you."

"I love you too my darling." He smiled, kissed her hand, and closed his eyes forever.

"Oh that was so touching I think I feel a tear coming on.nope.wait.it was just heartburn, my mistake." Tempest laughed at the horrified look on Emily's face.

"You bastard! You make me give up my baby, then you kill my husband and joke about my pain?! How can you be so cruel?"

"It's a gift! But no autographs please. Now tell me what you did with my little power house and you will not have to share the same fate as your husband. Come on you negotiated her life for yours once, you can do it again."

"I would rather join my husband in his grave than give you my baby!" Emily screamed. When she saw the look on Tempest's face, she knew they would be the last words she would ever say. Once again Tempest's pupils dilated, he chanted incoherently, and Emily went rigid and collapsed.

"Pity. Now when I find your precious daughter I will have to kill her. And I promise you, I will find her." Tempest turned around and walked away.

"Oh Marguerite I am so sorry that your father and I will not be there to raise you. But we will watch you grow up. I will always be there for you my darling daughter, I will be in your dreams and in your heart. I'm sorry Marguerite, but this is good-bye." Emily Laurence took her last breath and closed her eyes. But before death could completely claim it's latest victim, Emily heard a voice in her head say, "Fear not, for your daughter will not be alone. I, the high priestess Morrigan, will watch over her until the day I reveal to her your fate and point her towards hers."

Well there you go folks. That is my version of what happened to Marguerite's parents. But don't worry the story is not over yet. And remember the more reviews I receive the sooner the story will be finished, so please R&R.