Chapter 8: A Family Reunited
Within half an hour, the mists parted and the island of Avalon
appeared. There was a huge city with an even bigger palace in the
background. At this point, everyone knew that this was not a dream,
but a reality, and they were all starting to get excited to finally being
able to see Veronica, Marguerite and Summerlee.
They had reached the docks, and everyone was quick to get out of the
boats. Once the boats were tied, they began their journey through the
streets of Avalon. Everyone was dumbfounded at the beauty of the city.
The explorers began to notice the people's eyes beginning to wander in
their direction. Whispers of who, what, and why began to fly around
the city streets, making the explorers wonder the same thing. Why did
they have to come to Avalon? What do Veronica and Marguerite's
destinies involve? They knew Veronica was the protector, but what
purpose does the chosen one serve? Everyone's thoughts cleared as
they now stood at the base of the palace's staircase. They all stared in
awe, even the Avatars, who had probably seen the place thousands of
times. It had a majestic beauty about it.
"This is the palace of Morrighan and the Protector. They have been
eagerly awaiting your arrival" said Bailian.
With that said, the explorers were gone in a flash. Roxton and Finn
were in the lead, with Challenger and Malone not too far behind them.
As they made their way to the top, the doors opened, and there stood
the man they thought they had lost about two years ago: Arthur
Summerlee.
Everyone stood still, afraid to move, fearing it was a dream. They then
slowly made their way over to him, still afraid he was only one of the
memories that they had experienced before.
"Now you would think that after two years, I would recieve a warmer
hello than this!" Said Summerlee with a smile.
Challenger stepped forward and extended his hand to his colleague
and friend. Summerlee looked at his hand and back up to his face,
then reached out and hugged the man. Challenger was a little
shocked, but gratefully accepted it.
"You have been greatly missed" said Challenger.
"I know, I have been watching" said Summerlee with a teasing smile.
He knew with all that George had seen in the past few days, and even
with the shifting planes he was probably still trying to explain, that
would have him picking his brain even more.
Challenger moved out of the way to let the others say their hello's.
Roxton was next, giving Arthur a warm and tender hug, followed by
Malone. Then a shy Finn made her way over.
"It's nice to meet yah. I've heard a lot about yah. My name is Finn."
"It is lovely to meet you too my dear and yes, Veronica and Marguerite
have told me a lot about you as well" he said with a warm smile.
"Speaking of Veronica, where is she?" Asked Malone.
"Yes, and Marguerite" added Roxton.
"Ah, of course. This way." Said Summerlee, making his way through
the palace doors.
As they made their way through the hallways and corridors, they finally
reached a hallway with paintings on the walls that looked ancient. As
Summerlee made his way down the hallway, his teacher mode kicked
in, and he pretty well started explaining the history of every painting.
They were getting impatient, but no one wanted to be rude, until Finn
finally spoke up.
"Umm, yah, this is all really interesting and stuff, but can we save the
guided tour for later?"
"Oh, of course. I keep forgetting how long it has been since you have
seen Veronica and Ms. Krux." Said Summerlee, a little hurt.
They made their way to the end of the hallway, and they all took deep
breaths as Summerlee opened the doors.
The room was amazing. The explorers assumed it was the library, due
to the amount of books that covered the walls. The room was very big.
On all four sides were bookcases, and on the wall of the opposite side
of the room, there was a hole cut in the bookcase, and there was a
balcony with a set of stairs. While the explorers' eyes were wandering,
they didn't notice the jungle beauty come in from the balcony, until
they heard her gasp.
The explorers looked, and saw the sight of Veronica. They almost didn't
recognize her at first. The floor length baby blue made her sun kissed
skin glow and her hair, pulled up and off her face, showed a newfound
maturity in her face and form. Tears had started to form in her eyes.
"You're here! You're actually here!" she said, making her way over to
the group. She first hugged Finn, who also had tears in her eyes.
"I've missed yah, Vee." Finn said, trying not to cry.
"I missed you too, Finn." Veronica replied, with a smile.
She then made her way over to Challenger and hugged him, and gave
him a peck on the cheek.
"You have been greatly missed." Said Challenger
"We all have greatly missed one and another. But now we do not have
to worry about being separated again." Veronica said, with a
concerned look on her face that no one seemed to notice.
Veronica went over to Roxton and gave the man whom she had
considered an older brother a warm hug. She had missed being
around him these past few weeks.
"Someone is waiting for you in the garden" Veronica quietly whispered
in Roxton's ear. "Just go out the balcony and take the stairs."
"Thank you" Roxton whispered.
"Well, I am sure you all are tired. It is quite the journey. I will show you
to your rooms. Follow me." Said Veronica, giving Roxton a small wink.
Once the room was clear, Roxton made a mad dash to the balcony and
down the stairs. The garden was very beautiful, full of amazing colours
and unique flowers Roxton had never seen before. Summerlee must
have had a ball when he first got here, he thought to himself. He also
noticed that there was a maze, and something told him to go inside.
Roxton made his way through, hitting dead ends, and the right way,
then more dead ends and he was starting to get frustrated. That's
when he found what he had been looking for.
Roxton entered the centre of the maze. It was a beautiful stone
gazebo, with someone sitting in it with their back turned to him, and
Roxton knew immediately who it was. He gasped at the sight of her,
just sitting there, all by herself. He was afraid to move, fearing that she
would disappear. Then she turned around and gasped herself.
"John..." Marguerite said, with tears streaming down her face.
Hearing the sound of her voice, he was at her side in a flash. He slowly
cautiously cupped the side of her face, fearing the posibilitythis was an
evil dream.
"Marguerite...this is no dream, right?" He asked.
"No, John it isn't." She replied.
With that said, Roxton kissed her like their was no tomorrow. He
poured all of the love and passion he felt for this woman into that kiss,
telling her what words couldn't.
They broke apart an eternity later, taking a deep breath and just
enjoying the presence of each other.
"I have missed you so much, John" Marguerite said, tears still
streaming down her face. She was so overcome with emotion, she
couldn't stop.
Roxton kissed her tears away. "I know love, I know. I never want to let
you out of my sight again. I love you so much." Said Roxton, leaning in
for another mind-blowing kiss.
Marguerite accepted his lips, having missed the feeling of them against
her own. She never knew the kind of pain their separation would cause
her to feel until they were apart, but she knew she never wanted to
feel it again. They broke apart, still holding each other, just happy to
be together again, when Roxton's curiosity got the better of him.
"So tell me, my dear. What is going on?" He asked her with a smile.
Marguerite sighed, wanting to enjoy their time together a little longer,
and said "Let's go find the others, and Veronica and I will tell you
everything."
Roxton nodded in agreement, leaning in to steal one more kiss, before
leaving for the palace.
End of Chapter 8! More to come soon!