Post by Helia Hawke on Apr 29, 2005 7:17:03 GMT -5
…Rose stared out the window of the tower she shared with Dar. She could almost hear the McGee brothers laughing as she thought of the famous “steal cows” incident that had brought together she and Dar. At first, the only thing they shared was a great love of magic, that, and a mutual friend…Violet. It was Violet that had introduced she and Dar at the large banquet that followed the incident. Rose had been completely oblivious to Dar’s interest at first…she chuckled a bit as she recalled his first clumsy attempts to attract her attention. It was not long, however, that she and Dar shared more than just a love of magic…they shared a love for each other. Rose stared into the sunlight streaming through the window…they were married on a bright sunny day…just like today.
There was a rap on the door.
The sound brought Rose’s mind back to the present. She opened the door to reveal one of Dar’s best friends, Chia. Sobbing, she fell into Chia’s arms…
“Chia, I can’t believe he’s gone!,” she said through her tears.
For a long time, Chia just let her cry. When the crying had subsided Chia spoke softly…
“What do you mean he’s gone. Where had Dar gone.”
“I don’t know. He’s just gone. I came home and the tower was empty. That was three days ago. I thought maybe he just got lost or something but…oh Chia…I think Dar’s run off with another woman!”
“What?” cried Chia in disbelieve, “Are you kidding? Dar loves you more than his own life. He would never just run off.”
Rose’s tears began to subside. Catching her breath she said, worriedly, “But he had that affair with Violet…”
Chia cut her off, adding abruptly, “…and that was a long time before you had any interest whatsoever in him…”
“But the twins…” Rose added sobbing all over again.
Chia looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Dar cares for Diamond and Angel very much…and he always takes care of them…but that doesn’t mean he would go running off with their mother.”
“…and what about Flower?” Rose added trying to control her tears.
Chia said calmly, “Flower Villous and Dar where divorced long before he even met you. I doubt that Dar even knows where she is any more. Look. There has to be some explanation.”
Through sniffles, Rose said meekly, “He didn’t even leave a note.”
“No note?”
“None.”
“Did you look everywhere?” Dar asked. “What about his laboratory?”
“Well… Rose hesitated… “No. He asked me not to go in there…”
“Lets look together,” Chia said in the most reassuring tone he could managed; and up the stairs they went. Once in the laboratory they sorted through what seemed like mountains of scrolls and books before Rose found a note, written in a hand that appeared as if it had been written hurriedly…
Dearest Rose,
I know we have discussed this before, and I understand why you don’t want to come with. You are right, the moongate could go nowhere. But think! It could go somewhere beyond any shard of the great crystal! Conditions are right now, and won’t be right for another year. I beg you to follow one day, if you have the courage.
Dar
Turning away, she thrust the note at Dar who read it silently and then set it down. Looking intently at Rose he heaved a sigh. “Well you know what they say Rose…curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought her back…”
Rose turned back to Chia angrily. She opened her mouth but suddenly she was at a loss for words. She stood there in the laboratory. Staring at the note; the same note that she would look at over and over again in the course of the following year…
…a year that had been the longest in her life. It was the absence of Dar that had finally given her the courage to summon the strange moongate that went…well…she didn’t know where it went. Reading off the last words of the incantation the strange burnt orange moongate appeared in the middle of the room…
“well”, Rose said aloud, “Let’s hope it at least goes somewhere…”
Closing her eyes, Rose half expected to follow Dar into oblivion, as she stepped into the moongate….instead…she opened her eyes on the other side of the moongate to a somewhat familiar countryside…and a very familiar…very astonished face in the front yard of a small villa…
It was long moments before Dar and Rose even found the words to speak to each other.
Rose spoke first. “You might have said something,” she said, hitting Dar playfully.
“I did.”
“Well you should have insisted…”
“I did”
“I didn’t believe you.” Rose sighed.
“I know. That’s why I went. Dar said with a smile, I knew the only way you would follow me is if you missed me. And here you are!”
“And here I am. Rose smiled back, …and where exactly is here.”
Excitedly Dar ushered her back to his small villa. “A strange and wonderful place. Familiar yes. It is very much like Britannia. In fact, it is Britannia; but so much more. It is a place of nightmares and legends. But this…this my dear Rose is just the beginning….”
…and what it was the beginning of was a research on a moongate that would take them not just to another shard…but into the very future itself! Research that brought Dar and Rose closer then they had ever been before. Years passed into decades before the great day finally came…
…but this time, it was quite by accident. Dar was more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs as he stirred the potion. Next to him, Rose read words off of a parchment, written in an arcane language that only she understood.
Both Dar and Rose had spent many long hours working on a moongate that would take fling them into the future. What they had not expected was just how well it would work…and just what it was that would do the “flinging.” The wave of energy that took them into the future was not that of a moongate…instead it was from an explosion. An explosion that unexpectedly leveled the small villa where they lived and worked…and now died…
…or so Roses daughter had thought at the time. And so her daughter had lead her daughter after her to believe, and her daughters daughter, as the story passed through the generations of the sad day Rose’s daughter and friends sifted through the rubble of her parents villa…only to find no trace of Dar nor Rose. So they were presumed dead; bodies vanished in the explosion. A supposition that had obviously been all too wrong. For here they were. Victoria Rose Villous…Rose and Dar Villous’ great granddaughter…stared across the room of her Zento city home at her great grandmother, rocking near the fire as was her habit. She had come to visit, as she often did, making the long journey from her castle on marble island. She seemed to prefer the “modest” home of Victoria…well…modest only compared to her great grandmother’s castle. They spent many long hours together, as Victoria listened to her great grandmother’s stories of lands far away…
But THAT, my friends, is a story for another day…
There was a rap on the door.
The sound brought Rose’s mind back to the present. She opened the door to reveal one of Dar’s best friends, Chia. Sobbing, she fell into Chia’s arms…
“Chia, I can’t believe he’s gone!,” she said through her tears.
For a long time, Chia just let her cry. When the crying had subsided Chia spoke softly…
“What do you mean he’s gone. Where had Dar gone.”
“I don’t know. He’s just gone. I came home and the tower was empty. That was three days ago. I thought maybe he just got lost or something but…oh Chia…I think Dar’s run off with another woman!”
“What?” cried Chia in disbelieve, “Are you kidding? Dar loves you more than his own life. He would never just run off.”
Rose’s tears began to subside. Catching her breath she said, worriedly, “But he had that affair with Violet…”
Chia cut her off, adding abruptly, “…and that was a long time before you had any interest whatsoever in him…”
“But the twins…” Rose added sobbing all over again.
Chia looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Dar cares for Diamond and Angel very much…and he always takes care of them…but that doesn’t mean he would go running off with their mother.”
“…and what about Flower?” Rose added trying to control her tears.
Chia said calmly, “Flower Villous and Dar where divorced long before he even met you. I doubt that Dar even knows where she is any more. Look. There has to be some explanation.”
Through sniffles, Rose said meekly, “He didn’t even leave a note.”
“No note?”
“None.”
“Did you look everywhere?” Dar asked. “What about his laboratory?”
“Well… Rose hesitated… “No. He asked me not to go in there…”
“Lets look together,” Chia said in the most reassuring tone he could managed; and up the stairs they went. Once in the laboratory they sorted through what seemed like mountains of scrolls and books before Rose found a note, written in a hand that appeared as if it had been written hurriedly…
Dearest Rose,
I know we have discussed this before, and I understand why you don’t want to come with. You are right, the moongate could go nowhere. But think! It could go somewhere beyond any shard of the great crystal! Conditions are right now, and won’t be right for another year. I beg you to follow one day, if you have the courage.
Dar
Turning away, she thrust the note at Dar who read it silently and then set it down. Looking intently at Rose he heaved a sigh. “Well you know what they say Rose…curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought her back…”
Rose turned back to Chia angrily. She opened her mouth but suddenly she was at a loss for words. She stood there in the laboratory. Staring at the note; the same note that she would look at over and over again in the course of the following year…
…a year that had been the longest in her life. It was the absence of Dar that had finally given her the courage to summon the strange moongate that went…well…she didn’t know where it went. Reading off the last words of the incantation the strange burnt orange moongate appeared in the middle of the room…
“well”, Rose said aloud, “Let’s hope it at least goes somewhere…”
Closing her eyes, Rose half expected to follow Dar into oblivion, as she stepped into the moongate….instead…she opened her eyes on the other side of the moongate to a somewhat familiar countryside…and a very familiar…very astonished face in the front yard of a small villa…
It was long moments before Dar and Rose even found the words to speak to each other.
Rose spoke first. “You might have said something,” she said, hitting Dar playfully.
“I did.”
“Well you should have insisted…”
“I did”
“I didn’t believe you.” Rose sighed.
“I know. That’s why I went. Dar said with a smile, I knew the only way you would follow me is if you missed me. And here you are!”
“And here I am. Rose smiled back, …and where exactly is here.”
Excitedly Dar ushered her back to his small villa. “A strange and wonderful place. Familiar yes. It is very much like Britannia. In fact, it is Britannia; but so much more. It is a place of nightmares and legends. But this…this my dear Rose is just the beginning….”
…and what it was the beginning of was a research on a moongate that would take them not just to another shard…but into the very future itself! Research that brought Dar and Rose closer then they had ever been before. Years passed into decades before the great day finally came…
…but this time, it was quite by accident. Dar was more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs as he stirred the potion. Next to him, Rose read words off of a parchment, written in an arcane language that only she understood.
Both Dar and Rose had spent many long hours working on a moongate that would take fling them into the future. What they had not expected was just how well it would work…and just what it was that would do the “flinging.” The wave of energy that took them into the future was not that of a moongate…instead it was from an explosion. An explosion that unexpectedly leveled the small villa where they lived and worked…and now died…
…or so Roses daughter had thought at the time. And so her daughter had lead her daughter after her to believe, and her daughters daughter, as the story passed through the generations of the sad day Rose’s daughter and friends sifted through the rubble of her parents villa…only to find no trace of Dar nor Rose. So they were presumed dead; bodies vanished in the explosion. A supposition that had obviously been all too wrong. For here they were. Victoria Rose Villous…Rose and Dar Villous’ great granddaughter…stared across the room of her Zento city home at her great grandmother, rocking near the fire as was her habit. She had come to visit, as she often did, making the long journey from her castle on marble island. She seemed to prefer the “modest” home of Victoria…well…modest only compared to her great grandmother’s castle. They spent many long hours together, as Victoria listened to her great grandmother’s stories of lands far away…
But THAT, my friends, is a story for another day…