I stood there, bewitched by his eyes, unable to utter a word. At that moment, John came and stood by me.
Roxton: Marguerite is everything all right?
More than wanting to know if I was all right, John wanted to show that I had a 'man' in my life. Well if I had one, he is definitely out now!
Man: My sincere apologies to this wonderful young lady. I guess I missed my aim but now I see that I had in fact hit the perfect target.
I just stood there too charmed to utter a word. But John was otherwise.
Roxton: well you could have killed her.
Man: I am very sorry about it. You are?
Roxton: Not interested!
Man: I'm sure you are not but I would like to know your name Miss.
He unexpectedly took my hand and kissed it.
Me: I'm Marguerite Krux.
Man: Marguerite. Such a beautiful name but not as beautiful as its bearer.
Even Aphrodite would be a lamp before a sun in the presence of you.
One minute ago, I was furious bit now I felt my body relax at his touch as I looked into his eyes. John was however, very threatened by this unexpected...luck.
Man: You don't look familiar.
Me: my friends and I are visitors of this land.
Man: How delightful. And you are?
Roxton: Lord Roxton.
Man: A Lord?!
Roxton: A very capable Lord.
Although I never saw the appropriateness of John adding the word 'capable', I saw his face brighten up with somewhat of a victory. Just then a guard walked in.
Guard: is everything all right my lord?
Me: my lord?!
Man (to the guard): everything's fine!
Man (to me): in all this ...enchantment, I failed to introduce myself.
I'm Lycious. An adviser and friend to Atlas.
Roxton: Atlas as in the ruler?
Me: No Roxton as in the map. Of cause it's the ruler.
Me: my Lord...
Man: Address me as Lycious.
Me: very well, Lycious I'm sorry for making such a fuss about the arrow.
Man: It's perfectly fine.
Me: Now, if you would be so kind enough to excuse me, I do need to get
changed.
Man: of cause.
We turned to leave when he called me back.
Man: Marguerite.
Me: Yes?
Man: I hope to enjoy your acquaintance.
Me: Likewise.
That's when I saw it, that wonder in his eyes. The look of desire overtaking him, such that Roxton never had. Roxton? Oh my God! I called him Roxton. I never call him Roxton in my heart! Is this it? Does Lycious and I have... My thoughts had brought me right up to my door. All the way back, Roxton... er...John was going on and on about what a show off Lycious was. He even walked into my room.
Roxton: but not as beautiful as its bearer. That's like the oldest trick in the book!
Me: Roxton, would you stop it!
Roxton: why?!
Me: because I say so!
Roxton: He almost killed you!
Me: But he didn't!
I paced up and down, furious at Roxton and throwing my boots around. I practically ripped my buttons off and sent the blouse on a six!
Me: I meet the most wonderful guy in the world and you blabber something about a 'capable Lord' and scare him off! And what the heck is a capable Lord? I don't need you Roxton. I DON'T NEED YOU!
Zipping my skirt down, I kicked it up. The skirt unexpectedly flew up and landed right on Roxton's head. And there he stood, firm... with a skirt on his head. I tried so hard to suppress my laughter by molding my lips into unimaginable positions!
After a while, he took the skirt off his head and looked at it. He gave out a sigh and started to fold it. It's then that I noticed it. His face did not bear the amusement of the argument but rather a shadow of hurt covered it.
Roxton: If you must know Marguerite...you are standing in front of me with only your...er...
He pointed at me as I looked down to find myself only in my undies! I pulled the bed sheet, desperately trying to cover myself. Roxton, however, turned and left. I fell on my bed and wondered what had gone so wrong and then it dawned on me. I so told him I don't need him! But I knew that it was the truth.
My afternoon was spent alone in my room thinking of the little accident and even dinnertime approached although I was hardly able to forget Lycious. In my mind, his meeting played over and over again.
I went down to the banquet hall where Roxton sat quiet as ever and finished his dinner. I could not help this at all. He is so possessive! All I did was to speak to Lycious and he blew up. I have every right to love just as he does but I might not share his dreams. It's beyond impossible between us and we both so well knew it. Being a hunter, Roxton mostly enjoyed the thrill of the chase but the glory of the catch was nothing to him.
I could not wait for him anymore...I won't wait for him anymore. I do not know why I ever considered him! This afternoon when all were asked of their hopes, I was not even in his as a drop. It also made me think what I would do.
What's waiting back in London for me was sorrow, debts and demons to haunt me to the death. If...when Roxton finds out why I came, he would not want to look at me. He WILL despise me.
But Lycious... what I felt when I laid my eyes on him was even more strong as if it was destiny. Perhaps that's why God never let Roxton and me share life together. And perhaps that was why I finally found Atlantis, maybe I'm destined here. I can start afresh. No one knows me. I'll be free. However Melone interrupted my thoughts...once again! And I decided I'm not letting Roxton get on my way anymore.
Melone: So you were hit by Cupid's arrow this afternoon?
Me: Cupid? Oh that. And by the way, it's not Cupid it's Eros.
Melone: Eros as in... erotic.
Could you believe it! He was blushing so much as he said this that he looked like a strawberry tart!
Me: Yes Melone! All Greek Gods have Roman equivalents. Like Venus is Aphrodite, Victoria is Nike and a whole lot more. Most of the universe is named after these Roman equivalents.
And then it dawned upon me! The tablets I discovered at that temple and the quote, "She shall wake, throwing fire across the sky, when the Gods align in the Universe." The ideas came pouring in and I hastily excused myself to my room.
While there, I took a piece of paper and tried to write down the names of the Gods according to a familiar order. Right! I vividly remember having 11 tablets and a huge stone in the middle. It belonged to the God Helios, God of the Son. And his Roman equivalent was Sol and now Sun. Could it be that they were trying to underline the universe, the planets? I wrote down the planets according to its order in the Universe. That would be Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (Pluto was only discovered till 13 March 1930).
There would also be the Sun and the moon. Now let's see:
Mercury would be Hermes.
Venus would be Aphrodite.
Earth would be Atlas.
Mars would be Ares.
Jupiter would be Zeus.
Saturn would be Prometheus- It got it's name through the planet's
association with fire.
Uranus IS Uranus.
Neptune would be Poseidon.
When considering the moon and the sun, it was more complicated. The Goddess of the moon is Selene and her Roman counterpart was Luna. The word Luna is used to describe the moon.
All I wanted to do now was to check my theory. Was I right? I took the paper, my pistol and sneaked out of the room. It was very easy as the Atlanteans were much into celebrations and did not necessarily have a reason for celebrating. It was almost eight as I ran towards the forest, praying that my absence was unnoticed. The moon illuminated my path before me as I reached my destination. I lowered myself into the hole, which was only about 8 feet deep and took the torch.
Me: O great Prometheus God of Fire and light, show us your power, show us you face, show us your hand's might.
As before, the torch lit up and I made my way down. The heat seemed to have intensified through that day. It was quite, so awfully quite that I wished Lycious was there. It would have been wonderful. Both of us venturing together into darkness, into mystery. I saw it in his eyes this afternoon. His sense of pure adventure unlike Roxton who only laughed at me. He has Veronica. It was pure and simple to see. Roxton told me that I was Marguerite, Goddess of overwhelming annoyance. But to Luscious even Aphrodite would be a lamp before a sun in my presence.
I slowly ventured down to the hall, my fear banished by the warm thoughts of Lycious that I could hardly decide which made me feel so hot- the cave or Lycious!
I took out the paper and checked my version against the tablets. Everything matched according to the planets. Have I really found the key? Did I really find the true meaning of those tablets? Were they counting down to something? Were they counting down to the end of Atlantis?!
But then again, I had all except one the last tablet. The Tablet of Hades . His Roman equivalent of Pluto was not a planet. Perhaps they were referring to the underworld.
Me: or perhaps it's not discovered yet! Wait till Challenger here's about this!
I ran up the stairs, my tiredness wiped away by excitement. I do not know how I reached my room and crashed inside to get more paper. My discovery can turn any way. It can either be the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end.
As Marguerite entered the room, someone struck her head and she fell unconscious on the carpet.
