Legend Redux
By: Chance Hensley ( [Tekkon KinKreet] )
"A simple thing, that men would kill and die for..." Lady wondered aloud.
For years uncounted she had wrestled with this very thought. She had moved countless times, relocating each time another had come knocking on her door thinking to acquire this piece of forgotten history. Each had a different reason, a different yearning. And each had found themselves on the wrong end of the very item they had sought.
Lately, she had begun wondering if she would be able to relinquish it again, even if her love came back for it. And if he was no longer fit to wield it, would she have the resolve to release it forever and allow Fate to play it's hand? It had been so difficult to part with the first time.
These were the thoughts Lady feared most. When they began forcing their way through her carefully constructed wall of memories and visions, Lady could feel her resolution falter. Melting was more of a proper term she thought. Even now, with her mind dwelling on the effects her choice would have on mankind as a whole, she could feel the doubt creeping in. It's chilly tentacles slipping through her defenses.
A bath... Water seemed the only thing that could comfort her anymore. Merle did his best on his infrequent visits, once even going so far as to step across both his and her own personal boundaries and take her in a short, friendly embrace. After her initial shock she
had felt comforted, but it was brief, and seemed to follow Merle shortly after he had passed through her doorstep.
The water sent a chill snaking up her spine, causing her hair to stand on end. Once she was accustomed to the temperature, she fully submerged herself. In this state Lady could truly allow the visions to completely overtake her.
She saw much. Tiny glimpses of possible futures, each as fluid and changing as the water she rested in. Some showed a barren world, ravaged by war and pestilence. Another showed a lush world, completely retaken by Gaea's minions, the plants and animals of the Earth. One in particular startled her out of her rest, causing her to surface suddenly and splash water across the bathroom floor.
Moments later she heard the front door open and shut again. Cursing her laxness, and the fact that she had forgotten to at least lock the door, Lady quickly dressed and made her way downstairs, sticking to the shadows the dusk allowed to crowd the small house.
Dusk? She had been away far longer than she had meant.
Upon reaching her front room, Lady found a tall cloaked man. She judged his height to be around the seven foot mark. The way he stood was almost familiar, even under cover of the cloak. In the same instant she saw him, a strong sense of foreboding overtook her.
"You may not realize this, friend, but this is the last house one should wish to trespass upon." The quake she heard in her own voice surprised her. Why should she be afraid? Lady had been through this dance at least a thousand times before, and likely would repeat it a thousand times or more.
"Ah, but it is not a trespass if the visitor is a near and dear friend, is it?" The cloaked man lowered his hood then, causing a small gasp of surprise to escape Lady's lips. "Hello, my love. I have returned and am ready to take what is rightfully mine."
"Arthur..." Emotions ran through Lady, flickering from one to another, a kaleidoscope of thoughts and feelings. The first and most poignant of course, being a longing she hadn't known possible. Here was the one she had waited centuries for, standing before her as if he had never left.
His voice was changed, along with some of his physical features. His hair for one had been a rich brown, but was now a jet black. Arthur's face, which he had always taken great pains to keep trimmed into a neat mustache now adorned a full goatee. Apart from that however, the noble features she had been so taken with ages ago were totally intact. The square jaw, the kind eyes, the eternally and ever so slightly grinning lips, everything looked an exact copy.
Briefly, she wondered how it was possible that he looked so similar even though he inhabited different flesh, but the thought was disrupted by what his appearance meant. "You know my love that there must be a test. Many have come searching, some nearly as worthy as you were before." Lady steeled herself against the emotions still swirling within her and continued. "If you are still so worthy, you have nothing to fear."
He was across the room in a flash, barely giving Lady enough time to summon and raise the sword Excalibur in her defense. They locked blades, his size and strength nearly an exact match for her own strength. Had she been a normal woman of this world, that moment would have been the end of the Lady of the Lake.
Her resolve was set again, much to Lady's relief. This man who had once been a great King, more to the point a great man, was obviously changed, and he
would not have the sword, not while she still drew breath.
"I didn't think it would be so easy..." Arthur stated before taking a step back and attempting a quick slash at Lady's left side, which she barely avoided with a couple quick steps back herself.
"I am sorry my love, but you will not take Excalibur." A few spoken words and both the Lady of the Lake and the sword Excalibur vanished.
"I will have what's rightfully mine." Arthur muttered before turning and leaving the way he had entered.
The day was cloudy and cold and Erin had forgotten his coat. He distracted himself from the chill of the evening by kicking sticks and stones and occasionally bending to pick a stick up and break it over his knee.
As he rounded a corner in the path an old woman came into view, hobbling along, using a cane to support herself. Erin offered her a good day as he passed, then bent to pick up another stick.
"Excuse me young man, but do you have a few moments to spare an old lady?" The voice took him momentarily by surprise, but her voice was pleasant and she probably needed help.
Eric turned and smiled, "Of course, what can I do for you?"
The lady smiled, a warm inviting show of teeth that would instantly put anyone at ease. "Could you hold my cane for a moment while I fetch something from my pockets?"
The boy dropped the stick and replied, "Of course," and allowed Lady to place the cane, Excalibur gently in his outstretched hands.
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