Distant Shores 2: Waves Of Time

Guess Who's Back

Has Hell completely frozen over? That's the only explanation you can think of for Robert standing right in front of you. There's so much you want to say to him, but the shock doesn't allow your brain to catch up to your mouth, so you end up blurting out,

"Holy shit! You really are alive!"

He gives you a smirk as he glances towards your growing belly.

"Holy shit! You're really pregnant!"

He then looks at Edward.

"Nice going there, Edward."

Edward is glaring at Robert and you think of the expression, "if looks could kill." You step between them.

"Speaking of pregnant, Robert...oh yeah that's right; your parrot knocked Sunset up!"

He just rolls his eyes.

"Not my fault he has bad taste."

You feel your hand itching to the handle of your blade.

"Watch it."

He puts his hands up in mock surrender.

"Easy girl. Don't let your pregnancy hormones make you go crazy."

Edward immediately gets in front of you to confront him.

"Say what you want about me, but I'd refrain from making any remarks about Coral and my child if I were you."

Robert just lets out a gruff sigh.

"You always did lead with your heart instead of your head, boy. Shame because you would actually be a good captain if you didn't."

He then turns his gaze to Charlie.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Charlotte."

She gives him a distasteful look.

"Wish I could say the same."

"And I see you lot are still hanging out with the navy dog. You're not worried he'll turn his back on you again?"

Charlie opens her mouth to retort, but Oliver takes a step forward.

"At least I'm man enough to acknowledge my mistakes and I've done all I can to correct them. I cannot say the same for you, however."

Monterey stands back by the sundial, cowed into silence while his eyes are nervously darting between your group and Robert.

Oh don't think I'm done with you. We have a lot to talk about once this is sorted.

Robert directly turns to face you head on.

"This is the greeting I get after helping you to come back?"

You look at him with fire blazing in your eyes.

"You put a museum curator in the hospital. I didn't want to resort to violence to get the compass."

"Violence is the only language I speak girl, you know that. Speaking of the compass, do you have it?"

You pull it out of your pocket by the chain.

"Yes I do and you're not touching it until the curse is broken and I'm here permanently with my family."

He seethes at you, but you have no intention of backing down.

"You can hate me, but we have to work together to break this curse. If you want to stay in the past as well, you're going to have to trust me."

He snorts.

"I don't hate you, in fact I never have. But I will not trust you and I'm curious why you're willing to trust me?"

"I don't even know if I can, but what I do know is I have a fiancé, a baby on the way, two parrots, and a crew counting on me. This may be a game to you, but it's my life. If working with you can guarantee me getting to stay and be with them all, then it's a chance I'm going to take."

When he doesn't respond you keep going.

"And what about the Tritons? They've been waiting years for us. We're part Triton and it's our duty to help them; who knows how much longer they can hold on like this? Can't you think about someone other than yourself?"

Before Robert can comeback, you're both cut off by the sound of a female voice, echoing off the cavern walls, sounding loud enough to startle everyone.

"STOP ARGUING!"

You feel a shiver go up your spine as you look at the compass in your hand and see it's glowing with the needle spinning erratically. It starts to shake with such force that it leaps out of your hand and continues going in circles on the hard, rocky ground. You stumble back from the shock; luckily Edward is behind you to help you regain your balance. You look at him, panicked.

"What's happening?"

He wraps his arms tightly around you, like he's afraid it's getting ready to send you back.

"I don't know. I've never heard of it doing something like this before."

Robert looks just as surprised, but he tries to remain focused.

"Look, if it was going to send us back, it would've done so already. Something else is at work here."

Monterey leans closer to examine it.

"It can't be, I thought it was just a myth."

"What do you mean-"

You're unable to complete your sentence as the compass begins to shoot out even more light, covering every corner and momentarily blinding you all. You hear the same voice call out while you're shielding your eyes.

"THIS IS NOT HOW I EXPECTED DESCENDANTS OF MINE TO BEHAVE!"

Once the beams of light start to fade, the compass stops glowing and the spinning ceases. All six of you look up at an apparition standing by the fountain.

She has a faint ghostly outline surrounding her, but you can still clearly see her webbed hands and soft, sun kissed skin. The silver dust on her cheeks make her ice blue eyes pop even more. Long crimson hair so deep it almost looks burgundy, cascades down her back stopping just above her waist. She has an aura of magic surrounding her, and now there's no doubt in your mind who this is. With a shaky voice you look at her and say,

"You're Magdalena aren't you?"