The next day, Adam picked up Maggie and Tabitha for the wedding, and they slipped in and sat in back of the church. Rocky sat next to them. "I thought you were one of the groomsmen," Maggie whispered.
"Nope. Just standing in for Tommy. And Adam was standing in for Jason." He pointed up at the two muscular men who stood next to Billy, neither of whom she had seen in a long time. "He was at a tournament for some of his students yesterday. His do-jo won first in overall."
"How did your's do?"
"Didn't go. I knew Aisha would kill me if I tried." Adam joined them, then, slipping an arm around Maggie's shoulders and squeezing her.
"How are you doing?"
"Much better." A good night's sleep and restful dreams had done wonders for her. She leaned comfortably against Adam, then heard snickering beside her. Turning, she found Tabitha and Rocky trying very hard not to burst into laughter, and looking at her and Adam. Her face flushed.
"See! I told you!" Tabitha whispered.
"Told him what?" Maggie asked.
"That it wouldn't take long before you two were a couple. It's hovered in the back of every reading you did for us."
"I already knew that," Rocky said.
"Sh," Adam hissed as the organ started again, and they settled down to watch the wedding. The reception followed the wedding immediately, over at the youth center, and that was where Maggie met Justin. The blue in his aura came as no surprise at all.
"So you're Maggie," was all he said, with a huge smile.
"And you're Justin. I guess Adam did a lot of talking about both of us," she grinned, a little surprised at how young he was. He laughed, then was swept off into the dancing by a girl about his age. She turned to find Adam regarding her with a smile.
"You're dying to ask me," he said.
"How old was Justin when you guys went to Muranthias?"
"Twelve."
"Twelve?" She stared at him. "I guess it worked out, but man, that's young. How old were you when you became a Ranger?"
"Sixteen. A very young sixteen," he added, grinning. "It was an interesting experience."
"I believe that. So, can you answer me a question?"
"Sure. At least, I hope so. What is it?"
"Jason's got the weirdest... feel I've tasted yet. Where did he come from?"
"Angel Grove," the man said behind her, and she and Adam turned to face him.
"Let's go sit down," Adam said, and let them over to a secluded table.
"Used to this, are you?" Jason asked, chuckling.
"Oh, yeah," he grinned. "Her questions are never ending."
"Jason, how are you feeling? I mean, the Gold powers really took something out of you." She paused. "They weren't from here, were they?"
Jason slowly shook his head. "That never ceases to amaze me," he said, looking at Adam and sounding out of breath. "Does she always surprise you like that? Does she surprise everyone like that?"
"Yes. I think she almost gave Tommy a heart attack when she told us the first time, from his reaction in the command center that night. He was pretty sure someone had told her, and for some reason he thought it was me."
As if you could talk to me about anything at that time, she thought with a grin, never mind about the biggest secret of your life. "He knows differently now, doesn't he?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Especially when you Looked at us and knew we'd changed, and that Billy had lost his powers. No one had talked to you. We hadn't had a chance." He chuckled. "I wish I'd had a camera for Tanya's face, and for yours. It was the funniest thing I'd seen. Kim's face yesterday was priceless."
Jason nodded. "Yeah, I believe that."
"So, tell me about the Gold powers!" Maggie demanded.
He chuckled. "They were from Triforia, where the people are... triplets, sort of, but they inhabit the same body, or they can take a triple form, or something like that." He shook his head. "Billy could explain it better."
"Yeah, but he's busy, and I'd never understand," Maggie grinned.
Jason laughed. "Our DNA is just too different. But you knew that." He shrugged. "I'm fine, actually."
"Good. I tried to tell you something was wrong, but I never seemed to be able to. I could see you were going to be ill. I'm glad you came through it okay." She reached out to touch his hand, and snatched her own back at the contact. "Whoa. What happened to you?"
He shifted, uncomfortable, and glanced at Adam. "How much does she know about Muranthias?"
Maggie's eyebrows went up. "That was you? Lady Light, no wonder you feel so..." She shook her head. "Never mind. No explanations necessary. Are you recovered from that?"
He took a deep breath. "Yes. Thanks. Just the occasional nightmare."
She nodded. "I can understand that. I'm glad you didn't stay on the wrong side."
"Thanks." He paused suddenly. "You were the reason Adam rushed out so fast when we got back. He called home, then almost literally vanished out Tommy's front door. Then the others got a phone call, and Kim and I were just left at Tommy's with nothing to do for about half an hour, and everyone was a little sad when they came back."
"That Kim?" She pointed to the woman she'd met yesterday, who danced by with her fiancé. Jason nodded, and Maggie scowled at him. "You have some serious stuff to get through before those nightmares go away. I could tell you were in Muranthias. I couldn't tell that she was." He looked at her, startled. "I mean it, Jason. There is something unresolved, the.... it's still in you. Faded, but her's is gone." She took a deep breath. "Once you let it go, Maligore will be completely gone. And She will thank you for it."
"She who?"
"The Lady. He defiled her long enough...." She shook her head. "That was for you guys to deal with, and you did. Now, you have to let it go, Jason."
He looked utterly confused. "What?"
"What happened?"
His face went blank. "Nothing."
She laughed gently. "Jason, your aura doesn't lie. He took the good from you, didn't he."
Jason nodded slowly. "How do you know?"
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Tommy asked, standing next to the table. Maggie jumped to her feet and went to hug him. To her surprise, she could feel red, green, and white in him, but the white was stronger than the other two. But that could wait. "Did you know Jason still has nightmares from Muranthias?" she asked.
"Yeah." He shrugged as they both sat down.
"I bet they're night terrors and he wakes up screaming, or almost, and I bet you anything that Kim rarely, if ever, dreams about it, and only as a regular nightmare." She looked pointedly at Jason. "Am I right?"
He nodded, looking for all the world like a deer caught in headlights. Maggie stifled a giggle; this was serious. "I can't speak for Kim, though."
Adam got up with a smile. "I'll go ask her." He returned shortly and sat down by Maggie again. "It's true. She says she hasn't had a nightmare about it in years, and even then they are just the normal nightmares, no waking up screaming or anything."
"She didn't try to kill her best friend," Jason said softly.
Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Jase, man, it wasn't really you," Tommy broke in before she could say anything. "And that evil... I could feel it, both from you and from the pit when you had me pinned. I didn't have any protection from it then, remember?" He took a deep breath. "If I hadn't thought you were worth it, I wouldn't have pulled you out of that pit. There was good in you, or I would have dropped you. I could feel that, too."
Maggie stared at him. "You would have?" Adam choked out.
Tommy colored slightly, but nodded. "Jase, there was no way I was going to let that thing loose on the earth, never mind as Devatox's husband. And much as I had depended on you in the past, I knew you'd rather die than be turned loose as you were. Besides, right after that, you had ample time to get me again, but you wandered off, remember? As if you didn't know what to do, who you were... I don't know. We never had a chance to sit and talk about it."
Jason took a deep, trembling breath. "Well." He seemed unable to think of anything else to say. Maggie looked at Adam and smiled: he was focused on Jason so hard she didn't think anything would distract him. After a few minutes, Jason smiled, tremulously. "Well, okay. That gives me something to think about."
"Talk to Kim," Tommy said. "Heck, talk to me. I've been there, too, and Kat as well. It's not easy to deal with, but it is possible."
"You?" Maggie asked, turning to look at him. "You've been three different colors, and evil? Good grief, what do you do for an encore, gargle peanut butter?"
Jason laughed. "Good question." He looked at Tommy expectantly.
Tommy's eyes flashed, and he grinned. "That is for me and Kat to know, and you not to find out," he said. Maggie grinned back and Looked at him, and the grin faded from her face. He raised an eyebrow at her. "And speaking of Kat, she'll think I abandoned her. I'll talk to you later, right, Jase?" Was that haste in his voice? He stood up fast enough, and she smiled. I've done it again. Poor Tommy.
"Yes," Jason said.
"Tell Kat to call me," Maggie said, and he nodded as he faded back into the crowd. He'd better. She has some explaining to do. "What did he mean, he didn't have any protection from the evil?" she asked, turning back to the other two.
"He took his helmet off to try to break the spell," Adam said.
"Oh," she said, still confused. He smiled at her.
"So," Jason said, turning Maggie's attention to him, "did Adam fill you in on everything?"
"No, not quite. There was no way to do that. I couldn't even tell him what all I did." She grinned. "Secrets." Oh, boy, and we haven't stopped keeping them, have we?
"I guess you traveled a lot?" he asked. She nodded. "Where did you go?"
She laughed. "Everywhere. I ended up in Kentucky, New York, Chicago, and a little place called Eden, Wyoming, which was anything but an Eden. I'm hoping it's better there, now."
"What was in Eden Wyoming?" Jason asked.
"A werewolf. There were ghosts in Chicago, that I wouldn't care to meet again." She shuddered. "And other things that nightmares are made of." Not to mention some of the wildest dreams, she thought to herself.
"That explains a few things," Adam said softly.
"Oh? Like what?" Maggie asked.
"Like... Did you meet a vampire? I didn't understand the reference to the Count."
"Yes. In Toronto. But he was good."
"A good vampire. Very interesting," Jason said. "I think I'll stick with my own nightmares, thank you. They don't include unnatural things." Maggie stared at him, then started laughing. "What?" he asked.
"Those are natural things. What you guys fought, those were unnatural, created by someone or something other than the Goddess." She smiled. "But I'm really glad I didn't have to face them. I don't think it would have worked out well."
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