22.

I am the devil in disguise, for I bring the evil to your lies. Listen, listen ... listen what I say, my name is ... Morgan Fay.

'My love, why have you come? You should not be here.'

'Delia ... is that you? Is it really you? ... I had to come; you surely must know this. We were always meant to be, you and I ... I am no good on my own. You wanted me to come and find you, right?'

'Go ... go now ... you should not be here.'

'What? Why? Delia, what is wrong?'

'Quickly now, find the door and go back through it. Once you do that, promise me you will never come back. You need to forget all about that door and all which is on this side of it, including me.'

'I am not going to leave you.'

'You must leave. Don't question this. Trust me and please understand.'

'Understand what?'

Finding Delia is one thing but this, whatever it is that is happening, is definitely not what Samuel expected. He wants answers of course but before he can even attempt to get any, she is gone, gone again, gone back within the darkness. Maybe she doesn't want to be found. What is wrong with her? Something is not right.

Maybe she only showed herself to bring things to somewhat of an end. No, that cannot be it. Is what she is doing something being forced upon her? Does she believe that by sending Samuel away, she is somehow saving him? Whatever is happening, there can be no end between these two, at least not one like this, and she must surely know this. What the hell is going on? Samuel has not come this far just to go back now.

He could never again live with himself if he were to return home at this point. No, now is simply not the time to simply give up. Where is Delia? Where did she go? Without Delia there is no home to return to. Indeed, what the hell is going on?

With all that has come up to this point, Samuel has to believe he has been here before so if passing back through that door, back to his own world, he can only assume he will begin to forget again, only now, if he were to forget this world ... would he also begin to forget Delia? If such a thing is possible, he cannot allow it to happen ...

I found her, well kinda and she wants me to just go away, go back home? I cannot do that, especially with not knowing why. She must know I will not leave, not without getting a why and not without her.

***

That first morning of the honeymoon and having left the stone building on a stone island, a rainfall has Samuel and Delia scurrying towards the first building they see. What exactly they were to do upon arriving at such a building had not been thought out. They couldn't just simply ask for shelter from the rain if indeed there is anyone around to ask at all, or maybe they could. That choice however did not need to be made.

There is someone around. How convenient? ... or not. That first building they come to just so happens to belong to an older lady and 'the just so happens' is a very convenient thing. This older lady has her front door open, and she is quick to welcome a couple of guests.

'Oh, dearie me my lovelies, come on in here and out of that horrid weather.'

'Thank you very much madam' speaks Samuel speaking to that welcoming lady as he heads into the home after Delia does, 'I don't know what my lovely wife and I would have done if we weren't so close to someone as nice as you.'

'Oh lovie, we are all nice around here, and you don't even need to get to know us to find that out. Oh, and call me Maisy. I have a nice hot broth at the ready, neither of you two young 'uns are going anywhere until you have had some.'

'Won't argue with that ... and if there is anything I can do for you I will be happy to oblige' speaks Samuel as he and Delia share a comforting smile.

The weather changes, improving quite a bit, not that the rain had truly been bothersome. The morning has become afternoon and a time to move on has come. Samuel had been happy enough to be looked after a little longer by a pleasant local though at the same time was still looking forward to going exploring a bit, Delia on the other hand. After all this is an apparent Honeymoon of a lifetime, a once off, if only he and Delia had have known before hand of what they were getting themselves into.

She cannot deny that it isn't a honeymoon of a lifetime, despite the odd moment or so of worry and doubt. This world is a fantastical one and there is no doubting that.

Off they head on an exploratory walk and this walk is a leisurely one. There is no particular destination and all the time in the world to get there, so what's the rush? Pretty soon however, a call of 'all aboard' proves to be somewhat distracting, or maybe distractingly interesting. Strange however, looking towards the direction of where the shout of 'all aboard' came, both Samuel and Delia see a sign defining the location of a 'lost and found'. Maybe there is a destination after all.

Intrigue ensures that our friends head straight for a place labeled as lost and found. If there is a wonder as to what exactly is lost and what may be found, that could be anything or everything including the newly-wed arrivals.

How strange indeed, a lost and found office looking more akin to a train station than anything else. There is hardly time to study the surroundings when a conductor like official approaches and like a conductor he seems more interested in moving things along than anything else.

'Excuse me but ...' are the only words Samuel manages to speak when the official interrupts.

'Place or person?'

'What's that?'

'Place or person, which are you after?'

'... Neither ...' responds Samuel as he looks with confusion towards Delia. She too is as confused and has no idea as to what kind of response she could offer.

'C'mon now' continues the conductor, 'everyone who comes here is looking for something so what will it be?'

'Place' speaks Samuel not knowing what else he could offer at this point.

The conductor issues two tickets from a small printing machine he has strapped around his person. 'Platform number four in five minutes' he says as he hands the tickets to Samuel before beginning to move away without asking for any kind of fare not that either Samuel or Delia have the means to pay for any kind of train ticket.

They had been told prior to their honeymoon excursion that finances were of no consequence. So, what else is there to do other than board that train on platform number four and see as to where it may take the happy and quite confused couple. This is exactly what they do, board a train, and see as to where it takes them.

The whole ambience surrounding platform number four gives off a vibe as to if a moment from a hundred years or so in the past has been stepped into. The train, a steam train, is waiting to be boarded. It comprises of corridors and individual carriages each of which are good to hold four people comfortably.

The first carriage Samuel and Delia come to already has three passengers within it, a bulging eyed man sitting next to a large lady in a red suit and across from an aging businessman. These passengers briefly throw a look towards to Samuel and Delia who at this point are standing at the entrance to this particular carriage.

Oddly enough the bulging eyed man catches and consumes a fly, plucking it out of the air with a long lizard like tongue which departs from and retreats to his mouth in a nanosecond. This doesn't even receive the slightest of reactions from the other travel companion even despite the fact they all sit around the same table, they each seem to be travelling individually.

Samuel and Delia soon move past this odd trio and to a much more open carriage with a table where they can sit together alone and opposite each other rather than next to one another.

The destination unknown train journey begins promptly, and it is not long before the oddness of this world once again shows itself for out in a field and not so far away from the moving train there is a strange sight almost reacting to the passing train.

With this world being all that it is, it isn't long before a sight worth beholding grabs their attention. There is a white horse flying high in the sky, white angelic wings, and all. No, it is something more than a horse, it's a unicorn, indeed, what a sight this is and is moves at a leisurely pace as if hasn't a care in the world or as if it were putting on a show of sorts.

Pretty soon there is something else in the sky, with a feeling as if it were replacing the unicorn or possibly coming after it. This something, as amazing as it is, brings more of a fear than a wonder to Sam and Delia. A large red dragon flies the skies ominously, breathing fire and all, as if it were looking for trouble. The newly-weds can't believe what they are seeing ... as if a flying unicorn is any easier to believe ... yet they saw ... see both creatures with their own eyes.

This moment almost brings with it a feeling of warning. Is something bad soon to happen? Will something soon need to be avoided? This journey as a whole is an unknown. Samuel and Delia will just need to keep their wits about them. There are more sights coming too though the next one is where a pit stop is to be taken, whether they choose such a stop or not.

A yellow brick, or many yellow bricks form a road, a road with a very particular destination if it is followed. It appeared out of nowhere ... are they meant to follow it? Why else would it exist if not to be followed ...?