Sage stood ... barely. The presence was still part of her, and heavy breathing came to her ears. Was that her?

A soft, lilting accented voice came to her ears or in her ears, "Aye, you are panting."

"What happened?" Sage whispered, "Did we do it?"

"We stopped the evil," Charlotte whispered, "but we need to move quickly and retrieve the Magi's Coronet."

"Okay," Sage whispered, "let's..." she paused, "... hold on a minute ... my legs are not listening."

Breathing deeply, Sage waited until her body and mind connected. The sensation was bewildering and disorientating, but finally, they were moving across the sand toward the mark on the ceiling. Looking around at the emerging group of family and friends, Sage nodded and looked up at the ceiling. Charlotte prompted her to raise her hand toward the mark.

A spark shot from the mark into Sage's fingers, making her gasp. Charlotte whispered the words she would speak through her mind, and Sage slowly repeated them.

"Bhon neach-seilbh agad a chuir thu am falach agus a-nis chun t-sealbhadair agad nochdaidh tu," Sage said, repeating it for all to understand. "From your owner, you hid, and now to your owner, you will appear."

The emblem cracked open at her words, shining the shape of the coronet on the sand below. Sage waited, and the sand began to shift, falling away as a box appeared. Sage knelt on the hole's edge and dug until the box was clearly seen. Reaching in, she carefully lifted the ornate, heavy wooden box from its hiding place and placed it on the sand beside her.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, running her hand over the patterns carved into the grain. It's the same pattern in the hidden room."

Matthew bent to look, smiling. "I think Charlotte did that herself," he sighed and nodded. "She certainly had talent; it's beautifully done."

Lifting the box, Sage carried it to a flat stone at the back of the entrance cave and carefully placed it in the centre. The moonlight shone in, illuminating something that looked like a keyhole, but it was oddly shaped; Sage watched her hand extend slowly toward the keyhole and a strange shape formed, filling the hole and a lock clicked. Gently lifting the lid, Sage gasped in wonder.

A silver coronet glittered in the fading moonlight. It seemed strangely ethereal. Lifting it out, Sage took in the workmanship in the silver around the sapphires, rubies, and diamonds. In the beautiful twisting silver, Sage saw the images of three Kings.

"The Magi's Coronet," she whispered as Charlotte prompted her to place the coronet on her head; slowly, Sage followed whispered instructions.

"It is time to pass the power on," Charlotte whispered, whispering words Sage did not understand.

Fear coursed through her, but Charlotte soothed her as a mother comforted a child, and the fear settled.

"This is a lot," Sage whispered before she fell to her knees. She clamped her hands on the edge of the flat rock and panted through the intensity of heat and surging sense of power deep within.

Charlotte's words continued to chant over and over until all Sage could hear and feel were the words and their vibration throughout her body.

Maddy stood beside Rosemary, watching Sage's crumpled form, "That's the second time she has done that."

"Are you worried?" Rosemary asked, watching Sage murmur, pant, and clutch the table.

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"Of course I'm worried," Maddy muttered, "everything she has been through in the past few months, finding out everything she has … that her grandmother is actually her mother and now this trip around the islands ... to places none of us have been before and not this."

Rosemary nodded, "Yes, that could be a lot. Do you think she has what it takes?"

"I don't think it's up to us to ask that question," Maddy said, pointing at Sage, "I sense Charlotte holds all the cards now."

Nodding, Rosemary sighed, "I guess you're right."

"What happened to the men on the cliff path?" Maddy asked, smiling at Rosemary's surprised expression.

"I didn't think that anyone saw me," Rosemary sighed, shaking her head, "I led them to the death cliffs. Before you get all worried and start lecturing me … I did it on purpose. I've lived here most of my life; they don't know this place. You have nothing to worry about; I ducked into the tiny alcove before that dreadful plunge into that supposed bottomless gorge. They came running along, thinking I was ahead of them in the mist, and dove off the edge."

"Oh my, that must have been dreadful to hear," Maddy said, clutching Rosemary's hand.

"I was listening to my music," Rosemary said, smiling, "after the first one, I turned it up so I didn't have to hear the rest."

Maddy gently squeezed her hand, glancing at her as she slowly gained her feet, "Do you think she is ready?"

"There is only one way to know," Rosemary said, moving toward her daughter, "Sage, everything is okay?"

Sage lifted a disorientated expression, smiling and nodding, "So far, Mother," her whisper came on a rush of air, "but it's not finished yet."

"You look tired," Rosemary whispered, "don't you wish to rest first?"

"Charlotte and I will rest when we're finished," Sage said, smiling, "there is one last thing that needs to be done."

Reaching into the box, she pulled out an ancient parchment. Moving the box aside, she opened it and looked at the map in the moonlight.

"The islands as they are supposed to be," she whispered, glancing at those around her, "this must be made right ... we need to make this right."

"How?" Matthew asked.

"I don't think she means "we" as in us," he said, indicating those standing around the table, "I think she means Charlotte and herself."

Nodding, Sage lifted the map higher in the moonlight, frowning at the nearly faded words on the map; cupping her hand, she lifted it a little higher than the map, "Light."

A small ball of light appeared in her palm, illuminating the words she mouthed slowly. Frowning, she sighed, "That makes no sense. Return to all that which was taken and return what was taken to all." She seemed to struggle internally before sighing, nodding, picking up the map, and walking to the water's edge.

Opening the map, Sage said, "Till dhan a h-uile rud a chaidh a thoirt agus thoir air ais na chaidh a thoirt dha na h-uile."

Maddy folded her arms at her waist, worry gnawing at her. Glancing at her father, she found him looking at her and smiling. Returning his smile, Maddy sighed. He always saw things as they should be, never as she did. Frowning, she mulled over the thought: How did she see things?

Looking around her, she took in the water, ebbing gently on the sand, the pile of ashes at the entrance, the gaping hole in the cave's ceiling, the massive hole in the sand ... white flashes slashed at her mind, making her gasp. Momentarily, she was somewhere else, another time, another place, and back again. The images flashed together, merging over each other.

"She's too close," Maddy gasped; raising her voice, she called urgently, "Sage, you're too close. Move behind the hole in the sand."

Sage turned toward her, narrowing her gaze on her friend. Snapping her head back at the bubbling sound in the water, she turned and ran up the beach, jumping over the massive hole in the sand, barely making the other side. She began to slide backwards, unable to stop herself. Suddenly, she was caught and swung onto the solid side of the hole. The map crumpled against the broad, hard chest she was held against. Looking up into Stuart's gaze, she smiled.

"Thank you," she whispered, "I think we need to pay attention."

Sage nodded to the sound coming from down the beach. Slowly, the pair turned toward the bubbling sound, and the water began to flow away before suddenly curling into a large wave and crashing onto the shoreline. The water splashed those on the other side of the large hole but could not sweep them away as it crashed into the hole and returned to its origin.

"I don't know how you knew Maddy, but thank you," Sage said, reaching out and clasping her friend's hand, "I owe you my life."

Turning toward the rising object, the group on the shore stared, stunned and speechless.

"Is that real?" Maddy whispered.

"Heavens above," Sage muttered, glancing at the rest of the group. They each stood on the spot, staring with open mouths.

"What now, Charlotte?" Sage whispered, feeling simultaneously out of her depth and thankful. "I hope you have more answers, Charlotte. Where to from here?"