Surrounded by
a hazy fog the girl looked around her at the sketchy and vague surroundings. A
mist of pale gray covered her and chilled her slightly. As far as her naked eye
could see, everything was bathed in muted colors. She looked down at her dress
and noticed that it too was devoid of pigment. The girl cried softly, something
had gone horribly wrong, yet she could not put her finger on it. She walked on
despite her misgivings and came to the base of a large tree, the largest she
had ever seen. The mist cleared and it became apparent that the tree was aged
and failing. She walked around it once then dropped to her knees on the hard
and unforgiving ground. She placed two slim hands on either side of the large
trunk. Closing her eyes she scrunched up her face in concentration. Without
notice the tree began to shift in color, from muddy green, to pale green, to
the deepest emerald color that she had ever seen. Leaves sprouted and grew
rapidly from the once dead branches. That was far from the end of it though.
The ground, composed of the same shapeless color as the rest of her
surroundings, began to shift in color. Light began to radiate outward from her
small frame as color appeared and developed around her. The haze all but
disappeared and she found herself in an entirely different world. One look at
the green sky was all she needed. Four moons stared back at her. She heard a
small rumbling noise and got to her feet looking with apprehension to the
direction from which the noise was emanating from. The same gray, shapeless
mist began to form again and a shadow appeared before her. The shadow took form
as a man dressed in black robes with a frightening grin upon his face. She knew
him, and that expression, rather well. The girl took a step back as she rose up
a single, slightly shaking hand in front of her.
"Ma'hara
padron japra, K'hivar" she addressed the figure in front of her.
"Svanar, Zara,
min massra formularie" the man replied, evil tingeing each syllable.
The shadow raised both hands in
front of him and uttered a single word "quanrah" as beams of dark colored power
were released from his hands; the ground shook at the magnitude of it. The girl
threw up a lavender shield in front of her just moments before his power
clashed with hers. Each fought for dominance in the space of a few seconds as
the lavender shield began to undulate. With a boom the field dropped and the
power hit her squarely in the chest, causing her to fly backwards. She opened
her eyes for only a moment as she witnessed the figure stand over her body,
"posri cadenda, Zara" as he raised his hand. Then everything went black….
Liz shot up from the ratty couch that she was resting in.
"Ma'hara padron japra, Ma'hara padron japra, Ma'hara padron japra" she repeated frantically stumbling over the words. The walls began to shake and the floor started to sway as she kept repeating the alien words over and over again. Max ran into the room, followed closely by what looked to be his twin. He stole a quick glance at the state of the room and then shot to Liz's side shaking her shoulders hard and shouting her name…
"Liz..!!!!"
She blinked and the destruction ceased, she shook her head hard as if trying to figure out what was happening.
"Max, what happened?" she asked confusedly.
He didn't know how to respond to her question. Liz had been out for more then an hour, even with his powers he had been unable to wake her, and now she woke up ready to destroy the whole building. He was at a loss for words. That is when Liz noticed the person standing behind Max. Her eyes shot from Max to the other, searching for understanding or at least an explanation that her eyes weren't deceiving her. "Max?" she asked again worriedly…
He sat down next to her on the couch while trying to gather the right words to explain to her who his look-a-like was. "This is Zan" he started, pointing to the other guy. Just then they heard a door slam and the pounding of feet. Liz was just done accepting the reality that there were two of Max, when what could have been Liz's clone skidded into the room. Liz closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"What in the hell was that Zan? I could feel the shaking all the way over on 41st!" the girl sidled up next to "Zan" and looked accusingly at Liz.
"And that is Zera" continued Max…
"This is a bad sci-fi movie," she muttered under her breath.
"Where are we?"
"Brooklyn"
"Great" she dragged the word out sarcastically just noticing the state of the couch that she was sitting on.
"Hey, so we don't live all fancy and shit like that, why don't you shut the hell up" Zera began angrily.
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything" Liz started to backpedal as the other girl walked over to her. Max stood up protectively and blocked the other girl from getting near Liz.
"What? You think I'm gonna hurt her?" Zera asked incredulously. "My job is to protect her jackass! However I do think that you can be expendable" she turned her angry stare to Max, to which Zan jumped in.
"Shut Up!"
"All of you, look at yourselves."
Liz was scrunched up on the side of the couch. Max stood in front of her protectively, while Zan was standing between the riled Zera and Max. Liz suddenly remembered why they were in New York City in the first place, "Max, what about Michael and Isabel" she asked worriedly…
"Who?" asked both Zan and Zera…
"Max's sister and friend"
"Rav and Vilandra?"
Now it was time for Max and Liz to look confused,
"Damn, Zan, didn't you tell him anything!"
Zan didn't respond he just looked at the floor.
"Why the hell not, dammit, the information is for them, and it's about them…" she trailed off looking angrier and angrier.
Zan walked out the door and returned holding two chairs, he gave one to Zera and they both sat down. "Where do I start?" he muttered to himself while running his fingers through his hair.
"All right, I'll start from the beginning."
"You two are the reincarnations of Queen Zera and King Zan on Antar, the home planet, I say reincarnation very liberally. Basically they took DNA from both of you on Antar and mixed it with some human DNA, and here you go, you have two reincarnations."
"Why?" asked Liz
"Antar was a peaceful planet for hundreds of years, almost a utopian community, we had very little crime, everyone lived comfortably." Zan stalled for a moment. " Then one of your subjects felt that peace was boring, he began an uprising, a movement designed to take you out of power and place him in the throne. We never thought that he would garner any support at all, but when he spoke people listened. Somehow he managed to get an army of followers behind him and …"
"And he took us out didn't he?" asked Liz softly.
"More then that. He always claimed that he only wanted reform, but he wanted more than that, he wanted you both dead, he was completely and utterly mad. His followers gradually ascertained his real plans and most turned away from him…however some stayed. There was round-the-clock security placed on both of you but somehow…." Zan looked at the floor. "You died first Max, at the hands of one of his more vigilant supporters." Zan looked at Liz. "He wanted to kill you personally, though. He had followed you out to the royal gardens and he, he wasn't supposed to have as much power as he did…"
Liz's voice continued as Zan's faltered.
"I tried to use my power, but his was strong, too strong"
"It wasn't your fault…you were just never supposed to have to conquer that much evil alone."
"His name is K'hivar, isn't it?"
Zan and Zera looked shocked, "How do you know that?"
"We actually got a message from Antar"
"Where?"
Max replied, "A cave in Roswell, New Mexico"
"What was in the message?" demanded Zan.
"Khivar is killing the planet, it's dying. I have reached the "age of ascension" and that I am supposed to go back. Also that we have to get Michael and Isabel before we can run the granolith."
Both Zan and Zera stopped breathing for a moment when they heard Liz utter the last word. "You know where the granolith is?" Zan choked out.
"In the cave"
Relief in many stages played across the faces of Zan and Zera.
Confusion played across Max and Liz's.
"The whole reason you were sent here was so your power could grow enough to eliminate K'hivar"
"So that was the dream I was having…I dreamt that I was being killed, I tried to hold him off, but…"
"Ma'hara padron japra means 'Death to you' in our language…" Zan nodded his head.
"Who are you though?" Liz asked
"We are your protectors…we were supposed to be here to keep you safe, as sort of duplicates, so that we could divert enemies from you"
"Well you suck at that." Max started in…
Each looked at him oddly, Liz didn't want to battle again so she tried to divert the conversation elsewhere.
"So this 'age of ascension'"
"Max's powers were designed to manifest themselves immediately, so that he could protect you. Yours were hidden behind barriers so that when the time came you would have access to the full realm of their abilities. You have reached the age when you power is at its peak."
Liz paled for a moment.
"Max!" she
projected urgently, "do you know what we've done?"
"What?" he
replied confusion tingeing his response
"If my powers
were supposed to grow, the walls were designed so that my powers couldn't be
used until a certain date" Max began to understand
"What was my power supposed to be for?" Liz asked Zan
"It's hard to explain, you basically run the planet, it seeks its energy from you…" he trailed off. "Its very hard to explain, K'hivar managed to convince his disciples that you weren't really needed…that is why the planet is dying."
Liz closed her eyes and looked at her lap.
"The walls are gone, and we've used my power" she admitted.
Zan shook his head, color draining from his face and Zera's.
"That's impossible, first you would have to break through the barriers, and then you would need someone who could control that amount of power. Impossible."
"Apparently is wasn't that impossible, because I did it"
Zan and Zera's eyes shot to Max
"You see, as protectors you really suck"
TBC
